537-Victoria Scott Returns!!!
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
72:22
Car
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is a sporty car made by Porsche. It's designed for people who love driving fast and offers great performance on the road and track.
Car
Ford Gt
The Ford GT is a fast sports car made by Ford. It's designed for racing and has a unique look that many people admire.
Car
Toyota Supra
The Toyota Supra is a popular sports car known for being fast and fun to drive. Many people love it for its powerful engine and ability to be customized for racing or drifting.
Term
drifting
Drifting is when a driver makes a car slide sideways while still controlling it. It's a popular style of driving in racing and car shows because it looks really cool.
Car
Mazda Miata
Concept
autocross
Autocross is a type of car racing where you drive through a course marked by cones. It's usually done in a big parking lot, and the goal is to complete the course as fast as you can without hitting any cones.
Car
Jeep Cherokee
The Jeep Cherokee XJ is a type of SUV that was made for many years and is popular for off-roading. People like it because it's tough and can handle rough terrain well.
Concept
used car market
The used car market is where people buy and sell cars that have been owned before. It can change a lot based on how many people want to buy cars and how much money they have.
Car
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 is a sporty car made by Porsche in the 1980s and early 1990s. It's loved for how well it handles on the road.
Car
Honda Prelude
The Honda Prelude is a sporty car that Honda made from the late 1970s until 2001. It's known for being fun to drive and has a stylish look.
Car
Honda Integra
The Honda Integra is a small car made by Honda that was popular from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. It's known for being sporty and fun to drive.
Term
three row SUV
A three-row SUV is a type of car that has three sets of seats, which means it can carry more people. They're great for families or anyone who needs extra room for passengers.
Car
Cadillac Celestiq
The Cadillac Celestique is a new luxury electric car that looks very stylish and is designed to be unique. It's part of Cadillac's effort to bring back its reputation for high-quality, luxurious vehicles.
Car
Chevrolet Blazer EV
The Chevrolet Blazer EV is a new electric SUV from Chevrolet. It's designed to be eco-friendly and has advanced features, making it a part of the trend towards electric cars.
Car
BMW M2
The BMW M2 is a sporty car that’s really fast and fun to drive. It’s designed for people who love driving and want a car that performs well on the road.
Car
Lexus LS
The Lexus LS is a high-end luxury car that offers a very comfortable ride and lots of features. It's known for being reliable and is often considered one of the best luxury sedans.
Car
Toyota 4Runner
The Toyota 4Runner is a tough SUV that can handle rough terrains. It's great for people who like to go off-roading or need a sturdy vehicle for everyday driving.
Car
Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a large, luxurious SUV that can go anywhere. It's known for being very reliable and is often used for off-roading.
Car
Lexus LX
The Lexus LX is a fancy SUV that is built for both comfort and tough terrains. It's like a luxury version of the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Car
Dodge Viper
The Dodge Viper is a fast sports car made by Dodge. It has a very powerful engine and is known for being exciting to drive.
Car
Dodge SRT-10 RAM
The Dodge SRT-10 RAM is a super fast pickup truck made by Dodge. It has a really strong engine and is built for performance.
Car
Dodge Durango
The Dodge Durango is a family SUV made by Dodge. It's larger and can carry more people and stuff compared to regular cars.
Concept
Daimler Chrysler
Daimler Chrysler was a company formed when a German car maker and an American car maker joined together. They tried to make better cars but eventually separated again.
Car
Chrysler PT Cruiser
The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a small car with a distinctive old-fashioned look. It’s known for being practical, but some people think it doesn’t drive as well as other cars.
Car
Ford Taurus
The Ford Taurus SHO is a sportier version of the regular Taurus sedan, designed to be faster and more fun to drive. It was made in the early 1990s and is remembered for its powerful engine.
Car
Ford Lightning
The Ford Lightning is a fast version of the Ford F-150 truck, made for people who want a pickup that can also go really fast. It was popular in the 1990s.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a famous sports car that has been around for many years. It's known for being fast and stylish, and many people love to drive it.
Car
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a tough SUV that can handle rough terrain and is great for outdoor adventures. It has a classic design and is popular with people who like to go off-roading or need a strong vehicle.
Car
Porsche Panamera
The Porsche Panamera is a fancy car that looks like a sports car but has four doors, making it more practical for families. It's known for being fast and comfortable at the same time.
Car
Tesla Model
The Tesla Model Y is an electric SUV that doesn’t use gas and is known for being very efficient and high-tech. It has a lot of space inside, making it a good choice for families or anyone who needs extra room.
Car
Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is a popular electric car known for being fast and having a long battery life. The dual motor version means it has two motors for better traction and performance.
Car
Audi Rs3
The Audi RS 3 is a super-fast version of a small car that’s designed for people who love speed. It has a lot of advanced features and is great for both daily driving and racing.
Car
Audi S3
The Audi S3 is a small luxury car that’s fast and fun to drive. It has nice features inside and is a good choice for people who want a stylish car that performs well.
Car
Audi R8
The Audi R8 is a high-end sports car that looks amazing and goes really fast. It’s designed for people who want a thrilling driving experience and appreciate luxury features.
Car
Jeep Grand Cherokee
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a large SUV that can drive on tough roads and is also comfortable for daily use. It’s a good choice if you want a vehicle that can handle both city driving and outdoor adventures.
Car
Subaru Outback
The Subaru Outback is a versatile car that can handle both city streets and rough trails. It has all-wheel drive, which helps it drive well in bad weather or on uneven roads.
Car
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry is a popular car that’s known for being dependable and good on gas. It’s a comfortable sedan that many people choose for everyday driving because it lasts a long time.
Car
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a roomy car that’s known for being reliable and easy to drive. It’s a good choice for families or anyone who needs a comfortable car for daily use.
LIVE
In J Victoria, hello, Victoria, I want to start off like we start off most episodes with an
apology. I want to apologize for ruining whatever your audio setup is for the next time you record
because goddamn it, computer audio, Windows audio, even I'm on a Mac, even Mac stuff, it's just so
goddamn perplexing. So I apologize in advance for screwing up your next podcast, which I know is
going to be fantastic, but delayed half an hour when you troubleshoot. Sorry about that.
No, it's probably my end, honestly. I still haven't quite figured it out yet. I'm using
sandbags to hold the base of my microphone down to the desk so it doesn't fall directly into my
lap. So, you know, I am not a professional by any means. It's not stupid if it works.
I mean, you'll notice like I'm never framed with a microphone, and that's 100% because I talk
with my hands all the time. And if I have a microphone here, it'll just be clunk, clunk, clunk
will be half the podcast. When I went on, when I went on Matt Farah's show, he's got like an
actual studio and the microphone's right in front of you. And he's got a big table and he's like,
don't hit the table because it transmits all the sound of the microphone. And I like,
five minutes into the episode was like, and dude, and I slammed down on the table and he looked
at me a little bit and I was like, sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It's I'm half Greek,
you know, comes to the territory. Yeah. Yeah. Italian. Yeah. Same thing. Right.
I legitimately winced one time when I was in a work meeting sitting next to an Italian lady when
she was getting pretty heated about a topic. Like I thought I thought one was coming for the ginger
man. Like diving, diving and weaving. Yeah. So folks saw you on the Farah podcast. Tell us what
the Farah podcast experience was like. Oh, it's really cool. Yeah. I had a really good time. He's
again, like one of one of the coolest ambassadors for car culture we could ask for. He continually,
like obviously he likes like a different class of vehicle than I think is kind of what I gravitate
towards. But he does so from a perspective that is very well grounded. And he like, let me talk
about my book for a solid 45 minutes on his show and expose his entire, you know, kind of
relatively normy sort of like car enthusiast audience to this like big trans lookbook project
I had worked on. So no, I mean, he's also like a huge advocate for transit and like walkable
cities and biking. And so it's like, it was, we had a really good time. We get in, we have a lot,
like in common, as far as viewpoint and how we like view automotive culture and its place in
society. And so we get along great. That's it. That's awesome. And speaking of the lookbook,
Oh, thank you. Yeah. So thank you very much because this is autographed by you.
Fantastic. Thank you. And we gave one away when we did a live 500th episode as a prize for,
you know, some of the silly games that we play. So I would highly recommend that people pick this
up and more importantly, share it with others because it's a fantastic book. Yeah, it's called
We Deserve This. And yeah, it's great. It's great. Thank you. Incredible photography, wonderful
stories. Yeah, we talked about it a bunch on your last episode with us. And yeah, so thank you very
much for that. That's awesome. Yeah, of course. Thank you. Yeah. Well, and now you have a new project.
A podcast, a new car podcast with probably the greatest podcast title.
I am so mad at you for this title. Have you ever, I talk about this every now and then,
have you ever heard something that's so good you go from straight past impressed or laughing to being
mad at how good it is? That's how good the title of your show is.
I was like, Dave, we could probably steal that, right? That would be fine. We would get in trouble
for that. No, yes. But the podcast is called Tran Girl Eastmo. Yes. God damn it. God damn it.
I actually went to the trouble of replicating the font. It's mostly Helvetica, but it is a
little modified. So I did that because I was like, I, you know, I worked in the auto industry for a
while and I stopped doing so probably like February of last year. This is about a year ago,
as of this recording. And I expected to do freelancing and then maybe just go get a regular
job, right? Like I worked in the auto industry. I kind of burned out on the travel and some aspects
of the career. And so I was like, okay, I'll just go work as like a barista or whatever for a bit.
And then the tariffs hit and the economy collapsed. And so I've spent the last year or so like
pretty underemployed. I haven't been completely unemployed. I'm, I also guessed on like, well,
there's your problem. I have a couple of freelance pieces. I've got a Patreon, but it's definitely
not enough to like fulfill what I wish I was getting out of like my daily creativity. And it
certainly isn't enough to pay rent. So I was like, I'm going to put a lot of effort into this because
I'm bored anyway. So I threw together this design and people really seemed to like it,
which surprised me. It's fantastic. And also it's your photo, right? Of the Sarah? Yes.
Six, oh my God, seven years ago, Jesus, it's got to stop. Time has got to chill out. I can't
keep doing this. Seven years ago, long before COVID in the Halcyon days of the first Trump
presidency, I, when I did, I did my first Radwood event. It was Radwood Austin 2019. And there was
this studio in Austin, Texas, where they had like a big, like just a huge, like nice like wall with
the, it was drywall that was molded into the floor, basically. It was a seamless stage thing.
And they were like, Oh, well, you want to do some shoots after the show here? And I was like,
sure. And so like a couple, like a dozen people or so came through. And this Sarah was one of them.
And I had the picture sitting around. I was like, yeah, you know, it felt kind of like the GT4
clamshell rear on the Ford GT, but like a goofier, like friendlier car. And I was like, people will
like that. And it also like filled out a lot of the blank spaces. Like, yeah, that's fine. Again,
kind of just like making decisions where I was like, yeah, five people will see this. It doesn't
matter. Well, it looks fantastic. Well, and now at least three more people have seen it.
Yeah, we also, I mean, the initial announcement for it got much bigger than I expected. I will not
lie. It was, it was a response was very overwhelming. And I'm very thankful, but it was also very
surprising. Well, congratulations. Well deserved. Thank you. I will say I did listen to the first
episode and I really liked it. I do have one question though, I wrote some notes and my first
question is I just wish like having, you know, if I had like one piece of construction feedback,
like I listened to the whole thing and I'm like, I just wish I knew what these two people thought
about Donald Trump. Yeah, I would not characterize myself as the biggest fan of him.
Yeah, I think a lot of it for me, it was just like I, I know I've never really been able to exist
in a vacuum kind of where like politics is the thing that happens outside. And then like my
interests happen somewhere else. I've always kind of, because of who I am, it's always kind of been
politics affects my life pretty directly. But also like politics now affects everybody's life
directly, whether they want to admit it or not. And I think a lot of people are recognizing that,
you know, as enthusiasts, our industry, the kind of the lifeblood of auto enthusiasm is being
toyed with both on like an income equality level that is destroying kind of like the lower end of
the sort of used car market and reliable parts and like cheap tools and cheap space to work on
your car, all of these things. And then also at like the top end of things, you know, new cars
nowadays, there's a reason everything's a crossover. And it's because like we've reached a point where
boomers and you know, the top 10, 15% of Americans dictate most of what the new effort goes into for
modern cars because they're the ones who's driving all the spending in the US economy. So
like the auto industry has always been kind of reflective of American culture very intensely
because it's a major purchase for a lot of people is some people, it's the biggest thing they ever
buy. Some people, it's the second biggest next to their house. They are usable consumer objects.
So they have to update every so often, they can't stagnate. And so they both drive culture and they
sort of reflect it. And I think that has continued. And I think it's now just very obvious that like
it's reflecting some very negative parts of sort of modern US culture, especially from like an
enthusiast angle. So it's that that that was part of why we wanted to do it, because like I feel
like there's this siloing of like, oh, you can't talk about politics if you want to have a hobby
podcast or whatever. And we're like, no. Right. Well, and I think I think the the holding up a
mirror to American college culture, like that was one thing that I actually wrote down while I was
listening to your show, because that that really resonated with me. And I think it also ties into
like the whole, you know, cars getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and people not seeing their
fates tied to each other anymore, right? Yeah, they exist as an island. And they're not part
of a larger society or whatever. I think that's a real strong, that's a real strong argument for
cars are a mirror, right? When you see the hood height of like six feet on a, yeah, on a truck,
you know, sorry. No problem. Yeah. I mean, the first article I ever wrote in my like professional
career, that was, I had quit my job at NASA, and I was like, I'm going to do this full time. The
first byline I ever had was on Jalopnik. The first article I ever wrote was the
I think it was a culture war on American roads or something like that. But it was about like
pickup truck hood height and kind of like the the sort of arms race, a cultural arms race,
that's what it was called. Yeah. But it was kind of like the, you know, I can't see out of my car
in traffic anymore, I need to buy a bigger car. And then you kind of get into this negative
feedback loop where like, you know, yeah, if you if you own like a small old car, if you're
driving a Miata around, you literally cannot see anywhere, you can't take a right turn ever again,
because you'll never see over the hood of the pickup truck next to you. And this is very apparent
to me when I was living in Texas, which is when I wrote that article. And it just feels like it's
gotten worse. Yeah, I think that there was a, there was a piece of it where not only are you
holding up the mirror to the culture and that kind of that cycle, that negative feedback loop
or that like, that like Simpsons asked, like, we brought in a bear to kill the mountain lion thing
that it happens with culture. But on top of that, you as the author, I felt we're in a really
difficult position. And we wanted to talk to you about this, because I think that
when you expose those kinds of things, unfortunately, the thing that you hear back is
like, is either like, nope, or like, sure, but we don't care, we're just going to keep
buying trucks with hoods where you can't see anything. Right. And so to have your hobby
associated with something that like, that you love so much is puts us in very difficult places
as automotive enthusiasts. Right. Yeah. Well, there's a couple parts of it. Like part of it is like,
American culture in general has this like rugged individualistic myth that sort of undergirds
everything. And car culture absolutely feeds into that sometimes. I mean, that's part of what they
want to sell you. Right. I mean, post COVID especially, the number of car companies that
have pivoted to making wilderness adventure outback, you know, yeah, rugged trail sport,
whatever, you know, there, this has been this huge proliferation of sort of off the grid,
rugged campers. And part of it, I think, is because our infrastructure is failing and the
roads are terrible. People would like something that is sprung soft instead of like sports sprung.
And maybe a little sidewall would be nice. And that's actually a pretty reasonable takeaway
from like looking at the roads as they sit today in America. But also part of it, I think,
is selling the image of like, you can survive this on your own if you are pragmatic enough,
if you plan well enough. And that was what I wrote with like the cultural arms race. And
that's kind of what I think has intensified since then, because we have abandoned any idea of like
societal obligation to one another. I think as you've, you know, kind of getting at before is
we are now like, no, we can just all individually take care of ourselves. And if you can't,
that's too bad, you know, that's, that's up to you. That's, that's weakness on your part. And
since we have now fully leaned into Darwinism as a, you know, collective ideology, you know,
you can make up for the failings of society or the roads or infrastructure with your car choice
instead of like anybody deciding, hey, maybe we should legislate hood heights back down a little
bit or maybe everybody doesn't need a full-size pickup truck. Right. Yeah. Maybe taxes for road
repair, infrastructure repair, public transportation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That would be nice. I don't
know. I think self-driving cars are going to solve everything. So I think we're going to be fine.
I mean, the thing is, it's like, I, oh my God,
really? Since the last time, you know, I've been, it's on here. I think I've, you know,
I moved to Seattle and I've gotten much more involved in like urbanist politics and I've
only gone more insane. Yeah. Well, I mean, now I will say, you know, in the last probably three,
four months, I have a new hobby, which is just fucking with Waymos. It's my favorite,
it's my favorite thing to do. I'm like a really good attentive driver, except for when I'm in
front of a Waymos. You can just cut those things off, man. Oh, it's so much fun.
It's like that old Farside cartoon of like the crocodile or whatever at the therapist's office.
They're like, you know those little birds? I've just been eating those things like popcorn.
Waymos? Yeah. That's the best. What else? I also wrote down one thing that I've been
thinking about a lot, which is a thing that you guys talked about like right in the beginning
of the show, which was sort of the idea of like falling out of love with something that you would
fall in love with. And I've been thinking about it a lot because I work in tech and I don't know
if you've been watching the news lately, but not so great on that front. We're not the good guys
anymore and probably never work, but that's a whole other thing. Anyway, because I did at one time
kind of believe the idea of like connecting people together was like a good thing to do.
Yeah, that's the answer. That was part of the answer to a lot of things. Obviously,
we kind of fucked that up. But I think to our early point, there is something to
getting into a car and driving out to the woods and escaping the city. That's not nothing.
So it hurts more when it's still not nothing and you have to fall out of love with it, right?
Yeah. Well, the way that you and Jordan spoke of it, just that
you could just feel like it was a tangible thing that you can touch that comes through
your first episode. Yeah, I don't know. There's a very... This is the stuff that you bring to
things like you just really can... I don't know. It just really resonated.
Thank you. I think part of it is because it was so intensely painful to both of your points.
For me, my first car, I bought a Toyota Supra when I was 20. It was the one I talked about
drifting in pit race back when I was in my drift dirt bag days, way before I ever came out.
And it represented... That was the first schism I ever had with what my parents wanted for me,
was I bought this car. Because they were like, go get a job, make a bunch of money because we've
made you get a tech degree because I have my degrees in computer science. Go make a bunch of
money with your tech job in five to 10 years, then you can buy yourself a nice reasonable Miata
sports car or whatever. And I was 20, not even at a college yet. I saw this thing pop up on
Craigslist and I was like, that's mine. I put it in their driveway and I was like, go ahead,
kick me out. I save up enough money that I can move out right now and you'll never see me again.
And I called their bluff and I won. It was the first time in my entire life I'd ever done that.
And then I moved out. I taught myself how to wrench on it. I got in with my friends I used to
drift with. I moved to Texas in it. I learned how to autocross and I made an entire friend
network out of people with this car. And then when I came out, I started doing so kind of
playing with self image through the concept of this vehicle. So it was like a very deeply
personal thing for me. And part of how I could do that was because I was making it okay enough
money that I wasn't really worried about day to day. Like I never worried about food or rent,
which is something I can really say anymore. But I never really worried about like the
bottom period part of the Maslow's pyramid. And so I could kind of like not feel bad about
spending a little bit extra money and modifying this like really cheap car because it was sort
of a thing to play around with. It was just kind of an area in which I explored myself and like
my interests. And you know, realizing that is no longer really a venue for me to do that,
especially now where I'm trying to like kind of reinvent myself as I go into my 30s,
as we go into a completely different reality than even the one I had been living in. I mean,
I've been pretty bleak about kind of America and its prospects for a while. But this is still
like outside of the bounds of what I thought I would experience in my early 30s. And so like it
would be cool to have a car now and get to constructively sort of play with what I wanted
to do with it, what kind of adventures I wanted to take. And I can't do that anymore. And so it
is kind of like, I joke about it and I kind of have reckoned with it a bit over the past like
year or so, especially since having left the industry and kind of getting more distance and
being able to kind of compartmentalize it on my own terms instead of like flying out to some other
city to drive a brand new car and be like, damn, must be cool. But it still sucks. I still like,
if the podcast does well, I'm buying a Jeep Cherokee XJ for myself. Genuinely, that's like on the
list. Yes, it's good. Yeah, that's what you should do. I think that there's a factor to it that like
that it hurts on a personal level, but also knowing being an empathetic person and someone that has
their mind extend beyond themselves, you're recognizing that, oh, if I don't have this
opportunity anymore to learn who I am and to express myself through a car through this hobby,
then that means there's other people that are in the same position that are not getting to do that
either. Yeah, well, that's a tough freaking pill to swallow. I mean, Jordan's in the same boat.
I mean, part of the reason that it was easy to start making the show and talk about what we did
was just because I know so many people who are in the same boat. I mean, we have a queer kind of car
club in Seattle that I know some people in and they seem to have fun with it. But even looking at
Radwood versus five, six, seven years ago, it has changed drastically. Like for one, it got sold
to an organization who makes money off of the thing that they are like celebrating. So that
changes kind of the underlying structure massively, which I understand, get the bag. I don't knock
that at all. But it does change the tenor of the event. And then just the makeup of people there,
like so many people did, again, that top 10, 15% of the economy did so incredibly well during COVID.
The entire used car market drastically changed. And now five, six, seven years later, it's never
recovered. And so the the Beater 944s, the Beater Namiatas, the Beater Mark III Supras,
the old Preludes, I mean, like if you see an Integra base model of any era for under $5,000
now, it's a steal. It's like, wow, you should get that today. And it's like, I don't, I mean,
I know a handful of people who have done a little bit better for themselves, but by and large, I
don't know anybody who's more comfortable, more secure, feels like they've done better in the past
five to seven years, since when I was really kind of like discovering myself in the automotive scene.
And so it's like, it I, you know, that's part of what allows me to like talk about it more,
I think, is it's, I know it's a shared pain, you know, and I think it's all, you know,
it kind of goes along with everything else. I doubt either of you thought that you'd be
dealing with kind of this set of issues we currently are facing now, you know?
No, yeah, absolutely.
I, I don't know, I wish that I could say I was surprised by a lot of things, right? Like,
you know, but yeah, right? I genuinely am. Also, I, you know, since having Ian as my
dear, dear, super close, amazing friend, he has imparted his philosophy on to me, whether
he realizes it or not, but everything is just going to continue getting shittier.
And so thank you, Ian, for proselytizing. Yeah, but I mean, I like, there's a difference between,
I think, being unsurprised and prepared. And I'm unsurprised, I think, at where we've ended up,
but I would definitely not prepared for it, you know. Well, I think part of it too is I fully
admit, I expected to be here, I expected to be here two or three years from now. The speed of it
is continually astounding to me. It's a combination of the speed of it and the inertia that the
systems continue to have. You know, I mean, like, if you want to look at like an automotive case,
I suppose, we could look at Tesla, which continues to astound me as a car company, because that is
institutional inertia at its finest. And I'm continually ast... I'm like, the bottom is
going to fall out of this at any moment, because it can't continue to be a mean stock to a trillion
dollars, right? Like, it's got to stop. It's got to stop, and it never stops. They just keep selling
wise. I don't get it. They're not even good. They don't have a new car. I don't even have anything
in the pipeline. I mean, sure, they have the roadster coming, but it's not, right? Like, it's
fake. No, they're going to build a million Optimus robots a year now. That's what they're
retooling the Fremont plant where they just where they stopped making the S and X. They're
retooling it to make a million robots a year. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. The speed of it, it's the
speed of it. The other thing that I've been thinking about a lot too is that like, I always kind
of imagined, I mean, this is me, I'm going to own my naivete here. I kind of always pictured
when this happened that we would all just kind of drop everything else and be like, okay, well,
this is what we're doing now. But it turns out that like, I still have to get my kids to school.
And like, my job still expects me to do things. Yeah. That was, I think, what I was most unprepared
for was that all the other shit just kept going too. When I quit writing last year,
it was this feeling that I couldn't deal with. It just, I mean, like it hit me a little earlier
because like, I think I was like, oh, God, this is going to get so bad so fast. And also, I mean,
I was, there's personal impact, right? Like a lot of the initial stuff was against trans people. And
I was just like, this is I, I was inhabiting two separate realities. There's the one in which I
was going to fly to a very nice hotel and I was going to drive around $150,000 SUV and I was going
to review it like it was a reasonable rational consumer object that you should spend your money on.
And then there was the other reality where I've never met anybody who's ever owned a car that
costs that much is at least certainly not like an SUV. If they're spending 150 grand in a car,
it's like they went to bring a trailer and picked some weird shit. That's my friend group, right?
Yes. And, you know, they had just like announced that they were going to, you know,
strip a bunch of healthcare from people or use it to weaponize the Department of Justice to go
after like trans parents or trans kids or rescind a bunch of protections dating back to like even
the Obama era for like trans people in prison or whatever. And it was like, this is, I couldn't,
I am mentally ill in the kind of way where I struggle to kind of reconcile two very distinct
realities. I think it makes me probably slightly more effective as a writer, but much, much worse
at like actually getting through like living in America, unfortunately. And so I was like, well,
I'm going to pick the one of these that I have to live in, which is I'm a trans person. I have
solidared with the trans people. I can't tell people by $150,000 SUVs that it's worth it because
I'm just going to lose my mind. So that was part of why I was like, I'll go be a barista.
Making coffee isn't, that's a normal thing to do. People will always get coffee.
We could be, we could be a war and people would still be going to coffee shops, you know? And so
like that's easier for me to reconcile than trying to like gas people up for their luxury SUV choices,
you know? Right, right. And not to say that you were part of this because you were definitely
not part of it. But I think that there's so much associated with kind of like that
underlying like Judeo-Christian prosperity, gospels nonsense. And like you would never,
like the fact that you felt internal conflict over something like that speaks,
like speaks to how you cannot just separate things and just be like, well, cars are just cars
and politics are politics. So I'm going to have cars over here and everybody's cool, right?
Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I did grapple with my role in the auto industry as somebody who like
doesn't like when pedestrians get killed, somebody who does think that, you know,
the greenhouse effect is real and people make it worse, which is a controversial statement.
Like it was when I was five and then stopped after that for a bit and now we're back to it.
Right. And so, you know, a lot of my journalism and especially towards the end of things was like,
I tried to talk about those things as much as possible. But still, I always grappled with like,
yeah, you know, I think that this large three row SUV with a hood height that goes up to my neck
is a good choice for you. I was like, I don't like, on one hand, as an automotive journalist,
you look at this and you're like, well, in its market segment against other SUVs that have three
rows and go up to my neck, it is actually a good choice. You know, looking at if the average car
costs $50,000, a car that costs 150 isn't that crazy. It's just a luxury car. And it's like,
there's a rationality imbued upon it. And if you look at it from the other side of things,
you're like, Oh my God, what am I doing? Yes. Yeah. So yeah, I don't know. I mean,
that that was definitely like something that kind of hit me a lot towards the end of stuff. And I've
been trying to spend most of the past year trying to figure out how to like, get better at balancing
the Oh my God, everything's on fire with I do need to still pay rent. And who knows, maybe I'll
get there. I should clarify also, I don't see this as like a strength of mine or anything that
makes me morally better. I think it is genuinely just like, I just have a hard time with the way
my brain is wired, reconciling these things. It's definitely not I'm not imparting like a moral
character. No, you're not coming off that way. I just want to make sure. No, I feel like as a
ADHD haver that having the red string of a beautiful mind, like Charlie in the mail room,
like mentality is what's happening here, right? Like you, you can't stop seeing these connections.
You're not and you're not saying like, well, this I am better because I can do this that you can't
like there's you're absolutely not coming off like that for sure. No, it is it is pattern
recognition. These are the things that like make you you like happening that yeah, like the same
the same reason that you could dive into a car, like your first super completely learn all of
its systems facets and how everything worked together. This is just the same thing that's
happening at like a political level, a societal level, like you're just looking at the starter of
fascism and you know, the U joint of fucking Nazis and you're like, Oh, no, these things are part of
the same machine, the CV of Italian futurism. Yes, right. Well, and I think, you know, that,
you know, to the extent that people do separate that stuff out, it is you it's either ignorance,
which is its own thing, or it's it is a coping mechanism, right? It is. It's 100% a coping
mechanism. I mean, I know for me, like, I definitely have things in my life that I'm like,
feel a little bit about, but you got to like, I don't know, you just kind of
Well, ignore it for a little bit. That's like the that's the problem with living under a system
like this is that it just reduces everything down to a series of worst choices. Yes, right. Yes,
you know, there's no like, unless you literally go become a monk or a nun or whatever and go live
out the middle of nowhere, farm a bunch of honey and, you know, grow all your own vegetables.
Right. You're not, you are complicit in the system in some way. There's a,
I can't even reference this on an automotive podcast, so please forgive me. There's a local
author from Portland, Omar Alacad, who wrote one of my favorite books. It's one day everyone
will always have been against this. And it was, it's phenomenal. And a lot of it is about kind of
the post October 7th Israeli incursion into Gaza and sort of like the
destruction of sort of, I think the kind of world order as we previously understood it.
But a lot of it is kind of like what he tries to grapple with in that book is, yes, it's phenomenal.
A lot of what he tries to grapple with in that book is the realization that basically everything
he does is part of this system that continues doing things that he doesn't like, whether it's,
you know, sending bombs out to Israel or whether it's like building the tools of fascism, regardless
who's using them at the moment. And a lot of what he was like is like, there's nothing you can do,
except say you don't like it and try and distance yourself as much as possible, but you're always
going to still interface with these systems because that's just woven into the fabric of like
American life. I mean, like to your point, Ian, with like the tech stuff, like, you know, I got
off Twitter a while ago and I know people are getting off of it now and some people have left it
or whatever, but like lots of people still use Instagram and like meta is obviously evil. And
I mean, I use an iPhone and Apple is obviously evil. And I have to buy stuff on Amazon and
Bezos is obviously evil. And it's like, what are you, they own the whole commons that we live in.
You can't excise this from yourself, you know, from like how you live your life. So
sorry, you can tell I'm heated because my hands are all over the place.
No, I trust me. Yes, I completely, I completely understand and agree with you because like,
especially like the Amazon example, right, where like, even if you never used other people have
written eloquently about this, but like if you never used Amazon itself or anything else,
you're still probably any website you go to, some of it is going to be hosted on AWS or it's going
to be reaching back to a backend service that's on AWS as we saw, like as we see every time
the Eastern region goes down. It's comparable to being like in 1950 being like a super anti-bell
telephone, right? Like you don't have a choice in this. There are utility that happened to be
privatized is kind of how I think a lot of this has ended up working out. So I mean, the auto
industry, like being in the auto industry kind of feels like that sometimes because it's like,
I live in Seattle, I don't have a car, I take the bus everywhere. And the nearest grocery store to me,
the only walkable one that was cheap was owned by Amazon. And they just closed it two days ago
because they decided this isn't making enough money, we're going to close it this week.
So I now live in a grocery desert and I'm like, well, I probably need a car.
And that's with like, and that's me living in a city of 700, 800,000 people in a dense
neighborhood, you know, where the idea of having a car, like it shouldn't be required, but it just
because that is how everything is structured, it probably will be. My life would be so much better
if I had a car, especially if that car was a like 1998 Jeep Cherokee XJ.
What color are we looking for with this section?
Oh, I don't, I honestly just like four liter straight six post facelift.
Don't care about anything else. Like it ideally $4,000 or less.
Most of them are several colors. So one of them will be the one you want.
I want one that is as little brod out as possible.
I want like these, these ones that have like the big lifts and everything. I don't want any of
that. I don't want like, yeah, this is perfect. This is like, holy shit, that looks like my
old neighborhood I used to live in. Damn. Yeah, but like this is perfect teal friendly,
like face. I don't want any angry eyes. I don't want a big bash guard.
I'll weld spikes onto it after the apocalypse, I suppose, but I'll wait until then, right?
Right. I want, I want the faded black plastic. I want the gray plastic.
Yeah. Uh-huh. It should, if I, if I like pulled up to a university, people should be like, oh,
she must teach here. Yes. That's my goal. Yes. Yes. Just expect an NPR tote bag to be seen.
Just like Parker Posey and the Volvo and what was that? Family stone? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like that.
I'm here for it. I'm here for it. So I, this would be a good time to mention that should you
be able to, we highly recommend signing up for your Patreon so that you can get this
Jeep Cherokee because God damn it. That would be cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I am a subscriber.
You should absolutely sign up to the Patreon. Yeah. We haven't even figured out the bonus
episode structure yet. I, I think we're going to try to aim for one a month. I do pictures
and writing there too, but like it's relatively loose. It's mostly like a, if people have a little
extra money and they like what we do, that'd be super cool. But if you don't, I still want to like
make sure people can, you know, enjoy pictures or still listen to the podcast. So it's, it's
a very much an optional thing. Yeah. I think that the way that the creators and folks in the community
that have really resonated with me have found that line of like, hey, if you want to throw me a
to be doing what I'm doing, like I'm not really going to put up any walls for anything. Like,
you can still get stuff. Like, you know, I don't, you know, you don't want people to,
you know, to feel like they're making choices around like what you're doing.
Yeah. I don't want to get people like really bad FOMO if they're like unemployed or whatever. I've
been there for the past year. It's awful. Yeah. So I really appreciate and like that approach. So
that's awesome. Thanks. Your Patreon. So when I subscribed, I got, I think I got,
I got my email yesterday or today. But yeah. So is there a separate Patreon for
Trangirlismo or is it, it's your Patreon? Right now, Jordan and I are working out exactly what
we're going to do in the future, but we're just going to leave it on this Patreon because it's
just perfect, easier. Yes. And I've already got it existing and it's there already people who
subscribe to me and I wanted to make sure they got everything. Yes. Like I, you know, post film
roles and occasional writing or whatever, but like, whenever I make anything that is exclusive
in some way, I give it to the Patreon. So she was cool with me putting it on here. You know,
her goal is to get like a, is it Pentex? Oh, 17, the new one, the new like half frame.
Okay. Yeah. I think it's a Pentex 17, but they, they just released it like last year. It's like
one of the only new film cameras you can buy. That's your like daily carry goal. So like,
that's her thing. I'm like, I, you know, would like to pay rent and then if there's anything
left after rent, then the Jeep. Yes. Help Victoria and Jordan buy a Jeep and a camera and rent
for the love of God. And you're going to get an amazing podcast. I do want to say you need to,
you need to sell some goddamn merch because I want Train Girl Eastmoe on,
I'm working on it. I already reached out to a local printing place because I was like, you know,
I want it to be like shirts that are actually comfortable, but yes, we will, we will work
on that. Yes. Let us know the second that shit goes up. Yeah. It's such a red logo.
So mad at you. So mad at you. Okay. I have one more question about the first episode of the
podcast. Then we're, I promise we'll get to some games, but sure. Okay. So one thing that Jordan
mentioned, and I think you were unsure of what I want to put you on the spot is she mentioned
talking about like separate, like being able to appreciate a car. Yes. Outside of its context at
all. Yes. G and I, the first thing that popped in my head, because I know you're also an aviation
nerd, is the like the SR 71, right? Like it's like the greatest feat of engineering,
and you can appreciate it for that. But obviously it was for the Cold War, which was terrible and
awful. So, but is there anything, is there any car, any, can you name one new car that you're
like, oh, they went and did it. And I like, I like that it exists. I don't like that people are
buying it, but I just like that, that engineering happened. Definitely the Cadillac Celestique.
Okay. I find them stunningly beautiful. Yeah. I think that it is so cool the Cadillacs leading
into kind of this art deco vibe. I think it's really cool for them to actually tie into their
heritage as like the original American luxury manufacturer. I think that it was probably the
most, I mean, it didn't really come out in time for Altium, the concept, but I think it was the
most compelling use of Altium. I struggle with being like, yeah, it's worth $300,000. That's
where I kind of draw the line. But I absolutely would not say no to one. I like if I GM is so
funny because they build simultaneously at the exact same moment in history, some of the best cars
ever built and engineered, and some of the worst cars ever built and engineered. And so the fact
that this and like the Blazer EV were part of the same market strategy is insane to me,
because I was not a Blazer EV fan.
They have a long history of that, of having the last car in the market and the last car in the
market. It's insane. Right. It's like there are other companies that have a painting that's aging
in their attic while they're making good cars. That would be my go to because I think that they
are really kind of opulent. And I think they're a kind of crazy statement piece to make at a time
with like such wild income disparity, but also they're undeniably cool. Yeah, that's a good,
that's a good pick. That is a great answer. Yeah, this actually makes me think and I'm going to put,
now I got to put Dave on the spot is. So we did it. We had a conversation. I was just going to
bring this up. Yes. Okay. So we had a conversation on this podcast a couple of months ago about
the best year that any automaker had, but with the caveat that you had to have a sports car,
a sedan, a pickup and an SUV. And Dave, your pick was, was it 98? 1998 Toyota was on some other
shit. Okay. Yeah, that's fair actually. Right. Sports car, Supra, you know, you could do that.
And then M2. Right. Yes. Yeah, not only that, their B string player is cranking home runs like
crazy. Right. So yeah, so the Supra, the Lexus LS, the greatest sedan ever made. Right. 100%.
Yes. The four runner and whatever Toyota pickup you want. Right. Yeah. Right. Or the, not the
four runner, I'm sorry, the Lexus, it could be an LX, it could be a Land Cruiser, whatever. But
Toyota, like within that four car category prime hit so hard, like, yeah, that I don't know, I
thought about it in the shower. I thought about it like, I had an LS at the time and I drove around
thinking about it while I was driving my used LS, you know, yeah. But like, do you have anything
that springs to mind as like, something where like, it is absolutely that peak?
Yeah, I felt like you felt the impact of that Toyota, like Quad Factor. Right. Yeah. I mean,
that's actually a really good one. I think
I'm trying to really, I think the thing is the 90s is kind of like a lot of car companies sort of
really figured out what they were doing and had stride with it. Toyota is definitely up there. I
mean, if it wasn't pickup truck, you could make a case for Honda basically any year. Yes. From 1985
to like 19, maybe 2008, honestly, maybe even a little past that, but pickup truck throws it off
because like, Ridgeline's never been quite that good. Yeah. It's fine. Right. I would never
categorize that. So you limit yourself with the pickup truck to Toyota, Chevy, Ford,
you know, Dodge, Dodge Chrysler. I don't know if you want to count them as kind of the same
conglomerate, but like. Yeah. But like, it rules out so much. I mean, pretty much all the Germans
right are kind of getting. Yeah. I mean,
really, yeah, you kind of have those four players that you could narrow it down because
Mazda's got a bunch of years where they could be in it. Right. I mean, the refu is cool,
but like, I don't know if I'd say it's like an all-time truck. This is insane. I can't believe
I'm kind of going to say it, but like 2005 Dodge Chrysler. Okay. Yeah. Yes. That was one that did
come up. Yeah. Like SRT 10 RAM. Yes. Yes. The Dodge Viper. Right. Yeah. So what are my other
categories here? I got to be a sedan. Like an SUV. SUV and sedan. Yeah, SRT 4 was going to be my other,
my next one, like sedan. Right. And then SUV, I mean like,
it's too early for the Aspen and that wasn't really a, yeah, that one's tricky because like.
Yeah. Nobody's going to go to the mat for a Durango. You could say, I mean, okay. Daimler
Chrysler, because you could then pick from Mercedes. Oh yeah, but that's, no, I refuse to
respect that. That wasn't real. The only, if Daimler Chrysler had allowed us to have the ME412,
I would have respected it, but they said no. So I will forever hold a grudge. Fair. Fair. Yes.
Yeah. What the hell truck were they making then? I guess the Durango, but that wasn't that good.
I mean, you could say the PT Cruiser for your SUV. Yes. Let's do it. Let's do it. Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, yeah. No, I feel like Toyota is really the actual answer.
Okay. In the talk about, there's a link to our original
skeet about it. And then there's a bunch of great replies. The one that I really liked was
like 1993 Ford, which is the Taurus SHO. Yes. The Lightning, the two-door gas tank
Lightning too, even. Yeah. The two-door Bronco, and then a Mustang. Which I spotted Mustang.
On your first episode of your podcast, there is a Mustang line that is emblazoned in
Ian and I's minds for the rest of time. The Nancy Drew reference or which part?
I want to touch on the Nancy Drew piece, but first Ian, you know what it is.
I don't, I forgot it. What was it? It was the Mustang being the least fascist car.
Oh, yeah. Oh, I put it down. Yeah. Well, and I had a theory on that, which is that it's the only one
of the muscle cars that's actually based off of a people's car.
Yes. Right. And it was also like, they sold 80% of them in their first like five years to women
in like six cylinder variants. They were like runabouts. They were, they were,
they were cute, sexy little like, I'm in my 20s and having fun runabouts instead of like.
Yeah. My mom had a Mustang too. My wife's first car was a 65, 66 Mustang.
Yeah. They're friendly. I mean, like they're, they are the American Beetle.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Totally. So I want to touch on the Nancy Drew thing,
because when you talked about like finding yourself by way of Nancy Drew and inviting that,
so I am a huge Venture Brothers fan and identifying like the Hank venture within me.
Like the fact that I am not Dean that I always thought I was, I am a Hank and you're
like your trajectory or like seeing Nancy Drew and being like, yes. Right. Yeah.
I, I felt very seen and I saw, like, I saw, like I respect that. I love that. And
you could not, you could have an entire podcast telling me about your Nancy Drew ascension
and I would subscribe. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. No, I mean, that is, I suppose like I put that
on a list next to a Jeep Cherokee is like a V six Mustang. Yes. I could just go the other
direction entirely and have like, you know, big sidewall, no power whatsoever, convertible,
bright red, perfect. Yeah. I all, all show no go. Yes. Yes. But you know, who's having,
having an amazing time driving through the woods scarf, just flapping beyond the tailgate of the
car. Nancy Drew. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm here for it. I like it. Yeah. Yes. I love,
I love that moment of the show. So good. Thank you. Yeah. It was fun. I mean, Jordan and I
like just missed talking to each other, which is most of why we recorded it, which I'm hoping
is part of what will make it fun. Yeah. It's just like we do, we have been friends for ages
and we did really miss talking to each other about stuff. And I do miss the escapism of cars,
even if there is no way for me to fully escape my own brain and this kind of stuff.
I've just stewed in kind of like market conditions and, you know, marketing and,
you know, future economic projections too much to ever separate that from like the auto industry
writ large, but also like being like, yeah, I really want to get like a Jeep Cherokee. And I
miss Nancy Drew's impact on my vehicle taste and being talking with somebody who's like,
yeah, I get it. It's just nice. That comes through. That comes through. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaking of fun, shall we play a game? Yes. I think we have two, we have two license plate
games for you because Dave and I each did one. Okay. So have you played, did we do a license
plate game last time you were on? Yes. Okay. All right. Cool. All right. Dave, you want to go
first? You want me to go first? Let's do yours first, Ian. So Victoria, I don't know this. I
haven't seen this one. So, okay. Yeah. Let's see. Ian, I think I see the previous one in here,
but I think that this one, this starts with the, I think. Yeah. It's the title of this one is,
I think at this point, the only word I haven't seen on a license plate is humility.
Oh, fuck. Once again, I've gone straight to being mad at you. Okay. Okay. Here we go.
That's the title of this game. All right. Well, okay. Let's talk about, let's
rattle off the cars, Victoria, if you don't mind. Yeah. Yeah. What is the Porsche Panamera?
I can't. Oh, Turbo S. Excuse me. I'd Colorado plates in all black with black wheels, a
red Tesla Model 3 dual motor. Nothing. I don't see a plaid badge or anything on there. Nope.
And a neon green Audi RS3. Yeah. Yeah. And for plates, we have,
we have Ford rebadge on it. That's interesting. It's clearly a used car.
Oh, the Ford. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The dealer. That is not the original owner. Right.
Okay. I think that you're unlocking something that we could definitely use. Yeah. So the plates are
Accelerate and Excel, like the Microsoft application, are eight or the old Hyundai.
Remember those? iCandy, EY3Candy and horsepower, horsepower. Right? Yeah. What's springing to
mind, Victoria? Is anything jumping out to you? I'm going to go gut instinct and just do
horsepower with the S3 is for the RS3. That makes sense.
Accelerator is for the Porsche and iCandy is for the Model 3. Okay. Okay. It's like,
you got the three in the iCandy and that might just be somebody who's like
bragging about themselves. Okay. Also, Tesla has this kind of like weirdly aspirational
effect to it for a lot of people who are not in the industry, which is so strange to me, but
right. So people still talk about them as like a luxury auto brand, which is always so
really funny. Right. Right. Like the dumb person's idea of a smart person, like the, yeah.
Yeah. Like that equivalent for a luxury car. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Okay. I really like
that you hooked into the RS3 for horsepower, horsepower. I keep wanting to say it like James
Pumphrey, Hirsch Powers. But I think that you're completely right there. And I'm wondering if the
Accelerate, like maybe they had an Audi R8 and they just didn't get a different plate when they
had to go to four doors for their Porsche. Yeah. I don't know. I'm going to agree with you on this
one. If I wanted to pick something different, I would just swap the Tesla and the Porsche, but I
think the RS3, if you can get that car, make that shit lime green, son. Yeah. Go nuts.
Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. I think we're locked in, Victoria. I think, yeah. Well, you guys,
you guys did well, I'm going to say. Okay. You did real, real well. Okay. Here we go.
Well, it was all victorious. You got them all correct. Sweet. Okay. No need for that shit.
Honestly, I didn't even, I didn't even put together the RS3 in the horsepower thing.
Until she mentioned it. I didn't get it. Yeah. And nothing. Yeah. Nice. Nice. I was like, shit.
Okay. All right. Well, I have one. This one I have, it doesn't have as good of a title. It's
just called sugar and spice. And here we go. It is, oh God, where did I put it?
It's in the done folder. Okay. But it's not done. Here we go. This is number 134, sugar and spice.
Boom. And Ian hasn't seen this one. Okay. Oh, wow. Okay. Oh boy. Okay. So we've got up top,
is that a Grand Cherokee? I think so, yeah.
A white Grand Cherokee with Idaho plates. Got a Subaru outback. Yeah, you do. Yeah,
a blue Toyota Camry with a cracked bumper. Then you want to do the plates this time?
Yeah, it's a basil, like the leaf chiculets, like multiple countries or peppers.
And what I can only describe is Shug Mama, S-U-G-M-A-M-A.
Shug and maybe, maybe, maybe I add, Mama.
Shug Mama.
Sticks are Shug Knight driving around with the Shug Mama.
It's Shug Knight's mom.
What are the stickers on the back of the Camry? Can I see that detail?
Absolutely. Yeah, let's get into it.
Anties.
From Vermont without any, okay, there's no, the back window though, that's just like parking
stickers though, if there's no.
Yeah, or like their national parks passes maybe that they're.
Yeah, but that's Vermont. So you just give you those and you move to the states.
There's also like a branch stuck in the trunk.
There is detris, yeah, about the trunk area of this car.
All right, well, I'm going to say, is it about real quick again?
Yeah.
Shug Mama, I'm going to just go with my gut and say it's a Subaru thing.
Okay.
It just feels like it's probably somebody who is actually a mother, given the cars that are here.
Uh, and I just feel like that's more of a Subaru joke than a Jeep joke.
Okay.
Okay.
That's my, the Jeep is too new for that joke, you know, the Outback is like right on.
Okay.
Hmm.
Okay.
The
I'm going to be honest, Victoria, this is really throwing me for a loop because the
Toyota in particular is really driving me crazy because I feel like that it's,
it should be someone who's a little bit of a mess.
Right.
Like, like we're, we're late to work or we're crashing into ballards with our rear bumper.
We're throwing Kleenex into our the back deck.
Yeah.
Half half the bottom is falling out like when they get out of the car.
I also feel like though this is, it could be like a Vermont plate.
That could just be somebody who studies peppers for a living at like a university in
Burlington and that would be like Chile's.
And it's like, what does your license plate mean?
Oh, well, I studied them for my work.
Like I totally see the same could apply to Basil too.
It could be like a cook or something.
Like it's, it's, it's, there's some, it's so normal, but like anything can work there.
The context clues.
Is the blank slate of vehicles.
Yes.
Right.
Yes.
This is the Peter Frampton of cars.
Yes.
This is, this is the most difficult license plate game I have ever seen.
Ever assembled.
The Jaguar, I mean, the Jeep is like very, it's, it has tint in Idaho.
That's about it.
But the tint is just normal in Idaho.
Yeah.
Like they, the, and people, Jeeps are not a political statement in Idaho because they
do get enough snow that people just buy Jeeps because they're like, yeah, they go off road.
Right.
So like if you can't even say like, oh, it's like some freedom and now it's like completely
devoid of any ideological associations because people are like, yeah, it snows a lot.
And it's got a, it's just got a, a, a dealer license plate frame.
Boise plate frame.
Yeah.
That is impossible.
This is crazy hard.
I am going to say Shygmama for the Forester.
I'm going to say Chili's for the Camry.
I'm going to say Basil for the Jeep.
And I, is my reasoning is vibes.
I can't, there's no actual logic to it beyond.
This is a little bit for the Subaru and even that is pushing it.
Your reasoning for this is, fuck you, Dave.
Like I felt really good after the last one.
And now we're like.
We should have started with this one.
I'm so sorry.
I know.
I'm so sorry.
But in the other one, after this one, my confidence would be destroyed.
I never would have been able to get any of those.
I, I started with sugar and spice and worked back from there.
Sugar and spice.
Okay.
I guess.
Um, man.
This is also basil is not a spice, Dave.
It's an herb.
It's fine.
There was a Jasmine plate in there that I was like, no, that's an herb.
Yeah.
Left basil.
That's really funny.
Dave.
Left basil.
Yeah.
You know, I also, I'm going to go Shygmama on the Toyota.
Okay.
Okay.
Basil on the outback and Chili's on the Jeep.
Cause I, I do think that the, that we're a, we're a mom who's doing a lot yelling at kids.
And so we're, we're bumping into things and the car is a little bit of a mess.
I think that's happening with the Toyota and between basil and Chili's, I think
the Subaru is the more mild of the two reasonable.
I like that.
Like Victoria's take is higher education for the Camry.
So like I don't have mental bandwidth for like this stuff.
And Ian's yours is that there is probably goldfish crackers crumbled somewhere in the car.
Oh God, couldn't, I don't want to have to tell you both.
We both got everything wrong.
I'm guessing is what happened.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
How red am I right now?
I already read your voice is going pretty high.
It's something that happens.
I am so sorry.
Shygmama on the Jeep, Chili's on the Subaru and basil on the Camry.
I'm so sorry.
And our buddy Mark sent in the Jeep, Peter sent in Chili's and Jesse sent in Basil.
Well, none of you are allowed to listen to the show.
The fact that none of them had any stickers or like identifying features
whatsoever really did make it pretty challenging.
I just made people with blindness pick people out of a line.
The Camry, I'm sticking with my that's a professor at a university in Vermont
and they just study basil instead of Chili's.
Yeah, I agree.
I think you are correct.
Or maybe they own the pizzeria in the college town.
That's possible.
That was difficult.
So sorry.
So sorry.
Usually I can at least latch on to one of them.
Yeah, there's like a hold, right?
I'll have like a whole backstory.
And I got nothing.
Sorry.
I'm sorry.
We started the show with an apology and we're in it.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
What were you saying, Victoria?
I was saying like the Sugarbomb on like the brand new Jeep feels a little less
fun than it would have on the Subaru.
I'm not going to lie to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's it's that's a little like, oh, maybe maybe that's what she does for a living.
Yeah.
Or, you know, maybe maybe she's forcing her husband to drive that around.
She bought it for him.
I do like that.
That there's a dominance like thing here happening.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I like that angle.
Yeah.
Oh, I think that one of the worst things about the plate game is knowing that like
that these people are out there with the plates that don't suit the cars.
And we just have to accept the fact that that is happening and there's nothing we
can do about it.
God damn it.
Yeah.
There's no authority we can call to fix this.
So if you see these cars in the wild, steer the license plates and mail them to you.
No, I'm not.
I'm not endorsing your crime.
Can we put that?
Can we put this forward as a proposal for for woke to that also that we'll have a panel
on license on vanity license plates as well.
An approval process of sorts.
Yeah, you got to prove yourself cool enough.
Well, because I mean, we got to make driver drivers licensing requirements so much stiffer
anyway.
Absolutely.
Because like you are no longer going to pick up your Silverado 3500 HD from a new car lot
when you are 16 years old with your class E license.
I'm sorry.
That's over.
Boke to we are putting emails back in the pronouns.
Sorry, pronouns back in the email signatures.
You are not driving anything, you know, bigger than a.
I don't know.
Well, how to fit a special.
This is actually a little special star in your license that proves you know how to look
past your pillar to not kill me when I'm crossing the street.
And so then when we do that, we can just make the license plates better.
I'm 100% favor of this because like I we did lemons last year and I rented a class A RV
and just drove it to the race track.
And like, you know, I could have taken my driver's test in a mini Cooper and then just
rented a class A mini class A RV.
That's wild.
Yeah.
It doesn't make any sense.
No, no, I can't get I could barely get out of my a bath into any other car and be okay.
No, I mean, you know, my wife walks to her bus stop and she keeps almost getting hit at a
couple of intersections here because they have like they, you know, right turn on red.
Or, you know, they're taking lefts off of like, you know, onto a side street or whatever.
And they people just don't look past their pillars.
And a lot of it is like big SUVs and stuff where it's like probably people who learned
how to drive and like, you know, in 1985 Accord.
And now they're driving, you know, Honda Pilot or whatever.
And those are big now.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
From growing up and having the cars that I did, like the pillow, the A pillars on my
a bath, like I genuinely almost got into an accident on it when I was making a left turn
because I just wasn't accustomed to like looking around the chunky little thing, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I mean, like when I was reviewing cars, I was like, I remember I devoted like an
entire paragraph of praise to the Integra and Civic because they have
really well designed A pillars unlike every other car we could actually see around them.
It feels like driving a 90s car, maybe a 1000s car.
But yeah, pretty much everything's got these huge bulky pillars to protect you,
of course, if you roll it over, but it makes everybody else less safe.
Right.
You could do a whole episode about that.
You can make a career out of that, really.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I got mine.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Well, Victoria, Dave, I think we done did a car show.
Victoria, can you remind everybody the names of all of your various projects and what you,
where people should find you?
I am a guest co-host for a while on, well, there's your problem and engineering,
a podcast about engineering disasters with slides.
I am a host of Tran Girlismo with Jordan Hofstetter.
We are trying to do that on Wednesdays.
We have one episode out, the second one should be out in like a matter of a day or two.
And then I have my Patreon that you can find through my website or on the Tran Girlismo site
where you can give me four bucks a month, basically.
And I will give you pictures and writing most of which is either transgender, smoky,
in the bandit, my long running novella project, or me being like, oh my God,
everything's fascist.
This sucks.
And then like rolls of film plus podcast bonuses whenever we figure that out.
Yeah.
Nice.
And then I'm on Blue Sky.
Yes, you are.
You are a cornerstone of weird car, Blue Sky.
Yes.
I do try to, like I talk a lot about politics, obviously, because everything,
Blue Sky is unfortunately very oriented towards it much more so than even like old Twitter was.
We're not in baseball season, so I don't have baseball to talk about because I'm trying really
hard to like focus on the sport to talk more about that when it comes into spring.
But I do post like cool street finds from Seattle.
We have a ton of really good cars here.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Seattle is a fantastic city for cars.
Yes.
I also post when I watch movies that infuriate me like I saw Charlie Wilson's War last night.
Okay.
I saw you post that and I was like, why would you watch that?
The same reason I watched Jupiter ascending.
My wife was having a bad night and she had seen it before and it made her really furious.
And she was like, hey, let's watch something that I have to pay attention to and you'll hate this.
And I was like, sure, why not?
And then she, we just kind of like laugh with each other about it.
So that's good.
The thing that's really frustrating is I love Moneyball.
Oh, yeah.
That's a great movie.
Yeah, but it's just like, we should only let Aaron Sorkin make movies about baseball.
We should only let Toyota make those four cars.
We should only let Aaron Sorkin make...
I love that movie.
We got to make sure Accio stays away from the graphic tease.
Oh, for the love of God.
Yes.
God, that fucking post broke my heart.
I know.
So, yes, your take, Aaron Sorkin's brain is so smooth.
You can ice skate up.
This is why you need to follow Victoria on all the shit.
This is why she is worth the follow and worth the time.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
You two have always been so incredibly kind to me and very, very sweet and supportive.
So I really appreciate it.
Well, it's very easy to support awesome shit.
So we like, we like talented people, especially when they come on our show.
Well, I'm glad I'm your most frequent guest.
I'm very honored.
Oh, yeah.
We're honored.
Part of it is we don't have a lot of guests because that requires us to like do work before it's like,
oh, shit, it's time to record.
We didn't prepare anything.
Yeah, we're absolutely looking forward to more episodes of Trank Release, Mo.
Thank you.
Looking forward to the merch.
Please let us know when that hits because we'll signal boost that shit for sure.
Thank you.
And you know some shit's going to show up at my house.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm trying to do stickers and shirts and maybe like tote bags or something.
Yes.
Please be the third sticker on my Lenovo, please.
Yes.
It'd be awesome.
I, my, my dream goal someday, and I'm sorry because I know we have to stop.
No, no, no.
Yeah.
Did, did, I'm sure you've watched like the 24 hours of Nürburgring.
And for a long time, one of the like keystone sponsors of that event was Gran Turismo.
Yeah.
And so every single car in the race had the windshield banner
that just said Gran Turismo.
And I was like, all right, if we're really successful, we'll really hit it off.
And I can get like cool stuff made that like five people will buy.
I want the windshield banner that just says Trank Release Mo
in the exact same style as the old Nürburgring banners just because I think it'd be funny.
Yes.
I mean, at the very least you could get a lemon's car themed that way.
Oh yeah, that'd be awesome.
Sim racing livery, Trank Release Mo theme.
Oh, yeah.
You have to have somebody in your network that can do Sim racing car liveries, right?
I mean, yeah.
Jordan, Jordan does like iRacing stuff.
I'm sure she could do something up for it.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah, actually, shit.
Yes.
Yeah.
Please.
Hey, you come on this show.
Trank Release Mo LMP car, here we come.
Oh my God.
Okay.
Yes, please.
Please make that happen.
Yeah.
Yeah, thank you both again so much.
Of course.
Absolutely.
Thank you for coming on.
Everyone else, 720-515-1391.
You can text us or leave us a voicemail.
Send us your license plate pictures.
We're Apex Adjacent at Gmail and Apex Adjacent on Blue Sky.
Thank you.
We love you.
Goodbye.
Ian, you have to do your actual clothes.
And fuck eyes.
Fuck eyes.
Hell yeah, fuck eyes.
About this episode
Victoria Scott returns to discuss her experiences on Matt Farah's podcast and the launch of her new show, 'Tran Girl Eastmo.' The conversation dives into the intersection of automotive culture and politics, exploring how societal issues impact car enthusiasts. Victoria shares insights from her book, 'We Deserve This,' and reflects on the challenges of navigating the auto industry while addressing broader cultural trends. The episode is rich with humor and personal anecdotes, making it a compelling listen for those interested in the deeper implications of car culture.
Acura Integra
Audi R8
Audi RS 3
Audi S3
BMW M2
Cadillac Celestiq
Chevrolet Blazer EV
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Dodge Durango
Dodge Ram
Dodge Viper
Ford Bronco
Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford GT
Ford Mustang
Ford Taurus
Honda Accord
Honda Prelude
Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Lexus LS
Lexus LX
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Porsche 944
Porsche Panamera
Subaru Outback
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model Y
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Camry
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Supra
Original notes
One of our absolute favorite guests returns to the show this week, VICTORIA SCOTT! Victoria and Jordan Hoffstetter have a fantastic new podcast, Tran Girlismo! We had a great chat, we know you're going to enjoy it too! We love you!
Apex Adjacent
Apex Adjacent
0:00
72:22