958. - Eddie Huang

32:42Jason Stewart:And also the 250th anniversary of our country brought together by the UFC. Which pay-per-view did you watch last night? Because I know you had people over for 250. What did you cook? How many people came over to the house? I did not watch, but I did see homie go, Michelle Obama is the homie. I was like, bro, what is going on? This is crazy. Honestly, you know it's bad when, like, I can't remember who it was. someone crazy was like, Trump, you've got to denounce that. Like Tucker Carlson or someone was like, bro, all right, that's too far. We've got to stop. We've got to stop. But I'm not familiar.

33:17Is that guy, because when I saw him, let me, how do I say this? Bill didn't look super athletic, but he is a UFC champion. He's a bad boy. He is. He has an American charm, that guy. Distinctly American charm. That's what people are saying today, is he has an American charm. We need Trump to come out and just vindicate Michelle Obama and Sigourney Weaver. Like once and for all. For everybody. Yeah, yeah. I agree. I think that. And Jamie Lee. Jamie Lee. Jamie Lee, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Obama. Like vindicate these people, you know? Free the guys. Free the guys. Elon's daughter. Free the guys.

33:54I think that the UFC thing, I will say, looked. I wish I would have watched it, but that's not going to happen in my household. Just from a standpoint. Like Nomi Fry had to watch it to write about it. It came out today. I haven't read it yet. But she was going through it on Close Friends. Like, I can't believe this shit. I'm like, I really feel like.

34:10Jason Stewart:Chris, that's what Close Friends are for. What the hell? Well, I mean, I think that once you write a story about it, the next day for The New Yorker, it's pretty clear what you were doing. But I just, I don't want to, I feel like I missed out, kind of. I feel like it was a moment that we all should have watched. UFC to me, like, I got into it when I was a kid. Like, UFC 1, 2, 3, 4. I was like, oh, this is insane. These dudes are mauling each other. Then when people got too good at it and people got really hurt, I was like, oh, I don't really want to watch a guy get his legs snapped in half. And this is just too gruesome.

34:39I felt like it was as a civilization, a step back. And then I think when it was the Diagostan guys started coming through and they had next level jujitsu technique, I got into UFC. And then now I'm getting out of UFC again because it's once again, just like backyard bullshit to me.

35:01Jason Stewart:Especially when you got boxing there, your first love. Yeah, I love boxing. I don't know. I mean, but you're saying those guys aren't brain damaged maybe after a few years in the ring? Yeah, but boxing I feel really is a science. Like there's a real science to it. There's rules. It's more civilized. But do you think the UFC thing feels like you simply can use brute force to break your opponent's nose with your knee if you want to? There's some rules that you can't do. Yeah, and there's significant skill to jiu-jitsu. Like I'm interested in the jujitsu part, the striking, their skill too, but it's just the culture around it feels like this is a step back for humanity.

35:39No, it's a sport for people that work at gas stations. And I think we all agree with that. I think they're good.

35:44Jason Stewart:They're going to divide it though. They've always had it divided with like, like you said, like the peaceful, gentle warrior jujitsu guys who, you know, they have their code of conduct and they're not, you know, shitty people. but then they kind of went and let the hillbillies they let the bakersfield residents the fresno residents pull up and then you know maybe they got a swastika tattoo uh that's currently halfway done being lasered off because they got the deal with venom swim trunks or whatever you know yeah don't don't talk about all my white monster homies okay let's not do that but i mean it is it does feel like something that started as sort of, not up market, obviously, but like it did, it did start with their hands a little cleaner and now it feels like they're in the swamp.

36:29Jason Stewart:It's always been for crazy white boys. Tank Abbott back in the day. No, I know it's, I know, I know. Yeah, Tank Abbott was the guy that got me into it. Crazy Tank Abbott. I was like, yo, this guy's just like my favorite bar fighter. I don't know who that is. It sounds like a Danny McBride character. Huntington Beach is on and I used to see him training every morning on my way to school, the tallest hill in Huntington Beach. I see his fat ass there hung over trying to do sprints up a hill. I found it in the blockbuster. It was next to Kids, Face of the Death, and WrestleMania. They just put all of the junk cult stuff on a shelf.

37:04I was like, well, I like all these other movies. I like WrestleMania.

37:08Jason Stewart:I like watching people die in other ways. Let's try this one. Pulled apart by Tiger? How bad could it be? I'm not familiar. The one guy that everybody likes like the cool fighter that's in like the stone island campaign the cheeto oh yeah cheeto vera cheeto's ill cheeto used to train at our gym in la too cheeto is great he's like an athlete he looks to me like an athlete like he's a star he's like good looking he's cool like i just think there's not very many of those in the sport which is good for him i guess yeah used to be luke rockhold too like luke rockhold was a polo model he's the homie you know really yeah and these guys Do these guys have the ear thing or no?

37:46No, he don't got the cauliflower ear.

37:48Jason Stewart:The hot ones don't have cauliflower. Yeah. Jason, I've heard you blame being bloated on so many things over the years. Whether you were blaming it on getting older, being busy, that fucking taco truck you stopped at on the way home from the club. I'm sick of this and I don't want to talk about it anymore. I think you need to get a clear answer. And that's where tiny health comes in. Okay, that's fine. That's fine. I mean, you know, as we get older, the body can't really handle what you've been doing to it in your younger days. And, you know, that gut microbiome basically affects everything going on in your body.

38:23Jason Stewart:Whatever's going on in there, it controls, you know, your immune system, how your head's feeling, how your body's feeling. It's all there. And that's why I plan to take Tiny Health, the at-home gut health test to give me detailed breakdowns of what is actually happening inside my body. You know, sometimes you get sick traveling all the time. We can make guesses, but we don't really know. Tiny Health makes it real easy. They've got advanced technology, trusted in microbiome research. We're getting science-backed insights, real data. And we will tell you basically, you know, eat this, don't do that.

38:58Jason Stewart:Change these habits, change these lifestyle things, and give you real answers to take charge of your health. tiny health is offering how long gone listeners their most aggressive offer yet fifty dollars off your first at home trial kit at tinyhealth.com slash how long that's tinyhealth.com slash how long for fifty dollars off tinyhealth.com slash how long let's test that stool get out your fucking wallet it's time to talk about rocket money baby i'm trying to save some money i was talking to a friend of the show bren walner yesterday and she was she was saying if you if if you look at your subscriptions, you could be living like me.

39:36That's what she was saying. She's saying if you use rocket money to find out which subscriptions you were paying for without your knowledge, then maybe you could be in, you know, in Switzerland like me, you could be in Geneva, you could be F1.

39:47Jason Stewart:Yeah, it does make sense. I think it really boils down to, you know, everyone knows it, but they just don't have the time. They don't want to do it. Everyone knows they can go clean all the clothes out of their closet, sell them, and then take that money and buy, you know, a dream vacation or a trip to Geneva or a new Rolex, but you just don't do it. You don't have the time. It's too much work. Luckily, nowadays, places like Rocket Money do it all for you. They're happy to do it for you. So then all that money that you're saving, we can turn that into truly whatever it is that you want. Just make sure that you're not just taking all that money and resubscribing to the same services that you didn't use before.

40:23Jason Stewart:Okay. I've never done anything like that. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com slash how long. That's rocketmoney.com slash how long. One more time, rocketmoney.com slash how long. Actually, funny Luke Rockhold story. Our friend Dano, who you know, Eddie. Yeah. He was partying with him, I don't know, 10 years ago or something like that, with the bros and he put a dano put a drink like a put a beer bottle on top of his head and then had luke do a spin kick and knock it off but he was too faded and he kicked dano in the head but he took it like a g because he is a he's a mixed martial artist himself well also what choice do you have in that situation i think you got to take it like a g well the i mean my i would like to make a choice but if that happened to me i would be asleep at the emergency room whereas he was able to take it.

41:22Did he go to the hospital? Because Luke is nasty, known for his kicks.

41:25Jason Stewart:He took it like a G. He wasn't going full, full combat speed, but he was enough. But Dano, he's got a thick neck. He knows how to take a hit. Dano's ready for it. Jason would have folded like a piece of paper. No, Jason would have been in the ICU. No question. It would have been boing, boing, boing, boing. Dan is a real man. I got a lot of respect for Dan. Dan's one of the all-time greats. One of the best things Jason's brought to the table. Okay, well. Oh, I met you at Dan O's house, Chris Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Maybe a Super Bowl gathering That was probably 10 years ago Yeah, yeah, yeah Maybe Chris was not partaking in the ice luge The Patron luge that day, I don't think I think I was freshly sober, actually I think I was freshly sober I was also amazed, I was like, wait, so you be wearing shoes without socks?

42:09I remember this, because you had loafers on I was like, wait, wait, so you put these shits on with no socks? And you were like, Eddie, you've never seen a loafer? I was like, I don't wear a shoe without a sock, man Yeah, they don't make, they don't make, J.M. Wesson doesn't make Sprewell, so you were confused as to what's going on. Yeah, I was like, wait, there's no wheels spinning on this shoe? Wait, hold on, and you're wearing those with Ann One shorts, I didn't know you had any.

42:32Jason Stewart:Have you started wearing socks, I mean, shoes without socks since then? I can't do it, I can't. But you'll wear slides, you'll wear, you know, that kind of stuff, no, you know. Yeah, I do, I do feel like, I do feel like the loafer without a sock is a crazy white boy trait. I mean, I think that feels like one of our things. Yeah. Yeah. Blood orange might do it. That's about it. I'm like, there's a danger of athlete's foot. Oh, okay. Not when you, I shower, bro. Like my shit's clean. I get pedicures once a week. I keep it. Oh, okay. I learned my lesson years ago that if you're, the key is the shoes have to be expensive enough to be leather lined.

43:07That obviously is fine. And then if you take care of your feet, it's not that big a deal. I mean, obviously in the summer, it's not the best, but it's like, I just, now it makes, I get hot if I wear socks with them. Yeah. I would say. I feel like I'm going to overheat. Yeah, I just need better dress shoes because I have worn a Luggs driving shoe to a wedding before. I know you have. I know you have. I know you have. I bet you've had some real interesting wedding looks throughout your short life. Yeah. I haven't been invited to a wedding since, I think, maybe 2018. So it might be the footwear.

43:37Jason Stewart:Well, actually, speaking of fashion and informal events, I pulled some lines and quotes from the book, come undone available in stores this week, I believe. Thank you. Thank you. I wanted you to describe the Burberry baby shower shirt, please. All our white listeners, pay attention. Some of y 'all aren't from Atlanta. This is the out-of-wedlock staple, right? If you're having a baby shower and you have no plans to get married, you have to get the monogram Burberry polo shirt. The famous Novacek, the famous Burberry Novacek. Yeah, I actually wore it to my own baby shower. I know you did. By my wife's request because she had seen it so much growing up.

44:22Right. It just feels right to see the Burberry at the shower. Yeah. Wait, hold on. I don't mean to get into the weeds here, but it's the Oxford shirt, not the polo shirt, correct? It's the button down or you're saying it's the polo? Oh, I see. I was about to say, I like the polo. I mean, I like the polo one, but the Oxford button down, to me, the Oxford button down makes it seem like you may be trying to get married eventually. I think you got to go just like Polo Burberry. Like, yeah, I shot the club up.

44:49Jason Stewart:Yeah, it can't be long sleeve. It can't be long sleeve. It could be long sleeve. I've seen both. I think that you're right, though. The Oxford shirt does feel more formal in its own way. Like you're putting in a bit more effort. Polo is just like, look, I shot the club up. I'm taking zero responsibility. I feel like when you did you guys do a fun gender reveal, like a big bow or something? I feel like you could have done something really cool with that. Oh, no, we ended up throwing a party. There was no even like mom questions or games. We just threw a party and we had the dudes from Open Market LA.

45:24They came to cater it. Yeah, yeah. And then Sandy Sancho Online, she was the food stylist. I was going to be like, yo, let me just cook with Marco from Open Market. And Natasha actually stopped me and was like, look, I love you and I love your little barbecues. You're going to make this look like shit. like absolute shit i love your little barbecues yeah she's like i know you're a chef but this needs to be like feminine like you already have like your playlist going on here your friends are coming they're gonna get hammered you have a burberry shirt the henny the henny so the henny

45:56Jason Stewart:soaked short ribs have to wait for another time yeah we can't have plastic uh plastic grocery bags full of marinating meats lying lying around on tables and things like that can't be on the grill like she was like no we're doing this proper you know because usually you've seen the barbecue chuck just comes through with like tomahawks just and it's like detroit barbecue in the house shout out chuck that's wow that is you're i'm glad that she put her foot down i think that's important i think it's important she's changed my life for the better jace jason has seen this like in real time like my wife is really you like jeezy said you know some people buy it renovated like she built this shit from the ground up i was garbage when she met me i think that The women liking a project thing is a story that is real.

46:40That is why that has been said for decades. It's real. It's very real. Yeah, like if you see a girl weaving her Birkin with the scarf and putting trinkets on it, she's going to get a build-a-bear-ass husband. You know?

46:52Jason Stewart:Okay, in your book, is the first woman that your character is dating who is named Samantha with a C? Comantha? Yeah. It kind of feels like that character is who you're describing, the person with the Birkin bag. So the character Samantha to me is representative of the type of people I was dating before I met Natasha. Like keeping up with the Joneses, dating by checklist, you got to fit into these things. And I never felt seen in those situations. I always felt like, oh, I'm like checking a lot of the boxes on your checklist and that's why you're here. But like you don't actually see that, you know, what's behind that.

47:39Jason Stewart:How were you checking off so many boxes on these? Usually hand tats kind of take some boxes away. Yeah. For a particular type of Asian woman, I was checking boxes. You know what I'm saying? Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You guys. Like, I mean, Jason's dabbled in that field quite often. Dabbled in that field? Actually, I think he lives in that field. he's triple platinum bro what are you talking about his jerseys in the rafters i gotta swim up bar in this pool come on down brother yeah i'm more than dabbling i'm waist deep yeah you you're you're in the pool swim up bar yeah god damn it but no i i think i checked off boxes for like taiwanese chinese women what do you what do you think that what do you think the like is that like business owner are those things that are a little more traditional maybe yeah i think it was business owner i think a lot of it had to do with fresh off the boat to be honest you know so it's like you're saying you're saying dabbling in hollywood success network television success parents like that yeah you got you got some money but you did it in like a cool creative way not like you're a you know electrical engineer double major yeah you you can hang out you have cool friends big dick it's all there yeah check it off the list yeah there's a plot line on your friends and Neighbors, the Jon Hamm show, where his money manager friend who is Asian is married to a crazy rich Asian.

48:59And the vibe is like, Barney, you're going to have to, if you don't work for my dad, that's going to be a problem. Did you ever experience that where it was some pressure to take over some sort of, really? What kind of business was it? Not to take over the business, but I did date somebody who came from a family that owned a lot of car washes. and that person had a lot of expectations and like i i did not meet any of the expectations sure they're like your little shit's cute but let's talk about suds how you feel about squeegees eddie let's talk brass tacks yeah but basic shit like i lived in malibu at the time on a cliff and like we had a barbecue and she brought some stuff was calling me i never have my ringer on like the party you guys have been to my party it's just it's just going and she waited 15 minutes or Then she came up and started yelling at me and was like, I brought these sodas and I brought this liquor and I can't carry it up the stairs.

49:58And you didn't pick up your phone. I'm like, I'm really sorry. I'm going to do it. No problem. But you don't got to like, it's not personal. I'm just an idiot. Like I'm, this is how I operate. You're like, I live in Malibu. I'm an idiot. Like it's fine. You do what you're getting into. I live on a cliff. I have two big green eggs in a Malibu, like cliffside apartment. Like this doesn't make sense. Nothing here makes sense. Like I had a Charles Barkley poster. how'd you get these fucking eggs up here was the first thing i thought why did you was this just some like i got my first check like what attracted you to malibu exactly because it's really far from everything yeah and it's you don't strike me as like a big beach guy so what was the what was the appeal exactly i wore tim's to the beach when i moved to la like there's full footage of me with tim's on the beach i will not a big beach guy what it was was that the vice office was in venice and when I met everyone in Venice, I didn't really want to be friends with any of them.

50:54Sure. So I was just like, what's the town next to Venice? And it was Malibu. So I moved up to Malibu kind of just to not be a part of the whole. Well, when you're putting Venice up against Malibu, Malibu is the obvious choice. There's no questioning that.

51:06Jason Stewart:Or more importantly, up against Culver City or another nearby town. Yeah. I went to Abbot Kinney and I was like, there's an Allbirds store out here. I was like, I don't know what to do here. So I went to Malibu and I had seen David Duchovny in Californication. So I got the same car. I was like, I'm going to get a yellow Porsche and I'm going to just be crazy out here in Malibu. I forgot you had the yellow Porsche. Okay. Not to be a pocket checker here, but. Don't make him say Boxster. Don't make him say Boxster. No, no, no. I'm not. No, no, no. I know it wasn't a 9-11. Don't worry. I can't drive a stick shift.

51:40So I was like, you get a Boxster. I guess what I'm asking is what's the rent looking like in Malibu for a bachelor pad at this point in your life? Okay, this was like 2014. I think my rent was like seven grand out there. Oh, that's not that crazy. No, that's not crazy. I was chilling. I was chilling. I found a deal too, because it was like a fifth floor walk up the cliff, but I loved it. You could see dolphins out there, and no one was knocking on my, there was no Jehovah's Witnesses up my ass. I was like, this is great. Sure, you were living free out there in Malibu. Got a fifth floor walk up in Malibu.

52:15Yeah. That's the most New York choice of all time. What is the, okay, so the big green egg, why two? Is it different sizes? Yeah, because I was like, you know, sometimes you want to do brisket in one, and then you want to do like pork, like ribs in the other. So I was always just like doing two styles of meat. Pause. You know, I've been talking about this a lot because the big green egg was something that I grew up with because my granddad had one, and I didn't know what it was as a kid, obviously. I thought it looked cool. why someone like you, I feel like you're the guy. I wanted to powder coat one, like custom color, which I feel like something maybe you would have done to match the Porsche.

52:53You know what I mean? Make one of them yellow.

52:55Jason Stewart:Or something like that. Yeah. Oh, that'd be nice. That'd be very nice. I should have gotten Hector Laveau airbrushed onto the big green egg. That would have been the most fire thing ever. I've never seen a custom big green egg, and I don't understand why because it feels like a great surface to customize. I feel like there's a company somewhere in Indiana that'll do college team logos on your egg. Yeah, you can get a Bulldogs logo or a Confederate flag, but they won't do anything else. I'm definitely going to call one of our graffiti friends that's mad about bandwagon Nick people and be like, yo, I'm going to give you$1 ,000 to Hector Laveau.

53:26Yeah, it's like when Cheeto did the fucking removas. You know what I mean? It's no different. It's no different. Oh, Dr. Wu could come draw the spider. You know? Fire. I got a doctor. The Dr. Wu big grenade.

53:38Jason Stewart:In terms of ceramic temperatures being reached, there's a little, you know, we can't just use any old paint. I hate to be a stickler. Dr. Wu, big green egg is really fucking funny. That's crazy. Wu's going to tax your ass for the egg. Yeah, I'm going to need that. I'm going to need that. Put it in the bag. Put your fucking Cortez on that egg. That would be the most funny Taiwanese shit ever. It's like, I got the Dr. Wu, big green egg. I feel like you're really leaning into these Taiwanese stereotypes, and I don't think that I'm that familiar with them, honestly. I don't know what the stereotypes are that you, I mean, you've obviously, you're very clear.

54:12If you want to lay out the top three, I think that'd be helpful for me just as a novice. I think, okay, Taiwanese mother, like when you say Taiwanese mother to like Chinese people, it's like when Jewish people are like a Jewish mother. You know, there's like an unspoken like, oh, your mother has mentally tormented you. Sure. Your mother demands a lot. Very interestingly, a lot of the stereotypes that American white people have towards Jewish American people are the stereotypes that East Asian people have towards Taiwanese people. Yeah. Like there's terms like, like, you know, you would have the term like Jewish American princess.

54:51There's like the equivalent of that in Chinese culture, Taiwanese American princesses. And the men are considered to be like a little bit more feminine. The way we speak Mandarin, like you hit, yeah, you hit like higher notes and things like that. So, wow. So you're saying like small cues, even in the way you like speak. Oh, your accent. Absolutely. When I go to China, like, When I go to Taiwan, the first thing people notice is they're like, oh, you're American. You have a little bit of an American twang. When I go to China, they don't say I'm American. They're like, oh, you sound Taiwanese. That's what they notice first.

55:27So that's super interesting. That is really interesting.

55:30Jason Stewart:And you guys are sort of being genocided a little bit as well. You can share that with the Jewish people. Yeah, there is a disputed territory thing. There is a disputed territory thing going on. Yeah. I'm not saying you're the Israeli of Asia, but the through lines are through. Oh, no. We're not. People in Taiwan are the ones that are kind of trapped in the battle between America and China. Right? So me, I have no problem. I'm with the consensus. One China. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want beef. All I need is one China. I know my friends in the Taiwanese military, we're not winning. Right, right, right.

56:08We're not winning. You're getting reports on the ground that we are not winning. Yeah. Yeah, and it's absolutely America pays for a lot of the like dissent in Taiwan against one China policy. I don't want to like get way too deep into it. But like my homie, like I have a homie that went to the Taiwanese military, also happens to be a DJ. He didn't want to do it. So he jumped from the third floor to the second floor and pretended like he had mental issues to get out. And he got out of the army, was back in the club like two weeks after he went. I was just like, these are the dudes that are going to fight.

56:41Like we're cooked. That's not great. Yeah, everyone was like, yeah, man, I'd rather just chill out. Like, we're an island. We're not fighting.

56:48Jason Stewart:Island time, baby. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to us by our friends at Dart Collective. I think we can all agree that wedding music is typically quite lame, cheesy, and it doesn't represent the bride and groom's personal music taste. Luckily, Dart works with actual musicians and artists, many of whom have their own productive careers or tour in bands you've heard of. Everyone from Leon Bridges to Taylor Swift. Dart DJs use vinyl and are cool in a way that your peers would be, not a dated Carnival Cruise performer. They even have an in-house stylist to make sure all personnel look perfect on the day.

57:26Dart travels all over the world for events from Morocco to Italy, Greece, and the Maldives. Dart has done huge celebrity events and also intimate ones.

57:34Jason Stewart:Yeah, Chris, I am personally friends with Michael from Dart, and I have worked with them for years. I think the last time I did a big one, we did the Sweet Green wedding. They set up a beautiful booth for the ceremony, just some cocktail music, some vinyl, some cool vibes. And then they set up a whole big tent with a crazy bumping sound system for me to play in later. These guys are great. A lot of people always ask me like, hey, you know, do cool wedding DJs exist? Do cool event people exist? The cool part about Dart is they'll work with people like me to come and DJ your party, as well as provide all the gear and all the consulting and all that stuff.

58:16Jason Stewart:So if you don't know who to hire for your event, Dart Collective is the one. Dart, just like throwing a dart, dash collective.com. And ask for Mike. His email address is michael at dart-collective.com. Tell them we sent you. So if you have an event coming up this summer, Dart Collective is where you go. Hi, TalkHouse Network listeners. It's your old friend Nels Klein from Wilco here. Wilco is touring this summer, and we'd love to see you somewhere on the road. We're playing shows this June and July in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Chautauqua, New York, Lafayette, New York, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Vienna, Virginia, Forest Hills, New York, Portland, Maine, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee, La Grange, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Columbus, Ohio.

59:15Jason Stewart:Plus, there are even more dates, some with Willie Nelson that I didn't even mention here. So please go to wilkoworld.net to see the full list of dates. We'll see you on the road this summer.

59:28You know, you've documented this over the years, but how is your relationship with your parents now? Not good. Not good. Like, you know, we're in a moment now where it's like we haven't talked in so long that it's cool. Like, there will be little text messages through the Bauhaus Instagram. Like I've, I blocked my mom and dad on my Instagram, but I forgot on Bauhaus. But then when they messaged me, I was like in a moment where I'm like, yeah, I'm not trying to be that mad. Like at least we have one mode of communication. So all, you know, all like, and do things with my mom on the Bauhaus Instagram.

1:00:02But generally I broke up with my parents in Thanksgiving of 2024 and it has been really positive for me. I have infinite love for those two fools. But like, I mean, man. But I thought maybe the child, usually that brings people back together pretty quickly. That's what I thought. And I actually bought my parents a crib, like one of those architecturally significant Eichler cribs in 2023. Just to get my, I bought it in 2022, just to get my parents to move back. because Natasha, I knew we were going to have a kid. They came back. Where were they living? Were they in Taiwan? They were living in China since the pandemic.

1:00:49Okay. So I moved them back. My mom wanted to move close. And it just didn't work out. Like my parents are real hustlers. So unfortunately, once I did the one good thing, they're like, yo, how much more money is in that hill? And it just got crazy. Ultimately, I gave them everything I had. I ended up in like financial ruin. And even still, I still talk to them. They still came over to the house. So hold on. So you're saying that you basically did a nice gesture. They couldn't let that be. And then you couldn't resist the pressure, basically. You like gave in to the pressure and did things financially that were not sound for yourself to benefit them.

1:01:32Yeah. And it really hurt me and my family. and I wasn't able to like keep, maintain my parents' standard of living. They were just like, yo, so you got us now. And I was like, yeah, I got you. I did the mortgage. I did the water, the electricity, internet, like everything, you know, like it got down to like the mountain valley spring water I was paying for, like everything. And when the strike happened, I didn't anticipate the strike going that long. I couldn't pay for it anymore. And I had to talk to my parents and they were not cool. It was very much like you're a loser. And like, you know what?

1:02:12It's your wife that takes all the money. I'm like, whoa, wait, wait. Like I didn't buy her. I bought you a house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I bought, yeah, that's the money. That's where the money went. You're in a$2 million house. I was like, like I know where the money is going. And they started to bad mouth my wife and it actually ended up that when we got married, like as a bonding honor thing, I was like, dad, you do the honors, mailing the marriage certificate and my dad actually like didn't mail it in and i was like wait what why like like in a in a in like a protest like he he explained this to you or he just didn't do it so he was like i was gonna mail it in but your mom doesn't feel great about it and i was like what and that was the first break the second break was they never really babysat and then the first time like my mom babysat i had to lure her i was like yo i never asked them for much i was like yo we gotta do like an appearance do you mind babysitting i'll give you 200 bucks and my mom came and she actually took the money and i was like i like between asian people i'm not gonna say anything but you never should have taken that money from me yeah i mean that's between all people i think in that situation like i think that's wild that was wild but i think that that's a wow man i mean so do you think you were is the pressure just so baked into you that you couldn't you didn't feel like you could say no yeah or did it feel or did it feel good to say yes as well i you know money to me is a like easy come easy go thing like yeah it's just you guys know me like i'll buy the bar like hey you know whatever and and you know like my friends around me have you know helped out but like yeah i don't i'm not i wasn't very good at saying no and i just didn't want to let my parents down but ultimately it got to a point where i just didn't have it anymore after the strike.

1:04:05Yeah, yeah. Like, I can't do it, like, physically. And then Vice also, like, owed me$380 ,000, didn't pay. So I was like, oh, I'm really assed out. So it was all around that time when, like, you know, the strike, the contraction, Vice went bankrupt. That's when my life of my parents completely fell apart. Yeah, yeah. And do you, I mean, do you feel like, are you just letting go and letting God, or do you think there could be a reconciliation or they have to kind of lead the charge on that? The funniest thing is, is that I thought there was going to be a reconciliation. I wrote this novel and, you know, Jason, it sounds like you read it.

1:04:41It's like this novel really revolves around how the issues with my parents comes into your dating life. Right. And for everyone, it's not just mine, but like anyone who really comes from a not great family situation, how it can create like a toxic male character right and this book is really unpacking that after i finished the book i felt at peace and i actually was gonna invite my parents to come see us and like see senna because senna's like gonna be three soon and i was like he's gonna like start to ask yeah he knows what's going on yeah he he would be like yo where's daddy's parents you know Like, so I was like, yo, let's just like get it together.

1:05:24And literally the week I was going to reach out, my brother called me at like 11 o 'clock one night and was like, yo, you're, you know, dad's in jail. I already knew what he did. He hit my mom and it's just been going on forever. And I was just like, you're over 70. My mom is like 62, 63. I was just, I just point blank told him, I was like, mom, you need to leave. You need to leave dad in jail. I don't know what else to say. And, you know, they were making light of it. They were joking. And, you know, apparently my dad told people he was having fun in there. And I was just like, you know what?

1:06:01I love you guys. I can't do it. I just can't do this. I can't pretend like this is cool. Yeah. There's only so much anybody can take in that situation, even if it's your, you know, even if it's your family, but there's just some stuff that's like right and wrong. Yeah. So I feel very steadfast in my choice to not talk to my parents. And I feel cleansed of it, like through the novel. You know, the novel was my way to say the things I needed to say and just like exercise it from my spirit because my parents were never there to hear it. And I think that's why I write. Did it come out easily because of that?

1:06:36It came out easily. You know, there was two moments in the book. It's so funny, like men crying, or at least my experience as a man crying, like the next one, and all I could do was like, ah, and like push your friends. And it was the next day I see the commercial, the Nike commercial of the guy running through the street, the Safdie directed one. I just start sobbing. And I was like, what is this uncontrollable sobbing? And I was like, wow, I've repressed so many feelings I have towards this basketball team. And I was writing the book. The same thing happened. I would finish chapters. And I remember writing a chapter about a character in there that was like my mom, where there was a mom who was really pretty until the dad kept hitting her.

1:07:22And there's a line the character says. It's like, my mom was a real pretty bitch until she got fat. And I just started sobbing after I wrote that.

1:07:32Jason Stewart:Dude. You do have a lot of powerful lines in the book, actually, Eddie, and some of them are some fun threads to pull. One of them, the fictional character that could be you in the book refuses to, quote, normalize his partner's anxiety. another line in that similar vein being able to enjoy a vacation without anyone else's opinions smeared all over it um in reference to like you going down to the hotel lobby to get the coffees in the morning to get a little alone time on the jump off trip yeah yeah i think the character malcolm and myself it's just like as men you don't realize that the problem you have with intimacy is yourself like just the discomfort with closeness and intimacy you project it on other people you complain like those oh this person's so annoying she keeps talking about this thing and like wait oh i hate being on vacation like i need my alone time i need to go out i started to just realize that like the character and me like not accepting myself shit i mainly i mainly brought those up so chris could hear it yeah i had a feeling i was going I mean, I think that there's, look, I haven't started playing golf yet or anything.

1:08:47I'm not trying to escape my family for four hours, you know, once a week. It's not that bad. But I do think that, like, I mean, intimacy and alone time are intertwined in a way. I just find that I think some people need it more than others. But you're probably right. The reasons are ambiguous. Yeah. And like, Chris, I haven't spent the most time with you. But like, I pay attention when I hang with you. I always find you interesting. I think you and I have a tendency to get agitated by things right oh yeah yeah that's my whole thing tend to bother us it's my whole problem that's how both of you motherfuckers got book deals yeah and I read your writing and like I send you notes all the time like bro I love the way you broke that down like that like I just love reading because there's like a fierceness and there's an agitation and there's a like there's a right way and a wrong way thing with you that I really like and I will say this about jeans it's like I did not really I did not always appreciate it until like I rehabilitated myself as a man but something jeans does for his friends that's really cool is you will let your friends spin their wheels Jason and you'll just have a bar like making fun of it and like whether your friends acknowledge it or not it is heard it's the whole basis for this fucking podcast that's the whole reason this exists really i think it's because he's tall and he can look down on everybody but like jason you're really good at pulling the thing out and like saying it in a funny way so no one's embarrassed but they can like go home and think about it and then be like

1:10:19Jason Stewart:jason no that's i do it i do it three times a week as a tall cis straight man i do the hard work of holding up the mirror against uh to to my minority friends and if if i don't do it who will you know Because to me, that's real intimacy. That's me saying, I downloaded everything you just told me, and I'm going to let you know how seen you are with one bar that is also making fun of you at the same time. Yeah, because you've done it on multiple occasions. We'll all be complaining of a mutual friend, and you'll just say something, and I'm like, all right, he doesn't really agree with me. All right, moving on.

1:10:58We're going to move on from that. Yeah, we're going to move on. how conscious were you of sort of all of the the very timely cultural references in the book because it feels like that's a that's a choice but i feel like i i could see some early readers being like don't do that some being like i love that you know it's a it's divisive yeah you know it it really was very divisive in the development and creation of fresh off the boat um yeah the publisher the editor like people would comment on and be like are you sure you want to do this And I was like, yes. And I think now it's become a feature of the writing that it's hyper specific to era.

1:11:34And on Fresh Off the Boat, they had me do footnotes so that future generations can read it and still understand. Now, to me, it's rap music, you know, like rap music's references are so just in the moment. Very of the moment. I like it. I think it's a feature of the writing and I choose to do it. I like it. No, I like it too. And I think it's like, I think that you're seeing it. I feel like I'm seeing that more and more in stuff that's like really resonating with sort of like our generation, maybe the one below us where things feel, whether it's fictional or not, whatever. It's like, I mean, Mark Ronson's book was so hyper specific.

1:12:12There was so much in there that was so specific. And it was sort of like, this goes over most people's heads, but it makes it better. Yeah. the same way that like mentioning jowned is fucking funny but it also really puts you in a time and place yeah like i would tell people always like surfing to me seems very presumptuous like you're gonna go stand on a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean that seems presumptuous to me to write and be like oh i want generations to read my book i'm like bro i'm lucky if anybody reads it this week right so yeah exactly yeah i'm like this is designed for this week like i mentioned bust down keanu reeves like it's yeah you know hopefully people read this for 10 days when and

1:12:52Jason Stewart:then when the book gets you know adapted into a screenplay then maybe we can adjust some of those references to whenever that film comes out you know it can be interchangeable no big yeah exactly exactly and this one once the film is released it's going to do wonders for asian people i think i think it's really gonna all you do all you you're on the front lines for asian people you haven't stopped you know what i mean i was one of the very first things when i was when i was reading some like the first chapter the first note i wrote down was eddie can write in broken english and i'm jealous of that and that's a gift it's a privilege it's it's a privilege you know with with great privilege comes great responsibility that's right that's right well i mean they tell they always tell you or at least the advice i've been given and i'm sure you've been given this advice too because you're probably more down this rabbit hole than me but it's like i think people start writing and they think they need to sound smart or smarter than they are and it's like no no the reason people want this or or even would think about reading is because it actually sounds like you that's why we're here yeah and i think that that's what this is to me it's like you're just writing how you talk yeah like i was listening to a podcast about like core mac mccarthy the road today and a great fantastic writer and they pulled out a quote about like the dust the street looked like squid ink and i was like yo i like love you love the writer i'd rather i think otessa moshy is the most powerful writer in the world and you never read her books and are like i like you tried to juice that sentence like everything feels like it's spoken and that's the type of writing i'm into like i don't want to be reminded you're writing i want to be lost yeah i mean i think i think there's i think that there's a time and a place for both because i think it's very when you can really do that it's pretty amazing but most people can't and that's just the i mean it's just very very hard to do in a way that's like digestible and also like poetic you into that leaves of grass yeah exactly no exactly it really is it's a tough it's a tough thing to do It's very hard, especially if you don't do drugs.

1:14:58Jason Stewart:I feel like that can help you. Yeah, 100%. I mean, yeah, when you're describing something as squid ink or, you know, the way that the amount of words people use to describe the sky color or the pool color or the ocean color. And you're like, damn, you're technically right. But that was two paragraphs. Like, you did that. Yeah. You know what I mean? But it is. It's really good. It's really hard to do. But it's not necessarily. I'm with you. It's not necessarily what I want to do. I don't condone doing drugs to write anymore, but there are drugs that, like, really, you could be, like, meth. Do meth?

1:15:28Like, going to be a fire chapter. Yeah. Right? May not match up with the other chapters, but that one could be fire. Sticks out a little bit. Sticks out a little bit. Yeah, it's a tonal change, but fire. Different flavor to it. If you do 12 chapters like that, you might die, so you got to keep it to one or two in a little stick out moment.

1:15:44Jason Stewart:Okay, Eddie, last question, because we got to go. Well, we could talk more, of course, and we'll do it again. But there was a part in the book that I was listening to today in the gym where you or your character is hanging out with a baddie who proclaims to be on the autistic scale. And I wanted to ask, do you believe that God gives his most autistic baddies to his strongest soldiers? I do. I do. I do. I think my wife is the she was confirmed like diagnosis way before it was popular like 10 years ago they were like you're autistic ahead of the trend OG shit I think it's a true gift I agree I do too especially if you count cards and stuff it's a real gift depends on how you channel it depends on how you channel it count cards alright Eddie thank you for joining us on How Long Gone we appreciate it does it come out this week?

1:16:42yeah it comes out tomorrow Tuesday So the book will be out though That's all that matters I will have a reading at Live Talks LA With Otessa Moshvi Thursday night in LA Okay great Thank you Eddie good to see you bro Thank you guys Take care Later

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