Pod Insights The Sporkful The Sporkful Dating Game! (Reheat) About this episode Could listening to The Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows? We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hundreds of you responded. This week, we listen in on two blind Zoom dates that resulted from our extremely unscientific matchmaking.
Transcript 6,593 words · 11 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Dan Pashman? I grew up on Lando Lakes cheese. I still remember going to the supermarket deli counter with my mom and her ordering Lando Lakes American cheese. And now Lando Lakes cheese and butter are a huge part of my home. There are so many easy weeknight recipes using Lando Lakes cheese and butter that bring delicious restaurant taste right to your table. From chicken parm to weeknight shrimp pad Thai, Lando Lakes has plenty of quick dishes that'll have the whole dinner table talking. Visit landolakes.com/reцепes/collection for easy weeknight dinners.
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0:55 Dan Pashman? Hey everyone, Dan here. And you know, Valentine's Day is not the only time of year when romance is in the air, right? Late summer on the beach, maybe there's a bonfire, maybe there's a barbecue, maybe there's a glass of wine in the evening. Listen, you can make any time of year romantic. And that's what we're doing here on the Sporkful this week. Because in this week's reheat, we are revisiting the time that hundreds of you got in touch and trusted us to potentially find you a match. That's right, it's the Sporkful Dating Game. We conducted this experiment during peak COVID, I do want to say. So you're going to hear real dates that took place at a safe social distance. There's flirting, awkward moments. And because these are Sporkful listeners, we're talking about there are also
1:37 Dan Pashman? a lot of opinions about food. It's super fun. And remember, if there's an episode of the Sporkful you want to hear, drop me a line at [email protected] . Thanks so much and enjoy.
1:49 Speaker 03 There's a thing you share with my mom. It's like a great pro tip that you should compare your date to your mom on a first date, right?
1:56 Speaker 04 Especially as like a gay man.
1:57 Speaker 03 Right, right. Exactly. Yeah.
2:05 Dan Pashman? This is the Sporkful Dating Game Edition. It's not for foodies, it's for lovers. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to help people find romance. Or at least, this week we do. We'll see how it goes. Yes, it's true, we're sending two couples on blind Zoom dates. Now, a few months ago, we put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and more than 300 of you responded from all over the world. Then we got to matchmaking. Now, the dating apps all brag about their process. They use complex algorithms to match you on dozens of criteria. We basically did the opposite of that. We matched people based on where they live and what genders and ages they're looking to date. Well, that and the fact that we know they're Sporkful fans.
2:49 Dan Pashman? After talking to dozens of potential daters, we narrowed it down to the two dates you'll hear today. We were curious. Could listening to the Sporkful be the spark that ignites a grease fire of passion for two eaters? Could the Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows, like a voluptuous head of cabbage? And, most important, in a year, or two, or three, will I finally be able to officiate my first Sporkful wedding? Before I get too far ahead of myself, let's go over our ground rules. All the dates were on Zoom because of COVID, but we still asked our daters to order from the same restaurant, so they could have that shared food experience. We paired people who live nearby, so that if the dates had success, they could hang out in person if they choose.
3:30 Dan Pashman? Before the dates, we had each person record a voice message for the other person to hear. No photos were exchanged in advance.
3:39 Dan Pashman? Okay, that music means it's time to hear those pre-date messages from our first couple, Sloane and Brian.
3:45 Speaker 05 I'm Sloane. I am 28 years old. I live in Redondo Beach, California. I am a model, an actress, and a personal trainer. So, uh, yeah, my whole life is focused around sports and fitness.
4:02 Speaker 06 Hello, Sporkful. My legal name is Brian, but friends call me Panda, among other expletives, depending on how drunk they happen to be. I'm 28. I live in Buena Park, California, which is smack dab between LA and Orange County. San Diego, I'm sorry you only exist to me during Comic Con. I am a 3D character artist by trade and career.
4:23 Speaker 05 I actually played baseball in college, like on the men's team. I was the first female to play baseball at my high school and my university.
4:31 Speaker 06 A little bit more about myself, I've been playing bagpipes, Scottish Italian bagpipes, communatively for six years, just got my kilt actually in Glasgow from McGregor and Macduff. Been doing standup comedy for roughly two years. For a time, I was performing sets out of my car window at random people on the LA street. I dance a lot, and definitely being a foodie around this whole area in LA and Orange County.
4:55 Speaker 05 I'm looking for a best friend. I'm looking for someone that wants to travel the world with me and eat their way through the world. Someone that is extremely active, I am extremely active. Among my many nicknames, I'm known as the Energizer Bunny.
5:13 Speaker 06 I'm looking for someone who's proactive, independent, acridly witty, or somebody who, you know, doesn't just have a sense of humor, but is actually attempting to make funny, and someone who is intimidating, hopefully.
5:26 Speaker 05 I am excited to get a free dinner date from the Sporkful. I love you guys. So yeah, right on. Cheers, guys.
5:35 Speaker 06 See, I mean, I'm excited to check out what's gonna happen with this Sporkful date, anything could happen, frankly. Thank you so much, and signing off.
5:46 Dan Pashman? So Brian and Sloan are the same age, they're both outgoing, they seem to have big personalities. Will it be a match? Time to find out. You're gonna hear clips from the date, which is just Brian and Sloan without me there. And you'll hear the confessionals, where I recapped with each of them separately. All right, let's start the date.
6:05 Speaker 07 Hi, Brian.
6:06 Speaker 06 Nice to meet you, Sloane.
6:07 Speaker 07 Oh, my gosh, nice to meet you. This is so crazy, but um, did you get Sugarfish, too?
6:15 Speaker 07 The first thought I have when Brian comes on is the sushi smells really good, and I just really want to start eating, if I'm totally honest.
6:23 Speaker 06 She likes wine because there's a display of like wine, which to me reminded me of um, old frat houses I've been to, where you know, they'll both stack beer cans.
6:33 Dan Pashman? Do you find Sloane attractive?
6:35 Speaker 06 Yeah.
6:36 Speaker 07 His personality to me was very attractive. I thought he was really easy to talk to, very open, confident. I like that about him, but not initially, not physically what I would, I wouldn't immediately be like, ooh, I want to sleep with that guy.
6:55 Speaker 06 If I may call them self doubts or insecurities, they don't hit me as hard as it seems for other people. Like, I think I make the assumption that I'm not attractive, but I know I'm so good at these other things that like, I'm good to go.
7:08 Dan Pashman? What you're telling me is anything you may lack in looks, you think you can make up for in charm?
7:12 Speaker 06 Charm, talent, abilities, like, Lord knows. There's there's an unreasonable amount of confidence in knowing who I am already and being able to lean in on those strengths to hold my own in most situations. Like, throw me in the Met Gala and I'll be, I'll have a great time.
7:28 Dan Pashman? This isn't the Met Gala, so we'll only get to see how Brian fares on a Zoom dinner date over takeout sushi. Sloane suggested they both order from Sugarfish. It's a small chain of sushi spots in LA and New York. They do omakase-style sushi, so you can order a box that comes with all different types of raw fish and accompanying sauces.
7:46 Speaker 07 So I had a lot of friends that had posted that like, this is their new like pandemic date night and like, oh, how good it is. So I was like, this could work. And I feel like it's a good conversation starter, like all the different types that we had. It was good. I liked it. Brian had some negative thoughts.
8:05 Speaker 07 Oh, I'm so excited for this. Have you ever had Sugarfish?
8:09 Speaker 06 I've had it once. I have admittedly avoided it for most of my existence.
8:15 Speaker 07 Why? Why? Why? Why? Tell me.
8:18 Speaker 06 I recognize that they were trying to position themselves, and correct me if I'm wrong, to be like a mid-scale but still high-quality sushi place, like a place you can jump in like on a Wednesday night with friends.
8:28 Speaker 07 Right. Okay. Okay. And why is that a bad thing?
8:31 Speaker 06 It's not a bad thing, but after watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi, there was this mental switch that kicked in. I'm like, if I'm gonna eat sushi, I'm gonna wait till I can splurge for it at specific locations instead of this chain sushi restaurant, which I'm assuming is doing a great job, but I have admittedly higher priorities.
8:51 Speaker 07 I've never had it before, but so far the edamame is like pretty good.
8:59 Speaker 07 So when he said that, I was like, oh, like, I thought this was a good choice for like a sushi date, but he warmed up to it, and I think he realized that I thought this was like fun to do, so he, I feel like, was a little bit more forgiving towards me.
9:15 Speaker 06 The Sugarfish caught me off guard because, I mean, in a city with so much diverse food, and not just that, but like individual chefs and artistic chefs who are so hell-bent on their visions, like there are other opportunities to find better sushi, or more like more story-filled sushi than Sugarfish. But at the same time, it's not to say, like, she's not the only one that has stated that she likes Sugarfish, and it probably speaks more to my hoity-toity-ness on that front as a foodie.
9:42 Dan Pashman? Brian and Sloan both grew up in the LA area, and early in the date, they realized that Sloan played baseball near where Brian lived. They bond over the sandwiches from Lee's, which was a local shop when they were growing up, but has now gone nationwide. They continue to chat about food, swapping stories of some of their favorite meals in recent years.
10:00 Speaker 06 My digging into LA, well, there's that one time I accidentally pissed off Roy Choi on New Year's Day, and this long conversation I had with this April Jackson over at Three Little Birds over in London.
10:13 Speaker 07 Oh, wow. I actually lived in London, so...
10:18 Speaker 07 When it comes to name dropping, I could have easily like turned it back on him. It's not... I wasn't impressed.
10:26 Speaker 07 I've worked with Megan Rapinoe and LeBron James. So that's cool, though. Kim Roy Choi come make us dinner, because that'll, that'll really turn me on.
10:42 Speaker 07 So where is your favorite food destination?
10:46 Speaker 06 Apart from LA, just because we're very privileged here.
10:50 Speaker 07 Is it really LA is really your favorite? It's so not my favorite. I'm seventh generation Angelino, interestingly enough.
10:57 Speaker 06 Wow, okay.
10:57 Speaker 07 I know.
10:58 Speaker 06 I'm still married to this idea of tacos sweating gasoline with LA. But I think most of my interests presently are pushing into stuff that are as much, I would think is more obscure. Like, I know there's a big push on the Filipino food.
11:14 Speaker 07 I think that the problem with the LA food scene, there always has to be something amplified, like a gastronomic foam that's been infused with lavender and put on top of this piece of sashimi. And you're just like, okay, so like it's foam on fish.
11:33 Dan Pashman? The thing that turns you off about food in LA essentially is when it feels like it's trying too hard.
11:39 Speaker 07 Exactly.
11:40 Dan Pashman? Which also seems to be the issue you're running into with Brian.
11:45 Speaker 07 Dan, are you my new therapist? Can we do this once a week?
11:51 Dan Pashman? Sure, my rates are very reasonable.
11:54 Speaker 07 Ha, this is an interesting connection you're making. I guess you're right. I think, yeah, the LA food scene tries too hard and maybe in a lot, in some ways, no offense to Brian, again, great guy. But I think you're right. There were a lot of moments where it was just kind of like, I just don't care. You can see behind me, me and my mom backpacked through Italy for a month last October and pretty much ate and drank our way through all of Italy. So I've done a lot of eating. Yeah, I know, it was pretty epic. I've been a lot of eating.
12:27 Speaker 06 She clearly has adventured and eaten her way through the world in a remarkably different way from me. I mean, her conversation about her trips through Italy and other Western European countries, like, those are narratives I've heard before from other friends. And I'm only saying that in context against me, which. Uh, like my immediate travel plan or relatively immediate travel plans before quarantine hit was to go to Kenya or Nigeria to get a handle on Afrobeat dance there and also eat my way through, you know, whatever Jollof rice happens to mean back in that country, among other things. But that's from what I would assume is a fundamentally different perception of what uh, people my age would prioritize as travel.
13:08 Dan Pashman? You felt like the, the choice of sugar fish was a little bit like kind of middle of the road, not that interesting to you compared to other types of sushi. And then also kind of similar thing with the travel and places she's gone versus where you would be interested in going is that it felt a little bit kind of um, middle of the road.
13:25 Speaker 06 Right. As a first instinct, but I would want to still qualify by saying that I am probably underserving and underestimating the possibilities and adventures that those locations provide.
13:37 Dan Pashman? Sloan talks about her trip to Italy with her mom for several more minutes until.
13:41 Speaker 07 Okay, I'll keep the story short because I feel like it's going on and on.
13:44 Speaker 06 It has been, but I, I like listening.
13:47 Speaker 07 Oh, thank you. And then finish in Rome. In that statement, I didn't see it as flirty. I just thought of it as like really thoughtful.
13:55 Dan Pashman? Brian, when you said, yeah, the story has been going on for a while, but I like listening. Was that flirting? Is that what you were going for?
14:02 Speaker 06 Deliberately, yes. I have yet to admit that most of the time I'm going out of my way to make sure the other person's um, being listened like by me. In my limited emotional intelligence, I know that I'm like a selfish person. I'm very good about uh, pontificating myself and having a large ego. I need to make the effort on my end to make sure the other person's heard that they get the space because I know I can steamroll very quickly and I can be verbose as you've seen throughout this conversation. Mexican spicy, I would describe it as it like just hurts you like, and then Korean spicy tends to be like a BDSM like they'll slap you, but there's like a little sugar at the end. It's a little aftercare at least.
14:39 Speaker 07 Okay.
14:40 Speaker 06 So then getting to Spanish food. So um, I'm Korean American, uh, but at least for Korean food, like it feels like a genuine, to me, a description of what Korean culture is to some degree, where there is this intensity of emotion and anger. And I would hope that met framing it in like as BDSM, but there is a sweetness at the end. It's indicative, not just Korean food, but how the people I ethnically identify with are coming from.
15:09 Dan Pashman? Sloan, what did you think of Brian's BDSM joke comparing Korean food to BDSM?
15:14 Speaker 07 I did not hear that. He said that?
15:16 Dan Pashman? Yeah, yeah.
15:16 Speaker 07 Oh, I missed that completely. I'm glad I did. That's a pretty big statement for a first date. Yeah, that's a big step for a first time meeting someone.
15:35 Dan Pashman? So, are Sloan and Brian a match? Will they choose to see each other again? Later in the show, we hear the final moments of their date and get answers to those questions. But before that, we'll go on a date with couple number two. Stick around.
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19:14 Dan Pashman? Welcome back to The Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman, and I have some major pasta-related news for everybody. The folks at Spolini and I are teaming up with Cravings by Chrissy Teigen for the launch of her four new pasta sauces, which include spicy Thai basil marinara, corn and truffle, creamy tomato, and spicy miso alfredo. Oh, man, I want to try that one. And get this, there's a special limited edition pack of sauces that comes with one of my Spolini pasta shapes, quattrini. That's the shape that Chrissy picked. No big deal. Get the set at cravings.com, or check out the link in the show description. Make sure you get one before they're gone.
19:52 Dan Pashman? Now back to the sporkful dating game. Let's meet our second couple.
19:56 Speaker 04 My name is Mickey. I use he/him pronouns. I am a 28-year-old program data manager for a housing nonprofit in Seattle.
20:04 Speaker 03 Hi, my name is Will. I am 24. I work full-time as a software engineer at Google.
20:12 Speaker 04 Existing on the larger side and being gay, I've always felt undateable. The gay world centers around body image, and that's very apparent by the labels that we give each other. So in 2020, I decided to lose weight, and I've lost about 120 pounds through dieting and working out.
20:29 Speaker 03 One of my big quarantine projects has been building this big hydroponic farm in my really small apartment. I am what you might call a plant gay. I do like the idea that, like, in the apocalypse, I would be able to grow food.
20:49 Speaker 04 I think humor and an inquisitive mind are my top two characteristics in a date.
20:53 Speaker 03 Whenever I'm on a first date, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of something ASAP. Like, are we living in a simulation?
21:02 Speaker 04 Controversial food opinions. I do not understand the appeal to mochi donuts. And I will not entertain a debate about this, but Filipino brunch is the best brunch ever.
21:13 Speaker 03 I think that mashed potatoes are an abomination. I think they are baby food, and I think that anybody who has adult teeth has no business eating them.
21:26 Speaker 04 I haven't been on a date since 2018, so thanks to the sporkful for setting me up.
21:31 Speaker 03 I am excited to make Dan officiate my wedding.
21:37 Dan Pashman? Will and Mickey both live in Seattle. They met for a Zoom date the week before Thanksgiving. Mickey was actually quarantining in a hotel room so he could see his family for the holiday. Okay, let's start the date.
21:49 Speaker 03 Hey Mickey.
21:50 Speaker 04 Nice to meet you.
21:52 Speaker 03 It's nice to meet you too. How's it going?
21:54 Speaker 04 It's going well. How are you?
21:55 Speaker 03 Um, I'm doing, I'm doing well. I am, I don't really.
22:00 Dan Pashman? So Will, what did you do to prepare for this date?
22:03 Speaker 03 Yeah, okay, so there were two things. One was, this is kind of silly, but I have a, like a towel hanging from my, um, my oven handle.
22:12 Dan Pashman? Right.
22:12 Speaker 03 And it's like always just kind of bunched up and thrown on there. And I very specifically went and like folded it and had it hanging directly kind of up and down, uh, so that it looked like my life was together. This towel was like folded on my oven handle correctly.
22:28 Dan Pashman? Right.
22:28 Speaker 03 Then the other thing was I tilted the camera specifically so that I have this ukulele hanging on the wall next to my desk. And I wanted that in frame, uh, because I was prepared to pull it down and serenade him.
22:42 Dan Pashman? Mickey, did you by any chance notice the ukulele?
22:45 Speaker 04 I did. I wanted to ask about the ukulele, but it seemed like we had bigger topics to speak about.
22:53 Dan Pashman? And did you notice the towel that was hanging on the oven handle?
22:58 Speaker 04 I didn't.
23:00 Dan Pashman? And how much thought are you putting into what's in your camera shot?
23:04 Speaker 04 I actually did not think about this at all. I'm at a hotel and I did not pack anything. My comfort, um, outfit is a tank and shorts. And so all I have is a jacket. And I didn't think about it. I forgot that this is a actual date and Zoom is, you know, when I have meetings, I usually turn my camera off and I forgot that you can't do that on a date. So.
23:33 Dan Pashman? So Will is a planner. Mickey, not so much. Also, Will's 24. He's more in a post-college phase, just starting his career. Mickey's in his late twenties, so he's been working for longer now. But as the date gets going, they seem to be hitting it off.
23:48 Speaker 03 I've never, I've never been like super into makeup, but one of the things that has been, especially on Zoom, I feel like my brows show up. And so I have like a copious amount of like, I've given myself a very strong brow, if you can, yeah.
23:59 Speaker 04 They look really good. And actually, um, one of the first things I noticed is the brow.
24:06 Speaker 03 Oh my God. Okay. So I'm gonna show up for this first day and I'm just gonna fish for compliments the entire time.
24:13 Speaker 04 Yeah, I do. I do like your brows.
24:15 Dan Pashman? Mickey and Will ordered from Din Tai Fung. It's an international chain known for a type of xiaolongbao from a region of eastern China.
24:22 Speaker 04 What did you order?
24:23 Speaker 03 I got some veggie noodles. And also, I was like, I don't know what Sporkful's budget is, but I'd love some boba tea.
24:32 Speaker 04 Nice.
24:33 Speaker 03 What about you?
24:34 Speaker 04 Um, I got the over the moon bundle, the savory like four pack. But I mostly was interested in the crafting kit. Cause I'm like, what is this crafting kit?
24:44 Speaker 03 That's dope. Wait, so what, what is it? What do you craft?
24:47 Speaker 04 I don't know.
24:47 Speaker 03 Okay, you got, you got an activity I need to do. That's new.
24:50 Speaker 04 Yes. I'm definitely a big kid where it's like, if there is an activity with a meal, I love that.
24:59 Speaker 03 What is like a, like a food, like compatibility deal breaker?
25:02 Speaker 04 Smacking, like when people smack, you know, like, like that. And that's why I'm like, paranoid to eat right now. Cause I'm like, I don't want you hearing this noise.
25:12 Speaker 03 That is a thing you share with my mom. Um, it's like a great pro tip that you should compare your date to your mom on a first date, right?
25:19 Speaker 04 Especially as like a gay man.
25:21 Speaker 03 Right, right. Exactly. Yeah. I, um, I say it only because I feel like.
25:26 Dan Pashman? Are you intentionally comparing Mickey to your mom there? Was there sort of forethought in that?
25:31 Speaker 03 I think it really was just such a, I'm not strategizing with this. It's like, this is literally my mom. And so I have to tell you this. I, I think after I say it, I'm like, oh yeah, it's, it's a little bit strange to compare your date to your mom. But I have a great relationship with my mom. So nothing but a compliment.
25:50 Speaker 04 Funny. Okay. I, I do have a prepared question for you.
25:54 Speaker 03 Yes.
25:54 Speaker 04 What do you do? Since you don't like mashed potatoes, what do you do for Thanksgiving?
25:59 Speaker 03 Oh, so I mean, before I answer, I just feel like I have to like get a read. Like, how do you feel about mashed potatoes?
26:05 Speaker 04 I feel like your answer should come first.
26:09 Speaker 03 Okay, well, this feels like a trap, first of all.
26:13 Speaker 03 Yeah, I mean, I would say it's very simple. The plan that I have, and I've gotten my family on board. There might still be a small thing of mashed potatoes there. But the thing I'm gonna make is crispy smashed potatoes where you like boil them a little bit, and then you smash them, and then you kind of like bake them a little bit more. And they get like really crispy and yet they're still like pretty fluffy on the inside.
26:35 Speaker 04 That's amazing. That's amazing.
26:37 Speaker 03 You have to tell me how you feel about mashed potatoes now.
26:39 Speaker 04 I love mashed potatoes. I love the texture.
26:44 Speaker 04 I'm kind of insulted you called it baby food.
26:48 Speaker 03 This is, now I need to make it clear, Mickey, this is not a normative statement.
26:51 Dan Pashman? So like, let's say hypothetically, the two of you ended up together for an extended period. You had to do like holidays together, Thanksgiving together. Would you give up mashed potatoes for love, Mickey?
27:03 Speaker 04 I feel like mashed potatoes has its place. And I feel like love is about compromises. So if that means not having it for Thanksgiving, I would advocate for that to be part of Christmas or some other holiday.
27:20 Dan Pashman? Well, it seems like the two of you have very different perspectives on potatoes. Is this an issue?
27:29 Speaker 03 Maybe. It might be. Differences on opinion on potato texture is probably a bigger, more likely to be a deal breaker than than a lot of other foodstuffs.
27:40 Dan Pashman? And let's say the two of you were together for the long haul and you started celebrating like Thanksgiving together. How would you handle this potato situation?
27:49 Speaker 03 So I would always hope that whoever I'm close with sees the light, so to speak. That's always gonna be, you know, the the hope deep down. I think probably you do end up having a mashed potato dish and having some kind of crispier potato dish.
28:06 Dan Pashman? As you heard, Mickey hasn't been on a date in two years, since before he lost all that weight. He told us he has trouble meeting guys in Seattle. He says people there are very body conscious, and with the pandemic, it's become nearly impossible. And, as he tells Will,
28:20 Speaker 04 I don't do small talk well, so that's probably why I haven't been on a date forever.
28:25 Speaker 03 I'm very much in the same camp. I'm gonna try to get us debating something, or try to get us hashing something out.
28:31 Speaker 06 Are you familiar with the whole, are we living in a simulation kind of theory?
28:35 Speaker 04 Is that kind of like the Truman Show kind of concept thing?
28:41 Dan Pashman? Mickey and Will spend a lot of the date debating philosophical questions.
28:45 Speaker 03 Given that we're experiencing something that looks like reality, it is more likely that we are in one of those things that has already been simulated than us being in like-
28:54 Dan Pashman? They go back and forth until-
28:56 Speaker 04 So you said, I think you called it a plant game?
29:00 Speaker 03 Yeah.
29:01 Speaker 04 And I'm sad that you didn't say plant daddy, because I wanted plant daddy to be on this podcast.
29:08 Speaker 03 Plant daddy. Okay, for the next several minutes, I'm just gonna say plant daddy on repeat, so I'll have to grab some of that out of you, right? Plant daddy, plant daddy.
29:20 Speaker 04 You grow cabbage. Is that what you said, cabbage?
29:22 Speaker 03 I grew a lot of lettuce, some arugula, a lot of cilantro, some mushrooms, actually.
29:30 Speaker 04 Wow, that's like next level, though, because people, when they say plant daddy, it's like plants, not agriculture.
29:37 Speaker 03 The plants down below, they have this automated pump that comes on and sprays water over the roots that are kept in this separate chamber. So that's like, I'm good at taking care of those, but then the mushrooms are literally-
29:49 Speaker 04 It's very attractive that he can grow. I can't grow anything. I kill succulents. The fact that he can take care of so many things is very attractive, and that he can grow his own food is attractive, too.
30:08 Dan Pashman? So can Will's strong brows and impressive plants win Mickey over? Or is the mashed potato divide more than they can bridge? Before we find out, let's return to our first couple. Brian and Sloan spent about an hour talking. Let's see how their date ended.
30:22 Speaker 07 Brian, this has been really fun. No matter what happens, like we may like never meet again. It's just fun to talk to someone new, you know?
30:35 Speaker 06 Yeah, you're making it sound like there's a timestamp on this.
30:38 Speaker 07 I feel like eventually I'm gonna need to hang up because my computer's gonna die.
30:42 Speaker 06 Because you can't plug it in.
30:44 Speaker 07 Oh, I need to go get the charger and stuff.
30:46 Speaker 06 I can wait, but no, get your charger if you need to. I can wait. No, let me finish my. I think at that moment, I started to realize that that was the soft exit. But it would take, as the date went on, several more times for me to get the message.
31:01 Dan Pashman? It seems like you're sending some pretty clear signals that that you're ready to wrap things up. And I'm not sure that he's hearing them.
31:08 Speaker 07 Uh, yes, I was, I was ready to wrap it up. I had finished my sushi and um.
31:16 Dan Pashman? He tried to ask for your number, but then you were hesitant to give it?
31:20 Speaker 07 Yeah, I gave it to him. I'm not good at saying no, Dan. I'm just not.
31:25 Dan Pashman? Would you want to see him again for a date?
31:30 Speaker 07 No, I'm gonna be totally upfront. I fairly recently got out of a relationship and I thought that I was ready to get back into the dating scene. I had a lot of fun. By the end of it, I kind of just recognized that like we weren't really vibing as like romantically.
31:50 Dan Pashman? Brian, has there been any communication between you and Sloan since the date?
31:54 Speaker 06 Yeah, I texted her two days after formally asking really, I'd love to take you out. Um, if you're down for it. She said no on account of her having just left a relationship recently and then reiterated again, I'm a very cool guy.
32:09 Dan Pashman? How did that feel?
32:11 Speaker 06 Uh, the cool guy's expected. She's not the only one that have said that. And I already believe that since 1992. The just out of relationship thing is understandable. I mean, I've had that issue in the past before. Yeah.
32:25 Dan Pashman? Well, I guess we're 0 for 1, but I'm holding out some hope for Will and Mickey. Their date went for two hours. Let's join back up with them as they say their goodbyes.
32:34 Speaker 03 Well, hey, I kind of have to go to the bathroom and it has been a hot minute, but this has been really fun. Are you in Insta?
32:39 Speaker 04 I am.
32:41 Speaker 03 Sweet, you want to drop your handle?
32:43 Speaker 04 I will. Can I preface that?
32:48 Speaker 04 It's even my tagline, it's like 10% thirst pose, 20% comedy and like 70% sad poetry.
32:58 Speaker 03 Okay.
33:00 Speaker 04 So giving you that.
33:02 Speaker 03 I will certainly not hold it against you. But yeah, this was, uh, this was super weird, but also it's super fun.
33:10 Speaker 04 It was nice meeting you.
33:12 Speaker 03 It was nice to meet you as well, yeah.
33:13 Speaker 04 This is fun.
33:14 Speaker 03 Thanks for, thanks for being my date. Peace out, friend.
33:17 Speaker 04 See ya. Bye.
33:21 Dan Pashman? So at the end of the date, Will signs off by saying, peace out, friend. Did you hear that? What, what do you make of that?
33:28 Speaker 04 It kind of affirms what I was, I was feeling as well. I think we can have great conversations. I don't know. I don't know where we would be as romantic partners. Also, I think just the fact that he asked for my Instagram handle just shows that there is a clear distinction between how old we are. Maybe if the zombie apocalypse happens and I need someone to grow food, it's another conversation.
33:57 Dan Pashman? Oh, man, I really thought this date was going well. But Mickey tells me it was missing that spark.
34:03 Speaker 04 I think Will is very charming. He's very intellectual. I'm not sure if the chemistry to be a romantic partner is there.
34:13 Speaker 03 It did feel, after the experience, fairly deeply connected and it felt like, I don't know, like it felt like we had become friends. It was really fun to meet a new person. He's super pleasant. Nothing was super awkward.
34:28 Dan Pashman? I know you said that the two of you started following each other on Instagram. Have you messaged each other? Has there been any communication?
34:34 Speaker 03 Yeah, we've, uh, shared a couple of like responses to one another's stories. I, I think like an emoji here or there.
34:43 Dan Pashman? Do you want to see him again?
34:45 Speaker 03 Um, that's a good question. I think, I think probably not. It does just feel like we're in somewhat different parts of life.
35:05 Dan Pashman? Oh, well, 0 for 2. I blame Zoom, at least partly. I mean, I haven't been on a Zoom date, but I just have to imagine the whole thing feels weird. It's harder to make a connection. Maybe we'll do this again after the pandemic, when we can pair people up to date in person. I'm gonna officiate a wedding, come hell or high water. Also, I want you to find love. It's both, really. This show is produced by me, along with senior producer-
35:27 Speaker 05 Emma Morgenstern-
35:28 Dan Pashman? and producer- Andres O'Hara. Our editor is-
35:31 Speaker 05 Tracy Samuelson.
35:32 Dan Pashman? The show is mixed by- Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of Stitcher. Our executive producers are Peter Clowney and Daisy Rosario. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
35:44 Speaker 08 And I'm Stephanie in Cincinnati, Ohio, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.
36:01 Dan Pashman? This reheat was produced by-
36:02 Speaker 05 Gianna Palmer.
36:03 Dan Pashman? The team that produces The Sporkful today includes me, along with managing producer-
36:07 Speaker 05 Emma Morgenstern-
36:08 Dan Pashman? and senior producer- Andres O'Hara. Our engineer is- Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful is a production of Stitcher Studios. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes, the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app, all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
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