Survivor 47 Pre-Game Day 3: Sol & Teeny

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Did you know that tens of thousands of German companies already use Shopify?

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: From innovative start-ups to family businesses with a long tradition?

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The Shopify commerce platform revolutionizes millions of companies worldwide.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: With Shopify, you can sell products via any channel.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether personal POS systems or comprehensive e-commerce platforms.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Social media and marketplaces such as Facebook, Instagram and eBay are also supported.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks to the ever-growing selection of innovative functions and reliable technical support,

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: it is very easy to set up your business with Shopify.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether product presentation or order and payment development,

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Shopify offers everything you need for managing your business.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So you can focus entirely on your business.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Try Shopify for free and make your business a success.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Visit shopify.de-try.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So, shopify.de-try.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Made for Germany.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Powered by Shopify.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey everybody, what's going on?

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Rob Cesternino back again and today, day three of our Survivor 47 preview.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to talk about and hear from two more contestants as we round out our first tribe.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_03]: As we talk about Saul and Teeny here with a guy who talked to them both before they played

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Survivor 47.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Give it up for Mike Bloom.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, I better call Saul and I call Teeny as well.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_02]: We talked over Zoom and yeah, very excited to not only talk to two other big personalities

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_02]: on this season, even if one of them is named Teeny.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_02]: But also, Rob, now get to have a full bird's eye view of what the LAVO tribe might be for

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: the first half of the season.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay, all right.

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So we'll do maybe a little bit of that at the end of the podcast after we hear from both

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_03]: of these players.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_03]: You can, of course, see everything we've done on day one and day two by making sure you're

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_03]: subscribed either to our YouTube channel or Rob's website.com slash subscribe.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, Mike, up first, we're going to hear from Saul.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you want to set up about Saul?

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_02]: So Solomon Yee, though he goes by Saul, at least in this interview, is 42 years old.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_02]: He is the oldest man on the cast from Weston, Connecticut, from my old neck of the woods,

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Rob, back in southwestern Connecticut.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And he is a therapy sales rep for a deep brain stimulation.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I will butcher the description of it.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: He has a much more eloquent way of describing it in our interview.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, suffice it to say, this is a guy that has a very solid way of looking at things

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_02]: in a manner of speaking.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_03]: So let's hear from Saul and then we'll come back and talk about it after the interview.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, let's start with the easy stuff here.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Why don't you give me your name, your age and your occupation?

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Solomon Yee.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm 42 years old and I'm from or you didn't ask me.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll tell you anyways, I'm from originally from Oklahoma.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I live in Weston, Connecticut now, and I am a deep brain stimulation therapy representative.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: It's the best job in the world.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I OK, you're going to have to tell me about what that is, especially because it's the

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_02]: best job in the world.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: So basically, I help people with neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease, epilepsy,

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: OCD, and it's a life changing therapy.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Like these people, they have been dealt the hand that they have no control over and their

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_01]: lives are crap because of these, you know, the symptoms that come from, for example,

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Parkinson's, like you're just shaking like this 24 seven and DBS or deep brain stimulation.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_01]: We basically put electrodes in the brain.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Not me.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I wish I did, but the neurosurgeons put electrodes in the brain and the part of your brain that

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_01]: control your movement.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And once we turn it on, it's like a pacemaker.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a pacemaker like device in the chest.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry, the leads are in the brain, but there's a generator in the chest that delivers

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: electricity to the brain.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And then boom, those tremors stop like in an instant.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Wow.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_02]: So then let's talk about, you know, a major career shift as it were, maybe temporarily

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_02]: to Survivor player.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Talk to me about your history with the show and what brought you out from Western Connecticut

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: to the islands of Fiji?

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I'm like a COVID baby.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I had never seen her.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Until 2020.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: My colleague from work, she was, you know, we're feeding off each other.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, what are you watching now?

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: What are you watching?

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_01]: She's like, oh, I'm watching Survivor.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, oh damn, that show is still on.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And she goes, yes, it's the best show ever.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, all right, I'll give this a try.

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And boom, first episode, I'm hooked.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I watched like four seasons in like a week.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not kidding you.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just remember going something inside of me was telling me like, you have to try

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: to play this game.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And I applied once, probably in 2021.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was my I almost said, cursed.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to break any rules here.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_01]: You tell me.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_02]: You can you be you haven't been talking for a while, so feel free to say whatever comes

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_02]: to mind as closely as a baby.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I made a shit video like it was I was trying to impress, you know, I wasn't being myself.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I was trying to think, what do they want from me and try to put something out there like

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_01]: that?

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And when I submitted it, I knew that I just knew I wasn't going to get on.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And then literally almost every day for two years, it's like I had this itch inside of

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: me, you know, like, dude, apply again, apply again, apply again.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And it is hard to apply.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, that itch just it wouldn't go away.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And finally, I'm like, fuck it, just try again.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And I really tried to be myself and it really tried to bring it.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And just because I knew like, dude, you're 42, man, you ain't got that much longer to

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: play this game.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, yeah, I brought it and I don't know why they picked me, but I'm like so blessed

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: to be here right now.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Like you guys, I don't know if you've ever been to Fiji, but I've been here for I mean,

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah, it's like as soon as I stepped off the plane, I'm like got slapped in the face with

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_01]: this beauty.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just I'm in heaven right now.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I'm married and my wife's not here, so she might get a little upset about this.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: But she'd also be very happy for me.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's I haven't even been there that long.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And my outlook on life has just changed dramatically.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, wow.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_01]: That's amazing.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I know you're a recent convert to Survivor, but look better late than never.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_02]: First off, second off from all the seasons you've recently blitzed your way through.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Give me one winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Definitely Gaebler.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Gaebler and I were both in medical sales, but that's really that's not necessarily why it's

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know Gaebler, obviously, but I feel like Gaebler has gone through some shit in

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: his life and he's overcome it.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And but his attitude is the way he just his outlook on life is beautiful.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And when I saw that, it really did inspire me.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And his ability to create bonds with people.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember in his final in the final tribal council, he had a story about every single

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: individual person with those one connections that he's made.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm really good at that.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had to do that.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had to develop one-on-one relationships with people just because of how I was raised

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and if I needed it, if I wanted to go anywhere in life, that's what I had to do.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And when I saw him do that, they don't really show that on the on each episode, but they

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: did explain it in that final jury.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And that really hit home to me is also he has an incredible he's very self-aware.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember in that first episode, like he tried it or not in the first episode, one

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: of the first few episodes, he took somebody out.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: He's like, man, I need to go under the water now because I'm I'm up here.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the Alligator.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And I really hope they can't hear me.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, like I'm I'm very self-aware.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I have I don't know what to call it, but I can see things that and pick up on things that

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: maybe most people can't that gives me information on like, OK, you need to calm down, Saul,

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: or, hey, that person's a little upset with you right now.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So you need to go talk to him or her.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And then as far as you said, a non game, a non-monometer as well.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: The flip side of that is Adam.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Isn't that his name?

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Adam with the with the long hair.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: He got voted out.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: He was the first member on the jury.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_01]: The season D1 Caleb, Caleb, Caleb.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Very charismatic guy like could connect with anybody.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I can I love doing like I love going to parties.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I love, you know, I'll talk to you for one minute, develop a relationship really quickly.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I'm bored.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll go to the next person.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And the problem with that is and I learned from Caleb is that you can't be doing that

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: right now.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm dying like that.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_01]: That's the hardest part of this is like I just want to like celebrate with everybody and like

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: just develop bonds with everybody.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_01]: But I also don't want to be the first on the jury or be the first one voted out.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, I can really identify with that, too.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_02]: So if I were to ask you, what is your biggest superpower and your biggest piece of kryptonite

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_02]: that you're bringing into the game?

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Is that superpower what you were speaking before with Gabler about that, like adaptability

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_02]: and ability to connect one on one with so many people?

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I would call it a it's not willpower.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yes, what you just said.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I absolutely have those capabilities and they're very, very strong skills for me.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_01]: But I call it it's not willpower.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_01]: It's called salt power.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Solar power, if you will.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, my name is Solomon and people call me Saul.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_01]: So when people say you got a lot of willpower, man, I'm like, who's will I got salt?

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And salt power to me is like I can do anything.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And being picked to be on this show, it's proven to me because if there's any doubt

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: in the world, you know, the things that I've tried to do, that's all gone now because I'm

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: on freaking survivor.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Like that's undeniable.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: They picked me to play this game.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And so now salt power is at its fullest strength.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Like nothing can stop me now.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't get me wrong.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I understand I might not win this game, but do I believe I will win this game?

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's like I think for me, that's that's the biggest thing there is because if you

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: don't believe you can win, if you don't believe that you can do anything, then you're probably

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_01]: not going to.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And whether you're right or wrong, it doesn't matter.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: It's the point is believe in yourself.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not cockiness.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not arrogance.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: It's just a belief that you can do anything.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's probably my biggest strength is my belief in myself.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_02]: What about the other side of things?

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, what's the what's the greatest chance of bringing down that salt power?

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Man, the very salt power is it's I feel like when people when I walk into a room like I

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_01]: grew up in Oklahoma.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a Korean kid.

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: There weren't very many Koreans in the room.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: When I'd walk into a room, all eyes would be on me.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And in order for me to, you know, at least have a chance in Oklahoma, I had to do something

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and to make so I made people laugh.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've done that my entire life.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And so in this game, if you that could be my kryptonite is that I could walk into the room

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and people be like, hey, that guy is dangerous.

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Get him the hell out of here.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, interesting.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Sort of like the jam jam side of things of like, oh, he's making us laugh.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: That means that people will want to keep him around.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_02]: He's dangerous.

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_01]: If they're smart, they will see that.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And well, let me rephrase that.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_01]: If I don't tone it down and I am my absolute self.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And they don't notice that, like, damn, he's good.

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Then that's their problem.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But if and I'm sure they are very smart, they will notice that.

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So that will be my kryptonite if I don't tone it down.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, let's talk about some of these people that might be laughing it up at your jokes

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_02]: for the next 26 days.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure you're picking up vibes from people over the past few days.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Who are some people that you're getting good vibes from that?

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Like best case scenario, you wind up on the beach with them with day one.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_02]: These are possible ride or dies.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a hard question to ask because our answer, because, you know, we're just here chilling.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But oh, yeah, there's one person.

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: She's the shortest person here and just got a very warm smile.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And every time I've looked at her, we've just kind of like, I don't know.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm feeling it at least.

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: That girl could be like we could be tight here, we could take this thing the whole way.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: It's also we're very, very different in terms of, you know, I don't think anyone would ever

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_01]: catch it.

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So she's probably one.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And then there's another person that when we were at the hotel going to the bus, we

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_01]: first person, the first person that I saw, we kind of connected.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And we've been like kind of unintentionally being like around each other a lot.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But other than that, I'm trying not to like go too deep with who I play with right now,

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_01]: because I know that everything is going to change once we can start talking.

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: So I hope that I'm sure that's not a great answer.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, that's what that's where my mind is right now.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_02]: What is the biggest thing you're taking away from Survivor 45 and 46 that you are incorporating

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_02]: into your own gameplay in 47?

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I think right now you just got to keep my mind right the entire way.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't get my emotions too high.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't ever get low.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Stay in the middle.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: That's my biggest takeaway, like because when you get emotional and you start getting crazy,

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_01]: your thoughts are just your decision making is very, very poor.

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And the other thing, too, is and Jeff said this actually act like it's your second time

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to play.

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I am a I'm not a pro poker player by any means, but I love poker.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I've won over $200,000 playing Texas Hold'em in tournaments.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, my goodness.

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's a passion of mine.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a professional by any means.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But when he said that to me or what not to me, when Jeff said that to me,

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I understood exactly what he meant.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: When you're playing poker, you have to take risks and you might lose.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You might go home.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't take those risks, you will absolutely never, ever win a poker tournament.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it's got to be the same thing here.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I have to take risks.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And so keeping a level head, but understanding you better take some risk, dude.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise, you ain't going to win.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, is that going to be incorporated into things like idols, advantages, journeys?

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_02]: You're taking any opportunity you can.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, well, probably.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm definitely going to think about it.

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I'm going to like if there's a beware advantage, I'm not just going to say, yep,

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing it.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I'm going to make sure that I like level headed, read it, make sure that it's beneficial

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and strategic for me, my game.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, I'll tell you, going back to last season, this current season right now,

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: idol plays like what the hell?

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Like guys, come on.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_01]: What are you doing?

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Read the room.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to it's very easy to say that like on the couch.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So I hope I don't do that here.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, I am planning on using idols like a shield.

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm using them as weapons.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I will be targeting people.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll see how many times I play an idol on myself.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But I genuinely anticipate to play idols for other people more than I do on myself.

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what kind of game I'm trying to play.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_02]: What is your most controversial survivor opinion?

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_02]: What's your hottest take about a season, a player, the show in general?

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So my parents, my family, they've been like, don't lie.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Make sure that you're being honest with everybody.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't come off as a person who's, you know, a liar or a sleazeball.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, that's my pet peeve.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, guys, this is a game.

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_01]: This ain't real life.

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_01]: You know who I am as a person.

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to play a game.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And the best way to play a game is to lie your ass off.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So like, I'm going to deceive people.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Like that's, and that's what I was telling them.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, stop it, stop it.

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's my pet peeve.

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Like who goes into a game and like, I'm not sure if like, for example,

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: like balderdash where you try to write a definite.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Could you imagine like if you played that game telling the truth?

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Like why are we playing then?

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: What is the point of this?

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, you know, that's, that's my pet peeve.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Like this is a game.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: They relax, chill out.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_01]: This is not who I genuinely am.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't get me wrong.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to be a lot of the show.

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to be myself.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I have to be.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That's how I'm going to create bonds.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But in terms of strategic gameplay, I mean, I got to do what I got to do.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And if you're not, if you're not, then you ain't going to win.

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_01]: That's just the truth.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Last thing I want to ask, if you could bring a celebrity

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_02]: or a fictional character out as a loved one,

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_02]: a loved one's visit on the island, who would it be and why?

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_01]: A celebrity or a fictional character.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I got to go with my boy, Matt Damon.

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, there we go.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Jimmy Kimmel will not be happy.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, you, Jimmy Kimmel.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Why?

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Why is that?

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Because Matt, that's what Matt Damon always says to him.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, I mean, in general, I know the.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, why are you big?

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_02]: A big Damon head?

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I just like his he's I think he's one of the best actors

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_01]: and I could use, you know, some coaching from the best actor,

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and in my opinion, to act better than I already can.

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And on the loved one.

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and by the way, everyone would probably be like,

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_01]: oh, you're friends with Matt Damon.

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, yes, my boy.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_02]: There we go as well.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm sure once you end up blindsiding someone,

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_02]: you can hold up your boat and say, how about them apples?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly, because I got a number.

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, this was such a great time to talk with you.

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I know that obviously there's probably so many feelings

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_02]: that are swirling about in your head right now

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_02]: as you're just waiting for your feet to hit the stand.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_02]: But I can tell just by talking with you,

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_02]: you have, for lack of a better term, a great heart and soul.

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_02]: So I am so excited that you get this chance

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_02]: to showcase yourself to us, to yourself as well.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, I'm sure it's all pins and needles right now,

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_02]: but I can't wait to see what happens.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_02]: What do you over the next 26 days?

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, thank you.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_01]: It's like I cried this morning.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I went to that.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_01]: We went to the beach.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I was there by myself.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_01]: It was so beautiful.

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And I like I have never done that before.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to cherish this next 26 days.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I've never cherished anything before.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: It's I'm so lucky.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so blessed and doing this with you.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It's so fun.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So thank you.

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_03]: All right, Mike, there you have it.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_03]: There's Saul Yee.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Saul Yee.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And I will say the word that comes to mind for me

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_02]: when it comes with to Saul is sustainable.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm not just speaking about the fact that he has his own

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_02]: internalized source of power, apparently,

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_02]: with the self-proclaimed Saul power.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But Saul just seems like a guy that seems very grounded

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_02]: and has, I think, an all around pretty good set of skills

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_02]: to do well in a game like this.

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Sustainable.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_03]: I've never heard a person described as sustainable.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm so what do you mean by that?

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I think it's the fact that this is somebody who comes in.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And yes, he is a more recent fan of Survivor.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But again, I think he'd be a little more surprised to know

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_02]: that he's surrounded by more of those types of people

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_02]: than he may think.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Hell, Rome, who's the last person we talked about?

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_02]: This is even more of a recent fan than him.

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_02]: But I feel like between his physical status,

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_02]: you know, perhaps his life experience,

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_02]: giving him a very grounded way of looking at things,

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_02]: but also having a little bit of a streak of strategy

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_02]: to him in the form of his poker skills.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I think he's set up to do at least pretty well.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like that for me that solved,

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like came across as like mysterious.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Like I feel like that he to me was almost like holding back.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And I wonder if and I think that I found him to be fascinating.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_03]: I really feel like that.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_03]: He seems like a character who's like stepped out of

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_03]: like a prestige drama,

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_03]: like he seems like such an interesting person.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Better call Saul, especially that when he says that,

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_03]: like one thing he's not gonna be afraid to do is lie in this game

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_03]: like another Saul that we've seen on television.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_03]: So I just think he seems like a suit.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, he has a super interesting job.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_03]: This is focusing on deep brain stimulation,

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_03]: which again sounds like something that would be fake

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_03]: in a movie or a TV show like, oh,

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_03]: that I've been working on my deep brain stimulation technique.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Not to imply that it's, you know,

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_03]: anything but the legit truth in his real life.

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_03]: But it does sound a little bit out there.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And he seems like that is his way of speaking.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_03]: I thought like was I was at the edge of my seat,

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_03]: not knowing what he's going to say.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_03]: But he doesn't seem outwardly gregarious to me.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And I do wonder how he's going to fit in when

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_03]: and maybe that maybe that's people will come to him as opposed to.

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_03]: He also said that he was going to have to hold back a little bit,

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_03]: that he has this wild side of the personality,

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_03]: which was interesting, right?

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I wasn't getting that from hearing from him.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I don't disagree.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, he compares himself to Caleb talks about how like

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_02]: his piece of kryptonite, right?

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I was like, oh, when I usually walk in, I'm having everyone laughing.

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Everyone's yelling, Saul, like it's cheers or something.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_02]: But I have to tear back on that because much like Caleb,

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to be the one to stick out.

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, again, maybe it was just I don't know,

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_02]: the time and place we were speaking,

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_02]: or maybe, you know, it wasn't coming across over the medium we were using.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I wasn't necessarily getting that as well.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_02]: But to your point, maybe when he has people in front of him

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_02]: or the game actually settles in, he'll be able to turn that on,

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_02]: though, much like a faucet,

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_02]: like you need to be able to turn it down to a drip as well sometimes.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Otherwise, again, as we've seen very recently,

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_02]: that's something that could get you targeted

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_02]: almost immediately from a merge situation.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_03]: What else stood out to you, Mike?

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so let's talk about Saul's poker side, as it were, because.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_03]: All the players have not done great on Survivor.

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I saw that's give me a little bit of

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if it's if it's just like his size,

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_02]: a little bit of John Robert energy as well.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Perhaps one of the best poker players,

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_02]: ironically enough to do well on a Survivor.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm intrigued to see what Saul is going to reveal

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_02]: about his background, because obviously I would imagine

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_02]: he's going to obfuscate the poker stuff

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_02]: because that comes with such a stigma associated with it.

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_02]: But something that I'm surprised he didn't really talk about

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_02]: as much when it came to his own interpersonal skills

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_02]: is the fact that he does work in sales.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And look, it's been a little while

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_02]: since we've had this conversation,

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_02]: not since the days of Cody Ossenmacher and Justine Brennan.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_02]: But I do wonder, is he going to be sales forward

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_02]: when it comes to his job and how much might that come up?

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Especially if again, if he does open up

[00:24:09] [SPEAKER_02]: and be a bit more gregarious and personable,

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_02]: as he says he usually does.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Does that come with that then a veneer of people thinking,

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, are you just trying to pitch me on something?

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I don't know if he ends up.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't think he should talk about that in the game.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm thinking if he sticks with the I'm a therapist

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_03]: and I work with people and I help them over.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, he had a very great description

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_03]: of what he gets to do and helping people

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_03]: with all sorts of horrible diseases

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_03]: that he can really, I think, come across.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I just he says he'll play idols on other people.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Which I think, you know, may not be great for him.

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_02]: But if I'm looking for an ally,

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_02]: that's a fantastic quality to have.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Like you want to use them as weapons.

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_02]: This is right out of Carolyn playing the idol on Carson.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Right. And yes, it's a help him, honestly.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think it's something that invites you

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_02]: to want to work with somebody.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Right. I'm like, oh, you have an asset

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_02]: that you will use on our behalf cumulatively.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Great. I'd much rather work with you

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_02]: than somebody who's just going to sit on that thing

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_02]: and not tell me about it

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_02]: and then maybe selfishly use it on yourself.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_02]: So I do think depending on what parts of himself

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Saul opens up to others,

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I think he could get in good somewhere.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02]: I also think he is one of the probably

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_02]: physically strongest people on this tribe.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_02]: He does list in his bio that one of his hobbies is CrossFit.

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And there is some talk by some of these other players

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_02]: that we'll get into about like him being,

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I think, one of the bigger guys that they refer to.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_02]: So again, I would imagine strength isn't everything.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_02]: But in these six person tribes,

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_02]: it certainly helps in the beginning.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I just envision a situation where like,

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Saul is able to maybe blend in personality wise

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_02]: with some of the bigger people around him

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_02]: while also being personified as an asset to the tribe.

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_02]: And then it kind of becomes like

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_02]: a nice ride or die down the line.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Is that a winning strategy?

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know necessarily.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_02]: And maybe much like we saw with Hunter

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_02]: could Saul's physical prowess work against him in the merge.

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_02]: But ironically enough, despite it being on a red tribe,

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't see many red flags about him initially.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_03]: He said he had great vibes with the very short girl.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Is that who we're going to talk about next?

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I am assuming so.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't get a chance, obviously,

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_02]: to get heights from these people

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_02]: because I didn't see them in person.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_02]: But I know I think there was also talk about maybe Caroline

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER_02]: being a bit smaller.

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I'd like to imagine that it is teeny

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_02]: just because I do think a saltini alliance

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_02]: was just sound like a nice happy hour drink

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_02]: could be a fun, low key dynamic to see on this tribe.

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, Mike.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_03]: We should talk about teeny.

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Anything else on Saul?

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_02]: No, nothing else on Saul at the moment.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Again, I'm very intrigued to see my brain is stimulated, Rob,

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_02]: by this conversation with accomplished.

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think there's a there's an interesting amount

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_02]: of potential to him, but those upsides come with downsides as well.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, we got one more person to talk about.

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's talk about teeny when we come back right after this.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Mike, the sixth and final member of the Lavo tribe

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_03]: that we have to talk about is teeny.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. So teeny at Chirichio.

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_02]: She is 23 years old, currently in Manahawken, New Jersey.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And she is or I should say was a salute tech consultant,

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_02]: a associate solutions architect.

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_02]: But she's one of those people that left their job shortly

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_02]: before coming out to Survivor, hoping to net a million dollar paycheck.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_03]: OK. All right.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_03]: So formerly of the tech world now in the survivor world.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's quite the opposite unless you count those coconut phones.

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. OK, Mike, anything you want to set up about teeny?

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Teeny is I mean, it's tough.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_02]: This is a heavy competition to see, Rob, who is the biggest super fan in this cast?

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I know we've been talking about a lot of recent fans,

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_02]: but a teeny is someone who lives and dies by a survivor.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_02]: She wrote in her bio as hopefully just lives.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_02]: As one of her favorite hobbies, she said, literally, survivor,

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_02]: avid podcast listener attend all nearby watch parties,

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_02]: have played mock versions, written research essays

[00:28:26] [SPEAKER_02]: and find a way to weave it into every conversation I have.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_02]: But someone knew I meet not getting it.

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So this is someone who comes in with a deep seated love

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_02]: and passion for the game, as well as the content around it,

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_02]: which means perhaps identifying one of a couple of notable faces in this season.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, all right. Let's listen to Mike's interview with teeny.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_03]: We'll come back, talk about teeny and then all of the Lavo tribe in full.

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_03]: All right. How are you doing right now?

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_06]: I am feeling good that I'm talking to you.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_06]: Otherwise, a little bit paranoid taking in everybody.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, so thrilled to be here.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_06]: This has been forever a dream of mine.

[00:29:07] [SPEAKER_06]: And yeah, overall, I'd say pretty good.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, listen, I'll hopefully be a friendly face that you can come to

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_02]: in the midst of all the other treachery around you.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_02]: But I'll start you off nice and easy here.

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Why don't you give me your name, age and occupation?

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_06]: OK, so my name is teeny.

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_06]: I am currently 23 years old.

[00:29:27] [SPEAKER_06]: So my occupation, I had to basically quit my job to come out here.

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_06]: But I was working as a tech consultant.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_06]: And I think the story of how I got that job is more interesting

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_06]: and will probably appeal to more people than the actual work of being a tech consultant.

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_02]: You tell, please.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_06]: OK, so it all starts.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_06]: I was 16 years old.

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_06]: I was scrolling on my phone as I do.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_06]: And I saw a meme on Instagram that was like, if you text the phone number,

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_06]: that's like one digit above or below your own.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_06]: That's your text or neighbor, like a play on next door neighbor.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_06]: So obviously, you know, I pull out my phone.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_06]: I do it. The text goes through blue.

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_06]: I know it's delivered.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_06]: And on the other end, the person responds.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_06]: And we have this back and forth conversation not revealing who we are, anything.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_06]: And then it comes out at the time I was 16.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_06]: She was 26.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_06]: We ended up kind of maintaining this friendship.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_06]: She lived in New York City.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_06]: She was the first person I ever came out of the closet to.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_06]: And then when I was in college, she actually helped put me in touch with

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_06]: the tech company she worked for.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_06]: And then at 22 years old, when she was 32, we worked together at this company.

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_06]: So, yeah, that's like a crazy story.

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like, yeah.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_02]: But what a perfect setup for a type of show where it's, hey,

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know you from a hole in the wall, but we have to work together

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_02]: to create this communal exercise.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Pretty much part and parcel what you just did with your text or neighbor.

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_06]: Precisely. Yeah.

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like that story is like very representative of kind of like how

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_06]: I can create and maintain relationships and like how I also kind of spontaneously

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_06]: fall ass backwards into jobs and things like that,

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_06]: which is I think a skill that could really help me here.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you mentioned Survivor being, you know, a long held dream.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_02]: I know you wrote in your bio that, you know, one of your hobbies

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_02]: is literally Survivor and everything contained in and around it.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_02]: So give me your history with the show.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And what made you decide to, you know, say, I've been a super fan for so long.

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's time I start being a player.

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_06]: Right. So my mom watched the show from its conception,

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_06]: which is like right on par with my conception.

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_06]: It came out a few months before I was born.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_06]: And she saw me like running around backstage.

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_06]: I like my sister's dance recital, just kind of willing and dealing

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_06]: with all the dancers and was like, she's going to win Survivor one day.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_06]: So she put me onto it.

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_06]: It was Fabio season, which randomly, I feel like a lot of people start with Nicaragua.

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Everyone's feeling that post Heroes vs. Villains glow.

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_02]: They're like, surely the next thing should be great.

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Exactly. And like for some reason, it's like a lot of people's first seasons.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_06]: And for some reason, it hooks us.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like it's like if you like it and you get it, you get it.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Even if it's like Nicaragua.

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_06]: So I started watching it.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_06]: I was also a huge Big Brother fan.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't know if that's like a bad word to say around here.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_06]: I was obsessive about reality TV and watching adults communicate and fight

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_06]: and all of that from like a very young age.

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_06]: It was just my passion.

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_06]: And yeah, I've just been obsessed with Survivor.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_06]: I wore a buff every single day of high school.

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I've like, you know, gone out of my way to pest players.

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't even know if you're aware.

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_06]: The two of us have a picture together at one of the years.

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, we do.

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. So once I saw your face, I'm like, OK, I have quite literally this picture

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_02]: perfect memory when it comes to it.

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_06]: So yeah, I've like I've met Survivor players in extremely serendipitous ways.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I met Dean Kowalski was eating at my restaurant one summer before

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_06]: this season even came out.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_06]: And the two of us kind of forged this friendship.

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_06]: I hung out with Richard Hatch when I was 19,

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_06]: when I was visiting Rhode Island and just shot him a long DM about,

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_06]: hey, I'm a super big fan.

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_06]: So we went out to lunch and I've tried to incorporate Survivor

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_06]: into my life in so many ways.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_06]: But I think the place in life that I'm at now,

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_06]: in college, I'd made a few audition tapes and I watched them back

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_06]: and I was like, there's just something not right here.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I am not ready.

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_06]: Something about the way I'm articulating myself isn't real.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_06]: I needed to kind of, I feel like get out of college,

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_06]: pick a few of my like college habits and lived in New York City for a year.

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_06]: I moved back home.

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_06]: I was like, now's the time I applied and it's worked out.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_02]: So looking back upon your voluminous knowledge of Survivor,

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_02]: give me one winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Any of those previous names popping up?

[00:33:45] [SPEAKER_06]: So my winner is Mike White.

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like Mike White, I relate to so much.

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like he sort of was strategically and physically underestimated,

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_06]: which is what I anticipate like my energy will be.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like he is just really good at like making genuine relationships

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_06]: with people and like having just sort of like very subtle ways of doing so.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_06]: Like just like the way I feel like he can like look at people

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_06]: and make them feel comforted and just like tiny moments and things like that.

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_06]: And just kind of like forgoing the bullshit.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like he's, I don't know if I can curse,

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_06]: but I feel like I'm just somebody who can like really get to the heart

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_06]: of somebody quickly in a way that he can.

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_06]: And I also think that I'm a writer as well.

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_06]: And that's like something I definitely want to explore more after this.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_06]: It's something I do on the side,

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_06]: both kind of professionally and just personally.

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like the way that I sort of like conceptualize things is similar to him.

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_06]: I have a cynicism that is like him.

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_06]: And yeah, I hope to play like him.

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_06]: And then non-winner, I feel like Ty is somebody who I'm like,

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like Ty, I am very sensitive.

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like Ty is also very sensitive.

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_06]: The aspects of the game that are like super like numerical

[00:35:06] [SPEAKER_06]: and things like that are like going to be a struggle for me.

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Like the very like technical, like strategic parts are not things that like,

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_06]: I always need to listen to like 20 RHAP podcasts

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_06]: to understand like the prisoner's dilemma things and stuff like that.

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like Ty also didn't have like the tightest grasp on that aspect of the game.

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_06]: He had such freedom within relationships because people liked him.

[00:35:28] [SPEAKER_06]: And he was a very present player who made decisions

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_06]: and had the freedom to make decisions based on just like his intuition

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER_06]: and things like that.

[00:35:37] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like that's a way that I will also play.

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_06]: And he's had some, both of his placements are awesome.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, like third and fourth, nothing to sneeze at.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_02]: To that point, give me your biggest superpower

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_02]: and your biggest piece of kryptonite you're bringing into the game.

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Does that relate to what you were just talking about?

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_02]: About being a bit less numbers oriented or a bit more soul oriented as it were?

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_06]: Perfectly put.

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_06]: So I think that like my biggest superpower will be my social relationships

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_06]: and my ability to make people feel comfortable.

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_06]: My ability to kind of like, hopefully bring just like, yeah,

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_06]: a sense of home to people around camp.

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_06]: And also just like to be this sort of like bumbling little sibling type character energy

[00:36:23] [SPEAKER_06]: like for people in a Ty and sort of also in a Laine Stott way

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_06]: that I think disarm people about me.

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_06]: But I think, yeah, my kryptonite would definitely be

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_06]: that I just am not very left brained.

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_06]: Puzzles are, you could give me 24 hours with a puzzle

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_06]: and it's just not gonna go too well.

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_06]: I've practiced a lot and I've improved, but that kind of thing.

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_06]: And yeah, just like the types of like very technical

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_06]: like vote splitting type things I'm going to need help with.

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_06]: So I'm sure like hopefully working with people

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_06]: and kind of being a yin and yang situation is what I'm looking for.

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_02]: You talk about studying the puzzles to the best of your ability.

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, again, as a student of the game,

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_02]: what has your prep process been like once you found out you were coming out to play?

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, so I did CrossFit five days a week for like three months.

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_06]: But then my shoulder and my back started to hurt.

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_06]: And I was like, I don't really need to keep increasing my deadlift weight.

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_06]: That's not necessarily gonna help me so much.

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_06]: So once I got that sort of foundational athleticism,

[00:37:25] [SPEAKER_06]: I just took it back to Judgment Free Zone, Planet Fitness

[00:37:28] [SPEAKER_06]: and was working out there.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_06]: I also live by a beach very close to a beach.

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_06]: I would like go to the beach and do some sprints

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_06]: and run there to get used to like the sand and things like that.

[00:37:39] [SPEAKER_06]: I did do puzzles.

[00:37:41] [SPEAKER_06]: I have like three or four survivor puzzles that I would sit down and do every single day

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_06]: just to get my brain, you know, used to how a puzzle works

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_06]: because that's just not something in my wheel of tricks.

[00:37:53] [SPEAKER_06]: But also I practice fire every single day.

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Got pretty good at doing that.

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_06]: And I would also try to every weekend like put myself in a situation

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_06]: with entirely new people just so I could like gauge

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_06]: how new people responded to me, like different types of people,

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_06]: how quickly I could get somebody to like me,

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_06]: what types of people I felt like were harder to.

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_06]: So it's sort of just try and put myself, you know,

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_06]: either on a bar stool next to a stranger and talk to them

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_06]: or just that I completely just ask my friends to bring me along

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_06]: to different situations.

[00:38:25] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So you mentioned at the very beginning how you're happy to see,

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_02]: a familiar face on behalf of all the strangers that are around you.

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure you have takes about them.

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Talk to me about some people that you're picking up good vibes from.

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_02]: You think best case scenario, we hit the beach on day one.

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_02]: This could be a ride or die for me.

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay, so I'm going to start with someone who I think you and I both know,

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER_06]: and that is AW, who I recognize to be a RHAP podcaster.

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_06]: So yeah, I saw her and I was like, I think it's her.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_06]: Got a little closer.

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_06]: I was like, I'm 99% sure.

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_06]: Heard like the smallest snippet of her voice.

[00:39:02] [SPEAKER_06]: I was like, I'm 100% sure that is an RHAP podcaster.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Would love to work with her.

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Have no intentions of telling anybody that she's an RHAP podcaster

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_06]: because that would also reveal that I know

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_06]: who a really niche commentator of Survivor is.

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_06]: And I think if I'm trying to blow up her spot

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_06]: for being a super fan in that way,

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_06]: I'd be, you know, simultaneously taking myself down too.

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_06]: But would love to work with her.

[00:39:24] [SPEAKER_06]: Obviously, I'm a huge fan of RHAP.

[00:39:26] [SPEAKER_06]: Think she's amazing.

[00:39:27] [SPEAKER_06]: And like, that would be great.

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_06]: Also, mom and mom.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_06]: I know, I don't even know if she is a mother.

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't know if she has children.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_02]: She could be mother.

[00:39:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Well, that's what I was just going to say.

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm like, she is mother to me.

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm obsessed with her.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_06]: Like, I love her vibes.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_06]: Just like the woman who's a little bit older than the rest of us with blonde hair.

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER_06]: She seems like one of my friend's moms

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_06]: who I'd like sit around the counter and drink wine with and talk shit with.

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_06]: And like, I would love to be with her.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Yesterday, she was wearing like head to tail blue.

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_06]: And I'm like, I don't know if this is like an overt signal to all of us

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_06]: that you're on the blue tribe, which I am on the red tribe.

[00:40:06] [SPEAKER_06]: So I kind of mourned just in preparation that she will not be with me,

[00:40:10] [SPEAKER_06]: but would love to eventually get to play with her.

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_06]: There's a guy who's tall, who has some facial hair.

[00:40:17] [SPEAKER_06]: And he's skinny.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_06]: And he just kind of reminds me of New Jersey.

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_06]: He looks like sort of an amalgamation of all the cross-country boys from my high school

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_06]: and every line cook from every restaurant I've worked in,

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_06]: which is like really comforting to me.

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_06]: There's a Hawaiian girl who has a really nice smile.

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_06]: She's charming the pants off of everybody.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_06]: I saw her at the airport chatting up a guy at the ticket line.

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_06]: I've seen her just...

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_06]: She's made me feel good.

[00:40:48] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm sure she's made everybody feel good.

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_06]: So I think she'll do really well.

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_06]: I could go on and on, dude.

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, let's go to the other side.

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Name a couple of people that maybe you're not picking up some good vibes from.

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, so there's two.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_06]: So one of them has the haircut that I had all throughout high school,

[00:41:04] [SPEAKER_06]: which is like down, pin straight down to my shoulders.

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_06]: It's a dude.

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_06]: He parts it like at his ear.

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_06]: I think his initials are AR.

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_06]: I've seen him every step of this process.

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER_06]: Literally, when I was at my finals, I saw him.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_06]: He's just giving me nothing.

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER_06]: Absolutely nothing.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_06]: I've convinced myself he hates me.

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_06]: Anything I've gotten for him has just been like that.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_06]: That. Dead eyes.

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_06]: And so there's him and then there's also the other guy with shoulder length hair.

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Both of them have been putting it up in man buns, which is questionable.

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_06]: And so both of them...

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_06]: And I've also just convinced myself that they will be on my starting tribe

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_06]: and have just started to try and mentally prepare myself for that.

[00:41:50] [SPEAKER_06]: But yeah, both of them has just been giving out.

[00:41:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Like they have not been playing the eye contact game,

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_06]: have not been playing the wink game.

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_06]: And I'm like, I don't get that.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_06]: So obviously they could be very different, but that's where I'm at.

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_02]: What's your most controversial survivor opinion?

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_02]: What's your hot take?

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_06]: My hot take is that I believe every season of Survivor

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_06]: should have a handful of people who do not know a single thing about the show,

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER_06]: who have not really seen it,

[00:42:16] [SPEAKER_06]: who have maybe seen a season that was shown to them.

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Are you just manifesting this that you hope that's the case on your season?

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_06]: OK, listen, here's the thing.

[00:42:24] [SPEAKER_06]: Of course I would like that because then I could, you know,

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_06]: it would work well for me.

[00:42:29] [SPEAKER_06]: But in general, like even on Nicaragua, like Nayaka was plucked off of a boardwalk.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm pretty sure Courtney Yates was taken from a restaurant in New York City.

[00:42:38] [SPEAKER_06]: Like some of the most captivating, entertaining people who play just unpredictably

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_06]: and who are kind of learning the ropes as it goes,

[00:42:47] [SPEAKER_06]: are people who just aren't, you know, me,

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_06]: who literally has a picture with you

[00:42:51] [SPEAKER_06]: and like, you know, knows every little intricate detail of this game.

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_06]: Of course, it would be beneficial to us game bots

[00:42:57] [SPEAKER_06]: because, you know, we can kind of like take advantage of their cluelessness.

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_06]: But I also just think it would just add a level of like entertainment

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_06]: and unpredictable unpredictability to a game where like

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_06]: even, you know, as many twists as you can make,

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_06]: the people who really know their shit, sorry, I keep cursing.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_06]: The people who like know their stuff or at least just know

[00:43:17] [SPEAKER_06]: that they have to adapt to those kinds of things,

[00:43:20] [SPEAKER_06]: like adding people who don't know any of that would just be super cool.

[00:43:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Quick last thing, you know how I end these interviews.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_02]: If you could bring a celebrity or a fictional character out for a loved one's visit,

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_02]: who do you pick and why?

[00:43:32] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, so it's so tough because I have so many like parasocial relationships

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_06]: with all sorts of celebrities and fictional characters.

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_06]: My like fictional characters are probably the most like unreliable narrators.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I love girls, so I wouldn't pick like Hannah Horvath to give me any advice.

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, and I probably wouldn't pick Nancy Botwin from Weeds,

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_06]: which is my other like favorite show.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_06]: But I think that I would honestly bring Trisha Paytas out here because...

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_05]: Oh my god.

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't know if that'll be controversial.

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_06]: I think some people will eat that up.

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_06]: But it's because I feel like there's only so much like strategic,

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like conferencing I could do to really help me.

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_06]: Like Trisha would be someone to gossip with.

[00:44:16] [SPEAKER_06]: She would make me laugh.

[00:44:17] [SPEAKER_06]: It would be like a lifelong dream to meet her.

[00:44:19] [SPEAKER_06]: It would be like meeting her on behalf of like me

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_06]: and all my friends who are obsessed with her.

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_06]: And I just feel like she would really bring me just like

[00:44:26] [SPEAKER_06]: a joy and a light and like a laughter that I need.

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_06]: And she'd probably also bring like tons of fast food to eat.

[00:44:35] [SPEAKER_06]: Which would be really helpful too.

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_06]: So that's who I'm going to pick.

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Maybe I'll regret it later and come up with someone else.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_06]: But that's my pick right now.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I love it.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And listen, everything you were saying about what Trisha brought,

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I think you brought to this interview.

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I remember when we met

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER_02]: and I picked up such a warmth from you there.

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm so happy we got it here

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_02]: in the form of watching you become a future survivor player.

[00:44:55] [SPEAKER_02]: I am so excited for you.

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_02]: You may be teeny, but you're going to make such big steps in this game.

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And I am so excited to see what happens with you.

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Thank you, Mike.

[00:45:05] [SPEAKER_06]: It was really good to talk to you.

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_06]: This has been a dream of mine as much as survivor has been, too.

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_06]: So oh my God.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_02]: No, the pleasure was all mine.

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_02]: So best of luck.

[00:45:12] [SPEAKER_02]: I know I'm throwing you sort of back into, you know, the the the pedal

[00:45:15] [SPEAKER_02]: pot of anxiety, but I can't wait for that steam to release

[00:45:18] [SPEAKER_02]: and to see what happens in the game.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_02]: I will talk to you on the other side, my friend.

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_06]: Thank you, Mike.

[00:45:23] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_03]: There you have it.

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Teeny and Mike and teeny took a photo, I believe,

[00:45:30] [SPEAKER_03]: not the most famous photo that Mike Bloom took that night.

[00:45:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Ah, yes.

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Listen, there was there's a lot of fun faces around at the time.

[00:45:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Not of a gasified Mike Bloom photo.

[00:45:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I wonder if it was from that night.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it was.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it was.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, listen, that night, those series a couple of days

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_02]: actually had quite a few people from season 47 as well.

[00:45:52] [SPEAKER_02]: So that was basically like day negative 30 of Survivor 47.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And we didn't even know it.

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_03]: But let's talk a little bit about teeny and teeny.

[00:46:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Infectious energy.

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Very excited to be there.

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I'm always thrilled for people when there's OK, this

[00:46:12] [SPEAKER_03]: this is my dream to get to do this.

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, I'm thrilled for people like teeny who,

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_03]: you know, are right there.

[00:46:22] [SPEAKER_03]: It's so exciting for them.

[00:46:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:46:24] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, that's a reason why Jeff likes to bring on people

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_02]: that only know the game, but love the game no matter when you hop into it.

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_02]: It's just that energy and enthusiasm that also helps you kind of meet production

[00:46:35] [SPEAKER_02]: as well when it comes to all these things being thrown their way.

[00:46:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And I will say, look, I talked about this with Asia, Rob, that just because you have

[00:46:43] [SPEAKER_02]: this unbridled enthusiasm and knowledge of the game does not always translate

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_02]: into being a survivor player for what it's worth.

[00:46:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I think teeny could be like an underratedly good winner pick for this season.

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think that teeny has the upside to sort of like a B

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_03]: underestimated in terms of like, you know, we've seen it before with players like Erica

[00:47:07] [SPEAKER_03]: or players that are sort of like smaller in stature.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_03]: I think especially the women will be overlooked and people do not see them coming.

[00:47:18] [SPEAKER_03]: That could be a deadly mistake for some of the other players that are out here in the game.

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_03]: She says she recognizes a W and is ready to.

[00:47:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Can root for you, Rob?

[00:47:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Ready to work with a W.

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's also good.

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that also smartly identifies, OK, well, I don't want to.

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_03]: What do I want to get rid of the the podcaster?

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_03]: That's going to out me as a podcast as a podcast listener.

[00:47:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's really interesting as well.

[00:47:48] [SPEAKER_02]: There's a little bit of like mutually assured destruction of not only do I have sort of

[00:47:53] [SPEAKER_02]: one side of relationship with this person at this point, knowing who they are and

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_02]: and knowing their knowledge of the show, but also like if I go up to somebody in the first

[00:48:01] [SPEAKER_02]: couple of days and say, oh, this person knows a lot about Survivor.

[00:48:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's get rid of them.

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_02]: The implication is also, well, don't you also know a lot about Survivor?

[00:48:10] [SPEAKER_02]: If you know somebody who also knows a lot about Survivor?

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So there is this interesting sort of dance as well.

[00:48:18] [SPEAKER_02]: And I do wonder, like I would imagine we'll talk about this in a little bit.

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I think Asian teaming might be one of the tightest pairs that exist, at least primarily

[00:48:26] [SPEAKER_02]: or initially based on this preexisting dynamic.

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, is it an alliance fundamentally built to last on that as well, especially

[00:48:35] [SPEAKER_02]: considering that like both of them know the game so well that I think it's only going

[00:48:39] [SPEAKER_02]: to be in a certain amount of time before they're like, yeah, we can't go to the end with all

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_02]: super fans like you.

[00:48:44] [SPEAKER_02]: We all know how to make our perfect final travel council pitch.

[00:48:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, well, you have to go with somebody.

[00:48:49] [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, good problem to have like later on in the game of trying to figure that out.

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_03]: But I think that the idea is just get to a point where you're within striking distance

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_03]: for now.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Mike, have you ever contacted your text door neighbor?

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_02]: I have not.

[00:49:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I have not been that adventurous.

[00:49:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Do it now.

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_02]: You want me to text my next door, my text door neighbor now?

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, all right.

[00:49:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Should I go up or down, Rob?

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Up.

[00:49:17] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:49:20] [SPEAKER_02]: What should I text to them?

[00:49:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Can you you're my text door neighbor?

[00:49:24] [SPEAKER_02]: You're my text door neighbor.

[00:49:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Should I include an emoji in there?

[00:49:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Can we circle this up?

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Do like the crazy emoji?

[00:49:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that, you know, we did reference a certain survivor winner in Tini's interview.

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Have it like the crazy eyes with like the tongue hanging out.

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I like that.

[00:49:41] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, like I'm a crazy text or neighbor.

[00:49:43] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you want from me?

[00:49:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, welcome me.

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's that's really the image you want to see on your

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_02]: your electronic front door.

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to do I'm going to do the wink with tongue out.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, we'll see where that goes.

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it might go a little worse than the possibility of an Asia Tini relationship.

[00:50:03] [SPEAKER_03]: We might have to extend this podcast another 10 minutes to make sure we hear the response.

[00:50:08] [SPEAKER_03]: But anyway, this I think is going to be very fun for Tini.

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, well, I will say, Rob, is that this is not technically

[00:50:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Tini's first foray into the world of playing a game of Survivor.

[00:50:23] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, Tini has done one of these live reality games, these LRG's.

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_02]: I believe she recently participated in a season of I think it was like

[00:50:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Survivor Gettysburg that aired earlier this year on YouTube.

[00:50:37] [SPEAKER_02]: And look, I'm sure there's plenty of arguments as she did.

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Survivor Gettysburg, is she out of the running for Survivor 50 or that's OK?

[00:50:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I mean, I guess they say play like it's your second time playing.

[00:50:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And I guess this technically is for Tini.

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm sure there's argument out there as to like do LRG's count, especially online.

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Do ORG's count?

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I do think that, you know, again, it's not a one for one comparison,

[00:51:01] [SPEAKER_02]: but Tini did have to play a game of social strategy where she was interacting

[00:51:05] [SPEAKER_02]: with people trying to persuade them, trying to, you know, sneak behind their back,

[00:51:10] [SPEAKER_02]: pull off some big moves, trying to find idols, trying to win challenges.

[00:51:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And she did respectable.

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_02]: I think she ended up finishing in sixth place.

[00:51:18] [SPEAKER_02]: So I think it's at least going to come in handy somewhat.

[00:51:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, there are at least some skills that carry over from doing one of these like

[00:51:25] [SPEAKER_02]: four day things in a park versus going to the island and playing it proper.

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, all right.

[00:51:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Mike, we've got six people and some interesting developments.

[00:51:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I've got my cards out.

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_03]: So all right.

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_03]: So if Asia and Tini are going to be there that you would think off the bat

[00:51:49] [SPEAKER_03]: aren't going to go after one another, right?

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_02]: I would imagine that the two of them are going to be in pretty lockstep initially.

[00:51:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't see any reason why they wouldn't want to turn on each other,

[00:52:01] [SPEAKER_02]: why they would want to turn on each other.

[00:52:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I think even Rob, there might be a mention that will obviously not make air.

[00:52:06] [SPEAKER_02]: But like, can't you think they're on the beaches of Fiji looking up at that

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_02]: beautiful starry night and say, let's do it for Rob?

[00:52:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know about that, Mike, but look, I love that for them.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So now, Kishan was the person that I have bad vibes from Asia,

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_03]: bad vibes from Tini.

[00:52:28] [SPEAKER_03]: They he sees them together.

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_03]: He's not going to like that.

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:52:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, OK, now, Mike, we have Rome, we have Saul, we have Genevieve still.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Now I am very curious about could Saul's buddy be Kishan?

[00:52:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Do you think that, you know, is that Saul works in the medical field?

[00:52:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Here's Kishan, the doctor.

[00:52:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Is it possible?

[00:52:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:53:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So the way that I was seeing Lavo laid out here is not too dissimilar from what we initially

[00:53:08] [SPEAKER_02]: thought the dynamics of SIGA would be, which is I'm not surprised at all if we get,

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_02]: you know, a coalition between the three women of Asia and Tini,

[00:53:17] [SPEAKER_02]: and they bring Genevieve in and then they pick up a guy, either Saul,

[00:53:21] [SPEAKER_02]: if indeed like Tini was the person that Saul was talking about.

[00:53:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Saul's angels?

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Saul's angels or Rome as well.

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I think that we talked about this last time that I think

[00:53:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Rome and Asia could have a good connection as well.

[00:53:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And so I imagine that would be the group which would leave

[00:53:37] [SPEAKER_02]: a combination of Kishan and either Rome or Saul on the outs.

[00:53:42] [SPEAKER_03]: I just we have Genevieve also.

[00:53:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Is it possible that Genevieve and Kishan could link up?

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Could that be a could that be a duo?

[00:53:53] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, Genevieve is definitely the biggest wild card here, partially because the way

[00:53:58] [SPEAKER_02]: she obviously talked about herself in my interview was like, well,

[00:54:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I can really go one of two different ways.

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So I could also see a world where like even for a brief portion of time,

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_02]: you know, the women decide to work together.

[00:54:11] [SPEAKER_02]: But like Genevieve presents herself as maybe too much of a loose canon or doesn't

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_02]: necessarily vibe with what's going on that they decide like, OK,

[00:54:19] [SPEAKER_02]: she's too much of a liability here.

[00:54:21] [SPEAKER_02]: We need to borrow her from our alliance court, if you will.

[00:54:24] [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't wouldn't necessarily count her out as a prospective first boot either.

[00:54:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Honestly, I think it would be between depending on when this tribe goes,

[00:54:33] [SPEAKER_02]: if they go early enough, I would say it's probably between Genevieve and Kishan.

[00:54:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I feel like I could see Rome with Asia and Tini.

[00:54:42] [SPEAKER_03]: And then.

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_03]: I really it's going to come down to like what are the other three people end up doing?

[00:54:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And OK, interesting to see how it plays out.

[00:54:56] [SPEAKER_03]: But I feel like that.

[00:54:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think Genevieve or Kishan have a lot to say in terms of how this is all going to go down.

[00:55:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but who knows if it turns out that like they really need strength in puzzles again,

[00:55:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I would imagine that Kishan would be someone to turn to just based on his

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_02]: the scholarly way that he presents himself.

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And so maybe he'll be seen as an asset there.

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Genevieve might be somebody who actually does get in really well and hits

[00:55:23] [SPEAKER_02]: the positive end of that mood spectrum.

[00:55:25] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, who knows?

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't really see anything glaringly

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_02]: as much of an Achilles heel quite literally for Rome challenge wise with this group.

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_02]: So I feel like all that assessment kind of got thrown out the window last season.

[00:55:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Look at Yanu, they're so strong and all around.

[00:55:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Surely they're going to crush the challenges only to see what happens.

[00:55:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not looking at this group really seeing a huge hot mess tribe.

[00:55:49] [SPEAKER_02]: But from what we saw between Yanu and Nami,

[00:55:52] [SPEAKER_02]: it's almost incorrect to even make those assumptions about how often they'll go to

[00:55:56] [SPEAKER_02]: tribal council.

[00:55:57] [SPEAKER_02]: So who knows?

[00:55:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe there's a chance that they all win out anyway, and it doesn't necessarily matter.

[00:56:02] [SPEAKER_02]: But I do think the three safest in the premerge for me would probably be Asia,

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Rome, teeny, and then maybe like Saul probably being kept around for strength.

[00:56:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And then one of Kashan or Genevieve or both going early.

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, if this group immediately decides to start playing,

[00:56:22] [SPEAKER_02]: we have someone like Rome that is looking to start hustling like he does.

[00:56:26] [SPEAKER_02]: And then you have someone like Saul who has that poker player knowledge

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_02]: wanting to come in and be his ride or die.

[00:56:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Then we can have chaos cause almost immediately here.

[00:56:34] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, Mike, who's coming up on day four?

[00:56:36] [SPEAKER_02]: All right. So day four, we are going from red to yellow.

[00:56:41] [SPEAKER_02]: It is time to move on to another tribe as we are talking Gata, the yellow tribe.

[00:56:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And tomorrow we're talking about two A's here.

[00:56:50] [SPEAKER_02]: We have Andy, who might be yet another familiar face to those that are in the RHAP community

[00:56:56] [SPEAKER_02]: and Annika.

[00:56:58] [SPEAKER_03]: OK, Andy and Annika coming up on day four.

[00:57:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Make sure you hit that subscribe button to get that episode as well.

[00:57:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And Mike, what's coming up for you over on Parade.com?

[00:57:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, listen, if you're already chomping at the bit to hear about Gata,

[00:57:13] [SPEAKER_02]: I got to you covered over at Parade.com.

[00:57:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I already have at this point all written interviews with the six members of Gata.

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Feel free to check that out.

[00:57:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll be moving on next to the blue tribe, the Tuku tribe.

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So check all that out over at Parade.com

[00:57:28] [SPEAKER_02]: and everything else I'm doing at a Mike Blum type.

[00:57:30] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:57:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you all so much for joining us once again.

[00:57:34] [SPEAKER_03]: We love to get your comments on these interviews that you hear,

[00:57:38] [SPEAKER_03]: how you think it's all going to play out.

[00:57:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Just of course, keep it classy, everybody.

[00:57:45] [SPEAKER_03]: All right.

[00:57:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much for checking out another Survivor 47 preview here.

[00:57:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Take care.

[00:57:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Have a good one.

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Bye.