So True with Caleb Hearon - Bowen Yang Has Room for Potential
Episode Date: August 13, 2026Welcome! This week’s guest is the hilarious Bowen Yang! Bowen and Caleb talk patterns of speech, The Real Housewives effect on people’s emotions, a harrowing story involving a school yearbook, Fir...e Island, and more! Join our Substack for ad free full episodes, early access to merch, our community chat, and more! https://calebsaysthings.substack.com/ Follow Bowen! @fayedunaway Follow the show! @sooootruepod Follow Caleb! @calebsaysthings Produced by Chance Nichols @chanceisloud Shop now at https://Fabletics.com/sotrue to get 70-80% percent off everything when you sign up as a new VIP Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Head to https://RULA.com to find a therapist the easy way. Get 40% off select Lola Blankets products at https://Lolablankets.com by using code SOTRUE at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket withLola Blankets. Thank you to Hinge! So True with Caleb Hearon is edited and engineered by Nicole Lyons. Our social media manager is Anna Weis. All episodes are filmed in The So Trudio at Legitimate Business World Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. A Wave series. https://wavesportsandentertainment.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Wave.
That is the U.S.
universal experience of life.
Yeah. It's going to hurt.
Might be some good stuff in there.
Definitely it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt one way or another.
Yeah, it's going to hurt and it's going to end. Those are the promises.
Caleb. Hey. So cool. So true. So true. And let's put it on a t-shirt.
Life is going to hurt and life is going to end. So true podcast.
How's it going? It's great. I'm so happy to see you.
How have you been? Will you tell me everything? How's your heart? What's exciting you?
I am
convalescing.
I'm, oh God, I might be in a permanent
state of
being in like the formaldehyde.
Like I think I have to like,
you know what I mean?
I have to.
I'm really excited to find out.
I just have to preserve and
and congeal and
I got to get like
a stem cell graft on my soul.
You're talking about, yeah, what's going on? Tell me about this.
I'm just, I've been over
stimulated the last six months.
Yeah, maybe the last, yeah, okay, six months.
And, well, sure.
I thought you were saying like six years.
Sure.
But something about the last six months where my time has been my own and yet what I've
chosen to do with it has been not that smart.
It's all on me.
It's not, I can't believe my not anyone else but me.
Well, it's not all.
Yeah, it's, we have our own decisions, but we do live in a society.
And like things are, I don't know, we live in a society, we have a job, we have
circumstances, but I really relate because I've been on a pseudo break.
Yes.
And I've been doing the same thing
where I'm like,
what are you doing
with your time that you have now?
But you've been,
you've been framing your break
in a very wonderful way
where you're like,
you don't have to answer to anybody.
Like this is,
I'm the same way right now
where I'm like,
oh,
my only job is my low stakes,
not that this is low stakes,
but my like low stakes
podcast that I do with someone else
who like does most of the talking.
One job, be Bowen.
One job be Bowen and mostly
just sit and listen to Matt.
Yeah, which is not bad.
Not bad, not a bad gig.
but I listen to Matt.
No worries.
I have to publicly apologize
for canceling on dinner with you.
I know the three of us made plans.
I'm so sorry.
Rowan, I was never going to bring it up.
I was never going to bring it up in a public forum.
How did you feel?
I felt like you're busy.
I felt like no big deal at all.
But you know, you and Sydney talked about this.
Like, I really want to be there for friends
and for new friends.
I feel like you and I have,
there's a lot of, there's a high ceiling there.
There's a lot of room for potential.
a lot of room for what?
Potential.
Potential.
There's room for potential.
There's room for potential
and there's room for growth.
There's room for potential
is actually way funnier.
There's room for potential.
Potential could sneak its way in there.
That's really good.
Oh, Bowen.
There's room for potential.
Oh, my God.
Why does that hurt and also heal?
I like my friendships.
Like, I like my coffee.
Little room for potential.
Just leave room for potential.
What does that mean?
Coffee-wise.
Coffee-wise.
Well, the potential is like, milk, creamer, simple syrup.
That's the potential on coffee.
And the room for potential is if it allows for milk, sugar, cream.
Exactly.
And then the room for potential in our friendship is like, if we lock in and get our schedules figured out, we could be going to dinner.
That's our room.
Are you, so, okay, the Michelle in my life, and her name is also Michelle.
Whoa.
She is a big restaurant girl.
You guys have been in touch, right?
No, we've just talked about it.
It's like, oh, Caleb's person is Michelle.
We need to put my Michelle and your Michelle together.
You guys would have a key, as the gays say.
But my, so my Michelle,
I hate that I'm using the possessive,
but I must, just sort of linguistically.
The Michelle in your life.
The Michelle in my life, thank you, yes.
Person first, person first.
She is a big restaurant person.
So is Michelle over here.
You got to link up.
Michelle and I met in a restaurant.
Wait, which one?
Oh, yeah.
Michelle worked there and I went in there all the time
and then when I was hiring an assistant I was like
Would you ever quit this job and come work for me?
And she said you know what? I would
And then she started it and she immediately regretted it
And now she's trapped.
You should unionize with my Michelle.
Oh, Michelle Union.
Michelle Union would be Slay.
Bowen's team?
Bowen's team are we on?
Can someone do something?
Wait, what's wrong with that?
I used to be really pro-union.
And now?
And then I started a business, and I saw how it can come between you and your beloved employees.
So true.
It can ruin the lines of communication between your family.
Okay, something bummed to be.
Oh, my God.
There's a really crazy thing happening.
I might have dreamed it.
Yeah.
So are you guys aware of Casa Bonita, the restaurant in Colorado?
Okay.
So, Trey Parker, Matt Stone bought it.
Gutted it during the pandemic.
Because it was going to shut.
It basically closed during the pandemic.
Yeah.
Huge mournful thing amongst,
Coloradoans.
Now, as a Colorado boy, were you mourning?
I was morning. I didn't go as a kid. So the
story of it is, everyone
had their birthday there. Everyone in Denver,
everyone in the state would have their birthday there as a kid.
And it's Mexican Disneyland. They did a whole episode about it on South
Park. There's cliff divers
and there's, you know, marriotia bands,
Sopapapapia's, Black Bart's Cave, there's games, whatever.
Unventilated place, food was always
not great. Of course.
Then Trey Parker and Matt Stone, buy it out.
I think they shot a documentary about it.
I haven't seen it.
But then they put in like 15 million or something in that.
It was like eight figures.
Yeah.
Of money into renovating it, bringing it up to code, I guess.
Ventilating it maybe.
Ventilating it, I think.
Yeah.
I think that's the huge, that's the biggest win.
But apparently the workers are, currently are unionizing.
And who is leading the charge?
But Brooke Shields.
Brooke Shields is leading the unionization charge at Castle Bonita.
Yes.
And I don't know what the relation, what her like labor sort of relationship is.
But like she, recently she like put her name, like put an alias in, went by herself, was just hanging out in Denver, went to the strip mall.
And she's just like, I'm here to advocate for the workers here because I guess people are getting like hypothermia.
And like from diving into the pool.
What? Like, it's, I don't know. I'm actually not smart enough or informed enough to talk about that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm immediately going, actually, I've realized I don't know the details and I'm speaking on this.
But I bring this up because, isn't it random that Brooke Shields is like? Completely random. I am actually obsessed with that.
I'm obsessed. What a career. I, I, I, I, Brook Shields, we will shout you out. We will shout you out.
Brook Shields, we will shout you out. Thank you for your pro-union activity at the Casabonita in Colorado.
Madlib. Madlib. Madlip. That's how much.
more celebrities should be moving actually. Madlib?
Madlib style. Do some random shit.
Totally. Do some random shit. Stop being where we expect you to be and start being
somewhere odd. What is, can we build a madlib for you?
I think I'm living that way. That's so cool. That's why you're,
your boots in.
Although, oh my God, okay, can me,
this is how I feel sometimes that I think you relate.
Don't you feel like gay pop culture, Forrest Gump, sometimes? You're like, are you
happen to be at this like thing. Tell me more. It's like oh like I'm at it's like I I just happen to be like
standing next to like the some like Oscar winning legend 100% and like what the fuck am I doing here.
So this happens to you a lot more than me because I don't go to almost anything. You're much better at
being social than me I think but it has happened to me recently. Yes. Quite a few times and I and I often
catch myself going I don't think I was supposed to be here and I feel like I'm reporting.
I feel like I'm reporting
I was sent there to report back to gay people
Do you know what I mean?
Yes. I'm like my job really
Here is to go back to gay people and be like she's amazing
I'm supposed to like have brunch with Glyn Close
So I can go back and be like she's amazing
We did it
But then what sucks is if they're not amazing
We can't use this platform for that
Exactly correct
And so that's kind of a yoke
That's we're trapped
You can't talk about then yeah you can't talk about it
And that's the tough part
You know what got me in my head, though, yesterday?
If you don't tell me, I'll die.
Huh?
If you don't tell me, I'll die.
I'll tell you.
I...
You ever, like, sit down with, like...
I just basically got lunch with my manager.
And I was just like, oh, I haven't seen anything recently.
Like, I need to, like, catch up to, like, the culture.
I need to, like, read, like, I guess 5,000 scripts to, like, know what's what.
I'm just behind
And so like I don't have a job either right now
Yeah
And I and yet I still feel overwhelmed by like
The ancillary sort of like
Extracurricular things
Yeah extracurriculars
Like like in high school
Were you EC down?
Extra curricular down?
Oh, Bowman
I was in everything
Yes, remind me
I was in everything
I was in
At one point in high school
I was in
Of course always student council
Family Career and Community Leaders of America
future business leaders of America, future farmers of America,
fellowship of Christian athletes.
Shout out.
Which I got removed from for cursing at basketball games.
And curse words, no good.
Totally.
Oh, whatever.
God, what else was I in?
I was on the debate, not debate, but it was academics.
Academic bowl.
Oh, Quiz Bowl.
Yeah, quiz.
Buzz, yeah.
I was in, I played a couple different sports at different times.
I was really doing it.
So this is all leaning.
and maybe this is Missouri,
this is all leaning, like,
achieve, like,
it wasn't that performance leading,
was it?
I didn't do any performance.
Oh, I was doing one big performance.
And it was insecure about being fat and gay,
a guy who pretends to be confident,
and does everything he possibly can
so that people will.
I can.
Oh, my God.
Or even love him.
And I didn't do theater
because I was like,
well, if we're trying to not let people know we're gay,
seems like there's one big way to ruin that.
And it would be the fall musical.
But can I tell you, like, I don't think that even saved anybody either.
No.
Like, I don't think there was no good,
there's no perfect program, I don't think, at that age.
I know, but, you know, I feel like,
there are times when I look back,
and I'm, especially around all my, like, theater friends
who know everything about theater
because they've done it forever.
And I don't feel that way, but yes, go.
But we have a lot of them.
We have a lot of them.
There are times I feel like, oh, man,
maybe I wish I would have, like,
in like theater and acting when I was younger.
Actually, I think the best thing for my creative brain is that I got really involved in bureaucracies.
Young.
And like red tape bureaucracies.
You understood where power came from.
Yes.
I started getting involved in power and elections and bureaucracies.
I'm having like one-on-one sit-down meetings with the principal at his request when I'm 15 years old to be like, Caleb, here's what's going on with the student body.
What do we do about it?
You know what I mean?
That actually, I think, was so much better for me.
Of course.
Than doing, you know, guys and dolls.
One thousand per cent.
Do you know what I mean?
You can sit across from some person 30 years older than you
and like work them.
An adult and like learning how adults talk about stuff
and learning like, like, you know, like telling the superintendent,
like we really want to do this event for this like before prom or whatever.
And then being like, we think that's a great idea.
You just can't because of like this, this or this.
And me being like if everyone thinks it's a great idea.
why can't we? You just can't.
Like, learning all of that stuff really young was great for my creative brain.
I love that.
Now, when they would tell you you can't do this prom thing, this pre-prom thing,
would you, when we're presented red tape, was the instinct usually to cut through it
or just to like understand and then move on?
My instinct was always do it anyway, ask forgiveness, not permission.
I really, I've never, I've always had like a, I have an aversion to authority that is pathological.
I hate being told what to do
And I always have
Love that
I'm like I just hate it
I still do even
I've talked about this all the time on the show
But even to tell when I tell myself something to do
I'm like who the fuck are you
So then how do you override that
Well
I don't really know how I've gotten
To where I've gotten in life
But I think I just go
Kayla we have to do it
And then I do it anyway
Do you are you good with authority
It's interesting
Say that
I, wait, hold on.
Let's just sidebar.
I feel like Caleb wields stupid gay speak very responsibly.
Oh, Bowen.
Very responsible.
What do you mean by that?
I just feel like you will toss it out in a way that is like completely actualized and
authentic and real.
Like, when I was saying earlier, like, y'all would have a key.
It's like, kill me.
Oh, but I loved when you did that.
I loved when you did that.
What I'm saying, like, I've never questioned it.
You are too sweet to me and you have to stop.
So you have to stop now.
I can't help it.
You have to stop now.
Because I want to know about you and authority.
Okay, okay, okay.
I would say, okay, so I relate to being yelled at for cursing.
Yeah.
Fourth grade, someone through,
like a dodgeball
at my rear end. No. And I said
don't aim for my ass
sent to the principal's office. No!
Just for anatomically referring to myself
to my ass as an ass.
This is not right. And I was like... And I, at the time,
at nine years old, I was like, this is bullshit.
You're splitting hairs with me. This is fucking stupid.
Exactly. Exactly.
Yeah. I wish I'd said that.
I know. Can I tell you?
Yeah. This is something I make myself sick about. Sometimes I think
about times I got in trouble as a kid and what I didn't say.
Oh, still your shadow.
Oh my God.
I go, I go like, oh, that time I got in trouble.
Because I never, half the time I didn't feel like I was,
I was getting in trouble for things like talking.
And I'm like, well, I'm good at this.
Yes.
And you guys are being boring.
Like, I'm not allowed to talk while you're being boring.
So I'll think back and be like, man, if I had my adult brain now,
I could have really taken that whole thing apart.
Oh, 100%.
I got suspended my sophomore year for writing in a girl's yearbook.
So gay.
I was so gay, but I wrote in this girl's yearbook.
It was our bit that, like,
we were like sexual partners.
And I was like...
Me now.
Me present day.
Me present day.
I'm just like...
Well, literally it was just like,
we get this.
And she got it.
I wrote her yearbook.
Hags, Ashley, can't wait to fuck all summer.
I get home from violin lesson.
I pick up...
There's 20,000 messages on the answering machine, vintage.
Hello.
And another call comes through.
It is Ashley's stepfather.
No.
Who is a huge lawyer in Arapaho County.
Who gives a fuck?
Not the father who stepped up.
The father who's the stepfather who stepped up.
Oh yeah, yeah.
I understand.
No, Caleb.
This is the stepfather who stepped up.
Obsessed.
Oh, totally.
He goes, I've been sitting here for hours because there are a lot of yangs in the
phone book. Not he called every yang
in the phone book. He called every yang in the phone book.
What?
Okay, loser.
Don't you have like a brief to read or something?
Yeah, yeah.
His client's like getting strapped into an electric chair.
He's like, he's on his like 47th yang.
He was on a mission and I guess he like literally stepped up.
Like it must be compensatory where he like, she clearly hates him.
Yeah.
He has to show up for her and prove himself in some way.
way.
That is foul, vile language.
I am making it my mission to expel you.
I'm taking this to the superintendent of the district
for sexual harassment of my stepdaughter.
And I was like, um...
She's a hag.
Your daughter's a hag.
Your daughter's a hag, sir.
Your daughter's a hag.
Your stepdaughter's a hag.
I don't know what to tell you.
I mean, the daughter who hagged up.
The daughter...
The stepdaughter who hagged up.
So, like, so then I get expect.
So then, like, our dean, like, brings me to the office
the next our, like, gorgeous lesbian dean.
Yeah, of course.
Who, like, I could tell, like, was on my side,
but, like, her hands were tied.
Right.
But she, like, called my mom.
It was mortifying.
Like, she made me sit in the room and took so that we call my mom.
My mom is, like, driving on her way to work.
And, like, her English comprehension is, like,
mid
and like she's not totally understanding
like this dean being like so
Bowen is going to be suspended for five days
your mom's like he's gay
she's like she's like
oh okay
and then I just remember I remember the dean going
like just it wasn't clicking
to my mom like how bad this was
even though I was just like this is crazy
the dean goes
it
it's very serious
and in that moment I was like
oh
you're just a fucking lady.
You're just a person.
You're just an adult, like,
navigating this, like,
really weird situation.
Like, I've, my relationship,
my relationship with authority is always, like,
I can't take you as,
I can't take you seriously because, like,
we're all, I don't know, we're all, like,
yeah, idiots.
And I don't know.
I kind of moved that way through,
like, S&L, I feel.
I was kind of like, whatever.
Like, I'll, I'll,
I'll, I'll, say shit and I'll,
or I'll, like, piss someone off
with a,
authority and then like I'll take them out for a martini two weeks later.
Yeah.
It's like, let's patch it up.
Everything will be fine.
And it and it was and like the proud thing of me leaving that place, the proudest thing
besides like the work obviously and like the relationships and the people, uh, was just
the fact that I like closed all my tabs by the time I left.
Yeah.
Like everything was sort of like, hey, like not in a manipulative way, but in just like a, hey,
I fucked up back then and like, we're good now, right?
And then by the end of it, it was like, everyone was like, yeah, we're good.
Down to like Lorne.
And I'm like, yeah.
And I've seen him recently.
And it's like, it's somehow I'm like, oh, I really stuck the landing there.
That's really sweet.
Anyway.
So, but does this answer the question about authority?
Yeah, it does.
I met Tara the other night.
Did you really?
She is an icon.
Where'd you meet Tara?
We went to a party for pride with our friends, Matt, who is friends with her.
Whitaker.
Whitaker.
Oh, love.
Love.
And Tom, his, his boy,
And Josh Sharp, and we all went to Zero Chill.
It was fabulous.
I was at dinner with Josh and Matt the other night.
Oh, wait, yes.
How was that?
Horrible.
Too nasty gay men.
Wait, I know.
Okay, so I know, I think you would love Zero Chill.
What is it?
We got to take you.
So it's QNCC, Queer Night Live Collective.
I forget what the second C stands for.
Uh-oh.
Caleb.
But they have this.
Caleb.
Queer Night Live Collective.
For Caleb.
Bricel.
It's cute.
It's like they have this door policy that is contrable.
where it's like, bring a woman, please.
Oh, fun.
But in like a queer way.
Yeah.
It's like, I love bringing a woman.
It's one of my big things.
I know.
You love bringing women.
Yeah.
But as long as women bring you sometimes, which they do.
Women bring me.
I would love for women to bring me.
Women bring me to places you couldn't imagine.
Women bring me to events.
I couldn't even believe that I'm at.
Fab.
Yeah.
Women take me everywhere.
Women take you everywhere.
Women are everything to me.
You know this.
God.
Women are my number one type of person.
Period.
I literally, I think I said on an episode yet.
We recorded yesterday and I said if all girls disappeared overnight, I would kill myself immediately.
Which is like such a useless gay guy thing to say.
But it's reality.
What would I watch?
What would you watch?
Who would you talk to?
Who would I talk to?
Who would I look up to?
You got dinner with some gay guys, though.
I got dinner with gay guys, but it was a total nightmare.
All we did was talk about being gay guys.
It was awful.
kidding.
I love those guys.
I mean, yeah.
They're both, like, married, though.
That's another thing.
I'm like, at this point in my life
where I'm, like, hanging out with so many, like,
gay men that are actually in loving,
beautiful relationships.
And I'm like, I thought we all weren't going to do that.
What's going on?
Like, I thought we all agreed we weren't going to really be doing that.
And now what's happening?
Well, before we got on the mic, like,
I know four different people,
gay friends who are having children in the next few months.
Yeah, so I'm interested because I think you,
I think you said,
I said, gay guys are doing babies now.
and you said, I could never.
Oh, yeah, I could never.
Really?
But when you'd be such a good father?
I think you'd be an incredible parent.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, I would love.
No.
Why not?
You'd be an amazing dad.
And I will be.
That's perfect.
Looking forward to it.
I'm so happy for...
I'm so thrilled for the people who are excited for it, who will be good at it.
I know for a fact.
It will not be good.
Well, okay, so why do you think that is?
Is it just like, I don't want to spend my time that way, or there's something else going on?
It's like...
It's like...
know, like, there's, there's, like, stuff
with my parents. I mean, we get
along famously now.
I love my parents so much.
But, like, growing up, it was weird.
Yeah.
And, but that's not on them. It's just on,
like, the design of parent, not the design, but, like, the whole, like,
concept of parenthood, which is, like,
oh, God. It's a troublesome
contract, yeah.
Like, they, like, they, like,
I would say, like, fucked up their lives for me.
That is, I've told my mom,
Many, many times.
The fact that she didn't abort me is crazy.
Wow.
And what does she say to that?
Like, she, well, my mom only ever wanted to be a mom.
That's the difference is I'm like,
my mom wanted to be a mom more than she wanted anything.
It's her life's like literal joy.
Like it is her purpose and excitement on earth.
Yeah.
And for me, I'm like, girl, you could have done so much cool shit.
If you didn't have a baby, baby's plural.
On your hips.
Babies on your hips.
I know.
Oh.
She'd already have my brother.
And then when I came around, I'm like, it's crazy you didn't.
abort him.
And then,
because she was 17,
right.
And then I'm like,
four years later,
you're like,
you know, 14 years
from freedom.
And then you reset your clock
with this guy.
And with my dad,
who was a loser.
I mean, shout out,
rest in peace.
But like,
I'm just like,
that's crazy, girl.
So then where does this
come in for you
where you want to have a baby?
I love kids so much.
I feel,
I kind of relate to my mom.
I do feel like,
the thing I'm most supposed to do
with my life is have kids.
Like, I really do think that.
But I would be okay if I didn't.
Like, I love my life.
I really, really love my life.
And I would be okay if I didn't blow it up
to, like, raise a person.
But it's funny that you say the thing about
having a complicated relationship with your parents,
like maybe playing a factor
because it plays a factor for me in the affirmative
of like, because my dad fucked up so many things,
I actually get really excited about doing it right.
that's beautiful do you know what I mean like I'm like oh my god all those things my dad didn't do well
he did some things well and I'd like to keep those and then all the things he didn't do well I'm like
oh well now I know so I can like do it the good way like I won't yell and I won't be critical
and I won't like I you know I'll try to do for my kids what he really couldn't do for me
and you can you can sort of itemize at this point like the list of things he didn't do well
and then like do the opposite.
Well and already I do.
Like my dad lived his life in a pretty miserable way.
Like he just was like,
he was extremely mentally ill and unable to help himself.
And I wished at every turn of our relationship
and really tried to get him to get help.
But he just wasn't able to.
And so he just was a miserable guy.
Yeah.
And I'm like, I already have taken,
I already live my life different than that.
I already don't blow up.
Like, I'm not a rageaholic.
I don't blow up over nothing.
I don't allow myself to get so depressed.
that I won't leave the house for more than two days in a row.
Like, I've already taken the lesson,
so now I'm like, okay, let's get a kid in the mix and see what we can do here.
Cool.
Yeah.
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I love when people
don't get angry.
Isn't it nice?
I don't think I've
I think I've tested it out
for myself
in the last, like, my rage and like,
just it doesn't come out.
Yeah. And I'm like, proud of that.
I have managed to get it down to
minor little things. Yeah.
I have managed like, you know,
these guys will see me fly off the handle
for 15 seconds about like a rental car.
Totally. No.
That's okay. That I'm like, but I'm like
you guys have no fucking idea the guy I grew up with.
Like this is 15 seconds about a rental car
is actually like, this is world's
of progress. Of course. And then I move on and I go, hey, sorry about that.
Pretty quickly. Quick. Quick. And acknowledging and remorseful.
So cool. These are like massive changes from the way that I was raised. Yeah. So I go,
that's fine. And look, you've already broken the cycle. Hello? Hello. Wake it up.
Wake that up. What did you, what did you experiment with? What did I experiment with? Oh,
I didn't conduct these tests on myself, but like there were just so many, so many moments just
professionally and
I don't know
like relationally with people
where I'm like
that is fucking crazy
that this would happen to me
or that would not happen to me
but you know what I mean
like this circumstance
would should
could like make me angry
yeah and instead I was like
okay let's think about this
that was fucked up wasn't it
that was really fucked up yeah yeah yeah
and that's
unless that's scarier I don't know
what do you think
I'm never gonna like
blow up at someone.
I don't think blowing up is ever helpful.
No. You can feel your emotions without
letting yourself be like completely beholden to them.
I think it's fine to be like, I'm mad at you. You really pissed me off. I don't
want to talk to you for a little bit. But blowing up
is like, what am I going to do? yell at you.
I'm not like a psychopath.
But like, I have like yelling
fantasies. Yeah?
But I never act on them. Okay.
So is that, is that?
What's that about?
Whoa, I don't know.
I don't know, but I, I'm glad you don't do it.
I just, I just want to say like,
I just want to say like, how dare you?
Oh, fun.
You know?
Yeah.
I've never had the chance.
I've had the chance.
I've just never acted on it.
Do you watch a lot of real housewives?
Of course.
That's what it is.
Oh, like, we like, we like sort of exercise that through the viewing.
I think, I think, I actually have identified that some of my,
some of my loved ones who,
who watch a lot of reality TV
are specifically sometimes
maybe even subconsciously
getting excited about the idea
of having a conflict like that.
100% of being like
it's not even that, it's the principal.
Whoa.
I had that on a trip once
where it was clearly this guy like
wanted to live out a house.
Like we were like
at an outdoor dinner,
a six top and he like
went crazy and we're like
that's not okay.
The cameras aren't rolling.
The cameras aren't rolling.
Yeah.
We're all like actual friends.
Like, whatever.
There's just a million things to say.
But I'm just like, and now I don't talk to that person.
Everybody has had the group trip that ruined group trips for you.
Yeah.
Weren't you and Sid talking about this recently?
Sure.
Sure we were.
You, because, okay, you and I would actually,
oh, what do you think about this?
Because you're a logistics king.
Yeah.
I am trying to move away from that because I feel like I default to booking everything.
in a way that sometimes I go,
oh, well, can someone else do this?
Oh, yeah.
But everyone just puts it on me.
Yeah.
I've been saying this in dating.
I really soon.
I think I'd like to date someone,
I'd like to date someone who really...
Takes point.
Makes things happen.
Sometimes, not all the time,
but sometimes just goes like,
hey, Thursday night we're doing this at this time.
I'll pick you up.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh!
What?
That would be amazing.
And would you, like, would that
be like a learned dependency thing where like you totally give that up once once this thing is
introduced like you think i totally give up being that guy because then he's the guy i was talking to
someone about this yesterday where he was like oh it's a learned dependency thing like like this thing
that you could have done in the past now you have no idea how to do anymore because you've learned
to depend on someone else for it i have that with my business managers well that's different you pay
them you pay them and like i don't know anything about
things I used to be so good at with my money.
I'm like, I don't even know my...
You used to be good with money?
Anymore? Oh, yeah.
Oh, future business is America.
Fruit of your farmers.
Yeah, yeah.
Growing up extremely poor.
Totally, totally.
Yeah.
You understood bureaucracy.
Yeah, I was pretty good.
I made things happen.
I lived on an amount of money that should not have been livable for a lot.
Pretty good portion of my adult life.
I would say my first job out of college, I was making $26,000 a year.
Wow.
And living in Chicago and, like, doing improv every night.
And, like, finding a way to, like, never cook a meal at home
because I was never in the home.
That's crazy.
A lot of it was stealing from Whole Foods, though.
Fav.
And I consider that to be being good with money.
Absolutely.
Stealing from Whole Foods is the thing I was very happy to do for a number of years.
And what would it be?
Like, one acorn squash?
Like, what would it be?
Oh, honey, full meals from the hot bar.
Yes.
Full meals from the hop bar.
Well, I don't want to.
I don't want to share.
Oh, totally.
No, if you need to steal from Whole Foods, I can't recommend it enough, especially now.
I mean, back then it was a different thing.
Now it's even better to steal from Whole Foods.
Of course.
If you want to, allegedly.
if you allegedly want to there's room for potential
go ahead and get yourself a full takeout box of dinner
go ahead and load it up with everything you'd like
all the ticamasa and go ahead and go to the self-checkout
and ring it up as one small soup
you can't try to steal outright
you have to steal smartly you steal you steal you steal 42
worth of dinner for the for the cost of $5 of soup
yep you don't try to take the whole box
box without paying at all. That's where people
fuck up. That's where people fuck up. You got to spend
a little money to make a little money. Absolutely.
You know what I mean? God, and this is
the thing like, you're talking about Chicago
it's like this is a thing in like New York, it's like in
most cities now, but like in like
artist cities,
it used to be that like
you could be like
struggling and still have it be
livable. Yeah. Now it's just like
oh, that gap is crazy. I mean, hopefully now it's changing in New York at least,
but it's like...
I hope these city-run grocery stores
might really help stuff out.
I'm hopeful for that.
I really want that to work out really well
because I would love it to be something
that's able to be emulated, obviously.
Of course.
I just...
It's so cool that people keep coming here
and wanting to get things started
in a creative way, but it's also like...
God, it was just so much easy.
It really was just easier back in the day,
even like 10 years ago
to like come here and like work like
a low-paying job and still have time to like
go and meet your people and then do your shows
and do your make your art or whatever.
It's just harder to do that now.
It's harder to get started, which is so sad.
Sometimes I wonder, I think about this.
Like, I think like, did I get in at the end of a good thing,
like Tony Sopranos style?
That's how I feel.
Or am I just now like a little older
and kind of removed from the nexus of it?
Like, I'm sure there are kids in Chicago right now
doing fucking weird-ass indie shows in basements and addicts
the way that we were when I was 22
and sounding ancient vibes
No worries, sounding simply like an elder.
Like I've been summoned from a clay pot or something.
But I'm sure they're doing stuff that in like 10 years
they're going to be like, God, 2026 in Chicago was the good old days.
I think we've earned,
I think as long as one second passes,
you're allowed to be like,
you're allowed to wax.
Oh,
I was thinking the other day about the,
like the final Helltrap Nightmare show in Chicago.
Did I talk about this on the podcast?
What year was that?
Was that 20?
That would have been 20, like, 2019?
Oh, I thought it was like post-pandemic.
They moved to L.A. pre-pandemic.
Yeah, when the nail moved.
Yeah, Sarah and the shrimp boys.
Wyatt and David and Luke and all those guys.
But yeah.
you know what, Bowen, I actually was thinking this morning about
you doing the show, and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so excited to see Bowen.
And then I was thinking about how big of a deal.
And I wonder if you and Matt know this.
But when you guys would come to town and do the I Don't Think So Honey shows,
it like sent, tidal waves through the community.
All the comics in Chicago would be like, did you get a, I don't think so honey slot?
And it was crazy.
That's mortifying, actually.
No, it was awesome.
It was because you guys did so many slots and like really good.
gave people time to do their thing.
It was like a thing where people would like,
for weeks you would run into comics and they'd be like,
okay,
I thought of another,
I don't think so,
honey, and I really think this is the one I'm gonna do.
Like people were,
do you remember this chance?
Yeah.
It was like,
it was like you would run into a comic like,
like three times in a week leading up to the show and they would be like,
okay,
I think,
I think this is the one I'm gonna do.
It was awesome.
Yeah.
It was really sweet.
That's really sweet of you to say.
And I also,
of course,
I'm mortified.
Why?
About like the people who like didn't,
who like,
were bummed because they didn't get the invite.
Of course, but that's life, sweetheart.
That's showbiz kid.
Although, you know, Matt wasn't even at that show.
It was Pat Regan.
I know. On mine, yeah.
On yours.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The one in Chicago.
That was a fun time.
Like, I kind of am toying with, like,
I think we should do that again.
You should do that again.
Because we would go to different cities
and it would be like 30 or 40 or 50,
depending on like the scale of the town.
Like, I don't know,
like Houston, Texas was like,
we were like lucky to get 20.
Yeah, of course.
But, um, which is just to say that, like, there weren't that many, like, queer adjacent comedians who were, like, got it and, like, understood what we were trying to do.
Yeah.
Which, it wasn't even not.
It's not prohibitive.
It's like, do a minute.
Yeah.
Just do one minute.
Um, anyway, we want to do something here.
Fun.
Where it's, like, a little, like, outdoor festival thing.
Oh, cute.
Can be cute.
Holmes is starting a comedy festival.
Who is?
Holmes.
Oh, my God.
They're in Chicago?
Uh, no.
Here, August 1st.
It's called About to Bus Fest, I think.
That's a great name.
We can't compete with Holmes.
No, no, no.
You do a different thing, but I'm saying it's, I'm so excited by, like, the, like, our little
group of comics kind of, like, circling back around and being like, should we make, like,
weird live shows again?
Yes.
It's fun.
It's so fun.
I'm really excited for Holmes' Fest.
They've been working really hard on it.
It's all, I guess I don't know the technical language they're using, but it's all, like,
femme, trans, non-binary, like women, like.
No, no cis guys, basically.
Which is, of course, like...
Your best friend, but...
Sure, don't book me.
I guess for your politics or whatever the fuck.
But I guess I'm supportive.
No, this is a situation where, like, you're...
It's a bringer and, like, you should be brought by a woman.
I want to be brought by...
This is one of those spaces that would be great if a woman brought me.
I think the...
I think Holmes should consider a ratio where, like, for every, like, 20 fems...
Yeah.
One cis guy.
Yeah, and he's, like, ducked.
taped over the mouth or something.
No hate. No hate.
Yeah. No hate on it. With the no hate. Yeah. God, that was so chic.
What I had a question for you that I wanted to ask earlier. What do you think is the most
important quality in a person? Importance not the word I want to use.
What do you think is the most admirable or like exciting quality in a person?
Um, are you ready for like a such a boring answer?
I really am. I think people misunderstand
nihilism
45 so true
Are those my question?
No, no, no, that's not even for you.
That's for me to stay on track with the episode
because all I do is run my mouth back to you.
No, that's a good thing.
Okay.
People misunderstand nihilism.
They think of it as passive nihilism
where it's like you understand things are meaningless,
you stay in despair.
Nietzsche also
kind of describes active nihilism
where you understand that everything's meaningless.
And now you have no choice,
but this is like an affirmative thing for you
to create your own meaning.
Yeah.
It's not a quality.
God, it's such a terrible answer.
Like an understanding of,
like you're saying nihilism in a positive,
let's make meaning because we...
Yes.
We don't have inherent meaning,
so let's make someone be fun about it.
Exactly.
That kind of thing.
And like the best kind of meaning.
This word is,
this word is going through like a weird thing right now.
But people seem to be like allergic to like people like pushing for community.
They're like there's no such thing.
As community?
I think like I'm seeing shit on my algorithm where it's like like everyone's faking.
Everyone's really forcing community on to like all these different things.
And it's like well yeah because that is like.
Oh, I almost started crying.
That makes me so sad.
It makes me so sad to hear that people feel that way.
Especially as we're talking about like like your like coterie of comedians that you came up with all like circling back.
like gaining the sort of kind of ability
to like make new things make weird shit
like I love anyone who like
is I think the best quality in a person is someone who like
wants to plug in even just a little bit
I think like I'm with you like
I have just the right amount of agoraphobia
I think you can have a little bit of agoraphilia if you want
I mean that's like a nice it's just
it's your thing where you're like
I'm not gonna be depressed for more than two days
I'm not gonna like not not that I'm not just not
to be depressed in a way that I don't leave the apartment for two days.
Although sometimes that's like necessary.
But I feel like my favorite quality in a person is someone who like is down to like
stop by the party for a little bit.
You got to do it anyway.
And someone that you can like leave alone at a party.
You don't have to worry about them.
Hottest quality.
Hottest quality.
That to me hottest quality.
If I am seeing somebody and I take them to a thing and they can hold their own and not
not only handle it but also not have feelings about it.
Yes.
Fuck.
That is so hot and cool.
I love that.
Who, is there someone on the roster
who like fits that?
Oh, well, first of all,
I would never refer to my boys.
As a roster.
My boys are not a roster.
My boys are,
well, they're a beautiful
and beloved community.
A brotherhood.
A brotherhood of man.
A brotherhood of man.
Is there anyone on the roster?
No, I don't answer.
That's such a terrible question.
I'm happy to talk about it.
Okay.
I talk about everything on here.
Yep.
In fact, the only thing I tell people
that I'm seeing
is like, let's wait a little bit before we watch the show.
You know what I mean? Let's just hold off on that.
Wait, what do you mean?
I'm like, unless you actively already are like a fan of my podcast.
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Don't tap in. Don't like, just take a little bit on that.
Totally.
I'm seeing a couple of really cool guys right now.
And I am really...
You can leave them a lot of to party.
What's that?
You can leave them in a lot of to party.
How many of them have I taken to a party?
One of them, for sure, have taken him to things and he's been very cool.
Cool.
The others, it's been more cash than that.
I also am like just obsessed with my friends in a way that I'm like
if I'm out with my friends I just really really would like to be
focused on my friends
like I'm I'm not really trying to like
I don't know I'm not really trying to
absorb yeah or like focus on some guy
like if I bring a guy around it's usually either just circumstantial they're like oh
this is the only time we can see each other for two weeks sure come to this thing
with me yeah or that I'm like I actually really like this guy let's see how he does
with my friends like there's
It depends.
But yeah, I really just want to focus on my friends.
My friends are the most special, interesting, beautiful people on Earth.
I want to hang out with them.
And then if there's a guy there that I'm going to, like, sleep with later, that's cool.
Totally.
You're so artful with your friendships.
Oh, Bowen.
You are.
You knock it off.
Everyone just, like, drops their shoulders when they talk about you.
That's actually maybe the nicest thing that anyone's ever said to me.
That's really sweet.
I'm going to make this about me.
The best compliment I've ever gotten.
Thank God.
What is it?
Uh, you feel like a, you're like a human hot tub.
Huh.
Like, everyone just like, and that's like, I'm like, I have to chase that forever now.
Just relaxes.
Just relaxes.
Which is, I feel that.
I'm giving you that compliment.
But I'm not, I'm not re-gifting it.
No, it's a different, it's a different one.
No.
It's inspired by.
It's inspired by.
I feel that, I feel that about you.
What is it?
Um, I feel very relaxed around you.
Likewise.
What is it?
The, the, the, something for potential.
Room for potential.
Room for potential.
Room for potential is awesome actually
Let's use that
Let's spend some time on room for potential
Let's spend some time on room for potential
Okay but just to just to go back to the answer of the question
So the nihilism into community thing
Like those are linked because of this video game
That I love that I play every now and then
It's an online game and like
It's like a 10 year story
Like they've been recently expansions for 10 years
And like there's this whole crazy like world creation thing
Where they like
Whatever it's so an intellectie
and like it absorbs like all of humanity's sort of like woes and it basically like goes into
full nihilism it goes into despair by by like telling everybody like there is no hope for civilization
like every civilization in this universe has like fallen to war famine genocide whatever yeah um
there's no reason for anyone to exist i'm going to kill you all yeah and then through the story
and through playing with other people real people in the world you understand that like
the meaning that gets created out of the nihilism and the despair is that that despair is not a terminal
that out of despair you have to find community it's like and as you're playing with other people
you understand like oh like doing this silly thing this frivolous thing like playing a video game
is actually quite beautiful yeah and like this is what actually like gets you through to the
other side of sadness or something I completely love that I went through a really annoying phase
in college that chance can attest to he was there
for it.
Where my big thing was that we're all going to die
and I would say it constantly and it was
and I would use it as like this like
I mean I was extremely depressed.
So that was playing a role
that old chestnut and I was just saying it
all the time and being so annoying
and nihilistic
drawgatory boots yeah
and nihilistic boots drawgatory
room for boots
and I was just being
I was really annoying
I was just really, really annoying, and Eeyore vibes.
And I...
And what vibes?
Eeyore.
Just like sad, depressing.
Like, why would anyone invite you to the function?
Uh-huh.
Like, I kind of hate those things that are like,
it's so nice that they still invite Eeyore,
even though he's depressed.
He's like, no, you're being a fucking bummer,
snap out of it.
Like, sorry, like, you need to figure it out.
And that's how I felt about myself at the time.
Because I was like, you've got to stop this.
You're being really fucking annoying.
And, but then that is the thing is it's like,
okay, so fine, that's true.
You win.
Like, we're all going to die and nothing matters.
And so, then the only thing that matters
is the journey that we're on to get there
and why not make it so beautiful and fun and nice and lovely.
Like, you wanting to be a parent
is like the most optimistic thing.
Yeah, I have no hope for my kids.
I think they're totally doomed.
I think all kids being born right now.
Oh my gosh, I mean...
So then how do you reconcile that with like, I want one?
That I'm like, well, I just think what else is that?
We're all doomed regardless.
It's like...
And doomed, I don't mean in like a sad way.
I just mean like, yeah, the project of humanity is going to end.
That is okay.
That's like something we just know now.
And that was like, okay, so let's just like have fun and do beautiful things along the way.
And I think raising a child would be like a beautiful project.
I love that.
You know what I mean?
It's just like, why, I don't know, why not?
To me, I find it not dissimilar from like making art or anything where it's like when people are like,
well, how could you have a kid knowing that it's going to, uh, that everything's going to end?
There's no point.
I go,
how could you make a TV show?
Totally.
Why be creative at all.
Why write a song?
Why make it?
Yeah.
Why look at a beautiful flower and smile.
Oh.
Hello?
Hello?
Oh, you know what?
To make it about me.
Yeah.
Which I hate to do.
It makes me sick.
My,
I say it all the time on this show,
but my favorite quality
in a person, curiosity.
Yes.
I love a curious bitch.
I just love Curious George.
What are you looking for?
I love it.
It's so fun.
There are endless things
to be curious about.
And choosing to be curious about anything.
On my best days, I'm curious
and on my worst, most annoying days
where I don't like the way I'm behaving,
it's because I'm refusing to be curious.
Everything's exciting.
This goes into, I agree,
but this also goes, I have one little asterisk,
which is my...
Give it to me.
No, no, no, we'll save it.
Oh my God.
Bowen-Yang, what is so true to you?
What is so true to me is that
we should all take a year break
and stop recommending things to each other.
Wow.
Say it.
Thank you.
We have to catch up.
Yes. Nothing gets made or recommended for a year.
Things can get made.
Okay.
Don't recommend.
You know what I mean?
If you choose to make something in the next year, just know it's not getting recommended.
That's what it is.
But it will in the future.
Totally.
We'll look back on it and go, oh, that's from the dark period where we didn't recommend.
You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
It kills something in me and I'm trying to actively undo this or just be better about it.
It's like, if I watch something,
Like, I should just not keep it to myself,
but I want to, I need to resist the urge to, like,
look at what the reviews were, look what other people are saying.
Like, look at the letterboxed or something.
I'm like, oh, it should, and I've gotten much better at that.
But this is just, this is all to say that, like,
I'm curious about the things.
I want the curiosity to be sort of self-generated
and not sort of, like, hand, like, white-gloved to me.
It starts to feel like, I really, really do agree with this
because it starts to feel like,
mandatory viewing
that it's like everyone goes like
heated rivalry
right you have simply must
you have to have done heated rivalry
and it's like I actually don't have to have done that
I just which the show seems great
it's not about that show but it's like
it becomes this thing where it's like
hey there's 12 minutes where we're going to talk about something
get in on it it's compulsory it's really
yeah intense I don't I don't love the culture of like
binging and obsessing that's going on right now
yes and I'm on to something
you're on to something
No recommendations for a year.
Could really save us.
Now, if I had my way, I would take that and turn it into,
we're all going to shut down phones in the internet for a year.
Of course, of course.
In general, and then just come back.
Somebody was saying this recently, actually,
and it just leapt out to me because maybe Michael Cruz Kane.
Love, love him.
Love him, him and Asher Perlman have a new podcast,
and I think maybe they were talking about it on their boys, if you weren't.
I'm so sorry.
Two handsome guys.
Two handsome nice guys.
I know.
But I like both.
Objectifying them.
But I was like, I think maybe they were saying it.
like, yes, I've been feeling this.
Like, let's just shut everything off for a year.
Let's see what happens.
And then as we come back, we can just phase in the necessary things.
Like, maybe we'll come back and go, you know what?
Email was great.
Let's keep email.
Isn't this what we said during COVID, though?
I thought it was going to happen and then it didn't happen.
Email is, I actually don't agree with the email.
What if it was the only thing we had?
No.
You don't feel like your life is governed by emails?
I try not to look at them at all.
Sorry, Michelle.
Oh, my God.
I mean, I look at them, but I look at them, but I'm sorry.
I'm like, I just don't think much about them.
I just rattle off a response or I like...
I'm the same actually.
I'm like, whatever with that.
But you know, like, Julio Torres' this whole thing.
He's got like 18,000 unread emails.
Does he?
And he just does it.
It's like, it's like, he describes it as a river.
It's like, if I don't catch the pebble or whatever, it's like, it's just gone.
Like, I'm not seeing it.
I'm trying to become really difficult.
Yeah?
I'm on a journey to becoming really difficult.
Oh my God, that's so nice to be difficult.
Um, and not angry.
I don't know why I'm putting those two things next to each other.
Yeah, I'm trying to get to a place where like, and I think I'm actually halfway there,
where actually the people who like, like my managers will just tell people like,
yeah, sorry, it's really hard to get a hold of him.
We'll let you know if we're able to.
I think that would be nice.
I like that.
I got really used to that during culture awards for both years.
For all the years we've done it where it's like this person, we're still waiting to hear back from him and it's been two weeks.
And it's actually great because all you can do is go like, okay.
Yeah, hope we get it.
And if not, no way.
There's no, like, there's no reason to be angry.
There's no reason to like have like, because it just.
just like gums up the works. It's like, oh, well, it's keeping you from like going on to something
else and doing the next thing. To be unreachable is like one of the chicest things you can be right now.
And I would love to get there. Unfortunately, I'm deeply reachable.
I'm reachable. I know. I would love to, but it's like I want my loved ones to reach me.
Yes. But I want, I got to find out how to, you know, it's like, you know when they're sorting sheep with the little gate.
Yeah. And the big ones go this way and the small ones go that way.
This is future farmers of America's stuff.
That's what I'm...
Yeah.
When I say little gate and big ones and small ones,
I obviously retained what I was supposed to be retaining in that organization.
But yeah, I want to filter like, okay, this is...
Yes.
Loved ones go here.
People I don't want to hear from go there.
And this goes back to what we were talking about earlier.
Beginning of the episode, it's like,
I would love for...
I would love to be like top of mind.
Yes.
And likewise.
And like, I'm available.
I'm reachable.
Let's hang.
Can I ask you a question?
Yeah.
It's a big one.
Well, which one do I want to ask?
Both.
Gosh, I can do both.
What, God, yes or no, exists or not?
Yeah.
Hell?
Hopefully.
You think hell, hopefully?
Christian God?
I don't know.
No worries.
What about you?
I'm trying to figure it out, but I'm...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Recently.
Cool.
Can't talk more about it.
Can't talk more about it.
It's really working on some stand-up about it.
In fact, we'll probably cut that.
I have this battle recently, we'll bleep that.
I have this battle recently where I, like,
want to say things on the podcast
because I'm sitting here with my friend.
And I'm like, you're working on stand-up about that.
Do not blow it.
Oh, that's nice.
Other people have different opinions on that.
They go, oh, sure, I'll test it on the show,
and then whatever.
I'm like, I really want to, like, preserve it.
You don't think there's something
in the aesthetic of a stand-up set
or an hour or what have you
where people can sort of
get on your level and be like
I might have heard like a snippet of this
before but let me just I will
react as if it's a new
thing because this is just this is the contract
they totally would I am psychotically
precious about
repeating material
and giving people a unique show
that's cool oh I love that I feel so
bad about people spending money
to see me live that I
I just really it feels
so insane to me that I'm like, you worked really
hard for that money and now I'm going to stand
up here and talk about my sex life or whatever.
I really, really, really want to deliver
a unique show. I try to keep, I have
a note of every set that I do
and where I did it and what time.
And so I go, okay,
I did
Mateo's show at the Bell House on June 13th
and I did these jokes.
I'm doing Mateo's show at the Bell House in February.
A lot of the same people will probably be there.
I can't do any of those jokes. And I try
really hard to stick to it. I feel the same way about
the podcast. But all this is to say, God, yes. I think I'm trying to decide if I have a faith.
I'm trying, I'm back on that. I'm trying to decide if I fall into a category. I think God as a force
that moves us towards good. I do think people are generally good. I think there's a force that
pushes us towards love in the universe. I think there's a current, whether you choose to like be in it
or not is up to you. But I think, you can stand on the banks, but I think there's a current that
moves us all towards the same place of love if we choose to dive in.
do I think it's a person who sits in the sky and makes judgments about people's morality?
I don't know.
I think likely not.
I have been experimenting with the idea recently that everybody goes to heaven and that maybe when you get to heaven that we have ultimate clarity about what we did to each other on earth.
And that if you were hateful and mean and violent and horrible on earth that you are in a type of hell in heaven with the rest of us because you're miserable and ashamed and embarrassed about the way you behave down here.
Oh my God.
And that carrying that weight would be hell,
but that you're not like burning in a lake of fire.
You're actually in a peaceful place,
but you can't enjoy it
because you're reckoning with the bad that you did to others.
And then your project in heaven
is to try and like deal with the weight of the guilt
from what you did to people while you were there with free will.
That's been very comforting to me.
Incredible.
Because I do, of course, think about like,
if everybody goes to heaven,
what happens to the people who do awful, awful things?
And I just think, like, that would be horrible
to be in a perfect ideal place with complete clarity about your behavior
and have to like carry the immense like emotional spiritual burden of realizing like
oh I did really really bad down there you know what I mean and you exist with that for
eternity yeah that whatever was wrong with you on earth that you couldn't like process that
and stop and not do the things you were doing that that that clarity comes to you in heaven
and you see you feel like the the hurt and the pain that you gave to others and you
just have to like exist with it up there.
And maybe there's something to like, if you feel that burden while you're on earth,
maybe that like balances the ledger ever so slightly.
That's what I'm thinking is that then when you get to heaven and you have complete clarity,
you're not shocked because you lived a life of like empathy and correctness and like trying
to do the right, trying to just do right by people that you get to heaven and you actually get
to enjoy the.
perfection of it and the ease of it and the utopia of it because on earth you you genuinely did your best.
Do you know what I mean?
Yeah.
That would be really nice.
My God, Caleb.
But I think, no, hell.
I don't, I can't, hell doesn't make any sense to me.
Eternal suffering is just like, what are we talking about?
Yeah.
I also have been thinking recently about how oftentimes like religious people will say that God's
ways are higher than ours, but they only use it to justify God's cruelty.
They never talk about God's ways being higher than ours
to justify a type of love that we couldn't understand.
Oh my God, of course.
Like, humans don't deserve eternal suffering.
No.
Like, life is already pain to begin with.
Hello.
Like, that is the universal,
that is the universal experience of life.
Yeah.
It's going to hurt.
It's going to hurt.
Might be some good stuff in there.
Definitely, it's going to hurt.
It's going to hurt one way or another.
Yeah.
It's going to hurt and it's going to end.
Those are the promises.
Caleb.
Hey.
So cool.
So true.
So true.
And let's put it on a t-shirt.
Life is going to hurt and life is going to end.
So true podcast.
We haven't done a merch drop in a long time, you guys.
Wave.
What can we do?
What was the other thing I was going to ask you?
Oh, what do you want?
Bowen? This is a great way to end.
Well, we have to play a game.
But like, what do you want?
What's the big dream and, like, what's the hope?
I just want to, I think, I think you,
and I are very similar. Like, I just want to be with my friends.
That's all. That's really. It's that simple.
It's that simple. Have you ever heard of it?
Ever heard of? Like, the romance stuff, yeah, whatever. I, like, I'm
great with it. I'm great without it.
The work stuff,
great with it. Fine without it. Yeah. It's been out a little.
That's because, like, that's, that's some conditioning from
ever since I was born, I guess.
but no
friendship,
comedic
and so this is
and this ties into
like bringing someone
at a party
and not having to worry about them
it's like
it all feeds into like
being amongst
like
the,
Lucy Dakeas says
it's the difficultness
of being with other people
but that's what makes it
fun,
interesting,
awkward, whatever.
Yeah.
Like I,
Difficultness,
I know that's sick
parentheses sick
or brackets,
sick.
It's not the right word
but.
Brackets completely sick.
Completely sick.
as I see. Yeah.
What do I want? Yeah, just to be with friends.
I love that. I think that's completely doable. And I want
you to come to Cocksucker Island. Cocksack Island.
To Cocksuck Island? Yeah. Oh my God, here we go.
But I'm like the millionth person.
I think if you were to come, like,
I'm going this week with Josh and Matt and Celeste was supposed to come.
It's like we're like a chill house. We just stay and
we go to the tea sometimes and dance and it's kind of fun.
But then we're like, bye, we're going home.
I think you would like that.
This week?
This week.
When?
And we leave Thursday.
You want to come for a little bit?
Is there a bed for Caleb?
Is there a bed for Caleb?
I'll consider it.
Genuinely, let's talk.
Let's talk.
Let's talk.
If it's, it's you, Josh, Matt, and Celeste?
It's me, Celeste can no longer come.
It's me, Josh, Matt, Aaron Jackson.
Love.
And our friend, take you about Jared Frieder.
Lovely, you love him.
I don't know Jared Frieder.
Sweet guy.
Shout out Jared.
Shout out Jared.
Shout out Jared.
And then people are kind of cycling in and out.
Katie might come.
Gavin might come.
Oof, deal breaker.
I know.
Hate.
Kidding.
Kidding.
Yeah, I love so much.
Kiddy.
Kiddy, might come with Celeste for a day next week.
And it's just a cute time.
I low-key, starting on Friday, for about nine days, have a big yellow hold on my calendar that says vacation question mark.
So it's looking like I could come.
And you know what?
Maybe I am, you're catching me in an era where I'm trying to say yes to things that will surprise my friends.
This would be the.
gag. I know and I've been doing really
good. I've been saying yes to things. I've been saying yes
to things lately that my friends are going, really?
And I like that. This is a big
capital R really. Capital R really, capital Gagg.
Capital RFP, room for potential.
Bowen. Capitalizing the four. That's big.
Let's play a game.
Okay. I'm going to read you 15 statements. You're going to
tell me as quickly as you can if what I just said was true
or false. If you get 10 or more correct, we're going to give you 50
U.S. dollars. And can I just say I'm reflecting in
moment on the fact that we, Chance and I talked about this segment before I started the show.
And I was like, oh yeah, we'll try it. And Loki has become everyone's like favorite thing.
This is truly incredible. Please never, ever.
We can't. No, we can't stop. I know. Everyone loves it. There are more regal cinemas than
AMC cinemas. Uh, false. That is false. Adult house cats have 30 permanent teeth. False.
That's true. The Marlton Hotel is the oldest hotel in New York City. False.
False is the Algonquin.
Walker, Texas Ranger ran for five seasons.
That seems too short. False.
False. It was nine.
Smoky Hill High's improv team is the improvsters.
False, spontaneous combustion.
False. It's spontaneous combustion.
South by Southwest held its first festival in 1987.
False.
That is true.
Afghanistan is the world's largest landlocked country.
That's interesting.
False.
False. It's Kazakhstan.
Paris Hilton loves to go catch and release frog hunting.
False.
True.
I said false for all of these.
Yeah.
Pitt Stadium was the Pittsburgh Steelers' first home field.
True.
False.
Forbes Field.
NYU's colors are purple and white.
False just purple.
Violet.
Violet.
Oh, never mind.
Knowing the violet, hey no.
Lightning is hotter than the service of the sun.
Lightning?
False.
It's true.
Damn.
One mile is approximately 1.6 kilometers.
False.
True.
Venus has two moons.
False.
False. Zero moons.
Four is a composite number.
I don't know.
True?
True.
I don't know what a composite number is.
Sorry, guys.
Brisbane is the third
most populous city in Australia.
I don't think so. False.
It's true.
Damn.
How do you do?
Eight.
Eight.
Really close to ten.
That's okay.
Bowen.
We just love you.
Think about it.
Think about it this week.
We just love you.
We're going to talk off camera.
As soon as these cameras cut
in any moment now
we'll talk about it.
Is there anything you want to tell people
about what they should watch Vine do?
I'm not doing anything.
Las Coltrades every single week.
Sure.
With Matt Rogers, who we love.
We love.
Oh my God.
We love.
S&L reruns on the peacock app.
Reruns on the app.
Oh, my God.
Yellow taxi cab outside Taylor's First wedding.
Yes.
Catch me in the yellow cat.
Fire Island Pines.
Potentially with me
and a giant hat holding a bag
of books in the background.
We're wearing big hats reading books.
Oh my God, I know if Josh is there.
Bowen, I just love you.
Thanks for doing the pod.
Love you.
