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Something You Should Know

BONUS: You Might Also Like: David Greene is Obsessed

18 Nov 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main theme of David Greene's podcast?

0.52 - 24.773 Mike Carruthers

Hi, it's Mike Carruthers, and I want to tell you about a great new podcast I think you're going to like. I've been really getting into it. So what happens when our passions become obsessions? David Green is Obsessed, one of America's most familiar voices and longtime co-host of NPR's Morning Edition, seeks out obsessives of all kinds while unpacking his own fixations.

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24.753 - 48.28 Mike Carruthers

You'll hear actor David Arquette discuss his love for Bozo the Clown. Paula Poundstone on her house full of cats. Celebrity chef Michael Simon explains why he just can't quit the Cleveland Browns even though they make him miserable. And so much more. It's pop psychology disguised as conversations with the world's most fascinating people.

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48.58 - 68.277 Mike Carruthers

In this episode, comedian, actress, and podcast host Tig Notaro explains why she quit eating meat almost a decade ago and hasn't looked back. Plus, she shares a really good potato recipe. Listen to David Green Is Obsessed wherever you get your podcasts. And now, here's an episode.

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69.117 - 80.285 David Greene

If you'd like to join the obsessed community, head over to join campsite.com. We'll give you updates on episodes, some behind the scenes access and a whole lot more. That's join campsite.com.

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80.566 - 86.4 Mike Carruthers

Hope to see you there.

90.751 - 116.759 David Greene

All right. So we call this show David Green is Obsessed. And I'm going to tell you the thing I'm most obsessed about is, shall we say, understanding the backstory of obsessions. You know, the deeper things in someone's life that made them fall in love with something or obsess about it. You know, you might meet me and find out that I have taken more than 1700 SoulCycle classes.

117.1 - 132.109 David Greene

Okay, that's weird, right? You're thinking maybe this dude just likes to exercise. There is actually a lot more to me loving SoulCycle, loving the idea of being in a candlelit exercise studio with the hum of stationary bikes and great music.

132.85 - 160.047 David Greene

If you dig deeper, there's a lot there about my social anxiety, about wanting a consistent connection with a community, about wanting to know that I can come to a place where I'm always accepted. And that's really the kind of stuff that I hope this show is gonna be about. I mean, I truly think that obsessions are a window into someone's soul. And we just follow the conversations where they go.

160.087 - 188.208 David Greene

And I expect things are going to get raw. They're going to be joyous. They're going to... be wild sometimes, funny as hell, anger-inducing, but I hope you'll just be along for the ride. And I think today's a big example of the kind of interviews that I'm looking for. Tig Notaro, she's a comedian. You might know her. What you might not know is that she is obsessed with plant-based food.

Chapter 2: How does Tig Notaro describe her journey to a plant-based diet?

217.752 - 226.191 Tig Notaro

I mean, I've done some acting. I have no idea. I was just thinking since we're on a podcast. Yeah, I'm a parent. I'm a spouse and all sorts of things.

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227.033 - 231.323 David Greene

And quite obsessive, committed to a plant-based diet.

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231.995 - 236.826 Tig Notaro

Yes. Yes, indeed. And I know it's annoying to a lot of people.

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238.509 - 242.258 David Greene

What is annoying? I don't think it's annoying. I don't find it annoying. You haven't annoyed me yet.

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242.298 - 274.442 Tig Notaro

Okay. Well, it's just the beginning. I don't know. I feel like, you know, there's the... There's the joke that is very true that, like, you don't have to ask somebody if they're vegan. You know, they'll let you know the second they walk in that they're vegan. Because I feel like people that eat plant-based, it's like I've found Christ, you know, is basically the feeling that I have.

275.283 - 277.165 Tig Notaro

Yes, Jesus is my friend.

277.725 - 279.467 David Greene

Why do you feel Christ-like?

280.156 - 308.789 Tig Notaro

Because it changed my life so much. And if people are interested, I would love to tell them about it. But I'm not the kind of person that I'm judgmental about how you eat or what you do in any way. And it's also, I'm not going to plow through and start telling you, you need to do this. But if somebody is interested... Try to stop me.

308.809 - 335.887 David Greene

Once the door opens, you're coming in full on. Well, there's no place more welcoming than this conversation for your plant-based information and commitment. So I want you to feel very safe. There's no annoyance at all. But could we get some definitions out of the way? Like I think in this world, it's like plant-based and vegan, exactly the same. Is there something... It's different.

Chapter 3: What unique perspective does Tig Notaro offer about her health challenges?

492.183 - 493.105 Tig Notaro

That is correct.

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493.125 - 501.154 David Greene

And you, you've not just committed to this, but, um, you've gotten your family into it too, right? Your, your sons, your wife, your,

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501.421 - 524.762 Tig Notaro

Well, my wife was vegetarian, I think, since she was a teenager. And I've had a lot of health issues. And it kept coming up, you know, you got to shift your diet, maybe look into a plant-based diet. And it was always like kind of one of those, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. But it just seemed impossible for me.

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524.742 - 548.109 Tig Notaro

And it also seemed like it wouldn't be... It felt like if I did do it, that it wouldn't be tasty, fulfilling, exciting. And it was... quite literally the opposite. It changed my whole relationship with food. But yes, I was dealing with a lot of pain and a lot of different issues. And I was about to go out on a two-week tour.

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548.129 - 572.603 Tig Notaro

And in the back of my mind, I thought, okay, I'm going to be away from my regular everyday life and And I'm just going to use that time to watch documentaries, to read books. My opening act was vegan and he's a chef and all of these things. So I was like, this is perfect. I'm going to try it out. So yeah.

572.583 - 597.932 Tig Notaro

And I thought it was also a great opportunity because I was away from my regular life to try actually eating that way. And where most people think, oh, when you're traveling, it's the worst because there's no options. But there are so many options. But anyway, I did it. And I called Stephanie, my wife, and I just said, I think I'm going to try becoming vegan someday.

597.912 - 606.124 Tig Notaro

And she said, hi, honey, I went on the road. I think I'm vegan now. Yeah, essentially. And she said, you know what? I've always wanted to be. So I'll do it with you.

606.805 - 607.486 David Greene

Well, that's convenient.

607.726 - 616.058 Tig Notaro

Yeah, it was really convenient. And our and our kids were one at the time. So they had only had much of a choice.

Chapter 4: How does Tig Notaro define the difference between vegan and plant-based diets?

1378.369 - 1378.749 Tig Notaro

I'm good.

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1379.35 - 1379.61 David Greene

Yeah.

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1380.131 - 1380.552 Tig Notaro

Yeah.

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1380.572 - 1382.595 David Greene

I love that. What a good lesson.

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1382.615 - 1382.755 Tig Notaro

Mm-hmm.

1383.562 - 1397.419 David Greene

So one of those crises was a breast cancer diagnosis. And do I have this right? You got the diagnosis and you were scheduled to do a standup show in LA that same night?

1397.922 - 1421.74 Tig Notaro

It wasn't the same night. It was a few days later. A few days. Okay. Yeah. That was kind of, when I got the diagnosis, that was the cap of all of the hell where I truly, when I got that diagnosis, I was like, what? Like, I can't, I remember thinking, I can't, I, I can't possibly have cancer. I've been going through all this other stuff.

1421.821 - 1442.873 Tig Notaro

I couldn't even, I was so backlogged with grief and pain, emotional, physical pain. And now you're telling me I have invasive cancer. It was so confusing. And so I had called Flanagan, the owner of Largo, which is my home club here in LA. And I just said, I can't perform.

1442.993 - 1470.792 Tig Notaro

I told him everything that was going on and he said, well, let's keep it on the books in case you change your mind last minute. And I thought, man, this guy's nuts. But sure enough, when it came down to it, I had time to reflect on how, yeah, life can shift on a dime. And what if What if I don't come back from this? What if I don't get to do stand up again?

Chapter 5: What are the challenges Tig Notaro faces in maintaining her diet?

1678.866 - 1684.833 Tig Notaro

And the director of that film was at my Largo show that night.

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1685.013 - 1686.395 David Greene

No way. Just by happenstance.

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1686.455 - 1718.008 Tig Notaro

Yeah. Well, his producing partner, Jessica, she was the tour manager of a tour that I was on years before. And I didn't know she was a documentarian. And Jessica had invited Ryan, the director, to my show that night in 2012. And then she got sick. And he said, oh, I'll just bring all my gay guy friends and we'll go see this comedy show and have a good time.

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1718.128 - 1737.636 Tig Notaro

And he said he remembered he told all of his friends, he was like, yeah, I guess this comedian's funny. And I walked out on stage and was like, hey, I have cancer. So it's really wild, the full circle of him directing the Come See Me in the Good Light documentary all those years later.

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1738.004 - 1738.705 David Greene

That's amazing.

1739.026 - 1739.647 Tig Notaro

Yeah.

1739.667 - 1760.788 David Greene

Do you ever, you know, just think about when you were talking about the diet, how that gives you this feeling of I have built some kind of defense against having to go through a horrific period in terms of health and that feeling of not being in control of 2012 like it.

1761.258 - 1780.887 David Greene

Do you think there'll ever be a point where you get farther enough away from that terrible period that it doesn't need to shape how you think about life as much? Because I know early in your life, it's like friends said, there was something called TIG luck. You were a very lucky person. Things just went well.

1780.947 - 1794.929 David Greene

And then when so many things don't go well and you're sort of looking for some way to build a defense against that, is that a... like a lifelong sort of way to live? Or is there a time when you're like, okay, it's been enough time. I don't have to fear that as much anymore.

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