Wonderful! - Wonderful! 230: Peruse Your Pleasure

Episode Date: May 25, 2022

Rachel’s favorite interactive sporting dance! Griffin’s favorite soshie-centric show!Music: “Money Won’t Pay” by bo en and Augustus – https://open.spotify.com/album/7n6zRzTrGPIHt0kRvmWoya��NARAL Pro-Choice America: https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/ MaxFunDrive ends on March 29, 2024! Support our show now by becoming a member at maximumfun.org/join.

Hi, this is Rachel McElroy. Hello, this is Griffin McElroy. And this is wonderful. You came at that so smoky, I feel like. I know, I felt like a news broadcaster. Well, like a sexy newscaster. Like a sexy newscaster. Hi, I'm Rachel McElroy and this is Sexy News.

And here's the news. Is that this? Is that this? I don't know how to entice people. Clearly that's not true. Here's the news. Now I revved up i'm ready for news i only know it works for you yeah it's that voice yeah i think just looking whenever i turn on news there's very little that could be done to make it sexy i feel like yeah no i know it's never like

here's a new business that opened up it's like usually rough stuff that you just can't sex up. You just can't do it. You can't punch it up with sex. But maybe you could. I don't know. I think you missed your calling. You know, I thought I wanted to be a journalist briefly. Yeah.

But turns out I'm just a regular journalist, though, right? Yeah. Not like a sexy journalist. No, it's just because I'm curious. Yeah, you are. But then, you know, after that, there's really no other interest. Yeah.

Well, getting like a perm, there's always a lot of coiffure that happens. I would have to get a broadcaster haircut. Yeah, I don't want that. That's not my favorite type of haircut. I'm too edgy for the news. You are. You're like alt and emo kind of okay don't you

have those are things you think you have sort of emo goth vibes and then how you would categorize yourself i don't think anyone has ever categorized me as that as emo or goth well definitely not goth let's say i feel like those were the if you didn't want to be a jock you had to choose between those two in high school for me and so i definitely trended toward the emo route yeah of course but i was a pretty big poser i think it wasn't my favorite type of of music i tolerated dashboard confessional wow here he comes yeah is that a controversial opinion i don don't know. Okay. Your hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me. You know that one? No.

Oh, really? No. Hands down, this is the best day I can ever remember. You don't know that one? No. All right. Well, fuck me, I guess. You got a small wonder?

I was hoping you would go first. You was hoping I would go first you was hoping i would go first i was um i uh i did some uh switch modding i have i had a switch light that i customized and made like all white and it was very sleek and then i ate um tasty curry popcorn uh from a restaurant here in town and i stained i stained the console bright yellow uh and so and also i just like left it out in our living room and gus got to it and so like the screen was all scratched up there's so much about this story that could only happen to you i know right uh and so i i gave it a new shell new buttons new screen uh and it's very satisfying and i have i acquired this tool kit from i think a place called i fix it and it's just got everything

and this little like it folds out and then it's got like like 40 different screwdriver tips with like a really nice screwdriver body and like tweezers and like all kinds of great stuff. I will take Gus upstairs to kind of kill some time. Yeah, you shouldn't do that. And I saw your office and I saw everything that was on the ground and I just promptly closed that door. I'm an artist, you know, and so cleanliness is not one of my main, I mean, on the desk in my work area, it's got to be totally sanitized and clean.

But then I'll open up something and just throw it on the ground when I'm done with it. Do you think you became an artist as an excuse to not be cleanly? Yes. I think you have to choose between those two things at some point in your life. I better be an artist so I don't have to clean up. What about you? So I thought of this. Mine is actually related to cleaning up.

And it is when someone is going to come over to your house and it gives you a reason to clean up. Yeah, that's nice. We have somebody coming over to our house later today. And I thought, oh, it would be good to clean up a little bit. Yeah. And I realized that I probably wouldn't have done that otherwise. Yeah, my mom took that very seriously. Mine too.

And it was always kind of nice because when you had friends coming over, the furniture would be polished with that lemon-scented stuff that was so good. See, my mom's big thing, I would tell her someone is going to come pick me up and they probably wouldn't even come in the house, but she would still vacuum. Yeah.

I would hear her vacuuming. Did she use the powder? I don't know what the- Sometimes, yeah, because we had cats. And so it was hear her vacuuming. Did she use the powder? I don't know what the- Sometimes. Yeah, because we had cats. And so it was like a necessity to put the powder on the rug. I've never as an adult used powder and vacuumed it up. So I don't know if that's a thing

that people just don't do anymore. But my mom always used this just like very powerful floral powder on the floor that she would then vacuum up. Carpet as a whole is not as much of a popular thing these days. I love carpet. I know, me too.

But I like having a mix of both, I think. Yeah, me too. You go first this week. Okay. I can't wait. What do you got? I actually thought of this last week. I felt really on the ball because I thought, okay, let me look and see if this is a thing.

Oh, this is interesting. Now I have my topic already in advance. And it is the wave. The wave. Have we not done the wave? Oh, you did the green wave, which is what it's called when you hit every green light. Oh, okay. I don't see the wave I'm talking about, which is in a stadium.

Yeah. I like a wave. I do too. I like interactive fun. Have you participated in a wave? interactive fun have you participated in a wave of course i've participated in what sporting event was it a lot of marshall football games football games okay yeah uh gosh i i know i've participated in quite a few but like they're not big in baseball are they they're huge in baseball are they baseball is okay well then that's probably

where i've done the most waves is at the great american ballpark i was gonna say like specifically baseball is great because you don't have anything else to do exactly like the wave the sport's not very fun to watch and so like you gotta entertain yourself somehow i was gonna get to this later but there was an npr article from 2016 that talks about the physics and psychology of the wave uh and it basically says like you have to be in a situation where the mood of the crowd is right yeah uh specifically you know if it seems like the home team is going to win or if there's not a lot going on yeah which in baseball 100 100 always like doing the wave in a high stakes game where anything could happen and if you move your vision away from it, you could miss it. Yeah.

That's not going to happen. No way. So the reason I thought the wave would be a good topic is there is actually like a very specific origin story for it. Oh, okay. So the wave, at least according to the research that I have seen, is approximately 40 years old. Wow. Yeah. That's not very old.

No, I know. I feel like we should have cracked that one way earlier. I think when I was looking at like what old cheerleading used to be, it was just a lot of like shouting and a lot of particular section work. Like, hey, this section, get loud. All right, now this section, can you be louder than that section? Huh, interesting. There's a lot of particular section work. Like, hey, this section, get loud. All right, now this section, can you be louder than that section? There's a lot of that. But the person who takes credit for the wave

is Crazy George Henderson. I love this guy already. Crazy with a K, that's important. Even better. He was leading a cheer in 1981 at a baseball game and it was specifically it was october 15th 1981 that becomes important um and what he had done uh was he was doing that thing where he was doing section work but the the fans were kind of delayed in their response and it kind of resulted in a sort of wave pattern that then continued throughout the stadium wow

so he's like hey it was me and it was on videotape october 31st so 16 days later a wave was created at a university of washington football game and they said, we popularized the wave. Stop it. It was like, hey, hey, 16 days earlier, we have videotape of Crazy George doing this. Don't take this from Crazy George. He probably doesn't have much else. By the way, if you go to crazygeorge.com,

you can see his biography, his memoir. And then there's also a section of the website called Controversy Settled. Awesome. That's fucking great. Where he shows that video of him leading the first documentary. Not much of a controversy. I know, but for him it was. Yeah, absolutely. If you create the wave, you got to really plant your flag there. Crazy George started cheerleading as a student at California State University in 1968, and then basically made it his whole career. That's cool.

Basically his whole life. If you again, go to the website I mentioned, he has cheered at NFL games, at MLB games, at NHL games, uh, a variety of university games, minor league hockey. Uh, he also does corporate events. I love that. Watch me tear this phone book in half i started watching the video i couldn't get through it but like some company had hired him to go through their event and it like it's a video of him going up and down the aisles of people banging his drum getting them excited it's so uncomfortable yeah i bet man there was probably

an era where that would get some some you know you know, team building going, but I do not think this is the era. I think people don't have time for that. that decided, hey, how weird that they can get people to stand up and do this. And it's totally unplanned, but highly coordinated. I wonder if there's any factors or things that motivate the success of the wave. Yeah. So this researcher and his colleagues looked at a dozen videotapes of waves, and built computer models around the wave, and zeroed in on three key parameters, the distance between audience members, how many neighbors an audience member could see, the readiness of an individual to start standing up.

How do you measure that? Assuming that others nearby are already standing. Yeah. I think- Are they holding two hot dogs? Yeah, exactly. Are they looking at a newspaper? Do they have a hot dog in each hand

and holding a beer in their lap? I wonder if the success of the wave has faltered due to smartphones. Ooh. Right? Like you're looking down at that device and the person next to you is trying to get a wave going or maybe the wave has combated this the rise of smartphones discuss

that speak on that so you're saying that people enjoy the wave so much that they don't want to use their smartphone and that's when we. What better sort of connection with humanity is there than participating in a wave? I don't know. I can't think of one. I mean, that's part of the reason I like it. Yeah, sure. I remember as a kid,

I mean, I don't know if you remember this, but at baseball games, feeling like very intent on doing my part for the wave. Yeah. And really following it around and really making sure like, okay, I've got to do this. Wasn't there an SNL sketch or a Kids in the Hall sketch about a guy who like really endeavored to start a wave?

I don't know. This feels right to me. I can't remember which of those shows it was. But it was just somebody who was like extremely, extremely like they were the guy who starts the wave at the games it does seem like an snl thing and they're like pretty good wave huh that was me i mean that is kind of what crazy george is all yeah that's a fair point uh so according to the researchers it only takes about 20 to 35 people to really start a wave that's a lot of coordination though yeah i mean you really have to work at that you gotta stand up and say hey everyone this is this join me this is the

success of crazy george yeah uh according to crazy george um he has been the reason for some rules in professional sports uh-oh uh supposedly in 1989 the nfl adopted a rule specifically targeting quote noise making specialists hired exclusively for that purpose of disrupting play calling a rule that henderson says was aimed at him uh the vikings apparently lodged an objection claiming that the cheering inspired by George disrupted the signal calling of the officials. Tough shit. The Vikings lost 21 to 16 because I guess the crowd was too loud. Okay, go play somewhere else.

Play private little skirmishes. You're a football player. You don't want people to yell at you? You know, I recognize that it is probably hard to hear sometimes when the crowd gets rowdy. And I guess if you've got somebody like Crazy George that seems to be instigating it, he's an easy target. But this is like a thing for some teams, right? I think the Seahawks have a stadium that is acoustically a nightmare for anybody on the field where just their voices of their of their fans are so wildly amplified yeah that it just like hits you with this wall of sound so it's like that's sports

man like that's sports if you can't take somebody yelling at you that's that's that is what sports is i don't know maybe that's a maybe that's a controversial opinion i don't yeah i mean i agree with you i don't think it's i don't think it should be anything that is prohibited. Right. But Crazy George was hired by a bunch of different entities. He worked for the California Golden Seals, which is not anything I knew about. It was a National Hockey League team from 1967 to 1976. I bet Hodgman knows all about it.

I know, right? I bet he's got mad merch. I bet Hodgman knows all about it. I know, right? I bet he's got mad merch. He was scouted from the SEALs to a San Jose Earthquakes team, which was the soccer club at the time. And he has gone on to work for NFL teams, Kansas City Chiefs, hired him in 1975. Damn.

Just literally like running around, banging his drum. I'll give you a little look at him just so you can see he's everything you want him to be. Yeah. I mean, it's exactly, when I say Crazy George Henderson, if you go look him up, that's exactly what you want.

That is quite the haircut. That's exactly what you want Crazy George Henderson to look like. Thank you, Crazy George, for your many contributions. That was great. Let's Crazy George Henderson to look like. Thank you, Crazy George, for your many contributions. That was great. Let's start a wave just right now. It's not when you do it to people.

It's kind of a workout. Hey, can I steal you away? Yes. We got a couple rumple robs here. This first one's for Nick, and it's from Anna, who says, Nick, happy early or belated birthday. How come they think we can't thread the needle and get it right on it? Probably because they know that the birthday doesn't fall on this published date.

Anyway, I love and appreciate you so much. Even though you are a big dum-dum who is always trying to steal my dog, one day we'll live in a big house with Ezra and Poe and your 50,000 unpainted miniatures. Love, Anna. 50,000 is a lot of miniatures to have painted or unpainted. You should not, this is a very sweet message and you can tell there's a lot of love and a lot of affection there, but I do want to say don't steal dogs. And I know that this is maybe a controversial opinion,

but I think that dogs shouldn't be stolen because they can't be owned. What do you think about that? Wow. And would you say, perhaps, in the words of Griffin McElroy, that they should vote? I do think they should vote.

But also, who saved who? That's my whole thing. Like, when I'm looking at my pupper's toe beans, it's like, who saved who? I don't own you. It was a relationship we're in. A partnership almost. A partnership.

What's the next one? The next one is for Avery. It is from Tanner. Hey, Avery. I feel so blessed to have spent the last two years together. You have brought so much joy to my life and I couldn't wish for a better partner. You are beautiful slash kind slash smart slash funny and a bigger blessing than I could have a lot. What's great is that this could air at any time.

And so happy birthday any day, every day. Every day is your birthday when you're beautiful, kind, smart, funny. That's my favorite TLC album. Hey, if you want to enter the jar. If you want to enter the jar, get in that jar right now. If you want to enter the drawing for a Jumbotron. We put sweets in there.

Your favorite snacks are in the jar and there's holes in the lid. Get in the jar, please. Do you want me to talk about this yeah okay so there is a drawing to enter to win a jumbotron spot on wonderful if you go to maximumfun.org jumbotron drawing i believe uh as of this date of air it may be the last or the day before the last day you can enter this shrine in there do not if you want to send a special message to your lover uh we will only that that's the only way we'll accept it be the most of most of the ones we get uh if you just love your lover and want the world to love your lover yeah the way that griffin and i will soon love your lover. This is getting so freaking weird, babe.

Anyway, MaximumFun.org slash Jumbotron Drawing. You're in a theater. The lights go down. You're about to get swept up by the characters and all their little details and interpersonal dramas. You look at them and think, that person is so obviously in love with their best friend. Wait, am I in love with my best friend? That character's mom is so overbearing, why doesn't she just stand up to her? Oh God, do I need to stand up to my own mother?

If you've ever recognized yourself in a movie, then join me, Jordan Cruciola, for the podcast Feeling Seen. We've talked to author Susan Orlean on realizing her own marriage was falling apart after watching Adaptation, an adaptation of her own work, and comedian Hari Kondabolu on why Harold and Kumar was a depressingly important movie for Southeast Asians. So join me every Thursday for the Feeling Seen podcast here on Maximum Fun. video games video games video games you like them maybe you wish you had more time for them maybe you want to know the best ones to play maybe you want to know what happens to mario when he dies in that case you should check out triple click it's a podcast about video games a podcast about video games but i don't have time for that sure you do once a week kickback as three video game

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podcasts and listen at MaximumFun.org. Bye! podcasts and listen at maximum fun.org. Bye. I am done giving my topic the short shrift because we have discussed it in small wonder form, but I, I'm done hiding my light under a bushel and I'm done being ashamed. I want to talk about the circle.

Oh, here we go. The circle is a reality competition show on netflix uh it came out in the u.s in 2020 but it is based on a uk television show of the same name it came out in 2018 and it's off the fucking chains it is like it it feels so exactly right for the time we are in yes like it is the kind of thing that I imagine will be a time capsule, you know, 20 years from now,

but like right now it feels like exactly, exactly the moment. It launched in on us Netflix during the origins of COVID during the origins of quarantine. That's bonkers because the show, if you have never heard us talk about it before or haven't watched it show is you got like eight or so strangers living in one big building but they're sequestered in their own rooms sequestered from the outside world and from each other like little apartments and little apartments

like it's not like solitary like they are they are they are comfortable living situations with kitchens and bathrooms they are fed yes they have. They have food and drink. So like they're doing all right. And the premise of the show is so simple that it sounds like, why is that enjoyable in an era where there are much more evolved and complex sort of reality competition shows on the market? Because you are basically,

as a viewer watching these people, like text with each other. Text, that's all it is. So these people like text with each other that's all it is so uh they're all separated from each other they they don't meet face to face until unless they make it to like the very very end and then like there's a sort of reunion thing that happens at the end but otherwise like you don't actually get to meet these people that you are chatting with and their only means of communication is this fake social media app called the circle where they can post their profile and photos they can chat publicly or privately and they can participate in various little

icebreaker games essentially that the the show throws at them from time yeah they they show up with their own like a photo album of pictures but like they make their bio and share information they want to share like on the spot yeah and and so it's not a lot of information to go off of like there's only a few like group chats in each like round or episode or whatever uh and so it's all about like going with your gut and how you read somebody based on the very curated limited amount of information that they are willing to share about themselves which is what so she really is all about in in in non-competition game show form and so in each round everybody rates their fellow players from you from first to last.

Yeah, it's like ultimately it's a popularity contest. Absolutely it is. And the top two players in the ratings become influencers who then usually they must mutually agree at that point to kick somebody off the show. Yeah. At which point usually new contestants come in to replace them until you reach like the final, you know, six or whatever. And that's like the baseline thing. And just as limited as it is, watching people. Except you didn't mention.

Well, the catfishing. Yes. Watching people's sort of sense of deduction is what makes the show so compelling. And it is what makes the, we compelling and it's it is what makes the we're on the fourth season now every season has been hot as fire but also like has had people on it that you can't help but root for because you watch them try to suss people out because some people are not playing as themselves they are catfishing as different personalities yeah for whatever reason they think that their that their character that they would be is not likely to win and so they have chosen somebody they think is more likely to win

which can be a person that is older a person that is younger a person that is a different gender yeah they they bring a bunch of different options they come with their photos and they embody that person that they choose this season there was a dude in his 20s who's playing his mom. And there was also a woman in her 20s who was playing her dad. And we were watching that really hoping that there would be a nice little meet cute. No spoilers. But yeah, no spoilers. But anyway, it's interesting to see these people like what they choose to catfish as and

then the ways that they try and be loyal to that persona yeah a lot of times they will choose like a generation for example that they have no knowledge about and then they will like research slang and figure out what they would know as a person of that age yes it's fascinating and what's funny about the catfishing is like the only mechanic of the circle is the ratings where people are chosen as influencers who then kick somebody off the show. And sometimes there's twists on that. Sometimes like the person who comes last in the ratings gets kicked off immediately. Sometimes they twist it up. But usually that's how it works, right?

So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if someone's catfishing. You just need them to vote for you right this is what griffin and i keep talking about is that everybody gets really concerned with catching a catfish like the idea is that when you vote somebody off you kind of want them to be not who they say they are i guess because it makes you feel better like that you voted them off right saw through some ruse but it doesn't matter ultimately. Right. Like, it's still a game. Yes. I mean, ultimately, there's something to be said for, like, dishonesty, right? You need to make alliances with people that you can trust will rate you highly and will

have your back. If they become an influencer, they won't send you home, right? That's like the social game. And as straightforward as that is, it presents a very distilled version of the social game and as as straightforward as that is it presents a very distilled version of the social game of other like older reality shows like survivor uh and that's that's great like something i love survivor uh we watch every season we have seen every episode of that show basically but it's kind of easy to get lost in the sauce a little bit when there's like a bunch of different people trying to make a bunch of different moves and you don't know who's doing what. And sometimes like the story of a particular episode gets a little too complex for you to follow what's actually going on.

Yeah, well, because they're around each other constantly. Yes. Like they are living together. They are with each other 24 hours a day this is like the opposite of that like they have almost no contact so every exchange is like very targeted and very measured like you see people really agonize over every word of every message they send because there has to be an efficiency of info sharing without like giving too much away and the emojis and the emojis there's lots of

emoji use and hearing the way people describe emojis especially older folks who are like and then do the one of the guy and he's got his mouth open and he's got crying tears but he's not sad do that one please circle or like oh uh okay uh circle right uh it, but do a lot of extra letters. Yeah. It's my favorite type of reality show too, because we have watched it for all four seasons now. And it's simple enough that you can't help but like, think of fun ways that they could sort of twist up the format. And what's great is they have people working on that show who are extremely good at that and that makes you feel like i am being i am being seen like there are people who really

like this show making this show and that's fucking great uh this season uh somebody becomes an influencer and their reward is that they can pick the next person that comes on from from two different people only the thing is the person that they pick is going to be played by the spice girls specifically baby spice and scary spice who then have to like go on this stealth mission to not get caught that they are the spice girls catfishing and this is not a spoiler this happens in like this happens very early on uh and that's funny that's very good to then find people watch people try to figure out who the spice girls are that they've been talking to the whole time uh that's very good in one season uh an influencer got to control the joker which was basically an

anonymous profile that could like hop in and talk shit and like get people all riled up without anybody knowing who yeah it actually was another season somebody got to play two yes two profiles that was the best twist is somebody got basically a bonus profile that they could play at the same time as themselves and then they had to like talk to each other sometimes like there was one time they both got into a group chat with someone and so this guy had to run back and forth between these two rooms playing these two yeah which he didn't nobody there was no rule that he had to do that he just did it intentionally so that he could like keep separate not accidentally speak as himself when he's yeah uh and all of those little twists are so brilliant

and add like just a little bit of an extra layer on top of what is already like an incredibly like uh enthralling concept for a show well yeah and it also like a lot of reality television and and we know this like the drama is manufactured in a way that you start to kind of like you just start to kind of hate the production of the show because you can see people are being you know like pivoted against each other yeah and and that's not really an issue on that is not what the circle's about they definitely set up opportunities for people to kind of snipe at each other yes uh but it's like nobody is made to say certain things. Yes. There is a heartbreaking arc where this young man is playing this sort of fashionable young woman. He is catfishing as a fashionable young woman.

And then one of the challenges, one of the little icebreaker games, is everybody has to put makeup on a mannequin. And he just fucking tanks. And everybody is like oh well that's catfish that's clearly not right that's clearly incorrect so there are some times where you feel like oh this is kind of they set them up to fail a little bit but most of the time it is hands off and they are left up to their own devices to sleuth out not only who is the catfish but more importantly who is being honest with them and who is actually presenting an authentic version of someone whether it's themselves or the catfish

that they're playing and putting out a good vibe yeah that they feel like they can trust like this person has my back and that's it like that's the only thing that matters in this game and seeing people try to figure that out it is a it is a just so so entertaining and it really magnetizes everybody and you feel like you are following the game you know what kind of game everybody's playing and you are rooting for them to succeed yeah and unlike you know are or Survivor, like, contestants are given, like, paper and Post-it notes. And they're able to, like, create these little walls with string of, like, who says what and why we think this person might be trustworthy and this person isn't. And you get to see them, like, map out their strategies in real time. to sort of distill down the the kind of good heart that beats at the center of this show that you would not expect from a show that is essentially a social media competition is when somebody gets

kicked off the show they have an opportunity to go visit one other player yeah uh and so they can essentially find out if somebody was a catfish uh or if they just had somebody they were close to that they want to like chat up and like tell share their strategies and their thoughts to try to help them out. And you think like, oh, I bet that breaks bad a lot of people like I'm going to, you know, vindictively go visit somebody and then rat them out in my like goodbye message as being like a faker. But that almost never happens it's almost always they walk into the room and even if it's somebody who just directly if they were an influencer that voted them off it it maybe it's just because they haven't seen another human being in a while but it's like nice and people talk about like how wild and experienced it is and oh man you did such a great job.

I had no idea you were at Cafe. Like there's a respect for the game and each other. That is so nice. Almost always after the visit, the person that has been kicked off will be like, all right, I'm rooting for you. And they will usually like reveal all the things they have found out. Yeah. Just so you know, he said this to me and that should really be suspicious to you um and then at the reunion at the very end i think like oh man this is gonna be rough because usually there will be like flirtations that will develop and a lot of times

the flirtation is happening between a catfish and a person yes who is authentically themselves and i think like oh it's gonna be so awkward And usually there's like a second of it being awkward. Yeah. And then it's just like, oh my gosh, you really got me. There was a dude in the first season who played, I think, a woman who was kind of flirty. This has happened, I think, a couple seasons where somebody has had like a pretty flirtatious relationship with somebody who then like in the finale is revealed like, oh, that's, you're not them at all.

And you think like, oh no, that's gonna be a bum at all and you think like oh no that's going to be a bummer but they play it off for laughs like pretty much right away yeah it's a phenomenal show it is a show that is so much purer and more enjoyable than i think anybody would guess at first yeah i think it's easy to dismiss you know i feel like even when we watched the first episode we were like i don't know about this because you think like oh like the emojis and the texting and the popularity contest like it feels like oh this isn't for us you know we're we're not like the hip young people when you see that as like means to an end when you see that we're like every emoji and hashtag as unpalatable as it is to my

sensibilities is a sort of posturing where you are just trying to present this version of yourself or somebody else that people will feel is trustworthy yeah and that's really cool to like see how people do that and also seeing that as a sort of simulacrum of like, how people do that shit on social media in real life, like, as as unbelievable as it sounds like it does that really well. And even for somebody like me, who does not give a rat's ass about social media, for the most part, I think it's super fascinating. Yeah, I mean, it reminds me a little bit of like, I mean, in your context, it would be like when you're in like a production of a play. But like, for me, it's like if you go to like a two day long conference or something, like you develop this little ecosystem within your little group, and everybody's kind of like becomes, you know, friends for the week or whatever like it feels a lot like that of like you know when we went to like a childbirth class for example and it was like you have your little friends there and you develop like who does what and who says what yeah and then it it's gone yeah right but like while you're in it it feels very real i don't know there's something about the circle that reminds me of that it's a great show there's they still have the uk version there's a uh the circle brazil and i believe the circle france and japan too right no i don't think japan has the circle it has love is blind i would think

yeah that would be fun i think honestly like i would watch any of those shows i've heard the circle brazil is off the chains i know we need to we need to we need to dip maybe once we're done with this this season but this fourth season i think is still going on actually i think it ends today the day you're hearing this oh really i thought they would they would parcel it out in like chunks the way they usually put up like a couple episodes a week so like it is a pretty short-lived thing but if you've never watched it there's four seasons waiting for you and genuinely there has not been a week season of this show they have all been really really fun. And I cannot recommend this show enough. I think I was ashamed of my love because I know we watch some garbage TV. But a lot of the garbage TV we watch

has let us down lately. And the circle never fails to satisfy. That's exactly right. So yeah, that's the circle. And that was wonderful. And thanks to Bowen and Augustus for the use of our theme song money won't pay you can find a link to that in the episode description uh thank you to you for listening thanks to maximum fun for having us on the network go to maximumfund.org check out all the great shows that they have on there uh shows like triple click and uh stop podcasting yourself um oh and if you missed uh the live Adventure Zone. Oh my gosh. It's still available, right?

Video on demand. Yes, it's available for like another week and a half. It was so funny. Y'all, we played a Jenga based RPG called Dread. And it was a story about a vampire community. And there's one human being that moves in. And it was so off the the rails like right away uh it was and it was one of those things where the fact that you all are in different locations actually

like added an element to the show that i really liked because you're all like playing your own little jenga game and watching each other do it you get to watch our dad build the worst tower has he played have you played on a stack of bibles he had never played jenga before that's unreal it's unreal to me but anyway it was a lot of fun go to i think just go to macroy.family you can find a link to uh where where you can still get the video on demand for that we also have shows coming up in boston and mash and tuckett and salt lake city and portland and san diego and San Diego and D.C. and Detroit and Cincinnati. Wow.

Coming up later this year. Did you like that? Good memory. Thanks. Yeah. I've said it a lot. So go to McElroy.family. Got a bunch of stuff at McElroyMerch.com, too, that you should go and peruse at your pleasure.

That's it. I thought you were going to say leisure. Did I say? What did I say? You said pleasure. Peruse at your pleasure. That's nice. I like that.

I like that. Peruse your, how about just peruse your pleasure? And that could be like the tagline for the show. I feel like I'm looking at an ad for Las Vegas in an in-flight magazine right now. Yes, absolutely. It's like one of those weird commercials

where like Vegas used to do commercials where it was just like a bunch of people in like rabbit costumes, like a bunch of people in like rabbit costumes like coming off an elevator and like and i would just be like vegas it's like what the fuck does that i don't want any of that are you kidding me anyway go to vegas this episode is brought to you by the vegas council any up what happens there is what happened peruse your pleasure money

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