Vibe Check

The hosts of the podcast Vibe Check (Sam Sanders, Saeed Jones, and Zach Stafford) share the songs that make them feel okay. 

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If you have anxiety, depression or any sense of the world around you, you know that not *everything* is going to be okay. In fact, many things aren’t okay and never will be! But instead of falling into the pit of despair, we’re bringing you a little OK for your day. Every weekday, we’ll bring you one okay thing to help you start, end or endure your day with the opposite of a doom scroll.

Created and hosted by Nora McInerny.

Find Nora’s weekly newsletter here.

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Share your OK thing at 612.568.4441 or by emailing IGTBO@feelingsand.co.

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The IGTBO team is Nora McInerny, Claire McInerny, Marcel Malekebu, Amanda Romani and Grace Barry.

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The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Find all our shows and our store at www.feelingsand.co.

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Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Sam Sanders: Hey,  I'm Sam Sanders and it's gonna be okay.  Listeners, I will tell you when I'm having a bad morning or scared for the day or just not feeling my best, a thing that always reminds me that it's going to be okay is before I open the phone in the morning, before I open the laptop in the morning, before a device is yelling into my face, I put on a record while I make my coffee.

And the record I'm loving right now for inspirational get up and go get 'em vibes is an old LaBelle record.  Before Patti LaBelle went solo, she was in a girl group called LaBelle, and they could sing. This album has got bangers, uh, and it has song titles like A man in a trench coat, parentheses, voodoo. Or, going down makes me shiver.

My personal favorite, listen, listen, Patty went there. Patty and the girls went there. What kind of morning was Patty having? A great one. Wouldn't you like to as well? Ha ha!  My favorite song on the album is a song called Isn't It a Shame? Cause these three women are singing the blues like they're in a church house and you don't want it to end.

The three of them make a choir. It's so good. I cannot recommend enough. Starting your day with music and not a device. It makes for a great day. I love that. I'm gonna have to check that album out. I've been thinking about LaBelle a lot lately because I feel like a lot of their, like, their aesthetic was like renaissance.

Like, it was all like a silver Oh yeah, it was Afrofuturist. It was very Afrofuturistic. Yeah.  

Zach Stafford: I love that. Well, well, to, uh, to follow the leader here, I'm Zach Stafford and it's going to be okay, especially when you turn on the record. I'm every woman by Whitney Houston. So many moons ago, I guess not that many, but some moons ago, both side and I had jobs where we had to be on set at 6am.

Thank you. News to life was awful for us and everyone who had to, everyone  trauma.  And, um, the only way some days I could be happy and smile is if I, put my earphones in and listen to I'm Every Woman by Whitney Houston. Um, that song has always worked. It always works. It's just such an uplifting song. You know, Whitney Houston sang Chaka Khan makes me happy every time.

Um, and then if I'm feeling really, really down, I'll play it and put on a pair of heels if I'm at home and have a pair of heels laying around.  So just really living in the fantasy, you know, really helps you get through the reality of your life sometimes. That is such a great idea. And you know what? I didn't listen to I'm Every Woman Um, when I was hosting that show and it showed, um, I'm terrified.

I was in terror. Oh my God.  Sia, what about you? What gets your vibe up? Let's keep the vibe going. 

Saeed Jones:  I'm Saeed Jones and it's going to be okay. Um, yeah, my, I, I think of it as a, so. you know, when I'm very anxious, my mind starts going really fast. I'm like spinning out. And so I have to kind of reset. Um, and the song that lately has been really good for that is, um, Nothing Really Matters by Madonna. 

It's okay. First of all, It is such a good song. Like if you haven't listened to this song or the album Ray of Light in a while, listen to it today and you will be startled. You'll be like, Oh my God. You can't help but dance. It's incredible. Um, but the reason I love Nothing Really Matters is because, um, it hits all of these different contradictory notes, right?

So you kind of have the nihilism of like, you're freaking out. You're like, the world is on fire. Nothing really matters. Like you can kind of embrace that. color for a moment. Um, but then the theme of the song is her actually pushing aside selfishness because she had just become a parent. So it's like love is all we need.

Um, and so it's like uptempo song, the energy is good. You're kind of getting a little bit of the nihilism, but also the song is really urging you toward like love and really responsibility, which, um, I, it, it just works, but also it's a banger. It just is.  So the moral of the story is, if you're worried about it being okay, if you want to make sure it's going to be okay, go listen to a woman you love, sing a song you love.

Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Find the divas. Yeah. Come on.  Alright. Going down makes me shiver. I'm sorry, I'm still on it. I'm back, I'm back. Let's go. Also, the cover art for this LaBelle album, uh, it's so beautiful. Music listeners, music, that's the answer!