"This Is What I Personally Believe" (w/ Matt & Bowen) 01:41:19

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Look, man. Oh, I see. Wow. Bowen, look over there. Wow. Is that culture? Yes. Oh, my goodness. Wow. Las Culturistas. Ding dong. Las Culturistas calling. Energy's high. Energy's high. We're a Webby award winning podcast now. Can you believe? Just when you thought we couldn't win more awards. And I'm sure everyone was thinking that. Yeah.

Everyone was thinking that in the culture. Well, this podcast has received critical acclaim and has been cited in academic work. It's been cited for our insight into the entertainment industry. And if you thought that the discourse was over about current events, we haven't weighed in yet. So everyone step aside.

There will come a day when the project of this podcast is over. And that day will come when there are no more current events. Yeah, but actually, current events are happening as we speak. But when we don't speak, will they happen? It's sort of a tree fall situation. It's a chicken or the egg. It's both those things. It's a tree falling on an egg. 100%. It's a tree falling on an egg. If a tree falls in the forest and the egg cracks, was there ever an egg?

And is this worth thinking about? Yes. Thank you for people who helped vote for us. Helped vote. And everyone who helped vote. If you helped vote. Not if you voted. Please. If you helped vote. Help out this year and vote. Everyone this year has to help vote.

Truly. Thank you to everybody in this room, especially, for helping us with making the podcast happen. Yeah, thank you to everyone here. And actually, it was in this very room that the episode that we won the award for happened. It was for Kelly Clarkson. So we've won Best Individual Comedy Episode.

for our episode with Kelly Clarkson. And that was comedy. And it was a rollicking comedy riot. Uh-huh. You know, all the comedy greats found dead with that one. Our funniest. Our funniest. Offering. Now Webby Award winning.

Now Webby award winning. Speaking of offerings, I think that it's time. It's finally time for us to wade into the discourse that is the tortured poets department. And it's finally time. And I'm promising, I'm swearing on my life. We're going to be talking about the year 2013. Yeah, it's happening today. Let's just get that out of the way. We're getting to it. We're not punting it. We're not kicking it down the road. It's going to happen. Yeah. But we're going to do what we do and talk about this new big album that came out. This is a...

stamina run of a year for us. This has been music year. Not since like what, 2010, 2011? Have the girlies been this prolific? I mean, it's been overwhelming. And also it's not even like, for example, like with Tortured Poets, she long. And so there's a lot of music on top of all the other new music. And also you have to remember,

I'm newly in my Lana era. Right. So I have all these albums to get through. I have homework. I haven't felt like this since AP. Environmental. I wasn't. Would you believe I got a bad score at AP environmental? You don't like the earth. Not a big fan.

Because it's full of toxic trolls. Girl. They're living under the crust, those trolls. Now, we have to, have to, before we talk about Tortured Poets Department, talk deeply about the best song of the year so far. And that is Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter. And I want to say that last week, I sort of popped off about

Coachella and I said like a lot of things and I feel that I paid Sabrina a little tiny bit of dust because I kind of popped off about Chapel. Right. And then I went from Chapel over to Sabrina and Sabrina was just giving a different show. It's a different gear. It's not that anything was better or worse. It was just like it's a different show. She's in her cute little dresses. Yes. Singing in front of like a desert motel.

which I thought was really cute and inspired. It was really cute. I mean, the whole thing, like her entire aesthetic right now and the way that they're presenting the album and the new single, like I

Like, I think it's great. And she, I didn't realize she had so many albums, but... She's had a lot of albums. Yeah, she's been around and it feels like they finally snapped into something really cool with her, which is she's this, like, cute little, like, nostalgia, almost like beat, like, what would you call those movies? Like, Annette Funicello? Annette Funicello. Well, I mean, she literally was in a remake of Adventures in Babysitting. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, she is, like, a kind of, like, child star that, like...

I don't know, has been really pinballed around the industry. And like she kind of at this point has landed as like,

cool, chill, girly. Espresso is that. Espresso is that. If you like watch her interviews, she's just like funny girl. Yeah, we like her. Cool chick. And Sabrina. Sabrina. You're invited on the pod. If you want to come. If you want to come here, you have a spot here. There is a place for you at the table. There is a place for you on Last Culture. On a Webby award winning podcast. And we want a Webby. Okay. And you might get us another one.

It might be the funniest episode of the year, our episode with Sabrina Carpenter. You might be the new Richard Pryor, Sabrina Carpenter, if you come on this podcast. I see that for her. I'm telling you, like, I'm listening to Espresso. I'm streaming. So that's what I'm saying is it's like, there's so much that...

For one song to pop out like that, and I love that this is during the tortured poets discourse, we cannot stop talking about espresso. But I have to say, that's the vibe. It is crack cocaine, an addictive drug that could ruin lives. That the FBI made. Yeah, exactly. When she does her little dance, and I know you can do it, so show us. Yes! You do it.

Vesta Mi Espresso. And listen, like you can't see us doing it, but just know we're doing it exactly right. Yeah. Even better than Sabrina. Even better than Sabrina. Sabrina, if you come to this podcast and you allow us to interview you, you can watch us do the choreo and then, you know. And then retire because no one's doing your dance moves better than us. Let me tell you something. We'll shut it down. No, she's on her way. What am I saying? She's not on her way. She's a

No, but I think that she's continuing to like... Well, I think this last album, because I did. I listened to a bunch of her stuff. I fucking love this album. Album's great. I love Tornado Warnings. I love Opposite. Opposite is so fun. Already Over. Already Over because I loved it. Boy. I mean, if you just listen to that album all the way through...

So good. Nonsense. Nonsense. I love so much. It's such a sweet song. Yeah. I mean, also the way that she ends every live performance with like a different rhyme thing. So cute. I don't know. I just think she's fucking cute and great and more. And I guess Tortured Poets Department was made by, I suppose, her mother. Her mom. Her mom, Taylor. Taylor's. And she's the world's mom. Yeah.

Let's talk Tortured Poets Department. This is an album that I'm just going to say up top, we will look back on and be like,

damn, this is pretty fucking major. I think that what's happening right now is the discourse is out of fucking control and people are bending themselves into a pretzel trying to figure out what they want to like land on in a concrete way. And like, I think the fact that it was 31 songs like made everyone so like frustrated and overwhelmed that that like

That was the headline. Right, because you listen... She's an editor! Here's the thing. This is my take. I'm just gonna get out of the way. She needed to get to 31. Right. And...

I don't discount that as a reason, as a motivating force, because so much of this album is her literally subverting, inverting all of these things that we know about her. And like she's basically, instead of breaking any new sonic ground, she is dipping back into, I think you were the one who put this idea into my head, like she's dipping back into all of her old styles and albums and approaches to songwriting. And she's kind of

as it were, putting like a sepia tone filter on everything, which is kind of what she was doing on social media anyway. Like,

All of it was being like sepia toned, right? It was like whatever photos were coming out of the tour in the post US legs were like, oh, this is like the treatment now for everything. And I think this is retroactively the treatment in a very clever, clever seems like so like not the right word, like savvy way where it's like when she was putting out those playlists on Apple Music where it was like, oh, it's all the stages of grief.

it's her like recontextualizing all her own music. I think that is a very intentional thing. I think that is a statement on the album itself, which is...

Everything you know about me, I'm looking back at retroactively. Redundant, but yes, you know what I mean? Like, I'm retroactively considering this and the chapter is closed. We're moving on. Yeah. I mean, I think the fact that she came out and said this was a chapter in my life that's closed, we're moving on, like, is such an... Because I remember when the Aristotle was happening, I threw out there at one point, like, I wonder how healthy it is to be doing this and also have the entire world's attention. Yeah.

And some people were like, oh, like she's to speculate on like how healthy it is, blah, blah, blah. Like, you know, but I also think that she's sort of answered that question here, which is it was not the healthiest time of her life doing this. Like she had this relationship and and whatever about the personal aspects of it all, because I think we're putting the cart before the horse a lot with her.

Because if you just make it about the music, it's a way simpler conversation. It's so much simpler. There are so many fucking incredible songs on this. And I really think people would do themselves a favor if they started listening to her music as if they're the protagonist of the songs and not she is the protagonist or by the same token, the antagonist of these songs. Like take Taylor Swift out of it and just experience the songs. Which is a big ass. Yeah. It's not as easy...

as it is said to accomplish because I think that she obviously looms so large. But what I'm, I guess, pulling is that like this album is a collection of songs that she wrote during one of the most intense periods of her life. And so, yes, it is a little bit messy. Yes, it is like...

big. It's also like lyrically people saying that she's not experimenting here. She's like way more frank. She curses a lot more. She's like talking about like it's just like a rougher, dirtier, like more textured lyric throughout than I think she's given. So to say there's no experimentation here, I don't think is totally correct. I get that it feels like a lot of these sounds we've heard before, but

If you really listen to this album, I think what she gave is like 90s VH1 country rock girly. And that is kind of what I wanted. Yeah. It's just there is so much music, so it's hard to get through it all just physically. And I think that's informing some of the takes. Like, oh, I'm throwing my hands up in the air because I'm already overwhelmed. There's too much. But once you really fucking listen...

There's a ton of great fucking shit here. It is that genre and I love that for her. Yes, I agree with all of what you're saying. What I did last night was if you have an Apple Music subscription, put it on the TV and

have the lyrics next to you. Yes. Yes. It's such an interesting experience. I think she also, it doesn't really matter, but it's like, I think what she would want because it is such a writerly album. Yeah. It is such a

lip manger kind of thing. Yeah. I found it really, really engrossing in that way. Yeah. It's so funny because she rotates between being very like one-to-one in her lyrics. Like, now I'm down, bad crying at the gym. Yeah. And then in like contrast to that, there's the albatross and there's like almost everything on the anthology, which is like very dense. And I think that some of the...

like in some of the more negative reviews is that it feels like it's too much words and it needs like intercuts and edits to like get through it. But I kind of think that all of that is the point.

Like it's like, it's her version of a tortured poetry book that she's putting through a Taylor Swift lens. And if it's polarizing to people, A, I think that's good. And I think that will make everything about going forward more interesting. And B, I think, again, you don't have to sit there and listen to all 31 of these in a row. No. Like let them just be songs. Yeah. Because that's really all they are, people. Hmm. I think that...

Her not having this filter. I think this album is like an unfiltered cigarette. Totally. Her not having that filter, literally, figuratively. I think she is seizing this as the first post-Era's Tour album release. Like every eye and ear is going to be on this. What can I do that I can only do now? Like this is...

another carte blanche for me, right? Because you know what? She didn't really get that with 1989. She did not get the opportunity to do a post-Imperial Phase album to be like, I can make this whatever I want, right? She was kind of backed into a corner. She was pushed into... Pushed into reputation. And in saying that, like, as a follow-up to 1989, even without all the stuff around it, reputation, like... Incredible album, right? But, like, she conceptually had to have some reactionary work done

Like after the whole Kim Kanye show. Yes. She did not have the opportunity until now to come off of one of the biggest moments of her career and then be like, I can do whatever. This is true Imperial phase. Yeah. I'm lucky enough to get a second one. Yes. What can I do with this opportunity? This is maybe the only time in her career. I don't know. This is not totally informed, but like,

she's going to put out an album with 31 songs on it and have everyone listen to it. Right. I mean, yes. I feel like also one thing that's getting lost is when people are like, oh, it's 31 songs. Like that's too much for an album. It is two albums. There is a 15 song album and a 16 song second album or a 16 song album and a 15 song follow up. So think about it that way if people need it to be easier for them. But I think like what you're saying is

about it feeling cumulative and also imperial phasey, especially in this moment is so dead on because what I think we have here is like the bitchy grown daughter of red and reputation. Like, I really feel like that's what we have here. It feels like a sequel to both those albums to me in a way.

because of the genre that I think we pretty much land on. And the rage. Yes, and also reputation in that there is a lot of comment, personal comment, that you can apply to yourself once you get through. Mm-hmm.

like what this moment is, which is the release and everyone doing the decoding thing that happens with her. What you'll find is I think similar to what you find with Reputation, which is just great music. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I also think it's like that daughter of Red and Reputation like graduated from Evermore College and vacationed in Midnights. And I feel like

There's also a lot of Speak Now in this. Just sonically, there's a lot of Speak Now. I think So High School is Speak Now. I think so. And I also think that Clara Bow kind of gives Speak Now. Clara Bow gives Lucky Ones from Red too. Yeah. It's like the grown-up version of Lucky Ones. Right. And I think that what's so great about all of this is that it was created during the Eris tour when she was immersed in all of those eras. So as a fan, this is very satisfying if you're looking at it like a collective. And I also think...

Just from an artistic standpoint, what she's done is she has funneled what I would essentially call, and I'm not saying this pejoratively, like a manic period. And you feel that in the music, like the extremes of the emotions, like the extremes of the lyricisms, the sort of places that she's going is

Sometimes I recognize it as being like a pure example of whatever emotion that is. Like who's afraid of little old me is pure anger channeled into this like big pop song, which is like, again, like I think spiritually a sequel to reputation in a really fun way. And I also think,

There's like some question about like how seriously she takes herself as like a tortured poet. Remember, guys, that she's like the biggest and best pop star in the world. And she's incredibly good at putting on these different costumes. She, in fact, knows they are eras well enough to brand it that way. So she is wearing a costume as this tortured poet. She went through something fantastic.

saw what the body of work was giving and said, this is like tortured poetry and I see an aesthetic there. So that to me is all fun and specific and great. And she does seem in control of it to me in a complete way. And some people seem to really bristle at this theory. And I kind of have like some weariness around it, but like,

If like the asylum imagery motif in this is connecting to like a manic episode, which like a lot of people really like have sensitivities around that word. Totally. Of course. So valid. But I like that lens too of like, oh yeah, this relationship you were in for six, seven years is over as you're on the highest grossing tour of all time. Right. While you're dating this like

really chaotic person. Like all of these things are like shrapnel in the explosion. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yes. And I also think

She has always... In fact, it's been like the bit about her. Like she puts her relationships into her music, right? And so that's like a way that she funnels her emotion. And so the fact that she had this one relationship that has defined a lot of her music for probably the past better part of a decade ending and this other one starting and being so crazy, like that insanity and like I said, that messiness, and I say that in a good way, like...

this was always going to be the kind of album that she made at this time. And the fact that it feels like a little, whatever, quote unquote, unedited, I think is good and interesting and exciting. Me too. I'm sure people will listen to this and it'll come off as us, like, quote unquote, defending her. I don't really feel that. She doesn't need defense. She doesn't need defense or protection, really. And what she has done that I think is forever, like,

defining her career, which is like crazy to think about it this way. She's like really, and I say this like genuinely, like this is genius. Like she did something that not a lot of artists have done, which is with the Eros tour. When she announced that concept, like it was so revolutionary, but it was, it's just like, she destroys the binary between like new work, old work. Cause it's like you're a touring artist, right?

Let's say you're McCartney. You go out with your new album. People still want to hear you sing like Blackbird, you know? Yeah. Like they want you to play the hits. This is someone who like the legacy stuff and the new stuff is on the same level. Mm-hmm.

Like, that hasn't really ever happened. I mean, like, in my memory, my myopic, small, limited scope, like, that hasn't happened before. Like, an artist who, like, fucking changes the paradigm so completely. And I think going forward, I don't know what she does except for recontextualize all of the stuff that comes before. I think whatever she does going forward...

And I'm so interested to see what 12 and 13 are, albums 12 and 13 are, because it's like up until 13, is it going to be like just, and I hope it's not because there is a danger to this. I hope it's not pure navel gazey. I hope it's not pure like, let's look at what I've done, even though she's allowed to do that because she is so prolific that way. But I'm like, my gut is telling me this is her album of like, let me just get all of the retrospection out of the way. Yeah. Yeah.

And then 12 is going to be something interesting, I hope, I'm sure. And 13 is going to be... Oh, 13 is going to be wild. Whatever it is, it's going to be huge. It's going to be symbolic. It's going to represent something. The obvious thing to me seems to be like, it'll be like country, pure country again. When that like, quote unquote, trend is maybe like done with the other girlies, like she will return to that and like claim it as hers or something. But yeah, I mean like...

In some ways, this is reminding me of Reputation when people were like, she's overexposed. Like, there is that fatigue setting in, which, you know, I think she also saw coming where it's like...

She might as well ride that wave and put out something that will be polarizing and divisive and people will have opinions about. Yeah. I think it was surprising that it was coming now. Of course. Because it really feels like a fall album. And you know what I mean? And it kind of feels like it would be in line with the stuff that she has famously and historically released in the fall. And it doesn't feel like it's giving...

So maybe that is some of like the polarized reaction is just people like not necessarily being in the mood for what they certainly will be in the mood for when they have their little hot cocoa in their hand. This is going to fucking hit in October. It really is. And I feel like the reason why it's coming now in April is because they had to probably add it to the tour. I would imagine...

That we're getting serious cuts to the Heiress tour. And they're going to give a whole tortured poet section at the end. And like, she's going to go in. We're probably getting seven songs. And we'll talk about like specifically what might be fun to see because I go back and forth. Like literally I...

Yesterday, I tried to make a playlist. If I were to narrow down the album, you know what I mean? Even doing that, my playlist, just this album, was still over 22, 23 songs long. There's not that much here. There's not as much chaff as people are saying. Not at all. And if there are those songs that you think are on that short list...

Listen to them again because even if it might not hit at first, like there's really interesting lyrical stuff happening here and like

I just think that it's better than you think. And I think we're kind of like tripping ourselves up by being overwhelmed. People have been so defensive about their reaction to this album. Like I've had more than one person come to me and be like, I haven't gotten through it yet. I just feel like it's a lot. I'm like, babe, I don't care if you like it or don't like,

But there is this preciousness and this like, you know, panic about reacting to this album and like arriving at a take, which is like not why we have music. There's a meta take on it for people, right? There's like,

I have a take on my take. Yes. Which is so interesting. Maybe we're like doing that right now too. Well, I literally got tripped up last night because I was like, oh God, like I can't, and then that was our episode about tortured poets. Like, what are we going to say? And I'm like, wait, hold on. Slow your roll for a second. It's music. It's music. Yeah, yeah. And it's fucking great music. And I think like these,

bizarre like sprints to the take are not going to work on something like this. And you're going to look back on your take or your work and you're going to be like, I reacted to that quickly. Like it happens with her all the time, like pitchfork. And I did think that that review did make some points, but I thought it was about a point too low or a point and a half too low in terms of the score because like,

We have yet again with her, like they in particular have done many times because they retroactively rate her higher a lot. Yeah. They retroactively rate everyone a lot higher. Yes. And I feel like we in the race to have a take or try to figure out this album, you're actually doing a disservice to a lot of the work here because while again, I think there are some points to be made about like,

it might be interesting to see her work with someone outside of Jack and Aaron next time. Like I do agree that any artist should have a period where they go off and reconfigure and like start working with new people. And I think it is revitalizing. We remember when Beyonce took time off before four and came back as a new artist and

you know, that's like exciting and that's an opportunity. So I think there is some stuff in the criticism here that's potential to listen to. And I say that as a huge fan of not only just Taylor, but also Jack and Aaron. So I think there is something there, but it is the internet culture. Yeah. And that's nobody's fault except like the...

culture of spreading to a take with everything and you know that's nothing new yeah I don't know it's reminding me of reputation a lot where there were just these god like so many informational pieces about like what's this lyric mean and in the end that stuff doesn't really matter and I'm not saying I'm like inoculated from like what everyone else is thinking and feeling but like I don't really care what song is about Maddie and what song is about Joe I'm kind of like

I don't care about that at all. And neither does any of our fans. Like when you go to the heiress tour, like, and you look around and you see someone living their fucking life singing all too well. They're not thinking about how that's about Jake Gyllenhaal. They're thinking about how it applies to their life, which is, I guess why I'm saying like,

start listening to her music as if you're the protagonist and try to apply it to your own life instead of like falling down a cliff trying to like figure out what it means for her. It doesn't need to be that. She's always been the best communicator in pop music songwriting because she can communicate what you are feeling, what her audience is feeling. And that's still here. I think this album has...

some of her best songwriting. And I also agree that it is superfluous like any other thing. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, like any other of her albums. And I think she understands that on some level. It's okay. Not to like tie it back to my work, but it's like,

It's like when everyone's like SNL hasn't been good since blah, blah, blah. If you go back and pick any episode from any season, it's like watch one episode. There's some great sketches. There's some bad sketches. There are some mid sketches. That's just how it works because why we have to fill out an hour and a half of television. Right. That is like part of the production. And like, and you're thinking, oh, it's Taylor Swift. She can make any album, any links to what she wants.

Totally. But like I'm saying, I think she wanted to get to 31. Yeah. Because it is, you know, neatly this subverted, reversed thing that like we know, we think we're so familiarized with something about her. And yet she is telling us that like, and maybe she's inverting it because it's like, this is probably the most internally familiar.

mainlined album she's ever put out. Yeah. Too. You know, her insides are out, literally. Some of the lines I'm like so shook by that sounded so fucking basic. But like, well, I guess what I mean is like,

what if he's written mine on my upper thigh only in my mind? Like, Guilty as Sin is, I think, my favorite song on the album. And I'm going to say this out into the atmosphere. This must be in the tour. Guilty as Sin is, I think, some of her best writing and specific. Like, that thing of when you've already...

fantasize been romantic intimate with someone to like an embarrassing degree to an emotional degree because you know that's where it's headed like that your mind has gone ahead of itself has gone ahead of reality yeah there's just not a lot of songs that can like not only spell out that specific feeling but then like

It takes you on a ride, that song. And I love the type of song that is. I made a list of, I guess, all my favorite songs in order. And the stuff that rises to the top for me is this 90s old rock moment. But Daddy, I love him. I think the chicks would be proud of that. You know what I mean? Guilty as Sin, incredible. So High School is very that. So High School is amazing. I love...

I love the Black Dog so much. Oh, I love that. That starting line reference made me scream. We watched it. We listened to it together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also, God bless the starting line and their streaming numbers now. They just pop all the way off. And they're thankful. Yeah, I mean, but that's like old habits die screaming.

Like, come on. I don't know. Like this, don't talk to me about how she's, some of these articles were like fun to read, I guess. Like the Paste article I thought was fun to read. You know what I mean? Like I thought the Pitchfork thing, I was like, it was brutal, but like I was reading it as if like this is this person popping off, not like I necessarily agreed. I was just like, oh, this is content about this album that I find entertaining. I'm sure, you know, Taylor read it and had a different perspective. But I was like, yeah, interesting. And yeah,

so intent on proving that she's like lost it or flopped on this album and they basically did the equivalent of like screenshotting the quote unquote cringe lyrics and putting them in highlight but I was gonna be my I don't think so honey yes and it should be yeah but I was just like this article is

deliberately ignores so much of the excellent work here and that's really just a testament to how fucking high level of quality she always delivers that people can literally with a comb go through and pull out lyrics and like try to you know sniper rifle find where she's maybe slipped up like I'm sorry but she hasn't over 20 of these are genius what's like

That is like the definition of like removing context from something, right? Like I also, I kind of, my eye just skims over in any review for any album. Yeah. Like,

when they reference the lyric. I understand like journalistically, that's like what you're supposed to do. But I'm like, if I read a song lyric, no matter what, no matter who it's by, I'm going to be like, that sounds stupid. Yeah. You know what I mean? Even poetry. If it's like, if the line breaks, if it's not formatted the way that like the poet intended, I'm like, yeah, well, that's dumb. That sounds stupid as fuck. But yeah, I mean, I get why it's done. And I do love the memes of people like taking the genius...

you know, Instagram posts grafting their own lyrics onto it for sure. But sometimes when people are like, why is she talking about Grand Theft Auto? It's like, okay. Oh, give me a break. It's a fun line. Just listen to the song. The article is about being like in a high school mentality. Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto. We loved that line when we heard it. It's like, I appreciate that she wrote a song for millennials. Yeah, I,

Yeah, I mean, whatever. Like American Pie, Grand Theft Auto. Yeah. Oh, this is why. Also, Six is coming out soon anyway. So just wait a year and then you're going to fucking love it. This is what I'm going to say. When that article is like an album that will single-handedly set poetry back by existing. First of all,

Shut the fuck up because she is, again, a pop star who, like, is doing this tortured poet thing. Like, it's a pop star era. It's a character. It's like Lana doing a character. 100%. It's not, like, she doesn't actually consider herself a tortured poet. Like, she even said, like, I'm not Patti Smith. You're not Dylan Thomas in Tortured Poets, the song. Like, this isn't the Chelsea Hotel. Like, it's not actually...

that deep. It's just a way for her to commit to an aesthetic that matches the sound and the tone of what she's doing. So what I would say is like touch grass. If that's what your takeaway is, don't worry. Poetry is okay. Taylor Swift is not destroying or setting back poetry. It's that kind of like hyperbolic commentary on this type of thing, which a is,

just too fast too soon and also be like you know that's not what is happening here like you the writer know she's not setting poetry back with us it's a pop music album Bo listen vacation it's something you gotta get right you can't roll the dice you have to make sure that it's all together everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation can you agree I have never agreed with you more and I've

so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb.

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My pay credit limits range from $20 to $500. $2 fee to get funds instantly. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Fees apply at out-of-network ATMs. Do we want to look at tracks? I mean, let me just say, down bad, crying at the gym. When she fucked that alien, I said this was... I already have a music video in my head for this. I really hope she makes a video with this. I love that it's about an alien abduction.

No, literally. She got abducted by this alien, sent back, and now she's down bag crying at the gym fucking icing her injuries. Like, my first couple of listens, I was like, oh, she's talking about an ex. I was like, oh, okay, like, did you beat me up? Like, okay, great. But then, like, that line of, like, they'll think I'm nuts if I, like, talk about your existence. Like, I'm like, oh, of course. Like, this is... I love that it's, like...

post-breakup depression grafted onto being abducted by aliens. And also something that didn't happen for a very long time. It's like this experience. It's less of a relationship she had and more of an experience that she had and an emotion that she feels as a result of it. Haven't we all had that metaphor? Yes. That metaphor of like, oh God, I felt like I was raptured up into the sky. I mean, that's what the cosmic thing of it is. And I do think a lot of this also speaks to

Ariana's album. Like, Ariana's album is about that experience too of like reeling outside of something and then entering something else. And I also think it's the miracle move on drag. Yes. There's a lot going on here. Even a lot of the visuals, it feels like there was like some like-mindedness

in a good way. But when I first listened through down, bad was just, it popped out to me because it's Taylor. And I think that there's not a lot of Taylor on this album. And after eras, when it was extremely Taylor, like to get so much Taylor, hard, our Taylor, like feels nice.

maybe not what we wanted or expected, but it kind of is what I wanted and expected. Yet there are things like down bad where she goes, fuck it. If I can't have him where I can be like a little bitch walking the streets and like, you know, shake my Taylor ass. You know what I mean? Like there people saying that there's not a lot of opportunities to shake your ass like Taylor on this album. Like just do it now.

another listen through because Down Bad is here for you. Like, you know, there's moments. It's just, it's a more like, it's balance. And that's just what it is. She gave you 90s VH1 woman. It's Quill Pen, Fountain Pen, Taylor. I don't think we've ever done the one-to-one on Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, Taylor

And glitter gel pen obviously is Taylor. Or Tayla. I'm so sorry. Oh my God. Wow. I can't believe I got that wrong. And...

It's a little bit murkier when you go into Quill pen, fountain pen territory. But both of those kind of combine to form Taylor. Yeah. Again, Taylor knows about Taylor Taylor. She now knows. And so that's why she approached this album the way she did as a result of your interaction with her. I know you love the albatross. I love the albatross so much. When I first saw this as...

a track. This is supposed to be one of the bonus tracks on the original album. I was like, Oh, is this a Fleetwood Mac reference? Cause before Stevie and Lindsay joined Fleetwood Mac has an instrumental song called Albatross and baby put it on before you go to bed. It is going to send you to dreamland. It's going to put you on the little barge to dreamland and then push you down the river and

Such a beautiful enchanting song. I thought it would be referenced to that. It wasn't. I was shocked, delighted. It's a really beautiful song. I think this has her best lyrics. I think not only would I compliment the lyrics, can I agree with you? It's like among her better lyrics, but her vocal on this is really good. Like the albatross has...

some incredible backing vocals. Like this is what I'm saying is it's like, you can't appreciate the texture of all of this reacting quickly to an album this long and this vast because you need to have a take, like actually listen to what's going on here. Like,

The Albatross has just incredible stuff happening. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lyrically, sonically, like this is, I think, by far one of the best. Like I made this list last night. It's one, two, three, four, five on my list. Great. It's ranked. I have Guilty as Sin number one, But Daddy I Love Him number two, Down Bad number three, The Black Dog number four, Albatross number five, So High School number six, Fresh Out the Slammer I love. I love Fresh Out the Slammer. Because she gave you a little bit of this. Fresh Out the Slammer.

And I said, thank you. Thank you, Taylor, for showing up. Because you're welcome here always, Taylor. Yes. And then I have Fortnite, which grew on me. Thank you, Amy, and Love of My Life. Those are my top 10. Love. I have not taken it upon myself to rank. And that's what makes this album so choose your own adventure. Yes! And by the way, this playlist that I made is called This Is What I Personally Believe. Ha ha ha ha ha!

And I will share it publicly. That is the Matt Rogers catchphrase. That's the essence in one sentence. Honestly, this could be the album title. This is what I personally believe. Maybe that's my next album. It's called This Is What I Personally Believe and it's Tortured Poets Coded. And that's the title of this episode. This is what I personally believe.

What do you think of Thank You Amy and the capitalization of K-I-N-M as letters? I love capitalizing on those letters. I think that Taylor, this is a sign of Taylor being fully, like, the reason why everyone's like, why is she still, you know, relitigating this or digging this up again? Because I think it is purely retrospective, right? I think she's looking back at, like,

The whole story of Taylor Swift, because it's been motivated by the Eros tour. I think she's looking back on a lot of the things that have defined her career so far, and she's going, let me actually leave this behind. That's where 31 comes in. You know, like, let me actually, like, subvert this, move on. The chapter is closed. Like, I believe her when she says that. I think it's a great song. I love Cassandra, which is kind of also spiritually in the same world of, like,

this person's been wrong cassandra of joy nobody would listen to her and the albatross too speaks to that like i have been so maligned and so labeled as these things like you coming into proximity with me puts you in danger and all the warnings that could possibly come your way that you ignore them shows true love for me yes i mean that's great it's great there's a lot going on in that song

I think there are a lot of ways that it can be read. Yeah, totally. And, but wise men once said wild winds or death to the candle. That's your opening line, bitch. Don't talk to me about bad songwriting. Like you sound so stupid. Like, I'm so sorry, but like, do not tell me bad songwriting when these are the lyrics, like get out of town. Wild winds. I believe that is a romantics era poet tree reference, right? Of like,

Transcendentalism, like I'm getting my shit mixed up, but it's like nature being sublime. Nature, like you are powerless to it. Like death to the candle, like it is snuffing out this man-made thing. Like there's something about her art, which is sublime, which is like bigger than her, bigger than us, you know, like...

She's saying that she is a wild wind and people want to cage that. People want to contain that. People fear it because they don't know it because it has this inexplicable effect. I think this album is like, it doesn't talk about things beyond her and that's okay because I think it is her reckoning with what she means, what her life has been, what she wants it to be going forward. And I think it's like, I think Clara Bow is such a beautiful closer because it's like,

this is what my legacy means. And someone someday will always, like people will always try to like,

build on it and then maybe erase it and be like, oh, here's someone new who reminds us of her but is better. It's like a very bittersweet song. It's a little bittersweet. It's like that idea that you could be the one. And then when that happens, it comes with all these contradictions and all these crazy things and ultimately an ego check at the end. You know what I mean? And I think that's why it's really fitting that that song is last on the first album because

What I love about this and the writing and why I do think it's some of the boldest writing she's done is because she is not afraid to look crazy. Like she is not afraid to look like the biggest version of all of her emotions. I think, thank you, Amy. Yeah.

The capitalizing of K.I.M. is vindictive as fuck. And I think it's because she's a little vindictive. Yeah. And she is really out here being that. So you being like, ugh, she's vindictive for that. She knows that. Of course. You know what I mean? She gets it. She wrote the song. She felt the emotion. She put it out there for everyone. It wasn't a mistake to capitalize it K.I.M. I mean, she's feeling vindictive. She feels very hurt still from that person trying to

let me remind everyone destroy her completely and take away her credibility so

The fact that she turned that into what that song is, which is when you take away all the battles and all the headlines about it, it's a song about thanking your bully for making you better. And that is going to connect with her fans. With a lot of people. With people that have experienced that in the past, are experiencing it. She is who she has always been, but an extremely elevated and still...

ever challenging version of that. And I think that that's fucking great. And like I said, I think it's good that this is polarizing. I think it's good that not every single piece that she ever puts out is like a 10 out of 10, five stars, like in terms of the way that it's received, because that would not be good for her or for us. I mean, I think she knew, it doesn't matter what she knew or knows. I think there's no way this album is like universally acclaimed.

No way, because it is like all these things and I'm just it is too long. It is too verbose. It is to this to that too much of the same too much of this that the other thing like there's going to be so many things people can say about this and different angles people can take.

That sort of just don't get to the heart of it, which is that the music is fucking great. Internet seems to not care for the alchemy. It's like my favorite, I think. The alchemy is romantic and fun and oozy and big and beautiful and gorgeous. And I think if the lyrics are a little...

on the nose, then that's fucking great. Because it's someone being like, after all this noise and all this like challenge and all this chaos, I'm just going to tell you, my boyfriend who plays football, touchdown. Ultimately, touchdown. Ultimately, touchdown. It's actually real culture number 88. Ultimately, touchdown.

Touchdown, call the amateurs and cut them from the team. Ditch the clown, stick the crown, baby. I'm the one to be. Oh my God. I don't know. It's adorable. It's great. I love it. And can I shout out one of my favorite songs that's been sneaky? And this is why you have to keep...

Going back. Be patient with the album and like, listen to them as songs. I look in people's windows. Oh, I love that. I love this song. She's like, again, like she's not hiding from the fact that she's a fucking freak. I know. You know, like the shortest song on the album. Yeah. Who can't relate? I guess people that aren't insane, but like there have been times after I've had things dissolve where I've literally looked for that person. Like,

And I mean, what if you looked up and we locked eyes one more time? Like that thing of like, I need to stay vigilant because it's not dead for me. And I'm holding on to hope that,

that it's not dead for you for that one moment. And it's worth it for me to put all this energy and be this freak and look here and from the insides for that one moment. And the urgency in that song I love. I love that it abruptly ends. Almost like she's embarrassed about sharing the thought. Like, I love it. It evokes this thing that you thought was such a personal corner. And it's kind of not. It's kind of universalized in this

huge album that like, yeah, everyone's heard. And like, yeah, I mean, I don't really care that it's a numbers ploy that like 31 so that it could have like the biggest streaming debut and that the sales equivalences or the streaming equivalences to unit sales, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't like the business side is something that like, I also am like, for some reason, tuning out for me, it's just like,

Listen to the songs because if you do, you'll get a song like, but daddy, I love him and you'll get to enjoy it because it sounds fucking great and is a lot of fun. And also you'll realize like it is actually incredibly risky for her to say fuck off to her own fans. You know what I'm saying? It's like that to me is when the album, like when I was first listening to it, when the album really took off for me was track six, but daddy,

But Daddy, I love him. I will say when I first started listening to the album, Fortnite took a second for me. I was like, I know, I feel like I know in my heart this is going to be the single. So let me try to wrap my head around that. This song has grown on me so much. I'm struggling a little bit with Tortured Poets Department, the song. Like, to me, it's just a little, like, I don't get it yet. But,

then right after that, like the album, like really takes off for me. And by the time, but daddy, I love him was happening. I was like, I'm in, this feels like, like a, like a spiritual successor to like,

read and like all too well like the fact that it's like over five minutes long and it's like this like epic narrative and it being that long and containing so much like anger towards people who like quote-unquote want the best for her but could never actually understand her yeah i think that also speaks to we can't be friends on ariana's album i think these girls are reckoning with the fact that

people that they love and appreciate are driving them fucking nuts. Well, it's now becoming a somewhat phenomenon. Somewhat of a phenomenon where it's like, you have Doja openly, violently being like, fuck my girls. And it's like, fuck the girls! I think this is when stan culture starts to evolve into a new stage where like,

Maybe it's unhealthy for everyone. Yes. Like including the stands, including the people they like worship. It's like if someone and I'm not going to name names, but there are people out there who fully embrace the fans. Yeah. And pathology. Yeah. There's pathology.

It's not great if you are out there completely embracing all of the mania in that. If you're inviting more mania into your life, because it is mania. Yeah. And...

Yeah. It's perfect blue. It's perfect blue. And it's actually real culture number three. It's perfect blue. And I also think like, it's a message to people like, listen, if I'm going to fuck up, just let me fuck up. Just let me do it. Because there's actually like,

There's no way that I'm going to stop living my life for everyone. And you wouldn't really want that. Right. Like who would want their like favorite artist to not live their fucking life and make mistakes and like be able to be the messy fucking version. Right.

It's not Twitch Plays Pokemon. I was just gonna say. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Were you following Twitch Plays Pokemon? No. This is when Twitch literally first started out. Oh. Where everyone was inputting, it was like millions of people inputting like up, down, A, B, left, right. Yes. A game of Pokemon Red or Pokemon Blue. Uh-huh. And it was like,

And then somehow they got all the way to the end. But it was like your character just kind of like walking up and down and like dying. Remember this? It was like by committee, you cannot do this. You cannot live a life by committee. You cannot live a life by committee. And that's real culture number 10. You cannot live a life by committee. It'll end up being Madame Webb. It'll end up being Madame Webb.

I didn't see it. Oh, you should. It's so good. I know. That invalidates everything we've ever said. Maybe I'm like, Madam Web is the best film of the year. Last Call's canceled. Awards taken away. Oh my God. Trophies stripped of our trophies. Oh my God. I would love to ultimately one day be stripped of my trophies. That I think is such a chic phrase. They were stripped of their trophies.

I think Taylor wants that too. I think Taylor secretly wants, is pining for a scene just for the cinema of it to be like, no, don't!

I love him. Daddy, I love him. Well, like literally like we're taking your Grammys away. No. All 500 of them. What would she have to do to have her Grammys taken away? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. What would she have to do? She'd have to come out as the reason why there are natural disasters. Right. Yeah. Hey, ever heard of hurricanes? That was me when I pointed at the crowd in Sao Paulo. Right. I...

I was thinking more something along the lines of like the Recording Academy. Like she, you know, like she does some equivalent of the slap. Oh, yeah. If she did the slap, she certainly would have come out, would not have been invited to come out of Coachella. Oh, God. Here we go. Here we go. Will Smith is back, y'all. This is...

It's an excellent album. We love it. And of course we fucking do. Cause it's good. Cause it's good. And, but if you had a tweet that went viral, congratulations.

Congratulations on your contribution. I love tweets. I love Twitter. I think that it's great. I'm so sorry. ZEETSX. I forgot. I think it's great. I think it's worthy. Is anybody calling it ZEETSX? Well, they're supposed to be because they're ZEETSX. It's X. I'm sorry. I think they're just called posts now.

No, they're called Zeets and I don't make the rules. I just say the rules. Now I want baked Zeets. Okay. I want baked Zeets too. Fresh out the slammer. I know who my first call will be to. My Zeet will be to. My baked Zeety place.

Bo, listen, vacation, it's something you got to get right. You can't roll the dice. You have to make sure that it's all together. Everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation. Can you agree? I have never agreed with you more. And I've

so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb. If you're planning a trip on Airbnb, try a guest favorite.

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Hey, everyone. We here at Lost Culture East just love Philanthropy.

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Toyota, let's go places. As promised, we are here to talk about 2013, a cultural excavation. Thank you for making it all the way here. If you don't care for Taylor, if you don't care for the album, and if you're still listening, bravo, bravo to you. Oh, can I just say I did a Barry's Oatly class on Monday and

So many readers Katie's published as finalists, including Lindsay Clayton, who fucking rocks. I have to say, I see you readers at Barry's, and if you are a reader at Barry's, you actually are a Kyle. That's how you become a Kyle. This is men or women. If you are a reader...

Katie Publicist, Katie Finalist, and you regularly go to Barry's, you're a Kyle. You're a Kyle. It doesn't matter, male, female, non-binary, you're Kyle. Kyle. And as we know, the most famous Kyle... Wait, we actually had this conversation. This is a fun thing to ask you. Who is the most famous Kyle? I know you think Richards. I didn't necessarily say that. I'm asking you what you think. Who is the most famous Kyle? XY. Period. Can't argue with that one. You think it's Richards? Yeah.

So there seems to be like a discussion. Where? About who's more famous. Certain gay group chats, a one that I'm in. Okay. Kyle Richards, Kyle McLaughlin, and Kyle Chandler seem to be the three. Kyle McLaughlin. You think Kyle McLaughlin is more famous, like in terms of people know his name. Yes. Than Kyle Richards. Yes.

I think it's demographic. I think it's short. I think Kyle Loughlin is very that guy famous. Like, oh, I know that guy. He was in the original Dune. Don't yell at me. Oh my God. Do not yell at me. Do not raise your voice in the way that you just did ever again. You'll be going to the slammer. Fresh in.

Fresh in the slammer. I know who my first Z is to. Z is to. You think they have Z? Fresh out the slammer. Hello. Why are we so good? Ah!

Okay. So you think Kyle McLaughlin. Okay. Yeah. I disagree. Queen. How did we, how did we get into Kyle? Oh, if you were there and you will understand, we had all these bits planned and we did most of them. I was, you never got your almond suit. I never got my almond suit. I was going to beat up someone in an almond costume at the berries class because it was an Oatly sponsored event. But I was stupid bitch. It wouldn't have worked. There was not enough space. People were on the floor. It would have been dangerous. Um,

I got a few jokes and I was like, oh, wait, this is not... It's hard to do bits while there's a fitness class going on. Can I just say? Hey, we actually have to move you from D29 because Bowen needs that space because he's going to do a bit where he fights someone in an Amon costume. But they were prepared to go all out and do whatever. I was like, no, I think people want to come for a class. So...

I like ran on the treadmill for like two minutes and then I was so out of breath that like my brain was like, we're not, you're not performing right now. Yeah. You're, you're, you're actually going to like not do that. And then when I tried to, everything that came out of my mouth made no sense. When Lindsay threw it over to me, like, what do you think? I was like, um, how am I doing? Like it was, I was truly so not myself. I felt like Grimes at Coachella. I was like, everything's going wrong. I'm bad. Grimes at Coachella. Yeah.

I felt like Grimes at Coachella. Wow. So thank you for coming and thank you for being patient with me. That was, it was a lot of fun. I saw some people that I follow were in your class and someone said that immediately when the class started, you said this first sprint is going to be at 20, which I think is iconic. I love it. But this one finalist, Kyle. Yeah. Sprinting at a 14. Jeez. Can't believe. The most I've done is 12. The most I've done is 10.

14 is, but this guy also had Redwood tree legs. Tall, tall motherfucker. Almost like Taylor Swift or Travis Kelsey. Or Travis Kelsey. He was a full Kyle. Full on. And if you're a Kyle out there, keep running. Hey, Kyle.

Push it to 14. Let's go. This is for the girlies who go to Barry's and instead of listening to the music and the instructor, they pop in Lost Culture. They want to hear tortured poets discourse. Okay. And when we start to hit a really good take, they press 14.

Let's talk about 2013. We needed an episode like this in person, I would say, even, to talk about this year. It's a big one. This is one of the most major years. I think we're going to end on music because the music is major. I think let's start with film. You know, in starting with film, what you're going to find is that this was the year of Frozen.

And can I, let me just talk about this for a second. Do you remember, and this is again, why this is a valid worthy segment because we relate it to our lives. Frozen came out and Pop Roulette did a Frozen sketch. What was the Frozen sketch?

It was literally like the Frozen sketch was Amanda was playing Anna and Tessa was playing Elsa. And Elsa was like, I have powers of snow. And Amanda was like, you're a lesbian. Oh, my God. And I feel like it was ahead of its time. It was very ahead of its time. And it was very like, she was just very like, with winds, I can create fractals.

And it's like, I think that you're having a crisis and you're a lesbian. And if you're a lesbian, you can just say that. We're good, girl. She's like, no, I have to leave town and create a new house of ice and snow. She's like, I feel like you are going through it, huh? Like that was kind of the engine of the sketch. And I remember...

It played to silence, not because it wasn't funny. Because we were ahead of its time. But because no one knew Frozen yet. Because people forget Frozen was one of the slowest burns. It was a slow burn. In cinema history because... It might as well have been a fucking rustic book report. The way you were like trying to burn the pages at the stove or at the fireplace. Slow. It was the Pirates of Caribbean. Uh-huh. Of...

That's a slow bird. That ride is a slow bird. That ride could take upwards of a half hour sometimes. If the boats aren't going quick, you'll be sitting with the pirates for a really long time. Oh, yeah. Hope you like yo-ho-ho. Hope you like yo-ho-ho and a woman chasing a pirate around with a rolling pin. Yeah, hope you like girl boss...

because we're sitting on pirates. And Frozen is the beginning of Girlboss. Where were you when you first heard the amazing song, Let It Go? I was with you, I think. I think we went to go see it together. We did. I saw it with gay guys. I saw it with kids. And then I saw it with the general public on a plane. And what was your favorite viewing experience? Well...

The gay guys, aka us, we saw it, I think, like, the first week it came out. And can we admit? People were not gagged. I left the theater being like, that was okay. Yeah, well, you're famously a tangled girl. I'm a tangled girl through and through. Yeah, I'm a frozen girly. You have Elsa hair. Period. Period. I'm definitely Elsa coated, which is tough for me as the Anna of our friendship. I know. I was going to say, I feel like we've always been, you've been the Anna of our friendship.

I'm still the Anna. Uh-huh. Can I say? A rose by any other thorn. A rose by any other bud. What is this question? A rose by any other name. I like a rose by any other thorn. I mean, Frozen is 10 Things I Hate About You, the musical. Say that again. Frozen is 10 Things I Hate About You, the musical. One more time. Frozen is Taming of the Shrew, the musical. There you go.

And that's a rule of culture. Frozen is... What number? 40. 40. Frozen is... Taming of the Shrews musical. It's like, you can't date until your sister does. Right? Yeah. You're dead ass. I'm dead ass. I'll never forget how happy I was for Anna when the gates finally opened. Uh-huh. When she sang...

Finally, they're opening up the gates. I said, is that the song? It's called for the first. Finally, they are opening the gates. I'm so happy, girl. I'm going to shake my ass and sit on some visiting dick. Yeah. That's what Ana said. Ana said, I'm so happy that I get to see some different kinds of dick coming into Arendelle. Open up the gates. Open up the gates.

Frozen became the second animated film after Toy Story 3 to gross $1 billion and became the highest grossing animated film at release.

Congrats. Congrats to her. I think Frozen 2 beat that record later on. Frozen 2 did suck. Although I will say it had some bops. Still haven't seen. What? Still haven't seen. Top grossing film, Frozen, internationally, Iron Man 3, domestic. Who cares? Okay. Best Picture, Oscar, 12 Years a Slave, nine nominations. This was the beginning of Lupita. Yeah.

Yes. The Best Picture win made McQueen the first Black British producer to ever receive the award and the first Black British director of a Best Picture winner. Okay, let's look at it because, okay, there are these handy tables now on some of these that I think we should be bringing into the rest of the years that we do. 12 Years a Slave, I'm seeing a lot of American Hustle, Gravity. I was with you. Did we see Gravity together? I believe we did. I love Gravity. I...

I love Gravity so much. I think about the ending all the time. I never want to see that movie again. I don't think I could sit through it one more time. And it's so funny to me. Like sometimes I will catch people watching Gravity on a plane. Any movie about an air disaster on a plane. I just want to know what that person's like lifestyle is. Like what got them to this point where they are okay and can spiritually and physically maintain composure when you're watching shit explode in the air and a woman careen through space. Is it like when I'm eating my lunch?

And I'm watching YouTube of a recipe of another dish. I think so. Okay. But it's not as dangerous. It's not as dangerous. Like when people watch that shit in the air, I'm like, what is going on? Maybe it comforts them because they're like, well, it can't be as bad as this. Of course. I'm gagged for this Keanu Reeves movie that he's making. Which is what? It's called The Entertainment System is Down. It's a fucking thriller on a plane. And like chaos ensues when the entertainment system on the plane goes down. No one can watch movies.

and everyone goes crazy. Wow. Isn't that a great premise? And it's like an actual grounded... I think it's action. I think it's like a snakes on a plane thing. I love that. But the title is called The Entertainment System is Down. Oh, I love it. Isn't that great? That's really good because that would be a cause for serious concern. I would jump into action.

Probably made by Boeing. Okay. This was, so, Dallas Buyers Club. This was the McConaissance. This was the McConaissance. This was the, when we were in the heart of the McConaissance. And the, and the Lettuce. I suppose. It was Dallas Buyers Club. It was True Detective. It was Interstellar. Uh-huh. There was that period. Lincoln Lawyer. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that's one. Yeah. God. Us not lost coach talking about Lincoln. I know. Let's keep going. Blue Jasmine. Okay. Cate Blanchett. This was the iconic moment of Jennifer Lawrence falling at the Oscars. A moment that was nominated at the Lost Culture Awards. Yes. Jennifer, most shocking moment. Most shocking moment in history.

She went down our girl. She went down but she got up and won. Not only did she get up she got up and she won. And she won honey. Remember when One Direction was a band?

I do. So does everyone in 2013, because guess what was the best-selling album of 2013? Midnight Memories. Midnight Memories by One Direction. Name one song from it. So we danced all night to the best song ever. Oh, wow. That's actually good. You could do that. Yeah. Las Culturistas. Las Culturistas. I definitely remember at least three other songs of One Direction, such as They Wanna Steal My Girl. Remember that one? And also...

Even when night changes. This is story of my life. This is love story of my life. Little Black Dress is great. Little Black Dress is like a fucking Third Eye Blind song. You think this way? Little Black Dress. Just bought it in.

Oh, this is actually a great album. Wait, what's the, what is the best One Direction? There's one that's, I like, what is that? Oh, you're going to have to do better than that. No. Wait. Oh, what is it called? You know, you guys know listening in the car, wherever you are, you know, the One Direction song that starts like this. Girl, you can. Oh, come on. What is this? He was a kid at that festival.

No, stop. Don't throw me off. Girl. Hold on, hold on. And let me kiss you. I got it. You guys, I just threw myself across the room. No, but I think you were mixing two different songs up. Kiss you and like. Never thought it hurt so bad. No. Making up with you.

You're giving me a heart attack. I'm telling you no. Here, I'm literally going to show you how right I am. And I think I'm even in key. Darcy Carden is livid right now that we don't know this. Kiss you one direct. No, I know kiss you. Okay, ready? I'm sorry, but did I slay? You slayed. I don't want to take you back.

Wait! Come on. This is great. Somewhere, Katie Gavin from Muna is like, I think Matt has perfect pitch. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

You're going to dine in on that. A compliment that I'll never let go. Of course. That you will never let go. Okay. This is also the year of her best screenplay adapted and original. That can't be right. Oh, no. It was the best original screenplay winner. Of course. I was like, adapted? I loved her. I loved her. Of course. I'm the only faggot in America who thinks that. Excuse me. I just said I do too. I know. I know. That's not an original thought.

Best original song, Mandela, Ordinary Love. See, like, this is when, oh no, at the Academy Awards, sorry. The record of the year was Get Lucky by Daft Punk, which I don't necessarily get. And then the album of the year was Random Access Memories. Oh, this was the year that Taylor's Red was beat. This was the year that Taylor's Red was beat. Because when they read, and the Grammy goes to, like there was a split second where you, if you can see Taylor's face, she's like, she thinks she's going to win. They heard the R. Yeah, they sure did. Ugh.

That's crushing. And then it was Random Access Memories, which kind of came out of nowhere. Also, the song of the year was Royals by Lorde. And let's just say, I love melodrama, but for me, Pure Heroine by Lorde is an important... Oh, of course it is. That's lore for me. That's lore or lorde? It's lorde. It's lorde. It's lorde lore. Lorde lore? Well, let's just say Pure Heroine is that.

Pure heroin is Lord Lore. Pure heroin is Lord Lore. And I just remember being in my last semester of college. High all the time. Oh, when Royals came out? Yes. Oh, I remember. Yes, I was right there with you, girl. And just stomping the streets. It was like the last semester of college and I was in the West Village. Just like...

walking around like listening to like 400 Lux I love Pure Heroine Pure Heroine and that first Charli XCX album True Romance those were like that was all I was listening to I mean to say nothing of

Art pop. Art pop. We'll get to art pop. There was so many. I mean, this year. This is a big year. Gave it. Gave it. Okay. And then let's see what else. Best new artists, Malcolm Moore and Ryan Lewis. Other nominees included Casey Musgraves, Ed Sheeran, James Blake and Kendrick Lamar. I don't think we got this one right. I don't know. We love Malcolm Moore though. I don't know if we love Malcolm Moore enough.

to comfortably sit here and be like, yeah, it's fine that he beat Kendrick Lamar and Casey Musgraves and even Ed Sheeran, to be honest with you. And even James Blake. I mean, definitely James Blake. You know, I was at the Do Lab last year at Coachella when James Blake did a drop-in set. The what lab? It's called the Do Lab. It's where you go to see surprise drop-in sets at Coachella. And I was there and James Blake came on. Why don't they call it the surprise drop-in lab? They should.

And you know Jamila was there vibing as she do. Jamila, we love you, girl. Let's talk about ArtPop. Where were you? I was in the airport in Beijing. You were? Yeah. That's very ArtPop of you. We were visiting China. And on the way back in November, it had dropped. ArtPop came into our lives.

And we're going to talk about another album later. But that was You Know Me. I was still caping for Gaga at her lowest moment when everyone else had left her behind. Her lowest moment was when she could barely get the plane that she became off the ground. Volantis. Volantis. Technically, it was a higher moment than usual because she was inches off the ground. But it was a low point. She got into a full space suit.

did a press conference in her space suit while her helmet was in one arm saying, I'm so excited to be the first flying woman. She did not say that, but she said, this is history. This is the first flying dress. Yes.

You missed that acting rule. Lady Gaga rules. And I believe this is also the era where she got vomited on. Well, that was 2014 at South By. So that was after the album came out. So that doesn't technically fall under this year. Well, that was 2014 at South By. Listen, I'm telling you, I know this era like the back of my hand. This was a really, I remember when everyone was like, oh, I don't know, Lady Gaga lost it. I'm like, what are you talking about? I'm the rich bitch. I'm the upper class. Donatella!

Come on. Give some respect. Like, don't react quickly to this shit. Let things marinate. This is what I'm saying. Because in 12 years, you're going to be gagged by Donatella. I think, you know what's cool? Try and think about like, however you can have metacognition. Think about like the way you're thinking about things and be like, let me think ahead, girl. Let me, let me extract.

a little bit. Scrapalacia. Artpop, where were you? Talk about your experience with Artpop. I was on the subway. Okay. This was subway gig. Like this was, I remember just like- We were subway gigging back then. A lot. And I remember like this album took over

I think this actually was one of the first albums I had like fully downloaded on Spotify. I remember at this time, like I finally got Spotify and was like paying for like the version where you could like download songs and stuff. And I'm making my little play. And I think it was one of the first albums I downloaded on Spotify, but GUI sex dreams. I'll say it again. Dope. Dope. I need you more than dope. Lana Cody. I need you more.

Our engineer freaking out, having a heart attack, like truly panicked. Do What You Want. Now, Do What You Want, it's so annoying, the legacy of that song, because it is such a hit. There's always the Christina version. Yeah, there is always that version. The version now. The version now. I will say at the EMA's Gaga fucking tour, and R. Kelly was there as the president. It's a tough one. But Gaga played President Kelly's secretary.

President Kelly's secretary at the AMAs where like she's at her desk. President Kelly's office, the White House. Yes, I'll let him know. Then she gets a call. Hello, Mr. President. I want you on my desk in two minutes or whatever it was. And then she does this whole thing. I'm like, yes, sir. And then she starts to like primp and primp and primp. I remember this.

It was black and white, right? No, she was in a gold dress. And then she goes into the Oval Office and does a whole dance. And then the Oval Office set melts away. And she like goes and climbs the top of the piano and starts screaming. What do you want with my body? And then it ended in a ballad, right? And then it was a ballad version of Do What You Want. And then it was just news. It was headlines. It was very reputation per reputation. It was newspaper articles that said every headline was Lady Gaga is fat.

let these women be nuts I'm telling you cause then you get this and you will love it let them be nuts you will love it no I mean Lady Gaga she was going through a very hard time and I don't mean to laugh but it is like

It is. That song is so unfortunate. Like it is tarnished because of the R. Kelly thing. Like the whole album is really tough for Gaga. I think she really doesn't remember it. I think we should believe her when she says she doesn't remember R-Pop. I don't remember R-Pop. I don't think she will perform. It will be decades before she performs a song from that album live. Did she not do applause? Didn't do any R-Pop at Chromatica Ball.

Wow. Yeah, I guess she didn't. She really doesn't like that time in her life. I don't think. Whoa. I don't I don't mean to make light of that. I don't mean to laugh at that. But I mean, for me as a little monster, as a fan, I do go like I stuck with her in that time and I have not earned my stripes or anything. But like that just means to me, like I love this woman till the day I die.

There's no question she's our favorite celebrity. Lady Gaga is fat. Like all across. Because I mean, it was a crazy time when she'd put on a little weight and everyone like melted down. That was still the end. Well, this tabloid era is still ongoing. I mean, blah, blah, blah. But like it was the last time that like

people could really get away with saying shit like that. Yeah, of course. Yeah, that was like a moment where it was probably what was being said about her in papers more reputable than we remember. Yes, yes, yes. Where it was like so uncool and crazy making. Your Daily Mail and shit still say that kind of thing. Okay, and then I- Venus, we have to just say Venus. Venus! Just shout out. We all remember where we were. Just have respect.

Venus! Know that we've performed that live many times. Yes. I think a companion piece to our pop is Prison by Katy Perry.

I love Prism by Katy Perry. And anyone who thinks the second half of Prism doesn't go all the way off is not listening. Use your fucking ears and listen to the second half of Prism now. Adult Contemporary was heard on this album. And the bops were bopping. Did you have a radio station in Long Island? The answer is yes.

In Colorado, it was called Cozy 101. For us, it was called like Star. But it was like- Star 99.9. It was like adult contemporary. Yes. And okay, so maybe you had this one, the iconic Delilah. Of course we had Delilah. Delilah. Delilah. Wait a minute. I need to write this down. I need to go home, smoke a fat joint, and listen to old Delilah clips. It's just her. It's literally like-

Hi, how are you? I'm okay, Delilah. My husband has been at war for six years. That's so hard. It must be very lonely. It really is, Delilah. And I just want to know that things will get better. They will. I have a good song for you. It's like, I'm already there. Take a look around.

It's like giving a loan. Literally, like maybe this is like a show we should do. Yes. Just like comforting radio DJs who are fucked up. And the post apocalypse, like the world is done. And yet these two people are still like, oh, I'm so sorry. Delilah was a legend, period. I hope she's well. I hope she's... What's going on tonight? Huh? She's on TikTok? TikTok?

Oh my God. She's answering people's questions. She's still on the radio. I'm already there. You can look around. I said, you better eat. Talk more about Prism.

One of the greatest songs of all time is Birthday. Oh my God. Yes. Can I just say, I did listen to that on repeat on my actual birthday. Yes. This year? Yes. I have a birthday playlist every year. It's called Birthday Bitch and it's just songs that have the word birthday on it. Becca, you precious soul. You went off. You seasonalized. You really did. I mean, your birthday should be a holiday and like you should have a songs at the ready and there should be a playlist and Birthday Bitch Katy Perry should be on it.

Absolutely. Boy, when you're with me. Wait, I now know my I Don't Think So Honey and it has to do with Prism. Okay. I'll give you a taste. I'm so happy. You know that feeling when you find out you're I Don't Think So Honey and you're like so happy. Make it like your birthday every day. Also, you know what song I didn't like at first but then ended up being like, oh, I guess I do like it because I kind of have to? Dark Horse.

I still am not so hot on Dark Horse all these years later. What else was good? This is how we do. This is how we do. Never forget. Legendary love. It's a weird album. So cuckoo. It's a cuckoo album and tough live performances of that. But I do love...

unconditionally I have a lot and this has to do with my album so don't get too deep in there because I have a lot to say about it and then the big one Beyonce by Beyonce started it all started it all I actually don't think I have no this is this is not true but like

It's up there for me with albums of Laura in my life where I'm like, that changed shit. Like, that was a marked change in the way I felt about her, music, everything. I was just so blown away by what the fuck she did. Yeah, yeah. Every song I fucking love. Like, I guess...

For me, if I had to say a standout, it's still Jealous. Jealous. I listen to Jealous. Jealous. Every day, all day. Like, it was... Really?

I'm sorry. I hear my sister say, I listen to Jealous every day, all day. I go, I don't know if that's true. It's not true. But at the time, I was doing a lot. Oh, I see. I see. Remember iTunes where you'd have like your top 25 played songs? And you'd see the count. Ooh, that's tough. No, the...

thousands of times I listened to Jealous. It was like far and away my number one. An album I listen to constantly, but that one song, I don't think I ever just got through it once. I would always have to replay it. What is it about that song?

I think that's the kind of music I hope to make. Want is like, I think you have made it. Biteful, like emotional pop. The production on that is so good. Just like that's every Christmas Eve coded. Oh my gosh. That's so kind of you. It's every Christmas Eve. I feel as though you're not wrong.

No, I'm not. I know I'm not. I wouldn't say it. I would also say just like Beyonce occupying that lyrical space of like how fucking dare you. Like how much I love you. I cooked this meal for you naked. I cooked this meal for you naked. Where the hell are you at? Uh-huh. I wish that you were me. So you could feel this feeling. I never broke one promise. And I know when you're not honest. Now you got me yelling. That's because I'm jealous.

When she said, I'm coming for you, but also I'm backing off. Like, that is tough to pull off in a song. Oh, yeah. You think it's going to be one thing because it is one thing. And then the reveal of the underlying emotion. You know what song also does this? What? Be careful. Cardi B. It's like, don't do this. Because why? Don't do this. I'm vulnerable. Don't do this. I'm vulnerable. I'm getting a shirt. We're making merch that says, don't do this. I'm vulnerable. I'm vulnerable.

This album, I remember exactly where I was. Obviously, there was a midnight drop. You and I were on Facebook Messenger. I literally remember for some reason going to iTunes being like, I wonder, and seeing the word Beyonce. And I was like, huh? And I texted you and I said, you're not going to fucking believe this. I remember the message you said. I was like, oh my God, I can't fucking believe this. And then you said the words, no, I feel sick. I feel sick. Yeah.

I was sick. Yeah. I was unwell. And I remember I didn't sleep that night. I had to go into work the next day. Me too. And none of the other waitresses had slept either. It was like, what is going on? That was a musical monoculture moment. I mean...

I just remember watching the video for Yonce, the video for Partition, the video for Blow. Oh, honey. For Rocket, for all of it. I was just like, everyone, I was just like, I am a new being. Like, I am immediately rearranged because of this album. Like, I know what to aspire to now. Mm-hmm.

Sexually, I know what to aspire to now. Confidence way. That is role model aspirational down. Flawless?

Oh my God, forget it. Like never, by the way, this was also the year of the red flannel tucked into jeans shorts. And if you weren't doing it button to the top, tucked into jean shorts, you weren't a pop girly of the time or a gay guy trying to give that. But it's okay because we teach girls to shrink themselves. To make themselves smaller. Period. There's more, but ask Chimamanda about that.

Now, the following songs were number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Anything else to say about Beyonce? I mean, so much more to say, but like, it is what it is. I mean, like, it's the defining album. The fact that that's an album of the year loss is comical. It's ridiculous. It should have been her first album of the year win. Blurred Lines was 12 weeks at number one. Royals, nine weeks. Very impressive. And I did not put the rest of the weeks on there. I think that's truly okay. Locked Out of Heaven. Thrift Shop. Locked Out of Heaven.

I gotta say, we didn't talk about Unorthodox Jukebox. Saw Bruno Mars on tour for that album. He was phenomenal. Yeah. Thrift Shop, Harlem Shake. Just give me a reason. Pink representation. Very much so. Can't hold us. More Macklemore. Roar. Bless you. Bless you. Bless you. Bless you.

Leave that in. I want them to know how much I sneeze. I want them to know what I go through. I'm crying. Leave that in. Do not take it out. No one's pushing back. Know the truth. And Wrecking Ball. Wrecking Ball fucking rocks. TV, I think at this time, I'm just going to say was boring because the same shit was still dominating. So blah, blah, blah. Breaking Bad, Modern Family. These were all incredible shows, but we've just talked about them in other episodes. Mm-hmm.

Notable deaths. Oh God. Paul Walker. There's that. Lou Reed. Roger Ebert. That was tough too. No. Nelson Mandela. James Gandolfini. We miss you. We kiss you. We miss you. We kiss you. Politically, here's what happened. Barack Obama sworn in for his second term. They say that art pop was an Obama era creation.

Do you agree? Yes. I think that artists felt the most free. Sorry, Obama. God, the Tea Party shut down the government, huh? Yeah, they really did that. Obamacare flopped. Snowden's NSA leaks. Not great, huh? No. Sort of living in a time that was where, you know, it started to unravel.

You know? Yeah, you know. So it's Unravel. The last and most important thing that happened in the year 2013 was Bowen and I sat down at Vapiano and I had Bowen join our sketch group, Pop Roulette, thus changing the course of history. Really? Because you were going to move back to Denver. I was going to move back to Denver with my parents. Oh, my sister.

Period. Saved me. I said, come to Vapiano. We have to have a conversation. And we hadn't really like hung out in a while. No, this was pre-Bestie era. Pre-Bestie era. It was still like, oh, Matt. Yeah, it was just like good friend. Oh, Matt. I would love to. I hope I see Matt soon. Yeah. And I was like, girl, it's time to get lunch. And then we sat down and got lunch. And little did you know.

That there was a pop roulette proposal. I said, the group has talked and they've decided they want you, girl. They want you to be a part of the group. And do you know why we asked you to be a part of the group? Because I left a reality show or something? No, this was why. Do you remember when you got on that music app and sang Set Fire to Your Manor to the tune of Set Fire to the Rain? Does that still exist? Explain what that was.

This was an app that pre-TikTok, like TikTok was a merger between two apps, right? Both were like Chinese apps or one of them was Chinese and like, but the other one, this is not that app, but it was, there was like a genre of app where you could sing karaoke songs and record yourself singing, huh? Music.

It was not musically, but it was like whatever. It was called something else before musically, I think. It wasn't that. No, but Beckett, no, but Beckett. It wasn't that. Beckett, no, but Beckett. It's the right thread. You're spiritually right. No, no, no. Spiritual, like the Katy Perry prism song. Okay, well, musically was what TikTok was, right? Yeah. But you could like film yourself, like you could record yourself and film yourself singing karaoke songs. And I did a series where I would pitch up my voice.

And I played this character as myself where I was like, hey, I was like, hey, it's Bowen. And like, I'm here to sing my cover of like, of this is this. And like, sometimes I would, for some reason set fire to your manner was me being like, a rich guy broke up with me and I went to go burn his house down. But it was a whole manner. It was a manner. Where did I get manner from? I don't know. It's because you're very creative.

And it was that creativity and performance capability that earned the praise of Pop Roulette. And I said, let me sit down with him because I know him the best and we'll get him to join the sketch group because I heard this nasty rumor that you were going to leave town and flee and go back to something like Denver, Colorado, like you were Rene Rapp or something. Like I was Rene Rapp. She has a whole song about it.

Bo, listen, vacation is something you got to get right. You can't roll the dice. You have to make sure that it's all together. Everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation. Can you agree? I have never agreed with you more. And I've

had so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb.

Second, more bad.

Bathrooms, because sharing a bathroom, I know it's not our favorite thing to do. Also, more common area spaces to hang out together. No more feeling crammed in one person's hotel room for the pre-party. Airbnbs can have things like a private movie room or game room. Think pool table darts, board games. These are easily accessible and you don't have to share the amenities with others. Looking for an authentic and local experience? Stay in the coolest parts of the area instead of the touristy ones. Airbnb, it's just for you and me.

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Oh my God. Like so working in a restaurant pilled. Like I would work, I was working at Ulysses in the financial district.

Just like waiting on everyone who ran our banks and was so drunk during the day. Like they would come and they would get wasted and then they would return to running our banks. I will never forget how I saw some of those men speak to the girls that I worked with. I made fine money there. I mean, like it was, I remember thinking at the time, like I have to keep this job because I won't make money elsewhere. Like, can I say to all servers out there?

If you are at a restaurant that you don't like working at, there's a million other ones. I don't know about that. Do not live day to day in a situation where

you shouldn't be in a situation for even 10 minutes where you're not happy. In the words of Kim. In the words of Kim Cattrall. I was making a bit, I don't know about there being a million restaurants. No, there are a million. I just, I remember I stayed like, it's a nice place, like whatever. But like, I remember management changed again. This was like over 10 years ago now. So like, it's like, everyone's different. But like that thing happened where it was like, yeah, like a good fun job. And then management changed and like things changed. And you know, we started like to do,

do other things and i was just like it was really wearing on me how disgusting the guys were that would come in yeah and um of course i left because it was just getting so like corporatey all around me and i was just like this is gross and i wasn't making good enough money and just like the financial district is not where the cream of the crop is well if i die return you think

And Fidei has the potential. I don't dislike Fidei. You know what I mean? Like I used to go there and I liked it. Like I loved, you know, the cobblestone streets and I liked a lot of the restaurants down there. Like, by the way, there's a, I don't know if it's still there, but there was a pizza place called Adrian's next door that was like so slay. And like, I did have a lot of good memories working there. Like you would come visit me. I worked with a lot of really cool girls there. I recently went back and some people were still working there, which was like so great to see them. And yeah.

But I remember I would work Monday nights from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. Oh, yikes. And there would be no one there, but we pooled the tips. So I'd make all this like hourly money from working from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. on a Monday night. Yeah, yeah. Till literally four. I can't believe. Yeah. There were... Oh, but this was Brooklyn Crab Days. Never mind. I'm getting ahead of myself. Right.

The Brooklyn Crab Days would come soon after. But the Brooklyn Crab Days, I know we've talked about it on this pod before, but there were a couple nights where you would be over-served at Brooklyn Crab at your job because you'd stick around after work and you would call me drunk and be like, Bowen, get me an Uber now. Because I didn't have Uber on my phone. I don't know why. I think it was just, I don't know. And I would do it for you. And that's how much I love you. That was back in the day when Bowen, well, you wouldn't, but Sudi would make my PDFs and you would call my Ubers.

A studio would make your PDFs because you were convinced that you could not make them on your computer, on your Mac computer, because there was a virus. Because there was a virus. I was convinced. I was convinced. And I don't know. I still, to this day, think something was going on there. I just mean, I hope one day that we all go to Fidei again for a fun party. Like China Chalet was kind of a nice moment.

Did you ever go to China Chalet? No, I don't think I ever went to China Chalet. We could go down to Fai Dai and have a party whenever we want. It's just like the type of character you might run into down there is like... Is always usually tough. I'm going to call it very mask, bridge, and tunnel. I'm telling you like these guys from like the banks would come in when they're like khaki pants with their big old butts and they would like

be so nasty and just like talk. I just, I saw so many of my colleagues be called like the C word. Oh God. Like our friend, I won't say who.

who I got a job there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, had this horrible experience where she told a customer that we didn't sell cigarettes because he was wasted. Came up like, you guys sell cigarettes? And she's like, we don't have cigarettes. They have it at the gazebo around the corner. And he called her the C word in such a vicious, violent way that I was just like, it wasn't long after that that I left. I was like, I don't even want to be fucking around this. Like, it's so gross and those guys feel so entitled because they make

the money that they make and like you know like it's just I don't know I hate these guys living the fucking high life down there and treating people like that I hope all of them suffer suffer well time for I don't think so honey this is I don't think so honey this is where we take one minute to go off on something in culture let's see

Oh, I do have something. I have something. Let's go with you. Okay, let's go with me. And we both previewed our I Don't Think So, Honey. Yeah. This is Matt Rogers' I Don't Think So Honey's Time Starts Now. I Don't Think So, Honey. Anyone taking an issue with the pronunciation in the song Unconditionally by Katy Perry. Stop with your unconditionally. First of all, it is a gorgeous song. It is a gorgeous ballad. Coming for me. And I feel like a lot of people can't get over the pronunciation. Get over it. She had to say it like that so it would work

in meter. Okay? What would you rather not have the song? It's one of the greatest songs of the 21st century. Oh, no. Who could forget her performances of the song live? All problematic. All problematic in nature. I swear to God, I heard her say with an Asian accent the word unconditionally. No!

No, I'm kidding. She never did that. She only ever did everything above board, Katy Perry. 15 seconds. She's one of the great artists of our time. Unconditionally is a ballad that I will have playing at my wedding on repeat. Don't worry, everyone. I'm not getting married. No, I'll probably get married. I don't think I'll have kids, though. But when I do get married, just know I will love them unconditionally. And that's one minute.

She should have done it like this. Go ahead. Show us. Unconditional. No. You looked and sounded stupid. There's nothing wrong with unconditionally. I know it sounds bad. It is bad. But that's how the words sound. Unconditionally. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. And guess what?

If there is something a little bit fucked up about it, that's what makes it memorable and pop. That's what makes Katy Perry in the top 10 of the iconic 400. We did not agree on that, but I guess it's etched in stone. She might be top 10. It's crazy. The iconic 400 is coming. Number 400? No! Oh, we can't say.

I don't think we've said who 400 is yet. Yeah, I don't think we've said it. No, the name that we're going to say is so shocking. As number 400 is so shocking and it will set the tone for an amazing list. Yes. Okay. All right.

This upcoming is, and I think I see him formulating an idea right now. Sort of. Okay, this is Bowen Yang's I Don't Think So Honey. Are you ready? Yes. His time starts now. I Don't Think So Honey posting lyrics on a story, posting lyrics to be like, it is lacking an extremely important component, which is the music.

which is the production. If it's hip hop, you need the track underneath it for it to make sense. I don't think we should encourage this. I don't want to participate in it personally. If you're doing it, no problem. But it's always tough. Either way you slice it. If you're doing it to be like, look at how genius this is. It's always tough to be like, oh yeah, I guess so. If you're doing it to be like, look how stupid it is. It's like, well, that's not fair. So I think...

Until we find a way to like package a song snippet that we like in a way that is digestible to a social media feed, then great. I also don't care about what seems digestible to a social media feed. Let's all wean off. Five seconds. I'm going to be the first person to say social media is bad.

That's one minute. That's one minute. First of all, do you know how stupid like any Beatles song would look if you just posted the lyrics like and put them out there and like you'd laugh them out. You'd be like, she loves you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You wouldn't. You'd be like, LOL. These are the greatest pop song writers of all time. Actually, yes, that was true. Yes.

I just think it's so stupid to, to be like, Oh, let me like screen grab these lyrics just so I can say like, what, how bad this artist is on the whole or like how overrated she is. It's just like, there's someone cool. Like shut the fuck up. I don't know. Like, I don't have like an intelligent thought about this. I'm just like, okay, yeah, gotcha. Those words put together, like look stupid, isolated. And like you said, without context, like cool. It's a song. It's a song.

I've seen a lot of people who just are hell-bent on every single time Taylor Swift does anything, like finding a way to sort of prove that all the success and impact she has is like a fluke or that it's unearned or something. And it's like they just bend over backwards to try to make that point. And it's always so sweaty. It's like, okay, so...

Did you... Like, you didn't just casually find this. You went out of your way in this quote-unquote dense, densely lyrical thing to find these embarrassing quote-unquote cringe lyrics and post them and, like, to prove what point? That you're better than everyone? Okay. They might be. They might be. They might be. Well...

This has been an amazing episode of Lost Culture East. Tortured. Tortured podcast department. What did we say? Title of ep. Title of ep was there was one in there somewhere. Well, I guess now we have to make a tactical decision. Do we call it the tortured podcast department and get million streams? Or do we call it something else? No, we had something else.

Well, the numbers are down. We'll listen back to it. Oh, no. Stop. We're not doing this. Numbers are down for Lost Culture. We're not doing this. Oh, yeah. We just want a Webby. Oh, yeah. Well, hopefully the Webby takes us up. Yeah. Let me tell you something. If you didn't tune in last week, we saw that. We felt that. Oh, stop. I'm not looking at the numbers. You are. I'm a metrics queen. I know. And I'm glad. All I know is our most polarizing episode ever was a huge hit. Oh.

So maybe we should start fucking burning it down. Okay. Come in here. No fucks to give. No life to live. No fucks to give. No life to live. What was our most successful episode? Oh, oh, oh.

Our most successful episode of all time is Great Americans with Tina. But what one episode that like crushed was one and a half buck. Oh, which was our Eternal Sunshine. Yeah. Review and recap, which had the girls twisting, turning, tossing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And titillating. I mean, all I'll say is I...

continue to stand by what I've said one of my favorite albums of the year I love every word love the artist and love all the girls out there who have something to say and to you I'd have to say is all you Sarahs and Hannahs but daddy I love him if you want to know how I feel about y'all and the way you feel about one and a half buck episode just listen and go stream but daddy I love him we end every episode with a song

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Hey, everyone. We here at Lost Culture East just love Philadelphia cream cheese. With over a dozen different flavors, it is extremely versatile and can be used to enhance any meal or snack. Philadelphia cream cheese makes everything creamier. It can be used in so much more than their classic bagel and cream cheese.

You can dip veggies or crackers into it to snack on, enhance your guacamole with it, make creamy pasta alfredo, buffalo chicken dip, and more. Oh, we love a good dip in this house. Visit creamcheese.com for recipe inspiration so you can start adding Philadelphia cream cheese to your recipes at home.