“AM I WASTING MY TIME?”

Summary

Therapy Gecko Podcast Episode Summary: “AM I WASTING MY TIME?”

Podcast Information:

• Title: Therapy Gecko
• Host: Lyle (An unlicensed lizard psychologist)
• Description: An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing.
• Episode: “AM I WASTING MY TIME?”
• Release Date: May 28, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled “AM I WASTING MY TIME?”, host Lyle, the Therapy Gecko, delves into a profound and introspective conversation with a guest named Obi from the Czech Republic. Eschewing lengthy intros, Lyle immediately engages with Obi to explore themes of time investment, personal growth, and cultural differences.

The Concept of Time and ROI

[06:00] Lyle: “Why do you invest so much time into calling this show?”

Obi reveals that he has invested approximately two hours in total calling the show, raising the question of the return on investment (ROI) of his time. This sparks a deep discussion on how individuals assess the value of their time and activities.

[08:02] Lyle: “Return on investment is an interesting concept. Everything in life can be viewed through the lens of ROI, both positively and negatively.”

Lyle shares his contemplation on the balance between enjoying the present moment and investing time for future benefits. He muses about spending hours eating ice cream and how such activities contribute to his overall well-being despite lacking direct ROI.

Philosophical Insights: Living for the Moment vs. Future Gains

[10:31] Lyle: “Part of me thinks that the whole idea of wasted time is kind of stupid because the point of time was in the time itself.”

Lyle challenges the traditional ROI mindset, advocating for the intrinsic value of experiences. He emphasizes that living solely based on ROI can lead to missing out on present joys and meaningful interactions.

[12:32] Obi: “I just think I'm pretty normal.”

Obi expresses a desire to maintain a balanced perspective, avoiding extremes of either overvaluing or undervaluing his actions based on ROI.

Personal Journey: Young Parenthood and Education

The conversation shifts to Obi’s personal life, revealing that he is a young father studying electrical engineering. Despite the challenges of balancing school, work, and parenthood, Obi remains optimistic and committed to his dream of being a good father.

[37:13] Lyle: “You’re getting married this summer?”

[37:24] Obi: “Yeah, hopefully.”

Obi shares details about his relationship, highlighting the support from both families which allows him and his fiancée to pursue education while raising their daughter. This support system contrasts sharply with the financial pressures faced by many young parents.

Cultural Differences: Czech Republic vs. America

A significant portion of the discussion highlights the stark differences between Czech and American societies, particularly in terms of cost of living, family orientation, and financial systems.

[58:14] Lyle: “America is like... you gotta do your own shit.”

[58:22] Obi: “We don’t have much capitalism influence here. It’s more family-oriented.”

Obi elaborates on how the Czech Republic’s family-oriented culture provides a safety net for young parents, contrasting with the American emphasis on individualism and higher costs of living. He points out that in the Czech Republic, most people avoid debt, relying on debit cards rather than credit.

[84:52] Obi: “How bad is the living situation in America? Because everybody says it’s pretty bad.”

Lyle responds by comparing the cost of living and salaries, illustrating how a two-bedroom apartment in Brno costs approximately $1,200 per month against an average annual salary of $20,000, highlighting financial strain.

Financial Stress and Personal Values

The conversation delves into financial stress, particularly how it impacts young parents like Obi. Despite these challenges, both hosts agree on the importance of finding a balance between financial responsibility and personal fulfillment.

[99:55] Lyle: “College is really fucking expensive. Health care is really expensive.”

Obi echoes these sentiments, noting that in the Czech Republic, education is free, and healthcare is more affordable due to government support, unlike the American system where these essentials often come with significant financial burdens.

Closing Thoughts: Appreciating the Conversation

As the conversation winds down, both Lyle and Obi reflect on the meaningful exchange despite initial fears that the call might be a waste of time. They acknowledge the value of sharing personal experiences and cultural perspectives.

[115:03] Hope Woodard: “Listen to voiceover on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.”

[115:13] Obi: “Treat everybody how you want to be treated yourself.”

Obi leaves listeners with a heartfelt message about mutual respect and understanding, emphasizing the universal importance of treating others well.

Notable Quotes

• Lyle (06:00): “Why do you invest so much time into calling this show?”
• Lyle (10:31): “The whole idea of wasted time is kind of stupid because the point was in the time itself.”
• Obi (37:13): “You’re getting married this summer?”
• Obi (58:22): “We don’t have much capitalism influence here. It’s more family-oriented.”
• Lyle (99:55): “College is really fucking expensive. Health care is really expensive.”
• Obi (115:13): “Treat everybody how you want to be treated yourself.”

Conclusion

In “AM I WASTING MY TIME?”, Therapy Gecko successfully navigates a meaningful dialogue about the value of time, personal aspirations, and the influence of cultural contexts on individual lives. Through Lyle and Obi’s candid conversation, listeners gain insights into balancing present enjoyment with future goals, the benefits of supportive family structures, and the stark economic contrasts between different societies. This episode underscores the importance of introspection and cultural awareness in personal development.

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Listen to the full episode on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Lyle]

This is an iHeart podcast. Hey folks, this episode is sponsored by ChatGPT Plus. ChatGPT plus is free for college students now through May. That means you have no limits on how many ways you can prompt ChatGPT to help you through the worst part of the school year. There's many ways you can do this, like uploading your class notes and having ChatGPT quiz you on them. Or or asking ChatGPT to take a complicated concept and try to explain it to you in simpler terms to help you understand. ChatGPT plus free for college students through May. Restrictions apply. This is Jemma Spaeg from the Psychology of your twenties Want to feel more creative but don't have the right laptop? Lenovo.com can help look through their legendary lineup of AI powered PCs and devices and find the one that fits your passion. Their PCs are also powered by Intel Core Ultra processors as well as cutting edge AI AI tools which allow students to focus, learn and create with ease. That's the power of lenovo. With Intel Inside plus, college students and teachers can get 5% off their order. Shop [e-mail] the future is waiting and it needs you.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and T.J. holmes here Diddy's former protege, television personality Danity King. Alumni Aubrey O' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Obi]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown Host]

The Made for this Mountain podcast exists to empower listeners to rise above their inner struggles and face the mountain in front of them. So during Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and then climb that mountain.

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify. The thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle.

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

Hello everybody. Welcome to the Therapy Gecko Podcast. I'm Lyle and I have I am a gecko and I'm talking to people on the phone and I used to not record intros to the podcast. I used to just get right into them and a lot of the reason for the for that is that often I think intros are stupid. I think it drews are A waste of time. I hate when I fucking click on a podcast and it has like, three minutes of, like, today my guest is, whatever. And then it's got, like little. Little, Little, like, intercuts of, like, parts of their conversation. You know what I mean? It's like just. If we could just start the podcast at the point when the people are. Are talking without a whole intro. And you probably sit through ads right when you're listening to this. So it's like you had to sit. You had. There. First there was a bunch of ads, and then there's like a whole podcast, and then there's like a whole intro to the podcast. And then by the time you actually, you know, get into the. The interview or whatever the podcast you're listening to is, you're 45 minutes in already, your commute is over. It's time to go to work. You know, the laundry has been folded. You know the. Your run is over. Right. Whatever it is you were doing. So that's why I don't like, you know, big, long, rambly podcast intros where people just trail off and talk about nothing. You know? I hate when people do that. All right, let's get into the phone calls. Hello. Hi. What is your name?

[Obi]

Obi. I actually think there's, like. I'm from Czech Republic, so it takes a long time before I can hear you and I can respond, so hope that's not a problem.

[Lyle]

Is that how. I don't know if that's how cell phones work.

[Obi]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, I. Well, I think there's, like, one second before I respond to. Or I feel like it. Maybe it's not. I'm not really. Genius.

[Lyle]

No, you don't have to be. Hey, listen, you don't have to be a genius to be doing this to be doing whatever it is we're doing. That's okay. Wait a minute.

[Obi]

Yeah, I come. I'm kind of tweaking right now. I'm not gonna lie.

[Lyle]

You're kind of tweaking?

[Obi]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm. You know, I'm on the spot.

[Lyle]

There's no. We. You're not on the. You are not on the spot. You are on. This is nothing. There is no spot. There is no. There's no stakes to this. You are. When you're. When you. If you. You know, like, when you take the bar exam, you're on the spot. Right. But this is not anything. This isn't. This isn't a job interview. This isn't. It's not a bar exam. This isn't. Even. It's not. Where. It's not a date. It's not anything. This is. No, this is. There's no stakes to this. This is just whatever it.

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I feel like the stakes are like when you try to call in so many times as I do, then it's kind of, you know, I invested so much time and stuff, but it's gonna be all right.

[Lyle]

Oh, well, all right then let's. Let's go down that road. Right. You said you invested a lot of time into calling this show, you say?

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Why do you.

[Obi]

Not so much.

[Lyle]

But how much time do you think you invested in calling this show?

[Obi]

Maybe like two hours.

[Lyle]

Okay, so for the past two hours you've been calling, calling the phone number over and over again?

[Obi]

No, no, no. Like when I added up like multiple streams.

[Lyle]

Right, okay. So it's been a two hour investment in total.

[Obi]

Yeah, I guess.

[Lyle]

And this conversation that we are having right now, the stakes. You're telling me the stakes of this conversation right now is that this conversation is the, the roi, the return on investment of two whole hours of your life?

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Okay. Is there any other. Is there anything else at stake you believe?

[Obi]

No, not really. No.

[Lyle]

Okay. What is two out. What is two hours of your life worth to you?

[Obi]

Probably like 200 YouTube shorts.

[Lyle]

200 what?

[Obi]

YouTube shorts. You know, like tick tock but on YouTube.

[Lyle]

200 YouTube shorts. Oh, yeah, you. Yeah, sure, yeah, you could watch 200 YouTube, but what's the return on investment in of that? What's the. What do you get after watching two hours of YouTube shorts?

[Obi]

Well, I guess not that much.

[Lyle]

Right?

[Obi]

There's some fine stuff on there, but.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah. Return on investment.

[Obi]

You are there too.

[Lyle]

No, I'm sorry, I keep talking over you. Go ahead.

[Obi]

No, no, no, you go ahead.

[Lyle]

Return on. The idea of return on your investment is. Is an interesting concept. I fully believe in it. I. I believe that my, My day to day life is heavily influenced by returns on previous investments I have made with. With my time in. But in both. A lot of. In both ways that are extremely positive and extremely negative. Like I've spent a lot of time I've. I wonder. I. I'm really. I'm trying to calculate over the course of my life how many hours I've spent eating ice cream. It's probably a lot. And as.

[Obi]

Can I ask, when you eat ice cream, do you like fully just eat ice cream and do nothing else or do like do multiple things? Because I can't imagine. Do you really just eat ice Cream and fully experience it.

[Lyle]

You bring up an interesting point, which is that, okay, when I'm calculating my total ice cream eating time, is it. The. Is it. I'm gonna go ahead and say that if I'm holding the spoon and I am in the process of either digging the ice cream out or putting it in my mouth or it's in my mouth, I'm gonna say that that's all ice cream time. But if I, like, take a little bite of ice cream and then I put it down and I, you know, talk to someone for a second, that's that. I don't count that as ice cream time. I'm gonna count it just as. Yeah, the. The time that is spent either in the process of. Well, shit, I mean, of roi, right? Like, this is. Everything is roi. Everything is concerned. Cause, you know, I had to walk to the store to buy and buy the. And I had to go find the ice cream and I had to buy it and I had to bring it to my house. That's all ice cream time. So how much time have I invested in the procurement and consumption of ice cream?

[Obi]

Well, but, but I think there are, like two things you are doing. Like, you physically go to the store, right? But you can also, like, I don't know, listen to music. So how do you count the time? Because you are doing multiple things at once.

[Lyle]

So this gets me to my ultimate point, which is that. And actually I want to be careful with this because I don't fully agree with what I'm about to say. Part of me thinks that, like, the whole idea of like, wasted time is kind of stupid because, like, what. What's the art like when you're 80 years old, right? It's like you just, you just keep your time. You keep being like, well, what's this time going to lead up to? And you do that forever and then you die. So it's like, when do you actually. The point. The point of the time was in the time itself. Not necessarily what the time led up to, by the way. I don't fully believe that. But it's an. It's an idea. Yeah, I mean, I don't fully believe that because I. My, again, my day to day life, part of the. A lot of the time in my day to day life that I fully enjoy is created. The situations for me to enjoy that time were created because of ways in which I spent my time in the past. So I don't fully believe that. But also, if you lit. But if you live only by ROI and you only Live by. What's the return on investment of every fucking second of my day? Then you die without. Then what did you. What were you ever doing?

[Obi]

Yeah, that's pretty stupid. Yeah.

[Lyle]

So. So again, that's why this conversation has no stakes. Because. And also, even if it's. Even if we're going to live in ROI land, it's like two hours of your time. I return to the question, what's two hours of your time worth?

[Obi]

Yeah, Well, I don't think I could calculate it.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Obi]

Right now.

[Lyle]

Okay. So there's kind of stake with it. There's no reason to be nervous. There's no way that you could fuck this up. This is just. Whatever it was. There's no. This doesn't need to pay off to anything. That's true for me.

[Obi]

I'm just a huge fan for me.

[Lyle]

Thank you. I appreciate that. And thank you for having this conversation with me. I'm actually. I was. I'm actually say two things that are related to. That are meta. Related to the conversation that we're having right now. For me, this conversation has multiple ROIs. One is, I want this to. I want this to be an engaging conversation for a variety of reasons, mainly because there's a bunch of people who listen to this podcast, and I want. I want the pot. I want the podcast to be an enjoyable listen for those people. And then two, so. And so I. And so actually, I'm operating on both levels at this point because I get multiple returns on my investment of time. And having this conversation with you right now and recording this podcast, in many ways, you know, I do this for a living. So this is. This is. It's my job, this conversation right now. Wait, sorry, I don't want to cut you off, but I want to just. I. So it's my job to have this conversation right now.

[Obi]

Yeah, I will write. I will wait.

[Lyle]

And then. And there's ROI inherent to that. There is ROI inherent to, you know, building, like, you know, listenership to a thing. There's lots of, you know, benefits that. That can bring, I think, to one's life. There's lots of challenges it can bring to one's life with benefits. But I'm also operating on the other level, which is that I. In the moment that we are having this conversation, like the time itself, I am enjoying. I'm enjoying getting to work out the ideas that I'm currently working out. As I'm on the phone with you right now, I'm getting to talk to a guy from the Czech Republic. I would have never gotten to talk. There's no re. There's no reason that you and my's life would have ever crossed paths had it not been for, like. The fact that I'm talking to you right now is the ROI of previous decisions that I made that are leading to this pot, that lead to this podcast, that lead to you discovering this elite, to you calling me, but also, again, in the moment, I'm enjoying having this conversation with you. So it's working on many levels right now. This is. Conversation is beneficial to me.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

In both the present and the future.

[Obi]

Can I just.

[Lyle]

Go ahead. Go ahead, please.

[Obi]

I think this conversation. Yeah, this conversation is really. I just realized when you were talking, this conversation is. It really has no space, because if you go down the rabbit hole, it just, you know, everything is kind of, like, beneficial in some way. You know, there's like, million things you always like, I don't know, I can practice my English, or I'm just happy I can talk to somebody or, you know, like, it's really pointless to name all the benefits. Oh, you know.

[Lyle]

Right, Right. No, yeah. No, you're right. Having this conversation is just. Is inherent. There's no. This doesn't need to be like, a payoff to something. And by the way, it's funny. I'm having. What was I gonna say, by the way? I'm the king. I'm like, I actually, I've had a. I had somebody say this to me. I was. I was dating someone, and she said to me, you seem like you only want to do things, or like, you mainly want to do things where you see like. Like an ROI to them where, like, they compound into things. And I am like that. And I have a part. I have lots of parts of my brain that are like that, where I only really want to do things where I feel like they'll benefit me in the future. That's what I aspire to. I. In my actual life, I do. So I do lots of things that. That detriment my future, like, eat a lot of ice cream, but I enjoy them in the present. But then I. But I'm like, I'm enjoying talking this out to you right now because I. I think that that mindset of I only want to do things that compound for the future is. Is helpful. But I don't think if you. If you're always thinking like that 100% of the time, I think you miss a lot of the point of. Of doing anything, you know? So that's why I'm enjoying. I'm like challenge my own. Trying to challenge my own way of existing.

[Obi]

I mean it go. It all comes down to like think. I think what you're saying a lot is like ignorance is a bliss. If you don't think about it. You just. You do what you want. No, like you're not controlled by the return of the investments and you just do things.

[Lyle]

Yeah. I think there's a health. I think, I think. I think the. I think it's optimal to have a. I think it's about balance. I think you gotta have a balance of both. Right. Like you want to. Do you want to. Because if you just fuck off all the time and just. Yeah, all the time and nothing ever matters, then you didn't. You amounted to nothing, which was fine too. There's no, no law that you have to.

[Obi]

Just short term and long term gratification, you know, what do you want? You have to choose, I guess.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think. Yeah. I've always. I've always tried to. Yeah. Do like long. Trying to do things that like I'm like, I like, like I want to build things, you know, like, like you. Like. I want to do things that compound so that my life is better in the future. But if you're only. If that's what you're only doing and you're only doing things because they compound into the. See, that's the. See, like this, this conversation I'm having with you right now, it's a perfect example of the perfect balance. Because this conversation I'm having with you right now, I am enjoying having it in the moment and it. It compounds for the future.

[Obi]

I guess it's a win. Win.

[Lyle]

Do you feel like. Are you enjoying having this conversation in the moment that we're having it?

[Obi]

Yeah, I do actually.

[Lyle]

Okay, good. Do you feel like this is. Compounds into your future in any way, shape or form?

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean, we are exchanging ideas.

[Lyle]

Yes.

[Obi]

So, you know, that's always good to have a perspective. No? Yeah, maybe sometimes when I think about situations and somehow I can, you know, take this conversation up in my memory and have another perspective. I think that's a good thing.

[Lyle]

Yeah. You're practicing English. That's good.

[Obi]

Yeah. I'm sorry, my English is pretty bad, right?

[Lyle]

No, no, it's. I don't. It's not. I don't. I don't think your English. I only said that because you said that. I don't think your English is bad at all.

[Obi]

Yeah. Yeah. I haven't. I haven't spoken English for a long time. So I just listen. Right. YouTube and stuff, read books, but I don't speak that much.

[Lyle]

Where do you. Do you live? In Prague.

[Obi]

Do you know. In second language?

[Lyle]

Do I know a second language? Oh, no, hold on, I'll answer. I'll answer your question.

[Obi]

I heard you speak Spanish when you were in Mexico City, right?

[Lyle]

Yeah, I know a little bit of Spanish, although my Spanish has atrophied. I know like 10 phrases of Japanese, maybe. Yeah, like, I know like 10 phrases of Japanese. I'm going to Tijuana on Friday. I'm filming a video I'm excited about. You remember the. I don't know. I don't know how often you listen to the podcast, but, like, back in December, I had a phone call with this guy who, like, leads these, like, break dancing sessions in Tijuana.

[Obi]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. Yeah, yeah. There was a school guy.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

She. Listen, I know. I saw on that. On that phone call, he says to me, he's like, yo, let me know if you ever want to come to one and in. And in it. I'm like. I'm like, yeah, maybe that'd be cool someday. And so I was just kind of sitting around, and I'm like, wait, I'm gonna. I should actually go do that. So I'm gonna do that.

[Obi]

Yeah. I mean, a lot of people. People tell you that?

[Lyle]

No, they do. Yeah. I want to start making. I want. Yeah, Yeah. A lot of people are like, hey, come here and let's do this. This shit. And I'm like, that's. That's. That's my new arc. I want to make more videos like that because I made that video about being in. Being depressed in Japan where, you know, I met up with. With. With my. My boy Jason, who called into the show, and I'm like, oh, that's. I like that format of video. I think that is fun. So I'm gonna go to T1. I'm gonna do that shit. But I wanna. Okay.

[Obi]

Yeah, I. I just wanted to.

[Lyle]

Go ahead, go ahead. You're gonna say something.

[Obi]

Yeah, I just wanted to say I think this podcast wouldn't work if you weren't traveling the world. Like, it. I think it brings so much to, like, you know, what you are talking about. Like, when different cultures, people with different cultures talk to you, you are, like, open. I think if you sat on your ass all the time, it wouldn't work. This podcast. So it's good that you. You travel a lot, I think.

[Lyle]

Interesting. Well, interest. I'm trying to think about that. Because I don't. You know, that's an interesting thing to say, and I, I agree with it to a point, but I think.

[Obi]

Or maybe not, like, it wouldn't work in this scale.

[Lyle]

I think, I think that. I do think that traveling and, like, going around and talking to people and stuff is a. Is a good education in like. Yeah, I think it is a good education, but I also. I don't think you need it. There's all these New York Times articles. I mean, I like doing it because I. It's exciting and I like, I crave. I crave constant stimulation. I think that's an ADHD thing, or maybe it's just a me thing. I don't know. But I. Yeah, I.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Oh, you go ahead. You're gonna say something.

[Obi]

Yeah, I'm just. I was going to say. Well, I don't know that much about you, but I think a lot of those things you'd say, like adhd. I think it just, you know, we are so overstimulated in the world as it's not really, you know, like adhd, but that's a different conversation. I don't, I don't.

[Lyle]

I. I see what you mean. Does. What's that? There's a Dave. I think it's like, no, is it. It's not Dave Chappelle. It's Michael Che. Michael Che has that joke where he's like, this kid doesn't have adhd. He's got titties in his pocket, you know, cuz of the phone. Anyway.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Yeah, anyway. Oh, yeah, traveling. I don't know. You can. You can you. There's somebody you can learn on the Internet. You can listen to podcasts. You can do all kinds of. Well, can't wait.

[Obi]

I'm. Well, well, can I say just from my perspective or experience, I don't travel, like, to other countries. Almost like I traveled once or twice in my life, but I think I'm still open in new cultures.

[Lyle]

Yes.

[Obi]

But it's not the same. I think it's not the same when you weren't there, because the Internet is so, you know, it's not real if you get me. Like, I know saying Internet is not real, it's pretty stupid, but I mean, it's not like, like 70% of things on Internet are fake. Right? So you get. You don't get the right perspective or the experience that you would when actually being there and talking to people or experiencing their food or, you know, just the behavior. Like, I guess if someone went to, I don't know, to Japan and made a vlog. Just walking in the city. I don't get the experience of actually walking. Right. It's totally different thing.

[Lyle]

You know, I, again, I like travel a lot because it's, it's just fun and stimulating and I like getting to, you know, meet new people and do. And I, you know, when I die, I want to be able to look back on my life and, you know, be able to say that I had, you know, exciting experiences and whatnot. But I don't. In terms of like, in terms of like, learning about the human experience, I think, I think that your understanding of the human experience is not. I don't think you have to travel far and wide for, I mean, like, you, like. Okay, so you don't travel, right. But like, I assume you have, you know, I'm gonna assume you have like parents and maybe siblings and friends and you go to the store, you do all these things and it's like you can, you know, just let. Just living unregular ass life and, and examining it and, you know, having relationships with other people and attempting to navigate the, the world and, you know.

[Obi]

Yeah, but when you say. I think there, there's a problem when you say navigating the world because, you know, the world is so vast and different on other places that, I mean, I can navigate the world maybe in Czech Republic, but I would be completely. Or not completely, but I would be lost even in America. Because the culture is really different, right?

[Lyle]

Yes, but I mean, bro, to be honest with you, like, the. Yes. Cultures are different, but a lot of shit's the. The same. I mean, like.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

I mean, well, okay, all right. Actually, here. I mean, let me, let me do this. Right? Like, like, I don't know. Do you have a. Do you have like a. What's, what's your romantic life like?

[Obi]

Oh, I. I will be getting married, I think, this summer.

[Lyle]

You're getting married this summer?

[Obi]

Yeah, hopefully.

[Lyle]

Why hopefully?

[Obi]

Oh, well, it's not set in stone yet, I guess. I mean, we are not doing the classic marriage where, you know, I propose and we have the ceremony and stuff. We're just gonna go to the city hall and get married.

[Lyle]

Cool. How long have you been with your fiance or girlfriend?

[Obi]

Well, like, together romantically. It's been a year and a half, but I've known her for like 10 years, I guess.

[Lyle]

Okay, and how did that relationship go from like, platonic to romantic?

[Obi]

Well, there was some romantic, like, tension, a spark or how do you call it, like all the time? I guess. But we lived really far apart and saw each other just once a year for 14 days. And like, we grew older and we started seeing each other more and. Yeah, then I got her pregnant.

[Lyle]

Whoa. Okay. I have a lot of questions to ask about your life, but just to tie back in, what we were just talking about is. Okay, so you have this, you had this thing, right, with this girl where you maybe liked each other and there was maybe a spark and you know, like, you have your, you have your love story with this lady.

[Obi]

Yeah. I mean, it was not maybe, but. Yeah, yeah. Love story.

[Lyle]

Okay, so. Well, okay, but this, this experience of like a guy and a girl know each other for a long time and then maybe they get together, maybe they don't. Oh, they. They discover they love each other and then maybe, oh, he gets her pregnant and then this story, this your life story, that story is, Is happening. Like that, that's just. That's a human story. That's not. Like, that's probably happened in Japan.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

I mean, Korea and America and Australia and all over Europe.

[Obi]

Okay, we're back at it like that.

[Lyle]

Like that, like the, like the, like the human things, like, like love and sex.

[Obi]

Yeah, I know. I know what you mean.

[Lyle]

And like, and like searching and like the search for personal meaning and like familial relationships. These are, these aren't things you. You discover by traveling. These are things you discover by just like living. And then you kind of discover them by like talking to other people about their lived experience. But a lot of like the truly human shit is. Is cross cultural, I think.

[Obi]

Yeah. I. I mean, these are feelings, right? So feelings are definitely human, like in every, every culture, I guess. Same. Right?

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

So I don't think it applies to.

[Lyle]

Yeah, like, so you're, you're educated in. You're educated in this field of romance, not because you. Not because you tread. Not because you went on a crazy cool trip to Japan, but because you fucking lived your life. And then you pull from the actual life that you lived to then give you a greater perspective on the lives that other people might be living. And you didn't have, you didn't have to leave the Czech Republic to do that.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah. But. But I cannot. Well, I could talk to you about this or to anyone. Right, but how do I. How do I. Maybe I couldn't talk to you about what the feeling is walking to in Japan in summer where it's really hot and humid on the busy street. Right. That's what I mean. But.

[Lyle]

Yeah, but even like. Yeah, but even like in. Yeah, but even like in that Japan walking video that I made, like that video is not about Japan. That video is about like go. That video. That video is about like my just my own fucking spirally thoughts and I could, I could have done that, you know, I could have had those thoughts.

[Obi]

I'm gonna, I'm gonna be honest. When I said, when I said it, I, I didn't remember that video from you. I just was saying random scenario.

[Lyle]

Oh, sure.

[Obi]

I'm a new concept, you know.

[Lyle]

Sure, sure. But, but okay, like.

[Obi]

But I, I think I'm. I'm kind of spiraling about this. Can you just, just say, just. Can you go away from it? It's not like, you know.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Oh, by the way, hold on. Just so you know, I don't. I'm not. I hope you don't feel like I'm attacking you. I'm not at all. I'm just.

[Obi]

No, no, no, no.

[Lyle]

You're giving your, your. I. You're, you've been. You're a great springboard for. I'm enjoying these ideas that were. We're exchanging. I'm not attacking. I don't want. I don't. You say because you're spiraling.

[Obi]

No, no, no. I, I enjoy this very much. Even if you were attacking me. It's all right. No, I know, I know, it's good.

[Lyle]

No, I'm just, I'm just in real time. I'm. I'm in real time thinking about the things that you're saying. Let me think. Well, yeah, cuz like. Well, yeah, the idea of. I don't know, I think you get an education just by like living your fucking life, you know, whatever it happens to.

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean let's, let's. Let's agree to disagree. No, it's good.

[Lyle]

Wait, no, I don't want to. I don't want to agree to disagree. I want to hear your disagreements.

[Obi]

I told you already. But I think my lack of knowing English, English vocabulary, I can't really express myself that much. So I don't know, I would rather just go from that topic because I don't think I can really set my mind on that, you know.

[Lyle]

So you're having a child?

[Obi]

I. Yeah, I have a child. I have one almost one year old daughter.

[Lyle]

Oh, holy shit.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Wow. How's that?

[Obi]

I mean it's. Well, it's like parenthood is amazing, but it's not easy. Definitely. Well, I'm 21. My girlfriend is 19, so we're kind of young parents. I'm still in school. My girlfriend is also in school, so we have some troubles with the time management and making money. Right. But I don't know, I always wanted to be a father, so I'm really enjoying it. But it's not ideal. Right. Well, I could go on a rant, but I don't know, I, if, if it's constructive or not.

[Lyle]

I, I, I would love to hear your rant.

[Obi]

Well, well, I'm 21 and, you know, I, I always wanted a child before, Before I got my girlfriend pregnant. I thought about, like, if I had two lives. In one, I would like to try to be a young parent, and in the other one, I would, you know, do it the traditional way, I guess. And then I got kind of no choice, and, but yeah, I am really enjoying it. But it, it was, it's really stressful because I don't work full time and money is kind of tight, especially in this economy, I guess. Right. But, yeah, so it's, it's stressful. A lot of. Yeah.

[Lyle]

You said in one life, you said if you had two lives, you would do one as a young father, and then the other one, you would do it the traditional way. Which, which I, the traditional way it to you is like, you know, waiting a little more.

[Obi]

I think the traditional way is like, to finish school, get a good job, financial stability, and then have a child. Right.

[Lyle]

Well, I'm, I'm curious. What made you want to, what made you want to be a young dad?

[Obi]

I, well, because I felt like being a father is. How do you say it? Like, that's the only thing in my life that I want to do. Pretty much like, it's my dream. Yeah. My dream.

[Lyle]

How is it playing out for you? Have you, have you, do you feel, do you feel good about living your dream?

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean, it's my dream. Right? So I really love it. Like, being a father is amazing. I enjoy it every day. I love my daughter, and she's, she's amazing. But no, I know there's really not a bad. I really love it. Like, the only thing that's, like, I guess not optimal is the money situation. Right. But everything else, I just love it. I'm with my, with my girlfriend, which is love of my life, so. That's great.

[Lyle]

That's great. That's wonderful. How is she doing? Yeah, is she, is she happy? Is she doing good?

[Obi]

Yeah, I would say she's happy. Well, now we had the finals, so it was kind of stressful. But, you know, life is stressful. Like, if you don't. I feel like if you want to live a comfortable life, you will never achieve anything or, like, you know. You know what I mean? Like, if you don't step out of your comfort zone, you just stay stuck. So that's my point of view on that.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Obi]

No, but we're real cool. Like, we're gonna get married, right? So you're happy.

[Lyle]

How do you. Are you. What's your family situation? Are. Is your. Are you cool with your dad and your mom and, like, you have siblings and stuff? Yeah, well.

[Obi]

I'm very cool with my parents. Like, I love them. They're amazing. They. They help us a lot. Like, my father. Like, they are not together. I would say divorced, but they never got married, so I get separate. But they are cool. I have one brother, or you could say half brother. I guess it's only from my mom's side, but I feel he's like my real brother. I know him all my life. He's amazing. Yeah, my family is great. I just wish I could talk to them more, like, see them, because now we live really far apart.

[Lyle]

Do you. Do you have. Do you have a lot of friends where you live?

[Obi]

I have, like, I have a group of friends, and I have some friends in school, but yeah, I. I don't know. I don't know how much friends is a lot or how much friends is few. I have just a good amount of friends. I would say I have. I don't have much time because, like I said, I go to work and I study, and I'm a new parent, so I don't have that much time, but I'm trying to keep in touch with them.

[Lyle]

Yeah, man, you're a pretty. You're. You're. You're. You're a pretty incredible guy, man. That's. You're. You're. That's a lot. That's a lot to juggle. That's a. That's an incredible amount.

[Obi]

Yeah. No, I don't. No. I hate when someone says that, because I respect that.

[Lyle]

I really don't respect that. I really respect that.

[Obi]

I really don't think I'm, you know, doing anything remarkable. Like, I spent my. A lot of my time watching YouTube shorts. If I was amazing, I wouldn't. I would do something more productive. And, you know, this is the life that I pretty much chose. So. No much. Not much remarkable about that. Right.

[Lyle]

Okay. Can I. Can I. All right, wait. I don't. Okay, here's the thing. I'm not. I don't want to. Because you hate when people say you're remarkable. I'm. I don't want to like. Like dick ride you or anything, but can. I want to explore. I want to explore this, if we may.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Spiral. So wait, so.

[Obi]

No, I would. I'm sorry, because I would really like to talk about this more, but my thoughts, I just can't put them in words in English, but I'm really trying.

[Lyle]

Well, okay. Well, by the way, you're doing great. You know, your English is great. I'm just curious about this. What? Why? Okay, I get if. Why does it do. Well, I guess A. A, do people tell you a lot that you're amazing? And then B, why does it bother you when people tell you that?

[Obi]

Yeah, well, yeah, people say it like my friends say it sometimes. No. Well, they said it. They say it like once, right? They don't say it every day, but I guess it bothers me because, you know, I don't feel like I'm doing anything amazing. And if, you know, I just get. If everyone says you're amazing while you're not, you're just never going to improve, I feel like. No.

[Lyle]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I absolutely know what. What that feels like. Because, yeah, if everyone says you're amazing and that. Right, because there's a weird. This is a fucking. See, this is a classic thing, is if everyone says you're amazing, yeah, that's pretty.

[Obi]

Pretty normal human experience, you could say.

[Lyle]

Yeah. If you start walking around thinking, well, hey, I'm amazing, you know, then you're just get it. What the. Then you're. You're right, you're not going to improve. But then the opposite sucks too, right? Because you don't want to. Right? If you think. If you walk around all the time thinking that you're amazing, you're not going to improve. But then if you walk around all the time being like, I suck, then you're just going to hate your life.

[Obi]

So, yeah, I don't think I suck. I just think I'm not remarkable. Like you said, I think I'm pretty normal. So, Guy.

[Lyle]

What is. What does that mean? What is like, okay, so your friends have told you they don't. Maybe they don't tell you every day, but they have told you before. Your friends, people in your life have told you what you're doing by not only working and going to school, but also, you know, being a partner and being a father and, you know, being a loving, like, everything you're doing remarkable. So people have told you that what it like, what is remarkable to you? Like, because clearly you have an idea or like a bar for what incredible or remarkable looks like and that you're not there. What is that? Where's that bar at? Where does it look like?

[Obi]

Well, I. I don't know what I would put the bar like on someone. I don't know. But for me, I guess I would be amazing if, you know, I didn't slack. I feel like I slack a lot if that. I mean, like I told. I mentioned many times in this conversation, YouTube shorts, because that's the thing that's on my mind a lot because I really spent, I think too much time there, which is not a productive time, and I could really spend it on something else, like, I don't know, learning or just being present, cleaning my room or something like that. And instead of doing that, I choose the instant gratification like I mentioned and, you know, just slack and then I feel bad. So I don't think there's, you know, that's not remarkable. Right. When you do something you don't want to do and you still do it because you're like. It feels good at the moment.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I. I have, like, I actually, I have, I have so many thoughts on that. Okay, but you're. You're child.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Where are they?

[Unknown Host]

Right.

[Obi]

Yeah. That's kind of complicated situation, but it's getting fixed soon, so. Well, I know. Okay, let me tell you, let me get you kind of deeper into this. I know, like, people are gonna freak out, but. Yeah, let's say I got my girlfriend pregnant when she was 18 and I was 20. By the way, like the consent, like the age you can consent to sex in my country is 15, so. But it's. All right.

[Lyle]

But she was 18 and you were 20.

[Obi]

Yeah, well, no, I was actually 19. Sorry.

[Lyle]

Okay. All right.

[Obi]

I was 19 and she was 18. We are year and a half and I was still 19. Yeah.

[Lyle]

All right. Okay.

[Obi]

So. And she is still. She was still still finishing high school because like high school school system in Czech Republic is you study high school till you like 18, 19. I don't know how it's in America. So she is still. Yeah, yeah, she's still finishing. She was still finishing high school. She was in her third year. And in Czech Republic you do four years. Well, there are different types of high school education, but I guess the traditional, like it's four years and she was doing her third year, she was standing. So she actually had to finish high school for one year while our daughter was, you know, she Was born last summer and then this whole year she had to still finish high school and so she had to stay at her grand grandparents house. And I'm actually studying in a different city, like half across the Czech Republic. I would say it's a five hour ride by train. So I wasn't capable of going like spending with them all the time, all the time, the whole week. So I went to work and studied like on weekdays, like Monday, Tuesday to Friday and, and I went back on the weekend only. So that's been last year. But now she finished high school with nice grades and we will live together now.

[Lyle]

So she. So you were studying while she was taking care of the baby with her grandma and finishing up her shit and then you're doing your shit and now the plan is, okay, we're all going to live together.

[Obi]

Yeah, well, I was visiting, like visiting. I was coming back every weekend.

[Lyle]

Yeah, okay, okay.

[Obi]

Like we are together, you know, just. It just sucked because. I know, I mean, I.

[Lyle]

Look, I get. You got it, you got it. You got to, you got to go to school, you got to get an education, you're doing what you got to do for the family and then coming back on the weekends to be with the family.

[Obi]

Yeah. I mean, when I heard that we are going to have a baby, my immediate thought was, okay, I'm gonna quit school and start working full time. But we talked together and with her parents and my parents and we decided that it would be the best if I finished the school school because I'm studying electrical engineering and the salary really, really spikes when you finish school, like university, you know.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

So it's like investment.

[Lyle]

Yeah. No, you're blessed as to have. It sounds like your families, like your family and her family are like being extremely helpful, being like, all right, we'll, you know, we'll help you guys out so that you can, you don't have to drop out and fucking go to work and you can finish school and she can finish school and it's nice, it's nice you have family to help you out. That.

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean, we're. Yeah, we're family. We love each other. You know, I mean, I think Czech Republic is a little bit more family oriented than let's say America.

[Lyle]

Yeah, we were talking about like traveling and shit is America. And it's funny when you, you know, what is so dumb is. And maybe, maybe it's just me. I'm not, I'm not gonna project on other Americans. I'm just gonna, I'm not gonna speak on behalf of other Americans. I'm just gonna throw myself under. That is when I. When growing up in America, I think I just always thought like, like, like just America's the default. You know what I mean?

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

It's a stupid American thing of like you go up in America and you think that like the way that I love this happens everywhere. But like you, you just, when you grow up, you think that the way that you grow up and the culture that you live in. Sorry, I'm gonna stop projecting. I thought that the way I grew up and the culture that I lived in was just how everyone is. And then, and then, yes, I get older and I travel more and I learn more and I realize that is not the case. And yes, individualism is a strongly American thing. It's like we have our own cars and you can't, you cannot ever tell us what the fuck we can do because we're, we are free. And then you go to other countries and it's like, you know, I mean people, people have like. Like, I think like adults like being. Being like 27 and living with your family is I think a way more of a. It's like a very non American thing, but it's like very normal. I believe in like Europe for like, you know, I think it's more Europe and like other countries to have.

[Obi]

Just so you don't get the house. Well, can. Yeah, just so you don't get the wrong idea. It's not. We're not. Czech Republic is not like. I didn't mean to say all family oriented. Maybe like India or something. It's not like. Well, if you are 27 and you're living in your parents house. It's weird here too.

[Lyle]

So interesting. I thought it's. Maybe it's just.

[Obi]

I don't know.

[Lyle]

I know that there are.

[Obi]

I guess.

[Lyle]

Sorry, go ahead. You go ahead.

[Obi]

Yeah, I just. I just don't think it's as much of capitalism like influence here. It's just more family oriented. Like people are generally much poorer here than America, I would say. So we like to, you know, don't chase money, but like relationships I guess, maybe more.

[Lyle]

That makes a lot of sense. I'm talking totally out of my ass here. But I feel like. Yeah, there's definitely. Maybe it's like Latin American countries or something like that where it's like. It's very common to have like three generations in one household. I still thought that was like a European thing, but yeah, America is like, you know, you gotta get. You fucking do your own shit.

[Obi]

Yeah. You, you have like, do what, you anime?

[Lyle]

Not really, but no.

[Obi]

Okay. I think, I think America, you know, you, you like, when you look at a person, you. The first thing you like, they're like power level is how much money they are making. Like that, what makes them, you know, how do you say it? Like a great person if he has a lot of money. I think in America.

[Lyle]

Yeah, that's where. That's the, where the value judgment is.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I meant. It's not like that in Czech Republic, I would say. I think that's, that's the main difference there.

[Lyle]

Tell me more about that. That's interesting. Like the value, like the value judgment is about.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I told you, many, many of my, like, information that I take in about the American culture, let's say, is from the Internet. Because I never been to America, right? And I don't even have any friends from America. But, you know, I. Maybe I look at some video and there is a guy that I don't know. Like, let's say maybe. I don't wanna. Well, I don't want to get into that, but let's say maybe Andrew Tate, when, When he, he, he makes a lot of money, of course. But like, he is coming people, in my opinion. Okay, but let's say in the sake of the argument, someone is making a lot of money, but he's scamming people or like doing some shady things. In America, you. I think Americans tend to overlook the, you know, shady business. It just depends on how much money he's making. But in Czech Republic, you know, you would say he's not really cool or that's maybe my perspective on it too. Like, I don't want to, I don't want to speak on behalf of Czech Republic people.

[Lyle]

You know, I mean, look. I mean, look, we, we elected the guy with the golden tower.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

So I don't think, I don't think. I don't think what you're saying has no data to back it up. We elected a dude who has multiple towers made of gold with his name on them in gold. And we were like. We were like, yep, that's. That, that's awesome. We did, we did. Look at that. We did look at the golden towers and go, that's. That's super awesome. That's. That's sick. So, yes, you're right. Those are. I think those are. Not yet. No.

[Obi]

And you know, like. Yeah, well, I think when you ask American, like kids or like, maybe young adults or how you say it, you ask them, like, what do. What do they want to do in life? I think a lot of them say just to make a lot of money. And, you know, they just. I think it's. It's not like. It's not like that in Czech Republic.

[Lyle]

Interesting.

[Obi]

You know, we say maybe some specific thing, not just making money.

[Lyle]

You know, I feel like everything I'm about to say is completely anecdotal and might be because I'm in a bubble. I mean, I guess we're all in bubbles, but like, I, I have, I have. I feel like in America this is like a generational ish thing. Like, I feel like more like more people in, like, younger generations are, like, trying to find, like, meaning for themselves outside of work and where, like, you know, our parents were, like, know, they had, they had, they had different. They just grew up different, I think. I think. Yeah, the. Our generation, I think, is more interested in, like, trying to find meaning instead of our parents generation, which was like, okay, I'll just go do this job and I'll do it forever and it'll pay the bills. And that's just how it works.

[Obi]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you could say when you're. You are looking for meaning instead of looking to, you know, just to survive, you're doing pretty great. No.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, that's. Yeah, definitely. I think. I think so too. Yeah. No, if, you know, if you're able to, like, I think if you're, if you're in a position where you're able to ponder, you're doing great. I was looking this up recently. I was thinking like, all the, all the, like, I don't know about all, but like a lot of the, the like major philosophers were rich, like, fucking like Descartes and Marcus Aurelius and I think Play doh. I was looking this up. Like, they're all rich because, like, sitting around pondering the meaning of life requires you to not be in survival mode. That's where all those were rich or, like, came from, like nobility or something.

[Obi]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, I think.

[Lyle]

Interesting. Interesting. What the else was. I was, I. Were we talking about. See this whole. You know what's crazy? This conversation started with you thinking that this was going to be a waster. No, not a waste. No, you didn't say that. What did you say? You were, you were. You were. You were afraid that this conversation would be a waste? I think. Is that accurate to say it was a great conversation? And we've been. And look at this. We've been talking for at least an hour.

[Obi]

It's crazy, man.

[Lyle]

Well, look, I don't. I think. Yeah.

[Obi]

Thank you for the conversation. Thank you.

[Lyle]

For sure. For sure. I know you hate this, and it's almost mean of me to do it knowing that you hate it, but I'm. But I do think that you. You. I'm very. I'm. I'm. What is it? I'm. I'm. I'm warmed. I don't know if warms. I don't know if warm is the right word, but I'll use warmed by your noble intentions.

[Unknown Host]

And.

[Lyle]

That. Your persistence in pursuing them. You know, you want to be a good, loving dad. I can tell that you are. And.

[Obi]

Well, if I can. Yeah. Again, I just don't know whether what have. Oh, wait, how did you say it? Humble? Did you say humble?

[Lyle]

Did. I didn't say humble. I didn't say. I mean, you are humble.

[Obi]

Wait, no. What you say my intentions were.

[Lyle]

I think your intentions are that you want to be a good dad and provide for your kids.

[Obi]

No, but you know, what kind of intention? You said some. Some words. I'm sorry, I forgot.

[Lyle]

Oh, you had no. I think you had no bullets.

[Obi]

You know, I'm just. You're noble. Yeah, noble. I'm sorry. No, I. I don't know where that word came from because I'm just doing what I want. Like, it was my dream. If my dream was, I don't know, making a million dollars. Yeah, I would try to make a million dollars.

[Lyle]

Yeah, sure.

[Obi]

There is no nobility in that.

[Lyle]

Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.

[Obi]

I'm just doing my thing.

[Lyle]

You know what? You know what? By the way, everything you're saying is right. You just. You just so happened for whatever. You know what? You know what? I'll give. You know what? I'll give this back to you. What's your name again? Did you even give me your name or any name?

[Obi]

I think I said some bullshit like. Obi.

[Lyle]

Yeah, Obi. You know what? You know what? Sure. Obi. You just so happened, for whatever cosmic fucking reason to be born in a body and a brain where the neuron, the chemicals in your brain and this stimuli you encountered over the course of your life deterministically led to by happenstance. Your dreams are something that are traditionally seen as noble. And that is just. That's a. That's a fact. Yes, you had. You got lucky that your dream is something noble. Because if your dream was, I guess, that you wanted to make a billion dollars and. And invade the rest of Europe and make Czech Republic the world leader, and you wanted to kill a bunch of people, and that was what you really wanted to do. You probably would be doing that. And it's. There's really no cosmic reason why. Why that didn't end up being your dream instead of raising a nice family.

[Obi]

Yeah, okay. I. I kinda. I kinda take it back. I think I'm standing wrong, but. Because if. If I. If I wanted to kill a million people, I don't think I. I would do that. No, my consciousness wouldn't let me. Maybe I'm a little nice guy.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah, but you're. Yeah, but your consciousness wouldn't let you. But your consciousness. But that's because you're who you are and you're not, you know, Hitler. I don't know. I'm spouting a lot of deterministic.

[Obi]

Yeah, I hope so. I'm not the Hitler.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah, I don't think you're.

[Obi]

Hitler would be bad.

[Lyle]

I'm going to. You know what? Forget everything. Forget everything. You know what? Why don't we make that the new bar? I mean, why don't we make that your bar? Can you not. Can you not. Can you not accept my observation of you as remarkable based. Based on the fact that you're not Hitler?

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay. I'm remarkable for that.

[Lyle]

You're remarkable for not being Hitler. We're all remarkable for not being Hitler. We can take. We can do that.

[Obi]

But some people could be a little bit nicer to each other.

[Lyle]

Yes, that's true. Hit. And so could. And you know what? Hitler could have been a little bit nicer too, but it's too late for him.

[Obi]

Yeah, he could. I think there was some space. Yeah.

[Lyle]

Where's Hitler's cut? Do you believe in reincarnation or, like, in that, like, consciousness can't go away? Like, it has to, like, reappear in some form?

[Obi]

Well. Well, I believe in heaven, but. Yeah, no, I believe in heaven, but the energy in the universe is finite. Right, right.

[Lyle]

So what? So whatever was going on in Hitler's brain, whatever that was, that's is the. I wonder if that's some.

[Obi]

Yeah. I hope it's not.

[Unknown Host]

Made for this. Mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma, and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories, and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify the thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of yourself, to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and climb your personal mountain.

Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist Danity King alum Aubrey Oday joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial and that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Aubrey O'Day]

Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are. As we sit here right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up? First of all, are you here to testify in the Diddy trial? Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her days on making the band as she emerged as the breakout star. The the truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour.

[Obi]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hope Woodard]

Have you ever thought about going Voiceover I'm Hope Woodard, a comedian, creator and seeker of male validation. To most people, I'm the girl behind Voiceover, the movement that exploded in 2024. Voiceover is about understanding yourself outside of sex and relationships. It's more than personal, it's political, it's societal and at times it's far from what I originally intended it to be. These days I'm interested in expanding what it means to be Voiceover, to make it customizable for anyone who feels the need to explore their relationship to relationships. I'm talking to a lot of people who will help us think about how we love each other.

[Lyle]

It's a Very, very normal experience to.

[Hope Woodard]

Have times where a relationship is prioritizing other parts of that relationship that aren't being naked together. How we love our family.

[Lyle]

I've spent a lifetime trying to get my mother to love me, but the price is too high.

[Hope Woodard]

And how we love ourselves.

[Lyle]

Singleness is not a waiting room. You are actually at the party right now. Let me hear it.

[Hope Woodard]

Listen to voiceover on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

So in the last month, the Midas Touch network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.

[Katie Couric]

Conservative podcasts can have a major political impact, but the Meisellus brothers, three siblings with a serious media strategy, are building an alternative to that. On the latest episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, I sat down with the brothers behind the Midas Touch Network to talk about how they built a progressive media powerhouse from the ground up, why audience interaction is the key to political influence, and what it takes to fight disinformation at scale, one download at a time.

[Lyle]

We should be focusing on the issues that actually occupy a lot of the mental space in Americans minds but are filled with conspiracies and we should fill it with the truth and solutions.

[Katie Couric]

Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

Maybe it got. Maybe it got washed.

[Obi]

Well, actually, can I. Can I ask you a question?

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

Just off topic, you know.

[Lyle]

I.

[Obi]

Okay. I don't know how to. How to say it, so maybe I spelled, but. Okay. I really wanted to buy your hoodie, but it's not on stock. Will it ever be on stock? Like the V A T R. Oh, the Vitruvian.

[Lyle]

The Vitruvian gecko hoodie.

[Obi]

Yeah, the green. The green one. The green. It's really amazing. It's like the best one there. Why is it.

[Lyle]

Thanks. No, I think we only have it. I don't really. I haven't.

[Obi]

I haven't invited.

[Lyle]

I think, I think it's only. What? I haven't paid any attention to my merch store in a while. But I think it's only in white. I think we ran out of the green. I think I. Because I use like a print on demand service and so whatever the guy in the warehouse that I use has at the time is typically what he prints us. I think it's only in white. Well, you don't like the white. I think the white school.

[Obi]

Yeah, I think the white is cool. But you Know, my problem with white is it's such a generic color. Everybody has white, but not many people have the green one. Like the light green color on their hoodie. It's amazing. So, you know, just my point. I think that's a amazing goodie.

[Lyle]

Okay, maybe I'll try to get white gray. How. What is it? Are you able to. What is shipping like for you? When you go to that thing and you put in your thing? It must. That must cost a lot of money.

[Obi]

Yeah, well. Well, I can. I can try it. Well, I mean, I would. I would try to get it for my birthday. You know, it's kind of expensive for Czech Republic, but. Yeah, I mean, it's.

[Lyle]

It's all right.

[Obi]

It's not that much.

[Lyle]

You know what? I'll send you one.

[Obi]

No way.

[Lyle]

I'm gonna send you. I don't. Let me. I have to. I'm gonna message Mike. I'm gonna message. I have a. I have a guy who does my merch. I'll message him. I'll ask him if he could send over a comp order to. To sec. To the Czech Republic. How do we get in contact?

[Obi]

No way, bro. No way.

[Lyle]

You want to. Do you have Instagram?

[Obi]

Yeah, Yeah. I am not using it, but I have it, so.

[Lyle]

Okay. Send me an Instagram dm.

[Obi]

Yeah. Yeah. By the way, I. I sent you an email, but I sent it to. To the wrong email address. To your work email address. I'm so sorry for that. I hope.

[Lyle]

Wait, hold. I can't send you the green one. I don't have any of those, but I can send you a white one.

[Obi]

I. That's all right. I mean, it's a free hoodie, bro. I'm so excited for anyone. What.

[Lyle]

Okay. All right. If I. I. Hold on. I just. Logistically, hold on. I just want to say. Logistically, I haven't actually. I haven't actually around with my merch store in a while. Logistically, if I could send you. I know for a fact. Okay, I. Let me. Let me. All right, hold on. Let me. Let me readjust my promise. I promise.

[Obi]

Can I just say something?

[Lyle]

Go ahead.

[Obi]

Can I just, you know, just an idea. I'm not trying to be ungrateful on any or anything, if it's possible.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

Could you maybe try to sign it and I give it to my girlfriend because she is a big fan, too. I showed. I showed her the. Showed her the podcast and she really likes it. I mean, it would be amazing gift.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Obi]

If not. It's okay.

[Lyle]

I would. I happily I would do that for you, but I. The. All of the. These are all in Ohio.

[Obi]

It's all right. It's all right, then. No, it's okay. Thank you.

[Lyle]

Sorry. I wish. I wish I could do that for you, but they're all in Ohio.

[Obi]

I think I will give it to her anyway. Or, no, we share hoodies, so it doesn't matter.

[Lyle]

Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna try to give you. I don't. Again, the logistics of the merch. I don't. So I'm gonna try to send you the white thing. If I can't, I. I promise you I will send you some form of merch. I'm gonna. I'm gonna try to make it. You know what The. The white one. But if I can't, I will. I'm gonna send you some. What? Send me an Instagram D. And, yeah.

[Obi]

I will send you after the call because, you know, I'm not telephoning through Internet. I. I don't want to it up.

[Lyle]

Sorry. What were you gonna say?

[Obi]

Yeah, but I just wanted to say, even if you don't do. If you can do it, just the intent really made my day. Thank you, Gekko.

[Lyle]

Like, and you know what the best part is? Is if. If it works out, I'm gonna try to do it. I just gotta make sure, logistically, I can do it. But the cool thing is, is that if you were. If it works out is that you have a. You have a. You. You. If. If it works out, if I can send it to you. Because, again, I would hate if I could promise you this. And then my guy in Ohio is like, no, it's all right. Ship to the tip. I promise you I will try it. But if it works out, then. And you hold it, you get to. You'll Will. It'll be sick. Because you can be like, I have a. I'm physically holding. Because you'll be like, this sweatshirt is worth exactly two hours of my time.

[Obi]

Oh, my God. That's true.

[Lyle]

There it is. Oh, my God, there it is.

[Obi]

You can hold it and you can.

[Lyle]

The sweatshirt is. Is. Is. This. Is how much two hours of my time is. Worth. Is worth this.

[Obi]

And you know what? You know what? The cost of the hoodie would be like, two times what I would make in my job for two hours. That's crazy.

[Lyle]

Really? How much does it cost to send a thing to the Czech Republic?

[Obi]

No, not even. Not even the shipping.

[Lyle]

Like, how much is the hoodie on?

[Obi]

Yeah, the Czech Republic isn't yeah, the, the Czech Republic isn't really, you know, the richest country. So you know, that hoodie would cost me five hours of my time.

[Lyle]

That's crazy.

[Obi]

That's crazy, isn't it?

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

And so. Okay, I don't. Yeah. So when. Okay, I just want to say I don't, I don't get how the Americans can get. Can go broke, bro. Like, because these things cost the same, you know, here in Czech Republic and he there in America. But you make 10 times our salary, bro. How do you, how do people get broke, bro?

[Lyle]

Well, because. Well, well, well. Yeah, I mean if you. Well, well, look, I mean this hoodie.

[Obi]

I understand the food is.

[Lyle]

Yeah, well this hoodie like like 60.

[Obi]

I understand the.

[Lyle]

Like, well, okay, so like, like, yeah, like $60 to buy a hoodie on the Internet is. I think that's about right for America. But like if, well there, I mean, I mean the short answer is, is that Americans make more money compared to. I think I. This is a question for an economist and not a dumbass who uses, who just Google shit and watches YouTube videos. But I think the short answer is like, we make more money in comparison to the rest of the world. But also because, you know, we just. Everything is more expensive in America. You know, I mean, like, would you like, you go to Japan? Okay, they make everything there is cheaper, but they make less money. And I think that's, that's how, I think that's how it works. You know, I assume, I assume that okay, somebody made a bunch of American dollars, right, and then moved to the Czech Republic, their money would go farther versus if you took your check. I don't know what you. I don't know, is it a rupee or whatever you guys got and you move to a man and you go to America, it's like, oh, my shit is worthless.

[Obi]

Yeah, you know, I understand the cost of living is much higher. Right. But you know, things like this, they cost the same. Like if I want to buy PS5, it will, it will cost me 10 times more in, you know, time than average American. No.

[Lyle]

Wait. Interesting. Wait, but a P.S. so like if you go to like if you go. Wait, yeah, if you buy like everything on Amazon. Everything on everything. If you want to buy a PlayStation 5 on Amazon in the Czech Republic and you go to like Amazon.ch or czk or whatever the fuck it's. Does it cost the same as.

[Obi]

Pretty much. Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

Wood in American dollars?

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Damn.

[Obi]

You know, that's just my rent that I don't know How American people get broke because yeah, I understand the cost of living is much higher, but you know this luxury, well you could call it luxury things because they're the same.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I guess, I guess, I guess, yeah, I guess that's true. I guess. Yeah, we have, we have access to. Yeah, if you're Americans have access to more, to more luxuries. But like our, our basic. Like what, what do you pay? How much is like you don't live in Prague, right? You live in like where do you. What part of.

[Obi]

No, no, no. Prague is like two times more expensive than everywhere else in Czech Republic? Okay, I don't.

[Lyle]

So like wherever you live, right, like where you were, like the location that you're calling me from. How much is, how much would like a one bedroom apartment cost per month?

[Obi]

Oh wait, one bedroom. Okay, I'm just in the process of like getting two bedroom apartment. Okay, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean by one bedroom? Because we have like one room and.

[Lyle]

Okay, well forget about like okay, that you're in the process of looking for a two bedroom apartment. How much does that cost?

[Obi]

Two, two bedroom. But it's like two rooms and a kitchen. It's not like I don't know what two bedroom means because like there are no two beds. There's just two rooms.

[Lyle]

What, what will. Okay, yes, two rooms and a kitchen.

[Obi]

One bed. Yeah.

[Lyle]

Okay, how much does that.

[Obi]

That would cost like 20, 20, 000 crowns. And $1 is 25. So maybe you can round it up like 900, $800 per month.

[Lyle]

Okay, check crown to USD. It's. It's 20,000 crowns to USD.

[Obi]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's 20.

[Lyle]

Oh yeah, it's like two bedroomish. Okay, so two rooms and a kitchen is 20,000 crowns a month.

[Obi]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Lyle]

Oh yeah, it's about 910 bucks a month. And you're in like the, you're in like a non major city in the Czech Republic.

[Obi]

Yeah, I am in a major city. But you know, Czech Republic is like.

[Lyle]

You'Re not, you're not in like the cities aren't really.

[Obi]

I'm not in a rural area. I mean just. I'm just in city.

[Lyle]

You know, you're in a normal ass city. You're not in Prague. You're not in like as fuck country farm.

[Obi]

Okay, okay. I'll tell you how it is. It's Prague and then it's all like average cities is Prague is just the main like the most expensive one and then all the others are pretty much the same.

[Lyle]

Pretty Much. Okay, well, I'm trying to think of like, I'm trying to think of like the American. Like, I'm trying to like, do I compare this to like, you know, some random. Or do I order or do I compare this town to like St. Louis, Missouri? You know, like a. It's not like the most major city.

[Obi]

Okay.

[Lyle]

It's like a place.

[Obi]

Well, okay, okay, let me tell you. I'm living in brno, which is the second largest city in Czech Republic, but if you Google how much population he is in brno, it's like the smallest city in America.

[Lyle]

Hold on. I'm actually genuine this fast. I like, I like, I like think about this stuff. What? Burno, check. Oh, listen, you guys gotta get some. This city, this, this city's name needs more vowels in it. The city's name has too many concepts.

[Obi]

Yeah, we don't have much vowels.

[Lyle]

Yeah, is it O, a vowel? A, E, I, O, U. Okay, all right. It's got one vowel, but this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This city needs a couple more vowels in it. Okay, this is bro. Okay, all right, this is. All right, all right. As a population of around 400,000. Okay, what's the population of St. Louis, Missouri? St. Louis.

[Obi]

Population actually 400,000, isn't it? Oh, okay.

[Lyle]

All right. So St. Louis, Missouri has less people than where you live.

[Obi]

Really?

[Lyle]

Yeah. St. Louis, Missouri's got about 281,000 people. So St. Louis, Missouri is smaller than where you live. Where you live you can get what I think we're both on the same page about is a two bedroom apartment. I don't know. What, I don't know if the. I don't know if two bedroom apartment means something different to you in the Czech Republic than it does in the United States, but.

[Obi]

Because when you say bedroom, like are there like two. Two beds or just two, like rooms you can live.

[Lyle]

A two bedroom apartment would look like it has two rooms and then it made up. Maybe it has a hallway and then it has like a living room and then maybe like a tiny kitchen.

[Obi]

Yeah, so that's kinda bigger. I think that would cost 25000 in Czech Republic.

[Lyle]

All right, 25, 000. That's like 25 000. All right, 25 000. All right. So it would cost around 1200 bucks for a two bedroom apartment in would I feel like I want to say a two bedroom apartment. Let's look this up. Let's go on Zillow. I don't know why this is fun. I mean, this is interesting to me.

[Obi]

I'm actually pretty interested in this topic. Yeah, it's.

[Lyle]

Again.

[Obi]

Let'S. No, it's. To me it's very interesting because I think about this all the time. Like.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Obi]

How bad of living situation is in America? Because everybody says pretty bad. So I just want to Compare.

[Lyle]

All right. St. Louis, Missouri. All right, let's do this. Hold on. St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis, Mo. Okay, here we go. All right. All right. This is, this is like. All right, for rent. All right. We're going to do beds. Two bedroom can. All right. Maximum 1400 bucks. All right. Oh, shaka. You know what? It's kind of.

[Obi]

Really.

[Lyle]

Yeah, you can, yeah, you can get a two bedroom apartment. Hold on. All right, I'm looking at Zillow right now. Yeah. There's places in St. Louis, Missouri you can get a two bed. Like look, this is a nice two bedroom apartment for wow, like a thousand bucks a month. This is, here's one for 1200. One point. Yeah. All right, so the.

[Obi]

What?

[Lyle]

Yeah, so the cost of living. Yeah. If what you're telling me is okay.

[Obi]

And now. Now.

[Lyle]

Yeah. If what you're telling me is true, and the cost of a two bedroom apartment in the second largest city in Czech Republic is twelve hundred dollars a month. That from this very quick Zillow search, it looks like you can get pretty much the same thing in St. Louis, Missouri, which has 75% of the population.

[Obi]

Okay. And I just want to say that yearly the average check salary is like 20K.

[Lyle]

$20,000 a month. $20,000.

[Obi]

No. $20,000 a year.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Yeah. So that sucks. Like that sucks for you guys in the Czech Republic. Yeah.

[Obi]

Bro. What the. I didn't even know how bad it is.

[Lyle]

That's crazy. Is it really cost that and that. Wait, so you. So the average salary in. What is it? Bruno?

[Obi]

Brono. I don't know what average.

[Lyle]

The average salary in BRO is, is. 20,000 is the equivalent of $20,000. The average salary in BRO is the equivalent of $22,000 a year. 20,000 US a year?

[Obi]

Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

[Lyle]

And then the cost of a two bedroom apartment is 1200amonth.

[Obi]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

That's insane. Yeah, that's crazy. Although I don't know what's. I don't know what the average salary is in. I don't know what the average salary is in St. Louis, Missouri, but it's absolutely got to be more than $20,000 a year.

[Obi]

Yeah. I mean if you are, I guess if you are like good in America, you, you make like 100k a year? No. Like you're pretty comfortable. No, I, I don't know. I, I sometimes I, I listen to Dave Ramsey and that's the conclusion I came to.

[Lyle]

Interesting. Yeah. That's crazy. I guess. Yeah, yeah, that's pretty crazy. That's crazy. That's crazy for you guys.

[Obi]

I'm telling you. How are Americans getting broke, bro? How.

[Lyle]

Oh wait, okay, wait, tell me this, okay. $20,000 a year. What's your guys. Do you guys, what's your guys. Healthcare situation?

[Obi]

Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, yeah, that's true. These things we have.

[Lyle]

Do you guys, do you guys have free health care?

[Obi]

Oh, well, we pay it in our taxes, but it's, it's cheaper than the U.S. definitely. You know, your health care is scam. So.

[Lyle]

Yeah, we, we either, either you get either you have to pay for health care. Like I pay like, like I'm self employed, so I paid like just 300, something like $320 a month for just health care. And then if you have a job.

[Obi]

Yeah, and I just. And yeah, and we have three schools.

[Lyle]

Yeah, well, you guys have free university. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there we go.

[Obi]

This, you know, you were like 25, you know, you are in a free university.

[Lyle]

So you're going to graduate with an electrical. So if you, so you're going to, so you're going to graduate with an electrical engineering degree with zero debt.

[Obi]

Yeah, I mean, that's why I'm doing it, right? Because if I just take like, I don't know, five years off, then I have to pay it. But if you don't take any, any years off and after high school you go straight into uni and you finish it with no like delays, you. It's free.

[Lyle]

Well, how do Americans. Actually I knew a couple. Well, all right, let me tell you this. Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.

[Obi]

Let me tell you this. Maybe this will blow your mind. Well, it's, this is not, it's just my experience or how I see things in Czech Republic, but I think other than, you know, how do you say it, like borrowing money for the house or you know, to buy a house. Other than that. I think 90 to 80% of people in Czech Republic were never in depth other than that.

[Lyle]

Whoa.

[Obi]

Like that, that isn't really a thing here. We don't have credit cards. Pretty much no one has a credit card in Czech Republic.

[Lyle]

Do you guys don't have credit cards in the Czech Republic?

[Obi]

We have, we have them, but nobody uses them because in Czech Republic there aren't really, it's any Benefits to credit cards. I know you have some benefits. You don't. They don't offer any. So nobody is actually using them. Everybody has a debit card. Nobody has like a credit card.

[Lyle]

Do you have like a credit score?

[Obi]

No, that's not the thing here. And I. That's one of the biggest American scams. No, like, credit score. What the Is that?

[Lyle]

Well, okay, how do Americans go? But. Well, we have a couple things. Is one. Yeah, college is.

[Obi]

Yeah, I can see it now.

[Lyle]

Yeah, college is really fucking expensive. Health. If you. If it's not part of a. If you don't have like a really good employer sponsored plan, health care is really expensive. And then also, like a lot of. A lot of plans, like, don't come with shit like dental. And also, even if you have a plan like, like do. Like, doctors will just be like, yo, we also did this. And that caught. And that wasn't in your insurance, so you got to pay for this, you know, like it. I think. Yeah, a lot of insurance plans don't cover. And then also. Here's a big one. Here's a big one. What is it, bro? Bronl. What's his name? His place. That's with no. With no vowels in it.

[Obi]

What? What? Can you repeat.

[Lyle]

What? Where do you live again, bro?

[Obi]

Yeah, Bruno.

[Lyle]

Okay, when I looked at burn. Yeah, I'm looking at brno. I see a picture of a big fat. Hold on, hold on. B R. Oh, no, no, it's not a.

[Obi]

We have a.

[Lyle]

We got a big fat. What do you guys have? Hold on, Sorry, I just saw this. Oh, oh, a big fat tram. You got a tram. You got a subway. You know, you know what we got. We got.

[Obi]

Oh, no, we don't have subways.

[Lyle]

Yeah, well, you guys got trams. If you're an American, you don't live in like in. In. In like. Yeah, in. If you live in St. Louis, Missouri, you gotta have a car. You have health, and you got it. You got like car insurance. St. Louis. Here's the thing. I know there's all of. All of. All of like the major, like American cities, they all have like public transportation. It's just shitty.

[Obi]

But like, how can a subway be shitty, bro?

[Lyle]

How can a subway be. How can a subway be shitty? Yeah, a subway can be shitty if it doesn't go to a lot of places and if it's unreliable or if it's dangerous.

[Obi]

Yeah, okay, okay.

[Lyle]

Like, that's it. Like, that's a. That's a huge. It's a very European thing to have, like, safe, reliable Expansive public transportation that's cheap. Whereas like we all have to. Well, well I'm. I mean one of the reasons.

[Obi]

Yeah, but yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

New York City is because they have public transportation and I hate having a car. But like in. Yeah, in pretty much every American city.

[Obi]

But I think it's, it's needed to say that gas is very much cheaper in America.

[Lyle]

The gas is cheaper in America?

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah. Because you know, you have, you just, you kind of. The gas country. No, like you have like, you know, gas is just really much more expensive than Czech Republic in comparison to, you know, like the salary. Definitely.

[Lyle]

Yeah, it depends where you live. Like if you live in like gas in California is, is insane. But yeah, gas in St. Louis is. I don't know. I don't know why I'm talking about gas in St. Louis. I have no idea. But yeah, I mean this tr. Yeah, that's the thing is there's like, there's trade offs with a lot of this shit because you know, Americans, because yeah, Americans are always like, we're always looking at Europe being like. Americans are always looking at Europe being like, damn, you guys have free health care and free like education and free public transport. And then you guys are looking at us being like, damn, you guys got PlayStation 5. That's pretty sick.

[Obi]

Yeah, well, I don't want to be dead guy, but I think the public perception of America around the world went. It's really, really worse than it was maybe like 10, 20 years ago. I feel like nobody is really thinking about America as a dream country anymore. I don't want to be like, I don't want to shit on you, but it just how it feels like to me.

[Lyle]

No, you're not. You ain't, you ain't. You ain't saying nothing that's blowing anyone's mind. Yeah, but I don't know, we had like, whatever. I was watching some, I was watching some YouTube video that's like it depends on what your bar is. You know, I mean we're, we're living pretty fucking good compared to like, you know, there's plenty, there's plenty of countries that you can look at and say that we're living pretty good compared to them. But I don't know who's living the best. I've nowhere I've been to, you know.

[Obi]

You know who lives the best.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Who?

[Obi]

Definitely the Nordic countries. No, the Nordic countries, like sweet Sweden. Norway. Norway. I think they have like, they, I think they.

[Lyle]

Know. Yeah. Denmark's doing pretty good.

[Obi]

Yeah. Denmark.

[Lyle]

Yeah. How come everyone's not like, oh, I gotta move, I gotta go to Denmark.

[Obi]

Well, everyone is. They have immigrant problems. Everyone is doing it, you know, that was, that's not like the original idea, I guess.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Unknown Host]

Made for this Mountain is a podcast that exists to empower listeners to rise above their struggles, break free from the chains of trauma and silence the negative voices that have kept them small. Through raw conversations, real stories, and actionable guidance, you can learn to face the mountain that is in front of you.

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify, the thing that you refuse to say, hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle. This is the thing that's in front of me. You can't make that mountain move without actually diving into that.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to conquer the things that once felt impossible and step boldly into the best version of yourself, to awaken the unstoppable strength that's inside of us all. So tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and climb your personal mountain.

Because it's impossible for you to be the most authentic you. It's impossible for you to love you fully if all you're doing is living to please people. Your mountain is that.

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist Danity King alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Aubrey O'Day]

Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are. As we sit here, right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up? First of all, are you here to testify in the Diddy trial? Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her days on making the ban as she emerged as the breakout star. The truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour.

[Obi]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hope Woodard]

Have you ever thought about going voiceover? I'm Hope Woodard, a comedian, creator and seeker of male validation. To most people, I'm the girl behind voiceover, the movement that explains exploded in 2024. Voiceover is about understanding yourself outside of sex and relationships. It's more than personal, it's political, it's societal. And at times it's far from what I originally intended it to be. These days, I'm interested in expanding what it means to be voiceover to make it customizable for anyone who feels the need to explore their relationship. Relationship to relationships. I'm talking to a lot of people who will help us think about how we love each other.

[Lyle]

It's a very, very normal experience to.

[Hope Woodard]

Have times where a relationship is prioritizing other parts of that relationship that aren't being naked together. How we love our family.

[Lyle]

I've spent a lifetime trying to get my mother to love me, but the price is too high.

[Hope Woodard]

And how we love ourselves.

[Lyle]

Singleness is not a waiting room.

[Unknown Host]

You are actually at the party right now.

[Lyle]

Let me hear it.

[Hope Woodard]

Listen to voiceover on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

So in the last month, the Midas Touch network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.

[Katie Couric]

Conservative podcasts can have a major political impact, but the Meisellis brothers, three siblings with a serious media strategy, are building an alternative to that. On the latest episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, I sat down with the brothers behind the Midas Touch Network to talk about how they built a progressive media powerhouse from the ground up, why audience interaction is the key to political influence and what it takes to fight disinformation at scale one download at a time.

[Lyle]

We should be focusing on the issues that actually occupy a lot of the mental space in Americans minds but are filled with conspiracies and, and we should fill it with the truth and solutions.

[Katie Couric]

Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

Well, well, Obi, I. I just have.

[Obi]

To say I am. I really enjoyed this conversation. I really wanted to talk to you about everything I Irish. I'm so, I'm so happy.

[Lyle]

I'm very happy. This was great. This was. I really enjoyed having this conversation. I feel like it was. We learned a lot about. We learned about. We got meta, we learned about St. Louis, we talked about life. This is great. This was one for the books. This is one for the books. Obi, you said your name was.

[Obi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You remembered my name. That's crazy. That never happened.

[Lyle]

I. Well, I, well, I forgot it over the course of an hour. And then I remembered it. Yeah. Okay, Obi, send me a Instagram message with all your. Like your. Where you want me to. Where you want me to attempt to send this hoodie? And then I'm gonna. I'll do my best.

[Obi]

Yeah. All right. Thank you very much, bro.

[Lyle]

Good luck. I still think. I think. All right. Whether or not you will take the comp, I. I think you are doing. I think what. I think the life you are living is impressive. Going to school and working. Being a dad is hard. It's not easy being a young dad. It's not easy for your partner, girlfriend, fiance, whatever, either. So good luck to you guys and I will. I will see you around the universe. Obi, is there anything else you want to say to the people before we go?

[Obi]

Just two things. One for you, one for the audience. For you. We have actually, I hope you will visit Czech Republic sometimes, because I know you were here, but I don't think on your trip you tried our spin off on Coke. It's called Cofola, and I think it's better than Coke. So you should definitely try it. You can even get it draft in, like, the pops. So imagine draft. Coca Cola. Yeah. Yeah.

[Lyle]

You know what's funny about you saying this is that. Is hearing that there's a drink that's better than Coca Cola is something that I would fly to another country to experience.

[Obi]

Yeah, no, I think. But it's better when you get to the draft in pub. You need to get the draft in pub from, like, the barrel. It's amazing.

[Lyle]

Wait, they have co. They have Coca Cola. They have. What is it called again?

[Obi]

Cofola. K O F or how to say it? O L A.

[Lyle]

And there are pubs. Are these like. Is it. Is this, like, on the side? There's a. And you can go to a pub and you can get this on draft.

[Obi]

Yeah, in most pubs you can in, like, I would say, like 70, 80% pubs. You can get it in Prague, definitely. Yeah.

[Lyle]

Do they have a cherry version?

[Obi]

No, we are not. You know, Americans have a lot of different types of maybe Coke and stuff, but we have just coful original on draft. We have versions in malls, but bottled. But just get the draft one. I swear, it's the best.

[Lyle]

Okay, what about. Do they have it? Do they have diet version?

[Obi]

No, they have one version. The original.

[Lyle]

I literally, I literally, I. I might actually do this someday. Yeah.

[Obi]

I hope. And if you do, you know how everybody says, hit me up and maybe I can translate to you in Prague, when You do your show.

[Lyle]

Okay. Okay. Good to know.

[Obi]

I. I know my English is not the best, but maybe I can get you somewhat better than actually that.

[Lyle]

Obi, Obi, Obi, I want you to know something. If I thought your English was shit, I would have hung up on you an hour and a half ago.

[Obi]

Yeah, that's okay. Thank you.

[Lyle]

Oh, wait, you had something you wanted to say to the audience?

[Obi]

Yeah, to the audience. Treat everybody how you want to be treated yourself.

[Lyle]

Beautiful. Thank you, Obi. Good luck.

[Obi]

Yeah. Love you all. Bye. Bye.

[Lyle]

That was a night. That was a meaty call. That was a meaty call. That was good. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that very much. We. That we. That spanned a large. But spanned a long time. That was a good phone call. Shout out to Obi. Shout out to the Czech Republic. I like. It's interesting hearing other people's perceptions of America and, like, you know, I don't know what life is like in other countries and shit, you know. Yeah, there's a good call. Do. I don't know if I have anything else to say. I feel like we lit. I feel like we left that one all out. I feel like we let that all out on the table. Oh, I have one other thing to say, which is that, you know, this is a fun fact. The. The area code he called from there was a check area code. Guess what the check area code is. You know what? I'm not even. You know what? I'm not even going to say it. I'm not going to say it on the podcast. I'm just going to let you guys just. If you want. If you want to be. If you want to. If you want to look at. If you want to look at your phone or computer and say, nice, go ahead and search up what the country code is for the Czech Republic. And that's all I'll say. Thank you for listening.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes. Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality Danity King alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Obi]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown Host]

The Made for this Mountain podcast exists to empower listeners to rise above their inner struggles and face the mountain in front of them. So during Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast, focus on your emotional well being and then climb that mountain.

You will never be able to change or grow through the thing that you refuse to identify, the thing that you refuse to say. Hey, this is my mountain. This is the struggle.

Listen to Made for this mountain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hope Woodard]

Have you ever thought about going voiceover? I'm Hope Woodard, a comedian, creator and seeker of male validation. I'm also the girl behind Voiceover, the movement that exploded in 2024. You might hear that term and think it's about celibacy, but to me, voiceover is about understanding yourself outside of sex and relationships. It's flexible, it's customizable, and it's a personal process.

[Lyle]

Singleness is not a waiting room.

[Unknown Host]

You are actually at the party right now.

[Lyle]

Let me hear it.

[Hope Woodard]

Listen to voiceover on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your your podcasts.

[Lyle]

So in the last month, the Midas Touch network beat Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro all combined.

[Katie Couric]

What happens when three brothers take on right wing media and start winning? I find out on the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric.

[Lyle]

We just want people to live their lives and be happy and be able to enjoy it without some, you know, lunatic screaming in their face every three seconds.

[Katie Couric]

Listen to Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lyle]

This is an iHeart podcast.