Summer S’pouses Episode 4: Liza Powel O'Brien

Liza Powel O’Brien feels so many things about being Conan O’Brien’s spouse. Liza sits down with Conan, Sona, and Matt to discuss being married to a man with absurd eating habits. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply

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

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

  Owning a car or home comes with responsibilities. Sure, it's fun, but sometimes it makes you wonder why you ever longed for adulthood in the first place. I do that all the time. I'm like, oh, these bills, these bills. What am I gonna do?

• 0:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:15Conan O'Brien?

  You know, when you own a house, you gotta fix it yourself. Sona,

• 0:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:17Conan O'Brien?

  You, you see this to be true, right?

• 0:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, your garage door breaks and you're like, well, I have to fix it.

• 0:22Conan O'Brien?

  Probably at first you said, hey, I'll get the super to fix it. It's your house, dude.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  It's mine, dude!

• 0:27Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. In fact, they work overtime to tailor your insurance policy around what you actually need. The only thing they can't do is get that liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty jingle out of your head.

• 0:39Speaker 01

  Liberty, liberty, liberty.

• 0:41Conan O'Brien?

  It's in my head all the time.

• 0:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, me too.

• 0:43Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Start your quote at libertymutual.com.

• 0:48Speaker 02

  Hey, it's me, Teddy Swims. You hear that? That's life. So go grab it. Grab your old friends, grab new friends, grab a White Claw. Grab flavor for everyone in your group. Grab music, laughter, and moments you'll never forget. You'll never regret it. Oh, hey, man. Grab new friends, grab old friends, grab life by the claw. White Claw.

• 1:14Speaker 03

  Please drink responsibly. White Claw Celta Works, Chicago, Illinois.

• 1:20Speaker 04

  Hi, my name is Liza Powel O'Brien.

• 1:25Speaker 04

  And I feel so many things about being Conan O'Brien's spouse.

• 1:33Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, this is gonna be good.

• 1:37Conan O'Brien?

  Summer Spouses with Conan O'Brien, Sona Mufssessian, and Matt Gourley. And Liza Powel O'Brien, Tack Baroyan, and Amanda Lund.

• 1:50Conan O'Brien?

  Well, welcome to Summer Spouses, uh, the game show.

• 1:57Conan O'Brien?

  Where the spouses of the three idiots that do this podcast come in. And today's special guest, Liza Powel O'Brien. I thought I'd just start by saying, first of all, um, thank you, Liza, for coming in.

• 2:08Speaker 04

  You're welcome.

• 2:10Conan O'Brien?

  No, it's, it's, uh, I don't know if this was your favorite thing to do, but you were very sweet to say, yes, you'd do it. And, um, we were just talking, uh, I think in one of the, I think it was the first episode, we were talking about last names, um, because Amanda...

• 2:25Speaker 05

  Lund.

• 2:25Conan O'Brien?

  Lund, yes, but Amanda took Gourley initially, is that right?

• 2:30Speaker 05

  Well, she took it legally, but not publicly.

• 2:32Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 2:32Speaker 05

  Out of shame.

• 2:33Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 2:34Conan O'Brien?

  Well, um, this is a well-known thing Liza and I talked about, because you have such a beautiful last name and a very cool last, Powell is such a cool last name.

• 2:42Speaker 04

  I think, I never thought so growing up.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  The one L.

• 2:45Conan O'Brien?

  The Powell with the one L and how it, and because I'm a history buff and how it goes back to, you know, revolutionary days.

• 2:53Speaker 04

  I will tell you, it has definitely been misheard, or maybe not misheard, as Bowel. So that's what I think of all the time now, when I'm introducing myself.

• 3:01Conan O'Brien?

  Well, when I first, when we first met, I thought-

• 3:04Speaker 04

  So that is a beautiful thing.

• 3:05Conan O'Brien?

  When I first met, I thought you said Bowel and I was like, I am in.

• 3:12Conan O'Brien?

  It's one of my favorite topics. And then when I found out it was Powell, I was really bummed out.

• 3:16Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 3:17Conan O'Brien?

  No, but, um, you have, uh, it's just a really, you know, beautiful name. And, uh, and then I got to know all the Powells, who are really cool people. But I remembered feeling a little bit like, oh, because I've never been a huge fan of my last name just because it's so generic, kind of just Irish name. And so we've, you know, we've talked about, maybe I should just switch to Conan Powell.

• 3:40Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 3:40Conan O'Brien?

  You know?

• 3:41Speaker 01

  Really?

• 3:41Speaker 04

  Well, he's being very kind to me, because I said, when he was complaining about his name before, we were right before we got married.

• 3:48Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, we were engaged.

• 3:49Speaker 04

  And I said, well, you can always take my name. And it didn't go over.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  I know, wait, you're making it seem like, you're like, yeah, I was toying with it for a bit.

• 3:58Conan O'Brien?

  I wasn't toying it for a second.

• 4:00Speaker 04

  No, no, it did not sit right.

• 4:02Conan O'Brien?

  Well, the Conan O'Brien brand had been built.

• 4:04Speaker 04

  Correct.

• 4:05Speaker 01

  Oh, geez.

• 4:06Conan O'Brien?

  That's like, we're gonna change McDonald's?

• 4:08Speaker 05

  That's the problem, is the Conan O'Brien brand had been built.

• 4:11Speaker 04

  But my, I was like privately, you know, ala Amanda Gourley, who no one knows as Amanda Gourley.

• 4:17Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 4:18Speaker 04

  Could've changed it privately.

• 4:19Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, you wanna still do that?

• 4:21Speaker 04

  No, that's fine. At this point, no more paperwork.

• 4:27Speaker 01

  You're not worthy of this stuff.

• 4:29Conan O'Brien?

  Now that you've actually, now after 25 years, you're like, eh, no.

• 4:34Speaker 04

  We gave it to both our kids, that's plenty.

• 4:35Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:36Speaker 04

  In addition to yours.

• 4:38Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, no, it's, uh, it's, it's all good, but, well, this is, I mean, you're free to, you know, maybe I should step out of this.

• 4:46Speaker 04

  I wonder if you should leave. Like, I wondered why you guys-

• 4:49Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, that's interesting. Oh, do you want me to go?

• 4:51Speaker 04

  Like, that's a better, um, game show.

• 4:54Speaker 05

  It's true.

• 4:55Speaker 04

  But, you know, we can do both ways.

• 4:57Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you know, I clearly can't lead this conversation. Any more than I can lead a marriage. Uh, or participate meaningfully in a marriage.

• 5:07Speaker 05

  Keep going, keep going. You're doing well.

• 5:09Speaker 01

  What is this perspective?

• 5:11Conan O'Brien?

  Let's just say, uh, you know, there's some, uh, I'm problematic around the home.

• 5:16Speaker 01

  Is it your bits?

• 5:18Conan O'Brien?

  What are the problematic things? I mean, there's a lot of problematic things.

• 5:20Speaker 04

  I almost took a picture today, nothing to do with this. I was just gonna record it to maybe show some other people.

• 5:27Speaker 01

  What yours is.

• 5:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 5:30Speaker 04

  What the kitchen looked like after he had cleaned up from making his breakfast.

• 5:34Speaker 05

  Okay, okay, tell us.

• 5:35Speaker 04

  Which he was very dutiful about putting the butter away and putting the, putting the spatula from the sink into the dishwasher. And then on the stove was a pan, another spatula, some spray that was still open.

• 5:52Conan O'Brien?

  It was an SPF 50.

• 5:53Speaker 04

  Cabinets left open, you know that scene?

• 5:55Conan O'Brien?

  No, I fried, uh, three eggs and put them on a butter, a piece of buttered toast.

• 5:59Speaker 05

  Why did you need two spatulas?

• 6:02Speaker 04

  One went missing halfway through, who can say?

• 6:04Conan O'Brien?

  I think I used one spatula to pick up the other spatula.

• 6:10Speaker 04

  You know that scene-

• 6:11Conan O'Brien?

  You can't be too careful with a spatula.

• 6:12Speaker 04

  That scene in Sixth Sense, when the mom first knows something's really wrong with the kid, because she is giving him cereal and she turns around and she comes back and all the doors in the kitchen are, all the cupboard doors are open, all of a sudden. And she's like, oh no. Every single time you walk into the kitchen and he's, you can tell he's been in there, because every door and every drawer, everything's open.

• 6:33Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 6:34Speaker 01

  What's happening?

• 6:34Conan O'Brien?

  I will plead guilty to all of this. Um, also, I've been told when you, after you use a pan, it's supposed to sort of-

• 6:42Speaker 04

  Cool.

• 6:42Conan O'Brien?

  -sit and cool on the stove for about a week. Now, that may be wrong, but that's just something-

• 6:49Speaker 04

  Manufacturer's instructions.

• 6:49Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that's what I heard once. Um, and, uh, that's, there's a lot. I think there's some things I've gotten better at.

• 6:57Speaker 04

  Many things.

• 6:58Conan O'Brien?

  But, uh, I would, I'm, uh, you say my stuff spreads?

• 7:03Speaker 04

  You're a spreader.

• 7:04Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a spreader.

• 7:04Speaker 04

  No, I recently figured this out. If you go into a hotel room, he has to put, when he comes in and drops something down, I like to make piles and stacks and, and, you know, confine everything. He has to put everything on a different surface so we can see it all. So next thing, I mean, it works.

• 7:22Conan O'Brien?

  But you know what I act like? And we're talking about t-shirts, jeans, and underwear, but I, I lay it out and go like, I'm rich!

• 7:29Speaker 05

  But there's limited surfaces in a hotel-

• 7:31Conan O'Brien?

  $120 for some clothing, we're rich!

• 7:34Speaker 05

  There's limited surfaces in a hotel room, so you're just-

• 7:37Speaker 04

  Not in our hotel rooms.

• 7:38Speaker 05

  Imminent domain.

• 7:39Speaker 04

  You're spreading, you're just spreading your stuff.

• 7:40Conan O'Brien?

  Well, first of all, and Liza's being very modest, but we always get the, I buy out the entire floor.

• 7:44Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 7:45Conan O'Brien?

  Penthouse floor of any, yeah. I just, and I always let them think that I'm coming, that I'm Saudi.

• 7:52Speaker 04

  With that, with that name, it really goes far.

• 7:55Conan O'Brien?

  That I've come in from my palace, uh, in my private jet, which also, for some reason, was named American Airlines.

• 8:03Speaker 01

  I have a question.

• 8:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 8:04Speaker 01

  So you went out with him and then you saw him eat, and you're like, I'll go out with him again?

• 8:08Speaker 04

  You know what? On our first date, actually, I remember telling Sybil about this.

• 8:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, our friend Sybil Goldman, who gets a shout out.

• 8:17Speaker 04

  He, we went to a movie at like four, something like that. And then afterwards, he had an idea to go to, I didn't know this, but he had an idea to go to Sean Lee, his favorite restaurant, which was right there.

• 8:27Conan O'Brien?

  Real quick, what movie did you see? Do you remember?

• 8:30Speaker 04

  All About My Mother by Agmodivar. He wanted to see High Fidelity, but I'd just seen it. He said, I won't see a movie you've already seen on our, like, first time seeing a movie together. Yeah, it was sweet.

• 8:40Conan O'Brien?

  So then she takes me to a movie where one of the characters walks out of a vagina at some point.

• 8:44Speaker 04

  Literally, like a 30-foot high, yep.

• 8:47Conan O'Brien?

  And I, I, my, my, my brain melted.

• 8:50Speaker 05

  I can only imagine you.

• 8:52Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I felt, I felt safe with John Cusack. She says, I have another idea. And I said, okay, we'll try that. And it was like saloon doors. She comes charging, charging out of a giant vagina and you hear like a player piano in the background.

• 9:09Speaker 05

  And stay out.

• 9:10Conan O'Brien?

  And stay out.

• 9:12Speaker 04

  Anyway, he said, so then he said, do you wanna get some Chinese food? And I was like, no, I'm in the mood for Mexican. He's like-

• 9:18Conan O'Brien?

  Everything I said was no, but we're doing this instead, which should have been a clue.

• 9:22Speaker 04

  So we went up to this really crappy Mexican restaurant that I loved at the time. And we were the, it was 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we were the only people in the entire restaurant. And they bring us chips. And he, he put the chip in his mouth and then like the corner of the chip is sticking out and he pushes it in with the heel of his hand. And I thought it was adorable. I know.

• 9:43Speaker 05

  He wasn't doing a bit. This was just-

• 9:45Speaker 04

  No, that's how he was eating.

• 9:46Conan O'Brien?

  I, if you watch, if you watch not just me, but I'm gonna say some of my siblings as well, when it's time to eat, it was very much a, you know, there's six of us. There was a round table and they would just throw a bunch of food.

• 10:01Speaker 04

  Well, your brother, in fact, this morning, asked if our two dogs eat out of the same bowl.

• 10:07Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I don't know why he did that. Yeah, I was talking to my brother Neil and I said, oh, uh, hold on a sec, because the dogs came running in and they both started eating their food. Two dogs, two golden retrievers, they're each eating out there. And Neil went, do they eat out of the same bowl?

• 10:19Speaker 04

  But I was wondering if he got that idea, because that's what you eat.

• 10:23Speaker 05

  You guys got one bowl of gruel that you all had to eat.

• 10:28Speaker 04

  Kinda.

• 10:29Conan O'Brien?

  But, so, I also, Sona, be a little more specific about what you were alluding to, the way I eat, also very-

• 10:35Speaker 01

  Just so really fast and like, like, you know, like his siblings are hovering. I mean, you know, but it's, it is alarming.

• 10:41Speaker 04

  It's compulsive.

• 10:42Conan O'Brien?

  And you tell me, no one's going to take it away from you. She's always trying to-

• 10:48Speaker 01

  So when you guys were eating like family dinner with the four of you, you were just shoveling food?

• 10:52Speaker 04

  Oh, it's gone before I sit down. Like, I put the food on the, and by the way, you're not the only one in the house. And so I am routinely eating like grandma used to, like for 25 minutes after everyone else is done. Like, well, I'm still working on my food. So-

• 11:09Conan O'Brien?

  She, you eat, yeah, she's, uh, she takes her time eating.

• 11:20Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, I want to try something different.

• 11:21Speaker 01

  What?

• 11:22Conan O'Brien?

  I like to change it up. I like to learn things, so I'm gonna try and make apple cider.

• 11:25Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 11:26Conan O'Brien?

  Every morning.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:27Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, just to see if I can do it.

• 11:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, fall's the perfect season to try something new, like joining T-Mobile.

• 11:33Speaker 01

  Oh, that's good.

• 11:34Conan O'Brien?

  See what I did?

• 11:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:35Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, there are 250 reasons to join T-Mobile right now. You want to hear what they are?

• 11:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:39Conan O'Brien?

  They're America's best network.

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:41Conan O'Brien?

  True story. Plus, T-Mobile has got off-grid satellite coverage. That comes in really handy. I like to just wander in the woods sometimes.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Oh, that's weird.

• 11:49Conan O'Brien?

  When I'm thinking about, like, making apple cider, and that's when it comes in handy. Here's another reason: high-speed data in over 215 countries and destinations. I travel a lot for the

• 11:58Speaker 01

  You travel a lot.

• 11:59Conan O'Brien?

  Travel show that I do.

• 11:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:00Conan O'Brien?

  Stream this podcast while ignoring local landmarks. That's always fun to do. Like, oh, look, there's the Mona Lisa. Yeah, check it out. I'm in the Louvre. I should, but I'm listening to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

• 12:10Speaker 01

  That doesn't seem like a good idea.

• 12:12Conan O'Brien?

  It's a great idea.

• 12:13Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 12:13Conan O'Brien?

  You know, you can see art anytime, but how often can you listen to this podcast?

• 12:18Speaker 01

  My god.

• 12:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Now, all these reasons make T-Mobile a great choice.

• 12:23Speaker 01

  I agree.

• 12:23Conan O'Brien?

  T-Mobile is stacking up reasons to join. Go to T-Mobile.com and find yours best, based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data first half of 2026. Can't believe I read that. T-Satellite, with capable devices in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky. High-speed international data with qualifying plan. Visit T-Mobile.com. Consult a physician. I just threw that in there.

• 12:48Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 12:53Conan O'Brien?

  We all have those pieces in our closet we can count on. Sona, I imagine for you it's that leather jacket I got you.

• 12:58Speaker 01

  Are you gonna do a bit?

• 12:59Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, it's a really nice leather jacket I got you once.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  I had that and then I replaced it and yes, I use it all the time.

• 13:04Conan O'Brien?

  We all have that versatile jacket, the perfect t-shirt, and those are the pieces that make getting dressed easy. And you know what I was thinking about this morning?

• 13:13Speaker 01

  What?

• 13:14Conan O'Brien?

  Quince. They do it best. They really do. I was really thinking about this.

• 13:17Speaker 01

  What a coincidence that we're doing an ad for them.

• 13:19Conan O'Brien?

  No, a co- coincidence.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 13:24Conan O'Brien?

  That's why I get the big money.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  I gotta go.

• 13:26Conan O'Brien?

  Cut to very small amount of money. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials and designs that are timeless, thoughtful, crafted, and made to be worn again and again. And when the temperature starts to drop, Quince makes it easy to build on those everyday staples with versatile layers. Layer up. That's the key. Now, Blay, you're using some Quince.

• 13:45Speaker 06

  That's right. I'm spending a lot of time back east in Michigan. It's getting a little colder, so I got a featherless quilted jacket in Atlas Navy, and I just feel like a different guy. I feel classy.

• 13:56Conan O'Brien?

  You look like a different guy, because you're well-dressed.

• 13:58Speaker 06

  That's right.

• 13:58Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 13:59Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm serious. He looks like a hobo half the time.

• 14:01Speaker 06

  That's true. He's right. That's true.

• 14:02Conan O'Brien?

  No, they really do great stuff. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK as well.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  All right.

• 14:16Conan O'Brien?

  And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Please do that. Say, by the way, I heard about this on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Oh, I didn't really ask. I just want you to know. It's the best way to support the show.

• 14:34Conan O'Brien?

  Technology can generate salary recommendations in seconds, but building an offer that lands skilled talent, that takes more than just an estimate you came up with.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're right.

• 14:44Conan O'Brien?

  That's where Robert Half's new 2027 Salary Guide can help.

• 14:48Speaker 01

  That's good.

• 14:48Conan O'Brien?

  Did we use a salary guide with you, Sona?

• 14:50Speaker 01

  Uh, no, but maybe

• 14:51Conan O'Brien?

  For several years, I just gave you groceries. Remember?

• 14:54Speaker 01

  I know. Yeah, I remember that. That was not good.

• 14:56Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, well, anyway, now you got Robert Half's new 2027 Salary Guide. As a staffing firm placing talent every day, Robert Half combines compensation data with the experience of local recruiters. You can hire with the confidence that comes from experience. The new Robert Half Salary Guide is here. Visit RobertHalf.com/salaryguide.

• 15:15Speaker 03

  The Hulu original series, Phony, is coming to Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus October 20.

• 15:20Speaker 07

  My name is Sonny Cook. Ever since the accident, my mom looks different. You think your mom has been swapped out with a different woman? I know something, okay? Something's wrong. I don't know what's going on with you, but I know that I'm your mother.

• 15:33Speaker 03

  If that's not your mom, why do you think she is?

• 15:36Speaker 07

  I don't know, but I need to find her.

• 15:38Speaker 03

  Watch the Hulu original series, Phony, on October 20. Streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.

• 15:51Conan O'Brien?

  When we were first going out, I just noticed that I would, like, I need a giant hamburger.

• 15:56Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 15:56Conan O'Brien?

  You know, I need a, I need giant quantities of things, because it was all this very sort of compulsive, dealing with some trauma from childhood, I don't know, kind of way of eating, and maybe some of it's just in the bloodline, you know?

• 16:12Speaker 05

  Have you ever done that, like, father giving the kid cigars in the closet, and you just go to put a feedbag on and go until you're satisfied?

• 16:19Speaker 01

  I don't know. What are you talking about?

• 16:22Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that made no sense.

• 16:23Speaker 05

  You guys haven't heard that old story?

• 16:24Speaker 01

  Someone call a physician.

• 16:25Speaker 05

  No, there's a famous, like, thing where fathers would

• 16:30Conan O'Brien?

  Catch the kid smoking a cigar.

• 16:31Speaker 05

  Yeah, they'd put him in the closet and make him smoke a bunch of cigars.

• 16:34Conan O'Brien?

  To make him so sick of it.

• 16:35Speaker 01

  You did not word that properly the first time. That was a problem.

• 16:39Conan O'Brien?

  You need to go into a closet with a thesaurus.

• 16:41Speaker 04

  I think aversion therapy is what you're talking about, right?

• 16:44Conan O'Brien?

  You need to go into a closet with a shrunken white coffee.

• 16:46Speaker 05

  Where my cigar heads out there, they'll know.

• 16:47Conan O'Brien?

  So, um, yeah, so what I noticed right away is, and this is still kind of the case, although I think I've changed a lot, but, uh, we're somewhat better, but I would just need, like, I need a giant steak and a lot of potatoes. Then I need some pie. And I would look over and she would be like, well, I'm just gonna have, it's good to have a salad first. I'll have this salad. I'll have these walnuts. And I'm always running into her, and she'll say, did you eat lunch? And I'll go, yeah. I took two pizzas and wrapped them around each other, unhinged my jaw and slid it down, and heard a splash when it hit my stomach. And I'll say, what did you? And she's like, I'm good. I had some walnuts. Um, I had a little piece of, I had a radish that was really good.

• 17:32Speaker 04

  He used to call me cornucopia Jones when we were first dating.

• 17:36Conan O'Brien?

  It was all, it's all little, like, and then I, and I had just a little bit of mustard on the, and I had, it was delicious. And I'd be like, what are you talking about? That's not a meal.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Sounds healthy.

• 17:46Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, she's very healthy.

• 17:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 17:47Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it makes me crazy.

• 17:48Speaker 01

  Oh, I'm sorry.

• 17:50Conan O'Brien?

  Do you ever go for, like, a, just, you gotta have a steak and dig into it?

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, I eat a lot of steak.

• 17:54Conan O'Brien?

  She makes also best steak that I've, my favorite steak, she, she, uh, when you make a filet or actually any kind of

• 18:02Speaker 05

  I hear she can do it with one spatula.

• 18:04Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. I think insane. I use a spatula to cook another spatula.

• 18:09Speaker 04

  He's got two spatulas to eat it with.

• 18:11Conan O'Brien?

  I was like

• 18:12Speaker 04

  Doesn't know why it doesn't work.

• 18:14Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, Edward Scissorhands of flap I think Edward Scissorhands of flapjacks.

• 18:20Conan O'Brien?

  No, you make it amazing. You grill. You're a master griller. She grills up.

• 18:23Speaker 04

  That's awesome.

• 18:24Conan O'Brien?

  Like, I'm always really excited when I say, you know, oh, we're gonna make steaks tonight. Uh, we're, actually, me and the kids are all super excited, because it's better than anything I get in a restaurant. That's for sure.

• 18:34Speaker 04

  That's nice.

• 18:34Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, enough being nice.

• 18:35Speaker 01

  I have, I have another question.

• 18:36Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 18:37Speaker 01

  He talks about how, like, on one of your first dates, he muttered murderer to someone? Oh, okay.

• 18:42Conan O'Brien?

  No, not just murderer.

• 18:43Speaker 01

  Were you, were you ever

• 18:44Conan O'Brien?

  You tell the story.

• 18:44Speaker 01

  Were you ever concerned about his, like, mental health?

• 18:47Speaker 04

  Listen, I don't know what's wrong with me, but this, this, this is a long story, the first date, but by the time we got to that point, we had been

• 18:57Conan O'Brien?

  She brought backups. She arranged for us to meet other people because she thought, I don't know that I'm safe with this idiot.

• 19:03Speaker 01

  She did the right thing.

• 19:04Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 19:04Speaker 04

  No, it was, so I had made this plan with friends downtown, like, you know, when you're young, you make a plan to, like, meet up at 11:00 PM. That's not weird. And so, we were seeing an early movie, and so I thought, oh, well, he must have something else to do after that. So I didn't cancel my other plan. So, we get out of the movie, we go to the Mexican restaurant, we eat the chips.

• 19:25Conan O'Brien?

  We saw a man walk out, or someone walk out of a vagina, and then I jammed, I jammed a bunch of chips into my mouth, and it was like feeding paper into a shredder.

• 19:33Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 19:34Conan O'Brien?

  And then

• 19:34Speaker 04

  And then we walked up, uh, West End Avenue, and he, I was, like, waiting for him to say, like, well, I gotta go, whatever. And it wasn't happening. I was like, okay, this is going on, and now

• 19:45Conan O'Brien?

  I'm not gonna leave her.

• 19:45Speaker 04

  There's this, like, there's a bar in the corner. You said, do you want to get a drink? I'm like, sure. So we go into this bar.

• 19:51Conan O'Brien?

  And then you did a weird thing.

• 19:52Speaker 04

  I ordered a whiskey?

• 19:53Conan O'Brien?

  She, at the bar.

• 19:54Speaker 04

  Or scotch? I don't know what I

• 19:55Conan O'Brien?

  No, you did. You were like, oh, I'll have a, I'll have a whiskey neat. And they were like, okay. And I was like, wow.

• 20:02Speaker 04

  That's why I did it. Never since. Not one time.

• 20:05Conan O'Brien?

  Ever since. And then later on, I said, I thought you drank, like, I got her some whiskey. And she's like, I don't drink whiskey.

• 20:11Speaker 05

  Did you just panic and think of a film noir or something?

• 20:13Speaker 04

  I guess, or something like, that sounds like a cool thing to do. I'm gonna enjoy it.

• 20:17Conan O'Brien?

  And she chewed tobacco.

• 20:18Speaker 04

  Anyway, so we were, so we were there for a while, and I'm thinking, like, my friends are waiting for me downtown, and, and I thought, well, I don't want to bail on them, because that's kind of lame. I didn't tell them I had a date, and I didn't tell, so then I said, well, I'm supposed to meet people downtown. Do you want to come? He said, sure. And now this is post-whiskey whiskey.

• 20:35Conan O'Brien?

  I was not cool, because I could have said, I've got things to do. Buy, sell, buy, sell. But no, I went, okay, I've got nowhere to go.

• 20:43Speaker 04

  So we get in this cab to go downtown. Now, we both had probably something to drink at the Mexican restaurant and the bar.

• 20:50Conan O'Brien?

  We weren't sloshed, though.

• 20:52Speaker 04

  No, we weren't sloshed at all, but I think, and we're also, neither of us knows what's going on. And so, we're in this cab heading downtown, and he, you gave the address, or maybe I gave the address. I think you gave the address. You told them where we were going. And then you started going

• 21:07Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I know that, yeah.

• 21:09Speaker 04

  I, we all know that now. I didn't know that then.

• 21:13Conan O'Brien?

  So I just was like, okay, we're gonna go down to what?

• 21:15Speaker 04

  It was like

• 21:16Conan O'Brien?

  Like St. Mark's Place.

• 21:17Speaker 04

  Provda, I think, was the name of the bar.

• 21:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, we're gonna go to Provda. It's on, it's on, you know

• 21:21Speaker 04

  Bowery or whatever.

• 21:21Conan O'Brien?

  It's in the Bowery, blah, blah, blah. And the guy's like, okay. And I go like, thank you.

• 21:25Speaker 01

  Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

• 21:27Conan O'Brien?

  And the thing is, I, people who don't know me, I'm always doing a show, and the show is just for me.

• 21:35Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 21:36Conan O'Brien?

  So I don't care.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  I'm cringing for you.

• 21:39Conan O'Brien?

  So I'm just, I'm, I'm going, okay, thank you. And then I'm doing my sort of, like, pop, I like, well, I guess we're going now. Oh, he's gonna take a right.

• 21:45Speaker 04

  Oh, my god.

• 21:45Conan O'Brien?

  I'm doing a lot of stuff, and Liza's just not.

• 21:48Speaker 04

  I was being polite and not calling attention to it.

• 21:51Speaker 05

  So you weren't laughing or anything?

• 21:52Speaker 04

  You didn't even acknowledge it? Nope, I was like, it's almost, yeah, like, it was like he had Tourette's.

• 21:57Conan O'Brien?

  She, which, what do you mean, like he had Tourette's? Something's wrong with me.

• 22:02Speaker 05

  Did you feel like you were bombing? Did she want to respond?

• 22:05Conan O'Brien?

  First of all, you don't understand, Matt, and I'm gonna call you Matt. Um, you don't understand that it's not about it working or not working. It's just what's gonna happen.

• 22:15Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 22:15Conan O'Brien?

  Like, okay, oh, and I guess we're going now. And I'm always, I mean, I'm with David Hopping all the time, and we'll be on an elevator, and someone will say like, hey, Conan, it's good to see you too. I'll get you. And David's like, I think that person can hear you.

• 22:30Speaker 05

  So then you said murderer at some point, is that what you were getting to?

• 22:33Speaker 04

  I mean, I don't even know if that was audible. But it was just strange noises. Yes, okay, okay.

• 22:39Conan O'Brien?

  Strange noises and mutterings and weird asides that don't need to be said. This one thought, well, I'm so glad we're meeting up with, uh, other people. This will be a safe environment. And, um.

• 22:52Speaker 05

  But then we, uh, we had a really good time.

• 22:54Speaker 04

  Yeah, we did.

• 22:54Speaker 05

  And how was the second date brokered?

• 22:56Conan O'Brien?

  There was no second date.

• 22:58Speaker 04

  He called and left a message on my answering machine the next morning at like 11 and said, I had a really good time last night, you know? I don't know if it was like, let me, you know, give me a call or whatever, so.

• 23:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and then I didn't hang up, I went, anyway.

• 23:12Speaker 04

  Oh, no.

• 23:14Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, hey, I left that message to somebody.

• 23:20Conan O'Brien?

  Well, we only scratched the surface. We could do, we could do thirty, we could do thirty-five hours of just, and what would happen afterwards is that.

• 23:29Speaker 04

  You'd really lose your podcast.

• 23:30Conan O'Brien?

  People, no, people would be very entertained, and they would call in and say, you've gotta get away from him.

• 23:37Conan O'Brien?

  Are you safe?

• 23:39Conan O'Brien?

  Well, thank you so much for coming in.

• 23:41Speaker 04

  Anytime.

• 23:42Conan O'Brien?

  This is the love of my life right here.

• 23:43Speaker 04

  Oh.

• 23:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, um, and.

• 23:46Speaker 04

  My favorite thing about you.

• 23:48Conan O'Brien?

  You've always said that. You remember, you told me that once, you said like, you didn't say, if you said, Liza's the only thing about you I like.

• 23:58Conan O'Brien?

  But also, I was just out there in the hall, and we have the nice HD monitor out there, and I was just out in the, and it was before I came in, and.

• 24:05Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 24:05Conan O'Brien?

  I saw Liza up on the monitor, and there's a whole room full of people, and I went, look how pretty my wife is.

• 24:10Speaker 04

  Oh, that's.

• 24:11Conan O'Brien?

  I'm still smitten.

• 24:13Speaker 04

  Aw.

• 24:13Conan O'Brien?

  Now, what's for dinner?

• 24:16Conan O'Brien?

  A radish. I can't wait to have my nightly radish. All right, well, that has been Liza Powel, no, Brian, uh, and thank you so much, that was great, and then.

• 24:27Speaker 05

  Next episode is over to you guys, you get to take the reins.

• 24:30Conan O'Brien?

  You guys take over the whole podcast.

• 24:31Speaker 04

  Exciting, look out. God.

• 24:37Speaker 02

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

• 24:57Speaker 02

  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 Sirius XM 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.

• 25:45Speaker 01

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