Conan Gourley

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[4] Hello.

[5] Hi, Isabel.

[6] How are you?

[7] Hi, I'm great, thanks.

[8] How are you?

[9] We're doing terrific.

[10] We were told this might be a difficult connection because you're coming from kind of a rural area.

[11] Is that right?

[12] I am.

[13] I'm in Appalachia.

[14] I'm in southern West Virginia.

[15] Wow.

[16] So, yeah, the internet's body.

[17] Okay.

[18] But you have internet?

[19] I don't.

[20] I don't have internet or cell service at my house.

[21] So my church was kind enough to let me use the office here.

[22] Okay, so you have no internet, no cell service at home.

[23] You drove to your church and you're using their cell service that you can talk to us right now from West Virginia.

[24] Wow, that's pretty amazing.

[25] Thank you for going to all that trouble.

[26] I'm just curious if you have no cell service at home and no internet, are you able to listen to this podcast?

[27] regularly?

[28] Yes.

[29] So I'm actually a huge fan.

[30] I'm a day one listener.

[31] I've been living rurally since 2018 without regular cell service at home.

[32] And podcasts, you can download while you're in town and then listen to them at home.

[33] So they're my one like real form of entertainment.

[34] So yes, I definitely listen regularly.

[35] Well, first of all, that's kind of, I love that.

[36] I love that's cool.

[37] You know, it's actually, as a fan, you're making more of a commitment.

[38] because you must sometimes drive home.

[39] How long a drive is it for you to get from town to home?

[40] It's about 30 to 40 minutes.

[41] I can imagine you getting home after 40 minutes and you've got your freshly downloaded Kona Brine needs a friend podcast and listening to it and going, oh, God.

[42] That wasn't worth.

[43] 10 minute drive, maybe.

[44] I have a question.

[45] Do you have more than one podcast you listen to and if so, you must have limited time in town?

[46] what's the like ranking or priority of podcasts that you download you know what I mean yeah that's a good point I do because I do have really limited sole service in town too so it takes a while to download so I tried to do a mix of comedy and then educational things I used to just always have like I listen to true crime a little bit but now I have a toddler and no free time so I can't really put that on the speaker same with you guys in all of your cockaroo jokes I've had to I can only listen to it when he's asleep now i know i keep saying we should have an infant friendly show a toddler friendly show and um we're trying but we can never get there um i think it's time that is it a boy or a girl your child uh a boy gideon okay i have another one almost almost here okay oh congrats congratulations uh i think gideon needs to learn about true crime i think it's time gideon learned that there's bad people out there and there's murders that need solvin and so uh Two, three years old.

[47] Yeah, he'll be a little superhero, two -year -old.

[48] Well, tell me a little bit about your life, because this fascinates me. You were living out on a farm, I'm guessing, in a rural part of western Virginia.

[49] Is that right?

[50] West Virginia, yeah, rural West Virginia.

[51] Southern West Virginia, my husband and I moved here with Gideon two years ago.

[52] We moved here to start a farm.

[53] We're both first -generation farmers, so we're kind of learning it as we go, belong together.

[54] We moved here from Northern California after the Dixie Fire, so we kind of just landed on West Virginia and are learning to live here.

[55] That is, I have to say, I am very impressed.

[56] Farming is difficult.

[57] It's really hard work.

[58] It's difficult.

[59] And the fact that you and your husband are taking this on, I think, is very cool and impressive.

[60] What kind of stuff for you trying to grow on the farm.

[61] Thanks.

[62] So we're hoping to get to the point of self -sustainability.

[63] Right now, bees were our first major project.

[64] We have 13 beehives.

[65] We raise chickens.

[66] We have beef and dairy cows.

[67] We've had turkeys, ducks.

[68] We're just trying to get to the point where we can either grow or raise all of our own food.

[69] Good God.

[70] That's very impressive.

[71] That's is impressive to be completely self -sustaining.

[72] That is something I will never achieve in my life.

[73] I neither.

[74] Constant.

[75] I don't know if I will either, but we're working on it.

[76] And especially right now, I have to say, I'm less helpful in my third trimester.

[77] I've kind of taken a backseat to all of the dirty farm tours.

[78] Well, I think you have a pretty good excuse.

[79] I have found that I, my rules for survival is there have to be four whole foods within strolling, within strolling to.

[80] six ATMs, a multiplex, the list goes on and on, but these are just, this is just hardcore, simple survival for me. Those are the only places I will hike or camp, these areas that have all of...

[81] Let me say, I do enjoy Whole Foods for sure, and the Trader Joe's.

[82] Yeah.

[83] It took some adjusting.

[84] I also need soft serve ice cream available at the drop of a hat.

[85] I need an R .E .I. nearby.

[86] Let's see, if you have a cow, you can make your own ice cream, and then it's even better and unlimited.

[87] This sounds impressive.

[88] Tell me about the livestock.

[89] You said you've got some real livestock.

[90] I don't know anything about cows.

[91] Nothing.

[92] I know nothing about cows.

[93] I know that's where the milk comes from and that's all I know.

[94] Yeah, so I didn't know anything either.

[95] It's been a fun learning process.

[96] Right now we have five cows, so we have a small herd.

[97] Actually, two of them are cows, which means that they have had calves.

[98] So they are milk producers, Betty and Penelope.

[99] We have two that we're raising for beef, chestnut, and midnight.

[100] And then we have one heifer, which means she hasn't had a calf yet.

[101] And then we have two calves born or do this winter.

[102] So it's baby season.

[103] Let me ask you a question.

[104] This may seem stupid, but to the ones you're raising for beef, somewhere in the back of their minds, do they know?

[105] Yeah, do you treat them differently?

[106] Like you don't get emotionally close to them?

[107] Yeah.

[108] Like a new recruit.

[109] Have they noticed that you won't look them right in the eye?

[110] You're always hugging the milk cows.

[111] Do they offer and show you a picture of their girl back home yeah and you're like i don't need to see that yeah you know i hate to say it but yeah there i think that there definitely is some emotional distance there i make sure that they're happy but i try not to get too attached maybe you'll change your mind i would i would that's the fear yeah that ironic though that they have a shorter time on earth they should have a little bit more love in that short time but you're starving them yeah yeah okay well they're very happy and my son goes out there he just loves spending time with the cow so i think they get plenty of love I do have to say, whenever I taste the meat of an animal that grew up with a lot of love, it's terrible.

[112] It's soft.

[113] Yeah, it's not good.

[114] But there are steaks that I can get, and these are animals that never knew true love.

[115] And boy, is that a tender steak.

[116] It's a delicious steak.

[117] It's a special restaurant I go to called Loveless.

[118] You know, it's one to do, it's, it's, these are free -range chickens, but they never knew love, real love.

[119] They were just raised in a 1950s suburban house.

[120] Yeah, exactly.

[121] Oh, I know where they were raised.

[122] I'm kidding.

[123] Come on, folks.

[124] You get it.

[125] It's funny.

[126] I have to say, this is, you're a living, it's as if, I mean, it could be, I'm sure you have electricity and things like that, but it could be 1850 in some regards in your life.

[127] Do you know?

[128] Yeah, I do joke that it does feel like 1880 for sure.

[129] There's a lot of, uh, it's.

[130] I mean, charming things, but also annoyances that come with not being connected to the outside world except through a drive.

[131] But it is a quiet, happy life.

[132] I feel envious of that.

[133] I think maybe the grass is always greener, but I feel like I would love to just do away with all that and be where you are.

[134] But I can't, you know.

[135] Well, I'm just going to step in and say that you would die within a month of some disease that no one's even encountered.

[136] I'd find a new one.

[137] Yeah, you'd eat a berry.

[138] and that's actually a perfectly edible berry and that would be it for you they'd put you in your Sunday suit and down you'd go into the hole but I know what you're saying there's something very aspirational about it there's something where I hear about it and I go oh that would be don't you think like you'd lose a lot of anxiety not having the internet and stuff just that would be so nice you guys are probably anxiety free except for like later and farm concerns, right?

[139] I mean, I think that things that sound aspirational in reality are always, they come with their difficulties too.

[140] It definitely makes life a little bit more simple, but we're still human.

[141] Yeah, there's still, there was plenty of anxiety out in olden times on a farm because what if there was a frost and what if your crop died or...

[142] But that's legitimate anxiety.

[143] I mean, you know what I know what you mean?

[144] No trivial anxiety.

[145] Trivial anxiety.

[146] Yeah, yeah.

[147] Like I, oh, you know, this video cut out before I saw the rest of that street fight.

[148] Yes, thank you, yes.

[149] None of that?

[150] Damn it, these two guys were wailing on each other and then, damn it, I lost the connection.

[151] Those were things that old, honest Abe wasn't worried about when he was chopping those logs.

[152] Wow, okay.

[153] I don't know how I would do in that environment, but I do think that being removed from all of these modern distractions would be somewhat helpful.

[154] But it is funny to me because we also talked to another fan who lived out in like a storage container in New Zealand.

[155] And he was in the middle of nowhere, but he was listening to our podcast.

[156] And I do find it amusing that when someone's living, they don't have television, they don't have running toilets.

[157] Yeah.

[158] And they're like, well, time to check out these idiots babbling away.

[159] in Los Angeles on their podcast.

[160] So that does amuse me. Well, you guys have actually got me through some difficult times.

[161] My son was actually, Gideon was in the NICU for a little while.

[162] And I used to listen to the podcast on the walk over so that I would arrive in a happy laughing mood.

[163] So I think that you guys give me a big service to a lot of people.

[164] Well, thank you.

[165] How's he doing now?

[166] He's wonderful.

[167] He's two and a half and just the happiest little boy.

[168] Oh, that's great.

[169] That's a nice story.

[170] I'm glad.

[171] I'm glad we were we were able to be there for you even though we weren't there for you we didn't know we were there for you the parissocial relationship yeah sounds like we were responsible for um appreciate it yeah you should change his name to comment uh Conan Conan Gorley you have to change his last name too yeah who knows um well I don't know I you know this it sounds like you're I'm very impressed I'm very impressed with you and your husband And very excited for the next child to come along.

[172] And you guys have a homestead.

[173] I know.

[174] That's nice.

[175] Yeah.

[176] It says here you have 22 acres.

[177] Is that right?

[178] Yeah, we do.

[179] Yeah, we have 22 acres.

[180] And coming from California, I didn't realize that land came in that size.

[181] But there's, I mean, much larger farms than ours, but it feels like a huge farm to me. It feels like endless, you know, possibility there.

[182] It's a really beautiful place.

[183] I think you had a question for us, I believe.

[184] Is that right?

[185] Do you have a question?

[186] Yeah, I do.

[187] So do you think that you could live without reliable daily internet or cell phone access?

[188] And if you could, what would you do to fill your time?

[189] I will say for myself, I definitely could, meaning I think I would be a happier person.

[190] I honestly think it would be great if I wasn't constantly, you know, texting or answering, texts or getting emails and I think I would probably read more and I would journal and I don't know I do think that there would I don't think I would miss that I think I'd have pangs or moments where I missed it but we didn't live I'm a lot you know I'm older than you guys and I didn't have internet for a big chunk of my life and never knew what You know, I didn't have it.

[191] Didn't miss it when I didn't have it, so I don't think I would miss it again.

[192] So I'd be happy if it was enforced and I didn't have it.

[193] What about you?

[194] Yeah, I wish it would be taken from me because for the job, for many other things, I have to have it.

[195] And I do take breaks a couple times a year, but it's miserable, and I wish I was just.

[196] Also, what if, what if, I mean, I sometimes think, what if I could become a master woodworker?

[197] Yeah, Eduardo's giggling, but I mean, what if, what if, but then I think Nick Offerman's a master woodworker, and he also goes on the internet.

[198] Right.

[199] So clearly that's not stopping me from being a master woodworker.

[200] Now, I think there are no skills that are being, there's no skills that are being stopped by my, you know, having access to the internet.

[201] But I like to imagine that if you took away my internet, suddenly I'd be one of the great eye surgeons of all time.

[202] That's the thing.

[203] Yeah, that's what I would do.

[204] Can you take away our internet?

[205] I would love someone to take away my internet.

[206] I couldn't do this job.

[207] Well, you're welcome to come out here for a visit.

[208] Yeah, you know what?

[209] Do you have a place where Gourley and I could stay on these 22 acres?

[210] We do actually.

[211] So when we first came to West Virginia, we drove across the country looking for a home in our RV.

[212] So we still have a 30 -foot RV that you're welcome to stay in.

[213] It's very cozy.

[214] basically it's it's almost like we're in an RV now whenever we're in this studio so I think goarly and I yeah that's something we should think about oh no I'm I'm a no just that's a hard pass it's a hard pass for me okay thank you I'm not the RV anyone all the yeah well and all the hashtag van life I see on the internet now I know that they're all lying it is not as fun as it looks isabel you know what I'm going to do I'm going to show up and I'm going to have with me a drifter I met along the way who I cannot vouch for and we are going to live on your property and we're going to look after your family you cool with that if you help with the farm chores he's going to have a faraway stare and anyway you'll see we're showing up eventually you'll go home but he might stick around yeah I may leave to get back here to my family and my job but Pete he's going to stay with you it'll be a new friend we don't know his last name he doesn't yeah he's got a twitch uh well uh isabel it was very nice talking to you best of luck with uh your your second child and uh congratulations and um thanks really cool i think what you're doing is very impressive and uh you and your husband have a lot of character and fortitude to be doing that i think it's very cool thanks well definitely is a lot of fun all right We'll keep listening to those podcasts, even if it's snowing, if there's a storm, if you're risking your life to get to town for the next download, don't miss it, okay?

[215] It's more important than feeding the children.

[216] Do you understand?

[217] I'll remember that.

[218] All right.

[219] You take care.

[220] Bye -bye.

[221] Thank you, Isabel.

[222] Thank you so much.

[223] Have a good day.

[224] Conan O 'Brien needs a friend with Conan O 'Brien, Sonam of Sessian, and Matt Goreley.

[225] Produced by me, Matt Gourley, executive produced by Adam Sacks, Nick Liao, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Your Wolf.

[226] Theme song by The White Stripes.

[227] Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.

[228] Take it away, Jimmy.

[229] Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples.

[230] Engineering by Eduardo Perez, additional production support by Mars Melnick, talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn.

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