The demand for salary transparency, plus a new fresh prince of 'Bel-Air'
SAM SANDERS, HOST:
Hey, y'all. You're listening to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE from NPR. I'm Sam Sanders. And my first guest this hour - she's fancy.
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VICTORIA WALKER: So I've flown some of the best airlines, stayed at some of the nicest hotels in the world - the Renaissance Phuket, the JW Marriott in Mauritius.
SANDERS: That is Victoria Walker, and she used to have perhaps one of the most glamorous jobs in all of journalism. Victoria was a senior travel reporter at The Points Guy. That's this website that publishes travel tips and news. Basically, Victoria wrote stories about how to travel well, and her research for those stories was her traveling well.
WALKER: Flying Emirates was probably one of the most, like, life-changing experiences of my life.
SANDERS: Wow.
WALKER: There was an onboard shower. Like, I got to shower at 40,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. There's an onboard bar for business and first-class passengers that had rack of lamb on a plane. Like, I don't even eat lamb - like, I don't even eat lamb on the ground.
SANDERS: (Laughter) I've been following Victoria online for a while now, and I've always been jealous. But a few weeks ago, Victoria left perhaps the best job in the biz. That should not come as a total shock. An estimated 4.5 million people in America have quit their jobs during this great resignation. And we've talked about that extensively on this show before. But what was different about Victoria's resignation was what she tweeted after she left.
Can you read that tweet?
WALKER: Yes. I said, oh, before I forget, if you apply for my old job as senior travel reporter, you should ask for no less than $115,000, a signing bonus and a relocation bonus if you're moving to New York City. And full transparency, I was at $107,000 a year. I believe being transparent is one way to achieve equity in media.
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SANDERS: Victoria's tweet sharing her salary - it hit a nerve. As of this weekend, it has 79,000 likes and counting. It also inspired a lot of other people to do the same thing. Today on the show, pay transparency and why it seems everybody is talking about it right now, and not just workers. Over the last few years, a bunch of states and cities around the country have passed laws focused on pay transparency. Some are actually requiring employers to provide salary ranges in job postings. We'll talk about those laws and whether it's OK to actually talk about your salary with your co-workers. But first, back to Victoria. She did not expect what happened after she tweeted.
WALKER: Honestly, I didn't think twice about it. Like, I was sitting in my room at the Park Hyatt in St. Kitts, and right before I went out to the...
SANDERS: As one does.
WALKER: As one does. And right before I decided to go back out to the beach and enjoy my little old vacation, I decided to tweet it - didn't really think that much about it for maybe, like, 45 minutes to an hour. And then I saw that it had completely blown up and taken, like, legs and a mind of its own.
SANDERS: Yeah.
WALKER: I had people reaching out to me, telling me that, like, they had been inspired to ask for raises at their own jobs. People would - told me that they decided to quit, you know, those - yeah.
SANDERS: Yeah. Do you think you would have been in the headspace to tweet out your salary in the before times? Or was there something about the pandemic and the great resignation and the way that a lot of workers have reconsidered work in this moment that led you to share your pay?
WALKER: Honestly, I probably would have tweeted it even before the before times. Like...
SANDERS: (Laughter) OK.
WALKER: ...You know, I'm somebody - like, I have friends. I know exactly what they make. I know the, you know, offers that they've had on the table. Ultimately, when you're not transparent, it doesn't serve the worker. Women and people of color are going to, like, feel the brunt of not getting what they deserve when they, you know, go in for interviews and going for - you know, and receive job offers. So ultimately, you know, for me, I'm a very straight-up, very forward person. And so I would have probably tweeted this out even in the before times.
SANDERS: OK. Do you think this will at all affect future employment for you?
WALKER: Not at all. Like, just being frank, not at all. Yeah, people are definitely still in my DMs.
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SANDERS: But after I talked with Victoria, I still had a big question. Was doing what she did, tweeting out her own salary, was that actually a good thing to do?
When you first saw Victoria's tweet, what did you think?
LAUREN WEBER: I thought, good for her. Yeah. I mean, more people need to do this. This is how it works. If companies...
SANDERS: My next guest is Lauren Weber. She covers work and employment issues for The Wall Street Journal. And Lauren told me that having any kind of salary information - that can help an employee when it comes to negotiation. But she also said there is still a huge taboo about talking salary in the workplace.
WEBER: Your compensation, your salary, your pay is considered a sign of your value. For some people, there is a fear of disclosing how you're valued in that way to other people. Will your value seem too high? Will it seem too low? Will it say something about your character or your skills, or your experience that you may not want to have out there? So it's a complicated topic, but it's one I think we need to move towards more transparency on this.
SANDERS: Oh, totally. You know, when I saw Victoria's tweet and the fallout that ensued and - it's part of this trend I think I've been noticing, but I want you to check me on it. I feel like there's something happening between the pandemic and the great resignation. Like, it's really supercharged this conversation about pay transparency and salary transparency. Something's in the water, and this is more of a thing than it was, like, five years ago. Is it safe to say that?
WEBER: I do think so. And I think all of the trends you mentioned - the pandemic and the very high numbers of quitting, lots of turnover - are all adding to that. I think workers are very exhausted. They're pretty fed up. They're burnt out. And so there's a less of a sense of loyalty to employers and maybe less of a sense that you have to adhere to the usual norms of the workplace. Another piece is that wages have been rising really quickly. That's partly a result of labor shortages, also partly because of all of this quitting and turnover, which has incentivized employers to keep pay at a higher level or maybe pay more to retain people. And then it's also partly because of inflation. Prices are going up really high. We've had inflation in 2021 of just about 7%, which is the highest in about 40 years. So it's like, you know, all of these factors give people, I think, a sense that they can negotiate more around pay. They're having more conversations with colleagues about pay. They want to make sure they're not losing out at a moment...
SANDERS: Yeah
WEBER: ...That may not come back again for a while.
SANDERS: Totally. Well, and we should be clear here. It's not just workers who are totally leaning into this. We've seen companies like Amazon raise their base pay in this moment. And we've also seen a bunch of states and cities pass laws forcing employers to provide salary information and transparency. Maryland and Rhode Island and Washington now require employers to disclose pay ranges to applicants if it's requested. Last year, Colorado put in place a law requiring employees to include compensation in job postings. There are other states - in general, when there are laws passed about salary transparency, what do they look like, and do they actually work?
WEBER: It's a little early now to know if they work because the first ones have only been in place for, you know, a relatively short period of time. Colorado, I believe, it went into effect last January, so we've only really been through one year with that. One big question is will companies publish a meaningful range, you know, for the salary? In fact, we looked at job openings in Colorado and found that for some jobs, there was a $150,000 spread between what was at the bottom of a range for the job and at the top of the range. So that was for a relatively high-paying job, obviously. I think it went from like 130- to almost 300,000. So the ranges can be made so vast that they're almost meaningless. So one key - and this may come up in some of the enforcement - is to make sure that the ranges are realistic enough that they actually provide meaningful information to job applicants.
SANDERS: Yeah. One of the questions I have seeing this conversation around salary transparency really heat up and seeing states and cities across the country make some moves to make salary more transparent - are we actually allowed to talk about our pay with our colleagues? There are a lot of contracts that people sign when they work that have language that says you can't discuss this. But from what I understand, there are also some federal protections on being able to say how much you make.
WEBER: That is a really important point, and I'm glad you brought it up. So...
SANDERS: OK.
WEBER: ...It is perfectly legal to discuss your salary and compensation with other people. This is a right that Americans have had since the 1930s, when the National Labor Relations Act was signed, which protects concerted activity between employees. And that can mean all kinds of things. But in this context, concerted activity can mean basically discussing workplace conditions, and that includes compensation. So many employers have put into employment contracts, you know, that you're not allowed to discuss your compensation with other people or with your peers. That's illegal. So, you know, this is one reason why it's fairly difficult to enforce this. It's often not written out in a contract, or it's just kind of a subtle message. But people should really know there is nothing illegal about talking about your salary with other people.
SANDERS: Yeah.
WEBER: Employers can be penalized for retaliating against employees who discuss their salary.
SANDERS: Yeah. As we move into this moment of more and more salary transparency, I'm wondering, what does it do to the mood in a workplace? You know, there's this company called Buffer that's been publishing all of its salaries for years, and they've talked about it publicly. And a lot more workspaces, there's just more discussion of who makes what. When that knowledge is out there, what does it do to an office emotionally?
WEBER: Yeah, I mean, there's interesting, mixed research about this. And you brought up Buffer. It's a social media company, and they, since 2013, have published all salaries with people's names. It's only first names when I check the website.
SANDERS: Yeah.
WEBER: So it's not only transparent internally but also externally. People can opt out of that if they don't want that information out there. In terms of what it does in the workplace - so what I've seen the CEO of Buffer say and some other companies that have experimented with a lot of transparency is that it's really great for morale. You know, it gives people a sense of trust that the company is not keeping any secrets, that in some cases there is a formula that these companies are using to set pay, and employees know what the formula is, so there's no mystery around how pay is set.
On the other hand, there was some research that was done by economists at Princeton and Berkeley. This was about 10 years ago or so. Some economists did an experiment where they sent employees of the University of California system information about how to access the salaries of, you know, other employees within that system. When people found out what others were making and looked in particular at what their peers were making and - the researchers found that those who were below the median of what others in their roles were making got very resentful. They were more likely to leave their jobs. Morale really plummeted. So the question of what this does for morale often changes based on where you are in this relative hierarchy of pay, right?
SANDERS: Makes sense (laughter). Makes sense, yeah.
WEBER: I mean, people are more interested in how their pay compares to other people than they are often in the absolute number of what they earn. There's a lot of behavioral economics research on this. There's also research showing that people have often an inflated sense of their skills and their - and what they contribute to their work. There's a lot of issues of fairness that come up around this.
SANDERS: Yeah, yeah. You know, this conversation around salary transparency and stories like Victoria's, they can all seem kind of white collar. You know, she was a journalist making six figures. This company buffer that we mentioned, you know, it is a lot of white-collar jobs. Is this salary transparency moment also happening for lower wage workers as well?
WEBER: You know, it is definitely a different conversation. I would say that there tends to be less variation in lower wage or, you know, lower wage jobs. So if you're working an hourly job, there is usually, first of all, a much smaller range of what that job can be. Let's say you're an associate at a big-box retail store or you are a barista at Starbucks. There tends to be just a much smaller range of variation there and also more clear starting pay and then I think steps as you go up in experience.
Another thing is that, you know, lately a lot of big employers - companies like Walmart, Target - they've said, like, our minimum hourly wage is going to be whatever it is - $13 or $15 an hour - so there is some amount of that similar pay transparency but only at the bottom level - entry level place. You don't really probably know what you could make if you were, you know, say, had three years of experience or got promoted up to the next level. Another thing is that one area where we see a lot of wage transparency is unions. If you're covered by a union contract, often pay is determined not by performance but by rank and seniority, tenure. So there, it's often very clear what people are going to be earning, and there's a lot of transparency. But those are the exception.
SANDERS: OK. Last question for you. Sharing salaries and being transparent about pay isn't the only thing that's needed to ensure workers feel like their workplace is equitable. What are some complementary tools that employers can use besides just saying how much they're paying folks to lead to more equitable offices...
WEBER: Hmm...
SANDERS: ...And workspaces?
WEBER: ...Right, right. Employers really need to be sure that they have a clear process for setting pay. There's so much variation that it can be a very, very subjective process. So how do you bring some more consistency to that process? Or some - take out some of the discretion from that process and get to the point where you can clearly explain to people, here's why you're earning what you're earning. Here's how you can move up to the next level of pay. Here's, you know, why the person next to you who you just had a conversation in the bathroom with is making, you know, a little more than you. More and more managers have to be prepared for those conversations.
SANDERS: We're all talking, managers. Know that. Know that.
WEBER: Yeah.
SANDERS: Hey, well, thank you for covering this issue and for talking to me about it. Come back soon.
WEBER: All right. Thanks. Take care.
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SANDERS: Thanks again to Lauren Weber. She covers work and employment issues for The Wall Street Journal. And thanks again to Victoria Walker for sharing her story. All right. Coming up, we talk with Morgan Cooper. He's the director behind the reboot of the iconic "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air." He turned that comedy into a drama. He'll tell you how.
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SANDERS: If you asked me to list my top five TV sitcoms of all time, that list would have to include "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air," and it's not No. 5. I love that show, and one of the things I loved most was how even though it was clearly a comedy, there were these moments when "The Fresh Prince" was giving you pure drama. My next guest can recall one of those scenes.
What's your favorite "Fresh Prince" episode?
MORGAN COOPER: I mean, Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse - no question about it. You know, Will's performance in that, it's just so incredibly iconic.
SANDERS: That is Morgan Cooper. More from him in just a bit. So Morgan's talking about an episode of "The Fresh Prince" where Will's deadbeat dad is supposed to come hang out with Will, and he's so excited. And then Will's dad just flakes.
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WILL SMITH: (As Will Smith) I ain't need him then, and I don't need him now.
JAMES AVERY: (As Philip Banks) Will.
SMITH: (As Will Smith) No. You know what, Uncle Phil? I'm going to get through college without him. I'm going to get a great job without him. I'm going to marry me a beautiful honey, and I'm going to have me a whole bunch of kids. I'm going to be a better father than he ever was. And I sure as hell don't need him for that because ain't a damn thing he could ever teach me about how to love my kids.
SANDERS: And then a crying Will Smith falls into Uncle Phil's arms.
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SMITH: (As Will Smith) How come he don't want me, man?
SANDERS: When you see scenes like that, you realize "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air," it could have been a drama. Morgan Cooper thought the same thing, and a few years ago, he had the idea for a dramatic retelling of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air." And then he made a trailer for it, like 3 1/2 minutes.
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SHERRI ROULETTE-MOSLEY: (As Vy Smith) This is not a game, Will. Look at you. The only reason why you're not in jail is because Uncle Phil called in a favor.
COOPER: You know, we spent zero marketing dollars on that short film. You know, we uploaded to YouTube, and Will and his company, Westbrook - they reached out, you know, less than 24 hours from when I released it.
SANDERS: And Will Smith said, let's make it. And now that idea has grown into a new show called "Bel-Air." It starts airing on Peacock this Sunday, right after the Super Bowl. Morgan is here now to talk with me about "Bel-Air" and what he changed from the original "Fresh Prince" and what remained.
Without giving away too much, how can we set up this "Fresh Prince" dramatic reboot for our listeners? It's the same kind of story, but it's told entirely differently because it's dramatic and dark.
COOPER: Yeah, absolutely. You know, taking the spirit of these iconic characters from the original sitcom that we all know and love, you know, I asked myself, like, what would happen if we grounded, you know, these characters in this scenario in modern day life, you know, through the dramatic lens? People sometimes use the term like greedy and dark, and I never think about art in that way at all. It's just saying like, what if we actually grounded this in a real way?
SANDERS: Yeah. Listen, I'm going to tell you what surprised me. I watched the pilot this week of this new dramatic "Fresh Prince" and biggest change that really hit me in the gut - Carlton is kind of cool in this telling.
COOPER: Yeah, Carlton's got swag, man.
SANDERS: Or at least with his classmates, yeah.
COOPER: Yeah, yeah. Carlton's got his own swag.
SANDERS: Yeah.
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OLLY SHOLOTAN: (As Carlton) If you want to want to do well, just keep your head down and follow my lead.
JABARI BANKS: (As Will) Whoa, whoa, whoa. Pause, stop, flag on the play. I know you didn't just tell me to follow your lead.
SHOLOTAN: (As Carlton) Yeah, I mean, I do kind of run the place. Hey.
SANDERS: What made you want to do that? Because that surprised me, I mean, like for sure.
COOPER: Yes. It's just, once again, just, like, grounding the concept of this character - right? - and saying, like, you know, young Black man who grew up in Bel-Air, who's, you know, carved out his own place like in this community, like, what would that look like? And, you know, I never saw Carlton as like, you know, this kind of geeky guy in this modern reimagining. It's like, no, like, in his space, like where he's from, like he's somebody who's cool. He's got his own swag. He's got his own flavor. And I think that's really important to dimensionalize that character, you know. And he's not just the comedic foil every scene. You know, this is somebody who is a force to be reckoned with in his own right. And, you know, when Will comes in, like, we really get to see how those two forces collide on screen.
SANDERS: And the butler, Geoffrey, he's tough.
COOPER: Oh, yeah.
SANDERS: You don't mess with Geoffrey. It's like a different version of Geoffrey the butler.
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BANKS: (As Will) So I'm Will. Who are you?
JIMMY AKINGBOLA: (As Geoffrey) Geoffrey Thompson, house manager. Come. Your aunt's eager to see you.
COOPER: Oh, absolutely. You know, it's so interesting. In the trailer, a lot of people noticed that there was no Geoffrey, and the reason why is, you know, at the time - and still to this day, I feel like - I really felt uncomfortable with the concept of a Black family having a Black butler. Like, there's something about that concept - and no disrespect to the O.G. sitcom - you know, at the time, and for what - you know, for the format of a half-hour sitcom, like, it worked from a comedic standpoint and it was just, like, kind of a thing that they were doing back then in television. But I felt really uncomfortable with that concept. So when it was time to develop the show and adapt it into the series, you know, I got really inspired. I was watching "Top Boy," you know, shout out, "Top Boy," it's an incredible show on Netflix.
SANDERS: OK.
COOPER: It gave me a glimpse into Black life in the U.K. And, you know, growing up without social media stuff like that, growing up in the Midwest, we didn't really know what Black people were doing overseas, like in the U.K. Like, I didn't know there was such a vibrant Black community because, like, we didn't see those images on screen. So watching "Top Boy," all of the sudden I'm seeing, like, this flavor and swag and energy of Black life over in the U.K. and it got - and all of the sudden, like, this backstory hit me of like, you know, Geoffrey in Phil's origin story and how they met over in the U.K. and Geoffrey's, you know, very storied past, it all hit me at once. Like, no like, this is a residential manager. That's what he is, and he handles stuff for Phil. Like, that's what he does. It's not, you know, just the comedic foil. Like, this is, you know, Phil's muscle. This is Phil's right hand man in a lot of ways.
SANDERS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I was reading that before you were making this show for Peacock, in Kansas City, part of your work was shooting music videos for who you call gangsters and drug dealers. How much of that and that work making those videos influenced the way that you made the show?
COOPER: Yeah. Well, here's the thing - you know, my career started in the line of a Best Buy when I graduated high school. I didn't go to film school, I didn't go to college. I bought a little Cannon T2I and built my career from that. And, you know, when you're starting out and you've got to pay your rent, you know, you reach out and you connect with people who are willing to give you a chance in your work. And that was, you know, a lot of local rappers at the time. You know, so I was running around Kansas City, you know, shooting these one-man band music videos and...
SANDERS: Really.
COOPER: ...Saw a lot of crazy things - yeah, yeah - in the hood, just shooting these low-budget music videos for $100, $200, $300 to pay my rent. But what I learned in those scenarios is how to work well under pressure, how to be extremely resourceful, you know, how to create when you don't have a lot, right?
SANDERS: Kind of like the Fresh Prince.
COOPER: One hundred percent, that's exactly right. And I developed this really strong just sense of wonder in the process, and I fell in love with that camera. And two days after I bought it, I said, you know, I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. And I still have that same sense of wonder, you know, till this day. I still tell people I'm still that same kid in the line of a Best Buy buying that Cannon T2I, so...
SANDERS: Wow. Hey, well, Morgan, thank you for making the show and for talking about it. As a "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" superfan, I am so excited to see where you're retelling of this classic story goes. If you'll oblige me, I want to have you stick around after the break and play a fun game.
COOPER: That sounds great, Sam. Absolutely.
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SANDERS: I am very excited to have two guests on right now who are involved with the reboot of the "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air." Tell folks who you are.
COOPER: Yo, what's going on y'all? This is Morgan Cooper, creator and pilot director of "Bel-Air."
JORDAN L JONES: And what's was up, y'all. This is Jordan L. Jones and I play Jazz in "Bel-Air."
SANDERS: So, Jordan, coming to this role - this iconic role - how do you determine what of Jazz to keep from the original, what to make different? Like, tell us.
J JONES: Well, I think the beautiful part about this is that because, you know, this is a drama, of course, there are similarities, but there's a lot of differences in a good way. Of course, Jazz in the original was the cool, suave, kind of comic relief. In this one, I see him as being all of that but with more layers, with more depth. I feel like Jazz is Will's Jiminy Cricket.
SANDERS: Huh.
J JONES: You know, so I feel like that's more of my character. So in this, you're going to see a lot of wisdom and a lot of dramatic moments between us. And I think that is what I bring differently than the first one.
SANDERS: At some point in this season of this "Fresh Prince" reboot, is Uncle Phil going to throw your character out of the front door?
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DJ JAZZY JEFF: (As Jazz) Yo, Mr. Banks, my tubby judicial brother.
(LAUGHTER)
J JONES: I mean, you got to watch the season, man.
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DJ JAZZY JEFF: (As Jazz, yelling).
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: Watch the pilot because I don't want to give away too much, but I need it to happen.
J JONES: You got to watch, man. You've got to watch and you're going to see, we got a lot of stuff coming.
SANDERS: OK, I love it. I love it. Well, I know that the two of you worked together closely on your show. But for this next segment, I am going to ask you both to compete against each other and play my favorite game. It's called Who Said That?
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KANDI BURRUSS: Who had been saying that?
PORSHA WILLIAMS: Who said that?
KENYA MOORE: Who said that?
BURRUSS: Who said that?
SANDERS: The game is super simple. I share three quotes from the week of news. You have to guess who said it. You can yell out the answer whenever you think you know it. There are no buzzers, there are no timers, just yell it out. The team here on the show will help keep score, but I regret to inform you that there is no prize, save for bragging rights.
J JONES: So, wait, real quick. Just - you're going to say a quote from something that somebody in the world said?
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: Yeah.
J JONES: OK.
SANDERS: In the news this week, like a big story. It's not going to be like so distinct and so weird that you can't guess it at all. It's famous people doing famous things, right? Like, you'll know.
J JONES: OK. OK.
SANDERS: But actually, it doesn't matter. It's a game.
J JONES: True.
SANDERS: It's a game.
J JONES: You're right. I just want to win. I just love winning.
SANDERS: All right, here's the first quote - "they block my videos and they get folks who think they can do it like me, and I'm tired of fighting them. I love the athletes and they love me doing it. But now it's just gotten too hard."
J JONES: Who thinks...
COOPER: They've got to be in the sports world - Skip Bayless?
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SANDERS: This is the famous comedian and actress who made a name for herself for, like, live commentating on sports events, including the Olympics.
COOPER: Oh, Leslie...
SANDERS: Come on. That was it. Come on. You're almost there...
COOPER: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Aw, man. Her last name escapes me right now.
J JONES: I think I know who Morgan is talking about, but I'm not going to answer because...
SANDERS: You can answer...
J JONES: ...He actually knew the person.
SANDERS: But you can answer if you know. Get in there.
J JONES: Is it Leslie - Leslie Jones?
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SANDERS: Yes.
J JONES: But see, I didn't know that, but once you said...
COOPER: So we're going to split the point...
J JONES: ...Yeah, we'll split it. We'll split it.
COOPER: Split the point.
J JONES: .5, .5.
SANDERS: I don't know if y'all can make the rules on this game.
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: I'm kidding. We'll split that point. We'll split that point. So that quote comes from a former "SNL" star and hero of social media, Leslie Jones. Have y'all seen this drama this week?
J JONES: For Leslie Jones, I had no news this week about her.
SANDERS: Well, let me tell you what happened. So since she left "SNL," Leslie Jones has gotten pretty famous for, like, watching TV and then talking about it and putting the videos on Twitter or Instagram. And she's really funny when she offers this, like, live commentary for sporting events, including the Olympics.
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LESLIE JONES: They are [expletive] good, you guys. They are [expletive] good. I cannot wait to see what their score going to be. They transitions, their lifts - they're just really fricking smooth.
SANDERS: So she starts to commentate live on all this stuff for the Olympics this week and last week and put it on her social feeds. But NBC was like, you don't have the licensing or the rights to do that. And so they were telling her, you can't. And Leslie was very public in saying, they blocked me, y'all.
J JONES: Dang, I didn't know that.
SANDERS: I don't like that. And, like, a day or two later, NBC was like, our bad. Go forth, Leslie, because you're Leslie Jones.
COOPER: I was going to say, like, it's bringing eyes to the programming, so I don't see the issue with it.
J JONES: Me either. I always wanted to do something like me and my boys, like, commentate a live basketball game but just, like, unedited.
COOPER: See, I would definitely subscribe to a Jordan Jones streaming service to hear all that because no one talks [expletive] like my boy, Jordan. Like, he really pops it [expletive]
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: I love it. All right. Here's the next quote. And you can tell me what we're talking about if you can't even guess the name. Just get close. Here it is - "it's not the kind of pasta you'd expect if your grandma came from Italy on a boat. It's more like the spaghetti you'd know if your mom came from Michigan on a bus." What am I talking about?
(LAUGHTER)
J JONES: Oh, God.
COOPER: What?
SANDERS: (Laughter) What celebrity is known...
J JONES: Sam...
SANDERS: OK, what celebrity is from Detroit and is known for spaghetti?
COOPER: Oh, Eminem.
(SOUNDBITE OF VICTORY TUNE)
SANDERS: Yeah, yeah.
COOPER: What'd he say, mom's spaghetti, right?
SANDERS: Mom's spaghetti.
COOPER: Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms is heavy, you know...
J JONES: Right. Vomit on his sweater...
COOPER: Mom's spaghetti.
J JONES: ...Already. Mom's spaghetti. He's nervous. Yup.
COOPER: But on the surface...
J JONES: You're right.
COOPER: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOSE YOURSELF")
EMINEM: (Rapping) He looks calm and ready to drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down. The whole crowd...
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: Y'all are quoting "Lose Yourself," my favorite spin class song. When I used to go to SoulCycle, that was, like, the last song every time. I was like, yes, yes, yes.
J JONES: That's a good song. I'm going to put that on one of my playlists.
SANDERS: It's a good song. It's a good song. Anyhoo, all of this is about the spaghetti restaurant that Eminem founded called Mom's Spaghetti. It is in the news this week because in honor of his appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend, he's brought a pop-up of Mom's Spaghetti...
J JONES: At the...
SANDERS: ...To downtown Los Angeles this weekend.
J JONES: (Laughter) Oh, what? That is...
COOPER: Hey, Jordan...
J JONES: ...Insane.
COOPER: ...We got to pull up, bro.
J JONES: Yeah. I'm like, yo...
COOPER: Jordan, we have to pull up to that, bro.
J JONES: ...We actually have to go to that.
COOPER: We got to, bro.
J JONES: We got to go to Mom's Spaghetti.
SANDERS: But do you think it's going to be good spaghetti? Do you think it's going to be good spaghetti?
J JONES: It better be.
COOPER: Hell, yeah.
J JONES: He did all this.
COOPER: Absolutely.
J JONES: I think it is. I think - I really do.
SANDERS: OK. OK. OK. So the full backstory for this thing - it's kind of funny. So that quote comes from Mom's Spaghetti co-owner, Curt Catallo, and they're bringing this spaghetti pop-up, Mom's Spaghetti, to downtown Los Angeles this week. But my favorite part of this whole story is that the halftime show Eminem is doing - it is star-studded. It's Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige.
J JONES: Yeah, this lineup is crazy. That Super Bowl lineup...
COOPER: Wow.
J JONES: ...Is crazy. (Laughter) Yo, Sunday...
COOPER: That is wild.
SANDERS: Yeah.
J JONES: ...Is about to be, honestly, the best day - not in my life, in everybody's lives. Everybody's life.
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: Everybody's life.
J JONES: On Sunday.
SANDERS: Everybody's life.
J JONES: Everybody together...
COOPER: Yes.
J JONES: ...In unison is going to be like, this is the best day of my life.
SANDERS: So I'm not sure if this game is tied or not. I can't tell.
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: I can't - 'cause y'all shared that first point.
J JONES: No, Morgan's - I think...
COOPER: I'll let the team and...
J JONES: ...Morgan's winning, right?
COOPER: I think so, yeah.
SANDERS: Morgan's leading? OK.
J JONES: Morgan's winning 'cause he won the second question.
COOPER: Mom's spaghetti.
J JONES: He got that one.
SANDERS: Mom's spaghetti. Last quote - just tell me who said it. This is for all the marbles. I begged and pleaded with her, day after day, but she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way. She gave me a kiss, and then she gave me my ticket.
(LAUGHTER)
SANDERS: I put my Walkman on and said, I might as well kick it.
COOPER: Fresh Prince.
(SOUNDBITE OF VICTORY TUNE)
COOPER: Ah, the Fresh Prince. Will.
SANDERS: Yes.
COOPER: The Fresh Prince.
J JONES: Big Willy style.
COOPER: Big Will. Big dog.
SANDERS: This is the hidden second verse to "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" theme song.
COOPER: Yes, sir.
SANDERS: Most people don't know there's a second verse that only appeared in the theme the first two episodes. Then NBC shortened it, and you never heard it again.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR")
SMITH: (Rapping) ...Kick it. First class, yo, this is bad, drinking orange juice out of a Champagne glass. Is this what the people of Bel-Air living like? Hmm.
COOPER: Hmm.
J JONES: Hmm.
COOPER: This might be all right.
J JONES: This might be all right.
SANDERS: OK, y'all really know. Y'all really know.
(LAUGHTER)
J JONES: Come on, now. Come on.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR")
SMITH: (Rapping) If anything, I can say that this cab was rare, but I thought, nah, forget it. Yo, holmes, to Bel-Air.
SANDERS: On that note, we can declare a winner of this game. Morgan, I think you won. Morgan won.
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: Jordan, you're a formidable opponent, man.
J JONES: Hey.
COOPER: Love you, bro.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SANDERS: Thanks again to my guests, Morgan Cooper and Jordan Jones. You can catch Jordan and Morgan's new show "Bel-Air." It is streaming this weekend on Peacock. It's a dramatic retelling of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" story.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
AUNT BETTY: Now it's time to end the show as we always do. Every week, listeners share the best thing that happened to them all week. We encourage folks to brag, and they do. Let's hear a few of those submissions.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PATTI: Hi, Sam. This is Patti (ph). I have to say, the best part of my week was discovering your show. I've listened to NPR for years and never found you somehow until today. Nice to meet you.
LIZZY: Lizzy (ph) here from Vancouver, British Columbia. And I had a really special wonderful thing happen this week I needed to tell you about. I had a kid during this pandemic time, and as we came closer to my kid Hank's (ph) first birthday, I was feeling definitely down and a little blue about how to celebrate. Our friend, Megan (ph) and Alfred (ph), who are close friends, invited us over for a Lunar New Year celebration, but in fact, it was a surprise birthday party. They pulled off the most lovely surprise micro-birthday party that anyone could ever ask for.
CAMERON: Hi, Sam. I'm Cam (ph) from Pennsylvania. The best thing about this week was I started my first job out of college. And as someone who struggled with substance abuse and alcoholism, never thought I would graduate from college, let alone make it into a field that I really cared about and was passionate about.
STEPHANIE: Hey, Sam and Aunt Betty. The best part of my week was celebrating 33 years of cancer survival. I had cancer at 3 years old, and I'm now 36, and I have not had any recurrence in the last 30 years. So that's amazing. I hope you have a great week, and thanks so much for the show.
PATTI: Thanks, Sam.
LIZZY: Thanks to you and your incredible production team. We love your show so much.
CAMERON: Thank you.
SANDERS: Thanks to Patti, Lizzy, Cameron (ph) and Stephanie. Listeners, you can share the best part of your week at any time throughout any week. Just record yourself and send a voice memo to us via email - [email protected]. That's [email protected].
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SANDERS: All right. This week's episode of IT'S BEEN A MINUTE was produced by Anjuli Sastry Krbechek, Jinae West, Andrea Gutierrez and Liam McBain. Thanks to Neal Rauch and Neil Tevault for engineering help. Our intern is Aja Drain. Our fearless editor is Jordana Hochman. And our big boss is NPR's senior VP of programming, Anya Grundmann. All right, listeners, till next time, be good to yourselves. I'm Sam Sanders. We'll talk soon.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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