#23 Alex

Hello, Jackie. 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.800 Hi, how are you good? How are you good? 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:11.799 I just got home? 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.600 Can you give me just the Liliputians? Real or not real? 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.000 Do you ever wish you could run like a cheetah? 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:19.759 Do you like cold play? Okay? 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:21.520 Can you let me ask some questions? 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:26.800 I have to go? What I have to go doesn't 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:28.520 feel so good when the when the shoe is on 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.600 the other foot doesn't. Why are you used to hanging 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:32.839 up on me and saying I have to go and 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:33.560 blah blah blah. 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:34.680 Actually, don't listen. 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:36.960 I gotta go though, I gotta I gotta go. No, 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:42.040 I gotta go. Okay, Byetta, I gotta go, Jackie. Rats 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:53.240 from Gimblet Media. I'm Jonathan Goldstein and this is Heavyweight 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:55.160 Today's episode. 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:17.840 Alex, Uh, how long I could do that? 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.759 Gimblet Media CEO Alex Bloomberg has asked that I meet 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:33.280 him in the studio. He's late. 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:39.400 Oh hey, Alex. 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:46.640 Alex seats himself, mournfully checks his fitbit, glumly crosses his 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.280 legs with woe and uncrosses them with even more woe. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.560 Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, can you turn me up a 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:55.040 little teeny bit? Hello? 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.440 There we go in spite of his gimblet media stock 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.400 options and buns of stainless Steele. At the moment, Alex 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.640 Bloomberg is the saddest CEO this gimlet media reporter has 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.919 ever seen. And I am concerned because not only is 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.600 Bloomberg my boss, he's also one of my oldest friends. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.040 In his hands, he holds a pile of audio cassettes, 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.040 the old kind they had back in Shakespeare days. 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:29.840 Yes, Alicia Margaret, one of our friends from back in 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:31.720 the day ceremony French. 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.280 Alex reads the labels on the cassette boxes and stacks 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:36.520 each one on the table. 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.120 I hate looking at them. I got to cover the up. 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:46.080 Okay, do you want to why on them or something? 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:49.200 But if my hat over them. 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:50.239 Put your hat. 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.040 Why is looking at these audio cassettes causing you such 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.480 uh such royals in the kishkas. 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:03.079 Well, they represent like a like sort of my longest 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.800 standing broken promise in my life. I think. 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.120 Alex leans back and recounts to me a story that 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.680 begins in the roaring nineties, a care free time when 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:17.120 there wasn't a Juno Award Alanis Morissett couldn't win, or 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:22.680 a lunchable George foreman couldn't grill back then. When Alex 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.040 and I first met, he wasn't a CEO, nor even 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.440 a founder. He was just a producer, same as me, 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.600 and the thing we produced was a program called This 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:39.360 American Life. The program told the tales typical Americans tell, 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.640 like how your dad raised you in a tree or 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.320 how your dad owned Hitler's yacht. When I, a Canadian, 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.200 was first hired, Alex took me under his wing, mentoring 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.040 me in the ways of America, teaching me what kind 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:58.160 of speedo to wear, American flag, kind, which parent to 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:04.080 favor mom, and what pie to eat apple. He taught 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.680 me small things like how one does not pee in 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.240 the office water fountain, but rather drinks from it, and 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.240 he taught me big things, like how to tell an 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.880 American story. Whereas a Canadian story usually ended with the 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:22.440 hero immigrating to America, an American story ended only once 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:27.000 the hero underwent a transformation that totally nobody saw coming. 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.039 At the end of a long day's work. While I 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.640 would get together with a bag of Mexican takeout and 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:39.520 a box of cable TV, Alex would get together with friends. 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:40.880 And we did all these things together. We would cook 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.000 meals together. We would like play weekly basketball games together, 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.479 and like that was my like you know, like my 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.200 post collegiate early twenties friend family. 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.200 And central to this friend family were two roommates, Lars 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:56.039 and Kittie. 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.520 There were just purely roommates, and like in the beginning, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.960 you would never put them together. They seemed like complete opposites. 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.520 But then they started dating and that seemed like a 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.440 horrible idea because their roommates, and it seemed like I 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.200 was just going to end You're just horribly for. 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:17.360 Probably Lars. Even Lars couldn't quite understand what exactly Kitty 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.880 saw on him. She was put together, college educated and 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.280 on a promising career path. Lars, on the other hand, 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.280 was a high school dropout, a sort of bumbling genius 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.440 who just couldn't find his way. Alex likes to tell 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:32.720 the story of how Lars was smart enough to make 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.040 it onto Jeopardy, but then once on the show, couldn't 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:40.119 figure out how to get his buzzer to work. Alex 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.760 saw himself and Lars he was also someone with a 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.760 lot of potential who couldn't quite get it together. At 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.119 the time that they'd met, Alex was a middle school 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.600 teacher with dreams of making radio stories, and Lars was 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.400 reading presidential biographies in the unheated attic in which he dwelled. 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.560 So when Lars started dating Kitty, Alex worried for Lars's 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.680 broken heart like he would have for his own. But 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.960 to the surprise of Lars, Alex and their whole friend family, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.679 the relationship didn't end horribly at all. Lars and Kitty 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.800 dated for four years and then decided to get married. 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.200 The plan was to throw a week long party in 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.599 the country, not just to celebrate their marriage, but to 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:29.560 celebrate the friends themselves. Each member had a role to play. Shane, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.320 the one with all the CDs with DJ Dave, the 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.880 one who had away with words, would officiate. And since 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.880 they didn't have a videographer friend to make a wedding video, 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:44.359 they approached their radio producer friend to make a wedding audio. 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.279 They were like, we're not going to have a photographer 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.920 out there, but what we'd love for you to do 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.160 is can you do like the sort of audio collage 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.840 of our wedding for us? And I was like absolutely, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:02.120 And I recorded the ceremony and everything, interviewed all these 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:07.120 people and then I never put it together. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:17.400 And thus Alex Bloomberg sits before me sixteen years later, 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:22.560 with six cassette tapes representing hours and hours of unedited, unmixed, 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:27.760 unlistened to audio, stacked beneath a Gimblet Media branded Woolen hat. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:34.520 It's like I took a whole photo album full of 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.040 photographs of their wedding and then just never developed them 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.200 and never gave them to them. 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.680 Alex explains it this way. After a twelve hour day 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.880 of editing tape recordings at This American Life, the last 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:50.960 thing he felt like doing when he got home was 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.520 editing more tape. Alex had every intention of keeping his 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.120 promise to Lars, but then he got married, had kids, 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:03.680 started a company. Life got in the way, and so 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.600 Lars and Kitty have no record of their ceremony, their toasts, 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:12.920 their ideas, their heroic transformation into a married couple, a transformation, 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.760 by the way, that totally nobody saw coming. Lars was 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.680 Alex's closest friend, always there for him, and Alex knew 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.640 he had let him down. Neither Lars nor Kitty ever 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.440 confronted Alex, but that only made things worse. 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.920 You just get in this like reciprocal echo chamber of emotion, 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.280 right where like I feel bad, they know I'm feeling bad, 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:35.360 and then they feel bad because they've they put me 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.240 in the position where I'm feeling bad, and so it's 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.400 just this whole like it's this whole chain reaction of 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.040 like feelings that nobody can talk about because talking about 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:43.800 it doesn't do anything. 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.120 Over the course of sixteen years, Alex has moved six times, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.679 from city to city and apartment to apartment, but all 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.240 the while, the wedding tapes remain in the same box, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.840 in the same spot, right next to Alex's own wedding album. 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.400 Every time I look at our photo album, which is 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.720 fairly regular, especially like you, you know, everyone said like 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:07.440 on your anniversary. Sometimes you pull it out and then 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:09.040 the kids come along and then you're like, this is 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:10.480 me and Mommy when we got married, and it's like 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.680 sort of like I bring out the photo album with 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.480 some regularity, and every time I do, I think of 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:19.320 Lars and Kitty and how they don't have this and 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.160 how I was supposed to provide it and how I didn't. 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:24.800 I keep telling myself, well, I am going to get 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:26.760 to it one day, and that's why I cart them around. 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:28.240 It's like, I'm going to get to it one day. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.000 I'm going to like, one day, I'm gonna sit down 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.360 and actually make good. And what I realized is I 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.880 don't that's I don't think that's going to happen unless 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.920 I have some help. That's where you come in. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:45.280 Oh, I see, And this is what has brought the 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.840 Great Alex Bloomberg crawling on his metaphorical hands and his 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:53.679 metaphorical knees into the studio. Lars and Kitty now live 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.120 in Vermont, but it turns out that they're planning a 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.360 visit to Gimblet in the spring to see what their 0:09:58.360 --> 0:09:59.440 old friend's been up to. 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:04.040 Could you help me make this for them? 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:05.080 I like the sound of that. 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.560 Could you just say it again and get closer to 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:10.840 the microphone so it feels like you're whispering. 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:10.920 In my ear. 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:11.560 Job. 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:13.120 I need your help. 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:17.199 Could you call me godfather? Come on, don't make me 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.760 play all right? Of course, yes, I'm gonna help you. 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.600 Alex had really stepped in the oatmeal on this one, 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.199 and it was now left to me to pry his 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:34.440 fringe tassel jogging shoe loose from the bowl for however 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.360 many weeks it took I would help the humble CEO 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.680 to mix, edit, and generally sculpt his ignominious tape recordings 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.840 into a solid, th react narrative that really made you 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.600 feel something, just like we did back when we were 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:51.800 young producers working side by side. Alex had done so 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:55.520 much for me job, health insurance, public platform to air 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.680 my grievances mostly about him. I was grateful to finally 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.120 offer something in return, and best of all, for the 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.440 first time in a long time, it felt like we 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:09.680 weren't simply relating as CEO and Lackey, but as actual friends. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.920 And if I wasn't mistaken, Alex was feeling the vibe too. 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.040 Are you crying? No, you're crying. 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.520 I reach over and with the tip of my knuckle 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:25.080 tenderly shmear away a single tear streaming down the proud 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:26.240 CEO's cheek. 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:27.520 I'm not crying. 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.719 Could you cry? I'm hoping to get a peabody out 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.560 of this. Some tears when hurt. 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.400 Most importantly, here, where are we going to put the 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.520 mid roll advertisement in the wedding audio? 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:42.840 Like? 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.880 I'm thinking between the vows, will she say I do? 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.280 Or will it be a big fat, I don't. Right 0:11:51.320 --> 0:12:08.840 after the break, we find out. 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:04.880 Here are these are notes? 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.280 They are I don't know about that other stuff? Are 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:09.240 those also my notes? 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:10.960 You think people have been looking at my notes? 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.320 I've assembled a crack production team consisting of me and 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:18.400 my producer, Stevie Lane, who, fun fact, was still in 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.160 grade school when Alex's wedding tapes were recorded. I've asked 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.240 Stevie to manage the production of the wedding documentary, the 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:29.560 listening and transcribing, the splicing anecdotes together, the adding of 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:33.520 emotionally manipulative music, thus freeing me up to handle more 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:41.160 pressing matters like subtweeting my dry cleaner as we await 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.880 Alex's arrival, I impart to Stevie lessons gleaned for my 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.240 decades of living and loving a lifetime lived in radio Okay. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:54.480 First of all, sound travels and waves. Did they teach 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.920 you that at radio school? At radio school, sound travels 0:12:57.920 --> 0:12:59.360 and do you know? I once to try to build 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:03.000 a radio kiss Stevie, who at the moment is nodding 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.480 her head in much the way a hospice nurse would 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.800 to an incoherently death gurgling more Abundanty has converted Alex's 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:15.400 cassette tapes of Shame into digital audio files of Shame progress. 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.320 All that's missing is Alex, who's agreed to listen to 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:28.720 and opine on our first rough draft. Should I slack him? 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:30.920 We send Alex an interoffice communic. 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:31.120 Kay. 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.320 It turns out he's stuck in a board member's meeting 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.840 as we wait. I tell Stevie what Alex was like 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.320 when he was a young producer like her. Every day 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.240 he rollerbladed to work, I say, and instead of a 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.240 desk chair, he sat on a yoga ball. I was 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.760 getting excited. Alex and I hadn't spent time together on 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.079 a creative project since the olden days before he became 0:13:55.160 --> 0:14:00.440 my dungeon master. Do you know that song out eating 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:05.720 Cake by the Lake? Now we're gonna eat cake by 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:11.280 the Lake? Oh it's a scream, Hey Alex, Hello, Alex 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:11.800 is here. 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:13.839 Welcome to my editing day. 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:14.440 Thank you. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.320 Alex takes a seat and we get down to business. 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.800 Hello Hello one, two and two and two and too 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:24.240 and too. 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.440 The tapes begin with a young, squeaky voice Alex Bloomberg 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:29.880 at Lars and Kitty's wedding. 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.560 Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello Hello. 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:38.280 That's once he checks his equipment, Alex sets off to 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.280 ask all the friends for their most classic Lars stories. 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:43.960 You know that as a kid, he looks through the 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.560 Guinness Book of World Records and decided that the only 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:49.080 category he could ever compete in would be to become 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.360 the fattest man in the world, because he could just 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.760 eat and eat and eat. 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.680 Their buddy Dave explains Hilars used to drive without brakes, 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.560 arguing that it forced him to sharpen his foot and 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.440 thus make him a safer driver. William explains how, in 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.120 preparation for playing Capture the Flag in Central Park, Lars 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:13.360 went to the Parks Department in order to research topographical maps. Eventually, 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.440 Alex turns the microphone on himself and in an excited, 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.280 barely pubescent voice, tells a tale of rollerblading with Lars 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:23.920 very slowly down a steep hill. 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.360 At a certain point, I'm going down, and then I 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.440 turn around and he's zooms by me, straight down with 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.600 his arms out in front of him. And so Lars 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.200 is going down and I'm just watching him go. He's 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.480 getting swann small and small and heading straight towards his 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.640 house and it is faster and faster and faster. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:43.840 As old man Bloomberg listens to young man Bloomberg, his 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:45.880 face takes on a far away look. 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.280 And then he comes and he goes boop right into 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:51.160 the garage door with. 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.760 His hands and then his face and I. 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.160 And so I sort of skate down faster and I 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:02.040 get to the bottom, and he turns around and he's like, 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.080 I know that looks really painful, but that's how I stop. 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:16.960 All the time. Alex sits quietly, the distance between the 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.680 past and present hitting him in the face like a 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:20.480 garage door. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:26.800 It's so interesting. They're just hearing like I my friends 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.160 were such a huge part of my life back then 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:35.680 in a way that that they're not now. You don't 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.600 have a family, and like it's a lot of there's 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:40.600 just a lot of hanging out and a lot of 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:47.280 talk and planning, and it feels like now that feels 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.280 like such a in my mind. I'm just like, oh, 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:58.880 like we sound so happy and care free. 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.640 The sound emanated from Alex's laptop is a message requesting 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:03.440 sales figures. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.400 Sorry, hold on one second, I just have to. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:14.280 Do you remember that you used to sit on a 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:19.200 yoga ball Pretty soon Alex is absorbed in spreadsheets open 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:23.080 across his desktop. Stevie puts on her headphones and gets 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.040 back to editing the tape while I sidle up closer 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.760 to Alex. 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:31.520 He used to sit on a yoga ball. 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.439 Yeah, I wanted Alex to remember the old times. How 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.960 much sitting in an editing bay like this once meant 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:39.639 to him. 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.200 A yoga ball. Yeah, yoga ball, you remember that, right? 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:48.040 Yeah, that yoga ball is his rosebud. I believe that 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.840 if I could just get Alex to remember his yoga ball, 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.639 he'd regain his focus. You know the thing about a 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.080 yoga ball is it's one of the few objects that 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.400 you would find that has had buttocks touch every single 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:08.240 inch of its entire surface. Right, There's nothing else like 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:09.040 that in the world. 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:12.879 You're not even paying attention to me. 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.840 Alex is lost in a world of cumulative download numbers. 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.400 He gets up and without even saying goodbye, runs off 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:24.919 to see Jim in Finance. 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.120 Hello, I have you right here. 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.159 A few weeks later, the team reconvenes to listen to 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.600 the next draft of the wedding audio. Now that Stevie's 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.760 chosen the sounds and stories, we wanted. We needed to 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:43.440 strategize on how to string it all together. For inspiration, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:48.440 I've asked Stevie to cue up various documentaries, documentaries, rockumentaries, 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:52.280 and shcumentaries. We begin with the Slice of Life Fly 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:56.520 on the Wall, arguably boring work of acclaimed American documentarian 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:00.399 Frederick Wiseman. What do you mean you can't take dressed 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:00.879 in the morning? 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:02.879 Yeah, do you get undressed? 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:04.280 Well, you can get into. 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:04.760 A gym out of it. 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:05.360 Yeah. 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.560 I prefer a more very tay style. I don't know 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.639 about you. I come from the like the Wiseman school. 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:16.560 I'm thinking like, no scoring music, no narration. 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:19.840 Wait, don't you have a narration on the show Heavyweight? 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:21.200 Yeah? 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:21.480 I do. 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.159 But this is gonna be this is gonna be a 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:24.600 little bit of yeah, I guess I do. 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:25.560 It is true. 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:27.960 That doesn't seem very Wiseman school. 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.760 Well, I'm happy to learn that Alex actually listens to 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.720 my podcast. I'm not so sure I like his tone. 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.280 So it's pretty heavily narrated. Actually, there's pretty much nothing 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:39.120 verite about it. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.480 Well, narration can be a helpful way to convey information economically, 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:47.080 it can also potentially eclipse the voice of the subject 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.040 him or herself. 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:53.120 A wise man, sir, But. 0:19:53.119 --> 0:20:04.040 In some situations a little eclipsing isn't so bad. I 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.360 want to show that town. I wanted to show it to. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:09.119 Do. 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.600 As Stevie continues to work on the mix, Alex and 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:16.120 I watch the Maisley's Brother's Gray Gardens and argue over 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:22.120 who our favorite Maisley's brother is. Alex, Albert, me David. 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:27.280 Just as things are getting heated, Alex's phone rings. It's 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:29.040 his wife, Nose and Nan. 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:38.359 Shoot, sorry, hold on, Hello, Hey, I'm gonna leave right after. 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:42.399 Hey, can I sorry? Can I take Can I take that? 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:44.200 Hold one? Take it? 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:44.920 Hey? 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:45.280 Nas? 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.120 Yeah, Alex is going to be home late tonight. We've 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:50.080 got a lot to do here. 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:52.080 But no, no, it's totally cool that you're calling in it. 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.880 Maybe you should just text or something because it gets 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:59.399 you know, he gets distracted easily, so Alex grabs the 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:03.520 phone back and apologizes for my interruption. He says he's 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.640 on his way home for the kid's bedtime, and with that, 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:17.400 Alex Bloomberg has left the studio. In the weeks to follow, 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.320 Alex can hardly find time to work on the wedding audio, 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:31.080 and when we do get together, his mind is elsewhere. Okay. Sorry. 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.760 The irony is that Alex loved radio production so much 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.919 he built a whole company out of that passion. But 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:41.720 now the time it takes to actually run the company 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.800 makes doing the thing he loved most almost impossible. One 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:48.119 of the drags of being a CEO, Alex tells me, 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:51.120 is there's always so much to get done. 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.520 What does a CEO do? 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:59.080 You know? Run the shit? 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.080 Just as I thought, nothing. All right, let's get to work. 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:10.200 But then, but then, but then, but then, but then. 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:14.879 Doctor Goldstein begins to operate, carefully, executing an extremely tricky 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.919 edit that involves cutting out in Aaron Turp between the 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:19.520 words but and. 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.560 Then but then but then but then. 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:25.560 But then then we're interrupted yet again, and then, this 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:32.840 time by Alex's executive assistant. But yeah, you're gonna have 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:34.320 to tell You're gonna have to tell him that he's 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:34.840 gonna be late. 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:44.840 I gotta go, but then but then, but then, but then. 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.520 It's very rhythmic, but then but then it sounds like 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:48.320 techno music. 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:53.119 But but then but then but then but then but 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:58.199 then but then but then but then but then but 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:01.720 then but then but then but then. 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:05.280 But then then in the weeks to follow, Stevie and 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.560 I spend a lot of time waiting for Alex. Sometimes 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:12.359 he makes an appearance, but mostly he doesn't. All the 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:15.880 while the work continues, by which I mean Stevie's work 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:17.840 and my editorial oversight. 0:23:19.440 --> 0:23:21.480 You all know that Kitty and Lars had an accelerated 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:22.640 And someone say. 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:25.120 Do you know when I was younger, I always wanted 0:23:25.160 --> 0:23:25.960 to have a rat tail. 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:32.040 Oh like the hairstyle. Yeah, I didn't have the stick 0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:33.359 to itness. 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:36.720 Yeah, the same tube. 0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:41.359 Together. Stevie and I tirelessly pour over the tape day 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:47.800 after day. You know, I've always related to Charlie Brown 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:52.480 in a lot of ways. Did you know that his 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:56.720 dad was a barber? 0:23:56.920 --> 0:23:59.880 I didn't that. Do you see why that would be ironic? 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:03.600 Appreciate the Stevie proves to be just as attentive as 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:07.880 Alex ever was. It feels just like old times. Think 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:13.600 about it. His son's bald. Charlie Brown is bald. He 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:16.280 has no hair all right, Or you. 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:18.040 Might have read something into the fact that Lars found 0:24:18.080 --> 0:24:19.800 himself getting up early in the morning. 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:23.000 There's only two weeks to go before Lars and Kitties visit, 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:26.359 and we've barely started on the will use much less 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:29.480 the I do's if we hope to produce one of 0:24:29.520 --> 0:24:32.800 the greatest documentaries of all time, something to make March 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:35.880 of the Penguins look like March of the Garbage, We're 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:39.040 going to have to work twice as fast, then then 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:45.560 with three times as fast, then with possibly four times 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:55.240 as fast. Then the results after the break your break, 0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:58.760 because Stevie and I we don't get a break. We 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:00.359 have a lot of work to get done. 0:25:04.680 --> 0:25:08.040 Okay, So here we go. 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.720 After weeks of Stevie's hard work editing audio and avoiding 0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:17.480 my editorial guidance, the day is finally here. In spite 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:21.040 of Alex's busy schedule and in spite of my enthusiastic 0:25:21.119 --> 0:25:25.320 but generally unhelpful brand of helpfulness, Stevie has managed to 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.640 turn hours and hours of drunk people sharing anecdotes from 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:33.320 before she was born into an audio documentary. Lars and 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:36.359 Kitty are scheduled to arrive at Gimblet any moment, and 0:25:36.400 --> 0:25:38.840 they haven't a clue that when they do, they'll be 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:42.080 presented with the wedding audio they've been waiting sixteen years 0:25:42.080 --> 0:25:45.679 to hear. Alex paces the halls of Gimblet Media. 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:52.280 Yeah, I'm really nervous, weirdly, and then. 0:25:54.600 --> 0:25:55.040 I don't know. 0:25:57.400 --> 0:25:59.000 Hello. 0:26:02.280 --> 0:26:06.640 Lars and Kitty arrive with their two kids, Nora and Oscar. Hey, 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:07.560 how's it going? 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:08.600 How was the Yankees? 0:26:10.320 --> 0:26:10.760 What happened? 0:26:10.800 --> 0:26:11.080 Oscar? 0:26:12.280 --> 0:26:12.480 Well? 0:26:12.640 --> 0:26:14.920 Yankees are losing three. 0:26:15.400 --> 0:26:17.199 Alex says that one of the things that makes them 0:26:17.200 --> 0:26:20.439 happiest about hanging out with Lars nowadays is seeing the 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:23.600 transition he's made from ne'er do well to wonderful dad. 0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:28.720 In fact, just earlier, in anticipation of Lars's arrival, Alex 0:26:28.760 --> 0:26:31.480 told me about this one Lars parenting moment that's always 0:26:31.480 --> 0:26:34.919 stuck with him. It took place at Alex's outdoor wedding. 0:26:35.560 --> 0:26:38.040 Four year old Nora was standing by a swimming pool 0:26:38.200 --> 0:26:41.120 that had a no jumping sign, but when a large 0:26:41.160 --> 0:26:44.560 bearded man jumped in anyway, Nora asked Lars if she 0:26:44.600 --> 0:26:45.720 could jump in too. 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:52.520 And Lars was like, well, some people make the choice 0:26:52.560 --> 0:26:54.600 to break the rules. They some people think that rules 0:26:54.640 --> 0:26:56.080 don't apply to them, and do you know what we 0:26:56.160 --> 0:26:59.200 call those people? And she was and she was like no, 0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:02.160 and he was like, we call the anarchists. And then 0:27:02.280 --> 0:27:04.960 Lars was like, who else do we know that's an anarchist? 0:27:05.400 --> 0:27:06.879 And Norah thought for a little bit and she was 0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:15.040 like grandma. And I was like that was so perfect 0:27:15.040 --> 0:27:18.160 because it took this moment that was inherently a power 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:20.360 struggle and it made it into sort of like both 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:22.920 a learning moment and a choice that she was now 0:27:22.960 --> 0:27:24.560 capable of making, like do you want to be in 0:27:24.560 --> 0:27:25.480 this camp or this camp? 0:27:28.080 --> 0:27:28.280 Yeah? 0:27:29.760 --> 0:27:30.760 Votes is pretty cool. 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:34.840 Nora was just a toddler back then. She's now sixteen 0:27:35.240 --> 0:27:39.159 and her younger brother, Oscar is ten. Alex proceeds to 0:27:39.160 --> 0:27:42.640 show them around the office, so this is. 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:46.880 Like that's sales, that's like the development team. Oh that's 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:48.680 Hogy you guys, Yeah, yeah, do you know Hora? Hey 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:49.520 you want to go say hi? 0:27:49.720 --> 0:27:53.600 Yeah. The tour makes a pit stop to introduce Gimblet 0:27:53.600 --> 0:27:57.919 media editor Jorge just who at the moment is seated 0:27:57.960 --> 0:28:07.520 atop my desk, touching on my things. It turns out 0:28:07.520 --> 0:28:10.840 that Lars has already met Jorge, and so is Nora. 0:28:11.680 --> 0:28:14.439 You guys met when you were a foreign you were 0:28:15.160 --> 0:28:16.760 an infants at Alex's wedding. 0:28:17.760 --> 0:28:21.480 Oh yeah, Lars explains how his daughter might best remember 0:28:21.520 --> 0:28:25.840 the podcast editor. Turning to Jorge, Lars says. 0:28:26.040 --> 0:28:27.399 You jumped in the pool that the. 0:28:30.000 --> 0:28:35.040 Large bearded cannonballing anarchist and Alex's favorite parenting story was 0:28:35.080 --> 0:28:38.640 none other than America's favorite role model Porgey. 0:28:38.920 --> 0:28:43.480 Just is he the one, yeah, yeah, who broke all 0:28:43.480 --> 0:28:48.320 the rules. 0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:48.479 A very good life. Lesson, break all the rules at 0:28:48.520 --> 0:28:51.120 somebody's wedding and they'll hire you, give you a job. 0:28:53.800 --> 0:28:57.920 And with that, Jorge resumes his job of manhandling my 0:28:58.000 --> 0:29:02.920 stress ball with extremely sticky hands, and Alex resumes this tour, 0:29:03.440 --> 0:29:05.680 which Lars and Kitty think is just one of your 0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:09.719 standard garden variety office tours, but is actually a semi 0:29:09.760 --> 0:29:13.400 carefully choreographed ruse to get them into a studio for 0:29:13.560 --> 0:29:14.200 the surprise. 0:29:16.120 --> 0:29:18.520 These are all the various shows. 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:20.160 I've been listening to a bunch. 0:29:20.000 --> 0:29:20.560 Of your shows. 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:24.680 Which ones you listen to? Crimetown? 0:29:24.880 --> 0:29:27.200 I really liked Homecoming? 0:29:27.200 --> 0:29:28.600 I liked Do you like Heavyweight? 0:29:29.840 --> 0:29:32.400 Liking Heavyweight is a key part of the plan. 0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:34.920 I listen to Heavyweight? 0:29:35.520 --> 0:29:35.800 Eh? 0:29:36.120 --> 0:29:39.760 Close enough? Alex points to the glass door of the 0:29:39.800 --> 0:29:41.520 studio in which I'm seated. 0:29:42.040 --> 0:29:43.760 That's stopping all you want to say? 0:29:43.840 --> 0:29:49.320 Hi, this is the most crucial part of the plan, 0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:53.160 Alex must lure the family into the studio with the 0:29:53.200 --> 0:29:58.360 promise of meeting your humble host is Jonathan Kitty. 0:29:58.320 --> 0:29:59.960 Yeah, we met prey many years ago. 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:00.400 Hi. 0:30:00.640 --> 0:30:06.080 Hey, Yeah, it's nice to see you. 0:30:06.160 --> 0:30:06.360 Hi. 0:30:07.240 --> 0:30:09.560 I remember Lars and Kitty from back in the day 0:30:10.080 --> 0:30:12.680 picking up Alex at work to do cool young people 0:30:12.760 --> 0:30:16.240 things that I don't recall being invited to. They're now 0:30:16.320 --> 0:30:21.560 middle aged, like Alex, like me. Now that we're all 0:30:21.600 --> 0:30:24.080 in the studio, Stevie sets the final piece of the 0:30:24.080 --> 0:30:27.880 plan in motion, cool and casual, like. 0:30:28.240 --> 0:30:30.479 We should play them the thing we're we're going on. 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:37.120 Yeah, do you guys want you haven't? Yeah? Okay, Lars, Kitty, 0:30:37.320 --> 0:30:39.280 Nora and Oscar all settle in. 0:30:40.360 --> 0:30:41.120 Okay, you ready. 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:51.320 Welcome everybody. Welcome to the wedding of Kitty Wade Bartlett 0:30:51.320 --> 0:30:53.120 and Christian Jacobson. 0:30:55.160 --> 0:31:01.280 Lars and Kitty's faces light up, so it's actually happening. 0:31:02.360 --> 0:31:05.200 I'm not surprised that Lars and Kitty quickly recognized the 0:31:05.200 --> 0:31:08.240 promised wedding audio, but at just a few seconds in, 0:31:08.800 --> 0:31:11.760 I'm amazed at how quickly they recognize it. 0:31:11.800 --> 0:31:14.760 Every time I come to see you, I'll visit New 0:31:14.880 --> 0:31:16.959 York every couple of years a year and hang out 0:31:17.000 --> 0:31:19.960 with Alex and Kitty. I'll say, you know, and ask 0:31:20.040 --> 0:31:27.520 him for the fucking tape. Yeah, we definitely always remembered that. 0:31:28.720 --> 0:31:31.360 Even their daughter Nora knows about Alex and the tapes. 0:31:31.880 --> 0:31:34.120 I never really thought it was really gonna happen. 0:31:33.840 --> 0:31:36.920 Either, But what did What did you hear about it? 0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:37.760 Well? 0:31:37.840 --> 0:31:41.480 I heard that, yeah, that he came to the wedding 0:31:41.600 --> 0:31:43.920 and interviewed all of your drunk family. 0:31:43.600 --> 0:31:46.120 Members and that you were terrified. 0:31:46.960 --> 0:31:48.360 And then I said, well, I don't know if I 0:31:48.400 --> 0:31:52.000 want to hear I've seen your family drunk. 0:31:55.360 --> 0:31:57.920 Oh, you're gonna You're gonna hear it now. Yeah, I'm excited. 0:32:00.600 --> 0:32:03.120 It gives me a great pleasure to finally deliver the 0:32:03.160 --> 0:32:04.800 thing I probably seventeen years. 0:32:05.400 --> 0:32:06.280 This is really exciting. 0:32:06.400 --> 0:32:07.640 So should we Let's do it. 0:32:07.800 --> 0:32:09.680 Let's get on with it. Okay, I have a go. 0:32:09.880 --> 0:32:10.800 Yeah, this is exciting. 0:32:11.080 --> 0:32:14.040 Okay, Stevie presses play. 0:32:16.480 --> 0:32:21.800 Welcome everybody. Welcome to the wedding of Kitty Wade Bartlett 0:32:21.840 --> 0:32:27.120 and Lars Christian Jacobson. This is going to be a 0:32:27.120 --> 0:32:29.760 somewhat unconventional ceremony. 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:33.720 For the next hour, we all sit and listen. The 0:32:33.760 --> 0:32:35.360 friends tell stories about Lars. 0:32:35.960 --> 0:32:39.760 Lars and I had decided after a night of drinking 0:32:39.800 --> 0:32:42.480 at four in the morning, we decided we were going 0:32:42.560 --> 0:32:45.280 to do a triathlon together. And every time we would 0:32:45.320 --> 0:32:47.720 meet to work out get in shape for the triathon, 0:32:47.760 --> 0:32:50.920 we would end up drinking for eight or ten hours straight. 0:32:51.800 --> 0:32:53.880 And the friends tell stories about Kitty. 0:32:54.720 --> 0:32:56.920 When I was ten, she convinced me to wash the cat. 0:32:58.520 --> 0:33:02.200 It's a bad, bad, bad idea, but it seemed like 0:33:02.320 --> 0:33:03.240 the best idea. 0:33:03.520 --> 0:33:05.240 And when I was fourteen, there's a lot of just 0:33:05.320 --> 0:33:12.479 hanging out that was perfect, remember, And then there are 0:33:12.520 --> 0:33:13.200 the toasts. 0:33:13.560 --> 0:33:16.960 And Lars has an amazing amount of love to give 0:33:17.840 --> 0:33:23.400 and I've always known that, and Kitty, I'm just so 0:33:23.680 --> 0:33:26.000 enthralled with the way that he has been able to 0:33:26.360 --> 0:33:29.640 give this to you, and he does. And I can't 0:33:29.640 --> 0:33:31.720 tell you how happy I am and how proud I 0:33:31.760 --> 0:33:32.440 am of my brother. 0:33:32.960 --> 0:33:36.320 You know, as we all listen, Lars looks down at 0:33:36.320 --> 0:33:39.280 his lap. Kitty listens with her eyes closed tight. 0:33:41.680 --> 0:33:44.440 Kitty and I had this planet that we were just 0:33:44.440 --> 0:33:46.480 going to grow old and have rocking chairs next to 0:33:46.560 --> 0:33:48.720 each other, and we were going to grow old together 0:33:48.760 --> 0:33:51.200 and cook wonderful meals, and share a house and just 0:33:51.280 --> 0:33:54.719 be old biddies and sit on our rocking chairs and 0:33:54.760 --> 0:33:56.640 criticize everybody. 0:33:57.440 --> 0:33:59.960 As we grow up, the friends we once sat around 0:34:00.000 --> 0:34:03.000 plotting our futures with become the friends who, once that 0:34:03.040 --> 0:34:05.960 future comes, we only end up seeing once a year. 0:34:06.800 --> 0:34:09.439 The friend we saw Patch Adams with becomes the friend 0:34:09.440 --> 0:34:12.239 who picks us up from the hospital. The couple who 0:34:12.280 --> 0:34:15.120 introduced us to our girlfriend become the ones who weren't 0:34:15.120 --> 0:34:19.600 there for us after the divorce. Disappointment and self recrimination 0:34:19.840 --> 0:34:24.840 pile up, but so do shared history and love, and 0:34:24.880 --> 0:34:26.800 so the friend who broke his promise. 0:34:26.880 --> 0:34:27.680 And he goes. 0:34:29.280 --> 0:34:30.759 Right into the garage. 0:34:30.760 --> 0:34:36.040 Becomes the friend who makes it right. How many When 0:34:36.120 --> 0:34:39.200 we first sat down, everyone was focused on the gesture. 0:34:40.040 --> 0:34:43.239 After sixteen years, Lars and Kitty were finally getting their 0:34:43.280 --> 0:34:47.200 wedding audio. But once the gesture had been made and 0:34:47.280 --> 0:34:50.759 the excitement had faded, they were left with something else altogether, 0:34:51.760 --> 0:34:52.680 the time machine. 0:34:54.600 --> 0:34:57.760 Kiddy, do you wish to take this man as your husband, 0:34:58.400 --> 0:35:01.960 to have holden bear all times and all things great 0:35:02.000 --> 0:35:08.560 and small, for all the days of your life? I do, Lars, 0:35:08.600 --> 0:35:10.280 do you wish to take this woman as your wife, 0:35:10.400 --> 0:35:13.160 to have hold in bear through all times and all 0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:15.520 things great and small, for all the days of your life. 0:35:15.600 --> 0:35:19.359 I do, can I have the rinks. 0:35:21.120 --> 0:35:23.960 At the end of the ceremony, the officiant issues a 0:35:24.040 --> 0:35:24.920 final request. 0:35:26.280 --> 0:35:29.960 Lars and Kitty have organized this ceremony today because they 0:35:29.960 --> 0:35:32.640 want this to be a shared moment, our page in 0:35:32.680 --> 0:35:36.440 our communal memory. With the corner folded over, I'd actually 0:35:36.440 --> 0:35:38.759 like to pause here for a few seconds so that 0:35:38.920 --> 0:35:42.120 everyone can fix this time in their minds and maybe 0:35:42.160 --> 0:35:46.680 offer whatever silent blessings they want. 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:55.200 We listen to the silence in silence. For Kitty and Lars, 0:35:55.239 --> 0:35:57.480 the silence back then was meant to keep them in 0:35:57.520 --> 0:36:01.799 the present, two people suspended in a singular moment, just 0:36:01.840 --> 0:36:04.720 having made a promise to each other, but before spending 0:36:04.760 --> 0:36:07.960 the rest of their lives trying to keep it. The 0:36:08.040 --> 0:36:10.360 silence says, Lars and Kitty sit in the room today 0:36:10.719 --> 0:36:13.920 with their two children, and their old friend is taking 0:36:13.920 --> 0:36:16.680 them back to the past, reminding them of who they 0:36:16.719 --> 0:36:21.240 were and who was with them. Lars rests his hand 0:36:21.280 --> 0:36:24.560 against his face. Kitty has a quiet smile. 0:36:26.280 --> 0:36:28.160 I love you, I love you. 0:36:39.880 --> 0:36:43.040 The wedding audio comes to a close. No one really 0:36:43.080 --> 0:36:47.640 knows what to say. A situation that's never stopped this guy. 0:36:49.239 --> 0:36:50.080 That's the wedding. 0:36:53.719 --> 0:36:57.000 I do have a lot of love to give. 0:36:57.480 --> 0:37:02.279 He's right, and uh, yeah, that's what. 0:37:04.680 --> 0:37:07.240 But it made perfect sense, like, yeah, that's why Kitty 0:37:07.280 --> 0:37:10.680 loves me. That's why, Like, oh, that's what I have 0:37:10.760 --> 0:37:12.240 to offer Kitty. 0:37:14.600 --> 0:37:15.400 I'm so glad. 0:37:17.239 --> 0:37:18.880 Well, I mean from the outside, like I ever, you 0:37:18.880 --> 0:37:22.040 can see what you know she brings to me, to her. 0:37:22.200 --> 0:37:24.399 But I sincerely have a lot of love to get. 0:37:25.200 --> 0:37:26.680 I always know it's good for me. It was nice 0:37:26.680 --> 0:37:28.439 that it was good for you too. 0:37:28.800 --> 0:37:38.480 Yeah, those friends and that that time it was it 0:37:38.600 --> 0:37:41.840 was such a great time and it just kind of, 0:37:42.400 --> 0:37:45.359 I don't know, waiting for it seventeen years makes it 0:37:45.400 --> 0:37:46.080 that much sweeter. 0:37:46.239 --> 0:37:50.759 Yeah, that's the other thing, though, are you taking so long? 0:37:51.360 --> 0:37:53.839 Is that when I knew when we did hear it 0:37:53.840 --> 0:37:54.640 it would be. 0:37:54.680 --> 0:37:55.360 Longer because it's been. 0:37:55.719 --> 0:37:58.960 It's surprising, you know what was surprising? 0:37:59.280 --> 0:38:00.799 Well, just so. 0:38:02.400 --> 0:38:04.080 How things really haven't changed that much? 0:38:04.960 --> 0:38:05.880 Have things not changed? 0:38:08.400 --> 0:38:13.359 This catches Alex everything that surrounds him. The equipment, the employees, 0:38:13.760 --> 0:38:16.239 the studio were packed into, and the building were in 0:38:16.960 --> 0:38:19.160 it all serves to remind him of just how much 0:38:19.200 --> 0:38:22.840 has changed. But Lars is talking about something else. 0:38:23.680 --> 0:38:25.680 Not to sound corny, but I still feel the same way. 0:38:25.880 --> 0:38:29.160 I feel like the emotions are still completely familiar. 0:38:29.960 --> 0:38:30.240 Right. 0:38:31.040 --> 0:38:32.960 Do you still feel the same way about Lars as 0:38:32.960 --> 0:38:33.560 you did back then? 0:38:35.160 --> 0:38:36.520 I actually do. 0:38:36.840 --> 0:38:44.600 I mean I still love him for all the same reasons. 0:38:51.280 --> 0:38:53.799 Lars says that he and Kitty always somehow knew that 0:38:53.880 --> 0:38:57.719 Alex would never abandon the project completely. It just wasn't 0:38:57.719 --> 0:39:01.680 in keeping with Alex's character or his capacity for guilt. 0:39:02.200 --> 0:39:04.000 And I kind of felt once you started Gimblet like 0:39:04.040 --> 0:39:07.279 there's no way because it's hard for me to see 0:39:07.280 --> 0:39:08.040 you have a free time. 0:39:08.239 --> 0:39:11.160 Well see now, actually what happened is the entire thing 0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:13.320 is all lated to this. Well, if I hadn't started 0:39:13.360 --> 0:39:16.760 Gimblet never would have happened. 0:39:18.040 --> 0:39:21.120 If Alex hadn't started Gimblet, he wouldn't have had me 0:39:21.239 --> 0:39:24.840 to delegate to, and I wouldn't have had Stevie. So 0:39:25.040 --> 0:39:27.360 is it not possible that the hand that signed the 0:39:27.400 --> 0:39:32.160 papers incorporating Gimblet Media was subconsciously guided by a year's 0:39:32.160 --> 0:39:37.840 old promise seeking its fulfillment. Possibly, or maybe Alex just 0:39:37.880 --> 0:39:41.240 had a passion for boxed meals and mattresses delivered directly 0:39:41.320 --> 0:39:45.400 to your doorstep, of which, no matter what your purchase, 0:39:45.800 --> 0:39:48.400 please remember to use the offer code heavyweight. 0:39:51.640 --> 0:39:59.360 It's really sweet. Thank you, I know, I mean thank you, Stevie. 0:40:00.000 --> 0:40:00.880 It's a pleasure to meet you. 0:40:01.200 --> 0:40:02.280 I know, thank you, Steve. 0:40:02.840 --> 0:40:04.600 You are my oldest friend. 0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:07.160 Well, I feel like I need to know more about you, 0:40:07.320 --> 0:40:08.920 because you know so much about us. 0:40:14.600 --> 0:40:15.120 Here we go. 0:40:18.360 --> 0:40:22.280 After leaving the studio, Alex pops open a bottle of champagne. 0:40:22.920 --> 0:40:26.160 Unlike how we might usually drink bubbly from a trophy 0:40:26.160 --> 0:40:29.520 cup or billionaire shoe, he drinks it from a Gimlet 0:40:29.560 --> 0:40:39.800 Media branded coffee cup. After all, he's among friends. Cheers, clars, Yeah, 0:40:40.880 --> 0:40:50.560 getting the job done. After champagne, the heroes are complete. 0:40:51.080 --> 0:40:54.319 Alex heads to dinner with his friends, and although I'm 0:40:54.360 --> 0:40:58.360 not invited nor even thanked, I can tell Alex is grateful. 0:40:59.080 --> 0:41:01.680 Something in the way that he doesn't say goodbye or 0:41:01.719 --> 0:41:05.080 even look at me that speaks of our friendship, a 0:41:05.120 --> 0:41:08.560 friendship with roots that extend through the floorboards, creep into 0:41:08.560 --> 0:41:12.240 the insulating asbestos, and down deep into the polluted earth 0:41:12.400 --> 0:41:16.399 of the Guanis Canal, the very foundational sludge upon which 0:41:16.400 --> 0:41:27.960 Gimblet Media was founded. Later, Alex will tell me how 0:41:28.000 --> 0:41:30.160 it was the first time he'd been able to properly 0:41:30.160 --> 0:41:34.000 digest a meal with Larsen Kittie in years. He'll tell 0:41:34.040 --> 0:41:36.720 me how they all went crazy and had two drinks 0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:40.680 with dinner like they were celebrating. How they all lingered 0:41:40.680 --> 0:41:45.080 longer than usual, just hanging out like they used to. 0:42:18.080 --> 0:42:27.600 Now that the Fernitures returned into its goodwill home, now 0:42:27.640 --> 0:42:33.400 that the last month's rent is scheming with the damaged pos, 0:42:33.640 --> 0:42:39.520 take this moment to dissolve, if we meant it, if 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:40.520 we turn. 0:42:42.040 --> 0:42:44.840 We felt around from far too. 0:42:47.120 --> 0:42:55.400 From things that accidentally Talk. Heavyweight is hosted and produced 0:42:55.440 --> 0:42:58.720 by me Jonathan Goldstein, along with Peter Bresnan, Khila Holt, 0:42:58.719 --> 0:43:01.080 and Stevie Lane, who who if you do want to 0:43:01.120 --> 0:43:04.200 know more about, enjoys eating pears, chewing on ice, and 0:43:04.239 --> 0:43:07.800 making jewelry that can be viewed at Stevielanejewelry dot com. 0:43:08.080 --> 0:43:10.960 The show is edited by Jorgeus, with additional editing by 0:43:11.000 --> 0:43:14.839 Alex Bloomberg, who, on his show Without Fail this week, 0:43:14.920 --> 0:43:18.600 interviews our mentor from wayback in Shakespeare Days, Ira Glass 0:43:19.000 --> 0:43:21.640 and Ira confronts mister Bloomberg in a way I could 0:43:21.640 --> 0:43:25.160 only dream of. Are you so far down the road 0:43:25.200 --> 0:43:26.560 of your venture capital? 0:43:27.680 --> 0:43:27.920 Like that? 0:43:27.960 --> 0:43:31.200 If somebody leaves you, you have to crush them like 0:43:31.320 --> 0:43:32.279 mister Burns. 0:43:33.360 --> 0:43:37.319 Special thanks to Emily Condon, Lynn Levy, Kimmi, Regular, Amanda Melhuish, 0:43:37.480 --> 0:43:42.120 Mia Bloomfield, Phoebe Flanagan, Jasmine Romero, Matthew boll and Jackie Cohen. 0:43:42.600 --> 0:43:45.560 Bobby Lord mixed the episode with music by Christine Fellows, 0:43:45.640 --> 0:43:49.800 Michael Hurst, Blue Dot Sessions, and he himself, Bobby Lord. 0:43:50.239 --> 0:43:53.200 Additional music credits can be found on our website Gimletmedia 0:43:53.239 --> 0:43:56.120 dot com slash Heavyweight. Our theme song is by the 0:43:56.160 --> 0:43:59.120 weaker Lands courtesy of Epitaph Records, and our ad music 0:43:59.200 --> 0:44:02.239 is by Hailey Shaw. Follow us on Twitter at Heavyweight. 0:44:02.640 --> 0:44:04.920 This is our last episode of the season, but we're 0:44:04.960 --> 0:44:07.560 already starting to look for stories for season four. So 0:44:07.600 --> 0:44:10.799 if you have one, email us at Heavyweight at gimltmedia 0:44:10.840 --> 0:44:13.800 dot com and if you see fit, why not punch 0:44:13.840 --> 0:44:36.200 in some stars for us on Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening. Okay, 0:44:36.239 --> 0:44:39.080 hello hello. If we hope to produce one of the 0:44:39.120 --> 0:44:42.040 greatest documentaries of all time. Something to make March of 0:44:42.080 --> 0:44:44.960 the Penguins look like March of the Garbage. We're going 0:44:45.000 --> 0:44:49.680 to have to work twice as fast sounds good. Actually, 0:44:49.680 --> 0:44:51.239 wait here, let me let me, you know, let me 0:44:51.320 --> 0:44:53.759 just try a few other ideas that I had, and 0:44:53.960 --> 0:44:56.520 you could just pick whichever one you like best. Okay, here, 0:44:56.520 --> 0:44:59.520 here we go. That'll make fog of War look like 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:04.239 fog of garbage, makes gimmey shelter look like gimmy garbage, 0:45:04.680 --> 0:45:08.520 makes stop making sense look like stop making garbage, makes 0:45:08.560 --> 0:45:13.919 Jodowski's Dune look like dune, makes Harlan County, USA look 0:45:14.000 --> 0:45:17.920 like Garbage County, USA. Makes Nanuka the North look like 0:45:18.000 --> 0:45:23.239 Nanuka the Garbage. Makes kanyan a Squatzy look like garbage. Squatzy, 0:45:23.840 --> 0:45:27.640 makes bowling for Columbine look like bowling for garbage, makes 0:45:27.680 --> 0:45:30.640 the Queen of Versailles look like the Queen of garbage, 0:45:31.120 --> 0:45:35.520 makes winged migration look like winged garbage, makes touching the 0:45:35.600 --> 0:45:39.600 void look like touching the garbage, makes searching for Sugarman 0:45:39.719 --> 0:45:44.080 look like searching for garbagemen. Makes an inconvenient sequel Truth 0:45:44.120 --> 0:45:47.440 to Power look like an inconvenient sequel truth to garbage 0:45:47.880 --> 0:45:51.880 makes Gyro dreams of sushi look like Gyro dreams of garbage, 0:45:52.400 --> 0:45:56.000 makes Paris is Burning look like garbage is burning, makes 0:45:56.040 --> 0:45:59.920 American movie like American garbage, makes When We Were King 0:46:00.200 --> 0:46:05.919 looked like when we were garbage. That's a good one, 0:46:06.760 --> 0:46:11.040 makes supercise me look like supersized garbage, makes fire the 0:46:11.080 --> 0:46:15.120 greatest party that never happened look like garbage. Fire the 0:46:15.400 --> 0:46:17.160 greatest party that never happened. 0:46:17.160 --> 0:46:17.319 Then