Death, Sex & Money - A New York City Mover Who Carries More Than Your Boxes
Slate Daily Feed
Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the past 20 years, Adonis Williams has moved thousands of people in and out of New York City. With each move, he catches a glimpse of a life in transition.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I am, yeah, I'm six, four, 248 pounds. |
| 0:06.0 | My employees use the word brolic a lot when they see me pick up stuff. |
| 0:12.1 | Like I literally would just pick a sofa up over my head while two of them are struggling with it, you know, and I'll just say, I got it, and I'll just pick up the sofa bed over my head |
| 0:20.9 | and start walking with it. |
| 0:22.5 | And they go, oh, my God, he's so brolic. |
| 0:28.5 | This is death, sex, and money. |
| 0:33.1 | The show from WNYC about the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more. |
| 0:41.9 | I'm Anna Sale. |
| 0:48.7 | Adonis Williams is a mover in New York City, a job he started more than 20 years ago when he saw a woman crying on the subway. |
| 0:58.1 | She had two kids with her and all their stuff in trash bags. |
| 1:02.0 | And I asked what, you know, what was wrong? |
| 1:04.7 | She explained that she had to make a choice between leaving the bags of clothes and carrying the kids. |
| 1:15.6 | Adonis had a van, and he offered to move her for free. |
| 1:19.4 | I'm that way. Even on the way here, I stopped to get me a cup of coffee, |
| 1:23.3 | and it was a mother with her daughter in Dunkin' Donuts. |
| 1:27.0 | True story. And the little girl was crying because she wanted the strawberry sprinkled donut, and her mother was just going in to get a coffee, you know. And I said, ma'am, I'm going to pay for your coffee. I'm going to pay for a donut. And that's just the way I am. If I see, you know, people are sad or crying, you know. |
| 1:45.9 | But I do have one rule. |
| 1:48.0 | I don't take care of the homeless in other states. |
| 1:52.2 | Like, I travel too much. |
| 1:54.0 | But if somebody comes up to me in the window in Texas or Tennessee, I don't give any money. |
| 1:59.1 | I know it's sad, but I just can't take care of the world. |
| 2:02.0 | But in New York City, if you come up to my window, I'll give you $2, $5, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

