Speaker 1: It feels like a life hack being a science journalist,
Speaker 1: which is what I trained in. Is it really true
Speaker 1: that you googled it to see if it was a
Speaker 1: job science journalists? That's one would happened. I thought I
Speaker 1: was like inventing a term. I did happen to look
Speaker 1: at the Google history of friends. I was looking at
Speaker 1: photos on her kid's phone, and I did see in
Speaker 1: their Google history that they've been googling cake taster as
Speaker 1: a potential job. That must be a job. I think
Speaker 1: I have, like vaguely some uncle who was a cheese
Speaker 1: taster for like cheese contests. Yeah, you see that sounds
Speaker 1: like a gig to me, right. Yeah, Hello, I'm mini
Speaker 1: driver and welcome to many questions. I've always loved prus questionnaire.
Speaker 1: It was originally an eighteenth century parlor game meant to
Speaker 1: reveal an individual's true nature. But with so many questions
Speaker 1: there wasn't really an opportunity to expand on anything. So
Speaker 1: I took the format of Pruce's questionnaire and adapt it.
Speaker 1: What I think are seven of the most important questions
Speaker 1: you could ever ask someone. They are when and where
Speaker 1: were you happiest? What is the quality you like least
Speaker 1: about yourself. What relationship, real or fictionalized, defines love for you?
Speaker 1: What question would you most like answered, What person, place,
Speaker 1: or experience has shaped you the most? What would be
Speaker 1: your last meal? And can you tell me something in
Speaker 1: your life that has grown out of a personal disaster.
Speaker 1: The more people we ask, the more we begin to
Speaker 1: see what makes us similar and what makes us individual.
Speaker 1: I've gathered a group of really remarkable people who I
Speaker 1: am honored and humbled to have had a chance to
Speaker 1: engage with. My guest today is Ariel do em Ross.
Speaker 1: She was the first climate change correspondent in American nightly
Speaker 1: News and has written for Scientific American Nature, Medicine, and
Speaker 1: The Atlantic. She had a brilliant podcast that I loved
Speaker 1: called Reset, which was about how technology was changing everything,
Speaker 1: and today she is the host of the Vice News
Speaker 1: Reports podcast. She has a degree in zoology and also
Speaker 1: one in classical guitar. She's a passionate advocate for the
Speaker 1: environment and also a gifted artist. All to say, just
Speaker 1: my kind of polymath. Where and when were you happiest?
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this question and I really like it.
Speaker 1: I really like the whole format of your podcast. If
Speaker 1: I you know, if I can say that I think
Speaker 1: it's replicable in a way that also just everybody's gonna
Speaker 1: have a different answer, and it's just innately interesting. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think
Speaker 1: for me, where I landed was that when I feel
Speaker 1: happiest is when I feel at peace, and so it's
Speaker 1: not these big important moments that feel really monumental in
Speaker 1: my life. The thing that came to mind for me
Speaker 1: was this one time I was report warding for Vice
Speaker 1: News Tonight on HBO, but I was the climate change
Speaker 1: correspondent for for three years. I was on a reporting trip.
Speaker 1: We were in Greenland, in the middle of nowhere, and
Speaker 1: I was running on this dirt road and I I'm
Speaker 1: not really a runner, I'm no longer a runner. My
Speaker 1: knees don't like it. But I remember really feeling at
Speaker 1: peace there in that moment, and I think it's because
Speaker 1: it was just part of my routine. It was the
Speaker 1: thing that no matter where I was in the world,
Speaker 1: I would run in the morning and it was an anchor.
Speaker 1: And I'm happiest when I am able to routinely have
Speaker 1: a loane time. Does that alone time? Does that create connection?
Speaker 1: Because if you're doing something repeatedly in all these different places.
Speaker 1: What would the connection be too, if that's what you're recreating. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a good question, I think for me with running,
Speaker 1: and there are other forms of me being alone, I
Speaker 1: like drawing a lot, so I will go to a
Speaker 1: place and draw my environment. I think it is about
Speaker 1: connecting with the environment that I'm in, and also it
Speaker 1: is about recharging so that I can connect more deeply
Speaker 1: with the people around me afterwards. So it's both. It's
Speaker 1: about being present for everything else after I've completed the run,
Speaker 1: you know, after I've completed the drawing. And I suppose
Speaker 1: peace is connection, like pieces pieces, connection to all of
Speaker 1: the stuff that isn't the noise. And I mean that
Speaker 1: both positively and negatively of our daily lives. So that's
Speaker 1: quite an interesting correlation. And I also like the idea
Speaker 1: of doing something that you do everywhere in all those places,
Speaker 1: and that that is that is the thing that brings
Speaker 1: you back to you. Yeah. Absolutely, I think it's just
Speaker 1: I really am serious about routine. I think that, you know,
Speaker 1: I thrive when much like children do, right, I thrive
Speaker 1: with routine. And some people are are better able to
Speaker 1: just adapt to whatever is happening in their lives. But
Speaker 1: I need to have something that makes me feel like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is this moment in the day that I am
Speaker 1: doing this one thing that I do almost every day.
Speaker 1: And you know, with the pandemic, it's been a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a struggle for me to find that.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think I'm working it out very good.
Speaker 1: What do you do? If you don't mind my asking it?
Speaker 1: Did drawing replace running? When I was a child, I
Speaker 1: was not super accepted in elementary school. I was different, right.
Speaker 1: I was one of the few kids of color in
Speaker 1: my school. I'm black. I was like, you know, tomboys, dyke,
Speaker 1: and I was bookish and also a jock, like a
Speaker 1: very weird combination of things. But I was different. I
Speaker 1: was very very different, and I felt like I didn't
Speaker 1: have close friendships, how somewhat bullied. I hesitate to use
Speaker 1: that word because I think it's complicated, but I was
Speaker 1: often alone as a child. I didn't have like any
Speaker 1: neighborhood kids like it was just adults living or on
Speaker 1: my street like it just I didn't have that. But
Speaker 1: what came out of that kind of solitary childhood was
Speaker 1: my art was was drawing, and for me, drawing was
Speaker 1: this just amazing thing that I was able to do
Speaker 1: all the time. Constantly, I would be in the basement
Speaker 1: just like working on a project. That I always had
Speaker 1: an art project going, and I kept it up for
Speaker 1: a while, even through my Masters. I remember handing in
Speaker 1: once like a comic book page as one of my
Speaker 1: papers because that was loud. And then I stopped completely
Speaker 1: and then the pandemic hit. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: reason why it's top of mind for me is because
Speaker 1: I reverted back to drawing and now I make artwork
Speaker 1: for Vice News reports for the podcast. It brings me
Speaker 1: so much joy and it takes so much time. It's
Speaker 1: an absurd thing to do for a podcast host. Like
Speaker 1: I can't believe my boss and like not only lets
Speaker 1: me do it, but asked me to do it. I
Speaker 1: think that's great. I think that's great. Why did you
Speaker 1: stop doing it? You know? There are a few things
Speaker 1: like that in my life. So I have a a
Speaker 1: weird background. After high school, I studied classical guitar and
Speaker 1: then when to study zoology for my bachelor's and then
Speaker 1: did science writing science reporting, and I stopped playing guitar too,
Speaker 1: and I don't know. I think it's it's a feeling
Speaker 1: of like, if you can't be the best, then why
Speaker 1: do it at all? But for whatever reason, during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: all of that went away. I didn't care anymore. I
Speaker 1: don't care that my drawings aren't perfect. I know they're not,
Speaker 1: but I get so much a piece out of it,
Speaker 1: so much comfort out of it, and I learned new
Speaker 1: things all the time. It's just this wonderful thing that
Speaker 1: I I'm not even sad I stopped, Like there's no regret.
Speaker 1: It's just like it feels like I'm starting on you
Speaker 1: and I just get to move forward and get back
Speaker 1: into it. With guitar, I'm not there yet, but withdrawing,
Speaker 1: I am. And that is truly, truly a one amazing
Speaker 1: thing in my life right now. What a gift, What
Speaker 1: a lovely gift, and a gift that you can put
Speaker 1: down and pick up when you're ready. Okay, So what
Speaker 1: question would she most like answered? So? I'm a huge
Speaker 1: fan of Octavia Butler, of her science fiction writing. I
Speaker 1: think she was brilliant, truly, and in one particular series
Speaker 1: of her books. In the series, it has to do
Speaker 1: with aliens, and it's beautiful. It's really really beautiful. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't typically go for alien stories, but this
Speaker 1: one is top notch. And in it she writes that
Speaker 1: the downfall of the human species is that we are
Speaker 1: extremely intelligent and hierarchical. And I would love to know,
Speaker 1: not necessarily how to alter that, but how to harness
Speaker 1: it for good. Like I guess, the question is, how
Speaker 1: do you convince the species, the human species, to fight
Speaker 1: back against our hierarchical nature, to take stock of this
Speaker 1: characteristic and to open our eyes to its negative aspects? Right?
Speaker 1: How do you do that? M God? I mean, I
Speaker 1: really I feel you, But I really think if you
Speaker 1: unpick that sweater, because it speaks to the fundament of Darwinism,
Speaker 1: you know, a survival of the fittest, which is the
Speaker 1: ultimate hierarchy, And if you start dismantling that, then perhaps
Speaker 1: maybe we would just be happier as single cell ambers
Speaker 1: in the primordial sludge. I mean maybe, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you necessarily dismantle it, because I do think the
Speaker 1: beautiful things come out of further competitive nature, you know,
Speaker 1: and I certainly don't think that you know, Communism when
Speaker 1: actually put in practice, you know, often has people who
Speaker 1: take advantage of the system. What I think would be
Speaker 1: wonderful would be to just have people realize that this
Speaker 1: has an impact, that this is probably the thing fundamentally
Speaker 1: that has led to climate change. You know. It a
Speaker 1: thing that leads to wars that make no sense. It
Speaker 1: is a thing that prevent in us from connecting truly
Speaker 1: with each other and with people who are different from us.
Speaker 1: Do you believe the hierarchy is that the fundament of
Speaker 1: those things. I think it's the combination of us being
Speaker 1: incredibly smart and hierarchy. Yeah, so the misuse of hierarchy.
Speaker 1: So how could we better use hierarchy? That's really interesting, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and just a more collaborative world. How could we make
Speaker 1: a more collaborative world? You know, I covered climate change
Speaker 1: for three years. It was hard, for sure, it was hard.
Speaker 1: It just felt like people weren't listening to each other
Speaker 1: a lot because fear and protectionism. Those have been the ironically,
Speaker 1: the unifying characteristic of the world is protectionist And we're
Speaker 1: going to do it this way, and we will share information,
Speaker 1: but up to a point, and we might also not
Speaker 1: share all of the information, and fear is at the
Speaker 1: root of that. Yeah, fear is at the root of
Speaker 1: that fear, and wanting to protect your family, wanting to
Speaker 1: put them above everybody else, which is a perfectly understandable
Speaker 1: feeling to have. The it is rooted in fear, and
Speaker 1: oftentimes that turns into fear of others and a refusal
Speaker 1: to listen, a refusal to open your heart, open your mind.
Speaker 1: I think Octavia Butler had it right. I really do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've got to go back and read some more because
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I mean it's funny. I mean
Speaker 1: we're you know, we're all looking at hierarchical structures and
Speaker 1: the way that they create systems right now and hoping
Speaker 1: to dismantle some of those. But as with every revolution,
Speaker 1: it feels like we're having a blanket responds to something
Speaker 1: that is so incredibly nuanced, and us reaching for and
Speaker 1: working for to find the nuance is also really important,
Speaker 1: and it's tough because this all comes back to the
Speaker 1: fact that we different communities have different values and we
Speaker 1: don't have um universal list of priorities right Like, I
Speaker 1: don't know how to get to that, but I think,
Speaker 1: just how do we make this world more collaborative. I
Speaker 1: think it's a really great question. I think it's a
Speaker 1: really great question to have answered. How do we make
Speaker 1: this world more collaborative? I love that? So what quality
Speaker 1: do you like least by yourself? I grew up in
Speaker 1: a family that prizes rationality, integrity, moral behaviors, I think,
Speaker 1: above everything else, and that comes with a ton of benefits, right, Like,
Speaker 1: that's that's generally a good environment to grow up in.
Speaker 1: But I think for me, the way that I internalized
Speaker 1: some of that information and some of that prioritizing is
Speaker 1: that I know, I think I internalized it in sort
Speaker 1: of a maladaptive way. Over time, I am very good
Speaker 1: at rationalizing my feelings into oblivion mm hmm, meaning that
Speaker 1: if if I'm upset by something that somebody said or
Speaker 1: something going on in my life, I will make backflips
Speaker 1: really to try and either explain to myself why, you know,
Speaker 1: why there's a there's probably a good reason for why
Speaker 1: they said what they said. Why you know, I'm just
Speaker 1: not understanding the context. Uh, And really, like in the
Speaker 1: grand scheme of things, my problems are rather small, you know, rationally,
Speaker 1: like this is a very small thing. So I just
Speaker 1: I invalidate my own feelings routinely, and you know it
Speaker 1: might be something perfectly valid, but I'll just tell myself
Speaker 1: all the reasons why I shouldn't be concerned with it,
Speaker 1: and I can. Yeah, I just convince myself that my
Speaker 1: feelings are invalid, and I really dislike that about myself.
Speaker 1: Do you try to change it? Do you take steps
Speaker 1: to change that sort of as it's happening, or do
Speaker 1: you sit around and think of other approaches? Well, I'm
Speaker 1: noticing it more now and honestly, like, do I try
Speaker 1: to change it? Yes, in the sense that I'm in therapy.
Speaker 1: I love my therapist. She's wonderful. Um, I do this
Speaker 1: really cool form of therapy that I enjoy quite a
Speaker 1: bit and that has just really changed my life. Wow.
Speaker 1: What is it. It's called i f S. It stands
Speaker 1: for internal family systems, So I guess a less well
Speaker 1: known therapy modality, but the way that it works, and god,
Speaker 1: anybody who knows if S will probably like, I think
Speaker 1: that I'm explaining this poorly, so I you know, I
Speaker 1: apologize in advance. But basically, it's like when you say, oh,
Speaker 1: a part of me feels like this, or a part
Speaker 1: of me feels like that. Those parts are the family
Speaker 1: system that you're tackling. So you will externalize those parts
Speaker 1: and you will talk to those parts of yourself and
Speaker 1: try to find out more and learn more about like
Speaker 1: why does that part feel that way? What you know?
Speaker 1: And and the part that rationalizes that's a part for me.
Speaker 1: That's one of those things that I tackle in therapy.
Speaker 1: That's interesting and it's really useful because you build empathy
Speaker 1: for those parts that you dislike about yourself. So I say, like,
Speaker 1: I really dislike that part of myself, but also I'm
Speaker 1: trying to understand it also, I'm trying to feel for it.
Speaker 1: I want to help it. The goal is for me
Speaker 1: to dislike it less and to understand that it's probably
Speaker 1: protecting me in some way. Mm hmmm. It's changing a
Speaker 1: processing system though, isn't it, or maybe unfolding it into
Speaker 1: a slightly less rational hug. Yeah, and I think it's
Speaker 1: just you know, over time, hopefully. I think the goal
Speaker 1: is that I stop invalidating when I'm bothered by something
Speaker 1: and start letting myself feel it. God. Yeah, wow, I
Speaker 1: could really stand to feel a little less. I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you mean by that? It's like, Christ, do
Speaker 1: I have to have twenty different feelings? About this because
Speaker 1: you know, and all of them feeling sometimes overwhelming and volcanic.
Speaker 1: I would love a bit more rationality. Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 1: I feel like it would calm the waters because my
Speaker 1: boyfriend is very it's very rational, but has extraordinary compassion,
Speaker 1: so he can sort of explain it to me at
Speaker 1: me feeling patronized or unheard, which I think is of
Speaker 1: incredibly special quality. But we were talking the other day
Speaker 1: about your knee joke. Reaction to a situation is your past,
Speaker 1: and your response to it is your present. So you
Speaker 1: are always in charge of your response. But that initial
Speaker 1: kick of what we do and how we are, which
Speaker 1: we so often react to and carry on reacting to.
Speaker 1: I thought that was interesting to look at it as
Speaker 1: a kind of past system. That felt quite empowering, that resonates.
Speaker 1: I think the thing that comes to mind hearing that
Speaker 1: is I agree that your initial reaction is your past.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can always control your reaction
Speaker 1: in the present if your past is so unaddressed that
Speaker 1: it takes over right, And I think that's what being
Speaker 1: triggered is. But what about that space? So what if
Speaker 1: it were about actually identifying and acknowledging that there is
Speaker 1: a space that one's initial reaction is this thing, systemic
Speaker 1: thing in one and then going, if I give this
Speaker 1: thirty seconds recognizing what it is, that perhaps the response
Speaker 1: would be different, and perhaps who I am now if
Speaker 1: I gave them credence and empowered them, would actually have
Speaker 1: a different response, and therefore I could sort of be
Speaker 1: slightly more in charge of my evolution. I mean, it
Speaker 1: seems like you're primed for I F S. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you've you know, that's That's exactly what it is, right.
Speaker 1: It's creating distance between these reactions and then being able
Speaker 1: to address them and change those patterns over time. It's
Speaker 1: funny because it's how a lot of my friends who
Speaker 1: take medication for anxiety and depression. It's often how they've
Speaker 1: explained it is that it gives you this moment to
Speaker 1: not dissolve, disintegrate and free fall into the reaction, but
Speaker 1: rather to negotiate and marshal a different response. That's interesting.
Speaker 1: That's interesting. I A not that I'm equating the two,
Speaker 1: but I recently put my dog on zach because nightly
Speaker 1: fireworks for a while before the fourth of July were
Speaker 1: really really specifically in my area. Of Brooklyn were really
Speaker 1: really terrible. I mean it felt like there was a
Speaker 1: boom every five seconds, and my dog got really really upset.
Speaker 1: And she wasn't previously scared of fireworks. Last summer she
Speaker 1: was fine, but then we moved and there were more fireworks,
Speaker 1: and it's been pretty terrible. So for like two months,
Speaker 1: she would hide in the bathroom every night and just
Speaker 1: cower and refused to go outside, you know, to to
Speaker 1: do her thing before bedtime, like just completely unable to
Speaker 1: snap out of it. And it didn't matter if we
Speaker 1: gave her a piece of hot dog or a piece
Speaker 1: of cheese or any healthier dog treat alternative like it
Speaker 1: just she couldn't snap out of it. And the prozac
Speaker 1: is just doing wonders. She is happy again. She is
Speaker 1: not scared at night. She and when she does get scared,
Speaker 1: if there is a big boom, she covers so much faster.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. She's a like eight pound Chihuahua and I
Speaker 1: love her deeply. Um and I'm just I'm just relieved.
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to hear that my friend's dog, Pete
Speaker 1: was very very unhappy and he went on prozac, and
Speaker 1: I feel like he found himself again. Yeah, I'm glad
Speaker 1: there's lots of therapy going on in your household about
Speaker 1: the fire ones. What relationship, real or fictionalized, defines love
Speaker 1: for you? When I think about love, I feel like
Speaker 1: my instinct is to think about my grandmother and to
Speaker 1: think about the way that she interacted with us when
Speaker 1: she was alive, and she just had this infinite patience
Speaker 1: and infinite curiosity about her life lives. It just feels
Speaker 1: really pure. And also because it is a childlike love,
Speaker 1: it feels two dimensional to me. What does that mean?
Speaker 1: I mean, what does that mean in terms of processing
Speaker 1: that it feels two dimensional? Toy? Well, it feels like
Speaker 1: we never went through any of the heart stuff together.
Speaker 1: I see. It was amazing, It was perfect, and it
Speaker 1: was very one sided, probably right, Like I mean, I
Speaker 1: loved her deeply, but I didn't prod her life and
Speaker 1: her inner feelings the way I would as an adult,
Speaker 1: and so I feel like I missed out on that
Speaker 1: opportunity a little bit to reciprocate in a way that
Speaker 1: feels meaningful. She knew that I loved her, I was
Speaker 1: obsessed with her, But it feels very childlike. But perhaps
Speaker 1: that was exactly what she wanted, and perhaps she had
Speaker 1: all the more complicated prodding from all the other people
Speaker 1: in her life, probably, but with you, it was pure
Speaker 1: and it was uncomplicated, just unconditional love. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: and there's definitely something to be said for that. But
Speaker 1: for me, when I think about what defines love, then
Speaker 1: I think, you know, the tendency is for people to
Speaker 1: look around and to point at something and say that's
Speaker 1: that's what I want. And when I do that, what
Speaker 1: I land on is my current relationship with my wife.
Speaker 1: That's what I want and I and I have it.
Speaker 1: I'm very fortunate in that way. I am deeply, deeply
Speaker 1: in love with her and I am loved well by her,
Speaker 1: And I mean to me that there's everything about our
Speaker 1: relationship which is not perfect, but is the closest thing
Speaker 1: I've ever experienced to that. How do you think that
Speaker 1: that sort of feeling of completion with yourself when you're
Speaker 1: with somebody else and with them, how does one keep
Speaker 1: evolving when you feel like something has completed? Well, I
Speaker 1: think that's that's the that's the whole thing you like
Speaker 1: exactly hit it, you know. It's the love that we
Speaker 1: have is a love where it is freeing you are
Speaker 1: to be yourself and to be yourself fully in every
Speaker 1: iteration of yourself throughout time. And so I know that Meredith,
Speaker 1: I love the person I was five years ago deeply,
Speaker 1: she loves the person that I am today, and in
Speaker 1: all likelihood, because we have this foundation of allowing for change,
Speaker 1: she will love the person that I am in ten years.
Speaker 1: And that's certainty. That belief that she believes that I
Speaker 1: am beautiful, both both inside and out, and also that
Speaker 1: that beauty means that I am not perfect, means that
Speaker 1: I will change, means that I will be a different person.
Speaker 1: It just you grow in a relationship that is healthy.
Speaker 1: You grow with your partner, and we have grown a
Speaker 1: lot over the last seven years. That's so nice to hear.
Speaker 1: It's so lovely, and you're right, growth is growing together
Speaker 1: is it is definitely the coolness stone. If there is
Speaker 1: a special source to a a relationship that has longevity,
Speaker 1: I would say that it is that it is mutual
Speaker 1: growth and respect for each other's growth. Yeah. Absolutely, And
Speaker 1: I think it's just being free to be the ugly
Speaker 1: parts of yourself as well, right, and to tackle those
Speaker 1: to not hide them away from your partner. And from
Speaker 1: the world to be told that it is okay, and
Speaker 1: she's she's really the first person in my life that
Speaker 1: truly made me feel beautiful. And I think that that
Speaker 1: is really, really meaningful. I mean, she's amazing, She's she's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: You know. Oh god, this is so embarrassing. I can't
Speaker 1: really want to talk about this. Um. You know. The
Speaker 1: thing that I love about a relationship is that we play.
Speaker 1: She had a difficult childhood. I spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time alone as a child, and I think that for us,
Speaker 1: adulthood is an opportunity to really play together, to really
Speaker 1: get that thing that we probably were seeking when we
Speaker 1: were children. And the reason why I bring us up
Speaker 1: is because we watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette together,
Speaker 1: and a few days ago we were have you are
Speaker 1: you familiar watch the show? I didn't watch the show.
Speaker 1: I have watched the show. Okay, I have watched some
Speaker 1: key moments. I do. I do understand the poll? Carry on, okay,
Speaker 1: are you good? Are you familiar with the term? Who'd you? Oh?
Speaker 1: My god, no, what does that mean? Okay? So it
Speaker 1: stands for hug jump and it was coined by a
Speaker 1: podcast that covers The Bachelor specifically, and a few days
Speaker 1: ago we were just like, let's just try it. Let's
Speaker 1: just do the running hug jump, and so, you know,
Speaker 1: we just like, it's really embarrassing. What we didn't realize
Speaker 1: is that the webcam that we have in our house
Speaker 1: for when we're checking in on our dog when we're gone,
Speaker 1: was on. And so I have these videos, these really
Speaker 1: embarrassing videos of her running towards me and me trying
Speaker 1: to catch her and then twirling around saying like, oh right,
Speaker 1: I have to twirl like that's an important part of
Speaker 1: the hug jump. And really I just had the best time.
Speaker 1: What would be your last mail? I discussed this answer
Speaker 1: with my wife, and when I told her, like, what
Speaker 1: do you think it is? She said, please tell me
Speaker 1: it's not own meal? And oh my god, that's already
Speaker 1: telling me that it might be a male it's oatmeal.
Speaker 1: I think I could have done. I was like, maybe
Speaker 1: it should be Trinidad Curry. My father's from Trinidad, you
Speaker 1: know ROTI yum that kind of thing. Maybe it should
Speaker 1: be my mother's from from Quebec. I grew up in Montreal,
Speaker 1: so maybe she'd be like, it's is like a meat pie.
Speaker 1: Maybe should be something like that, you know, something that's
Speaker 1: culturally meaningful to me, And no, I just if I
Speaker 1: know that I'm going to die, I want comfort and
Speaker 1: I want something else that is anchoring and that is
Speaker 1: part of my routine, and I want like oatmeal with
Speaker 1: bananas and peanut butter and a cup of coffee. Like
Speaker 1: that sounds really good. I might have to go and
Speaker 1: make that right now. Oh yeah, highly recommended. I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that as you were preparing to make an
Speaker 1: exit that again, it would be about the routine and
Speaker 1: the comfort that you found in this life and one earth.
Speaker 1: Would you change that? And have you know Daca Larange
Speaker 1: at the last moment? Yeah, why would I take a chance?
Speaker 1: Why would you take a chance? It's the last one.
Speaker 1: I want something consistent and that something that makes me happy.
Speaker 1: Sprinkle oh um, if you do do it, a little
Speaker 1: bit of molten salt flakes like on top of the
Speaker 1: bananas and the peanut butter. Very good sounds. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that some people are hearing this and are
Speaker 1: going like, this is the most boring thing. I cannot
Speaker 1: believe that this is what you would eat going out.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think when we think of ourselves
Speaker 1: at the nexus of life and death, I don't think
Speaker 1: you can judge what any single person would say is
Speaker 1: either their last thought or the last words that they
Speaker 1: would say, or the last meal that they would eat,
Speaker 1: because that is between them and the life that they've
Speaker 1: lived and whatever they anticipate coming next. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: want to feel full. I want to think, I want
Speaker 1: to I really, really really want to feel full. By
Speaker 1: the way, being hungry in the afterlife would most likely suck,
Speaker 1: would suck mal like doesn't that? I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: actually believe in the afterlife, but just in case, and
Speaker 1: that's my kind of atheism. Look, just in case, I'm
Speaker 1: going to have this giant glass of wine and a
Speaker 1: bowl of oat mail. Yes, I might supplant the coffee
Speaker 1: for Yeah, that's kind of a weird combination. I don't know,
Speaker 1: wine and oatmeal. Look, I do the oatmeal, do some
Speaker 1: thinking in a bit of writing, then I have a
Speaker 1: glass of wine, and then sayonara, how about whiskey and oatmeal.
Speaker 1: Well that's very Scottish, by the way, how about making
Speaker 1: oatmeal with whiskey? Now that's a thought. If you soaked
Speaker 1: the oats in the whiskey overnight even and then made them. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely making this, so yeah, you'd basically completely modifying
Speaker 1: overnight oats instead of like milk and yogurt. Let's do it,
Speaker 1: let's do it, let's try it out. Definitely think you
Speaker 1: should do it, because also one might just be slightly
Speaker 1: hammered after breakfast, but you've eaten legitimately. Yeah, that sounds delightful.
Speaker 1: It's been such a pleasure talking to you. I'm so
Speaker 1: grateful for you coming on the show. It's just thank
Speaker 1: you for having me. Britain. Really really appreciate it. I
Speaker 1: love the meeting of playfulness and intellectual acuity. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Say hi to Meredith from me. She will thank you
Speaker 1: so much for having me. I really do think that
Speaker 1: this This is an amazing format. It's very very cool.
Speaker 1: Thank you. You can hear. R L hosts the Vice
Speaker 1: News Reports podcast every week from Vice and I Heart Radio.
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