Are Influencers Ruining the U.S. Open?

0:00This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human I survived nine months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with the Elizabeth Smart on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering the ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility.

1:02Listen to Solita on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey this is Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook. Each week we talk to someone in show business and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, Adam Scott, Danny McBride, Ben Stillert, and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a bookshelf and you're a four-year page or equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture. With your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of over thought opinions.

2:04Yeah, I'm obsessed, I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America plays out in one small town. Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill. This is our town. A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's get to it. I'm a home grader knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You know, if you don't ride about that, right? You're already came in. Hi. Hey, y'all, what's up? It's Lauren La Rosa and this is another episode of the latest with Lauren La Rosa. This is your daily day going on.

3:04All things pop culture entertainment news and all of the conversations that shake the room, baby. Now we always check in behind the scenes of the grind at the top of the show and the behind the scenes of the grind is the segment of the latest one of the roles where we really check in a lot of times when you're on the ground, when you're moving, grooving, you don't really take the time for yourself for other people and for things. So I did this as like a daily habit for myself where I would intentionally have to take the time because this is where we ask the question, how are you feeling like really feeling more. Back on the ground. Today I'm feeling great. I'm feeling great. I surprisingly got a lot of rest last night. I was actually I woke up kind of nervous this morning because I went to bed so early. I felt like I wasn't going to be as prepared as I needed to be for the day because normally I'm like falling asleep on the laptop. So when that doesn't happen, it's like, oh my god, wait, I got sleep. What is happening? But I didn't feel like that though. I woke up today and felt very well rested.

4:05You know, wasn't frantic at all. And I think rest is so understated. I think everybody in this like grind culture and you know, we talk a lot about brown girl grinding. We really don't talk enough about how. I'm sticking out of bed. Yeah, well, I don't even like saying that out loud. Like I know that used to be a big big thing. Big thing like I'm I'm saying it. I don't like saying. I literally don't like saying anything that can be heard and can be manifested into. I mean, I guess we all will die one day though. Yeah, might as well be 100 plus years from now. But tell her, remind me of the saying, I sleep when I'm dead. Like, you know, that grind culture, it's a real thing. I need to say that too. I never like. But I'm just, you know, I'd be vamping. I used to be like vamping. Remember Jim Jones had like the man life. Yeah, I used to I used to say stuff like that, but never. I can't tell us about that. I'm not. For me, I don't even think it's like that I could care less. I just think my body literally can't sustain it. Like I was so exhausted.

5:06I think just from this week of doing that, like being up, trying to make sure I got everything together. Waking up super early maneuvering throughout my day. And yesterday we went to the US Open. It was HBCU Day at the US Open. Shout out to HBCU Live and all of the team there. And amazing. I say yesterday. And here was yesterday. An amazing event. I'm so mad I missed the panel though, y'all. They had a panel all about HBCU's impact on culture and where that's headed. And I'm so mad I missed it. I heard that it was amazing. I know common was one of the people that was featured on that panel. But after that, we all got to head out into the open and there were different suites. They had like presidential suite and different things that you got to watch the matches. Getting to see my tennis super heroes. Like I love the girls and seeing them on the court. It was really fun to watch Bing yesterday as well too. But like I mean, Coco Gough, I talk about her here all the time. Naomi Osaka, I am really trying to get to see Bing in San Serena. Like these are people.

6:07When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.

7:12I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Pinero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone I kept meeting people and they were like, you smiled at us not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're bookshelf and you're for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.

8:12This is Pro's Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm gonna have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro's Society on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Hey, this is Dave and Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood handbook on the big money players network.

9:13Our show is extremely accessible to first time listeners. Each week we talk to someone in show business aka the biz and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman. That's great. I actually can you help me can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head? How about we flip this around? What is the surprise one man? Actually you think it's the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott. This entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never let go of that. I have never set expectations for something like that. It seems like if the universe allows for something like that to happen. I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride. Fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking on the hallway to be honest with you.

10:16I was like, I smell that. I was like, exactly. Nope. It's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. I think there's a lot of times out of context people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? Like, girl, I go work with David. I love everyone. So I'm excited for you. Right. Fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode. But he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and apple etch.

11:16But they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. Stop right there. Is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need men to rule. Great. And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bull. They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. Our hometown is not a test to. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you making a commotion while the matches were going on? I was not making a commotion while the matches were going on. I know about, you know, the tennis etiquette. Like an amo play about that. Like when it's time to be quiet, the last round of the match that I watched, I watched Ben Shelton and he played, I am not going to get this guy's name correct.

12:21He's just a kind of a Herbert, her, her, her cause. There was like points of that match were like it was super, super like loud. Everybody's cheering been on. And I actually recorded a part of it. This was like the fine. Well, I guess we could put it here, but this was like the final like right before Ben. He did what he needed to do to make sure he solidify himself in the last set and one. The the match. And listen to the crowd and how like hype we were with it. But then there were parts of it where like it was so intense and it was down to like, you were literally watching every last swing back and forth and back and forth. And we looking for like, you know, the coverage on the tennis court and like, oh my god, it was so quiet during those times because I think we, I mean, you want the tennis player to be able to focus. But in real life, like if you're paying attention, it was going on. You literally are on the edge of your seat.

13:22So there were times where like we were all talking throughout the match because there was a lot of people in the suite that, you know, either went to HBCU's or support HBCU culture through like the business or whatever it is that they do. So there was a lot of conversation happening. I met a lot of people that I didn't know before I walked in there. Shout out to my girl, Scotty Beam, though, who's also a commentator. She was there. So it was good to actually see people that I knew this year because last year I felt like when I walked into the suite, I didn't know nobody. And I didn't mind that. But it was just a different vibe. I also feel like the suite I was in this year was a bit, it's skewed a bit younger. There were like people that were more my age. So I think that's why this year felt a bit different as far as like the sweet last year I was in the presidential suite. So that was a bit more elevated. I have a question about it though. So I've never been to the US open. But why? Your thing because like the the dancers need concentration. That's why no one's like yelling or anything else.

14:24Yeah, but also to like you want to be able to hear the umpires like. There's like things that are like calls that are happening things that are being said on the on the court. But when you be I mean I'm not trying to compare. I want to purchase the other but. Um how you're saying it was like set like high energy with them. I would think those rules wouldn't matter because I guess something about like with basketball. It's not going to be a dumb. A dumb comparison. But they are doing calls on. They're doing calls on. Basketball. But no, I just think tennis has like a. It's just different. Like I think each sport. So like okay, we know like I'm not a person golf. I know that. Yeah, like I'm not a person who follows sports to the point where like I have teams that I love and like like tennis players. I love. We were talking about this yesterday. How like even the people that were in the sweet with me that are avid tennis watchers like for me. I don't watch tennis all the time. But like if there's something going on with like a cocoa golf or a new milsaco or a Taylor Towns and.

15:27Or a slone like I will Venus and Serena. I'll see that and I'll pay attention to it because it's like no these are like the black superheroes in this like in tennis. And I mean, you know, but also not even just like Ben. He he's half black, but like he was one of the people that like a lot of the black people at the US open were looking to come out and support. But when something's happening with us in tennis, I pay attention. Even if I don't watch the matches, but there were people who like really pay attention to all of the matches and all the things and are very involved in a lot of things that. No, no, but I'm saying like cheering wise like, but those but what I was going to say is even those people who were like really who follow all of that. There's certain points where you just doing certain points where you don't because it's just within each sport. There's a different culture. Yeah. Like so like if you go to a football game, especially depending on like the fans like Philly fans. There's a culture there. New York fans. There's a culture there like Eagles fans notably are crazy. So yeah, like it's just a culture.

16:27I can't describe it, but it's just like a thing. I don't even know where that like. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Beniero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes. Without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like, you smile good. That's not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies your soul about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip. I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

17:29When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

18:31Hey, this is A's Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the big money players network. Our show is extremely accessible the first time listeners. Each week we talk to someone in show business, aka the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great. Can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head? How about we flip this around? How about the surprise one, man? Who actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never let go of that. I have, I would never set expectations for something like that. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I am open to it. I'm always going to accept.

19:31You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking on the hallway to be honest with you. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I need. Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben stiller, no. I think there's a lot of times out of context people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? Like, you're like, oh, what's the status? Everyone's so dumb. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode. But he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a bookshelf and you're for you, page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Pro's Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse.

20:37I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. Yeah, I'm obsessed. So obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. So like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is the Trojan horse, whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro's Society on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area.

21:37The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and apple etch. But they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. Stop right there. Is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need that to rule. Great. And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bull. They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. Our hometown is not a test tube. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. From. But it's just a thing and I've always known, I'm not going to look it up. Where did US tennis culture or etiquette stem from? So I looked up the US Open etiquette.

22:37Where does that stem from? What the etiquette is? According to Yahoo Sports traditional tennis etiquette stems from the late 19th century, the British aristocrat. I'm going to say this wrong. Aristocracy. Aristocracy. The late 19th century with the British aristocrats. So they treated the sport as a polite social pastime and established strict codes of decorum, which were quiet and restrained. So the origin of tennis etiquette come from social class, decorum and tradition. So social class, the sport developed on and was developed on manicure loans of polite British society, inheriting upper class social standards. So even if you look at like the fashion around the US Open, you'll see like a, it's preppy. Like it's a lot of like the college shirts and the cardigans and the George, it's very plain.

23:37It's very fine tailored. The scarves, the hats. Like you think it's becoming. Just based off what happened recently, which is like the commotion and stuff of that. Do you think it's becoming more of like a, what's the word? Just like a trendy place. I think the US Open has always been a trendy place to be. I think a lot of them, a lot of these major sporting events are like, I literally just said it. Like I don't pay attention to a lot of the sports on a day to day and throughout different seasons or time periods. But when the bigger events happen, it's trendy. Like I don't think you can get around that, especially because the sport is so beloved and you have such big name talent within the sport, especially like, you know, like a lot of these girls, people have been following throughout their careers. Like I know what's long Stevens. I know she talked a lot about having her community organization at the US Open with her and raising children up in it.

24:38But like those kids are probably looking at her like a superhero. So you're going, you're posting, you're talking about the fact that you're seeing all of it. And these women are very accomplished. And so I'm in too in this sport as well. But I say that to say wherever popularity and celebrity is, trend is going to follow. So I don't think you can get around it. And I also think too, I know, to me, the difference that I saw from last year to this year, there were influences there last year. But I think with this year, it's become, it's like something, a lifestyle thing that you want to like subscribe to, right? Like people go and get Starbucks because I mean the products are good. But Starbucks was able to brand and do the things that they did because they presented this lifestyle. Like you're paying a bit more for your coffee if you have the cup. We look at you as a person that lives a certain life for lives within a certain social class. The US Open is the same thing to me. Even if you don't know tennis, you want to attend or even attend events surrounding it. And if you look at the brands that couple with the US Open, like, you know, the, Moette brand, let me look at just the brands that partner with them this year.

25:41So this year, these are just some of the brands that partner with them. You had American expression lounges, chase lounges, which is where we were for the HBCU sweets. Emmerts, which is known as like a very like upscale way to fly over to different countries. You also had Deloitte, IBM, Cadillac, IHG hotels and resorts were official partner. Apollo, Ralph Lauren was an official outfitter Rolex. Like these are, these are double to kill it too. Like they make these like drinks that have like the fake tennis balls on the top that everybody wants to go get. But these are brands that people get because I mean, it just, it assimilates with a certain point or certain kind of lifestyle. So I think you're going to have that because people are going to see it and want to be a part of it and want to aspire to it. Now does it ruin the US Open? I think for some people, honestly, it does. I just think it's like for people who are really there to just enjoy the tennis matches. I think it does ruin it for them. I don't say like as big as social media keeps getting like people are going to want to have content for it.

26:46But I think as a business, if you're the US Open as a business, you want that. Yeah, for sure. Like they don't have like any like stands where people can, I'm sure they do like take pictures, like have those photoshoots. Yeah, there was a lot of like moments set up like they had an HBCU backdrop. They had a regular US Open backdrop in the middle of like so like when you came into like head into like the ass stadium like this setup, they had like a. A big huge like setup for where the DJs from all the HBCUs would have been DJing last night, but just in general for the US Open when you walk on the grounds, there was like a whole memoriam of all of these like tennis players and people that have been involved in organization that I saw people doing. Content interviews in front of I actually got a chance to meet out the Gibson's family out the Gibson is like one of the first known black women in tennis to take it to new heights. Her family was there as well too.

27:46So there you know there are people doing content around the fact that you know there's a memoriams to her setup last year that it was really like everywhere you turned. You saw things about out the Gibson because they were celebrating and commemorating her last year. But yeah, and you know like I was reading an article on four of us. I just pulled it up and then when I was looking at the influencer thing earlier to talk about on the breakfast club and we're talking about how this year the 2026 US Open will track more than just tennis fans. There's a record 1.14 million people that attended the grand slam tournament last year among them were influencers celebrity sports agents vendors, corporate sponsors athletes. Because also too you got to think about there's a lot of businesses getting done in these sweets like people are having these conversations. But on the new podcast solita we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait 4 hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I choose option B. I'm Julie Beniero and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first.

28:51I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone I kept meeting people and they were like you smile good. That's not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies your soul about it. It can be a time where you push your limits change your mind or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip. I hope you listen to solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. When I was 14 years old I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying shut up, don't say anything.

29:55Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced, but these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Ace Davenport and Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the big money players network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week we talk to someone in show business aka the Bizz and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicists for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, not that great.

30:55Can you help me shape this? How about we flip it on his head? How about we flip this around? What is the surprise one, man? Actually, you think it's the straight man. It's actually the one who's acting weird. Adam Scott, this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show. I would never let go of that. I would never set expectations for something like that. If the universe allows for something like that to happen, I'm open to it. I'm always going to accept. You know, Danny McBride, fine. Yeah, it's all this fragile masculinity exuding. I could smell it walking on the hallway to be honest with you. I was like, I was like, exactly. Nope, it's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no. I think there's a lot of times out of context people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? Like, you're like, oh, what's the status? Everyone's so dumb. And fake.

31:57Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode. But he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a bookshelf and you're for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is pros society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is a Trojan horse,

33:01whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to pros society on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Our town is small taters by most standards, right? But to the people who grew up here, it's everything. What happens when a quiet Tennessee town becomes the front line in a battle over the future of America? Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is high nears and apple etchum, but they weren't just planning houses. We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the Christian way of life. Stop right there. Is that normal? A podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need men to rule and decide to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your bulls**t.

34:04They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. Our hometown is not a test to. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration. I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to our town on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But people, but not just people who enjoy the sport of tennis, but there's like such a business around it as well too. And I think that that's another thing as well. Like a lot of people go for the relationships. Like that was one of the biggest things. Yesterday walking in Arthur Ashe and leaving out of I had, I mean, I probably talked to at least like four to five people about like different opportunities. Different things I can do not even related to tennis. I'd also heard that like, you know, there were a ton of, I mean, they mentioned agents there too, but I'd heard that there were a lot of agents there and not just sports agents. Like there were a lot of like brand agents that like someone literally came up to me and was like, they remembered. And I was like, I'm not even asking to get a question that accelerate her a long time ago probably like two months ago now we talked about it on the podcast.

35:09But at accelerate her, I was talking openly about trying to figure out if having an agent makes sense for me right now. And feeling like I need an agent for brands to not even just for like new television opportunities. I want that, but for brand deals and like really broker in the big deals. And one of the girls that I was talking to who remembered me talking about that on the podcast. Like you know that this is the place like you can run into some of the biggest agents and they're here because they're making sure they're clients, whether they represent the brand or the athlete is getting their getting all their situation, like getting everything done and they need to get done. So there's it's just, I don't know. It's one of those things. But it says that the US open just this year alone. And that's prize money. Where is it? I wonder why the pen relays don't get as much acknowledgment like or I feel like I haven't seen that much change or people. I feel like the pen relays used to be really really big.

36:11It did right people used to travel into. For sure. I used to be up in relays every single year. I feel like I'm trying to get a new brand track though. So, I mean, I'm biased. Some of my friends that would talk about it were my friends that ran track. But I feel like there's a lot of parties. There was a lot of like party surrounding it too that I know people used to travel into. I remember that always being a thing of a week. I don't know. I feel like it died down or like I don't know the I feel like the news isn't. Like really trying to talk about it. I mean, I think that it hits the news when it when it's happening. I mean, I feel like it's not the same exposure as I'm seeing what US open or even I think the US open culturally outside of just like even if you've never watched or attended. Have you ever been to a tennis match in person? No. And you've never been. But you saw so much about the US open since it started in New York. Right. But I think it's because culturally it's transcended like venison Serena being back. It's not just like a huge moment for tennis even though it is.

37:11It's a moment for black women. It's a moment for conversation about legacy. The brand deals and interactions. They've been in mad commercials about it. Like if there's it's culture tied to it. Like tell her towns in last year has such a moment. Remember she posted the after mother because I'm down from on her Instagram when she had that back and forth with the tennis the girl on the court. This year she came out. She was dressing orange and black because her sister went to a HBC in Florida. Like in that picked up like it. I don't know like they're doing a really good job of dressing in culture not just sports. But you know what that makes me also just think though I wonder because there's all different cultures that come to pen relays. But I don't know if I want to say it like it is us though like more so. So I wonder because we're conquering and sport that really wasn't for us and makes it bigger. But I also think too there's been so many conversations about black people and tennis over the last couple years trying to make sure that we support them the way that we need to.

38:14That that has brought a lot more of us out and like we get loud about it like we want to we want to go we want to repost Coco golf. We want to give it up for Naomi like we just do a lot of that. Be an instance arena story you want to see them every life you want to witness the greatness and real life and it is very honestly one of the greatest things to witness. Especially because like you're watching from the stands like how the hell are they covering this court you know what I mean like like these all these and all these things so well like they are so polished and so great what they do. So I understand why the influencers pull up but there was a group of influencers honestly was a couple of different instances that went down over the US open. I'm these as couple days I know that there was a woman taking photos during the on the Osaka's match and you know on pirates and people got really upset. And there was a group of influencers who were recording a video and this man. That was sitting a few rows below their sweet. Oh he is going so far away because he was annoyed with these women and you know how loud they were it was a bunch of cute girls and their obviously recording something maybe for Tik Toker Instagram but I mean they're loud.

39:16And they do have little breaks in between the different sets and that's when like we were talking most and taking pictures I don't know when this was but let's let take a listen to these ladies. Okay guys we're back. Did you miss us? Because you needed you. That's what I'm saying it's like for the average like the avid tennis watcher you don't want to hear that behind you and if you do it got to be like right time like. Even as the matches ending and they're going from like one session to the other would be better. But yes I had a great time again you know thank you to everybody that that you know really cares enough about the HBC you journey vision and impact even after we leave the schools to center it on such a major platform like. HBC you day shout out to tell the town's in and you know her big up HBC you day at the US open. I mean it's so important I think even that is so new we talk about things being trendy but I remember being told that if I went to HBC you no matter what I chose to do in life whether I chose the same business or getting to entertainment a fashion.

40:22That I wouldn't be able to do it on a major scale because HBC you just couldn't equip me that way like I literally remember being told that. And now it is like the most trendy thing to say you attended the HBC you order pull up to a HBC use homecoming or you know where the gear from the schools even if you didn't attend. So I think that those things happen you need them a bit like you we need people to talk about these things in order for them to say relevant and for them to infiltrate culture because those black tennis players. Although they want us to behave it within the etiquette I know they appreciate the love of support you know I'm sure you know they talk a lot about the evolution of being black and in tennis. Which is not traditionally you know something that like black people own spacing they appreciate us showing up and showing up and showing up and I'm sure so. That has been another episode of the latest with Laura the Rosa you guys I tell y'all every single episode y'all could be anywhere with any old body talking about all of the things with the fact that you guys choose to be right here with me my low riders. I really appreciate you guys and I'll catch you in my next episode.

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