Original subtitles

- This is "The Ansel Ross Podcast."

- How could our society be in this level

of chaos if we weren't constantly being deceived, gaslit,

let down one breadcrumb trail

of broken promises

only to collide with another,

train off the tracks, citizens scattered,

trucks overturned, box cars looted,

people ducking for their lives,

others running back

for that one carnival prize they never won.

Which lies were they told? Does it matter?

It all serves the same purpose,

to keep us in line and out of balance.

What do I mean?

In line with governmental order,

in line and accounted for

with our little corresponding barcodes,

in line for that little dangling carrot

at the end of the horizon,

out of balance with our circadian rhythms,

our eternal purpose, with the eternal laws of nature.

That's why you're cutting those ties,

rejecting your old values,

saving yourself from the Star Wars trash compactor

of modern society.

See? I know movies.

- Incoming phone call.

Incoming phone call.

Incoming phone call.

Incoming phone call.

Incoming phone call.

Incoming phone call.

- Hello, hello, hello!

- Hello. - Good morning!

This is Jeanette with your morning wake up call.

What's your name, darlin'?

- Peter. Thank you. Thank you.

- Peter! Peter, what part of the country are you in?

- Bay Area, California.

- California! Oh, my God.

Well, I am all the way out here in Florida.

- I'm awake. - And it is-

- Job done. - such a beautiful day

here today.

I had the opportunity to go to Walmart

and get these cute, black earrings, not that you care,

but I got my hair done. - BEAM, you can go away now.

- And I'm just so- - I'm up.

I'm up. - excited today,

and I just hope

that I can send some of that energy to you,

all this love that I have.

And I just hope you get excited and you seize your day

because I know, I heard. California is

a very beautiful state, very liberal, but very beautiful.

And I just hope that you, you just wake up

with some energy today, and you just, you just,

whatever you do, Peter, just, just do it in love, okay?

Just do it in love, and your day's gonna be great.

It's gonna be wonderful.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful day, Peter,

um, and if you ever need me to do another wake up call

for you, you just,

just tell them you want Jeanette,

and they'll, and they'll send me right here.

- Wilderness, BEAM.

Let me hear those birds.

- Incoming message.

Incoming message. - Oh, yeah?

Who's it from?

- Call from Genevieve.

- Well, put it up on the screen.

- I'm leaving you, Peter.

I'm done fighting.

What's our language?

One. Zero. Binary. Your language.

But a binary girl cannot be loved in parts,

not with your cold eyes.

I realized

that I fell in love

with a robot .

Another robot.

I thought I was safe,

a neurotic woman in the arms of an algorithm .

Adiós, Peter.

Adiós, Peter.

- This is "The Ansel Ross Podcast."

- When you first take this dramatic tension

away from urban life, you'll find it necessary

to fully cut ties with key elements of your former life.

Close friends, technology, your daily routine,

they all get tugged out at the root.

Otherwise, those weeds grow back, and by the week's close,

they've blocked out the very sun that meets you every day.

Why, yes, that one right there.

We've gotten very close over the years, the sun and I.

Just the other day I was doing naked sun salutations

like I do, and my friend, the sun over there,

thought it would be very funny to burn my ass so red

you could see the traces of the tattoo of my ex-wife

I tried so hard to remove.

Some weeds never leave the yard completely, it seems.

- How you doing, man? Need a bag?

- Yeah, a bag.

Get one of these, too. - Yeah.

- Bottle of whiskey.

- Beer and whiskey.

Sure, my man?

- Just...give me the bottle, please.

- All right.

Is it, like, laundry day?

- Yeah, something like that.

- And your whiskey.

I see the damage is $63.40.

Either the best night or the worst night, right?

- Let's go with the latter. - Yeah.

Figured.

Have a good day.

- You're never completely getting rid of anything.

It may feel like a deep loss at the time,

but you're not actually losing anything.

You're gaining space for new, incredible things,

discoveries, parts of yourself

you've never had the courage to talk to.

- BEAM, AC.

I know you're not going anywhere.

I'll drink with you.

Crying, BEAM?

Mm.

Let me give you a little cleaning.

You deserve it.

What did I do, BEAM?

What's wrong with me? Analyze me, BEAM.

Tell me.

Am I a bad guy?

What? Uh, is it the beard?

No.

Can you pull up a file to help me understand women?

I have no clue.

Do I go after her?

That's kinda crazy.

Or it's not. Is that what she wants?

What does she want?

I don't know.

How am I supposed to know what she wants?

I give her everything.

She basically lives in two places.

She gets to come and go as she pleases.

I didn't get a key from her.

She has my key still.

It's okay.

It's okay. She's coming back.

She's coming back.

Shit's just temporary, man.

She'll be back.

She'll realize what she said, and she'll realize what she...

♪ Again ♪

♪ From a space, let me slip away now ♪

♪ I'm tearing away now, I'm tearing away ♪

♪ Been afraid, running from my name now ♪

♪ Gunning from a range, no ♪

♪ I can hear 'em loading up their guns ♪

♪ Fire away, I'm screaming at the sun ♪

♪ Fuck you all, let's have some fun ♪

♪ Knowing we would never last in the long run ♪

♪ Please don't let me down ♪

♪ Please don't let me down ♪

♪ Please don't let me down ♪

- Oh, we're going down these?

Be very careful.

So I really wanna move, uh.

- Yeah? - I wanna move to,

uh, New York.

- Oh, wow, really?

- Yeah, but I just have to figure out

how to save up the money for it

because I'm not really working right now,

and I don't think- - Gotta do it.

- I, I, I just go for a minute there.

I come back soon.

Hey.

Hey.

- Hi.

- Don't we have religious studies together?

- Yeah, we do.

- Yeah, I knew I recognized you.

You usually show up late and sit in the back, right?

- Yeah, sounds like me.

- Yeah.

- You're Guinevere, right?

- Well, Genevieve, actually,

unless you are really into old guys sitting

around a table talking about their swords.

Is that a remote-control car?

Uh, the, no, this is a, um, well...

- I mean, a battle bot, right?

- You've seen that, huh?

Um.

- Yeah. - Uh, no, this is

a underwater ROV, so I build these sorts of things

for different terrains. Underwater, desert,

whatever, pretty much. - And you're still in school?

- Yeah. I, I promised my parents I'd finish my degree.

Their dime.

- So you came out to an old landfill,

um, to test robots?

- Yeah.

Well, um, today I wanna, um, do a submersion test,

so I'm gonna see if he'll go underwater,

and stay underwater, and take footage, and...

- Yeah, wow.

Um, yeah.

- That's it.

I don't really like the water,

so I just, um, make him do all the work.

- You made underwater robots, but you don't like the water?

- Pretty much.

- You're an interesting guy.

What was your name again?

- Uh, Pete.

- Pete? - Peter.

- Nice to meet you, Pete Peter.

Can I walk with you?

Um- - Yeah.

That, yeah, I'd like that.

- Um, yeah.

What's the name of the robot?

- Um, it's kinda silly, ROV-E, so like-

- Of course. - R-O-V, ROV-E.

- Nice to meet you, ROV-E.

- Hello.

- You like music?

- Oh, uh, yeah.

I mean, I haven't really had much time

to dig into anything new, so...

- And what do you dig into?

- Just stuff I picked up from my parents over the years,

I guess, uh, a lot of classic rock.

- Oh. - Neil Diamond.

What?

- Yeah, well, I don't know.

When you say classic rock, I was thinking, um, the Stones

or Van Halen.

Neil Diamond isn't exactly the first artist

that I think of when I think of rock.

- Are you kidding me?

- Mm.

- You know he's a legend, right?

He's probably written over half of the songs

for the artists you've heard.

- I'm sorry.

Yeah, well, I'll give him a try.

Um.

- Hello.

- It's beautiful.

You play any instrument?

- Uh, no, I never really tried, um,

always more of a tech camp guy instead of a band camp guy.

- Of course.

Well, maybe over dinner

or tomorrow I can bring my guitar

and play you this Neil Diamond person.

- Yeah.

- Yeah? - I'm, I'm, I'm free.

- Oh, perfect.

Let's do it. - Okay.

- Cold day, right?

- Yeah, it's wicked cold.

- Did you want to try the water?

Yeah, yeah, right, yeah.

- I speak with the robot.

- I'll let you try.

Hold on. Hold on!

- Wakey, wakey, Mr. Destructo.

Good morning, I'm delivering groceries.

- Not now, please, not right now.

- I figured you could use some real food. Are you okay?

- Just leave it at the door, please!

Thank you, just leave it at the door. I'll get it later.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Do you remember drunk-dialing me last night?

I thought, "Oh, he's gonna need some hangover food."

What the hell happened over there?

- Guess I forgot to clean up for you.

- No, I don't think so. What's going on?

- It doesn't matter.

- It matters when my baby brother calls me

at 3:00 AM speaking in tongues.

- Genevieve left.

- Yeah, I picked that out of the puke left on my voicemail.

You okay?

- Fine.

- Liar. I thought you quit vaping.

You tell mom and dad yet?

- Why, so they can just mourn the lost opportunity

for a grandchild?

- Don't burden yourself with that BS. I don't.

- You and Mary gonna give 'em one?

- Mm-mm, she hates kids. We went to therapy,

we worked it out. What do you wanna do?

- I'm thinking about getting outta here for a little while.

- Yeah, go to the beach!

Singles cruise.

Get laid.

- Sarah, that's not what I'm looking for.

- Well, then, dammit, what are you looking for?

Because digging deep into these conspiracy theories

and, uh, playing with your robots,

that's, that's not gonna get you out of this funk.

It's not.

- I just wanna find someplace

where the playing field is level,

where things are fair, where people don't judge other people

about every little thing.

Where people can just accept one another,

where money isn't the only currency that matters.

- You're worrying me.

Why don't you come and stay with me for a little while,

and we can just chill, and sleep, and drink, and eat?

And you can start the healing process and leave her behind.

- Leave her behind?

- Yeah.

- I tell you about the time we met?

I was starting a new religions course

at the community college.

My first day of class, I remember I couldn't find the room.

Running all over campus, I finally find the room.

I bolt in there 15 minutes late,

and everything changed.

I saw her, it was tunnel vision.

We locked eyes.

I think the only thing I can ever remember

after that point was smiling at her,

and three days later, we were going out.

We spent every single day together for the next three years,

every night, every morning, waking up next to each other.

Now she's gone.

Have you ever had somebody ripped away from you,

like they're, like they're dead?

- Yeah, of course, I'm not completely mentally ill.

- That's what this feels like. It feels like she's dead.

She's gone.

- You're gonna be okay. You're gonna get through this.

If someone that heartless gets up

and leaves without any kind of explanation,

you gotta move on, and you'll get over it.

We all do. We all do.

- Well, look around me.

I'm in a man-made structure

with basic modern amenities.

I clearly haven't rejected digital technology completely

by virtue that you're watching this transmission now.

I, I, I've said before that no evidence of man is

my fantasy, and it remains that.

- Ready to go for a swim?

- It, it's an ideal, a concept I return to

to flush out my system.

Let's face it, I was brought into this world

and rose through it by aid of my fellow man.

- There you go.

- Uh, not gender specific.

Uh, myself and my journey

are thus inevitably evidence of man.

But I can't embrace the world I live in

without being a slave to its constructs.

I, I can step outside my dwelling

and, within minutes, be overwhelmed by the elements

that will one day claim me.

- Get down, little buddy.

What am I seeing here?

Coming in with ya, buddy.

- You can feel it?

You're going to love it.

- What is it again?

- It's the thousand-year-old egg.

- What?

- The thousand-year-old egg.

Some call it the preserved egg or the millennium egg.

It's served with porridge.

- Why would we eat a thousand-year-old egg?

That doesn't even sound good.

- It is.

Don't worry.

It's just a preserved egg, and just for a few weeks or so.

They bury it in clay or ash just to preserve it.

You've never tried anything like this?

- No, never.

- Oh.

Well, I'm a bit of a chowhound.

Yeah, I get it from my mom.

She used to take me to different restaurants all the time

to try stuff like this.

She was an ultimate foodie.

- See, I'm more of a grazer,

so it's just a lotta small meals throughout the day,

several bowls of cereal.

- Oh, wow.

Well, maybe now you can try something new.

- Well, uh, where should we go eat this old-ass egg?

- I know a beautiful spot near here.

- Wow, you thought of everything.

- Yeah, somebody's got to.

Yeah? - Lead the way.

- Yeah.

- What is this?

- Look at this.

- Careful.

- Breathe the moment.

Oh, yeah.

- I think this bird's gonna shit on us.

- Try the egg in small bites with the rice porridge.

- Very good.

Yeah.

- Mm, no, for you.

- You want yours?

- I'm okay.

- So you said you were gonna take us to a beautiful place?

- Are you kidding?

This is beautiful.

Come on.

You can see an old, abandoned building

with graffiti and broken windows, right?

I see stories and art.

Yeah, there's something melancholy about it.

Life moves on, things change around us,

but this building stays standing.

It refuses to let life knock it down.

There's something beautiful about it.

- Wow, I never really thought about it like that.

I just always figured they need

to knock places like this down,

progress.

- Yeah, well,

now maybe you can see the beauty in it.

Sometimes old urban architecture can be as beautiful

as anything in the forest.

A sunset or a day like this can be

as lovely as one on the top of a mountain.

Right?

♪ And I've been so afar ♪

♪ Too many days so far away from home ♪

♪ Lost in your gaze ♪

♪ The rhythm of waves ♪

♪ Beaten in the sun ♪

- That is definitely not Neil Diamond, but I love it.

- You can feel it?

- I mean, it might be the thousand-year-old egg, too,

but I, I,

it's, yeah...

- Yeah?

Come here.

- Give me this.

I felt that.

- Mm.

Alright grid aligners,

let's take a step back if you don't mind.

Let's discuss why you're here

and probably why I'm here talking to you.

Now I see in the forums, a lot of you describe yourselves

as "truth seekers," direct quote.

Okay, so what truth

or truths are you seeking?

Or, conversely, what lies are you rejecting?

"Where to begin?" you're probably thinking.

You probably distrust any mainstream news article,

any government soundbite,

any regurgitated headline

from any unquestioning neighbor.

Course, you do.

- BEAM, previous photo.

BEAM, previous...

BEAM, show me more photos.

Go back.

Maximize.

Show me history.

Last two weeks.

No, no, go back. BEAM, go back.

Right there.

Everything with Genevieve and this guy.

You're kidding me.

Hi, this is Genevieve.

If you're hearing this message,

it means I'm having fun, and you're not.

Leave a message.

Hi, this is Genevieve.

If you're hearing this message, it means I'm having fun,

and you're not.

Leave a message.

♪ Let the wind carry you away ♪

♪ Soon you'll be high above the clouds ♪

♪ But now you've come to know the reasons you should stay ♪

♪ Leave the country from California ♪

♪ They got flowers in their hair ♪

♪ And the fields have all gone dry ♪

♪ Does anyone here remember how to pray ♪

♪ I could sure use a prayer ♪

♪ 'Cause south of the border ♪

♪ There are crosses lining fences ♪

♪ She used to wear flowers in her hair ♪

♪ Until the rivers all went dry ♪

♪ But, oh, sweet Chicago ♪

♪ I can see you now with your big, red lips ♪

♪ And your shining lights ♪

♪ And they are dancing in the streets ♪

♪ To the sound of your own name ♪

♪ And I thought I heard them say ♪

♪ I wish I knew my way home ♪

♪ You come from the south and the north ♪

♪ It feels so cold ♪

♪ So if I placed the needle inside the compass ♪

♪ And chased out all that good rain ♪

♪ Once we make it over the oceans ♪

♪ To a kingdom so fair ♪

♪ It's set, too, with hedgerows, all these cigarettes ♪

♪ And smiles smell the salted scent in the air ♪

- Now sure, I could get into the specific lies,

political stratagems, secret cabals,

but if you're listening this far,

you already know about them.

You've seen the man behind the curtain,

and you know he's not getting you back to Kansas.

You're done crying.

You're done negotiating.

You're pulling up your big-person pants,

and you're heading on down the trail.

- Hello? Peter?

- Hi, Mom. - Peter?

I can't see you, honey.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater.

- Mom, turn- - Where are...

- You have to turn the phone around.

- I can't, I can't, I can't see him anyway.

Peter, hello?

I'm giving it to your father.

- Hey, bubba, how are ya?

- Great.

- There you are, hi, baby.

- What are you doing? - Driving.

- Sarah called, and, and she did mention about Genevieve-

- Did she? - leaving.

- You can't force these things.

The right person's gonna come along

and make themselves available to you.

- And if they don't understand

what a catch you are,

then we don't need them in the family, sweetheart.

- Plenty of fish in the sea, right?

- That's right. What are you gonna do?

You gotta get on your feet, son.

- Thinking about getting away for a little while.

- What are you gonna do? You gonna go do some skydiving?

- I was actually heading up to the woods to where you used

to take me back when I was a Boy Scout.

That was life.

- Woods? - That's too dangerous.

There's bears.

- Yeah, that was a long time ago, Pete.

Why would you want to go up there?

There's not much of a forest left up there.

Uh, there's burnt logs and nothing but logging going on.

Not much of a woods anymore.

- Well, I just need to get out of all this.

- Well, you think about it a bit.

- Sure.

- And don't be a stranger.

Your mother worries about you all the time.

She's been dealing with this neighbor of ours.

- Oh, he's horrible.

Do you know, you know about Harold, sweetheart?

Harold has his fence six inches onto our property...

♪ Stay with me now while our hearts are young ♪

♪ And promise me ♪

♪ Promise me now there is something more ♪

- Hi, I'm Amanda.

Cat got your tongue?

- I'm just trying to enjoy a drink.

- I like to drink, too. It's better with a friend.

- Well, I'm not here looking for friends.

- We're all looking for friends.

♪ Prove to me now ♪

♪ You are who you are ♪ - So what's your name?

- Steven.

- Okay, Steven.

What are you looking for then?

- I don't know.

- Well, maybe I can help you find it.

Mm, mm.

- Doubt it.

You can try, though.

♪ When the moon don't shine, when the moon don't shine ♪

♪ When the moon don't shine, when the moon don't shine ♪

♪ Come with me ♪

♪ Come with me now through the dark, dark woods ♪

♪ And walk with me ♪

- That's it, huh? Money on the dresser?

- No, it's not like that.

I just shouldn't have done this.

- Sure know how to make a girl feel special, Steve.

- Don't take it personal.

I'm just trying to work through some shit.

- I get it.

You want some company?

Could be fun.

- No, thank you, though.

I gotta do this by myself.

Be good to yourself.

- Thanks, you too.

Steve.

Is that your real name?

- No.

- So since I've begun

this current chapter in my life,

There seems to be an impression out there

when I read the, the forums, the, the online what have yous,

uh, which I do seldom, uh, for my own preservation,

but there seems to be the idea

that I'm something of a, a misanthrope, a people hater,

but it reminds me of a, uh, Bukowski quote,

uh, in which he says, "I don't hate people.

I just seem to feel better when they're not around."

I have made peace with how I live in the world, you know?

That's how I, I find my peace, my magic, right,

is when you cut out everything else.

Some people, the noise is like a symphony.

For me, it's insanity, and I accept that,

so cut out the insanity.

That's what I did, right?

Other people, all the love for 'em,

but won't be talking to ya' anytime soon.

Bye-bye, get the fuck away.

- Thanks.

I will have a rocket man, 10 inch,

and a glass of lemonade, please.

- And I will just have a slice of purple rain

and a glass of red.

- Great, okay, I'll be right back with that.

My name's Britt if you need anything.

- Thanks, Britt. - Thank you.

- Glass of wine, surprise.

- Is that okay?

- Yeah, it's fine.

It's just you haven't really drank much since I...

- Lost your lust for life?

Amor.

This is our night, our day, our time.

What do I have to do,

rip open my shirt and show you my tits?

Yeah?

Thanks. - Thank you.

- Mm-hmm. - Let's live,

just for tonight.

- Salud. - Salud.

You know what I'm gonna go do?

I'm gonna go to take my panties off.

Yeah.

- I know, I know.

- You promised me.

- I, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.

It, it was just blowing up, and I wanted to clear it.

I figured since we wouldn't be together, together

for a minute, I, I just,

I, I know I'm making excuses.

I, I, this is exactly what you were talking about.

I, I'm so sorry. - You are sick, Peter.

- What? - "What?"

- No, I'm not. That's a hell of an indictment

or- - Your pizza.

- diagnosis or whatever.

- Yeah.

- Look, sweetheart, you know

that the money has been breathing down my neck, okay?

They know that I'm close to having the numbers,

all the data that they need

for all these underwater diagnostics on this new apparatus.

They wanna move the deadline

up on- - I don't care

about your deadlines, or your quarters,

or your fucking apparatus, okay?

I just ask you for one night with you, Peter Mann,

and you promised me.

Okay.

- Would you, Gen, would you please sit back down?

Please. - Yeah.

- I've put my phone away, okay?

- Oh, yeah. - Please.

- Yeah, give me your phone.

Please, give me your phone one moment.

- What are you, my mother?

- We agreed to not bring them at all.

- It's work.

It's insured.

Can I get the check please?

- Hey, hey, hey.

- Gen.

Gen! Gen! Wait, wait, wait, wait, Gen!

Ooh.

Ah.

Eureka!

Hello?

Hey, little guy.

Shit.

- Ah!

- You're here.

You look like a queen.

- And you look like one of my subjects.

- We're neither.

- What are you wearing, Peter?

- I'm dreaming.

- Are you?

I'm ready.

- Ready for what?

- Ready to make things right.

- I, I don't know.

I don't know what you want?

- I thought I did,

but I've, I've been through a rebirth.

That man is gone.

I've finally found myself, and I wanna be well.

I'm not good enough for you?

- Hmm?

Come here, Pete Peter.

- I can't.

- What do you mean?

- We don't work.

You wanted me to be someone I wasn't.

I didn't know how important human contact is.

I didn't know how to love you

because I didn't know how to love me.

We were not healthy,

and I'm not, I'm not blaming you.

We weren't healthy 'cause I wasn't healthy.

- Where will you go?

- There.

- What's out there?

- A chance.

- A chance for what?

- To let go.

To find me.

Thank you.

I have to go.

Ahh!

Whoo, whoo!

I can go days or weeks

without seeing another human

or even engaging with one synthetically.

I, I traverse life while shifting precariously

in and out of balance, much like nature itself.

Now, nature will no doubt outlive man,

but I can't spend my entire life trying

to outrun the society of man.

It has and will come knocking on my door inevitably,

and at the time that it does,

I invite it in for tea. Not lunch or dinner,

mind you, just tea.

I do have my limits.

And in that time, we catch up and squabble, no doubt.

Then I send it on its way till we meet again,

and until we meet again,

goodnight.

♪ I watched the rain drop on by ♪

♪ We froze our brains on time ♪

♪ No overthinking ♪

♪ You are my stormy weather ♪

♪ And take a little time ♪

♪ Where never meets forever ♪

♪ And I could run and hide ♪

♪ Or make my mind up ♪

♪ Oh, love ♪

♪ Breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe, just breathe ♪

♪ So wait don't go ♪

♪ I'm begging on my knees ♪

♪ I'm praying ♪

♪ Love me, please ♪

♪ Just say it ♪

♪ I don't need your patience ♪

♪ So wait don't go ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪

♪ I'm begging on my knees ♪

♪ I'm praying ♪

♪ Love me, please ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Just say it ♪

♪ I don't need your patience ♪

♪ So wait don't go ♪ ♪ Breathe ♪

♪ I'm begging on my knees ♪

♪ I'm praying, just love me, please ♪

♪ Just breathe, just breathe ♪

♪ Breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe ♪

♪ Breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe ♪ ♪ Just breathe ♪

♪ Just breathe ♪ ♪ Just breathe ♪