Signal connection restored.

I want to be honest about how this op went, because the version that gets remembered is usually the version where it worked, and I don't really know if it did.

Conroy was on some R&R.

He took a beating from one of the entities that escaped during the breach, and even by his standards, the recovery was rough.

He was at a safe house, alive, of course.

He's just not running ops.

Not now, at least, and not in person.

And if I don't?

What's your sort of story?

I first played in high school.

My friend ran it.

My friend ran D&D Fifth Edition for me and some other friends, and it was hon- I honestly hated it.

[laughs] It was, um, it was late, I guess.

I was r- I was, like, really tired, and it was a confusing...

Not to throw him under the bus.

What made you want to create a game that usely- used exclusively tarot cards?

[laughs] Tell me, Sam.

Um, yeah, some- something different.

Uh, you know you said before it took a while to visualize the players, and you eventually found a way that the, the team felt safe.

What time of season was that? What was it that you thought, "Okay, this is it.

This is the way we need to carry on"? What changed?

And to find the perfect field comfort, maybe we took, yeah, more time.

So it was, it was when you had the ...

It was the period when you had no wingers, because they were injured, you say.

Period.

And once you have a child and find out that he's on the spectrum, all of that stuff goes out the window, you know what I mean? You now have this team where you're overseeing this kid, and what does it mean to kind of get the best out of both of us? So what ended up happening, I'm gonna get on our history real quick.

The day after our, I should say, the day that our son got diagnosed, literally the next day, I was, I lost my job.

I was in sales at the time.

Exactly.

So what ends up happening is she's the primary breadwinner.

I'm the one at home making sure he gets to therapy, making sure that he gets to, you know, his little activities and everything.

And I think part of it was during that season, I really began to see, hey, this cannot look like the traditional setup if she's at work and I'm the one taking him back and forth to therapy.

This is my favorite part.

Available May 22nd on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series XS, and PC.

It'll make my mom super happy.

Cool.

Okay, we're gonna switch gears now to another article, which, um, is the kidul- kidulting strategy.

Um, and this, kind of did some research on it, and it's getting a lot of attention, especially now with, like, nostalgia, and it's actually a, I don't know if, like, you already know this, but a term coined back from 1950s.

So it was, like, describing adults who are fans of superhero cartoon shows, and then those early kidults, like, caused television studios and et cetera, and it's now, like, billions of dollars in toys and games.

Um, there's, like, a whole industry, right? Um, so just, my question is, like, w- how can someone use this...

Feel like the large majority of people in there just resell the course.

I've got a bit distant, even with my girlfriend who I live with, after a bit said something about it, how I've got no time for her anymore.

But it wasn't until later that Sam realized they'd falsified the purpose of the loan.

The reason for it, they put dental loan.

I don't know.

Bit scary now looking at it, but...

Right

... not giving them any answers they want either.

And, uh, ultimately, he's doing himself no favors.

These cops are, uh, are, are going through the procedureHe's not being rude again, but he, he's, he's just not giving answers that they want.

And, uh, at the end they decide, "Ah, you know what? You ...

It's just, uh, whatever the one-armed guy's name is, he can be a little bit much anyway.

Go ahead, go home and sleep it off." And then, uh, that's not his plan.

Yeah, that's right.

I went to one youth activity that was calendared before they left for camp, connected with a few kids, parents, and the host of the activity, but no real response from Sam.

My name is Sam.

I am the junior high pastor.

We also have a high school/overall youth pastor at our church.

It's very confusing.

His name is Sam as well.

Finally made it to the first evening of the fall program.

Like a regular Wednesday for me right now, I'd say I have 40 to 50-ish kids.

If it's a business, you're gonna have a, a hard fight.

Hey, uh, Blanca, I w- I was raised on a farm, um, one of seven kids, so, so I sort of come from that ideal that people talk about.

Um, we all sort of did chores on the farm when we were kids.

It was very much a, a family enterprise.

But I think if you go back to, um, if you go back to Saylor's speech at Nashville in 2024 when he talks about the struggle, [clears throat] uh, either for families or individuals to hold onto, um, a- an asset like that and pass it down through the generations, it's, it, it, it's a real struggle.

Um, so if, if you're coming from a Bitcoin world where you're going out somewhere and you've already got that asset behind you for the future, and you're just sort of it's a lifestyle thing, absolutely.

But like for kids, it's not really a solution for kids starting out to go out, um, and to start off and try homesteading.

Thanks, Grain.

Yeah, Sam?

So, uh, Marilyn's discussion is reminding me of the experience of living in a community, which she essentially is, and which I am also, and, um, being willing to let go of what becomes known to us about other people's views about what we're doing.

[laughs] And, um, so it, um, yeah, letting go is, is key.

And Grace talked about, you know, the letting go of the clenched hand, where we're-

Yeah.

So, yeah.

I mean, I, I had an incident last week where, um, one person sent me a text and s- and my husband's 91, I'm his caregiver, and she said, "Ed, Ed should not be swimming on his own.

Um, can you go and check on him?" Well, I knew he wasn't swimming on his own, he was meeting other people.

Sam, as well, seeing Lewis today, do you feel like before it was, it was knocking on a door that wasn't open, and now it feels like there is possibility?

Yes.

Hearing, uh, Lewis Hamilton's story really makes me feel as though it's possible.

Seeing a person who was in the same situation, almost the same situation as myself continuously knock on that door until it opened up for him and shows, and proved himself, and showed how great he is, it really makes me feel inspired.

[gentle music]

Sam, what, what kind of, uh, industry do you wanna go into? Is it STEM? Is it tech? Is it motorsport? Is it Formula 1? What's this inspiring you to go on to do?

I really wanna go into finance, which is the M part of STEM, mathematics.

And it's just interesting to see how the Formula 1 drivers quantify a large amount of data, which is also something I do find interesting in my career path, and to make it, like, in those split-second decisions.

And it just, like, that, that happens in these games is that you just get, you, you don't get the time and space and-

and-It, it felt that's, yeah, he probably just needs to learn a little bit about that as well.

At these games, it's just, it's, it is different.

The, the, the level from Bundesliga to the Premier League is a jump.

And, uh, yeah, again, it was his 23rd birthday.

He's still young.

That can come.

Let's, let's learn from that.

Yeah, size does matter.

Size does matter.

Um, I've got really funny gay stories about things that have happened to me that I don't think your mum has any funny gay stories, which I think me and you could have some, like, real good banter about.

'Cause I know that you've got many, many, many, many, many funny gay stories-

Have you always aspired to host a podcast, or?

I've always been with the saying that, you know, they should make podcast material more expensive, because anybody does it.

[laughs] And then if I felt like if I [laughs] was then to do it, kinda go against that.

But hell, here we are, me apparently applying to be a co-host in a, in a show that I didn't know about.

Ah.

[laughs] Way back in September of 2023, so not even too long after the game came out, uh, at Nintendo Live they did a Zelda orchestra.

Um, fantastic show, and they did the, uh, essentially they did the music from the trailer of Tears of the Kingdom, you know, with the saxophone.

Fantastic little rendition of that song.

And, um, silly me, I assumed since they were doing the trailer music that they were playing the trailer on the screen.

And as I'm watching, I'm like, "Wait a minute [laughs], that..." Like, I'm like pretty far in the game and I haven't seen that, which tells me, I now understand, it was the scene of, of, um, both Link and, and Zelda falling through the sky.

Which then tells me, I guess Zelda doesn't remain a dragon.

Sam, to you, is this one of the great Zelda finales of all time? Like, possibly even at, at the top or close to the top of the pile for you?

Here's Sam describing the philosophy of current leadership.

We want students to be exposed to the marketplace of ideas.

We want students to be exposed to all these different fields, but not the ones that we don't agree with, right? [laughs] Um, and so by closing down the gender studies program, the New College Board of Trustees is censoring, you know, or trying to censor the ability for that content to be taught.

That seems like they've really lost the plot, [laughs] I think, in terms of free and open inquiry on campus.

Do you think New College will still be around in five years?

It's not, [laughs] I feel like it's not, New College is not dead yet.

There are still glimmers, you know, of the old New College there if you know where to look, and people still doing their jobs well and trying to serve the students well, and I hope that they can persist as long as they can.

Optimistically, maybe 10 year from now, if the leadership of the state turns over, like, maybe it can return to where it was with even better facilities and things.

Um...

Um, so just wanted to touch on Ozzy.

Um, like, growing up watching Survivor, like, in middle school, he was my all-time favorite player ever, celebrity crush, was obsessed with him in every way.

Um, but I feel like when, with hearing about him coming on this new season, I didn't really see the vision.

I didn't really think he would evolve.

I feel like he played so many times and, like, never was super strategic, was never super great.

So I didn't even have super high hopes and wasn't dying to see him, but I feel like-Since he came on to season 50, I found myself 100% rooting for him again, and I feel like he probably is one of the most evolved players on this cast who really adapted to the new era.

Who's your guys' [laughs] torch award nominees and pick?

Okay.

But then he- my problem is my, like, whatever plan I am on, whether it's, like, intermittent fasting or whether it's, like, eating only three times a day, I am very good at when it comes to morning and, like, afternoon.

I think what messes me up more or what I can't n- don't know how to control or how to manage that is my, probably my, like, dinner side of it.

Like, when I come back from work, I will, like, I want a few minutes to sit down, have a cup of tea, and then with that cup of tea I might, like, eat something or munch into something.

I'd rather want crunchy than a toast.

Mm-hmm

...

I mean, I would be happy to see a drop every time or see it consistent, you know? Like I don't-It just, like, doesn't make sense to me that it goes back up to the same point.

Hmm.

Right? So, um, I was very big on local models, about, um, using them as a tool to, like, help yourself get an ad- advantage, but not, like, putting your personal information out there for it to be put up later.

Yeah.

And it's only a matter...

I mean, you know, Gemini had a leak like that.

Like, there's l- there's plenty of examples of that happening.

Sorry I'm not too close.

But, um, uh, yeah.

[laughs]

Okay.

Um, so we're The Rookies Corner.

Um, I'm Sam.

This is Christian.

Um, we have presence on Instagram.

Um, we vend in person at card shows in Nashville, hoping to expand in middle Tennessee, and then we started dabbling in Whatnot a few months ago, so we are also streamers on Whatnot.

That's true

Pickups fees may apply.

[singing] [upbeat music] [tape rewinds] Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Anyway.

It was a good one.

[laughs] Hello.

Happy to be here on a Thursday.

Um, I, I guess in reading this reading, trying to like put to words the things that I'm feeling around it, [clears throat] I guess it is kind of timely because I think the read... [sighs] The reading in a way I think skews towards like a...

It feels almost like, oh, this is all terrible and this is bad and it's tough and all that, and I think all that's very true.

[laughs]

Exactly.

Exactly.

I think, uh, uh, the number one thing is he's on a wedge, isn't he? And we can't afford that.

So the first thing you would have to do is, is, I'd say what, halve his wages.

I can't th- Um, I think, uh, what, Tammy Abraham is the only player I've heard of in years that's actually taken a significant pay cut to force a big move.

If I was Jaden S- If I was advising Jaden Sancho, I would advise him to stay at Villa.

Mm

Je pense que plus je vais la connaître, moins j'aurai besoin des réponses.

Après tout ça, je reste beaucoup en contact avec la famille, surtout la famille du côté d'Arthur.

Donc, je rencontre mes autres demi-frères et sœurs.

Euh, je rencontre ma grand-mère.

En un mois, j'ai rencontré vingt-trois personnes, ce qui est énorme, surtout que je suis pas spécialement sociable à la base.

Et là, je me retrouve à rencontrer tous ces gens, mais c'est, c'est presque facile parce que tout le monde est hyper accueillant.

Tout le monde a l'air hyper content que je sois là.

Euh c'est elles qui ont la légitimité, c'est c'est elles qui ont le-- je veux pas leur laisser porter tout le poids non plus, mais c'est quand même elles qui auront le dernier mot là sur tout ça.

Bienvenue dans Passage.

[musique de fond] Je suis née sous X un jour de novembre 1998.

Euh, je suis abandonnée directement à la naissance par ma mère biologique, puis confiée à une pouponnière pendant trois mois.

À ce moment-là, la personne qui s'occupe de moi à la pouponnière rédige un petit carnet où elle note toute mon évolution et qui se finit par : « Aujourd'hui, tes parents adoptifs vont venir te chercher ».

Donc mes parents adoptifs, c'est un couple qui a plus de quarante ans à ce moment-là, qui a déjà adopté une petite fille au Vietnam, qui est assez lourdement handicapée.

Et l'adoption, chez moi, c'est absolument pas un tabou.

On me le dit tout de suite en fait.

Et ça, c'est dingue.

But I am a D&D master, I promise you.

Yes, Iorin's dragon-slaying skills are beyond.

And back to the important stuff.

Yes, we have a particular set of skills, and you do, too.

Iorin and I both work undercover for a special organization, and they noticed how well you handled this crisis, and they really liked what you did.

They really, really, really liked it.

They think you're amazing, as do we.

Sam, is that a threat?

I think you're doing a lot of things that you're going to remember forever, whether it be the olive groves or the pasta making or the wine, but also why Collette has really perfected these kinds of trips and made them something that people think about for the rest of their lives.

It is true.

I mean, I think once you travel with us one time, you're like: "That was so much fun and so easy." We really take care of all the logistics, so people just come, and they're able to have a great time because we've taken care of everything.

These are fully guided trips, so, you know, you have a tour manager from the region with you the whole time, and their only goal [chuckles] in their life is to make sure you have an amazing experience.

And, you know, you were just saying, like, yes, we're going to see a lot, but the most important thing is that we're going to do a lot and learn about things.

Like, it's one thing just to see something, but it's another to, like, really-

So we're going to have one of those for people.

Yes, we are.