Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - 243: Our Most Irrational Fears | Ear Biscuits Ep.243

Episode Date: June 1, 2020

We're just fragile, gooey stuff. Having a human body is scary. Listen to some of Rhett and Link's other "irrational" fears as well as their take on whether ignorance is truly bliss in this episode of Ear Biscuits! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is mythical. Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome to Ear Biscuits, I'm Rhett. And I'm Link. This week at my dining table and the illustrious card table in the creative house where, Rhett, I see you're sitting.

Yes. We. Once again. Yes, once again. We are going to, we're going to dive into a number of topics that you have dictated in response to a prompt that we put out across the universe. I mean, when you put prompts out there,

it's like, hey, guys, do you have any questions for us? I wonder if aliens are like tempted to respond. You know, it's like, if there are aliens with the capacity to monitor everything we're doing, are they, man, I really want to respond. And if they do, could they be using an alias as one of these people? I don't know, we can assess that.

Well, from a physical limitation standpoint, if they wanted to respond, I mean, the best technology that we have at this point can only move information at the speed of light. So if they do respond, it's gonna be years from now and it will be irrelevant. Now, if they are here- Oh, you're assuming that they have the limitations that we have.

Well, no, I mean, they may be here in some form or fashion or they may have a way to monitor us even from a distance in a way that we don't. So in that case- They could also communicate with us. Yeah, instantaneously. Yeah, my mind's really in the world of aliens because even though I, you know, I read the three body problem,

then I read the sequel, Dark Forest, and then I was like, you know what, this is too bleak and it's too heady and it's too much, I can't do it. And then I realized that I've been paying for Audible and I'd forgotten that I should listen to some audio books. You said that you listen to books while you're walking around the neighborhood.

I was like, I should give that a try. And so I downloaded the third book, the final book in the trilogy. I've been listening to that. It may, I mean, I can walk for a long time. Like I'm walking like over an hour because I'm just walking as a way to listen to a book. I don't even know where I am.

Yeah, and you get so many more books. And I use the term read, I don't care. If somebody says, I don't specify, I'm listening to a book, I'm like, I'm reading a book. Because, I mean, who am I? I'm not a guy who listens to books. No, actually I am, and I've gotten through so many more books than normal,

just because I've been walking so much. Do you walk slower or faster when it gets more intense? Or is it irrespective? Irrespective. I walk more, like what you're saying, when I wanna keep listening. In fact, last night I finished a book that was great. And this one took me like five days of walking to finish.

What book? So it was a pretty short book. It's called The Stranger in the Woods. You remember we did that? I would have made this a wreck in a subsequent episode. So now you're stealing it from me. But we did that episode on GMM about hermits and weird people. I don't know what it was.

It was back in the day. And we talked about the North Pond Hermit, the guy who lived next to that lake in Maine and was isolated by himself with no human contact. That is what isolation means.

Except for one... He can be isolated with people, I guess. Except for one interaction in 27 years. And he's thought to be a person who was the most isolated person in human history, potentially. Which I think is what we titled the video, back when we did those type of videos. It's an incredible story of a journalist

who wanted to- Track him down? Interact with this guy. No, no, no, it's after he got arrested. Okay. And you know, because he It's after he got arrested. Okay. And what, and you know, because he was stealing from everybody. Right. It's, I was like,

why is this book rated so highly? You know, that's, and then I, well, I learned by reading it, AKA listening to it, because it's an incredibly introspective, like the journalist is very introspective and the way that he explores the concept of isolation and hermitage, if that's a word.

It's only like a six hour listen. And it's a good time to read it. You know when you're like, you're trying to gain some sort of, what's the word? Like a perspective? No, like a connection to this guy who's done this. There's camaraderie. Like, hey, I'm not alone in these feelings.

His level of isolation, the funny thing is, is not at one point during the book did it strike me that I was doing anything remotely close to what this guy was doing. Did that help you? Or was it, it didn't matter? No, it didn't matter. It's just, it's touching.

It's touching. In fact, at the end, like I'd walked for four and a half miles last night listening to this book. And I was coming up to my house and I was like, I don't really wanna, and I can look at my, I'm listening to the book on my watch.

I don't even have my phone. It's just my watch and my headphones. And I'm like, there's 15 minutes late. And I just went and 15 minutes left, I went and sat on my front steps and then I just began to weep. Really? During this, there's a moment at the end where.

Oh, don't spoil it. Where it will make you cry if you have a heart. What do you mean? You don't know if I have a heart? I'm just saying for all the people out there. Not everybody cries at everything. Rhett, no one's listening to this conversation. It's just me and you, man.

And I do have a heart. I didn't plan on talking about that. I was gonna make it a wreck for later. I know what I plan on talking about. The Stranger in the Woods, The Stranger in the Woods I think it's called. So where do you land right now on podcasts versus audio books?

And how are you navigating that? Because I know you like listening to podcasts too and if you get on a good series. Yeah. And see for me, my thing is always about like, am I gonna listen to music? Cause I'm, you know, or am I gonna listen to a podcast? And now it's, am I gonna listen to an audio book?

I think audio book has taken the place of podcasts for me at this moment. Yeah, well, you know, for some reason, because I listen to podcasts a lot and I listen to them especially while driving. I was already listening to a lot of audio books, but slowly audio books have sort of pushed podcasts out. But it's an interesting dynamic because I also listen to,

I don't listen to music when I work out. Most people do, most people need some kind of music and I understand that. Some BPMs baby. But I'm just like, I kinda want what I get from the book or from the podcast more than I want the feeling that the music gives me when I'm working out. And some books can get too complex to listen to

while you're like, Well you have to be present. I mean, you have to be embodied to really work out because if you're, as opposed to walking, I think it could be dangerous. But I do both. I still do more audio book listening while working out than podcasts. But I find both. I still do more audio book listening while working out than podcast.

But I find that podcast because there's just sort of a lighthearted conversation most of the time, you can kind of tune in and tune out and it is better for working out. But I can't count to 10. Like I couldn't count reps and listen to the book I'm listening to. I mean, it's a very complex book

and I'm not that complex of a guy. So I really got to apply myself. If I had to count to 10, three times in a row, I couldn't do it. Which reminds me of meditation. You know, there's a thing in meditation where it's like you count your breaths and when you get to 10, you start over.

Most of the time, I don't ever get to 10, the first time. You know, I definitely couldn't. Yeah, it's very difficult. I don't wanna be trying to do my reps, but anyway. Or sometimes I'll find myself in the teens and I'll be like, oh, you're supposed to start over. Yeah. That happens sometimes too. Cause you can count on autopilot,

unless you're doing bench press. Two quick things though, two quick things before we get into the real deal. Take all the time you need. First thing is, I want to acknowledge the fact that this is very likely, you know, unforeseeable circumstances notwithstanding. Fingers crossed.

That we will do the podcast separate, right? So we actually, we can break this. The last split screen podcast. We can break this to you, Ear Biscuitier, because you're going to find out tomorrow anyway, if you listen to this when it comes out. But we actually went back into the studio, just the two of us. This comes out Monday, along with the episode.

They're at the same time. Oh, again, on Monday, not on Sunday. So no one's finding anything out. Yeah. So the episode of GMM that you could watch today, if you're listening to this on Monday when it comes out, you'll see that it's just me and Link and Stevie in the studio because the three of us have been in quarantine

and we have determined that it is safe for us to get together and shoot the show together. And that's the way we're going to do it until we hear further information that will allow us to bring in a few more people and social distance and masks and all that stuff. So along with that, we will be going back into the Ear Biscuit studio

with the round table of dim lighting. So the echo that you hear, especially on my side, will be gone. The USB audio quality, which I've seen some audiophiles actually complain about because we're using these USB mics, that'll be gone. We're going XLR all the way, all the time. So we'll be back to the way it should be. And we can smell each other.

Don't forget about that. That's the biggest part. We can smell each other. Don't forget about that. That's the biggest part. We can smell each other. I was gonna let you mention that. We can see each other directly. Versus through screens. And there will be no delay. And we have shot, so yesterday we went in and we shot a few episodes of GMM with Stevie.

And it was a joy, was it not? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I was, I mean, I think I said it in one of the episodes that like, I was very, I had a hard time sleeping the night before because I was so excited about it. But I was also nervous because it was just the three of us in charge of a lot of technical things.

But Morgan Morgan had set up this amazing system with GoPros covering the space and shooting the settings panel on like the audio output and different and where Stevie would sit and kind of control and maintain all of these things. And so they were all on, Morgan and the rest of the crew that was needed for all the episodes, they were monitoring live and communicating with us, even though we were the only three people, we were the six hands for the,

who knows how many people were watching, in addition to- But five cam, like our traditional five camera setup running at the same time, our audio feed coming from the mic and being monitored by Chris, our audio guy, who was watching a video feed of just the waveforms or just the audio kit, basically.

Yeah. It was an incredible system. And it was demanding. And we said it to the crew. We said it to the crew, but it was like, they, one of the things that we've said multiple times is how easy they make it for us when we're in the studio. Yeah. Well, they actually made it easy for us

when they weren't in the studio. Now, there was a lot of like moving parts and cleaning up and stuff that we normally don't have to worry about. Yeah. But it was still, I mean, you'll be able to see when you see these episodes, next week's episodes,

which is still just three a week for now. You can say today's episode. Yeah, this week's episode. There's a joy. We were having a good time. Yeah, there's a palpable joy. Having a good time. I was so relieved a palpable joy. Having a good time. I was so relieved that the system worked

and that we got, you know, there was a couple of hitches at the beginning with getting everything booted up and all the cameras to wake up, but then, and there were creative limitations, you know, when it's just the three of us there. I'm so appreciative to the extended team. And I mean, you'll be able to see the difference

in this week's episodes. And again, it's still just three of them. We're gonna go to five as soon as we can, but that's not this week as you're listening to this fresh. But yeah, it was great to be in the space. And you know, afterward, the thing that I slacked out to the team and that I was reflecting, it's funny because as I was driving home yesterday, having recorded the episodes in the studio, I started listening to the audio book because I'm

so hooked on this story. I just want to keep going. But then I was like, you know what? just want to keep going. But then I was like, you know what? I'm going to pause this and I'm going to reflect on what happened today. And so on the ride home, which was a lot shorter because ain't nobody on the freeway still, I just took that time just to stop and celebrate the fact that we did it. I mean, so by the time I got home, I was able to convey what I appreciated myself to the team. And that was, it was the experience of being behind the desk and for us to like be in the same space

and to make the show. And it was the most normal that I felt since being in quarantine I mean you it's it was just it was refreshing it was relieving it was like a sigh of relief to drive into work to and to do it and then drive to drive back home it felt so like it used to be. And then when I got home, you know, I entered back into a space where no one else was feeling that. And we were navigating all the challenges of the accumulation of isolation and frustration and how all that comes out sideways. But I had more in my tank than I've had in a really long time because just of a sense of normalcy. It's so powerful.

Well, it's funny. It's funny you talk about that transition from basically going to work for the first time, right? I mean, we've been working, but the whole idea of going into the studio and getting back into that rhythm of like, I'm at this space where it is designated as a place where I do my job. And then I come back to my home. And I was in the same place.

I was feeling really good. I was like, I was so, I was very proud of our team. You know, they show us all the time how good they are at what they do and how they facilitate what we're best at doing. They do what they're best at so that we can do what we're best at. And it works, right? And yesterday, even though we had doubts about this process, like, what is it going to be like for just the three of us to be in there and all of that be remote? Well, they figured it out and it worked. And then we could have a good time, which is the key to us making a good show is us having a good time.

So I was thinking the same thing. And then I got home and we had experimented with this. You know, we've had trouble getting Shepard to do his schoolwork without constant interference or, you interference or intervening. And so me and Sherwood had a conversation last week where we were like, we're going to try something new, even though this is like the last week of school or the last two weeks of school. I was like, we're going to try something.

Just see if we can get this. You know, we're going to give you the opportunity to basically set your schedule and get your work done and we're going to check in at the end of the day and what we're trying to do is we're trying to instill or establish trust with you so that then you can have freedom right because no one is enjoying this constant argument about, hey, are you doing your work? You're doing your work. And this is especially difficult for Jessie because she's the one who I'm over here at the creative house or whatever. And she's dealing with it constantly.

So, you know, I get home and it's like, first of all, I'm going to grill some tuna steaks on the grill. That was my that was my job for dinner. But I was also going to tuna steaks on the grill. That was my job for dinner. But I was also gonna check in on Shepard. And I check in on Shepard and then like, he kind of did some stuff, but then he didn't fully do it. And then there was an argument that broke out about that. And then there was an argument that broke out with Locke.

I can't even remember what it was. I was in the kitchen and Jesse was cutting something with a pair of scissors. And then I was walking and she turned around with the scissors and I bumped into her and no one was hurt. But then she thought it was my fault. I thought it was her fault. We're yelling at each other and she's got a pair of scissors. Oh, gosh. And so basically with every family member, with the exception of Barbara, I don't think Barbara did anything to piss me off. She rarely does.

It was like I had gone from this place where everyone was doing exactly what I needed them to do in order to make my life easier to a place where no one was doing anything that made my life easy. It wasn't about me and my life being easy. It was about being a part of this family where everybody's got their own needs. Everybody's got their own stuff that they're dealing with and we're all tired of each other. And it was just like, I went from zero to 11, just all of a sudden. And then after dinner, Jessie was like,

she said, do you want to go sleep at the creative house tonight? See, that bed that I put in there that you've been giving me a hard time about. It's funny because she was like, there is you've been giving me a hard time about, now it's a pretty good idea. There is a bed.

Yeah. I was like, it's a child's bed. Do I look like a child? It's not a child's bed, it's a twin bed. So did you sleep on it? How did it feel? Well, I didn't sleep on it. I said, I'm not gonna do that.

I said, you know, I just need a little time to myself, I guess, because she not gonna do that. I said, you know, I just need a little time to myself, I guess, because she's giving it to me. And I, so I took my really long, you know, four and a half mile walk. And then you sat on the steps and weeped. Was that yesterday? Mm-hmm, yeah, it was last night.

And, uh, Wept, I think is the word. All that to say, I don't, I don't, I mean, I'm just saying I relate to what you're saying. This whole, and all I can do is be grateful for, because, you know, not everybody has that. Not everybody has it. Like most people, and I'm not saying we don't have frustrations at work from time to time. But, you know, it's an exceptional thing to be like, man, they just did all this stuff for us. And the level of ownership, I think that's the thing that is so impressive with so many members of our team is that they're like, this isn't just Rhett and Link's thing. This is our thing. And we're gonna do it well,

like we're gonna do it in an excellent way. And it just makes it fun, you know? Yeah, and I mean, so many people have it so difficult. I mean, so many people don't even have jobs to go to. So it's, you know, A lot of people. Again, I to acknowledge that. And, you know, just if there's any way to simulate, from my experience, I guess the

encouragement, and I don't know if there's much to it, is that if there's a way to, if there's not normal in your life, is there's a way to simulate it. You know, I don't even know what that would mean. Even just a glimpse of it for a few minutes helps so much. Wherever you're going, you better believe American Express will be right there with you. Heading for adventure? We'll help you breeze through security. Meeting friends a world away? You can use your travel credit. Squeezing every drop out of the last day? How about a 4 p.m. late checkout?

Just need a nice place to settle in? Enjoy your room upgrade. Wherever you go, we'll go together. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamx. Benefits vary by card. Terms apply. Okay. Let's start with a question from

Michelle, Miss Belvedere on the Twitter. What's your most irrational fear? I am oddly afraid of wind turbines and other large things and bones. Wind turbines? Wind turbine?

How do you say that? She's talking about like a wind mill, like the ones out going out to Palm Springs, the huge windmills. Those are, wind turbine, how do you say that? She talking about like a windmill, like the ones out going out to Palm Springs, the huge windmills, those are, I mean, you drive by those on the freeway if you're going out to Palm Springs. I remember the first time I drove out to Palm Springs, it was when we were going to, we were going to the wrestler's reality house.

I can't remember what it was called. Legends House. Legends House. They had a reality show and they brought us in as guest judges because the wrestlers divided up into two teams and made local commercials. We got to meet Rowdy Roddy Piper, who's may he rest in peace., who's may he rest in peace. Mean Gene, may he rest in peace.

Mean Gene, cool guy. That guy, man, you just gotta sense this guy was full of stories. I wish we could've hung out with him more. Hillbilly Jim. Was Jim Dibiase there? No, Hacksaw was there. He wasn't, he wasn't.

Who's one of Christie's favorites for some reason. But I remember that was the first time we went out, we went to Palm Springs and they put us in a, it wasn't a limo, it was a car. We were both sitting in the backseat of some like town car. And I was like, crap, look at those windmills. You remember that? That's the first time I'd ever seen them.

Probably you too. I don't remember the moment specifically, but yeah. Maybe we saw some when we traveled across the country for the Mythical Road Trip, but this one left the most indelible impression, and I do relate to Michelle's sense of fear. I have a clarifying question about this because, first of all, they're much bigger than you understand

or can appreciate until you get right next to them. I mean, even, because they look like they're just sort of moving like this. Yeah. But if you were to get up there and there's a reason that, you know, if a bird flies into one, it's like getting hit, it's like hitting a golf ball with a baseball bat or worse. Oh gosh.

Oh yeah. I mean, these things are flying, they're going so fast. They're just so big, it doesn't look like it. Yeah, I can imagine if I was right next to it, having a sense of awe-inspiring fear. You can take a tour. We should go take a tour of one of these.

Is this like looking at a whole hillside of them is scary? I think. Listen, we don't have to analyze Michelle's fear. She's really asking us what is our irrational fear. I think you know mine. What's yours? Is yours heights? I don't know what yours is, actually.

I think I've got a few. I mean, I don't know if yours is actually. I think I've got a few. I mean, I don't know if height is an irrational fear. There are certain situations in which it's very rational Yeah. to be scared of heights. I'm scared of heights that are associated, I'm scared of heights plus no handholds.

Does that make sense? Like a railing? Like your wife sent us that video in our group chat of those people in some tourist attraction where you have to like walk on these weird things that are like, look like a mile high. And one of them is like- It was like planks that were on two,

what are those metal wire cables? Why am I forgetting the word cables? But one of them, and you had to jump from one to the other. One of them is like a trapeze, where it's just a plank and two ropes and you have to like swings and you have to go to the next one. Now I'm not saying I'd be okay with this,

but I would be much more okay with that one, like, cause I've got something to hold on to, than the second one, which is just the cables and the planks, and you just gotta go to the next plank. Like, there's something about being tall and not having good balance. If you took a step, you could go to the next plank, but then after a couple of those,

the planks started to get further apart, so you had to jump, And it was like freaking Mario. Yeah. And you're tethered. You're strapped in but. You're tethered but there's nothing to hold on to. So you're just standing there. Well, and it's loose.

Like you're tethered but it's. You forget about it. There's full slack so you don't feel any protective measures. So that's one but the one that my wife makes fun of me all the time for is my fear of bats. Yeah, yeah. I remember the being in the hot tub story where the bats kept swooping down.

So yeah, I mean, in most places in the United States, because I mean, I'm saying most places because it happens in California and it happened in North Carolina. Like once dusk comes around, you start seeing the air. Is that a bird flying erratically? Like, no, that's a bat. It's a bat.

And he's flying in weird directions and swooping, swooping down like and getting really close to your head, right? And I told you the story of what happened to Heather Dinklage growing up where we were outside and a bat freaking landed in her hair and bit her on the neck. What? At least she said that it bit her on the neck, but I think it maybe just got caught in her hair or something.

Might have clawed her. They got claws, man. And so what, in my mind, at one point was, oh, the bats will never actually come in contact with you because they got like sonar, you know what I'm saying? They're not gonna, they're not actually gonna come in contact with you. They're gonna get close to you.

No, no, no, not if heathered inkling is any. Indication. Indication, that's the word I'm looking for. You've never been touched by a bat though, but you fear it. Never touched a bat. But you'll run from a bat. You've never been touched by a bat though. But you fear it. Never touched a bat. But you'll run from a bat. You're afraid of bees too.

Like if a bee comes around maybe. I'm afraid of a flying bat. If you were to hand me a bat, and to pet, no problem. Maybe even cute, it's a mouse with wings. But the flying and the potential for the bite and the rabies. So what happened with the situation with Jesse that you're talking about is I

got out of the hot tub and I was drying off and they had been swooping over the hot tub the whole time that we were in there. But one came right at me as I'm drying off and I just fell to the ground because I had nowhere to go. I couldn't go under the water like I normally would do. So I just fell completely back and Jesse never let me live that down. And I'm like, well, you don't know about Heather Dinklage. You weren't there. Well, you weren't there either. Yeah, she told us about it. But I mean, she was my neighbor. What was the last thing that filled you with wonder

that took you away from your desk or your car in traffic. Well, for us, and I'm going to guess for some of you, that thing is... Anime! Hi, I'm Nick Friedman. I'm Lee Alec Murray. And I'm Leah President. And welcome to Crunchyroll Presents The Anime Effect. It's a weekly news show. With the best celebrity guests.

And hot takes galore. So join us every Friday wherever you get your podcasts and watch full video episodes on crunchy roll or on the crunchy roll YouTube channel. And you'll, you'll fall flat for a B man. I don't like bees. If you swat a B it's gonna, it's gonna increase the chances of a singing you.

That's my belief. My, my experience with a B is if you just still, and I ain't even talking about when I had 10,000 of them on my face and trying to go into my eyeballs and my nose holes and my mouth hole. I'm talking about just like normal walking the dog and you hear a bunch of buzzing in a particular blooming

tree and there's like bees coming around you and like, if you're still, they'll leave you alone. They're like, oh, you're not nectar. I have a difficult time relaxing. A wasp is different. But I think it's based on the fact that I have had a bee in my hand as a kid that bit me. Not bit me, but stung me.

I mean, I know that you're mostly right that they usually won't do that. But especially if you don't know that you're mostly right, that they usually won't do that. But especially if you don't know that they're there and there's like one under your arm and you reach there, you can get stung, man. There's a potential to get stung. I know that's not the end of the world, but I just don't like getting stung.

So I would say that it's a- But the way you act increases that chance of getting stung. It's a little embarrassing to be around you, man. Well, you know, I gotta be scared of something. Well, my choice is blood flow. You know this. I mean, everybody knows this at this point. I mean, people have a fear of blood and I do too.

I mean, I cut myself over the tried and true story, opening the Barbie on Christmas morning at my father-in-law's house with his knife, and I ran to the kitchen, and next thing I know, I'm coming to from fainting and looking up, and I'm in my father-in-law's arms at the sink. That was embarrassing. Like you said, I've never lived that down. But I have this, I just get afraid when I think about blood flow.

And I actually looked that up before this. I'm like, fear of blood circulation. And I couldn't find anything. All I could find was just fear of blood circulation. And I couldn't find anything. All I could find was just fear of blood. And, you know, people talk about the theories of fainting, the evolutionary theories of fainting are that, like, if you faint, you're basically, it's your body playing dead. So then whatever scared the crap out of you,

like the impending death was circumvented by fainting. So then you're like playing possum and you don't get killed. And then you pass along your genes, which give a proclivity towards fainting. It also, you also say that when you faint, like your blood pressure goes down and your blood pools in your legs. That's why you're supposed to put your head

between your knees so that you can get blood to like pool in your head so you don't faint. But the theory there is if you have an injury and you are bleeding, so like if you see yourself bleeding and you faint at your father-in-law's kitchen sink, well- You stop bleeding. You don't bleed as much, you don't bleed out

because it's slowed down. Of course, it's a little pesky when you're not alert and you can't treat yourself, but if other people are there. Well, question though, so specifically with the fear of blood flow, because, okay, while I acknowledge that fear of bats or fear of bees is to the level that I exercise it is irrational, but there is a rational element to it that I'm like, well,

I don't want to get stung or I don't want to get bit, right? So the fear of blood flow, what is the specific fear that you're, what's the root? Where does it go? It's interesting because, yeah, I mean, I should be afraid of my blood not flowing. Like, oh my gosh, I don't think my blood's moving. I'm gonna die. If it wasn't flowing, I don't think you could even process that thought. I know, but that's the rational thing to be required. Required for thought.

Exactly. So I shouldn't be afraid of the thing that is necessary to continue living. But it makes me queasy. Like if I have to get my blood drawn, I tell them now. I tell, hey, I could faint. I would like to lay down before you do this. Because I don't want to be that guy.

I don't want to hit my head. But that's different. That's getting your blood don't know that. That's getting your blood taken. Oh yeah. That's somebody literally tapping into a vein, which I don't like. I mean, and I've gotten close to fainting in that situation.

I think that's a pretty normal thing, but you're. But there's no rationality. When you think about, well, there's some rational to that. There's rational to the injury because it's like, like I said, but- If somebody sticks something into you and starts sucking out your life force, you should be afraid of that.

I think it's just the direct association. Like if I can feel the blood pumping through my veins, I can think of it coming out of the veins. I can think of it spilling everywhere. You don't like to feel, like if you were to feel, like if I look at my wrist right here, I can see a little, I can see the heartbeat a little bit. Like that grosses you out.

Currently, right now, it is grossing me out. It's making me feel a little weak in the knees. You don't even wanna look, but you also were afraid of your rib that wouldn't come to the party. So? No, but I'm saying that I wanna know what- It doesn't have to eat,

but it does have to come to the party. Because here, listen to this, because the thing we haven't talked about is the only times in my life that I've fainted is when I've gotten bad medical news, right? So the notorious story is the first time I found out that I had herniated discs, when I had convinced myself

that I didn't have herniated discs, and I'd also convinced myself that herniated discs meant that life was over as I knew it, and that I was going to basically be incapable of doing anything athletic for the rest of my life, which is not true. and the doctor left the doctor's office, I heard a boom, a bang, and I was like, oh man, something happened in the office behind me. And then I realized that I was laying up against the wall and I had fallen off, not fallen off, but I was sitting on the table and falling back to the wall. I had fainted and I had caused the boom. And then-

Because I was sitting there contemplating my fate. Yeah, and then the doctor comes back in. And I didn't tell him of course. Because I wasn't there for fainting, I was there for my back. I'm not gonna tell the back doctor, hey man, I got a fainting problem too. I'm sure that helps your back.

Slamming it against the wall like that. And then when I hurt my knee, you know, skiing, this year, when we were talking about it at the dinner table, I started feeling like I was gonna faint. Because again, I was thinking about, well, what does this mean? What does this mean for my future?

You know, so it's irrational. Well, but- It's irrational, but it's based on a little thread of rationality, but then it becomes irrational. It's based on logic. It's based on taking something to like, it's scary extent. Yeah, I don't have-

Most phobias are based on something. They're based on some logic. Lily, it's hard for me to believe, but she swears up and down that she has a phobia of whales. And I just, I'm like, okay, they're huge. You've never had an encounter with a whale. I don't understand why you'reobia of whales. And I just, I'm like, okay, they're huge. You've never had an encounter with a whale. I don't understand why you're afraid of whales just from watching Nemo or something as a baby, as a kid.

But I don't know why it, I mean, I can only guess that circulation makes me uncomfortable because if something goes wrong, circulation leads to gushing. And that's, a lot of people are afraid of that. It's just an association. Maybe, maybe this is it. There are times when I'm just sitting there

and I start thinking about the fact that I have a body. Yeah. And then I started thinking about what that body is and what it looks like. And like, I'm like, oh crap, there's just like, there's just like stuff inside of me that's soft and doing things. You know what I mean?

And it's responsible for things and I'm not aware of it and it's just happening. And the day that it stops happening, I stop happening. And that, I will get close to inducing a panic attack if I think about that enough. You just start, I mean, sometimes you just think about the fragility of humanity. You just look at this stuff and you're like, I could just take a metal thing and just stick it into this hand. Oh. And it would just go

right through it, you know what I mean? Like, we're fragile, we're just gooey stuff. But there's people who, I mean, surgeons, but lots of different types of people come to grips with this. And the treatment for a lot of phobias is exposure therapy, which, you know, they can, you know, they look at blood as just, okay,

this is just something that happens. It's a physical thing that happens. And if the pain associated with injuries and like guts being spilled out, it's just, oh, the stuff that I've studied and that I understand being inside of people and mushy is now outside and we gotta get it back inside. You know, it's very-

And I could see how, yeah, over time that would become, yeah, I'm sure lots of people would go to medical school not because they have a, you know, they're impervious to that stuff, it's because, you know, their parents want them to be a doctor. And then by the time they're done with medical school, they're impervious to it.

But in college, well, definitely my mom told me in the studies that she did that they had to work with cadavers and there's like, at that point, people are fainting left and right. There's certain people when you get to that point, when you're gonna touch a dead body and you're gonna start working with it, that's a big test.

But you know, in college, I did exposure therapy twice a week, we would go donate plasma. They would shove a huge freaking needle, like a pipe needle, in your vein in your arm, and they would suck out your blood, run it through a machine, get the plasma out, and then they would pump the blood back in through the same vein, and it would go through cycles.

And if you wanted to do it quicker, you'd like really get your hand pumping. I still don't understand. How did I do that? Because I was there. Well, I mean, as we've discussed before, I mean, one of the reasons is because of one of the nurses, April, was hot. You know the main reason?

If she was there, it was worth whatever she was gonna do to you. The main reason was the thing I'm most afraid of is going broke. I'm gonna be honest, I've always had this fear of going broke and like- And you got $20 for donating. I got $20 cash for, and it was, so it redeemed it.

And I did get more comfortable with it, but every time they would put the needle in, especially because sometimes, and- They would miss. All right, here's a warning, guys. You know, if you're like me, you need to be seated. Put your head in between your knees, because the worst thing that would happen is

they would put the needle into the vein, and then they would, it was, they would call it something, but then they would keep going, and they would puncture both sides of it. Oh, gosh. See, I'm even getting you. And then. Yeah, I hate it, man.

They would, then blood. You don't understand how big the needle is. Blood would start spilling into your arm, and you'd come out with a huge bruise, because they would, they would, I don't know, I can't remember what the word they would use this, and then they'd have to pull the needle back

and thread it into the vein. Oh my gosh. The fact that I can even talk about it. That makes me queasy, man. I don't think that's irrational. I think that there's a reason to be scared of that. And I can endure that. Yet, after stopping the plasma donation

by like junior year or something, or senior year, I mean, I still have the scars, but I'm squeezy now about it. What if I told that story and fainted in the middle of a podcast? That would be sensational. But don't, I mean, don't you feel when you're about to start fainting

or does it happen immediately? There's a good like 15 to 20 second sort of onset for me. It depends. Next question. On a slightly different note, from Adam B. Grimm, I don't know if that is a real name or a pseudonym. How do you pronounce,

I'm gonna have to pronounce it by asking this question. Yeah, that's it. Worcestershire sauce. I think this is the, in the history of Ear Biscuits, this may be the first question that in reading the question we've answered it. How do you pronounce Worcestershire sauce? No, okay, you just made up a pronunciation.

I know there's people who say it that way. I say Worcestershire, Worcestershire, but I think it's Worcestershire, Worcestershire. It's got shire on the end, it's not sheer. Yeah, I know, but pronunciation adapts over time. I know that it's, this is, I guess this has gotta be related to a district in England that's actually-

Worcestershire. Worcestershire. Worcestershire. Worcestershire. Worcestershire. And I don't know how, well, first of all, let's just put it into a pronunciation thing here. That's the key, we gotta do that.

I don't trust these pronunciation things. These are just people who want to get ad revenue on YouTube. So they make videos where a bot says something. Bots don't know how to talk. Have you ever listened to a GPS? It gets street names wrong all the time.

But it's a starting point. It's a point of reference. Here we go. Worcestershire. Worcestershire. Worcestershire. Firstestershire Worcestershire she's first of all in in England they don't say Yorkshire they say Yorkshire it's a shire Yorkshire so it's all you know they put that on the end of it but they always say sure so you so you don't need to say shire Worcestershire. Again? Worcestershire. Worst. Worcestershire. Worcestershire, like what's the sure? But there's not a T that early.

Next question. I know. Daphne, at golden underscore army asks, is ignorance really bliss? Oh, we gonna get philosophical here? Or is this practical? How do you wanna approach this? Ironically, I was actually just talking about this in therapy and with my wife

as a result of the conversation I had in therapy. And that was, you know, both Jesse, my wife and I are, you know, there are people who are sort of news junkies, right? So like every day they got to find out what's going on. If something happened, they're going to know. We're both like that. But there's just, you know, there's just a bunch of shit going on all the time, right?

I mean, and so that's why the, the some good news, which ironically got sold to Viacom. That's why that was such a good idea from John Krasinski. Is that how you say his name? Woosh. Because, you know, because the whole idea is that we were just bombarded with bad news. So I was having a conversation with my therapist

about how one of the things that I've noticed in being home a whole lot more and not being at work and gone during the day, but being at home and actually seeing Jessie a lot more than normal is that Jessie tends to get, more so than me, she'll read about something in the news and it will anger her, right? She'll get mad out of a sense of, you know,

it might be a sense of justice, it's often a sense of justice, or it's just a sense of being annoyed with people for being idiots about something. And she needs somebody to talk to about that. And so that person when I'm home is me. And so I was talking to my therapist and saying, I'm kind of realizing that, you know, first of all, we always have a lot going on, but like as things begin to sort of move back

to more of a normal place, and we're figuring out how to get all the stuff done that we need to get done, the stuff that you see like this, but also the stuff that we're working on that may never see the light of day, I start feeling this sense of being overwhelmed. And I started realizing that if a certain percentage

of my interactions with her were based on her relaying some bullshit that happened in the world, a lot of times for me, when I hear about somebody who did something stupid or something wrong that happened, I immediately add it to my big bag of things that I'm supposed to figure out, right? So that's why occasionally I'll write one of these medium pieces about some issue, right? And it's because my personality is, if you give me this information, I feel responsible for having an opinion about it. And then sometimes that responsibility for having an opinion because of my platform translates into, you have to say something about this.

Like it is your responsibility to speak your perspective on this. And that's probably based on, you know, narcissism and thinking that my perspective is important, whatever. But it is based on my sense of justice and feeling like I need to say something, right? But what I was realizing is that she's telling me about something that the president said or something that happened. And it's just adding to this bag of stuff

that I feel like I have to process. And I told my therapist, I feel like for this month of, that we're moving into, June, I'm gonna kind of take a news fest and not feel like I have to be informed about every single thing that's happening with the virus or every single thing that the president is saying or doing. Like just sort of for a second,

turn that faucet off and see how it affects my personal health and perspective. Because a lot of times, even before, even when I get up in the morning and I'm about to meditate, if I've gone on Twitter and I've seen the latest bullshit thing, is I take that into that process and it's very difficult to let go of.

Yeah. So in that sense, what I'm getting at in answer to this question is I feel like to a certain degree, ignorance is bliss. Yeah, I mean, I think it's clear in this situation that the key is moderation. I mean, welcome to my world.

You know, I err on the opposite side of just not being more ignorant about things that are happening. I mean, when you talk about news, especially, it's like, it gets to me in a different way because I feel like, I think you have this sense of like, because there's something that you can do, whether it's the fact that we have a platform

or the fact that you enjoy writing and piecing things together, so you do have an outlet to weigh in on these things. I actually feel personally, because I don't have that same experience, I feel a frustration and kind of a helplessness when those things happen. And so it's not a pressure to engage. It's a frustration that I just don't feel like

I'm equipped to do that. I feel like I'm equipped to do that. I feel that sometimes. I think, but then if I get bombarded with a lot of things, I have this palpable sense of capacity. You know, you talk about things accumulating and it just kind of builds up. To me, it's not a pressure. It's a, I just get buried underneath it.

And I feel like I can't do the things that I want, that I do need to devote my energy and attention to. And to a fault, right? So there are times when there's certain things in the news that I do need to know about and at least be exposed to. I don't have to have an opinion that then I would publicly like lay into somebody about it. But it's good and it's healthy to understand

what's happening out there. Again, to just stay on the news front. happening out there, again, to just stay on the news front. So, you know, I try to, like, I'll listen to Up First, which is like a very quick, like the headlines, you know, it just kind of takes you through the headlines. And then it's, you move on, but I'm not reading these articles and like getting really deep in a lot of things. So that's been my correction is I need to be a little bit more. I need to be a little less ignorant about things because, yes, it's I think it it does simplify my life and it allows it gives me the capacity to invest in the things I need to invest in. But there's some things that come in sideways that you didn't anticipate that you need to be informed by. And so I've made some adjustments on that level.

But in this day and age, I try not to get too deep in it because I don't interact with it with a health. Personality based, right? It's very personality based. For instance, okay, those of you who follow me on Instagram or Twitter know that, first of all, I'm incredibly sporadic. And sometimes I'll just go on a run for a few days or a few weeks where I'm pretty active on those platforms. And it's usually an indication that we don't have a project that's taking a lot of bulk time. Yeah. And at the very beginning of quarantine, we had a lot of time all of a sudden because our lives were turned upside down and our business was turned upside down. And then, you know, I get really frustrated when I just see people spouting off things that aren't true.

And there's been so much misinformation around COVID. And it's like people just fall into two camps and they don't. It's like everything has become political. Right. And so I and listen, I'm no authority. And I try to say that over and over again, I'm just a dude who's interested in this stuff, who has a platform, who makes a living on YouTube. So I'm definitely not an authority on any of this,

but I like to point and sort of elevate voices that are, point to voices that are authorities. And, you know, I went through this phase where I was kind of like engaging I was posting something and then people would like have questions about it or be critical of it and I would personally engage and you may notice well I haven't been doing that for the past few weeks and it's largely I mean there's a number of reasons one is we are busy with other things there's a couple of things that are taking more like bulk pieces of my time. There's also a sense of hopelessness, you know, there's this sense that like, there are just some people who are so committed to, they're just dug in, in their trench so deeply

that nothing that you can say, no fact that you can point them to is going to change anything. And so there just becomes this sense of hopelessness. And so I've kind of backed off that. And then the thing I'm adding to it is, well, I also don't even want to really know what's happening in the news for a little bit, just for my own personal health. But I am very grateful to the people who day by day, especially those people who are authorities on these issues. And there are a few people I follow on Twitter who are like a daily briefing about COVID and here's the latest, you know, or you've got certain websites like Snopes that are committed to, you know,

setting the record straight on all these issues and they're constantly having to deal with misinformation. I just am very grateful to those people who are in the trenches and fighting that battle and trying to get, you know, fight disinformation and get the right information out. But I just I can't do it. It's just not it's not healthy to do it. But like you said, there are some things, you know, like what happened with Ahmaud Arbery or what happened very when we're recording this just happened two days ago, two days ago in Minneapolis with George Floyd. Yeah. And, you know, I'll, I'll put something on Instagram or Twitter about that just to acknowledge that, you know, again, I want to elevate those, those voices and I want to bring attention to something with my platform.

I'm not trying to pontificate or come in and try to say something about it. I'm just more like this is a thing that you should know about. So like you said, there's a balance because I don't wanna completely detach because there's so much injustice and there's so much misinformation

that's constantly just happening that if you have a platform, I feel like you've got to be engaged on some level. Or if, I mean, not even a platform. I think for me, it's like, I know we're very fortunate, hashtag blessed, you know, in so many ways, and we're privileged, right?

And it's not necessarily just. And it's, so it's, you know, I can live in this bubble of ignorance and be blissful and it's, and if you take that too far, it's, I just, I don't wanna be that person. And it's just not, it's just not right to say, okay, as long as I'm happy, then that I'm good. You know, it's, that's very, it's very self-centered.

Now, to take that to an extreme, right? But you also have to know what your limits are. And I think that's what we're talking about. So it's not, I'm gonna check out and I'm gonna do whatever it takes for me to be happy. It's not just, I don't want my actions to just be about my happiness, or just the people that I love the most

because I know them or I'm related to them. It's like, you wanna, I wanna extend myself. And that starts with being informed. And there's a way to be informed. You can't fight every battle, but if you're not fighting any battles, at least I don't feel like that's the right choice for me. Well, and there's a way to be informed

that doesn't take all your time, like you're saying. I think, you know, one of the things that helps me, and I'm not, you know, I'm not organized, but I am very like goal oriented, task driven. And one of the things that helps me with just getting all the things that I do done is like, okay, here's the day. This is what I got. I'm going to actually, I'd like to get this much of this thing done. And I'd like to get this much of this thing done. And I kind of got a vision for what that day is going

to look like. And then I kind of do it and I cut myself some slack if I don't quite get there, but at least I kind of know where I'm going to go. And then when it comes to stuff like social media, even if you're going on to Twitter with the intention of figuring out what's going on in the world, is there any news that I need to know about? Should I be informed about something? It's one thing to set. It's one thing to just basically constantly go back in there every time you get a little bit bored. And then when you learn about an issue, kind of go down that rabbit hole and start arguing with somebody on the Internet about it or finding every perspective on it. And then the next thing you know, you spent two hours on your phone. And you've accomplished nothing. That's one thing.

And then it's another thing to be like, I want to know about this. It's like with the, you know, I kind of checked out yesterday, didn't pay attention to much stuff. That's another thing I didn't mention. When I got home, all that stuff happened with my kids and my wife.

But in the middle of all that, I stepped outside and went on Twitter. And that's when I saw the George Floyd video. And I got very angry. I just was, I was so angry about that. And then of course, all I did was just post, I think this morning actually, just post a picture of him on my Instagram.

And it's like, I'm sure I could do more, but it- And I didn't find out about it until this morning when I had my slot where I was like catching up on the news. Yeah. And it, you know, it's, I wouldn't have wanted to never have known about it, you know, and for it to impact me the way that it did this morning,

because it certainly did and does, but it didn't last night because I had set up parameters and there were, you know, there were things I was invested in last night with my family. I think we can leave it at that, right? I think I wanted to switch gears to one more question. Kat at Chia Linkster. Okay, you can use my picture if you want to.

Could a snake physically wear clothes? You know what? I just want to highlight the video version of this with our answer to this question and share with you that Jenna put a scarf on Craig, who she's been taking care of at her home. Craig the snake has a scarf and he's wearing it constantly because did Jenna make it for him?

I think she actually made it. He's wearing it constantly. did Jenna make it for him? I think she actually made it. He's wearing it constantly. He's not wearing it constantly. That would probably be some form of animal abuse. But he did wear it for a picture and she did make it for him. And he seemed to enjoy it

as much as you can tell whether a reptile is enjoying something. So yeah, a snake can wear at least a scarf. I would think that a snake could wear a shirt, which would just be like a tube sock, but I don't think they necessarily need it. I don't think they need it. You ready for a rec?

Yeah. Maybe rec, maybe one, two, three, four. I'm gonna give another Reddit rec. I follow the thread Movie Details. I think I may have mentioned this before because I'm into it. Again, it's just a little escape from, you can read this thread and like here's a recent one.

In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, you know, one of my faves, John Williams gave Short Round, you know, the kid who was with Indy, his own hero theme music. Anytime he is in action, the theme plays, just like Indy's theme plays for him. So, and there's lots of movie details you can get into,

like Jack Black was in Waterworld. What? Yeah. I saw that one a few times back. Yeah, if you just search Jack Black, Waterworld. That's crazy. He appears as a smoking pilot. It's crazy, isn't it?

Okay, yeah. I mean, I actually don't know if that's true, but it is. No, no, I see it. There it is, see? Movie details, Reddit thread, follow that. It can remind you of movies that you need to watch again or watch for the first time. And as you're watching movies,

if you want to contribute to the thread, it gives you something to think about. It's like, hey, here's a little something I noticed. It kind of raises the bar on how intentionally you watch a movie. So check it out if you're on Reddit. Movie details.

And thanks again for all your questions. They sparked some good discussions, discussions that we didn't even know that we needed to have. Nope. So, I personally, I really like these episodes that are driven by the Mythical Beasts questions. Because I think, like I said, we get into some things that we wouldn't otherwise intend to get into.

So I want to do more of these. Follow us on Twitter whenever we put those prompts out there. And as always, use hashtag EarBiscuits in order to continue this conversation. Weigh in on any aspect of that you want to. And we'll talk to you next week. And also let us know using hashtag EarBiscuits how you're feeling about these episodes where we answer your questions

because I want to know. All right. Next week.