My MB Alex breakdown is supported by Helix sleep. Bring is in the air and so are all of the allergens that come with it. Spring allergens means you need more sleep, but there are a ton of factors that can prevent us from getting a good night's rest. Night sweats, back pain, feeling the person next to you when they roll over a million times. We were so excited to hear that Helix wanted to partner with us. I've had my Helix mattress for about five years now and I have been sleeping so much better. Jonathan and also our kids love their Helix mattresses and all of those issues, night sweats, back pain, motion transfer, those things are significantly better with a Helix mattress. Helix delivers your mattress right to your door, which is so much fun with free shipping in the US. They have a 120 night sleep trial and limited lifetime warranty plus they're happy with Helix guarantee. Rest easy with seamless returns and exchanges. The happy with Helix guarantee offers a risk-free customer first experience designed to ensure that you're completely satisfied with your new mattress. Go to helixleap.com slash break down for 27% off site wide. That's helixleap.com slash break breakdown for 27% off site wide. helixleap.com slash breakdown. I am Iambiella. And I'm Jonathan. And welcome to our breakdown. Wooo! That's my spooky Halloween sound. Today's Halloween. We're revisiting our episode from 2022 with the mistress of dark herself. You may know her as Elvira, but her name is actually Cassandra Peterson. Cassandra discusses her love for Halloween and the macabre and her time living in a haunted house which was so cool and that she witnessed an actual murder. We were really fascinated to hear about her small town beginnings because I'm'm always curious with people like Elvira. How did she get from wherever she came from to there? She grew up on a farm. She was the youngest showgirl in Vegas history. There's also some incredible stories from those days. She's also gonna talk about Elvira's impact on modern culture, the confidence that the character gave her and still gives her, she's also going to talk about her groundlings comedy days, which I had no idea about with Paul Rubens, also known as P.E. Herman, and also her long-term relationship with a woman after being married to a man for 25 years. She also talks about empowerment, sexual empowerment, owning your own body, your own sexuality, societies, impossible standards for women and the science of mind. We really covered everything with her. Just a reminder, before we get to this episode, if you haven't already, check us out on Substack, mind be Alex breakdown on Substack, join the growing breaker community, exploring the intersection of science and spirituality and get exclusive content that you cannot get anywhere else.

And now we hope you enjoyed taking a look back at our episode with Cassandra Peterson and happy all Halazee. Break it down. I was born in 1975 so I literally remember being a young child and seeing this incredible presence that became really such an iconic part of not really just like the horror universe, but really are kind of general culture. And you know, I grew up with like Angeline and Elvira. Those were the two women that I thought I'm supposed to be like. And I think I'm more of an Elvira than an Angeline as it turns out. I hope so. Your career as obviously as Elvira is what so many people know you for and love you for, but you also created such an iconic character that really is timeless, you know, for so many us, and darker culture and goth culture and all these things that came after Elvira feels to me so interconnected with what you created. In learning a bit more about you and obviously we're talking about your book, yours Croulee Elvira, Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark And are there two covers? Is that what it is with the one that's now available? Yeah, there are actually three. There's one that my fans voted on that they liked the best. And so we made that for independent bookstores exclusively. And you can grab that at any local bookstore. And then we made one that is the same as the cover for the book that came out, the hard cover. And then we made a little special one that is going to be sold just basically through my website. That people haven't seen yet. That's kind of a surprise. Okay, that's very, very exciting. And growing up, again, with you as, you know, this presence, you know, in my home for so many things, home for so many things, not just really, it's a Halloween, but really throughout the year, I'll be honest, I never wanted to know anything else about you, except that you were El Vira. And to now get to learn so many incredible things, you are from a place called Manhattan, Kansas. Yes, the little apple. And you grew up, did you grow up on a proper farm, like just like Dorothy? On a farm, my parents grew something called Milo, which nobody seems to know what that is. I don't even know. It's some kind of cow feed. But yeah, I grew up on a farm that used to be my grandparents and then they kind of handed it over to my mom and dad And it didn't really work out that great. Were you the kind of kid who always knew you were meant for bigger things and you wanted to get out of that small town and go to the big city? Was that you? That pretty much was me from the time my parents stuck me on a table at a Greek restaurant, dancing and singing how much is that doggy in a window. And people threw coins at me and I go, okay, I really like this. I think that's the moment it hit me. You're a very also special icon for those of us who may have grown up in an era where we didn't talk about feminism or empowerment. but I always knew even as a child that there was something so you were so in in your body and in yourself and you owned, you know, what what especially to young kids was sexy but also there was something very powerful about you in the way you handled yourself and I think for a lot of a lot of boys and girls, we may have never seen that, you know, in this generation of a woman owning that the way you did really before its time, you were very attractive. And I'm wondering if when you were little, was that something people commented about? Was that part of the attention you got? Like, were you like that gorgeous girl in Kansas that everyone was like, who is that lady? No, no, no, no, no. I think if you look at my book and see some of the photos in it, you'll see that I was not a good looking child. I mean, I had a Tony Perms, which my mom gave me all the time. So at this friszy short hair, then I wore a little cat eyeshaped glasses because I couldn't see two feet in front of me. I was just a total nerd and a geek. No, no, no. I was not a good looking kid. It's not somebody who's no one used to say, oh, what a pretty little girl. No. Ha. So when did you kind of come into, I mean, you, you became a go-go dancer.

And then eventually I, I believe the youngest Vegas showgirl, I think, I think you still hold that record. As far as I know, I do. I was, I think it was in the Guinness Book of World Records, but I was told I was the youngest. I started when I was 17. You were wearing cat eye glasses then. And by then you had become like this girl who's like, I'm going to go to Vegas.

No, I'll tell you what happened.

I don't know what happened.

I... You were wearing cat eye glasses then like by then you had become like this girl who's like I'm gonna go to Vegas No, I'll tell you what happened. I don't know what happened I think I think I owe it to Ann Margaret in buy-by-burdy and Viva Las Vegas. I saw her in those movies When I was about 13 and 14 and I go That's what I want to be that's what I want to look like. And I don't know, it just,

it changed everything for me. I, you know, I threw in the glasses, I started wearing contacts and

and started doing my hair differently, met some drag queens who gave me fantastic makeup tips.

And it just all changed for me right around puberty. I went from super homely little geek girl to like super sexy, you know, mixing. Were your parents supportive of you kind of leaving to pursue this dream of, you know, eventually heading to Hollywood? Not all that much. No, no, they felt it was a pretty stupid idea. They were always telling me, well, you can do that, but you better think of something normal jobs, but you can make money, because you can't live, you know, on just nothing out there in Hollywood. Now, I wouldn't call them supportive. I mean, they were cautious. They thought it was cool once in a while when I, well, when I got to be a showgirl in Vegas, they thought, wow, she wasn't kidding. She's really doing this thing. So they became a little more supportive as time went on. But initially, I mean, if your daughter is 14 and wants to be a go-go girl, you don't say, yeah, that's awesome. You know, I know it's a really broad, possibly dumb question. What was Vegas like then? Vegas was awesome then and they always tell people,

God, I wish, wish, wish, it could go back to those days. I mean, for one thing, if you went to see a show in Vegas, women wore floor-length gowns, little mink stools, and the guys were in either tuxedos or very fancy suit. And, you know, the rat pack was playing there. And I mean, going to a show there was amazing. You'd have like a four-course meal and champagne and watch this show. And it was so classy. It really, really was, especially to me coming from, you know, Kansas. But now, and like it's, you know, you have to have,

I think they have rules that address code that you have to have your butt crack showing. And you have to, you know, wear your Muta shorts and a torn t-shirt. That's how you get in a show. I don't know. But I go there today and I'm so disappointed. I wish there was somewhere like I guess used to be.

There isn't.

No, not that I know of.

If I find it, I'll tell you and we can go together. Let me know how long were you in Vegas kind of living that life? I went there in 1969 and I think I left in 1971. I had a one-year-long contract and from the time the show started until I left and then I moved to France. I don't know why, but yeah, so about a year and a half altogether. Okay, you eventually made your way to Los Angeles. You were in the groundlings. Yes. At some point you want to sort of take things to the next level and move into the acting world. How did that transition happen? Well, it was kind of a long way from Vegas to Hollywood via Europe. And I was in a band and tried to do some other shows, singing shows, and some other various bands. I got in a band called Mama's Boys, went all over the country for four and a half years. But eventually I just made a decision in my mind that I was getting too old to be a dancer and it wasn't that great of a singer. And I made up my mind. The next step should be acting. I was like, where do I go from here? All I knew how to do was showbiz. I'd never done any other job. I mean, once in a while, miscellaneous, table waiting or temporary secretary, but I had no career and I hadn't attended college to anything. So, Anna, what was I gonna do? So I decided I would get into acting. And when I moved to LA, probably in about, I can't remember exactly, 74, 75, started taking various acting classes, but it was a long haul before I got to the groundlings. I didn't get into the groundlings to late 70s, I think, 78 or 79. And then I was in there for four and a half years with Phil Hartman, Paul Rubens, John Paragon, who is my writing partner, played John B. the Genie on P.W.s Play House for people for the film. That's awesome. And I gotta say that I think the ground links was probably the best thing I ever did for my career. It really, really was. It taught me to think on my feet, and it wasn't that good at reading lines or anything. So it's really important. I mean, the people are looking to get to be in comedy. I can't think of a better launching pad than being in the groundlings. So many people have come out of there, as you know. No, it's such a historic, it's such a and historic place. And I'm just thinking

of the time that you were doing all these things, it was like a real other era, you know, of Hollywood that you kind of began in. And I guess that's because you started so young, but then to be in the groundlings, you were at the groundlings in such a, you know, a fertile time for comedy, especially in Los Angeles. And the genesis of El Vira, as we know her, if I'm understanding this correctly,

came from a character you were doing at Groundlings, which was not Elvira, but just scribe how we get from Groundlings to Elvira. I did a character in there, and I didn't have very many characters. I was not a great character person. My character was the sexy girl, the girlfriend, the showgirl, the stripper. That's what I played, all of those parts in the groundlings. Weird, right? And so I wasn't great at characters, but I did have this one character that was a blossoming actress. And she was on an audition with another groundling. We were sitting there at an audition. We were wearing exactly the same dress, had the same hair, everything, and we turned each other and go, I like your dress and we're just a couple of dorks in Hollywood. And I was doing a little bit of a Valley Girl thing because Frank Zappa and Moon had just put out the song, Valley. And we knew those type of girls, boy, did we, they're all over LA. So we were being kind of like that, you know. And the director of the TV show, that was a local TV show, Sami and that character. And decided he really liked me and called me in for the audition. You know, and getting an audition for a part late night, a local TV was an exactly my dream job. I just lost the part of ginger on Gilligan's Island just by a hair. And so this was like, you know, it'll be a little money, but what the hell at least I won't have to book more 10 secretary jobs. So anyway, that's how that kind of happened. I went on the audition and there were lots of women there and I got to part. So what was the audition for specifically? A horror hostess who they were going to call Vampira. And did you, what did you go in looking like? I went in kind of like this. I'd red hair. I had on a church with dress, same color as this, and little white sandals. And I would just, la la la, I went in. I went to walk into the room. I was surrounded by women in long black dresses with long black hair and things put in. And it was one of those moments like, oh my god, I showed up at the wrong party. So it was a miracle that I still got the part. I don't know. Mine be Alex right there and it's supported by optimizers. I struggled to get good quality sleep and I just thought like, oh, it's stress. But I learned during Perry Manipaus and Manipaus, your hormones shift and it affects your magnesium levels. Low magnesium makes everything harder, not just sleep, but focus, mood, stress tolerance. That's why we added magnesium breakthrough by bioptimizers to our nightly routine. It's a blend of seven different forms of magnesium designed to support relaxation and overall sleep quality. Try it, see if you wake up more rested and refreshed. You've got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Bioptimizers offers a 365- day, no questions asked, money back guarantee. Magnesium breakthrough is a fantastic way to improve that hormonal imbalance that especially happens with magnesium. And then you have better focus, you have better sleep hygiene in general. Bi optimizers makes it so easy. Here's what you get when you go to bioptimizers.com slash breaker and use the code breaker. 15% off your entire order and a free bottle of mass signs. That's bioptimizers. Best selling digestive enzyme added to your order automatically when you use our exclusive code. That's a $20 product free on top of your discount. This is a limited time offer while supplies last. You cannot get this on Amazon. You can't get it in stores

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If you've ever found yourself feeling like you have more questions than answers, you're in good company. The Jewish people have been like that for thousands of years. Wondering Jews with Michal and Noam is a podcast where two of today's most dynamic Jewish voices, Michal Beton and Noam Weissmann dig into the biggest questions about life through a Jewish lens.

It's the kind of conversation where you'll laugh, learn something new, and probably shout and disagreeman at least once. Michal and Noam tackled the tough topics, like anti-Semitism in America, what happens after we die, and the future of religion, with guests like Brett Stevens, Michael Rappeport and Sarah Herwitz. And this past month, in honor of Jewish-American Heritage Month, they've been celebrating some of the Jewish lives and institutions that have shaped American life.

From food to music and comedy, thoughtful, joyful, and always honest. That's Wondering Jews with Michal and Noam, a production of Unpacked. Find it on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube and make sure to hit subscribe. Check out Wondering Jews with Michal and Noam podcasts and subscribe at unpacked.bio-nmx. And then from there, how was Elvira as we know her born? Because and again, Jonathan, there's a very specific personality that goes along with Elvira and it's not sort of know, female kind of host. I mean, there were many females on television at this time, but most of them were kind of eye candy, you know, it was like the ladies on prices. Right. It was that kind of thing. So to have, you know, this was a woman kind of owning this space with a very specific give zero F's kind of about other people's percent. I mean, at least that's kind of my reading. But how was that both the look and that attitude born?

I wish I could say I sat down and had a nice, you know, there was a concerted effort to make it that way. Well, I was grabbing it straws to tell you the truth. I was like, okay, I got this job. I have to look like a sexy scary something. I I didn't know what a horror host was. I knew I

supposed to look sexy. I know I'm supposed to look spooky. And I got one of my best friends of

...