Burnt Toast · Edison Shen and Nathan Xie

COVID, Online School, and Random Questions

May 17, 2020·52 min·4 clips

Angelina joins the podcast to discuss how quarantine has made her strangely productive while others struggle with motivation.

The episode opens with a chaotic, unscripted intro in which the hosts nearly forget to introduce their guest, Angelina. The group quickly establishes that quarantine has been going on for approximately two months, dating it to a wedding on March 13th. They discuss the frustration of staying home, with one host noting quarantine has made him unusually productive while another admits to turning in assignments at 11 p.m. or not at all. The conversation turns to people violating quarantine by going to the beach, including a reference to bioluminescent waves visible in Southern California at the time. They speculate about whether a second COVID wave will occur in winter and whether they will be released from quarantine by summer, with disagreement about how serious the situation is. The hosts discuss their grades suffering during online school, with one noting his teacher does not post grades in the school system, which he considers a blessing since his parents can also see them. One host describes a particularly involved English assignment requiring a book review of Mango Wars, a 120-page story written by fellow students that is being published, for which he stayed up until 4 a.m. filming himself as a silhouette with a bag over his head. He also mentions being accidentally listed as a co-author of the book and trying to get his name removed. The group briefly discusses Donald Trump's suggestion that people inject disinfectant and speculates about whether Kim Jong-un is dead, before deciding they are not qualified to discuss politics. One host promotes the Ecosia search engine browser extension, which plants trees based on searches, and the group competes over how many trees they have each planted. The second half of the episode is driven by a list of random questions pulled from the internet, which the hosts use to interview Angelina and each other. Topics include what qualities they look for in a partner, their greatest fears, bad habits including nail-biting and overthinking, and the most ridiculous argument they have ever had. One host shares that his most ridiculous argument was over whether Peppa Pig or Charizard would win in a fight. Another admits to walking 50 minutes to see someone for only 10 minutes. The group debates whether money can buy happiness, with one host referencing a school essay on the topic. When asked what they are most passionate about, one host admits he cannot think of anything and settles on 'not dying.' The episode closes with the hosts acknowledging this was their second recording attempt of the day, followed by a straightforward outro promoting their Instagram account.

As heard by us

Quarantine stress, guest banter, and a messy questions segment keep Burnt Toast in motion.

Burnt Toast frames quarantine as a running argument over how long it has lasted, who is managing it well, and who is barely holding it together.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want quarantine chaos, a guest, and a question game that derails fast.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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