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[0:05] Brian Dashew: Hello, and welcome to Around the Sun. I'm Brian Dashew, stepping in for series creator Brad Forenza, who has the privilege of acting opposite Vincent Pastore in this episode, The Museum. What childhood places resonate most for you? Keep them alive by using the hashtag AroundTheSunPodcast.

[0:38] Vincent Pastore: Attention, patrons. The Museum is now closing. We will reopen tomorrow for regular hours. All families must now exit the Museum. We're closed!

[0:51] Vincent Pastore: Jesus Christ, give me some strength here. I said we're closed! What are you doing, kid?

[1:01] Unknown speaker: The dinosaurs.

[1:02] Vincent Pastore: Museum's closed.

[1:04] Unknown speaker: I want to see the dinosaurs.

[1:07] Vincent Pastore: You can't barge in here like this.

[1:09] Unknown speaker: They're still on the fourth floor, aren't they? They say after hours. I have some respect for the working man.

[1:16] Unknown speaker: I want to see the dinosaurs and the blue whale. It's hanging from a ceiling somewhere.

[1:22] Vincent Pastore: Good. Then come back in the morning.

[1:24] Unknown speaker: The Hall of Oceanic Life. I remember now. I got a big day tomorrow. And if I'm a good boy, I get a souvenir.

[1:32] Vincent Pastore: Well, don't look at me, kid. I'm not your old man.

[1:34] Unknown speaker: I want to see the dinosaurs and the fossils.

[1:37] Vincent Pastore: Yeah, and I want to punch out so we're even.

[1:40] Vincent Pastore: This room looks the same.

[1:42] Unknown speaker: Nothing's the same.

[1:43] Vincent Pastore: Well preserved.

[1:45] Vincent Pastore: It's a museum. It's curated. Real life is messy.

[1:48] Unknown speaker: Not the artifacts, but the memories.

[1:52] Vincent Pastore: So fake.

[1:55] Unknown speaker: No, once a year.

[1:57] Vincent Pastore: Once a year.

[1:59] Unknown speaker: Before he left, he used to bring me here.

[2:02] Unknown speaker: And he used to put me on his shoulders.

[2:06] Unknown speaker: So I could see the world the way Teddy Roosevelt used to see it.

[2:10] Vincent Pastore: Powerful. And strong.

[2:12] Vincent Pastore: Richard hated weakness.

[2:17] Unknown speaker: Who's Richard?

[2:20] Vincent Pastore: He's a dick.

[2:22] Vincent Pastore: You all right, kid?

[2:24] Unknown speaker: I'm not the problem. Okay? I didn't leave.

[2:28] Vincent Pastore: Well, if you're tripping or something, don't bother coming back tomorrow. This is a family museum. And I know what drugs do to families.

[2:35] Unknown speaker: Is the T-Rex still up there? And the Triceratops?

[2:39] Vincent Pastore: You don't want this on your record, kid. Trust me.

[2:42] Unknown speaker: It's not a crime to be high.

[2:44] Vincent Pastore: It's an embarrassment.

[2:46] Unknown speaker: Oh. Oh, and I suppose it is a crime to embarrass King Richard the Dick.

[2:51] Vincent Pastore: You're trespassing.

[2:52] Unknown speaker: You're trespassing.

[2:54] Vincent Pastore: Yeah, yeah. You're a disgrace. Listen to yourself.

[2:57] Unknown speaker: Halls of the trespassed.

[2:59] Unknown speaker: Halls of indigenous people. Where did they go? Huh?

[3:02] Vincent Pastore: Knock it off. I'm tired of hearing this.

[3:04] Unknown speaker: Indigenous worlds.

[3:06] Unknown speaker: Indigenous artifacts created with the indigenous minds I left behind on your red earth to perish, Richard.

[3:17] Vincent Pastore: I'm not Richard. I don't know any Richard. My name is Bob. Big Bob.

[3:21] Unknown speaker: Let me guess. Your son is Little Bob.

[3:24] Vincent Pastore: Don't talk about my son.

[3:26] Vincent Pastore: He has his own identity, you know.

[3:28] Vincent Pastore: I said don't talk about my son.

[3:31] Unknown speaker: He's not just an extension of you, okay? He's his own person.

[3:35] Vincent Pastore: You druggies. You make me sick.

[3:38] Unknown speaker: You don't know me.

[3:39] Vincent Pastore: Oh, I know you. All you care about is getting high.

[3:42] Vincent Pastore: Well, I got news for you. I got nothing left. So if you're packing heat, it don't matter because I'm tapped out.

[3:48] Vincent Pastore: But if you listen, I'll get you help.

[3:51] Unknown speaker: You don't want to help me. You just want to bang your chest.

[3:55] Vincent Pastore: I'll get you to the hospital.

[3:57] Unknown speaker: That'll be someone else's problem. What else is new?

[4:00] Vincent Pastore: Well, you need help. And I got a big day tomorrow.

[4:03] Unknown speaker: Kick the can down the road.

[4:05] Unknown speaker: It's my son's birthday. I got to go way out to Coney Island.

[4:09] Vincent Pastore: For what? One special day? What about the other 364?

[4:15] Unknown speaker: I work.

[4:16] Vincent Pastore: Oh, how could I forget?

[4:19] Vincent Pastore: If the night guards see you, they're going to throw you in the big house.

[4:23] Unknown speaker: They don't care, but maybe that's what you need. Cold turkey in the clink. That'll make you grow up real quick, kid.

[4:29] Unknown speaker: I want to see the dinosaurs and the haul of African mammals like we used to see.

[4:35] Unknown speaker: The lion gaming the zebra. The predator pouncing his prey.

[4:39] Unknown speaker: The hunter gorging the hunted.

[4:42] Unknown speaker: Each of them feeding a larger beast, more gluttonous than the last.

[4:49] Vincent Pastore: Like Richard. Until now.

[4:53] Unknown speaker: Who's Richard? Your old man?

[4:57] Vincent Pastore: He's a dick.

[5:00] Unknown speaker: When did he die?

[5:03] Vincent Pastore: You can't die if you never lived.

[5:06] Unknown speaker: Tonight?

[5:07] Vincent Pastore: I don't know. I've been away. I just found out.

[5:11] Unknown speaker: I'm sorry.

[5:18] Vincent Pastore: For what?

[5:21] Unknown speaker: Your loss.

[5:24] Vincent Pastore: It's not much.

[5:25] Unknown speaker: Don't say that. You only get one father.

[5:28] Vincent Pastore: He hated me.

[5:30] Unknown speaker: Fathers love their sons.

[5:33] Vincent Pastore: I hated him.

[5:34] Unknown speaker: Then why are you here?

[5:38] Vincent Pastore: One day a year, this is where we saw each other.

[5:45] Vincent Pastore: One day a year before he left, we saw each other the way we wanted to be seen.

[5:52] Vincent Pastore: With me on his shoulders and both of us walking among the dinosaurs.

[5:59] Unknown speaker: Fathers aren't perfect, you know. We're not trained to coddle, we're trained to protect.

[6:05] Vincent Pastore: When a father sees you in pain, what does he do? He wants to protect you from getting hurt.

[6:09] Unknown speaker: Why is that so horrible?

[6:12] Vincent Pastore: A father only wants to keep you safe, so don't hate your old man for trying to steer you right.

[6:19] Unknown speaker: It's not a choice.

[6:21] Vincent Pastore: In my day it was.

[6:22] Unknown speaker: Sobriety is not a choice. You can't just click your heels and recover.

[6:26] Vincent Pastore: What you did was a choice.

[6:29] Unknown speaker: And what about those $40,000 naps in Boca that you took? Those were choices too.

[6:34] Vincent Pastore: There you go, throwing it in my face again.

[6:37] Unknown speaker: Well, I'm sorry.

[6:39] Vincent Pastore: You always throw it in my face.

[6:41] Unknown speaker: I said I'm sorry. I'm learning too, you know.

[6:44] Vincent Pastore: I would never choose to hurt you.

[6:47] Unknown speaker: And I would never choose to hurt you.

[6:51] Vincent Pastore: I missed so much.

[6:55] Unknown speaker: Me too.

[6:57] Vincent Pastore: I thought I knew pain. I helped my parents die. I thought, well, I did my time, I'm off the hook. But I didn't know pain like this.

[7:07] Unknown speaker: Tell me about him.

[7:09] Vincent Pastore: Who?

[7:12] Unknown speaker: Your son.

[7:14] Vincent Pastore: I can't.

[7:17] Unknown speaker: But on his birthday I talked to him. I go out to Coney Island and on his birthday I listen.

[7:25] Unknown speaker: One special day?

[7:27] Vincent Pastore: One special day.

[7:29] Vincent Pastore: And every regular day too. Here at the museum, bopping the floors.

[7:36] Vincent Pastore: Every regular morning. Taking the train at every regular moment right in between.

[7:44] Unknown speaker: I'm sorry.

[7:46] Vincent Pastore: For what?

[7:49] Unknown speaker: Your loss.

[7:51] Vincent Pastore: His name was Bobby.

[7:54] Vincent Pastore: The arcades, the roller coasters and the Zeppeli. Tomorrow's his birthday.

[8:02] Vincent Pastore: I screwed up. I shouldn't have turned my back. I was weak. I was rough.

[8:09] Unknown speaker: I want to see the dinosaurs.

[8:12] Vincent Pastore: You know the funny thing about the dinosaurs, Ricky?

[8:16] Unknown speaker: Tell me.

[8:18] Vincent Pastore: The funny thing about the dinosaurs is that they haven't been around for millions of years. And still we talk about them. We obsess over them.

[8:26] Unknown speaker: Why is that?

[8:30] Vincent Pastore: They're part of our history, I guess.

[8:32] Vincent Pastore: Well, the way I see it is dinosaurs teach us that every living thing is mortal. Every living thing has a beginning, a middle and an end. Now you're still in your beginning. You still have a lot of growing up to do. A lot of time to clear the air.

[8:48] Vincent Pastore: So next time you're sore and richer, just take a day and talk to him. Can you do that for your old man, Ricky? Can you just take a day and listen?

[8:54] Unknown speaker: Ricky, how did you know my name?

[9:02] Vincent Pastore: Lucky guess. I'll always be a part of you. You know that?

[9:09] Vincent Pastore: If you forget what it feels like to be his son, just come back to the museum and walk among the dinosaurs. One special day. Sometimes it's all we get.

[9:21] Unknown speaker: I hope I made him proud.

[9:24] Vincent Pastore: Of course you did. You're his son. And in spite of everything, you'll always be his son.

[9:40] Vincent Pastore: Around the Sun is written and directed by Brad Forenza. Co-produced by Suzanne Ortiz-Curry and Brian Dashew. With sound design by Brandon Alexander Villareal. Conceptual art by Jean Epiphan. Graphic design by Melanie Hibbert. And theme music by Shane Curry. This episode also featured Joanne Archer as the museum announcer. Be sure to like, share and subscribe. And continue the conversation by using the hashtag AroundTheSunPodcast.

[10:09] Brian Dashew: Thanks for watching.