My Executive Producer Asked Me the Questions No One Else Does | Dave Rubin

Summary

The Rubin Report Episode: My Executive Producer Asked Me the Questions No One Else Does | Dave Rubin
Date: July 31, 2026
Host: Dave Rubin
Guest Interviewer: Phoenix (Executive Producer)

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Episode Overview

This special episode inverts the usual format of The Rubin Report—Dave Rubin becomes the guest, as his longtime executive producer Phoenix steps into the interviewer role. Together, they reflect on Rubin Report’s unique tradition of “August off the grid,” personal and professional growth, team dynamics, the challenges of leadership in a rapidly changing media and political landscape, and the lessons learned through career highs and recent, deeply personal losses. The tone is candid, thoughtful, and at times vulnerable, offering rare behind-the-scenes insights into Dave’s work and worldview.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin and Philosophy of “August Off the Grid”

• Description: Since founding the Rubin Report, Dave Rubin has taken every August to unplug from digital life—a full month off the grid.
• Motivation:
  • Overwhelmed by digital noise & anxieties over civilization’s future (06:57)
  • “Could I just put this all down and take a month off? … It was incredible, like, the space in my brain to just, like, be and to be present and to not be worried about things.” – Dave Rubin (06:57)
• Benefits:
  • Mental clarity, presence in everyday moments
  • Room to reflect and recharge (“I literally will sit often just staring at the ocean, and I’m just like, what do I have to go through in my mind to come back fresh?” — 11:35)
• Challenges:
  • It’s harder each year to truly disconnect as both the show and Dave’s business portfolio expands.
  • The importance of surrounding oneself with a reliable team who can “pick up the pieces” during his absence (13:45)

2. Personal and Professional Growth: Reflections on Team and Leadership

• Phoenix’s Career Trajectory:
  • Joined as Dave’s intern at 19; encouraged to drop out of college for the opportunity; now executive producer (01:51–03:59)
• Team Culture:
  • High trust, empowerment, and camaraderie (“What we built is a team that works. … When you get a team that gels properly, it’s like the most beautiful thing that there is.” — 38:47)
  • The value of having colleagues with complementary skills and personalities (“You are like a sprinter…and I’m more of a marathon runner.” — 16:05)
• Qualities Dave Looks for in People:
  • Passion, honesty, mission alignment, distinct skills (35:47–37:46)
  • “If you surround yourself with people like that…and then fit it together like a team…” (37:46)

3. Managing Grief, Change, and Growth in Content Creation

• Season’s Defining Losses:
  • The deaths or absence of close friends and mentors—Charlie, Jordan, and Dennis Prager (19:34–25:10)
  • Profound impact on Dave personally and on the show’s direction
  • “To lose both of them…those are the guys I would have called for advice. That’s the thing.” – Dave Rubin (24:11)
• The Burden of Public Mourning & Responsibility:
  • The strange experience of “getting clicks” for discussing tragic personal loss on-air
  • “A man is dead, and we’re all on TV, like, getting clicks about it. There’s something about it that’s, you know, I don’t want to just narrate the end of the world.” (23:53)
• Shift in Show Ethos:
  • More focus on entertainment, lightness, realness — not just news and outrage
  • “I want the show to be a place people can tune in, learn something, but I want them to laugh, too.” (25:10)
  • No longer trying to “convince anyone of anything”—just expressing his views honestly, letting audience decide (26:10)

4. Reflections on Personal Milestones and Aging

• Turning 50:
  • “Fifty is the first birthday that ever has meant anything to me in a way.” (26:38)
  • Feeling of “not being a kid anymore”; increased drive to “optimize my life in every way possible” (28:45–30:52)
  • Determination to keep growing and “blaze a trail” — slaying one’s own “dragons” rather than giving in to baggage

5. Team Stories and Curious Details

• Behind the Scenes:
  • Complimented Phoenix’s professionalism and early promise.
  • “You know things about me…when I go into a hotel, I often have no idea what room I’m in…and you sometimes leave coffee outside because you know I can’t function at 7am…” – Dave Rubin (31:14)
  • Strong “work hard, play hard” ethic and stories of world travel with the team (47:25)
• Bets Worth Making in People:
  • Passion, honesty, right skill set, political alignment (for his specific mission); all needed to fit together “like a team” (37:46–39:14)

6. Looking Forward: Hopes for the Show and America

• Upcoming Season:
  • Hope to “keep building the stuff we’re doing—do it right.”
  • New business ventures: tequila company, podcast network (13:45)
  • Looming election feels existentially important: a “fight for civilization” (44:36)
  • “We gotta give everything we got right now to November. I cannot overstate how important this thing is.” (44:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I go from 0 to 100. Like, somebody might be like, ‘Oh, take a day off…’ I was just like, let’s try it. And…it was incredible…” — Dave Rubin on creating his August unplugged tradition (06:22)
• “What we built is a team that works…when you get a team that gels properly, it’s like the most beautiful thing there is.” — Dave Rubin (38:47)
• “I don’t want to do a show that every day people are tuning in and then they shut it off and they’re pissed… I want them to be like, ‘Oh, that was funny. Maybe I learned something.’” — Dave Rubin (25:10)
• “I just want to optimize my life in every way possible…I still want to get better at all the things that I’m doing.” — Dave Rubin, on turning 50 (30:52)
• (On what makes someone worth betting on): "Passion number one. I think passion is the number one thing. I think honesty… you have to be somewhat mission aligned…” — Dave Rubin (35:49)
• "If you work a job you love, you'll never have to work a day in your life." — Phoenix, closing the episode (52:50)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:07-00:40 — Phoenix introduces self, history with Dave, and episode focus
• 05:01 — “Why August Off the Grid?” origin story
• 11:42 — Story of meeting Frankie Valli, finding synchronous moments
• 13:45 — Team structure, trust, and enabling “off the grid” breaks
• 16:45–18:32 — What’s ahead this August; importance of letting go
• 19:34–26:28 — Profound personal losses among friends/mentors and their effect on this season and Dave personally
• 26:38–31:14 — Turning 50, injury stories, and the emotional impact of aging in the spotlight
• 35:47–39:14 — What makes someone worth betting on, building the right team
• 40:50–43:14 — Highs and lows of the season: rawness and authenticity in the face of tragedy
• 44:36–46:33 — Vision for the show, hopes for America, the weight of the coming election
• 48:19–52:50 — Phoenix’s final, “what does this all mean to you?” and Dave’s answer—on living a life you’re meant to live, inspired by the day before Kobe Bryant’s death

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Conclusion

This episode stands out as a thoughtful, revealing, and unusually personal look at the internal life and operational culture behind The Rubin Report. Key themes revolve around the necessity of regular disconnection and reflection, the centrality of team cohesion, navigating profound loss and change, and cultivating a philosophy that prioritizes growth—without letting the pressures of modern media undermine one’s spirit or values. Essential listening for both longtime fans and those interested in resilient leadership and authenticity in media.

Transcript

[A]

Hi, I'm not Dave Rubin. I'm Dave Rubin's executive producer. My name is Phoenix, and this is the Rubin Report. Today we're interviewing my boss, my friend, and just my partner in so many different things. So, Dave, welcome to your own show.

[B]

Wow, Phoenix, I've taught you how to do an intro. This is very impressive.

[A]

Was that good?

[B]

It was pretty decent.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It was pretty decent.

[A]

Never done this before.

[B]

I'm a little worried about what's on those papers, but. No, the intro. Direct to Cal.

[A]

Well, it's all about August.

[B]

It's all about you. Cool. All right.

[A]

You think it's okay? Well, we're here today to just ask you a bunch of questions about, you know, why you do August, what's special about this upcoming August, and, you know, I want to hear a little bit more about, you know, your reflections of this past season. Yeah. This is your 14th season beginning in September, and it's been, I think, your 10th August, but your ninth one that you've, like, recorded or been more public about. And for, you know, for those who don't know, I've been with Dave for six years. So I got connected with you back in May 2020, when I was 19 and I was your intern, and, you know, I did a summer internship, and it was heading right into August 2020, and the whole world was shut down, and Michael Knowles brought you back on. So I've been around the block for quite some time now, and every. Every single end of season, it just gets better and better and more different, too. So I'm super curious to hear what. What your August is going to be like this year. So let's just start with this. What's different about it this time around?

[B]

Well, first, like a guest on a show, what I'm going to do is answer a completely different question than the interviewer asks, which a second. Since the audience doesn't get to see you a lot, I think it's worth just mentioning a couple things about you because, yeah, you've been with me for six years, but you were my intern. Now you're the executive producer of the show. So you run everything that goes on here, and you're basically everyone's boss except for mine, and don't ever forget that. But you have grown into, like. I mean, I trust you with all of my stuff, and we have separate businesses together and a whole bunch of stuff, and the fact that you were my intern, the story that I've told about you many times, which I just love, and I'll do it real Quick. And then we'll get into the meat of this. Is that when we did the original show? What was that, four years ago or something? With DeSantis for the don't Burn this book tour. And it was the height of don't say gay and all that ridiculous. And the height of the post Covid DeSantis rise. And we're in Orlando in Disney country, and there's protesters outside, and all hell's breaking loose. And I'm sitting in the green room before the show with DeSantis, and then it's just the two of us, and we're talking about baseball. He doesn't even. We're not even talking about politics or anything else. And then you come into the room, and I said at that time, you were my producer. Not yet executive producer. And I said, oh, Governor, I want you to meet Phoenix, my producer. And he looks at you and he goes, producer? What are you talking about? He's your intern. He had literally read the book. And in the. Wait, was it in the first book? No, it was in the second book in Don't Burn this Country. Second book I wrote about. Because I was writing about college. I wrote about how you literally, you were my intern. You were at college. I said to you, drop out. Like, I saw. I saw your bright future ahead of you, and I was like, forget school. Like, come work for me. Let's make something great happen here. And you said that your parents really wanted you to finish college, so you went back then the book was published. But in the time between it being published and that show, you had subsequently dropped out of school and become my producer at that time. Intern. Then did you have. Was it intern to producer? Did you have something in between there.

[A]

There was an AP role.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You were AP Role for the first time.

[B]

Yeah. You did a lot of different things.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Long story short, the fact that he had read the book and remembered you and everything else, I just thought was kind of fascinating about him. But it tells you a beautiful thing about our adventure here, 100%. So now that I've. Did I just glaze?

[A]

Well, let me say that tells you a lot about Dave Rubin, by the way, too. You know, there's not a lot of people that take those types of chances on young people.

[B]

So look at you looking at the camera.

[A]

I know. I'm trying to. I guess goal here is beyond asking you some really great questions. I want your audience to see the other side of you. You are, generally speaking, the same exact person off camera, on and off camera. But my goal Here today is just to have the audience learn a little bit more about you from a professional standpoint as well as a personal standpoint.

[B]

All right, now we can do it. And I should also just note that the second I had this idea why I don't want you guys interview me, you were like, I'll do it. Let's go. And you made me wear a suit, but you're wearing a tie because you're very professional.

[A]

My first question is. So a lot of people, we've gone everywhere together, and a lot of times, just the August idea, August off the grid, will come up in conversation, and the first question that everybody asks you is, what made you do that? So I think we should just start there. What made you do this? And when did you start doing it?

[B]

So we started. So this will be 10 August off the grid, and the first one that we did. David and I only had one other employee, Amira, who was our director and producer and AP and intern and everything. She was wonderful. She came with us. She was like the only other good thing at the Young Turks. And we brought her over with us when we started the Rubin Report. And we finally. People don't believe, or. I don't know if they don't believe it or maybe I don't believe it in a way, but when we got to LA in 2013, we had no money. I mean, I don't think we had 20 grand combined. And I had a lot of debt and David had student debt. We had nothing. And then after a couple years, when the show started taking off and Patreon and a few other things that we were doing started working, then we had a little bit of money, and I was like, you know, I'm on this freaking phone all day long. It was mostly Twitter, which still, as you know, that's like of all these things, that's my addiction.

[A]

And I'm really trying to 100%.

[B]

And I was like, could I just put this all down and take a month off? And I guess I'm one of those people in a way that I go from 0 to 100. Like, somebody might be like, oh, you should take a day off or a weekend off. But I was just like, let's try it. And I tried it. And it was, as you've heard me say a million times, it was incredible, like, the space in my brain to just, like, be and to be present and to not be worried about things. You know me, I'm never worried about little things. And that's partly why we work so well, together because I can hand you a lot of the minutiae of what we do. Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you know me, I'm worried about like the big things. And so for me, I'm worried about like, will Western civilization survive? I'm worried about like the big business things that we're doing, but I'm never worried about the little things. And in some sense you handle a lot of the little things. On my business side, David handles sort of the day to day life things in my life while I worry about. We used to always joke, is Iran going to get the bomb? That's what I was always worried about. Now it appears they won't. Who the hell knows what will happen? But I started realizing I had spent so much time just throughout the year worried about these giant existential things about Western civilization and will America survive? And all these things. I was just like, I gotta like, get off that crazy train. And then over the years and then, you know, I go and we, we went to some amazing places before we had kids because we could really travel. We went to Bora Bora at the edge of the universe, and we just went to places that we could just sit and be quiet and not. There were, there were twice we tried days where we didn't even speak. Literally didn't even speak because, like, could we do that? And it's hard as hell. You should try it sometime. It's really hard to do. And you know, suddenly I'd start thinking about friends that I haven't thought of since, you know, second grade. And I could remember songs or references would pop in my head or I'd suddenly, out of nowhere, I'd be like, you know, I haven't spoke to somebody from college in a long time. Maybe I should just give them a call. Or I'd notice if I was at the store, like, I would be much more present with just the cashier. Like, that would be a big one to me because, you know, you have all these like nonsensical interactions with people during the day that don't really mean anything, but like, even to like actually look at the cashier and like acknowledge that they're human. Not that I'm like, I'm going out of my way not to do that. I know they're humans.

[A]

When you ran into Frankie Valli at the grocery store, was that during August? And you should tell the audience this story. This is a good story.

[B]

That wasn't August off the grid. It's a slight sidebar, but for my 45th birthday, we found out that Frankie Valli, who's my favorite musician of all time, as everyone knows, who's now 92 years young, we found out that he lived literally two blocks from me in Encino.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

And I really wanted to get him for my birthday, and I somehow hunted down.

[A]

And this was during COVID This is

[B]

during COVID With the massive height of COVID mass craziness, and everything else. So this is five years ago now. And we were like, I'm gonna have a. I hadn't had a birthday party probably since I was 30. Like, a proper party. We were like, we're gonna have a big party in our backyard. It's Covid. We had a new house. We were like, we're gonna pack it with people, have an ille. And then I was like, maybe I get Frankie Valli there. So I somehow got in touch with his son, and I offered $10,000 for him to come and sing two songs. And I said, he doesn't even have to. It's Covid. I get it. He's older. He doesn't have to say hi to me. He doesn't have to say hi to anybody. He can go to the bedroom balcony, literally sing or lip sync, whatever he wants to do Grease. Oh, what a night. Whatever he wants, Sherry, doesn't matter. And then leave. I was like, 10,000 bucks. It'll take him a half hour. Like, come drive a minute long drive, set up, get out. Half hour, 10,000 bucks. Which I know he doesn't need $10,000. They wanted $100,000, so it didn't happen. I found that out the day before my birthday. But then the morning of my birthday, when we're having the party and it happened to fall, actually, on my birthday, David asked me to go get orange juice at Gelson's on Ventura. And I walk in, and they're standing with the melons, dumping a melon. I see this guy, little. You know, he's short, little guy. And I could just tell by his hair and his loafers, like, that was right. And I went up to him, and you know me, I'm not nervous. I never get nervous. I could interview Trump, anybody. I could perform in front of 30,000 people. I just don't get nervous. It's what I'm supposed to do.

[A]

But he didn't know you at the time.

[B]

No. And I go up to him, and I'm nervous, and I'm sweaty and masks and the whole thing. And I was like, frankie, you were going to come to my house for $10,000 today, and it's my birthday. And he looked at me and he's like, yeah, yeah, that's great, kid. That's great, kid. And the point of the story, though, I think, is that somehow life just, like, finds a way to talk a few of these little nuggets every now and again. And I really. That morning I woke up and I was so depressed that it wasn't gonna happen. I just had created this, like, fantasy in my mind. And then magically, there I am bumping into the guy at Gelson's in the fruit section. And even the little interaction, like, whatever you say, kid. Okay, that sounds great. Like, it was just. It was enough. It was enough. So although that wasn't off the grid, it's really about just giving my mind some space. I dump the files, all the nonsense that I have to think about throughout the year. The interpersonal stuff that, you know, sometimes weighs on me. I see someone who used to be a friend go off the deep end, and I fight with somebody online or that I just, like, I literally will sit often just staring at the ocean, and I'm just like, what do I have to go through in my mind to come back fresh? And I do it. It's as if I'm just opening the file cabinet and I'm like, don't need this one anymore. Don't need this one anymore. Don't need this one anymore.

[A]

So, actually, this is a great analogy. So this Frankie Valli story happened around five or six years ago. You guys didn't know each other at all. You guys totally know each other now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You guys are friends. You've gone to his concerts. You've hung out with him backstage. You know, we've interviewed.

[B]

I got the shout out during the concert.

[A]

He's known for never doing interviews, and somehow we got him on this crazy right wing podcast. So I think that's very emblematic of how much growth you've experienced over the past few years, both as obviously an interviewer and a show host professional, but also a businessman. You have several new businesses now, and at least from my perspective, having some jurisdiction and maintenance of these businesses, things just get bigger and bigger each year. My question is, how do you manage that pressure each July, heading into August, do you ever think that, okay, this August, this August, I actually can't go off the grid?

[B]

Well, you know the answer to this better than anybody because, you know, things come up one way. Whether you like it or not, the world just keeps going. So, like, there's been times where I have contracts that need to be renewed in August and all sorts of things. Like, I did take two phone calls with you two years ago. I'm in Mexican jungle, and like, somehow you got in touch with David and you're like, it's an emergency. We've got a da, da, da. And I took a phone and I think we got on FaceTime, actually. And you were in Thailand, and I'm in the Mexican jungle, and you're going on. You're like, fighting with all of these people like in Mortal Kombat. But you took a minute to pause and we got into some stuff, and I was like, phoenix, this better damn well be good. And we got some stuff accomplished. Wait, what was the question?

[A]

My question is, how do you manage that pressure? I feel like each year things just get bigger and bigger. I'm saying that of course, on a business side, but also spiritually as well. You know, you and I both are super mission oriented, and we manage different sectors of that mission within this compound here. But I just. I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you fully unplug.

[B]

Well, I don't know exactly how I do it, but I think you also kind of answered the question, which is that I surround myself with good people. So I have great business. I'll have you guys, number one. I have you guys. And I mean that about Connor and Joseph and Joey and Chris, who works remote, and Christy. That's part of this, everyone. We've built such a great team that literally, I mean, we hang out outside of work. We hang out here every day. We laugh, we have fun, we do work. It becomes this crazy moving part thing, and the product just keeps getting better and better. And I do, genuinely. It's not really for me to say, but I feel that I am better now at what I do than I have ever been. But it's also because of you guys, because you give me the space to do that. And then with some of the other, we started Tequila company and we've started a network, actually a podcast network that I haven't really even talked about publicly. I think I've maybe said one sentence about previously, and in the fall, we'll talk about it a little bit more. But that's going incredibly well. I've started one or two other things, so it gets harder to escape things. Except that if you surround yourself with good people. When I've gone off in August, like, you guys all have tasks to do. Everyone's going away, you're going on an adventure. I don't know if you want to say where you're going, but everyone's going to different places and you have things to do. The show must go on. Right. Like, we literally have to put stuff up for the algorithm because we're all, like, bitches to the algorithm, basically. If we don't put anything up in August, people will not see us in September, literally, because we just won't get back into the algorithmic game. But I think the answer to your question is if you surround yourself with good people, then they'll pick up the pieces that you're not around for. So, like, I know that my bills will get paid. I know that the show. I have no fear that somehow over the 30 days that I'm gone that, like, the channel is gonna get deleted or shows won't go up, or I just know you guys will do the right thing. And then there are some things that just have to get punted, and I probably will miss some opportunities. You know, speaking opportunities come in all the time, and there will probably be things. You know, Christy will still be responding to my emails, but, you know, some things will get lost, and sometimes I get something like, hey, can you come out here in three days to do this? And, like, I'll miss some things, but that's also the point of all of it. If I miss some things, it will be okay. So that really is the answer, that one way that I can set things up.

[A]

I've had to learn that over the years.

[B]

Yeah. You know, and that's. And that's part of it. Right? And it's like, you know, you. The beauty of the way we work together is that you are, like a sprinter like this, and I'm. And I'm like more of a marathon runner, and maybe that's also an age thing and sort of. But I think that's kind of how you want to work with people. I think whatever you're doing, you want to work with people that their skill set, their temperament, their speed, it's a little bit different than yours because then it can kind of lock together. So, yeah, I'll miss some stuff, and mostly things will be just fine, and I'll come back and we'll see. I have a feeling this year August is going to be a little crazier than most, but we shall see.

[A]

Well, I want to ask you that. So what are you looking forward to the most this August? And also, what are you doing? I'm sure a lot of people want

[B]

to know what you're doing, so I don't want to say what I'm fully doing because I do have to keep some parts of my. Like, it's not that it's so exotic or crazy, but it's pretty exotic. No, no, no. It's perfectly good. But, like. But I do have to keep, you know, I'm so public about my life and what I'm doing and whatever that I think you do have to keep some things kind of.

[A]

Whatever.

[B]

One cool thing that I'm doing at one portion of this is that because I just turned 50, me and my two best childhood friends, one whom I met literally first day of kindergarten and one who moved to town in third grade. And we're friends now for 40 plus years. We're doing a couple days in Vegas, just the three of us, and we've booked the best restaurants and best hotels and just all the stuff and just have a great weekend. And then obviously, David, I and the kids are going to do a bunch of things and there'll be a little bit of travel and this and that and the other thing. But really, for me, there's plenty of days where it's nothing that I will be here and I'll just, you know, I'm always doing house projects and finding other things to do, and that's just fine, too. Like, that really is just fine. The goal of the month is just to let go of all of the endless craziness. And that has been particularly evident to me this year as I've seen guys that I used to really love and admire. Some were my colleagues, some who've blurbed my book, many of whom have been on the show. As I've watched people that do what I do just go nuts, like either chasing clicks or chasing money or whatever that is. I don't know what it is. I can't speak to what's in everyone's mind and heart and soul. But as I've watched so many people just go bananas because of the news or the culture war, saying, if I do nothing all month, then that will be enough to offer a little force field on that.

[A]

That's great. So I guess this is a great segue into sort of reflecting on this season. I think the best question I could ask you to the backdrop of what you just said, and I think more thematically speaking, is what's the difference between the Dave Rubin that started the season and the Dave Rubin that's ending the season?

[B]

Ooh, that's a good question. But, you know, before I answer that question, somebody's got to pay the bills around here. Let's talk about call sheets. Watch this. Speaking of stuff like that, what countries will Donald Trump visit this year? Well, here's what the Kalshi markets are showing guys. You know that call, she's like buying or selling a stock, except the line isn't set by an algorithm working against you. It moves based on where the money goes. It shows where people are putting their money, not what the media wants you to believe. So if you put 100 bucks on yes, Cuba, you can earn $826? If correct, download the Call she app and use code rubinreport to get up to $500 in bonus credits when you trade $25 or go to callsheet.com rubinreport you see Phoenix, I could have had you read the ad.

[A]

He's a professional.

[B]

I am a professional. In, out, that's it. So the difference between me now and the beginning of the season. So the beginning of our season was last September. Well, I mean, I think the obvious answer to this is we were back for a week and a half exactly September 10th of 2025, and Charlie was killed. And that has completely turned the world upside down in so many ways that are obvious and right in front of our faces and in many ways that are not. And I don't think we've even seen the repercussions of what losing Charlie and what he represented fully means for America. And I think maybe we'll find out a little bit more as we veer towards the midterm.

[A]

And this is after Jordan taking a timeout, too, because he's got a serious illness. And then obviously Dennis Prager's massive injury that occurred around 18 months ago now. Yeah. So how. So just starting from September 2025, how have all three of those things affected you?

[B]

Yeah, well, interestingly, I don't think I've ever said this on camera, but when you told me when I got back on the grid last year with Jillian Michaels, she did not say anything about Jordan. Jordan was starting to feel ill, I guess, at the beginning of August. I did not know about that. And she didn't mention anything in the chat that we had to get me back on the grid right after the show. You said, dave, there's one other thing I have to tell you. And you told me that Jordan was ill again. And I remember the first thing I said to you was, I have a really bad feeling about this. But I didn't mean about Jordan specifically. I just meant Jordan being gone from the world. I just, it felt bad to me because Jordan, the last Time he went MIA Was right before COVID And then, obviously, we had three years or four years of the world spinning off its access. So when I heard that about Jordan, I just had this feeling like this impending terrible thing was gonna happen. And then, you know, a week and a half later, Charlie was killed. And that, I think it was really. It was unbelievably weird, because I talk about all these things for a living. You know, we're all like cartoon characters. You see it when I'm out there and people say hi to me. It's like. It's like we're all Muppets in a weird way. I remember one time I was at Mar A Lago at an event, and it was. I think maybe it was the first time I was there. And then it's like, there's Kayleigh McInerney and there's Seb Gorka, and there's Don Jr. And there's. And I texted David. I was like, it's like the Muppet show here. And he's like, well, you realize you're a Muppet. And I was like, well, I guess so. Like, you know, we're real people, too. That's what I mean. And I really knew Charlie well. And, you know, like, it wasn't just that I was talking about somebody that got killed. It was like, my friend that got killed. And I'm not saying we were the super closest. We weren't. We were close. We shared a lot of things about each other. We toured together. We did things together.

[A]

The only time I ever met him was when he came over here in April 2023, just to have coffee with you. Just invited him over for breakfast.

[B]

Yeah. He said to me, I mean, no production, nothing. We weren't doing anything just to hang out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And we had.

[A]

He was a great guy, and I.

[B]

And, you know, interestingly, I would never repeat some of the things that he said to me that day. Or some of the things.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

That he's. You know, I showed you once, the last One of the last things that he sent me on text. It's rather volatile politically, but it's nothing that I would ever share with anyone else. I shared it with you just to give you a little context of how I was thinking about things, because we watched some people really betray him.

[A]

We don't even have to get into

[B]

all that and share text and just this horrifically gross stuff. But something about the season starting with that. Like, I'm on air. You know, I'm on air the next day. I was In New York for September 11th stuff. And then I'm on Piers Morgan talking about my friend with Cenk, my former boss, and I destroyed him that day. It's one of the proudest moments of my career. I knew I was going on with Cenk, who has called Charlie a Nazi, and Hitler and Trump, Hitler and all. And I was ready. And Joseph, I texted him. I was ready with receipts to wreck him. But I remember even thinking about after that, I was like, I knew what I did was important and valuable and whatever, but I was like, man, what is that? What is that? A man is dead, and we're all on tv, like, getting clicks about it. There's something about it that's, you know, I don't want to just narrate the end of the world sort of.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So anyway, so Jordan then was mia, and now it's basically a year later. He's just coming back a little bit. We've been texting a little bit. He's tweeting again, so that's great. Dennis is here in Miami, so I've seen him a couple of times, but he's a paraplegic.

[A]

It's hard. Yeah. It's not the same. Dennis.

[B]

Yeah. So, you know, Dennis and Jordan, particularly, they were like bonus fathers for me or uncles or, you know, something mentors. And so to lose both of them to the extent that I did was like, those are the guys I would have called for advice. That's the thing. That's what it was. So Dennis, I can call now and he can speak and whatever, but at that time, he couldn't. So the two people that I would have really called for, like, grand advice that I have called for my life or for something I was struggling with, work, whatever it might be, those were gone at such a volatile time. And then obviously, I would say your question was, so what's different about me from then to now, this whole year? I mean, you know, my driving ethos of the show this whole year is that I want the show to be a place that people can tune in, learn something, but I want them to laugh, too. I want them to be entertained. To me, that's the most important thing. Like, I should probably be a little more entertaining as I'm saying it right now.

[A]

I think you are,

[B]

but that's the truth, because a lot of people can give them the news and distill it in a way and whatever, but, like. Like, it got very. Trump was almost assassinated. That was obviously before that, but it's just gotten so toxic, and now we're watching this rise of communism, and that gets to the thing that I'm always worried about, which is, like, will Iran get the bomb? What I mean by that is I'm worried about the existential stuff. Will the west survive and everything. So I just want. I don't want to do a show that every day people are tuning in, and then they're shut it off and they're, like, pissed or angry or whatever. I want the. To be like, oh, that was funny. And maybe I learned something and I agree with Dave, or I don't agree with Dave. And that's what I see. I mean, I think more than ever, what I see with our audience now is they're like, oh, that was really funny today. Thanks for not doing, like, the worst clickbait garbage and whatever. And the other thing that I really learned this year is that I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'm not. I'm telling people what I think. You can agree, you can disagree, you can watch. You can not watch.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, it is what it is.

[A]

Is.

[B]

But I am going. I'm just gonna tell you what I think. And I think the problem that a lot of these other guys have right now is they really want to. They want to force everybody or trick them into thinking the way they think. I just have no desire to do that. Like, I'll tell you what I think. You like me. Okay? You don't like me. All right. I'll be okay.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. That's very insightful. How has turning 50 affected you this year? And maybe couple that with the shoulder injury that occurred a week prior to

[B]

turning 50 as well. That. Yeah, it was. 50 is the first birthday that ever has meant anything to me in a way.

[A]

Why is that?

[B]

I don't know. Because something about 50 definitely does not seem like young anymore. Even though I feel great, I'm around young people all the time. Like, I'm. Put aside the shoulder for a second, like, before the shoulder, playing basketball all the time. Like, I'm, you know, chasing my kids around. Like, I feel young. My world is young, right? Like, the interactions that we all have. I walk into this room, I'm with people basically in their 20s to early 30s. Like, there's a rhythm that you guys have and a way you guys talk and whatever. And, like, you know, when we have parties or birthdays or whatever, like, I can still drink tequila and have fun with you guys and all that stuff, but there's something about 50 that hit me that was really like. And maybe it should have hit me at 40, but I was suddenly like, wow, I'm really not a kid anymore. Like, fatherhood obviously did that to me years ago. But like, something about 50 just seems fundamentally different. And I know, believe me, I know when I'm 75, I'm gonna go, man, when I was 50, I was just a baby. So I'm not sitting here like, oh, I'm old or something. But there was definitely something about rolling into 50 that affected me in a deeper way. And I was feeling so good about life. And then literally two weeks before my birthday, I'm playing ball and this 18 year old kid crashes into me. Shoulder gets completely mangled. And in a fitting way, who was it that literally picked me up and brought me to the hospital?

[A]

Young Joey.

[B]

But it was Joey who works here, obviously. And not only did he bring me to the hospital, he has seen me in my worst. Cause he literally picked me up, had to hold my arm. I mean, I couldn't move my arm. Had to get me in the car, do the whole hospital thing. And then we get back to my house that day and David wasn't here. There was nobody here and there had been a power outage, so we couldn't get any of the gates open. So he had to scale a gate and he had to climb through something to get into the house and basically kind of carry me into the house. And I just thought the reason I'm mentioning it is it's just sort of like emblematic of what we've all created here that I think is just so special. So 50, I'm not a kid anymore. But you know what? I can't believe this. I'm going to loosely quote clavicular, who sat in that chair not too long ago and I asked him to. I was like, you know what, when you look at me, like, what do you see in the looks maxing thing? And I really meant it, like, it would be interesting to me. What would he say? Right? What would he be? And he was like, he said something about like your mandibles, your jaw should be a little more like this. But then he said something interesting. It wasn't because, like, okay, whatever, again, like, I feel pretty good about this, the jawline here.

[A]

But people were saying you mogged him.

[B]

Yeah, the Internet said. The Internet said I mogged him. But then he said something interesting. He said, but it's not just about that. He said, you're successful, you have a business, you have money, you have a family. Like, I'm paraphrasing roughly 100%. Meaning like at some point in life you don't just worry about like the obvious aesthetic things. And there's like. So even he, even someone who was. And that's what I was trying to get to him. I was really trying to understand, like, who is this kid? He's a 20 year old kid, right. And I did get to something there that he's like, yeah, you want to maximize all of that stuff. But at some point it's not the only thing. Now obviously as an adult, I know that, but it was interesting hearing it from him. So I would say at 50, what I've learned is I just want to optimize my life in every way possible. And I really do try to do that. Whether it's my personal life or how I am, you know, like how I am as a father and a husband or how I am as a boss or what I'm doing on the show. Like, I just, I still want to get better at all the things that I'm doing. And I think a lot of people not. I think I know a lot of people. Particularly as you veer towards middle age, it starts becoming obvious you're going to go one way or the other. You're going to kind of like crumble to all of your, your shit. Like everyone's got shit. Oh, this happened when I was 12, whatever. And you can either let it like own you and never solve all that stuff, or you can blaze a trail that's much more difficult. Like you have to really be willing to slay some of those dragons and go forward. And I would say that's the path that I'm choosing to the best of my ability.

[A]

So that energy you're describing, it's so potent and your personality radiates that so much. Having been here with you for six years now, we've lapped the world twice on zero hours of stuff sleep. We've had to do crazy things, managing a bunch of different businesses at once.

[B]

You know, things about me. You know, for example, when I go into a hotel, I often have no idea what room I'm in. And when we get back, I never know where I'm going and you have to tell me what room number. And you also, you sometimes leave coffee outside because you know I can't function at 7am when our day is starting without coffee.

[A]

Yeah, 100%. And I guess my question is, you know, just seen you walk in, you've walked in here with like a crazy shoulder injury before. We just always get knee injury. Yeah, we just. And like, no matter what, we as a team, but you as the team leader, like, just always get shit done. And where does that come from? Were you born with that? Did you have that as a kid? Or was that something that was built over time?

[B]

Wow, that's a good one. I don't know that I know the answer to that one exactly. Like, once I. When I started doing stand up right out of college, I was just like, all my friends were funny. Like, everybody was funny. That was the language we spoke in, like, of all the comedy movies, you know, Naked Gun, all the stuff we watched, and then the shows we watched and Seinfeld and all the stuff. Like, somebody was gonna do standup, and I was like, well, I'll do it. And, like, I had all the stuff. Successes and failures of that and the struggles and literally, like, having to steal coins out of my buddy's coffee jar for coffee when I lived on a cot in a hallway on the Upper west side just so I could get on stage at night and, like, had all that. But I always. I just believed fundamentally that I could do it, whatever it meant. So it's like a Jordan thing. Like, that. You have to aim to something, and it doesn't mean you're going to get that thing. Like, I've looked. I can show it to you guys. It's somewhere upstairs. If you look at my high school graduation book, the high school yearbook, everybody is like, dave, you're gonna host the Tonight show one day. Like, every single comment is, you're gonna host the Tonight Show. You're gonna host the Tonight Show. You're gonna host the Tonight.

[A]

Why? Why did they think that that was funny?

[B]

I was friendly. Like, you know, I was. I always tell you guys, I was like, I was definitely not in the cool class, but I was not in the dorks. I was, like, in this thin layer between, like, cool and dork. And I could, like. I had, like, a little crossover appeal, right? Like, because I was like, you were

[A]

the most popular unpopular.

[B]

Yeah, something like that, actually. So I was, like, kind of like. Because I was, like, pretty good at sports, but not awesome. I loved video games, but I wasn't, like, the dorkiest dork from Dorktown, and. But I liked the dorkiest dork from Dorktown. So I could, like, I just. I was just sort of like, my crew of friends was like, that. We were sort of, like, in it with everybody, but not totally in it. And I think that that's kind of translated to how I do the show and what. And really what my politics are like. I like people actually, so, like, I can kind of traverse a bunch of. A bunch of different things. But I don't know. I don't know. Was it born in me? I think, I think I just aimed at something. I think that's really what it is. I remember, like, when Stand up was really struggling and it wasn't. It wasn't because of me or because of talent, actually, it was. The industry was changing. People weren't getting, you know, this is early 2000s, sitcoms were dying. Johnny Carson was gone. People weren't getting on shows as much reality TV was coming in. So comics that should have been on TV shows were still stuck at the clubs. And I was in the generation behind them. Whatever, it is what it is. But I remember thinking, like, if I give my entire existence to something like this passion, this craft that I want, love, that I'm good at, I was like, I don't think I can fail. Like, I just fundamentally believe that, Like, I don't think I can fail. And like, you know, as it stands now at 50 in 2026, like, I didn't become, like, I don't think people will look back on me and be like, oh, my God, Dave was the best standup comic of all time. But you go to our shows and people laugh non stop the entire time.

[A]

It's a riot for sure.

[B]

And I mess around with people. And you know me, I'm like very unscripted and loose and I'm playing with the crowd and doing all this stuff. So I took all the skills from that and then applied it to what I ended up doing with my life, which was being a talk show host. And I think that that's where I excel. Like, years from now, they'll be like, I hope people will say, well, he was a pretty good talk show host. And then surprised, you know. You know, when we're doing our meet and greets and people are coming up to me and they want the two second hug, a lot of them are like, dave, I didn't realize you were so funny. And I like that. That's just like a thing that's in my. In my toolkit in a way. So, I don't know, I aimed at something and then I got something else. But that was in that universe.

[A]

So looking back, with all this wealth of experience now, what qualities make someone worth betting on?

[B]

Well, passion number one. Passion number one. I mean, literally, when you were my intern, I was like, this kid's got something. Like, you were just like, you Were just like relentlessly grinding and will to just do anything and go up to someone. And you know, we've had moments over the years where I've needed to. Like I've been doing a million things and then I have to say something to somebody that's like, could be, you know, not offensive, but I could be say something that would kind of hurt them, like a business related. And you're like, I'll do it. I remember the first time you said it to me, I'll do it and I won't get too deep into it. But you and I got on a phone call once with a very well known TV executive, probably an award winner, who's been in the biz for like 30 years and he was giving us the runaround on something. And you and I did the, I said to you right before we could do a little good cop, bad cop, like I'll just kind of be like, ah, you know, I don't know what's going on. And you, and you went like evil psycho cop. But it ended up working for us and, but not for, not for him exactly. But like, but, but passion. I think passion is the number one thing. I think honesty, you know, like if, if, if one of you guys, like, I can't work with people that are not honest. Like, you have to know what really is going on. You know what I mean? Like, and you have to be somewhat mission aligned. And I think to work for me you have to be somewhat politically aligned, which is a shame, it shouldn't be that way. But like, how could I have a lefty working for me now? Like, I mean, I have one of you guys, it's like a secret commie over there. Joseph. Joseph. So I think passion is the number one thing. Like someone that wants to go get the world. And if you surround yourself with people like that and then they have to have some skills too, right? You can't just be passionate with no skills, but you got to get the right people to do the right things and then fit it together like a team. Like if I was to look at you guys like, you know, I can relate everything back to basketball. But, but it's like we have a team here that really makes sense, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like we have a director who knows how to. Connor obviously who knows how to do all of this stuff. And we throw things at him. Five minutes before the show we throw 30 things at him. And I don't know what he's doing back there. And he's. And it always works like Minority Report. He's like flicking all these things. And Joseph, who's like, let me just

[A]

say quickly about Connor. I've interviewed other tech directors for other creators in this space that I'm not going to name here. And these applicants are extremely well qualified, highly skilled. But then when I sort of walk them through the sop that say somebody like Connor has in the morning, they all say the same thing. They say, I just can't do that. They say, that's impossible. They say, that's impossible.

[B]

But that's the thing. And he's even right now, he's right there. I can't quite see him. I could just see the top of his hair waving to us. But I know, like, things won't fall through the cracks. You know what I mean? And Joseph, who now has become like the jack of all trades and is doing a million other things, some of the things that you used to do as I've handed other things to you.

[A]

He's amazing.

[B]

Or Joey, who's beautified everything that we do here and become the creative director. Like what we built is a team that works. So like we have somebody that can play. Like, I guess in this case, like, well, depending on which basketball way you wanted to go. I'm probably the center, I suppose not the way basketball is played anymore, but you get it that you have different positions and you all do different things. But when you get a team that like, that gels properly, it's like the most beautiful thing that there is.

[A]

Yeah, 100%.

[B]

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[A]

me through a little bit about the highlights and the lowlights highlights of this season. What were some things that stuck out for you professionally and personally? And maybe I should add on to this too is what do you what are you hoping to accomplish when you complete August and when you enter into your 14th season? What are you looking to do in the future. What's your hope for this year? Heading into midterms especially. But I don't even say that politically, spiritually.

[B]

Hold that one for a second. Ask me that one again in a second. So to answer the first one, the highlights and lowlights, I mean, I honestly don't really remember the show that we did the day that Charlie. Wait, we. Were we on air? No, it happened.

[A]

It was right before you were supposed to do actual Friends with Russell.

[B]

Right. So then we made the decision about noon.

[A]

Right, for you two to go live. Yeah. It was just powerful stuff.

[B]

Yeah. So the next day. So I had about whatever that is, 18 hours or something to process. I don't remember, did we do a proper show that day, or did I just get to the camera and just start talking? I don't remember how we set it up exactly.

[A]

Yeah, I watched it yesterday. It was a proper DM narrative, but it was all centered around Charlie. There was no other news outside of Charlie.

[B]

My guess is if we were grading shows for the year, that that show was probably the best show we did all year. Like, it was probably raw, honest. And I've really, again, without getting into the whole influencer thing, I've really tried to honor Charlie this year and behave in a way that I think he would be proud of and all of that kind of stuff. So I think dealing with the Charlie thing the way that we did probably was probably the best. It was probably the most important thing that we did and going. You know, I was on a zillion TV shows for that month every day. I happened to be at Fox that next morning I was supposed to be on for September 11th stuff. And Fox, usually if you go on one show, they don't let you on other shows that day. That's like a standing rule they had. I was on, like, five Fox shows.

[A]

Yeah, I remember that.

[B]

I was on all day long. So I think probably the thing that I'm, like, most proud of her. The best work that I did was right at the beginning of the season for all the wrong reasons. Was related to Charlie. Some other things. What else, like, really stands out to me? I don't know. Does something stand out to you? We just had a great year. Like, the shows were fun. We saw the numbers going up. But, you know, my feelings about the numbers, I'm like, I want them to be good, but it's not the end all be all. It's just. We have to just do good things. Was there any other, like, super. Can you think of it? Well, the show that. The live show that we did with Desantis was awesome. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, it was great. Like, we did, you know, we. We sold out a great theater, the Fillmore here in Miami. Like, you know, we did a live show that we basically wrote that day. You know, I do all the other silly stuff and throw shirts into the crowds and all that stuff. You know, it felt like it was a nice honoring of DeSantis as he's ending his term, which is just coming up in a few months. So that was. That was. Yeah, that was pretty great. They were probably. You know, it's been good. Like, it just kind of turns into this thing. That's good.

[A]

Yeah. I thought it was very, very emblematic of the political season that we're heading into right now as well. I think things are beginning to pick up the pace a bit, so.

[B]

Well, one thing I always tell you is, like, you know, like, I always say to you jokingly, like, you bet on the right horse, meaning by staying with me, like, I didn't go crazy throughout all this. Again, you can disagree with anything I've done. I've made mistakes. I've made predictions wrong. You know, I've. Whatever. Like, those are. Those are all real things. But I think that the people that work for me aren't walking around going, man, I'm embarrassed to work with this guy. He's such an idiot. Where some of these guys, it ends up being like, you have to, like, I can't imagine showing up to work for some of these people and having to, like, live with yourself.

[A]

Yeah. We have, in exchange, extremely low turnover rate here at the Rubin Report. I think we're breaking records, although we

[B]

are doing team meetings after this. And I'm going to have to lower the boom.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know. That stat might change after this. So. Two more questions for you. So what I said earlier, what are you. I've seen the wins, I've seen the losses. I've seen the setbacks. And, you know, from my experience, we always endure everything and just come out on top even stronger. So I think with that notion in mind, heading into September, after your August break, what are you most hopeful for? For the country, for yourself, professionally, for yourself, personally?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, the politics version of that or the cultural war version is very easy, which is like, we gotta give everything we got right now to November. I cannot overstate how important this thing is. Like, this really feels like it's it. And I know it always feels like it's it. And we needed Trump to be Kamala, I get it and all that. But like, if the Democrats get a couple more of these people in office, it's not just that Trump is impeached and that the Republicans start jumping ship. It's that, you know, we all just think in free societies they're always going to remain free. But if these communists take power, imagine what these people would do. Just as I always say on the show, you don't have to ask me, listen to their own words. They will do all of the things to destroy the country as we know it and they'll have used all of our freedoms against us to accomplish that. So like, for me, the goal of the show of like what we are doing on a day to day basis is very obvious, which is especially for those first two months, we gotta fight like hell, encourage people to vote. Just get out there in every which way to wake people up. We gotta show the normies that are suddenly, you know, as I was talking about the nominal liberal, your aunt Karen, who's like half a Karen, you gotta show her you cannot vote for these people. You really can't. So, like we have work to do with that. That's that part. And then I would say the other part is like, you know, like, let's just keep building the stuff that we're doing and do it right. You know, I have a successful tequila company right now. I had no idea how to do this. And now my problems related to that are related to we have to grow faster. We literally have to grow faster. The network we're running, which we will I think unveil a little more publicly in the fall, is going unbelievably well. We're working, working with tons of people that everyone watching this knows and building great businesses for them. As the whole point was, could we build what we built for me for other people? And it really is working. So I want to just keep doing those things. I just want to keep. Well, you know what my schedule looks like. I want to just wake up every morning and be like, man, I got a lot to do today and I'm going to do all of it and then we'll do it again tomorrow.

[A]

Does this all feel like work to you?

[B]

No, it's very rare that it feels like work every now and again. Connor sees it more if I do a late hit on a long day where I've had a break for like,

[A]

I could do away with this.

[B]

Yeah. So if there's like a six or seven o' clock hit, meaning media hit after, after a Day when I've done four or five shows and I went in there and then I'm like, literally, like, playing Transformers with the kids. And then I got to get my shirt back on, you know, my jacket back on. And then talk about politics again. I'm always like, like, ah, shouldn't have done that one. I just gotta let it be. But it's very rare that it feels like. Like we've traveled the world, literally traveled the world together. And it's never. It never feels like work. And the thing is, we always make sure that we're having a good time, too. Like, even if we're doing like, hardcore politics during the day and everything else, you know, like, we're having fun at night and visiting places and seeing people and all that stuff.

[A]

Yeah. This is a very. Work hard, play hard company. So I got one last question for you. I'm gonna read it.

[B]

Not bad.

[A]

Because I just don't want to mess this up. And I think this has a lot of weight to it. So I wrote, every year, millions of people watch you interview everyone else. Today I got to interview you. Is there a question you've always wished someone would ask you, but nobody has ever.

[B]

I've taught you all of my tricks. This is like the Padawan becoming the Jedi. Then he has to kill me after this. That's how it works. This is very upsetting. Is there anything that no one's asked me or that I wish you could ask me right now? God, there should be something that I can come up with.

[A]

What does this all mean to you?

[B]

Well, it just. I'll try it this way. This is going to sound a little dark, but I think this will maybe be the right answer. The day before Kobe Bryant died in the helicopter crash, we were living in la, in Sherman Oaks, and I was flipping the channels and, you know, I don't watch a lot of current basketball anymore, but the Lakers had a chance. Like, there was a channel that was dedicated to the Lakers. And I'm just flipping. I still had cable tv. I'm flipping the channel. And I stopped. I saw Kobe and I stopped. And he had a beard. He looked great. Like, just like, looked great. I think he was wearing a suit. Like, just looked sharp as hell. And I stopped and I was watching. I always loved Kobe at first. I can't say I always did. At first I thought he was a little too much of a Michael Jordan copycat. All of his moves were, like, right out of Jordan. He looked like Jordan. But I really came to respect that, that he was Molding himself after somebody and his competitive nature and all that stuff. But anyway, there was something about it that I stopped and I remember he was definitely wearing a suit. He had a beard, he looked good. And he was talking about being competitive and waking up in the morning before everybody had his routine and da, da, da. And I remember thinking, I swear to you, this is the day before he died. I remember thinking, man, this guy is living the life he's supposed to be living. And then quite literally the next day, he was dead. And I remember when I saw it on Twitter, I was waiting for an Uber. I was going somewhere for a speaking gig and I immediately, I couldn't believe it. Like, you know, I thought it was just like a hoax or whatever. Like everybody else immediately started tearing up and then I got the beep that my Uber was there. I walk out and it's a young black guy. Is the driver probably late 20s, early 30s, something like that? He's hysterically crying. Have I told you this story before?

[A]

I don't think so.

[B]

He's hysterically crying. And I opened the door and I was like, dude, I get it. And I realized I was early. Like, I didn't have to be at the airport for a while, so I was like, listen, you don't have to drive right now. You want to just like talk about Kobe for a little bit. And we just started going back and forth about the 83 point game and flying in from Denver during the trial and scoring 50 and. And all of this stuff and just everything and his moves and, you know, and for a half hour, then, you know, he kind of composed himself and everything else and it just, it was like raw and whatever else. And then he lost it again. And I was like, listen. It was obvious he couldn't drive. I was like, listen, don't worry about me. I'll get in another car. And I got out and I took another Uber. The answer to your question is that I would hope. Well, the dark part is I don't want to die in a helicopter crash tomorrow. The non dark part is there are some people that you see that I think are living the life that they're supposed to be living. Like they're really doing it and it makes you admire them and want to be more like them. And you know me, I have no. I just don't have jealousness. It's not a thing. Like, when I see people that I admire, I'm like, that's freaking awesome. You know, when I've been to billionaire houses with you, I'm Never like, oh, my God. I want. I'm just like, that. That's so cool. Maybe we could. When we went to. You were with me when we went to Joel.

[A]

If they can do it, so can we, right?

[B]

Like, no, but that is it. And I know you feel that, too. Like, the world is yours to get, right? So, like, when we went to Joel Onsdale's house, then at the end, he's walking us out, and he's like, oh, Dave, you might like this. And he opens the door, and it's the sickest indoor basketball court I have ever seen, which is literally the one material thing that I would ever want that I don't have. That's it. I have. I don't need any more. I'm good. But. And. But my. My reaction was not, how does he get that? And I don't have that. My. My reaction was like. I was like. I literally said it. I was like, holy cow. Like, I was, this is amazing. I want this. And he's like, well, then you better get it. And I was like, that's. That's the spirit. Like, so I. So I love that when I see people. When I see people interviewing people, sometimes people who I don't even really care specifically about what they do, but if they love what they do, then I love that. And I like being around people like that. I actually. Maybe this is sort of answer to people. I don't like being around people that are, like, lost or something or not doing what they're supposed to be doing. I really feel that energy around them, and I love being around people that are doing things and that you can just be like, go get it. And then let's see what we could do with all of that. So I guess that's what brought us together. And now I'll be the executive producer on the feedback.

[A]

There we go. Work a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life. Dave, thanks so much for joining my show.

[B]

You want to shake hands? Okay.