1 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:22,596 Speaker 1: Pushkin. By the time you hear this, I will be 2 00:00:22,636 --> 00:00:27,916 Speaker 1: in an airplane exiting the United States. It will be 3 00:00:27,956 --> 00:00:34,316 Speaker 1: my first non work trip since August. The irony at 4 00:00:34,356 --> 00:00:37,036 Speaker 1: the heart of this season of Chat episodes is that 5 00:00:37,396 --> 00:00:40,716 Speaker 1: I've been talking to travelers, but I've been stuck at 6 00:00:40,756 --> 00:00:46,356 Speaker 1: my desk. While I've been talking to people who've traveled 7 00:00:46,356 --> 00:00:54,076 Speaker 1: all over Ghana, India, Naples, Bora, Bora, I haven't gone 8 00:00:54,076 --> 00:01:00,396 Speaker 1: further than Exit four on the Jersey Durmpike. Mostly I've 9 00:01:00,396 --> 00:01:05,476 Speaker 1: spent my days in New York oh mule with blueberries, laptop, laptop, laptop, 10 00:01:05,996 --> 00:01:10,956 Speaker 1: over priced salad, laptop, meeting laptop, some elaborately made dinner 11 00:01:11,036 --> 00:01:15,356 Speaker 1: as a form of procrastination, laptop washing the dishes on 12 00:01:15,396 --> 00:01:21,876 Speaker 1: good days. Bed. Now there's some positive things about not traveling. 13 00:01:22,516 --> 00:01:26,036 Speaker 1: My laundry is done, my credit card bills are pretty low. 14 00:01:26,916 --> 00:01:29,476 Speaker 1: For the first time, I've been able to respond to 15 00:01:29,516 --> 00:01:34,276 Speaker 1: spontaneous invites to dinner with friends, and I could finally 16 00:01:34,276 --> 00:01:38,076 Speaker 1: buy hair products over three point four ounces. But to 17 00:01:38,116 --> 00:01:43,196 Speaker 1: be honest, I was starting to become homesick. Not in 18 00:01:43,236 --> 00:01:45,196 Speaker 1: the I miss my own bed kind of way, because 19 00:01:45,196 --> 00:01:47,996 Speaker 1: I did not miss my bed, but in the I'm 20 00:01:48,036 --> 00:01:51,716 Speaker 1: sick of my home kind of way. I've done every chore, 21 00:01:52,196 --> 00:01:55,796 Speaker 1: visited every local shop, walked every inch of my local park, 22 00:01:56,956 --> 00:02:01,316 Speaker 1: streamed and schemed. But after being at home for a 23 00:02:01,356 --> 00:02:06,476 Speaker 1: few months, my feet were beginning to itch in a 24 00:02:06,516 --> 00:02:12,116 Speaker 1: metaphorical sense, because honestly, my feet haven't been cleaner. Yes, 25 00:02:12,396 --> 00:02:14,996 Speaker 1: Over the course of this season, my guests have talked 26 00:02:14,996 --> 00:02:17,916 Speaker 1: about travel as a means of self development, as a 27 00:02:17,956 --> 00:02:21,476 Speaker 1: means of understanding humanity, as a means of escape, as 28 00:02:21,516 --> 00:02:24,756 Speaker 1: a way of learning, and my instinct to travel could 29 00:02:24,876 --> 00:02:28,396 Speaker 1: be a bit of all those things. Or maybe I 30 00:02:28,396 --> 00:02:30,796 Speaker 1: don't need to overthink it. Perhaps I'm just one of 31 00:02:30,836 --> 00:02:36,476 Speaker 1: those people who is genetically predisposed towards wonderlust. Or maybe 32 00:02:36,716 --> 00:02:40,956 Speaker 1: the answers at my next destination. If it is, I'll 33 00:02:40,956 --> 00:02:45,556 Speaker 1: be sure to let you know anyway. I have my 34 00:02:45,596 --> 00:02:48,596 Speaker 1: ticket in my blazer. I booked a window seat. I'm 35 00:02:48,716 --> 00:02:50,996 Speaker 1: prepared to yield the armrest to the person in the 36 00:02:50,996 --> 00:02:54,396 Speaker 1: middle seat if needed. I have plans for my destination, 37 00:02:54,516 --> 00:02:57,476 Speaker 1: whe they're not too specific. I won't turn my nose 38 00:02:57,556 --> 00:03:00,356 Speaker 1: up at a tour, nor will I overthink what I'm doing. 39 00:03:00,916 --> 00:03:03,316 Speaker 1: In short, I'm going to try to deploy all the 40 00:03:03,356 --> 00:03:07,676 Speaker 1: knowledge I've gained this season, and yes, I might try 41 00:03:07,716 --> 00:03:11,116 Speaker 1: to finagle a dinner. I might too. In the meantime, 42 00:03:11,356 --> 00:03:14,676 Speaker 1: we have an excellent valdictory episode of Not Lost Chat 43 00:03:14,756 --> 00:03:18,356 Speaker 1: for you. Today. Celebrated travel writer Pico Iyer is here 44 00:03:18,476 --> 00:03:22,596 Speaker 1: to talk about paradise and musician, comedian and performance artist 45 00:03:22,636 --> 00:03:25,996 Speaker 1: Reggie Watts stops by enlists what he thinks of when 46 00:03:26,076 --> 00:03:35,916 Speaker 1: he thinks of me. Ragmatism, practicality, preparedness, helpfulness, flexibility, dynamicism. 47 00:03:36,276 --> 00:03:45,676 Speaker 1: I feel seen when Not Lost Chat returns Welcome back 48 00:03:45,716 --> 00:03:48,796 Speaker 1: to Not Lost Chat. I'm Brendan Francis Nunham. Later in 49 00:03:48,836 --> 00:03:52,156 Speaker 1: the show, performance artist and musical savant Reggie Watts comes 50 00:03:52,196 --> 00:03:56,036 Speaker 1: by to answer your travel questions. But first I speak 51 00:03:56,036 --> 00:04:00,836 Speaker 1: with the doyenne of contemporary travel writers, Pico Iyer. My 52 00:04:01,036 --> 00:04:03,756 Speaker 1: editor warned me that that word was a little too precious, 53 00:04:03,796 --> 00:04:07,436 Speaker 1: but I think it's perfectly accurate for Pico. He has 54 00:04:07,436 --> 00:04:11,916 Speaker 1: written fifteen books about everything from the Cuban Revolution to globalism. 55 00:04:11,996 --> 00:04:14,876 Speaker 1: Some of his best sellers include Video Nighting, Catman Do 56 00:04:15,276 --> 00:04:18,436 Speaker 1: and the Art of Stillness, and he also writes on 57 00:04:18,516 --> 00:04:22,916 Speaker 1: average a hundred articles a year for various publications including 58 00:04:22,916 --> 00:04:26,236 Speaker 1: The New York Times, The Financial Times and others. Plus 59 00:04:26,556 --> 00:04:29,236 Speaker 1: and this is my favorite part of his bio. He 60 00:04:29,316 --> 00:04:32,356 Speaker 1: splits his time between a Benedictine hermitage in Big Sir, 61 00:04:32,516 --> 00:04:36,676 Speaker 1: California and an apartment with his wife in suburban Kyoto. 62 00:04:37,756 --> 00:04:40,596 Speaker 1: And here you thought having separate bedrooms was the secret 63 00:04:40,596 --> 00:04:44,716 Speaker 1: to alarm relationship. Pico's most recent book is The Half 64 00:04:44,756 --> 00:04:48,116 Speaker 1: Known Life in Search of Paradise, and in that book 65 00:04:48,276 --> 00:04:51,676 Speaker 1: he travels around to ten places across the world, places 66 00:04:51,716 --> 00:04:56,716 Speaker 1: like Iran, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Cashmere. And if you're 67 00:04:56,756 --> 00:05:00,276 Speaker 1: getting the sense that these aren't the typical places travelers 68 00:05:00,236 --> 00:05:03,476 Speaker 1: associated with paradise, you're not alone. I had the same feeling, 69 00:05:03,796 --> 00:05:06,156 Speaker 1: and when I met with Pico, I asked him about it. 70 00:05:06,196 --> 00:05:08,116 Speaker 1: I said, you know, if I didn't know any better, 71 00:05:08,156 --> 00:05:11,116 Speaker 1: I would assume you we're being cheeky about the search 72 00:05:11,156 --> 00:05:14,476 Speaker 1: for paradise. You're absolutely right. I mean, I've been lucky 73 00:05:14,556 --> 00:05:16,916 Speaker 1: enough to be traveling a long time, and so of 74 00:05:16,956 --> 00:05:19,876 Speaker 1: course when you step into a travel agency, everywhere is 75 00:05:19,876 --> 00:05:23,036 Speaker 1: presented as Shangola or Paradise. And when I was young, 76 00:05:23,116 --> 00:05:27,556 Speaker 1: I would go to Bali and later the Tahiti the Seychelles, Antarctica, 77 00:05:27,676 --> 00:05:30,636 Speaker 1: all the places that are commonly thought of as paradise, 78 00:05:31,156 --> 00:05:35,396 Speaker 1: and what's paradise for the visitor often isn't for the local. 79 00:05:35,676 --> 00:05:37,756 Speaker 1: If I were to ask one of them, what's your 80 00:05:37,916 --> 00:05:40,196 Speaker 1: notion of paradise? So they say, oh, yeah, paradise is 81 00:05:40,196 --> 00:05:43,076 Speaker 1: Santa Monica, It's New York City, It's that place across 82 00:05:43,076 --> 00:05:46,036 Speaker 1: the ocean. If I go to somewhere that really does 83 00:05:46,116 --> 00:05:49,916 Speaker 1: feel very content and self contained and unfallen, what do 84 00:05:49,996 --> 00:05:52,196 Speaker 1: I have to offer to it? I only corruption. I 85 00:05:52,236 --> 00:05:55,196 Speaker 1: am the serpent in the garden of Eden. And of 86 00:05:55,236 --> 00:05:58,756 Speaker 1: course everybody's sense of paradise is different. So probably the 87 00:05:58,756 --> 00:06:01,316 Speaker 1: best way of answering your question is this book rose 88 00:06:01,356 --> 00:06:05,956 Speaker 1: out of the pandemic, and twenty hours after lockdown was 89 00:06:05,996 --> 00:06:08,796 Speaker 1: announced in California, my eighty eight to old mother was 90 00:06:08,836 --> 00:06:12,476 Speaker 1: raised into the hospital in an ambulance, losing blood very quickly. 91 00:06:12,796 --> 00:06:15,236 Speaker 1: And when she came back, I flew through these three 92 00:06:15,276 --> 00:06:18,156 Speaker 1: ghost down airports from my little apartment to Japan to 93 00:06:18,156 --> 00:06:20,276 Speaker 1: be with her. So there I was sitting with my 94 00:06:20,316 --> 00:06:22,836 Speaker 1: mother who was wavering between life and death and the 95 00:06:22,876 --> 00:06:26,276 Speaker 1: whole world in this state of anxiety and lockdown and 96 00:06:26,676 --> 00:06:29,756 Speaker 1: I was thinking, well, the only paradise I would really 97 00:06:29,756 --> 00:06:32,316 Speaker 1: believe in is one that happens in the middle of 98 00:06:32,356 --> 00:06:34,516 Speaker 1: real life and in the face of death. In other words, 99 00:06:34,796 --> 00:06:37,476 Speaker 1: given that life is always going to throw difficult things 100 00:06:37,476 --> 00:06:39,476 Speaker 1: at us, how can we find our paradise in the 101 00:06:39,476 --> 00:06:42,996 Speaker 1: midst of that difficulty? And so, as you said, I 102 00:06:43,036 --> 00:06:46,196 Speaker 1: thought back onto the places of conflict and the many 103 00:06:46,196 --> 00:06:49,476 Speaker 1: war zones I'd been to, and I thought, maybe there 104 00:06:49,556 --> 00:06:54,116 Speaker 1: is a durable paradise that can outlast even the harshest 105 00:06:54,116 --> 00:06:57,876 Speaker 1: forms of reality. The book begins in Iran, and you 106 00:06:57,876 --> 00:07:00,836 Speaker 1: know there's an oppressive regime there. There isn't a hot war, 107 00:07:00,876 --> 00:07:04,036 Speaker 1: although there have been really intense protests of late. But 108 00:07:04,116 --> 00:07:05,796 Speaker 1: there's a couple of reasons you went there. Because it 109 00:07:05,916 --> 00:07:09,796 Speaker 1: also the origin of the word paradise, if understanding you, 110 00:07:09,996 --> 00:07:15,796 Speaker 1: also comes from Persian culture, exactly so. And also I 111 00:07:15,876 --> 00:07:18,916 Speaker 1: think the second reason is it's a perfect way of 112 00:07:18,956 --> 00:07:22,916 Speaker 1: seeing conflicting visions of paradise, because, of course, as you 113 00:07:22,916 --> 00:07:27,876 Speaker 1: are suggesting, the oppressive ayatold Us who rule Iran, maintained 114 00:07:27,916 --> 00:07:31,036 Speaker 1: that paradise belongs only to the faithful, and the place 115 00:07:31,076 --> 00:07:35,036 Speaker 1: called Zachar's paradise in South Tehran is actually a graveyard, 116 00:07:35,036 --> 00:07:36,916 Speaker 1: one of the largest in the world, with one point 117 00:07:36,916 --> 00:07:40,876 Speaker 1: five million dead bodies there. And meanwhile, as the protests 118 00:07:40,956 --> 00:07:44,956 Speaker 1: remind us, so many of the citizens of Iran constructing 119 00:07:44,996 --> 00:07:49,116 Speaker 1: their own paradise behind closed doors, which is a very secular, 120 00:07:49,276 --> 00:07:52,276 Speaker 1: worldly place of sex and drugs and rock and roll. 121 00:07:52,796 --> 00:07:57,116 Speaker 1: And then both sides meanwhile quoting from the Sufi poets 122 00:07:57,156 --> 00:08:00,516 Speaker 1: that they learned in high school or elementary school, who 123 00:08:00,756 --> 00:08:04,196 Speaker 1: remind us that the only paradise you can find is within, 124 00:08:04,396 --> 00:08:07,836 Speaker 1: which I think at some level everybody knows. But as 125 00:08:07,836 --> 00:08:11,916 Speaker 1: you say, Iran doesn't sound like a honeymoon location. But 126 00:08:12,236 --> 00:08:14,196 Speaker 1: as soon as I got there, though I'd been studying 127 00:08:14,196 --> 00:08:18,076 Speaker 1: it for thirty years, every hour of the next sixteen 128 00:08:18,116 --> 00:08:20,716 Speaker 1: days was full of surprises. And one of the surprises 129 00:08:21,316 --> 00:08:24,196 Speaker 1: is that if you're staying in a garden hotel in 130 00:08:24,356 --> 00:08:27,596 Speaker 1: the desert city of YaST and you step out after 131 00:08:27,716 --> 00:08:30,756 Speaker 1: nightfall and there are sweet smelling flowers all around, and 132 00:08:30,796 --> 00:08:33,916 Speaker 1: there are fairy colored lights in the trees, and you're 133 00:08:33,996 --> 00:08:36,716 Speaker 1: lead to this beautiful divan and you stretch out, and 134 00:08:36,756 --> 00:08:40,036 Speaker 1: an elegant way it brings you slices of sweet watermelon 135 00:08:40,356 --> 00:08:42,316 Speaker 1: and a pot of strong tea, and all around you 136 00:08:42,396 --> 00:08:46,396 Speaker 1: the beautiful, soft eyed people exchanging murmurs. My heavens, it's 137 00:08:46,436 --> 00:08:48,916 Speaker 1: as close to an earthly paradise as anything I've seen. 138 00:08:48,956 --> 00:08:52,316 Speaker 1: And the Iranians or the Persians, for thousands of years 139 00:08:52,316 --> 00:08:54,796 Speaker 1: have been building gardens that are meant to be a 140 00:08:54,836 --> 00:08:58,116 Speaker 1: replica of paradise and an enticement to the paradise of 141 00:08:58,156 --> 00:09:02,076 Speaker 1: the afterworld, and to this day they're as idyllic as 142 00:09:02,116 --> 00:09:05,156 Speaker 1: anywhere I've seen on earth. You also mentioned as another 143 00:09:05,396 --> 00:09:08,716 Speaker 1: fascinating detail is in your notes you would refer to 144 00:09:08,756 --> 00:09:12,276 Speaker 1: Ara as paradise in case your notebooks were reviewed when 145 00:09:12,316 --> 00:09:14,916 Speaker 1: you left, or in case your emails were being read, 146 00:09:14,956 --> 00:09:17,716 Speaker 1: and so you had to kind of veil Run as 147 00:09:17,796 --> 00:09:21,276 Speaker 1: paradise in your communications. Yes, I had to become as 148 00:09:21,396 --> 00:09:25,516 Speaker 1: veiled and complex as a society around me. So because 149 00:09:25,836 --> 00:09:28,556 Speaker 1: I think the first day I arrived there, I arrived 150 00:09:28,556 --> 00:09:30,116 Speaker 1: in the holy city of my shard, and it was 151 00:09:30,116 --> 00:09:32,476 Speaker 1: so surprising. I wanted to tell my friends back in 152 00:09:32,476 --> 00:09:35,476 Speaker 1: the US, so I went online, no problem sending emails. 153 00:09:35,836 --> 00:09:39,356 Speaker 1: By the third day my email account was completely blocked. 154 00:09:39,436 --> 00:09:43,716 Speaker 1: So I was positive that some poor lackey in Tehran 155 00:09:43,876 --> 00:09:46,636 Speaker 1: was being asked to read my every email at the 156 00:09:46,676 --> 00:09:48,556 Speaker 1: same time as my email was blocked. I could go 157 00:09:48,596 --> 00:09:51,436 Speaker 1: down to the hotel computer and send emails at any time, 158 00:09:51,836 --> 00:09:54,236 Speaker 1: but realizing that somebody was reading them, I thought it 159 00:09:54,236 --> 00:09:56,676 Speaker 1: was prudent to say this is the most wonderful place 160 00:09:56,716 --> 00:09:59,956 Speaker 1: on earth. And so in that culture where everything is 161 00:09:59,996 --> 00:10:04,036 Speaker 1: taking place between the lines and beneath the words, I 162 00:10:04,156 --> 00:10:07,236 Speaker 1: quickly realized I had to be the same, and I 163 00:10:07,276 --> 00:10:10,076 Speaker 1: had to pretend to be something that I wasn't. It 164 00:10:10,156 --> 00:10:14,076 Speaker 1: was a most interesting, sophisticated, rich place I've ever been, 165 00:10:14,196 --> 00:10:17,156 Speaker 1: the number one destination of my life. But I did 166 00:10:17,156 --> 00:10:20,156 Speaker 1: always feel that somebody was looking over my shoulder, and 167 00:10:20,316 --> 00:10:23,076 Speaker 1: it was wise to be vigilant. And when you say 168 00:10:23,116 --> 00:10:25,156 Speaker 1: it's the most interesting place you've ever been, that is 169 00:10:25,276 --> 00:10:29,036 Speaker 1: high praise, since you spend a lot of your life traveling. 170 00:10:29,956 --> 00:10:33,476 Speaker 1: On that point about traveling, how if at all, do 171 00:10:33,516 --> 00:10:37,876 Speaker 1: you think that you're living betwixt and between places affects 172 00:10:37,876 --> 00:10:41,476 Speaker 1: your view of paradise, Well, it changes in my relation 173 00:10:41,516 --> 00:10:43,876 Speaker 1: to home, Because you're absolutely right. I grew up in 174 00:10:43,876 --> 00:10:47,916 Speaker 1: the passageways and criss crossings between cultures as the child 175 00:10:47,956 --> 00:10:51,556 Speaker 1: of Indian parents born and growing up in England, moving 176 00:10:51,556 --> 00:10:54,476 Speaker 1: to California at seven, and then from the age of nine, 177 00:10:54,516 --> 00:10:57,956 Speaker 1: commuting back and forth every few weeks between England and California, 178 00:10:57,996 --> 00:11:00,676 Speaker 1: and now living in Japan for thirty five years on 179 00:11:00,676 --> 00:11:04,836 Speaker 1: a tourist visa. The space in between is my home, 180 00:11:04,876 --> 00:11:07,476 Speaker 1: and I'm very comfortable there, with one foot inside and 181 00:11:07,516 --> 00:11:10,436 Speaker 1: one foot outside. When a little boy, I was the 182 00:11:10,516 --> 00:11:13,636 Speaker 1: only dark skinned kid in all my classes in England, 183 00:11:13,836 --> 00:11:17,196 Speaker 1: So I never guessed then that what was so unusual 184 00:11:17,596 --> 00:11:19,876 Speaker 1: at that time would be the norm. I think if 185 00:11:19,916 --> 00:11:22,876 Speaker 1: I go to a classroom in San Francisco, I bet 186 00:11:23,556 --> 00:11:26,316 Speaker 1: forty percent or maybe more of the kids would be 187 00:11:26,476 --> 00:11:28,796 Speaker 1: just as in between as I am, and have lots 188 00:11:28,796 --> 00:11:32,116 Speaker 1: and lots of cultures inside them and around them. And 189 00:11:32,156 --> 00:11:34,636 Speaker 1: I think that's the great beauty of this new century. 190 00:11:35,556 --> 00:11:37,836 Speaker 1: I do think, as you say, it's not a paradise 191 00:11:38,316 --> 00:11:41,036 Speaker 1: for many people. It's a purgatory, not being able to 192 00:11:41,036 --> 00:11:44,276 Speaker 1: define themselves in a clear way. For me, it just 193 00:11:44,396 --> 00:11:47,276 Speaker 1: reminded me that home had nothing to do with any 194 00:11:47,276 --> 00:11:50,516 Speaker 1: physical location. It had to be what lives inside me, 195 00:11:51,156 --> 00:11:54,956 Speaker 1: my mother, my wife, the songs that go through my head, 196 00:11:54,996 --> 00:11:57,196 Speaker 1: the books I carry around with me, wherever I go. 197 00:11:57,676 --> 00:12:01,156 Speaker 1: And I'd always felt that, But actually, when I speak 198 00:12:01,156 --> 00:12:03,956 Speaker 1: of purgatory, this book came out of the lockdown, as 199 00:12:03,996 --> 00:12:08,436 Speaker 1: I was saying, and that was an in between time, essentially, 200 00:12:08,516 --> 00:12:11,116 Speaker 1: like the in between spaces where I've lived, And in 201 00:12:11,156 --> 00:12:13,836 Speaker 1: that in between time, I was thinking, and I'm sure 202 00:12:13,876 --> 00:12:16,756 Speaker 1: many other people were thinking, Well, this is a time 203 00:12:16,796 --> 00:12:19,236 Speaker 1: of uncertainty. We can't go anywhere, we don't know what's 204 00:12:19,236 --> 00:12:21,596 Speaker 1: coming over the horizon. How can we make it as 205 00:12:21,636 --> 00:12:24,116 Speaker 1: close to paradise as possible? How can we make ourselves 206 00:12:24,396 --> 00:12:29,876 Speaker 1: warm and cozy in this state of anxiety and unsettledness. 207 00:12:30,276 --> 00:12:32,516 Speaker 1: I wonder when you're going to places to write about them, 208 00:12:32,836 --> 00:12:34,956 Speaker 1: there is a certain amount of fantasy. Do you arrive 209 00:12:34,996 --> 00:12:38,196 Speaker 1: with an assignment. You arrive to pay attention, but you 210 00:12:38,276 --> 00:12:42,236 Speaker 1: don't have to get too involved in the mundane. And 211 00:12:42,276 --> 00:12:44,676 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if that, in a way it gives some 212 00:12:44,716 --> 00:12:48,876 Speaker 1: sort of artificial feeling of you know, you're unburdened by 213 00:12:49,036 --> 00:12:51,796 Speaker 1: certain mechanics of life because you are just always kind 214 00:12:51,796 --> 00:12:55,196 Speaker 1: of on assignment and adrift. Well, you're right, I mean, 215 00:12:55,236 --> 00:12:59,116 Speaker 1: the tourist is always carrying an artificial paradise around with 216 00:12:59,236 --> 00:13:02,436 Speaker 1: him and there's this dis equilibrium because we arrive in 217 00:13:02,556 --> 00:13:04,956 Speaker 1: Bali and as you say, we imagine we can do 218 00:13:04,996 --> 00:13:08,156 Speaker 1: anything we want. We're free of obligation, we're on holiday, 219 00:13:08,396 --> 00:13:10,556 Speaker 1: and the people were meeting at desperately trying to make 220 00:13:10,596 --> 00:13:13,836 Speaker 1: a living. So I've always felt that the traveler is 221 00:13:13,916 --> 00:13:18,516 Speaker 1: living in a sort of false paradise of projections and illusions. Yes, 222 00:13:19,356 --> 00:13:22,796 Speaker 1: you visit Kashmir, which you describe one point as the 223 00:13:22,796 --> 00:13:25,836 Speaker 1: paradise that's shone in your mother's heart, and that is 224 00:13:25,876 --> 00:13:27,996 Speaker 1: such a beautiful chapter. I don't know if that's why 225 00:13:27,996 --> 00:13:30,636 Speaker 1: it in such a beautiful chapter in this book, but 226 00:13:30,716 --> 00:13:34,396 Speaker 1: I do think the duality of the water versus the 227 00:13:34,516 --> 00:13:38,636 Speaker 1: land there, versus the political situation versus the hope, and 228 00:13:38,756 --> 00:13:42,116 Speaker 1: tourism's role. Could you speak about Kashmir and how it 229 00:13:42,156 --> 00:13:45,036 Speaker 1: fits into your kind of search for paradise. Yeah, no, 230 00:13:45,156 --> 00:13:50,156 Speaker 1: that's so beautifully, said Brendon. I mean you caught it perfectly. So, Yes, 231 00:13:50,196 --> 00:13:53,076 Speaker 1: as you said, I grew up on my mother's remembrances 232 00:13:53,076 --> 00:13:56,396 Speaker 1: from nineteen forty one of the lake under the snow 233 00:13:56,436 --> 00:13:59,316 Speaker 1: caps and the fields full of alpine flowers, and it 234 00:13:59,436 --> 00:14:01,636 Speaker 1: was a magical place for her growing up in Bombay, 235 00:14:02,116 --> 00:14:04,356 Speaker 1: And when finally I made it there a few years ago, 236 00:14:04,436 --> 00:14:07,516 Speaker 1: I stayed on as every traveler does, on a houseboat 237 00:14:07,876 --> 00:14:11,196 Speaker 1: on lake, and there was a lotus pond right outside 238 00:14:11,276 --> 00:14:13,996 Speaker 1: my window, and there was no sound but the whir 239 00:14:14,236 --> 00:14:18,556 Speaker 1: of Kingfisher's wings, and people would paddle slowly past, bringing 240 00:14:18,756 --> 00:14:22,516 Speaker 1: curries right to the doorstep or beautiful intricate carved boxes, 241 00:14:22,756 --> 00:14:26,396 Speaker 1: and couldn't have been more peaceful and heavenly, so long 242 00:14:26,556 --> 00:14:29,996 Speaker 1: as I screened out the fact that, just as you said, 243 00:14:29,996 --> 00:14:33,716 Speaker 1: ten minutes away on land, there were five hundred thousand 244 00:14:33,756 --> 00:14:37,436 Speaker 1: soldiers keeping an uneasy piece in a violent and occupied 245 00:14:37,476 --> 00:14:40,516 Speaker 1: place that for seventy years has been fought over by 246 00:14:40,876 --> 00:14:44,316 Speaker 1: India in Pakistan. And again that's part of the hazard 247 00:14:44,356 --> 00:14:46,916 Speaker 1: of being a paradise. Everyone wants to claim you, and 248 00:14:47,236 --> 00:14:50,236 Speaker 1: there are lots of people fighting over the same territory. 249 00:14:50,236 --> 00:14:53,636 Speaker 1: And so I thought, well, this is it's a paradise, 250 00:14:53,676 --> 00:14:57,756 Speaker 1: so long as I ignore the reality for the Cashmirius, 251 00:14:57,796 --> 00:15:02,356 Speaker 1: which is a very tragic reality. In that chapter, you 252 00:15:02,436 --> 00:15:04,476 Speaker 1: also you describe a lot of the people you meet 253 00:15:04,516 --> 00:15:06,476 Speaker 1: and what you learn from them, and I think a 254 00:15:06,596 --> 00:15:10,556 Speaker 1: more personal kind of do our that one has to 255 00:15:10,596 --> 00:15:13,996 Speaker 1: exist with in order to find peace. I think the 256 00:15:14,076 --> 00:15:17,956 Speaker 1: character he encountered. His name is Johnny, is that correct? Yes, yes, yes, 257 00:15:18,116 --> 00:15:20,716 Speaker 1: And can you talk a little bit about his story 258 00:15:20,836 --> 00:15:23,796 Speaker 1: and how he ended up there and found his way there. 259 00:15:24,076 --> 00:15:27,076 Speaker 1: So Johnny is a British tour guide and I had 260 00:15:27,116 --> 00:15:29,916 Speaker 1: been told by my magazine edit he's the guy you 261 00:15:29,916 --> 00:15:32,556 Speaker 1: should make contact with and should show you around Kashmir. 262 00:15:32,636 --> 00:15:36,356 Speaker 1: And indeed he was. He knew everyone and everywhere, and 263 00:15:36,476 --> 00:15:38,996 Speaker 1: in the course of our days together he told me 264 00:15:39,076 --> 00:15:42,476 Speaker 1: how twenty five years earlier, as a very very young traveler, 265 00:15:42,636 --> 00:15:46,676 Speaker 1: he'd come to Kashmir with his girlfriend and they stayed 266 00:15:46,716 --> 00:15:51,116 Speaker 1: on the houseboat called the Dream Palace, and one night 267 00:15:51,556 --> 00:15:54,996 Speaker 1: he woke up and his girlfriend couldn't breathe, and he 268 00:15:55,076 --> 00:15:58,076 Speaker 1: did everything he could, and she was dead at the 269 00:15:58,116 --> 00:16:02,836 Speaker 1: age of probably twenty three. And every traveler's nightmare, and 270 00:16:02,956 --> 00:16:05,916 Speaker 1: in a very difficult foreign place, there's your girlfriend. Not 271 00:16:05,956 --> 00:16:08,876 Speaker 1: only is she dead, but the police take him to 272 00:16:08,916 --> 00:16:11,676 Speaker 1: be the number one suspect if it was not a 273 00:16:11,756 --> 00:16:15,636 Speaker 1: natural death. And so suddenly his time in the paradise 274 00:16:15,636 --> 00:16:18,596 Speaker 1: of Kashmir involves going to the police station, going to 275 00:16:18,636 --> 00:16:21,636 Speaker 1: the coroner's office, making the most difficult phone call of 276 00:16:21,676 --> 00:16:25,196 Speaker 1: all to his girlfriend's parents back in England. I mean, 277 00:16:25,276 --> 00:16:29,796 Speaker 1: just a devastating thing. And then finally he went back 278 00:16:29,916 --> 00:16:33,316 Speaker 1: to England. And I imagined, after all that the one 279 00:16:33,356 --> 00:16:35,276 Speaker 1: place in the world he would never want to see 280 00:16:35,316 --> 00:16:38,516 Speaker 1: again is Kashmir. But of course I met him in Kashmir, 281 00:16:38,796 --> 00:16:42,076 Speaker 1: and in fact, as soon as Kashmir opened to visitors 282 00:16:42,116 --> 00:16:45,836 Speaker 1: again after some turmoil, he was the first professional talk 283 00:16:45,876 --> 00:16:50,396 Speaker 1: guide operator to go back. And he felt he wanted 284 00:16:50,396 --> 00:16:52,716 Speaker 1: to help Kashmir, which is a region he'd always loved, 285 00:16:53,076 --> 00:16:56,156 Speaker 1: but he also thought he could only repair his heart 286 00:16:56,516 --> 00:16:59,076 Speaker 1: by going to the place where his heart had been shattered. 287 00:16:59,676 --> 00:17:02,836 Speaker 1: And it also spoke, as you perfectly pointed out, to 288 00:17:02,876 --> 00:17:05,836 Speaker 1: this duality that on the one hand, I, who was 289 00:17:05,876 --> 00:17:08,996 Speaker 1: traveling there with Johnny, was like Johnny, trying to revise 290 00:17:09,276 --> 00:17:12,436 Speaker 1: this place which had suffered so much over seventy years 291 00:17:12,436 --> 00:17:16,516 Speaker 1: of war. On the other hand, a tourists can only 292 00:17:16,636 --> 00:17:19,716 Speaker 1: have a good time in Kashmir by sort of a 293 00:17:19,836 --> 00:17:22,436 Speaker 1: time is pretending that the war doesn't exist and sitting 294 00:17:22,436 --> 00:17:25,916 Speaker 1: out on the lake in this stillness of this paradise 295 00:17:26,036 --> 00:17:29,316 Speaker 1: lem setting. So as you said, it's a very complex 296 00:17:29,356 --> 00:17:33,556 Speaker 1: hornetsness but Johnny really moved me by his resolve to 297 00:17:33,676 --> 00:17:35,836 Speaker 1: go into the place that had been so difficult and 298 00:17:36,116 --> 00:17:38,276 Speaker 1: really come through it the other on the other side, 299 00:17:38,276 --> 00:17:42,916 Speaker 1: and now introduce many other people to Kashmir. Yes, I 300 00:17:42,916 --> 00:17:45,716 Speaker 1: think what's also interesting about that it's a side. Now. 301 00:17:45,836 --> 00:17:48,196 Speaker 1: Sometimes when I'm travel writing, I would almost ignored the 302 00:17:48,236 --> 00:17:51,356 Speaker 1: travel guide. I would almost be chagrined that, Okay, here 303 00:17:51,396 --> 00:17:52,996 Speaker 1: I am with someone who's going to kind of open 304 00:17:53,076 --> 00:17:55,636 Speaker 1: up this place for me, and somehow it'll kind of 305 00:17:55,716 --> 00:17:59,116 Speaker 1: taint the wisdom of this ancient place and not at all, 306 00:17:59,636 --> 00:18:02,196 Speaker 1: you know, you wouldn't have encountered him otherwise, this character 307 00:18:02,756 --> 00:18:05,596 Speaker 1: that's not a native of Kashmir but still has wisdom 308 00:18:05,596 --> 00:18:08,876 Speaker 1: and can still give you insight into a place. Yeah, 309 00:18:09,156 --> 00:18:11,396 Speaker 1: thank you. That's an interesting perception, and it was very 310 00:18:11,516 --> 00:18:15,596 Speaker 1: deliberate on my part that in almost every chapter here, 311 00:18:15,796 --> 00:18:17,756 Speaker 1: I am, as you pointed out, in the hands of 312 00:18:17,796 --> 00:18:21,316 Speaker 1: a guide, usually local or a driver, and I wanted 313 00:18:21,716 --> 00:18:24,076 Speaker 1: to make sure that I'm always in the passenger's seat, 314 00:18:24,396 --> 00:18:26,076 Speaker 1: because part of the point of the book, and I 315 00:18:26,076 --> 00:18:28,676 Speaker 1: think part of the point of travel is that, especially 316 00:18:28,716 --> 00:18:30,476 Speaker 1: when I was younger, I assumed I was in the 317 00:18:30,596 --> 00:18:33,316 Speaker 1: driver's seat. I was on top of everything. I could 318 00:18:33,316 --> 00:18:36,236 Speaker 1: control everything, I could plan my day, and I knew everything. 319 00:18:36,556 --> 00:18:39,196 Speaker 1: And the beauty of travel is it completely upends that. 320 00:18:39,596 --> 00:18:41,796 Speaker 1: And I'm at the mercy of all kinds of things 321 00:18:41,836 --> 00:18:45,156 Speaker 1: I can't begin to understand. And I'm very much metaphorically 322 00:18:45,156 --> 00:18:48,196 Speaker 1: and in this case literally in the passenger seat. And 323 00:18:48,276 --> 00:18:52,116 Speaker 1: so one reason that I gave this book the title 324 00:18:52,156 --> 00:18:58,156 Speaker 1: The Half Known Life, is that was it the half 325 00:18:58,196 --> 00:19:02,116 Speaker 1: known world I keep forgetting? And I think one of 326 00:19:02,156 --> 00:19:06,236 Speaker 1: the reasons I gave that title is that I feel 327 00:19:06,236 --> 00:19:09,476 Speaker 1: the amount that we really know is tiny, as if 328 00:19:09,516 --> 00:19:12,356 Speaker 1: we're in a little tent up in the Himalayas, and 329 00:19:12,436 --> 00:19:14,716 Speaker 1: maybe there are a couple of lanterns and we have 330 00:19:14,756 --> 00:19:17,716 Speaker 1: a flashlight, but it's a small pocket of light in 331 00:19:17,756 --> 00:19:21,276 Speaker 1: this vast darkness of the heavens above, pockmarked with stars 332 00:19:21,476 --> 00:19:25,036 Speaker 1: and the silvery mountains around, And basically the field of 333 00:19:25,036 --> 00:19:27,676 Speaker 1: our knowledge is tiny compared with everything we don't know. 334 00:19:27,796 --> 00:19:30,356 Speaker 1: And we are in the passenger seed. We are at 335 00:19:30,356 --> 00:19:32,436 Speaker 1: the mercy of the elements, and at the mercy of 336 00:19:32,476 --> 00:19:34,756 Speaker 1: the guides and the locals who are showing us around. 337 00:19:34,956 --> 00:19:38,756 Speaker 1: And so yes, I think in my other books, I 338 00:19:38,836 --> 00:19:43,916 Speaker 1: was nearly always describing just traveling alone unguided through cities 339 00:19:43,956 --> 00:19:46,436 Speaker 1: I couldn't make head nor tail of. But here having 340 00:19:46,476 --> 00:19:50,516 Speaker 1: the guides in almost every chapter was really essential. Yeah, 341 00:19:50,636 --> 00:19:52,756 Speaker 1: as a reader, I respond to it because I know 342 00:19:52,836 --> 00:19:55,236 Speaker 1: what it's like to happen the back of an uber 343 00:19:55,436 --> 00:19:58,156 Speaker 1: give myself over to someone like that. I trust you 344 00:19:58,196 --> 00:20:01,156 Speaker 1: as my guide, but it seems more honest or authentic 345 00:20:01,196 --> 00:20:03,196 Speaker 1: in a sense that you are a passenger and then 346 00:20:03,236 --> 00:20:06,276 Speaker 1: I am joining you. In a way. It makes for 347 00:20:06,316 --> 00:20:08,996 Speaker 1: a different sort of reading experience. You know, I was 348 00:20:09,316 --> 00:20:11,436 Speaker 1: having dinner with the companion as I was preparing for 349 00:20:11,476 --> 00:20:13,956 Speaker 1: this and trying to explain what the book is about. 350 00:20:14,516 --> 00:20:17,476 Speaker 1: I think that's why it's fitting this book is called 351 00:20:17,476 --> 00:20:20,556 Speaker 1: the subtitle I'll let you know because you might not remember. 352 00:20:22,436 --> 00:20:26,356 Speaker 1: The subtitle is They Have Known Life in search of Paradise. 353 00:20:26,756 --> 00:20:31,036 Speaker 1: It's about the search, and ultimately there is the fact 354 00:20:31,036 --> 00:20:34,036 Speaker 1: that we just have to live in this in between 355 00:20:34,116 --> 00:20:37,356 Speaker 1: the tension of the darkness and the light of knowing 356 00:20:37,356 --> 00:20:40,236 Speaker 1: and not knowing? Am I wrong in that? I mean? 357 00:20:40,396 --> 00:20:42,596 Speaker 1: Is that part of the reason it remains of search? 358 00:20:43,036 --> 00:20:46,796 Speaker 1: There's there's no discovery, beautifully said, and I really my 359 00:20:46,916 --> 00:20:48,996 Speaker 1: heart goes out to trying to explain what this book 360 00:20:49,076 --> 00:20:51,796 Speaker 1: is about, because it's impossible to most people. I think 361 00:20:51,836 --> 00:20:53,636 Speaker 1: it's just an enigma. It's one of the harder books 362 00:20:53,636 --> 00:20:57,156 Speaker 1: to characterize deliberately, but exactly what you said. And I 363 00:20:57,196 --> 00:21:00,116 Speaker 1: think the search for paradise is actually what gets in 364 00:21:00,156 --> 00:21:02,796 Speaker 1: the way of our finding the paradise. That it's our 365 00:21:02,876 --> 00:21:05,996 Speaker 1: notions of paradise or our longing for something that we 366 00:21:06,076 --> 00:21:09,756 Speaker 1: don't have, that keeps us from seeing what we do have, 367 00:21:10,476 --> 00:21:12,716 Speaker 1: which may be the closest to paradise we get. And 368 00:21:12,756 --> 00:21:16,916 Speaker 1: so that's why this climatic moment, which in fact I 369 00:21:17,476 --> 00:21:20,236 Speaker 1: don't fully describe in the book. But I'm in Varnasi, 370 00:21:20,356 --> 00:21:24,796 Speaker 1: which is, as many people know, the most chaotic, terrifying, 371 00:21:24,996 --> 00:21:30,236 Speaker 1: intense place in often chaotic, terrifying, intense India. For those 372 00:21:30,316 --> 00:21:33,716 Speaker 1: who don't know Varanasi, as I understand it is, people 373 00:21:33,916 --> 00:21:37,996 Speaker 1: want to have their loved ones bodies burned there. Over years, 374 00:21:38,036 --> 00:21:40,796 Speaker 1: it's become like lower the or a magical place that's 375 00:21:40,796 --> 00:21:44,316 Speaker 1: supposed to be a crossing ground and the auspicious place 376 00:21:44,676 --> 00:21:49,076 Speaker 1: in which a traditional Hindu can enter the afterworld. That's right, 377 00:21:49,116 --> 00:21:51,356 Speaker 1: you burn the ashes and you put them into the river. 378 00:21:51,436 --> 00:21:54,076 Speaker 1: There there are flames burning to the north and south, 379 00:21:54,676 --> 00:21:57,756 Speaker 1: reducing dead bodies to ash. There are people racing through 380 00:21:57,796 --> 00:22:01,316 Speaker 1: the narrow lanes carrying stretchers to commit the corpses to 381 00:22:01,396 --> 00:22:04,676 Speaker 1: the flames and the Holy waters, or naked ascetics walking 382 00:22:04,716 --> 00:22:07,356 Speaker 1: around who live in graveyards and drink from skulls to 383 00:22:07,756 --> 00:22:10,556 Speaker 1: show their indifference to right and wrong. And there are 384 00:22:10,556 --> 00:22:13,076 Speaker 1: people bathing in the Holy waters and drinking from them, 385 00:22:13,236 --> 00:22:17,196 Speaker 1: although there are there three thousand times beyond the maximal 386 00:22:17,316 --> 00:22:20,516 Speaker 1: level found to be safe for consumption by the who, 387 00:22:20,756 --> 00:22:23,756 Speaker 1: so as in this mad scene. I'm an one hundred 388 00:22:23,796 --> 00:22:27,036 Speaker 1: percent Indian and Hindu by births, and even I'm freaked 389 00:22:27,036 --> 00:22:30,676 Speaker 1: out by this. And suddenly I heard somebody call my name, 390 00:22:30,996 --> 00:22:35,916 Speaker 1: and it was two Tibetan Buddhist monks, one older Tibetan 391 00:22:35,956 --> 00:22:38,316 Speaker 1: and one an American monk whom I knew from New 392 00:22:38,396 --> 00:22:43,476 Speaker 1: York City. And as I surveyed this sort of psychedelic commotion, 393 00:22:44,236 --> 00:22:47,836 Speaker 1: the American monk said, isn't this gorgeous? This is the 394 00:22:47,876 --> 00:22:50,876 Speaker 1: whole thing. This is reality, This is life and death 395 00:22:50,916 --> 00:22:53,716 Speaker 1: and everything in between. This is exactly what we have 396 00:22:53,836 --> 00:22:56,356 Speaker 1: to grasp This he might as well have been saying, 397 00:22:56,756 --> 00:22:59,796 Speaker 1: is paradise. This is where we have to find our paradise, 398 00:23:00,116 --> 00:23:02,516 Speaker 1: right in the middle of the chaos and the death 399 00:23:02,836 --> 00:23:06,876 Speaker 1: and the stuff that we can't begin to comprehend. And 400 00:23:06,916 --> 00:23:11,156 Speaker 1: I thought that was almost exactly what the book was about. 401 00:23:11,236 --> 00:23:14,956 Speaker 1: In my eyes. I live in Japan, as you say, 402 00:23:14,996 --> 00:23:17,876 Speaker 1: and often when I step into a temple in Kyoto, 403 00:23:18,276 --> 00:23:21,396 Speaker 1: written on the ground at the entrance other words, look 404 00:23:21,476 --> 00:23:24,916 Speaker 1: beneath your feet. In other words, don't look to the future, 405 00:23:24,956 --> 00:23:27,676 Speaker 1: to the past, and never never land. Imagine that paradise 406 00:23:27,716 --> 00:23:30,796 Speaker 1: around the corner. Choose to find your paradise right where 407 00:23:30,836 --> 00:23:34,556 Speaker 1: you are. Well, Pico, I think that's a lovely sentiment 408 00:23:34,596 --> 00:23:37,876 Speaker 1: to end on, actually a lovely sentiment for a travel 409 00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:41,036 Speaker 1: show to arrive at, kind of find the paradise where 410 00:23:41,076 --> 00:23:44,276 Speaker 1: you are. Thank you so much for coming by to 411 00:23:44,276 --> 00:23:47,396 Speaker 1: discuss your book. It is really bit of pleasure. Thank 412 00:23:47,436 --> 00:23:49,756 Speaker 1: you for such a really rich and wonderful conversation. I 413 00:23:49,796 --> 00:23:52,436 Speaker 1: think anyone listening can tell you and I could keep 414 00:23:52,476 --> 00:23:54,916 Speaker 1: on going for three hours, so this has really been fun. 415 00:23:54,956 --> 00:24:00,756 Speaker 1: That's a great compliment and gift. Pico Iyer's most recent 416 00:24:00,796 --> 00:24:04,076 Speaker 1: book is The Half Known Life In Search of Paradise, 417 00:24:04,716 --> 00:24:08,196 Speaker 1: and that was such a great conversation I had to 418 00:24:08,236 --> 00:24:11,476 Speaker 1: leave some of it out. But among Pico's friends the 419 00:24:11,596 --> 00:24:15,876 Speaker 1: Dalai Lama and the other was the late Leonard Cohen, 420 00:24:16,236 --> 00:24:18,436 Speaker 1: so we had a lot to talk about. And he 421 00:24:18,476 --> 00:24:21,356 Speaker 1: told me that Leonard will make an appearance in his 422 00:24:21,516 --> 00:24:27,796 Speaker 1: next book. All Right coming up. Musician, comedian and improv 423 00:24:27,956 --> 00:24:33,116 Speaker 1: maestro Reggie Watts comes by and talks, among other things, 424 00:24:33,196 --> 00:24:38,916 Speaker 1: about the ghostwriter of his upcoming memoir. Chat GPT is 425 00:24:40,596 --> 00:24:55,916 Speaker 1: when Not Lost Chat returns. Welcome back to Not Lost Chat. 426 00:24:55,956 --> 00:24:58,916 Speaker 1: We are now at the etiquette portion of our episode 427 00:24:58,956 --> 00:25:03,236 Speaker 1: and I am joined by Reginald Lucian. Frank Roger Watts, 428 00:25:03,916 --> 00:25:06,916 Speaker 1: better known as Reggie Watts. He came up as a 429 00:25:06,996 --> 00:25:10,196 Speaker 1: musician in Seattle and then may some appearances on TV. 430 00:25:10,356 --> 00:25:12,956 Speaker 1: You may have seen him on Comedy Bang Bang. He 431 00:25:13,076 --> 00:25:15,156 Speaker 1: is now leader of the house band for The Late 432 00:25:15,276 --> 00:25:19,636 Speaker 1: Late Show with James Cordon. He is an absolute American original, 433 00:25:20,316 --> 00:25:24,196 Speaker 1: although Bornich took guard with his mothers from France, but 434 00:25:24,276 --> 00:25:28,076 Speaker 1: he was raised in Great Falls, Montana and his upcoming 435 00:25:28,116 --> 00:25:31,156 Speaker 1: memoir is named Great Falls Montana that comes out later 436 00:25:31,196 --> 00:25:34,316 Speaker 1: next year. And when I spoke with him, I asked 437 00:25:34,396 --> 00:25:38,436 Speaker 1: him about the book. For someone who is so famous 438 00:25:38,476 --> 00:25:42,636 Speaker 1: for improving, was it anxiety producing to put pen to 439 00:25:42,756 --> 00:25:48,636 Speaker 1: paper and just really capture his ideas once and for all. Man, 440 00:25:49,116 --> 00:25:50,876 Speaker 1: You know, I never really thought of it that way. 441 00:25:51,116 --> 00:25:55,636 Speaker 1: That's interesting. Yeah, I think I think what made that 442 00:25:55,796 --> 00:25:58,596 Speaker 1: not happen so much, or at least that you know 443 00:25:58,676 --> 00:26:02,476 Speaker 1: the possibility of that that vibe happening, is because I 444 00:26:02,516 --> 00:26:06,676 Speaker 1: worked with a really great ghost writer who works just 445 00:26:06,716 --> 00:26:08,716 Speaker 1: like I've always loved to work, like whether it was 446 00:26:09,236 --> 00:26:13,676 Speaker 1: mental theater or coming up with bits for my early 447 00:26:13,716 --> 00:26:16,036 Speaker 1: shows and things like that. Like would just have a 448 00:26:16,076 --> 00:26:20,196 Speaker 1: writing partner who I could just relay the ideas that 449 00:26:20,196 --> 00:26:22,716 Speaker 1: flow into my head and just like put it out 450 00:26:22,756 --> 00:26:25,196 Speaker 1: there and then they kind of format it and organize it. 451 00:26:25,716 --> 00:26:28,716 Speaker 1: And I chose him as as a writer because his 452 00:26:28,796 --> 00:26:34,516 Speaker 1: name's Chris Ferra, and he I chose him because he's 453 00:26:34,636 --> 00:26:39,476 Speaker 1: from the Midwest, so Montana's got to share some sensibilities 454 00:26:39,596 --> 00:26:42,476 Speaker 1: with the Midwest. And obviously I would help craft and 455 00:26:42,556 --> 00:26:45,116 Speaker 1: shape the language, and I would read things with him 456 00:26:45,116 --> 00:26:47,156 Speaker 1: in his presence. I would we would just read through 457 00:26:47,196 --> 00:26:49,156 Speaker 1: the pages and I'd be like, I wouldn't do that. 458 00:26:49,276 --> 00:26:51,476 Speaker 1: I would say that and then he would touch it up, 459 00:26:51,756 --> 00:26:54,316 Speaker 1: and so that process allowed me to not have to 460 00:26:55,356 --> 00:27:00,516 Speaker 1: have that terrified feeling that I get when someone's like, 461 00:27:00,596 --> 00:27:04,436 Speaker 1: here's a script, you know, or like write a script. 462 00:27:04,596 --> 00:27:07,996 Speaker 1: You know. That to me is so terrifying because everything 463 00:27:07,996 --> 00:27:10,676 Speaker 1: I do is just let's just do it live. Even 464 00:27:10,716 --> 00:27:14,516 Speaker 1: even your Netflix specials. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Spatial was 465 00:27:14,596 --> 00:27:17,196 Speaker 1: fully improvised. I just did two. I always like to 466 00:27:17,196 --> 00:27:19,836 Speaker 1: do two or three shows and then composite them together, 467 00:27:20,516 --> 00:27:24,076 Speaker 1: even the improv with Rory Scoville and Cape berlant Um 468 00:27:24,156 --> 00:27:28,556 Speaker 1: for the fictional nineties sitcom Crow's Nest was me just 469 00:27:28,636 --> 00:27:31,036 Speaker 1: before we were going on stage, like all we had 470 00:27:31,076 --> 00:27:33,556 Speaker 1: was wardrobe. The most important thing for me was knowing 471 00:27:33,556 --> 00:27:35,996 Speaker 1: that we had the right wardrobe. Once we had the wardrobe, 472 00:27:35,996 --> 00:27:37,556 Speaker 1: we were just about to go on stage, and I'd 473 00:27:37,556 --> 00:27:39,556 Speaker 1: be like, let's just do a physical take where we're 474 00:27:39,596 --> 00:27:42,316 Speaker 1: not really talking, we're just doing physical bits. Yeah, and 475 00:27:42,356 --> 00:27:44,116 Speaker 1: then they're like okay, and then we just go up 476 00:27:44,156 --> 00:27:47,236 Speaker 1: and did it that. I love it so, Frank, I 477 00:27:47,316 --> 00:27:51,076 Speaker 1: just love so you So your your co author's chat GPT, Yeah, yeah, yeah, 478 00:27:51,116 --> 00:27:54,276 Speaker 1: of course really gets it right. Well, I didn't know 479 00:27:54,316 --> 00:27:56,276 Speaker 1: it's from the Midwest. I didn't realize there was a 480 00:27:56,356 --> 00:28:04,316 Speaker 1: gen xer no chat chat gptum is yeah, he's amazing. Um. 481 00:28:04,436 --> 00:28:07,636 Speaker 1: I actually worked at Elsa National Park years ago and 482 00:28:07,676 --> 00:28:10,876 Speaker 1: then I let because it was crazy, which I don't 483 00:28:10,916 --> 00:28:13,636 Speaker 1: even feel like counts as Montana. And I went back 484 00:28:13,636 --> 00:28:15,676 Speaker 1: to my first season of this show and it was 485 00:28:15,716 --> 00:28:21,076 Speaker 1: so clear to me I felt so still unmanly in Montana, 486 00:28:21,156 --> 00:28:25,316 Speaker 1: Like I felt so inadequate as a city kid. What 487 00:28:25,396 --> 00:28:27,396 Speaker 1: did you did you? What was your relationship to that? 488 00:28:27,436 --> 00:28:32,156 Speaker 1: Do you feel like the masculinity in Montana is different 489 00:28:32,596 --> 00:28:35,676 Speaker 1: than on the coast? I think so one hundred percent. 490 00:28:35,796 --> 00:28:39,636 Speaker 1: I think there's um. Yeah, it's a really good question 491 00:28:39,716 --> 00:28:41,396 Speaker 1: because I've never really thought of it in that way. 492 00:28:41,436 --> 00:28:44,436 Speaker 1: But I think what it is is, I mean, there's 493 00:28:44,436 --> 00:28:46,916 Speaker 1: definitely like a lot of tradition when it comes to 494 00:28:47,076 --> 00:28:51,476 Speaker 1: the way that sexes and genders, you know, elaborate together. 495 00:28:51,516 --> 00:28:53,676 Speaker 1: But I think there's like they're a little bit more equal, 496 00:28:54,396 --> 00:29:02,076 Speaker 1: generally speaking than in other places, perhaps just because practicality 497 00:29:02,196 --> 00:29:13,196 Speaker 1: is kind of king in Montana. Pragmatism, practicality, preparedness, helpfulness, flexibility, dynamicism, 498 00:29:13,276 --> 00:29:16,436 Speaker 1: these types of things are key because people are outdoors. 499 00:29:16,476 --> 00:29:19,396 Speaker 1: There's a lot of outdoors and outdoors persons, you know 500 00:29:19,476 --> 00:29:21,676 Speaker 1: that just we go out there, like, you know, I 501 00:29:21,676 --> 00:29:25,396 Speaker 1: remember my friend's dad dropping us off with back packs 502 00:29:25,436 --> 00:29:27,436 Speaker 1: and it was just like me and my friend Steve 503 00:29:27,796 --> 00:29:29,916 Speaker 1: and we just ye. It was in the winter. We 504 00:29:29,956 --> 00:29:31,476 Speaker 1: had to dig out snow and chip away at the 505 00:29:31,476 --> 00:29:33,556 Speaker 1: ground and make a fire pit, so, you know, and 506 00:29:33,556 --> 00:29:35,236 Speaker 1: then he'd come, he'd like, I'll pick you up on Sunday. 507 00:29:35,316 --> 00:29:37,556 Speaker 1: You know, it sounds terrifying, sounds like the beginning of 508 00:29:37,596 --> 00:29:40,676 Speaker 1: a true crime podcast. It's kind of terrifying, but like 509 00:29:40,716 --> 00:29:43,836 Speaker 1: when you have the gear and you know the basics, 510 00:29:43,956 --> 00:29:47,676 Speaker 1: it's actually great. It's like super freeing, so that actually 511 00:29:47,716 --> 00:29:51,356 Speaker 1: I can that naturally. Kind of jives with this travel theme, 512 00:29:51,396 --> 00:29:53,196 Speaker 1: the loose travel theme of these chats, which is, so 513 00:29:53,236 --> 00:29:56,236 Speaker 1: what when you do have time off when you are 514 00:29:56,276 --> 00:29:59,076 Speaker 1: not professionally touring? What do you do for kicks? Where 515 00:29:59,076 --> 00:30:02,636 Speaker 1: do you go? Where does Reggie relax? You know, I 516 00:30:02,796 --> 00:30:06,076 Speaker 1: rarely go on vacations, or I'll have to. I'll have 517 00:30:06,156 --> 00:30:09,636 Speaker 1: a vacation at the end of a tour, like I'll 518 00:30:09,676 --> 00:30:11,636 Speaker 1: stay in the last city. So I love hanging out 519 00:30:11,636 --> 00:30:17,036 Speaker 1: in Berlin. One of my favorite cities. And uh, I 520 00:30:17,076 --> 00:30:20,796 Speaker 1: went to Salem recently for the weekend before Halloween to 521 00:30:20,916 --> 00:30:23,636 Speaker 1: kind of go on some history tours and learn about 522 00:30:24,036 --> 00:30:27,276 Speaker 1: which trials and all that stuff. That was really cool. Um, 523 00:30:28,996 --> 00:30:30,556 Speaker 1: trying to think if I've got you know, I've gotten 524 00:30:30,556 --> 00:30:32,396 Speaker 1: like you know, the cabins and things like that for 525 00:30:32,396 --> 00:30:34,956 Speaker 1: a weekend. But yeah, I don't know. It's it's very 526 00:30:35,036 --> 00:30:36,436 Speaker 1: rare that I do. But the thing is like, whenever 527 00:30:36,516 --> 00:30:38,916 Speaker 1: I go to these places, I feel like I might 528 00:30:38,956 --> 00:30:41,356 Speaker 1: as well do a show, right, yeah, you know, because 529 00:30:41,436 --> 00:30:44,476 Speaker 1: because my show isn't like I'm not preparing for the show. 530 00:30:44,516 --> 00:30:46,476 Speaker 1: I'm not writing a show. I just show up and 531 00:30:46,476 --> 00:30:48,156 Speaker 1: if I have my gear, or even if I don't 532 00:30:48,156 --> 00:30:49,876 Speaker 1: have my gear, I can still do a show. So 533 00:30:49,916 --> 00:30:51,876 Speaker 1: I figure, like, why not do a show because it's 534 00:30:52,076 --> 00:30:55,356 Speaker 1: it's fun and it you know, it's like helps offset 535 00:30:55,396 --> 00:30:57,516 Speaker 1: the cost of the vacation whatever. All right, Well, look, 536 00:30:57,596 --> 00:30:59,836 Speaker 1: I have some adiquate questions from from the audience that 537 00:30:59,836 --> 00:31:02,476 Speaker 1: you're going to help with your because you're a wise man, Um, 538 00:31:03,036 --> 00:31:04,956 Speaker 1: you're going to improvise. If you're not a wise man 539 00:31:05,116 --> 00:31:08,436 Speaker 1: and not it will work. So this first question comes 540 00:31:08,436 --> 00:31:13,476 Speaker 1: from Crystal from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Crystal asks, if I'm 541 00:31:13,476 --> 00:31:15,516 Speaker 1: in the window seat, is it rude to keep the 542 00:31:15,556 --> 00:31:18,196 Speaker 1: shade open while I know other people around me are 543 00:31:18,236 --> 00:31:26,956 Speaker 1: trying to sleep. Yes. Yes, it's a weird one because 544 00:31:26,996 --> 00:31:29,596 Speaker 1: obviously you're next to the window, so you're like, I 545 00:31:29,996 --> 00:31:32,716 Speaker 1: control out the windows seat because I wanted to, you know, 546 00:31:32,796 --> 00:31:34,316 Speaker 1: maybe you like to look outside or something like that. 547 00:31:34,476 --> 00:31:36,396 Speaker 1: But if it's really bright and you see that most 548 00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:39,156 Speaker 1: of the shades around you are closed and people are sleeping, 549 00:31:39,756 --> 00:31:41,636 Speaker 1: I don't know, I just close the shade. I mean 550 00:31:41,636 --> 00:31:44,476 Speaker 1: at that altitude, like what do you do? What do 551 00:31:44,476 --> 00:31:47,076 Speaker 1: you get some clouds and some land masks, you know, 552 00:31:47,636 --> 00:31:50,196 Speaker 1: open it, take a look, close it, you know, and 553 00:31:50,236 --> 00:31:53,756 Speaker 1: then maybe rest or like watch something or think about something. 554 00:31:53,796 --> 00:31:57,516 Speaker 1: But I always defer to the majority around me. Interesting, 555 00:31:57,796 --> 00:31:59,556 Speaker 1: I do feel like I try to give the middle seat. 556 00:31:59,596 --> 00:32:01,876 Speaker 1: I empower them because they're in a tough spot. So 557 00:32:01,916 --> 00:32:03,636 Speaker 1: I'll kind of like tie goes in the middle seat, 558 00:32:03,836 --> 00:32:06,116 Speaker 1: is kind of my thought. But I will say what 559 00:32:06,196 --> 00:32:09,596 Speaker 1: I don't like in this department is I'll get into 560 00:32:09,636 --> 00:32:11,916 Speaker 1: a plane close it because the sun's beating me in 561 00:32:11,916 --> 00:32:15,116 Speaker 1: the head. And then then sometimes it only happens sixty 562 00:32:15,156 --> 00:32:16,316 Speaker 1: percent of the time, so I don't know if it's 563 00:32:16,316 --> 00:32:19,236 Speaker 1: a rule or not. A flight attendant will come by 564 00:32:19,236 --> 00:32:20,756 Speaker 1: and say, excuse me, you need to have the shade 565 00:32:20,756 --> 00:32:24,396 Speaker 1: open for liftoff. Yeah, like what is this the right? Brothers? 566 00:32:24,436 --> 00:32:27,116 Speaker 1: Like like this is going to determine our death or not? Like, like, 567 00:32:27,156 --> 00:32:30,716 Speaker 1: what is that about? I think it's about I think 568 00:32:30,956 --> 00:32:33,836 Speaker 1: someone because I wondered about that too, and I think 569 00:32:33,876 --> 00:32:38,596 Speaker 1: it has something to do with um my situational awareness. 570 00:32:40,516 --> 00:32:43,196 Speaker 1: And it's like it's just a small point of failure, 571 00:32:43,436 --> 00:32:46,276 Speaker 1: like for if an emergency occurs or something like that, 572 00:32:46,396 --> 00:32:48,636 Speaker 1: somebody's going wrong, they'll have a better read on where 573 00:32:48,636 --> 00:32:50,796 Speaker 1: it's happening if they can count the windows or something. 574 00:32:51,356 --> 00:32:53,356 Speaker 1: I think it's that it feels pretty ardy. It feels 575 00:32:53,356 --> 00:32:56,396 Speaker 1: pretty small, bore, I know. Yeah, all right. This next 576 00:32:56,476 --> 00:33:00,996 Speaker 1: question us from Molly from Charlotte and Molly Rights. My 577 00:33:01,036 --> 00:33:04,196 Speaker 1: boyfriend's parents want to take us on vacation, but they 578 00:33:04,236 --> 00:33:06,356 Speaker 1: want all four of us to share a hotel room 579 00:33:06,436 --> 00:33:09,956 Speaker 1: to save cost. My boyfriend doesn't think this is weird, 580 00:33:10,196 --> 00:33:13,916 Speaker 1: but I do. How can I get out of this? Well, 581 00:33:14,516 --> 00:33:20,116 Speaker 1: she is right, that's weird. It also depends on how 582 00:33:20,156 --> 00:33:23,556 Speaker 1: old the relationship is, you know, because obviously if you've 583 00:33:23,596 --> 00:33:25,676 Speaker 1: spent a lot of time together already, maybe you can 584 00:33:25,756 --> 00:33:28,116 Speaker 1: kind of both decide like, well, this will be weird, 585 00:33:28,116 --> 00:33:31,036 Speaker 1: but let's just see what it's like. Yeah, um, but 586 00:33:32,076 --> 00:33:34,316 Speaker 1: I'm a big fan. I need my space. This is 587 00:33:34,476 --> 00:33:38,436 Speaker 1: very intimate. Um, I mean the parents got to feel 588 00:33:38,476 --> 00:33:41,836 Speaker 1: like that's weird, you know what I mean? Yeah, you know, 589 00:33:41,836 --> 00:33:43,916 Speaker 1: and unless the parents want to control it, you know, 590 00:33:43,956 --> 00:33:45,396 Speaker 1: if they want to, like they want to go in vacation, 591 00:33:45,396 --> 00:33:47,316 Speaker 1: but they don't want to have the stress of imagining 592 00:33:47,356 --> 00:33:50,356 Speaker 1: that they're you know that Molly is making love with 593 00:33:50,356 --> 00:33:53,316 Speaker 1: her boy. Yeah, making love next door? Like that breaks 594 00:33:53,396 --> 00:33:55,316 Speaker 1: us out. Let's just keep them in sight. I don't know. 595 00:33:55,436 --> 00:33:58,396 Speaker 1: It's just a little weird, right, that's your answer, Molly? Um, 596 00:33:58,436 --> 00:34:00,996 Speaker 1: not okay, but good luck. How can I get out 597 00:34:00,996 --> 00:34:04,156 Speaker 1: of this? I don't I don't know what to tell you. Um, okay, 598 00:34:04,196 --> 00:34:07,876 Speaker 1: A couple more questions. Um, This one I feel like 599 00:34:08,076 --> 00:34:10,516 Speaker 1: is made tailor, made for you. It doesn't have a 600 00:34:10,596 --> 00:34:13,916 Speaker 1: name attached. I'll make one up. Jacob Smith from Santa 601 00:34:13,916 --> 00:34:16,316 Speaker 1: Motica Rights. In a few weeks, I'm going to be 602 00:34:16,356 --> 00:34:18,996 Speaker 1: a plus one at a destination wedding where I don't 603 00:34:19,076 --> 00:34:23,076 Speaker 1: know anyone except my partner. Any tips, I would say, 604 00:34:23,196 --> 00:34:26,996 Speaker 1: hopefully the partner, you know, recognizes that there's a it's 605 00:34:26,996 --> 00:34:30,676 Speaker 1: a little incumbent on them to kind of ease you 606 00:34:30,916 --> 00:34:34,636 Speaker 1: into the situation and maybe them thinking about people knowing 607 00:34:34,676 --> 00:34:36,756 Speaker 1: you and then thinking about the people that are going 608 00:34:36,796 --> 00:34:38,676 Speaker 1: to be there, like which people you think that you'd 609 00:34:38,676 --> 00:34:42,596 Speaker 1: get along with, you know, introducing them whatever, or like 610 00:34:42,716 --> 00:34:45,556 Speaker 1: you know, announcing common interests, things like that. I think 611 00:34:45,796 --> 00:34:48,676 Speaker 1: I think of it as an adventure. Be open minded, 612 00:34:48,716 --> 00:34:51,636 Speaker 1: try not to be super resistant. I've definitely been in 613 00:34:51,636 --> 00:34:53,596 Speaker 1: that vibrate I'm goa go up. I don't know, I 614 00:34:53,596 --> 00:34:55,116 Speaker 1: don't want to go you know, that kind of stuff, 615 00:34:55,556 --> 00:34:57,276 Speaker 1: A little two way, but like you got to kind 616 00:34:57,276 --> 00:34:59,036 Speaker 1: of make a little bit of an extra effort to 617 00:34:59,236 --> 00:35:02,796 Speaker 1: these doked, you know, as much as you can. To me, 618 00:35:03,396 --> 00:35:05,276 Speaker 1: this sounds like a good dream. This means like, oh, 619 00:35:05,396 --> 00:35:09,756 Speaker 1: vacation free food, dress up dan, And I'm not going 620 00:35:09,796 --> 00:35:11,836 Speaker 1: to be embarrassed because I don't know anybody, Like I 621 00:35:11,876 --> 00:35:16,236 Speaker 1: have zero responsibilities except to my partner. That feels pretty dreamy, 622 00:35:16,316 --> 00:35:17,996 Speaker 1: Like I just have to sit there and maybe be 623 00:35:18,076 --> 00:35:21,636 Speaker 1: charming and not a jerk, Like that's like my preferred mode. 624 00:35:24,036 --> 00:35:25,996 Speaker 1: But and if you're anxious, I get that. Not everyone's 625 00:35:25,996 --> 00:35:28,836 Speaker 1: an extrovert, but you can still take joy in nothing 626 00:35:28,916 --> 00:35:31,676 Speaker 1: is expected of you except to like be a support 627 00:35:31,716 --> 00:35:34,116 Speaker 1: of your partner. Stakes are low. This is like free 628 00:35:34,116 --> 00:35:39,996 Speaker 1: meals for days another bonus tip. Yeah, so there you go, 629 00:35:40,596 --> 00:35:44,156 Speaker 1: enjoy and if if you can't go, you know my email. 630 00:35:44,196 --> 00:35:47,276 Speaker 1: I'll go with your partner as long as fast Nation's nice. Yeah, 631 00:35:47,716 --> 00:35:50,236 Speaker 1: all right, this is our last question. It comes from Lucy, 632 00:35:50,596 --> 00:35:53,836 Speaker 1: and Lucy asks if one partner has a TSA pre 633 00:35:53,956 --> 00:35:58,756 Speaker 1: check and the other does not, should we know where 634 00:35:58,756 --> 00:36:01,436 Speaker 1: this is going? Should the TSA PreCheck partner stand in 635 00:36:01,436 --> 00:36:04,636 Speaker 1: the regular line or should they soldier onto the gate? 636 00:36:05,916 --> 00:36:09,316 Speaker 1: Soldier on to the gate? I mean, come on, it's like, 637 00:36:09,356 --> 00:36:12,516 Speaker 1: why did you get TSA PreCheck? It's like also if 638 00:36:12,516 --> 00:36:15,036 Speaker 1: you're the reason, usually when people get TSA pre check, 639 00:36:15,076 --> 00:36:16,676 Speaker 1: it's because they don't want to deal with the bullshit, 640 00:36:17,236 --> 00:36:19,916 Speaker 1: the extra bullshit that you have to go through normally. 641 00:36:20,276 --> 00:36:23,356 Speaker 1: So if that's like an anxiety reducing thing, I think 642 00:36:23,356 --> 00:36:25,796 Speaker 1: your partner would understand. And also your partner should just 643 00:36:25,836 --> 00:36:28,836 Speaker 1: get TSA or get global entry hopefully you're not in 644 00:36:28,836 --> 00:36:31,156 Speaker 1: a codependent relationship. I mean I've had this cup both 645 00:36:31,156 --> 00:36:34,276 Speaker 1: ways because I have global entry, yeah, global entry, and 646 00:36:34,436 --> 00:36:36,436 Speaker 1: I've had people to go ahead and I hop on 647 00:36:36,436 --> 00:36:38,516 Speaker 1: the other side, and then you can kind of text 648 00:36:38,556 --> 00:36:40,836 Speaker 1: them be like hey, I'll get your snack and you're 649 00:36:41,196 --> 00:36:43,676 Speaker 1: there and you kind of can receive them. Yeah. But 650 00:36:43,716 --> 00:36:46,996 Speaker 1: I've also been in partnerships where they've been like, basically 651 00:36:47,036 --> 00:36:49,956 Speaker 1: you felt a test, like I cannot believe you abandoned me. Yeah, 652 00:36:49,956 --> 00:36:51,876 Speaker 1: you banned in me, and then I had to go 653 00:36:51,876 --> 00:36:54,156 Speaker 1: through this hell line and it's like you know what 654 00:36:54,236 --> 00:36:57,676 Speaker 1: this cost sixty dollars and took like yes, not that 655 00:36:57,676 --> 00:37:00,796 Speaker 1: that's that's that's totally. That's that's my that's my thing. 656 00:37:00,876 --> 00:37:03,036 Speaker 1: Like I'm like, it depends on the type of person 657 00:37:03,116 --> 00:37:05,636 Speaker 1: you are, you know, but like when you're in a relationship, 658 00:37:06,396 --> 00:37:09,276 Speaker 1: I think you're supposed to encourage, you know, if someone 659 00:37:09,316 --> 00:37:11,956 Speaker 1: else has an opportunity to take the opportunity. Yeah. So 660 00:37:11,996 --> 00:37:15,716 Speaker 1: it's like about independence and not code. It's interdependence, not codependence. 661 00:37:15,756 --> 00:37:19,116 Speaker 1: I can't stand the codependent thing and need to be 662 00:37:19,196 --> 00:37:21,796 Speaker 1: with people that are like, no, I don't worry about it. 663 00:37:21,796 --> 00:37:23,476 Speaker 1: I've got it and you're like, okay, cool, and you 664 00:37:23,516 --> 00:37:25,876 Speaker 1: know hopefully they're just like, yeah, that's what I would 665 00:37:25,916 --> 00:37:30,836 Speaker 1: fucking do. Yeah, get hip, Get hip, all right, REDI Odds, 666 00:37:30,876 --> 00:37:33,316 Speaker 1: thank you so much for giving some travel etiquette to 667 00:37:33,356 --> 00:37:37,116 Speaker 1: my audience. Easy and uh oh can I add one 668 00:37:37,156 --> 00:37:43,956 Speaker 1: thing to travel tips? Yeah? Please? Um uh don't check bags? Oh? Interesting? 669 00:37:43,996 --> 00:37:46,956 Speaker 1: I never check bags. Haven't checked bags since two thousand 670 00:37:46,956 --> 00:37:50,516 Speaker 1: and twelve. Interesting, okay, and that includes all my gear. 671 00:37:51,116 --> 00:37:54,316 Speaker 1: And I know some people some people obviously like, yeah, 672 00:37:54,316 --> 00:37:56,236 Speaker 1: how can you bring all your gear on it? And 673 00:37:56,316 --> 00:37:58,316 Speaker 1: their fashionist does and they need their you know, three 674 00:37:58,316 --> 00:37:59,916 Speaker 1: pairs of shoes and stuff like that. That's a little 675 00:37:59,916 --> 00:38:02,796 Speaker 1: bit I understand. But if you can, there are smart 676 00:38:02,876 --> 00:38:06,716 Speaker 1: ways to pack light. Uh. And if you if you 677 00:38:06,796 --> 00:38:08,876 Speaker 1: run into Morse if you need stuff, you can always 678 00:38:08,876 --> 00:38:12,316 Speaker 1: get more stuff basics or whatever along there is that. Well, 679 00:38:12,356 --> 00:38:14,636 Speaker 1: they did lose my bag this summer in Portugal, and 680 00:38:15,356 --> 00:38:18,516 Speaker 1: I now bought a check in bag, So I'm with you, 681 00:38:20,756 --> 00:38:23,236 Speaker 1: all right. Rock and roll symbol, Reggie Wats, thanks so 682 00:38:23,316 --> 00:38:29,956 Speaker 1: much for coming by my pleasure. Reggie Watts. You can 683 00:38:29,996 --> 00:38:32,316 Speaker 1: catch him on TV on The Late Late Show with 684 00:38:32,476 --> 00:38:35,396 Speaker 1: James Gordon, where he's the band leader or keep your 685 00:38:35,396 --> 00:38:39,676 Speaker 1: eyes peeled, because he often performs his mind altering variety 686 00:38:39,716 --> 00:38:44,676 Speaker 1: of comedy music at venues around the country. Okay, so 687 00:38:44,796 --> 00:38:47,756 Speaker 1: that's it for this edition of Not Lost Chat. And 688 00:38:48,276 --> 00:38:51,076 Speaker 1: that's it for this inaugural season of Not Lost Chats. 689 00:38:51,756 --> 00:38:53,876 Speaker 1: I used to scoff at the notion of a travel 690 00:38:53,916 --> 00:38:56,916 Speaker 1: show taking place in a studio, but our guests, from 691 00:38:56,956 --> 00:39:00,236 Speaker 1: Andrew tron Grier to Jessica Nobongo to Jeff Dyer, charl 692 00:39:00,276 --> 00:39:03,716 Speaker 1: Straight to Pico Iyer, they all gave me so much 693 00:39:03,756 --> 00:39:07,996 Speaker 1: inspiration and food for thought that I was transported, as 694 00:39:07,996 --> 00:39:11,956 Speaker 1: you will, away from the studios. I am about to 695 00:39:11,956 --> 00:39:14,036 Speaker 1: thank all of the people who helped put this show together, 696 00:39:14,116 --> 00:39:17,436 Speaker 1: but first, at risk of being corny, I'd like to 697 00:39:17,436 --> 00:39:21,636 Speaker 1: thank you for listening. Creating Not Lost Season one was 698 00:39:21,756 --> 00:39:25,156 Speaker 1: the most difficult and yet most satisfying endeavor of my 699 00:39:25,196 --> 00:39:27,916 Speaker 1: life so far, and the reception it received from folks 700 00:39:27,916 --> 00:39:31,316 Speaker 1: like you was part of that joy. For those who 701 00:39:31,356 --> 00:39:33,716 Speaker 1: stuck around for this season of Chats. And if you're 702 00:39:33,716 --> 00:39:36,036 Speaker 1: listening to this, by definition you are one of those people. 703 00:39:36,756 --> 00:39:40,796 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Perhaps someday I can trick you 704 00:39:41,276 --> 00:39:47,356 Speaker 1: into inviting me over for dinner. This final episode of 705 00:39:47,356 --> 00:39:49,996 Speaker 1: the season of Not Lost Chat was partially produced by 706 00:39:50,076 --> 00:39:54,036 Speaker 1: Jordan Bailey, Jacob Smith, and Sarah Bruguire. For Better or 707 00:39:54,036 --> 00:39:56,236 Speaker 1: Worse the whole Thing was written and hosted by me 708 00:39:56,516 --> 00:40:00,916 Speaker 1: Brendan Francis Newnham. Booking assistance, as usual, came from Laura Morgan. 709 00:40:01,436 --> 00:40:04,636 Speaker 1: This episode was edited by Julia Barton, who in a 710 00:40:04,676 --> 00:40:07,436 Speaker 1: couple of months will be coming out with her maiden audiobook, 711 00:40:07,956 --> 00:40:11,316 Speaker 1: Best Audio Non twenty twenty two. It is filled with 712 00:40:11,356 --> 00:40:14,556 Speaker 1: some gems alas Not Lost didn't make the cut, but 713 00:40:14,596 --> 00:40:18,156 Speaker 1: who's bitter about that? Not me, I'm not. Jacob Smith 714 00:40:18,436 --> 00:40:21,316 Speaker 1: was also the managing producer in this episode, and he 715 00:40:21,356 --> 00:40:25,076 Speaker 1: did that with crutches, which is no easy feat. Fortunately 716 00:40:25,196 --> 00:40:29,436 Speaker 1: someone who wasn't on crutches despite a recent weekend snowboarding. 717 00:40:29,876 --> 00:40:33,756 Speaker 1: Sarah Bruger, who was our producer and mix engineer. I 718 00:40:33,796 --> 00:40:35,876 Speaker 1: really can't thank her enough for all the hard work 719 00:40:35,956 --> 00:40:39,836 Speaker 1: she's put into making this season happen. Thank you, Sarah. 720 00:40:39,916 --> 00:40:42,316 Speaker 1: You're probably listening to this late in the evening and 721 00:40:42,396 --> 00:40:46,116 Speaker 1: we may slack about when to post this episode. Not 722 00:40:46,276 --> 00:40:49,756 Speaker 1: Lost is a co production of Pushkin Industries, Topic Studios, 723 00:40:49,756 --> 00:40:54,316 Speaker 1: and iHeartMedia. It was developed at Topic Studios and the 724 00:40:54,396 --> 00:40:58,916 Speaker 1: executive users include Me, Brandon Franzis Nunham, Christy Gressman, Maria Zuckerman, 725 00:40:59,196 --> 00:41:03,476 Speaker 1: Lisa Langgang and Latamallad. It is not too late to 726 00:41:03,476 --> 00:41:06,516 Speaker 1: tell people about this show. I made these chat episodes 727 00:41:06,676 --> 00:41:09,756 Speaker 1: what is called in the biz evergreen, so they will 728 00:41:09,796 --> 00:41:12,396 Speaker 1: never go out of season. So if you have someone 729 00:41:12,476 --> 00:41:14,636 Speaker 1: in your life interested in travel, tell them about it, 730 00:41:14,756 --> 00:41:16,756 Speaker 1: and if you want to tell the world about it, 731 00:41:16,796 --> 00:41:21,076 Speaker 1: make a commented Apple podcasts. It's all greatly appreciated. And 732 00:41:21,396 --> 00:41:23,996 Speaker 1: while you're waiting for more episodes of Not Lost, you 733 00:41:23,996 --> 00:41:27,076 Speaker 1: can check out some other Poschkin podcasts. Jacob Smith is 734 00:41:27,116 --> 00:41:31,516 Speaker 1: also the mastermind behind Deep Cover Death. Been Artist is 735 00:41:31,516 --> 00:41:33,276 Speaker 1: a great show that we made. Story of the Week 736 00:41:33,476 --> 00:41:35,556 Speaker 1: is a very funny, interesting show that comes out. Lots 737 00:41:35,556 --> 00:41:37,676 Speaker 1: of good stuff out there. You can listen and find 738 00:41:37,676 --> 00:41:42,076 Speaker 1: them all on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever 739 00:41:42,116 --> 00:41:45,716 Speaker 1: you listen to your podcasts. That is it for this episode. 740 00:41:46,276 --> 00:41:51,476 Speaker 1: Thank you, everybody. I am somewhere right now drinking Margharita. 741 00:41:51,796 --> 00:41:53,956 Speaker 1: I raise it to you. Don Voyage