Food For Thought: Tuesday, February 4th, 2025

38:28So I'm sure. Oh, so is he playing the trombone? Is that what it is? Like, I'm going to glean that he's playing the trombone as Trombone Shorty. I'm going to say that. And in this picture, he's playing a trombone. I think it's a safe bet. Tapping a Christian music singer for a song like this is really parchy because it elicits the same sort of, like, soulful response, both songs. And Lauren Daigle has an amazing voice. Yeah. You say I am lost when I am falling down. Like, so good. So good. And then Lift Every Voice and Sing will be performed by LaDisi, who is also a New Orleans native. That's nice that they're, you know, like showcasing hometown talent.

39:10And John Batiste is a New Orleans native. So that's obviously the theme. Oh, that's really nice. Yeah. I look forward to seeing what everyone brings to the stage. yeah lots of pressure like a lot of pressure like coming for me yeah totally agree and then as we know Kendrick Lamar is the halftime show sis is coming out and now I'm actually extra excited for Kendrick Lamar's halftime show given that his song is so popular and I look forward to hearing it in the context everything's kind of coming up Kendrick it is I finished watching some of the Grammy stuff last night oh yeah because I told you guys I needed to watch Charlie XCX because I feel Like I'm really hard on her and I, I, I'm not like going off of that much material, just the things that I've seen.

39:52So I was like the Grammys, that's like, that's best Charlie. And it's exactly what I think it is. Like it's, it's not for you. It's not for me, but she's very much for her. Like she, I don't think she's making music and, and planning her performances to cater to me, you know? No, it's like club rat, like, you know, um, scene. Yeah. And I was like thinking back cause they were like doing an introduction of brat, brat summer. and I was like remembering why I have such like a bad taste in my mouth from Brad. And it was because she said like Brad is about like forgetting about your moral compass. Out moral compass.

40:25And to me, that's where I leave you. A moral compass never goes out of style. Like you can have, a moral compass never goes out of style. You can have fun. You can be messy. It's true. You know, late nights. But like we want to keep that compass intact. We do. I have to tell you what's going on on TikTok. Alex Earl is doing the craziest thing. What is she doing? So one of her best friends, Sally, is turning 24. And, you know, like Alex Earl's a party girl. Is Sally her real name? Or like you're just calling her Sally? Okay, I feel like that's what we call people. It gives pseudonym energy, but know her name is Sally.

40:56It gives sex or Morgan. She has decided for her 24th birthday, like this last weekend, to celebrate, to commemorate her 24th birthday by throwing a 24-hour party. I saw Alex Earl getting ready for a 24-hour party. So they started at like 7 a.m. And then they like partied all day into the night, into the next morning. They went to like brunch. They went to a club. And she has been like vlogging the experience, but like not like every minute of every hour. And like I need to know how. And I was a party girl in my day, but like I had my limits, you know. How the fuck do you do that? Drugs? I don't know.

41:38Even just like an Adderall? Yeah, maybe an Adderall. I'm not going to like jacquise Alex Earl of any, but like an Adderall. No, no, I would never. It's just like seriously, it's the craziest thing to be young. Yeah, especially because alcohol like makes you sleepy at a certain point. Of course. Now I have to imagine like maybe in the morning hours, like they were brunching, like just doing like mimosas. Like maybe they weren't really drunk until like that night. They were just like a little buzz. That's the only way I think you could get through it. Yeah. So the 24 hours are up, but Alex is like posting the videos slowlier.

42:09Yes. And I think she's going to like, she just launched like a YouTube channel when TikTok was down, which was very smart of her. So I imagine it'll all be on her long form content. So the day is done, but like we haven't seen how it ends yet. The day is done. And you know, TikTok like serves you content like days later. So I'm just like finally catching up with Alex Earl's weekend. And I seriously think it's the craziest thing ever. I can't get over it. That is crazy. But that is really fun. A fun way to spend your 24th birthday and. And make content. And make content. except like it's for Sally who was just doing it for Sally's self.

42:40Yeah. Happy birthday Sally. Happy birthday to Sally. Let me know how it ends. Yeah. Are you ready for our third story? Yeah. Paige DeSorbo is clarifying her Craig Conover breakup timeline after baseless cheating rumors. So Paige is pissed I would say. I think so too. Paige set the record straight on the timeline of her breakup from ex Craig Conover after facing baseless cheating rumors. She said on the latest episode of Giggly Squad, quote, I never in the three years that I dated my ex-boyfriend, I never physically cheated on him, emotionally cheated on him. Can you mentally cheat on him? I don't know, but I didn't, she said.

43:22She then clarified that her and Craig broke up one month before they announced their split in December 2024. She said, Since no one's sticking up for me on either side, I will say that Craig and I broke up Thanksgiving weekend, okay? That's at the end of November. Craig then went on and did press for Southern Charm, did whatever he needed to do, acting as if we were still together, and that was fine. I said that he could do that. He was processing in his own way. However, after Christmas passed, Paige noticed that Craig was presenting himself as single while on a trip, which led her to believe he was ready to announce their split.

43:52She claimed that she texted him to give him a heads up that she would be sharing the news on Giggly Squad to start moving forward. she said my text went unanswered fine the breakup episode came out at the end of december she said the narrative surrounding their breakup took a turn really quickly as cheating rumors went viral despite recently being linked to a new man the reality star stated that she is currently single she said let me say this here and now i did not move on with some new guy i am single i don't have a new boyfriend i did not cheat on my ex-boyfriend it was a full month that we were broken up and i didn't say anything because even though we are public there are certain things that I think should remain private and he asked me not to say anything okay I feel bad for Paige and I do want to tell her like because she's very much like at the center of this right as an outsider who like consumes media chronically online like I can tell you like normal folks and we do not think you cheated do not worry like I think that this is like plaguing you because who wants to be painted as a cheater when they're not and I want to tell you like nobody thinks that like real ones never crazy bravo like yes for sure and I can only imagine what she has to deal with because when we were just talking about like the AI generated fake news.

44:51I get on Facebook, like literally all about Craig and page. It must be really fucking annoying. And I can sympathize with that, but I wanted her to know like the true normies out here. Like we don't think that we never thought that like there was the Marcello thing, but no, it was quickly debunked like normies with their heads above water. Like we got you. Nobody thinks you cheated on Craig. No real ones. Never thought she cheated on Craig. Never thought there was any bad blood or bad behavior. And I'm glad to like know this timeline. I would have assumed they broke up like a week or two before the announcement.

45:20But a month is a long time. A lot can happen in a month. A lot of like moving on can happen. So a month and say six weeks later was when she was at the Eagles game with the new guy. Like that's when you're ready to maybe go on a date, especially if you are looking for something or even just looking for something fun. And just because she went to a football game with someone like doesn't mean that that's her boyfriend. No, and sometimes like you just go on a date to like get yourself out of the house. Like it's not the true love and you're really not ready. Like who fucking like literally she doesn't owe us an explanation.

45:46as to her reasoning as to why she went on a date with someone. But the thing that makes me so sad about this, and I feel like this is the second time she said it, is like she's clearly mad at Craig for not like speaking out on her behalf. And she said that like no one's sticking up for her on his side. That's the second time she said that. And I feel like the bad blood is like really brewing between these two. Like what once was amicable perhaps is not. Yeah, I think she would like like him to say like Paige never cheated on me. Even though I feel like when he said his statement, he – like again, people, real ones like know that he doesn't think that she cheated on him.

46:16Now maybe some people like need it to be explained to them again. But like when he put out his statement, like it all seemed amicable and it's, they broke up for the exact reasons why people thought they might not work out, which is that like they don't work out. But also Craig hasn't spoken about it yet. Like he hasn't done an interview and I'm sure he will. I'm sure I'll go on like watch happens live or something. So he hasn't had, I mean, he could have, yes, for sure. Like made an Instagram story telling people to like fuck off, but he hasn't spoken his truth yet. I think that like one Instagram story.

46:41Yes, yes, yes, yes. But like if they broke up because of cheating, like that would have been when he, he would have like been mad and he wasn't mad. No, he wasn't mad, but he did like want everyone to know that like he got broken up with. That was like his overall, that was a takeaway from that video. Was that like, yeah, I'm sad because I got broken up with. Yes. But if there was cheating, like he would have said that. No, of course, by the way, because there was no cheating. Of course, because there was no cheating. So I feel like he maybe thinks like, like he, he didn't need to clear anything up because he shared his side of it on the stoop that day.

47:14and I sympathize with with Paige I imagine it's so frustrating like Bravo fandom is like really crazy and they just like make stuff up so and and with something is like damaging to your character like cheating is a pretty heinous allegation so I want her to know like I understand why you had to speak out but just know you didn't have to we didn't we didn't think that we never thought that about you no we never ever thought that disgraceful so yeah things seem to be getting a little more contentious between the two of them but you know what those are breakups like I feel like everyone has these ideas and especially when the person might start dating someone next like that's when you really realize that it's over and it's also really nice I feel like the last two breakups that we were talking about between like influencers public figures was like Brianna Chicken Fry and Rachel and Matt and like in both scenarios they were both saying how they just wished they had time to process the breakup privately and like that would have made things easier on them despite being heartbroken and it's like this is that like they had a month yeah and that's all I mean a month would have been amazing for either of those people they were asking for like a day a day that max a week a flight so it is really nice that like the hardest part of their breakup which was like the early days that they were able to just go through it privately and deal with it on their own yes also I think interesting that you bring those two up and I like what Paige had said because even though like this has been playing out in the public eye for the most part like this what happened between them is kept private as it should be like this is a three-year relationship that was the person you thought you were going to marry like some things can and should be kept private and i feel like when we compare it to like other breakups where people like sit down on a podcast and tell everything that's ever happened in their relationship especially with like brianna chicken fries like we needed to know you know and she was not wrong for that but i really respect what she had said and like the choice to like keep the majority of your relationship private just because you break up with someone doesn't mean that now everything that happened in your relationship is fodder for a podcast like you can still respect someone yeah just and like and be mad at them be right be mad that it didn't work out be mad that they're not standing up for you but like still respect the integrity of the relationship by keeping the majority of it private.

49:11And she's right for that. Very classy. Agreed. Not to say that anybody who does the opposite is wrong because I live for it, especially when the guy has truly wronged you. Brianna Chicken Fry owed Zach Bryan zero dollars. Zero anything. Zero grace. Zero privacy. Zero respect. He was an actual abuser. Yeah. You don't get the courtesy of keeping the happenings of the relationship private when you're that big of a fucking animal. she's not who we were talking about. No, we're not talking, I'm not talking about anyone specifically, but like I always like relation, you know, cause you know what I was thinking about that.

49:46I'm so glad I just brought this up. I feel like a lot of people wanted to know what went down with Jason Tardik and Caitlin Bristow. And they like never told us. And I actually really respect that. Like even though so many people would want to know, you know, she has a podcast. It's good for views. It's good for business. Like I kind of really respect that neither one of them, there was like a couple of shady, like Instagram likes or whatever, but none of them sat down and like did a tell all neither of them and I really respect that like yeah even though it didn't work out like this was a person you shared a bed with like you were going to share a life with like it's okay to like keep things private barring you know some crazy abuse that everybody needs to know about yeah I totally agree I don't know why there's this expectation or people feel like they need to share but like yeah I don't need to know every fight and every like out of pocket thing that was you know like people couples fight like that was your love expect that you would fight yeah of course oh my god you don't want to see what goes down in my house are you ready for our next story yes lily collins is a new mama lily collins shared her first photo mama mama she shared her first photo with her daughter tub after secretly welcoming the newborn via surrogate tub t-o-v-e i thought you're saying tub like bathtub and honestly like i'm stealing it that's my name tub she welcomed the newborn via surrogate last month So she had posted the other day that they had welcomed a baby via surrogate.

51:08And now she just posted a cute photo of her pushing a stroller with baby Tuff. And this is just a great reminder that she is married to Charlie McDowell, who has no relation to Andy McDowell and Margaret Qualley, but does on Mother's Day post a picture of Andy McDowell as a joke to confuse the internet. And I fell victim to his prank just last year. Do you think now on Grandmother's Day, Lily Collins will post a happy Grandmother's Day to Tuff's grandma? Well, Lily doesn't get involved in the prank. It's exclusively a Charlie McDowell thing. And so, no, I don't. And also, you can't forget, like, actually, Tubb's grandfather.

51:46He's a Nepo grandkid, so. Let me tell you, I would never forget that Tubb's grandfather is Phil Collins. Just like I'll never, when Gracie Abrams, like, God willing, as a child one day, I'll never forget that that child's grandpa is J.J. Abrams. Yeah, Lily Collins is kind of the Gracie Abrams of the acting industry. Right, right, literally. They are twins. they look exactly like and their dads are both of like equal caliber and like some people i forget that they like i'm always reminded like even i saw a story about meryl streep's gilded age daughter and i'm like oh right that's meryl streep's daughter yeah like some people i'm always just like oh right lily and gracie always you're still at the restaurant always jj and phil it will always be jj and phil 1000 what that is what is that i think some people can eclipse like And I think that actually Andy McDowell was just talking about this, how she's like officially a Nepo mom because Margaret's in an Oscar nominated film.

52:40And I don't think Andy's career ever got to that level. And how proud she is to sort of be the recipient of the benefits for Margaret's fame now is very honest and very funny. So some people just truly eclipse it. They just get so famous that you can't even remember. Honestly, I also think it's sometimes like their faces. Like you just can't not see the parent. I don't know what it is because even Margaret, yeah, she's eclipsed. but I'll always remember. I don't need to be reminded. Like I'm always reminded like that's Andy's daughter. So maybe some of them are just like more fun facts than others.

53:10Like maybe at my core, like I don't think about Meryl Streep that much, you know? You don't. And maybe I think about JJ Abrams more. Like, no, I never saw. but you think about Gracie more. I guess, I guess. You're not thinking about Meryl Streep's daughter. It's a compliment then. It's a, it's a sign of relevance. In my mind. Yes. so anyways this is really sweet for the whole nepo family what was the story tuff oh yeah yeah yeah i like mcdowell even though that show like is a what's wrong with the world i happen to really like her tuff jane mcdowell pargy i you know obviously she is phil collins's daughter i've never seen a photo of them uh google it i'm sure there is one like at her bat mitzvah or something you know sweet 16.

53:59what does phil collins even look like bald oh wait i just googled him yeah he's bald classic phil collins he's also like such an acclaimed musician like obviously i think of and i see a true colors but then also lion king like really just tarzan Right. Yeah, he's bald. Classic. You'll be in my heart. That's my number one. You could tell he was handsome back in the day. I mean, she's a beautiful girl. By the way, plenty of photos together. Not really so many recent ones. No, not recent. Not recent. Not since Emily in Paris. Oh, yeah. And she famously did that. Ball. You know how every year we talk about that Paris ball?

54:44Yeah. Yeah, she did that. She was one of the Americans. Well, are you ready for our fifth and final story? If it's our fifth and final story, that's brought to you by Peloton. It is. So Peloton has what you need to keep you on track of your goals, no matter what season of life that you're in. Actually, this week I've decided I'm recommitting myself to some sort of wellness slash fitness routine. Obviously, I'm not expecting to transform my body, but just trying to feel good. And Peloton is such a great resource for that. So they have a variety of workouts for wherever you are in your fitness journey.

55:13So the app is amazing. Cannot recommend it enough. Even if you don't have their equipment, which I don't, they have great classes for arms. They have floor classes. They have classes that require no equipment. They have great guided walks. It's really fabulous. Their instructors are amazing. They have such great personalities. I find that when the person I'm learning from actually is making me laugh or saying something interesting, it makes the whole thing go by so much faster. They have great music. That's what Peloton has over everyone else. Their catalog of music is insane. And it's available wherever you need it.

55:41So with their all-access membership and the app, you can work out wherever you need it. So whether you're on the train, the gym, or at your kid's game, you can squeeze it in wherever you need it. if uh whether you need 10 20 or 45 minutes of time to sweat or get grounded they provide you with flexibility that's what by the way i love that like i can't these days do anything more than 30 minutes and they have classes like starting at 10 minutes like 10 20 or if you want to go all the way up it's also great jackie i know you're training for the 5k now um i love peloton running yeah peloton run and the run slash walk is like a really good way to like get your time per mile down it's fabulous and it's just great music so find your push find your power with Peloton at OnePeloton.com.

56:20That's O-N-E Peloton.com. Today's episode is also brought to you by Dreamland Baby. Isn't that correct, Jackie? Yes, it is. I'm so excited to tell you about our Dreamland Baby Code because we are a Dreamland Baby house. They have the best sleep sacks, sleep swaddles, pajamas. They use the best materials. And of course, their patented weighted sleep sack is what they are known for. It does for a baby what a weighted blanket would do for you, which is reducing anxiety, promoting calm, deeper sleep, better sleep, which translates to deeper, better sleep for you because when baby's sleeping through the night, that means you are too.

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57:48For being a dream, Land Baby. Literally. For being a dream. Kardashian. Our fifth and final story, Kacey Musgraves is speaking out after her viral reaction to losing Best Country album Grammy to Beyonce has gone viral. So there's been a little like, you know, post-Grammys. Drama. Drama, reaction videos, whatever. Now, Kacey Musgraves went viral for looking like she was upset about losing the Grammy to Beyonce. So I saw this headline before I saw the video. So I was like, ooh, excited to see the stank face. Literally no such face in sight. Well, I think she looked a little disappointed. And then also there's this TMZ video of her like leaving the affair in her slippers.

58:27They're like, what do you think about losing the award to Beyonce? And she just looks at the camera and gives like a big thumbs up. So people were really quick to assume this was a snub at Beyonce. Like I think it wouldn't have had such a viral moment if she lost to like Laini Wilson or whatever. But I think a lot of people are like defensive of Beyonce. to be honest like I think she looked upset because she lost a Grammy like everyone wants to win a Grammy and I think it was like Kelsey Ballerini actually who said this like at last year's CMAs she got caught on camera losing with a staying face and she released a statement she was like yeah I wanted to win like yeah she actually said and I'm holding space for two things like I'm really happy for the person who won but like I also wanted to win like why can't I like think of myself for a second and it's like yeah I would be upset too I wanted to win right I also when I look at Casey's face like if she really wanted to if this was really like snub towards Beyonce say like it would be a different face to me it looks like someone who's like trying to smile even though they might not be like super happy but that's not a snub like she's like literally lightly smiling I also think like she just has like one of those faces sometimes that like she does when she's not sometimes I have that face too my husband's always like what's wrong I'm like what do you mean I'm so happy yeah right she definitely is one of those faces but like let's just say like it is what what it appears to be like I think that we need to normalize like wanting to win things i know we're supposed to say it's an honor to be nominated i'm so happy for whoever won but everybody's showing up there like glitzed and glammed out because they want to win and they want to be like um acknowledged by their peers i don't think it's a big deal to be upset it's not a reflection that she didn't think beyonce should win so she thought she should win everybody thinks their shit's the best right so casey told e-news in a statement um about this she said uh her rep said it's a sensationalistic false narrative meant to pit two talented female artists against each other there was simply no scowl or expression made that's where I am I'm like what I literally don't see anything I saw it I saw it live and then I saw it afterwards and I was like yeah okay maybe that's that but okay so she's what spoiler alert human she's just to know if I get nominated for a Grammy and I don't win like I'm seriously crying and cursing out everyone and flipping the table I'm just want to say in the words of Casey Musgrave she looks happy and sad at the same time Exactly And she tried to tell you that that's a real feeling and some of you just can't understand that.

1:00:37Weren't listening. She tried to tell you on her Grammy award winning album for album of the year. Yeah, and I just saw she herself, Casey, has six Grammys. Like she's gonna be okay, you know? Oh, she's totally fine. She won her eighth. She won her eighth for Architect. Architect was her eighth. She's completely fine. A decorated artist. She posted the notepad for the Architect like when she started songwriting like the first day and you see some of like the lyrics. You need to bid on it at auction. I literally do. First of all, the fact that it's a notepad, Amazon Basics she used. And you see at the top, it's like KM, Shane McAnally.

1:01:12And you see the idea of the song coming together. But also, it's totally different than what the lyrics actually are. And there's like an apple in the picture. Just literally, like, I know she posted that for me. And I just want to say, Casey, it means the world. She needs to auction it off for charity, like for, you know, victims of the fires or North Carolina. And you will contribute. I will bid 100%. One of my biggest regrets is, remember when I went to that Joan Rivers tribute and they were auctioning off for God's Love We Deliver, the original note cards of her jokes? Yeah. I should have bought one.

1:01:45But$5 ,000 was really steep for an index card. Yeah, I agree. But when it's for charity, you would make a big donation to charity. But she had 70 ,000 of them. So if they were auctioning off a couple, they couldn't. And by the way, somebody bought the first one. The second one, they had to fake that one of the employees said like, yeah, because the auction was going poorly. And then the third, they decided to give away to somebody in the audience because it was going so poorly. Do$2 ,500. Double the amount of people. You would have sold six of them instead of one. Yeah. Huh. I'm still thinking about that auction.

1:02:20I'm so mad. I'm sorry. Well, maybe at the next auction, like you won't hesitate. Maybe that's the lesson. Yeah, I won't. I'll loosen the purse strings a little bit. I'm sorry. $5 ,000 for an index card. Like I draw the line. I'm actually an extremely like financially prudent person. Yeah, you are. Do people know that about you? No, because like it's all relative, right? Like you look at my life, like it looks very glamorous and it is like I have, you know, beautiful things, but it's I'm actually I don't like to use the word frugal because I'm not frugal by any stretch of the imagination. But I think also compared to you, I'm frugal.

1:02:50We have like different philosophies. But what's a thesaurus for frugal? No, I think the word like financially prudent is a good I'm just like a little conservative. careful meticulous prudent is here stingy i am not stingy bitch this is thesaurus.com thrifty i don't know i just feel like if you own a birkin you can't like call yourself financially prudent do you know what i mean like good investment even though it's an investment it's an investment over time yeah just is that the end of the show well like as we for now show So yeah, this is ta-ta for now. Let me just give a quick intro to the second half of the show.

1:03:34We're just getting started. Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy. He wrote a book that comes out today. It's called How to Win at Travel. And we just did actually a lot about parenting. And Jackie, what's your philosophy on kids crying on planes? And other people who are rolling their eyes at it. Were you an adult before you had kids who would roll your eyes at a kid crying on the plane? And now you understand? No. So I would put my headphones in and realize that person's having a harder time than me. And I have the luxury of putting in noise canceling headphones. Or you can even get free headphones from the flight attendant.

1:04:05Like I feel more bad for the parents than the people who are around it. Like put your headphones on and watch your TV show. Like it's not so hard. No. And Brian talked a lot about it. He was like that baby has every right to be on the plane as much as you do. Like we both paid for the ticket. It was actually a really insightful conversation about all elements like how to save money on travel. Even if it's a lap infant did he say? Like the baby's just kind of like reloading. Jackie he said aviation is public transportation we all have like equal rights to be on this plane you're not more special because you're like a childless parent I mean a childless person and then I am like we're both equally right to be here and he's like the worst behavior I've seen on planes is from adults not babies yeah I would just say put your headphones on like the other person's on harder time than you yeah like the right thing to do is like a help and if you can't be nice like just shut up yeah so we talked about that it's a fabulous interview video and audio so you don't have to go anywhere if you're listening just keep listening and we will see you tomorrow for hump day hump day love ya bye we could try let's just be like yeah we're not even trying so hard love ya no like we don't even want it like i would hate if we got it because then all the fun would be over love you so much bye welcome back to the toast it's kind of full circle for me to be sitting here with obviously one of my favorite people in the world, of course, like one of my best friends for life, but also somebody who I forget, like is deeply successful, has a lot going on.

1:05:30He is a father of two, a daddy to many. It is Brianna, Marlene, Christine, Wachili, Gorga, Kelly. Vargas. It is Brian Kelly. Literally, you guys know him. He's a fan favorite here at the toast. He is a frequent guest. He is the creator of the points guy. And today he is here as author. I like how you wore like a black cashmere sweater. Very author of you. Very Steve Jobs. Yes. Yes. Giving. And then, I mean, how does it feel to be a multi hyphenate? When you became an author, did you notice a shift? In my moral superiority for sure. And I wanted to talk to you about that because, you know, there are a lot of content creators.

1:06:08There are a lot of bloggers, but there aren't a lot of authors. And I feel like having like a physical thing when what we do is so digital. Having like a physical thing that you come out with feels so different. And I wanted to ask you, like, since you've now been like doing press and people are referring to now as an author, heretofore you will be known as an author. How does that make you feel? It feels really cool. Like I started at the Point Sky 15 years ago. I'm like, you know, beyond proud of like what it's become. Never was it meant to become. All of this. So many employees, millions of people, but having a book, I actually just right before this, I went to Barnes and Noble Union Square where we will be doing our event.

1:06:44Thank you for doing that. And I was walking through the store, by the way, it's popping. It is packed. Books are back, Brian. Books are back. It was so exciting. I'm like, and it makes me so excited to think that this book, which is going to be in every airport in America, Hudson bought a bunch and like people will buy this hopefully for years to come. And that to me is so cool to be able to connect with the whole audience that the twisted Instagram algorithm isn't naturally, you know. Yeah. Serving. But to have like a physical book that's around. I'm so excited about it. And I couldn't help but notice that your book was not only not dedicated to me, which was unique for sure.

1:07:21It was dedicated to Dean, which is so sweet. Dean is your son. He's literally the cutest angel on earth, but he's not your only son. And I think I speak on behalf of your newborn Cooper in when I say, what the fuck, You know, what about Cooper? I thought about this, but similar, like in the Jewish faith, where it is like very superstitious. Yeah. Is that the word? The word is like, um, Kanina. Kanina Hara. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Um, so I didn't want it cause I had to finish that in October and he was born December and I'm like, that's a really, I just, you know, and plus I'll just dedicate the next one to Cooper.

1:07:55That's a thing when you're as multi-hyphenate as we are. Wait, where are you on your EGOT? Who do you think will get an EGOT first? One thousand percent me. One thing about Brian. Actually, we've done so many things together. And we're going to talk about all the things we've done together. But we need to talk about your singing voice. And I host a show with my sister, Jackie, who up until I met you had the worst singing voice I'd ever heard in my life. She's great now. She's not great now compared to you. You have the worst singing voice I've ever heard in my life. You have no rhythm. You have no pitch.

1:08:27Like, sing me a song. Say Taking Chances by Celine Dion. Buddy. that's actually my worst nightmare. I have dreams where, um, like I'm on the American Idol stage and they're like, go out and win it. And I'm like, what? I have dreams like that too, but they end really differently. Yeah. Right. So I think in terms of who's going to win an EGOT first. No, but wait, I firmly believe though, cause your voice is a muscle and you can make it better. I sometimes think, and I'm a very competitive person. If, if I went into like really deep vocal training courses, do you think I could be okay? No, that's what I'm saying.

1:09:04Like, I think you are actually too far gone. And there aren't a lot of people like that. That's what makes you different. That's what makes you special. But I actually have a good podcasting from what I hear and like voice. I'm doing my audio book, which, you know, it's available wherever you get your audio books. You tell them. It was like so challenging to do an audio book. Honestly, sitting in that booth, so hot. But you can't do it all. And I'm okay with not being a singer. Yeah, and you are so successful at everything you do. and I know that this book is going to crush because it just like is what the people need.

1:09:34But a funny thing about you is like we have so much in common. And really from the minute that we met, we just got along swimmingly in a kind of unique way. But there are some things about you like I genuinely can't relate to because you are so successful and like you want to keep working. And I feel like you're always doing more. But meanwhile, like you have, when do you think like you will seriously like chill? You're every time I, every time we talk, you're like, maybe I'll slow down. And then you go and you're pitching a TV show or maybe I'll slow down or you go and write a book. Well, I think it's interesting because I feel like I have slowed down a lot.

1:10:02When we first met, like pre-pandemic, when I was CEO of the Points Guy, we were on just growing that business, traveling a ton, doing charity work. It's like I had this beautiful home in the Hamptons that I never slept in. You know, like I was like, so I feel like in the pandemic, when I slowed down, I got my farm, started horseback riding, had Dean. I do realize that I'm still, to me, it seems like a lot less. And even writing this book now, I'm in the honeymoon phase because I was promoting the book I'm so excited about. Writing this book was a really, I have severe ADD. Yeah, yeah. And I wrote this.

1:10:37I couldn't just give this to a ghostwriter to write. Like this book has me. It's straight from your brain. so I gave up like the first five months of last year even when I was in the Maldives I was working on my book most of the trip like time that I was on that trip I went to Tokyo to see Taylor Swift what people don't know is like I was in my hotel room at the Amman working on the book so but now I'm twisted because I'm excited to write another but the next one that I wrote this book is like this is a burger of like real information to save you money on travel flights my next book, I want to take a, like, maybe do a little more visual.

1:11:12This is like 300 pages. You need a picture book for the kids. Honestly, kind of. Well, I start the book off saying like, we're in the platinum era of travel. I actually think travel today is the best it's ever been for a lot of reasons. But I kind of would like to do, almost do like a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, like super luxury book. Okay. Well, that's what I wanted to ask you because something so funny about like your line of work and the success that you've had is like, you know, you're afforded a luxurious lifestyle. And something funny about you is like you, because it's your job, but you very rarely opt to fly private.

1:11:42And if I was you, like, and I'm sure you get opportunities all the time that like it doesn't behoove you because you're always making content. Because I have six horses. And if anyone is a horse girly out there. It's expensive. It's six mortgages plus two children, nannies. I mean, I work because I have to, Claudia. It's so true. Listen, we're not here because we want to be. A single dad who works two jobs. Literally. And your son, Dean, is extremely well-traveled. 16 countries in two years. That's literally more countries than I have been to. Like, that's fucking crazy. And I love it for him.

1:12:13I mean, he's so charismatic, but I feel like he is the way he is because we've been traveling. From the beginning. I mean, his first international trip was Belize. Oh, my God. I forgot that Dean was in Belize with us. I remember we showed up at Newark Airport and he was in his little duna. And you were in your Sling Deon shirt. Margo and Emily. And I just remember the girls surrounding him that whole trip. He was so cute. Well, you talk a lot about traveling with kids in the book. your lifestyle has changed quite a bit from like when you were just like a single guy traveling whatever you want to now like you think about travel in a different way you've always always been thoughtful about it but now it's quite different and you're thinking of different things and are you pre-boarding um yes so pre-boarding it depends now with the toddler who's two I try to board that plane the last second like as little time possible on the plane the better but because I travel with the nanny I'll have them go on first sometimes or just to get things on the plane and then all board lasts with Dean.

1:13:08But, you know, in the chapter, I learned a ton about traveling with kids. Uh, when I wrote, like when I started traveling with Dean, there's so many crazy rules. Your kid can fly in your lap for free. That's so crazy. Some people will say, but then internationally, they don't even let you put babies in a car seats because little, there's so much information as a parent to digest. So I spelled it all out because it's, it's terrible. Infants especially should not be in car seats for extended periods of time. Right. Like the duna. Yeah. Yeah. Asphyxiate. Yep. And I love the duna and I'm actually going to do a reel on this soon.

1:13:42The duna is amazing because it turns from car seat to stroller to car seats. Yep. But the problem with the duna is your child can be in that duna for hours because you're not having to take them out when you go to a restaurant. But he's not supposed to be in there. No. And really, I mean, some people say you're supposed to take your newborn out every 30 minutes, which most people do not do. Right. Right. But the general rule of thumb is two hours. So like in the book, I actually interviewed child safety, child passenger safety technicians. They're certified people that give their advice on what to do.

1:14:12But the bottom line is, as a parent, there's no cut and dry rule. What's safest? Yeah. You have to do what you like. Well, you have to trust your gut. Totally. And you know what's best for your kid. And I think just educating people with here are your choices, the pros and cons. There's no one. Right. So like we We have so many moms who listen. What is the one piece of wisdom you would impart on someone who's about to travel with their kid for the first time? First thing I would tell you is, especially internationally, I know parents are nervous to travel. First of all, when kids are little, it's easy.

1:14:39Like zero to one, it is so easy in general. Even if your baby cries, you feed it. Right. Feed it, change it. Flip a titty out. They're not running anywhere. It's like when they become the two to like three is tough because your child may want to run and you got to keep them. But what I say is you, the flight will always be over. That is the one constant. you'll get over it. Sometimes it feels like it won't though. And the memories of the trip, even if your child can't remember the trip, I firmly believe children are smarter than we give them credit for. And I believe experiences like embed in them.

1:15:07So I say, take the trip. And also most countries are way more child friendly than the U S really? Europe, for example, when you land friendly country, well, Portugal, when you land in Portugal, if you have a small child, they'll take you to the front of the immigration line. Wow. In Europe and Italy, you'll go and they have family security lines that have no lines so you don't have to wait in line that's so crazy i didn't know that yeah in abiza this past summer the woman was nursing her newborn at the hottest restaurant in town at 9 you know 10 p.m no one batted an eye it's literally gonna be me seriously like titties out for the boys oh my god i can't my mind is racing so to parents like it's it's like can be like overwhelming i get it only travel when you want but i push people and so many i like being a role model for people to show people can be done.

1:15:54And yes, I have a nanny. I'm not trying to pretend like I'm a superhero as a single dad, but like traveling with your kids can be incredible. Yeah. I just like to be a positive narrative because I find with the whole parenting world and I get it. Like there's a lot of exhausted parents. I'm not trying to downplay that, but it's also amazing. I took Dean on Safari, you know, like it's. Jackie talks about that a lot about how like modern media, whether it's like TV shows or even like influencers who keep it real. It's so overwhelmingly negative. And I think that like a lot of young girls and guys who become parents, like find there's so much more joy in it than was explained to you.

1:16:30You're always told about the hard parts, but like the joy is kind of underrated. So I love that. Like, that's what you lead with. Cause I think we need more of that. Like in your memory, I have, I like Dean, when we went to the Maldives and he just, I sat in the white sand, just me and him and just the waves are coming over us and he's in my legs. And I'll remember that moment forever it was like just so many good memories and yes he's cried on flights and like he'll torture he'll he's like you know toddlers throw things so like throw a car across business class um but in the end like you're you you have a right to be on that plane and i say in the book oh we need to talk about that like your flights are public transportation yeah so if you want to control the manifest who flies on an aircraft, you got a charter, honey.

1:17:18So everyone, you are taking public transit. Even if you bought a business class ticket, it does not give you the right to say who deserves to be on this plane and where they're sitting. This is big conversation on social media, kids on planes, kids crying on planes. I think when my sisters became parents, I immediately became way more sympathetic. I never would be someone who would like visibly roll my eyes, but I would whisper to Ben like, get this fucking kid out of here. Now I find myself like having a lot more patience and like always like, uh, like, you know, giving a sympathetic look or something because I think that people can be really mean.

1:17:46And at the end of the day, like, bitch, we'd be at the same price for this ticket. Like, eat my ass. Yeah. You know, I think. And as travelers get noise canceling headphones, there's going to be crying babies. And by the way, I've traveled a lot. I have been way more inconvenienced by drunk idiots on planes causing issues. Adults cause more issues than babies. So true. Just have compassion, like help a pregnant woman who has bags. I see help them put things in the overhead bin and like, and don't just assume like have good intent. Don't assume every baby's crying because their parents are doing nothing.

1:18:16Right. I'm so tired of that narrative. You can have the best kid who does crazy things and is inconsolable has nothing to do with your parenting. So like stop thinking so negative and maybe help the people out. It takes a village. Smiling at a parent who's clearly overwhelmed in a flight that helps you more than. It helps them just like relief the stress. Because smiling at them, hey, do you need a hand? I got you. A simple thing like that to a parent can help bring their stress level down, which then in part helps. So help yourself by being nice. That's across the board in travel. The point of like when she passengers, adult passengers being more inconveniencing than babies is so true.

1:18:53Some of the worst people I've ever met have been on airplanes. Totally. Like insane human beings. And that's what I love about you. Like you're really capable of such depth. Like when you're talking about parenthood and even the way you talk about travel, like I know it means a lot to you when you meet people. because when you go to like an airport lounge, it's like, you know, me going to a kosher restaurant. It's like where your people are at. And you like are a star. And I've been lucky enough to experience it where like people come up to you and it's not they don't just say like, hey, I love your work.

1:19:16They say like, oh my God, I took this trip with my dad before he died. Like it's so meaningful. And I know that you take it so seriously. So you're capable of such depth. But I also have gotten to know you on a really deep level. And like people - The real me. They don't even know. They don't even know Brianna Marlene, Christine Wakili Kelly. Like you are one of the most fun people I've ever met in my life. And I feel like that's because you are so well-traveled. Like you've seen such things. And to travel with you, I have to tell you, it's such a privilege. Like the way I used to vacation, like even just with Ben, and now when me and Ben go do something, I travel differently.

1:19:48Like I'm so much more open to things. Like you really are so much fun. And I think it is connected to the things you've seen, you know? Yeah, I think as we all travel more and you get the bigger picture, I think it does help us all like become better people. A thousand percent. And the best part about you is like, Like you are who you are, but we have a lot of similarities. Like we're both obsessed with reality TV and celebrity culture. Abby Lee Miller is both of our idols. ALDC that we met. We met because of Abby Lee. Abby Lee Miller connected us, Q-nected us. Yeah, in a spiritual sense. Yeah.

1:20:18She didn't actually introduce us. I think like one of our first DMs was me commenting about ALDC. Regarding the matter of Abby Lee. So I may not be a good dancer. I mean, I may not be a good singer, but I'm a great dancer. You are a great dancer. And where'd you learn that? At the Abby Lee Dance Company? I learned it with you and Puerto Vallarta. One thousand percent. Or no, Puerto. Punta Mita. Punta Mita. That was fun. No, we've had so many fun trips and like so many people who ever meet you and people who meet you love you. But what's so interesting is like one of my favorite things. And hopefully everyone one day gets a chance to go through your Instagram DMs because the people that DM you just asking for like random travel tips.

1:20:53I respond to tons of DMs. No, but I'm talking about like celebrities. Like celebrities are obsessed with points. There was a celebrity we met on the way to Punta Mita that I was like, oh, I don't even remember. We had a little bit of a boozy flight. Oh, yeah. We had a boozy flight to Houston. Asian male actor. Yeah. Was he on the flight to Houston or the flight to Mexico? I don't know. He was like - Because we had margaritas in the middle. And I got in trouble for vaping in the United Airlines. In the lounge. In the Centurion lounge. They were like, seriously, so - They were like, are you vaping?

1:21:21I'm like, yeah. You're vaping? They acted like I was doing meth. Like, calm down. Claudia, you're vaping. You were so brazen. I know. going to bars with you and you wouldn't even hide it you'd puff it into the air it's electric and then you would it's electric you would act to grieve yeah you've gotten kicked out of facilities sneak back snuck back in me and that vape although those days are behind me i'm about to enter my motherhood phase that girl is that girl lives inside me forever and i know she will return i mean that yeah no we've lived and so the funny part is like how many people are so invested in points and travel and like the hacks that you give and the celebrities reality stars that enter your dms and who you end up striking up friendships with because you are this like really fun fabulous guy it's probably one of my favorite parts about you now tell me about the sylva sisters darcy and stacy if you guys don't know by the way what tlc show did they originally so darcy was on 90 day fiance she just opened her heart looking for love um so i got deep into 90 day fiance probably like circa 2018 and that was when i was you know we were doing big tpg awards and they would always say what like celebrities should we invite to the awards and like frankly like most a-list celebrities are not coming to like a travel website they need to be paid like handsomely we didn't have a budget but we were like let's invite so then i mean darcy silva is an iconic queen and i would just dm them and i'd be like hey girl hey and she's like oh my god and I could just tell like she needs love yeah and she's so sweet she like dm me so she came to the first tpg awards very nice and then she had a couple drinks and she came into my green room and like at one point she's like I just need a guy like you and just starts like crying on my lap there's like a photo of her because she's known for crying on the show because she's just looking for real love yeah aren't we so like that was definitely like I've made it moment when Darcy Silva she smells really good who was the most famous person who you found out like reads the website or knows like follows your work and uses your tips because i always feel like rich people didn't like do stuff like that but they love saving money ricky martin is one yeah he um that's huge yeah i've met him several times i mean martha stewart everyone thinks she travels private martha's a commercial queen and i help her team out quite a bit i help her get the best flights and make sure she's taken care of what matters to martha she's an aisle a window what does she prefer she's a window girly um she's actually very like low maintenance like i've flown we went to greenland and we've only flew economy she was not a deep like she's very well traveled she's very inquisitive she's very engaged like when we were touring little towns in greenland together she would go talk to local people yeah she's very very inquisitive i mean she means it when she says like learn something new every day or it's like or something that's her thing keep Keep learning or die.

1:24:05She says like every day you should like acquire. She's a really fun person to travel with. Yeah. What about that podcaster Claudia Asher? What'd she like to travel with? Well, when we eat rotten fish on the airline and go viral in Israel. Brian and I were on Israeli news, like literally went so viral. We did like a taste test of salmon. They were serving salmon in El Al first class. It was not good. For any aviation girlies out there. It was a big deal. El Al had a 747. It was not the most. It was cold. Yeah, but iconic queen of the skies. It was retiring, right? Two queens in the sky. Literally.

1:24:38But they served our food and it was rancid. It was salmon. And we shouldn't have ordered it. There's a vlog episode out there somewhere. Yeah, we were filming the entire time. I think I said I would pay you like$500 and I never paid you, did I? Listen, the amount of things you paid for. We're square. We are so even. Like, don't even. Don't go down that road because I'll end up owing you money. So back to the Silver Sisters. So Darcy is a queen. We love her. And then I think the next year she brought Stacey. Of course. Now Darcy and Stacey have their spinoff. And I think they finally found men.

1:25:06And they went to Turkey. Oh, they've had a lot of work done. That's putting it mildly. Definite transformation. They get so much hate on their Instagram, but they are nice girls. By the way, that was what was really shocking because I wasn't a TLC girly and you put me onto that show along with Locked Up Abroad, which we need to talk about briefly. But I started watching their show. Oh, Love After Lockup's a new one. Have you watched that? No, I don't watch Love After Lockup. Better than Locked Up Abroad? Different. Love After Lockups got a lot of unique characters. And we love like a unique. We do.

1:25:36It's about people who date people in prison. Right. And it's. During or after prison. So they really, they date. The show starts where they're about to get out of prison. Got it. Okay. And the intricacies of our dynamic. Halfway houses. Right. Contributes. Yeah. Will the prisoner who comes out, will they revert back to their old ways, which they do 11 out of 10 times? Yeah. Well, Brian and I spent like a whole weekend literally watching every episode ever made of the show called Locked Up Abroad. I couldn't even tell you what channel it was on. It was seriously giving lifetime dramatization. And it was true stories, but like it was, you know, recreated in this very dramatic version of people who had been locked up for committing crimes in different countries.

1:26:11And like how the prison systems in all these different countries are so wackadoodle. Like they're so, not that the American one is so great, but like it's so crazy. Mostly for like drug mules and like trying to bring drugs. The stories on that show are about like mules who, you know, hit a hard time in life and then some shady person comes in who's a drug. Takes advantage of that. Whatever, yeah. But the stories are wild. Have you ever run into any law enforcement issues in another country? Like almost gotten arrested or anything? No, I've gotten shot at twice. Yes, you have. In Brazil. That's an over-dramatization.

1:26:41You've been near a shooting. I have been adjacent to really terrible shootings. I mean, someone died at the one in Belize on the other side of the street as me. I wasn't there. You guys were in Belize, but you were at the hotel that night. We were just walking through. That was really, we actually had to hide in a store behind a clothing rack. She was an American girl. It was really sad. So sad. It was like, and I was like, I saw the gun. I saw the guy. And then in Brazil, I was there for carnival and I was filming a vlog and I had a security guard with me because we had camera equipment on the streets of Rio.

1:27:09We were having so much fun and they literally, the footage is somewhere. It's like, Brian, what do you think of Rio carnival? I'm like, it's amazing. And I was dressed as a Pharaoh and just pop, pop, pop. And we, everyone, it was like 10 of us. We had to scream. Everyone was running across the city. It was really scary. And the security guard that I had, he was actually like an ex Marine. and he goes, run, run. And he's got his arm around me. And he's like, he's like, we keep hearing the shots. It means you're not dead. Go. And I was like, honestly, if you can hear, you can run. I remember thinking that like in that moment.

1:27:39And I actually had a drink with me. We're drinking on the street. And I like, I'm so against littering. I remember I was, he's like, put the drink down. Just throw the drink on the floor. Throw the drink on the floor. You know, I'm a good kid. You are such a good kid. And the book is so good. And the book comes out. So this episode is being released the same day as your book, which is so fabulous. The book is out now. And in in three words, like tell me how it feels to be like a published author.

1:28:10Cute and smart. I love that. But that's two words. Cute, smart Darcy. I think that that's the title of today's episode. And it's Darcy with an E for whoever titles it. It's true. And Brian, where can people pick up the book? anywhere you get books. If you're in your next Hudson News in the airport. Sorry, wait, we need to. We just really quickly didn't even talk about the people who gave blurbs for the back of your book. Like, it's crazy because you're my friend and like we get twisted together and it's like, that's how I know you. But I forget that you are friends with Whoopi Goldberg, Kelly Ripa, Martha Stewart.

1:28:42These are all people. Can you tell me? Because I had written a book. I asked you to write a blurb. Thanks for asking me to write one, bitch. And the amount of like you feel awkward asking people, right? Like, how do you go about asking these types of people to give a blurb for your book. So Whoopi, I interviewed in the book, by the way, if you have a fear of flying, that's one of the top questions I get asked. I dive deep into the science behind fear of flying. I interviewed Lays, my friend, frequent flyer, who was literally in a plane crash. She was in a plane crash. And was it Emirates? No, it was actually her dad became a pilot.

1:29:12He was a famous doctor. He was like, oh, and the first flight, her mom brought too much luggage on and they crashed into a swamp. Luckily, they all survived. She had severe fear of flying. Whoopi Goldberg saw a plane crash in the seventies. She was actually fine for several years. Then one day had a crazy nightmare. And then, so anyway, so I interviewed Whoopi for the book. She's actually a fan of TPG, her and her manager. I mean, I've been helping them travel for years. I've been on The View. So I interviewed her and she was so gracious with her time. So then afterwards, I just asked her for the blurb and they were happy to do it.

1:29:44Right, right. She was already involved. Martha, I mean, I've helped Martha Traveler on the World. I mean, it's easy to ask for a blurb when you've done a lot of favors. I've been on Kelly Ripa's show like 20 times now. Yeah. And hers was really funny because she like, read the blurb from hers. Listen to the travel expert, Brian Kelly. He's clearly got the most leg room. Oh, Kelly. Does that make sense? I'm like, oh, it's perfect. It's perfect. It's literally perfect. The book is so good. You have a website where you can buy all of the books. HowToWinAtTravel.com. HowToWinAtTravel.com. Amazon, ebook, audiobook.

1:30:12Yeah, no, he's national. Audiobook. He's national. Don't worry about it. You were reading the audio book? I read the audio book. 11 and a half hours. Did you lead like, like, did you put on like a little bit of a, I did a little Luann voice. A little Lu. Give me, give me like a sample. What do you say to taking chances? And Brian, in your professional opinion, does money buy you class? No, but it can buy first class. Boom. You guys enjoy the book. It's so fabulous. Brian, I love you very, very much. Thank you for being here guys. Thank you for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. Bye. Thank you.