The Film Nuts Podcast

MY ROOMMATE IS A CAT with Niba

• Taylor D. Adams • Season 4 • Episode 13

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When a shy novelist's life intertwines with a stray cat, you'd expect chaos, but what unfolds is a tale of unexpected companionship that tugs at the heartstrings. Our chat with Niba, not just a science content creator but also a cat enthusiast, takes us through the charming anime "My Roommate is a Cat," and we marvel at the therapeutic bonds it portrays. Our talk isn't confined to the world of animation, though; we dive into lively scientific tangents like cicada pee velocity, all while contemplating our connection with the natural world around us.

Have you ever wondered what your pets are thinking? Together with Niba, we muse on the insights "My Roommate is a Cat" provides into our furry friends' minds and discuss the endearing way it captures the essence of human-animal relationships. We reminisce about discovering new media gems and the emotional journey they take us on, including the shared joy and sorrow that pets bring into our lives. It's not all furry tales, as we also reflect on our personal experiences that resonate with the universality of loss, belonging, and the quest for connection.

Notey Notes:
The Unique Urination of Cicadas 
Niba's Instagram
Niba's TikTok
Niba's other links 

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Taylor D. Adams:

he can't refuse this.

Clip:

Oh, finally decided to come out. What the hell? What is your deal? If you don't eat, you won't be able to move. That means you can't get away. If you need to stop interrupting my hey human, are you all right?

Niba:

the love that you get from an animal is so, so different because it's so freaking pure, Like I can't say that enough and I feel like this show does such a good job of depicting like the animal perspective and it makes you like relate a little bit more, especially if you're a person who has like a dog, cat, snake, iguana, whatever that likes to like sit on you while you watch things. This is like the perfect show for that.

Taylor D. Adams:

Hi, I'm Taylor and welcome back to the Film Nuts podcast, a show about why we love what we watch. I'm so glad you decided to join us today. We've covered plenty of love stories on the show before romantic love, platonic love, familial love. Love stories can be about two people falling for each other, or one person in pursuit of their passion, and today we're adding another type of love to that long list the love we have for our pets.

Taylor D. Adams:

My Roommate is a Cat is a Japanese anime about a shy novelist who takes in a stray cat. After it inspires the idea for his next book. In the 12-episode limited series, it showcases our need for connection when we feel isolated, as well as our relationships to our furry, feathered and scaly friends. It's incredibly wholesome and funny while still able to tug on those heartstrings, and this show served as a source of therapy and comfort for my guest today.

Taylor D. Adams:

Neba is a science content creator, making fun and informational videos about plants and the environment. Neba also loves cats, obviously, and she even has some cats named after scientific terms like osmosis and homeostasis. Neba and I chat about how media can explore different types of happiness, the connection we share with animals and how the velocity of cicada urination is important to science. Yes, you heard that correctly. While my Roommate is a Cat is a Japanese show, all the clips today are dubbed in English for accessibility, but if you want to check out the show, please watch it in its original language with subtitles. Anyway, let's get started right meow. Here's Neva talking about my Roommate is a Cat on the Film Nuts podcast.

Niba:

Hi, I am so excited. I haven't dressed up like a pink cat ever before, but I'm into this.

Taylor D. Adams:

Well, what do you have that for if you've never worn it?

Niba:

well, I wear it to sleep. You know, I all my pajamas are pink because, like I don't know, it's just nice to have pink fuzzy things around you when you sleep and like adult pajamas kind of suck. So I tend to just buy like xxl kid pajamas because, like you're not going to find this in the adult section, you know what I I mean.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, that is. That is awesome. I was going to say I don't. I wouldn't think of it as pajamas automatically, just seeing a giant pink thing with cat ears, Like I just thought it was like just something fun, but that does sound like something so cozy to wear.

Niba:

Oh yeah, it's like blanket material too. Um, but yeah, I'm good. This is homeostasis. I've been doing a lot of creative stuff so I'm doing kind of like okay-ish, but I'm in that like frantic creative energy. That's like really nice and like workflow vibes. But you're also like really tired at the same time because you're staying up late editing and you're going down rabbit holes about like I don't know cicada pee velocity at like two in the morning and it's just like so much energy and I know at some point I'm going to be like man. I'm really tired. I should be like brought in bed for a second, but the last like month or so has just been going deep down. That yeah.

Taylor D. Adams:

Oh my God, okay, hold on.

Niba:

You have to go back and tell me about the velocity of cicada pee no-transcript, just empty everything out all at once and these researchers literally measured like the escape velocity and like the angle of the cicada pea and in 2024 we're gonna have like double the amount of cicadas we normally do because of the way that they hatch and their life cycle works um and so we're gonna have more cicadas?

Taylor D. Adams:

17 years. Is that the it's prime numbers?

Niba:

13, 17, 19, yeah, wow I, I love skaters.

Taylor D. Adams:

everybody like everybody in north carolina like hates them because it makes so much noise. I love them. I think they're so cool, I think I actually love it.

Niba:

I really liked them when I was living there too, yeah.

Taylor D. Adams:

They kind of freak people out, like when they're on the ground and they look dead and then you like touch them and then they like freak out. Yeah, people don't like that. I don't know, I like.

Niba:

One of the classic things that anime does is they'll play the sound of cicadas in the background to make people really feel like immersed in just whatever environment is going on. It's like a classic, that one that's a good noise. They don't do like planes droning overhead too often and I appreciate that. I like that their like environmental noises are like actually from the environment, because I would like to hear more birdsong and less sirens.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, yeah, environment, because I would like to hear more bird song and less sirens. Yeah, that, yeah that any kind of nature ambience always kind of like, puts me in in the right head space. So, man, sorry, I'm still contemplating. I'm still thinking about cicadas, uh, but you mentioned that they, uh, so they get. Most of their diet is primarily from plants and they ingest it pretty quickly. Um, so you're someone who's making a lot of cool videos about nature, specifically like kind of like plant science, so I have to ask, like, what got you into that and why do you? I assume you love doing that, so why do you love it so?

Niba:

much. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. Look at all these plants I have here and all these plants I have here. These are empty cause I'm watering them at the moment.

Taylor D. Adams:

but, yeah, you have actual plants, and then pictures of plants, and then the cats roaming around back there somewhere.

Niba:

Whatever room you're in I got to visit. I got to visit sometime cause that room looks like a vibe.

Niba:

Oh, totally, totally, Um, I mean okay. Well, first of all, like cicada peeing, I ended up there because of plants and I feel like that's just such a great question for so many reasons. So like, because plants don't move, they have all these like really different ways of coping with life, so they'll be like creating toxins and they'll be like warping their body to adjust to the environment constantly. And us animals, we just sort of have this like predetermined body plan that, like every dog will have four legs, every like kangaroo will have like a pouch, you know, and so, but with plants, since they don't have this like your body needs to look like this kind of vibe, they can just adjust.

Niba:

So there's actually like a pine tree.

Niba:

That's pretty cool that, like he, normally pine trees, like you know, there are trees that grow upwards, but he had some sort of mutation that makes it go sideways.

Niba:

And so now, you know, in an animal that would just be like you're dead, that's it, you're unalived, instantly, like no more. But like with this plant, he's like oh, it's fine, I'm just gonna grow sideways now, and now it's basically like a pine bush, but still technically a pine tree, and I feel like there's something so zen about that, the fact that they're like constantly adapting to the environment and like being flexible to the environment and like all throughout, like day, night, every single moment of their entire life. They're always doing their best, like at night they're perspiring, at day they're photosynthesizing and they're doing it all in like a nice steady, even way. And I find that like so zen, because I'm a person who, like you know, me and everyone out, like shout out to everybody who like cannot work at an even steady pace and instead just like oscillates between like hyper fixated, crazy manic energy and then just parallel paralysis over so many things to be done.

Taylor D. Adams:

I'm not going to do anything at all because that is totally me but I feel like with plants they're even exactly right, right, yeah.

Niba:

And I'm like, oh, how nice would it be if I had like a chill little vibe, a chill, little steady, like Zen, like always doing my best and not pushing myself too hard, just like a plant. We're aspiring, we're aspiring.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, so we should all be more like plants.

Niba:

Yeah, truly, if you're sad, have you had water? Have you been in the sun? We'll probably solve most of your problems.

Taylor D. Adams:

The sun does fix it for me. Like if I'm on a funk, I'll go for a walk, and after the walk I, you know, might not be a hundred percent back to normal, but I'll feel better than I did. So that makes total sense.

Niba:

Straight up. Oh my God, like in the winter. I'm like I'll go outside during like the brief two seconds that the sun exists and I'm like, wow, crazy how that works. I don't even want to die no more. Like love that.

Clip:

If only that was the answer to all of our problems yeah.

Niba:

The reason I really like this room is because it has south facing windows, so I do all of my work in here. When I have people over, we tend to hang out in here. We have film in here, like I'm on third floor as well, so I get just like all the sunlight directly to my face. That's why I'm like sitting right here. Normally I would sit right here, sunlight directly on the face, but filming purposes, working that's awesome.

Taylor D. Adams:

Um, okay, so when I, when you agreed to be on the show thank you, by the way, for coming on the show Um, I wasn't quite sure what you would want to talk about, because we haven't known each other that long, but we have gotten to know each other enough to I've got a general sense of kind of the media that you're into. So I was very curious to see what you would want to talk about. And when you just said this anime called my roommate is a cat, I was very curious to see what you would want to talk about. And when you just said this anime called my Roommate is a Cat, I was like I am in way over my head. I don't know what the hell I'm going to get into, but I watched it and I texted you and I was like I love this show. I was like so surprised that I dug it so much, but I want to know why you wanted to talk about my roommate as a cat.

Niba:

Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on your show. I'm so stoked. I feel like you know, like the show it's the, the, the anime is wholesome, it's fun. It's about like that human animal connection and I really like, just like human nature connection stories.

Clip:

Something bit me. Oh, just a cat. I thought a zombie had leapt out of the grave to attack me. Now that I've gotten a good look, its mouth does remind me a little bit of mom's. Oh, come on, that's ridiculous. My mind's just messing with me. I've got an idea for my next book.

Niba:

I love that the concept of just like you know they bop between the human perspective and the pet perspective and seeing how pets look at things. Like you know it's probably not like accurate, but it's like pretty close. Like you know there's not thinking at the same level or the same way we do and like the artwork is great, which is like a really big draw for me. I love that anime is so artistic. There's some anime that like leans too far into the like surrealness of it and I'm like I can't suspend my disbel disbelief anymore. But if you like manage to hit that like artsy vibe, you know, kind of like like Rick and Morty is more fun for me to watch than something that's live action because you can do more crazy shit in a like animated thing, you know you can send them to space, no big deal.

Niba:

You can like have space aliens, whatever, and if you're doing that live action, it's like part of the. The artistry is like a little bit gone because everything's just like CGI and that's cool and whatever, but also like, give it a year and we're going to have text to video, ai generation and it's going to mean nothing because, like you could just do that at home for yourself, so like whatever. And so being able to like, see, like artistic ways of expressing it, even like live action, but especially animation, is like so much more satisfying for me. Um, and so the storyline of this is just like I don't know. It just really gets you in your feels, whether you're like a cat owner or a dog owner, or just you just like pets in general, or you're just like going through some sort of like grief loss or if you just like, don't like, humans, and I feel like, like you said, like this is an anime.

Niba:

That's perfect for people who don't watch a ton of animes because they don't try and be like really over the top this way some animes do, and like those are the ones that I watched them, and I'm like I don't know anime was a mistake. Why am I in here? Um, but this one is like oh, I can recommend this to like pretty much everybody. It's one of my. I would say it's probably like my top favorite show ever. Um, and maybe maybe Avatar. The last airbender like contends with that for the top spot.

Taylor D. Adams:

Okay, Um, how did you? How did you first stumble upon the show or discover it?

Niba:

Oh gosh, uh, I think, um, I had a friend in grad school, my best friend in grad school. Um, he was even more of an anime nerd than I am like like, like so much in so deep. Um, he was even more of an anime nerd than I am Like, like, like so much in so deep. Um, he has found every single amazing anime ever and recommends them to me. And I swear like, trying to find shows to watch online is such a shit show. There's just so much content, so much stuff out there. I want someone to give me a nice curated list of stuff that Nebo would watch and like and like I. It's kind of like what you're doing here right On the podcast. Where you're like I like this person. They will probably give me some media that I enjoy.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, I don't think anybody has recommended anything that I haven't liked, so that's been great. I think I think it's uh, the odds might be against me soon, I don't know. I feel like there's going to be something along the line where somebody recommends something to me that I haven't seen, when I watch it and I'm like, oh man, I don't really like this, but it's not about me, which is great. Um, so, yeah, this was, yeah, definitely Thank you for recommending this. Um, so when your friend recommended it to you, like what was kind of your initial reaction to watching it? Was there like a part of it that hooked you? And the other thing is too like when did you see it? Like what was going on in your life when you first saw it?

Niba:

Oh man, oh man, that's good, okay. So context, um, I am in grad school. I am like miserable because just so many things, grad school, being in the South, being a Brown person in the south, being a brown person in the south, being a woman in the south uh, things are like mentally not really good. But the one shining point of my life is my plant research is really fun.

Niba:

And two, I have a cat for the first time ever and so um this is like I got crisper um, like right after college, and she was like the reason that I got a badge. She was the reason that I did pretty much anything on the days where things were like really rough, and so I've always been really into cats. But since getting her I was like, oh, like this cat and I have like a special bond. Sometimes you just meet people or animals or whatever that just like you guys are on the same wavelength and like she would act so different around me versus other people and I have osmosis and homeostasis as cats now.

Niba:

But I feel like if I wasn't their person, by the way thank you, um, but I feel like for osmosis and homeostasis, like if I wasn't their person, they would be fine, like they would. They would be bummed, probably, but like they would be fine, crispy would they would. They would be bummed, probably, but like they would be fine. Crispy would be like devastated. So Chris Burr and I had like a really, really tight bond. We were really close, and so she. I've always been really into cats, but obviously this show, like the premise, is cat, and so I'm like instantly. I'm like, yes, let's watch this. As far as initial reaction goes, I loved it and every single episode made me cry, like when I watched it like the first time, every single episode.

Niba:

I was shocked. I cry like relatively easy at like movies, cinema, TV, podcasts, whatever, but this one was intense. I was crying like sad tears, happy tears, frustrated tears. Like I loved having the both viewpoints of like the cat and the cat owner and I feel like being able to like see the cat slowly fall in love with the owner. Just hit me really hard in the feels every time.

Clip:

I was really starting to worry about you Crap. I can't get it to shut. It's not him, then where is he? He's in trouble. I have to go help him. Huh, was that haru? I?

Niba:

screwed up and as I was watching, like every time, anytime I watched anything, my cat would like sit on me, she would sit like near. She was always following me room to room and all three of my cats like follow me from room to room. They like like me a lot and sometimes people will comment like wow, your cats look, really, seem into you, and I'm like thanks, it's called giving them attention and love. Really not too hard, but yeah, it was. It was such a hook. And I like that there's dogs and cats and all the different animals in this show too, because dogs are really fun in a different way and they have the dog's perspective Exactly how I imagine a dog would talk, just like hi, I love you, please play with me.

Clip:

That was a living hell. No, what now? Who are you? Are you trying to start a fight with me? Hey kitty, I've seen you before. I know you. Huh, you live in the house next door, don't you? I've always wanted to meet you. I hope that we could be friends someday. I've been watching that house for a very long time. There used to be a nice old lady who lived over there too. I loved her. She would always give me pets. I haven't seen her recently. It's been a long time. I think I wonder where that nice lady went.

Niba:

You know dogs are just bred to love humans and you know we love that. But with cats you've got to like earn their affection. You know it's, it's effort, because they still have personalities and like. The difference in a like genetically between a domesticated dog and a wild dog is so huge and the difference between like a domesticated cat and a wild, like feral cat there's like nothing. So like cats are just with us because they're choosing to be and so like I think that warrants like a different kind of. We got to give them a little bit more respect and patience when we're trying to earn their love.

Taylor D. Adams:

So sorry for the interruption, but I will be brief. I am so grateful that you decided to listen to the Film Nuts podcast today. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. With a small monthly amount, you can get access to behind the scenes goodies, early access to full episodes and you can vote on what movie we watch the first Monday of every month on the Nuthouse Discord. The Nuthouse itself is free to join and is full of other film and TV lovers, so you'll fit right in.

Taylor D. Adams:

You can check out info on all these things in the show notes, and if all of this sounds like a bit too much, that's totally okay. But if you want to keep up to date on all our episodes, please be sure and subscribe on your favorite platform of choice, and if you're listening on Apple podcasts, go ahead and leave a rating and review so we can get in front of other awesome people like yourself. Okay, enough of me rambling back to the good stuff. I'm a dog person. I like cats, but like I'm more of a dog person just because I grew up with dogs, and one of the things that is like one of my favorite memes I've seen online is like a wolf next to a picture of a pug.

Niba:

And like both of these are the same animal, oh yeah, right, you're like, you're telling me this is supposed to be able to mate like wild. Yeah, no.

Niba:

I feel you, you, there's a lot of really cool stuff with dogs, just because they like I don't know they, since they've been bred alongside us.

Niba:

They're the only animal that understands pointing, like even with apes you have to teach an ape pointing, but dogs will just like innately understand point, and so I think that's kind of cool.

Niba:

Um, there's also like a I was recently reading about this startup that is putting like little chips on the olfactory neurons for dogs and so they can like tell, like, what nerves light up when a dog smells like banana or like I don't know AirPods oh, wow, sorry, cats make a sick noise. And so the idea is, like they'll train the dog on, like you know, smell all these different things. They'll see what all the neurons like light up as, and then they'll release the dog into the wild and like have it sniff all these different things and be able to tell, preferably like, what these things are, even with, like trained dogs that are trained to sniff stuff, like you know, for, like, finding objects or whatever, whatever, like you can only train a dog to tell you about like nine or ten scents, but you know, obviously they can smell like hundreds of things. Um, I don't love the idea of like dogs being used as narcs even more so.

Niba:

This is the nice thing about cats cats will never narc on you, but like at the same time they just get stitches yeah exactly, exactly, um, but actually this is really cool for people who use dogs for, like, vision, for seeing eye dogs or for guide dogs or that kind of thing. So there's a lot of cool like implications there and, as a result, I just think, like the dog human interactions there's different things that you can do with cat human interactions. Interactions there's different things that you can do with cat human interactions. Like you're trying to earn their love and most cats are not like super, super easy to train because they're not living their life trying to please you, um, so, that being said, I really like dogs too. My uh brother recently got a golden and I just tackle him every time I see him. Now, that's awesome.

Taylor D. Adams:

So when you were uh watching my Roommate is a Cat with your cat. Um, you said that like, though, like your cat and the work you were doing in school were kind of like the highlights of your life at that time. Was this show kind of, uh, an escape, or was it helpful or therapeutic at all? Like, did it help your day get brighter when you're watching?

Niba:

oh yeah, oh yeah. It was very therapeutic. I feel like I felt so validated in my love for my cat because, you know, 90, maybe 99 of media is about like heteronormative cis love relationships and I love being able to see media that explores like other ways of happiness, um, whether that's through like someone being really satisfied from their work or from, uh, you know, the love with a pet. Like one of the things I love about legally blonde is that it's all about her like finding herself and like working really hard. Like that movie was so ahead of its time.

Niba:

I love it like I want more movies like that, where I can just see a montage of like someone working really hard, achieving their dreams and like that's the, that's the goal, you know um and like, yes, there's a romance thing, but that's like very much a subplot of the entire movie and like I want more media like that Cause I feel like we've all been sold this like Disney romance stuff just shoved down our throats in terms of media, and I want to be able to see stuff that's like.

Niba:

You know, a big part of this movie is about like how this uh protagonist like really struggles to like connect with other people. And I felt like in California I never had that problem, but living in the South I suddenly did. And I felt like in California I never had that problem, but living in the South I suddenly did. And I wasn't like you know, I wasn't white, I wasn't black, I wasn't an international student, I wasn't Latino, and so I was like the only person who like kind of was in this category and it just it just felt kind of like bizarre because, like my experience is very different from an international student from India, which is very different from being white in the South. And I remember like within my, the day I arrived in North Carolina, there was a KKK rally in like downtown Durham and I was like, oh my god, what have I done? Why did I move from California?

Clip:

That was my sign. Sorry sorry, I really shouldn't have said that.

Taylor D. Adams:

Someone who lives 20 minutes from Durham, sorry.

Niba:

Oh my gosh. I mean, you know, at least there was like a counter protest, so like that's nice I guess. But just the fact that it even existed, I was like, oh my God, like I was so sheltered, you know, in California, like that that would never happen here because people would counter protest so hard that like people wouldn't do that kind of KKK rally in the first place, you know. And so I was super sheltered in California and you know, some people prefer macroaggressions over microaggressions. I want microaggressions. My skin is thin and.

Niba:

I don't really want to like spend my energy developing my tolerance to racism. Um, I had someone tell me that like when I was complaining about this.

Taylor D. Adams:

You shouldn't need to do that, yeah.

Niba:

Right, oh my God. But people told me they were like, oh, you'll get used to it, like this is really not that big a deal, this is so small. And I was like, what do you mean? I'll get used to it. I don't want to get used to it, I just want things to be like nice to me. I'm just trying to like hang out in my like fuzzy cat outfit and watch cat anime, like I'm trying to go live that like chill, soft, cozy life.

Taylor D. Adams:

I want to touch on something that I I personally find fascinating. As someone who is almost 37. I'm fascinated by the fact that there is a growing trend of content creators who are extremely comfortable with being vulnerable on camera. I'm very much like Nope I'm.

Taylor D. Adams:

I will portray what I want you to see Like I'll be like honest, but yeah, maybe, yeah, vulnerable is something that I'm not as strong at being to a camera as someone who has done projects anywhere from cool science-y stuff to the trauma and process that comes along with trying to like achieve certain goals, like working on personal projects for yourself, like, did that? Did you have to work on becoming more vulnerable to a lens, or is that something you kind of always have been open about? Expressing your emotions?

Niba:

Yeah, I mean that's a really great question. I think people definitely want realness, people definitely want to be inspired. Um, the authenticity and inspiration are like the two things I strive to give in every single video, and I guess the question, the thing I have to like remind myself, is, like you know, a person can still be authentic if they're showing you one part of themselves, and so I don't think vulnerability means like if you have a hundred parts, showing all hundred of those. It just means like showing whatever is true to you and that part is like authentic. You can be vulnerable without having to like expose every single thing. You know, there's tons of stuff that happens in my life that I'm like maybe this isn't for the internet, and I see some of the larger content creators share like every single thing on their life.

Niba:

And recently, about like a year ago I still remember this there was an interaction between Laverne Cox and Dylan Mulaney. Dylan is a woman who's been documenting their like trans experience, like from MTF, and kind of like posting about it on social, and she's been a really awesome like advocate for all things like gender and sex inclusivity, and they ran into each other at a red carpet event and Dylan kind of like has her phone out and is like recording the event and sharing it with her followers and she goes up to like you know, laverne, and is like, oh my gosh, like I'm such a huge fan, like you're so cool, blah, blah, blah, like clearly just like super stoked, and then asks, like you know, what is some advice that you have for me? And uh, her response she like looks at the camera with this like side eye and then looks back and is like it's important for you to learn what sort of stuff is just for you and not for the camera and says it in like this, really like kind of serious tone and uh, dylan totally just like does not pick up on that at all and just like it in like this, really like kind of serious tone. And uh, dylan totally just like does not pick up on that at all and just like it's like oh yeah, absolutely, I totally like she's still like in her like excited, like creative, like you know on camera personality, like on kind of thing, and uh, then just sort of like brushes her off and like seeing like effectively like a white woman brush a black woman off, like so casually. After, like you know, lauren has like gone through all kinds of stuff to be in a position she's in and give like very good advice.

Niba:

I was like something about this whole interaction really rubs me the wrong way.

Niba:

I think they're both incredible people, but like you really do got to think about like what parts you want to put online and what parts are just for you, and I think it's totally fair that it's like hard for you to be vulnerable on camera. The way I kind of like get around it sort of is like when I'm feeling strong emotions and I'm debating if I want to like put it in a video or if I want to like remember it for the future, for myself or whatever, I'll just take my camera out and record it and then, like a day or two or whatever week later, um, that's when I decide like, oh, is this actually something I want to share or is this something I just want to keep for myself? Um, and so that way, like the option is there because I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to like fake intense emotion, like I am not an actor, I am a person who's just really jazzed about like plants and like nature and just like.

Niba:

I just nerd out about stuff that's really it, um, and so like spontaneously crying, I can't do that. Like, maybe if I think about like sad things for like 10 minutes I could do it. Or if I'm like already like minorly depresso espresso, I could do it. Um, but uh, depresso espresso.

Taylor D. Adams:

I could do it. You say depresso espresso. Is that what you said? I haven't heard that before.

Niba:

Oh, it's a good one.

Taylor D. Adams:

What a fun way to talk about depression.

Niba:

It lightens the darkness. It does Turns it into, like you know, black coffee, into a latte a little bit. But yeah, so like I think being emotional on camera is like it's just a skill, right. So like, if you want to develop it, which I definitely do like bringing out your camera and recording those moments. And there's a lot of moments that I have recording myself being really emotional during, like dark days during grad school, and like a week after I recorded them, I was like this is a video meant for me and maybe like Like a week after I recorded them, I was like this is a video meant for me and maybe like a friend or two or something like that but, not for the entire world.

Niba:

And then back actually, I debated quite a bit about making a video about my experience deciding to like end my grad school early and leave with a master's instead of a PhD, and that video has like in my head. I was like you know, if this helps someone else figure out what the heck to do, like even one person, that's good. But that video is like my most highest viewed video on my channel and I got I get and got so many messages about it. People will write me like essays, being like you know, this is my situation. I saw your video about like debating to leave and it really resonated with me because you know, when you're in grad school, um, people, you the only people you're surrounded by are people who are staying right. You don't get the perspective of someone who's left.

Niba:

And one thing I did in this video is I interviewed a bunch of different people who decided to leave and it's interesting because every single person did not regret it. Every single person was like that was the right choice. I'm so happy I did it. Some people were like I wish I'd done it sooner and I was like, wow, if I had had this information in grad school. I think this would have like I don't know if I would have left sooner, but I think it would have made the process of leaving much less painful and like feeling I would feel less guilt over it. And so that video was super emotional and vulnerable and I am so grateful that, like, it's been able to like resonate with so many people and that it's been something that people like make more like raw emotional stuff. But then you know, you see those like youtube likes where it's just like the person in a white room and they're like all crunched up in a little fetal position.

Niba:

It's like clearly, yeah, I did the thing, or like I'm sorry guys, or like apology right yeah and I'm like nah, I I want to share the stuff that like I want to share, you know, and like maybe that's going to be like sad, emotional, but like a lot of the times it's not. Like the things I'm really stoked to share about with people are usually like things that are exciting for me and, like you know, you meet someone new. You don't go and tell them about your deep, dark trauma. You tell them about cicada pee velocity.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, I think I my the cynic side of me is always like, always takes the opinion that, uh, videos that are like vulnerable, like especially like in in this age of content creation where anybody with a phone can make stuff which is super cool and empowering. But yeah, the cynic side of me is always like, oh, they're just doing that to like content creation where anybody with a phone can make stuff which is super cool and empowering. But yeah, the cynic side of me is always like, oh, they're just doing that to like get attention. Then the optimist side of me is like no, but they're also. There are also people who out there who feel the way this person feels, but and they feel that they're alone. So, and then when they see someone else experiencing the same thing, then they feel like they're not alone, so it's beneficial, and so I always go back and forth with it, and I think you brought up a good point about this kind of like finding the right blend of vulnerability and authenticity, like as long as those things are like true to each other, like you're, people aren't putting out emotional things for the sake of putting out emotional things, or putting out things that are emotional because of you know the like idea behind it. Like if you're stoked, like the emotion you would promote about plants is like you're super excited about plants, then the emotion about struggling with the academic program you're in, like that comes from the authentic place of actually struggling with it. And so I'm always going back and forth.

Taylor D. Adams:

But I feel like my cynic side is more and more being quieted, which I'm more leaning toward the optimistic side. The more I see stuff like this, I'm like, okay, yeah, all right, yeah, people out there. Just they don't realize that they might, that other people might be experiencing the same thing that they are. So when they see people experiencing what they're experiencing, they feel like they're not all in the world. Which I think is really great about this show is that when you're brought up it's not like a true like kind of romance thing, like it's very much like a community show, like everybody is like helping each other out, which I thought was like one of the my favorite parts about my roommate as a cat is like everybody helps to try and find the cat, like at the end, and that that was one of my favorite moments. Just cat is like everybody helps to try and find the cat, like at the end and that that was one of my favorite moments, just the montage of everybody helping each other hello, mikazuki, where are you?

Clip:

are you all right?

Taylor D. Adams:

kawase. Hey, hirodo told me what's going on. I want to help any way I can.

Clip:

I'm on the way to your house as we speak hiroto probably knows the area better than me, so I'll hold down the fort and he can help you search. Thank you so much. Try to stay calm. Everything's gonna be all right.

Niba:

We'll find her okay, I know it's so wholesome. I think, uh, especially like, if you think about people who are wanting to be content creators and cultivate an audience and all that good stuff If every single video you put out is motivated by an emotion, that is just one single emotion, that's going to be kind of challenging to do. And especially if that emotion is some sort of negative thing, where it's like if, if someone is like building their entire content career on just like trauma, dumping and like you know, spicy story time, that's only going to last so long before people are like, all right, maybe it's time for something else. Um and so like.

Niba:

I guess my cynic side is always. Like you know, I've seen this video of someone crying over like XYZ concept and I'm like, wow, that really sucks. I'm so sorry. Um, and if I go to their page and their entire page is just various videos of them crying, I'm like I really hope you have something else in your life, like, genuinely like I hope there's some other emotions that you're feeling, some other things going on, cause like, if that's all you got, like I feel sorry for you, that's that sucks.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, um, what was your?

Niba:

yeah, what was your favorite moment or scene from my roommate as a cat? Oh gosh, you're like. Enough negativity, um, same I, I think. Um, let's see, I'm trying not to give spoilers, but I think we can kind of give a little bit.

Taylor D. Adams:

Oh no, this is. This is a spoiler. This is a spoiler show.

Niba:

Oh, okay, great, great, great, um. So there's an episode where so he adopts this cat. That's like a stray right. And there's an episode where the stray cat like goes over to a friend's house to like have a play date with the other cat and realizes, like the other who works at the pet store, big sis, I can't believe it.

Clip:

I thought I'd never see him again. It is you, isn't it? I missed you so much.

Niba:

And I'm like, oh my God, all these like cute little connections between everybody and like I don't know, just like seeing that the sister, like the strays, were going through it, Like when they were out there. You know, they're like scrounging around for food and they're like getting picked on by like the birds, and I'm like my God, my heart, like sort of crying every time I saw that Because, like I don't know, just like the concept of stray cats just makes me really sad in general, just stray animals that don't have a home.

Niba:

In certain areas around the world you have like dogs and cats that like run around outside but they have a home, they have like a family and a community and like whenever I go to india there's like just dogs like everywhere and like they they're all like pretty well fed, they just like hang out together, they hang out outside. Like you feed them a little they'll guard your house. Like it's a very like symbiotic relationship. It's different from what's in america, but that doesn't make it like bad per se. But I think just sort of the glow up that these two cats had from like being on the street just scrounging to like oh, we just like live in this house now and get food brought to us and our job is to just sit here and look pretty, what a vibe.

Taylor D. Adams:

How often do you go to India?

Niba:

When I was growing up I went every year, and then it became every two years and now it's every four years, so I went last summer, okay how has what?

Taylor D. Adams:

what is that experience like? I mean that's a broad question, but I mean like because you were, you were you were born in california, right, okay, and so like the connection you have with your ancestry, with your family that are in India, like you see them periodically but you've seen in the gaps in between visits has grown wider as you've gotten older, like what has that experience been like? Each time you've kind of gone back with the maturation of who you are.

Niba:

It's surreal. I think I have like a pretty close connection to India because I've been fortunate to be able to like go back and visit a lot and my mom has like seven siblings, all of whom have kids, and you know it's a pretty big family. My grandmother so I my grandmother and her husband like a brother and a sister married a brother and a sister, and that's how my mom's side kind of has like two sets of grandparents and so, um, whenever I go back, I like see a lot of people and eat a lot of food and just sort of like vibe a lot, and there's like all these aspects of me that I get that I feel like, you know, surprisingly, like just just really seen and really understood, and I love being able to just I don't know feel so comfortable. And you know some people find the sounds of the chaos like really chaotic like obviously, but like for me it's like, oh, this is like.

Niba:

It's like kind of a white noise background kind of thing, and it just feels like I've returned to a place kind of vibe. But at the same time, there's all these things that are like very much separating me from my family in India, and so like, for example, in one of the areas I visit, no one wears makeup at all and it's like frowned upon to do that. And me, as a person who loves expressing myself with my makeup, I sort of like adapt to the area and I just don't wear anything while I'm there. But it sort of makes me feel like a little sad that I can't express myself the way I would like to. But I also I'm like, you know, I'm not trying to like draw that kind of attention to myself.

Niba:

Like what point am I trying to prove here? I'm just trying to like visit my family, you know, um, and then when I visit like family in the city, like obviously that's very different. But there's also, uh, this latest time when I went back was a little surreal Cause uh, now I'm in my like late twenties and they're like why don't you have a child? Why aren't you married? And I'm like, oh man, yeah, and I'm like, oh, haha, like I just, you know, no big deal I'll. I'll worry about it later.

Taylor D. Adams:

I don't know, I'm just trying to like deflect, for now, um, we'll see.

Niba:

Let me tell you about Cicada P, and they don't like ask me this stuff. They don't worry about it. I think, like I don't know, it's not something that I'm not really too keen on. Having kids, that's kind of a choice that I've made for myself, so I don't feel like any time pressure to do anything which is really liberating, and so. On the downside, though, it does mean that like I don't have like a fuel under my butt to like get married and whatever, and, as a result, I'm sure that the next time I go to India, they're probably going to be like so what do you think of this boy?

Niba:

And I'll be like ah ah, ah, ah ah ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, I don't know. So, yeah, that'll be that. I think one of the nice things, though, about like going back more than anything else is just, oh my God, being able to feel at home. Like that's just, that's really. There's a, there's a vibe of being at home, but it's also very much not at home. So my body physically cannot handle being in India too long because I get really sick. But yeah, I don't know it's, it's a good experience.

Niba:

It's a good experience to be able to go back, because I feel like a lot of people who, um, a lot of people, just don't have like that kind of like bicultural experience, like going back and forth between two extremely different, culturally different places, and so, from a young age, like seeing the way that, like certain people had to live, or the way certain people could live, or the way that like monkeys and dogs and like just sort of traverse everywhere all over India, and like I just kind of like it was really formative and I think I'm really grateful to have such a contrast, because, like I think people who don't get to travel like that, you get kind of like a little bit more of a narrow worldview and I'm very, very lucky to be able to have traveled like that.

Niba:

And also there's a lot of really awesome programs for people who are interested in traveling for cheap. There's this thing called Dressed House Sitters, where you can go somewhere and travel somewhere and take care of someone's cat or dog and your stay is free. You pay like a one time, like one year subscription or whatever. Oh, wow, yeah, and there's a trusted house sitter somewhere in like, I think, arizona or Texas, where this person has 13 cats and a dog and I've never really been interested in going to that part of like Texas, but like I might be tempted because like where else could I get?

Taylor D. Adams:

to take just for that experience. Yeah, that might be worth it. I did. I did know someone who um, I forgot the exact circumstances that led them to this, but they dog sat for a family in, uh, amsterdam and they just spent a week out there dogs and they're they're based here in North Carolina and they just spent a week out there dog sitting and they're they're based here in North Carolina and they just went out there and did that and I thought that was wild. That was really cool.

Niba:

Um, I love that yeah.

Taylor D. Adams:

I like, I like those ideas about traveling. I I I really appreciate it. I've started to use the word um visit when I refer to traveling, um cause it used to be, you know, vacation, then travel, but I've come to like the term visit more um, because I feel like I want to um treat any place that I visit with the same amount of respect as my friend who lives across town, like I don't want to treat it as this destination will now fulfill my needs, like kind of thing.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah totally and over a couple years I haven't been to that many places, but the places that I have been outside of the us, I've, like started adopting that philosophy and it's felt more satisfying to do so, even though some parts of it is does feel like a vacation like if I go to like Belize, which is one of my favorite places to go like hell.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, I'm going to hang out on the beach and drink beer and eat chips and salsa, but also, like I'm going to talk to people that I know and like be friendly and not be the asshole American who demands everything you know. I just kind of like treat everyone that you see with respect.

Niba:

I love that. Yeah, totally. This is kind of why I'm like whenever I go to India, I like pick and choose what my battles, quote unquote, are going to be, you know, cause I know I'm visiting and I'm like as much as I'm like, you know, going home, quote unquote, or like seeing my family like there's. There's only so many things I want to get into and getting into like the patriarchy, or like capitalism or colonialism.

Taylor D. Adams:

Hot topics Not necessarily Hot broad, unsolvable topic.

Niba:

Exactly, you know like I'm not going to debate this with like an 80 year old who came from like the neighboring village to like come to chat with me and see me for the first time in four years. You know like that's not the place I'm visiting. I really like that terminology. Yeah, I've been planning a trip to. Vietnam, and one of the things I've been doing has been like looking up like sort of like customs and politeness and there's all these rules around like different ways to hold chopsticks and stuff like that.

Niba:

And turns out like a lot of them don't translate, like I'm familiar with the rules for Japan because I used to live there, but then the rules for chopsticks in Vietnam are a little bit different, obviously because many different histories, colonialism and all the lovely stuff that comes with it. I think if you're ever visiting a country that's very many degrees culturally separated, just Googling country name and then polit, politeness or like polite rules, or like customs or something like that that's a good just learning like the top five, you know.

Niba:

So you don't like question something you know like, or just like try and tip someone who gets offended by tipping, or you know you don't tip someone who expects a tip, that kind kind of thing.

Taylor D. Adams:

Did you get into anime before or after you lived in Japan?

Niba:

Before. Yeah, I was like I watched a lot of anime in like middle school, high school.

Niba:

That's when they, that's when they get you, and so I I don't know I was already it was they were both through like school programs while I was in high school, and so I was there for like a summer both times and it was like extremely like, amazing, very much like I feel very, very privileged to be able to have done that, like in high school, no less, um, but so France was because I was like studying French, and then Japan was because we were doing a culture exchange thing and uh, yeah, it was really awesome.

Niba:

There was a lot more to japanese culture than anime, which I sort of like mentally knew and you know, I had kind of like an idea of it, but you don't really get the idea of it until you go there and you're like oh, this is the amount that, like the things in anime are just sort of uh, stereotypes or things that are not really representations. Like, anime always has this classic like the ramen shop that's like a little stall outside with like three seats and it's like delicious and whatever.

Niba:

That's like pretty rare, pretty rare. It's kind of seen as like a touristy thing in parts of Tokyo and the parts of Japan that I learned about became I'm just like really fascinated by there's. Oh, I really want to go back there because there's a world heritage site that's a hot spring, an onsen, and you can still use this onsen so like you can go and like pay to be in this world heritage site that people have been like on sending in for the past like 2000 something years and it's's a really small one. It only fits like two, three people or something like that. But there's like a hike you can do to get there and then you just like chill in this, like hot spring, and that region is famous for a special little banana treat, and so all the travel guides I've been looking at have been like try and get banana treats at all different places and I love banana treats.

Taylor D. Adams:

So yes, okay, um, I'm going to have to go there. That sounds amazing. What would you say to someone to get them to watch the show If they didn't have a podcast to ask you to be on about it?

Niba:

Yeah, totally. Um, if you are someone who's ever lost anyone animal human otherwise, ever lost anyone animal human otherwise, if you are someone who, like, never watches anime, if you are someone who likes pets, this is like the perfect show for you. It's pretty short, there's only, I think it's like four hours total. Um, so, as far as shows go, it's not like you're not getting into a game of thrones situation, but it deals with all these like really heavy concepts, but also really light-hearted concepts, and this idea of like being a person who's isolating but also a person who's being taken care of by the community, and also being a person who's, like, just loved and the different ways that you can be loved.

Niba:

And I feel like it's so easy to to forget that and the love that you get from an animal is so, so different because it's so freaking pure. Forget that. And the love that you get from an animal is so, so different because it's so fricking pure, like I can't say that enough. It's so pure and so, like you know, losing an animal obviously becomes then like a single sharp needle directly into your heart and then out the other side and through every other organ in your entire body. Versus like with people.

Niba:

There's like so much messiness involved. There's all these like various emotions and like different things that are going on and like, but with an animal it's gone now and that just it just flat out sucks and it's just so raw and I feel like this show does such a good job of depicting like the animal perspective that it makes you like relate a little bit more and especially if you're a person who has like a dog, cat, snake, iguana, whatever that likes to like sit on you while you watch things, this is like the perfect show for that. If anyone is watching the show and feels inspired, I would love for you to send me a really funny photo of your cat, dog, iguana, pet, whatever. My socials are at notesbyneba on everything and people have like the absolute, like ridiculousest photos of their pets, but I feel like all the stuff that gets posted online is not necessarily always they're like trash photos.

Taylor D. Adams:

So all my contact photos for people are always like Do you want the trash photos? Do you want trash photos?

Clip:

Yes, yes, yes, yes Okay.

Taylor D. Adams:

Yeah, we'll drop, I'll drop your-.

Niba:

All my contact photos for people are the trash photos of their pets and I'm like, oh, this is the funniest way to remember them.

Taylor D. Adams:

My roommate is a cat portrays the connection we have to animals both from the human and animal perspectives. But even if you aren't a cat or dog or turtle person, the issues at the core of these relationships are easily relatable to the connections we have with other human beings, and in those connections we can become frustrated by either misunderstandings or confusion. But while we may not ever fully understand everything about each other, that shouldn't stop us from loving and supporting one another. A huge thanks to Neva for chatting with me today and a soft and cuddly thank you to you for listening. Please check out the show notes for links to some of Neva's work as well as her social handles. She's making some really cool stuff. Please don't miss out. If you enjoyed the show today, please go ahead and subscribe to stay up to date on all of our episodes on your favorite podcast platform of choice. And if you happen to be listening on Apple Podcasts, go ahead and leave a rating and review so we get in front of more awesome folks like yourself. If you really love the show today and you're loving all the episodes that you're listening to, please go ahead and consider supporting us on Patreon. Becoming a patron of the show helps us out immensely, even if your donation is just a small amount, and you get some really cool perks to go along with it. For more info on that, check out the show notes or visit patreoncom.

Taylor D. Adams:

Slash film nuts. Our theme this season is brought to us by the Deep End. Our artwork is designed by Modongo Sibuhudi, and all episodes of the Film Nuts podcast are produced and edited by me, Taylor D Adams. If you want to get in touch, you can email filmnutspodcasts at gmailcom or follow us on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter at filmnutspodcast. And don't forget to join the Nuthouse Discord community absolutely free by checking out the link in the show notes. Thank you all again. So much for joining us today, and until next time, please be kind to your pets. They deserve the best.