The Prego Pasta Puck & People Pleasing

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Nightly

Episode: The Prego Pasta Puck & People Pleasing
Date: May 2, 2026
Hosts: Wils Pelton & Josh Gondelman (part of the regular comedian cast)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Nightly drifts through two core late-night topics: the sometimes chaotic coincidences of modern dating and the implications of Prego’s new “pasta puck” conversation-recording device. It then finishes with an honest, compassionate discussion about people-pleasing, self-awareness, and growing comfortable with who you are. All the while, the tone is cozy, comedic, and conversational—geared towards listeners winding down for sleep.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. An Unexpected Dating Crossover

[00:39–03:40]

• Wils shares a dating app adventure that highlights the interconnectedness of the Brooklyn LGBTQ+ community:
  • After matching with a stranger, it's revealed they may both be attending the same group vacation—awkward!
  • Wils: “Every gay person in Brooklyn knows every other gay person in Brooklyn… I can’t wait to go on a week long vacation with you.” ([01:21])
• On the “playing with fire” factor:
  • Wils isn’t craving chaos but feels the situation seems manageable and not disastrous.
  • Josh humorously expresses anxiety over potential awkward vacation dynamics.
• Dating philosophy:
  • Wils: “We will not walk away on bad terms. Wow.” ([03:37])
• Josh’s old-fashioned approach:
  • Reveals he’s never “matched” on dating apps, given he met his wife just as apps took off.

2. Relationships and Vulnerability

[04:01–08:10]

• Josh recounts meeting his wife post-breakup:
  • Intentionally let his apartment become “a state of horror” to avoid bringing anyone over during his single period—which backfired, as he met Maris then.
  • Josh: “So I’m not like tempted, not tempted to like, try to invite someone over… what happened was I immediately met my now wife, of course.” ([05:39])
• Comical housing anecdotes:
  • Invited Maris to his place only once because of shared chaos and many roommates.
  • The hosts embrace the vulnerability of sharing these personal stories with listeners, setting the tone for the advice segment.

3. Listener Mailbag: The Prego Pasta Puck

[08:26–12:42]

• Jason, a listener, asks: Is Prego’s new gold “pasta puck” (a device that records family dinner conversations) genius PR or nonsense?
• Wils: “So don’t buy that under any circumstances.” ([09:15])
• Both hosts agree it’s not only unnecessary but potentially creepy:
  • Wils: “I don’t need Prego to also… bugging my home, my dinner conversations with my family.” ([09:47])
  • Josh: “So many of us, by virtue of having smartphones, have a recording device… you don’t need a special marinara branded hockey puck.” ([10:13])
  • Wils: “It either is basically unusable and complete trash, or something like so completely sinister that we don’t even know about yet.” ([11:07])
• Memorable exchange:
  • Josh: “The marinara app is mozzarella sticks, but thank you.” ([11:29])
• Humorous mobster stereotypes and movie references cap the discussion.

4. Advice Segment: On People-Pleasing

[12:48–20:16]

• Listener letter: A woman’s tendency to mask her preferences to please others leaves her unsure of her own likes and dislikes, a pattern that started in her family.
• Josh’s Empathy:
  • Relates to “quarterbacking” group settings for harmony, but points out people genuinely ask about favorites to know the real “you.”
  • Josh: “When someone asks you, like, what’s your favorite movie? ... if they’re a trustworthy friend, they’re asking because they want to know you better.” ([14:15])
• Practical Reframe:
  • Wils: Suggests “taking inventory” of true likes outside the noise of others’ preferences.
  • Wils: “Any pursuit of trying to please everyone will often just result in pleasing no one and making yourself unhappy.” ([15:54])
• Flexible Self-Expression:
  • Josh: “You don’t have to feel like these answers are the always and forever answers.” ([15:59])
• Group Harmony vs. True Preferences:
  • The difference between acting as a considerate group member (like choosing an accessible restaurant) versus hiding your own preferences.
• Personal Growth and Advice:
  • Wils stresses that increasing self-assurance that comes with age eases people-pleasing tendencies.
  • Wils: “It’s very easy to cling to these narratives… sometimes… you actually have to be like, I’m gonna release this narrative about myself that I am… a people pleaser.” ([19:07])
  • Hosts agree: Learning more about yourself is both empowering and exciting.
• Josh closes:
  • “You can say the things you think and feel, even if they might be surprising to people.” ([20:03])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wils (on dating coincidences):
  “There's definitely a small element of playing with fire that I'm engaging with, but I think it will be okay.” ([02:49])
• Josh (dating in the pre-app era):
  “I did… okay, Cupid… but it was mostly… I need someone on me now. It was, it was emergency based.” ([04:10])
• Wils (on the Prego device):
  “I don’t need Prego to also…bugging my home, my dinner conversations with my family.” ([09:47])
• Josh (on the device):
  “You don’t need a special marinara branded hockey puck to record that on.” ([10:13])
• Wils (on people pleasing):
  “Any pursuit of trying to please everyone will often just result in pleasing no one and making yourself unhappy.” ([15:54])
• Josh (releasing self-imposed narratives):
  “You can say the things you think and feel, even if they might be surprising to people.” ([20:03])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:39 – Wils’s story about the dating app and vacation coincidence
• 04:01 – Josh’s apartment anecdote and meeting his wife
• 08:26 – Listener introduces the Prego Pasta Puck conversation
• 09:05 – Hosts unpack their skepticism and humor about the pasta puck
• 12:48 – Listener question about people-pleasing and struggling with self-expression
• 14:15 – Josh offers perspective on how others see “favorites” questions
• 15:54 – Wils on the futility of people-pleasing
• 19:07 – Wils on dropping personal narratives
• 20:03 – Josh’s culminating advice on authentic self-expression

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Episode Tone & Closing

Warm, witty, a shade irreverent, and always reassuring, the hosts laugh through personal mishaps, offer sincere advice, and invite listeners to wind down and reflect on their days and themselves. The episode ends with a gentle goodnight between the hosts, perfect for easing listeners into sleep.

Transcript

[A]

Hello.

[B]

You're about to drift into an episode of the Nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience, visit Hatch Co. Enjoy.

[C]

Hi there, I'm Wills.

[D]

And I'm Josh. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch, where your late night thoughts go to rest.

[C]

Josh, I have something so funny to tell you that just happened to me recently.

[D]

Well, I'm so glad that we're here and I can't wait to hear your story.

[C]

Oh my God, I'm so excited to share. So I've been back on the dating apps a little bit. In particular, I went back on field, which I can't even get into field, but sure, it's a crazy place. And I had this thing happen to me where I matched with someone and we were planning to hang out or whatever. We were planning to hang out and right before we were like, I like, gave them my number and then they texted me and they were like, oh my God, like, I think we are gonna be like vacationing in the same house this summer.

[D]

Oh, no.

[C]

I was like, is that so? Is that so? Because basically I'm going on a trip with my friends the first week of June and they, I guess, are looking to fill. Looking to fill this house out a little bit more. And this person who I didn't know knew any of these people obviously, but every gay person in Brookly, Brooklyn knows every other gay person in Brooklyn has been asked to fill in. And I was like, oh, amazing. I can't wait to go on a week long vacation with you.

[D]

How did they know from your phone number?

[A]

They.

[C]

They didn't know for my phone number.

[A]

They.

[C]

I'm trying to think. I don't know exactly how it happened, but they must. I know that they taught. Ended up talking to my friend. Maybe they ran into them. My friend who I'm going on this trip with and I think my friend was saying, like, these are the people in the house, like, da, da, da, da da. And they said my name and then they were like. Then they texted me about it.

[D]

But that's so funny.

[A]

I know.

[D]

Did you go on the date still?

[C]

I have not gone on the date yet. I'm completely open to it, but it.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

I.

[C]

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, AKA a little bit of an illness, I have not gone on the date yet. But it just. Boy, oh boy, did it, did it make me laugh.

[D]

That is so funny. Like such a small world thing.

[C]

Yes, completely small world.

[D]

I love your openness to going on the date. Still, because. Because my brain immediately went to like, oh, don't. Even if this goes fine, if it doesn't go great, then it will make the vacation weird completely.

[C]

I mean, I'm definitely. There's definitely a small element of playing with fire that I'm engaging with, but I think, I think it will be okay. But I just had to.

[A]

I had to share.

[C]

I had to get it off my chest. It just happened.

[D]

Now are you a person that's like, this could blow up and that's what I like about it, or are you like, no, I just hope this is nice.

[C]

I'm not. This could blow up and I hope. And that's what I like about it. I'm pretty chaos averse when it comes to dating. I would say sure. I am more so. I think my feelings about it are given. The. Given, like everything I know about the person and everything is that I'm like, I just don't think that this will. I don't think it'll blow up.

[D]

It just feels like a totally reasonable thing to do. And you're like, even if it's not, oh, we're together or we had the best time together, it'll be like, well, that was nice.

[C]

That was nice. We're all, we're all friends here.

[D]

We won't walk away on bad terms.

[C]

We will not walk away on bad terms. Wow.

[D]

Whoa. That is like such a. That's such a funny coincidence and like such a. I know. A fascinating, like, app related potential.

[C]

I know.

[A]

Look, it felt good. It felt good to get a match.

[D]

Fun to match. Yeah, I imagine.

[A]

I can't. I one can only imagine.

[D]

I've never matched.

[A]

Oh, my God. You've never matched.

[D]

I've never matched.

[A]

You've matched in person, but I think it's matching. I think it's good that you've never matched online.

[D]

I did. I had like a brief period before I was married of okay, Cupid. And I think when I met my wife, Tinder existed. But it was mostly not like, it was mostly like, how to put this politely? I need someone on me now.

[A]

It was, it was emergency based.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a. There was a ticking clock. And I was not. I was like, you know, that's not really like what I'm looking for at this point in my life. I'm just trying to, like, live. And I was actually, when I met my wife, trying to not date. And then we just, like, met and really got along.

[A]

That's what everyone always says happens is that the second you're like, I'm not, I'm off the market.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Is when love comes knocking down your door.

[D]

It's true. I was like, I'm gonna work. I actually, I don't think I've told this story on this show before, but this is not a secret. Is that when I met my wife Maris, I had just had like a breakup of a, you know, meeting a pretty long term relationship a little over a year. And I was like, you know what? I'm not in a, in a position to date. I'm not in a condition today. I'm like, I'm too selfish right now. I'm not doing right by other people. So what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna like, let my physical space kind of fall into disrepair. So I'm not like tempted, not tempted to like, try to invite someone over.

[A]

Yeah, totally.

[D]

Like, be like, oh, hey, like, even if I meet someone and we really get along or we like, you know, I'm not trying to like bring people back to my space. And so the, the, what happened was I immediately met my now wife, of course. And in the year first year we dated, she guess how many times I invited her to my apartment because it was in such a state of horror and I had a bunch of roommates and she did not. But zero. How many times she was invited to my. More than zero.

[A]

Okay, okay.

[C]

Four.

[D]

Less than four, though.

[A]

Okay, well, the small range.

[D]

One time. One time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she came. Yeah, one time. It was like, ugh. And I was like, yeah, that's why I didn't invite you here.

[A]

And it's like. And you like her, like the horror of being like, I like this person and I have to invite them back to my, like, shack. Yeah. It's just, it's, it's embarrassing.

[D]

And there was no intent to make it better either because I was like, okay, at the end of this year, I'm going to move out of this situation regardless, so I'm just going to let it fall into like complete disrepair.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, and then it's just let it go.

[D]

Let it go. She came one, one time. She was like, I would like to see where you live. And I was like, oh, totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

You're like, you think you would like to see where I live, right?

[D]

You like the idea of seeing where I live.

[A]

You like knowing I have a home.

[D]

But it was also like she had met my roommates and you know, like. Yeah, yeah, there was a whole situation, but. Which was nice, but I Felt like I was kind of skating by, because I would always. If she was like, oh, come. Come to where I am, like, come to my apartment after your show or. And we'll have dinner or whatever, I would always just do that. And I would, like, never complain, even though it's kind of far. I would just be like, this is. Their arrangement is like, whenever you. Whenever we would like to see each other, I will go to where you are. Can, as a compromise of. You never get to see my bedroom.

[A]

Yeah, that's the. Like, that's the price you pay. You know?

[D]

That's right.

[A]

Okay. Well, now that you and I have gotten really. Have really shared some of our insights,

[D]

I feel like we've been. This is a really. A really intimate conversation.

[A]

I feel like I just was vulnerable with the audience. Of course. We've really bared our souls and shared. Shared what we have going on today. So I thought that it'd be fun if we could hear from the listeners.

[D]

Let's do it.

[A]

Because we have. We have a message from our listener, Jason. I think this is him sharing his late night thoughts. He says, I came across the following article and thought it'd be a great topic for discussion and something you all would enjoy to debate. Okay, let's see. So this is kind of the byline or whatever. Prego has revealed a new limited edition product design to capture family conversations at the dinner table, launching just ahead of Mother's Day and screen free week. And this is, I guess, a. Is it. Is it a recording device? Wait, what is this?

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've. I've seen this.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

It's like a little recording device that sits in the middle of your dinner table and records family conversations during meals.

[A]

So don't buy that under any circumstances.

[D]

Well, Jason asks, is this genius PR or absolute nonsense? Parentheses I'm team nonsense. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. Thanks. Best, Jason.

[A]

Thank you, Jason.

[D]

Yeah, thank you, Jason.

[A]

I would say to me, it transcends nonsense to complete fear of. Why does Preggo. I mean, I mean, why does Preggo are a recording of us?

[C]

This is like.

[A]

I mean, this is. I don't need Prego to also, like, be, like, bugging my home, my dinner conversations with my family.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

But I also wonder if it even works like, it looks like. Really? It basically looks like a gold puck. Like a gold, like, hockey puck almost. Yeah, it looks very cheap. So I also am like, how much data. I don't. I don't feel. I. I think it's nonsense. What do you.

[D]

I think it's nonsense, too, also. We all just, by virtue of, like, having smartphones or so many of us, by virtue of having smartphones, have a recording device. So if you were like, oh, you know, I'm having dinner with my. And just because this is made by the pasta sauce people, I'm having dinner with my old Italian grandparents, of course, and I would love to record the stories that they tell while they're still with us. I think that's, like, not a terrible impulse. But you don't need a special marinara branded hockey puck to record that on.

[A]

Certainly not. Certainly not. Yeah. It's pointless, I guess, as you're saying, if we all have a way to record if we really want to. And in the pointlessness, I feel like it either. I. I feel certain that it either is basically unusable and complete trash or something like, so completely sinister that we don't even know about yet. Do you know what I mean?

[D]

Yes, for sure. It's either useless or evil, and I can't decide which.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know which one.

[D]

Because also, it's like, now what do you do once you've recorded? Is there, like, a marinara app?

[A]

I bet you there is.

[D]

Which, of course, the marinara app is mozzarella sticks, but thank you. Does it, like, interface with your devices or do you just, like, play it, like, shuffle? And then it's just like, hey, best assault. Cool. I'm so glad I recorded this.

[A]

I have no idea. Yeah, it's like a. An ipod nano or a. Yeah, or there's like a marinara Dropbox situation that we would have to engage with. Either way, I don't need this at my dinner table.

[D]

It also, I mean, like, this is such an unfair stereotype, but every movie in which I've ever seen someone have a big spaghetti dinner with their family, they're very concerned that someone at the table is wearing a wire. Traditionally, you don't record people over a big pasta dinner. It's a sign of disrespect.

[A]

This is. This is. Yeah, they're trying to infiltrate the mob scene, but I don't even think. Mob. Mobster. Mobsters.

[C]

I'll say this.

[A]

They're cooking up some fresh marinara. They're not. They're not eating prego.

[D]

They're not using it from the jar. Right. I'm gonna be honest. Right. You watch good fellas. You see them slice the garlic?

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Should we do this next little advice question really fast?

[D]

Yeah, Will. So would you Read it for our listeners, please.

[A]

Okay. Someone asked me what my favorite food was at a party recently and I stood there for a full uncomfortable pause because my first instinct was to come up with what answer they'd enjoy hearing from me. It was a wake up call. I cannot tell you my favorite movie without immediately wondering if it sounds impressive enough. I cannot pick a restaurant without scanning for what the group might want. I have been doing this since I was a kid in a household where keeping the peace was survival. And now I'm an adult who has no idea what she actually thinks about anything. Any advice? Question mark? Question mark? Just one question mark. Actually,

[D]

you, Wills made it more inquisitive. Like you made it somewhere, like, any advice? I really need some advice, but this is very. Yeah, very gentle.

[A]

Do you have any advice, Josh?

[D]

I do sometimes do this and it's not. I didn't come from a turbulent family situation, but at some point my wife teases me because when I'm in big groups, especially family, I'm always kind of like quarterbacking the conversation to make sure everybody's doing okay or whatever. But I do understand the impulse of when someone says, hey, what do you want to do tonight? Trying to pick an answer that is agreeable to everyone. I will say one thing right off the jump is that when someone asks you, like, what's your favorite movie? What's your favorite food? They're not hoping that you are going to align with them perfectly. Most of the time. If they're like a trustworthy friend, they're asking because they want to know you better. Right. And so like picking something that is, you think like a consolation or like a compromise is like not even necessarily what they're asking for.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So that's the first part.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, I think I completely agree. It's like if someone is inquiring, they're. They're just trying to get to know you. So it's not even like there. There is no right answer in that context.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I also think the thing to do is to start asking yourself questions about what makes you feel happy and good and like, yeah, if you. I don't know you.

[C]

I think.

[A]

Well, I also have two kind of separate feelings about this, which is like on the one hand and this is maybe I'm like being too specific about it, but the favorites conversation of it all is also different, difficult because I think sometimes like the question of like, what is your favorite? Is even like, that is even a weird question sometimes, like feels hard to answer. But I also think like, if you think about it, you probably know, like, okay, what. What food do I enjoy the most? Or what movies do I enjoy the most? What music do I enjoy listening to? Like, if I was completely alone in a vacu, assume, like, without anyone around, what would make me happy? And also that I guess the. The most. I think this is kind of related to what you were saying, Josh. Any pursuit of trying to please everyone will often just result in pleasing no one and making yourself unhappy. So it's like the. The best way to be a person, if you want to, like, also use this framework that other people that pleases other people and other people, like, being around or whatever is usually actually like, just trying to be yourself. Not to be completely trite about it, but I think it's pretty true.

[D]

And I think there are ways without having to feel like. You don't have to feel like these answers are the always and forever answers. Yeah, someone's like, who's your favorite band? You could be like, you know what? I've really been listening. Like, I don't. Yeah, it changes all the time. But who I've been listening to a lot lately, or even if you want to go the other way, you go. You know, I haven't been listening to their new stuff, but, like, the band I've seen live the most is this band. And so that way you can kind of recontextualize the question into, like, what is meaningful to you without having to pick an absolute if that doesn't feel fun or comfortable.

[A]

Totally. Totally.

[D]

I have one more thing, though. I think the picking a restaurant or a movie for everyone to watch or a meeting place for a bunch of people, I think that's a little different because it is something where you do have to make everyone feel seen and heard and valued. Where it's like, you want to be dealing with people's geographic locations, where they're coming from, and allergies and, you know, make sure that it's not a place that someone with a disability has trouble accessing. And so I do think, while it might come from the same place or the anxiety might come from the same place of, like, oh, what is my favorite movie? Who even am I? I do think it is nice to consider how other people are responding to the choices you make.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And not necessarily that you need to freak out about it, but, like, that is a generous thing.

[A]

Yeah, I can. I agree. That's another thing I was thinking, which is sometimes you are actually having to consider the group, and obviously we can do that a little bit too much at times as well. But that's not completely the exact same as being like, oh, what do I. What's my favorite movie? Or what's my favorite song? Or whatever.

[D]

But. But I do love your idea of like taking inventory of. Of what do I like? How can I know myself a little? Because I do think it opens up the potential for future happiness when you know what you're looking for a little.

[A]

Yeah. And I mean anything. Like this is always. If we want to reframe, like an exciting way to look at it is to be like, oh my God, I get to know myself better. And like, that is like an exciting thing to do.

[D]

I think that's beautiful. Is this something you've ever struggled with? Have you ever stressed out about that kind of thing? About like pleasing other people and answering questions in a way that makes everybody happy?

[A]

Completely. I mean, I definitely feel like I very much was like that was something in my growing up that I had to do. And so then as I got older, I had to like work on being a little bit less that way. But I agree with what I don't know. I have a lot of like, big ideas about all this stuff, which is like people say like the word like people please or like blah, blah, blah, like all this stuff and we like have all these big ideas about. I like what it means to be xyz and I think I've gotten better and released some of that of like the people pleasing or whatever. One thing I would say that is helpful for me is like, we. It's very easy to cling to these like narratives and ideas that we have about ourselves. And sometimes like the step you. In order to like get over it, you actually have to be like, I'm gonna release this like narrative about myself that I am like a people pleaser or whatever. And. And I'm just gonna. And I'm gonna try to like get past that. But yeah, I mean, I've definitely struggled with it and I. I still do to a certain extent. I think a lot of this stuff is just like getting older and feeling more like settled in yourself and like, I don't know, I wonder how old this person is as well, because I think I can still feel myself get like more self assured every year and more comfortable with myself and like more at ease with myself. And I think those feelings help abate the, the like, impulse to please everyone or make everyone happy or whatever. Because the more content you are with yourself, like the less hung up you have on. On other people's ideas of you, I guess totally agree. Or your of other people's ideas of you, if that makes sense.

[D]

That's right. Right. You don't write. It doesn't have to be this like you were saying, script of like, this is what I'm like and this is how people see me. So I have to play that role. You can, you can say the things you think and feel, even if they might be surprising to people.

[A]

Yes, very much so.

[D]

This was wonderful. And if you listeners have any questions or comments for the show, write into us@the nightlyatch.com co and on that note,

[A]

I think, I think I'm gonna hit the hay. But this has been so lovely. Yeah. Good night, Josh.

[D]

Good night, Wes.

[B]

To learn more about our phone free light and audio experience, head to Hatch Co. You can also follow us at Hatch Podcasts.