RHAP: We Know Survivor - Listener Treemail-Bag

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

The Listener Mailbag is open as Rob Cesternino and Brandon Donlon field questions from fans about Survivor 49 and the wider Survivor universe. While some expected deep dives on the latest episode, there's a surprising mix of strategy talk, behind-the-scenes stories, and honest takes on the evolving game. With a focus on fan-driven topics, Rob and Brandon explore everything from cast comparisons to shifting gameplay trends.

Hey everybody. What's been on? Rob Cessorino back here for something I'm so excited for this podcast because I have wanted to do this for a couple of weeks now because I have been a long-time listener to the Bill Simmons podcast across its many different iterations. And I am here to reheat some nachos today because Bill Simmons recently on a podcast episode brought back the listener mailbag, which used to be a staple of his column for many, many years on ESPN and Grant Land, maybe the ringer too. And he had great questions from the listeners, and they were sometimes serious and then sometimes absurd. And I feel like in the history of Rob is a podcast, we used to do this from time to time. And it was something that I, too,

got away from for no good reason where I have other vehicles in which I take questions from the listeners, such as the patron five for five that I do with the first lady of podcasting. But a lot of times if we talk about anything that's not related to her, maybe she's a little uninterested and I don't get to talk about the things that are about Rob is a podcast as much. So I said, hey, Brandon Donnellin, let's do some listener treeman. I'll open up the mailbag, and here we are, Brandon Donnellin. And we're here. Yes.

We did it. We did it. We asked on your Instagram. We asked on the Rob is a podcast Instagram. We asked on Discord. We asked on Twitter. And we've got so. We got a great response.

So we're going to do this again, assuming that this is not a total disaster. And so I feel like maybe like once a month might be a good cadence to do the open up the listener mailbag podcast. So I'm really excited for this one. I love to get the feedback from the listeners. I also take questions from the listeners also when I do the patron Q&A, but that's a little bit of a call-in show. We can't necessarily. I have less control over what questions we get to answer.

So I thought this would be a fun podcast to do. And so thank you, Brandon, for helping me facilitate this on a day when we were supposed to talk to Don Meehan was originally what we had scheduled. and Dawn had a something come up. We were not able to record with Dawn. We will work on a Dawn interview sometime in the near future. But I said, hey, let's pivot and let's do some listener questions. So very excited to get into everything here today. First, let me just mention also, though, for many of the listeners, you know that I have

been working on a book project. It's called The Tribe, and I have spoken. spoken and it is going to be available everywhere on May 5th, but is available for pre-orders now. But this holiday season, if you want to give the gift of the tribe and I have spoken, I got something for you. And it's the link to Rob Hasabook.com where this holiday season, if you order, oh, I didn't know we had that ready to go, if you order the tribe and I have spoken over at robesbook.com, we will send you a postcard that you can present to your loved one to show them like hey

I bought I gave you the gift of the tribe and I have spoken and it is coming to you live on May 5th 2026 so that is uh if you're looking for some gift ideas give the gift of the incredible book the tribe and I have spoken all right so there you go all right brandon so i gave you the controls yeah fire away what did the you know i i have will say one thing though the part of the fun of doing this for me was like okay let's talk about whatever but also this will be like a good vehicle to answer questions about survivor 49 and i would We got an absurdly, shockingly few questions about Survivor 49. I figured, okay, like, maybe we'll, like, we'll talk some strategy, we'll break some stuff

down. And that was, like, not a, like, I would bring them to you. We got what, I mean, triple digit questions in just a few hours. And I think that maybe one or two were about Survivor 49. Yeah, I just, I just control F in the document to find, and I just typed in 49, zero with the numbers 49 in it. Maybe there are some scattered around. Do you have a question for me about Survivor 49? I have no questions.

There's a couple really good questions about folks who are playing Survivor 49 for you here. I don't know if I have a question about the game. Well, Gil, let's start with the Spartan 49 question. Just to keep it fresh of course Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve, Stephen and I will be back together. To recap episode 10 of Survivor 49, but I'm up for talking about Survivor. And we do Survivor 49 questions on the patron Q&A, but let's do it. No burning questions from the listeners, seemingly. This is from, and forgive me, these are all Instagram username.

So if I pronounce incorrectly, forgive me. Ruto H.K says, what do you think of, Rudo? Rudo, R Udoh, H.K. Yeah. Put it in your bio, Rudo. What do you think of Fairplay calling Rizgod, the new era Rob C? Yeah. You know, so I happen to listen to the Johnny Fairplay does do a podcast. This is not a paid advertisement.

And, you know, I was going through. I love to listen to podcasts. And, you know, I have only like so many subjects of podcasts. I like, frankly, I could use some more pocket. They have recommendations. But besides, like, what we put out. and stuff about the Jets, you know, there's only a few other interests that I have for podcasts.

And I saw Johnny Fairplay that he had a podcast. It said Carolyn was on, it was going to be the guest. I was like, let me see what Carolyn has to say. And I was listening to Johnny Fairplay's podcast. And he made actually a lot of comparisons between talking about the R-I-Z, G-O-D, and myself from Survivor, the Amazon. And I don't know if it's necessarily like a one to one comparison or even one that Rizzo might find flattering. But I myself thought like it was he was somewhat evocative of myself and not necessarily the things that maybe he would not want to be compared to me for of,

you know, making questionable remarks or anything like that. But in terms of like the fun he was having in terms of like playing the game like I definitely did see that spark and I actually and I sent Johnny Fairplay a message to say hey don't get a big head I don't listen to your podcast all the time but I did listen to what you had to say and you had nice things to say to me and I appreciate it and I hope you're doing good Rizzo also voting out in Alex as the third member that's true that's true so there you go so Alex and survive the Amazon came in seventh place I think this was ninth place so you know inflation Inflation. It's getting all of us. We're all feeling it.

Yes. But I could see that. You know, I think that Rizzo is a little older than I was when I played in Survivor, the Amazon, but certainly excited young guy there to go and play the game. And I could see the glimmer in his eye. Do you see more comparisons to like gameplay or vibe? Because you're, you know, both New York young guys, like vibe similar, but also the strategy. I'd say a little bit more of the vibe than. the exact gameplay style because I think that he is not necessarily I think playing the middle as much

I think he's sort of like very like firmly ensconced on one side I can't see him flipping on Savannah and say to go like go with the other side of people so I don't think it's necessarily a one to one sure sure

so we have on this document we've got questions about survivors I also compare, this was another thing. As Brandon and I were talking about, like, what should we do in this slot before I said, like, hey, let's do the mailbag. I was saying, like, could we compare the Survivor 49 cast to things? And one of my ideas was to compare them to sitcom carry. Could we cast different sitcoms with the cast of Survivor 49? And I did think that maybe the Oolie, could I compare the Oolie 4 to the cast of Seinfeld?

please but tell me tell me where we're going with with god well i think so i think that riso is jerry i think savanna is elaine i think joan is george and i think sage is uh kramer uh kramer um but yeah yeah and kramer and elaine would have be but i wonder if maybe if you did it the other way around where maybe is is savannah jerry and then sage is newman But I think I'll go the first way around where I think that if you, because it's, that's cleaner of the four, the,

the core four, the Oolie. I think that, uh, Rizzo, Jerry, Savannah is Elaine. Then Jawan is George.

And then you have, uh, Sage is Kramer. Yeah. Kramer would put black heads in a jar. He would. He would. He's exasperated often.

He's walking in, you know, doing his whole thing. Mm-hmm. Um, I see it. Yeah. My favorite.

sitcom line of all time is George when he says, it's not a lie if you believe it. Of course. I use that often. I like that so much. True across many reality TV shows. Let's do a reality TV question. Sure. Alexander Blake Wind wants to know. In the current era,

would you recommend someone go on reality TV? So I think that it's a good question because I think we know more about reality TV. We know more about how the sausage is made than ever before in the history of this thing. I think that, like, when I went to go play in Survivor at the end,

people loved reality TV, but I think that there were a lot of mysteries of what goes on, and everybody is so smart here. So I think that people should still go on reality TV, but I think that you need to go in armed with, like, what it is and what it isn't. And I think that as long as you sort of, like, are going in and are like conscious about here's what I'm getting myself involved in.

It's not necessarily going to be the thing that is like going to make or break my life. But it's something fun. It's a fun adventure that I'm going to go do. Then I think that you should be a willing participant to it. I think back in the old days that you would go into it. And I think that you'd be fed a lot of things of like, you're going to be on television, you're going to be a star,

you're going to be famous, you're going to be, and then also that there was a lot more, I feel like editing, manipulation. And Emily Nussbaum does a great job in her book, Q the Sun, talking about like a lot of things that were done to people

or like with characters where I think that like they were like playing a lot more fast and loose on reality TV. And I think that there's a little more or a lot more accountability on the show's part. So maybe like the upside isn't there. Like you go on reality TV now and maybe there's less of a chance that you are like, you know, internationally famous.

But if it's something that you want to do, still go do it. Yeah. And you did it. You like it. Look at you now. I'm here. I got a microphone. I'm on the podcast.

Yeah, it's a, listen, I recommend it. And there's never been more opportunity than there is now. Back when you did it for the first time, And there were only what, three or four shows you could have done. Yeah. Now there's, you know, 10 shows a year you could do. Yeah. So look, there's certainly downsides of different things, but, you know, downsides to everything.

There's downsides to everything. Yeah. And we've got people who want to know your upsides to life. How about Alyssa wants to know? Listen, I'm transitioning. Try to transit. You can't transition. I'm here.

Elisa wants to know, what is the most recent thing or moment in your life? that gave you a lot of joy and happiness, whether big or small. You know, I, this is something I struggle with because I have a hard time sort of like slowing down and appreciating things. And it is something that I work on greatly. But I feel like when there are, there are times like I am somebody who I'm very fortunate to get to do what I get to do. And sometimes like at the end of the day, I'm like, wow,

That was, everything went great today. This was a lot of, I had to have a lot of fun. I got to have a lot of fun. And so I get to do, I've had, like, when we went to San Francisco and things went really, really well, you know, I, I don't have like one specific thing that is like, okay. So I'm sorry, at least I don't have a great answer to this question. but but practicing you know appreciation for everything that I get to do is something that I do try to spend time on because I can't imagine getting to do anything that would be more fun than what

I get to do look at us now how cool look at us now we're here we're on the podcast yeah um captain Taco Face wants to know speaking of the podcast how often do you experience experience burnout from podcasting and watching reality TV and how do you manage that yeah so i would say i have more burnout from the schedule as opposed to like what it is that i have to do you know i don't feel like that it's ever like oh my god like i don't i'm not over survivor or the shows sometimes like when we have like a schedule where it's like one thing after another i get burnt out by the end like the end of the day and again what i get to do it can be a little draining but it's not hard what i have to do but when the schedule is like okay there's like uh it's a podcast and then a call and then a call

and then a podcast and a podcast i was like hold on like do i have time to eat today do i have time to take a shower like what what is this and then you know that's just like what i have to do at work you know, I have like other responsibilities outside of sitting in this chair. So I have, I do get like burnt out when it's a number of like consecutive days where it's a schedule where there's just no downtime because I think a lot of people have harder jobs than me by sure, but they sort of have like a schedule and the, you know, okay, I'm working from, you know, nine to five today and like it's a B word, but. then at 5.30, it's over. And then, you know, like, my schedule sometimes is like, hey,

I'm starting to work at, you know, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and then I'll be done at 11 at night. Has the schedule been like this for 15 years, or is it now become so much more in the past? It comes to those. It's probably, and honestly, the schedule right now is not grueling. So sometimes the schedule, especially like September, happened to be like a really challenging month where that we had everything going on with the Survivor preseason plus everything with

all the nights of Big Brother coming up down the stretch and then the amazing race was coming on and then also we you know I have like all the things the other podcasts that are not Survivor that I do and then also like

run a company and also like be a husband and a dad So, like, those are, like, September was like, you know, September, like early October, like that was actually like a particularly grueling stretch. And then I ended up, and then I got, you know, maybe related, maybe not. Then we went to New York, did a live show, and then I ended up getting pretty sick after that. But right now, I think it's going really well. They're going great.

Yeah. Another survivor question. I wish I had your name. Your name is not in the document, which is probably my fault. I probably deleted it by accident. How about do you ever find yourself having rooting interest or dislike for certain players these days?

Any notable examples, if so? I tend to not watch Survivor with like a real rooting interest that I tend to like I try to be as objective as possible on the podcast. So I'm probably watching it, you know, not necessarily, you know, actually I don't know.

Like when you, when, before you were on the show, did you watch it sort of like for the love of the sport or did you have like your favorites that you were rooting for? I think a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.

I think once I became old enough to play, I think I was then watching for sport. But I think 11, 12, 13 year old me is watching because I liked the people that were playing. But then as soon as I was eligible to go compete, it was like, you know,

which seems funny now, but then game faces on. You know, you're watching game tape, which I never did in my youth. So I do think that there's, been like an evolution where I think with Stan culture as that's gone on with reality TV I think that it used to be okay there's this season there's this season this season I'm a fan of the show and I might have a favorite player but overall I'm I'm here because I'm a fan

of the show whereas I feel like that over the years and certainly like in in the last few years I maybe you know I think it's probably maybe it's not as you know as you know as as severe as it might have been at one time where it's like, hey, that there are these three or four people that I am rooting for on the show. And if they win, I am happy. And if my favorite player doesn't win, the results don't count. It is invalid. And I definitely feel like that, you know, we experience that online. I'm not sure if that's necessarily how the entire fandom views the shows. But it's very hard to podcast about the show and have that mentality of like, there's like a couple of acceptable outcomes

and anything else is the season is ruined. Well, and that's the great thing about what we do is it's not, I mean, granted, big brothers once a year, but if your team doesn't win the Super Bowl, you've got to wait a whole year for more stuff. But here, there's a, you know, there's two a year, and there's international franchises, and there's other shows that are similar.

So if your person doesn't win, just wait three weeks until something else is on. And then that person who didn't win might end up on something else. Maybe it's happened. How about this is right under this question. It's another survivor question. Stuart wants to know, what are your thoughts on Alicia Callaway?

I know you've said in the past that you felt like she got the spot in the alliance that should have been yours on all stars. But I wasn't sure if there was bad blood between you two. I've always gotten the vibe. She's on the no fly list for talking with Tiberd and they put in parentheticals. Apologies if this is too personal and you'd rather not answer. No, this is a good question. And too, yeah, too late. I've already been asked it.

So Alicia Calloway is certainly on the do-fly list for talking with T-Bird. I think she's been on the T-Bird list since the inception of talking with T-Bird. And I don't know if T-Bird has ever had an update in terms of tracking her down. I think Alicia Calloway is somebody who's been pretty firmly off the grid. I'm not even sure if Dalton Ross contacted her and if she did a quarantine questionnaire. I don't believe that she did. Yeah, I don't believe that there has been an Alicia Callaway sighting in quite some time. Yes, you have one?

There was, I believe that Saul went to a viewing party in Connecticut. I think maybe during season 37 that she was at, like within the last year. Yeah. Because I have personally tried to get her to do a recap of some sort. One, I don't know if she has working. I doubt she is watching Survivor, 49. I mean, I'm trying to think of Survivor 50, certainly that she might have an opinion on Jenna Lewis and Colb. Maybe not so much Colby.

Oh, Colby certainly from the Australian Outback days. Yes. Yeah, I wonder if she got called for 50. I wonder if they tracked her down. I don't know. I'd be surprised. I think she's just so far off of the grid. But I just, my history with Alicia Calloway was that I met her at the Survivor, the Amazon finale party.

I did a shot with her and I was so thrilled to get the chance to meet her and then I ended up I'm trying to think if I encountered her at all like the rest of that summer because basically I do the Survivor the Amazon

the finale is in May of 2003 and then I proceed to meet like all of the other survivors and then also at the same time Survivor All-Stars is going to be coming up sometime later. And I guess I don't know if she was a shoe-in for Survivor All-Stars. So I don't remember at what point that I might have been thinking about her as somebody who was going to come back.

But I've talked about certainly the evolutionist strategy about how the Labor Day weekend of 2003 that Boston Rob Mariana has survivors over. at his house and I drove up to Boston Mass for the big party Boston Rob's parents were like out of town and he was having like a big banger at his house a rager and Alicia Calloway was there and she also

like needed a ride and I had I hit it off great with Alicia Callow. I love Alicia Calloway and so I was so thrilled when she was on my tribe at Shapira and there's I think there might see a scene I'm pretty sure it's in the episode and not just from my memory where I'm like, hey, like, we should work together.

Like, hey, let's like Rob and Amber have the thing. You know, we, we should do something. And we had like a good, like, I think there was a handshake. But then, like, for whatever reason, that she did not love my antics on Survivor All-Stars. She did not think that I was funny. And her and Amber got closer. And eventually, I think that she became the fourth person in the core four at Chapera.

And then I, and I voted for her because I, you know, felt like, okay, it's either between Sue or Alicia as the person to go out and I kind of felt like I wanted to keep like I knew Amber was tight with Alicia

you know in thinking it through like okay I you know maybe Sue would have been the better part and I always say that like I

like I talked to Boston Rob before we were the tribal council and he seemed ambivalent to should it be Sue or Alicia and I said hey let's let's do Alicia

and keep Sue and he's like okay great hindsight playing back over 20 years is like you know anytime somebody's just giving you a very quick like agreeing to like I don't want to go to Chinese let's go for let's go to Indian food and like okay great like they're probably not coming you know what I mean like there like there was no like if he was really invested in the decision like I think he would have like stopped down and

like hold on no we're not changing it that's crazy but that being said I didn't ever see Alicia again in the game, but then I saw her at, I went to something for at like Rolling Stone magazine like in the preseason of Survivor All-Stars and she was there and it was, it was great to see her and she seemed excited to see me. And then, you know, every time I saw her after that, it was always great. So we, you know, we're not necessarily on the same page, but it wasn't like that we had a rivalry or anything. I just felt like that she took my spot in the alliance. and I've always found her to be incredibly, you know, fun and lovely outside of the game. I think, though, that maybe she might be somebody who is, and we see this type of person on Survivor many times where somebody who's, like, 2% body fat, somebody who's, like, incredibly fit, I do think gets a little cranky when the game starts.

and like I found her to be very like she's so fun outside of Survivor I did not see a smile for the entirety of when she is playing Survivor so I think that the lack of nutrition may affect her and I think that she has like a game face like no does not care for any sort of nonsense in the game of Survivor, but I thought was always very fun outside. I would love to have her on the podcast or talking with Tiberg. Where was the last time you talked to her? Has it been, was it 2004? I want to say it was probably 2004.

It was probably like Survivor, you know, All-Stars reunion. I'm trying to think. I know Ethan had like a charity event shortly thereafter, but I don't think I ever had another running with her after. I hope she's doing great. Yeah, me too. I'm surprised she didn't do the 10-year party that everybody talks about. Yeah, I don't remember seeing her there.

So I just think that she's sort of like, okay, it was the thing she did and she was sort of over it. All right, this is a strategy podcast. You want to know how to be the one person who wins Christmas, the one with the gift that gets the biggest reaction? Nicole has had that crown for many years in our house, but this year it's going to be me because I'm giving an aura frame. Aura is the perfect gift. It brings favorite moments to life every day with the Carver matte frame. You can preload photos before it even ships so it arrives ready to go. You can keep adding new pictures and videos anytime from anywhere straight from your phone.

And the frame comes in this premium gift box so it's ready to wrap or not. If you want to take credit for how sleek it looks, you can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it. Start aura farming for a limited time. Visit auraframes.com and get $45 off. Orra's best-selling carver mat frames named number one by wirecutter by using promo code Rob at checkout. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code Rob. This exclusive Black Friday, Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year. So order now before it ends. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. When you're flying Emirates business class, enjoying a good night's rest,

in your lie flat seat, you'll see that your vacation isn't really over until your flight is over. Fly Emirates. Fly better. At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like you who believe in the power of yes. Yes to new opportunities. Yes to second chances. Yes to a fresh start. That's why we've helped over four million Canadians get access to a credit card because at Capital One, we say yes, so you don't have to hear another no. What will you do with your yes?

Get the yes you've been waiting for at Capital One.ca.ca slash yes. Terms and conditions apply. You and Santa? Best rappers out there. But Rees' wants to know, what about the best unwrapping moment? Reese's peanut butter cups

put your unwrapping skills to the test and with three cups of creamy peanut butter and smooth chocolate per pack. You get your practice in. Experiencing that sweet and salty satisfaction again and again and again. Santa gets cookies. You get Reesis. Nothing else is Reesis.

You want to answer a trader's question? I guess it depends what it is. Adrian from Big Brother 27. I mean, I want to answer all the questions. There are a lot that we had to vet. But Adrian from Big Brother 27, he asked, did you win the traders? I'm just so happy that Adrian knows who I am. I really, that after, you know, Taryn interviewed him twice in like four days, and he's like, who's Taryn?

So I'm so happy that to even be on Adrian's radar. Sure, sure. Morgan wants to know. Morgan from Big Brother 27 also? She said, did you win the traders? Now, she, this Morgan says, what seasons of the traders did you rewatch in preparation for going on the show? And what was your favorite?

Yeah, so I actually didn't rewatch any of the U.S. seasons. So I had seen traders one, two, three, but I had never watched any international seasons of the traders. And then I watched a ton where I found out that I was going to do it probably, I think it was maybe like late March, early April was when I found out. And then I was grinding traders episodes. I watched all of UK, one, two, three. I watched Canada, one and two.

I watched Australia, two. And I watched, I'm sorry, I watched New Zealand, too. So I guess I watched eight or seven trader seasons, seven of the international trader seasons. Somebody had asked that your, your favorite, faithfuls and your favorite traders. Do you have those from those international seasons? Yes. Do you have anybody that stuck out? Well, of course, Queen Annabelle is a favorite of mine. Kevin Martin is one of my favorite faithfuls from Traders Canada One. I just loved Kevin so much.

those are my you know I thought that those are just like the people that were so fun to watch and then I think the best traders are you know Surrey

Harry and Netta Harry's I liked Harry a lot that's my favorite season I think that UK 2 might be the best of the trader seasons and UK 1 so far

invest. They, they, they, UK one, interesting. I love that season. I didn't really love, UK one that much. You didn't love, did you love, uh, Willf? Did you love Wilf, you know, the whole time? You know, I just feel like sometimes, and maybe that was like the first of the international season that I watched, I wasn't as invested where I, I, I just felt like that the people that were all left at the end, I couldn't tell you the names of one of the people that were left with Wilf. I just felt like that the faithful were kind of nondescript. Yeah.

I only know I can describe. I could describe some of them. Sure. But probably not on this podcast. No. Aaron, I think, was on Love Island.

That's the only reason I know that the guy's name. Chris wants to know, what's your favorite purchase that you've made? It was under $100. You know, I don't know if I have a specific one. I would say the things that I enjoy most. for under $100, I think like any sort of like appliance that you're going to use every single

day, like a solid coffee maker, something that is like, you get use out of it every day is great. I find anything that helps facilitate family time is also like I think a, like an air pop popcorn maker is something that sort of like, okay, oh, we're watching a movie. It's making things special. like this is this is great this was not an expensive purchase um things like a football like things that like you can are a accessory to having precious family time i think are always or things that you are going to use every single day uh like a electric toothbrush like something

that will be a part of your like every day ritual, I think I'm big on like the I take a lot of joy just go back to that other question in the like this little thing that I get to do every single day

maybe more than most. And the electric toothbrush helps with that. I wouldn't say that I like I love brushing my teeth but it's sort of like okay this is this is a neat thing that I get to do. I haven't charged my electric tooth brush. So it was just like a little heavier than a normal toothbrush. It's the only benefit

that I'm getting. Just a nice reminder. What do you mean? You have like batteries in it? No, it's got to charge. It's a USB. It's got to like charge like, you know, via the wall. Do you have a tube brush? Why is it heavier than a normal toothbrush? Well, because it's an electric toothbrush, but it's just not charged. So it's just like now it's a little heavier. Oh, so you have an electric toothbrush and you use it manual. I'm using a manual. I've been using a manual for quite a while. It's because I haven't plugged it back in. The cord in the bathroom. Are you supposed to do that? Does it work that way? No. I don't think so. It's a regular toothbrush. Trevor Chong wants to know, speaking of family time, when do you think

an appropriate time is to allow your kids to have a cell phone? I don't really want my kids to get phones. I didn't want my kids to get a phone either. It's very hard, I think, as a parent, to manage the screen time for the kids. Because I know, and I tell this to my kids, and they don't care, they don't want to listen. It's like, I know how hard it is for me. and Nicole to manage the screen time. Like, I know it's a constant battle for me to deal with. All right, this is too much screen time. Let me put the phone down.

But the issue is that they go to school. And my kids, if you haven't been keeping up, my boys are 12 and 10. And Dominic, he really wanted, last year for his birthday, he really wanted a phone. And I got him a dumb phone. I got him a flip phone. And he got the flip phone. And he was very happy to get it. and then he said he went to school and he said they made fun of him that he had a flip phone and then he didn't he didn't want it anymore and I was like that my my head was ready to explode of like I didn't even I didn't even want him to have a phone and then that oh no this phone's not good enough I'm being bullied because I don't have a a smartphone like the other kids so now it's like peer pressure of like hey where's your like we don't want him to have a smartphone he's like hey hey kid where's your smartphone now allegedly

allegedly. I'm not there to see the peer pressure or bullying that goes on, but it's like, hey, how come you're not in the group chat? How come, where's your, where's your phone? Are you a baby? I presume, they say. And so that we did, I did, we did give him my old iPhone and now he has that. But you got to like really be on top of it because these other kids. And not to say that he's perfect, but the other kids are, it could be like, like, who's saying inappropriate things in the chat. Like, I don't want him on any social media, but, you know, that they're on YouTube and, like, that we don't give him TikTok or Instagram or anything, but, you know, they have to have

YouTube, and then they do the YouTube shorts. And, you know, I think for the attention spans for the kids, I don't think it's a good thing. So it is a constant battle when you have children. of the devices and it's like hey guys no devices at the table and they'll be like but I'm not even looking at it like okay then what's the problem

then why why I also I had that but asking for everyone but I think I'm the first generation of asking for the phone what did you ask for what was the thing for you when you're this age that you game boy

game boy I really the same argument I remember I was in sixth grade and I feel like that I really, for a graduating elementary school, I really wanted Game Boy, and I remember that I did not get it. And I remember being very disappointed. But then at some point, I did have Game Boy, so I don't know how that necessarily came

to be. I don't know if it was a Christmas or what, but I remember being very much, I would like this and being told, no, you're not getting it. what what generation game boy was i think it was this was the original like uh titular game boy titular game boy i don't know when these things come out um the titular game boy what do you think mattie wolf wants to know what do you still look forward to each week about survivor what about survivor draws you in still i love what i get to do with the podcast where i get to talk about the things that are going on. And I think that I get to talk to very interesting people about

what's going on. I still love to break down the game and talk about all of the different possibilities of what could happen. I do feel like that we get less of that in terms of like modern day survivor, even with the longer runtime, I think that maybe because the game used to be a little bit more straightforward, where we had like a lot of people where we we could really break down of like, okay, it's the final nine, what's going to happen? But in the new era, I think that there's a lot more variance with the journeys and the powers and the different things that could happen. And so I think that it's a little harder to prognosticate. Where do we go from here? Whereas I feel like that in earlier times, I feel like it was easier to have more

strategic conversations about the show. Does that track for you? That tracks for me. I think about whenever this comes up, I think about like the Cagion final eight on, the Jeff reboot on. Like to me, watching it in 2014,

like felt like a movie. Like every episode, you know every character, you know the motivations of each character, who they're speaking with, who they get along with. And then it ultimately ends in a fantastic way. And I think this,

like current survivor, I think feels more like a TV show to me than it ever has, which I dislike. I think there are so much... You like when it feels like a movie. I like when it feels like a movie. And it's not to say it's runtime, but I just, I feel like when it is, it just feels so narratively sound. And I think the randomness feel like, not to mention a sitcom again, like I've signed photo

or a friends where there are these new plot points that show up every episode when you have a movie, you know, it's in three acts. You kind of know what's happening in each act or, you know. There's not a... Juan's is we're in act too. We're in act two. And I get that, like, I hear that we're in act too, but I think there's, there's, the randomness to me

is what is making me enjoy Survivor a lot less. Where, like, people cite Operation Italy as being one of the best episodes of the show, as is the Liz Appleby's moment. And it's, whether it's strategy or whether it's a personal moment, it's just, it feels so real, whereas the extra components do not.

Yeah. I think that also, we're also smart in terms of like how the show is edited and I think that a lot of times that we feel like because we know we're so sophisticated as viewers of the show that okay we know this person's not winning we know this person's not winning we know this person's not winning we know this person's not winning it's between this person and this person and they're not in danger right now and so we know it's going to be one of these two and it doesn't necessarily like maybe if you were there in the real time watching it like say we had live feeds for Survivor maybe it would be like hey anything could

happen but I think that we're so sophisticated as viewers that it doesn't necessarily feel like that there are you know at this point in Survivor it doesn't feel like that there are eight possible outcomes for Survivor 49 it feels like that there's maybe two or three possible outcomes for Survivor 49 and the seasons that people cite as their favorite often being your Cagionts, your David versus Goliath, here's versus villains, like Micronesia, you have a wide array of people who could have won. And from, from final eight on. Even in Survivor 48, it really felt like that, okay, this is predetermined like, okay,

Joe's going to win, Joe's going to win, Joe's going to win. I remember the light bulb went off. So, wait, hold on a second. What if, what if Kyle wins and Joe is going to Survivor 50? I guess the curveball for me was Kyle was going to win. and they're all going to Survivor 50. Bring them all. They got,

I got got got. You got got lots of people. I'll condense this all into one big question is everybody wants to know from you where, I guess two things, where you see the show going from season 51 and on and what you think they will do. Yeah,

what you want them to do and what you think they'll do. We got actually surprisingly way more questions about Survivor 51 than Survivor 49. And I do think that is going to be such an interesting point. Okay, because we know, okay, with Survivor 50, the cake is baked. It is what it is. It's going to be iconic or it's going to suck. But whatever it is, it is, it is what it is.

They've already done it. Where so many people have focused their attention is what does Survivor look at it? It's some good conversation with Dr. Evi Jagoda the other day about what is Survivor 51. and we're talking about the idea of like should survivor 49 have been branded as the end of the new era of that they're going to break the hourglass again and now the new era is over and then we have survivor 50 where okay the new era meets the old era and then survivor 51 what's west of westeros what is the next expansion of survivor and i think that that is so interesting i really think Survivor 51 is the most important season in the history of the franchise. I really, I mean, it's going, it's going to set the tone. And I think that Survivor has a lot to worry about. And I say that because historically, Survivor has not nailed the season after the big

all-star season. Now listen, Vanuatu has aged wonderfully, but in the real time was not beloved. People were saying like, eh, I don't know. And listen, it has aged beautifully, gracefully. But at the time, people were not necessarily feeling like, okay, hey, Survivor is back and better than ever. Vanuatu, we love it. Then you had, of course, I mean, Gabon in the real time. I'm not sure necessarily, uh, like how, how it was received, not Jeff's favorite season,

for sure. Then Survivor, Nicaragua famously was not beloved after Heroes versus Villains. And then I mean, co-wrong was, I think maybe they got around it because they filmed it before Survivor, uh, second chances. And then game, you know, H, H, H, H.H after game changers. Um, and then Survivor 41 after winners at war. So I think Survivor has struggled with what do we do after we do the big returning player season? And I think that really what they should do is, and I've never been a big gut.

You're like, oh, you can't do 26 days. But I do think that there are things that they can do to help to get people excited about it. And I think that they may not want to do themes, but I think that finding a theme to get people a little bit more excited about it, I think could be a way to go. I mean, two tribes, I think would feel like a very different start. I think that's the issue with the new era, and I know all of the reasons why it is that way, it's just like so samey same. And I'm not saying anything that, you know, everybody who listening to this podcast hasn't heard a million times before. but that there is very little novelty to Survivor. And I think that you need a lot of things.

And Survivor has been so fortunate in terms of like figuring out the recipe of what works over the years and being willing to adapt. And I feel like that in the new era, I do feel like that there has been a stubbornness to adapt that that's, you know, that the greatest survivor players they come in and here's my strengths and here's what I want to do. And then the game, like Mike Tyson, can punch you in the face. And then what's your next move? How do you adapt?

And I feel like that in the new era, there's been this thought of like, no, we don't that this is what it is now. This is what this is the thing. And I think that people would love to see a little bit more variation and novelty from week to week where, okay, we, we, we. know what show we're watching but we like to feel like okay this season feels different than the we're in the same location like to have it also be the same exact format every single time just doesn't feel like we're getting a different experience and I think that we need a little

bit and maybe in 51 I'm crossing my fingers that I'm hoping that they think the same way but if they just feel like, hey, we're just going to keep doing the status quo and just keep rolling the same thing out over and over again, I do feel like that that would be a mistake. If they did extend the days, if we now, it's not 26 days, it's 33 or 30, and that's the only change. Does that, you think make a difference? Honestly, like, I feel like I would much rather keep it 26 days, but come back with two tribes and a theme and like some some other wrinkles to you know give us give us something and i think that the casting also where we find like lovely people to come and play but i think that maybe we want to

have people where i know that jeff recently spoke about like hey we don't want the the villain they don't want the corin's and the russells to come back and play and people who want to be mean for the sake of being mean, but I do feel like that we need more people that are really going for it because they want to win, not necessarily because it's their dream to be on Survivor. And I totally understand people who want to be on Survivor because it's their dream to be on Survivor. But I feel like that that does not necessarily translate to the best television. I think that we need to find ways to create more conflict in the show because I think that that's something that also people are attracted to. I just think that there's been a little bit of

an indifference in the community to Survivor 49. And I hope it's just because of Survivor 50, but I think it's also because that the product on the screen has not captured the imagination of the Survivor fans. And that wasn't the case in Survivor Samoa. And it wasn't the case in Survivor Philippines, or Survivor, maybe a little bit in Survivor Worlds Apart when they started do the second chance vote. But you've had other returning player seasons that are coming up. Nobody was saying, I know it was an early time, nobody's like, I don't care about Pearl Islands, because I'm only thinking about Survivor All-Stars, that the show was giving you things to care about in those other pre-All-Star seasons. And I just think that they need to figure out a little bit of

what can we be doing to recapture some novelty, recapture some of the conflict, and the things that the fans really care about, maybe not necessarily the show that the producers want to make, but the show that the fans really want to see. And I think that in the last few years, I think the producers are making the show they want to make, but it's not necessarily the show.

the show that you, the person at home wants. Do you think that the advertising for season 50 throughout 48 and the end of 48, do you think that did anything to cause the indifference or do you think the indifference happens in regards? I don't think it's that like, okay, people who love Survivor aren't saying like, you know, I can't even concentrate on Survivor 49

because I'm too busy thinking about Survivor 50. Nobody's saying that. Nobody's saying it. It's an interesting thought. Yeah, it's just, it's funny to think about like when you play Survivor and when people for 15 years after you play Survivor, you know, it's, and I, we don't have to ever go anywhere again. Like, when you go to Fiji, you see that they have such a well-oiled operation. Like, they won't ever leave. I don't think they'll ever leave.

And they don't have to. They don't have to. They don't have to. But you can do other things that are, that to re-skin it to make it. And I think that some of it, what, what you can do. And what they've been hesitant to do is do more seasons where you are bringing back returning players and, you know, bring back, you know, uh, rivalries that have happened across other seasons or build themes around, uh, other returning players that you would like to see come back. That's what I mean is they could, you know, you go there or you're on your way there and you don't know whether you're on two tribes or three tribes or what the challenges will look like, you know, those are the things that are, I think, easy to switch around. And budgetary, I think, in terms of challenges, like some of those fun challenges that were on in the first 10 years of the show.

Like, you don't need all that much money to do. You know, there were matching challenges. EG. had a dancing challenge. Yeah. And I think that the three tribe format in the premurge, I think, locks you into all these challenges being some kind of a race where I think that there are different endurance challenges that you could be doing when it's head to head in two tribes. So I think that the challenges would feel a little bit more fresh where that you had like the bad the challenge that they had maybe the best challenge of the season was where you had the, you know, five people on one side and five people on one side in the endurance challenge. And then the battle between Sophie and Savannah, like that was probably the best challenge moment of the whole season. And that was like this like group challenge that results in heads up.

And you could do that in the pre-merge if you have two tribes. Yeah, you could do that. And there's so many, you know, like, we're not going to get the themed to the region challenges again, which I love. But like Van Nuwatra was a challenge. They're chasing around pigs. Like, it's new and fun. You know, Gabon has a challenge where they're throwing fruit into this and catching. And none of those challenges, like, on its own is like, oh, my God, this is the greatest thing ever.

But just the idea of there being novelty of that it's memorable because it's not. not just the same old, same old. Yes. All of the challenges they're doing are fine. The issue is that it's the same thing over and over and over again. You could have the greatest meal that you ever wanted, but if you have it for dinner every single night, you're going to get sick of it, unless you're me, which is basically what I do. But that for most people, like novelty is something that humans like.

Yes. It's true. I would love to see it. I would love a full rebrand after. A rebrand? 51. What do you want to rebranded? Well, no, we do survive it. The new era is a rebrand. Let's do it again. Bring it to McKinsey. They'll fix it up. This Giving Tuesday, Cam H is counting on your support. Together, we can forge a better path for mental health by creating a future where Canadians can get the help they need when they need it, no matter. matter who or where they are. From November 25th to December 2nd, your donation will be doubled. That means every dollar goes twice as far to help build a future where no one's seeking help is left behind. Donate today at camph.ca.ca.

slash giving Tuesday. Jared Dobro wants to know. Maybe Mike White, when he's on Survivor 50, will, like, you know, get a hold to Jeff's ear, maybe on, like, some of these, like, long endurance challenges. Maybe that's why they put him there. It's like undercover boss. It's like, you know. Yeah, likewise, it's going to go undercover.

So I start 50. Come back with like, here are my notes. Jared Dober wants to know, should the CBS returny seasons be considered a different show, like the RuPaul universe? I think this is very interesting. So I am not extremely well versed in the RuPaul's universe. But is it like the challenge where the seasons on Paramount are not necessarily canonically the challenge.

Yeah, so the challenge all-stars equivalent to, and I've long said a survivor straight to Paramount Plus season that you air over the summer, that you just film a third one. Like, why not do that? Bring the folks back that you cut from 50 or bring back. Would it be a shorter season? I mean, I don't know how you can go much more. You can go a little shorter, I guess.

How many wins would it count as, though? Don't throw me under the bus. I'm not going to be. Brandon, the direct to Paramount. season of Survivor, like, is that, should that be counted as a win? I think everybody would count that as a full win. I don't think there's any, like, I think if it's in this, you know, it's, it's a full win regardless.

I think the thinking it's not a full win is, is whatever. But yes, they do like their, what if Nick and Wilson won it? We're inviting Nick Weld, what's the theme? We're inviting Nick Wilson. Anyway, so, yeah, why not? I mean, I like it. I think that really the thing to watch in terms of Survivor is that Paramount has a new corporate ownership in Skydance. And we just, I think that maybe the people at Paramount don't necessarily know what the few.

I mean, you would think this is a successful franchise. This is a good IP. You would think that they would want to be in the Survivor business as long as possible. but we have no idea really, you know, what, and I think a lot of people Paramount have no idea what is the, you know, corporate philosophy of do they want to cut the budget for, you know, shows like Survivor? Do they want, do they want to do eight seasons a year? You know, do they want, you know, 24 episodes a season?

We don't know. Yeah. And this is really the only time that I know about that there has been so much uncertainty with what comes next both from the rebranding standpoint and also this new ownership so i think that there was some uncertainty about survivor where i feel like in the past of survivor in from its inception till around like season 30 i feel like people always talked about well they'll go for like two more years survivor and then and then they're going to wrap it up and that was the case for like you know the first 12, 13, you know, I guess what, Heroes versus Villains is, what, 10 years in.

So, yeah, about the first, like, 15 years of the show, people are like, oh, it's like going to go for like two more years. It wasn't really until the 30s that the show really started to have, like, well, maybe it could go on forever. And now here we are, like, at 50, and, you know, you foresee it going on infinitum. But, you know, I think that there is, like, a little bit of uncertainty just all. only around the new corporate ownership at Paramount. When you started the podcast,

was the expectation that the show would then end in a few years? Or you were just... Don't make it like I had like some great idea of blueprint of... I remember starting Heroes of Villains. Like, boy, too bad I didn't start this like two years ago because I probably could have made it into something before the show goes off the air. And now look where we are on the podcast.

Chris wants to know, do you ever think about your life, what your life looks like when you retire from podcasting? I do not have a good idea of what my life would look like from to retire from podcasting. What would I do? I mean,

what else do I have? Like, if I retired now, I guess I could spend more time with my kids, like, by the time I retire, my kids are going to be like adults. What am I going to do? I guess like if I have grandkids, but like, frankly, like, if

you know me like I don't know like is hanging out with grandkids all the time going to be super fun I didn't really want I didn't want to spend a lot of time with my own babies when they were I like I like spending time with my kids now that they are older and can converse and do stuff but I didn't really love that part of you know being there were nice moments but you know don't touch that don't touch that come on stop you know I'm not Nicole desperate misses that period of time. But I don't know what I would do. I don't have a lot of friends outside of the podcast.

I mean, I have many friends that I can call up and have a wonderful chat like this, like on a podcast. But I don't have a ton of friends outside of this. I don't have a ton of, I don't play golf or tennis. So like what else would I do other than eat different food every day? Which is nice. It's nice to do that. I love what I get to do.

So the question is, how long will people listen to me, and I'll assume that we have reality TV, before I become too old and out of it and unsightly to be on a podcast. Then I don't know what I would do. Do you often, do you want to call people when you're not doing this just to chat? Or does that, is that not something that you even have interested? I always enjoy talking to people on the phone. I love a good phone call And like when it's it's very fun But I feel like that I will rarely like

Oh, I have free time where I'm not podcasting Let me like call a person up on the phone You don't do that Very very rarely Who would you call if you do that? You have like And we do that we do that all the time Dylan wants to know

This you didn't highlight this I'm asking it anyway Dylan wants to know How did you know were ready to have kids. That's something that I'm interested to know from you. So when we had Dominic, I was 34, I think, yeah, I turned 35 right after he was born. And, you know, it's, it's a two-part decision, you know, typically, you know, if you're lucky, both people turn the key and say, hey, we're ready. And, no, Nicole and I were, in our thirties and there's also a biological element of like hey well it's like starting to get to

the point where if we're going to do this like we got to go soon we got to like you know get the train out of the station that makes it sound like that i'm being like graphic um i just meant like you know you have like a you are up against the clock you know in in some capacity and so you know it felt time to, you know, we always said we wanted to. I think also part of it, also the timing wise was my dad passed away in 2011 and I did start to feel like, okay, I want to have a family. I feel like that that was like part of it of like, okay, this is like something that I feel a little bit more ready to do sort of like reflecting on you know life in general um that when you lose

somebody like lose a parent that you i think feel like a little bit more like the scope of things and we felt like the time was right and that's uh you know soon thereafter dominic came and then you did it again and then anthony yeah twice yes um this is not related to the previous question. Aaron wants to know, have you ever dated or hooked up with a famous person slash survivor player

in your single days? Oh my God. So, no, I did not. I really, but it was in my mind when I went to go play on Survivor the Amazon, I had, you know,

not had much success dating anybody famously. And I thought to myself, like, wow, Well, this is going to be like, I'm on TV. I'm probably going to, I'm probably going to meet a lot of women, I would think, right? It's not crazy to think that I could like, meet women. And then I ended up starting to date the first lady of podcasting during Survivor the Amazon and never anybody else.

So I did, I met, got exactly one date from being on television. The infinite date, the lifetime date. Did, did you meet Nicole pre-survivor Amazon? Nicole was my sister's friend. And so she, she knew me. And did not really give me the time of day prior to Survivor the Amazon. But my parents used to have watch parties. And then she would come over.

And then after my parents would have like these big part. My parents were like the Bryce and Wen of Wanta of like inviting everybody they knew to come to over and watch Survivor on Thursday night. And they would like make a bunch of food and everything. And then my sister brought her friends over and that Nicole would come to the party. And then afterwards we would go to the local big bar, Mulcahys, and then yada, yada, yada. The rest is history. But you guys had met even before you filmed. Yeah, Nicole went to the same high school as me.

Yes. Interesting. How fun. I didn't know that. We've got a ton of survivor questions. So let me rattle through a few. But I cannot remember one conversation that I had with her or around her. Like it wasn't like that I like was like, you know, secretly pining for her prior to going on Survivor.

And then like, oh, he's saying she'll see me on television. But now he has more memories of me from being like my. my, you know, my friend's loser brother, I guess. Mm-hmm. And now, look, you're in your shared home. It's lovely. Worked out. Dalin Curvo wants to know, now that Jeff is older than most contestants,

do you think that changes how he hosts? I definitely think that Jeff has been famously has mellowed out. But I think that Jeff has been older than most of the contestants for some time. I really do feel like that the biggest and, you know, certainly like I have given much thought to Jeff's career over the course of Survivor. But I do feel like that after COVID, I do feel like that there was like a reexamination of Jeff and his role. And I did feel like that like then sort of like midway through the new era, like he started to come back with spicy. Jeff and spicy Jeff I feel like was received pretty well but I kind of feel like that he's a little

bit like a foot off the gas with spicy Jeff I feel like that around the time that you played 55 45 46 like yeah he had the knife and everything I feel like like like all right here we go spicy Jeff is back but I don't know has there been a lot of spicy Jeff uh 47 48 49 not that spicy I mean he cried like uh so it's been like that's the antithesis of spicy Jeff what's the what's the what's the opposite of spicy mild mild Jeff I don't want to call mild is mild the opposite of spicy I think sweet is the opposite of spicy sweet is you know because you could be sweet and spicy

if it's the opposite you can't be mild and spicy you can be sweet and spicy a food can be sweet and spicy yeah you ever have sweet chili one of my favorite condiments is that one of your favorite condiments is that one of your favorite Top condiment for me. Yeah. Love it. Put that on your Chipotle next time.

I get the mile. On your rice bowl. But so I think that, you know, after 2020, I do think that Jeff spent a lot of time. I do think that he went back. I mean, famously, he opens up Survivor 41 and says like, hey, what, how about come, like, come on in, guys. I'm not saying that anymore, right? right so i think that he did do like a reexamination of himself in terms of like being the

host and facilitator and really tried to like i'm going to build these people up i'm not there to cut people down like he might have been a little bit more aiming to do in the teens in the 20s of the show so i do think that you see a little bit more fatherly slash grandfatherly slash Uncle Jay and so I think that he is there a little bit more to build the people up. Yes. And I do feel like that this is something that he has talked about a lot of that he has said this many times on the On Fire podcast and then also on I heard it on the commercial for the episode this week where that he has this is like a stump speech for Jeff of the game is the lore. the prize is the experience that and he has like really said that and that has been sort of like a mission statement for the show which i do not think is the right mission statement for i i totally get that that's the show that jeff wants to make but i think that the show that people want to see is a show where you know um maybe the experience is is the lore but the prize is the prize like the prize should be the lore and and the and the prize should all also be the prize.

Yeah. And I think the way that, I don't know if they have the money to do this, but I think the way that you get that back is you raise the prize money enough to where it makes. Nobody cares. You tell me, would any, go back to your season.

Would anybody have played differently? Would, like, would Drew Baciel have pulled out a different move if you were playing for $5 million instead of $1 million? I don't, that's not my argument. My argument is I think you get the people that, that the fans want to see on

survivor, if it breaks the news cycle that, hey, Survivor is now $5 million, I think you get a whole host of new applicants that are not those people. I don't know. Like, I think that people are like really, maybe, you know, as we are potentially entering a rougher economic time, maybe a million dollars, it may be like a small bump up in the prize, you know, but I don't even think they have to. I think that people would be willing to do a lot of things for a million dollars. Like I think, I'm sure it's like been said on a million different reality shows, but people do really bad stuff for a lot less than a million dollars. Savannah was her first confessional this season.

She said, I've had a lot worse jobs for a lot less money or something. Yeah. So I think that people like that are there that are in it for the money, I think are, you know, we don't need out and out scoundrels, but I think the people that are really, looking to the in the new era we have largely abandoned the idea of the prize i think that the only contestant that i can and i reference this a lot is the only time that i really remember the prize being talked about was for jesse lopez as he weighed whether or not to betray cody and it was he gets the letter from geo get that money baby and he takes no joy in what he's going

to do. And we see that emotional turmoil that he has, that he's willing to make the big move that he feels like is necessary to win the game in order to win the money to provide for his family. And if the money ever comes up on modern day survivor, it's only in the context of I am here to provide for my family. Yeah. I think that Jesse moment is the best moment of the new era, I think. I thought about that the other day. That could be a good offseason podcast of what are the best moments of the new era. But that is a great episode. Yeah.

And that moment is most reminiscent of the old era. It is. How about Bobby Hall? I mean, when we talk about that the things that we like most of the new era are the things that remind us very much of the old era, it is like a little bit of a sign of that maybe like instead of running from what we did that was successful in the past, like that we don't we don't have to do everything the same way but there were there were reasons why people fell in love with the show we don't need to make a new show yeah i mean like even the

liz moment i think is just you could put that in any season one through 40 and that's what happens the great blind sides of the new erkelly's blind side you can put in any any one through 40 you know there aren't a lot of i mean i guess Caleb's shot in the dark is the is the one moment that is great TV that is in a new era exclusive. But I think all those other moments you can plop into an older season. Ontario, the wait is over.

The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget online casino is live. Bringing Vegas style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a season player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks,

you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling problem call Connects Ontario, 18665. 531-2-600-0.19 and over. Physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See golden nugget casino.com for details. Please play responsibly.

Speaking of older seasons, Bobby Hall wants to know who from Survivor All-Stars do you think does the best in the new era? And they put in parentheticals and why is it Amber? Is it Amber? Is Amber do the best in the new era? I'm not sure necessarily if that's the case. I mean, I'm trying to think of what a, new era winner you know needs to do to win um i think that you need to have a pretty good social game i think you need to be largely conflict diverse i think that other than gabler i'm trying to think of a new era winner that got into a lot of conflict mm-hmm and jam with josh a little bit but I guess Josh isn't on the jury. But Josh didn't make it. Yeah.

So, and largely conflict diverse, you know, not necessarily 100% conflict-free. Amber is probably not a bad pick. Jenna Maraska is certainly somebody, I think, that she would translate to what she's able to do in the new era. I mean, Jenna Lewis will get to see how she plays in the new era in Survivor 50. Ethan, I think, would do well in any era, especially, you know, 30-year-old. old Ethan when he's like at the peak of his powers and could could not rob sister dino do dominate the new era could have almost almost happen um the big biscuit one but i think i'm looking

towards like young younger players who you know um can play the middle avoid being seen as the biggest threat that's out there, stay out of big fights with other players. Young Boston Rob in the new era, I don't see it necessarily working for him. Even without his resume, I think you drop him into a new era season. And I think that it does you, he, the way that he builds a group and then keeps the group loyal through like, hey, they, they're going to be afraid to cross me. I don't think that game is necessarily a new era. a game that translates with all due respect to rob does boston rob have a new era equivalent

if rizzo is the you who's the who's the boston rock first time i don't know if there if there is a boston rob that you can play in the new era i think that really the three tribes of six i think really hurts it i'm trying to do you have anybody i mean i think that like when we take a look at like the casting in the new era like i think that the young, cocky, you know, construction worker that Boston Rob

ends up being like the 25-year-old Boston Marquesis, Rob, I don't think is cast on the new era. Yeah, that's interesting. I wonder if they're applied. They have to be applying that person.

I think that, you know, we've had other people who are sort of like cocky players of ice cream, David, but that's, I mean, it's not necessarily like, a young up-and-comer.

I mean, he was like 40 when he played. No, no shade to David. No. But, yeah, I'm trying to think of, you know, who would be sort of like the, you know, Nicole from this season said that she was the love child of Boston Robin Shambo. I didn't see it.

Oh, she could have been. Gabe. Yeah, we didn't see it. Could Gabe have been the closest to Boston Rob in the new era? as the best the best thoughts so far out of the two names i mean dave was somebody who is you know younger guy uh from the east coast you know had like a group of people that tried to keep together was willing to take big swings you know win some challenges kind of uh presented a little cocky in the edit yeah maybe that's the the best comp i can't think of anybody that i would say

is is not that or is better than that yeah um i mean and i asked i I'm trying to think Q is a little, a little harder to squint and see it. Yeah, Q feels more coach to me. Yeah, Q was not necessarily going to try. Like, he did have a group, but then immediately, like, targeted the people that were in this group.

And we get more of that on season 50. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I got a moving dog over here. Apologies for the jingling. The Big Biscuit wants to know, I asked this on purpose, if you were in your 20s now and ended up playing Survivor in the new era instead of the Amazon, do you think you would have found the same success? If so, why do you think your skill set at that age was perfect for that specific era of Survivor?

So one big advantage that I had in Survivor the Amazon was that I knew the show better than almost anybody. And a lot of people that were there did not really know the show particularly well. I think that one of the things that I had going for me, which I don't necessarily know, would be a strength in the new era to like transplant myself to quantum leap into, and I would assume that I am like armed with now 40 some odd seasons of survivor knowledge is that I was presenting as a like unassuming, you know, nice kid who is just happy to be there. And now that was my excitement and my enthusiasm for being on Survivor was probably endearing to the players who were there of like, oh, look at this like loser, he just so excited to be here.

This is his dream, how quaint. But in the new era, I don't think that that would particularly be a appreciated skill set because it's everybody has that. Everybody is a enthusiastic person who's living out their dream of being on Survivor. And so if anything, I think that I might be looked at in a smaller tribe of maybe somebody who's not a physical asset in the challenges and somebody who like, oh, he seems like he knows a lot about the show. That could be dangerous.

He could be a threat. So, yeah, if I was with the right group of people, like I could see a world where my skills would be able to translate well. But there's also, I think there's a lot of variance in my game, no matter when I play in Survivor. history yeah and you i mean you see like a a riszo i think riso does great yeah i do think though that my if i was going to play at any point in survivor history i think that i would do best in an eight person tribe a ten person tribe where the tribe isn't necessarily looking to me to like carry the weight in the challenge like i've always said like i am you know not a disaster

in the challenges, I'm like if you had like a feisty old guy or a really strong woman on the challenge on the on the tribe. Like I think that that's where like my physicality is sort of like, you know, spry 60 year old or like, you know, probably like one of the like medium to most athletic women on the tribe. That's like right. Not like a really athletic woman. A really athletic woman is going to smoke me. But, you know, in terms of, like, my strength, like, I think I probably is, like, very comparable to, like, a strong woman.

Yeah. Yeah, my survivor was on the same time as Big Brother 25. And there was a Big Brother subreddit post of, can we make the challenges more equitable for people like Felicia. And I was cited in the comments also if I were to go to Big Brother. We need for Felicia and me both to excel at the challenges. Um, but you know, the six challenges, I mean, Felicia did win more challenges than you. She was H-O-H. I won't none. Yeah.

Yeah, I would have loved it. Um, yeah, the six person tribes. So if anything, Felicia was doing fine. I never said she wasn't. She's great. She's going to tutor me for next time. Um, I'm getting the note that we are running low on time. So I got two more questions. Okay. Um, let's go with, um, this is from Sarah who says, I was at the live show in San Francisco, but I kind of missed hearing the podcasters on stage. I found myself so excited to meet all of the podcasters, maybe more than the actual survivors. I'm wondering if this was an intentional change. There were so many people on the

panels. It was a little hard to keep focus. Feel free to not read this one. I was just wondering. Yeah. So we actually did have a lot of the podcasters on stage during the San Francisco show. So if anything, it was an intentional change to have the podcasters on some of the panels where I think we had, what, five panels that we put together. And then other than when I had parv on the stage, I had one of the podcasters on every single panel, which I liked, because one, I do feel like that people have these relationships with the podcasters, which is something that I really love about what we've built on RHAP, but also that the podcasters ask good questions.

And so they might be thinking of things as I'm trying to like remember what we've talked about and what we haven't, that the podcasters are really good at throwing questions. out. And I thought they all did a really good job where we had Asia, Shannon, Mike Bloom, Taryn, and Chappelle on the panels in New San Francisco. Yeah. I think that went great. And that was a very smoothly ran live show. And we do a lot of stuff with the podcasters before the show comes on on the commercial breaks and stuff like that. It's just like tough to. We've got like 30 survivor alumni sometimes that are there. And they all want to come on the stage. And then it's also tough to

also like work in every podcaster that's there onto the stage um yeah and they love they love the microphone um missy wants to know which four contestants would you what does muffin thing a muffin unfortunately not here missy um missy um missy ea n a n s o rsor andsor wants to know the four contestants you think or you would place rather on a second survivor mount rush this is a great question um and at one point in uh the you know, the tribe and I have spoken, uh, we were thinking about like, should we do like lists throughout the, the book? And one of it was like, okay, well, who's on the survivor Mount Rushmore?

Like, well, okay, it's actually very easy, uh, as, uh, Jeff pointed out the other day. But the second Mount Rushmore, this is where things get, uh, pretty interesting. And certainly Survivor 50 could really end up, you know, that there is variance here. Okay. So, what's, what, first off, the second Mount Rush Moore, five through eight, what should it be called? Mount Rush Moore, it's a Mount, like, what's a little less than more? Mount Rush, Mount Rush, slightly more. It's not Mount Rush less, because I've said the Mountain Rush less is what the bottom four,

worst four survivors. Now that's, that'd be a good podcast also. Who are the worst four survivors ever? I don't want to be there, but I'm sick that day if we're going to do that. Okay. I can't be there. But Mount Rush Second for the purposes of this exercise, that's not a good name. But we'll think about it.

You know, I need to ideate. All right. Well, listeners, tell us, okay, so here's it. So I think it's, okay, in no particular order, okay? Mm-mm. I think I want to have, let's put Surrey, who doesn't have. Okay, so I, here's just off the top of my head. I'm going to go

Surrey Tyson Kim Russell okay oh okay Surrey

Kim Tyson Tyson Russell that's five through eight no particular order sorry Jeremy you're not on this one either I apologize Jeremy

is there Surrey not a winner Russell not a winner I think Amanda you can where's it where's Amanda but I think I'm I'm okay with Amanda not being there Russell changed the game Tyson right there as one of the icons Kim has like the perfect game in survive like almost perfect game in Survivor one world

you know feisty in winners at war and of course three does anybody have this includes Surrey, I guess. It has to do really, if they do really great in 50, do they get on Brown? I think coach is right there also. I think you can, you can argue for coach. And I think that that's where the season 50 of it all, you know, coach, like, really knocks your socks off in 50. I think you could have, you could have him in there.

I think you could, you could argue for Cochran in there. Jeremy, as mentioned, I think that's like, you know, really, I think that one through four and maybe your order may vary, but five through eight, I think is like a really interesting conversation. Yeah. I think I, yeah, I was, I was, I was, oh, Russell never won. Russell changed the game. And if you're going to tell me that Russell never won, but you're going to say, oh, well, Surrey is definitely there. Yeah, no, I agree with that point. Russell's been to the finals more times than Surrey. Yeah. Maybe that's a, I mean, So she's been right there, like, what, four times now?

Yes. Yeah. And I did count an Australian survivor. As we should, because it's real. It's canon. That's a good podcast. We'll do like seven episodes of the top four. We'll just do the top 28.

You know what I mean? The top four is actually, it's kind of boring other than like you're, you know, okay, what order do you have the Mount Rushmore is maybe the interesting part of that, but five through eight is actually a fascinating conversation. Let me know in the comments. How about this? On YouTube, tell us in the comments. Who's your 5 through 8?

Who's 5, 6, 7 8? Yeah, 6.7. That's going to be my thing. 5, 6, 7, 8. Rebranded. Yeah, so that was, I mean, that was many of the questions that we got. Okay. Good.

I love this. This was super fun. You did a great job of talking it through it. I, you know, not even when we talk on the phone. I love to have our conversations. And I hope that the listeners love this. And I would love to be able to, like, here's what I want. Like, let's do with this again in December.

Let's do. And maybe we, maybe it's post-survivor 49. Like, I think that might be a good time slot to do this. But I'd love to do, you know, look, I like that as Bill Simmons, it's, it's the balance. It's the, it's the P.B. and J. Of, like, the serious, like, thought-provoking questions, but then also the absurd. You know, those two things back and forth, six, seven. Uh, that is what makes for, uh, an incredible mailbag.

Yeah. Um, Squeely wants to know. Would you ever grow a mustache? I mean, I have a beard. I, I think that like minus the beard with just the, just the mustache. I don't know if it does it, if it works. My wife does not like it. She says that I look creepy.

Yeah. There are some guys that really, really look good. I am not. And my father was, that was his look was mustache. That was. Oh, really? Yes. That was.

huh um you know my entire life mustache and he like shaved it one week and it was like wait who are you what is this and i could maybe i just don't know how to do it right but with just the mustache i did it like after my dad died i did like for a couple of weeks of did just mustache and it did not look good um when my wife did not like it she allowed it because my dad just passed away and then after Survivor the Amazon, when I got voted out, I got voted out on day 38 and I had like all like the made it's wear like red paint and do like this like, like, uh, like bizarreo ritual that I think they just made up. I don't think that that was a real part of the Amazon culture. And then we stood on the thing and held the thing over our head. But then we had like all like war paint on. And then I got

voted off and then I went back to the, the like we were on a boat. Ponderosa was. like a big boat and then I took a shower and I think I just like I must have just like shaved the beard off because it was bothering me but I left the mustache because you know that's like jury people you wouldn't know but people on the jury sometimes they just like leave like facial hair but you've seen it right I've seen the show and like Lex is going to have a mohawk so people do weird like stuff with body hair and so I just left the mustache and then we like had like a toga party that night and Mark Burnett was there and he said he said Rob, you look gay like Freddie Mercury.

But he meant gay as the people used to say, like in elementary school. I think that maybe that was just like Freddie Mercury's look. And I think that there are people like, like, people like who wanted to be like Freddie Mercury. I love Freddie Mercury. I didn't realize that that was such a great compliment at the time. Sure.

Do you think if you cut into a mustache now, you still look like Freddie Mercury? You know, honestly, I could see, you put me in like all leather. Like, I think I could pull off a Freddie Mercury look. Yeah. Well, comment below. If you want robbing all leather and a mustache, we'll do it. I won't be there, but we'll do it. I mean, look, you don't know that that wasn't my look at breakfast on the traders. We don't. Yeah, there were also so many traders' questions. We cannot answer. We'll do this after the traders also. One day. One day, friends. All right. So, Brandon, anything else you want to tell people about? No, we have merch coming on Friday. Really new,

exciting fun merch that was designed with you in mind. So look out for that on Friday. Go to Rob has a website.com slash merch to check out the Brandon Donlin collection coming soon when we'll have a Black Friday sale for all of our patrons. Rob's website.com slash patron

for all of our fun patron stuff including a podcast that Brandon, if you like this, you're going to love the podcast we did over on Patreon recently where we went through all of the different times I made reality stars mad with this little microphone. of mine.

The big mouth and the little microphone somehow when put together it could be a toxic combination to make reality stars angry. And so I put my foot in my mouth many times and got reality stars mad and we went through the catalog of so many

of those times. And also this holiday season, don't forget about the tribe and I have spoken, which is available at rob has a book.com. And also, congratulations Congratulations to fellow author Taryn Armstrong. Behind the Mirror is available everywhere today.

Congratulations on Taryn's book release. Oh, yeah. Happy Pub Day. That's what they're saying online. All right. Thank you so much. Take everybody. Have a good one.

Bye. Hey, Rob here. And you know at RHAP, we're always talking about the ways to optimist. your strategy on all of our favorite reality TV games. But there's a guy that I listen to in real life who's the knowingest know it all when it comes to how to deal with your money and all sorts of other areas of your life. It's called All the Hacks. And it's hosted by the Master Optimizer, Chris Hutchins. This is a podcast I've actually listened to for a couple of years. And Chris is the king of life hacks, which is something that I love learning about.

I'm always watching TikToks about all sorts of different life hacks, so this appeals to me so much. People love it. They've got so many great reviews. Listeners have saved literally thousands of dollars in booked flights that they never thought that they could afford, and it's hands down the most actionable podcast out there. One of the shows he just did episode 231 was 50 rapid fire hacks from all of the interviews that he's done over the years. One of the ones that I really loved was about emailing the hotel before you stay to get free perks, which is something that certainly appeals to me. So if you have a strategy mindset,

if you love to travel, especially if you like free travel and fixing up your budget, this is a great podcast to check out. Search for all the hacks. That's all the hacks in your podcast app. Hit follow and start upgrading your life today with all the hacks.