Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
We are inching towards Christmas. It's getting more and more exciting. I'm actually starting to feel it. Welcome, everyone. This is the Jan Arden Podcast and Show. I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. I'm in Springbank, Alberta. I was trying to think of what province I was in for a moment. And Caitlin and Adam are in Ontario, in Toronto, in their homes. And I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh.
Caitlin, you've been back in the studio, which has been probably exciting and mortifying at the same time. Yeah, I've been back in the studio at CHUM since the end of September, really, I guess. Or no, mid-October, actually, is fair to say.
And it's been good. It is stressful though. Like it is, there are some days where, you know, I'll be taking my Uber in the morning and I'm like, is this cool? Like, am I? And then now the talk about the new variants and everything like that. So that stuff does cross your mind again, I suppose. There is like,
There was a part that we got used to, and I knew once we got used to doing stuff from home so effectively, there was a part of it that I knew I would miss. And I'm sure everyone will miss when they have to slowly start returning into work. Well, I think just deciding what to wear. I know that seems really kind of trivial, but...
I remember the weeks that I did on the social. Obviously, before COVID, I was able to, a couple of times a year, go in and co-host with the girls for the whole week. And I just remember coming out of that after five days thinking, the clothes, the hair, the makeup, the rehearsals. I mean, all those girls do this stuff.
Week in, week out. And I really... And they've been doing it from home this last year and a half for all of you guys that have been watching the social. And now they're back in the studio finally, like in the last...
Three weeks, I think all four hosts are on really neat couches. Anyway, it's such a cool vibe. But I was talking to Cynthia Loyston and she's like, it is, it's something else. Like it's really great, but it's just really hectic. You know, the time spent with her son has been magical. Jaya is I think seven or eight.
So anyway, I'm thinking about you all guys going back to work. Adam is still in his studio downstairs. Yeah. I don't want to go back to work. Well, no, you are at work, but... Yes. Oh, I'm... But I'm so set up at home and I've been doing it this way for so long. I have a workflow. I'm efficient. I'm connected. I can...
share files easily. I mean, we've said this. If this happened even five years ago, I don't know if I would have been able to have done it. No, I think the whole, I don't think the world would have managed. Anyway, we have so much to talk about today. We're going to launch right into it. And we're going to start with Christmas dinners around the world. I love this. And Caitlin brought this in and it is so bizarre. The only thing I can relate to in the slightest with food that is
Kind of on the edge of my comfort zone is I was on a flight in Scandinavia. I think I was going from Oslo to Sweden. Anyway, Norway to Sweden. When we got on the plane, the tray was so sleek. It was like the best of Ikea ever.
It was beautifully packaged. It was economical. It was all placed out perfectly. The flight attendants looked like goddesses, like goddesses coming out of Viking dreams with their crisp blue hats and their blue suits and their beautiful footwear. And they set these trays in front of you and had these accents. And anyway, it was reindeer. Oh, boy. It was fish eggs, and it was kind of a –
uh some kind of a grain it was those beautiful kind of square hard rye toasts with um some kind of yeast spread or something on it anyway so we'll just launch into it that was the closest I've got so this was in my mind when you brought the story Caitlin I'm like what are these things going to be so Sweden we'll start there they have something called the jourboard
A smorgasbord made up of lots of hot and cold dishes like ham, spare ribs, fish, potatoes, boiled cabbage. And for a special treat, it's typical to also have eel kind of laid out. On the old board. I could do that. I don't like eel, so that's a no.
I've had eel. It's not the taste that bothers me. It's what it looks like in real life that bothers me. This is Christmas dinner. I don't want eel. I mean, this is just one of those things where you all, everyone returns to their frame of reference of what they're used to. And sometimes I'm an adventurous eater and I'll branch out. I'll try almost anything once, but I've tried eel. I'm not a fan. Come on. If you went over to Jill and Fred Paulson's down your street, you sat down at the table and they brought out the board of...
Ribs, the ribs look great. Ham, fish, potatoes, and boiled cabbage. I would run. Anyway, I don't know. I wouldn't eat the whole thing. We have Slovakia. Christmas eating starts with a big meatless meal. Love you, Slovakia. On the 24th, a sauerkraut soup with mushrooms. That makes another appearance on Christmas Day because maybe there's leftovers. But on the day, they add pork.
And if you're Catholic, you eat your animal proteins on the 25th. I don't know a lot about that. Neither do I.
comments, anyone, the, uh, cabbage soup, it would be farty. Yeah. I'm like, again, it's just like, you want what you're, I feel like I want something more familiar to me than cabbage soup with mushrooms. I do love soup though. I'm not like, this isn't an immediate no. I just don't know if I like had to pick. I still don't think I'm picking these ones. I think I might pick something a little different. This might, this might help like Japan.
Oh, this is my favorite. Well, I think we'd all be thinking, you know, the sushi. You know, when you go to a Japanese restaurant and you're thinking all those things, the tempura and, you know, sashimi and all those things. Well, most people eat traditional foods. But for the past few decades, for some reason, Japanese families have added Kentucky Fried Chicken to the mix. And it's the most popular fast food in the country. And I'm gobsmacked at that.
And most of the families have a bucket of KFC sitting in the middle of their Christmas dinner table. I mean, because Japan, like if you go to a, you know, a Japanese, like an izakaya, we think of sushi and like fresh fish very often, but they do like chicken karagi or karagi, I think. And it's a really delicious fried chicken. So they nail like, you know, Japanese fried chicken is great. And same with Korean fried chicken obsessed. So I'm not surprised that they love KFC. Yeah.
Plus, frying chicken is a lot of work. It's very laborious. You can burn yourself or start a small fire in your kitchen. So maybe they just decided after a few household accidents that this was easier. I could do this. You do not ever, ever want to eat undercooked chicken as long as you live. Oh, no. I've had food poisoning from chicken two or three times in my life, which is three times more than I would have liked to. I just thought I would die. Okay, Norway. Norway.
No holiday is complete without lutefisk, a stinky dish of cod smoked in lye until it turns into jelly. No. No. I mean, that is really specific. That is something that you either grow up with and you're given at six months old because it sounds like a ferment to me. Yeah. This is like you've lost a bet and you have to eat the lutefisk.
No. Because it doesn't make any sense. This I'm out on. Somebody they spoke to in Norway said that we also eat dried cook. I don't know if I can say it. Do you want me to take this over? No, it's okay. It's all right. Dried cooked lamb head and dried lamb rib that's been boiled with sticks and
For eight or more hours. Does someone want to help me with the boiled with sticks part? This is so weird. Who thinks that boiled meat is the way to go? It never is. You don't boil meat. No. This is a terrible idea. With sticks, what? Unless you're making a stock, you don't boil meat. Yeah, exactly. So this doesn't sound appealing to me at all. I mean, growing up, I mean, I'm going to be 60 years old in a few months. I remember my mom boiling meat.
certain things. I certainly remember her poaching a whole chicken in a pot with lots of herbs, lots of bay leaves, lots of, you know, salt and pepper. And there was some sugar. It was almost like a brine, but she'd boil it for a long time. And then it would all come off the bone and get shredded up. And then it would go into like something else. She'd make a casserole with
rice or macaroni or but but yeah I remember chicken boiling on the stove for a while okay Poland
The big meal is actually eaten Christmas Eve. Okay. It consists of 12 dishes. I wonder if that's of a religious nature. Perhaps. None of which contain meat. Poland, here I come. The big favorites are clear borscht, and borscht is beets. I would imagine a hot or cold beet soup, yes. I'd eat that. And uzka, which are small ear-shaped dumplings. I'm on a plane to Poland. I'm going there now. Yeah.
Yeah, Polish food is great. I love it. I love cabbage rolls. I love borscht. I love all that stuff. Well, I mean, I wonder what the deal is with no meat. I need to look into that more. There's some kind of a religious overtone, I think, here that has people not having animal proteins.
I'm going to find out. There's a cultural theme going on here, except for the Japanese. I think it's also to do with Catholicism. So it's like waiting to not consume meat and then consuming it on sometimes Christmas day or when there's like technically, okay, now it's time to feast. It's like we've avoided it and now we're going to have some. There might be a little tie in there.
Definitely. Iceland, this is our last one and then we'll move on. We've got lots of stuff. I'm going to add a little asterisk here. For my friends who've gone to Iceland, they haven't said great things about the food. If you are from Iceland and need to defend yourself, please feel free to do so on Twitter. I haven't had the pleasure of going yet. It's high on my list of places to go. Me too. But I think, you know, I know that, you know, back in the day, Vikings pretty well pillaged Iceland for all their trees, right?
And so there aren't a lot of trees there. I don't think a lot of stuff really grows there. And so they eat, you know, things to my understanding, like Pelican, not off the menu. Like that, that might be an option. Puffin, I think. Oh, Puffin, that's what I meant. Puffin. Yeah. I was, when you said Pelican, I'm like, there's definitely going to be listeners writing in about the Pelican thing, but the Puffin, my friend Ross Broom did try it and he said it was really quite odd.
It doesn't look out, but they're cute. I wouldn't. Everybody eats puffin fish. No puffin the bird. Puffin, sorry, puffin the bird. We are really zero for zero here right now. Sorry, Iceland. Puffin the bird. Iceland is not going to sponsor us ever on the. Okay. On Christmas Day, Icelanders dig into a dish called
Hang... Ikjot. Let me just spell it out. Hang. I-K-J-O-T. Which consists of thinly sliced meat made from lamb, mutton... Oh, Jesus. Or horse. Oh, come on. That is smoked over dried sheep's dung and accompanied by a cream sauce. Oh, come on now. Now, I think this is...
This has got to be some kind of made up thing here. You know why it's smoked over dried sheep's dung? They traditionally don't have any trees. So what are you burning? Thanks a lot, Vikings. You took all the trees out. They did the same thing in the Scottish Highlands. How about a stove? How about... Do they not have charcoal briquettes? We sound horrible. I think this is just extreme...
an extreme example, because I just picture them eating potatoes and stuffing. Anyway, that's certainly the weirdest thing. We will be right back. You'll listen to the Jane Reilly Podcast. Welcome back to the Jane Reilly Podcast. Christmas is approaching quickly. It really seems hard to believe how fast it's coming, and I know a lot of people are.
Already planning their meals. They're already going out and buying stuff. We've just taken a little quick jaunt around the world at what some people are eating traditionally. I'm sure there is so many, so many varieties of stuff out there. It would probably make your eyeballs drop out of your head because there is no end to the things that people eat.
can and will eat. I'm adventurous, but I'm not. There's a lot of things on this list that I'm not going anywhere near. That's okay, Adam. We're all right. Moving on to just a feel-good story. I think we've all seen door cam footage. A lot of people have those very pretty inexpensive door cameras that
Catch people stealing your packages or a deer coming up and dragging a plant off of your doorstep. I mean, there's lots of really fun stories out there. But this is really great. A family in Racine, Wisconsin has been leaving since the pandemic kind of started. They've been leaving a snack basket out for their delivery guys. That's so nice. Because we all stopped. We all stopped shopping, you know, in the real stores. Caitlin? Yeah.
I love this story so much. I came across it because this started trending because people said, oh, this is such a great idea. And there's so many delivery drivers because the holiday season, it's like busier and busier than ever. So they're also trying to do healthy snacks. So they're not leaving like piles and piles of chocolate bars and chips and pop. They try to do things like trail mix and granola bars and water bottles and all that.
And it's tough if you see those delivery drivers, like, cause I live in a condo and we have a bathroom in our lobby. We have two bathrooms and I've had delivery drivers, like I could hear them commenting to security and stuff saying like, oh man, it's so helpful to have this bathroom here because it's tough. They don't have anywhere to, they can't stop. They have a hard time finding washrooms. Um, and also, you know, they're eating on the road, whether or not they even have time some days to take a break. So this was super considerate of this family. Yeah.
It's been nonstop. Like these guys, these guys have been working around the clock, those guys and, and the food delivery people. I mean, that has been a new trend that I don't think is going to be going away anytime soon.
Yeah. And so because they had, because they have the snack basket and because they're getting so many deliveries and they have a, they have a ring doorbell set up so that they don't, hopefully they can catch any sort of a porch pirates that make off with their goods. But what they ended up doing was getting this really great moment captured from their ring camera. And it's a UPS driver who turns out to have a fantastic voice who sees this snack basket and launches into an impromptu song about nature Valley and power aid.
We're going to play a little bit of it for you right now. Delivery drivers, help yourselves. Thank you much. Thank you much. Thank you much. Got some trail names. Oh, there's some true nature in a parade. Okay, well, if that guy doesn't get a record deal, I don't know.
If they don't incorporate his voice into a Powerade or Nature Valley ad, they've really missed the boat. It was like when the ocean spray cranberry juice guy, you know, going down the road on his skateboard, listening to Fleetwood Mac. I'm like, if someone doesn't reach out to him from Nature Valley and Powerade, this is a miss. Well, we all like to see people being kind to each other because as you know, sometimes the media tends to lean into the stories of, um,
People not getting along. I mean, I think we've known that for decades that those kinds of headlines get attention. When you see contention and you see fighting or you see just people being, I don't know, not great versions of themselves. So seeing stuff like this is awesome. Moving into an entirely different topic. See, this is what a what a grab bag of delicious nuggets is.
of information you're getting today because it's Christmas and we want to give you listeners a variety, a potpourri of wonderment. Almost like a box of chocolates, one might say. How were you proposed to, Caitlin?
Oh, okay. So we were in Nova Scotia, which is where my husband is from. And one of our favorite places in Nova Scotia is a town called Chester. And it's really beautiful. And when we go there, we usually stop and have lunch at a really great place right on the water called the Rope Loft. So we had lunch there. And not far away is a bunch of homes that have private docks that are on the ocean.
And they are very private. And I'm a rule follower. Like I'm not a big rule breaker unless I think it's helpful in some way to someone. So but my husband was like, let's, you know, go and take some photos on the end of one of these private docks on the ocean. And I was like, that's trespassing. I don't know if you should. Yeah.
And I kind of fought it for a bit. And then he made, he convinced me, he was like, no, we'll just pop in really quickly. No one here cares. We're not doing anything wrong with, let's just take a photo. And so we walk over and I'm in such a tizzy that we might be trespassing or someone's going to come yell at us that I'm like racing to the end of the dock. And I'm like, let's just go take this photo and get it over with. And when I turn around, he was proposing, which
which was really cute. Well, we're in, we're in a proposal season. I did not know, uh, as a single woman, I didn't know there was an engagement season, which runs from Thanksgiving to Valentine's day. I'm assuming that might be American in November to, to Valentine's day. That's, that's a good four month period to, to get your question popped, which I would think would be absolutely nerve wracking. Um,
because even if you've been with someone for five or six years, a lot of people are getting married after a long lengths. Uh, I had friends of mine that got married after 20 years. I'm like, why are you guys doing this 20 years? But they wanted to, because I guess income tax is an issue and things like that. And of course your will. And as we get older, we're like, God, if we die, I hope Phil can stay in the house. Um, um,
Also, they were mentioning something about NBA season. So wouldn't you want to, this would be my nightmare, to have someone going down on one knee on the jumbotron.
Never. Never do this. It's not for me. And I think it's not for a lot of women. What do you say? What if it's no? Oh, it's so embarrassing. Yeah. What if it's no, number one. That happened on The Morning Show, by the way, years ago. Somebody proposed on the air and they tried to, like, you know, obviously get everyone involved. And a listener proposed to somebody on the air and she said no. And I think as the show later found out, I don't even think they were really dating.
I think this was like a person who was unwell and had a different version of events than was actually happening. So again, you never know what's really going on when you're seeing that. They make me uncomfortable. They're cringy. Well, I mean, I often am asked, you know, obviously being in the entertainment business and doing concerts, Chris, my road managers, not a lot, but you know, once or twice, uh,
tour. I'll get little bits of paper. They're like, I'm, would you like to propose to my wife? And while we've been going out for the, give me the story. I've done it twice in 25 years. I've been very fortunate that they've gone very well and people come out and sometimes they'll want to sing something or sometimes they will ask if the band will play backup music or,
And it usually is really funny, but it is an audience favorite. They absolutely go bananas. There's a study that says that women, most women want a really private setting to be asked like two thirds. They don't want to be around anybody. They say there's just so much pressure in that moment.
And they would just rather have a unique proposal. So I don't know what that means. Hot air balloon. Oh, my greatest fear. But I mean, something like that, something that's more about the two of you and your relationship than it is about anything involving a jumbotron. Now, did Kyle, did Kyle pick out the ring?
He did. He did such a good job because I'm not, I wasn't like, I'm not one of those people who was like, I'm always going to get married and this is the ring I want and this is the dress and this is like, I had nothing like that. It took me a while to even come around to the idea of getting married. So he did a bang up job because he nailed the proposal. And when I saw the ring, I was like blown away. I didn't cry, which I think was a sticking point for him initially. It took me a while for it to settle in.
And I also don't think I realized how nice the ring was because I'd never once looked at rings. Like, you know, some couples go ring shopping like together and the, you know, the woman sometimes goes and looks at rings and has an idea of what she wants, the clarity, the care. I had no clue. So after a while he was like, it's a good ring. And I was like, oh, it just, it's so beautiful, but I don't know. Well, I mean, did you ever speak about a square diamond or a solid diamond?
Interesting. Are you a jewelry person? No, I wear my rings. That's it, really. I have some earrings. I'm not a huge jewelry person. I like a good watch. I like a nice ring, but I'm not huge on jewelry. Okay, well, what we've learned here today is if anyone does want to propose to me between the next couple of minutes or the next couple of months or years even, don't do it on a Jumbotron. I'm going to agree on that.
And I want something just personal and private. I don't want anyone around. And I'm probably going to say no. I'm going to tell you that right now. So just, but listen, I'm doing myself a public service favor right now. I'm telling people, you're listening to the Jen Arden podcast. We'll be right back with Caitlin and Adam. We've got lots more to talk about.
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Welcome back. Jan Arden, Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. You guys going to any concerts over the holidays? Not over the holidays. No. Next year? Early next year? It depends. I feel like it's hard to count on. But yeah, I mean, I would think about it. I'm supposed to go see Tame Impala. I was supposed to see them before everything got canceled. If they came back around. And I have tickets to go see Elton John, which keeps just getting pushed and pushed and pushed in like 2023 now probably. Yeah.
but eventually let's hope he stays alive I know he had a hip surgery so I think that's partially why it was delayed um but yeah I would go it just depends on how things are looking in arenas because I was supposed to go see Ricky Gervais and he canceled his show and there are a lot of arena shows right now being canceled so he's doing big arena shows though like I could see I see him online there's 25,000 people in some of these places and so where is he canceling
So it was Scotiabank Arena here in Toronto and it was supposed to be... So he's doing the UK stuff and the European stuff, but he's canceled in Canada? I believe that. I can't speak to what dates he is or isn't canceling in the UK. I wasn't really keeping an eye on those, but I know that the one in Toronto has been canceled because of, I'm assuming COVID. I don't know if it's that he got it or that there were outbreaks or travel or whatever. Interesting. Yeah, because he does, he posts these unbelievable pictures. Yeah.
like audience pictures that are in the nosebleed, you know, shooting down at Ricky's stage. And he's like, you know, thank you. He's been going in Ireland and all over the place and it's thousands and thousands and thousands of people. Like he's breaking, he's breaking attendance records, which considering the times we're in is, is,
just bananas. Um, you, you and I were talking earlier today just about how concert tickets are. It's changing the, the, the whole way of getting tickets now is changing. Adele, for instance, came out with, uh, codes that they sent out to, um, early ticket buyers. Well, those tickets disappeared. So it never actually got to the public.
And that was last week. And she's doing a Vegas, a Vegas run. She'll probably do that stuff for a year, I'm sure. But anyway, Olivia Rodrigo did a very similar thing when they put a presale on for super fans and it sold out in 10 minutes. Yeah. So people didn't even get a chance to get tickets.
No, they call it a verified fan presale. And it's this new sort of mysterious algorithm that Ticketmaster says they're using to try to remove bots from the ticket purchasing system. But they won't tell you anything about how they've built this algorithm to decide who gets the privilege of paying $1,000 for Adele tickets. Because I signed up for the verified fan presale to see if I would get lucky. I did not.
you know, I know people who, I know some people who did get through, I know people who didn't and they're not necessarily super fans. Like that's the thing. They're like, Oh, it's this verified. No, sometimes it's just people. So I'm not sure that I understand it. And they say they can't really tell us any more about that algorithm because then scalpers could abuse it to try to cut the line. Um,
But it has resulted in a lot of people not feeling as though they have a fair chance at getting tickets to see their favorite artists. And now it's happened to two of the biggest artists of the year. I mean, Adele is one of the biggest artists ever. But Olivia is just a huge up and coming new star. And people are bummed. It's interesting that she's chosen to do theaters, which I think is a very wise move. Mind you, these are four or five thousand seat theaters, so they're on the bigger end.
And, uh, but you know, she's got basically like an EP, she's got a 30 minute album out and, um, it's interesting to see how, how do you put on a 90 minute show with 30 minutes of content? So there's gotta be some covers that are going to be going in there or new material, but
But it was a wise choice, I think, on her part. It is disappointing. It does not eliminate scalpers. No, it doesn't. It does not eliminate things. You know, I was saying that Chris, my road manager, managed to get us Adele tickets, which was a miracle. Yeah.
But looking online for the seats that we're in, there's some people paying $20,000, $25,000 to get those seats. That's insane. So that's alive and well. When you're a person that that's what you make in a year is those two ticket seats, $50,000, I would be hard-pressed to not –
cave to selling those tickets. Oh, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't. If you could sell a single ticket for $25,000 and you don't do it, I wonder. So when does it... I mean, I never would, let me tell you right now. But Chris and I discussed it. I said, like, if this is something you want to do...
Like you, you don't let me get in your way. I'll sit there on my own. He goes, no way. I would never, ever, ever not, not go, you know, go have that experience, you know, which brings up the whole other thing about people that have enormous wealth and things that they miss out on. Like when you're enormously wealthy, um,
it's pretty interesting what you miss out on. And I'll give you an example. Oh, so you're saying the flip side of all of us regular folks who are like, we can't go see Adele. And then this is like the consolation prize. This is the stuff that rich people won't get. Yeah. Okay. The excitement that comes with finding 10 bucks in a long coat. Listen, this isn't my list. The Canadian winter surprise. I remember being really broke and finding...
finding a $5 bill that's been washed 10 times in a pair of jeans. Like those were exciting times. I remember being in, living in Vancouver in the, in the eighties and having that. Okay. Not having to worry. Someone's just dating you for your money. Yeah. Not a concern. We don't have to worry about that. Nope. Not here. No, I mean, I can't say that that's top of mind for me, but how do you, how do you ever even make a friend?
If it doesn't, without that crossing your mind. I would think that that would be, I would, it would, you would become paranoid about it for sure. But then there are also those like super unwell rich people who like, that's what they want. They want to surround themselves with yes people, yes men and women, and they thrive off of it. I don't think they want anyone around them who's just telling them the truth. And then you can see some, you know, issues arise from there.
I'm going to disagree with this one thing. It's the thrill of finding something on sale. And I'll tell you what, I know not a ton of wealthy people, but I know some wealthy people that are so frugal and so nitpicky, they will wait in a line at Costco to fill their tank up. I'm not kidding you. These people that are worth millions of dollars.
will be in a Costco lineup for 90 minutes because gas is eight cents cheaper at the pump. Everyone loves Costco. But there's a lot of wealthy people that will really, really scrimp, and maybe that's why they're wealthy. That's true. My mom used to tell me this story all the time of this woman that she knew as a kid, and she kind of was this –
I guess she wasn't homeless. She had a home, but my mom said she was always out collecting things and scraps and saved things and cans, and everyone knew who she was. But her family left her millions and millions and millions of dollars, and she never really leaned into that. No way. She put that money away, and she was kind of a dumpster diver. Mom loved telling me that story. I think the woman's name was Irene. Irene.
And she's long since gone now. So there's some zany, wealthy people. The great feeling with making a big purchase, like when you finally saved up to get a car. Yeah. They won't experience that. That's right.
Yeah, I think that I do know that that feels like something that starts to happen. And I have a very select number, a few number of people in my life who have quite a bit of money. And I do think that they start to take less enjoyment out of the things that the rest of us probably get from.
a lot of satisfaction out of saving for. And it's just, it changes your perspective on things. It's like, it becomes very run of the mill to have huge luxury, big ticket items. And overall your life is very cushy and fancy, but I do start to think in some cases it makes them search for more.
It makes them more inclined to search for meaning or perhaps they become more philanthropic. I mean, if you're a good person, that's kind of the direction you get pushed in because you realize that happiness isn't actually statistically tied to wealth and fancy stuff. Uh-uh. There's nothing like being... I mean, there's one thing to give money.
That's an easy thing to do when you're wealthy. But I think everyone eventually, I would like to think, finds out that giving of your time and helping other people is really at the heart of happiness and the heart of seeing other people climb out of their struggles. I mean, I know for me, it's getting more and more important as I go forward to be like, especially with animal welfare and, you know, helping people that have rescues and, and
and I just, that's important to me. It's just like, do I really want to keep this 200 bucks for myself? Anyway, if you're listening to the Jen Arden podcast, we're going to be right back. Money and technique.
Welcome back to the Jan Arden Podcast. Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh are here with me. Christmas is approaching rapidly. I'm very excited about it. And I'm not going to be by myself this year. Are you going to the UK? Well, I'm going to the UK, but I'm only going for a week. And then my friend Nigel is coming back with me.
Oh, Mr. Stoneman. Yeah, Mr. Stoneman and his husband, they're the ones that didn't get married. They'd been together 20 years and they got married. But it was for lots of different reasons. The UK, the tax and all that stuff. I mean, they love each other very much. Listen, they're locked and loaded. But they're coming back on a flight. So we're busy getting COVID tests. I'm busy figuring out what I need to go to the UK. Listen, I'm thinking, got my COVID test yesterday.
Cost me $137 or whatever it was. I got all my paperwork. Listen, if I can't make it through the Calgary airport where everyone's double vaxxed, a lot of people have boosters. Everyone there has tests if they're going internationally. If I can't make it through that airport in the plane, cross the pond into the other airport where everyone there is also double vaccinated and needs their paperwork.
And then walk 20 fricking yards into his car on the curb. Then there is no hope in the world. That's all I need to do. I feel like it's a game show of some kind. I feel like I'm in a really weird movie, like roller ball where I've, this is my task. Take this suitcase and get it into the Honda Civic on the other side of the pond and then wait there for two days. Then you have to stay in place for two days. Yeah.
Anyway, but they're coming back with me. Make sure you have your arrive can app. I've got my arrive can. I've already put the fear of God into them with the arrive can app. I've got them organized. Then we have to be tested again on that end to come back here. So there's lots of testing going on. Yeah. Do you guys ever feel bad getting a gift that you think is not thoughtful? No.
Or that the person that you love or the person that you thought you knew hasn't spent enough money on you or that it just doesn't seem worthy of the level of your friendship. Oh, guys, you know what this is going to do? I think you all know what this is going to do. This is going to trigger my issues with Christmas. Well, it's this is the time, Caitlin. This is this is a Christmas show. This is.
And there are triggers for Christmas, but you know, you're sitting there with a group, whether it's your family or out with girlfriends at a restaurant and everyone's been given the task of you drew this name and
Like, I think there's a lot of that pressure going on. You open this thing and it's so disappointing. Or you're like, does this person know me at all? They got me a goddamn drone. I don't even know how to fly it. I don't, I don't want a drone.
I don't give a crap about a drone or you get potpourri for your effing underwear drawer. And you're sitting there looking at this person that you've known since high school or, or if it's your brother-in-law or you got your aunt's name, like how do you, for me, I just find it a very difficult thing to do. Yeah. That's why I don't do it.
Because I just think this indulges in everyone's least healthy emotions, in my opinion. I just, I'm not a fan of it. I don't think our relationships, I don't think our worth is defined by gifts.
And I think that this is just like a dark side of conspicuous consumption and consumerism and show me you love me and prove it to me and get it right. And I just don't, I'm not cool with it. There are bad gifts and I think you can laugh at them. I think you can laugh at a hilariously out of touch gift. And I'm never going to put too much stock into a flat present. I don't think they're impersonal. I think they're really great and thoughtful actually. And I think gift cards are awesome. I think people love them.
And I love all that stuff. And if somebody gives you a gift and they just, they misfire, who cares? Laugh it off. I mean, most adults buy themselves what they need in their life anyways. So I don't know. People take it very personally. I know. It's unhealthy. People get very hurt by something. Um,
I would imagine parents now getting, most parents now, certainly didn't happen when I was growing up, but they get lists from their kids. Like, honey, you tell me what you want because parents don't want to misfire. They don't want their kids opening. So I think most kids that get up in the morning now and go up to that big box freaking know it's an Xbox or they know it's this.
They know what they're getting. There was a mom who went viral on TikTok, and we can insert the audio here if we find it. And she shares a list that her 11-year-old daughter came up with. And she said, is my kid 35? A mini Prada shoulder bag. Everything's designer, like Dior this, Vivienne Westwood this.
iPhone, iPad. Like this girl is 11. Like I wanted a popple when I was 11 and I'm not romanticizing. I wanted a crazy carpet and a book of lifesavers. Exactly. And I'm not romanticizing the past unnecessarily. I just feel that we've lost the plot and,
And that this is now, it feels like a problem. I hear people complain about Christmas. The second they hear that you're not like an elf person who's like, I decorate my house in November. The second you like out yourself as being someone who's like, I don't know about Christmas, which is what I do.
And everyone goes, they launch into like, you know, I am so relieved to hear that because, and then they just give you their personal laundry list of stuff that's driving them nuts. And I'm like, okay, can we rework this a bit? I'm not saying get rid of Christmas or the holidays or whatever you want to do. I'm saying let's keep the parts that work and get rid of the ones that don't. And I think the high stakes gift giving is so problematic. I want it gone. I want it gone. I don't like it. Well, most retailers, right?
This is a huge chunk of their year. What happens in this eight-week period really has everything to do with the success of their business for the entire year. But we do this thing when I was having 12 or 14 people here at Christmastime.
We wrapped up something really benign. It could be a package of Ferrero Rocher candies. We didn't know what was in there. We still don't know what is going to be in the package this year with the four of us doing it. But oven mitts, wrapping something 400 times. We do it year after year. We laugh so hard. Somebody's asking questions. So you're asking trivia questions, right?
And someone keeps that you get to keep unwrapping the thing with oven mitts with all this tape. It's impossible. It's so you can't use your teeth. There's no teeth. You've got to just somehow push them. Thumb of the oven mitt into the, it's not even silicone. It's like the old style oven mitt. But, you know, I think there was a,
the year before last, it was a set of tarot cards, like really horrible angel and anyone tarot card out there. I'm not saying anything weird, but I wouldn't know what to do with a set of tarot cards, but we worked for like 90 minutes to get to the box of hot tamales, things like that to me where you see joy in everybody. There's no pressure. And even the secret Santa stuff that I've done with really good friends of mine over the last five or six years is,
has been really delightful. We put a $50 limit, which I think is plenty good. That's fair. Last year, I did have a couple of my friends come over and I got a cast iron frying pan. I fought for it. That's good. Fight for that cast iron. I mean, I've got lots of cast iron, but I'm like, I can use this to either put bird feed in it out there.
Yeah, we do the same thing. $50 limit and then people fight over them because you can steal. And I posted the video. I posted a full edit of the hilarity that ensues on my TikTok. And I also posted some clips on Instagram. That's fun. Like that stuff I love. I think the traditions are great at their core. And then you kind of extrapolate it a little bit and the evils of capitalism find their way in there and it gets wrecked.
Well, I know a family. It's all sisters. I know we've got to wrap up. I've got a minute, so I will. A little less. Damn it. Damn it. Bah humbug, Adam. I know. I'm so sorry. Well, anyway, it's a bunch of sisters, and sometimes things go really sideways. And if a gift is – sometimes gifts are perceived as very purposefully not good. Like there's so much – there's so many complications in it.
I'm glad I don't have sisters. Can I say, is that horrible to say? No. Say whatever you want. Merry Christmas, everyone. Glad I don't have sisters. I have two brothers. Okay, he's wrapping it up. Okay, we're getting closer. Stay with us next week. We hope to see you back here. Thanks for listening. You can click onto Spotify or iTunes. Better yet, you can subscribe and leave us a review. Because if you leave us a review, it really helps us in podcast world. Yeah. Adam Karsh.
Caitlin Green, thank you for coming along with us. Jan Arden Podcast, that's where you find us. We'll see you next week, totally do. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.