Gal Gadot

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Gal Gadot, renowned actress and action star known for roles in Wonder Woman, Fast & Furious, and The Runner, joins Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Key takeaways

• Struggle is essential to happiness and growth
• Parenthood constantly forces adaptation and emotional openness

Main topics

• Gal Gadot's career journey
• Beauty pageant victory at age 21

Notable quotes

"Struggle is essential to happiness."

Conclusion

Gal Gadot's story underscores the transformative power of adversity and personal

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard. I'm joined by Miniker Mouse. Hello. Today we have Gail Gadot. She is an actor. She is Wonder Woman. Snow White, Red Notice, Fast and Furious. Several, I think, for Fast and Furious. Heart of Stone. She has a new movie out on Prime Video September 2nd called The Runner. It is a very high octane, crazy. This woman runs for two hours straight. It scared me. Yeah, she Speaker 2 (0:33) said it was 110 pages of running. Speaker 4 (0:36) Yeah, it's unreal. Tom Cruise has got to take notice of this. I feel like maybe she's thrown a gauntlet down. Speaker 2 (0:45) I'd Speaker 4 (0:45) like to see Tom run an entire movie. God knows he could, you know, if anyone could do it. That's Speaker 2 (0:49) right, he could do it. Speaker 4 (0:50) Please enjoy Gail Gadot. Speaker 4 (1:09) Oh, and you're tall. Let's both... Oh, you are. Hi, Speaker 2 (1:14) Monica. Speaker 1 (1:15) Hi, Monica. Nice Speaker 2 (1:16) to meet you. Jenny Speaker 1 (1:17) Chu, my hairstylist, was like, oh, Speaker 2 (1:20) I Speaker 1 (1:20) love Jenny more than Speaker 2 (1:21) anyone. How do you Speaker 1 (1:22) know each other? She did Kristen's hair, does Kristen's Speaker 2 (1:25) hair a lot. Speaker 1 (1:26) Oh, there you go. Speaker 2 (1:27) So you must know her too, no? Yeah, then we're all just in... We love Jenny. She's the best. So Speaker 1 (1:34) how did you guys start doing this together? Speaker 2 (1:37) Well, Dax wanted to do a podcast. I was working with Kristen and I was at the house all the time. Dax wanted to start. It was like, she doesn't do enough. Speaker 1 (1:45) Come do my podcast. No, we love to argue. So we generally Speaker 4 (1:48) have opposite opinions on any given topic. So our hobby when she worked for Kristen was I'd be walking through the kitchen and I'd be like, you're listening to Serial, right? Yeah, I'm like, you think Adnan did? She's like, he didn't do it. I'm like, of course he did it. And Speaker 2 (2:02) we just let it Speaker 4 (2:03) rip for an hour. Speaker 2 (2:04) I basically lived at their house. We were all hanging out Speaker 1 (2:07) all the time. I love that Speaker 2 (2:07) you do it from your house, too. And then this, yeah. And Speaker 4 (2:09) she lives directly across the street. So she walks 12 feet and I walk 30 feet. That's Speaker 2 (2:13) really nice. We've been doing it almost nine years. Speaker 1 (2:17) Eight and a half. You've been doing this for nine years almost? When it just started, you saw the potential with the podcast. Speaker 4 (2:24) No, we didn't. You Speaker 1 (2:25) were just looking for an arena to fight. Well, Speaker 3 (2:30) really, Speaker 4 (2:30) I was starting to be on a lot of podcasts as a guest. And I liked it so much more than, say, although I like late night talk shows because I'm Speaker 3 (2:39) a Speaker 4 (2:39) comedian. That's fun. But I liked going there and being like, I don't have a seven minute. chunk to be brilliant in. I can be my full self. And I remember leaving those interviews going like, well, that was really worthwhile, more than a normal interview. I just loved being on them. And I was like, I kind of want to do this. Speaker 2 (2:56) We're into a deeper dive, Speaker 1 (2:58) you know? And it's fun to have someone you can banter with. Speaker 2 (3:02) Yeah. Because if Speaker 1 (3:03) it gets tiring or if it gets to whatever, then you come to the rescue and vice versa. It's a good balance. Speaker 4 (3:12) But especially Did we start now? I think we're always starting. Stop Speaker 1 (3:16) it! You know you were my first. Oh, really? Oh, wow. Okay, good. Well, you've chosen well, I think. We're Speaker 4 (3:23) honored. Speaker 1 (3:23) I think so, too. We'll see. Speaker 4 (3:26) Without naming anyone, or I don't have any specific complaint, but many of the podcasts, everyone involved has the same opinion. Speaker 1 (3:35) Yeah, it's true. And I find Speaker 4 (3:36) that a little bit. Well, then why do we need a second person? Speaker 1 (3:39) Yeah, exactly. Let's just preach. Yeah. So Speaker 4 (3:41) she's a brown, tiny girl from Georgia. And I'm a super tall white. Big old Speaker 2 (3:47) personality. Where about in Georgia? Duluth. Suburbs of Atlanta. Atlanta, basically. Okay, Atlanta. Speaker 1 (3:52) Yes. Speaker 4 (3:52) You've certainly made movies in Atlanta, yeah? Speaker 1 (3:55) Yeah. Did Speaker 4 (3:55) any of those superhero movies take place there? Speaker 1 (3:57) Mine were in London. Okay. Chic. Nice. Not that Atlanta is not chic. No, London, I'm going to say is chicer. Bucket area and all of that. Bucket Speaker 2 (4:06) can be Speaker 1 (4:06) cute. It didn't sound on my phone because I did not know we were recording, you guys. You Speaker 4 (4:11) weren't told our slogan, which is ABR, always be recording. Speaker 1 (4:15) Okay. Now I know. Speaker 4 (4:17) Rob starts it before we even walk in. Speaker 2 (4:19) He's always trying to catch us. Yeah, yeah. This is all Speaker 4 (4:22) running. Speaker 1 (4:22) Okay, amazing. Speaker 2 (4:23) Well, you never know. Speaker 4 (4:24) No, we caught something amazing, which was we interviewed Brad Pitt last year. And so we're in here waiting for him to arrive in the nervousness between the two of us and particularly Monica. I'm so Speaker 1 (4:35) nervous. Why would you be nervous next Speaker 2 (4:37) to Brad Pitt? I know, right? It's like that's so strange. I'm never nervous. And so it was kind of a weird feeling. What sign are you? Double Virgo. I'm a double Taurus. Wow. We just had Speaker 1 (4:48) somebody else on it. Speaker 4 (4:50) Since I've been back, every guest has been into astrology and I got to hear the whole... I Speaker 1 (4:54) think it's Speaker 2 (4:54) time Speaker 1 (4:54) for you to just embrace Speaker 2 (4:55) it. Speaker 1 (4:56) You're a Taurus because you're very logical. That's how I used to Speaker 2 (4:59) be. Speaker 1 (4:59) Okay, Speaker 4 (4:59) hold on. I just want to say, as an outside observer who's not in the religion, when I watch the exchange, it goes the same way every time. It's like, are you a Pisces? No, I'm a Virgo. Speaker 3 (5:10) Oh, yeah, you're a Virgo. What are you? I'm a... A Sagittarius. Oh, yeah. I get it. Everyone Speaker 4 (5:15) gets excited about their sign and then really nothing beyond that, which is kind of funny to observe. It's Speaker 1 (5:21) a short commonator. I feel like it's a good icebreaker. And I find myself. So first of all, I'm a Taurus. I'm logical. I never believed in astrology until. Speaker 4 (5:33) Okay. One Speaker 1 (5:35) day I was home and I was cooking and the TV was on. And they had this astrology time was the title of the show. It was back in Israel. And it was like a bunch of experts. And you call from home and they do your maps and they tell you what to do in your life. I could not care less. I'm trying to switch the channel and I could not care less. I'm chopping the aubergine. And then they say our celebrity for today is Gal Gadot. I was 25 back then. And I'm like, what? Okay. I guess I'm going to listen to them. Let's Speaker 2 (6:08) see Speaker 1 (6:08) what they have to say. They were so accurate. They said she's influenced by Aries sign. Both of my parents are Aries. She's thinking about expanding her family. I was in my first few weeks of my first pregnancy. And it's not something you would say about a 25 year old. Right. And then they said all these bunch of things. And then I was like, oh, I got curious, started investigating a little bit. And now I. don't lead my life with that but I think it's like a good blush it's a nice color I agree sure sure sure you're like sure sure no we are that's okay I respect that hold on no from a Capricorn I Speaker 4 (6:47) recognize that we would all acknowledge we're very dynamic creatures and we're being influenced. Our context is so broad. It's physical. There's so many things influencing us. Right. I understand that you're like, yeah, this is a. 8 % sprinkling that I think contributes to Speaker 1 (7:08) this. Speaker 4 (7:08) This is a little Speaker 2 (7:08) spice that I enjoy. I Speaker 1 (7:10) think it's just a Speaker 2 (7:10) fun, it's like an icebreaker. It's like a fun way to cut through. It's like, oh, I know something about you. Don't you Speaker 1 (7:17) find that sometimes you have phases in your life when you're more tired and you're more low energy and everything and everyone around you are the same and then you realize that Jupiter is regressing? Yeah, or Mercury's Speaker 2 (7:28) in Speaker 1 (7:28) retro. You need to be aware. Sure, sure, sure. Okay, never mind. Speaker 4 (7:31) Some people might call those spurious conclusions, but it doesn't matter. Speaker 1 (7:34) I'm going to Speaker 3 (7:35) tell you one tiny story. Speaker 4 (7:36) I'm not a hater on it. Like it's not for me, but I don't have an ax to grind. But I just had this one funny thing. So I had an astronomy class in college and the teacher was telling us that he had so many different students that were constantly trying to argue the legitimacy of astrology. So he agreed to have a prominent astrologist come to the class and they were going to have a bit of a debate. Now, Speaker 3 (7:57) again, this is coming from him. This seems a little convenient, but he got Speaker 4 (8:00) everyone's birthday and then he handed out these readings for each person. And everyone in the class looked at their thing. And my teacher said, I could see people going like, oh, Speaker 2 (8:12) I don't know. Feeling seen. And then the guy Speaker 4 (8:14) got done and he realized he had an extra one in his hand. He was like, hold on, hold on, Speaker 3 (8:19) hold Speaker 4 (8:20) on, hold on, hold on. Speaker 3 (8:21) Everyone pass it to your left. Speaker 4 (8:23) And then handed that one to the last person. And then they all look at their thing and they went, you Speaker 1 (8:27) know, we Speaker 4 (8:28) love thinking about ourselves. So if you give me adjectives that you say apply to me. You Speaker 1 (8:33) will find how it works. That's my Speaker 4 (8:34) take on it. And I don't mind that. That's fine. Speaker 2 (8:37) I like feeling known. People like feeling known. Speaker 1 (8:40) Seen, known. And seen. Speaker 2 (8:41) And they're like, oh, that is me. Someone gets me. Yeah. Speaker 1 (8:45) You know what I did today? The Speaker 2 (8:46) moon does. Speaker 1 (8:47) So I don't know, maybe it's in America now, it's a trend as well. But in Israel today, there's a trend. Just today it started to ask ChatGPT, or maybe it happened in America. I have no idea. Ask ChatGPT to describe you in one word. Did you ever do that? We got to do it right now. Let's Speaker 4 (9:04) do Speaker 1 (9:04) it right now. Thank you. This is fun. We never do real-time challenges. Okay. Speaker 4 (9:07) Please describe me in one word. Before I hit send, I just got to tell you this. I had a weird moment already this morning with my chat. Speaker 1 (9:14) Okay. Speaker 4 (9:15) Which is like, I've never told my chat, I'm Dax Shepard. Speaker 1 (9:19) I never told it to my, and he knows I'm me. Speaker 4 (9:22) Right. But I've said, you know, I'm interviewing so-and-so. I have this weird recollection of running into you. You know, it's also murky doing press for 20 years. I'm like, I kind of feel like when I was doing Chips Press, you were maybe doing Justice League Press. I just thought that in my mind. So I asked chat, like, have I ever been on a talk show with Gail? And my chance said, no, but she was promoting blank. So maybe like this thing I just told you, it came up. But then funnier, it goes on to say, but you and Kristen were on the red carpet with her at the Golden Globes Award in 17. And I'm like, it's so weird that it's saying you and Kristen. I haven't told him I'm married. I know, Speaker 1 (10:05) but if it knows it's you, it Speaker 4 (10:07) knows you're married to Kristen. But it just felt weird. It's Speaker 1 (10:10) very weird. Speaker 4 (10:11) All right. So I will now. Please describe me in one word. I hope it says asshole. Speaker 1 (10:15) Curious or go-oriented. It would never. It's here to please. Does Speaker 4 (10:20) everyone get curious? Speaker 2 (10:21) Mine says curious. My mom. My mom, my mother-in-law. You're curious too? Speaker 4 (10:27) Okay, I'm determined, you guys. Oh, really? Okay, so everyone doesn't get curious? This is Speaker 1 (10:33) real time because I was like, I am. My sister was caring. My friend was family oriented. Another friend was multitasking. Okay, they've gotten different. So Speaker 2 (10:41) me and you got curious. Speaker 1 (10:43) But it's probably because you use it a lot because that's what you do. You're curious about people and you're interviewing. You're asking a lot of questions. I am Speaker 4 (10:50) very curious. That's why this show exists. What else could it conclude? I only interact with it to ask it for questions. Speaker 1 (10:57) I'm determined. Speaker 4 (10:58) So what are your searches generally? Speaker 1 (11:00) What do I search? So I use multiple. I use perplexity if I want to do comparison with other stuff to do more research. Chat is like my Google. Yeah. I just ask all the questions. And yet. It didn't say I was curious. Yeah. Okay. My mom and another friend of mine and my mother-in-law are. So Speaker 4 (11:21) are your questions task related? Like, how do you. Like, Speaker 1 (11:26) how do you get to the objective? No. They're not. No. Okay. Speaker 4 (11:30) I don't doubt it could know me better than I know myself. If you have Speaker 1 (11:33) comments, you should have your viewers. Yes. Do it. Write down theirs and you'll see a lot of them won't be curious or determined. Speaker 2 (11:40) But Speaker 1 (11:40) what if they just say curious if they don't really know Speaker 2 (11:42) us? Speaker 1 (11:43) I Speaker 2 (11:43) don't know if he knows me well. I don't like him. So Speaker 1 (11:46) maybe he... I'm always suspicious of him. Yeah. That's why I never told him I'm me. And I got so upset when I realized he knew. Yeah, it should have. Then I would have Speaker 2 (11:54) respected it a little more. I would have respected him. I said, do you know what my job is? I have a pretty good guess, but I don't think you've explicitly told me your exact job title from everything we've talked about. No. And your Speaker 1 (12:09) pillow chats? Yeah. From all of our hangs. Speaker 4 (12:13) I Speaker 2 (12:13) guess you work in podcasting entertainment. With Dax Shepard. Particularly on the creative branding and production side with a close connection to armchair expert and Monica Padman. Oh. So it doesn't think I'm her. Speaker 4 (12:28) It thinks you're Emma. Wait, Speaker 2 (12:34) sorry. This is such a rabbit hole, but how tall am I? I'm going to say, what do you think my name is? Well, ask how tall you are. How tall do you think I Speaker 4 (12:42) am? Speaker 2 (12:42) Because Speaker 4 (12:42) our Speaker 2 (12:42) friend Speaker 4 (12:42) Emma, who works on the show, is what is Emma, 5'10"? Yeah, Speaker 2 (12:45) she's very tall. Yeah, I think Speaker 4 (12:46) she's six foot, actually. Speaker 2 (12:47) You're tall, too. I'm 5'10 and a half. 5'10 and a half. It's really nice. I'm really jealous. Speaker 1 (12:52) I Speaker 4 (12:52) think you were up at six feet with those heels. Speaker 1 (12:54) Yeah. What's the deal with peptides? Are you on peptides? Oh, Speaker 4 (12:57) God, yeah. Speaker 1 (12:57) You are? Oh, yeah. Tell me. You're not? No. How could you not be? Speaker 4 (13:01) You're so athletic. Speaker 1 (13:02) I'm just athletic because I've Speaker 4 (13:04) always been. We're going to get into why you're athletic because I know. Speaker 1 (13:07) You did. But all the more Speaker 4 (13:08) reason that you would want to know about peptides. I Speaker 1 (13:11) spoke. to a few doctors and all of them scared the shit out of me from taking peptides. Speaker 4 (13:18) Well, first of all, there's a trillion peptides, right? GLP-1 is a peptide. Right. Speaker 1 (13:22) That's the only one that has enough research and all of that. Well, Speaker 4 (13:26) not true, but... Speaker 1 (13:27) GLP-1? Yeah, it's not the only one that Speaker 4 (13:30) has enough research. Generally, what's happening, which was the case with the GLP-1, is that was a medicine developed for diabetics to regulate A1C, right? So then... They discover all these off-label effects of it, and they just can't ignore what they're seeing. Oh, when we try to treat these people for diabetes, they're also losing weight. Their metabolic health is also improving. So now you can apply this thing you've observed, but many of the peptides are definitely being used off-label for what they were intended to originally treat. So one of them being tesamorelin, right? This was developed for AIDS patients in the 80s. What they found while people were on this treatment is like, oh, they're losing all their abdominal fat. That's interesting. But it's a crazy safe peptide that's been being used on all these people for a very, very long time. And one of the unintended consequences was reduction in belly fat. So it's not not tested or not not safe. It hasn't been tested for belly fat reduction, but it has been observed. Speaker 1 (14:26) But Speaker 4 (14:26) it has been used Speaker 1 (14:27) for so many years. Speaker 4 (14:29) Yes, exactly. Since 86. Here's the problem. People are conflating two things. Are peptides dangerous? Or are how people are getting peptides dangerous? The second one, the latter, yes. So dumb, dumb guys on the internet are ordering shit from China for lab use only, and they don't know what they're getting, and it might not have the actual peptide in it, and it might be infected. Unfortunately, because that's happening now, it's like, well, peptides are dangerous. No crazy shit from China that's intended for lab use is dangerous. Speaker 2 (15:01) It also is if you do too much. I mean, again, anything can be. And Speaker 4 (15:05) I want to be fair. They can be dangerous. So even the testamoylin, what it does is it tells your pituitary gland to make more of your own human growth hormone. So, you know, people take HGH exogenously. That's dangerous. Speaker 1 (15:17) That's dangerous. It is. Not good for cancer and all these reasons. Speaker 4 (15:20) And even if you do have active cancer cells and you increase your own body's HGH, that could be problematic. So you need to get screened. You need to get blood panels every three months. You got to do it with a doctor and be observed. And how Speaker 1 (15:33) often do you do it? Speaker 4 (15:34) Daily. Speaker 1 (15:35) Every day? Yeah, yeah. In injections, right? Wow. This is Speaker 4 (15:38) probably the most transparent I've been about it. I mean, I say I'm on them. You look amazing. Speaker 1 (15:41) Well, thank you. I'm 51 years old. Like, you know. Speaker 4 (15:45) Get it on. He loves to hear that. I'm never appreciated by women. This is one of my complaints. Guys all the time are like, bro, what's your diet? I Speaker 1 (15:52) appreciate strong bodies. Your body looks very strong. I said it from the first minute I saw you. I don't Speaker 2 (15:57) think you Speaker 1 (15:57) need any. You're doing great. I'm not going to do any, at least not at this point. And I'm not where you are as you're like so confident about it. And probably you've done much more research than I did. Speaker 4 (16:08) Oh, I have a doctor. You know, I have a hormone doctor. Speaker 1 (16:11) But I'm open to. If it's not risky and if it's not dangerous and if it doesn't feed into cancer cells and all these things. At Speaker 4 (16:19) some point when you're perimenopausal or menopausal, you'll explore hormone therapy. It's so impactful. It's crazy women were denied any help in that realm. I Speaker 1 (16:31) was Speaker 4 (16:31) just Speaker 1 (16:31) watching last night a show about it. It's again in Israel. It's a documentary show about this amazing woman who's a journalist in Israel. And the name of the show is I'm Hot, I'm Cold. Oh, sure. And she explored everything. And again, like with peptides, it's amazing to see in the scale, there's like the people who are super pro it and the people who are also doctors who are extremely against it. And it's all about the cancer and feeding the cells. And essentially, I think that if you end up doing anything like this, you need to do it the right way and just make sure you check yourself. Do Speaker 4 (17:05) you know Dr. Mary Claire Haver? You should follow her on Instagram. She's kind of like one of the main faces of the menopause treatment. Speaker 1 (17:13) Perimenopause, yeah. She's like out there, always giving tips. Isn't it amazing how women's health is something that when you compare it to men's health, and I'm not saying it is a bad thing, it just is a fact. There's so many things that had never been fully, deeply, thoroughly explored in the same way with men. And you know, Speaker 4 (17:35) the historical explanation for it. Can Speaker 3 (17:37) I Speaker 4 (17:37) take Speaker 1 (17:38) off my shirt? Speaker 3 (17:39) Yeah, Speaker 1 (17:39) yeah, yeah. That's round one. We thought maybe we'll Speaker 4 (17:41) get Speaker 1 (17:41) down Speaker 4 (17:41) to our Speaker 1 (17:42) essentials, Speaker 4 (17:44) our unmentionables at some point. So step one is great. Speaker 3 (17:46) The Speaker 4 (17:47) historical explanation is women make terrible research subjects because you have your period. Because throughout the month, you're going to have very dramatic rises and falls in your hormone levels. But Speaker 1 (17:59) is what it is. It is what it is. That's not an Speaker 4 (18:01) excuse to study women. But that was the explanation given is like, if I take your blood, I'm trying to test you for this one thing. But then 15 days out, I get this weird result. I don't know you're this funny. Exactly. Speaker 1 (18:13) Researchers, wherever you are, if you say that. I'm not defending Speaker 4 (18:17) it. We just had an expert on about fatherhood. I'll tell you when men are not studied is parenting. There's almost no. Fucking studies on men and parenting. That's a big, big problem. Yeah. We're locked in these vestigial, terrible gender things that exclude us from understanding each other. Speaker 2 (18:34) Slowly, yes. But yeah, also all the medication that applies to women, they've just tested on men and then it reacts very differently on women. It's like, well, yeah, because you didn't test anything out on us. Yeah. The Speaker 4 (18:47) best is Ambien. That was the one I think that's what caused America to go, hold on, hold on. Why aren't we testing on women? Because it turns out, you know, Ambien is twice as powerful in women than men. I Speaker 1 (18:56) didn't know that. Still to this day. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 4 (19:00) So doctors were prescribing the same dose to men and women. Men are like, oh, it's great. I love it. I fell right asleep. And then women are like, yeah, I got up and I drove my car or I went to the fucking 7-Eleven and got snacks. And the doctor's like, why are Speaker 2 (19:10) the Speaker 4 (19:10) men doing any of this bonkers behavior? Speaker 2 (19:12) Oh, man. And they're like, women are crazy. It's like, nope, just the medicine. So Speaker 1 (19:17) many different fields in health had been super explored when it came to men and very little exploration. When it came to women, I had, I'm sure you did the research, CVT, the cerebral venous thrombosis in my head when I had a baby. It's Speaker 4 (19:33) a kind of a stroke. It's a rare stroke. Speaker 1 (19:35) Oh, scary. Only Speaker 4 (19:36) 3 % of strokes are these kind, right? Speaker 1 (19:39) I don't know the number. That Speaker 4 (19:41) was my research of you. Yeah, yeah. Speaker 1 (19:42) You know that because you know why? Why? You're very curious. I'm so curious. Speaker 4 (19:48) But Speaker 1 (19:48) it's basically three of my venuses, venus, venus. Veins. Like in the head? Uh-huh. Venous. Venus? I don't know. English. By the way, it's Speaker 2 (19:59) going Speaker 1 (19:59) to happen a lot. I love that. We love that. About it. As long as you understand what I'm saying. Yeah. We're blocked. And it was because of the hormones and because I was pregnant. And it happens. I didn't know it was even a thing. And many times what happens. is that women get the clots in their brain and then they have the baby. And then soon after the delivery, they get a stroke. Women were not aware of it. I wasn't aware it was a thing for pregnancy. Did they Speaker 4 (20:29) put you on a blood thinner to deal with that? And that's miserable, right? I've had friends on blood thinners and they hate it. Speaker 1 (20:34) It was very bad. And another thing, I feel like my doctor, my neurologist, didn't take me seriously enough. Mike. Speaker 2 (20:43) I Speaker 1 (20:43) don't know what to say. Shout out. He's a good guy. Yeah. I think it's just the attitude of she's a woman. She's just being dramatic. It's just my Speaker 2 (20:51) brain. Because Speaker 1 (20:51) you were like, I have headaches. Okay. And Speaker 4 (20:53) then if you're black, it's like 3x the data of not being believed for your pain. So it's like, there's all these strata. It's like, if you're a woman, you're fucked. And if you're a black woman, we're not going to take anything you say seriously. It's horrible. Speaker 1 (21:03) But anyway, I had major headaches throughout my pregnancy. And then the last three weeks of my pregnancy, I was not able to do anything. I was home. in bed, dark, quiet, AC, that's it. But you're fighting the pain. Now I know I was like in and out of conscious. It felt like a toothache in your brain. Oh, that's awful. And you're pregnant. And then you pass out. But I thought I was fine. Speaker 4 (21:30) So it was already restricting flow. I Speaker 1 (21:33) didn't know. And they checked me and I didn't show any symptoms. The back of my eye pressure was fine. My blood pressure was fine. Therefore, he thought I was just having a migraine until one day my mom was like, enough. Three weeks, you're not doing anything. Go get an MRI. And I asked to get an MRI for so many things he wouldn't send me. Speaker 4 (21:52) Were they saying they didn't want to give you an MRI because you were pregnant? I Speaker 1 (21:55) don't know. No, they probably were just like, you don't need it. They don't Speaker 4 (21:58) like Speaker 1 (21:58) giving MRIs. Yeah. Speaker 4 (21:59) Why? I want my own MRI. I Speaker 1 (22:01) know. If you buy one, let's Speaker 4 (22:02) share it. We should find like 10 people. But Speaker 1 (22:06) anyway, then they found out I was on the like almost dead. Speaker 4 (22:12) Oh. Speaker 1 (22:13) Afterwards, my wonderful neurosurgeon who did the operation told me that usually when they see this type of blockage, people are in coma. Yeah. I was supposed to be in coma. Speaker 4 (22:25) So what was the operation? Speaker 1 (22:27) Trombectomy. Speaker 4 (22:27) They put like stints in there? They didn't. They can for Speaker 1 (22:31) aneurysm and stuff, but that's not what I had. They go from your crotch all the way your brain. And they try to take out the clotting. Speaker 4 (22:43) That feels very dangerous. And you were Speaker 1 (22:44) pregnant during this surgery? No. They waited. So I did the MRI. They called me immediately on the way home. They called me to come. to Cedars-Sinai. That was amazing. Cedars-Sinai, I love you. Shout out Cedars. They took the baby out. Speaker 4 (22:59) Wow. Speaker 1 (22:59) First thing. And then they did the operation and put me on blood thinners and everything. Speaker 4 (23:05) That's a big day for your body. This is scary. Delivering a baby in their brain. By the way, just Speaker 1 (23:08) delivering a baby for a woman. It's a bit, again, underestimated. And I must say that I also was downplaying giving birth. It's fine. I'm back. It's a shock. It's a huge trauma. It's a trauma. And this was number four. Speaker 4 (23:24) Now, my mother told me they got easier. Did yours not get easier? Obviously, this is compounded by this. Exactly. Up until Speaker 1 (23:31) then, I loved giving birth. Speaker 4 (23:34) Okay. Speaker 1 (23:34) Loved. Like, I hated being pregnant. Oh, yeah. Loved delivering. It was like, oh. Because you felt powerful. Because. First of all, meeting your baby for the first time is something I can't explain. It's like you want to see how they look, how they hear. Do you want to smell? The creation of your own eyes. And Speaker 4 (23:54) they're looking in your eyes and you can tell they're going like, are you who's going to take care of me? And you're like, yeah, I'm going to take care of you. It's so special. Speaker 1 (24:03) Yeah, it is. Although I was terrified the first time. I bet. Wow. So you had the surgery. Oh, my God. You know, I had a repeated dream. When I was down, did it ever happen to you? Uh-uh. Were you ever under? Like, did they put you under for a surgery? Speaker 4 (24:18) I've been under a dozen times, yeah. Speaker 1 (24:21) For Speaker 4 (24:21) real. He does it for fun. I've had a lot of surgeries. Speaker 1 (24:23) What kind of surgeries? Are you okay? I Speaker 4 (24:25) race motorcycles, so always broken stuff and ligaments and stuff. Speaker 1 (24:28) You Speaker 4 (24:29) know. Speaker 2 (24:29) No, I don't race motorcycles yet. You walk. I Speaker 1 (24:32) do. I walk. That's my mode of Speaker 2 (24:34) transportation. I froze my eggs. And so they did put me under for that. I did that twice. They don't always put people under, but they did put me. And that was nice. That was a nice little treat. You Speaker 4 (24:45) can see why Mike Jackson wanted to do that nightly. I Speaker 1 (24:47) can. They call it the nap. The anesthesia nap. I was dreaming that I was in a plane and everybody in the plane were standing and like, you know, leaning over each other, trying to see the view. of where we're getting. And we were supposed to land on the Golden Bridge. Golden Gate. Golden Gate in San Francisco. The red one. Golden Bridge is a song. Speaker 2 (25:12) The Golden Gate Bridge. It was Speaker 1 (25:13) clear. Exactly. And there were cars on it. And every time we were about to land, boom, we went back to the start. Weird. Over and over and over. And at one point in the dream, I'm like, I think... We're going to start again. I think that's what's happening. Do Speaker 4 (25:28) you think, maybe you asked this, but like, yeah, I've been out a bunch of times, colonoscopies, the surgeries. I don't remember one thing. They hit the plunger and then I'm like waking up. Do you think it's because they were actively in your brain? Speaker 1 (25:41) I think so. I never asked my doctor. I should. You should because that's Speaker 4 (25:45) very abnormal, I think, for you to have any memory from while you're on Burkina Faso. When Speaker 1 (25:49) they're Speaker 4 (25:49) tinkering Speaker 2 (25:49) around Speaker 1 (25:49) in there, you never know. And Speaker 2 (25:51) I remember Speaker 1 (25:51) it to Speaker 3 (25:51) this Speaker 1 (25:51) day vividly. Can Speaker 4 (25:52) I tell you a boring story you won't care about? So the Golden Gate Bridge. Yeah. After the company that built that bridge erected it. They were like, that's a damn good bridge. Let's go try to sell this around the world. And, you know, Lisbon bought one. Lisbon has a golden, it's identical to the Golden Gate Bridge. Same company. Yeah. They got down there like, hey, look at this bridge we did in San Francisco. You want one? Yeah, we'll take one. Speaker 1 (26:12) What do they call that? Good on the Portuguese. Speaker 4 (26:14) The Speaker 2 (26:15) Golden Speaker 4 (26:15) Bridge. Speaker 2 (26:15) They do? Speaker 4 (26:16) No. The Golden Bridge. Gullible is my word. The Gullible Bridge. Okay, so I'm going to maybe guess that for you. delivering was more tolerable because in your childhood, and mildly explained by the fact that mom was a phys ed teacher, you swam, you played tennis, you did volleyball, you were on the cheerleading team for the soccer club, you did hip hop dance, you did ballet. You are Speaker 1 (26:47) curious and with good memory. Thank Speaker 4 (26:49) you. I've been spared that procedure you had thus far. But obviously you've had an entire childhood of learning to endure pain. Once you learn to get through it, it is, for me, I'm similar. That stuff doesn't bother me much. It's just not in my, do you think that's part of it? Yeah, I Speaker 1 (27:06) broke all my fingers and did all the things. Yeah. When you're very physical, you have more tolerance to pain and being pushed. Was Speaker 4 (27:16) all of this motivated by yourself, all this physical activity, or was mother going, let's go? Both. Speaker 1 (27:22) I was born very active. Still to this day, I can't just sit and do nothing. My body gets aggravated. And my mom, it was like, I finished school, I finished my homework, take a ball and go out and play. There's no hours Speaker 2 (27:35) and hours and hours of TV and stuff. Speaker 4 (27:37) And what kind of engineer was dad? Speaker 1 (27:40) Medicine, science. For example, he worked. In this, how do you call it? It's like a pill that has multiple cameras that you swallow before you go to do colonoscopy. Oh, Speaker 4 (27:52) wow. And it films your whole digestive tract on its way out? Speaker 1 (27:55) Yeah. Cool. So he's like a bio-engineer. So Speaker 4 (27:58) he's a mechanical or biomechanical. But Speaker 1 (28:00) he also worked in like satellites. He's like in charge of all the brains. Speaker 4 (28:10) Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert, if you dare. We are supported by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking whether someone is actually waving at you before waving back. You saw the wave. You went big. And then they walked right past you to greet the person behind you. Yeah. Checking first is an excellent plan. So check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Speaker 4 (28:52) I have a bit of a stereotype for engineers. I had one as a stepdad. I have had two stepdads that were engineers. My Speaker 2 (28:58) dad is an engineer as well. Speaker 3 (29:00) Does he fit the stereotype? Speaker 4 (29:02) I mean, was he pretty cerebral? You Speaker 1 (29:04) know what chat told my dad? Speaker 4 (29:06) You are a computer. You're me. You're thorough. Speaker 1 (29:12) And then he said in two words, and then he said, you're very specific and thorough. My dad is very like. Speaker 4 (29:21) Yeah, Speaker 1 (29:22) very cerebral. Speaker 4 (29:23) Okay, now we're getting somewhere. So this other thing that's pretty well known about engineers too is like their bedside manner is not great. It's like, no, no, that doesn't work, period. Like I see that that doesn't work. They have no problem with that. Coupled with, we had this