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What is something you think people misunderstand about you?

I don't think people misunderstand me.

I don't know.

I know what I think people misunderstand.

I think I play a much nicer, more empathetic person on the radio than I am in real life.

I'm Rachel Martin, and this is Wildcard, the show where cards control the conversation.

Each week, my guest chooses questions at random from a deck of cards.

Questions about the memories, insights, and beliefs that have shaped them.

In junior high school, I remember discovering, like, you could just ask people questions, and they'll open up to you, and then they feel close to you.

My guest this week is Ira Glass.

And I remember just doing it as a technique to, like, just get through the awkwardness of social interaction.

Near the end of the summer, I was asked to interview Ira Glass at this podcast convention called Podcast Movement.

It probably goes without saying, but Ira Glass is legendary in my audio world.

He hosts one of the most famous and successful radio shows and podcasts of all time.

We'd never actually met before, so I was super nervous and a smidge intimidated.

And when we finally did meet backstage, I was actually surprised because he seemed a little intimidated too. Not by me,

to be clear, but by the format of what was going to go down in this live version of our show.

He was about to be asked all these really personal questions in front of a really

big audience. And as you'll hear, revealing things about himself didn't come naturally when he

...