968. - Derek Blasberg

29:08Jason Stewart:We don't have to make the joke, Derek. It's all there. How long has it been? I was waiting for the homoerotic subtext to emerge in today's podcast. I mean, honestly, I was volleyball. Because I have a friend, Eric Chakine, who you might know, who went to NYU and he played volleyball at NYU. And I met all these guys that got scholarships to him to play volleyball. I didn't even know that was possible. I think we were the Flaming Violets in NYU. Have they changed? Have they? Come on. Say something. Say something right now. Say something right now. Flaming Violets is... I fucking dare you. Flaming Violets is really cool, honestly.

29:41It sounds more like a band than it does a sports franchise. You landed that plane. Well done, Chris. Who are your top St. Louis? Because the only three I know are you, Andy, and Carly. So who else do we have? Jon Hamm? Jon Hamm is from St. Louis. Sam Altman and Jon Hamm went to the same high school. John Goodman, Kevin Kline Oh, this is pretty great Any women or no?

30:03Jason Stewart:Other than Klaus Any women Seems like a lot of leading men up in here Which I'm not complaining about But I do like diversity I know, you're famously diverse Because I have Conyers, Georgia We have the Fannings Which is a huge export for us Dakota and Elle They went, yeah They grew up in the valley. What are you talking about? But they were not born in the valley. How shitty is your town that the only people you can claim is the kind of family who left when they were in utero? We had a famous STD outbreak that was part of a documentary on PBS and a school shooting. We're a suburb, for Christ's sake.

30:46It's America. Everyone has a school shooting now. This is vintage, though. This is before it was cool.

30:51Jason Stewart:School shooting is not going to get you into NYU anymore. We're going to need something more than that. I'm just saying St. Louis seems relatively stacked for a place that we don't consider much. Oh, we don't consider Anheuser-Busch, legendarily from St. Louis, pure in a coffee child. What do you mean we don't consider much? Where would you be without beer and dog food, Chris? A little respect. Honestly, good. Let's have respect on St. Louis' name. I'm proud to say I've never bought dog food in my life, and beer wasn't really my thing. So you see how I could overlook these. Okay, Derek, rib-related question.

31:24Jason Stewart:do you use the hands for eating ribs or are you a knife and fork ribber? I use my hands for everything, Jason. Thanks for asking. Okay, wrapping it up. How long gone? Thank you for joining us. I like that. When you go to sushi, are we chopsticks or hands? Chopsticks. I told the story in this podcast when you took me to lunch and it was the most expensive lunch I've ever been to and I appreciate that. That was the best date you've ever had, you told me. It was. The best date you ever had. Where'd you go? We went to Capo Malsa at 976 Madison Avenue between 76 and 77th Street, conveniently located beneath the Gagosian Gallery.

31:59But, Derek, I told you this, Jason. We get the bill, and I pull out, and he's like, you don't want to do that. And I was like, what? I was like, oh, we can see. That's called chivalry. That's chivalry. He said, I was like, oh, we can just split it. He's like, you don't want to do that. And just put his card down. And then I found out this was the$50 melon dessert. Right, right, right, right, right. Well, I was doing it. That was a long con, and you're a sucker. I was doing that to seduce you for one day you would have me on this podcast. It doesn't take that, but it helps. I mean, it can't hurt, you know?

32:26You're saying you're a cheap date and I overspend. I'm saying we do three of these a week, you know, at a certain point.

32:32Jason Stewart:Everybody. Chris will put out for a bean and cheese. You don't have to do the four hour tasting. Jason does. Sounds like he's still got that jerky on his mouth. Jason does. Okay. Oh, shit. All right. All right, so your book came out last night with a friend of the show, Sarah Moonves. You guys in conversation. Sarah Moonves very kindly hosted a Q &A with me. Shout out to Sarah. For a book called Fast and Loosh. Yes. Hi, Sarah. Hi, Jeff. And tell us what the book is about. So I got to be honest. The whole concept of the book was pretty, I didn't think, cerebral. I did not think this was not a deep dive.

33:11Sure. But then when I got into it, and after I've been speaking about it with Sarah, with you guys, with other people, it's become like a much more deep project. So the top line is I had a column in Interview Magazine from 2009 to 2012. Yes. My editor at the time was Christopher Bolin, who I'm sure you guys know. And it was called Fast and Loosh, and it was a diary. And what was awesome about 2009, 2012, is that we had already developed rapid communication, right? You could text, you had a BlackBerry, you had a sidekick, you had BBM. I miss BBM. We all do. We talk about it all the time. Best form of communication.

33:50But 2012 was before the onslaught of social media, which obviously changed the way we live, changed with what you could get by with, changed the way you measured a good night. So Sarah and I were going over all the incredible ways you used to measure a good night, which was hangovers, broken shoes, missed appointments the next day, cuts, bruises, black eyes, physical harm. Exactly, Jason. And now, of course, young people are measuring, I think, a good night in likes, engagement, shares, or they got a Fitbit. Sleep score. Yeah, they're measuring it on hours of sleep. And so 2009 to 2012, in my mind, at least, and probably in some other people that were around at that time, was this sweet spot where you're super connected, but you were still living inside the room.

34:38and so uh sarah andelman who has a paris-based publishing company called just an idea i had always wanted to do something together with her and so she once she remembered that column she says do you still have these pictures and i do i had i mean i had him in an old hard drive and i had to find that motherfucker and dig it up and juice it up and and i sent her about i'm sorry you had to do that it feels below you it was um well you know i'm a if you want it done right do it yourself kind of guy jason i actually i don't you're crossed to bear since you refused to engage with my only point of contact for this shitty podcast is chris and so as he knows i book myself it was my own calendar my own calendar as you know because you had to sign me into this thing i didn't know how to turn on my my microphone over here it's a it's a one-man band we have that in common

35:25Jason Stewart:kind of yeah we have we love our teams of course but we are solo these photos all right so these photos made it from a blackberry into a hard drive that's set in a closet somewhere and then you were able to resurrect them not a blackberry so this is actually even more fascinating is that these pictures were taken like on a canon g9 oh you were taking okay so the quality is a little better that's what i was going to ask because a blackberry photo at this point would look like i mean blobs a blackberry in 2000 and had one pixel we had like like there was there was no hide down okay so these pictures all right so what what haunts i mean i'm sure this is this is prime time for you i'm assuming wait is this more a photo book than than a written book or is it both it's it's pictures and captions thank you for checking out the pdf before we did this today guys really appreciate your involvement and deep thorough research on this project anyway but let's stick on the camera hold on hold on i didn't receive a pdf so i don't know what you're talking about oh pdf we don't know her derek yeah we don't yeah i've never met her once from you well maybe that's on me for not sending it but really but really i'm the guest here you know be a little bit more hospitable the customer's always right we do apologize but i want to stay on the camera for one second because as i'm looking back on these pictures do you guys i don't know if you ever took pictures at night the idea we all we are now obsessed with streamlining our lives i don't even take a wallet out anymore you know your your credit cards on your digital wallet lid and we're tapping like uh the idea of carrying a whole other device around with you at night that you had to remember to charge that you had to like have an external battery and you're not you're not even you're not even the kind of gay that carries a purse so you had to put it in your pocket hey chris what kind of gay carries a purse flush that out for me just different gays i'm just saying you're not that type let's sit with this let's sit with this no no no the kind of gay that carries a purse just just different ones i don't know i'm just saying i use the term purse why not like messenger bag.

37:18Banny pack. Why did you decide it on first? I don't think you had your Timbuktu messenger bag over at Bungalow 8. It was Patagonia, and I did. So how dare you? Period. You are from St. Louis. Okay. All right, so we got all these photos compiled. Wait, I'm still on the camera, because then you had to wait for the flash to charge. Oh, yeah, sure. And do you remember the sound? Like you're waiting. And so you take a picture of your friend. people don't wait for shit anymore so then you have a camera, you wait for the flash to charge then you take the picture then you get home, you have to remove the memory card get an external memory now computers, most computers now have a memory card reader on it so now you have another piece of equipment you got a dongle you had to download the pictures as I said earlier I thought this would be sort of a lightweight project here's some pictures from 17 years ago but I keep on going back to like how different life was then that you would that you that I did all that shit that you could bring the camera bring the memory card charge it share it and we

38:24Jason Stewart:were more than happy to do all that because it was easy it still felt like you're cheating god by not having to go drop the film off and waiting a week you were winning and paying all this money but you're like oh you just pull this thing out and stick it into my dongle then then stick that into my thingy and then download the canon app and then speaking of playing god I will I loved having the pictures because then everybody wanted them the next day you know you'd be like oh i haven't downloaded the pictures yet you could you could bargain with them you hold them ransom memories with leverage you know wow okay so a little toxic male photographer energy i like that oh wow that's how you define let's just get you out let's just get you out of that shirt real quick for the next one i got a couple great snaps of you if you want to come over to the house later and check them out.

39:07Jason Stewart:I got a really nice bottle of red I wouldn't want to open up. Exactly. It's actually decanting right now if you're here in the next hour. We can probably get into it. So Terry Richardson walked so Derek Blasberg could run is what we're saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. A hundred percent. It sounds like you're a little bit in the Mark the Cobra Snakes nachos. Did you have a website to display these pics? Of course not. No, this was not a job. This was a hobby. This was a passion project. It was a jobby. Is the Cobra Snakes first name Mark? Yeah. Oh. Yeah. You're more of a last night's party guy.

39:39The teacher becomes the student, Derek. All right. So when you were publishing this in an interview, how many, on average, how many photos are running? Is this monthly, I assume? Yeah. Well, magazines were monthly then, Chris. Well, it's a far, well, there were websites then. Okay.

39:57Jason Stewart:Tell us what it was like before digital covers, Derek. Yeah. You're part of the fucking problem. Editor at large ass, digital cover ass. What is the, so how many photos on average would run? Like, what are we talking, 10? More than 10, because of course you wanted to squeeze as much on a page as you could. The other thing you realize, the difference between digital and paper is that no one's cramming space on digital. Like you could, yeah, sure. A thousand words, 10 ,000 words. We don't give a shit. Just make sure it's due on Monday. Don't even fact check it. No one's going to read this. Fuck it.

40:33Jason Stewart:None of this matters anymore. Nothing matters. What are the top three clubs photographed and then subjects? How many pictures of the Olsen twins inside? Maybe Chris can guess. Maybe the top three. We got the Olsens. We got a Chloe Sav. We got whoever it could be. Who is really out? Kirsten Dunst? You're overlooking one queen of the New York scene in 2009 to 2012. Sarah Moonves? Who? Corey Kennedy? You're getting so far. think more glamorous who think more madonna vibrant a little younger more freckles

41:15chevy is called the heartbeat of america for a reason with suvs made to move with your rhythm the versatile equinox tackles your entire day the spacious traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend. And tracks bring style with value you can count on. All infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right chord. Chevrolet. Together let's drive. Right now, get up to 15 % off select storage solutions. Put heavy-duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you. The solid, impact-resistant design prevents cracking, and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked.

41:59Find select shelving and tote storage up to 15 % off at the Home Depot to organize every room in your home from your garage to your attic. Visit HomeDepot.com, how doers get more done.

42:15Lindsay Lohan, of course, the queen. Lindsay Lohan, of course. I forgot you used to really rub elbows.

42:22Jason Stewart:Chris should have got that. Chris should have got that. I'm sorry, you're right. I should have got that too because I was also I was throwing parties in LA in 2009 that Lindsay Lohan was going to didn't do a ton of interacting besides filling up her crystal geyser bottles with grey goose and hiding them under a table but otherwise, not a ton. I'm sorry, Lindsay Lohan is number one and then Beatrice Inn is the number one club. At 2009, Bungalow 8 was on its way out and Beatrice was... And Lit was, you weren't going, Lit was hot. Yes. There's a whole spread and accompanying text devoted to Chrissy Miller and Lit.

43:03Wow.

43:03Jason Stewart:My first DJ set in New York, Lit Lounge Basement. Wow. That's actually, okay. Chrissy deserves that. Chrissy's a day one. Shout out Chrissy Miller. She deserves that. Love Chrissy. Okay. So Lindsay Lohan also was very hot. Not celebrity wise. I'm saying looks. She was, that was her Pete. You're saying that's a fascinating topic. I'm saying she was making your job easier as the photographer is what I'm trying to say. Chris, I didn't know that you thought she was that hot back then. Oh, I'm a Lohan lover. Lohan in her prime. Lohan? There's something that existed during this era called the Lynn Zine.

43:38There's three issues of. What's Lynn Zine? A guy made a Zine of pictures of Lindsay Lohan. He did three editions. It was black and white photocopy. Of course, I have them, all three in the archives. And it was just the picture of Lindsay Lohan posing with like the MTV Awards surfboard in a bikini with an alcohol monitoring bracelet. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's that's one of that picture sums up that era so beautifully. I'm going to blow your mind, guys. Lindsay Lohan turned 40 years old on July 2nd. No, I know. I know. She still she honestly looks good. She's she went to she got her Middle Eastern guy with bread.

44:13She got the right work done. She looks good. She's great, and I think she is living a cleaner, better life. She got it together. I'm still a fan. She kind of got it together. I'm still a fan of Lindsay Lohan. Okay, but could you, because you famously have a deep, rich Rolodex. Could you text Lohan now? Like, do you have the current cell phone? I do. You're really, I do. Lindsay knew? She had a birthday party in Sag Harbor. Lindsay knew, knew, knew?

44:41So you went to her 40th in Sag Harbor. Sadly, it overlapped with couture, sweetie, and I'm here selling a book. So work comes first always. I love that you're at couture to sell a book. Those two things are at odds in some ways. All right. Well, I'm not here to buy a dress. I know. I know. I know. All right. So Lohan. He's not there for the food. Also, just so we're clear, this book was not just, I mean, I wasn't like a paparazzi. You know, I also like went home to Missouri. There was columns on Lake of the Ozarks. It was. Yeah. And the true Warholian who founded, of course, Andy Warhol founded Interview Magazine.

45:13There was a diary, the banal is as interesting as the beautiful. There was...

45:20Jason Stewart:The minutiae of DB's life. It's not just the nightclub. It's the full package, okay? As it should be. Inclusive. That might have been your life in 2009, but don't put your shit on me. No, Derek, I'm thinking about just time. I'm just thinking about time spent. And I would say you were probably in a nightclub more than you were visiting your parents or going to Lake of the Ozarks during that time period. That's all I'm saying. My mom will love to hear that. Thank you so much. that's not a shot you're just a busy guy shout out carol yeah these are my friends this is where people's like in new york this is what it does to you all right so last night you guys talk about it yeah you were in the famous carl lagerfeld library which has been you know if you were on tumblr you know this library it's an unbelievable looking space uh what had you been there before i've been there often i had worked there's um there's pictures in the book of me when i was on set with Carl, he asked me to style a story with Daphne Guinness and Amanda Harleck where they transformed into each other for an issue of V Magazine in 2011.

46:20Jesus Christ. I mean, yes. Bravissimo. And I, wow, yeah, Matt, I'll send you the pictures. I'll send you the pictures. No, I'm going to buy the book, Derek. I'm a real, I'm a friend. I'm going to buy the book. No, I buy a book. Jason, tell him. Jason, tell him. I don't do that. I buy.

46:34Jason Stewart:He would buy this even if he did not know you and even if there wasn't an A-list name attached to it, if it was just like something you found in a bookstore, he would be like, oh, this is exactly right up my alley. Oh, wow. You're such a fan of the printed work. Wow. I am. What can I say? Well, he's a collector of printed materials, but also that time frame of going out in the club, he was also there and it's near and dear to his heart. But when you were talking about the book initially, before I knew it was about because I didn't get the PDF, you were saying like how you're fascinated with that specific timeframe of 09 to 012, you know, generational divides and things like that.

47:12Jason Stewart:Is that fascination going to turn into more output? Maybe, you know, a screenplay, a novella, an essay or something just to explore. I mean, that's what I thought the book was going to be about. I thought it was going to be one of those books that you read instead of look at. But I mean, it's just something that I'm very fascinated in. That was no shade, by the way. But I think I want to see you explore that subject more because I find it really interesting, that little window. I'm sure you two read Mark Ronson's book, Night People. Yeah, we talked about it a lot on the pod because it was so thorough as far as like the...

47:46Jason Stewart:They sent the hardcover. The deep diving on the music stuff and like really getting into it. I asked him, I was like, dude, that's just nerd. He's like, I couldn't have done it without that because it was like what made it interesting to me, which I found. because I was like, I think that would polarize some people because it's so in the weeds, but I think it does paint a better picture that way. Yeah. Did Mark do the podcast? Yeah, he's done the podcast a couple times, yeah. Oh, wow. Great. A couple times. No, I mean, I'm just, no, I just didn't mean it like that. You've got more followers than you too, but it's not a big one.

48:18Wow. But I do think that when you realize that your age group is now old enough to look backwards and a younger demographic is interested in that, I do feel like that's a real moment in a person's life. For sure. And I also think most people who do what we do are always looking forward. There's not a lot of time for personal nostalgia. Of course, fashion people, art people are constantly looking back for references or inspiration. But the idea of mining your own iPhoto or your own archive for pictures or stories, it was surreal because I really feel like that was yesterday. It doesn't feel like it was 17 years ago.

48:57Now, when you were doing this, did you get misty? How did it make you feel on an emotional level?

49:06Jason Stewart:Did a post-nasal drip come back out of nowhere? Yeah. There were moments that made me misty. I don't understand the post-nasal drips. I know you don't. I know you don't. Cocaine. Cocaine news. Do you guys have allergies? Yeah. Jason's famously allergic to a lot of stuff. I do have some sinus issues, but it was more so when you do cocaine, you get a little drip and people do cocaine in the club i just thought you had a deviated septum i had no idea that you were talking so quickly to so many strangers for so long i am deviated if i if you must know he's deviated but he he's he's famous for his schnauz so he can't go get it fixed like you know everybody i have a deviated septum i have to get a nose job jason can't do that it'd take away from his appeal that raw sexual chemistry would be completely diminished if you had a appropriately sized nose.

49:53Jason Stewart:I can't tuck my ears either. People like these satellite dishes. The saucers. Wow, look at those. I know. Jason, are you an ear guy? What's your body part, Derek? Armpits, what's up? What's my, that's my preferred body part or like your nose in your ears that I'm insecure about? No, no, no. You're a body part on a partner that you covet the most. I like a sensitive soul and a good sense of humor, Jason. You lying sack of shit. Just say collarbone and move on. Come on. give me the real shit just say collarbone I'm like a thick neck a thick neck is what I'm looking for hell yeah you're like a thick neck hell yeah there we go get you one of those little F1 drivers I'm gonna cycle back onto the stuff that made me mistyized and vaguely leave the homoeroticism back on the table circle back I got misty when I would find pictures of people who are no longer here like Karl Aggerfeld or Andre Leo Talley or my guys remember peaches geldoff of course yeah great pictures of her so there are definitely moments um like when i found all these pictures of andre and talia i wanted to send them to him and so there there was some i mean i wasn't so close to him that i was bawling my eyes out when i realized when i had to remind myself he wasn't on this planet anymore but it was yeah there were definitely moments of un unmistakable acknowledgement that like life is different now that the other thing that i should really point out is that i don't want to be one of these now middle-aged gay dads who talk about the good old days or life was better then um social media definitely made that type of life impossible it disrupted magazines going out suddenly felt different um having fun is definitely more performative now but i don't want to shit talk social media because i made a whole career partly on the back of social media i always teet my friends i'm like the world's oldest influencer like i i don't want i don't want to say that it's all been bad no i don't think i think i think you can like see both things you know i think both things can be valuable.

52:05Jason Stewart:But if social media never existed, you'd be, you know, finding a way to be influential otherwise. So when I, when, when I'm growing up in St. Louis and you've got your face pressed against the glass and you're looking on this industry of art and fashion and culture and style, like I really thought I was going to get a job at a magazine and work there my whole life. And suddenly the landscape, I don't need to tell you guys this, and I'm sure the four or five people who are listening already know this too, that magazines look much different now. Four or five editors in chief continue the the media landscape looks so much different now so um you know i always get these annoying questions which i'm sure to enlightened interviewers like yourself would never ask someone like what do you want to do next or what does the next 10 years look like i don't all those all those questions seem so silly to even contemplate because guys ai is going to change the way you know the way the way that social media changed the way media looks now the next digital wave is going to why make plans it's all going to be chaotic and terrible no i we should have a have a five-day plan not a five-year plan there we go you seem like you seem similar to jason and i in a way where it's like let me stop you right there how dare you whatever comes i mean i mean in not financially of course you're much better off than we are i mean i mean more like you sort of things have happened to you and you roll with it and more things happen and and you just go with it and i think it's it's encouraging to see other people do that because it feels like you've just sort of figured it out as you've gone along and figured out what your strengths were and just sort of went with it but it's a conscious for me i can't speak for you and the other one it's a conscious choice to to yeah yeah yeah more with the punches because there was a moment so my first job out of college i worked at vogue and i was fired and there was a moment when I was like, wow, I'm going to move back to Missouri and become a realtor.

53:59That's a wrap on my dreams. And so I think realizing, oh, my version of my career is going to be different was a conscious choice. And in a weird way, I'm still often surprised it has managed to work out as much as it has managed to work out. Even last night, for example, I had this book party at Karl Lagerfeld's photo studio, which I had worked with this master at so long ago. It's a surreal concept to think. I never dared to dream as big as I am living, is what I'm saying. And I won't even make you list off the boldface names, page six style, who are in attendance. I wouldn't ask you to do that.

54:44It would be gauche.

54:44Jason Stewart:Give me a couple, Chris. I don't know. I haven't seen the wrap up yet. I'm sure there'll be a Vanity Fair exclusive with the pictures, as well as all the boldface names and a party report. Vanity Fair literally wrote about this book two days ago, Chris. I can see your research was thorough. Derek, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a party report, and you know they're different. Don't try to do this, okay? You know they're different. If anybody knows they're different, it's you. Wow. Try this bullshit with me. This hostility. When Derek hits publish on that post, you'll see. I know this is an audio format, but I need everyone to know that Chris was just pointing at the camera and screaming at me, and it was hostile and belligerent, and I don't feel safe.

55:23Sometimes I do make people feel unsafe, and I apologize for that.

55:27Jason Stewart:Yeah, Chris likes to do this thing where he's like, I'm recording you. And they're like, I'm on a podcast. I know that. And he's like, no, I'll film you. And he starts filming the camera on the screen. It's so weird. Wow. I know. His Karen-isms are in his DNA. He can't help it. I can't help myself. I can't help myself. Real proud, boy. Real proud. Real proud. Proud of lots of things. Proud of lots of things. Okay, I wanted to get your take on, we were talking on the intro of the episode. do you think Lena Dunham has the power to split up Jack Antonov and Margaret Margaret Qualley? I love Lena Dunham I don't understand the question though is there is there a suggestion?

56:01Well the the stories are now that Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonov have split she deleted his photos from Instagram she didn't come to the wedding and there's rumors that the power of Lena Dunham she's sort of harnessing. I thought Margaret got off Instagram. Hey man I'm reporting what the Daily Mail told me if there's not a better source. This is why we have you on Derek. Okay, so you've gone straight to a primary source, the Daily Mail, then. Oh, excuse me. I am so sorry for having any follow-up. This is a good question for you. Do you know anyone, and tell us the truth if it's you, do you know anyone who pays for Daily Mail Plus so they can see every story?

56:32I don't, and I'm on several group chains. And sometimes there'll be a story someone wants to know, and they're like, okay, can someone PDF it? Not me. Daily Mail, I'll pay for anything. Daily Mail Plus, I can't pay. I'm like, that's too far to pay for. You'll only pay for real journalism. Got you, Chris. Yeah, if you call Substack Real Generalism, yes, I will. How much does it cost? Is it expensive, like Shutterstock or something? Oh, no, it's not expensive. No, no, no. It's like$2.99 a month. It's just the – that is a line. That is just a bridge I can't cross.

57:01Jason Stewart:Well, now I know what you're getting for Christmas this year. That'd be an amazing gift, actually, to give someone. I agree. Lifetime subscription? Is that how much it costs? My Substack is$6 a month. So you're suggesting that I am twice as expensive as the Daily Mail? Yeah, and you don't even offer as much just based on what – You have so many employees and staff that you got to pay out of that$6. All right. So you worked at Vogue and got fired. Didn't you work at Teen Vogue too?

57:27I graduated college in 2004 and I got a job that year out of college. And I worked there for almost a year until 2005. And then I was essentially flung to the freelance gods and I would literally write for anyone. Sure. I wrote for Teen Vogue. they just launched chinese vogue and russian vogue spanish vogue i would come over to your house and write your emails you know it was very um what's it what you know what's even crazier i didn't have health insurance i had when young people come up to you now and they say what advice do you have for starting a career and stuff i always sort of hesitate because my early days were really so reckless no health insurance living paycheck to paycheck getting paid two dollars a word now of course the words pretty high nowadays yeah two dollars a word nowadays you can't tell people to go out all day and go out all night you have to remind them to make space and prioritize well-being and i did not have space or well-being for many many years nowadays it's like you're you're the job is very different than what it used to be when you're dealing with young people i used to complain about it you know i i used to say like these kids don't have what we had and we had all this hustle and stuff.

58:39But I have to remind myself, of course, that the world is different. Yeah, it is. We were not as harassed by screens and social media. And so maybe the idea of a mental health day to me is absurd, but maybe young people today need them in a way we didn't. Maybe. I'll do something. I do stuff for free all the time because I don't care. If I want to do it, I'm going to do it. I know that a lot of my peers are the same way. And I have some friends that are like 30 that have that attitude, but I would say most young people think they need to get paid to do every single thing. And that's just sort of not how we were raised.

59:12Oh, that's interesting. I didn't think that my sort of gut reactions to younger people entering the workforce now is not that they ask for money, it's that they ask for so much white glove treatment that they want a soft landing on everything. I think it's both. I think it's both.

59:27Jason Stewart:I want you to pay me$50 an hour and also be really nice to me and please never hurt my feelings. But then I think about what Instagram was like when it started. Remember when it was all sunsets and avocado toast and selfies and shit? And even if we think about how interacting with that has changed now, I used to go on Instagram, you're waiting for a taxi or you're on the subway or, you know, I'm going to see what my friends, kids I've never met are up to. and now you're so big now you're waiting for an uber or something and you whip out your phone and you're i'll see what my i want to see what's on that happened on instagram and it's you know dead baby in gaza ukraine yeah it's the the the stakes of engaging right externally even on your phone are so much higher my immediate reaction when a young person asks for a mental health day is to say like fuck off you soft loser you don't have what i had but like maybe if you've just been on tiktok for two for two hours maybe if you've been on tiktok for two hours yeah you do need a you do need some time off yeah it's a shame because i'll never work with you again you do need some time off i do wish you well in the rest of your troubled life i'm gonna give you more than a mental health day you're gonna you're done you're i think you're giving you're giving young people a lot of grace and i think that's very sweet of you to do that but you know all this stuff is elective at the end of the day like you You don't, no one's technically forcing you to scroll TikTok, you know, babies and GoFundMes and, you know, cancer diagnoses, but the resistance is very difficult.

1:01:01That's true, Jason.

1:01:02Jason Stewart:Almost impossible, I would say. Are you on TikTok? I'm not on TikTok. That was, that's when I. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. That's when I knew. That's another thing that we have in common, Derek. We never crossed that picket line into TikTok land. It just felt. I did Friendster by a show of hands who was on Friendster. I see three hands. I did Facebook. Three hands. Chris is still on Facebook. Twitter? I use Twitter all day, every day. That's still my number one. Wow. Wow. Instagram? Snapchat? Snapchat, no. I'm not on Snapchat. I'm saying I did all these. And people who want dick pics. I did all these things, but then when TikTok came around.

1:01:36Can I have a dick pic? I didn't have it in me. Yeah. Too bad. We don't have time to explain Makeout Club to you, but that's the real OG social network. What do you mean we don't have time? You got something else to do? Is this your job? Like what else? What are you? Are we doing a job? Makeout Club was like basically Friendster for the punk and hardcore community before Friendster existed. So it would be like. Makeout Club is an app or was a viral challenge? Makeoutclub.com was a website. No, this is like this is 1999. This is like.

1:02:07Jason Stewart:That was hot or not. It's a message board for emo sluts. No, this is cooler than that because you could talk about how you liked Morrissey and Camus. You know, it had everything. Oh, so it was performative losers as opposed to superficial. I wasn't going to say that, but you're not wrong when you make now that you say it. But it was like a guy, a guy like a horny performative losers. But it was like, it was the first place I ever saw where you could like write your interests and post pictures of yourself and other people could see that and contact you. Oh, when you finally felt you finally felt seen, Chris.

1:02:35That was so good. Oh, this is great. Was being it was being a straight white male in the South hard for you? Actually, actually. Yeah. When you looked like me, Derek, if you want to get into it. Yes. I rejected societal norms and could have lost 50. So what do you want to say? Wow. Oh, so now we got time. Before we didn't have time. But now when we're talking about you, now we got a lot of time.

1:02:54Jason Stewart:Chris was punk as fuck and obese. Yeah, please. You don't know my struggle, okay? I wasn't in the club with celebrities drinking champagne, okay? I was struggling. Growing up as a young gay person in St. Louis, Missouri, with a stroll in the park. Oh, because you what? You ate too much? Fuck off. Oh, wow. The biggest city in Missouri. Wow. Must have been tough. It's not even the capital of Missouri. Let me buy you a map, Jason. Jeff City is the capital of Missouri. And don't forget, Kansas City is also in Missouri, which is where Mr. Travis Kelsey is. Yeah, I know Travis Kelsey. I know some, I mean, Jason Sudeikis.

1:03:29There's a couple other. Jason Sudeikis?

1:03:31Jason Stewart:You like Jeff City, by the way. Jefferson City, yeah. Who else is? Oh, sorry. I forget that my bingo is so Midwestern still because you can take the boy out of Missouri, but not the Missouri out of the boy, etc., etc. A river rat like you. You really tried to get it out, but you can't. You've really tried. You've gone as far as you could. Yeah, when you get drunk, does it come out? I love where I come. Does what come out, Jason? Your southern affectation. Don't act like he meant penis, Derek. I saw what you did there. I do declare. I do not mean. I do declare this is my penis. I used to go to the Lake of the Ozarks every summer with my family and my long-suffering and incredibly successful.

1:04:13And obviously something's wrong with him, my much better half, Nick Brown. We're bringing his dad and his stepmom to Missouri with us this summer too. Shout out to Nick for slumming it with a guy from the Midwest. Nick's at the top of the pyramid. I'd love to see it.

1:04:25Jason Stewart:He's going to put some Michelob Ultras down just to be nice. Michelob Ultra, Bud Light, St. Louis. Oh yeah, you can't. Jesus, guys. You're a Bud Light drinker? Yeah. You and Posty? That's cool. Is that short for Post Malone? Don't act like you don't know that. Is that short for the U.S. Postal Service? I'm unfamiliar. I don't know. Some of those guys are definitely drunk. Mail carriers? It's true. Is that it? I saw Chris got some food delivered in the middle of this fucking podcast. That was my, I want to be clear, that was my shoes. The hotel shined them for me because they'd gotten dusty. Oh, of course.

1:05:03Yeah, oh, you've never had a suit pressed and shoes shined at a hotel? Hell, come on. Not when I'm working, Chris. And I'm going to introduce you to what a job is. A job is something that you prioritize over shoe shines. I prioritize. That's why I farmed it out to the nice people here at the Rosewood. I didn't do it myself. I guess you lost your do not disturb sign. No, I don't think they... I think they're so nice here. They won't leave it outside the door because obviously then it could get stolen. Your shoes are safe.

1:05:31I'm sick of this shit.

1:05:34Jason Stewart:Honestly, I thought your camera froze Because you got red so hard But you were really just stuck on stupid for that long Derek's got me stuck on stupid Chris, what kind of shoes are those? The JM Weston Penny Lovers Derek's got a pair It's a classic Weston Chris, I'm sure your shoes are lovely And I apologize for criticizing your look I'm just trying to stay present In this kind of bro-y I understand He's participating in the locker room talk the way we are. This is harder for you than it is for us. We got the double dutch going and you're jumping in, you're jumping out. As a fan of this podcast, I know that you gentlemen show affection for each other by criticizing their physical appearance and sometimes insulting them to their face.

1:06:17So I'm sure your loafers, penny loafers, you said? That's right. I'm sure they're very lovely and super expensive. Well, they are now thanks to the shine they got. They were looking a little, you know, worse for the wearer.

1:06:27Jason Stewart:Derek, on that note, let's get back to the New York tough embroidery on the shirt. Is that like a call and response to the Boston Strong? Is there a story behind it? Are you just a tough New Yorker? These shirts were made during COVID, I think as a, as a, maybe a fundraiser. I would love to know who made, oh, yeah, fundraiser. Say something, say something now. It's a fundraiser for COVID people. Okay. 125 went pretty far to save lives, I'm sure, but I still, COVID people? What do you mean by COVID people? What exactly do you mean by that? The first responders or the first deaths? We're not exactly sure yet.

1:07:09Not 100%. We're not 100%. All right, what's on the docket for the rest of the week over there in Paris? Today was the last day of shows in Paris. Tomorrow I'm in Rome for a Fendi show. And then I go home to Nick and the Kiddos on Friday. Okay, are we going quote-unquote out east for the weekend? If you're talking about Long Island, yeah, I'll be on Long Island for the weekend. Oh, you're one of those guys. I love that. Jason, as a West Coaster, if you don't want to say Emma Gansett or East Hampton, you say out east, but now Derek has raised the bar and said Long Island, which is the ultimate lie about where you're going.

1:07:45It's not a lie. It's literally Long Island. That's not a lie. I know, but you know exactly what the fuck I mean.

1:07:49Jason Stewart:It's the same way you like to call yourself an influencer when there's so much more to your rich tapestry. If you want to call me a New York Times bestselling author, that's on you. You know? if you want to say I have a house in the Hamptons, that's on you. I'm just going to say I am a Midwestern hustler trying to live his best life one day at a time. No, I think it's good manners to do that, to play it down. You don't want to sound douchey, but there's a sweet spot. What is your title at Vanity Fair? Editor at large? Contributing editor? No, it's special correspondent, but I wouldn't have expected you to look that up before you introduced me for this special correspondent.

1:08:26You got, so, okay, special correspondent feels a little newsy, I have to say. It feels a little Washington Post. Want me to blow your mind? So I have been on the Massive at Vanity Fair since Graydon Carter's era. And Graydon Carter, he gave me a title that was, quote, our man on the street. End quote. That's the ultimate. That's my dream. Honestly, that's my dream.

1:08:44Jason Stewart:Did I petition to get that back? It's a little wordy, but I like it. Special correspondent feels heavy a little bit. You know, it feels like you're going into the war. Chris, you're showing your age here. The fact that you care about titles and mastheads. I mean, kids don't even know what a fucking masthead is anymore. I'm literally just trying to make, you know, good stories just trying to educate folks okay yeah yeah educate is what we're trying to do that's a that's a great way to put it yeah but you're not on the street that much anymore though are you every day okay when you want to see my steppers i would love to see your stuff i mean i know you physically walk places i think jason meant the streets you know are you are you quote unquote outside as much as you were at 28 you know what i mean i probably am inside more than at 28 yeah i don't i mean literally more so you know oh this is meta this was metaphorical oh we're talking in metaphors yeah not exactly i am not living the same life i had when i was 24 at the age of 44 look you're out though i see you i see where you're at you're out and i appreciate that you haven't slowed down that much considering your big age and your child rearing and etc etc so you should be proud of yourself i like going out i'm a natural extrovert same i like going out too i like going out too and maybe you feel the same way because you probably have some people in your life that say like oh how do you do it aren't you tired it's such a condescending thing to say just because you can't go out all the time doesn't mean i should feel guilty about going out because i'm not a pussy and also sometimes drugs and alcohol but chris does it stone cold sober and i don't think you're a messy bitch derek i think you keep the train on the rails that was the first nice thing i think you said to me jason thank you that was so sweet i i don't think you're a messy bitch that was so sweet thank you do you have uh do you have a drink cut off limit for when you're socializing i don't but i don't um i i do not no no no i kind of let it spray i let it spray well right here in a prayer certain nights certain nights you feel more inclined and certain nights you don't need to get after it you know you gotta take where the night takes you you know that's true gotta go that's true that's a good attitude to have that's a good attack what is the um derek what's the book called it's called fast and loose it's published by just an idea and you can find out more on justanidea.com okay and follow me on substack at and another thing with derrick blasberg and don't forget instagram pop that like button and one of the one of the best things about derrick is that why are you laughing jason yeah because you're too good i feel like you are you're such a no you just said like you're you're a natural extrovert but in terms of socializing chatty convo dinner party discussions broadcasting in general you you have you're you excel at all of those and i feel like you know you you need to have your own show wow yeah you're you're just like you're just you're such a good broadcaster you know how to pick the ball up whenever it's falling and you can i could see your brain just kind of running circles around everyone else usually in the room kill chris off and do this together jason is that is that an opportunity god take take me now please yeah i'll i'll look i i'm not so good with kids but like you know the rest of it i could probably handle if he got rid of chris how would his shoes get shined you know look he has he has so many irons in the fire if we i tanya him on this podcast he'll figure out a way to you know do something well watch this space he'll sell some cameras derrick hit chris in the knee with a fucking metal baton why me why me all right i'll give anyone here who knows the name of the guy who hit her no great name do you know his name no googling no no no i don't know i don't know jeff galuli that is a good name that's right I told you how many times have you watched that on the Delta flight?

1:12:21I actually prefer a movie musical on an overnight fight. Bohemian Rhapsody. Movie musical. Bohemian Rhapsody is a great one. I just watched that on my last flight actually. Terrible. The Elton John. Wow. Wow. After everything.

1:12:34Jason Stewart:Chris doesn't like movies that much in general. I don't like Queen. I really don't like the band Queen. Wow. Queen's so good. I find it so deeply corny. Even though he's a legend and I respect. I think he's. You find the movie corny? You find the existence of this. Everything about it. Everything about it. That's Cordy. Something about it. I just cannot get with it. I just find it. And I know that it's good. And I know that I get the appeal. It's just not for me. I respect it. He's missing the queen chromosome that most people have. Actually, I don't think I am. And that's the thing that makes it confusing.

1:13:06That's the thing that makes it confusing. Derek, thank you for joining us on How Long Gone. We'll have you back anytime. Congratulations on the book. and enjoy Rome and have a safe trip back to Long Island. Thank you for having me. Always a pleasure. Never a chore. Of course. All right, we'll see you soon. Have fun, dude. Good to see you, man. Bye, gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

1:13:45That's the sound of zero sugar, 200 milligrams of caffeine, and the power to burn body fat. Storm, energy for life. Storm Energy Blend helps boost metabolism, which in combination with exercise and a healthy diet helps burn fat. This product alone does not produce weight loss. Individual results may vary.