OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Kenice Mobley and Rohan Padhye co-host the podcast "Love About Town." Kenice, Rohan, welcome back.
KENICE MOBLEY: Thank you. Hello.
ROHAN PADHYE: Hello. Yay.
EISENBERG: Hello. So, yeah, let's catch up. Let's catch up because last time we talked - different world. We were in a - it was not that long ago...
PADHYE: Yeah.
JONATHAN COULTON: Yeah.
EISENBERG: ...In a different world. OK, so first, Kenice, at the time, you were at a writer's retreat.
MOBLEY: I was.
EISENBERG: How was it?
MOBLEY: It was fantastic. I wrote a pilot. It is a very dirty pilot. Rohan has read it. Some of my friends have read it, and they just giggle and blush.
PADHYE: I'm biased because Kenice is one of my best friends in the entire world, but it was really, really good. And it's dirty. It's a dirty that I've never seen on TV before, and that's why...
EISENBERG: Without giving it away, could you just give me another detail on how it was dirty in a way that you've never seen before?
PADHYE: Oh, OK.
EISENBERG: Because that's pretty interesting.
PADHYE: Well, we're all aware of sexting and what that is.
COULTON: Sure.
EISENBERG: I've - yes.
COULTON: Yeah.
PADHYE: Yes. OK. Well...
EISENBERG: I've - dot, dot, dot - yes.
(LAUGHTER)
PADHYE: Yes. And let me be clear, I am not a sexter, but Kenice is. And the messages, the dirtiness of those messages - I mean, I had to, you know, have a dictionary to look up what some of those things mean.
MOBLEY: That is incorrect, Rohan. I - this is - no dictionary was necessary. You are a very smart man. You would have figured it out, OK?
PADHYE: But the thing is - why I liked it is because there are people who are doing this for real, like Kenice is.
MOBLEY: Yeah.
PADHYE: And those people need a voice.
EISENBERG: They do. They need to feel seen and heard.
PADHYE: They need a platform.
MOBLEY: That's the representation that I'm working on.
PADHYE: Yeah.
MOBLEY: None of my other demographic info important, don't care if I see myself - someone who looks like me. All that's garbage. Do people on TV sext the way that I sext?
EISENBERG: That's right.
MOBLEY: And I am aiming to be the change that I want to see.
COULTON: That's wonderful.
EISENBERG: OK. Rohan, you were talking about that you had started a relationship.
PADHYE: And we just took our first vacation together. That's where I'm coming at.
COULTON: Oh.
EISENBERG: Wow. Where did you go?
PADHYE: We went to Asheville, N.C.
EISENBERG: Yeah. Great. That's an awesome place.
PADHYE: And so we stayed with a couple of her friends. And it was very, very nice, and it was very fun - hung out with Kenice's sister, also.
EISENBERG: Oh.
PADHYE: We had a fun hang.
MOBLEY: Rohan and my twin sister are now friends in their own right and don't need me around. They'll just hang out with each other.
PADHYE: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Oh, I didn't know you were a twin. Did that...
MOBLEY: Yes.
EISENBERG: Oh, OK.
MOBLEY: Identical twin.
EISENBERG: Kenice, do you and your sister do the, like, I was born first thing? Is that a...
MOBLEY: She was born first by a minute. It was a C-section, so she was technically born one minute before me. And because of that, she got a bigger room growing up. She always was like, I'm claiming middle child privilege here simply because a doctor was like, oh, there's a jumble of limbs. Let me yank this one first. So...
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: There's a - you - that is the most beautiful and descriptive childbirth illustration ever.
COULTON: Jumble of limbs - pick one.
EISENBERG: Jumble of limbs - let me get this one. All right. Let's play some games. We have some fun ones, as you know. So let's start with the easy one, shall we? This is an audio quiz called Coming In Hot. We're going to play you the first second of a popular song, and you have to guess the song or artist.
PADHYE: Oh.
MOBLEY: OK.
PADHYE: OK.
EISENBERG: OK?
MOBLEY: Is it - are extra points awarded if you know both? I just want to make sure...
EISENBERG: I love that you said that. I love that you said that. There weren't, but now there are.
PADHYE: Yes. Yes.
MOBLEY: OK. I want to be Rohan if possible. That's the important underlying thing.
EISENBERG: OK. Yeah. Right. OK, let's keep track. Usually we don't. But you know what? Let's keep track.
COULTON: Today we will.
MOBLEY: Yes.
EISENBERG: OK. Here we go. Rohan, you're up first.
PADHYE: OK.
EISENBERG: Here you go.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE WEEK")
BARENAKED LADIES: (Singing) It's been...
PADHYE: Oh, that's - now, that's a - this is a classic of my childhood. It is Barenaked Ladies, and the song is "One Week."
EISENBERG: Yes and yes and yes. And that one second contained more story than a lot of things I've read and watched.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Well done.
PADHYE: Oh, man.
COULTON: All right, Kenice, here's one for you.
MOBLEY: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELTON JOHN'S "CIRCLE OF LIFE")
MOBLEY: I know that that is from "The Lion King."
COULTON: Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm.
MOBLEY: I know Elton John is on part of it.
COULTON: Yeah, Elton John.
MOBLEY: Elton John? Elton John?
PADHYE: Yeah, Elton John wrote that.
COULTON: Yeah, that's right.
PADHYE: Yeah.
MOBLEY: He sat down pen to paper, ah sa (ph)...
(LAUGHTER)
MOBLEY: OK, yeah. No, that's fine. He speaks whatever language that is. Is it a language?
COULTON: Yeah, he speaks Zulu, yeah - fluent Zulu.
MOBLEY: Zulu. It's Zulu? OK.
PADHYE: Is that what it was? OK. I didn't know what language it was. And I was about to sing it, and I was like, this is going to be bad.
MOBLEY: Is it "Circle Of Life"? Is that the name?
EISENBERG: Yes.
COULTON: Yeah. You got it.
MOBLEY: OK, thank God. I need to know it because that was truly the only representation of Africa that I saw as a child. So I...
COULTON: Sure. Important for that reason.
MOBLEY: ...Technically have to know it. Yes.
COULTON: Yes, absolutely.
EISENBERG: All right. Rohan, this one's for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BANG BANG")
JESSIE J: (Singing) You got to...
PADHYE: Oh, it's the bang bang (vocalizing).
EISENBERG: Yes.
COULTON: Yeah, that's right.
EISENBERG: Great.
PADHYE: Is it, like - it's, like, a bunch of people, right?
EISENBERG: Three.
PADHYE: It's, like, Arianna Grande and, like, Nicki Minaj and a bunch of other people.
EISENBERG: Jessie J.
PADHYE: Jessie J, yes.
MOBLEY: I know Jessie J because I like that song a lot.
COULTON: Jessie J. Oh, yeah.
PADHYE: It's on several of my playlists.
EISENBERG: Oh, yeah.
MOBLEY: It's great. It's part of my - I have a playlist that's called rom-com self-improvement montage because it's...
(LAUGHTER)
MOBLEY: ...What they play during the montage when someone's like, I've turned my life around, and you know what?
EISENBERG: Yeah. It's time.
MOBLEY: Yes. Yes.
COULTON: All right, Kenice, here's another one for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUCKER")
JONAS BROTHERS: (Singing) We go together...
MOBLEY: That is "Sucker" by the Jonas Brothers.
COULTON: You got it.
MOBLEY: I don't care that - for me, they came out when I was older so, for me, it's children's music. That song's a bop.
COULTON: Yeah, right on.
EISENBERG: OK. Just to let you know, right now the game is tied.
PADHYE: Uh-oh.
MOBLEY: (Laughter).
PADHYE: Uh-oh.
EISENBERG: Rohan, this one's for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH")
BELINDA CARLISLE: (Singing) Oh, baby...
PADHYE: (Singing) Do you know what that's worth? Oh, heaven - "Heaven Is A Place On Earth."
EISENBERG: Yes.
PADHYE: It's not, like, Belinda Carlisle.
EISENBERG: Yes, it is.
PADHYE: Oh, it is?
EISENBERG: I won't let you say not. It is.
PADHYE: Yeah.
EISENBERG: It is Belinda Carlisle.
COULTON: Because it definitely is.
PADHYE: Oh, it is. OK. That's who it is.
EISENBERG: That is Belinda Carlisle.
MOBLEY: OK, we're going to the '80s stuff here. OK.
EISENBERG: And let's just be clear that once you hear that part of the song, you really have heard the next four minutes.
PADHYE: Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much. Pretty much.
(LAUGHTER)
PADHYE: It's just that repeating over and over.
COULTON: All right. Last but not least for you, Kenice.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALL STAR")
SMASH MOUTH: (Singing) Some...
MOBLEY: I know it's Smash Mouth.
COULTON: That's right. That's right.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
MOBLEY: (Singing) Somebody once told me the world is going to roll me.
COULTON: Yeah. You've got to get to the chorus.
EISENBERG: You'll get there.
MOBLEY: I'm trying to get there. (Vocalizing). Forehead - hey now - "All Star."
EISENBERG: Yes.
MOBLEY: OK. Oh, my God.
EISENBERG: What a great job you did.
PADHYE: This is going to reveal too much about myself, but I have a little - I'm going to call it a bit that I do with my girlfriend where...
EISENBERG: Oh, boy.
PADHYE: ...I will, like, look her in the eyes, and I'll just be like, you know, babe, I love you so much, and I'm so happy that I'm with you. And then I'll go to my Spotify, and I'll play this song and go to kiss her.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: And - but let's just pause - hilarious. Next question - how does she react to that? Is she like, ugh (ph)?
PADHYE: No, at the - well, she laughs now.
EISENBERG: She laughs now.
MOBLEY: Now.
PADHYE: And now she knows it's coming, so she'll be like, ugh, OK.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Here we go.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
EISENBERG: So there was no competitive moment there because you both did equally well and...
PADHYE: Yes.
EISENBERG: ...Basically...
PADHYE: Yes.
EISENBERG: ...Are at a perfect even tie. So we'll find out what happens maybe in the next game.
Coming up, we'll play another game with Kenice and Rohan. but before the break, I have an announcement. Tickets to our finale taping at the Bell House have completely sold out, so we have decided to add a bonus penultimate taping on Wednesday, August 11. And tickets are on sale to the general public right now. Audience members must be 21 years or older and show proof of vaccination. We'd love to see you there because that's seriously it. There are no more days left for us to add. So you can find more information at nprpresents.org. I'm Ophira Eisenberg and this is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.
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