Pamela 0:00

So I told you earlier today, I definitely had my team give a moment of silence for Dolly this morning.

Josh 0:08

Yeah.

Pamela 0:08

I was like, I don't care what you think about her. I don't care if you care about the news. Like, I'm gonna need I'm gonna need a moment of silence from everybody. And luckily, some people were laughing, but like everyone did it. You're listening to premeditated opinions because yes, we thought about it, and then we said it anyway. I'm Pamela.

Josh 0:38

And I'm John, and we are two people who somehow shared a brain and decided to weaponize our brains with microphones. Each week, we unpack anything from politics and religion to carpool dread and everything in between.

Pamela 0:51

You know, it would really help us a lot if you followed us on Instagram and YouTube. Giving us a like and a follow is probably the best thing your thumbs will do today.

Josh 1:00

We are not experts. We are just way too confident in our own opinions. With all that being said, let's get started. We are back. Finally, we did it. Look at us. Aren't you proud of us? You should be proud of us because we have had some stuff going on.

Pamela 1:14

We are proud of us.

Josh 1:14

We are proud of us. Yeah. We made it. We're here again.

Pamela 1:17

Uh-huh.

Josh 1:18

And just just love us through it. Okay. Um, we had mechanical issues with the space that we're sitting in right now that didn't have air conditioning for a while. Um, and then we had before that, we had some sickness, and then there was some work travel, not for either one of us, but for spouses that kind of complicated schedules and things. It's just it's been a lot. So it's been life. Love it, love us through it. We're we're doing our best.

Pamela 1:45

Until we start getting paid more than our day jobs.

Josh 1:47

Like and that's a low.

Pamela 1:49

What you get and you don't throw a fit.

Josh 1:50

Right. Yeah. Yeah. And that is we're just nowhere close. Um but it's okay. This is a fun episode because we are coming up on a year of premeditated opinions, and that is shocking. Yeah. That's I mean, because I remember very well us being in the pool and being like, we should start a podcast. And then we did.

Pamela 2:15

And I still like I'm thinking back to those first couple episodes, which seem so long ago.

Josh 2:21

They do, and we're actually so much better at it now.

Pamela 2:23

Oh, yeah. Oh, I kind of I kind of don't want to go back and watch any of those early ones, which which is a good thing. Because like even then, I knew I was like, we're gonna get to a point, like just when we got started, I'm like, just hang in there, just do the thing, right? You'll get used to it. And at some point, however long from now, you're gonna look back and be like, oh, those early episodes are cringy. But um, or you know, you just see how nervous, you know, I was, and and just kind of trying to find a rhythm and all of this.

Josh 2:54

But well, and even in conversation together, we are finding rhythms. Like, like it's we had to sort of figure out how the conversation was going to flow and all that, because it's one thing for those of you who don't have a podcast, which is probably most of you when you were demographics. Yeah, we just keep launching them. The elder millennials are at the center of that storm too. We just keep being like, we should start a podcast.

Pamela 3:20

Yeah. Um TV shows have podcasts.

Josh 3:23

Right.

Pamela 3:24

Like Game of Thrones, like join us on the podcast.

Josh 3:26

Like, yeah, it's uh I'm pretty sure. So uh we just started watching Plurribus. Oh, yeah. And I'm pretty sure Plurribus has a podcast. Um, I I'm not completely sure of that.

Pamela 3:36

Well, and that's it's just weird to me because it's almost like I'm trying to equate it to what maybe we had when we were younger.

Josh 3:46

Um I don't know.

Pamela 3:48

Like almost like a radio show.

Josh 3:51

Yeah, yeah. But now you can get so topical with everything podcast related, which is part of what makes it fun and part of what has made this massive market out of it. Like, there's just so many of them.

Pamela 4:03

But it's like I'm gonna watch this show and then I'm gonna listen to somebody's opinions and commentary about it.

Josh 4:07

Right, yeah.

Pamela 4:08

It's and not be able to contribute. Like, I don't know. I've I I haven't dove into any of that yet. Like, but anyway.

Josh 4:17

Yeah. Anyway, well, we've been at it a year, a whole year. And thank God we are better at it than when we started. Um, but it's been a lot of fun. So before we dive into more of that though, so we as a podcast are not what I would call like hardcore current events. And what I mean by that is we're not dropping a weekly episode talking about the news of the day. However, and this will kind of uh put this episode in a timeline for sure, but there was some absolutely massive news yesterday that that neither one of us saw coming, and I do want to spend a minute on it, and that is the fantastic, the irreplaceable, the absolutely iconic Dolly Parton died yesterday. Very suddenly, to the general public. Apparently, family and friends knew that she was fighting on aggressive cancer, but um there to the general public, we were all clueless. And I am not surprised at all that they kept it all under wraps. But how are you holding up?

Pamela 5:18

Yeah, it's yeah.

Josh 5:22

It it just it it just feels the world feels a little less bright.

Pamela 5:26

Yes, it it really does, and it's so weird, you know. I always think about this as far as like celebrity deaths and things, but because you don't actually know these people. Sure. But like I have not heard anyone say one negative thing about Dolly. Right. Ever. Yeah, like ever, ever. Like she didn't have like a drinking problem or she didn't like have like black tar heroines or you know, it's just she was just a genuine person who came from humble beginnings and held on to that humility and kindness and didn't let the money get to her head. And um, you know, she was one who I think it's very interesting how we're seeing a at least I've been noticing a lot of the very wealthy public figures who are female donate so much of that money.

Josh 6:19

Yeah, yeah. Like so much of their money, like um McKenzie Bates or Oh, Gates, yeah, or um Melinda Gates, you mean?

Pamela 6:28

Melinda Gates and then Jeff Bezos, ex.

Josh 6:32

Oh, right, yeah. Oh, I'm I'm blanking on her name too, but I know you're talking about.

Pamela 6:35

Yeah, like but they're just I mean, they're like, we don't need all of this. Right. And they're doing great things with it. Men?

Josh 6:43

Right. Yeah. You know, we have we have some room to grow.

Pamela 6:47

And to be fair, like a lot of things that Dolly did, we are just still learning about.

Josh 6:52

Right.

Pamela 6:53

And of all the things that she contributed to and and ways that she helped people and you know, spread the wealth and took care of her home state and all of that. It's just like that's like what I can't remember where where I've been watching, I've been going for just scrolling through memes and stuff. My whole Instagram is just Dolly, everything. But one of them was basically saying, like, Dolly was our Dolly is what made America great.

Josh 7:24

Yeah, yeah. I mean that model, absolutely.

Pamela 7:27

Yeah, it's like that is exactly like sh the American dream right there.

Josh 7:30

Right. Yeah, and from from such humble beginnings and then to such an epic career, and then you know, to have the kind of the kind of career that even spans artistic genres. Like, I mean, of course she was this prolific country music artist and partnered, especially in the latter part of her career, partnered with God knows how many other artists and musicians and things like that. I mean, she was all over other people's music, she invited other people into her music, but even before that, it was such a storied career. Um, and then she was in movies, she I'm pretty sure she had some TV show appearances and things like that. Like she she just was a delight in every environment that she was in, and it's really hard to replicate something like that. Like that it's such a unique talent, and then to take all of that talent and all of that work and and all of that creativity and still be as likable as she was. And I mean, to your point, no one had an ill word to say about her. Do you know how hard that is to do in 2026? Like with the the constant presence of the internet, yeah, just like there's always gonna be some skeleton in the closet, but you know, she's kind of up there with the Mr. Rogers of the world.

Pamela 8:49

I mean, and 80 years, yeah. 80 years of you know, I don't want to say near perfection, but yeah, you know, like I don't know. Uh I sometimes wonder, like one of my favorite movies growing up was Steel Magnolius.

Josh 9:04

Oh, epic.

Pamela 9:04

She and part of me always was like, I wonder if this is what she's like in real life. Like, I wonder if she just played herself in that in that movie. She was she was phenomenal.

Josh 9:14

So I am uh uh now a part of uh a production company in Dallas that that has done some documentary work over the years. And uh we the the company I'm with produced a documentary about the great Karen Carpenter, another um very prolific female musician um from the 70s and 80s and beyond that. But um, so a colleague of mine that I work with said that as part of the Karen Carpenter documentary, they had the opportunity to invite Dolly Parton to come in and do an interview. And her handlers told um the production crew, they're like, You have 10 minutes. And they're like, Okay. And Dolly walked in, and my colleague at work said that she's exactly who you expected her to be. I mean, kind to everybody, greeted the whole production crew, um, gave all the minutes that she had allotted, like that her team was allowing her to have. She gave them all fully and was very cooperative and participated in all the things, and then she was delightful and she left. And you know, my my friend at work was saying that obviously that's a very small sample size of her and her personality and all that, but it was it still made an impression, you know. And so, Dolly, we hope you're resting in some kind of power. And boy, we're just a little less great down here without you. So I hope you're finding some happiness um and some peace, and I hope that your family is too, because I can't imagine that loss. Because if to if to complete strangers like us, she was delightful, what was she like to her family, you know?

Pamela 10:48

And so well, and her was it her nephew released the official announcement and you could tell, like yeah, like there's just a strong, strong bond in that family.

Josh 11:00

Yeah, but I hope that we all can be a little more like her. Um that that would that would honor that legacy for sure. Um, but outside of that, um, we've had another uh uh because all these things tend to happen in threes, we also had uh Hayden Penetierre. Um her death was just a few days prior to this. Um and then today, the day that we're actually recording, um uh Ted Curry. Tim Curry. Tim Curry. I'm sorry. That's the second time I've said Ted today when I was talking about him. Tim Curry, the great Tim Curry, uh, who I know from Rocky Horror Picture Show and from Home Alone 2, but he's been in loads of other stuff. Um, just a massive career, a great actor. Uh he passed today. Um, I kind of want to do a Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing as tribute. Um because it's that's such a delightfully bizarre movie.

Pamela 11:52

And I just yeah, well, and back home we had a theater, I don't know if they still do it, that would show Rocky Horror Picture Show on the weekends. Oh, really? And like every like people would dress up, it was like a whole event, like go into the theater and recite all the lines and all, you know.

Josh 12:08

I love that.

Pamela 12:09

It was it was a big deal, yeah.

Josh 12:11

So I've uh back before uh so there's a wonderful um uh theater chain called Alano Draft House that actually originated in North Texas, but um they before they were acquired by Sony, they used to do these um like sing-alongs, and so you could go to Rocky Horror Picture Show, among many other movies, and like the whole idea was they're gonna play it nice and loud, and everyone in there can sing along, quote the lines, and whatever, just have fun. Um, but I I'd love to watch that soon. It's been a long time since I've seen that movie. But yeah, that so apparently the universe decides to do the these sorts of things in threes, and I'm hoping that that's the end of it there. Um because boy, that's a lot of that's a lot of loss all at once. And and not to overshadow Hayden Penitieria either, because like she was involved in some TV shows that I was a huge fan of.

Pamela 13:03

Yeah, I mean you had her in Nashville and then you had Dolly.

Josh 13:06

Right, yeah.

Pamela 13:07

You know, I was like, this is literally hitting a little too close to home. Right.

Josh 13:12

Yeah, but it it was it was a rough week from an entertainment news standpoint, and I'm hoping that that's the end of it. But yeah, Dolly, especially, that was that was a big one. And and you know, we all knew she was getting up there in years and all that, but there was just no indication that there was anything wrong.

Pamela 13:30

Yeah, you know, and I know she would joke about the makeup and the Botox and all of that kind of stuff, but I mean I felt like she still looked great. Like when she was dancing at the it was the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, yeah, yeah, just a few years ago. Yeah, I was like, wow, she looks phenomenal.

Josh 13:50

Yeah, in the cheerleader outfit and the whole nine yards. Yeah, so I know that you were a big fan of Nashville as a show. I was a big fan of Heroes as a show, and I I'm pretty sure that came right before Nashville. I think she did those two shows back to back.

Pamela 14:01

I think so, yeah.

Josh 14:03

And Heroes for its time was a lot of fun.

Pamela 14:06

I heard it, I never watched it. I I don't know why. I heard it was really good, and I I just I just never got into it. Yeah, I mean it was kind of one of those I just never checked it out.

Josh 14:16

Yeah, it was sort of a paranormal sci-fi drama-y thing. Yeah. And and in the era that it was produced, it was a lot of fun. And I I watched probably all of it, I think all of it. Um, and I just, you know, it it was kind of the beginning of a genre, and I think a lot of things followed heroes that sort of just learned from that model. Um, but yeah, so I mean it was really sad to to see her go and and honestly, and I don't know a lot about this yet, but there's some weirdness around her passing too, and I I'm getting vibes that they're it almost feels true crimes kind of stuff.

Pamela 14:56

I was watching a little bit of Nancy Grace about it, which say what you want about Nancy Grace. Um, I mean she gets on my nerves sometimes, but yeah, uh I don't know, like it it there's definitely weirdness with the boyfriend.

Josh 15:10

Yeah.

Pamela 15:11

Um I think there's a way Nancy said it earlier, something along the lines of basically like she just got sucked into the wrong crowd. Like, so this is a guy that she dated, he abused her. Um she went back to him and I don't know. I don't know if it's just a an addiction thing. Like she she struggled with a lot of stuff, and and yeah. Well when you get around not the right influences and you know, yeah, succumb to some of that stuff.

Josh 15:53

Yeah, it's it's hard to watch great artists leave the world and and we lost a few really great ones.

Pamela 15:59

Um and she was so like I don't know. I connected with her a lot because I feel like she was just lonely. I feel like she was just very lonely, she didn't have a lot of support, she had a lot of attention on her, you know, her entire life. There's a lot of expectation put on that, and I think she just struggled to keep up. And and I I watched her Jay Shetty podcast actually not that long ago. Yeah um, and you know, she she said a lot of really hard things. Um, you could tell it was hard for her to get through some of that stuff, but she was really honest, and yeah, it's just sad, it's just sad, you know. And and like she she she went through postpartum, which is a big topic right now with the whole Lindsey Clancy case. We won't get into that. Um I would I've watched it every day, yeah. Tomorrow's closing arguments, anyway. Um, but she openly admitted that like she was not able to take care of her daughter, and so wow, sh she allowed her daughter to go live with her father in the Ukraine.

Josh 17:18

Oh wow, yeah, wow, I didn't know that. That's it.

Pamela 17:21

Yeah, it's yeah, there's a lot there. I don't fault her for anything, I think she's a product of a system that doesn't care about women and people, and especially you know, in the time because she's just a couple years younger than us.

Josh 17:41

Yeah.

Pamela 17:41

She actually just had her birthday.

Josh 17:43

Yeah, I think she just turned 36. Yeah.

Pamela 17:45

No, she just turned 37. Oh, okay. Um, like a couple days after she passed.

Josh 17:50

Oh wow. Yeah.

Pamela 17:51

Anyway.

Josh 17:52

Well, that's a lot of loss, and we're not here to make you sad, um, but we wanted to kind of address those things at the outset because it it it has been big news and it has been on our minds, and and that's just sort of the getting that part out of the way a little bit of like these things are hard and complicated, and it's hard to see people that you're a fan of go. Um, and especially the dollies of the world who, you know, you were not it's not just it's it's one thing to be a fan of Dolly Parton, it's something else entirely to understand really what she brought to the world and feel that sense of loss. And so it's it's a big bummer, um, for sure. And you know, I there's a lot of people legitimately sad about it. And this is the last thing I'll say about it, then we can move on. But like to your point, like you said something about you know processing why we feel so much sadness when celebrities die. Because, you know, we say, Oh, we're not like it's not like we knew this person. Well, yes, and at the same time, I think uh connecting with someone's art and connecting with at least who we understand them to be, it does create this sense of uh groundedness and hope and like you you look at a Dolly Parton and you think, boy, I wish there were a thousand more of you, you know, and and you can even be personally inspired to do some of the same things in the same spirit that she was doing them in, even if you don't know who she is and never met her and everyone's in the same room with her. And so I don't know, I just I there there have been several celebrity deaths that that have come and gone that have been very impactful for me. And and I don't I don't really apologize for that. I think you know we we gravitate towards art that's meaningful to us, and and the best case scenario of that is when the art and the artist are special.

Pamela 19:50

Yeah.

Josh 19:50

And that is Dolly, yeah, you know, um, and so it I I can make a lot of uh I can just draw a lot of parallels between that and just sort of our usual types of grief when it is somebody that we know who's passed. Um, because we we still look at that and think, oh man, it's just it's just not as bright anymore, you know. But one year ago.

Pamela 20:13

Hold on. Okay, one more thing. So I told you earlier today I definitely had my team give a moment of silence for Dolly this morning.

Josh 20:24

Yeah.

Pamela 20:24

I was like, I don't care what you think about her, I don't care if you care about the news, like I'm gonna need a moment of silence from everybody. And luckily, some people were laughing, but like everyone did it.

Josh 20:39

Yeah.

Pamela 20:40

Everyone was like, Yeah, it's pretty sad, you know. I was like, and these are people all over the nation. Like, we're on a Zoom call, and uh, you know, I try to have fun with my teams and be personable and all of that. And so some of it was kind of me just being a little cheeky, but at the same time, I was like, she was really special. Yeah, and so it was it was kind of just interesting. It was just yeah.

Josh 21:07

Well, and the fact that everyone bought into that and and rolled with it is still a testament to who she is, is still a testament to how special she is, and so I I totally get that. But okay, one year ago today, uh well, almost today, um we dropped our first episode of premeditated opinions. And do you remember what that episode was about?

Pamela 21:29

Actually, we dropped two at once.

Josh 21:32

We did, that's right. I forgot about that.

Pamela 21:34

Yeah, I literally, as you were talking, I just remembered that. So it was meet the hosts. Oh, that was so I don't want to watch it.

Josh 21:42

Yeah, don't go back and listen, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, don't.

Pamela 21:45

It's not worth it. And we dropped, sorry, I'm just looking this up on my phone.

Josh 21:51

Yeah, that's okay.

Pamela 21:52

Carpool conferences and cults of personality.

Josh 21:55

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And we had a whole segment about carpool lines. For our kids' schools, and we talked all about that. And here we are, full circle.

Pamela 22:04

Mm-hmm.

Josh 22:04

Back doing carpool.

Pamela 22:06

Yeah. Kids have been back in school for two weeks now.

Josh 22:09

Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. And you know, it's we're we're surviving. Um, but it's it's funny, like now uh the the the carpool stuff, all that stress still exists, and and we could rehash the same exact episode all over again. Um but like what's really fun to think about is over the course of the last year, we've actually produced some stuff I'm very, very proud of. Yeah. Um and I when I think back to the last year, like there's a lot of stuff that I don't know, I I feel like was just better than the sum of its parts. Like it was special in a lot of ways. And and I'm wondering for you, like when you reflect over all the various episodes we've done and topics and styles and all of that, what jumps out to you as as being kind of special?

Pamela 23:00

Oh, there are quite a few. Um, you know, I was kind of looking back through here. So we've done this this will be our 36th episode.

Josh 23:09

Okay.

Pamela 23:10

So 52 weeks, 36 episodes. Listen, we did our best.

Josh 23:14

Yeah.

Pamela 23:15

Um and we've done two uh seasons. So this is season two. Um because I don't know, at some point I was like, we tried to change the format a little bit.

Josh 23:28

Well, we did, and and and we also took a little holiday break, I think. Yeah, yeah.

Pamela 23:33

So, you know, I think I love that we've had all of our like favorite people on.

Josh 23:39

Oh, yeah.

Pamela 23:39

You know, we've had some really awesome guests, people you should know. Um and uh I think the one that sticks out the most is our holiday episode. That was a lot of fun, because that one was different. Uh like it was an idea, and I wasn't even sure if we were gonna be able to pull it off. And it took a lot of planning, and you know, but then it also like it took a lot of planning, but it maybe looked kind of effortless. And it wasn't, but I I liked being able to showcase talent and do something a little bit different, and then have something that we can listen to this year, yeah. You know, um, I don't know what we'll do for the holidays this year. We haven't talked about it yet, but I don't know, we'll see. We we set a pretty high bar last year.

Josh 24:29

That's exactly what I was about to say. We we set the bar way up there. I mean, it was it was so fun. So, you know, me and Krista both sang on that episode, and then um my buddy TJ played bass, Christian played drums, Daniel played keys. It was just such a fun group of people that we got to work with, such amazing, talented people. And honestly, for that being recorded in our former dining room, I I think it sounds pretty good. Like it really came out great considering the fact that we just we were not in a formal recording space. We I did not have you know a room full of expensive microphones.

Pamela 25:08

I had some good stuff, but like not there was literally no one behind the camera, there was no one at the board. There was like well, let's just hope.

Josh 25:19

Like let's let's press record and see what happens, you know.

Pamela 25:22

Pretty much, and it worked.

Josh 25:24

It did, it was a lot of fun. I'm I'm proud of that one.

Pamela 25:27

And like I just I mean, for as low budget, meaning no budget.

Josh 25:32

Yeah.

Pamela 25:33

Um yeah.

Josh 25:35

But our friends showed up, man. It was it was a lot of fun, and I just I'm spoiled rotten with just surrounded by incredibly talented people, and and that was I think that was my favorite part of it, was just knowing when I was picking the music out. I was like, oh, I don't even know what this is gonna sound like, I just know it's gonna be great because of the caliber of people that we were working with. And so um that was a blast. I I loved every part of that. Um, yeah, that I I just I wish it would that something like that was easier to do more often. Um but unfortunately you're right about the logistics lift. It's it's pretty real, but worth it. Yeah. So what else stood out to you over the course of the last year? Is there um I'm putting you on the spot a little bit?

Pamela 26:20

I know you are. It's and like I don't I I don't really want to pick a particular one of like somebody that we've had on because I've loved everybody that we've had on. We've had such the conversation always went somewhere I didn't expect, you know, and it was always great, great stuff. Um the time that you and I, the first time we recorded remotely because you were stuck in St. Thomas.

Josh 26:45

Oh yeah, yeah, that was January of 2026. Yeah, that was a trip, man. We we were literally stuck in paradise, um, which sounds great until like we were just we were running low on options of things to do, and like uh and we really needed to get home for a lot of personal and professional reasons.

Pamela 27:09

And so on one hand, it was like, oh shucks, our flights keep getting canceled because there's terrible weather in Dallas, but then also we kind of legit needed to get back, like it was it was starting to get complicated because it was like below freezing, and so it was like we didn't know the state of your house, but we also couldn't get over there because the roads were garbage, and yeah, yeah, yeah. That was uh that was interesting.

Josh 27:37

Yeah, that was really an adventure. Um I'm with you. I think some of our very very best work has come from um interviews. Like we've had such fascinating people on. I loved having Mike Chandler on. Uh that he was he was actually our beta test with a lot of those interviews. So thank you for that.

Pamela 27:53

He was our first Riverside, yeah.

Josh 27:55

He was the first Riverside, and only I think our second interview. I think Ashton was our first one. Ashton was definitely first, and he was fantastic.

Pamela 28:02

And then that episode still gets downloaded so much.

Josh 28:05

Yeah, it was helpful information. It was yeah. If you are listening to us right now and you want like good real estate advice from an actual professional, it's a great place to start. I'm just saying.

Pamela 28:16

We need to have him back on. Oh, absolutely. We need to have everybody back on. We had yeah, so we had Mike, we had Ashton, we had uh Ann.

Josh 28:24

Ann was a blast.

Pamela 28:26

We had um Patrick and Justin.

Josh 28:28

That one was incredible. Uh our our friends Patrick and Justin, who run an amazing nonprofit called LGBTQ Outdoors. Um, we got to hear not just the story of that nonprofit, but a little bit of their story, which was incredibly impactful. Um, yeah, we had uh Oh my gosh, we totally forgot.

Pamela 28:46

Your wife was the first.

Josh 28:47

Yeah, yeah, she was in there. Yeah. Um yeah, and she's not very forgettable. So no. But we we had Krista on multiple times, actually. Yeah. I think she's one of our few repeat guests. Um we had uh your husband Josh and uh and Scott. And Scott. Yeah. Um that was a blast. That that one that one got very cerebral, but in some really fun ways, because we were like trying to figure out like stuff that I think American legislation is still trying to figure out with like right to repair and and all that. But that those were a lot of fun. Um the episode with Chrissy and Ariel stands out to me too. Yeah. Um, so we had a couple of of our friends on who are women in their mid-40s who are single and who are dating and who are trying to figure that whole scene out, and it's just a disaster. But it was really it was really cool to just hear their perspectives and um a lot of wisdom and a lot of just thoughtful responses to hard things.

Pamela 29:44

Um, yeah, there were good nuggets that came out of that.

Josh 29:47

Yeah, yeah, there were. I still think about it.

Pamela 29:49

Uh-huh. Me too.

Josh 29:50

Yeah. Um, and then more recently, um, a longtime friend and colleague of mine, a guy named Ron White, not the comedian, um, he ha has a lot of just interesting things about him. Uh and I don't that one that whole interview went a few directions. I wasn't expecting it to go, but it was so much better than I expected it to be. And and so all that to say, like, we we've had a lot of standout moments. And I think I think one of my favorite parts of of what we're doing is just this opportunity that we've given ourselves to explore other people's worlds. Yeah. Like, like kind of really deep dive other people's experiences, and you know, I I think about Mike Chandler's episode, for instance, and like the area that he grew up in and being so steeped in the Hollywood culture and movies and stuff. I mean, that's that's really cool and special all by itself. And then, you know, all the way to very practical things, like when we had Astronon. I think one of my favorite parts about that, and that was an early episode too, but one of my favorite parts about that was it felt delightfully practical. Like I felt like we were giving real consumer advice, um, you know, in the form of just having a real estate professional on while we were trying to figure out how that world works. Yeah, I don't know. It was just it was a blast, and and I've had a lot of fun doing this. Um, the the Christmas special was a standout for sure. Um, I I just I think we've done some of our best work in the interviews. Yeah. Um, yeah, I'm I'm very, very proud of that.

Pamela 31:23

And then we had my literal last minute idea with the games. We had Dice Games.

Josh 31:29

Yeah. What up, Dice Games?

Pamela 31:31

Yeah, it's been so long since we've done that. Like we forgot about it. But yeah, like when we would play the games our way.

Josh 31:40

Yeah, we should bring that back. We we need to do we need to do another episode like that soon.

Pamela 31:44

We can. Yeah. There's all I mean, we can do whatever we want.

Josh 31:47

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Pamela 31:48

Because there's no one behind these cameras for lights or soundboard or anything.

Josh 31:53

There's no one telling us what to do, which might be part of the problem. But like, but to your point, like Dice Games, oh man, like that deserves a minute. So our families, when we would get together a lot uh over weekends, there were so many nights where we ended up playing card games. And it started off with like cards against humanity and stuff like that. And so we started to explore that genre. And uh Dice Games is a brand of like card-based games, and we started buying up some of their stuff, and then you reached out to them, I think.

Pamela 32:25

Yeah, because we bought like bad choices or something.

Josh 32:28

Yep.

Pamela 32:29

And uh we you we I think it was just an off-the-cuff like suggestion that one of us had, and I was like, I'm gonna just email them. Right. Like I just I just sent them an email out of the blue, and they responded pretty quickly. And uh I didn't realize at the time, like if you go to their Instagram, it's all videos of people like playing their games and stuff. So but yeah, they sent us several, like six or seven games to to try out, and it's pretty cool, yeah.

Josh 33:02

Yeah, yeah.

Pamela 33:03

Bad opinions and uh pick your poison.

Josh 33:08

Yep.

Pamela 33:08

Um, but yeah, every now and then um I'll tag them in our I haven't done it in a while because we haven't played anything in a while, yeah. Um yeah, we can bring that back. So I guess it's part of this too, is like we kind of want to hear from y'all what were some of your favorite episodes episodes, or you know, what were your topics or what were things that you enjoyed, or things you're like, please don't do that again. Or please stay away from this topic, which we may or we may not.

Josh 33:37

Yeah, we probably are gonna ignore that.

Pamela 33:38

Yeah, but um, yeah.

Josh 33:40

We we've had a lot of fun doing this, and you know, I I know that the last season has been tough, and just finding some consistency and and you know, trying to keep a schedule going, and and that's just the reality of where our lives are at right now. But at the same time, what a fun medium to sort of explore and and uh getting to involve other people that we love and care about just makes it sweeter. And so all of that stuff, like it it all these guests that we mentioned and the ones we didn't mention, if we forgot anybody, which we probably did, um it it's all special to us. And uh, you know, I I feel like we've found something kind of fun. It's just a matter of figuring out how to do it in a way where we can create some more consistency with it. And who knows? You know, we'll get there, we'll get there, be patient with us. Yeah. Um, but yeah, we at the same time, like when we kind of launched into this, one of the ways I like to describe what we do is we're sort of a millennial morning drive show. Like, you know, you can listen to us on your way to work, it's gonna be somewhat low impact and hopefully entertaining and all that stuff, but it's also just you know, us kind of sharing our lives and and sharing our people. And that's been a lot of fun too. That that's been really enriching for me to get to invite people that I personally know and care about and enjoy and be like, hey, look more people need to understand who you are. Um, and and you know, you're important in my life, and I want to share with people why. Has anything about this surprised you that like in a way that you just weren't expecting? Like it w has any part of this uh been more challenging than you expected or or easier than you expected?

Pamela 35:15

Um, it it was definitely more challenging than I expected. I learned a lot about marketing.

Josh 35:22

Yeah, yeah, that's a side hustle you should start right there.

Pamela 35:25

Man, that was that's a that's a lot, and and that's also part of the reason why the episodes are coming out slower and you're not probably seeing as much of because it's a lot. I mean, it's a full-time job. Like I used to think like, oh, I'll just I'll just use an app or I'll just you know get some software to help me blast all the like no, it still requires a lot of work and effort and time and clipping at the time. I wasn't I didn't have full-time employment, and so I had some time to figure things out and put a lot of effort into stuff. Um and then I ended up starting my own LLC, which also requires marketing and and so it was kind of a nice it just kind of helped me with that transition a little bit uh in and figuring out how to market myself and trying to figure out how to market us as much as I can. Um so that was challenging. One thing that surprised me um that we got downloaded in other countries.

Josh 36:31

Oh, yeah, yeah. How many countries this surprised me? So she told me this right before we started recording. I did not know this before today. So we use a distribution platform for the audio parts of our podcast that gives us some interesting statistics. So this is all these stats are just the audio only side that this does not include YouTube, but tell the ladies and gentlemen some of the fun stats you told me.

Pamela 36:54

Okay, so one caveat is I don't know how many of these are VPN.

Josh 36:59

Sure, that's fair.

Pamela 37:00

You know, so so some of these could be VPN, but 42 countries and uh 200 cities.

Josh 37:07

That's so many. Like, and honestly, even if it's VPN, I'm still counting it.

Pamela 37:11

Like, yeah, I mean Brazil, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Estonia, Estonia, Canada.

Josh 37:19

What if we were huge in Estonia and we didn't even know it?

Pamela 37:23

Uh see all countries. Oh, it's okay, it's doing by episode, but um obviously the majority are are here in in uh we have uh are here in the United States. We have a a base in Virginia.

Josh 37:38

Nice. Like first live show, right?

Pamela 37:42

Uh I can't uh I wish I could remember what which city, but yeah, we get a lot of people, and again, I don't know if it's VPN, sure, but yeah, like we get several downloads from somewhere in Virginia.

Josh 37:58

Nice.

Pamela 37:58

Well so if it's you, let us know.

Josh 38:00

Yeah, what up, Virginia?

Pamela 38:01

Right?

Josh 38:02

Thanks for being here. Um But no, I think that's so cool. 42 countries and and almost 200 or 200 cities, that's amazing, and what a cool way to to like engage with the world. Like I'm totally here for it. Yeah, but no, this is really fun. But we certainly plan to keep going and and we know it's all been intermittent. And on one hand, we're sorry, and on another hand, it's just been how we have to do it right now. Yeah, um, but yeah, we're we're thrilled to be here. We really are. We're hoping to get things back on track sooner rather than later and and get back to at least every other week episodes. We feel like that's still attainable, it's just getting in some rhythm around it. Yep. Um, but once again, thank you for being here. Yeah, we're so grateful. We really are. And uh most of you who are listening are are folks that know us a little bit, and that's really cool. Um, and so we appreciate that support, and and we're we're gonna try and do more with it um in this next season, and we're just doing our best. Uh so thanks for hanging in there with us. Um, we really appreciate you letting us into your ear holes because that real estate is at a premium. And so, yeah, there's a lot of other things you could fill your ear holes with, but you chose us.

Pamela 39:09

With all the other millennial podcasts, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Josh 39:12

So, our challenge to you is uh as my dog starts drinking water right next to my microphone. Very loudly, I'm just gonna power right through it. You're gonna hear it. You're gonna hear my dog drinking water. Um, because I'm tired of stopping because of dogs in this episode, so I'm just not. So, as my dog drinks water, thank you so much for joining us at Premeditated Opinions. Um, please follow us on Substack, check us out on YouTube, we're on TikTok, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. Um, if you would follow us in all those places, that would be really wonderful. And go listen to some Dolly Parton right now. You can start with nine to five. It's great. The energy's wonderful. It's gonna make your day better. Listen to some Dolly.

Pamela 39:52

Yep. All right, cheers to one year.

Josh 39:55

Cheers to one year.

Pamela 39:58

Well, that's it for premeditated opinions, where the thoughts were fully baked and only mildly regrettable. If you enjoyed today's episode, congrats on having truly excellent taste and podcasting opinions. Following us on YouTube and Instagram is a quick and easy way to support us. So if you liked literally anything about today's episode, please like and subscribe.

Josh 40:20

Also, send this to someone who needs to feel seen, dragged, or both. We'll be back next week with more unsolicited insight and emotionally responsible spylight. And until then, please stay hydrated and behave yourself in the comments. But if you don't, at least make a slide.