“I HEAR THE CALL OF DEATH”

Summary

Therapy Gecko Podcast Summary: “I HEAR THE CALL OF DEATH”

Introduction

In the episode titled “I HEAR THE CALL OF DEATH,” hosted by Lyle—the unlicensed lizard psychologist known as Therapy Gecko—the conversation delves deep into themes of existentialism, creativity, and the inevitable contemplation of mortality. Filmed live in the vibrant Washington Square Park in New York City, this IRL (In Real Life) episode features candid discussions with a diverse group of guests, exploring their personal struggles, aspirations, and philosophical ponderings.

Guest Interviews

1. Jay: Navigating Film School and Creativity

   Duration: 02:09 – 15:07

   Jay, a 20-year-old film student recently relocated from Atlanta to New York City to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, shares his mixed feelings about adjusting to the bustling environment of NYC and the realities of film education. He expresses frustration with the perceived lack of practical skills taught in film school, emphasizing that the real value lies in the connections made rather than the curriculum itself.

   • Creativity vs. Substance Use: Jay confesses, “I want to be in my crib just writing scripts whenever I want, and then, like, to have enough money so I could, like, day drink.” This highlights his belief that creative processes are often intertwined with leisure activities, yet Lyle challenges this notion by asserting that true creativity demands hard work beyond mere inspiration.

   • Industry Concerns: Jay voices apprehensions about the future of the film industry, noting, “Studios are just way more risk-averse now. We're not getting as much random stuff.” He worries that the shift towards safer, more commercial projects stifles genuine creative expression.

   • Inspirations: Drawing inspiration from filmmakers like James Gunn and Edgar Wright, Jay admires their ability to push creative boundaries while managing substantial studio resources.

2. Ryan Reynolds: Confronting Existential Anxiety and Death

   Duration: 15:07 – 43:01

   In a profound discussion, Ryan Reynolds opens up about his personal experiences with grief following the death of his uncle. He articulates a pervasive sense of mortality, describing death as “a cloud looming over me” that he feels compelled to address introspectively.

   • Existential Reflections: Ryan shares, “I feel like death has been calling my name in my sleep,” illustrating his grappling with the fear and inevitability of death. Lyle connects this to the broader human experience, stating, “You die a little bit every day.”

   • Religious Perspectives: Despite identifying as Catholic, Ryan remains skeptical about traditional afterlife concepts, expressing, “I don't think I'm embarking on that [heaven].” Instead, he finds solace in the idea of God as a cosmic presence that offers support during life’s trials.

   • Coping Mechanisms: The conversation touches on how different generations perceive death, with Ryan noting that older individuals like his father experience less anxiety about mortality compared to younger people.

3. Judah: Balancing Art and Life as a Street Artist

   Duration: 49:21 – 89:35

   Judah, an artist also known as Strut, discusses the challenges of maintaining a work-life balance while pursuing his passion for art in New York City. Selling wearable art pieces in the park, Judah highlights the logistical and emotional hurdles of sustaining a creative career amid personal responsibilities.

   • Work-Life Balance: “I’ve been having trouble with my work-life balance,” Judah admits, detailing his struggle to juggle art creation, online classes, and personal health routines.

   • Artistic Vision and AI: Judah expresses skepticism about artificial intelligence's role in art, asserting, “I don't think it’s going to take away art.” He believes that authentic, personally-driven art will persist despite technological advancements.

   • Community and Support: Emphasizing the importance of community, Judah talks about his involvement in an art collective called BYOBF (Be Your Own Best Friend), which promotes self-reliance and creative support among artists.

   • Philosophical Insights: The dialogue evolves into discussions about manifestation, luck, and the essence of success. Judah shares a personal motto: “The definition of luck is the combination of opportunity and preparation,” underscoring his proactive approach to achieving his goals.

4. Belle: Exploring Fashion and AI in Creative Industries

   Duration: 89:35 – 105:44

   Belle, a fashion student, engages in a light-hearted yet insightful conversation about the intersection of fashion, technology, and personal identity. The exchange touches upon societal norms, the impact of AI on creative fields, and the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a digital age.

   • AI and Creativity: Belle discusses the rise of AI-generated content in fashion and art, expressing both fascination and concern. “AI is going to take over, and none of us will have jobs anymore,” she muses, highlighting the fear that technology may overshadow human creativity.

   • Authenticity in Art: The conversation underscores the importance of human intent in creative endeavors. Belle agrees with Lyle’s sentiment that “pure and authentic” art, driven by personal experiences and emotions, will remain irreplaceable by AI.

Key Topics and Insights

• Existential Anxiety and Coping with Mortality: The episode poignantly explores how individuals confront the concept of death, balancing fear with philosophical acceptance. Ryan’s and Judah’s reflections offer diverse perspectives on dealing with mortality and finding meaning in life.

• Creativity and Substance Use: The discussions challenge the romanticized notion that substances like alcohol enhance creativity. Both Jay and Lyle agree that sustained creative output requires disciplined effort rather than relying on external aids.

• The Future of Creative Industries: Concerns about the evolving landscape of film and art industries are prominent. Jay’s apprehensions about studios becoming risk-averse and Judah’s insights into AI’s role in art highlight the tension between commercial demands and artistic integrity.

• Community and Support Systems: Judah’s involvement in BYOBF and the collective support among artists emphasize the importance of community in sustaining creative careers amidst personal and professional challenges.

• Authenticity vs. Technological Advancements: The conversation between Lyle and Belle underscores a critical examination of how AI impacts authenticity in creative work, advocating for a human-centric approach to art that technology cannot replicate.

Notable Quotes

• Jay (04:04): “I want to be in my crib just writing scripts whenever I want, and then, like, to have enough money so I could, like, day drink.”

• Ryan Reynolds (26:08): “I think death has been calling my name in my sleep.”

• Judah (56:40): “The definition of luck is the combination of opportunity and preparation.”

• Lyle (77:05): “If you're all peaceful and spiritual and conscious all the time, you're gonna be incompatible with the actual world that you live in.”

Conclusions

“I HEAR THE CALL OF DEATH” is a thought-provoking episode that navigates the intricate interplay between life’s fleeting nature, creative pursuits, and the quest for meaning. Through intimate conversations with Jay, Ryan Reynolds, Judah, and Belle, Therapy Gecko offers listeners profound insights into how individuals grapple with existential questions while striving to realize their creative and personal aspirations. The episode serves as a reflection on the human condition, emphasizing resilience, community, and the relentless pursuit of authentic expression in an ever-changing world.

Transcript

[Lyle]

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[Lyle]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Lyle]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Lyle]

Hello and welcome back to the Therapy Gecko podcast. Or welcome for the first time. If you're listening for the first time, this is a geck IRL episode, meaning that I'm actually not alone in a dark room talking to other people alone in a dark room. I am in the center of one of the busiest parks in one of the busiest places in the world, New York City, Washington Square Park. There's A lot of people around me. It's the evening time. It's a Friday night. I had no other plans. I can't think of anything I would rather be doing than right now, than being here doing this. I. There's nothing. What am I gonna do? We go to a bar, Talk to who? I'll talk to way more people doing this than I would if I went to the club. If I went to the club, the amount of people I would interact with would be. Maybe I would. Maybe I'd be lucky if I talked to one other person besides either myself if I went alone, or a friend if I went with a friend. This, if I want this. This is the most social evening I could realistically have for myself in New York City. So these are. So for me, it's a solid Friday night plan. We're gonna talk to some people. Normally, I just take phone calls, but today I'm gonna take. You know, we're gonna try to do this once a week, do a weekly Gecko IRL episode. And we're gonna talk to some people. There's a lot of people that want to talk. I'm not gonna get to talk to all of them. Get to talk to a few of them. And we're gonna be happy with the ones that we did get to talk to, and we're not gonna get hung up on the ones we didn't get to talk to. That's life for you. Okay. All right. Let's talk to some people. How's it going, man? What's your name?

[Jay]

My name is Jay.

[Lyle]

Jay.

[Jay]

You know, I'm doing okay.

[Lyle]

Nice to meet you, Jay. What's going on, Jay? How's life?

[Jay]

You know what? It's okay. It's okay for the most part.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

I just got here, like, this is Day, like 17 in New York.

[Lyle]

Oh, where from? Where are you moving from?

[Jay]

I came from Atlanta.

[Lyle]

Oh, cool. I love Atlanta.

[Jay]

Yeah, you know, it's a beautiful city. You know, I've got. I've got mixed feelings about New York so far.

[Lyle]

Okay, well, why did you come here?

[Jay]

School.

[Lyle]

Oh, I am. Whyu.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

All right.

[Jay]

Yeah, I was over at. @ SCAD doing film.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I know. SCAD.

[Jay]

Yeah. So this is like the. I. I kind of threw NYU out as like, a Hail Mary and, you know, and I was like, oh, shit. I actually got in.

[Lyle]

So are you at Tisch, the film school?

[Jay]

Yeah, you know, it was okay.

[Lyle]

I really got to know. So I went to film school. I went to Temple University for film school. Graduated like five years ago. Something like that. And it was absolutely. I mean, here's the thing. The curriculum itself, the experience I had at college was great. I got to meet a lot of people. I got to do a lot of stuff. I had a nice experience. But the actual curriculum, they don't really teach you how to do anything.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

What is Films. I mean, film school is so outdated now. Is that correct? Is that right?

[Jay]

I'm kind of hearing that. Like, I think that most of what you get out of film school is, like, connections and, you know, meeting, like, you know, people around you that'll help you out or whatever. But, like, I feel like with most stuff, you get, like, one class on it, and it's like, hey, here's lighting. That's it, you know, and then we're not. We're not touching that again. Right.

[Lyle]

So what's. What's your, like, dream man? What do you want out of life?

[Jay]

Oh, I want to be in my crib just writing scripts whenever I want, and then, like, to have enough money so I could, like, day drink.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

Like a cashmere sweater, you know?

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

And then like, after, like, a year of, like, being, like, a hermit or whatever.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

I'll come out and I'll be like, okay, I'm gonna shoot this film now.

[Lyle]

If you can get drunk at 1pm on a Tuesday and no one's mad.

[Jay]

At you, I think that's.

[Lyle]

That's a wonderful financial goal to have.

[Jay]

Right. I think that that is like. And I need to be able to, like, go and, like, smoke with my friends at, like, 2025. And it'd be like, yeah, you know, we're creatives and we're together and we're.

[Lyle]

Thinking, wait, wait, wait, wait. You need to be able to go and smoke their friends at 2025. Like, ages.

[Jay]

Yeah. And it not be like, oh, like, what are you guys doing with your lives? But it's like, oh, we're decompressing, you know?

[Lyle]

Yeah. I would think about that. This is a topic I've talked to to death on this podcast with, like, we had and stuff, but I. We. I always, like. That was a fantasy. I always had, too, especially when I was in high school.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Was like, I loved the idea that I could get really high and then work on something creative. And I realized that here's the problem with that. That I found out is the fantasy of getting really high. The fantasy is that you get high and that getting high allows your brain to effortlessly just produce, spit out words on words.

[Jay]

Ever worked.

[Lyle]

Right. And it never works no. And that's not because why? Because here's the reality I want to face is that making stuff is actually a lot of fucking work, dude. Yeah, it's a lot of work. And some people are good at like getting really high and it makes them more creative. And I've come up with, I've come up with good ideas right. While I was stoned, but I've never.

[Jay]

A consistent like an end all be all.

[Lyle]

Getting high to come up with ideas is one thing, but you should, I don't think. I don't believe in getting high to execute ideas working. No, it's not a good way to execute. I've always. And you know, it's funny is I've never, I never learned this lesson. You know, I'm. I'm 27. I've been getting high before for almost 10 years.

[Jay]

Right.

[Lyle]

I've been editing videos for like 14 years, something like that. And the whole time I've been like, you know what would make this editing session more enjoyable is if I got really super stoned. Yeah. And I get stoned and then I'm like, oh, I'm way too high to look at a computer.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

And then the next day, and then I, the next day I go, this time it's going to be different.

[Jay]

Right.

[Lyle]

And I do, I do that pretty much every day for 14 years. I'm probably going to do it later. Later I'm going to be like, I did it for this. I was like, if I get high, this will be more fun.

[Jay]

The day right before I left, my friends were like, hey, you know, we want to throw you like a little going away party or whatever. And we were like, okay, you know, we'll shoot a short film, It'll be real gorilla, you know, we'll do it in one day. We got there, we had no SD card and we were like, oh, fuck, what do we do now? So we just day drink and watch Batman. That was literally the whole fucking plan.

[Lyle]

You know what? That's okay. You know what? That's okay.

[Jay]

And it like. And there were like other ideas pitched around. We were like, we could use a different camera or we could, you know, and we were like, oh, you know, we can't do that. Let's just, let's just drink it.

[Lyle]

How your name is Jay.

[Judah]

Jay.

[Lyle]

How old are you, Jay?

[Jay]

I'm 20.

[Lyle]

All right, cool. Here's the thing. It's important to learn. It's okay to bail out sometimes. There's like, you got to learn when to bail out. I didn't come up with this, But I was watching Shout out. This guy, Dr. K. You know, Dr. K is like a YouTube guy. He's like a YouTube mental health dude. He was talking about how he. How he works, and he was like, I work consistently, but I never dip into reserves. And when I heard that, that spoke to me because it's like, if you're. If you're. If you're like, oh, I really. This is not going to work. Like, something fucked up. Your SD card is fucked up, your computer's overheating.

[Jay]

It's.

[Lyle]

As long as you don't have a deadline, it's okay to give in.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Now and then.

[Jay]

Yeah. Like, there have been so many days where I feel like every time that I push myself to, like, if I'm at the point of exhaustion, I'm like, oh, you know, let me get these last words on paper. Almost always I come back the next day and I'm like, this is fucking gobbledygook.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

Means fucking nothing.

[Lyle]

Right. Right.

[Jay]

I have to come and do it anyway.

[Lyle]

Right, Right. I mean, that's. Well, especially because here's the thing is, like, creative work is not measured in man hours. It's measured in, you know, creativity and brain power. Right. So you want to work within your optimal brain power. And if you're sitting and you're editing something, and you're painting something, you're writing something, and you go. And you're. Once you're. Once you can feel physically that you're cooked.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Just push yourself past that. It's dog shit you throw in the towel. Because what. Because the, you know, you're leveraged. Right. So, like, 30 minutes of high brain power work is going to be more valuable to you than, you know, three hours of cooked.

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Three hours of ass.

[Jay]

Like, I. Yeah. Most of the time now, like, I'm. And I'm trying to get better at that because most of the time now, if I, like, really need to, like, oh, I need to remember this, I'll just make bullet points. I'll be like, yeah, this guy, he says something along these lines, I'm gonna go to bed now.

[Lyle]

So who do you like in the film universe?

[Jay]

Oh, so is a rough question, because I always. Because I'm a big comic fan, so I always say I love James Gunn's work.

[Lyle]

Cool.

[Jay]

Yeah. But. But then I think about those tweets, man.

[Lyle]

What? I'm not familiar.

[Jay]

He had some crazy tweet. Like, not even, like, you know, like, like, oh, you know, like, you know, he could push past it or like, like, I, he, he's got to earn that.

[Lyle]

That back when. What was he tweeting?

[Jay]

Yo, I can't even. You would get super demonetized. I'm not gonna lie.

[Lyle]

Oh. I mean, what. Who? You know, whatever. But anyway, who cares? Well, all right. You like Jay? You like comic books?

[Jay]

Yeah, I love comic stuff.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Jay]

James Gunn is like a big, big inspiration. I love Edgar Wright. I love cool David Leach. Because I think that those three guys are like the only three guys in Hollywood still that are like, I'm going to use all of the studio's fucking money.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Jay]

We need to fly to Antarctica right now for this shot. I need $10,000 right now to do this.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

Right. And they're just doing dumb shit. They're just making fun shit to watch.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's. If you've worked your career up to a point where someone will just give you an infinite amount of money to make something, I don't know if that exists anymore. I don't think that exists. I think that like the days are probably. I feel like like maybe 10 times a year, five times a year, someone will get a lot of money to make a movie. But now it's. That now it's all gonna be, you know. Yeah, you're gonna be making movies on your phone, man. You're not gonna be making movies with like 30,000 fucking people.

[Judah]

Oh, no.

[Jay]

Like that's. And like, it scared me a lot about like getting into film because of like the way that things are headed. Not just because of like, you know, like AI and shit like that. Chat gbt. Because I'm like, my big thing is writing, but I just want to direct so that my vision like comes through properly.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Jay]

But like. Yeah. And especially with. I feel like studios are just way more risk adverse now. We're not getting as much random shit.

[Lyle]

Yeah. But again, it's like studios, you know, I mean like, you can just make your own movies and you put them on the Internet.

[Jay]

Oh, yeah. That's what I'm. I'm trying to do now. Right. Just. I, I love over the last like two weeks or so that I've been here and we've just had to go out and film in like 90 degree weather. Like, I love that. I like that a lot.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Just.

[Jay]

Yeah, let's just pick up tripods and go film.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Jay]

You know, we're going to be out till like 1, 2 in the morning and then we'll go get drinks or something and it'll be great.

[Lyle]

But like, just do it. Just enjoy it. Enjoy, enjoy. Enjoy being in film school and getting high and fucking around. It's a good time.

[Jay]

Yeah. Like the idea of just making cool shit with your friends, like the people around you. Because I've been blessed to, like, I've got so many friends in film that are like doing the same thing and we're just ping pong and ideas off of each other. It's. It's great. It's actually my favorite shit in the world. Like, I could not imagine doing anything else but film, you know?

[Lyle]

Jay, is there anything else you want to dig at? Your name, right?

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Okay, good. I fuck up names a lot. Is there anything else you want to say to the people, the computer, before we go?

[Jay]

Keep fucking making shit. That's really it. Just keep making shit. And you know, whether or not, you know, whether or not you've got money or. I don't know. Make it real and then make it. That's the quote. Make it real and then make it good.

[Lyle]

Make it real, then make it good. I agree with that. Don't focus too much on making the thing good. You gotta, you gotta just make the fucking thing and then if it sucks, you make another one.

[Jay]

Hell yeah.

[Lyle]

Beautiful. Good to meet you, Jay.

[Jay]

Thank you.

[Lyle]

Good luck on your film, on your film career. You wanna talk? What's your name? What is it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Anne.

[Lyle]

Anne. How's life going, Anne?

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's going well. Are these even on?

[Lyle]

Yeah, they're on.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're on.

[Lyle]

They're not projecting. I've had, I've had a guy sit down here once and like try to like, he was singing, he was really fucked up and he was singing and he was like, how you got to turn up the amps. I don't think he understood that. This is. I'm recording a podcast, so why are you doing this? I'm going to try to give you a really good answer today. I'm going to try to give. I'm going to look into my soul for the truest answer to that question. Why am I doing this? I'm doing this for. Am I saying this word right? Myriad.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

I'm doing this for a myriad of reasons.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

One, it's my job.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What do you mean it's your job?

[Lyle]

It's my. Is how I make a living as I make podcasts. That's, that's most of the reason I think a lot of people do a lot of things. Two, it's really fun. It's a great way to meet new people and experience. You Know what? I actually. I constantly audit my life. I don't know if you do this, but I audit my life. I think about that. I only get to live one time. You know, what's the best possible thing to do with my life? And how far. How far is that from what I actually do? And I was thinking, I'm like, you know, be dressing up as a gecko and interviewing people around the world and in New York and whatever. I can't think of a better thing to do. You know, it's not. It's like, I'm not gonna, like, go into finance or be a fucking. You know what? I don't. I can't think of a better thing to be doing with my time right now. I could be raising a child, but I don't want to do that right now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

How old are you?

[Lyle]

I'm 27. How old are you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm 20.

[Lyle]

Very cool. What do you. What do you do?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I work in finance.

[Lyle]

Oh, sorry.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I know.

[Lyle]

My bad. My b.

[Belle]

That's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

Well, okay. But you picked it for some reason.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I picked it because it pays the bills. But I'm sure this pays the bills. And I could be doing this and this is awesome.

[Lyle]

Yeah, you could be doing this. This is. This is only. This suit is like. Actually, the suits gotten more expensive. It used to be 60 bucks, now it's 90. No, it's the same suit. It just is inflated. Okay, well, I'm not saying I had anything to do with that, but you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Got a good deal on it. Look at you.

[Lyle]

Oh, no. This. The. I've. This is probably the 34th one that I've bought over the past five years.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Five years?

[Lyle]

Yeah, something like that. For five years. How long have you been doing finance?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I just started.

[Lyle]

Okay. I have to imagine. I know. You know, I actually feel bad about what I said because I have to imagine in the finance universe, there's got to be at least. You ever seen Breaking Bad?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't like Breaking Bad. I know it's a hot take.

[Lyle]

Why don't you like Breaking Bad?

[Ryan Reynolds]

The minority that don't.

[Lyle]

I want to. Wait. Tell me why I don't like Breaking Bad. Then I'm going to finish the thought.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Everyone hates on Skyler. Everyone hates on Skyler for no reason. She's a cool. She's a cool girl. I like Skyler. I like the wife. I think it also. It gets monotonous, like the characters. Like, Walter will always be bad. Oh, no. You know what I mean. Jesse will always be like. It's like A trope. It just keeps going and going. It's like, predictable.

[Lyle]

So I was. Okay, so here's why I brought up Breaking Bad, is because to bring it back to everything we were just talking about is, like, the finance world, right? There's a scene. So throughout Breaking Bad, which Skyler discovers that Walter. Okay, so for those who don't know Breaking Bad, it's about this guy who, like, gets cancer and starts selling. It's like a chemistry teacher gets cancer and he starts selling meth to, like, support his family before he does. And it's high quality meth. And it's high quality meth. And so. And the whole time, yeah, the fact that it's high quality meth is important because the whole time, like, when Skyler's giving him shit about, like. Like, what you're doing is so dangerous. And he's trying to justify his actions in the whole series, he's trying to justify his actions by going, I'm doing it for the family.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And he's good at it.

[Lyle]

He goes. He goes, well, that's. He goes, I'm doing it for the family. I'm doing for the family. And then there's one point where Skyler goes, and don't say you're doing it for the family. And he goes, you know what? I. I wasn't doing it for the family. Oh. And he goes, I was doing it because I was good at it. And I have to imagine there's got to be at least some people in the finance world who, if you ask them about it, are not like, I just did it for the money. I just. Or maybe they. Maybe it started I was just winning it for the money, and now it's like, I do it because I'm good at it, or just. Or just, you know, I do it because it's what I do. You know, I do it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't even think I'm good at it. I think my talents are wasted.

[Lyle]

What are your talents that you feel as though you're wasting?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know. I'm a very fast walker. If that was a sport, I'd be an awesome athlete.

[Lyle]

It is a sport, but you got to go a little bit. You got to go fast enough that they call it running.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I haven't explored all my talents to have really known whether or not it's been totally wasted. I mean. But you've explored yours. Can I ask you, why the Gecko? Do you get that a lot?

[Lyle]

The real answer is kind of complicated and boring, but I'll give you A fun answer?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, I want to know the boring answer.

[Lyle]

No, I. The boring answer. It's too.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is it emotional?

[Lyle]

No, it's. That. No, if it were emotional, it wouldn't be boring.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

I was gonna give you a fake answer that was more emotional.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think I want the boring answer, but you're welcome to tell me whatever you'd like.

[Lyle]

So you're majoring in finance?

[Ryan Reynolds]

You're not gonna tell me?

[Lyle]

No, I'm probably not gonna tell you, but I. Sure. I can tell you after.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

Okay. So do you go to nyu?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I graduated school already.

[Lyle]

Oh, you did?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Wait, you're only 20.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I know. It's a huge thing. Oh, no, it's not.

[Lyle]

No, no. It's. It's. But what. What's. What's the deal with that? You graduated?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I graduated early.

[Lyle]

Did you take a lot?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, I just did it in three years. Six classes, summer classes, bunch of classes, whatever.

[Lyle]

How hard did you have to work for three years to do that?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Not that hard. It's not that hard.

[Lyle]

No.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Anyone could do it anyway. It's like, college is like. You don't need to do it for the full four years. They're just doing it to milk you.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Am I taking up too much of your time?

[Lyle]

No, that's. There's words.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

Was there something else you were thinking about majoring in?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I majored in psychology for a little bit.

[Lyle]

Oh, really? Yeah. Why'd you drop psychology?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I dropped psychology because I, like, went through a phase of really liking perfume and bras, and my parents were like, you love expensive things. Yeah, I do.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And then they made me feel like a poor person if I did psychology, so I was like, all right, fair enough.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I. There are certain. I have, like. There's certain things, like, I don't cook. I just, like. I don't. I just, like, go. And I get, like. I go to the grocery store and I get sushi. Like, the little grocery store sushi, and I get a rotisserie chicken, and I'm like, okay, now I need to have enough money to afford my rotisserie chicken and grocery store sushi. You know your lifestyle inflates. Yeah. Grocery store sushi and rotisserie chicken are my perfume and bras.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

And it's like, yeah, you. You. Why don't do therapists? Therapists make some money, don't they?

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're all right. It's a. It's a good struggle for a good five, six years, but they're all right. Did you Go to college?

[Lyle]

I did go to college.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Where did you go?

[Lyle]

I went to Temple University for film school. I was just talking to film school the previous gentleman about film school. Yeah. What the hell was I gonna say? Oh, yeah. Oh, how much money is enough for you? How much money do you think you need to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know, I'd say, like, my goal in this life is probably 200.

[Lyle]

To max out at 200 a year?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

200,000 a year.

[Ryan Reynolds]

200,000 a year.

[Lyle]

Okay. All right. Wait, to max, to max out at.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. I think at the height of my career, that would be a goal for me.

[Lyle]

Very cool.

[Ryan Reynolds]

200.

[Lyle]

So what is like, so what's the future like? Are you gonna be like in like a Manhattan high rise, like, telling people to run the numbers?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know. I think I want to go. I live, I'm from Boston. I think I'd want to go there.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Chestnut Hill Country Club, Take care of my parents.

[Lyle]

Okay, you want the whole, you want the whole. You know what? Can I say something? Okay, I, I, I, this, I'm not being the slightest facetious. I think I respect openly admitting wanting to be rich.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't. Yeah, okay, I'm going to say something about this.

[Lyle]

Go ahead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is a hot take.

[Lyle]

Hot take me good content for you if you. Go ahead. Whatever it is.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think people that are gold diggers, like, get too much hate. I think they get too much hate. I hate to say it. I'm not saying openly I'm a gold digger, but I think they just get like, you know what? Yeah, shout out to you.

[Lyle]

Well, a gold digger, like, like, okay, a gold digger. I feel like traditionally a gold digger would be somebody who, like, is in like some form of romantic relationship with somebody. Are you using it like that or using it or using gold digger as a catch all phrase for anyone who is act. Who actively pursues money in any form.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think I meant the first. The former. The former, yes.

[Lyle]

Okay. Would you prefer to just marry rich?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, actually. Okay, I would like to marry rich. That's fine. Fine by me. I don't really care. I think I want to be able to hit a certain point where I have enough money to do what I really want.

[Lyle]

What do you really want?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know. I think I want to start a business. I want to do something cool.

[Lyle]

Here's a problem.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I want to sell jam.

[Lyle]

And like, here's the, here's the problem. I'm going to tell you the problem is that actually I sort of, I Sort of eat these words, but I do. I have been thinking about them. Is when you kind of. I think, like, when you delay. A thing where you're like, okay, once I have enough money was wrong with my head.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Sorry.

[Lyle]

Oh, it's okay. Wait. Oh. Is everything all right?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I. I just wanted. I just want to know if it was, like, squishy.

[Lyle]

That's okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It is.

[Lyle]

When you delay, keep going. A thing like, oh, I want to start a business, but I need enough money to do it. I feel like. Like you keep moving the goalposts a little bit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I do.

[Lyle]

I found. I found that in my life.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And here we are.

[Lyle]

And here we are.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And you done it.

[Lyle]

Although I thought, you know, I found.

[Judah]

Here.

[Lyle]

I'll actually. I'll tell you this. I found that in my life, although I. There are. There have been. I will say certain things that I wanted to do where I was like, okay, once I'm at this particular point in my life, I'll do this. And it did actually work that way where I did. Where once I was at that particular point in life, I will. I will do this.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm gonna. I'm gonna tell you something, and maybe since you're here and you're talking to everyone, maybe you'll give me your feedback.

[Lyle]

Go ahead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think lately. Don't freak out when I say that.

[Lyle]

I'm not gonna freak out. Go ahead. Or I might, but you might freak out.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think death has been calling my name in my sleep. You're so regretting me inviting. Inviting me on this chair right now. That doesn't tell me what your thoughts are on that.

[Lyle]

It's very funny to hear you say that. That might freak me out because all I fucking talk about on this podcast is existential anxiety and death and whatnot. Why do you. Why is death calling your name?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, my gosh. I just. Ever since my uncle died, like, earlier this year. Shout out to him. It was just like. I kind of felt it creeping up on me. Like, sometimes I'll have, like, still moments, and you can really feel time and, like.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Lengthiness of it, but also how fast. How fast it's going.

[Lyle]

Yeah, it's a little. It's a little terrifying.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I feel like. I feel this sense that there's, like, death looming over me. Almost like a cloud. Like a cloud looming over me. And it's death and it's calling me and it's saying, are you going to pick up the phone? I don't know.

[Lyle]

Well. Well, I mean, you die every day. What do you mean death is not a thing? Death is not one singular event. It's every day. I'm sorry I'm being such a bummer, but it's. You die a little bit every day. Every day. You're a day, You're a second older, you creep a little bit. You're at you like life is a terminal illness.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

It's such a. I gotta stop being so nihilistic. But. Okay. When you say death is calling your name, does that mean, like, you think you're going to die soon or you've just been thinking a lot about death or you want to kill yourself?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't want to kill myself.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's not a suicidal thing. I'm not.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm not. Suicide, like a depressing thing.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's just like. It's more like I can kind of see an hourglass.

[Lyle]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And the sand is sifting down. And every minute I can feel the sand sifting down. And it's like part of me, when I first felt this, I felt, like, so angry to have been given the gift of life and, like, how good it is and sweet and amazing and lovely.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And I almost felt, like, betrayed.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That it's all gonna, like, go like, why the. Am I.

[Lyle]

You know what I mean? Yep, yep. I know exactly what you mean.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay.

[Lyle]

You actually, what you are talking about is the most persistent thought I have been having for the last six months.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Enjoy your life.

[Lyle]

Sometimes I do. Sometimes. Sometimes I'm like, Sometimes I hear death. Sometimes I feel what you just described. I feel death calling over me. And I'm like, we had a good run. Let's just get it over with.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You know, I know something.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I. I was on Reddit the other day. I love Reddit, and I was on Reddit and this one guy is asking his grandfather, like, what does it feel like to grow old, to age? And the grandfather says to him, it's.

[Lyle]

Like taking a shower.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

And the water's getting colder. Colder and colder.

[Judah]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You know exactly what I'm talking about.

[Lyle]

Yeah. I saw the same Reddit post, however long ago that was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

I think about that Reddit post very often.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think about that all the time.

[Lyle]

Very. Yeah, yeah, I know. The exact Reddit post. Yeah. That. That spooked me a little bit. But, you know, it's funny. Here's the thing. But fuck that guy, because that's a really good analogy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's.

[Lyle]

Yeah, but. Yeah, but that's one guy. Right. Like, I talked to my dad. Talked to my dad. About death? A little bit.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

And my dad was like, you know, the older I get and the less time I have on this Earth, the less anxious I am. He was like, I'm in my. I'm having, like, an existential crisis. And I'm in my dad's. I'm in my basement at my dad's house, and my dad. And he's, like, practicing his putting. He's been playing golf for, like, 30 years, and he's, like, fucking doing, like, a practice swing. And he's talking to me and he's like, yeah, the less time I have on earth, the less anxious I feel. When I was young, I had so many problems. Now I don't. I don't really have any problems. You know, Louis CK does this bit where he's like, you know, I'm 52 years old. I feel pretty good. When you're young, it's hard. You have. You know, if you're 20, you've got about 50 to 60 years to not be homeless or alone during. Yeah, but the older you get, you're like, all right, we're just. We're getting there. It's pretty good.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We're getting there.

[Lyle]

You know, where are we going? I. I also, like.

[Belle]

I sleep well.

[Lyle]

I see older people all over the city, too, and they're doing well. They're doing great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, I'm not afraid of aging. That's kind of how I, like, made the distinction in my head. It's like, I see older women. I love. I love older women.

[Lyle]

They're chill, they don't give a fuck.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So.

[Lyle]

Well. Right. They're not having existential crises, whatever.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But it's like the sleep. It's the sleep. It's like the nothingness.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That kind of kills me a little. It's.

[Lyle]

Well.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think we're both in the same boat. You don't have to impart any advice on me.

[Lyle]

No, it's just not advice.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The last guy.

[Lyle]

No, these aren't. This is. This isn't advice. This is just. We're just pondering. But I was talking to a friend about that. Yeah, I've been talking to everyone. Yeah, I've been talking about this. You know, we've been dead for, like, ever. We've been dead for infinite time.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Agree.

[Lyle]

We've been dead for billions of years, so the fact that we're gonna be dead for billions more is fine. We're actually more used to being dead than we are to being alive. So it's gonna be a fine. You know, we were not we spent way more time being.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Are you prepared to die?

[Lyle]

I prepared to die. If you. If I had to die tomorrow, I'd be terrified. But I did. I'm very happy with how I like have spent my life thus far. I'm like, it's the greatest blessing I could possibly have is I'm feeling. I feel extremely content with how my 27 years have gone. They've been. They've had plenty of times of like terror and anxiety and depression, fear and depression. A lot of bad things and a lot of sadness and whatnot. But also just such incredible charm and joy, you know? So I don't. I have no regrets. I mean, I have few. I have a few regrets. I regret. I regret any time that I was an asshole. I regret times in the future that I might be an asshole.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What was the most asshole thing that you've done?

[Lyle]

Who knows? But I regret any times I was an asshole. I kind of regret times that I was. That I was worried, but not even really. That was just part of it. I mainly regret times to an asshole more than I regret times that I was worried because the worrying was part of the.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The journey.

[Lyle]

The journey. Yeah. Do you have any regrets? I mean. Yeah. Do you have any regrets?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think I'll. I have a few regrets. I'd say yeah, anytime I've been an asshole. Oh God, I'm such an asshole.

[Lyle]

But when were you an asshole?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, I can't say that, cuz you didn't even answer mine.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You just subtly switched.

[Lyle]

Hold on. Actually, let me try to remember the last time I was an asshole to someone. I don't know. I've been. I could remember. I. I'm. I'm trying to remember specific things, but I've been terse to people.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Terse.

[Lyle]

Terse. You know the word terse? Like, like fast, like, like.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's been rude.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Rude. Yeah. Yeah. I've been a dick sometimes. Sure. And I think. And anytime I was a dick, it was because I was angry about. I was never a dick because I was angry about the thing I was a dick. Because I was something else that I was upset by that was outside of the.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, when you're angry, it's like, okay, I'm an angry person. I can, I can be an angry person. I'm calm like 95% of the time. 5% of the time. I'm like really angry for some reason. You're just like constantly reading me as we keep going. And I think that being angry, it's more about something that's unresolved within yourself. I mean, call me spiritual or whatever, but truly, like, truly. I think, like if you're angry, there's just something wrong and you're angry with yourself and this is just a reflection and how you're. You're showing it to the external world.

[Lyle]

Oh, I fully agree.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But it's not true anger.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Oh, I fully. Yeah, I fully agree. I think if you're to be angry at the. Anytime I've been angry at the external world, it's usually because of like, I'm in a bad mood. Like, if I'm in a good mood, I don't give a shit about fucking anything. I know there's nothing that could piss me off. Really.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

If I'm in a good mood, you know, so those are the things I would regret is times where, yeah, I was an asshole. But the aging thing is interesting. I mean, look at like, you know, I think about is like, look at like. I mean, look at like the president. He's like 79 years old or whatever.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like still going.

[Lyle]

He's 79 and he's acting like, I mean, for better or for worse, but he's acting like he's just never going to die, you know? Yeah, I want like, like how often does he fucking think about the fact he's going to die. He's probably going to die in the next, like, you know, his time's coming, but I don't know if he ever thinks about it, you know, or look at like. Or look at like Bernie Sanders, right? He's like 83.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

And he was just on stage at Coachella. Yeah, he was at Coachell. He's on stage at Coachella to talk about, you know, all of his things. And he's still working. He's still doing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know if he was at Coachella. That's actually so hilarious.

[Lyle]

But you know, like, anytime it's funny, the people who are having existential crises tend to be younger people. Older people are just show. There's. There's like 75 year old dudes at this park just reading a book. They're gonna die soon and they're not thinking, oh, I'm gonna die soon. They're just.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think the more you grow old, the more you kind of accepted it and you don't care. You're less carefree.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Like your dad.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I think my dad is.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was kind of accepted it. He's kind of.

[Lyle]

I think so.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think showers gone cold and he's like all Right. Sorry. No offense to your.

[Lyle]

No, no, no, no. I don't. I don't think his shower has gone cold. That's why I don't necessarily agree with the shower.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The shower analogy.

[Lyle]

Yeah, the shower. I don't think a shower is going. I think he's enjoying life.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's Joy. Yeah, he likes.

[Lyle]

I was hanging out with my uncle yesterday. He's like 60 something. We were talking about. I made this. People listen to the podcast might know that. I made this video about, you know, having an existential crisis and death. And I talked about all these things. My uncle saw it and we were, like, talking about it, and I was like. And I was talking to him, and I was like, what do you think happens after we die? And it was like, I don't know. I'll figure that out when it happens. It was like. It was like the second I asked him was the first time he thought about. It was actually. It was as if the second I asked him was the fourth time in his entire fucking life he'd ever thought about it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

He didn't even consider it.

[Lyle]

Didn't even consider it. And I'm like, that's. That's insane to me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I've been considering it ever since I was a little girl, actually.

[Lyle]

It's spooky.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Maybe I've always just been like that. Maybe I'm just too in my head. Some people, they don't consider it at all.

[Lyle]

I know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Your uncle's one of them.

[Lyle]

I know. Incredibly lucky, don't you? You know what's funny is sometimes I, like, I'll meet someone like that, you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Know, you're like a carefree person.

[Lyle]

Yeah. You meet someone and you're like, I can. You've never. How have you been a problem? How can you be a conscious being? Even if you're like. Even if you have the best, on paper, quality of life. I don't know how you can be a conscious being that's never experienced some sort of. Some sort of like. Some form of, like a profound sadness. And you. And maybe I'm being projective, but yeah, you meet people like that, right? Where you're like. You've never thought. Do I think a lot?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Are you a big thinker?

[Lyle]

Yeah, I'm thinking all the time. I'm always thinking. I consider myself. It's weird. Sometimes I feel actually very carefree, and then other times I feel very anxious. Do you. Do you think a lot?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think all the time. I'm trying to think less, though. I think it might be beneficial for me to Think less. How's your maybe for you, too?

[Lyle]

I'm also trying to think less. Yeah, yeah. There's pros and cons.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

You know, I was talking to. Yeah. There's people I have in my life who think. Who. I don't. I don't think they think a lot, but they live and they tell me, you should think less. And I'm like, it's probably true. There's an optimal amount of conscientiousness to have.

[Ryan Reynolds]

When you were younger, were you always thinking a lot?

[Lyle]

Yeah, I remember a time. I think this is a rite of. And you probably had. Maybe had the same thing happen. This is a rite of passage for all crazy existential people. Is everyone. Can you remember a time where you maybe, like, woke up in the middle of the night and you went into your parents room and you were like, yeah, I remember this. I was a kid, like, growing up. You wake up, you go to your parents room, and you're like, mom and dad just realized that one day I'm going to die. And I remember my mom going, oh, but that's not going to happen for a very, very long time. Did that happen to you? That.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, that's happened to me a few times.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Do you talk to your parents about death?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, my God. I told them what I just told you. Death is calling my name. Mom, do you think I should pick up the phone? And she's a very religious person. I come from a religious family, and so we had a priest over one time. We had a priest over one time. And she pulls him aside and she, like, says this in the most, like, ominous way possible. And she's like, my daughter has a little problem. Can you just bless her for a second? And he, like, he's like, bow your head down. And he, like, does a prayer over me and he blesses me. And that was that. And then she's like, all right, you're good.

[Lyle]

Did you feel better?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I feel better.

[Lyle]

Do you think the prayer worked?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Another part of me was thinking, like, maybe I've been possessed.

[Lyle]

Maybe. What religion were you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm Catholic.

[Lyle]

Do you still identify with Catholicism?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I go to church. Yeah. I believe in God, really. But I'm open to. I'm open to other, you know, debates and interpretations.

[Lyle]

Wait, so, okay, so as a. As someone who thinks a lot about these existential topics and about death and whatnot, how do they. How do you think about them through the lens of your religion?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I've actually never. That's a good question. And I've never Thought about the afterlife. You know how I interpret it as lights out, lights off, you're done, it's over. I don't. I've never really considered the idea of a heaven. I think we created a heaven so that we can feel better when our people die.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But I personally, like, I don't think I'm embarking on that. I don't think that's gonna be there for me. You know what I mean? I think we're all kind of like, it's over. I believe in God in the sense of, like, you know, there's something cosmic. There's something watching over us for the time we're alive.

[Lyle]

Oh, okay. You think there's something watching over us?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

What do you think that is?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think it's God. I think it's a God up there.

[Lyle]

Like an entity?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

Like a monolith. Like a monolithic entity. Like it's controlled by one.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. And you can pray to it. You can ask him for whatever.

[Lyle]

So you believe in like a traditional, like, omnis. Omnipotent Omnipotence. Omnipotence, yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Omnipotent omnivore. I wouldn't. Okay. I'm not God fearing. Some people like, oh, I'm a God fearing woman. I'm from the South.

[Lyle]

No, no, you can't. I don't. Fearing God is stupid.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm not a God fear.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, shout out to anyone who is, but that's just not me. I just. I believe that there's something watching over us. And I believe that if you ever need something but it can't be material, I'll tell you how I pray. Maybe that'll be easier.

[Lyle]

Tell me how. Yeah, tell me how you pray.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'll tell you how I pray. I don't ever ask for, like a material object or for something to happen. Like if I want to study for a test, I'm never like, oh, I want an A. I'm asking for, oh, I want the knowledge or I want the discipline to study. If I wanted to pass a job interview, I don't wish to pass the job interview. I wish that the interviewer has kindness and compassion.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I wish that, you know, I've had well rested sleep. You know what I mean?

[Lyle]

It's the classic God, give me the. Whatever. The.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, the courage.

[Lyle]

The courage to. Yeah, yeah. It's like, you don't want the things. Give me the things to take on the things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Lyle]

But do you. Do you believe that there is an entity that is receiving those prayers and Bestowing those things upon you externally.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think part of it is the entity and I think part of it is by me saying it out loud. It gives me like, you know what I mean? Like a sense of like assurance that I can do this.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Part of it's like a confidence thing. Part of me is saying I've done my due diligence to pray and whatever happens, happens.

[Lyle]

Do you believe in like a, like a, like a morality based afterlife?

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, I don't believe in good or bad people either.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I don't either.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I think that's a dumb thing.

[Lyle]

I don't either. Only be like, I don't believe in that because of like from like a deterministic point of view.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's like, it's so like black and white, like, oh, good, you're bad. You're a bad person. You're like, that's stupid. And I've been called a bad person many times and it's. I don't know, I just don't think that's a very accurate way to portray people that are very complex.

[Lyle]

Yes, I agree. I think it's. Well, because actually, you know what sucks about being, you know what sucks about being all like spiritual and peaceful and stuff is that it's like, like it's so much easier to just be like, ah, I guess a fucking asshole and just walk away. Yeah, so much. It's so much easier, you know, on your mind. Yeah, yeah. Because every, because the world is, you know, too complex and people are too complex to, to really, to take in, you know, and to deal with. So we have the labels that we like, oh, that guy's an asshole or what? That's worse, whatever. Because it makes it easier than being like, oh, that person had a bad day, bad day, or a bad childhood, or their brain is wired in a certain way. It's hard because you don't want to excuse that. I don't know how much I believe in like free will.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay, tell me more.

[Lyle]

Like, because like you have your fucking. You were born to your parents with your own brain and even. And you can make decisions, but how much of your decisions are your own really if they're influenced by so many factors outside of yourself, like who your parents were or what your brain chemistry is like, or where you grew up. I would. Do you disagree?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know.

[Belle]

That's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I, I don't. I haven't given much thought to it. I'd say I do believe in free will and I'd say we are only so much there's like a threshold in which we're influenced by other things at some point. It's just. It's just who you are. You know what I mean? It's just. It's just. I don't ever listen to my parents, unfortunately.

[Belle]

Maybe I should.

[Lyle]

Do they. Where. Where. Where do your parents think about, like, death? Do you talk to them about it in terms of like. Like, do they feel. Shower, Cold, showery?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I never asked. I don't want to talk to them about the cold shower because I don't want to freak them out.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Because then they're going to send me to, like, another priest. You know what I mean?

[Lyle]

Do you still go to church?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I haven't gone. I haven't gone in two weeks. I will go when I'm. I'm moving around right now. So it's a little tough.

[Lyle]

What are they do at church exactly? Because I grew up going to synagogue and. Synagogue, you know, because at church. At church, I feel like a guy gets up there and he speaks in English and he says a bunch of stuff, and in synagogue, it's all in Hebrew. And I'm like, what does this mean? And they go, shut the up and keep reading. And just. I just remember, like, we would sing all these songs. I have all these Hebrew songs, like, stuck in my head. I don't know what any of them mean. I can't tell you a single. Like, when we go to synagogue and we was just singing in Hebrew and nobody ever stopped to be like, hey, by the way, this is what.

[Ryan Reynolds]

This is what it all means.

[Lyle]

They're talking about. Actually, I remember one thing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay, what is it?

[Lyle]

Maybe, you know, maybe this is a statement about boundaries or something. Okay, I remember one thing from Hebrew school. They. I was told something from the Torah, a story about this guy who's like, wanda, he's, like, lost in the desert, and he has a canteen of a little bit of water, and he only has enough water for himself. And he meets this guy who's also, like, thirsty and wandering through the desert. And he's. The guy's like, hey, can I have some of your water? And according to Torah, it's totally cool if you just don't give him the water. And you take all the water. You just have all the water for yourself.

[Belle]

That was taught.

[Lyle]

Yeah, they told me. They told me that in.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's okay to be selfish.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I guess so. It's okay to be selfish, I guess. I think. I think so. I don't know. I don't know if that's I don't know if that's good PR for us Jews right now. But anyway, what were you going to say?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I. I don't know. And I think this is a good stopping point because you have a line.

[Lyle]

There's no line, but. What's your name? I'm Anne, and a pleasure to meet you. What's your name? My name is Lyle. I will. I will see you around the universe. Come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient. Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around. Whoa, this thing moves. Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[H]

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[Judah]

How are you, my friend?

[Lyle]

Hey, what's your name?

[Judah]

My name is Judah.

[Lyle]

Judah, nice to meet you.

[Judah]

I go by Strut as an. As an artist.

[Lyle]

Strut. What's up, Strut? How's life?

[Judah]

What's going on, man? Honestly, it's. It's okay. I've been having trouble with my work life balance. You know what I mean?

[Lyle]

Tell me more.

[Judah]

Well, so I work as an artist, I sell my art here in the park, and I'm a college student. I'm home for summer break, and I also am taking some summer classes as well, all asynchronous and online and whatnot. And there's a lot of other things that I have to do to upkeep my life, like taking my meds or going to therapy or, you know, going to a regular doctor's appointment, taking care of chores around the house and whatnot. And I've been having a hard time juggling that and still doing what I feel really proud of and doing like, my art really well to the highest level of excellence.

[Lyle]

What do you feel really proud of?

[Judah]

I feel proud that. Excuse me. I feel proud that I can make a piece of art that somebody connects to and that brings somebody joy. And I feel like I can do that a lot over and I've proven that I can do that a lot. And I am so willing and open to continue doing that in whatever way. You know, I study new media, so I'm exploring all of these different avenues to go down. And it is a little overwhelming at times, you know, and it gets in the way of like, maintaining regular relationships with my family members or my friends or the people that I love, you know? And honestly, like, yeah, I guess my question would be, like, how do you balance your work life? Like, what do you do? You schedule. I know you have a unique situation, but I'm looking to get into a similar one.

[Lyle]

Oh, how do I balance my work life schedule? Schedule? You balance your work life schedule by having no life? I mean, listen, man, Listen, listen, brother. Listen, brother. I'm. I'm single with no kids.

[Judah]

Gotcha.

[Lyle]

You know, I, I can be. I. I go on long walks at 2:00 in the morning. You know, I don't have anything else to do.

[Judah]

But that's, but, but if you enjoy going on long walks in the morning, that's fine.

[Lyle]

Like, no, I'm sorry. That's not. No, no. At 3 o'. Clock. Yeah, 3 o'.

[Judah]

Clock.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Judah]

Yeah, but that's my point is it's like if that's what it brings you, relief or joy or like I'm down to be single and unmarried, if that means that I live a happy life and I don't have to work a job that I hate or X, Y and Z, you know, marriage and kids and a family and whatever, it. It would be great. But it's not like, necessary for me necessarily. You know what I mean? What's necessary?

[Lyle]

So, so what's the, what's the life part?

[Judah]

So, you know, relationships with like, like I'm 20 years old, I'm a college student, I still live with my parents, you know, and there's some tension there, especially because, you know, I've had problems with my, like my parents and my family in the past. And it comes to a head sometimes when I'm 20 years old and still living in the, in the apartment. And it. I'm trying to do my artwork and make a lot of prints of all my different things and I'm kind of spread out a little bit. And they come home and I didn't think they were going to come home. They get mad at the mess and I'm just. I don't know, I need, I need a certain amount of excess. Excuse me? I need a certain amount of success off of this stuff in order to be able to have my own space and be independent.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Do you live with your parents in the city?

[Judah]

Like five blocks that way?

[Lyle]

Yeah. Oh, your parents live in Manhattan?

[Judah]

Yeah, yeah, that.

[Lyle]

Okay, here's the thing. You know what? You know what's funny is normally in a situation like this, it's like I feel for you trying to get out, even if you have like, like if you have a bad relationship with the parent, like your parents don't like hit you or anything, right?

[Judah]

No.

[Lyle]

Okay, all right, all right, here's the thing. Look, normally I'd be like, I. Normally I'd be like, if your parents. You have a bad relationship with them, I understand. Wanted to get out. If your parents live in motherfucking Manhattan, dude, If your parents live in Manhattan, my advice to you is, I swear on my life, in no other, in no other situation do I ever say this, but if I were you, I would suck it up and live rent free in Manhattan for as long as you possibly can. Live with your parents rent free in Manhattan until you are 45 years old.

[Judah]

Isn't that the thing that makes sense to do.

[Lyle]

Right?

[Judah]

Like, that's the, that's the thing.

[Lyle]

Like, bro, if your parents lived in like New New Brunswick or whatever I get.

[Judah]

But like, get out of there, dude.

[Lyle]

Live rent free in Manhattan as long as you can.

[Judah]

Honestly, like, I'm trying to get. Here's my plan. You ready? I am going to get rich and or famous.

[Lyle]

Okay.

[Judah]

Very young, very soon.

[Lyle]

Oh, okay. All right.

[Judah]

And then I'm going to have enough money to buy an apartment of my own in this neighborhood and I will continue to be a local and I'll have like a nice little one bedroom.

[Lyle]

Bro, that's way too much pressure. You know, much money you need to buy an apartment in this neighborhood.

[Judah]

And I tell you something, I don't feel the pressure. I just know that it's coming. I genuinely. All the way. Trust that it's going to come. Maybe it won't be when I'm super young. And that's fine. And I'm prepared for that. And I have backup plans.

[Lyle]

All right.

[Judah]

But I genuinely, like, I'm not worried about success coming to me whether or not it's gonna.

[Lyle]

I'm not.

[Judah]

Excuse me. I'm not worried about whether or not success is gonna come to me. I'm just worried about when and how. And how can I make sure that it's what I actually want and how I want to present myself to the world.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

And like, why not? I really. Yeah. And even if it isn't fame and fortune or whatever, it'll be a loving and fulfilling life. And like, I feel like I can build that off of my art and you know, 100% strut. N.Y. s. We're lit.

[Lyle]

You know, I. I think that's great. And by the way, I actually not. This isn't woo woo. I know we were just woo woo for the last however long, but I don't think this is woo. I think this is actually like this. I believe. I don't know anything about biology, but I do believe this is like, of the mind empirically, like manifestation. Right. Because I don't. I don't necessarily believe in manifestation as a way of you put out signals into something outside of yourself, but you put signals into your brain. And the signals and the thoughts you have influence the actions you have and the actions that you do influence the way that the external world responds to you. And so I believe the manifestation empirically works in that way.

[Judah]

And yeah, I, I agree with that. And I want to add on to it as well.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

Because I, I want to say, like, I think that Manifestation works in that if it is something that is constantly on your mind and you're thinking about it and always improving those ideas, working on those ideas, then it will progress because you're putting the work into it.

[Lyle]

Of course.

[Judah]

And the reason why I really trust myself to become successful and not worry about is because I know that I will always put the work in. And I live by. I live by a lot of little mottos that I've come up with or accumulated. But one of them is that the definition of luck is the combination of opportunity and preparation.

[Lyle]

Okay, I. Okay, I gen. I, I believe that. I do believe that. That success is a combination. Yeah, sure. It's a combination of having said luck. Well, yeah. Success is a combination of having some form of inherent talent, a nice. You have to. You have to have some form of inherent talent, some form of work ethic. And like a lot of luck. And a lot of luck can. And by the way, a lot of luck. Luck comes in many forms. Luck comes in the form of, you know, who your parents are. Luck comes in the form of, you know, just like, oh, I was prepared.

[Judah]

In my daddy's nut sack, you know what I mean? I, I had the opportunity and I beat the. All the other sperm in the race.

[Lyle]

All the other sperm you got. Exactly.

[Judah]

Yo, everybody starts life out on a win.

[Lyle]

But I will say that, like, I think success does require a lot of luck. Like, I think it requires a lot.

[Judah]

Of luck because that's why I make my own luck. Because here's the thing. The benefit of living in Manhattan, Lower Manhattan, and the reason why I should stay here as long as possible is because of the proximity to opportunity. Because it's all happening right here. And so if I'm constantly preparing and then going out and inevitably I know the opportunity will show up, all I got to do is pounce on that opportunity and I'm lit.

[Lyle]

I'm not worried about. Because here's the thing. Whether or not you make the $50 million that you need to buy an apartment in fucking, you know, Manhattan, whatever.

[Judah]

If I got 100 grand and a good reputation for selling art for that much, I could get an apartment within a year in Manhattan, within a 1 1/2 mile radius of where we are right now.

[Lyle]

Numbers aside, who gives shit? That's not the point. The point is, the reason I'm not worried about you is because in the pursuit of these things, you'll probably have a lot of fun and you'll probably meet a lot of people and you'll probably make a Lot of things that you're proud of.

[Judah]

A hundred percent. Yo, speaking of things that I'm proud of, I actually have a gift that I want to give to you. Is that.

[Lyle]

Oh, you're gonna nardwar me?

[Judah]

Is that okay?

[Lyle]

Oh, you're gonna nardwar me.

[Judah]

One moment. Okay, One sec, One moment.

[Lyle]

Okay, I'll talk to the. I'll talk to the audience while. Wait, this is. He's calling upon a man named Matt. Oh, what'd you make?

[Judah]

I made a shirt. I. I make wearable paintings.

[Lyle]

Oh, you make wearable paintings?

[Judah]

Wearable paintings.

[Lyle]

I like.

[Judah]

I made this shirt a couple of.

[Lyle]

Get the out of here.

[Judah]

I made this shirt a couple of weeks ago, and when I saw you, it just. It made me think of you. And honestly, you still go by the therapy gecko, right? Or no. Sure, yeah.

[Lyle]

Geck. Therapy gecko. Lyle. Whatever.

[Judah]

Whatever it might be, it not only fits your color, but it's. It's a person who is in pain but not letting that pain define them and is scratchy, but is finding beauty in that scratchiness. And I. I love street art so much, you know, and I. I. Because I grew up in this neighborhood, it's been a big part of how I've grown as an artist.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Judah]

And so stuff like this is really important to me, and especially, like, this is a form of street art and what you're doing right now and, like, being on the street and making art and making these videos and interacting with these people, and I love it. You know, I study new media, and this is very, very inspiring to me.

[Lyle]

Thanks.

[Judah]

I want to give you this shirt as a gift.

[Lyle]

Thank you, man. I'm going to. I got to make this. Here. I'm going to make this the. I'll put. I'll. So that the audio listeners can see it. I'll make it the. The thumbnail of the podcast.

[Judah]

Oh, amazing.

[Lyle]

Like the audio podcast. Because it's fun. This is. This is like a. This is a perfect shirt for me. This feel. It's a green guy with a. It's. It's a. It's a Korean man in a state of existential dread. It is such a perfect shirt. Thank you for this. This is. This is awesome.

[Judah]

Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. And a lot of shirts. I'm actually. I made the one that I'm wearing right now.

[Lyle]

Well, okay. So what is that? So we just had a whole long, crazy concert. Like, talk about exercise. This. What is this? This seems very existential.

[Judah]

So this is one of my favorite pieces that I've made. Recently. It's based off of a painting of the rapture of St. Paul.

[Lyle]

What is the rapture of St. Paul? What's the story?

[Judah]

It's one of the saints. He got raptured. He went up to heaven. That's. That's about the extent of its relevance to the piece, honestly.

[Lyle]

Well, you made a whole thing about the thing. You don't know what the thing is about?

[Judah]

No, I mean.

[Lyle]

Well, okay, sorry. What's the relevance of the piece? I spoke too soon.

[Judah]

The point being that in Christianity, there are these conflicting beliefs that every human being is flawed. And also, on the other hand, Jesus will take responsibility for all of your sins, and God will see you as perfect.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Judah]

And so it's kind of tearing between this, like, perfection in God's eyes and imperfection in the real world.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Judah]

And so kind of the meaning of this is that as. As Paul gets closer to heaven, it's easier to see him. And as he is closer to earth, things are more muddled. It's not as black and white. It's not as easy to tell what is what. And so that was the meaning of this piece. A lot of them. Some of the pieces are more complex. Some of the pieces are more simple and striking. This is definitely one of the more striking ones. But people really like it, and they've been. You know, I've been out here. Technically, I'm not allowed to sell apparel in the park, which is why I don't sell apparel. I don't sell T shirts.

[Lyle]

I don't do. Okay, nobody. Guys, Guys. There's a guy walking around selling just wine out of a cooler, and there's people selling. There's no laws in Washington. Washington Square park is like. There's no law. Nobody has a permit. Except for me. I have a permit if anyone asks.

[Judah]

Oh, I'm sure my. You know, there often are. Not often, but sometimes there are park cops, quote, unquote, not real cops, but park enforcers or rangers or whatever. And they do come because it's a historical land landmark. So they come around and they tell you, oh, specifically this. You can't display a price. You can't do a T shirt. You can't put the T shirts on display. You can't.

[Lyle]

They guys. They gotta be super bored to do that.

[Judah]

Yes. And they only come out once in a while to just let people know. And it's the same guys. So if they see you twice doing the same thing, then it's a court summons and it's a whole issue. And honestly, that's Why I voted for Zoran Mamdani is because he is working to help street vendors have less red tape to cut through and just make stuff like street art or street food.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Judah]

Which is a form of street art, in my opinion.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

Able to be more accessible and cheaper. He's gonna make the process for getting a food cart license or a food truck license a lot easier to do.

[Lyle]

I like the idea of a campaign that's like a dollar water bottle out of a cooler. Guys from on dummy.

[Judah]

Yes. But you know what? The dollar water bottle guys, the ones that keep it cool especially, they hold this park on their shoulders.

[Lyle]

I like the idea of like all like I just like 50 of them in one room.

[Judah]

Oh yeah. They. They're probably a voting block, dude. I bet that there is like the king of the $1 water guys and he's like a political boss and he tells them.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I don't. You think they're all in a network? Like, how do you get into that? I bet it's rel. You know what? I bet it's relatively lucrative because you can buy like, if I go. If I go buy like a store brand case of water, maybe like five bucks for 30 of them. That's 25 bucks a case. That's pretty good.

[Judah]

Oh, excuse me. Sorry.

[Lyle]

That's all right.

[Judah]

That is. That is pretty good. But also is like, you have to take into account your time. Right. Like if you sell, let's say five bottles of water. Let's say you sell a bottle of water every five minutes, which is pretty good.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Judah]

You're making $12 an hour minus what you spent on the bottles. So let's say $9 an hour. It's not great. And honestly, it's not super fun. I see the guys who do it, they're not having a great time. I love them.

[Lyle]

They're.

[Judah]

They're my co workers, honestly. Because we all work in the park together. But I can tell it's one of the less fun jobs to have.

[Lyle]

How often are you out here?

[Judah]

I am out here six days a week. But one. One week on, one week off. So I come out for six days and then I retract for six days.

[Lyle]

What do you do? What do you. What do you do when you retract?

[Judah]

I make more art pieces. I normally only do very limited editions, so I'll do five prints of a new design and then once they sell out, I'll just turn it into a sticker. But it'll never exist as a print again.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

So I spent the I spend the week cooking up, you know, 15, 20 new designs, printing stuff out. I've been. Because I'm still very new to this. I'm like in my second month of doing it, so I'm still like, upgrading all of my stuff. I'm about to have my stickers laminated so that they'll be more scratch and dust proof and whatnot. They're currently. They're waterproof, but they're not. They're not as good as they could be. And, you know, I'm part of an art collective called byobf. Shout out Perry Mason. Shout out Oxy here.

[Lyle]

What is byo? Well, I'm gonna guess by O. Bring your own best friend.

[Judah]

You're super close. It's be your own best friend.

[Lyle]

That sounds depressing.

[Judah]

You know what? It's actually really inspirational. And it kind of is parallel to a form of existentialism that I really. Or nihilism that I really like, which is optimistic nihilism.

[Lyle]

Optimistic nihilism.

[Judah]

I love it. Yeah.

[Lyle]

Yeah, we're on that train a little bit.

[Judah]

100%. And so I can give you the backstory behind it, actually.

[Lyle]

Go ahead.

[Judah]

So my good friend Perry Mason, who's a successful and up and coming musician, he invited some people that were old friends to a. To a show, and he invited some old friends to a show and. And they didn't show up. And he got really upset and he went home and he wrote byobf Be your own best friend all over his walls. And ever since then, that's been the brand, that's been the collective we're working on a. Oh.

[Lyle]

His friends didn't come to his show, so he has to be his own friends.

[Judah]

And. But do you know what? It really inspired me when I heard that story.

[Lyle]

Yeah, right.

[Judah]

The idea is you have to be your biggest supporter. You have to be the person who believes in you the most. You can't wait on somebody else to believe in you. They got their own things going on. And so, you know, it kind of goes into my name Strut, which is all about confidence and about. Yeah, really what I say about strut is, is like, if you don't walk out of your apartment or your house every single morning truly believing and acting like you are the shit, like you are the best.

[Lyle]

Well, you got. You have.

[Judah]

You will never be the shit.

[Lyle]

You. Well, you got to have a you. I think there's an optimal amount of thinking you're the shit. And you gotta, you know, I mean, no one likes someone who doesn't hate Themselves a little bit. You have to hate yourself a little bit.

[Judah]

Does it seem like I don't hate myself?

[Lyle]

You probably hate yourself a little bit. Oh, I can tell you. I can. I can tell you hate yourself a little bit only because hating yourself a little bit is a natural trait, I believe, of all super ambitious people.

[Judah]

Yes. And the parts of myself that I hate are the parts that are unable to achieve my creative goals. And like the parts, the good parts come up with all these great ideas and the parts that are bad hold me back from creating those ideas. And that's why I've been working, to work with my problems. You know, I. One thing that I learned, I. I learned. And as a new media major, I had to take.

[Lyle]

Oh yeah.

[Judah]

Programming class. And I hate programming.

[Lyle]

Like computer programming.

[Judah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

Oh, AI is going to do all that stuff.

[Judah]

Anyways. Point being, by the way.

[Lyle]

Hold on. I just, I don't think, I think AI will do that. So I don't think it's going to take away, like, art, though.

[Judah]

I agree.

[Lyle]

I don't think it's going to take away art.

[Judah]

I think that if you as an artist are worried about AI replacing your art, you either have to believe in yourself more or make better art.

[Lyle]

I think it'll. I think AI will probably take away, like a lot of commercial arts.

[Judah]

I don't think that's art. I think that that is just like commodifiable visuals. That's not art.

[Lyle]

I think a lot of commodifiable visuals. But as far as, like, like, like when you go, when you buy tickets to see like a comedian, or when you buy a piece from an artist, you're buying more than just the fit you're. But, you know, you. It's like, it's like it's that person, you know, and only people can be people. But yeah, like when I, when a company is like, oh, I need a logo for my. For, you know, my bank or whatever, that's.

[Judah]

That's, that's how I feel about it. Sorry, I don't mean to curse.

[Lyle]

Someone say you can curse. I don't. It's not PBS New York after all.

[Judah]

How you guys doing?

[Lyle]

How do you feel?

[Judah]

Yo. Why?

[Lyle]

Well, there's a bunch of guys.

[Judah]

Why'd you get back here?

[Lyle]

Oh, there's a bunch of guys behind us. Who are these guys?

[Judah]

High five, bro.

[Lyle]

You'll end war and war. Everybody. Just. Peace, bro.

[Judah]

Peace and love.

[Lyle]

Sick, man. I like that. That's cool. Set. Fucking send those guys to the. Fucking. The battlefields. You Know they. I bet, I bet those guys.

[Judah]

Good grunts.

[Lyle]

I bet those guys could bring peace.

[Judah]

To the world, you know what?

[Lyle]

In a heartbeat.

[Judah]

One high five at a time.

[Lyle]

One high five at a time.

[Judah]

I love it so much.

[Lyle]

Judah Jebediah.

[Judah]

Judah Jebediah. Jebediah was a bullfrog. He was a good friend of mine.

[Lyle]

Who are your favorite artists?

[Judah]

Before we go, I'll give a couple of visual artists. I really love Richard Prince. He's very controversial.

[Lyle]

Why? Why is he controversial?

[Judah]

He. He takes other people's artwork and he reframes it. He gives a new meaning.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

And calls it his own and is very successful with it. But some people don't like that.

[Lyle]

For the record, if anyone ever. If anyone wants to take. Take this exact podcast and re upload it on YouTube and put like a really grainy filter on it and some lo fi hip hop underneath it. If you can find a way to make money doing that, you go ahead. I don't give a. I'm going to.

[Judah]

Make a YouTube channel doing that.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah. Grainy lo fi hip hop therapy gecko.

[Judah]

Re uploads 1 million. If.

[Lyle]

If you can do that and it adds value to your life in any way, shape or form, then go. Then go ahead.

[Judah]

I'm. I'm doing new media, so I'm studying all these different facets of art and all these.

[Lyle]

If you can do one. If you can do one. If you can make a YouTube channel where it's this podcast, but it's got the Simpsons theme on a loop underneath it at 12 decibel volume. I don't. Go ahead. Whatever.

[Judah]

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to use the curve function and make us look like pieces of glitch art. Moving glitch art.

[Lyle]

Go ahead.

[Judah]

And then I'm going to lower the octaves and when one person is talking, when you're talking, you're gonna talk really at a really high pitch. And then when the guest is talking, they're gonna talk.

[Lyle]

Yeah, it up.

[Judah]

Who gives so much?

[Lyle]

Yeah, remix it.

[Judah]

I love it.

[Lyle]

It's fine.

[Judah]

That's the spirit of street.

[Lyle]

Like people I. Well, people like, like sometimes I'll get a DM where someone's like, hey, this guy is reposting all your reels.

[Judah]

Awesome.

[Lyle]

It's fine. You know, it's. By the way, that's good. That is if, if my goal is that I want as many people to see the thing as possible. Who gives a shit?

[Judah]

Yeah. You know, it's not like we're Getting money off of Instagram anyways.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Also, that's another thing. It's like, so, you know, I don't really make money off of, like, the platforms themselves as much.

[Judah]

You know, What I really like is, like, YouTubers participating in Edit culture. You know what I mean?

[Lyle]

Yeah, YouTube poops.

[Judah]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And, like, the evolution of that and, like, I know I. There are a lot of YouTubers that will, like, take a second in each video or in every every so video and be like, okay, we're gonna edit farm for a second and just, like, flip their hair and have fun and yada, yada, yada. And they always watch and repost and, like, the. And it just creates the edits and whatnot. It creates a sense of community and gathering. And, like, that's what art is all about.

[Lyle]

It's funny. Like. Like, I don't know, you take like a. Like. Like how many times you go on YouTube and you see a Family Guy clip or, like, a whole, like, Family Guy funny episode compilation, and it's uploaded by, like, Shadow the Hedgehog 52 or whatever, and it's like, if Fox went around and took all those down, that'd be bad. That would be bad for. It's good to have. It means more people gonna see your shit, More people are gonna like your shit.

[Judah]

100.

[Lyle]

You know, where do you think we go when we die? Yeah, let's. Never mind.

[Judah]

I'm good for that question.

[Lyle]

All right.

[Judah]

I'm a smart.

[Lyle]

Okay, all right. You don't have to be smart to answer that question.

[Judah]

Yeah, but I think that you have to be open to looking at your emotions instead of just choosing the most comfortable.

[Lyle]

Can you. Do you think you can answer it in 20 seconds? Because I think if I have another conversation about death, I'm gonna cry myself to sleep tonight.

[Judah]

Give me Countdown from 20.

[Lyle]

I'm not going to count. I'll just trust.

[Judah]

All right, here's what I think about what happens after we die. I think that it doesn't fucking matter. I think that you should choose to live your life the way that it makes sense for you to live it and the way that makes other people and yourself the happiest, the most comfortable. And if there is a God, and if there is an afterlife, if he disagrees with my morals, then hell will probably not be hell and heaven will probably not be heaven, bro.

[Lyle]

Yeah.

[Judah]

They'll just choose the right place for me.

[Lyle]

There's, you know, there's some quote where it's like, any. Or it's like, if God If God is the kind of guy that, you know, sends you to hellfire for, you know, masturbating or whatever, then he's probably a dick. I don't want to worship him anyway. That's my. That's. That's our remix of whatever the fuck.

[Judah]

You know what I. You know what I think as, like, an agnostic Jewish person?

[Lyle]

Oh, you're Jewish?

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Let motherfucking Haim.

[Judah]

It's a. It's a Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom.

[Lyle]

It is Shabbat. Friday night.

[Judah]

Friday night. You were actually here for the beginning of Shabbat.

[Lyle]

Somebody asked me the other day what Shabbat is. I didn't know how to tell him.

[Judah]

It's like, it's time of rest and reflection, and we Jews were very neurotic. We're always running around doing things. We have to take time to reflect and recombobulate and decompress.

[Lyle]

Is anxiety a Jewish thing? Are you anxious?

[Judah]

Judaism is an anxious thing.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

Anxiety is not a Jewish thing. Do you know what I mean?

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

It's pretty fair to say, as a blanket statement, Jews are anxious overall, as a trend, but not all anxious people are Jews. Of course, they might enjoy Judaism or benefit from Judaism, but they aren't necessarily Jews.

[Lyle]

Yeah. Do you think it's like the whole. Do you think it's like the constant. Like, we're always escaping from some bullshit?

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Judah]

And I think that that's life. You know, we're escaping and we're confronting and we're escaping and we're confronting.

[Lyle]

That is life.

[Judah]

Because doing all of one or all of the other is not fun or productive or healthy. You know, one thing that I learned while I was tripping on shrooms in my grandma's hot tub.

[Lyle]

You live a hilarious life. Yeah, man.

[Judah]

To the maximum. To the maximum.

[Lyle]

Your grandma's a hot tub. Does your grandma live in Manhattan, too? I was about to say, if your grandma has a hot tub, why would.

[Judah]

I be in the park, bro? I'd be in the hot t. I.

[Lyle]

Was about to say, if your grandma had a hot tub in Manhattan, you just gotta. You just gotta, you know?

[Judah]

No, she lives in.

[Lyle]

Get in that. You gotta get in that will.

[Judah]

She lives in upstate New York. Okay. But I was tripping on shrooms with my best friend, and I was in the hot tub, and I felt like this warm blanket of sunlight, but then the cool, but also the hot water, and I was just. It made me realize that, like, life is about balancing things, and, like, if little is good, more Must be better, but not too much, you know, and all of these different things. And I realized that, like, yes, they're the things that I enjoy, but I have to balance them with things that I have to do that I don't necessarily enjoy in order for them to mean anything. You know, if. If everybody loves each other all the time, then love doesn't mean anything because it's just the norm.

[Lyle]

Yeah, yeah, I agree. There is a balance.

[Judah]

You can't just, like, hate or hell in order for love or heaven to exist.

[Lyle]

Yeah, I guess that's true. Yeah, I guess that's true. I agree with you in that. And it's kind of what I was just. What we were just talking about a little bit with, like, the, like, labeling people and whatever. You have to have a little bit of. You have to make it. Because, again, if you're, like, all peaceful and spiritual all the time, you're just gonna. If you're, like, all peaceful and spiritual and conscious all the time, you're gonna be incompatible with the actual world that you live in, which is going to the grocery store sometimes and taking shits and saying hello to some guy sometimes. You know what I mean? Like, you stop at stop sign, like, you don't live in the ethereal plane, so you gotta be, you know, personal. Balance it out a little.

[Judah]

Me, personally, I do my best to live in the ethereal plane every day.

[Lyle]

That's too much.

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

I also. I live in the ethereal plane all day, but I don't like it. One of these days, I just want to be like. I like. I like when I'm not in the ethereal plane.

[Judah]

What I'd like to do is I compartmentalize. So I'll live in the ethereal plane some days and then work so that I can live in the ethereal plane on the other days.

[Lyle]

Like, I think I was pissed off about something stupid I was pissed off about. What was I pissed off?

[Judah]

You got to be like a gecko, man. You got to let it flow off your back like water.

[Lyle]

No, no, no, I. I like being pissed off now. It's good.

[Judah]

That's very Jewish.

[Lyle]

No, it's not. I promise it's not Jewish. I promise it's not Jewish. I. It's. Let me tell you why I like being pissed off sometimes. It's because like. Like the last, you know. All right, here, let me tell you something. So there's a bit of a bell curve, I believe, to consciousness. And at the beginning. At the beginning of a bell curve is like. Like, every Little thing pisses you off. Like. Like, very low amount of consciousness. Like, you're just getting pissed off by everything. You're like, ah, the fucking line is too long at this store.

[Judah]

I always cut lines, bro.

[Lyle]

Come on.

[Judah]

I don't know why people waited, though.

[Lyle]

You always cut lines?

[Judah]

No.

[Lyle]

Do you really?

[Judah]

Just. Just most of the time.

[Lyle]

That's such a d. Do you cut in lines?

[Judah]

Okay, you. You ever seen the. Like, here. Here's why I cut in line.

[Lyle]

I can't defend you on that.

[Judah]

Here's my take. Here's my take. Most of the time, it's a mob anyways. Like, if it's, like a really organized line and it's big and it's moving fast, fine, right? And there's, like. There's, like, things going on. But, like, for example, like, when everybody's just moving towards an escalator and it's. People are forming a line. Fuck that line. I'm gonna just go on the escalator, like.

[Lyle]

Okay, all right. If. If. I'll tell you this. If. If I'm in a situation where there's a big crowd and we're all. Yes. Getting something, like, we're getting into an escalator, and I see that the most optimal way for me to exist in this formation, and that's the goal, that we're attempting it as a crowd, to make it a clean formation. If that goal requires me to be in front of this guy, I would do that occasionally. Sure. But if we're like. If I'm like, like, okay, we're like, in line at a fucking taco stand or whatever. I'm not going to cut the fucking taco stand.

[Judah]

No, no, that's not what I'm talking about. But, like, for example, have you heard of the chat and cut?

[Lyle]

Yeah, it's a Larry David thing. I. You chat?

[Judah]

Don't know. No, I think that's an amateur move. Amateur. Amateur move. I think that. No, I'm serious. I'm dead serious. The chat and cut is an amateur.

[Lyle]

What do you do? What do you do to cut lines?

[Judah]

Here's what you do. You stand there as if you're not online on your phone, and then when the line moves forward, you step forward.

[Lyle]

No, that's such a dick move. I highly disagree with that.

[Judah]

And here's. Here's. Here. You want to hear some examples of where I've used it? Because I don't use it everywhere, but I'll give you some examples, and you tell me if you think it was a dick.

[Lyle]

Sure. Yeah.

[Judah]

The British Museum.

[Lyle]

Okay?

[Judah]

We were online to get into the.

[Lyle]

Wait, were you? It was in Britain.

[Judah]

In London? Yes.

[Lyle]

In London, Yes. You can't do that. You can't. It's even worse. It's even worse. You can't go to a foreign country and start being a.

[Judah]

But it's like.

[Lyle]

Here's the thing, bro.

[Judah]

I wouldn't do that.

[Lyle]

You know. You know what?

[Judah]

Look, you're doing in Italy.

[Lyle]

Look, you grew up in New York.

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Okay? So, like, if you cut in line at some hot dog stand here, that would be. I think that would be a dick move. But to go to a foreign country and start being a dick there makes it so much worse, bro.

[Judah]

The way I feel is like, fuck the British and fuck specifically the British Museum, bro.

[Lyle]

Come on.

[Judah]

Yo, yo. And here.

[Lyle]

But it's not. Hold on. But it's not.

[Judah]

It's about the people, right? It's. You're not.

[Lyle]

Okay, you're not. You're not fucking over the British when you cut in line. Of course you're fucking over the other people. Okay, but it's.

[Judah]

But you're talking about disrespecting another country.

[Lyle]

No, it's not about the other country. First of all, it's not about. It's not about the other country. There's other people waiting in the line who want to see the British Museum, and you're not better than them, so you got to wait in the fucking line.

[Judah]

Everybody has timed tickets, and most of the people in that line I was listening to. I was standing at the back of the line listening to them, and everyone was, like, talking about how they were trying to get tickets on the way in. And I told the first couple of people, and then they left to the other bigger line or left to not come. But then it got to a certain point where it was moving so slowly because every single person was having an argument with them about, oh, I need it. Like, I didn't know that I had to have a time ticket. You didn't mark this properly. X, Y, and Z.

[Lyle]

Wait, what's another example I was gonna miss? Give me another example. When you cut in line.

[Judah]

Okay, I'll give you another example. I was at a concert, and they had a merch table. And the concert. Then the line for the merch table was crazy long. I didn't want any merch. I just wanted a poncho because it was raining and it was outdoor concert. So I stood at the front of the line and asked people like, yo, can I give you $5? You buy me A poncho.

[Lyle]

Oh, my God.

[Judah]

It worked. It worked. I didn't even have to give him $5. It worked.

[Lyle]

Judah, I. Judah.

[Judah]

I know. It's so literally, I'll.

[Lyle]

I will. I've been, like, in Chipotle. Like, I'll go to Chipotle and I'll wait in line for the whatever the thing, like, I. To get my burrito. And then afterwards, I'm like, oh, crap, I forgot napkins. I gotta ask them for napkins. And some people, they cut. They're like, hey. They cut the. They go to the front of the line, like, hey, I just wanted to ask for napkins. You wait in the line?

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

To ask for the napkins.

[Judah]

Can I be real with you, bro? And I think that my opinion is equally as valid as yours. You're a sucker for that.

[Lyle]

No, it's a. I, I, I disagree. I disagree.

[Judah]

I, I.

[Lyle]

Know what kind of. Okay. You ever. Do you fly? Do you fly? You fly on. You fly?

[Judah]

Sometimes, yeah.

[Lyle]

You ever get the person who's like. You're the person who's like, hey, I'm sorry, I'm late for my flight. Can I cut in front of you at tsa?

[Judah]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

I cannot imagine having the gall to do that.

[Judah]

I understand it. I say, I would.

[Lyle]

I would. I would miss the flight and waste a bunch of money having to get a new one before I did that. Not even.

[Judah]

And.

[Lyle]

And that's. That's not even. Actually, I'll say this. And that's not like me being, like, a holier than thou guy. That's just me that.

[Judah]

I mean, that's social anxiety.

[Lyle]

Not even social anxiety, but it's like, just to have the nerve. I would have the nerve because. But, motherfucker, we all want to get on the. We all want to get to our flights.

[Judah]

I think that we are both taking hyperbolic stances that are unrealistic for regular people's lives.

[Lyle]

I know. I disagree. I think you're. I think you're wrong.

[Judah]

No, I think.

[Lyle]

I don't think. I also think that you're necessarily. Okay, let me tell you something. I don't think. I think you're 100% wrong. I don't think I'm necessarily right. I don't think I'm necessarily wrong either. I think you're a hundred percent wrong.

[Judah]

Can I give you the. Another version of the Chipotle example you were talking about? I do have to go because.

[Lyle]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Judah]

I cut the line in Chipotle, and here's how I do it. I go on doordash and I order a pickup order 15 minutes before I.

[Lyle]

Get cutting the line.

[Judah]

Yeah, but it is cutting the line.

[Lyle]

You okay? Go ahead, I'll let you finish.

[Judah]

It's the same exact thing. Because they're gonna get the order and make it. They're gonna get the order before someone who got into the shop before you even thought about getting the burrito.

[Lyle]

Right.

[Judah]

Got into the front yet.

[Lyle]

Yeah, but that's fair. But that's fair because you are taking advantage of a system that the person who is waiting in line could have also taken advantage of. You're, you're, you're operating within the established system. You are operating within the what? You are operating within an established form of order.

[Judah]

Right.

[Lyle]

When you cut the line. Social.

[Judah]

If we take social norms out of it, we think about just like what's right and what's wrong.

[Lyle]

Sure.

[Judah]

Right. The same kind of like financial system that allowed me to make the doordash. Right?

[Lyle]

Uh huh.

[Judah]

Pick up. It's just a social system that says that I can't cut in line, bro, I'm sorry. I. I really, I love this bit, but I can't keep it up anymore. I don't cut in line.

[Lyle]

Wait, sorry.

[Judah]

Yeah, I'm sorry.

[Lyle]

This whole thing was a bit.

[Judah]

Yeah, I love you. You should.

[Lyle]

Wait, wait, this was a bit.

[Judah]

Yeah, I didn't, I just came. I just.

[Lyle]

Terrible bit. Why would you do this?

[Judah]

Sorry. We laughed, we had fun. We love, we did laugh.

[Lyle]

But everyone on the pod, everyone is good. Everyone's gonna hate you now.

[Judah]

Okay, that's. I'm okay with that. You know? You know, like you're not doing something right if you're not getting haters. And like, honestly, they'll probably, they'll probably get game community by like showing each other the video. Look at this dumbass. He cuts in the line. He's an asshole. People will, the, the overall will be better. And honestly, like when, if people clip that, I'll be like, oh, if you look at the end, I said I was joking.

[Lyle]

Can I, can I clip this, please? I was thinking, you know, I was.

[Judah]

Thinking while we have this, flip it and tag me.

[Lyle]

Can I actually, I'm gonna tell you something. This is, I might tell you I'm a hundred percent serious with you right now. I was thinking, I was like, this would be a good clip. But I know that if I clip it, it's just gonna, I've had, I've had a time where I've done this podcast where I was in Portugal and I had this lady on, and I made a clip of her and I posted the clip and the clip, like, did well. It performed well. But all of the comments were just like, this lady, she sucks. And I'm like, I don't like that. Like, that's not what I'm like going for. I don't like, feel comfortable with that. Like, that's not the kind of, like, what, that's not like what I'm, that's really not what I'm trying to be about. So I deleted the clip. And I was thinking just now I was like, this would be a good clip, but if I post it, everyone in the comments gonna be like, this guy, this guy sucks. And I'm not a bad. It's not what I'm about. I'm not, I don't, I'm not sure. I don't want to, like, years get views that way. Yeah, but if you're telling me, yes, I am. But if you're saying to me you would. You actively would want to subject yourself to that, then I will, then I, then I'll consider it.

[Judah]

I, I would love if you would consider it and you could even include a little bit at the end where I said, oh, I was just joking. If you felt like that was okay.

[Lyle]

You know what? You know what? I was. You know what? Maybe I could.

[Judah]

Yeah, or you could. You could put in the description, like X, Y and Z, by the way, he was joking or whatever.

[Lyle]

No one's going to see that. No, of course.

[Judah]

But then you can say, oh, why didn't you read the caption before you said something? You know, it's all about.

[Lyle]

You can hop in the. You know what? You know what I'm saying. I'll clip it. And then you hop in the comments in your merch thing.

[Judah]

Oh, I love it.

[Lyle]

And then you'll see, but I don't know if that'll work for you. I think you'll get like, hate bombed. I think people will. Will get upset with you.

[Judah]

You know what? And that's more views for me, baby. I love it. And you know what? Like, if you guys want to go on my Instagram and give me some hate I love, honestly, my only request is just be specific about what you dislike.

[Lyle]

No, they don't do that.

[Judah]

They don't do it.

[Lyle]

No, they don't. They don't get specific.

[Judah]

I'm just like, okay, if you guys do that, if you guys are not specific, then I will be specific. But that's okay. I like. And honestly, like, I, I love everybody and I I do it for the love of the game. I do everything for the love of the game.

[Lyle]

Judah, Judah, Judah, Nice to meet you. Judas. You want to say to the people the computer before we go?

[Judah]

Yo, follow strut nyc. If you want to see some great amazing art, come to the Washington Square park fountain. I'm here all the time, every other week, six days a week. I rock it, I roll it, I squish it, I squash it. Peace and love.

[Lyle]

Rock and roll. Nice to meet you Judah.

[Judah]

Very nice to meet you.

[Lyle]

Take care brother.

[Judah]

You as well.

[Lyle]

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[Lyle]

What's your name?

[Belle]

I'm Belle.

[Lyle]

Belle, nice to meet you. I'm Lyle.

[Belle]

Nice to meet you.

[Lyle]

How's life going, Belle?

[Belle]

It's. It's going to.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Very cool. Yeah, we don't have. That could be it.

[Belle]

I mean, how's your life going?

[Lyle]

My life's going all right.

[Belle]

How's the whole Gecko thing?

[Lyle]

So it's fun.

[Belle]

That's good.

[Lyle]

It could be it. That could be the whole combo. That could be it.

[Belle]

I. I don't know how this works. I don't know how this works.

[Lyle]

How does this work? Well, what are you doing in the park? How many people tell you that you look like Raven from Teen Titans a Day?

[Belle]

Never heard that before.

[Lyle]

Shut up. You never heard that, but you've never heard that before?

[Belle]

Literally never ever.

[Lyle]

I'm talking to her friend off screen. Do you or do you agree with that? They said they can see that. Do you. Can you see it?

[Belle]

I don't know. Today I got one say, Adam, so.

[Lyle]

How do you feel about these comparisons? Do they.

[Belle]

I don't care. I mean, I take it as a compliment.

[Lyle]

Okay, good. So what are you. What are you doing out in the park today?

[Belle]

Just hanging out with my friend. I mean, I didn't even plan to say this late, but then, I don't know, I saw you. I. I thought before you had, like, the gecko suit on. I thought you were, like, gonna cosplay Shrek or something.

[Lyle]

Yeah, that's what I get A lot. A lot of people come up to me when I'm just wearing the. Like, I just have the face paint on, and people are like, are you Shrek? Or someone be like, oh, are you the Hulk? Or like, I get like this. I get. When I'm wearing the costume or I'm wearing just the paint, I get a rotation of the same five things said to me constantly, and I don't have a clever thing to say back. So here's what I normally say. I usually. Or something. Like, I'll be walking and something. Why is your face green? And I'll usually be like, I'm a crazy green guy, and I'll just keep walking.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

If someone's like, oh, I've seen your videos, and I'm like, oh, okay. Thank you. I appreciate It. But if it's just someone who's like, why is your face screen? Sometimes. Sometimes I'll be like, oh, I was doing interviews in the park, but normally I'd just be like, I'm crazy.

[Belle]

That works.

[Lyle]

Which works, too. It's a little true. That could be it. That could be the whole conversation. No, you seem like you want. You've been standing over there the entire time I've been doing this.

[Belle]

I mean, I don't know how this works.

[Lyle]

I was just like, yeah, ask me another. Yeah, ask me another question.

[Belle]

How'd you get into this?

[Lyle]

Wait, what do you study? What do you do with your life? Do you study something? Do you work at something? Do you.

[Belle]

Yeah, fashion.

[Lyle]

I study fashion, yeah. Oh, you're at fit. Yeah, I almost went to fit.

[Belle]

Oh, for what?

[Lyle]

I have to. Okay. I was about a. I almost went to FIT for films.

[Belle]

Oh, we talked about this.

[Lyle]

Oh, yeah, we talked about this off camera a little bit. I almost went that way for film. I was talking to my parents about it. My dad. My parents were both like, you're gonna be the only straight man at the entire.

[Belle]

That's not true.

[Lyle]

Is that true?

[Belle]

I mean, you would definitely be a minority, but that's definitely not true. I will say, if you're a straight man, there all the girls come to you because there's so many girls.

[Lyle]

Is that true? Is that true? Do all the girls come? Is that how that. Is that really how that works?

[Belle]

Unfortunately, yes.

[Lyle]

Or is it more like. Or is it, like, teacher hot? You know, where, like, it's like they're around, so they're hotter. You know what I mean?

[Belle]

The teachers.

[Lyle]

Well, like. You know what I mean? Like. How do I say this? Like, okay, whatever. Like, yeah, because. Because there's so few men around.

[Judah]

You're forced.

[Lyle]

That's. That's who you're forced to find attractive. It's just who's there?

[Belle]

Yeah, basically. But, I mean, that's kind of what happens. Like, I feel like. I feel like half the girls sleep with, like, the same, like, five guys at least, from what I've heard. So.

[Lyle]

Do. What do the guys study? They study fashion.

[Belle]

All different types of things. I don't know.

[Lyle]

Okay?

[Belle]

I don't. I don't talk to the guys that much. Except for him, and he's gay. So.

[Lyle]

What do you think is the future of fashion?

[Belle]

I will probably take over, and none of us will have jobs anymore, so.

[Lyle]

Really? You think so?

[Belle]

Yeah, I mean, it's already happening, so.

[Lyle]

Well, and how do you believe it started Happening.

[Belle]

I mean, every time I open my phone, I'm like. I'm like, oh, this is a cool, like, fashion Runway. And then I'm like, wait, this is AI.

[Lyle]

But it's. There was, like. It's AI is in, like. Like, the Runway is AI or the closer AI.

[Belle]

Like, the whole video is AI.

[Lyle]

Did. Did a human at least prompt it? Because here, let me tell. Well, all right. Let me say. Here's my. Here's kind of my thoughts about AI is like, I've seen. I like the genuinely good things I've seen with AI because, like, all right, you can go into chat gbt, right? And you can be like, make a dress that looks cool.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

And 100 of the time, it's gonna make something that's, like, kind of lame.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

But, like, the fun. The things I've seen with AI that are, like, genuinely funny, I'm like, okay. I like. I can tell that, like, the tools used to made that, like, to generate this were AI. But I can tell that a human being who is funny must be orchestrating this. But a great example is. I think it's called, like, Fat Fellas on Instagram. Fat Fella Season or something. It's just like a. It's these AI videos of these, like, obese guys, like, doing heists and, like, riding on yachts and stuff. And it's super funny, and it's all AI generated, but it's. You can tell that a funny person used AI to make it. So I guess we could live in a world where, like, okay, yeah, people are using AI, but you can tell that there is human intent behind the tools.

[Belle]

Yeah. I mean, I get what you're saying. I feel like half of, like, the memes on my Instagram are AI now. But it's like.

[Lyle]

But they're funny. But they have. They're funny enough to the point where you get a human being.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Made it. Some. Some. The ethos of it was created in a human's mind.

[Belle]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Lyle]

I don't know. Do you agree with that, or. I do think I'm being bullshitty right now. You can fight back. By the way, you said you didn't know how this works, but you can. You can fight back if you disagree with anything I'm saying.

[Belle]

I mean, I. I don't disagree. I mean, I. Sometimes I'm just, like, scrolling, and I. I think the AI stuff is funny. And, like, sometimes, like, not even funny. Like, my mom always sends me, like, cute videos of animals that are, like, obviously AI.

[Lyle]

That's stuff I Don't like, I don't like, like, I don't like, like the AI Animals or like, AI Hot girls.

[Belle]

Oh, yeah, that, that makes me cringe.

[Lyle]

That makes me. I don't like that at all.

[Belle]

Yeah, there's like, certain things about that that, like, ick me out because there's like this new thing where, like, people are like, AI, like, like, I guess, like, deep faking, like people with like, disabilities and like, down syndrome for, like, only fan. Like, I don't know, it's like this weird thing.

[Lyle]

There's a lot of. Yeah, like, well, there's a lot of like, only fans. Like, like, like where it's like, it's like a lady's only fans. She's like chatting with people, but it's not.

[Belle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lyle]

You know, which makes sense because I think if you're chatting with a lady on OnlyFans, it's 99.99% of the time it's not her anyway.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

So naturally it would lead to the point where it's like, well, none of it is just some guy creating a thing.

[Belle]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, like, it seems new now, but like, it was like, it wasn't like 10 years ago that, like that whole Lil Michaela thing, like, went viral. Like, there was this girl, Lil Michaela that went viral for being like the first, like, AI influencer. Like before AI blew up. This was like 10 years ago.

[Lyle]

Oh, okay. Yeah. No, Yeah, I know it's not a new thing, but. Yeah, I, I don't know. I, I, I do wonder how, I do wonder how successful those things will be because I do believe that, like, you know, when you follow, like, like I was thinking about it, like, like I listen to podcasts and I watch YouTube videos. Yeah, there are some YouTube videos where I'm like, like, if I'm watching a, like I watch a lot of like, video game trivia and it's like if I'm watching a video game trivia hour, two hours of gamecube Facts video.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

I probably won't notice if it's made by AI.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Right. But if I'm, if I'm listening to a two hour long video of like a guy telling his life story, that I'm going to be able to tell if it's AI, you know, so it's like these things, the things that are more pure and authentic and personal, I think will persist and the things that are impersonal, like I was just talking to that guy Judah about, like, commercial art will probably be done by AI.

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

But yeah, I think the art and the things that are like impersonal and inauthentic and surface level will probably be replaced. But the things that are really deep and you know, writing that's very personal and art and you know, even visual art and fashion that's personal has stories to it I think will continue to persist because people buy into those things because they buy into the, you know, the human beings behind them. You know, when I'm listening to a two hour long video about YouTube trivia, I'm just trying. About GameCube trivia, I'm just trying to zone out. I'm not really connecting to anything human in that sense.

[Belle]

Yeah, I mean, I hope, I definitely hope like what you're saying stays true. But like I feel like I've already seen some stuff where like I've seen like these videos on Instagram where they look real and then they're like, oh, by the way, this is AI. Like it's like one of those like street interviews, I guess, kind of like this and like, sure, it like seems like personal. And then they're like, wait, this is AI and they're like, look at, look at the fingers or whatever. And I'm like, I didn't notice that at all. And it's kind of scary. So like, I hope what you're saying stays true, but.

[Lyle]

Yeah, but that, but the person who's using AI to make the fake video of the person telling the fake story, that's a short term game because they're never going to build any. I don't think you're going to build anything long term off of that, you know, like, because that's just used, like if you're just using that to trick people, that's not going to be a long. Like I don't think like, like people like people listening to this podcast. We're two human beings having a conversation. If people found out that like this was AI, I don't think people would listen to this.

[Belle]

But what if this was actually AI and they never knew?

[Lyle]

Yo, that would be quite a long con. I guess it's true, I guess it's true that people like this could, this whole thing could be AI because like.

[Belle]

It'S like you don't technically have to be like, this is an AI podcast. So there could be like podcasts and videos out there that are all AI and they're just so good if you're doing.

[Lyle]

But I think if you're doing something in the long term, people will find out if it's AI.

[Belle]

Some People are really committed to. I mean, if people can be like serial killers and like, never get, like, found out until they're like, they die or like, ever, then I get.

[Lyle]

I don't know. I don't know. That would be just such a psyop you'd have to do we. Sure, I guess. Right. Like, also, I feel that way with, like, music. Like, a lot of people are making. Using AI to make music, but people don't buy into music in terms of, like, the tracks themselves. Right. People buy into the artists. They buy into the personality behind the music. They want to see the tour. They wanna, you know, collab, connect with the story. They like the brand or the aesthetic that the artist is getting into. And it's like, you could probably fake someone out for a couple years, right, to be like an AI rapper or whatever the. But like, I don't. I don't think you can. I. I think that stuff will. Will probably exist, but I don't think it's gonna wipe out the people who are authentically attempting to make art as human beings.

[Belle]

Yeah, I mean, there are like, AI artists, but they're not. Like, people know their AI.

[Lyle]

Right? People know their AI. And I assume that the AI artists that are very successful are people who. Who have successful some level of intention behind their art and are just using the AI as the tools and are not just being, like, generate a cool picture for me, you know, I mean, I don't.

[Belle]

I don't know. You never know with the future.

[Lyle]

I just like, you know, we gotta, you know. What's your name again?

[Belle]

Belle.

[Lyle]

You know, we gotta do Belle what? We gotta live in the present.

[Belle]

Yeah. I mean.

[Lyle]

Well, Bell. That rhymes. That's. This is it. This is the end of the podcast.

[Belle]

Okay.

[Lyle]

Is there anything else you want to say to the people, the computer, before we go?

[Belle]

I know. Have a great day.

[Lyle]

Thank you all for listening to the Therapy Gecko podcast. My name is Lyle. I'm a gecko. This was fun. You were here the whole time?

[Belle]

Yeah.

[Lyle]

Who do we talk to? What was the name of the first lady? Anna and. No, the first guy was Kai. Was a Kai. No, it was J. First guy was J, then it was Anna and it was Judah and it was Bell. First time in my entire life I've remembered the names of everyone who's talked on the. On the show. Maybe that was a good. That was a good gang. That was a good. We had some good conversations. What do you. I mean, what do you think? You were standing there. Did you enjoy it as a Bystander.

[Belle]

Yeah, I mean, a lot of the stuff I heard, I was like, this is interesting.

[Lyle]

Yeah, good enough. Good enough. All right. Thanks for listening, Geck. Bless. I'll see you around the universe. Oh yeah. On Friday. What? This is coming out Sunday? Oh yeah. This week I'm going to put out my Tijuana video. So go, go look out for that. I'm a gecko. Everything's gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine. Bell, this is a really, it's a long outro. I should just end it right?

[Belle]

All right. I see your podcast.

[Lyle]

All right.

[Belle]

Make it as long as you.

[Lyle]

All right. All right. It's. It is. It's gonna be over in 3, 2, 1. Now let your imagination take flight with.

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[Lyle]

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[Lyle]

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[Lyle]

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[Lyle]

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[Judah]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Lyle]

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[Sonesta]

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[Lyle]

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