Leanne Morgan

Comedian and actress Leanne Morgan feels tickled about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Leanne sits down with Conan to discuss her new special Unspeakable Things, objections from the Christian comedy circuit, and her non-traditional path from Chamber of Commerce luncheons to working with Chuck Lorre on her sitcom Leanne. Later, Adam Sachs drops by to share some of the accolades the podcast has picked up over the years. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847.

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

• 0:03Conan O'Brien?

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• 0:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, okay, what is that?

• 0:14Conan O'Brien?

  It's your coverage on a page, pretty straightforward.

• 0:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:18Conan O'Brien?

  That's good, because sometimes it gets confusing, you know? What am I covered for, what am I not? Here, it's all on a page. Does your insurance do that? Get a quote to get started at Farmers.com. Don't be confused, don't wonder. Farmers makes it pretty clear. Underwritten by Farmers Truck or Fire Insurance Exchanges or affiliate. Products not available in every state.

• 0:39Conan 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?

• 0:43Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 0:44Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, you gotta get them their stuff.

• 0:45Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 0:46Conan O'Brien?

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

• 0:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:56Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. Little early to buy a turkey. Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's 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 a head start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at Amazon.com/holiday.

• 1:33Speaker 02

  Hi, my name is Leanne Morgan, and I'm tickled about being Conan.

• 1:39Speaker 02

  Can you tell I'm tickled?

• 1:45Speaker 02

  Hi, my name is Leanne Morgan, and I'm tickled about being Conan O'Brien's friend.

• 1:49Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, that's so nice of you.

• 2:12Conan O'Brien?

  Hey there. Welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Here with Sona Obsession, Matt Gourley. How are you, gang?

• 2:18Speaker 01

  You're good.

• 2:19Conan O'Brien?

  We talked about this earlier. David Hopping, who really took over as my assistant when Sona became a superstar. David Hopping had to go back home to the Midwest, to corn country, as he calls it. So Sona stepped in to take over for him. So Sona's been my assistant for like two days.

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:39Conan O'Brien?

  And it is, we didn't miss a beat.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  Nope.

• 2:41Conan O'Brien?

  It is hilarious. We went right back to complete idiocy immediately. Yesterday, we did some recordings and then I had a doctor's appointment. So Sona really had to be my assistant because they told me, "You can't drive there in case we need to dilate your eyes." It was for my eyes. And, which are fine, but they said, "Oh, we're just gonna do a checkup." And so I went to this eye doctor and Sona had to drive me. And because, I swear to God, I behave badly when you're around because I want to make you laugh. And when I'm outrageous, you laugh and then I go further than I normally would. So I was out of control yesterday.

• 3:22Speaker 01

  Out of control. I mean, we can talk about this. We get to the building where the eye doctor is.

• 3:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  And an elderly woman.

• 3:32Conan O'Brien?

  She's coming out of this eye doctor.

• 3:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:35Conan O'Brien?

  Maybe the oldest woman I've ever seen.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  She's very, very old.

• 3:38Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 3:38Speaker 01

  And then she's also got kind of like, you know, the hunch like back that the old people do?

• 3:43Conan O'Brien?

  She comes out and she's wearing the giant glasses.

• 3:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:47Conan O'Brien?

  And...

• 3:48Speaker 01

  And she's just kind of shuffling by.

• 3:50Conan O'Brien?

  And I was fascinated by her.

• 3:52Speaker 03

  Like a comic tragedy waiting to happen, basically?

• 3:54Conan O'Brien?

  And so she walks by and I'm just doing all this comic reaction to her. She doesn't, she's moving on. She's, I swear to God, she doesn't know what's happening.

• 4:04Speaker 01

  Do you remember what you said, though, when she walked by?

• 4:06Conan O'Brien?

  What?

• 4:06Speaker 01

  You said, "Oh, God, look what they did to her."

• 4:09Conan O'Brien?

  Well, she couldn't hear me. Could she hear me, Sona?

• 4:12Speaker 01

  No, of course not.

• 4:13Conan O'Brien?

  But then I said, oh my god, if that's her after the appointment. And then I walk in and there's a whole room full of people in the office. And I went, did you see that lady? What did they do to her?

• 4:24Speaker 04

  Did you really?

• 4:24Conan O'Brien?

  I've never been to this doctor before. I don't know these people.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Nope.

• 4:29Conan O'Brien?

  The people in the waiting room are like, what did they do to her? And, and then I was like, her, her, you're not gonna do that to me, are you? And everyone in the room, I have to say, some of them were, were enjoying it.

• 4:40Speaker 01

  Some of them weren't, others were like, who is this person?

• 4:43Conan O'Brien?

  Who is this madman? But you're, you are, she starts laughing and going, and when she starts really laughing, and I'm sure she's done it here on the podcast a lot of times, she goes, I can't. I just can't.

• 4:53Speaker 04

  I know that.

• 4:54Conan O'Brien?

  She is laughing really hard, going, I can't, I can't. And I'm saying, what? You monsters. And it's a doctor's office, it's a legitimate doctor's office. I don't know anybody there. Anyone who knows who I am is thinking, it's so sad that he needs this attention. But I can't help myself, and I wouldn't be doing it if you weren't there.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, and then the, the appointment, cause you hadn't gone to the eye doctor in a really long time.

• 5:19Conan O'Brien?

  And they wanted to do a bunch of tests.

• 5:20Speaker 01

  A lot of tests, so it ended up being like over two hours. It was a really long appointment.

• 5:24Conan O'Brien?

  And I did have a legitimate complaint, which is because my eyes are dry, they're watering all the time. And I think I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but there are times where I will be walking down the street and suddenly there just tears are rolling down. And it's, it's the eye trying to keep itself from being too dry.

• 5:43Speaker 04

  And this is unrelated to the eye postul thing we talked about recently as well?

• 5:46Conan O'Brien?

  Maybe, maybe not.

• 5:48Speaker 04

  All right.

• 5:48Conan O'Brien?

  Listen, my-

• 5:49Speaker 01

  He's so much shit with his eye.

• 5:50Conan O'Brien?

  I know.

• 5:50Speaker 04

  Maybe it's just time to go blind.

• 5:52Conan O'Brien?

  I know. Maybe going blind would be the preferred way to go at this point. Cause there's no maintenance then. But they were doing these tests.

• 5:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:00Conan O'Brien?

  And then I had to keep walking by you, right?

• 6:01Speaker 01

  You had to keep walking by, but also at one point, cause I, I wanted to wait for you, obviously, till you're done. And you felt bad, cause you thought it was taking too long. And I was like, I don't think you understand, I have just two four-year-old boys waiting for me. So you could take as long as you want.

• 6:14Conan O'Brien?

  You were quite happy to hang out.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I'm just on my phone.

• 6:16Conan O'Brien?

  But I kept saying, Sona, if you need to go, I'll get an Uber, just go.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but I was like, I'll stay. And then he would, he would keep walking by and then he did bits. Every single time he walked by, every time he walked by.

• 6:26Conan O'Brien?

  Because she's there. My favorite audience is there. People think, oh, do you, is the podcast, how do you know your roles? It's like, no, no, there's no. This is what it is.

• 6:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:36Conan O'Brien?

  This is if the mics went down and never came back, we would just be doing this in this room.

• 6:40Speaker 04

  It's accelerated when the mics are off.

• 6:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 6:43Speaker 04

  People may think like it's, you're on for the mics. I would say it's more the opposite.

• 6:47Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, no. I mean, if we had had microphones yesterday.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:51Conan O'Brien?

  We were doing, I was doing so many bits and there'd be times where they would say, okay, we're gonna do one other thing. And I'd know, I'd know I have to pass you again. I'm like, what do I got this time?

• 6:59Speaker 04

  So what did you do when you walked by? Are you doing like physical?

• 7:02Conan O'Brien?

  I can't even remember.

• 7:03Speaker 01

  A lot of physical stuff, like, you know.

• 7:05Conan O'Brien?

  I don't even remember. I was, I was.

• 7:07Speaker 04

  Like rowing a canoe?

• 7:08Conan O'Brien?

  And then there was a, there was a kid there who wanted a.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:12Conan O'Brien?

  Picture who had glasses and I was having a whole shtick with him.

• 7:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:16Conan O'Brien?

  It was fun.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You, you really work it.

• 7:19Conan O'Brien?

  It's terrible.

• 7:20Speaker 01

  It's the first time he was at this doctor's office too. It's not like he knew this doctor and knew the staff. It's the first time he was there.

• 7:26Conan O'Brien?

  I'd walk in going, what did you do to her?

• 7:30Speaker 01

  Well, and then also because the.

• 7:32Conan O'Brien?

  You're monsters.

• 7:33Speaker 01

  Because it ran long. We went back to get our car and the parking lot closed.

• 7:38Conan O'Brien?

  Closed. We were there so long and I think half the time was, was bits.

• 7:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 7:43Conan O'Brien?

  I think that one of the reasons we ran so late is because I was like, well, allowing for bits. The doctor said, this will take about an hour. And I'm like, well, it's gonna be three.

• 7:50Speaker 04

  Think about how much your bits have altered like the butterfly effect of the world. The, the world would be different if it weren't for your bits, just by minor things that you've delayed.

• 8:00Conan O'Brien?

  Well, people's lives have been saved because to stop to watch me do a bit on the street, save them from stepping out in front of the bus, but also people have been killed because I delayed them long enough to be hit by a bus.

• 8:12Speaker 04

  You have blood on your bits.

• 8:14Conan O'Brien?

  I have blood on my bits.

• 8:18Conan O'Brien?

  And no pun intended, I'm probably in the red. I've probably, my bits have killed more people than they've saved them.

• 8:24Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:24Conan O'Brien?

  It's like 70 30.

• 8:26Speaker 01

  That old lady, she's probably gone.

• 8:28Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, yeah.

• 8:28Speaker 01

  She's left us.

• 8:29Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I don't think, I mean, my god. I mean, this woman.

• 8:31Speaker 01

  She's like 110 years old.

• 8:34Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. This woman cast a vote for Taft. She pulled the lever for Taft.

• 8:39Speaker 04

  As a middle aged woman.

• 8:41Conan O'Brien?

  As a middle aged woman. She got in under the wire. I can still vote. I like Taft. She was very old.

• 8:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:49Conan O'Brien?

  And I wish her well. But, my god, yeah, it was just, it was, it was a lot of fun. And Sona.

• 8:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:56Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, it's been really fun having you back in the mix.

• 8:59Speaker 01

  I, I.

• 8:59Conan O'Brien?

  What are we doing today?

• 9:00Speaker 01

  I don't know, you have the, you have an appointment after this.

• 9:04Conan O'Brien?

  That's right, my new butt plug.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Oh, boy.

• 9:07Conan O'Brien?

  Let's just move to the interview.

• 9:09Speaker 01

  I just realized I have to leave town too. I can't be here for that.

• 9:12Conan O'Brien?

  They're taking a cast.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, Eduardo's gonna fill in for me, thank you.

• 9:16Conan O'Brien?

  It's a bespoke model.

• 9:18Speaker 04

  Oh, god.

• 9:20Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I don't just buy them off the shelf. I get the bespoke butt plug. And Sona, you have to be there for the casting.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  Oh, I have to hold the cheeks apart.

• 9:32Speaker 01

  Why did I join in?

• 9:34Conan O'Brien?

  Why, why, why?

• 9:35Speaker 01

  That is the worst thing I've ever said.

• 9:37Conan O'Brien?

  And we're gonna go to that office and the door's gonna open and that same old lady's gonna come out. She's just had hers done.

• 9:41Speaker 04

  You're killing people with this bit. People are going to die because of this bit.

• 9:45Conan O'Brien?

  And now I'm done, you can cross the street. Look out!

• 9:49Speaker 04

  Shut up and save a life.

• 9:51Conan O'Brien?

  All right.

• 9:51Speaker 01

  That lady got a butt plug.

• 9:53Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, come on.

• 9:54Speaker 01

  I can't.

• 9:54Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, oh, older people don't have an erogenous, uh, zone? I think they do. Yeah, she writes fanfiction about Taft. It's all pretty sexy. Here we go. Okay, my guest today is a comedian and actress who co-created and stars in the Netflix series, Leann. She now has a new Netflix comedy special titled, Leann Morgan: Unspeakable Things. Very excited she's here today.

• 10:23Conan O'Brien?

  LeAnn Morgan, welcome.

• 10:28Conan O'Brien?

  I'm overjoyed that you're here. I will say that right up front. You are hilariously funny, and you're one of those stories that just seems to make everybody happy, which is someone who deserves to be on TV and selling out concerts and bringing joy to people is doing it. It took you a while to get to this point, but it was inevitable you were going to. And in some ways, you have a bigger impact when you show up at this point. Does that feel right to you at all?

• 10:57Speaker 02

  It does, my darling. It does. I'm 60 years old. I'm a grandmother. I've been doing this 25 years.

• 11:04Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 11:05Speaker 02

  I always tell people, I thought I was gonna be younger and thinner when this happened.

• 11:12Speaker 02

  I didn't know my butt was gonna look so big on TV. And then I didn't have a chin. I don't know what happened to my chin.

• 11:21Speaker 02

  But I do look back without being sappy, and I think, you know what? I got to raise my own children. I have these stories, what my act is about, and all my comedy and my stand-up is about all these children and their daddy and the life I've led, and I led it out in the middle of the United States. A pretty normal life that now people relate to when they hear me.

• 11:41Conan O'Brien?

  All my favorite comedians have really lived a life, you know? And I believe that is essential. Like, when I look at your stand-up and the way you talk to people, the word that just keeps coming through is "authentic." It's really lovely to see. I'll say that.

• 11:55Speaker 02

  Oh, thank you, my darling. I've had people say that to me before, but, um, yeah, I don't-

• 12:00Conan O'Brien?

  But it means more when I say it.

• 12:01Speaker 02

  It means a lot more than Jerry Seinfeld saying it.

• 12:04Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. I mean, "Who are these people?" You know? "Hi, LeAnn!" You know what I mean? I mean, that's a, pretty much a dead-on impression. That really is. I mean, close your eyes and you tell, "Who do you think I'm, who do you, don't you think Jerry's in the room?" "Hi, LeAnn!" "You're all psychic!" You know?

• 12:26Conan O'Brien?

  I'm sorry, Jerry. First of all, there's so much to talk about. First of all, you come from this very small town. And I am always doing jokes with David about the small town. He comes from Carlinville. And I ask him a lot about growing up there. And your town was 5,000.

• 12:42Speaker 04

  Mine's like 5,000, which I thought was tiny. And then I heard about yours.

• 12:45Conan O'Brien?

  Yours is how many people?

• 12:47Speaker 02

  Well, I think today it's 624.

• 12:50Conan O'Brien?

  So they changed the sign every day? Like, oh, someone left. Someone went to the motel across the border. And so they they take it down one. It's an odometer.

• 12:58Speaker 02

  Well, I grew up saying 500 people. And we'd say a town of 500 people. But then somebody told me the other day, it's 624.

• 13:07Conan O'Brien?

  Because a bus passed through. Just for the day. Just for the day.

• 13:12Speaker 02

  But I graduated with 42 people in a little school, country school. And I went from kindergarten through 12, like 650 students. And I ate lunch with the kindergarteners every day as a senior. So very rural farming community. Big Future Farmers of America.

• 13:28Conan O'Brien?

  Yep, yep.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  I took home ec.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  I know you went to Harvard. Didn't you go to Harvard?

• 13:35Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, but I also I majored in home ec as well. And I nailed it. I made a bundt cake my senior year. And they carried me off the football field on their shoulders.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  That's basically, that's basically what happened to me. I made an omelet and graduated.

• 13:53Speaker 02

  I'm not kidding. And a baked Alaska. I can't remember. I wish I could remember that because that was pretty nifty. But, yeah, and sold a pair of John first. I mean, or sewed a pair of sewed. They fell apart. But, yeah, it was a very, this is how rural and country. The boys in my class would get out at 1:30 in the afternoon to work in the fields. That's how old timey. Doesn't that sound old timey to y'all? Yeah, it does. But and but I had really smart people in my class that went on. A lot of people went to college and all that. But but very rural, outside of Nashville, Tennessee, so 35 minutes from Nashville. So we went into town to the doctor.

• 14:28Conan O'Brien?

  Which was a big deal.

• 14:31Speaker 02

  That was a big deal.

• 14:32Conan O'Brien?

  But he was also a doctor, but he was also something else, right? It was probably one of those things where, well, he's a doctor, but he's also the judge, but he's also, you know.

• 14:39Speaker 02

  And works and volunteers at the fire department.

• 14:42Conan O'Brien?

  Right, right. And he's a boxer. You just go on and on and on. I don't know. I think, first of all, I love that there's this, I remember John Mellencamp had this song about small town, you know, I come from a small town. And the gist of it was, you know, there's no, we're not like you, city folk. There's no gossiping. There's no, and I remember my friend, Andy Richter, who was my sidekick for years, was like, heck, no. What are you talking about? No, there's, there's everything in a small town that there would be in a big city in just a slightly different way.

• 15:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:12Conan O'Brien?

  It's the, it's the essence of it.

• 15:14Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 15:14Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you can see all of humanity in a town of 15 people, probably.

• 15:18Speaker 02

  Yes. And we gossip. Well, probably more.

• 15:22Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Well, because, how can anything hap- that, that's the thing that would hurt me in a really small town is the word would get out so fast that I was a freak, you know? And there'd be no hiding from that.

• 15:34Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah. Everybody knows everybody, what everybody's doing.

• 15:38Conan O'Brien?

  No, I would assume, and I'm not saying this because I've read anything or seen anything, you were always funny.

• 15:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean,

• 15:45Conan O'Brien?

  You can whisper, but that mic is good.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  I feel like, yeah, I mean, everybody always told me I was, and I felt like I could tell a story and I could get, I don't know, that I could get a laugh. I did, I always felt that. But I grew up watching television, like Match Game. My little mama sent me to kindergarten at four, before the law changed in Tennessee, because she said, you're so much smarter than everybody. She always blew smoke up my butt. But, um, and then I needed a nap real bad at kindergarten at four, so then she let me stay home. She go, does your tummy hurt? And I go, yeah. She goes, let's stay home and watch Hollywood Squares.

• 16:22Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 16:22Speaker 02

  So I grew up watching TV and thinking, as a little bitty child, I want to do that. I want to do something. I want to be an actor or a comedic actor or something. And I would love stand up and all that. But you're right, at 18, it never dawned on me to get in a car and take $60, like you hear people say, and go to LA. Or go to Chicago to the second city, or it never, I did not know about that.

• 16:47Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 16:48Speaker 02

  So I went on to college because I, but I wanted to be in show business from the time I was little.

• 16:53Conan O'Brien?

  This is interesting because You knew at an early age, I'm funny, but I'm growing up in this, what's the name of your town?

• 16:59Speaker 02

  Adams, Tennessee.

• 17:01Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, you're in Adams, Tennessee, and you stick that in your back pocket, but I think it then becomes inevitable that that's going to happen at some point, even if you think you've left it forever.

• 17:13Speaker 02

  I do think because I live close to Nashville and I would, and the country music stars live in Hendersonville, where it's close to Adams where I was raised. And so we would go into town and go to the mall or go to Sherwin-Williams to pick up paint or something, and I would see country music stars. And so I would see somebody with star quality that was on the Grand Ole Opry and on TV and variety shows. Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, I saw them buying paint one time. Saw the Mandrell sisters buying panties and bras at Dillard's, my heart beat out of my body.

• 17:43Conan O'Brien?

  You saw Johnny Cash buying panties and bras?

• 17:46Speaker 02

  He was buying paint.

• 17:48Conan O'Brien?

  I'm just trying to get you in trouble.

• 17:49Speaker 02

  He was buying paint with, with big fur coat on, long fur coat on, because that's how country music people roll. And I remember thinking, oh, there's some, there's somebody that's a star. Like I thought it is. I mean, I, I don't know if I thought it was attainable, but I, but I, that was familiar to me. As a little child, I would see people in Nashville that were big deals that had variety shows and all that. So I saw that, but, but then I remember thinking, none of my friends are talking about going to Hollywood. Like, and I kind of thought, maybe I'm crazy, something's wrong with me, because I, I want to talk about that and nobody else does.

• 18:25Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 18:26Speaker 02

  So it was both things.

• 18:28Conan O'Brien?

  Who are you seeing in comedy, on TV, who's, do you feel is talking to you? Who are you identifying with?

• 18:35Speaker 02

  I loved Sarah Not Love.

• 18:37Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 18:37Speaker 02

  And my mom would let me sit up and watch it, and it was filthy. It was Dan Aykroyd.

• 18:41Conan O'Brien?

  Sure.

• 18:42Speaker 02

  The bees, remember the bees masturbating? And my little daddy would say, you don't need to be watching this, Lucille, this is filthy. But she knew I loved it and she would let me stay up with me and watch it. And then I loved, I love Lucy, Carol Burnett. And then I would see, you know, Joan Rivers, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno. I would see all, you know, watch the car. Johnny Carson.

• 19:05Conan O'Brien?

  Right, right.

• 19:06Speaker 02

  And all of that set me on fire.

• 19:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 19:09Speaker 02

  All of it.

• 19:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And also, on some level that's not even conscious, you're knowing it can be done.

• 19:15Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 19:16Conan O'Brien?

  So, obviously, you had kids. How many kids? Three kids?

• 19:20Speaker 02

  Three.

• 19:20Conan O'Brien?

  Three kids. I think you had an early relationship where someone was trying to tell you to lose, you could lose your accent, maybe?

• 19:27Speaker 02

  I got married, y'all are gonna say, she is country. I got married, I was at the University of Tennessee, dropped out and married a man, a boy. I was 21 and then got divorced at 23.

• 19:40Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 19:40Speaker 02

  Um, cause it was bad. And went back to school and finished and then met the daddy of these children, Chuck Morgan, who I'm I'm really making him a Hollywood career, really.

• 19:50Conan O'Brien?

  Oh.

• 19:51Speaker 02

  But anyway.

• 19:52Conan O'Brien?

  I know, I'll just say this before you continue. I know your husband, and we all do. Like, you talk about Chuck and it is, it's so funny because we all know Chuck now through your comedy.

• 20:04Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 20:04Conan O'Brien?

  I hope he's cool with it.

• 20:05Speaker 02

  He is, he is, and he's getting a big head over it.

• 20:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, oh, good, oh, good.

• 20:09Speaker 02

  He came out at this last special.

• 20:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 20:11Speaker 02

  And went onstage like that.

• 20:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 20:13Speaker 02

  And he is an introvert, does not speak.

• 20:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and now he has a long fur coat.

• 20:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, now he's gonna have a long fur coat.

• 20:22Conan O'Brien?

  He's gonna go to Sherman Williams. "I'm here to buy paint. The name's Chuck."

• 20:28Speaker 02

  But yes, that first husband, um, told me that you, I sounded stupid and that people, he said, "You need diction lessons. You sound, people are making fun of you behind your back." And he said a bunch of other stuff to me that I believed, but I didn't believe that one. And I thought, "I don't think so." I think, I mean, this is my people and I'm, um, I'm proud of where I came from. And it just never dawned on me to change it.

• 20:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 20:54Speaker 02

  And I think it helps me. And I think, because it's different, but I, and I know that I've got a thick accent, but what I talk about is universal.

• 21:02Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 21:02Speaker 02

  So I just think I do it with a flair.

• 21:11Conan O'Brien?

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

• 21:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:14Conan 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.

• 21:28Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 21:29Conan 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.

• 21:37Speaker 01

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

• 21:42Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5N, 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's fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 22:01Speaker 01

  Hello!

• 22:02Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna 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.

• 22:36Conan O'Brien?

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

• 22:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:39Conan O'Brien?

  Just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 22:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 22:41Conan O'Brien?

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

• 22:47Speaker 01

  A vase.

• 22:48Conan O'Brien?

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

• 22:51Speaker 01

  A jacket.

• 22:52Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, that jacket, nice jacket.

• 22:55Conan O'Brien?

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

• 22:56Speaker 01

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

• 22:58Conan 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. 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 so you can skip the scrolling and shop with confidence. Shop now in-store or online at macy's.com/giftguide.

• 23:36Conan O'Brien?

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

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:42Conan 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.

• 23:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 23:51Conan 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?

• 24:02Speaker 01

  Because it's family.

• 24:03Conan O'Brien?

  But what about a niece or a nephew?

• 24:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:07Conan O'Brien?

  Like a walk with an ex-wife. I don't know, I mean, they're just throwing, that's a weird, they just made a very specific choice.

• 24:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:14Conan 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.

• 24:41Speaker 01

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

• 24:44Conan 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.

• 25:06Conan O'Brien?

  It would have been complete lunacy to change anything about yourself. Do you know what I mean? That's what makes it all work. That's how it all comes together. And you have your, I always look for really good images, you know? I like it when a comedian, when they're talking, they create, they tell stories, but they're creating these great images that I can see in my head, even if I haven't lived that life. And you, I think it was in one of your specials, I think you were talking about how you're not dressed till later in the day. And you said, "I stay in my gown until the third hour of the Today Show." And I was like, I could so see in my head that if we're a country of 350 million, there's 70 million people who know exactly what you're talking about.

• 25:50Conan O'Brien?

  And I could picture you, I mean, not in a creepy way, I pictured you in your gown, and it's a nice gown. But, um...

• 25:56Speaker 01

  Not in a creepy way.

• 25:57Conan O'Brien?

  Not in a creepy way. And then I went and checked and I looked in your window.

• 26:00Speaker 02

  It would be nice if somebody thought of me in a creepy way.

• 26:03Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I did.

• 26:03Speaker 02

  I would like to get attention in a creepy way now.

• 26:05Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you've come to the right place.

• 26:09Conan O'Brien?

  I'm gonna be calling you at four in the morning. Alien. But, uh, no, it's, it's absolutely true. Like, you said that and I thought, that's a great image that does so many things at once. It puts me there. It, it also connects you to all these other people in a very specific way. It's not a time of day, it's the third hour of the Today Show. So that, I mean, to me, that's the essence of great comedy writing.

• 26:34Speaker 02

  Oh, my darling, that means so much to me for you to say that. Thank you.

• 26:37Conan O'Brien?

  But, well, it's, it's, and it's, it's happening reflexively. It's not happening because someone taught you to say it that way, or you learned it. That's just how it's funny. That's the miracle of this kooky business we're in. And it, and the thing that makes me really happy is when people get to the place they were always supposed to be, which is what happened for you.

• 26:59Speaker 02

  Well, thank you, my darling. Uh, it was a lot of no's, a lot of rejection, all that, like everybody goes through, but I would, something would come to me, like a, another television deal, like a development deal for a sitcom, and it wouldn't go far, but it would give me enough to keep going. Cause I was in Knoxville, Tennessee. You know, and people around Knoxville were sweet to me. They'd let me be on local news. Come on and say a little funny something. And, and I was doing private corporate gigs and some clubs every year. But, you know, Chuck Morgan is an executive with a company and he traveled all the time. So I had, I wanted to raise these children and it was just hard doing a traditional path. But I've somehow, you know, did it and hung on. And the only time I thought I might quit, I really got discouraged.

• 27:44Speaker 02

  I was in my early 50s and it really was not going well. And I thought.

• 27:48Conan O'Brien?

  Let's talk about that point because what was happening at that point, because all along you've been getting positive feedback. So what happened in your early 50s that was discouraging?

• 27:58Speaker 02

  Um, okay, I was doing the, and I always say this and I love them, they're precious, but I was doing the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce.

• 28:08Conan O'Brien?

  I'm doing that next week.

• 28:11Speaker 02

  So, don't brag to me.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  And they're darling. Yeah, of course. But I remember being hurt thinking, because they had a nighttime event, I thought, you all are not hiring me for the nighttime event? I'm over the luncheon? But I was doing that, and I had a manager at the time that said, I mean, God love him, I mean, just things were not, I mean, he didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do. I was looking, I had social media, I was putting up pictures of my dogs and stuff. I didn't know what to do. And then, and I thought, I know there's a lot of people like me, and I know that they, that there's gotta be all these women and men that are going through the same thing I am, that would, I think, enjoy me, but I don't know how to reach them, because Comedy Central didn't want me, never wanted me.

• 28:54Speaker 02

  I would, I got to go to JFL one or two times, but like, I would audition for Aspen and all those comedy festivals, and I was just not edgy, or whatever, at the time. You know, it was big, like Sarah Silverman was big on comedy, and I was, hey, I was a mama with a, with a capri on that had birds on them with a little kitten heel with a bob. You know, and I wasn't the hippest thing, I guess, or edgy or whatever, so I, I wasn't making any headway there. And, um, but I always admired Jim Gaffigan. I would see these people, and I knew they had social media, but I, and I was trying to figure out how, what are they doing that I could be doing to maybe reach my audience?

• 29:37Speaker 02

  Anyway, my manager at the time said, there's this thing called Drybar, and I don't even understand it, he didn't understand the internet. And he said, it is gonna be a clean comedy platform, and he goes, probably nobody will ever see it, Liam, but they want you to do a special. And they paid me a couple of thousand dollars, and he said, let's just do it so that we can have more film for you to get more Chamber of Commerce luncheons.

• 30:02Speaker 02

  Incorporate. And so, that's the dream.

• 30:05Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, no, the dream is the Chamber of Commerce dinner. We're gonna get you there one day. City on a hill, we'll get there.

• 30:15Speaker 02

  And he said, it's in Salt Lake City, you know, just hop on over there and do this. So, I went and I did a bunch of old material. I had not been working very steady, so I felt like I sucked. And I did that special thinking, nobody's ever gonna see this. They pay me a couple of thousand dollars and I'll go home. Well, that thing came out and, and clips from it and the whole thing went viral, like 50 million views, which I was tickled, but at the same time, I hated my hair color. See, I'm southern, so I sit and worry about, I think I'm the it girl. Crazy. Anyway, I, I didn't like my jean, it had a big cuff, cut my leg off. Anyway, I just, the whole thing made me sick.

• 30:57Speaker 02

  So, anyway, it, I started, I mean, I got fans from that, but it did not translate into ticket sales. I don't know who those people are that are watching Drybar, because they don't buy tickets. And I was working some clubs, a big chunk of clubs in there, and they were sweet to me, but they said, you're not selling tickets, we love you, you're not, you don't get drunk and fight in the parking lot, but we're not having you back. And I was so discouraged.

• 31:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 31:19Speaker 02

  And I, but, but that Drybar special, I'd made a little money off of it. Quarterly, they'd send me a little bit of money. And I thought, I'm gonna do what Jim, Jim Gaffigan's got, social media people. I'm gonna go out on a limb and I'm gonna hire these young guys to work with me three months, that's what I could have forward at the time. I never put, that's another thing, I was really stupid about, if I made any money, I, with doing stand-up, I bought my kids haircuts and uniforms and all that. That was our unspoken thing between me and Chuck Morgan. I bought the extras. And it's, and I didn't save for my taxes and I didn't get headshots made. I had like two headshots in 25 years. Okay, in 20 years. So, I thought, I'm gonna invest in myself, I'm gonna pay these boys three months, and

• 32:02Speaker 02

  if something doesn't happen, I feel like that's God's way of telling me, it's been a good run, let's get out. And I'll, but I, um, and they put out one or two videos that went viral, and one of them, I think the one that did it, was me taking Chuck Morgan to go see Def Leppard in Journey.

• 32:18Conan O'Brien?

  Hilarious.

• 32:19Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 32:19Conan O'Brien?

  Hilarious.

• 32:20Speaker 02

  And now everybody looks sick and has plantar fasciitis. Thank you.

• 32:23Conan O'Brien?

  And then you, one of you noticed is that- Someone in Def Leppard has a hernia, like you're all. Everyone's sore, tired and sick at this experience. People in the audience, people in the band.

• 32:35Speaker 02

  Yeah. And that, I think that people related to that and I started selling out all over the United States. I mean, like somebody went in a dark room and turned a light on after 20 something years.

• 32:47Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I think what those videos did is people, okay, we know who this is, we love her. And now you can really take your time and unfold your stories. That is something that can't be done with like one joke. I might be getting too analytical about it all, but.

• 33:03Speaker 02

  I think you're right. And that, and I think I never got any kind of late night TV or anything because I, I didn't have enough time. I don't have rapid jokes. You know, it'd take me three minutes to say, I'm Leanne, you know?

• 33:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah. That was four minutes. Yeah, yeah.

• 33:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, I always wanted to be on those, but I, I don't think I would have been good on them, you know? Because I need more time.

• 33:27Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, I think it's our loss, but it's a mistake. It's wrong. You know, I'm, I'm just so glad it all worked out for you.

• 33:35Speaker 02

  Thank you, my darling.

• 33:35Conan O'Brien?

  And when I say worked out, I mean, how are you handling the fact that it's not just gotten big? You're, you're huge. You're a force. All the good things. How are you handling it?

• 33:48Speaker 02

  Good, I think, my darling. I'm taking a lot of supplements.

• 33:55Speaker 02

  I prioritize my sleep.

• 33:57Conan O'Brien?

  Look, I'm worried about you and these supplements. We don't want to lose you. You're one of the greats.

• 34:03Conan O'Brien?

  How do I like you popping supplements at night?

• 34:05Speaker 02

  Magnesium.

• 34:06Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, all right, all right.

• 34:08Speaker 02

  I love magnesium. Ah, and vitamin D, B12.

• 34:13Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 34:14Speaker 02

  But, um, uh huh, but I.

• 34:16Conan O'Brien?

  I think these are gateway drugs, to be honest with you. I think this leads to bigger stuff.

• 34:20Speaker 02

  If I had, if I had made it at 20 or 30 or, you know, when I was, I started when I was 32, really with three little children. I think I would have ended up on dope. I've been out here in Hollywood. It's a lot of pressure and pressure is privilege. And I'm so thankful, but I, but I'm, I think because I'm six years old and I've lived a full life, that I can, I think I'm handling it pretty well.

• 34:42Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, yeah.

• 34:43Speaker 02

  You know, if I'd have been younger, I'd be walking these streets doing god knows what.

• 34:49Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I think you'd just be looking for supplements.

• 34:53Conan O'Brien?

  And when you say dope, dope is, I mean dope is just

• 34:56Speaker 01

  Well dope can be a lot of things.

• 34:58Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, so dope is a blanket term.

• 34:59Speaker 01

  I think so.

• 35:00Speaker 02

  Well, I grew up thinking marijuana and all dope, really, all dope. And it's just so funny to me, out here and in New York, when I'm, because Tennessee, nothing's legal with marijuana.

• 35:13Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 35:13Speaker 02

  And I'm, and it's, by age, growing up with a don't do dope, and now everything is, you want some dope? I mean, do you know, do you need a gummy?

• 35:21Conan O'Brien?

  Sona's high right now.

• 35:22Speaker 01

  I am always high. We all look at Sona. Yeah, I know.

• 35:25Conan O'Brien?

  She's got gummies and, you know, she's got twins, she's got

• 35:29Speaker 01

  Stash box.

• 35:30Conan O'Brien?

  She's got little four-year-olds.

• 35:31Speaker 01

  I do, I just recently got a stash box that has a little combination lock, so my kids can't get into it.

• 35:36Conan O'Brien?

  That's good. Yeah.

• 35:37Speaker 01

  Good for me, I did it, I shouldn't have talked, I'm sorry.

• 35:40Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm glad that we included you in the conversation, because, I'll say this, she's an excellent mom. Sona's a great mom, but she is whacked out of her head at night.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  How old are they?

• 35:52Speaker 01

  They're four, they're twin boys.

• 35:54Conan O'Brien?

  She's got four-year-old twins.

• 35:54Speaker 02

  Twin boys, four.

• 35:55Speaker 01

  Yeah. How old's your grand, your grandkid?

• 35:58Speaker 02

  Um, two and a half, Redhead, that's why I keep staring at him. Which I hope everybody, I hope everybody, let me just say-

• 36:06Conan O'Brien?

  You tried to diaper me when you came in, and I was okay with it, LeAnn. I was okay with it.

• 36:14Speaker 02

  But just let me say, I mean, your hair, you've got a good head of hair.

• 36:19Conan O'Brien?

  This is what I got.

• 36:20Speaker 02

  And honey, men don't, I realized since when I got out here to shoot my series, that all these little boys are having to go over to Turkey with bloody heads coming back from these transplants, these Turkish plants. Because everybody's worried death about their hair, aren't you thankful that big head of hair you got?

• 36:37Conan O'Brien?

  I take estrogen treatments, I do whatever I, just to keep my hair nice and thick. I've got

• 36:43Speaker 02

  It is a beautiful color and you've got a head of hair.

• 36:45Conan O'Brien?

  I'm wearing a training bra right now.

• 36:48Conan O'Brien?

  I'm menstruating.

• 36:49Speaker 04

  A lot of doctors for it.

• 36:50Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I just, but I will do anything to keep the hair. The hair so far, it seems people have stayed on its own, but I thought if I ever lose the hair, that's it for show business, because that's how people know me.

• 36:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:00Conan O'Brien?

  I'd have to get like a crazy wig.

• 37:01Speaker 04

  Y'all get one of those transplants she's talking about?

• 37:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:04Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, I'd get a wig that literally ties around the chin. That takes no effort. I would be totally open about, it's a wig, but people want me to be that Conan guy, so bam, this is what we're doing.

• 37:16Speaker 02

  It's cute.

• 37:17Conan O'Brien?

  Well, thank you.

• 37:18Speaker 02

  You're welcome. Um, but two and a half for that redheaded, and then the whiteheaded one, the toeheaded one is gonna be five in December.

• 37:26Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 37:26Speaker 02

  And they wrestle all day long, every day, until they sweat.

• 37:29Speaker 01

  Same.

• 37:30Speaker 02

  So I wondered, is that what your boys do, is sweating and wrestling?

• 37:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, if they're not running around, they're fighting. Yeah, it's just wrest, constant wrestling.

• 37:38Conan O'Brien?

  And she brings them here, and it's chaos.

• 37:40Speaker 01

  Yes, yeah.

• 37:41Conan O'Brien?

  Because I turn into, I love kids, and I turn into a child when I'm, when I'm around kids. And I behave often more insane than they do.

• 37:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:50Conan O'Brien?

  I'm the one that needs calming down afterwards.

• 37:52Speaker 02

  And you get them riled up?

• 37:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think you are a kid, and then they come, and then it allows you to be yourself.

• 37:57Conan O'Brien?

  And my wife Liza always used to, she'd be trying to get the kids, our two, down to get them, transition them into bedtime, get in the crib, or, and I would get them spinning around like cops. And then the minute they had to go to bed, I'd be like, well, I'm gonna go watch Game of Thrones. She would, why did you?

• 38:17Speaker 01

  Dick.

• 38:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and they're just banging around in their room, because I had them playing a game called Murder Death.

• 38:24Conan O'Brien?

  But whatever, it was...

• 38:27Conan O'Brien?

  Probably not the best influence, yeah. I've heard you talk about playing the Christian comedy circuit, and I was thinking, I've watched a lot of your work, and I love it. It all feels to me that it would work fine in the Christian comedy circuit, because I don't know why they would have any, why it would be limiting. It seems like you're able to talk about a lot of things that don't conflict with what, uh, what someone who considers themselves a- Hardcore Christian would think is okay. You found it a little limiting, but I don't know what it is they'd be objecting to.

• 39:03Speaker 02

  Early on, I got invited to do, you know, shows in churches and it just did not feel right to me.

• 39:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, okay.

• 39:09Speaker 02

  It's just a different kind of stand up. It's got a different pace. It's got a, some people that do that, have an altar call and all that kind of stuff. Honey, I don't know anything about that. I love the Lord, but I don't, and I want to be able to talk about real stuff.

• 39:24Conan O'Brien?

  Sure.

• 39:24Speaker 02

  I always, and I don't mean to, I know I keep bringing up Johnny Cash, but I, and I'm not comparing myself to him. But I remember him in an interview saying, I am a believer, but I want to be able to talk about Folsom Prison.

• 39:35Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, of course.

• 39:35Speaker 02

  And getting high in a cave and, you know, all that, that he went through. And, and I like to talk about peeing in a bathing suit. I mean, and you just don't know who's gonna be upset. Or prostitute myself to Chuck Morgan so these children have good shoes. I mean, and I know Jesus loves me and he knows that I've had to do it.

• 39:58Conan O'Brien?

  But, but.

• 39:59Speaker 02

  And has walked through it with me.

• 40:01Conan O'Brien?

  So Chuck Morgan's now a pimp.

• 40:05Speaker 02

  Yes, he has held money over my head.

• 40:11Speaker 02

  And he's got testosterone because he plays tennis.

• 40:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Well.

• 40:16Speaker 02

  It's been hard.

• 40:20Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, but, but what I love is that, I mean, I'm being naive, but whatever your religion, you should be able to hear about those things. I'm not a prude, but when I watch a movie where every other word is the F word or F bombs are flying left and right, I think it's just lazy writing. But everything you talk about, peeing in a bathing suit should be something a congregation can hear. Do you know what I mean?

• 40:45Speaker 02

  And I think most of them can.

• 40:47Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 40:47Speaker 02

  I just don't want to feel weird. It was more me.

• 40:51Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 40:51Speaker 02

  Nobody ever said anything to me, but I just thought, I don't think this is where I'm supposed to be. I want to be a mainstream comedian.

• 40:59Conan O'Brien?

  Sure.

• 40:59Speaker 02

  And I consider myself clean, but I have innuendo, you know, about Chuck Morgan. So I wanted to be able to be free and I feel like I couldn't have been free. And I still, I can do a women's, honey, you talking about a good time. It's go do comedy for a bunch of women in a church on ladies night where they've got a taco truck out front and somebody's selling Mary Kay in the lobby. Honey, they throw their person there, you could say anything.

• 41:25Conan O'Brien?

  That's great.

• 41:26Speaker 02

  And they go nuts.

• 41:27Conan O'Brien?

  Sure.

• 41:27Speaker 02

  So I do fine at that kinda thing. I just, early on, I was kinda getting not pushed into that, but, you know, opportunity would come up, and I just thought, I don't think this is where I'm supposed to be. I enjoy clubs.

• 41:38Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 41:39Speaker 02

  I enjoy clubs, and then, and then talking about my Sunday School class in the club, you know? Dropping a little seed.

• 41:46Conan O'Brien?

  I, I like the community. I love being around writers, I love being around comedians, I love just being absolutely ridiculously silly, and the back and forth, it's just fun.

• 42:00Speaker 02

  It's so fun.

• 42:01Conan O'Brien?

  And some of your years in the wilderness where you're raising kids and you're under the cruel boot heel of Chuck Morgan,

• 42:11Conan O'Brien?

  I feel like, oh, that might have been a little lonely at times, because you get such a high, a natural high, from being around audiences and other comics and talking about this stuff.

• 42:23Speaker 02

  It's weird how my career would go. There were, you know, every year I, I stayed kinda busy, and then there would be a big boom, and I'd get to go on a little tour with other female comedians.

• 42:33Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  And, you know, we'd all be together and that'd be fun, but there were a lot of times where I couldn't get booked, and, but then I'd get a television deal.

• 42:42Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 42:42Speaker 02

  From ABC.

• 42:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 42:44Speaker 02

  You know, something crazy like that, but then it wouldn't make it.

• 42:46Conan O'Brien?

  So then you get a call, Chuck Lorre, who is, probably got the longest winning streak of creating hit sitcoms. He calls you and says he wants to do...

• 42:57Speaker 02

  He flew to Knoxville and sat on the back porch, we fed him lunch, you know, he barely eats. Kid in his pants. And, um, I, me being a southern woman...

• 43:09Conan O'Brien?

  You make it sound like there wasn't even a TV deal. He just showed up on your back porch, and you had to feed him. And then, later on, he said, hey, maybe we could do a sitcom. That's hilarious.

• 43:22Speaker 02

  But me, as a southern woman, I was more worried about the food.

• 43:25Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, of course.

• 43:26Speaker 02

  Um, but he, he came there, Warner Brothers flew him and he sat on that back porch and said, "I've watched your special and I would, if, I'd like for you to do a television show with me." And ask me, ask me. And said that whole 10,000 hour thing, like, "Leanne, I can tell how much time you put into this."

• 43:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 43:43Speaker 02

  That it was 20 years and that you put your time in, and that meant the world to me. Cause I, I really have gone through times in my career where I thought, "Am I like one of these kids on American Idol that thinks they can sing?"

• 43:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 43:55Speaker 02

  Maybe I don't have it. Maybe I'm crazy. So it, through the years, like Matt Williams that created Roseanne in Home Improvement, I had to deal with him. When it's people like that that believe in you. But yeah, Chuck Lorre. And let me tell you, it went quick. It was like, Chuck Lorre, we're going to Netflix, we're going to talk to him. They bought it in the room. Like, "We'll do anything y'all want to do."

• 44:16Conan O'Brien?

  But here's the thing, you've been managing it really well. I mean, you've been, you've been pulling it off, but it's no, that's no small feat to do that.

• 44:25Speaker 02

  Well, the first three weeks, I cried every day and said to my youngest child, TS, who's my makeup artist, and makeup artist on the series, she does that for a living. And she took care of me and she says now she's my caregiver and she didn't sign up for that. But anyway, it, for three weeks, every day, I was like, "Pack your bags, we're leaving. I don't need this." You know, cause I'll be on a huge tour and 100 city tour, 150 city tour for the last few years. And, and I, that's where I feel comfortable. And I know it's just me and I know what to do. This was scared me to death. I never, I didn't know what camera blocking was. I didn't know. I, I had to learn a script every week and

• 45:06Speaker 02

  I had not built that muscle up. Eventually, I feel like, kinda did. I didn't know about table reads. I didn't know all this stuff. So it was a lot. And I was freaked out. I thought, "I've wanted this all my life. And do I really want it?" And then I kinda settled into it. So if you, "Promise me you'll watch, like you'll go from episode six on."

• 45:24Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 45:24Speaker 02

  Cause in the first few, I feel like you can see it in my face. I was torn up and freaked out. But they did put pros around me and they all helped me.

• 45:32Conan O'Brien?

  But also, that's every Single show.

• 45:36Speaker 02

  And I do feel like I thought during all that and I was scared to death. I thought, well, I know I've got timing. I know I've got comedy timing. I know if they can get me in front of a live audience, I'll be better for that. And I did. And we filmed it in front of a live audience on Friday nights and that helped me. I did feel like going in, I think I could be good at this.

• 45:57Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 45:58Speaker 02

  Because of my timing.

• 45:59Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 46:00Speaker 02

  So I did have, I felt that confidence about myself. And then Jerry Seinfeld called me and said, was really sweet to me about his sitcom and all the things you said. He said, Liam, we didn't even get picked up and then they, they were gonna pick us up, then they weren't and all that. And he said, you'll find that and it'll feel, you'll eventually feel like you're walking into your home.

• 46:21Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 46:22Speaker 02

  And you'll feel more comfortable and it really helped me what he did. But, and he also said, you've got to remember, Liam, you got yourself here. You, you put in this work and you know what you're doing and you're the one that can get in front of a live audience and make people, or in front of, you know, a theater of 3,000 people or whatever and make them laugh for an hour and a half. You've got to remember that that's what you're bringing to the table. Not everybody can do that.

• 46:46Conan O'Brien?

  Of course, yeah.

• 46:47Speaker 02

  So that made me feel good. He really helped me through that. I didn't know who else in the world to talk to.

• 46:52Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I called you and you didn't take the call.

• 46:56Conan O'Brien?

  He said, she's still on with Jerry.

• 47:00Speaker 02

  I would have died if you'd have called me.

• 47:02Conan O'Brien?

  But, uh, I can't work my own phone. That's David's fault. I said, get Leanne and you got Pierce Morgan on the phone. It was weird. I don't know how that happened. Yeah. He just yelled at me. Uh, where are you now? When do you start this second?

• 47:16Speaker 02

  I'll start in January.

• 47:17Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 47:18Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm. And we have 10 episodes we're gonna do. You know Netflix does eight or 10. The first one was 16 and the, the first plan was to drop eight. And then my new Netflix special in the fall, like we're drop eight in the summer, then the Netflix special and then eight next spring. But they said, they had got a wild hair and said, let's just try 16 and see what happens. And, um, but most everything they do is eight to 10. So this time we're gonna do 10 because they were, you know, I think my audience, they either binge watched it, it did great.

• 47:51Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 47:52Speaker 02

  But they, they either binge watched it and watched it two or three times this season. Or they saved it like it was network television.

• 47:59Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 48:00Speaker 02

  And so they were looking at the completion rate. Also, I, I mind drop the same time as those girls that were killing those boars in their panties. The hunting wabs.

• 48:09Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, yeah.

• 48:10Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 48:12Conan O'Brien?

  Well, now you gotta fight fire with fire. An episode about you in panties.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  Girl on girl action.

• 48:19Conan O'Brien?

  What? No. I think boy, no, I was not gonna say that.

• 48:23Speaker 04

  That's what they do though.

• 48:24Conan O'Brien?

  Are you a horrible?

• 48:25Speaker 02

  They were, well, that's what they were doing and killing boars in their panties.

• 48:29Speaker 01

  They were.

• 48:30Conan O'Brien?

  Wait, so it's girl on girl and then they kill boars?

• 48:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 48:33Conan O'Brien?

  Where have I been?

• 48:36Conan O'Brien?

  This, you just described my ultimate television. The only person missing from this scenario is Leanne.

• 48:43Conan O'Brien?

  All right, well, man, um, I have a question. Does the, uh, the evil Chuck Morgan now? Does he, does it bother him that your special's about you being single? Does he, does that bother him? And you're gonna be kissing guys and you're, does that bother him?

• 49:03Speaker 02

  At first, when they announced it, I think really people thought that it was like a reality show. And that, that Chuck Morgan had truly left me for somebody. And people started saying horrible things online for Chuck. And Chuck didn't even get on social media.

• 49:18Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 49:19Speaker 02

  But he said-

• 49:19Conan O'Brien?

  He took some heat at the Dairy Queen.

• 49:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, and he said, "Do something, Leanne, people think that I've left you." And my own little daddy, somebody called him, his friend who's in his nineties, said, "I hate so bad that Leanne's getting a divorce." And I said, "Daddy, it's, it's not real. It's like Beverly Hillbillies." You know, it's not real.

• 49:37Conan O'Brien?

  He said, "That's not real?" I still think that's real, by the way.

• 49:41Speaker 02

  Um, but, um, yeah, Chuck at first, and I kinda bummed on it. It felt weird to me that Chuck Lorre wanted to do that. But then I thought, now I realize how smart he was because it, because of the things he said, Leanne. I think whether it's divorce, or a job, or a death, or whatever, everybody, it's universal, having to start over.

• 50:01Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 50:02Speaker 02

  And he said, "I think that, uh, frankly, you and Chuck are boring."

• 50:08Speaker 02

  He said, "That's just been done."

• 50:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 50:11Speaker 02

  And he said, "I think because of that bit in my, uh, also in my Netflix special, I talk about my friend, my girlfriends, if we said if we had to get out and date." Uh, one of my girlfriends said, "I think I could show somebody my left breast." The right one looks bad. But he liked that bit.

• 50:30Speaker 02

  And so, you know, in your late 50s, if you had to get out here and, you know, cat around. Which, by the way, I did get to make out with Tim Daly in this. Sweet Tim Daly, who was precious. And I did say to Chuck Morgan, I'm kissing Tim Daly this week. They want me to kiss Tim Daly and I was scared to death. And Chuck did not care and I say this, but I think he really liked for me to make money.

• 50:55Speaker 02

  And I don't think he cares.

• 50:58Conan O'Brien?

  There he is, pipping you out again.

• 51:00Speaker 02

  Plus, he knows I'm in menopause and he probably like, she's not gonna do anything.

• 51:06Speaker 02

  She doesn't feel good, she's on all those magnesium pills.

• 51:11Conan O'Brien?

  She's so doped up on magnesium. She's a magnesium junkie. You're buying it in parking lots. Uh, well, Leanne, eh, you are a tonic. You're just a, an absolute joy and I was so excited you could come in and I'm delighted for you, but I'm also delighted for everybody that likes comedy, cause you're fantastic. You're really great and, uh, this is, uh, this is a joy, just a joy having you here. And I hope you come back.

• 51:38Speaker 02

  Honey, I would love to come back.

• 51:40Conan O'Brien?

  Cause we're, this is a fun place to hang, you'd like it here.

• 51:42Speaker 02

  I will be here in January through April and I can mop and I can do dishes. I can do whatever y'all need.

• 51:50Conan O'Brien?

  Someone's gotta tell EB.

• 51:54Speaker 02

  I can tend to your babies.

• 51:55Speaker 01

  Okay, yes.

• 51:57Conan O'Brien?

  I don't, no, you don't wanna do that.

• 51:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'll bring them in an octo. I'll just drop them off.

• 52:01Speaker 02

  Dollywood.

• 52:01Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah.

• 52:03Conan O'Brien?

  Or soon, Nate's, uh, Disney World.

• 52:05Speaker 02

  Nate Land.

• 52:06Conan O'Brien?

  Nate Land.

• 52:07Speaker 02

  Where Opryland was, I grew up going to Opryland, can you believe them?

• 52:10Conan O'Brien?

  I've been to Opryland, years and years ago, I went to Opryland and I got on stage at the Grand Old Opry at one point.

• 52:16Speaker 02

  Oh my gosh.

• 52:17Conan O'Brien?

  My god, I loved it, just loved it. I wanna go back and I wanna play some, uh... I want to play some music there someday. That's my dream. Yeah.

• 52:24Speaker 02

  You play music?

• 52:25Conan O'Brien?

  I play. I started playing years and years ago. I was doing Rockabilly, which is kind of where it's Elvis Sun Session and Cherry the Lewis and all that stuff. But some of it sounds like country and now I've become friends with some country music guys. And I'm always looking at them thinking, I think this is kind of what I'd love to do.

• 52:46Speaker 02

  Oh, my Lord. What do you play?

• 52:48Conan O'Brien?

  Clint Black's a friend of mine. Guitar, yeah.

• 52:50Speaker 02

  Oh, my darling.

• 52:51Conan O'Brien?

  So I guess got to go live in Nashville because all my friends live there now.

• 52:55Speaker 02

  All your friends move there?

• 52:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 52:57Speaker 02

  And you know, when I knew people were moving, hoop-de-doo, LA people were moving to Nashville, their Nordstrom shoe department. Honey, all of a sudden it was Chanel. It was like a good cork.

• 53:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 53:09Speaker 02

  You know, that was a good orthotic.

• 53:10Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 53:11Speaker 02

  Where everybody could get a normal, everyday, sensible shoe.

• 53:14Conan O'Brien?

  No, it's...

• 53:15Speaker 02

  And then it was just all of a sudden Gucci, all that, LA people.

• 53:19Conan O'Brien?

  No, Nashville has become probably too fancy for me, which is, it's amazing. It's great, but I love it there. Absolutely love it there.

• 53:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:27Conan O'Brien?

  And great people, really lovely.

• 53:28Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm. And then Knoxville, see, up in East Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains is all that bluegrass. That unbelievable bluegrass that is wonderful. And my son plays the banjo and the mandolin and the mountain dulcimer.

• 53:40Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 53:41Speaker 02

  Well, now he's got two babies. He doesn't get to do anything. But, I mean, he grew up playing those and taking lessons and all that because he loved gospel bluegrass.

• 53:48Conan O'Brien?

  All right, I'm going to open for you doing really bad country music. That's going to hurt you badly.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  No, it wouldn't. Everybody would be on fire.

• 53:59Conan O'Brien?

  Hmm, we'll see. We'll see. We'll talk. We'll talk. I'll do it for free.

• 54:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 54:04Conan O'Brien?

  I'll pay you to do it. Leanne, uh, just continued crazy success to you. All the good things and we're all so thrilled that we got to meet you. This is a real treat. Thank you.

• 54:16Speaker 02

  Honey, this is my treat. Thank you for having me. I feel like I'm with Elvis.

• 54:22Speaker 01

  What?

• 54:24Conan O'Brien?

  Let's stick with that. Yeah. We'll go with that. Yes. Print that. Print it. Print it.

• 54:37Conan O'Brien?

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

• 54:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:40Conan 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.

• 54:54Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 54:55Conan 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.

• 55:03Speaker 01

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

• 55:08Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5N, 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's fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 55:27Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 55:28Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna 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.

• 56:02Conan O'Brien?

  Did you know that one in four Americans targeted by scams end up falling for them? You fell for one.

• 56:08Speaker 01

  I fell for a scam.

• 56:09Conan O'Brien?

  Now, you didn't lose too much money, but you did lose.

• 56:11Speaker 01

  I did lose and it was very inconvenient and now they put protections on my account like I'm, uh, dumb.

• 56:17Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I don't know where they got that impression.

• 56:21Conan O'Brien?

  Criminals are now using AI to make scams look more realistic than ever. In 2025, AI fraud spiked 1,210% and cost Americans $893 million. That's incredible. Well, with AI, it can get so smart now.

• 56:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:38Conan O'Brien?

  Do you know what I mean?

• 56:38Speaker 01

  Maybe I should start scamming.

• 56:40Conan O'Brien?

  No, that's not the point.

• 56:41Speaker 01

  Oh, no, that's not the point of this.

• 56:42Conan O'Brien?

  That's not the point.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  It's so much money.

• 56:44Conan O'Brien?

  So quick, Sona can expose your information, putting you at risk of identity theft. Luckily, this is the point. Not that you should start scamming, but that everyone should get LifeLock.

• 56:53Speaker 01

  Right, right, right, right.

• 56:54Conan O'Brien?

  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. This is fantastic. How do you not have this?

• 57:05Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 57:06Conan O'Brien?

  If you have expenses or money stolen due to identity theft, you're backed by the million-dollar protection package with up to $3 million coverage in some plans.

• 57:13Speaker 01

  Mm.

• 57:14Conan O'Brien?

  Join now and save up to 30% off your first year. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 57:26Conan O'Brien?

  This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. Mental health awareness is on the rise, which is a good thing.

• 57:33Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 57:34Conan O'Brien?

  And a lot of people, thanks to days like World Mental Health Day, which I think is October 10th, have people thinking about how to take care of themselves. And I think for some people, therapy can be a great way to support their mental well-being. Remember, therapy isn't just for big life choices. It can be a place to talk about relationship problems, work issues, or simply the sense that something feels a little off. With over 30,000 therapists worldwide, BetterHelp is one of the leading online therapy platforms. They serve millions of people globally. BetterHelp therapists have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience. Plus, BetterHelp makes it easy to fit therapy into your routine.

• 58:16Conan O'Brien?

  They've got flexible ways to connect that work for different schedules and lifestyles. Your mental health doesn't need a special occasion or anyone else's permission to matter. BetterHelp can connect you with a therapist who gets you, so you can make space for what matters to you. Visit betterhelp.com/conan to explore your payment options. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash Conan.

• 58:44Speaker 04

  We haven't done a state of the podcast in quite some time, and that's where we bring on the great Adam Sacks to tell us about how the podcast is doing, where we are, where we're heading.

• 58:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, this is very good because I feel like I'm working on a submarine and not getting a lot of feedback. People on the street often say to me they're enjoying the podcast, and I recently went to the Philippines and people there would come up to me and say, I just was listening to you on the podcast in the Philippines, which is really cool. But other than that, I get no feedback, intel, I don't know what's happening. So, Adam Sacks, you are the podmeister, the pod whisperer.

• 59:23Speaker 04

  And not since our lawyer, David Melman, have I seen so many notes. Look at this.

• 59:26Speaker 05

  I'll explain why, but yeah, so, you know, it's this, we've been doing this show now for seven years.

• 59:31Conan O'Brien?

  That's unbelievable to me. Seven years.

• 59:33Speaker 04

  It's crazy.

• 59:34Conan O'Brien?

  That's crazy.

• 59:35Speaker 04

  We're close to ten.

• 59:37Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's insane.

• 59:38Speaker 01

  We had babies in the time.

• 59:40Speaker 04

  Sona and I made babies.

• 59:43Speaker 04

  My children were like little when we started, they're in their late 50s now.

• 59:48Conan O'Brien?

  I know, I was four when this show started.

• 59:51Speaker 05

  But the crazy thing is, so, seven years in, I'm gonna, the reason I, there's a few things on this paper, but one thing I wanted to do is read off some of the accolades that the show has gotten, because we don't talk about this really ever on the show, or even, we don't talk about it much off the show either, but.

• 1:00:04Speaker 04

  It's a very Irish Catholic podcast.

• 1:00:06Speaker 05

  I know, but I was like, you know what, we don't really ever celebrate this, these are just 2025 honors. So, seven years in, I wanted to, these are some things that the show has been honored with this year. A bunch of awards, including the 2025 Webby Award for Best Host, the 2025 Signal Award for Best Host.

• 1:00:25Speaker 04

  Which host are they talking about?

• 1:00:27Speaker 05

  They didn't say. 2025 Ambi Award.

• 1:00:30Conan O'Brien?

  Ambi sounds like it's short for Ambien. You put people to sleep?

• 1:00:35Speaker 05

  This is the, the AMBI is the academy of podcasts. And so we're the-

• 1:00:39Conan O'Brien?

  There's an academy of podcasts?

• 1:00:40Speaker 05

  It's actually 2025 AMBI Award winner for best comedy podcast.

• 1:00:44Speaker 01

  Oh, check us out.

• 1:00:45Speaker 05

  2025 iHeart Podcast Award winner for best ad read. Now, this is an award, Conan, you've won almost every year, if not every year.

• 1:00:54Conan O'Brien?

  Because when I read the ads, you can tell that I'm unhinged.

• 1:00:58Speaker 05

  Yeah, I think that's a huge part of it.

• 1:01:00Conan O'Brien?

  I can't seem to read an ad without behaving like a fool.

• 1:01:03Speaker 05

  Yes, but the important thing is advertisers keep coming back. So the unhinged ads also work.

• 1:01:09Conan O'Brien?

  And by the way, it doesn't matter. I'm just going to interject that it's best host or whatever. It's a team effort and I don't mean that at all.

• 1:01:15Speaker 05

  I'm glad you feel that way.

• 1:01:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, because I feel like when you do ads, there is somebody else sitting across from you who's helping you with like the ads and stuff, right?

• 1:01:26Conan O'Brien?

  I think you're really good at saying, uh huh, that's true. Or, oh, you.

• 1:01:29Speaker 01

  Yeah. I am.

• 1:01:31Conan O'Brien?

  I am.

• 1:01:32Speaker 01

  There's some, there's something about the ads that are crushing it. And also if you were here just sitting by yourself.

• 1:01:37Conan O'Brien?

  I'd be scared.

• 1:01:38Speaker 01

  You wouldn't be good.

• 1:01:39Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:40Speaker 01

  We make you better. You're welcome.

• 1:01:41Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, and you know what? That is true. That is true.

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  I don't want you agreeing with me. It makes it worse when you-

• 1:01:47Conan O'Brien?

  I know, and that's why I'm getting you. Anyway, back.

• 1:01:50Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 1:01:50Conan O'Brien?

  There's apparently more awards.

• 1:01:52Speaker 05

  Yeah, and then also some bigger things like Time Magazine this year put out their 100 best podcasts of all time. Conan Reubner needs a friend was on there.

• 1:01:58Speaker 01

  Hey.

• 1:01:59Speaker 05

  Hollywood Reporter this year put out the 44 most powerful players in podcasting in 2025. Conan, you were one of the 44 most powerful players in podcasting.

• 1:02:07Speaker 01

  Ooh, fancy guy.

• 1:02:09Speaker 05

  And also-

• 1:02:10Conan O'Brien?

  I'm gonna get a T-shirt made that says, I am one of 44.

• 1:02:14Speaker 05

  We should shout out a great journalist from Vulture, Sean Mallon. He wrote a book, The 101 Podcasts That Changed How We Listen.

• 1:02:22Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, cool.

• 1:02:22Speaker 05

  And-

• 1:02:23Conan O'Brien?

  Look at that.

• 1:02:24Speaker 05

  Conan Reubner Needs a Friend has a nice feature in this book. So I want, that's why I have this, this paper, because this is all just in the seventh year of the show, which is pretty amazing. So we have not jumped the shark.

• 1:02:34Conan O'Brien?

  But we will.

• 1:02:35Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's so that I wanted to talk about.

• 1:02:37Conan O'Brien?

  I think when we put contact lenses on while we're doing the podcast, our view, our listeners will never forgive us. And I think that's coming up soon, if it hasn't already aired.

• 1:02:48Speaker 01

  If we could get past that hey, hey, hey game, then I think we're capable of anything.

• 1:02:53Speaker 04

  It was hi, hi.

• 1:02:54Conan O'Brien?

  Hi, hi, hi, hi. We've committed some terrible crimes for which we have not been prosecuted.

• 1:03:00Speaker 05

  Time Magazine knows about the podcast.

• 1:03:02Speaker 04

  There's an academy of podcasting, but not a war crimes.

• 1:03:04Speaker 05

  Let's talk more about these nuts.

• 1:03:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, these nuts, these nuts.

• 1:03:08Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:03:09Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, wait, you already said there's more?

• 1:03:10Speaker 05

  The other thing I wanted to, you know, we've had great guests just recently. We've had people like Nate Bargatze, Rose Byrne, you know, Kesha, Ayo Edebury, uh, Diego Luna, the cast of Spinal Tap, the rest is history guy. So the, uh, and then a bunch of returning favorites, Bob Odenkirk, Tim Oliphant, Sarah Silverman, Martin Short, Marc Maron. We're still, the, the show gets great guests. Um, and then the other thing.

• 1:03:31Conan O'Brien?

  Are you convincing yourself or us?

• 1:03:34Speaker 05

  I don't know, I'm just reading it off the paper. No, these are awesome guys.

• 1:03:38Conan O'Brien?

  I was pretty happy coming in today. And now you're telling me, I don't think you're dying. This is good.

• 1:03:43Speaker 05

  All these awards, come on.

• 1:03:44Conan O'Brien?

  All right, come on, okay, okay.

• 1:03:45Speaker 05

  It's pretty good.

• 1:03:46Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 1:03:46Speaker 04

  And you're very healthy, uh, you look hail. Adam practicing this in the mirror before.

• 1:03:51Speaker 05

  Well, the other thing, like, this is the state of the podcast. Last time I was on, we talked about video. If you remember, this was like a long time ago. We talked about how video is becoming a more and more, uh, a bigger part. It's becoming the number one, YouTube is the number one distribution platform for podcasts. More people get their podcasts on YouTube now than anywhere else. Um, and so last time I was on, we said we were experimenting with doing full length episodes. We hadn't really done it.

• 1:04:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, how's that going?

• 1:04:15Speaker 05

  It's going really well. Uh, and one of the questions we had was, and why we were sort of testing it, is it going to be like a substitute audience? People who were listening are now just going to shift over and watch on YouTube? And maybe the total pie of audience would stay the same? Or are we going to get new people watching the show, discovering the show through YouTube? And what we have found is that it is almost entirely incremental audience that is coming from YouTube, which is pretty amazing. So that means the. Audience for the show has grown tremendously.

• 1:04:46Speaker 04

  Oh, wow.

• 1:04:48Speaker 05

  The full-length video, we launched it in May, and it has already almost 20 million views on this full-length video.

• 1:04:55Conan O'Brien?

  No one told me this shit.

• 1:04:56Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 1:04:58Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, we dress like hobos.

• 1:05:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:01Conan O'Brien?

  I'm not wearing makeup.

• 1:05:02Speaker 04

  I'm literally dressed like a hobo.

• 1:05:04Conan O'Brien?

  No, you are.

• 1:05:07Conan O'Brien?

  Your clothing by Boxcar Willie.

• 1:05:10Speaker 04

  I'm with you on that.

• 1:05:13Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:05:14Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:05:14Conan O'Brien?

  No one told me this.

• 1:05:15Speaker 04

  Although I'll never make fun of me.

• 1:05:16Conan O'Brien?

  Jeff Ross doesn't tell me any of this stuff. What is he doing? Cut to a golf course. Pretty good. Cut back. Seriously, what's happening?

• 1:05:24Speaker 01

  I should lose some weight.

• 1:05:26Conan O'Brien?

  No, I don't like that. I don't like that. You're beautiful.

• 1:05:29Speaker 01

  Oh, well, that's very nice. Oh, my God.

• 1:05:30Conan O'Brien?

  You need to lose weight.

• 1:05:31Speaker 04

  I will lose some weight. But I'm glad we're on YouTube, so people can check this out. Never, ever make a joke about me wearing tweed again.

• 1:05:38Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm saying, today, this was something Scott Chronic found.

• 1:05:42Speaker 01

  It's a cool shirt.

• 1:05:43Conan O'Brien?

  Very inexpensive. I just like to put that out there, keeping it real.

• 1:05:46Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:05:47Conan O'Brien?

  And I wore it this morning, and I keep getting compliments.

• 1:05:49Speaker 04

  I didn't say I didn't like it. I'm just saying, leave me alone.

• 1:05:52Conan O'Brien?

  Also.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, you, yeah.

• 1:05:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:54Speaker 04

  I didn't say I wouldn't wear it.

• 1:05:56Conan O'Brien?

  I'm the dean of poetry at.

• 1:05:59Speaker 04

  All right.

• 1:06:01Speaker 01

  Now that we know this, what if we come in like the Kardashians? All like done up. We look different.

• 1:06:07Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:06:08Speaker 01

  Giant boobies and a butt.

• 1:06:10Conan O'Brien?

  When you were driving me the other day, and we were stopped at a crosswalk, and a woman walked by, and you said,

• 1:06:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:19Conan O'Brien?

  BBL.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Big time.

• 1:06:21Conan O'Brien?

  She had had a Brazilian butt lift, and I swear to God, I've never seen anything like it. I think you could put a whole dinner tray with like a turkey dinner on it.

• 1:06:31Speaker 04

  Cantaloupe.

• 1:06:32Conan O'Brien?

  And it was completely, it was a, you know, her back went down, and then it was a 90-degree turn.

• 1:06:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:38Conan O'Brien?

  I think it went out like eight inches.

• 1:06:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:41Conan O'Brien?

  Not that I've seen eight inches.

• 1:06:46Conan O'Brien?

  Anyway.

• 1:06:51Speaker 04

  How's Time Magazine doing with this?

• 1:06:53Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:06:54Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, Newsweek just came out. Worst podcast.

• 1:06:57Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 1:06:58Conan O'Brien?

  But anyway, it went straight out.

• 1:07:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was.

• 1:07:01Conan O'Brien?

  And I thought, that's just insane.

• 1:07:04Speaker 01

  And you were just like, oh, what? Is something wrong? Like, you really were really confused.

• 1:07:09Conan O'Brien?

  I wanted to get out of the car and like, help her. I thought she had been injured. I honestly don't even know how that's possible. What's the engineering behind it?

• 1:07:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07:16Conan O'Brien?

  But you said this is a big thing now.

• 1:07:18Speaker 01

  That's a BBL. Yeah.

• 1:07:19Speaker 05

  Aren't they dangerous? I've heard, I don't know why, that I've heard that like, it's a dangerous surgery to get.

• 1:07:24Speaker 01

  I, this is gross. We Googled whether or not it smelled, because it was in the news recently about having a specific kind of smell.

• 1:07:32Conan O'Brien?

  What are you talking about? Why would it have a smell?

• 1:07:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07:35Conan O'Brien?

  Wait, aren't we just talking about putting silicone or something in your bottom?

• 1:07:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, but there's, there's something about the way the procedure's done where it emanates this awful smell. And it's a BBL, it's a butt smell.

• 1:07:48Conan O'Brien?

  This is a thing?

• 1:07:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07:49Conan O'Brien?

  And people are talking about it?

• 1:07:51Speaker 01

  Look it up, the BBL smell.

• 1:07:52Speaker 04

  Is this coming from, I don't even know how to ask a question.

• 1:07:57Speaker 01

  Okay, so the reason we looked into this is because a high-profile person has one. And then her ex said that her butt smelled like trash in Manhattan in July or something.

• 1:08:10Conan O'Brien?

  What a lovely relationship they have.

• 1:08:13Speaker 04

  What kind of, does he have her?

• 1:08:15Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 1:08:16Conan O'Brien?

  He's gonna say, does he have her back? How could he not? But I mean, how do you, what? First of all, I love that this is all coming from a state of the podcast discussion. And we're now talking about the Brazilian butt lift and how it smells.

• 1:08:27Speaker 04

  We might have to do a two-parter.

• 1:08:28Speaker 06

  Yeah. The term BBL smell refers to a temporary unpleasant odor that may occur after a Brazilian butt lift. It may be due to bacterial overgrowth. The surgical site can become a breeding ground for bacteria. Fat necrosis, when some of the transferred, transferred cells, when some of the transferred fat cells die, they release a foul-smelling substance. Poor hygiene or compression garments. Wearing tight compression garments for extended periods can help trap moisture and bacteria.

• 1:08:55Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, well, anyway, just to, I was shocked. I gotta go out in the world with you, Morisona. I don't see these things when I drive around, but when you drive around, you know, it's a Dr. Seuss world we're in. And people were paying good money to have their butts turned into furniture. I mean, this was a sh- she had a shif-a-robe hanging off her ass. It was incredible. It was a, it was a, you know, what the hell was that?

• 1:09:21Speaker 06

  There's, Sona was playing with, there's a collapsible pussy she was playing with.

• 1:09:26Conan O'Brien?

  Guys, this is the state of the podcast.

• 1:09:28Speaker 04

  This is the state of the podcast.

• 1:09:30Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, this is very indicative of our entire podcast, I would say. It's on brand.

• 1:09:34Speaker 04

  We're gonna have to make this a two-parter.

• 1:09:35Conan O'Brien?

  I wish to say the state of the podcast is strong.

• 1:09:38Speaker 01

  Well, I wanted to say, next time we see a BBL, we should ask if we can smell the butt. Just like go up to her and just be like...

• 1:09:45Speaker 04

  I'm so glad we didn't get out when we had the chance to get out.

• 1:09:47Conan O'Brien?

  He almost got us out. The elevator door was almost closed and you ran in and stopped it? For that?

• 1:09:53Speaker 04

  And just sprayed fart spray in the elevator.

• 1:09:56Conan O'Brien?

  So that's great. Conan O'Brien gets out of a car. Hey, you! I wanna smell your ass! Get over here! It's for the podcast!

• 1:10:06Speaker 04

  All right, part two coming next week.

• 1:10:08Conan O'Brien?

  Part two coming next week.

• 1:10:11Speaker 04

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend with Conan O'Brien, Sonum of Sessian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gorley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Theme song by The White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

• 1:10:32Speaker 04

  Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

• 1:11:20Speaker 07

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• 1:11:51Speaker 07

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