← TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
#4481 How Many Licks Does It Take To Get To The Center Of A Landjäger?
01:20:49
Luke is working through some big concerns about a news assignment he may or may not accept. He and Andrew also talk about a classic case of Bunk Journalism involving Clint Eastwood and an Australian newspaper. And Andrew’s back on them Popsicles...
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- [00:00]
Luke Burbank
We got Twilight Saga, breaking Dawn Part 2. And it's just another one of these.
- [00:07]
Andrew Walsh
Vampire movies, I guess. And it's romantic and it's full of.
- [00:12]
Luke Burbank
These sort of situations, which turns out to be.
- [00:16]
Andrew Walsh
That's very interesting. Very scary at times, but also a.
- [00:24]
Luke Burbank
Lot of romance and really well made.
- [00:27]
Andrew Walsh
So I recommend it. Good soundtrack, good soundtrack, good cinematography. If you're a film buff, you notice things like that.
- [00:34]
Luke Burbank
You can tell that they shot a lot of this stuff in the woods.
- [00:37]
Andrew Walsh
And in certain locations that really work.
- [00:39]
Luke Burbank
I loved it. I thought it was great. Would it be a great movie to see with friends?
- [00:43]
Andrew Walsh
I'm giving it. Or by yourself? Great.
- [00:46]
Luke Burbank
TBTL.
- [00:52]
Andrew Walsh
From w hyy in Philadelphia, I'm sticking out my g at for the rizzler. From why? Why in Philadelphia? I'm sticking out my gad for the rizzler. Can't you say anything in a normal way?
- [01:05]
Luke Burbank
The answer, sadly, is not yes.
- [01:10]
Andrew Walsh
Laughter A sure sign of a good time.
- [01:13]
Luke Burbank
I gotta be honest with you, sir. The kind of work I do, I.
- [01:18]
Andrew Walsh
Don'T think it's as interesting as you think it is.
- [01:21]
Luke Burbank
It's not like in the movies. I mean, the things that I work with, I don't think that they would be interesting to an aud. I should have prepared, but I just watched tv.
- [01:34]
Andrew Walsh
All right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Wednesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. Oh, yeah. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. Wipe the potty. Wipe your body. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it's a cloudy day, cloud, fog. That is not what we were promised this week by the weather app on my iPhone. This isn't what happened last week.
- [02:01]
Luke Burbank
Have you all got amnesia?
- [02:03]
Andrew Walsh
Supposed to be sunny and in the 80s all week long, and that is not what is happening today. This might be highly localized to my house. I don't know what's going on to the north or the south of me, but I can tell you here it is cloudy, and I don't like it one bit. The only thing that can get my mind off of the weather is bringing you episode 4481 in a collector series.
- [02:24]
Luke Burbank
Let the fun begin.
- [02:27]
Andrew Walsh
Clint Eastwood is making. I believe he's getting his second reference on the show in the last few episodes, which is a lot of references, considering it's not somebody that we talk about all that much. He says that an Austrian newspaper lied when they published an interview with him. I'd like to point out to anybody watching, this is really bunk journalism. It's a little more complicated than that. We'll delve into it. Speaking of journalism, the TV show that I work for, CBS Sunday Morning, has somehow made its way for like the second time in a few weeks into the conversation nationally, based on an interview that the show did. This one was with Elon Musk. And I've got something coming up in a couple of weeks, an interview that I'm nervous is gonna maybe put me on a bunch of people's radar.
- [03:18]
Luke Burbank
Everything about them just makes me nervous.
- [03:21]
Andrew Walsh
Anyway, we'll talk about that too. And let me tell you a guy who would absolutely, under no circumstances ever engage in bunk journalism is this dude, the longest running cobra of the show. An innocent champion of honesty, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friends.
- [03:41]
Luke Burbank
Good morning, Luke. I'm just realizing I'm, I'm blowing my big opportunity here. Not to be on the silver screen or in pictures or whatever. But I told you, one of my favorite things. This is a big reveal to you recently. I don't know if you recall it, but one of my favorite things is having a non athletic excuse to drink Gatorade. So, like, I love Gatorade and so I'll gulp a couple of those big ones down after, like working in the yard all afternoon or something like that under a hot sun. But, but you know, the sugar content is there. I need to remember that. I'm a grown man. I shouldn't just be drinking.
- [04:16]
Andrew Walsh
You should experiment with Gatorade zero and.
- [04:18]
Luke Burbank
See if you, if you like it. I don't.
- [04:20]
Andrew Walsh
You don't know.
- [04:21]
Luke Burbank
I've had it.
- [04:22]
Andrew Walsh
I've tried it yet.
- [04:23]
Luke Burbank
I have. I've accidentally. You have had. But I mean, I've also had it in the way that I don't realize that I accidentally bought one. And so you put up to your lips expecting a good one, but you notice the difference. Oh, God, yeah.
- [04:36]
Andrew Walsh
And I will say that the fake sugar technology does seem to be improving, but maybe that's. Maybe that's the final boss. They have not cracked the Gatorade.
- [04:45]
Luke Burbank
Well, I'm just thinking that if you're used to it, you're used to it. And I will hear, actually, that's a good. So, okay, well, let me actually close up this, because you just led me to something more interesting. I think maybe when I say more interesting, I mean just barely interesting. But I'm not even joking. This time.
- [05:00]
Andrew Walsh
But now, that's interesting.
- [05:02]
Luke Burbank
I have a doctor's appointment later today, so that's usually an excuse. They have to draw blood, and they always have problems drawing blood from me. So I always have to hydrate, very hydrated. And then I'm like, oh, somebody said, you know, drinking a little bit of Gatorade before one of those blood draws will help. I'm like, a little bit of Gatorade? You mean like a half gallon? And they hung up.
- [05:21]
Andrew Walsh
Medically approved Gatorade.
- [05:22]
Luke Burbank
Exactly. And yet here I am at my desk, and I have Gatorade in the other room, but I'm drinking water. I'm drinking the poor man's Gatorade here like a gosh darn.
- [05:31]
Andrew Walsh
The poor man's Gatorade might be a show title.
- [05:33]
Luke Burbank
But speaking of low sugar things, maybe I could get on the low sugar Gatorade thing, because it really is a mindset. I bought my first box of popsicles this summer. Not the first ever in my life, but this summer's first box of popsicles. I'm a big popsicle guy, and I've been gulping them down. And I went to sars, my favorite discount grocery store, and I saw that they had a box of the traditional flavors. Grape, orange, and cherry, which are fine. But then next to them they had the ones I like, which are the tropical flavors, like pineapple something. And I don't know, tropical flavors.
- [06:08]
Andrew Walsh
Mango, maybe. Do they do a mango in there?
- [06:11]
Luke Burbank
I can't remember. But they're more fun, flirty flavors that I like. But then I forgot over the winter, I forgot a lesson that I learned last year. When you see the box of the fun, flirty flavors, those are usually sugar free. I don't know why Popsicle does this. But specific to Popsicle brand, the more traditional flavors are regular. And the ones that are like these more tropical flavors that I like are actually sugar free. And so last summer, once I had a box of Sugar Freeze, I was like, no way, Jose. And I went back to the other flavors. This time, though, I bought my first box a week ago or something, and they were sugar free. And I was like, you know what? These are the only popsicles I've had all year. I don't remember a full sugar Popsicle from last summer. Maybe I just stick with these, because here's the deal. I'm not somebody who usually cuts back on sugar or something. It's like we talk about Coke versus Diet Coke. I don't like Diet Coke. I like regular Coke. I don't drink it that often. So when I drink it, I'm going to drink a regular coke. But that's not true with popsicles. I don't have a popsicle. I don't even have two twin pops. Like when I sit down for what I like to call a popsicle session sesh. Dude, we're talking many, many popsicles. We're talking half box. I can just sit there and watch TV or a movie and just pound those things. And so I'm like, you know, if I'm going to treat popsicles in that manner, then maybe this is one sugary sacrifice I can make. So I'm trying to adjust to the sugar free popsicles.
- [07:41]
Andrew Walsh
I am impressed with this, Andrew. And again, I want to be careful because I don't want to sound like I'm policing what anybody, including you, eats or food decisions that people make. I think that that's best left between you and your trusted clergy member or, or whoever it is that you turn to for guidance on those things. It ain't me, but I will say that, like the idea of just like sitting down to smash like five popsicles while watching the baseball game on TV and having zero guilt around the, the sugar content, if you can. And also let me. May I also introduce exhibit B to the court Fresca, which you were enjoying for many years and not even knowing.
- [08:21]
Luke Burbank
I didn't even know that it was a calorie drink. I just thought it was a fun drink. Yeah.
- [08:25]
Andrew Walsh
So I like the fact though that this is actually, I think this is good. This, this indicates to me that your bl. Your brain is still plastic, my friend, that you, There's a plasticity there and what you haven't done. Because some people would make. I don't do diet stuff. Their whole personality. Like, you could just be like, no, I just don't. I don't like zero sugar things. And by the way, if that is somebody's opinion, I totally respect that because there is also, I think, you know, a probably a somewhat convincing body of evidence that constantly consuming things that are quote unquote, zero sugar but that have all kinds of other weird business going on so that they can be zero sugar could also probably be not so great for the, for the human condition. So. But all that is. I'm glad that you're not so dug in on this that you're just like, no, I would never have anything that's zero sugar on principle. It's like, well, if you like the popsicles enough and you know you're going to be really? Really. Just going to town on them. Like, why not? Why not go with the zero sugar?
- [09:19]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. Especially now, I do feel like when I went back for my second box of popsicles yesterday, I think I did have a moment where I looked at the sugar free and the non sugar. I'm like, well. And again, it is the quantity that I eat. I remember bragging. Is it bragging? I guess, bragging about the amount of popsicles that I eat on a show? A long, long time ago, you were still in Bellingham, I think. No. Okay, maybe not Bellingham, because you had a pool in Bellingham. Wherever you brought your recorder or you stretched your recording cables all the way out to a kiddie pool. We did a show with you sort of eating the popsicle. You weren't in order. Like, I think the day before, you're like, I'm gonna go out and do a.
- [09:59]
Andrew Walsh
You know, I think I was just sitting in the kiddie pool at my house that also had an in ground pool.
- [10:04]
Luke Burbank
Oh, was it there? Okay.
- [10:04]
Andrew Walsh
And I remember I couldn't stretch the cables to the real pool, so I sat in a kiddie pool.
- [10:09]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. And that sounds dangerous, but I. You know, though, Luke, you don't think that that might have been at your Port Townsend house? Could it have been? Well, you would remember you.
- [10:19]
Andrew Walsh
I think it would be unlikely, because the Port Townsend house was. Right, it was. It was on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and it was consistently cold, even in the summertime.
- [10:30]
Luke Burbank
Okay.
- [10:31]
Andrew Walsh
This is one of the reasons I remember Carrie saying, because we were considering buying the house that we were renting. And she said, you know, I was never down to a T shirt once last summer. And that was, for her, a kind of a, you know, a metric that was not indicating wanting to buy the house. All that is to say I do have a kind of a memory of. I do have a memory of sitting in a swimming pool and talking to you.
- [10:51]
Luke Burbank
Okay, cool. I don't know why I'm trying to challenge your personal memories when I wasn't there. But anyway, what I do remember is saying, well, I don't have a pool. I'm not doing that. But I'm a big popsicle eater. So the day before, I said, I'm chow down on popsicles while you sit in your pool. And that was our summer episode, and that's why we're such a successful podcast. That was our summer slam. And anyway, I remember hearing from listeners who were concerned about your popsicle intake, and I had maybe three or four individuals when I say, A popsicle, I'm talking about. My count here is like one twin pop. You know, I'm not talking about the old school that you break in half and, like, is that one or two popsicles? I'm talking modern popsicles come one per sleeve.
- [11:34]
Andrew Walsh
Well, you know what?
- [11:35]
Luke Burbank
That's an important clarification. Well, when's the last time you bought a box of popsicles? Because even popsicle brand, it's like each individual ice pop is sort of in its own sleeve now.
- [11:44]
Andrew Walsh
And it's just a single guy.
- [11:46]
Luke Burbank
And it's a single guy. So you get a sleeve in that paper is connected. So you pull two out and they're kind of connected via paper. But it might be lime on one side and then pineapple on the other.
- [11:57]
Andrew Walsh
And you can. And. And I mean, what they've realized was it was a dangerous game that we were all playing for so many years, trying to eat the popsicle that was all fused together, that had two sticks.
- [12:09]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [12:10]
Andrew Walsh
And trying to eat it down. And then. And then you're. There's that critical point where the center cannot hold. And now it's. It's starting to really, you know, it started to really kind of fall apart on you. And you're like, that. That's always a. That's always a very stressful moment in the popsicle consumption process. You're saying that they've gotten around that by just selling you, like, each one, that you can do them individually now?
- [12:31]
Luke Burbank
Yes. And so when you pull a, like a twin pop or whatever out of the box, and this is popsicle brand, I just want to be very clear about that. For whatever it's worth, we'd like to.
- [12:41]
Andrew Walsh
Welcome new sponsor Popsicle, owned by Unilever.
- [12:44]
Luke Burbank
But I guess you could, like, basically tear the two pieces of paper apart and leave one of them completely sealed in the freezer. And that maybe helps with sharing. Maybe they heard about. Maybe they heard that podcast where I was eating too many popsicles. No, those were individually sleeved as well. But I remember a listening listener being like, oh, my gosh, I'm really, really concerned about, like, how much sugar you just had during that show. And I'm like, dude, I had like four popsicles that was an appetizer that was just getting going. Like, that was a warm up for the. For the. For the main act. And so anyway, not that one listener.
- [13:15]
Andrew Walsh
I do. I have popsicles here in the Madrona Hill studio. And you know why your dad. Because. No, because when we did the Thawn here last year, I was really really concerned about the temperature in here. Oh, yeah, Because I didn't have the H vac set up, by the way. I still don't. And I thought, oh, man, this is. If it's. Cause it was, you know, it was in the. In the thick of summertime. And I thought, boy, if. If it's just like unbearably hot in there. Remember me and my dad were installing this, like, overhead fan, like at the last minute. Like, I was trying to do think of everything I could to sort of mitigate it ended up being pretty tolerable after it was all said and done. But one of the things I did was I bought tons of popsicles. I thought I might just have to be feeding Andrew and John popsicles almost intravenously to keep your core temperature at a safe level. And I still have those popsicles in the freezer because my sister Rachel, my folks were staying over here on Saturday night. And my sister Rachel stayed out here because there's a couch that's also pulls out into a bed. And I was like, hey, anything you want from the fridge? And she opens, she goes, maybe I'll have some popsicles. I guess still popsicles.
- [14:20]
Luke Burbank
I wonder if she had any because I wonder if they're all crystallized now. I don't know how long a popsicle can stay.
- [14:25]
Andrew Walsh
I don't either.
- [14:27]
Luke Burbank
Do you remember, did I eat any of them? Is the box brand new? Maybe one.
- [14:31]
Andrew Walsh
I feel like. Well, hold on. Can you just tap?
- [14:34]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, go. Actually go grab them. I'm interested in knowing if they are. If they're the twin pop kind.
- [14:39]
Andrew Walsh
Oh, yeah. Let's see here. Definitely. All right, I've got these and. Oh, yeah.
- [14:47]
Luke Burbank
Oh, this isn't a classic. This is not a classic. This is a big bag of these.
- [14:51]
Andrew Walsh
Okay. For one thing, yes, they do crystallize, it would appear.
- [14:54]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. Okay. What is this, Andrew?
- [14:56]
Andrew Walsh
You're saying that you don't go with a budget? Savor Twin Pops. Only the best for my friends.
- [15:01]
Luke Burbank
This is interesting. So this is a big bag, and these are the kind that you split apart. These are some sort of old school Twin Pops.
- [15:08]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah. And they really have seen better days. I think I'm gonna have to toss these out.
- [15:11]
Luke Burbank
Do you have two bags of those that I see?
- [15:14]
Andrew Walsh
And look, Andrew, you would love this one. The Twin Pops tropic. Pina colada, mango, blood orange, raspberry lime, lemon and watermelon.
- [15:22]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, that's good.
- [15:23]
Andrew Walsh
But these are. Yeah, the both of these have been opened, both bags. So somebody got into these. And also these look like they've kind of. They're past their due date. They're past their prime. So I'm gonna probably toss them out.
- [15:36]
Luke Burbank
You know what I'm learning? I've been using Popsicle Twin Pops. But Popsicles and Twin Pops are both different brands. Did you know that? I'm just learning.
- [15:46]
Andrew Walsh
No, I thought Twin Pops was just a way of describing the kind of popsicle I didn't know that was actually its own brand. I do know that the popsicle company was founded in Oakland, California, and it's now currently owned by Good Humor Briar.
- [15:58]
Luke Burbank
Would you like to know? Just to put a. Then we can definitely move on here. Here are the tropical flavors. And I guess this is just the way it is because I'm looking. It's like here I'm on. Like I'm on something called the Internet. And they have the regular flavors which are full sugar Popsicle, but then the sugar frees are the tropicals. I don't know why you can't get Tropicals full sugar. But they have Caribbean fruit punch. I don't know why they had to say Caribbean there. It's just fruit punch. Is it different in the Caribbean Tropical orange. That just sounds like orange to me. And Hawaiian pineapple. So they're just adding sort of locations to these, I guess, to judge it up a little bit.
- [16:36]
Andrew Walsh
But I mean, the funny part is if I was going to go for a popsicle, I would immediately be drawn towards old school grape. Oh, crazy Old school cherry. I love. I.
- [16:46]
Luke Burbank
That's good, man.
- [16:48]
Andrew Walsh
That's for me. I was also wondering, do you think it's possible and then we should move on. Do you think it's possible that you're just sometimes a little bit dehydrated? I know this whole conversation started with Gatorade and hydration. Because eating, I'll sometimes find myself consuming something, like a lot of something. Let's say it's grapes. You know, I'm big now on, see what I've got here. I got my blueberries. I'm big on eating fruits. If I, you know, I don't think this will happen. Despite my mom's fantasies the other day, I don't think I'm going to drop dead here at the house. But if I did, let's say I was out in the yard and they found me later, maybe my remains, and they couldn't quite identify me. They might think I'm a bear based on the amount of blueberries they would find in my stomach.
- [17:29]
Luke Burbank
Oh, in your stomach.
- [17:31]
Andrew Walsh
And my scat and my stomach, I've scattered around the yard in a few places. They'll locate that when they get here. Zip it up.
- [17:37]
Luke Burbank
Sorry.
- [17:39]
Andrew Walsh
But so I love blueberries and grapes. Now. What I will find myself doing sometimes, though, is like, I'm eating grapes in a. With a level of furiousness that kind of sounds like you with the popsicle. And what I'll realize is, oh, I'm just thirsty. I'm just hydrating through these grapes because I'm actually thirsty. And there's a lot of water content them. And obviously, with a Popsicle, as soon as it's melted, it's turned into fruit juice. Is it possible that you are just really thirsty and. And you're getting your liquids through the Popsicle?
- [18:11]
Luke Burbank
I don't think so. I know the phenomenon that you're talking about with fruit, though. Like, during the day, sometimes I will have that, like, because I kind of like you and your. Your blueberries. Sometimes what I like to do is just get, like, a pineapple, cut it up, and then throw some blueberries and maybe some strawberries in there and just sort of keep that as a constant in the fridge, and that's a nice treat. And sometimes I do find myself maybe in the middle of the day, I'm like, oh, I'm craving that so much. I'm like, oh, drink a little bit of water and see if you're still craving it. But I also just love those fruits. But honestly, I think with popsicles, I think it's a couple of things. It was sort of kind of a tradition growing up. Like, we would, like, get. Me and my dad would get done doing the, like, the yard work with this huge lawn or whatever. And my dad, like, there was just a lot of sort of tradition around popsicles. We would just, like, sort of house them. And I think that that is probably a bit of a nostalgic pull for me. But also I think it's a bit of an oral fixation as well. Like, I also can. I could pound a bunch of beers in an evening as well, and I often do. And so I think maybe sometimes if I'm not drinking beer, maybe I want to replace it with something else. You know, I think it's more of a. Or even. Or. I mean, I haven't smoked in a really, really long time, too, but that might be part of it, too, is sort of like, I just sort of feel like it might be a bit of a fixation once I get rolled.
- [19:25]
Andrew Walsh
I've seen you do it with Land Jaeger.
- [19:27]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, right, exactly.
- [19:28]
Andrew Walsh
Horrified at your land.
- [19:30]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a land, Yeager? Oh, God.
- [19:35]
Andrew Walsh
Is that a show, Wise old owl.
- [19:37]
Luke Burbank
Oh, God, that is disgusting. Yeah, I know what you're saying, though. Sometimes I have been drawn to certain foods because I'm more thirsty than hungry, and then I realize it.
- [19:46]
Andrew Walsh
I'm trying to check in with myself on that. Although I'm also on Whole Kick, and I've been talking about it for all of 2025, which is like, I am fully allowing myself to eat as much fruit as I desire, which is. Which is a big change of pace for me, because for years I avoided because I was like, well, it's got a lot of natural sugar in it, and it's got carbs and, you know, all this other stuff. But now I'm just like, you know, if it grows in the ground, I'm fine with it. Which is why I also eat a lot of marijuana now. Yeah, I'm allowed to eat as much marijuana goes in the ground, man. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark. On your mark.
- [20:25]
Luke Burbank
Get set, get set now. Ready? Ready.
- [20:28]
Andrew Walsh
Go, everybody. Razzle dazzle. All right, let's thank some dazzling donors. These are the generous, supportive people who are making TBTL possible. This is 100% listener supported podcasting happening here right now. We went on kind of a long, I don't know, digression conversation yesterday with the news that Marc Maron is wrapping up the WTF podcast was a moment of reflection for me and us about how long this thing, TBTL has been happening, and it's only because of folks like Diane Marshall out there in Beaux Arts Village, Washington.
- [21:03]
Luke Burbank
Beaux Arts.
- [21:04]
Andrew Walsh
We love Beaux Arts Village. We sure do. I'm so happy to be able to support TBTL in 2025. Do I sometimes snort laugh while listening on an airplane and startle the people around me? Yes, I do. Is that a reason to stop listening on airplanes? Of course not.
- [21:19]
Luke Burbank
God, I love that attitude. Diane, you're my new favorite.
- [21:21]
Andrew Walsh
Thank you. Absolutely. And if you're snorting too much, just do what my recent neighbor did, which is just cover yourself in a fleece blanket that's got Christmas corgis on it and do that for the whole flight and no one will know what's going on beneath the blanket.
- [21:35]
Luke Burbank
Did you see what was floating around on Blue Ski yesterday that looked like it was very much like the TV show Patriot that you and I liked. It looked like somebody was doing a bump mid press conference off the.
- [21:48]
Andrew Walsh
Speaking of cocaine.
- [21:50]
Luke Burbank
I think so, yeah. I mean, I don't know. Like, it flew by my attention so quickly. I'm looking to see if maybe I can find it.
- [21:58]
Andrew Walsh
They were not on an airplane.
- [21:59]
Luke Burbank
They were not on an airplane. I was just thinking about snorting. My aunt's got you about snorting. And there was. And do you remember that sniff? Do you remember that scene? Well, they do say, I think famously, they say snorting coke. I don't think I'm making that up.
- [22:12]
Andrew Walsh
I guess you sniff heroin and you snort coke. That's an interesting distinction. People talk about sniffing heroin.
- [22:17]
Luke Burbank
Really?
- [22:18]
Andrew Walsh
And I'm reading this book by Melissa Febos for Livewire tomorrow night, by the way. Livewire tomorrow night, Alberta Rose Theater. Paul F. Tompkins. Melissa Febos, Sir. Woman, please come.
- [22:29]
Luke Burbank
Paul F. Tompkins. He's hot right now. He was written about recently in the TBTL newsletter.
- [22:33]
Andrew Walsh
He is getting that TBTL bump and he is riding it all the way up to Portland. He's sniffing the TBTL bump and snorting it. No. Melissa Febos, who's in recovery, was talking about walking by somebody in New York in her neighborhood and that they were sniffing heroin. And I thought that is. Sorry, Diane. I don't know why this is where we're going with this, but it's weird that that's. You're right. Snorting is the term that's used around one of those drugs, and sniffing is the one that I've heard used around the other drug. And it's seems like it's kind of the same thing, but maybe it's not. And maybe we don't even have to solve that here right now. During Diane's message, did you find the person who was doing the thing in the press conference?
- [23:11]
Luke Burbank
I want to be careful here. It was probably just a joke. Is probably somebody maybe like. I thought it was a. I don't know, man. I thought it was like a baseball player, maybe post game or something. No, because. No, that doesn't really make sense because baseball players don't really stand in front. It was somebody in front of a podium and somebody juxtaposed it with that picture of. I'm blanking on the actor's name. But from Patriot, who is also in that 70 show, whatever. One of the main characters on Patriot, do you remember he's in an AA meeting or an NA meeting and he does. He says, the last time I did cocaine was while that guy was talking. Kurt Wood Smith, he had done a bump off of his. Off of his thumb in the NA meeting. And he says, last time I did drugs, while was that guy was talking.
- [23:56]
Andrew Walsh
Oh, I love Kurt Wood Smith. Let's close the things that close indeed. All right, Diane says this year I'd like to use my dazzling message to give a shout out for my 11's podcast, which may be even more niche than TBT. I don't know, Diane. It's called It Might Get Weird. The hosts are Gary, who's been a veterinarian for 35 years, and Sarah, who is a brand new vet student at Washington State University. By the way, shout out to Sarah, like, the veterinary program at Washington State University is top level. So congratulations on getting into that program.
- [24:31]
Luke Burbank
And I would just like to say I've never been so relieved to hear the name of a podcast before because I. Seriously, when you started reading the second graph of this dazzling donor message, I thought, why in the world did I take that to cocaine town? Why are we talking about this? What a bad decision on my part. And I felt bad for Diane. Then I heard that Her11 has a podcast called It Might Get Weird. And you know what? We just lived up to that.
- [24:55]
Andrew Walsh
Absolutely. This was a great lead in to people listening to It Might Get Weird with Gary and Sarah. I also like this. You know, I need an old priest and a young priest. I need an old veterinarian. A young veterinarian. I like the whole Gary. I'm not saying you're old. I'm just saying you've been a vet for 35 years. That's impressive. But I think it's an interesting idea for a show to have somebody who's been in the career for a long time and somebody who's just kind of starting out. They and their guests talk about the journey into and through veterinary school. If this sounds interesting to you, please check it out. There's a new episode every week, but please, this is Diane writing, not me. Please finish your TBT first. It's good for you.
- [25:30]
Luke Burbank
Oh, I love that.
- [25:32]
Andrew Walsh
I will absolutely check that out. My advice to people when. When talking about podcasting, if it comes up is like, if somebody's like, oh, I'm thinking about doing a podcast. I'm always saying, find something that you know a lot about or are deeply interested in and then just make a show about that. And then hopefully it can become one of the go to shows on that topic as opposed to, oh, I'm gonna. I wanna start a podcast. What should it be about? Okay, make it about sports, make it about movies. Or make it about music. It's like, those are very broad topics, and there are a lot of people already doing shows about that. How many shows about the being a veterinarian are there with somebody who's been doing it for a long time and somebody who's in vet school? Like, that's a very, very good idea for a show.
- [26:16]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. And I like that it's niche also, and this is not related to that. But that. That general conversation of just like, I want to start a podcast, but I don't know what it should be about is kind of like when somebody says, I want to write a book, but I don't know what should be about, or whatever. It's kind of like, well, do you have something to say or not? It's interesting for me when people are kind of like, well, everybody's podcasting. I want a podcast. And it's kind of like, I don't know what it should be about. It's like, well, then you probably shouldn't do a podcast. If you feel like I have something inside me and I am looking for the best way to tell the world about it, then you can say, what is the best way? Is it to write a book? Is it to start a podcast? Is it to start a web series? Like, whatever it is, like, what is it that you're trying to get out into the world, and then you can sort of figure out the best way to tell that story. But when people are just kind of like, I just want to. I just want to be somebody who has a podcast, that's not usually a good way to approach things. So that's why I really appreciate when somebody's kind of like, hey, listen, this is a very specific story. It's not even just about vet care, but very specifically the going to veterinary school. And I'm so proud that I just pulled that off. It's a hard word for me to say, but going, I'm proud of you through that process is like, a very specific thing that I think is going to. Even though it's so specific, I think it sounds appealing to me, and I have no connection to that world, you know?
- [27:27]
Andrew Walsh
Absolutely. So shout out to Gary and Sarah putting together. It might get weird. And a big old thanks to Diane for supporting the show. Maestro, on your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go. Everybody, Rattle dazzle. It's our friend Chris Surface in Tacoma, Washington, of Tacoma Little Theater fame.
- [27:52]
Luke Burbank
Oh, yes, Chris.
- [27:54]
Andrew Walsh
Chris says it's been a hectic year, and I'm scared that I'm going to declare bankruptcy and miss out on some episodes. Okay. Phew. I think Chris means tbtl.
- [28:03]
Luke Burbank
Bankruptcy.
- [28:03]
Andrew Walsh
Yes.
- [28:04]
Luke Burbank
Coined, I believe, by another Chris. Right. Wasn't that Chris Hayes who coined that when you just skipped ahead in the podcast, basically, for.
- [28:11]
Andrew Walsh
For all of you who have, you know, found yourself way too many episodes behind and you're like, I just don't want to keep going back three months. I'm going to just jump in, jump back, and it's called declaring TBT bankruptcy. But, you know, with Chris running a theater and all this stuff, I was like, when he says, I'm scared I'm going to declare bankruptcy, I'm like, well, then maybe you shouldn't be dazzling donating, Chris. But no, you should definitely keep. And if you need to declare bankruptcy on these episodes, absolutely no judgment, Chris. The great thing I know is that TBTL is always there for me when I can listen. I need to definitely make it more of a priority. Well, listen, Chris.
- [28:46]
Luke Burbank
No, easy yourself.
- [28:48]
Andrew Walsh
Yes. This doesn't feel like a CSA delivery of rutabagas trying to figure out what the hell to do with. Really, why did I sign up for this?
- [28:56]
Luke Burbank
Oh, God. You get your box and it's full of blurs days, and you're like, what, more blurs day soup?
- [29:03]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah, exactly. Like 101 things to do with a blurs day. We love the blurs days. While it's been hectic, I do want to call out everyone who made the meetups happen. I was able to go to the Tacoma at Seven Seas Brewing and had a fantastic time. So there was a Tacoma meetup at Seven Seas. Seeing that many tens gathered together was such a joy in making some new friends was wonderful. Thanks, Luke and Andrew and John, for always being there on the imaginary radio for us. We need you now more than ever. Still waiting to host a live event at the Tacoma Little Theater. Just saying.
- [29:37]
Luke Burbank
No, we should.
- [29:39]
Andrew Walsh
Don't tempt us with a good time, Chris. We'll come up with something. I mean, and also, you said you watched a Seahawk game there, right? No, no, no.
- [29:44]
Luke Burbank
The Game of Thrones finale.
- [29:46]
Andrew Walsh
Game of Thrones thing. But in other words, there is a. You could watch things there, too. I mean, it's a theater, so. And I assume it's not just a. It's not a movie theater exclusively. It's a place where there's, like, live productions and things like that.
- [29:58]
Luke Burbank
That's my understanding. Yeah. I've only been there once. It's a beautiful. It's one of those just beautiful Classics, theaters. That just makes you want to, like, stay there forever.
- [30:05]
Andrew Walsh
Once you walk, do some kind of, I don't know, we could all watch something.
- [30:08]
Luke Burbank
What if we made a movie and then we screened it there?
- [30:11]
Andrew Walsh
Okay. I mean, that's. I mean, the hardest part of making a movie is having somewhere to screen it.
- [30:16]
Luke Burbank
That. So that's what.
- [30:17]
Andrew Walsh
We've already checked that off the list.
- [30:19]
Luke Burbank
And also, we won't win an Oscar unless we can screen it on a big screen.
- [30:22]
Andrew Walsh
That's right.
- [30:22]
Luke Burbank
Right. So we have.
- [30:23]
Andrew Walsh
The room came about.
- [30:24]
Luke Burbank
All right. This is. This is it. This is how we're going to win an Oscar.
- [30:27]
Andrew Walsh
You are tearing me apart, Andrew. It writes itself.
- [30:32]
Luke Burbank
It really does. It's all original.
- [30:34]
Andrew Walsh
Thank you for all the support and go easy on yourself about, you know, your backlog of tbtl.
- [30:39]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. Hello and welcome to Top Story.
- [30:48]
Andrew Walsh
All right. You sent this article along, Andrew, involving Clint Eastwood, who again, it's weird that we'd be having as much Clint Eastwood related conversation on the show of late as we are, but Clint Eastwood says that a newspaper or a magazine or an online site, a place in Austria that published an interview with him which was getting some amount of attention, in fact, kind of made the whole thing up because some of the quotes from Clint Eastwood, who's 95 years old, some of those quotes were getting attention. And what turned out to be the case, according to the. Sorry. I'm also trying to log into the New York Times here on my other computer because of course, this is always an issue for me. What the magazine basically said was, or the newspaper was. No, these are all things that Clint Eastwood actually said in a series of interviews with a roundtable of Hollywood foreign press, essentially. And the person who wrote the article just kind of picked some of the most interesting things that Clint Eastwood said and put them together in kind of a best of. And so these quotes are not made up. There are things that Clint Eastwood said, but they are not things Clint Eastwood said in one single interview conversation with this one reporter. There are things that he kind of said in a large. In a more group setting that this reporter was apparently part of over the course of. It was a lot of interviews, too. It was like 24 interviews or. What's that?
- [32:16]
Luke Burbank
20. Right.
- [32:17]
Andrew Walsh
20.
- [32:19]
Luke Burbank
Interviews going back to 1976.
- [32:23]
Andrew Walsh
Oh, I missed that part.
- [32:25]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, I'm looking at. I'm looking at this. So while. Mr. This is part of their state and this is part of the newspaper statement. So while Mr. Eastwood may not be familiar with the publication Courier, if I'm saying that correctly. K U R I E R. That's where this, where this quote unquote interview is published. Courier. While Mr. Eastwood may not be familiar with the publication Courier, he is certainly familiar with the Hollywood Foreign Press association, having given more than 20 interviews to the group dating back to 1976. Oh, I see. She was only a part of that group for 14 of what she estimates to be 20 interviews. She later clarified. So I'm not sure if they pulled it from 14 interviews or all 20. But they didn't make it clear. They didn't say, this is an interesting thing we're doing. We're taking a retrospective and looking back at quotes from him over the years. And there's a way to make that an interesting piece of journalism. But they just published it like it was a sit down interview.
- [33:18]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah, I mean it is sort of, it is bunk journalism. They've now basically, if you click on the link, according to the New York Times, you now get a link to a different article where somebody is explaining basically the context of it. And so they've sort of pulled it down. But they also are kind of sticking to their guns a little bit. They're basically, I think they didn't appreciate being accused by Clint Eastwood of making it up. So they wanted to be clear that like, we didn't make this up. These are real things you said. But again, the way that it was presented was obviously kind of misleading. And it's, I mean, I guess I'm not shocked by this because of, and I don't know the exact state of this newspaper called Courier. Maybe it's doing really well, but seems generally speaking like a lot of these, a lot of these newspapers are trying to do more with less. And having someone write an article where they're just going back through a bunch of old. Like we could do a version of that. We could go back and just grab clips of people that we've interviewed over the years and then like put them together in something and then call it an article. But you're not really, you're not really giving new information at that point. You're kind of going back and just trying to like basically squeeze a little more blood out of the turnip of, of these. You have. I mean, they said it was also because he's turning 95, that that was like sort of a retrospect. But. But again, you're right, Andrew. All you have to do is just say Clint Eastwood is turning 95. And on that occasion we wanted to look back at some of his more memorable quotes.
- [34:42]
Luke Burbank
Over the years.
- [34:43]
Andrew Walsh
And yes, you say that and you're totally fine.
- [34:45]
Luke Burbank
And you could even like make it. You could even kind of juice it up a little bit more, but explain it and just sort of say we're going to try something a little bit different and, and present this as if it were an interview. But reader, keep in mind that this is. These are quotes going back, you know, but let's just go with 1976. That is such a long time. Luke, you mentioned that we could do that with somebody on this show. Take clips and make it sound like an interview. Luke, somebody could do this with us. Somebody could go back to like 2008. And that's when you started TBTL. I wasn't part of it then. 2008, 2012. Pick a year and just say like, well, Luke Berman published something in the Stranger that makes it sound like they sat down with us by taking a whole bunch of quotes from things both of us have said over the past.
- [35:28]
Andrew Walsh
Machines on this show.
- [35:29]
Luke Burbank
And I know that you specifically have said, like, you know, I was doing. We've done this show for like, you know, between one and three hours every single weekday for almost 20 years. There are things that you said either as a joke or like kind of a mock campaign that you're like, oh, I'm embarrassed about that now. And that later clarification. Totally. Color colors. The quotes that you said five years, 10 years earlier. Like, I'm not saying that it's not fair game to go back into archives. I think it's an interesting experiment. But you're not only doing the kind of focus of the interview a disservice. Trust me, I am not somebody who is like, standing up to defend this guy.
- [36:08]
Andrew Walsh
You know, I was just gonna say you're like, yeah, you're not a big fan of his politics and just him. You do like him having two different threesomes, though, in the Mule. Famously. Right.
- [36:19]
Luke Burbank
And he directed it. And a 95 year old, you know, and like, you know, I grew up loving, absolutely loving, as we discussed earlier, the man with no Name series. But it is like I kind of detest him as a person so much now that it's hard for me to go back and even watch those. Although I'm sort of tempted now having talked about it so much. But anyway, I was talking about how.
- [36:38]
Andrew Walsh
It'S like Metallica's intro.
- [36:40]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [36:40]
Andrew Walsh
And then like for their concert. Is that clip from one of those movies?
- [36:43]
Luke Burbank
There is something visually very interesting about those movies, I think, and it has to do with, of Course not just the director's vision, but like the sort of the restrictions and how they had to make those movies, which are very interesting. And so anyway, my point though is I'm not somebody who is usually, you know, quick to, you're not lining up to defend him, to defend Clint Eastwood, but you're not only doing him a disservice, you're doing the readers a disservice. Your, your number one priority is to, as a journalist is to be honest with your readers. And this really, it's just, I, I don't know. I know AI isn't involved in this one, but it just, this sort of smacks of that. I wouldn't be surprised if they ran it through some sort of a generator before pulling these quotes or something like now I'm just speculating and not doing our listeners any favors either. But the whole thing just seems very lazy and cheap to me. And then to sort of act like you're taken aback. No, these are really bad journalistic practices, I think.
- [37:36]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah. Speaking of journalism, something interesting seems to be happening with the CBS Sunday Morning program that I work for, Andrew, which is more than in the past. The show seems to be finding itself kind of in the cultural conversation and not always for the best reasons or at least not always with the totally like high reviews, high marks. Of course there was the Bill Belichick interview. That was a huge, huge story. And now a guy who works for the show named David Pogue, who was also a technology reporter for the New York Times for years, interviewed Elon Musk. And why I was interested in this was because Jon Stewart decided to use, I think it was, he's back on like Monday nights or something. I think that's his gig now. He does the Daily show like one day a week and I guess decided that what he should do is just like absolutely roast CBS Sunday Morning and the interview with Elon Musk. And I have heard that.
- [38:32]
Luke Burbank
Do you have the tape there? I'd love to hear it if you do. I didn't want to put you on the spot.
- [38:36]
Andrew Walsh
No, I've got the tape here actually. So, yeah, this is Jon Stewart talking about the TV show that I work for, CBS Sunday Morning. We on this program would have been delighted to offer an unedited forum for Elon to discuss his journey from hard working efficiency expert to drug addled child star mugshot. But he chose to go in a different direction by sort of speaking to your theater loving parents favorite news program, CBS Sunday Morning. This is true. This was his final trump Administration exit interview. I noticed, first of all, I mean, I do think he has a point. We probably have too many pieces about Broadway on the show. So that one. That one hits kind of close to him. Also, my pieces are often getting bumped so we can have somebody who, for, like the backup dancer on, you know, hello Dolly or something, turns 80.
- [39:30]
Luke Burbank
I literally wouldn't have known that because I don't watch the show, but I. I see what bubbles up through the conversation. And so, like, I see these things, but I don't know what's. What is kind of stringing them all.
- [39:42]
Andrew Walsh
Together, I think, for me, because I don't have a particular attachment to Broadway, and it's certainly not an assignment they would ever give me. Well, that's not true, I guess. I did a story about the Alanis Morissette Broadway show, Jagged Little Pill, which I was excited because I got to talk to Alanis Morissette and Diablo Cody. But, like, generally speaking, I'm not getting the Broadway assignment. And therefore, when there is a Broadway story in an episode and there was like, hey, we have no time for your piece that you just flew all over the country for, because we have to put this Broadway piece in. It does sting. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna side with Stuart on this one. Anyway, did all of your businesses involve a lot of components? So, by the way, this is now David Pogue sitting down with Elon Musk. Elon Musk is wearing an Occupy Mars T shirt, of course. And also, this is the least interesting place to take this, but it absolutely kills me how bad the audio is. It is very clear. Now, this is where my experience of doing these stories kind of comes in. It is very clear that they were given a very, very tight window of time to talk to this guy Elon Musk. And it was in a location where the audio is just absolutely atrocious. First of all, it doesn't even sound like they have him mic'd very well, but you can hear trucks backing up in the distance. It's like, if it was anyone else who wasn't Elon Musk, we'd be like, we have to set this up somewhere else. Instead, there's just all of this extraneous background noise. I noticed that all of your businesses involve a lot of components, a lot of parts. Do the tariffs and the trade wars affect any of this? You know, tariffs always affect things a little bit. How revealing. Any follow up wondering what your thought is on the ban on foreign students, the proposal?
- [41:26]
Luke Burbank
I mean, you were one of the.
- [41:27]
Andrew Walsh
Those Kids, Right. By the way, I think that's a good question. You know what I mean? You're asking Elon Musk. Like, this administration is going after international students and Elon Musk's from South Africa. I actually didn't even know if he went to college in the U.S. but if he did, he would have been a foreign student in the US I think that's actually a kind of a smart question. And it's when Elon Musk decides he doesn't want to talk about this stuff anymore. Yeah, I mean, I think we want to stick to, you know, the subject of the day, which is like spaceships.
- [41:57]
Luke Burbank
As opposed to, you know, presidential policy. Oh, okay.
- [42:02]
Andrew Walsh
I was told anything's good, but no.
- [42:06]
Luke Burbank
Well, no.
- [42:10]
Andrew Walsh
Are you starting to say something?
- [42:12]
Luke Burbank
I just muttered, oh, my God. I had read pull quotes from this. I hadn't heard the audio.
- [42:18]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah. I mean, boy, I have to say, I'm of two minds on this. Like, it. When. When the Daily show slices and dices it, they can. What I. What I know from doing not anything this high profile, but doing stories like this is. First of all, it's really. It can be really weird to be in the moment as the correspondent, you know, you. You're also on camera. And if you were told, and the producer was told, we can talk about anything with this guy. But nobody ran that by Elon Musk. Elon Musk is obviously sitting down for the interview, thinking foolishly, not unlike Bill Belichick thinking foolishly, that like, oh, we just want to talk about your rocket ships, dude. Like, we have no interest in talking about the fact that you have just literally and figuratively run a chainsaw through the federal government and then kind of left with your tail between your legs. And I've become this bizarrely central character in this whole drama that is the Donald Trump administration. Like, the idea that Elon Musk would think that those would not be questions that would be interesting to CBS Sunday Morning or any journalistic program is kind of. Of pretty silly of him.
- [43:16]
Luke Burbank
Well, that's what I'm. That's why. And again, I'm sort of reacting to this, hearing it the first time, which is not really super professional on my part, to be honest with you. And I be very.
- [43:27]
Andrew Walsh
We're getting. No, it's just good. We're getting the natural, real raw, real time response.
- [43:34]
Luke Burbank
And, you know, whatever my response to this is when I said, oh, my God, there I was just like, oh, my God. About everything, by the way, it was about. It wasn't necessarily A critical to Poe, David Pogue or whatever. But generally speaking, I guess I should just say out here, anything that I say during the segment, I want it to be known that, like, I would never, unlike Jon Stewart, never claim that I could do a better job with this interview. You know, like, I mean, it's very far afield from what I do, but you could reasonably say, I'm in the media. I have had to interview people before in some way. It's not something I'm even good at on a low level. So I don't want to kind of like, unlike the. The very important Clint Eastwood story we just did, I can honestly say I would never have packaged a story that way because I have journalistic ethics. Having said that, I would be absolutely terrible at interviewing anybody about something important, you know, especially with the feeling like, the eyes of the world is on.
- [44:25]
Andrew Walsh
This, you know, And I can also. I can also imagine a world where you really. If you're. If you're David in this and you're the producer, you are trying to not alienate the guy too early in the interview.
- [44:40]
Luke Burbank
You're trying to get.
- [44:41]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah. You're trying to get enough usable stuff that, you know, basically you have a story when this is all said and done, you have, you know, enough content. Because if you. If you. If he gets pissed and leaves, then, I mean, I guess you kind of have that as an interview or as a story. But it's like, that's not really what I don't think David wants to do there. I think he wants to try to ask this guy questions and get some useful responses from him. But when you're in the moment, when Elon Musk is just saying, like, I just want to talk about space, and then you're kind of saying, we were told we could talk about anything, and he's just like, no. It's like, I don't know what my next move would have been exactly, especially.
- [45:17]
Luke Burbank
The way he says it. But I kind of got off track there a little bit. I did want to say that whatever I say, don't think that I'm judging David Pogue specifically by thinking that I would do a better job. Having said that, I'm also just confused having read a little bit of the coverage around this. I mean, a tiny, tiny bit, I thought for sure it was the classic dynamic of. Of this powerful person, Elon Musk, or this hard to book person, however you want to put it. This, this person only agreed to the interview under very strict kind of guidelines. Right. Like, I am not Talking about my time in the White House. I'm only talking because. And that's the way we landed this guy. Because he wants to now move on and talk about his businesses. So the challenge for the journalists is to say, well, he says we can't talk about the White House stuff. He wants to talk about his business. So how can we craft our questions to be about his business, but reflect current policy that it is known that he is part of crafting. You know what I mean? So I assume.
- [46:15]
Andrew Walsh
Which is where that tariff question I thought was also not terrible, because it does. What you're describing, the response is terrible.
- [46:21]
Luke Burbank
But that's why I'm confused hearing David Polk say, oh, okay, I thought everything was on the table. It sounds like. I don't think he would have said that on the. He wouldn't have said that. We've heard so many. We've heard so many interviewees on this show. We've dissected them from Billy Bob Thornton on of them acting like a victim because they claimed that they came on only with certain, like, strictures, and then the journalist is breaking those. And I always think that's bullshit anyway. But it doesn't even sound like Elon, if David Pogue's kind of stark reaction there is honest. It doesn't sound like they did go in with any kind of strictures on. This is. I'm sure they didn't so bad. I mean, yeah, he's just an idiot, right? Like, he just. Just thought, oh, whatever, I can just handle this interview. Like, I don't have to, like, put any. Any guidelines on it.
- [47:05]
Andrew Walsh
I mean, it could also be right hand, left hand. Like, whoever set this up, you know, is who. I mean, I don't know if this was set up. It probably wasn't set up by the White House, so it probably was set up by, like, is. He's. He's SpaceX, right? That's his one.
- [47:19]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [47:19]
Andrew Walsh
So maybe it was like SpaceX set this up and they wanted to, like, I mean, or Tesla could have even set it up because, like, like they're trying to kind of rebrand Elon. They're trying to get him, you know, or sort of remake his image from being chainsaw dude to being like, business boy again.
- [47:34]
Luke Burbank
But he's wearing that Mars shirt, though, which made me think that it was specifically kind of like pushing a SpaceX agenda.
- [47:39]
Andrew Walsh
Yes. Yeah. He seemed to be under the impression he was going to mostly get to talk about space stuff. So look what Trump has reduced this man to. He has broken this Poor man. Just in an interview. Can't we just talk about spaceships? Trump is spending $200 billion more dollars than the previous administration did in this amount of time and creating a deficit exploding. Big, beautiful Bill. That is the antithesis of everything Musk said he was trying to do. And now he's left softly complaining about it to a guy whose normal news segment is. Is explaining to your grandparents how to download a PDF. So fair.
- [48:28]
Luke Burbank
It's a really good joke. Tough.
- [48:29]
Andrew Walsh
Tough, but fair. Favorite part of the whole interview. So Elon actually expressed some dissatisfaction with what was happening with the Trump admission. It was a turn of events that stunned the reporter on CBS Sunday Morning, who had no idea, apparently, that this was being recorded. Right after our interview, CBS News posted a clip of it to promote this very report. It was that part where Musk criticizes.
- [48:55]
Luke Burbank
Trump's spending bill and his remarks became news.
- [48:59]
Andrew Walsh
It went all the way up to the White House.
- [49:04]
Luke Burbank
Why is his voiceover also bad audio?
- [49:06]
Andrew Walsh
What's that?
- [49:07]
Luke Burbank
Why is his voice over also bad audio?
- [49:10]
Andrew Walsh
Oh, I don't know.
- [49:11]
Luke Burbank
Doesn't he sound really echoey? Except I'm not watching this, so I don't know what the visuals are. Doesn't it.
- [49:15]
Andrew Walsh
Let me go back to this. Yeah, let me see.
- [49:18]
Luke Burbank
And his remarks became news. It went all the way.
- [49:21]
Andrew Walsh
That might be because I just bumped it. I. I bounced it to an MP3. That could be a little bit of processing from my end.
- [49:28]
Luke Burbank
That'd be because it sounds like he's kind of in a garage. I'm like, wow, I'm gonna. Surprise. Okay, gotcha.
- [49:32]
Andrew Walsh
Way up to the White House. Yes. That's what news does. He's saying that, like, so, am I in trouble now? I thought we were just killing time until we got another Patti LuPone apologizes update. I don't like any of this. So that's the Jon Stewart take on the whole situation. I have to say that, like, I have very mixed feelings on this because of knowing the people that made the story that's getting made fun of, and also because of doing stories. Many stories that should, by all rights, have been savaged so much worse than that. I'm a little. I have to admit, I'm a little protective of my CBS Sunday Morning folk. And it also kind of makes me, like, it's really easy for Jon Stewart to swoop and poop. Like, it's just so easy for. And even, you know, John Oliver again. I love John Oliver's show, and I really like Jon Stewart, too, but it's like, I mean, here's what I. What I know about this when. What I know about the bosses at Sunday Morning and about the whole CBS News apparatus is they are very, very tuned into the vibrations of the White House right now because of not wanting to get unduly in trouble, but also wanting to try to be journalistic. And so I'm sure what happened was the White House probably freaked out a little bit about this from the promo that we played. And then our boss is probably freaked out a little bit and wanted David to put something in the piece that acknowledged that this was all happening. It can't be because David didn't know he was being recorded or because he doesn't understand how news works. Like. Like, I could see a world in which if I was doing the same story and the promotional, like, Instagram post about it got attention from the White House, my bosses would immediately be like, well, now this also has to be in the story somehow. We have to kind of, like, we have to address this in one way or another. So I feel like that one is, if you understand how that show gets made, you understand that that's probably not on David Pogue. That was probably coming down from. From upstairs.
- [51:36]
Luke Burbank
Well, I kind of don't even quite get that criticism. And again, maybe it's because I'm not sitting down and watching the full piece on cbs, which now I kind of regret not doing. And then. And I haven't seen this whole thing on the Daily Show. I will say this. And, like, I am, you know, without. With the exception of not wanting to get you in trouble. I am not super. I'm definitely not protective of cbs. I'm not protective of the show. And I feel pretty free to be pretty blunt about my feelings about it. I don't quite. I was really geared up for a better takedown by John Stewart. That criticism at the end there is. Yeah. I mean, maybe it's not the best writing in the world, but, like, it doesn't strike me as, like, some sort of, like, atrocious smoking gun. Let me put it this way. And this is again, where I'm gonna. I'm just gonna be blunt here. And, you know, my apologies. And again, if I ever say anything that puts you in a bad position, we can. Can talk about it. But, like, do I trust Jon Stewart to do a better interview with Elon Musk that I'm going to find more interesting than David Pogue? Yes. I think that Jon Stewart. It's going to be a different kind of thing, but Jon Stewart is fearless in a way, and he's earned that fearlessness. And he's in a position in his career now where he can be more fearless than ever. You know, like, he gave up the show, now he's back. What are they going to take from him? You know what I mean? He can be fearless, and he always has been, and he's earned that reputation. He can be snarky. He would put Elon on the hook in ways that you can hear. Like, I don't think he would be caught on his. On his heels as much as Pogue sounds a little bit in that interview. So I don't begrudge Stewart having strong opinions about other journalists when Stewart's sitting there sort of, like, licking his chop, saying, like, God, I wish I could have gotten that interview. But they won't give me the interview because they know that I'll kill it. You know what I mean? In other words, I'll do a really good job putting them on the spot. And so therefore, I don't get those interviews. They give it to people that they think they can manhandle a little bit more, like, and maybe in this case, David Pogue. So I understand where he's coming from for that. That last criticism, though, seemed a little bit weak tea to me, to be frank. I just thought he would focus more on, like, we could have gotten more out of this guy.
- [53:56]
Andrew Walsh
Yes, you're absolutely right. I think that if Elon Musk were to go on the Daily show or were to sit down with Jon Stewart, it would be a totally different interview. It would be so much more adversarial. I think Jon Stewart has an incredibly nimble mind, much more nimble than mine. And that's the thing. Okay, so where I really want to go with this is it's appearing that they now want me to do this profile of the president of the ufc, Dana White. And he is a very problematic dude. And on the one hand, it's like, well, he is important in the culture. Like, he is in charge of this thing that is hugely popular with people. And he's also, you know, in some way, been sort of, you could say, a part of the rise of Donald Trump because of this kind of bro culture and the way that Donald Trump is invited to these UFC events. He's also somebody who had credible allegations of domestic violence against him. He is somebody who this guy, Dana White is.
- [54:52]
Luke Burbank
I believe it was on camera. I believe it was on camera and in public. Incredible allegations.
- [54:57]
Andrew Walsh
Why I would call them credible.
- [54:58]
Luke Burbank
Very, very credible. Yes.
- [55:00]
Andrew Walsh
So it's like, there's all this like. And if I was, if I was a writer for the New Yorker and I could get, you know, 15 pages, if I could get two months of research and 15 pages of copy, I could probably write a nuanced and interesting profile of this guy. What scares me is that that's just not really what our show does. You know, we don't do. We don't usually take the time to profile someone just to say they suck. And so the producer and I, we keep going around and I keep saying, like, I can only do this story if we can be very honest about the problems with this guy. And they keep telling me that that's okay, that, yes, that we're going to do the story that way. And I, you know, which is, again, it's not purely a takedown piece, but it has to feature the things about this guy that are a big problem. And I'm nervous, though, because I feel like something's happening with the show where we're somehow finding ourselves doing all these interviews with high profile people, many of whom are kind of problematic, and then somehow, like it ends up being in the other news cycles. I do not want to be anywhere, anywhere near the other news cycles with my Dana White story.
- [56:09]
Luke Burbank
Well, what, what is the story? I mean, how did it. Is the story just the name? You know, like, this is, I'm, you know, I'm out of my depths here and I always feel embarrassed comparing high level national stories like this. And your reservations on this are very well founded, I think. And it's an interesting position that you find yourself in. And so I hesitate to compare it to like beyond lower than middling things that I've done in my life. But like, I remember working on a show as a producer and I kind of inherited the show that, to be honest with, I didn't hold in very high esteem. And it was sort of both my charge and I believed my responsibility to sort of whip it into shape a little bit. And I remember at the time, now this is a culture show, a very folksy culture show in New Hampshire. Couldn't be more different than sitting down with Dana White. But I remember my guiding principle coming in that I would try to say to the other people on the team is, let's not book people, let's book ideas. I don't know if I put it that way. I'm saying that now, but the general idea of just like, hey, we have poet John Smith on the show. You love poet John Smith, right? Some of the most, oddly, some of the most Colorful poetry you can imagine coming from Poet. Poet. See John Smith. No, but you know what I mean. I'd be like, well, what's the story? Why are we having him on it? Well, he's a poet. Yeah, but that's not the story. What is the story? And so my thing was always like, let's figure out what we want to talk about and then find the right people for that. Let's not, like, find people and then. And then figure out what we want to talk to them about. Now, that might be just bad. That might just be a bad approach to production, especially on the national stage, when you're talking about getting huge names like Belichick or. Or. Or Elon Musk. But I sort of feel like coming in with Belichick and Elon Musk. You kind of know what the story is because they're so high profile right now in the moment. Dana White is also, to a degree. But when they say, hey, Luke, we have Dana White on the line. We want you to interview him. Is there. We want you to interview him about X, Y, or Z.
- [58:12]
Andrew Walsh
Well, yeah, there's a big UFC thing in late June. That is what they're trying to promote.
- [58:19]
Luke Burbank
Oh, God.
- [58:20]
Andrew Walsh
So they're trying to promote an event.
- [58:22]
Luke Burbank
No, Sorry. Am I allowed? No.
- [58:27]
Andrew Walsh
Well, the thing is that our story doesn't have to be about that. You know what I mean? And this is where always the tension in the dance is, because that's what you know, and we've already been told that, like, you know, much like David Pogue, we've been told that we can talk about anything and ask any questions. Like, that's one of the things that's already allegedly been negotiated, is that, you know, we. This does not have to just be about space. But so to me, it's like, the easy move would be to just say no, to just turn it down. But the more interesting move to me would be to say, is there a way to put together a television story that is actually interesting and illuminating and accurate and fair about this person who is inarguably important in a certain part of the culture? You know, again, I just keep going back to this idea that if I was. If I worked for Texas Monthly, and they were like, do you want to come out to UFC317 and, like, walk around with Dana White for a week? I would totally write that article if I worked for Texas Monthly, so can I. And again, we don't. It doesn't have to just turn into a glossy ad for their. Whatever. Their latest round of Fighting is. So the question is, can I pull something off within the confines of a TV story for the TV show that I work for? And the kind of stories that we tend to do, like can that be done? And that's the part I don't know about, you know what I mean? I know that if this, or again, if I worked for the New York Times, if I, for instance, probably if I was David Marchese or Lulu Garcia Navarro when I was doing the interview, one of my very favorite shows out there right now, and there was a chance to sit down with this person, Dana White, who again is very problematic but also undeniably has a big say in a certain thing that's very big in the culture. I would probably, I would imagine they would sit down with him and they would just do a really direct, hard hitting interview, you know. So anyway, that's my, that's, that's. We're also going to have another con. Me and the producers and some other people are going to have another conversation next week about this whole thing. So I guess there's still, you know, kind of an exit point potentially. But I also know that once the ball starts rolling on this stuff and crews are being hired and this and that and the other, it starts to become more and more of a fate accompli. So I don't, I mean, I don't know. And this is also me just being extremely overly open and honest with you and the TV tale listeners. You know, just saying, I kind of don't know how this is going to go, but I really. Well, the worst case scenario would be this. We end up some like, let me put it this way, if the version of the story that's going to go on TV ends up being a puff piece, I would quit over it. I really would. Like, I cannot, I could not have my name and face on a story about this person that just kind of patted him on the back and elided all of these real issues. So that's one thing. But yeah, I just don't know. But I also feel like to just say no, I don't want to do it is also kind of taking the easy road or something. I'm not sure. I'm trying to think of it. This is a weird place to take it, but. But I talk a lot about this thing that I heard Stephen Colbert say and I don't think I'm Stephen Colbert, but that like when he gets most creative is when he's sort of in a box with something like, you know, on his show they wanted to do a bit, and the certain famous person was gonna be the cameo, and they can't do it, or you're gonna have this happen. But then the prop people can't build it in time. And that when he is faced with that challenge, when there are kind of these restrictions around what he's trying to do, he then gets his most creative. And I'm kind of asking myself if it's possible that this could be one of those moments where, for me, where I have to think creatively about how to do this thing so that it. It actually is creating some amount of light in the world. And, you know, so anyway, that's. That's where I'm at as of Wednesday, June 4th. Who knows where I'll be next week?
- [62:17]
Luke Burbank
I wanted to say, you know, when. When I kind of had my reaction to, like, that the pitch is tied to, like, a wrestling event, and I was like, oh, God, no. I mean, I want to make it.
- [62:26]
Andrew Walsh
Clear that I don't know if it's wrestling, but.
- [62:28]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. Or whatever. I'm sorry. Fighting. I. I would never argue that he's not an important person to interview. I would make the argument. I don't know if this is gonna be. Sound foolish, but I could make the argument. I think that he represents. He is at the heart of the most distilled version of MAGA culture. I mean, Trump will be at this event probably, right?
- [62:57]
Andrew Walsh
Probably.
- [62:57]
Luke Burbank
So there are huge amount of MAGA events, and the people who are often fighting. And I know you and I have talked about this. I mean, some of these fighters have said, like, really very just. I mean, not even coded, just like, outwardly just racist and homophobic things. And fighters who are just literally Nazi sympathizers have gone on the podium in events related to their sport under the umbrella of this organization and said these things. And then Dana White will sort of say, yeah, that guy's an idiot. But he still allows them the leash to do that. He still. They're still his employees. So I would never argue that one shouldn't interview Dana White, but I totally feel your concerns about is this the right venue for it? And if you're the person sitting there. And then the other thing, and this really sounds like I'm being a douche chill here. Which I don't think is a real term outside of Arrested Development. You've heard it, though, on Arrested Development, right? They say it all the time. I'm like, I never understand what that means, yet. I say it all the time. I'm not trying to poo poo it. But one other consideration, since you're having these considerations anyway, is that quote from Colbert, which is really, really inspiring, but also coming from the guy who probably has way more creative control than you will in this situation. And so sort of identifying that. And then if you do go in for it, like, I'll bet you Dana White will sit there. Like, I'll bet you he would not do anything near the musk move of saying, I don't want to talk about that, or the Belichick move or the Hunter move. I'm sorry, I'm blanking on her first name now. What's Belichick's personal manager and girlfriend's name?
- [64:37]
Andrew Walsh
Jordan.
- [64:38]
Luke Burbank
Jordan Hunter. Yeah.
- [64:39]
Andrew Walsh
Are they. On this one show that I like, they keep calling her Jordan. I don't know if that's because that's how her name is pronounced or because. Or that's just some kind of inside joke they're doing.
- [64:49]
Luke Burbank
I have no questions about how you.
- [64:50]
Andrew Walsh
Pronounce her first name. Is that.
- [64:52]
Luke Burbank
By the way, what's that?
- [64:54]
Andrew Walsh
I think it's Hudson, right?
- [64:55]
Luke Burbank
Oh, Hudson. I said Hunter. I'm sorry. All of that is to say I.
- [64:58]
Andrew Walsh
Think that Dana White, pardon my take, is the show where they call her Jordan.
- [65:01]
Luke Burbank
Okay, cool. I didn't know that you. You followed that still.
- [65:04]
Andrew Walsh
I just see clips on Tick Tock. It's like Big Cat and pft. I. I tend to like those guys.
- [65:09]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, definitely. Anyway, I was just gonna say that, like, I think Dana White will sit there and he will. He will engage, you know, which is interesting.
- [65:16]
Andrew Walsh
Maybe physically. I think he aspires to be one of those wrestlers.
- [65:20]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, but no, I mean, I think that he will. He will engage with you. I don't think that he will. Will like, sort of like. Like try to dance around the questions or say, I'm not here to talk about that. I think he will talk about it. And then that'll be. That'll put you in a very interesting position. And I don't know, like, if that sounds, like, really appetizing to you or not. I could see it sort of seeing appetizing because you wouldn't just get that sort of, like, sheepish, like, I want to talk about Mars thing. But. But you'd also have to be ready to, like, probably, oh, Luke. I'll just say get in the ring.
- [65:48]
Andrew Walsh
I mean, that's like, I was thinking about this yesterday, and. And I was like, I do feel honestly kind of intimidated by the whole process. Not by him, but by the prospects of doing this whole thing. And then, like you said, the story getting out of my creative control and then something getting on TV with my face and voice on it that I really don't stand behind. That's what really scares me about it. And also, just going into an interview where there's, at this level, there's always like 10 handlers, there's like 10 Jordan Hudsons around at all times who have a very. I mean, they are. They would love it if this was just a way to promote whatever the latest UFC thing is. So you kind of have to go in. It's basically like a much. It will be a much more adversarial interview than I've done for this show or probably in my life in a lot of situations. And so. But then I also thought, well, can I take that as a challenge? Could I. Could I just kind of like really, really think about this deeply and have a real plan going in and be. And just like actually see this as something that I could learn how to do, you know, if need be, instead of just kind of going like, I don't want to do it, or even worse, capitulating to this idea of like, it's just going to be basically a Sunday morning piece where there's this one line where we kind of mention. And also he's had problems, legal problems. Like, that's what I, you know, that would be a really terrible outcome in my mind. So I don't know. I mean, I'm obviously, my sense is that it's more likely to happen than not happen, but it also, So I am going to have meetings with my bosses to be very clear with them about what I feel can and cannot happen related to this story and again, why we're even exactly doing it. But again, it's also potentially an opportunity because you're right, this is the kind of, like you said, this is the distilled essence of a certain kind of particularly male culture that directly led to the reelection of Donald Trump. Trump. You know, I mean, if you want to get to the beating heart of this whole ideology of masculinity and of. Etc, etc, you know, it's. This is. And this is the place where it's happening. And so if that's something that can be brought up in the piece and analyzed in a way that's like actually clarifying, that might be a good opportunity, you know.
- [68:05]
Luke Burbank
But again, but it's like, that's the story. And I don't know how you pitch it to them, but it's like you all, you all on your and your editorial team have to say, like, well, is the story the event or is the story. Is the heart of the story. Story of this? I mean, I would say then this would be the last thing I'll say about it is it's your decision. It sounds incredibly tough. I don't envy your position at all, but it's.
- [68:24]
Andrew Walsh
I don't envy my position.
- [68:25]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. At least I feel, you know, it's. At least you're. At least you're going into it with this conversation. I mean, it's interesting that we're having this in a public forum. Well, let's say quasi, Quasi public forum, but at least you're going into this. There are plenty of people probably, I don't know, at CBS or otherwise, but there are plenty of people who would just be like, like, oh, I don't know, they just said I should interview this famous guy, you know, like, so at least you're, at least you're going in guarded.
- [68:49]
Andrew Walsh
Yes, I, I'm, I'm definitely very in my head about it, but that's probably a good thing because I'm not going in with any illusions of it being, you know, like. And I don't, I don't. My goal is usually, my goal when I do these interviews, because they're almost always about a non controversial figure, is I think, oh, if I can really kind of befriend this person and if I can. If I can put them at ease and stuff, then that's gonna be a good interview. It's almost like part of it is just being like a good hang. And I feel like this is definitely. That's not the goal for me with this one at all. And it's actually interesting. I'm glad you brought that up about the sort of the, how central UFC is to basically MAGA culture, because that is an interesting way to frame the story. Is the guy who's kind of credited with really putting the U, like, like building the UFC up into this huge sports and cultural movement, you know, has created this thing that has also, again, been very central to, to the way that a lot of particularly young men think about the world and, and, and vote for Donald Trump. And he comes to the events and I mean, this is basically like his Super Bowl, Donald Trump's Super Bowl. And so what does that mean? And how do we unpack that a little bit? So.
- [70:00]
Luke Burbank
And the Joe Rogan of it all, too. Right? I mean, I'm just kind of realizing that as you say that, like, yeah, I mean, this is, it's all Part and parcel. So it's an incredibly. It's incredibly interesting story. If that's the story that you can.
- [70:10]
Andrew Walsh
Do and if I have the time to do it. Yeah, that's the other thing. It's like, if I get four minutes, I'm totally host. Cannot. It is impossible. I can't do a story about baked Alaska in four minutes.
- [70:23]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, right. Well, and that's.
- [70:24]
Andrew Walsh
I can't do story about ice cream you light on fire in four minutes.
- [70:28]
Luke Burbank
And that's like the frustrating thing I think about, just from talking to you about your job that I think I would be like, that would be. That would make me uncomfortable and also just be really, really tough is like, also, it's just like so many people are involved from people who are on the more technical side of things, just to make sure that it sounds good. I don't know where they were with that. Just joking. I'm totally joking on that. No, but like, from, from, from just like, you know, honing in on the technical details of something to lawyers, to executives, to people who are trying to merge to have a merger go through. I mean, that's the other thing that overlays this whole CBSness of it all as well. Like that the President will end up seeing this. And then how will this affect. I mean, that is. I mean, that's another thing. Now here, I'll put that in your head. You know what I mean? And so, like, yeah, this is.
- [71:13]
Andrew Walsh
Of all the stories I'm done. This is the one that if I do this story, it will be 100% the one that has the greatest likelihood to get on Donald Trump's radar.
- [71:21]
Luke Burbank
Right, Exactly. Well, the squirrel hunter.
- [71:25]
Andrew Walsh
Well, that one definitely. So, like, probably that's number one. And then this would be number two. I mean, that's another thing. That's a very, A very weird thing to try to wrap your mind around is like this. Yeah, this will be the most lawyered story that I've ever done there. You know, they will. Every single line will be reviewed by somebody trying to make sure that we don't make somebody mad who could ruin the merger of Paramount and Sky Dance, which, you know, so the more that I talk about it, the absolutely more terrible idea this obviously demonstrates itself to be, which is why I'm oddly drawn to it, which is.
- [71:58]
Luke Burbank
And also, like, maybe why you shouldn't bring it up with me, because I told you, I'm just being. I'm just being honest and blunt about these things. But obviously, and I'm not in a position to But I would be. I would be. I would have a lot of concerns. But I was just sort of like, trying to maybe like, sort of empathize or feel compassion for you that, like, even if you get agreements ahead of time with your editorial team, once the tape is in the can, you're still part of the writing and editorial process, but you still have to fight for everything from everything that you've told me about it. And again, that goes from interviewing. Who was it?
- [72:38]
Andrew Walsh
John Smith, the poet.
- [72:39]
Luke Burbank
John Smith, the poet. No, I was trying to think, who grows weed? Who's the bee celebrity? Who grows weed?
- [72:45]
Andrew Walsh
Bee celebrity. How dare you.
- [72:47]
Luke Burbank
Belushi. Belushi.
- [72:48]
Andrew Walsh
Jim Belushi.
- [72:49]
Luke Burbank
That's what I meant.
- [72:49]
Andrew Walsh
B.
- [72:49]
Luke Burbank
It starts with a baby. Yeah.
- [72:52]
Andrew Walsh
My fellow Albanian American, but you know what I mean?
- [72:55]
Luke Burbank
Like, just kind of, like even something of sort of low kind of consequences, like that you still have a vision, but at a certain point, like, you can fight for it. You can fight for it, but you're not the final person who's cutting that tape and putting it out there. And so again, I'm not saying I.
- [73:09]
Andrew Walsh
Am the person who's recording the audio. So that's good. At least I've got that control. My voice has to be on the story so I don't have to read any lines that I don't agree with. And that'll be. I mean, I learned this kind of a long time ago doing, like, commercial stuff, which was sometimes the director would say, like, why don't you just do this, you know, as a try? And in my early days, I would do it, and then it would always be the thing that would get in the final product. You know what I mean? And at some point I learned just. This sounds like such a diva move. But I learned, like, don't ever do a thing on camera that you don't want to have in the piece, because once they've recorded it, then they have it. So that's why I feel kind of bad because sometimes I'd be working with people and they'd be like, why don't we just try this? And I'm like, I'll use my favorite line. Andrew, let me just stop you there.
- [73:52]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, right, right, right.
- [73:53]
Andrew Walsh
I'm not going to do that. You know what I learned that from was the PR pictures for the. Or the. Whatever promotional photos for the Bryant park project.
- [74:00]
Luke Burbank
I was about to make a joke. I was about to say, okay, Luke, I totally understand. You Just let me get one with this giant pencil.
- [74:05]
Andrew Walsh
That was where I learned that lesson because every. I was so kind of nervous and overwhelmed and like, like, wanted to be a good boy that every. They were like, why don't you hold this giant pencil? Why don't you go back to back? Why don't you do every bad pose? And I was like, yeah, but then we'll just pick the good ones later. And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I see the whole promotional package. It's just all pencil and back to back.
- [74:25]
Luke Burbank
And it wasn't. It was literally a pencil. I was trying to think of something.
- [74:28]
Andrew Walsh
It was literally a pencil.
- [74:29]
Luke Burbank
I didn't realize it was literally a pencil.
- [74:32]
Andrew Walsh
Was it? No. It might have been literally, because I know Sean Dettore was holding a giant pencil in one of our things, but was that a callback to the giant pencil I had to hold, or was it. I knew there was a bunch of props. There was like a globe. I think there was a giant pencil. Like, it was so bad. It was the. The people in charge of this said, we've just got. We got the hottest photographer in D.C. to do this. Like, even though the show was based in New York, obviously NPR was headquartered in D.C. and they were like, we can't even believe we got so lucky as to get this incredibly hot shot photographer. I was like, wow, okay. Excited to find out what this is all about. And we get there, and it's not that age is an indicator of these things, but this amazing hotshot photographer was conservatively 30 years older than us and said, like, okay, here's what I've got for you. And there was just this, like, corner of the room that just had every kind of. I mean, every kind of bad prop you could have. It probably had those oversized sunglasses they try to give you at weddings. Now in the photo, by the way, miss me with that.
- [75:31]
Luke Burbank
Yes.
- [75:31]
Andrew Walsh
That's another one of those things.
- [75:32]
Luke Burbank
Things.
- [75:32]
Andrew Walsh
I. I don't think I have to tell you this, Andrew. Like, I can't imagine anything that would kill you inside more than being at a wedding reception and they're doing a group photo and somebody's handing you those oversized sunglasses. Like, that would be. You want to talk about reenacting your birthday photo where you're plugging your ears.
- [75:49]
Luke Burbank
What is the. What is the Tim Meadows? I think you should. Oh, yeah, that is like that.
- [75:54]
Andrew Walsh
Yeah, yeah, you should leave. Yeah.
- [75:55]
Luke Burbank
What is it? Where does it go, though? Like, they're like, okay, now a goof is, oh, where was I recently? Where I said, isn't that.
- [76:01]
Andrew Walsh
He said, you don't have enough time to Come up with a pose.
- [76:03]
Luke Burbank
Oh, that's right. I don't. Oh, that's right. He's like, starts freaking out. Everybody else is making goofy faces. I remember I was at this Whirly Ball sort of wedding celebration, which was very, very informal. I can't. There was literally nothing that. There were no toasts. There were no. It was just like. We all just went there, played Whirly Ball. But there was one moment where everybody said, hey, we're all gathering in one of these rooms for the big group group photo, you know, to commemorate the event. And it's like some guy from Whirlyball is taking the first one, the second one. Then he said, okay, and now. Now it's the silly one. And I did not change my visage at all.
- [76:39]
Andrew Walsh
I did something just like that. Oh, when we were all in. Oh, my God, I'm such a little skunk. When we were in Vegas for that vow renewal.
- [76:48]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [76:49]
Andrew Walsh
We were taking kind of a group photo afterwards, and it was like, everyone just. Everyone's had a few drinks, and it's like, the ceremony was great. It's like, a nice time. It's a nice day in Las Vegas. It's like everything is working out, and we're standing by this Cadillac that maybe, like, used to be Elvis Presley's or, like, the one he had or something. And it's like. And the person taking the picture who worked for the chapel is like, everybody say Vegas, and everybody do this. And if you look at the photo, everyone is doing it except me.
- [77:13]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [77:14]
Andrew Walsh
I just look so stoic. And I'm like, why? Why does it kill me? Why does it kill me just to be a normal, fun person? By the way, I'm just gonna play you this little clip from I Think youk Should Leave. This is Tim Meadows, and I think his family. It might even be his daughter who's getting married. I'm not sure. But it's that moment in the wedding where the photographer is trying to get everyone to be a little bit silly.
- [77:37]
Luke Burbank
Okay, grab a prop. Grab a prop. All right, here we go.
- [77:42]
Andrew Walsh
And remember, big smiles in 3, 2. Everyone else has grabbed a bigger prop. All that's left for Tim Meadows is a purple feather, and he's already freaking out. You can see on his face.
- [77:53]
Luke Burbank
I know where this goes.
- [77:55]
Andrew Walsh
He's. He's left with what he thinks of as an inferior prop.
- [77:58]
Luke Burbank
1. He sticks it down his throat, right?
- [78:03]
Andrew Walsh
He puts the feather down his throat and immediately vomit.
- [78:07]
Luke Burbank
God damn it.
- [78:08]
Andrew Walsh
That's not enough time.
- [78:11]
Luke Burbank
Three seconds to Think of something silly.
- [78:12]
Andrew Walsh
That's insane.
- [78:14]
Luke Burbank
That's not enough time.
- [78:16]
Andrew Walsh
Oh, my God, Dad, I blinked, okay? I gagged on a purple feather.
- [78:21]
Luke Burbank
What the am I supposed to do with a purple feather?
- [78:26]
Andrew Walsh
You could be a flapper. A What? Like a 1920s dancer. That could have been Barney. How could have been, like, Barney's hair?
- [78:36]
Luke Burbank
Hey, look at me.
- [78:37]
Andrew Walsh
I'm Barney.
- [78:37]
Luke Burbank
Like, Barney's hair. Hair.
- [78:39]
Andrew Walsh
Barney doesn't have hair.
- [78:40]
Luke Burbank
Would you shut the up? He's like a cloth. Cloth is hair is just little tiny hairs. Even his mouth has little hairs. I mean, he's cloth. Cloth is just little hair.
- [78:53]
Andrew Walsh
Well, you know what I'm bringing to the Dana White interview? A purple feather.
- [78:57]
Luke Burbank
You. Absolutely.
- [78:58]
Andrew Walsh
In case I need to do something silly.
- [79:00]
Luke Burbank
Oh, that's fun. Anyway, good luck with that.
- [79:01]
Andrew Walsh
A lot of bleeping for you to do.
- [79:03]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, I was putting some marks. Thank you for your.
- [79:05]
Andrew Walsh
Thank you for your service.
- [79:06]
Luke Burbank
Yeah.
- [79:07]
Andrew Walsh
Anyway, I guess maybe we should wrap things. Andrew, I actually. I have to be honest with you. I appreciate having that conversation with you, even though it was on air, which is a very weird place for it to happen because it's helping me kind of consolidate and focus my thoughts on the whole thing and what I need to make sure to say to my bosses, you know, before I again agree to, like, fly to Vegas and actually do this whole thing. I mean, it is a free trip to Vegas, which is kind of.
- [79:30]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, I think you can. That's like. That's like free food at the office. I know you can afford a trip to.
- [79:35]
Andrew Walsh
That's, like, one of the worst. Yeah, you gotta have a. Enough miles to get to Vegas to.
- [79:38]
Luke Burbank
Get to Vegas to work for a work trip. Like. Like, you're gonna be, like, having tons of fun in Vegas. But, I mean, the cool thing here is it sort of sounds like I earned myself an associate producer credit on that story.
- [79:47]
Andrew Walsh
Well, I might make you the executive producer if the story goes sideways. Drag you straight to hell with me. The first thing that will happen is it's an Andrew Walsh production. Like some kind of a Tarantino thing. It'll be in large block letters over the screen, and it'll dissolve into me and Dana White playing craps.
- [80:05]
Luke Burbank
It'll say a man Apart, and it'll just be me sadly walking by myself with no other suited fellas.
- [80:11]
Andrew Walsh
If you. If you ever have a production company, your logo should be you plugging your ears while people sing you Happy Birthday. That would actually be, like, a really. A really cool imaging for your. For your production company. So. All right. Thanks for listening, everybody. We are going to be right back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. So please, if you can join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Wednesday, take care of yourselves, and please remember, no mountain too tall.
- [80:36]
Luke Burbank
And good luck to you all.
- [80:41]
Andrew Walsh
My podcast is on life support. Hey, I need new listeners.
- [80:46]
Luke Burbank
Power out.