Welcome back folks.
Great to have you with me on this Monday night.
A tropical, almost balmy day here in Wisconsin today.
Coming up at 7.20, Chad Francker will be here.
A local boy done good from Marinette, Wisconsin who created a business called Meal with a Friend.
It's a great community builder and helps combat loneliness.
Chad will be here in studio in just a few minutes to talk about that.
Our question of the night is what is your favorite chip?
It is international chip.
International Tortilla Chip Day, but we expanded the topic to hopefully draw more exciting answers than just tortilla chips.
So join us in your love of chips.
Let us know what you're thinking.
And as always, you can comment on anything we're talking about here tonight at 855-752-4842, 855-75 Civic.
All right, my guest right now, we have a few more minutes with our guest, Mariah Gates.
Her book is out tomorrow.
It's called Cinema Hurtway, Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words.
You can buy it in bookstores, online.
There will be signed copies available soon.
That's exciting.
Mariah, I wanted to ask you, you list a lot of the directors that you talk to in the book and that you write about.
I have to admit, I haven't heard of many of them, but I've always been kind of
just in awe of Catherine Bigelow.
She is such a phenomenal director, and she directs films that typically, or stereotypically, you might say guys, it seems like director, Hurtlocker, Point Break.
I didn't even know she did that in 1991.
I think that was her first major Hollywood studio film.
Zero Dark Thirty, I really liked the movie Detroit.
And I didn't even realize she'd direct it until I was watching the credits.
Where does she rank on your list of not just female directors, but directors?
She's had a pretty incredible career.
Yeah, I think she has definitely been an influence.
A lot of the people I've interviewed, not for the book, but for my column, have cited her as one of the reasons they knew women could make films or an example of the kind of films they would like to do and didn't.
necessarily think they could but they saw her do it and so they're like okay I can do this too.
So I think she's definitely been an important figure in terms of visibility of women directing films and of women directing films that make a really big wave.
Obviously she was the first woman to win Best Director at the Oscars and since then there have been several.
and a lot more women nominated.
I think she was the only the fifth to ever be nominated.
So Jane Campion who is in the book was the first woman ever to be nominated twice for Best Director.
I think it'll be really wonderful when that statistic changes and we have multiple women with multiple nominations the same way we do with men.
So I think she definitely broke a really big glass ceiling with the...
hurt locker.
Unfortunately, it seems like every once in a while, they try to put a new glass ceiling up, but I don't think that that will be successful.
I want to ask you about the Oscars, but I want to ask you, who in your book, Cinema Her Way, who did you enjoy talking to the most?
Oh, I mean, it was Julian Armstrong, not said...
dismiss all the other women who are amazing.
But Gillian Armstrong directed Little Women, which is my favorite movie and has been my favorite movie since I was eight years old, which is 30 years.
And it was, I can't even believe she said yes.
I was, I literally screamed.
So, and she talked to me for three hours and she
talk to me about the most minute thing.
She's like, you have seen this movie too
Yes, I have.
Please answer my question.
So it was as wonderful as all the conversations where it was really surreal to talk to the person who made a movie that I've loved.
on a molecular level for 30 years.
That's
so great.
All right, so we have a few minutes left.
What are your thoughts?
Do you have a best picture favorite in the Oscars?
Did the SAG
Awards do anything for you?
I,
in the perfect world, I feel like Nickelodeon should have been nominated for...
every Oscar.
I wish Joe Mulfrey had been nominated for his cinematography.
I think Nickel Boys' head and shoulders above everything that came out like literally everything that came out last year.
However, of the ones that did get nominated, I do think Inora is probably going to sweep, I think, mostly because the brutalist is really long and I don't know that everyone's going to sit through the three hours or they're going to think it doesn't deserve to be three hours.
Inora is nice and brisk.
It does a lot of interesting things with tone.
It really lands it.
I think it's been winning so many.
It won the DGA and the PGA.
The one surprise that I think might happen, especially because it won the SAG ensemble, is because they, for best picture, they do a weighted ballot.
I do think conclave is gonna be like a lot of people's number two or number three And that could potentially make it the winner.
That's what I think would happen with spotlight about 10 years ago where no one saw spotlight winning But I think what happened was it was probably a lot of people's number two and that adds up The weighted ballot is really or the preferential ballot is really why you get a film like in the spotlight year mad max one I think like six Oscars and then spotlight won best picture because of the
the chaos of a preferential ballot.
So I think you could see conclave come out, but I think Enora is probably the safest, like sweet
moment.
So
you think Enora is a safe bet?
How did you
feel about
Enora?
I think so.
I really love that Sean Baker is a filmmaker who was able to follow the old school path.
His very first film premiered at Slamdance, which is the micro indie film festival.
And then his most recent film, Won the Palm to War.
And I don't know that that's a path any filmmaker gets to have anymore, I think.
Because the financing and economics of filmmaking has changed so much.
So I think it's a real...
I don't want to say like a career capper because he's a young man and he's going to probably make another 40 years with the films.
But he's put in 20 years of like consistently good work.
And I think it would be a really, he could be a really great thing to see him really just sweep this year.
You know, it's so weird.
Like I saw Nora.
when all the hype was around it.
Florida Project, which I just saw about three months ago, is one of my all-time favorite movies.
I think it's a masterpiece.
I liked Tangerine, I liked Red Rocket, but Inora, I liked, but I don't think I liked it, Best Picture liked it, because I don't know, it's just a weird thing, but then I noticed that Conclave, and I saw this statistic recently, the films that win Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards, something like 26 of the last 30 years have won Best Picture at the Oscars.
So,
I feel like
that has to do that really has to do with two things.
One, the last 15 years with the preferential ballot and two, the fact that the actors make up the largest percentage of the Academy, the actors branch.
OK.
And so the in terms of the how many actors are in SAG that are also part of the Academy, that number is a lot larger than, say, the number of directors who are in the DGA who are also Academy members.
You know, so the correlation is a lot higher.
And again,
I do very much think Conclave is going to be probably some people's number one, but it's going to be on a lot of people's number two, number three.
And I think that's going to add up because it's such a crowd-pleasing film.
Right.
It's so weird.
As far as I know, nobody hates it.
Like some of these films, people hate, right?
And so it's going to be all at the bottom.
Yes,
the substance.
That film, I don't know anyone who hates Conclave.
I think everyone at minimum thinks it's a fun film.
I feel the same about a
complete unknown.
Like I really liked it.
I thought it was a really solid film.
And I like Conclave, but I was talking to someone recently that said, well, the big twist at the end.
I mean, come on, what are they doing?
I'm like, that's what made it a great film for me.
Like I just thought it was okay and well acted until that, that to me.
Yeah.
And then you, it's very unexpected for how pulpy the rest of the film was.
Yeah.
and they pull it off.
And I haven't seen Nickel Boys, I'm still here or The Brutalist yet because I live in kind of a remote area, but I probably will pay the 20 bucks to watch Nickel Boys on my TV
based on what you just said.
I mean, if you can at some point, somehow see it in the theater or listeners, if you haven't seen it yet and you want to see it in a theater, that one is such a special experience and so immersive.
And I think truly,
innovative in a way that once you see it, you'll see what I mean.
And I don't think any other film in terms of artistry and innovation can touch that film.
But obviously artistry and innovation isn't always what ends up being Oscar voters.
Favorite thing, you know, I think this is a beautiful film.
And it's not, I think a lot of people maybe are afraid because the subject matter is heavy, but it's not a heavy film.
It's a really beautiful empathetic film that
is about the persistence of joy and the persistence of just life.
It's an extraordinary film.
I'm so excited to see it now.
One other film I want to ask you about, Amelia Perez, 13 nominations.
Did they totally lose it with the Twitter scandal?
Are they
done?
I think they did.
I also, that's a film that was very divisive.
I think not with older voters.
I feel like a lot of older viewers really love the film.
And I think a lot of younger viewers are more, I think, perhaps aware of the various ways that film is not, shall we say, as progressive as it seems.
There's a lot of a lot of trans writers have written about why it's actually a regressive film.
A lot of Mexican writers have written about how it's really a terrible version of their country.
It does them no favors.
But I don't know that a lot of
voters cared about any of that, you know, because they they love the film and they don't care about criticism and that's perfectly fine.
That is, you know, they don't have to read criticism to enjoy film.
That's everyone's prerogative.
I personally did not like that film.
I didn't understand.
Specifically, the nomination that is the wildest to me is is cinematography because I think it's a garish film.
It's a weird
looking film.
Yeah, I don't think.
Visually it works.
Whereas when you see Nickel Boys, I think you'll see what I mean about Joe Mofrey who did the cinematography.
I think he is a poetic filmmaker and an emotional filmmaker and Does something with the camera that is so unique and he's won almost every other award.
It's really weird.
He got the American Society of Cinematographers Award.
He got the independent spirit It's I think the biggest snub that came out of the Oscar nomination thing.
It's baffling
but he didn't get that nomination.
I think he'll probably get nominated for his next film, whatever that ends up being, because he's another consistently great innovative filmmaker, but I think maybe, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what's going on with the cinematography brand.
It'll be
interesting to see what happens either way.
The book
is called
Cinema Her Way, Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words by Mariah Gates.
You can find it in bookstores tomorrow or online.
I'm sure it will be just as outstanding as everything Mariah writes.
So much fun having you on the show all the time.
Good luck with
talk soon.
right, Mariah Gates.
Coming up next, Chad Franker, a young man from Marinette, Wisconsin, a place I call my hood.
He's got a great new business that helps combat loneliness.
We're going to talk to Chad about that because I thought it was really inspiring.
And we'll read your texts and all kinds of fun stuff.
Who knows, maybe Conrad will do a little soft shoe.
Did you bring the cane in the hat?
killing
Yeah, likely.
Sorry.
quickly.
All right, we're coming right back on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio Network.
We have a great question tonight.
It's International Tortilla Chip Day.
Everything has a day.
We are putting the question out.
What is your favorite chip?
You don't have to limit it to a tortilla chip, folks.
What is your favorite chip?
Conrad's dad checked it.
I love this.
Oh, no, it wasn't your dad that said this.
Although your dad said taco Doritos.
He says the taco Doritos will always be dear to my heart.
But my new favorite chip is made by UTZ, the crab chip.
with Chesapeake Bay crab seasoning, you can't just eat just one.
Did I miss?
Pardon me.
No, I got that one.
OK, so let's go to from the 608.
Or I'm sorry from
818 Bridget says salted potato chips with ranch dip Interesting that's the first dip suggestion.
We've heard You could just buy ranch chips right they have potato chips with ranch.
It's
same Listen dude, I love hummus.
Yeah, that is the voice of my next guest Chad Franker is here ladies and gentlemen We're gonna talk about a really cool business Chad has created
He's about to launch it.
What is your favorite chip, Chad?
Well, I would say something that has health consciousness.
See, all right, I admire that, but that's what I was going for too at first.
And then I realized if I'm gonna eat chips, I'm
not
thinking about health.
I've seen you at the gym.
I see how hard you work too.
So I appreciate the health thing, but AJ from the 608 says, Hey Pete, if you can find them, Lil Baby's brand of wrap snacks are out of this world.
His flavor is salt and...
Is that supposed to be a little baby raise?
baby.
Okay.
She says his, or AJ says, his flavor is salt and vinegar, barbecue, onion, garlic, and more.
Yes, altogether in one chip.
Now that sounds like a taste explosion
And Kenneth chimed in on the film, Green and Gold.
So if you have an opinion on that film, I finally saw it last night.
Did you see Green and Gold, Chad?
No.
Okay.
Are you a Packer fan?
Yeah, and you like farming?
Not to do for yourself, maybe, but just in general, it's a good thing.
Chad doesn't really see the necessity for farming, so that's okay.
All right, from the 608, Steady Eddie, checking in.
He says, Pete Conrad, love chips, but we all know eating chips is not quite as bad as smoking cigarettes.
The snack food manufacturers want you addicted.
They don't care about your health.
They want your money.
Steady Eddie, come on.
Big business wants our money, get out of here.
He says that being said, chips are delicious if not nutritious.
I like Nacho Cheese Doritos the best.
I have a strategy where I buy two one ounce bags of chips when I shop at the grocery store.
That way when I get home, I can eat two whole bags of Doritos and not feel too guilty.
It works for me and then in all caps, sometimes happy tortilla chip day.
Steady, hold the cheese dip, Eddie.
Thank you, Steady Eddie.
Keep those texts coming, folks.
It's fun.
Chips are fun.
What's not to like about chips?
Yeah, nothing.
Nothing, exactly.
All right, I'm gonna bring in my next guest here.
I'm excited because this guy is from my hometown and where I live right now, Marinette, Wisconsin.
He made the drive to be here in the studio because he has a new business that he is launching called Meals with a Friend.
And it's a great idea.
I absolutely love this.
Chad, tell us...
Tell us about Meals with a Friend and tell us when it'll be officially launched.
Well Meals with a Friend is We're in the early beginning stages where we trying to get volunteers lined up with people who are experiencing loneliness and isolation and the pandemic was the first indicator of how loneliness and isolation can impact the
cognitive health, mental health, and a whole slew of things.
Right.
You really did your homework.
I saw where you did all this research.
And is what you learned about the pandemic, what gave you the idea for this business?
Well, okay, so retract that.
I mean, so...
When I was 16 years old, I got hit by a truck and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
I've always known of the helping profession where how community can help build and help aid someone to be better and right and so I mean then I
When I was in school to get a bachelor's of science in psychology and human development, I did an internship With the hospice advantage and that was with hospice clients.
Okay, and I sat with people that were near that that had that passed away and I Say that reluctantly because I I
I loved it that the families respected me enough to sit with their loved ones.
Right.
But they, and they love me to give that to them.
So, and...
You saw how much it impacted.
Yes.
And how that could impact the love of the... How they didn't want to have the...
like the final idea of their loved ones so better.
Right.
You talked about that too, and we'll get into this more after the news, but how community and people being there for you after your accident helped you heal and get to a place where you could create meals with a friend.
So we'll talk about all of that.
Chad Franker is my guest.
He is a fellow.
He's from my hood.
He's a fellow Marinette native.
And don't let the fact that that was it.
I remember hearing about that accident, but you should see this guy at the gym.
I wish I worked half as hard or broke half the sweat you break because I see how hard you work.
So we'll talk more with Chad about his new cool business called Meals with a Friend, a business that is.
It's just such a great idea to help others who are feeling lonely.
We'll talk more about the nuts and bolts of the business and get to know Chad a little bit more after.
Civic Media's award-winning news team keeps you informed.
It's Peach Waba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Mike Starr, the actor from Goodfellas and Dumb and Dumber schedule.
Mike had to reschedule because he has a work commitment, which often happens with actors.
You have to take the money when you get it.
But Mike is awesome.
I cannot wait to have him on the show.
But in the meantime, we have more awesomeness filling in.
Dr. Kristen Lierly will be joining us from Minnesota over the stream.
I always have fun with Kristen.
She's definitely a nightlight frequent flyer.
And then mob expert and urban legend expert Bob Dennis will be here in the studio.
So, lots of fun guests coming up this week.
Jamie McShane will be here from the show 1923.
Rich Tallorico from Key and Peel.
And, of course, Barbie on Friday night on Friday.
So, a fun week on nightlight here.
So, great to have you with me, folks.
Wherever you're joining us from, we are broadcasting live statewide from beautiful downtown Green Bay, especially beautiful.
Was it still warm out?
Sort of yes getting a little colder.
Okay, but a gorgeous night here in the state of Wisconsin What better way to celebrate good weather than to sit inside and listen to the radio folks and talk about the things that make us happy like movies and TV and a really cool new business That my current guest created a Chad Frank or is here.
He's a Marinette native The business is called meals with
I wrote it down.
Oh, Meals with a Friend.
Chad, I got lost because I wrote my note down here.
It's a meal with a connection.
Yes.
Right?
Yes.
All right.
Tell us about Meals with a Friend in case people are just joining us.
Okay.
Well, Meals with a Friend is where we pair volunteers with people who are families that are worried about their loved ones and they're just missing that connection piece because
as the pandemic has shown.
Loneliness and isolation is like the silent pandemic.
No one really talks about it, but it's like blurring in your eyes and people still don't talk about it.
They don't talk about how depressed they are or sad they are.
All they need to do is just talk to someone and
interact.
And you have an interesting, in this package you have, you haven't quite launched the business yet, but you're getting close, you talk about how loneliness affects people's cardiovascular and neurological makeups.
Explain that a little bit, that's fascinating.
Well, okay, so loneliness and isolation, they did a study, they did a study in the University of Michigan, and they did a six year longitudinal study where they showed that
It's equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
How is that possible?
That's insane.
Ask the researchers.
I mean, I know you didn't do the research.
But that's amazing, though.
And so 15 is just from loneliness.
So here's what I think this is so great.
And this is why I wanted to have Chad on the show, because there are so many lonely people out there that you don't know about.
Because they're lonely.
Yeah, they're not out there.
They're not putting themselves out there Let me ask you this though chat.
I don't know if you thought about this like you pair people up together Yeah, what if they sit down and try to make a connection through a meal.
It's called meal with a friend What if a fist fight breaks out do you anticipate anything like that two people throwing down?
Yeah, sure.
I mean
Don't know what's happening with between us, right?
Are you gonna take a
swing at me when you walked in here?
I didn't realize sure
But anyway, you're still with someone though.
It's still not loneliness.
So that's no
but and We try to pair because we're so new at this.
I mean we'll eventually create a website.
Oh well like Website there people can log in and Where they can actually say hey, I want to have a meal with someone who who plays
I'm who's it now doors meant or
okay have a volunteer like there's something yeah, yeah, they
come in thread and And we the other service that we provide is like a wellness check and a wellness check is like is something where like the person Goes into their hopes and they just make sure that they're that they're That's everything is culture and they're not gonna like do any trip hazards or
Anything that's gonna be problematic in the future
Was there something that gave you this idea like something that you like you obviously Is there something to put this on the map for you like you said I have to do something about this like when did you notice so many lonely people to the point where you thought this would be a good program well
my TBI When happened when I was 16
and
Okay, let's stop you right there.
Let's talk about that because that's the second time you brought that up.
I remember this because Chad and I have family, friends, mutual family, friends.
You were a really good athlete in high school.
You were a good student.
You come from a, in Marinette, there are a lot of Frankers are synonymous with being good athletes and you were one of those.
You had a traumatic brain injury when you were snowmobiling, correct?
All right, so talk about how that affected you and changed your whole life.
Well, okay,
so I was doing 28th of 2004.
I was hit by a truck and I was put into a drug induced coma for six weeks and spent 120 days in the hospital as an inpatient.
But the battle doesn't end there.
All like my whole high school career.
I was still doing physical therapy occupational therapy and I mean to this very day, I still bust my butt every day Doing
something.
Yeah, I
mean, I went to spin class today at the Y Yeah, and
I just want to sorry I want to say to for people for those of you listening I don't know Chad that well, but I see him around town
and I see him substitute teaching and you went like you said before and you got your degree in psychology.
Like this did not, you're just tenacious.
Like you have a zest for life.
I see how hard you work at the gym.
And now when I saw you in the grocery store and you told me about this new business, I thought this is great.
We have to talk about this.
So have you, because of your accident, experienced loneliness, did that change your life as you said?
Yeah, because I have a physical disability on my left side.
partially paralyzed and when I say partially paralyzed it's It's like I can move it, but I don't have fine dexterity movement.
Okay, and And and so I'm still So recovering but I mean it's been 21 years so Being a popular kid and
then like the whole stages of like that honeymoon phase of the accident, people were all wanting to interact with me and stuff.
That was like my whole high school.
And then when the day after graduation and all of us presented where it was Chad's friends, they were nowhere.
Yeah.
So I mean, so yeah, I said, and then I went to college and
So still nothing happened.
No, no, no, no, no I mean there were there have been a few I mean, so don't get that don't don't don't don't misconstrue that idea.
I
mean, I
mean like like you said Mike Corwin.
He's fantastic
and
like Unique people who?
Who see past my my inability are our people who?
who helped me help
them.
Right.
I mean, yeah.
So I think that's great.
So what you want to do, my guest, by the way, is Chad Franker.
He has a new business called Meals with a Friend.
It's a great business that will provide wellness checks and emotional support to lonely people.
He has dealt with loneliness in his own life and came away.
wanting to help others, and I think that's so great.
He says loneliness affects people cardiovascularly and neurologically.
People who are lonely enough, it can affect, it can have the same effect according to a study at Michigan, at University of Michigan, as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
How close are you to launching this?
Does it take a lot of money to start a business like this, Chad?
I mean, with the lawyer fees and stuff.
Yeah,
because other insurance things if you're gonna go into someone's home and I'll see and stuff
and to get to get everything Yeah, you have to get a lot of volunteers.
Okay, so that's that that's kind of where I'm at right now so and You see a functional website, okay?
And
I don't
have either of them.
Oh, wow.
Okay, but so but I have like a Makeup of that.
Okay, so I have ideas
In a start but not like a functional website.
Okay,
or how are you?
Do you have people helping like are you business savvy?
I'm not I've tried to create businesses in the past.
I haven't been very good at it How are you in with those skills?
I You got a nice packet here.
You got a lot of great information.
You obviously know what you're doing
Well, I I know I I'm very resourceful.
So okay, I know and I'm not I'm not lazy so
I know what to do, I know how to get things done.
Yeah.
Well, when do you think this will be up?
And what if people, if they want to volunteer, or if they want to help you get the business up and running, how can they find you?
Well, they can search
me, search on Facebook, Meals with a Friend.
Meals with a Friend.
Meals with a Friend, okay, on Facebook.
It helps, you're hoping to build stronger communities?
Yes.
That's pretty cool, and you're hoping to do it one meal at a time.
I love that and you know, I mean breaking bread together is like The the foundation of community yeah a lot of ways right you talk it's social So So how can if people wanted to all right, so if people wanted to volunteer I assume when you go to people and you ask them for money or help or setting up the LLC or whatever it is
You want to tell them, hey, I've got so many people here.
I've got 100 volunteers ready to do this.
Is that something they can sign up for on Facebook?
Totally.
And that's what I want to do with my website, a functional website that can maintain that load and keep the data of the clients.
Because we're dealing with humans.
Yeah.
So they have...
like everyone they have wants and they have things that they don't want and so you can keep in track of that always would be anyone who has like experience with that would be very helpful talking
in.
So if I told you I expect this business to be operational in three months and we set a date for you to come back on the show and say Pete my business is a go.
Thank you for cracking the whip.
Not that you need it, but would that help?
I mean, are there people in Marinette that are helping you with this?
Yes, yes, like Tim Stouse and I'm the philanthropist at a company that Mr. Tom Bear move set me up
with.
Oh, yeah.
Yep.
So,
I
mean, there's Tim Stouse has got a ton of money.
We should encourage him just to give you a blank check, I think.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So if he's listening.
Yeah, he should be.
But I mean...
Here's what we'll do.
Conrad, let's do this.
We can do our part, I think, tomorrow night on the show.
We do a question every night.
Maybe our question tomorrow night should be, what person would you want to have a meal with?
What lonely person in your life?
Or even if you see someone on TV that you think is lonely, I think that could be a great... Who have you done this?
I assume you've done this on your own just to get it going.
Have you met with other people who you could see are lonely and how did that go over?
Well,
I met with
my... Yeah, so I met with clients and...
You seem like you didn't want to say someone's name because you didn't want to... Okay, yeah, it's totally fine.
So,
um, they, they love it.
Nice.
I mean, they are, they were born in the, in the late, like in the depression.
Oh, wow.
So,
so, so they're not really aware of the, of their.
I
don't know I mean it's a different generation right like they're not gonna ask for help they're just gonna sit there and be lonely as opposed to because they associate that with toughness probably they don't know how to
help themselves yeah and yeah I mean
what if I go in to have dinner with a friend I mean with a friend and they just start yelling at me
well then
what do I do
You throw the mashed potatoes at him, or what?
No, no, you can leave.
I mean, this is all volunteer base.
Yeah, OK.
And then we would, I mean, because hopefully both would be civil enough to do that, that we are going to need something to do.
Right.
I'm totally kidding, anyway.
You know I wouldn't do that.
And sign me up.
All right, we're going to be right back.
We've got a couple more minutes.
Chad's going to help us close the show down.
We'll read some text.
And we'll do that in just a couple minutes.
It's so great to have you with me on this Monday night on Nightlight with Pete Chihuahua on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
welcome back.
feel like a Monday, does it, Conrad?
as sucky as usual.
I'm saying exactly.
Chad Francker is here.
He has a new business called Meals with a Friend.
It's just a great idea to help combat loneliness, build community.
do wellness checks, emotional support for people who need it.
He has a website called Meals with a Friend on Facebook.
Check that out.
If you're interested in helping Chad in any way, being a volunteer, writing a blank check, whatever, find him on Facebook and reach out to him because this is just a phenomenal idea.
And we've set a date.
We're gonna do this.
Probably in about three months we'll have you back and I will expect your business to be up and running and you to be the CEO.
Well, I'm our the
CEO.
You're already the
CEO.
Exactly.
How is your, are you, like, you're such a social guy.
Would you consider yourself a lonely person right now, Chad, or?
Well, I, before I started this business, yes.
Okay.
I mean, I did my normal routine.
I saw people like working out and stuff, but...
I still felt lonely.
Yeah, I went home to my apartment To for who is there to greet me?
Yeah,
so so that that that's what I'm I feel like I'm helping combat right giving giving something For other people to look forward
to right and that's so amazing because like you come from a good family You know you're you're loved and you have a family around you extended and immediate but still
You can't be around your family all the time, just like most people can't, and a lot of people probably are going home to an empty apartment or an empty house.
And I'll say even like...
I knew who you were but I didn't think you knew who I was so like I'd see you at the gym and I'd nod if I saw you but I didn't know if you even knew who I was so I didn't want to be that guy that just walks around saying hi to everybody when I probably should be right because you're okay uh so all right Chad so what I do with most people who come on the show I try to find out what they're watching where do you find entertainment this is an entertainment based show you said you don't watch a lot of tv no movies do you ever watch movies podcast
Podcasts.
Okay.
What are you listening to?
Well, I'm a human lab podcast.
What is it the Huberman lab
humor
man lab podcast?
Who's that Andrew Huberman?
And is it
a comedy podcast?
No, it's it's all right here.
So,
oh, okay.
So What kind of topics does he tackle how to enhance your immune system?
Yeah, and
he's
a doctor dude.
Does that get boring after a while?
No, I mean
I
mean we all need a good immune system, but I would think after like an hour of that
You
might
want any in his his episodes are like three three hours long and You know, I just listen listen to him when I go down to Green Bay or I'm gonna drive.
Okay How often do you come down here to Green Bay?
You're not in school
anymore, so no, but quite a bit cuz before my doctors and so
I mean Every couple weeks, okay,
so you were as I mentioned earlier You were a good athlete and you played sports Like a lot of kids in Marinette.
You probably played like four sports in one year.
Are you still a sports fan?
Do you follow sports?
Okay
hockey for sure.
Oh, that was my best sport really yep and Side note I was better than my brother so
There's the little caveat there.
And your older
brother.
Yep.
That's Ryan.
Yes.
Okay.
would he say the same thing?
No.
It's a few that we have between each other, but that's cute.
Yeah.
And I mean, football based on hockey is what I play.
Okay.
And you still follow sports?
Like, are you a Packers, Bucks, Brewers, all those teams and badges?
Okay.
What's your favorite team, would you
say?
Okay,
so I'm gonna give you I think I just saw the movie green and gold about a guy who bets the farm He literally bets his own farm that the Packers will win the Super Bowl in hopes that the bank will let him keep it because he didn't have any more money So I think you should check that out the ice ball, right?
It was not the ice balls like in the 90s.
It was
quarterback.
So it's not that old but
I think you should check it out when you come back on to talk about Meals with a Friend.
We can talk about that movie, because I know you're a Packer fan.
Yeah, I agree.
Okay.
And I actually have a bread for signed football.
Oh, really?
Yes.
And I actually have, like, during my accident, I saw them inside the animal stadium.
Like a tour?
nice.
But like, deep from Red Baddie, he was a...
Packers athletic trainer.
Oh, okay.
Yep.
Was he helping you with through your
injuries or whatever?
No, he okay is mark hueson Who was it a trainer at there and stuff?
It's mark hueson.
Isn't he the guy that's on with mino in the mayor?
Yeah, we he was at the party the other day.
So do you know mark?
Yeah, all right.
Let's get we should get mark on the show by the way I don't think he liked me personally, but I'd still like to invite him on
really avoiding me at the party.
Yeah, did you notice that
Chad, thank you so much for coming down.
You drove all the way down here to be on the show.
I really appreciate that.
I wish you luck with this business.
I think it's great.
I think it's just a beautiful idea, and I hope you're incredibly successful with it.
Thank you very much, Pete.
You're welcome.
All right, that's Chad Francker.
Check out Meals with a Friend on Facebook.
You can sign up, volunteer to have meals with another person who might be lonely or help Chad out business-wise if you have business skills or a blank check or whatever.
But he's a great guy and good luck with the business.
I'd also like to thank Mariah Gates, who, go ahead, you got about 15 seconds.
I have a website, twomealswithafriend.com.
Mealswithafriend.com.
Yes.
Okay.
Because it's a startup website.
So, I mean, it's in the process of getting going.
Okay.
Do you want a picture of me for the website, Chad?
Always.
All right, very good.
Thank you also for all your texts and all the talk about chips.
You can't go wrong with that.
Tomorrow night, it's Tuesday, but it won't feel like a Tuesday if you join us.
I promise that.
It's Peach Wobble with Nightlight on behalf of the lovable producer Conrad.
Good night, Wisconsin.
