Carrie Gillon: Hi and welcome to the Vocal Fries podcast, the podcast about linguistic discrimination.
Megan Figueroa: I’m Megan Figueroa.
Carrie Gillon: I’m Carrie Gillon. Today we’re gonna be talking with two out of the three women from Wine & Crime.
Megan Figueroa: Yay! It’s very exciting.
Carrie Gillon: It was a super fun episode.
Megan Figueroa: And we recorded it a while ago, so there’s a joke that may not be relevant anymore. We talk about the NPR raccoon – the raccoon that scaled the NPR building. So, everyone can remember that adorable raccoon that made it to the top.
Carrie Gillon: That was very stressful.
Megan Figueroa: It was stressful. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you can google it, and you don’t have to be stressed out because you’ll know that the raccoon made it.
Carrie Gillon: I entered about midway through the story. The raccoon was part of the way up and then was climbing back down but then it went back up again. Oh my goodness.
Megan Figueroa: Then it took a nap, and I was like, really, just felt like that was – I really connected with it at the point.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, you ever take a nap just because you’re stressed out?
Megan Figueroa: Yes! All the time. I can’t tell you how many dissertation naps I took – or doctoral program naps I took.
Carrie Gillon: [Laughs] I just had one in particular where I was just very stressed out because – it’s a complicated story but basically my friend was being kind of mean to a different friend, and I just didn’t know how to deal with the situation, and it was very hot, so I fell asleep. [Laughter]
Megan Figueroa: Oh my gosh, I love it. As someone who suffers from anxiety, if I can manage to fall asleep when something stressful is happening, just let me have the time.
Carrie Gillon: Seriously. Ugh, yeah, that’s the other problem. Normally, if I’m stressed out, I can’t sleep, so that’s why I was so confused by this stress nap I took. I just noped out of there.
Megan Figueroa: You noped! I love it.
Carrie Gillon: This was long before “nopeing” was word.
Megan Figueroa: I can’t help but think about Leslie Knope now.
Carrie Gillon: Well, there’s that, too. It’s also way before Leslie Knope.
Megan Figueroa: I need a stress nap. Which is funny because I just got up, like, an hour ago. I’m sorry.
Carrie Gillon: I call bullshit on that. [Laughter] So, I don’t know how to talk about this without giving away where it came from, so if you know what we’re talking about, well, yeah, we’re subtweeting someone, but anyway.
Megan Figueroa: This is what you get when you have a podcast. You’ve got more of a platform to subtweet.
Carrie Gillon: Well, some people have a bigger platform on Twitter than our listenership, but, you know, this is our way of getting the word out. Anyway, please, whatever you do, do not mock people’s names, especially if you’re a white person, and the person has an Asian name or an African name or some name that’s not quote-unquote “white.” Just don’t. Remember that there’s a power differential there. Like, if you’re mocking someone for having a more difficult European name, that’s still kind of a shitty thing to do, but the power differential is a lot less. I’m not saying it’s not there at all because, especially, let’s say you’re in the UK, and you’re a Polish person – oh my god. There is a power differential there. But definitely if there’s a racial difference, it makes it so much worse.
Megan Figueroa: I mean, names are important to people. They’re a part of who you are.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, a part of your identity – even though you didn’t get to choose it most of the time.
Megan Figueroa: And especially when you do choose it, and when you do change your name to something, we should always respect people’s names.
Carrie Gillon: Yes, bear minimum – just bear minimum humaning. Just be a human.
Megan Figueroa: This just suddenly reminded me of the best skit from Key & Peele where Keegan plays a substitute teacher.
Carrie Gillon: Ha! “A-A-ron.” [Laughs]
Megan Figueroa: Exactly! Exactly. He has all these quote-unquote “white” names that he’s calling off on roll call, and I mean, it really points out the fact that what are we defining as “weird” names or “strange” names. A name like “Aaron,” which is spelled A-A-R-O-N, I mean, that is gonna be strange to someone else.
Carrie Gillon: That’s my brother-in-law’s name, by the way. He gets “A-A-ron” a lot.
Megan Figueroa: Because of the skit, right?
Carrie Gillon: Because of the skit, yes. I mean, I’m sure that that was a thing that was said once in a while before the skit, but definitely after the skit it became a thing. Some examples of people getting mocked for Asian names, there was the instance of Jimmy Kimmel last year where he didn’t – well, he didn’t at least change her name, he called her by her actual name, but he called her husband’s name “a normal name.” That’s not funny. Maybe it was funny in the 50s – I don’t know – but it’s definitely not funny now.
Megan Figueroa: And also, misogyny was super funny in the 50s too, so I don’t think we want to go back to that.
Carrie Gillon: Right. No, exactly.
Megan Figueroa: He also made fun of Mahershala Ali’s name.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, so, again, Asian or African names get targeted a lot.
Megan Figueroa: It’s just so othering. I mean, white people really need to stop doing this. It also reminds me of mock Spanish, which, I mean – “mock Spanish” – I think the term – well, I know the term “mock Spanish” was created by a University of Arizona anthropologist, Jane Hill. It’s anytime something like – ugh, fucking, “drink-o de Mayo,” like saying that, that would be mock Spanish. But it’s everywhere. [Laughter]
Carrie Gillon: Is it even mock Spanish? It just sounds like you’re the idiot. What the fuck?
Megan Figueroa: I mean, yeah, mock Spanish is also known as “You’re the idiot.”
Carrie Gillon: I think we should call it that, yes.
Megan Figueroa: Anytime people add O or A to things, they think that they’re, I dunno, being fucking clever or cute, and it’s not. It’s mocking a language that’s spoken by a lot of people. And even if it weren’t spoken by a lot of people, it would still be fucked up. But this mocking people’s names, or pretending like you can’t pronounce it, or not even trying to pronounce it – like, make an effort. Ask someone how to pronounce their name. It’s bear minimum civility here.
Carrie Gillon: Right. And if all the sounds are in English then you have no excuse. If there are sounds that do not exist in English, then there’s got to be some modification involved. But the modification should not be mocking.
Megan Figueroa: Right. My last name, which has a trilled R – so a Spanish rolling R – and sometimes I have a hard time pronouncing it, my own last name, because, again, my Spanish is not native.
Carrie Gillon: It’s hard for me to do the rolling R in the middle of a word. I can do it on its own.
Megan Figueroa: On its own it’s easier. /figar/ – [laughs] – /figaɾoʊa/. I usually tap it instead of trill it. No one says my last name right if they’re not a Spanish speaker, but I’m not usually made fun of for it.
Carrie Gillon: I think it’s a common enough name that it would be less likely to be picked on, whereas the woman who plays Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” –
Megan Figueroa: On Orange is the New Black?
Carrie Gillon: Her name is not difficult to pronounce, but her name gets mocked all the time.
Megan Figueroa: I guess she goes by “Uzo” mostly, but her full first name is “Uzoamaka.” And I love this quote from her. She said, “In grade school because my last name started with an A, I was first in roll call, and nobody ever knew how to pronounce it. So, I went home and asked my mom if I could be called ‘Zoey.’ I remember she was cooking, and in her Nigerian accent, she said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Nobody can pronounce it.’ Without missing a beat, she said, ‘If they can learn to say Tchai – Tchar” –
Carrie Gillon: Tchaikovsky.
Megan Figueroa: “‘Tchaikovsky’ and ‘Michelangelo’ and ‘Dostoevsky,’ they can learn to say, ‘Uzoamaka.’” “Tchaikovsky” – I have a hard time with that! But anyway, there’s a power differential. He had more power than me, so go away Tcha – Tch – Tchaikovsky. Dang it! See, I was gonna have a hard time ago with it.
Carrie Gillon: Tchaikovsky.
Megan Figueroa: Tchaikovsky.
Carrie Gillon: And I’m probably still saying that wrong. I’m still anglicizing that, but you know.
Megan Figueroa: Exactly.
Carrie Gillon: “Uzoamaka” – all those sounds are in English. Nothing about that is difficult – nothing. Oh, and one more thing before we begin. A friend of mine posted about our episodes. She was on Episode 10, “Down in the Holler,” with Paul Reed. She was very happy with that episode because she lives in the South now. She moved from – well, all over the place, but more recently from Phoenix to North Carolina. One of her friends said, “Why isn’t this called a ‘spud cast’?” [Laughs]
Megan Figueroa: No! That is so cute!
Carrie Gillon: I was like, “Okay, I have to at least talk about that.” We’re a “ling pod” and a “spud cast.”
Megan Figueroa: I love it. Aww. If anyone else has any adorable things they wanna share about our podcast, please let us know. Oh, and we just passed our year anniversary. So, happy anniversary to us! I think this is a fun episode to release basically around our year anniversary talking to other podcasters who are hilarious women.
Carrie Gillon: They’re very funny, yes. Oh, and we just released our July bonus episode, which also interviews podcasters – the podcasters from Talk the Talk. That is also very fun. And they interview us for their bonus episode. For both of us, it’s $5.00 a month if you wanna access those episodes. We also have $3.00-a-month and $1.00-a-month levels. For $3.00 you get a sticker, and the $1.00 you just get a thank you.
Megan Figueroa: Yes, and you should because –
Carrie Gillon: Because it’s so fun. Both of them are so fun.
Megan Figueroa: I mean, if you got a taste of our June bonus episode, hopefully you liked it. I think the bonus episodes are really fun.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah. In our episode we talk about Australia mostly because that’s where they’re located. Well, they’re all Australian, but one of them is formerly American.
Megan Figueroa: Oh my gosh, what a dream. I just like to think about how in 10 years, 20 years, is there a way I can say I’m a former American?
Carrie Gillon: Well, it’s hard, but it’s not impossible.
Megan Figueroa: I know.
Carrie Gillon: Hope you enjoy this episode and talk to you soon!
[Music]
Megan Figueroa: This is very exciting. We have Amanda and Lucy from Wine & Crime.
Amanda Jacobson: What’s uuuuup?
Lucy Fitzgerald: Hellooooo.
Megan Figueroa: We don’t have Kenyon.
Amanda Jacobson: No, she broke her back in a tragic raccoon wall-climbing accent on the NPR building St. Paul. The NPR raccoon is Kenyon in a costume. [Laughter]
Lucy Fitzgerald: That’s what happened.
Amanda Jacobson: Dat ass doe.
Megan Figueroa: I knew it. [Laughter] I knew that that raccoon looked a little familiar.
Amanda Jacobson: Exactly. No, she threw her back out. She’s gonna kill me for comparing her to the NPR raccoon, but she’ll be fine. Love you! Hope you’re feeling better.
Lucy Fitzgerald: She’ll get over it.
Megan Figueroa: It would be weird if she hadn’t hurt her back in that. So, actually, for our listeners who don’t know, Wine & Crime is a true crime/comedy podcast. In your bio on iTunes you say, “Join three friends as they chug wine, chat true crime, and unleash their worst Minnesotan accents.”
Amanda Jacobson: [Exaggerated Minnesotan accent] Oh, yeah. Sure. You bet.
Lucy Fitzgerald: [Exaggerated Minnesotan accent] You bet.
Megan Figueroa: That last bit is exactly why we wanted to talk to you. I mean, we would love to have talked to you otherwise, but I mean, our podcast is about linguistic discrimination.
Lucy Fitzgerald: You needed an excuse to reach out.
Megan Figueroa: We don’t get to talk crime all of the time like ya’ll do. Because we are also true crime fanatics.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Love it.
Megan Figueroa: For people that don’t know, true crime is amazing. If you have to get past that part, you know, get past that part, but it’s amazing, and it goes great with comedy and wine. I was looking at the reviews of your podcast, and this is my favorite.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh god. “Amanda Jacobson’s overbearing and needs to be off the show.” We have the same favorite review.
Lucy Fitzgerald: That’s my favorite review.
Megan Figueroa: Oh my gosh, how funny. I’m just gonna read one, but it really spoke to me. It says, “It all feels so homey with a nice Minnesotan accent.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Aww.
Amanda Jacobson: That’s very sweet. We love that.
Lucy Fitzgerald: We try.
Megan Figueroa: What do you think about that? Do you think that crime pairs well with Minnesotan accents just as it does with wine?
Lucy Fitzgerald: Well, it worked for Fargo.
[Excerpt from Fargo]
Sex Worker: Hey, they said they were goin’ to the Twin Cities.
Marge Gunderson: Oh, yeah?
Sex Worker: Yeah. Yeah, is that useful to you?
Marge Gunderson: Oh, you betcha. Yeah.
Sex Worker: Yeah.
[End excerpt]
Amanda Jacobson: The Minnesota accent and just the Midwest accent in general is the quintessential 50s mother making a hot dish for everybody in the family. It is kind of homey. Maybe entirely misogynistic and horrible, but there is something gentle and simple about it, in a way. So, the funny thing about our show is that it is true crime, and we do talk about a lot of really gruesome and truly monstrous things, but then we pepper in this comedy aspect, and we play up our Minnesota accents we all have. It just creates a softer delivery for maybe some of the worst information you’re ever gonna get in your life.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Specifically with Kenyon’s cases. [Laughter]
Amanda Jacobson: Yes, hers are always so dark.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, they’re real rough. But I agree with Amanda Jacobson. It’s just a welcome home sort of a feeling – at least for me, obviously, because I’m from Minnesota. But, yeah, it is like that Midwestern mom, coming home to a hot dish. Feels comfy.
Carrie Gillon: You keep bringing up “hot dish,” and I know at least some people are not gonna know what that is. Could you explain what a “hot dish” is?
Amanda Jacobson: Take it away, Lucy Fitzgerald.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s basically a casserole. Typically, hot dish is made with frozen tater tots.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah, got to put the tater tots over the top. And you got to broil it at the end to get the crisp.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Lot of condensed soup. Always throw it in the broiler at the end. Condensed cream of mushroom soup –
Amanda Jacobson: Green beans.
Lucy Fitzgerald: – some cheese, some shredded chicken –
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah, get your veggies in there.
Lucy Fitzgerald: – green beans.
Amanda Jacobson: Corn.
Megan Figueroa: That sounds amazing to me.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s everything from the food pyramid except for fruit, which you save for the Jell-o salad.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yep. It’s starchy slop in a casserole dish in the oven.
Carrie Gillon: Okay, I absolutely hate cream of mushroom soup, so I could not eat this.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, I don’t know.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Oh, you could do without. There are ways around it.
Carrie Gillon: Okay. [Laughs]
Lucy Fitzgerald: But if you pile on enough cheese at the end, you don’t even notice.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s so good. I want a fucking hot dish so bad now.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s a binding agent is what it is.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, that’s true, but I – [hesitates] – just knowing it’s in there…
Lucy Fitzgerald: Carrie’s not onboard.
Amanda Jacobson: For sure. It can be a little hard to get past the condensed, congealing, coagulated goop that is cream of mushroom soup. Anyone puking yet?
Megan Figueroa: I heard “playing it up,” playing up the accent. Is that something – does it just come out that way, or are you doing something special with it?
Amanda Jacobson: It definitely comes out that way when we are together, which is so weird. I do the editing for the show, so I go back and listen to everything several times, and I’m like, “Do I sound like that.” I’ll hear my accent and just be like, “That’s crazy.” You know, we’re drinking. Obviously, it’s a little bit exaggerated for the show, but not by much, honestly. It just sort of slips in. It’s crazy.
Lucy Fitzgerald: And we’re all – well, Amanda Jacobson is originally from Connecticut. How old were you when you moved to Minnesota?
Amanda Jacobson: I was 9.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, so enough time to soak it in.
Amanda Jacobson: For sure. It is strange, though, how the accent will come and go because when I’m home with my family, I’ll adopt a little bit more of an East Coast-style accent. My family is peppered around the Boston area and New Jersey. Then when I’m back here, the Minnesota accent comes out. It’s so strange.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I went to college in Iowa. They have a very neutral accent in Northeast Iowa. When I came home, people would kinda comment on my accent when I first started college, and then it went away, and then when I went home, I would go up to my relatives for Thanksgiving or whatever, and I would be blown away at – because I didn’t notice it before then, but it’s so thick.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah. It’s crazy.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah. But it definitely comes back when we go home and when we’re around each other and when we’re consuming wine. That helps.
Amanda Jacobson: The drunker we get, the more Minnesotan we get.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah. [Laughs]
Megan Figueroa: I think that’s pretty common. People that speak multiple languages as well might slip back into their more comfortable language when they’re drinking. I’ve definitely heard that before. I only have one language and one accent, really.
Amanda Jacobson: Same, kind of.
Megan Figueroa: Are there any Minnesotan phrases or anything fun that you think –
Amanda Jacobson: “Oh, yeah.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: “You bet.”
Amanda Jacobson: Not even that one. Okay. Nobody here says, “excuse me,” if they bump into someone or whatever. They say, “ope.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: O-P-E.
Amanda Jacobson: O-P-E. “Ope, just gonna sneak past ya,” “Ope, on your left.”
Megan Figueroa: I love it!
Lucy Fitzgerald: I said it this morning in a text message to Amanda Jacobson.
Amanda Jacobson: I say it all the time. I work in a restaurant on the weekends, and so any time I’m bumping into somebody ever, I’m like, “Ope, sorry about that,” “Ope, just gonna sneak past you and grab the ranch.” [Laughter] It’s our favorite meme. It’s so good.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, is it a meme, too?
Amanda Jacobson: Apparently there’s this Midwestern meme. I don’t even know if it’s a meme. It’s just like somebody made an amazing cross stitch of “Ope, just gonna sneak past ya and grab the ranch,” and now we all want it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Well, I didn’t think about it consciously until recently. It was a recent not really discovery but at least identification on the internet that all Minnesotans say, “ope.” So now, I catch myself saying it all the time. I had never identified it in my own speech, but it was always there.
Carrie Gillon: I saw something on Twitter a few weeks ago about it, and I’d never heard of it before.
Amanda Jacobson: Go to a grocery store in or around the metro area of Minnesota and you will hear it incessantly – incessantly. A busy grocery store is the fountain of opes. It’s incredible.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s like a combo of “oh” and “whoops.”
Amanda Jacobson: And “oops,” yeah. It’s so weird. I don’t get it, but I love it. I love it so much.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, it’s pretty great.
Megan Figueroa: Would you say that within the “ope” there’s an apology or –
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah. Oh, it’s a very apologetic word. But in that Minnesota-Midwestern nice kind of way where – the whole Minnesota nice thing is really just the Minnesota passive-aggressive.
Lucy Fitzgerald: That’s totally true.
Amanda Jacobson: Everyone here is just as much of an asshole as anybody from New York, Boston, or Connecticut, say, but we’re just quieter about it. We do it behind your back or in the car while screaming Alanis Morissette.
[Excerpt of Alanis Morissette singing]
It’s not fair to deny me of the crux I bear that you’ve given to me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[End of excerpt]
Amanda Jacobson: The nice thing of a word like “ope” is that you can use it with a gentle tone, or you can use a forceful “ope.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Like an accusatory “ope.”
Amanda Jacobson: Yeah, the accusatory “ope.” “Ope, you done fucked up, didn’t ya?” Oh, sorry, am I allowed to swear on this?
Carrie Gillon: Yes, you are. Swear away!
Megan Figueroa: Definitely.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I also think that in that passive-aggressive realm that we were talking about it’s sort of a way to level the playing field of blame. If somebody were to clearly bump into you, then you still might say, “ope,” but in a “Ope, I’m gonna pretend that was equally my fault as your fault.”
Amanda Jacobson: It’s like if you get into a car accident, always say, “ope.” Don’t say, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” “Ope, you all right?” You’re not admitting any blame –
Lucy Fitzgerald: Call a lawyer.
Amanda Jacobson: – or any remorse, but you’re still conveying the message of caring about your neighbor.
Megan Figueroa: Is that gonna hold up in court in Minnesota?
Amanda Jacobson: It is now.
Lucy Fitzgerald: In Minnesota, for sure.
Amanda Jacobson: Enter this audio into evidence.
Carrie Gillon: It’s probably true. Saying sorry even though it’s not actually an admission of guilt is treated as an admission of guilt in the court, which is totally insane. I bet “ope,” it wouldn’t be.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh! I just saw your majestic kitty over your shoulder.
Carrie Gillon: Oh, yes. This is Mew.
Lucy Fitzgerald: So sweetie. Hi baby. On that note, a man in Canada – Amanda Jacobson, help me remember. We did a crazy Canadians episode, and there was something about how the word “sorry” is not – /soɹi/ – is not admissible in court because fucking everybody says “sorry” all the time.
Amanda Jacobson: Is that true?
Lucy Fitzgerald: We touched on it in our episode, and I don’t remember the details, but something about the word “sorry” is not supposed to be admissible.
Carrie Gillon: So, I am Canadian. I have no idea if that’s true or not. But it’s true that we do apologize a lot. Like, if someone bumps into us, we say “sorry,” just like –
Amanda Jacobson: That’s your “ope.”
Carrie Gillon: Yeah.
Amanda Jacobson: You just don’t think about. It’s coming out of your mouth before you’ve even had time to process what you should say.
Carrie Gillon: There’s even been times when I’ve bumped into an inanimate object and said, “Sorry.”
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, we’ve all done that. [Laughter] Oh my goodness, we’ve all done that.
Carrie Gillon: So, it definitely should not be used in court, but I have no idea – you know.
Amanda Jacobson: I don’t think your bedside table is gonna take you to small claims court anytime soon, so I think you’re okay.
Carrie Gillon: Fair, fair.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Never say never.
Amanda Jacobson: If it does, please call us because we need to do an interview with your bedside table.
Carrie Gillon: Yes, that would be an interesting case.
Megan Figueroa: With “ope” though, is that just across everyone? Anyone says, “ope,” right?
Lucy Fitzgerald: Oh yeah.
Amanda Jacobson: It has no age, race, gender – any and all say “ope” in these lands.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s a democratic exclamation.
Amanda Jacobson: Correct.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Interjection.
Amanda Jacobson: I’m trying to think if there’s another one. I mean, the stereotypical ones like “yeah” and “sure,” I mean, we all do that but it’s not as – you’re not hearing so much in earnest “Yeah, sure, you betchas” as you see on Fargo. Though I remember explosively texting the girls from the coffeeshop at my college last semester because I was like, “You guys, I heard a ‘Yeah, sure, you bet’ in its natural habitat today at the coffee shop between a patron – it was the most amazing thing.” And I was late in ordering my coffee because I was too busy screaming in my head with my face down at my phone to tell anyone who would listen that I heard a full “Yeah, sure, you betcha” at the coffeeshop. They’re rare.
Megan Figueroa: What was the age range of this person?
Amanda Jacobson: She couldn’t have been much older than me. She was in her early-to-mid 30s. I mean, I’m not slinging “Yeah, sure, you betchas” around very often, but it was like a “Have a great day,” “Yeah, sure, you betcha” kind of exchange. It was bizarre.
Carrie Gillon: Wow. Love it.
Amanda Jacobson: I was like, “Are you from Blaine? What is happening?”
Carrie Gillon: Maybe she was.
Amanda Jacobson: I mean, it’s possible.
Megan Figueroa: You bring up Fargo. I mean, we – I couldn’t help myself I would bring up Fargo at some point. But I’m from Arizona. I’ve lived here my entire life. It was really my first introduction to that accent.
Carrie Gillon: Same.
Amanda Jacobson: I think it was for a lot of people, actually.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, really? Okay.
Amanda Jacobson: For sure. That movie came out right around the time that I moved here, actually. Obviously, I was 9, so I couldn’t watch it, but my parents did. They would refer to it all the time, and then finally, a few years later, I was actually able to see it. I think it was funny for them because they were like, “There’s no way that – this has all got to be a very amped up actor portrayal of these accents.” In some ways, it is. But you truly do encounter people who are, it appears, carbon copies of characters from that movie.
They actually did an incredibly good job of getting the dialect down, especially for the region that it’s filmed in because even in scenes when they come down to the cities, as they say, the accent is a little more subdued. Which it is. We have a much more multicultural, diverse population in Minneapolis/St. Paul proper, but you don’t have to go far outside of the city. Lucy Fitzgerald knows growing up in her town of Chanhassen. You get out to Carver County or any of these other farming counties, for the most part, and it’s like Fargo all over the place.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, particularly as you move north. My family has a cabin up in Baudette, Minnesota, which is right on the border of Canada.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s just two blocks from Canada.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s literally across the channel from Canada. But the accents are [laughs] real thick. It’s crazy. It’s so much fun especially, like I said, after having moved away from Minnesota and losing that a little bit, coming back and particularly going up to my cabin or to my relative’s house near Ham Lake/Blaine area, it’s night and day. It’s so thick. I love it.
Amanda Jacobson: “Thiqq” with two Qs.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yep. And they don’t notice it. That’s their genuine – you know, that’s how they talk.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, yeah. They’re gonna hear someone like me and be like, “Wow, your accent’s thick.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Exactly. “Where are you from?”
Megan Figueroa: Exactly.
Lucy Fitzgerald: “And also, get out.” [Laughter]
Amanda Jacobson: It’s so funny when – the couple times that Kenyon’s fiancé, Zack, has been to visit –
Lucy Fitzgerald: Oh, lord.
Amanda Jacobson: – Minnesota, he went up to Baudette to the cabin with us years ago.
Lucy Fitzgerald: He’s from Brooklyn.
Amanda Jacobson: Yeah, he’s from Brooklyn, New York, so his accent alongside all of – like, in the – what was it? Was it the VFW where we were at? Where was that?
Lucy Fitzgerald: It was the Mouse Lodge.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah, the Mouse Lodge. But hearing Zack, like, genuinely enthusiastically want to engage in conversations with these older veteran men who don’t wanna be bothered except by each other to talk about hunting and fishing, and in comes this boy from Brooklyn, this puppy of a boy from Brooklyn, chatting with these guys –
Lucy Fitzgerald: A cartoonish Brooklyn accent. He’s a cartoon of a Brooklynite.
Amanda Jacobson: The juxtaposition of those accents was – it was alarming. It was so funny. I was like, “Is he gonna get killed up here?” But whatever, he’s fine. He made it.
Megan Figueroa: But then you could talk about it on your podcast.
Lucy Fitzgerald: He almost got killed though.
Amanda Jacobson: I mean, yeah. We’ll give Kenyon time to heal, and then we’ll do a show about it. [Laughter]
Megan Figueroa: You just gotta push through the pain.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Pop those pills, baby.
Amanda Jacobson: We never take a week off. We’re bitches about it.
Megan Figueroa: Do ya’ll watch the show Fargo?
Amanda Jacobson: I don’t have cable, so I don’t watch it. I’ve heard so many good things, and I need to figure out a way to stream it. But I have not had the opportunity to see it yet. Do you, Lucy Fitzgerald?
Lucy Fitzgerald: I watched part of the first season, but I love the movie so much, and I’ve seen it so many times that I couldn’t really get over the movie plotline to really enjoy the series, so I kinda gave up on it.
Megan Figueroa: Was the first season the one with Collin Hanks?
Amanda Jacobson: I love Collin Hanks.
Megan Figueroa: How did you feel about his accent? How did he do?
Lucy Fitzgerald: I mean, I don’t remember specifically his, but on the subject of actors trying to fake a Minnesotan accent, our favorite movie is Drop Dead Gorgeous. I don’t know if you two are familiar with it.
Megan Figueroa: No.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Get familiar. You won’t regret it.
[Excerpt from Drop Dead Gorgeous]
Tammy Curry: Tammy Curry. And I’m signing up for the pageant because the scholarship’s and all. This one’s for varsity soccer. I’m captain. I run track and – right here – I’m the new president of a Lutheran sisterhood gun club.
[End excerpt]
Amanda Jacobson: Run, don’t walk, to your local closing down Blockbuster and she if they have a copy of it. It’s like a cult classic. You can’t stream it anywhere. You can the DVD on amazon.com, but it doesn’t exist on the internet. I think you can sort of find pieces of it on YouTube. But it’s dark comedy about a beauty pageant in Minnesota. It has Allison Janney, who is a fucking genius in this movie; Kirsten Dunst; it’s Amy Adam’s first movie ever.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Kristie Alley.
Amanda Jacobson: This movie is unbelievable. Yeah, Kristie Alley. What? Not Brooke Shields. That chick who looks like Brooke Shields. What’s her name?
Lucy Fitzgerald: The conventionally hot, late 90s chick. Whatever. Anyway. None of them are Minnesotan, and they obviously had speech coaches to give them these accents. Some of them are truly horrific. Kristie Alley’s accent is awful.
[Excerpt Drop Dead Gorgeous]
Gladys Leeman: You know, seventeen years ago, I won the talent contest by sewing these culottes. Butterick Pattern 7432. And can you believe it? They still fit.
Loretta: She had a big ass then; she’s got a big ass now.
[End excerpt]
Amanda Jacobson: It’s pretty bad. But it’s amazing.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, I don’t think Kirsten Dunst’s accent is very good.
Amanda Jacobson: Ellen Barkin is in it, which is insane. Brittany Murphy’s in it.
Megan Figueroa: Wow, they’re all in it.
Amanda Jacobson: Yeah, there’s a – Denise Richards! Denise Richards.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Denise Richards – there we go.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s so good. It’s so good.
Megan Figueroa: Kirsten Dunst actually is in one of the seasons of Fargo, too.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, really? That’s so funny.
Megan Figueroa: And it goes back to that accent.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s like coming home.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Hopefully, she’s improved.
Megan Figueroa: I mean, I can’t say for sure, but you know, she fit into the whole thing.
Amanda Jacobson: We’ll have to investigate, Lucy Fitzgerald, for research. We can write off an AMC login on our taxes. [Laughter] Right, government?
Lucy Fitzgerald: We’re writing off so much.
Megan Figueroa: What? Frances McDormand.
Amanda Jacobson: Love her. I mean, she’s a queen. She’s a brilliant actress anyway, but I mean, her accent was not only on point but just – her character – I think that it is a very quintessential Midwestern thing to be perceived as a gentle and maybe vulnerable person, but we actually are very reserved with our feelings. I think a lot of true-blue Minnesotans are very Nordic and very reserved with their feelings. While they can project an air of gentleness, they’re not actually gonna be very vulnerable with you. And that Minnesota nice thing. It’s like, people have their communities, and it can be very hard to enter those communities as an outsider.
So, I was really impressed with Frances McDormand’s performance in this because she is trying to be so reserved, but obviously, this case she’s working on is really affecting her. She’s pregnant. She’s married. She’s trying to build her family. But she’s trying to maintain her sweet strength, while is sort of like a Minnesota woman thing here. You wanna be sweet but not too sweet. You wanna be strong, but not too strong. There’s very specific ways that you’re expected to be if you’re a homemaking woman in Minnesota or in the Midwest in general. I thought she just crushed it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s so much more than the accent and the behavior. I think that she got into the mind of somebody who would, if they were in that situation, like Amanda Jacobson said, just very reserved and just keeping a lot close to your chest.
Amanda Jacobson: And then closing a door to your bedroom and crying to yourself so that nobody in the other room where the hot dish is being served can see it. [Laughter] Which it’s like, I’m sure that crosses all different types of cultural boundaries. I mean, there’s that expectation of people in general, and especially of women in a lot of different scenarios. But I thought she just did such a great job of capturing the Minnesota mom with a really fucking hard job trying to balance emotion and professionalism in an impossible way.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Good old Margie.
Megan Figueroa: So, we should keep our feelings away from our hot dishes. [Laughter]
Amanda Jacobson: It’ll make it too soggy if you cry into it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: There’s enough salt in the condensed soup. We don’t need tears.
Megan Figueroa: So, you say the “sweet strength.” I’m wondering if you’ve ever felt pigeonholed at all by your accent – people assuming that you’re gonna be this Minnesota nice or sweet or anything like that.
Amanda Jacobson: No one’s ever expected that from me, so maybe this is a good question for Lucy Fitzgerald. [Laughter]
Lucy Fitzgerald: Well, I think that for me personally that would come off more in my demeanor than my accent necessarily. I think that a lot about Minnesota culture, again, is that politeness. We were talking about how everyone’s super friendly – Minnesota nice – but we don’t actually wanna be your friend. We’ll gladly give you directions to the closest Firelee’s, but don’t invite me over for dinner. That kind of plays into that reservedness also, just having your own private life and being very friendly on the outside, but like, I don’t need anymore friends.
Amanda Jacobson: It is a little weird like that.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It is odd. I think maybe that’s where some of our passive-aggressiveness comes out.
Amanda Jacobson: And I mean, I haven’t heard much about people necessarily being discriminated against in that way by the accent. I do feel like folks from outside of this region view that accent as like, “Oh, that person’s a little bit simple.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah. Sort of like we view a Southern accent.
Amanda Jacobson: Exactly. Maybe a little bit unintelligent, just – not even stupid – just a little simple.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, simple.
Amanda Jacobson: Which is, you know, untrue, obviously, but again, like Lucy Fitzgerald said, you hear that super deep South accent, and it can definitely trigger some predispositions in you and stereotypes.
Lucy Fitzgerald: You’re a republican. You didn’t go to college. You live in a trailer.
Amanda Jacobson: Exactly. And for us it’s like, you grow corn. You ride a tractor. You play hockey.
Lucy Fitzgerald: You live in a town of 2,500 or fewer.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s a dirt road with a Muni and a gas station to get your cigs and a really crappy grocery store. Which these towns do exist. That’s absolutely a reality for a lot – Minnesota’s a huge state. That’s a reality for a lot of people, but the majority of us live in the cities, which is an incredibly progressive place where you don’t encounter a lot of that.
It’s like night and day. But that’s the same – you know, I lived in upstate New York for a hot second, and everybody assumes that New York is just New York City and the Isle of Manhattan. But that’s a huge rural farming state. You get not too far outside of the central part of where everything is happening, anyway, the city – the big city – and it’s a completely different world. It’s basically just like being in Minnesota with more hills. So, I think these pocket communities exist in pretty much any state that you go to is the very blue collar, backbone of America, these small farming communities, things like that. It’s a different world. And you can forget about it when you don’t interact with people like that every day. That’s how we get Trump because we ignore – [laughs] – we ignore our neighbors.
Carrie Gillon: Well, that’s one of the reasons, anyway.
Amanda Jacobson: Exactly.
Megan Figueroa: And if we build our country on slavery.
Carrie Gillon: Your description of what people expect Minnesotans to be like reminded me of the TV show called Letterkenny.
[Excerpt from Letterkenny]
Jonesy: Hey, I heard about your breakup, buddy.
Reilly : She was your sweetie for, what, five years, right?
Jonesy: Your high school sweetie, right?
Wayne: What’s it to ya?
Jonesy: I heard she cheated on you, buddy.
Reilly: That’s a real kick in the knockers, bro.
Jonesy: Just a real ouchie, bro.
Reilly: It’s too bad she taught you not to fight anymore, buddy.
Jonesy: Because that’s a fight on sight for you and her new guy, buddy.
Reilly: Fourth line for life, bro.
Wayne: Maybe if you’d ever been in a real fight, you might not be so keen for another.
Reilly: What’d you say?
Wayne: You heard me.
Reilly: Hold my spitter. Tarps off, boys. You looking for a tilly, buddy? Look to have a donnybrook.
Daryl: Bump the breaks. Take your shirt off but leave your sunglasses on.
Wayne: What sort of backwards fucking pageantry is that?
Daryl: Either fight with those shades or play pokerstars.com.
[End excerpt]
Carrie Gillon: Have you seen this?
Lucy Fitzgerald: Uh-uh.
Amanda Jacobson: No, I haven’t.
Carrie Gillon: It’s a Canadian show.
Amanda Jacobson: I’ve only ever seen Degrassi.
Carrie Gillon: You should watch it because it’s a bunch of – so the main guy, he’s the toughest guy in town, and everyone wants to fight him. And it is full of bizarre stereotypes of what rural Canadians are like. But there’s a little bit of truth in it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I get all my knowledge of rural Canadians from Trailor Park Boys.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, that’s another show that’s – [laughter]
Lucy Fitzgerald: I love that show.
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, they’re pretty funny.
Amanda Jacobson: Bubbles, right?
Lucy Fitzgerald: I am Bubbles.
Amanda Jacobson: I know.
[Excerpt Trailer Park Boys]
Bubbles: I want my kitty.
Ricky: Frig off, Bubbles. You gave me the cat.
Bubbles: I didn’t say you could keep him. And I don’t want him living in a fucking car.
Ricky: Bubbles, we’ve got tons of cats. Let me keep him.
Bubbles: He was a loaner. I loaned him to you.
Ricky: Well, I need him. Look at my weed plants. One of them’s dead.
Bubbles: I don’t give a flying fuck.
[End excerpt]
Amanda Jacobson: When you don’t have your contacts in.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Right. [Laughter]
Megan Figueroa: I guess all of you have accents or are from places where people are gonna assume that you’re nicer than you are.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm.
Megan Figueroa: Not that you’re not nice.
Lucy Fitzgerald: We’re not.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, we’re not. We’re not that nice.
Megan Figueroa: People are gonna place expectations on you because of your accent.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, for sure.
Lucy Fitzgerald: One funny little anecdote about our accents. This is actually Kenyon’s anecdote, so she might as well be here. She had a college roommate named Maki. Maki was – Amanda Jacobson, was she from Japan or the Philippines?
Amanda Jacobson: She was Japanese, but I feel like she grew up in the Philippines. But Kenyon can probably just scream at us later for getting that wrong. And I do apologize. I was drunk most of the times I was hanging out with her and Maki, so I do apologize. I’m so sorry if I got that wrong.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Well, the gist of the story is that she had certain nationality/backgrounds. She lived in various foreign countries. She went to school in upstate New York with Kenyon. Later, she was living abroad again in, like, South America or somewhere and speaking to somebody who was from Minnesota, and he was like, “I’m sorry, where did you say you were from?” And she’s like, “Oh, you know,” gave him the whole background. He’s like, “Okay, you say certain words, and you have a Minnesotan tinge, so it’s really odd.” Maki had picked up Kenyon’s Minnesotan accent because they were roommates and absorbed it because she’d lived all over the place. Her accent was a tapestry of all these different experiences, and she picked up on Kenyon’s. As far as I know, she’d never even been to Minnesota.
Amanda Jacobson: No, I don’t think she had. That is unbelievable, and I love that so much.
Megan Figueroa: Would you say, I wonder, does Kenyon have a stronger Minnesota accent, according to ya’ll? Or is there a reason why you think she picked up on Kenyon’s accent?
Lucy Fitzgerald: I’m guessing it’s because Kenyon and Amanda Jacobson spent a lot of time together in college. And, again, when we’re around each other, it comes out.
Amanda Jacobson: And the drunker we get the crazier it gets because we also just think it’s hilarious, too. We’ll like – and especially visiting Kenyon at school because her school was also in upstate New York, so we were only a couple hours apart, and that school was primarily East Coast folks, so they had not even interacted in real life with a person who sounded like us. So, I think some of the theatrics of that come out, and you play it up a little bit for shock value.
Lucy Fitzgerald: There’re also certain words that I can’t say without a Minnesotan accent.
Megan Figueroa: Like what?
Lucy Fitzgerald: The word “boat” being one of them. “Boat.”
Amanda Jacobson: /bot/.
Lucy Fitzgerald: “Hop on the boat.”
Amanda Jacobson: I mean, you can’t say, “hot dish,” without saying, “/hæt/ dish.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Flatten those vowels.
Amanda Jacobson: /hæt/. A lot of folks around here will say /mɛlk/ instead of /mɪlk/ and that drives me insane.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I say /mɛlk/. /mɛlk/.
Amanda Jacobson: Yeah, I know you do. It’s disgusting. /bɛg/ instead of /bæg/.
Lucy Fitzgerald: /bɛgz/
Amanda Jacobson: One thing I could never ever get onboard with was “pop” instead of “soda.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Ugh, I’m the opposite.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, we say “coke.” I say “coke.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: That’s bonkers. And you’re wrong. [Laughs]
Amanda Jacobson: That’s a Southern thing. Do you order, like, “Sprite coke”?
Megan Figueroa: Okay, no.
Amanda Jacobson: “Diet coke,” “root beer coke”? That’s a thing in the South where every soda is a “coke,” and then you have to identify which kind of coke you want.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, maybe I would have, but I actually just like Coca-Cola.
Lucy Fitzgerald: You don’t do “Pepsi coke”?
Amanda Jacobson: You just only drink Coca-Cola?
Carrie Gillon: Yeah, I’ve never seen you order anything else.
Amanda Jacobson: I remember going out to eat at a diner or something because my dad used to fucking love diners. They were his favorite thing. When we first moved back – or not moved back here but first moved here from Connecticut – we went out to eat dinner, and the waitress asked me if I wanted a “pop.” And I looked at her like she was an alien. I had no fucking clue what she was saying. And everyone at my table was my family also coming from the East Coast, so nobody could clarify what that meant. So, it was just this awkward standoff of “I don’t know what that means” before she finally said “soda” because if people don’t know what you’re talking about, then the knee jerk reaction is “Oh, soda.” Then I was like, “Oh, yeah, okay, yeah, I want a soda. You crazy lady. What the fuck is a pop? You gonna punch me in the face?” It’s bizarre.
Carrie Gillon: No, it’s “soda pop.” We just chose different parts of the “soda pop.” In Canada, it’s mostly “pop,” too.
Amanda Jacobson: You chose the wrong part. [Laughter] Just kidding, just kidding.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I’m a “pop” gal.
Amanda Jacobson: I know. It’s one of our biggest issues. It’s why I wasn’t the maid of honor in your wedding. [Laughter]
Lucy Fitzgerald: I mean, you said it.
Amanda Jacobson: Yep.
Carrie Gillon: To go back to the /mɛlk/ thing, it’s also becoming very common, at least in parts of Canada. I have a friend who works on this kind of stuff.
Amanda Jacobson: /mɛlk/ in a /bɛg/?
Carrie Gillon: So, the bag thing doesn’t exist that much in Canada anymore. I think it’s Ontario and Quebec are the only ones left. I grew up in British Columbia, and we definitely had milk in bags, but it’s no longer a thing.
Amanda Jacobson: Okay. Because that’s super creepy and gross.
Carrie Gillon: It looks kinda gross, like a big udder.
Megan Figueroa: Straight from the cow.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It’s where it comes from. It’s coming out of a bag going into another bag.
Amanda Jacobson: It freaks me out. It’s like a bladder of milk. It just freaks me out. The only thing that belongs in a bag that’s liquid is wine.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Ah, yeah.
Megan Figueroa: It’s beautiful. So beautiful.
Carrie Gillon: It makes it easier to freeze, so I guess that’s why it got started. Anyway. [Chorus of “ohs”]
Amanda Jacobson: Clever.
Carrie Gillon: And if you freeze it, I guess it changes the texture. I don’t know. But you can at least use it to bake.
Amanda Jacobson: Wow, I’m learning so much from you.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Probably saves space on transportation, too.
Amanda Jacobson: For sure.
Carrie Gillon: That too, yeah. Yes, it’s definitely more efficient.
Amanda Jacobson: From our most recent trucker crimes episode, Lucy Fitzgerald is still very much in the mindset of a long-haul trucker trying to transport milk in the reefer truck.
Lucy Fitzgerald: My mind is always into long-haul trucking. [Laughter]
Carrie Gillon: There’re a lot of serial killers who are apparently truckers.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Oh, we know.
Carrie Gillon: I’m sure you do.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Covered two of them in that episode.
Megan Figueroa: Well, I know you gotta go soon, but I just realized this whole episode I’ve been slipping into my little mock Minnesota accent, and I apologize.
Amanda Jacobson: I like it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Oh, please, give us a sample. Say, “Meet me down at the lake this afternoon.”
Amanda Jacobson: Ah, /mit mi daʊwn æt θə leɪk θɪs æftɹ̩nun/.
Megan Figueroa: Oh my god, that’s too much!
Amanda Jacobson: You can do it.
Megan Figueroa: [Laughs] No, I can’t. I can’t.
Amanda Jacobson: Okay, we’ll break it down. Okay. “Meet me down.”
Megan Figueroa: [Imitates Amanda Jacobson] “Meet me down.”
Amanda Jacobson: “At the lake.”
Megan Figueroa: [Imitates Amanda Jacobson] “At the lake.”
Amanda Jacobson: Mm-hmm. “This afternoon.”
Megan Figueroa: [Imitates Amanda Jacobson] “This afternoon.”
Amanda Jacobson: “After” like “E-after.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: /æftɹ̩nun/.
Megan Figueroa: [Imitates Lucy Fitzgerald and Amanda Jacobson] “Afternoon.” [Laughs]
Amanda Jacobson: You did it! [Applause] That was a beast.
Carrie Gillon: That was hilarious.
Amanda Jacobson: You actually pulled that off way better than a lot of people that we try to coach into it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Just flatten everything.
Amanda Jacobson: We grew up with – our friends were twins who were British. Well, still are British. And we used to spend hours at our friend Natalie’s basement with these twins that were our friends. Our friend Natalie lived on a lake, and we spent tons of summers with her at her house just coaching these twins into saying Minnesotan things through their British accents. It was our favorite game. I’m sure they have PTSD about it, but we had so many good times.
Megan Figueroa: Well, I’m glad to know that you find it fun because I realize, I was like, “Am I being a fucking asshole right now? I’m just trying to talk like a Minnesotan in from of them.”
Lucy Fitzgerald: Nope, we love it.
Carrie Gillon: Well, you can’t really help it. People take on the features that they hear around them. It’s not an asshole thing, it’s just a people thing.
Megan Figueroa: Aw, that’s so sweet.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, it’s a human thing.
Amanda Jacobson: You’re so sweet. You’re so supportive.
Megan Figueroa: Thank you.
Amanda Jacobson: I love it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I’d just like to say that I’m very proud of my Minnesotan accent, and also, I think to people who aren’t from the area and aren’t familiar with it, it would be easy to assume that a North Dakota accent and a Wisconsin accent are the same. They’re very different. We love our little pocket that is Minnesota that has its own weird quirks and flat vowels. I’m proud of it.
Amanda Jacobson: If you wanna avoid a real Minnesota altercation, especially do not say it’s a Wisconsin accent or that we sound like people from Wisconsin because we don’t sound like people from Wisconsin.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Never compare Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Amanda Jacobson: Wisconsin is the shame of America.
Megan Figueroa: Although, I would really like to see what a Minnesotan altercation looks like.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s very quiet.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, it sounds like a pleasant conversation.
Amanda Jacobson: It’s not a woodchipper situation.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, no, an outsider would never know the vitriol that’s bubbling just below the surface.
Amanda Jacobson: Accurate. Love it. Well, thank you so much for having us. This was an absolute blast.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Yeah, thank you.
Carrie Gillon: Thank you for coming on.
Megan Figueroa: Thank you so much. And, yeah, I’m so glad that we could give you a space to love your accents.
Amanda Jacobson: It felt right. It felt good.
Lucy Fitzgerald: It did.
Amanda Jacobson: I love it.
Lucy Fitzgerald: I’m ready for the day.
Amanda Jacobson: Yes, exactly. Exactly.
Megan Figueroa: We always leave our listeners with our motto, our message, which is don’t be an asshole.
Carrie Gillon: Don’t be an asshole.
Lucy Fitzgerald: [Laughs] But really, don’t be an asshole.
Amanda Jacobson: Can agree. I have a cross-stitch that says, “Don’t be a dick.” So, similar sentiment.
Carrie Gillon: Nice, yes! Great.
Megan Figueroa: Absolutely. Also, don’t be a dick.
Amanda Jacobson: Words to live by.
Megan Figueroa: Exactly. Well, thank you so much, Amanda Jacobson and Lucy Fitzgerald.
Lucy Fitzgerald: Thank you.
Amanda Jacobson: You’re so welcome.
Carrie Gillon: Thank you.
Amanda Jacobson: Hopefully, you’ll have us back someday so we can just loop right back around and talk about this again.
Megan Figueroa: We gotta get Kenyon in here, and I really need to ask her about scaling that building.
Amanda Jacobson: Oh, yeah. NPR raccoon. Look it up. All right. Bless your hearts.
Megan Figueroa: Oh, and your accent, I just really feel it – I feel blessed now.
Amanda Jacobson: Doesn’t it just feel like a hug from your grandma when you get one of those?
Megan Figueroa: Yes!
Amanda Jacobson: Love it. Bye!
Lucy Fitzgerald: Bye!
Megan Figueroa: Bye!
Carrie Gillon: Bye!
[Music]
Carrie Gillon: The Vocal Fries podcast is produced by Chris Ayers for Halftone Audio, theme music by Nick Granum. You can find us on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @VocalFriesPod. You can email us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com.
[End music]
The Vocal Fries Pod 