The Daily Beast Podcast - UNLOCKED: The New Abnormal Has Turned One And Is Celebrating 20 Million Listens

Episode Date: April 21, 2021

It’s been a weird year--some might even say an abnormal year--but we’ve had a consistent bright spot: the loyal listeners of The New Abnormal podcast. Thanks to you, we’re celebrating our one-year anniversary with a major milestone: twenty million listens. Producer and host duo Jesse and Molly sat down for a speed-round of twenty questions to celebrate in style. Check out Molly’s hilarious and insightful responses in an exclusive mini-episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, new abnormal listeners. It's producer Jesse Cannon here. And I am so excited to say that we have just crossed our one year since releasing the first episode of the new abnormal. And to celebrate that along with 20 million downloads of our podcast, I have a special treat for you. Molly and I are going to play 20 questions, even though it's a lot more than 20. Molly, are you ready to answer so many questions? I was born ready. And also I have it in the G-Doc.

front of me. Don't tell anyone. Molly, I can't put that. I can't put that in the... You certainly can. They are my answers. I'm going to have to beep that.

I'm going to have to beep that. But Jesse made me write them out earlier. Okay. I am very excited to celebrate our 20 millionth episode with a little bit more about me because that's really what everyone wants. It feels like 20 million because until the inauguration, that's what it really did feel like. That's certainly true. And I like that the title of this.

I'm going to give you guys the secret insider title is 20 questions with Molly full list not curated. So you're going to get the full list not curated here, listeners. That's right. That's right. The full list. Here we go. Are you going to ask me the questions or am I going to ask myself the questions and then answer myself like a lunatic? I'm going to ask you the questions so that you don't sound like you're having a psychotic break.

Okay, go. Okay. Twitter or Instagram? So I like Twitter, but I also like Instagram, but I'm better at Twitter. Instagram is really hard. You know, I'm going to put up a little bit of argument. A lot more Leonitis on Instagram. So I think that there's an advantage there.

There's only so many dog photos that a person can post on Twitter before people get irritated. So yes, but I think Twitter. I think I'm going to go with Twitter. Okay. Describe yourself in a hashtag. Frosting can be a food group. I really, really like frosting. It's so good.

It's like, I don't understand these people. Like, one of my kids eats the cake without the frost. And I'm like, what the fuck? I mean, they leave the frosting. And I'm like, yes. That's the best kid. That makes it the compatible for you as a child. Like, you know, I have one friend I eat buffalo wings with and she doesn't like the blue cheese and I'm only there for the blue cheese.

But wait, you dip the buff. I've never had it where you dip it. I mean, I've never had buffalo wings. What, you've never had a buffalo wig where you dip it at the blue cheese? Are they fried or are they gooey? They can be both. I'm into either one. I could do wood fired, I could do fried, I could do whatever.

That's kind of gross. I need the blue cheese. Someday when we tour, if we tour, we'll have blue cheese buffalo wings and we'll eat them on stage in a very disgusting way. No, don't do, don't do that. No one wants to see a human eat buffaloes. No, exactly. All right. What's the best example of a political tweet that didn't age well?

I mean, there are like different genres of bad tweets. I would say the worst. Like the easy answer are the truth. Trump tweets that, you know, especially like the Trump quote COVID tweets, like we'll be rocking and rolling by Easter. You know, those kind of tweets. Dick Clark's going to host a hoot daddy by Easter. Right. Those tweets did not age well.

But I'd also say, like, a lot of the primary tweet, you know, I try really hard not to get involved in primaries because they're such a losing game. And because if you're not psychic, you're never going to really know. And also just like people should, you know, kind of go with their instincts on primary. I think. So a lot of those primary tweets, I mean, especially if you look at like the field, I mean, my worst take, which this is not that question, but I'm happy to talk about it. My worst take was I wrote a piece about how Biden should drop out right before he got the nomination. So like for me, that's my worst aged tweet. We say we shouldn't get involved in primaries, but I think we interviewed three different people for the mayor primary in our city. Yeah, we still don't have enough. We still haven't gotten everybody, though. Yeah, it's true.

It's true. Okay, what meme or emoji best reflects your opinion on the Biden presidency? The needle. Oh, I like that. That's very good. The needle, because they gave all those vaccines. Yeah. Yes.

I wish they were my little pony emojis. Like, think about how cool that would be with the giant pony butts. That would be really cute. Yeah, I love that. Name your favorite meme of all time. And why is it the ever-given stuck in the Suez Canala meme? Didn't they ever get arrested and fined and the Egyptian government gave them a very hard time? That I believe is what happened there.

I'm going to be honest with you. This was one of those current events that I feel like I had to follow other things that were happening. But I liked the memes. Yeah, I like the little digger and the giant ship. And then the digger actually gets it out. So it's like all the memes that were like, therapy, my emotional problems. Well, it worked. So maybe therapy will work.

I mean, it hasn't yet for me. There's still. Who do you hate follow on social media? I mean, the Mar-Lago hashtag is fascinating because, like, you get to see all of the, like, weird fucked-up shit they're doing over there. I also, like, you know, I don't know. The Trump kids are sort of, like, it feels like that joke's been done to death, you know? Like, it's kind of, like, it almost just feels sort of tragic. But there are certain conservative figures that are pretty.

disturbing. Yeah, I feel like the Mar-a-Lago hashtag probably has a lot of crossover with the Plastic Surgery's Disasters hashtag, I bet. Not great. What keywords dash accounts do you have muted or blocked on Twitter? Blocking Glenn Greenwald was pretty much like a game changer for me because he gets very into like quote tweeting you and having people pile on and he's just really mean. It's funny because it's like I'm not a fan of his, but the last time he quote tweeted me, it was so mean that like just random male journalists, like came into my DMs and were like, I'm so sorry,

don't delete your tweet. He's just a psycho. And, yeah, so I do really feel like he sucks and that blocking him as a female journalist, the best thing you can do is block him on Twitter. That sounds right. That's my advice. Who's the best-dest-worse person who has blocked you on Twitter?

I have to say, every time I see, like, a liberal who's blocked me, I'm always, like, a little bit cheapish. And sometimes I'll go try to figure out who they are and why they've blocked me. But, you know, like, I feel like the Trump kids blocked me. That makes sense. Roger Stone, any time he'd get a new account, he just immediately blocked me. Like, I feel like he would, like, go for me first. And so there are, you know, certainly, and Ivanka, and she blocked me and Don Jr. and Eric. But the ones where that I get a little disappointed are like if they're actually like a smart, reasonable person that they block me.

I'm always like, oh, that sucks. But usually it's like those really gross Trumpy people. So you're stuck on an island and can only bring one person. But the caveat is they must have extremely opposing political views to you. Who would it be and why? Jesse took out my answer about killing someone and eating them. So I'll put in, I'm friends with Nicholasby. Who if the listeners don't know, he is.

A lot of people behind. Yes. What would you guys be doing on the Desert Island, though? You're just going to fight? No, we get along. I mean, I think he's wrong about almost everything, but we get along. I would let him come to Desert Island. And if worse comes to worse, I'll kill him and eat him.

Sorry. I probably won't. But if I do, if I have, you know, if push comes to shop. He's also, you know, he's a libertarian, so he's very, you know. I could see cannibalism being in the libertarian political lexicon. Yeah. That's not good, though. You don't want someone who will kill you and eat you.

This is a good point, actually. Maybe you should reconsider. Maybe he should just never go anywhere. That would be a good solution. Okay. Name one thing you like about Marjorie Taylor Green. Our commitment to fitness. Oh, that's solid, actually, because I know you're committed too.

I mean, not really, but yes, okay. Choose your fighter. Bernie with mittens, Bernie without mittens, Jane Fonda, or Chrissy Teigen. I said always Bernie with Mittens. I agree. We'll keep the fist preserved for the fight. Right, exactly.

Define your political point of view in three words. I say left, but willing to do what it takes to elect Democrats in red states. That's more than three words. That's fine. It's fine. Okay. Is Leonidas team major or team champ? So Leonidas is team major because Major is a naughty rescue puppy.

Yes, yes. And Leonidas is also a naughty rescue puppy. Yes, he is. Yes. What's a political trend you can't wait to see disappear and why is it Trumpism? I mean, I'd love to have like an American government that doesn't have white nationalists in it. That would be my dream. Yes.

It's a real hard ask, unfortunately. Yeah, exactly. What's your favorite political plot twist? That Sarah Palin brought us Donald Trump. Because you know it's true. That's 100% right. Yeah. I mean, it's not my favorite.

It's the worst, but it's true. If you ran for president, who would you pick as your Veep? I say you, but I'm just being nice. No, I mean, I'm just kidding. Yes, you. You'd be my Veep because you put up with a lot of stuff. It'll be good, too, because you'd be good, too, because you know like how Joe Biden

cursed more than Barack Obama is kind of the president who cursed the most? I can make you look good since I curse so much more than you. That's right. Excellent. It's all happening. Which Trump offspring do you love to hate the most? The worst is Junior. Also because I know

he hates me. Like I don't know that Ivanka even knows I exist. But Junior, like, clearly, because he likes to tweet about me, hates me. And so I think Junior's the worst one. What's a vice you wish politicians would give up. Lying.

And also just being, like, talking points. Yeah, we really hate on this podcast when we get talking points. Like, people should just, like, know that if, like, you're giving us talking points on this podcast, that you and I are just really angry. Yeah, it's really boring to me when people try to, like, lie to me and just, you know, like, the thing is, if you're just going to say the thing that everybody else says, It's just being good for their own brand. It's not serving anybody.

Right. I don't even know if it's good for their own brand. Like, I think people really start to turn off when you just say bullshit. Yeah. I think people have tuned authenticity detectors these days. Exactly. So what's the key ingredient to being a good guest on here? No talking points.

Like just talking and like answering our questions and telling us something really good that they don't say. That, you know, like what we want is you to tell us something. you don't say on cable television, right? Like, we don't want to be outtakes from MSNBC. We want, like, the real dart. Yes. Who wins the fuckiest fuck that guy to date? Alex Berenzen, because he's not famous, but he is costing lives.

Yeah, he really has become the person that the stupidest people I see are always citing. What guest most surprised you? I like Tammy Duckworth a lot because I thought she'd be really guarded and careful, and she told us, like, great stories and was just great. Which guest always has the hottest inside info, and I know the answer to this one. Don't we agree on this? We 100% agree on this, because we talk about this all the time, and it is... Congressman Swalwell.

He really does, and he tells me stuff, and he's, like, a good friend of the show. Do you have a standby guest if somebody cancels last minute? You know, anyone I can bully to come on. I have a couple people that I can really, like, emotionally, you know, be like, come on. The real way this question should have been phrased is how many dozen standby guests do you have if someone cancels last minute? I mean, not always.

Sometimes. You always come through. But you and I, as you both know, like... It can be tough. Yeah, and you don't always hit it out of the park. And, like, it's hard to get the senators and congressmen. You have to get them in advance because they have these crazy schedules. And, like, it's very hard for us to get Republicans with good reasons.

And, you know, it's, you know, it's hard. And, like, sometimes you get a guest where we give them a hard time and people are mad at us for even having them on, like today. Mm-hmm. That's the thing. That's the thing. What's your favorite episode of the new abnormal to date? I like that we found this nun for Biden, who I thought was really good, and people loved her. I think we've done a really good job of covering COVID.

Yeah. Considering that neither of us are doctors, like we've really, we've gotten a lot of really, like, amazing doctors in to explain stuff to us. And I think we've really been killing it on that. Killing it, if you'll excuse there. I am always impressed with the aptitude and how good your questions are for the doctors we talk with COVID on. I'm consistently impressed. Well, I love, you know, I'm a terrible hypochondriac, so this just hits me on all the. Do you have a dream guest?

you'd like to bring on one day? I would like Vice President Harris. I'd like Joe. I would like Liz Warren, Steve Martin, Christy Teagan. You know, I have a pretty long list for people I'd like.

We're always plotting. That's right. Four seasons or four seasons total landscaping? I think it's obvious that four seasons total landscaping. I will tell you, I'm definitely going when I go to Philly. Yeah, no question.

And the cinnamon toast crunched debate, shrimp tail or an accumulation of the cinnamon sugar? The guy turned out to be a milkshake duck. Yeah, that's true. What's your secret for dealing with the haters? And what's the most creative hate mail you've ever received? You know, I get a lot of hate mail. I, like, read a lot of the stuff people write to me, and I, like, look at it in a way

to see if I can learn anything from it. I would say this. The hate mail that I get, that's, like, Trumpy people who are just going to hate me no matter what, I don't pay a lot of stock to that, right? Or like violence or things like that. The things that I read where I'm interested in them are the people where they're like, I used to like you butt. Or like, those I always read and I'm like, oh. And, you know, or the ones where they're like, you know, this is what you're doing wrong. Because, like, a lot of the time it's whatever.

But sometimes you get it and you're like, oh, this is actually pretty useful. So I definitely read all of it. I don't know, you know, I don't take it so personally. I probably should. But I kind of feel like, you know, my mom wrote about me my whole life. So I've developed a pretty thick skin when it comes to that kind of stuff. So I tend to really just, I don't take it personally, even though it's about me, if that makes any sense. I just sort of, you know, I just see what I can get from it and then I move on.

I like that. That's really smart. What's your favorite podcast? That's not our. I said you can't say ours. I like the daily. I listen to the daily when I don't, when on the rare, you know, I mostly listen to us, but if, or I don't listen to us. I don't really listen to podcasts.

I never listen to us because that's unbearable. But I mostly don't listen to podcasts, but if I did, I would listen to the daily. I sometimes do when I'm at the dentist. What's the one thing you wish you knew pre-pandemic? That they were going to run in a toilet paper and papered house. and chlorox wipes. I wish I had known to buy lots and lots of chlorox wipes. There's some dollar store purveyors who are very rich off of how many chlorox wipes I bought.

Yeah. What pandemic habit have you picked up that's going to stick? Well, I liked being in that medical trial, though I don't know that I'll go into another one, but maybe I will. That was like my favorite thing. Also, I got an exercise bike. I will not say what brand because no one's paying me, and I'm classy like that. But I got an exercise bike and, you know, I hate it, but it's still like much less time consuming than going to yoga classes. So I might keep doing that.

What's your first trip post-pandemic? Okay, so I went to L.A. last week. It was really fun. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? I don't know. Getting everyone to do everything I wanted all the time. I almost have it, but I was going to say you've been honing that one. Yeah.

What's your kryptonite? Bad Wi-Fi. And also, like, I get car sick. And I would say also, like, I can get very itchy, which is not great. What actress would you want to play you in a movie about your life? Natasha Leone. Oh, that's good. I like that for you.

Yeah. Thank you. Last one. By the way, this is 37. We're at 37 questions in case anyone is counting at home. What's your most irrational fear? I mean, I love an irrational fear. That's kind of my thing.

But for sure, it was flying. It's gotten much better, but that was the one. Well, that's it. I hope everybody enjoyed this, and I hope you all tune in for another 20 million episodes. And if you don't enjoy it, you can always write to me and tell me why. Just start the email with, I used to like you, but then I listened to this episode. Exactly. On that note, we'll wrap this episode of the new abnormal from The Daily Beast.

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