TRANSKRIPTIO 🔗
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This is StarTalk. I'm your host, Neil deGrasse Tyson, your
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personal astrophysicist. And today, we have an exclusive interview with
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the one, the only, Kelly Clarkson! Kelly! You should have
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the button. Ah, Kelly Clarkson!
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You should do the button from 40 Old Virgin.
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Kelly Clarkson, in the house, on StarTalk. The meaning of life.
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When you say it like that, it's far more dramatic.
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That's kind of bodacious audacious to be calling your album.
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It was bold.
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You can figure out the meaning of life when you
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buy my album.
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That's a great selling point.
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It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the golden ticket.
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Wow. Okay. So that means I don't get to learn it.
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I know. Not just yet. Not till you get it.
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I'm just saying.
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So the meaning of life, is this something you've known
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for a while or just kind of came onto it?
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No, I mean, I think we're all under construction. And
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I think the point of me doing it.
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We're all under construction. We are.
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Beautiful. Yeah.
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And I think the point of it... In fact, the
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people who are fully built, they're no longer learning anything.
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Well, and that's... First of all, any person that thinks
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they've got it figured out completely is a total dork.
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It means they really haven't figured it out because they
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haven't figured it out that they haven't figured it out.
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Yeah. What if you're a philosopher? Yes. No, but I do.
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I think that meaning of life is... really just about
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connection and making sure they're positive connections.
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You know, there's always people... People to people.
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Yeah.
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But how about all the negative people who are out there?
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You know, you just like push them outside your bubble.
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And you know, I do, I have a tattoo for that.
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Pastor told me.
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Most people have an app for that. I know, I
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have a tattoo.
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Well, because I really needed the daily reminder. I work
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in an industry when people can be not so lovely.
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And so I have a tattoo and my pastor told
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me this when I was a kid and I loved him.
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He was like, one of those people that you wanted to...
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You're like, what do you have in your life? Because
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I want to be like you. He just had a
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light about him. And I just thought he was special.
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And he said one time that there's going to be
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people in your life and it's easy to love the
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lovely people, but it's not easy to love the unlovely.
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And I thought that was really poignant. And I thought
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that you have to love the people that are unlovely
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even more because they weren't loved enough.
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You're missing something in life.
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Yeah. So I don't know. I think it's about Just
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trying to make those positive connections. And really, I think
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it's simple. I think we complicate it as humans because
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we try and figure everything out. And sometimes you can't.
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Well, sometimes you can. I can't. Your mother was a schoolteacher.
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She was.
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So here you are making it part of your life's
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mission to figure things out. And a schoolteacher, they're trying
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to get their kids to figure stuff out. Yeah, I
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think teachers question. How much of that touched you?
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I love, I mean, she always taught me to question things.
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And I think that's the best part of whether you're
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talking about faith, politics, life, any love. It's always to
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question it. I love that. I love to question whatever
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is happening in the moment. One, to make sure it's real.
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And two, just because I don't think when you stop questioning,
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then you stop asking, you stop caring.
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Right?
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I don't know.
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I can't say it better than that.
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I bet you can. I bet you can effortlessly.
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No, I think the word I
Load full transcript
would use is curiosity.
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Yeah.
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Without that, you can't be a scientist.
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Yeah, no, I agree. I think that's the fascinating thing
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to outsiders like us that look at people like you.
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Because we're curious, but we're constantly in that state, and
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you're actually figuring it out.
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Oh, yeah. We're curious, and we go figure it out.
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And I'm like, man, I'm glad you figured it out.
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I was just sitting over here being curious.
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It reminded me, I was giving a lecture one time,
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and someone... Things I'll never say.
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Oh, no. You know, this one time I was giving
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a lecture.
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That's amazing. But in that sense, we do share a space,
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because I give lectures in theaters. And I feel like
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the theater stage is sort of sanctified by the artists
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who have come before me. And I feel the artistic
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energy there. It's interesting. So I was there, and I
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mentioned something about the universe. And someone asked, so where
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did you get that information? It was great. I don't
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mind that. And they said, where did you look up
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that information? I said, I calculated it.
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Oh, my gosh.
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Right, right. And people think that, like, a wiki page is, like,
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handed down from God on a tablet, right?
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And I say, no, I'm— Your awe is behind the curtain.
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I'm the class of people who write wiki pages. That's
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what we do, right?
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Wow, things I'll never say again, yeah.
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Uh-uh.
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Somebody got mine wrong. I was Catholic for quite a
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long time.
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Yeah, yeah. It's not always right.
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Yeah.
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Often wrong. So you've got kids of your own. Are
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you sort of channeling your mother's teacher energy and how you're? Definitely. Yeah.
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I am exactly like my mother in a lot of ways.
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Yes. in good ways. Often when people say that, you
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turn into your mother. No, there are.
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Moments whenever I'm like disciplining my children and I'm like,
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oh God, this is my mom. But no, I definitely, yeah,
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the education side of her. I definitely am in the
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one in the household that the kids maybe don't like
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as much because of that. I'm constantly making sure they're reading.
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That's a big thing because we have a lot of
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younger kids. Like, you know, so I think that that's
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where it starts.
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And because one thing I didn't know or appreciate until
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I had kids, and surely you see this, that kids are,
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children are so curious that their curiosity can actually kill
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them if you don't intervene.
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Oh, my God. Even reading a simple book, like we
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were reading a book last night, My Daughter and I,
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Princesses Wear Pants. And literally, she stops on every page
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and questions every bit of everything. And I'm like, we're
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losing the story. You're focusing on all the things that
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aren't really the point of the story.
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The world is so alive to her.
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Yes, but everything is new. So sometimes it is nice
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to slow down. Um, but, but also you do have
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to intervene to be like, yes, but don't interrupt every time.
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Cause that's rude. So let's finish the story. Then we'll discuss. Okay.
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All right. So this is the lesson plan teacher in
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the front of the room. Save your questions for the end.
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I was the nerd at the front of the room. Well, I,
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I think too, because I knew I would talk if
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I didn't. So if they had to look at me
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and then I felt bad, so I'd.
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Have to be quiet. What were your favorite subjects in school?
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I loved literature just cause I love reading. And I loved,
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I don't know. I loved, I was a, athlete. I
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loved drama. I loved all the electives, you know, like
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choir and stuff like that. And, um, I loved history.
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All the stuff that does not accrue to your GPA.
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I loved
history.
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Yeah. No, I'm definitely the, like that part of my brain. Um,
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but I did like, I didn't like history because you
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had to memorize all the dates. Cause I just liked
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focusing on the point of it. Like I liked focusing
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on the, not repeating it, but learning it. But the
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dates were always like, I wasn't ever good with date.
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I've never been good with numbers.
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So I, nor I with regard to dates, but I,
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I remember relationships or, or, So I remember, for example,
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that Shakespeare was around with Queen Elizabeth I. And they
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were around at the same time as Galileo. He's figuring
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out the universe.
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I didn't put that together.
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That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Nor did I ever read that.
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I'm looking, wait a minute. I'm looking at the two things.
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Yeah.
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And so once I did that, then that put it
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all in context for me. Of course, they're in different countries.
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There's England and there's Italy. Yes, obviously. But it's a
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way to help me navigate events and times.
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Yeah, like what all was happening.
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Exactly.
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That's interesting because I would have thought Galileo was older.
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I would have thought it was different.
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Way long ago. In fact, there's books. They're called Timelines
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of History.
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Yeah.
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Where- It's just timelines. It's a timeline.
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It's like a Cliff Notes for timelines.
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Watch what it does. So the first row is like,
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so across the bottom is time. It's technology, politics, wars, discoveries, inventions.
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And then you could do a vertical slice through it
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and see what everybody was doing across the world in
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that one slice. Wait, what is this book? It's great.
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It's called Timelines of History.
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Okay, I would totally be into that.
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Yeah, yeah, so just check that out if you like reading.
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I do.
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Plus, you like reading and you like language and words.
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I love learning. And you wrote two children's books.
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Yes, which was very different from writing songs. It is.
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What, was it before you had kids or after?
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It was after I had kids.
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After you had kids.
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Well, because I literally just started writing them for my daughter, really,
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just to kind of, because I knew she wouldn't remember
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all these amazing places she's going. And I thought if
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I put the pictures with these little stories, when she
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started learning to read, it could be her, her little story.
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And then my husband and my nanny were like, you
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should make these into children's books. And I was like,
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don't worry. And then I thought it was going to
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be very easy, and it was not.
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You're publishing a whole other thing.
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Because the meter in which you write is completely different
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than how you write for songs and how kids take
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it in. And how you have to almost play with
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the words and how the meter has to be just
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kind of very perfect. And people go to school for that.
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So my editor was very helpful.
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Yeah, that's what I found, I think, You can write
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a sentence, but to write a better sentence, you should
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be thinking about the rhythm of it and.
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The juxtaposition of words on the page.
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And does this word work following this word? And how
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long did you drag someone in that sentence before you
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should stop?
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Are they bored?
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Are they bored? Right, right, right, right. And the difference
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between great writing and just writing is everything there. Now,
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that's got me thinking. I can read a poem on
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a page or rhyme, and it'll mean something. informationally to
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me perhaps, but if I hear you sing it, there's
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a whole other conduit of communication going on. And are you,
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you must be
self-aware of that, and you can go
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in there and you can manipulate it. How are you,
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how do you grok that?
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You know, I think it's, I don't even think about it.
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I think I'm just so, I've always been touched by
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music even before I knew I could sing. I loved dancing.
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I loved music. It was a safe place for me.
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It was like a, it was just a, it was
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a whole different kind of learning, you know, just with
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people's lives, whether it was, you know, rock, rap, pop,
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like country, whatever you were listening to. It's, you know,
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the music is a very good indication of the time
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in that timeline that you're referring to. Music, if you
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look at it, it always follows it because we're obviously,
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artists are affected by art, you know, nature and nurture
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a bit. So, yeah, it's, I don't know.
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What's your goal? You know you can reach people emotionally,
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but you also would have the capacity in a song,
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because a song is a story, to reach people informationally.
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Yeah, I mean, you want to be.
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So what's your balance? What's your balance?
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I like to be a, you know, throw a bit of,
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you know, be a bit poetic, but at the same time,
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keep the story simple enough to where people aren't focused
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on the words of the story, it's more focused on
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the feeling of the story. It's more focused on how
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that made me feel and how that, because I'm more
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of an emotional person.
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Because otherwise, just go out and read a damn book.
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Yeah, I mean.
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If you want words, too many words, all right.
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Yeah, and it's, I don't know, I've always been the
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one to focus more on, like, I always feel like, okay,
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I know I talk about Meryl Streep a lot, but
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my point in her.
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Not yet on this show.
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I know, but I'm just saying, I do talk about
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her a lot, but here's my point, and I've never
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said this.
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Before, but it's like, And I love me some Meryl Streep.
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But I feel like she's one of those people It
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could be a silent movie, and she would effortlessly, flawlessly
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dictate by her emotions, her eyes, just her, every part
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of her. You would know exactly what she's saying without
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her saying anything through the entire movie. I think she
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would have been like the most fantastic silent actress as well.
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she's got that art to her whole like physical body,
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her emotional state in her eyes, like in her mouth
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and her, you know, all of that, whether it's Miranda
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Priestly or whatever character she's playing.
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From The Devil Wears Prada.
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Yes. Or if it's out of Africa or some of
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his stories, like whatever those are, she does so much.
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And I think that as a singer too, like that's
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what I try to do. Like with songs, I try
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to like, you know, Whatever the words are, I could
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be not saying words at all and just singing a melody,
283
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but by my intensity or by.
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The modulation of that intensity?
285
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By my emotion, yeah. You could almost tell the story
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I'm saying without even there being words. So that's my goal.
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That's beautiful.
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Not that I achieved that.
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But Meryl does. Meryl does.
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Meryl does, but.
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No, that's beautiful. I think not enough people know that
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or feel that or understand that.
293
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Yeah, it's almost like you want everything, because if you
294
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have everything, if you focus on that, and then you
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put amazing words to it, and then you put amazing
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set behind that, it becomes this amazing show that people,
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you want all those things to be firing on all cylinders.
298
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Can I tell you something about you that you might
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take for granted? What? Can I tell you several? No,
300
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it was just a quick thing that happened to me
301
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that leaves me wondering whether It is a state of
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existence for you rather than just a thing that would happen.
303
00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:36.840
So I was, not to get morbid on you, but
304
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I was eyewitness on September 11th because I lived very
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close to the collapse. And I was there at my window,
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the buildings collapsed, people jumped. I mean, it was, and
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I'm a pretty stoic guy. And after those days and
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just that event, I was, my rational brain was no
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longer operating.
310
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Yeah.
311
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And I was just feeling everything.
312
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Yeah, and you almost didn't know where to put it.
313
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It was spilling out of me. And I would see
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someone slightly sad in their face, and I was like,
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00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:16.649
oh my gosh, can I bring them flowers? Can I,
316
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what can I do? And I'm just wondering, you as
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an artist.
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That makes you a great human.
319
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Well, I judge, by the way, and my writing over
320
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that time was better, I think.
321
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Yeah.
322
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And then as time went on and I began to
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lose it, the writing kind of went back to what
324
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it used to be. And I'm just wondering, was that
325
00:14:34.509 --> 00:14:38.080
moment that I experienced something that you live as an artist?
326
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Is that a fair question? Yes.
327
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And I think that we, I think artists of all kinds, painters, sculptors, writers, singers, whoever,
328
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I think we all go in and out of that.
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Capital A artist.
330
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Capital A artist.
331
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But I think we all go through that. And what
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you do with... you know, as an astrophysicist is, is almost,
333
00:14:59.509 --> 00:15:01.340
that's an art, like it's a form of art, like
334
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that I don't get, but it is for you. So
335
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I think anytime you're, we always have moments where we're
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really deep in it. And then we have moments where
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we love it, but it, for some reason it's not
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affecting us as it normally does. You know, I think
339
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we always have those like tug of war, like rollercoaster things, but,
340
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and the bad thing about it is, um, I think
341
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it was Sting. I heard Sting do an interview one
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00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.129
time and he was saying, you know, it's, it's sometimes
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00:15:25.190 --> 00:15:28.029
it's horrible writing a record because it's the most miserable time.
344
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Like it's the most, you know, draining period because you're,
345
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you're wanting to be a vessel for all these messages
346
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and you want to do the best you can, but it's,
347
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you know, an actor say that a lot, they get so,
348
00:15:38.529 --> 00:15:40.190
you know, they delve into these characters and they get
349
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lost in it. And, um, it's a, it's a catch 22.
350
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You want to do that, but at the same time,
351
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you don't want to get so far gone that you
352
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can't even help yourself, you know? So, um, But, I mean,
353
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I don't know. I go in and out of that.
354
00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:56.299
But I will say, every time I perform, even if
355
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I'm sad or tired or, you know, just exhausted or
356
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overwhelmed or whatever, I still am incapable of not going in.
357
00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:07.340
I still, when I perform, I'm always in the moment. Like,
358
00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:11.679
especially since becoming a mother. It's just like emotions times 100. Yeah.
359
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:15.320
So I'm just saying that was my one moment where
360
00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:16.500
I said, oh, my God. But you know what it is?
361
00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:18.250
Because it cuts you down to, like, your core to
362
00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:19.399
where you're just so vulnerable.
363
00:16:19.539 --> 00:16:19.730
Yeah.
364
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.379
Yeah. And it's a beautiful thing to be vulnerable, but
365
00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:23.220
it's exhausting.
366
00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:28.460
Yeah, that's a good word. I felt vulnerable, which was
367
00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:30.870
odd just as a scientist. I'm usually, yeah, this is
368
00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.330
how that works, and I know how that works, and
369
00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:35.409
I got this, I got that. But that's unexplainable. Yeah,
370
00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:39.190
I was hit by that. So when you're singing or
371
00:16:39.809 --> 00:16:43.450
when you're writing or when you're choosing a song, are
372
00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:47.320
you thinking, okay, this will get them this way? in
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this emotion.
374
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.840
And this will, I got to me, I'm more selfish. Oh,
375
00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.899
I know. I'm more selfish about it. It's not only
376
00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.230
about the listener. It's more about what, cause I find
377
00:16:55.250 --> 00:16:57.000
that I'm a very normal human being.
378
00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:57.970
Like I won't be the judge of that.
379
00:16:58.049 --> 00:17:00.730
Well, I live a very low key life in Tennessee.
380
00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:02.409
Like I'm not like, I don't have like a normal
381
00:17:02.470 --> 00:17:05.450
pop star life. So, um, I don't know. I find
382
00:17:05.470 --> 00:17:08.569
that I'm very similar to people. I'm not like unique
383
00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:11.099
in a lot of ways. So like, if I'm, if
384
00:17:11.150 --> 00:17:12.890
I'm listening to a song and I'm touched by it,
385
00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.059
I feel like if I am, then other people will be,
386
00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.640
you know? So it's more or less like, um, it's my,
387
00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:21.619
it's my favorite thing that my old record label would do. They'd,
388
00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:24.319
you know, send songs and it's like kind of a
389
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.619
song and they're like, Oh, but you, you would sing
390
00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:28.819
it so well. And I'm like, well, I'm not concerned
391
00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:32.190
about that part. I'm concerned that it's not a good song. Like,
392
00:17:32.450 --> 00:17:33.930
but it's like one of those things when you, I
393
00:17:33.950 --> 00:17:35.950
want to be moved by it. I want to be
394
00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:39.240
the vessel for something powerful and, and, And a moment,
395
00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:40.779
you know, you only get so many records.
396
00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:44.000
So you have certain freedoms now at Atlantic Records for that.
397
00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:45.740
Well, like all freedoms, but yes.
398
00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.470
People don't, you know, the average person on the street
399
00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:49.529
doesn't think about it. They don't get it. Yeah, they
400
00:17:49.549 --> 00:17:50.849
don't think about it. They don't, just give me your
401
00:17:50.869 --> 00:17:52.970
song and I'm not going to, you know, I don't
402
00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:55.849
care who publishes it. So The Meaning of Life is
403
00:17:55.869 --> 00:17:57.349
your eighth album.
404
00:17:57.410 --> 00:17:57.730
Yes.
405
00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:00.700
And now, forgive me, I haven't heard all your albums.
406
00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:01.960
But I heard this one.
407
00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:02.839
I'm so offended.
408
00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:04.839
But I've listened.
409
00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:05.380
I'm leaving.
410
00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:07.960
I'm just kidding. I got you.
411
00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:08.579
I'm just kidding.
412
00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:13.000
But this one, I've heard the stuff that is charted
413
00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:15.380
off of those albums. Of course, I've heard those. In
414
00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.730
this album, there's a soulfulness to it.
415
00:18:19.730 --> 00:18:19.799
Yes.
416
00:18:19.910 -->
00:18:20.170
That.
417
00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:25.799
But it has sort of pop roots, bringing soul into it.
418
00:18:26.009 --> 00:18:29.190
And I'm old enough, I'm trying to ask myself, where
419
00:18:29.210 --> 00:18:32.690
would they have put this album in the stove piped
420
00:18:33.170 --> 00:18:36.029
categories in a record shop? And I don't think there's
421
00:18:36.049 --> 00:18:36.410
a spot.
422
00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.910
No, I mean, I guess pop, just because it's popular.
423
00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:47.089
No, no, there's too much soul, excuse me. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
424
00:18:47.230 --> 00:18:48.390
No, it is a more soulful pop.
425
00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:50.089
Well, it's funny though. I'll tell you why, because you sing,
426
00:18:50.210 --> 00:18:52.440
and I just have to stop what I'm doing. and
427
00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:55.809
just feel it. Whereas a pop song, you can keep cooking,
428
00:18:56.049 --> 00:18:59.450
and you shake to it, but you're not moved by it.
429
00:18:59.509 --> 00:19:00.569
Most of the time.
430
00:19:00.589 --> 00:19:03.609
Someone's moved by a pop song. That's why it's pop,
431
00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:08.380
because everybody likes it. It's popular. But if you're moved,
432
00:19:08.730 --> 00:19:11.529
that's another kind of... You know, you made it.
433
00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:13.539
You weaving, bobbing, weaving.
434
00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:18.109
I'm just saying. You made it. No, it is.
435
00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:20.589
It is soulful pop. And I, it's definitely, there's definitely
436
00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:23.309
a difference when you listen to this album versus the
437
00:19:23.349 --> 00:19:27.130
other albums. I mean, one, you can just, I'm happy. Um,
438
00:19:27.390 --> 00:19:29.759
and it, and it creates a whole different, that happiness
439
00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:35.460
creates a whole domino effect of different sounds and tones and, and, and,
440
00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:38.079
and even the freedom that Atlantic has given me creates
441
00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:41.910
a whole different vibe. Um, Because an artist in their
442
00:19:41.970 --> 00:19:44.660
form to where they're able to just go, okay, well, wait,
443
00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.750
I can do whatever I want. Like, you know, it's
444
00:19:47.869 --> 00:19:49.779
scary because you're like, wait, it's all on me.
445
00:19:49.940 --> 00:19:52.079
Now you're accountable. This just doesn't sell.
446
00:19:53.140 --> 00:19:55.299
But luckily I love, I was telling my husband this,
447
00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:57.299
like even before the album dropped, I was like, I've
448
00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.779
literally been waiting so long to make this musical footprint
449
00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:04.059
that like, even if it didn't do as well as
450
00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.940
other things, I love, I love that. Like, I'm still
451
00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:09.400
happy at the end of the day for that, you know,
452
00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:11.559
cause I've been very blessed. I've had 15 great years
453
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:14.339
of success. And even if it were over me, like
454
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.940
I've had a phenomenal career and I'm very thankful, but
455
00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.339
it is funny and ironic that 15 years into my career,
456
00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:22.740
I make my favorite album.
457
00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:25.960
People think that everyone's first album is going to be
458
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.720
their best or their most significant. And if not, then
459
00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:30.420
they don't sign you or they don't. But I mean,
460
00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:37.950
I think there's wisdom, there's Physical, intellectual, emotional maturity. There's life.
461
00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:40.990
My favorite Aretha records didn't come out until way into
462
00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:41.269
her career.
463
00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:44.299
Excuse me, on first name basis? Aretha Franklin?
464
00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.619
No, my favorite ones, though, didn't come out until really
465
00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:49.940
after she signed with Atlantic.
466
00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:50.900
Oh, really? Okay.
467
00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.799
Yeah, so it was another reason why I loved just
468
00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.259
the label and the nostalgia of it.
469
00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:57.940
I loved her Amazing Grace double album. Oh, yeah. Okay,
470
00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:01.670
who doesn't? Right, right. So do you think of your
471
00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:06.319
voice as in, instrument that needs cultivating and care.
472
00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:06.799
Yes.
473
00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:07.940
Okay.
474
00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:09.089
Yeah, no, I have to.
475
00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:11.690
The reason why I ask is we were in the
476
00:21:11.750 --> 00:21:16.549
green room before you performed in the YouTube space. And
477
00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:18.250
I love it that they call it space.
478
00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:19.430
Yeah, you would.
479
00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:22.170
YouTube space, yes. If you've got space in your name,
480
00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:24.710
I'm good with it. But before, you were like just
481
00:21:25.009 --> 00:21:27.019
yucking it up with everybody in the green room and
482
00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.160
you just walk out there and then out comes this,
483
00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:34.119
how do you, Well, I warmed.
484
00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:38.000
Up earlier this morning. So I worked before. I've been
485
00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:42.279
working since this morning. So I definitely aim to warm
486
00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:44.660
up every day. It's just like a speaker, like a
487
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:48.119
public speaker. Your voice is a runner. Your voice is
488
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.299
a muscle. It's these little things that you have to
489
00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:53.839
keep trained. And I know some singers don't have to.
490
00:21:53.859 --> 00:21:57.059
I think
I've heard Jennifer... In an interview, Jennifer Hudson,
491
00:21:57.079 --> 00:21:57.900
she said that she didn't.
492
00:21:58.180 --> 00:21:59.440
You're only a first name, people.
493
00:21:59.539 --> 00:21:59.980
Oh, sorry.
494
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.660
I'm going to start name dropping first name.
495
00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:02.240
No, no, no.
496
00:22:02.349 --> 00:22:02.700
Okay.
497
00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:04.509
I'm saying it because I don't think she does.
498
00:22:04.529 --> 00:22:10.670
Stephen Hawking. Yeah, okay. Okay. All right. My turn. My turn. Okay.
499
00:22:10.730 --> 00:22:14.509
My turn. Yeah, you're in a different pool of people.
500
00:22:14.589 --> 00:22:17.250
I was reading Ike the other day. Isaac Newton.
501
00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:17.369
Yes.
502
00:22:17.450 --> 00:22:20.750
Okay. Jennifer Hudson.
503
00:22:20.829 --> 00:22:23.410
No, I'm saying she's a huge big vocalist.
504
00:22:23.430 --> 00:22:25.509
Another American Idol person. As well, yes.
505
00:22:25.930 --> 00:22:28.519
And she's a big vocalist, and she doesn't. She said
506
00:22:28.539 --> 00:22:30.380
in interviews, I found it shocking. She was like, I
507
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:32.740
don't warm up at all. It just happens. So I'm
508
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.900
not like that. I have to warm up a bit.
509
00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:37.900
I can do it. It's just not going to sound
510
00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:38.279
as good.
511
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.190
Okay. Now, not to call you out, but you are
512
00:22:41.190 --> 00:22:44.349
15 years older than you were when you were an
513
00:22:44.430 --> 00:22:49.630
American Idol. So can you... Is the warmup the same? Oh,
514
00:22:49.670 --> 00:22:51.069
it's easier. Easier.
515
00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:53.329
Yeah, I think, you know what's funny? I saw Tony
516
00:22:53.390 --> 00:22:54.779
Bennett at this.
517
00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:58.000
Oh, another. Thank you. No, no, that's fine. Had both names.
518
00:22:58.460 --> 00:22:59.240
I saw Tony.
519
00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:02.880
No, I was saying I was at this event and
520
00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:05.269
this was years ago and he sang and he was,
521
00:23:05.309 --> 00:23:07.569
you know, 80 something and I was like, I mean,
522
00:23:07.589 --> 00:23:12.170
he killed all of us. He was amazing. And I'm
523
00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:14.250
a Tony Bennett fan, but I was, you know, I
524
00:23:14.289 --> 00:23:16.049
don't know. I thought maybe the older we get, like,
525
00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:18.470
I don't know, sometimes people sound different. He sounds even better.
526
00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:21.670
Like a fine glass of wine. It's so beautiful. And
527
00:23:21.710 --> 00:23:26.390
I will say, if you're doing things correctly and you're
528
00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:29.670
taking care of yourself and you're not ruining your cords...
529
00:23:29.650 --> 00:23:31.690
You're not running your cords, not getting nodules. You're not
530
00:23:31.710 --> 00:23:33.230
doing things that you're not supposed to be doing.
531
00:23:33.289 --> 00:23:36.190
Your vocal cords or your musical cords? Your vocal cords.
532
00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:39.460
Is that a weird question? I don't know. I didn't
533
00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:40.039
know that.
534
00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.460
No, I mean my vocal cords. You hear people having
535
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.500
to have surgery and all that stuff. If you're taking
536
00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:47.779
care of yourself, I think that you get better with age.
537
00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:50.700
Your voice sounds more lived in and it sounds like
538
00:23:50.779 --> 00:23:52.039
I can go lower, I can go higher.
539
00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:54.619
I like that phrase, lived in. Yeah. Like a good
540
00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:55.140
pair of boots.
541
00:23:55.799 --> 00:23:59.460
Yes. My favorite voices aren't like mine. My favorite voices
542
00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:02.960
are stylists and I'm not a stylist. Like, um, like
543
00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.960
I love Bono. I love Annie Lennox. I love Reba.
544
00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.609
I love even Aretha. Like there's a style to them.
545
00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:11.170
Like I love so many different genres. I think that's
546
00:24:11.190 --> 00:24:12.049
why I'm not a stylist.
547
00:24:12.069 --> 00:24:15.069
Like I like to float, but, um, and that's clear.
548
00:24:15.430 --> 00:24:17.109
Yeah. I love, I love to. Yeah.
549
00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:23.680
Many artists, yourself included, have certain issues with society that you,
550
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.319
that you want to change, that you want to, what's
551
00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:28.799
your short list of those? Oh gosh.
552
00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:32.259
I mean, open-mindedness, fairness.
553
00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:34.380
Yeah, we need more of that. Oh my gosh.
554
00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:37.079
Yeah. I mean, just overall- Bullying, I think was one
555
00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:39.460
of your- I think bullying is a huge problem, especially
556
00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:42.880
when you have children. It's even magnified. It's magnified even
557
00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:46.019
more so. But I don't know. I think an overall
558
00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:48.420
open-mindedness and just that whole thing that you're taught when
559
00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:50.509
you're a kid, like putting yourself in somebody else's shoes.
560
00:24:51.009 --> 00:24:53.170
I think if we literally did that more often and
561
00:24:53.210 --> 00:24:55.970
imagined it was a direct impact to our daily lives,
562
00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:57.930
we would be more open-minded.
563
00:24:58.289 --> 00:25:01.589
So what I wonder is sociologists like study this stuff
564
00:25:01.650 --> 00:25:04.099
and I wonder if the real solution is just to
565
00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:06.799
get people who are well known to just be the
566
00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:10.460
champions of all these things that society needs and doesn't
567
00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:11.200
know that they need it.
568
00:25:11.589 --> 00:25:14.509
I know it's really funny though because every time an
569
00:25:14.589 --> 00:25:17.809
artist says anything, you get the shut up and sing.
570
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:20.799
We just wanted to hear you sing. We just want
571
00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:23.789
to see you play football. We just want to see you. Yeah.
572
00:25:23.829 --> 00:25:26.130
I'm just saying it's like, it's always like a, we
573
00:25:26.150 --> 00:25:28.589
just like, like as if we have the one thing
574
00:25:28.609 --> 00:25:32.329
that makes us us like, um, and I think the
575
00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:34.380
important thing is I try not to get mad at that.
576
00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:37.740
And I try and, have an open dialogue, whether it's
577
00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:39.779
social media or in meet and greets when I meet
578
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.920
people or wherever I am. Um, and I try to
579
00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.720
keep an open dialogue and an open mind because you're
580
00:25:44.740 --> 00:25:48.200
not going to change someone's heart by returning their hate
581
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:51.269
with hate. So, um, so I, you know, I try
582
00:25:51.309 --> 00:25:54.190
to be positive and I try to be comedic, you know,
583
00:25:54.210 --> 00:25:58.250
have a comedic timing about it kind of thing. But, but, um, Well,
584
00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:01.549
I try, I try, but it's hard. It is a
585
00:26:01.589 --> 00:26:04.430
hard thing. Cause, cause I don't know, people don't want
586
00:26:04.450 --> 00:26:09.980
to hear certain messages from people apparently. So it is
587
00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:11.240
always funny though. Cause at the end of the day,
588
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:13.299
I'm like, well, I'm a human and I'm a mom
589
00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:16.259
and I'm a wife and I'm more than just a singer,
590
00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:18.460
you know? So, and I, I have, you know, a
591
00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.339
mother of four that I, I, I don't know. I
592
00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:23.579
feel like as a parent, I'm explaining a lot away
593
00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:26.019
every day. And, you know, especially with our 10 and
594
00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:28.380
16 year old, they're starting to ask us questions that
595
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.119
I'm like, uh, like my husband and I were at
596
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:32.480
dinner and I was like, oh God, they've never been
597
00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.740
interested in politics before, but now they're afraid. And I'm like, uh, like,
598
00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.059
so it's, it's just like an interesting thing to navigate.
599
00:26:39.460 --> 00:26:41.970
So 1, 3, 10 and 16. That's the whole range
600
00:26:42.009 --> 00:26:42.349
right there.
601
00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:44.269
Well, cause she, our 16 year old keeps saying, well,
602
00:26:44.289 --> 00:26:46.970
I'm going to vote in two years. Like why, why
603
00:26:47.009 -->
00:26:48.890
should I vote? How should I vote? How do I
604
00:26:48.930 --> 00:26:50.829
know who to trust? Or how, you know, all these
605
00:26:50.869 --> 00:26:54.480
questions that even as an adult or... Hard to decipher.
606
00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:56.720
And the interesting thing is most kids vote as their
607
00:26:56.779 --> 00:26:59.200
parents vote. Totally. It's an interesting fact.
608
00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:03.690
I was not one of them. Yeah, it didn't go
609
00:27:03.710 --> 00:27:04.069
over well.
610
00:27:04.329 --> 00:27:07.109
Not at the Thanksgiving table.
611
00:27:07.910 --> 00:27:10.920
My family is definitely divided. But it's fine. I mean,
612
00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:13.220
I think that's what's great about living in our country.
613
00:27:13.619 --> 00:27:15.680
And I think that that's what... I think that's what's
614
00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:18.849
upsetting for, you know, whatever political belief you are, whatever faith,
615
00:27:19.130 --> 00:27:20.809
that's the most amazing thing about our country. And I
616
00:27:20.809 --> 00:27:22.329
think that we need to focus on more than anything
617
00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:24.769
is that although we're all very different, we have different
618
00:27:24.789 --> 00:27:27.339
beliefs or whatever. The fact that we're able to have
619
00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.660
those is what's outstanding. And I don't, and I think
620
00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:34.069
that people. focus so much. It's like idle hands, you know,
621
00:27:34.230 --> 00:27:36.180
are the devil's work. And it's like, people are so,
622
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:37.799
I'm like, are you all that bored that you're just
623
00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:39.859
trying to like, I don't, I don't understand what's happening. Like,
624
00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:43.980
like focus on the positive focus on the similarities, focus
625
00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:44.960
on the great change.
626
00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:48.029
Like I try to not distract people so much as
627
00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:50.569
to give them a higher level of things to talk about.
628
00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:51.210
Absolutely.
629
00:27:51.269 --> 00:27:54.789
You know, like, did you know that in one centimeter
630
00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:59.299
of your lower colon lives and works more microbes than
631
00:27:59.750 --> 00:28:01.670
than all the humans who have ever been born.
632
00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:03.079
What?
633
00:28:03.470 --> 00:28:06.140
See, I tried. So, yeah. So that way, now you're
634
00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:07.740
not thinking of who you're going to hate.
635
00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:08.759
Yeah. I don't hate people.
636
00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:09.140
Right.
637
00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:10.539
I just don't talk to them.
638
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:12.079
I wasn't talking about you hating people.
639
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.440
I don't hate people. I'm just like done with them.
640
00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:16.400
Done. We're done. Move on. Yeah.
641
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:17.900
Like, no, sir.
642
00:28:19.049 --> 00:28:22.690
Over the 15 years you've been known to us, has
643
00:28:22.849 --> 00:28:25.190
technology changed in the production of music?
644
00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:25.970
My gosh.
645
00:28:25.990 --> 00:28:28.069
And how you now perform or record?
646
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:31.670
Literally, I feel like, especially in my career, like from
647
00:28:31.690 --> 00:28:34.539
the 15 years I've been doing this, it has been
648
00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:38.500
dramatic changes. There have been dramatic changes every couple of years.
649
00:28:39.009 --> 00:28:41.190
You know, I remember when Napster first came out, they
650
00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:41.930
were the devil.
651
00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:44.410
Are you that old? You're not that old.
652
00:28:44.809 --> 00:28:47.869
I'm 35. I started at 19. So, you know, it's just,
653
00:28:47.950 --> 00:28:50.150
I remember that was just like, oh my God, the
654
00:28:50.289 --> 00:28:52.410
end of, you know, whatever. And now streaming is a
655
00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:54.009
huge thing and like we're embracing it and we're just
656
00:28:54.029 --> 00:28:55.150
figuring it out and like how it's going to go.
657
00:28:55.150 --> 00:28:57.750
But it's always been, you know, I had cassette tapes
658
00:28:57.809 --> 00:29:00.430
to CDs to an MP3 to, you know what I'm saying?
659
00:29:00.450 --> 00:29:03.480
Now we're just streaming. Like it's like, it's just so...
660
00:29:04.230 --> 00:29:05.750
And I don't think you should try and keep up.
661
00:29:06.089 --> 00:29:08.529
So you started at cassette tape. You didn't say 8-track, see?
662
00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:09.470
No, I was cassette tape.
663
00:29:09.490 --> 00:29:11.210
My day, we go 8-track and we go back. I
664
00:29:11.230 --> 00:29:12.259
was cassette tape. Yeah, yeah.
665
00:29:12.299 --> 00:29:16.079
My Paul Abdul, straight up, now tell me.
666
00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:20.079
So, okay, but that's how you ingest music. But how
667
00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:23.460
about in the performing of music? Are there any technologies
668
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:26.200
and microphones or mixing tables?
669
00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:30.470
No, I mean, I think we're pretty... I like an
670
00:29:30.950 --> 00:29:33.069
organic vibe. I mean, we throw in some like cool
671
00:29:33.089 --> 00:29:35.079
beats and we've gone on tour with like a DJ before.
672
00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:38.200
And there's some cool effects you can do like with
673
00:29:38.220 --> 00:29:41.259
bullet mic effects and stuff like that. But, I don't
674
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:44.130
know I don't really I like keeping it pretty organic
675
00:29:44.190 --> 00:29:46.609
and just because I think people don't come to you know,
676
00:29:46.630 --> 00:29:48.890
I don't dance. I don't fly. I'm not, there's no fire.
677
00:29:49.049 --> 00:29:52.049
Like it was like, just me, my band.
678
00:29:52.109 --> 00:29:55.200
So, so we try and make things sound,
um, you know,
679
00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.660
amazing live, like the music and the, and the vocals
680
00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.799
we want to really pierce through the, the atmosphere, like
681
00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:04.660
in the, in the crowd. So I use the word atmosphere.
682
00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:06.779
I noticed that I'm totally digging it.
683
00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:07.660
That was for you.
684
00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:11.430
Um, did you know that earth's atmosphere is to earth
685
00:30:12.430 --> 00:30:15.009
as the skin of an apple is to an apple?
686
00:30:16.049 --> 00:30:16.730
Was that thin?
687
00:30:16.869 --> 00:30:17.529
It is that thin.
688
00:30:18.150 --> 00:30:21.210
Dang. And you know we're messing that up right now.
689
00:30:21.730 --> 00:30:22.450
You know we're just.
690
00:30:22.470 --> 00:30:24.579
People, you know, we are small within it, so we
691
00:30:24.619 --> 00:30:26.740
think you can just pollute it and who cares.
692
00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:27.400
Yeah.
693
00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:27.940
No, it's this thin.
694
00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:30.259
What are your thoughts on, I know this is you
695
00:30:30.460 --> 00:30:33.339
are supposed to be starting, but I'm curious. With like Tesla,
696
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:35.259
like with Elon Musk, like doing the whole Mars thing,
697
00:30:35.299 --> 00:30:38.670
like saying we have to be a multi-planetarian like species
698
00:30:38.769 --> 00:30:40.630
to survive. Do you agree with that?
699
00:30:40.890 --> 00:30:42.789
Yeah. Often people who say we need to be a
700
00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:47.150
multi-planet species to survive, they're imagining that an asteroid strike
701
00:30:47.269 --> 00:30:48.839
or a virus that could take us out.
702
00:30:48.890 --> 00:30:50.920
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about it's just
703
00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:51.700
ruining planet Earth.
704
00:30:51.740 --> 00:30:55.079
Just ruining planet Earth. So here's my rebuttal. By the way,
705
00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:57.059
Stephen Hawking feels the same way.
706
00:30:57.220 --> 00:30:57.619
Yeah.
707
00:30:57.799 --> 00:31:00.980
And as did Carl Sagan, many great thinkers in the past. Totally.
708
00:31:01.029 --> 00:31:04.109
I'm not entirely on board with it. Okay. But let
709
00:31:04.170 --> 00:31:04.609
me tell you why.
710
00:31:04.750 --> 00:31:05.049
Okay.
711
00:31:05.690 --> 00:31:06.890
Just for practical reasons.
712
00:31:06.910 --> 00:31:09.670
Okay. I'm so interested.
713
00:31:09.730 --> 00:31:13.069
Okay, for practical reasons. We're not gonna ship a billion
714
00:31:13.109 --> 00:31:15.970
people to Mars or any number of people to Mars
715
00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:20.329
to not come back unless we've kind of terraformed it.
716
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:22.559
Turn it into, isn't that a great word, terraform? Turn
717
00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:27.619
Mars into Earth. Okay? But consider, the day we have
718
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:32.029
the power of geoengineering to turn
Mars into Earth.
719
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:34.390
Then you're saying, why don't you just use that right here?
720
00:31:34.410 --> 00:31:36.190
Then we can just turn Earth back into Earth.
721
00:31:36.410 --> 00:31:36.549
Yeah.
722
00:31:36.569 --> 00:31:36.670
Yeah.
723
00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:39.519
But see, I don't know, do you think we're that powerful?
724
00:31:39.779 --> 00:31:42.410
I'm saying if you could turn Mars into Earth, you
725
00:31:42.430 --> 00:31:44.029
can turn Earth into Earth no matter what you did
726
00:31:44.069 --> 00:31:45.809
to Earth. This is all I'm saying.
727
00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:47.839
But what if they're just planning on going to Mars
728
00:31:48.059 --> 00:31:52.700
and creating like a... like not what Earth is, but
729
00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:55.240
trying to. Yeah, like a different version.
730
00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:57.319
Okay, that's fine, then you're not doing it to survive,
731
00:31:57.339 --> 00:31:59.869
you're doing it because we don't fit on this planet anymore,
732
00:31:59.880 --> 00:32:02.089
and we ran out of resources, and we need another
733
00:32:02.109 --> 00:32:04.509
place to get resources, and we gotta spill out.
734
00:32:04.549 --> 00:32:05.359
We're abusing all our.
735
00:32:05.369 --> 00:32:06.990
Yeah, so it'd be the same thing as you move
736
00:32:07.009 --> 00:32:08.970
from the cities to the suburbs, we move from Earth
737
00:32:09.029 --> 00:32:13.750
to the suburban planets. That could happen, I can imagine that.
738
00:32:14.009 --> 00:32:14.250
Yeah.
739
00:32:14.369 --> 00:32:18.430
Yeah, because we needed to, not because the threat of death.
740
00:32:19.470 --> 00:32:22.630
I see it as like, well, then I guess it's
741
00:32:22.670 --> 00:32:23.180
our time.
742
00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:26.440
It's very matter of fact about it.
743
00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:28.920
I'm like, well, I'm like, I don't think, I mean,
744
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:31.519
I'm all about like, I love, I'm curious about all
745
00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:34.299
of it. So I'm always interested. Like I watch, I
746
00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:37.980
love watching documentaries on it. Like I, I'm fascinated by
747
00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:40.650
it all. Anything dealing with like black holes, the galaxy,
748
00:32:40.710 --> 00:32:43.170
like just there's so much we don't know, which I
749
00:32:43.210 --> 00:32:46.650
find fascinating. But at the same time, too, I'm just like, well,
750
00:32:46.710 --> 00:32:48.420
if it just ends, well, I guess we had our
751
00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:50.480
moment in history, didn't we?
752
00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:51.680
Our blip.
753
00:32:51.819 --> 00:32:52.539
Yeah.
754
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:56.359
Blip in history. Am I allowed to ask you in
755
00:32:56.380 --> 00:32:56.920
front of cameras?
756
00:32:57.789 --> 00:32:58.069
Yes.
757
00:32:58.089 --> 00:32:59.170
Do you use autotuned?
758
00:32:59.930 --> 00:33:02.140
On records? Yeah, we don't do it live, but we
759
00:33:02.180 --> 00:33:03.440
definitely have used it on records.
760
00:33:03.460 --> 00:33:05.680
Because auto-tune, you can now do it live. Yeah. What
761
00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:06.980
you sing here comes out on the right note. No,
762
00:33:06.980 --> 00:33:07.720
you can do it live.
763
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:11.240
There are people that do concerts that have their vocals. Yeah,
764
00:33:11.339 --> 00:33:13.009
because I know who they are.
765
00:33:13.029 --> 00:33:15.589
Because I know the people that work for them. Is
766
00:33:15.609 --> 00:33:17.710
it just people in the closet about their auto-tune?
767
00:33:17.769 --> 00:33:20.089
No, there are people that auto-tune live. I don't do
768
00:33:20.130 --> 00:33:21.549
that live. I don't want to take away from that
769
00:33:21.589 --> 00:33:26.480
emotional moment. But when it's on record, I don't mind.
770
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:29.450
If I love a performance... And I'm like, oh, I
771
00:33:29.490 --> 00:33:32.170
don't know if I'm going to nail that again, or
772
00:33:32.190 --> 00:33:33.750
if I even try it again and I haven't nailed,
773
00:33:34.369 --> 00:33:37.069
everything was perfect, but one thing, I don't want that
774
00:33:37.170 --> 00:33:38.250
one thing.
775
00:33:37.930 --> 00:33:39.549
To ruin the whole vibe.
776
00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:43.730
So I don't mind using it sparingly, but we definitely
777
00:33:43.750 --> 00:33:44.490
don't use it a ton.
778
00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:48.539
Because it's a major addition to the musician's arsenal, the
779
00:33:48.559 --> 00:33:49.160
singer's arsenal.
780
00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:51.079
Yeah, and there are a lot of cool things you
781
00:33:51.099 --> 00:33:52.519
can do. I mean, I know a lot of guys
782
00:33:52.579 --> 00:33:54.319
in rap use them because it sounds cool.
783
00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:56.279
Oh, that's when you, okay. We did a whole program
784
00:33:56.299 --> 00:34:00.680
for Nova recently, back when I was host of a
785
00:34:00.740 --> 00:34:03.980
Nova spinoff called Nova Science Now. I interviewed the guy
786
00:34:04.059 --> 00:34:07.740
who invented Auto-Tune. And he was telling me about what
787
00:34:07.809 --> 00:34:11.750
happens if you change, yeah, you can manipulate it over
788
00:34:11.769 --> 00:34:15.170
the edge, and then it makes that funny distortion.
789
00:34:15.190 --> 00:34:16.469
Yeah, the robotic kind of weird, yeah.
790
00:34:16.590 --> 00:34:17.309
Right, and.
791
00:34:17.429 --> 00:34:19.489
Which can be cool, because on this, we did it
792
00:34:19.510 --> 00:34:20.530
on medicine on this album.
793
00:34:20.650 --> 00:34:22.650
He made it clear that that was not the intent.
794
00:34:22.969 --> 00:34:25.159
The intent is to fix your note to be the
795
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:25.719
proper note.
796
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:26.239
Absolutely.
797
00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:27.860
Not to dangle off the side of the waterfall.
798
00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:28.199
Yes, absolutely.
799
00:34:28.300 --> 00:34:31.440
Where all these extra weird noises come from. Yes, and it's.
800
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:35.460
And it's also cool, like, because how we, like, okay,
801
00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:37.400
there's a song called Medicine. That's where we use it.
802
00:34:37.420 --> 00:34:40.800
Like on Medicine, there's this part that goes, never give
803
00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:43.579
me high, never give me low. And I sing it.
804
00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:46.150
But then there's this also part, they literally took my
805
00:34:46.190 --> 00:34:48.909
vocal and almost like. changed it, manipulated it like an
806
00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:51.989
octave lower to where it has this like, and it's
807
00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:53.590
like this, it sounds like a man. My mom was like,
808
00:34:53.610 --> 00:34:55.650
who's the man on your record? I was like, that's
809
00:34:55.690 --> 00:34:58.139
my voice. I just manipulated it. So there's really cool
810
00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:00.659
things you can do with it. Um, I think at
811
00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:03.739
the end of the day, if you're not capable of
812
00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:06.719
doing it live, then I don't think you should maybe
813
00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:09.610
do it. That's my personal thing. But, but if it's
814
00:35:09.639 --> 00:35:12.210
like going to run a moment that was really beautiful
815
00:35:12.369 --> 00:35:14.829
and like it, you don't want to change that moment.
816
00:35:14.869 --> 00:35:18.260
That doesn't bother me. Um, I just think it's cheating
817
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:20.860
when they do it at a live show because why
818
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:22.280
I think that's cheating is for all of us that
819
00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:24.719
are working our tails off. And, you know, we might
820
00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:28.139
be emotional and pitchy at points. That's not fair because
821
00:35:28.179 --> 00:35:31.530
then people, it's false advertisement, you know, pitchy.
822
00:35:31.690 --> 00:35:32.150
Yeah.
823
00:35:32.550 --> 00:35:34.250
Like if you're pitchy, like, you know, if you're going
824
00:35:34.269 --> 00:35:36.849
for me and you go me.
825
00:35:36.869 --> 00:35:41.320
Oh, okay. Yeah. You said it as though that's like
826
00:35:41.340 --> 00:35:41.820
being bitchy.
827
00:35:42.219 --> 00:35:46.460
Oh, bitchy, yeah. Well, you'll get bitchy after you're bitchy.
828
00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:50.070
That's what follows. There's a cause and effect. It's a
829
00:35:50.090 --> 00:35:53.530
reaction to every action. But no, it's, I don't know.
830
00:35:53.929 --> 00:35:56.250
So I also understand you wrote a lullaby for each
831
00:35:56.269 --> 00:35:56.869
of your two books.
832
00:35:57.539 --> 00:35:59.440
I wrote a lullaby for the first one.
833
00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:00.079
I love lullabies.
834
00:36:00.099 --> 00:36:01.880
Yeah, I do too. They're so beautiful. It was when
835
00:36:01.900 --> 00:36:03.320
I was going to write a lullaby for each one,
836
00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:05.559
and we might still do that, but the Christmas one,
837
00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:07.780
which was the second one in the River Rose series,
838
00:36:08.260 --> 00:36:10.389
I actually did a full-on Christmas song for. Because we
839
00:36:10.409 --> 00:36:12.349
thought it would be cool because there's not a lot of...
840
00:36:12.969 --> 00:36:16.070
original Christmas songs out there. Even on my Christmas album,
841
00:36:16.090 --> 00:36:18.929
there's a few, but a lot of them are classics.
842
00:36:18.949 --> 00:36:21.170
But I love that one. But it's nice to do
843
00:36:21.210 --> 00:36:23.360
something original every once in a while. So we did
844
00:36:23.400 --> 00:36:25.059
a full-on Christmas song for the second book, but there's
845
00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:26.619
a lullaby for the first one. It's the song I
846
00:36:26.659 --> 00:36:27.619
sang to her when she was a baby.
847
00:36:27.739 --> 00:36:30.880
So the book series begins with what words?
848
00:36:32.340 --> 00:36:34.420
The River Rose and the Magical Lullaby is the first one.
849
00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:36.340
Okay, so River Rose and the.
850
00:36:36.889 --> 00:36:39.090
River Rose and the Magical Lullaby, and then it's River
851
00:36:39.130 --> 00:36:40.809
Rose and the Magical Christmas.
852
00:36:40.550 --> 00:36:43.539
Is the second one. Okay. And we'll see more, presumably.
853
00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:45.420
Yeah, there's a whole series that I've written. We actually
854
00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:47.619
didn't plan on the Christmas one. It just came up. Right.
855
00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:49.239
And my editor, I was like, we can do that
856
00:36:49.260 --> 00:36:51.480
in a year, right? And he was like, uh-huh. And
857
00:36:51.579 --> 00:36:53.940
I was like, because I really wanted it to come out.
858
00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:56.619
It's a fun age, you know, for River Rose, the
859
00:36:56.659 --> 00:36:58.659
real River Rose, like, you know, for Christmas. So I
860
00:36:58.820 --> 00:37:00.369
thought it would be cool. She loves it, so it's
861
00:37:00.409 --> 00:37:03.059
kid approved. Which is hard to get kid approved.
862
00:37:03.079 --> 00:37:08.239
They stamp it and it's good, yeah. So lullabies, I
863
00:37:08.300 --> 00:37:12.699
think it's scientifically demonstrated to be soothing to babies. I mean,
864
00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:15.800
we do that empirically, but I think you can study
865
00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:18.780
brain patterns and what parts of it it hits and
866
00:37:19.480 --> 00:37:21.900
it calms anxieties. It's almost the same as a.
867
00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:25.289
Speaking voice, like a smooth voice. rather than your voice
868
00:37:25.309 --> 00:37:28.170
compared to my speaking voice, yours would be more soothing.
869
00:37:28.489 --> 00:37:29.929
So you can sing and I can speak, and we
870
00:37:29.969 --> 00:37:30.829
can go on the road.
871
00:37:31.070 --> 00:37:32.550
Yes, we have a duo.
872
00:37:33.010 -->
00:37:36.170
I'm ready. I say, the universe.
873
00:37:36.409 --> 00:37:38.030
And I go, the universe.
874
00:37:40.059 --> 00:37:40.559
Yeah.
875
00:37:44.769 --> 00:37:46.530
Have you ever interviewed Blake Shelton?
876
00:37:46.809 --> 00:37:48.909
No, no, I haven't. Oh my God, I want y'all
877
00:37:48.929 --> 00:37:51.210
to talk. Okay. This would be amazing. I'll look for him.
878
00:37:51.449 --> 00:37:53.949
Actually, I want to do it with y'all because I'm
879
00:37:53.969 --> 00:37:54.670
just going to laugh.
880
00:37:56.780 --> 00:37:59.280
Speaking of Blake Shelton, are you now an advisor to
881
00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:00.840
American Idol? Now, what is your role?
882
00:38:00.940 --> 00:38:02.199
I'm an advisor to The Voice.
883
00:38:02.340 --> 00:38:02.920
Oh, The Voice.
884
00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:05.280
I'm an advisor on this current season and the next
885
00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:06.960
season I'm a coach. I have my own chair.
886
00:38:08.199 --> 00:38:10.679
Oh, okay. Right, all right, because the voice, you are
887
00:38:10.739 --> 00:38:11.840
not facing the performer.
888
00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:14.900
Yeah, you start off, yeah, with the blinds, which is amazing.
889
00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:15.780
Yeah, as it should be.
890
00:38:16.019 --> 00:38:18.820
Yeah, that's actually how I started singing, because I sing
891
00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:21.340
classical stuff, and every time you'd go to a competition,
892
00:38:21.380 --> 00:38:22.639
they weren't allowed to see you, so you'd have to
893
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:25.019
perform by, I performed behind screens for years.
894
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:28.260
You know what started that? What? They had auditions for
895
00:38:29.550 --> 00:38:35.510
classical pianists and violinists and things, and orchestras were predominantly men,
896
00:38:35.730 --> 00:38:38.380
out of proportion with the number of women who were competing.
897
00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:44.239
And so the evaluators were picking men, saying, oh, they
898
00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:45.900
play better in music. And they put a screen up,
899
00:38:45.980 --> 00:38:48.639
and then the fraction of women went in. Yeah, so
900
00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:49.659
now it's a thing.
901
00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:51.780
Yeah, I mean, there's a song about it, Video Killed
902
00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:53.840
the Radio Star, too. And there's a bit about it
903
00:38:53.900 --> 00:38:55.900
that I like about the blinds on the voice is
904
00:38:55.920 --> 00:38:57.820
that you can't see them. It's not about the aesthetics.
905
00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:00.559
It's about the true talent and merit of the singer.
906
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:05.360
Right. So you're not only a performing artist, you're you're
907
00:39:05.380 --> 00:39:07.820
engaged in some social activism when you can and when
908
00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:10.380
you can make that change. And from what I read,
909
00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:11.539
you're also a philanthropist?
910
00:39:12.159 -->
00:39:14.780
I mean, I try and shed light on organizations that
911
00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:17.480
I feel like need more attention. It's always funny because
912
00:39:17.780 --> 00:39:20.159
being in the spotlight, we get so much attention. And
913
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:22.469
it's nice to use that for something good.
914
00:39:22.489 --> 00:39:23.030
Spread the love.
915
00:39:23.269 --> 00:39:25.809
Yeah. And it's nice to, especially if you're passionate about it.
916
00:39:26.050 --> 00:39:26.869
What are you passionate about?
917
00:39:27.289 --> 00:39:30.800
Well, I've worked a lot recently. I'm really into XQ
918
00:39:30.840 --> 00:39:33.880
Super Schools just because I did this. It's funny. I
919
00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:35.800
didn't even know they existed, and then I randomly did
920
00:39:35.820 --> 00:39:38.219
this event for them, and they haven't been around. I
921
00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:41.059
think 2015 maybe is when they started, but it's a
922
00:39:41.199 --> 00:39:45.710
really cool, innovative project of really applying life skills, not
923
00:39:45.750 --> 00:39:49.429
just the core things. in, in school and really setting
924
00:39:49.469 --> 00:39:52.130
up kids to get them prepared for life. And it's
925
00:39:52.170 --> 00:39:54.579
a lot of that kind of innovation and progressiveness that I,
926
00:39:54.949 --> 00:39:56.969
that my mom, you know, she started a school actually
927
00:39:57.030 --> 00:39:58.849
that was a public school, but you almost had, it
928
00:39:58.889 --> 00:40:01.170
was like a lottery to get in. But, um, and
929
00:40:01.190 --> 00:40:04.269
it was, you know, not having teachers stick to exactly
930
00:40:04.309 --> 00:40:07.530
the tests and everything. Cause kids learn differently and all
931
00:40:07.570 --> 00:40:10.239
kids are, you know, um, some are more creative, some
932
00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:12.900
are more math based, some are more, you know, we're
933
00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:16.840
all different. And so it's really cool how they're, They're
934
00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:19.119
trying to be innovative in the sense of changing this
935
00:40:19.179 --> 00:40:21.059
archaic system that our educational system is.
936
00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:26.230
So you became a singer, not a teacher, but as
937
00:40:26.269 --> 00:40:27.710
a singer, you're enabling teaching.
938
00:40:28.699 --> 00:40:31.039
I could never be a teacher. I don't have the patience.
939
00:40:32.050 --> 00:40:33.590
But I respect them.
940
00:40:33.610 --> 00:40:34.650
You're doing the next best thing.
941
00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:39.250
But I respect them more than any other vocation. Just
942
00:40:39.289 --> 00:40:45.199
because it's one, you're not paid well. And you give
943
00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:46.920
so much. People are always like, oh, they get three
944
00:40:46.960 --> 00:40:48.739
months off. I'm like, no, they don't. They don't get
945
00:40:48.760 --> 00:40:50.619
summers off, they're all in their, oh.
946
00:40:52.500 --> 00:40:54.920
Gosh, what are they called? Workshops.
947
00:40:55.179 --> 00:41:00.679
My mom had workshops all summer. So they're always constantly working.
948
00:41:01.880 --> 00:41:04.139
It's funny, because we were all those kids in these classrooms,
949
00:41:04.559 --> 00:41:06.480
and we go off and we're successful and we make
950
00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:09.519
all this money and do all these things, and these
951
00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:11.699
people that are the reason why we've become who we
952
00:41:11.900 --> 00:41:15.920
are and why we are successful, are working for nothing
953
00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:19.610
and giving everything. Because it's not just my mom, especially,
954
00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:21.789
and all the teachers she worked with. It wasn't just
955
00:41:21.829 --> 00:41:25.369
teaching them those core subjects. It's also teaching them to
956
00:41:25.409 --> 00:41:28.269
be great human. And it's also teaching them social skills
957
00:41:28.309 --> 00:41:30.610
and how to not be socially inept and act as
958
00:41:30.650 --> 00:41:33.590
a team and setting them up for life. And I
959
00:41:33.610 --> 00:41:36.170
just feel like we could do better, especially since we
960
00:41:36.210 --> 00:41:38.989
have four kids. I would like for us to do better,
961
00:41:39.010 --> 00:41:42.909
to get kids excited about it, to apply it in
962
00:41:42.929 --> 00:41:46.760
a way that is applicable after they get out of school,
963
00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:47.659
you know?
964
00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:48.820
I don't know.
965
00:41:49.360 --> 00:41:51.579
I really loved what XQ Super Schools is doing. I
966
00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:52.179
think it's cool.
967
00:41:52.900 --> 00:41:53.699
So you're from Tennessee?
968
00:41:54.449 --> 00:41:56.349
I'm from Texas, but I've been in Tennessee for over
969
00:41:56.389 --> 00:41:56.789
a decade.
970
00:41:56.949 --> 00:41:59.190
For over a decade. Okay, so you're a resident of Tennessee.
971
00:41:59.210 --> 00:41:59.829
I'm a resident.
972
00:41:59.849 --> 00:42:01.010
Yeah, Nashville. What part of Texas?
973
00:42:01.530 --> 00:42:02.710
Fort Worth, Burleson area.
974
00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:03.329
Fort Worth.
975
00:42:03.389 --> 00:42:04.070
Fort Worth.
976
00:42:04.190 --> 00:42:05.510
Fort Worth, I love you.
977
00:42:05.590 --> 00:42:05.949
Yes.
978
00:42:05.969 --> 00:42:07.619
There was a bumper sticker, I remember. Fort Worth, I
979
00:42:07.619 --> 00:42:08.119
love you.
980
00:42:08.179 --> 00:42:09.360
Oh my gosh, because why wouldn't you?
981
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:14.559
I love Texas. I met my wife in Texas. Yeah. Yeah,
982
00:42:14.579 --> 00:42:15.599
so we have roots there.
983
00:42:15.820 --> 00:42:17.679
That's why she's fantastic. Okay.
984
00:42:17.780 --> 00:42:20.039
So Tennessee, you're a Tennessee resident?
985
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:20.360
Yep.
986
00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:23.670
Okay, now I arranged to have a total solar eclipse.
987
00:42:24.130 -->
00:42:25.869
Go completely through your state.
988
00:42:26.349 --> 00:42:29.809
Actually, Sumner County, where our farm is, is exactly one
989
00:42:29.829 --> 00:42:30.469
of the best places.
990
00:42:30.690 --> 00:42:34.550
So maybe my invitation was still in the mail. Lost
991
00:42:34.610 --> 00:42:36.929
in the mail. I'll go back home and check.
992
00:42:36.989 --> 00:42:37.750
You could have come.
993
00:42:37.769 --> 00:42:38.610
Maybe it was there.
994
00:42:38.630 --> 00:42:39.730
We had a cookout.
995
00:42:39.849 --> 00:42:40.309
I don't know.
996
00:42:40.329 --> 00:42:43.530
We were on our land just hanging out.
997
00:42:43.630 --> 00:42:44.730
Maybe it's still in the.
998
00:42:44.969 --> 00:42:47.610
I just didn't have your address, the right one.
999
00:42:48.889 --> 00:42:51.960
Did you have any astro person on your ranch for this?
1000
00:42:52.579 --> 00:42:56.539
You had no scientists on the ranch?
1001
00:42:56.760 --> 00:43:00.340
I love that I appear that I have scientist friends too.
1002
00:43:00.429 --> 00:43:02.710
Everybody needs a scientist at arm's reach.
1003
00:43:03.190 --> 00:43:05.329
Well, we do have Chris Dye on our team, which
1004
00:43:05.389 --> 00:43:08.190
he's a genius. We call him MacGyver on tour, but
1005
00:43:08.230 --> 00:43:11.849
he wasn't in Tennessee at the time. We were floored, though.
1006
00:43:11.869 --> 00:43:14.599
It was one of the coolest things I've ever been
1007
00:43:14.619 --> 00:43:15.099
a part of.
1008
00:43:15.500 --> 00:43:16.679
Followed by a moon shadow.
1009
00:43:17.010 --> 00:43:17.369
It was so cool.
1010
00:43:17.429 --> 00:43:18.469
Steeped in darkness.
1011
00:43:18.909 --> 00:43:20.929
Steeped in darkness. Write that book right now, sir.
1012
00:43:21.369 --> 00:43:24.659
Look at you. Steeped in darkness. Nice. No, I'm glad
1013
00:43:24.699 --> 00:43:27.159
you experienced it. It's one of the great spectacles of nature.
1014
00:43:27.380 --> 00:43:31.880
Yes. It was amazing because once it happened, like literally
1015
00:43:32.300 --> 00:43:34.219
the woods, like we have a lot of forests and
1016
00:43:34.429 --> 00:43:36.829
woods on our land, it came alive. like all of
1017
00:43:36.849 --> 00:43:40.380
a sudden the locusts, the crickets, everything was just like booming.
1018
00:43:40.579 --> 00:43:42.260
You heard all the twilight creatures.
1019
00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:45.280
Yes, and everyone was so quiet because we were in
1020
00:43:45.460 --> 00:43:47.079
awe of what was happening. And then all of a
1021
00:43:47.079 --> 00:43:48.539
sudden we were like, oh my gosh, I mean, dear,
1022
00:43:48.579 --> 00:43:51.550
like things were just coming alive. And then it was
1023
00:43:51.590 --> 00:43:54.150
probably very confusing because then the Then it stopped.
1024
00:43:54.170 --> 00:43:57.809
The sun came back. The animals are saying, what the hell? Yeah,
1025
00:43:57.829 --> 00:43:59.280
they're like, what's happening?
1026
00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:00.579
I'm getting punked.
1027
00:44:01.019 --> 00:44:02.980
Okay, so the next time there's a total solar eclipse
1028
00:44:03.079 --> 00:44:04.519
over your farm, you're going to call me up.
1029
00:44:04.820 --> 00:44:06.800
I will call you up. I'm going to call you.
1030
00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:09.750
You aren't going to come, but I'm going to call you.
1031
00:44:10.289 --> 00:44:12.739
You think I won't. Actually, the next time to see it,
1032
00:44:12.750 --> 00:44:15.789
I think... Is it, where's the next, the next one
1033
00:44:15.829 --> 00:44:17.489
they said that was coming, is it in 24? Or no?
1034
00:44:18.289 --> 00:44:20.590
Well, there's an eclipse every couple of years. So they're
1035
00:44:20.610 --> 00:44:22.880
not as rare as the press would have you believe.
1036
00:44:22.889 --> 00:44:23.590
No, no, no, agreed.
1037
00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:28.260
Right, right. So, and nowadays, we have airplanes. So, like,
1038
00:44:28.300 --> 00:44:30.880
there's one, like, in South America, like, next year or
1039
00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:34.039
the year after, you know, 2019, I think. So you're
1040
00:44:34.059 --> 00:44:36.380
never really that far away from the next one.
1041
00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:36.619
Yeah.
1042
00:44:37.260 --> 00:44:41.340
And lately, by the way, two-thirds of Earth's surface is ocean,
1043
00:44:41.739 --> 00:44:45.829
so there are entrepreneurial sort of ocean people who say,
1044
00:44:45.969 --> 00:44:48.449
we'll sail our boat into the eclipse path, and then
1045
00:44:48.489 --> 00:44:50.840
you have an ocean cruise the rest of the time
1046
00:44:50.860 --> 00:44:51.239
you're there.
1047
00:44:51.480 --> 00:44:51.820
What?
1048
00:44:52.019 --> 00:44:52.400
Oh, yeah.
1049
00:44:52.739 --> 00:44:53.880
That's pretty sexy.
1050
00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:56.199
Yeah, it totally works, completely.
1051
00:44:56.400 --> 00:44:57.559
Nice bottle of wine.
1052
00:44:57.780 --> 00:44:58.159
Totally.
1053
00:44:58.280 --> 00:44:58.579
Yes.
1054
00:44:59.329 --> 00:45:02.250
Singing some Total Eclipse of the Heart.
1055
00:45:02.989 --> 00:45:03.989
Nothing I can do.
1056
00:45:04.050 --> 00:45:06.250
Have you seen that video? It's amazing. So I tweeted
1057
00:45:06.269 --> 00:45:09.320
during the eclipse all the songs I knew that referenced
1058
00:45:09.340 --> 00:45:11.280
a total solar eclipse. So you should look it up.
1059
00:45:11.300 --> 00:45:13.380
There's some songs in there. I am not that fun. No, no.
1060
00:45:13.380 --> 00:45:15.500
You can make the eclipse album. Yes. No, no. We'll
1061
00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:16.179
totally collaborate.
1062
00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:16.579
Oh, my God.
1063
00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:20.099
That's great. You hear that, Atlantic Records? That's your next.
1064
00:45:20.960 --> 00:45:25.559
The duet between us. You could be like the, you're
1065
00:45:25.579 --> 00:45:27.590
the voice, though. You're the sexy voice in Boyz II Men.
1066
00:45:27.989 --> 00:45:30.199
And
I'll be the singer. You do that, hey, baby.
1067
00:45:30.389 --> 00:45:31.989
You just come in and you just start talking it out.
1068
00:45:32.030 --> 00:45:34.369
Talk dirty science. Talk nerdy to me.
1069
00:45:34.750 --> 00:45:37.090
I'd say, Kelly, look west.
1070
00:45:37.349 --> 00:45:37.829
Look west.
1071
00:45:38.230 --> 00:45:39.530
Here comes the moon shadow.
1072
00:45:39.550 --> 00:45:40.829
Moon.
1073
00:45:40.829 --> 00:45:41.909
1,800 miles an hour.
1074
00:45:41.929 --> 00:45:42.150
Yeah. Yeah.
1075
00:45:46.869 --> 00:45:48.750
Come in with, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It is a
1076
00:45:48.909 --> 00:45:50.710
cone through space of darkness.
1077
00:45:52.380 --> 00:45:53.079
Darkness, darkness, darkness.
1078
00:45:54.059 --> 00:45:56.780
So, Toga, I'm glad you enjoyed the eclipse. I'm happy
1079
00:45:56.800 --> 00:45:57.719
to have arranged it for you.
1080
00:45:57.739 --> 00:46:00.099
Thank you. So lovely of you.
1081
00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:04.469
For every interview I conduct, I ask the person if,
1082
00:46:04.659 --> 00:46:07.769
because it's not every day they're hanging out with an astrophysicist,
1083
00:46:07.789 --> 00:46:09.789
and I just wonder, is there some question you have
1084
00:46:09.809 --> 00:46:14.670
harbored in yourself that you've never had the right person
1085
00:46:14.690 --> 00:46:17.489
around you to answer before? about the universe, this would
1086
00:46:17.510 --> 00:46:18.090
be that time.
1087
00:46:18.590 --> 00:46:20.760
Okay, I have one that you're probably gonna think is silly,
1088
00:46:20.860 --> 00:46:25.980
but whatever. I have always wondered, because have you ever
1089
00:46:26.019 --> 00:46:28.659
had astrology or numerology or any of that kind of stuff?
1090
00:46:29.019 --> 00:46:31.719
Have you ever had people do that to you? I mean, obviously, right?
1091
00:46:31.900 --> 00:46:32.400
All the time.
1092
00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:35.960
Yeah, and you're like, silliness. But I'm just saying, do
1093
00:46:35.980 --> 00:46:36.969
you think there's any... All the time.
1094
00:46:37.050 --> 00:46:37.489
All the time.
1095
00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:40.449
You don't think there's any merit to maybe the season
1096
00:46:40.489 --> 00:46:43.090
that you're born in or... do you think there's any
1097
00:46:43.170 --> 00:46:45.389
weight in that at all? Of like, you know what
1098
00:46:45.429 --> 00:46:48.920
I'm saying, like a time or like even the emotional
1099
00:46:48.960 --> 00:46:50.380
state of a mother, if it's a time of war,
1100
00:46:50.400 --> 00:46:51.739
if it's a time of, you know, whatever it is,
1101
00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:53.599
do you think that any of that plays out? Or
1102
00:46:54.099 --> 00:46:56.019
like being a tourist, when's your birthday?
1103
00:46:57.360 --> 00:46:59.159
If you're into this stuff, then you should just know.
1104
00:46:59.179 --> 00:47:00.420
I don't know your birthday.
1105
00:47:00.440 --> 00:47:04.820
There you go, therefore you can't. So that's a great question,
1106
00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:09.809
by the way. So holding aside all the stuff, that
1107
00:47:09.869 --> 00:47:17.900
is summarily rejected by all scientific experiments. Just hold that
1108
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:22.440
at bay for a moment. You can imagine long ago
1109
00:47:23.340 --> 00:47:27.610
where if you're born in the spring or the summer
1110
00:47:27.630 --> 00:47:30.070
or the fall or the winter, as a child you
1111
00:47:30.110 --> 00:47:33.869
would have different access to nutrients of the food that
1112
00:47:33.909 --> 00:47:37.190
grew on the farm. So if you were born like
1113
00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:39.050
the wrong time of the year, you might be a
1114
00:47:39.130 --> 00:47:43.280
sickly child. And because the food was already eaten or
1115
00:47:43.380 --> 00:47:46.000
it was spoiled by then or you're not ready. So
1116
00:47:46.039 --> 00:47:51.360
you can imagine before anyone knew anything about nutrition. Think
1117
00:47:51.400 --> 00:47:54.099
about this. We take vitamins because we studied vitamins. They're
1118
00:47:54.139 --> 00:47:57.059
Nobel Prizes for each one of those vitamins that were discovered.
1119
00:47:57.889 --> 00:48:01.250
They're modern things. People didn't know about vitamins, not explicitly.
1120
00:48:01.269 --> 00:48:03.489
They knew some foods kept you more healthy than others.
1121
00:48:03.690 --> 00:48:06.170
But go far enough back, you would say, oh, I
1122
00:48:06.210 --> 00:48:09.730
was born in February when the sun was over here. Therefore,
1123
00:48:10.050 --> 00:48:13.079
I will have this personality trait. So you can imagine
1124
00:48:13.420 --> 00:48:14.579
circumstances of.
1125
00:48:16.280 --> 00:48:17.139
Of nature and nurture.
1126
00:48:17.219 --> 00:48:20.280
Of nature and nurture come together that could influence what
1127
00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:22.300
kind of a person you might end up being.
1128
00:48:22.550 --> 00:48:22.800
Yeah.
1129
00:48:22.889 --> 00:48:27.070
Okay. But that has nothing to do with the sun, moon,
1130
00:48:27.090 --> 00:48:29.889
and stars. It has everything to do with the nutrition
1131
00:48:30.190 --> 00:48:31.449
of where and when you were born.
1132
00:48:31.469 --> 00:48:32.630
Okay.
1133
00:48:32.670 --> 00:48:35.619
Right. And so, but let's go a little further back.
1134
00:48:36.639 --> 00:48:42.000
You can imagine, here you are. Let's go back to Egypt.
1135
00:48:43.500 --> 00:48:46.710
And the star Sirius is rising just before the sun
1136
00:48:46.969 --> 00:48:49.250
in the morning sky. Dawn.
1137
00:48:50.090 --> 00:48:53.630
And Cleopatra says.
1138
00:48:53.809 --> 00:48:58.630
And they say, because Sirius, the star Sirius, the dog star,
1139
00:48:58.969 --> 00:49:02.429
is visible at this time of day, right in the
1140
00:49:02.469 --> 00:49:05.059
early morning, the Nile will rise.
1141
00:49:06.610 --> 00:49:10.860
Oh, so then it becomes, yeah, it's not, yeah, it's trickery.
1142
00:49:11.039 -->
00:49:15.239
Yeah, you're at the center of all this moving sky.
1143
00:49:15.820 --> 00:49:19.119
So clearly the universe knows about you and it's keeping
1144
00:49:19.159 --> 00:49:21.199
you healthy and it knows I need the Nile to.
1145
00:49:21.159 --> 00:49:23.360
Flood now to irrigate the.
1146
00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:28.360
There it is, it is so egocentric. And it's still egocentric.
1147
00:49:28.420 --> 00:49:31.699
People saying, oh, Mars is in retrograde, therefore my life
1148
00:49:31.820 --> 00:49:35.820
is affected by that. You think Mars gives a rat's
1149
00:49:35.980 --> 00:49:41.099
ass about you? I'm just saying. I love that.
1150
00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:44.099
No, wait, so you're just, you think like with astrology,
1151
00:49:44.139 --> 00:49:46.579
it's more for like mapping it out and finding your way,
1152
00:49:46.659 --> 00:49:47.619
and is that what you?
1153
00:49:47.699 --> 00:49:49.070
In the day? What do you think of the stars?
1154
00:49:49.090 --> 00:49:50.610
What do you think are helpful for us? What do
1155
00:49:50.630 --> 00:49:52.610
you think they're there for? Like, what do you, you
1156
00:49:52.630 --> 00:49:54.670
know what I'm saying? Like, do you think people navigated
1157
00:49:54.710 --> 00:49:54.989
by them?
1158
00:49:56.230 --> 00:50:01.250
Helpful, yes. Now they're not as helpful as GPS. I
1159
00:50:01.269 --> 00:50:06.059
think they're scientifically interesting and they're gorgeous, yes. So they
1160
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:08.780
help people navigate and I have books where it says,
1161
00:50:08.800 --> 00:50:11.659
oh isn't it great, God put these stars in this
1162
00:50:11.739 --> 00:50:15.360
way to help me find my destination. Again, it's an
1163
00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:22.030
assertion that the entire universe orbits you. And this is
1164
00:50:22.090 --> 00:50:25.760
part of the cosmic perspective where you learn, no, the
1165
00:50:27.519 --> 00:50:30.389
universe is not about you. You're about you. Yeah. And
1166
00:50:30.429 --> 00:50:31.909
you have some control over that.
1167
00:50:32.010 --> 00:50:32.309
Yeah.
1168
00:50:32.590 --> 00:50:34.510
But the universe is not about you. And the sooner
1169
00:50:34.570 --> 00:50:39.389
you learn that, the less your ego will interfere with
1170
00:50:39.530 --> 00:50:43.860
your domination over others that you might feel that you deserve.
1171
00:50:44.159 --> 00:50:44.400
Yeah.
1172
00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:46.739
Simply because you're at the center and others aren't.
1173
00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:48.800
And then why are you trying to dominate? Like what's lacking?
1174
00:50:48.860 --> 00:50:50.320
Yeah. What is going on there? Yeah.
1175
00:50:50.619 --> 00:50:52.730
It's like the older man with the sports car. You're like,
1176
00:50:53.349 --> 00:50:54.610
What are you making up for?
1177
00:50:54.630 --> 00:50:55.949
What are you compensating for?
1178
00:50:55.969 --> 00:50:56.889
What are you compensating for?
1179
00:50:56.929 --> 00:50:59.159
Just at the time, just so you know, because I'm
1180
00:50:59.199 --> 00:51:02.059
a guy, so I have to defend guys. But let
1181
00:51:02.079 --> 00:51:05.679
me explain this away. So a guy at middle age
1182
00:51:06.900 --> 00:51:10.090
has generally vastly more income than when they were starting out.
1183
00:51:11.489 --> 00:51:14.510
So right about when they might want the sports car,
1184
00:51:14.769 --> 00:51:16.110
they actually have the money to afford it.
1185
00:51:16.269 --> 00:51:19.010
And they're freaking out because they're 40.
1186
00:51:19.010 --> 00:51:21.030
But I assure you, at age 18, if they could
1187
00:51:21.050 --> 00:51:23.849
have afforded the sports car, they would have. Without any reference.
1188
00:51:23.869 --> 00:51:27.170
So y'all just would have always been a tool. I'm
1189
00:51:27.210 --> 00:51:29.699
totally kidding. I've owned sports cars. I'm totally kidding. No, no,
1190
00:51:29.719 --> 00:51:32.719
I'm just saying. No, I'm totally kidding. The guy's finally
1191
00:51:32.739 --> 00:51:35.139
getting the sports car that he couldn't afford earlier in life.
1192
00:51:35.159 --> 00:51:36.539
That's all I'm saying. Just to stick up for.
1193
00:51:36.780 --> 00:51:38.300
Wait, and I wanted to touch on something you said
1194
00:51:38.340 --> 00:51:39.460
a minute ago. You said back in the day with
1195
00:51:39.480 --> 00:51:42.380
the nutrients and this and stuff. Mm-hmm. I find it interesting,
1196
00:51:42.480 --> 00:51:45.360
alchemy is interesting, like how science was always super present without,
1197
00:51:45.699 --> 00:51:48.360
you know, unknowingly, like just with like how they used
1198
00:51:48.480 --> 00:51:51.119
like for medicinal purposes, like other plants and all that.
1199
00:51:51.139 --> 00:51:52.469
I think that that's very interesting.
1200
00:51:52.750 --> 00:51:53.630
Great point.
1201
00:51:53.809 --> 00:51:54.130
Yeah.
1202
00:51:54.289 --> 00:51:56.989
Okay, now chemists, if you call them an alchemist, they'll
1203
00:51:57.409 --> 00:51:59.869
fight you. Oh. But I have a different view of alchemy.
1204
00:51:59.889 --> 00:52:00.789
It's a sexier name.
1205
00:52:01.190 --> 00:52:06.289
Alchemy was the beginning of any attempt to understand chemistry.
1206
00:52:07.130 --> 00:52:08.829
I agree with that. And if the alchemists kept- Especially
1207
00:52:08.849 --> 00:52:11.639
using nature. They kept good notes. They said, if I
1208
00:52:11.719 --> 00:52:15.099
add pitch blend to this and I take salt to this,
1209
00:52:15.360 --> 00:52:18.739
and they wrote it all out. And they just were
1210
00:52:18.760 --> 00:52:21.780
betting on the wrong horse that they can turn one
1211
00:52:21.840 --> 00:52:26.420
element into another, turn lead into gold, turn iron into silver.
1212
00:52:26.440 --> 00:52:30.090
It turns out you can't do that chemically, but you
1213
00:52:30.110 --> 00:52:32.010
can do it in the nucleus.
1214
00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:36.599
Dang, you
just went to another level of what?
1215
00:52:36.639 --> 00:52:39.159
We can take the atom, remove the electrons, get down
1216
00:52:39.199 --> 00:52:43.429
to the nucleus, toss out or add protons to the nucleus,
1217
00:52:44.090 --> 00:52:45.510
and you have cosmic alchemy.
1218
00:52:45.730 --> 00:52:47.670
It's like playing God, that's amazing.
1219
00:52:47.989 --> 00:52:50.630
Well, if you see God as having dominion over atoms,
1220
00:52:51.130 --> 00:52:53.250
but if I take a rock and put it from
1221
00:52:53.329 --> 00:52:55.110
here to there, are you saying I'm playing God? No,
1222
00:52:55.130 --> 00:52:56.489
you say I picked up the rock and moved it
1223
00:52:56.489 --> 00:52:57.780
12 feet, right?
1224
00:52:57.800 --> 00:52:59.820
No, totally, I just meant like a metaphor.
1225
00:53:00.099 --> 00:53:03.239
But even so, I'm saying, even metaphorically, I have the
1226
00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:04.860
strength to pick up a rock and move it. You're
1227
00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:06.719
not saying I'm playing God. But now I have the
1228
00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:10.429
knowledge and the power to split an atom. To me,
1229
00:53:10.449 --> 00:53:11.750
that's no different than moving the rock.
1230
00:53:12.409 --> 00:53:12.829
I get that.
1231
00:53:12.849 --> 00:53:14.809
It's interacting with nature that surrounds me.
1232
00:53:14.809 --> 00:53:16.170
Why are you doing the rock? Why are you trying
1233
00:53:16.210 --> 00:53:18.010
to be God?
1234
00:53:18.130 --> 00:53:19.610
Leave the rock alone.
1235
00:53:20.070 --> 00:53:22.400
No, I love that. I've just always been interested in
1236
00:53:22.409 --> 00:53:24.940
it because I think that's just the basics of how
1237
00:53:24.980 --> 00:53:26.719
science was always present, and I wish that I would
1238
00:53:26.739 --> 00:53:28.780
have been. I would have known all of that when
1239
00:53:28.820 --> 00:53:31.139
I was a kid, like knowing all those just helpful
1240
00:53:31.179 --> 00:53:31.800
medicinal things.
1241
00:53:31.880 --> 00:53:35.000
And those helpful medicinal things, that was knowledge not accessible
1242
00:53:35.039 --> 00:53:38.539
to everyone. The shaman had that, or the medicine man
1243
00:53:38.579 --> 00:53:41.019
had that. And sometimes they would know how it worked,
1244
00:53:41.039 --> 00:53:43.380
but they wouldn't tell you. And then you'd come into
1245
00:53:43.400 --> 00:53:45.260
the tent, and they'd rub something on, and it would
1246
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:45.880
just be magically.
1247
00:53:45.900 --> 00:53:46.980
That was their way of dominating.
1248
00:53:47.019 --> 00:53:48.739
That was their way. And I can tell you, as
1249
00:53:48.780 --> 00:53:52.389
a scientist, I will tell you everything that we know
1250
00:53:52.469 --> 00:53:54.440
that gives us power over nature. But if I didn't
1251
00:53:54.480 --> 00:53:57.559
tell you that, oh my gosh, we would be in
1252
00:53:57.880 --> 00:53:59.550
complete charge of the world.
1253
00:54:00.699 --> 00:54:01.619
Oh, God, yeah, you would.
1254
00:54:01.639 --> 00:54:02.760
Yeah, if I say, here, speak into.
1255
00:54:02.800 --> 00:54:04.059
Do you not feel like you are right now?
1256
00:54:05.880 --> 00:54:06.380
No, if I say.
1257
00:54:06.400 --> 00:54:07.820
I think you're confused.
1258
00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:11.280
Speak into this device, and I will transmit your voice
1259
00:54:11.780 --> 00:54:13.269
to another place and another time.
1260
00:54:13.289 --> 00:54:14.980
Yeah, it's the first time someone saw fire and went, oh,
1261
00:54:14.989 --> 00:54:16.449
my God, you're a god.
1262
00:54:16.829 --> 00:54:18.590
And then you hear your voice over there, and you say, oh,
1263
00:54:18.670 --> 00:54:20.690
my gosh, how did you do that? You're a magician.
1264
00:54:20.789 --> 00:54:22.949
And I will not explain to you electricity and wires
1265
00:54:23.050 --> 00:54:26.019
and magnets and all the rest. I can leave that out,
1266
00:54:26.480 --> 00:54:28.940
and then you will come leaving gifts at my doorstep.
1267
00:54:29.400 --> 00:54:29.619
Yeah.
1268
00:54:29.869 --> 00:54:33.010
Yeah, so that's the difference between science and magic. In science,
1269
00:54:33.550 --> 00:54:34.739
we explain what we do.
1270
00:54:35.090 --> 00:54:36.840
Yeah, you have to.
1271
00:54:36.880 --> 00:54:37.679
We do, we want to.
1272
00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:38.039
Yeah.
1273
00:54:38.059 --> 00:54:39.420
Because we want to bring everybody with us.
1274
00:54:40.039 --> 00:54:43.900
Yeah. I wish I had grown up with someone like
1275
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:46.300
you around me. I would have loved that.
1276
00:54:46.699 --> 00:54:47.559
Thanks for being on Star Trek.
1277
00:54:47.579 --> 00:54:49.440
Yes, thank you for having me.
1278
00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:52.480
And good luck with the album. Sometimes you need luck, unfortunately.
1279
00:54:52.500 --> 00:54:52.980
Thank you.
1280
00:54:53.260 --> 00:54:55.860
You know what? I just need to be happy. With
1281
00:54:55.900 --> 00:54:56.639
the meaning of life.
1282
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:00.079
I've got it figured out, so I can't lose.
1283
00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:02.619
You can't lose. Even if the album doesn't do well,
1284
00:55:03.320 --> 00:55:04.199
you know the meaning of life.
1285
00:55:04.219 --> 00:55:06.110
I know the meaning of life, so y'all lose.
1286
00:55:06.369 --> 00:55:09.409
Exactly. And I'm not telling you any of my secrets.
1287
00:55:09.449 --> 00:55:11.610
I'm not a scientist. All right, so good luck on
1288
00:55:11.630 --> 00:55:12.869
the tour and keep it going.
1289
00:55:13.010 --> 00:55:13.469
Thank you.