0:00

Hello listeners! A few quick

0:02

things before we get to this amazing

0:04

new episode. First, thank you to everyone

0:06

who checked in on us in the

0:08

wake of these wildfires here in Los Angeles.

0:10

We are fine, but we do know

0:12

several folks, including friends, family, some past guests,

0:14

and actually some staff members at our

0:16

Radio Home LAist who have lost their homes.

0:19

Our hearts go out to them,

0:21

and I'm sure yours do too.

0:23

If you're able, we'd love for

0:25

you to consider contributing to their

0:27

recovery efforts. You can find a

0:29

list of reputable charities working directly

0:31

with folks on the ground at

0:33

charitynavigator .org/Los Angeles Fires. Now as we

0:35

record this, the wildfires still aren't

0:37

entirely contained, and there are actually

0:39

evacuation warnings in Pasadena. So we

0:41

are postponing our show that was

0:43

scheduled for Pasadena on January 25th.

0:45

We look forward to getting that

0:47

rescheduled soon, and we look forward

0:50

to hopefully being back in Pasadena

0:52

for sure on Thursday, February 6th

0:54

with scheduled guests Phil Rosenthal and

0:56

Sarah Jones. In the meantime, we

0:58

are still coming to San Francisco

1:00

to do a show at S

1:02

.F. Sketchfest, where they're on Sunday,

1:04

January 19th at 4 p .m. with

1:06

guests Jennifer Tilly and Adam Savage.

1:09

And we'd love to have an

1:11

audience, so please tell everyone you

1:13

know in the Bay Area to

1:15

come check us out. Again, that's

1:17

Sunday, January 19th. You may even

1:19

see a cameo from my sniff

1:21

you. Oh, very exciting teaser there,

1:23

Helen. Hey, speaking of January 19th, for

1:26

those of you who supported us

1:28

in the 2024 Max Fun Drive, you

1:30

should have already received an email

1:32

with a link to register for the

1:34

2024 -ish listener tournament. Now the deadline

1:36

to fill out the registration form

1:38

is January 19th, so please make sure

1:40

you register if you want to

1:42

play. Winners of the tournament get to

1:44

be guests on an actual episode

1:46

of GoFact Yourself. If you haven't gotten

1:49

the email with a registration link,

1:51

please email April at MaximumFun .org right now

1:53

so we can include you in the

1:55

fun. Again, this is only open to

1:57

people who supported us in the Max

1:59

Fun Drive in 2024 in a

2:01

few months will have

2:03

another opportunity to do

2:06

that for the 2025

2:08

drive. So stay tuned.

2:10

And that's it. Thank

2:12

you for your support.

2:15

Thanks for your care

2:17

and thanks for listening.

2:19

And thanks for sending

2:21

everyone you know to

2:23

our shows in San

2:26

Francisco. And now here's

2:28

Helen. Do you drive

2:30

people crazy when you

2:32

start a sentence with,

2:34

well, actually? Well, guess

2:37

what? You can go

2:39

fact yourself! Welcome

2:45

to Go Fact Yourself, the show

2:47

where we quiz the smartest people

2:49

we know and find out why

2:51

they love what they love. I'm

2:53

Helen Hong, and now from the

2:56

Crawford at LAist in Pasadena. Here's

2:58

our moderator, Jay Keith and Stratton.

3:00

Thank you so much, Helen. Thanks,

3:02

everybody. Helen how are you doing?

3:04

I'm very well Jacob how are

3:06

you? Very well this is exciting

3:09

this is our first matinee that

3:11

we've done here. I know usually

3:13

our tapings are in the evening

3:15

and by the time we end

3:17

the you know there's nothing really

3:19

it's kind of late in the

3:21

evening and there's nothing really it's

3:24

kind of late in the evening

3:26

and there's nothing really and there's

3:28

nothing really else to do except

3:30

like get a late night bite

3:32

or just go home. Wow! I'm

3:34

giddy, I'm giddy, at the prospect.

3:37

Yeah. And what are you in

3:39

the market for at Costco? Well,

3:41

I was supposed to get my

3:43

sister a holiday gift from Costco

3:45

and it didn't happen. So now

3:47

it's going to be a very

3:49

belated holiday gift. Okay, and what

3:52

are you getting here? A spam

3:54

t-shirts. You're Asian American, you know

3:56

how important spam is to our

3:58

culture and they have official licensed

4:00

spam t-shirts. after you leave the

4:02

spam concert. Helen Hong, everybody! All

4:05

right today on Go Fact Yourself two

4:07

guests will compete to answer questions about

4:09

facts they know facts they may not

4:12

know and frankly facts they should know.

4:14

Plus we'll meet actual experts on two

4:16

very different topics and finally we'll declare

4:18

one of our guest the winner of

4:20

today's show. Let's get started and meet

4:22

today's guest Helen who do we have

4:24

playing tonight. He is a hip-hop

4:27

artist whose latest album is previous

4:29

industry's service merchandise and she is

4:31

an iconic comedian who hosts the

4:33

podcast. Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone.

4:35

It's Open Mike Eagle and

4:37

Paula Poundstone! Here's Mike,

4:40

Gloria! Have a seat

4:42

there, and there's Paula!

4:45

Wonderful to have you

4:47

both here! Thanks so much

4:49

for having us! She said

4:52

it. Oh yes she did. Now Mike

4:54

your album with previous industries is called

4:56

service merchandise. It's named after the defunct

4:58

company that some people might be familiar

5:01

with called service merchandise and there are

5:03

several tracks that are named after other

5:05

defunct companies like Photomat. What do these

5:07

places represent to you? Youth. Yeah. They

5:10

just represent old ways of doing things

5:12

that we thought were important growing up.

5:14

The group is three guys around the

5:17

same age we all grew up in

5:19

Chicago. We're celebrating. those old

5:21

memories. Are the other tracks like

5:23

Radio Shack and Kmark? We considered

5:25

Radio Shack. Yeah. Too soon though.

5:27

The verdict was nobody liked Radio

5:30

Shack to celebrate it. There's a

5:32

reason why they went under. We're a

5:34

fan of the Tandy. You're right. No.

5:36

No. No. Right. And do you have

5:38

to explain to some of your younger

5:41

listeners what things like photomat are? Yes,

5:43

and we just lie. What do you

5:45

tell them photomat is? We just make

5:47

up something different every time. Wonderful. Paula,

5:50

like on our show, on your podcast, nobody

5:52

listens to Paula Pounds, don't you bring on

5:54

experts in various fields? Which ones stand out

5:56

in your memory or surprised you with what

5:59

they had to say? plumber and no

6:01

I used to have to call

6:03

the plumber so often there was

6:05

like always a clog turns out

6:07

if you pour like warm to

6:09

hot water down your toilet and

6:11

your sinks maybe once a month

6:14

or so that once a month

6:16

that can keep the plumber away

6:18

and I'm telling you it's worked

6:20

I wouldn't be here now You

6:22

would be dealing with a plumbing

6:24

issue. It is freed up so

6:26

much time for me. And we

6:28

are the richer for it. I've

6:30

taken up a language, I play

6:33

the drums. Well, Mike and Paula,

6:35

we're going to chat with you

6:37

two more a little bit later,

6:39

but we asked each of you

6:41

to provide us with a few

6:43

topics outside your field of work

6:45

that you know and love. Mike,

6:47

for you, you said that was

6:50

the attitude era of professional wrestling,

6:52

the Jonathan Hickman era of X-Men

6:54

comics, and the anime Joe Joe's

6:56

Bazaar adventure. Those are three things

6:58

that I love. Whereas Paula, you

7:00

said that you know and love

7:02

the TV show Breaking Bad. Drake's

7:04

cakes, and this is fun, the

7:06

desegregation of department store lunch counters

7:09

in Nashville, Tennessee. I'd like to

7:11

hear about that. Later on, we're

7:13

going to ask each of you

7:15

some in-depth trivia questions about one

7:17

of those topics, but first, we're

7:19

going to get your thoughts on

7:21

something you might know nothing about.

7:23

It is time to split some

7:26

hairs with our What's the Difference

7:28

Round. We'll have one question for

7:30

each of you, each worth up

7:32

to two points. If either of

7:34

you gives an incorrect or incomplete

7:36

answer, the other person has a

7:38

chance to steal. Your topic today,

7:40

respect your elders. First up in

7:43

respect, your elders is Mike. to

7:45

honor someone, to respect or to

7:47

honor. Respect is a general category

7:49

of behaviors. Honoring them involves ritual

7:51

somehow. There's an answer. It certainly

7:53

is. All right, we have Mike's

7:55

answer. We don't know yet if

7:57

he's entirely correct. Paula, anything you'd

7:59

like. to change or add.

8:02

I think respecting means

8:04

that you believe in

8:06

what they say and

8:09

do and honoring somehow

8:11

involves a sword. Involve a sword.

8:13

All right. I wish I

8:15

had said sword. Well, this

8:18

segment needs an honor killing.

8:20

Let's go to Helen Hong

8:22

at the judge's table for the

8:24

facts. Here are the facts. Respect

8:26

is a feeling of admiration or

8:28

esteem for another person or institution.

8:31

Honor is an action that demonstrates

8:33

that feeling. For instance, I might

8:35

feel respect for an old teacher

8:37

who had a strong influence in

8:39

my life. So I honor her

8:42

by giving her a framed autograph

8:44

photo of myself. We should all

8:46

be so honored by Helen Hong.

8:48

That's right, and you can show

8:50

honor without feeling respect for a

8:53

person. For instance, there might be

8:55

an office holder whom you do

8:57

not respect at all, but you

8:59

will still rise when they enter

9:02

a room to honor the office

9:04

that they hold. But thank goodness,

9:06

that's just a hypothetical, and nothing

9:08

will ever have to deal with

9:11

again. I'm going to give

9:13

one point each, because Paula, you said

9:15

that respect is believing in what they

9:17

say, which is generally true. And then

9:20

honor, Mike, you said ritual somehow, which

9:22

is an action. Yeah. One point

9:24

eight, very nice. All right, up

9:26

next, in respect, your elders is

9:28

Paula. Paula, your question comes from

9:30

a listener, who is it Helen?

9:32

I will let them tell you

9:35

themselves, because we have an in-person

9:37

listener question. Listeners, if you'd like

9:39

to submit a suggestion for what's

9:41

the difference round, go to go

9:43

fact your pod.com and click on

9:45

get involved. OK, take it away,

9:48

listener. Thank you, Helen. Hi, everyone.

9:50

I'm Bob Bowden from Los Angeles,

9:52

California. Hey, Bob. Hi. And my

9:54

question for what's the difference is.

9:56

While they both might deserve your

9:59

respect, what's? What's the difference between

10:01

older and elder? Bob Bowden, everybody.

10:03

Thank you so much, Bob. Good

10:05

question. All right, Paula, you heard

10:08

Bob. What is the difference between

10:10

older and elder? Older is someone

10:12

who numerically is older than you.

10:14

And elder is someone who's old.

10:17

But not necessarily numerically. Well, numerically

10:19

older than you, but substantially. Substantially.

10:21

For example, I am older than

10:23

Mike's elder. And yet you want

10:26

his respect. I do. Okay. Well,

10:28

we've got Paula's answer. We don't

10:30

know yet if she's entirely correct.

10:32

Mike, anything, you'd like to change

10:35

or add. I'll just add that

10:37

they're spelled different. Nice. Try to

10:39

get some low-hanging fruit there. Yeah.

10:41

All right, well, this segment isn't

10:44

getting any younger. Let's go to

10:46

Helen Hong at the judges table

10:48

for the facts. Here are the

10:50

facts. Older can apply to people

10:53

or things. Elder only applies to

10:55

people. I can say that my

10:57

car is older than yours, but

10:59

I would not say that it

11:02

is elder than yours. But I

11:04

could say that I have an

11:06

older brother or an elder brother,

11:08

except I don't have a brother.

11:10

Well, as my sister would say,

11:13

you're not missing anything. That's

11:15

right. Also, older is always an adjective, but

11:18

elder can be a noun. So you could

11:20

say, mind your elders, not mind your olders,

11:22

unless your elder's last name is older. And

11:25

then you could say, mind your older, elder,

11:27

older, older, elders. And I hope you do.

11:29

Helen, how do our guest do? I don't

11:31

think either one of you got that correct

11:34

because you didn't get the key distinction of

11:36

people versus things. Yes, I'm sorry, no points

11:38

there. But let's now get to know our

11:41

guests a little bit better. Open Mike Eagle.

11:43

People will know you from your several indie

11:45

rap albums. You had a show on Comedy

11:47

Central, your podcast, and your Twitch, which is

11:50

something that you've really been getting into more

11:52

on a regular basis. Tell us what people

11:54

see when they join you on Twitch. I

11:57

invented this thing called a morning show a

11:59

morning show. That was you. It was

12:01

me. Yeah. It's me. I do it

12:03

three times a week on Twitch and

12:05

we found a striking amount of middle-aged

12:08

people who would join us in chat

12:10

three times a week. It's great. That's

12:12

your demo? There are no video games

12:15

involved whatsoever. Well Mike your

12:17

newest album is called service merchandise It's with

12:19

a group called previous industries and it's something

12:21

of a super group It's you video Dave

12:24

and still rift and the three of you

12:26

go back a ways I went to high

12:28

school with still rift and I went to

12:30

college with video Dave Wow, and so what's

12:33

it like to collaborate with people that you've

12:35

known for so long? Oh, it's easy. I

12:37

guess yeah, we're all like siblings and we

12:39

have a shorthand from all the time that

12:41

we've all spent together and growing up

12:43

in Chicago around the same space time.

12:45

It's very chill, very easy. Very cool.

12:47

Well you've coined the term art wrap

12:49

to describe what you do. How do

12:51

you define art wrap compared to other

12:53

things that people might think of? Well

12:55

you know I find it now is

12:57

a thing that I never should have

12:59

said in the first place. Never ever

13:02

should have said it. Oh my god,

13:04

it haunts me like a nightmare. It

13:06

was meant to designate what me and

13:08

some of my peers do that's different

13:10

from what was going on in mainstream

13:12

rap at the time. Because at

13:14

the time mainstream rap was not

13:16

weird at all. But now everybody's

13:18

weird. So it doesn't make any

13:21

sense anymore. You do such incredible

13:23

rhyming and I'm wondering, are you

13:25

always thinking in terms of rhymes? But

13:27

what I used to do in my

13:29

spare time was just listen to people

13:31

talk, hear what they say, and I'd

13:33

write down rhymes. That just rhymes. You

13:35

just did it. That's the entire fun

13:37

of the film. Well, thank you so

13:40

much for bringing such fun to our

13:42

show. Open Mike Eagle everybody. Thank you.

13:44

Paula, people of course, know you from

13:46

your podcast. Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone.

13:48

Your appearances on Wait, wait, don't tell

13:50

me. Of course, that Helen is on

13:52

as well. Your voice is in the

13:54

Inside Out movies and of course, your

13:56

stand-up. You've got an upcoming stand-up show

13:58

with the Alex Theater. in Glendale and

14:00

I was surprised to see that's your

14:03

first time performing in the LA area

14:05

in six years. What? For some reason

14:07

my manager likes to throw that in?

14:09

Yeah. Because she thinks it's important somehow?

14:11

It's larger than your name on the

14:14

flyer. The reason they made it larger

14:16

than my name is because people who

14:18

aren't ready yet will not come out

14:20

that night. They need a good seven,

14:22

eight, nine years before they're ready? It's

14:25

more of an alert. Well, I have

14:27

heard tell of something very famous to

14:29

Paula Poundstone, which are your ping pong

14:31

parties. Yes, I know what happens at

14:33

a Paula Poundstone ping pong party. Other

14:36

than a lot of peeing. Yeah, a

14:38

lot of. I was going to say,

14:40

other than a lot of alliteration. A

14:42

lot of alliteration. Well, everybody wants to

14:45

play puts their name and hat. We

14:47

make doubles teams. I have to confess

14:49

that sometimes I genetically alter the teams,

14:51

if it looks like one team will

14:53

get just squashed. I'm telling you, not

14:56

before that plumber. Not before that plumber.

14:58

How good are you at ping pong?

15:00

I used to be a good like

15:02

backyard player, but now I don't see

15:04

very well anymore. It used to be

15:07

when we picked teams and somebody got

15:09

me for a partner, they'd be like,

15:11

oh great. And now when people get

15:13

me for a partner, they're like, oh

15:15

great. And now when people get me

15:18

for a partner, we're going. We're going

15:20

soon. We're leaving soon. Well now I

15:22

see why you don't perform a lot

15:24

in your own hometown because you're too

15:27

busy throwing these parties. So

15:29

I want to give you this

15:31

platform, speak about libraries. Librarians aren't

15:33

necessarily the smartest people in the

15:35

world, but by God, they know

15:37

where to find it. You know,

15:39

they don't have the bun-toting shushers

15:42

that they used to have when

15:44

we were going up. That could

15:46

be one of your songs, by

15:48

the way, bun-toting shushers. Something

15:50

something pushers. I love it. I like that

15:52

and I like elder older older elder Oh,

15:54

I would love to see that show up

15:57

in a we are getting cuts from all

15:59

of his work in the future Excellent. Well,

16:01

thank you so much for checking us out

16:03

today. Paula Poundstone, everybody! Helen, what is our

16:05

score heading into the break? At the end

16:07

of the first round, Open Mike Eagle has

16:09

one point, and Paula Poundstone has one

16:12

point. But those scores are bound to

16:14

change as we move on to questions

16:16

about topics our guests have chosen for

16:18

themselves. That's all up ahead. When we

16:20

come back, on go fact yourself. San

16:26

Francisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago,

16:29

Las Vegas, what do these places

16:31

have in common? They're all cities

16:33

where I've recently hosted private events

16:35

for the Big Quiz thing. And

16:38

let me tell you, they were

16:40

amazing. If you want to have

16:42

an amazing time playing trivia, either

16:44

with your business, your family, or

16:47

your friends, either in person, or

16:49

online, go to Big Quiz Thing.com.

16:51

Go to Big Quiz Thing. Fun!

16:53

Yeah, me? Sure. I don't know.

16:56

Okay. Bye. Hello? Hannah? Yeah.

16:58

It's Clint McElroy. Hi, Hannah

17:00

Run. Oh my God, hello. I

17:02

don't know if you know who

17:04

I am. I do. I love The

17:07

Adventure Zone. It is probably

17:09

my favorite D&D podcast.

17:11

You've been a faithful

17:13

member of Maximum Fund.

17:16

Since March of 2019.

17:18

And this is them

17:20

rewarding you. as our maximum

17:22

fund member of the month.

17:24

It's awesome. I love it. So what

17:27

made you decide to become a member

17:29

of Max fund? You know, it was

17:31

so long ago, I'm not sure.

17:33

what the exact moment where I

17:35

decided was. I think I've kept

17:37

it up intentionally because a lot

17:39

of those different podcasts have been

17:41

there for me when I felt

17:43

really alone and sad and just needed

17:45

something to laugh at. Oh, well that's

17:47

Hannah, thank you so much. Thanks for

17:49

being a member, thanks for being a

17:51

Tans fan, thanks for all the nice

17:54

things you had to say about me

17:56

specifically and I guess my kids. I

17:58

get it in the back way. the

18:00

next Max Fund member of the

18:02

month. Support us at Maximafun.org/join. Welcome

18:04

back to Go Fact Yourself with

18:06

our guests. Open Mike Eagle and

18:08

Paula Poundstone. Once again here is

18:10

Jakey Van Stratt. Thank you so

18:12

much Helen. Thank you everybody. Mike,

18:14

of your many interests, you told

18:16

us that you know and love

18:18

the attitude era of professional wrestling,

18:20

the Jonathan Hickman era of X-Men

18:22

comics, and the anime, Joe Joe's

18:25

Bazaar Adventure. First, tell us why

18:27

it is you know and love

18:29

the attitude era of pro wrestling.

18:31

I feel like it was the

18:33

biggest boom period of the wrestling

18:35

business. I've always been very into

18:37

the theater and business of professional

18:39

wrestling. What is the attitude era?

18:41

This is like the stone-cold Steve

18:43

Austin era, the rock. Triple H?

18:45

Yes. Yes. Yes. Helen? Yeah, well

18:47

I know because I'm a triple

18:49

H and I'm always like why

18:51

does he get that and not

18:53

me? You can get it too

18:55

and you could also fight him

18:57

for it. All right. It's on.

19:00

Next tell us what it is

19:02

that you love about the Jonathan

19:04

Hickman era of X-Men comics. Because

19:06

X-Men have been around since 1963,

19:08

their own country, their own nation

19:10

and... It was just an interesting

19:12

subversion of their entire mythos up

19:14

until that point. And finally, tell

19:16

us what it is you know

19:18

and love about the anime, Joe

19:20

Joe's Bazaar Adventure. I just had

19:22

gotten very much into anime 2019-2020,

19:24

and that show in particular just

19:26

throws all the rules of anime

19:28

out of the window, a new

19:30

protagonist every season, characters have all

19:32

these wacky powers, and it's just

19:35

a testament to the imagination of

19:37

this particular... creative name Iraqi. I'm

19:39

seeing a lot of similarity in

19:41

those three things that you like.

19:43

You like sort of a refresh

19:45

of something that's already been happening

19:47

with new characters and new storylines.

19:49

Well to summarize Mike you said

19:51

you know and love the attitude

19:53

era of pro wrestling, the Jonathan

19:55

Hickman era of X-Men comics, and

19:57

the anime Joe Joe's bizarre adventure.

19:59

Today we want to quiz you about

20:02

the Jonathan Hickman era of

20:04

X-Men Comics. You're pumping your fist.

20:06

Is that the one you were gunning for?

20:08

That is the one I was hoping it

20:10

would be. How would you describe sort of

20:12

what the particular style of the Jonathan Hickman

20:15

era was for people who just think X-Men

20:17

is just one thing? A lot of it's

20:19

an allegory for minority relations in America. Whoa.

20:21

And sort of always has been. They've always

20:23

been persecuted pretty much throughout the history of

20:26

their time in Marvel Comics and in Jonathan

20:28

Hickman came along and sort of took all

20:30

of that history and these characters knowledge of

20:32

that history and they used it to sort

20:34

of amassed political power for themselves and like

20:36

I said they just completely invertedverted the entire

20:39

dynamic. inside of the comics. All right well

20:41

just ahead we're going to enlist the help

20:43

of a bona fide expert in your topic

20:45

with a question worth up to three points

20:47

but before that to let you show your

20:50

love here are five trivia questions about your

20:52

topic each worth one point if you want

20:54

it you're a lot of hint for any

20:56

two of these five questions. Now Paula do

20:58

listen closely because if Mike answers incorrectly

21:00

you could steal by the way Paula

21:02

how much do you know about the Jonathan

21:04

Hickman era of X-Men comics. Wow get ready.

21:07

We are we are getting ready

21:09

all right. Here's question number one

21:11

Mike no matter which era of

21:14

X-Men you enjoy whether it was

21:16

the first X-men title from 1963

21:18

called the X-Men or the Jonathan

21:20

Hickman title beginning in 2019 called

21:22

House of X all were produced

21:25

by what legendary comics publisher? Marvel

21:27

comics Ellen, that is correct. We're

21:29

on our way Fun fact, Marvel

21:31

was first known as Timely Publications,

21:33

publishing their first comic in 1939,

21:36

called Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics is

21:38

now owned by Disney, which I

21:40

hear is making some movies based

21:43

on Marvel characters. What? Yeah, very

21:45

savvy. You did not need the

21:47

hint in that, but hell, and what

21:49

would that hint have been? It

21:52

rhymes, with Blarvel. Thank you. I

21:54

appreciate a rhyming clue. Yes. You're

21:56

the first one. Here is question

21:58

number two one of the Pivotal

22:00

changes Hickman made was to the

22:02

character of Moira McTaggart, who had

22:04

been portrayed as a long-standing human

22:06

ally of the X-Men, but is

22:08

revealed to be a mutant, whose

22:10

important power is the ability to

22:13

do what when she dies. She

22:15

reincarnates and remembers all of her

22:17

past lives. Ellen? That is correct.

22:19

Sounds like you remember a lot

22:21

of her lives as well. You

22:23

did not need the hint in

22:25

that, but Helen what would that

22:27

hint have been? The ability to

22:29

do this is an important belief

22:31

in Hinduism, Buddhism, and the film,

22:33

Oh Heavenly Dog. Fun fact, not

22:35

only can she reincarnate on her

22:37

own timeline, but she does so

22:39

with full knowledge of everything she

22:42

experienced in her previous life, so

22:44

high school is probably a lot

22:46

easier. Bonus fun fact, Oh Heavenly

22:48

Dog starred Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour,

22:50

Omar Sharif, and Benji. It's

22:53

an interesting time to be

22:55

alive. Here's question number three.

22:57

The new age of the

22:59

X-Men started by Hickman is

23:01

told through many different comic

23:03

book titles, but which of

23:05

the following is not a

23:07

title that's come out since

23:09

2019? Is it X-corp, X-Factor,

23:11

X-Mackina, X-terminator, or X-Calibur? X-Mackina.

23:13

No hesitation, Helen. Helen? That

23:15

is correct. That is correct.

23:17

Very nice. You are a

23:19

fan. Big old nerd. Fun

23:21

fact, X-corp is a fictional

23:23

institution in the X-Men universe.

23:25

X-corp is also the official

23:27

name of the company that

23:29

used to be Twitter, which

23:31

I wish were fictional. Here's

23:33

question number four. You still

23:35

have your hints available. Giant

23:37

Size X-Men No. 1 was

23:39

published in 1975, and this

23:41

single issue introduced several new

23:43

humanoid characters into the X-Men

23:45

universe. Of the five Jonathan

23:47

Hickman issues of Giant Size

23:49

X-Men, two of them have

23:51

titles that feature names of

23:53

these 1975 characters. What are

23:55

those two names? Giant Size

23:57

X-Men Storm, Giant Size X-Men

23:59

Nightcraw. Helen? Wow, that is

24:01

correct. That is correct. Wow! Fun

24:03

fact, that 1975 issue where Storm

24:06

and Nightcrawler first appear was

24:08

written by the late Len

24:10

Ween, who had a deep

24:12

connection to this show. Len

24:14

was a guest on the

24:16

on-air pilot of GoFact yourself,

24:18

and you hear his wife's

24:20

name in our credits every

24:22

week because she is our

24:24

show photographer right over here. All

24:28

right, Mike, you have a chance to go five

24:31

for five, you can get this question correct. You

24:33

do still have a hint available. In the first

24:35

question of this quiz, we

24:37

mentioned that the very first

24:40

X-Men comic book was published

24:42

in 1963 and that the

24:44

first Hickman House of X

24:47

was published in 2019. The

24:49

cover price of the 1963

24:52

issue was 12 cents. What

24:54

was the cover price of

24:56

Hickman's first House of X

24:58

book? And we'll give it

25:00

to you within 50

25:03

cents. point nine one,

25:05

six, six, six, six,

25:07

six, six, six, six,

25:09

six, six, six, six,

25:11

six, you get it.

25:13

Yeah, yeah, Mike. I'm

25:16

gonna say 599. Helen? That

25:18

is right on the money!

25:21

Open, Mike Eagle is five

25:23

for five. Not only. Are

25:25

you a huge Marvel nerd? You're also

25:27

a math nerd. Sorry, Paul, he

25:30

didn't give you a chance to

25:32

show off in that round. You

25:34

know what? This kills me, because

25:36

I had every one of them.

25:38

Yes, I'm sure. Fun fact, because

25:40

so many moms threw away their

25:42

kids comic book collection, a copy

25:44

of that original 12-cent comic book

25:46

sold at auction in 2022 for

25:48

$872,000 dollars. Wow. Do you have any

25:50

idea how many mothers just

25:52

became hoarders right then?

25:55

We're part of the

25:57

problem and the solution.

26:00

very well in that quiz but

26:02

now here's your expert level question

26:04

that requires multiple answers. It is

26:07

time for your cluster fact. I'm

26:09

scared. I'm scared. Yeah. We'll be

26:11

bringing on an expert to discuss

26:14

your response. Mike, one of the

26:16

hallmarks of the Hickman era is

26:18

his focus on the island of

26:21

Krakoa and the transformation of the

26:23

super villain apocalypse into a superhero.

26:25

But Hickman was building on a

26:28

tradition started by legendary comics writer

26:30

Louise Simonson who had created Apocalypse

26:33

years before. For up to three

26:35

points, what was the name of

26:37

the original island from which Krakoa

26:40

was split? What is the birth

26:42

name of the alter ego? of

26:44

Apocalypse and what letter is embossed

26:47

on his costume. The original name

26:49

was Okara. Apocalypse's birth name is

26:51

In Sabineur. And the letter on

26:54

him is A. Okay, Helen is

26:56

taking note of those confident answers.

26:59

We've an expert on hand who

27:01

can tell us for sure Helen,

27:03

who do we have tonight? Joining

27:06

us tonight via Zoom from Woodstock,

27:08

New York is an award-winning writer

27:10

and editor whose 50-year career in

27:13

comic books includes creating the character

27:15

of Apocalypse. It's Louise Simonson! I'm

27:18

just a pleasure to be here.

27:21

Oh, it's an honor to have

27:23

you and a respect to have

27:25

you as well. Mike, you were

27:27

saying something as Louise was first

27:29

popping up on screen. What was

27:31

that? I was just saying wow,

27:33

because Louise Simonson is amazing and

27:35

introduced so many important concepts into

27:37

X-Men and writing X-Factor, the original

27:40

incredible work, and her husband's legacy,

27:42

Walt Simonson. It's incredible to even

27:44

be speaking to you today. How

27:46

nice. That's great. Well, Louise, my

27:48

goodness in addition to your work

27:50

on the X-Men titles you either

27:52

created or have written for titles

27:54

including Power Pack, Gene Gray, Warlock,

27:56

Thor, Star Wars, Superman the Man

27:58

of Steel, and much more You

28:01

won an Eagle Award, an Inc.

28:03

Pot Award, and been inducted into

28:05

the Harvey Awards and Eisenhower Awards

28:07

of Fame. Wow. Not bad. I've been

28:09

around a long time. Well, it's

28:11

not just longevity, it's also the

28:13

quality of your work. When you

28:15

started working at a place called

28:17

Warren Comics, how did you come

28:19

to be at Marvel? I got

28:21

recruited by the editor-in-chief. I used to... play

28:24

volleyball with a lot of the guys for

28:26

Marvel and I guess he kind of got

28:28

used to me there and he knew my

28:30

work. So he eventually lured me

28:33

over to Marvel. Did you start as an

28:35

editor and then move to writing or the

28:37

other way around? Yes, I started as an

28:39

editor. I edited the Uncanny X-Men and New

28:42

Mutants for a number of years. I was

28:44

kind of bored with editing at the time

28:46

because I had been doing it for so

28:48

many years. It was too easy. You know,

28:50

writing was more of a challenge. So

28:53

I went that direction. And tell us

28:55

about creating the character of Apocalypse.

28:57

When I took over X factor,

28:59

I had an idea for a

29:01

character who he wanted to do good

29:03

things, but he chose very bad

29:06

ways to do them. He wanted

29:08

to make people strong enough to

29:10

survive a disaster that he knew was

29:12

coming. And his way was to make

29:14

people fight each other so that the

29:17

strongest ones would survive in

29:19

the week would die. That made

29:21

him a villain. But actual fact is

29:23

hard, sort of in the right place.

29:25

A villain doesn't think they're a villain,

29:28

right? A villain always thinks that they're

29:30

doing something. Oh, no, no. He was

29:32

doing the service for all of us.

29:34

Yeah. Our topic focuses on the era

29:36

of Jonathan Hickman. What's it like to

29:38

have someone else take a character that

29:41

you created and do new things with

29:43

it? You know, it's fun and

29:45

it's weird. Because the character will

29:47

sometimes do things that you would

29:49

never have. thought of them doing,

29:51

but the fact that you made

29:53

up a character that other people

29:55

want to make stories about, it's

29:57

very flattering and you know it's

29:59

always fun. Were there things that you

30:01

hated? Were you like, no! How could

30:04

you? You mean hated that other people

30:06

did? Yes. Yes. Thank you that. That

30:08

is insane. Why would they, but you

30:10

know what? I've done terrible things to

30:12

other people's character. I have no room

30:14

for complaint. Yeah, we mentioned the great

30:17

Len Ween earlier and you actually appeared

30:19

on the cover of an iconic Len

30:21

Ween swamp thing issue. Oh, God. Can

30:23

you tell us about that? I lived

30:25

in New York City where almost everybody

30:27

who worked in comics at that time

30:29

lived because there was no faxes or

30:32

FedEx or anything. You just, you had

30:34

to be there if you were doing

30:36

it and you go into the office,

30:38

you turn in your work. So I

30:40

happened to live in the building where

30:42

Bernie rights and who was the artist

30:45

lived. in my collude and a batch

30:47

of other guys who did comics. We

30:49

all lived in, you know, on the

30:51

upper west side in the same building.

30:53

And the guys had taken into their

30:55

head at that point to use actors'

30:57

models, you know, instead of just making

31:00

up out of their heads. There weren't

31:02

a lot of girls in comics, and

31:04

I guess it weren't, they didn't know

31:06

too many women in the building, but

31:08

they asked me to come in and

31:10

be the female distress for the slomp

31:13

thing story that Len had written. It'll

31:15

be on my tombstone, it'll be, yeah,

31:17

she posed for this cover and she

31:19

wrote a couple of things too. Well,

31:21

let's get to the reason that we

31:23

brought you here as far as our

31:26

game is concerned. You heard the questions

31:28

that we asked of Mike first. We

31:30

wanted to know, what was the name

31:32

of the original island from which Kakoa

31:34

was split? Helen, what did Mike say?

31:36

Mike said Okara. And Louise? He's absolutely

31:38

right, there's a point. All

31:41

right, next we want to know

31:43

what the birth name of the

31:45

alter ego of Apocalypse was. Helen,

31:47

what did Mike say? Mike said

31:50

N. Sabanor. And Louise? He's absolutely

31:52

right. Another point to the mic.

31:54

And finally we wanted to know

31:56

what letter could possibly be embossed

31:58

on the costume of a... her

32:00

name to Apocalypse. Helen what did

32:02

Mike say? Mike said the letter

32:04

A. And Louise? Absolutely. A

32:06

perfect score from Open Mike Ego!

32:09

Being a nerd never served me

32:11

so well. Mike while we have Louise

32:13

here is there anything you'd like to

32:15

say or ask? I just also

32:17

just wanted to say in addition

32:19

to all of the legendary stuff

32:22

that you've made over the years

32:24

I really enjoyed that Gene Gray

32:26

miniseries last year too. It's awesome.

32:28

I hope you always stay writing

32:31

forever. That's so lovely. Louise, if

32:33

people want to find out more

32:35

about you or your work, where

32:38

can they do that? I'm on

32:40

Facebook. Okay. And pretty much any

32:42

comic book store on the planet,

32:44

you'll find the work of Louise

32:46

Simonson. Thanks for joining us. All

32:50

right Helen, what is our score at the end of

32:52

that round? At the end of that round, Open

32:54

Mike Eagle has nine points and Paula Poundstone

32:56

has one point with a round of questions

32:59

for Paula coming up. That's right, we're gonna talk

33:01

with Paula about a topic she knows about, plus

33:03

later Mike and Paula will go head to head

33:05

in our Fast Facts round all to find a

33:07

winner on Go Factor self. Jackie

33:13

Kacian, hi and welcome to

33:15

the maximum fun.org podcast, the

33:17

Jackie and Lori show, where

33:19

we talk about stand-up comedy,

33:21

and how much we love

33:23

it, and how much it

33:26

enrages us. We have a

33:28

lot of experience and a

33:30

lot of stories and a

33:32

lot of time on our

33:34

hands. So check us out,

33:36

it's one hour a week,

33:38

and we drop it every

33:40

Wednesday on Maxima Fun.org. With

33:42

our guests open Mike Eagle

33:44

and Paula Poundstone Once again,

33:46

here's Jakey Vance Raton. Thank you

33:49

Helen. Thank you everybody All

33:51

right, Paula of your many interests

33:53

you told us that you know

33:55

in love the TV show Breaking

33:57

Bad Drake's Cakes and the desegregation

33:59

of apartment store lunch counters in Nashville,

34:01

Tennessee. Let's find out a little bit

34:04

more about each of those. First, tell

34:06

us why you know and love the

34:08

TV show Breaking Bad. It's one of

34:10

the best television shows ever made. I

34:12

never saw it when it was on

34:14

TV, and then I got it on

34:17

DVD. I was going to do it

34:19

like just when I was on the

34:21

treadmill and that flew out the window

34:23

pretty fast. Because I just couldn't stop

34:25

watching it. I've seen the whole series,

34:28

no exaggeration, about 50 times. Oh wow.

34:30

Because I just watch it over and

34:32

over again. Yeah, I realize at a

34:34

point that maybe I had a problem.

34:36

So I said, you know, I sheepishly

34:39

shared with a friend that I couldn't

34:41

stop watching, breaking bad, just couldn't stop

34:43

watching it. And she said, oh my

34:45

gosh, you've got to watch Better Call

34:47

Saul. And that's like if you tell

34:49

somebody, I can't stop doing cocaine. And

34:52

they go, oh, you're going to try

34:54

heroin. That's... Well, at least it wasn't

34:56

meth. Yeah, no. You know, I had

34:58

a friend who died from cancer and

35:00

I used to say to her, I'm

35:03

so proud of you that you didn't

35:05

start manufacturing meth when you got your

35:07

diagnosis. It's important to find the light

35:09

wherever you can. Yeah. It was helpful

35:11

to her to hear that. Yeah. All

35:13

right, next, tell us why you know

35:16

and love Drake's Cakes. I grew up

35:18

in Massachusetts. Drake's Cakes are only sold

35:20

in six states, which I know because

35:22

I followed a delivery truck once. They're

35:24

not as good since they took the

35:27

trans fats out. But I think they

35:29

made the right decision. I do. I

35:31

like to have mine with a side

35:33

of trans fats. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe it

35:35

would be better if we had a

35:38

choice. So if somebody said no trans

35:40

fats for me, I could say, I'll

35:42

have theirs. And then finally, Paula, tell

35:44

us while you know and love the

35:46

desegregation of department store lunch counters in

35:48

Nashville, Tennessee. Easily some of the bravest

35:51

human beings that have ever lived in

35:53

the United states anyway. There

35:55

was an interview I think with David

35:57

Halberstam who wrote a book called The

36:00

Children. I'd feel horrible if I can't

36:02

remember enough facts about it, but it's

36:04

amazing. The book is like three inches

36:06

thick, and I've read it and read

36:08

it. It's obviously a great thing to

36:10

be reminded of. I think every once

36:13

in a while as well. Yeah. Yeah.

36:15

Have you ever been told that you

36:17

might have obsessive compulsive disorder? Yeah. Good.

36:19

In fact, I often say it over

36:21

and over again. You

36:27

know, you have an idea of what's

36:29

going to happen when you have Paula

36:31

Pounce on on your show. And then

36:33

she does it. And it's amazing. It's

36:36

a problem. All right, well, to summarize,

36:38

Pauli, you said you know and love

36:40

the TV show Breaking Bad, Drake's, and

36:42

the desegregation of department store lunch counters

36:44

in Nashville, Tennessee. Today we want to

36:46

quiz you about breaking bad. So good.

36:48

I've had almost the exact same experience

36:50

as you where I didn't watch it

36:52

when everyone else watched it. Yeah. Because

36:55

I didn't have cable. Oh yeah, well

36:57

I didn't need it. And I couldn't

36:59

stop why. It was like, you know,

37:01

it'd be like four o'clock in the

37:03

morning. I'd be like, just one more.

37:05

Yeah, no, I for four years I

37:07

slept with Mini DVD player beside my

37:09

pet and this is after I'd already

37:11

seen it all the way through and

37:14

I would put it on when I

37:16

went to sleep like a disc and

37:18

I would put one on and usually

37:20

they have like three or four episodes

37:22

I put one on and I pushed

37:24

the button and eventually I would fall

37:26

asleep but when I woke up again

37:28

I would push the button again and

37:30

sometimes like I would dream that you

37:33

know I was in it. What character

37:35

would you be playing? Just me. You

37:37

would just be like, you'd just be

37:39

like hanging out in the meth lab?

37:41

Yeah. Just call a poundstone, just chilling.

37:43

Yeah. That's what that show needed. More

37:45

witty word play. Yeah. Well, it would

37:47

say, who the hell are you and

37:50

what are you doing here? And then

37:52

I would wake up and push the

37:54

button again. Do you have any favorite

37:56

moments or lines that come to mind?

37:58

When you think of the show? Have

38:00

I ever had my kids, what is

38:03

that called, christened? I would play

38:05

that. Wow. Well just ahead we're going

38:07

to enlist the help of a

38:09

bona fide expert in the topic of

38:11

breaking bad with an expert level question

38:14

worth up to three points But

38:16

before that to let you show your

38:18

love here your five trivia questions

38:20

about the topic each worth one point

38:22

if you want it you're allowed to

38:25

hint for me two of these

38:27

five questions Now Mike do listen closely

38:29

because if Paula answers incorrectly you

38:31

could steal Mike by the way how

38:33

much do you know about breaking

38:35

bad? He can't keep getting away with

38:38

it Wow,

38:41

you're not letting him get away

38:43

with anything either Oh, come on,

38:45

you've got all of his rights.

38:47

All right, well, let's see how

38:50

you do. Here's question number one.

38:52

Paula, there are some rabid fans

38:54

of Breaking Bad, some of whom

38:56

like to visit the actual filming

38:58

locations of the show in Albuquerque

39:00

and recreate some of the show's

39:02

iconic moments. This led show creator

39:04

Vince Gilligan to beg fans to

39:06

stop going to the actual house

39:08

used as Walter White's home and

39:10

throwing what large circular food onto

39:13

the roof. Oh, pizza. Fun fact

39:15

just a couple of days ago

39:17

that house was listed for sale

39:19

with an asking price of four

39:21

million dollars On Zillow the estimate

39:23

of the home's value is less

39:25

than four hundred thousand dollars But

39:27

think of all the free pizzas

39:29

you'll get on your roof. I

39:31

think the owner was quoted as

39:33

saying we just can't take it

39:36

anymore All right, here's question number

39:38

two Another important food in the

39:40

Breaking Bad universe is chicken. As

39:42

methamphetamine distributor Gustavo Fring runs a

39:44

chain of restaurants whose name translates

39:46

to the Chicken Brothers but is

39:48

called what? Poyo Hermanos! Ellen? That

39:50

is correct. That is correct. Very

39:52

nice! Fun fact, Los Poyos Hermanos.com

39:54

redirects to another Albuquerque business, the

39:57

candy lady. A small company. that

39:59

made candy meth as props for

40:01

breaking bad. You can buy your

40:03

own candy meth from the website

40:05

for a dollar a bag or

40:07

$100 a kilo. You did not

40:09

need the hint in that, but

40:11

Helen, what would that hint have

40:13

been? It rhymes. It rhymes with

40:15

Bloz Bloios, blerblanos. We did it

40:17

for Paula as well, Mike. All

40:20

right. You've got to be taking

40:22

notes on this rhyme. I will

40:24

give you a thousand dollars cash

40:26

if you use Bloisos Blaanos in

40:28

Iraq. I've done worse for less.

40:30

Good because I don't have a

40:32

thousand dollars cash. All right, Paul,

40:34

here's question. What do you mean

40:36

you don't have a thousand dollars

40:38

cash? You're making a public radio

40:40

show. You sell all your mugs

40:43

and totes, you'll have a thousand

40:45

dollars cash. We're working on it.

40:47

Here's question number three. Gustavo Fring

40:49

wasn't the only one who needed

40:51

a business front. In order to

40:53

launder drug profits, Walt and his

40:55

wife Skyler bought a car wash.

40:57

As the manager of a growing

40:59

business, Skyler trained her employees, including

41:01

her son Walter Jr. to reinforce

41:03

the company's brand by saying what

41:06

short phrase to customers as they

41:08

leave the cash register. Have a

41:10

day one day. That is correct.

41:12

That is correct. Very good. And

41:14

said with the right attitude in

41:16

gusto too. Fun fact, their car

41:18

wash was called A1A car wash.

41:20

The shooting location was an actual

41:22

car wash called octopus car wash

41:24

and fans were begged not to

41:27

throw octopuses on the roof. Paul

41:29

your three for three here is

41:31

question number four you do still

41:33

have your hints available not only

41:35

did Breaking Bad have amazing performances

41:37

from its main cast with multiple

41:39

Emmy Awards going to Brian Cranston

41:41

Anna Gunn and Aaron Paul their

41:43

guest actors were phenomenal too but

41:45

which is the only character on

41:47

the series whose portrayal led to

41:50

an Emmy nomination for guest acting

41:52

is it Ted Beniki Hector Salamanca

41:54

Juan Bosa Jane Margolis Jane Margolis

41:56

or Lydia Rodart Quail I think

41:58

it might be Jane Markolis, but

42:00

I'm not sure. I'll take a hint.

42:02

Helen, how about that first hint? The role

42:04

of Jane Margolis did not lead to an

42:06

Emmy nomination. Oh, I really don't know, but

42:08

I think Hector Salamanca should have gotten

42:11

it. Helen? That is correct. That is

42:13

correct, and he did. Fun fact, Hector

42:15

Salamanca from the drug cartel was played

42:17

by Mark Margolis. Juan Bosa, another member

42:19

of the cartel, was played by Javier

42:21

Gra-Graeda, who was a friend of a

42:23

friend of our friend of our show,

42:25

and happens to be in the audience

42:28

tonight audience tonight. Hi, Avi. So good.

42:30

I guess we've got a bonus expert. Oh

42:32

my gosh, this is so exciting. Well,

42:34

what's also exciting is you are four

42:37

for four and have a chance to

42:39

go five for five if you can

42:41

get this question correct. Toward the

42:43

end of the series, Walter buried

42:45

barrels of cash in a remote

42:47

desert location, then used GPS coordinates

42:50

to find them again. The coordinates he used

42:52

on the show don't actually lead to a

42:54

spot in the desert though, but they do

42:56

lead to a place important to the show.

42:58

What is that place? Give me a hint.

43:00

Helen, how about that second hint? This

43:02

place is now owned by Netflix. This

43:05

place is now owned by Netflix. Makes

43:07

sense that Netflix would now own this

43:09

place. It's in Albuquerque. In

43:12

Albuquerque? A studio. Helen? That is

43:14

correct. Paula Poundstone is five for

43:16

five! It was the actual production

43:18

studio and offices of Breaking Bad

43:21

that if you went to those

43:23

coordinates, it would be there. Fun

43:25

fact, the episode where the barrels

43:27

of cash are dug up is

43:29

called Ozymandias, which is also the

43:31

name of a character in X-Men

43:33

comics, who was a servant to

43:36

Apocalypse. Connections, y'all. Full circle. We

43:38

thought we had no connection whatsoever.

43:40

And then something like this comes

43:42

up. It brought us together. Yeah. Yeah.

43:44

Polly, you obviously did very well in

43:46

that topic, but now here is your

43:48

expert level question that requires multiple answers.

43:51

It is time for your cluster fact.

43:53

We'll be bringing on an expert to

43:55

discuss your response. Paula, one of the

43:57

more colorful characters on Breaking Bad is

43:59

Walter. White's sister-in-law, Marie Schrader. And

44:01

your question concerns Marie and Colors.

44:04

For up to three points, first,

44:06

what color does Marie wear in

44:09

nearly every appearance on the show?

44:11

Next, what item is she caught

44:13

red-handed stealing from a real estate

44:16

open house? And, in Marie's final

44:18

appearance in the Breaking Bad universe,

44:21

she sits next to Agent Gomez's

44:23

widow at a courtroom hearing for

44:25

Saul Goodman. What is the first

44:28

name of Mrs. Gomez, which is

44:30

a Spanish word for a color?

44:33

Um, purple, uh, spoons, maybe, I

44:35

can't, uh, violet, maybe? I mean,

44:37

violet. Yeah. Okay. Helen is taking

44:40

note of those answers. We have

44:42

an expert on handing and tell

44:45

us for sure, Helen, who do

44:47

we have tonight? Joining us tonight

44:49

is an actor whose career includes

44:52

five seasons playing Marie on Breaking

44:54

Bad. It's Betsy Brant! Paul

45:00

you seem stunned are you okay? I'm

45:02

so excited. Oh, that's what we like

45:04

to hear Oh, I'm also excited. Well,

45:07

Betsy, in addition to Breaking Bad for

45:09

which you won a SAG award, people

45:11

will know you from movies and TV

45:13

shows, including Boston Legal, Masters of Sex,

45:15

Life in Pieces, the Michael J. Fox

45:17

show, Parenthood, and the unicorn, and the

45:19

unicorn. And on the unicorn, you worked

45:22

with Helen Hong. That's right, I did.

45:24

We had a good time. We were

45:26

widows together. Oh. I totally invited you.

45:28

Did I not invite you to a

45:30

ping pong? Did you? I, because I

45:32

got to tell you, I used to

45:34

be really good at ping pong. Well,

45:37

the next one you have to be.

45:39

Okay, good, I'm there. And I want

45:41

to say that when we first approached

45:43

you about being on the show today,

45:45

you said, oh my gosh, I'm a

45:47

huge fan of Paula Pound stuff. Yeah.

45:49

We had the best time, and it

45:52

was during the pandemic. start first where

45:54

were you in your life and your

45:56

career when you first became involved with

45:58

the show? I had been living in

46:00

LA I think for about like six

46:02

years and I'd kind of just accepted

46:04

I'm like oh come on I'm gonna

46:07

be like guest star recurring material and

46:09

I'm happy where I am it's good

46:11

and then once I met Vince Gilligan

46:13

that all kind of changed and it

46:15

was such a great ride. I've heard

46:17

you say that it was the best

46:19

pilot that you had ever read by

46:22

a football field. Can I tell you

46:24

Vince his stage directions? you write in

46:26

it like he's like the White House

46:28

no president has ever lived here like

46:30

you hear that voice that like right

46:32

even though it's just his writing I

46:34

said when did you come up with

46:37

this idea and he's like well if

46:39

you look back in season two and

46:41

I'm like you are a freak genius

46:43

I love your character so much in

46:45

Breaking Bad and I love the little

46:47

scene of you stealing shoes and I

46:49

was like, I just remember being shocked

46:52

by that scene and be like, and

46:54

she steals. And it's so passive aggressive,

46:56

she's like, oh sales person, oh you

46:58

weren't very nice to me, let me

47:00

leave something for you. And then she

47:02

walks away like it's nothing and it

47:04

was the right thing to do. That's

47:07

the thing I loved about. All villains

47:09

think that they're doing the right. Absolutely.

47:11

when you felt that Breaking Bad was

47:13

really becoming part of the culture, can

47:15

you talk about that? Yes, I think

47:17

it was after season three. People knew

47:19

what it was, people were excited. We

47:22

also had these fans that were, you

47:24

know, in the beginning, they weren't big

47:26

in numbers, but they were sure big

47:28

in spirit. And I think that is

47:30

what helped the show stay on the

47:32

air. You came back for the finale

47:34

of Better Call Saul. What was it

47:37

like to come back for the finale

47:39

of Better Call Saul? What was it

47:41

like to come back after so long?

47:43

And had you kept up with what

47:45

was happening on Better Call Saul? breaking

47:47

bad like yeah we laugh we cried

47:49

we had lunch together and it was

47:52

awesome and amazing and oh my god

47:54

Odinkirk gave me chills like to see

47:56

him in that role I was so

47:58

happy to be a part of doing

48:00

a former read to get to do

48:02

right by Hank and Marie spin-off and

48:05

have that kind of closure as a

48:07

character and see her like get her

48:09

act together and like grow up and

48:11

have her priorities be you know that

48:13

was just really phenomenal and it was

48:15

a lot of fun. Did you have

48:17

the idea that there could be a

48:20

spin-off for Marie? Can we have Louise

48:22

Simonson write it now? Because I'll make

48:24

that phone call today. Yeah, we'll see

48:26

what we can do. I can make

48:28

some calls. I would totally watch a

48:30

Hank and Marie spin- Would there be

48:32

a laugh track? Because that was the

48:35

one great thing about both of your

48:37

characters is you brought this comedic relief

48:39

to a very serious, you know, at

48:41

times it was a very serious series.

48:43

Yeah. And you guys were always so

48:45

funny and quirky and just like these

48:47

two people? I know, I loved it,

48:50

I loved it. And they were also

48:52

very sweet with each other, which like

48:54

in a show that there wasn't a

48:56

lot of love. Well, let's get to

48:58

the reason we brought you here as

49:00

far as our game is concerned. You

49:02

heard the questions that we asked of

49:05

Paula. First, we want to know what

49:07

color does the character of Marie wear

49:09

in nearly every appearance on Breaking Bad.

49:11

Helen, what did Paula say? Paula said

49:13

purple. And Betsy? Oh, purple. All the

49:15

way. That's a point for Paula. Very

49:17

nice. I never really knew. What was

49:20

the thinking behind that? Kathleen tutorial or

49:22

costume designer gave everybody a color in

49:24

the pilot and I just I said

49:26

well I think that if like purple

49:28

is my color I think Marie like

49:30

because I think she's a little OECD

49:32

and I said I think that's really

49:34

her color and she's obsessed with it

49:36

like a child is and Vince I

49:38

think also was really tired and was

49:40

like okay and so they did and

49:42

then the writers really got into it

49:44

and by the end of the show

49:46

I mean they would find the weirdest

49:48

purple stuff and put it in my

49:50

my my set house and it was

49:52

yeah I I have no purple in

49:54

my home now. Like none, none, can't

49:56

do it. Different persons still. All right,

49:59

next we wanted to know what item.

50:01

Marie caught red-handed stealing from a real

50:03

estate open house? Helen what did Paula

50:05

say? Paula said spoons. And Betsy?

50:07

Absolutely. Yes, very nice spoons. Also

50:09

a framed picture I think was

50:12

something that came out of her purse.

50:14

Yes, and a little, there's a little like

50:16

a little chotchki that she stole, I know

50:18

because I stole it at the end of

50:21

the show and it's... In my house. So

50:23

you didn't keep the purple theme, but

50:25

you did keep the cleptomania theme. Yes.

50:27

All right. Yes. And then finally we

50:29

wanted to know from Paula in her

50:31

final appearance in the Breaking Bad universe

50:33

when she sits next to Agent Gomez's

50:35

widow. What is the first name of

50:37

Mrs. Gomez? Helen, what did Paula

50:39

say? Paula said Villett. And Betsy? It's

50:42

Blanca. Blanca. No point there. But still

50:44

a very nice job, Paula. Well we

50:46

have Betsy here. Is there. Is there

50:48

anything you here. I know you guys

50:50

have already met, but we have,

50:52

but since I talked to you

50:55

a couple years ago, I've

50:57

watched the show probably, I

50:59

don't know, 40 more times.

51:01

I'm so happy to see you.

51:03

You should be the expert and

51:05

not me. I gotta tell you,

51:07

like, it's funny, it's like, oh,

51:09

she's gonna know all this. They're

51:11

not even gonna need me there.

51:13

I knew this was gonna be

51:16

cakewalk for me today. Betsy,

51:18

it's been so wonderful that

51:20

you joined us, and people

51:22

wanna find out more about you and

51:24

what you're up to, where can they

51:26

do that? Oh my gosh, please

51:29

to see you guys. Helen

51:33

what is our score going into the final

51:35

round at the end of that awesome and

51:38

fun round open Mike Eagle has nine

51:40

points and Paula Poundstone has eight points

51:42

all right but now it is time

51:44

for our final round we call fast

51:46

facts I'll read 10 statements and each

51:48

contestant will answer with true or false

51:50

I'll start with Mike and then alternate

51:52

each correct answer was worth one point

51:54

again please answer each statement with true

51:57

or false and we will go fast here

51:59

we begin Mike A1 is a

52:01

brand of steak sauce.

52:03

True. Correct. Paula A1 was

52:05

invented in the 2020s.

52:07

False. Correct. Mike A1

52:09

was invented in the 1920s.

52:12

True. Incorrect. Paula A1

52:14

was invented in the 1820s.

52:16

True. Correct. Mike A1

52:18

was invented in the United

52:21

Kingdom. True. Correct. Mike A1

52:23

once sold scented shampoo.

52:25

False. Correct. Paula A1 once

52:28

sold scented candles. True.

52:30

Correct. Yeah, for Father's Day.

52:32

Mike, A1 can be used

52:34

to polish silver. True. Correct.

52:36

Paula A1 can be used

52:38

to shine shoes. False. Incorrect.

52:41

No, preferably brown shoes. Mike,

52:43

A1 slogan is, Makes Your

52:45

Shoes Delicious. False. Correct. And

52:47

finally, Paula A1 slogan is,

52:49

have an A1 day. False.

52:51

Correct. All right, let's give

52:54

a nice hand. Open, Mike

52:56

Eagle, and Paula Poundstone is

52:58

Helen Tabulate, it's the final

53:00

score. Helen, are you ready to

53:02

pronounce the winner on today's show? I

53:04

am, it is such a tight game,

53:06

but at the end, Open Mike Eagle

53:08

has 13 points, and Paula Poundstone has

53:11

12 points. Congratulations, open, Mike, what will

53:13

you do with your championship? I'm gonna

53:15

drive it home. Wow. I'd like to

53:17

watch that. We're just going to wrap

53:19

up by giving people here a chance

53:21

to mention or promote anything they might

53:23

like. Open Make Eagle, where can people

53:26

find you and what you're up to?

53:28

There's still that thing I invented called

53:30

the Morning Show. That's on Twitch. It's

53:32

three times a week 9.30 a.m. to

53:34

11.30 p.m.T. Excellent. Thanks so much for

53:36

joining us. Open Mike Eagle everybody! Paula

53:40

Poundstone what an honor where can

53:42

people find you and what you're

53:45

doing? Well I'm on the socials

53:47

I have a podcast called Nobody

53:49

listens to Paula Poundstone and I'm

53:51

gonna be in Glendale California at

53:53

the Alex theater on Saturday

53:55

February 8th so people in the LA

53:58

area make sure you don't go Yes,

54:00

yes. What a treat Paula Bountstone,

54:02

everybody! Ladies and gentlemen, you

54:04

are so lucky because my

54:07

hosting partner is Helen Hong!

54:09

If you are in or know anyone in

54:11

the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, I'm

54:13

gonna be performing at the

54:16

Walton Arts Center, January 30th.

54:18

And also, if you're not

54:20

in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area

54:22

or know anyone, follow me

54:24

on the socials at Funny

54:26

Helen Hong. She's funny, she's Helen,

54:28

she's funny, Helen, Hong! In me,

54:30

you can follow me on the

54:33

socials at Jaykeith.net all spelled out.

54:35

You can also hire me to

54:37

host your trivia event either in

54:39

person or online by going to

54:41

big quiz thing.com and I am

54:43

co-producing my favorite storytelling show in

54:45

Los Angeles called Ranton rave on

54:47

the second Monday of every month

54:49

at the rogue machine theater. That

54:52

just leads me to thank open

54:54

Mike Eagle, Paula Poundstone, Louise Simonson,

54:56

Betsy, Betsy Brandt. Everyone here at LA

54:58

and the Crawford. And thank you! Like

55:02

what you hear come see us

55:04

live go to go factor pod.com

55:06

for our schedule and tickets to

55:09

hear an extended version of this

55:11

episode Go to go factor pod.com

55:13

or look for go factor self

55:15

wherever you get podcast Want to

55:17

keep playing along with us think

55:20

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55:22

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55:24

smarter than our guest? Meanwhile, please

55:26

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55:29

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55:31

factor pod update

55:33

Think you're smarter

55:35

than our guests?

55:37

Put yourself to

55:39

the test with

55:41

even more trivia

55:44

questions related to

55:46

this episode that

55:48

you get to

55:50

answer. Go to

55:53

l.a.s.com/go fact yourself.

55:56

That's la.is.com/go fact

55:58

yourself. great review

56:00

on your favorite podcast platform,

56:03

like Kashi 75 did on

56:05

Apple podcast. He, she or

56:07

they said, the show is

56:09

very uplifting, eschewing the cynicism

56:11

that seems to permeate most

56:13

pop culture these days. Thanks

56:15

Kashi 75. When it comes

56:18

to cynicism, we never bite

56:20

off more than we can

56:22

eschew. Helen? Go Fact Yourself is

56:24

a panel quiz program devised and

56:26

produced by Jim Newman and J.

56:28

Keith Van Stratton and comes to

56:31

you via transcription from the Crawford

56:33

at LAIST in Pasadena. Questions were

56:35

compiled by the Trivia Industrial Complex.

56:37

We are produced in collaboration with

56:39

Maximum Fun. Maximum Fun senior producer

56:41

is Laura Swisher. Co-producer and editor

56:43

is Julian Burrell. Additional editing by

56:46

Valerie Moffat. Our theme song and

56:48

incidental music were written and performed

56:50

by Jonathan Green. Research assistance provided.

56:52

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56:54

and Sam Gladston. Promotional

56:56

graphics by Eric Tran.

56:59

Video clips by Scout

57:01

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57:03

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57:05

show support by Dave

57:07

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57:09

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57:11

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57:14

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57:16

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