Proxy with Yowei Shaw

An Emotions Beat episode about Dead Eyes, Tom Hanks, and why proxy conversations work.

Yowei is still trying to answer a basic question about her own show: why would talking to a stranger who wasn’t there help someone get unstuck?

So she calls Connor Ratliff, the actor and comedian behind Dead Eyes — a podcast about the time Tom Hanks fired him from Band of Brothers for allegedly having “dead eyes.”

Before Connor finally talked to Tom Hanks himself, he had dozens of proxy conversations: with actors who had their own rejection stories, showrunners who had fired actors, and people who could help him understand the tiny show business nightmare that has haunted him for years.

In this episode, Yowei and Connor investigate the difference between talking to a proxy and talking to the real person — and why sometimes the stranger who wasn’t there can still tell you exactly what you needed to hear.

From the episode:

— Connor Ratliff – host of the podcasts Dead Eyes, Tiny Dinos, and The George Lucas Show— on Instagram @connorratliff

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic Proxy case, or Psychodrama: The 2nd Oldest Therapy You've Never Heard Of, But Have Definitely Tried for another emotions beat episode about how conversations can create closure, even when they aren't with the "real" person.  

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