Best News
Luke and Elena discuss a (now debunked) dazzling detail about Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton's rock 'n' roll aspirations, and how a man provided the city of Philadelphia some much-needed solace... via a rotisserie chicken-eating marathon.
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Luke Burbank: Hey there. Welcome to the Best News podcast from Live Wire. Brought to you by Alaska Airlines. This is the show where we talk about what is good in the news. I'm Luke Burbank. And right over there is my dear friend Elena Passarello. Hey, Elena.
Elena Passarello: Hi.
Luke Burbank: How are you? I believe it's week 32 of the best. Oh, it's a big week to it's election week, which, by the way, as we're recording this, the election hasn't happened yet, or at least, you know, the Tuesday of when we're all voting hasn't happened. And by we're all voting, I mean, please, by the time you're hearing this, I sure hope you have voted out there, Best News Listener. But if we're not referencing anything, it's just because of that. We don't know. We don't know what happened to, you know, more than us at this point. I have to start this week with a bit of a retraction, Elena. Oh, well, here's what happened. We were recording some stuff, you and I, for the show, like last week for the radio show. And we were talking about Julia Roberts and there was that interesting story that was going around the news about how her birth was actually paid for by Martin Luther King Jr and his wife, Coretta Scott King. And the thing about the article that floored me was that about two thirds of the way through the story, there was this line that just said she's written 1750 Wikipedia bios for people who have been passed over because of being women or people of color, people that were contributing in the world of science. And I thought, isn't that a dazzling detail about Julia Roberts? If I brought it up we're talking about it might have been almost the most interesting thing about the story to me until yesterday when I got one of my many e-mails. Now, the initial article I saw was in The Washington Post. I got one of my many e-mails from The Washington Post just reminding me about their fine articles and different things they could be reading. And I saw a headline Elena that said she wrote 1750 Wikipedia bios for people who've been passed over. And there was a photo of the person who did that, and that person was not Julia Roberts at all.
Elena Passarello: Oh, it was one of those teasers in the middle of the article.
Luke Burbank: It was one of those teasers in the article. But because and this is boring, but I go through and I, I sort of delete all like photographs and things. So if I print the story out, which I always do, I take out a lot of the stuff that isn't important. And what I had deleted was the photo of the real person who did that. And that real person is named Jess Wade, who is a physicist in the UK, who is actually the person who has done that. And because of the quirks of cross-promotion, of stories and me deleting the photo and weirdly the sentence, you'll appreciate this as a professor, the sentence actually worked perfectly in the part of the piece it ended up in, you know what I mean? Like it was out of context, but it it wasn't wildly out of context. It just looked like they had written kind of dispassionately that Julia Roberts also does this crazy thing on Wikipedia, which she does not.
Elena Passarello: I remember that article because Tanvi our amazing fellow. I think included it as an option for great news that we could talk about. And I remember kind of writing it up. That's a lot. And Julia Roberts was making all those movies and doing 1700 now that I think about it.
Luke Burbank: I mean, that's why I thought it was such a fascinating bit of information. Also, I think it proves how highly I regard Julia Roberts that I would just believe anything that I see written related to her. So anyway, I just wanted to clarify mostly for you, Elena, because we had been talking about it a while ago. There's one other thing I wanted to clarify here at the top of the show, which was we were talking last week on the podcast about your, I believe, a colleague of yours who's driving a motorcycle around South America, right?
Elena Passarello: Keith. Yeah, he's driven it from Oregon to I think he's in Argentina now. Yeah.
Luke Burbank: And I think I said also without doing proper research, which apparently is a pattern for me, that's got to be our furthest away listener. And then we got a message from listener Matt, who's in Australia, who is mapping it out and noted that Melbourne, Australia, where Matt is presumably is 8107 miles away from Portland and Argentina. In Mendoza, Argentina, where I believe this other person was, is a mere 6361 miles away. So. As of right now, unless we have someone check in from, I don't know, Saturn, I'm going to say Matt Smedley may be our furthest away listener.
Elena Passarello: Maybe I'll I'll do a little project for myself, and I'll figure out what the farthest away place from where we record the 45th parallel.
Luke Burbank: Basically, it's going to be like that island where that bird lives that you always like to write about. Midway.
Elena Passarello: Midway Island. They're coming back. The albatrosses are coming back. It is November. I can't wait until my best news is the first albatross egg of the season. It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Luke Burbank: For you it is. And for me, I'm fasting. That was a great article, by the way. I think I mentioned this to you, but my girlfriend's nephew, who is a very, very smart, very precocious person, when he heard that I worked with Elena Passarello, he did not say, Oh, from Live Wire he said, Oh, who wrote that piece in? Was it The Atlantic? Nat Geo? Where was tha piece?
Elena Passarello: It was in Audubon where the discerning Bird fan reads.
Luke Burbank: Like a ten year old kid who was like, Oh, Elena Passarello from Audubon magazine.
Elena Passarello: That is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. And just the idea that a ten year old is like reading and thinking about like seabird conservation.
Luke Burbank: Oh, this kid, Alexander, he is he's really quite, quite special. So.
Elena Passarello: Oh, I love him already.
Luke Burbank: Let's talk about some of the best news out there in the wider world. What's the best news that you saw this week, Alina?
Elena Passarello: Well, the Dolly-dar is beeping. You know, now we've just got a transmitter tower that receives all Dolly Parton news. And speaking of this particular bit of Dolly Parton news had one of those embedded stories in the middle.
Luke Burbank: You got to be careful with those.
Elena Passarello: It was a little easy to tell because this embedded one was Dolly Parton starts new dog fashion line doggie parton. So it's stuck out like a little bit of a sore thumb, but I don't know if you know that. This weekend, Dolly Rebecca Parton, the Queen of country, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Luke Burbank: Really? Yes, she wasn't. Didn't she initially very graciously pass on that?
Elena Passarello: She was on the nomination list. They announced the nomination list right around her 76th birthday. And she said with her notorious pluck, thank you. But I don't think I would fit in. I don't think I count. And they said, with all due respect, we reject your rejection. Rock and roll has deep roots in R&B and country music. This is what the Hall of Fame said. It is not defined by any one genre. Rather and this is interesting. This is how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame defines rock and roll. A sound that moves some modicum of youth culture. Dolly Parton's music impacted a generation of young fans and has influenced countless artists that followed. So sorry, not sorry, Dolly, you're still in the running. And of course, she was accepted and she was inducted this weekend alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the masters of the Minneapolis Sound. They also wrote, I think Roter produced Black Cat, which is like the Rock iestJanet Jackson's song ever. Duran Duran, who all my babysitters wanted to smooch in college, the Eurythmics. And for some reason, I guess, like, you know, we won't see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for a little bit. But she showed up, by the way, Dolly in like a total Elvis jumpsuit, like a black comeback special.
Luke Burbank: Oh, boy. That's the two things that you care about in life really intersecting.
Elena Passarello: Yeah. If only there was, like, a sea bird flying around when it was happening would have been perfect. And it had, like, a little bit of a kind of Baz Luhrmann, Elvis, like, black and red, like, kind of like iconography to look like a million bucks. And she certainly didn't look 76 anyway. So she's wearing this and singing Jolene with Rob Halford from Judas Priest. Whoa. Because why not? Sure.
Luke Burbank: Anyway, I mean, you can't think it's like peanut butter and jelly. You can't think of one without the other.
Elena Passarello: Yeah, Judas Priest and Dolly, but. Sure. So this is added. So, you know, Dolly's got the EGOT, she's got a Kennedy Center honor. She's been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 50 years. She first appeared on the Opry when she was like 13. She is notoriously turned down the National Medal of Honor from the previous president. And we're hoping Obama is said he's going to call Joe and see if he can get that rectified anyway. But the the sort of best news buried within the best news is that because she's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she's like, I guess I have to record a rock album. And she's she's writing new material for her rock album. But it just made me think like, if Dolly Parton could record any rock song for this album, like, what would you want to hear her cover? Like what straight up are a R A W K Rock song? Would you like to hear her sing?
Luke Burbank: Oh, man, I feel on the spot now, which is Turnabout is fair play, because usually I'm interviewing our guests and putting them on the spot with these kinds of questions. But I'm trying like, so are you thinking of something that's kind of in the. Like, are you when you say rock, is there a decade you're thinking of? Is there a particular are we talking hair metal? Are we talking smoke on the water or are we talking the darkness? I believe in a thing called love. Like there are a lot of different ways to rock out.
Elena Passarello: I can hear her singing all of those songs. Can you hear her singing The Darkness, I Believe In a Thing Called Love.
Luke Burbank: Well, I like to hear anyone sing that song who can possibly keep it in tune. I think that is what One of The Rocket is songs of the last 20 years.
Elena Passarello: I think in terms of hair metal, I think she'd do a great kickstart my heart, you know, by the crew.
Luke Burbank: That's Motley Crue, right?
Elena Passarello: Yeah. I think Magic Man or Crazy On You. She would tear up.
Luke Burbank: Oh, sure. And Barracuda.
Elena Passarello: Also. Now I Want To Be Your Dog. But I have a feeling kind of like intersect with doggie part in her new clothing line.
Luke Burbank: Try to imagine how I'd feel about. That's Iggy, right?
Elena Passarello: The Stooges. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Luke Burbank: That's like about Dolly doing The Stooges. I could get down with that. It was pretty cool. And Johnny Cash started covering Nine Inch Nails. That added a whole dimension to that song.
Elena Passarello: Yeah. Yeah. And Rusty Cage by Soundgarden remember he did that. So yeah, I think I mean, she could crush so many great rock songs.
Luke Burbank: Absolutely. Now, you you mentioned something in passing. You were talking about the kind of music and a genre of music. Are you like me, Elena, as a Jeopardy! Fan and by the way, as a contestant on Jeopardy as you were? Is your brain now broken for the word Genre, because of how Alex Trebek would say it?
Elena Passarello: Only when I watch Jeopardy! And somebody doesn't pronounce it that way.
Luke Burbank: Have you seen the supercut? Have you heard the supercut of Alex Trebek saying genre?
Elena Passarello: No.
Luke Burbank: Take a listen.
Genres for four. Genre category, this genre of art, this genre of novel, this genre of game, this alliterative genre, this fantasy genre, this spooky genre, this popular genre, this six letters genre, this genre.
Luke Burbank: And it goes on and on. I can I can never say the word genre the way that I used to. Now I have to say it like Alex Trebek.
Elena Passarello: I feel like that should that supercut should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Luke Burbank: Absolutely. Have Dolly Parton cover it.
Elena Passarello: Oh, could be like Jolene. Only genre, genre genre.
Luke Burbank: I think we're like a half second delay. So the poor listeners. I thought I was singing in perfect time with you there, but I think that was probably maddening for the folks listening. Can I tell you about the best news that I saw this week involving what I consider to be kind of my not my hometown, but a town that I feel real affinity with? It is where I was conceived technically, and that is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's a lot of information about my origin story. But anyway, you know, it's been it was a sort of a tough weekend in Philly from a sports standpoint. Philadelphia became the first city ever to lose two major sports championships in the same weekend. They lost the World Series, unfortunately for them. And then their MLS team, Major League Soccer, the Philadelphia Union, lost the MLS championship. So that was like a kind of a a bummer weekend in the sports department for Philadelphians. But there was someone that they could turn to, a person who's being called the chicken man, a.k.a. Alexander Tominsky. Did you see anything about this, Elena, this week?
Elena Passarello: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Luke Burbank: A few weeks ago, a guy started popping up on social media in Philadelphia. This guy, Alexander Tyminski. He tweets under the handle, smooth recess. And he said, I'm going to eat an entire rotisserie chicken every single day for 30 straight days. And so he would document it for sports. It didn't start out specifically sports related, but this is this is what ended up happening. It started getting a lot of attention. And they noticed that on the days when the Phillies were playing and he ate a chicken, it seemed like the Phillies were doing better. It kind of got adopted as like a superstition thing. Like as long as this guy has been eating chicken, Philadelphia has been winning in the postseason. So he had to extend it by ten days. He said, I'm going to go 40 days of eating an entire rotisserie chicken every single day. So the 40th day was last Sunday, right? And this is so on Saturday. That was when the Phillies were eliminated and then union lost. So Sunday, it's like the denizens of Philadelphia are waking up. What are we supposed to do? Well, the chicken man had gone around posting fliers on the telephone poles in Philly with a picture of him in a rotisserie chicken and said, I'm going to eat my 40th rotisserie chicken in a row on Sunday morning on the abandoned pier behind the Wal-Mart.
Elena Passarello: Near Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
Luke Burbank: Basically, we're also looking at the one year anniversary of that event. A lot of interesting stuff coming out of PA. And so, like 300 people showed up on this pier, this like a wharf kind of a thing out on the river, I think at the school, probably like sitting there to watch this guy eat a rotisserie chicken on like a folding table. And it was a scene like it was being treated like it was it was being treated like he was one of the biggest sports events in Philly this year, which is a weird of established. There have been some pretty big years. I want to play you a little bit of audio. This is the chicken man as he has. He's holding a paper plate in one hand and it's got like the last bite of the rotisserie chicken that he's been eating in front of this crowd. And in his other hand is a Bluetooth speaker. And he's playing the streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen before he takes his final bite of the chicken. Take a listen.
We're right here.
Unidentified: In range of girls in grade three.
Luke Burbank: This is him singing along to the song. He takes the last bite of chicken and the crowd goes wild.
Elena Passarello: Oh, my God.
Luke Burbank: That was that was what was happening last weekend in Philly on a pier behind the Wal-Mart.
Elena Passarello: I am shocked, Burbank by the song choice of all the Bruce Springsteen songs. Why would you not pick Atlantic City? The first line of which they blew up a chicken man in Philly last night.
Luke Burbank: I think this is a great question. I think because it was in Philadelphia, it just seemed streets of Philadelphia seem more relevant. Also, I got to be honest with you, this is the kind of conversation that they don't like us having on the radio show because it's way too in the weeds. But, you know, I had to look up the lyrics to Streets of Philadelphia to make sure that wasn't a War on Drugs song. I was like watching this video. I was like, Why is he playing a War on Drugs song? And then I had to Google the lyrics. And then it revealed itself to actually be Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen. So that's kind of the latest from Philadelphia. I feel it was good news to me because I know and I got a lot of family out there, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, and I know everybody was really hurting after their sports weekend, but I feel like their spirits were buoyed by the chicken man. And I I'm not sure if he's continued. I think 40 was the end. He looked pretty really over eating rotisserie chicken by the 41.
Elena Passarello: And, you know, like the governor, one of the gubernatorial candidates is fasting for 40 days. This guy's eating a rich history chicken in Philadelphia for 40 days. There's a lot of weird I mean, you know, how many calories or pounds of meat at least are in a rotisserie chicken? That's like 20 pounds of meat.
Luke Burbank: That's the thing that struck me as I actually looked at many videos of this guy eating an entire rotisserie chicken. I thought that was kind of a goof, like, whatever. It's a chicken, you know, you get it at the deli. I probably had a full one myself. It's a decent amount of meat to eat for 40 days in a row. Like it was actually a little more grueling. I think he probably started out thinking it was kind of just going to be a joke and I'll just eat this chicken. It'll be fine. But I think putting away an entire one of those every day, I do think it started to kind of get he looked a little green around like chicken 37 through 40. It definitely looked like he was stressing his system. All right. That's the best news that we have heard this week. Now, there's still good news for you, though, the listeners, which is that our radio show will be dropping this weekend. On Friday, the podcast version of our show, Live Wire, is going to come out in this very feed and then over the weekend it'll be on radio stations all over the country. Here's what you're going to hear. Writer and reporter Casey Parks is going to stop by to talk about her new book, Diary of a Misfit. She chronicles what it was like to come out to her family in Louisiana. And also she talks a lot in the book about her relationship with her mother, who is quite a character. And really the sort of throughline of the book is that Casey is researching the life of a trans man named Roy Hudgins, who her grandmother had said to her was once the most important person in her life. And so Casey sets out to kind of figure out what was this person's life all about. We're also going to get some music from the incredibly talented and just incredibly charismatic thunderstorm artist. After we recorded this conversation, I was like, I just want to be friends with this dude like this. So warm and talented and fun to catch up with. He sort of became nationally known during season 18 of The Voice where he did really well. His singing has been described as warm, vibrant and powerful, so it's going to be an awesome show. Casey Parks and Thunderstorm artists hoping that you can catch up with that when it comes out. All right. A big thanks to our team who makes the best news podcast possible. Laura Hadden is our executive producer. Our producer and editor is Melanie Sevcenko. Our assistant editor is Trey Hester and our production fellow is Tanvi Kumar. Molly Pettit is our technical director and mixer and our theme music. Often the best part of the entire show is composed by A. Walker Spring. Also a big thanks to all of you out there listening and emailing. Hey, shoot us an email. If you're listening from somewhere further away than Melbourne, Australia, please send us an email Best News at Live Wire Radio dot org. All right. Thanks again for listening. We'll be back next week. In the meantime, head on out there and just come on, have the absolute best week.
