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- [00:01]
A
Audio for sleep by hatch. Hello and good evening everyone. I'm Josh. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch, where your late night thoughts go to rest. It's just me in the pillow fort tonight and I'm going to be taking a call from a nightly listener. Very excited to hear what they have to say. It's always such a pleasure when someone calls in and wants to chat. Someone who's a listener to the show and just has something that they wish they could talk about or hear about. You know, it could be anything. It could be like, what is your. What is like a childhood piece of culture that you wish still existed or that you haven't thought about in forever that you were just like, oh, wow. Remember Street Sharks the cartoon? Would love to talk about that. Would love to talk about something in your life, like a favor someone did for you that you thought was especially generous and really stuck out or even just something funny that you overheard on the street. That is one of my favorite things is just catching little bits of stray dialogue from a stranger is like really a joy almost every time because people just, people just lead such interesting lives. And it's so fun to get like a seven second window into like, wow, this person is fascinating and their brain is very different than mine. I am feeling really good tonight. I've just had this really great experience. As many people know who listen to the show. I do a lot of standup comedy on the road all over the United States mostly, but, like, especially in New York. I've been home in New York for most of the summer and it seems like it's gonna stay that way, which I really enjoy. And it's like great to get to snuggle in the AC at night with my wife Maris and our pug, Maggie. And so that's like a really special thing about getting to stay at home and not be on the road as much as usual. But I had, I've been having a run of shows around the city that has just like given me so much gratitude and enthusiasm for the creative community that I'm around. And like, I do a twice a month show at a venue called Union hall. That's like 100 seats. Well, that's not true. It is a capacity of about 100, but there are probably 60 seats, maybe 70. So when it's packed, it really feels packed because it's like standing room around the edges and it just feels so electric in there. And I did a show last night there that was not that packed. Most of the seats were full, but not all of Them and my friend Jordan Ashley books the show and she just created such a great lineup of truly all these different perspectives and people talking about all sorts of different issues. Like talking about, you know, one of the comedians has a little baby, a 2 year old, and has another baby coming in September. And one of them was talking about like the experience of his sister having kids and then relating that to his own mom and his experience growing up, you know, the difference between his mom and his sister as parents. And then some people are just talking about like different dating experiences and kind of different cultural situations and like, it. I don't know, I just was like so energized by it. And I got to co host with my friend Tyrone Thornhill, who's such a funny comedian and such a great dude. And we just had this like, great, great time on stage together. And we do a signature bit. We joke at signature, but nobody knows what it is. And it's called, we. We ask the audience, when was the last time you rode down gender neutral with your boys? Gender neutral? And we just see like when the last memory people have of just kind of like cutting loose with their friends was. And one audience member said that every month a group of friends that he has gets together and they listen to music together. They like have a listening night where everyone brings, I think, three songs, he said, and. And everyone takes turns and they talk about like, oh, how did this sound to you? What did this make you feel? What does it remind you of? And he said every month he brings the song Believe by Cher to Cher with his friends every time. And so it's always every time, no matter what everyone else brings. He exposes them to Cher's singing. Do you believe in life after love? I can feel something inside me say I really don't think you're strong enough. And he just said, yeah, every month. I think this is an important song. It's not like there's the best new song of all time essentially every month. And just between hearing the comedians perform and getting to talk to these audience members and spending time with friends and staying out a little late, and it just was such a beautiful night. And I'm so grateful to get to have those experiences all the time. And it's been really energizing and like satisfying to take stock of those things and really appreciate them. So thank you for listening to that little story from my life. If you're wondering, I do believe in life after love. And it's time to continue on with the show and I'm going to Bring in our caller for the evening. I can't wait to hear what they've got to say. Calling into the pillow fork tonight we have listener Haley. Haley, hello. Thanks for joining me on the nightly this evening.
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B
Hi, Josh. Thank you so much for having me. I listen to the nightly every night to go to bed. So it's like, a little weird and surreal to be talking to you right now.
- [06:40]
A
Oh, my gosh. Well, thank you. It's so nice to have you on the show tonight and you can fall asleep listening to you.
- [06:49]
B
I think I might have to skip.
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A
Yeah, I do that, too. When I do a podcast and there's an episode where I see myself pop up in the feed, I'm like, hard pass, Haley. Where are you calling in from this evening?
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B
I live in Austin, Texas.
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A
Oh, right on. Are you from Austin originally or did you move there somewhere after birth?
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B
I guess I am from here. I was born and raised, like, in and around outside Austin. Like, depends on who I'm talking to. But I definitely claim Austin as my home.
- [07:21]
A
Awesome. What are your favorite things about living there? Because I get to visit pretty frequently for comedy stuff, and I always love it.
- [07:31]
B
Yeah. Wow. So many things are my favorite about it. I mean, the first thing is swimming. We have this pool called Barton Springs that is a springfed said natural pool. It's hard to describe if you haven't seen it, but it's pool is. We're using the word pool kind of loosely here. It looks like a big, like, lake or pond. It's spring water. It's really crystal clear. There's, like, fish and turtles. There's also a diving board, which I'm deeply obsessed with. I really love diving boards, so I spend a lot of time at that pool. And. And then I think the other thing that Austin has that, that I love is just music. Just, like, so much quality live music every night of the week. That I lived in the Bay Area for a while and, like, deeply love the Bay Area. And the Bay Area has a lot of things that Austin doesn't have, but those two things in particular, like, when I moved back was like, oh, right. I love this place so much.
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A
That's awesome. Do you do a lot of just, like, popping into a venue regardless of who's playing or is it just. There's so many bands you like to see that come through town a lot?
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B
I think a little bit of both. Generally, I'm going to see someone I like, know or have heard of. I also dance. I like country dance. So often during the week, I'M like going to see a band because I'm going to Two Steps.
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A
Oh, that's really fun. Cool. And then with Barton Springs, I know, like, obviously you're in Texas, so it's warmer for a longer slice of the year than it is here in the northeast. But like how much of the year? Like, what's the window in which you're swimming outside?
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B
I mean, I don't want to brag, Josh, but I'm a year round swimmer.
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A
Wow. So, like, what's the coldest temperature you'd consider swimming in?
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B
I mean, I've gone there when it's like in the 40s, but the thing to know is that like the water stays the same temperature because it's a spring fed.
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A
Right.
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B
Pool. So this, the water is 69 degrees year round. So like when it's cold outside, people love, like Austinites love to be like, well, you know, when it's cold, that's
- [09:55]
A
when it feels warmest. Sure, sure, sure. Oh, that rule is actually warmer and
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B
there's like steam coming off of it. It's still so cold. Like, it's not like you're like, oh, I'm, I'm on the beach. No, it's still really cold. But it does make it like swimming actually is still possible in the winter.
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A
And that's, I, I have to imagine that getting out of the water when it's 69 degrees in the water and 40 degrees just outside is like, that's the bracing part of like, oh, here I am back out on land where it's cold.
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B
Exactly. I have two robes. One is like a robe that my aunt inexplicably bought me at a Goodwill that is camo and from Cabela's. She said that she saw it and it made her think of me, which I was thought was an incredible anecdote from her for sure. But I have my flannel camo robe and then I recently got a robe that's for real swimmers, you know, racing or anything. But it's like, it's got like, like padding on the ins. It's like insulated. Whoa.
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A
That's no joke.
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B
Cold water swimming.
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A
Cool.
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B
So I just recently got that this winter, which was kind of a game changer.
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A
That's awesome. Excellent. Well, Hailey, thank you so much for calling in tonight. I, I, I have to ask. What have you been thinking about at night lately? What's been, what's been on your mind as you've been drifting off to sleep?
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B
Okay. I do have a thing. I am a sports fan. Unfortunately, I am, I mean, not unfortunately. I fortunately am a Spurs fan. We're the best. But sadly we did just lose the finals. But it got me thinking about mascots.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And like who chooses mascots and how come like the spurs are. We're the spurs, but then our mascot is a Coyote. And I just think about mascots all the time when I'm going to bed, like thinking about who gets to choose them, what my favorites are. I also. My high school, we had a really weird mascot. My high school mascot was a billy goat.
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A
A billy goat.
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B
I grew up, yeah, we were called the Batlin Billies. I grew up in a small town outside of Austin for a little while and it's like a far. Like a German farming town. Farming and ranching. And our mascot was the Billy's. And so there was this girl who was our mascot who dressed up in like a goat costume.
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A
Wow, that's great. So, okay, so I have many questions about this.
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B
Me too.
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A
Okay, what are yours? Let's go there first.
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B
I mean, I think it's just like who gets to pick them, how are they chosen? And like if I got to pick a mascot, what would it be? I don't know. I'm also curious like what your favorite mascots are.
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A
I was thinking about this too. So my probably current favorite mascot is I. My one New York City team that I root for. I've lived here for 15 years, but I'm a Massachusetts, Boston sports fan. And so my one New York team, I've adopted the. The New York Liberty, the WNBA team. And so they have an incredible mascot, Ellie the Elephant. And she has incredible moves. The best one is called the Ellie Stomp, where she stomps on the court and then all the backup dancers fall on the floor as if her stomp had caused like a seismic event. So I love that. I'm trying to think of other ones that I've seen, but that one, she's such a beloved mascot. So Ellie rules and they also at the Liberty games have the Tiny Torches, which is a children's dance team, and the Timeless Torches, which is a 40 and over dance team that anyone can audition for if they're of age.
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B
I mean, all of that sounds so fun.
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A
It's an incredible in game experience. Do you have a favorite mascot?
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B
Well, I don't know if you know this, but the. There's a school in Santa Cruz, California. Ucsc.
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A
Are those the Banana Slugs?
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B
Exactly. They are the Banana Slugs, which I just think is fun and very cool and so random. And I Love that. Like, I don't know, they could have gone with the Panthers or what, you know, the Pirates or whatever. And, like, somebody was like, there's banana slugs on these redwood trees. Or I don't even know if there are. I assume they chose it because there's banana slugs around there. And I.
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A
There must be some kind of local banana slug population.
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B
Yeah. I mean, I think that is just a radical mascot.
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A
It really is. It's really good. I haven't seen. Do they have, like, a big person in a banana slug costume?
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B
I don't know for sure, but in my imagination, late at night when I'm thinking about mascots, the answer is, yeah, absolutely.
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A
They're leaving money on the table if they don't.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Okay. If you. Because I agree with you. There are too many mascots and team names that are repeats, reruns, retreads, recycled. Too many Wildcats, too many Huskies in college sports.
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B
Yeah.
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A
No good. So if you had to. If there was a new sports franchise in Austin and they were asking the public, what should this team be called? What would be your number one suggestion? And what would be. What would the mascot look like?
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B
Well, I think if Austin had a sports team, it would have to be the Armadillos.
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A
Okay.
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B
Like, I don't know if you're familiar with the Armadillo, but Armadillos is a wild little animal that we have a lot of here. And there's a lot of, like, lore around the Armadillo as a figure in Austin. Like, there was this iconic music venue in the 70s that, like, brought the hippies and the Cowboys together and Willie Nelson and Rachel Trials, and everyone used to play, and it was called the Armadillo World Headquarters.
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A
Okay.
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B
So I feel like Armadillos would be a cool mascot. Like, if we had an MLS team or an NWSL team or something like that, that could be fun. And it would be, like, a fun costume, I feel, like, to figure out. But there was a hockey team in Austin back in the day called the Austin Ice Bats.
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A
Whoa.
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B
Which. Yeah, we have, like, there's this bridge here in Austin where a lot of bats fly out of. And I think that that is a cool mascot, too, but that team doesn't exist anymore. We now have, like, a feeder team for the Dallas Stars in Austin. It's just called the Texas Stars.
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A
Okay, fair enough. Okay, so it sounded like I could hear in your voice when I said if Austin had a team name, you had a very quick answer. But it also sounded like this is not the Mascot of your dreams for, like, blue sky brainstorming. This could be anything. So, like, tell me about the mascot that really makes your heart sing outside.
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B
Oh, my God. I mean, good catch, for sure. I'm like, that's what it has to be. But in my dreams, I don't. It's a good question. I think that, like, I'll just say the first thing that came to my head that I hadn't really thought about before, which is my favorite bird is a great blue heron. It's like a really big blue bird with a really big wingspan. And I think that could be a cool mascot.
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A
I agree. I think that would be really cool. There's. There's some famous bird mascots, right? We got Falcons, we've got Pelicans. Well, do you know about the. The New Orleans Pelicans, The NBA team, they had. Do you know the tradition of the king Cake in New Orleans?
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B
Very much so, yeah.
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A
Okay. So for listeners, if you don't know, that's like a celebration cake that they have, I think a lot are on Mardi Gras, but I think they're available all year round. And you cut in and there's like, a little plastic baby figurine, and it's like, good luck to find the baby when you cut in. And they had. For the pelicans, which is its own animal, obviously, a bird that eats fish out of the water. They had a giant king cake baby, Like a person in a baby suit. And it was so scary that they retired it. It was, like, unsettling to fans.
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B
That was their mascot was a king cake baby.
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A
They did. It was one of a few. Yeah. King cake baby mascot.
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B
That is. It's so New Orleans.
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A
Extremely local, Right. Extremely tied in with tradition, but, like, utterly terrifying to onlookers.
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B
Freaky. But here's my question. Is, like, where does the disconnect happen between, like, is the pelican not the mascot? So is the pelican? Because each team has, like, a thing. It's like the Thunder, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs.
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A
Right.
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B
Then the mascots like a buffalo or a coyote or a king cake baby. So, like, why is a mascot not a pelican?
- [19:26]
A
It's a good question. I think they do also have a pelican mascot, but there are some teams right. Where, like the Chicago sky, the WNBA team in Chicago, they have a new mascot who I believe is a lion and inspired by architecture on the city. But before this lion mascot, they just had a guy called Sky Guy, and he was kind of like, A Rocketeer type, I think. And he was not super popular in my. As far as I know. And this new lion was like, a refresh rebrand for the. For the franchise. So, like, I think sometimes it is. Like, with the spurs, do you think, like, would you be happier? And this is not. This sounds like a judgmental question. Would you be happier if their mascot was, like, an anthropomorphized spur? Or is Coyote, like, close enough to that kind of desert feeling?
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B
Yeah, I mean, I think, like, ultimately I need to let the semantics of it go, because I do. Like, I've come to, like, love the Coyote, and it's associated with the spurs in my mind, but I'm like, did we used to have a guy that wore spurs? Like, was that the thing? But I think, like, yeah. To your. To your girl Ellie, like, the New York Liberty, what's the mascot gonna be? Or I guess Lady Liberty could have been the mascot.
- [20:47]
A
Could have been Lady Liberty, yeah. That would have been cool, too. Lady Liberty, like, Ellie is obviously the greatest, but Lady Liberty was kind of an intuitive choice. I think you're right. But then you get something like the Miami Heat or, like, I mean, the Dallas Stars, as you brought up earlier. So it's like, sometimes it takes a little more effort to come up with something that feels germane to the team name and culture. But I'm with you. I think Armadillo is so good because that's local culture and you'd want to see it, but. Yeah. Why aren't we seeing more literal mascots?
- [21:23]
B
I don't know. But ultimately, I think I gotta let go of the semantics and just let it be what it is. I mean, you mentioned Mike, Miami Heat. I think Miami has great team names. I love the Miami Dolphins, like, not as a team, but, like, that is fun. Like, that's just whimsical.
- [21:37]
A
It's a fun team name. I love a dolphin in real life. Yeah.
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B
Yeah. Did they have a dolphin, like, a person dressed up in a dolphin costume? I hope so.
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A
I cannot picture it in my mind. Like, I. Thinking of all the football games I watched. I can't picture a person in a dolphin suit. But also, it gets so hot in those suits, I think.
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B
I know. I know.
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A
I have a few friends. I went to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and the mascot is Ollie the Owl. The team name is the Judges. Ollie the Owl is an owl with a gavel, and he is, I think, named after Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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B
Wow.
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A
So there is a connection there. But I had friends who are mascots. I can't give up their names. It's a secret to. But. But they said it was tough inside the suit.
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B
I can't imagine. I mean, yeah, I. That sounds very intense, but the judges, like, I don't know, mascots are just endlessly fascinating to me. The judges are very funny.
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A
Hayley, I could talk about this with you for like, truly hours, but sadly, Anne, and happily, I think it's time to say good night. I want to let other listeners know if you're listening and you have something you want to talk about. Mascots is a truly perfect example. We could talk about this forever, but if you have something like that that you think about at night and you're just like, who picks the mascots, who designs the mascots, who's inside them? This is the kind of stuff I want to talk about. This is the kind of stuff all our co hosts want to talk about on the nightly so write in or send a voice note to thenightlyach Co. That's thenightlyach co and we'd love to hear from you. Hailey. Right now it is time for me to say goodnight to you, but also it's time to say goodnight to anyone out there in the world that you'd like to wish sweet dreams to and a pleasant slumber. So I'm going to take my opportunity to wish a good night to Big Ellie the Elephant, the New York Liberty mascot.
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B
I thank you so much, Josh, for having me. I am going to take my opportunity to wish good night to all the San Antonio spurs and the Coyote, whom I love so much. And a secondary good night to the UCSC banana slugs.
- [24:05]
A
Sleep tight, Banana slugs. I don't even know if banana slugs sleep, but I hope if they do, they sleep well tonight. Thank you so much for joining us, Ailey.
- [24:13]
B
Thank you so much, Josh. Good night.
- [24:15]
A
Good night,
- [24:38]
B
Sam. Sa.
- [29:43]
A
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