BACK ISSUE
That Time We Celebrated Surviving 2021
We did it, Joe! We made it to the end of year and not going to lie, 2021 had us in the first half…and maybe the second half, too. But, ’tis the season to reflect on all its ups and downs, and we’re coming at you with a once-in-a-2021 worldwide event—a special Back Issue bonus episode. Tracy and Josh look back at 2021 with their latest game “Was that This Year,” and really put their pop culture knowledge and concepts of time to the test.
[CLIP] Voice: Beyonce? You look like Luther Vandross.
[CLIP] Voice: Ho, but make it fashion.
[CLIP] Voice: But you ain't heard that from me.
[CLIP] Voice: Fierce
[CLIP] Voice: Call ‘em
[CLIP] Voice: You see, when you do clownery--
[CLIP] Voice: ‘Cuz we won’t stop.
[CLIP] Voice: Can’t get no sleep ‘cuz of y’all--
[CLIP] Voice: the clown comes back to bite.
[CLIP] Voice: Y’all not gonna get no sleep ‘cuz of me.
[CLIP] Voice: It's Britney, bitch.
[CLIP] Voice: [Voices overlapping] We were rooting for you, Tiffany. We were all rooting for you [overlapping voices crescendo]
Tracy: Who said that?
[Intro music starts]
Josh: Welcome to Back Issue.
Tracy: A podcast that revisits formative things, people, and moments that we missed and that changed us.
Josh: This week, a little something special, little something extra. Our year in review. Let's look back at 2021.
Tracy: I'm Tracy Clayton.
Josh: And I think I'm Josh Gwynn. (laughs)
Tracy: Can we get a fact checker on that, please?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs)
[CLIP] If everyone’s making music for the Tik Tok, who’s making music for my generation? Who’s making the music for my peers? I will do that job gladly.
[CLIP] Hey hey, ho ho! Conservatorship has got to go!
[CLIP] JoJo Siwa, could you please come see my daughter on Christmas?
[laughter]
Josh: Hey, Trace.
Tracy: Hi, Ho-shua.
Josh: (laughs) Can you believe it's really the end of 2021?
Tracy: Honestly, yes. But also no. But also yes, but no. Like nothing has made sense at all, but it also seems like we just launched season two yesterday.
Josh: Like, what is time? What is it?
Tracy: I believe time is an old Norse word-
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: ... that means sheep's penis.
Josh: Wait. (laughs)
Tracy: I don't know, I don't know. Probably some rackety heifer out here running around. Who knows what time is?
Josh: I mean, I feel like that definition is as valid as any.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: And speaking of time, I feel like you and I should do a little time traveling back together. Do do do do.
Tracy: Do do do do.
Josh: Do do do do.
Tracy: Do do do do.
Josh: Back to the distant past because 2021 felt like a decade.
Tracy: Absolutely.
Josh: (laughs) So, everyone is like knee-deep in these year-end lists where they look back at like their favorite things, which I feel like this year is an especially hard challenge to pick out the good parts.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: So shout out to all of you all for looking at the, you know, glass half-full. See, I'm not even used to think of things in that way.
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: And even though we are on break after season two-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: ... in proper Back Issue fashion, we wanted to pop back in to make our own curation of formative pop culture moments that happened this year and add a little game twist.
Tracy: Yeah.
Josh: You know, a little something extra. A little ... Giving him something that he can feel.
Tracy: Oh.
Josh: Extra credit.
Tracy: (singing)
Josh: Thank God.
Tracy: No, I like this idea. It's kind of like if we must look back at 2021, let it be a game, Lord. Please.
Josh: You know ... (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: It's the only way my body will be able to handle this.
Tracy: Right, it's the only way. But can I tell you something?
Josh: What?
Tracy: I don't even know what happened in 2021 because everything was a blur. I still think that the 90s were ten years ago anyway.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: I don't know what is happening right now.
Josh: I hate it. I hate it when you're like, "That was 30 years ago." I was like, "Lord Jesus."
Tracy: Right, keep it to yourself.
Josh: Baby Jesus.
Tracy: Keep it to yourself.
Josh: I feel that even more this year, so what if we play a game and we call it “Was That This Year”
Tracy: I feel like that's the only title of a game about the past year-
Josh: It's all I've been saying-
Tracy: ... can be-
Josh: ... all year. (laughs)
Tracy: It's the only thing you could call it. I love it. I'm with it.
Josh: So, basically, you and I are going to pick a couple pop culture moments that happened this year and some ones that didn't happen this year.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: There'll be four different categories: internet, television, music, and pop culture. And you and I will have to guess which ones happened this year and which ones did not. Does that make sense?
Tracy: It did, but I'm going to lose because I don't even know.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) But it does make sense. How about you start?
Josh: Okay. Round one, the internet. Dun, dun, dun.
Tracy: Uh-oh.
Josh: Let's start with a little rapid fire moment.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: I'm going to list a bunch of things on the internet, and I want you to guess each one individually, if it happened this year or some other year.
Tracy: I'll do my best. Do I get a phone a friend? Can I poll the audience?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Okay, I'm ready.
Josh: All right, the milk crate challenge, the era of the internet in which people were setting milk crates into a pyramid and then walking across them like my girl that we see every end of the year.
Tracy: (laughs) She's just trying to get away from the negativity [inaudible]. She'd been-
Josh: They were trying-
Tracy: ... trying.
Josh: ... to get over the milk crates.
Tracy: (laughs)
[CLIP from Tik Tok] Oh, he got it too. Ohhh!
Tracy: Okay, so now I have to guess what year that happened?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Was that this year or another year?
Tracy: I feel like it was this year only because I remember ... You know that account Guy With a Sign, or Dude With a Sign or whatever on Instagram?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: There was this picture of him holding up a sign that says, "Where are you all getting all these milk crates from?"
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Y'all stealing them.
Tracy: Right, and I feel like that picture happened this year, which means that the milk crate challenge also must have happened this year.
Josh: You're right.
Tracy: Yay. Shout out to the internet.
Josh: Okay, next one. This is a moment that people have taken from Megan Thee Stallion in which they do like really normal things, but they look into the camera and say ...
[CLIP from TIk Tok trend] I can't talk right now. I'm doing hot girl shit. (singing)
Josh: The funny part is that they're like usually like, you know, cleaning their toilet after this or something.
Tracy: Right, right. I did once upon a time on my Instagram stories say, "I can't talk right now. I'm doing hot girl shit," and I was crocheting.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: But what year did that happen? So ... 2020?
Josh: Right.
Tracy: Ey. That was a complete guess.
Josh: Okay, next one. Keep it rapid fire. Some of the kids on TikTok got together and created Ratatouille the Musical, in which-
Tracy: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Josh: ... they make songs and then sing them as duets and like as trios and quartets.
Tracy: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Josh: And then they actually performed it on the internet and Titus Burgess was in it.
[CLIP from Tik Tok’s Ratatouille Musical]
Tracy: When in the hell did this happen? Well, I guess that's the point of the game, huh?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) Imma guess 2020, final answer.
Josh: Uh-oh. Come on, Detective Tracy.
Tracy: Oh. Context clues. Uh-uh. English major come through.
Josh: Okay, a couple more of the rapid fire.
Tracy: Okay, I'm ready.
Josh: The Silhouette Challenge. This was a challenge in which people stood in a doorway and that Doja Cat played.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). (singing)
Josh: Yes. And then all of the sudden there would be like a red light over them, and you would just see them in silhouette doing adult things.
[CLIP from TIk Tok challenge] (singing)
Tracy: Love that Doja Cat song. I want to say that that song ... Ugh, ah, this could have been three years ago. I feel like it happened for so long. I'm going to say 2021.
Josh: Yes. It happened-
Tracy: Yay.
Josh: ... in January of 2021. Okay, next one. We only have a couple more. I want to say disgruntled Bernie Sanders, but like when is he not disgruntled?
Tracy: Fair.
Josh: But this one time he was disgruntled, he was sitting in a lawn chair with mittens.
Tracy: Right, right, right. This was during, uh, the Inauguration. Wow, when did that happen? Oh my God! Oh my God! 2020, two- one- two-? (laughs)
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: That doesn't make sense. 2020? 2020, final answer. Is that when he took office?
Josh: Beep.
Tracy: What was that sound? (laughs) Did I get it right or not?
Josh: I don't know. It was- it was like me being like, no. (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: It happened in 2021! That was this year!
Tracy: I feel like that's the most embarrassing one to get wrong.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs) Okay, next one, next one.
Josh: So, legendary Adele did an interview in which she said that she does not make music for TikTok. TikTok said, "Aight then." They superimposed Meg doing the choreography for “Body” onto Adele's “Water Under the Bridge”.
[CLIP from Meg and Adele mash-up]
Tracy: Wow.
Josh: And gave her a verse.
Music: (singing)
Tracy: Wow! What? (laughs) I missed this? I'm gonna 2021?
Josh: Yeah. (laughs)
Tracy: Yay!
Josh: I hope they get- do something like at a live show or something like... just bring Meg out.
Tracy: They should. Just bring Meg out for everybody's everything.
Josh: You did so good!
Tracy: I did!
Josh: Yeah.
Tracy: Not bad.
Josh: Four out of five. I think that deserves the point.
Tracy: Yay! Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. My turn. My turn. I wanted to start with a little bit of violence, if that's okay.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: So which happened this year, right? Hilaria Baldwin-
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Being outed for pretending to be from Spain.
Josh: Uh-huh (affirmative)
Tracy: Or Trick Daddy proclaiming that he gets, "Ate at."
Josh: Tracy. (laughs)
Tracy: Are we playing [inaudible] podcast (laughs). To quote [crosstalk] pacifically... [inaudible]
[CLIP]: Yeah, I don't know whether to make noise or not.
Tracy: Yeah I get ate out.
[CLIP]: Wait, what do you mean?
[CLIP]: What? (laughs)
[CLIP]: [inaudible] I get ate out.
[CLIP]: 'Ey, listen man, check this out.
[CLIP]: Aight, Trick, you know how yo legs in the air tho.
[CLIP]: It depends.
[CLIP]: (laughs)
Tracy: So for those who cannot translate, he was talkin' about having the salad tossed.
Josh: The booty eatin' like groceries.
Tracy: Yeah! Which, I just wanna say, absolutely nothing wrong with that, no matter your gender make-up, your identity. It's the fact that it's Trick Daddy that had everybody like-
Josh: Right.
Tracy: "Oh my God, what is happening."
Josh: Right.
Tracy: Which happened this year?
Josh: I feel like it was the Trick Daddy thing.
Tracy: Uh-huh (affirmative)
Josh: I feel like I remember people just cracking up on the Internet.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So your final answer is 2021?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Tracy: You are correct!
Josh: What?
Tracy: Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
Josh: 'Ey!
Tracy: Can I just share with you why I'm always gonna remember this moment until the day that I die? No matter
Josh: Why?
Tracy: [inaudible] because there was a tweet that somebody tweeted on the Twitter.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Something to the effect of, "Trick Daddy looks like he's full of hemorrhoids." I'm not done, it gets worse. It gets worse.
Josh: Tracy! (laughs)
Tracy: It gets so much worse. I would like to apologize in advance. But if you like your peanut butter crunchy-
Josh: Stop!
Tracy: Who are me to judge.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Is that not the worst shit you've heard in your life? (laughs) It was too good and I'm gonna be upset forever.
Josh: Yikes!
Tracy: But congrats on the point!
Josh: Thanks!
Tracy: Congrats on the point! Okay, round two! Televisión as Hilaria would say. (laughs)
Josh: Stop! (laughs)
Tracy: So I got some big screen moments and I got small screen moments that you're gonna have to really, really have to think back for-
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: And they're gonna be about black girl wins that-
Josh: I love it!
Tracy: Well now forever be timeless! I mean I felt like we needed a pick-me-up after the crunchy peanut butter that-
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: [inaudible] Which of the following iconic moments happened in 2021: Doja Cat hosts the AMAs, Tisha and Tichina host the Soul Train Awards for the fourth year in a row, or Cardi B hosts the VMAs?
Josh: Only one of them happened?
Tracy: I don't know, did they?
Josh: So Cardi B, I remember comin' out talkin' 'bout JoJo Siwa coming-
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: To my child's birthday party. Y'all's booking fees ain't big enough... as JoJo Siwa's
Tracy: She [inaudible]
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Doja Cat, I remember 'cause she did this performance where she was like a planet. She was floating above the audience-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: And she had this light going around her like she was Saturn.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: It was just visually striking.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: The only one that kind of makes me feel like it could've possibly not happened is Tisha and Tichina because I feel like it could've been the fifth year?
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Or it could've been the third year? (laughs) Don't they host it every year?
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: I'm gonna say all of these happened in 2021.
Tracy: You are abso-tutely right!
Josh: Ahh!
Tracy: Yay! Black girls was hosting all of the black shows and it just made my heart so happy because they all killed it.
Josh: They really did.
Tracy: They all did such a good job. Of course Tisha and Tichina kill it every year.
Josh: That should just be like a- a job that they have.
Tracy: In perpetuity, you know?
Josh: Like how MC Lyte is just up in the sky, announcin' stuff.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: Tisha and Tichina need to be the hosts and they have to open up with a musical number.
Tracy: Every time.
Josh: Okay. Which one of these happened this year: we found out that Condolonces and Lawrence were having a baby on Insecure-
Tracy: Condolences.
Josh: Or the Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey.
[CLIP] Oprah: Were you silent? Or were you silenced?
Tracy: Mmm... Chile- I feel like all of those Oprah GIFs and memes have been with us for at least the last five years?
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: I'm gonna say that the interview with Oprah happened this year.
Josh: Are you right? Or are you right?
Tracy: Yes! Sounds like I'm right!
Josh: I love the fact that Oprah had this huge platform where she had this show and-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: It was just this machine. Interview after interview after interview, and now she's at the point where's she's like, "No, just call me for the big stuff."
Tracy: Exactly. I'm not getting out of bed for less than the royals, at this point in my career.
Josh: Right!
Tracy: It was a good interview, of course. Who are me to be here judgin' Oprah and her interview skills. But I wanna know, so bad-
Josh: Who it was...
Tracy: Who was worried about that baby... Yeah! About the baby bein' too dark.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative) mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: I need some names.
[Clapping starts]
Josh: So the score is...
Tracy: Mm, if I don't win, this whole thing was rigged.
Josh: (laughs)
Tracy: Sham.
Josh: Me, 100%. You, 86%.
Tracy: It's cute! That's real cute, that's extra cute. Okay. Who's going next? Me! You! Me! You! Beans, greens-
Josh: I think you should go next-
Tracy: Potatoes, tomatoes.
Josh: But we should take a break.
[AD BREAK]
Tracy: Okay. Music. I feel like it is absolutely impossible to talk about music and this year and/or last year, or the year before, without talkin' about the Verzuz Battles.
Josh: You know, Verzuz is this weird thing that at the beginning of the Panasonic, I was like, "This is great!" And then as it kept going, I was like, "Why are there people at the Verzuz?"
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Isn't that the whole point?
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: Of this?
Tracy: Wow! I never noticed that.
Josh: So that we could enjoy it at home?
Tracy: (laughs)
Josh: What is going on?
Tracy: Without a crowd indoors, with no masks on?
Josh: I still love it though.
Tracy: That's a good point! So I'm gonna quiz you on your knowledge on Verzuz-z-z, right?
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Tracy: Okay, which one happened in the year 2021? Was it D'Angelo and Friends aka my husband and just his friends? Like it wasn't like a- it wasn't versus anybody, he was just like, "I'mma come up here-"
Josh: It was the opposite of Verzuz.
Tracy: I'mma sing along with the song and the backing track
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Tracy: "Y'all gon' love it." And you know what? I did.
Josh: I didn't hate it.
Tracy: So was it that or was it Alicia Keys and John Legend?
Josh: That's a lot of pianos.
Tracy: That's a lot of piano.
Josh: I didn't know that Alicia Keys and John Legend one happened. I know that the D'Angelo one happened and I feel like I watched part of it, but I really can't-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Josh: -remember when the hell that happened.
Tracy: Someone looks stumped. Oh, oh my.
Josh: I'm gonna go with Alicia Keys and John Legend happened this year.
Tracy: Eh, wrong. No.
Josh: Oh.
Tracy: Eh. It was D'Angelo and all of his friends.
Josh: Really?
Tracy: Yes. Um-
Josh: Were there people at the Alicia Keys and John Legend one?
Tracy: You know what? I did not see it and I also did not know that it happened until I was preparing-
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: ... for this game. But here's the story. First, I was gonna say D'Angelo or Brandy versus Monica, but I was like there's no way Josh doesn't know what year-
Josh: That was last year.
Tracy: ... Brandy versus Mon... See? Exactly. So I was like [crosstalk]-
Josh: 'Cause I think of Monica and that dance she was doing and that outfit.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: It was so good.
Tracy: Yes. Yay, Josh lost the thing. Whoo.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs). Feels almost as good as when I win a thing. All right.
Josh: Oh, my god. I was about to say what a way to frame it.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: For my music pick, I'm gonna go with the moment that Lil Nas X had that whole Satan Nike fiasco-
Tracy: Uh-huh.
Josh: ... where he put the blood in the sneakers and then got sued by Nike 'cause they were like, "Hold up, we ain't say you could do all that."
Tracy: I didn't know he got sued.
Josh: Or, Adele in her Bantu Knots.
Tracy: I feel like I remember the day that I saw Adele in her Bantu Knots and I am not over it yet.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: It was- it was the- it was the bikini, it was the knots, it was the awkward smile of the picture. Pretty sure that happened last year and I feel like Lil Nas X, was he- was he as controversial last year as he is this year? I don't know. I'm gonna say Lil Nas got sued by Satan Nike's this year.
Josh: Yep.
Tracy: Hey.
Josh: Adele said that her hair hasn't recovered from that. (laughs).
Tracy: I'm sorry, what do you mean?
Josh: That the Bantu Knots ripped her hair out. She had no business wearing them.
Tracy: You know what? That was the ancestors that came for your roots girl.
Josh: Right. She said that she usually doesn't have her password to social media and the one time that she signed in with her password, 'cause her team gave her her password, was to post that picture and she's not-
Tracy: Oh-
Josh: ... been back in since.
Tracy: ... honey. (laughing).
Josh: (laughing). Oh, Adele.
Tracy: Um, before we continue, I would just like to um, update everyone on the score here.
Josh: All right, all right, all right.
Tracy: You know, because last time I wasn't doing great. I was kind of doing bad. Um, I've actually improved, I'm now at an 88%. Not too bad, I'm just saying. And it looks like Josh has gone down to an 83. Ooh-
Josh: You know what?
Tracy: ... you're gonna get put on punishment-
Josh: (laughs). You know what?
Tracy: You're gonna get put on a punishment.
Josh: (laughing).
Tracy: (laughing).
Josh: You're so competitive and it is so funny. (laughs).
Tracy: I know. I don't know where it comes from. (laughs).
Josh: Imma get you though. We got one more round, we got one more round.
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: And it's about general pop culture.
Tracy: Hmm. All right. All right.
Josh: All right. So, you know how like the kids are obsessed with Y2K?
Tracy: Yeah, that's so confusing. I seen some butterfly hair clips the other day on Instagram unironically and I just looked at it.
Josh: I swear if I see a Marquis belt, it's over.
Tracy: It's coming back.
Josh: Over!
Tracy: They gon be back.
Josh: If there's an electronic names scrolling across your belt, I'm done. I'm moving to Montana.
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: So speaking of Y2K, which one of these things happened this year?
Tracy: Okay.
Josh: Britney Spears officially got out of her conservatorship.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: Paris Hilton got married.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: Lindsey Lohan got cast in a Netflix holiday rom-com where she plays a spoiled heiress with amnesia.
Tracy: Wow. I've got some questions about the last one. What?
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs). See, I- I want to love holiday rom-coms but they just be so- why's she got amnesia? You know what? That's another episode. All of these happened this year.
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: Ah! Let me tell you how I know. I saw an old picture of Britney, Paris and Lindsey in a car, like from back in the 2000's, you know what I'm talking about? And everybody was like-
Josh: Yes.
Tracy: ... "They're back."
Josh: Do you remember, they called that the Bimbo Summit-
Tracy: Oh, my god. Who did?
[CLIP] And then someone sent me this Nylon magazine article by Joy Saha. The title of it was Paris, Britney, and Lindsay: The Triumph of the “Bimbo Summit”. Fifteen years after the infamous Bimbo Summit, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan are reclaiming their narratives.
Josh: Back in the day, Paris Hilton on her podcast talked about that picture and said that actually her and Britney Spears were hanging out but that Lindsey Lohan just like jumped in the car even though there wasn't room. (laughs).
Tracy: What?
[CLIP] You all went out for a night?
[CLIP] Paris: Well, Britney and I went out for the night.
[CLIP] You and Britney went out for the night and then, did Lindsey like crash, or was she just around and she-
[CLIP] Paris: Yeah. She totally party crashed. We are all at the Beverly Hills Hotel [inaudible] and then Britney and I wanted to leave to go home, and then she started like chasing us.
[CLIP] Lindsey did?
[CLIP] Paris: Yes. And then squeezed in the car it was literally a two-seater
Tracy: They didn't have the doors locked, I'm sorry.
Josh: (laughs) And then everybody caught them.
Tracy: Wow. Okay, so this is about music-
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: ... but also about love. There have been some- some reunions, let's say, of famous couples in the- in the news-
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: ... in the- in the music industry. Which happened this year? Was it the resurgence of J-Lo and Ben Affleck? Or was it the reconnecting, however brief of Saweetie and Quavo?
Josh: They reconnected?
Tracy: Right?
Josh: I just remember him writing that Instagram post where he was like, "You weren't the girl that I thought you were." Or something like that. And I was like, "Ugh."
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Child, that would have been it for me.
Josh: Um, I know the J-Lo, Ben Affleck stuff happened this year 'cause I was fascinated. That was performance art.
Tracy: That is correct.
Josh: J-Lo shows up, she knows what ya want to see.
Tracy: Uh, and she serves it up on a platter. (laughs).
Josh: I'm gonna go with that one.
Tracy: Okay. You're absolutely correct but-
Josh: Is the other one right too? Because if it is-
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: ... I'm not... Ah.
Tracy: It is. (laughs).
Josh: You are so annoying.
Tracy: (laughs). So according to what the internet had told me, is that they were quietly- this is in quotation marks, quietly spending time together in New York five months after they split. And this was in August of 2021. Who know? I didn't know.
Josh: Hmm.
Tracy: I mean, I don't know-
Josh: I need citations.
Tracy: Um, this is from hollywoodlife.com.
Josh: Girl. (laughing).
Tracy: (laughing).
Josh: This is how we ended up in this place in the beginning.
[Music starts playing]
Tracy: Okay. So that brings us to the end of our to the death competition.
Josh: Oh.
Tracy: I mean, our friendly quiz. That's what I meant to say. (laughs).
Josh: You said the quiet part out loud first, Trace. (laughs).
Tracy: Oops. I'm working on that. Final score, can we get a drum roll please. Josh comes in at a very, very impressive 86%. Good job. What is that? A solid B?
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Um-
Josh: I'm so triggered right now.
Tracy: (laughs). Same, honestly.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Very impressive showing. Turns out that Tracy comes in with an 89%, which is still a B-
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: ... but it's a better B, so I won.
Josh: Congrats friend, congrats.
[‘Learn Something from this’ bounce]
Tracy: So, Josh.
Josh: Trace.
Tracy: You know what time it is. Everybody listening knows what time it is. We have been talking about the blurry past and in the spirit of Tyra the Banks, did we-
[CLIP] Tyra: Learn something from this.
Josh: This year was hard. I don't know if it was hard for you-
Tracy: Yeah.
Josh: ... but it was hard for me. Um-
Tracy: Oh, it's still hard-
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: ... first of all. Let's not talk about it- let- don't talk about it like it's not still in the house right now.
Josh: Right. Did you see that tweet of somebody be like, "Post-pandemic, this is happening," or something and everyone was like post-what?
Tracy: Post-pandemic? Where?
Josh: When is that?
Tracy: Where they doing that?
Josh: The energy of we're past it-
Tracy: Uh-huh.
Josh: ... is a little disorienting but-
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: ... I do feel really surprised by myself, that I'm able to like, you know-
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: ... do things that I'm doing and maintain the way that I've been able to maintain.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: A lot of times when you get really tired or stressed out, everything seems so overwhelming.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: Then when you're able to do something, it feels like the biggest win.
Tracy: Oh! Yes. You are singing the song of my people right now.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Like, the fact that you and I are talking right now is victory of all victories.
Josh: Yeah.
Tracy: We are surviving several things at once. Um-
Josh: I'm a survivor!
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: It reminds me of that clip of Whitney Houston when she, (laughs)...
Tracy: Oh! (laughs).
Josh: ... when she was talking about Destiny's Child winning.
Tracy: At the microphone.
[CLIP of Whitney Houston singing]
Josh: Exactly.
Tracy: Yes. Yes.
Josh: Ooh!
Tracy: And, I mean, that's how we should all feel, even when it's hard. Like, us individually and all of the people that we've been talking about in this- in this episode, like, we are all in the same battles and the same wars and the same fights, and we have got to learn how to show ourselves some grace.
Josh: That being said, what are your hopes, dreams, and manifestations for next year?
Tracy: Okay, I have two big ones.
Josh: Okay.
Tracy: Um, number one, I must, I absolutely have to marry André 3000.
Josh: (laughing).
Tracy: Tomorrow's not promised. We running out of time, boo. Listen, look, I know you busy running around playing the flute places, in airports and stuff.
Josh: I saw that.
Tracy: Just- just take a little- take a little detour to Brooklyn.
Josh: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tracy: Scoop me up. I'll learn how to play a flute, we can do it together. Second, possibly more realistic, I don't know. I really need dark haired Beyonce back.
Josh: [inaudible].
Tracy: I think she's the only person that can save us.
Josh: Dark haired Beyonce-
Tracy: Hmm.
Josh: ... is like, it's like, "In case of emergency break glass."
Tracy: Yes! Absolutely. What about you?
Josh: I want balance.
Tracy: So you going for, like, real life shit.
Josh: (laughs). I know, I feel, like, so heavy.
Tracy: I'm like, I want to marry André!
Josh: I feel so heavy now.
Tracy: (laughs). No, that's real, that's real though. Go ahead.
Josh: I would love the ability to go hard and go rest and go nap and go to the gym-
Tracy: Yeah.
Josh: ... and go... like, you know? All things in moderation.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Including moderation.
Josh: Including moderation. Balance.
Tracy: Yes.
Josh: Um, another thing that I hope continues is my ability to take in new information. (laughs). I-
Tracy: No.
Josh: ... have been able to watch TV.
Tracy: What does that feel like?
Josh: It's amazing. It's great. There's so much good television.
Tracy: Wow.
Josh: Like-
Tracy: (laughs).
Josh: ... did you know this? I didn't even know.
Tracy: No! (laughs).
Josh: I was on the Squid Game with everybody else.
Tracy: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Josh: I have recently watched the Sex Lives of College Girls. Sherri Shepherd, friend to the show, plays a Senator. I just watched Harlem with Meagan Good.
Tracy: I hear so much good about Harlem.
Josh: It's so cute. I want P-Valley to come back. I just some excited with my brain being, like, "Okay! New stories, new things."
Tracy: Yeah.
Josh: It's a really good feeling.
Tracy: Yeah. I want us all to practice letting go of things that don't serve us anymore.
Josh: [singing]. [music].
Tracy: Child, whether that's a job; whether it's a person-
Josh: [singing].
Tracy: ... whether it's- whether it's people; whether it's... whatever it is, man, I am-
Josh: Whew!
Tracy: ... I am struggling with this right now. But a thing that I have learned, is no matter how much it hurts having to do it, it's always worth it.
Josh: Hmm.
Tracy: It is always worth it. It's short-term pain for long-term peace, and we deserve it.
Josh: We deserve it.
Tracy: I deserve it, you deserve it. My enemies, I don't know if they deserve it.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: But, you know what I'm saying. (laughs). So that's what I want and wish for us all. And for you, Josh.
Josh: Aw.
Tracy: You are such a big part of my life, I just [crosstalk]-
Josh: You too, [crosstalk]. Oh!
Tracy: And I've always been worried about you, know what I'm saying? I'm [crosstalk]-
Josh: And because of that-
Tracy: ... appreciate you [crosstalk].
Josh: I think we should go back to our break. (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs). I think you right.
Josh: You know?
Tracy: I think it's time to go. (laughs).
[Credit music starts playing]
Tracy: Back Issue was a production of Pineapple Street Studios.
Josh: This show was created and is hosted by Tracy Clayton.
Tracy: That's me! That's me! And also Josh Quinn.
Josh: Also me.
Tracy: (laughs). Our senior producers are Josh Gwynn, again, and Emmanuel Hapsis.
Josh: Our managing producer is John Asante.
Tracy: Our Senior Editor is Leila Day.
Josh: Our Social Producers are Alexis Moore, Xandra Ellin, and Briana Garrett. Our Executive Producers are Jenna Weiss-Berman and Max Linsky. Our intern is Arevalo. Our engineers are Raj Makhija and Davy Sumner.
Tracy: This show also features music by Don Will; you can follow him on all the socials at Don Will. You can follow me on most of the socials at BrokeyMcPoverty.
Josh: And you can follow me at regarding Josh. Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get free podcasts.
Tracy: Five stars! Five stars!
Josh: Tell everyone about us, it really helps.
Tracy: Yeah! Friends, family, enemies.
Josh: (laughs).
Tracy: Tell everybody.
Josh: I'll see you next year.
Tracy: We will see you next year. Wow.
Josh: Yeah. In person.
Tracy: Let's go take that in, child.
Josh: (laughs). Bye.
Tracy: Bye. [music].
Tracy: Also, Pon the internet is my favorite Rihanna song.
Josh: Run run run run-
Tracy: [crosstalk]. Yes.
Josh: ... everybody move, run. (laughs).
Tracy: (laughs)
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