BONUS The Friday Show - Notes on a Scandal (or Two)
Marc:Mark's able to sort of punctuate or just like show a spotlight on a sliver of yourself and you feel seen like that's what I've always loved about Mark and about your show dude he he made Brad Pitt feel that way Brad Pitt watched his show three times in a row
Guest:Hey, Chris, I got to ask you something.
Guest:What's that, Brandon?
Guest:What is taking up more of your bandwidth these days?
Guest:Is it the Kate Middleton conspiracy theory or is it Shohei Otani's gambling conspiracy and all of the consequences therein?
Marc:Vernon, there's room on my plate for both.
Marc:That's what I got to say.
Marc:Because it is all I can think about are these two things.
Guest:The internet gods have given us a gift.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:In both of those things.
Marc:It is in New York.
Marc:It's the second coming of winter.
Marc:So this is just delightful to have two scandals, two international scandals.
Guest:It is fun times.
Guest:I mean, I got to say, if no one knows what we're talking about and what the hell's going on, how do you not?
Guest:The missing Kate Middleton story has been going on for months, and I, like most people, don't care about the Royals.
Guest:I don't think you do either, Chris, right?
Guest:But once the Associated Press...
Guest:issued a kill notice on the photo that they released saying this has been doctored and please news agencies do not use this photo that was where my little attention perked up like it's like whoa hold the phone here what's going on and i started by the way that is a very very
Guest:unlikely thing for them to do completely very rare you're basically burning a source when you do that and the source in this case is the royal palace right so like there's nobody there's no ambiguity about where the photo came from so you're saying we no longer will trust the source and we're we're now we're now at odds with them yeah
Guest:To me, though, that story, whatever, I still don't care about the royals.
Guest:And the only intrigue here is like, why is this being managed so poorly?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Why?
Guest:And to me, it's more of like a story about like, you know, one of my kind of pet issues is like how institutions are crumbling.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, we basically are in the downslide of all empires and, you know, and have been for many years.
Guest:And this is one of those cases where it's like, this is an old, old, musty, dusty institution, right?
Guest:The crown of England.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they, you know, all the nonsense that has come before this, they, in their arrogance, believe they are bulletproof, right?
Guest:That they have these systems set up in how the press can cover them and the relationships they have with the press and the relationships they have with the public and what information gets out and what doesn't and the kind of secretive nature and, you know,
Guest:Then every now and then you get a Prince Harry who writes a tell-all book, but then it just becomes like their side versus ours, right?
Guest:In this case, they are butting up against their old style of media management and the new world where everyone is the media.
Guest:Everyone has access at all times to photos, to manipulations, to platforms where they can put their theories out there.
Guest:And these 16th century goons...
Guest:are not up with the times.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And, and, and so to me, that's the enjoyable nature of this is just watching them spin out, trying to manage this story, which, you know, honestly could be really sad.
Guest:Like this woman might be having something terrible going on with her and,
Guest:And because of the nature of the royals and how they're like, oh, we can't let anything bad happen ever.
Guest:We can't ever put anything in a negative light on this family.
Guest:So they get to lie and make up stuff.
Guest:But it could be like really bad for her.
Guest:And like, as far as we know, like it's like not, we don't know.
Guest:We don't know anything.
Guest:So like that is one wrinkle to it.
Guest:But the major thing is that I'm just kind of like, I enjoy watching these people scramble.
Guest:That's funny.
Marc:I mean, the photo was one thing, but then the response to it being like, oh, silly me.
Marc:I just like all amateur photographers, I worked with Photoshop and I did a bad job.
Marc:Oopsie.
Marc:It's like-
Marc:I have so many questions.
Marc:I have so many follow-up questions.
Marc:Like, can we see the original photo?
Marc:Like, why are all your kids' fingers crossed?
Marc:And like, just so many questions.
Marc:And like, can we just see you?
Marc:Like, or just, I don't understand why they're hiding this person.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:And just none of the blame is going on the royal family.
Marc:It's always on like...
Marc:the in-laws or like, you know, the people that are in, you know, the family.
Guest:Well, that one, they're like, they blamed her.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:They had her sign a tweet that was like, oh yeah, I thought I was a whiz at Photoshop and it looked like Michael Scott's office photo when I was there.
Yes.
Marc:Like what, why, why give her the blame for this?
Marc:It just, it's so, and like, as if, as if she is the one just pushing out that story to the AP, like she's sending send on that, on that photo.
Marc:It just doesn't make any fucking sense.
Guest:You know, this is exactly why I stopped watching that show, The Crown.
Guest:Because... This is?
Guest:Yes, this exact attitude.
Guest:Because I watched the first season of that, and I realized that every episode had the same exact arc.
Guest:That they generally, as an institution, didn't do anything.
Guest:They were just total figureheads.
Guest:She was a figurehead.
Guest:It was set up that, like...
Guest:Basically, she was just there to represent something, and that was the burden put on her.
Guest:And every episode was the same thing.
Guest:She was faced with a moral conundrum that basically, like, a real person would solve by being a human to the other person.
Guest:And she had to make a choice to do the human thing or the thing that she was being told to do, which was...
Guest:inhumane generally and would just protect the crown right and it always ended with her deciding to protect the crown and i was like fuck these people like i don't care about this dumb thing that doesn't mean anything it didn't mean anything when she was queen yeah
Guest:Like, it's not like we're talking about the Tudors, right?
Guest:We're not talking about like going way, way back.
Guest:We're talking about in the 20th century, it was meaningless.
Guest:And yet they were still imbuing all this meaning onto it that she had to, oh, you got to protect the crown.
Guest:Why?
Guest:Be good to your friend and your sister.
Guest:That's more important.
Guest:And so every episode ended like that.
Guest:And I was like, I'm out.
Guest:These people suck.
Guest:Like, I don't want anything to do with this.
Marc:And I mean, you know the history, so it's not like- No, it's not going to get better.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:It's only getting worse and more irrelevant and just, yeah.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:So that's the one story.
Marc:But the other story is newly minted, well, I would almost say millionaire, but that could be in question.
Guest:Almost, it's got to be a billionaire.
Guest:Yeah, probably.
Guest:I mean, newly minted, highest paid athlete in history.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Definitely highest paid baseball player in history.
Guest:Like a $700 million contract over 10 years.
Guest:And if people don't know who Shohei Otani is, Chris, how would you describe him?
Marc:He is a two-way player.
Marc:He plays, he hits, you know, in the lineup.
Marc:And he also is a starting pitcher.
Guest:That's very rare for people who are listening.
Guest:You know, pitchers generally don't hit anymore at all.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:It's basically, he's basically Babe Ruth.
Guest:Babe Ruth is like the most famous baseball player to do this.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:So he is like the modern day Babe Ruth.
Marc:And he is like, like around like those levels of output of like the best hitter in baseball and also the best pitcher in baseball.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He could, he could do one of the two things and still be the MVP every year.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But he does both.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:So this is, he is a big deal.
Marc:And where is this big deal player now?
Marc:Oh, he, well, he used to be in the Los Angeles Angels.
Marc:But now he is went across the street to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Across the street being 35 minutes up the road because the Angels, despite, you know, all attempts to the contrary, do not play in Los Angeles.
Guest:They are from Anaheim.
Guest:And it's a very sleepy little team down there.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:And he played one whole game before an entire schedule happened.
Guest:First game of the season.
Marc:Like, listen, guys.
Marc:Like...
Marc:I was watching the game.
Marc:There were cameras glued to him, even when he's in the dugout.
Marc:In the dugout, he's chumming it up with his, you know, a teammate, I would assume.
Marc:No, it's his translator, and they're just laughing, having a good time.
Marc:Well, funny enough, six hours later, news breaks that Shohei Otani's interpreter was apparently stealing money from Shohei Otani and is now fired.
Guest:So that's the official story that came out.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But what happened before that is ESPN did a 90 minute conversation with Shohei Otani's interpreter.
Guest:Well, go back even before that.
Guest:Why did they do a conversation with the interpreter?
Guest:What were they initially reporting on?
Marc:Well, they were reporting on an illegal gambling ring in California.
Guest:A bookkeeper who was operating illegally for sports betting.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And sports betting is illegal in the state of California, apparently.
Marc:That is, again, the state where Shohei Ohtani has performed for his entire career.
Marc:How long has he been in the MLB?
Marc:Like five?
Marc:Three years?
Guest:Five years.
Guest:Five years.
Guest:But he's been playing pro ball for 10.
Guest:He was five years in Japan.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:And in those 10 years, he has had the same interpreter the entire time.
Guest:In fact, it was like it's his best friend.
Guest:And he insisted this guy come to the Dodgers with him.
Guest:Like this was a big deal that this guy be in the Dodgers organization.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And so this story comes out that, well, they're investigating this illegal, you know, gambling ring or broker.
Marc:And that's weird.
Marc:They keep on, you know, they see some checks with- Wire transfer.
Guest:Wire transfer.
Marc:With Shohei Otani's name on it.
Marc:And that's weird.
Marc:Like his whole ass name.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, actually, so apparently it was misspelled a couple of times, which apparently is a telltale sign that you're laundering money, which is interesting.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know.
Marc:You can get down the rabbit hole, which I have.
Guest:Well, wait, I have a question for you, Chris.
Guest:How much money was being wired to this illegal gambling ring?
Guest:Oh, 4.5 million dollars.
Yeah.
Guest:okay okay this guy just made 700 million so you know drop in the bucket but apparently this was the gambling debt of the translator that's their story i mean what can i get the name of this bookie that would loan me out 4.5 million dollars
Guest:You're like, hey, I got a rich friend.
Guest:He plays baseball.
Guest:But I am $4.5 million in the hooch, and I would like you to be okay with that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, something is rotten here, and it is palpable.
Guest:Right, well, so they sent the interpreter to ESPN to tell his side of the story, right, which was, well, Shohei paid the money off, he made the transfers, but it was on behalf of this guy.
Guest:So this guy goes and has what Chris said was a 90-minute interview with ESPN, which we still don't know all the details of, by the way.
Marc:Can't wait to see that, by the way.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And the guy tells him it was all me.
Guest:Shoei never made a bet, but I had a gambling problem and he was trying to help me out and make sure I never did it again.
Guest:Chris, you and I are great friends.
Guest:I feel like if you came to me and you were in trouble with something, I would help you out big time.
Guest:If that trouble was, I am $4.5 million in gambling debt, I'd be like, well, you need to bite the bullet and call a lawyer.
Guest:Because...
Marc:I am not your guy on this one.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Or you, you would hand me an envelope and be like, now I got to walk away.
Guest:Turn my back on you.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:I wouldn't be like, all right, let's, let's fix this.
Guest:But can you promise pretty please that you'll never do this again?
Guest:Right.
Guest:We just get like, as I pay the money, can you just maybe like put that in writing?
Guest:Like sugar on top.
Guest:I will never gamble $4.5 million away again.
Marc:So absurd.
Marc:Such an absurd number.
Guest:Well, it is so absurd that Otani's people decided, yeah, that story sucks.
Guest:And they are now saying the interpreter lied.
Guest:It was all him.
Guest:And he was actually stealing the money.
Guest:And making these wire transfers himself, which is a crazy crime.
Guest:That's like go to jail for a very long time.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:So we will soon find out who's telling the truth.
Guest:Now, the interesting wrinkle here is that not only is sports gambling illegal in California, but...
Guest:Making a wire transfer to a betting service of any kind is forbidden in the baseball CBA, the collective bargaining agreement, right?
Guest:This is their contract that they have with the league, the players do.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So if he did that, even if it was like on behalf of his friend, that's an automatic suspension, right?
Guest:Is it automatic suspension?
Guest:I mean, I'm sure you would have some kind of, you know, whatever they call it, adjudication.
Guest:But it's not allowed.
Guest:And that's a big not allowed when it's four and a half million dollars.
Guest:So there is a very good reason
Guest:Not saying it's true, but a very good reason for the story changing so suddenly and so strangely.
Guest:And then MLB comes out and says, oh, yeah, we're not going to investigate this.
Guest:It's all we talk to them and everything's we're going to let them move forward with this on their own.
Guest:It's like, wait a minute, what?
Marc:Wait, we talked to them.
Marc:By the way, they're in Korea right now.
Marc:Like, when did you talk to them?
Marc:This happened very suddenly.
Marc:Like, what?
Marc:And now, I mean, for me, I'm like, well, was this interpreter ever saying anything correctly that Otani was saying?
Marc:Like, was he translated correctly?
Marc:Like, can we get another set of eyes and ears on Otani?
Guest:Everything Otani was saying was like a call for help.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's like, please, this guy's stealing all my money.
Guest:And the interpreter's like, he had a great game today.
Guest:Really happy with his cutter.
Marc:Seriously.
Guest:Also, I want to point out another detail that people might not be aware of.
Guest:I mean, if you're like Chris and I, you've been devouring everything about this story because it's the greatest.
Guest:especially while we were like waiting for baseball to start up and like the weather just got cold again.
Guest:So like, this is going to tide us over.
Guest:This is like, we thought we were going to have a shitty two weeks of just like, you know, hanging out before the season starts.
Guest:No, no, we're, we're right in there.
Guest:We got a meal.
Guest:But so one of the major aspects of this groundbreaking Shohei Otani contract, $700 million over 10 years is that for those 10 years while he's playing and
Guest:He deferred $680 million of his salary until after the 10 years is up.
Guest:Everyone at the time was like, what the hell is this?
Guest:And it's legal.
Guest:It's within the grounds of baseball rules.
Guest:But essentially what this guy was saying was, I'm okay with just getting paid $2 million a year over the next 10 years because I'll A, make a lot of money in endorsements or whatever.
Guest:And then when I'm done playing, I got $680 million in interest-bearing deferments coming to me.
Guest:So it seemed and, you know, they everyone sold it as this idea of, wow, this is so great for the team, because in the 10 years while he's playing, they are not going to be burdened with this payroll liability, which is bullshit.
Guest:Like if the Mets did this, like our team would be shut down.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Right.
Marc:There would be no Mets.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Steve Cohen, who's already under the microscope of MLB, would be, yeah, they would do whatever they could to oust him from baseball for doing this.
Guest:But no, the Dodgers did it.
Guest:Troy Ohtani did it.
Guest:They were very smart to do it.
Guest:That was the consensus at the time.
Guest:Now, look, again, this is like Kate Middleton.
Guest:It's all speculation.
Guest:And it's very fun to speculate because really, it's a victimless crime to speculate on this, except for Shohei.
Marc:Well, he's getting away.
Marc:But are you telling me that this...
Marc:Professional athlete has this friend who's been with him for 10 years, and this guy, this interpreter, has a crushing, and I mean crushing gambling problem.
Guest:Well, right, because I don't believe the interpreter is making $700 million.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:So if the interpreter is, if you're, if you're on a general, like, let's say, okay, he's on an MLB interpreter salary, whatever.
Guest:Let's, let's be generous and say that's in like the 200 grand range a year.
Guest:All right.
Guest:And he's friends with Shohei Otani.
Guest:So like, he's not going to be hard up for cash, right?
Guest:Like his, his, his buddy.
Marc:He never picks up a check.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:All of that being said.
Guest:you're if your gambling debt is 4.5 million you you have a problem like you don't have a problem where your friends just like okay i'll help you out with that but just don't do it again no no you're like you're like like uh the like the boston strangler like you can't help yourself you want to kill again at any time
Marc:Like it's all you think about.
Marc:Like it's like a sex addict.
Marc:Like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I have a sex addiction.
Marc:No, no, no.
Marc:This guy just jack it off in like any closet he can find.
Marc:Like this is a debilitating gambling problem.
Marc:If we are to believe their story.
Marc:And I just don't believe it because I believe what they're covering up is that Shohei Otani is the person with the gambling problem, and the interpreter is the guy taking the fucking fault.
Guest:Well, I'll tell you this.
Guest:What?
Guest:If I had a crippling gambling problem, and I just signed a contract for $700 million—
Guest:I would probably say, I would like to have some of that money for later in my life.
Guest:Could you please do a historic deferment and make sure $680 million worth of that contract is nowhere near me because I will go to Harrah's and I will spend it all.
Guest:It reminds me of, Chris, you went to Vegas when we worked at Air America.
Guest:It was your vacation.
Guest:And I remember before you left, you put all your money in envelopes, individual envelopes, and wrote the day of the week on each one.
Marc:How do you remember that?
Marc:Because it's crazy and I couldn't believe it.
Marc:I put the envelopes in a safe and then I locked the safe and the envelopes were gone by the next day.
Marc:Oh, they were?
Marc:So it didn't work?
Marc:No, it did not work.
Marc:So see, you are like Shohei.
Marc:Yes, I am like Shohei.
Marc:Your plan went kaput.
Marc:It's weird.
Marc:I bet they restructure his deal now.
Marc:So he gets $4.5 million every year.
Marc:And can we sign it over to this guy?
Marc:This interpreter.
Guest:But okay...
Guest:I do want to stop and give you some credit here first before we move on.
Guest:Why is that?
Guest:Because you, I mean, I believe it too, but you have publicly said it even on this show that sports gambling is going to be the end of all things.
Guest:And like, this is untenable.
Guest:Like you're going to have a, a Pete Rose level scandal here with the highest paid player in history and
Guest:And the future face of Major League Baseball across multiple countries.
Guest:Like they are relying on this guy to make the sport grow internationally.
Guest:This is a megaton disaster.
Marc:This story is breaking and there's all these details coming out.
Marc:And I'm on social media and I'm flipping through and it's like, oh, Shohei Otani, interpreter, you know, gambling.
Marc:And then the next post is, hey, here are prop bets for the year.
Marc:And it's like, guys.
Marc:Something's wrong.
Marc:Do not see you are eroding.
Marc:You talk about the royal family dissolving.
Marc:We're at the point.
Marc:We're at a tipping point.
Marc:And I honestly think that kids today need to be educated on sports gambling.
Marc:Oh yeah.
Marc:Because I, just like when I was a kid, there was no sex ed, you know, I didn't learn about sex.
Marc:Like, you know, and that was a problem.
Marc:Like there should be sports gambling and, and, you know, talking about it with not only, you know, teachers and a class, but also like at home, you gotta talk because it's just so fucking easy to,
Guest:Yeah, well, you know what my kid's school has been doing since he was younger, they do it all the time, is they have media literacy courses.
Guest:They teach them about how you identify phishing scams, how you identify fake news, basically.
Guest:Can my mom go to that?
Marc:Can you say, can Owen take my mom to one of his classes?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, and, you know, sooner or later, they're going to have to do this with gambling.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:The writing on the wall is not good.
Guest:But I will take, you know, as I always encourage everyone, you know, take your enjoyment where you can get it.
Guest:And when the enjoyment comes at the expense of a guy who just signed a $700 million salary.
Guest:And the royal family.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:And the royal family.
Guest:Go for it.
Guest:You know, enjoy the sandwich.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:What else was going on this week?
Marc:Well, besides my mom sending me videos from false prophets on YouTube, we got to listen to your show.
Marc:That was fun.
Marc:That was like old home week on WTF this week.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:David Tell, Eddie.
Marc:David Tell.
Marc:Mark tells a fucking story.
Marc:And you're telling me that Mark snorted heroin like cocaine and then proceeded to drive him and Dave around New York?
Marc:Like, is that really what happened?
Marc:I think so.
Marc:I don't have any reason to doubt that story.
Marc:God damn.
Marc:No wonder these people miss the fucking good old days of New York.
Marc:Like, that's insane.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like, that story was fucking wild.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I don't think every snorting heroin incident ends like Pulp Fiction.
Guest:Like, I do think that, you know... It's a thing that people do sometimes?
Guest:Oh, yeah, for sure, definitely.
Guest:And I think the whole thing is that if you did too much of it, you would OD.
Guest:But if you do a little bit of it, you get the little bit, but for people who do heroin, it's not enough.
Guest:They need it in the bloodstream more directly, right?
Guest:So...
Guest:So, yeah, like, I mean, lucky for Mark, like he said, it didn't take.
Guest:And he's probably too squeamish about putting needles in him that he never did that.
Guest:Right, right.
Marc:I mean, a lot of... Mark had, like, a weed drink.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So, yeah, a lot of concern there, I suppose.
Marc:Is he okay?
Guest:Oh, no, like he said, it's not concern.
Guest:I don't think anybody should be concerned about him.
Guest:I know I'm not.
Guest:It's actually totally...
Guest:especially if you're still going to meetings, there's nothing, you know, it's like, it's like any person you're supposed to work through your fantasies, desires, and, you know, talk them through and realize like, yeah, that's not going to apply to my life right now.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So that's, it's actually probably a healthy thing to talk about it instead of repress it.
Guest:But, but yeah, I, I don't think anybody should be concerned about Mark and any kind of drug situation.
Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, for sure.
Marc:Especially a dream.
Marc:Like I actually had a dream last night that I was at a radio station and I couldn't figure out how to queue up a commercial.
Marc:And it was one of those dreams where like I realized I was in a dream.
Marc:So I just like started changing stuff like at will.
Marc:It was quite fun.
Marc:I really enjoyed that sort of waking dream like stick.
Marc:Do you ever have those types of dreams?
Marc:Sure.
Guest:Although I don't have any kind of fun memories of them.
Guest:No, what do you mean?
Guest:Like they're nightmares?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:I just don't.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I'm a strange person.
Guest:I don't care about dreams.
Guest:What do you mean you don't care about them?
Guest:Like if they happen, they happen.
Guest:And I go, oh, it's weird.
Guest:And then I move on.
Guest:And I don't ever like I have no interest ever in like talking about dreams.
Guest:I have no interest in hearing about your dreams, quite frankly.
Guest:No offense to you.
Guest:It's like hearing about your fantasy team.
Guest:Like, I'm sure it's totally fascinating to you.
Guest:I don't care.
Marc:I could just imagine you being around the house at dawn.
Marc:Oh, we've been through it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And you're just like, boring.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:No, I'm like, oh, you mean this thing where anything could happen and there's no guidelines, there's no story here?
Guest:How about a little script doctoring of this dream?
Marc:You can punch it up.
Marc:Let me punch it up.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Not a dream guy.
Marc:Interesting.
Guest:No, not a dream guy at all.
Marc:Now, you never wrote those dream diaries, right?
Guest:No, that was almost entirely Kent Jones.
Guest:Oh, was it?
Guest:Yeah, on our old Morning Sedition show, the dream diary was like Kent's beat.
Guest:Vision.
Marc:Yeah, okay.
Marc:So yeah, Kent gets it.
Marc:People like to interpret things or be like, oh, I'm going to... So you never had a dream diary?
Marc:No.
Marc:Oh, God, no.
Marc:No.
Marc:All right.
Marc:So note to self, do not get Brendan a dream catcher for Christmas.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Return to sender.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:Also, in the bonus features, the bonus material, I loved Mark talking about him being busy and just like, ah, he's
Marc:So busy.
Marc:I don't know how people do things.
Marc:And then he talks about what he's busy with.
Marc:And it's like feeding the hummingbird feeder, laundry and dishes.
Marc:I'm like, motherfucker, that is normal shit.
Guest:That is some normal shit right now.
Guest:So I can tell you something about this here.
Guest:There's a little something that I know that I have experience with.
Guest:Like, I think Mark, I don't know that it makes a difference for him at 60 years of age.
Guest:And I've said this to him.
Guest:This is not me, like, saying something that he doesn't already know.
Guest:You're not talking behind his back.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I believe that Mark displays a lot of signs of undiagnosed ADHD.
Guest:That issue specifically is an executive function issue that he cannot compartmentalize tasks anymore.
Guest:Every task comes at him with the same intensity.
Guest:And so having a job or a real responsibility or doing something that is basically an absolute necessity for him to do is at the same level of urgency as vacuuming the house or washing the dishes.
Guest:That is totally...
Guest:And ADHD trait.
Guest:And, you know, I'm not a doctor.
Guest:I am not diagnosing him of that.
Guest:But I have spoken to him many times about the need to use some of the cognitive measures that go along with...
Guest:a diagnosis like that.
Guest:Like, there's a lot of science around CBT, which is cognitive behavioral therapy, and that that should be used, you know, particularly for ADHD, but in general for anxiety disorders, depression, all kinds of conditions that are comorbidities with that.
Guest:And, you know,
Guest:I think Mark has for his whole life been very hesitant to pharmaceutically treat those kind of issues, whether it's anxiety or concentration or anything like that.
Guest:And I understand it from his standpoint as a creative person.
Guest:That's a big jump to make.
Guest:But he absolutely does need to use, and he does them from time to time, meditation and meditation.
Guest:Other ways to try to focus his mind and keep himself grounded so that everything isn't happening to him all at once in that kind of urgent way.
Marc:I got you.
Marc:That probably helps with the...
Marc:with a psychic garbage dump, uh, his, his analogy where he, he's like, ah, sometimes I like to, to take a, take a bat and just beat myself with it.
Marc:Uh, I really enjoyed that.
Marc:It reminded me of like Superman three where, uh, Clark Kent and Superman fought each other in the, in the dumpster.
Guest:Uh, yeah, that was the garage is like a junkyard.
Guest:He goes out there and he has a fight with himself every, every time he gets on the mic.
Yeah.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:David Tell, fascinating.
Marc:Really fascinating guy.
Marc:I also, I loved that his description of a cemetery was great, and that he finds cemeteries too creepy.
Marc:Like, what does he want the cemetery to be?
Marc:Like, should it have balloons and a cotton candy machine?
Marc:Like, it's supposed to be creepy, no?
Marc:It's like, it's a cemetery.
Marc:I mean, yeah, it just is what it is, right?
Guest:Exactly.
Marc:Right.
Guest:yeah and i'll tell you the thing the thing about dave is that he is so fast like his his wit is so fast and like that thing about i mean some of the stuff was like just good lines like he could have you know prepared them beforehand like uh you know he's talking about san diego and walking around there and he's like what did we win a war here
Guest:What's going on with everybody?
Guest:But the one where I knew it was just like, it was just came to him.
Guest:Just his amazing quick wit was, there was something, I don't even remember what they were talking about, but Mark said something like, yeah, I don't know.
Guest:I don't remember that.
Guest:And he was like, you don't remember?
Guest:What do you mean you don't remember?
Guest:You got two rocking chairs out front.
Guest:Those are for remembering.
Guest:And I think he's such a fast guy and he's so well... He's so admired by other comedians, including Mark, that I think when he does that around people, they up their own game.
Guest:I'm not saying Mark's not a fast guy.
Guest:He is.
Guest:I've thought he has been for 20 years.
Guest:That's why I work with him.
Guest:He's a very smart, funny guy.
Guest:But it's rare that he's having conversations with people and he's like...
Guest:zinging them back with like one-liner jokes yeah you know like like when dave was talking about the the cemetery and he's talking about the ones in queens and like where he's gonna bury uh you know his mom or him or whatever and he's like you know that one where you know where houdini is buried and mark goes no no one does he keeps getting out yes
Guest:And I said that to Mark.
Guest:I was like, I don't think you would have said that if that wasn't Dave.
Guest:And he's like, no, no, he does that to you.
Guest:He makes you go higher.
Guest:Like, he ups your game.
Marc:Yeah, it's like being in the batting cage.
Marc:If you're going to fastball, you've got to fucking prepare for a fastball.
Marc:Yeah, for sure.
Marc:Yeah, really fun episode.
Marc:It sounds like they're just good friends and just good people.
Guest:I guess, but as Mark said many times, they never really talk.
Guest:They know each other well.
Guest:They've seen each other for 35 years.
Guest:But these two times on the WTF podcast are the longest times they've ever talked.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:I loved him busting Mark's balls for not knowing that dementia has a stage to it.
Marc:It's like, you know, people that care and that are involved, they know that there are different stages of dementia.
Marc:But yeah, it was nice that they were able to bond over that.
Marc:Yeah, and I think I have to get a really rich friend for them to leave money in their will for me, honestly.
Marc:Like, apparently that's a thing, right?
Marc:You just leave money in a will?
Marc:Like, I really need, like, a descendant of someone who I don't know, and I just get a knock on the door one day, like, hey, you're great and true.
Guest:Well, yeah, that's the nice lotto ticket.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Because, like, I don't know.
Marc:I got a 401k, and that's about it.
Marc:I'm, like, I'm trying to figure it out.
Marc:It is stressful.
Marc:And there's a lot of old person talk, which I feel really related to, even though, you know, I'm only in my 40s.
Marc:But, you know...
Marc:I think about stuff like my parents are older and just like a lot of things to talk about.
Marc:A lot of things to think about that you have never thought about when you were in your 30s, I'll be honest.
Marc:You know?
Marc:Right.
Guest:Well, that's the thing.
Guest:Like, you know, people all the time, they're talking to us about like, hey, have you guys, you know, are you starting to put stuff on the show up on TikTok?
Guest:Or do you want to, you know...
Guest:you know, figure out some of the ways to reach out to a younger audience.
Guest:And I'm like, why?
Guest:Mark is old.
Guest:He wants to talk about being old.
Guest:And we have people who listen who are like, maybe they're not even as old as he is, but they're like, oh man, I'm thinking about this too.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Without question.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Like, like the, the, the passage of time for me is something that fascinates me.
Marc:Like I've, I've, I mean, just like,
Marc:I was indestructible in my 20s.
Marc:I would say and do things that, and I would not think about consequences.
Marc:Now, it's all, like, it's all consequences, you know?
Marc:It's like that whole, you know, reaping what you sow thing, where it's like, oh, you know, me, me, me, me sowing, this is fucking great.
Marc:Like, me reaping what I sow, this fucking sucks, you know?
Marc:Exactly, exactly.
Marc:And like,
Marc:Like, like the show is just a great place to just think about stuff that's in the back of my head.
Marc:And they're they're just great.
Marc:You know, Mark's great at it.
Marc:And his guests are are also great at it.
Marc:So, yeah, I really enjoyed that.
Guest:Well, that.
Guest:That's the other thing.
Guest:People here listening on The Full Marin, you guys get the most of that because I feel like I do have to moderate it a little bit.
Guest:Sometimes I don't want the episodes to be too oppressively about that stuff.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So that's the kind of stuff that often winds up in dominating the producer cut episodes.
Yeah.
Marc:Now, is there ever something like this weed dream?
Marc:Did you ever think about just cutting that out?
Marc:Because, you know, it might, I don't know, maybe there's something else.
Marc:I feel like that might be a reoccurring thing.
Guest:Yeah, that's more about, that probably would be why I was inclined to not cut it out.
Guest:Because I'm leaving it in there because it seems like something he's going to come back to.
Guest:And that was the kind of introductory moment of it.
Guest:And I kind of have a sense at this point of, all right, well, you know, he's probably going to talk about this again sometime.
Guest:So it would be bad to cut this out because then they don't have any kind of foundation for it when it comes back up.
Marc:Right, the story.
Marc:Yeah, I got you.
Marc:That's why you have your job and I do not.
Marc:Yeah, you're very, very good at that.
Marc:I really enjoyed Eddie Pepitone.
Marc:I also love Mark fucking being a prick about Mount Sinai and how Mount Sinai is pronounced.
Marc:Can I just say, as someone who talks on a microphone...
Marc:I fucking hate having to pronounce things.
Guest:Sure.
Marc:And it is terrifying to pronounce anything.
Marc:But I love that Mark was being a prick.
Marc:And you know what?
Marc:He fucking called himself.
Marc:I was like, I'm being an asshole about how you say outside.
Marc:I just love that.
Marc:Also because Mark mispronounces everything.
Marc:Everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:He says, Star Trek.
Marc:What was the vitamin?
Guest:Was that calcium?
Guest:Calcium.
Guest:I can't even say it the way he said it.
Guest:My brain won't allow me to.
Marc:So yeah, but see, that's the thing, though.
Marc:He can be a prick with his friends, just like we can be pricks to each other.
Guest:I was talking with somebody about they were longtime fans of the show, and their point was like,
Guest:I think that's the reason why the show has such a devoted audience, because everybody kind of sees themselves a little bit in Mark, who listens, where they're like, you have the same type of resentment or self-hatred around certain aspects, and you have these feelings about things, and most people have them, and then...
Guest:don't address them but mark is the guy who says yeah and i was jealous of this guy because he had something more than me yes and talks about it and then you as a person are like oh okay so if he felt that way and he knew it was wrong but he's still acknowledging that he felt that way and there's nothing he could do about it i don't feel so bad
Guest:Yes.
Marc:And I don't feel so alone and shameful.
Marc:Like, that's the thing.
Marc:Mark's able to sort of punctuate or just like show a spotlight on a sliver of yourself and you feel seen.
Marc:Like, that's what I've always loved about Mark and about your show.
Guest:Dude, he made Brad Pitt feel that way.
Guest:Brad Pitt watched his show three times in a row.
Marc:Me and Brad Pitt.
Marc:Common people of interest, for sure.
Marc:But I loved Eddie Pepitone mentioned he gets his news from the College of Staten Island newspaper.
Marc:I know.
Marc:Yeah, he's a Staten Island guy.
Marc:That newspaper is called The Banner, and I would know that because I was editor-in-chief of that newspaper.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Editor-in-chief?
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I was the guy, the top guy at the Banner newspaper in the College of Staten Island.
Marc:I would pump that thing out.
Marc:We had some great, great newspapers.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:We did a whole origin story episode for you, and that didn't come up, that you were the editor-in-chief of a newspaper.
Yeah.
Marc:I have multitudes.
Marc:Brendan, I don't know what to tell you.
Marc:Me and Pete Davidson.
Marc:But yeah, that was great.
Marc:I can't believe I said that out loud.
Marc:I haven't thought about the Banner newspaper or the College of Staten Island newspaper in such a long time.
Guest:Maybe Eddie's read your byline, you know.
Marc:Yeah, maybe.
Marc:Who knows?
Maybe.
Guest:All right.
Guest:Well, listen, if you guys had any thoughts about those episodes this week or anything else, you can send us a comment by going to the episode description and clicking the link.
Guest:But I would actually prefer, if you got time to do one thing this week, instead of sending anything to us, there is another link there, and it is for the future Ask Mark Anything episode.
Guest:If you heard me mention this on the bonus episode on Tuesday...
Guest:We want the next batch of Ask Mark Anything questions to just come from full Marin listeners.
Guest:And I think we can do this.
Guest:It seems like we're getting a ton of response already.
Guest:So I was a little concerned that maybe we wouldn't get as much if we just limited it to only full Marin people.
Guest:But no, you guys are coming through.
Guest:So if you didn't have a chance...
Guest:and you'd like to ask something to the Ask Mark Anything questions that will come up in a future bonus episode, please go to the episode description and just click on that link that's separate from the comment link that comes to me and Chris, and send your Ask Mark Anything question, and that will come up on a future episode.
Guest:But right now, for the rest of this episode, I wanted to go through some of the stuff that you have been sending to us directly here on the Friday show.
Guest:It's been a long time since I've gone through kind of the whole batch of comments that have come in.
Guest:And so I figure it's as good a time as any to go through some of these.
Guest:And first thing, let's just do some housekeeping because I just, you know...
Guest:Questions that came in, you know, about specific things relating to the show or technical aspects.
Guest:And this one from Ava, she said she enjoyed the Moshe Kasher episode.
Guest:But she says, I have been searching for the very first episode with Moshe Kasher, but I can't find it.
Guest:Moshe Kasher has been on four times in the past.
Guest:And there was a live episode.
Guest:That's episode 77 episode.
Guest:There was episode 292.
Guest:That's also a live one.
Guest:And then he did a short one with Baron Vaughn.
Guest:Baron was the main guest on the episode.
Guest:That's episode 803.
Guest:But if you're talking about the first time he was on for a full interview...
Guest:That is episode 97.
Guest:And if you ever want to find the times where people have been on the show before, go to WTFpod.com and click on the podcast button.
Guest:And from there, there is a search bar.
Guest:You can search for any guests who have been on in the past.
Guest:You can search all 25 of Eddie Pepitone's appearances.
Yeah.
Guest:Another thing is that every now and then this is not to any one specific issue, but people will send in issues saying they're having trouble with full Marin stuff coming up on their podcast device or they can't download certain episodes and this and that.
Guest:If there is a problem with our feed, I can fix that on my end.
Guest:But for those type of individual questions, that usually has to do with the platform you're using or maybe it's something wonky with your account.
Guest:And for everyone that needs something taken care of with their WTF Plus subscription, Fullmarin or the archives or anything like that, just email support at acast.com.
Guest:Support at ACAST.com will take care of all that stuff.
Guest:And frankly, I can't.
Guest:I don't have any knowledge of how the technical side of the ACAST platform works.
Guest:I can maybe suggest to you, if you're having a problem with a podcast player, to, you know, remove the full Marin from it and then re...
Guest:load it, like, uh, you know, put it on there again, that a lot of times fixes the problem.
Guest:But aside from that, that's like my, that's like my level, like how I can fix the toilet, like at the, at the very top of the toilet.
Guest:But once it gets into the guts of the toilet, I'm done.
Guest:That's what I can do here for you.
Guest:So the best thing you can do instead of calling a plumber, you can just say support at a cast.com and take care of that.
Guest:Now, Chris, this came into you here, but I'm going to kind of speak on your behalf there and defend you.
Guest:It's not bad.
Guest:But this was from Katie, and she's a second grade teacher and has students with dyslexia.
Guest:And when we were talking about the Mark Ruffalo episode and he was saying he doesn't want to do SNL and he's got like a fear of not being able to do it.
Guest:And you were saying like, I'm sure they could help him out.
Guest:They just like make the cue cards bigger or something.
Guest:She wanted to say that with dyslexia, making the cue cards bigger wouldn't help.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Now I say point taken, but, and I'm going to say, speak on your behalf here.
Guest:I think the point you were making was like, there is a way to accommodate whatever, uh, difference he may have.
Guest:Is that, would you say that that's accurate?
Guest:Yes, that is correct.
Guest:All right.
Guest:And the first thing that came to mind for me was, uh,
Guest:Saturday Night Live has been hosted by Stevie Wonder.
Guest:He did not use cue cards.
Guest:Well, they made them real big for him.
Guest:Oh, no, we're going to get another comment.
Marc:Somebody's going to tell you.
Marc:Doesn't matter how big you made it.
Marc:I'm sorry, Katie.
Marc:I did not mean to, you know, negatively say things about dyslexia.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:And I don't think her comment was in a negative way.
Guest:She was just informative and very much the case that we should be accurate with these things when they come up.
Guest:So there we go.
Guest:Yeah, for sure.
Guest:Okay, and then this was a question from someone said, with the Todd Glass episode coming up, this was before it aired, I recall that the earlier episode that he was on in 2012 generating a fair amount of online buzz at the time, and listening to it was pretty mind-blowing for me in terms of podcasts and what a format could do.
Guest:This was the episode where Todd came out as gay for the first time after a career in comedy.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And then this person, Mark in Milwaukee, continues.
Guest:Well, Mark, in the history of the show, I agree with you.
Guest:I think it's a very important episode for us.
Guest:It was important for our growth.
Guest:It was important to do it.
Guest:I remember Bill Simmons at the time saying this was really great.
Guest:Congratulations to Todd and Mark for doing this.
Guest:This was a really great, important episode.
Guest:I think, however, that as a historical moment or as a podcast of record, it's
Guest:It might strike people as a little old-fashioned or antiquated that...
Guest:there was an event around coming out, right?
Guest:Like, that was 12 years ago.
Guest:I do believe strides have been made in terms of the acceptance of identity, sexuality.
Guest:Like, sure, we're still fighting culture wars over this stuff, but I think, especially with younger generations...
Guest:Coming out is just kind of natural and celebrated, and people do whatever they can to make it easy for the person doing it.
Guest:And there's less cultural stigma to it.
Guest:You can think of the same thing from the 90s with the Ellen DeGeneres episode.
Guest:That probably seems kind of quaint today, that there was this big media hullabaloo around...
Guest:a person coming out on, a character coming out on a show, right?
Guest:So that's just my take on it.
Guest:I'm not saying that that's the right take, but that's my impression of it.
Marc:Yeah, that's interesting.
Guest:All right, now these are some things to talk about that are specific to episodes, right?
Guest:And some things came in when we did our conversation about bands or musical artists that shaped our personalities.
Guest:If you want to go back and listen to that is the episode called I'm with the band.
Guest:And I've got this comment from Avital.
Guest:Avital says, I enjoyed your coming out as a Weird Al fanboy and thought you might get a kick out of knowing that my 10 year old daughter is obsessed with Weird Al in 2024.
Guest:When I drive her and her buddy to hockey practice 30 minutes each way, Weird Al is the only thing they want to listen to.
Guest:And it's ridiculous.
Guest:And look, that's the magic of Weird Al.
Guest:He can surf through time and space because what he does can equally apply to anything going on today as it can, you know, in 1984 when he did Eat It.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I believe at some point on the Weird Al behind the music that was on VH1, he referred to himself as a pop culture Cuisinart.
Guest:And I think that that's exactly what he is.
Guest:That's the perfect way to describe Weird Al.
Guest:Avital also said that a lot of their own personality was formed from Pee Wee Herman.
Guest:So not that different for me in that respect either.
Guest:But then this got me thinking about something else.
Guest:I'll continue here with what Avital wrote in.
Guest:Something else my daughter told me that you may get a kick out of.
Guest:A few weeks ago, she said they did an activity in school where they had to name a famous person they wanted to meet.
Guest:According to her, most of the class said Taylor Swift.
Guest:But my kid, she said Marc Maron.
Yeah.
Guest:I think she mostly likes him because he swears in the intro.
Guest:Now, that's very funny, but it did bring me right back to my own childhood.
Guest:And I was one year younger than your daughter.
Guest:I was nine years old.
Guest:I'm sending this to you, Chris, right now as a text so you can verify that I'm telling the truth.
Guest:This was in fifth grade, I would guess.
Guest:We were told we had to do a project in class where we sent a little thing to the newspaper that said, who is a person you admire?
Guest:It was like an English writing class assignment, but it was also done in line with a contest on the kids page of the Albany newspaper, the Albany Times Union.
Guest:We had to write a person, you know, write who, I believe it said, who is your hero?
Guest:That was the question.
Guest:Who is your hero?
Guest:Right.
Guest:Not like, just like, what do you like?
Guest:Who is your hero?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I looked around and a lot of kids were writing about their dads and whatnot.
Guest:I was like, no, I want to write about somebody totally different.
Guest:Like I want to, I have a totally different thought about that.
Guest:And so I wrote my answer.
Guest:It was submitted, and it made it into the newspaper.
Guest:Did it not, Chris?
Guest:Did I send it to you?
Guest:Can you verify that you were looking at a newsprint from, I believe this was 1989?
Guest:Yes.
Marc:It is a news clipping, if you all remember what those are.
Marc:But yeah, from Brendan McDonald, age nine of Durham.
Marc:This is amazing.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:And the headline is, A Person I Admire.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:And the body says, A person I admire is a stand-up comic named Gary Shandling.
Guest:I have always wanted to be a comedian when I grow up.
Guest:Gary Chandling gives me lots of good ideas for jokes and funny stuff.
Guest:I watch all his shows and wind up laughing and laughing and laughing.
Guest:In other words, Gary Chandling is my hero.
Guest:I've always wanted to be a comedian.
Guest:You're nine, motherfucker.
Guest:Always wanted at nine.
Guest:Underneath that says, Brendan wins $5 in our hero contest.
Guest:In quotes, hero, in quotes.
Guest:Well, I said, in other words, Gary Shandling is my hero.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I never got to share that with him, but I did send it to Judd Apatow when he was doing the Gary Shandling documentary.
Guest:Oh, that's nice.
Marc:What did Judd say?
Marc:Did he respond?
Guest:I think he put it on Twitter.
Guest:He shared it.
Guest:Oh, no kidding.
Marc:That's awesome.
Marc:Very cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So, Avital, I relate to your daughter's famous person that she wants to meet, and not just because it's Mark, but because at that age, wanting to meet a comedian is probably pretty cool.
Yeah.
Marc:And nine, mine was probably Daryl Strawberry.
Marc:So yeah, you guys have good choices there.
Guest:I think that was probably the thing that I was noticing too, that kids were just putting their dads and sports stars.
Guest:And I was like, well, if it can be a sports star, then for me, it should be a comedian.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And so wait, what were you watching Gary Shandling on at age nine?
Marc:It's Gary Shandling show.
Marc:And you would just watch that with like- I loved it.
Guest:And then, you know, he would do, that was in the like early days of like Comedy Central.
Guest:It might've even been called the Comedy Channel back then.
Marc:Yeah, I was going to say, I don't think I had cable back then.
Guest:I didn't have cable, but anytime I went over to somebody's with cable, I was always watching MTV or Comedy Channel Central, whatever it was called at that time.
Guest:And that was where I realized he was a stand-up comic.
Guest:We're like, not just saw him on, you know, a TV show.
Guest:I was like, oh, he gets up and tells jokes.
Marc:Yeah, there would be a spotlight, microphone, and he would be there.
Guest:And Gary Shandling's stand-up jokes were all jokes.
Guest:Like, he was a very joke-oriented guy.
Guest:Set up punchlines, set up punchlines.
Guest:So I think as a kid, I really related to that.
Guest:But I think also what I loved was the show, It's Gary Shandling's Show, where
Guest:The idea that it was always breaking the fourth wall, that was just like a mind blower for me.
Marc:Well, it was probably for you and everyone else, right?
Marc:Like how many shows, you know, broke the fourth wall?
Guest:Yeah, but I do think for me, like it was my first...
Guest:exposure to that even as a device.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Like I can, I remember it so clearly that he did a thing where he was like, you know, the camera came, you know, happened upon him and he was like, Oh, Hey, how's it going?
Guest:And he was vacuuming at the time.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And when he was like, when he turned the vacuum off, there were, there, there were lines on the TV, like on the screen that used to happen when you would vacuum in your house plugged in.
Guest:So,
Guest:So he turned it off and the lines went away.
Guest:And I was like, oh my God, that's so genius.
Marc:That is genius.
Marc:Holy shit.
Guest:All right, Chris, here's the deal.
Guest:I've got a lot of stuff left from our listeners.
Guest:And what I've usually done with this is said, okay, well, we'll do this again in a future episode.
Guest:I'll go back into the comments and see what people are saying.
Guest:I don't want to keep pushing these off.
Guest:So instead, what we're going to do is next week, the full episode will be all of the stuff that I still have in the mailbag here, for lack of a better term.
Guest:All the comments and questions that are still coming in and that we haven't addressed yet.
Guest:We will get to the remainder of them next week.
Guest:But also don't forget, we are still soliciting for Ask Mark Anything questions, which I have in the episode description, a link to the Ask Mark Anything submission form.
Guest:You can submit a question.
Guest:We are only getting them from full Marin listeners.
Guest:So go to the episode description, click on Ask Mark Anything and send something that you would like Mark to answer.
Guest:And until next time, when we will finish your comments, your questions, and your ideas that stem from everything we've been doing here on The Friday Show, I'm Brendan, and that's Chris.
Guest:Peace!