Episode 4: A Beefy Treat - Intrusive Thoughts by Adam Rippon

Summary

The Podcast by Adam Rippon – Episode 4: A Beefy Treat

Release Date: February 20, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 4, titled “A Beefy Treat,” Adam Rippon delves into a variety of personal anecdotes, contemporary issues, and pop culture insights. True to his comedic and unfiltered style, Rippon offers listeners a front-row seat into his thoughts, ranging from the mundane to the profound. This episode seamlessly transitions between topics, providing a rich and engaging listening experience.

The Pen and Notebook Obsession

Rippon kicks off the episode by sharing his deep-seated passion for pens and notebooks, reflecting on how writing physically helps him remember thoughts better than typing.

“I feel like when it comes to pens and notebooks, I don't know about you, but I know for me, I need and love a good pen and notebook.” [00:00]

He recounts his long-standing allegiance to the Bic pen, humorously lamenting the excessive force required to make the ink flow.

“When I say the Bic pen, I mean the one that you needed to apply like your entire body weight to so that the ink would come out.” [00:45]

Transitioning into his evolution in writing instruments, Rippon discusses his transition to Uni Ball Vision Elite pens and later the Pilot G2, highlighting the differences in writing experience and personal preference.

“There’s something about the Uni Ball where it glides nicely across the paper. It feels really good.” [05:15]
“The Pilot G2 makes a thicker sort of line that it makes, and I like that a lot because it’s loud, it’s proud.” [07:30]

TV Show Musings: Traitors Traders and White Lotus

Shifting gears, Rippon dives into his thoughts on current television shows. He starts with “Traitors Traders,” sharing his initial apprehensions about a character named Tom Sandoval and praising his surprises in the series.

“At first, Tom Sandoval was freaking me out. To just put it lightly, he was freaking me out.” [08:20]
“Dylan Efron is quite a good player. I’m a bit surprised.” [09:00]

He also discusses “White Lotus,” commending creator Mike White for consistently delivering exceptional content.

“You can always count on Mike White to deliver a White Lotus season of television.” [10:10]

The AI Conundrum

Rippon raises concerns about the increasing prevalence of AI-generated content, illustrating his point with an example of a misleading TikTok video promoting dubious health advice.

“It is alarming how some people cannot tell something is AI.” [10:50]

He emphasizes the potential dangers of AI when it’s indistinguishable from genuine human-created content, calling for greater awareness and discernment among audiences.

Slim Jims and Personal Reflections

In a nostalgic and somewhat somber segment, Rippon shares a personal story about his childhood love for Slim Jims and the sudden aversion that led him to give them up.

“I loved the tear of the wrapper. Just. I loved it all.” [11:50]
“Sometimes your favorite food, which is a heavily processed meat snack, sometimes you just can’t eat that anymore. And I think that it’s for the greater good.” [13:30]

This reflection underscores the theme of personal growth and the sometimes abrupt changes in our preferences and habits.

Fashion Critique: The Ill-Fitting Trend

Rippon voices his disapproval of current fashion trends that celebrate ill-fitting clothes, particularly criticizing the baggy, untailored pants paired with suit jackets.

“Stop celebrating ill fitting clothes as good fashion. Stop that.” [14:10]
“I am not a fan of the baggy untailored pants with suit jacket dressed up look.” [14:20]

His candid critique highlights his preference for structured and well-fitted attire, advocating for more thoughtful fashion choices.

Voicemails and Listener Interaction

Throughout the episode, Rippon engages with listener voicemails, addressing a range of topics with his characteristic humor and honesty.

Health Habits and Celery Juice
- Caller’s Question: “Is the celery juice era still something you partake in?”
- Rippon’s Response: “I vividly remember in the pandemic I was heavy into the celery juice... I’m not doing the celery juice anymore. It wasn’t because of the violence that had ensued in my own body. It was just because I got bored.” [11:43]
Trader Joe’s Culinary Critique
- Caller’s Opinion: Criticizes Trader Joe’s for processed foods.
- Rippon’s Take: “If Trader Joe’s is your grocery store of choice, like primary grocery store... It’s one step above having Dino chicken tenders every day.” [16:27]
- He humorously theorizes about Trader Joe’s produce handling, adding a personal touch to his critique.
Voice Text Messages
- Caller’s Inquiry: Asks Rippon’s opinion on voice text messages.
- Rippon’s Insight:
  - Supports voice texts in the right context.
  - Dislikes unexpected voice messages that disrupt his schedule.
  - “It’s all about the context and the timing. I love to send a good voice text message when the time is right.” [17:10]

Conclusion

Adam Rippon wraps up the episode by reinforcing the importance of context in communication and expressing gratitude to his listeners. He encourages feedback and voicemails, maintaining an open channel for audience interaction.

“Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Podcast by Adam Rippon.” [20:00]
“It’s been a blast. It’s been real. And we’ll see you here next week.” [20:20]

Key Takeaways

Personal Growth: Rippon illustrates how evolving tastes, even in something as simple as pens or snacks, reflect broader personal development.
Media Consumption: His discussions on TV shows highlight the impact of storytelling and character development in contemporary media.
AI Awareness: Raises critical questions about the authenticity and implications of AI-generated content in everyday life.
Consumer Choices: His candid opinions on Trader Joe’s and fashion trends encourage listeners to think critically about their consumer habits.
Effective Communication: Through his voicemail responses, Rippon emphasizes the importance of context and timing in personal interactions.

Notable Quotes

“I don’t need to do that anymore.” – Adam Rippon on moving away from the Bic pen [04:45]
“It is alarming how some people cannot tell something is AI.” – Adam Rippon on AI-generated content [10:50]
“Sometimes your favorite food... you just can’t eat that anymore. And I think that it’s for the greater good.” – On quitting Slim Jims [13:30]
“I love to send a good voice text message when the time is right.” – On voice texts [17:10]

Final Thoughts

Episode 4 of "The Podcast by Adam Rippon" is a testament to Rippon’s ability to blend humor with insightful commentary on everyday topics. Whether discussing the tactile joy of writing with his favorite pen, critiquing modern fashion, or pondering the ethical boundaries of AI, Rippon engages his audience with authenticity and wit. This episode is a must-listen for fans seeking a blend of laughter, reflection, and candid conversation.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Hey, everyone, I'm Adam Rippon. Let's get right into the podcast. Welcome back to the podcast. I think like usual, let's begin with just some top of mind intrusive thoughts. And as I'm saying that, I'm thinking, would intrusive thoughts have been a better name for the podcast? I don't know. We'll never know. But we'll always have to wonder. But we'll never know. I want to share with you something that I've been going through. It is that I feel like when it comes to pens and notebooks, I don't know about you, but I know for me, I need and love a good pen and notebook. It's really important to me. I'm always writing things down, I'm typing them out, but when I write them down, they really get into the cracks and grooves of my brain. That's how I really remember things. I've had a bit of a journey when it comes to what kind of pen do I like to use now for a while, and I don't know why, I was incredibly, and to a fault, dedicated to your normal standard Bic pen pen. And when I say the Bic pen, I mean the one that you needed to apply like your entire body weight to so that the ink would come out. Like, this is the pen that they give you at the doctor's office. Like, there are no frills to it. And for a while I always felt like, that's the pen for me. That's just, that's the pen for me. I had a friend who said that they had a favorite pen and this was like a gel pen, ballpoint pen. And I thought, ugh, it's just too easy to write with. Where's the challenge? Where's the struggle? Because I think really what I wanted was, I wanted it to be a struggle. I wanted to have to put my entire body weight onto a piece of paper for the ink to come out. And I just felt like it can't be too easy. It just can't be too easy. Until I really started to think, I think we need to graduate. I don't think that this is a sustainable way to live, and I'm glad that I did. Now I have a notebook of choice, which I'm feeling like I don't know if this is the one for me anymore, but it's always a five star notebook. There's just something about it where it's the perfect size. I like the feel of the paper. If you, if you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. If you're. I still want to write in lined paper in lined notebook paper because I don't live in a lawless land. Like, I still want structure. I still want. These are the lines right on the lines. Because otherwise, you know, if you're just writing on a piece of loose leaf paper, it just. It's all over the place. I need lined notebook paper. Now back to the pens. So I started for a while using these Uni Ball Vision Elite pens. And I like them a lot. Like, oh, did you hear the click of that? Just feels good. Now I'm writing and it's. It's really smooth. I really do like it. And I always have this type of pen with me because now there is no going back. I've paid my dues. I've used that Bic pen for years. Like I said, I was dedicated to it. I do not get it. Do not know why. I just. I liked the feeling of really getting in there. And I don't need to do that anymore. I don't need to do that anymore. Recently, I started using the Pilot G2. What do I like about the Pilot G2? Now? It's a thicker sort of line that it makes. And I like that a lot. I really do like that a lot because I just. It's loud, it's proud, and that's just kind of where I stand. But I. I do feel like it. It doesn't glide as I'm. I'm like, writing in it now. Like gibberish. It doesn't glide. Let me go back to the Uniball. There's something about the Uni Ball where it glides. Click. It just glides nicely across the paper. There's just a lot of. Feels good. It feels really good, actually. So I don't know. I'm in a bit of a conundrum, you could say. But I'm just feeling like I need to kind of upgrade the situation a little bit. Moving along, I took a few notes on what I wanted to talk about. So we'll just kind of go through them and. And then we'll get to some voicemails. I was going to talk about a few of the shows that I'm watching. And in my notes I wrote trailers. Yeah, the famous show on Peacock Trailers did mean to write traitors, because that's what I wrote in the notes of what I was going to talk about. Let me talk about trailers. Didn't put anything in there aside from that. So Traitors Traders is quite Good. At first, Tom Sandoval was freaking me out. To just put it lightly, he was freaking me out. And in the most recent episode, I mean, what can you say? That was. It was genius work, the singing backwards. I mean, Dylan Efron is quite a good player. I'm a bit surprised. I don't know why I'm surprised. I just wasn't expecting it. But. But he got me. I love Gabby and I love, love Carolyn. And you know what? Danielle is so dramatic. I do love Danielle as well. But ride or die for Carolyn. She can mumble her way out of any situation and she's done that the entire season so far. A master class in skirting around any subject. I started White Lotus. You can always count on Mike White. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. You can always count on Mike White to deliver a White Lotus season of television. That's all there is to it. My number one takeaway after watching the first episode is that when I listened to Parker Posey talk for the very first time, I went. And that's how I know she nailed it. Something else I want to talk about is, is that I think AI is out of control. We know that. You know that. I know that. I'm sure you're wondering how did I come to this conclusion on my own? How did I get here? How did I arrive here? Well, I'll tell you how it happened. I was watching a TikTok and now these were all AI generated photos. I mean, I could tell that they were AI generated easily. Didn't even need to look twice. But in the corner. And it was. It was like this video was trying to use the green screen effect. So there's photos and then there's this small talking head in the corner of the video and the talking head in the corner of the video. I just want you to know off the bat, I know that this is an ad because there's like a product that you can buy, okay? The clues, they're all there. The signs are all there that this is not to be taken seriously. But. So the video starts with. It's this woman and it's. And she's in scrubs and that's the photo. And she's in a hospital hallway. And the talking head is this woman, where I can obviously tell this is an AI generated person speaking. Like, this is not a real person speaking. All of the clues that I'm finding are not clear enough. She starts speaking and she goes, I've been a coochie doctor for 13 years. And nobody believes me when I say this next slide, cucumber, lemon balm, and pineapple salad, will make your coochie taste amazing. And I could see that this video had, like, maybe half a million likes. And it had thousands of comments that made me really nervous. And when I opened the comments, I was right to be nervous because there were people asking this robot, what kind of lemon balm do you use? Does it matter if the cucumbers are cut or not? Asking real questions. And it wasn't until I got to the maybe 10th most liked comment that somebody said, this is obviously AI and it made me feel sick to my stomach. It is alarming how some people cannot tell something is AI. Now, this is a sad kind of story. I don't mean to bring the mood down, but I do want to share it. When I was young, let's say ages 10 to 13, one of my favorite snacks was a Slim Jim. And I loved eating Slim Jims. Delicious, salty, nutritious. Mmm. A big factor in liking a Slim Jim is that I could buy them at this concession stand, and they were a dollar. And so every time I had a dollar, I would splurge. I'm going to get a beefy treat, I thought to myself. And so whenever I could, I would get a Slim Jim. It was $1. $1 to get that high. I would do it, and I would enjoy this Slim Jim. I loved the tear of the wrapper. Just. I loved it all. And then one day, in the middle of eating a Slim Jim, I thought to myself, these are kind of disgusting. And once I thought the thought, it was over. I then could feel the barf forming. I could feel it kind of bubbling over, and I could feel like, whoa. I could feel it, like, coming up in my throat, and it was that quick. I just. I couldn't do it. I had to muscle through the little bit of Slim Jim that I just. I had in my mouth at that time because I didn't want to make a scene. I didn't want to spit it out, but I sure as hell didn't want to eat it. But at that point, I didn't have a choice. I was in way too deep. And I remember I swallowed that last piece of Slim Jim, and I thought, I don't think I can do this anymore. And the reason I'm bringing this up is because I was at the grocery store yesterday, and someone was fiddling with the Slim Jims at the counter, and they dropped one on the floor, and I went to pick it up. And I just, I haven't felt that feeling in we're going on 20 plus years. I've been Slim Jim free and I'm just sharing the story to let you know that sometimes life comes at you quite quickly. And sometimes your favorite food, which, which is a heavily processed meat snack, sometimes you just can't eat that anymore. And I think that it's for the greater good. It's scary out there. It's really scary out there. Something else I've been seeing that I want to talk about is I think we need to stop celebrating ill fitting clothes as good fashion. Stop that. I just don't really approve of it. I am not a fan of the baggy untailored pants with suit jacket dressed up look, as I say from my sweatshirt that says creature across the chest. Now would be a good time to get to our first voicemail. Please leave your message after the tone.