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Julian
All right, welcome Back to episode 11 of Something Wrong with the Podcast. It's Julian. Before I go anywhere, call this number 877-557-SWWP to get in contact with me, your intrusive thought therapist. I have the first female guest, only the second on camera guest ever on my show today by way of Australia. Singer, songwriter, barista, what else to slap? Activist, content creator only fans, model. We'll get to. Yeah, now we'll get to that. Takara. Welcome. Welcome to Something Wrong with the Podcast. This is Something Wrong with the Podcast west coast edition. We're live in la, so I've been here all week. I am ready to go back to New York. But we're here for now, so thank you for joining me.
Takara
You're welcome. Thank you for having me.
Julian
Yeah. We grabbed coffee yesterday and I wanted to. The one question after you said you would agree to do this, and I said, I want to ask you something, but I waited until this moment. Why. When did Australia become, like, the best, like, group of people for all things breakfast Brey, as you would say, like.
Takara
Feel like they, like, thrust that title.
Julian
Upon themselves, but, like, they own it and they earn, like, they rightfully sell. Like, in New York, all of the best spots are all, like, the four of the best spots. Rubies is like the big one. Dudley's. And there's like, four more that I can probably name, but, like, they're all Australian owned. I'm like, what is it there that makes their breakfast food so good?
Takara
I feel like I might just be a little healthier. It's like real food.
Julian
Yeah, that's fair.
Takara
No shade to New York. Don't come for me.
Julian
Well, okay. Well, I was gonna. I was gonna run through some, like, Australian slang. I'll just try to work it in here.
Takara
Okay.
Julian
I was gonna say thank you for joining me this arvo.
Takara
Arvo. Okay.
Julian
Arvo, right?
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
How's that? How's my accent?
Takara
It's. Well, you gotta get rid of that art. Arvo.
Julian
Arvo. It was so close.
Takara
I feel like you emphasized the ar.
Julian
Ao.
Takara
Aro. Yeah.
Julian
Okay. Thank you.
Takara
Well, afternoon.
Julian
Yeah. Yeah, it counts. So. Okay. Well, I. I feel like we covered so much yesterday, but I feel like we have to do some unearthing just to familiarize people. So. Yeah. So we met at South By. And you said you thought you knew me from somewhere.
Takara
Yes.
Julian
To which I said, I don't know. I don't live in Austin. And he said, how about la? I said, nor. La. And I was like. But, like, clearly I Travel. I'm around. So then, like, did some digging, went home, like, saw you. Worked with Kamau, an artist that I used to work with when I was at Atlantic. Listened to some of your music. Definitely recognize you from your coffee. Instagram. And then, yeah, now we're. Now we're here. I guess I wanted to go through you kind of. We touched on a little bit, but the. The whole impetus of the coffee thing and when that came to be in like your whole journey from Australia to the States, which is like a very interesting story.
Takara
How much time do we have?
Julian
Time?
Takara
Where should I start? Where should I begin? Yeah, back in my. In my 90s days, when I was born.
Julian
Yeah. What is it? Yeah, that's actually a good. Like, what is childhood like in Australia? I've never been. I have friends that are artists that have toured there. They love it. They all have like, great things to say. But even that experience is not to the extent of growing up there.
Takara
Yeah, I mean, I think it was a bit interesting for me because my dad's American and my mom's Australian. So growing up in Australia, we're like outside all the time just playing. It's. It's safer there, I would say. But when I was. I would have been like 4 years old. We moved to America actually in the late 90s, right before 911 happened.
Julian
Timing.
Takara
I know, Great timing.
Julian
Fireworks.
Takara
So, yeah, we moved there. I was in America for like two or three years.
Julian
Whereabouts?
Takara
We were in Fairfax, Virginia. So pretty close.
Julian
Damn.
Takara
Yeah, People were getting like, better clothes and I was like, wait, what is happening? Do you say I'm about to get deported?
Julian
Come here. Like hanging out at Langley or like seeing all the action going on.
Takara
Crazy. I mean, at the time I didn't really understand what was going on. Now I understand what was going on. I was like, oh, that. That actually happened.
Julian
Is your dad from Virginia?
Takara
My dad is actually from Mobile, Alabama. Oh yeah?
Julian
How do they meet?
Takara
By way of the West Indies. My dad was in the Air Force and then he went to Australia, I guess, and they met and then my mom already had a kid and then my dad like became that kid. So father. And then they got married and had me and my sister and my little brother as well. But yeah, so 911 happens. And then my mom. Back to what I was. My point. My mom was just so scared because that stuff, I mean, I feel like it hadn't really happened in America before in my. In recent history.
Julian
Attempts in the world trade prior to it. But yeah, I mean, like, that was obviously the Biggest.
Takara
Yeah, she was supposed to catch a flight that day. So she was, like, at the airport when it happened, and then obviously her flight got canceled, but she was just so scared. So she was like, we're going back to Australia. So the year after 9, 11, which. 20, 21. So long. Did I say 20? 20, 21, 2001. That's. It's recent. Yeah, we went back to Australia, and I think that's where it kind of became a bit different growing up in Australia, because I actually didn't realize that I was a person of color before I moved back to Australia because I didn't even, like, I wasn't aware that, like, people were different colors or different ethnicities. I never really thought about it at all.
Julian
That kind of hits you in the face there when there's nobody else that's.
Takara
Well, you went from Australia, where it's a bunch of, like, white kids, and then you go to America, where it was just so mixed and so diverse. And then going back to Australia, all of a sudden you're in the fourth grade getting called the N word, and kids are making monkey noises at you and stuff. And I was like, wait, what? What is this? Because I've never heard those words before. And, like, my dad's black. He doesn't even say those words. So, yeah, going home and just like, mom, what does this mean? And she had to, like, explain it to us that we were people of color. So that was a interesting dynamic to grow up with. I feel like I would have had a lot better time in Australia if I was white.
Julian
I mean, isn't that just, like, a universal across the. I think so is there a limit as to where that would be the case?
Takara
I don't know. I think maybe South Africa.
Julian
That's pretty white in South Africa.
Takara
I mean.
Julian
Yeah. So, okay, so what's it. Because I'm. I'm Lebanese and black. So, like, I always have this. This thing. Like, when I was younger, my mom was always like, you know, celebrate your Lebanese culture as much as well as your black side, even though it's not as physical. Like, you can't see it as much maybe in, like, your hair or whatever. But people would have to ask questions to learn that about you. Celebrate that outwardly, be proud that you're Middle Eastern. All that shit. 9, 11 happens. My mom's like, maybe we should dial it back a bit. Like, go back to being black. So, like, we can figure. Yeah, now you just figure it out. So I've always had to, like, oscillate between like, it just.
Takara
It's like stitching.
Julian
Yeah. Oh, for it all the time. But for you, like, how does the racism manifest in Australia? Is it similar to here?
Takara
It's super, like, casual. Like, someone will just. I mean, getting followed around stores, like, yeah, people don't let you in certain places, and they act like you smell. Just like the comments that a lot of people would make. Like, girls in high school would go and get fake tans and then come to school calling themselves, like, the N word and saying, like, now I'm more N word than you are. So it's just, like, crazy that they even think that that's okay to say. But I'm also just the island of.
Julian
Bad babies walking around.
Takara
Yeah. Just catching outside. But, yeah, it was. It was interesting because I didn't really tolerate a lot of that stuff, so I was having a lot of issues with just. It was mainly actually boys, and I was just fighting boys for calling me that N word. But I feel like I. When YouTube started, like, coming in more, because I. I grew up in a very white city called Adelaide, and everyone I went to school with at the start especially was white. I think we were, like, some of the first black kids in our school. And so, yeah, I just. I wasn't really tolerating a lot of stuff, so it was a lot of confrontations all of the time. But, yeah, when YouTube started coming in and I started seeing people of color, who usually Americans on YouTube, like Andres Choice, Kassem G, Like Nika Higa, I kind of just realized that there was so many other people out there, and I started learning more about, like, black women. Like, obviously, like, I am a black woman, but to actually be able to hear from black women about their perspectives and stuff, it kind of justified how I felt being myself. And, like, I wasn't the wrong one in the situation. Did you.
Julian
Did you yearn? Obviously you were in America for, like, such a infant part of your life.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
When you YouTube comes out and you're in Australia and you're like, did you yearn to be like, damn, I used to live in America where this was a thing. I want to go back. Yeah.
Takara
I begged my parents to let me go to high school over there. They obviously said no, which is completely fair. I already wasn't doing well in Australia in high school, so you're not gonna.
Julian
Send me 3, 000 miles away.
Takara
Yeah, it's a while. I grew up on, like, the Disney Channel and stuff as well. So you had, like, Victorious, where they're all in, like, A performing arts school.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
You had Hannah Montana, where, I mean, I don't know what school she was going to, but that didn' um. So I really wanted to come back to America, and the goal was always to end up in Los Angeles, but I just didn't really know how I was gonna do that because I knew I always wanted to do music. I always just kind of felt it. But you always have people like, that's not realistic. You need to get a real job. You need to finish school and go to college. But I was like, but I know what I want to do already. And so I found in high school, everything I was doing in, like, art class or even, like, PE and stuff all ended up revolving around music. Like, I would be making CD covers, or I would be preparing, like, dances with other girls in PE because that's just what I wanted to do. And I would, like, force my school to let me sing the national anthem every time we had an assembly or a graduation. And hopefully no one has video of.
Julian
That's the Australian national anthem.
Takara
I don't want to sing it right now. But it's like, Australians, all us rejoice for we are young and free Just like that.
Julian
Wow.
Takara
So it's kind of like the American one where none of it's true. No shade.
Julian
Okay, so. All right. But I mean, I kind of wanted to, because you said the experience, like, seeing the. The YouTube and then you. When you come here, which I want to get to, what ultimately led you here, But I just want to skip ahead. So you're in. You're in the States. You're in LA or Chicago first. But in la, there's also the thing where it's like, okay, like, you may be black to the people in Australia, but are you black to the people in America?
Takara
Well, the thing is, so going from Australia, I took a flight from Australia to Qatar, and everyone on the flight was white. And I always just felt like I was being watched. Like I was the scary person on the plane, like, what's she gonna do? And then from Qatar to Chicago, everybody was black. No one paid me any mind. I just felt like I blended in. I didn't feel like othered. So then getting to America, I just. Yeah, it's such a melting pot. Especially I was in Chicago, the first place I went, and it just didn't really come up, like, my color at all. Where in Australia, it was, like, pointed out to me all the time. But, yeah, I just felt welcomed, and I felt that I just fit in automatically. And even, like, the white people over here, like, everyone has brown friends. Maybe not everyone, but in Chicago they had brown friends. So I just fit in. I didn't feel like I had to like prove that I belong. That made sense. I think the thing that I noticed here is because I do have such a different experience of being black and, and the experience in Australia is different, like when you're black and it's the same in like England and stuff. But now I try to explain the experience I had and it's kind of not dismissed. It's dismissed by certain people because it's like, oh, well, like you're light skinned. Like, and I totally understand that, that I benefit from white privilege because I am light skinned. But in Australia, like, they don't care how light you are. There's definitely dark skinned people that would have been treated way worse than I was. But in Australia, if you're not white, you're not. Right. So it's changing now. There's more people of color there now, especially in Melbourne and Syd. Yeah. But yeah, over here it's just, it's kind of like reverse, I guess, the way I feel where over there I felt like I didn't belong. And then over here I just like, I want to show that I do belong, I guess.
Julian
How about the, the, the accent side of things? When, when coming here, has that played like to your advantage or this? Like, where is it shocking when you talk or what's that?
Takara
I think people don't expect me to be Australian. I've realized that a lot of people don't or haven't realized that there's people of color in Australia. So I always get South African, I'll get English, I'll get Irish a lot as well. Or some people think I'm from New York. When I say, like, I needed some coffee and they're like, oh. And I'm like, no, no. The streets of New York would eat me alive, I think. I mean, people love an accent for sure, but I'm. I would love to not have to explain it every time.
Julian
Yeah, I feel.
Takara
But I get it. I get it. I hear people from like the Midwest and like, where's your accent from? Chicago. But yeah.
Julian
Yeah. Do you think you're going to lose your accent the more you time?
Takara
I already feel like it's going sometimes I like, I'll probably listen back to this and be like, oh, that's American. Like, that's American. But then especially once I start drinking, it really comes out really, like, yeah, all over the place.
Julian
It's giving Steve Irwin RIP so yeah, like covered like the. The heroes of Australia. How big, like how much of a rock star was? Did you ever get to meet him? Did you ever get to see him?
Takara
I used to watch him on TV all the time. Like he was really like around. I feel like. I think I was like 7 or 8 when he died.
Julian
Oh, wow.
Takara
Yeah, I think. I think that was. Right. It was. It was pretty shocking because of the way that he died. And I was like, surely that's not real. Like I didn't even know Stingrays could do that. But it happened.
Julian
Yeah, that was.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
I feel so bad just geographically. So I. I bet I can better understand and anyone. People listening as well. Like Adelaide in comparison to like Perth or Sydney or what's like the third Brisbane. Like what it. How. Like how far these all in relation.
Takara
To each other around that. The outskirts. Except for Alice Springs which is in the middle. They're around the outskirts of Australia. So I'd say Perth is kind of like where Portland, Oregon is or maybe even Seattle. And then Adelaide would be where like Austin, Texas is like. It's down south right in the middle of the country. Yeah. So like where Australia goes up at the bottom, I'm like on that part of Australia. Yeah.
Julian
And then Sydney. Yeah, that was actually pretty.
Takara
And then once you go around the bottom, like the bottom east coast, then it goes Melbourne and then it's Sydney and then it's service paradise and then Brisbane, which is Queensland, which is like Service paradise is like the Miami of Australia. You don't want to date there.
Julian
The Australian culture, Australians that I know in New York and certainly in la. What is it? Australians. And just like they all love, first of all because there's like drugs in Australia. Yeah, I know that.
Takara
Illegal.
Julian
Everything's illegal. There's no guns, which is like. That's great.
Takara
I love that part.
Julian
That's pretty sick. Yeah, but it's just like trash drugs. I've never met a group of people that are so obsessed with drugs but have no access to it.
Takara
Yeah, I mean I remember when I was in my like early 20s, just going to like Stereo Sonic and all the music fest festivals we have over there. And I don't know how much I can say, but say whatever you want. Like ecstasy was really big. We would call them pingers. So that's what everybody was taking. And then a bunch of festivals got canceled actually because people kept dying. But it was so hot in Australia and they're having these festivals where there's no shade People, you can't test your.
Julian
Drugs because it's eat exhaustion and get in hydration.
Takara
So eventually they brought in drug testing. I don't know if every festival. Festival does it, but they brought that in where, like, you could test your drugs and you wouldn't get in trouble, apparently. Which I guess made it a bit. Yeah, I mean, yeah.
Julian
White drugs over here.
Takara
Two different lines.
Julian
Why is the holding cell the only two black people at the festival?
Takara
I mean, I get it.
Julian
Yeah. What are the major festivals over there? I. I honestly, I like. Very curious. I have so many friends that have spent time in Australia. Artists and just like, people that have traveled there, but I've never dug in. I really want to. I'm curious.
Takara
You put me on the spot. I haven't been back in like five years. There's one that goes over, like, New Year's. I always forget the name of it, though. There used to be Stereosonic, and I would work at that every year so that I could get free tickets to go and then I just wouldn't show up for work. Oh, there's like a bunch of them. I can't remember the names off the top of my head.
Julian
No, it's fine.
Takara
But, yeah, there's this one that goes over New Year's. It's like four days long and people just go out and camp. It's kind of like. I'd compare it to, like, Bonnaroo, but Australian. So not as good.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
Not as worse, I would say.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
Worst drugs.
Julian
Worst drugs, not as good. Okay, so let's. Let's go back to the. Your transition out of Australia to the States. Do you want to recount?
Takara
Sure. So, I mean, I was. Yeah, I went from high school, I tried to go to college, which didn't work out for me, and then I ended up just, like, working around Australia. I was a dancer, so I was doing that around Australia for like, six years. And then I just got to the point it was 2016. Actually. Actually, there's a story I didn't tell you yesterday, which I was trying to think about the whole story last night. And in 2016, I actually had gone on a Tinder date with this German guy. I can't remember his name now. It's probably for the best, but at the time, I was really struggling with assimilation in Australia. And I. You know, in Australia, everyone has blonde hair and blue. Ey, not everybody, but that's like the ideal standard of beauty over there.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
So I was straightening my hair and I was wearing blue eye contacts and I. Those were like, the photos that were on Tinder, obviously. And so I went on this date. The guy was kind of, like, a bit weird in general, so it was already bad vibes. But then afterwards, he sent me a screenshot of one of the photos on my Instagram where I was standing in front of, like, a super bright light. And he's like, he was white here. I looked white.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
I looked.
Julian
I don't know.
Takara
Like, I'd say spicy white, but, yeah, he was like, no offense, but have you ever thought about bleaching your skin because you could look like this all the time. And I was just like, what the.
Julian
You look like Sammy Sosa.
Takara
Yeah. And I was in.
Julian
Jesus.
Takara
I was in this Facebook group at the time for, like, women of color. And I. I didn't. Because that's, like, the kind of racism you would get in Australia. And then you'd, like, question it and be like, wait, like, is this racist?
Julian
Yeah, yeah. Like, am I wrong for feeling away about this?
Takara
But so I posted in this group, and everyone was just like, that's so racist. Like, and then this one girl was like, can I write about this for this blog that I have? And so she wrote about it, and then the New York Times wrote about it, and Yahoo and msnbc, all these places.
Julian
So I got like, wait, about that specific story?
Takara
About that specific story? Yeah. And like, Tinder responded and stuff. It's like, we don't condone this behavior. And I'm like, will you let him on the platform? I mean, they didn't know.
Julian
Yeah, it's. It's part of the game. Like, they can't control. Yeah.
Takara
I mean, why? But so I kind of, like, had a little pop of, like, Instagram followers from that. And then after that happened, it was 2016, and Philando Castile and Ahmaud Aubrey had died in America.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
And I feel like that's when all across the world, for the first time that I had seen, a lot of people were like, wait, this is actually really fucked up. And so everyone was, like, marching in solidarity because Black Lives Matter. And so I started organizing Black Lives Matter protests in Australia, which was a complete accident. I didn't realize how big it was going to get. I thought it was just going to be, like, a small group.
Julian
You were just walking down the street, and they were like, it's a black person walking.
Takara
That's her.
Julian
Yeah, that's.
Takara
No, but there's a lot of actually African Americans in Melbourne, which is where I was at the time. So, yeah, I thought it was just Going to be a small group of, like, African Americans showing solidarity because I'm half African American. And then I kind of realized through that that the same thing was happening in Australia. But we have our own indigenous population in Australia called. They're the Aboriginals. And they're also, like, black Australian as well, with a capital B, just so everyone knows. But they also got arrested and beaten and, like, killed by the police at, like, alarming rates compared to white people, considering they wiped most of the indigenous people out. So the. The rates of people in jail were, like, so disproportionate.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
So then we ended up, like, protesting for that as well. But through that, the proud boys found me. The Australian proud boys found me.
Julian
Such, like, a nasty knockoff of the American.
Takara
I know.
Julian
Australian proud boys. I also just wouldn't take them seriously.
Takara
They're so cringe. I'm like, you guys don't have anything better to do?
Julian
Like, you're also anti black in a country that legit has like 10 black people. Like, just get over. Just take a different street. Like, walk around.
Takara
We're not gonna replace you.
Julian
Yeah, you got it, bro. The whole island is yours. Like, you're fucking fine, dude.
Takara
But yeah, so they started, like, posting my photos and stuff and, like, posting my home address and stuff and, like, my mom's home address. I got docs by the Australian proud boys on this website called Chimpania that I showed you.
Julian
Wait, sorry, what was the name of the website?
Takara
Chimpania. Yeah, it's not up anymore. They posted, like, someone's child on there. And that woman was able to get the website taken down. But, like, my dad went to the FBI to try and get it taken down, and there's nothing they could do because it was Australian anyways. It was hectic. And I had gone out one night in Melbourne to this place called Revolver Upstairs, which I'm sure all the Australians watching will know. It's. It's a club as well, I'll say. But I'd gone home that night and there was just a group of guys who. I mean, I think they were white, they were all wearing balaclavas, just standing outside my apartment building. And I was a little tipsy, so I was paranoid. So paranoid. And I went inside and called my mom. I was like, mom, I'm scared. Like, there's these people outside. What do I do? And she was like, pack your stuff up. Just the essentials. We'll sort everything else out later. Just come home. So I lived eight hours away from where? From Melbourne And I just drove straight home that same night. And I was on a flight to America the next week because I was so scared. I'd never been docs before, and the. The feeling of that, it's just like uncontrollable shaking and looking over my back. I was just. I actually thought I was gonna get, like, motored, so.
Julian
Jesus Christ. So you. You leave. You come here. But is it like you said you always wanted to come to America, but I'm sure it wasn't like, under those circumstances. Yeah. So it's like. What the. So now it's like my home isn't even really a home anymore because I kind of got push to a point of breaking point where I had to get the. Out of there.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
And you said you haven't been back since?
Takara
No, I. I wanted to go back in 2020 and then covet happened and they weren't letting anyone back out, so I was like, I'm not going back there. I'll stay in America.
Julian
Did cover hit Australia bad or no?
Takara
Yeah, it hit. It wasn't as bad because they really, like, shut the country down.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
And people kind of just like, respected each other and wore mosques and isolated and I mean, I think over here it was super, like, freedom and like, you can't tell us what to do. And a bunch of people died. So, I mean. And honestly, not enough, to be honest. No, not the ones that should have. Yeah, yeah. There's a couple people.
Julian
I've said this. I went to Coney island the summer or two after Covid when was open. I wasn't like, breaking a rule. Beach was packed. It was just disgusting. I was. I'd never been there. I took my biked out there with a friend of mine, and we got there as soon as I got off my bike. I was like. Like Kova didn't do enough. This is awful. It was awful. It sucked. We were there. It was like an hour ride to get out there around there. And then I was like, let's just go back. Yeah, we got an ice cream and it's just. It was terror. It was like the shits. It was disgusting. It was like, not fun.
Takara
It was Carney Island. It's New York, right?
Julian
Yeah, it's in New York.
Takara
Is that near Long Island? Yeah, yeah, the one with the.
Julian
There's a Ferris wheel.
Takara
The former Statue of Liberty.
Julian
Is it the former. There's no new one.
Takara
The French are taking it back, so.
Julian
Yeah, right.
Takara
That's yourselves. You don't deserve it anymore.
Julian
Did they. Is that a Real. I read that. Or I saw that they were talking about there. There's no way. They can't.
Takara
I don't know how they even got it here. I'm not gonna.
Julian
Well, it was a gift.
Takara
Yeah, but it's so heavy. Like, what was it? A crane.
Julian
Oh, you're saying how they physically got it here?
Takara
How physically get.
Julian
I'm sure slingshot. No, they. It was most likely. Well, I'm trying to think. It was either made by someone French that was in the States, or they took a Boated it.
Takara
Interesting.
Julian
Threw it on a cargo ship. Yeah.
Takara
Yeah. I never thought about that before. I mean.
Julian
Yeah, but. Yeah, I mean, well, you stepped. So you've come here, but you've stepped into, like, I guess, political abis. Activism in America now. So how's that? Is it better? Worse?
Takara
I mean, yeah, there's definitely more people out here that seem to have a good head on their shoulders. And I think in America, because you guys had the Civil Rights Movement, you had Jim Crow and all of that, you had the Million Man March. You know, you have all these marches and stuff. I feel like, unfortunately, the way the government is right now, like, the crazies have taken over. Like the. The. What would you call them? White supremacists. They've all taken over. But especially when I moved here, I think it was Trump's first presidency, which I did not get to vote, unfortunately, because I would not have voted for him. But.
Julian
Yeah, you for. Okay, well, dialed that. You've come here right. When you first moved here. 9 11. Happens.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Second time you move here, Trump becomes the president. You got to go back to. You got to go back to.
Takara
I think I'm.
Julian
You're the problem. Australia is the problem. Wait, quick, quick sidestep. It was broken down into 350 individual pieces, packed in 214 shipping crates, and did the transatlantic boat ride on June 17, 1885, and was brought to the island and built there. Yeah.
Takara
I don't know where. So it's not Coney Island.
Julian
No, no. The Statue of Liberty is its own. It's on Ellis Island.
Takara
Gotcha.
Julian
Yeah, it's, like, off Brooklyn in between. She definitely is. Her arm's got to be exhausted.
Takara
I mean.
Julian
Yeah. Okay, so stepping into the political sphere here. I know you, obviously. I saw your phone case when we met yesterday, which was. What was.
Takara
Freedom for Palestine.
Julian
Freedom for Palestine. So. Yeah. Have you been vocal about.
Takara
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I. I'll admit I wasn't too familiar with the situation before. Like, I'd heard Of Palestine. I'd heard of Israel, but I didn't really understand the context because it had never been taught to me before. Like, you don't. I didn't even know anything about Israel, to be honest. I thought it was always there. I don't know how much I could say here because it wasn't always that.
Julian
You could say literally anything you want. I'm a Lebanese.
Takara
I don't know.
Julian
I mean, it was like, in college and, like, growing up in the States, it was just a matter of, like, it's like, they're us, get over it kind of thing. And it wasn't like. It was just like, you know, the Holocaust happened. I felt like I learned more about the Holocaust than it about slavery, but it was like the Holocaust happened. This is awful. Here's all these shoes. So many people died. Like, they're. They're gonna be good for life because of our relationship with them.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Which I was like, okay.
Takara
Even though they wouldn't take them in America, so they sent them to Palestine. But I feel like I. I, yeah, obviously knew about the Holocaust and stuff, which was horrible, and you never want to see that happen again. And then once I realized what was happening, and then October 7th happened, and I was like, oh, this is, like, devastating, obviously, like, all these people. And then I was like, well, why did this happen? And then I looked at the history, and I learned about the nakba. I learned about, you know, the fact that America and England wouldn't take these Jewish people. So they sent. They basically stole Palestine and sent them to Palestine. And then all these people were displaced. They were killed. And for me, the only thing I had ever really learned after learning about the Holocaust was that it was just, like, empty land that was there. Like, I didn't really think too much of it because I. Yeah, I don't know why. I just know when someone doesn't teach you something, you just don't know that that's a thing. So eventually, once I learned, I was like, this is exactly what happened to the Jewish people, though. So it's the same. And I know it's. It's obviously not all Jewish people that are that think this way. It's likeness, and it's the government that's in power right now. So I just, like. I think, find it really disgusting that they're using Judaism to enact a second Holocaust on a different group of people, because I thought never again meant never again to anybody.
Julian
It's interesting that TikTok, I guess TikTok mostly in particular, where like media and journalism was so controlled and there's like five major news outlets will tell you what the fuck you need to hear and go on about your life.
Takara
Sensationalize it as well.
Julian
Yeah, that part. So now obviously people are in, in Gaza and they're filming it, creating tiktoks, becoming street journalists overnight, like, or activists in their own right. Just people living there too. People that don't want to like, assume role as like a face or a voice of a movement, but they're just like, yo, I live here. This is what's happening. And I forget where I was going with this, but I was gonna say like, you're. You use Tick Tock, like for basically to launch your whole.
Takara
Yeah, like Tick Tock and Instagram. Yeah, yeah. I was definitely getting different information from Tick Tock that I was getting from Instagram until Tick Tock got taken away.
Julian
New Tick Tock.
Takara
I was like, this is different. Somebody's cooked here. Yeah, yeah. I learned a lot from Tick Tock actually in that I think the thing that I've noticed is like people will receive information and then not do any research of their own on it. So I would, I would hear these people speak about like, yeah, the nakba, about like what happened when Jewish people were forced out of Germany after the Holocaust. And I would be like, oh, well, why didn't they come to America? Or why didn't they go to England? So I would do my own research as well and I formed my own opinion, which I think a lot of people should do. But I, I know there's a lot of trauma wrapped up in the way that a lot of people think. And there's I guess, like a journey of unbrainwashing that a lot of people need to go through.
Julian
Well, so that's what I want to kind of. I guess what I was kind of going through is like a lot of it is. I think it's the, the difficulty comes with realizing that what we were taught or what we were sold for so many years just wasn't in fact the truth of them. And I don't even want to keep it about the. This. Yeah, eventually also, like currently like Speed's running around China and he's like, you know Speed.
Takara
Yeah, yeah.
Julian
And he's currently like unraveling and like untethering how the propaganda machine of how we've vilified and made them look like non human and they're all robots.
Takara
And then I got on Red Note and I was like, they're just like.
Julian
You'Re seeing him like high fiving people doing push ups in the street, like celebrating, dancing this like Chinese dudes playing like the saxophone and speeds like, like John and he's like hanging in China's like championing him. I was like, thank you for seeing us as people.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
And like that. But it's like people like look at speed undoing all the propaganda we've been told for ever.
Takara
I think it's propaganda. I really thought America had like the best intentions of like freedom or whatever. I mean, I was wrong. But no, I, I'll say this and then we can move on to the next subject is I used to. I grew up with a lot of Jewish people and I really, really wanted to be Jewish because I saw that community, that's the only kind of community that I had besides like Mormons. But that's another story.
Julian
Wait, in Australia, In Australia there's a lot of. In Mormons and Jewish people.
Takara
Yeah, there's a lot. It's. It's actually a lot of the Mormons are like islander, like Samoan or from New Zealand, which is interesting. But you know, there's missionaries. It's a whole other story. But I really wanted to be Jewish because I heard about birthright, where they send you back to Israel and all this stuff.
Julian
I just want.
Takara
That's so nice.
Julian
That's on a free vacation, to be honest.
Takara
Literally. And I was like, oh yeah, beautiful. But then I realized what birthright actually was. And it was. They were having people settle there and steal people's houses and stuff. And I was just like, wow, I was brainwashed as I really wanted to be a part of that community. I thought that that was like in incredible that these people had been through so much and now they're like letting you go back home for free to like belong. And then I realized that that actually belongs to the Palestinians.
Julian
Well, I know there's like many hopes of what birthright comes with it, but I know like some of my friends have done it. It's like, I guess they say like, you know, the hope is at least from their parents was like that they go there, meet a girl, fall in love and then like continue. Because the whole thing is about continuing the bloodline.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Through the matriarchy. So.
Takara
Yeah. Interesting. I just, yeah. Realizing what it actually was, I was just like, damn, they got me. The Facebook ads got me because I was seeing the ads on Facebook. So I'm just like, ads for birthright on Birthright. Yeah, it was like, have a free trip back home. And I'm like, Should I convert someone just like, h. I know that's what that sounds like.
Julian
God damn.
Takara
But, yeah.
Julian
Okay, cool. All right, well, let's. Let's get into your. Your. Yeah. Your content creation and music career.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Yeah. You're. How is it, like, you're to have this whole coffee thing that. That's, like, obviously working extremely well, and then you have people that have, you know, hijacked it. White guys.
Takara
So many people. That guy's the worst one because he's, like, just so annoying. Haters. Base. But I. I was making music, like, for ages before that. I started making music properly in Chicago, and then when I was working in Chicago, I was bartending, and then covert happened, so I became unemployed, and I was getting free government money, which isn't free. We pay taxes for that. I'm pretty sure. I don't know how it all works out. Chunks. Very confusing with the stuff he does. But. So I moved to Los Angeles through covert because my sister was here. And then after 14 months being unemployed, the first job that would take me was a cafe. So I learned how to make coffee. And I was dating this guy at the time, and I had made one of the coffee reels to send to him. Just a little flirty.
Julian
And what was that first message?
Takara
It was, you have a fat ass. I'm pretty sure fat pH, though. And then he was like, you should post this on Instagram. So I did. And then we kind of just watched, like, I was at work the whole day, and we watched the numbers go up and up. I think it's at, like, 27 million right now.
Julian
Oh. So the first one was like, but.
Takara
I can't scroll all the way back when my app crashes. Damn, there's so many. I've been doing it for, like, three years now. But, yeah, so I started doing that, and then after. It obviously took off as a bit of a trend, and then everyone started doing it. I. I think Instagram actually stopped paying people, like, in the creator program because it became, like, such a thing that it was, like, considered a static message. So they stopped paying people for it. So I was like, all right, everyone's doing it now. How can I capitalize? Because I obviously can't make money from this. Really. Now everyone's doing it. So I. That's when I made my song coffee to put behind it, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna, like, make this song trend using these, because so many people send them to other people.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
So I switch it up. Now it's just all my music. But I'm sure I could get a lot more views if I used actual trending sounds, but, you know, I.
Julian
You got to promote yourself.
Takara
Yeah, I also, like, when am I going to make coffee forever? No. Maybe that white guy will. He doesn't have a personality, but he's got my personality. Actually.
Julian
You're messaging that. You write on them like, is. It's all you off the top. Like, is it. You wake up in the morning and you're like, this is what I'm saying. Or what? It's.
Takara
Usually I have a notes app in my phone and it'll be like, one of my friends will say something or I'll say something. Sometimes I'll see like a meme or something and I'm like, oh, this is like, really funny. Or sometimes it's, you know, I'm sending subliminal messages to, like, whoever I'm dating at the time.
Julian
Like, you have tolerate people all the time on that.
Takara
It's. It's annoying now, though, because when I do try and date, like, they actually think it's about them and they, like, get super sensitive. No, bitch, it's not about you. It's about my career. But yeah, it's definitely interesting the way that that took off and I'm not used to getting. Well, I wasn't used to getting, like, recognized on the street. And now everyone comes up like, are you this girl? And it's like turning the coffee. It's like that thing. Or like, especially at south by Southwest, I'm like, I'm there for music, obviously, but people know me from coffee. So it's been interesting because I started making music first to like, switch over from the coffee to the music. And it's. I can see like the switch happening. I also kind of separated the coffee onto a separate page.
Julian
Very smart, by the way.
Takara
Thank you. My friend told me to do it. My friend Colin told me to do it. Shut up.
Julian
Also, just like, better opportunities for branding. Like, it just makes so much more sense. You basically, it's like two separate businesses.
Takara
I also just know, like, some. A lot of people followed me just for the coffee. And like, now I'm posting more music content, which might not be what everyone's into. So I gave people some options. Really. I also thought I was about to lose my main account because I was posting so much about Free Palestine that I thought they were going to take my account.
Julian
Do you got a check or like a shadow ban or anything?
Takara
I suspended for like eight months, like when it first started because I was just posting so Much. And they were like, shutting down accounts. But yeah, I had to dial it back a bit. After eight months, they let me start, like, posting again. So, yeah, I could still post reels. I couldn't go live. I couldn't, like, tag people. I couldn't be found. So, yeah, Shadow Band.
Julian
Wow. And then when they came back, they said, your first coffee has to be thank you, Mark Zucker. He says thank you. When you turn it, it says Zuck on the back. Yeah, yeah. Thanks, dad.
Takara
I've done a few about those guys. About, like, I think I posted one the other day that was like, get off the couch, you're not J.D. vance or something. It's very divisive. You usually find just like all these MAGA people in the comments. And I'm just like, guys, it's just a joke.
Julian
Is there an opportunity to have, like, a cameo presence of that, like, you sending, like, people say, hey, like, it's my friend's, you know, bir it or whatever. Like, is that a thing?
Takara
I used to be on Cameo, actually, but it just. There was so many people trying to get them. And I make them when I have a coffee in the morning. So I would have been standing there, like, all day. What a waste of coffee. But sometimes people will message me in my DMs and be like, oh, can you do this? And I'll just do it. And like, they don't have to pay me, but. But they should.
Julian
But if you can subscribe to my.
Takara
Only Fans, literally speaking of.
Julian
How about. Yeah, yeah. So Segue Talking links and bios. You have. You have an Only Fans account. But it's. But I think the way you're using it is very smart. And you're using the.
Takara
The way it was intended.
Julian
Yeah, well, but you're using the stigma of Only Fans to get people in the door just to then support your music career. Which is awesome.
Takara
I mean, I used to. I. I tried to get on Patreon. Well, I did get on Patreon and no one would subscribe because I also didn't really understand that platform. And it was another thing that people had to subscribe to at that time. So I had a friend at the time that was like, oh, you should, like, try Only Fans. And I also, like, thought of it a certain way. I'm like, oh, everyone's just, like, doing porn on there, which they're not. There's actually, like, there's ceramicists on there. There's chefs on there. But yeah, so I got on Only Fans. And as soon as I got on, like, immediately. People started subscribing but had nothing on there to, like, show. So I. Yeah, I have this series called Takara tv. Just like a little docu series that I do because I'm a narcissist, but I like, I'll post episodes there, like months early, like, in real time. I'm posting like a video about what I'm doing today. Like, I posted one this morning. I'm like, I'm going to do a podcast today. He's gonna be on my Only Fans now get that BG content. What do they say? It's. They say, yeah, Boygirl content.
Julian
Is that what. I don't know any. Only fan terms. Arms or short.
Takara
I just know that one. Really?
Julian
I just pictured you in Only Fans just turning the coffee with your feet.
Takara
People have actually asked me to like, do the coffee things on there, like wearing lingerie, but I just feel like that'll get posted all over the Internet. And I'm not trying to be on the Internet like that. I think the funny thing is, is that.
Julian
But think about how many subscribers you get.
Takara
True. I mean, I see some of these girls making millions of dollars and I'm.
Julian
Like, damn, but aren't you in like the top one or something?
Takara
I think today it was like 1.5. I haven't been on in like, like a few days now because I've been out and about in la. But yeah, no, I. I really am glad that I found that, honestly, and that I didn't let the stigma of it kind of stop me from being on it. Because you can really use it however you want. And I have so much respect for the girls that do use it for porn, because why not? I think people get really upset when they take the power into their own hands and put that behind a paywall. But I'm just like, that's. That's honestly the smartest thing you can do.
Julian
Completely support.
Takara
Otherwise you have to go get a pimp or something. And I'm like, that's dangerous. Girls don't get a pimp.
Julian
How much of the actual people that are subscribed, how much of like you, because you're the one responding and feel like you don't have somebody doing it for you. How much of it's like hacking through the weeds of like, show me, you know, the show some ass or like, whatever, versus people that are like, I genuinely here to support your music career.
Takara
I mean, there's definitely a lot of people that will just subscribe and me, like, send nudes and Then I. I get it.
Julian
It's like 12 on a Tuesday. You're with your family.
Takara
Different times.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
Just dropped his kids off. But, yeah, I feel like a lot of people will ask that kind of stuff. And I'm just. I reply to everybody myself, and I'm just super transparent, and I'm like, hey. Like, I actually don't use this for that.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
I like to get to know people and open up. Like, I mean, it's not like I'm not posting. Like, if I go to the beach, like, I'm gonna post a bikini pic on there and stuff, but it's nothing that I wouldn't post on Instagram. But my dad does not want me showing any skin on Instagram. I get it. He's a little more conservative. We have family watching, so I'm.
Julian
He's okay with that. Living on.
Takara
I mean, he definitely have a scene. I've always been a bit of a black sheep. Like, my family knows what I'm like. Like, I used to be a stripper for, like, six years, and it was like, more burlesque and stuff, but it was like, you don't know that when you're not the one doing it. Like, I also had my own ideas of what it was before I started doing it, and it was just a good time.
Julian
You never thought of. Because, again, like, the art. Burlesque is an art. You never thought of, like, doing that and then throwing that behind.
Takara
I mean, honestly, I just feel like that's so much effort.
Julian
It's a lot. Yeah. It's not.
Takara
You have to, like, make the content. And then I'm already making so much content for music that, I mean, it might be an idea for, like, a music video.
Julian
Yeah. But if that's not where your focus is, like.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Is getting on a pole, like, riding a bike? Like, if you just, like, get back up there, you're gonna.
Takara
I think I'll pick it back up again. I don't know if I have the upper body strength anymore. It's been a minute. But I. I used to love, like, pole dancing and stuff. I just. There was this girl. I can't remember her name now. We're friends, so I should. But she was so flexible. It was honestly something similar to that. She was so flexible, though. And I were just like. I was gonna annoy me because I'm just not gonna remember, and then she's gonna be like, he asked you three.
Julian
Times what's, like, what's. What's. What was your, like, ever? Like, everyone knows, like, MJ's MJ's fade away. The Allen Ivan Cross, Allen Iverson crossover.
Takara
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Julian
What was your. I'm saying basketball terms. Like what was your move like? What was like the, the move like you're like I'm in my bag. This is like watch my foot hit the.
Takara
Oh, I would. So you climb up the pole, you like go upside down. I don't even know how to explain this. You like put one leg around and then the other leg. It's kind of like a spread eagle I guess. And you just like let go with your hands. So it's just, just your legs. Just one leg holding on. Yeah. And luckily I worked the first club I worked in the poll would actually spin. But there's other clubs where the pole did not spin. Like I don't know if you've been a jumbos here. That pole does not spin. Those girls are making themselves spin and it's so painful.
Julian
How do you do they like. Is there like a lotion or an oil?
Takara
Yeah, you can get this stuff that you spray on and it makes you like stickier but sometimes that also just makes it hurt.
Julian
It's like cheating in baseball. It's like, it's like pine tar stripping baseball. Like why is your sink, your sink so far? It's like, well I got pine.
Takara
Cuz you're also wearing fake tan and you're covered in glitter and you probably have like perfume or like lotion on or something. And you're not going to stay on the pole if you're covered in moisturizer.
Julian
That's what I would imagine like the oils and moisturizer, glitter and that would slip. So I, I would picture you go up there like have you. Do you. Did you ever have like an injury? Do you know any girls that had like a serious like you know, fall from the top?
Takara
I've seen not from a poll but there was this girl called Pixie that, that work there and she like the aerial hoop and I've seen that.
Julian
Oh that thing that like fellow ceiling.
Takara
Yeah. And she went down but she was fine. She was. She crushed it.
Julian
She won't remember on Broadway this Spider man production when the spider like they were doing the stuff. That's what I'm picturing video of that there, I think. So that guy got kind of banged up. I hope that they paid him out but.
Takara
Did you ever see in wwe I watch this documentary, I don't actually watch that. And the guy fell from the roof.
Julian
And he like died oh, yeah, you're talking about it. What was that guy's name? Do you know? Reggie.
C
No.
Takara
No.
Julian
Oh, God.
Takara
And then they just kept the show I watched.
Julian
Did you. Are you referring to the Vince McMahon? Doc, did you watch that?
Takara
That's what I watched.
Julian
Yeah. So wrestler crazy that his, like, wife.
Takara
Or whatever is, like, the head of the Department of Education now?
Julian
Yeah, that makes complete sense. Owen. Owen. It was Owen hart. He fell 78ft from the rafters.
Takara
You can't survive.
Julian
And he died on national television.
Takara
And then they kept the show going and they.
Julian
Yeah.
Takara
I mean, so far, capitalism.
Julian
Oh, yeah. Okay. He's from Kansas city. Died at 34. He's from K. Oh, no, he was Canadian. He died in Kansas. It's a shitty place to die. Sorry.
Takara
Yeah, I die in New York or la.
Julian
Yeah. I mean, hit a coast. I don't know. Not the floor, so. Well, that Liam kid, that was Spain. That's kind of cool.
Takara
What's that?
Julian
The One Direction guy. Oh.
Takara
Oh, Rip.
Julian
In Spain.
Takara
Was it in Spain? I think it was in a hotel.
Julian
Argentina.
Takara
That was so sad.
Julian
What did you like when you were younger? Was. Who was your. Did you have, like, the boy band fangirl phase? Bieber. Like, what was your.
Takara
You know, this is. I was on K Pop before K pop was what it is now. And I used to get bullied so hard for that. There was a band called Dongbang Shingi, which was tvxq, which was another name for them, or, like, one time, which was, like, the og, like, K Pop boy band back in the day. And I was like, on that so hard. I think I was, like, 10 years old. And I would have their posters on my wall, and everyone's like, takara loves Asians. I'm like, okay, first of all, what's wrong with that? But they would bully me so hard for it. And then I started seeing, like, the switchover when it was like, girls generation, like, SHINee. All these people. And now we obviously have, like, Big Bang. We have. I'm gonna get butchered for not remembering their name. What's that one? Boy band bts. Bts? Yeah.
Julian
And blackpink. I. I love. Are you watching White Lotus with Jenny?
Takara
Yes. I love Lisa.
Julian
Lisa is so good. She's also. Oh, she's stunning. But she plays, like, such a cute girl because I've seen her, like, on Instagram, like, oh, I know. This girl's huge. She's gorgeous and, like, sexy and fierce on, like, the Louis V. Louis Vuitton campaigns. But on the show, she's like this, like, cute little innocent. Yeah, yeah. She's like. Has that range. It's so cool. She's awesome.
Takara
I love all of them. I'm so happy for all of them.
Julian
Who do you think is going to be the killer?
Takara
I think a monkey's gonna get the gun, and then they're all gonna try and stop the monkey from killing someone. Because I can't imagine that.
Julian
I just feel like a literal monkey. Are you saying, like, in an Australian way where they're just, like, a black person?
Takara
Oh, wow.
Julian
I don't know.
Takara
Damn. I'm triggered. Rebecca, is that you? No, I think it's gonna be a monkey. Because I feel like in this show, like, the white people always come out on top and it's like. Like, whoever works at the resort or like, the people.
Julian
Do they come out on top? Literally, a boat full of white people died in the last season.
Takara
Yeah, but, I mean, who died in the first season? I can't remember anybody.
Julian
Whose body was that. That walked at the hotel? Oh, yes. The. The manager of the hotel. He could. The guy that crashed out, he started taking pills. Pills he was stealing.
Takara
All her friends, like, Sydney Sweeney's family and stuff, like, came out kind of on top. And then the sun was the best.
Julian
Story from that first season. He was like, became. He's like, I'm staying here.
Takara
The suns in this season, though, I'm like. Like, this is hard to watch. Like, the brotherhood, they just.
Julian
Each other. Like, that was. That's not. That's not easy watch.
Takara
I mean, it depends on what you're into.
Julian
I saw. It's not even like a spoiler. I mean, there was a scene that next morning, they were in each other's swim trunks. So when they got. Yeah, when they got dressed, they were in each other's.
Takara
That's rough.
Julian
Yeah, because there's a scene of, like, Saxon Schwarzenegger's character putting on his swim trunks, and he's, like, tugging them, like, tight. I was like, why do they focus so much on that? But then if you look at it, when that happened. Yeah, if you look at it, they were in each other's. Yeah, I'm looking at this. Tv, xq, guys. You can't. Yeah, but they look like men in black. It's just, like, two guys in suits.
Takara
Well, that might be. So the band actually separated. Those are two of the members. There was four of them.
Julian
Oh, there were four of them.
Takara
I think two of them aren't in the band. Sorry. This burped. That was my coffee swag. Two of them on in the band anymore. I'm not sure what happened, but there's some drama.
Julian
They might have to. I mean, don't they all have to, like, enlist?
Takara
But I would just like to put on the record that I was on the K pop train before everybody else was. When I was not everybody else. Obviously the Korean aliens knew about it way before I did, but it's their whole thing. So I actually invented K Pop?
Julian
No.
Takara
But yeah, they bullied me for that real hard. And now look who's laughing.
Julian
Now it's that time of the episode. It's time for voicemails. Once again, call me at 877-557SWP to get in contact with me, your intrusive thought therapist. Takari, you ready? It's just rip through a voicemail.
Takara
Okay. All right, let's see what happens.
Julian
I have my little intro song too. Enjoy this. Producers, man.
Takara
He was producers.
Julian
Like, they're from. Where are they from? Copenhagen.
Takara
Oh. Oh, yeah.
Julian
Made a song. It's great. Anyway.
C
Hey, what's good, Julian? This your boy? Too Risky. Representing the dirty South, Louisiana. Look, I've been watching the content you've been putting out over the years. You know, great content. I support the new journey, new show and whatnot. New pod. So now that's out the way, pretty much. I mean, I've been meaning to do this since like episode one, but here I am. What I need that. My advice is I kind of want to start this over now, but screw it. I'm gonna try to do this in one take. All right? So pretty much, you know, I just recently. My girl recently, like, you know, separated from me, you know, and it kind of sucked. And she actually, you know, gave me some insight of what. What the issue was. And pretty much. And it's actually been a recurring issue. I've had some other relationships as well. Like in hindsight, like, I'm in my late 20s and it made me do some self reflection into my early twenties. Like women I was involved with. And basically, you know, the recent girl, she pretty much said like, long story short, she basically was saying I couldn't control my sexual urges. And by that she was saying, that's why I'm calling it. But she basically was saying, like, I was like overly sexual and I guess I made her feel like all I wanted was sex, I guess. And which isn't the case. Like, you know, when I'm with a girl, like, you know, I. You know, I like to be intimate with them. And unfortunately, what I had to learn, she Gave me, like, one of those pity phone calls, like, let Drake take care. I hit her one of those phone calls where, you know, I was just trying to, you know, like, look, I just need you to talk to me. I just need to hear you. And she gave me a phone call right now a couple weeks back, and I told her, like, I learned from all of that that, you know, intimacy isn't. Because I was taught from when I was younger, for women that, you know, sex equals intimacy. And I know now, as a, you know, full man, that, like, now I know that's not the case. And I hate that those first few partners I had, that that's kind of what I learned from them because they were more experienced than me. And. Yeah, like, I've been sending her paragraphs. I know, I know. Send a paragraph. Calling the phone. She just really don't want too much to do with me at this point. And I guess I just need some advice.
Julian
Wow. I'm glad we played this one.
Takara
I know.
Julian
I. I think I'll just jump. I think every person, especially with a relationship, comes in your life and at a certain time, and you're supposed to take and learn what you can. Whether or not that works out or not.
Takara
Not. Yeah.
Julian
Most cases it doesn't work out.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
So it sounds like in this for him, he learned that, like he said, intimacy isn't just sex. There's far more to loving someone than just them.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
Which I think every kid thinks, like, you learn that at some point, and then there's, like, a whole other swing to it that I could get into. But I think that's what you learn from this one. I don't think she's the person. I think you take these tools and take that on to the next person. I also don't think you just learn it by way of doing it. I think if this is something that you want to take seriously, maybe talk to somebody about it, seek out some form of therapy to just, like, really? Because, again, we were talking about, like, rewiring our brains earlier. Like, you have to unlearn bad habits and untrain yourself that. It's like, I'm attracted to her. I only want to. My only way of displaying that is by fucking her and, like, plowing her. It's like, well, it's not. That's not how it has to be.
Takara
Yeah. I think also, just from a woman's perspective, what he was saying of, like. Like, intimacy doesn't always mean sex. I think, especially from a woman's perspective, if I feel like Someone is just wanting to have sex with me. It makes me feel like a bit of an object. And I'm not saying that he was treating her like an object or anything, but yeah, from a woman's perspective, there's so much more that goes into being intimate. Whether that is like, you know, different love languages, whether that's words of affirmation, whether that's just quality time spent. Like, I don't think you have to have sex to be intimate. It's definitely a part of it if two people really love each other, like the birds and the bees. But yeah, learning. I feel like it's nice that she explain that to him. And so I think all you can really do is like, he's obviously a bit upset if he's sending paragraphs, which I learned my lesson, do not send paragraphs. You don't need to explain yourself too much, but definitely listen to what the other person is saying. Just take what you've learned from this person and try to adapt next time and just do better next time. And it's definitely a learning experience. I feel like I've been in situations over and over again where I'm like, this thing's happening again. So then you have to kind of work out whether it's something that needs to be changed or whether that's just how you are and you need to find the right fit because there's definitely a lot of women that do love sex. But yeah, there's so much more that comes with being intimate than just sex. Women don't really want to feel like that's what they're being used for. So you at least pretend that that's not what you're using them for. You know what I mean? What's your lie to me?
Julian
What's your love language?
Takara
I think words of affirmation. I always want the other person to feel like they're cared about, they're being thought about. Not so much where I'm like sending them messages every day, 10 minutes, like, what are you doing? I'm doing this right now. But like, just like, hey, I'm thinking about you. And then I go on with my day because I'm a busy girl and I would hope that they're busy as well.
Julian
I've never been the all day texter because it kind of ruins the. If you come home, say, even if you don't live together, but if you're spending the night together, you have a date or whatever, it's like, what the are we going to talk about? If I've Been talking to you all day.
Takara
I also like to get to know. I think in this age of social media and dating apps, we're all, like, asking 20 questions before we've even, like, actually spoken to the person and, like, face to face. So I prefer to not really text too much about what's going on. Like, even asking about their family and stuff. Like, I want to do that face to face, which means I want to spend quality time with you. But, yeah, if we're just having sex, I'm not really going to be able to ask those questions. I mean, I don't. I don't know if I'd want to ask about your family while you're inside of me, but I don't know. Whatever.
Julian
Oh, God.
Takara
She's a lovely woman right there. God, it's like those brothers from White Lotus again.
Julian
Yeah. Damn. I. I feel homie, though. But, like, this is. I think this is what maturing is. Like, I. I've gone through this phase, and I'm in, like, I've gone through a phase two of, like, I've been so desensitized to sex, where sex has gotten to a point where it means, like, it's beneath intimacy. It means nothing to me.
Takara
Yeah. That's how I feel.
Julian
The least sexual thing I can do with someone is probably them. Whereas, like, if we're, you know, going to dinner, like, hanging out or, like, doing something meaningful, like going to the museum with someone is more intimate for me than them.
Takara
Yeah.
Julian
So I've gone this phase of, like, where I've. If I've fallen for someone or care deeply about them, I actually don't want to have sex with them because I look at it as, like. Like I'm degrading you. Even if it's like. I'm not saying, like, sloppy, wild, but it's like, even just by being physical in a sexual way with you makes me feel like I'm doing you dirty. It's like a. Such a weird flip really relates to him.
Takara
But I actually try to put off having sex for as long as possible to see if they stay interested, because I feel like sometimes when you just give it to them, that's all they wanted. And then you realize that and you're like, I shouldn't have done that.
Julian
Yeah, just wait to see if.
Takara
They always keep trying to get to know me, and they usually don't. So. Yeah, I haven't had sex in, like, a year now, and that's my choice. But that's just. That's why, you know, I feel like, there's other ways to get to know someone and be intimate, and that is quality time and stuff like that, and just showing that you care. Like, I think people definitely have their own urges and stuff, but you need to be receptive to how the other person's feeling at the same time. So you live and you learn.
Julian
You live and you learn.
Takara
Take that experience into the next one. And I feel like it's so cheesy to say, like, time heals all wounds, but it definitely stops hurting eventually. And I feel like if you're sending paragraphs, you're hurting.
Julian
What do they say? They say per relationship, you get the allotted time is half the length of the relationship to get over that relationship. I don't know that there's, like, any signs to that, but I know that that's like the general.
Takara
Yeah, it's.
Julian
If you're in, like, a six month thing, you get three months, you get the. Over it.
Takara
I was in an on and off situation for two and a half years, so I don't know how that works. Oh, I feel like there's some gaps in there.
Julian
Yeah. I think you get double the time to get over. Yeah.
Takara
Maybe cobwebs forever.
Julian
All right, well, I. Let's. Let's wrap because this was incredible. Thank you so much for doing this. This is the beauty of going to a music festival and meeting new friends. And now we're in la. Thank you, everybody, for tuning in. If you're listening to this, I am back in New York. If my plane landed safely. If not, nice knowing you.
Takara
Rip. Yeah. Sit at the back of the plane. It's the safest part of the plan, everybody.
Julian
Yeah, for real. They say, like, now, like, you know, obviously the luxury seats and all that shit's up front, but, like, when I.
Takara
Walk past first class now, I'm like, you guys are idiots. I'm gonna survive.
Julian
Yeah. If you're going down, that's nose first. There goes all your Rolex. Can't save your life.
Takara
Put my nose up at them now. Like, starts to suck, you guys.
Julian
All right, guys, thank you so much. I. I love you. Appreciate you. And I'll talk to you next week. I will be in Dreamville next weekend, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to talk about that. So.
Takara
Nothing wrong with the.
Julian
Nothing wrong with the. Nothing wrong with the.
Takara
It.
Podcast Summary: "Something Wrong With The Podcast" Episode #11 - "Fleeing Australia, Viral Success & Only Fans (feat. Takara)"
Host: Julian Delgado
Guest: Takara
Release Date: April 1, 2025
Duration: Approximately 60 minutes
Location: Live from Los Angeles
Julian Delgado welcomes listeners to the 11th episode of "Something Wrong With The Podcast," introducing Takara as the first female and only the second on-camera guest on the show. He highlights Takara’s multifaceted background as a singer, songwriter, barista, activist, content creator, and OnlyFans model.
Notable Quote:
Julian [00:00]: "I have the first female guest, only the second on camera guest ever on my show today by way of Australia."
Takara shares her diverse upbringing, being of mixed heritage with an American father and Australian mother. She recounts moving from Australia to the United States in the late 1990s, just before the September 11 attacks, and briefly living in Fairfax, Virginia.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [03:10]: "Growing up in Australia, we’re like outside all the time just playing. It’s safer there, I would say."
Julian [03:30]: "Timing. Fireworks."
Takara discusses the acute awareness of her identity as a person of color upon returning to Australia after spending her early childhood in the U.S. She describes facing overt racism in Adelaide, including racial slurs and discriminatory behaviors, which starkly contrasted with her earlier experiences in the diverse environment of the United States.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [05:15]: "I didn’t realize that I was a person of color before I moved back to Australia because I didn’t even, like, I wasn’t aware that, like, people were different colors or different ethnicities."
Julian [05:53]: "I mean, isn’t that just, like, universal across the..."
Takara [06:46]: "It's super, like, casual. Like, someone will just... make racist comments without thinking."
Upon moving to the U.S., Takara felt a strong sense of belonging, contrasting her experiences in Australia. She highlights how in Chicago, she didn’t feel "othered" and was able to blend into the diverse community seamlessly.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [10:23]: "In Chicago, I just felt welcomed, and I felt that I just fit in automatically."
Julian [12:08]: "How about the accent side of things? When coming here, has that played to your advantage or disadvantage?"
Takara narrates her involvement in organizing Black Lives Matter protests in Australia following global events like the deaths of Philando Castile and Ahmaud Aubrey. She emphasizes the challenges faced by Black Australians and indigenous populations, highlighting systemic racism and police brutality.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [19:15]: "Black Lives Matter protests in Australia... And the Aboriginals also got arrested and beaten and killed by the police at alarming rates compared to white people."
Julian [24:58]: "Stepping into the political sphere here. I know you, obviously... How’s that? Is it better? Worse?"
Takara details the harassment she faced from Australian Proud Boys, including doxxing and threats against her and her family. This hostile environment compelled her to leave Australia and move permanently to the United States.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [20:33]: "The Australian Proud Boys found me... They started posting my photos and home address."
Julian [22:43]: "Now, it’s like my home isn’t even really a home anymore because I had to get out."
Takara explains how her coffee-related Instagram Reels went viral, initially created as flirty messages to her then-boyfriend. The overwhelming success led her to monetize her content effectively, though she faced challenges with Instagram’s creator program.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [34:13]: "I made this song 'Coffee' to put behind it, and I was like, I’m gonna make this song trend using these, because so many people send them to other people."
Julian [37:13]: "Do you have a cameo presence of that, like, you sending, like, people say, hey, like, it’s my friend’s OnlyFans or whatever?"
Transitioning from coffee content, Takara strategically used OnlyFans to support her music career. She created a docu-series titled "Takara TV," offering exclusive content to her subscribers, thereby bypassing traditional monetization hurdles on platforms like Instagram.
Notable Quotes:
Takara [38:46]: "I have this series called Takara TV. Just like a little docu-series that I do because I’m a narcissist, but I like, I’ll post episodes there, like months early."
Julian [38:55]: "How about, yeah, yeah. So segue talking links and bios. You have an OnlyFans account... You’re using the stigma of OnlyFans to get people in the door just to then support your music career, which is awesome."
Both Julian and Takara delve into personal growth, particularly regarding intimacy and relationships. They discuss the importance of understanding that intimacy extends beyond physical relationships and the need for self-reflection and learning from past experiences.
Notable Quotes:
Julian [53:00]: "I think I’ll just jump. I think every person, especially with a relationship, comes in your life and at a certain time... you take what you can."
Takara [55:29]: "I think words of affirmation. I always want the other person to feel like they’re cared about, they’re being thought about."
In the concluding segment, Julian addresses a voicemail from a listener named Too Risky, who seeks advice on handling relationship issues related to intimacy and controlling sexual urges. Both Julian and Takara provide thoughtful responses, emphasizing the importance of communication, self-awareness, and seeking professional help when needed.
Notable Quotes:
Julian [53:24]: "Whether or not that works out or not."
Takara [55:51]: "I think also, just from a woman’s perspective... there’s so much more that comes with being intimate than just sex."
Julian and Takara wrap up the episode with humorous exchanges about flying safely and future plans, including Julian's upcoming attendance at Dreamville.
Notable Quotes:
Julian [59:12]: "If my plane landed safely. If not, nice knowing you."
Takara [59:35]: "Nothing wrong with the..."
Cultural Identity and Racism: Takara’s experiences highlight the stark differences in racial dynamics between Australia and the United States, emphasizing systemic racism and the personal impact it can have.
Activism and Social Justice: Her active role in Black Lives Matter protests showcases the global resonance of social justice movements and the challenges faced by activists in hostile environments.
Content Creation and Monetization: Takara’s journey from viral coffee-related content to leveraging OnlyFans for her music career illustrates innovative approaches to digital entrepreneurship amidst platform challenges.
Personal Growth and Relationships: The discussion on intimacy underscores the importance of emotional connection and self-awareness in building meaningful relationships.
Navigating Harassment: Takara’s experiences with doxxing and threats from extremist groups highlight the dangers faced by public figures and activists, necessitating resilience and strategic relocation for personal safety.
Conclusion:
Episode #11 of "Something Wrong With The Podcast" offers a candid and multifaceted exploration of Takara’s journey from Australia to the United States, delving into themes of racial identity, activism, content creation, and personal growth. Through engaging dialogue and personal anecdotes, Julian and Takara provide listeners with insightful perspectives on navigating cultural challenges and leveraging digital platforms for career advancement.
Call to Action:
Listeners are encouraged to engage with Julian as his "intrusive thought therapist" by calling 877-557-SWWP to leave voicemails for advice and participation in future show segments.