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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from newstalg zb.

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Speaker 2: It am Z Premiership Grand Final this afternoon four o'clock

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Speaker 2: TSB Arena in Wellington Pulse against the Mystics. Pulse shooter

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Speaker 2: Tiana maturo As with us ed of this one before

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Speaker 2: we talk about the game, Tiana, you missed the first

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Speaker 2: one eight games of the season with a foot injury,

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Speaker 2: and then you sort of eased your way back into

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Speaker 2: the team. Now you're fully fit, which is great. How

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Speaker 2: frustrating a time though, was it while you were trying

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Speaker 2: to overcome the foot injury and you couldn't play when

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Speaker 2: you had it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess just having to do my own sessions

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Speaker 3: on top of you being there to contribute whatever it

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Speaker 3: is that I could to the girls sessions, it was

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Speaker 3: probably a little bit exhausting by the end of it,

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Speaker 3: but still with like a common goal in mind. That

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Speaker 3: was probably what kept me going. And just we have

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Speaker 3: such a good environment. I always a kind of always

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Speaker 3: said I couldn't imagine me a better environment to be

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Speaker 3: injured in. But it was frustrating, But you know, we're

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Speaker 3: here now, so I think it's exactly where we meant

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Speaker 3: to be and we deserve it.

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Speaker 2: How good was it to get back on the court, though, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Well, I was saying I was a bit average for

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Speaker 3: like the first real four game, and I probably only

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Speaker 3: really found my feet again the last game, which was

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Speaker 3: against the Tactics. But I'm not very kind to myself,

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Speaker 3: so maybe I did all right for the first few games.

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Speaker 3: But I'm just happy that I think I've found my

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Speaker 3: feet again and I'm sort of back to that sassy, aggressive,

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Speaker 3: hungry goal Attech that I was at the start before

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Speaker 3: I got injured. So yeah, it's good to be back

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Speaker 3: and injury free.

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Speaker 2: Touch Wood, you are really hard on yourself, man, you

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Speaker 2: are so hard on yourself. You need I think that

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Speaker 2: was there straight away. You might not have felt that

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Speaker 2: it was, but it looked like and from the outside.

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Speaker 2: You weren't the only one, of course, who has been

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Speaker 2: on the side of as many Gordon's been out others

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Speaker 2: at various times, including Amelia Warmsley on the shooting end.

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Speaker 2: How impressed have you been with the Pliers who have

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Speaker 2: been asked to step up and have stepped up.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, No, they've been amazing, and I think any other

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Speaker 3: team would have just fallen over and would not have

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Speaker 3: been able to come back from it, and probably would

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Speaker 3: have just given up on the end goal and would

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Speaker 3: have just said, like, let's just try our best and

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Speaker 3: hope it all works out. But our intentions are still

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Speaker 3: the same and everything stayed the same, and everyone who

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Speaker 3: took the court just did their jobs and did them

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Speaker 3: so well that we've almost come back. And they've been

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Speaker 3: big shoes to fill, as the ones who have returned

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Speaker 3: and the ones who were injured. So it's really impressive

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Speaker 3: and I think it's just great that we can also

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Speaker 3: reward them for their efforts. And without them, we wouldn't

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Speaker 3: be here, We wouldn't be in the Grand Final, and

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Speaker 3: they managed to get us through consecutive matches, and it's

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Speaker 3: just we're really grateful for them. They've done so well.

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Speaker 2: YEA one or two years ago, lost a heartbreaker in

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Speaker 2: the elimination final last year. How much motivation sorry to

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Speaker 2: bring that up. How much motivation has that provided you

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four to get back to the Grand Final?

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Speaker 2: What you have done?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we're a completely different team to what

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Speaker 3: we were last year, obviously, with new additions and people

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Speaker 3: coming from all different corners of the earth to make

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Speaker 3: up our incredible team. But we I think we're just hungrier.

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Speaker 3: I think we don't have any excuses that don't We

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Speaker 3: are that sort of team that don't make us excuses

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Speaker 3: for anything. I think we're a lot more mature. I

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Speaker 3: think Amelia had only played that was a firt season

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Speaker 3: last year. Paris Mason's flourishing this year and I think

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Speaker 3: we've got a lot of experience and we've got Clairekurston

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Speaker 3: back as well, so it is a bit of a

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Speaker 3: different lock. And the circumstances and things that have happened

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Speaker 3: this year haven't been idea that we've managed to ocome them.

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Speaker 3: So it's just there's a difference feal for this weekend

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Speaker 3: and we're back at TSB, which is our favorite arena,

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Speaker 3: and it's the atmosphere there is always really electric, so

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Speaker 3: we're really looking forward to it and it'll be a

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Speaker 3: really good challenge. So yeah, we're excited.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think tickets sold out, did not

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Speaker 2: read tickets sold out in two minutes or something stupid.

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Speaker 2: That's incredible, isn't it. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I tried to get tickets on my own other friends,

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Speaker 3: my own friends in the pre sale and they were gone.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean I was saying to some of

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Speaker 3: the girls that this is the year that I think

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Speaker 3: people have actually well the most that it's happened where

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Speaker 3: people have stopped us on the street and have spoken

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Speaker 3: to us about how incredible our matches have been and

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Speaker 3: how much they love watching us. And even today I

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Speaker 3: think had three people just strangers on the street pushing

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Speaker 3: us good luck for the weekend. So it's really cool

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Speaker 3: to see that we're producing a product, I suppose, and

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Speaker 3: playing a brand of netball that people like to watch.

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Speaker 2: That's so cool. Now, I know it's not your area

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Speaker 2: of the court, but how do you stop Grace and Wiki.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny. It's one of my good friends.

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Speaker 2: I know this.

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Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, I love her. But we it's a

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Speaker 3: full team defensive effort. I think if we have that

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Speaker 3: same mindset and approach as we did when we played

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Speaker 3: the tactics, we it's going to be really we will

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Speaker 3: be able to make it really difficult for them. So

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Speaker 3: that's everyone that's Whitney and I or whoever's in goal, attacking,

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Speaker 3: winger tack. It's those two positions helping to apply pressure

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Speaker 3: and just being pests. I suppose, because it's a really

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Speaker 3: tough gig down that tecking end, well our defensive end,

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Speaker 3: I should say. And so yeah, we've we've got our

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Speaker 3: work cut out for us, but I think we we're

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Speaker 3: as ready as we'll have to be, and we've worked

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Speaker 3: hard for eight months. So it's just another game of.

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Speaker 2: Netball, good stuff, and just on the home court thing

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Speaker 2: to finish. How big an advantage do you perceive home

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Speaker 2: advantage to be in a really big game like this.

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Speaker 3: Well, I feel like TSB is a really it's a

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Speaker 3: special place and I think only so many people have

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Speaker 3: experienced what it's like playing in an elimination final or

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Speaker 3: grand final there, and you really can't explain it. Of

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Speaker 3: the words that come to mind are just electric, and

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Speaker 3: it's very loud, and they're almost like an eighth player,

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Speaker 3: and it's such a It is a huge advantage, Like

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Speaker 3: you feel so confident playing in front of your fans

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Speaker 3: because regardless of what happens or what you do, they

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Speaker 3: admire you. They love watching you, they love what you

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Speaker 3: do on court and how you contribute to the team.

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Speaker 3: And it's just that I think they've been a real

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Speaker 3: key part to our success. The farthest season, so we're

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Speaker 3: really excited to just be back in front of them

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Speaker 3: and hopefully produce the best set we will have played

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Speaker 3: all year.

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Speaker 2: Does your mom still give you plenty of advice?

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Speaker 3: Oh gosh, often, I think often at times I try

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Speaker 3: to steer away from it, just because I think I

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Speaker 3: sometimes probably lock into her opinions too much, and whether

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Speaker 3: they're good, sometimes they can be the complained opposite and so.

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Speaker 3: But we have been hanging out a lot the last

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Speaker 3: couple of days, which has actually been nice. I don't

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Speaker 3: live at home anymore, so it's been quite refreshing to

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Speaker 3: just have her there rebounding for me or feeding me

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Speaker 3: when I've gone to do shooting sessions. So yeah, I

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Speaker 3: do try to keep my distance, purely for the fact

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Speaker 3: that I'll probably accuse her of picking on me, when

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Speaker 3: really that's not the case at all.

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Speaker 2: You got to lean into this stuff. You have to

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Speaker 2: lean into it to chatter is always all the best

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Speaker 2: in the Grand Final. Really appreciate your time. Cool, Thanks,

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Speaker 2: Thanks Tanna, Tiana Maturo. They're out of the central pulse,

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Speaker 2: I forget. You can hear a full commentary of this

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Speaker 2: game from four o'clock this afternoon on Gold Sport and iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Malcolm Jordan, who I don't think has been to sleep

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Speaker 2: for about a week with that one come across in

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Speaker 2: his commentaries though it'll be the same consummate professional as always,

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Speaker 2: bringing the enthusiasm and the excitement of his netball commentaries

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Speaker 2: to Gold Sport. Evonne Willard, former Silver Firm's coach, alongside

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Speaker 2: for the grand Final in the am Z Premiership the

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Speaker 2: Central Pulse against the Northern Mystics.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talk zed B weekends from midday or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio