1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:36,636 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hello, Hello, Hello, thank you for coming. My name 2 00:00:36,676 --> 00:00:44,316 Speaker 1: is Malcolm Baba. I am the most history baught to 3 00:00:44,356 --> 00:00:46,436 Speaker 1: you by pushing the industries. I think there's a whole 4 00:00:46,876 --> 00:00:50,756 Speaker 1: Not long ago, in a probably illogized experiment, all of 5 00:00:50,836 --> 00:00:54,316 Speaker 1: us at Revision's History decided to do two live shows, 6 00:00:54,916 --> 00:00:57,796 Speaker 1: one in New York and one in Philadelphia. All kinds 7 00:00:57,796 --> 00:01:00,796 Speaker 1: of people came to watch a little treat for the diehards, 8 00:01:01,396 --> 00:01:03,836 Speaker 1: and in the spirit of the experimentation, we thought we'd 9 00:01:03,836 --> 00:01:06,596 Speaker 1: share a few excerpts from those shows with all of you, 10 00:01:07,036 --> 00:01:10,876 Speaker 1: the real audience. And what hearing is me standing up 11 00:01:10,916 --> 00:01:13,596 Speaker 1: in front of the crowd confessing I have no idea 12 00:01:14,116 --> 00:01:17,116 Speaker 1: what's about to have. They tried to get me to 13 00:01:17,156 --> 00:01:22,196 Speaker 1: rehearse tonight. Didn't want to do it, so you're all 14 00:01:22,276 --> 00:01:26,476 Speaker 1: kind of guinea pigs, for which I apologize, but I'm 15 00:01:26,556 --> 00:01:33,996 Speaker 1: very excited. I broke out snazzy Adidas, Adidas seersucker, the 16 00:01:34,036 --> 00:01:37,396 Speaker 1: whole thing. This is. I rarely dress up, so this 17 00:01:37,436 --> 00:01:40,876 Speaker 1: is a very very big occasion for me. So what 18 00:01:40,876 --> 00:01:43,596 Speaker 1: we're gonna do is we At the time, I was 19 00:01:43,596 --> 00:01:46,196 Speaker 1: working on an episode of Revisionist History about a very 20 00:01:46,236 --> 00:01:50,076 Speaker 1: well known movie, almost a perfect movie, except the writers 21 00:01:50,076 --> 00:01:52,516 Speaker 1: had screwed up the ending. If you want to listen 22 00:01:52,596 --> 00:01:55,836 Speaker 1: to that episode, it's called Starstruck. You can check it 23 00:01:55,836 --> 00:01:58,276 Speaker 1: out in the feed. It goes in a million directions, 24 00:01:58,476 --> 00:02:01,396 Speaker 1: Gone with the Wind, Star was Born, Samuel Goldman Car 25 00:02:01,396 --> 00:02:04,556 Speaker 1: Accidents Atlanta. We hung out in graveyards and took a 26 00:02:04,556 --> 00:02:07,876 Speaker 1: group road trip to Margaret Mitchell's archives of the University 27 00:02:07,876 --> 00:02:12,196 Speaker 1: of Georgia, very revisionist history in mash up. But at 28 00:02:12,196 --> 00:02:14,676 Speaker 1: the live show, I just wanted to zero in on 29 00:02:14,796 --> 00:02:18,636 Speaker 1: the core question raised by the episode, which is what 30 00:02:18,796 --> 00:02:23,916 Speaker 1: makes an ending work? Because the truth is, most endings 31 00:02:23,916 --> 00:02:26,316 Speaker 1: don't work right. You sit in the movie theater and 32 00:02:26,396 --> 00:02:29,436 Speaker 1: at hour three of the Blockbuster, you think, did no 33 00:02:29,516 --> 00:02:32,116 Speaker 1: one at the studio give any thought about how to 34 00:02:32,116 --> 00:02:35,396 Speaker 1: wrap this thing up? That's what I wanted to get at. 35 00:02:36,116 --> 00:02:41,956 Speaker 1: Why are endings so hard? So in our New York 36 00:02:41,956 --> 00:02:44,516 Speaker 1: show at the town Hall, I invited the comedian Mike 37 00:02:44,556 --> 00:02:49,916 Speaker 1: Birbiglia up to the stage to join me in the discussion. Brilliant, 38 00:02:51,436 --> 00:02:55,556 Speaker 1: brilliant comedian, a member of the famous Georgetown University comedy Mafia, 39 00:02:55,636 --> 00:02:57,756 Speaker 1: which we can talk about with Mike if we want. 40 00:02:57,756 --> 00:03:01,716 Speaker 1: It's basically every indie comic worth their salt went to Georgetown. 41 00:03:01,716 --> 00:03:05,236 Speaker 1: I don't know why, what we do with frustrated Catholicism. 42 00:03:05,516 --> 00:03:06,196 Speaker 2: I'm not sure. 43 00:03:07,276 --> 00:03:10,796 Speaker 1: He's about to go on tour with his show Old 44 00:03:10,836 --> 00:03:13,036 Speaker 1: Man in the Pool, The Old Man in the Pool. 45 00:03:13,836 --> 00:03:17,756 Speaker 1: It's a brilliant, brilliant title, and so he we can 46 00:03:17,836 --> 00:03:19,956 Speaker 1: start with Mike, Mike, come on out. 47 00:03:20,476 --> 00:03:33,276 Speaker 2: I hope you back there. 48 00:03:35,876 --> 00:03:36,156 Speaker 3: Thanks. 49 00:03:37,396 --> 00:03:38,676 Speaker 4: This is my favorite podcast. 50 00:03:38,716 --> 00:03:42,716 Speaker 5: So it's a very strange sensation to be inside of 51 00:03:42,756 --> 00:03:43,956 Speaker 5: my favorite podcast. 52 00:03:44,036 --> 00:03:44,916 Speaker 6: I don't know how it is. 53 00:03:44,996 --> 00:03:48,636 Speaker 1: Go that man of mine. By the way, you weren't 54 00:03:48,636 --> 00:03:50,476 Speaker 1: offended when I said you were part of the Georgetown 55 00:03:50,556 --> 00:03:55,636 Speaker 1: University comedy move the legit. No, it's a description. 56 00:03:55,716 --> 00:03:59,756 Speaker 5: I mean, gosh, it's John mulaney and uh nik Krol, 57 00:03:59,876 --> 00:04:03,156 Speaker 5: Gavin Nick Krawl, Jackman Novak. 58 00:04:03,316 --> 00:04:06,716 Speaker 4: Yeah, there's just a whole bunch of them. Marling, Britt Marling, 59 00:04:06,796 --> 00:04:08,196 Speaker 4: There's just there's so many. 60 00:04:08,276 --> 00:04:12,116 Speaker 1: And by the way, Cooper, it's kind of unbelievable, you 61 00:04:12,156 --> 00:04:12,716 Speaker 1: remember that. 62 00:04:12,876 --> 00:04:14,716 Speaker 5: I'll tell you a funny thing about when I was 63 00:04:14,916 --> 00:04:17,756 Speaker 5: I intersected with Bradley Cooper. I never knew him except 64 00:04:17,796 --> 00:04:19,796 Speaker 5: that we were in theater at Georgia at the same time, 65 00:04:20,676 --> 00:04:22,476 Speaker 5: I may think maybe one year as a little older 66 00:04:22,556 --> 00:04:26,356 Speaker 5: than me, and he was most famous on campus for 67 00:04:26,436 --> 00:04:29,796 Speaker 5: being the most attractive person anyone had ever seen that. 68 00:04:30,996 --> 00:04:33,436 Speaker 6: I'm not even kidding. I'm literally a People would say, 69 00:04:33,476 --> 00:04:38,556 Speaker 6: have you seen Bradley Cooper? I swear to God, not 70 00:04:38,676 --> 00:04:41,996 Speaker 6: in a play? Have you seen him? 71 00:04:42,436 --> 00:04:43,796 Speaker 1: Yeah? That's gotta be hard. 72 00:04:45,396 --> 00:04:49,276 Speaker 4: My life could be really hard sometimes, Mike. 73 00:04:49,356 --> 00:04:51,876 Speaker 1: Okay. So, and the reason I wanted to talk to 74 00:04:51,876 --> 00:04:54,556 Speaker 1: you with endings because I feel like I've often felt 75 00:04:54,556 --> 00:04:56,236 Speaker 1: that no one's more obsessed with endings than I am. 76 00:04:56,276 --> 00:04:58,836 Speaker 1: And I'll tell you why. But and I say this 77 00:04:58,916 --> 00:05:01,236 Speaker 1: also to say that I think you might be as 78 00:05:01,276 --> 00:05:05,036 Speaker 1: obsessed as I am. I am someone who I will 79 00:05:05,156 --> 00:05:08,796 Speaker 1: very often read a thriller and stop five pages before 80 00:05:08,836 --> 00:05:12,756 Speaker 1: the end because I'm concerned that the author isn't going 81 00:05:12,836 --> 00:05:16,236 Speaker 1: to pull it off, and I I just don't want 82 00:05:16,236 --> 00:05:17,716 Speaker 1: to be there for that. I was like, all right, 83 00:05:18,356 --> 00:05:20,236 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter that I've spent three days getting to 84 00:05:20,236 --> 00:05:23,236 Speaker 1: page three hundred and ninety five. Yeah, I just I 85 00:05:23,236 --> 00:05:24,236 Speaker 1: can No. 86 00:05:24,236 --> 00:05:27,196 Speaker 5: No, I'm similarly obsessed, you know, but I go through 87 00:05:27,236 --> 00:05:30,556 Speaker 5: four or five endings before I land on an ending. 88 00:05:31,276 --> 00:05:32,916 Speaker 1: You don't start with the ende of of them. 89 00:05:33,196 --> 00:05:33,436 Speaker 6: No. 90 00:05:33,436 --> 00:05:34,836 Speaker 5: No, As a matter of fact, the old man in 91 00:05:34,876 --> 00:05:38,396 Speaker 5: the pool, I'm deliberating right now between two different, distinctly 92 00:05:38,396 --> 00:05:39,596 Speaker 5: different endings. 93 00:05:39,276 --> 00:05:43,636 Speaker 1: And what we describe the two options simply describe them emotionally. 94 00:05:43,756 --> 00:05:45,636 Speaker 1: Is there a difference in the emotional. 95 00:05:46,116 --> 00:05:50,156 Speaker 5: It's I can't give away what the ending is. It's 96 00:05:50,196 --> 00:05:52,636 Speaker 5: a little fundamentally, but you know what I'm kidding, But 97 00:05:52,716 --> 00:05:54,236 Speaker 5: you know what I'll do. I can tell you that 98 00:05:54,316 --> 00:05:56,556 Speaker 5: the two different endings for my last show, which is 99 00:05:56,596 --> 00:06:00,836 Speaker 5: called The New One and uh and one of them 100 00:06:01,036 --> 00:06:04,436 Speaker 5: is me and my wife and my daughter sort of 101 00:06:04,516 --> 00:06:08,156 Speaker 5: laughing together on the couch together in our house, and 102 00:06:08,716 --> 00:06:09,716 Speaker 5: I early you're in the show. 103 00:06:09,716 --> 00:06:11,516 Speaker 4: I talked about how the premise. 104 00:06:11,196 --> 00:06:13,236 Speaker 5: Of the show is I never want to have a child, 105 00:06:13,636 --> 00:06:15,436 Speaker 5: and the show is about and it's all the reasons 106 00:06:15,476 --> 00:06:17,196 Speaker 5: why I never want to have a child, and then 107 00:06:17,356 --> 00:06:19,916 Speaker 5: it's about how we had a child and how I 108 00:06:19,996 --> 00:06:24,636 Speaker 5: was right, uh and then and then and then the 109 00:06:24,636 --> 00:06:27,996 Speaker 5: emotional turn of it is that I was wrong and 110 00:06:27,996 --> 00:06:31,996 Speaker 5: and uh and and and and there. But there were 111 00:06:32,316 --> 00:06:36,396 Speaker 5: two different endings that we had along the way that 112 00:06:36,476 --> 00:06:39,116 Speaker 5: we're uh and and one of them is the one 113 00:06:39,116 --> 00:06:40,876 Speaker 5: that it is, which is my wife and daughter and 114 00:06:40,876 --> 00:06:43,396 Speaker 5: I are laughing together on the couch and I basically 115 00:06:43,516 --> 00:06:45,396 Speaker 5: I don't say this, but I say I basically become 116 00:06:45,436 --> 00:06:50,476 Speaker 5: all the cliches that of parents who I find so annoying, 117 00:06:50,596 --> 00:06:52,396 Speaker 5: which is like, I just want to see the world 118 00:06:52,436 --> 00:06:53,836 Speaker 5: through babies eyes. 119 00:06:54,076 --> 00:06:56,716 Speaker 1: You know, wait, we have that. Yeah, we actually show them, 120 00:06:56,836 --> 00:06:58,796 Speaker 1: we show oh yeah please, yeah, okay, okay, let's show this. 121 00:06:58,916 --> 00:06:59,476 Speaker 1: Let's just show this. 122 00:07:01,516 --> 00:07:02,836 Speaker 5: Who loved the couch? 123 00:07:02,876 --> 00:07:11,516 Speaker 1: She goes couchs wog ow, Wow. 124 00:07:12,436 --> 00:07:13,356 Speaker 7: She's a genius. 125 00:07:18,236 --> 00:07:21,556 Speaker 5: Three of us sit on the couchs in the department store. 126 00:07:23,276 --> 00:07:25,636 Speaker 5: None is hiding behind each of us, and we could where' zuona? 127 00:07:25,676 --> 00:07:26,276 Speaker 4: Where's Zuona? 128 00:07:26,316 --> 00:07:28,236 Speaker 5: She's clinging into my back because I spend The more 129 00:07:28,276 --> 00:07:29,956 Speaker 5: she clings, the more I'm committed. 130 00:07:29,676 --> 00:07:32,236 Speaker 1: Like where is Oh? Where is it? 131 00:07:33,676 --> 00:07:36,036 Speaker 5: And she starts laughing so hard, like the hardest I've 132 00:07:36,036 --> 00:07:37,836 Speaker 5: ever seen anyone laugh my whole life. 133 00:07:37,916 --> 00:07:40,636 Speaker 4: And I'm in the joke's business. 134 00:07:41,956 --> 00:07:46,076 Speaker 5: At this idea that she's tricking us, the people in power, 135 00:07:46,156 --> 00:07:49,516 Speaker 5: the people who know everything. She's fooled us completely at 136 00:07:49,596 --> 00:07:52,196 Speaker 5: least this once. And look, I know she's gonna grow 137 00:07:52,236 --> 00:07:53,996 Speaker 5: up and find out that the earth is singing in 138 00:07:54,036 --> 00:07:56,196 Speaker 5: the ocean. We might have to live in an almond 139 00:07:56,236 --> 00:08:00,676 Speaker 5: milk jug in Pennsylvania, and people can be horrible. But 140 00:08:00,716 --> 00:08:03,996 Speaker 5: as I'm staring at this monkey on a couch, I 141 00:08:04,076 --> 00:08:05,836 Speaker 5: feel like she might be one of the people who 142 00:08:05,996 --> 00:08:10,636 Speaker 5: changes that trajectory. She's laughing so hard that I start 143 00:08:10,716 --> 00:08:14,876 Speaker 5: laughing in a new way from my perspective and Jen's 144 00:08:14,876 --> 00:08:17,156 Speaker 5: perspective and Owner's perspective all at once, we're. 145 00:08:17,076 --> 00:08:29,476 Speaker 7: Laughing as one. And in that moment, I feel full. 146 00:08:33,076 --> 00:08:47,196 Speaker 7: I'm seeing the world through babies. 147 00:08:51,476 --> 00:08:54,636 Speaker 1: So what what's the work that ending's doing? 148 00:08:55,636 --> 00:08:55,796 Speaker 5: Oh? 149 00:08:55,876 --> 00:09:01,196 Speaker 1: So that ending is cheering up, cheering, cheering up, you 150 00:09:01,276 --> 00:09:02,556 Speaker 1: cheering up, watching yourself? 151 00:09:04,196 --> 00:09:05,196 Speaker 4: How dare you, sir? 152 00:09:06,276 --> 00:09:07,436 Speaker 1: At the town hall? 153 00:09:08,756 --> 00:09:10,996 Speaker 4: You call me out where we have our town meetings 154 00:09:11,036 --> 00:09:13,316 Speaker 4: every week? We're all at them right. 155 00:09:15,196 --> 00:09:18,196 Speaker 1: The uh, No. 156 00:09:18,156 --> 00:09:18,396 Speaker 7: It is. 157 00:09:18,476 --> 00:09:21,076 Speaker 5: It's emotional because it's it's about when my daughter was 158 00:09:21,716 --> 00:09:25,956 Speaker 5: eighteen months older and and she said, you know, seven 159 00:09:26,036 --> 00:09:27,916 Speaker 5: years old now, So it's a yeah, so that part 160 00:09:27,916 --> 00:09:30,996 Speaker 5: of its emotional. But yeah, So the goal of this 161 00:09:31,236 --> 00:09:36,916 Speaker 5: ending is the show really mocks to the point it 162 00:09:37,076 --> 00:09:42,036 Speaker 5: mocks people with children so mercilessly. If you never want 163 00:09:42,036 --> 00:09:45,596 Speaker 5: to have children and want to mock people who have children. 164 00:09:45,676 --> 00:09:47,836 Speaker 4: You're gonna love the first half. 165 00:09:47,596 --> 00:09:48,396 Speaker 1: Of this special. 166 00:09:49,636 --> 00:09:52,036 Speaker 4: For example, like when I like a year after this 167 00:09:52,076 --> 00:09:53,236 Speaker 4: came out. This came out a few. 168 00:09:53,156 --> 00:09:59,876 Speaker 5: Years ago, I was sent a Reddit thread that was 169 00:09:59,876 --> 00:10:04,916 Speaker 5: from like a child free community on Reddit, and I 170 00:10:04,956 --> 00:10:09,436 Speaker 5: have never seen a group of people more excited about 171 00:10:09,476 --> 00:10:13,076 Speaker 5: the first half of a comedy special because they don't 172 00:10:13,196 --> 00:10:16,996 Speaker 5: know it turns to me having a child, and then 173 00:10:16,996 --> 00:10:21,636 Speaker 5: they feel completely betrayed when I have then they hate it. 174 00:10:21,876 --> 00:10:24,756 Speaker 1: It's you know, that's one of my definitions of a story. 175 00:10:24,796 --> 00:10:27,236 Speaker 1: The definition of a story and an anecdote is a 176 00:10:27,276 --> 00:10:32,156 Speaker 1: story is a narrative that betrays through the listener's expectations. Right, 177 00:10:32,276 --> 00:10:34,036 Speaker 1: there must be an act of betrayal for the story 178 00:10:34,036 --> 00:10:37,476 Speaker 1: to work. Oh interesting, that's but. 179 00:10:37,476 --> 00:10:39,636 Speaker 5: Wait, so there's a bit, so there is a betrayal, 180 00:10:39,676 --> 00:10:43,996 Speaker 5: and then but then ultimately, with this ending, the goal 181 00:10:45,156 --> 00:10:48,236 Speaker 5: is to point out after all the cliches of like 182 00:10:48,316 --> 00:10:50,876 Speaker 5: seeing the world through baby's eyes and all this stuff, 183 00:10:51,156 --> 00:10:53,716 Speaker 5: and it's the most joy I've ever experienced, all these 184 00:10:53,716 --> 00:10:55,196 Speaker 5: things that you hear these. 185 00:10:56,716 --> 00:11:02,716 Speaker 4: Annoying parents say all the time. I concede that. 186 00:11:03,996 --> 00:11:07,796 Speaker 5: I have a moment of that, Yeah, a moment where 187 00:11:07,836 --> 00:11:10,876 Speaker 5: I'm seeing the world through of his eyes and and 188 00:11:10,876 --> 00:11:13,716 Speaker 5: and and to me, that's the essence of an the 189 00:11:13,756 --> 00:11:17,316 Speaker 5: type of ending I enjoy, not everybody enjoys. I enjoy 190 00:11:17,356 --> 00:11:22,996 Speaker 5: an ending where there's a hint of we understand that 191 00:11:23,076 --> 00:11:28,036 Speaker 5: the that the emotional journey of the story is this big, 192 00:11:28,596 --> 00:11:33,316 Speaker 5: we've we've swun to ball over the pendulum, but ultimately 193 00:11:33,396 --> 00:11:37,796 Speaker 5: the person, the character who we invest in changes this much. 194 00:11:38,316 --> 00:11:40,156 Speaker 5: So like one of my favorite endings of all time 195 00:11:40,236 --> 00:11:41,156 Speaker 5: is from the movie Big. 196 00:11:41,196 --> 00:11:42,516 Speaker 4: You know, Penny Marshall move with. 197 00:11:42,596 --> 00:11:46,716 Speaker 5: Tom Hanks and I wish I was big, And then 198 00:11:46,796 --> 00:11:48,476 Speaker 5: he goes to the carnival and then he's like. 199 00:11:48,476 --> 00:11:50,476 Speaker 4: A grown up and he has a girlfriend and a 200 00:11:50,596 --> 00:11:52,756 Speaker 4: job and all these things, and he literally and he 201 00:11:52,836 --> 00:11:53,796 Speaker 4: does the whole thing. 202 00:11:53,996 --> 00:11:55,476 Speaker 5: And then he gets to choose at the end, and 203 00:11:55,516 --> 00:11:58,276 Speaker 5: he's gonna he's gonna be big, he's gonna be small again, 204 00:11:58,836 --> 00:12:02,196 Speaker 5: and he chooses small, and there's this devastating moment where 205 00:12:02,196 --> 00:12:05,916 Speaker 5: she looks back at him and it's his child self 206 00:12:06,156 --> 00:12:10,436 Speaker 5: in a suit, and it's the visual metaph for of 207 00:12:10,436 --> 00:12:14,156 Speaker 5: what we've experienced. Because he's both he's both of those things, 208 00:12:14,876 --> 00:12:21,676 Speaker 5: and the change in him is imperceptible, but we know he's. 209 00:12:21,556 --> 00:12:26,316 Speaker 1: Changed probably this much. I'm going to go back to 210 00:12:26,556 --> 00:12:29,396 Speaker 1: your show for a moment. When you were doing that show, 211 00:12:29,476 --> 00:12:31,916 Speaker 1: did you have that turn in mind to that idea 212 00:12:31,916 --> 00:12:34,236 Speaker 1: that you were going to be moving just a little? 213 00:12:34,956 --> 00:12:35,276 Speaker 3: Was that in? 214 00:12:36,156 --> 00:12:36,956 Speaker 1: Did you start with that? 215 00:12:37,516 --> 00:12:37,796 Speaker 7: Yeah? 216 00:12:37,876 --> 00:12:41,396 Speaker 5: I think yeah, we because the alternate ending. I've literally 217 00:12:41,436 --> 00:12:45,116 Speaker 5: never spoken about this. We I performed an alternate ending 218 00:12:45,116 --> 00:12:47,436 Speaker 5: because I tore these shows for like numbers of years, 219 00:12:47,436 --> 00:12:49,636 Speaker 5: like Old Man in the Pool, the Joe i'mtarn Now. 220 00:12:50,116 --> 00:12:53,996 Speaker 5: I've toured for you know, for probably three plus years, 221 00:12:53,996 --> 00:12:56,036 Speaker 5: probably three and a half years, have been workshopping it, 222 00:12:56,556 --> 00:13:00,956 Speaker 5: and so this one was called the New One. I 223 00:13:00,996 --> 00:13:04,396 Speaker 5: had another ending where this true story where my wife 224 00:13:04,436 --> 00:13:07,716 Speaker 5: and daughter and I are on we go on a 225 00:13:07,796 --> 00:13:11,436 Speaker 5: vacation together to the beach in California and we're on 226 00:13:11,476 --> 00:13:14,036 Speaker 5: the beach and we're having this beautiful moment on the 227 00:13:14,036 --> 00:13:16,196 Speaker 5: beach and UNA's like, it's similar to this. 228 00:13:16,276 --> 00:13:19,196 Speaker 4: It's like it's like sand you know, like. 229 00:13:19,636 --> 00:13:24,676 Speaker 5: Osha waa, you know, it's similar as like she's a genius. 230 00:13:24,916 --> 00:13:26,516 Speaker 4: It's the same. It's sort of the same joke. 231 00:13:27,156 --> 00:13:30,316 Speaker 5: But then she picks up like a piece of plastic 232 00:13:30,436 --> 00:13:34,076 Speaker 5: from the beach and she's the spice garbage and it 233 00:13:34,236 --> 00:13:37,196 Speaker 5: invokes it evokes all of those feelings I have about 234 00:13:37,236 --> 00:13:41,876 Speaker 5: like we're just living in the dystopia and why are 235 00:13:41,916 --> 00:13:43,636 Speaker 5: we having children? 236 00:13:43,676 --> 00:13:44,676 Speaker 7: This is insane? 237 00:13:44,956 --> 00:13:47,316 Speaker 1: Right, I could see why you didn't go that. 238 00:13:47,396 --> 00:13:52,356 Speaker 5: End, Malcolm, how dare you in the location of our 239 00:13:52,356 --> 00:13:53,276 Speaker 5: weekly meetings? 240 00:13:55,196 --> 00:13:58,236 Speaker 4: You no, I know it was it was too sad, 241 00:13:58,556 --> 00:13:59,076 Speaker 4: too sad. 242 00:13:59,276 --> 00:14:02,156 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's too much movement. You wanted a little movie? Yes, 243 00:14:02,356 --> 00:14:02,876 Speaker 1: you don't want to. 244 00:14:03,516 --> 00:14:06,196 Speaker 5: So that's why that ending went away because ultimately people 245 00:14:06,236 --> 00:14:08,076 Speaker 5: would leave the theater and they would go like. 246 00:14:08,876 --> 00:14:12,836 Speaker 4: That made me feel sort of bad about stuff. But 247 00:14:12,956 --> 00:14:15,916 Speaker 4: the ending that but the ending that we went with. 248 00:14:16,596 --> 00:14:19,236 Speaker 5: Just to be clear, I mean, endings are very personal 249 00:14:19,276 --> 00:14:23,436 Speaker 5: for people. Like some people, I don't in that ending. 250 00:14:23,516 --> 00:14:26,796 Speaker 5: You just watch some people left the theater and said, 251 00:14:27,956 --> 00:14:32,156 Speaker 5: you're still kind of a jerk, you know what I mean. 252 00:14:32,196 --> 00:14:35,916 Speaker 5: Like I would get very personal responses where people are like, yeah. 253 00:14:35,556 --> 00:14:38,836 Speaker 4: You're like an ungrateful dad, You're a bad dad. 254 00:14:38,676 --> 00:14:41,116 Speaker 5: All this stuff, and I'm like, no, no, I'm being 255 00:14:41,196 --> 00:14:43,036 Speaker 5: honest with my experience. 256 00:14:43,276 --> 00:14:45,236 Speaker 4: And this is pretty close. 257 00:14:50,356 --> 00:14:53,116 Speaker 1: This is exactly what we're talking about, which is that 258 00:14:53,356 --> 00:14:58,036 Speaker 1: endings carry massive disproportionate weight. You don't go to a 259 00:14:58,076 --> 00:15:00,356 Speaker 1: show or a movie or read a book and decide 260 00:15:00,396 --> 00:15:03,196 Speaker 1: after the first ten pages that you love it. That's it. 261 00:15:03,516 --> 00:15:07,356 Speaker 1: I mean, you might say that, but it's a contingent conclusion. 262 00:15:08,116 --> 00:15:11,196 Speaker 1: You will rescind that opinion in a heartbeat if the 263 00:15:11,276 --> 00:15:14,196 Speaker 1: last five pages or the last five minutes don't work. 264 00:15:15,036 --> 00:15:17,676 Speaker 1: And what's weird about this, of course, is that it's 265 00:15:17,716 --> 00:15:21,276 Speaker 1: the opposite of the way we evaluate human beings. There's 266 00:15:21,276 --> 00:15:24,316 Speaker 1: a famous set of studies about college professors where they 267 00:15:24,316 --> 00:15:27,836 Speaker 1: take student evaluations of their teachers that are generated over 268 00:15:27,836 --> 00:15:31,596 Speaker 1: an entire semester and compare them to teacher evaluations made 269 00:15:31,596 --> 00:15:35,116 Speaker 1: by students who've only seen a tiny video clip of 270 00:15:35,196 --> 00:15:39,116 Speaker 1: the professor, like ten seconds. What do you find that 271 00:15:39,196 --> 00:15:43,796 Speaker 1: the two sets of evaluations are the same. In other words, 272 00:15:43,876 --> 00:15:46,356 Speaker 1: you're sitting in a class, you listen to your teacher 273 00:15:46,596 --> 00:15:49,836 Speaker 1: for the shortest moment, and you decide I like them, 274 00:15:50,116 --> 00:15:54,236 Speaker 1: I don't like them, and you never revisit that conclusion. 275 00:15:54,796 --> 00:15:57,876 Speaker 1: The ending doesn't matter. If you have thirty classes with 276 00:15:57,956 --> 00:16:01,396 Speaker 1: your history professor, your experience in the final class, or 277 00:16:01,396 --> 00:16:04,436 Speaker 1: the final five classes, or even the final twenty nine 278 00:16:04,476 --> 00:16:07,996 Speaker 1: point nine to nine classes does not alter your impression 279 00:16:08,156 --> 00:16:12,796 Speaker 1: about the teacher. Our evaluations of other people are front loaded. 280 00:16:13,356 --> 00:16:16,436 Speaker 1: That's why, correctly, our parents told us again and again 281 00:16:16,716 --> 00:16:19,796 Speaker 1: about the value of making a good first impression. But 282 00:16:19,876 --> 00:16:24,796 Speaker 1: our evaluation of stories is the opposite. It's backloaded. What 283 00:16:24,916 --> 00:16:28,236 Speaker 1: happens in the last five minutes colors every conclusion we 284 00:16:28,356 --> 00:16:31,196 Speaker 1: drew in the first two hours. Now, why is this? 285 00:16:31,596 --> 00:16:34,356 Speaker 1: I have no idea, but I will guarantee you that 286 00:16:34,436 --> 00:16:38,916 Speaker 1: every screenwriter and author and podcaster frets endlessly about how 287 00:16:38,956 --> 00:16:43,516 Speaker 1: their stories begin, rewrites the beginning a million times, but 288 00:16:43,596 --> 00:16:47,796 Speaker 1: aren't nearly as fastidious about the ending, which is nuts. 289 00:16:48,396 --> 00:16:52,956 Speaker 1: We're all idiots, with the exception, of course, of micro biglail. 290 00:16:55,676 --> 00:17:09,996 Speaker 1: When we come back endings Part two, a week after 291 00:17:10,036 --> 00:17:12,356 Speaker 1: we did our town hall show, we took the train 292 00:17:12,436 --> 00:17:16,316 Speaker 1: down to Philadelphia, rented out the Filmore Theater, eight cheese steaks, 293 00:17:16,476 --> 00:17:19,196 Speaker 1: got into the mood, and for the opening of the 294 00:17:19,196 --> 00:17:22,396 Speaker 1: Philly show, I decided to reflect back on some of 295 00:17:22,476 --> 00:17:28,236 Speaker 1: revisionist history's most and least successful endings. What we're talking 296 00:17:28,276 --> 00:17:32,916 Speaker 1: about tonight is endings, because I happen to be obsessed 297 00:17:32,916 --> 00:17:36,636 Speaker 1: with endings. If I'm watching a movie and you know, 298 00:17:36,716 --> 00:17:39,036 Speaker 1: three quarters the way through there's just too many balls 299 00:17:39,036 --> 00:17:39,836 Speaker 1: in the air, I'm. 300 00:17:41,396 --> 00:17:41,556 Speaker 7: Out. 301 00:17:42,516 --> 00:17:44,556 Speaker 1: I'm not going to be party to that kind of 302 00:17:45,116 --> 00:17:50,716 Speaker 1: destruction of the narrative form. You know, I can go 303 00:17:50,756 --> 00:17:53,196 Speaker 1: on forever about this, and we will, actually this evening 304 00:17:53,236 --> 00:17:56,556 Speaker 1: be going on forever about this. But you know, the 305 00:17:56,836 --> 00:17:59,236 Speaker 1: crucial distinction in my mind is a distinction between an 306 00:17:59,236 --> 00:18:03,156 Speaker 1: anecdote and a story. An anecdote is a narrative that 307 00:18:03,836 --> 00:18:10,436 Speaker 1: conforms with your expectations. So the braasiest thing happened to 308 00:18:10,476 --> 00:18:12,836 Speaker 1: me last night I found one hundred dollars bill on 309 00:18:12,876 --> 00:18:15,636 Speaker 1: the street. That is not a story. That is an anecdote. 310 00:18:15,956 --> 00:18:19,436 Speaker 1: The first sentence, craziest thing happened is the equal of 311 00:18:19,476 --> 00:18:23,956 Speaker 1: the second sentence, one hundred dollar bill on the street. Right. 312 00:18:25,516 --> 00:18:30,276 Speaker 1: A story, by contrast, is a narrative that betrays the 313 00:18:30,356 --> 00:18:35,916 Speaker 1: audience's expectations. So a story would be the craziest thing 314 00:18:36,676 --> 00:18:38,836 Speaker 1: happened to me last night. I found one hundred dollars 315 00:18:38,916 --> 00:18:41,956 Speaker 1: bill on the street. I gave it to a tried 316 00:18:41,956 --> 00:18:44,316 Speaker 1: to give it to a homeless man, and he said, 317 00:18:44,476 --> 00:18:48,596 Speaker 1: I don't want your effing money. That's a story, right. 318 00:18:48,836 --> 00:18:52,516 Speaker 1: It betrayed your expectation. That's not how you expected it 319 00:18:52,556 --> 00:18:56,876 Speaker 1: to end. And the challenge of Revision's history is we 320 00:18:56,916 --> 00:18:59,436 Speaker 1: always want to tell a story. We always wanted some 321 00:18:59,476 --> 00:19:04,236 Speaker 1: way to betray our audience's expectations. So I wanted to 322 00:19:04,236 --> 00:19:06,876 Speaker 1: give you a couple of examples of how we approach 323 00:19:06,996 --> 00:19:09,036 Speaker 1: that at Revision's History. You know, a couple years of 324 00:19:09,396 --> 00:19:12,916 Speaker 1: seasons ago, we did an episode called Free Brian Williams, 325 00:19:13,276 --> 00:19:14,796 Speaker 1: which some of you will remember. 326 00:19:15,596 --> 00:19:15,996 Speaker 5: And. 327 00:19:17,436 --> 00:19:19,716 Speaker 1: You'll remember Brian Williams was the NBC anchor who was 328 00:19:19,716 --> 00:19:22,716 Speaker 1: fired from his job because he went on Letterman one 329 00:19:22,796 --> 00:19:24,796 Speaker 1: night and he told a story about being in a 330 00:19:24,836 --> 00:19:28,396 Speaker 1: helicopter during the Gulf War, flying low over the desert 331 00:19:28,436 --> 00:19:30,556 Speaker 1: and he was fired upon by the enemy and he 332 00:19:30,636 --> 00:19:34,596 Speaker 1: was terrified, And then turns out he wasn't fired on, 333 00:19:35,396 --> 00:19:38,516 Speaker 1: And so all kinds of people brought this up and 334 00:19:38,756 --> 00:19:41,556 Speaker 1: called him a liar and a self aggrandizing and he 335 00:19:41,716 --> 00:19:44,956 Speaker 1: was for he was forced out of his job. And 336 00:19:45,756 --> 00:19:47,756 Speaker 1: if you've listened to it, the whole episode of the 337 00:19:47,796 --> 00:19:50,316 Speaker 1: Defense of Brian Williams, it's a sort of argument about 338 00:19:50,356 --> 00:19:53,636 Speaker 1: memory that says that our memory, particularly in high stakes 339 00:19:53,676 --> 00:19:57,316 Speaker 1: moments like that, is profoundly flawed, and all of us 340 00:19:57,436 --> 00:20:00,956 Speaker 1: make mistakes of memory along the lines of Brian Williams. 341 00:20:01,036 --> 00:20:03,676 Speaker 1: So he wasn't a self a grand advertising liar, he 342 00:20:03,756 --> 00:20:07,836 Speaker 1: was just a human being. And now none of that, 343 00:20:07,916 --> 00:20:10,996 Speaker 1: of course, trace the expectations of the audience. 344 00:20:11,036 --> 00:20:11,196 Speaker 7: Right. 345 00:20:11,276 --> 00:20:13,556 Speaker 1: The show's called Free Williams. Brian Williams. You know I'm 346 00:20:13,556 --> 00:20:17,716 Speaker 1: going to defend Brian Williams. But here's how it ended. 347 00:20:17,796 --> 00:20:20,796 Speaker 1: It's a clip of the very end of the show. 348 00:20:21,116 --> 00:20:26,036 Speaker 1: It's a clip of Brian Williams apologizing for his mistake 349 00:20:27,356 --> 00:20:28,076 Speaker 1: looking back. 350 00:20:28,356 --> 00:20:32,276 Speaker 3: It had to have been ego that made me think 351 00:20:32,316 --> 00:20:40,316 Speaker 3: I had to be sharper, funnier, quicker than anybody else, 352 00:20:41,116 --> 00:20:45,436 Speaker 3: put myself closer to the action, having been at the 353 00:20:45,476 --> 00:20:46,916 Speaker 3: action in the beginning. 354 00:20:48,636 --> 00:20:53,276 Speaker 1: Oh, please stop apologizing for a crime you didn't commit. 355 00:20:54,636 --> 00:20:59,996 Speaker 1: Free Brian Williams. Yeah, do you see the betrayal there? 356 00:21:00,676 --> 00:21:03,036 Speaker 1: You thought this was a defense of Brian Williams. But 357 00:21:03,116 --> 00:21:04,996 Speaker 1: the last thing I do in the entire episode is 358 00:21:05,036 --> 00:21:10,836 Speaker 1: attack Brian Williams for not defending himself. He's not a liar, 359 00:21:10,916 --> 00:21:12,716 Speaker 1: but he's a coward. 360 00:21:12,836 --> 00:21:13,796 Speaker 4: You didn't do anything wrong. 361 00:21:14,276 --> 00:21:18,516 Speaker 1: Stand up for yourself, big man. Stop all right. Now, 362 00:21:20,076 --> 00:21:21,956 Speaker 1: we don't always pull this out. There are times when 363 00:21:22,036 --> 00:21:25,636 Speaker 1: the endings don't work. And a really good example of 364 00:21:25,676 --> 00:21:27,476 Speaker 1: this is we did an episode last season called I 365 00:21:27,476 --> 00:21:32,396 Speaker 1: Love You. Weimo which was you know. Weimo is a 366 00:21:32,396 --> 00:21:34,836 Speaker 1: division of Google that makes autonomous cars, the kind that 367 00:21:34,956 --> 00:21:39,396 Speaker 1: drive themselves, and they have them in Phoenix. You can 368 00:21:39,436 --> 00:21:41,236 Speaker 1: go to Phoenix and you can order a Weimo and 369 00:21:41,276 --> 00:21:43,916 Speaker 1: it just shows up the snow driver and you hop in. 370 00:21:44,396 --> 00:21:46,836 Speaker 1: And so we went there, many of my producer, Jacob, 371 00:21:46,876 --> 00:21:50,676 Speaker 1: and we drove around these Wemos, and our whole point 372 00:21:50,676 --> 00:21:52,996 Speaker 1: was that people worry about autonomous cars because they think 373 00:21:53,036 --> 00:21:54,756 Speaker 1: that they are will make a mistake, you know, and 374 00:21:54,836 --> 00:21:58,636 Speaker 1: run over pedestrians. They think they're imperfect, but that's actually 375 00:21:58,836 --> 00:22:03,436 Speaker 1: completely wrong. The problem with autonomous cars is that they're perfect. 376 00:22:03,916 --> 00:22:06,276 Speaker 1: They don't make mistakes. I mean, they got twenty cameras 377 00:22:06,316 --> 00:22:09,836 Speaker 1: and light ar and radar. They're so perfect that they 378 00:22:09,876 --> 00:22:14,236 Speaker 1: allow everyone else to misbehave so that if you're if 379 00:22:14,236 --> 00:22:17,796 Speaker 1: you see it, if you're a jaywalk, you want to 380 00:22:17,996 --> 00:22:20,116 Speaker 1: you want to cross the street, and you see a 381 00:22:20,116 --> 00:22:24,676 Speaker 1: Weimo coming, you just jaywalk. Because you know it will stop, right, 382 00:22:25,156 --> 00:22:27,716 Speaker 1: It's perfect. And if you're a kid and you're playing 383 00:22:27,796 --> 00:22:29,596 Speaker 1: soccer in the middle of the street with your friends 384 00:22:29,596 --> 00:22:34,036 Speaker 1: and a Weimo comes, you keep playing soccer. You don't move. 385 00:22:34,236 --> 00:22:37,676 Speaker 1: And if you're a cyclist and you want to cycle 386 00:22:37,676 --> 00:22:40,956 Speaker 1: to work down, I'm ninety five. You cycle to work 387 00:22:40,956 --> 00:22:44,356 Speaker 1: Down ninety five because the Weimo will drive very patiently 388 00:22:44,556 --> 00:22:48,796 Speaker 1: behind you. It's not ever. So it's been sold to 389 00:22:48,876 --> 00:22:53,476 Speaker 1: us by Silicon Valley as this kind of epical technological breakthrough. 390 00:22:53,756 --> 00:22:57,036 Speaker 1: It's not. It's it's a complete non starter. You can't 391 00:22:57,116 --> 00:23:01,316 Speaker 1: drive a Weimo through any urban area because people are 392 00:23:01,356 --> 00:23:04,076 Speaker 1: just gonna go nuts when they see the Weimo. So 393 00:23:04,676 --> 00:23:07,316 Speaker 1: we thought the Weimo was the I Love you Weimo 394 00:23:07,516 --> 00:23:12,716 Speaker 1: was sarcastic. Right, So here's how it ends. Jacob and 395 00:23:12,756 --> 00:23:15,196 Speaker 1: I we order a Weimo to this park, to this 396 00:23:15,316 --> 00:23:20,156 Speaker 1: parking lot of uh the Almo Steakhouse in Tempe, Arizona, 397 00:23:20,316 --> 00:23:23,556 Speaker 1: and it comes and then we just start forget my language, 398 00:23:23,876 --> 00:23:28,516 Speaker 1: fucking with the weymow and we throw beach balls at it, 399 00:23:28,596 --> 00:23:31,036 Speaker 1: and it like a four dollars beach ball, and it 400 00:23:31,116 --> 00:23:34,476 Speaker 1: just stops because it's Weymo. It's like super polite, not 401 00:23:34,636 --> 00:23:38,396 Speaker 1: gonna harm a hair on the head of the beach ball. 402 00:23:38,796 --> 00:23:41,076 Speaker 1: And then then I decide what I really want to 403 00:23:41,116 --> 00:23:43,276 Speaker 1: do is I want to run next to the Waimo 404 00:23:43,836 --> 00:23:46,756 Speaker 1: and then just constantly cut in front of the weymouth 405 00:23:47,236 --> 00:23:49,076 Speaker 1: to see what the Weimo will do. Right, So here, 406 00:23:49,156 --> 00:23:52,436 Speaker 1: where's run the clip? Well he's taking up Oh, we 407 00:23:52,596 --> 00:23:59,316 Speaker 1: come through waymore is freaked out, freaked out. He thinks 408 00:23:59,356 --> 00:24:01,876 Speaker 1: he's going. He's got ahead of me. 409 00:24:02,756 --> 00:24:11,876 Speaker 7: I'm going to catch him. 410 00:24:13,916 --> 00:24:16,876 Speaker 1: Hold out you hold let you get in. 411 00:24:19,596 --> 00:24:19,996 Speaker 7: Waimo. 412 00:24:21,036 --> 00:24:29,756 Speaker 1: Stop. Weaimo was the perfect gentleman. He let me be 413 00:24:29,876 --> 00:24:33,516 Speaker 1: the crazy one. Remember this the next time some Silicon 414 00:24:33,596 --> 00:24:38,116 Speaker 1: Valley visionary promises you a future of perfect mobility, efficiency 415 00:24:38,596 --> 00:24:44,596 Speaker 1: and clarity from the backseat of an autonomous vehicle. No, no, no, 416 00:24:45,356 --> 00:24:49,356 Speaker 1: it's much better than that. It's me and Lance and 417 00:24:49,436 --> 00:24:52,916 Speaker 1: Jonathan Vaughters and Jacob with his beach ball taking back 418 00:24:52,916 --> 00:25:03,196 Speaker 1: the road. I love you Weimo. So retweet out the 419 00:25:03,236 --> 00:25:06,516 Speaker 1: announcement of the show, and you know what happens. Wamo 420 00:25:07,276 --> 00:25:16,476 Speaker 1: retweets the tweet. They're like, we love the show. It's fantastic. 421 00:25:16,876 --> 00:25:21,956 Speaker 1: So we said that autonomous vehicles don't actually work and 422 00:25:21,996 --> 00:25:24,076 Speaker 1: Weymo's like you called the show I Love You Wemo. 423 00:25:24,236 --> 00:25:30,436 Speaker 1: That's all. They refuse to have their expectations betrayed. Right now, 424 00:25:30,516 --> 00:25:33,156 Speaker 1: whose fault is that? I think it's my fault. And 425 00:25:33,236 --> 00:25:36,596 Speaker 1: then we started to get emails from I'm reading some 426 00:25:36,596 --> 00:25:39,796 Speaker 1: of the emails we got from readers, big fan of 427 00:25:39,796 --> 00:25:42,116 Speaker 1: Revision's history. I'm trying to figure out if I Love 428 00:25:42,116 --> 00:25:45,676 Speaker 1: You Weimo is sponsored content. Wait, I thought we were 429 00:25:45,676 --> 00:25:48,916 Speaker 1: attacking Weimo email number two. I'm sure Malcolm and whoever 430 00:25:48,956 --> 00:25:50,956 Speaker 1: is managing the show is smart enough to disclose when 431 00:25:50,956 --> 00:25:53,836 Speaker 1: they're being sponsored. But this really felt like an AD. No, 432 00:25:54,116 --> 00:25:57,436 Speaker 1: it wasn't an AD number three. At first, I thought 433 00:25:57,436 --> 00:26:03,956 Speaker 1: my podcast episode didn't download correctly. Love it was just 434 00:26:03,996 --> 00:26:07,116 Speaker 1: a thirty minute Weaimo love fest. No, it went on 435 00:26:07,276 --> 00:26:09,636 Speaker 1: for thirty eight minutes. You had to listen to the 436 00:26:09,716 --> 00:26:17,636 Speaker 1: last eight. Number four? What the hell was that? Number five? 437 00:26:18,236 --> 00:26:22,036 Speaker 1: Was that an infomercial for a what? Now? These people dumb? 438 00:26:22,076 --> 00:26:22,116 Speaker 7: No? 439 00:26:22,236 --> 00:26:24,716 Speaker 1: I don't know one who listens to Revision's History can 440 00:26:24,756 --> 00:26:25,116 Speaker 1: be dumb. 441 00:26:26,236 --> 00:26:26,316 Speaker 5: No. 442 00:26:26,476 --> 00:26:29,236 Speaker 1: They don't believe in stories. They believe in anecdotes. Right. 443 00:26:29,676 --> 00:26:32,316 Speaker 1: They think that you can only have a narrative that 444 00:26:32,436 --> 00:26:35,956 Speaker 1: conforms with your expectations. They don't understand that. No, no, no, no. 445 00:26:36,076 --> 00:26:40,076 Speaker 1: What a real story does is betray your expectations. You 446 00:26:40,116 --> 00:26:43,036 Speaker 1: screw up if that's the story you tell, right. If 447 00:26:43,076 --> 00:26:46,356 Speaker 1: you can't convince people to make that turn, sometimes you 448 00:26:46,436 --> 00:26:49,236 Speaker 1: really have to grab people the listener by the scrap 449 00:26:49,236 --> 00:26:53,116 Speaker 1: of the neck and say no, no, you blockhead, this 450 00:26:53,196 --> 00:26:57,636 Speaker 1: is going off in another direction. The perfect ending, the 451 00:26:57,676 --> 00:27:02,076 Speaker 1: perfect story, to my mind, is the story. Will you 452 00:27:02,116 --> 00:27:04,796 Speaker 1: start with the ending and work backwards? Well, you know 453 00:27:04,876 --> 00:27:06,876 Speaker 1: absolutely the turn you want to make. And there's one 454 00:27:07,476 --> 00:27:11,196 Speaker 1: of my absolute favorite episodes was exactly this. It's it's 455 00:27:11,196 --> 00:27:13,756 Speaker 1: called the King of Tears from episode from season two 456 00:27:13,876 --> 00:27:16,516 Speaker 1: or three, and it was about the saddest song in 457 00:27:16,556 --> 00:27:19,796 Speaker 1: the world. Anyway, I'm I'm rooting around late one night 458 00:27:19,836 --> 00:27:23,836 Speaker 1: on YouTube, and I run across George Jones's funeral, which 459 00:27:23,876 --> 00:27:26,236 Speaker 1: is one of the By the way, if you if 460 00:27:26,236 --> 00:27:30,596 Speaker 1: you have three extra hours, like if you're incarcerated and 461 00:27:30,756 --> 00:27:33,956 Speaker 1: have time in your hands, you must watch George Jones's funeral. 462 00:27:33,996 --> 00:27:37,276 Speaker 1: It's one of the most ethic, extraordinary, fantastic national events. 463 00:27:37,476 --> 00:27:40,916 Speaker 1: They're all there, they're all weeping, they're all it's just 464 00:27:41,156 --> 00:27:45,156 Speaker 1: it's just schmaltz upon schmaltz upon schmaltz. So I'm watching 465 00:27:45,236 --> 00:27:48,556 Speaker 1: it like I'm weeping in my pajamas. Is two animals. 466 00:27:48,596 --> 00:27:52,876 Speaker 1: Every single person in all of Nashville is there in 467 00:27:52,996 --> 00:27:56,676 Speaker 1: full regalia. Cowboy hats up the wazoo. Everyone's like finding 468 00:27:56,716 --> 00:27:59,196 Speaker 1: a way to weep out, wheep each other on stead. 469 00:28:00,596 --> 00:28:03,516 Speaker 1: But the climax is the great George Jones song was, 470 00:28:03,556 --> 00:28:06,676 Speaker 1: of course, the saddest song ever written by Bobby Braddock. 471 00:28:06,676 --> 00:28:09,076 Speaker 1: It's he Stopped Loving Her Today about a guy who 472 00:28:09,116 --> 00:28:11,796 Speaker 1: he's in love with a woman and he stopped loving 473 00:28:11,796 --> 00:28:14,196 Speaker 1: her today when he dies. He only stops loving her 474 00:28:14,196 --> 00:28:18,116 Speaker 1: when he's And the whole song leads up to you 475 00:28:18,156 --> 00:28:20,476 Speaker 1: realize you think he's alive, and he realized, oh no, no, no, 476 00:28:21,156 --> 00:28:23,916 Speaker 1: he's dead, and that's why he stopped on him. So Alan, 477 00:28:23,916 --> 00:28:27,276 Speaker 1: we actually want to play this, play Alan Jackson. Wells 478 00:28:27,716 --> 00:28:32,396 Speaker 1: Alan Jackson, who's at the end of the funeral. It's 479 00:28:32,396 --> 00:28:38,676 Speaker 1: the climax sings he stopped Loving her Today for George 480 00:28:38,716 --> 00:28:42,476 Speaker 1: Jones's wife, who's in the front row right. So it's 481 00:28:42,516 --> 00:28:47,636 Speaker 1: so geniusly met play the beginning of Alan Jackson as 482 00:28:47,956 --> 00:28:54,996 Speaker 1: years when clo and you realize as he sings that 483 00:28:55,036 --> 00:28:59,516 Speaker 1: Braddock's song has gotten even more specific. It's no longer 484 00:28:59,556 --> 00:29:02,716 Speaker 1: about a long ago love affair. It's about right now. 485 00:29:03,636 --> 00:29:09,316 Speaker 1: This is the day George Jones stopped loving Nancy Jones. 486 00:29:10,556 --> 00:29:13,516 Speaker 1: Alan Jackson takes off his hat and places it over 487 00:29:13,556 --> 00:29:14,076 Speaker 1: his heart. 488 00:29:15,796 --> 00:29:17,796 Speaker 4: He stop loving her. 489 00:29:20,916 --> 00:29:28,676 Speaker 1: Today. And if you aren't crying, I can't help you. 490 00:29:29,956 --> 00:29:30,956 Speaker 4: I love you, George. 491 00:29:36,996 --> 00:29:45,116 Speaker 1: If only every story ended as well as that one. 492 00:29:45,236 --> 00:29:48,836 Speaker 1: Revision's history is produced by Eloise Linton, Leeman Gistu and 493 00:29:48,916 --> 00:29:52,636 Speaker 1: Jacob Smith. Our editor is Julia Barton. Our showrunner is 494 00:29:52,636 --> 00:29:57,116 Speaker 1: Peter Clowney. Original scoring by Luis Garra, mastering by Jason Gambrel, 495 00:29:57,476 --> 00:30:01,356 Speaker 1: engineering by Sarah Brugaer and Nina Lawrence, fact checking by 496 00:30:01,436 --> 00:30:06,076 Speaker 1: Kishelle Williams, and live production by Kate Downey. Special thanks 497 00:30:06,116 --> 00:30:09,116 Speaker 1: to the Pushkin crew who helped pull off this live experiment, 498 00:30:09,516 --> 00:30:14,356 Speaker 1: Kerry Brodie, Pether Fame, Blair Gilkes, Jason Gambrel, Nina Lawrence, 499 00:30:14,636 --> 00:30:19,876 Speaker 1: Nicole Morano, Eric Sandler, John Schnarz, Maggie Taylor, and Jacob Weisberg. 500 00:30:20,316 --> 00:30:22,996 Speaker 1: And a big thank you to Mike Berbiglia as well 501 00:30:23,036 --> 00:30:26,556 Speaker 1: as the town Hall in Manhattan and The Fillmore in Philadelphia. 502 00:30:26,996 --> 00:30:31,116 Speaker 1: Stay tuned for more of revisionist History Live, coming soon 503 00:30:31,316 --> 00:30:34,796 Speaker 1: to a city near you. I'm Malcolm Glabo.