Comic Ali Siddiq on fatherhood, prison, and his biggest regret

Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.

“Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know what I've never seen this happen.”

This is true. Mysteries have every size each week, this American life, wherever you get your podcasts. This is fresh air, I'm Tanya Mosley, and my guest today is Ali Sadik. He's a comedian, but that word undersells it. What he really does is tell stories. True ones from his own life, and he's told so many of them that while watching his specials,

I realized Sadik is giving us a memoir, delivered one set at a time. For instance, a few years back, he went viral with the story about surviving a prison riot. Sadik served six years for cocaine trafficking, arrested four days after his 19th birthday. He started doing stand-up after he got out, and nearly 30 years later, he's got more than a dozen specials. Most of them independent on YouTube with millions of views.

In his 2022 series Domino Effect, he traces his life growing up in Houston, starting at 10. The year he went to live with his father, and first got into trouble, all the way through the choices that landed him in prison. This month, he has a new special called My Father. It's about everything that passed between Sadik and his dad before his father died in 2018. It premieres on YouTube June 21st. Here's a clip. My dad had to think about how he dressed.

My dad always wore Taylor made suits. This is when he was on his note, because he was not a lot of men can say how they felt about their pops.

I really wanted to look like this man. He was tall, dark, jet-black, had a lot of charisma by himself. But he just wasn't an ideal father. My dad asked me one time. I'm seeing at his house and my dad is seeing it.

“Man, why you don't never say that bad about your mom on stage?”

I'll leave Sadik. Welcome to fresh air. Thank you for having me. Your timing is great, and I was thinking when I was watching this, that there is really nothing like remembering something funny about somebody after their gone. It's like the truest way, the most purest way to grieve them. But I was just wondering, watching this, if your dad felt kind of way about being in your act, what do you think he'd say about you doing this entire special about him?

He never actually felt any type of way about being in my act. He just wanted to know when I was going to say something negative about somebody else and I just him.

I get a lot of views, but it's definitely 10 views, 15 views that I missed, because my dad would go to the library and he would look me up on the computer and watch all of my stuff. And he would call him and tell me, "I just seen something that I watched about 15, 10, 15 times." So I'm always missing those 10 or 15 views that I know I would get from him. You say straight up, "I'm a responsible man because of my mother, but I'm a good man because of my daddy." Explain that.

My mom, she would think that it was her, but it's really him because, for some time, I felt a certain type of way about him not being there or the things that I would see from other people's fathers or what I view from TV. I was judging him based upon that and what I thought and I had certain feelings towards him. And I didn't want my kids to ever feel like that about me.

“I don't want my kids to think that anything else was more important than I'm not on being in the streets, not women, not gambling, not hustling, not anything.”

I didn't want them to ever think that anything that I was doing was more important than them. And my father made me at times feel unimportant to him. In our play sports, he went to one game. Out of all the sports that I play, he went to one game. He gained a one basketball game.

I don't remember ever doing anything, father and son with my dad.

Like my kids are going to see me actively at their games, at their recitals, at their whatever they may be doing. I'm going to actively be there. If, you know, if you need something, I want you to be able to call me.

So I've always made myself available for that type of effort that I was making.

I always made myself available for them. So they would never feel a type of way towards me, like I felt for my father for a couple of years. More and more than a couple of years. Your daddy, he left when you were three, but you'd see him every blue moon. But then around ten, he comes back into your life.

You went to live with him. And it seems like he was very much due as I say, not as I do.

“When, when did you first understand that contradiction?”

Oh man, probably the first year I lived with him. Like, go, my dad was, my dad was, I, like I say, I don't think he was ready. I don't think he was ready to have his son with him. But yes, he asked for you to live with him. He asked, but I don't think he was ready.

He was asked for a lot of things, they're not ready for him. And I'm like, not a human though. I think a human was a part of that, but he definitely wasn't ready yet. You know, because he couldn't have been. When I looked back at him, I'm like, oh, bro, it's no way that you was ready for me to come live with you.

Because you hadn't calm down yet. You know, just the story of him waking me up saying that he was getting ready to go to San Antonio. And I'm 10 and I got to go to school the more like, Joe, bro. [laughter] Like, what am I supposed to do?

Did you even go to San Antonio? You just said, well, get ready to go to school. You know how to labor. That's not how it's going, man.

I've never been in a house by myself before.

[laughter] That's wrong, too. Ali, is it true that, okay, you tell this story about him putting cocaine on a sore, wist of tooth.

“And I was wondering, is this true or is this just for less?”

One hundred percent true. That's why I describe it so vividly. See, that's the thing about when I tell a story. I want people to understand. I describe all the even little things.

So people understand that this is a true story because you can't. It's hard to make up little things. You know, you can make up big things, but little intricate details about something. Like, you know who was there. James and Ivory and James was the one that saw me sitting on the step.

And he was like, what's up? Because my dad named his limber. And he called me little bird. Little bird was going on. And I said, I told him about my tooth.

And then my daddy called me over and said, then you see. And put that cocaine on my own, my tooth. I said, this man. I didn't even know that's what it was. I just know it was the stuff that was in the cool whip tub.

That was in the refrigerator. Wait, he kept the cocaine in a cool whip tub in the refrigerator. And yeah, the big cool whip thing. You know, our cool whip is coming in a little container. Oh, yeah.

And you reuse them. Yeah.

“And he put it in that's what the cocaine was that inside the food.”

And then as I thought about that earlier, like, I told a story.

And I never even realized how super irresponsible he was.

I am teen. You don't think I like cool whip. [LAUGHTER] But things that could have happened. You know the things that could have been.

If I were to do it. Because he always had strawberries. My dad loves strawberries. So he always had strawberries in the house. And I was like, yo, what I thought about.

If I was just took one of his strawberries and put it in that. And that cool whip, both thing that was cool whip. Because I still would have ate even though I would have thought the cool whip was bad. I'm like, oh, the cool. It's phares and out.

And then I'm like, that's what it would look like to me. I said, he was so, so irresponsible. It's crazy. Okay. He dips.

He dips a little cocaine on that sore wisdom tooth. What happened to you? Never had a problem that wisdom tooth can't. [LAUGHTER] Never even needed to have it taken out, huh?

Never. I probably still got that tooth in my mouth right now. There's never had a problem. I don't even remember getting my wisdom tooth taken out. Never.

Hmm. Luckily, I was, I never, I don't have an addictive personality. I can just stop doing stuff. Like, hopefully that was it because my dad was insane. And I told that story before before I ever, before I ever aired on anything.

And I remember he was at the show when I did it.

And he was like, I can't believe you remember that. Do you feel like you're working out that relationship on stage?

“I mean, I think the obvious is yes, but like, how are you working it out?”

What is it doing for you, aside from just making us laugh? I think that with, with the relationship with him, or the relationship with my little sister, or my things that I had problems with as a young person, I don't hold on to things. I release them. The ups and downs of me and my dad are really molding of me.

And it's also healing for me to be able to say these stories. So I think that's the biggest part of it that I take the stories and me relieving them in front of people, or revisiting them in front of people is a, I can't even say a bit healing. It's a lot healing. It's a lot of healing that goes on with me with that.

I want to ask you about something that you do on stage that is, feels like maybe like a centering, you know, most comics when they go on stage.

“Like everybody does it different, but most of them, like kind of come out swinging.”

They like run or walk in or they like take in the applause. You sit in a chair. You wait for the crowd to die down.

And then you always start with, hey, tell me what you're doing with that.

I'm paying homage to the first time I was ever on stage. First time. So I went to this comedy club, just joking comedy cafe, as why I started in 1997, um, December the fourth. The first time I was ever on stage, I walked on stage.

And I said, hey, and the whole entire crowd blew me. I didn't say nothing. But hey, no jokes, no nothing. And this is because I started a polo night. And they were instructed to boo the next person that was coming on stage.

So I happened to be that next person. So I waited two weeks. I came back to just joking comedy cafe after two weeks. Brought me up. I did well.

They brought me. I can't. And then I saw a coming every week. And then by February. I started in December.

By February. I was the co-host of that polo night.

And I always start with hey.

“Why do you think you need to be reminded of that particular night?”

Thirty years later. And to understand that I had, I made the right decision when I first went up. I wasn't in the wrong for saying hey, it's a lot of things that keep me grounded in this business. I'm never too up. And I'm never too down.

I'm always even killed. And the tension that I didn't get the first time I said hey is what people wait on now. When I say hey, the whole entire audience say hey back. Let's go back to to young Ali Sadik before the comedy. You are 14 years old.

You start selling drugs. You like to joke on stage. You say I was a pharmaceutical sales rep. By the time though that the feds got you, you were 19. You were in college at Texas Southern University.

And this is the ironic part. You were actually planning to stop selling drugs when you were caught. How close were you to quitting? I had stopped actually. I was done. I was wrapped up and I got a phone call to come help assist. And I went out of me feeling obligated to, okay, you know, I hold your back.

But I was done. It would have become like what am I doing?

Because you started in the first place because you wanted money.

You wanted to, you wanted your own money.

And I think I I fight so hard now to explain that it was a character flaw.

It was like no manhood of responsibility in that because I could have just worked for money. You know, I could have just did something else. It's so many things that I could have done versus being so destructive to a community.

“And I remember being asked, Ali, when do you think that you're going to blow up?”

And my honest answer was when I pay back the, I got to, I got to, I owe this world something. Because you sold drugs like you owe back because of that harm you did. That's interesting. When I pay back society for the, for the destruction.

And I think that when you are a person that has really done things and you have really changed your life.

And you, you think back on these things, you can't help but to have a heavy heart. I remember I was in San Francisco, the, the homeless population is so crazy. And I met this comedy central festival as a comedy festival. And, and I'm walking from a hotel to the festival. And I'm there for days and I keep trying to find different ways to get that not to run into homeless people.

And I didn't walk five blocks down, 10 blocks down, 10 blocks this way. I walked every which way and couldn't. And I remember it was in the morning and I was on my way to prayer. And I just stopped in the streets and I just started sobbing. And I remember saying how much of this is my fault.

Because I have been so destructive and reckless in my behavior. I just don't understand like, obviously this is not the first generation. This is the generation that was affected by the first generation of what I did. You can't conceive the magnitude of destruction that you do when you sell drugs in a community.

You know, as people doing things that they would probably never do in order that's ruin the relationships that's,

“that's what child didn't get fed because they, they mom and they father decided to do this.”

And what, what uncle or aunt stole something like, what did I do? Did you and your dad ever talk about this because you know, I mean, he sold drugs. And then you went on to sell drugs. We never talked about it because my dad ended up using drugs. That was the, the lick that society took back.

I remember a story that I told about some young guys that I come on to come on to blocking it, told me that Rob, these old guys. And I looked at the stuff that they had and I made them put it in the bag. Because I recognized the stuff. And then I went and took my dad and his friend and stuff back.

And I said, man, what the, what were you doing over there? And my dad blamed on his friend. And I'm over there with him. He got me robbed. And my mom, I told my mom about it later. And my mom said he's probably using drugs.

And I said, no, he told me he wasn't using drugs. And that's what she told me. But I didn't put to that and we had twice since we've been apart. And so I went back and told him, I said, hey, I thought you said you wouldn't just use drugs. And my mom and he said,

who told you that you're my mom? But you're my mom. Um, you're my mom and my lady, my hippo, my hippo writes. I'm doing this man is nuts. Like he's so even when he's doing something crazy,

he's still funny. He's so crazy. So the, um, unfortunately, the room around my dad, um, his going is, is an overdose. And I don't believe that.

“I think that that's what people wanted to say,”

but I don't not believe either.

Yeah. Yeah.

With the other heart attack.

And um, I know he hadn't been.

“You say so if you hadn't been doing something.”

And then you decide I'm going to do it one time. You know, you don't know what your heart can take on that. So my dad just had a heart attack out of nowhere. Our guest today is comedian Ali Sadik. We'll be right back after a short break.

I'm Tony Mosley and this is Fresh Air. Every episode of it's been a minute. MPR's What's Happening in Culture Podcast starts by asking three questions. Who? How? Why now? If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it.

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international news, the economy, health, science, technology, and more. Five minutes is all it takes to get fully caught up with NPR news now. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. My guest today is comedian Ali Sadik. His new stand up special, my father,

explores his relationship with his dad who died in 2018. Sadik has released more than a dozen specials on YouTube, including two filmed inside of jails. He himself was arrested at 19 for selling cocaine and served six years of a 15-year sentence.

Part of his work includes talking with prisoners about accountability and the realities of recidivism. This past spring, he released Ali Sadik from inside shot in a county jail in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he talks to inmates for almost two hours straight

about the experiences of being locked up in its lasting psychological effects. Here he recalls his inmate number, which he calls a spin number. Asked the old he has been here before.

Asked him today, remember they were original. Spin number. This is the (beep) that hunts me. I've been out for 25 years, almost 26 years. Six to seven, nine and three, forty six.

I can't forget this number. It's the grain in my head like my Social Security number. This is my slavery number. Six to seven, nine and three, forty six. That's my guest, Ali Sadik, and his YouTube special

from inside a conversation with inmates. And what goes on to happen after you rattle off your number? The guys start flirting out their numbers too. What does a signify that you can remember

“your spin number 30 years after you are out of prison?”

That you did not get out of this situation unscathed. You may have survived it. But you still have wounds. I've been out 29 years at this point. Even if I'm at home by myself,

I'm a locked bear on door. I still know this number. So it's still things that you may survive but you don't get out unscathed. You're going to lose some skin in this game.

And I think that these psychological wounds are different than my physical wounds. My physical wounds start to fade. Why haven't these wounds faded yet?

There was this powerful thing you said during that talk

about those inmates, it also is kind of sticking with me. You were saying when you get locked up, your people get locked up too. And I wanted you to explain what you meant by that. My mom, even though she wasn't physically there,

she's there in mind. It wasn't no days when my mother didn't think about me. When you're inside your sister is concerned, your mother is concerned, your dad is concerned, your grandmother is concerned.

It is all of these people that's concerned about you because you're in a position of danger.

And it's no guarantee that you will make it out of this place. There's no good. You can get a year. It doesn't mean that you're coming home. You can get two years.

It does not mean that you're coming home. Nothing about this place says I'm going to survive.

“I want to know about, I think you call it your sarcastic nature”

because it's not like you started doing comedy in prison, but you did find that your humor could serve you well there. And I wonder what ways you used your sarcastic nature in comments when you were locked up? Because I was such a violent person from the beginning.

First two years, I was in the same. I was literally a man, man. Why? Because were you like that out of prison before you got there? I'm in the streets.

What happens in the streets? You know, I'm still hurt from my sister. I'm very vulnerable to her presence.

And things that I never revealed to people that foremost

later that my first son passed as well. So I'm dealing with a lot of pain at this time. And so my whole thing was to minister pain towards people who just was in my way. You just sent my way.

And I'm inviting this type of behavior. It's like, hey, bro, this is all this is going to be bad for you. And so then, you know, I got told. And it's always the old, the wise person that becomes to you and say that really care about you.

You know, just letting you know how life goes or see something in you. And man, you keep building your time like this. I'm like, "I'm going to kill you." And they're going to kill you because they scared of you. They don't know what you're going to do.

So they're going to kill you. They're going to set you up whether it's a group or whether it's one person. They're going to kill you. So you might want to do your time a little different. And plus you better than this.

Like you could really be a different type of person. And you can get out of here. You know, you're not here forever. You know, but I'm doing my 15 years. Like I'm doing 15 years.

Like I'm not thinking about the role. Getting out early. Yeah. Then I became this jovily, sarcastic person about everything. Like anything that the person was going to do.

That was going to get them in trouble. I was going to say something about it.

“And I remember this dude about the dude's over there.”

And I said, "I thought you said that you didn't steal that stuff." Like that you was innocent. Because you're doing really guilty behavior. I'll be so sarcastic. And I remember this is one of my classic things that I was like,

I guess I'm the only one who hit guilty. Because this is like everybody else's in. Like this is a part of no accountability. But you don't have no accountability for nothing. And so if people was about to fight,

I would just always say something like, "Oh, yeah, about to fight."

Wow. That's interesting. You do know somebody going to lose his fight twice. Like what are you talking about? What are you going to win?

And then the COD will come in and be both young. Somebody got to be willing to lose his fight twice. Like I got to make a decision. And I would say so much sarcasticly joke with your thing. They're like, "Maybe I always got something to say."

Like, "Yes, I do." I read that as you're doing your time. That's when you start to think. When I get out of here, I can probably have my hand in comedy. And I was wondering where people that you were also watching

or studying or thinking about, as you were thinking about, "What type of comic you want it to be?" I don't know. What I started to understand of, I actually didn't even know how to even start.

“It's like, when I think about this journey,”

I literally started from a place of zero. Like I had zero information on how to become a comic. Zero information on where to go. Zero... Like, I was at scratch.

And so when I think about,

I'm never, I don't ever not feel successful

because I'm like, "Yo, I did what I said I was going to do. When I got out, I was going to become a comic. Not knowing how to do it." When you get out of prison, though, how do you make that leap to like,

truly making this a profession? What was your first stop? Um, just joking, comedy-café. You know, just, I learned a lot there. And I remember when I first got my first payment,

it was $35 and it was in like, five's and once.

I was like, "Boy, I came up."

And the comedy-café is in Houston. It's a place in Houston. It was, it was on Richmond.

“And then I went through this dilemma of people not saying”

that you're, um, you know, a real comic, because you don't do it for a living. And I remember asking Bruce about it. I saw him, you know. Bruce Bruce, he's comedian, another comic.

I asked Bruce Bruce. I say, "Hey, man, are you, um, this is when he was the host of comic view?" And I asked him, "Hey, um, people say that you're not real comic unless you, um,

doing it for a full time, for a living." And he said, "Man, I'm gonna get you some advice, man. I work for Frido Lake." And he said, "And till my comedy start making more money for me consistently than my job."

And once that happened, then I quit my job. He said, "Don't quit your job until you're, until your career start making more money when he consistently, then your job." And what were you doing?

Like, "Well, where's your job?" I was selling, um, clothing. And I was working in the men's apparel store, you know, in the mall, and I worked at sunglasses. You know, I used to be a street phone, so to grab it,

then I went to being a sales rep, ain't that so? [laughing] Did you take the same amount of skill, like the selling, the same seller? A amount of skill, the same thing.

I need to find somebody who addicted to soups and shades. And then, so to make my commission. If you're just joining us, my guest is comedian and storyteller Ali Sadik. His new stand-up special is called My Father,

and it's about his relationship with his dad. It premieres on YouTube June 21st. We'll be right back after a break. This is Fresh Air. Every story from shortwave and pure science podcasts

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This week on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, we ask comedy legend Robert Smigel about the moment he first knew he was funny. When I was like four or five, I could draw really well. So I could draw Fred Flintstone and Snoopy.

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I want to talk to you briefly about parenthood about you being a father. You're telling me earlier that you just want to not make the same mistakes that you're dead, made with your children.

And I mean, you joke about this a lot, but your kids are getting a very different father. Then you got which I actually want to play a clip from your latest special where you talk about taking your son Hassan to a concert

to the Elements Earth Wind and Fire when he's 11. Let's listen. I know that I am a better father than my father was. And I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to be.

Just by my son's first concert

and my first concert with my father. My son Hassan, he's 11. His first concert was Earth Wind and Fire. And he asked to go. He asked go my son came in to me and said father.

(audience laughing) Because he's very up across. (audience laughing) He said I would like to attend the concert.

“I said Hassan, what concert would you like to attend?”

He said I would like to go see the Elements. (audience laughing) And I teared up, I teared up. (audience laughing) And I said wait, who are the Elements Hassan?

Is it some little white internet group that you've been listening to? (audience laughing)

(audience laughing)

“They're falling known as Earth Wind and Fire.”

(audience laughing) I immediately ran and got them tickets. I wanted to get them tickets from my son. Me and my son going to see Earth Wind and Fire. He is 11.

He's 11 years old.

We went to this first concert.

Me and him, we go. We get to the concert. Hassan is the youngest person in his whole entire concert. And I know that for facts. Because I am the second youngest person.

(audience laughing) (audience laughing) That was my guest today in his latest special my father. And I'll leave that whole special. You marveling at your bougie kid, you know?

You have built a soft life for him on purpose. But I wonder this, because I mean as a parent who also grew up a certain way. Do you ever look at your son? And worry that the thing that made you some of the positive things. You know not all that challenging stuff you went through.

But like the positive stuff might also be the thing like you're keeping from him too. I know. I don't think that the softness of his life now. I hope that he continues to desire that. And, you know, he goes to his own certain struggles.

You know, because it's a certain struggle that happens in softness as well. But, you know, whether he won't oyster the crab, you know, it's a dilemma for him. So he got the, you know, you know, choices choices. But yeah, he, I, I love how he's living. I love the way that he lives.

I, I applaud him and I just hope that, you know, he comes.

He comes. I don't know other side and always it's like this.

And, and loves being a kid and then gives his children the opportunity to be a kid. And always have a softness for me. I need somebody to roll me around when I get old. So hopefully hopefully he's there. You know, taking me to go eat oysters.

“And, you know, asking me, do I want to go to a boner James concert?”

You know, I just, I just, I just love him and love the softness of his life. All right. You are a Houston boy, born and bred. Do you feel like you might have ever missed out or lost out or taken you longer than, maybe it would have if you hadn't moved to a place like L.A. in New York. And, you know, you could have taken your kids with you.

I don't think that that's a thing. I think that there's no opportunity that has been lost. You know, it's only, it's only all game. And it's the certain protection of being in your, in your home spaces. You know, my mom's from, I have, but maybe 40 relatives in California. But who's to say, I was going to go to California and make something to myself.

Because multiple colleagues have done that as well.

And never, you know, arrived in their, in their perspective.

You know, same in New York, same in Atlanta. You know, I think that what makes me unique is being home. Oh, this has been such a pleasure, Ali. And thank you so much.

“I wish it's as you continue on your tour. Are there particular cities that you love the most?”

You know, you're a Houston boy. So are there other places throughout the country where it's like, Oh, yeah, they get me. It feels like a homecoming. So many places Chicago, DC Baltimore, Detroit, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, The Appaluchus, it's too many places to even name. I'm so connected to the earth.

That when I'm, when I come somewhere, all of you feel like home. That's who's coming and that's who I have a connection with. Now, what's crazy is, um, I don't think that corporate's Christy gets me. That's right, I'm a Korean. I think corporate's Christy Texas is crazy. It's right down the street. I don't think corporate's really fooled me. They are fishing down.

And like, he's talking about mass. Ali Sadik, it has been such a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much for this special and your time. Pleasure is all mine. I thank you very, very much. And I'm so happy to be Sadik's new special is called My Father. It premieres on YouTube June 21st. He's also currently on his international custom fit stand-up tour.

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Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to weeky bus safe, a new true crime series on the embedded podcast from NPR. More than 30 years after the first Toy Story launch, the Pixar Animation Renaissance, toy Story 5 is opening in theaters this week. In this latest adventure, Jesse the cow girl, teams up with buzz light year and woody to fend off the rise of digital devices, which are taking over the minds and attention spans of kids everywhere.

The movie was directed by Andrew Stanton of Wally and Finding Nemo fame, and features new voice work by Conan O'Brien, Greta Lee and Bad Bunny. Our film critic Justin Chang has this review. A lot has happened since the first Toy Story in 1995. When a cowboy sheriff doll named Woody voiced by Tom Hanks,

worried that a space-ranger action figure named Buzz Lightyear, voiced by Tim Allen, would replace him in the affections of their young owner, Andy.

Every Toy Story since has touched on similar themes,

about the fickleness of kids, the inevitability of change, and the totemic power of the toys we grew up playing with. By the end of Toy Story 4, Woody himself had decided to move on. Along with his beloved bowpeep, he set off into the wild and embraced the life of a lost toy, leaving buzz in their friends in the care of their new owner, a sweet girl named Bonnie.

As someone who was pretty mixed on Toy Story 4, I can't say I was looking forward to yet another sequel.

“Which just goes to show, you should always keep an open mind.”

Toy Story 5 is a significant improvement, and out of its best, a delight. Things seem to be going well for Bonnie and her toys as the movie gets underway. But of course, it's only a matter of time before a new phase of childhood begins, bringing with it a fresh threat to the toys' idyllic existence. Bonnie's having trouble finding friends her age to play with,

and that's because the other kids in her neighborhood are all glued to their screens.

Nobody cares about toys anymore. It's all about digital tablets and other devices, with their games, group chats, and virtual worlds. Sure enough, when her parents buy her a frog-themed tablet named Lily Pad, Bonnie is immediately hooked. In this scene, Jesse, the cowgirl rag doll, voiced as ever by Joan Cusack,

confronts Lily Pad, who's sharply voiced by Greta Lee, from past lives. What the- Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, sleep mode, you know? No? Eh, forget it.

“What's just going to hop on the charger?”

Battery could use a little refresh? I want to talk to you, Debise. Call me Lily. Now, look here. Me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the

Jordan twins across the street. Yeah. But then you had to ruin it. I thought you're stupid. You're not even listening to me.

No, I'm listening. I'm always listening. See? Now look here. Me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with

the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins.

No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No?

It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? No?

It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins. No? It's me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to try and get Bonnie to try and get Bonnie to make friends with the Jordan twins.

No? It happened to our paranoia about what our devices might be doing when we're not looking. Rest assured that this is still a Pixar movie, so there's a limit to just how to stopian things will get.

At one point, Lily, pretending to be Bonnie, arranges for all her old toys to be boxed up and stored in the garage.

“And so it's up to Jesse to save the day with some help from buzz and eventually Woody happily cutting his retirement short.”

Bonnie's toys wind up at another kid's house in the area where they meet a bunch of lower tech devices. None funnier than smarty pants in electronic toy designed to help kids with toilet training. He's voiced by Conan O'Brien, gamely spouting more potty jokes than you could find in the past four toy story movies combined.

“It's here though that the story starts to go a little soft.”

After confronting the ways in which tech is taking over our lives, toy story five pulls back and suggests that devices and toys can coexist. And that devices themselves are no less susceptible to being neglected, forgotten, and tossed aside for the fancy new models. Maybe it's in the nature of Pixar movies to reassure us, to delve deeper into feelings of grief and impermanence than studio animated films typically do, but then offer us consolation in return.

“Toy Story 5 may look boldly forward, but it also pears lovingly backward. One funny subplot features an army of digitally souped up buzz like your action figures.”

A callback to the site gag in Toy Story 2 when buzz encountered multiple versions of himself on a store shelf. And although much has been made of the New Taylor Swift tune on the soundtrack, the most memorable musical bit here is a gentle refrain of Randy Newman's song when she loved me. Also from Toy Story 2, which told the heartbreaking story of Jesse separation from Emily, her original owner.

Stanton beautifully revisits and deepens that story here, reminding us that loss is a part of life, and that we are never truly forgotten by those we love.

Justin Chang is a critic for the New Yorker. He reviewed Toy Story 5. Freshers Executive Producer Sam Brigger, our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorak, Ann Marie Baldonato, Lauren Crimson, Theresa Madden, Monique Nazareth, Baya Challenger, Annabalman and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our Digital Media Producer is Molly C.V. Nesfer, Susan Akundi, directed today's show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tanya Mosley. NPR's newest podcast is where you can find NPR's biggest interviews. I'm Steve Enskit, the program is called Newsmakers.

We talk with some of the most powerful and influential people at this moment to put real questions to them and push for real answers.

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