Call Her Sweetheart

A Long Journey Through the Podcasts

File: Print, drawing book (BM 1932,0311.26).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

So, this week I heard of someone who is extremely famous. She goes by the name Chappell Roan, but apparently she was assigned the name ‘Kayleigh’ at birth. She is well known for a song called “Pink Pony Club.” I listened to it attentively and was not moved to any degree of greater enlightnement. Ms. Roan is 27, according to Grok. She also became famous this week for saying some things on the podcast “Call Her Daddy.” The article—using the term loosely in this age of reporting about people’s clips and tweets—said this about how that went:

As for kids, she said, "All of my friends who have kids are in hell. I don’t know anyone, I actually don’t know anyone who’s happy and has children, at this age." She continued, saying that of her friends who have kids 5 and under, "I have not met anyone who’s happy, anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who’s slept." Roan joked she wondered why her parents had kids, sharing she’s the oldest of four and her mother had her at 23. Cooper asked how her friends interact with her now that she’s famous, and Roan answered, "They’re mothers. They’re f---ing busy and they have jobs and lives. I am just their friend." She added, "They are so sweet and so supportive and come out to shows, and they have to get f---ing babysitters to come to my shows."

I confess, I didn’t have time, and so I went over to YouTube and listened to half of the whole thing and… well, I am rendered almost speechless. Not because I am overawed by the substance of their conversation but because, well, I dunno, I feel really sad. They spent the first ten minutes talking about what Ms. Roan was wearing, and then some other subjects that seemed devoid of hope and a future, and then the host of the podcast asked Ms. Roan if different scenarios should be viewed as “casual or not.” Speaking as a sane person, none of the “situationships” that the host described were “casual,” but Ms. Roan, tongue in cheek perhaps, thought most of them were. I don’t recommend the podcast, and I am shocked that Kamala Harris, when she was running for president, went on it. I asked Grok about the name, and this is what it said: