Conan Learns How Nicolas Cage Blew His Fortune | Conan O'Brien Needs A Fan

Tell us a little bit about yourself, Cooper. All I know is you're Cooper. You're from DC. You appear to be a a. young fellow. Are you in your late 20s? Are you in your 30s? Give us an age. I'm. 26 and I am a Civil War historian. Oh my. god. Okay. I'm glad to talk to you. I'm. a bit of a Civil War. I'm a bit of a. history buff and I uh Civil War is one. of the areas that I I'm kind of. interested in. Um have you been a Civil. War buff your whole life or is this. something you came to later on? I have. I've been a history buff my whole life.

Um, when I was in third grade, my. teacher wrote on my report card that I. watched too much History Channel. Um, wow. Held back a year. Enough history. Which b Yeah. Which. basically meant I couldn't shut up. Uh, so, uh, and then it was a fifth grade. field trip to Gettysburg that really got. me onto Civil War and I haven't really. stopped since. Yeah, Gettysburg will. will get you. That's that's a I've. visited many battlefields. Um, and my. wife drew the line when we were in. Georgia, and I tried to make her come.

see uh Andersonville, which is the. famous Confederate prison where they. kept a lot of uh northern prisoners, and. they all died of dysentery. And my wife. was like, "Wait, where are we driving to. now?" And I said, "We're off to. Andersonville." And she said, "What. happened there?" Thousands of people. died of diarrhea. And she said, "Nope, not on our honeymoon. Not on our. honeymoon.". So, um, haven't been there. I blame her. Uh, but Gettysburg, uh, that is, it's.

incredible to walk that area. It was. such a pivotal battle. And to walk that. area and kind of you can see the. topography still the same. So, you can. kind of get a feel for why things played. out the way they did. It is. It's really. amazing. And I get the chance to lead. students on tours there every year. And. you can tell not all of them are really. into the military history, but I think. the human interest stories are really. how you get to the students. Like when I. when I lead a tour of, shall I say, older people, they really want to know. the nuts and bolts of where was the. right flank of the third Alabama. But.

when you're engaging with high school. and college students, it's the human. interest stories that like really blow. them away at a place like Eddie. Yeah. You tell them, "Here's where Taylor. Swift reloaded reloaded her musket. I would just lie to the students. I. would just plug in all kinds of the. latest pop stars and reality stars just. to get them interested. Yeah. Here's. where the Real Housewives of New Jersey. let a charge.

Cooper, you're allowed to lie if it. keeps them interested. No, you're not. No, you're not, Cooper. You can't lie. about the Civil War. Can I ask you a. question? One of my favorite books, like. one of my desert island books, if I was. allowed, like five books on on a desert. island, uh, one of them would be Killer. Angels by Michael Sher, which I think is. one of the most beautiful, it's a novel, but it's historically accurate to the. Battle of Gettysburg, and it takes place. over three days, and all the main. players are in there. And I've read that.

book maybe seven, eight, nine times and. I just find it haunting and beautiful. Killer Angels, Michael Sher. Michael. Sher, you don't even have to be a his. Civil War buff to find that a powerful. book. I think Do you agree? I read that. when I was very young. It's It's a good. Okay. So, you're so smart. You read it. when you were You're like, "Yes, I read. that when I was two. and then. I You read it just before everybody. pooped.

with dysentery." Yeah, exactly. You got. to bring it back. I like you. Do we have. similar interests? I think this date's. going well so far, Cooper. Um, and you. live, you know, I would think it'd be. hard not to get into some of the history. because if you live in DC and you live. in that. area, you know, you can't walk 15 ft. without being on ground that was somehow. involved in something historic, you. know. Uh, and I I felt the same way in.

Massachusetts growing up. It was all. about the Revolutionary War. you know, you you you could take a trip to. Lexington and Conquer or even if you're. walking around Boston, you're uh or in. the hills around Boston, Bunker Hill, it's all stuff where history played. itself out. Um so I think that helped. fuel my interest in uh in history was. just that I kind of grew up around it. Yeah, absolutely. The same for me. I. mean, I grew up a little bit north of. Gettysburg. Um, so I kind of grew up in.

an area where Civil War history was, you. know, um, all around me. And then moving. to DC for grad school, obviously I'm. next to the archives. I'm immersed in. history all the time. So, um, almost. almost to the point where I take it for. granted, but I try not to. So, tell me a. little bit about your life. So, we've. we've covered the Civil War part. Tell. us more about uh, Cooper. What's your. last name? Cooper Wingert. Okay. Cooper. Wingert. Tell us about Cooper Wingert. The man. What's going on? what's. happening. I guess my two hobbies.

besides I I love reading and writing. I. love teaching. Um that kind of is an. extension of my work. So that's a big. part of who I am. Um I one of my. favorite things professionally that I do. is each summer I uh do a summer program. for rising high school seniors. It's. aimed at first generation college. students. Um so I actually get to live. in the dorms with these students. I'm. like their TA, their RA. I'm like. basically their, you know, glorified. babysitter. Um, so I get to kind of help. them transition to, you know, doing.

college level course work, but at the. same time I have to like, you know, just. be like the adult in the room and make. sure they don't they look both ways. before they cross the street. So, um, it's kind of one of the the fun things I. get to do. I get to be really silly. I. get to do like PowerPoint night with. them. I have a fan favorite Nicholas. Cage PowerPoint. Wait a minute. Wait a. minute. So every now and then when you. guys really want to just rip the lid off. this thing and go totally loco, you have. PowerPoint night. I know it's it's How.

old are these How old are these kids, by. the way? They're 16 17. So we we they're. we got to keep them, you know, like you. know, fun and and not crazy. entertainment. I When do you get When do. you get to the fun part, Cooper? Or. crazy entertainment. Yeah. when no they. they get to design the PowerPoint. So. they design a PowerPoint about some. crazy topic they pick. Um and then we as. the staff also design our own. PowerPoint. So I designed one about how. Nicholas Cage blew his fortune and they. seem to like that one. Okay. All right.

Wait a minute. I'm I'm liking this now. How did Nicholas Cage blow his fortune? Um a series of very strange uh purchases. like a dinosaur skull um skeleton that. ended up being repossessed by Interpol. I think um you know there's nothing. worse than when when a skeleton you. bought is repossessed. It's one thing. when they come take your Maserati but. when they take your skeleton if I had a. dime go uh yes I didn't he he bought. some bones and then they were. controversial. Maybe they were even. counterfeit. Who can say? I don't know.

But um look Nick Cage terrific actor. great body of work. Um, but maybe what. you're saying is uh we shouldn't go to. him for investment counsel. Maybe not. That that's kind of the the theme of the. presentation. Okay. Well, okay. Sounds. like you guys are having a good time. A. PowerPoint of a PowerPoint.