Barney Northrop and William Wood

[00:04] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Hi. My name is Barney Northrup. I am 42 years old. Today's day is May 22, 2023. We're in Logan, Utah. My interview partner is Will, and he is my friend.

[00:16] WILL WOOD: Hey, my name is Will Wood. I'm 41 years old. Today's date is May 22, 2023. We're in Logan, Utah. I'm interviewing Barney Northrup, and I'm his friend.

[00:32] BARNEY NORTHRUP: You're friends?

[00:33] WILL WOOD: Barney, it's good to be here with you today.

[00:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, likewise.

[00:37] WILL WOOD: First of all, I'm flattered you'd ask me. I don't really know why you would ask me, but we're gonna find out today.

[00:45] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Well, so I had a friend from work, and when I was telling her about I had been. I had been sent an email from someone from UPR inviting me to do the storycore. She thought that it would be a really good idea for me to do it. And so I was like, ah, I think I'm going to do this thing. And when I was talking about it at work, first of all, nobody seems to know about this. And I'm, like, blown away because the last time storycorps was in town was like, I don't know, five, six, seven years ago, probably about seven years ago. And I was like, wow, that's really cool. I would love to do that, but I don't think I'm interesting enough. I don't know what I would say. And then I got the email invitation. I was like, I think I'm going to do this. I guess I think I'm interesting enough now. But this girl from work, she was like, well, who do you think you're going to have interview you? And it was the middle of the night, so I'm like, I think I texted you very late. It was probably about one in the morning, which I imagine is very late for you approaching my bedtime for me. But I had thought about, you know, other friends. You know, like, you know, Kirby, you know, I mean, my best friend, having my best friend possibly interview me, but I felt like we're different enough that we would probably get a really good. And you're really good at public speaking. You're really good with, like. Yeah, no, but you are. And so, yeah, that's cool.

[02:14] WILL WOOD: I like that. I think that was. I think that's very wise, because we are different, but we're comfortable with each other, for sure. Okay, I want to do this roughly chronologically. So tell me about your childhood. And rather than concentrate on just cold, hard facts, let's talk about, like, things that you felt your relationship with your family.

[02:39] BARNEY NORTHRUP: This is gonna be rough, man. I knew you were gonna have. I knew you were gonna ask hard questions, so get a drink of water. Okay. So I was born 1981, here in Logan, Logan Regional Hospital. It was the first year that that hospital was open. My family at the time lived in Garland. I was the last child of my parents marriage, so I was the fifth child. I have three older brothers, one older sister, and I have a younger half sister who's about five years younger than me. Don't remember much living in Garland. My parents divorced when I was three, and we moved to Logan. I believe about the time I was, like four or five or maybe I was three. I honestly have no idea. Lived over on 10th West, a couple houses, like, literally, like two houses up from Woodruff elementary. Did you go to Woodruff?

[03:51] WILL WOOD: No, I went to Hillcrest.

[03:52] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Okay. Yeah. And let's see. We lived in Logan for not very long, a couple of years, I think, only, like, I honestly don't know, two or three years. And then we moved out to amalgae. Lived in Amalga only for a very short amount of time. I think it was less than a year, maybe like, six months out, very near the cheese plant, and then moved to Hyde Park. I lived on the south end of Main street in Hyde park for a little over five years, I believe.

[04:32] WILL WOOD: Oh, so that was a good chunk of your childhood.

[04:34] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, yeah. And that's when my mom and my stepdad pulled me out of school to be home taught. And our first year of homeschooling wasn't very much at all. We were basically just wild children unattended.

[04:55] WILL WOOD: So what grade would that have been?

[04:57] BARNEY NORTHRUP: 5Th.

[04:57] WILL WOOD: 5Th?

[04:58] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah. It was about halfway through the fifth grade. And so my stepdad was, or probably still is, very into, like, conspiracy theory kind of stuff. We got pulled out of school because we were probably just. I don't know if it was probably. It was more like we were going to be given the mark of the beast if we stayed in school. Yeah, that's why I was pulled out of school. I've never discussed this with very many people at all.

[05:27] WILL WOOD: Here we go.

[05:31] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah. So about a year later, we moved up to Weston, Idaho. Lived there for about, let's see, about five years also.

[05:45] WILL WOOD: And those are, to me, those are really formative years. Oh, definitely.

[05:48] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Oh, yeah.

[05:49] WILL WOOD: 6Th grade to when you would almost be, you know, you're an older teenager, so you're in Weston, and tell me what you were doing up there. Not much.

[05:58] BARNEY NORTHRUP: It's pretty small. It was like a town of 310 people or something, I think was the.

[06:04] WILL WOOD: And how was homeschooling going then?

[06:06] BARNEY NORTHRUP: It was more structured, but then also a little culty, you know.

[06:13] WILL WOOD: Culty in what way?

[06:15] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Culty in the way that, like, my mom and my stepdad were like kind of brushing up against the fundamentalist Mormon like groups. Okay. I had like friends growing up that were like, you know, they came from polygamous families. You know, these were the people that, yeah, my mom and my stepdad were associating with and wow, this is going into the library of congress.

[06:40] WILL WOOD: I love this, Barney. This is history.

[06:43] BARNEY NORTHRUP: It's beautiful. This is not what I was expecting. This is not what I was planning on.

[06:47] WILL WOOD: Here's the thing, Barney. We're going to get a whole picture of your life. This is going to give us lots of flavors and there's going to be a lot of contrast in this.

[06:55] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Oh, definitely. Um, we had like a homeschool group in Weston that we would, you know, we had several different homeschool families from around the valley. Like Tara Westover, if you do. You know who she is? Educated. So her book educated Tara lived about 5 miles up the road from me. I.

[07:20] WILL WOOD: Which in Weston is like three doors.

[07:22] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Well, this was when I went in, when I lived in winder. Oh, okay. She lived up in. Oh, what is it called up there? Dayton. No, is that right?

[07:34] WILL WOOD: Dayton, like past bandita and no, that's.

[07:38] BARNEY NORTHRUP: So you go north, Preston, there's the y, big left, there's the airport. Go up the hill. I lived like with the windersign in my front yard.

[07:47] WILL WOOD: Yeah. And let's see, that's where the Bear river massacre was.

[07:52] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yes. Yeah, I drove by that like every single day. Yeah, yep, yep. Twice a day, every day past the barrier for massacre site. There's like warm springs and stuff over there. It's very beautiful.

[08:04] WILL WOOD: It is so beautiful.

[08:05] BARNEY NORTHRUP: It's a really horrible story.

[08:07] WILL WOOD: It's horrible. Yeah.

[08:09] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I knew nothing about it when I lived there.

[08:11] WILL WOOD: Honestly. It's way worse than the mountain meadows massacre. It was more people. And we won't go there, though. That story is told other places.

[08:20] BARNEY NORTHRUP: So I guess back to Weston with the homeschooling. We had our homeschool group. Let's see. We were using like different resources for like structured school material. We had a bunch of like old, like the McGuffy reader, which if you ever watch like little house on the prairie, it's a very old.

[08:45] WILL WOOD: Okay.

[08:45] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, we were using that. We were using a thing called I believe life pack, which was like, it was specific, structured like homeschooling.

[08:56] WILL WOOD: Okay. And tell me, like, some of the traditions and, like, things that just happened that you probably thought were normal. Cause you had no idea. And now you look back and you're like, what?

[09:11] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, it was really weird, you know, being a child of divorce. You know, you. You have, like, the two different, I guess, homesteads where, you know, you're split between your mom's and your dad's. My dad was a traveling salesman, and he kind of moved around a lot. He lived in, like, bountiful and Salt lake City and stuff. So, like, I was split between Cache Valley and Salt Lake Valley growing up and, you know, I guess, semi typical, you know, divorcee or divorced family experience where you have a somewhat chaotic home life with a stepparent. And my stepdad was very much not nice to me. And then my dad, who's a divorcee and doesn't own a home, so he was, like, in different, like, apartments or condominiums and so, like, it was always going from a house to, like, a smaller, like, an apartment style structure. You know, every week, every other week, it just. It was a little chaotic. There wasn't a whole lot of.

[10:36] WILL WOOD: There was no home base feeling, except.

[10:38] BARNEY NORTHRUP: For, like, the wicked stepdad. I mean, yeah, no, home was home. Life was not great.

[10:48] WILL WOOD: Yeah. What did you do as, like, an escape or, like, to feel good or, like, to ground yourself? Like, was there any.

[10:57] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, I'd ride my bike all around, you know, if we lived in Hyde Park, I just, like, try and disappear for hours, and we lived down on main street and would, like, ride all the way up to the hills to where the ends of the houses were at the time. There's so many more up there now, but I think about the highest houses up there were there back then when we lived in Weston, kind of same thing. You know, we were a few miles from the Utah Idaho border, and, you know, me and a friend would just, like, disappear for hours. We'd ride our bikes on these little dirt roads until, like, we hit the border and maybe stop or not.

[11:36] WILL WOOD: Yeah.

[11:37] BARNEY NORTHRUP: And then. Yeah, basically just try and get away from home as much as possible. But I was grounded a lot. Like, I guess my parents used that as, like, the disciplinary method was, you're grounded.

[11:54] WILL WOOD: And what did that mean? Couldn't leave the house?

[11:56] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Pretty much, yeah, couldn't leave the house. Couldn't hang out with friends, you know, go anywhere, do anything other than, like, certain tasks that were, like, necessary. Like, sometimes the most out of the house interaction I would have is go to the post office and pick up the mail because I was home taught and we went to the library a lot. I would read a lot. Like, sometimes I'd read, like, a whole book in a day. You know, I could read. I could read seven books in a week. Like, no problem. I wish I still had my reading habits.

[12:34] WILL WOOD: Dang.

[12:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, I'd, like. I've multiple times and never met this goal, but I've multiple times set the goal to just read 20 minutes a day, just to. And it's really hard to even do that unless it's, like, on a phone, you know, you can sit and scroll and read things. But a physical paper book, I go through these ADHD, like, hyper fixation, you know, I'll read a book 80% of the way and then set it down and. Oh, totally. You know how that goes.

[13:05] WILL WOOD: Oh, yeah.

[13:05] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah.

[13:06] WILL WOOD: So you say you lived in this area, Weston, for, like, five years?

[13:11] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yes.

[13:12] WILL WOOD: What was after this?

[13:14] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Winder.

[13:15] WILL WOOD: So you moved to winder after? Okay.

[13:17] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, I think I was 15 when I moved to winder.

[13:20] WILL WOOD: And then how long were you there?

[13:23] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I moved out of the house nine days after I turned 18.

[13:27] WILL WOOD: Why so soon?

[13:28] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Why so late? It took me nine days to find a place to have out. Yeah, no, I needed to get out of that house. I needed to, I guess. Yeah, no, I had. I have multiple times meant to say this to you, like, your mother's funeral, when I might cry now your mother's funeral. Cause your mom was such an amazing woman.

[13:59] WILL WOOD: Yeah.

[14:01] BARNEY NORTHRUP: It was really eye opening to me, like, what a good upbringing was. And, you know, you always kind of joke with me, and you're like, you should have kids. You should have kids. I do. I made a big realization at that funeral that one of the main reasons that I don't want kids is I didn't have a happy upbringing. It was really rough. There was a lot of unhappy moments in my life that definitely formed me into the person that I am. And I think I'm good. A good person in spite of it, not because of it, you know, so.

[14:47] WILL WOOD: But, yeah, you are a good person.

[14:49] BARNEY NORTHRUP: And I do my best.

[14:51] WILL WOOD: Let me take over here, because, you know, I remember meeting you only five years ago, and I was like, man, from what I know of line chefs, this guy, because you, like, everyone knows you now as a chef, and we haven't gotten there yet in the interview, but Barney's a professional chef, and, you know, I've been in the food industry a lot, and chefs are tough people. And, you know, meeting you, I was like, that guy's extremely warm. Like, what's happening here? Does he not hold his own in the kitchen? But you do.

[15:31] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I think I do.

[15:32] WILL WOOD: And you're firm, but you're loving. And I see.

[15:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Try to be.

[15:36] WILL WOOD: I see past employees come back and want your help with things. That's a huge compliment. Like, if they're not saying anything to you, that's showing that, you know, you have their trust and respect, and they like you. That's so cool.

[15:52] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I'd like to think so.

[15:53] WILL WOOD: And then, you know, just to get a little fluffy, my wife's like, man, I love Barney. And he gives the best hugs.

[16:01] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I've been told that. I've been told that before. I'm a hugger. I do love to hug.

[16:07] WILL WOOD: And you let yourself hug. And, you know, if. If I had met you, gotten to know you a little bit, I'm a hug or two. We hug. I just wouldn't say that. You're a reflection of what we just talked about in your childhood. So you say you're a good person in spite of that. Like, where does that come from? Where does this love come from? Because when.

[16:31] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I don't know. I wish I could tap into it more honestly.

[16:34] WILL WOOD: Well, maybe you need to give yourself some credit, because you're tapping into it. You're reflecting it. You're the source of it. I don't know what made you want to be such a pos. What I see is a really positive influence on the world.

[16:52] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I guess I have seen a lot of bad examples, and I know what I don't want to be. And I think that's, like. I think that's something that we could all just take from life, is identifying the things that you don't like. And then, I guess emulating the opposite of that. I mean, at least for my upbringing, I had a lot of things that were really not great, you know? I mean, you know, issues of being raised by someone who's, like, sexist and racist and very bigoted and always seems to think that they're right. Very narcissistic. And I have just tried to not be that, you know? I mean, the older I get, I mean, one of the things. It's like, man, we're in our forties. I don't know. You've got kids, so maybe it came to you earlier, but for me, you know, mid to late thirties and then into my forties, like, one of the best things that's happened is I've been able to just slow down. Like, I'm not reactionary. The way that I might have been in like my twenties or early thirties. You know, I get to take the time, I get to really dissect a situation before I make a judgment call on how I'm going to react to that. But I mean, I'm also, you know, the single guy that does not look 42 and I'm like, you know, making sometimes questionable decisions. Well, you've heard some stories. You haven't heard all the stories, but.

[18:38] WILL WOOD: I suppose those are mere caveats. It's, you know, I think, I mean, I agree with you. I think my ego has quieted down and I have less to prove and I'm probably a little less impulsive or maybe I'm just sick of acting on those things.

[18:59] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I don't know. I'm still impulsive, though. I'm definitely impulsive, but I would say not reactionary or less reactionary. I don't know.

[19:10] WILL WOOD: Okay, well, I like that. Okay, so you're saying your love comes from not wanting to repeat or pass on that unhappiness that you witnessed as a kid. What? Like, have you, did you take anything from your childhood that you're like, I need to keep doing this or have you?

[19:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I don't think so. Honestly. No. I think I've tried to go the complete opposite way, I think. I mean, yeah, we talk about my tattoos and we talk about, like, yeah, I was raised with too much religion. I didn't touch on, on the part of like, you know, my homeschooling with. I could have passed the GED at 14 years old. So I know I'm intelligent. I know. I mean, it's not even a benchmark of intelligence. That's just like baseline, like, you know, but, you know, for the bulk of my homeschooling for a little over a year was just me and my little sister and my mom taking turns reading the Book of Mormon. So I read the Book of Mormon six times in one year just in a group setting. So, I mean, yeah, no, I know religion. I've read the entire Bible, which the entire Bible is like. It is a chore to read the Old Testament.

[20:30] WILL WOOD: I've never read all the way through.

[20:32] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Do you believe in it?

[20:35] WILL WOOD: I think it's got great stories.

[20:36] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I think you should read the whole thing. There's. Yeah, no, there's great stories, but like, I mean, comic books are great stories. Yeah, yeah, I mean, Bukowski wrote some great stories. I doubt you've ever read Bukowski, but he's got some, he's got some banger. But, um, yeah, that's so interesting. This is my challenge for you, is read that Old Testament.

[20:57] WILL WOOD: Oh, man.

[20:58] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Very boring.

[20:59] WILL WOOD: Just wait until you get into numbers.

[21:01] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Come on, man. It's your religion, not mine.

[21:04] WILL WOOD: I'm. I'm more of a spiritual.

[21:06] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I know. I know. That's why I love you so much. That is one thing that I love about you and your wife. Like, I mean, you are not your typical Mormon family. Like, I saw something recently, and I think it was on her Instagram story where she had reposted, I think, from Liam's, like, from his birthday or something, and I. He used the adjective christlike, and I think that defines your wife to a t. You know, from someone who's non religious. You know, I think she emulates, like, true empathetic Christianity. And I love that about. I mean, her. She's loud about it, and I love it. I wish she was louder. I know sometimes she has, like, cotton flack or whatever. I'm trying not to swear. So can you swear? I'm sure I can. Yeah.

[22:09] WILL WOOD: Okay.

[22:10] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, but it's just a respect thing, that's all. But, like, yeah, Lauren is, like, such a pure soul, and. Yeah, you've got a good one there.

[22:23] WILL WOOD: I do, man.

[22:24] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah.

[22:24] WILL WOOD: Before I was. Before. So there was six months where I didn't date her. Now I'm talking about myself.

[22:30] BARNEY NORTHRUP: But it's funny.

[22:33] WILL WOOD: I had a friend come in and was like, will, if you don't start dating Lauren again, you'll go down as the biggest dumbass of all in all history.

[22:41] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Was this in high school?

[22:42] WILL WOOD: This was after my mission.

[22:44] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Oh.

[22:44] WILL WOOD: We broke up because I just didn't want to commit to anything. And I was like, yeah, it's time for me to get my butt in gear. It was telly Longhurst.

[22:54] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I don't think I know.

[22:56] WILL WOOD: Anyways, well, now he's in the Library of Congress.

[22:59] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Sweet.

[22:59] WILL WOOD: So let's see here. Where were we going with that? We were going.

[23:06] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Oh, we made a huge diversion.

[23:08] WILL WOOD: Yeah, we did. And I love it.

[23:09] BARNEY NORTHRUP: So we were talking about my homeschooling.

[23:12] WILL WOOD: Yeah. So you're homeschooling, and we have to get into how you got into food.

[23:17] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Oh, well, I needed a job. I wanted money. And a couple of my brothers had worked at this restaurant in Preston called the main street grill. And it was about this time of year. It was, like, first week in May, I guess, in 1997. So it was the year that I turned 16. Wait, is that right? Yeah, that's right. And I. A friend of mine was already there, like, washing dishes, doing prep, cooking and they needed someone and so he called me up and like I approached my parents. And again, back to like the weird conspiracy theory stuff. Like one of the reasons why I hadn't had like a proper job yet was because I would have to use my Social Security card and then I would be in the system. And I'm air quoting here because I know that this is just an audio recording. I would be in the system. And again, back to the whole mark of the beast thing. It's like then they can track you.

[24:27] WILL WOOD: Then there's, and how much did you believe in that?

[24:31] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, being raised in it, I believed it like wholeheartedly from the time my stepdad moved in with us at like, oh shoot, I would have been like nine or ten years old up until probably about the time I turned, you know, 1617 or so. I started to like really question. Yeah, like, I mean, you know, you gotta understand, I was living in these very isolated, very small communities.

[25:02] WILL WOOD: Like, yeah, it was the whole world. You knew.

[25:05] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, I mean, we're in Utah, which is very rural in general. Right. And then, you know, Logan is the biggest town here. It was not that big in the eighties. Moved to Hyde park, which was smaller, moved to Weston, which was smaller, moved to winder, which is smaller, you know. And so I was like getting this more and more isolated life. And when I started working, it was like for kind of the first time in my life I was seeing part of the world that I hadn't really ever been able to be exposed to because I didn't go to middle school, I didn't go to high school. You know, I didn't even finish elementary school. So I started being exposed to people just of like, even just like with different beliefs, you know?

[26:05] WILL WOOD: So take me from 16 years old at the main street, grilled. You are, you're part of the system now.

[26:15] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, I guess. And you're afraid still. I am.

[26:17] WILL WOOD: You're fundamentalist Mormon and I'm not.

[26:20] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, well, I mean, but your mindset. Yeah, no, I, I believed, I mean it was in the book. It's in there. It's still in your doctrine. Covenants, section 132, I believe. Why do I still remember this?

[26:36] WILL WOOD: Yeah, and by the way, home taught, no one says that except a mormonization.

[26:39] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, you were, I was homeschooled.

[26:41] WILL WOOD: You said home taught.

[26:44] BARNEY NORTHRUP: No, I'm the homeschool kid.

[26:45] WILL WOOD: So take me from 16, afraid of the mark of the beast, to literally having 666 tattooed on your thigh.

[26:55] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yep.

[26:55] WILL WOOD: And you are a spiritual person and you're a loving person. But you don't believe these things.

[27:02] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I don't believe that humans have anything figured out. I don't believe that there is a literal God that has talked to a human being, man, that has handed down, like, the way that things need to be done so that you don't go to hell. I don't believe in hell. I don't believe in heaven. Yeah. I have 666 tattooed on my body.

[27:24] WILL WOOD: Sorry, that wasn't part of my story.

[27:26] BARNEY NORTHRUP: No, I don't care. Like I said, we talked about this the other day. I don't care. It's on my body. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not gonna try and rub it in my parents faces or anything, but, like, yeah, it's on there and it's more symbolic than anything, you know? It was a best friend tattoo that I got on my birthday. And it. I guess, in a way, it is part of my continued rebellion against my ultra religious upbringing. And it was very freeing, and I love it, and it looks good.

[27:59] WILL WOOD: It does.

[28:00] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Tattoo artist. She's great. It didn't. It didn't hardly hurt at all. It felt good.

[28:04] WILL WOOD: And I drew a heart right by it.

[28:06] BARNEY NORTHRUP: That might be tattooed on my body, sir. We shall see.

[28:12] WILL WOOD: So take me through, like, the deconstruction of your beliefs and, like, assembling yours now, like, how did you feel about that? What did it do to you? What did it.

[28:22] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Wow. Ten minutes.

[28:24] WILL WOOD: What did it. Like, how did it affect your outlook on reality?

[28:29] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Well, we haven't even started to touch on the deconstruction, so I got married at 19.

[28:34] WILL WOOD: Okay.

[28:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I got divorced at 22, and that was really when my whole religious, everything deconstruction started.

[28:44] WILL WOOD: Were you married in the mormon temple?

[28:46] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Not in the temple. I wasn't worthy.

[28:50] WILL WOOD: That was a wink.

[28:51] BARNEY NORTHRUP: A wink and a nod and a.

[28:53] WILL WOOD: Yeah, okay, but you. What does it mean to be worthy? Uh, yeah, what does it mean to be worthy, Barney?

[29:01] BARNEY NORTHRUP: See, I don't know who's gonna listen to this, and I don't want to, like, give away anyone else's. Like, anyone else I don't care about, like, my story, I'll say whatever, but for other people, I can't.

[29:12] WILL WOOD: Well, that will suffice then.

[29:13] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah.

[29:13] WILL WOOD: So. Yeah, so 19 to 22, you were married as a religious person?

[29:20] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, definitely. And then I wanted to have sex. I didn't want to go to hell.

[29:26] WILL WOOD: Okay, fair enough. Yeah. Okay. And if that doesn't make sense, you have to be married to.

[29:32] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I did love that very much. I'm not just saying that. Like, yeah, it was horny. I was trying to fuck. Like, sorry.

[29:37] WILL WOOD: Right?

[29:37] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah. Like, no, I did love my ex wife very much. Yeah.

[29:41] WILL WOOD: And then you got divorced, and then what happened?

[29:46] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Then I was just a wild child chef. I was just drinking a lot. Every day. Yeah. Our marriage ended roughly, and I was doing a lot of, I guess, what, compensating or coping? Self medicating.

[30:11] WILL WOOD: Numbing, maybe.

[30:12] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Definitely numbing. Definitely numbing. You know, I mean, I was smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and drinking day and night and. Yeah. Yeah.

[30:20] WILL WOOD: Which isn't a typical Mormon habit.

[30:24] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Absolutely not. No. We haven't even touched on my drug use.

[30:29] WILL WOOD: So take me from 22 to 42. The Barney. Well, the Barney that I met.

[30:35] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Years.

[30:36] WILL WOOD: I know it's 20 years, but, like, I want to know.

[30:39] BARNEY NORTHRUP: So, like, the last 15 years. Well, I mean, a lot of it was just.

[30:43] WILL WOOD: Yeah, wait, let me pause you, though, Barney, because so far, what do people know about you? You have a 666 tattoo. You were raised in a. Like, you sound like you're not going anywhere. And you're a highly respected chef in town. Like, people love Barney.

[31:05] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah. I'm a Logan celebrity.

[31:06] WILL WOOD: You are.

[31:07] BARNEY NORTHRUP: And you are, like, the tallest short person, I guess.

[31:13] WILL WOOD: Fair enough. But, like, you're like, if. If people can get a piece of Barney, they are so happy.

[31:20] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Hey, if they want a piece of Barney, come on in.

[31:22] WILL WOOD: Like, and they do. And, I mean, I get it. That's the only reason we go to.

[31:25] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Gas, to go around there.

[31:27] WILL WOOD: I mean, and that's that. So. So you are a highly accomplished chef. I own a cooking store. You teach classes sometimes doing a class tonight we are. And as soon as we put a class up that Barney Northrop's teaching, boom, sells out. People want Barney. Like, I bet we could put one up and say it's gonna be a surprise, and it would still sell out.

[31:47] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I bet that would sell out quicker because people loved my surprise menus. Like, I mean, I don't pre publish a menu for, like, my special dinners. And the reason being is because, especially here in Cache Valley, in Utah in general, but here in Cache Valley, people have these preconceived notions about food in general. And I have had people say, oh, well, I didn't want to come to that dinner because there was going to be, you know, this on it. There was going to be fish or there was going to be lamb or there was going to be, you know, bleh, you know, mushrooms or something that.

[32:18] WILL WOOD: You'Re like, you idiot.

[32:18] BARNEY NORTHRUP: And you tried it. I don't like x. But the. But when I had yours, I liked it. And so that's just kind of how I have built my. Yeah, my. I guess my. My plan for, you know, I mean.

[32:36] WILL WOOD: Your empire, your following of foodies in Keshe Valley, which we are.

[32:41] BARNEY NORTHRUP: So I try to, like, push the envelope. I try to, like, make you question your likes and dislikes. I want you to experience food the way that I experience food, which is hopefully just like, pleasure. You know, it's not just for me. It's not just like, a function of, like, surviving. I mean, sometimes it is, yeah, sure, but no, I.

[33:02] WILL WOOD: So what is it about? So you got into food because you needed a job. Now, anyone that tastes your food, anyone that goes into an establishment that you work at knows clearly the guy behind the counter is not doing this because he needs a job. It's because he loves it. Is it because you love food? Is it because you love. Because you love sharing unique things with people?

[33:27] BARNEY NORTHRUP: That's part of it.

[33:28] WILL WOOD: Is it because you want to teach them something about themselves that they don't know? Because I'm saying all these things because that's what I've gotten from you.

[33:36] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, yeah, definitely. If I can hit any of those points, you know, I mean, you and your wife come out to eat and y'all, you know, you're having a date night in a bar and you're warming.

[33:47] WILL WOOD: And we don't drink.

[33:48] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, and we don't drink. You know, you guys. Well, you sure drink a lot of Pepsi, but with the lime and everything. But no, I mean, I'm so honored when I get, like, people like you to come into the bar just for my food, you know, so that's part of it, you know? But anthropologically, I just think that the table, the food sharing of food and where I am part of the thread of, like, farmer, to being a chef, to feeding the public and hopefully feeding them something that either they have never had before or never had experienced in such a way. And just being able to share that, being able to be part of that story, I guess. Yeah.

[34:38] WILL WOOD: When did you start to discover that you enjoyed that process? Because it wasn't a main street diner.

[34:45] BARNEY NORTHRUP: No, I mean, I really did love learning about food then, but it was. Food scene was so different. There was no food network. There was no, like, american food was like, really kind of like, bland and sad and. Yeah, we there almost.

[35:00] WILL WOOD: No, we're good.

[35:02] BARNEY NORTHRUP: And yeah, you've seen, like, you've seen to where the reality tv stuff and the chopped and like, all of that. And I have people say, oh, you should go on that. And I'm like, no, no way. Like, that, to me, is, like, the bane of my career. Everyone that, like, goes to culinary school and thinks they're gonna be, like, Bobby Flay or something, you know, that's not what it is. A lot of, like, kitchen work is just drudgery. A lot of it is like, you're working in a hot environment, you're burning yourself, you're cutting yourself, you're lifting heavy stuff. You're dealing with, like, gross shit, like raw chicken. And, you know, you have to clean everything, clean out a floor drain, clean out a grease trap, and tell me that you want to be a chef. Like, yeah, I still want to be. I don't love those things. But I will be the first person to get in there and do it because I know it needs to be done, and I know I'll do it. Right. But, yeah, being a chef is not near as glamorous as.

[36:02] WILL WOOD: The food that comes out.

[36:03] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, yeah. No, the food is definitely the end goal. That is the product. But there's a lot to keep a good, clean kitchen. That. It's a lot of drudgery. Yeah, but, okay, I have a weird.

[36:21] WILL WOOD: Question for you, and I'm gonna set up a context.

[36:23] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Okay.

[36:23] WILL WOOD: So I've seen a lot of people be like, Barney, thank you so much. This was so good. Oh, my gosh. And Barney's a sommelier.

[36:32] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Did I say that I am a sommelier? Yes.

[36:35] WILL WOOD: So he pairs wine with food that he makes that is so delicious. And, you know, people will come up verbally, sing him his praises, and you'll put your hands together and say thank you.

[36:48] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, it's. Thanks. Yes. It's like, where did you pick that up? Oh, shoot. It's been a long time. That's been before I moved back to Logan. That's probably around my sushi apprenticeship, I think. Yeah, no, I mean, I was working with a lot of Asians, and I think that's probably, you know, the hands of thanks. And, like, people who are thai specifically, like, they will do, like, a head bow. Yeah. And I liked it. And so, yeah, I like it.

[37:17] WILL WOOD: And it seems actually really sincere coming from you.

[37:20] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I have my, like, tagline where I say cheers and, you know, yeah, I like to say thank you. I like to say cheers because, yeah, I believe in those things. Yeah. Well, yeah, for sure, if you go back into the friendship. Differing beliefs. Okay. Okay. Two extra.

[37:42] WILL WOOD: Okay, well, here's the. Here's the spicy question. Well, first of all Barney. Thank you. I love you.

[37:48] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Thank you. I love you, Will. This has been better than could be expected.

[37:52] WILL WOOD: This has been great. But that's not our thanks to end. So you did touch on that. You don't feel, like, judged around me is basically what I.

[38:03] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Definitely not. Absolutely nothing.

[38:05] WILL WOOD: So how do you have respect for me when my beliefs are so different and I'm part of a religion, even though I associate it with it spiritually? Not religiously. I mean, I do wear mormon garments and everything, but how do you respect me when I'm a part of this organization that has caused so much pain to marginalized people and can be really hard on youth and, you know, I'm almost making myself defensive with this question.

[38:44] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, no, it is. It is definitely coming off that way.

[38:47] WILL WOOD: But how could you. How do you respect me when I'm part of that?

[38:53] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I mean, I guess that's just part of, like, you know what I'm talking about, like, trying to be the opposite of what I was shown as a child. Like. Yeah, how do I. How do I respect you being part of that? Well, you might be. You are one person, right? Even your family. That's five people. You are not that. Yes, you are in it. I was in it. I was not that. I mean, so it would be. It would just be very judgmental. It would be very. You know, I judge people off of their merits, and your merits are pretty damn good, sir.

[39:27] WILL WOOD: Well, I appreciate that.

[39:33] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Do I want to? I mean. Yeah. How can you respect me? I have, like, 666 tattooed on me. And, like. I mean, I've told you stories about, like, my wild sex romps and probably, you know.

[39:43] WILL WOOD: It was all consensual, though.

[39:44] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Definitely. Yeah, absolutely.

[39:46] WILL WOOD: I mean, I guess if. Well, I mean, my religion has taught me to act like how I think Jesus would.

[39:57] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah.

[39:58] WILL WOOD: And to me, I'm like, jesus would totally be friends with Barney. He probably would drink wine.

[40:04] BARNEY NORTHRUP: We got the same. We got the same hairstyle and everything. Okay, then let me. Let me push it a little harder, because I think this is what she wants, maybe. Do you think I'm gonna go to hell?

[40:14] WILL WOOD: Oh, no. And here's why.

[40:17] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Like.

[40:18] WILL WOOD: No, I can answer that. So, I believe. I mean, I do believe that I actually can't even go there. This is what I believe at my core. I believe that if someone acts according to their internal compass, that if there is something after where we get sifted into different places based on the merits of our life, our merits will be according to what our internal compass was, because that's really all we have that we know.

[40:54] BARNEY NORTHRUP: That's what I follow.

[40:55] WILL WOOD: When and exactly. And that's why you would never, ever, ever go. But you burn.

[41:02] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Do you believe that hell is real? Do you believe it's a real thing that really happens? Okay.

[41:06] WILL WOOD: No. Okay. Hell no.

[41:07] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Cause I was gonna say, like, with all, like, the sex and drugs and everything. I haven't even touched on my drug use with you.

[41:13] WILL WOOD: No, I don't. You follow an internal compass.

[41:16] BARNEY NORTHRUP: I definitely do.

[41:17] WILL WOOD: I know you do. And that's one of the things that I was like, dude, I love that guy. And you spread positivity.

[41:25] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Do my best.

[41:26] WILL WOOD: I think it's such a beautiful thing. And I think you're a beautiful person.

[41:30] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Thank you. Thank you. I think you are. Like, I'm really, really glad that I chose you to be my interviewer.

[41:38] WILL WOOD: I love you, Barbie.

[41:39] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Love you, buddy.

[41:39] WILL WOOD: We're having a handhug over the table.

[41:43] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Thank you very much. I really do appreciate you being my interviewer for this.

[41:48] WILL WOOD: Thank you, Barney. And thanks for talking about my mom.

[41:51] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah, she was great.

[41:53] WILL WOOD: She was.

[41:53] BARNEY NORTHRUP: Yeah. You're writing a book, and I'm writing a book.

[41:57] WILL WOOD: Cheers.