It’s Just a Guy in His Car

17:33Jacqueline Novak:right away or is that one of those little offices no what that is is that safe in the lost and found that is safe in the lost and found and i listen i believe i do think most people i didn't tell them though they're not wait i didn't tell them about the hard drive they'll find it i'll have

17:48Kate Berlant:to believe that but it could have slipped out it's so small if so i'll report that lost you

17:54Jacqueline Novak:yes yes no one's taking a hard drive and going i'm gonna toss this no i'm worried that you pull

18:01Kate Berlant:the laptop out fast. I know, but it will be found is what I'm saying.

18:04Jacqueline Novak:Do they check the seatbelt pockets that deep? Yeah. Someone's going to find it for sure. Yeah.

18:10Kate Berlant:I'm just wondering, as you can imagine me going, I filed the report, but I forgot to mention the hard drive. So I'm just going to have to, I'll deal with that after the recording, I think. Yeah. Now, when you dealt with Delta, I mean, you got it back in a matter of hours because right, your coat.

18:26Jacqueline Novak:I got the next day. back when you went back to the airport went back to the airport the next day yeah so welcome Jacqueline I mean I filed a report what now you're gonna get it back we're gonna follow along we're gonna follow along but you are free you're okay you know because no that's that thing of you spend your life don't lose your laptop right you spend your whole life don't lose the laptop and then you lose it and you go all right and by the way best place to lose it best place to fucking lose it not oh no I left it on the park bench I left it at the coffee shop yesterday where you know you're gonna get it back I'm completely confident you're gonna get it back and I think you're gonna get the hard drive too

19:10Kate Berlant:in the hard drive my mood has shifted once the hard drive became the conversation yeah I was like whatever I was like for my t7 shield like my t7 is like t7 shield just so I have something I

19:23Jacqueline Novak:know because it's it's okay borderline and it's borderline credit card size okay you seeing the price yeah i'm seeing the price well i'm seeing what is it summer 575 and they go up to 1100 i'm

19:33Kate Berlant:like oh right because it's yeah it's about how much terabytes and i don't remember but i bet i went i went hardcore particularly because i think there's some kind of there's a run on on um storage due to tariffs or something they're like get your okay so it hasn't moved but everything's fine I was thinking I was thinking, you know, so because of that, I'm recording on my phone, I'm recording with my yellow beats and just thinking how, you know, we're busy with ladies. I'm just thinking and intimacy. OK, I'm just thinking I think we need to give people more cozy comfort. I think we need I was thinking like and other people do this, but I would throw on, you know, body doubling.

20:17Kate Berlant:and remember you've never gotten so much done as when you're on the phone with me or whatever for like 40 minutes chatting and you like hung a curtain and like fix a curtain thing that i've

20:26Jacqueline Novak:been looking at and i saw this thing about messy spaces like how it's like creates neurological damage like i know like even when you think it doesn't like it just so it's like it does so it's like you look at the broken curtains there's like this little thing of the curtain that was broken that i was looking at every day and then it was like i was on the phone with you and then i got a stepladder and I fucking fixed it.

20:46Kate Berlant:Something goes on. Okay. In the chemicals, in the whatever, when we are in that way with another that I think must deep, deep chemical, whatever, make us feel capable, safe, whatever the fuck. Then we can do it. I know. And the lending of focus, the group lending of focus, blah, blah. So I just go, you know, we're artists whatever and poog offers a very you know unusual space okay we we must be free to use it like i'm just like i was like i go a lot i'm packing i go live yeah i'm sorry i'm sorry

21:19Jacqueline Novak:like does the group not want to join you could go live absolutely people would want to join in

21:24Kate Berlant:okay i was also thinking like like i woke in a panic about something that was overdue and i'm like if i could just because i keep almost having to hire people to essentially like babysit me doing the thing because yeah i'd hire them to do it but then i start to do it myself and go oh i can do this myself yeah it's like their focus so you know huge issue point is i'm going what if like you know premiums premiums have access where they get a little alert and it's like hey i'm gonna spend an hour fucking unpacking my suitcase which is something i hear apparently some people

21:55Jacqueline Novak:do i right now go you know what i would do right now go live i'm fucking determined to go through my drawers like do closet like I'm determined to do like the amount of t-shirts I have like I need

22:06Kate Berlant:to well closet clean out maybe this week because right now I'm in the I can't walk in my closet I

22:12Jacqueline Novak:can't enter it my closet I open it I open things fall and I it's really bad and I would even do

22:20Kate Berlant:yeah I just I do closet clean out where I would spend a full hour and my hope is that I mean to me it would be the coziest thing and you relisten and you get to know the parts and you clean out your closet to it and then I'm going I'm going I'm just laughing because like I'm imagining like this couple rocks and rocks and um I can't remember his name right now they're like ADHD an autistic couple and they make content about it but then like they have an app where it's like all body doubling it's like you know okay you like wash the dishes and like you play the video of them washing the dishes essentially it's just like whatever instead of his app but I'm just like growing library of cozy comforts, right?

22:58Kate Berlant:Poog, cozy comforts. So I'm like, I had a name for it. I thought of this. I was like, Oh yeah. Yeah. Are you ready? I was like in the company of Poog. Yeah. Okay.

23:08Jacqueline Novak:Well, so it's like, I told you what I want to do in the company

23:10Kate Berlant:of Poog.

23:11Jacqueline Novak:I told you what I want to do.

23:12Kate Berlant:Tell me.

23:13Jacqueline Novak:I want to watch close encounters.

23:15Kate Berlant:Well, late night. Honestly, I watch TV every night.

23:18Jacqueline Novak:Well, honey, I'm on LA time. You're in New York. So when you come home. I'll be up. Wait, I have breaking news. I have breaking news. This is huge news for the community. Jacqueline and I have been given prenuvo scans. I'm going to say it again. I'm going to say it again to the community. Jacqueline and I have been given gifted prenuvo scans. And I have to say something, which is that I have been having really like disturbing, won't be too strong a word, but strange neck pain, eye pain. When the ophthalmologist, I was terrified. She looks at my eyes. You're fine. Point is prenuvo came just in time and I'm going to get my prenuvo weeks ahead of when my doctor could get me in for a scan.

24:01Jacqueline Novak:So it's amazing timing. And we're going to be, did you lock your date? Yeah.

24:07Kate Berlant:I wonder if I could, when did you, when are you doing it? June 1st. Okay. I gotta, I gotta look.

24:14Jacqueline Novak:Um, They emailed you, I believe. Yes. They emailed us to have our appointments at the same time if you can do June 1st. Or it's like, I'm one, you're 130 or whatever.

24:23Kate Berlant:Do you think they've only got one machine in there? Probably, right? No. Oh, I don't know. I just wonder how much the machine... Can you believe we're getting full body scans, bitch? Well, what I'm immediately asking about and wondering about is... You know how I would download anatomy apps and sort of like soar for the human body, right? Yeah. I'm like always looking at the layers of anatomy and I'm just going like, what is that? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I want to understand, because I haven't really looked in a while, what kind of scan this is? Like, what technology is this? Do you know? I think it's basically an MRI.

25:02Kate Berlant:Let me look here.

25:05Jacqueline Novak:It is a whole body MRI.

25:08Kate Berlant:What was funny also, I'll say, is we were sitting around brainstorming about Christmas and you know a christmas tour and you know who do we sort of think about what is you know like do we build a wish list whatever point is you're sitting there and kate starts going it's pre nouveau it's pre nouveau and i actually had to turn turn you away and be like not for christmas even though mri for christmas was your thing i was like building our like christmas like you know special or whatever around our holiday special around horrifying detection

25:41Jacqueline Novak:of a whole horror. I know. I had to back it out. I was like, we can still go for it without giving them Christmas.

25:46Kate Berlant:It really is scary. But what I'm dreaming of is that I get that the pre-nova skin is like, is almost like the MRI. And I'm given, you know, 400 terabytes of every sliver of my body of skin. And I get to go, you know, I've always wondered about this area, you know, what's going on back here. What's going on in there? And I go and grab a picture and send it to our doctor. So this is just what these five slivers in this part of my neck look like. Like, I'm like going to be annoyed if I don't have access to the entire download. Yeah. I'm very curious to know what form new results come in. So, yeah, I can't believe you did it.

26:24I can't believe, you know, I'm stressed about it.

26:29Kate Berlant:You know, part of me is like, part of me wants to do like, you know, like in these books, you know, these radical healing books and stuff like that where it's like, you know, something's on the scan, they book the excision for, you know, four weeks later, the person goes and, you know, goes into serious meditation for four weeks. And then they come in and they go, sorry, it's not there anymore. These are like, you know, the tails are radical. So I'm almost like, I want to basically like brush my teeth really hard, the more new dentists. Yeah. I'm like, do I book it a month from now? Yeah, of course.

27:01and like change my epigenetic expression and then go in or do you want to go in you know

27:09Kate Berlant:with the dirtiest and i know what you're saying you know like it's not something you can just whatever but it sort of might give me a bias towards like like they taught us like predestination or whatever calvinism or whatever they were like it was like they believed that it was predetermined whether or not you were like a soul that was going to get into heaven yeah and so these like calvinists would sort of like all like constantly perform good works and all this like essentially to convince themselves that they were one of the pre-determined ones they're really good like they're like they're doing good things like i'm one of the good souls yeah isn't that like to mentally sort of like try to uh that really stuck with me imagine i'm like sitting there in high school.

27:53Kate Berlant:And I'm like, they're talking about Calvinists. And I'm like, what? And it stays with me forever. Yeah.

28:08Jacqueline Novak:In this day and age, we're so used to having scams pollute our emails and our texts. I once had someone pretend to be from my bank saying they needed my information. It's very scary.

28:21Kate Berlant:I think Kate's too cheap to fall for any scams. I won't fall for a scam, but I might know something's a scam and decide to do it anyway, thinking I'll still be winning by having gotten my money's worth of learning about a scam.

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32:52Kate Berlant:Oh my God, I'm so excited that we've got One Skin back in the mix here in our little ad world because, well, we're huge fans of the brand. A lot of skincare looks good on paper but doesn't really deliver results. Ain't that the truth? Or even worse, we get sold on some idea that we need 10 different products when perhaps we only need one. This is where OneSkin really stands out. Their products aren't about hype or even fancy packaging. It's real science. The brand was founded by longevity researchers who asked a simple question. If visible skin aging is driven by damaged senescent cells, what if you could slow down that process instead of just covering it up?

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34:14Kate Berlant:What does it mean? Well, zombie cells, you can imagine what they're doing to the overall condition of your skin. And it's so exciting to finally hear a skincare brand talking about them. I haven't heard a single one mention them except for one skin. Now, you should do your own research, folks. Yeah, get in there. Look at the four peer-reviewed clinical studies. Okay, these validate the efficacy and the safety on all skin types. And don't forget about the 10 ,000 five-star reviews. nothing to sneeze at, and they've recently been featured by Bloomberg, you know, as a leader in skin longevity. Guys, you don't need a complicated routine to achieve healthier, younger looking skin.

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35:53Kate Berlant:I'm in a good mood. I'm in a good rainy day in New York mood.

35:56Jacqueline Novak:I love it. No, it's a great day here in LA and I have a cold, everyone. That's right. I have a And you know what I want to say is because Jacqueline, you're very familiar with me, right? And the, am I getting sick? Am I getting sick? Is that a tickle? What's that? You know, it's unbelievable when it just hits. So when you go from complete health. So exactly what happened. I was on the flight back from New York in a mask just cause. And I go, huh? I merely started feeling something in the throat and I go, that's a little undeniable. By the way, on the flight, I watched all of the yogurt shop murders.

36:29Jacqueline Novak:and I have an announcement. I can't watch this shit anymore. Really disturbed me for days. And like that one's crazy.

36:35Kate Berlant:I, by the way, watched the new episode. So I had watched the first three parts or whatever that came out two years ago or something or whatever it was. There's a new one? No, no. You're caught up. Yeah. Then they just literally recently put out like part four, like since creating the documentary. I haven't seen that.

36:50Jacqueline Novak:I haven't seen that. No, no, you have because it's been out. It's like... Well, because spoiler alert, they know who did it now. Is that what you're saying yeah no i didn't see that i didn't see that so this was what i watched it on the plane okay i'm gonna have to log in and see because i do want to see that but the yoga i sat

37:07Kate Berlant:down to watch it to catch up with with you but now now it's not ahead i guess okay i have to watch

37:11Jacqueline Novak:that because by the way yogurt we're so desensitized to the horrors of course yeah and it's not gratuitous it's like a you know kind of classy whatever yeah and you think why would this it really fucking disturbed me in the days that follow. And you know what I can't do anymore? I don't like sexual violence with murder. That really doesn't sit well with me. And it fucking haunts me in the middle of the night. And I can't, and I actually, I can't tolerate because I, my, and then, and then, so here's what happened. So again, spoiler, they found out who did it.

37:46Kate Berlant:You'll take a dateline. You'll take a dateline, murder a husband that just. Yeah.

37:50Jacqueline Novak:But just the horrors of a man who just like, it's too unbearable. And like, so here's what happened, Jacqueline. I Googled it after I watched because I didn't know. I watched, I guess, the old episodes and I was like, yogurt shop murder is solved. And then I read, yeah, they figured it out through DNA. It's a serial killer. I click on his Wikipedia and then I start reading about all the things he did to all these women and I just exit the page I go I actually don't want to fucking read about this it's yeah it's too horrifying to imagine what people endure right and I can't do it and then it was with me for days and oh but wait the point is so I start feeling a tickle in my throat watching that oh I'll tell tell you something.

38:40Jacqueline Novak:So I, and I'm like, it's not terrible, but I go, Oh, is this? Oh, great. Okay. So I'm, I watched the yogurt shop murders. Okay. So I'm extra sensitive to the horrors of men, but listen to what happened to me. So I go, I'm going to call an Uber and I'm going to call a comfort because you know, black, it's like$150. And I like to walk after a flight anyway, if I don't have, you know, such heavy stuff. So I go, I'm going to walk. Yeah. And I go, I'll call a comfort because I'm looking at it. I go, pinch a penny, call a comfort. So I always click on my driver and I like to see, and you should too, how many years they've been driving and how many rides they have.

39:18Jacqueline Novak:And because sometimes, always. And I heard someone once say, you really don't like, you want someone to have 5 ,000 rides under their belt. And I swear to God, like not too long ago, I click on someone, he had 250 rides. I cancel it instantly like I don't know it's just I like to see those ratios high score 15 ,000 rides whatever okay this guy has a high score he has a lot of rides he's like over 10 ,000 rides okay so and I also when I get in the car with a driver I always I'm like hi how are you I like to get a sense like are you what are we dealing with here right so he gets out of the car and my first instinct is he looks wired in a way that it's not late it's like it's maybe 7 30 8 o 'clock he looks it was just like I looked at him and I was like huh tall guy white guy he just looked a little fucking wired and I immediately was like huh and I was like hi how are you and then he kind of grunted like I guess I'm okay something like that it was just a little weird and then he goes do you need help with your bag I go yeah he opens his trunk I have a checked bag he starts to lift it and he goes, can you help me?

40:31Jacqueline Novak:And I went, sure. And so he's already lifting it up. The handle is on his side. The handle's on his side.

40:37Kate Berlant:You grab a raw wheel? No.

40:39Jacqueline Novak:So I went, oh, well, the handle is happening so fast. I go, oh, well, the handle's on your side. He goes, Jesus Christ, like that. And throws my bag in the suitcase. I without even, I just immediately grabbed my bag with full strength. And I said, I'm calling another.

40:54Kate Berlant:Good girl.

40:56Jacqueline Novak:And I turned around. I didn't even look at him i turn around i completely turn my back and i just and he left and it was like it was that thing the animal instinct i swear to god i was like i'm not fucking getting in a car with you half to trust it was interesting too because i then did he say anything when you were walking away like hello and you just go i'm not doing it no no it was very calm i said i'm gonna call another uber like that i didn't say like so that's really another world with me because i can get But I'll be like, as you know, I was flashing back to me screaming at that guy being like, put a fucking muzzle on your fucking boyfriend about the guy who stole my Uber and then yelled at me or whatever.

41:34Jacqueline Novak:Oh, yeah. Yeah. So it's like, I actually, and you know, I stuck up for you in the Uber. I can be very, I'm happy to like puff my chest out or whatever the fuck. But this was like really interesting. It was like something took over. I was just like, I was completely calm. I wasn't angry. I didn't look at him. I just like, I'm calling another Uber. but I felt spooked because it was just like reminded you and it was just interesting it was like I felt as soon as I looked in his eyes like I just was like and who knows not that he's a fucking murderer but it's like and yeah those drivers they're driving crazy hours they're

42:06Kate Berlant:exhausted they're I mean who know it's just like I had a drive I had a driver on tour like that I thought he was falling asleep on the road taking me from the airport I have that all the yeah i was like well like it was like bizarre and like i finally got there and it's just crazy

42:23Jacqueline Novak:because you know i once had a cab driver fall asleep for a second yeah it was fucking deny it he it was the thing we weren't on the highway we were in new york city on the street and it was like middle of the day it was the thing where he came to write and it was like the craziest slam him like damn and this is like 15 years ago and i was too meek to even say anything or pretend i was scared but well we keep going i don't tell you about my next about the next driver did you

42:51Kate Berlant:say something because sometimes i'll no because i was pretty close then that was was disturbing it was like i was like you know do i let him let me out here in this like jar barely populated like kind of series of parking lots let it to so i'm sort of just like now i'm looking around going we're not we're not on the highway we're not on a curve on the highway like we're kind of in this no man's land of parking lots and like little dividers and stuff leading up to where the hotel is so i'm like if he does fall asleep right now i think we are rolling like we're rolling slowly into something and i'm surviving basically so it felt more like i'm like hey okay like and i forget

43:34Jacqueline Novak:it'd be so good you just talk to them sometimes i just talk to them make sure they're like hey so

43:38Kate Berlant:where you from you know i think i was like you're all right like all right yeah yeah it's amazing isn't it amazing how um it's not just like oh we're polite and whatever we're we are also um

43:50Jacqueline Novak:protecting our safety by managing the ego oh of course always so that's what's so crazy about the

43:58Kate Berlant:whole like don't accuse him it's insane because then he'll murder you yeah but yesterday it was it was raining and I was, I got a car from the airport to, um, hotel in Columbus and he was going really fast in the rain on like curvy kind of roads. And I was like in my head trying to come up with what I was going to say, like safety first or something or like, don't be afraid to slow down. I'm a nervous rider. Okay.

44:26Jacqueline Novak:I've told people to slow the fuck down and it's terrifying. Keep going.

44:28Kate Berlant:And I keep like jutting my head and I'm like, it says 80. And then I'm looking ahead at the root and going, there's only one big curve ahead because the curves scare me. And I see like an exit that has one of those signs and it's, you know, I have a lot of dreams. Yeah. Skull and crossbones and a curve and like a tipping truck. And I've had a lot, I have a lot of bad dreams where someone like we're driving and someone takes one of those too fast and you just soar right over the edge of the curve straight. And like, I dream that all the time and i'm flying through there going well it finally happened or whatever oh my god so i i want to feel and then he was breaking a little and i was like god i love the feel of the break like i love the feel of the gentle like break break break the soft breaking like feeling the road by the way and i have something to say about turbulence after we'll get to it perhaps i'm gonna say i might have to save all the plane chat for the next step but anyway go back tell me more i

45:21Jacqueline Novak:I arrived safely, you know. So I send that guy on his way and I'm like kind of just a little like shaken up just like a little bit because I was like, God, just he just like, what the fuck was that? Okay. Anyway, call another car. Comfort again. He rattles up in a tin can. Interesting.

45:41Kate Berlant:You didn't.

45:41Jacqueline Novak:No, no, no.

45:42Kate Berlant:When you go with the cancel fee, I shouldn't go. So by the way, I go, fuck this.

45:46Jacqueline Novak:I'm doing SUV Escalade. I want somebody who's like vetted beyond. I go, fuck this. and then I look at the price it's 150 bucks like I'm not doing it I was like I was like yeah I go the other way I'm like I'm like tour cost no no and I should yeah because so I go comfort again I go fuck it I'm sorry I just okay tin can rattles up guy comes out I do my usual hi how are you trying to get a sense immediately I go he's good yeah he's smiling he's friendly he grabs my bag we're good we're in there I say again inside you know how you doing whatever he I feel that he is sweet. I feel that he is driving too fast.

46:23Jacqueline Novak:And we are, again, we're in, and it's like, and I'm talking about 90. Like I'm talking about like going too fast. And then there's this part of me that's going, Oh God, I'm getting, by the way, I got home real quick. I was like, but I really was like, what do I, and I have had a driver. We need language. We need language. And you know what it was? This guy's probably in his, this guy was in his fifties. I remember one time a young driver in an Uber. I swear to God, I felt like he was trying to like be like big cocked and legendary and be like, check me out. And I said to him, I was like, hey, can you slow down?

47:02Jacqueline Novak:Like want to get there in one piece or something? Or I think I even pretended. I was like, hey, I made up something which would be like okay for why I was scared. But it's like, it's so fucking crazy. The Uber thing is un-fucking-believable. The way we just, because then I go, you kind of have to dissociate and go, yeah, well, it's just a fucking guy. It's just a guy. And some of them, and that's, again, I hate to say it. I've been anti-Waymo. I was like, I fucking hate Waymos. I took a Waymo for the first time not too long ago. Yeah. Because, oh my God, I think I took a way to go. I think you told me this, but we never got into it.

47:40Jacqueline Novak:I don't know. So here's why. I really hate taking an Uber if I'm dressed up in the evening. like if I'm like dressed up yeah yeah you feel like a piece of bait yeah and the guess what because the fucking tone shifts the last couple times I've been dressed to the nines I get in an uber yeah little and I'm being cheap I don't get the svu the s fuck the suv black car and it's a

48:05Kate Berlant:guy and he's literally hello my lady like the last the last time I had a guy wait you cannot just be dressed up in some guy's car Kate I'm sorry sweetie it's over it's it's uber black I can't I'm horrified to do this. It's super black from now on and you make the rest of your life work around it. Okay, okay. No more dinner out.

48:21Jacqueline Novak:No, no, no.

48:22Kate Berlant:It's unfortunate, but it's what it's come to.

48:24Jacqueline Novak:No, I know because listen to this. I've dressed up. I was going to the Wuthering Heights premiere. Literally black car. Literally the best outfit I've ever worn. Like it's unbelievable. Like what was it? Was it Vivian Westwood? This fucking crazy corset, amazing dress. Floral is black tie. I look amazing. Okay, if I may. I get it. And literally the guy, he's probably like a guy my age. he says he goes if I may you look ravishing ew first of all that's crazy okay and I was like ha ha thanks and then I feel and then he's like where are you going if I may ask no no no yeah and I was like oh I'm just going to like see a movie ha ha ha and I'm like no and he's like oh like do you work in the industry and I go oh kind of I get on the phone of course hello call a friend like I'm like and then I start feeling bad oh no I'm being rude he thinks I'm big time so then I I end up having to talk to him for 30 minutes you just dive in deep about his dreams like I don't even know did you get to his dreams it was just like anyway so and then another time I'll just say no time I was dressed up and the guy was just like talk just trying to talk me chat me the fuck up in a way that is not just the friendly, normal person to person.

49:40Jacqueline Novak:Like it was too fucking much. And, and sweetie, it's over. No, no, it's over. It's over. It's crazy. I don't care how cheap you are.

49:48Kate Berlant:You literally, you cannot, you, you can't be, you can't have an invite to that premiere. I don't care how you grubbly got your way in there. Okay. Okay. Okay. You, you, you, you've put yourself into a position, all right. Where you're going to that premiere, sweetie you don't show up in a pale blue uh whatever well no i don't i'm to be clear i'll be very clear i spring for the black suv i'm not talking about i i spring for the escalate for look i'm talking about yeah sorry i said show up which makes it sound like i mean like you don't show up to a big premiere okay i mean like safety like it's over no no you can't do

50:22Jacqueline Novak:that you're right you're right you're right you're right no no i completely completely think you're right. So, so then the next time I was dressed up not to go to premiere, what was it? What was I going to? I don't know, but what the fuck was I going to, but I was dressed up and I go, guess what? And I only had, it was a 15 minute drive and I go, I'm getting a fucking Waymo. The Waymo took forever to arrive. I will say that. But then I get in and I go, this is amazing. I don't have to, I'll say it.

50:48Kate Berlant:Deal with a man. Deal with a man. So hold on. So hold on. Now, you know, that suppose okay Chris women drivers saw this oh no no no okay that that they're not or that some of them or that all of them I don't know he saw something that said it's someone remotely in a center in wherever driving it like a video game shut the fuck up shut the fuck up is that real obviously we have to look that up okay obviously we have to look that up but like and he's like like the piece like so I'm talking from a coffee break goes to a coffee break gets distracted whatever like comes running back like hey no babe i don't think that's what it is i don't think that's what it is i think they monitor ai no no it's a full because the idea

51:32Jacqueline Novak:that waymo they say it's 70 it's like 70 years of driving experience or whatever no no 70 lifetimes 70 lifetimes i want to look up waymo um uh remote drivers remote operators let's see what it says

51:48Kate Berlant:okay to oversee its fleet when a vehicle encounters an ambiguous situation it prompts the remote team for guidance such as confirming a blocked lane or clearing yeah so so that's that's

51:57Jacqueline Novak:what it is but it's a no but so listen so then i want to do the other the other side of this coin

52:02Kate Berlant:so at the waymo and i had video but you weren't i just for nervous nelly whatever i just wanted

52:08Jacqueline Novak:for the listener i wasn't you're right you're in a driverless car bitch not scared not on the freeway so there was a thing that immediately happened which is like going around a little mountainous hill and it gets confused and it pulls over to let someone by and it's like scared and I was like what rather you took one like in the hills yeah that's crazy because like they get

52:29Kate Berlant:they get fucked up up there yeah it got a little fucked up we saw a standoff I thought we were together we were we saw a standoff oh yeah between two and a narrow road but I have to say

52:39Jacqueline Novak:for a short distance for a you know they don't go on the freeway although I saw one on the freeway

52:43Kate Berlant:and I was like hello I've seen them flying wildly fast on like big boulevards where they're like basically going 55 in the rain so here's so they're like they're like I'm like I'm like who is that bastard and then you look and it's one of them that's fucking crazy they're not the most

53:00Jacqueline Novak:timid driver on the on the scene okay so here's so here's what happened so so here's the other side of that so then I get out and I go this is pretty great okay so it's uber blocks forever Escalade or Waymo. So then the other day I take the cab, I take an Uber to the airport and it was a comfort driver. We ended up having, but we ended up having a, I'm going to stop.

53:24Kate Berlant:I'm going to stop. I'm really going to stop. It's just a life shift. No, no, no, no. I know. If it helps you to think about it as calling in abundance. Okay. Okay. Okay. Then think of it that way. Okay.

53:35Jacqueline Novak:No, no, no. You're totally right. So, but I, my driver, we ended up having a 45 minute conversation. It's unbelievable. He's Iranian. We're talking about all of it. He's probably, he's in his fifties. He's going, you know, talking about the war, talking about all of it. He goes, he goes, you know, my, uh, my cousin was executed for being gay. He says, you know, he told me he was gay. I said, don't say anything on the phone. I'm working on him, getting his citizen, you know, getting him his papers to come to America. 10 days later, he's executed you you know we're talking about that i'm like holy shit we have this long talk and what do you do and i just give it to him i go i'm actually a comedian we start talking at the end he goes yeah end of the conversation it wasn't like it was like but it was really sweet but then he was like you know you really made my day he's like talking a lot of people don't want to talk i was like i was like you made my day this was lovely and then he goes thank you for your service he goes if i when i have military personnel in my car i say thank you for my service for your service you're a comedian i say to you with the same regard because you're out there and you're helping people too sweet and what you do do that whole thing with comedy it's no no no literally thank you he gives me a true thank you for your service for recording poop when people do that they go they go yeah yeah they go like when people like there's just like some people are like laughter no i know i know no and so but it was so sweet and I go well that's the thing that's what we lose with the waymo and the you know because I I'm a talker I want to talk but sometimes I don't want to talk let's be honest and I don't want to talk when I when I when my body is coated in gorgeous luxurious perfumed oils my tits are up to my chin I have a bold lip on and I have to convince you that don't worry I would maybe fuck you.

55:25Jacqueline Novak:Literally, I have to exactly. You have to convince him that in another life in another night. I have to go, it's not off the table. They have to feel that it's not off the table. I can't because of XYZ. They come and cut you. They have to know it's not off the table or else they chop your fucking head off.

55:39Kate Berlant:Wild. I don't know that people understand that sometimes. Who? I don't because men. No, of course. No, I mean like they don't understand because I think they might not. They go but it's like that's not true or something but it's like no we we've we are constantly dealing with an animal that that we believe does not know itself and i don't think we're wrong too i know and it's you know the general you know you know whatever like it's just we've got a problem we've got a problem guys i mean that's that's and you know i mean gavin de becker you know that book gift of fear i can't remember if you've ever I haven't.

56:25Kate Berlant:I haven't. It's a gripping read. I was like obsessed, but it's all about listening to and learning to not let, um, you know, the fear of whatever get in the way of doing what you, you know, following the instinct.

56:41Jacqueline Novak:The gift of fear was the Uber guy. The way that I moved with instinct, it was really interesting. Something else took over because I'm a highly anxious, obsessive, whatever person. So plenty of times I go, oh, is this going to happen? Is that going to happen? It was like the calm that ran through me. Right. And I had super strength. I lifted my Suka and I just said, I'm getting out of the Uber. I didn't want to escalate. I didn't want to make him mad. Right. I didn't want to do anything. I just turn. Oh, by the way, I'm going to show you, we're going to keep this off air. I'm going to show you a picture of him.

57:09Jacqueline Novak:Cause I kept. Okay. Because I was going to say like, pardon me, almost. More on the others. Almost. Yeah. Cause then I felt bad because I was looking at his profile. I'm seeing other, I'm seeing this picture is fucking scary, by the way. I'm seeing, I'm seeing reviews. You know, sometimes Uber, they have reviews and it's like, nice guy. I've like, somehow I didn't know that. So I've totally missed all of that. So I've seen that a couple of times. And so he was getting, he has a high score and I go, you know what? Maybe he's just having a really fucking hard day. I still think it's weird. And him going Jesus fucking Christ about the, like the bag and everything.

57:44Jacqueline Novak:Did you send it? No, I'm going to show you. Look, look. it's pixelated i can't see i'm texting i'm texting because i go tell me this guy's not fucking scary like something about him the way when i said like how are you like the whole like

57:58Kate Berlant:professional courteous professional courteous drivers with extensive experience and like luxury vehicle right and the vehicle is whatever like but it it all comes together to form a package that rocks the the uber the uber black right like it's there's a professional type of there's a fucking professional driver no that's the thing that's like they fucking rock what they're fucking doing and i salute them i salute them no that's that's what i want that's

58:28Jacqueline Novak:what i want from now okay look at your text because it's a it's a service to make someone

58:32Kate Berlant:feel comfortable oh my god kate wait kate kate kate what the hell does this guy looks like um what does he look like okay first of all first of all is he okay and by the way is he in motion or is he parked on the side of a highway here wait that's a really really good question because like i see a car behind him it's almost like he's driving and took the picture it looks like he's he's driving. You're a genius. And, and then, and then over on the other side, I see, I'm like, there's a yellow line. Oh, wait, my, my headphones are like 10 minutes out. We're actually, we actually have to finish up.

59:10Jacqueline Novak:By the way, he's driving. You're like fully right. He's fully driving.

59:13Kate Berlant:But he looks, um, he looks in this photo like he's been up all night. Yeah. Right. Yeah. He lost a lot of money in the night. Yep. And okay. He's, he's like gambled it all away. He's kind of hot. So he gets by, okay? So he gets by. Don't you agree? Like he's handsome, but he looks like he was up all night and he's taken something to stay up. Exactly. Exactly. His eyes look like he was on something. And someone was like, you know, you can just, you could make it all back today. Just take a photo, man. Just take a photo. Okay. And you know, he's not looking into the eye of the camera. He's looking at the user interface.

59:52yeah it's such a crazy photo it's such a crazy photo and then last thing i'm going to say

59:58Jacqueline Novak:is that i took a yellow cab i like when i landed jfk take yellow caps sometimes right oh what's

1:00:05Kate Berlant:going on i often do because let me guess why are they all vans no no no here's my question

1:00:11Jacqueline Novak:my idea of a yellow cab you get in 79th and lex off they go they know that city like a fucking Kate what's going on they don't Kate Kate it's like New York is dead they don't know I go no but here's the other thing he asked me to put it into his phone me too Kate no I go I go I'm going to Williamsburg I'm going uh to this and that he goes he goes is that Brooklyn I go yeah and he goes what what's the address I'm like are you I take his phone I put in bop bop beep beep beep and then I go, is this the driver? Because I also noticed his license, the thing was turned around where I go, oh, is this the driver?

1:00:50Jacqueline Novak:This is the driver's nephew and he's picking up shifts. And I go, okay, whatever. What the fuck am I going to do? This country is hell, right? I'm not going to be like, can I please verify that you are licensed? Like whatever. But I am like, what's going on? This has been happening, right? Or I'm saying, okay, I'm going to the Lower East and Ludlow. No, no. You don't know how to get there.

1:01:15Kate Berlant:No, no. Okay. Okay. Okay. I mean, people need to take a second. Okay. What's going on? There was a time. Okay. And it's like, you know, but think about what it meant, honestly, to be a New York city cab driver. Okay. When you get in a car and you say an address or you say, cause even way back when, right. giving them 70 79th and and lex okay it's actually almost a courtesy because they can navigate to that like you know if you give them 525 yeah yeah sure they have to know that that's going to be between this and this oh my god it's technically a little more but you could get in like like a fool with a you know like you've come from out of town and you go my hotel or whatever or or i mean well again you just you know my hotel the uh saint regis okay whatever yeah is no you go you go i'm I'm going to the St.

1:02:07Kate Berlant:Regis. Okay. I don't even know if there's a New York something. Off they go. Or you'd be like, I'm going to St. Regis. It's at 322. I know where the St. Regis is. Yeah, sweetheart. I know. Yeah. And off they fucking go. And they're wild driving. I mean, just to take a moment and sort of relish in history. They're wild driving. You trusted it because it was like they know how to ride this city. They know the rhythms and the language of cars in the city. Oh, yeah. So even though you're afraid for your life, so to speak, in the cab, you're not. Right? You have a kind of faith. So it's just like you could be so moved by it.

1:02:38Kate Berlant:It's just anyway. But yeah, so yesterday, same thing. I can't believe it. I get in. And what I do is if there's going to be a moment where I have to find the exact address or something. But I know I'm going to Brooklyn Heights. Okay. When I'm getting in to get out of the airport, I'm going to Brooklyn Heights. I'll get the address right now. You know what I mean? And it's like it's a no-go. It's crazy. It's a confusion. It's a no-go. and then suddenly a phone is being passed back, right? It's just like, you know, knowledge rules. And someone having knowledge in their brain is fucking cool. And it's worth remembering how fucking cool it is to know some shit and to know it intimately.

1:03:24Kate Berlant:I don't know. I'll have to take a few more rides to know.

1:03:27Jacqueline Novak:Yeah.

1:03:29Kate Berlant:But how many do we have left, you know?

1:03:31Jacqueline Novak:I know. I know. Okay, this was fabulous. I love you. All right, love you.