Northern Ontario man talks mining with Conan O’Brien

Focusing on his career in mining, Brad from Gore Bay was interviewed by podcaster Conan O’Brien and co-hosts Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley for an episode released last week.

Brad’s last name was not revealed during the podcast episode, and our sister Sudbury.com was unable to obtain it or Brad’s contact information through O’Brien’s podcast team.

O’Brien is a former late-night talk show host best known for hosting the long-lasting television series Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993-09) and Conan (2010-21). He also hosted The Tonight Show for a brief stint from 2009-10.

He has been hosting the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast alongside Movsesian and Gourley since 2018. In addition to celebrity interviews, fans are able to reach out to speak with the podcast team for their weekly Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan series.

Brad, who said he listens to the podcast during early-morning drives to Sudbury for work, did so and was a guest for the May 16 episode.

Although only audio has been released of the episode, O’Brien describes Brad as wearing a bright orange construction vest, a shirt covered in dirt and a white safety helmet.

“Are you a crossing guard who fell down a hill?” O’Brien asked.

In addition to peppering jokes throughout the episode, including the podcast team’s comedic sexualization of mining terms, they also strived to learn a bit about Brad’s profession of choice.

Brad works at a number of sites, including a mine 1.6 miles below the surface of the earth (“Hard pass,” Movsesian said), where the rock is approximately 50 C.

“If I were you I’d bring eggs down and crack them on the rock and fry up earth’s heat,” O’Brien said.

The podcast hosts also learned a bit about Sudbury, where Brad is originally from, and where he said, “An asteroid actually hit there two billion years ago, roughly, and that’s what created all that metal in the ground, and I grew up in the crater of that.”

“You’re like Superman,” Gormley said.

“Can you read my mind right now?” O’Brien asked.

To listen to the podcast episode, where you’ll learn which job in mining O’Brien would work (shaft miner, clam operator, scoop operator, boom truck driver, jackleg driller or jumbo driller) click here.

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.