Atsuko Okatsuka

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim

Episode: Atsuko Okatsuka
Date: March 10, 2026
Host: Ego Nwodim
Guest: Atsuko Okatsuka

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Overview

In this lively, candid, and chaotic episode of Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim, Ego welcomes acclaimed comedian Atsuko Okatsuka for a hilariously raw conversation about family, cultural quirks (ranch dressing, anyone?), mental health, immigration, travel, relationships, and the quirks of the American experience. The two riff on personal rituals, childhood, coping mechanisms, and the oddities of adulthood, all while diving into how their upbringings—and, often, their parents—have shaped who they are. As always, the episode features the signature “who or what do you want to say thanks to?” segment and ends with honest advice for a listener’s real-life conundrum.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Podcast’s Vibe: Embracing Messiness and Imperfection

Timestamp: 03:26 – 09:36

• Ego opens with a playful monologue about being overlooked for gratitude herself and riffs on the imperfections of podcasting and life:

  "This podcast is a mess, just to be very clear... I want people to know. Humans are imperfect. Productions are imperfect. People have to clear their throats." (09:42, Ego)

• Both Ego and Atsuko agree on embracing authenticity, even if it means being a little messy or “dizzy.”
• Allergies, eczema, and bruises become metaphors for human imperfection; both reveal the physical and emotional tolls of modern living.

2. Drink of Choice, Coping Mechanisms, and Chronic “Dizziness”

Timestamp: 10:07 – 16:31

• Friendly banter about favorite drinks (tequila for Atsuko, currently gin for Ego) slides into broader bits about coping and aging.

  "Tequila... How many are we doing a night? Look at me trying to die." (14:05, Ego)

• “Dizziness” acts as a motif for the chaos of a bi-coastal, busy life and the confusion it brings.

3. American Quirks and Life as an Immigrant

Timestamp: 17:51 – 26:00

• Atsuko’s “thanks” goes to the United States—for introducing her to ranch dressing, which was absent in her Japanese upbringing:

  "I want to say thank you to the United States for introducing me to ranch dressing." (18:01, Atsuko)

• Discussions about lactose intolerance, “Asian glow,” and genetic mutation, with Ego joking about her biology degree:

  "Lactose tolerance is the mutation in humanity... So if you are lactose tolerant, that is a function of a genetic mutation." (18:50, Ego)

• Reflections on American dietary trends and how immigrant experiences rewire the body and mind.

4. Family Dynamics: Siblings, Estrangement, and Mom as Villain/Hero

Timestamp: 32:00 – 39:32

• Atsuko shares about her half-siblings (she is the youngest, recently reconnecting with some), their family’s challenges with her mother’s schizophrenia, and xenophobia against her Taiwanese mom in Japan:

  "My mom has schizophrenia and she actually was like, told me... you can go do mushrooms or acid... You can have fun, but just know you get to come back from that high. I don't." (35:18, Atsuko)

• A nuanced, compassionate look at caring for a mentally ill parent, growing empathy, and becoming a caretaker:

  "It's a lot to have to care for a parent in general... then add to it mental illness and it becomes all the more complicated." (36:45, Ego)

5. Cultural Overlap: Nigerian and Japanese Names

Timestamp: 40:00 – 43:51

• The two delight in the intersection between Nigerian and Japanese names, misassumptions based on names, and the comedy in mistaken identities:

  "Let me tell you about Nigerian names and Japanese names. Lots of overlap." (40:00, Ego)

• Atsuko’s story of thinking comedian Chinedu Unaka was a Japanese woman (spoiler: he’s not):

  "I thought I was picking up a Japanese woman... and I just see this man that I don't know. I scream. I start driving away." (41:53, Atsuko)

6. Being an Adult is Just Fancy Childhood

Timestamp: 61:02 – 62:32

• Hilarious breakdowns of the adultification of childhood snacks (charcuterie as Lunchables, deviled eggs at fancy restaurants):

  "Honestly, imagine next time someone has a wine night, you just pull up with Lunchables for yourself." (62:35, Ego)
  "Pigs in a blanket. Same thing. We're just trying to eat like we wanted to as kids." (62:41, Atsuko)

7. Health Hacks, Folk Remedies, and Big Water Conspiracy

Timestamp: 57:29 – 60:13

• The duo swap family “cures” (ginger, Vaseline, tiger balm), compared American hydration obsessions, and riffed on dietary fads:

  "Ginger is incredibly effective... My mom’s solution to everything was Vaseline." (57:46, Ego)

• Questions whether “big water” and “big kale” have manipulated us into new habits:

  "Big water has been lying to us. We don't need it." (59:51, Ego)

8. Relationships: Finding a Partner with Shared Experience

Timestamp: 48:40 – 54:53

• Atsuko shares meeting her husband (through friends) and the strange serendipity of both having mothers with schizophrenia:

  "I was like, oh, you know, suddenly so much didn't have to be explained between us. Right. You could see a person's childhood." (51:49, Atsuko)

• Honest, quirky account of their third date (“craziest sex after” discovering this profound connection):

  "So you got horny when you found out both of your moms had schizophrenia? It made you so wet." (54:53, Ego)

9. The “That’s Nice, But What About Me?” Segment: Listener Advice

Timestamp: 71:33 – 77:05

• Listener asks for advice: Her husband of 12 years has revealed himself as a super Republican/Trump supporter; she wants to know how to disagree without destroying their relationship.
• Atsuko gives a tongue-in-cheek answer, referencing Kellyanne and George Conway, and jokes “the sex must be wild.”

  "Something's got to keep you together... it's not the conversations." (73:38, Atsuko)

• Ego points out the strangeness of not noticing extreme differences earlier in a marriage and wants more details:

  “That is fascinating to me because what are you guys talking about?... Couples get married and they're like, we got divorced because I wanted kids and he didn't... did we not talk about that before...?” (74:43, Ego)

• Both recommend honest conversation, acknowledging it may come down to core, possibly unchangeable values.

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Timestamps of Notable Moments

• 03:26–09:36: Ego’s self-interview about gratitude and reality TV musings
• 10:07–16:31: Allergies, tequila vs. gin, and their coping with chaos
• 18:01–18:09: Atsuko thanks America for ranch dressing
• 18:50–19:11: Ego explains lactose tolerance as a mutation
• 32:00–39:32: Atsuko on siblings, schizophrenia, and care-taking
• 40:00–43:51: Cross-cultural name confusion hilarity
• 61:02–62:32: The charcuterie/Lunchables revelation
• 71:33–77:05: Advice segment on navigating political divides in marriage

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Notable Quotes

• Ego Nwodim:

  • “The bar is in the basement and I’m here for it.” (09:25)
  • “This podcast is a mess, just to be very clear… Humans are imperfect. Productions are imperfect.” (09:42)
  • “Tequila… How many are we doing a night? Look at me trying to die.” (14:05)
  • “Big water has been lying to us.” (59:51)
  • “Honestly, imagine next time someone has a wine night, you just pull up with Lunchables for yourself.” (62:35)

• Atsuko Okatsuka:

  • “I want to say thank you to the United States for introducing me to ranch dressing.” (18:01)
  • “My mom has schizophrenia and she actually was like, told me… You can have fun, but just know you get to come back from that high. I don't.” (35:18)
  • “I thought I was picking up a Japanese woman… and I just see this man that I don't know. I scream. I start driving away.” (41:53)
  • “Pigs in the blanket. Same thing. We're just trying to eat like we wanted to as kids.” (62:41)

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Final Takeaways

• Mess and authenticity are strengths, not weaknesses.
• Culture shocks (ranch, water bottles, charcuterie) are gateways to humor and deeper topics.
• Family, even with mental illness and estrangement, is a complex source of pain, empathy, and connection.
• Shared adversity (caring for ill parents) can be a binding agent in adult relationships.
• Cultural overlaps can bridge gaps—or lead to hilarious confusion.
• Adult life is, in many ways, a fancier version of childhood (if more expensive).
• Open dialogue—even (especially) on touchy topics like politics or money—is essential in maintaining relationships.

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Listener Advice Recap

• Issue: How to disagree with a partner’s drastic political shift?
• Advice:
  • Honest, open conversation required; possibly unavoidable conflict if there are core moral divides.
  • Sometimes, the secret ingredient keeping people together is passion—or wild, compensating sex.
  • If you’re “super chill” because you aren’t talking about deep topics, consider if that’s sustainable for the long haul.

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This episode is a rollercoaster of vulnerability, comedy, pop culture riffing, and real talk—perfect for anyone feeling a bit dizzy, messy, or hungry for some ranch.

Transcript

[Ego Wodem]

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[Ego Wodem]

Is it time for another episode? That's fine, Matt. I want your voice in this. I want the I want people to know there's other people here. People are here. It's happening. We're alive. What a time to be alive. What I love about that phrase is you can say it at any given moment and it means everything and nothing all at once.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right?

[Ego Wodem]

Right? Guys, you're talk. It's fine, it's fine. Speak up. Use your voices. What's that? It could be good or could be bad, Matt says, and he's not wrong. Could be neutral. That's not what I'm here to talk to you about today. I haven't done one of these in a little minute because I thought we were tiring of me. But one person asked and so. And so here I am, one human. Missed these. Am I too close to the mic? I feel like I'm gonna eat it. It's fine. Keep this in. Guys. It's a podcast. These things aren't perfect. I'm here for imperfections, remember? This is a allergy sponsored podcast. I have allergies. I will be clearing my throat. The weather is tweaking. It's snowing in New York. It's freaking sunny in la. What's happening? Who gave me a podcast? Okay, this is okay. You know what? No one ever asks me? This is what I've been thinking about. No one ever asked me on this podcast who or what do I want to say thanks to? And that's messed up. Even though they are the guest and I'm the one meant to be asking questions, no one ever says to me, hey Ako, who or what do you want to say thanks to? Could be funny. Could be earnest. Well, guess what? I want to ask myself that. Hey ao, who or what do you want to say thanks to? I'm so glad you asked. No one ever asked me that. Godamn. I want to say, I want to. If you guys cut your voices out or whatever, I would seem absolutely unwell and I potentially am unwell, but aren't we all? Anyway, thank you. What a brilliant, wonderful question. Did I get the sides wrong here? Whatever. Point is, who or what do I want to say thanks to? I want to say thanks to Micah Ruchi, my former assistant. I met him as a page at NBC and he's just so fantastic and he helped me launch this second season of the podcast. I adore him, he's so cool. I appreciate all the help he's given me in terms of this podcast and making the second season what it is. And so I want to give him a special shout out and say thanks to Micah. I don't know if I should be saying people's last names, but I've been watching reality TV lately because I'm trying to turn my brain off and, and they're saying people's last names on, on reality TV and I feel like there was a time and a place, I don't know, could be wrong, where we weren't saying people's last names on reality TV to maintain some guise of anonymity, but maybe in the age of social media, I don't know, we're saying last name. So I said the last name and it's out there in the world and hopefully that's okay and everyone stays safe. I just, I, I, I truly, I've been like, are we allowed to say last names? Watching the, I'm watching reality TV to turn my brain off and the whole time I'm like, they're saying their last names. Are they allowed to say their last names? Do that feels unsafe. Anyway, apparently first and last names are in these days and so I shared both of those and I'm just saying thanks and, and guys, reality tv, thank you for it. I want to say thanks to whoever came up with that idea. Whoever who was the first person that said, I know, let's just follow people in their lives, pretend it's real, give them a little drama, give them beats to hit. I don't know, whoever came up with it, I want to say thanks to you. You're helping me turn my brain completely off. I'm saying it's brain rot. That's what I've been saying, it's brain rot. But maybe that's not nice. I don't, but anyway, I'm Enjoying that. So thanks to that guy, gal, person, whatever. Anyway, I'm about to have a very exciting conversation. I'm excited for it because I've never met this person and I'm going to meet them for the first time here. I've seen them around in the wild. I've seen them on the Internet, and I'm so excited. So please stick around, keep listening for the one person who asked for me to talk at the top of these podcasts. This was for you, baby. This was for you and literally no one else. All right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right.

[Ego Wodem]

My next guest is going to be. What? Do you know why they gave me a podcast?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You're crushing it. That's why I was like, use the paper if you need. Or I could intro me, too.

[Ego Wodem]

No, you're not introing yourself.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Guest is.

[Ego Wodem]

No, you're not introing yourself. I rebuke it. Okay, So I have to use biblical language.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Hi, I'm here with Eggo.

[Ego Wodem]

No. No, you're not.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And this is. Thanks, dad.

[Ego Wodem]

Absolutely. No, it's not.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Huh? Oh, it's not.

[Ego Wodem]

It is. It is.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

My next guest is a comedian, you know and love. Her latest special, Father is out now.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's. It's at school. Okatsuka. It is a pleasure to be here with you today.

[Ego Wodem]

Starting over. We're deleting all of this. Why?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

This is good. This is good energy. You want it to be calm.

[Ego Wodem]

Let's go.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

In this climate.

[Ego Wodem]

No, I have to properly. In this. In this climate.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We're matching the. We're just matching the energy of the society and.

[Ego Wodem]

But you're right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We don't have to get intros. Correct.

[Ego Wodem]

I want to. Let's go.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

All right. Let's do it. We got this. Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

All right. My next guest, you know. You know and love from her comedy. Her latest special is out now. Father. Not dad. But Father not.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Thanks, Father, but just Father not.

[Ego Wodem]

It's just Father.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

On Hulu.

[Ego Wodem]

On Hulu and Disney plus On. And Disney plus available for viewing now. It's Atsuko Okatsuka.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Thank you so much.

[Ego Wodem]

Echo. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Me getting collapsed for doing an intro. Well, honestly, the bar is in the basement and I'm here for it. That's fine. We can only go up from here.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's what I was saying is like, who cares about a neat, clean intro? Neat, clean. You know what I mean?

[Ego Wodem]

But this podcast is a mess. Just to be very clear, like, this podcast is a mess, and I. You can clear your throat. We're not going to cut it out.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I just want to be a mess. Oh, yeah. Just raw. Unfiltered.

[Ego Wodem]

Raw. We, we. This podcast you're getting unfiltered. We're not cleaning it up. It's, it is what it is. I want people to know. Humans are imperfect. Productions are imperfect. People have to clear their throats. Do you suffer from allergies? This is an Allergy Forward podcast.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I, I, I bet I do because I have this dry spot on my leg that I cannot get and it must be eczema that is giving.

[Ego Wodem]

Eczema.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Is it, Is that allergy?

[Ego Wodem]

That's. Can I take a look?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Of course.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Do you have like a degree, a background in something? I don't know.

[Ego Wodem]

I have a biology degree, but it means I did it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay. I didn't shave. Okay. There's also bruises going on. That's from other stuff.

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, what are your bruises from? Wait, because I have bruises all over my legs as well. You do?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because I want.

[Ego Wodem]

I know one of them I just saw two days ago. I have no idea how it got there, but there. What? There's a gash in my shin from I walked into my marble coffee table in the dark. Full speed now.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Is this your LA place?

[Ego Wodem]

Don't do me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, because here's the thing. When you're bicoastal, I have ego. Here's the thing, okay. I have. When you're bicoastal.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, when you're bicoastal. Should this be.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You're like, am I in my New York house? Am I in my la. Where was I? Oh, my coffee table doesn't protrude like that. In my other space. You get confused of your own space.

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, you're right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

All right. I'm trying to. Okay, you're trying to.

[Ego Wodem]

It was in my New York place for being dizzy.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Bipostal people are dizzy all the time.

[Ego Wodem]

Let me look at her.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Look at this. She, she had to do the intro four times. Give her a break.

[Ego Wodem]

I am a dizzy. I call people dizzy all the time, by the way. And here I am projecting. No, I was projecting the whole time. Cuz I'll be like the dizzy. I'll be like, oh, that dizzy.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's because you relate. And I'm, I'm. My base is kind of dizzy all the time. Guess what? Yeah, not bicoastal.

[Ego Wodem]

So what's your excuse? What's your excuse?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know from. I don't know. This weird.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, so when did it start? We're gonna diagnose it. Tell me more. Tell me more.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Who knows? I drink every night. I don't know. It could be all those things. It could be many reasons why I'm dizzy and I have gashes.

[Ego Wodem]

You drink every night?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

No judgment.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Not to, like.

[Ego Wodem]

Meanwhile, I look very judgmental. Do I drink every night?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You probably water. You don't. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

How can you tell?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because you said you drink every night and your eyes got really wide and you did. Said you did catch yourself and you go, oh. Not trying to sound judgmental.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm not trying to sound judgmental. I absolutely look it. But I'm trying to keep my voice neutral.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I need this. Okay, wait.

[Ego Wodem]

So I have so much. We have so much to uncover.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Not to black out. I'm not, you know, not remembering every night. I'm not not remembering on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

[Ego Wodem]

You know what? What's today?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Today is. I actually don't know, actually. That is a good question. Do you know why? Because I just did my show in Vegas.

[Commercial Announcer]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That was a Sunday. That throws me off. That why I came back on a Monday. Who comes back from Vegas on a Monday?

[Ego Wodem]

What day do you think is normal to come back from Vegas?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I feel like Sunday.

[Ego Wodem]

You would want to come back Sunday. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When everyone's in church so no one sees you coming back. Everyone's coming back all still kind of messed up and wild from the night before.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Do you.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you perform drunk sometimes?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, no, I don't do that. I do wait. I wait till after.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I like to, like, celebrate. Like.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I just did an hour sometime. I. Most times I do two shows a night with. And I was doing two meet and greets, too, in between. So I was talking for four hours straight.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, baby.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So like, a little tequila afterwards.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Tequila is your. Your beverage of choice.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Happy, happy, happy, happy. That's what drink.

[Ego Wodem]

They're all suppressants, but I'm convinced tequila is an upper because someone said it was to me once, and so I go with that. So tequila is mine, but I don't think my stomach likes tequila anymore anymore, so I'm moving over to gin.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

I was whiskey.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And then I realized that's maybe not good for me, and I have a. Because I have a gluten sensitivity. I don't want to talk about it because it's embarrassing. Oh, no, I know this.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

My husband has celiac, so he does.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We. We're very, very. No gluten in the house.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. So, like. So then it was whiskey. Then moved to move to tequila. And then I'm like, my Stomach doesn't seem to like tequila now, so we're on gin.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

But tequila. How many are we doing a night? Look at me trying to die.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You are a doctor because you looked at my. By the way you looked at my leg. You didn't see. You didn't have, like, a thought.

[Ego Wodem]

I want to come.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, I came close, and you were like, let me look at it. I was like, oh, I'm gonna get maybe some insight.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That I didn't have.

[Ego Wodem]

So it itches.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You're kind of dressed like a doctor.

[Ego Wodem]

I am. This is a white coat.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. And then. And then you. You said nothing. So what did you. Did you.

[Ego Wodem]

That's very doctor. Like, where they'll be like, okay, we'll just. We'll just. We'll take a look.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We're just, like, freaking out, and we get sent home.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Wait, so.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay. Nothing on my leg.

[Ego Wodem]

No, we can. I want to come back to the leg.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes, we'll come back first.

[Ego Wodem]

Tequila.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Tequila. How long have I been drinking? Is also. Because you just hear one time that it's, like, the happier drink.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, it's low in calories because I do silver tequila. Right. And like, oh, clear kinds are so not reposado. Low calories. And I'll do reposado, too, if that's what's available.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Gin is what I drink. Gin is what I drink when I'm in Asia because they don't have a ton of tequila yet. Okay. So for some reason, they're huge on whiskey and gin when I'm back in Asia.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So that's like, my. You know, I'm pretending I'm drinking tequila.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. You.

[Commercial Announcer]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

But you're committed to the tequila. I love this in a way. But you're even. Because when you're drinking gin, you're like, oh, I'm drinking tequila right now. So how many are we. How many are we doing? How many can you handle?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm so happy. Tequila. Mezcal. So happy.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, you like mezcal?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Think about it. What? You know when people write sad poems, right? The. The. The poets that we know who. Who wrote about drinking a lot and sleeping with women or whatever. They were all on whiskey.

[Ego Wodem]

Who were. Who was that?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I forget his name. They're not Edgar Allen. You guys know there's three men behind you. Behind. In front of us right now behind you.

[Ego Wodem]

I said, wait a minute. Surprise. I'm like, hold on.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I was like, dizzy. I'm dizzy. No, because you just came back from Vegas on a Monday, front of us.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, so you want to Google, isn't

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

there, like, Charles Bukowski?

[Ego Wodem]

I don't know him.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Here's the thing. I did not.

[Ego Wodem]

What? Don't shame. Don't shame me. Don't shame me. On my own podcast, I'm supposed to look like a. I got on a doctor's coat.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. No, you don't need to know. Bukowski is like. It's like, I only know because I dated, like, emo men in the past who I pretended their interests were mine.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yes. You need to assume their personality a little bit, right? Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I love this long movie. French new wave, Truffaut or whatever. Yeah, you know, I do.

[Ego Wodem]

I do.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's the only reason why I know. But I think he wrote anyway a lot of poetry. Jack. Jack Kerouac or something. Didn't he drink whiskey?

[Ego Wodem]

You guys all know these people? I don't know any of these people. I mean, I've heard of Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I bet they were on whiskey.

[Ego Wodem]

You think so?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay. I don't know their drinking habits, but rarely do people go, I drunk texted my ex on tequila. I think tequila.

[Ego Wodem]

You're like, I'm, yeah, Busy dancing. You're like. You're thinking forward. You're like, I'm here for it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Yes. Yeah,

[Ego Wodem]

when you talk like that, we have to pay. We have to pay. If you sing this. If you sing us all, we have to pay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Don't worry. The way I sing, no one will know what that song was supposed to be. Trust me.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, wait.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Nobody ever hires me for my singing. Okay. Trust me. Or is suing anyone for my singing.

[Ego Wodem]

They're like, yeah, listen, I think you have a beautiful voice. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, thank you.

[Ego Wodem]

I have to ask. I have to ask. Yeah. Before we go too deep, even though we've already gone and I've already. We're not going back.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

There's no going back.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm going to speed bump us.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

And say, who or what do you want to say thanks to?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

This is like a commercial break. This is a commercial break.

[Ego Wodem]

So, yes, we're going to pause to give thanks. Who or what do you want to say thanks to?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I thought about this. I want to say thank you to the United States for introducing me to ranch dressing.

[Ego Wodem]

Ranch.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Ranch dressing.

[Ego Wodem]

So do you know you want to thank the US and not ranch itself.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Ranch dressing itself, too.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But it is a US Made dressing.

[Ego Wodem]

It is. I didn't know that.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I didn't know that either because, you know, in Japan, I had no ranch Dressing where I grew up.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Ranch could kill a small Japanese person. That. That much dairy. Most of us are.

[Ego Wodem]

Are you lactose intolerant?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I am not.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I mean, that's why I'm able to have all that ranch. I don't know if I don't know which came first. Here's the orange or the ranch.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But I can tell. I consume. Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

I can tell you. This is where my biology degree comes in handy. I retained, like three things from college.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

From learning biology. Yeah. Lactose tolerance is the mutation in humanity. Lactose intolerance is what we all were originally. So if you are lactose tolerant, that is a function of a genetic mutation that happened over the course of time. And so.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Wow. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You are like an X Men.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I was gonna say a Mutant Ninja Turtle.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I could be.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

More and more accurate. Because they're Japanese. Right?

[Ego Wodem]

I don't see. I wasn't going there.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know. I just. Or the rat.

[Ego Wodem]

It's not how I meant it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I actually never.

[Ego Wodem]

Not me being like you're this cartoon because it's your.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No. No. And that's not what I was trying to say. You were doing. But also, tragically, I just realized I've been talking to that camera. Spiking it for my lines. I have one right here.

[Ego Wodem]

This whole time. This whole time. I got a camera right there.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No one told me.

[Ego Wodem]

Because we don't.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We let things yours.

[Ego Wodem]

We go with the flow. That's mine. Technically.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I want to thank the United States for ranch dressing. Because before I moved to America.

[Ego Wodem]

We have to cut this out. I'm just kidding.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I didn't know what ranch was while I was living in Japan.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like I said.

[Ego Wodem]

And now. Do you put it on everything?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I can't. I. I do.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I do. If they allow it. So a lot of restaurants don't have it too. You know when you go out with your fancy friends, like ego.

[Ego Wodem]

Why am I fancy? Is it because I'm a doctor?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

She is a doctor.

[Ego Wodem]

How can you tell?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

She drinks gin. I do like a. You know, like a. I don't know. Like a woman who came from money in a penthouse at the top of New York City. Oh. High rise.

[Ego Wodem]

Walking full speed into her coffee tables in the dark.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

A hundred percent.

[Ego Wodem]

Because guess what? Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Guess what.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Time is money.

[Ego Wodem]

That's why.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Full speed.

[Ego Wodem]

Full speed.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You think when. If you pause. You ever see a person with no bruises?

[Ego Wodem]

I haven't a baby.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's because you only hang out with hustlers. Yeah. You only hang out with people who are also like, money, money, money, money, money, money.

[Ego Wodem]

Got. What happened, I have to tell you, is that the lights were off in my apartment because I was about to go to bed and I had to get something from the living room. And I like to walk around in the dark, which is strange.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You do?

[Ego Wodem]

I do. Wow. Sometimes I'm like, I don't need to turn on a light.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Do you like coming up on people, scaring them?

[Ego Wodem]

No, no, no. I don't want. And I don't want you to come up on me. Like, I don't. When you said there were three men behind me, I'm like, hold up.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That I know. Imagine.

[Ego Wodem]

But I. I just don't like turning the lights on unnecessarily. But it's not about, like, conserving energy. I just am like, oh, that's just, like, thing to do. Okay. But I know I sound crazy right now, so back to you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, no, I like, I like. I. I. Let's talk about it. Wait, we're still on ranch dressing.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, let's go back to ranch.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But also, yes, I'm very bright light forward.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah. Bright lights.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, yeah. Darkness scares me.

[Ego Wodem]

I. That's fair. I don't like when, you know, people have mood lighting in their homes. Do you know what I'm talking about? It's like a moody. Like, the lights are dim in people's houses. I don't. I'm like, are the lights on or the lights off? That's my thing.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I like restaura.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That are like, you know, you. Let's go for Valentine's Day or something. Right. It's a dimly lit restaurant where every couple is struggling to cut their steak and. Right.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But there's 60 of them because they put them all together in the reservation. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Everyone's like, those restaurants don't. Those restaurants don't serve ranch, I'm assuming.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No. Yes. So it's only if they have it. Then I'm like, like, yeah. Then I asked for it. And then that's where I discovered, you know, through friends, too. You know, through my first US friends, I was like, watching them dip. Dip. Pizza, right. Fried chicken, lettuce. Call it a salad.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, that is true. That is true.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, to like, you know, carrots, to, gosh, anything. Burgers.

[Ego Wodem]

Right. It's true. What. Do you remember the first time you had ranch?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I do, because I. Yeah. Explosive diarrhea. Like, my. My whole body rejected it. It was so confused. Yes, yes.

[Ego Wodem]

All that dairy yes. So then you just got stronger is what happened. So because now you're like, it's solid poops.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes, I've mutated. You've mutated a whole. Yes, yes. My fellow Japanese turtles. Are they not Japanese? Because I've actually never seen the movie or show.

[Ego Wodem]

There was a show and. And there was a movie.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I swear. Isn't the rat like sensei or something?

[Ego Wodem]

The rats a sensei?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, see, we asked the three men

[Ego Wodem]

in front of us. The three men in front of us.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

This is their culture.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes, the turtles from New York.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So how did the rat get from. So the rat is from Japan. He like, flew in from Japan to train them. He fled Japan.

[Ego Wodem]

He Shredder killed his original mats. I didn't know anything about. This is also all. This is all made up history. Male culture. This is my fault.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Japanese. It's. It's not.

[Ego Wodem]

It's. It's. I don't see. This is all news to me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So someone killed a rat, killed his master in Japan and had to flee. Ended up in New York, which is no easy feat, you know.

[Ego Wodem]

No.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That is, he could have chosen a closer place to run away to.

[Ego Wodem]

Right. Did it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

He said no. How about a 16 hour flight?

[Ego Wodem]

I don't with rats. So I'm like. I just wanted to tell you just in every which way. I don't even the proverbial sense.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

In the.

[Ego Wodem]

In the literal sense. I live in New York, but I don't. With rats. I don't care if you're a sensei. I don't care where you came from

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

or that you're an immigrant and you're needing to. You're needing to find a new home.

[Ego Wodem]

Right? Don't say. Right. Don't say.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, as an immigrant from Japan, I. I kind of relate to the rat. I'm starting to relate to his story. I didn't kill anybody.

[Ego Wodem]

You did it. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then. Anyway, stories are wild, huh?

[Ego Wodem]

The stories are increasing.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then the turtles.

[Ego Wodem]

I don't give a damn about these turtles, okay? I want to know about you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's right. So I'm. I'm mutated into. To being able to eat that much dairy.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And when I go back to Japan, you know, I'm off ranch dressing because it's like weed. When there's no weed there, there's no ranch.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, there's no weed.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

If someone. Damn. That's. I mean, that's amazing.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, they need to have weed.

[Ego Wodem]

I mean, Tokyo.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Have you been to.

[Ego Wodem]

I haven't been to Tokyo, but I really want to go. I really want to go to Japan. It's on my list of. I have like three places that are like, I'm trying to get there.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Yeah, we will get you there.

[Ego Wodem]

Can you help me? Oh, my gosh.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I will happily tell you about all the places me and Bowen have at the same time. Really goes. And you know.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah. Because he's been twice. Yes, he's been twice. He went recently. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It is a place with, you know, like these bright lights and insane shows and all kinds of things going on that would really benefit from weed.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like, you think to, to look around sober, like, do you think maybe.

[Ego Wodem]

How do you think mushrooms would fare in Japan? Have you ever had mushrooms there? No, like, in general. Have you ever.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, I actually never.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

They say that that's like, oh, it heightens, right? Your sense.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Have you been. Do you. Are you a mushroom girl?

[Ego Wodem]

I've had mushrooms. It's. It is like at Coachella one time and I was like, oh, whoa, this is it. But also, I've only. I've been to Coachella twice. It's not my vibe nor my scene.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know I'm picturing you at Coachella and it's not.

[Ego Wodem]

You're having a hard time.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Are you hot?

[Ego Wodem]

Yes, very, very Little water.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I hear it's hard to get water.

[Ego Wodem]

The first thing I said to. I said today, so can we get some waters for me and my kids?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes, very.

[Ego Wodem]

Can you imagine? Yeah, it's. Coachella is a, Is a beautiful thing.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Are you like wearing jean shorts and like, you know, whether wearing feathered earrings?

[Ego Wodem]

No feathered earrings, but the jean shorts I did have. Did you see me there? You saw me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's what I see when I think Coachella. I've never been.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm rarely out during the day.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

In the sun.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't.

[Ego Wodem]

Are you, You're. You don't. Are you sensitive to sun?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Well, you know, I'm so a stand up at night that, you know, I, I. During the day I'm mostly like indoors. I'll be riding indoors or something. Like writing.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But yeah, you'll rarely see me, like hiking or something.

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[Atsuko Okatsuka]

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[Ego Wodem]

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[Ego Wodem]

Do you have siblings?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I have half siblings.

[Ego Wodem]

Are they.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We just kind of reconnected in.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Are they half from your mom's side or your dad's side or both?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

My dad's side?

[Ego Wodem]

From your dad's side.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

So then, are you. Where do you fall in the lineup in terms of the siblings?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm the youngest.

[Ego Wodem]

Me too.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Yes. All right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And the favorite?

[Ego Wodem]

Same. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay. Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. I think all the youngest come a favorite energy. Youngest, of course, but the youngest is always the favorite.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We also become favorites when we're the ones making the most money.

[Ego Wodem]

Easy way to become the favorite. Were you always the favorite?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Suddenly all my half siblings were like, he. Remember I used to walk you to preschool? Yeah. And I'm like, actually, you left me a few times.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's on this American Life. An Interview. I did.

[Ego Wodem]

Really?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. I have a documented.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, wait. Youngest of how many, by the way, of.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Of three.

[Ego Wodem]

You have to really think about. You forgot about one, because here's what did you forget about.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It just meant met one of them last year for the first time.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, yeah. So I. I forget about him. Yes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

That's not nice, you know?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Well, it's just been all my life, and we never met.

[Ego Wodem]

How. How is it?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Are.

[Ego Wodem]

Do they. All the. The. The other three siblings, do they have the same dad? It's. I mean, not the same. Yeah, not the same dad. I mean, the same mom is what

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I meant to say. Oh, that's true. They do have the same mom. So they're from one same marriage.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then I'm the, you know, the weirdo.

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, why are you the weirdo? Not just because you're you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Is that also a diagnosis?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Yes. Don't you see my white coat? Imagine you had a doctor come in casually like this.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know.

[Ego Wodem]

With their shirt unbuttoned like this, like, what's up? What's going on?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So trusting. I would be like, yes, give me somebody. Give me whatever you're gonna sell me.

[Ego Wodem]

I. Okay. This is something for me to think about between now and then.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Well, because we're gonn to go back to the shrooms that you did.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, I'm. I. I want to try the. I want to try shrooms.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I think I'm just so. A classic. Just like, I drink, and I used to smoke cigarettes, and now I smoke weed. So, you know, those are kind of like. Again, I'm. I'm thinking there's men behind us when they're in front of us.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, so you don't eat shrooms.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know if I would come back.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. That's always been my fear of basically any drug. I'm always like, I feel like I wouldn't come back. There's such, like, there's a chance you don't come back back if you're already on. Look, there's a chance you don't come back.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know.

[Ego Wodem]

How's this for do? Were you in the States when the. The DARE program was a thing?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I feel like this is the real campaign. You might not come back if you do drugs.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. They didn't talk about that.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I'm like, yeah, all the. And it's crazy how DARE is defunct now. Whatever. And everyone's like, whatever. Try everything. Do whatever.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right.

[Ego Wodem]

Take care of yourself.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like ketamine therapy.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, all of that. Microdose, whatever. But I'm like, if you told me as. I mean, I didn't try drugs at all, young person, in any way, shape or form. But if you told me, hey, kids, you might not come back, I would be like, I don't want that. I don't want that at all.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know. And that's kind of what happened, like, to. This is kind of. It's okay, I'm okay. But. So my mom has schizophrenia and she had this wild talk.

[Ego Wodem]

I love that preface. You're like, I'm. Before I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I'm okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I like to take care of the people I'm talking to or the audience, you know, sometimes. Sometimes, you know, if I don't want to sit in the darkness. But. But my mom has schizophrenia and she actually was like, told me, she said, you know, you can go do mushrooms or acid or whatever drugs that people like do and hallucinate from. You can have fun, but just know you get to come back from that high. I don't. And I was like, okay. And like, that was so, you know, very, like a big life changing, like very, you know, real way to look at drugs, you know, where. I mean, the deer officer, the dare officer was just like singing songs, you know, you're like giving free T shirts.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It was my mom that I was like, oh, okay, okay, I won't mess with it then, you know. Yeah. There was like a real moment. Moment.

[Ego Wodem]

How old were you when she said that to you?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I was. If you had to guess, I was in middle school.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, middle school.

[Ego Wodem]

And so you're like, I'm good.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. And you know, she still like hears voices to this day and hallucinates and you know, she's very like at home, bedridden, you know, and so. Yeah. But, you know, I'm at a point where I look after her, so it's a lot. So I, I am like. I mean, a little shroom sounds nice.

[Ego Wodem]

A little break. Yeah, a little something. It's a. It's a lot to have to care for a parent in general. Like watching my friends. Parents age and my, My own mother. It's such a interesting experience where you become the caretaker of your parents in any way, shape or form and then add to it something like mental illness and it becomes all the more complicated. And so you're an only. You're your mother's only child then, presumably.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right, right. So like back to like the weirdos you know, stop. And because, yeah, like, you know, my half siblings were, were, like, you know, abused by my mom. She was the stepmom. She married in.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And, you know. Yeah. She got, you know, physically violent and stuff. Her schizophrenia kind of started acting up then, and so they, they're super scared of her. And we're also Taiwan. My mom's Taiwanese.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And Japan was extra xenophobic back then, so there was also that, too. You know, there's a lot of like.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, yeah, dude. Then that's what caused you guys, it sounds like for a period there, then you guys were estranged or you and your, your half siblings were not necessarily in communication. It sounded like at least one of them. Right. Was that part of it? They. Do you think they did kind of associated you with your mom?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And it was totally. Yeah. Yeah. And so I ended up, My dad had full custody of me initially, and I was with the half siblings.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

After the divorce. But, but eventually my grandma, my mom's mom.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

The Taiwanese one, took me.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And so she ended up raising me.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, wow. And are you, do you count yourself close to your mom now, though? Because obviously you're taking care of her, but do you consider your relationship close or you, like. I'm her caretaker at this point.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Closer, for sure. I was scared of her for most of my life.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then now. Now, yes, now I'm, you know, I have so much empathy for her, you know, even though she. Yeah. She's like, you know, people always ask, like, what would you say? You know, we talk about representation in TV and movies, you know, like, Otsuko, wasn't it so cool? Like, crazy rich Asians or fresh off the boat, an Asian family on tv. Is that kind of what your family was like, or did you feel seen? I'm like, no, no, no. I'm like, like, have you seen the ring? Oh, go the. That comes out of the tv.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, sure. Like, that was what it felt.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's my mom.

[Ego Wodem]

That's what it felt like.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. But I did feel seen. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Ego Wodem]

When you saw the ring, you. That's when you. Yeah, yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When the woman, like, comes out of the tv.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm like, oh, finally. I.

[Ego Wodem]

A family that looks like mine.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And so, you know, all of it, all of it matters.

[Ego Wodem]

Stop.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, it's true.

[Ego Wodem]

I, I, I trust, I trust. I.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When you're thirsty to feel seen anything,

[Ego Wodem]

you know, you're like that right there.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. The Exorcist Babadook. You said you lurk in the darkness. I was like, oh, no.

[Ego Wodem]

Like, oh, no. We could be related.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We could.

[Ego Wodem]

We could be related.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Let me tell you about Nigerian names and Japanese names. Right.

[Ego Wodem]

Lots of overlap. For real, though, it's a real thing that I've recognized too. No one talks about this.

[Commercial Announcer]

This.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Well, we are now.

[Ego Wodem]

We're now on this podcast. No one talks about the overlap of

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Nigerian names, Japanese names.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you know, is any name coming to mind right now? I'm like, I wish I had thought of this.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

There's like, Azuka or. Yeah. Amaka. That was a friend of mine in college.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. To.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Do you know the comedian Chinedu? Unaka.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. China do Unaka. Yes, I do, My dear friend. I know him. That is. That name could very well be Japanese.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So when we first met.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Years ago. Yeah. We were doing a college gig together, and I wasn't super on social media. It was like, probably my first or second year in stand up. Okay. And I was talking to the producer, like, the. The college organizers. We were performing at a college together, and I was like, oh, I'll go pick up Ms. Unaka. I just saw the name.

[Ego Wodem]

You saw the name?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I thought I was picking up a Japanese woman. I was like, yes, I'll pick up Mrs. My. The other comedian.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's like a. Maybe an all Asian lineup or something.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, actually, because it was. The third one was Jenny Yang.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So I was like. I just thought it was like an all Asian lineup for, like, community. You know, colleges do that.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So. So I pull up to the address, and also, China do Unaka. He is a man.

[Ego Wodem]

Manaka is a man.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know how tall.

[Ego Wodem]

Beautiful black man. He's tall. He's like, six, two.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But I'm picturing as a.

[Ego Wodem]

A little Japanese lady.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So I pull up in front of his house. You can confirm we talk about this till this day where I pull up in front of his house. But, like, I'm, like, stopped in the middle of the street.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And. And so, like, cars pile up behind me and. And they start to honk, and I'm

[Ego Wodem]

like, oh, my God.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then I'm like, yes, yes. I'm just picking up someone. And then. And then I feel he's, like, trying to be silly. Yeah. Like on the window. And I just see this man that I don't know. I scream. I start driving away. And he's like, wait, no, it's me. It's me. It's me. Chinadou. And I was like, What?

[Ego Wodem]

It's me, Mrs. Anaka.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Start with that. Yeah, start with Mrs. I said, oh, my God, this man is about to take me.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And so anyway.

[Ego Wodem]

So, yes, the overlap is real, though, and also the assumptions when it's a name you don't necessarily recognize straight away, but some part of it, like within context, you kind of make an assumption about it is so relatable. Because my first time testing for snl, oh, yeah, they were looking for a guy. The. The understanding was. Honestly. Yeah, they were looking for a guy is how I'll put it. And so I tested in April of 2016 with 11. It was 10 or 11 guys and me and. And. And testing obviously, like, the final audition round, whatever, you know that. But I got to the hair room at 30 Rock, and I saw the list of names, and I was like, oh, am I the only woman on this? And then. But I couldn't. I was trying not to be too nosy and look over at the list of names. So I asked the head of the hair department. I didn't know this at the time, but that's what her role was. Very close. Jodi Mancuso. I asked her, I was like, is it all guys testing today? And she was like. Like, yeah. And honestly, we thought you were a boy, too, because ego. She's like, we thought you were a boy, too, and now come in and it's a black girl.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's true. Fair enough.

[Ego Wodem]

I was like, in the context of 11 male names and then mine. A name you've never seen before, like, yeah, that's going to be a dude also. And it was like, it's me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Wow.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. But you make. You make your assumptions. It wasn't Mrs. Unaka. Turned out to be Mr. Unaka.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And. But there is a lot of overlap.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know.

[Ego Wodem]

There's so much overlap. I get that now. What. At what point did you move to LA? How long ago did you move to LA?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When I was eight. So it was like.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Maybe like 1998 or something.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And so this is. Feels like home to you, then la, would you say?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Yeah. Like, what makes me Asian American, I think, is, like, the ranch dressing.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like, back to it. Like the tolerance for alcohol and also dairy.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I've really mutated.

[Ego Wodem]

You have mutated.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Mutated my body.

[Ego Wodem]

That's true. What is the. What do they call it? The glow. The when? Yeah. Like alcohol. What is it? The. What is it called?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Asian Glow. Asian glow, yeah. There's just, like. We were really creative with the name. You're like, what is it? When it's a glow and Asians have it, I'm like, we were like, oh, oh. We huddled up and we decided as

[Ego Wodem]

a community, let's go with Asian glow. It sounds nice. It sounds rich. It sounds right?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It sounds. Yeah. It sounds like you're thriving.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes, it does. Sounds good. It sounds positive. Someone says you're glowing, it's a compliment.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right? Right. We're not glowing, though. We're red and we're looking like we're dying.

[Ego Wodem]

And because I'm a doctor, I know the science behind that.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

I don't actually.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I bet it's mutation, like you were going to Jerry earlier.

[Ego Wodem]

I think if I keep saying that, people will just trust that I know what I'm talking about at this point. Like, yeah, well, it's a mutation. It's a mutation I do trust. Thank you. I've been told.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Cuz you studied. Did you?

[Ego Wodem]

Did I have a biology degree is how I like to put it. I don't know anything besides what I shared with you and maybe one or two other facts.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

How often do you drink gin?

[Ego Wodem]

I probably have a gin cocktail, like three times a month.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Really?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, wow. You're so disciplined.

[Ego Wodem]

It's.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's very.

[Ego Wodem]

I don't think that I. You. Is it hard for you to. This is. No judgment, genuinely, to not drink. Do you feel. I feel like in comedy it's hard because you go to a comedy club and it's like, here's a drink ticket, here's a free drink. There's drinks in the back for you, whatever. Or your agents want to take you out and they're like, we'll take you to drinks. And at a point a few years ago, I had to be like, just because something is free does not mean you need to take it egg.

[David Eagleman]

Wow.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm still working, struggling with that.

[Ego Wodem]

Really?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's called poverty brain, I think so you're like, it's free.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you throw things away? Are you good about throwing things away?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No.

[Ego Wodem]

You struggle to do that too.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Do you? You don't. You kind of get the energy from me that I. I keep everything.

[Ego Wodem]

You seem put together.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You have.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, you seem put together to me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Drinking every night. Ranch dressing, drinking girl.

[Ego Wodem]

Listen, if you didn't tell me any of that and I just saw you on the street, I go, she's put together. She's put together.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Thank you. Some we. And we can hold dualities like that.

[Ego Wodem]

That's the thing about humans.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's the thing about Gemini.

[Ego Wodem]

Are you a Gemini.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, don't hurt me.

[Ego Wodem]

No, I should say that to you. I'm a Pisces. Vir. Gentle.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, yes. No, I know. Yeah. Some of my good friends are Pisces. That's what everyone says. Right. Some of my best friends are Pisces. And then. And then some, you know, some crazy

[Ego Wodem]

story like, oh, Pisces broke my heart. A Gemini broke my.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You're very in touch with, like, your emotions. Right. And you're. Yeah. Like, loyal and. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Kind, I would say. Yeah. I mean, I don't feel like it's. When someone pays you a compliment, how do you generally. I mean, I've already seen how you generally take it. I'm like, you put together. You're like, me. No. No way. No, no. Right, right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't do well with compliments. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Where do you think that comes from?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Not receiving them at all.

[Ego Wodem]

You didn't receive.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

To.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, when I do now as an adult. Yeah. I don't have a filter. I don't know where it goes in a weird part of my brain. Just like. Like, hugs or something. I didn't grow up with them. Yeah. So I. I hug. Weird.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. What are your hugs? Kind of cold. Cold.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I think some people would say, like, oh, why? Why is it sideways or.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, sure.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like a hard tap.

[Ego Wodem]

Like, I don't know what to do with this.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

It's true. You can feel when someone melts into a hug or when someone is giving you a cold. Like, I don't really want to be doing this. I feel very passionate about hugs.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, I.

[Ego Wodem]

And I'm like, oh, if you don't want to give them, don't give that. But a cold hug somehow is worse than no hug to me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm working on it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I mean, but then I get too warm. One time, I accidentally kissed the person, and I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I just came back from my Europe tour. I thought I had. I was French. You know what I mean? I got confused.

[Ego Wodem]

Kiss him on the cheek or the mouth?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

The mouth. I. I was like, why? I. I. I think I was trying to make up for the fact that maybe I'm still not so used to it. So I was trying to be like, I'm here. I'm very present. Yeah. Huh. Let's go.

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, how did you and your husband.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Me. What if I was like, it was that hug.

[Ego Wodem]

That was the one person I accidentally kissed.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We met through a mutual friend who. Yeah. Like, I think, like, tinder and stuff was starting to happen so we just missed it. Like phone dating.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

App date.

[Ego Wodem]

That's a good thing. No. Don't you feel like that's a good. Did you feel like you missed out on the online dating. Digital dating.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I am, I. I am curious about how that interface phase.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Works.

[Ego Wodem]

Have you ever swiped.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Who am I 100? Sorry.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, that interface. Have you ever swiped on behalf of a friend?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, no. I don't know if they trust me. People don't really trust me for. I don't think they would trust me for that.

[Ego Wodem]

No.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you. Are you generally. I mean you have a husband. Are you generally. Were you generally before you had a husband? Good at picking partners, minus the emojis. Know. Right. Guys who were dark.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Dark and into like. Yeah. Long movies. But I, you know, I kind of was like very got into monogamy by accident. I would like latch on to a relationship. So I've only been in like three my whole life.

[Ego Wodem]

That's more than me. You're doing great. And you're done now, presumably.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

This is it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. So maybe that's why, like who am I to help someone swipe? Cuz they're like Osco doesn't know.

[Ego Wodem]

Well, it's basically. Dating apps are basically a game now anyway. It's like basically the New York Time games app should throw Tinder on there as well. Cuz it's not. None of it's dating. It's gamified. So when my friends who are in relationships when I used to be on dating apps would want to swipe, I'm like, yeah, take a look. Cuz they want to see the interface.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right. Right.

[Ego Wodem]

You weren't 100 to say that people want to see the interface. What? And they're all different. The hate.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So they swipe forward you.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. And. And it doesn't matter. Like it's, it's so low stakes because one, it's a game and because two it's like, okay, great. If I match with this person, I don't really want to talk to.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You don't have to.

[Ego Wodem]

You don't have. You don't actually have to. Right. Which is. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I forget when you, when someone doesn't want you, do you get notified?

[Ego Wodem]

Like oh, they don't want you? Like that would be. That would be awful.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know. Okay. I didn't know. Okay. Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

That would be so brutal. That would be so brutal.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's life sometimes.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

In real life it's like that. It is.

[Ego Wodem]

Well, that is. But that's the part people are trying. I feel like trying to skip on the dating apps is like, okay, I. I don't want to face rejection, so I'm gonna get on this app. And it creates this boundary, this distance. Okay. You and your husband, though, you met through mutual friends. Do you want to tell the tale? People want to know this kind of tea.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's very. It's very, like, not that exciting. But our friend was. Was shooting, like, a short film, and I was helping him produce it, and my husband was acting. Yeah. And so that's how we met.

[Ego Wodem]

And then you met that way.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I love a funny person. I love a witty person. And very empathetic, too. Could read people. I love people, too. And so I was like, oh, wow. I like this energy. And then, of course, go figure. His mom also has schizophrenia.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, wow.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And so I was like, oh, you know, suddenly so much didn't have to be explained between us. Right. You could see a person's childhood. I. You know, we're very different backgrounds, but it's. It's such a wild thing to have in common with someone.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That you were romantically, like, feeling feelings for. Yeah, it was. It was really cool. Like. And he helps to look after my mom, too.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And there's like a shorthand. He knows. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

He gets it all.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

It. How did you guys cross the line? Cuz I've heard a few stories in the last, like, several months about people who have met their partner in a work setting and been like, we're not going to cross the line here because it's work. It's professional. So, like, how did you guys go from work to, like. Oh, you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, we disrespected our friend's project. We were not respectful.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We. There's no hr, you know, it's a.

[Ego Wodem]

It's a short film.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

There's no making movies together. Yeah. Yeah. Total. Totally.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I wouldn't call it. I mean, you know, it wasn't snl. Sure. You know, it was Friends in Silver Lake by the cvs.

[Ego Wodem]

Sure.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Trash can.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Did you. Did he ask you out or you asked him out or was the vibe.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I think I. Yeah, I asked him. I was. I was kind of like, flirting and.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. And he received a bat. He received your flirting and then he, you know. Yeah, it was. It was good. It was a lot of joking already.

[Ego Wodem]

When did you make the connection that both of your moms were schizophrenic? How early?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It was like, our third date in, so we started going On a couple dates. Third date, we were about to, like, you know, like, like, hook up in his bedroom, and his phone goes off, and he's like, I'm sorry, this is my mom. I have to take it. And I was like, oh, but I'm literally, like, in my underwear.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

What do you mean? What is he, like, a mama's boy?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like, this is bad.

[Ego Wodem]

This is bad news. Red flag.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Red flag. So he takes up. I was like, really? You can't wait? Yeah, no, it's my mom. Mommy. I was like, okay.

[Ego Wodem]

Right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So he goes. Right. And then he's out there for, like, an hour.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Talking to her. And I hear him, like, calming her down, and then I hear him singing to her. That's when I was like, oh, I. I started gathering my stuff. I was like, he's a. He's a murderer. This man sings with his mom, you know, before sex.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And, like, are they harmonizing? So. But then he comes back. Yeah, I'm not horny anymore.

[Ego Wodem]

Sure. Of course. I don't know how you could be. If you were, I'd be questioning you right now.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I was like, what is he, that guy? You know that movie, Hitchcock, where. Yeah. It's like, mom complex. Thanks, Mom.

[Ego Wodem]

Thanks, Mom. Different. Different show. Movie, podcast.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes, different show. Yeah. But, yeah, he goes, sorry, that was my mom. She has this thing. I don't know if you've heard of it. Schizophrenia.

[Ego Wodem]

Never heard of it. You're like, no, I've never heard of Skizzo.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, my God.

[Ego Wodem]

Are you kidding?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I was like, my mom, too. And, okay, we had the craziest sex after that. Oh, my God.

[Ego Wodem]

So you got horny when you found out both of your moms had schizophrenia? It made you so wet.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Everything came back. I was like, we deserve this.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

We were like, you know, throwing each other. It was like, yeah, super. Like, just. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

That is a unique story. I don't know why you were trying to withhold that from me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, no, no.

[Ego Wodem]

It's because.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because you're my doct. You have to slowly reveal to.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Dr. Slash. You know, do you have friends?

[Ego Wodem]

Do you ever lie to your doctor?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm very. I go to my doctor very seldomly. I've gone once ever to my nearest doctor. I didn't have health insurance for a long time.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And I think that's why I don't super go to the doctor, because now that I have health insurance.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm like, oh, now you want to see me?

[Ego Wodem]

You know, I'm a little stubborn when I needed. When I needed you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Like a. Like a lover that.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Didn't want me.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So do I lie?

[Ego Wodem]

I have lied to the doctor.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. I would lie because I drink every night.

[Ego Wodem]

So you don't. Oh, on the form. Those forms. Feel me being like. Those forms are so intrusive.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. But you behave. You drink three times a month.

[Ego Wodem]

It's. No, I drink.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I did shrimps one time.

[Ego Wodem]

No, but it's more that I. It's more that I. It's. It's more that I'm like, I've had. You said, how many times have I had a gin cocktail? How many times do I have a gin cocktail? And it's like three times in a month. But I have other cocktails.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, but it's.

[Ego Wodem]

But I'm not. But I'm.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

True.

[Ego Wodem]

But the truth is I'm not drinking a lot. That is true. You're not wrong. But wow.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I mind tricked you into being a good girl.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. It's because you want your doctor to be. You want your doctor to be a good girl. Yeah. I'm fascinated by. Because I do think people lie to their doctors and I also have doctors in my family. And the doctors know you're lying, by the way. Because people. They know.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I'm sure.

[Ego Wodem]

Generally they're like, yeah, okay, you know what?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because they're liars too. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Cuz they're. But they're human. They be lying.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You don't think I've seen doctors smoking cigarettes on break out back in front of home state where I get breakfast tacos too. Very tasty.

[Ego Wodem]

Shout out to home state. Yes, those are good tacos. So you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

You're. One time you went to the doctor. I'm. Congratulations. This latest one. Congratulations, by the way, on getting healthy insurance. I didn't have it for a while before I got on snl. I didn't have it. And one of my co workers was like, what are you gonna do if you get into an accident? I was like, we're not thinking about that. You just don't think about it. I'm manifesting no accident.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And.

[Ego Wodem]

And I should hopefully be fine. It worked out.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

That's why we do witchy things. Like, I'm very close to my acupuncturist.

[Ego Wodem]

You are.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know what I mean?

[Ego Wodem]

You.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You had to. You become a witch. I've been seeing witches. Witches for years. Because I've had to improvise.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Ginger juice. I know my juice person very well.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. I love ginger.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I will drink. Let Me tell you about the power of ginger.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

Ginger is incredibly effective.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Depression, ginger.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm like that ginger. I'm always like, my mom growing up, her solution to everything was. She's a doctor, but as far as I'm concerned, her solution to everything was like. Vaseline. Vaseline. Vaseline. Your stomach hurts. Put Vaseline on it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes, yes.

[Ego Wodem]

That itches. Put Vaseline on. So for your rash.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Vaseline.

[Ego Wodem]

Vaseline.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I do the same, too. I relate. For. For my family. It was. It's also. It was a ointment, too.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Topical ointment, but it was like tiger balm.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh. But my mom put me onto tiger bone. I love tiger bomb. I travel with my tiger bomb.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

I want to say thanks. We're related. We are.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Or did something happen, like, in. In the Pangea times? Like Nigeria and Japan, like, words connected.

[Ego Wodem]

It's connected. It's. It might not be geographically, but in Pangea times, something for sure happened. Yes, something happened.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

At least with this ointment stuff, too. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you swear by anything else besides acupuncture?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Ginger?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And. And, like, the turmeric and stuff like that. So, you know, like peppermint for a head. Headaches. You know, my grandma's been using that a lot.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

For her. For her headaches. What else. What else do people do? What else do you do?

[Ego Wodem]

I mean, I drink a lot of water. I do drink a lot of water.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. But was water, like, an American thing? Like a U. S thing?

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, what do you mean?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because when I was in, like, Asia, I don't think I drink this much water. Water.

[Ego Wodem]

That. Okay. Right. I'm gonna. This is interesting, because I've been going to Europe a lot lately.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And I'm like. Is it. No one's drinking.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

They don't drink water, though, either.

[Ego Wodem]

Like. Yeah, they barely. Yeah. I'm always like, wait, there. More water. No, I'm. No one's drinking water. Everyone's got their coffee, and I don't.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

And I. I'll go. I'll spend a whole day with someone, and I'm like, I think I saw you drink water one time today.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right.

[Ego Wodem]

That's crazy to me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

My grandma hasn't drank water in years and.

[Ego Wodem]

How old is she?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

90.

[Ego Wodem]

So big water has been lying to us. We don't need it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I think hydration is a big American thing.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know, with the big. The big, like, you know, they go. The bottles that they have to put down, and it makes a loud thud with the.

[Ego Wodem]

With the. With the, like, the measurements on it that are like, keep going. You almost got this. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When I go to lunch with a friend.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

They're always like, oh. They have to set it on the

[Ego Wodem]

table to let you know they're taking care.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Wait, can we Google if. Who. Who made this up? Water. Big water.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah. Same with big. Kale was also us.

[Ego Wodem]

Kale used to be a garnish. Kale used to be a garnish. For me.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It was. I don't know where your memories of it was. It was Pizza Hut where they would put the chicken wings on top of the kale. I swear.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. I just. I don't remember where exactly. Maybe mine might have been Olive Garden. But just a little piece of kale on the side of the plate. Plate. And now we're. I ordered a kale salad from Erewhon last night, and it was like, 25. I know. Little tub of kale. And I go, this was a garnish.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It used to be my napkin. I would use it to wipe the sauce from the chicken.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

On it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And I go, who?

[Ego Wodem]

They really. Kale. Kale. They really switched up on us.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

The machine is machining, and now it's

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

expensive for a little bit. It's like. Well, Brussels sprouts is still a thing people really serve in restaurants.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's, you know, it's a little basic to me, but it was like. I don't know if it was, like, filling and kind of an affordable thing. A more affordable thing to sell at, like, fancy restaurants or something. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Well, also, I was saying last year, maybe it was like, two years ago, maybe even three. What is time. I was saying deviled eggs. Having such a moment. And why are we acting like deviled eggs with this, like, luxurious dish? Cookout food.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

This is cookout food. Why. Why is this fancy restaurant being like. Like.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh.

[Ego Wodem]

On the. On our appetizer menu, we have a gorgeous deviled egg mixed with honey. This is for a cookout. Why are you trying to.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

They ignored that, became trendy. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You know, it's fascinating. Even pigs in a blanket. Honey, these are hot dogs.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know.

[Ego Wodem]

I know these are hot dogs. Why are you pretending that this is some delicacy?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know what I think it is is, like, adults. Adults, actually. You know, we're all still wanting to be kids.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

So, like, we just go. So we call it something else, like the charcuterie plate.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Besides it being like, you know, lunchables.

[Ego Wodem]

It is. Right? You're so right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

But it's like if we call it charcuterie, it's a French word. Really? You can charge $45.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Instead of, you know, a three dollar lunchable or something.

[Ego Wodem]

Honestly, imagine next time someone has a wine night, you just pull up with lunchables for. For yourself. For them.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Cuz that's what we were trying to do. Pigs in the blanket. Same thing. We're just trying to eat like we wanted to as kids, but maybe our parents didn't make it, you know, that's why there's so many pancakes at adult dining, like breakfast places.

[Ego Wodem]

And there, there, there's. My boyfriend just shared a video with me of this chef teaching you how to make the perfectly aerated. The most perfectly aerated pancake. And I was like, honey, what is this? What are we watching right now? I'm like, what's the. What's the mix? Throw in the water and throw it on and give me a crispy edge. I'm fine. Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You miss being a kid.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And that's okay. But, like, make the. Make it. The price of what it would be if it was for kids.

[Ego Wodem]

For kids. That's true.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know what I mean? Because they aerated it. They breathed air in it. Oxygenated it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. They let oxygen touch it, but oxygen is already done doing its thing.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's like molecular gastronomy. It's that thing, right? Yes. Where they're like. They're like, oh. I mean, those places are creepy to me.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Because they ask questions like, have you ever smoked a chocolate cake before? You know what I mean?

[Ego Wodem]

I've never been to one of those.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Have you ever had a nitrogen cheeseburger? Yeah, you better eat it before it disappears. I'm like, what?

[Ego Wodem]

Why is it gonna. Why is it gonna disappear?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

What are you trying to. Yeah, it's very, like, foreplay. Very horny vibes.

[Ego Wodem]

Ooh.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You can eat it. You can eat the menu. Eat it, eat it. Put mouth, you know?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, I just.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Same.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, I just saw that Noma, the restaurant Copenhagen.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

Has a popup coming to Los Angeles, and the tickets sold, they were $1,500 a piece. And I love food and I love dining out. And I was like, see, now this is. We're getting. This is getting out of hand, personally.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

1500.

[Ego Wodem]

$1500 for a dinner. That's one person.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

That's crazy. Now know.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, of course. Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I didn't know about this. Noma. I never heard of it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I'm like, that's a lot. That's. And I Enjoy a nice experience. And I'm like, that might be. You might. You might have found my wall. Yeah. You might have discovered where I gotta go. Wait a minute now.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When it's over, like, that's just crazy.

[Ego Wodem]

I mean, but maybe it's worth it. It might be worth it. I don't know. And it's not to knock the chef. I'm happy for the chef. Congratulations. Relations. I think that's amazing. But I'm like, damn, people are really out here. Just fifteen hundred dollars.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No. Meanwhile, I'm still here being like, I have all these crackers that I brought back from Salt Lake City just because it was in my green room.

[Ego Wodem]

And you can't throw them away. Do you take the things out of your green room? When. Okay. Because you're. You have a writer with the things that you want in your green room.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You're one person. You're not, like, hanging in your green room for hours on end when you have the leftovers. What do you do with your green room? So stuff.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Well, sometimes. So I'll have an opener, and then my husband's there with me. He's like my tour manager. So that is three of us. But that's still. It's. We're not a band.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. Right, right, right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And so it is a lot. Sometimes we've had to leave it behind, and I hate doing that. So I try to take as much as I can with me, or I'll see if the staff wants it, but. Yeah. Okay. I have traveled back with crackers and, like, meat. If it's domestic.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Abroad.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You will get into trouble.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know why. I think they publicly shame you and also I think maybe charge you if

[Ego Wodem]

you take the meat.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

If you bring meat from, like, another country.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know what I mean?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I saw that on the form when I was coming back to the States, like, last week. I was like, do I have anything to declare? The interesting thing is, I'm like, you could say no. What are the odds my bag is going to get searched for meat or. And it was like, are you carrying any cheeses?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, but I was coming. Dogs.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, the dogs. They scare you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then you were coming back from Europe.

[Ego Wodem]

I was coming back from Europe.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

To New York. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Well, there's this thing where if you're going to Australia and you're coming from Asia, which you typically will, so US To Asia, because it's. It's like the midway point. It's like, really close. Southeast Asia. And then you go to Australia, Yeah. They will stop every Asian. Oh. Because we are carrying me meat every time.

[Ego Wodem]

You're like, every time.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Every uncle, every aunt.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's just the Australian, like before you get like the, what is it? The Czech people?

[Ego Wodem]

It's the customs.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's all Asian families being like, I told you not to bring the lobster. And it's like them fighting and then

[Ego Wodem]

be like, what is this? Two lobsters. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And what's in here? They're like, nothing. And it's like, oh, yeah, shells, you know. And so, yeah, it's because we, you know, we're trying to bring family, family, I mean, food back to the family and stuff like that. But, But Europe, Europe, my was more lax. I remember.

[Ego Wodem]

I, I figured I, I was like, oh, I did buy something. It wasn't cheese. I bought a purse.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You did.

[Ego Wodem]

And I never, I never shop when I travel, to be honest, because my suitcase, when I go is filled to the brim.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Were you at Fashion Week?

[Ego Wodem]

No, I wasn't even if I, I was. I went on a vacation to Barcelona.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, I love Barcelona. Me too.

[Ego Wodem]

I really enjoyed it.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I love the warmth of the people.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I love people playing chess. It feels like New York to me. LA doesn't have that vibe.

[Ego Wodem]

It's a, it's a really cool vibe. I enjoyed it. Yeah. It was so warm, like temperature wise. And I was saying the people like the, the vibe is so cool. But then I, I, my flight got canceled because of a blizzard in New York. And then so I went to France, to Paris, and to do a night there. But when I was coming back, it was like, do you have any? Because I said I bought a purse.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I was like, like, I got stuck. I got, I had to go to customs and stop and do that whole thing. And then I asked the guy, I was like, so if I said no, would this have been fine? And he's like, yes and no. He's like, yes, but if someone stopped you, you would have got in trouble. And he was like, you would have got taxed. 15 instead of the like 3% you're getting taxed now. And I'm like, I don't know. I think it's worth the risk for my time. I thought I was like, I should have just been like, no, I don't have any everything. But I saw people, I'm like, people are traveling from France with cheese. They, like specifically asked you of cheese. Oh, no.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

No, no cheese.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's what they're known for.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

The few things I know about it Okay. I play this game on my phone where I own restaurants.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

One of them is a French restaurant. So that's how I know.

[Ego Wodem]

So that's how you know.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And also which thing each place is known for.

[Ego Wodem]

You're also a little bit lactose tolerant now, too. So you know your cheese and you know your dairy.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You're. You're deeply involved in.

[Commercial Announcer]

I'm very.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes. Cheese, wine. Right. France is like. They're. What they're known for is very, like, stereotypical. Right?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Otsuko.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

I have to transition to a segment called. That's nice.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Scared me Good. I thought I was in trouble.

[Ego Wodem]

You are.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You're really good at that.

[Ego Wodem]

Scaring you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, just quick, you know, because I

[Ego Wodem]

have to go next.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Next. Next location.

[Ego Wodem]

It's. Next location. Is. That's nice. This is the segment. That's nice. But what about me?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Next segment. Segment.

[Ego Wodem]

You're doing a lot of traveling too. You're claiming to be dizzy, but you seem to have it together. I'm traveling a lot and I'm. You called me unhinged. Maybe earlier.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

No, the situation.

[Ego Wodem]

The situation was.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Which is.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. Which is a kind way. I'm part of the situation. I'm partially to blame and I'm culpable for the situation. How do you. How do you adjust to time zones? What's. You. Do you have a trick? That's what I want to know.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, gosh, I don't have a trick. I know people do, like melatonin and things like that. Like this or like, there's apps to help you, you know, if you're organized. I think Bowen had one of those apps. I am very like, live in the moment, present person. So I am a terrible person to be able to help out. But I know that you're supposed to, you know, if you're gonna land during the day, where you're going, try to sleep on the plane.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right. If it's. If you're landing at night, night, try not to sleep on the plane so that you can sleep, you know, with the people, the local people.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Yeah. Okay. This is good. I'm always like, I get on a plane and I am immediately like, I have a. A playlist called Flying. And no matter what time of day it is, I'm like, I'm going to put this on and it's going to put me to sleep. I've had it for 10 years.

[Commercial Announcer]

Wow.

[Ego Wodem]

Almost 10 years. And I'm like, you need to stop falling asleep when you know you're Landing, middle of the day, like noon time somewhere. I got to work on it. Okay, okay. I'mma work on it. You have my word. You have my word.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Fly like a bird. Is that on there?

[Ego Wodem]

You're going to get charged. You're going to get. I'm telling you, you're going to get charged. I'm kidding. This isn't a television song. Was. No. I'm like a bird.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, fly. Fly like I was trying to put. Yeah, the word.

[Ego Wodem]

Flying like a bird.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Flying like a bird. I only fly away.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, well, thank you for that advice. And my advice to you is a Vaseline on the right.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Trash. Thank you so much.

[Ego Wodem]

Which might be eczema, might be psoriasis. We'll get to the bottom of it off camera, but we also have to help someone else. A listener. Very quickly. Listener. We have a listener. Voicemail. Can we hear it, please?

[Listener]

Hey, ego and potential guest whose name I don't know yet. So my question is about my husband and I. We've been married nearly 12 years. Years. And we're pretty chill. But in the last couple of years, I've come to find out that my husband is like a super Republican, which, you know, whatever. I don't identify as one way or another because I'm just, you know, be a good person and that's how I'll vote. But he's like, really gone the trumpet route. And man, that is unfortunate because I disagree with a lot of that. I'm not super one side or the other, but if you're just not a great person, you're not a great person. So my question would be like, how do you talk about. How do you disagree without like. Like throwing away your whole relationship? So trying to keep this short, but yeah, that's my question.

[Ego Wodem]

Thanks, Otsuko. What do you say?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, I'm a child of divorced parents, so if they could do it, you could do it, too. No, I was. Yeah, it's. That's hard.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. What would you. What was. What's your advice? Nice. Haven't pol.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Politicians have done it or like people. There was like a. God, I forget her name. Is it Kellyanne Conway and George Conway, he's Democrat. And she's super. Like, she was Trump maga. Like a mouthpiece for him. And they have a kid together. They. They had a. They're still married, I think. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

So what's your. You're like. How do you just, like, just stay married or divorce.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, it's easier to say Divorce. But if you're going to stay married, I would guess they probably had a lot of wild sex. It has to be wild.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Like, something's got to keep you together.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

It's not the conversations.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I mean, what do you think? I think that is tough. It's also interesting. I've never been married before, but the notion of, like, big reveal, I'm really Republican, or big reveal, I'm like, that's interesting that this just, like, buried away are the. Were the signs not. Wouldn't that come up, like, somehow, like. Because that's such an extreme viewpoint. I feel that's such an extreme viewpoint at this stage, at this juncture in society. So I'm like, I'm. I'm surprised to hear that. It is a surprise in any way. Yeah. I think what Oscar said is, you gotta have sex. Maybe you gotta have sex.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Right. Because you. It would come up in daily conversations. Unless you're only, like, talking about food or something. But wouldn't it come up, like, speaking of Mexican food, wouldn't he say something like that?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Wouldn't he be like, mexican food.

[Ego Wodem]

You put a wall. I know. Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I don't know what you know.

[Ego Wodem]

Or the movies you watch.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

The movies you watch.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. So I. But, you know, sometimes it is not unlike people I'm discovering to get married to someone be like, I didn't know this about them. And I'm like, that is fascinating to me because what are you guys talking about? Like, even when couples get married. Married, and they're like, we got divorced because I wanted kids and he didn't, or vice versa. And I know minds can change for sure. But I'm on that front. So with that particular example. But I'm like, did we not talk about that before we decided to bind our lives together every once in a while? I'm like, it doesn't even sound like minds were changed. It just sounds like you didn't cover that before you.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I know.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm not shaming you. I'm just like, I'm so fast. I would need more information.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I need to understand. Like, unless you were, like, rock climbing the whole time. Yeah. And you're so busy because, you know when you're rock climbing, you can't talk. Is that so it's like anal. You don't have time to talk because you're so physically entrenched in the thing.

[Ego Wodem]

It is like.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You know what I'm saying?

[Ego Wodem]

I don't. I don't know anything about either of them. But. But I don't.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And I also, you know, we tried one time Thanksgiving and this past Thanksgiving, years ago.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then we tried again on Christmas.

[Ego Wodem]

So you tried more than once.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

And then. But enough to know.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

When I. When it's happening. Happening. We're not small talk. Hey, how was your day? Yeah, no, because I'm like, you know, I'm very in it. And so he's also trying to be gentle.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

I imagine. About climbing similar. I've also never rock climbed. Yeah. But you know. You know what I'm saying? Like. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

It's making me wonder if they weren't really like, talk. When you say me and my husband are super chill. If it's like, yeah, because we haven't gotten into stuff before, we kind of keep it kosher. Keep the pen peace. That could be a symptom of that. So if you want to. If you're like, interested in living a life that continues to be that, then I'm like, that's what you're interested in doing. If that is for me, it reflects a sort of moral issue. But if that's not the case for you and I, I would have a heart. That wouldn't be really possible for me. But if it's not a moral issue for you, it's not a moral issue for you. But yeah, that's. I'd need to have a little more information about. About your relationship. And I normally don't say that, but call back and give us more details. I said, are you guys rock climbing? Are you having anal? What's going on? How are we? Yes.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Listen to ego. Because that was way more insightful.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, keep. Give us more information. But okay. Thank you. We did our best. We did our best to give advice there. I hope it was something helpful. I'm like, we might need some more information. But truly wishing you the best. Thank you for calling and asking for advice. Asco, thank you for being here.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Thank you for having me. Of course, worse, this was thanks, dad.

[Ego Wodem]

With.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

With ego. Warm.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, it was. Thanks. Did I do the last one?

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

You did.

[Ego Wodem]

You did a great job with. Give it up for Atsuka. Thank you. That was my conversation with Atsuko Okatsuka. That was fun.

[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Wow.

[Ego Wodem]

Chaotic, unhinged. That's what we were giving. Hope you enjoyed. I did. I had a good time. And honestly, we did our best to give advice. I hope it was helpful again, truly follow up if you need to. Thanks to my guests. Thanks to Ranch. There was a lot of love in this one. Anyway, if you want advice from me, and my next guest, which we try our best. We're not qualified to be giving advice by any stretch of the imagination, but damn it, we try to. Call us. Call us. The number is 502. Thanks, Dads. That's 502-849-3323-750284-93237. Please call, leave a message. I look forward to hearing from you. I'm gonna try to help you. Can barely help myself, but damn it, we're gonna try to help you. Thanks for listening and see you next time. Thanks, dad. Is a production of Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Heart Podcast. Podcast. I'm your host, Ego Wodem. Our producer is Kevin Bartelt, and our executive producer is Matt Apodaca.

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[Atsuko Okatsuka]

Watch us.

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[Ego Wodem]

This is an Iheart podcast.

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