May 29, 2026 • 28 mins
American Idol fan favorite David Archuleta sticks around for an encore performance! This time he shares an awkward high school memory that might implicate him as an accomplice to vehicle theft!
Plus, a listener explores the dangers of reading aloud in class and the importance of the word “organism.”
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
That's okay, because no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Every week I ask our listeners to send in their
own embarrassing stories, something that will hopefully make us feel
better about our own misery.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And this week we are hearing from Melissa.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Melissa, Hi, Danielle, and guest.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
My name is Melissa. And in ninth grade biology class,
I was reading out loud and said orgasm instead of organism.
My teacher corrected me by simply saying organism, and I
just thought, okay, yeah. Because I hadn't noticed what I did,
I kept reading and said it again without realizing it.
I was able to laugh about it, but for weeks
people came up to me and said, living orgasm, Oh.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
My gosh, that is do you have?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I mean, you were homeschooled, so you don't have the
same experience of raising your hand in class and saying
mom like I do. I don't know how on earth
that happens, but I think every kid had that happen
at least once, where you go to say your teacher's name,
but for some reason mom comes out and you're in
the middle of your class and you're like mom, and
then you're like, not mom, I mean missus Duckworth like.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I had that happen so many times.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
But do you have any I mean, we can kind
of think of American idol as being a very short
term high school experience for you.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I did go to high school. I was like on
and off, and my first full years of school were
ninth and tenth grade, So I went for two four
years in high school.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, do you have any horribly embarrassing high school stories?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I'm trying to think, Gosh, I feel like I was
really good at avoiding, but I will say this. Okay,
one time one of my friends plotted this thing. Her
nickname at the time was Fish. We'd call her fish,
(02:16):
but she have the nickname fish because one of her friends,
one of our other friends, I gave her a handshake
and it was like that feels like a fish, and
so you started calling her fish and she doesn't like
the nickname anymore. But at the time, but we were
at like another friend's house party, like a party, and
she's like, I'm going to go and steal my ex
(02:38):
boyfriend's car. She's like, do you want to come? I
was like okay, and she's like, yeah, come with us, David,
And so we go. She had plotted with one of
her other friends. They were going to a pool to
like have a pool day like with one of her
She was hanging out with this ex and she had
like acquired like the spare key to her her ex's car.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
She had acquired it, acquired she had acquired it.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I'm not gonna say how, but she had come into
contact with the spare keys.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Yeah, okay, yeah, And so they plotted. So she they
got we got these like neil, what do they call
this nil nylon socks? Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, panty hose.
Put it over our heads so that we would look
like robbers. Okay, come on, this is the naughtest thing
(03:34):
I've ever done well in high school. So I was
an accomplice where I just simply they planted out so
that they would be walking back to the apartment from
the pool as we drove by in his car and
so and we rolled down the windows with the nylon
(03:54):
like yeah, like the I think it was panty hose
over our heads. And so they were walking and we
sneak in, We get his car and as they're walking back,
we drive by in his car with the windows rolled
down with the pandy hose over our heads. Did he scream? No,
he was just kind of like I don't think it
took him a minute to like figure out what was
going on. It's like, is that my car?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, there's a lots of process. You're like, do those
people have panty hose on their heads?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And are they in my car?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Yeah? Are they driving my car? And I think, like,
I think we just drove by and then like parked
it like in another parking spot like nearby there, so
we didn't take his car away from him, but then
we just like ran off and like you.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Acquired a car for a joy ride? Is all that happened?
And that story, as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Yeah, it was. But it was pretty wild and I
was very embarrassed by that, So I don't know, it
was like exciting, but I felt so embarrassed that I
was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. Yes,
I was like, I can't believe I did that. And yeah, for.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Someone who always felt like he was being watched, that
was a well that was bold.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Did you know quite what you were getting into? And
she was like, oh, my friend, yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I don't think I wrote yeah, But at the same time,
like fish was like my outlet of try new things
in the world. So thanks Fish. She would call me
lettuce boy because I loved subway, and subway was a
lot cheaper. Back then, it was they had five dollars
foot longs, and.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Do they not have that anymore?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
No, I feel like it's like fifteen dollars.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Fifteen dollars foot longs.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yeah, yeah, maybe even more. I don't know. It's wow, gosh, yeah,
it's everything is so expensive now, but we're old. Look
at us everything us back in my day we got
five dollars more.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Now they're fifteen dollars.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Back minded they have the dollar Menu, Wendy's and stuff.
But so I literally because one of my my when
I was in fourth grade, I had like a fourth
grade teacher for a little bit because I would like
my parents were like, have me in school for like
a couple months and then take me out and homeschool
me for I don't I'm not sure what the dynamic.
But missus Coughlin she would say, like, yeah, back in
(06:04):
my day, we had penny. It was a penny for
a piece of candy for a penny, yep. So now
here we are dollar manu five dollars foot long. But yeah,
she would call me lettuce boy because they were all
slamming subways lettuce, like, oh, this lettuce is so disgusting.
And I never said anything like I was known as
(06:24):
the quiet boy who just sat in the background. I
just enjoyed everyone's company and I just said, but I
love lettuce, and they all burst out laughing because first off, like, wait,
first off, David, you said something right, what you said lettuce? Yeah,
And so they all started call me lettuce boy after that.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
What's your favorite kind of lettuce? I'm a big butter
lettuce person.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Oh you know, you know, yeah, you know, I didn't
know let I'm not.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Sure it is now that I say that out loud.
Is that like an herb? It's a week?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Is it a week? Oh? I love it? I buy it.
I love me somemm like that. Yeah, the spice in it.
But I mean back then, I loved just Iceberg lettuce, right,
I just loved the crunch. For me, it was crunchy
water and I loved water. I still love water.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I love Iceberg lettuce, especially with ranch dressing on it.
Like if you're going to go to like a you know,
have you been to a soup plantation or a sweeze tomato.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Oh my gosh, yeah, I love.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
A giant plate of iceberg, lettuce, some croutons, little garbonzobeans,
some cheese, and ranchtras.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It's the least it's the it's the least healthy thing.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I can't do crotons, but I feel and I stopped
doing a ranch when I found out that it wasn't
healthy for you. I was like, I'm trying to because
there was a period of time where I had like
a manager when I was a kid, and they're like,
he needs to lose weight. Because so I stopped. I
cut out ranch, and I cut out soda because those
are some of the things he told me to cut out.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So yep, I also went through that. Oh did you well, Yeah, yeah,
I remember. I think a pop tart was the first time.
I was like twelve years old and sorry, mom, not
trying to not trying to trash your name.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But we were leaving set.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So I had been on you know, I'd been in
school all day and then we'd been rehearsing all day
and we had done our run through, we had gone
through our long note session. It was probably like five
pm and we were leaving set for the day, and
just on the walk out, passing craft services, I just
grabbed a thing of pop tarts and my mom not
incorrectly looked at me and said, Danielle, you don't need
(08:25):
two pop tarts. Do you have any idea how many
calories are in two pop tarts? We're going home to
eat dinner. Two pop tarts is not like a thing
you grab and just eat at five pm before dinner.
I don't think at all before then I had ever
correlated what's in this thing I'm about to eat and
(08:46):
what am I putting in? And it goes into my
body and then something's gonna happen to my body with it,
whether that's fullness or weight.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Gain, and then I'm going to go eat again.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
It was like the very It was like all of
a sudden, it was like, right, calories, Oh my god.
And I really distinctly remember thinking after that, being aware
of the transactional nature of the food we eat, the
things we consume, and like that it it means something,
(09:15):
and so for me, like pop tarts was that was
that thing that really like, every time I think of
a pop tart, I'm still to this day, actually canny.
I'll eat a donut, no problem. I'll actually multiple donuts.
But when I think of pop tarts, I think I
can't eat.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
A pop tart.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Wow. It affected you that, yeah, deeply? Wow?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
And I guess also, like you said you were I
was twelve twelve, Well, I feel like twelve is when
you start becoming more conscious of like what other people
think of you, like your brain, your mind is transitioning
into not really carrying what other people think of you too,
Like oh my gosh, like you're suddenly aware of, yeah,
(09:55):
someone might think this of me, or someone might notice
this about me. And but also, like when you grow
up on tea, like in front of a camera, you're
also like very you're everyone nitpicks everything about what they
see about you. Yes, and they say it out loud.
They notice I noticed this about and it's like you
don't even know these people, and it's so it's it's
kind of wild. And I feel like people were didn't.
(10:18):
We're out of touch with that for a long time.
They're like, I can't even imagine. But now that we
have social media.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Everyone gets to experience it. Oh the joy.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah, everyone understands what you had to deal with your
whole life. That's exactly right, which is and it's like
and I think people can now see how much it
messes with your mind. Yeah, like having a peanut got
gallery constantly commenting on everything you do and you're like,
what are you I'm like, it's like, that's not even
a thing. I wasn't even bringing that up. And I'm
(10:46):
just trying to like I'm just trying to share this,
or I'm just trying to do my job. I'm just
trying to act, or I'm just trying to you know,
bring you into like this you know thing that we're
trying to create, and you're noticing so many other things
about me that I don't. Yeah, like I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
It's well now the double edged sort of both.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So at least for me in the nineties, there wasn't
social media, so I had to deal with it from
like a press or producers or those people nitpicking me.
But I didn't necessarily know what the public thought about
me because they didn't have the outlet to tell me.
So somebody would have to say what they thought about
me to my face in order for me to know. Now,
for kids growing up on TV, they perform, they do
(11:25):
the thing, then they go back to their phones and
they get to read the person immediately saying I thought
that performance was really crappy. I also didn't like what
they were wearing, and why did they do their so
they get it immediately immediately that it's like a bad
feedback loop.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
And yeah, and there's so many bots too, thoughts. People
make bots just to troll.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Correct accounts to then argue to have conversations with each other.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I'll notice that sometimes.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
The drama Why what?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Why are we so drama fueled?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Y'all right? I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I think all the time about how many people hate
follow someone?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, and I'm like, oh god, I.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Don't have time for the love follows.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
There are so many people I love that I want
to follow, and I barely have time to consume the
things I love.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Why would I fill any of my time with things
I hate?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
That just feels terrible, but so many people thrive on it.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I know. How did it feel doing dancing? I came
to one of the tapings, by the way, it was
so fun to see you doing your things, Like I'm
just like, oh my gosh, you just don't know what
(12:40):
someone is like what other things someone can do or
like can like dedicate and work on and discipline themselves with.
And it was so fun to see you.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Dancing with the stars.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I've had so many people say are you going to
would you do dancing with the stars? And I think
it would be fun, Oh my gosh, but it seems
so intimidating. How because it's just like another moment to
be in a like I think I get traumatized by competitions, yes,
of course, And like, how was it being in a
competition for you? Have you done competitions before like that.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I had never done a competition like that before. But
I am a pretty competitive person. I liked I like
to win. I like to do well at something. I'm
a type a personality. I want to be the best
at things that I do.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
I want to be the very best.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Thank you. I'm thinking, so glad you're saying it.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I did. I was thinking, I'm going to go in there.
I'm going to of course, I want to be nice
to all these people, but I'm in a competition with them.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
No.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I walked in, I was like, I love all, want
you all to do so well. I wanted that for
myself too, But it didn't change the idea that whether
I won or lost, or came in last or first,
as long as I was rooting for everyone to be
doing the very best they could that week, it was
(14:00):
all going to work out however it was supposed to.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
It was all just going to work out. I just
knew it was going to work out.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It's gonna be fine, and I was going to have
as much fun as I possibly could until they yanked
me out of the dance floor.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
And I did.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I just every moment loved it, loved it, loved it,
and it is it is intimidating.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Did you grow up dancing at all?
Speaker 4 (14:23):
A little bit? Yeah, my parents had me in some
like like kids production like things where they would perform and.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Say okay for a little bit, So you don't have
like a dance background, like you're not going to be
walking into it with Yeah, So it is that part
is a little intimidating because in every season there are
other people that do exactly like a Whitney and who.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There was someone else who had grown up with on
your season.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Well, Elaine Hendrix had been a dancer, Alex Earl had
been a dancer, and.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So yeah, you know you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I was ended up on a team with Jordan Chiles,
who's a gold medal Olympic athlete, and Whitney love it
and then me and I was like, oh, I get
to be.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
The I get to be their Well well.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I mean I did come in eighth, so you know, no,
but it was it was so fun.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I really had the time of my life.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And if I could in any way encourage you to
do it, if they ask and you want to talk
about anything, I let me tell you would. I think
you would love it. I really do. I think you
would be shocked at how hopefully not triggering. The live
show would probably feel a little triggering, because that's just
(15:40):
to be there.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Like even just in the audience, I get like I
freak out. Yeah, Like I don't know. Yah. So you're you.
It gave you, It gives you the jitters and the.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Jitters, especially that first that first live show, where the
good news is you get three full weeks to prep
that first dance, so you really do more than any
other will You really didn't feel prepared. You're like, I'm
not gonna forget my moves, unless, of course, you're one
of those people who steps out in front of a
(16:11):
live crowd and everything falls out.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Of your head. But for people like us, are you.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
That person that happens to me? It happened to me
on American Idol like I would.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
The weeks you picked your own song right, and that
made you feel I'm telling you, I think it was
a self fulfilling prophecy. I think, you, why why.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Do we do that? Why do we like tell ourselves
and like make it happen like we believe it's so
much that we make sure it happens.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
What you send your energy to is going to your energy? Yeah,
you gotta, you gotta.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
You were just so nervous about the fact that you
were choosing your own song, so much of your energy
was going to all the bad things that might happen
because I'm not letting my dad pick.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
But then that's what I almost feel like.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
I almost feel like it's like this incapable of me.
Is I coming in where I'm like, I'm imagine myself
on this show. So I'm like, I can't do this
on my own. Danielle tell me what I need to do.
I need someone to guide me. I'm like, wait, David,
come on, take us that back.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You can I give you something that works for me.
That may sound very hippie dippy, but I'm gonna explain.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
It because I love that. I'd that before.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
That's very hippie dippy.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I do a lot of visualization, but I visualize like
I close my eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And I visualize all my.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Cells inside my body. Imagine yourself shrinking down really really small,
going up through your nose into your body, and then
all your little cells inside your body. Some of them
have little outfits on.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
You have nurse cells, doctor cells that are.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Working to repair you. So something's ailing you. I envisioned
those like doctor cells inside my body, but they're all
little versions of you. You're healing yourself, and you can
travel to different parts of your body that maybe need
a pep talk or energy. Maybe it's your heart center,
(18:16):
and so you go visit your heart. What do the
cells that are working on repairing your heart look like?
What do they say, what do they do? What do
you need? What do you need to hear more of?
And I ens I will really spend a lot of
time visualizing how I want something to go, how I
want my body to heal, how I want my heart
(18:38):
to feel. And then when I feel like I've visualized
it to the point that I feel calm, that I
feel centered, I feel empowered, I feel supported. I then
travel back up and out of my body the same
way I came and become my big self again beautiful.
Now I get to go back out into the world
(18:59):
having healed myself in that way. So if you're looking
to change energy, you feel like, you know what, I'm
wrapped in a loop, and it's not a positive loop.
I'm gonna shrink myself, send myself into my mind.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You'll heal those things for yourself and it helps that
then it's you doing the work and that you don't
have to give it to someone else. You don't like
that you have to give it to a dad or
a podcast host.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Yeah, you were in control. Yeah, even though you know
what was funny to see, Like I loved that. It
reminded me. There's this like a reel that I saw
this morning where it's like this girl's like, I'm gonna
you want a quantum leap with me? Oh, and she
like takes you back to like a place where you
envision yourself succeeding in the thing that you already did.
Like you're on your phone call with your friend and
(19:46):
I wish I remember her name, but it just came
up when I was getting ready and she was like, yeah,
it just you're on your phone with your friend at
six months from now, and you've done the thing that
you were waiting to do and envision yourself like what
does it feel like in the and so you're like
imagining and thinking like what did you do that helped
you get there? And then you can still be back
(20:07):
here and you know what you need to do. It's
it was such a cool feeling. Yes, instead of letting
fear and hesitation and like but what ifs? Yeah, control
every step forward. It was so cool to like push
that away for a moment like that's what if. This
reminded me of absolutely that is.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It is basically the same thing.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
It's setting yourself up for the success that you inevitably
want to have and to see yourself doing it and
accomplishing it. David, I am so thankful that you came
(20:49):
and spent your time with me. I'm so thankful and
grateful for your book. I really enjoyed every second of it.
I want everyone to go out and get it before
I let you so one last thing. I keep saying
this before I let you go and then I keep
you here. What is what are your current goals, what's
your current relationship with music? And what do you want
(21:11):
to see and do and accomplish next?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Well I am doing I've been working on a Christmas album,
so I've done two already, but.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I've loved Christmas albums.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
I wanted to do one that was more fun because
where I was in my first album it was very religious. Yep,
I was and I was very religious, so it was
a reflection of where I was. So I want to
do a Christmas album reflecting where I am now. It's
like more fun. I have like one that's even Like
I've been experimenting with Spanglish, doing Spanlish because I lived
my life Spanlish. I'm half Hispanic, and I did. I
(21:46):
released an EP last year where I had a couple songs,
like I had a song called Criumberley that I like
was it was in Spanlish. Yeah, so I'm doing that
with Christmas now and just uh I you know. And
also the thing that I quantum leapd with what It's
not music, but I was thinking about the book, like
what do I want to see the book helped me accomplish,
(22:07):
and where I saw myself in six months, I was like,
if I could have something like a quantum leak kind
of experience, it would be to make it so that
religion no longer like having the discussion and even like
bringing forth to like courts and like a country and stuff,
at least here in the US. To make it so
that it's not a thing where it's like churches feel
(22:29):
like they need to protect their religious freedom by not
allowing gay relationships to be a thing because there's so
much misunderstanding towards the gay community and what a gay
relationship is and what God, what God would think of
of that. I'm like, these are so many misconceptions, and
(22:50):
I'm like, my God, the experiences I've had were not
anything what any church is teaching right now. And I
think people a lot of people feel it. It's like
my church is saying this, but I feel one way,
and I feel like that's the God and people telling
them where things need to move towards. And I'm like,
but there's I feel like there's too many protections, legal
(23:13):
protections that I know people in my church, like the
prophet of the church currently Dalan Chokes. We used to
work for this, used to be like a judge in
the Supreme Court, And he spent decades working on the
other end of defending marriage and defending religious freedom, which
he would expound on. And it was defending his right
(23:36):
to discriminate and not allow gay marriage and gay people
to practice their lives in his church. And I'm like,
if one person can have that much influence, what can
one person have influence on the other side? And I'm like,
the problem is it's not just the Mormon Church, it's
religion in general. It's you know, almost all which is due.
(24:00):
But I'm like, oh, I feel like they're too enabled
to continue having misconceptions and discriminating. They're not challenged to say, well,
what if this isn't what if this is an old
way of thinking that I'm still able to get away
with because legally I'm allowed to if they were challenged legally,
And I mean, I know that's a dangerous thing. Maybe
(24:21):
people are like, how dare you try and threaten my
religious But it's like that's how you've been conditioned to
look at it as. Because someone decided to love each
other and they go to your church building is not
going to entice your children to you know, it's not
going to be a threat to your children the way
you think it is, right, you know, I look at
Lance and Michael, I look at my other friends who've
(24:43):
been married for decades in gay relationships, and they just
live a simple, peaceful life. They they've learned how to
do the work within their families and their friendships where
they understand and they respect them.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And it's not like heterosexual marriages are all I mean,
come on, like, yeah, divorce exactly, divorces and swinging and
you know, it's like, it's not like, well, very clearly
heterosexual marriage is calm and peaceful and screen all the time.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
It's like and there are a lot of lavender marriages, yep,
which is you know, someone who's gay in marrying a
heterosexual person or two gay people marrying each other, and
there's a lot of neglect, a lot of abuse, a
lot of resentment, bitterness. That was when my when I
found out from one of my friends I talk about
in the book that she was in a marriage where
he was keeping secrets and when he couldn't hold it
(25:35):
in anymore, he started beating her. Yeah, and I was
just like that's where I'm leading to, And I'm like,
there's what how is that a good marriage? I'm like, yeah,
they're producing children, but a lot of children grow up
really difficult lives and as orphans, as foster kids, not
getting the love that they deserve. And so it's like,
not everything looks the way that it's painted, Like, we
(25:57):
only want to show the good, the success story. Yeah,
and there's so many not success stories. But so with
even with heterosexual of course, ideal choices and stuff. So
I want to challenge courts and say, why do you
give them so much freedom to discriminate because it prevents
(26:18):
them from ever having to look at it differently, and
probably in the way that in that if there is
a god, it would be the way God would want
them to try and expand their perspective on it and
to change their way of looking at it. Because if
there's a God, he keeps creating gay people and they're
not the monsters. They're not the perverts that you make
(26:40):
them out to be. You know a lot of times
they blend in and you so you would never even know. Yeah,
and they because they never bother anybody and they never
bother you. And if anything. They add a lot of
beauty and color to your life. So I want to
make it. You know, the US is a trendsetter in
a lot of ways. If we change that. There have
been were they almost I mean they they almost made progress,
(27:04):
like even in like the seventies and whatnot, like but
you know, the religious communities that were did not understand
it voice their opinion and so they won. But I'm like,
if if you have the right conversations and the right arguments,
you can make change. And so I want that to happen.
That's that's my quantum leap.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I love it. That is your quantum leap. You've manifested it.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You can get David's incredible book Devout Losing My Faith
to find Myself right now wherever you get books, but
maybe go to a local bookseller, that would be nice.
I can't recommend this book enough. You have quite a
story to tell. Thank you so much for being here
sharing a bit of it with me. You're just stuck
with me.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by
Danielle Fischel. Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive
in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subosch.
The theme song is I'm Mark Coppus, Yes that Mark Coppus.
Follow us on Instagram at teenbetpod
Speaker 3 (28:08):
M
That's okay, because no one here is.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Every week I ask our listeners to send in their
own embarrassing stories, something that will hopefully make us feel
better about our own misery.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
And this week we are hearing from Melissa.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Melissa, Hi, Danielle, and guest.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
My name is Melissa. And in ninth grade biology class,
I was reading out loud and said orgasm instead of organism.
My teacher corrected me by simply saying organism, and I
just thought, okay, yeah. Because I hadn't noticed what I did,
I kept reading and said it again without realizing it.
I was able to laugh about it, but for weeks
people came up to me and said, living orgasm, Oh.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
My gosh, that is do you have?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I mean, you were homeschooled, so you don't have the
same experience of raising your hand in class and saying
mom like I do. I don't know how on earth
that happens, but I think every kid had that happen
at least once, where you go to say your teacher's name,
but for some reason mom comes out and you're in
the middle of your class and you're like mom, and
then you're like, not mom, I mean missus Duckworth like.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I had that happen so many times.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
But do you have any I mean, we can kind
of think of American idol as being a very short
term high school experience for you.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I did go to high school. I was like on
and off, and my first full years of school were
ninth and tenth grade, So I went for two four
years in high school.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, do you have any horribly embarrassing high school stories?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I'm trying to think, Gosh, I feel like I was
really good at avoiding, but I will say this. Okay,
one time one of my friends plotted this thing. Her
nickname at the time was Fish. We'd call her fish,
(02:16):
but she have the nickname fish because one of her friends,
one of our other friends, I gave her a handshake
and it was like that feels like a fish, and
so you started calling her fish and she doesn't like
the nickname anymore. But at the time, but we were
at like another friend's house party, like a party, and
she's like, I'm going to go and steal my ex
(02:38):
boyfriend's car. She's like, do you want to come? I
was like okay, and she's like, yeah, come with us, David,
And so we go. She had plotted with one of
her other friends. They were going to a pool to
like have a pool day like with one of her
She was hanging out with this ex and she had
like acquired like the spare key to her her ex's car.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
She had acquired it, acquired she had acquired it.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I'm not gonna say how, but she had come into
contact with the spare keys.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Yeah, okay, yeah, And so they plotted. So she they
got we got these like neil, what do they call
this nil nylon socks? Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, panty hose.
Put it over our heads so that we would look
like robbers. Okay, come on, this is the naughtest thing
(03:34):
I've ever done well in high school. So I was
an accomplice where I just simply they planted out so
that they would be walking back to the apartment from
the pool as we drove by in his car and
so and we rolled down the windows with the nylon
(03:54):
like yeah, like the I think it was panty hose
over our heads. And so they were walking and we
sneak in, We get his car and as they're walking back,
we drive by in his car with the windows rolled
down with the pandy hose over our heads. Did he scream? No,
he was just kind of like I don't think it
took him a minute to like figure out what was
going on. It's like, is that my car?
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, there's a lots of process. You're like, do those
people have panty hose on their heads?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And are they in my car?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Yeah? Are they driving my car? And I think, like,
I think we just drove by and then like parked
it like in another parking spot like nearby there, so
we didn't take his car away from him, but then
we just like ran off and like you.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Acquired a car for a joy ride? Is all that happened?
And that story, as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Yeah, it was. But it was pretty wild and I
was very embarrassed by that, So I don't know, it
was like exciting, but I felt so embarrassed that I
was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. Yes,
I was like, I can't believe I did that. And yeah, for.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Someone who always felt like he was being watched, that
was a well that was bold.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Did you know quite what you were getting into? And
she was like, oh, my friend, yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
I don't think I wrote yeah, But at the same time,
like fish was like my outlet of try new things
in the world. So thanks Fish. She would call me
lettuce boy because I loved subway, and subway was a
lot cheaper. Back then, it was they had five dollars
foot longs, and.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Do they not have that anymore?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
No, I feel like it's like fifteen dollars.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Fifteen dollars foot longs.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yeah, yeah, maybe even more. I don't know. It's wow, gosh, yeah,
it's everything is so expensive now, but we're old. Look
at us everything us back in my day we got
five dollars more.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Now they're fifteen dollars.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Back minded they have the dollar Menu, Wendy's and stuff.
But so I literally because one of my my when
I was in fourth grade, I had like a fourth
grade teacher for a little bit because I would like
my parents were like, have me in school for like
a couple months and then take me out and homeschool
me for I don't I'm not sure what the dynamic.
But missus Coughlin she would say, like, yeah, back in
(06:04):
my day, we had penny. It was a penny for
a piece of candy for a penny, yep. So now
here we are dollar manu five dollars foot long. But yeah,
she would call me lettuce boy because they were all
slamming subways lettuce, like, oh, this lettuce is so disgusting.
And I never said anything like I was known as
(06:24):
the quiet boy who just sat in the background. I
just enjoyed everyone's company and I just said, but I
love lettuce, and they all burst out laughing because first off, like, wait,
first off, David, you said something right, what you said lettuce? Yeah,
And so they all started call me lettuce boy after that.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
What's your favorite kind of lettuce? I'm a big butter
lettuce person.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Oh you know, you know, yeah, you know, I didn't
know let I'm not.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Sure it is now that I say that out loud.
Is that like an herb? It's a week?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Is it a week? Oh? I love it? I buy it.
I love me somemm like that. Yeah, the spice in it.
But I mean back then, I loved just Iceberg lettuce, right,
I just loved the crunch. For me, it was crunchy
water and I loved water. I still love water.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I love Iceberg lettuce, especially with ranch dressing on it.
Like if you're going to go to like a you know,
have you been to a soup plantation or a sweeze tomato.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Oh my gosh, yeah, I love.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
A giant plate of iceberg, lettuce, some croutons, little garbonzobeans,
some cheese, and ranchtras.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
It's the least it's the it's the least healthy thing.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I can't do crotons, but I feel and I stopped
doing a ranch when I found out that it wasn't
healthy for you. I was like, I'm trying to because
there was a period of time where I had like
a manager when I was a kid, and they're like,
he needs to lose weight. Because so I stopped. I
cut out ranch, and I cut out soda because those
are some of the things he told me to cut out.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
So yep, I also went through that. Oh did you well, Yeah, yeah,
I remember. I think a pop tart was the first time.
I was like twelve years old and sorry, mom, not
trying to not trying to trash your name.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
But we were leaving set.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So I had been on you know, I'd been in
school all day and then we'd been rehearsing all day
and we had done our run through, we had gone
through our long note session. It was probably like five
pm and we were leaving set for the day, and
just on the walk out, passing craft services, I just
grabbed a thing of pop tarts and my mom not
incorrectly looked at me and said, Danielle, you don't need
(08:25):
two pop tarts. Do you have any idea how many
calories are in two pop tarts? We're going home to
eat dinner. Two pop tarts is not like a thing
you grab and just eat at five pm before dinner.
I don't think at all before then I had ever
correlated what's in this thing I'm about to eat and
(08:46):
what am I putting in? And it goes into my
body and then something's gonna happen to my body with it,
whether that's fullness or weight.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Gain, and then I'm going to go eat again.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
It was like the very It was like all of
a sudden, it was like, right, calories, Oh my god.
And I really distinctly remember thinking after that, being aware
of the transactional nature of the food we eat, the
things we consume, and like that it it means something,
(09:15):
and so for me, like pop tarts was that was
that thing that really like, every time I think of
a pop tart, I'm still to this day, actually canny.
I'll eat a donut, no problem. I'll actually multiple donuts.
But when I think of pop tarts, I think I
can't eat.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
A pop tart.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Wow. It affected you that, yeah, deeply? Wow?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
And I guess also, like you said you were I
was twelve twelve, Well, I feel like twelve is when
you start becoming more conscious of like what other people
think of you, like your brain, your mind is transitioning
into not really carrying what other people think of you too,
Like oh my gosh, like you're suddenly aware of, yeah,
(09:55):
someone might think this of me, or someone might notice
this about me. And but also, like when you grow
up on tea, like in front of a camera, you're
also like very you're everyone nitpicks everything about what they
see about you. Yes, and they say it out loud.
They notice I noticed this about and it's like you
don't even know these people, and it's so it's it's
kind of wild. And I feel like people were didn't.
(10:18):
We're out of touch with that for a long time.
They're like, I can't even imagine. But now that we
have social media.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Everyone gets to experience it. Oh the joy.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
Yeah, everyone understands what you had to deal with your
whole life. That's exactly right, which is and it's like
and I think people can now see how much it
messes with your mind. Yeah, like having a peanut got
gallery constantly commenting on everything you do and you're like,
what are you I'm like, it's like, that's not even
a thing. I wasn't even bringing that up. And I'm
(10:46):
just trying to like I'm just trying to share this,
or I'm just trying to do my job. I'm just
trying to act, or I'm just trying to you know,
bring you into like this you know thing that we're
trying to create, and you're noticing so many other things
about me that I don't. Yeah, like I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
It's well now the double edged sort of both.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
So at least for me in the nineties, there wasn't
social media, so I had to deal with it from
like a press or producers or those people nitpicking me.
But I didn't necessarily know what the public thought about
me because they didn't have the outlet to tell me.
So somebody would have to say what they thought about
me to my face in order for me to know. Now,
for kids growing up on TV, they perform, they do
(11:25):
the thing, then they go back to their phones and
they get to read the person immediately saying I thought
that performance was really crappy. I also didn't like what
they were wearing, and why did they do their so
they get it immediately immediately that it's like a bad
feedback loop.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
And yeah, and there's so many bots too, thoughts. People
make bots just to troll.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Correct accounts to then argue to have conversations with each other.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I'll notice that sometimes.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
The drama Why what?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Why are we so drama fueled?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Y'all right? I know, I know.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I think all the time about how many people hate
follow someone?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, and I'm like, oh god, I.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Don't have time for the love follows.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
There are so many people I love that I want
to follow, and I barely have time to consume the
things I love.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Why would I fill any of my time with things
I hate?
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
That just feels terrible, but so many people thrive on it.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I know. How did it feel doing dancing? I came
to one of the tapings, by the way, it was
so fun to see you doing your things, Like I'm
just like, oh my gosh, you just don't know what
(12:40):
someone is like what other things someone can do or
like can like dedicate and work on and discipline themselves with.
And it was so fun to see you.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Dancing with the stars.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I've had so many people say are you going to
would you do dancing with the stars? And I think
it would be fun, Oh my gosh, but it seems
so intimidating. How because it's just like another moment to
be in a like I think I get traumatized by competitions, yes,
of course, And like, how was it being in a
competition for you? Have you done competitions before like that.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I had never done a competition like that before. But
I am a pretty competitive person. I liked I like
to win. I like to do well at something. I'm
a type a personality. I want to be the best
at things that I do.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
I want to be the very best.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Thank you. I'm thinking, so glad you're saying it.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I did. I was thinking, I'm going to go in there.
I'm going to of course, I want to be nice
to all these people, but I'm in a competition with them.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
No.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I walked in, I was like, I love all, want
you all to do so well. I wanted that for
myself too, But it didn't change the idea that whether
I won or lost, or came in last or first,
as long as I was rooting for everyone to be
doing the very best they could that week, it was
(14:00):
all going to work out however it was supposed to.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
It was all just going to work out. I just
knew it was going to work out.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
It's gonna be fine, and I was going to have
as much fun as I possibly could until they yanked
me out of the dance floor.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
And I did.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I just every moment loved it, loved it, loved it,
and it is it is intimidating.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Did you grow up dancing at all?
Speaker 4 (14:23):
A little bit? Yeah, my parents had me in some
like like kids production like things where they would perform and.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Say okay for a little bit, So you don't have
like a dance background, like you're not going to be
walking into it with Yeah, So it is that part
is a little intimidating because in every season there are
other people that do exactly like a Whitney and who.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
There was someone else who had grown up with on
your season.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Well, Elaine Hendrix had been a dancer, Alex Earl had
been a dancer, and.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So yeah, you know you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I was ended up on a team with Jordan Chiles,
who's a gold medal Olympic athlete, and Whitney love it
and then me and I was like, oh, I get
to be.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
The I get to be their Well well.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I mean I did come in eighth, so you know, no,
but it was it was so fun.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I really had the time of my life.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
And if I could in any way encourage you to
do it, if they ask and you want to talk
about anything, I let me tell you would. I think
you would love it. I really do. I think you
would be shocked at how hopefully not triggering. The live
show would probably feel a little triggering, because that's just
(15:40):
to be there.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Like even just in the audience, I get like I
freak out. Yeah, Like I don't know. Yah. So you're you.
It gave you, It gives you the jitters and the.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Jitters, especially that first that first live show, where the
good news is you get three full weeks to prep
that first dance, so you really do more than any
other will You really didn't feel prepared. You're like, I'm
not gonna forget my moves, unless, of course, you're one
of those people who steps out in front of a
(16:11):
live crowd and everything falls out.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Of your head. But for people like us, are you.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
That person that happens to me? It happened to me
on American Idol like I would.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
The weeks you picked your own song right, and that
made you feel I'm telling you, I think it was
a self fulfilling prophecy. I think, you, why why.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Do we do that? Why do we like tell ourselves
and like make it happen like we believe it's so
much that we make sure it happens.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
What you send your energy to is going to your energy? Yeah,
you gotta, you gotta.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
You were just so nervous about the fact that you
were choosing your own song, so much of your energy
was going to all the bad things that might happen
because I'm not letting my dad pick.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
But then that's what I almost feel like.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
I almost feel like it's like this incapable of me.
Is I coming in where I'm like, I'm imagine myself
on this show. So I'm like, I can't do this
on my own. Danielle tell me what I need to do.
I need someone to guide me. I'm like, wait, David,
come on, take us that back.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You can I give you something that works for me.
That may sound very hippie dippy, but I'm gonna explain.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
It because I love that. I'd that before.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
That's very hippie dippy.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I do a lot of visualization, but I visualize like
I close my eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And I visualize all my.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Cells inside my body. Imagine yourself shrinking down really really small,
going up through your nose into your body, and then
all your little cells inside your body. Some of them
have little outfits on.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
You have nurse cells, doctor cells that are.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Working to repair you. So something's ailing you. I envisioned
those like doctor cells inside my body, but they're all
little versions of you. You're healing yourself, and you can
travel to different parts of your body that maybe need
a pep talk or energy. Maybe it's your heart center,
(18:16):
and so you go visit your heart. What do the
cells that are working on repairing your heart look like?
What do they say, what do they do? What do
you need? What do you need to hear more of?
And I ens I will really spend a lot of
time visualizing how I want something to go, how I
want my body to heal, how I want my heart
(18:38):
to feel. And then when I feel like I've visualized
it to the point that I feel calm, that I
feel centered, I feel empowered, I feel supported. I then
travel back up and out of my body the same
way I came and become my big self again beautiful.
Now I get to go back out into the world
(18:59):
having healed myself in that way. So if you're looking
to change energy, you feel like, you know what, I'm
wrapped in a loop, and it's not a positive loop.
I'm gonna shrink myself, send myself into my mind.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
You'll heal those things for yourself and it helps that
then it's you doing the work and that you don't
have to give it to someone else. You don't like
that you have to give it to a dad or
a podcast host.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Yeah, you were in control. Yeah, even though you know
what was funny to see, Like I loved that. It
reminded me. There's this like a reel that I saw
this morning where it's like this girl's like, I'm gonna
you want a quantum leap with me? Oh, and she
like takes you back to like a place where you
envision yourself succeeding in the thing that you already did.
Like you're on your phone call with your friend and
(19:46):
I wish I remember her name, but it just came
up when I was getting ready and she was like, yeah,
it just you're on your phone with your friend at
six months from now, and you've done the thing that
you were waiting to do and envision yourself like what
does it feel like in the and so you're like
imagining and thinking like what did you do that helped
you get there? And then you can still be back
(20:07):
here and you know what you need to do. It's
it was such a cool feeling. Yes, instead of letting
fear and hesitation and like but what ifs? Yeah, control
every step forward. It was so cool to like push
that away for a moment like that's what if. This
reminded me of absolutely that is.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It is basically the same thing.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
It's setting yourself up for the success that you inevitably
want to have and to see yourself doing it and
accomplishing it. David, I am so thankful that you came
(20:49):
and spent your time with me. I'm so thankful and
grateful for your book. I really enjoyed every second of it.
I want everyone to go out and get it before
I let you so one last thing. I keep saying
this before I let you go and then I keep
you here. What is what are your current goals, what's
your current relationship with music? And what do you want
(21:11):
to see and do and accomplish next?
Speaker 4 (21:14):
Well I am doing I've been working on a Christmas album,
so I've done two already, but.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I've loved Christmas albums.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
I wanted to do one that was more fun because
where I was in my first album it was very religious. Yep,
I was and I was very religious, so it was
a reflection of where I was. So I want to
do a Christmas album reflecting where I am now. It's
like more fun. I have like one that's even Like
I've been experimenting with Spanglish, doing Spanlish because I lived
my life Spanlish. I'm half Hispanic, and I did. I
(21:46):
released an EP last year where I had a couple songs,
like I had a song called Criumberley that I like
was it was in Spanlish. Yeah, so I'm doing that
with Christmas now and just uh I you know. And
also the thing that I quantum leapd with what It's
not music, but I was thinking about the book, like
what do I want to see the book helped me accomplish,
(22:07):
and where I saw myself in six months, I was like,
if I could have something like a quantum leak kind
of experience, it would be to make it so that
religion no longer like having the discussion and even like
bringing forth to like courts and like a country and stuff,
at least here in the US. To make it so
that it's not a thing where it's like churches feel
(22:29):
like they need to protect their religious freedom by not
allowing gay relationships to be a thing because there's so
much misunderstanding towards the gay community and what a gay
relationship is and what God, what God would think of
of that. I'm like, these are so many misconceptions, and
(22:50):
I'm like, my God, the experiences I've had were not
anything what any church is teaching right now. And I
think people a lot of people feel it. It's like
my church is saying this, but I feel one way,
and I feel like that's the God and people telling
them where things need to move towards. And I'm like,
but there's I feel like there's too many protections, legal
(23:13):
protections that I know people in my church, like the
prophet of the church currently Dalan Chokes. We used to
work for this, used to be like a judge in
the Supreme Court, And he spent decades working on the
other end of defending marriage and defending religious freedom, which
he would expound on. And it was defending his right
(23:36):
to discriminate and not allow gay marriage and gay people
to practice their lives in his church. And I'm like,
if one person can have that much influence, what can
one person have influence on the other side? And I'm like,
the problem is it's not just the Mormon Church, it's
religion in general. It's you know, almost all which is due.
(24:00):
But I'm like, oh, I feel like they're too enabled
to continue having misconceptions and discriminating. They're not challenged to say, well,
what if this isn't what if this is an old
way of thinking that I'm still able to get away
with because legally I'm allowed to if they were challenged legally,
And I mean, I know that's a dangerous thing. Maybe
(24:21):
people are like, how dare you try and threaten my
religious But it's like that's how you've been conditioned to
look at it as. Because someone decided to love each
other and they go to your church building is not
going to entice your children to you know, it's not
going to be a threat to your children the way
you think it is, right, you know, I look at
Lance and Michael, I look at my other friends who've
(24:43):
been married for decades in gay relationships, and they just
live a simple, peaceful life. They they've learned how to
do the work within their families and their friendships where
they understand and they respect them.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
And it's not like heterosexual marriages are all I mean,
come on, like, yeah, divorce exactly, divorces and swinging and
you know, it's like, it's not like, well, very clearly
heterosexual marriage is calm and peaceful and screen all the time.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
It's like and there are a lot of lavender marriages, yep,
which is you know, someone who's gay in marrying a
heterosexual person or two gay people marrying each other, and
there's a lot of neglect, a lot of abuse, a
lot of resentment, bitterness. That was when my when I
found out from one of my friends I talk about
in the book that she was in a marriage where
he was keeping secrets and when he couldn't hold it
(25:35):
in anymore, he started beating her. Yeah, and I was
just like that's where I'm leading to, And I'm like,
there's what how is that a good marriage? I'm like, yeah,
they're producing children, but a lot of children grow up
really difficult lives and as orphans, as foster kids, not
getting the love that they deserve. And so it's like,
not everything looks the way that it's painted, Like, we
(25:57):
only want to show the good, the success story. Yeah,
and there's so many not success stories. But so with
even with heterosexual of course, ideal choices and stuff. So
I want to challenge courts and say, why do you
give them so much freedom to discriminate because it prevents
(26:18):
them from ever having to look at it differently, and
probably in the way that in that if there is
a god, it would be the way God would want
them to try and expand their perspective on it and
to change their way of looking at it. Because if
there's a God, he keeps creating gay people and they're
not the monsters. They're not the perverts that you make
(26:40):
them out to be. You know a lot of times
they blend in and you so you would never even know. Yeah,
and they because they never bother anybody and they never
bother you. And if anything. They add a lot of
beauty and color to your life. So I want to
make it. You know, the US is a trendsetter in
a lot of ways. If we change that. There have
been were they almost I mean they they almost made progress,
(27:04):
like even in like the seventies and whatnot, like but
you know, the religious communities that were did not understand
it voice their opinion and so they won. But I'm like,
if if you have the right conversations and the right arguments,
you can make change. And so I want that to happen.
That's that's my quantum leap.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I love it. That is your quantum leap. You've manifested it.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You can get David's incredible book Devout Losing My Faith
to find Myself right now wherever you get books, but
maybe go to a local bookseller, that would be nice.
I can't recommend this book enough. You have quite a
story to tell. Thank you so much for being here
sharing a bit of it with me. You're just stuck
with me.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by
Danielle Fischel. Executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive
in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subosch.
The theme song is I'm Mark Coppus, Yes that Mark Coppus.
Follow us on Instagram at teenbetpod
Speaker 3 (28:08):
M
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com