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Which is better: calling or texting? Comedians Selena Coppock and Chelsea White return to argue this one out. Selena peppers her argument with nostalgic props and says – at the risk of sounding like a Boomer – that calling is more efficient and you don’t have to feel like you’re always available like you do with texting. Chelsea counters that texting is actually the more efficient form of communication and it allows you to communicate in places and at times when you can’t speak on the phone. Plus, you can’t send a meme to someone’s home phone. With all that said, which form of communication will Ronald Young Jr. pick: calling or texting?

Follow Selena @selenacoppock and Chelsea @thechelseawhite on Instagram.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Ronald Young Jr., Ronald young Jr., Speaker 1, Selena Coppock, Chelsea White

Ronald Young Jr.  00:36

Communication has changed a lot in the last 30 years or so. If you’re a millennial, you probably found yourself right between two distinctly different cultures. One of those cultures is growing up in a home with a corded phone. Maybe you needed to carry a quarter to call your parents to pick you up from school or the mall. Maybe you remember the price of long distance calling and needing to use a calling card to call across state lines at a discounted rate, eventually the chords went away, and that was shortly followed by the Internet and the second culture of first chatting on computers, which eventually was followed by smartphones and text messaging. Now what you used to do with your voice on a phone call can be accomplished quickly and quietly with your fingers through a series of texts. So now we’re in a bit of a quandary. There’s something warm and inviting and nostalgic about the fellowship of a phone call, but there’s also something efficient and wonderfully progressive about the ease of texting.

 

Ronald young Jr.  01:37

For those that have experienced both cultures, you’ve likely found yourself wondering, which is better phone calls or texting? We decide once and for all, right here and right now on Pop Culture Debate Club.

 

Ronald young Jr.  01:59

Hello and welcome back to PCDC. I’m your host, Ronald Young, Jr, let’s meet our panelists for the day. Representing texting is comedian and TV writer. Chelsea White, welcome back, Chelsea.

 

Chelsea White  02:10

Hi, thanks for having me, Ronald.

 

Ronald young Jr.  02:13

Glad to have you also joining us. Representing calling is a comedian and creator of a parody New York Times vows page on Instagram that was featured in the actual New York Times. Hello and welcome back to Selena Coppock.

 

Selena Coppock  02:25

Hi, Ronald. I’m thrilled to be here.

 

Ronald young Jr.  02:27

I am thrilled to have y’all. Are y’all still friends after your last fight on Pop Culture Debate Club?

 

Selena Coppock  02:33

Oh my gosh, I learned more about that movie that was that made in Manhattan, or was that? No, it was the wedding plan.

 

Ronald young Jr.  02:39

It could have been made in Manhattan, though, but it could have been made in Manhattan, though, Chelsea.

 

Chelsea White  02:45

Yo, I was gonna say we’ve made up since then and restored our relationship, but I guess now all bets are off to that low jab.

 

Ronald young Jr.  02:54

Are y’all ready to fight?

 

Selena Coppock  02:55

Yes, we are.

 

Chelsea White  02:57

I am so ready.

 

Ronald young Jr.  03:02

So Selena, present your case for calling. What is your opening argument, calling is better than texting.

 

Selena Coppock  03:09

Okay, calling is better than texting. In that for number one, it is a more efficient method of communication. Have you ever had times where you and perhaps a friend or two are trying to make either travel plans or dinner plans, or a plan for Friday night. And everyone has their you know, oh, I want vegan food. I want barbecue like, and everyone’s sort of chiming in. It’s just an efficient planning method when you need to kind of just talk it out real quick. The number of times I’ve been like, we hop on a call, it’ll take three minutes rather than paragraph on paragraph on paragraph of texting a little book to one another. Like, I know that young people are frightened of telephones, you know. Like, I know we sound like a boomer for defending phones, but like, in my day, if you had a crush on a guy or even just a friend, you had to call their house and speak with their parents, perhaps, or siblings and ask if so and so was home. And I think there was a lot of value in that. I think it made you learn how to be polite, how to ask for what you want, how to communicate with, maybe with people you don’t know, how to kind of wait you don’t get your instant gratification, and also how to leave a message properly. And then the other side of that coin is I used to love if I was ever waiting for a guy to call me in high school and he wasn’t calling, I would leave the house, and as soon as I got to the Natick mall and spent about an hour roaming around as if by magic, it’s like he could smell that I wasn’t at my house. So, you know, I just, without fail, I would come home and I’d be like, hey, any messages? And my mom was like, Yeah, that guy called, you know, I mean, there was just you felt like you were in, you know, with phone calls, you’re in control of your life. You can be away from the phone, bye, bye. I’m busy. I’m at the mall, eating, having an Orange Julius and getting my nose pierced. You know […]

 

Ronald young Jr.  04:53

God, Orange Julius.

 

Selena Coppock  04:57

I mean, I just love that with calling you can be like you can be reachable or unreachable. It’s I just think it’s such a wonderful thing where when you’re present, you’re fully present, which is great, but when you’re away from it, you can truly be away from it. What’s old is new again. People are going back to turntables, so I think we should all go back to the old ring a ding, telephone. And with that, I closed my case.

 

Ronald young Jr.  05:22

Wow, okay, this is a podcast, and that was a visual moment, but I want to let the listeners know that Selena open they flip phone and they closed it, as she said, close her case for a little bit of a flourish. I almost want to give you a full point for that, because what creativity there. That was amazing.

 

Selena Coppock  05:37

Thank you. I had to dig this out from, like, my junk drawer.

 

Ronald young Jr.  05:39

I love that. Before we get to Chelsea’s opening argument, I also want to suggest that you do your entire debate with a Trans Atlantic accent, because you kind of flow into it sometimes, which I really appreciate. All right, Chelsea, your opening argument that texting is better than calling. Give it to me.

 

Chelsea White  06:03

Okay, as much as I also appreciate a visual props moment and a transatlantic accent. Listen The thing that separates human beings from the animal kingdom. Okay? Everyone is very simple. It’s one thing and one thing only. And no, it’s not endless shrimp. It is, in fact, progress. Okay, it’s our unsaleable pursuit of progress, invention, to evolve and strive to be better as human beings, and texting is a prime example of such progress. It’s a superior form of communication. My opponent mentioned efficiency, but today I will prove why texting is without doubt, the more efficient, progressed form of communication. Think about, think about all the progress we’ve made in communication since time began. We went from fucking like carrier pigeon or whatever that was, which took however long. It took years, I imagine, you know, to trade thoughts about pop culture in the BC times. And then Alexander Graham Bell came along, and he blessed us with the phone, and we could communicate anytime, immediately, as long as one was at one’s phone in one’s house. Then came the cell phone, and we could communicate anytime from anywhere. And then now we are blessed with whoever invented texting. Bless that person’s heart. You want to talk about efficiency. Try if you tried calling me during a meeting, I’m not able to answer. Okay, but what if that’s an emergency? If you text me, I could receive that information and return an answer immediately. In church, I’m not answering that call. I’m texting you back though. Ronald, you know what I mean. Mid sermon, I don’t give a fuck. You need to reach me. I’m reachable. They’ll wrap up my opening thoughts. Everyone calling instead of texting is like going back to the carrier pigeon. Do you know what I mean? Like, you look like a fool. It’s not. Whenever there’s new progress and technology, when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, we weren’t like, let me go get my uh, like, stick with a burning rag attached to the end of it for a light source, right? No, we’re not putting our phone up to our ear like cave people, everybody. No, we’re texting like evolved human beings. We’re texting during endless shrimp, thank you.

 

Ronald young Jr.  08:44

Oh a very chaotic, open argument, but I was here for every part of it, I think.

 

Chelsea White  08:49

It was linear.

 

Ronald young Jr.  08:50

It made sense. It was linear for the most part, it made sense and it was COVID. Let’s let’s jump. Both of y’all said something about efficiency. So let’s jump straight to efficiency. And Chelsea, I’ll start with you, because you said it most recently, but you said that texting is more efficient than calling. Can you? Can you talk to more about that?

 

Chelsea White  09:07

Yeah, I think, like I said, a big part of it has to do with you can’t always answer a call and speak out loud or take the time to listen in any situation, but you most often can text, right? So if you really need to be receiving and giving communication quickly, it’s going to be more efficient to to text someone rather than call. That’s going to be the most likely that you can get a hold of that person, right? Like, it really breaks down communication barriers. It’s like the Susan B Anthony of communication, texting breaking down all barriers. You can communicate with me anytime, and my opponent thinks that that is a downside and that you should be at times unreachable and unplug. And that’s valid. And what I say to that is, that’s why they make the off switch, and that’s why they make, you know, whatever that mode is called, with the little sleepy. Yeah, you know, moons, for a while, thank you. And for a while, me and Selena get it off our phone. Like, help I’m constantly on do not disturb it. I don’t like it.

 

Selena Coppock  10:11

Oh, I think I’m still trapped on it somewhat. Yeah. You know what? I think that the, I think the the phone is so much more efficient because I know that, yeah, like, Chelsea, you’re saying that it’s great to be reachable anytime in any context, and it’s sort of low key, you can just text back. But I also think that the beauty of the phone is that you know that both participants are present, and for that reason, it almost feels like a casual subpoena. You know where you’re like, I know we’re here on the phone. You can’t say that, like, somehow I never you, never told me this. It never went through, like you’re on the phone and I’m on the phone, and we can very quickly decide, should we do the seven o’clock reservation or the 730 reservation, or, you know what time is a good flight for you? I just think that you can so quickly communicate. But indeed, it is kind of like a somewhere out there where you’re both looking at the same moon, but it’s that you’re both on the same phone, you know, but you’re really, you’re both in it at the in the moment. And I think there is efficiency to that of like, you know, give me, give me one minute, and let’s focus right now, and we’ll make this play on.

 

Chelsea White  11:12

Someone who’s on the side of calling would reference five will goes west, or whichever five. Well, that was.

 

Ronald young Jr.  11:18

Believe it’s the first one.

 

Selena Coppock  11:19

I have got my finger on the pulse of what the youths are doing. I actually was preparing to discuss Hotline Bling as an example of telephones and pop culture, because I’m very topical and I’m very hip and with it, okay.

 

Ronald young Jr.  11:35

Chelsea, do we lose something in terms of when you think about efficiency and the point that Celine is making in terms of being able to focus for that one minute and actually, and actually solve something you’re arguing kind of for for saying, like accessibility of anytime anywhere means that you can get a message and instantly respond to it. Is that a good thing?

 

Chelsea White  11:54

I think it is nine times out of 10. No, nay, 100% of the time. I’ll give it a 10 out of 10 for my client. It is because you are still in control. You’re still reachable all the time, in theory, but you can still control. You don’t have to read the message and respond immediately. You can read the message and decide if you need to respond immediately, but at least if there is an urgent situation, the person on the other side can get you that information, and then you can control your own destiny. You know what I’m saying? It’s your own. You’re still your life is still your own. Choose your own adventure. You don’t have to respond immediately. But what if my, you know, post mates, person is outside and they can’t get in, and they need to get that information to me as quickly as possible.

 

Ronald young Jr.  12:47

We’ll be back with more Pop Culture Debate Club after this break.

 

Ronald young Jr.  12:55

So let’s talk a little bit about the landline for a minute. Selena, you mentioned the process of someone calling the house and asking to speak to Selena and then having to talk to your dad first, having to be living for having to, like, navigate their way in. I’m sure many of us grew up with you. Our moms being on the phone for hours with, you know, their girlfriends, with other people. Whatever we’ve experienced that in a home now, we’ve kind of moved beyond the landline. Has that changed our relationship with phone calls?

 

Selena Coppock  15:13

I think so. I think it’s you. It’s similar to text me, kind of, you’re always sort of tethered. And I know, and I think there’s the expectation to speak to texting. I think there’s the expectation that you’re forever reachable, and you will always respond immediately. And I know that, you know, I often will go for a run with my old, old iPod, the one that’s like, it looks like a tiny stick of gum, yeah, it still works. It has up to, you know, dozens of songs on it. It’s often I’ll go for a run and I’ll leave my phone at home entirely. And sometimes people are sort of shocked when a few hours later I might be like, okay, just seeing this. And people like say, what like? I think because, yeah, the phone is now not tethered to the home anymore. It’s tethered to the person, and it’s expected that you will bring it anywhere. I mean, even if you turn it off for a couple hours, just as a matter, of course, which is really good for your settings, and just a good practice in general, for safety and security of your phone. I think people are sort of some bewildered by that. Gosh, remember, yeah, you used to sometimes go to a place and you’d be out of pocket for a day or two, or, you know, maybe go away for the weekend and not be reachable. Like, how I long for those days, you know? I think it was kind of lovely. And I think it is nice to not always feel, I feel like you have to have this little entertainment device on you, you know? You got to be able to make your own adventures, make your own fun.

 

Chelsea White  16:32

To go back to progress the Alexander Graham Bell of it all, haven’t we? We are we need to keep moving forward. So I don’t see how we’re looking back, almost with nostalgia, at being forced to talk to people’s parents who you know probably don’t believe in, like democracy or whatever that’s I was trying to think of a more whimsical trying to think of a more whimsical […]

 

Ronald young Jr.  17:01

[…] Chelsea, how dare you?

 

Chelsea White  17:06

We’re being made to talk to people’s parents who, you know, don’t even understand how to use voice notes, but I don’t see how why we’re looking back and thinking, shouldn’t I? Don’t I miss being abused by the idea that I had to talk to people’s parents that I didn’t want to talk to. No, we should be looking forward. The phone is attached to our person now, and that’s great, because it gives us more flexibility. It gives us more we’re more in control of our communication. We’re not tethered to our home. We’re not tethered to one place. Not to mention, I don’t know if this is going to another topic, so stop me, but something I don’t think we’ve hit on is that you can’t, I can’t send a meme to your home phone Selena not calling you and like, hey, let me. Let me describe in verbal detail this hilarious Tiktok I saw, right? I’m not like hey, you got to get on here. Let me send it to you. tiktok.com/user794383/WD40. What better? More efficient, more modern way to communicate than texting a hilarious meme or Tiktok or other information.

 

Selena Coppock  18:29

I do appreciate that.

 

Chelsea White  18:31

I’m winning over my because.

 

Selena Coppock  18:32

Yeah, you can’t be like, hey, hey, let me call you Kermit drinking tea. You get it, you know, like.

 

Chelsea White  18:39

I mean you could. And actually, now I wish you would.

 

Ronald young Jr.  18:42

You argue that both? I mean, there’s actually a meme that says this, that says we used to just yell movie quotes at each other back in the day instead of exchanging memes, which is like the difference. But let’s talk about reach let’s talk about reachability for a minute. Chelsea, because I really want to know your take on this, like the idea of always being available. Is that a plus or a minus? Because I’ve been in situations where people try to reach me with one method of communication and then use text as a way to be like, oh, I need you to respond to this other method of communication, which is my biggest pet peeve.

 

Chelsea White  19:14

Yes, when they pull this like they emailed you and then they also text you to see if you saw the email, it’s like they’re jumping the line. That’s a nightmare jumping the line. That’s such a good point. Never thought about that way for it. Listen, I think my opponent has a point that total connectivity and 100% reachability and just being, you know, chronically connected and online, has its cons, right, but you are still in control of it just because that pushy person wants to text you and say, hey, did you see this email or hey, you know they’re double checking texting you, they’re triple texting you, trying to get your attention. You’re still in control of whether or not you want to pay attention if somebody is trying to talk to you in line at the coffee shop and you don’t want to talk to them, you can ignore them. You know, you are still in control of how and when you communicate with people, even if our chronically connected society has made people feel like it’s a social norm to be pushy and that you should always respond, you’re still in charge of it just set, you know, be like that insufferable coworker you have that has trained everybody that you respond to emails, how and when and whatever three day period that you deem fit. You just have to train people how to treat you. That’s just Chelsea. She might hit you back in a day or two or never, and we still invite her.

 

Ronald young Jr.  20:37

Selena, reachability. Like, do you think that do like? I think you believe there’s something to being unreachable. Do you think it works the way that Chelsea is saying, or do you think it should be it should work differently?

 

Selena Coppock  20:51

I mean, you know what’s funny, I actually just recently read a book about this, about sort of disconnecting from stuff, um, because.

 

Chelsea White  20:57

Hey, smarty pants. into it.

 

Selena Coppock  21:01

Some people read text I read […]

 

Ronald young Jr.  21:02

That to your favorite Chelsea. It’s not an audio book.

 

Chelsea White  21:10

I rescind my insults.

 

Selena Coppock  21:12

I can’t remember the name of the book, but in it actually, and they do touch on this precise thing where they talk about how, like, the reachability thing, it’s more of a systemic issue, but we try to make it a personal failing of if you kind of, like, cannot disconnect. We try to act as though, like, oh, well, then you have no kind of strength and you have no fortitude to kind of disconnect. When it’s like, no, we live in a completely connected society, and the expectation is that you will be, you know, always connected and and as Chelsea says, like, I know, I’ve seen this in the workplace where you kind of have to set the precedent of, like, I do not respond to emails after 6pm or, you know, I mean to so I do think it can be a kind of a personal choice and a boundary that you have to set. But I also think the you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you feel like, oh my gosh, I kind of have a hard time doing this because, yeah, it is more of a system that we’re living in. You know, I remember, I was at a concert at Brooklyn Bowl one time, having a great time, and I looked down at my phone, and this is not quite the same thing, because it was that I looked at Instagram, but I saw that an old bow of mine was engaged. And I was like, Ah, I don’t want this news right now. Like, I was so annoyed that I got information that was a damper on my Robin dance party night, you know, like, so I do, and I that’s how I feel about tech. Sometimes somebody can almost, like, drop a little bomb into your life. And it does feel like unfair, and you don’t know where you are when you get this little bomb, you know. And you’re like, Oh, I’m just in line at Whole Foods. Oh, God, sad, you know. And I suppose there are settings where you don’t see the whole thing. You can just see that Chelsea texted you, and that is how I have my text set up. But then once you go to the text, I mean, that information, you know, whatever is coming at you, is coming right at you.

 

Ronald young Jr.  22:52

Chelsea, I want to give you room to respond before I ask you a question.

 

Chelsea White  22:55

I mean, I think anything I would say would just be, you know, beating a dead Motorola Razor, as they say. As the old saying goes.

 

Ronald young Jr.  23:09

You mentioned about memes, and you talked about like, the especially, the power of being able to send a meme. Let’s talk about words, though, without pictures, without that like, like, even devoid of emoji. Are we losing something when we reduce language to just the words?

 

Chelsea White  23:25

One might argue that, but I think that is a personal problem. I think if you are losing your meaning or you’re not able to communicate effectively over text, you need to turn that finger around that you’re pointing at texting and turn it back around on yourself. Ronald, you need to look within. You need to think about you need to learn some new emojis. You need to learn some new turns of a phrase. You need to use punctuation. People who use fucking punctuation. I don’t care. I’m so sick like it’s 2025, or it might be another year, if you’re listening to this in the future, which I hope you are, because these will live on forever in posterity, and this topic will still be relevant, but you need to use punctuation and craft your texts better. I have never been misunderstood over text a day in my life, ever, because I’m expert at texting.

 

Selena Coppock  24:18

Well I like and Chelsea.

 

Chelsea White  24:19

I’m just gonna read texts that she misinterpreted by me and then enter them into […]

 

Selena Coppock  24:27

Chelsea once texted me eat shit. She was kidding.

 

Chelsea White  24:29

I didn’t know it was a funny joke. It was funny […]

 

Selena Coppock  24:34

Ronald, I love what you’re bringing up, which is it’s yeah, like just text versus audio, like the loss of tone or the loss of sort of context. Like, I’ve had so many romantic misadventures that were in because of texting issues. Like, I remember I dated this straight up monster loser whose name usually, I like to drop in public, but I won’t hear but I remember he and I once, like, got into. It over text, and he was so furious at me and thought that I was making assumptions about him, and was like, oh, tone is all lost on text. But then also refused to get on the phone with me, which was absolutely delightful. I wish him nothing but the worst. But I do think that if you’re gonna have a sort of sensitive conversation, or one where things could be misconstrued, or, yeah, maybe where, like, hearts are on the line. It should not be over text, because so much can be lost. And I know, years ago, I dated a stand up comedian who is quite famous right now, and he and I things, you know, he was done with hanging out with me, and bless his heart, he called me on the phone to dump me. And I truly appreciated that. Because, you know, I sort of thought like, oh, we just went hanging out for a little while. No big deal. I thought that he’d probably text me, because I could sense that things were wrapping up, but he actually called me, and I thought that was very honorable, because then it did give me sort of we had a conversation. I felt like I had closure. I felt like it was respectful to me. There was no confusion, or just so much can be lost when it’s strictly a written word, text and and so much can be gained when it’s an actual communication, like a vocal oral experience.

 

Chelsea White  26:06

That’s not a blow job joke.

 

Ronald young Jr.  26:07

You’ve chosen to learn oral for reasons.

 

Selena Coppock  26:16

Everyone get your heads out of your respective gutters.

 

Chelsea White  26:21

Well, I think it’s just the opposite side of the coin, though. I think is the rebuttal. It’s almost like exactly what Selena’s saying is its own rebuttal, because sometimes the situation might warrant that one or both parties feel better hearing each other’s voice and making sure you have that that type of communication. But aren’t we glad that texting exists so that we don’t have to have what one might perceive as either this is too confrontational for me or I feel like the other person is putting more weight on this than I am, so I just kind of want to send that little text and move it along. I don’t really want to get on the phone and get into a whole situation. I just want to send the text, minimize the engagement, minimize the confrontation, and also make sure that my words are well thought out. I can craft them, you know in advance, and make sure that they’re there, and then that person will always have my rejection forever to look back on and read and cry about at night. I’m assuming all text and phone calls in this context are only rejection based.

 

Ronald young Jr.  27:31

Chelsea beyond the text, the written form versus the audio form, attention spans. Selena mentioned being able to like being at an event and then immediately be sucked out because of what’s going on here on her phone, without thinking about the personal toll that it takes or the personal boundaries that you have to set in order to do that. Do you think that texting is partially responsible for reduced attention spans that we’ve grown to see in these years?

 

Chelsea White  28:00

You know, some might look at it that way, but I look at it as another level of evolution and human progress. As I started out this debate, we are possibly in a crossroads of our little human brains transitioning into this new state of being and adapting to new technology, but we’re just getting better all the time at multitasking. You know, I’m sure if we could get a brain scan right now, all of our all of our brains would just be splitting into little sectors to increase productivity and capitalism, which is what we want.

 

Ronald young Jr.  28:39

Okay, Chelsea, I’m really trying to tell you to not argue against yourself.

 

Selena Coppock  28:53

Chelsea is going hard. I was like, wow, am I at Fox News or am I just listening to Chelsea? I love you know what I will I will give. I will give my, uh, my counselor this, I would give counselor Chelsea, this. I do appreciate having a window back into a romantic entanglement. I remember years ago, I dated this guy. He was a professional hockey goon, delish, and he and I would text constantly, and it was really fun. Like sometimes before bed, I would just reread all of our little love notes. I mean, even my current husband. I found my first text with him the other day, and it was so sweet to look at that and to see, oh, my God, you know, January 2020, Oh, we didn’t know what was about to come, but it was nice to sort of see like, to be able yet to reflect back and to like, just read through a conversation. I mean, it’s like reading, what do they call that? An epistolary novel, where it’s a novel of letters, you know? And that’s kind of what a long text thread is. But then, but also, I mean, to defend my cause, which I should be defending my cause. You know, everyone has audio files of voicemails, and sometimes from if a friend passes away, you have their voice there, you know. And that is so touching to be able you know you’re not just looking at a text, but your friend has passed on, or your family members passed on, and you could hear their voice. And there’s something so beautiful about that, and that is all thanks to the wonderful Alexander Graham Bell’s invention, the telephone.

 

Ronald young Jr.  30:24

We’ll be back with more PCDC after this break.

 

Speaker 1  30:47

Here’s a question for both of you, when you talk about your personalities, where does your personality shine the most through a text message or on a phone call?

 

Selena Coppock  31:57

You know, I’ve got to say, recently, I’ve had some, like, interesting information to share, fun gossip. When you have tea to spill, there is nothing more fun than a phone call, I mean, and I do feel like, you know, I’m a woman with kind of wild intonation. I like, you know, as former comedians, I like good delivery, you know. So I do think there’s something so delicious about a phone call and just dishing and talk, you know, sharing Intel, sharing updates, sharing gossip, and I think that you just a phone call for that is second to none. You cannot compete like it’s just not as much fun to share via text.

 

Ronald young Jr.  32:34

Chelsea personality, texting or calling?

 

Chelsea White  32:37

I mean, of I, I have to agree with some of that. But what I will say not just because I’m defending my client texting, it’s also very sincerely the first thing that came to mind was texting because I have a my voice mail for like, as long as texting has existed, has been basically, don’t leave me a fucking voicemail, you lunatic like text me. I heard mail. I heard it the other day when I was leaving you a voice. Leave me a voicemail if you never want to hear from me. So there is something it feels entwined with my personality that like the idea of favoring texting over calling. So to that end, I will say that it feels more a little bit personal to me, but as my other, the other counselor here, Selena, she has been very generous to concede some things to me. So I will also concede and be generous that it is probably nicer in most instances, to be able to express yourself via phone call for very important specific situations, like inviting others to endless shrimp.

 

Ronald young Jr.  33:48

Okay, well, I think I’m just about ready to make my ruling, but before we get there, I would love to hear your closing arguments. Any last ditch efforts to convince me and Chelsea, we’ll start with you. Your closing argument. Texting is better than calling.

 

Chelsea White  34:03

I will hearken back to close this out today. Dear God, as Jesus once said.

 

Ronald young Jr.  34:12

Oh, my God.

 

Chelsea White  34:13

Please always text me. It’s Leviticus.

 

Ronald young Jr.  34:21

That’s Old Testament. He wasn’t in Leviticus, Chelsea, come on.

 

Chelsea White  34:25

That’s what I said. I said […]

 

Selena Coppock  34:28

Cell phone when he before, they rolled the stone away, and he’s like, someone help me. Lol, trapped in caves.

 

Chelsea White  34:35

Thank you, Selena. I rest my case. No okay, listen everybody, I think the points I’ve made today speak for themselves. Texting is the superior, more efficient form of communication. You can reach people anytime, but not against their will. You still have a choice in the matter of whether or not you want to respond to the communication I can send you the memes you crave and the tiktok’s hilarious tiktoks that express one’s personality and bond us together through laughter and shared experience and calling wastes everybody’s time. That’s it. Thank you. Never call me.

 

Ronald young Jr.  35:16

Selena copy, give me your closing argument. Calling is better than texting.

 

Selena Coppock  35:20

Okay, well, friends, let’s reflect on some famous moments in telephoning. Okay? I mean, the scream movie franchise kicks off with a phone call to Drew Barrymore and scream, one of Chelsea’s favorite movies. So, sorry, little personal. Woo hoo. But yeah, I mean, that is how you start the scream movie franchise is with the old ring a ding, spooky, spooky telephone call. One of my favorite films of all time, airplane, when the guy, Ted striker, is there trying to land the plane and he’s just sweating, he’s on the phone with people down below who are guiding him to make a safe landing. The song call me by Blondie Colin, Baton Rouge, by Garth Brooks telephone, by Lady Gaga and Bae. You would not have any of these without a telephone. You used to call me on my cell phone. Indeed, Drake, I know everyone hates you but your 2016 jam. It was a Von Okay, the sensation of hanging up on someone, Oh, it feels so good. You know, like scenes in cinema where someone gets bad news by phone and then they just collapse on the ground, like 8675309, Jenny, I mean, that is a song about a phone call one, 900 mix a lot and kick them nasty thoughts that also involves telephone calls, prank phone calls for done by the Jerky Boys. A whole album of these. And finally, I mean, we all love to say it all the time, the calls are coming from inside the house, and we wouldn’t have that saying about someone being totally bonkers without telephone calls. Thank you and goodbye.

 

Ronald young Jr.  36:57

Wow, I am. Are you all ready for my ruling?

 

Chelsea White  37:03

I’m ready as I’ll ever be.

 

Ronald young Jr.  37:05

I love this conversation, because it really, like you both did, present very good points here. I think it really does boil down to progress, to saying, like, what are we doing? Are we progressing? What does progress look like? And what does progress mean to all of us. I think in some forms of progress, there were parts where I agreed with one of you over the other, and depending on how it was presented, some things that were getting me in terms of Chelsea, I don’t know if I agree with making so many things a personal problem when it comes to our attention spans or reachability. Reachability, with me is a big thing, because I think that people think that they have access to you 24/7, if they can just text you anytime. But there’ll be times where I’ll pick up my phone and it’ll be like, it’ll be after 10 o’clock, which was traditionally like, the cut off hour of calling someone, and I’ll pick up my phone and be like, should I even text this person? What if they’re settling into bed and they just want to go to bed and they’re not ready to have another text? Ready to have another text conversation, even if they have the time to do it, should they be doing it that that time? That’s something I think about when it comes to reach ability, the idea of jumping the line and our ability to ignore that. I feel like there’s a lot of ways in which, the ways in which media has presented us, to us today, has made it almost impossible and improbable, improbable and impossible for us to actually set up the boundaries that would make it easier for us to ignore those that type of information coming into our life. I think I’ve mentioned you all. I don’t want to be a bummer, so I won’t end on this note. I’ll say more after this. My mom died last year, and I have voicemails for my mom that I saved, and I have texts for my mom that I saved. I went through the voicemails, you know, tears, all of that. But recently, I went through the text, read back through the text, and got as emotional as I did with the voicemails, and realized, man, I want to hold on to them, but I think the truth is, and it’s a clue in what we’re talking about when we talk about progress, which is that the future of language, I believe, is both written and spoken. Because now we could voice note each other, and they’ll transcribe the voice note so you don’t even have to listen to the voice note. If you don’t want to, you could just read the whole thing, which is like kind of a happy marriage between the two, the people that want tone and all that. But I will say mine personally, people have told me via text that I’m very dry, but anybody that knows me and talks to me knows that I’m not by any means, a dry person, which is why I love voice noting people all the time. But it’s also why whenever people, whenever I was on the dating apps and people used to say to me, hey, you’re not giving me much via Tinder, and I’d always say I’m better in person, because I think ultimately, in person is probably the most of a person that you can actually receive. But in short of that, without being able to get a full person, I think the maximum amount of person that you can get is via the telephone and not via text. Therefore, I think Selena wins. And I will say Chelsea a few times, your points were your wounds were self inflicted, but I think the major one was even you, because I’m sitting here thinking, while you’re having this debate, I’m like, if I had to have this debate with Chelsea via text, all of the jokes and things that you put in there, like, I need tone.  I need it, I think calling is bad.

 

Chelsea White  40:19

That’s fair.

 

Ronald young Jr.  40:20

The other part is.

 

Chelsea White  40:21

I’ll accept this ruling.

 

Ronald young Jr.  40:22

I was once in a relationship with a woman who like, again, I’m dry via text. And there were several times in which she was saying, I said this thing to you via text, and I was like, I don’t even consider text to be a primary form of communication. I think it’s a secondary form of communication. Therefore, I’m like, if I said it via text, you better make sure I meant it, because I might have just been like, yeah, whatever. Okay, yeah, whatever. So it was kind of yeah. It was hard for you from the beginning.

 

Selena Coppock  40:48

Because it’s just scrolling by, you know, like, sometimes I’ll be like, No, I’ll be like, yeah, no, we decided we’re gonna do dinner at seven, and somebody like, I don’t what, and it’s like, scroll up, but it’s all just cruising by.

 

Ronald young Jr.  40:59

Constant feed all the time. I’m sorry.

 

Chelsea White  41:01

Well, I still just I accept this, but I still would prefer if neither one of you called me ever.

 

Ronald young Jr.  41:08

Can we send you a voice notes?

 

Chelsea White  41:09

Thank you, you can send me a voice note and I’ll listen to it when I can.

 

Ronald young Jr.  41:13

I will say you missed one phone call song in your closing argument, which is part of what won me over, and it was they used to love me, to diss me. Now they rush the hug and kiss me. Now they telling all their friends when I leave. Now they miss me. Now, 281-330-8004, hit Mike Jones up on the low because Mike Jones about to blow that is, of course, back then for Mike Jones, thank you both so much for being here.

 

Chelsea White  41:36

Yes.

 

Selena Coppock  41:38

That’s great. I love that.

 

Ronald young Jr.  41:43

Thanks again to Chelsea white and Selena Coppock, and be sure to check out Selena’s podcast two week minimum. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Debate Club if you haven’t yet. Now is a great time to subscribe to liminata premium. You’ll get bonus content like Chelsea and Selena discussing the best text and phone call they’ve ever received. Just hit the subscribe button on Apple podcasts or for all other podcast apps, head to lemonadapremium.com to subscribe. That’s lemonadapremium.com. Pop Culture Debate Club is a production of Lemonada and the BBC.   It’s produced by Jamela Zarha Williams, Kryssy Pease,  Dani Matias and me, Ronald young Jr. Our mix is by Noah Smith. Rachel Neel is VP of new content. Our Senior Vice President of weekly content  and production is Steve Nelson. Commissioning editor for the BBC is Rhian Roberts. Executive Producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Jessica Cordova Kramer.   Follow Pop Culture Debate Club, wherever you get your podcasts.