Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Parenthood’s Erika Christensen: Au Naturel Living & Scientology

Episode Date: May 4, 2021

Erika Christensen (Parenthood) joins us this week to discuss, in part, the politicization of very non-political health related issues that deal with a more natural lifestyle. We get an update on what life is like being a mother of two and a wild and beautiful story of how her second child was born. As we close, we talk about her experience with Scientology, the misconceptions of her practice, and how it has even lead to losing roles in this industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Td Bank knows that running a small business is a journey, from startup to growing and managing your business. That's why they have a dedicated small business advice hub on their website to provide tips and insights on business banking to entrepreneurs. No matter the stage of business you're in, visit td.com slash small business advice to find out more or to match with a TD small business banking account manager. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Good morning. Good afternoon. I, uh, it was, you know, a crazy week, fun week. Uh, last week we saw this movie, Nobody.

Uh, my buddy Bob Odenkirk, he phacetimeed a group. I rented a theater. You went with me, Ryan. I did. I rented a theater at Citywalk. It was, you know, like 300 bucks, 350 bucks, and had like 15. friends that were all vaccinated and we went and uh watched this movie nobody which i really enjoyed didn't you it was great it was fun it was fun to be in a theater again it was fun to be in a theater

it was fun to be in a fit because uh manna and i had seen that when it came out on like on demand and so you liked it enough that you wanted to see it again because it's much more fun that way because this was like it's like john it's john wick it's it's an action movie and you need to sort of the audience reactions to throats getting ripped out or stepped on yeah it's kind of It was fun. I had a real good time. My buddy Harlan Williams was with me and a bunch of other friends. But Harland, you know, I'm from Dumb and Dumber, you know.

You drinking on some of Grandpa's cough medicine, are you there, buddy? But he was just commentating the whole time, which was funny. Because every time Christopher Lloyd Kimani'd go, great, Scott. You know, back to the future. Way, Doc. And everybody was just fun to be with a group of friends and laughing and having popcorn and I really enjoy that. That was nice. I really want to thank Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patrick for last week's episode. That was, it went viral. And if you haven't seen that one, I think you're going to

want to see it. They really opened up. And I've got a lot of people emailing me and texting me and tweeting me that they really love the episode a lot. And also John Glover, who played my father in Smallville. He's, you know, Michael, you know, his partner, Adam, who never really compliments anybody. says that interview was the best interview you've ever done and then somebody called me and said it was the best interview a close friend of Kiefer said it was the best interview he done it just means a shit ton man i'm like really i always feel awkward i never watch him i feel like i look like a dork and i'm like you know i feel like a kid asking these questions and uh overall but look it's you know i'm really happy with the episodes and and i commend ryan here for great editing

and Bryce and for producing but thank you for if you haven't checked out Kiefer and Jason Patrick I think you should yeah everyone was excited that you broke sort of uh it's like a 30 year old story really I broke a 30 year old story of uh apparently the divorce the uh the breakup with kefer and Julia Roberts and then Julia Roberts taking off to Ireland with with Jason Patrick and they're both sitting in the same room talking about this and they're still close friends but I urge you to watch the episode. It's good to see these guys together. So thank you for listening.

Also, just want to say thanks to Hint water. They just give me water. They don't give me money or anything, but I'm always drinking Hint water. So thanks, Hint, thanks Red Bull for keeping me awake. I don't drink a lot of Red Bull, but when I do, I apparently need it. That's the Dosecchi slogan, though. What is it?

I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dosec. I don't always drink beer, but when I do. Wow, I don't know that. Thank you guys for watching. the watching or listening to the podcast again you know it's important if you're if you're here for erika christensen who i love and adore i urge you to subscribe to the podcast and listen to other people you'll learn something hopefully i learned something every episode and follow us on twitter and instagram at at inside of you podcast on instagram and facebook you could follow us and at inside of you

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Pacific Standard Time and 6 p.m. Pacific standard time. We're going to play some covers and some left on laurel tunes and some sunspin tunes my band is sunspin and um you can go to sunspin.com and book the band book zooms uh and you can get a whole bunch of cool merch so there's there's that today's guest you like this episode it was a good one i i like it because she's so open and free and such a wonderful woman inside and out she talks about her her pregnancy and giving birth and it was miraculous i was I was stunned and a little shocked at times, but like, I just think she's such a wonderful woman and so smart and she educated me like most people do. So without further ado, why don't we just jump into it?

This is a fun episode. I hope you like it. Let's get into Erica Christensen. It's my point of view. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. Erica, you look fantastic for someone who's dating a, who's married to a cyclist and has two children running around. I don't know how you look so refreshed.

Thank you. The kids are a bigger factor than I think the husband. But, you know, listen, it's so weird. It's categorically, you not having children. means that there's all kinds of things I could say to you that are completely irrelevant. You're like, oh, yeah, sleep training and we, you know, no, no, no, stop. Talk about sleep training right now, because I, I don't sleep well. What, what do you mean sleep training?

You train the children to sleep or you train yourself to sleep? Train the children to sleep, but I've been wondering also how to apply that to ourselves. See, the thing is that in the children, what you are developing as a skill is going to sleep without dependence upon anything, without dependence upon, you know, the bottle or being rocked or whatever, the idea is to get them comfortable with just being in their own bed when it's nighttime without you, and then they'll go to sleep. And then staying asleep is a different thing. Like staying asleep for babies is just not getting hungry, which is not a problem for us, right?

Right. Now, how old are the children? How old are the children? Two and a half and four and a half. So there's no breastfeeding anymore? There shouldn't be. And the two and a half year old is like not getting much nutrition probably from it. But she still likes to.

What do you mean? She's straight up. I mean like my body is not like feeding the child. She's just, you know, she pacifies. She likes the comfort, especially when it's nighttime. But she can totally talk. So she goes, I want a nurse. I'm like, uh, you can't.

It's not bedtime. I'm like, okay. Wait a minute. Because I've said that before, but it's a different kind of nurse. Um, so, so I want a nurse. She wants to nurse from your bosom. Yeah. Oh, she straight up says, I love your boobies.

Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. Does Cole say that? Did she learn that from dad? I love your booboo. What if he said to you while you're in bed together? I love your boobbies.

I love your boobies. I love your boobies. I don't know if I'm doing her a disservice or it does. What does it do? There is a bit of a dependency there in talking about, you know, fostering that independence and that not needing anything to go to sleep except yourself. She does need that. All right.

So wait a me. You're teaching her to sleep, but you're not teaching her how to back off the boobs. I mean, I am because No, you're right You just got an Ixnay on the breast nay Yeah It's got to be How old is she? She's two and a half

She's two and a half Okay, so I don't know how old you are When you're supposed to stop breastfeeding I don't know what the rule is But I probably I don't think I breastfed I think Is that right breastfed

You were like bottle fed? I was bottle fed Emphamil That's why I'm all effed up I'm effed emphimiled up Oh no But what is that? It's not good. You should breastfeed, right? Is that what you believe? Ideally, yeah, ideally, nutritionally, it's there for a reason. It's awesome if you can.

I got to tell you, hang on. I got to tell you that I'm happy no matter how effed up I am and maybe it was caused by not breastfeeding. But the fact that I wasn't on my mom's breast, that makes me happy. The fact that I wasn't. Like the thought of like, like my mother, my mouth of my mother's breast. For me, I know it's a natural thing, but for me, I'm glad I didn't do it. Well, that's good then. Is it? I mean, I don't know. You got what you retroactively got what you wanted. Doesn't it hurt?

Not anymore. There's like a, there's a period of getting used to it for sure. It can hurt very badly. I didn't cry during childbirth. I have cried during nursing. Really? Like, oh, my God, you're hurting me. Yeah.

Yeah. And she's like, Mommy, cry. Yeah, why you cry? You. You know why I cry. You don't say that. You're hurting me. But fortunately, my children don't bite.

My children didn't bite. Thank God. That's an extra part of it. This is, see, this is strange. This is like a whole category. of conversation that to parents is normal territory. Well, wow, like, no, but it's, it's not, it's for me, it's like, if I ever want to have a kid, I can kind of like, this could either sway me in either direction.

I could be like, wow, you know, I mean, look, I don't have to breastfeed, but, you know, there's a lot to parenting, and I think it's important. I think, you know, we, I had, uh, Erica Durrance, who is, um, Lois Lane on Smallville, and she's in a bunch of other stuff, well, she talked about postpartum and stuff. And I'll tell you what, so many people wrote in. and were, it just was very important that she talked about that. And what seemed odd, not odd to me, but probably maybe a little aware that a single guy who has not been married, he's asking all these questions.

But I do it because I think it's a real issue. And I think it's like, I had a friend who lost his wife to postpartum and all the things that go on with raising a child. So, I mean, did you have any kind of issues when you first had a baby or was it kind of smooth sailing? Are you just like, you just really enjoyed the whole motherhood? Or did you have the issues or things that were happening that you're like, I don't understand why I'm not happy or I'm I don't know some people it's easy some people it's not well

it was I mean of course with as with anything there's a whole you know scale there's a spectrum of experience and mine was on the easier side but you can imagine just just imagine not getting more than a couple hours of sleep at a time for several months you know it's like it would affect anyone and so um and learning how to nurse if you're going to do that there it depends for some people that just comes supernaturally and you know you're like there you are a cavewoman with your child and they nurse and everything's wonderful um but that's definitely like for me that was a big learning curve and so one of the times that I cried when I was nursing was just because I couldn't do it like that sounds weird like how can it just not work but it can just not work where you

just can't get them to understand your boob and how to get the milk out and you're just like come on you know god that sounds frustrating it's bizarre but then there are people who are lactation consultants and they're angels and lactation consultants yeah what about um lactation free consultants I'm sure there are those, too. Because I have a little problem with a lactate. Pediatric nutrition. You're supposed to feed your child if you're not going to nurse. There's actually, there's a whole, I mean, you know how you said, like, let's talk about something controversial.

We could talk about politics. But what led me to that is there's this thing where, you know, the country has become so divided and so partisan that, oddly, a bunch of ideas and concepts and philosophies that aren't directly like, I'm in favor of this sort of bill, this sort of legislation and stuff like that, have been divided. And I'll explain further what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is I have fed my children and continue to raw milk. And especially also when I was having a tough time nursing,

I was like, I need a backup plan. I need some assistance. My child can't starve while we're figuring this out. And then also I needed some help when I was like working and the baby's still nursing. And so I'm pumping and we have breast milk, but I also need raw milk. And then raw milk is just a huge like, it's a huge like. like what it gets categorized on the side of conservative like freedom you know freedom from government regulation and i don't understand i'm not aware of this stuff i understand ryan are you understand

you know about the stuff good educate because i don't know about this i didn't know there was a sort of a a divide on raw milk. Well, yeah, because categorically, it goes into the, you know, natural sort of non-medical, non-mandated vaccines, it kind of gets lumped over into this whole side of governments, the government not controlling what we eat. And of course, and what we do to our bodies, except for abortion. That goes on the other side. Right.

Um, there's this weird gerrymandering of ideology, right? But on this side, like, you have to trace it back to, okay, when, I mean, do you, were you even aware that milk wasn't raw? Uh, Ryan, we weren't aware of that. It's pastrised, right? It's fastrised. Yeah, right. That's what I always knew. The milk was pasturized.

Louis Pasteur invented that. Exactly. And when Louis Pasteur invented it, it was for a purpose. It was for killing bacteria. Um, whatever the, the outbreak was at the time that they were addressing, that was effective. And so great, but we live in a different time. Now we don't have the same issues. And the people that produce unpasteurized milk take great pride in the safety measures that they take so that they can provide it to you and they're not exposing you to something. You know, their cows are very

healthy. This seems so random. it's not it's interesting it's a big deal because in traveling about the country i have you know there are many states where they it's just illegal and then there are many states where you can get it but it's labeled it has to be labeled as for pet consumption only and so you have to go like talk to the farmer and go okay can i can i buy a gallon of milk like we're not going to talk about the fact that i'm going to drink it and my kids are going to drink it and they're like yeah yeah we're not just take the milk so who looks down on you is it is it the democrats or is it the republicans i can't understand it's more it's a it's a liberal side of like trust the science

louis pasture did this for a reason you know the doctors say it's not safe right so don't drink raw milk you know the and and they'll tell pregnant women don't drink raw milk you could expose yourself to all kinds of bacteria and surely that's true or it was but if you go to the right farmers that are are doing it correctly and healthy and organically it's not it was a problem many moons ago before we yeah okay i got you i'm with you it's not this isn't weird this is educational you are educating me and my friend ryan and i'm glad ryan was like of course i know this because i would have been like oh god i'm an idiot it is I know it is a little bit strange.

But I always, yeah, go ahead. Well, but like the fact that I'm tying this to politics at all was obviously there is legislation against raw milk, which is, so it is a thing, but like... You're a criminal. I'm a criminal. No, it's legal in California in some ways. And so I can get it. Organic pastures is the name of the company. They're wonderful.

They're in Northern California. Yay. They give me raw milk and raw cheese and raw butter and raw cream. Wow. Is it delicious? It's delicious. And apparently people that are lactose intolerant, which you are, right? Yeah. Yeah, apparently they can drink it with no problem.

And cheese? Because, yeah, because the enzymes that help you digest it are still alive. They haven't been killed. Hang on. Can I come over your house for some cheese and hopefully not as many farts? Oh, please. I'm not kidding. If you're telling me there's a chance that raw milk and raw cheese I could eat and not be bloated,

I would try that. Why wouldn't I try that, Ryan? Because you might get polio. What? Polio. What year is this? What year are we in? Hey, you know, it's funny because I don't use the word hippie in a bad way.

Hippies a good. I like the word hippie. In fact, my dad was a hippie and I believe my uncle. But, you know, when I think about you and Cole, your husband, I think about just kind of free, spirited, loving, in the sense of hippie. kind of family like just kind of just like in a good in a good way and yeah I can dig it I just kind of feel like you have a there's a certain lifestyle that you live and maybe I'm wrong but that is just I mean I'm sure there's stress and there's you know the child isn't taking the breast and

there's angst and but overall I mean like do you feel like you're like you have a happy loving family that's just kind of free and fun and just like that yeah No, absolutely. I mean, we're very connected to, like, nature. We take the kids out all the time to hikes and hiking through, like, you know, up, um, do you know, Angel's Crest, up off the two, Angeles Crest Highway, there's, like, hikes that you can go to waterfalls. What? How long are these, how long are these hikes?

They're doable for at least the big kid for Shane. So they're like, I mean, you can even get some that are only like 20 minutes. Ooh. You'll have to give me directions to that 20-minute one. These are secret spots. You know, they have like swimming holes and jumping rocks. And we take the kids out to Vasquez Rocks. Well, I want to go to these things.

I'm going to learn a lot from you. Dude, they're amazing. You should Google Vasquez Rocks for sure. That's like an hour drive and it's like you're on Mars. It's just incredible terrain. And there's not a lot of people there, really? No, we've been there during COVID. And it's very easy to not come within 25 feet.

of a human. Hey, for someone who's so, you know, obviously so talented, you've done so much work, you've been on series. I mean, parenthood lasted for six years, five years? Yeah, six. Yeah. I mean, you've done movies and this. Has this been a tough time for someone who, you know, loves working and it's just a weird time anyway. It's like, I don't even want to work during this time. I can't imagine being on set with masks and this and protocols and tests. And I just rather like, let it go, let it get done, and let's get back to work. But I don't know how. how it's going to be what are you are you doing anything right now have you decided like hey i'm gonna wait until kind of shit gets better or are you like craving to work i'm yes the latter i'm craving

to work i well having all this time with the kids has been amazing and at their ages where they need you know direct supervision and contact so much of the time anyway and we've done all these family adventures even i mean and we've also been responsible we've also you know not left the house for large periods of time um but it's been really fun and i know that i would be taking it even harder if i didn't have the kids but i i want to get back to work you know that betsy brant lives kind of near us she was walking by the house yesterday and she was like let me tell you when you go back to work the anxiety will hit you it's going to be weird you're going to get tested everybody's where you know and then there's like wanting to keep

your space from people and then they only do i think one person in the hair and makeup trailer at a time which is very slow and sad and slow but i but yeah i want to go back to work i trust i trust hollywood to do it responsibly i just found out from my friend that's working on um what's what's ted dance's new show kramer versus kramer what is it mr mayor mr mayor mr mayor mr or you want to audition for that? No, no. My buddy is pulling focus on that. And he said they had to shut down early.

But he said the studio is spending a fortune on testing and prevention measures. Like, it's a safe. It's a safe thing. You know, if anybody tests positive anywhere, they shut down. Yeah. Inside of you is brought to you by Rocket Money. I'm going to speak to you about. something that's going to help you save money. Period. It's Rocket Money. It's a personal

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Last time I did the podcast, I was about to pop with a baby on your couch. Yep, you walked up my huge street, which is not easy, and you were pregnant. The steep hill, and I was very pregnant, and you were worried that my water was going to break on your couch. I wouldn't know what to do. My water didn't break either time, actually. That's the thing. What do you mean either time?

Either child. Oh, okay. Either time. I thought you meant either time you walked up here. I thought I just talked to you once, but go ahead. But then I walked back home. And sometime, maybe four weeks later or something like that, I had the baby, right? And then there are stories.

It's kind of generally accepted that your second child comes faster than the first child. The labor is shorter, right? The body's, there's some muscle memory involved and so forth. And so I went into labor at like 4 a.m. and I figured, all right, I'll take some time to myself. I stayed in bed for a while, stayed in bed for an hour, and then I went to the kitchen and made myself a pour-over coffee for an hour and labored in the kitchen by myself.

And then I woke up coal. And we already had planned on having the baby at home. So we were just like, okay, everything's on track. We're going to relax. We're going to have some breakfast. I called my mom and said, don't worry about it. I just went into labor, have some breakfast and come over later, whatever, all of a sudden, the baby is coming out of me, basically.

Like, I was like, oh, my God, I could feel the difference. There's a change. There's a whole part of labor where your body is getting ready to push the baby out. And then there's like the home stretch, which is then your body's pushing the baby out. And I called the doctor because he was kind enough to do it, come to my home. And I said, I went into labor a few hours ago. The baby's coming out right now. Can you come now?

And he was like, why didn't you call me earlier? I said, I didn't know it was going to happen this fast. He gets stuck in traffic, and Cole and I are completely alone. He delivers the baby himself right on our bed, over there, in the peace and quiet, except for Shane is in the living room watching the Lion King. Not crying going, Mommy's crying. No, Mommy wasn't crying. Mommy was calm and quiet.

Wow. Baby was in the, she was watching the Lion King and eating bacon and daddy was in here and we didn't say anything. We were just, there was a little bit of like anxiety and tension because we were waiting for the doctor and at a certain point, we realized he's not going to make it. He's not going to come in time. And then all of a sudden that waiting just dissipated and that anxiety dissipated. And Cole said one thing, he looked at me and said, just so you know, I'm not freaking out.

I said, great. And then he delivered the baby, and we are there hugging her, and she's taking her first little breaths and cries when the doctor walks into the bedroom. And he's like, so how'd you do? And we're like, oh, you did great. Look, there's the baby. And then you're like, you're not charging me. And of course he is.

And he's not in network. Well, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Let's go back. So what, because the first thing that happens when you're telling the story is, I feel joy. I feel excited. It's an adrenaline thing. But then I think if it happened to me, do I cut something?

Am I supposed to cut something? Am I, what am I supposed to do? What do I do here? What do you have to do? Well, that part, Cole was about to go find like a vice script to clamp the board and cut it. But by that time, the doctor was there. That part is less instinctual.

So yes. I'm grateful for the doctor for all of that follow-up. What do you have to do, though? I mean, like, can the baby, how soon after do you have to cut the umbilical cord? You don't have to cut the umbilical. There's no rush. You're even the, you know, natural side of things, which I tend to go in that direction, the natural side of things is you are to let them stay connected to the cord until the bloods

and everything stops pumping through. it. And that could be 10 minutes. Also, I just don't think there's any real... Is it dangerous if you cut it? Just like you cut it? Is there a right way to cut it? Do you get the vice grips? Do you get a clean pair of scissors? Do you

kind of carve it with a butter knife? What do you... What do you do there? It's not easy to cut, so you need something sharp for sure. And... Yeah, I imagine you need to clamp it. But I don't know. Maybe not.

Let's go back to the caveman. I don't know. Yeah, they're like, hmm. And then they cut it. Yeah, they chew on it for a while. So that is, back to the hippie thing. That is a little, like most people don't do that. And by the way, if you just did the sound effects, this is what I'd probably hear at your house.

Okay, it'd be like, that's the bacon. And then, Kuna matata, Kuna, hey, dweenya. That's exactly. What would happen? I mean, I could just sense it. We have one little video. Cole set up the GoPro's to try to film it and they ran out of battery or whatever. We have one little video taken on my phone that's a time lapse of me laboring on the bed.

But there's no audio, but you can see me kind of like shifting positions and breathing. and breathing you can't show me though because you're naked no i'm uh i'm not actually i think i'm wearing clothes at that point can i see it yeah let me find it can we i mean how quickly can i find it so this happened two and a half years ago i'll tell you that much right so that's correct oh yeah i'm wearing shorts and a sports bra all right let's see it prop it up so it is ladies and gentlemen it is now a time lapse of erika christensen's birth at her house Hippy style, Jack Kerouac style, Woodstock style. Okay, there you go.

We'll put music over it. Breathing heavy, flying down. It's like the reflection. This is. Are you like your arms in the air? You're not stressed, you're saying. It's kind of like I'm not, you're actually in great shape, by the way. I noticed that.

Like a pregnant woman who's just really in shape, stretching, kicking your legs. Here comes Cole. I've got this. There's you. And then fast forward a little bit. Oh, and then there's blackness, which I don't know, my phone fell. Oh, it fell over. That's what happened.

My phone was just sitting on the desk and it fell over. Were you just pissed? I mean, hey. What are you going to do? When you get a baby in your arms, there is definitely like a bliss that takes over. And there's all kinds of hormonal reactions. The postpartum thing being a separate thing, there is like, there's your body knows what it's doing and so a lot of the time it can even just knock my

printer over um it can even you know block the nerve channels to to the pain the baby blocks off your circulation to so it's a natural painkiller right if i was pregnant right there i would have been jumping off the walls like help i'm dying there's something in me get it out you don't know that i don't know that but i'm a kind of a puss when it comes to that stuff it's such a different kind of physical experience it's like it's athletic it's an athletic experience you know it's an athletic experience i like that yeah it's they call it labor you're working your muscles are working you get you get warm you know um and you have to just if it's that if you're saying it's athletic and it's labored, then why can so many out of shape people give birth?

Because, I mean, if you need to be athletic or it's a hard labor thing, but like if it's hard, I need to get in shape for this. That's why it's better to be in shape for it, right? It is better to be in shape. It does put you at an advantage so that it's an easier time for you. but the muscles that you're using, you cannot condition, you know? So you can condition the rest of your body, but your uterus, you're not going to exercise your uterus any other time. You can't prep for that.

So it's, but I'm saying kind of psychologically, if you can compare it to another experience that you've had, like if anybody that's like done something, anybody that's run a marathon or run any kind of, length of time that they put their body through some stress and they mentally overcame that and pushed through and just knew like all right well so I'm going to be uncomfortable but right then it's going to be over and it's going to be worth it and I'm going to be proud and happy or whatever you know I feel like I keep expecting you to say like oh yeah like I do you lift weights you know

it doesn't always feel good no I hate it I hate lifting weights but I know that exercise does help my brain if nothing else it helps me just the anxiety so i assume that as a pregnant woman you know and you're giving birth if you can reduce that anxiety and kind of relax it's like i hate to say this but it's probably like it's not going to surprise my guess but it's it's it's like you know taking a big poop if you know if you're pushing you're going to hurt yourself and you're stressed and it's anxious and you'll get a hemorrhoid potentially but like the the reality is if you just relax it's going to be smooth sound and you could go afterwards call some friends and say wow that was i gotta tell you about this crap i just took that's that's not a crazy analogy okay good

were you glad when she was out like oh uh or did you go through that sure i was well like you said some people there's a connection right it happened so fast it was yeah so it was i mean i was kind of just like both times i i was both births right i was kind of like just amazed like that there's there were two people in a room and now there were three people in a room it's just weird it's a very existential experience yeah you know yeah you know what's funny is not funny but i actually read something a long time ago that someone recommended husbands not being in the room and watching the baby come out because some people you'll lose attraction to your wife i've read that somewhere no no i'm not kidding they said that if you watch it maybe like i'm just saying and i was like was like

was that true that sucks because I'd want to see my child born so you don't think like but see Cole's an anomaly call's a man he's like I love my wife I love my kid I want to get bloody I want to fucking get vice grips I want to cut this shit fucking baby so he's an anomaly so some men would be like oh my god her vagina was so big and it's blood and I can't deal with it I think it's just like a separate experience to the rest of your life it's just nothing matters in that moment except what's occurring. I mean, maybe that's not true if you're just standing aside and the doctors are all doing everything and you're like,

you get a view over there and you're like, oh, look at her body. But, you know, I'm like, God, it's got to hurt. But Cole, even the first time when the doctor did make it in time, barely, he was like shoulder to shoulder with the doctor. And the doctor was like, okay, you know, he had already said, like, when the baby comes out, you can put the baby on on erika's chest and you can cut the cord and the whole thing so Cole was like watching the entire time and as a more of a participant than an outside observer

who's like in the back of the room being like oh what's happening with the grossness over there he's like there's a baby coming out like let's focus on what's happening i think and then it's and then like I said it's just like it's such a separate experience then you go back to life and then you know your wife's body goes back to normal well I appreciate you being so open and forthcoming with this stuff because I think it is educational for whether a guy or a female listening who hasn't given birth or a guy who I mean it's just it's just kind of inspirational and it's like the approach that you took and you know again it's all what works for you proverbial you right so I think You know, some people, I want to be in the hospital.

The husband's like, I don't want to be around. Are you cool with that? Some people want to do it organically. Some want to go to the dairy farm and get it raw milk poured all over them while they're doing it. It just depends. And that's why it's called freedom. Do what the fuck you want. This is your world, as much as it is, everyone else is.

And no one should judge you for doing what you want to do. A thousand percent. Which is also, well, go ahead. No, go. Well, I guess is like hearing, hearing my. experience would just be like if anyone was interested in going the natural route, if anyone was interested in having a home birth or having an unmedicated birth, then they could, then they could hear that experience and be like, oh, okay, I'm going to file that away as part of my decision making. If somebody's

like, I want to be in the hospital, whatever, whatever, give me the drugs, then great. Then they can be like, well, that's interesting that that's the way that you did it and good for you and I'm going to do what I'm going to do. But I knew, yeah, I knew that I wanted to do it that way. And so I watched videos that people just, God bless them, posted to the internet of them giving birth. Wow. So I got to watch all these people give birth and like cry,

happy tears from these strangers. Why don't you post yours? Because I'd have it on video. I know, because of the black, it fell. But that, you could have got a better camera than your iPhone, just propping it up on a desk. You could have prepared a little. You prepared so well.

You prepared so well. for this childbirth and the relaxation, the Akuna matadas, the bacon, the coal relaxing, everything. It was all set in motion, and the one thing you forgot is the documentation. I know. The GoPro's ran out of batteries or whatever. Maybe they didn't have cards in them. I don't know.

Are you going to have another one? I don't know. We've been open to the idea. But it's, and I come from a family. I have three brothers, you know. Two that are twins. two that are twins and one's an actor right you know one is yes one is more of an actor than the other one they both have acted they they both did a pilot with gavin o'connor but that was a million

years ago well one did upside of anger with mike uh binder who i love exactly who i love as well that's dain my brother dain he's a brilliant actor but i don't know that he's going to put much effort into pursuing it right right He was also in the movie, it's called All At Once, that I made just like five years ago with a bunch of my friends. He auditioned for this small role and killed it. And then on set, in the middle of filming the scene, Johnny Boy, do you know Johnny Abrams? He lives so close to you. I know the name, but I don't know him.

Okay, so our friend Johnny, who's an actor and a director, he was directing. and he says to Dane, how about do this take in a German accent? And Dane was like, beat, beat, okay. And he just did the scene in a freaking German accent. Like full-fledged. And then that's the take that they used to the movie. Really?

So he just started doing it like this. Like, Erica, this is Viavon to do this to you. This is what I think about it and I don't know. I remember I auditioned for a movie called U-5-7-1 by U-Bote. and I remember I went in there and I learned the whole thing in German I go, speaking of Swedish and Schreiber

and there's in a unborn younger and I'm in Fachennomen and the guy goes You still have you retained it now! Yeah and the guy David Mostow, the director goes, what are you doing? And I go,

speaking German, he goes, yeah, I know, I want you to say it and read in English. And I go, I just worked two weeks on this. You fuck! I literally had learned

this whole speech and all these things goes, no, I want you doing it. So then I didn't really prepare it to read in English. I was like, no. Do you read a right English? Do you speak German? Do you not speak German? And I ended up doing it and it was fine, but I wasn't you know, like prepared as much

and I worked so hard and sheise that. You car be in the hosen a lichen under an arshoche. I just, yeah, anyway. So, what did you just say? Did you say like, lower the periscope? I said, Do you read,

Speckonset, do you read or write, do you speak German? Do you read or write it or you just some simple farm boy with the name? Do you something I remember? I don't know.

I just remember certain things like that. When something interests me when I really go, oh my God, it would be nice to learn this. I can memorize things when I'm really excited or really wanted,

like I remember learning Hannibal Lecter's monologue in silence of the lambs. Like, you know what he says, A Sensa once tried to test me. I hate his lip with some father. You know that one. Everybody knows that one.

But I learned the one was like, did I already do this one? Oh, Agent Sterling, you think you can dissect me with your blow-up little tool? You're so ambitious, aren't you? But you know what you look like to me with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rogue, a wild whore hustling the roll with a little taste. The magicians came a little info bone, but you really know one more generation from pure white trash. Are you, Agent Sterling? That accent you so desperately tried to share.

Pure West Virginia. What was your father, dear? was he a coal miner that he stink of the lamb you know quickly the boys found you all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars we could only dream of getting out getting anywhere getting all the way to the FBI we could cut that right Ryan no I don't know maybe not I don't know I didn't really do the accent as much but I remember the dialogue anyway because I really loved it I was just enamored by his performance I was like I want to memorize this I want to memorize this I want to memorize Christopher Walken's speech and this. I want to memorize, you know,

Oscar Schindler and, you know, what's his name? Ray Fines when he goes, yes. To cast a spell on you, you know, then you've worked like, I do you see this to have this power. I don't know, Ray Fine, do you do any impressions? They see every actor should do an impression. You have to have one. I suppose I should. You don't do one. No, I do my two-year-old. That's it. Let me hear it. Let me hear it. That's, I want a nurse. I love your boobies. That's a good one. I want, I want nurse. I want your boobies. She has an Italian accent. It's very weird.

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And they helped you in so many ways. And with these subscriptions that you think are like, oh, it's a one-month subscription for free and then you pay, well, we forget. We want to watch a show on some streamer and then we forget and now we owe $200 by the end of the year. They're there to make sure those things don't happen. And they will save you money. You know, Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of $500 million in canceled

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Ever wonder how dark the world can really get? Well, we dive into the twisted, the terrifying, and the true stories behind some of the world's most chilling crimes. Hi, I'm Ben. And I'm Nicole. Together we host Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast that unpacks real-life horrors one case at a time. With deep research, dark storytelling, and the occasional drink to take the edge off,

we're here to explore the Wicked and Reveal the Grim. We are Wicked and Grim. follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform. Hey, you know, I really appreciate you being so open. I think I love this. It's just candid talk conversation. And we talked last time about the Scientology stuff. I know you're so open and so brave because people would think, you know,

you get lambasted and people say, oh, it's this and it's this. But you stick to your guns. This is what I believe, like the raw milk, like whatever. I live a happy existence. I'm happy. I'm not judging you. Why should you judge me? and you do that and you know I wonder sometimes like because you're such a brilliant actress

and you've done so much great work do you think it ever hinders you from getting roles because some people are like oh she's a Scientologist we're not hiring her do you think that happens I have no idea I have no idea I mean that would be that would be wild to me because I don't know exactly what they would think I mean it's like it's like this ephemeral idea that like there's badness there like it's a trendy thing to just be like dismissive about it but other than that like if you truly have an issue like i don't know i don't know that's weird well you know i have a friend uh my friend john heater i've talked about this he's a Mormon yeah he doesn't sit there and preach Mormonology to me or

Mormonism or whatever he doesn't you know i love you know they say that religion um some people will say religion organized religion is really is a terrible thing some people will say it's the only thing, right? There's divisiveness. And there shouldn't be because if it works for you and you're not telling other people what to do and how to live their lives, that is a success story when it comes to religion. I have a friend in Indiana who is a Christian boy and they go to church and they love the Lord and that's what they do. And my friend John, they go to church and they have four kids and he's incredibly family oriented and nothing really like business wise, industry wise, phase him. able to have a really happy existence and he's a Mormon and this is what he believes and people will

get the the thing the fundamentalist like well aren't you a polygamist he's like no that's what gave us a bad name those are people that like that's not us that's like i think it's the fundamentalist but so are there you know some people will give you know all of a sudden one thing will happen with a scientologist something bad will happen they'll get accused of something and it's terrible and then all of a sudden and it brings down the whole thing. Yeah, and I think that's like a, that's a symptom of just not knowing anything about Scientology in general, which they've tried to solve by starting their own television network.

So like, let us show you who we are. This is what we believe. This is come look at our churches. These are the people that are doing Scientology. Like, there's so much information just trying to get out there about like, you don't know anything about us. So if somebody, like, makes a snide joke or makes some crazy accusation or whatever, then that's all you know. So it's like getting some more information out there, which I don't know if anybody's taking advantage of it.

I don't know if anybody's watching that. What's a show called? What's a show? It's an entire network called the Scientology Network that has shows on all day. So, look, in a nutshell, someone says, okay, what is it exactly? What would you say in a sentence or two? Scientology is an applied religious philosophy applied because you do it. You don't just, it's not just a faith, religious because it's addressing you as a spiritual being

and philosophy because it is all of the questions of life and why are we here and who are we and what potentials do we have and how do we reach them and what is the purpose of life, which is, by the way, to help, you know, to be part of the entire, like, ecosystem of the planet and spiritually, to just, like, to be of service, as somebody might say. Sounds pretty good. That's it.

But, like, in a nutshell, those words, applied religious philosophy and believing that, um, that man is basically good. Not that man is basically bad. It's hard. to believe that lately isn't it it's kind of hard to believe that in general uh that you know

because you know for you know whether whatever you believe out there you know whether you're a jew or a scientologist or a mormon or whatever i you know catholic christian and do we can go on um sometimes do you think well if there is a god maybe this is his plan to kind of say hey fuck sticks why don't you wake up you're destroying this fucking planet you're you're killing each other you're terrible to each other you're you know and so it's like sort of like a wake up call and i think that you know you hope at the end of this pandemic you hope people just go god it's so much easier being nice to people isn't that the truth i mean yeah i mean we noticed at the beginning at the like a year ago right at the beginning that people were being selfish there were instances where people were scared about

food supply, people were not fully being respectful of personal space and especially during, you know, when the kind of first wave of anxiety, we still don't know very much about this thing to stay the hell away from me. People were like, freaking out. But then, then people came to understand how to be safe and respectful. And then it just came to be about, I think so much about gratitude for all the essential workers so much about gratitude for what we do have and i know that i mean financially it's been really rough on so many people and and government relief has been kind of probably insufficient but but there seems to be a lot of kind of appreciation for one's fellows well i i hope we're getting there and by the way you mentioned

to word that I think is the most important word you said. And it's something that my therapist constantly, right before I go, I go, okay, good talking to you, Sandy. And she's like, Gratitudes. Say your gratitudes. Say your gratitude. And I'll tell you, I go to bed and if I'm stressed and whatever, and I just close my eyes. And I go, I thank my grandmother for freaking unconditionally loving me.

I thank my, you know, all of a sudden, and it's better to go, it's better to go to bed with good thoughts in your mind. And it really helps me. It does. That's wonderful. I can work that into my sleep training three years and for myself. That really, Eric, I'm telling you, I'm not the most disciplined guy in the world, but I do just try to, when I go to bed, I lie in bed for a minute and I just think of everything I'm grateful for.

And then somehow I fall asleep and the next thing I know it's the morning, or sometimes it's four in the morning. I go eat it, peanut, but I enjoy something. That's so beautiful, though. Yeah. I mean, Cole will ask the kids, you know, what was your favorite part of the day? But to make it broader even than that. is great.

Yeah. By the way, and for the adults also, that's more necessary. The kids naturally go, I had a great day and I love you. That's true. I mean,

but what's the one thing, by the way, in terms of Scientology, that people just, that you hate that people assume. The one thing that just drives you bananas, like, why are they not educated?

Why can't they ask questions? Why do they have to assume this? Why do they, is there one thing that just drives you bonkers? No. and I'm not going to rack my brain for it because I don't even want to go there. Like the simplicity of taking ideas

that we all can agree on like gratitude and like being responsible for our own actions and so forth and so on. And finding a way to achieve some self-worth, you know, like finding being productive at a job or if you hate your job, then, you know, coaching your kids' soccer team or, you know, finding ways to be productive and be contributive. All of those things that we can all agree on that are super simple,

you take them and you find out that there are actual practical steps and things that we can learn about our minds and things that we can do to make them more effective and not just ideas and make them into actions. And that's just the simplicity of, you know, know, Scientology in general, you take like a book, a Scientology book and read that, and that's what people would see. If you take one of my favorites is called Problems of Work, the Problems of Work,

this is a universal thing. We all have to do it. We all have to work. Sometimes it sucks, you know. So, okay, maybe some piece of that can help you in that part of your life. it's so it's so like unassailable it's so relatable it's so relatable you know i think that you know ultimately isn't the idea of religion or anything to to love love thy neighbor to um respect to i mean if you're look i know you i think you're a wonderful human being and if you're doing something

it's not making it's not hurting you it's only making like you're wonderful i know you Well, thank you. So, you know, something has to, it works for you. And you're, you know, so I say like, if you're an asshole and you're, uh, you're a, whatever religion you are, you're an asshole. Well, but you're probably working on it. That's, that's the key. That's it.

You know, if you have some kind of goal for self growth, then good. And there are, by the way, I might have mentioned this two and a half years ago when we talked about it before, but there are. I'm not sure. I can't say for sure that there are Mormon Scientologists, but I know for sure that there are plenty of Jewish Scientologists,

plenty of Nation of Islam who practice dionetics in Scientology, plenty of Baptists, you know, so forth and so on, because it's not a faith, it's just a practice. It's not a, it's just tools to help you achieve those things, right?

Whether you want to call it some peace, whether you want to call it being a better person if you know you're an asshole you know if you've got a temper or whatever or whatever it is achieving brotherhood with the universe, great then here's some tools. So that's all part of it.

If you have a problem, if you have a problem, you can go to the Scientology, they have areas where you're like, I have a problem with my marriage. I have a problem with this. You can go and get help right away and you don't have to necessarily go to a therapist

or is that a separate thing? No, you can go and get help right away. And the thing that kind of, I think, is the main differentiation between seeing a therapist about it and seeing a Scientology counselor about it is that the Scientology counselor won't interpret anything for you, won't tell you what to think about your situation, won't tell you what you're doing wrong. They'll just ask you the questions that give you the opportunity to take responsibility and to help you see the way that things are. in a marriage, that's like, that is the key thing as any, any dishonesty. And I don't straight up mean lies. I just mean lack of communication that's there, that kind of dishonesty, keeping secrets.

It's like, all right, now out with them all. I don't know what they are. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You just have to get them all out, and then you're going to have to work through that stuff. But the linchpin of that working is getting all of those. secrets out anything, even if it's like, you know, I spent too much money on your Christmas present. And then now we've got this debt on the Amex or, you know, like stupid things that you just

keep secrets from each other. And that's, that's where you have problems. I think that's the sign of a good therapist anyway, one that asks questions and doesn't give you answers. Because all the answers, you know the answers. You need to be asked them so you can adjust and make the right choices and make the right changes. Because if you're just asking for, oh, here's the answer go lose weight oh okay i already know that yeah well why aren't you losing weight or why aren't you acting a certain way oh because you're not putting the effort or because you don't why don't you love yourself okay because i did this okay well don't do that there's just like it's such a cyclical thing that we go through that in therapy that it's just like you know we know

what to do sometimes we don't sometimes you know i needed a little bit of uh something to to sort of help me and you know that's okay it's like sort of uh anyway but look i look i love that you i love that you're just so passionate about it and so brave and i really think that if you you know wish more people could be like that in terms of anything they believe in because this this it's sort of the shit storm in the past x amount of years where now having a belief about something you get lambasted for anything and so you have to be really careful other than making a fart joke online i kind of shut shut up because i know i'm going to put my foot in my mouth i say something And all of a sudden, you're on following you.

I'm like, I don't mean it. I'm not a bad person. Well, that's the thing. That's the flip side of it is we all have to be willing to hear each other. That's what's so rough is like you can't make assumptions about what someone's belief means about the rest of them. I know. You're right. And it does get sort of convoluted and tough because I don't talk politics.

I just don't do it on this show because I think it's like, you know, there's so many things people, shows that people talk politics, but I could I could easily talk about things and Ryan's like, don't do it, don't do it, don't fucking do it. We can talk about philosophy, the underlying philosophies not about, not about the people that we expect

to represent them in the government but you know, what they are, what we are hoping that they represent and the actions that they take based upon the ideas that we hold, that's a separate thing, you know? Just have a conscience. That's all I want people to do is have a effing conscience when you're thinking about what people are doing have a conscience imagine you

are being that person that's being oppressed or being whatever it is just in life if you just put yourself in their shoes for a second your perspective will change this is called shit talking with erika christensen fans from my patron uh you can join patron patreon patreon dot com slash inside of you these are questions just for you there's rapid fire if you want here we go wait oh my god okay yes go go go i'm ready all right leanne p of all the roles you've played which one do you identify with the most oh my gosh well i i do find probably more julia in me now than when i played her but now more julia braverman graham from from parenthood awesome ray h ray harata what are you doing to stay mentally healthy?

Working always on improving myself as an individual and getting outdoors. And by the way, are using the echelon treadmill? I meant to bring that up. Yes, thank you so much. I did a ride this morning. How great is it? It's really amazing. It's really amazing for, it's like a new toy.

Still, I got it, Election Day, it arrived. November 3rd, it showed up on my doorstep. It was extremely heavy, but we set it up. And I think I waited until the next day before I actually got on it. But it's still a new toy. I love it. Like, I see it. And I'm like, well, what am I not going to ride it?

It's just sitting right there. Get on it. And you got that monitor and you can just feel like you're part of something and just, I have ADD, so I need a monitor. I can't just go, oh, I'm going to be on a stationary bike. I need to watch something. No. I've ever done it where you're like watching, just watching a movie on your actual television?

No. I got to beat Herb and I got to pass. Sandy and I got to be in, you know, I got to see how far I can get. Otherwise, I got to be competitive when I'm doing it. I got dropped today. Some people really kicked my butt. Doing what? Exercising? Right in the bike. Yeah. Right in the bike. Yeah. I was like, damn, these people just put me to shame this morning. I like it. But so what are you doing mentally healthy? I guess you're doing that, right? Yep. Well, actually, we can we can make getting outside and exercise separate things because they're not, because exercising inside is also super helpful and wonderful, but yeah, getting

outside, literally seeing the sky and getting some fresh air and sunshine in your lungs is, is really helpful. And then also, you know, working on myself. Nico P. What's some of the best feedback you've ever received? The one thing that you remember someone going, God, swim fan, you were just, or traffic, you are the best actress ever. Oh, parenthood your role julia gulia you were amazing what what is it what's the what's the one that you remember that really you remember going oh that felt good could be from your of someone you admire some from your dad's from cole oh from cole the best feedback he's ever given me is that when he's watching me in something that he forgets that it's me best thing you could say to an actor

best thing you can say to an actor the worst thing you could say is like i can't i can't I can't take you seriously. It's just you. It's just you being weird. Rosenbaum, you're bald, but you're still you. I don't get it. Carly S. What's your biggest guilty pleasure in life?

In life. In life. Oh, in life. I mean, this is, this is funny. But what my mind went to was Instagram. Because it's like, it's just like reading a magazine. I use it for genuine. an inspiration. I see all those people getting fit out there and being organized and all those

things and cooking beautiful meals. So I love all of it. But it's also like, if I'm procrastinating, I will be on Instagram. I know that. And I'll be like, okay, put it down. Lisa H. What's your favorite storyline on Parenthood? Uh, well, I mean, mine. It's, uh, the. the whole trying to conceive and then the whole adoption process being long and arduous and that's all so relatable to so many people and I'm grateful that I was able to address that Mary B last question what life lessons have you learned during the COVID crisis and the whole 2020 experience that you want to be sure to teach to your little girls

Wow, what a great question. Well, an interesting thing about the pandemic is that I think it has brought to the forefront of our attention how we are responsible for our community because it's directly, you know, it's directly, we are directly responsible for others in our environment. environment, you know? And it took something like this, like, you know, you don't want to get your neighbors sick and you don't want them dying to put that into perspective, you know, the respect and the joyfulness that we treat each other also spreads everywhere. And so that's an important thing. And then also, this is a little bit, hopefully I'll can express this, but basically being responsible for your own life as much as you can. I know so many entrepreneurs that have had a really rough time the last year, and I just respect

those people so much for pivoting, for figuring it out, for finding ways that they can continue to scratch their creative itch or whatever but basically like you know not taking it back taking the ownership back on your your own life from wherever it may have gone if it's gone to your significant other or your job or whatever i like that it's more about being aware of other people and what they're going through and i think it's just a lot of different things i mean it's it's a hard it's for me it's just really respect like you know like i don't have little girls but what i'll tell my two little dogs who one just came in the room and sitting here the old guy is 12 and a half i know he just he never comes in here like that he just came in here and sat with me and wants to sit with me

and i'm like you know i don't know how long i have with this little sucker and he's like he's old and he's you know it's just like i told him i said i looked at him one day i said you tell me when you're done man and we'll be done together but as long as you're not in pain and as long as you're still eating and laughing and playing with the little girl little my little pup yeah as long as you want to be here i want to have you here i'm not going to be selfish about it so uh you know because it's easy to be selfish and like you know he's gone blind twice and my friend harland he's so funny harlan will go will go yeah he's yeah it's unbelievable like i'll go yeah you know irv uh when

blinding us. Hey, buddy, you know, maybe it's time to put him down. I go, what? No, he just went blind. They're working on getting his sight back. He's on pills. Well, buddy, I'm just saying, you know, Irv, uh, hey, Irv stubbed his toe. Yeah, maybe it's time to put him down, but no, he stopped his toe. What are you doing? You know, Erf, how's Irv doing? Is it time? No, you've been saying this for eight years. It's not time. Uh, but I love him. Unconditional love is the most important thing in the world. It absolutely is. You're here. Well, listen, uh, I hope you had fun because this was, to me, this was honestly. I know you're going to probably go back to Cole and say it was just weird.

We talked about breastfeeding and I'm telling you this is fun. This is like this is real conversation and just candid talk. And I learned so much. I really, I know that I don't have to cut the umbilical cord right away. I learned that natural childbirth could be great. I learned that raw milk I might not be farting and bloated if I have raw milk. I could should try it. There's a lot of things I learned.

Hikes. I am, this is an hour. of therapy for me. I'm so glad I could be in service. Yes, and I can't wait to actually hang with you. I know, man. I don't know when that will be, but I will disinfect a package of raw cheese and leave it on your

doorstep. Really? And there's no real risk of meat eating it. I mean, I don't think so, but as long as you're getting it from that farm, I'll try it. What's the worst thing that could happen? Yeah, so you get some to shit my pants. Come on. Erica, thank

you for allowing to be inside of you again. I, I really love this. I truly love this. And I expect to get some text from you. Oh, you got it. It's coming. Yeah, I have notes here. We're going to talk soon. All right. Love everybody. All my love to the family, too. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Well, I hope you enjoyed that. And there was a little nugget in there, my little nugget. Erv. Erv showed up in the podcast. It was, I think, the only time he ever appeared in the podcast. Yeah. Oof, I'll get emotional, just thinking about it.

I miss him, and this podcast was recorded probably back in January or February. So he just came into the room, and I was like, there he is. Yeah, I do miss the guy. People have been sending me gifts and pictures of Irv, and I've got like this whole shrine of him. So it's really nice. So I don't want to continue to talk about Irv, although I will because I love him and he's my son. damn it and i will miss him uh but thank you for all the comments um 13 years is a long time to have a dog and he lived a good life and uh i hope to see him again someday um again thanks

erika christensen for being so open i hope you guys enjoyed that podcast and again subscribe to the podcast um you can subscribe on youtube you subscribe on apple all this stuff you could listen and watch and enjoy um again you can join patreon patreon patreon dot com slash inside, inside of the online store for merch, the sunspin.com for merch and booking us for Zooms and things. And we really appreciate. I appreciate all the patrons out there who support the show ongoing. It's just amazing. And so many great messages and comments. And I do, I do, sometimes I respond, but a lot of times I just read them and I don't respond. Next week, we've got a really fantastic episode. Another fantastic episode. He might be in the room. Yes. That. Somewhere.

Is Freddie Kruger, Robert England. Yep. If you are still listening, you just heard it. It's awesome. And he's one of my, I love, I love the Nightmare in Elm Street movies. He's a great guy. He has so much information. This is a really great episode. So make sure you tune in next week for Robert England, Freddie Krueger, Nightmare in Elm Streets. I think you're going to really enjoy it. We worked together in a movie called Urban Legend, and that was a lot of fun. Ryan, anything else? No.

Just waiting on my second Vax, that's all. Oh, yeah. I noticed that the movie, you were backed off a little bit still. You weren't so. Yeah. It's still weird. I'm just trying to, I don't know. You're weird around people right now.

I'm weird around people anyway, but, you know, I'm weird around people even more now. I don't know I'm just trying to like not get it before I get my second dose to get my second dose in a week All right So I think it'll be okay I mean I'm not worried about you I think you're gonna be fine

But you know it's good to be a little cautious I wish more people were cautious I don't think we we were went through the hell we were in If people were just a tad more cautious But let's get into All the patron love I have to at the end of every episode I always give a shout out to all the patrons So bear with me and if if you're done listening

I understand, but these are my lovable patrons and join Patreon and you'll get your name shouted out as well. Nancy D. Mary. B. Leah F. S. Tricia. F.

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I hope you enjoyed the episode. Continue to listen. Please continue to support. I love doing it. I will continue to do it as long as you guys are loving it. So spread the word. If every one of you just send an email to all your friends and ask them to please subscribe, that would be wonderful.

From myself, Michael Rosenbaum, along with... For myself, Ryan Teas. I was trying to Rodney Dayton. Hey, up here in the Hollywood Hills. Up here, the Hollywood Hills. It comes from your chest. It comes from my chest. I'm not sitting up right.

I'll tell you a while. You've got to sit up right, Ryan Tejas. Yes. In the Hollywood Hills of California. Look in the camera. There we are. We love you guys. Thank you so much for allow me to be inside of each and every one of you today.

And I hope you have a gorgeous week and be good to yourself, love yourself, and be good to others. All right. See you. Hi, I'm Joe Sal C. Hi, host of the stacking Benjamin's podcast. Today, we're going to talk about what if you came across $50,000. What would you do? Put it into a tax-advantaged retirement account.

The mortgage. That's what we do. Make a down payment on a home. Something nice. Buying a vehicle. A separate bucket for this edition that we're adding. $50,000, I'll buy a new podcast partner. You'll buy new friends.

And we're done. Thanks for playing, everybody. We're out of here. Stacky Benjamin's, follow and listen on your favorite platform.