Billie Eilish
Episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler · May 5, 2026 · 1 h 24 min
Amy Poehler talks with Billie Eilish about comedy, cringe, songwriting, her dance injury, Tourette's and a runaway hamster, after a call with brother Finneas O'Connell.
Summary
The episode opened with Amy Poehler calling Finneas O'Connell, who pulled his car over after a softball game. He discussed Waymo driverless cars, explained why he shares his music-production process publicly, described his ideal low-pressure collaborative environment, and praised his sister's earnestness, competitiveness and compassion. He left Poehler with a question for Eilish: what Tomato Bisque Soup is and how she lost it.
With Eilish in the studio, the conversation covered her family's love of comedy (her mother was in the Groundlings), her repeated rewatching of The Office as a form of self-soothing, the value of embracing being cringe, and her experience hosting Saturday Night Live, where she found the atmosphere surprisingly serious. Eilish described sobbing through a single PR training session at 14, said she has scaled back her public oversharing considerably, and explained that she dislikes the process of writing music but loves singing and the finished songs, which she makes with her brother.
Eilish recounted how Ocean Eyes was uploaded to SoundCloud only so a dance teacher could choreograph to it, and how a hip injury ended her dance ambitions just as labels began calling. She spoke about her late dog Pepper, her reactive pit bull mix Shark and the stigma against bully breeds, her close working relationship with Finneas, and the saga of Tomato Bisque Soup, a rescued dwarf hamster that escaped into her closet walls for four days before returning.
In a lightning round she discussed Survivor, listening to Kate Bush, and her improved sleep habits. She promoted her 3D concert film of the Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, and closed by explaining how she suppresses her Tourette's tics on camera, while Poehler credited her with helping her understand her own intrusive thoughts.
Chapters
- 0:05
Introduction
Amy Poehler introduces Billie Eilish and previews topics including intrusive thoughts, singing, a rescued animal and her concert film.
- 2:11
Finneas on Waymos and sharing the process
Finneas O'Connell calls in from his car, jokes about Waymo etiquette and explains why he shows people how he makes music.
- 7:22
Finneas on collaboration and his sister
Finneas describes his ideal creative environment, why enjoyment matters more than success, what he loves about Billie, and poses the Tomato Bisque Soup question.
- 14:18
Billie arrives: comedy and family
Eilish and Poehler discuss height, posture, living to laugh, and her funny, teasing family.
- 20:39
Cringe, SNL and The Office
They discuss embracing cringe, the tense atmosphere at Saturday Night Live, and Eilish's constant rewatching of The Office as self-soothing.
- 29:48
Growing up in public and authenticity
Eilish talks about fame as a teenager, wanting to age naturally, sobbing through PR training, and pulling back from oversharing.
- 36:50
Lyrics, songwriting and singing
Eilish explains that she dislikes writing music but loves singing and her finished songs, and recalls her early singing and talent shows.
- 46:10
Dance injury and Ocean Eyes
Eilish recounts how Ocean Eyes was posted for a dance teacher and blew up just as a hip injury ended her dancing.
- 52:42
Dogs and working with Finneas
Eilish discusses her dogs, bully-breed stigma, and how arguments with her brother dissolve into making music.
- 1:00:43
The saga of Tomato Bisque Soup
Eilish tells how her rescued dwarf hamster escaped into the closet walls for four days before returning.
- 1:09:59
Lightning round and concert film
Quick takes on tarantulas, Survivor and Kate Bush, followed by talk of her 3D Hit Me Hard and Soft concert film and her sleep.
- 1:15:55
Tourette's and intrusive thoughts
Eilish explains suppressing tics on camera, and Poehler credits her with helping her recognize intrusive thoughts.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Finneas O'Connell
Finneas O'Connell says he dislikes musicians who pretend to have a secret ingredient, preferring to show that the process is simpler than people think.
“And I think also I'm always rolling my eyes in the music space at people acting like they have some secret sauce, secret ingredient thing”
- Finneas O'Connell
Finneas O'Connell says that since he cannot control whether work succeeds, he prioritizes enjoying the process of making it.
“if I really have no control over whether something succeeds or not, I might as well just have the best time possible making the thing”
- Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler argues, drawing on her SNL experience, that nervous people take themselves too seriously and the secret is to be playful.
“The secret is to be a big dummy and pretend that life is a dream”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says she spent years early in her career trying to prove what kind of artist she was, which brought her no joy.
“I spent so many years when I started, you know, having this career that I wanted to like prove the kind of artist that I was”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says the atmosphere during her SNL hosting week was surprisingly intense and humorless.
“the whole week leading up, I was like, why is nobody laughing at all?”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says she now rewatches the entire series of The Office several times a year.
“So I probably rewatched the whole series like three or four times a year”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says she is excited to age naturally and does not want to alter her face or body.
“excited to age and I'm so excited for my face to age and my body to age and not change it”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish recounts crying through a single short PR training session at 14 and ignoring its rules afterward.
“only did one session and it was like under an hour and I sobbed and I left. And I did not follow any of the rules after that”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says she has significantly reduced how much of herself she shares publicly compared with her earlier oversharing.
“I've definitely like, like 80, 75% come down on my, my, uh, not honesty, but my sharing of myself”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish argues that letting go of wanting to be cool helped her songwriting because creative work requires allowing it to be bad first.
“a big part of making anything, and especially music, is allowing it to be bad before it's good”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says she makes music primarily to listen to and sing herself, likening it to making her own perfume.
“So I make music to listen to it, to enjoy it and to sing it. It's my favorite thing in the world”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish recounts that a hip injury at the last rehearsal before competition season ended her dancing as her music career took off.
“at least a week, and then I was on crutches, and I literally never danced again”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says Ocean Eyes was uploaded to SoundCloud only to give her dance teacher an easy link for choreography.
“we only put it on SoundCloud to send an easier link to the dance teacher”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish argues that large reactive bully-breed dogs face far more stigma than small dogs with similar behavior.
“the difference in having a reactive, bigger, stronger, more marginalized breed when they have anxiety and reactive behavioral issues is there's so much more of a stigma against them”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says working with her sibling allows them to argue bluntly without breaking the relationship.
“it is kind of the blessing of working with your sibling because you can't, you can't break up with your sibling”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says that after her hamster escaped through the enclosure's vents, she bought a bigger house with thinner venting.
“So since then, I have gotten her a much bigger house with very thin venting”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish calls the Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, captured in her 3D concert film, the best show she has made.
“And B, it's like the best show I've ever made”
Listen from 1:13:04 · Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (concert film)
Linked moment · 1:15:55Skip to 1:15:55 using a listen link in the info box.
Billie EilishBillie Eilish explains that during interviews she works hard to suppress her tics and releases them afterward.
“when I'm in an interview, I'm doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics constantly”
- Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler says Eilish's openness helped her recognize her own intrusive thoughts, which she took a long time to identify as an adult.
“it took me so long in my adult life to realize those were intrusive thoughts”
- Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish says public misunderstanding of Tourette's is frustrating for people who live with it.
“the not understanding of that is really frustrating as a person with Tourette's”
People
In the conversation
- Amy PoehlerAmerican actress, comedian and podcast host, formerly of Saturday Night Live
- Billie EilishAmerican singer-songwriter
- Finneas O'ConnellAmerican musician, producer and songwriter; Billie Eilish's brother and collaborator
Discussed
- Mike SchurAmerican television writer and showrunner whom Poehler compared to Finneas
- Kate BushEnglish singer-songwriter Eilish said she has been listening to
- Peter GabrielEnglish musician who recorded 'Don't Give Up' with Kate Bush
- Fred DiazEilish's former dance teacher who asked for a song to choreograph, leading to Ocean Eyes
- Jennifer LawrenceAmerican actress reportedly linked to exposing the Summer House leak
Topics
- Tourette syndrome
- Intrusive thoughts
- The Office (American TV series)
- Ocean Eyes
- Songwriting
- Tomato Bisque Soup (hamster)
- Saturday Night Live
- Embracing cringe
- Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (concert film)
- Sibling creative collaboration
- Media training
- Pit bull stigma
- Waymo
- Survivor (American TV series)
- Parks and Recreation
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From the publisher
Billie Eilish is a horse girl and a fan girl. Amy hangs with the pop star and talks about allowing herself to be cringe, rewatching 'The Office' four times a year, and what happened to Tomato Bisque Soup.Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Finneas O'Connell and Billie EilishExecutive producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-BermanFor Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, and supervising producer Joel LovellFor The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; video producers Jack Wilson and Aleya Zenieris; audio producer Kaya McMullen; social producer Bridget Geerlings; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and booker Kat SpillaneOriginal music: Amy Miles Use coupon code ‘EATCESAR10’ at Cesar.com for 10% off Visible. Live in the know. https://www.visible.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.