Collective forgiveness, proposed by the Office Ladies—and my book is out!
Plus David Letterman, June Diane Raphael, Terry Crews, and Ethan Phillips
Still catching up on my weekly favorite podcasts and wishing I had time to check out some new ones on my list, but there are only so many hours in a day and I need some of them for things like working, being with my family, pursuing my dreams, etc.
Speaking of which, MY BOOK CAME OUT THIS WEEK! I co-wrote a book based on the manga The Way of the Househusband last year, and now it’s here.
We did a whole bunch of interviews for it. Question: When did websites stop editing? Nobody removed our excessives yeahs and likes and whatnot, something I do for everyone I interview. Not so these sites, who left in every stammer and stumble. Oh, and after the first one came out, an AI turned it into a hilarious, nonsensical word salad. My favorite quote (which I never said), is this one:
“I apologize for the absence of an explanation.”
Now on to the podcasts…
They finally put up the live episodes of Smartless
I couldn’t resist the David Letterman episode the minute I saw it. (I’ve already told you all about my love for him.) Over the years, he has managed to change and grow without losing the essence of who he is, comedically and otherwise. He had that perfect mix of making fun of himself as well as ripping into the Smartless gang, and I only have two complaints:
The podcast was too short.
I didn’t know about the event in advance and I could’ve bought tickets and been there if I’d known.
Dave’s response to Sean’s question about cancel culture was spot-on, and the genuine laughter and delight from all three hosts echoed my own.
Collective forgiveness from the Office Ladies
Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer came up with a great idea during their review of “Mrs. California.” Referencing when Robert California’s wife forgets Ryan’s name, they noted how much this offends people. Jenna said this happens to her with the parents at her kids’ school (#relatable) (#veryrelatable) (#extremelyrelatable).
Sometimes I miss someone’s name immediately after I’ve heard it and then feel like an assholet… and that completely rules out using that fancy Dale Carnegie tactic of winning someone over by using their name a lot. Here’s what he said about it:
“A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
Kate Mulgrew knows this: She used my name frequently during my interviews with her, which put me in a state of constant joy. At one point she wanted to say something off the record, and when she got personal about it, she evoked my eternal devotion.
Oops, right. This isn’t about my adventures with Captain Janeway, it’s about being allowed to forget people’s names without offending anybody, which I am 100% in favor of. Send the royalties for collective forgiveness to the Office Ladies!
In addition to their usual entertaining review, they also took a moment to encourage all of us who listen while on the treadmill. Thank you! It worked!
Terry Crews is THE BEST
I admire the hell out of Terry Crews, who was just on Armchair Expert. He’s not just a talented artist, musician, comic actor, and insanely fit ex-football player; he’s an introspective guy who’s not afraid to be vulnerable. He’s really funny and very wise, and sounds like a great guy to hang out with.
At one point they were discussing addiction—drugs & alcohol for Dax, porn for Terry—and when they talked about how all you want to do is be alone with your addiction, it felt surprisingly familiar. As someone who’s now delving into fixing some of my bad habits, Terry’s comment that “identity change is the North Star of habit change” hit home. Hearing these two muscly men talk about their mistakes, their feelings, and the fun they have anyway was a highlight of the week.
One final thought: How could Dax forget that Dan Aykroyd was Eddie Murphy’s co-star in Trading Places?
Watching Voyager with Ethan Phillips
We’re in the final few episodes of Voyager on the Delta Flyers podcast and finally hit “Homestead.” Since it’s about Neelix leaving the ship to stay with some rando Talaxians he met on an asteroid, they had Ethan Phillips on for the entire recap—on audio, but not video.
Ethan seemed enchanted by their recap and deep dives into acting, storytelling and camera work. “It’s better than watching it!” he said.
The episode was directed by LeVar Burton! Ethan said Laurence Fishburne came to the set to visit and hang out with LeVar in video village, because they are pals.
The conversation got emotional as they described the mood on set that week. I could be wrong (since we couldn’t see Ethan), but I think he was crying just a little when they talked about how much they all still care about each other. It was lovely.
The Delta Flyers released a bonus episode this weekend that digs into the SAG-AFTRA strike (and includes some info on the WGA strike) with Garrett, Robbie, Michelle Hurd (SAG-AFTRA Vice President of Los Angeles), Armin Shimerman, and Kitty Swink. Well worth your time.
June Diane Raphael gives advice
June Diane Raphael was on Don’t Ask Tig, and they talked about an unsold pilot they did together. It made me think maybe that’s a good topic for a lot of these striking folks: projects that went nowhere. It’s not promotion if there’s nothing out there to promote, right? Then again, it might still be technically “struck work” if they were made for a studio they’re striking against, so scrap that. I think.
June was entertaining and smart and reminded me of my friend Stephanie, which made me like her even more.
We did TWO podcasts this week
And here they are.
Maybe it depends on the other person's personality. It might be my superpower/traumaresponse to throw myself under the awkward bus in the service of connection :-D
My thing now is to go "I'm sorry, I have a bad habit of forgetting a name as soon as I hear it, would you mind telling me again?" and it often breaks the ice because they also forgot my name as soon as they heard it.