The Hopeful Locals #2: On the Road Again
STORIES by Lea Thau
Lea Thau
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is Episode 2 of my series, The Hopeful Locals. It’s a direct continuation of Episode 1, so if you haven’t heard that, I’d go start there.
Huge thanks to my husband, Paul Dreux Smith, for making the music and mixing this episode, to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, for her help with the story, the production, the logistics – all of it – and to my Project Editor, Christina Thyssen, for always making my early drafts better.
Also big thanks to Avi Odenheimer for making the Hopeful Locals logo, and to Pernille Clifforth for making an original art piece for every installment in this series.
One of the greatest things about coming back to podcasting is that I get to work with such brilliant people. The other great thing is that I get to connect with you.
Endless gratitude to my paying subscribers for making my work possible. It means everything to me, and you can join us on Patreon or Substack. Prices go up May 1st, so join now to lock in maximum access at minimal cost and get a lot more content – without ads –and other great benefits. We'd love to have you, and the first eight episodes of The Hopeful Locals are up and ready for you to binge.
You can also sign up for my free newsletter on Patreon or Substack to get some public content without ads, plus invitations to our all-community hangouts.
Thank you for the warm reception during my first week back. A week ago today, I was honestly terrified of the launch, but you’ve made it feel like a good time and a warm bath, and I’m deeply thankful for that.
If you have comments or questions, or if you might want to sponsor this show, email me at stories@leathau.com.
Or find me on Facebook, Instagram, Substack or Patreon as STORIES by Lea Thau.
The next episode drops May 4th. Until then, dare I say….don’t be strangers:)
The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, everybody. This is the second installment of my series, The Hopeful Locals, and it's a direct |
| 0:09.1 | continuation of the last episode, so if you haven't heard that, I'd go listen to that first |
| 0:13.6 | if I were you. Today's episode is about my experience getting back on the road to gather stories |
| 0:19.8 | for this show after a long hiatus. |
| 0:23.1 | And in the next episode, you'll hear some of the stories I found out there in the Wild American |
| 0:28.4 | West. A quick warning that today's episode contains a sexually explicit moment, so please use |
| 0:36.0 | discretion if you're listening around kids. Here goes. |
| 0:39.3 | Unlike Hunterst Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I hadn't taken any drugs that kicked in at the edge of the desert, |
| 0:48.3 | but somewhere around Barstow, a road high took hold. |
| 1:05.1 | During the previous hour, I tried talking on the phone, but the sound in the Jeep was terrible, |
| 1:09.8 | and they couldn't hear me on the other end, so I wound up putting the phone on speaker and sticking it sideways in my seatbelt. |
| 1:13.6 | Twice the phone fell to the floor and I had to rummage around for it with one hand while narrowly avoiding traffic with the other. |
| 1:21.6 | Then I tried sticking the phone in my bra strap, but the cellular heat felt unhealthy against my bare skin and I could no longer see |
| 1:29.5 | the driving directions or hear them because the Maps Lady stopped talking whenever I was on |
| 1:35.0 | the phone. |
| 1:38.4 | After a hectic hour of yelling to be heard and nearly colliding with a truck, I gave up on making calls and quickly |
| 1:46.2 | found it to be a blessing. |
| 1:51.5 | After Barstow, when the landscape turned into open desert, I put on the album Secret Life |
| 1:57.9 | by Brian Eno and Fredigan, and a profound peace came over me. |
| 2:05.5 | I'd forgotten how much I liked driving. |
| 2:11.0 | Traffic was low, speed limits were high, and as I flew east, I felt unburdened by history or gravity or human entanglements. |
| 2:23.2 | It made me think of something the French philosopher Jean Baudriere said about the experience of |
... |
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