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5 Questions with A.J. Jacobs · Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: I am Paul Ollinger.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: I am a New York City-based podcaster and comedian,
• 0:04
  and I'm honored to be joined by one of the most interesting
• 0:08
  people I know.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: He is a New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-All,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: The Year of Living Biblically,
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks a Thousand,
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: The Puzzler,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: and The Year of Living Constitutionally.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: He's also the host of the Hello Puzzlers podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: He's a 6'9", 285 defensive tackle from Brown University.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, the professor A.J.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: Jacobs.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: About 40% of that was true, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, how about that?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's summertime here in New York City.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Have you been outside the last couple of days, AJ?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's been pretty spectacular.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's crazy?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have not been outside.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, no, I walked my dog this morning.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I should be outside.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I hear it's very healthy for you.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Are you writing?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Are you working on something that will soon be turned in,
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: be bound in between covers and shared with the world?
• 1:00
  I feel my new business model is I'm working harder than ever
• 1:06
  and making less money than ever.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: I am literally working my ass off.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm throwing everything at the wall, Substack, social media, and books.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have a podcast that's three times a week, so I'm out there.
• 1:25
  That's a lot of I mean your podcast is super fun The Puzzler is
• 1:28
  super fun But you
• 1:30
  spend a lot of time producing it That's non-trivial It's too
• 1:33
  much I know Well it is
• 1:35
  trivial Because we include trivia But yes you're right It is a
• 1:38
  lot A lot of work I
• 1:40
  love it I love it I just wish Yes monetarily That it would I
• 1:46
  would be Paid more
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: than minimum wage
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well,
• 1:49
  people ask me what's the monetization strategy for my podcast
• 1:55
  and I say it's a
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: reverse monetization strategy and I'm scaling it.
• 2:01
  So,
• 2:02
  you know,
• 2:04
  I'm achieving growth in the wrong direction,
• 2:07
  but it's awfully fun.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll jump in.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, David Rolo.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Jamie Johnson.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Nice that you all came to visit with me and A.J.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: Jacobs here.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't know A.J.,
• 2:22
  he is a multi New York Times bestselling author of lots of
• 2:25
  interesting books.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: You should Google him while we're
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: while we're talking.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: The premise of this is that it's five questions.
• 2:31
  It's lighthearted,
• 2:33
  meant to stimulate fun conversation on topics that we care
• 2:36
  about.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll get out of here within about 30 minutes.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: We'll take some questions from folks in the room at the end.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: But AJ's last book was called The Year of Living Constitutionally.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't miss one, did I?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's the last thing.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: No, that is the last one.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:55
  And so you must be thrilled about the upcoming 250th
• 2:59
  anniversary of the signing of
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: the Declaration of Independence Yeah,
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: happy birthday,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: America Yeah Yes,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: that is,
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: it definitely has been,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: it has been good for speaking gigs Well,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: there's your monetization Exactly
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Okay,
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: so AJ,
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: we'll start with a tiny bit of trivia,
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: about which,
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: by the way,
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: OpenAI or ChatGPT and Google seem to be very confused.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: If the bicentennial,
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: which we celebrated when you and I were both much younger men,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: is the 200th anniversary,
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: what is the compound anniversary phrase for 250th anniversary?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I covered this on The Puzzler.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: I figured you would have.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because there are three different terms There are!
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's so crazy It's not sesquicentennial,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: that's something else Remind me,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: what are the top three?
• 4:04
  Semi-quincentennial,
• 4:06
  which I think is the most popular one There is also
• 4:11
  sestercentennial
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: And if anybody in the audience has a guess as to the third one,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: go ahead and throw it out there.
• 4:24
  While they're thinking,
• 4:25
  AJ,
• 4:26
  what would the term for a 300th anniversary be?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's not tricentennial?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: It is tricentennial.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Whew, thank God.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I love the first one, yeah.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Tricia Addicts.
• 4:38
  Tricia's got a great new book coming out also about Rush,
• 4:42
  about sorority Rush.
• 4:46
  That is gaining lots of popularity She's been getting lots of
• 4:49
  attention around the
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: world Okay,
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: the last one We were waiting for the answer Yes,
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: you are,
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Tricia Is bisesquicentennial Bisesquicentennial That would be 500?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: No No,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: that's the 250 Oh,
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: that's the other 250 Yes,
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: all right,
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: so catchy Rolls off the tongue Yeah,
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: there you go Now
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: This is what I looked at.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: According to ChatGPT,
• 5:18
  you want to give a shot for what the 750th anniversary of the
• 5:21
  United States would
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: be called?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Not that you and I are going to be around for it.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Septicentennial?
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  SPEAKER_00: They like the septa.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think there are two.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Is that it?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: You're on the right path.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there are two.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's the Greek word prefix for seven and then the
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is it hectacentennial?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's Greek and Latin.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's very confusing.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: Septaquincentennial.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Septaquincentennial.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: They like to throw that extra.
• 5:53
  Fair enough So for all of you that are planning whatever you're
• 5:56
  going to be doing
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: in 500 years,
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: you'll have the right word.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Dr. William Trout.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: Nice to have you here.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay,
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: so along those lines,
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: question number one for you,
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: sir,
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: is who is your favorite founding father or mother?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, I'm glad you included mother or non-binary person.
• 6:19
  Well,
• 6:21
  they probably didn't identify that way back then,
• 6:23
  but we'll keep that open.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, why not?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, Anne.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it is Ben Franklin.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love him.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he is fantastic.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so first of all, he was probably...
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: had the least stain on his leg.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can't cancel him because he was an abolitionist.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, he was so curious.
• 6:51
  Even in his 80s,
• 6:52
  I remember reading Walter Isaacson's biography of him,
• 6:55
  and he was
• 6:56
  in his 80s was taking a ship back from Europe to America and
• 7:01
  doing experiments on
• 7:03
  the ship about like water temperature at the bottom of the
• 7:07
  ocean versus the top of
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  the ocean like he's 80 years old and he's already formed a
• 7:11
  country he can just kick
• 7:13
  it and he doesn't need to be doing that but he was he should
• 7:18
  have started a podcast
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: that's what he would have liked that
• 7:22
  Another thing I love about him is in his autobiography he
• 7:25
  specifically gives the
• 7:27
  advice when you are arguing with someone don't be so
• 7:35
  ideological you've got to say
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: things with humility for instance you should say
• 7:41
  It seems to me That's a very important phrase Or I could be
• 7:46
  wrong But These are all
• 7:48
  suggestions from Ben Franklin And can you imagine What a better
• 7:53
  world it would be
• 7:54
  If we all argued with a It seems to me That's how I start every
• 8:00
  That's how I start
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: every post on Truth Social Is
• 8:04
  It seems to me I could be wrong There's a great substacker
• 8:09
  named Jeff Maurer He's
• 8:12
  in fact my favorite substacker He's a little bit leftist center
• 8:15
  Writes a politics
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Substack that is super funny And it's called I Might Be Wrong Oh,
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: I love that And I said,
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: for that reason,
• 8:25
  you will never be famous Because nobody who's getting attention
• 8:28
  in the world these
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: days Has that kind of intellectual humility
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta say,
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: you are wrong That would be a more popular Substack Okay,
• 8:38
  so you say Benjamin Franklin I think this was in Joseph Moore's
• 8:41
  book That Benjamin
• 8:42
  Franklin actually proposed marriage Or tried to arrange
• 8:48
  marriage with a woman But
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  his first negotiation was with the father of said woman Who had
• 8:54
  no money for a
• 8:55
  dowry And Ben suggested that that guy mortgages his house to
• 9:00
  provide a dowry
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, boy.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, everyone.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: OK, yeah, you can cancel him.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm not trying to cancel him.
• 9:09
  I'm just saying he was an he was he was a clever fella on all
• 9:13
  aspects of his life.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is nice.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: one of my romantic heroes is Charles Darwin,
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: who before he got married,
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: made a pro con list of whether he should get married to his wife.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's that's some good thinking.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Do you ever break that out and discuss it with Julie?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 9:35
  She does not like how I Because on Valentine's Day I write a
• 9:40
  card that says The
• 9:41
  benefits of being married to you outweigh the costs And she
• 9:45
  does not appreciate
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: that humor So then I've stopped doing that joke So yeah,
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: people don't like pro-con thinking when it comes to love
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay,
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: no,
• 9:58
  that is definitely not putting love in terms of economics or
• 10:05
  utilitarianism is
• 10:07
  probably not the best way to keep your amorous life as active
• 10:11
  as possible.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: All right, question number two, also themed around July 4th.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh,
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: and by the way,
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: good people in the audience,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: please,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: if you have questions,
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: we're going to take questions at the end of these.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: So go ahead and type them into the message box or have them ready to go.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Question number two, also July 4th themed.
• 10:33
  Now the first time I interviewed you and I think this is the
• 10:36
  fourth time that we've
• 10:38
  spoken on camera we interviewed or we discussed your new book
• 10:44
  Thanks a Thousand in
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: which you
• 10:49
  You had a journey on which you wanted to thank a thousand
• 10:52
  people associated with
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: your morning cup of coffee.
• 10:56
  So you've done extensive thinking and writing about gratitude
• 10:59
  and your latest book
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: is Year of Living Constitutionally.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: You've also written about America.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So what about America are you most grateful for?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I am grateful for quite a bit, I have to say.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I am grateful.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I talked about this in my book.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful for
• 11:18
  for first of all for democracy for separate for balance of
• 11:23
  powers but I'm also
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: grateful for progress things like elastic in my socks because during this
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: This constitutional year,
• 11:34
  I tried to dress the part because I was trying to get into the
• 11:38
  mindset of the
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: founders.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I wore these socks.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have elastic, so they had these woolen knitted socks.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they would just fall down and puddle around the ankle.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And all those little things that we take for granted.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of horrible stuff going on in the world.
• 11:58
  but let's be grateful for elastic socks elastic underwear I
• 12:03
  mean that is yeah for
• 12:04
  sure yeah I mean there are it is so easy to complain because as
• 12:11
  I say there's a lot
• 12:13
  that is wrong but let's also focus on some of the amazing
• 12:18
  hundreds of things that
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: go right that we that we kind of take for granted
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have to wear a garter?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Did they have garters for their socks to keep them from falling down?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: They actually, I don't even know if I would call it a garter.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was a sock belt.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they had to put on.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: It was a
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was a tiny belt.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: It looked like a belt for a Smurf.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you would have to lace it on every morning on both.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the amount of time,
• 12:44
  I don't know how they had time to write a constitution because
• 12:47
  they spent so much
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: time doing laundry and lacing their socks.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the good old days were not good, is what I'm saying.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: I am a big fan of the footy sock.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think maybe they should have just gone with footies back then.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: And now I know Philadelphia was,
• 13:07
  especially during the summer of the Constitutional Convention
• 13:09
  when it was so hot in
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Philadelphia,
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 13:13
  you could just dispense with the socks and the sock belt and
• 13:18
  just go straight to
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: the Thorlo footies.
• 13:20
  I love that and the footies are the ones like that are just
• 13:24
  around the ankle you
• 13:24
  can barely see them that's correct okay got it I wasn't sure
• 13:28
  the tech that's a big
• 13:30
  term southern thing I think AJ you didn't uh if you grew up
• 13:35
  playing tennis maybe
• 13:36
  you would have you would have worn some footies more I'm
• 13:39
  wearing some right now I
• 13:41
  just didn't know that they were called you didn't know those
• 13:43
  technically there you
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: go okay it's summer time
• 13:47
  And as we know in America,
• 13:50
  summertime comes with big summertime blockbuster movies.
• 13:55
  So the trivia question for this portion is going to go back to
• 13:59
  bicentennial year.
• 14:00
  According to Box Office Mojo,
• 14:04
  what was the top grossing summer movie of 1976?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Wasn't Rocky in 1976?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: You're close, but it wasn't 1976.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, shoot.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: I believe it was 1977.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: But, no, yes, 1976.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: I give up.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, let me just try another one.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Poseidon Adventure.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: How's that?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: That is not it.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I will give you a hint.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'll give you a hint.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: It is a horror film.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, interesting.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Nightmare on Elm Street?
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: No, Halloween?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 14:41
  No These are two Oh Oh I got Rosemary's Baby No Close Oh I was
• 14:47
  so sure Okay let me
• 14:49
  give you another hint This summer's top grossing film is so far
• 14:53
  is The Devil Wears
• 14:54
  Prada 2 This top grossing film is also devil related Devil
• 15:00
  adjacent Is it The Omen?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes It is The Omen Alright that was a freaky movie That did scare me
• 15:09
  and two summers later it wasn't the top grossing film but
• 15:12
  Damien the Omen 2 was in
• 15:14
  the top 10 was in the top 10 so my favorite summer movie of all
• 15:20
  time is Grease what
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: is yours
• 15:25
  I guess one of them would be Fast Times at Ridgemont High I
• 15:28
  don't even know if it
• 15:29
  was a summer movie but I do love that I watched it and I've got
• 15:34
  oh I went on a show
• 15:35
  once with and Judge Reinhold was the other guest and he told me
• 15:39
  that he liked my
• 15:40
  books and he is in Fast Times at Ridgemont High so that was a
• 15:43
  highlight of my life
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Brad yeah absolutely he's the guy exactly
• 15:49
  I'm excited that I will have the very opening scene of Fast
• 15:54
  Times at Ridgemont High
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: is the exterior of Ridgemont Mall,
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: which is actually the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's been renovated, you know, a hundred times since then.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: But it's,
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: and the opening song,
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: before you even see the visuals,
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: you hear the drumbeat of We've Got the Beat by the Go-Go's.
• 16:17
  And Jane Weedlin of the Go-Go's has a memoir coming out and
• 16:23
  she's going to be on
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: the podcast in a few months.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: That is so exciting.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Say hello to her.
• 16:29
  I will tell you speaking of summer blockbusters I just want to
• 16:32
  say one thing
• 16:32
  because the Odyssey is coming I haven't seen it I have no I
• 16:36
  don't really have a hot
• 16:37
  take about the casting some people seem very exercised about
• 16:41
  that what are they mad
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: about well I think that Helen of Troy is played by a black actress um
• 16:49
  but my my I'm very interested to see how they deal with now
• 16:55
  this is a bit of a
• 16:56
  spoiler the book is like two twenty five hundred years old so I
• 17:00
  feel maybe it's
• 17:01
  okay but you know pause turn down the volume if you don't want
• 17:05
  to hear the ending
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: of the Odyssey uh
• 17:09
  The Odyssey Odysseus comes back and murders the suitors like he
• 17:14
  is a freaking
• 17:15
  psychopath sociopath he is a horrible person or at least that
• 17:21
  action is and so this
• 17:23
  idea of heroes is very complicated to me also I think it's I've
• 17:29
  written a little
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: bit about this before how weird uh
• 17:36
  The culture was,
• 17:37
  ancient culture,
• 17:38
  was so bizarre and bloody and rapey and weird.
• 17:46
  And the fact that we teach this to our kids in this completely
• 17:51
  whitewashed fashion
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: is really bizarre.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because Zeus was worse than Harvey Weinstein, if that can be imagined.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:02
  Like he took and he didn't just he just took on any took on you
• 18:07
  know a swan or gold
• 18:09
  coins and he would sexually assault women in the form of all of
• 18:12
  it and that is
• 18:14
  messed up like that is why are you know why are we teaching our
• 18:19
  kids about this we
• 18:20
  should just cancel cancel all of Greece there you go so you
• 18:25
  think they'll stop the
• 18:25
  film before he gets back and murders all those people kind of
• 18:28
  like the Michael
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Jackson biopic I mean they're gonna
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great question.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how they're going to deal with that.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he did have some good parts.
• 18:39
  I do love the Odysseus strategy of tying yourself to the mast,
• 18:43
  which I use in my own life.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't tie myself to my mast, but I put cookies away.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's sort of the Odysseus strategy.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I don't murder my wife's ex-boyfriends.
• 19:00
  That is something I decide not That's probably a good strategy
• 19:04
  If living a peaceful
• 19:08
  life is a placid life is part of what you're interested in
• 19:12
  Let's talk about things
• 19:13
  that we love the most Our kids Father's Day is coming up on
• 19:16
  June 21st I need a tie
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe some handkerchiefs What do you want for Father's Day this year,
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: AJ?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's a good question I don't know I'm
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: How about I, I'll just take, I'll take gift cards to Amazon.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, not Amazon.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: I try not to shop there even though I do all the time.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, like freedom of choice.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's the American way.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you deciding what I should get?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let me choose.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Is that how you,
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: is that,
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: if you bought your wife a gift card for a holiday or her birthday,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: how would that go over her?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that one, or cash, I could just give her cash.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 20:01
  I used to find gift cards really offensive because you used to
• 20:05
  have to go out to
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: the store.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like,
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: my mother,
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: my stepmother-in-law gave me,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: a gift card to,
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Brooks Brothers.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, so you're giving me an errand to run.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: You're telling me I don't dress well.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks very much.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right, exactly.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: A.J., your audio just cut out.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, there you are.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's back.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's back.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: You're good.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I adjusted my chair.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I won't do that again for the rest of the time.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Don't you dare get comfortable.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: What are you... Oh, you want a tie.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: No, I... You know...
• 20:50
  I have gotten to the point we have this system in our house
• 20:56
  where each of us around
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: the holidays keeps this thing called giftful
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: where you can get kind of create your own pay.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a Pinterest, but it's for gifts, right?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so you can put up your...
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I go to...
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: My tendency is when I see something I want,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: I buy it.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: But then my wife has said, why are you buying like this nice...
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: I was going to say shampoo, but let's be clear and honest.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: We don't use a lot of shampoo on this side of the world.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: But like body wash, just some nice body wash I want.
• 21:26
  I'll give it to her so that I'm like,
• 21:29
  this was something that's,
• 21:30
  you know...
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: not crazy expensive and would be a nice gift for Father's Day.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I look for things like that.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my wife has a... Oh, go ahead.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well,
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: I was going to say,
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: when I was a kid,
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: the thing I hated the most getting for Christmas was,
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: underwear and socks.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: But now it's honestly the thing I love the most.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's the circle of life.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my wife, during the holidays, she will send me a link to
• 21:55
  to and I just have to press on the link and say pay and I love
• 22:01
  that and she always
• 22:03
  pretends to be surprised how did you know oh my god but it
• 22:07
  probably takes longer
• 22:10
  for her to copy and paste the link than if she just pressed it
• 22:14
  herself but you know
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: that's the tradition well there you go
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, last question.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: And if anybody, again, has questions, pop them in the chat.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Question number five,
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: as we discussed prior to going live,
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: my children are ninth and 10th grade,
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: finishing the school year,
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: finally in New York.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: School ends halfway.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost July 4th.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're still in school.
• 22:39
  whereas in Atlanta where I came from two years ago they're done
• 22:42
  by Memorial Day but
• 22:44
  what advice you've done this three times I believe what advice
• 22:48
  would you give me
• 22:49
  for the imminent college search for my children oh boy well it
• 22:54
  is a pretty horrible
• 22:55
  process if you let it take control of you because it and they I
• 23:02
  really I don't know
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: what the solution is maybe a lottery maybe just like a lottery
• 23:08
  that might be better for the world but I would say you know
• 23:14
  remind yourself and
• 23:16
  your kids often it doesn't really matter like you in terms of
• 23:21
  the long game you can
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: get a wonderful experience and a wonderful experience
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: education and make a lot of great friends no matter where you go.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And there are a bunch of books that I read and made my kids read.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: One by Frank Bruni, but I forget the name of it.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: I've heard of that one.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I do recommend that.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I did like was the college tours.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: I thought they were fun.
• 23:53
  And but they all as my one of my sons made a tick tock making
• 23:58
  fun of college tours
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: because they are all cookie cutter.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: They all have the exact same thing.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: They all have the same jokes.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, oh, this this is this little dorm looks like Hogwarts.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's every tour guide says that.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then they all say and here you can go here.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: You have hundreds of clubs.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can't believe the number of clubs.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: We actually, two of the schools made the exact same joke.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: They said,
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: there's a squirrel watching club,
• 24:30
  and then there's a club for people who want to watch the
• 24:34
  squirrel watching club.
• 24:36
  Literally,
• 24:37
  that joke was made by two different tour guides at two
• 24:39
  different schools.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's like the comedians on Southwest Airlines, those kinds of jokes.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, I, uh, oh, there it is.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Dave.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's Dave Newspam.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love Dave Newspam.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you should have him on.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's a great, he's a great thinker and writer and scientist.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Dave.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: Let's chat.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I've heard of that book and I, and I, I will, uh,
• 25:09
  Open that as well Jeff Salingo's hat has a great book that I
• 25:14
  read in the past year
• 25:16
  and it's really about opening up you know your college search
• 25:19
  beyond the impossible
• 25:20
  top you know 30 40 50 schools that really you're they could
• 25:25
  fill the freshman class
• 25:26
  10 times over and not drop an SAT point right and so I mean a
• 25:31
  lottery you know
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: maybe someday that's that's the process
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I certainly don't know what's right.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I also,
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't tell your kid this,
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: but,
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: it is possible that,
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: by the time they graduate college,
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: there will be
• 25:50
  No Jobs There Might Be No Earth You Know There's A Lot Of
• 25:53
  Uncertainty So Why Get
• 25:56
  All Stressed Out About The Future When We Don't Even Know If
• 25:59
  There's Going To Be A
• 26:00
  Future That's A Little Dark But Was There Was There A Place Was
• 26:04
  There A School That
• 26:05
  You Went To That You Loved That Your Kids Were Not At All
• 26:09
  Interested In Oh That's A
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Good Question I Did Love What Was It I Mean I
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you where they ended up, which I'm very happy about.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think they would have been happy almost anywhere they went,
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: but they ended up at Wesleyan,
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: which is in Connecticut.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: And Cambory, your former home.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, right.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then Case Western in Ohio.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we're all over the country.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I'm very happy.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think of which.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're just starting this process.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Have you dipped in at all?
• 26:49
  Well,
• 26:49
  you know,
• 26:50
  I took my kids to see a basketball game at Villanova in March.
• 26:54
  which was both an excuse to spend the day with my kids and just
• 26:59
  a subtle way to say
• 27:00
  oh look we're going to a college what's the how many undergrads
• 27:04
  are there what
• 27:05
  majors do they have here and they're like oh look these are the
• 27:08
  dorms so it was
• 27:09
  we're just trying to kind of wander in without too much
• 27:12
  pressure at this point and
• 27:15
  just start the conversation without being so so oppressive
• 27:20
  about it I will tell you
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: that the one metric
• 27:24
  You know,
• 27:24
  I think a lot of these lists,
• 27:27
  95% of them are terrible and bad for society.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: But there was one metric that I looked at whether or not it was accurate,
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: but it was the happiness of the student body.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that was, you can see it on websites.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's this book that my wife got that's super.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was Denmark.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: University of Denmark.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's always the Scandinavian countries that are the happiest, right?
• 27:56
  I know I'm not sure I trust that but that is what they say
• 28:00
  because I'm not sure
• 28:00
  their definition of happiness is the same as ours but I did I
• 28:05
  do remember this and
• 28:06
  I apologize to any Northeastern grads or students but the one
• 28:12
  that got the lowest
• 28:13
  happiness score in my that I remember was Northeastern and I'm
• 28:17
  like okay that's the
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: one I'm not going to let my kids apply to
• 28:22
  That's one of those schools that 30 years ago wasn't even on
• 28:25
  the map and now it's
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: one of the hottest schools in the country.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: maybe it's great and maybe I'm being unfair,
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: but to me,
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: the happiness of the student body is because,
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: as Frank Bruni says,
• 28:40
  You really can't predict how your college degree is going to
• 28:46
  translate into a job.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's so random.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: So why not try to maximize the happiness?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I encouraged them to do.
• 28:57
  I love it that's a good place uh to kind of wrap up Joseph
• 29:00
  Moore says yes Benjamin
• 29:02
  Franklin was a romantic devil for more about that check out his
• 29:06
  book how to get
• 29:07
  rich in American history AJ what's coming up on uh on the
• 29:12
  puzzler on hello hello
• 29:15
  puzzler sorry yes uh that's my podcast where uh oh you know
• 29:21
  what we do have
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: something exciting we uh
• 29:25
  We did an interview with the king of puzzles Will Shorts of the
• 29:30
  New York Times Oh
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: wow,
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: cool,
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: that's big
• 29:33
  It was lovely So we gave him puzzles about his life He gave us
• 29:38
  puzzles And he got
• 29:40
  very personal I felt like Barbara Walters Because he talked
• 29:43
  about his love life He
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: talked about his stroke He had a stroke a couple of years ago Oh wow He's
• 29:50
  recovering He's come a long way So it was really a lovely
• 29:57
  interview And I can't
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: wait for it to come out In a couple of weeks
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's great When are we going to see another book from AJ?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: You're about due, aren't you?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: I know,
• 30:07
  I'm behind schedule I do have a topic I'm very excited about
• 30:14
  And it's about the
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: epistemic crisis It's about misinformation,
• 30:18
  disinformation And the premise basically would be Trying to
• 30:23
  fact check everything
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: in my life Everything that I think I know That's great
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: How do I know that you're not an AI avatar right now?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that Well,
• 30:35
  as soon as I figure out how to do that you might just be
• 30:37
  talking to my avatar Well,
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: that's great Can't wait to see that when it comes out
• 30:44
  for all of you not following AJ please follow AJ if you want to
• 30:48
  see what's coming
• 30:48
  up for me I've got hey I'll be in Chattanooga San Francisco and
• 30:53
  LA for comedy over
• 30:54
  the next month I also have a show at the West Side Comedy Club
• 30:58
  next or two weeks
• 30:59
  June 25th Happy Couples you get free couples counseling as part
• 31:04
  of a comedy show
• 31:06
  zero actually not free zero marginal cost because you still
• 31:10
  have to buy a ticket
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: right
• 31:13
  And Dave Winfield coming up on the podcast and your pal Bruce
• 31:17
  Feiler next week.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to do one of these also.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, fantastic.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, great to see you, man.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for everybody for joining.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: We appreciate you being here and we'll see you next time.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: AJ, have a wonderful day.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
• 31:33
  Yes,
• 31:33
  very grateful,
• 31:34
  of course,
• 31:34
  to be on your show and grateful to everyone for showing up.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: See you all next time.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: How do we end it?