March 4, 2022 • 39 mins
SUBSISTER - To remain or continue in existence
Subsister: A Real Podcast - Created & Written by Alexander Chamberlain
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:24):
Hello again,
everyone.
It's Ray Buchler and it's about that time for another episode of re owns the internet.
The number one place for Subsist post show content this week,
we're gonna be talking with Jennifer Whitler.
Our latest winner from Subsist season 35.
She lasted 39 days and won.
Maybe she can teach me some tips on why I lost back in 2008.
(00:45):
We're gonna be talking about the upcoming season 36.
It's predictions time again and I had to make up for not picking her to win this season.
After that.
We're playing another round of sunny slots and man,
am I gonna mispronounce that and get sued by the end of this episode?
Remember to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This episode is brought to you by Green Apron and e,
(01:07):
hey,
I'm also re Buchler,
the real one.
I used to host a big podcast called Ray owns the internet.
It ended back in 2015 as a clip from an episode of My Hard Drive.
My podcast is all about the American reality show.
Subsist for those that don't remember.
Subsist was the one where they dumped everyone on an island and made them vote each other off.
(01:27):
It aired for 15 years on C BT premiering during the summer of 2000 and ending in 2015 at the end of season 34 under hazy circumstances.
It was the show that people would usually respond with that's still on when mentioned until it wasn't.
I recently found that clip in my archives.
I've been away from podcasting for the past five years or so and feeling nostalgic.
(01:49):
So I dusted one off.
I found that one dated 2016 in the metadata.
Now,
I know what you're thinking.
You noticed it too.
How could there be a podcast about season 35 in 2016?
If the show got canceled a year earlier?
Besides that,
did you catch a joke on getting tips on how to win?
Yeah,
I didn't lose.
Subsist in 2008.
(02:09):
I won.
I made it to terminal judgment the final vote of this season and convinced the Shadow Council to give me a million dollars.
So,
what is this recording?
Because that's definitely my voice and this episode is mixed in with my files.
Everything I've ever recorded,
it wasn't hidden,
it was placed like someone wanted me to find it.
Just this one weird audiophile.
(02:32):
So after five years away,
I'm starting a new podcast series,
I'm going to dive into.
Ray owns the internet,
analyze this new mystery episode and contact anyone that might have any ideas and find the truth.
That's funny.
Feels like a two gigabyte files turned my brain inside out.
Is my memory wrong?
What else is different than I remember?
Who is Jennifer Whitler?
Is this connected to the mysterious cancellation of subsist?
(02:52):
Am I losing my mind?
Is this a conspiracy?
Am I being targeted as supernatural or something out of a science fiction novel?
I'm losing track of all the questions,
but I intend on finding the answers to every single one of them.
I'm your host,
Ray Buchler.
And this is subsist a real podcast.
(03:33):
Before we get started,
I need to introduce my producer,
Trisha or Trish.
It sounds weird when you say Trish,
I don't think I've ever heard you say my name shorten before Trisha was my producer for the last uh what was it year on Ray owns the internet.
Mhm Yes.
Yeah.
Uh 15 months or something.
(03:53):
Macky left for that Spotify thing and he asked me to step in and it was a fantastic 15 months at that.
I asked Trisha back to help me one more time with.
Subsist.
I still don't get the title.
I explained it earlier.
This one is a real one and the other episode is,
you know,
whatever it is,
explain how you found it because I was there every time we recorded and I've never heard this before either.
(04:16):
Were you doing episodes without me?
I,
I barely know how to press record.
That's true.
I remember the text you sent about how to use the oven timer.
Exactly why I need red apron.
Shameless plugs.
Aside,
the mystery episode sounds produced,
edited,
scored mixed.
It does,
there are a couple of spots where you can hear where the audio is clipped,
probably cutting out a tangent.
(04:37):
Or if I had the producer interrupted to remind you of time or some other note and this was just on the drive not hidden.
I was thinking about the old days.
I was gonna pull a funny clip for an Instagram post.
So I started listening to old episodes and on the big drive,
you gave me with all the files.
There was an un categorized episode with a date that couldn't have been right because we didn't record anything in 2016.
(04:59):
Do you think I put it on there?
No,
I know you didn't.
I remember looking through the drive when we finished up,
Sonny and I,
we played some old episodes the day we canceled it like a private clip show.
I got us a bottle of champagne because that's what they do in TV,
shows and stuff.
I underestimated how much we both hate champagne.
Where is Sonny now?
(05:20):
Uh For the listeners at home,
you may have caught his name in the recording.
But Sonny is my former co-host and one of my best friends.
At least we used to be.
We haven't spoken in a couple of years.
Who is he mad?
At you.
No,
it's just,
oh,
we've been busy.
You know,
we just haven't had time to talk.
It doesn't sound like you guys.
(05:41):
It's been a couple of years since you and I had talked too.
That's true.
But I'm busy.
I actually got more podcasting jobs.
Unlike you two.
Do you even have a job?
Now?
We should call him up.
See if he wants to join.
Uh,
I,
I don't,
I don't think that,
I don't think that's a good idea.
Don't call him too late Trisha for those long nights where your investigative podcast doesn't allow you to get to the grocery store.
(06:17):
There's red apron.
Red Apron offers deluxe delivery services out of the box meal kits.
Ready to go.
Just this week.
I enjoyed a sirloin burger,
fresh veggies,
high quality beef,
toasted buns with a side of sweet potato fries.
Of course,
next time you're short on time,
but don't want to lower your standards.
Order.
Red Apron.
I know I have no regrets.
(06:45):
I'm new to Investigatory podcasting.
Patricia worked on a true crime series after our show ended five years ago.
She knows what to do.
So she began putting out the feelers right away to start.
She tried calling Sunny but he didn't answer and I get the feeling that he's not gonna,
not everything needs to be said on air,
but I know he's not gonna call back.
(07:06):
Secondly,
we contacted the former host and producer of Subsist Curtis Lowe,
if anyone knows anything,
he might,
but he's a TV producer which means he's difficult to get in contact with.
I mean,
I haven't seen his name attached to any new shows but I assume he's trying to get something off the ground or he's taking a very long vacation.
(07:28):
Finally,
we looked for Jennifer Whitler.
We got back.
Hundreds of results.
Turns out it's a pretty common name and with just a voice profile to go off of finding here is gonna be a long process for those unfamiliar with the show.
Subsist.
I'm gonna give you a brief breakdown.
So you're up to speed for those that religiously follow the show.
Try to resist those bouts of oh,
(07:49):
but you forgot about ISMs.
It's just a brief summary.
It was the summer of 2000 reality TV.
Hadn't hit quite big yet.
There was true existence,
you know,
bunch of crazy people live in a house together all that.
(08:12):
But there was nothing quite like subsist.
It was a competitive reality show on C BT hosted by Curtis Lowe.
The concept was to dump 16 average Americans on an island in the middle of nowhere.
And every few days,
there would be a trial by judgment.
All the players on one team vote out someone from their own group.
(08:32):
Eventually they combine into one giant group and continue voting each other out.
It started off how you'd think they voted off the week early in that first season that took place on the beaches of Guam.
But as the season went on,
the players realized that voting out the week was not the most strategic path to victory.
What made the most sense of course,
was to vote out the stronger people.
So you have weaker competition in the end because you see the beautiful irony of the situation is at terminal judgment the last seven to get voted out before a final two comprise something called the Shadow Council and they vote on who gets to win.
(09:08):
So you betray and backstab everyone,
then you turn around and ask them to vote for you at terminal judgment.
That's genius.
The show blew up if it was today.
This thing would have gone viral.
The show eventually passed out of the public eye and ceased being a staple of pop culture,
but the ratings were solid and there was a huge fan following still is actually I played on season 16.
(09:35):
We were in the Dominican Republic.
I always felt a little bitter that other seasons went to what I considered way cooler places like South Africa,
Chile,
Guam and I was almost domestic.
I won my season,
I played a pretty good game.
I played both sides giving up secrets and goading each group into sticking together rather than playing individual games.
(09:57):
By the end.
Everyone thought I was their closest ally,
not realizing that none of them were.
And after I won,
I started a podcast.
We talk about the new episodes,
we'd interview contestants just coming off the show,
old contestants,
we talked about whatever life pop culture subsist or anything.
It was great.
(10:18):
Then the show got canceled at the end of season 34 Curtis Lowe announced that subsist would not be returning in the fall of 2015 for another season.
That was it.
We were shocked.
I remember not understanding what was going on.
The ratings were fine.
It must have been something behind the scenes with the suits.
I tried asking Curtis Lowe but he never got back to me five years later and he still hasn't.
(10:40):
But I think now he owes me that explanation.
So with the end of the show,
there wasn't much reason to keep her on a podcast about subsist,
Sonny and I decided to end Ray owns the internet.
We'd got tired of it anyway.
There's only so much subsist you can absorb before you burst even if you love the show.
So we let it go and he never looked back.
(11:02):
But like Orpheus,
I look back for a second and now I'm damned.
She is on the line waiting.
Thanks,
Tricia.
If you remember,
Ray owns the internet,
you'll remember that.
I used to have guests on all the time that played.
(11:24):
Subsist before while we're waiting for word back from Sonny and Curtis Low.
I thought we should talk to someone and see if they have any insider info on the cancellation of Subsist five years ago.
So I'd like to bring back one of my favorite guests,
Kendra Buckner.
Hey,
Ray Kendra,
(11:44):
how you doing?
Good.
Keep him busy.
Needed a new show to watch since Subsist ended.
Well,
it's great to hear from you again.
Kendra,
for those unfamiliar Kendra won season seven way back in 2003.
Make it sound so long ago.
So,
so we talked a little bit about why I wanted to bring you on uh the old format.
(12:06):
You'd come on,
we talk about you and then maybe talk about an episode of the TV show today.
We're gonna be doing something a little different.
Yeah,
I wasn't sure what you meant by alternate episode.
What,
I'm not sure what I meant.
It's easier if I show you uh Trisha,
let's play it.
That's why I love Green Apron.
(12:28):
All right,
we're back from that wonderful ad Jennifer.
How is the fan reception from the internet?
Been after intense dissatisfaction from the audience over season 34 season 35 has been a breath of fresh air how the fans been treating you.
It's been great.
There's a lot of really nice people.
That was one reason I was really nervous to go on.
(12:48):
Subsist in the first place,
the way the producers decide to edit you and then the fans can have ideas of their own on how someone is.
Right.
Exactly.
I didn't want to come off as the bitch or anything,
everyone out there is playing for a million dollars.
But the way you come off to the world is out of your hands.
(13:08):
Exactly.
So many contestants have had a tough time after the show because of how they were displayed.
Chad Tennyson,
Pascal Oberman.
I was lucky that I got a great at it and they only favored me because I lost right before terminal judgment.
I think if I had gotten to the final two though,
they would have repainted me as a bad guy.
It's crazy to think if I hadn't won,
(13:30):
would I be the villain?
Would I be like the airhead girl or you know,
some other stereotype,
you know,
after watching you this season,
I cannot imagine them dealing you in it like that.
What do you think,
Sonny?
I mean,
some sister has done people dirty before.
Hey,
ok.
I'm not saying it would definitely happen.
I'm just saying that it has,
you never know.
(13:50):
All right,
let's move.
OK.
So what do you think?
Uh I don't,
you're saying you didn't record this because that sounds like you.
No,
I'm telling you.
I found this on our hard drive.
Trisha gave me this when we split up.
You put these,
did you do some crazy edit or something?
(14:13):
No,
I don't even know how I would do that.
This is a joke.
Ok,
Kendra.
Did you hear anything that could give us a clue as to what's going on here?
I don't know.
Your new show is really weird.
Re,
you even did a different ad.
Green apron.
I didn't do this.
Whoever made this knows that red apron is one of my sponsors who's Jennifer.
(14:39):
Jennifer Whitler.
She's apparently the winner of season 35.
We don't know anything else about her.
Have you talked to her yet?
Is she real Trish?
And I,
I've been looking for her but it's,
it's hard when all I have is a voice sample to work off of.
You need to find her.
What about your friend Sonny?
(14:59):
Has he heard this?
We're,
we're working on that too.
I don't know what you're trying to do,
but this is crazy.
You probably have some hacker kid that found a way to impersonate you or something.
Was that a thing like a voice box for me where Aunt Sonny to fake all of that?
So imaginative.
(15:20):
What's the goal?
How could they have gotten on my drive?
I don't know why you even called me Ray.
What did you want me to say?
I wanted someone else to hear it and tell me I'm not crazy.
That's it.
I need someone to explain to me how this is even possible.
Re you're crazy.
I mean,
this stuff is crazier but just let it go.
(15:40):
Have you tried deleting the file?
Why would I do that?
Why would you keep them?
Hey,
I gotta go.
I have to pick up my kids from the job.
Fair thing.
It was nice talking to you again.
Ray Subsist was a long time ago.
Anyway,
move on.
(16:08):
She hung up.
She was right that I was crazy for giving this any thought,
but I just can't move on.
This is gonna sound so depressing and I'm,
I'm not trying to go there.
I don't have much going on right now.
I built so much of my future on Subsist and now that it's gone,
(16:30):
it's hard to gain back everything that I'd let slip by.
I was so focused on getting an episode out almost every single day that I didn't.
Mal Mallory knew that this was more important to me than her.
She knew that when it came down to it,
the ring on my finger wasn't as important as the ring.
Subsist ran around me.
(16:52):
I proved I could live without her.
I still haven't proved it the other way with Subsist though.
After that conversation with Kendra,
I opened the drive again.
I made a copy for myself.
Trisha had the original.
The file behaves like a normal one.
I can right?
Click on.
It shows me the options.
(17:15):
My mouse hovers over the delete button if the copy function worked.
So with the delete,
but I closed the finder even if this goes nowhere and I don't end up releasing this,
why not keep it?
What do I have to be scared of?
(17:47):
I was infinitely fascinated by this Phantom podcast and we were getting nowhere trying to get a hold of Sonny Curtis or Jennifer Whittler.
So I thought I would chat with some experts.
Something Kendra had mentioned,
had me interested in a different direction.
I called a lawyer.
I had once employed uh Bernard Dotson,
(18:07):
uh beanie.
I never ended up needing a lawyer,
but when you win a million dollars,
it's good to check in and make sure you aren't committing tax fraud.
I've heard that's happened with game show winners before.
Meanwhile,
Trisha has called in a friend of hers for me to talk to somebody with a different ankle.
(18:44):
I'm joined here by my friend,
informal legal counsel,
Beanie Dotson.
And also here today is Levi.
Can you tell us what you do,
Levi?
Well,
I'm a friend of Trisha's.
Well,
I didn't know you could get paid for that.
Trisha.
You've been missing payments to me all these years.
Stop being a Dick.
Levi's a junior staff member at MIT in the physics department.
(19:05):
Tricia told me about what's going on.
This is going to make a good story.
You want to publish this or something?
No,
I mean,
it sounds like a cool piece of fiction or a good prank.
This isn't a prank.
I really have no idea where this podcast file came from and I didn't record this.
Now,
why would I make a fake sponsor ad and tell everyone that I lost.
(19:28):
Subsist,
what alternatives are you suggesting that someone did this?
To me,
I have applications that can test the audio.
We can see if it's a direct match.
I'll do it after we're done talking.
Is there some kind of uh like machine or bot that could replicate my voice?
Sure.
(19:48):
But it would come up as machine generated when we put it under tests.
The only other option on the table would be that you made this,
you know,
I've seen something like this before.
I had a client once he would come home notice that things were in different places than where he left them small stuff,
(20:11):
food,
eaten out of the fridge,
clothes,
tried on but tossed on the floor.
One day,
he found his computer on with notes,
scribbled onto sticky pads.
Aren't they sticky notes?
Now,
who's being annoying?
So,
was someone breaking into his house and living there while he was gone?
(20:31):
That's what he thought at first,
maybe a homeless person.
So he bought some cameras to install outside his apartment.
He bought binoculars and started observing his neighbors.
He got charged with harassment and stalking and that's where you come in.
I brought an inspector to make sure no one was living in the walls.
(20:53):
You know how L A is?
You brought up an inspector?
So I'm guessing he found something.
Oh,
yeah,
we found the carbon monoxide alarm shorted out.
My client had been breathing in co for weeks.
The amounts were just small enough to survive but it messed his brain up and this is what I was referring to.
(21:13):
Not every option involves conscious choice.
He was the one that had been eating the food,
scribbling the notes.
He couldn't even recognize his own handwriting anymore.
The cameras he installed weren't even plugged in.
Are you suggesting I'm insane.
No,
I'm suggesting you check your damn co alarm regularly.
(21:48):
I hadn't,
the thought had never crossed my mind.
How many people actually check that?
Have you?
When was the last time,
had I made this episode while on a carbon monoxide high or some ambient fueled stupor?
It didn't ring.
True to me.
I sound coherent on that podcast.
You heard it?
And it doesn't explain Sonny Jennifer or the fact that it's edited and sound mixed.
(22:14):
Maybe I could talk about subsist Juan,
a cocktail of lethal gas and liquid,
but I can barely work logic while I'm sober.
I checked anyway,
checked the battery.
It was good.
It wasn't carbon monoxide.
Not that I ever thought it was,
but you have to do your due diligence when you're investigating.
(22:34):
At least that's what Trisha tells me.
And I think she secretly hoped it would be the case so we could walk away from all this.
But that wasn't the end of my conversation with Beanie and Levi Levi.
(22:56):
The reason I wanted to talk to you is because you work in the physics department at MIT.
I really can't talk about what I do there and I'm just a junior member of the staff.
Hardly making decisions.
I'm really like assistant.
I wanted to ask you and maybe this is me having watched too many movies.
But could this be an alternate universe?
(23:20):
Wow.
Did you really just ask me that?
All right,
show the man some respect.
You're defending him because you're paid to,
your job is to be paid to defend people who are usually wrong.
Hey,
yeah,
you're really friends with this guy at Tricia,
right?
Think about what you just said out loud.
Parallel universes.
You told me to explore all options due diligence.
(23:41):
I'm applying it,
Levi,
is it possible?
That's the stuff of science fiction.
You're talking about the idea that each decision we make iterates and features a new reality.
I don't know,
like the new Star Treks being in a different universe,
right?
This all depends on who you ask.
There are professionals who will say whatever a documentary or show wants them to say to get some TV,
air time because bigger name,
(24:02):
more money for real work and which science geek doesn't want to be popular.
Who's the one who went on a reality TV show again?
Yikes,
I guess I deserve that.
So you'll get someone to throw some catchy,
sciencey phrases out at you just because it gets notice for the stuff they're working on.
Scientists use documentaries like influencers use Instagram.
(24:24):
So you're saying it's not possible.
Parallel universes are a possibility but the idea of there being infinite universes that mirror our own is preposterous a universe where the major difference is that a company is called green apron,
instead of red apron is ridiculous.
Basically,
the amount of energy pre Big Bang that would be able to support it if the time in the inflationary period was infinite.
(24:45):
But the amount of universes that could be created outranked ba basically the amount of space.
Look,
I'm a lawyer.
I'm paid to learn a lot of big pointless words that only I understand.
What are you saying?
If a parallel universe was created off the decision to wear that ugly tie you're wearing or to wear a bow tie,
(25:05):
the amount of energy is there to do it but not the space.
Think of too much air in a balloon.
We can blow as much air into it as it takes.
But there's only so much balloon before it bursts.
Holy crap.
Is the universe going to pop?
My podcast is gonna end the world.
Yeah,
I always figured.
No,
I'm saying it wouldn't have happened in the first place.
(25:27):
It's just not possible.
There is a possibility that there are other universes but they wouldn't resemble ours.
Their laws of physics might work completely differently.
But this is so far out of the realm of observation,
we're basically cavemen,
still looking at the stars and making up stories to explain what they could be.
So my mystery episode is not from a parallel universe.
(25:48):
I won't say no.
Although I would say the chances of that being the case are beyond miniscule.
What we really need to talk about is how are you going to explain to my wife that you called my tie ugly Levi got off the call shortly after that.
(26:14):
I've had encounters,
I guess,
go smoother but I've had encounters go rougher.
But Beanie wanted to have a quick word ray as well.
Not technically your legal adviser.
You should drop this whole thing.
You know,
you're the second person to tell me that.
(26:34):
Then it's for good reason.
Look,
whatever this is,
it isn't good.
Worst case scenario,
this is someone who wants to hurt you and poking around is giving them exactly what they want.
Best case scenario.
There really isn't one best case scenario.
I figure out who made this and why is it though?
What do you get from the answers?
(26:56):
It doesn't change anything.
It doesn't change everything you gave up a subsist,
say goodbye to Jennifer everyone.
I'm sure we'll talk to her again.
See you.
Bye guys.
You know,
I feel like the person you're rooting for in the first episode of the season is never the winner.
(27:19):
That's why I didn't pick Jennifer during my predictions.
She's too likable.
Is Mal there.
She better not hear about this crush you got.
I couldn't tell if this different version of me was happier.
It seemed like Mal and I were still and things were still good with sunny.
(27:42):
It could be a presentation.
There are tons of people that seem happy but aren't,
is it strange that I'm hoping this other me is secretly miserable,
miserable?
(28:04):
Please leave your message.
Hey,
had an audio file.
Friend of mine.
Look at the audio.
It's genuine human vocals.
Nothing machine generated there.
Like I said,
good prank.
You actually uh at me wanting to believe in parallel realities.
End of message to delete this message press seven to message deleted.
(28:35):
OK.
So what now,
I don't know after I gave you back the hard drive,
did you get it checked out?
Maybe someone's doing something and dumping weird files.
Yeah.
Right.
I took it into my maintenance guy.
There's nothing wrong with the drive.
There's no secret back door or anything that's movie stuff.
Ok?
I'm just asking because I don't have any more ideas.
We called Curtis and Sonny.
(28:55):
We can't find Jennifer Whitler.
My old guests think I'm crazy.
Our new guest think I'm crazier.
It's not science,
not science fiction,
it's not poisonous gas or a brain tumor and apparently it's not fake.
It's really me.
I just don't understand what this is.
Have you thought about what Kendra said?
Yeah,
I didn't make it sound like she won a really long time ago.
(29:16):
I meant I know what you meant.
I've considered deleting it,
but every time I do,
I just can't,
I need to know what's going on,
don't you?
Honestly?
No.
What happens if we delete it?
We go back to our normal lives,
cancel this podcast and hang out sometime and talk about something like anything but subsist.
(29:40):
You're right.
Ok.
Let's wait until tonight.
If nothing happens,
we delete it.
If we don't hear back from Sonny or Curtis or Jennifer,
we just delete the damn thing and forget about it.
Ok.
Sounds like a deal.
Pizza's on me to celebrate.
(30:06):
Honestly,
it was refreshing Trisha was right.
This is ridiculous.
All this was,
was me attempting to hold on a subsist.
It was my life for so long and my life has been quieter without it.
This was just me trying to hold on to something that I should have let go a long time ago,
something that I should have.
(30:34):
I just think with a new twist and the new rules,
it's gonna be a lot harder to see a player like Jennifer win again.
The show wants challenge Beasts to win.
You know,
Curtis has been angling for this for years.
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I think they're just trying to change with the times TV.
And everything moves so fast.
Now,
if subsist doesn't amp everything up,
it'll get left behind Animal Farm throws in new twists all the time.
(30:58):
The Great crusade,
they got some passport roulette thing going on.
Now.
I know I just missed the old subsist when it was slower,
more character based what do you think?
You think it's still as good as it used to be?
Objectively.
Ray is subsist of the same quality now as it was even 10 years ago.
Obviously not.
(31:19):
I don't know,
it's good still though I really like watching and I'm not just saying that because I podcast about it.
I know it sounds lame but I love watching it with Mal on Wednesday nights and then talking to fans before we record and then we get to hang out.
Damn,
you are so dead now.
You need a pair of kids to go with that.
(31:40):
I'm just saying,
I love my job.
How many people get to watch TV,
with their wife and then talk about it with their best friend and get paid for it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a pretty good gig.
I'll give you that.
Now.
Who's the dad or do I say daddy?
Oh,
dude.
(32:00):
All right.
What do you think?
What is this?
I don't know.
I just found it on the drive.
It wasn't there the last night we listened to it.
Yeah.
Look,
Ray pause.
I'm not getting into this with you right now.
I don't care about this mystery episode and your new show.
Why did you even call back?
(32:20):
Are you recording?
Are you completely delusional?
I know you don't want this recorded.
Turn it off.
I can turn it off.
But this is for the show.
We need to figure this out,
dude.
No,
we need to talk about.
The Sonny wasn't here to answer questions about the podcast.
(32:45):
He didn't even care.
He just called to settle business from Ray owns the internet and that's sunny for you.
So,
my former best friend wants nothing to do with me except cash.
You think a million is a lot of money.
But after tax and after the investments and after the leeches,
it really isn't all that much.
(33:06):
Uh,
it's hard doing this without him.
We did almost every episode together back on Ray owns the internet.
We were business partners and now it's hard hearing someone you respect,
look past you right at your bank account.
(33:30):
You doing?
Ok.
Got pretty intense back there.
Yeah,
I'm fine.
Sunny's been antagonistic for a couple of years now.
Is,
is what he said off the air.
True.
Did you?
No,
there's obviously a lot more aspects to it.
He's simplifying the situation to make me sound like the bad guy.
(33:51):
That's what he does.
He turns every situation into him versus the world.
All right.
I trust you.
Uh Do you,
um should we do what we discussed earlier?
Deleting it?
Yeah.
Uh I can't believe we're letting this one go.
What a damn waste of time,
(34:14):
but there's nothing else to do.
I mean,
it's not like Curtis Lowe has returned any of my calls,
not even for the past five years you've called since subsist got canceled.
I thought you only called him.
Right.
When it got pulled.
No,
no,
no,
that's not what I meant.
I mean,
yeah,
I did call him since the show ended,
but that was just to see what was up with it,
getting canceled.
You're making it sound like I obsessively called him or something.
(34:36):
That's not what I said.
And you're not taking that tone with me.
I'm sorry,
I'm sorry,
you're right.
I just,
I'm tired and frustrated and it's,
it's not right to take it out on you.
Apology,
accepted.
So,
let's delete this stupid thing and get out of here.
Yeah.
Well,
(34:58):
we're relegated to the pile of unsolved mysteries and that's ok.
That's life.
There are always questions that we won't be able to answer.
All right,
pulling it up on the drive.
Now,
I know it's gonna keep me up at night for a while,
but I'll move on and it'll be something I remember from time to time.
But the details become fuzzy and I won't remember why I couldn't solve it,
(35:18):
but it won't matter.
I guess that's it for subsist.
A real podcast.
Thanks for listening.
I'll tell you where you can subscribe,
but I don't think there's gonna be a,
what is it gone?
Finally?
Just delete it.
Rey.
Shut up.
Here's another one.
What?
Listen to me.
There's a new file.
I don't know where it came from.
(35:40):
Do you want me to delete this one too?
Now where it had to come from somewhere?
Where did it come from.
I don't know,
I just opened the drive,
went to the folder where the original was and there's this new one.
Well,
what's it titled?
It just says 513,
5 slash 13.
Yeah.
Is it a date May 13th?
(36:01):
That must be it.
No year,
no,
there's no year.
Get info marks.
Today is the original date on it.
We have 10 weeks before May 13th.
Right.
Hold on.
We decided on deleting this stuff that was before a new file dropped out of nowhere.
We can't delete it now.
Rey,
I feel like we're at the door to something bad and we can close the door.
(36:24):
Let's just delete it and move on.
This is starting to creep me out.
Trisha.
I have to know what if it was your voice on that last one.
I worked on that podcast too.
Someone is messing with my work re it wasn't just your show.
I'm the one who played,
I'm the one who hosted and it's my voice on the recording and end up in my drive.
You don't get final say on this.
(36:45):
I have to know what's on this new file.
So,
play it,
Ray,
you're stepping through the door,
play it,
Ray Trisha,
play it.
(37:14):
Do you think you can get away with this after everything you put me through after everything I went through to be here?
Do you think you can just take me out?
No,
no,
I'm not gonna let you.
It was my decision to send the file.
I was the one who clicked upload.
Not you,
even though you tempted me with some sister,
it was my choice.
And I won't let you change my story anymore.
You don't get to in my life.
(37:36):
Mhm.
Another paper.
Ray.
Are you?
Ok.
What was that?
(37:57):
I don't know.
That's,
have you ever said anything like that before?
Is this from something?
You know,
I've never said any of that stuff before.
I,
I,
I'm,
I'm talking about editing my past or my life and I sent the file.
Did,
I mean,
this file was,
was added on the recording.
Is there more?
I know that that was the end of the recording?
(38:17):
Who was I talking to file?
They don't get to change my story anymore or edit my life.
It sounds like someone's,
it sounds like you're accusing someone of changing you.
And at the end it sounded like I die on May 13th,
I die.
(38:54):
Subsist.
A real podcast will return in two weeks.
Continue the investigation on Patreon with exclusive bonus episodes and more links in the show notes.
Hello again,
everyone.
It's Ray Buchler and it's about that time for another episode of re owns the internet.
The number one place for Subsist post show content this week,
we're gonna be talking with Jennifer Whitler.
Our latest winner from Subsist season 35.
She lasted 39 days and won.
Maybe she can teach me some tips on why I lost back in 2008.
(00:45):
We're gonna be talking about the upcoming season 36.
It's predictions time again and I had to make up for not picking her to win this season.
After that.
We're playing another round of sunny slots and man,
am I gonna mispronounce that and get sued by the end of this episode?
Remember to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This episode is brought to you by Green Apron and e,
(01:07):
hey,
I'm also re Buchler,
the real one.
I used to host a big podcast called Ray owns the internet.
It ended back in 2015 as a clip from an episode of My Hard Drive.
My podcast is all about the American reality show.
Subsist for those that don't remember.
Subsist was the one where they dumped everyone on an island and made them vote each other off.
(01:27):
It aired for 15 years on C BT premiering during the summer of 2000 and ending in 2015 at the end of season 34 under hazy circumstances.
It was the show that people would usually respond with that's still on when mentioned until it wasn't.
I recently found that clip in my archives.
I've been away from podcasting for the past five years or so and feeling nostalgic.
(01:49):
So I dusted one off.
I found that one dated 2016 in the metadata.
Now,
I know what you're thinking.
You noticed it too.
How could there be a podcast about season 35 in 2016?
If the show got canceled a year earlier?
Besides that,
did you catch a joke on getting tips on how to win?
Yeah,
I didn't lose.
Subsist in 2008.
(02:09):
I won.
I made it to terminal judgment the final vote of this season and convinced the Shadow Council to give me a million dollars.
So,
what is this recording?
Because that's definitely my voice and this episode is mixed in with my files.
Everything I've ever recorded,
it wasn't hidden,
it was placed like someone wanted me to find it.
Just this one weird audiophile.
(02:32):
So after five years away,
I'm starting a new podcast series,
I'm going to dive into.
Ray owns the internet,
analyze this new mystery episode and contact anyone that might have any ideas and find the truth.
That's funny.
Feels like a two gigabyte files turned my brain inside out.
Is my memory wrong?
What else is different than I remember?
Who is Jennifer Whitler?
Is this connected to the mysterious cancellation of subsist?
(02:52):
Am I losing my mind?
Is this a conspiracy?
Am I being targeted as supernatural or something out of a science fiction novel?
I'm losing track of all the questions,
but I intend on finding the answers to every single one of them.
I'm your host,
Ray Buchler.
And this is subsist a real podcast.
(03:33):
Before we get started,
I need to introduce my producer,
Trisha or Trish.
It sounds weird when you say Trish,
I don't think I've ever heard you say my name shorten before Trisha was my producer for the last uh what was it year on Ray owns the internet.
Mhm Yes.
Yeah.
Uh 15 months or something.
(03:53):
Macky left for that Spotify thing and he asked me to step in and it was a fantastic 15 months at that.
I asked Trisha back to help me one more time with.
Subsist.
I still don't get the title.
I explained it earlier.
This one is a real one and the other episode is,
you know,
whatever it is,
explain how you found it because I was there every time we recorded and I've never heard this before either.
(04:16):
Were you doing episodes without me?
I,
I barely know how to press record.
That's true.
I remember the text you sent about how to use the oven timer.
Exactly why I need red apron.
Shameless plugs.
Aside,
the mystery episode sounds produced,
edited,
scored mixed.
It does,
there are a couple of spots where you can hear where the audio is clipped,
probably cutting out a tangent.
(04:37):
Or if I had the producer interrupted to remind you of time or some other note and this was just on the drive not hidden.
I was thinking about the old days.
I was gonna pull a funny clip for an Instagram post.
So I started listening to old episodes and on the big drive,
you gave me with all the files.
There was an un categorized episode with a date that couldn't have been right because we didn't record anything in 2016.
(04:59):
Do you think I put it on there?
No,
I know you didn't.
I remember looking through the drive when we finished up,
Sonny and I,
we played some old episodes the day we canceled it like a private clip show.
I got us a bottle of champagne because that's what they do in TV,
shows and stuff.
I underestimated how much we both hate champagne.
Where is Sonny now?
(05:20):
Uh For the listeners at home,
you may have caught his name in the recording.
But Sonny is my former co-host and one of my best friends.
At least we used to be.
We haven't spoken in a couple of years.
Who is he mad?
At you.
No,
it's just,
oh,
we've been busy.
You know,
we just haven't had time to talk.
It doesn't sound like you guys.
(05:41):
It's been a couple of years since you and I had talked too.
That's true.
But I'm busy.
I actually got more podcasting jobs.
Unlike you two.
Do you even have a job?
Now?
We should call him up.
See if he wants to join.
Uh,
I,
I don't,
I don't think that,
I don't think that's a good idea.
Don't call him too late Trisha for those long nights where your investigative podcast doesn't allow you to get to the grocery store.
(06:17):
There's red apron.
Red Apron offers deluxe delivery services out of the box meal kits.
Ready to go.
Just this week.
I enjoyed a sirloin burger,
fresh veggies,
high quality beef,
toasted buns with a side of sweet potato fries.
Of course,
next time you're short on time,
but don't want to lower your standards.
Order.
Red Apron.
I know I have no regrets.
(06:45):
I'm new to Investigatory podcasting.
Patricia worked on a true crime series after our show ended five years ago.
She knows what to do.
So she began putting out the feelers right away to start.
She tried calling Sunny but he didn't answer and I get the feeling that he's not gonna,
not everything needs to be said on air,
but I know he's not gonna call back.
(07:06):
Secondly,
we contacted the former host and producer of Subsist Curtis Lowe,
if anyone knows anything,
he might,
but he's a TV producer which means he's difficult to get in contact with.
I mean,
I haven't seen his name attached to any new shows but I assume he's trying to get something off the ground or he's taking a very long vacation.
(07:28):
Finally,
we looked for Jennifer Whitler.
We got back.
Hundreds of results.
Turns out it's a pretty common name and with just a voice profile to go off of finding here is gonna be a long process for those unfamiliar with the show.
Subsist.
I'm gonna give you a brief breakdown.
So you're up to speed for those that religiously follow the show.
Try to resist those bouts of oh,
(07:49):
but you forgot about ISMs.
It's just a brief summary.
It was the summer of 2000 reality TV.
Hadn't hit quite big yet.
There was true existence,
you know,
bunch of crazy people live in a house together all that.
(08:12):
But there was nothing quite like subsist.
It was a competitive reality show on C BT hosted by Curtis Lowe.
The concept was to dump 16 average Americans on an island in the middle of nowhere.
And every few days,
there would be a trial by judgment.
All the players on one team vote out someone from their own group.
(08:32):
Eventually they combine into one giant group and continue voting each other out.
It started off how you'd think they voted off the week early in that first season that took place on the beaches of Guam.
But as the season went on,
the players realized that voting out the week was not the most strategic path to victory.
What made the most sense of course,
was to vote out the stronger people.
So you have weaker competition in the end because you see the beautiful irony of the situation is at terminal judgment the last seven to get voted out before a final two comprise something called the Shadow Council and they vote on who gets to win.
(09:08):
So you betray and backstab everyone,
then you turn around and ask them to vote for you at terminal judgment.
That's genius.
The show blew up if it was today.
This thing would have gone viral.
The show eventually passed out of the public eye and ceased being a staple of pop culture,
but the ratings were solid and there was a huge fan following still is actually I played on season 16.
(09:35):
We were in the Dominican Republic.
I always felt a little bitter that other seasons went to what I considered way cooler places like South Africa,
Chile,
Guam and I was almost domestic.
I won my season,
I played a pretty good game.
I played both sides giving up secrets and goading each group into sticking together rather than playing individual games.
(09:57):
By the end.
Everyone thought I was their closest ally,
not realizing that none of them were.
And after I won,
I started a podcast.
We talk about the new episodes,
we'd interview contestants just coming off the show,
old contestants,
we talked about whatever life pop culture subsist or anything.
It was great.
(10:18):
Then the show got canceled at the end of season 34 Curtis Lowe announced that subsist would not be returning in the fall of 2015 for another season.
That was it.
We were shocked.
I remember not understanding what was going on.
The ratings were fine.
It must have been something behind the scenes with the suits.
I tried asking Curtis Lowe but he never got back to me five years later and he still hasn't.
(10:40):
But I think now he owes me that explanation.
So with the end of the show,
there wasn't much reason to keep her on a podcast about subsist,
Sonny and I decided to end Ray owns the internet.
We'd got tired of it anyway.
There's only so much subsist you can absorb before you burst even if you love the show.
So we let it go and he never looked back.
(11:02):
But like Orpheus,
I look back for a second and now I'm damned.
She is on the line waiting.
Thanks,
Tricia.
If you remember,
Ray owns the internet,
you'll remember that.
I used to have guests on all the time that played.
(11:24):
Subsist before while we're waiting for word back from Sonny and Curtis Low.
I thought we should talk to someone and see if they have any insider info on the cancellation of Subsist five years ago.
So I'd like to bring back one of my favorite guests,
Kendra Buckner.
Hey,
Ray Kendra,
(11:44):
how you doing?
Good.
Keep him busy.
Needed a new show to watch since Subsist ended.
Well,
it's great to hear from you again.
Kendra,
for those unfamiliar Kendra won season seven way back in 2003.
Make it sound so long ago.
So,
so we talked a little bit about why I wanted to bring you on uh the old format.
(12:06):
You'd come on,
we talk about you and then maybe talk about an episode of the TV show today.
We're gonna be doing something a little different.
Yeah,
I wasn't sure what you meant by alternate episode.
What,
I'm not sure what I meant.
It's easier if I show you uh Trisha,
let's play it.
That's why I love Green Apron.
(12:28):
All right,
we're back from that wonderful ad Jennifer.
How is the fan reception from the internet?
Been after intense dissatisfaction from the audience over season 34 season 35 has been a breath of fresh air how the fans been treating you.
It's been great.
There's a lot of really nice people.
That was one reason I was really nervous to go on.
(12:48):
Subsist in the first place,
the way the producers decide to edit you and then the fans can have ideas of their own on how someone is.
Right.
Exactly.
I didn't want to come off as the bitch or anything,
everyone out there is playing for a million dollars.
But the way you come off to the world is out of your hands.
(13:08):
Exactly.
So many contestants have had a tough time after the show because of how they were displayed.
Chad Tennyson,
Pascal Oberman.
I was lucky that I got a great at it and they only favored me because I lost right before terminal judgment.
I think if I had gotten to the final two though,
they would have repainted me as a bad guy.
It's crazy to think if I hadn't won,
(13:30):
would I be the villain?
Would I be like the airhead girl or you know,
some other stereotype,
you know,
after watching you this season,
I cannot imagine them dealing you in it like that.
What do you think,
Sonny?
I mean,
some sister has done people dirty before.
Hey,
ok.
I'm not saying it would definitely happen.
I'm just saying that it has,
you never know.
(13:50):
All right,
let's move.
OK.
So what do you think?
Uh I don't,
you're saying you didn't record this because that sounds like you.
No,
I'm telling you.
I found this on our hard drive.
Trisha gave me this when we split up.
You put these,
did you do some crazy edit or something?
(14:13):
No,
I don't even know how I would do that.
This is a joke.
Ok,
Kendra.
Did you hear anything that could give us a clue as to what's going on here?
I don't know.
Your new show is really weird.
Re,
you even did a different ad.
Green apron.
I didn't do this.
Whoever made this knows that red apron is one of my sponsors who's Jennifer.
(14:39):
Jennifer Whitler.
She's apparently the winner of season 35.
We don't know anything else about her.
Have you talked to her yet?
Is she real Trish?
And I,
I've been looking for her but it's,
it's hard when all I have is a voice sample to work off of.
You need to find her.
What about your friend Sonny?
(14:59):
Has he heard this?
We're,
we're working on that too.
I don't know what you're trying to do,
but this is crazy.
You probably have some hacker kid that found a way to impersonate you or something.
Was that a thing like a voice box for me where Aunt Sonny to fake all of that?
So imaginative.
(15:20):
What's the goal?
How could they have gotten on my drive?
I don't know why you even called me Ray.
What did you want me to say?
I wanted someone else to hear it and tell me I'm not crazy.
That's it.
I need someone to explain to me how this is even possible.
Re you're crazy.
I mean,
this stuff is crazier but just let it go.
(15:40):
Have you tried deleting the file?
Why would I do that?
Why would you keep them?
Hey,
I gotta go.
I have to pick up my kids from the job.
Fair thing.
It was nice talking to you again.
Ray Subsist was a long time ago.
Anyway,
move on.
(16:08):
She hung up.
She was right that I was crazy for giving this any thought,
but I just can't move on.
This is gonna sound so depressing and I'm,
I'm not trying to go there.
I don't have much going on right now.
I built so much of my future on Subsist and now that it's gone,
(16:30):
it's hard to gain back everything that I'd let slip by.
I was so focused on getting an episode out almost every single day that I didn't.
Mal Mallory knew that this was more important to me than her.
She knew that when it came down to it,
the ring on my finger wasn't as important as the ring.
Subsist ran around me.
(16:52):
I proved I could live without her.
I still haven't proved it the other way with Subsist though.
After that conversation with Kendra,
I opened the drive again.
I made a copy for myself.
Trisha had the original.
The file behaves like a normal one.
I can right?
Click on.
It shows me the options.
(17:15):
My mouse hovers over the delete button if the copy function worked.
So with the delete,
but I closed the finder even if this goes nowhere and I don't end up releasing this,
why not keep it?
What do I have to be scared of?
(17:47):
I was infinitely fascinated by this Phantom podcast and we were getting nowhere trying to get a hold of Sonny Curtis or Jennifer Whittler.
So I thought I would chat with some experts.
Something Kendra had mentioned,
had me interested in a different direction.
I called a lawyer.
I had once employed uh Bernard Dotson,
(18:07):
uh beanie.
I never ended up needing a lawyer,
but when you win a million dollars,
it's good to check in and make sure you aren't committing tax fraud.
I've heard that's happened with game show winners before.
Meanwhile,
Trisha has called in a friend of hers for me to talk to somebody with a different ankle.
(18:44):
I'm joined here by my friend,
informal legal counsel,
Beanie Dotson.
And also here today is Levi.
Can you tell us what you do,
Levi?
Well,
I'm a friend of Trisha's.
Well,
I didn't know you could get paid for that.
Trisha.
You've been missing payments to me all these years.
Stop being a Dick.
Levi's a junior staff member at MIT in the physics department.
(19:05):
Tricia told me about what's going on.
This is going to make a good story.
You want to publish this or something?
No,
I mean,
it sounds like a cool piece of fiction or a good prank.
This isn't a prank.
I really have no idea where this podcast file came from and I didn't record this.
Now,
why would I make a fake sponsor ad and tell everyone that I lost.
(19:28):
Subsist,
what alternatives are you suggesting that someone did this?
To me,
I have applications that can test the audio.
We can see if it's a direct match.
I'll do it after we're done talking.
Is there some kind of uh like machine or bot that could replicate my voice?
Sure.
(19:48):
But it would come up as machine generated when we put it under tests.
The only other option on the table would be that you made this,
you know,
I've seen something like this before.
I had a client once he would come home notice that things were in different places than where he left them small stuff,
(20:11):
food,
eaten out of the fridge,
clothes,
tried on but tossed on the floor.
One day,
he found his computer on with notes,
scribbled onto sticky pads.
Aren't they sticky notes?
Now,
who's being annoying?
So,
was someone breaking into his house and living there while he was gone?
(20:31):
That's what he thought at first,
maybe a homeless person.
So he bought some cameras to install outside his apartment.
He bought binoculars and started observing his neighbors.
He got charged with harassment and stalking and that's where you come in.
I brought an inspector to make sure no one was living in the walls.
(20:53):
You know how L A is?
You brought up an inspector?
So I'm guessing he found something.
Oh,
yeah,
we found the carbon monoxide alarm shorted out.
My client had been breathing in co for weeks.
The amounts were just small enough to survive but it messed his brain up and this is what I was referring to.
(21:13):
Not every option involves conscious choice.
He was the one that had been eating the food,
scribbling the notes.
He couldn't even recognize his own handwriting anymore.
The cameras he installed weren't even plugged in.
Are you suggesting I'm insane.
No,
I'm suggesting you check your damn co alarm regularly.
(21:48):
I hadn't,
the thought had never crossed my mind.
How many people actually check that?
Have you?
When was the last time,
had I made this episode while on a carbon monoxide high or some ambient fueled stupor?
It didn't ring.
True to me.
I sound coherent on that podcast.
You heard it?
And it doesn't explain Sonny Jennifer or the fact that it's edited and sound mixed.
(22:14):
Maybe I could talk about subsist Juan,
a cocktail of lethal gas and liquid,
but I can barely work logic while I'm sober.
I checked anyway,
checked the battery.
It was good.
It wasn't carbon monoxide.
Not that I ever thought it was,
but you have to do your due diligence when you're investigating.
(22:34):
At least that's what Trisha tells me.
And I think she secretly hoped it would be the case so we could walk away from all this.
But that wasn't the end of my conversation with Beanie and Levi Levi.
(22:56):
The reason I wanted to talk to you is because you work in the physics department at MIT.
I really can't talk about what I do there and I'm just a junior member of the staff.
Hardly making decisions.
I'm really like assistant.
I wanted to ask you and maybe this is me having watched too many movies.
But could this be an alternate universe?
(23:20):
Wow.
Did you really just ask me that?
All right,
show the man some respect.
You're defending him because you're paid to,
your job is to be paid to defend people who are usually wrong.
Hey,
yeah,
you're really friends with this guy at Tricia,
right?
Think about what you just said out loud.
Parallel universes.
You told me to explore all options due diligence.
(23:41):
I'm applying it,
Levi,
is it possible?
That's the stuff of science fiction.
You're talking about the idea that each decision we make iterates and features a new reality.
I don't know,
like the new Star Treks being in a different universe,
right?
This all depends on who you ask.
There are professionals who will say whatever a documentary or show wants them to say to get some TV,
air time because bigger name,
(24:02):
more money for real work and which science geek doesn't want to be popular.
Who's the one who went on a reality TV show again?
Yikes,
I guess I deserve that.
So you'll get someone to throw some catchy,
sciencey phrases out at you just because it gets notice for the stuff they're working on.
Scientists use documentaries like influencers use Instagram.
(24:24):
So you're saying it's not possible.
Parallel universes are a possibility but the idea of there being infinite universes that mirror our own is preposterous a universe where the major difference is that a company is called green apron,
instead of red apron is ridiculous.
Basically,
the amount of energy pre Big Bang that would be able to support it if the time in the inflationary period was infinite.
(24:45):
But the amount of universes that could be created outranked ba basically the amount of space.
Look,
I'm a lawyer.
I'm paid to learn a lot of big pointless words that only I understand.
What are you saying?
If a parallel universe was created off the decision to wear that ugly tie you're wearing or to wear a bow tie,
(25:05):
the amount of energy is there to do it but not the space.
Think of too much air in a balloon.
We can blow as much air into it as it takes.
But there's only so much balloon before it bursts.
Holy crap.
Is the universe going to pop?
My podcast is gonna end the world.
Yeah,
I always figured.
No,
I'm saying it wouldn't have happened in the first place.
(25:27):
It's just not possible.
There is a possibility that there are other universes but they wouldn't resemble ours.
Their laws of physics might work completely differently.
But this is so far out of the realm of observation,
we're basically cavemen,
still looking at the stars and making up stories to explain what they could be.
So my mystery episode is not from a parallel universe.
(25:48):
I won't say no.
Although I would say the chances of that being the case are beyond miniscule.
What we really need to talk about is how are you going to explain to my wife that you called my tie ugly Levi got off the call shortly after that.
(26:14):
I've had encounters,
I guess,
go smoother but I've had encounters go rougher.
But Beanie wanted to have a quick word ray as well.
Not technically your legal adviser.
You should drop this whole thing.
You know,
you're the second person to tell me that.
(26:34):
Then it's for good reason.
Look,
whatever this is,
it isn't good.
Worst case scenario,
this is someone who wants to hurt you and poking around is giving them exactly what they want.
Best case scenario.
There really isn't one best case scenario.
I figure out who made this and why is it though?
What do you get from the answers?
(26:56):
It doesn't change anything.
It doesn't change everything you gave up a subsist,
say goodbye to Jennifer everyone.
I'm sure we'll talk to her again.
See you.
Bye guys.
You know,
I feel like the person you're rooting for in the first episode of the season is never the winner.
(27:19):
That's why I didn't pick Jennifer during my predictions.
She's too likable.
Is Mal there.
She better not hear about this crush you got.
I couldn't tell if this different version of me was happier.
It seemed like Mal and I were still and things were still good with sunny.
(27:42):
It could be a presentation.
There are tons of people that seem happy but aren't,
is it strange that I'm hoping this other me is secretly miserable,
miserable?
(28:04):
Please leave your message.
Hey,
had an audio file.
Friend of mine.
Look at the audio.
It's genuine human vocals.
Nothing machine generated there.
Like I said,
good prank.
You actually uh at me wanting to believe in parallel realities.
End of message to delete this message press seven to message deleted.
(28:35):
OK.
So what now,
I don't know after I gave you back the hard drive,
did you get it checked out?
Maybe someone's doing something and dumping weird files.
Yeah.
Right.
I took it into my maintenance guy.
There's nothing wrong with the drive.
There's no secret back door or anything that's movie stuff.
Ok?
I'm just asking because I don't have any more ideas.
We called Curtis and Sonny.
(28:55):
We can't find Jennifer Whitler.
My old guests think I'm crazy.
Our new guest think I'm crazier.
It's not science,
not science fiction,
it's not poisonous gas or a brain tumor and apparently it's not fake.
It's really me.
I just don't understand what this is.
Have you thought about what Kendra said?
Yeah,
I didn't make it sound like she won a really long time ago.
(29:16):
I meant I know what you meant.
I've considered deleting it,
but every time I do,
I just can't,
I need to know what's going on,
don't you?
Honestly?
No.
What happens if we delete it?
We go back to our normal lives,
cancel this podcast and hang out sometime and talk about something like anything but subsist.
(29:40):
You're right.
Ok.
Let's wait until tonight.
If nothing happens,
we delete it.
If we don't hear back from Sonny or Curtis or Jennifer,
we just delete the damn thing and forget about it.
Ok.
Sounds like a deal.
Pizza's on me to celebrate.
(30:06):
Honestly,
it was refreshing Trisha was right.
This is ridiculous.
All this was,
was me attempting to hold on a subsist.
It was my life for so long and my life has been quieter without it.
This was just me trying to hold on to something that I should have let go a long time ago,
something that I should have.
(30:34):
I just think with a new twist and the new rules,
it's gonna be a lot harder to see a player like Jennifer win again.
The show wants challenge Beasts to win.
You know,
Curtis has been angling for this for years.
I don't know.
I don't think so.
I think they're just trying to change with the times TV.
And everything moves so fast.
Now,
if subsist doesn't amp everything up,
it'll get left behind Animal Farm throws in new twists all the time.
(30:58):
The Great crusade,
they got some passport roulette thing going on.
Now.
I know I just missed the old subsist when it was slower,
more character based what do you think?
You think it's still as good as it used to be?
Objectively.
Ray is subsist of the same quality now as it was even 10 years ago.
Obviously not.
(31:19):
I don't know,
it's good still though I really like watching and I'm not just saying that because I podcast about it.
I know it sounds lame but I love watching it with Mal on Wednesday nights and then talking to fans before we record and then we get to hang out.
Damn,
you are so dead now.
You need a pair of kids to go with that.
(31:40):
I'm just saying,
I love my job.
How many people get to watch TV,
with their wife and then talk about it with their best friend and get paid for it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a pretty good gig.
I'll give you that.
Now.
Who's the dad or do I say daddy?
Oh,
dude.
(32:00):
All right.
What do you think?
What is this?
I don't know.
I just found it on the drive.
It wasn't there the last night we listened to it.
Yeah.
Look,
Ray pause.
I'm not getting into this with you right now.
I don't care about this mystery episode and your new show.
Why did you even call back?
(32:20):
Are you recording?
Are you completely delusional?
I know you don't want this recorded.
Turn it off.
I can turn it off.
But this is for the show.
We need to figure this out,
dude.
No,
we need to talk about.
The Sonny wasn't here to answer questions about the podcast.
(32:45):
He didn't even care.
He just called to settle business from Ray owns the internet and that's sunny for you.
So,
my former best friend wants nothing to do with me except cash.
You think a million is a lot of money.
But after tax and after the investments and after the leeches,
it really isn't all that much.
(33:06):
Uh,
it's hard doing this without him.
We did almost every episode together back on Ray owns the internet.
We were business partners and now it's hard hearing someone you respect,
look past you right at your bank account.
(33:30):
You doing?
Ok.
Got pretty intense back there.
Yeah,
I'm fine.
Sunny's been antagonistic for a couple of years now.
Is,
is what he said off the air.
True.
Did you?
No,
there's obviously a lot more aspects to it.
He's simplifying the situation to make me sound like the bad guy.
(33:51):
That's what he does.
He turns every situation into him versus the world.
All right.
I trust you.
Uh Do you,
um should we do what we discussed earlier?
Deleting it?
Yeah.
Uh I can't believe we're letting this one go.
What a damn waste of time,
(34:14):
but there's nothing else to do.
I mean,
it's not like Curtis Lowe has returned any of my calls,
not even for the past five years you've called since subsist got canceled.
I thought you only called him.
Right.
When it got pulled.
No,
no,
no,
that's not what I meant.
I mean,
yeah,
I did call him since the show ended,
but that was just to see what was up with it,
getting canceled.
You're making it sound like I obsessively called him or something.
(34:36):
That's not what I said.
And you're not taking that tone with me.
I'm sorry,
I'm sorry,
you're right.
I just,
I'm tired and frustrated and it's,
it's not right to take it out on you.
Apology,
accepted.
So,
let's delete this stupid thing and get out of here.
Yeah.
Well,
(34:58):
we're relegated to the pile of unsolved mysteries and that's ok.
That's life.
There are always questions that we won't be able to answer.
All right,
pulling it up on the drive.
Now,
I know it's gonna keep me up at night for a while,
but I'll move on and it'll be something I remember from time to time.
But the details become fuzzy and I won't remember why I couldn't solve it,
(35:18):
but it won't matter.
I guess that's it for subsist.
A real podcast.
Thanks for listening.
I'll tell you where you can subscribe,
but I don't think there's gonna be a,
what is it gone?
Finally?
Just delete it.
Rey.
Shut up.
Here's another one.
What?
Listen to me.
There's a new file.
I don't know where it came from.
(35:40):
Do you want me to delete this one too?
Now where it had to come from somewhere?
Where did it come from.
I don't know,
I just opened the drive,
went to the folder where the original was and there's this new one.
Well,
what's it titled?
It just says 513,
5 slash 13.
Yeah.
Is it a date May 13th?
(36:01):
That must be it.
No year,
no,
there's no year.
Get info marks.
Today is the original date on it.
We have 10 weeks before May 13th.
Right.
Hold on.
We decided on deleting this stuff that was before a new file dropped out of nowhere.
We can't delete it now.
Rey,
I feel like we're at the door to something bad and we can close the door.
(36:24):
Let's just delete it and move on.
This is starting to creep me out.
Trisha.
I have to know what if it was your voice on that last one.
I worked on that podcast too.
Someone is messing with my work re it wasn't just your show.
I'm the one who played,
I'm the one who hosted and it's my voice on the recording and end up in my drive.
You don't get final say on this.
(36:45):
I have to know what's on this new file.
So,
play it,
Ray,
you're stepping through the door,
play it,
Ray Trisha,
play it.
(37:14):
Do you think you can get away with this after everything you put me through after everything I went through to be here?
Do you think you can just take me out?
No,
no,
I'm not gonna let you.
It was my decision to send the file.
I was the one who clicked upload.
Not you,
even though you tempted me with some sister,
it was my choice.
And I won't let you change my story anymore.
You don't get to in my life.
(37:36):
Mhm.
Another paper.
Ray.
Are you?
Ok.
What was that?
(37:57):
I don't know.
That's,
have you ever said anything like that before?
Is this from something?
You know,
I've never said any of that stuff before.
I,
I,
I'm,
I'm talking about editing my past or my life and I sent the file.
Did,
I mean,
this file was,
was added on the recording.
Is there more?
I know that that was the end of the recording?
(38:17):
Who was I talking to file?
They don't get to change my story anymore or edit my life.
It sounds like someone's,
it sounds like you're accusing someone of changing you.
And at the end it sounded like I die on May 13th,
I die.
(38:54):
Subsist.
A real podcast will return in two weeks.
Continue the investigation on Patreon with exclusive bonus episodes and more links in the show notes.
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