Soul Boom - Answering 'The Office' Fan Questions w/ Oscar Nuñez (BONUS!)

Episode Date: July 26, 2026

Oscar Nuñez & Rainn answer fan questions about The Office from some die-hard fans. They also speculate on Dwight's appearance on The Paper, Oscar's spin-off of The Office. SPONSORS!👇 🛒 Get 25% OFF Cowboy Colostrum with code SOULBOOM 👉 ⁠https://cowboycolostrum.com/soulboom⁠ 🛒 Nutrafol (code: SOULBOOM) 👉 ⁠⁠https://nutrafol.com 🛒 ZipRecruiter (try it FREE!) 👉 ⁠https://ziprecruiter.com/soulboom 🛒 Get 15% off OneSkin with the code SOULBOOM at ⁠⁠https://www.oneskin.co/soulboom⁠⁠ #oneskinpod MERCH OUT NOW! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soulboom.com/store⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for our newsletter! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://soulboom.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to Soul Boom! ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Subscribe2SoulBoom⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW US! Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://instagram.com/soulboom⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠http://tiktok.com/@soulboom⁠⁠ Sponsor Soul Boom: [e-mail] Work with Soul Boom: [e-mail] Executive Produced by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kartik Chainani⁠⁠⁠⁠ Executive Produced by: Ford Bowers, Samah Tokmachi Companion Arts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's no shortcut for saving time, but saving money is simple. Just combine your car and home insurance with Bel Air Direct and save. Get a quote at bellair direct.com. Leah from Naperville wants to know about the office. Hey, I love the podcast so much, probably not as much as office ladies. But what can you do? Did she have to add that? Well, I'm throwing that.

Oh, you're throwing that in. I'm being self-deprecating. Here's my question for Rain and Oscar. On the office, Angela has set different relationships with Dwight than she does with Oscar. It's very smart. But she loves them both in very different ways. With Dwight, she's romantic, severe, and secretly vulnerable. With Oscar, she's judgmental, antagonistic, but eventually, deeply trusting. What do you think Angela brought out in each of your characters that nobody else did? And what was it like building those dynamics with her? You spent every episode with Angela.

I spent a lot of episodes with Angela. That's a great question. What do you think? the Angela dynamic. No, I know. It makes me miss the show when people, first of all, thank you for the question. You are a fan and I can see the love and interest that you have in the show because that's a very good question. It's crazy and it makes Rain and I miss and reminisce about that wonderful experience. Angela, I don't know how she became the boss of that triangle. It just happened.

I thought I was the boss. there before her. Then I show up to work and she's there. Angela and I know each other before the office, you guys, when we were poor from the groundlings. I know her. You were doing improv. Did you do improv Olympics? No, we did groundlings. Well, she did improv Olympics. Yes, but we met, we did a show together where we were both in the same show. So I show up to work and she's there. And then we started improvising there, like improvise. And for some reason, she made herself the boss of, of, which works perfectly. Because it's the little chihuahua that bar. and has the Rottweiler, the Doberman Pinscher at bay.

And that just happened organically. I'm like, I guess I'm not the boss of our little group. And then it gets complicated. The show really, you know, we lived the show. We were there, as Rain says, sometimes 23, 24 seasons, an episode. And so it's complicated. And she's your boss. She's your sister.

You hate her. You love her. You find empathy in other people because you're right there next to them. All these things you're going to have. happen. Her and Oscar went through a lot together. I love the way you're speaking directly to the audience, but you can share this with me. I'm so tired of speaking to you. Now we're going to act. Who's the better actor? I'm a doctor. Jesus Christ. And then, Rain, one of my favorite episodes, and I forgot this was when she confides at me, she's like, I think the senator's having an affair.

And I have the drawer half opening and I do a little physical bit. And I'm like, oh, that was so funny. Oscar, you're so good. Nice. Yeah, and then we go together and we're like, and she's like, he's taking yoga. And I'm like, yoga, what's with a yoga? And she's like, I know,

relax, Angela. And then we go to the place that we're spying on him and my phone goes off. I mean, that's very good. So, so traditional sitcomy writing. And yet, and yet so fantastic and surprising that my phone goes. He calls.

Yeah. And she's like, and I'm like, oh, wrong number. And she's like. But how did the dynamic change from like the first few seasons to you? How did it? relationship with Angela grow?

How did it grow? It grows because you're just literally we're at work every day and that's how people's relationships grow in real life. You see the person over and over and over again. Bad haircuts, stupid times. There's a shorthand.

There's a shorthand that develops and it develops natural. Why am I keep looking at the camera? I don't know. And it develops ever since the doctor bit and it develops naturally, Rayne. It's crazy. It's a very,

organic, it's very close to the surface of who we are. Right. Yeah. One of the things I loved about the office was like, Angela and I had like no interaction before everyone finds out that we're having sex. It's insane. And yet, which was other shows would have laced in little clues and whatnot.

But no, there was just like nothing and then all of a sudden we're discovered. We're better than that. But there are things, right, because there's glances and that's enough. That's enough for someone like Rain and her. who's so tightly wound that all it takes is,

and you're like, oh shit, Angela digs him. She digs him. Yeah. And you're like, monkey? Did I really thrust my torso forward that much? In the best way possible. In the great tradition of Harvey Corme and John Cleese, tall funny men, I have a soft spot for them.

Anyway. But I loved that roller coaster of Dwight and Angela of very severe, very loving, very, passionate, like a lot of things going on. Page five, it says that you must copulate with it. Like, what? What is happening? And then bringing her in into the shrewd Amish

way of life. And then all the breakups and the ups and downs and she's with Andy and Dwight's dating. And, but I do think that... And the tenderness in harshness that is so important to Dwight Schutt, his aunt needs a bath. And he's like,

you have to come and she's like, I don't want to do it. And then she comes. And she's like, tying her hair and then the aunt is like, that's too tight. She's like, you hush! And she's like, yes, ma'am.

And Dwight is looking and he's like, yes. Very good. That's my girl. Right there. But the aunt likes it too. She likes the, you know.

Authority. Call that just like the nuns. The nuns in school. Harsh but beloved. Dane from Los Angeles says Greg Daniels said he didn't want to reopen the original characters because the office finale had so much closure, but that a new workplace in the same universe made sense. Do you guys feel pressure to have it live up to the office somehow?

And oh, here's what we talked about being the dumbest of all possible questions. Will we ever see Dwight visit Toledo? Or do you guys want to avoid office reference? Dane, I'm really sorry. Why would Dwight visit Toledo? My daughter's laughing. and go to visit this obscure newspaper, unless he was coming to visit you.

Write a letter and tell us why. And we'll take your questions seriously. But maybe Dwight could be visiting. Oscar? Why? He wants Oscar to do his taxes for free? Oscar owes him money. And he shows up no reason why Dwight would visit.

Yeah. It is supposed to be the real world after all. It's supposed to be the real world. All right. Thank you, Dane. Thanks for your question. Thank you, Dane. I know.

By the way, Oscar is Dwight's son Philip's godfather. So there is reason. Oh, my God. So why would he have to? Oh, Dan, we owe you an apology. Philip, Dwayangelo's son, your Philip's godfather. So there's Philip is what? It's 10, 12 years later.

He's graduating from, but why would we come to Toledo with Philip? Well, first of all, don't pretend that you remember that. You were told this. We didn't. We're pretending that I knew this. Okay. So he is. We're pretending that my producer did not just tell me this.

So I'm the godfather. So why it's still? What does a godfather do? Did you ever know your godfather? Well, Phillips's been getting in a lot of trouble maybe and was caught smoking in the bathroom. So we bring him to Toledo so that you can educate him and mentor him. I feel bad for Philip. Maybe Philip is gay and we know it.

That would be a reason. And we need him to have a very positive gay male role mom. So you're bringing him? We bring him to Toledo. There's no one in Scranton or wherever the hell. We want him to live with you. So you, Philip moves in with you. He would be 13.

Because you can't raise a gay kid? Not on Shrewd farms. Oh, that's a whole other. That's horrible. Yeah. Poor Philip. He's been banished. He's been shunned.

He's been shunned. And why do I? I'm like, what and why? Yeah. Anyway. I guess that would be kind of a reason. I don't know. That could work.

So let's go to the other part of the question. Which it was? With the pressure to make it like the office, the paper and bringing Oscar Martinez to the Toledo truth seeker. There's no pressure. Greg Daniels is like, I want to write, I want to write a, I want to do a show about journalism, which is very important to him and to Michael Coleman, which is the truth. He's like, I need that. But I also need a quote unquote eye candy, quote unquote sex symbol to bring in.

So he's like, who can I? Correll, too expensive. John, too expensive. Everyone else pretty much out of the question. I was available. I'm not that expensive. Here I am doing this shitty podcast. Yeah, but he needs some, he needs eye candy, notting and ironic like, oh, it's funny.

Like a real, like sexual. Yeah. that men and women and lost. Your cousin Eddie was a male model after all. So, no,

there's no, seriously, there's, you can't have, you can't have the pressure because then why are we doing this? It's no fun and it's not going to work. The cast is a completely

different cast, you guys, these guys are, it's like watching a Broadway, you know, you go see Broadway and you're like, I saw the original cast on Broadway.

But I'm going to go see a new cast at the Patagos Theater. Guess what? Those kids you're watching at the Pantages, they're still the cream of the crop. They're the best the country has to offer. And this cast

is, and this cast is so talented. It's apples and oranges. It's a beautiful new cat. So there's no pressure because they're doing their thing, man. And Joy, Sabrina's a tornado of craziness and funniness.

Donal. Chelsea, Alex, Ramona, Melvin, all of them. Keep going. List every single person in the ensemble. I don't leave anyone out. I think I got them all. For years, I thought that feeling bloated and vaguely defeated after eating was simply the tax we pay for having a digestive system. Until I learned about cowboy colostrum, folks, your gut affects a lot more than digestion.

It can show up in your energy, your skin, your hair, and how you feel moving through the day, which is inconvenient because the gut is not even one of the more glott. glamorous organs. That's what she said. I've been using cowboy colostrum consistently, mostly in smoothies or iced coffee, and I've actually noticed that my energy felt steadier. Cowboy colostrum is true first day, whole bovine colostrum made in America from American grass-fed cows. It's full fat, high in protein, and rich in bioactives like immunoglobulins and growth factors. No artificial flavors, no fillers, and no mysterious beige dust labeled wellness matrix. And before anyone becomes emotionally concerned about the calves, Cowboy only collects the surplus after the baby calves have had their fill.

The calves eat first. They have union protections. For a limited time, our listeners get up to 25% off their entire order. Just head to cowboy colostrum.com slash soul boom and use the code soul boom at checkout. That's 25% off when you use the code soul boom at cowboy colostrum.com slash soul boom. Most so-called game-changing grooming products are not game-changing. They're usually the same goo in a darker bottle with the word advanced printed on it. Nutrafol Men is different. It's physician formulated, clinically tested, and takes a proactive approach by targeting key root causes of hair thinning from within. I've been taking Neutrophol men for a few months now. In my own experience, I've noticed less shedding, more visible thickness, and fewer hairs abandoning the cause.

It's become such an easy part of my routine. Four pills daily with a meal. I already eat, so I've found some useful overlap there. Neutrophol has formulas for different stages of life, including Neutrophol men for ages 18 to 49, and the new Neutrafall Men 50 plus, specifically formulated for men over 50. Start Neutrafall today and make the hat optional. Visit Neutrafall.com and enter promo code Soul Boom for $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping. Find out why Neutrofall is the best-selling hair growth supplement brand at NeutraFol.com. Promocode Soul Boom. That's NeutraFal.com promo code Soul Boom.

The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus, starring Emmy Rossum. Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man. This Thursday,

face with a threat. That can be anyone. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker. I'm just a neighbor, friendly neighbor. But he hasn't forgotten them. Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing. That's my responsibility. Talk to Banner?

I didn't know you could get that big. Spider-Man, brand new day in theaters Thursday. What's the whole Castro-Cuban situation with your family? My parents went to the University of Havana. And my mom graduated from there as a dentist and was practicing dentistry when the revolution happened. My dad was an attorney. Okay. And when they were at the University of Savannah, they were in theater.

And I have pictures of them in theater, dancing the tarantella. How old were they when they got together? It sounds like pretty young. They'd known each other for a long time. Yeah. My father and my uncle are brothers and my and my mom and my aunt are sisters. Two brothers married two sisters. Oh, whoa.

Yeah. And they were very close. My... That's a lot of Nunez. And Santiago's on my mother's side. And my aunt on my mother's side and my father had a law firm. And my aunt was the matriarch. She was older than them.

She directed the things. And she was a lawyer too. Not my uncle on my dad's side. He ran a ranch. Hikoteo, Turtle Ranch. Was that like a ranch that was taken over by the communist revolution? Yes, it was. Like when they took all the property.

Did I tell you this story? No, tell me the story. This is what we do on podcasts. So as I hear it and the podcasts are really big these days. They're huge. So I hear everyone's got one. Can you not put your hands in your mouth while doing a podcast though? That would be really helpful.

But now you're like now you're handcuffing me like don't do this. Don't think. Don't do this. Don't use a handkerchief. There's kind of one rule which is like. You can still understand me. can still understand me if I do this. Can I?

Can I? Really? No. But if you can't understand this, you can't understand this. You can't. It doesn't. It doesn't look attractive on the camera. I don't, do I, do I care?

Do I care? Soul, what's the name of the show? What's the name of the show? You know the name of the show. Soul boom. Can we see the soul? Do I care what the soul looks like? Or is it a feeling?

Who you are. Your uncle had a ranch. Your hung up on. Your home after a turtle. Yes. And, uh, And so, so look, there was, Castro was in the Sierra Madre starting a revolution. It did a big troublemaker.

Castro, who went to the University of Havana and was in the same year as my aunt. No kidding. Yeah, he was at the university with them when they were all at school. Did he dance to Tarantello with them? No, he had three or four buddies that he would hang out with, but he was always a satellite. He was never with the cool kids. Okay. He was, and he resented that because he was a big blustery bully, and he had his little group of kids, but he was an a-hole.

And he wasn't, so he got back to, he was, he was not accepted by the Hawaii. That he was an asshole. By the cool kids. Yeah, the cool kids of the University of Havana. Yes. He pledged the fraternity. He wasn't let in. Yeah.

So that was happening. So anyway, look, the thing was happening. And then, like, oh, Fidel, get a load of Fidel. What kind of a name is Fidel? Here he come. Hey, what's up? Cigar. So he's smoking a cigar.

He's 19. Maybe he was at that time. So, so, um, so he was up there. And my uncle went up there and was helping him. And then he came down from Sierra Madre and my, my mom said, I spoke to him. He looked at the president. I said, what's going on? And he said, this guy's not what he claims to be.

This is, I don't know what's coming down, but this is not what he. He said he was going to reform the, reform the government. So he comes down. So what did he mean by that? There was corruption in the government as any government. And he said we're going to... And especially Latin American governments during that time in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Bribes, the mafia, all that stuff. So he's like, I'm going to clean that up. So people are like, okay, fine. So there was, I think, three revolutions and they all dovetailed into one. The students were having one. Batista left with $300 million, which was a lot back then. Yeah. He left.

It's like leaving with billions. and billions of dollars. Yes. So he didn't stay in fight. He left. And so my parents are pregnant with me or about to have me. So they're like, well, let's see what happens. Some people left. Other people stayed. So he comes in and as he's coming into Havana, they're passing municipalities and city halls and they're taking people out and they're putting them up against the wall and firing squadding them. He said that he wasn't going to do that. His critics, people who are criticized, and people from back grievances from before.

This guy's now playing. So he comes into town and like you said, he comes. So I'm trying to get to the bottom of this. It was kind of an early promise that Castro made that he did not fulfill. He came in kind of being an authoritarian, killing people when he said, like, I'm just want to come in and reform the government. Is that what you're saying? As I understand it. And as I understand it, he went to the United States when he.

came in to power and asked him for help, and they said, you're not going to last. And they said, get the hell out of here. And he took that as a slide or whatever. And then he went to Russia for help and they said, we'll support you. And that's why he went that way with the communism and the stuff because of the support from Russia. He was getting financial food, notoriously, all that stuff. But he, when they came to take my uncle's ranch because of, because now all private property, comes property of the state.

My uncle tried to defend his property and they shot two communists who were coming in and they arrested him and he was a political prisoner for 20 years. We got him out in 1980. So he went in in 1960. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And my father who was an attorney and my mom and they're like, oh shit, let's see what happens with this.

Let's see how it plays out. And his good friend came to him and said, they just made me ambassador to Moscow because now we have really good relationships. be my assistant, get your family, let's go to Russia. And my father and mom are like, oh, we don't want to do that. So they're like, let's get out of here. And they said, we'd like to leave, please. And they said, we'd really like you to stay.

The revolution needs professionals. We'd like you to stay here and be part of this. And they said, we'd like to leave because we don't want to be communist. We believe in God, et cetera. We don't want to raise our kid here. They didn't say all that, but they were like, we'd like to leave. And they said, okay, you can leave, but you can't take anything with you. So that's what they did.

So they left, they went a year to Venezuela, didn't like it. You were a baby at that point. It was a baby. They went a year to Venezuela. And then those are where my first memories are of Venezuela. Okay. Of Caracas. And they didn't like it there.

My mom says that my dad came home with a colleague or a friend. I think we were there like a year. And he was talking in the living room with my father. And my mom came in and tried to join in the conversation. And the man said something like, tell your wife to go back in the kitchen, like where she belongs or something. My mom's like, we're out of here.

Wow. Yeah. So then we took a plane. We got out of there. We went to Massachusetts. Where we were greeted with open arms because times were different then. And then we were helped by this. So what do you mean?

At that point, especially Cuban refugees, were very welcomed. This was the first wave. It was viewed as a, you know, a battle. Political asylum, professional. Yeah.

And versus. communism. That's right. Yeah. That's right. And so with the Catholic Church supported us, and there was a family that supported us who did not know us, did not know us from Adam. A white American-WAS family who were wealthy and wonderful and they helped us tremendously. And he gave my father a job in his factory as a foreman. So we were there for, I think, a year. My sister was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. Okay. But we were Massachusetts. The first wave of Cubans settled in Florida and in New Jersey. So all my parents' friends were were in New Jersey and they're like, what are you doing up there by yourselves?

Come down to New Jersey and that's what we did. So I think in 64 or 65 we moved to New Jersey and that's where I grew up in New Jersey. You are, by the way, you're astonishingly old. You were like, how old are you now? 67. I was born in 58. You're crazy, crazy old and you look like you're 43. It's ridiculous.

Thank you. Yes. It's genetics, but yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful. I don't know if I'm crazy old. Can you turn and just face me a little bit? I don't know if I'm crazy old. That's, it's pretty old.

I mean, I just turned 60. I'm crazy old. Look at us. But 60s. Is a new 43. Yeah. That's what they say. Yeah.

I think this is utterly fascinating. Like, what is it like growing up in the Cuban diaspora and being surrounded by, you know, New Jersey Cuban culture? And you're speaking Spanish and English, Spanish at home. and English in school. Well, it wasn't the Asper. We were in Hudson County. You were thinking of Southern Jersey.

We were in Hudson County, Northern Jersey. Okay. Not the aspera. That's by the shore. That's by Asbury Park. We weren't there. Okay. So that's where I grew up.

Sipras. Sipranos kind of as a movie. Sopranos meets West Side Story. Yeah. It was the best. I love Jersey. Best state in the country. And it's really not.

Where are you from? Seattle. Who's from Washington State? Who? Besides you. Jimmy Hendricks. Frank Sinatra. Joel McHale. Sarah Vaughn.

Chris Pratt? Bruce Springsteen. Kurt Cobain. Alling Alda. Steve Largent. Ed McMahon. The... John Stewart?

Presidents of the United States of Is John Stewart from New Jersey? No, I don't know. Twisted sister. It's from New Jersey. Do you know Twisted sister? Okay, you got me beat on the celebrity angle. Okay.

What else matters? Yeah, really. So, yeah, it was great, Rain, it was great, seriously. My parents, we rented, they were refugees. They put all their money into sending me and my sister to private school. That was very important to them. Okay. So I went to Catholic school.

I wasn't the only little Cuban there. there was full of Cubans because they were all there. So Union City at that time was Irish Catholic grammar school. It was Irish, German, Italian, Cuban. For the most part, there were others, but that was mostly Irish German. My friends were Irish, German, Italians, and Cubans. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. So it was great. I loved it. What do you remember about, like, Cuban culture in the home? We spoke Spanish, but my parents had to learn English because they had to learn English because they had to get into the workforce and start all over again. Those diplomas not worth anything. They had to, my father went to, he went to Fordham.

He got his master's in social work. My mom was a dentist. She tried to get her license and take that. She passed the oral test, but the practical exam at NYU, she would get too nervous and she failed. So she ended up being like a dental assistant and stuff. But she did some quackery at home. And quackery is when you practice dentistry or, you know.

So she did home dentistry on you and your sister? No, on the villagers, on the neighbors, on people. She had a little compress and she had a dentist chair. Yeah. And for fillings, nothing big, but for filling to stuff. And she would be like, give me 40 bucks or whatever, cash. More than that. But she did that for a little bit, not for a long time, but she did do that.

I remember that. I'm like, look at this. Can we get her arrested for that now? Yeah, go ahead, dig her up. But no, I was trying to gather her ashes. Arrest her. She's in the Caribbean somewhere. God rest her soul.

God rest her soul. Yeah, and it was great. And I went to school with nuns and Jesuit brothers and priests and all that. And the best part was we were 10 minutes away from Manhattan right across the Hudson River. Did you go in the city a lot? As soon as we, and my parents did. My parents loved it. They loved, they were, they were cultured people.

They went, they saw me. I remember my father coming home and raving about West Side Story and the Godfather and giving me reviews on Broadway shows and all this. Yeah. Did you go see like Afro-Cuban jazz stuff in the city a lot? I did you know. I saw this guy who, by the way, has the coolest name in the world. What's that?

Mongol Santa Maria. Oh, yeah. He's a percussion. Watermelon Man. Isn't he do that song, Watermelon Man? Yeah, I think so. Watermelon man. Is it Angelo?

He's a percussionist. Yeah. He's incredible. I saw Pacito de Rivera, who was a refugee who came later because there were different waves of Cuban refugees who came over at different times. Yeah. And each one was more psychologically screwed than the first group because of living under that weirdness.

This is a very loaded topic, right? Castro and the. the Cuban revolution. To many in the political left, it was held up as like, oh, this is, you know, look, he put in public health care everywhere and schools and Cuba trains all these doctors. And there's so many wonderful things about Cuba. And it's also a very reactionary part of, you know, in Florida, Cuban Castro hatred. and that's often like kind of championed by the the political right.

So it's a very loaded kind of thing. And I'm just wondering, you're, you know, you're as liberal as they come, but I would love to know your take on the whole Cuban scenario. I'm liberal, but I'm pragmatic. And you're absolutely right. Everything you just said is absolutely right. Oh, thank you.

So make a list. There's good as positives and negatives. And, you know. Yeah. It's always, it's always so much more complicated than anyone. could possibly think. I remember this book, say anything, and they made the TV show on Hulu.

It was about the IRA. And it's like, there's no heroes and there's no villains. Like, everyone is corrupt. Everyone is seeking power. There's backstabbing. It's not like the noble IRA and the evil British. And there's, it's just nuanced. You want a nice, civilized normal places.

Then look to the north. Look to Finland. Look to Norway. Look to those places. that are very civilized and very decent with their citizens. People pay their taxes, but they get what they're worth. Yes, he bought free education.

Free education. Homosexuals in jail. Free whatever. Intellectuals in jail. Free whatever. No press. So there's... Right.

And what he did was easy for him to control because there's only 11 million people there. It's a harder in a big country where you have 350 million people, so it's harder to turn that ship around. He did it very quickly. You shut down the...

the press like this. And now you have control of the press. He changed the alphabet. A is for Apple, all that. He changed the calendar. There's no religion. You can't worship. There's no Judaism or Catholic.

I think there were 300, more or less, synagogues in Cuba when he stepped in there. There's none now. There's nothing. Wow. I didn't know that. People are, it's as, it's as bad as North Korea. It's, it ain't good. I'm always looking for ways to save time.

I eat breakfast while answering emails. I listen to podcast. podcasts at double speed and occasionally brush my teeth during a Zoom meeting with the camera off. It's not my ADHD. It's good leadership. We all have our own time-saving hacks for everyday life. But if you're a business owner, how can you save time hiring? Easy, ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has a new feature that quickly lets you see the most interested, qualified candidates first, so you save time by meeting the right people faster. And right now, you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash Soul Boom. ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology finds qualified candidates quickly.

Candidates can also tell you, in their own words, why they're interested in your job, which is useful because I'm passionate about synergy can mean almost anything. No wonder ZipRecruiter is the number one rated hiring site based on G2. Save time and meet great candidates sooner with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash soulboom. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash soulboom. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter.

At some point, most of us look in the mirror and realize our skin is no longer recovering from our questionable choices with the cheerful efficiency it once had. Apparently, staying up late and wandering unprotected through the sun is not a sustainable skin care philosophy. That's why I'm so glad I found one skin. I have been using it, and my skin, well, it looks brighter, better, and has stopped openly protesting my life choices. As we age, damaged zombie cells, it's a real term, look it up, can accumulate and contribute to fine lines, dullness, and loss of elasticity. OneSkin OS1 was designed by longevity scientists to address those cells instead of merely moisturizing them and wishing them well. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time,

try OneSkin with 15% off using code Soul Boom and OneSkin.co slash Soul Boom. That's 15% off OnSkin.com with code Soul Boom. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you're heard about them, please support our show and tell them that we sent you. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025.

Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19-speaker AKG surround audio system. This city demands agility and optic delivers with precision to make every drive extraordinary. Let's take the Cadillac. Find out more at catallack canada.ca. Luxury sales claim based on S&P

Global Mobility, Canadian and new vehicle total registrations for calendar year 2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury. Heaven's alive! You look really terrible, big devil. Tell me about little devil. It's hotter than heck down here, and I burnt out. Here, try a Red Bull.

It's devilishly good. Red ball, eh? Oh, that tastes heavenly, but... But what's this? Oh, dear. I forgot about that. Wings! Wings! I can't have wings. Not in my position.

Red Bull gives you wings. These complicated issues, like you said, this reactionary thing of Cubans who are like Oak, Castro is terrible. We can never negotiate with him. We must boycott him. When you boycott a country, the only winner is the person that you're boycotting who turns to his people and he says, see, they hate us. They have to rally.

They have no one else. if there was open negotiations from Cuba from the beginning and free trade going back and forth that's how you sneak weapons in and that's how they're able to have another revolution because right now they're not allowed to get weapons but they don't think they can't think past their nose so it's just reaction every so when they're... And that's how you also

besides weapons it's how you sneak ideas in and liberalism and a yearning for democracy and weapons. Yes that's how you do and some weapons. And that's how you do it but and you know oh we hate Castro but you're hurting the people that are there

they turn their back on them they say they're Cubans but there's Cubas like us maybe they were lied to you have to have empathy for the people who are there who are victims too it's not black and white yeah so fascinating nothing has changed here we are 60 years later

yeah and the people suffering are the people of Cuba just like the people of North Korea just like the people of Iran it's the people who suffer Yeah. You did ultimately get a degree as a dental hygienist, a dental assistant. Technician. What's the difference? A technician can now put his hands in someone's mouth, hygienists do.

They're at the office. The dental technician is not at the dental office. You put your hands in your own mouth, first of all, and you're welcome to put your hands in my mouth anytime. But not, we're doing a podcast. Let's do it. Let's take a break. Okay, so the, what was it going to say? Oh, yeah, the dental laboratories are not on the premises of a dental office.

It's where you... Oh, okay. It's you go to get certain jaw x-rays or something like that. Is that what you're talking about? No, Ray, this is back in the, I don't know if things have changed, but not really. You know when you go to the dentist and they're like, okay, you need a bridge and they do that thing, then you bite down. They send that malt cast to a dental laboratory. And then there they make the stuff.

You were a dental technician making, what were you doing there? How long did you work there doing there? I think almost a year but not quite, less than a year. Less than a year. Yeah. And you were like making molds and?

Everything I did had to be done over by my boss. They always had to go over it over because that was not very good. You were terrible at it. Yeah. You were a terrible dental technician. Yeah, I think so. And then you found the theater. How did your Cuban parents react to the fact that you

left being a dental technician to go do improv comedy in New York? I think by then they had pretty much given up on trying to control what I did or what they had no control

were you kind of a wild child over anything? Yeah, pretty much. What was, tell me Oscar Nunez at 17, fill me in. What was that kid like? Very funny, very popular.

Oh, good. Liked rock and roll. Okay. Hung out with my friends. Going to New York City as often as I could. Not good grades, but not failing. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. But not doing theater, not doing anything that I should have been doing. Okay. Where did you end up going to college? You went to a bunch of colleges. I went to FIT right after high school. So I thought you knew that. Yeah, well, that was in the biop papers.

But also, like, how do you go from FIT to dental technician to improv comedian? That's a big swing. Just take a bus. her taxis, they're all there. It's some Benhant. Everything's there. Why were you studying fashion? What did you want to do at FIT?

Be a fashion designer. You wanted to be a fashion designer? Yeah. Make handkerchiefs? Specifically, anchorses. I have always liked fashion, but I had an older cousin. His name's Eddie. Okay.

And Eddie, out of everyone in the family, Eddie's crazier than I am, then I'm second craziest in the family, but he's craziest. And he... But he's not the crazy Eddie. Do you remember Crazy Eddie? No, he's not...

Yeah, of course I remember Crazy Eddie. But Eddie, cousin Eddie, was a... Electronic store, New York City from the 90s. His prices were insane. Yeah. So, remember? My prices were insane. So Eddie was a model for Don Robbie

who worked for Pierre Cardan or Christian Dior, one of those big houses. Yeah. And, and, um, I visited Don Robbie's offices. They were at 1221 6th Avenue in that big, beautiful building across from from Rockefeller Center. Okay.

And I remember visiting once or twice because Eddie's like, if you're there, come visit. Because I had so many chances. Anyway, it doesn't matter. So Eddie modeled for Don Robbie, and I remember visiting him and stepping out out of the elevators at 1221

in one of the 27th floor or whatever and stepping on into the, into his floor, And it was like a disc attack. I'm like, people are working here, like loud music just pounding. And like Prada. And models are like, and I just had bought a pair of stupid black and white floor shine shoes that I wanted to show Eddie. And I'm like, and I went to their sedge of landl.

And she's like, oh, he's in there. And like, he's with Don. And I go into the office and Don Robbie's office is the size of a basketball court. And he's got a bed in the office and mirrors. And there's all these models hanging out. And Eddie's there. and he sees me and there's all these male models

and Don Robbie's there and Eddie goes everybody everybody this is my cousin the biggest homosexual in Union City and they're all like and I'm like no you guys

he's my cousin I was like 17 and I'm like no and they're like ah and I'm like so that was very cool and Don was very sweet

and you know and so you're like I want to do that I want to get in that world. I want an office the size of a basketball court. And he was always coming home with like, this is Y Saint Laurent and this is this and this is this. And so, and we would dress up.

I liked rock and roll. And I had my rock and roll friends, but we would go to discos too and dress up with vintage clothing and pleaded pants. So there's a lot of stuff, different things going on. Okay. So what did you study at FIT?

I didn't. I wasn't there a long time. No? No. Okay. I went to study fashion as I should have gone in for illustration. I was, that's what got me in there. You were a very good illustrator and artist.

That's what got me in. I didn't know how to drape materials and cut clothing and sew or anything. Hem lines. So I was there and my friends that I was hanging out with were in their like 20s and in their 30s and I was like 18 and they were we were all partying and working hard. And I chose one of those things to do. And so and then so I left there. and I couldn't keep up. It's a very fast movie school.

By the way, I love FIT. It's a wonderful. My long-term girlfriend when I was in New York City was fashion designer, went to FIT. Calvin Klein. Yeah, yeah. Bill Blas, I think, went there to him. And she had a, you know, a dummy draped and would be showing clothes and making... It's incredible.

Stuff. I love, I love it. I still watch a bunch of documentaries and... And, you know what? I worked in Bloomingdale's, too, in retail. Which is fashion adjacent. Selling handkerchiefs? Selling handkerchiefs, yeah.

But I did not work in the wardrobe. I worked in housewares. Oh, okay. Which is okay. Yeah, like ceramic bowls and spatulas and stuff. Robert Mapplethorpe had a big plates. That was the big thing. And Alessi was just very big.

And Nambay, things like that. These are silver. I don't know what that is. Waterford, you know, back around. Okay, yeah, crystal. Crystal. Yeah. So Nambay is.

like that, but with metal. And so, like, someone comes into Bloomingdale's. I'm like, oh, tell me about the crystal wear. I need champagne flutes. What would you say? I go, that's not my department. I have flatware here and housewheres, but go there and they'll help you with that,

with the baccarat and stuff like that. We had people a lot of time, women, a lot of housewives shopped there, obviously, and they were medicated, and they would send back stuff the next day, because they would buy so much stuff because there were, you know who visited us, Mary Tyler Moore. Oh, did she buy a lot of flatware?

She bought dishes or flatware, but it was, we scared her away because was I taking care of her. I don't think I was, someone was taking care of her and word got out that she was there. And a bunch of salespeople showed up and were hovering around her. Yeah. And it was a lot, but she was lovely. And, you know, you can imagine six idiots with suits. Get married and you'll help him. And it was a lot.

And she's like, okay, I'll buy this. And then she bought it. And she's like, she took out a pen. And it was a beautiful pen. And she wrote a check. And she left. And then she went to the elevator and we're like, oh, my God, oh, my God. And someone is like, she left her pen.

And like six people ran to Mary running out. And we got it to her. And she was thankful, but it was a lot. Did she turn the store on with her smile? Well, she was amazing. And Kervonigut Jr. was there too. Oh, wow. But I did not bother him. I just saw him. Yeah. Wow. Interesting. Yeah.

I left him alone. The Soul Boom podcast. Subscribe now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get your stupid podcasts. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust.

Visit wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home.