Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Author- Justin C. Key

Transcript

Author- Justin C. Key · Caught on the Mike...

• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mike.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I love it because it's so rare when it happens, but when I have a return guest, he was featured on episode 109 back in September of 2023, on the eve of his release of his book, The World Wasn't Ready for You, a collection of short stories, fantastic, and a lot has happened in a short period of time.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And on February 3rd, 2026, he releases his first full-length novel, The Hospital at the End of the World.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome back my good friend, Justin C.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Key.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: How are you, my friend?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing great.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm doing great.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's really great to be back here.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and it's really great to see us both having leveled up.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um, the time has been great to both of us.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's so it's great to be here.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited about the release of this book.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to talk about that, all the things, and just catch up.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um, when you shot me that email and you said LeVar Burton had checked out the book, what what how was that for you?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of moment was that like for you?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, to rewind it a little bit, like it was because he got interested, he found me as a writer through my short story collection, and maybe at the beginning of 2024, um, he followed me like on Twitter, and then he followed me on Instagram.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I just remember saying to my wife, like, LeVar Burton just followed me on both of these social media accounts.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: And in my head, I was like, Well, you know, he must have found me as a reader.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what if he wants to?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: I started dreaming, what if he wants to read one of my stories on this podcast?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: And sure enough, you know, my agent um reached out to me and said, you know, LeVar Burton, he's read your collection, really likes the title story.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: Would you like to be like to have your story on there?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, of course, you know, um, growing up, um, reading Rainbow, you know, all the things, uh, you know, being able to be on his radar, um, just alone on his radar, uh was a big moment for me.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then having him read my story on his podcast.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, with this, I thought maybe it was also going to be, you know, a Hail Mary, but I was like, okay, he's seems like he might be a fan of my work.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Let's see if we could ask for a blurb.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it worked out.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he we sit in the book and he said nice things about it.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I couldn't be happier uh with that.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Just to just to, you know, to have him as someone who respects me as a writer, um, especially enough to to put his name on it, to put his name on a blurb, you know, just top ten, top five moment for me.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of my most favorite memes that I see floating around is uh it's a picture of he, um Bob Ross, Steve Irwin, and Mr.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Rogers talking about the the heroes that the world really needs right now.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I share that same sentiment as you.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like I grew up on reading Rainbow when uh Alex Trebek unfortunately passed.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was really hoping that LeVar was gonna be the new host of Jeopardy.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: But let's let's rewind.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, um, why don't you take a few moments, introduce yourself, kind of talk a little bit about your background, and then we'll kind of reset the table to where we're at today.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I am Justin C.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: Key, and I'm a writer and a psychiatrist, and I say it in that order because some people might think that, oh, he's a psychiatrist who wanted to try his hand at fiction or science fiction.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but no, I've been writing uh for longer than most of the things that I do.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: I've been writing from before I went to medical school, before I became a father, before I became a husband, you know, um, so grew up really with a book in my hand, voracious reader, you know, graduated from goosebumps to Michael Crichton and Stephen King, um, and then went in college, started to try to write my own stories.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I was pre-med at the time.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: So two things as growing up that I wanted to be was a doctor and a writer.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: And there wasn't really too much outside pressure from that.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, no one in my family had really gone that far in either one, but from an early age, you know, they knew that I had these interests and they called me Dr.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Key.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um, so I was I went to college as a pre-med with that in mind.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but then as I fulfilled those requirements and my schedule started to open up, took more creative writing classes, minored in English, you know, um, and then sat down and really tried to make something out of it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: I read Stephen King's own writing very early on, um, which imprinted on me for better or for worse.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: He said the first million words of practice, he said, write every day, you know, he would bust out a first draft in three months, put it aside, work on the next thing.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that really helped me establish that writing muscle early on so that when I went on to medical school and had less time to write, as I became a family man and I wasn't able to like write three hours a day, you know, I still knew that I was a writer.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: I still had put in the time for it.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I was able to kind of develop or take the things that I was learning, the things uh that I was experiencing in life and say something important about it on the page.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, publish short stories for a long time, basically, you know, still am publishing short stories for but from like 2014 to present day.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then a few years ago, uh got the opportunity to, you know, work on a novel with a deal behind it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh with my short story collection with Harper Collins.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um they took that and they were basically like, Yeah, are you working on anything else?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, you know, I have been working on this thing for for a little while now.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's a medical school story.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's about AI and it's about medicine.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, all right, we'll take both of them.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's what I've been working on since I last saw you has really kind of turning that potential, turning that um that opportunity into a real product, the hospital at the end of the world.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the last couple of years has been uh a lot of editing, a lot of revising, a lot of trying to actually stay up to date with all the things that are happening now.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: And another I am a full-time psychiatrist, so I do see patients uh full-time, um, and I continue to do so.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: Things have been busier in that regard since I last saw you.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I'm you know, I'm finding the balance.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm Family Man 2, have three kids, 11, 10, and 5, and they definitely keep me busy, uh, keep me grounded.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so those are my different different uh facets.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's funny because we we talked before we pressed record and briefly mentioned it after pressing record.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: What I have really enjoyed since I first met you a few few years ago, and being friends on social media and just kind of following each other's trajectories, it sounds like you and I kind of have a very similar balance structure that we're trying to maintain.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that is that family life, the daytime career life, and these dreams and ambitions.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes these ambitions can be like a second full-time job, and being a family man can be the third full-time job you're always running.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kind of an aside from that, I know we shared a mutual affinity for Stephen King, and you talked about how he was a huge uh influence in your writing previously.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I noticed about your current bio and the press release for this book is you're citing yourself as a speculative fiction writer, which I think is really interesting for those that are not familiar.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Can you kind of define that genre real quickly?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think of speculative uh fiction genre is the overarching.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: So um it includes horror, it includes science fiction, it includes fantasy.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's basically like if there's any element that is supposed to be different from the reality that we know, it falls under speculative, you know.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I came to that with the love of horror and Stephen King.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: There was a lot of Michael Crichton too.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like it was Michael Crichton and Stephen King where if they were in like a race for, you know, uh uh, they were neck and neck with me.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Jurassic Park is my favorite novel and Stephen King's my favorite author.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so started with horror, but then as I went and went through medical school, just naturally, like the ideas that would come up, the things I was exposed to, like the what-ifs, you know, was science fiction.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I've dabbled in fantasy as well.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely not um like hardcore, like uh, you know, George R.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Martin level fantasy, but things with like fantastical elements or trying to kind of like uh dabble in those worlds.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: So just any type of speculative fiction fiction and any type of fiction where there's something different from the world that we know, like the rules are different, you know, it's always been intriguing for me.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that was the short story collection, it was really me um me going through the different aspects of that.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's some horror stories in there.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: But say maybe like a uh uh two-thirds or a half, one-third to a half of it is horror.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: There's definitely like hard sci-fi.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: There's a little bit of fantasy in there, there's historical um fiction with like a speculative element.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then the the latest novel, Hospital into the world, I would say it's like hard sci-fi, you know.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it is, and with science fiction, these are I'm envisioning what could happen in the future.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I kind of think of it for thinking of kind of the Marvel universe, like Iron Man, like the first movie of science fiction, and then when you get later, it becomes fantasy.
• 11:38
  unknown: Right.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Star Wars is fantasy.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: But don't if that's gonna make people come at me, you can edit that part out.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, the reason I led off with talking about balancing um our lives and getting a definition of what speculative fiction is the thing about your new novel, Hospital at the end of the world, I gotta put that on camera.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um it seems to me you're kind of blending science fiction with science fact to a scary extent.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like e even in the last two years, where AI has gone to the point where you can scroll social media and sometimes you don't know if a photograph or a video is AI or if it's real, and it it it feels like it's even gotten worse in the last couple of months.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So the premise of the book touches on a future where AI dominates healthcare and one medical student's search for truth.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: With core questions about medicine and humanity, were what core questions about medicine and humanity were you trying to explore with a story?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so knowing that from my experience, at least over the last hundred, hundred and fifty years, medicine and technology have um have been married to each other.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the advances that we've had in technology have allowed for the great advances in medical care.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's a lot of that's still wrong with the medical system, but I've always uh and that's always been with human doctors, at least mostly physicians, being at the in the driver's seat and the technology being a tool, right?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and my hope is that it continues that way.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's how like the quality of care continues to advance, you know.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: So there must be something innate about human-human interaction, and we know that.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: We know that from just going through and living life, you know, we know that from interacting with people, we know it from the the different like nuances in culture, we know it in being able to, you know, uh uh communicate so much just in a small like facial changes.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Really quick, you know, I saw this thing on social media recently, and it said, without moving your face, like go from uh a look that says like I hate you to I love you.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it was a comedian, Kev, on stage, and really it was uncanny.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like he went from looking like he really like he's looking at someone he uh abhors to someone he loves, and his face hardly moved, right?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that our brains are very intact to having these subconscious connections with each other, and I think that that is uh comes through in medicine.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think it comes through in um the doctor-patient interaction, and it's been shown in studies in terms of the placebo effect, etc.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: So really wanted to kind of highlight that in the book, and I even brought it out in you know what respect of elements where there's research that shows that there is some, like there is some innate like value of the universe that is the essence, this connection between humans, similar, and I was thinking in the way that like dark matter, we know it exists, but if someone's like show it to me, it's like, well, I can't, but I know it exists.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that was kind of where that a little bit that came from.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then thinking about AI, thinking about the advances in technology where there's hope, like in terms of it being like a tool, but where it threatens that human-to-human connection, and I think it threatens it by replacing it.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we see that in play in a lot of ways now where we're wondering like, are we interacting with humans?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: Are we, you know, this picture that we see, it's invoking like some emotions in us.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Is this from something that's made by another human or is this something made by an algorithm?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: And how is that affecting like how I feel about it?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and that's really what I was gonna clarify here in just a moment is what do you see as the biggest societal risk in ceding medical decisions to AI systems?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And how do you balance that worry with imagination in the novel?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I think I think the biggest risk is taking out that human intuition, you know, uh that aspect in the interactions, you know, um, and really it being a cold calculated decision maker, and in some ways cementing like some of the biases that we have now.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, it it's been it's fairly, I think, well known that you know, algorithms or AI systems, you know, they can uh recreate or work within the biases that they're trained on.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the you know, a hope that we have, I think, for humanity is that we continue to work towards like being better as we go forward.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: I fear that you know AI systems, if it's cemented in that and then they end up learning off of themselves, it ends up being something that you can't really bring out or you can't really take out, right?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think that the as a psychiatrist uh as a psychiatrist specifically, like I know that that um human-human interaction and the healing that can come through, like thinking of like depression, for example, of being heard by another human, I think that that is uh an innate thing of humanity.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't know if that can be replicated by an AI system.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think of it in the same way for like we watch sports, right?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, uh we watch, for example, basketball.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like a robot could do all those things perfectly.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: It can do what's what Wort Curry does, um, Steph Curry does perfectly.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: But the what amazes us is that if someone like us is like doing that.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's something about like seeing our own build, our own flawed build being able to do something that uh that amazes.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you lose that in AI.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there are aspects of medicine that could definitely, you know, uh be maybe handed over in some way.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: So for example, if there might be, you know, uh a technical procedure, I think that that that that if a robot was doing that and it was still like being looked over by a human, but I still think that that human needs to talk to the patient, explaining like what's going to happen, you know, uh be able to follow up with them, take their concerns.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think there's also something very deterministic about AI and computer systems.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: I was thinking about this in like in customer service, for example.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: And for better or for worse, let's say if you're a minute late to from the cutoff to get on the flight when you go to the airport, you're talking to a human, they might not do much, but there's there's something that you can appeal to.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's some hope that you can have.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: If it was an algorithm, the computer, there's nothing really you could do unless you're a hacker.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's already just made the decision, you know?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that in some parts of society that could be that can level the playing field, but I think in other ways, it's really going to kind of take away this human intuition part.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I'm re I'm really worried about that.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm worried about it more because I do think that AI has the potential right now to fill in like some of the gaps that's been left uh in a less than perfect medical system, you know, where people have low access, where they do have, you know, physicians or doctors that are burnt out and maybe it's not really like paying attention to them, et cetera.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you see it now where you know people who may not be able to have connected with a good therapist or even get into therapy, they go into Chat GPT and it tells them what they want to hear.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I do think that you know, a lot of the flaws that we have now, it's making it ripe for AI to come in and say, like, hey, you know, I'll be here, I'll hold your hand, you know, um, I'll be that that uh that perfect thing that you've been looking for.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I do think that, you know, we've unfortunately, I think, made as a society, you know, made almost kind of the perfect storm for kind of to AI to slide in and say, hey, let me take this thing over.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you make a lot of really good points there and kind of tying it into the book itself.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you have a main character that's kind of dealing with grief while you're talking about a system that is void of emotional intelligence.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So Pak's journey starts off with his father's mysterious death.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Without spoiling too much, what do you want readers to feel or experience or question through Pac's evolution?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: So uh having Pak start in the position that he's in, like having grown up in New York, like at the center of a city that has really fully adopted technology, thinking about like someone who's born now, you know, like you know, w 20 years from now, all the things that's happening around us right now, they were like, this is weird.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: This that's gonna be their status.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be their status quo.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I I thought having a thoughtful and uh not rigid, malleable character that kind of starts with that perspective was uh necessary and powerful to when going and going to this new place like New Orleans, which is really like rejected AI, which is kind of the antithesis of this.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it's not starting from a place of just assumed like anti technology, anti AI.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're like uh I'm able to make an argument through guiding someone who was very invested in like this is the way of the future to show them like, hey, these are these are some of the things that we have to worry about when it comes to To this way.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: These are the values of that way of practicing medicine that you thought was archaic or that you thought was old school, that you thought that was outdated.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: And through that, through his you know, grieving for his father, somebody that he very much respected and wanted to be a doctor because of his father, but also felt that you know his father had kind of been left behind technologically, that complicates things too.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he uh values uh he inherently I think values more some of the things that his father valued as he's going through that grief.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think that he's more open to, you know, okay, what did my father see in this?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas he may have not as much been that way if his father was was still alive, you know, if his father was still alive, would he, and let's say, you know, and there wasn't like an impetus to go to Hippocrates, would he ever have considered that?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think no, he would have continued to try to apply to those medical schools that he thought was the next wave.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a and that's a part of humanity, right?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: When we lose somebody, there's a lot of there's a lot of perspective, there's a lot of regrets, there's a lot of, you know, I think valuing what they brought to the world um because it's gone now.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I think Pop goes through a lot of that.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: As a practicing psychiatrist, I'm sure, you know, obviously I'm not gonna ask you anything that will have, but but as a practicing psychiatrist, um obviously we're seeing what that almost a skynet versus human relationship take place in real time with people with cell phone addiction and AI technology, video game addiction, you know, all of these things.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Did some of those elements kind of crystallize themselves in your writing of this novel?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think that yes, in the sense of knowing that some of these that these technological advancements, these things that we have today, can be tools for some people and they can be hindrances for others.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: So for example, you know, the tracking devices that I have one, like I have a uh a whoop one, and it gives me insights about you know sleep, heart rate, fitness, all these things, right?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I can imagine like two different people where like somebody it's it's it's very helpful for them to kind of reach whatever goals they may be going towards.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Then I could see for someone else that it becomes either new anxiety or it feeds anxiety that's already there.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Just the you know, constantly checking it, constantly trying to analyze like every difference.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, what is it, what does it mean that like my recovery last night was off, but I had everything, you know, I did everything right.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: I should have had a higher recovery last night.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: Is something wrong?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: Am I sick?
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so I I was thinking about that as I was uh as I was writing the book, just these different ways, these different insights into all the ways that the the world is is going about, not only in our own bodies, but just you know, outside, getting all this information about facial expressions or you know, intuitions about social interactions, or you know, who likes you and who doesn't.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like I our brains have really been designed to weed out a lot of what we perceive.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, our perception is a percentage of what of actually like the information that we get in, and I think that's for a reason.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I really could see like this information overload being something that leads to anxiety.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so with that, you get these uh you get these aspects of these devices or things that give reward, and then it's an easy way to get dopamine, and then you can see how easily somebody can become addicted to those things.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's what they're wanting to get over and over.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: And for me, for example, you know, video games for me was a big part of my creativity and harnessing that, right?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so I think that the in in the different arenas that it might show up, it may be positive for someone and it may be very negative for someone else.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I I had that in the back of my mind, you know, to make sure that I wasn't going towards something that was that I was saying is just like all out innately, it's going to be negative for everyone, right?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that's like, I'm not addicted to social media.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: I use it as a tool.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: It does well for me.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: That that hour that I scroll every day, what have you, I'm choosing to do it.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: I can put it down.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's very different from somebody else's, from somebody else's perspective.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so many things that you just brought up.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: And um one of those for for myself as a parent of teenage treat teenagers that are basically entering into the early 20s.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: We all have that Life 360 app on our phones.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we're able to see where everybody's at at all times.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, start to start sweat the idea of like, why has my daughter been at this one location for this period of time?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's funny because we like you said, we look at these advancements in technology as tools, as practical people, but not everybody is a practical person.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody has a different experience with those tools.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about it this morning.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I got up early this morning, I went to the gym, and um I'm looking around and I'm like, it is, and we're recording this on the 5th of January.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Normally, in years past, uh, the gym would be standing room only.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: And there was hardly anybody in the gym.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought to myself, I wonder how much meme culture and online stuff has influenced society in such a way that traditional habits have been broken, whether it be people with New Year's resolutions, you know, I joke, but I'm serious.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: People posting videos of fireworks displays online, like checking in at different places.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean technology has become so prominent in all of our lives that uh there are people out there that don't know the difference between it being a tool and it sincerely just being a part of who they are now.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I definitely think it's it's changing us.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it's interesting with the the gym.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um I really haven't I used to be like a gym rat.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: I used to go at like 4 a.m.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: I had this 24-hour gym that I would go to, and I could go like before like my um shifts in the hospital.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then I haven't really been back to in-person gym much since the pandemic.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, I do things at home.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that's interesting.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: I do remember like at the top of the year, it being like that's when it's crowded, everybody.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like everybody got their new year resolution, like let's wait a few weeks.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it's I think similar to COVID-19, you know, I think this like the implications of what this is all kind of doing to us, like from a social standpoint, physiological standpoint, all those things, like 10, 20 years from now, like there's going to be, I think, some very interesting studies, and I think the same way in terms of technology today, um, just the the exposure to different things, um, and you know, the flip side of looking at a picture and like, is this AI the doubt that might come in?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so for example, um, I believe I'm really bad with names, but I believe Anthony Joshua was the boxer who recently, yeah.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then you know, a few days later got into this horrible car crash.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember I saw a video of it and they were showing him being pulled out, and he was looked like he had just come from the ring because he had his shirt off, he had boxes.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I I immediately thought it was AI because I was thinking like, you know, I was thinking, okay, like AI would probably mostly have images of him being in the ring.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like this would this would be something that AI would kind of like with his algorithmic brain.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I was almost sure in my mind, I didn't yell it out just in case I was wrong.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: But I was like, this is AI, and then in a couple hours, like everybody who's posting it is gonna be like, oh, this was AI.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: But then the real news stories came out or what have you confirming it.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember that moment, it was, it was, it was interesting because I mean something like that can be confirmed sooner or later, we know.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: But imagine like all the things that maybe aren't going to get confirmation that we may doubt, you know, um, as that becomes more widespread, it then I think affects our empathy, it affects our our response in the world.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think even as we're exposed to different things, I might look at that and be like, that's not what it looks like when someone's in a car accident.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've seen these horrific videos.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I thought that actually when I saw him, I was like, he doesn't, he doesn't look like he was just an accident, this looks like this is fake, you know.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, it's it's scary to think that I thought that that that was uh that that wasn't real.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: It actually disturbed me a little bit that this person had been injured, and my first reaction was like, Oh, this is fake.
• 31:36
  unknown: Right.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's that that is that is so true, and I don't want to dive down this rabbit hole.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think either one of us do.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: But like with the the socio-political discourse being the way it is in our country right now, I am scared as hell at how AI is going to be used in the future.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like we were talking about, all these photos are looking more photorealistic, all the videos are looking even more realistic to where you know our our country already has a truth problem, and this is only going to further it, and that's what scares me personally.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, one thing recently I saw um uh movie House of Dynamite, and um it's great with thriller.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: I won't give too much so basically the premise is that you know a single unaccounted for like missile is launched from like the sea and it's headed for the United States, and then like in 20 minutes it shows all of like what goes on in decision making.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I think there's a lot of implications in terms of like you know, who's in charge, who makes these decisions, how do you make the right decision?
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_02: But one thing I was thinking about is that in the movie, you know, and this is a slight spoiler, but not really, you never actually really they don't show a visual of the missile.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I imagine that they have like cameras on it or what have you, but I think one of the implications is that is that all what you're seeing is all this data, you're seeing like the computer aspects of it.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I imagine, you know, how much of this could be fabricated by like some AI system, you know, and then just you know, before anyone can be able to confirm, like, hey, this isn't real, like that whole movie was over like, you know, 18, 20 minutes, you know, deciding the fate of the world.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: So when thinking about like if a technology could fabricate this and what somebody could do with like a powerful thing that just seeds doubt uh amongst like the different countries that have all these you know nuclear warheads.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know we don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but actually, you know, I it's a lot of people.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, but it's true.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's true, it's true.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it and it's funny because I'm gonna again pull from absolute left field, but like some of my favorite movies to watch are found footage films, and it's because it's not because of what you see, it's because of what you don't see uh that makes it more terrifying.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's very much very much the case.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm I'm gonna have to check out this movie.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, man.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: No, it was it it it it was it's one of those love it or hate it ones, actually.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: So uh, and you don't you don't know whether you love it or hate it until the credits are rolling.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's let's stop out of let's step out of the world of T1000s and uh and everything along those lines.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: What has this experience been like for you from the world wasn't ready for you to like this novel coming out?
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you were to summarize how it has impacted you as a human being, what has it been like for you?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, having the uh the short story collection out, having the book out and you know, seeing it pop up in places, like seeing people read it and connect, you know, it's been an amazing experience for me, you know, just being able to to something that I created that I that I that I wrote that I put you know my heart into somebody saying, like, you know, I connected on it on this level, or this made me feel heard, or just like I love this story, or this was funny, or what have you.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, people that I would never otherwise like meet, which is one of the one of the powerful parts I think of social media now.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of times when this happens, you know, I'm definitely still in the stage where if somebody wants to reach out, I will see it and I will like it and I will love it, you know.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's been really great.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think going out and having this book now as a novel and for it having just being a novel, having it have more potential, you know, short story collections, you know, um, just by their nature, they aren't going to have as much of a wide appeal.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, though I think I've been very you know grateful of how the world wasn't ready for you did.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, having a novel out and being a novelist has always been like the goal.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think of um Kobe Bryant, you know, when he was, I forget if they were up like 2-1 or 2-0, and he was like, job's not finished.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's kind of for uh, you know, uh for better or for worse, you know, when the short story collection came out, I was like, you know, jobs not finished, you know.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's like that's great.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, uh that's that's the um that's the appetizer for for this novel.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: And coming out the door and being able in four weeks and one day to be like, I'm a published novelist, you know, I think that's amazing.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm you know really excited already just to hear like people's response to it, like the things that that that come up, even you know, this conversation and just the the questions that come up from somebody who's like gone through and seen what I've written and how they connect with it, you know, it's it's really amazing.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's what I always wanted or dreamed about like as a kid, like reading.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: I always thought that people who wrote stories and novelists, I thought that they were smartest people in the universe.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, just this is amazing things that they've that they've written, how they've been able to do it, and they're able to take me out of my um out of my room to you know to wherever in the world or these other universes.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that even more than doctors, I was like, those are you know, those are those are the cream of the crop of society.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, um I I wouldn't think that now because I am one, but you know, it was I was imagining I think some of this response, you know, people being able to really, I think, connect with the written word and words that I've written.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been great.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now we talked about the LeVar-Burton connection.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Has there been another hero or pop culture figure or somebody that you've had the opportunity to cross paths with as a result of this journey that just made you kind of stand beside yourself and like say, is this really happening right now?
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um Mary Robinette Cowell, she's been a voice in my head for a long time because she has uh she's part of podcast writing excuses.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember I would listen to that uh back in 2009 and onwards, you know, for uh when I was just starting to kind of like, you know, work that muscle and the the prompts that they would have or the um the advice that they would have.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I remember just listening to it while I was in a gym or as I was commuting to work, you know.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um so then she read the short story collection and blurbed it.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that was like one of those like full circle moments.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: And the amazing thing about it is that I had met her at cons um and had met her as a fan.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, I met her again after the the blurb came through at WorldCon.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I came up to her and I was like, you know, I'll you know, I'm Justin, Justin Key, you blurb my own, and but she was like Justin, you know, you know, just very excited to see me.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: And actually got me into like the uh the the post-awards party, um, you know, was was able to be like, hey, you know, uh he he's with me.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I thought that that was just amazing, kind of, I think, full circle moment.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: Just somebody that I really looked up to and took advice from, like thinking of me as a colleague.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I think, you know, um uh I think with this one I'm I'm doing like a blog post to be on her, she has this thing called like my favorite bit, uh, which is talking about like your favorite part of the novel or just some aspect of the novel that maybe you know people may not uh may not know just offright, you know, being able to kind of talk about like the cool parts.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I'm excited about that.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think as a natural progression of a any type of growth journey, especially for a creative, there is a little bit of imposter syndrome that sets in.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: Are you experiencing that?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: So yes, um I have huge imposter syndrome, uh, which I you know uh.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: I say that as as a fellow imposter syndrome guy myself.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: So Yeah, yeah.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I I honestly it's it's a work in progress, you know.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um even when as you know, blurbs have come through, you know, my first my the first thing that comes to mind is like, oh, they're just being nice, you know.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, or even as this book is coming out in the world now, like, you know, even as there's been nice blurbs about it, I'm like, what if this is just a big disappointment?
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: Or people read it and be like, what were they talking about?
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I think imposter syndrome is like a very uh big thing that I'm definitely working through.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um and trying to get to a place where, you know, I can feel proud and accomplished about what I put out.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_02: I do think I'm able to do both.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: I do think that I know that this is a great accomplishment.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_02: I do think that I know that I put a lot of love into the characters, into the world, to even though it's briefly on the page, into the father-son relationship.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I know that I've put in a lot of work, a lot of hours into you know, polishing and revising and really making this in you know, my debut best, my best foot forward.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I think I know that.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then there's also a part of me that's like, what if it's not good enough?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what if, you know, you know, what if people pick this up and then like, how's you know, how'd this guy get like a book deal with HarpoCon?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: So a big part, you know, it it's a journey.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's a journey.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Brother, I gotta tell you, the over the last year, I've gone from dropping a podcast once every 10 days to to pretty much every week and some weeks twice a week.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: I experience that every morning a new podcast drop comes out.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh man, they're gonna find out I'm a big fraud and I'm a big phony, and it's it's gonna be all over for me.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: All my skeletons are gonna roll out of the closet.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, so I mean, it doesn't go away, but I think um, as creatives, that's the thing that drives us.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's the thing that constantly motivates us is to one up ourselves and have that sense of self-competition.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I think a healthy dose of it is good.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that's what that's what I tell my therapist, because she she she tries to get rid of it.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, but but this is why I'm here, you know, this is why I've got him.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_02: I got I gotta find a way to like coexist.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that gym rat is still inside of you, my friend.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, so um, you know, keeping it contained, but still also, you know, and yeah, it has been a good motivator for me at times.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like I did 10 years ago now, Clarion West, and I keep this brief.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's this uh I have tattoo on my shoulders, six weeks, like you know, writer's dream, 18 writers write our story a week and critique each other.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I think one week somebody's like, I really like the story for these reasons.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think that the pros wasn't like it they thought the weakness was a prose.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, I'm gonna show them, you know, so that next you know, and not in the way of like I want to master this.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_02: So the next story I really like was like, let me try to kind of to to to level up here, like read things that I feel like you know, uh is really good example of great pros, what have you.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: Long story short, like the next story that I did, remember the instructor was like it it it felt like a song, you know.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like the you know, so I do feel that I when those criticisms may come, you know, I think of it in my head, okay, you know, I'm gonna I'm Gonna do better at that next time.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh better for.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: So speaking of next time, beyond this book, what stories are you eager to tell next?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: And are there themes or worlds that you haven't yet explored that you're excited about?
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: So let's see.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_02: I have been working on, you know, uh, you know, with nothing attached to it.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: I've been working on this uh body horror story.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh it's about uh it's about psychopathy, it's about uh um Stroudinger's cat uh and body horror, you know.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so it's kind of a return to my love of horror while incorporating um the the foundation I've built for you know science fiction and particularly like science fiction thrillers.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I've been working on that, really excited about that.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um let's see, I have a few short stories that either are going to come out or that I'm hopeful about coming out.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_02: I actually just recently wrote a short story like In This World, where it uh like 20 years before the book, which it focuses on Philando, um, and just like the the start of the Shepherd organization, and also you get to see him like being a father.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I've always one thing I've always wanted to do was is a time loop story.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I I really want to do a time loop story, uh, just because I've I've always uh I've just always found them like particularly entertaining and fascinating from like um Groundhog Day to was it Palm Springs was a recent one.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you know so I think there's a lot that can be done, I think, with time loop stories.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I also like from a narrative standpoint, like when you see like whether it's in movies or in books, like you go back and see a scene or a location that you've already seen, but now there's the there's it another layer is pulled back, you know.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's something that I really want to uh to explore.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'll do that this year, actually.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I I know sometimes for NDA reasons you can't share, but uh has Hollywood rung your bell yet?
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, so yeah, so Hollywood Hollywood is a whole lot of waiting.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: There is, you know, I've like celebrated something like two times in the last the same thing, like celebrated it two times in like the last year, and waiting for like that official, official, official thing to do the final celebration.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's at the point when I get like news, you know, my wife is like, are we celebrating?
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's like we didn't already celebrate it like uh a few times for this.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: But very, very hopeful.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think that you know Hollywood is in a um it's in a precarious place.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: And someone told me once that you know, publishing is no, no, no, no, yes.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_02: And Hollywood is yes, yes, yes, yes, no.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, right, it's one of those things that and I've heard stories of it that you know things can be all the way up to like production and then it falls apart, or maybe it did, you know, get filmed and then it just you know uh it doesn't end up it ends up like sitting somewhere.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: But to answer your question, there are things that I'm hopeful for can be announced in 2026.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_02: I thought maybe it was gonna be announced like three months ago, but I'm still waiting.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you you know who your guy is to share that with once it's uh once it's all announced and said and done, my friend.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, as soon as soon as it comes through, I'm gonna take a screenshot.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna send it right to you.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Justin, it is as much of a pleasure as it was last time, if not more so.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad to call you a friend.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you take this opportunity, plug the book, and plug where people can find you online?
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the hospital at the end of the world by me, Justin Seaky, will come out February 3rd, 2026.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: We could pre-order it now, wherever you like to get your books.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure it's there.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you can find me.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my website is JustinCy.com.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_02: My uh social media handles are mostly Justin Seeky, like Instagram, trying a little bit on TikTok, don't judge me for it.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I actually enjoy your TikToks, my friend.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, well thanks, well thanks.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_02: You and two other people.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then um, and then I think on X I'm still Justin K underscore MD, trying to re figure out like what you know what that looks like so I don't post as much.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Instagram, you message me on Instagram, I'm definitely in that mode where you know I will respond um and respond excitedly.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but yeah, that's where you can find me.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think you and I are I and I love this journey for the both of us because you and I are in a very similar place where we're kind of figuring things out at the same time and simplifying our processes.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think I've deleted and restarted and deleted an X account, Twitter account, like six or seven times already.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: I just, it's not a place where I find my audience, so I stick to where where I feel the audience is at.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: But all of that aside, I am so glad to know you and I am so excited for what's next in your career.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for doing the podcast again, Justin.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: The world's a much better place with you in it.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thanks for having me.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, when I was, you know, uh entering the stage to do these things again, you know, you were one of the first people I thought about.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh enjoyed our conversation last time.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, you know, uh continued to connect over social media, and I've seen like great things happen for you.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm glad we're able to, you know, uh to celebrate this in a way together.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: Justin D.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: Key's new book, The Hospital at the End of the World, comes out Friday, February 6th, 2026.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: It is a fantastic read.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a copy for a few months now.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: Spoiler alert.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I have really enjoyed having Justin on the show and getting to know him all over again.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_00: Follow him on social media at JustinTe at instead.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_00: Go buy the book, listen to the book.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: I am confident there is more to come from Justin.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: While you're being generous with the followers on social media, make sure you're following at CotonT on social media platforms.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: New episodes drop every Monday.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the continued support.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: I do have a website, www.cotonthemic.com.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is M I K E adds in my name.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you can email me cotonheight at gmail.com.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: That has been Cotonic with Michael Clark.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thank you.