Knicks, Community, and Chaos: Charlie Mattera Unfiltered

Charlie Mattera is back, and we go everywhere in this conversation — from Knicks fever and New York’s electric sense of community to the wild state of politics, power, and the people pulling the strings. We talk loyalty, street smarts, the cost of fame, the truth behind “Hillbilly Elegy,” and yes… even aliens. It’s sharp, funny, honest, and completely unfiltered.

If this episode brought you a little joy, consider liking, subscribing, or sharing it with someone who might need it.

As always, remember it really is All About The Joy.

Other videos with Charlie Mattera: 

Resilience and Reinvention in Hollywood
https://youtu.be/7Xmv_rgKuDo?si=nnLLCUxu-yPHw6fs

A Screenwriter's Tale Of Hollywood Dreams
https://youtu.be/EkWWfKFrCV4?si=qIKq2fglGyB1YF8n

Thank you for stopping by.  Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share.  

You can now watch the livestream version of the show on YouTube at @CarmenLezeth 

You can also support us by shopping at our STORE - We'd appreciate that greatly.  Also, if you want to find us anywhere on social media, please check out the link in bio page.

Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth


DISCLAIMER:  As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast.  Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance. 

Transcript

[00:00:16] Carmen: Okay. Charlie, thank you for doing this. I'm so excited. 

[00:00:21] Um, how are you? How are you feeling after last night's basketball craziness with the Knicks?

[00:00:27] Charlie: It's about time. But, you know, I mean, it's been forever since they won anything. I mean, I remember when I was a kid watching them win with, I think it was Willis Reed and Walt Frazier, and Henry Bibby, and, uh, who was the guy? Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. They got

[00:00:46] Carmen: those are not the people I remember. So, 'cause I remember

[00:00:49] Charlie: this is... I'm dating

[00:00:51] Carmen: Ewing and like I... Lookit, I'm from Boston, so let's just be clear. You're from New York, I'm from Boston, and you know the DNA is that we hate the Knicks no

[00:01:00] Charlie: You know what? But I love Boston. I was up there. What a cool town. I really liked it a lot

[00:01:06] Carmen: Listen, it's just kind of a, a joke. I love the... Like, I'm pulling for the Knicks. I was so excited last night watching. I only w- watched the second half, like, intermittently, 'cause basketball has changed so much, right? From back in the day when we watched it, I mean, I, I-

[00:01:22] Charlie: you know how it works if you're from back east and say, say I was a Boston guy. Now, if Boston doesn't get in and the Knicks get in or somebody from Philadelphia, now it becomes a northeastern thing. So you gotta root for the team that's closest to where you come from. Like I would never root for the Dodgers.

[00:01:44] No offense. It's just not something I would do. You know, even though they come from Brooklyn. I don't know, but I love California. I'm a California guy now. I can't live in New York anymore. New York sucks

[00:01:57] Carmen: Okay, wait, wait. So then I, I, I do it differently. I, I'm pulling for the Knicks because it's just, it's time. You know what I mean? And I will never vote for anything for Texas. I'm sorry. I

[00:02:08] know. 

[00:02:09] Charlie: I can't do it.

[00:02:10] Carmen: I just can't do it. But I was thinking about how amazing... Like, when I was growing up, I remember there was, you know, the Celtics, it was like Larry Bird and Danny Ainge and,

[00:02:21] Charlie: Pavle Chek

[00:02:22] Carmen: yeah, just like Robert Parish, like whatever.

[00:02:24] There were all of... And then it was like we hated the Lakers, but that was like Magic Johnson and, um, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It was, and then the Nets was like Ewing, and I don't remember all the names, but like, um, Oakley or whatever. But that's when it was like the cities, right? There was all this loyalty. I think what I hate about it now, and, and I don't blame Michael Jordan because Michael Jordan was like the '90s, but that's when all the branding started, where it was individual players as opposed to cities.

[00:02:55] Does that make sense, or am I

[00:02:57] misremembering that? 

[00:02:57] Charlie: know, I, I kinda look at it this way. Um, these guys have been doing this since they're children, and by the time they get to the professional ranks, Jesus, man, you make one wrong move, you, you blow out your knee, you, you destroy your back, you ruin your neck, you never play ever again. So you better have that F-you money.

[00:03:18] So for these guys, and you know, they all live high on the hog. The, a lot of these guys come from families who had nothing, and they were the whole family, so when they made money, man, everybody got houses and cars and whatever. And these guys, these guys have a big, big, big nut to meet, reach every month. So even when you think about the money you're making, people forget there's managers, there's lawyers, there's, uh, agents, and, and then the taxes.

[00:03:45] So basically you're only making about 46 cents on every buck, and when three-quarters of that is going out the window to relatives and moms and dads,

[00:03:55] Carmen: Well, I, I wish somebody would send me some money. I'm just saying, like, I, I, I hear you, but I don't feel that sorry for

[00:04:01] Charlie: Oh, I don't

[00:04:02] Carmen: making millions

[00:04:03] Charlie: I don't feel bad for him, but I'm just saying I understand that when somebody says to him, "Hey, you come play with us, man. We're gonna pay you 300 million for five years," you gotta take the money. You can't not

[00:04:14] Carmen: I totally get it, but here's, here's the thing that I think is beautiful about what's happening with New York, which is what I've missed from back in the day, is the... I mean, I don't know if you've seen the videos or whatever, but the communities, like just everybody in New York in the streets watching,

[00:04:30] Charlie: I saw that last night. That was pretty cool

[00:04:32] Carmen: it's beautiful.

[00:04:34] Like, that's what community is all about, and I feel like we're missing that

[00:04:37] Charlie: the best part about that was? They weren't carrying on, they weren't flipping cars over and burning them and whatever. It just looked like, it looked like a gigantic block party, like the old days where everybody's mom comes outside with some kind of food, and we all just eat, and then someone's father fights with someone's father, and then at, by the end of the night they're hugging and kissing each other.

[00:04:59] Carmen: Right. Exactly

[00:05:00] Charlie: I really, um, I miss that, you know, sense of community. I guess we've gotten to the point now where everybody just wants to hide in their house, you know? They don't wanna. But when you have something like this with the Knicks, it forces everybody to come outside. So everybody has something to talk about.

[00:05:18] Doesn't matter what, where you come from or who you are or what you look like, at least you can talk about the Knicks, you know?

[00:05:24] Carmen: Well, can we talk about Mandani? I mean, like, how do you feel about the mayor? I think he's had a lot to do with also making that place feel more community again. I, I mean, I don't know how you feel about it,

[00:05:36] but 

[00:05:37] Charlie: I don't, know the guy that well, but you know what? I kinda like him. He's young, he's sharp. He seems like he really actually cares. He wants to do the right thing, and most of these guys go into this business to make money. I don't see, I don't see that from him. I, I'm not smelling that off of him. I mean, you gotta ask yourself, if somebody's a billionaire, what the hell do they wanna be in public office for?

[00:05:59] What are you doing, man? Go buy a island somewhere and disappear. Who cares?

[00:06:04] Carmen: Right.

[00:06:05] Charlie: never understand

[00:06:06] Carmen: I should tell people, we're already like way into this whole conversation. First of all, Charlie Mattera, you've been a friend of mine for a long time. You've been on the show various times. Yeah. And, and then we also did a, like a whole interview thing with you that was like a two-parter that I'll link again here.

[00:06:24] But, um, thank you for doing this. Andrea, uh, had to take the day off,

[00:06:29] Charlie: She's funny. I like her, she's funny.

[00:06:32] Carmen: Oh, you do? She's

[00:06:33] Charlie: Yeah, she's funny. She's a, she's a real sarcastic wit, you know? And you'd get to s- she just, the looks on her face when you say something that, you know, and she just has this, "Eh." She's got this dry thing going on. No, I think she's funny. I like, I, I, she's a very smart girl

[00:06:50] Carmen: Yeah, no, thank you so much. She, she's, uh, an amazing human being. She's one of my best friends and I love her. But I'm so glad that you're doing this, so thank you so much and, um, for hanging out with us here on Culture and Consequence. Um, I wanted to ask you, um, besides the whole basketball thing, just one more snippet, what did you think about Donald Trump showing up for

[00:07:11] Charlie: You know, there's so many things going on in the world that need attention. Bes- not just, not just here at home, but also, uh, on foreign shores. I don't think the president should go anywhere when he's got soldiers in the battlefield or guys out there. I think you should sit in the office and do your job.

[00:07:31] I don't think you should go play golf. Uh, that goes for any of them. I mean, I don't know what the hell you're doing playing golf when the world's burning. Uh, it just makes no sense to me whatsoever. I don't know what those guys do anymore. I know him. Jesus, what a just, what a th- just a walking embarrassment wherever he goes, everything.

[00:07:53] I don't know what the hell did you go to the ball game for? Why'd you do that, man? Did you see yesterday before the ball game, people were walking around burning sage all around Madison Square Garden?

[00:08:02] Carmen: that

[00:08:03] Charlie: I cracked up when I saw that. Look, does, does the guy not realize people do not like him? They don't like what he stands for.

[00:08:09] They don't like him. They don't like his family. They don't like what they're doing

[00:08:14] Carmen: I think he's being, um... And I am not, you know I am not defending Donald Trump at all, but I think he is only being told what he wants to hear. I don't think there's anybody who's actually telling him the truth, because every

[00:08:28] Charlie: I, you know what?

[00:08:29] Carmen: he's, like, just full of shit

[00:08:31] Charlie: Let me tell you something. This guy, he knows everything that's going on. Nobody has to tell him anything. He's a criminal. He's a straight out wannabe gangster, and he's just shaking down the whole planet. That's all he's doing. You want something from him, pay him. You don't want something from him, don't pay him.

[00:08:50] You wanna get on his wrong side, talk shit about him. You know, I think what they should do is, I believe the news and all the, the media should freeze him out for a week. Don't even talk about

[00:09:03] Carmen: the media's all owned by his buddies

[00:09:06] Charlie: they should stop talking about him. You wanna see this guy freak out, don't talk about him for a whole week.

[00:09:10] Jimmy Kimmel should put a clock on his show to, it's called the No Say Trump clock, and every show, every minute they can get past where he doesn't bring up his name, money keeps going on the clock. And then a celebrity can show up and say, "What do we got up there? We got 50 grand? I'll tell you what, I'm gonna match it.

[00:09:30] I'm gonna put 50 grand on there." And whenever he slips up and does say the n- the name, the money goes to a charity, you know? I mean, they should have the no Trump money clock, and I think it could be a great gag

[00:09:46] Carmen: I mean, it would be a great gag, but here's my thing. Republicans are still supporting him. That's why he's still in office. He should've... Yeah

[00:09:54] Charlie: took the money, that's why. These guys are all about money. They don't give a shit. They're gonna say whatever they wanna say, whoever pays them. And I wouldn't be surprised if he's got the book. He's got the book of all the dirty deeds done dirt cheap, and he's got everybody's name, he's got everybody's...

[00:10:10] Carmen: crap

[00:10:11] Charlie: Well, I just believe whatever he needs to have on each and every one of them, he's got it. These guys are throwing away 40, 50-year careers for what? For the dumbest human the American country has ever produced? 

[00:10:24] Carmen: Yeah, I don't know 

[00:10:25] Charlie: it's just absolutely insane. I got no problem with him, but if you wanna be a criminal, go be a criminal.

[00:10:31] Don't run the country

[00:10:33] Carmen: Wait, so you think, you think he has something on all

[00:10:37] Charlie: Every one of them. Every one of them. Why would they do that? Why would they throw away all reason, all morals, all values? These guys got wives at homes. They've got daughters at home. How do they walk in the house at night and the wife goes, "Well, he just, he just took my rights away"? Any politician who's got a brain in his head should stand in front of a room full of women and say, "Raise your hand if you think you are less than.

[00:11:05] Carmen: Right

[00:11:06] Charlie: less than any man? Are you less than any child? Are you less than anyone? Why is it now that you don't have the rights you had five years ago? Who-- Why? What, what makes a woman any less than anyone else?"

[00:11:21] Carmen: I think it's scary to think that, that he has... I mean, I guess that would make more sense 'cause I haven't been able to figure it out why these Republicans keep supporting him,

[00:11:31] Charlie: Money and dirt. Money and dirt. Oh, yeah. What? You don't... What? Look, Lindsey Graham,

[00:11:40] Carmen: Oh,

[00:11:40] Charlie: got some crap on him?

[00:11:42] Carmen: yeah. I mean, we all have crap on him, so

[00:11:45] Charlie: this, this guy, the speaker, this guy, he's like a Muppet. That's what he reminds me of, that guy. He reminds me of

[00:11:52] Carmen: what's weird about him is that he keeps claiming he's a Christian and he keeps doing everything that's against being a

[00:11:57] Charlie: He's not a Ch- he's not a Christian. I'm Roman Catholic, and I'm not the best at it, but I know that hurting people, grabbing people out of their houses who are, like, a gardener or a landscaper or they paint houses. I mean, you know, look, if they really wanna get rid of some bad guys, why don't they just back up to the prisons?

[00:12:19] I'm sure there's a shitload of guys in there that are never, ever getting out. Five and six life sentences. It costs $60,000 a year to keep them there. You wanna save some money? Get rid of those guys. Load 'em up in an airplane.

[00:12:32] Carmen: But wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean roll up to the prisons? They're, they're doing this because they hate immigrants. They hate brown and

[00:12:41] Black 

[00:12:42] Charlie: no, yeah, that too, but see, they like making money also. So these prisons are run by private industry, which most of them have a stock in or own a piece of. So it's, it's, it behooves them to keep as many people locked up as possible, 'cause that's money. It's a business. You know, they don't feed these guys.

[00:13:01] They're wearing the same clothes every year. They're sleeping on the same mattress, but the, but the DOC is charging them like it's a brand-new mattress and a brand-new uniform every year. You know? It's, uh, everything is a scam, and people are starting to realize it, that look, they're all sitting around in a room.

[00:13:20] They wanna fix the highways. They wanna fix the bridges. I literally think it's almost like this: "Okay, we gotta fix that bridge in Minnesota. We gotta fix that bridge in Pittsburgh. Tommy, you know a guy who's got the steel, right?" "Yeah, my friend of mine. I'll, uh, I will talk to him. We'll get it hooked up."

[00:13:34] "How's he gonna get the bid?" "We'll throw in two other BS bids, but we're gonna give it to my friend Tommy. It's gonna be envelopes for everybody." "Who's gonna do the concrete?" "Oh, yeah, we got a guy who's gonna do the concrete." This is what they do. They give the work to all their friends, and all their friends give them money.

[00:13:49] If you don't pay, you don't get the work. It's, that's it. You wanna p- he's gonna get ready to pardon this Sam Bankman-Fried now. They're talking about that.

[00:14:00] Carmen: I know

[00:14:01] Charlie: I mean, why, uh, what's the pardon p- you know, the pardon power is supposed to be for some guy who the DNA is found after 25 years, it's not him, that the witnesses were all lying.

[00:14:14] That's what the pardon power is for. It's not for... You know, I, it really gets my shorts in a bunch every time I see one of these guys get caught that's involved in Washington or whatever they're involved in, and then they go through this whole trial that costs, like, probably two million bucks, and then I hear the judge sentence them to six months in federal confinement.

[00:14:36] Now, six months. There's some kid stealing a steak in an inner city. He's gonna get two years, three years for stealing a steak. But nobody asks the question, "Why is he stealing a steak?" Maybe he's hungry, you know? Maybe he needs to eat. Nobody should be locked up for stealing food, you know?

[00:14:55] Carmen: Well, but, but look it, he- here's the thing that I think people don't know about you. Um, you know a lot more about this world than most people, um, and it's out there, people know that. So I, I trust your judgment, but, but here's my question. When does it end? What do you see happening in the future for this t- do you think it will end?

[00:15:18] Do

[00:15:18] you think this time of Trump will end?

[00:15:21] Charlie: the, the shame of it is, is that, um, see, the prices r- rose crazy during COVID, but then when COVID was done, the prices stayed the same. How come they didn't go back to the prices that they were before COVID? Now we have this problem with Iran and getting us into war. I don't know.

[00:15:43] What the hell are we doing over there? They're getting a nuclear weapon. Obviously, we feel it's our business to get in on that. I mean, we have nuclear weapons. W- why would they want one? You know, obviously to keep us from bothering them. I don't

[00:15:56] Carmen: I, but, but Charlie, the reason why we got into war is because he wanted to. We already had a deal with Iran about

[00:16:05] Charlie: I don't know what he got went in there for. I think he went in there for because, you know, everybody makes a lot of money whenever we're at war. We s- we use a lot of bullets. We gotta make new bullets. We gotta make new missiles, uniforms. People have to feed all those soldiers o- on the ground over there.

[00:16:20] It's a big, big machine. There's a lot of money being made. And you heard him yesterday, he said that at night we're stealing the oil right from out from

[00:16:29] Carmen: He's... Look it, I don't listen to him anymore because he's deranged

[00:16:32] Charlie: Even if it's true, what a dumbass thing to say. I believe,

[00:16:36] Carmen: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:36] Charlie: my thinking, that, like I told you a long time ago, I thought he was sitting in a room with 12 people who he owed most of his money to, and they said, "We're not giving you any more money because we were hoping you might screw up, make money, and we might see some.

[00:16:52] But now we're gonna make you president. And when we make you president, you're gonna let us rob the place, and you're not gonna say shit about

[00:17:00] Carmen: No, but to what end? How much money do you need

[00:17:04] Charlie: I don't... That's the big major question. That's the $64,000 question. Well, I don't know, what would that be now? $64

[00:17:11] Carmen: don't know, like a million or something. I have no idea

[00:17:13] Charlie: that would be the question, because you have to ask yourself, if we're all dead, you can't juice us if we're all dead.

[00:17:22] Carmen: Or if we're all poor, if

[00:17:23] Charlie: shake us down if you can't shake us down if we got nothing to give you, unless you start crushing us up and eating us, or you start stealing our body parts. I don't know. It almost seems like it's Soylent Green, you know, in a weird way, where we're headed. But I think they've gotten their five, 15 pounds of flesh out of him.

[00:17:45] I think the powers that be behind him have really dipped their wicks, and I think everybody's getting real full, and I think, uh, his time is almost done.

[00:17:57] Carmen: You do?

[00:17:58] Charlie: He looked so sick

[00:18:00] Carmen: we're going to have elections and we're going to get past this

[00:18:04] Charlie: I don't think he'll make it to November. I don't-- He doesn't look good. He looks like he's ready for the, for the heart, for the heart attack.

[00:18:12] But then again, rotten people live forever. Only good people die young. It just seems that way. But he has made such a mess. And I think he's gonna try to s- control the elections. I think he's gonna try to stop it. I, I think that's his only move, is to declare some kind of martial law. Maybe possibly something horrible happens in this country to give him the excuse.

[00:18:37] I don't know. I pray it-- nothing like that happens. But, um, he's just-- It, it's-- The guy's gotta go, you know? And the one next to him is just as bad. I mean, Vice President

[00:18:48] Carmen: don't even h- uh,

[00:18:50] Charlie: Vice President, you know what I call him, right? That's Vice President Mascara.

[00:18:54] Carmen: Masca

[00:18:54] Charlie: He needs, he needs to just, he needs to just, just, you know, come on, be who you are, bro.

[00:18:59] We don't care. We don't care who you are. Just

[00:19:02] Carmen: Yeah, no, no, no. I think the thing about JD Vance is, and the reason why I never really talk about him, he's just... It, it's not even that he's a liar, he just is a flip-flopper. He's gonna do whatever

[00:19:14] Charlie: Whatever which way the wind blows.

[00:19:17] Carmen: And, and it's disgusting to me.

[00:19:18] Charlie: What, what makes that worse is 'cause he's a smart guy. He's not a stupid guy. He's very intelligent, you know? And we heard all his thoughts before he jumped on, before he drank the Kool-Aid. And

[00:19:30] Carmen: I read his book too. I actually bought his book and read it

[00:19:33] Charlie: Yeah. Yeah, but you know, you know, obviously that we all found out that the most of that was BS. I

[00:19:41] Carmen: It's all

[00:19:41] Charlie: that- the people he grew up with said, "We can't figure out what the hell happened to him," you know? And they

[00:19:46] Carmen: he also dissed so many of the people that supposedly got him to where he's

[00:19:50] going, so whatever 

[00:19:51] Charlie: you wanna get famous, just trash everybody you know. Don't try to make up a good story.

[00:19:57] Just, just change all the names and trash everybody you know. I

[00:20:01] Carmen: Yeah, he's, he's a nasty person. But

[00:20:03] Charlie: Well, he's just-- he's creepier than, than Trump. He reminds me of Martin Sheen in the, in the Christopher Walken movie, when Martin Sheen-- "Dead Zone," where Martin Sheen and Christopher Walken shake hands, and Christopher Walken can see that this is the guy that'll hit the button.

[00:20:24] He

[00:20:24] Carmen: Oh, I don't even

[00:20:25] Charlie: and he real- Oh, it's a great film. It's, it's "Dead Zone," yeah. It's Christopher Walken gets, uh, has a horrible car wreck, and then afterwards he has this sixth sense where he can sense things that are happening in people's lives and, uh, it, you know, it's a, it's a good, it's a good, uh

[00:20:42] Carmen: I'll have to watch it. I thought I've seen every Martin Sheen

[00:20:45] Charlie: Well, it's a Stephen King book, uh, brought to

[00:20:48] Carmen: probably why I didn't see it.

[00:20:48] That's 

[00:20:49] Charlie: yeah. No, it's a, it's a, it's a great little film. A great, uh, uh, I really like... I always liked Christopher Walken. Weird cat. I met him once, me and my writing partner, at the Chateau. Yeah, Chateau Marmont. He came over and wanted to have a drink with us.

[00:21:04] "Hey fellas, what are you doing after the celebration?" He was like, "Perhaps you'd like to have a beverage," you know? And my, and me and my buddy Todd were all dressed up for this, and I had this tan suit on, and I was tan as all hell. This was like 30 years ago, and my hair was, like, yellow. I had this light blue shirt on and, and, and Christopher Walken came over and did his little thing, and then he split, you know.

[00:21:27] And no, well, well he asked us to go have a drink with him, and it felt a little off. And I looked at, to Todd, you know, and I said, "Oh, you know, normally we would go, Mr. Walken, you know, 'cause we're big fans and everything, but we gotta pick up moms at the airport, we, you know, in about an hour and a half, and we don't wanna be late."

[00:21:42] I go, "She's bringing the white gloves. She's gonna check our apartment." You know, and he was like, "Okay, fellas. Maybe another time." And he split. And then my buddy Todd looked at me and he goes, "Great." He goes, "That's just great." I go, "What?" He goes, "It's all your fault with that frigging tan suit. You look like a frigging Creamsicle.

[00:21:59] He had to come over here and talk to us. And now, uh, I don't know what to think about him anymore." I go, "Just, just relax, man."

[00:22:06] Carmen: I can't believe you didn't have a drink with Christopher Walken

[00:22:09] Charlie: He freaked us out, you know?

[00:22:11] Carmen: Yeah, it would totally freak me out too. Wait, people should know that you're a writer, a producer, and an actor in this town, and you've been very successful, huh?

[00:22:20] Charlie: so is, so is every cab driver out here too.

[00:22:22] Carmen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you're actually somebody who works in this

[00:22:25] town, 

[00:22:26] Charlie: actually went to, I went and got ice cream the other night, and the guy doing the swirl, the medium swirl, he said, you know, "Turn around, screenwriter." And I was... I was like, "Of course you are." "Give me your stuff, I'll-- Give me your stuff, I'll read it."

[00:22:38] You know. You know what? It's, that's the only thing good about this town, and that's the only thing good about America, 'cause truthfully, I don't give a shit. You could come up with an idea. You can fall asleep. You can wake and you trip over yourself, fall in a pile of garbage, and then we go and you got something.

[00:22:55] And now the fight begins, and you're gonna try-- people are gonna try to rip you off and steal from you and whatever. But if you stick with it and stick to your guns, holy shit, something great could happen. And especially in Los Angeles, thousands upon thousands of people come here hoping and praying. You know?

[00:23:13] And there's a lot of horror stories, but there's a lot of great stories too.

[00:23:16] Carmen: I know, but that's the thing about the United States in general that I think I miss, right?

[00:23:22] That I... 

[00:23:23] Charlie: used to be

[00:23:24] Carmen: Used to be that you, you could dream and find a way to get there if you were lucky and if all the things came into play, you know? But I feel like we've lost that. And again, it's going back to the whole New York community thing.

[00:23:38] I think one of the reasons why I was kinda tearing was not because I was watching the Knicks, but it was the community, like that feeling of, uh, people just having a common happiness moment, you know, a common bond. Um, and then somebody was, like, handing out pizzas. There was a pizza joint that was, like, just handing out boxes to everyone, and you know-

[00:24:03] Charlie: 'cause that feeling is infectious. When, when people gather over this downtrodden team that has been st- taking up the place for 30, 40 years, and then finally they pull it together with ... Uh, they're all held together with Band-Aids, these guys, just like New York a- and New Yorkers. We've all got problems.

[00:24:24] We're all miserable. We all have that one relative that we can't stand. We're, we all have ... The only thing that is different about us is, uh, our language or where we come from, but we're New Yorkers, man. And that's like, you know, it reminded me, 9/11. You know, when 9/11 happened, everybody in this country said, "Look, forget about Black and white, forget about brown and tan, yellow and purple.

[00:24:54] They just hit us.

[00:24:55] Carmen: Yeah

[00:24:56] Charlie: We hate each other, but we're gonna put that shit to sleep right now because we're New Yorkers, and we're gonna bond together, and we're gonna take care of each other." And it was one of the most beautiful things out of a horrible tragedy to see, that people forgot about all of that stuff

[00:25:11] Carmen: Yeah, and, and it wasn't just New Yorkers, it was across the country. That's

[00:25:14] Charlie: It was the 

[00:25:15] Carmen: about. 

[00:25:15] Charlie: the whole country all of a sudden had one common enemy, and none of it was each other,

[00:25:21] Carmen: You know what? I was saying this the other day and Andrea kinda laughed at me. I said, "You know, it would take an alien coming from another planet or something to land for this world to unite and stop being in this weird

[00:25:35] Charlie: You know who said that, right? You know who said that?

[00:25:37] Carmen: I, I said it the other day.

[00:25:39] Charlie: Ronald Reagan said that. He said that in front of the UN.

[00:25:42] Carmen: Okay.

[00:25:43] Charlie: said in front of the UN, he said, I w- he said, "I wonder how minuscule the world's problems would seem if we were en- if we were encountered by an outside force." He said that in front of the UN and, and he was right.

[00:26:02] The whole world would bond together there. But you know what? I love the aliens. I think the aliens are great. I think the, I think the aliens that people see, I think it's a tour. I think it's a tour bus coming to

[00:26:14] Carmen: Wait, what are you talking about? Wait, you just... I, I just

[00:26:17] Charlie: No, you said aliens and you lit my head up.

[00:26:20] Carmen: I know, but I was kidding. I'm not saying, like, you're talking about real aliens?

[00:26:24] Charlie: I think it's a tour. I think it's us from the future come back to look at the past, to look at the animals and look at the zoo and look at the freaks and think that we're running anything. I don't know. I think it might be people from the future who come back to the past to make sure we don't do something to make sure that they don't exist.

[00:26:43] Carmen: Okay, you are totally going way off the

[00:26:45] deep end that I 

[00:26:46] Charlie: You started it. You said the

[00:26:48] Carmen: I'm excited because tomorrow Disclosure Day is coming out, Steven

[00:26:52] Charlie: Oh, I, yeah, I lo- uh, I love that. I remember seeing Close Encounters. I

[00:26:56] Carmen: Oh, I can't wait to see it. I didn't know you were into sci-fi

[00:27:00] Charlie: I love sci-fi. I think it's great. I think-- No, I mean, you know, how could we believe that in all of the everything that just, it's just us? It's kinda stupid, and it's kinda arrogant to think out of all the vastness of whatever.

[00:27:14] Carmen: was that a dog? Do you have a dog?

[00:27:15] Charlie: yeah. No wait, with... Oh, you saw

[00:27:17] Carmen: Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure it was a dog.

[00:27:19] Charlie: is he? Where is he? He's right over there. There he is.

[00:27:21] Carmen: No, it's all cool

[00:27:23] Charlie: he's 100-pound golden retriever. He's the best. He's,

[00:27:26] Carmen: Oh, cool. What's his name?

[00:27:27] Charlie: Thomas.

[00:27:28] Carmen: T- Thomas. You

[00:27:30] Charlie: We got-- Yeah, we got him from a place called Golden Retriever Rescue. They come to your house and investigate you like the FBI.

[00:27:37] They wanna make sure that... They're no, serious. They wanna make sure that you're suitable for their dog.

[00:27:42] Carmen: Right. How old is Thomas? How old is he? Oh, okay,

[00:27:47] Charlie: No, he's, he saves the family. Whenever everybody feels bad, he comes rolling over, and he knows you're feeling crappy, and he's the best.

[00:27:55] Carmen: I love that. So wait, I wanna go back to sci-fi. What's your favorite sci-fi movie?

[00:28:01] Charlie: Hmm

[00:28:03] Carmen: Okay, I'll tell you

[00:28:04] Charlie: Okay. I, it's, it's an old, it's an old movie with Raymond Massey. It's called Things to Come. It's a black and white film from, like, the '30s.

[00:28:14] Carmen: Really?

[00:28:15] Charlie: Yeah, they say some really lofty things. At one point, there's one person who screams at a crowd of people. He says, "What is this progress? Stop this progress." In other words, what you're talking about.

[00:28:28] In other words, they've gotten so far away from each other, that's all that matters is, um, progress and machines and technology. And with- when that happens, people turn inward or go into the box, and they stop dealing with each other on a daily

[00:28:51] Carmen: having community

[00:28:52] Charlie: talk to everybody I see every day, you

[00:28:54] Carmen: Me too. I'm the sa- I, I think this is why you and I are so alike, because I do the same thing. I talk to everybody,

[00:28:59] Charlie: You know what's weird?

[00:29:00] Carmen: store, walking down the

[00:29:01] Charlie: LA is, LA's a little different, and I try to make LA ... I try to make LA New York wherever I go. I try to bring Brooklyn, I try to bring Brooklyn wherever I go because, you know, it's funny, you, you pull up to a street light here, right? And you look next to you and you see the cops are there.

[00:29:18] In LA you do this. "Oh, geez. I don't ... I'm not, I'm not looking over there. They're

[00:29:24] Carmen: I'm not looking over there.

[00:29:25] Charlie: they ain't looking at me, I'm not looking at them. I don't wanna look at them. Shit, I think they're looking at me. I hope I'm not looking at them." But see, in New York, when you're in traffic and you look over and you see the cops, you go like this.

[00:29:35] And the cops do this to you. "You believe this?

[00:29:38] Look at this schtick. Look at this traffic." They go, "We're gonna get in the front of this traffic and there's gonna be nothing there. There better be a car wreck in front of this thing." And the cops start talking to you or peop- even a general person, you look at someone and they go, "Eh, it's hot as shit.

[00:29:53] This is awful." You know? The people talk to each o- I, I don't know. I think that's gone. I think that's really gone. But we saw some of it last night

[00:30:01] Carmen: think that's why the Knicks last night was a great reminder, and all I kept thinking about is I hope people in Middle America, like middle of the state, you know, of the United States, are watching this because they always think that our cities are these, you know, places where there's no community and no love,

[00:30:19] Charlie: No, they think, they think you get off the plane, they think you get off the plane at the airport and everybody's shooting each other. You go outside and it's bang, boom, slam. It's not. You know, New York is one of the places, I'll tell you what, uh, you could walk up to a stranger on a street corner in New York and say, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, you know, not from, not from here."

[00:30:39] And the New Yorker go, "No shit, huh?" They go, "What's wrong?" They'll go, "What's wrong? You're lost?" And they'll go, "Well, I was try- I wanted to go there." "Look, come here, all right? What are you, what are you trying to do?" "Well, my friend said there was some pizza over here and it was really good." "What? That guy's pizza sucks.

[00:30:54] Come here. Let me show you something." And they take you. They'll, "Come here. Walk a couple blocks. See, right over here. See this? Hey, Tommy, give him two slices." "Okay." "You're gonna like this." That's, that's the difference, you know? LA, man, lot ... nobody gives a shit about each other any- out here. It's all a giant, it's all a giant competition.

[00:31:15] We're all in

[00:31:16] Carmen: I know, but you know what? I think you live in a very different area. I do the same thing you do. I bring a lot of Boston

[00:31:21] Charlie: Oh, no, no, I

[00:31:22] Carmen: where I live, and I live in Santa Monica, so it's a little bit different. But like, I knock on everybody's door and say hi and...

[00:31:29] Charlie: Well, because you're not Scarm. You're not like normal people.

[00:31:33] Carmen: I know.

[00:31:34] Charlie: You're not like normal people. People

[00:31:36] Carmen: no, the

[00:31:36] Charlie: don't exist anymore.

[00:31:38] Carmen: Wait, what?

[00:31:40] Charlie: People like us don't exist anymore. Well, you know, uh, you know, I'm-- I walk, I walk down the street. I see some guy, obviously he's sitting on the corner.

[00:31:49] He's got a sign. He's got everything in the world with him. I reach in my pocket. Maybe I got about eight bucks on me in cash. You know what? I take a five spot, and I give it to him, and I just keep walking. And I've had friends ask me, "What the fuck? What are you giving this jerk off money for? What are you giving him money for?"

[00:32:07] I go, "Because w-what the fuck's $5 gonna do for me? What's it gonna do? What, it's gonna get me four shots of espresso, one Splenda in a short cup?" I go, "For him, maybe it's a half a sandwich or two hard-boiled eggs or something. I don't know." I said, "Or, or maybe he's gonna buy a joint from a friend of his and smoke it and check out of life for an hour.

[00:32:31] So why not?" And I go, and I figure maybe the big guy upstairs looks down and goes, "Okay, Charlie,

[00:32:40] Carmen: Right.

[00:32:41] Charlie: that's one over there. We'll take three from this side, and we'll put one over here."

[00:32:47] Carmen: Oh, give me some credit. Right. Look it, I just think... But l- l- here, here's the problem. The homelessness problem in Los Angeles, I also think has been overblown to this kind of caricature as if we are the only state in the country per capita that has homelessness, and that's not true. But I will say this, as somebody who was homeless as a kid, if you're gonna be homeless, do it in a place that's warm.

[00:33:14] I would've come to California too, you know what I

[00:33:17] Charlie: You know where I used to sleep when I was a kid? I used to sneak into buildings in New York and go down to the boiler room

[00:33:24] Carmen: That's right.

[00:33:25] Charlie: in the winter and go hide in the boiler room. And in the summer, I would find the abandoned building. I'd climb the fire escape and go up to the roof

[00:33:35] Carmen: Okay, never. I would never do that

[00:33:36] Charlie: Well, well, I didn't, I wasn't worried about it.

[00:33:38] I mean, I had a whole band of with me. They, we were like Oliver Twist. We we, we really were. We, we were like, uh, we were like the Seven Hoods, 

[00:33:46] Carmen: Right. But, but here's the thing I wanted to say about the homelessness, 'cause I think it's important, and I, and I, I want you to agree with me if you do agree with me. I am sick and tired of people making it out to be that Los Angeles or California has a huge homelessness problem. The United States has a homelessness problem.

[00:34:03] No

[00:34:04] Charlie: know why we got such a big-- You know why we have such a big homeless problem? I believe it's 'cause of our weather. If

[00:34:10] Carmen: That's what I'm saying

[00:34:12] Charlie: you're homeless, at least you can stay warm here. How cold could it get? It gets cold, but not like... If you're homeless, are you gonna be homeless in New York? I'm gonna be homeless-- You know what?

[00:34:21] Let me move to Chicago to be homeless. Holy shit, 16 below zero. Why would you go there? You know, but what we need to do is we need to put these people to work. We need to find out what's wrong with them. We need to get their heads right. You know, it's sorta like, uh, FDR with the New Deal. The streets needed cleaning.

[00:34:42] The streets needed repairing bridges, tunnels, everything. Let's give these guys something to be proud about. Let's find out who's fucked up in the head, see if we can get them some help, get

[00:34:52] Carmen: And who slipped through the cracks?

[00:34:54] Charlie: Some of these people, some of these people are one or two doses of medication off, you know?

[00:35:01] They're off their meds, and nobody gives a

[00:35:03] Carmen: You know what though? But Charlie, but Charlie, you know what? Some people also lost everything because they had one medical emergency, and they lost it. Like they lost their wife to cancer, and then they had

[00:35:13] all these bills, and they couldn't make ends meet, and they weren't working while they were taking care.

[00:35:19] Yeah, I mean, there's a lot more people that have fallen through the cracks, and what I'm saying is, what I wanna make sure people understand is the homelessness problem in this country is disgusting all over the country because we are supposedly the richest country in the world. Why is anyone suffering and sleeping on the street?

[00:35:38] That's

[00:35:39] Charlie: It's the George, it, it's the George Carlin quote. He, he said, you know, he said, "The poor are there to scare the shit out of the middle class." In other words, this could happen to you, fucko.

[00:35:51] Carmen: That's right

[00:35:51] Charlie: But what they should do, you know, they're talking about taxing all these billionaires and stuff. You know, I think these Jeff Bezos guys and Mark Zuckerberg and the people from Walmart and all, and Kroger groceries and, you know, the money we spend overseas trying to get people to do what we want them to do and behave the way we want them to behave, like, and to have our culture, whether you like it or not, you know, fuck that.

[00:36:21] Why are we spending that money over there? Sh- that money should be right here. You know, I love this when people start talking about fixing other places when your house looks like shit.

[00:36:30] Carmen: Exactly

[00:36:31] Charlie: th- I mean, with all the money that there is in this country, with all the money that's being spent, the money that got spent last night watching the fucking Knick game and watching a bunch of overgrown fucking millionaires throw a little round ball into a fucking circle, you know what that money could've done last night?

[00:36:50] What if everybody who was in that crowd cheering for the Knicks turned around and picked up every homeless person over there and, uh, gave them something to eat and gave them a couple bucks?

[00:36:59] Carmen: Yeah

[00:37:00] Charlie: Now, you know, I don't know. I don't know what the answer is, but the answer isn't just to walk past them and let them lay there.

[00:37:05] That's not the answer. Let's find out who's well and who's not. Let's find out what their problem is. Let's get them cleaned up. Let's get them some new duds. You know? Let's see what, what kind of skills they might have or, or do have. Let's see if some of these people might have been aged out of their job and then thrown away like garbage.

[00:37:30] We got the time, we got the money, we got the people. There's a million people that are retired, have nothing to do. Let's put them to work talking to these people.

[00:37:40] Carmen: Yeah. No, Charlie, I think, I, I,

[00:37:42] think the things you're talking about are normal, right? They're normal, but I think people have an idea of what homelessness is, and instead of seeing it the way you and I do, which is because we've been closer to it as a problem that needs to be fixing, people see it as a, I never want to be in that situation, so let me push it away,

[00:38:03] Charlie: And keep walking

[00:38:04] Carmen: other people, and say they're all drug addicted, they're all bad people, and they all wanna be there, right?

[00:38:10] That's the problem

[00:38:11] Charlie: I, I left home 'cause I got tired of being beat on

[00:38:17] Carmen: Right

[00:38:18] Charlie: You know, I got tired of being everybody's fucking punching bag, man.

[00:38:22] Carmen: Right. How old were you? How old were you?

[00:38:25] Charlie: 15.

[00:38:26] Carmen: Yeah

[00:38:27] Charlie: And I think about that 'cause my kid is 18, and I look at him and I'm like, "Fuck, he would never sur- he would never survive out there like that," you know? And, uh, and I-- my-- years later, my brother was giving me a bunch of shit like, you know, I, I had to straighten my mother out once, you know?

[00:38:43] And I, I, I kinda-- I yelled at her, you know? And, uh, and I told her, I said, "I don't give a fuck." You know? I go, "You guys threw me away like trash." I go, "And you're gonna try to fucking straighten me?" And, you know, I go, "No, it doesn't work that way." And my brother gave me a bunch of shit about, "Why do you talk to your mother like that?

[00:39:02] You know, she's got problems and issues." I go, "What the fuck do you think you know? What do you think you know?" I go, "When you were a kid and they were cutting the turkey at Thanksgiving, did anybody say, 'Hey, let's hold up a second and go look for brother. Let's go look for brother before we eat this here food.

[00:39:17] Let's, let's see where he's at'? No, you guys didn't even give a fuck. It was-- I wasn't even a thought

[00:39:22] Carmen: Right

[00:39:23] Charlie: You know, and same thing, I had a talk to a woman recently who was a stepdaughter something to my father. Not even a step, just like a-- somebody my father married, their kids. I don't even know what the hell you call those people.

[00:39:36] But,

[00:39:37] Carmen: They're your stepsisters

[00:39:38] Charlie: yeah, but she was asking me for some shit got, that got sent to me, and it was a box of my father's stuff when he passed away with his family having a million Christmases and Thanksgivings. You know, there's my dad and a whole different family, and the same fucking furniture in the background, really scary, okay?

[00:39:58] Set up the same freaking way as ours, but just not us.

[00:40:02] Carmen: Oh my God

[00:40:03] Charlie: and, and I remember she s- 'cause her sister was in my dad's will for some fucking reason, and this girl had the balls enough to call me up and say to me, "Why are you taking money from your father's..." I was like, "Excuse me? Who are you?" I said, "I heard you're some junkie loser living in Florida."

[00:40:24] I said, "Don't worry, you'll get your money soon. You'll be broke quick enough." I said, "I don't know you." I said, "You're taking money from my blood." And she goes, "You don't even know your father. You weren't even there." I said, "My father left. I haven't seen him in 40 years. I hardly know who the guy is." I said, "As far as the money goes, I couldn't care less."

[00:40:41] I said, "I was just trying to talk to a guy and ease his pain before he croaked 'cause he felt guilty about treating me like shit." I said, "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about, lady." But I went through this whole process with these people, and they were just all monsters, you know? And it was all over money.

[00:40:59] But these were people that turned me... You know, these are people that turned me out into the street, you know? And you know what? I was happier in the street than I ever was in the home with them, you know? I had my little Christmases. I had my little dry cell battery inside of an elevator shaft from the street.

[00:41:16] I had a little light bulb. I had my little books I could read.

[00:41:20] Carmen: No, I mean, I think that's part of the thing that people don't understand is that when you are homeless and you come from a situation that is so bad, that sometimes being homeless is the better place to be. Like, that's what you're describing. And it's not that that's what you want, but when it's so bad or it's so painful, you have to make a choice to save yourself, and sometimes saving yourself means going out onto the street,

[00:41:46] Charlie: You 

[00:41:47] Carmen: But what, but, but Charlie, what saved you back? Like, what

[00:41:50] Charlie: I, I went, I finally, I got, I was getting myself in trouble constantly. You know, I was always in trouble. And then finally I just... I was in, uh, I was in Coney Island by Nathan's, and right next to Nathan's i- is a recruiting station. I literally walked... Yeah, right there, right on the street, and right next across from the recruiting station is the Freak Show, the Coney Island Freak Show,

[00:42:14] Carmen: Okay.

[00:42:15] Charlie: which has been there for years.

[00:42:16] And then right down the block is the boardwalk, where you walk up to the boardwalk right next to Nathan's. I mean, literally 50 feet from the hotdog stand is the recruiting station. I literally got a hot dog. I had nowhere to go. I got a hot dog. I walked over to the recruiting station, walked right in, and I joined the Navy.

[00:42:38] And the guy, the guy took me right from there to my mom's on Avenue X and East Third Street. She had a dry cleaners there, and I needed her signature. I was 17. And the guy, he brought it in, and my mom looked at me. She goes, "Yeah, what do you want?" This is my mom. "Nice to see you, Ma." She... I said, "I need your signature so s- I can go in the Navy."

[00:43:01] And the guy gave her the paperwork, and she said-- you hear me? She signed the paper. She goes, "Don't bring him back."

[00:43:08] Carmen: Oh

[00:43:08] Charlie: I said, "Don't worry. I won't come back. See you later," witch. And I walked across the street, and that was it. And I went to Fort Hamilton and swore an oath to the country to defend foreign and domestic.

[00:43:21] I swore the same oath as our president. The only difference is I kept my oath

[00:43:26] Carmen: Yeah, and, uh, the President of the United States never joined the military at all, but you're

[00:43:31] talking about the 

[00:43:32] Charlie: g-- his father...

[00:43:33] Carmen: for, to be president,

[00:43:34] right? 

[00:43:35] Charlie: you remember what his father said. He said, "Anybody who joins the military in this family, you're cut off. You're not gonna get a nickel." He said, "The military is for suckers and losers and for poor people."

[00:43:45] Carmen: that's what he believes too. Can you

[00:43:47] imagine? 

[00:43:47] Charlie: a pussy. He's never given himself for anything or anybody.

[00:43:51] Carmen: I'm gonna have to beep that out, Charlie.

[00:43:53] Charlie: just a big bully. I mean, he talks tough and shit. He's just a-- One smack, he would fucking fold up. He's just a

[00:44:00] Carmen: that's the thing I don't understand. Like, if you're going to admire

[00:44:04] somebody 

[00:44:04] Charlie: hillbillies, all these hillbillies, they're, "Oh, he's our guy. We love him. He's the bestest guy in the world." But 40 years ago, 40 years ago, you would call him a damn Yankee.

[00:44:16] So what the fuck happened? What happened that you went after some wannabe P.T. Barnum con man asshole New Yorker?

[00:44:24] Carmen: Charlie, you know what it is. It was the, that stupid show that he did that they all believed was real. That reality

[00:44:31] Charlie: I think it's because he's rude, and he treats women like shit, and he does whatever the fuck

[00:44:36] Carmen: And he's racist,

[00:44:38] Charlie: and that's the, the-- And that shit, they love that shit. It's like spooning up ice cream. They have no respect for their women. They have no respect for anything, you know? Uh, they wanna wear a Nazi thing or, or put up a Confederate flag, but yet they served the military.

[00:44:55] These people are very confused, man. They wanna, they wanna-- they want women shouldn't have rights to, to deal with their own body. That, that's, that shouldn't be their right. But yet we wanna kill people in the electric chair because... The, the whole fucking thing is just absolutely insane. I want a president who actually gives a shit about the country, wants to fix the fucking streets, and make...

[00:45:20] You know, with the money we have, this country should look like the fucking Jetsons. I mean, it should be

[00:45:24] Carmen: then I think it should actually look like Japan or, or

[00:45:28] Charlie: It should be beautiful. We should have super highways. We've got potholes downtown you can live in, you know? I mean, there's like... I- it's just, it amazes me that when... And then when they wanna fix streets and highways, they wanna do it in rush hour or in the middle of the day

[00:45:44] Carmen: I don't know what that's

[00:45:45] Charlie: because they don't wanna pay, 'cause they don't wanna pay overtime at

[00:45:49] Carmen: time. Okay, wait. I want you to say something positive. I wanna end on something positive about anything you see coming in the future, about politics, about social issues, whatever you want

[00:46:03] Charlie: We are Americans. We all do love the country one way or the other. I mean, we all love this place. There is no better place. Our enemies love America. They just hate Americans. They love this country. They just want us the fuck out of it. They love Disneyland, they love Hollywood, they love New York. They just don't want us here in it.

[00:46:31] They want us gone and them here, because wherever else you live... I mean, come on, everybody wants to come to America. It's the best damn place in the world. And deep down

[00:46:45] Carmen: if Andrea was here, she would disagree with you.

[00:46:47] Charlie: Well, deep down, I'm just saying there's things you could do here you can't do anywhere else. It

[00:46:54] Carmen: No, look at, look at, I, I agree with you. I believe that people still believe in the United States, right? I'm not gonna

[00:47:01] Charlie: is it some guy, why is it some guy that I know in New York could come from Korea and cut the flowers out in front of the deli on 84th and Columbus, and then I come back six years later and he's running the cash register. And then I come back 10 years later, and he owns the place. And 15 years later, he owns the building that holds the place.

[00:47:25] But why is it that Americans can't do that? Because we're fucking lazy, that's why.

[00:47:31] Carmen: I don't know if we're lazy. I

[00:47:32] Charlie: we're a little lazy

[00:47:34] Carmen: look it, I think there's a lot of things happening. I feel like the American dream has been kind of busted for actual people who were born and raised here. I feel like we need to know our actual history. We need to understand our actual history, not just the bullshittery that we choose to understand, right?

[00:47:56] We need to come to terms with that, and we also need to really stop being racist and misogynistic. We are so behind the times

[00:48:04] Charlie: it's really a shame that we're hung up on color in 2026. 2026,

[00:48:09] Carmen: on color

[00:48:10] Charlie: and we're fucked up on what

[00:48:12] Carmen: Okay, but you think I'm hung up on color? We,

[00:48:15] Charlie: No, I'm saying all of us, the whole country is, it's, it's such a, it's such a bog in the middle of the road, you know? If we can get rid of that. You know, Paul Rodriguez, not that I would quote people, I'll never forget this.

[00:48:27] I heard Paul Rodriguez say once, he goes, "You know, in the future after everybody has sex with everybody, we're gonna be like this tan kind of color."

[00:48:36] Carmen: We're

[00:48:36] Charlie: goes, "We'll be like, we'll be like..." Yeah, that's right. We'll be like your color, and then maybe we could get over it. I mean, it really is fucking weird, I mean, that this is what we're about.

[00:48:50] It is kind of fucking stupid. Everybody's got something to offer. Everybody's got something good that they could throw in the pot, you know? I just think we should all be a giant block party, and I think in America everybody should just ease up, just ease up off each other.

[00:49:07] Carmen: we still have a possibility. Do you think we could get there?

[00:49:11] Charlie: everybody, every day should do something nice for someone else for no fucking reason than you can.

[00:49:20] Carmen: Yep

[00:49:21] Charlie: That's a... The other day I was in somewhere and this older woman was, was stand- I was in front of her and I was checking out. I was getting my kid a soda. He said he wanted a soda. So I went and got, and she had birthday balloons, you know? And I said, "Whose birthday is it?" She goes, "I just get them 'cause they make me feel good," the old lady said.

[00:49:43] She says, "It's nobody's birthday." So I looked at the cash register. I didn't even think about it. I looked at the lady. I said, "I got her balloons." I said, "I'll take care of that." And she said, "What?" I said, "Yeah, I, I, I get those." She goes, "Why are you doing that?" I said, "I don't know. Why not?"

[00:49:57] Carmen: That's awesome. Okay.

[00:49:59] Charlie: she says to me, "What?"

[00:50:01] I said, "Everybody should do something nice for someone else for no reason, just for the hell of it." Just e- even if it's a dollar, I mean, you know, why not?

[00:50:13] Carmen: Do something. You know what?

[00:50:15] Charlie: the rule

[00:50:15] Carmen: think this is a good space for us to end because that's a great note. We should all do something

[00:50:21] Charlie: Nice for someone else

[00:50:23] Carmen: for someone else for no other reason except that you can

[00:50:27] Charlie: And you know what? Don't even wait around for the thank you.

[00:50:30] Carmen: No, just do it and walk away

[00:50:33] Charlie: Yeah. And, and just smile to yourself. You'd be surprised. It makes you feel

[00:50:39] Carmen: Feels really good. Hey everyone. So Charlie, thank you so much for doing this. It was so much fun. You'll have to do it again.

[00:50:46] Charlie: you. Anytime for you

[00:50:48] Carmen: Oh, I love you so much. Um, everyone, thank you so much. And Charlie, don't hang up because

[00:50:54] Charlie: You just did something nice for me for no reason. You said, "I love you," and that was nice.

[00:50:58] Carmen: I do love you. I

[00:50:59] Charlie: It made me feel better, it made me smile

[00:51:01] Carmen: And we've known each other forever. Have I never

[00:51:03] Charlie: About 30, 30 something years.

[00:51:06] Carmen: Yeah, okay, let's say 20. What are you doing? 20 years.

[00:51:08] Charlie: 15

[00:51:09] Carmen: Everyone, thank you so much for hanging out. Remember, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Bye everyone. See you next time. Bye.