Wonderful! - Wonderful! Ep. 21: Podcasting for the Gold

Episode Date: February 7, 2018

Griffin's favorite teen drama! Rachel's favorite personal characteristic! Griffin's favorite slow jam! Rachel's favorite uplifting pop tune! Music: "Money Won't Pay" by bo en and Augustus - https://open.spotify.com/album/7n6zRzTrGPIHt0kRvmWoya MaxFunDrive ends on March 29, 2024! Support our show now by becoming a member at maximumfun.org/join.

Hi, this is Rachel McElroy. Hi, this is Griffin McElroy. And this is wonderful. I don't have anything this time. Oh no. I mean, I have things I'm grateful for. I'm always grateful. I'm always looking at the big picture and saying, wow, what a cool picture.

And then I get other people to come look at the picture. But I don't have a funny bit for the intro. And I know you count on me for things, classic bits that people are always talking about. We could take turns. I could do bits sometimes. You want to do it? Yeah. All right, go ahead to do it yeah all right

go ahead and do it uh this week we'll be going for the gold hey olympics they should have a podcasting category i feel like but you have to be on big skis and you're doing a slalom while you do it and that would be fun because we could do the episode in stereo. So it'd be like, yeah. So anyway, did you hear the latest thing that Mark Cuban said? So this would be our Shark Tank fan cast. But we record it while we're doing a ski slalom. That's fun. Ski Shark Tank. Is that something?

See, babe, you got the intro magic. A lot of people say it's so difficult. Nobody's going to get it their first time. We're recording in the afternoon. We didn't just eat a big meal. Typically, we start. You talk about a big meal we just ate. We didn't do that.

Well, we eat the big burgers from B. Terry's specifically so we have something to talk about in the intro. I didn't eat lunch yet. Me neither. Hungry belly over here. Yeah. I wonder how that's going to get into the podcast. We're going to get a little touchy there at the end, I bet.

Ooh, maybe. And also you'll get the gurgles from my tumbles. My tumbo gurgles. It's cute. Thank you. I think it's my turn to start this week. I think so. So my first... Do you hear that? Do you hear that? It sounds like piano keys tinkling in the back. Do you hear that? Are you playing music on your phone or something? You hear it?

It's like, da-na-na-na-na, da-na-na-na-na. Do you hear it? It's weird. Oh, there it is. I want to talk about the OC. Wow. Have we not done that yet? No, it's kind of unbelievable that we haven't done that yet. So i want to start out by saying i want to couch it a little bit by saying

i don't actually know i'm too deep in at this point to know whether or not the oc is like a great show or even a good one at this point i have watched it like four or five times in its entirety like i will acknowledge there are entire plot lines that when they show up during one of my rewatches, I'm like, ugh, locked into this for a few months, huh? It is also occasionally, like, problematic in that, like, patented early 2000s kind of way, where it was like, wow, you took a swing at that, but you didn't really keep your eye on the ball there, the OC. Despite that stuff, like, it really is one of my favorite tv shows of

all time um if you've never watched the oc it follows a character named ryan atwood who is a teen boy played by a 35 year old man um who runs afoul of the law in his hometown of chino and he ends up getting rescued for the first time of about 40 times throughout the show's run by a public defender named Sandy Cohen, who opens the doors of his family's palatial Newport estate to Ryan. And the whole series is about Ryan's struggles to fit in in this world, in Newport, in Orange County. The show has a lot to say about classism, while also, yes, kind of indulging in the fantasy of, boy, wouldn't it be nice to be enormously wealthy and successful. But that's not why I love the show. It's nice to look at these nice things, right?

But the show, I feel like, has a really lovely, coherent aesthetic beyond just like, look at these nice things that these people have. lovely coherent aesthetic beyond just like look at these nice things that these people have um the world feels like very very alive and they put in a lot of work to make it a very like a vibrant sort of world with a lot of character what i love about this show and i will go to my grave with this is is it's because it has the best cast of characters probably ever assembled in a television show before. Full stop. What are you about to compare it to? Are we including, I don't know, Oliver in this mix? The musical Oliver?

What was the name of that kid that Marissa befriends that's terrible? Oh, Oliver. Yes, okay. No, he sucks. He's not a great character. No, but... Are you talking about the main cast? Even the little spots on the apple still doesn't... You just cut those away.

So the characters are all fantastic. The show sort of centers around the Coen family, which is really... Okay, if you don't agree with the other thing, I think the best family dynamic ever portrayed in a television show before, and it's one that is so much more nuanced than I think it really had any right to be. There's Kirsten, who is a bit more straight-laced, a little bit more old money, and Sandy, who is a bit more idealistic. They are married, they are the mom and dad of this family. And I may have just described that sort of relationship, and you may have thought like,

oh, okay, so they demonize Kirsten constantly for being sort of snooty or whatever, while building up Sandy as being this, you know, this, this God of justice when, when really like the show does so much more than that. And it's really interesting how often they kind of have to cross the, the fence for each other and help each other out constantly.

Like, I feel like despite that, they could have very easily made it like, okay, Sandy is this dude who's fighting the system. And so his righteousness is always pure, but really his righteousness kind of like gets him in trouble and he fucks up a lot because of it. While on the same vein, like Kirsten, I think falls prey to like the status quo of this kind of shitty town that they that they live in but it's the way that they kind of work together to like find find the the path through like surviving this time is so much like chemistry between the actors too which i think helps a lot is that i think they

it's one of those casts where you watch and you think the actors themselves probably added a lot to the story uh just in in their ability to understand the characters. Yeah, the cast is fantastic. And the result of like this really interesting relationship is their son Seth. And I just said that out loud, and it made it sound like I don't know where babies come from. But really, like he represents that dynamic between Sandy and Kirsten so well, because he's really savvy about how the town works, while also is like kind of eager to fight against the things that he thinks

are kind of poisonous about the town. He is sort of the first character who really accepts Ryan for what he is, and really helps him to understand how this town works and how to like find his footing here, and becomes like a brother to him him he is a he's a fantastic character he's also very funny uh portrayed by uh adam brody um even though like he kind of fucks up more than a human being could conceivably fuck up uh in their in their lifetime

he's still like a really really great seth is adam brody right ryan is ben mckenzie oh did i say ryan was i don't know how that worked out but i just okay seth is adam brody ryan is played by ben mckenzie who is in uh batham yeah um uh summer and marissa are two other characters and they they also like it's so fascinating how like every character is built around the town like it really gives the place of a a real sense of place and summer and marissa they represent like another kind of dichotomy of how people respond to this town and how they like internalize its impact on the people who live there both like the fun and benign like hey we live in a fancy ritzy beach town and also like the more harmful side of things and marissa certainly ends up sort of

representing that side of things a lot more um and and ryan for what his character is which is like this audience surrogate and and doorway into uh into this new world is actually really great like the character is really great and watching him grow from season to season from a sort of self-destructive, lonely guy to somebody who has a huge support circle and somebody who really like knows who they are and what they want out of their life is like so satisfying. Like you are always rooting for him. And he has this character like trait of being like a tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks or whatever. But really, they play up his vulnerability so much. Something that I've thought about a lot, too, since we've watched it is that they're all kind of misfits. They're all kind of outsiders.

Ryan is the most obvious one. And then Seth and Sandy, definitely. But even like Kirsten and, and, um, Marissa, uh, and Summer, like they all kind of feel like uncomfortable, um, in, in their own skin a little bit. And it feels very much like, even though it's unrelatable in a lot of ways, because they're living this like really privileged lifestyle, like they all feel that kind of teen feeling of like, I don't know who I am. And I don't know how I fit into this. Yes. And I should have mentioned this earlier, the privilege represented in this show is cloying. Don't get it on your skin, because it'll melt right through to the bone um but yeah like

what you said is absolutely true and what's what's really like again like i i can't drive this home enough like this this show is uh occasionally a bit um i i don't i don't know how to put this it's it is a teen drama right like they show this show in syndication on the soap network which tells you like yeah it is kind of soap opera e at times this is not a dumb show by any means i i think it is an incredibly thoughtful sort of of um way to make a a city make a place almost like the villain like not just the setting but the villain where like these characters have flaws yes but almost all of those flaws stem from this place where they live and the way that they were brought up you know what other show is kind

of like that like another show that where the where the environment is is very much character and the parents of these teens are very like well thought out, like rich figures is Friday Night Lights. Yeah, Friday Night Lights is absolutely that. Yeah, Friday Night Lights does a great job of that. It's like a teen show where the parents actually exist, have their own lives, and like they're very much rooted in the place, which is not something you see in a lot of teen shows. And the OC is a lot more like tawdry than Friday Night Lights is. Friday Night Lights is a lot more grounded than the OC is. But like, yeah.

And both shows, I think, do a really interesting thing where the town, the setting of the show is kind of the source of friction for most of the things that happen. But it's also like while you are watching it, you are entranced by it. entranced by it. The like music and photography and everything about the OC, like when you watch it, it almost feels like you're on vacation in these places. Like I do think of it as like a sort of escapist thing to watch, despite the fact that like, the through line of the show is this town has fucked these people up. and it's only through their relationships with each other that they're able to survive because you see over and over and over again what happens to people when they don't have those sorts of of relationships yeah um that's when the show's like firing on all cylinders sometimes it's just like this person is poor so they have a gun it does

that like once or twice and it's like the oc come on or like so and so is being self-destructive right now because something happened that they can't deal with like it follows these kind of typical and that's that's what i was talking about it does occasionally like falter and is like again a bit problematic at times but a lot of the times like when when it has its head on straight and i think it gets there like especially like season two season three um season one is great because it like lays out all the all the like groundwork for this stuff but but as it moves forward like it really does focus on the town and you know class struggles and identity struggles in a town that that like rewards conformity in in such a like uh like integral way to everybody's being but it does sell in like i don't know a way that is like kind of

nuanced and really really clever there's a lot of other great characters who we haven't mentioned julie cooper who also has like an incredible growth arc from from the show's beginning to the show's end uh jimmy, who is her sort of estranged ex, who is another kind of perpetual fuck-up who I think actually caused the housing crisis in real life. Taylor Townsend, who is kind of like this

teacher's pet, I guess, who somehow finds her way into the group. Griff and I have had a lot of conversations about Taylor Townsend. I love Taylor Townsend. First watch of the show, did not like her at all. Challenging. Couldn't relate to her. Second watch, I was a little more on team Taylor, but I will say she is definitely not

one of my faves. Wrong. Incorrect. I mean, your opinion is not incorrect, and I value it and I cherish it. But what I really love about this show is like, it has these great characters, right? But it also, the reason I keep coming back to it is because it's built pretty much completely like the the pitch for this show uh is built around my favorite storytelling trope which is found family this show is explicitly about found family it is about ryan being brought into this family um so like you're you're injected into this this

this world of newport and you're introduced to this family that has a really specific way of navigating it. And then you're shown what happens, how they have to like recalibrate when somebody new is brought in. Like Ryan starts with nothing, episode one. Like he has no friends, no nurturing family members to speak of, like nothing. And rebuilds his support circle from scratch as the show goes on. And it is so loving and so delightful to watch that process happen. I didn't know that you were such a big found family guy. Oh,

hell yeah. Not found family guy. That's an unfortunate. I love it. Um, quid, quid, quid word.

That's not a thing. I'm thinking of squid word. Peter, he's always up to no good. Yeah. It makes sense now, though, that you mention it, like given like what I've seen you do with the Adventure Zone. Yeah, for sure. It's very much a thing.

Never knew that. What's your first thing? My first thing. By the way, the OC, I think, is all on Hulu right now. So you can go watch it. But again, I did warn you at times it's kind of rough. Yeah. Measure it against a show like Dawson's Creek, which is one that I very much loved at the time.

Not as good. It beats the shit out of Dawson's Creek, I think. Yeah. My first thing is a character trait that I wanted to bring. Okay. As wonderful, which is curiosity. Absolutely. That's one thing that I realized as I got older.

It's a trait that I just think is such a win for a person and is something that I really strive to do in myself and something I've really respected about the people that I feel closest to. So I wanted to bring it as my thing. Well, go ahead and break it down. Yeah. So curiosity has been linked to happiness, creativity, satisfying intimate relationships, increased personal growth, and increased meaning in life. And this is some information I got from an Atlantic article in 2017.

But it's been shown as a core determinant of academic achievement. I believe that. I think that I only became curious about things after I graduated from college. And then I was like, boy, I'm curious about history. I wish there was a way to learn about history. I wish I didn't know anything about world or US. Well, and so this is what a lot of the articles I read, and also there are a lot of TED Talks about this, of this idea that children are inherently curious,

but much of the way that classroom learning goes doesn't really encourage that curiosity. Yeah. I mean, I was always blown away by, like, I have friends who are now history teachers. They were so deeply into history. And it's like, like man how can you even work up the nerve to care about any of this stuff and now i'm like wow shit yeah i watched jeopardy

and i'm like oops um yeah and there's actually there's a lot of interesting ted talks too about um trivia and the role trivia has in kind of building your curiosity oh interesting like the whole like pub quiz yeah phenomenon and just kind of what happens to your brain in those environments is really interesting. I mostly just get angry because I'm sure everybody else is looking at their phones. That's what happens to my brain. Yeah, no, that's true. It's kind of why we stopped doing it. Yeah.

So what they, this article calls like the difference between intellectually gifted, which is kind of, you know, the standard interpretation of what gifted is, and motivationally gifted as a way of kind of gauging your curiosity. I imagine the latter feeds into the former, right? Like, if you are curious to learn about things, you will learn about things and then be sort of intellectually gifted. Yeah. Motivationally gifted people display extreme enjoyment of school and learning, of challenging, difficult and novel tasks, and an orientation towards mastery, curiosity, and persistence. So I read another article on Fast Company that said that the average 6- to 18-year-old

asks only one question per one-hour class per month. And contrast that with the average teacher who peppers kids with 291 questions a day, it's an average of one second for a reply. Yeah, so I just I thought that 291 questions a day and waits one second. That seems a little high to me. Yeah, I don't know what their sources on that. But I think for me, I always loved school. And, you know, I didn't always love my classmates, but I always loved the opportunity to sit in a room and kind of discover things. And the teachers that I loved the most were the ones that kind of engaged me in the opportunity to ask questions,

which I think is probably why I got into English literature so much, because that class more than any other class is kind of designed to interact yeah for sure like when you're learning facts and formulas there's a little opportunity at least in the way i was taught to kind of exchange and give your your thoughts and opinions but that's not to discredit like more scientific educational pursuits no i think there's a better way to do it. I think that sense of like, discovery and excitement about like mastery, like you mentioned, like would absolutely exist. I get that a little bit now I've done like some like coding and stuff like that. And every time I learn something new and how to make something work in that I feel that sense of like, engagement with the thing because I believe I can do it. And I think that exists, it existed for me, absolutely, growing up doing, you know, more literary educational stuff,

because when I understood, like, what a piece of work was about, and it's in the author's intent, I was engaged with it in that way. Well, that's, that's why the shift has really been towards this, like, project-based learning of getting kids to sit down and learn these basic skills, like these kind of, you know, quote, STEM, like skills through projects. So they are working together and accomplishing something like you were talking about with like coding, where you see a finished product, and you engage all of these skills, and you investigate and that kind of thing. I can't stop thinking about since like STEM became part of sort of the national education

conversation, how different my life would have been if it was a thing. I can't stop thinking about, since like STEM became part of sort of the national education conversation, how different my life would have been if it was a thing when I was a kid. Because I swear to God, I would have grabbed onto it completely and I would not be doing this podcast right now. Like I would be in a completely different field, I feel like,

because I find that stuff so fascinating. But I also feel like way behind the curve on it. And if I had gotten started i feel like that would have been the thing that i would have like really latched on to yeah it's exciting though for like henry and like this this generation that they're gonna have this like this huge doorway open to them hopefully i mean hopefully it's not just kind of a trend you know and all of a sudden there's going to be a shift in the next few years towards something totally different. Yeah.

History, you'll finally get it today. It's history-based, social studies-based. I had very few good history and math teachers, which is a shame because I like puzzles. I like stories, obviously, and both of those could really lend themselves to that. I think I had good history teachers. I just couldn't be less interested in it when I was younger. Because I was so like, history was one of those things in school where it's like, I'm going to learn this so I can answer a question on a test. And then I'm going to try to forget it instantly so I can memorize more like Pokemon evolution requirements.

So what if you had had a teacher that was like Thomas Jefferson in a way is like the jiggly puff of the Pokemon universe? Yeah. I mean, I definitely would have like latched onto that. I mean, I'd be standing on my desk by the end of that period. That was a good one. Yeah. I, I, I just, I wanted to bring that period. That was a good one.

Yeah, I just, I wanted to bring that up. I just feel like it is such a valuable characteristic. I feel like it's one thing that works about our relationship is that we continue to want to know what the other person thinks about things. And you continue, even if you've been with somebody for years and years, to look at them and say, hey, you know what? What did you think about that when that happened? Yeah, absolutely. Interpersonally speaking, it's a really good thing to have. But also, I have found as I move further into my journey into adulthood, that was the weirdest imaginable

way to phrase that. As you get older as you get older like i find myself wanting more and more to try to like more things it is it is a it is such an uh such an important trait i feel like for being a good person for being open-minded and respectful of like other people's um the the shit other people are into trying to open yourself up to that stuff, like you lose literally nothing. And you have the potential to gain some new skill or some new hobby or interest or some new relationship with with a person who's into that stuff that you didn't have before. Yeah, and I will say it would be I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my ultimate role model for this is my grandmother, who just led with curiosity my entire life and was one of the people who, when I was in middle school or high made her just like the best hostess at any party uh and continues to make her the funniest person i know because she's she's very engaged in

what's happening and and wants to know kind of what everybody is doing and and makes everybody feel welcome because she genuinely is interested in what they have to say she helped found a computer club like in her community and for older residents it was incredible i went over to her house i think like the second time or so that i met her and she showed me her computer and a bunch of old cd-roms of games that she had yeah a lot of which i'd never even heard of there was like a wild west style like first person shooter like doom she's like you want to play this and And I was like, fuck, yeah, like, she's so into like, technology. And yeah, she was at this point. Yeah, at this point, she doesn't have kind of the mental ability to keep up with stuff like that. But

but yeah, it just it taught me so much from a young age of just like the best way to connect with people and to enjoy your life is to continue to seek out new information and learn from people around you. So I think that's invaluable. That's kind of what disappoints me like a lot, not the most. There's a lot of things that disappoint me about the internet. But one thing that really disappoints me is just how easy it is for people to turn on shit or develop like a negative impression towards something before they even try to understand why people like that thing and i'm talking specifically about media here and less about you know you know political beliefs and uh obviously that is a whole nother kettle of fish

but somebody who's just like i see this in games literally constantly because that is one where it's inherently a very divisive thing because people's um uh preferences towards genre informs almost entirely like what they play and so every other genre genres that have never really clicked for them they largely will just assume is shitty uh this is a game that I don't enjoy, so you're an idiot for liking it. When really, just give it a try, and then if you like it, congratulations, you like more stuff. Yeah, exactly. That's a good thing. Yeah, don't dig your heels in when you're confronted with something that could potentially

expand your world. Yeah. Speaking of, hey, can I steal you away? I think you should go. I feel like I've done a lot of this. Hold on. Let me do some animal sounds. I've been doing those a lot for, for Henry. What do you, what animal do you want? Uh, I really like your pig. Let me take that again. That was terrible. Let me take that again. That was terrible. Let me take that again.

That last one really got away from me. Oh my gosh. It internalized in my larynx. You want to read that first Jumbotron for me? Yeah. Well, for the audience, but I will also receive it. This message is for Julia. It is from John, Alexandria Alexandria and Hala Ann.

Jay Bates the girl, happy birthday. Thank you for introducing us to the good, good McElroy family. We love you a ton and can't wait for you to move back south. But really, we're happy you love what you do and where you live, even if it is in NYC. Love your oldest bro, Jay Bates the boy, even if it is in NYC. Love your oldest bro, Jay Bates the boy, your middle-assist, Drea, and your baby niece,

two-under-two, Hala Ann, that's pronounced Hala. You know, Forbes is really catching a lot of shit for their two-under-two list because it's like, what kind of accomplishments could be possible?

I didn't make it, and I was a little outraged. Well, the competition was stiff this year. Of course, the Ally McBeal dancing baby made the list again. Still under two, even after all this time? Well, he's digital, so he doesn't get older. The baby from Baby's Day Out was mostly digital, also on the list.

And that was incredible. That baby did not fall off that scaffolding. Boss baby. Boss baby. Huge. Yeah. Here's another jumbotron this one is for ashley and it's from jenna who says hey bud i just want to say that you've been an amazing dare i say wonderful you may say it uh best friend to me and i'm super grateful to have you in my life here's to almost a decade of best friendship and all the polar bears, tissue birds, and good, good boys we've encountered along the way.

I love you, dude. Aw, that's very nice. That is very nice. But you haven't encountered that many polar bears, because if you had, you'd be destroyed by these big, big bears. Listen, polar bears, big, soft, sweet, Coca-Cola's like snuggle up to one of these things. Polar bears, big, soft, sweet. Coca-Cola's like, snuggle up to one of these things. If they think you are a big piece of cod or some haddock, rip.

Hard truths. Hard truths here on Wonderful. Yeah, Mark. Hey, buddy. Oh, hey, what's up, man? So I'm at this mafia restaurant. What? I'm going to go in and ask these guys what they think the best pasta shape is. Mark, they're probably eating.

I have a hunch that it's probably ravioli. But, I mean, you know what? That's a good idea. Whatever they're eating, I'll just take a look in their bowls. Why don't you? And see what they have. There's supposed to be a big meeting there today. Can you see it from the street?

That sounds really dangerous. I'm just going to go inside and ask. Don't bother them. They're probably eating, you know. Look, I'm not threatened by them. How about we tell them what the best pasta is on our podcast? We got this go inside and ask. Don't bother them. They're probably eating, you know. Look, I'm not threatened by them. How about we tell them what the best pasta is on our podcast? We got this with Mark and Hal. Oh, that's a great idea.

Thank God. Tuesdays at 9? On MaximumFun.org. Hey, I love that show. Can I tell you about my second thing? Yes. I'm excited because you told me that you had a song. Yes.

That you wanted to do. And I also was going to bring a song. So it'll be sort of a musical back nine here. But our songs are going to be so completely different. And that excites me to no end because the song I have chosen to talk about today is D'Angelo's Untitled How Does It Feel? Oh, interesting. I want to make it clear before we get going that I love this song in a completely unironic, pure, wholesome way, as Rachel can attest. To see Griffin just groove to this song

is it's inspiring. You the title is strange, right? Untitled. How does it feel? You may not remember the song. I'm going to play a little bit of it now just to set the stage to set the mood, if you will, because you have heard this song at some point, probably in the early thousands. How does it feel? Did I want to know how else it feels? How does it feel? How does it feel? So, Untitled, How Does It Feel, which I'm going to move on and just call How Does It Feel, because their real title is kind of a mouthful. Also, it's not untitled. You can't call something untitled, how does it feel? Which I'm going to move on and just call how does it feel, because their real title is kind of a mouthful.

Also, it's not untitled. You can't call something untitled. Okay, no, you're D'Angelo. You can do whatever you want. This song is off of D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo, which was this hugely successful album. It won Best R&B Album, the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2000. Untitled snagged him the Best Male Vocal R&B Grammy like it was a runaway hit.

And this song is sort of the big single off of the album, and it is obviously a very erotically charged song, but it's also really tender at points. A lot of it is kind of boasting. There's a line, and if you'll have me, I can provide everything that you desire. Like, oh, all right. Talking a big game there, D'Angelo. But there's a few lines that are actually really vulnerable. The first verse ends with, you've already got me right where you want me, baby. I just want to be your man. And at times, it's also very, very explicit.

Like the line, should I say the line? I am curious am curious yeah i'd love to make you wet in between your thighs whoa hey because i love when it comes inside you i get so excited when i'm around you that last line is actually kind of sweet um or it could be talking about a boner but the rest of it is yes but for the most part like all that stuff aside it's a very stripped down um no pun intended which we'll get back to here in a bit uh it's a very stripped down um no pun intended which we'll get back to here in a bit uh it's a very stripped down song um and it kind of also implies with like its central thesis a very thoughtful and considerate approach to physical intimacy like hey how does it feel like that really is kind of what the song is about um but never thought about it that way. But musically, it is so interesting, the song. Like, the harmonies, particularly in the chorus,

as it evolves and repeats, the harmonies are just gorgeous beyond belief. My favorite thing about the song is how much it just constantly drags. If you really listen to it, like, the drums and the, like, guitar stings that drop in are almost never on the same beat. Everything's always like a half beat behind. And so the song is just very, very like, it just drags in a way that is like, really, really interesting and very like, I don't know, it sets the mood in a big, big way. The like pacing of the lyrics like changes from line to line. I imagine this would be a very difficult song to do karaoke too because it's just like i don't know when d'angelo's gonna start singing this time but i guess you know what

it would be a good song for though figure skating routine it would be the best figure skating routine probably just the changes in tempo i don't know who the figure skater would be who could actually pull that off right now i don't know uh anyway i i love this song i listen to it all the time no joke it's on our pre-show live show playlist so before each live show that we do you will hear this song in in the audience at some point because despite the fact that it is a very like it's doing it music like and that's the fact it also like kind of gets me pumped up not for doing it but just to do a live show i guess uh because like it builds to a climax no it like builds and builds and builds and like it is so like explosive towards like

there's literally no way to talk about this without saying um but here's the thing uh how does it feel it didn't really like stick with me as a a genius great song the first time i heard it back in in the early aughts. And there's a reason for that. And that's kind of the sad legacy of this song, which is the music video. The music video is a one-shot music video. It is just a close-up on a sweaty, ripped, nude D'Angelo. Have you seen the music video? I have not. Have you really not? I have really not. I'll show you a few seconds. Yeah, no, I have not seen this. Wow. Okay. So is D'Angelo. It's just him nude as the camera pans around him. You almost see his donger, but not quite.

It always pans back up just before it hits sort of the top of the donger uh it's it's it's just a very very erotic video right and it really works for the song right and it was hugely popular uh despite the fact that it was you know so explicit it got like huge airtime on vh1 and mtv uh it was that was the problem is that this video was so popular and it became such a huge gateway for people to discover D'Angelo's music, um, that it set him up as this huge sex symbol and that completely overshadowed everything else he had ever done and everything else on the album and everything that he had worked on.

Uh, I was reading about like he did a tour for voodoo, the album that this was on and, you know, women would just scream for him to take his clothes off during literally every song. Oh, man, that's a bummer. That is a bummer. It really got to him.

His manager at the time, Dominique Trigny, has a quote where he talks about the disappointment that he had for this music video and its effect on D'Angelo's career. And he said, to this day, in the general populace's memory, he's the naked dude. And Questlove, who was a producer on Voodoo, said that had he known what the repercussions of Untitled would have been, I don't think he would have done it. Yeah, of course.

And so after that time, things got very, very rough for D'Angelo. He finished that tour, and he has a quote saying, like, he never knew why a fan was a fan. Like, he never knew why people were engaging with his music, which was, like, so disappointing to him, because he had created this, like, critically praised masterpiece. And then the dialogue about it was, remember when that dude got naked for the music video. And so he went on sabbatical for like 12 years. And during that time, things were really rough. He struggled with alcohol and addiction. And while he like occasionally collaborated with some artists on some stuff, he was supposed to put out this like big album that he just couldn't

write. He just couldn't do it. And it stayed that way until, of course, in 2014, he dropped Black Messiah, which was his big comeback album. And man, what a what a fucking way to come back that album rules to to so Yeah, I feel like that happens to a lot of artists and musicians is they get kind of categorized in a particular, you know, stereotype, and then they have to spend their whole career fighting against that. Yeah, it's a shame in like, so many ways, specifically in this instance, because, you know, D'Angelo felt for whatever reason, like he had to put his entire career on a hold

until he like recovered from this. But I think this the sort of smaller thing that's more relevant to what we're talking about is I think Untitled, how does it feel is a brilliant, uh, incredible song. Uh, but it specifically is the naked dude song. And I think, and that's why like,

I didn't like really, I didn't really listen to it. You watch that music video and it's, it's a, you know, whatever, it's a good music video and it matches the tone of the song, which is sort of the goal of a music video.

But you watch that music video and it's like, there's a naked man, and you're not listening to like this really, really interesting, great song. Yeah. But now I, you know, I went a decade without listening to it or watching the music video, and it came up in a like a Spotify recommends. And I was like, Oh, shit, I remember this jam. Oh, it's brilliant. It's very good. So let's hear your song that you want to talk about. And maybe we can compare and contrast between how does it feel and your second thing. So my second thing is the song Same Dark Places by Junior Junior. Yeah, formerly Dale Earnhardt Junior Junior, right?

Yeah. I can't imagine why they had to change that name. I became a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. fan with the album It's a Corporate World from 2011. Love every single song on that album. It's incredible. I think we had a bunch of those songs in our wedding playlist that they played at our wedding. I know we had Nothing But Our Love is on that album, right? Yeah.

Yeah, and the song about Detroit is on that album, which is incredible. They're really good. Can you kind of describe what their thing is? Yeah. So it's two front guides. It's Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein. And it's kind of like poppy, kind of psychedelic, kind of like polyphonic spree a little bit. I think so. But with more of an electronic edge, I think.

Yeah. And just really kind of joyful, upbeat music. I've always really liked it. Every time I hear a new song of theirs, and I just recently heard this one that I'm bringing this week, it just makes me just happy. Maybe let's listen to it first before we dive into it any deeper so folks can know what it sounds like. You might find I left a light beside the bed for you Cause I've been there too I know everybody goes to the same dark places

Whoa So if you are a fan of the show 13 Reasons Why, this is the first song from the TV show soundtrack. Oh, good for Junior Junior. Yeah. It's been a while since they've had a full album come out, but this song just came out in 2017. And it's overwhelmingly positive.

And it's very similar to their other songs in that it has kind of a similar sound. But the thing I really like about it is kind of the thing that I liked about REM's Everybody Hurts and that there's just kind of this like really like almost stubborn like push towards just persisting. And there are lines in it that just speak really clearly to people that are feeling isolated or alone in a very kind of poppy way. Unlike, you know, Everybody Hurts, like we are really dancing this one out. Yeah, I could dance to Everybody Hurts.

I could give that a run. So let me just highlight one of the lyrics that I like. You weren't meant to follow everyone. Looks different in a frame, since they're so good at their own game. And you might be alright with that, whoa, but I can't waste

my time like that anymore. I know everybody goes to the same dark places, sometimes in the dead of night when you think you can't make it. You might find I left a light beside the bed for you because I've been there too. So yeah, I don't know. I'm always drawn to this kind of art and music that recognizes the tendency in people to feel isolated or removed or separate you know and and recognizing that that is a very common feeling and that doesn't take away from how difficult it is but there is an opportunity to kind of connect

with this shared feeling of that uh and i feel like this song does that in a really great way yeah it's also like they're a very very good band like all of them all of the music that they make is very um i feel like i use this word a lot to describe music, but it really is like it describes the type of music that I like the most, which is it's interesting. Like there's a lot of stuff going on in all of their songs. It is not, it's kind of the opposite of how does it feel in that regard? Yeah, usually not remotely sexual or erotic in any way. No, no, but it is, but it is like, there's a lot of like, pieces, there's a lot of like pieces there's a lot of moving pieces in their songs and that's why i like re-listening to them i've listened to nothing but our love like

constantly because there's just like little uh like synth arpeggios that just appear and then fade away and never come back in and it's just like that was just you just brought that in for that one little part that's so cool um and and you sent me this song this afternoon because you told me you're going to talk about it and I've listened to it a couple times too. They're just a really good band. It's a relatively new song and it's called Same Dark Places. You can find it on YouTube and I would really recommend

it. It's a good little feel-good jam. Are they a local band? They're from Detroit. Oh, I guess that, yes. I did see them at, I think the first time I saw them perform was at ACL here. Cool. Did you want to hear some submissiones?

Yes. I don't know why I called them that. Will you ever forgive me? I'll think about it. Anna says, my dog has been working at the nursing home my mom works at as a therapy dog, and the people there love her. a therapy dog and the uh the people there love her recently the residents threw her a birthday party complete with banners handmade decorations and a cake in the shape of a bone that was specially made so that both people and my puppy could eat it again oh my god i have to tackle how that is possible but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it butter peanut butter unites

all species i guess that's true Except for people who are allergic to peanut butter. Are they not humans, Rachel? Okay. They also brought her dog toys and gave her some treats as presents. The joy that this dog party brought the residents, me and my dog, was so wonderful and I just wanted to share it with you guys. Thank

you for sharing it. That's awesome. It's very good. Maria says, I know I'm definitely in the minority here, but I think that the end pieces or butt pieces, as the haters call them, of bread are wonderful. I always liked the crust on my sandwiches from a young age. And the fact that the two pieces on the loaf that are basically all cruft, cruft? In my mind, they're cruft. But the crust is wonderful. I'm the only person I know that will actively eat this part, so I always know that I'll be the one to get this sweet slice.

Hey, secret. Top secret. Me too. Yeah. Hey, you know what? You're not alone. Yeah, there's... Me too. There's tens of us. Yes. I said us. I'm absolutely not.

I will watch Griffin very specifically not eat crust. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I love some crust. I'll tell you what. I just love a firm bread, right? Like a sourdough, like pool. And I like that sort of springy, sort of chewy, very activated bread. But the problem with that bread is that the crust in turn also gets like

100 times harder and it's just no good on my teeth it gets in between it cuts me all up no thanks but i'm glad that you i included this despite the fact that i disagree because i just wanted everybody to know it takes all kinds takes a whole village you know if you're gonna love bread some of us will love all parts of the bread. Yes. Kimberly says, what I find wonderful is when someone brings me a souvenir when they come home from a trip. There's something special about a friend or family member buying me a little something from a local gift shop while they're on vacation somewhere. It makes me feel like a special person in their life to know that they thought of me even when they're out of town.

Yes. That's very sweet that's the best because you know if somebody's traveling they have every reason to be distracted but when they get you a little something it's like oh you're thinking about me my nani was a travel agent who would travel constantly and every time she came back into town we were kind of like spoiled brats about it actually because it'd be like present please um but she always would bring us like weird stuff from all over and it was like the most exciting shit yeah uh i think that's it thank you to bowen and augustus for these for our

theme song money won't pay uh it's you can find a link to that in the episode description it's a really really great song uh and hey thanks to maximum fun Hey, if you haven't checked out Story Break yet, that is another new podcast on Maximum Fun where they develop kind of improv style, these elaborate pitches for stories. And it's great. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. If you want to hear other stuff that we do, you can go to McElroyShows.com and you can find all our podcasts and video stuff that we do there. I think that's about it, huh? That's it.

If you want to submit something to the show, it's wonderfulpodcast.gmail.com. We have a P.O. Box. P.O. Box 66639 Austin, Texas 78766. If you want to join the Facebook group, it is still listed under Rosebuddycast if you are searching for it. Oh, is it really?

Yes. Wow, okay. But it is very active and it is a great place to go to share your wonderful things. Yeah, for sure. Okay. That's it.

So, uh, I was just going to say bye, but that would be rude. That's not how we do it. Could we end this one like an episode of Terrace House? Do you know what I mean? No. Oh. I think I'm in love with that man. Money won't pay, workin' on it. I'm Allegra Ringo. And I'm Renee Colbert.

And we host a podcast called Can I Pet Your Dog? Renee, can I tell you about a dog I met this week? I wish that you would. In turn, though, can I tell you about a dog hero? May I tell you about a dog breed in a segment I like to call Mutt Minute? I would love that. Could we maybe talk about some dog tech? Could we have some cool guests on, like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicole Byer, and Ann Wheaton?

I mean, yeah, absolutely. I'm in. You're on board. What do you say we do all of this and put it into a podcast? Yeah, okay. You think? All right. Should we call it like, I don't know, Can I Pet Your Dog?

Sure. All right. What do you say we put it on every Tuesday on Maximum Fun? Or on iTunes? Sounds good to me. Meeting's over.