Heavyweight - Heavyweight Checks In

Episode Date: March 18, 2020

Things are feeling strange and uncertain right now. So we on the Heavyweight team decided to record our day and share it with you. Mix and music by Bobby Lord. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everybody. So the season of Heavyweight isn't due to start until the fall, but we wanted to offer just a little check-in. Production on the show has slowed to pretty much a standstill because of the coronavirus. I haven't been able to go out and talk to people. Everyone's keeping pretty much to themselves as they should be. And generally speaking, even on the phone, people just haven't been as interested in revisiting and talking about the past at the moment. And everybody's just more concerned about the present moment and the future. sure. So my producers, Kalila Holt and Stevie Lane are at home in Brooklyn and I'm with my wife, Emily, and our three-year-old Augie in Minnesota. But every day, Stevie and Kalila and I check in and we try to figure out what we should be doing at this moment, you know, in terms of work and also in terms of life. And a few days ago, even though we were apart, we decided to record the day that

we were having and share that day with each other. I was going to get some groceries with Augie, and Kalila was going to take a walk to get her prescription filled. Stevie was trying to figure out whether she'd keep a blind date that was weeks in the making. She'd never been on a blind date before. Kalila and Stevie both checked in with their moms for a little advice and mostly just for some comfort. Looking back on that day now, it already feels like an eternity ago, even though it wasn't long ago at all. Things are changing so quickly and every day feels like a new reality. So when we recorded this, bars and restaurants were still open and school was still in session. But anyway, this was that day.

Only a few days ago feels like an eternity. We shared it with each other to feel less alone. And now we're sharing it with you guys. And we hope it makes you feel less alone too. Stevie? Hey. Kalila? Hello. So how did it go, you guys? Kalila, how was your day?

Yeah, I had a pretty good day. Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. Okay, I'm putting on my shoes and then I'm gonna leave this house. First, I called my mom. It's kind of like, it has, it all has this feeling of like a jack-in-the-box, which I hate. I hate those things. Like, I feel like we're walking around and we're trying to work like, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. You know? Went to the pharmacy. I waited in line to get my prescription, and the line was really long,

so it took a while. I'm going to stop recording out of respect to other people relaying medical information. A couple people back from me, this woman started coughing and everyone got really tense. And then I got up to the front. A woman who was helping me went over and put on gloves. And she was like, I forgot to put on my gloves till just now.

And then she got my prescription and then I started to pay for it. And she was like, oops, I pressed the wrong button because of the gloves. And then she was like, have a nice day. And I was like, thanks, you too. And she was like, thanks, I'll need it. And her eyes got like really wide. So then I left the pharmacy. I saw a guy carrying two bottles of champagne down the street. I wonder what he has to celebrate. Nothing, probably. And I was like, I'm going to go to the ATM. And then on the way to the ATM, I passed the liquor store and I was like, I'm going to just go get a bunch of liquor.

Hi. Do you have bitters somewhere also? I think the thing that made it feel like, oh, it was like a good day to me was just that I wasn't just continuing to pretend that everything was normal when things weren't normal, you know? Like to just acknowledge like, oh, it's like a weird time and like things feel weird. So that was your day. What was the best piece of advice that your mom was able to give? I feel like, I feel like times of stress, even though they bring out, you know, they're like,

it feels bad. I do feel, also feel like it brings out the best in a majority of the people. So I feel like people will pull together. Like people will, you know what I mean? Like we'll, we will be okay. We will be okay. It may be rough for a little bit. There, there will be consequences, but again, I do feel ultimately, ultimately honestly like we will get through it like everyone's scared and it's legitimately scary but also like you can only do the things that are in your control and like people are going to step up to help each other yeah um and in the meantime, it also feels like you can still find these, like, small moments of solace in the world. Like, at one point, it was kind of windy, so my sound was all messed up, and so I turned this corner. Sorry, I wish it weren't so windy.

Maybe I'll go down a more quiet street. Okay. Okay. Can you hear the birds? Yes, I was just about to ask you. Sing it, kids. And Jonathan, how was your day? My day was pretty mundane.

Went with Augie to get groceries, and he was really excited because I was presenting it as a mission. Are you ready for the mission? Yep. Okay. We got important work to do. I'll put you, I'll wrap you in a blankie. We should buy some broccoli.

You like broccoli? Yeah, I do. And cauliflower. And some pasta because we don't have pasta. And I think that's it. That's it? Yeah. Okay.

And he fell asleep like five minutes into the mission. And I went to the grocery store. A lot of the rice was selling out. There wasn't a lot of toilet paper left, and there was a sign that said only one package per customer, and that kind of got me all randy for toilet paper. So I had to buy some toilet paper, and then I got to the cashier, and she sort of toilet paper shamed me. Every customer has had a roll of toilet paper. I don't know if you actually need it. In the grocery store, they were playing old songs, you know, like the oldies station or classic rock.

Right. They played this song that I hadn't heard in a long time. You guys know Tom Petty? Yeah. So he has a song that was kind of a hit in the super early 80s, like maybe 1980 or something, called The Waiting. Did you ever hear this song? Yeah, The Waiting is the Hardest Part. Yeah, how do you know that song?

Because it's Tom Petty. Khalil, I bet you do too. I'm going to sing, and this is never, ever to be used. It goes like, the waiting is the hardest part. You know what I'm talking about? It sounds vaguely familiar, but... Every day you see one more card. You take it on faith.

You take it to the heart. The waiting is the hardest part. That's beautiful. I don't think I ever really realized the lyric in the chorus was, every day you see one more card. It's a nice lyric. That is nice. summer when there was no school and we were trying to entertain ourselves. We weren't like sporty kids. And so we would take on these weird projects together. And we decided to call random numbers and give them a choice of a song that they could listen to.

Oh, that's fun. Yeah. You know, we thought that we sounded like very official and like it was our business, but we must have sounded like cartoon mice because we were like three years old. And we'd be like, today's choices are Blondie's Heart of Glass, Abba's Dancing Queen, or Tom Petty's The Waiting. And everyone would just hang up on us. And one time there was one guy who listened to us through and chose The Waiting. And we played it like one of us held the phone and the other one, you know, put it on the turntable. And we were just so excited, like high-fiving each other

silently. And then when it was over, he was like just a curious adult and he couldn't figure out what our business model was, like how we were earning profit. And that man? That man turned out to be Daniel Eck, who decided that that model would be turned into Spotify Incorporated. But anyway, so it was like, I hadn't heard that song in a really long time. The connotations about waiting back then were just like, you know, being a kid and being impatient. And just in this context, it had this new connotation of just like, the waiting is the hardest part. You know what I mean? It's about like just anxiousness.

You know, you don't know what's going to come next. It's just the waiting. You know what I mean? It's just the waiting right now. Yeah. Yeah, it's like the jack in the box. waiting right now. Yeah. Yeah. It's like the Jack in the box. Stevie, how was your day? Um, so, uh, I called my mom.

Sorry, I'm putting away some groceries while we talk. Is that okay? Okay. I don't know what I'm going to do about my date. You're going to go. I don't know. I don't know if I want to to do about my date. You're going to go. I don't know. I don't know if I want to be out there. And what if I do have it and I give it to him? I don't know. Feels like not a promising way to start a relationship.

Yeah. You don't even have to go into a bar. Yeah. You just walk outside. It's true. Taking a walk would be nice. I don't know, whatever. And I was telling her how I'm afraid to come home because I'm afraid of getting her sick. And she was like, Stevie, like, I'm not worried for myself at all.

You know, I'm worried about my parents. Yeah. Have you talked to them? Yeah. And they seem to be very careful. We went to the gym. It was empty. How old are they again?

They are 93 years old. And I was like, Grandma, don't go to the fucking gym. Like, did you wash your hands a lot and put Purell on everything yes we watch we wash and we clean everything that's insane but you know I think from her attitude she was like you know we have to keep moving like I have to keep your grandpa moving like we'll die of coronavirus or we'll die of you know know, like, yeah, we're old. Like, we have to exercise. So, yeah. And so, like, the whole call was just, like, that was the thing. Like, she seemed so unconcerned for herself, but then she was, like, super worried about me. Like, she kept telling me,

like, not to go outside and to, like, wash my hands. But you're feeling okay. Yeah. You know what? What? Take your temperature. Make sure. Don't get sick. Oh no. Don't get sick, sweetheart. But then I told her about my blind date and she was like, like her whole tone changed. Oh, oh, oh, a blind date, huh? That's interesting. Yeah. It would be a shame to miss a blind date. This could be the one. Oh, stop. Listen, at my age, I can't stop being a grandmother, can I?

I'm waiting to be a great-grandmother. The two of you can meet and talk six feet apart from each other you know if it works out that's an interesting story to tell your grandchildren i met your father during the coronavirus outbreak i think we're getting a little out of ourselves and think of what a good story you can write for your uh for your ipad yeah mean, of which I just want to let you know I am recording this phone call. Oh, yeah, I better not use any dirty words. I didn't know you'd do that.

All right, you'll keep it for posterity. You'll remember me 20 years from now. If you could hear my voice, that would be nice. I don't think you'll hear me from up in heaven. Besides, I'm not sure that's where I'm going. So wait, does this mean that you're going to go out on the date? I don't know. Yeah.

I texted, so I texted him and he was like, honestly, I totally understand if you don't want to do it anymore. But I sort of feel like it might be nice before there's even more isolation to have less isolation. And we'll just walk around. But yeah, I don't know. We're all trying to figure out what comes next, how we can continue to stay in touch, and how that can be a comfort to you and also to us. So if you'd like, send us an email at heavyweight at gimletmedia.com. We're interested in hearing how you're doing,

what this has been like for all of you, and what sorts of stuff you think you might want to hear in the future. Also, our friends at Science Versus are continuing to report out developing news about the virus. So if you're not already a listener, I encourage you to start now. They're working day and night and trying to keep on top of things so that you can stay on top of things too. It's really a hard time to keep the facts straight and they're doing their best to get to the truth of what's going on. So keep safe and keep in touch. I'm Amos. Hi.

It's nice to meet you. Me as well. Perfect timing. I know. How are you? I'm doing pretty well.