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Julia Louis-Dreyfus

๐Ÿ‘ค Speaker
3557 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

It will not come as a surprise that Brad left within the hour to take the dog back to the shelter where he waited until little Jack was happily readopted by a family that was much more prepared to care for this poor creature who I fear that we had probably traumatized completely and thoroughly.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

It will not come as a surprise that Brad left within the hour to take the dog back to the shelter where he waited until little Jack was happily readopted by a family that was much more prepared to care for this poor creature who I fear that we had probably traumatized completely and thoroughly.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

So many years later, I was convinced to get another dog, a black Labradoodle we adopted from Australia, since you couldn't get Labradoodles in California yet. And Brad did his research and figured out how to bring the dog over. which was very good, and it was all very organized. And also, I should say, in my dad's family, there's this tradition of naming female dogs after flowers.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

So many years later, I was convinced to get another dog, a black Labradoodle we adopted from Australia, since you couldn't get Labradoodles in California yet. And Brad did his research and figured out how to bring the dog over. which was very good, and it was all very organized. And also, I should say, in my dad's family, there's this tradition of naming female dogs after flowers.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And since our son Henry was a giant fan of the Powerpuff Girls, the perfect intersection there was Buttercup, and that's what we named her. And this is a dog that transformed me. I mean, I was, I still am very much a cat person, but now I'm a dog person too. Buttercup was utterly sublime.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And since our son Henry was a giant fan of the Powerpuff Girls, the perfect intersection there was Buttercup, and that's what we named her. And this is a dog that transformed me. I mean, I was, I still am very much a cat person, but now I'm a dog person too. Buttercup was utterly sublime.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And for the next 15 years of her tender little doggy life, I learned through her what it is to be truly devoted to a dog. I mean, of course, there are lots of reasons to love them. The unconditional love, the companionship, the connection. Plus, guess what? There's a science behind it. This is going to sound bullshitty, folks, but it's true.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And for the next 15 years of her tender little doggy life, I learned through her what it is to be truly devoted to a dog. I mean, of course, there are lots of reasons to love them. The unconditional love, the companionship, the connection. Plus, guess what? There's a science behind it. This is going to sound bullshitty, folks, but it's true.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

When people spend time with dogs, and especially when we look into a dog's eyes or cuddle with a dog or whatever, our oxytocin levels rise. We looked it up. And in humans, it plays a really important role in social bonding and in love and reproduction and childbirth and caring for children after you give birth to them. And here's the completely outrageous part of all of this.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

When people spend time with dogs, and especially when we look into a dog's eyes or cuddle with a dog or whatever, our oxytocin levels rise. We looked it up. And in humans, it plays a really important role in social bonding and in love and reproduction and childbirth and caring for children after you give birth to them. And here's the completely outrageous part of all of this.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

When we make eye contact with our dogs, their oxytocin levels go up too. Isn't that amazing? So this all leads me to my mother-in-law, who is 96 years old. Talk about wiser than me, my God. She is one of the dearest, most selfless people I've ever known. She is the most selfless person I've ever known, actually.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

When we make eye contact with our dogs, their oxytocin levels go up too. Isn't that amazing? So this all leads me to my mother-in-law, who is 96 years old. Talk about wiser than me, my God. She is one of the dearest, most selfless people I've ever known. She is the most selfless person I've ever known, actually.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

She suffers now from serious frontal lobe dementia, but her personality, by the grace of God or whoever is in charge of the universe, is utterly unchanged. And if you met her, your oxytocin levels would skyrocket because she's just that kind of a person. So we often take our dog, George, over to her little cottage to visit. And she has no functional memory at all.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

She suffers now from serious frontal lobe dementia, but her personality, by the grace of God or whoever is in charge of the universe, is utterly unchanged. And if you met her, your oxytocin levels would skyrocket because she's just that kind of a person. So we often take our dog, George, over to her little cottage to visit. And she has no functional memory at all.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

So every time she meets our George, for her, it's like meeting a new dog. And each time we have to remind her that our dog, George, is named after her husband, whose name was George. And she laughs and she throws her head back. She thinks that is just so hilarious. Yeah.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

So every time she meets our George, for her, it's like meeting a new dog. And each time we have to remind her that our dog, George, is named after her husband, whose name was George. And she laughs and she throws her head back. She thinks that is just so hilarious. Yeah.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And then she looks George straight in the eye and she ruffles his fur and she says in her inimitable way, she goes, oh, the only dogs. And then George, and here's the amazing thing, he only does this with her, okay? He curls up right at her feet and sometimes even on her feet and he doesn't move until we have to go. He just becomes kindness. Kindness.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And then she looks George straight in the eye and she ruffles his fur and she says in her inimitable way, she goes, oh, the only dogs. And then George, and here's the amazing thing, he only does this with her, okay? He curls up right at her feet and sometimes even on her feet and he doesn't move until we have to go. He just becomes kindness. Kindness.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And how can it be that this little domesticated wolf creature can know exactly what he needs to do to bring a tiny bit of joy to his dearest granny? And isn't it so wonderful that there are sometimes unexpected places that love and warmth and joy can be found, even when times seem a little dark? You know, as for all of us these days, they often do.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Listen Again: Julia Gets Wise with Isabella Rossellini

And how can it be that this little domesticated wolf creature can know exactly what he needs to do to bring a tiny bit of joy to his dearest granny? And isn't it so wonderful that there are sometimes unexpected places that love and warmth and joy can be found, even when times seem a little dark? You know, as for all of us these days, they often do.