Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling is a mogul, and she has a trilogy. Amy hangs with the creator of 'Not Suitable for Work' and talks about looking up to Chris Farley as a kid, whether she's a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, and the joys of being made into a meme. Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Avantika Vandanapu and Mindy KalingExecutive Producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-BermanFor Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, and supervising producer Joel LovellFor The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; video producers Jack Wilson, Belle Roman, and Aleya Zenieris; lighting director Caroline Jannace; audio producer Kaya McMullen; social producer Bridget Geerlings; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and bookers Kat Spillane and Paige GarbariniOriginal Music: Amy Miles Make it a Hilton Honors Summer. https://www.hilton.com/ Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://Allstate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:05Amy Poehler?

  Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We have a great one today. We are talking to Mindy Kaling. Mindy, mogul, so good at so many things. And we get into it today. We talk about a lot of fun stuff. We talk about a cappella groups. We talk about whether or not we think we can deliver a baby. We talk about the fact that she has written more episodes of The Office than any other writer. And we get into her new show, Not Suitable for Work, which is on now on Hulu. So lots of great stuff to talk about. And like always, we talk to someone who knows our guest and has a question for our guest. And speaking of Not Suitable for Work, we have one of the stars from that show, Avantika, joining us. Avantika, who you may know

• 1:50Amy Poehler?

  from the movie, musical of Mean Girls, a talented young woman who is here to, well, to grace our presence, really. Avantika? Is my audio working?

• 2:06Amy Poehler?

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• 2:51Amy Poehler?

  Hi, it's so nice to see you again.

• 2:53Speaker 02

  I know, it's so good to see you.

• 2:55Amy Poehler?

  Congratulations on all the good stuff happening for you. And no surprise, where are we talking to you from?

• 3:01Speaker 02

  I'm on set right now. This is why my makeup looks a little scary.

• 3:05Amy Poehler?

  Are you shooting "Not Suitable for Work" right now? Is that the set that you're on?

• 3:09Speaker 02

  Can you imagine? I'm soft launching season two. No.

• 3:13Speaker 02

  This is not the set I'm on. I'm on an undisclosed set.

• 3:18Amy Poehler?

  Oh, exciting.

• 3:19Speaker 02

  But I'm not at liberty to talk about.

• 3:21Amy Poehler?

  You are busy, busy, busy. You know, we first met on the set of Moxie.

• 3:27Speaker 02

  On the set of Moxie, yeah.

• 3:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, how did we? How did we meet? Do you remember?

• 3:32Speaker 02

  I don't remember like the first initial meeting. I just have a really vivid memory of you of like walking out of the school, like the classroom and seeing you and my dad like holding hands and jumping up and down together because you figured out you guys had the same birthday because he loves talking.

• 3:51Speaker 02

  You both had your IDs on. I was like, cool, okay.

• 3:56Speaker 02

  God, everyone's getting along.

• 3:59Amy Poehler?

  Oh my God, he's a September 16th girly.

• 4:02Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 4:04Amy Poehler?

  Sadly, I've learned it's a very common, September birthdays are very common, I guess. Yeah, I guess people really get down.

• 4:10Speaker 02

  I know, what does it say about us?

• 4:12Amy Poehler?

  They get down in the holidays, I guess.

• 4:14Speaker 02

  I guess, we get bored, we get bored and we're cold.

• 4:18Amy Poehler?

  Well, I remember I directed a film for Netflix called Moxie and it was filled with incredible cast. And I remember you came and joined us for a two brief scene, but a really fun day. And that's really, it's really cute that your dad and I bonded. I was reading up on you, Vontika, and you're so impressive in the stuff that you've done. And I didn't know that you did a lot of Bollywood when you were younger.

• 4:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's how I, it's how I started out. I think at the time I was 10 and Indian parents like to make safe bets. And it was not a safe bet at the time to be like, let's haul ass to LA and do this for the rest of your life. But India was a more prospective place if I wanted to be in the film industry. And so we moved there for like four years.

• 5:03Amy Poehler?

  Oh, wow, they, you moved there for your career?

• 5:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, my mom really like, my mom left her job the day that I was born. She was like, I want to spend all my time with my daughter. And she made a lot of sacrifices for me to be in this industry. So I'm, you know, very grateful that now she gets to like, watch a TV show.

• 5:23Speaker 02

  Like I'm, I, I hope she enjoys and yeah, she really is the reason that I'm here. Not to get all emo on everyone.

• 5:32Speaker 02

  I get seven in the morning for you.

• 5:34Amy Poehler?

  No, no, no, I'm ready to cry anytime, anytime. Okay, so let's talk about your boss.

• 5:38Speaker 02

  So we're.

• 5:39Amy Poehler?

  Okay, so I'm interviewing Mindy Kaling today, whom I've known for a really long time. And I'm really excited to talk to her because, you know, we have a lot of similar. Experiences and paths. And one of the things that I really want to talk to her about is like, what kind of boss is she?

• 5:57Speaker 02

  So the first time I ever met Mindy was in a parking lot that she took me to in L.A. Because I had DMed her when I was 17 being like, I love you. I love you so much. And she was like, OK. She was like, yeah, like, she was like, let me have my assistant schedule lunch. And I was like, oh, my God. It's like, this is the most exciting thing happening right now. And she took me to a French restaurant in a strip mall. And the seating is literally in a parking lot. And my dad was like parked 300 feet away. I love mentoring my dad. My dad's like making a reup career appearance in every story. He's just always proximate. And I'm actually in the room right now. Can you imagine? But she took me to this French restaurant and was like, we need to try escargot if you haven't tried it already.

• 6:42Speaker 02

  So my first like one on one experience with Mindy was like eating snails. And her being this very, she was like, tell me about your career. She was like, what do you want in life? And I think the one thing that always stood out to me about her and is one of Eva's favorite qualities about her, but having worked on this set, is that she's such a curious person. Like she, Mindy asks so many questions. She's just like down to gossip. She's down to gab. Like she knows about my love life. She knows about all of our love lives. Like Mindy's just a really fun person to be around. I really wish this time around that she like, we don't, because we're always scared of when we're going to lose Mindy. Because like Mindy's first priority are her kids and like her life outside.

• 7:24Speaker 02

  And so this season, we're hoping that like, we're going to get our claws in her. And like, if we get renewed for next season, she won't let us go. But she's the best. I think whether Mindy knows it or like can really comprehend it or not, she's like a present figure in so many people's minds. That's like, sort of, you know, like, a lot of people view Mindy as a friend and a role model or an idol, whether it be Kelly Kapoor or any of the characters she's created.

• 7:51Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. And as a young Indian woman watching her, what did it mean to see her? You know, representing her life and on screen, like, what was that like as a young person?

• 8:02Speaker 02

  I loved Never Have I Ever. I mean, when Never Have I Ever came out and trades that it was getting made, I was like, this is the most insane thing like I've ever seen in my life. I was in that, so I auditioned for Never Have I Ever, and I was very young when I went out for it. But I remember being like in the waiting room, looking at the sign and sheet and being like, who are all the girls? Like, I want to be friends with all of them. And so I remember telling my mom, I was like, can you please memorize the latter half? And I'll memorize the top half, and then we can go and like DM their moms on Facebook, because I really want to be friends with all the people in the industry.

• 8:38Amy Poehler?

  And we all know how well DMs work for you.

• 8:41Speaker 02

  Well, it really is.

• 8:42Amy Poehler?

  It always works.

• 8:45Speaker 02

  And my dream was perfect for that role, and she did like so, so incredible. But all that to say, like, she has a very odd, incredible way of bringing together community and bringing together both off camera, but also behind the scenes as well. And I think watching her on screen meant the same thing as representation means to more anybody, which is that like, oh, people like me exist, and people like me are deserving of being put on a big platform.

• 9:11Amy Poehler?

  Very cool. Okay, so we have, we always do this thing where we ask our guests a question from somebody who knows them, respects them, works with them, loves and adores them. So what question do you have for Mindy today?

• 9:24Speaker 02

  I'd like to know for someone who's accomplished so much, like, what her personal egot is. Like, what her four accomplishments that she wants to achieve in her life, like, spanning four different categories.

• 9:38Amy Poehler?

  That's such a big question. I love.

• 9:41Speaker 02

  It's a big question. You'll get.

• 9:42Amy Poehler?

  So wait, so the question is, what like, which is like, you've done so much, what more do you want to do?

• 9:49Speaker 02

  It's sort of like, I don't know, like, a personally got, what do you mean? Like, have four kids, get a PhD, spend two years abroad, like, you know, donating money. And like, the fourth one is like, I want to skydive. Like, four things that you want to accomplish across like all sort of a breadth of categories. Yeah, I guess that is like, I'm sort of just like, she's just done so much that I'm like, what more do you want?

• 10:14Amy Poehler?

  That, I mean, it's, it's an, I bet she'll have an answer. Also, there is a part of me that's like, or just rest. Rest now, darling.

• 10:23Speaker 02

  Right, right, right. Personally, God, get put in a cryo chamber.

• 10:26Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Yeah, okay, I love that. And please tell your dad that I can't wait to, you know, psychically spend my birthday with him again. And it's so lovely to see you. And I know Mindy will be really happy that we talked. Congratulations on your new show, Not Suitable for Work, on Hulu. And thank you so much for talking to us and, and for all the great things ahead for you. And such a pleasure to see you again.

• 10:52Speaker 02

  So good to see you, too.

• 10:53Amy Poehler?

  You too. Thanks so much for your time. Bye, honey.

• 10:56Speaker 02

  Bye.

• 10:56Amy Poehler?

  Bye.

• 10:59Amy Poehler?

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• 11:30Amy Poehler?

  Mindy Kaling is here, everybody. Took the red eye, which is, I just gotta say, that's, that's brutal.

• 11:35Speaker 03

  Isn't it funny how in my twenties, it was the only way I would do things? I'd shoot the office and then Friday night, I was like, take the red eye, get into, I'd, I'd just be going back to Boston to see my parents.

• 11:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 11:46Speaker 03

  And my dad would pick me up at Logan. At 6 o'clock, we'd go to McDonald's. And I'd just sleep for four hours.

• 11:51Amy Poehler?

  Yes. And now... I was just talking to our friend Rashida Jones about this. It's the lack of recovery. It's like, we can, we can power through anything now, you know? Like, you just suck it up and power through. But it's, there's no day to sleep after.

• 12:06Speaker 03

  There's no day to sleep.

• 12:07Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 12:08Speaker 03

  So I just, I just did a line of coke.

• 12:11Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, and we're flying!

• 12:12Speaker 03

  And that's how, I'm doing great.

• 12:14Amy Poehler?

  We're gonna brag about our careers and then we're gonna, yeah, we're gonna crash out in like 45 minutes. But thank you for coming. Thank you for being here.

• 12:22Speaker 03

  I'm so excited to be here. I know, remember when we used to do David Letterman? And the producers would be like, do not compliment him. He doesn't know what to do with it.

• 12:32Amy Poehler?

  That's right.

• 12:32Speaker 03

  And you were like, oh, so it's like an insult to compliment a host? And then now... I feel, I felt like for other shows too, I was like, don't do that. And then it feeds into a whole thing of like, it's not cool to compliment. It was very formative when that producer was like, don't compliment him.

• 12:47Amy Poehler?

  It's so true. You're right.

• 12:49Speaker 03

  It's a hostile act.

• 12:49Amy Poehler?

  You're right.

• 12:50Speaker 03

  And yet, I love compliments as a performer. And if someone came onto my show and was like, I love the show, I feel like.

• 12:57Amy Poehler?

  I love to give, I love to get. I mean, literally, what are we doing? I mean, like, what are we gonna be, like, mean to each other? Like, the world is on fire. Like, who?

• 13:04Speaker 03

  I love recognition, praise. So I just wanna say that I love the show.

• 13:09Amy Poehler?

  Thank you.

• 13:10Speaker 03

  I watch it with my nanny on little clips on YouTube at night after the children are down. And it's, it's like, it's such an intimate thing to watch in the dark, you talking to like Baron Holtz.

• 13:23Amy Poehler?

  Our buddy.

• 13:24Speaker 03

  Catherine Hahn.

• 13:24Amy Poehler?

  Oh, our buddy.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  Um, and then, and then have our little ads on YouTube.

• 13:28Amy Poehler?

  You know, I was, when I was getting ready for today, first of all, congrats on being a mogul, straight up mogul. Mogul.

• 13:37Amy Poehler?

  You don't have to explain. You take it in, you are a mogul, Mindy, congratulations.

• 13:43Speaker 03

  Listen, listen, this is, I know, I'm interrupting you now.

• 13:45Amy Poehler?

  No, please.

• 13:46Speaker 03

  Are you a mogul if you haven't invested in a restaurant or a sports team?

• 13:50Amy Poehler?

  That's a great question.

• 13:51Speaker 03

  Just cuz I wanna accept.

• 13:52Amy Poehler?

  We need, you know, I love. We need to buy some kind of sports team.

• 13:56Speaker 03

  Like Ashton Kutcher.

• 13:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, you're right.

• 13:57Speaker 03

  You know, like, he owns Uber and Geisha House, like.

• 14:00Amy Poehler?

  But I'm driven to call more women geniuses and moguls and all that stuff, cuz I think we just need to claim.

• 14:06Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 14:06Amy Poehler?

  So let's claim that.

• 14:07Speaker 03

  I'll take it.

• 14:08Amy Poehler?

  Let's claim that for you today.

• 14:08Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 14:09Amy Poehler?

  And as a fellow Boston girl.

• 14:11Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 14:12Amy Poehler?

  I feel like, when I was looking at, you know, kind of like, looking at all the stuff you do, and just thinking thematically about what to talk about today. I mean, we've had a lot of very similar paths, you and I, and not just because we were born, like, you know, in, in close proximity of each other, like, but, but, but we have really. I mean, we've been in this biz for a minute.

• 14:36Speaker 03

  Been in this biz for a minute.

• 14:38Amy Poehler?

  And we've been together in a lot of it. So it's very, very nice to see you and to have you here.

• 14:44Speaker 03

  I love being here and to even be someone that you would say is on a similar journey. Because you were a little ahead.

• 14:52Amy Poehler?

  Yes, I was like about 10 years older than you.

• 14:56Speaker 03

  For my generation, for anyone who came up in New York and took classes with UCB and everything, it was like you were the one doing it. Like you were the one succeeding with all the mean, unaccepting.

• 15:08Amy Poehler?

  And comedy, do you know what I mean? Well, yeah, I mean, I think both you and I are used to, and I want to talk about it. You and I are used to being one or the only woman in a room full of men, a lot, for a lot, especially in the beginning of our career and how that shaped us. Cambridge, Massachusetts, you're born and raised. Now, Cambridge was always where smart people lived and their smart parents.

• 15:32Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 15:32Amy Poehler?

  Did you have, were you considered like a smart kid in school?

• 15:36Speaker 03

  I was always considered a bright kid.

• 15:39Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 15:40Speaker 03

  When I was younger, I think I was like kind of silent and chubby and friendly. And that was my vibe and not funny. But that was back, I don't know if you felt this way, that was back in the 80s when like girls weren't really supposed to be funny.

• 15:54Amy Poehler?

  Right, and they were kind of good laughers.

• 15:56Speaker 03

  Good laughers.

• 15:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 15:57Speaker 03

  And if you were funny or tried to talk too much, it was kind of like you were, you had problems or you were like disruptive.

• 16:03Amy Poehler?

  You're right, like the mischievous girls were the class clowns, which I look back now and they were just like feisty, interesting young women, but people thought they were kind of troublemakers.

• 16:16Speaker 03

  Totally.

• 16:17Amy Poehler?

  At least in my school.

• 16:17Speaker 03

  And then being Indian too, it was so far from the, but also like I felt like I was still just like observing. I noticed that like, it wasn't until I was like in middle school where I was like, the class clowns who were guys were just like kind of outrageous, they weren't really funny.

• 16:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 16:34Speaker 03

  But when you're 12 and 13, there is no difference between someone who's like willing to like jump off the side of the school building and being someone who's funny. It was like all just like one thing.

• 16:43Amy Poehler?

  Totally.

• 16:44Speaker 03

  No one was examining it.

• 16:46Amy Poehler?

  Right, right.

• 16:46Speaker 03

  And I think for my parents too, like at that time, being funny in school was so tied to like kind of like an. Again disruptive, like non academic.

• 16:56Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 16:56Speaker 03

  Like you don't have a good path if you're like a funny kid.

• 16:59Amy Poehler?

  That's what I mean. Yeah. You're kind of like, you're speaking out in class. You're kind of not paying attention.

• 17:04Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 17:05Amy Poehler?

  And I bet you had the same thing. I mean, maybe, maybe even more because your parents, you know, moved to the US when you, when they, your mom was pregnant with you.

• 17:12Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 17:12Amy Poehler?

  And so like, you know, they're like, we don't need you to be the one that's cracking jokes in class. And I had parents who were teachers. So it was like, don't, like the funny kid is the one that's often like, the, the teacher is having to deal with.

• 17:27Speaker 03

  Having to deal with.

• 17:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. But they, but they call you Mindy, your nickname because from Morgan Mindy.

• 17:34Speaker 03

  So it was a real like.

• 17:36Amy Poehler?

  That's a real.

• 17:38Speaker 03

  It's like.

• 17:38Amy Poehler?

  Mixed message.

• 17:39Speaker 03

  Well, my parents immigrated here in the seventies and nobody in entertainment on either side of the family, but they did like love comedy.

• 17:47Amy Poehler?

  Hmm.

• 17:47Speaker 03

  Loved it. Like, and I think for us too, where it's like, it wasn't like we were coming home and having like these, you know, always like these deep chats.

• 17:54Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 17:55Speaker 03

  But we would just like sit in front of the TV and watch musty TV. They love Seinfeld.

• 18:00Amy Poehler?

  Mm hmm.

• 18:00Speaker 03

  Um, they love Friends. They love The Cosby Show. Is that okay?

• 18:04Amy Poehler?

  Sure. I mean, we all did at one point.

• 18:06Speaker 03

  At one point, right?

• 18:07Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:07Speaker 03

  I can say that.

• 18:08Amy Poehler?

  At one point.

• 18:09Speaker 03

  But I remember so distinctly when I was like 11 or 12 and I was of course like obsessed with Saturday Night Live.

• 18:15Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:15Speaker 03

  We would watch Chris Farley.

• 18:17Amy Poehler?

  That was that your like cast?

• 18:19Speaker 03

  Yes. It was like Sandler, Chris Farley. But honestly, like from Dana Carvey to Bill Hader feels like the time, which is a long span.

• 18:27Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 18:27Speaker 03

  But we would see, is it Matt Foley?

• 18:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:30Speaker 03

  Matt Foley.

• 18:31Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. That character, Chris Farley's character, Down by the River.

• 18:34Speaker 03

  Down by the River. Classic iconic character.

• 18:36Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:37Speaker 03

  And he's like, I think one of the funniest people of all time.

• 18:40Amy Poehler?

  I agree.

• 18:41Speaker 03

  And when he, you know, he'd fall on the coffee table and I remember laughing at it so, so much and showing it to my parents, like recording it. And I remember my mom being very worried and being like, cause I was overweight and I think she was like, and so she was like, I don't, she once sat me down when I was like 14. I was like, I don't want you to be like that.

• 19:01Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's really interesting. Right. Like, don't. Don't feel like you need to be a clown.

• 19:05Speaker 03

  And I think she thought that like, okay, my overweight daughter, who's not fitting into like the mainstream of culture, will feel like the way to be accepted and funny is to be like Chris Farley. Now, the majesty of Chris Farley, like I would only be so lucky as to have been like Chris Farley, but as a girl in the mid 90s, that was like not a great path.

• 19:26Amy Poehler?

  I love that we're talking about this because it's such an interesting

• 19:32Amy Poehler?

  point, which is young women, especially in the late 80s and 90s, their way into comedy, like how you get in, was really fraught in a way that men just did not have to worry about. They didn't have to worry about being physical and that seeming like it was putting people off. They didn't have to worry about like them being too sexualized. They didn't have to worry about a ton of stuff. I think that, much like you, watching comedy at a young age and being like, I don't know, I want to, I want to live in this world. I don't know how to get into it.

• 20:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:06Amy Poehler?

  And it was inhabited by really loud, physical men, for the most part. And then finding the women who I loved, who I just kind of studied. And for me, it was like, okay, where did they study? Where did these women start? So it was like, oh, I want to go to Chicago. Like, I'm just going to go there. And when you were, like, did you do comedy at Dartmouth?

• 20:27Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:27Amy Poehler?

  Did you do improv?

• 20:28Speaker 03

  I did short form improv.

• 20:30Amy Poehler?

  We all did.

• 20:31Speaker 03

  You know, it's so funny. The two things that brought me so much joy in college are so mortifying to me now, but it's where I made so many great friends. I did short form improv with the Dog Day Players at Dartmouth.

• 20:41Amy Poehler?

  And are the Dog Day Players still there?

• 20:43Speaker 03

  Dog Day Players is still there.

• 20:44Amy Poehler?

  Incredible.

• 20:45Speaker 03

  And they're so, and ever so often, like every couple of years, I'm sure you feel as well, I like, they'll come to LA and I'll meet them or I'll see them at Dartmouth when I go up. And they're so cool now and they do long form. And they, they also have that like studying thing, where they've seen every

• 21:00Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:00Speaker 03

  episode of Parks and Arrested Development, Larry Sanders. You know what I mean?

• 21:04Amy Poehler?

  They know everything.

• 21:05Speaker 03

  And I feel a kinship to these people that are 25 years younger than me. But the difference is that

• 21:13Speaker 03

  Like, the guys in the troupe are feminist. The women are unafraid to be what, to be who they are. They're all sort of activists. Like, all the stuff that I struggled with back then to do because it wasn't appealing.

• 21:26Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, we all did.

• 21:28Speaker 03

  I wanted to be as funny as Adam Sandler in The Opera Man, but I also wanted a boyfriend and to lose my virginity. And in the late 90s, it was like, those two things were maybe, like, did not, they seemed mutually exclusive at the time.

• 21:42Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah. Acapella group you were also in. I love an acapella group.

• 21:47Speaker 03

  Yes, yes, I was in an acapella group.

• 21:49Amy Poehler?

  And what song, did you ever have a solo?

• 21:51Speaker 03

  I had one solo.

• 21:52Amy Poehler?

  And what was the song?

• 21:53Speaker 03

  Nine to Five by Dolly Parton.

• 21:55Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 21:56Speaker 03

  Sing it badly. It was one of those things, you know what's nice is like, I don't have a good voice, but I have like, I can like, carry a tune. I think I have a good enough voice for a comedy person. And it was like, that nice thing about being in a group of women, because they're like, clearly one person should have all the solos, but they're like, no, no, no.

• 22:13Amy Poehler?

  Of course.

• 22:13Speaker 03

  That's not nice, like, letting me have a solo. So, we would, I would sing Nine to Five.

• 22:18Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, and that acapella group's name was?

• 22:21Speaker 03

  Hey, man, it was called The Rockapellas. Okay?

• 22:25Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I just, I love, I love a pun.

• 22:27Speaker 03

  It's called The Rockapellas. At the time, it was considered to be the coolest, the coolest group, if you were a woman at Dartmouth.

• 22:35Amy Poehler?

  Of course.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  And, I mean, I, from my humble opinion, it was.

• 22:38Amy Poehler?

  I think acapella's very cool. And also, now I would say it is cool because...

• 22:44Speaker 03

  Amy, this is such a bunch of bullshit. Like, you're being so nice here, but it's so lame.

• 22:48Amy Poehler?

  No, no, I disagree. I don't, here's why. Because even then, I don't even mean in hindsight, anyone who tries something...

• 22:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, okay.

• 22:57Amy Poehler?

  That's cool. I guess if you apply like, the golden rule of like, we should all be putting ourself out there, then it is cool. But, um...

• 23:06Speaker 03

  It's like a bunch of people being like shooty dooby be bop.

• 23:09Amy Poehler?

  I know.

• 23:10Speaker 03

  That's not.

• 23:11Amy Poehler?

  I know.

• 23:11Speaker 03

  It was the same thing with improv.

• 23:13Amy Poehler?

  Like, like improv, like, you know.

• 23:15Speaker 03

  Short form improv. And I, again, I'm on my formative years, some of the, all the boys I had crushes on in college were doing like, short form improv, terrible, terrible. And yet, it's so lame. Long form improv is cool, though.

• 23:29Amy Poehler?

  Standup is the coolest. Back, back then, like, if you were in improv or sketch group, you'd have your, like, costumes and wigs, or you'd be warming up and stuff like that. You're right. Acapella and improv, both you have to warm up, like, usually outside.

• 23:45Speaker 03

  You're like zip zap zopping. That's not a cool art form.

• 23:48Amy Poehler?

  And I used to be like, we're cool, but then I'd see like a standup just literally, like, throw their cigarette on the ground with a leather jacket and go onstage, and I'd be like, oh, okay. After you left Dartmouth, did you move to New York?

• 23:59Speaker 03

  I lived in New York for three years.

• 24:01Amy Poehler?

  Okay, and you had some fun, I always love to ask people about their fun jobs, like their weird jobs, you had some good weird jobs, right?

• 24:08Speaker 03

  I had some really good weird jobs.

• 24:10Amy Poehler?

  What were some of your weird jobs?

• 24:11Speaker 03

  Uh, the weirdest job I had was that I was a P A, crossing over with John Edward, the psychic, um, the psychic.

• 24:18Amy Poehler?

  Right.

• 24:18Speaker 03

  And he would do readings in the room and be able to tell if someone had like a dead relative who was trying to contact them.

• 24:25Amy Poehler?

  What was weird about it?

• 24:27Speaker 03

  Um.

• 24:27Amy Poehler?

  All that?

• 24:28Speaker 03

  I can't believe you're asking, what was your, like?

• 24:31Amy Poehler?

  Now, do you believe in, um, do you, have you ever had a psychic experience? Do you go to psychics?

• 24:37Speaker 03

  I am not, I don't, I don't go to psychics, but I would.

• 24:42Amy Poehler?

  Same.

• 24:42Speaker 03

  And I've gotten, as I've gotten older, even though I know more, I've gotten more superstitious than I used to be, to quote Michael Scott. I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.

• 24:54Amy Poehler?

  I kind of feel like, you know, there's, there's all different levels of, like, woo woo, as Rachel Dratch would say, like, like, and whether or not you're open to it in your life.

• 25:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:06Amy Poehler?

  And it is kind of a funny catch 22 where people are like, you have to be really open to it, for it to, like, you have to open your channel for it.

• 25:14Speaker 03

  I have the most losery astrological sign and the most losery number in the Enneagram.

• 25:18Amy Poehler?

  Wow, I loved it, because there's no loser number in the Enneagram. But what would be your loser number? What would you think is a loser number?

• 25:25Speaker 03

  I'm a Cancer, and I'm six.

• 25:27Amy Poehler?

  Well, but I would say a six is very sharp, like, a six is, like,

• 25:32Speaker 03

  Thank you, Amy.

• 25:33Amy Poehler?

  I, but I, but I have to say, I don't know that much about sixes.

• 25:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, because it's, you know.

• 25:38Amy Poehler?

  But it's the most common number.

• 25:40Speaker 03

  It is?

• 25:40Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 25:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, I definitely think it's accurate.

• 25:43Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  I feel seen. I haven't been able to use it practically to make my life better.

• 25:47Amy Poehler?

  I'm gonna send you some fun, um, gifts or jifs, however you like to say it.

• 25:51Speaker 03

  Please, please send me some gifts or jifs.

• 25:52Amy Poehler?

  I'm gonna send you some fun, any of them, six gifts or jifs that you're gonna love.

• 25:56Speaker 03

  I think they're a lot like, um, the Harry Potter poems, you know, that where everyone's like, I'm a Gryffindor.

• 26:01Amy Poehler?

  What's your Harry Potter thing?

• 26:03Speaker 03

  Um, I'm a straight up Slytherin.

• 26:05Amy Poehler?

  Dude, that's cool. Slytherin is cool. I wish I was a Slytherin.

• 26:09Speaker 03

  What are you?

• 26:10Amy Poehler?

  I, I wanna be a Gryffindor, but no, I think I'm a Hufflepuff, which is also funny.

• 26:17Speaker 03

  I wanna refute it, but listen.

• 26:19Amy Poehler?

  All right, say, I'm right back at you, okay. But back to, okay, so you had some interesting jobs, but I wanna talk about Matt and Ben for a second because

• 26:25Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 26:26Amy Poehler?

  that show was, I remember when that show, for people that don't know, what was Matt and Ben?

• 26:31Speaker 03

  Yes, okay, so I was babysitting at the time, and my friend was a substitute teacher, a New York public school substitute teacher, my friend Brenda, and we were kinda miserable, and I had applied to be a page at the NBC page program, and I was certain I was gonna get it, and then I didn't. And so we were just kind of like low level, depressed, like post nine 11, just like in jobs, like, why am I even in New York? Like, I have no access to anything. And we started just improvising, and I kind of adopted this character of like Ben Affleck in quotations, because obviously we didn't know them at all. And she did Matt Damon, and then we were like, we'd just be doing these characters for like 10, 15 minutes,

• 27:13Speaker 03

  and we're like, could we do something with this, actually, as opposed to just like entertaining ourselves? And all of our friends thought it was so stupid.

• 27:21Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, great.

• 27:21Speaker 03

  And we just said, like, let's write a little play about the creative process between friends and competition, which has been interesting to me for a long, long time. And competition between friends who you dearly love each other, but you're also looking out for yourself. And, um, we were, we were 21 or 22, writing about what we imagined Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were when they were 21, 22. It's so psychotic. Like, if I was Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, I'd be like, this is...

• 27:49Amy Poehler?

  Have you ever talked to them about it?

• 27:51Speaker 03

  I have met Matt Damon once, and Ben Affleck like a handful of times. And, um, I think they think it's weird. This is a real person. They've been nothing but gracious.

• 28:03Amy Poehler?

  Of course.

• 28:03Speaker 03

  For this very strange thing. I would not be nice if someone was playing Mindy Kaling in a play.

• 28:06Amy Poehler?

  Oh, and...

• 28:07Speaker 03

  I would try to destroy them with my lawyers. My team of lawyers would descend upon them and crush them. But to their credit, Matt and Ben...

• 28:14Amy Poehler?

  But what if Matt and Ben played... What if Ben played you? That would be pretty fun.

• 28:19Speaker 03

  I'd be... I'd try to crush them with my lawyers.

• 28:21Amy Poehler?

  You crush them. That's smart, yeah. Just... Season to this, babe.

• 28:23Speaker 03

  Just sorry.

• 28:24Amy Poehler?

  Right away. Like, go padlock the theater door.

• 28:26Speaker 03

  I'm gonna take all that good accountant money from you.

• 28:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 28:29Speaker 03

  And accountant, too.

• 28:30Amy Poehler?

  I remember even at the time, I was like, this is radical. Because it was exactly... It was like two young women, kind of assuming what would be like in the heads of like, you know, they were... Matt and Ben were archetypes for just like young men, like, working together and figuring out life together. And I remember you guys making that show, and I was like, this is radical. This is...

• 28:55Speaker 03

  Oh, my God, that's so...

• 28:56Amy Poehler?

  It was. It was very cool.

• 28:58Speaker 03

  Well, thank you for saying that. I mean, it was so liberating to not have to worry about being pretty. Like, we were dressed as men.

• 29:04Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 29:04Speaker 03

  It was... Obviously, we didn't invent camp, but we got to discover how fun it was to just play men, but really real.

• 29:12Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 29:12Speaker 03

  And it was great to just... We didn't have to worry about any of the things that our contemporaries were kind of worrying about, because we wrote the script, we directed it ourselves.

• 29:21Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 29:22Speaker 03

  And...

• 29:23Amy Poehler?

  It went to, like, Fringe, right, Edinburgh?

• 29:24Speaker 03

  So, we did it at the Fringe Festival. We got into the Fringe Festival. We won the Fringe Festival, then it moved off Broadway. And that's when it started getting, like, attention. That's when, like, a couple celebrities came and saw it. And that's how it moved to LA and how I got hired on The Office.

• 29:40Amy Poehler?

  You go from Matt and Ben to basically being the only woman in a writer's room at The Office.

• 29:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 29:46Amy Poehler?

  You are not the only woman and the only woman of color in an incredibly smart, hyper-talented, and nice group of men, but...

• 29:55Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 29:55Amy Poehler?

  Who... But still, it is your first job.

• 29:58Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, you come from that world. It's competitive. And it's like... And so I think that going into that room, like, a lot of people now will be like, "Wow, I can't believe you got hired on The Office. You were so young. You must feel so great." And you were like, looking, when I look at the people who were, I was working with, they had been working since they were 21, you know, and had already had Emmys. So I still felt like I was behind. So I think, but I will say also, like, I was such a workaholic. It helped that I was like friendless in Los Angeles and had no hobbies because I was just obsessed with work. I was dazzled by like Mike, BJ, Paul Lieberstein, Greg, you know, and who wouldn't be like, I had never been in a writer's room and then

• 30:40Speaker 03

  I'm with these guys who are like, even to this day, I consider some of the very best comedy writers. Then later, like Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stiknitsky, like just as dazzling. And so I really wanted to impress them. I really wanted to date some of them. And I was varying degrees of successful in those pursuits.

• 30:59Amy Poehler?

  And when Kelly Kapoor was that written, like, how did, how did you find out you were going to be on the show?

• 31:05Speaker 03

  The way that I got the part was, I think BJ had written this episode called Diversity Day. And one of, I think, one of the funniest episodes in The Office ever. And Greg decided that it would be the second episode. And in order for it to be funny, that like Michael Scott was offending a room of people, it didn't, it wasn't as funny if it was just like all white. Like, you needed to be offending some people. And so I was so lucky to be in the writer's room and being Indian because he's like, would you play someone that he offends and then slaps him? And I was, I mean, I was just content to be a comedy writer for the rest of my life. That was like my dream come true. So to be on camera was like,

• 31:48Speaker 03

  just like outrageous. The one thing I think is so groundbreaking about The Office was that, at that time, the aughts, like, To be on a show where you didn't have to be like a straightforwardly hot woman.

• 32:01Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 32:01Speaker 03

  Like, the whole point is, you know, and this is a real Greg Daniels thing, it's like, what is beautiful is what is real.

• 32:07Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 32:07Speaker 03

  And that wasn't very many shows.

• 32:09Amy Poehler?

  That's right.

• 32:10Speaker 03

  And there was like, I also like love, and I'm sure you feel this way too, actually, maybe you don't, but I love being a meme. It makes me feel young.

• 32:17Amy Poehler?

  Are you kidding me? It's my dream. When people send me, like, I've actually been like, can I send people my own memes?

• 32:25Speaker 03

  Oh, do it. It's such a mic drop.

• 32:28Amy Poehler?

  It might be too weird. But I, it is, there's no higher compliment.

• 32:32Speaker 03

  I send people memes of Kelly saying, this day is bananas, all day long, to Dave and Ike.

• 32:38Amy Poehler?

  I mean, Kelly Kapoor is, to me, the definition of what the young people would say, like, someone who has main character energy. She is in her own world, her own show, in that show.

• 32:50Speaker 03

  It's fun to be, and nice, I think, to be, you know, she is a tertiary character, but believes she's a main character. That's like a really nice.

• 32:58Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 32:58Speaker 03

  She has one line every three episodes.

• 33:01Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, but she's in her own very, like, intense play and drama forever. And then the show does, like, I would say, like, any good character, like, the show, like, you know, and you know from writing, like, you start to realize, like, what people's strengths are, and you start to write to it. The show starts to realize, like, oh, what Kelly can do is, like, be in this kind of fierce, competitive fantasy world that can allow us to, like, like, you shoot a lot of threes in that show, because you, like.

• 33:31Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 33:32Amy Poehler?

  They, that, that character is able to go to some really sharp and funny places.

• 33:38Speaker 03

  Well, she thinks she's the hottest person at the office.

• 33:40Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 33:41Speaker 03

  And like, feels bad for Pam.

• 33:42Amy Poehler?

  She is.

• 33:43Speaker 03

  You know, and thinks, like, Ryan's a huge catch, and that she's, like, destined for, you know, fame. And so that is a fun, I mean, it's so fun to play, like, delusional

• 33:55Amy Poehler?

  It's the best.

• 33:55Speaker 03

  characters.

• 33:56Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 33:56Speaker 03

  And then to be able to then. Be delusional on the Mindy Project with a different character. It was fun.

• 34:03Amy Poehler?

  Okay, good. That's a good segue because you go from you. I just want to say you ended up writing more Office episodes than anybody else.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  Thank you for saying that.

• 34:10Amy Poehler?

  Okay, so everybody needs to know that. So all your Office episodes that you love, that everybody's watching every night, there's high probability that Mindy wrote it.

• 34:18Speaker 03

  You're saying it like my publicist was like, this is a talking point that needs to come across, Amy.

• 34:22Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I could talk about this with you forever and maybe it's too kind of inside baseball, but the way you enter the business, you entered the business as a writer. And then, like, in that same time, became a performer and you're also a producer. And all those things have like different pros and cons. You really did do it for Mindy. You created, you were like, I'm gonna write, create and star in this show. And there's, there's nothing harder.

• 34:47Speaker 03

  There's nothing harder. And there's nothing more gratifying.

• 34:50Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 34:50Speaker 03

  Like, I was so obsessed with it. I mean, and then coming from the Office where I had been there for eight years, had like a line every episode. You know, I, I was thinking about like recently, just like call sheets.

• 35:03Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 35:04Speaker 03

  And to be like the call sheet for people who don't know, but they, they might know is, you know, it's every day, it just announces the hierarchy of the production.

• 35:12Amy Poehler?

  I love a call sheet so much.

• 35:15Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:15Amy Poehler?

  I could stare at it forever for people that don't know. It's one piece of paper that tells you your entire day, week, month, and in many ways, your life. You're exactly right. It tells you who is number one, who is number two, who is number three, who is number four.

• 35:27Speaker 03

  It lists the importance and descending order of the people that are there. And so for years on that show, as is obvious and should be, like, Steve is number one, playing Michael Scott, and Kelly is number 11. And it's not like, you know, to come at the, we just talked about the first season, when I was just lucky to have that first, you know, in episode two, being able to be in that scene with Steve and to be able to be in SAG and be able to actually do all that, that's huge. But eight years later, I was like, number 11 gets a little old. And I was like, I really want to see what it's like to literally just have more lines.

• 36:04Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 36:04Speaker 03

  And to be able to take on the thing of like being the comedy engine of a show. And I, you know, I talked to Ike a lot about this, and I think you did this with Parks and probably on SNL too, but like, it's a skill to be able to be the star of a sitcom and come in and just be like, my engine is on from seven o'clock in the morning until we wrap.

• 36:25Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 36:26Speaker 03

  And I am just like, I had to bring the best out of other people and wake them up first thing in the morning.

• 36:31Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, you're kind of like a constant host.

• 36:33Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 36:35Speaker 03

  And it's.

• 36:36Amy Poehler?

  And you're watching people leave all day.

• 36:37Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 36:38Amy Poehler?

  That was the other thing that was so sad.

• 36:39Speaker 03

  On Friday night, you're just waving goodbye to all your friends.

• 36:41Amy Poehler?

  Everyone's wrapping and they're like, have a good weekend. You're like, you too. Like, it's just the saddest goodbye.

• 36:46Speaker 03

  But at the same time, I felt like the days were so much shorter than when I had one line at the office.

• 36:51Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 36:52Speaker 03

  Like, the day flows by because it's just like funny scene after funny scene. Entire departments who are there to help you do your job the best.

• 36:59Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 37:00Speaker 03

  You know, and that was like such a joy. I mean, it's so obvious to say this about being a star of your own show, but like, that was, it was what I was longing for, to assemble my own writing staff, so many of whom, like Lang Fisher, Tracy Wigfield, Ike, Dave, Matt Orberton.

• 37:16Amy Poehler?

  Who are doing a great new show right now, Four Seasons with Tina.

• 37:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, and so to be able to work with all these people that made me better, inspired me and.

• 37:23Amy Poehler?

  Let's talk about our friend Ike, Ben Holt, who is here and who you met on that show.

• 37:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 37:29Amy Poehler?

  And Dave Stassen. Those guys are, I mean, let's just, Ike is, Ike is listening, so we should say something nice about him.

• 37:36Speaker 03

  We should say something nice about him.

• 37:37Amy Poehler?

  Look at us making sure that the white guy is taken care of.

• 37:41Speaker 03

  Feel comfortable and seen.

• 37:43Amy Poehler?

  Look at us.

• 37:44Speaker 03

  It's just because, you know, his personality is that, like, he would, he would do that for us.

• 37:49Amy Poehler?

  He would. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking which group chat you're typing in before hitting send? Next thing you know, you sent a scalding hot take about the restaurant to the group with the person who picked it. Yikes. Yeah, checking first is a good idea, so check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

• 38:25Amy Poehler?

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• 39:09Amy Poehler?

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• 39:54Amy Poehler?

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• 40:40Speaker 03

  The other thing is that I love that you've spoken about with Mindy Project is like in many ways it is a tribute to your mom.

• 40:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 40:47Speaker 03

  And because your mom was an OB-GYN nurse, doctor.

• 40:51Amy Poehler?

  Doctor, yeah.

• 40:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, sorry. OB-GYN doctor.

• 40:53Amy Poehler?

  For Indian people, that's a huge distinction.

• 40:55Speaker 03

  I know. I was so sexist that I just said that.

• 40:57Amy Poehler?

  They didn't want them to come for you.

• 40:58Speaker 03

  Okay, so she wasn't a doctor doctor though, was she? Oh, she was a doctor. She was a woman doctor.

• 41:04Amy Poehler?

  Surely, surely she was taking notes and the male doctor was.

• 41:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, the male doctor would come in and finish the baby part.

• 41:09Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. No, but your, your character was kind of a tribute to her and your mom. Can you speak a little bit about your mom? You speak about her all the time and she seems just amazing.

• 41:21Speaker 03

  I love talking about my mom. So the character on the Mindy Project, I mean, she was, she couldn't have been more different than my mom's personality. But I loved the world of playing an OB-GYN. My mom's had such a great personality because she spent her entire day with women, telling who told her the most personal things about their love lives and reproductive hopes and just everything and all their problems. It's such a personal relationship. And to have a world like that, I, it was like, honestly, some of it was laziness. I didn't have to research that much. I just understood what the office looked like and what the nurses were like and so. But, so that was that. I also think it's nice for a lead character in a show, particularly when the character

• 42:05Speaker 03

  is so out there and sort of selfish and flawed, to have such a selfless job.

• 42:10Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 42:11Speaker 03

  You know, helping women. You were like, inherently, she's a good person, even if all she says all day is that she wants to get married and get railed by hot men. You know what I mean? Like, you're like, okay, like, she's helping women through their, some of the hardest transitions of their lives.

• 42:27Amy Poehler?

  Do you feel like you could, after doing that show, do you feel like you could deliver a baby?

• 42:30Speaker 03

  Do I feel like I could deliver a baby?

• 42:32Amy Poehler?

  Do you think you could?

• 42:32Speaker 03

  I feel like I could affect the confidence that could really put a woman at ease.

• 42:36Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah.

• 42:36Speaker 03

  Do you know what I mean? And I think, this is, this is like a real stupid actor over confident talk. I feel like I could figure it out.

• 42:44Amy Poehler?

  I think you could.

• 42:45Speaker 03

  I've had three kids.

• 42:46Amy Poehler?

  I feel like, I feel like-

• 42:47Speaker 03

  I was watching.

• 42:48Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I feel like you could deliver a baby.

• 42:50Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 42:51Amy Poehler?

  I, I think, I mean, I, I have a problem where I think I can do things that I wouldn't be able to do.

• 42:57Speaker 03

  What, like what?

• 42:58Amy Poehler?

  Deliver a baby.

• 42:59Speaker 03

  Deliver a baby.

• 42:59Amy Poehler?

  I feel like I could. I don't want to, but I feel like, I feel there's a part of me that's like, I could at least be enthusiastic about, like, getting people to push.

• 43:08Speaker 03

  I think there's some, some parts that would freak me out a little bit. Sewing a lady back up.

• 43:13Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, we don't, we don't need to do that.

• 43:15Speaker 03

  Let us do it.

• 43:16Amy Poehler?

  We're gonna get somebody to come in and finish it up. I just mean the, the delivery part.

• 43:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, I don't think I could do a C-section.

• 43:22Amy Poehler?

  Like, I have a, yeah, oh no, C-section?

• 43:24Speaker 03

  Forget it.

• 43:25Amy Poehler?

  No, I'm not gonna do that. You know what? I take it back.

• 43:30Amy Poehler?

  We shouldn't do it. Um, we shouldn't do it. We shouldn't be around anyone who's pregnant. Um, um, oh, and then before I move on to, um, your more TV stuff, I do wanna talk about, we had a really fun trip one time, you and I, where we went to Cannes together.

• 43:44Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:45Amy Poehler?

  For Inside Out, and it was like, I've never been before or since, I've never been back to Cannes.

• 43:51Speaker 03

  It was really glamorous.

• 43:52Amy Poehler?

  And it was very glamorous.

• 43:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:54Amy Poehler?

  It was the first time I had ever been on that kind of like international, like, press tour, like, on the steps of the-

• 44:01Speaker 03

  Amy, I think about that press tour so much.

• 44:04Amy Poehler?

  I do too, I think about it a lot.

• 44:06Speaker 03

  One, it was so hot and sweaty.

• 44:08Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 44:08Speaker 03

  Very hot and sweaty, like, we were always like in the beating sun.

• 44:12Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 44:12Speaker 03

  And, like, but beautiful.

• 44:15Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 44:15Speaker 03

  But like, always like, I was sweating through my clothes constantly. And I remember this distinctly, and maybe this is offensive, that we would be doing like an international junket, and unlike an American junket, it would be like, the questions would be like, where, I don't know, maybe because of, I don't know, culturally, it was just a-

• 44:33Amy Poehler?

  Ruder, let's just say it.

• 44:34Speaker 03

  Why are you, you are so fat, smiling, but your, your face is not nice to look at.

• 44:40Amy Poehler?

  Your face is not nice.

• 44:41Speaker 03

  Why do you think that people like to look at your face?

• 44:43Amy Poehler?

  In America, a fat, unsmiling woman can be star?

• 44:49Speaker 03

  We've read you can, you have your own sitcom, but you are fat?

• 44:52Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 44:53Speaker 03

  You are obviously Hufflepuff, and yet you believe you're Gryffindor.

• 44:58Amy Poehler?

  Stuff like that.

• 44:59Speaker 03

  You play Joy, but you are not in your twenties?

• 45:01Amy Poehler?

  Yes, and you didn't smile at me when I was asking you a question, so I don't find you joyful at all.

• 45:07Speaker 03

  And so, okay, remember, you know that Javier Bardem clip when he's on a junket that has gone viral? Where someone's like, he was working with Penelope Cruz, and he's, a European journalist is like, "So you work with your wife? You must be crazy to work with a woman like that you're married to. Most people would want to kill themselves if they had to do such a thing." And he's like, "I find that very offensive." And I was like, "Watch that," and I was like, "Ah."

• 45:31Amy Poehler?

  That's incredible.

• 45:32Speaker 03

  Like, can you, I can never imagine sticking and being, having a spine in an international press junket and being like, "How dare you, sir." I was like, just laugh.

• 45:43Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I feel, uh, let me ask you, what are your generational pronouns? How do you identify? Are you a millennial? Do you identify as millennial?

• 45:51Speaker 03

  Hey, this is a, this is a very sore topic for me.

• 45:54Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 45:55Speaker 03

  Because for a while, I was considered a Zennial.

• 45:58Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 45:59Speaker 03

  Which was a, have you heard of the Zennial?

• 46:01Amy Poehler?

  Zilen, Zileni?

• 46:02Speaker 03

  Zennial.

• 46:03Amy Poehler?

  Zennial.

• 46:03Speaker 03

  No, I don't, I'm...

• 46:04Amy Poehler?

  This is making you be a millennial.

• 46:06Speaker 03

  This is making me be a millennial. But I was like, "Oh, thank God." Because when I was growing up, like, when I was like in middle school, like, the movie Singles was out.

• 46:15Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:16Speaker 03

  And I was like, "That's, to me, Gen X."

• 46:18Amy Poehler?

  That's Gen X.

• 46:19Speaker 03

  You know, Ben Stiller.

• 46:20Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 46:20Speaker 03

  That's Gen X, right?

• 46:22Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:22Speaker 03

  And then now, Zennial went away, and now they're just like, people are just like, "You're Gen X." Like, Ike and Dave are like, "We're all Gen X together."

• 46:29Amy Poehler?

  Well, you, that's not true. They, they're making themselves younger than they are. You have a lot of Gen X qualities, I will say, and I love Gen X, so...

• 46:39Speaker 03

  I love Gen X too.

• 46:40Amy Poehler?

  But you have, but you're 10 years younger, so you might be like millennial.

• 46:44Speaker 03

  To your point about pleasing, like, getting somebody's hard to please, I, I realize I have that with boomer men.

• 46:51Amy Poehler?

  Interesting.

• 46:52Speaker 03

  I'm just a little bit like in their, like, mid-65, I'm like...

• 46:57Amy Poehler?

  It's a little like boss situation.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  You saying that is so resonates with me because I felt that way about Greg Daniels. Greg and like Conan.

• 47:05Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 47:06Speaker 03

  You know, and then obviously all the SNL people that were there when you were there. Like, I feel exactly the same way, but now I'm technically the same generation, which is breaking my heart.

• 47:17Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, that's a little weird.

• 47:18Speaker 03

  But I do feel that way because they were the gatekeepers.

• 47:20Amy Poehler?

  We didn't talk about Conan. You were, you were, you did get that page job.

• 47:25Speaker 03

  I was an intern at Conan.

• 47:26Amy Poehler?

  Oh, intern.

• 47:27Speaker 03

  So I didn't, when I was still in college, I applied to be an intern at Conan. That's actually, that job is what made me thought that I maybe would get the page job.

• 47:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, got it.

• 47:35Speaker 03

  Because those internships were considered hard to get. And that's where I first learned what comedy writers did. Although like a variety show comedy writer is like such a different job than like a sitcom comedy writer. And I actually think the personalities of a variety show comedy writer is very different than a sitcom guy.

• 47:53Amy Poehler?

  Ooh, how is it different?

• 47:54Speaker 03

  I think that there's, well, I think of one as like a quintessentially New York job. Although, of course, there's variety shows out on the West Coast and one is like an LA job.

• 48:04Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 48:04Speaker 03

  I think they are both very funny, but there's like a more, this is not true, but this is the way I thought of it. But like, there was more of like a cerebral darker energy to New York variety show writers, right? Where it was like joke, joke, jokes. How do we get the best jokes? Monologues, sketches, like, it's gotta be like quick and funny and then you're done. If you live or die by hard jokes. And then the sitcom writers, which was like story and let's think about the characters. And, and so as someone who wanted to be in the New York world, but was that was slammed, the door was slam shut in my face, I kind of came up in this other world. And so I always thought like, oh my God, that's so intimidating. That's why, that's why I guest wrote on SNL.

• 48:48Amy Poehler?

  Right.

• 48:48Speaker 03

  Which is where I, I think that was the first time I met you.

• 48:51Amy Poehler?

  Okay, I was trying to remember the first time we met. Was it when you were guest writing? What year was that?

• 48:56Speaker 03

  2005.

• 48:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, sure.

• 48:58Speaker 03

  And that was when I met you and Tina. And I remember this, and I don't know why, I remember this story, and I'm not proud of it. And I don't know why I would possibly come up with two women that I admire and just came up. I don't know, but we were somewhere and I was like, yeah, I just want to lose 30 pounds. And the two of you stopped and were like, what? That is too much weight. And I remember, I was so happy. For like, three weeks after that, I was like, wow, Amy and Tina don't think I'm a fat load. Like, I was so happy. Even in the aughts, like, you guys are like, what? Are you crazy? But I was thinking, like, why would I have told that to them? That's so weird.

• 49:36Amy Poehler?

  I would say, because if we're to get real, it's because that's how women talk to each other.

• 49:41Speaker 03

  Is that?

• 49:42Amy Poehler?

  I think it is. Like, I think we all, like...

• 49:45Speaker 03

  Weight watchers. It was, because at the time, there was a conversation about Weight watchers.

• 49:48Amy Poehler?

  I think, you know, we were, like, we, just like everybody else, were like, constantly trying to figure out everybody's relationship to being on camera.

• 49:56Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 49:56Amy Poehler?

  And I do think that, for better or for worse, what women do for each other and to each other is they talk about their bodies to each other. Like, we are, we like, you know, it's one of the things I love so much, and I am sure you're the same way, like, I love about my female friends is I can really say, like, I'm feeling this way and that way, and it's kind of how we, like, say hello.

• 50:18Speaker 03

  No, I mean, I think to be able to be with two of my heroes and have them acknowledge, because you could have easily been like, we don't ever think about it, we're naturally thin.

• 50:27Amy Poehler?

  Do you know what I mean?

• 50:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 50:29Amy Poehler?

  People are like, I don't know what you're mean, I don't understand. I just eat whatever I want.

• 50:34Speaker 03

  I mean, for you to say that, that you weren't just like, we are naturally thin, we eat whatever we want. You didn't, and so I think that that was, I think, a really, it was a kindness for you to acknowledge, like, oh, yeah. That, so I could, I could see that in my heroes. But it is really, it is really fascinating and nice that culture has changed so much.

• 50:55Amy Poehler?

  It has, but it has and it hasn't, right? Because we're still asking people about their weight, we're still asking people about their bodies. I mean, I actually really try, I have a couple, like, rules that I never say out loud on this podcast, but one of them is I try not to talk about people's bodies. Because it's like... People's bodies are their own business.

• 51:13Speaker 03

  If you have the male cast of Off Campus here.

• 51:16Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 51:17Speaker 03

  I want them, I just want them to throw me against that bookshelf.

• 51:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 51:20Speaker 03

  And I guess.

• 51:20Amy Poehler?

  And they'd flex and they'd be fine with it. I know, it's a fine line.

• 51:23Speaker 03

  But you can't.

• 51:24Amy Poehler?

  You can't.

• 51:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 51:25Amy Poehler?

  You can't. But, but you.

• 51:27Speaker 03

  And it's good. It's good that you can't. It's good that.

• 51:31Amy Poehler?

  Okay, but this is a good segue into the, okay, because you have made. Well, into Not Suitable for Work.

• 51:38Speaker 03

  Okay, okay, yes, yes, what you can't do, yes.

• 51:40Amy Poehler?

  What you can't do?

• 51:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm so surprised. Like, I was wondering, what is this a segue to?

• 51:44Amy Poehler?

  But you're, you have a new show out on Hulu, Not Suitable for Work.

• 51:47Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 51:47Amy Poehler?

  And it is, you've called it kind of the third in a trilogy. Can you?

• 51:51Speaker 03

  I'm really trying to get that I have a trilogy, that I'm like Peter Jackson.

• 51:54Amy Poehler?

  You're a mogul, you have a trilogy.

• 51:56Speaker 03

  I have a trilogy, just like me and.

• 51:59Amy Poehler?

  I mean, one of the things about being a mogul is you have to start talking like everything you did was like a perfect, you know.

• 52:10Speaker 03

  It's all part of a master plan that I.

• 52:12Amy Poehler?

  A master plan.

• 52:13Speaker 03

  I have to embody that more.

• 52:15Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 52:15Speaker 03

  That things are not just like accidental.

• 52:17Amy Poehler?

  No, not a series of moments.

• 52:18Speaker 03

  Whatever's happening.

• 52:20Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 52:20Speaker 03

  Making it up on the spot.

• 52:21Amy Poehler?

  This makes sense because this is the third in the installment. But you have made three TV shows, never have I ever.

• 52:27Speaker 03

  Sex Lives of College Girls.

• 52:28Amy Poehler?

  Sex Lives of College Girls, thank you, and Not Suitable for Work. All three are like, I mean, they're very, very different. But what would you say is a unifying theme in all of them?

• 52:38Speaker 03

  I think I love writing for underdogs.

• 52:42Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 52:43Speaker 03

  And ambitious people, and people with lots of big wants and needs, both like romantically and professionally, and who feel like they don't have access to it.

• 52:53Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm.

• 52:53Speaker 03

  And that's sort of, I think, the thing in common with all three of those shows.

• 52:59Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 52:59Speaker 03

  A lot of horniness. Working on Not Suitable for Work, I mean, this cast is, they're so funny, they're so good. And they were all, none of them were unknown. They'd all had like a lot of success, but I wouldn't necessarily say that they were like super, super well-known yet. But Will Angus was in a very popular sketch troupe, Ella Hunt was on that wonderful show Dickinson, Avantica was in Mean Girls, but this is just a. A way to have them all together. And they're super funny. They're super appealing. And I loved working with them.

• 53:30Amy Poehler?

  Avantika is who we spoke to today to get the question for you.

• 53:34Speaker 03

  Really?

• 53:35Amy Poehler?

  And Avantika is, so we did, you know, we do this thing at the beginning where we talk well behind our guests back. And I really wanted to speak to Avantika for a couple of reasons. One is she is like, you know, you, you are the example of what she watched growing up. You were representation in, in real, physical form. Somebody who wrote their own parts, who, who created their own stuff for themselves. And who also, like you said, like, enjoy, like, you enjoy being entertained. Your shows are not homework.

• 54:13Speaker 03

  No, I think I'm not writing shows for like television studies professors.

• 54:17Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 54:18Speaker 03

  Do you know what I mean? And not that I don't think that's an important job and things, but I'm, I want to do something that's like, when times are hard.

• 54:25Amy Poehler?

  That's right.

• 54:26Speaker 03

  You know, when like my mom was sick and she, we wanted to watch something. It's like, we watched Modern Family. It was like, I want to watch something that's like legitimately so funny.

• 54:35Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 54:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, and I like seeing people fall in love. And I love like, great costumes and doing something in the city.

• 54:43Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 54:43Speaker 03

  I also love The Office where it has not those qualities, but is super funny. But I, I do know what you're saying, and I take it as a compliment.

• 54:49Amy Poehler?

  And she spoke about being around you and like your curiosity. And also just like your curiosity about other people's lives and young lives and like really like your support as a, as a producer and as a person. And also, Mindy, just what I think is so impressive about you is you, you feel like you're working within the system and you're also.

• 55:15Amy Poehler?

  Still a person like, like the rest of us, I guess. So it's like you are this mogul who also is like just along for the ride like the rest of us. Like, it's very hard to do both of those things. And I think you do it really, really well.

• 55:30Speaker 03

  Thank you. Oh, my gosh.

• 55:31Amy Poehler?

  And she, she speaks about that. And it's funny, her question is so cute. It was like, what is your EGOT? Like, but she was like, what are the, what are four things that Mindy wants? I know. I said, that's too many things.

• 55:44Speaker 03

  That's so many things.

• 55:45Amy Poehler?

  I agree.

• 55:45Speaker 03

  Do you feel this way where if, if you see a movie you love, or you listen to an album, or you see a Broadway musical, you're kind of like, should I like try to write a Broadway musical?

• 55:57Amy Poehler?

  Podcast?

• 55:58Speaker 03

  Like, I'll listen to it, I'll go to, I'll go, but which you're nailing. So now you should do the next thing.

• 56:03Amy Poehler?

  I, I, I feel you. I see something and I'm like, should I try it?

• 56:06Speaker 03

  Should I try that? And that's like, I think notoriously how bad art is formed, right? When people do stuff that they're not equipped to do, but are, have this delusional feeling that they can. And I've done that many times. But you know what I'm really impressed by is like, I always think about Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig.

• 56:24Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah.

• 56:25Speaker 03

  And how, as does the rest of the world. But I love that Jordan came from sketch comedy.

• 56:30Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 56:31Speaker 03

  And with Greta, like coming from being an actress and like the muse of Noah Baumbach. And then being like, well, I want to direct. And then taking something like Barbie and making it like this great movie about feminism. And so, and now doing the Narnia stuff. Like, so I'm always really inspired by them. I think that that's the thing is I'd love to be able to write and direct movies.

• 56:53Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 56:55Speaker 03

  Another thing, and this is not creative, but like, I feel like my feed on Instagram is just always about how fleeting our time with our children is. It's just like, it's just like frightening post after frightening post about how like, you have 18 summers with these people.

• 57:11Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I didn't know it was the last time I would pick him up.

• 57:13Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 57:14Amy Poehler?

  It's like, Jesus Christ.

• 57:15Speaker 03

  These haunting things about these wonderful children that I love. And so I really want to be able to. Hang with them and be with them in a real way where they look back at it and they're like, how was mom able to do that?

• 57:29Amy Poehler?

  Mmm.

• 57:30Speaker 03

  But then also do these other, be there for us so much of the time. And I know I'll fail, but like, I really wanna try to be there. My mom really set the bar. She was so busy. Like, we missed Thanksgivings because she was delivering a baby. She wasn't there for the school play. And I was the perfect match for her as a daughter because I just thought it was glamorous.

• 57:49Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 57:50Speaker 03

  And I was like, wow, mom's like really doing a lot. But I have three kids. I don't know that they're gonna think, maybe one of them will be that way and the other two won't. So I gotta really, I gotta really invest in being them. So that's the second thing. What else would I wanna do? I don't wanna hold public office, no.

• 58:07Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 58:07Speaker 03

  I don't want to adopt like seven kids. I love the people who do that. I can't, three's enough.

• 58:13Amy Poehler?

  Three is a lot.

• 58:14Speaker 03

  I don't think I wanna like teach at a college.

• 58:17Amy Poehler?

  You don't know that, you don't know that. Don't, don't rule that out. Think about this, okay, I like this. Think about this future, though, like, that you get to come in, like, I, I often think about, you know, like, the next decade. Think about coming in like a beautiful sweater, like Dartmouth, let's say.

• 58:35Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 58:37Amy Poehler?

  Drive in at 10 o'clock in the morning, have your coffee. You, you know, you, the door creaks open and there's like 150 like kids staring at you and you start your class. Nobody gets to interrupt. You're done in an hour.

• 58:54Speaker 03

  You know.

• 58:55Amy Poehler?

  You write a book about it, then you write a movie about it. That's all I'm saying.

• 58:58Speaker 03

  I think that, that sounds, that does sound good.

• 59:01Amy Poehler?

  Doesn't that sound good?

• 59:02Speaker 03

  We don't have to grade papers.

• 59:03Amy Poehler?

  No papers.

• 59:04Speaker 03

  Nothing like that.

• 59:04Amy Poehler?

  Well, it'll all be like, there'll be no paper.

• 59:06Speaker 03

  AI will be doing it.

• 59:07Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, there'll be no paper.

• 59:08Speaker 03

  I like that, or I also like when they, you get to a certain age and then like TV shows just want like that kind of like decrepit grand dame.

• 59:16Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah.

• 59:16Speaker 03

  To come in, you just say a couple lines and everyone's like laughing. They just like lift you onto a seat.

• 59:23Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I wanna get to the, the point where people are like, she looks good.

• 59:26Speaker 03

  She looks good. This has been so fun, Mindy.

• 59:30Amy Poehler?

  Has it been?

• 59:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 59:31Amy Poehler?

  I'm so.

• 59:32Speaker 03

  This is so.

• 59:33Amy Poehler?

  That's very Enneagram six of you.

• 59:34Speaker 03

  It is.

• 59:34Amy Poehler?

  That's very Enneagram six of you.

• 59:36Speaker 03

  No, I'm stressed.

• 59:37Amy Poehler?

  Tell me why.

• 59:38Speaker 03

  No, I just, I love this so much. I, I've been very entertained.

• 59:42Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 59:43Speaker 03

  By previous episodes and I just, I'm just fast forwarding to my, to my nanny Jenny sitting on the sofa.

• 59:49Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 59:49Speaker 03

  And hoping that she doesn't click away.

• 59:52Amy Poehler?

  No, she's gonna have, I mean, she's gonna be.

• 59:55Speaker 03

  She's gonna be.

• 59:55Amy Poehler?

  She's gonna be wrapped.

• 59:56Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 59:57Amy Poehler?

  And, and also, uh, my last question to you is like, what are you wa- because I know you are like, you're a pop culture consumer.

• 1:00:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:00:05Amy Poehler?

  What, who is making you laugh these days? What, what, when you, when you wanna, like, you know, I know for me, it's hard for me to kind of watch comedy. Like, it's like.

• 1:00:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:00:15Amy Poehler?

  What, what do you watch to check out, tune out, laugh, like, feel, like, is it a video? Is it TikTok? Is it a show? Is it?

• 1:00:24Speaker 03

  I'm not on TikTok for no real reason. It's not like a decision, but I think it's tied to in some way, like productivity. Like, I'm worried I'd be too into it.

• 1:00:34Amy Poehler?

  Damn, that's so true.

• 1:00:35Speaker 03

  But for me, uh, the biggest thing that I'm into, I mean, I, I do like a lot of dramas. And like your friend Emily Spivey loved murder, but I think for me, I loved The Curse. Is that, that's the right name, is the Nathan Fielder Show?

• 1:00:52Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 1:00:53Speaker 03

  Really strange and.

• 1:00:54Amy Poehler?

  Really, let's talk about Nathan Fielder.

• 1:00:57Speaker 03

  And Nathan Fielder, who is like, I think for people my age or women, he's a real heartthrob, too.

• 1:01:02Amy Poehler?

  He's a millennial heartthrob.

• 1:01:03Speaker 03

  He's a millennial heartthrob.

• 1:01:04Amy Poehler?

  He's a millennial heartthrob.

• 1:01:05Speaker 03

  Big time. And I'm happy for him. He's so funny and talented. Um, with Emma Stone, I loved that show.

• 1:01:09Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 1:01:10Speaker 03

  Um.

• 1:01:11Amy Poehler?

  That was a really good weird show.

• 1:01:13Speaker 03

  Weird show. And then, I mean, it's honestly like, it's like, what don't I like? Like, most of the time, I, I like stuff. Like, I like all the things that you would expect. Like, I love Abbott and I love Hacks and I like. All the dramas, like, who doesn't like the pit? It's like, I like those things. And that's like, I love, it's such a delight to watch them and see people who are really good at their craft doing things.

• 1:01:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, you're able to enjoy still knowing how things work. You're able, like, kind of like in the very beginning when we started talking about it, which is like, you know how hard it is to make something good.

• 1:01:46Speaker 03

  Totally.

• 1:01:48Amy Poehler?

  Mindy Kaling, thank you for being here. Thank you for taking the red eye.

• 1:01:51Speaker 03

  Only for Amy Poehler.

• 1:01:52Amy Poehler?

  I'm so happy you could do this. Thank you so much for doing it.

• 1:01:55Speaker 03

  Thank you, Amy. It was such a, it was such a good hang.

• 1:01:57Amy Poehler?

  It was so good. Thanks, everybody.

• 1:02:01Amy Poehler?

  Thank you so much, Mindy Kaling. You're always so honest and forthcoming and funny, and it was really great to have you. And, you know, Mindy and I got into a lot of really interesting topics, including being a working mother and deciding to just do the things you love and try to, as best you can, avoid the things that you hate. And I have a strong feeling about that. I feel like in motherhood, there's things that you like, you love, you feel neutral about, and you really don't like to do. And if you can try to avoid the things that you really don't like to do, then the rest, you know, the rest might come a little easier. So, some people get stressed around, you know, bath time. Some people don't want to go to the park.

• 1:02:44Amy Poehler?

  Some moms hate taking their kids to get shots.

• 1:02:49Amy Poehler?

  I mean, who loves that? But you know what I mean. Either way, I would just say, give yourself a break. You're not supposed to love everything, and it doesn't make you a bad mom if you don't. Try to offload anything that you really, really, really have a hard time handling and don't ever feel guilty about it, because, God, we just really beat ourselves up, and enough's enough, you know? So, I guess that's my polar plunge today. I don't know, I just am thinking about all the ways in which we make it harder for ourselves and are harder on ourselves. Let's try to take some lessons from this interview and do a better job this week. Do a better job of not doing a good job. Okay. Bye.

• 1:03:33Amy Poehler?

  You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaia McMullin, and Aleia Zaneras. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

• 1:03:59Speaker 04

  Ugh, I hate Mondays.

• 1:04:01Speaker 05

  King's Hawaiian Cinnamon Swirl, by?

• 1:04:02Speaker 04

  Uh, Taylor Hansen? Sure, I'll try one. Mmm.

• 1:04:08Speaker 06

  Hey, let's get back to work, please.

• 1:04:09Speaker 04

  But Taylor Hansen's making my day way better with these new soft and swirly King's Hawaiian Cinnamon Bites.

• 1:04:14Speaker 06

  Taylor Hansen? Nice.

• 1:04:16Speaker 05

  Try one.

• 1:04:17Speaker 06

  Mmm.

• 1:04:21Speaker 05

  King's Hawaiian Cinnamon Bites. There's nothing like it.