The Bonering Conan

Conan talks to kinetic sculptor Breakfast about how to create moving pieces of art and designing a 50-foot sphere for cruise ships. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply

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

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 0:06Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 0:07Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Or Oki.

• 0:08Conan O'Brien?

  You gotta get them your stuff.

• 0:08Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 0:09Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that, uh, that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 0:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:19Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. A little early to buy a turkey.

• 0:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:24Conan O'Brien?

  Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's, uh, very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 0:56Conan O'Brien?

  One in four Americans targeted by scams ended up falling for them.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  I did.

• 1:00Conan O'Brien?

  For me, it would be four out of four. Did you fall for a scam?

• 1:01Speaker 01

  I fell for a scam once.

• 1:03Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:04Speaker 01

  They didn't steal much.

• 1:05Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yep, still, you got taken for a ride.

• 1:07Speaker 01

  I did.

• 1:08Conan O'Brien?

  And you just put it out there that you're easy to scam.

• 1:09Speaker 01

  I am.

• 1:10Conan O'Brien?

  One accident, little click, can expose your information, putting you at risk of identity theft. Thankfully, there's LifeLock. LifeLock has live, US-based restoration specialists who will be with you every step of the way to fix your identity theft from first alert to full restoration. Join now and save up to 30% off your first year. This is a good thing to have in your back pocket, don't you think?

• 1:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I need this.

• 1:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you do need it. You need it fast. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 1:44Speaker 01

  Conan O'Brien needs a fan. Wanna talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com/callconan. Okay, let's get started.

• 1:55Speaker 02

  Mmm, no, chew, chew.

• 1:57Conan O'Brien?

  What'd you say?

• 1:58Speaker 01

  Terrible timing.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  Terrible timing.

• 2:02Speaker 02

  Oh no. Hey, welcome to Conan O'Brien News and Fan.

• 2:06Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 2:07Conan O'Brien?

  I want to apologize for, uh, let me apologize quickly to you, sir. Matt Gourley was chewing what looked like a kind of a nut bar.

• 2:15Speaker 02

  It was a nut bar.

• 2:16Conan O'Brien?

  And, um, that's rude because we're talking to you, you're a guest, but my mouth is clear and I can speak to you succinctly.

• 2:25Speaker 02

  I just was given no real warning.

• 2:27Conan O'Brien?

  No, I think you did.

• 2:28Speaker 03

  I thought that's just how you talk.

• 2:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 2:30Speaker 03

  You've been away for a while, so maybe something happened.

• 2:33Conan O'Brien?

  Thank you. Yes. Andrew, yes.

• 2:37Speaker 02

  I forgot how to talk.

• 2:38Conan O'Brien?

  Andrew brought out the big guns right away. He knows you took an overly long fraternity leave. Here we go. Your name, sir, is Andrew Zolti. That's your real name, but you go by the name, tell me how to pronounce this.

• 2:55Speaker 03

  Breakfast. That name?

• 2:58Speaker 01

  What did you, how did you think it would have been?

• 3:00Conan O'Brien?

  I didn't know if it was, it says breakfast and I thought, oh, chances are I'm gonna say breakfast and he's gonna go, "Excuse me, it's breakfast."

• 3:13Speaker 02

  But it is here in the notes that it means to move fast and break stuff.

• 3:16Conan O'Brien?

  I don't read the notes.

• 3:18Speaker 02

  Oh, okay.

• 3:18Conan O'Brien?

  I talk to people. You're an accountant over in the corner.

• 3:21Speaker 02

  I was trying to help you. You don't need to, excuse me, I gotta have another bite.

• 3:25Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 3:28Conan O'Brien?

  Need to carb load. So, breakfast. You are, it says here, you are a kinetic sculptor. What is kinetic sculpture? Tell me about it.

• 3:38Speaker 03

  Can you see behind me?

• 3:39Conan O'Brien?

  I can, but it's also a podcast, so I thought it'd be good to maybe include some words in there somewhere. I see behind you, let me describe to our listeners who, who aren't watching this, uh, that, yes, I see interlocking rings that are twisting and undulating. I see, I mean, it's very cool. I see a shimmering, uh, series of silver rectangles. There's a, I mean, look, I could describe these things all day.

• 4:07Speaker 03

  Could you? Cause that was a rough description.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was pretty rough.

• 4:10Speaker 03

  That was pretty good, actually. That was pretty accurate.

• 4:12Conan O'Brien?

  Look who's, uh, candy bar just hit the stomach. You came in hot. It was blah, blah, blah, blah, chomp, chomp, chomp. Billy Conan?

• 4:22Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, okay, breakfast. Tell me, um, this kinetic sculpture, I've seen examples of this places. I go to Seattle a lot. It's where my wife's family's from and they have a hammering man there. It's a tall sculpture that hammers away, like it's, uh, like it's, it's hammering out some pewter or something, but it's really cool. And it's about, I don't know, might be 40 feet tall.

• 4:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:49Conan O'Brien?

  Is that, would that be a kinetic sculpture?

• 4:51Speaker 03

  I think it would. I mean, kinetic just means moving, but, uh, I try to, I try to dial it up a little bit. So like, so yeah, all the things I, I make, I tend to try and one, make them really interactive, which maybe if I run away from the microphone in a sec, I can show you.

• 5:08Conan O'Brien?

  Oh.

• 5:08Speaker 03

  Uh, but then all these things are actually moving based on real time data as well. So like this little silver moving, it kind of moves like water.

• 5:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's beautiful. It shimmers.

• 5:17Speaker 03

  That is, it does. And it, uh, here, I'm gonna, I'm gonna. He's moving away.

• 5:23Conan O'Brien?

  He's moving away. Oh, wow. He is like a magician. You just waved your hand over this surface. And it, it all started sort of undulating, responding to you and, and all the different tiles moved in a different way. It was very cool.

• 5:36Speaker 03

  Yeah. And it's, and it's actually the way that it moves, it's connected to Lake Chapala in Mexico, which is receding due to climate change. And so as that water goes up and down, it changes what happens when you move your hand through it. So kind of like if you had a puddle that got deeper or shallower.

• 5:52Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 5:52Speaker 03

  It actually changes based on that. So all the pieces have this sort of real time data thing going to it and interaction. And it pretty much just comes from me being a kid, walking through museums and feeling bad that I was bored. Right. And just trying to make art that.

• 6:07Conan O'Brien?

  You walked, you walked by Michelangelo's David and thought, why ain't that fucking guy moving around?

• 6:13Speaker 03

  No, yeah.

• 6:14Conan O'Brien?

  Why isn't his penis twirling?

• 6:18Speaker 01

  Oh my God.

• 6:20Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I'm serious.

• 6:20Speaker 01

  Why isn't it twirling?

• 6:22Conan O'Brien?

  I know. And it should twirl, it should grow and shrink in relation.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:27Conan O'Brien?

  To, uh.

• 6:28Speaker 01

  Now we're talking.

• 6:29Conan O'Brien?

  Well, okay. I went too far.

• 6:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:31Conan O'Brien?

  But.

• 6:32Speaker 01

  Grow and shrink.

• 6:34Conan O'Brien?

  So, um, but I have a question. I have a, well.

• 6:40Conan O'Brien?

  Wouldn't that be amazing? If they could grow and shrink in relation to what's happening? If only. Clearly, I've

• 6:49Conan O'Brien?

  completely unfamiliar with how a real penis works.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  Mine goes up and down based on that lake in Mexico.

• 6:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Whenever a lake passes, he's like

• 7:01Conan O'Brien?

  breakfast, and I say this, I love saying breakfast. Now, listen here, breakfast. You are the most important meal of the day. What are the devices at work? What's happening to, what kind of mechanical stuff are you doing? What kind of wiring? I'm just curious. I don't need, you know, to get into the weeds on it.

• 7:21Speaker 03

  We will. Yeah, it's, well, I should be fair in that over there, normally, there's 16 people that help me do this these days. Because we make massive, massive things. So, so we're doing all the electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial design. So there's, there's computers inside each one of these things. There's motors, there's, you know, we've made pieces with 9,000 motors that move 24 hours a day in the middle of cruise ships and weird stuff like that. But it is complex, takes a tremendous amount of effort and time and gets really nerdy.

• 7:54Conan O'Brien?

  I have a question.

• 7:55Speaker 03

  But, you know, it's just for the kids.

• 7:56Conan O'Brien?

  What is the, it's very cool. These things look amazing. What is the, it's funny to ask about sculpture, but what's the maintenance? I mean, do you get called in like you've, you've done a very beautiful, complicated? And they say, yes, one of the servos, one of the 9,000 servos is on the fritz. Is it hard to maintain?

• 8:16Speaker 01

  Our battery needs to be replaced.

• 8:18Speaker 02

  Yeah. You just go to Angie's List to get someone?

• 8:21Speaker 03

  Exactly. Yeah, yeah, it's all Angie's List.

• 8:23Conan O'Brien?

  I'm here to fix your sculpture.

• 8:26Conan O'Brien?

  Where is it? Oh, yeah, you got one of those undulating lake titty caca. All right. I know what's going on. Stick a screwdriver in it and be fine.

• 8:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, it's, I mean, it's, that is the, that is actually my favorite question to answer because I get it constantly. And, and the, the way that I explain this is we live in a world where we are very used to consumer devices that are made as kind of cheaply and efficiently as possible and they got to cost very little. If you think about sending a satellite into space that you don't get back, that's kind of more the model that we follow.

• 9:03Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 9:03Speaker 03

  So every, that's why we make everything from scratch is to every motor is custom designed, every circuit board and the part you put on there. You can choose something that instead of costing 10 cents, oh, we spent a dollar on that one little part. And it will now last 50 to 100 years instead of five to 10. And so if you build it the right way, it will last. And then at the same time, you know, we got a lot of pieces all around the world. And if something were to happen, you know, I've had, you know, the cleaning person smash a broom into something. Then we got to make it really easy to just swap it out. So we also design.

• 9:38Conan O'Brien?

  And fire the cleaning person.

• 9:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 9:40Conan O'Brien?

  That's the first thing you do.

• 9:42Speaker 03

  At, at least fire them.

• 9:44Conan O'Brien?

  You, you designed and built a piece called the Pearl. It says here, it's a 54 foot sphere with thousands of tiles and it mimics the wind and waves. That, I mean, where is this? How can I see this?

• 9:58Speaker 03

  That is the one on, well, we made two of them and they're on the two biggest cruise ships in the world. So they're, they literally hold up the decks above where they are. This is massive thing.

• 10:11Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, so it's, it's, they're load bearing as well.

• 10:14Speaker 03

  They're load bearing. Yeah.

• 10:15Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my God.

• 10:16Speaker 03

  Horrible idea.

• 10:19Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, it's load bearing, it's 54 feet.

• 10:22Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:23Conan O'Brien?

  In circumference, I guess, and thousands of tiles and.

• 10:28Speaker 03

  It's nine, 9,000 motors moving. This is the one I was saying, it's just 24 hours a day in the middle of the ocean reacting to data across the Caribbean. It's a, it's a beast and you know, it was a little hard to sleep at night.

• 10:41Conan O'Brien?

  I could just see that the, the, those ships. Crashing all the time because everyone on board is just looking at the undulating sphere. Whoa, and then they just ran into an iceberg.

• 10:52Speaker 02

  And then the sphere undulates even more.

• 10:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it starts undulating and then it's underwater undulating because an orca goes by.

• 10:59Speaker 03

  I'm probably not supposed to say it, but there is a there's a stairway that so you walk down these stairs through the middle of it. And my fear kind of came true, which is who on a rocking ship looking at a sphere can walk downstairs and not trip and fall. And they probably don't like me mentioning that, but you know, it's there's some extra stair lighting now. We'll just put it that way.

• 11:24Conan O'Brien?

  And may God rest their soul.

• 11:26Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 11:29Speaker 03

  I'll make sure my lawyer doesn't listen.

• 11:30Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:39Conan O'Brien?

  You know, winning an award, that's a big achievement, right?

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:42Conan O'Brien?

  Every now and then in life, maybe something nice like that comes your way. Winning them consistently is almost impossible. It just doesn't happen, you know? Well, guess what? Winning five times in six years? You know what that sounds like to me? Sustained excellence.

• 11:56Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 11:57Conan O'Brien?

  Hyundai has done just that, earning the title of America's best SUV brand for 2026 from US News and World Report. You are a very happy Hyundai driver.

• 12:05Speaker 01

  I drive a Hyundai Palisade and I love my car. I love it. I love driving it around.

• 12:10Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5 N, which I love. Beautiful car. Well, listen, whether you need an SUV for everyday life, your next big adventure, or extra room for family and friends, Hyundai has an option for you. The Tucson Hybrid is loaded with technology and built for everyday life. The Santa Fe Hybrid is fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 12:30Conan O'Brien?

  They're going to rename that the Sona. The Palisade Hybrid, yeah, delivers premium capability and class leading interior space. With available, I have this memorized, H-Track all wheel drive up to an EPA estimated 619 miles of range on vehicles like the Palisade Hybrid and Hyundai's industry leading warranty. It's easy to see why Hyundai continues to deliver the quality, innovation, technology and value drivers expect from an award winning brand. View US News Best Cars at cars.usnews.com and call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

• 13:03Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 13:07Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 13:08Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  Or Oki.

• 13:09Conan O'Brien?

  You gotta get them their stuff.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 13:10Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that, uh, that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 13:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:20Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. A little early to buy a turkey.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:25Conan O'Brien?

  Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's, uh, very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want, even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 13:56Conan O'Brien?

  Now, Sona, clearly I'm a very important person to you.

• 13:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:59Conan O'Brien?

  And just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 14:02Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a very important person to you. What would you get me from Macy's for the holidays?

• 14:07Speaker 01

  A vase.

• 14:09Conan O'Brien?

  No, I don't want a vase. I want something better.

• 14:11Speaker 01

  A jacket.

• 14:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 14:14Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, that jacket, nice jacket.

• 14:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, so now you have to do it, because you said you would.

• 14:17Speaker 01

  Aw, man, I didn't know you were doing that.

• 14:19Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I know the holidays, I know the holidays are months away, but it's never too early, Sona, to find gifts that I will love, gifts I will wear, and surprises that make the season unforgettable for me.

• 14:31Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 14:31Conan O'Brien?

  Macy's Gift Guide makes holiday shopping easy with beauty favorites, stylish fashion, jewelry, cozy essentials, must-have toys, home upgrades, and picks for every person on your list. Coach handbags, Breville appliances, Lego UG, and more, all in one place. You can skip the scrolling and shop with confidence. Shop now in-store or online at macy's.com/giftguide.

• 14:57Conan O'Brien?

  So, you have to admit, the holidays, it's really about hanging with the people you love.

• 15:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:03Conan O'Brien?

  And getting to be yourself, not going to some stuffy holiday party where you need to conform to what the man wants you to think about the holidays.

• 15:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:12Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's about being yourself. Turn your holiday time into Miller time by enjoying a Miller Lite in a place where you're free to enjoy yourself on a walk with a cousin. With a cousin? Why are they getting all specific about?

• 15:23Speaker 01

  Because it's family.

• 15:24Conan O'Brien?

  But what about a niece or a nephew?

• 15:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:28Conan O'Brien?

  Like a walk with an ex-wife?

• 15:31Conan O'Brien?

  I don't know. I mean, they're just throwing, that's a weird, they just made a very specific choice.

• 15:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:35Conan O'Brien?

  Now's the time for those unexpected holiday side guests and enjoy a great tasting light beer. 'Tis Miller time, as Dickens wrote. Miller Lite is brewed for taste, the taste you can depend on. The original light beer since 1975 and still iconic more than 50 years later. I like to be with my bros, my chums, my posse, crack open a Miller Lite, take a swig, a sip, look around and see my friends. We've known each other forever and we're just hanging out.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, you guys are just doing chest bumps and high-fiving.

• 16:05Conan O'Brien?

  Miller Lite is great taste done right. Go to millerlite.com/conan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. 'Tis Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

• 16:26Conan O'Brien?

  Now, do you have a dream to one day build something that's on the same scale as, you know, one of those sculptures or pieces of architecture that defines a city? Do you know what I'm saying? The way the Eiffel Tower defines Paris, the way the Trump Arch is going to define Washington DC.

• 16:43Speaker 01

  Oh, God!

• 16:44Conan O'Brien?

  Do you, and by the way, you should, you should make that thing move, you know?

• 16:49Speaker 03

  Somewhere else.

• 16:49Conan O'Brien?

  Move out of town!

• 16:50Speaker 01

  The Trump Arch.

• 16:51Conan O'Brien?

  Right? Hey, we did, we did political humor.

• 16:54Speaker 03

  Maybe we'll go back to the penis that spins.

• 16:56Conan O'Brien?

  We're not so dumb. Anyway, go ahead. What do you think?

• 16:59Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, I mean, that's, that is, that is the dream, I would say, is that, that we don't build, we don't build like the Eiffel Tower kind of, kind of pieces anymore. And, and if they are, I don't know, I want to create something, that's the big dream.

• 17:14Conan O'Brien?

  What city would you choose?

• 17:15Speaker 03

  But now imagine.

• 17:18Speaker 03

  Brookline, Mass.

• 17:19Speaker 02

  Ah, yes.

• 17:20Speaker 03

  You know, a giant, a giant mechanical Conan used car balloon.

• 17:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:25Conan O'Brien?

  What would you do? What would you do? Let's say I was insane and let's say I had a massive amount of money. Yeah. And I commissioned you, uh, what, how would you depict me? How would you use your powers?

• 17:40Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 17:41Conan O'Brien?

  How would you use your powers in, with all these servos and moving parts to do a Conan sculpture?

• 17:46Speaker 03

  To do a Conan, okay. So, well, you like, I actually think we should lift from the Michelangelo. I think we need a nice pale.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  A boner-ing Conan?

• 17:55Speaker 03

  We need a pale figure. A boner-ing Conan. Oh, hold on, we're gonna use that. We're gonna use that. And then I think what we're gonna do, we're gonna make your, your hair.

• 18:03Conan O'Brien?

  It's gotta be the hair.

• 18:04Speaker 03

  We're gonna make it out of brass.

• 18:05Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 18:06Speaker 03

  And it's gonna work, actually, we'll connect that to Brookline. So whatever the wind is.

• 18:10Conan O'Brien?

  My hometown of Brookline, Mass, in, with how the wind's blowing in Brookline will affect how my massive 60-foot-high hair is undulating?

• 18:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, but I think the best part, do you know those sculptures that sometime, like you'll go buy a, there's like a statue where you'll rub it, the guy's foot or his nose, and it's like luck?

• 18:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yep, yes, yeah, yeah, and they're worn, they're actually kinda worn away in those spots.

• 18:33Speaker 03

  They're worn away. So I think this is how, cause my pieces are interactive, so I think you need to rub some part of you and your hair, your hair shoots out.

• 18:42Conan O'Brien?

  I think we all know, I think we all know what we're talking about here.

• 18:45Speaker 03

  I think we do. I think we do.

• 18:46Conan O'Brien?

  We should go for it.

• 18:47Speaker 02

  How about instead of that, when the real man gets rubbed, the kinetic sculpture has a hookup, you know what I mean?

• 18:54Conan O'Brien?

  That's right, yeah.

• 18:54Speaker 02

  And so, you know?

• 18:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 18:56Speaker 01

  It's a worn hair.

• 18:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, when I'm in some rub and tug joint in Miami.

• 19:00Speaker 01

  Come on!

• 19:01Conan O'Brien?

  Waiter in Prague, my hair starts doing a loop-de-loop.

• 19:05Speaker 03

  Not your hair. The hair's still connected to Brookline.

• 19:08Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, oh, the hair's showing you Brookline. Okay, I get it. This is, um, this is amazing that you have. Made this your life. I'm always fascinated by people who managed to, uh, through perseverance, talent, um, a lot of hard work, I'm sure, carve out this life for themselves. It's just kind of perfect. And it sounds like you're doing exactly what 10-year-old you would have dreamed of doing. Is that true?

• 19:36Speaker 03

  I think that's, that's very accurate. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, you know, still waiting for the, the money, but we'll, we'll get to that part.

• 19:44Conan O'Brien?

  Really? I mean, you seem like you must be very successful. This.

• 19:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 19:47Conan O'Brien?

  Cause even your space is very.

• 19:49Speaker 03

  There's, there's this, there's the, the, you know, there's the success in terms of what we've achieved.

• 19:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, definitely.

• 19:57Speaker 03

  But then there's the, you know, I gotta send my kids to college, right? There's gotta be a way to do that. Yeah.

• 20:02Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I don't know what you do.

• 20:04Speaker 03

  So I'm gonna go outside and just, I'm gonna busk. I'm just gonna play guitar on the street and everything's gonna be fine. I'm not worried.

• 20:10Conan O'Brien?

  Listen, I think college is overrated.

• 20:12Speaker 03

  Just tell me everything's gonna be fine.

• 20:13Conan O'Brien?

  It's gonna be fine. They can learn from their phones.

• 20:15Speaker 03

  AI.

• 20:15Conan O'Brien?

  AI and their phones will tell them what they need to do. Um, you've got sculptures to make. They are not your concern.

• 20:22Speaker 03

  I agree.

• 20:22Conan O'Brien?

  I always say that about children. Uh, is it true that you worked, someone told me that you worked on the Conan blimp when we launched on TBS back in 2010. Is that true?

• 20:34Speaker 03

  That is, yeah, absolutely. I got to, I flew in that blimp. In fact, I will tell you, all of this is here because of, of that blimp. Because it was the first project. So, so we started breakfast. It was me and two other guys and, uh, and we were trying to explain to people how you could connect the online world and the real world. And TBS calls up and says, we have a blimp. Do you think you could connect that in some way? And that was the first project that kinda got us going.

• 21:05Conan O'Brien?

  People could like tweet at the blimp and it would react.

• 21:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:10Speaker 03

  It would, uh, it was force. Does anyone remember Foursquare?

• 21:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 21:14Speaker 03

  Yeah. I don't know if you remember Foursquare?

• 21:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 21:16Speaker 03

  So it was the first moving location. So people would get in their cars to try and get close enough to check into it. And then the blimp would actually get happy or sad. And when it gets sad, it would like go and check into a cemetery. And if it got happy, it would go over to like a, a baseball game and get a hot dog or check in. And that's, that was.

• 21:36Conan O'Brien?

  So weird. I'm happier at a cemetery and sadder at a baseball game.

• 21:41Conan O'Brien?

  I'm not even kidding.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 21:46Conan O'Brien?

  But that, you know, that's amazing. First of all, thank you, because I thought that blimp was one of the coolest things I was ever associated with. It was so much fun.

• 21:53Speaker 03

  Did you ever go in it?

• 21:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, I flew in the blimp, and I'll never forget this. They let me take the wheel at one point, which isn't that scary, because it's a balloon, but I put it into a power dive, and it was slowly diving down. And through the windshield, I don't know if you can remember this, Sona, you were at the Goodyear, I think it was Goodyear.

• 22:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was.

• 22:12Conan O'Brien?

  You were at the Goodyear, you would come with me, and so you were in this giant field, and I went into a power dive and aimed it at you. And I remembered you, like, in jeans and in that brown leather jacket, running away as I was in a power drive, power dive, in a, in a Goodyear blimp with my name on it. It's just like, you to a kill. Yeah. No, it really was. It's one of the funniest images in my head, is me, and they're, they're like, well, you're gonna want to pull up soon, but it's not dire in a balloon. They mean, like, maybe, maybe that potato is done in another hour. But I'm in this dive, and you were, saw me coming towards you, and you ran.

• 22:52Speaker 01

  I remember that.

• 22:53Conan O'Brien?

  And you ran.

• 22:53Speaker 01

  I really do remember that. I do. Oh, my god.

• 22:56Conan O'Brien?

  Tormenting my assistant with the Goodyear blimp in real time.

• 23:01Speaker 01

  Sick man.

• 23:03Conan O'Brien?

  This is really fun. I, I love, the stuff behind you looks amazing. It really does. And I think it's, I think-

• 23:09Speaker 03

  Can I make it look more exciting?

• 23:11Conan O'Brien?

  Sure. Oh, my god.

• 23:14Speaker 03

  Can you see that?

• 23:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yes!

• 23:15Speaker 01

  Holy shit!

• 23:17Conan O'Brien?

  Wow. The sculpture behind you just became my face. Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

• 23:22Speaker 03

  That's what I did for you.

• 23:23Conan O'Brien?

  Turn it off. No!

• 23:24Speaker 03

  That's, uh, oh, well, here, I'm gonna run away from the mic.

• 23:26Conan O'Brien?

  That's incredible. Look at that. Oh! He just ran through my face and shattered it.

• 23:32Speaker 01

  That is so cool.

• 23:34Conan O'Brien?

  I didn't like the part where my face went away.

• 23:37Speaker 01

  It's back, it's back, it's back.

• 23:38Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, glad it's back. Yay, baby happy!

• 23:41Speaker 03

  This thing's connected to his ego?

• 23:43Conan O'Brien?

  Baby happy. My ego, the power of 10,000 suns?

• 23:49Conan O'Brien?

  Listen, you are a very talented person. I really love what you're doing. I look forward to, I want to check out, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go online and try and check out, because I want to see the, the sculptures that are on, on the cruise ships. I want to see this stuff.

• 24:05Speaker 01

  Is this in a gallery?

• 24:08Speaker 03

  They're in galleries. Yeah, there's some stuff. Where are you now? Where am I right now? Can we go there? This is, yeah, this is Brooklyn. Next time you're in, uh, in New York.

• 24:18Conan O'Brien?

  I was in Brooklyn a couple of days ago. I could have gone by.

• 24:20Speaker 03

  I don't know. You could have been here. Yeah, you should have. Next time.

• 24:24Conan O'Brien?

  Your loss. I had a gig. I had a gig in Williamsburg. It was really fun. But I missed that. I didn't know. Um, well, uh, my hat's off to you and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. And, uh, I just, very cool to talk to you and to see what you're up to.

• 24:40Speaker 03

  I mean, amazing to talk to you guys. I'm a, honestly, massive, massive fan. This is a true honor.

• 24:46Conan O'Brien?

  Well, the honor, the honor is ours. You're super talented and I hope our paths cross because I want to see what you're up to. I really do.

• 24:53Speaker 03

  So cool. Likewise. I love it.

• 24:55Conan O'Brien?

  Well, this is what we're up to.

• 24:56Speaker 03

  Thanks so much for having me.

• 24:58Conan O'Brien?

  Sorry. There's no more to see of what we're doing. I think you're going places. All right. Take care, man. We'll see you later.

• 25:05Speaker 03

  Thanks so much.

• 25:05Conan O'Brien?

  Bye-bye.

• 25:06Speaker 03

  Take care, everyone.

• 25:07Speaker 02

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan with Conan O'Brien, Sonam Obsidian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

• 25:24Speaker 02

  Supervising producer, Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer, Jennifer Samples. Associate producers, Sean Dougherty and Lisa Berman. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are done.