"Adam Sandler Movies" w/ Mary Beth Barone

Summary

Podcast Summary: StraightioLab – “Adam Sandler Movies” w/ Mary Beth Barone

Date: August 11, 2026
Hosts: George Civeris & Sam Taggart
Guest: Mary Beth Barone
Network: Big Money Players & iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of StraightioLab dives into the rich legacy, cultural footprint, and gender-coded aesthetics of Adam Sandler movies. Joined by comedian and writer Mary Beth Barone, hosts George and Sam explore what makes Sandler’s filmography a paragon of “straight culture”—especially as experienced by straight men, their sisters, and the comedians who watched alongside them. The trio navigates the evolution of comedy, the gendered nature of movie genres in the '90s and 2000s, the pitfalls of hot take culture, and the complications of creative perversion and problematic legacy artists.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Gendered World of '90s Comedy

• Mary Beth Barone details her coming-of-age watching Adam Sandler movies in a large, predominantly male household, associating Sandler’s '90s films with straight-boy humor that was also shared with sisters:

  • Adam Sandler films: Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Big Daddy, The Waterboy, Little Nicky, etc.
  • “It’s comedy for straight guys and their sisters.” (43:44, MBB)

• Genre Policing: Comedies were coded “boy movies”; rom-coms as “chick flicks.”

  • Sam: “Comedy in general was just straight boy... Rom com is girl movies and that's chick flick.” (46:38)

2. Adam Sandler Canon: What Qualifies?

• Early films (the “Adam Sandler movie” genre) are defined by a “clownish” male lead, loyal male friendships, and love interests who are real, relatable women (though often underwritten).
• Family & Evolution: With Big Daddy, Sandler brings in a softer side—later continuing with films featuring his actual family.
  • MBB: “He went from strictly clown to I'm gonna be a clown, but I'm actually gonna also have like a kid in the movie, which was really powerful...” (45:05)
• Dramatic Roles vs. Sandler Canon:
  • Uncut Gems and Punch Drunk Love are “starring Adam Sandler,” but not considered canonical Sandler movies in the “straight culture” sense.

3. The Circle of Male Comedians

• Distinction between “Adam Sandler movies” and films starring other male comedians (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Mike Myers)—each representing a different flavor of straight-coded comedy.
• The “tight circle” of friends and recurring comedic actors—particularly Rob Schneider—sparked discussion about loyalty, creative nepotism, and the complications of supporting problematic friends.
  • Sam: “Something keeps happening in this conversation where we'll try to say something bad about any woman actress... That being said, she's amazing.” (49:20)

4. Representation & Problematic Tropes

• The problematic history of early 2000s humor is debated, especially with regard to ableism and “goofy” characters:
  • George: “...Adam Sandler's shtick...is basically kind of playing the character as though he is mentally handicapped.” (55:17)
  • Sam: “50% of comedies are just someone pretending to be autistic.” (56:04)
• The fluidity of playing gay or disabled in comedies—then and now—sparks concerns, referencing I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and the rapidly shifting acceptability of such portrayals.
  • Sam: “Back in the day, if you played a gay character, that could actually hurt your career... And then now it's like, actually, if you play gay and you're not gay, we'll shoot you.” (65:18)

5. Hot Takes, Press Tours, and Critique Culture

• All three discuss the exhaustion of “hot take” culture:
  • Mary Beth: “All my takes... can we look inward a little bit? Enough with the hot takes... it's actually contributing to the devolvement of media and how we consume it.” (34:36)
• The modern press circuit demands recommendations and “spicy” opinions, leading to performative self-branding or disingenuous discourse.

6. Political Tangents & Comedy’s Place in Culture

• Broader issues: the changing perception of gay politicians; why straight men like Jon Ossoff should (or shouldn’t) be “made” gay; and the limited patience for scandal in public office.
• The group riffs on the impossibility of running for office today without skeletons in one’s closet.
  • Mary Beth: “If it seems like I'm gonna lose, I will kill myself.” (30:18, dark humor warning)

7. In Defense of Sandler

• Despite all critiques, the trio admits Sandler’s deep cultural influence, his pivot between silliness and pathos, and his enduring loyalty to his cinematic “squad,” even as some of those relationships become complex or controversial.
  • George: “Adam Sandler is impervious to critique, which we've learned... because we've tried, and we're simply unable to.” (64:26)
• Sandler’s influence on male fashion is briefly touched on as a potential topic for its own episode.

8. Legacy, Perverts, and Good Art

• Closing observations: Reckoning with great art by “problematic” or outright predatory artists. If many historic masterpieces are made by outrageous perverts, how can we (or should we) separate the art from the artist?
  • Mary Beth: “A lot of perverts have made good art. And it's just hard because, like, now I can't talk about Chinatown... I wish that that wasn't the case.” (72:47)
• The group muses about the possibility of losing their own perversions—and thus creative drive—in a world increasingly hostile to risk.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On hot take fatigue:
  • Mary Beth: “Hot take culture has gone too far, and we don't need it right now. It's actually contributing to, like, the devolvement of media and how we consume it.” (34:46)
• On straight culture and comedies:
  • Mary Beth: “It’s comedy for straight guys and their sisters.” (43:44)
• On the “is it an Adam Sandler movie?” debate:
  • Mary Beth: “Uncut Gems? That’s a Safdie Brothers movie... Punch Drunk Love? That’s a Paul Thomas Anderson movie that Adam Sandler was lucky enough to be a part of.” (45:56, 46:02)
• On generational comedy rivalry:
  • George: “To me, when we were growing up, there were Adam Sandler movies, Will Ferrell movies, Ben Stiller movies, and Mike Myers movies.” (53:18)
• On friendship and loyalty:
  • George: “If it wasn't for Adam Sandler, no one would be casting Rob Schneider.” (52:33)
• On problematic humor aging poorly:
  • Sam: “50% of comedies are just someone pretending to be autistic.” (56:04)
• On running for office:
  • Mary Beth: “If it seems like I'm gonna lose, I will kill myself.” (30:18)

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Important Timestamps

• MDNA/Madonna banter: 03:36–06:17
• Introducing Mary Beth: 06:18–07:10
• Who needs a break/island riff: 07:42–10:10
• Hollywood/Britney movie discourse: 12:38–16:29
• On gay politicians & identity: 24:10–27:11
• Dilemmas of press/hot takes culture: 34:32–36:12
• Straight Shooters segment (game): 36:49–39:11
• Adam Sandler movie deep dive begins: 43:06
• Sandler’s legacy & problematic tropes: 55:17–56:39
• Discussion of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: 62:27–63:54
• Riffing on straight guy humor & bits: 67:06–69:25
• End/shoutouts: 77:43–81:06

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Notable Final Shoutouts

• Sam: Shouts out the act of actually fixing your problems instead of just complaining—specifically buying a portable phone charger. (78:21)
• George: Recommends Claire Caracillo’s novel The Responsible Part, highlighting genuine, complex women characters and rare comedic brilliance in contemporary fiction. (79:15)
• Mary Beth: Plugs her Netflix special Galaxy Brain, promising “laugh out loud” funny moments, pretty dresses, and a (possibly sold out) kissing booth at the Galaxy Brain Ball. (80:19)

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The Takeaway

This episode is a vibrant, reflexive examination of Adam Sandler’s cultural impact—not just as lachrymose, baggy-shorts-clad everyman, but as an avatar of both comfort and confusion in straight, mainstream American comedy. The hosts and guest deftly toggle between genuine nostalgia, meta-awareness about the gendered nature of humor, and needed critique of the cringey aspects of their influences. By the end, Sandler stands as a figure “impervious to critique”—not because of immunity, but because he’s so deeply woven into the fabric of their own upbringings and comedic sensibilities. And as always, the serious is perfectly interspersed with jokes and self-deprecation, embodying everything that’s weird, perverse, and endlessly discussable about “straight culture.”

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(End of Summary)

Transcript

[Mary Beth Barone]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[George Taveras]

I love my phone, but not my carrier. What do I do?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, there are 250 reasons to join T Mobile.

[George Taveras]

Like what?

[Mary Beth Barone]

You can keep your phone and your number and T Mobile helps pay it off up to $800 per line.

[Sam Taggart]

So I wouldn't have to buy a new phone?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yep. Plus your plan price stays the same for 5 years on experience plans.

[George Taveras]

Nice.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Find your reason@t mobile.com

[George Taveras]

via virtual prepaid guard card. Typically takes 15 days after rebate. Submission price guarantee on TalkText to 5G data exclusions like Texas and fees apply.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Hey, Portlandia fans, Kerry Brownstein and Fred Armisen here.

[George Taveras]

The dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form.

[Mary Beth Barone]

We're launching Podlandia AO Rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.

[Sam Taggart]

And we'll also be joined by the

[George Taveras]

people who helped bring it all to

[Sam Taggart]

life, guest stars, collaborators and friends, including director Jonathan Krisel, the mayor himself, Kyle

[Mary Beth Barone]

McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it. Here you fully improvised, not just words, but a song about.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I thought you were all going to write a song.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia AO rewatch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sam Taggart]

Hey, this is Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements.

[George Taveras]

We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook every episode. We're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.

[Sam Taggart]

The show is famously super accessible, so

[George Taveras]

you can easily jump into any of

[Sam Taggart]

our 650 episodes and understand what's going on.

[George Taveras]

We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller, Danny McBride, Riz Ahmed, and Mary Steenburgen.

[Sam Taggart]

Listen to Hollywood handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mary Beth Barone]

On Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. Your duolingo is not going to come back to you when a is inside of you.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, no.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[George Taveras]

Hootie hoo. This is George. I'm gonna cut right to the chase, folks. As of Right now, Sam Taggart is halfway through his standup tour. And I, George Severis, am about to start my standup tour. So if you want to see Sam on tour, he has a few dates left. DC, Philly, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Boston. You can go to linktree.com samtaggart and if you wanna see me starting later this month in la, East Hampton, Chicago, Boston, Philly, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and a few more dates that I'm adding soon, you can go to linktree.com georgesaveras that is L, I N K T R-E-E-Com either SamTaggart or George Severes, depending on which one of us you want to see. And I'm going to be honest, some of these dates are selling out, so I would act fast. We cannot wait to see you on the road. We are having so much fun touring. And that's pretty much it. Enjoy the show.

[Sam Taggart]

Podcast starts now. What is up, everyone around the globe? This is Stradiolab.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

And we both feel. George said he feels like he's on mdma. I forget. Because of the Madonna album. What's the real word? Right.

[George Taveras]

The Madonna album is mdna.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Which is not real.

[George Taveras]

Which is. Well, it is real. It's her album.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[George Taveras]

And md, you can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music.

[Sam Taggart]

So the album is invented by Madonna. So it's just sort of.

[George Taveras]

Well, MDMA is interesting because it's like, okay, so obviously there's all these puns. It's mdma, it's mdna, mdna. But then it's also M DNA, like Madonna's DNA.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Whoa.

[George Taveras]

And it's one of those things that obviously, when she thought of it, it's like, well, this is too good not to use. But you actually have to. You have to know, even though it has three meanings, it's still not a good album title. Like, you have to. You have to be able to be like. That was some. That was really funny what I just thought of. But it. But I shouldn't use it.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, it sort of. It gets into you. I'm obviously against focus groups when it comes to your artistic practices.

[George Taveras]

Right.

[Sam Taggart]

But there are some things where you do need, like 10 people to witness it and be like. But legit. Is it good?

[George Taveras]

Yeah. Like the group chat, as they say.

[Sam Taggart]

The group chat. Except, of course, you can't trust any of those vultures. They want to see you fail.

[George Taveras]

Well, can you imagine Madonna's group chat, literally circa 2012, it was just a bunch of gay guys, all of them on mdma, responding being like, yes, you gagged it, bitch.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, this is the hard part. I can't imagine being famous to the point where everyone is not ashamed of you, afraid of you.

[George Taveras]

You know what's want to hear A difficult truth. Uh huh. An Inconvenient truth, as Al Gore once said.

[Sam Taggart]

Uh oh.

[George Taveras]

I believe Madonna needed a straight guy, Stuart Price, to get her back on track because all the gay guys were two yes men. And I think actually that's a genius point.

[Sam Taggart]

I think it could be a genius point, but I think more so Stuart Price, based on not knowing him at all, is a master manipulator.

[George Taveras]

You think he is?

[Sam Taggart]

I think he's sort of like Madonna would say something, she'd be like, hey, I think the album should be called M D N A. And in a theoretical conversation, if he

[George Taveras]

were to have produced that album, which he couldn't have because he has too much taste to produce an album called mdna, but go on.

[Sam Taggart]

So she would be like, I think I'm gonna call it this. And he'd be like, that's a really good idea. However, I'm one. You know what? I'm loving this other word that you mentioned to me at dinner last night.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, she hasn't even mentioned it. It's just something he thought of.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, I think he's. Sometimes I think that type of manipulation is what someone who's famous needs because they need you to say yes, but then you can also flip it and say something new.

[George Taveras]

Flip it and reverse it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Should we bring in our guest?

[George Taveras]

Of course. What's your name again?

[Sam Taggart]

So our guest.

[Mary Beth Barone]

My name is mdna.

[George Taveras]

Oh my God, that is a beautiful name.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I've just been hearing you guys sort of talk about like, its value or not.

[Sam Taggart]

I love your name.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Thanks.

[Sam Taggart]

Can I suggest Mary Beth Barone?

[George Taveras]

Oh, that's a really good idea. And you were talking about that last night. That's one of your other ideas you had for Navy.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I do want to point out one thing, which is that I was invited onto this podcast and I was provided a cup and a straw.

[George Taveras]

Well, there's sparkling water here.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I don't even want it now.

[Sam Taggart]

We asked you four times.

[George Taveras]

But having that, we actually asked you so many times if you could that

[Mary Beth Barone]

out is just funny to me. I was pointing out a funny observation. A straw in a cup, it's just funny. It's just funny that that's out. It's like I didn't even want anything. But now that I see an empty cup, I'm like, maybe I should get.

[George Taveras]

And luckily, we've thought about that so much so that there is literally a sparkling water.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I just like. I like it. I'm saying I like it. It's not an attack. It's not a personal attack.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm just feeling a bit personally attacked.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, you guys need to. It's not personal. I'm sure Madonna would know that. You can't take everything personally.

[George Taveras]

I mean, I do think. Imagine if Madonna did take everything said about her personally. She'd be dead.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't know if we'd still have her definitely on stage.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, completely.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I guess she'd probably be, like, on an island somewhere. And maybe more people should be doing that.

[George Taveras]

Should be going to an island.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Just like. Well, let's take a break.

[George Taveras]

Totally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Maybe we don't need to hear from everyone all the time.

[George Taveras]

What are three people you would send to the big island?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, my gosh. That's such a good question. Who's been sort of, like, too prolific lately? Well, this isn't people that I necessarily don't want to hear from. It's just people I think could use a little bit of a break.

[George Taveras]

I meant to.

[Sam Taggart]

Literally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. Just like a break. So I'm going to go ahead and say the guy that made Wicked.

[George Taveras]

Yes.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Let's just take a tiny little break. Because if you're going to be helming the Britney Spears movie, you need to lock in. You have to lock in.

[Sam Taggart]

You're rested.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You. This. Like, we owe her so much. We've taken so much from her. I think that needs just, like, extra effort, like pen to paper. Let's just, like, spend the time making it. Good. And then I would say the other two people would be Sam Taggart and George Savaris. So I'm sending so not like Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, three gay men to an island. And I'm just going to see what y' all think of what we all get up to. How many different album titles you can come up with for Madonna.

[Sam Taggart]

Control Alt Delete. That'll be an amazing title.

[George Taveras]

That's really good.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, that's really good.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

How has no one made an album called Control Alt Delete?

[Mary Beth Barone]

But you're not serious. I think that is an album.

[George Taveras]

Whose album?

[Sam Taggart]

Wait, who's that?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't know. Isn't it Scissors?

[Sam Taggart]

No, that's Control.

[George Taveras]

That's Control and Scissors. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but to me, that has was always like, a Janet reference. Control.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I don't. Well, that's I'm sure maybe one of

[George Taveras]

the meanings I. Oh, my God. It's now it's MDNA all over again.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, really?

[George Taveras]

Because I think maybe SZA could do a trilogy where it's like Control, then alt, then delete.

[Sam Taggart]

Whoa.

[Mary Beth Barone]

There is box set, an album called Control Alt Delete by the Free the Robot.

[George Taveras]

No one knows that's what I meant.

[Mary Beth Barone]

That was the one I was talking about. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay. About this island. I actually love the idea and it seems unfair that there's not a space that we can just go to when we want to opt out.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think we need. Well, we need more spaces like that. We have. And we have space. We have no communal.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, but I don't want third space. I want, like, heaven. Like, if I want to just like, not pay rent for a year.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Totally. No, that would be amazing. And you get to go somewhere awesome somewhere.

[George Taveras]

And there's.

[Sam Taggart]

And the food is free and like, it's just sort of like, you need it a year.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. So it's like jail Light jail meets

[Sam Taggart]

mental health sanitarium sort of thing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Meets the woods or the beach.

[Mary Beth Barone]

The woods.

[George Taveras]

I'm thinking beach. I don't want to.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, the woods is not, like, relaxing to me. I don't want to, like, forage. I'm not a forager. Is that. I'm sorry if that's surprising. I don't want to forage and I don't want to worry about bears, like, eating my food. So you have to, like, hang it from a tree.

[Sam Taggart]

I do hate that when there's rules in the forest. I'm like, well, who's going to teach me those?

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, do you. Did you guys see Send Help, the movie?

[George Taveras]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

What did you think?

[George Taveras]

I liked it. I loved it.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay, interesting.

[George Taveras]

Did you like it?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Just didn't stick with me. I really liked the first two acts and then the end went a little haywire. I thought it went a little haywire.

[George Taveras]

You want it? Do you feel like you don't like it when women stick up for themselves and are not well behaved? Would you say you believe well behaved women should make more history?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I actually do. I think we need more movies about well behaved women.

[George Taveras]

That's true.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It can't always be about the ones that are behaving badly. Right. But I also just think murder to me in movies is just the line where when you do that, like, I'm kind of. I'm opting out a little bit.

[George Taveras]

Oh, yeah. Because you're like, okay, well, if that's an option, then like, anything could happen. Like, we have to have. We have to work within limits.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, also, it's like, what. Actually something I struggle with with that movie is that she was a very sympathetic character, and I think then she became unsympathetic.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So I was actually following, like, the female's journey in that movie, and I just didn't like where we landed. I feel free to disagree.

[George Taveras]

You know what you're saying? It's like you're saying that the male writer doesn't know how to write women, and that's why he makes the murder. Cause in his mind, he's like, that's what a woman would do. Actually, no, she wouldn't. She would probably listen to an album on her headphones.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Totally. No. Yeah. I mean, she was having a lot of fun on that island before Beyonce showed up. And. Sorry, if it's a spoiler. If you haven't seen it. No, it's available on Prime Video.

[George Taveras]

It has been. It's available for free to all American citizens. If you go on the island.

[Sam Taggart]

Go on the island.

[George Taveras]

Okay, that's interesting. So I do agree about. So John Chu is directing the Britney movie.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, well, that's the rumor.

[George Taveras]

You know what I think? Have you ever seen those Tiktoks where there's a glass that has brown liquid, and then they keep pouring water in it, and it takes a while for the brown liquid to become all clear?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, no, I don't get that on my algorithm.

[George Taveras]

Okay, so this is something. I get this.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Not much brown liquid at all, I would say.

[George Taveras]

So I'm a very. Mine is very brown liquid forward. It's mostly brown liquids of various kinds. And so this is a genre. I've been seeing this for years, and every time it's the same exact thing. And I'm almost like, is this a meme? Or are people, like, thinking they're inventing it every time? But it's literally someone going. And the caption is always the same. Healing takes time. And so you see a brown liquid, you're starting to pour the clear liquid.

[Sam Taggart]

George, you're scaring me.

[George Taveras]

Why?

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I can't wait to hear how this ties back to John Chu.

[George Taveras]

Well, I'll tell you how. I'll tell you how. Here's what's happening on that island. Okay, are you ready?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yep.

[George Taveras]

Oh, two glasses. Pink, green. He's pouring clear water into them so that Wicked can leave his mind and we can have a blank slate for Brittany.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Cause we need to just, like, divorce. He needs to divorce himself from that. That piece, those pieces of art. Because it's just nothing to do with the next story he's going to be telling.

[Sam Taggart]

Here's something that I find complicated about Hollywood.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, go speak on it.

[George Taveras]

So when he is selected, the institutionalized sexual harassment. No.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, and I'm glad that's what I was actually going to bring as my topic today.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's definitely strange.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Institutionalized sexual harassment.

[George Taveras]

Except when it's gay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And it can. It can be gay.

[George Taveras]

It can be gay.

[Sam Taggart]

I've seen it. I've seen it. So when he is chosen to direct the Britney Spears movie, I'm saying, shouldn't we all have a vote?

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's not a democracy, honey.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm like, so did Britney Spears select him? Who's picking this guy?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I do think they are adapting her book from what I understand. So I do think she would have maybe had a say in that. Right?

[George Taveras]

Well, you know, it's a common mistake people make is thinking Britney Spears has

[Mary Beth Barone]

a say in something and say. Yeah, that's such a good point. Well, I guess if she's listening, maybe she could just drop us a line, let us know her involvement.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, thumbs up, thumbs down.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I personally, I think from what I've read online line in the trades is that she is involved.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I'm sure she's involved in like the way that her name will be

[Mary Beth Barone]

at the end and probably in the title, right?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, maybe not.

[George Taveras]

I think the character, the main character will probably be named Britney Spears.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, we'll see. We'll see what John does with it.

[George Taveras]

In that sense, she's going to be involved, right?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, in that sense.

[George Taveras]

Did you read that book?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I did. Cover to cover, yeah.

[George Taveras]

Well, it doesn't take long. It was approximately 110 pages.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Exclusively read celebrity memoirs written by women. But I thought it was great that she had the opportunity to say her piece. And then I do think that's probably what inspired Lena Dunham to write her book is like, I'm gonna speak on it. You should address that. And I don't know if you guys read that book.

[George Taveras]

We did read that, but I read

[Mary Beth Barone]

the whole thing as well. And it wasn't audiobook either.

[George Taveras]

You really love bragging about reading the whole thing.

[Sam Taggart]

You know,

[Mary Beth Barone]

Lena Dunham's book was long.

[Sam Taggart]

That's true though.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Lena Dunham's book was long.

[George Taveras]

I could have done more.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I.

[George Taveras]

Well, obviously, because my. I'm like, I liked everything about it. One complaint. I needed more about the work.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, that's like what I felt when I watched Oppenheimer I wanted three more hours.

[George Taveras]

Not yet. Same.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Kidding.

[George Taveras]

We're huge.

[Sam Taggart]

Oppenheimer.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Three more hours of that movie, I would have been happy.

[George Taveras]

You love Nolan.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Love Nolan.

[George Taveras]

Me too.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Haven't seen the Odyssey yet, though.

[George Taveras]

We haven't either.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm waiting because I want to carve out like a day where I get a dog sitter and I can just go enjoy it and not be stressed. That's going to probably be in August at some point.

[Sam Taggart]

For the listeners at home. It just came out.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. But many, many, many people have seen it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, but they're gonna be hearing this in August.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, so I think I have.

[Sam Taggart]

Fucking losers.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, they're fake fans. No, we're not talking about the Odyssey.

[Mary Beth Barone]

We're not fake fans.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah.

[George Taveras]

I just saw the Prestige on a plane. I've already talked about it.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But God, and that's one of his best.

[George Taveras]

Phenomenal.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's just so good.

[George Taveras]

Although, you know, it must be said the women characters are not as complex

[Sam Taggart]

as it makes sense. I mean, of course not. He's not. He's not.

[George Taveras]

He's a man of everything, you know, I will say love him. Wouldn't pick him to direct the Britney Spears. Oh, wait, you want him to now?

[Sam Taggart]

I want it.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. But then Britney would be played by Christian Bale, shot in imax.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And can I just say, maybe that's not the worst idea.

[George Taveras]

I actually think he would disappear into it.

[Sam Taggart]

This could be so awesome. It's so dark and gritty.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Fan casting of the Britney Spears movie. Christian Bale. Yeah. And this is why we don't get a vote. Sam, by the way, you posed the question, why don't you get a vote? Cause of people like us, we're biased.

[George Taveras]

I actually think this is a really good idea, to be honest, because I think the instinct with the Britney movie will be rightly so as a fan of hers, to give her her flowers, so to speak. But I actually think that will come at the expense of showing the true darkness of her story. Whereas if we had Christian Bale playing her, I think it could actually go there also.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's like Christopher Nolan has this opportunity to write a film. Complex female character.

[Sam Taggart]

It's two birds with one stone.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I just want to say that, like, this could totally reinvent him as a director.

[George Taveras]

People will say, you know, okay, well, then that is a job that could have gone to a female actress. But I think, why not? Why stop there? Make Kevin Federline can be played by

[Mary Beth Barone]

Cate Blanchett as a woman. Exactly. Well, here's the thing with being cast as Britney, Imagine the pressure for a young girl.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So I think Christian Bale is a seasoned actor. He is method. He is. And so I actually think that having a woman in that role would probably be like. It would probably destroy someone.

[George Taveras]

I agree.

[Sam Taggart]

Of course.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Imagine, like. Yeah. It's just. I don't think a young girl would be able to navigate that.

[Sam Taggart]

No.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And come out with, you know, her head held high. So that's just my pitch, I guess. Our pitch.

[Sam Taggart]

Our pitch.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's just good. We have a meeting with the studio next week.

[George Taveras]

Too bad John Chu is on that island and can't give his input. Doing the glasses.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know. It's taking a while, too.

[George Taveras]

It's. Well, healing takes time.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Sending your girl off to college. She's Birdie gets it. You've packed the sheets, the Caddy, the mini fridge. But the one thing you can't stop thinking about is her safety when you're not there. That's why she's Bertie made the College Safety Bundle 3 tools that cover almost every scenario campus throws at her. Birdie 3.0 is her everyday keychain alarm. One pole activates a 130 decibel siren as loud as a jet engine. Birdie disc is a safety light and alarm that clips on hands free for visibility, for late night walks or early morning runs. And Birdie box is her portable door alarm for the dorm door. It mounts in 30 seconds and sounds the instant that door opens. She's Birdie is the safe safety brand trusted by over 4 million women worldwide. Get the college safety bundle by She's Birdie and save big. When you bundle, visit she'sbirdie.com. that's S-H-E-S-B-I-R-I-E.com. this is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week the news gets worse, the world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem. If you come over here to play games, I' ma check you. Okay? If you do some in the news

[George Taveras]

that don't sound good, I'mma play you.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Join Yamaneka Saunders as she breaks down

[George Taveras]

the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You're the problem with Yamaneika.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you know I just found out who Sydney Sweeney was.

[Mary Beth Barone]

New episodes weekly every Wednesday as part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network.

[George Taveras]

If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men do better or do less. So I don't have to do so much.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So join Yamaneika each episode as she answers one question. Who's the problem? I'm Yamanika, and I'm out. Listen to youo're the Problem with yamaneika on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

[George Taveras]

wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mary Beth Barone]

On Solita, we share the messy stories of traveling alone as a woman. Your duolingo is not going to come back to you when a man is inside of you.

[George Taveras]

Oh, no.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm Julie Pinero, and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people, and they were like, you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[George Taveras]

Hey. This is Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook every episode. We're trying to help our guests improve their care by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.

[Sam Taggart]

The show's famously super accessible, so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on.

[George Taveras]

We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller. The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anyway, too, right? What do you think it is now? It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology. Danny McBride, he loves.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, that's fantastic. Fantastic.

[George Taveras]

And you make it on. You make your own.

[Sam Taggart]

That's great.

[George Taveras]

I call him Tarot Reed. It's a good name.

[Sam Taggart]

They're all named after cast members of American Pie.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, I call. I don't. I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Lychee Sobieski. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

I don't think she was an American

[George Taveras]

Pie, but I still haven't looked it up. Haven't looked it up. She was prominent.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Then Mary Steenbergen.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Why are you guys talking to me? Like, did you understand the movie so

[Sam Taggart]

down to me that you think I

[Mary Beth Barone]

don't Understand your little play play game.

[George Taveras]

I just really trying to set you up for success here.

[Sam Taggart]

Listen to Hollywood handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, George, I was going to say those glasses things, you know, it's nice that it has the caption about mental health and healing. However, it does sound like one of those things that' of fetish adjacent.

[George Taveras]

Well, no offense, but you do think everything is fetish adjacent, so.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, what's. Can we define fetish here?

[Sam Taggart]

So it's like there's all these videos online that are like fake cooking videos, for example.

[Mary Beth Barone]

What do you mean?

[Sam Taggart]

Like, it'll be like I'm pouring all the slop on the sink.

[George Taveras]

Oh, yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Now I'm putting all this.

[Mary Beth Barone]

They're fetish to jerk off to.

[Sam Taggart]

To like satisfy something.

[George Taveras]

Fetish doesn't have to be sexual. It can be sort of more like a stimming type thing. You know what I mean? It can be like.

[Mary Beth Barone]

This is the second time you brought up stimming.

[George Taveras]

Is it ASMR fetish content? Yes, sometime.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But I think people are jerking off to that.

[George Taveras]

You think so?

[Sam Taggart]

Sometimes, but I think sometimes people are jerking off to putting like 17 chicken breasts on a counter and smushing them.

[George Taveras]

Well, chicken breasts can be very erotic.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Suddenly I'm really not the Internet that I'm on for sure.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. So what are you getting served?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I get nothing.

[Sam Taggart]

Weird foot stuff. Licking feet, Smelling feet.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Licking whipped cream on feed.

[George Taveras]

Let me guess what's on your feet.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Sitting on cakes. What?

[George Taveras]

Okay, I'm gonna guess what's on Marybeth Barone's.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You'll never guess. I'm incredibly.

[George Taveras]

I think it's a lot of like Charli XCX fan content.

[Sam Taggart]

No, I'm gonna guess like keep going, keep going.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You're trying to put me in a box.

[Sam Taggart]

I love this dog clipping nails.

[George Taveras]

I think archival fashion stuff.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like, you're getting warmer.

[Sam Taggart]

What about. Okay, haircuts.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I'm not.

[George Taveras]

Basic eyebrows.

[Sam Taggart]

Haircuts can be weird.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You were in the right. You were on the right track. It's a lot of archival fashion. I mean, do you want me to just tell you? Fine, it's archival fashion. Chihuahuas being cute.

[Sam Taggart]

I was close.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Everything Zaraan Momdani says and does John Ossoff as well. Let's throw him in there. So that's my Instagram algorithm, TikTok. It's a lot of teens dancing at camp, like to Justin Bieber and stuff.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Mid size bodies in outfits. So it's the girls that are like, here's what this outfit looks like on a mid sized body, which is actually healing something very deep inside me. And then there. What's the other thing I've been. Oh, it's like these are the texts my mom will send me when I'm overstimulated. And it's like someone's mom just being like deranged psychopath over text. And like I'm crying, laughing at that. So these are probably things you're not even seeing.

[George Taveras]

Do you feel like they have time to make Jon Ossoff gay? And do you think that if they did that it would be better or worse?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Worse. Let's keep him.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's complicated because he's too attractive.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know.

[George Taveras]

So what is the plan?

[Sam Taggart]

Well, here's a qu. Where are we at with gay politicians in general?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I can really only think of one and I'm not loving what I'm hearing.

[George Taveras]

Well, you're only thinking of gay guys.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, yeah. Who else is there? Do you know a lesbian politician?

[George Taveras]

Kirsten Gillibrand is pan. I'm just kidding.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't think the pansexual community would be very happy to clean her.

[George Taveras]

By the way, what if Kirsten came out as pan? She was like, fuck, we need something like, I've been flopping for literally decades from office instantly. Yeah, well, maybe that's what it will take.

[Mary Beth Barone]

If you're pan and you want to run for office, please stay in the closet.

[George Taveras]

Well, you know, that's how we got another Kirsten Cinema. Remember her?

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, Kristen.

[George Taveras]

Kristen Cinema.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Kristen Cinnamon.

[George Taveras]

Kristen Cinnamon.

[Mary Beth Barone]

What happened?

[George Taveras]

Bisexual, bisexual, Arizona centrist Democrat. You would hate her. She would wear like a blue wig

[Sam Taggart]

and she literally, like would vote Republican half the time.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, cool, cool, cool, cool.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, she was like the Steve Manchin Mnuchin. No, that's different.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, I know who you're talking about. The West Virginia guy.

[George Taveras]

Yes, exactly. The two of them were like the two centrists. Everyone would always be like, okay, you guys remember we're all Democrats. And they're like, totally wang.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

And then they'd be like, oopsies, I did it again.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I slipped and I accidentally put in the wrong.

[Sam Taggart]

Should we raise minimum wage in every Democrat votes yes and then they vote no.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Anyway, so where are we at on gay politicians?

[Sam Taggart]

Well, here's the thing. It's like, it's not like, oh God, this is the worst thing that could ever happen, but there was a section of time when. When a politician was gay and I Feel like you'd be like, wow, that rocks. This guy's gay. And now it's sort of like.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, because we finally realize as a culture that gay doesn't mean better literally.

[Sam Taggart]

Which is bad equality, in a way, but it's also like, it's a bummer.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Do you think lesbian means better usually?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, I do.

[George Taveras]

So I think we need to. You know, we made the classic mistake where you think, okay, we need gay. Get a gay guy.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right.

[George Taveras]

That's a classic mistake people make all the time. And so then it has to be. The fourth option is always the lesbian. They're like, well, we've tried everything. And then someone's like, what about a lesbian? They're like, oh, right, I forgot about that part of the Alphabet. But I think we need to go straight to a lesbian.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But I think lesbians have better things to do. Like, they don't.

[George Taveras]

I don't think, like, making granola.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Or like, moving in with their spouse or like, raising a dog that they rescued. And I mean this all, by the way, complimentary. I'm like, lesbians should not have to fix the mess that we've made. I wish they would.

[George Taveras]

Well, they don't.

[Mary Beth Barone]

They have a lot of other stuff going on. They're crocheting.

[George Taveras]

They. It's not that they should. I'm not saying, like, I have a gun to every lesbian's head saying, run for president.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, they would lose anyway, Carla. Yeah. Carla not win.

[George Taveras]

They would lose, probably.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think Jon Ossoff needs to stay straight. He's not perfect. I mean, he. Like, he's pro crypto and stuff.

[Sam Taggart]

I think Jon Ossoff. Stay straight, please.

[George Taveras]

We need to talk about AI regulation, and time is running out.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, my God. I know.

[George Taveras]

Do you know Alex Boris?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Isn't he hot?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, but he lost.

[George Taveras]

He lost. I know, but I. You know, that was exciting.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Take.

[George Taveras]

No, it's hot guy against AI.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Sign me up.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But then the old guy won, right?

[George Taveras]

Micah Lasher.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, right. No. Yeah. That's what.

[George Taveras]

Who's like, whatever. He's fine. He was like, what's his name's Protege.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Who?

[George Taveras]

The previous guy who ran that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And I would have no way of knowing who that would be. And I don't want to know his name. Don't tell me.

[George Taveras]

It's not coming to me.

[Sam Taggart]

Sorry.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I don't want to hear it. Yeah. Gay politicians. I don't know. It's like. Like, I. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Pete Buttigieg. Like, you could have been. You could have been great, but you decided to be mid.

[George Taveras]

What about, like, a bisexual E Girl running for president?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think it. I think some. Well, no, that would never work. That would never work. She'd be too sexualized.

[Sam Taggart]

Well. And, you know, she has crazy old tweets.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

She has crazy tweets.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

What about Ivy Wilk running for president? What do you think?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Now? I think that could be because she says things that I think would just make people's heads spin where they would go. I actually don't know if I agree or not.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like, I need to confuse them. Confuse them? Yeah, like, disorient them and flood the zone and stuff.

[George Taveras]

Would you ever run for office?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I haven't decided. We'll see how things proceed with the

[George Taveras]

career and entertainment, and we'll see how things proceed with her Netflix special that

[Mary Beth Barone]

you're here to promote, which I offer several. Cut that, keep that.

[Sam Taggart]

Keep that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Which I offer several solutions on how to fix the country. But I don't know. I think some of the things I've said publicly on the record could potentially be dicey if I ever ran for office. But I don't know where we'll be at by that point. Like, maybe everyone running will have, like, skeletons.

[George Taveras]

That's.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, yeah, that's the big hope.

[George Taveras]

But I do think. Well, no, but I think the issue is. The issue is being mostly normal with a few skeletons. That's the worst thing you can be. You either have to be squeaky clean, or you have to be, like. Like, so. Like Donald Trump. Like, so insane that it. It just all cancels itself out.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know. It's like, I want to run for office, but then I'm gonna have to start sexually assaulting people now.

[George Taveras]

I know. And you're. Honestly, already.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm 35.

[Sam Taggart]

Good luck.

[George Taveras]

Well, don't say we'll bleep that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, yeah, please do. But I just don't know if I have it in me to do that. To start now, sexually assaulting people.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's a young woman's game.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It is.

[George Taveras]

If you're a man, That's a different story. It actually probably.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's like how they can have kids to their 90s.

[Sam Taggart]

Exactly.

[Mary Beth Barone]

They can become predators into their 90s.

[George Taveras]

Sometimes men become predators later in life because they get a divorce and they realize they have violent feelings about all women.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes. And they want to exact that violence on anyone who they encounter.

[George Taveras]

And then they can get a government grant for that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Often and then they can become a congressperson.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So, yeah, I don't know about my future in politics. I think it's wherever I can make the most impact. So if I can continue being an entertainer and then also get people to vote for socialists, then I'll probably just keep doing that. But if I feel like I could run and win, I would never run and lose. That's just. I'll. I'll literally, if it seems like I'm gonna lose, I will kill myself.

[Sam Taggart]

I would run and lose my ass. You know, my ass is running and losing.

[George Taveras]

So you wouldn't drop out. You would kill yourself.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay. Cause then it's like, well, fine, if you don't want me, bye.

[Sam Taggart]

Right here's me after I lose the first time. Well, you're gonna lose your first one.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Totally, totally, totally. And I love that attitude.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Because, well, I have to try the first one. I have to lose the first one.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's an attitud acceptance. But I think what you really need to run is, like, you need like the DSA to back you. And I think you have to, like, prove some stuff first. Like as like a. I don't know, they might want you to do city council or something first.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. And you would want to go straight for like the presidency. You want a more high profile.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, I don't want to do city council. I don't even know what the job.

[George Taveras]

You know, one time I tried to become involved in my local community and the link was broken.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, well, you know my big thing, dsa, Way too many emails. You guys need to get a substack, put some updates on there, send out a weekly newsletter. And I've been trying to read, reach out. I'm like, you guys, I'm not reading any of these.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, it's tough. Well, it's always the minutes of a meeting that I didn't even know I

[Mary Beth Barone]

was invited to or urgent. I go, well, not. Not for me.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's the Boy who Cried Wolf. You know, the first time it was,

[Sam Taggart]

of course, you can't say urgent that many times.

[George Taveras]

The first time it was urgent, I said, well, this doesn't feel like more sort of like an open letter you wanted me to sign that was about tech regulation that has already passed.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. So thank you, though.

[Sam Taggart]

You know, Trump really made everything. Boy who Cried Wolf, where it's like, now, like, literally bad things are happening all the time, but because everything has happened, like, you're like, okay, well, it's

[Mary Beth Barone]

Murphy's Law not to bring it back. To Interstellar.

[Sam Taggart]

Bring it back to Murphy's Law, because remind me what that is.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Anything that can happen will happen, period.

[George Taveras]

So you could still win?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I could still win Even if I kill myself?

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Or you're saying I shouldn't kill myself because I could still win?

[George Taveras]

Well, I think you've already killed yourself and you've already won.

[Sam Taggart]

Wait, is that Murphy's Law?

[George Taveras]

No, that's Interstellar.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, it's hard to explain. I wouldn't have enough time here on the podcast.

[George Taveras]

Remember when you said Ex Machina is a comedy rom com?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

What is your. Have you seen any other rom coms lately that you want to shout out?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Interesting. Send help. For sure. What else have I been watching? When people ask me what movies I've been watching, it's like, why would you do that to me? Why are you trying to humiliate me right now?

[Sam Taggart]

I saw a Dear Friend last night. Haven't seen in a few months. And unfortunately, it was because it was a friend of a friend was in the film. And so I said, have you seen this film? And then it turned into what other? And I was like, what are we doing? We need to be asking how we are.

[Mary Beth Barone]

We have to stop.

[George Taveras]

Have you noticed, you know, you're in the midst of doing press? Have you noticed that? Now, the thing is, what everyone wants is your recs, your recommendations. That's what I go.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I have.

[George Taveras]

Now, it used to be you could just be like, you know, I'm raising my kids. Like, I have an amazing new. You know, I'm moving into a new house. Like, you could just talk about yourself. Now everyone is like, what are your five favorite books of academic social theory? From the French or something?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like, what restaurants do you love in Williamsburg? And can I say my answer to both of those things?

[George Taveras]

Please, please.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I have none. Yeah, I don't want to answer that.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, well, you're an actress.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I like that.

[Sam Taggart]

First of all, top five restaurants in Williamsburg.

[Mary Beth Barone]

First of all, I'm getting delivery all the time, so I don't even know if these are ghost kitchens or what. They're not. I check. Second of all, two of my favorite restaurants in Williamsburg have recently shut down, so don't even bring that up. Cause I'll start crying. And three, I'm like, figure it out. I don't know. I can't live your life for you.

[Sam Taggart]

That's true.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You know what? I had to do it the hard way. I had to try some bad ones first. So why don't you guys go eat at a few Restaurants and see what you like.

[Sam Taggart]

This is actually an amazing thing. How are you with trying a bad one?

[George Taveras]

Trying a bad restaurant?

[Sam Taggart]

Yes. When I have. I struggle with trying a bad one.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, of course. How would that ever be easy?

[George Taveras]

Walk me through what you're saying. You know it's bad. And then you struggle.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You know, you try and it turns out to be bad.

[Sam Taggart]

If I. If I try a bad one, my life is over.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm like, no, you have to rebuild me killing myself if I don't win. But after I eat a good, we're just gonna pretend that never happens.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm going, this was my one dinner.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know it sucks because it's your one dinner.

[George Taveras]

Sam has a difficult time when he doesn't have the best day of his life every day.

[Mary Beth Barone]

That must be really hard for you.

[Sam Taggart]

It's so difficult. And then, like, of course my husband always wants to try places. I'm saying, what if it's bad?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And he's saying, what if it's good?

[George Taveras]

And I'm saying, that's not a good. Literally are running out of time to change this part of your personality.

[Mary Beth Barone]

What I would like to say, in addition to press being recommendations, it's hot takes.

[George Taveras]

And I'm just saying, oh, my God.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I actually have no more. All my takes. I feel like, oh, thank you for saying this. Can we look inward a little bit? Enough with the hot takes. Let's sit with our thoughts for a while, see if we still agree with them in a few weeks.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't need to give a hot take right now, and I'm not going to. But if I was giving a hot take, it would be that hot take culture has gone too far, and we don't need it right now. It's actually contributing to, like, the devolvement of media and how we consume it. So that's my big statement on that.

[Sam Taggart]

I think it, like, creates more and more isolation because everyone's like, well, oh, fuck, I'm not.

[Mary Beth Barone]

People want to do their little comment to say if they agree or not, and then that. Then they carry that over to videos that are actually not hot takes. And they're just people being like, this is a souffle that I made. And then it's like, well, you have access to organic eggs, and I don't.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And it's like, okay, well, then use non. I don't know. Don't make it then.

[Sam Taggart]

And similarly, people will be like, hot take. Like, sandwiches are actually delicious.

[George Taveras]

And it's like, right, so who is

[Mary Beth Barone]

arguing against, by the way.

[Sam Taggart]

Right.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Show me the contingent that's saying sandwiches.

[George Taveras]

That's why hot takes are a fine art. Because either they're so obvious that it's like no one cares, or they're so performative, for lack of a better word, that basically it's like, okay, well, your hot take is actually look at me. That's your hot take.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, that is what the hot take. That's what the hot takes are.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And my big question to those people that have these, these shows, is that actually good for the person that's the guest, or is it good for you? Are we driving traffic to that person's projects or are we driving traffic to your account? That's one thing I would love to see the numbers on.

[Sam Taggart]

I think that's a really good point.

[George Taveras]

Well, I guess this is sort of a broader point about press and media

[Mary Beth Barone]

in general and about how you're gonna start a man on the street style interview series where you go up to random homeless people and ask how they got there.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, exactly.

[Sam Taggart]

Pretty much.

[George Taveras]

And then at the end, I give them a big gift card for Amazon

[Mary Beth Barone]

in Amazon.com Amazon.com 25 bucks?

[George Taveras]

Yes, 25.

[Sam Taggart]

Whatever you want. They've got it all. Should we do our first tech man?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes.

[George Taveras]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

So, as you know, our first segment is called Straight Shooters. And in this segment we're going to ask you a series of rapid fire questions, basically this thing or this other thing, to gauge your familiarity with and complicity in straight culture.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

The only rule is you can't ask any follow up questions or we will scream.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay, wait, so it's. You're asking me if I'm aware of it?

[Sam Taggart]

That's a question.

[George Taveras]

Which is crazy because it's Franz Ferdinand or Baz Luraman.

[Sam Taggart]

Baz Luhrmann in ear headphones or get out of here, Go home.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Get out of here, Go home.

[George Taveras]

Merry Christmas. Or let me piss, man.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Let me piss, man.

[Sam Taggart]

Project Runway or projecting you're gay?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Project Runway.

[George Taveras]

Sour candy or shower caddy?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Ooh, sour candy.

[Sam Taggart]

BDSM or being the best man?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Bdsm.

[George Taveras]

Watching pornography, learning hairography or criticizing the film Michael for being a hagiography?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, probably the third one.

[George Taveras]

Totally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Being sued for malpractice or going, dude, you're a bad actor.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, God, the second one.

[Sam Taggart]

Wow.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. How did I do?

[Sam Taggart]

Well, we rate our guests on a scale of 0 to 1000 doves. And I thought that was a really nice performance.

[George Taveras]

I agree.

[Sam Taggart]

I love when someone asks a question at this stage in our career.

[George Taveras]

Well, it did really make me confused. You know, Marybeth has been on this podcast probably four or five times.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Two times I've been on, and one was remote and Covid, and it was not even with video.

[George Taveras]

This is third.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, this is third.

[George Taveras]

Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

This is third.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I did. I did the Sopranos. I did Having friends from home. And then today, what I'll be doing. But here's the thing, is that like, okay, it's been a while. One, two. I didn't know the no question thing starts as soon as the game is introduced. Because if I had known that, I probably would have asked earlier.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. Okay. So this sort of energy that you're bringing is bringing your score down in a big way.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Guess what? I don't care.

[George Taveras]

I would say I'm seeing 8, 20.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, that sounds like a lot.

[Sam Taggart]

Pretty generous.

[George Taveras]

You know, you're still my friend.

[Sam Taggart]

I was going to go 650.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oof. Brutal.

[George Taveras]

Oh, wow.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I have to win Sam back for the rest of the episode.

[Sam Taggart]

That's crazy.

[George Taveras]

Do you remember the first time you did the podcast, your topic was the Sopranos, and basically your bit was that they didn't sing the whole time and you thought they would sing in sopranos.

[Mary Beth Barone]

The Sopranos, Yeah, I just thought it was weird. No, I think I was saying that I. In my mind, I hadn't watched the Sopranos, but I thought it was about singers.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, because they're Sopranos.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. Well, there's.

[Sam Taggart]

Duh.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Why would you name it?

[Sam Taggart]

No, do we.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Why would you name it a potential last name that also means something else?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, you might as well call it the Singers.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You have every Italian last name in the book. And instead you go with that.

[George Taveras]

And at the very least have it be a pun, like mdna, for example, where it's like, okay, maybe there are. Definitely. They're called the Sopranos. They're a family. But also one of them is trying to be a singer, at least one. And then maybe it's like she has a lot of success early on, but then has a lot of trouble, mental health wise, and then is placed in a conservative ship and then finally finds her voice and there's a New York Times documentary about her. But then it's kind of like, wait

[Sam Taggart]

a minute, what's going on now?

[George Taveras]

What's going on now?

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's like, what is. Yeah, what's actually happening? And I think what you overlooked is that the New York Times documentary centers around, like, two podcasters.

[Sam Taggart]

And I do want to talk about. Podcasters can change the world for the Record, but keep going.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I mean, look at serial.

[George Taveras]

I actually do want to talk about how the New York Times documentary was just them being like, rather than doing journalism, we're going to platform kind of like random podcasts.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, this is the thing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But they were paying attention to it that no one was really like, yeah,

[George Taveras]

but it's like, you guys,

[Sam Taggart]

this is how media works.

[George Taveras]

Were you born yesterday?

[Mary Beth Barone]

This whole episode is being shelved. We actually can't in public with these takes. But I hope you keep that in because I need to.

[George Taveras]

When I was working at you Gawker, one of the pitches that kept coming up was people wanted to write, did we free Britney too much? But you put the kabbach. And luckily we said, no, you put

[Mary Beth Barone]

the kibosh because you didn't want to be at the center of that.

[George Taveras]

I just am not going to take that. Obviously there is things we need to talk about, but I'm not going to

[Sam Taggart]

put whatever writer wrote that is getting hate mail for like 10 years.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, my God. This is actually a good story. So back when Gawker first came around, they were doing articles about, like, how much startups were paying, like, salaries and stuff. And they wrote about the company that I worked for. And then we had. I worked in the showroom a little bit at the company, and this showroom client, the showroom shopper, started stalking me, like, legitimately. And he was like emailing me, texting me, Facebook message, all this stuff. And I was like, I didn't know what to do. I stood him up on a date. I was like, he'll get the message. He just continued. It did not slow him down whatsoever. So I was like, maybe if I just agree to go and it's not good, then he'll leave me alone. So anyway, I like emailed him from my work email being like, can you please stop? Like, please, like, just leave me alone. But I was like, I was actually scared to send it for my work email because I was like, what if he sends it to Gawker and then they write an article about an employee at the company that's like being stalked, being. I don't know. Or like somehow twisting against me. I was like, gawker could get a hold of this. You know, it was just like, that was the threat back then.

[Sam Taggart]

Gawker loomed.

[George Taveras]

People forget that Gawker could get a hold of anything.

[Sam Taggart]

Gawker looms.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I didn't forget.

[Sam Taggart]

No.

[George Taveras]

Scary Schwar knows something about me and Gawker.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, yeah.

[George Taveras]

Original Gawker. Back in the Day I was working for a startup, they leaked this photo of the 22 year old CEO holding cash and like grinning.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you remember this? Yeah. What was the startup?

[George Taveras]

It was called Clinkle.

[Sam Taggart]

I remember this.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And of course it was.

[George Taveras]

And it was very much like, look at this child.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But all that to say that like the old Gawker would have published. Did we free Britney too much?

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And it's only because they had a gay man at the helm. Like, like, you know, keeping it sort

[George Taveras]

of, you know, there were a shocking number of gay men in the old Gawker. You wouldn't believe.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Or maybe I would.

[Sam Taggart]

I wouldn't believe it. Should we get into the topic today?

[George Taveras]

I would love that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Today I'm gonna talk to you guys about Adam Sandler movies.

[George Taveras]

Great.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, tell us what's straight about Adam Sandler movies.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, Adam Sandler movies date back to the early 90s and we have titles such as Happy Gilmore. We have Billy Madison. We have Big Daddy. We have the Water Boy. The Water Boy. We have Little Nicky.

[Sam Taggart]

We have Little Nicky.

[Mary Beth Barone]

We have the one with John Turturro. We have just so many movies coming out. And it is a defined genre of Adam Sandler movies now as so first of all, they're geared. It's comedy for straight guys and their sisters.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Which I have three brothers.

[George Taveras]

Oh.

[Sam Taggart]

And they're all straight.

[George Taveras]

So you were implicated.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So I was implicated. So I watched these movies also. My family had six children, so. So we had a van that we used to take on family road trips that had a TV and a VCR in it.

[George Taveras]

You were kind of like the Boxcar Children.

[Mary Beth Barone]

We were the Boxcar Kids. So the TV and the VCR that we had in the back, it wasn't like a built in flat screen thing. It was literally a TV that fit in this little thing and a VCR and those. I don't know how it worked with the car, but this was like early TV and car type of stuff.

[George Taveras]

And you grew up really poor and

[Mary Beth Barone]

I was extremely poor. Yeah. I mean, we only had an eight bedroom house, so it was three floors and a big. And later a pool.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, that was really hard.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So we would watch. I mean, I'm outnumbered, right. It's like I have two sisters, but they were like a little older. They weren't always coming on road trips. So it was the two boys and me closest. Their two boys closest to me in age. So I was watching these movies I've seen hundreds of times. And what I love about these movies actually is that it is street culture in that it celebrates sort of clownish male protagonist. But he often has a great circle of friends to support him and then female love interests that are actually like people you could maybe meet in the world. One is a teacher, for example.

[Sam Taggart]

That's true.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So there's that. And then I think what was really cool with the big daddy turn was that he went from just being strictly clown to I'm gonna. I'm gonna have. I'm gonna be a clown, but I'm actually gonna also have like a kid in the movie, which was really powerful because it showed the softer side of Adam Sandler.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

As his career unfolds, continues to unfold, he takes on more serious roles. He does some dramedies, which I would describe. A dramedy, for example, would be like Spanglish. He does more family focused movies then. Now, more recently, he's done movies with his actual family. So he likes to cast his wife, not as his wife, as a different person in the movie. And then his daughter is as a lot of times, his daughters. Yeah, right. But I would argue that not every movie that Adam Sandler is in is an Adam Sandler movie. For example, Uncut Gems. That's a Safdie Brothers movie.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Starring Adam Sandler.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Starring Adam Sandler in a dramatic role.

[George Taveras]

Here's a question for you. Is Punch Drunk Love an Adam Sandler movie?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I would argue to say that it is not. It is a Paul Thomas Anderson movie that Adam Sandler was lucky enough to be a part of. So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of, like, themes in these Adam Sandler movies, like school and golf and hockey.

[Sam Taggart]

Off the bat, there is something that used to be in the 90s at least. I think, like, movie genres were gendered in a different way totally. Where, like, comedy in general was just straight boy.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Boy movies. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And then it was like Rom com

[George Taveras]

is girl movies and that's chick flick.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Chick flick flick. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And so because I remember you had the sister experience of watching these. I had the gay friend experience of watching these with the boys growing up and being like, we're all boys, we all love this shit. And it was sort of like, there's something that I still haven't figured out, which is that did I like them or was I pretending to. To fit in? And I do not know.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think they have a lot of comedic value. And what I really like about the early work especially is that it all has a lot of heart. So in Billy Madison, for example, he's trying to like, sort of win or prove to his dad that he is, like, responsible enough to take over the company and keep it out of the clutches of this, like, evil antagonist.

[Sam Taggart]

Sure.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And then in Happy Gilmore, he wants to save his grandma's house, I believe. So he starts playing golf. And then in Big Daddy, he just, like, develops this really beautiful relationship. Friendship with a kid who shows up at his doorstep, turns out to be John Stewart's kid. Spoiler alert. Then you. I wouldn't be able to say, like, what Waterboy and Little Nicky were. The human drive was in those. Those were not as frequent in my house.

[George Taveras]

The Waterboy was actually pretty big for me.

[Sam Taggart]

I actually loved the Waterboy as well.

[George Taveras]

And there are a lot of. First of all, Kathy Bates is playing his mother, so he's giving a role to an iconic woman. Woman.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Female.

[George Taveras]

Female actor.

[Mary Beth Barone]

A female actor.

[George Taveras]

And to your point about. I feel like at some point what happened with boy comedies is that they stopped casting funny women and started casting model like Kate Upton.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But the other woman is really good, so is. Is really good.

[George Taveras]

Okay. I have a true movie.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's actually a fabulous movie about women coming together because of a common enemy.

[George Taveras]

Got it.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And they. I won't say, but it's really good. It's funny.

[George Taveras]

But I do feel like with those early Adam Sandler movies, the women are also allowed to be funny, and they are genuinely comedic actresses.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes.

[George Taveras]

And in the Waterboy, similarly, the female lead is, like, she's allowed to be dirty and ugly, and she's not just there to be like Megan Fox. No offense to Megan Fox. Megan Fox in this is 40.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, Megan Fox was never in an Adams. Oh, interesting.

[George Taveras]

You know what I mean? Like, that kind of thing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay, see, I consider this as 40 and funny people. I consider funny people to be a Judd Apatow movie.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Oh, definitely. Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But here's what I would say is that we have a really beautiful thing that happens when Adam Sandler starts casting Jennifer Aniston in his movies. We have Just Go with it, which also stars Brooklyn Decker, which I see what you're saying, but she was sort of cast as, like, to be, like,

[George Taveras]

model, model type, you know, I hate to say this, but Brooklyn Decker actually has the chops.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I agree. And thank you for saying that. And thank you for saying that she's

[George Taveras]

great in Grace and Frankie.

[Sam Taggart]

I have to say, something keeps happening in this conversation where we'll try to say something bad about any woman actress. Be like, she's only hired because she's beautiful. That being said, she's amazing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, but I think she just proves a lot is what I'm saying. And sometimes models can be great comedic actresses.

[George Taveras]

Here's a model who isn't a good comedic actress.

[Sam Taggart]

Ooh.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Speak on it, please. Finally, speak on it.

[George Taveras]

Giselle is not funny in the Devil Wears Prada. Sorry. She could have been.

[Mary Beth Barone]

She held up an eyelash curler and said, what is this? That's not funny to you. You're laughing.

[George Taveras]

Well, the line is funny. The writing is funny. Thank you, Aline Brosh. McKenna. What is this? I don't think she was improving on set.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I don't think so either.

[George Taveras]

And I bet Emily Blunt hated her.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, no, there's. Have her on the pod. Find out. I would love to see Emily Blunt. Come on.

[George Taveras]

I would absolutely love to see Emily Blunt Come on the podcast. I recently watched her Hot Ones, and she was pretty good.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think if you revisit the sacred text. Also, can I just say one thing? And this just goes for anybody I talk about in the future on a podcast, I don't know their politics. Okay. Unless we're talking about a politician, I have no idea where any of these actors or actresses stand on the biggest issues of our time. I don't know.

[George Taveras]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So I'm just saying if we revisit the movies I grew up with, which happened to be Adam Sandler movies, and then, of course, Chris Farley movies as well, which was its own category, of course, like Tommy Boy, for example. But I think. I think they hold up comedically.

[George Taveras]

Oh, the Adam Sandler movies.

[Sam Taggart]

Where did the politics. Why did the politics come out?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I just want to say, like, I don't know.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. We're not commenting on Adam Sandler's politics.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't know. The people in these movies, politics. I don't know where they fall.

[Sam Taggart]

You know, some of them.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like who?

[Sam Taggart]

Like Rob Schneider.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, okay. Sure. Yeah. And thank you for bringing that up, because 50 first dates. I would consider an Adam Sandler movie.

[George Taveras]

Now, that's an interesting.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And that one's borderline.

[Sam Taggart]

That's borderline.

[George Taveras]

I would almost disagree with you.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay. And that's right.

[George Taveras]

I would almost call it a Drew Barrymore movie.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, interesting. I think there is. The tight circle friends thing is obviously a big part of Adam Sandler.

[Mary Beth Barone]

There's Lore Cinematic universe. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And it's like, he's always got the same guys. Look how good he is to his squad. But then it is tough because it's like, then you got Rob Schneider there,

[Mary Beth Barone]

and you're like, we all Wish Rob Schneider. Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Could get Jimmy Kimmel is still friends with Adam Corolla. And you're like, I thought we liked you because you cried.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know. And you. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And you're like, so classic boy to be like, you're good. But that one friend, you have really fucking sucked. Yeah, totally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. No, and that's such a good example of it in our culture. And thank you for bringing that up. But I do think. Yeah. Rob Schneider. What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do about Rob? How do you solve a problem like Rob Schneider? Seriously.

[Sam Taggart]

No, literally. I don't know.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Let's figure it out. Because he is. He's weeks away from running for office.

[Sam Taggart]

We need, like, Rob Schneider fest. Like, I think what it is is, like, he doesn't feel love. And so it's like some. We need, like, to be like, Rob,

[George Taveras]

we respect you, but in that sense. But it's tough because we. We don't. Well, the hot chick, you know, talk about a funny actress. Rachel McAdams, very funny in the hot chick, and actually a very funny comedic actress. But I think what you're pointing to, which is that we have to show him love. That's what Adam Sandler is doing by casting him in movies. If it wasn't for Adam Sandler, no one would be casting Rob Schneider.

[Sam Taggart]

But something almost the opposite is happening where he's always second fiddle to Adam Sandler. He's always like, thank you, Adam. Thank you, Adam. He's like, tired of being the little beggar boy.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Do you think if we make Rob Schneider a leading man, he would become leftist?

[Sam Taggart]

I think it would help.

[Mary Beth Barone]

That's the idea you're proposing?

[Sam Taggart]

That's the theory I'm proposing.

[George Taveras]

Maybe Rob Schneider should play Britney in the Christopher Nolan directed Britney Spears biopic.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, he has a similar arm

[George Taveras]

and we'd be killing two birds with one stone.

[Sam Taggart]

Instead of, you know, Britney's father, it's Adam Sandler as the father, and Adam

[George Taveras]

Sandler should play Britney's father.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But that's not an Adam Sandler movie.

[Sam Taggart]

I have no. That would be a Nolan movie to me.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm sorry, Nolan. Yeah, my bad.

[George Taveras]

I feel like I have so much to say about Adam Sandler movie, but

[Sam Taggart]

I thank God we're doing a podcast about it.

[George Taveras]

I want to float this by you guys. To me, when we were growing up, there were Adam Sandler movies, Will Ferrell movies, Ben Stiller movies, and Mike Myers movies.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So true.

[George Taveras]

Which one were you?

[Sam Taggart]

Which one is which? Sex and the City Girl, and literally,

[George Taveras]

like, I think, I think it says, it says because you were Mike Myers, you were Austin Powers.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, I was extremely Austin Powers, but I was also Will Ferrell pilled.

[George Taveras]

See, I was Ben Stiller.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, but I also love Zoolander.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Can I say what's true? I'm totally Adam Sandler. Like, I am Adam Sandler movies. Will Ferrell movies, like, they, they were more high concept. I guess then, you know, I think Adam Sandler actually was trying to compete in that sphere when he made you Don't Mess with the Zohan.

[George Taveras]

Yes.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, he was thinking, this is my big character piece. And I just think, like, yeah, that I liked movies that were more rooted in truth. Like when a young man tries to complete all of school doing two weeks in so he can win back his family company.

[George Taveras]

Wait, is that little Nick? No, that's not Billy Madison. Lil Nicky's the one where he's the devil. So.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes.

[George Taveras]

And actually everyone I just mentioned has this in common where they are always like, sometimes they go real and sometimes they go high fantasy. Because it's like the don't mess with Zohan of Mike Myers is the love guru.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Of course we couldn't forget that.

[Sam Taggart]

We can't forget that.

[George Taveras]

And then it's like for Ben Stiller, I mean, I think Zoolander is pretty out there.

[Sam Taggart]

Dodgeball, dodgeball, dodgeball.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And lest we forget, heavyweights.

[George Taveras]

Lest we forget, heavyweights was so traumatic for me as a fat kid.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I could totally see that. But the line read of pasta primavera. Pasta primavera. We don't talk about that enough.

[George Taveras]

I mean, of course it's really funny when you make fun of someone's speech impediment.

[Sam Taggart]

But

[Mary Beth Barone]

I also, I see it as a line read. I see it as an actor making a choice.

[Sam Taggart]

As an actor making a choice. It's art.

[George Taveras]

Okay, here's something about Adam Sandler acting that I think gets us into tricky territory.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Totally.

[George Taveras]

All of these people have shticks, right? And Adam Sandler's shtick, especially in the kind of early mid career movies like Little Nicky, the Waterboy, all that stuff, is basically kind of playing the character as though he is mentally handicapped.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

And it's, and that's like literally where the comedy comes from in the way that the comedy in Zoolander comes from him being gay. Like, it's like you're basically choosing like something that is something that is stigmatized and being like, okay, this character is.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, this is where comedy itself gets very confusing because I even feel like the more sort of awareness there is around, like, autism. I'm like. I'm like, oh, God, like 50% of comedies are just someone pretending to be autistic.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And you're like, rut, Ro. What are we gonna do about that?

[George Taveras]

And not just comedies. Not just like broad comedies, but also, like, awkward. I mean, talk about punch drunk love. That's what that movie is about.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, well, here's what I'll say about that. I didn't actually. Those ones just were not on loop in my house, so. I completely agree. It's something we have to reckon with. Probably one of our most important things right now, reckoning with the fact that a lot of comedy is from the early aughts. Yeah.

[George Taveras]

Any could potentially be ableist.

[Sam Taggart]

I'd say a lot of Instagram reels are someone pretending to be autistic.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Not me, though. I don't do that.

[Sam Taggart]

I would never do that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't do that.

[Sam Taggart]

For me, it's just about hot takes and fetish content.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. And maybe Adam Sandler should do a movie about that.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Hot takes and fetish content.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you guys see Hubie Halloween or was that just me?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I never saw that one. I didn't see Eight Crazy Nights either.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, Hubie Halloween was simply to die for.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Is it a cartoon?

[Sam Taggart]

No, it's live action. It's live action. It came out, I want to say, four years ago. It's a Halloween movie. And it felt like a return to form for Adam Sandler. Very silly, very fun.

[George Taveras]

Well, there's a whole era of just like Netflix Adam Sandler.

[Sam Taggart]

This is a Netflix Adam sandwich.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like murder mystery. Murder mystery, too. I did want to touch on Spanglish quickly because there's a line read in that movie that's really stuck with me, which is Jess Trailant. She says it like 50 times and it's like.

[George Taveras]

And who says that?

[Mary Beth Barone]

The actress.

[George Taveras]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah,

[George Taveras]

here's a take. Ready? This is my hot take.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Ooh, here we go.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm scared on him.

[George Taveras]

Starting around, let's say 2004. Okay.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Post 9 11.

[Sam Taggart]

Yep. We were barely starting to actually process it.

[George Taveras]

Here's my take. Here's my take.

[Sam Taggart]

The initial shock had worn off all

[George Taveras]

casting of Adam Sandler is stunt casting. Totally the whole point. Like, when Adam Sandler is playing a character, part of the ethos of that is. Can you believe that's Adam Sandler? I think that's true of Punch Drunk Love. I think that's true of certainly uncut gems. I think it's true of any time he does Spanglish I have a hot take.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay, wait, I want to hear the rest.

[George Taveras]

This is sort of it. And I think there's a genre of actor that's like this. I think Whoopi Goldberg is like, I think there are some people that their cultural significance is so large that they're not just an actor.

[Sam Taggart]

He is in many ways like Lady Gaga in this way.

[George Taveras]

That is very true.

[Sam Taggart]

Where it's now like every song she puts out, it's either like, oh, is this going away from form? Or is it a return to the

[Mary Beth Barone]

roots of Lady Gaga?

[Sam Taggart]

Like, she can never just be like, I'm putting this out. It's always like, is this a rejection of her former self or an embrace of her former self? That's what every Adam Sandler role is now is. It's like, he's not doing Adam Sandler. That's crazy. Oh, my gosh. He's back doing Adam Sandler. I didn't know we'd see that again.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. And I think, like, whether you like it or not or whether you think the movies are funny, like, he has had, like, I mean, the cultural impact and his movies do well. And I do think that that is better for comedy because more comedies will get made off of that. So I know he has, like, made his name on being sort of like clownish and silly, but he's clearly a very good businessman as well.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

And a good actor.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, he's to die for. I think we can all agree.

[Mary Beth Barone]

The Hustle, which is on Netflix, which is about basketball. He plays a coach.

[George Taveras]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Is really good. That's what I've heard. It's a good family movie too. You could watch it with your parents.

[George Taveras]

Why didn't he win the Oscar for Uncut Gems?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Who won that year? Who won that year?

[Sam Taggart]

You know, I don't know that.

[George Taveras]

Probably Judy.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Anyone?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, probably Judy.

[George Taveras]

Judy Dennis beat him for the best actor. She's always beating Shakespeare in Love.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right. For her five minutes on screen of Shakespeare in Love.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

She won for best lead actor. It was category fraud.

[Sam Taggart]

Today. Today. Who's doing that?

[George Taveras]

Who's doing what?

[Sam Taggart]

What are the little. What are the, you know, 14 year old boys watching at the sleepover?

[Mary Beth Barone]

They're watching videos of brown water turning

[George Taveras]

into clear water and going, this. Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And then. Yeah, they're just there alone in their room. They're not. I don't know.

[George Taveras]

No, that's a really good point.

[Sam Taggart]

Wasn't Pete Davidson supposed to just be that now? And instead he's getting fully tatted up and then getting Them all removed over and over again.

[George Taveras]

Here's someone who I feel like could have been the next generation of that and I think chose not to be is Andy Samberg. Because I could have seen a career of Andy Samberg where he does these things.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Stopping is genuinely wonderful.

[George Taveras]

Incredible. But it's like, okay, so he did the hot rod.

[Sam Taggart]

I love it.

[George Taveras]

Yes. I mean, and he did do a few of them, but then that's not his whole thing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. What's he been up to?

[George Taveras]

He married Joanna.

[Mary Beth Barone]

News. Well, I actually met him backstage at O Mary and I was like, totally. Like, obviously I knew he was a hot guy, but seeing him in person, I was my.

[George Taveras]

Well, he's one of the hottest men.

[Mary Beth Barone]

My hair sort of blew back. I was like, whoa. And he was just wearing like glasses and a hat and like a raincoat. And I just thought like, good for you. Yeah, good for you. If you took a step back from movies to just continue being hot guy. Like, I totally understand that.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, it is like there's no. This is the stupidest thing I've ever said. I'm like, there's no economic incentive to make a movie anymore.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, of course. Unless if you. Well, no economic famous person.

[Sam Taggart]

You're like, why would I make a movie?

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's so hard.

[Sam Taggart]

It's like literally hard work.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, I know.

[Sam Taggart]

And you only make like what, like a million dollars?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't know. It's a drop in the bucket for them.

[Sam Taggart]

Literally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I guess it's just a desire or a need to like create. But some people, it's not financially.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, maybe if you make hot rod and pop star. Never stop stopping you. You're satiated. And you said, nevermind.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Although you say like my, yeah, I've given the world what I want to and I'm just going to be married.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm just going to go to the island where there's no rent and.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And you just get free food.

[Sam Taggart]

Right, Food. Who is straighter, Chris Farley or Adam Sandler in your mind?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think probably Adam Sandler. I feel like Chris Farley was always down. Like he'd do anything for the bit. So if that meant like having sex with a. And that's like with the utmost respect to his estate. Like, of course. Chris Farley is genuinely like a huge comedic hero.

[George Taveras]

Okay, don't call him huge. That's rude.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I think he would self identify as huge, first of all, if he had the opportunity to. I don't think Adam Sandler would have sex with a guy even if it was to Be funny.

[Sam Taggart]

That's so insensitive.

[George Taveras]

You know what we haven't mentioned, and it's actually completely shocking.

[Sam Taggart]

Stop yelling.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Why?

[Sam Taggart]

What? Chuck and Larry.

[George Taveras]

Chuck and Larry. Chuck and Larry.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And I pronounce you Chuck, Larry.

[George Taveras]

Chuck and Larry is like, foundational to this podcast because early on we would talk about pronouncing Chuck and Larry a lot. And actually we tried to. We're doing something in LA where podcasters introduce films as part of this film festival. And we wanted to introduce. I know, Pronounck and Larry, but they wouldn't let. Why not?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Because it didn't age well.

[George Taveras]

No, because aged amazing. It aged amazingly.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's not that it didn't age well. It wasn't okay at the time, which is really interesting.

[George Taveras]

It's actually the opposite. It's that at the time it was. Was criticized so much because gay marriage was such a hot topic that people were like, this is disrespectful. But now with the. In the clear light of day, you can just, like, have fun at the movies.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Just like shallow hell kind of.

[Sam Taggart]

The thing about. The thing about. I now pronounce the Chuck and Larry. So on, famously, on the episode Whiteness with Iowa Debris, we talk about it. And I said I wanted to watch them have sex. And I think the big issue with Chuck and Larry, it's like, it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good. But then it's like, supposed to be the part where they are, like, they have to kiss in the courtroom to, like, prove they love each other.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Who's the other?

[George Taveras]

Kevin James.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I thought so.

[Sam Taggart]

My number one. And they would.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Don't even get me started on his comedy special, Sweat the Small Stuff.

[Sam Taggart]

But they wouldn't kiss. And the whole joke was like, this is so gross. And it's like the climax of the movie. If they had just. Because the whole thing was like, they actually do love each other in, like, a friend way, where they would do anything for each other, blah, blah, blah. And so it was like, if you had just kissed and been like, we can feel this moment right now, it would have been a beautiful movie. Start to finish.

[George Taveras]

That. No, that's what's crazy. No, it's true.

[Sam Taggart]

Of course I would like it if they also blew each other and then penetrated each other.

[George Taveras]

Yeah, they should have done penetrative sex in the courtroom. But I think even if they were

[Sam Taggart]

miming it, I'm fine with that.

[George Taveras]

You know what's crazy? It's like they actually did the hard thing, which is making that premise three dimensional and emotional. And then they shot themselves in the foot by being like. And now we're gonna do a scene where we're grossed out by two men kissing.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Like, you were almost there with where we were at as a culture at the time.

[George Taveras]

Well, that's the thing.

[Sam Taggart]

I know. That's why it's so tough. But there's a lot of good there. Unfortunately, I actually believe that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So Adam's Army, Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler is impervious to critique, which we've learned on this podcast because we've tried, and we're simply unable to. Which I think is actually really cool at this point.

[George Taveras]

I'm not gonna critique Adam Sandler.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No. And I don't want. Can I just say, I don't want to. I think we haven't even touched on his influence in the fashion world.

[Sam Taggart]

Literally.

[George Taveras]

Yeah. So.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And that might even be for another episode. But I think what's interesting. Cause I rewatch Entourage. I've rewatched it several times when Gawker was still around. I was gonna pitch an essay about how it's a perfect television show, but unfortunately, then it went away.

[Sam Taggart]

That's too bad.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But when you watch it, he almost plays a gay character in the show. And it'. And it's like, it's just interesting to think about how the evolution of playing gay has unfolded. Because back in the day, it was like, if you played a gay character, that could actually hurt your career, and then people would, like, accuse you of being gay. And then it became like, oh, it's actually really prestigious to play gay. And then now it's like, actually, if you play gay and you're not gay, we'll shoot you.

[Sam Taggart]

So it's just.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's kind of interesting how that has changed so quickly. Like, it sort of changed in the amount of time that Transparent was on tv because, like, at first, he was praised for being brave, and that was. And then it became like, you should have never done that. So it's.

[Sam Taggart]

It's, you know, totally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Culture shifts rapidly.

[Sam Taggart]

I know. It's why it's so hard.

[Mary Beth Barone]

That's why having a podcast is so scary, I think, because. And we're really brave for doing so. Because, as you know, I have one called Ride. Things we say last week could all of a sudden be, you know. Yeah, we could be put on trial, literally.

[George Taveras]

And then on trial, you know, we might have to kiss another guy or something gross like that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Or else to prove you're gay so that you being in heated rivalry Actually, check.

[Sam Taggart]

That's literally what's. That's what's gonna happen.

[George Taveras]

Those boys. I am so worried because, you know that everyone is waiting to completely destroy them.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, it's almost like vintage in a Britney Spears way where you're like. You guys, we have seen us being

[Mary Beth Barone]

treated like women by the media lately.

[George Taveras]

Clavicular.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Clavicular. Of course we have. The heated rivalry guys. Someone I'll mention offline. I don't wanna give him more airtime, but I've just noticed the discourse around him on the Internet and with the media is very. It's. It's like. It's. Yeah. Adjacent to, like, female celebrities. The. With the way his words are picked apart and, like, people are mean to him.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, well, people learned, like, they're like, okay, you're not supposed to, like, be that mean to female celebrities. And they're like, but I love this language. And this is like.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I love how it makes me feel.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. So, like, okay, I'll do it to men.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. Yeah. I hope that. I hope that the heated rivalry guys are okay. They were lovely when I met them at the Globes.

[George Taveras]

Oh, my God. I actually have a bone to pick with you.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Tell me what.

[George Taveras]

Okay. When we were at the Golden Globes, you know your director, the director of your upcoming Netflix special, Kai. Kai.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yes.

[George Taveras]

You're an upcoming Netflix special, Galaxy Brain.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, thank you.

[George Taveras]

Galaxy Brain.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah.

[George Taveras]

A phrase you coined, I believe.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, I came up with that. Yes.

[George Taveras]

That's. That's really good. We were at the after party. He did a classic straight guy thing to me. Are you ready for it?

[Mary Beth Barone]

We do,

[George Taveras]

you know, the archetype. And this is actually very Will Ferrell, like, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler coded, like, the archetype of the straight guy that, like, loves messing with people.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Totally. Yeah. That's definitely still very alive and well.

[George Taveras]

Yes. So we were in this room, and Timmy and Kylie walk in. Timmy, the chalamegne. Kylie Jenner.

[Sam Taggart]

Timmy and Kylie. You don't need to.

[George Taveras]

And so I was with Kai. I was with him, and I turned to him and I was like, oh, there's Timmy and Kylie. And he goes, I don't know who they are. And I was like, no, it's like Timmy and Kylie. And he kept being like, I don't know who those people are.

[Sam Taggart]

I believed him.

[George Taveras]

And I started literally being like, Timothee Chalamet. He was in the ping pong movie, and Kylie's like, one of the Kardashians. And I realized he was messing with me in A straight guy way. And I just. After that interaction, I felt so completely destroyed emotionally. I was like, I cannot come back from this.

[Mary Beth Barone]

So the bone you have to pick with me is actually not even my. It's my actions. It's someone I associate with. Yes.

[George Taveras]

You paid him out of pocket.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I paid him completely out of pocket for the work on the special.

[George Taveras]

Is that something he. Is that, like, his behavior generally.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I paid for him to come to that Golden Globes party. He definitely likes to do bits. I don't know that he maybe understands how much it's impacting people.

[George Taveras]

Did he see, like, oh, that's like a weak gay guy. He's, like, feeling a little out of place here because he's working with Mary Beth and there's all these celebrities I was having increasingly alarming interactions with. And he was like, I'm gonna destroy him.

[Mary Beth Barone]

He said, george looks like he could. He's one. One failed bit away from utter demise. And I was. And he decided to just take the opportunity. Opportunity. No. I think he probably forgot that that happened. And he does do a lot of bits. You never know if he's being serious or not. So that's like. Yeah. And in that way, it's, you know, it's like Adam Sandler esque.

[George Taveras]

It is, yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

I would like to say, I think if I were to run for political office, of course, all the economic things we all agree on, but I think I would try to also make dry humor illegal.

[George Taveras]

Oh, see, I love. This is what's complicated is that, like you. I love.

[Sam Taggart]

Love dry humor. And yet I don't want to be

[George Taveras]

a victim of it.

[Sam Taggart]

Know when you're being slapped in the face with it.

[George Taveras]

I know.

[Sam Taggart]

And so this is. Everyone loves dry humor.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I just want to know how you could have thought that somebody who is alive today on the Internet and works in the industry.

[George Taveras]

Works in the industry as a director.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't want to victim blame, but in what. How did you. How did you reconcile that in.

[George Taveras]

But I also never once in a

[Sam Taggart]

while you do meet someone who's like, I haven't heard about that.

[George Taveras]

Okay. So when we did our. This was like a couple of months ago, we did a show together, a live comedy show. I've heard of them, and I have. And I heard since there was someone in the audience that turned to my friend and goes, what is that? We mentioned heated rivalry. And this woman goes, what is that? And my friend's like, you know the show. She's like, I've never heard of it.

[Sam Taggart]

And this was like, it had been out for a while.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, I guess there are people out there. I don't think that probably. I don't think that person probably works in entertainment. But. But totally. If that makes you feel better, then totally.

[George Taveras]

And it didn't make me feel better.

[Mary Beth Barone]

What I would say on top of that is that Kai then did the second most straight thing a person can do, which is he went to the bathroom, and when he tried to get back into the party, they wouldn't let him in. And instead of texting anyone, he just went home.

[George Taveras]

That's true. Because he can't stand to be embarrassed like that.

[Sam Taggart]

It's very vulnerable.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I'm saying nothing of, like, I don't know.

[Sam Taggart]

That essentially is being penetrated.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's like, if a guy can't maybe perform sexually, and rather than being like, give me a second, he's like, I'm gonna do a mass shooting.

[Sam Taggart]

He's like, I'm breaking up with you. You're annoying.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Unfortunately, that is. That is sweating.

[George Taveras]

No, that is true. That's true. It's happened to so many empowered women that I know.

[Sam Taggart]

Should we do our final segment?

[George Taveras]

Any final thoughts on Adam Sandler movies?

[Mary Beth Barone]

I guess, like, if you watch one that didn't age while, like, I don't want to hear about it,

[George Taveras]

you're in such, like, actress press tour mode where you're worried that someone's going to cancel you for, say, for literally talking about Adam Sander.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, I don't know if you know that. Like, if you say someone's name, sometimes they twist it as, like, an endorsement of the person, which is crazy. But it is happening online every day, and it's happening to people we love, and so I am scared. Yeah, of course. I don't want to do any more podcasts.

[Sam Taggart]

No, I'm done.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And I just do two more episodes of my own podcast tomorrow. But, yeah, I'm trying to get better at just, like, saying stuff, and if you don't agree with me, like, that's actually fine. I mean, I already do that, but I. I feel like people aren't hearing me when I say that. I don't care if you have a. If you have a different opinion to mine. I don't care, because mine's right.

[George Taveras]

And your podcast is a rewatch podcast of Roman Polanskin, Woody Allen films.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah. And then we're gonna add in the Louis C.K. sort of filmography to that.

[George Taveras]

That's Patreon only, though.

[Mary Beth Barone]

But that's paid. Yeah, Patreon. You have to subscribe.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And then. Well, actually, that brings me to a really good point that I was thinking of making on my own podcast today, but we didn't have time, which is that a lot of perverts have made good art. And it's just hard because, like, now I can't talk about Chinatown like, in a top five because, like, it's Roman Polanski. I wish that that wasn't the case.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I do think being super horny helps you create because you're like, I gotta do something.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Some of us create and we don't harm others. And I guess I should say perverts is like, a blanket term. Those specific perverts are also, like, sexual predators.

[George Taveras]

And, yeah, it's not being a pervert.

[Mary Beth Barone]

It's not just being a pervert. But I'm just saying, as a pervert myself, and I can only hope to make art as good one day as midnight in Paris. It's just like. It's just hard that now that's just something we can't really talk about.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Sometimes I worry I won't be perverted anymore. And I'll wake up and be like, well, what do I do now?

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, what is it all for?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, I guess I'll just go work at a company.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Would you?

[Sam Taggart]

You know I can't do that.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You do. I heart corporate.

[Sam Taggart]

What if I move over? That could be awesome. Okay, our final segment.

[George Taveras]

What if, like, the marketing team got an email? It was like. So we've, like, gone with, like, an internal hire. It's Sam Taggart. He's the co host of Straight.

[Sam Taggart]

Recently became unperverted, and so he's looking for a career change. But then, you know, in that sterile environment, I get perverted all over again.

[George Taveras]

Exactly.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Well, I do think you get fired for harassment.

[George Taveras]

They're not firing anyone for harassment anymore. That is so 2010.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Slap on the wrist.

[George Taveras]

It's like, you got promoted.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I gotta talk to you.

[Sam Taggart]

We're all doing. Yeah, it's good.

[George Taveras]

One of the most confusing things about sexual harassment is actually how if you're hot, it's okay. No, it's like saying you're not gonna do something is as harassing as saying you are gonna do something.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Like what?

[George Taveras]

Like, if you walk into a room and you're like, I'm not taking my penis out. You shouldn't say that. You know what I mean? This is a big one.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, totally like. And thank you for bringing this up because I keep walking into rooms and I'm like, don't take your penis out.

[George Taveras]

That's actually an even better example.

[Mary Beth Barone]

And then they're like, we weren't ever thinking about doing that, and now you've made us uncomfortable. And I go, well, it's my house, and if you don't like it, leave.

[George Taveras]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You know? Yeah, but please don't. I go, don't take your penis out.

[George Taveras]

Like, here's an example. It's like, let's say you're in HR training and someone's like, here, I'll demonstrate with Sam. You shouldn't give him a massage. And it's like, don't touch him.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Are people doing that?

[George Taveras]

That? Probably.

[Sam Taggart]

One time I had HR training that was like, on zoom. And there were obviously like 400 people on the call, right? And which is code for everyone mutes

[George Taveras]

and watch TV jerks. It.

[Mary Beth Barone]

They're all jerking off, camera off.

[Sam Taggart]

And the person was getting.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Talking about co workers boning each other.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm hard. So they would be like, they. There'd be parts where it'd be like, so is this sexual assault? Next question. And no one's listening. And he. He'd go like, seriously? Hello? Like, no one's gonna answer the question. And it was like, no, I've been doing this for, like, however long, you know, no one wants to answer this question.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Sam, in the chat, this could have been an email, literally.

[Sam Taggart]

And by the way, I wouldn't have read it either, right?

[Mary Beth Barone]

But, like, I feel like those. It's like, almost like sexual harassment for monkeys. It's like, well, yeah, of course I'm not gonna, like, finger my co worker in a meeting. It's literally like, which of the following things should you not do? Buy your coworker coffee, log into your email, or finger your coworker in a meeting against their will, and they'. Stop. I don't want to do that. And all the other coworkers are watching. And then it's also caught on camera

[Sam Taggart]

and you're like, buy coffee.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I don't know.

[Sam Taggart]

That's hard. You guys, we have to do our final segment.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I want to acknowledge that I'm not wearing a bra and, like, my boobs are what they are. So just deal with it if it's distracting to you. And I get to.

[Sam Taggart]

I know it's interesting.

[Mary Beth Barone]

My brain is so fried. Like, I actually need to go to that I island.

[Sam Taggart]

I think a lot of people can use the island.

[George Taveras]

If there's one regret I have this episode is we didn't get into the island. More.

[Mary Beth Barone]

More.

[George Taveras]

But that'll be for, you know, we'll

[Mary Beth Barone]

do a meditation we'll do an episode that's a short meditation.

[George Taveras]

Okay, perfect. I've been wanting to branch out into short meditation.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You could still sell ads. That's the good part.

[George Taveras]

Well, it's mostly ads.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You can put ads for joining the IDF still in your.

[George Taveras]

Well, do not get us started on

[Sam Taggart]

that, because it's been a saga. It did happen, honey.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I know because my sister texted me about it. I was listening to straightiolab and they had an ad for the idf.

[George Taveras]

Well, it in fact wasn't for the idf. It was for evangelical Christians that want to go to the biblical homeland.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Right.

[Sam Taggart]

But, yes, they are not there anymore.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Oh, good, I'm glad. We hope there's no way of knowing

[George Taveras]

they are not there.

[Mary Beth Barone]

You guys don't listen, so there's no way of knowing.

[George Taveras]

No, no, no, we are.

[Mary Beth Barone]

My sister would text me.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, have your sister text me.

[Mary Beth Barone]

If it comes up again, my sister will text me.

[George Taveras]

Thank you.

[Sam Taggart]

Let us know.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Yeah, I will.

[Sam Taggart]

We appreciate everyone that lets us know.

[George Taveras]

Yes. And we are reading those messages and then kind of freaking out.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. And we are sending an email.

[George Taveras]

Yes.

[Sam Taggart]

So our final segment is called Shout Outs, and we pay h to the grand strait tradition of the radio. Shout out. And shout out anything that we are enjoying. People, places, things, ideas. We make them up on the spot. And George and I will go first.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

George, do you. How do you. One?

[George Taveras]

Nope.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, that's awesome news. That is awesome news. Okay. What's up, freak losers and perverts around the globe? I want to give a shout out to just like, yeah, when you have a problem, actually doing the thing to solve it, instead of just saying, I have this problem.

[Mary Beth Barone]

No, thank you so much.

[Sam Taggart]

Because I. My phone dies really fast all the time. Of course it does. And of course you can buy those little battery packs that you can plug into on the go. And I'm saying, I don't want to do that. I actually like suffering, having my phone die and having everyone have to care about me. But then I was like, why? Why don't you just. Misha's always like, hey, do you want to use the pack? And I'm like, no, I want to complain. But then it's like, stop. It's time to grow up, use the little pack and charge your fucking phone. And so I've been carrying the little pack around with me because I'm in New York City and knows if my phone dies, I die. So I'm suddenly now able to relax and say, well, if my phone starts dying, I can just plug it in the little thing, problems do have solutions. And I know that you are addicted to suffering and having problems, and that's maybe not the best way to live your life. Use a portable phone charger. You look like a loser, but it's fine. Xoxo, Sam.

[George Taveras]

I want to give a shout out to my dear friend Claire Caracillo's debut novel, the Responsible Part. It is coming out, I believe, this month. An excerpt of it is in this month's Harpers and I. You know, it's rare that a book makes you laugh out loud. As we know, one of the biggest lies people say is that a book was laugh out loud funny, when all they mean is that it was horrible and should never be read by anyone. Now, that's not what I'm doing here. This is actually a genuinely laugh out loud funny book. It is about literal, complex women characters in a real way, not in a sort of like you describe them that way because they're actually not complicated, complex. And it is about a mother and a daughter and it is about the rest of their family. I don't want to give away too much, but it is so funny. I was laughing the entire time. It is about shipwrecks, broadly speaking, which I know, and don't ask me how people love reading about shipwrecks. One time when I was working at a journalistic outlet of some sort, someone was basically like, shipwrecks sell. So was that. Nope. If you work at Netflix, get in touch. And that's, that's my shout out.

[Mary Beth Barone]

I would love to shout out to all those dreamers and beautiful people listening out there that I do have a Netflix comedy special called Galaxy Brain. It is available now, I believe, depending on when this comes out. But it is laugh out loud funny from start to finish. I think you're gonna love it. And I'm wearing a really pretty dress in it. And I think that it's really just for you to watch and enjoy, devour and dissect, criticize, celebrate kind of any way that you want to experience it. I think you should. And I can't wait to meet all of you at the Galaxy Brain Ball and kiss you on the mouth. There will be a kissing booth and that is sold out, Unfortunately. It's a $3 bill on July 31, so it also may have already happened by the time this comes out. But I just think we should all laugh more. And so that's my goal.

[Sam Taggart]

Wow. Well, this has been a real treat.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Thank you for having me.

[Sam Taggart]

Thanks for doing the pod.

[Mary Beth Barone]

Hey, it's my pleasure. I'm just going to go.

[George Taveras]

My podcast ends now.

[Sam Taggart]

Stradiolab is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeartRadio podcasts created

[George Taveras]

and hosted by Sam Taggart and George

[Sam Taggart]

Taveras, executive produced by Becca Ramos, produced

[George Taveras]

by Casey Donahue, edited and mixed by Lawrence Stumpf. Social video done by Hot Dog Sandwich.

[Mary Beth Barone]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.