Tara Raghuveer Returns

28:23I think I would have just stayed like where I was, which is like I donated a little bit of money every once in a while to a couple of things I believed in. I voted the way that I thought was correct. But really after like 2016 Bernie situation, I really feel like I was not completely disengaged, but I certainly was not engaged at the level that I am now. And that really changed when I met you. I think you have fundamentally changed my life. and hopefully if there's any reason for me to be doing this job where I fucking talk every hour, every week for an hour about myself and whoever I'm with, if there's any good that comes from it, I hope that maybe it helps other people see the world the way that we see it.

29:00You know, that's so sweet. Thank you for saying all of that. You're like, and you're a conniving brown vixen. Yes. That underlies. That underlies everything. That sweet nickname underlies it all. But no, the thing that's really cool actually is because – because we're friends, there's like a lot more and different kinds of people who are getting involved in the tenant movement than ever before. I told you that like, I was at an event in Chinatown a couple of weeks ago and on my way out the door, this person stopped me and was like, I went to union school last summer. Union school is this like big virtual training that we do to teach people how to organize their building and across portfolios.

29:38And I was like, wow, that's awesome. How did you hear about it? And the guy was like, I follow Caleb on Instagram. And I was like, that's my guy. Bringing people in. Inviting people to the party. Inviting people to the party. The first time in years that I felt that my being on Instagram was worth a single thing. Yeah, I think it's nice. I think my job is a lot easier when I can view it as like an opportunity to like share my view of the world. And hopefully like make people laugh and make people feel better about everything that's going on. And less like, I want more followers and more money.

30:11You know, that part makes me really ill. So it's nice to have maybe even, even if it's a false perspective, it's nice to have it. You know? The accountability is a knife line is really still sitting with me. So if you're going to just put that into the world, one thing I do need to hold you accountable to is I've been wanting you to write something about artificial intelligence. Yeah, artificial intelligence. And you have a lot of thoughts on AI. And I sort of don't understand why you haven't taken my call to write something yet. I have been creatively for about seven or eight months in a space that I could only describe as completely confused.

30:49I do not know what I want. I do not know what I'm doing creatively. I don't know what I view this podcast as. I don't necessarily view it as a creative endeavor on my end. You don't think we're making something right now? We are making something right now, certainly. We're always making something. Sure. But I don't view it as maybe like, I don't know. I view it as a separate thing. It feels like its own separate thing that I love and have a lot of appreciation for. And I'm really grateful for it. I've learned a ton from it. Like, I love this podcast. But I don't view it as the same as writing or performing or the other things that I do creatively.

31:24And I can't even fully describe what I think the difference is. However, I do think I should write something. I just saw before we started recording that Google is giving a$24,$75 million to do, like, AI. they're being really stealth about the way they're describing it they're like tools to help filmmakers and so i'm like that's a new thing they're not a new thing that's a thing they're doing a lot with this ai stuff right now is they're trying to obscure it and being like well we're not going to use it to generate the images on the screen we're only using it to help filmmakers storyboard and it's like right well that's someone's job that just got lost that's one's brain and also that becomes the image on the screen like and also when you storyboard with a theft technology, which is what generative AI is, it's a theft technology, all it can do inherently and definitionally is steal from reference images that were made by humans, then theft is in the DNA and the foundation of your project.

32:17Regardless of if you generated the background of the fucking scene with generative AI, theft is in the DNA of your project and it should make you fucking sick. It doesn't make them sick, they don't care. But I really, really, really don't understand why so many, like, A24 is a great example of why fucking do it. What I need you to do is take those words you just said, write it up, and put it out. And the reason I keep pushing you on this is it has to do with what we were saying about the left before, where the left can be, like, purist and exclusionary and whatever. The left can also be lazy. And I've been feeling this about...

32:53Put your hands up! Put your hands up! The lazy left is present and accounted for. Everybody make some noise! The lazy left is in the house. My whole team is the lazy left. The lazy left one, the lazy left two, the lazy left three. The spreadsheet is called the lazy left. The lazy left. And A1 is you, honey. Yeah, I only employ the lazy left and it starts at the top. Right. And A1 is you and A1 is you. But I think the left can be a little lazy about topics like AI. Yeah. Where there's such a knee jerk like fuck AI. It all sucks. You know, anyone's cooked who's using ChatGPT and whatever. And while I might agree with some of those sentiments, I am a little bit like there's some irony to me in us having that kind of view that's fundamentally about protecting our cognition.

33:43Right. But then not engaging our cognition to actually have a grounded, interesting, nuanced critique that's engaging with like the reality of what's unfolding around us. So this is why I'm pushing you. This is why I'm asking you, I'm inviting you to abandon the lazy left, maybe just for an afternoon. That's my family. And write up some of your ideas about AI. Because I think you have such a unique perspective as someone whose life is the way it is. You create things for a living. You make people laugh for a living. You have something to offer the world that only a human can offer. and I think you're seeing things happen in the industry that you're also part of that people need to hear about.

34:29Yeah, you and I have talked a lot about this in the real world off these mics about how ironic it is that people are, you said a little bit about it, but that people are basically like the defense, the criticism of AI is that it's going to destroy our ability to think critically and put ideas together on our own and use our brains for what they were intended to do and then the so many people criticizing ai are just like fuck it wholesale right there's no reason to step out my argument there's no reason to make the case because we it's just bad and it's labeled bad and we shouldn't do it right and that inherently is a thoughtless like uncritical uninteresting condemnation of the thing right um yeah i do think that's interesting and i do have thoughtful things to say about it i just i get so this more than most things right now there are plenty of other things that make me feel this way but the ai conversation more than most things right now when i sit with it for too long i get whole i get so sad and upset and like i'm just like in a way that i'm like it actually destroys my day like i'm unable to have the rest of my day you're like you ruined my day just now no you haven't but it could like i really could sit and think about it and just go like what are we doing i mean i feel this way about so many things i feel this way about rich people that don't want to share their money i feel this way about of course the AI stuff I feel this way about uh you know like more obvious things that would feel like honestly stupid even say out loud because it's so obvious but I'm just like these things and I'm just like why why do we have to live this way right the AI shit I'm just like for what why do you need 75 million dollars from Google A24 aren't you doing very well right must you do this wouldn't it be way cooler that's the thing no one's cool no one's cool no one's cool and as you've often said shit is cool because you do it because you make it cool whatever like you know My role as an organizer in this moment is to be like, instead of despair, Caleb, why don't we choose the delusion that something could be better and that you might have a role to play in making something better?

36:28Did you just pout? At my camera. At your camera. Caleb Cam is a really important camera on the show. Is this my cam? Yeah, Tara Cam. Okay, I should have been pouting there when you called me all those racist names. You can pout at Tara. Anytime I say something racist, you are allowed to pout at Tara Cam. Thank you so much for that permission. Yeah, you're welcome. I'm a benevolent racist. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's what people are saying. Benevolent, racist, slumlord, empire builder, Caleb. Yeah, right there we should do like a freeze frame and like hearts, like an I love Lucy kind of like at that description of me.

36:59Yeah. Just edit all those nice things I said about you before when you were like, what do you think of me? Cut all of that. Cut all of that. I think that'd be beautiful. Yeah. Cut all of that. What's going on in your love life? In my love life? Enough of this convenient organizing talk. What's going on in your love life? In my love, you want me to talk about my love life on the pod? Tell me what you're comfortable telling me about your heart and love and dating. Because you're new to New York. I'm new. You're spending more time in New York right now. You've not left Kansas City. You're much like me.

37:23You're splitting time. I'm splitting time. Which is something, by the way, I don't have the financial means to do. I'll just say it. We're splitting time in different ways. Right. We're splitting time in different ways. I have a sublet in Crown Heights where the drinking water is not safe for me. Yeah. Hello. It's not safe for me. So you and I, yeah, our lifestyles are so similar in some ways and then so different in other ways. Completely. And I accept and acknowledge. But I will say part of both of our, like, attraction to New York at the time we got attracted to it. Yeah. There are many things.

37:56Like, there were work reasons for both of us. There were whatever. But one big part was, like, my, I do not think the love of my life is where I've been spending most of my time and I need to switch it up. Yeah. Yeah. My love life, I mean, it's a good question. And you're actually the only person I would ever talk to about this in this kind of format. So I'm a little like flustered. I want love in my life. I'm a big romantic. I want big love. Nothing less. Yeah, Kansas City was hard for that, I would say. It's impossible. It's near impossible. People sometimes are like, it can't be impossible.

38:35What are you talking about? And I'm like, no, no, no. like statistically there are just not that many people of a relatively age appropriate range um like in our worlds in any way uh just when you when you get down to it it's like there's like three people to date and the whole city and like i went out with all of them and seven years later here i am apple pay is the simple secure and fast way to pay that's because your credit or debit card is right on your iPhone. Accepted at millions of places from big box stores to boutiques, you can check out with your iPhone anywhere contactless payments are accepted.

39:13Apple Pay is more secure than a physical card because you authenticate your purchases with Face ID before you pay. And your actual card number is never shared with merchants. Add your debit or credit card to Apple Wallet to check out in seconds. Simple, secure, fast. That's Apple Pay. Terms apply. Yeah, so I'm open. I'm looking. I really like dating is the thing. Yeah, I really like dating. I find people fascinating. I love to talk to people whose lives are completely different from mine. I have a lot of fun on dates. You and I have talked about, though, the struggle of being a sort of conversational top.

39:53And that's tough on a date. On a date with, like, a straight man. Yeah. If you're a good talker, which you're, like, a better talker than me, so perhaps I'm not, like, showing my strongest suit here. but like relative to a lot of like straight men I'm out with sometimes. Yeah, it's tough. Like sometimes you can just like run some circles around someone. I can entertain myself for hours and then I come out of it and I'm like, what was that even? And I could tee you up. That's the other thing is I can help you even be good at it. You're being boring. I can be like, I can, I know how to orchestrate the evening to where it almost, I can fool myself into thinking that you were a fun person to talk to.

40:29Totally. And I, that's not something I want to do. I want to be like taken by surprise. and like matched. Yep, yep. But yeah, it's fucking hard. It's hard. I went on a date the other night with a guy who I was certain was not into it. Like, I was like, he can't be into it. He's being so boring. He must be like waiting for this date to end. Sure. And I was like, that seems impossible to me, but it has to be his truth. And then after we, so as soon as I can get the check, I get the check, I pay, gentlemen. And we leave and then he initiates like a pretty serious makeout with me. Really? After we leave.

41:01Okay. And it was hot and I was really into it, of course. But I was like, wow. So something is happening where you thought this went so well that we should do a serious makeout on the street. Hot. Love it. But we need to take that energy and turn it into five questions for me on the date. At least. Minimum. Minimum five. Minimum five. At least five good questions on the date. Minimum five. But I think the thing I'm getting from that story is like you rocked this man's world. I know. But I don't want to. How is he going to? How could he find a question? when you're in the middle of a dazzling performance, as you always are.

41:37Tara, trust? I have learned to leave space. Yeah. Because that was the other thing, is I used to just, like, fucking, like, I'd be like, oh, I would feel successful if I was able to do that. Yeah. And then somewhere in my mid-20s, I was like, you are doing yourself a disservice. Yeah. You need to, like, give people real opportunities to rise to the occasion. Totally. Because I want to be wowed. I want to be rocked. It's going to take a lot to wow someone like you and to surprise someone like you. and I don't know that you're going to find that in like a 25-year-old package. Let's get into it. Let's get into it.

42:10A lot of 45-year-old gay men who are interested in dating someone 14 years younger than them, they're not looking for a fat guy. They're looking for a twink. Okay. And so I'm just saying, and I'm not, I am not making myself the victim. I have a wonderful, beautiful sex and dating and love life, okay? Okay, Gorge. I love being fat. Everything's cool. I have gotten a little less fat recently. That was mostly an accident and a mistake. there have been no shots involved a surgeon has no shots you're on the record no shots i'm not doing ozempic you're not doing it i'm not a quitter what can i ask what happened we'll leave it but we'll at least leave in that i was kidding that i was kidding i've got some friends on ozempic and they have really legitimate reasons to be there for sure wait so can i ask why have you accidentally lost weight recently well a lot of things have happened basically I moved to New York.

42:58Yeah. Walking, biking everywhere. You're in a calorie deficit constantly. Well, no, no, but because you wouldn't believe the amount of calories I can eat, but I am walking, biking all the time. Yeah. And then what happened was last year I was filming something like almost every day of the year. Right. And so I wasn't eating after like 10 PM because I had to be asleep because I had a 4am pickup. Sure. So it was this weird thing with my schedule where I was like my stomach can't be upset because i only have access to a porta potty on set with like the crew yeah i'm not doing that so i need to be like my stomach needs to be not upset and i also am not up late to be having late night food yeah those things happened all in all resulted in me losing although i will say i just did seth meyers and i for some reason looked at some of the comments which is something i have gotten so much better about but i briefly fell back down to earth and people, their comments were mixed.

43:48The facial hair makes him look old and like a pedo. The facial hair makes him look handsome and attractive. He looks like he's gained 100 pounds. He looks like he's lost 100 pounds. Gained 100 pounds is crazy. That's mean. That's mean. That's mean and incorrect. I, for one, thought that facial hair was really cute. You think so? I thought it like, well, you have a nice tan right now and I thought it was, it was sort of like grizzly. It was giving a little bit like 45-year-old men, I'm here, I'm open for business. you know? And I'm saying you look mature. I am putting this on the record right now.

44:19Put some inspirational music under this. Right. 45 year old men. The plot has really changed. You've got all these effects. 35 to 45 year old men. 45. I'd say North End is probably 45. We named an upper limit finally. I am 31 years old. It can't go higher than 45. It can't go higher than that. If you are 27 to 45 years old and you want to sweep me off my feet, come around. What would it take? what would it take for a man to really sweep you off your feet? Charm, questions, participation, making plans, being available at every moment that I want you available. Having an interesting life, yet being completely flexible to what I need.

44:56In the beginning, I was like, that's not too much to ask, sweetie. And then you kept going, and I was like, okay, well. Dropping everything when I call. Sure. If I call and you have plans and I say, I want to hang out tonight, you say, I will cancel everything and be there. Except for sometimes when I do that, you have to not cancel and do your own thing so that I don't get turned off by you. Totally, totally. you have to innately understand the magic of that balance. You have to simultaneously be completely obsessed with me and also unwilling to bend to my demands. Sure. I mean, my head is like filling with guys I know who might be perfect for this.

45:31Yeah, what am I asking the world here? No, not at all. Not at all. Very simple, not at all crazy demands. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. And you have to fight with me about the checks sometimes. I'm always going to pay it, unless you're richer than me. Right. If you're richer than me, I'd love to know who you are. Right. But if you're...

45:52I'd have to go out with freaking Elon Musk or something. Whoa, you're getting it like that from the pod. Damn. No. Are boots okay on here, by the way? No, that's fine. We love those. No, but if you're richer than me, sometimes I might let you pay. But if you're not, you need to at least fight about the check every once in a while. Put up an effort. I want some transparency on what you're making from this podcast. That comment was crazy. I'll tell you off camera. Off camera. It's more than you think.

46:17It's more than you think. And in the beginning, you're still like, when I'm asking you about, you know, casually being like, maybe you'll do an ad for the tenant union or one of our trainings or something. You're like, honey, you can't afford me. I would happily do an ad for the tenant union. You can't do a pro bono ad for the tenant union. If you guys scrape up the money, you guys put on a bake sale or a talent show or something. A bake sale. And you get that money over here. I mean, I'll do what I can. Yeah, you guys pay me because I do a lot for you guys. Yeah, you do, actually. And so I think the least you can do is pay the rate.

46:45You do a lot for us. And I will say there's so much. People are always asking me to get you to do stuff. And I'm a good – I offered you this the other night. You were like out dancing and bummed out that people wouldn't leave you alone on the dance floor. And I was like, let me be your security. If I was on the dance floor with you, no one would be coming close. We'd be dancing. We'd be dancing. I know I don't maybe physically give off the most intimidating vibe. but someone catching my eye contact in the wrong moment who's not letting you dance, they're going to leave you alone. Keep in mind, we're sitting here because you bothered me on a dance floor.

47:18That's correct. That's correct. But that was on my watch. That's the last time that's ever going to happen to you. That was the last one. That was the last. That was the last time. The buck stops here with me. With me. Hey, look, when it comes to me and love, I got a lot of it to give. I'm a special guy. I have a big heart. Yeah, you sure do. I got a lot of things to give to somebody. Big heart, no shots. Big heart, no weight loss shots. I'm up on all my other things, though. Extremely rich. I get tested regularly. I'm doing well financially. I'm ready to have kids in the next four to five years.

47:51Four to five years? Next four to five years, I'm ready to have a baby on the way. Ultimately, I want a couple. How do you think you are with kids right now? They understand me and they respect me. Really? Yeah. And how do you earn their respect? Because I talk to them like adults. I don't think I've ever seen you with... Well, I've seen you with your little nephews. And you see how they fall in line. Yeah, yeah. They do kind of fall in line. You're a bit of a disciplinarian now that I think about it. Oh, we're not having tomfoolery. No. No, no, no. Because I, yeah, no. The kids are sort of, yeah, now that I'm thinking about it, when I've seen you with those kids at Thanksgiving, yeah, they're sort of like falling in line with whatever you say, actually.

48:25You know, it's, they're, not enough. But I think what it is is just being able to tell kids the truth. Like, there comes a point with the showing me your toys where I go, we're all done listening about the toys. Yeah. Take them back to the other room. No one's really paying attention anymore, sweetie. Yeah, we're on the 17th minute of Legos. We've seen the Legos. What would you do about screens if you were a parent? None. No screens? They get none, and they can't use mine either. They get none. You have some. How do you talk to them about that difference? I say, you're not old enough for this.

48:54It will hurt you. Huh. Stay off this. They're not getting their own screens. Yeah. My kids are not having their own screens. They can have a phone when they get their driver's license. And it'll be a flip phone. A flip phone. They can have a flip phone when they get their driver's license. They cannot have social media. There will be no tablets. And I say all that as someone who doesn't have kids. Yeah. And I bet there's some parents listening right now going, yeah, good fucking luck, buddy. And I bet they're right. I bet my kids will have a screen the day they're born. Okay. I bet I'm saying.

49:23Right now, my intention. My intention is no screens whatsoever. My intention going in is no screens. The reality is probably they get a screen at the hospital. Okay. Okay. So the truth comes out. Yeah. There's a lot of truth coming out today. Wake it up. Wake it up. Yeah, that's me. What were you, were you, did your mom say yes to you a lot growing up? We were extremely poor. So she said yes when she could, but it wasn't like there was a lot of opportunity. Okay. I was asking for things. I would say when I was younger, I was asking for things that just weren't possible. What were your dreams? What were you asking for?

49:53To be rich. To have more than we did. Mom, can we be rich? To wear name brand clothes. Okay. Mom, can I wear Under Armour? She'd say, well, it depends on what Goodwill has. And I'd say, disgusting. Gross. That made me so mad when she would come home with good little stuff. Yeah. Because it was never cool stuff. It was like all the cool kids had like the new stuff. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And I look back now and I'm like, that was actually really cool. My mom rocks. But as a kid, you don't have like perspective. Right. You're like, ew, I want to be like everyone else. But she was trying. Like when you would say a dream to her, she'd be like, okay, let me try to figure out how to make some version of this happen.

50:23She would. And I will say she made sure I went on every school trip. Like there were a bunch of like, we would go to Washington, D.C. or we'd go to Orlando for like conferences and stuff and like competitions. I went to every single one and looking back I'm like we could not afford that I don't know how she made it work she certainly skipped some meals my kids look if the money stops flowing they're not going to Orlando if the money stops flowing I'm not skipping any meals and those kids aren't going anywhere I will say an interesting thing to consider is like I grew up so poor and I feel like it made me a good person I like my values and I'm like whoa I want to replicate that for my kids somehow I would like them to struggle you want to force them into poverty somehow yes I want to make sure they don't listen to any of these episodes or see any of my lifestyle beyond like okay they'll live in my house but I want them to think but in a sort of small and dusty area of the house yeah and I want them to think we got it through some other I want to be like oh this was left to me or something you know this was left to me I don't want them to think we have money and they're going to public school no private schools No private schools.

51:28Private schools make me sick. Really? What are you talking about? Say more about that. I think that's sick. This can go in your book of essays about politics and the world. Everybody go to public school. That I'm going to help you write. Yeah. That we're writing right now. I wish. We need to write a movie together. Oh my God. You know I've been big on that. I would die to write a movie with you. We need to write a movie together bad. Let's do it. Let's make it happen. Well, you know I have this. I have the shell of the movie already. You have the shell? Tell me. Well, I can't tell you on here.

51:51Okay. A lot of my listeners are thieves and crooks. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of thievery in the K-lebrity community? K-lebrity. K-lebrity community. K-lebrity, K-lesbian, K-Latina. K-Latina. Yeah. Congratulations on diversifying. The K-Latinas, they, look. It's not just white lesbians anymore, baby. No, K-Latinas brought themselves into the comments, and they get mad when they don't get mentioned now. Okay, K-Latina. I haven't seen many other ones, but I'd love to expand. K-Lawation, I don't know. K-Lawations, I would love to hear from you. Well, black K-lebrities had a big moment recently.

52:21Really? And what do they call themselves? I think they just say, I'm black and I like Caleb. That was mostly what I saw. Yeah, they weren't really going for a name. I'll say that. They weren't really trying to have their own name. All right, hit the comments, everyone. Hit the comments. So, yeah, if you're a black Caleb fan. So, what brought them out? I was talking to Joe Sunday. Okay. And she said, what is the demographic makeup of your fandom? And I said, I don't know, but I know that there are a lot of lesbians. Of course, I know that. And I said, there are a surprising number of straight men.

52:49You would be shocked. Yeah. And then I said, somehow it came up whether or not I had black fans. I don't remember what the verdict was. But they let themselves be known. Yeah. My black fans made some noise. There's definitely some black fans out there. We once went to an event that was like a mostly black event. And I feel like you got approached a bunch. That was the best night of my life. It was amazing. That was the best night of my life. Every cool, hot, well-dressed person in that room came up to me. And I could cry talking about it. because that meant more to me than anything. Do you ever feel like sometimes when you're out with a friend that you have, like, really good energy with, the world kind of opens up for you?

53:27What do you mean? I'm just saying, like, that night, that, like, best night of your life, I feel like maybe I contributed a little bit. Oh, I understand. Sorry. You're asking if... If, like, our connection was so vibrant that people were kind of coming out of the woodwork to talk to you. Did I feel like that night really was about you? Yeah. Yes. That's essentially what I'm asking. I feel that all my nights are about you. Wow. I would do anything for you. I hope you know and feel that. I do feel that. Although we need to hang out a lot more, I think. Call me. For me to feel that for the truth to really settle in.

53:55Call me. Yeah. Yeah. I'll call you. You don't really call me. I call you sometimes. Nice. Please. The thing that's annoying to me recently about calling and texting you is like it's still green. Android. Yeah. You still have an Android. Android. But you, so is that an Android? Like what I'm looking at as an Android? That's an Android. Okay. Yeah. You're really committing. I'm loving it. Yeah. I'm getting put on no group texts at all. Well, we have a very famous and ongoing group text. Hasn't really been going lately, has it? Hasn't really been going. Everybody hates the green text. Because I think we're all bummed out by your green text.

54:27I know. Everybody hates the green text. Look, that is one of the group chats that I'm sad to see go. It's a casualty in the crossfire. Sad to see go. I'm like, damn, this is like a post-mortem on our group chat. It's not really happening anymore, and I hate that. Yeah. But if it means that I get left out of all these other ones that I want nothing to do with, it was either this or changed my phone number. I'm getting put in too many things. What are people putting you into? Any fucking stupid thing. When you have an iPhone, people will put you in anything. Sure. A group text about lunch where people text that they're five minutes late.

54:55That's fine. Just come on. The lunch text is ongoing? Like, what's bothersome about that? Yes, because then people think there was a connection formed in the group text. And sometimes there was or wasn't. But it's just too many texts. And people text you less in general when you have green text. I'm telling you, iPhone people do that thing all the time where they're like, oh my God, send. So the other day, send. I was at the store. Send. And knock it off. Knock it off. People are sending less voice notes. People are... You don't want voice notes from your friends? When a lot of people think that it's okay to send you seven-minute voice notes, it increases your time on the phone.

55:25That's a lot. I love hearing from my friends. I am not complaining about being so loved and a part of such beautiful community. Yeah. I love that. We're going to have to find a different way to express that. Sure. Ideally in person together. I cannot be on the phone. The phone makes me sick. Yeah. And that being said, I'm on there. You are on there. You are on there. I treat my voice notes for my friends as a little podcast. Katie and I have a long voice note back and forth. She's amazing on a voice note. I'm like a rambling idiot. I'm talking for 11 minutes. I'm walking around. I'm pacing. I'm washing my dishes.

55:58You're getting all sorts of background noise. And then there's some people like Katie who's like a professional at voice notes. It's so coherent. It's kind of classically wise. She's got a lot of good advice for me. She's remembered every single thing I've said a week ago in my 11 minute ramble. It's beautiful. I'm not, I'm not skilled, but I'm, I'm like energetic. I'll, I'll think of some good anecdotes and weave them in. You and Kevin, I would say you and Kevin are, it's funny. Cause our little four person friend group is there's many natural alliances. And one of the places that you and Kevin team up is on the long meandering kind of crazed voice note.

56:34And Katie and I are very much the same in style where it's like tight. but all the little natural alliances that form are fun. They are really fun. You just made me think of one of our biggest rifts this year, this calendar year so far. I was having a rough beginning of the year, as you know. I was in Minneapolis during the height of the federal occupation. You were working for ICE at the time, right? Yeah.

57:01You were subcontracting for them for some reason. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my get-rich-quick scheme, actually. um no i was there i was there launching a cities-wide tenant union we were running a rent strike drive there's a hundred seven million dollars in lost wages at the time of this occupation and i had i'd been in india and like flew back early and flew right into it and it was cold and my skin was peeling and shit was really hard and everyone there was like exhausted after basically two months of of warfare and um and then i came back to kansas city after all of that and lost a dear friend.

57:36So I was like, I was really down bad for a while and you were being so sweet. You like called multiple times. Oh yeah. Left a voice note. Left, you know, sent me multiple text messages and... Basically I just want to also add some flavor to that and say that I was like, I was really clocking in. I was like, Tara, I know you're going through such a hard time. I love you so much. Tell me, I want you to text me right now three ways that I can support. Like is it sending flowers? Is it buying groceries? Like what can I do? It was practical. It was caring. It was persistent. And I was being avoidant.

58:11And I am sometimes. But, you know, I was, like, really down bad and not really getting back to anyone at that time. And then. Not a word from my friend. Yeah, not a word. Not a word from my friend. I mean, actual weeks went by and, like, multiple unresponded to messages. And then Kevin hit the group chat. This is crazy. He was on a drive. He hit the group chat and he said. Kevin Morby, for those who don't know. Kevin Morby, for those who don't know. He said, can someone in the chat read out loud to me the menu for the Marriott in this town in Texas that I'm going to tonight? He was driving and he wanted to know what was on the menu.

58:46So he thought it would be funny to ask, can anyone in the group chat send a voice note reading this menu out loud to me? And he had already asked Katie off thread. And she had been like, no, I'm absolutely not doing that crazy thing for you. Meanwhile, me, after weeks of avoiding Caleb. I want to say 20 seconds past between when Kevin sent the text and then a three minute and 47 second voice note from Tara comes in. Somehow. Somehow she's already done it. And this is, I click play. And I'm thinking maybe the voice note is going to be like, hey guys, just wanted to address that I haven't really been getting back to anybody.

59:22I'm okay. Thank you for checking in. The voice note instead is, so they've got Flounder three ways. They also had the craziest menu of all time. It was like the most random dishes. And I was really, I was having a ball reading all of it. Read every ingredient. I was early off a phone call, Caleb. I was early off a meeting. I had a couple minutes to kill. It sounded like a fun kind of zany way to spend a few minutes of my day. She's editorializing. Ooh, this one has a cherry wine reduction. I'm like picking out things for Kevin that I think he would like. She's pairing wines. I mean, it's fucking insane.

59:54I'm telling him to sit at the bar for the best experience, you know. So I hit send and Caleb absolutely drags my ass in the chat. Yeah. Yeah. I think I said something along the lines of how fucking dare you. How dare you? How dare you do this to me? And I said, I'm down bad. Like I, I needed something fun in my life. I needed some lightness. I didn't want to tell you. Getting back to you was not sparking joy. I don't know what to tell you. I didn't want to tell you how to generously and sweetly take care of me. I wanted to read to Kevin about the shrimp at the Marriott. Yeah. Okay. Made me sick.

1:00:29Yeah. Made me completely sick. It took us a while to bounce back from that, but we're back. It took us a while, yeah. It took about 10 seconds. Yeah. It's so fucking funny. We're back. I couldn't believe it. I was laughing so hard. I was like, Tara, you must be kidding. Really killed me. Yeah. You feel bounce back? You feel good? I feel good. I definitely was in a sort of mojo deficit for a second there. It's crazy because I love my work so much, and I feel so called by it and motivated, and it's so cool. I feel really, really lucky. There are so few people who I think get to walk around planet Earth with the kind of purpose that I get to feel.

1:01:09So I always feel sort of bad than also feeling less than amazing about how things are going because it's great. It's not only purposeful. We're winning. like in that same bad season that I had earlier this year we like won the first tenant bargain agreement in the American South I got to have like four baked potatoes with an 80 year old tobacco farmer named Pauline who I loved you know we transitioned the leadership of Casey tenants and Janae Manley took over and I'm so proud and so everything was going so well but I was in a real mojo deficit for a second there it's tough I mean I lost a really dear friend and I think when when you're the type of person you and I are and our friends mean so much to us.

1:01:51Yeah, that was a real hit. But I'm coming back and summer in New York is great. The Knicks are winning. Championships are following me around. Like you, I'm a fair weather fan. And if the weather's fair, the weather's fair. And I'm there. If the weather's fair, I'm there. Yeah, if the weather's fair, I'm there. Go Knicks. Go Knicks. The Chiefs started winning when you and I came back to the city too. That's true. Yeah, once we reinvested. And they never called me and said thanks for that. No, I don't imagine I'll be on their call list anytime soon. They avoid me like the plague. You talk shit on them a lot.

1:02:20Well, they do stupid shit. They do stupid shit. They're ultimately an extremely racist franchise, but you're a huge fan. Yeah. You love the coach. You love the players. You love football. You love football more than you love basketball. Yeah, they're not going to be inviting me to any games soon. They really avoid me. Every person who has even stepped foot on a television set that's from Kansas City has gotten a suite at their games. They don't talk to me, mostly because I say they're fucked up Republican owners. should stop begging the public for money when they're billionaires and they can pay for their own things.

1:02:48We can leave that in. And you did say that. I'm saying that all the time. Stop asking working people to pay for your projects when you're a billionaire. I don't care how much we like your little football team. And I do. I'm a huge fan. It's fucking inappropriate. It's ridiculous. You should be humiliated. The whole point of being a billionaire should be that you can fund your dumb little projects. I hate it. It pisses me off. And yeah, I just don't like it. I don't like that. Yeah. I mean, I can see why you're not getting invited. For sure. cozy little seats. Not a fun guy to have at the party.

1:03:16No, not a fun guy to have at that party, but a very fun guy to have at our parties. Hello, a better party. A better party. Yeah, imagine how fucking cool life would be for them. Yeah, we would all like them more if they would stop doing that stuff. But I am glad you're doing better. Yeah. I'm happy things are feeling good. Mojo is in the right place. Mojo's up. I had a really, really funny joke to make earlier, and I'm not going to make it right now, but I just want you to remind me to tell it to you off camera. Okay. It's a really good one. It's a joke at my expense. It's a joke about your circumstance.

1:03:44Okay. And I'll tell it to you later. It's a really, really good one. Everyone here is going to like it. Yeah, great. Tara, what's so true to you? What is so true to me? I think everyone needs a semi-stupid creative endeavor in their life. Okay, I absolutely agree. You agree? What's yours? Semi-stupid creative endeavor in my life. What is mine, you guys? What is my semi-stupid creative endeavor? I don't I was about to say The friendship bracelets But you don't really You're kind of You're off though You were making friendship bracelets? There was a moment There was a brief moment Where I was making friendship bracelets Interesting And when was that moment?

1:04:20That was during the time When you weren't texting me back Oh I see I see I see Could you imagine? So during that time That you were really really sad And probably needed A friendship bracelet More than anything Yeah You didn't get one Yeah I didn't get one I made my birthday invite last year And that was really fun What did you make? I like collage all of the pictures from the previous year really thoughtfully. Sweet. Because basically I was like, I can't trust anyone but me to get this right because what I wanted to do was pick the craziest costumes and the most representative of who was going to be at the party.

1:04:49Yeah. And I wanted anyone who looked at the invite to understand, number one, I'm safe to make a big costume choice. Sure. And in fact, you must or you need to leave. Yeah. And number two, there is someone on this invite that looks like someone I'd like to kiss or have a really long talk with. Okay. And so I very meticulously - A really long talk at the party. Oh, that's the kind of party I'm interested in. Get in the corner with someone and get into that talk. Yeah, dig in. So, I mean, there's an open bar and stuff as well. But I planned every single part of the invite really meticulously. Yeah.

1:05:17It was really fun. That's so sweet. It was really fun. But do I have an ongoing one? I don't think so. Most of my free time is spent worrying about why I'm not creating. Right. Okay. Okay. What is yours? We'll work on that. The zines? Yeah. I love your zines. Yeah. My little zines. I've got a couple, though. I mean, yeah, the zines are probably the most robust. But I like zines. I was going to say, I think your invite thing is like a good, that's a good gateway to zine making. The reason that I like them is that it's just not serious. It's like, or I mean, of course they can be serious, but you don't have to be precious about it.

1:05:49The whole point is that it can be quick. It can be messy. I'm always making like a little like 90 minute something on the weekends. I'm working on a zine this summer about listening. Maybe you can submit a sonic journal. That could be a good push in a creative direction. You're like, what is that? Sounds horrible. What does that mean? I'm down. Sonic Journal, it's like when you really listen for a chunk of time and then you kind of like write about what you heard. It's like a way of, like sometimes I do it when I'm on a trip or something because to me it's a little bit more interesting than just being like, well, I did this and then I did this and then I did this.

1:06:20I'll be like, I woke up to the sound of dogs having a fight at 3 a.m. and I thought I was going to die. And then I heard these bells and then I heard the gate open and it was such and such or whatever. That's like a, that's a real morning in my life in India when I'm there. But yeah, maybe you should submit a little Sonic journal to my listening zine this summer. I'm done. Cool. Put it on the record. I'll do it. On the record. Wow. It's on the record. You're like, honey, you can't afford me. Well, it would be nice if you paid. You're profiting off of this zine. One of these days. Tara, do you want to play a game?

1:06:49Okay. I know you're going to do really good at this one. And yeah, it's hot in here because it's summer and we don't have AC. It's really hot. Yep. Is this what you were yelling at your landlord about earlier? No, it was something different, but that also should be. In his defense, I agreed to the least when I knew there was an AC. So I can't really yell at him about that. But I was yelling at him about something else. Put me in. If you ever need someone, you know I'm your girl. I do. If you ever need a, you're good at a mean email, but I can write one of those. I am good at a mean email. I could lead some negotiations from you.

1:07:17We could prep together. It's very intense. I've been, oh, the mean emails I've been sending to my building about trying to replace our door staff with an iPad screen. Yeah. I have been ripping into them. You're pro screen, I'm guessing. I'm pro iPad screen. I'm like, get them out of there quicker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fire these people sooner. These people that you're paying, I don't want to see them anymore. Get them off the payroll. I care about your profit. Right. No, I had such a good line in one recently. They basically are trying to pitch it as an improvement to the building. Yeah. And I said something to the effect of like, I don't know if you think we're stupid or if you just don't care.

1:07:46But of course, none of us are falling for this is better for the building. So if you're going to fuck us, why don't you just do it instead of lying to us while you do it? Right. Really getting nasty in the weeds with them about their messaging. Going point by point. Point by point. Any response? They're responding to me professionally. Yeah. And then I'm responding and saying, thanks for your bullshit response. We both know those aren't your real feelings as a person. I'm getting into, because I'm pissed. They're trying to fire our friends. We love the door staff. They say hello to us in the morning.

1:08:11They like welcome us into the building. They keep our packages. They are, this is their job. Oh, I'm so mad. An iPad screen? Right. So, I'm going to read you 15 statements. I'm going to read you 15 statements. You're going to tell me if what I just said was true or false. Tara, if you get 10 or more correct, we're going to give you 50 US dollars. 50? Wow. Are you ready? Yep. Shrek sold the most DVDs of any film of all time. False. False. It was Finding Nemo. Crayola's World Headquarters is in Seattle, Washington. False. False. Forks Township, Pennsylvania. The show MASH ended in 1979. True. False.

1:08:451983. Oreos are vegan.

1:08:52False. True. Harvard University's official mascot is John Harvard. False. True. Saturn is the largest - Wait, no, no. that's not okay anyway we'll talk

1:09:04the official it's like the crimson you need to talk to Chance okay Chance we gotta have a discussion about this you won't be the first person to come up to him like this I've got the proof Saturn is the at least at least once every other episode someone goes this is bullshit and Chance goes no it's not it's not I have a computer in front of me Saturn is the largest planet in our solar system oh god why don't I know this true true False. I don't know. I don't know anything about planets. What's your answer? False. False. It was Jupiter. Kelly Clarkson's real name is Kelly Garber. True? False. It's Kelly Clarkson.

1:09:43The Great Pyramid of Giza? Is that a typo? The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest. Is that what it's called? The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the seven wonders of the world. Giza? Giza? It's Giza. It's Giza. You just haven't seen it written, I think. I think that's why. Yeah. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the seven wonders of the world. False. True. The currency of Switzerland is the euro.

1:10:10True. False. It's the Swiss franc. Oh, my God. The bumper sticker was invented in Kansas City. True. That is true. Okay. Eagles have the best eyesight of any bird. True. True. The Ferris wheel at Coney Island is called the Wonder Wheel. True. False. True. Not all integers are rational numbers. Integers. Jesus Christ.

1:10:37That's really mean. We're not math people. What the hell? Integers, math planets? Chance, Jesus. You guys were like, let's book her and make her look like an idiot. Get her. What the hell is an integer? I'm going to say false. False, they are. Okay, great. The Battle of Midway was fought during World War I. True. False, World War II. Australia is home to the largest cattle ranch in the world. I was born there, you know. I do know that. True. It's true. Nice. How'd she do? Seven. That's beautiful. That's beautiful, but not$50 worth of beautiful. Not$50. Do people win this? Not usually. Not usually.

1:11:18It's all in the house's favor. Are you ever shocked at how badly someone does? Never how badly. Sometimes how well. How well, really? Not because it's not a thing of, it really is a thing of guessing and sometimes someone will have like a really incredible run. Right. And I wonder, sometimes I get really excited because I think maybe we're going to finally have our first ever 100%. 100 %? I think the day that we have 100%, we stop the show. People are getting close to 100 %? People get 11. Wow. Sometimes. That's amazing. Yeah. That's really amazing. I'm not a fact scurly, as you can tell from that string of answers.

1:11:54Yeah. That's not what's bouncing around in my noggin. Yeah. You know? Yeah. It's not facts. It's not really information. It's like ideas. Yeah. I'm more of a vibes girl. I'm more of a vibes girl. Tara, tell people how they can support, where they can find, all that stuff. How they can support. You can support me right now by putting a fan in my face. Thank you. You can support the tenant organizing that we do by going to TenantFed on Instagram. That's mostly where we're active. TenantFederation.org. You can get involved in your local tenant union. We're organizing. Get this. Thanks to your help because you did some posting on this.

1:12:32We got 686 applications for our union school this summer, which means that at a minimum, we could be organizing in 15 ,000 units across the country by September. Crazy. So shit's getting big, actually. We're in our get big era. So, yeah, people should get involved. Get involved in your building. Get involved in your citywide union if there's one. Come to Union School applications. Sadly, you're closed this year. But stay in the mix with the Tenant Union Federation, a.k.a. Tuff. And if you live in Kansas City, obviously, Casey Tenants is the place to be. Shout out. Yeah. Love you. Love you. Thanks for coming on.

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