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- [00:01]
A
Audio for sleep by hatch.
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B
Hello and good evening. I'm Josh.
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A
And I'm Elise. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch where your late night thoughts go to rest.
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B
As you listeners already know, this summer we are welcoming lots of fun and exciting and interesting co hosts to the Pillow fort. And this week I am so thrilled to be joined by podcaster, journalist and all around delight Elise Hulyse. Hey there.
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A
Tonight we're doing something a little different. We're going to talk to a caller and if you want to come on the show to talk about anything that's on your mind, email us or send a voice memo to thenightlyach co. It can be a worry you can't shake or something that happened today at the grocery store, a random insight or observation that you can't stop thinking about. We love hearing from you. We'll be doing it a lot more so feel free to send us a voice memo or email us.
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B
And this is very exciting. We actually have a caller on the line right now with a late night thought they'd like to share. Jenny, welcome to the nightly what's been keeping you up at night?
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C
Hi Elise. Hi Josh. Thank you so much. This is very exciting. Longtime listener, first time caller.
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A
Welcome in.
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B
We're glad to have you.
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C
I, I've been thinking a lot about state fairs recently because it is the start of the summer, it's state fair season and I have been like thinking about like why I love them so much, like what it is about them. Have either of you guys been to a state fair?
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A
I love state fairs. I love food on sticks. I grew up in Texas and so the Texas State Fair is very well known. Jenny, have you been to some that really stand out in your mind?
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C
I've actually been to the Texas State Fair. So.
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A
Yeah, with big texts.
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C
Yes, yes. My, like this is my core state fair memory is I was in college and my older sister was living in Texas. I'm from Chicago, from a suburb outside Chicago. So, you know, state fairs were not really a part of my childhood. I loved like a carnival county fair. And I'm realizing now, like I'm conflating them a lot in my mind, like state fair, county fair, carnival, Coney island. It's all kind of the same vibe. But I'm, you know, there are a lot of big differences. I think when I was in college we a friend and I drove down to the Dallas area to sort of rescue my, my older sister who was in like a graduate program down and living in Plano, which is sort of
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A
my hometown what is it the whole world?
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C
Oh, my gosh. Okay.
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A
So she was living 75024.
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C
Okay. And I hope you won't take offense because, like, it's not, like, the most happening place.
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A
Oh, no. It's a giant suburb. And then back when I was. Back when malls were a thing, because I grew up in the 90s, people in Dallas would call Plano land of the malls.
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C
Yes. And so many, like, huge freeways. And so she was having kind of, you know, a hard time, so we drove down to kind of to visit her, and we really decided to just lean into all things Texas. Like, we're, you know, these college kids from suburban Chicago. Like, what can we do and explore and experience that really is just full on Texas? And the state fair was in town, as luck would have it. So I was like a kid in a candy store. We. We watched the rodeo, which was amazing. I just. I still remember the butter sculptures and how enormous. Enormous they were. And I couldn't get over, like, the size and the craft and the attention to detail and, like.
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A
Yes.
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C
How to refrigerate. And then what happens to the butter?
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B
Right.
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A
Well, and then the innovation and all the things that you can fry. Like, it was fried everything. There was nothing that couldn't be thrown into a deep fryer.
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C
Is that what happens to the butter sculptures?
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A
Don't catch me lying. As we say in Texas.
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B
Circle of life.
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A
One of my favorite. Texas. Yeah, exactly. Circle of life. But don't catch me lying. I don't know.
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B
That's a Texas expression. I love that.
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A
Don't catch me lying. Yeah. Yeah, that's good.
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C
You can get so many things. You can get cotton candy wrapped bacon. You can get. I think I sampled a deep fried Oreo. So there was just that, like, the whole thing was just a delight. And I think one of my favorite things about it was the fact that we kind of stumbled on it. Like, I love sort of like just stumbling on a fair or a carnival or a county fair, whatever. In the summertime, you're just sort of moseying along, and all of a sudden there's rides and attractions and games and performances. There's really nothing more delightful than that.
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A
The performances are great. So I also feel a lot of nostalgia around state fairs because. Or county fairs. Just fairs. Because a. The time of year when they happen, right. They tend to be in the fall or in the summer. And then also they coincide with, like, the freedom, the first taste of freedom that you get as an adolescent. Like when you're starting to hang out with your friends without your parents, and they let you wander the fair and things. Oh, my gosh.
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C
Yeah.
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A
Getting to see. And a lot of my first live music experiences were at fairs. Cause I want to say LeAnn Rimes, she's from Dallas.
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B
Cool.
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A
And she was first, like, really breaking out because I think we're about the same age, so she must have been, like, 15 when I was 15 or, you know, slightly older. And so I saw a very young Leann Rimes at a fair.
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C
Oh, wow.
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A
And then before that, when I was even younger, I remember, like, the Friends era. There was the one hit wonder that sang the Rembrandts. Yes, the Rembrandts played at some fair that I was at.
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C
Oh, my gosh, that reminds me. I had a. One of my favorite CDs was it was not the Rembrandts, but it was the Friends compilation cd.
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B
Sure.
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C
That had that song on it. It had Toad the Wet Sprocket. It had what if God Was One of Us By Joan Osborne. Oh, yes. There were so many good songs on that. And it was like the COVID of the CD was the Cast of Friends, and. And then it was just like, an amazing mix of songs which, like, I don't even know if those were on the show.
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B
You know who else I bet was crushing that fair circuit at the same time was the Bodines, who did the theme song to Party of Five, Closer to Free.
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C
Yeah.
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You know what I'm talking about?
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Closer to Free.
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B
Yeah.
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Yeah.
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C
Yes.
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Maybe also one hit wonders, right? Like, did they do anything else? I think. Yes. Okay.
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B
That's my memory. I only remember that song. And it was. I miss. I miss that era of, like, the discovering a song through the credits to a TV show. But anyway, we're talking about fairs, but that is. It's, like, really bringing me back. Yeah.
- [07:52]
C
Yeah. Like, the state fair music circuit is. It's really. It's like a particular type of circuit. Not unlike, like, the casino circuit, where you're, like, driving on a freeway and you're like, oh, ZZ Top is coming to this casino or whatever.
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B
Yeah, Ja Rule is here.
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C
Yes. Yeah, exactly. It's like a cool little circuit. And. But I. What's crazy is that. So the. I'm in outside Chicago. The Illinois State Fair is in August, I think. It's not. Illinois is not, like, up there in terms of, like, the state fair rankings, which does exist. I looked it up.
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A
I was about to stop you right there and say, Excuse me. Rank. They rank. State fair.
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B
You've been reading all's Fair. The state fair ranking magazine. No, that is made up. But wait, who, Jenny, who else is at the top of the list? Minnesota.
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C
I have to imagine Minnesota's first huge fan.
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A
Right, Right.
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C
I think Illinois is like 16th, Iowa's second. I remember.
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I believe that. Yes. That always happens.
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C
Texas is definitely in the top 10.
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A
Wow. And if Texas is in the fall. So the Texas State Fair tends to be like end of September to end of October. Right. Because it's too hot. It's too hot in Texas. Yeah.
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C
Minnesota would be a great road trip for us, though. That would be really fun to take my kids and, like, do a little. But even to go down to Springfield. Check it out. Because speaking of, like, musical acts, the chicks are. I think the chicks are playing.
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B
That's cool.
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C
At the Illinois State Fair, which is like. Yeah, I mean, I will drive down to Springfield to see the chicks for sure. But there's also the, like, the smaller acts and the unknowns. Like, I'm sure Taylor Swift played a state fair at one point when she
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was 17 or something.
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C
Yeah, yeah.
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B
No, I bet, like, in that same leann Rimes mold that you were talking about. Alias of like, she's breaking out. And these are the gigs you do before you're like a big draw in a theater or stadium or something.
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A
Yeah. And I know with the Texas State Fair, there's a parade at night. It's sort of like Disneyland and Disney World where, you know, they have fireworks all the time. There's a parade during the state fair every night. So then you get to see floats and music and some fireworks and fun characters in addition to all the stuff that you did during the day. So if you are easily overstimulated, these fairs are a lot.
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C
Yeah, it's huge. It's huge. And then we like the 4. The entire 4h element of it, which I remember being so impressed. Like, people are spending, like, their entire year preparing for these different competitions and showing animals and baking pies.
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B
And, you know, I'm from Massachusetts, and I don't know, I think our state fair is not a huge to do. But there's Topsfield, Massachusetts has, like, a regional fair in that town. And I remember being little and hearing that there was a giant pumpkin growing competition. And I remember thinking, like, I've seen some pretty big pumpkins. I've been around the block a couple times on Halloween, literally, and seeing the pumpkins that people grew and going, like, my mind could not conceive a pumpkin this large. It's really something. Are you both Rides people at all or game or carnival game people. Fair games people?
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A
Both. What about you, Jenny? I mean, I enjoy both. The older I get, the more queasy I get after a really intense ride. I've noticed. So I will do it just to humor my kids. Not because I particularly love the thrill, but it's fun to be able to win prizes. And there's a lot of these state fairs where there's certain sections where kids win every time or they make sure that you get some sort of prize. And so it's fun, like winning something and taking. Going home with a gigantic stuffed otter or whatever. It just feels satisfying. And I love seeing the people walking through the game sections of fairs holding, you know, useless nonsense.
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B
Right. They've got like a life sized unicorn that's just with them for the rest of the day. Right.
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A
But I like the visual gag of it, you know, it's funny.
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B
It's so fun. Yeah. Jenny, do you have a favorite ride or game?
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C
I went on more recently, I'd say in the last couple of years. We did a county fair one summer that would again, just stumbled upon it. We were on vacation in Michigan, stumbled upon this county fair, and for kicks, we did the. What is it, like the Gravitron or whatever it's called. The really spinny one.
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B
Oh, yeah.
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C
You go inside the thing that looks like a ufo and then you kind of lean against the wall and then it spins and the centrifugal force, like, holds you against the wall and then the floor drops out and it. Have you, either of you done this for sure? It physically, like, Elise, what you said, I can't. I felt really, really something awful after I got off that ride. Like, it was. It's not built for, you know, my. My 40 year old.
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A
Right. I think I'm just. After I turned 40, I was just like, I don't think I can do this anymore.
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C
But I will say it unlocked during the ride. Even though I knew it was gonna, like, probably make me really dizzy, it unlocked such unfiltered, like, childlike glee, like, where I just, I. I was like cackling, right? Like, was. It's just so. It unlocked like such glee and like hilarity and ridiculousness and nostalgia. So I would encourage anybody, like, even if you have to pay the price later on, definitely worth it to at least try one of the spinny rides just for old time's sake, just to really hit home with the nostalgia. I would maybe not get like a, you know, something fried on a stick right beforehand. You don't want like a sandlot type.
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B
Sure.
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C
Right. Experience.
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B
But I've seen it happen.
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C
Would recommend doing at least one ride. Hopefully just seeing Josh and not Ben.
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B
No, it was somebody.
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C
When it was actively happening.
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B
It happened my middle school. The week of middle school graduation, they used to take all the 8th graders up to Canobie Lake park in Salem, New Hampshire, from where I lived in Massachusetts. And we would go up and we went on it, and one kid kept lifting his arm, like defying physics to lift his arm out straight in front of him, and then he would let it go and it would bonk the kid next to him in the tummy. And he did that probably six or seven times over the course of the however long you spin for. I don't want to get too graphic on this cozy bedtime podcast, but I will tell you, it didn't end well. Oh, no.
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A
Enough said. I love a fun house, too. Speaking of inner ear imbalance, like those ones where you have to walk through and then see all those, all the crazy mirrors, but then stay balanced because the floor might be unstable. That's fun, too.
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C
So fun.
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B
Yeah. Do you have, Jenny, like, now this has been on your mind. Do you have any state fairs you would like to visit in the longer term? Or do you have any, like, concrete plans for this summer, fall to go to any fairs, carnivals, et cetera?
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C
I do not.
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A
Okay.
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C
I'm going to wait and see. You know, it's like at the beginning of summer, I don't know if anybody else feels this way, but like, it's so. I struggle with. I'm just so excited the nice weather's here and I tend to want to over plan and like make a bucket list for my kids who are like 6 and 4 and do all the things and really sort of I'm gonna say the word optimize, right? And so I am gonna try not to do that. And, you know, we've got a couple vacations planned up in northern Michigan where we love to go for the summer. So I think I'm gonna wait and see kind of what unfolds. And if we stumble on, you know, a state fair or a county fair in progress along the way on the drive there back then, I think that's just a sign we gotta pull over. We're just gonna go kind of where the summer winds take us.
- [16:56]
A
Yeah, I like that. I. I learned a few years ago, you mentioned, Jenny, that you have young kids. I learned a few years ago about this project called no Bummer Summer. Have you heard about no Bummer Summer. Uh, so no Bummer Summer is just a club you can self identify and join, and it's a card you can print out for your family. And then people around the world play it. And it's things like eat an ice cream cone, watch a sunset, you know, play in the sprinklers. And it's to honor that kind of childlike fun and joy that you can have in the summer when the days are really long. So check out no Bummer Summer. Yeah, it's really cool.
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B
That's lovely.
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C
Yeah.
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A
And it kind of reminds me of the vibe of state fairs and what you're going for with a largely unstructured summer, which I think is a gift. It's a gift to all of us. You know, I'm looking at the list right now. I just pulled it up, and it's like, outdoor movie, make s', mores, write a postcard.
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B
I find sometimes it's nice to have, like, a menu of things that you're like, oh, I could do this or this or this. Rather than kind of pinning your hopes for a good time all on one big excitement.
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A
Yeah, exactly. And. And these are. So many of these are free. Like, they're visit a library or try a new hobby. And I like that. I think they're really applicable not just to kids, but to the whole family. And it's so important for us as adults to kind of return to our childlike sense of wonder, too.
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B
I think that's such a good goal. Do you know, Elise, not to put you on the spot as that advocate and representative of no Bummer Summer, but do you know if those. If the items on the list stay steady year over year? This is like the classic no Bummer Summer checklist. Or do they, like, cycle things in and out?
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A
I think it's pretty timeless because we've printed it out for my family every few years or over the last few years, and it's like, catch fireflies. That's not going to change from summer of 2026 and summer of, you know, 2023. Right, right.
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B
It's not all of a sudden, like, catch Pokemon and you're like, no, that's a different thing.
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A
Well, Jenny, we already have to wrap. We've so enjoyed our time with you. Thank you for coming on and for sharing what's been on your mind.
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C
Thank you guys for giving me an opportunity to just like, chat about this and really revel in the. In the state fair nostalgia and. And in the summertime. And thanks for helping me get to sleep.
- [19:33]
B
This was so wonderful. Thank you, Jenny. And if there's anyone listening who wants to call in and talk about something that's been on their mind late at night, the email is thenightlyatch. Co. And you can leave a voice memo, you can write an email, but we'd love to have you on and talk. But now it's time for us to say goodnight. So I would like to say goodnight to. Well, first of all, to both of you, to Jenny and Elise. And I would also like to wish a good night to Vinnie the Pooh, the knockoff Winnie the Pooh doll that I won for my wife when we started dating on Coney Island.
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C
Aw.
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A
Good night, Vinnie the Pooh. And Jenny, what about you? Is there anybody you want to say goodnight to?
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C
I would like to say goodnight to Ja Rule.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And I am gonna go do some research to see if by any chance he's coming to a summer. A summertime stage near me.
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A
Amazing. Love that. I would like to say good night to the people of Plano, Texas.
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B
Beautiful.
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A
So good night, Plano. Good night, Jenny, and good night, Josh.
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B
Good night,
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C
Foreign.
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A
To learn more about our phone free
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B
light and audio experience, head to Hatch
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A
Co. You can also follow us at Hatch Podcasts.