Pretending To Be Someone Else In An Uber, With Rohan Nadkarni | Defector

"Late in this week's episode of The Distraction, after Drew, returning champion guest Rohan Nadkarni, and I talked about local politics, lamentable trends in sushi roll naming, and the Miami Dolphins, I explain " gooning" to Drew. A Funbag question started it, Drew repeatedly asked for more elaboration, and a sprawling and excellent new Harper's story on the subject had armed me with plenty of unpleasant information to share"

"Rohan is a wonderful guest-it's why we keep having him on Defector-related podcasts -but the man is going to talk about what he wants to talk about, as it occurs to him. Episodes with him are not derailed by this so much as they abjure the concept of rails entirely. They move in their own non-linear direction for about an hour; they can reliably be counted upon to include Miami-area sports and also virtually any other topic or thing."

"It began with some politics, which is my fault. Andrew Cuomo will not be the mayor of New York City, which had me in a good enough mood that we talked about that outcome, and the deep exhale that followed the blunt-force racist fearmongering of his campaign coming up short. From there, we zoomed out to questions of who votes, what they want, and what they actually know, then how optimistic to be about the future, and how different that future is going to have to be."

The conversation opens on local politics and relief at Andrew Cuomo not becoming New York City mayor, with explicit reaction to his campaign's racist fearmongering. The hosts broaden the focus to who votes, what voters want, what they know, and how optimistic people should be about the future. Rohan Nadkarni's appearances are freewheeling and non-linear, reliably including Miami-area sports and many other topics. A food segment proposes a Universal Basic Sandwich policy, rejects drenching, and criticizes American-style sushi stunt rolls. An explanation of 'gooning' emerges from a Funbag prompt and extended follow-up questions, accompanied by unpleasant details.

Read at Defector