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Speaker 1: Greetings, good people of Hollywood Land, and welcome once again

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Speaker 1: to another dip into our archive of stories at the

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Speaker 1: intersection of Hollywood and true crime. This week, we're bringing

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Speaker 1: you the story of Carrie Fisher, who descended from the

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Speaker 1: stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, only to take audiences in

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Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies to a galaxy far far away.

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Speaker 1: The Star Wars franchise would have been a little too

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Speaker 1: self serious had it not been for her acidic wit

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Speaker 1: in her whatever nevermind modus Operendi was clocked by countless

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Speaker 1: gen xers who laughed as she pulled that trigger on

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Speaker 1: the Bazukah and the Blues Brothers. Carrie Fisher cut her

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Speaker 1: own lane, which included one mind altering detour out to

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Speaker 1: the desert with her then husband Paul Simon, who immortalized

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Speaker 1: her in song. Not that she needed it, Carrie Fisher

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Speaker 1: created her own legend, one that spanned from the hallucinogenic

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Speaker 1: jungles of the Amazon to parties with John Belushi. I

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Speaker 1: hope you dig this story about Carrie Fisher, and I

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Speaker 1: also hope you'll come back in a few days. When

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Speaker 1: we discussed this episode in the Rat.

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Speaker 2: Party, Hollywoodland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories

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Speaker 2: about Carrie Fisher are insane. No stranger to drugs of

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Speaker 2: all kinds. She dropped acid in the desert with Paul

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Speaker 2: Simon Gohai on aahuasca in the Amazon jungle and was

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Speaker 2: attacked by a giant snake that may or may not

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Speaker 2: have been real. She did so much cocaine that legendary

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Speaker 2: party man John Belushi told her to ease up. Her

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Speaker 2: mood swings were such a dramatic part of her personality

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Speaker 2: that she gave them their own names, and her personality

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Speaker 2: was so galvanizing that it became an avatar for real

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Speaker 2: life resistance fighters. And Carrie Fisher made great films, unlike

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Speaker 2: that clip I played for you at the top of

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Speaker 2: the show that wasn't from a great film, that was

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Speaker 2: a fair use sample from the Library of Congress of

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Speaker 2: the Victor Orchestra performing Dollar Princess Waltz in nineteen eighteen.

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Speaker 2: I played you that clip because I can't afford the

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Speaker 2: rights to a sample clip from Gareth Edwards Rogue one,

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Speaker 2: a Star Wars story. And why would I play you

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Speaker 2: that specific slice of death Star blueprint cheese? Could I

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Speaker 2: afford it because that was the number one movie in

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Speaker 2: America on December twenty third, twenty sixteen, and that was

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Speaker 2: the day that Carrie Fisher boarded a plane for the

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Speaker 2: last flight of her life. On this episode, acid trips, ayahuasca, cocaine,

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Speaker 2: and a princess turned leader of the resistance, Carrie Fisher,

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Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Lamb. The desert

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Speaker 2: stretched far into the horizon, and the sand was pulsing.

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Speaker 2: It swirled in geometric patterns that disappeared every time she

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Speaker 2: tried to lock her eyes on it. Her fingers crept

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Speaker 2: up to her neck until she felt to make contact

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Speaker 2: with something hard. An iron collar clasped around her throat.

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Speaker 2: It weighed heavily on her back and shoulders, and from

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Speaker 2: the collar extended a metal chain that kept her shackled

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Speaker 2: to a huge, scaly beast. She felt powerless and exposed

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Speaker 2: her nearly naked body on display for all the strange

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Speaker 2: and shadowy creatures surrounding her. Yet despite her fear, she

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Speaker 2: held her head high. She would never let this hideous

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Speaker 2: monster break her spirit. Although she was young, she was

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Speaker 2: the daughter of a queen. Even in her darkest moments,

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Speaker 2: she could always fall back on a certain regal pride

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Speaker 2: to sustain her. Now she felt her greatest fear surrounding her,

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Speaker 2: and she refused to succumb to them. She was nervous,

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Speaker 2: but she had a feeling something magical was about to happen.

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Speaker 2: Her body tingled in anticipation, and then an explosion of

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Speaker 2: light and noise. Her brain could scarcely make sense of

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Speaker 2: what was happening as chaos broke out all around. As

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Speaker 2: she watched smoke curling into the desert air, she felt

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Speaker 2: her fear and hesitation melt away. She had been a

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Speaker 2: prisoner of this monster long enough. In a burst of energy,

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Speaker 2: she leapt up and swung the chain tightly around the

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Speaker 2: mammoth neck of her captor. She wrenched it backwards with

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Speaker 2: every inch of force or while framed, could muster, and

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Speaker 2: the fear from moments ago was replaced by a powerful

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Speaker 2: wave of euphoria. It surged through her body like an

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Speaker 2: electric current. She was free, free of the way that

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Speaker 2: it kept her shackled for so long. As the epiphany

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Speaker 2: crested through her consciousness, she heard a muffled sound behind her,

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Speaker 2: unintelligible at first, almost like a cassette tape, speeding up

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Speaker 2: and slowing down until it finally settled. After a few attempts,

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Speaker 2: the words finally clicked in her mind. Carry Garry, I

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Speaker 2: think the acid's cooking. In the initial wave of LSD

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Speaker 2: induced hallucinations began to recede. Suddenly, Carrie Fisher felt a

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Speaker 2: moment of clarity. Geometric patterns continued to flicker around the

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Speaker 2: campfire in front of her, but she realized she wasn't

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Speaker 2: on Planet Tattooin. She was in California as Mojave Desert.

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Speaker 2: She looked down at her hands, and her knuckles were white.

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Speaker 2: She relaxed her grip on the legendary chains she had

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Speaker 2: so vividly hallucinated moments ago. She looked back at the

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Speaker 2: brooding smuggler sitting across from her. He repeated himself, Carrie,

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Speaker 2: I think the acids kicking In Lost in thought, she

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Speaker 2: could only nod her agreement. The guy wasn't her Han solo,

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Speaker 2: of course. This smuggler didn't complete the Kessel run in

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Speaker 2: twelve parsecs. He came by conventional aircraft, but tucked away

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Speaker 2: in his carry on amid his books and guitar strings

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Speaker 2: and clothing was a tiny vial, a vial of liquid

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Speaker 2: LSD cooked up by legendary acid chef Alesley Stanley, and

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Speaker 2: the man who brought it to her was Paul Simon.

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Speaker 2: When Paul called a few days earlier, Carrie was excited

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Speaker 2: to hear from him. They'd had a nasty fight before

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Speaker 2: Paul left on a solo tour and hadn't spoken in

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Speaker 2: a couple of months. Now she was eager to repair

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Speaker 2: the damage and possibly even deepen their connection, so she

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Speaker 2: asked Paul to bring the vial that she had left

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Speaker 2: than a nightstand of a Central Park West apartment. And

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Speaker 2: now their schedules had aligned. For a few days off

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Speaker 2: between films for Carrie and the preparation of Paul's upcoming

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Speaker 2: Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour, Carrie knew the perfect thing

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Speaker 2: to do. Rent a place out in the desert, trip

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Speaker 2: balls while the feelings of peace, love and universal connectedness

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Speaker 2: washed over them, cementing their bond forever. It would be

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Speaker 2: hard to find a drug Carrie Fisher hadn't tried, but

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Speaker 2: LSD had a special place in her heart. By nineteen

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Speaker 2: eighty two, she was pretty much always running on a

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Speaker 2: steady supply of cocaine and perkadan, one to keep her

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Speaker 2: up in going and one to mellow her out. Both

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Speaker 2: were useful and a necessary part of any actor's diet

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Speaker 2: in the Hollywood of the early nineteen eighties, but the

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Speaker 2: psychedelics always seemed less like a drug and more like

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Speaker 2: a religious experience. The first time she dropped acid was

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Speaker 2: in New York in nineteen seventy seven. It was a revelation.

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Speaker 2: She found herself casting aside the weight of old green

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Speaker 2: pevences and grudges, and she felt light and free. Her

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Speaker 2: burdens dissolved, and the feelings didn't dissolve when the trip

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Speaker 2: was over. The good vibes radiated for days or weeks

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Speaker 2: at a time. She felt at peace, like she could

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Speaker 2: finally lose her rich kid blues. Carrie's deep bouts of

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Speaker 2: sadness were something she couldn't talk about with other people.

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Speaker 2: There weren't many others whose very birth was a tabloid sensation.

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Speaker 2: Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, was a bona fide silver screen legend.

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Speaker 2: Her father, Eddie Fisher, was one of the country's most

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Speaker 2: popular singers until he blew up his marriage to hook

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Speaker 2: up with Debbie's best friend Elizabeth Taylor, and that scandal

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Speaker 2: ruined his career. So while Carrie grew up among the

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Speaker 2: Hollywood A list, standing in the shadows of her mother's

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Speaker 2: megawat shine, she wondered if she'd ever be an a lister,

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Speaker 2: or herself that maybe she was too ugly, too gangly,

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Speaker 2: just too plain weird. But that was before Star Wars.

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Speaker 2: George Lucas's sci fi blockbuster was a runaway hit and

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Speaker 2: Carrie Fisher was suddenly a star. People were always telling

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Speaker 2: her how great her life must be, and they didn't

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Speaker 2: know about the lonely nights growing up with both parents

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Speaker 2: on set or on tour for weeks at a time.

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Speaker 2: And they didn't know how many times she and her

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Speaker 2: brother had waited for their dad to come pick them

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Speaker 2: up for a weekend, only to have the no show again.

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Speaker 2: And they didn't know what it was like to get

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Speaker 2: pulled out of high school at sixteen because your mother

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Speaker 2: wanted you to sing in her Broadway musical. The drugs

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Speaker 2: helped with all of that. Carrie was sure of it,

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Speaker 2: if she could only get the proportions right. Lately, she

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Speaker 2: was worried that popping twenty perkadan a day might possibly

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Speaker 2: not be the best long term move. She brought it

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Speaker 2: up with her therapist. She was relieved when the therapist

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Speaker 2: told her no, she didn't have a drug problem. However,

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Speaker 2: the therapist continued with near perfect comedic timing the drugs may

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Speaker 2: not be her problem because he was pretty sure that

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Speaker 2: Carrie was bipolar. Carrie chuckled at the time, how cute

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Speaker 2: this therapist giving his a less client and easy out

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Speaker 2: on her obvious drug addiction. She left the appointment determined

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Speaker 2: to cut back on pills and powders. That still left

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Speaker 2: the LSD, which Carrie hardly even considered a drug. Back

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Speaker 2: in the desert, an ecstatic feeling of love surged through

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Speaker 2: her entire body. She and Paul Simon were laughing uproariously,

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Speaker 2: and they watched the smoke from the fire drift away

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Speaker 2: into the desert air. The fire began to burn low

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Speaker 2: when one of the logs shifted, sending a few stray

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Speaker 2: embers flickering upward in an arc and they came to

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Speaker 2: rest on Carrie's jacket, and the embers sat there for

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Speaker 2: a moment, glowing, turning from orange to red. Suddenly, her

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Speaker 2: jacket ignited carry and Paul continued roaring with laughter, and

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Speaker 2: the flames got bigger. They intensified, edging closer and closer

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Speaker 2: to Carrie's legs. Paul was the first one to snap

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Speaker 2: out of it. He realized it was a about to happen,

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Speaker 2: that Carrie Fisher was about to be swallowed in flames.

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Speaker 2: He jumped up, grabbed the coat, and smothered the flare up.

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Speaker 2: This was one trip that wouldn't end in disaster, but

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Speaker 2: it was far and the last wild trip Carrie Fisher

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Speaker 2: would ever take. The question hung in the air, as

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Speaker 2: heavy as the velvet curtains had shut out the rest

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Speaker 2: of the world inside this Georgetown restaurant, Carrie Fisher jiggled

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Speaker 2: the ice in her glass, took a sip of Coca cola.

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Speaker 2: Excuse me. Across the table sat what passed as American Royalty.

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Speaker 2: It was a rare night when Carrie's pedigree was outshine.

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Speaker 2: But who can compete with a Kennedy? The Senator was

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Speaker 2: looking at Carry with a mischievous grin on his face,

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Speaker 2: the tip of his nose bright red, faint outlines of

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Speaker 2: gin blossoms circling the drunk's cheeks with that unmistakable family

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Speaker 2: jawline ted Kennedy calmly and clearly repeated the question that

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Speaker 2: had brought the ordinary humdrum conversation of the three couples

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Speaker 2: around the table to a halt. So do you think

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Speaker 2: you'll be having sex with Chris tonight after your date?

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Speaker 2: Chris was Chris Dodd, the junior Democratic senator from Connecticut

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Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty five. He was at the tail end

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Speaker 2: of his first term. Carrie was in Baltimore for a

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Speaker 2: few months filming the miniseries Liberty when a producer friend

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Speaker 2: set them up on a date. The previous year had

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Speaker 2: been hard. Carrie's short lived marriage to Paul Simon had imploded.

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Speaker 2: Towards the end of the relationship, her mood swings were

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Speaker 2: so strong she gave them names. Roy was the wild

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Speaker 2: one who liked the party. Pam was he introverted depressive. Eventually,

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Speaker 2: the chaos of living with Carrie's unpredictable moods became too

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Speaker 2: much for Paul, so he left. Carrie stumbled down some

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Speaker 2: dark paths after that, and was only now ready to

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Speaker 2: get back out there. Her date with Senator Dodd had

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Speaker 2: started pleasantly enough. He drove her around town and showed

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Speaker 2: her the Supreme Court the US Mint in the Capitol Building.

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Speaker 2: He wasn't exactly handsome, but he was charming, and the

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Speaker 2: conversation was easy, or at least it was until Carrie

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Speaker 2: made a fool of herself. She forgot how it had

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Speaker 2: even come up, But somewhere along the line, she was

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Speaker 2: forced to admit that she didn't know how many senators

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Speaker 2: there were. Her cheeks flushed. She hated to admit it,

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Speaker 2: but her lack of formal education bothered her. She was bright,

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Speaker 2: she was well read, but as a high school dropout,

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Speaker 2: there were gaps in her education. Things everyone seemed to

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Speaker 2: know but her. In nineteen seventy three, Carrie's mother, Debbie Reynolds,

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Speaker 2: finally divorced her second husband after he'd burnt through nearly

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Speaker 2: all of her fortune on gambling, booze, and prostitutes. She

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Speaker 2: was forty years old, well passed her expiration date in

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Speaker 2: the eyes of the Hollywood system. She relocated to New

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Speaker 2: York in order to revive her career, and she did

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Speaker 2: so with her first Broadway show, Irene. A sixteen year

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Speaker 2: old Kerry made her own debut that same night as

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Speaker 2: a member of the chorus. The show ran for over

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Speaker 2: a year and except for a semester at drama school.

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Speaker 2: Carrie never resumed her education. Sometimes she wished she had,

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Speaker 2: like now fuming over her faux pas. As Senator Dodd

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Speaker 2: pulled the car into a parking spot, he looked over

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Speaker 2: at her and let her know that they would be

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Speaker 2: joined for dinner by another senator, one who was familiar

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Speaker 2: to those with even the shakiest grasp of senatorial procedure.

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Speaker 2: The very married Senator Ted Kennedy arrived with an appropriately

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Speaker 2: demere blonde who was at his wife, and along with Carrie, Chris,

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Speaker 2: and a third older couple, they were ushered into the

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Speaker 2: restaurant's private dining room. The two senators held court, discussing

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Speaker 2: rect legislation, and the red wine flowed. Conversation continued, and

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Speaker 2: when the senator's beepers buzzed three times, red wine was

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Speaker 2: replaced by gin and tonics. Three buzzes meant no return

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Speaker 2: to the floor for the evening. Carrie held tight to

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Speaker 2: her glass of coke. After her earlier embarrassment, she was

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Speaker 2: determined to listen quietly and just absorb what these politicians

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Speaker 2: had to say. As they found their way through their

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Speaker 2: fifth and sixth cocktails, Carrie was convinced she had been

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Speaker 2: all but forgotten until Kennedy, with that mischievous look in

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Speaker 2: his eye, popped the question that brought the evening to

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Speaker 2: a screeching halt. Carrie was taken aback. Did she think

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Speaker 2: she'd sleep with Chris tonight? Her eyebrows raised in surprise,

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Speaker 2: her mind went blank, but just for a second. Refusing

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Speaker 2: to be shocked, she looked the senator directly in the eyes, coolly,

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Speaker 2: took a sip of her drink and said, no, I

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Speaker 2: probably won't. Thanks so much for asking, though, Why not?

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Speaker 2: Are you too good for him or something? No, no,

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Speaker 2: Carrie assured him. It's just well, you see him newly sober,

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Speaker 2: and I can't imagine falling into bed with someone I

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Speaker 2: just met, even a democrat, without being loaded. The energy

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Speaker 2: in the room tensed up. Everyone was looking at her

255
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Speaker 2: sober Was she joking? They were pretty sure she wasn't joking,

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Speaker 2: And while she didn't know the table and explanation about

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Speaker 2: her newly sober lifestyle, she gave it to them anyway.

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Speaker 2: It happened like this. After wrapping production on Woody Allen's

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Speaker 2: new film Hannah and her Sisters in New York, Carrie

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Speaker 2: returned to California. She'd been in tam mode for far

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00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,160
Speaker 2: too long and she was desperate to feel good again.

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Speaker 2: She got home and called her friends. She told them

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Speaker 2: Roy was back in town and he was ready to party,

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Speaker 2: and party they did. Carrie tore through the weekend coke, pills, acid,

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Speaker 2: anything she could get her hands on. One of those

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Speaker 2: things was sleeping pills. After being awake for four days straight,

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Speaker 2: she took a bunch of those pills to put herself under.

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Speaker 2: Was effective, almost too effective. She woke up in the

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Speaker 2: emergency room as they were shoving a tube down her throat,

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Speaker 2: and they forced her to drink activated charcoal, and after

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Speaker 2: that she checked herself in a rehab I don't really

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Speaker 2: have a problem, though, she concluded with a straight face.

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Speaker 2: It's all just research for a book I'm writing. It

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Speaker 2: was Ted Kennedy's turn to share, with eyebrows raised. Determined

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Speaker 2: to regain the upper hand in the conversation, he pushed

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Speaker 2: her further acid. Huh you ever had sex on acid?

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Speaker 2: Their conversation had become a high wire game of chicken,

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Speaker 2: and Carrie knew she would never back down. Oh, of course,

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Speaker 2: she responded, Although acid's not really that great for sex,

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Speaker 2: you know, and then again maybe you don't. She delivered

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Speaker 2: that last sentence with a wink. Now the floodgates were open.

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Speaker 2: Kennedy pressed her on her parents' divorce, her marriage to

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Speaker 2: Paul Simon, her drug use. Every question he lobbed up,

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Speaker 2: she slammed back in his fat face with increasing force.

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00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,640
Speaker 2: She pulled out all the tricks, even singing show tune

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00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,280
Speaker 2: from back in her chorus days, and in the end

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00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:07,120
Speaker 2: the Senator was forced into a stalemate. The conversation gradually

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00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,600
Speaker 2: meandered back to more bland topics. All that was left

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Speaker 2: to do was pay the check and go home. All

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00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,280
Speaker 2: the way out the door ted, Kennedy gave one final

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Speaker 2: half assed attempt. What about in a hot tub? Would

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Speaker 2: you have sex with Chris in a hot tub? I'm

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00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,200
Speaker 2: no good in water, Carrie said, and then she walked

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00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:29,280
Speaker 2: away without looking back. Alone in her room that night,

295
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:34,280
Speaker 2: Carrie reflected on the evening she couldn't help but feel dismayed.

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Speaker 2: She thought that sobriety would finally bring her the piece

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Speaker 2: that had eluded her for so long. Now she felt

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Speaker 2: more out of control than ever, and while she was

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Speaker 2: glad she could deliver a well deserved verbal beatdown to

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Speaker 2: a pompous windbag. She was afraid of how the monster

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00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,359
Speaker 2: insider could come out so easily now without the drugs

302
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,359
Speaker 2: to dull her senses, Carrie continued her journey into sobriety.

303
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,400
Speaker 2: Over the next year. She chronicled it in a masterful

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Speaker 2: debut novel inspired by her experiences. Postcards from the Edge,

305
00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 2: became an immediate hit and topped the New York Times

306
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,560
Speaker 2: bestseller list. She eventually adapted it into a movie starring

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00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,359
Speaker 2: Meryl Street, a process that would pave the way for

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00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,399
Speaker 2: an unexpectedly long second career as a writer and a

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00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,840
Speaker 2: script doctor. It wasn't long before Carrie and Paul Simon

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Speaker 2: were talking again too, now that one could resist the

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00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 2: magic connection they felt when things were going well. The

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00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,240
Speaker 2: drugs made things impossible, But now that they were out

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00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,960
Speaker 2: of the way, perhaps a couple of star crossed lovers

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00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,199
Speaker 2: could write a happy ending. Or maybe the monster inside

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Speaker 2: Carrie would come slithering out once again. Carrie needed answers.

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00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,320
Speaker 2: She boarded a plane that would take her deep into

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Speaker 2: the jungle, but once she found there would change her life.

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Speaker 2: In her relationship with Paul. Forever, We'll be right back

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00:19:53,040 --> 00:20:03,640
Speaker 2: after this. We're, we're, we're, we're. The healer held out

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00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,160
Speaker 2: a cup of thick brown tea. The couple drank down

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00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,920
Speaker 2: the pungent liquid. The evening sun sank into the horizon

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00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,720
Speaker 2: as the liquid began to take hold, and the healer

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00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,520
Speaker 2: began long incantation in an unfamiliar language. His voice was

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00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,720
Speaker 2: rich and deep, and it filled the room. Then he

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00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,680
Speaker 2: motioned for the weary travelers to fall into a rustic

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Speaker 2: shack behind his home. He led them inside to a

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Speaker 2: small room covered in rugs and pillows, where he invited

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00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,080
Speaker 2: them to sit and make themselves comfortable. He looked deep

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00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,160
Speaker 2: into the couple's eyes he could sense a deep sadness,

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Speaker 2: and then he stood to leave, but before he did,

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00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,720
Speaker 2: he turned to address the couple that sat inside, and

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Speaker 2: with the help of an interpreter, he said, soon the

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Speaker 2: anaconda will appear, and do not be afraid.

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Speaker 1: Follow it and you will.

335
00:20:55,200 --> 00:21:00,240
Speaker 2: Find your answers there. Earlier that afternoon, Carrie Fish and

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00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 2: Paul Simon drifted with the current as their boat floated

337
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 2: down a remote stretch of the Amazon River. Lush greenery

338
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 2: lined the river banks as far as their eyes could see,

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00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,600
Speaker 2: and their guide pointed out howler monkeys in the trees

340
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 2: and black caymans along the river bank. As their boat

341
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,680
Speaker 2: near the small village where they would spend the night,

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00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 2: the crew tossed a rope onto the small wooden dock

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Speaker 2: and began to tie up the boat. Carrie realized that now,

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00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,639
Speaker 2: in the summer of nineteen eighty nine, her relationship with

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00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,240
Speaker 2: Paul had officially been going on as long after their

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00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,040
Speaker 2: divorce as it had before their wedding. The marriage itself

347
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,680
Speaker 2: was an eleven month long blit. They're on again, off

348
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,679
Speaker 2: again romance had been a twelve year affair. They first

349
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 2: really connected in nineteen seventy eight when Carrie hosted Saturday

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00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 2: Night Live. Paul was on hand at the behest of

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00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,120
Speaker 2: his new buddy, Lorne Michaels. Once he met Carrie, all

352
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,240
Speaker 2: the other not ready for primetime players melted away. Carrie

353
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,080
Speaker 2: had never felt so in sync with someone. Her mind

354
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 2: moved at breakneck speed und i doubtibly aided by huge

355
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,280
Speaker 2: volumes of cocaine, jumping from topic to topic. Paul could

356
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,120
Speaker 2: keep up with her, stride for stride when things were good,

357
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,199
Speaker 2: that is, the problem was when things were bad. The

358
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,399
Speaker 2: problem was when they fought and Carrie ran off for

359
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,160
Speaker 2: days or weeks at a time, swallowing god knows how

360
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 2: many pills and snorting god knows how much coke. After

361
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,040
Speaker 2: one particularly nasty split, Carrie went on a week long

362
00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,439
Speaker 2: bender while she was filming The Blues Brothers. When she

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00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,560
Speaker 2: came to she found herself engaged to her co star

364
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,119
Speaker 2: dan Aykroyd, while Juliet Jake himself John Belushi was telling

365
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 2: her she should probably dial it back a bit. She

366
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 2: never did, Mary Elwood Blues, she did, as always, returned

367
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 2: to Paul. Her marriage to Paul was equally impulsive, and

368
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,359
Speaker 2: they married after a horrible patch in nineteen eighty three

369
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 2: when they were convinced things were over, the prospect of

370
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 2: moving on made them both so sad that they decided

371
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 2: to get hitched instead. A year later, but mid Carrie's

372
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 2: escalating drug use, they filed for divorce. After the divorce

373
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,160
Speaker 2: and a stint in rehab, Carrie channeled her feelings into

374
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 2: that spellbinding debut novel, and Paul took solace in the

375
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,719
Speaker 2: joyful sounds of South African street music. His blockbuster album,

376
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 2: Graceland and Carrie's book were released within a year of

377
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,959
Speaker 2: each other. A year in which they found themselves back together.

378
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 2: When he wasn't touring and she wasn't on a film shoot.

379
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 2: They nested in a Central Park West apartment or in

380
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 2: Carrie's bungalow in Beverly Hills, but that alone time was

381
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,040
Speaker 2: hard to come by. That's why Carrie was now in

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00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,760
Speaker 2: this remote section of the Amazon rainforests, meeting up with Paul,

383
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,919
Speaker 2: who was in Brazil working on the Rhythm of the

384
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,080
Speaker 2: Saints the follow up to Graceland. The couple stepped off

385
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 2: the boat and prepared to walk the short trip to

386
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Speaker 2: the village where they would spend the night as part

387
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 2: of their three day excursion. One of their deckhands mentioned

388
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 2: that in this small village of the well known Brewho,

389
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,400
Speaker 2: a spiritual healer. Would they be interested in visiting this breujo?

390
00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,879
Speaker 2: It would be a revelatory experience. Now inside the brujo shack,

391
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 2: Paul lay his head and Carrie's lot. She stroked his

392
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,680
Speaker 2: dark hair as the ayahuasca tea increased its tight grip

393
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 2: on her. She turned her head to look where the

394
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,959
Speaker 2: brujo had left, and now she saw a long snake

395
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,879
Speaker 2: slithering into the room. The huge scaly beasts looked to

396
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:21,280
Speaker 2: be fourteen feet long. At least it got closer. Carrie's

397
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 2: stomach leaped into her throat. This was a vision, only

398
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 2: a vision, she told herself. It wasn't real, But the

399
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,719
Speaker 2: snake began to wrap itself around her, sure as hell

400
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 2: felt real. It pinned her down. She couldn't move. The

401
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 2: snake began to spout tentacles so many she lost count,

402
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 2: each one, pushing her down to the ground. She tried

403
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,800
Speaker 2: to scream, but no sound would come out of her mouth.

404
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,200
Speaker 2: She tried to squirm away, but she couldn't even raise

405
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 2: her arms. The snake wrapped itself around her, tighter and tighter.

406
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 2: The tentacles began to wriggle. This one was Paul, This

407
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 2: one was her parents, fame, drugs, her mood swings, Pam

408
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,639
Speaker 2: and Roy. Each one of these things a tentacle of

409
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 2: the cold blooded beast, the beast she had tried to

410
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 2: tame with cocaine and painkillers, The beast she had tried

411
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 2: to kill with LSD. The beasts she thought would vanish

412
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,239
Speaker 2: with her sobriety. After fighting it for so long, she

413
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 2: could see clearly now what she had to do. Stop fighting.

414
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 2: She had to surrender herself.

415
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: To it.

416
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,640
Speaker 2: Carrie's visions stretched on into the night. As she gradually

417
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 2: came down from her vivid hallucination, she found herself still

418
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 2: stroking Paul's hair. She looked deep into his eyes and

419
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,000
Speaker 2: knew it it was finally over between them. They found

420
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: their way back to the river together. The river led

421
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 2: them to Rio and then the airport, and when they

422
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,680
Speaker 2: landed in New York, they went their separate ways, this

423
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 2: time for good. A few months later, Paul memorialized that

424
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 2: wild trip in the song She Moves On. Carrie did

425
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,320
Speaker 2: indeed move on. She wrote a thinly veiled novel about

426
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,160
Speaker 2: their relationship called Surrender in Pink. She met someone else

427
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 2: and had a daughter. Nineteen ninety two. She also finally

428
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 2: accepted the fact that she was bipolar, and with the

429
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 2: help of doctors, she slowly dialed in a medication regime

430
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 2: that seemed to work, and she went public with her

431
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,679
Speaker 2: diagnosis on interviews like Primetime with Diane Sawyer, where she

432
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,800
Speaker 2: used her trademark wit to describe the disease and eviscerate

433
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,119
Speaker 2: stigmas around mental illness. The interview also helped cast her

434
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 2: in a new light. For decades, Carrie Fisher had been

435
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,399
Speaker 2: Princess Leah. That was it, that role, that franchise, that

436
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:35,439
Speaker 2: skeeepy gold bikini, that was it. Now the public was

437
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 2: finally getting to know the real Carrie Fisher. She was blunt,

438
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 2: she was brutally funny, and she was open about her struggles,

439
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 2: and she was relieved. Sure. Every once in a while

440
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 2: she dreamed about donning Leah's cinnamon bon hardu one last time,

441
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,959
Speaker 2: But that was something from a long time ago, in

442
00:26:53,000 --> 00:27:16,720
Speaker 2: a galaxy far far away, or so she thought. December

443
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 2: twenty third, twenty sixteen, Carrie Fisher was exhausted. She grabbed

444
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 2: her carry on bag and boarded the plane. She was

445
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 2: worn out from a grueling week in London and wasn't

446
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 2: looking forward to a long, uncomfortable flight. But she couldn't

447
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,879
Speaker 2: wait to see her mom and daughter. She'd talked to

448
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,359
Speaker 2: them both just a moment ago, and they were already

449
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 2: setting the holiday table in preparation for her return. She

450
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 2: smiled just thinking about it. Twenty sixteen had been a whirlwind.

451
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 2: Carrie Fisher had a laugh at the thought that she,

452
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 2: at sixty years old, was back on the upswing again.

453
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 2: A year earlier, she'd reprised her role as Princess Leah

454
00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 2: and the long awaited Star Wars sequels, and a whole

455
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 2: new generation of fans fell in love with a tough

456
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 2: talking princess no longer young in life, but now a

457
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,359
Speaker 2: battle hardened commander who earned her wisdom and had the

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00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 2: scars to prove it off screen. She was quickly becoming

459
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,480
Speaker 2: a hero to women everywhere for the fearless way she

460
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 2: stood up to the newly elected President Donald Trump on

461
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 2: Twitter and in the press quote trump speaking his mind

462
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,560
Speaker 2: isn't refreshing, she wrote, it's appalling. Coca Cola is refreshing

463
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,959
Speaker 2: for women across the country looking to have their voices

464
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,160
Speaker 2: heard and their message amplified. Carrie's combative attitude was even

465
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 2: more refreshing. The girls who once dreamed of being Princess

466
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 2: Leah had grown into women who now dreamed of being

467
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 2: Carrie Fisher. In addition to her acting career, Carrie never

468
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 2: stopped writing her latest memoir, The Princess Diarist, caused a

469
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 2: sensation when he came out earlier in the year. In

470
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 2: the book, she hilariously skewered stigmas around mental illness and

471
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,959
Speaker 2: sexism in Hollywood, but it was grabbing attention for a

472
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 2: more salacious reason the revelation that during filming of the

473
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 2: first Star Wars movie, she and Harrison Ford had engaged

474
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 2: in a brief affair, something they'd both managed to keep

475
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 2: secret for nearly forty years. That's why Carrie was in Europe.

476
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 2: She was finishing up the final leg of a promotional tour.

477
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 2: In addition to book signings and media appearances, she managed

478
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,200
Speaker 2: to squeeze in filming scenes for an upcoming British television

479
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 2: series and Carrie being Carrie, she also burned the candle

480
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 2: at both ends. Hob nobbing with fellow celebrities and old

481
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 2: friends in London the night before she was set to

482
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 2: fly back to la Maybe it was her busy schedule,

483
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,600
Speaker 2: maybe it was her aching body, and maybe Roy had

484
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,360
Speaker 2: simply come to town from one last rollicking rom. But during

485
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,600
Speaker 2: her time in London she'd fallen off the wagon. She

486
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,680
Speaker 2: resorted to old habits to get through the grind, a

487
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 2: bump or two of cocaine during the day and at

488
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 2: night some opiates to level things out. Now. As she

489
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,400
Speaker 2: settled into her seat on the plane, Carrie plopped her

490
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,440
Speaker 2: emotional support bulldog Gary in the seat next to her,

491
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 2: pulled a small box out of her bag. She glanced

492
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 2: over at her assistant across the aisle, and then she

493
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 2: opened the box. She pulled out one of a dozen

494
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,640
Speaker 2: or so jel cap pills. It looked the same as

495
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 2: all the others, but this one was different. You had

496
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,440
Speaker 2: to know it was different. Carrie knew this one contained

497
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 2: a tiny dose of heroin. With a deft, practiced motion,

498
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 2: she looked out the window, flicked open the capsule, and

499
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 2: snorted the tiny amount of powder inside. She pulled the

500
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,280
Speaker 2: blanket over herself and settled in for the eleven hour flight,

501
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 2: as a warm feeling coursed through her body. By the

502
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 2: time the plane reached cruising altitude, her spirit was already

503
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 2: beginning to ascend even higher. No one noticed anything wrong

504
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 2: until the plane landed. They rushed her to the hospital,

505
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 2: where her body lingered for four days. On December twenty seventh,

506
00:30:54,680 --> 00:31:00,600
Speaker 2: Carrie Fisher was pronounced dead. A few weeks later, Carrie's

507
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,480
Speaker 2: longtime friend Meryll Street, accepted a Lifetime Achievement award at

508
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 2: the Golden Globes. It was only days before Donald Trump

509
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,360
Speaker 2: would take office. In her speech, Street railed against the

510
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,280
Speaker 2: misogyny and racism of his campaign. She concluded her speech

511
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 2: with a quote from her friend, Carrie, take your broken

512
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 2: heart and make it into art. Somewhere in Mississippi, a

513
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 2: young graphic designer heard the speech. Carrie Fisher was a

514
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,720
Speaker 2: lifelong hero, and in her grief she fashioned a simple design.

515
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 2: It was an image of Princess Leah with the words

516
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,440
Speaker 2: a woman's place as in the Resistance. The design immediately

517
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 2: went viral. Two weeks later, millions of women marched on

518
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 2: Washington and state capitals across the country in the largest

519
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 2: single day of protest in American history, and that image

520
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 2: of Carrie Fisher was everywhere. The resistance was reborn. It

521
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 2: was a fitting tribute, one so good that it ought

522
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:05,080
Speaker 2: to be in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan and this is

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00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:22,040
Speaker 2: hollywood Land. Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and

524
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,160
Speaker 2: is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate

525
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 2: and review hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts, and

526
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 2: get in touch with us on social media at double Elvis.

527
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 2: If you like hollywood Land, check out my other show,

528
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 2: the award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of

529
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 2: music through the lens of true crime. Just search for

530
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:48,320
Speaker 2: Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. Good God, a lot,