Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - A Lack of Slavery in ‘The Little Mermaid’ and Biden Takes a Tumble

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay react to complaints about there being no acknowledgement of slavery in Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ (13:21), Shannon Sharpe's decision to leave FS1 (33:30), and President Biden falling after a commencement speech (47:08). Plus, there’s news in the world of mountain lion (1:05:48). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Carl Learning is on. It's Ivan Lake Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. I feel like it's been a minute. Well, yeah, we miss the show. But it just seems longer.

I feel like I haven't talked to you a week. It feels longer for you. It feels longer. Sorry, but I guess I'm the only one who miss this, but it just feels longer. Well, I'm in Louisiana. We hear. So it's, it's, oh yeah, you can hear them downstairs going crazy. Yeah, I'm in Louisiana, so it's a little different for me because it's like things are happening back to back to back.

You know what I mean? Are you having a good time? It's a lot of fun, you know. It's a lot of fun. I went and saw my younger brother, Gavin, last night. It's 12 years old. Gavin Lathen. And like, so here's the thing with my younger brother, right?

It's odd, right? With my little brother sometimes. I love him a lot. He's a great kid. He's in the sixth grade. He's going to the seventh grade. Aw. Big time. But like, it's like my dad had a kid when I was 30 or 31 years old.

And even at that time, I was like, Dad, what are you doing? You know, my dad had already had conjective heart failure. And I wasn't home. I was in L.A. doing my thing the whole time. And now my dad's gone. So I don't sometimes know how to do it. You know what I mean? So I just bought my PlayStation 5.

So you let your money do the talking. Yep. And he deserves it too. I'm sure he's true. I hit him up and I asked him, I'm like, yo, Gav, do you have, do you have a PlayStation because yeah, I got PlayStation 4? And I was like, all right, I'm going to bring you a PlayStation 5. And he goes, really?

And I was like, yeah, do you want one? He was like, sure. He was so, and then I called his mom and said, yo, it was okay if I bring Gavin if I buy a Gavent and PlayStation 5. She was, yeah, of course. So I bring him over there and he can't even content. himself. Kids are so awesome.

Do you remember the time in life when someone could do something like that unexpected? And it just made your entire world. Yes. And it was just fun to watch him just calling his friends and calling his aunt.

It was amazing. It was dope. I love the innocence of children. And then he still has that. That's why it's fun to be around kids. You like it. I love it. I love it.

You like children, Rachel? I love children. It's interesting. Shut up. What? I could see you having like a, like a anti-child agenda. Why? Because what would make you think that you've seen me with my nephews?

Yeah, but those are some easy kids that are like, I'm not going to lie. Those are those are kind of the, like those are the kids where, you know, you think that you like kids because those are some cool kids to be around. Like those are some easy kids to like. But, you know, sometimes Rachel, you don't like things that everybody else likes. So you go love children? Children and chocolate. If I was to write an article about race right now,

it would be called Children and Chocolate. I love kids, and I'm actually really good with kids. They love me. My mom says it's because of my big head and my big eyes. She says I'm like a Tweetybird to them. My mom said, Pretty hair can be ruthless sometimes.

Pretty hair getting off on you, man. What the hell? That's the kind of thing. give you a complex, man. She low-key was scoring on me. But yes, I mean, it is true. I have big head and big eyes. How was your

week made? It was Memorial Day. I've been in Louisiana. Yeah. And what have you been up to? Man, I've been chilling. And it has been really, really nice. I didn't do much at all for Memorial weekend. I stayed at home, got some

things done, then decided to take a break from all that, hung out with the girls, Miss Nina Parker and company. I saw y'all. You guys went to Nobu? We went to Nobu. Just rolled up in there. We didn't even have reservations.

We just played it. Just played it. Neat was like, I had a reservation at 12. We're a little late. It was four. It was 4 p.m. They're like, you know what? We have one table. We just got to be out by 6.30. And it was packed. We had a table. They didn't want to deny four black women.

She's so much fun. Nina takes what she wants. Nina Parker. I'm so happy to you and Nina are friends. Yeah. We have a good time. And I tell people this. When you meet people in this industry where it can be competitive,

it is competitive. You just never know how people are going to be. Are they going to look at you like, oh, you know, they feel like they can't be friends with you because there could be a competition? Nothing like that with her. She's been helpful. She's taught me like tricks of the trade. And I brag to people about that all the time.

Like she's a really good person. Like she's really been helpful and a good friend of me. I've been knowing her longer than you. So she likes me better. I doubt it. I mean, I'm sure there's some, I don't know, sister girl in that y'all do that me and her probably can't do. We're also sorority sisters.

She's been, yeah, but that's, you know, she, whatever. She's been a more important person in my life than she's been in your life. It's facts. Y'all just heard me talk about how competitive things can be in this industry. You see Van trying to compete with me right now. This is the kind of shit I'm talking about. I make no bones about the fact that if it's about friendship with Nina, it's a competition. No, you and Nina go way back to TMZ days.

I wouldn't even try. But Nina, Nina is one of the, she's a fantastic. fantastic person to know because she's genuine. You know? You always know where you stand with Nina and I love that. The same person that I am. She's genuine, man.

Look, look, people talk about the people that they know in L.A. And oh, L.A. is so fake and all of that stuff. And I tell those people you're fake because I'm in L.A. I know real people. Nina. I know Rachel. I know Jomey. You know, like, I know Steve.

I've met like, I met real people in L.A. I know Otto. Like, I have friends. You know a lot of real people. Like, I feel like a lot of people that, people that I've met through you, there's nothing Hollywood about it.

Even when it could be. What's Brian up to? What's he doing? Man, Brian is on. on cloud nine. So he didn't tell me this until after the fact. I guess he didn't want to jinx it even more. But we all know Brian's from Miami,

big Miami heat fan. He is ecstatic that they are made it to the championships when all odds were against them, I kind of, I guess, being the eighth scene. And so he's very happy. But you know, he has the thread, right, with his group, with his guy friends. Yeah.

Well, after the heat went up three, oh, he said they're going to sweep the, they're going to sweep Boston. He made that statement. And then if you follow the series, you know that Boston won three in a row. They suspended Brian from the thread for making that. He didn't tell me until after.

He said it was the dark time. He said they suspended him from the thread for making that comment and said that he chinks them. And now he gets to come back because of, they made some championship. they can't let him back. They have to keep him out of the thread until after the finals are over,

the heat going to lose. If they let Brian back into the thread, the heat are going to lose. They have to keep him out. Yeah, tell him out. You got to tell them, you got to tell them right now. They have to keep Brian out of the thread. And I bet you that Brian would trade being out of the thread for the whole NBA finals for a championship easily, right?

That's true. Jimmy Butler would get a championship? It's amazing. So there's been some devastating news that's happened. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I want to say this. One of the most talented.

down-to-earth, funny, cool, amazing people I've ever had the pleasure to meet or know from a career in the media is DC Youngfly. I interviewed DC Youngfly. I think it was 2018 or 2019 for the Red Pill podcast. It's the first time I ever met him. And during that interview, we will talk about, I would bring up, oh, I was asking them questions. What is it like women? I would throw something like that.

And every time I would say woman, he would be like Miss Jackio. He would bring it back to the fact that he was in a relationship, that he was with someone. And that he wanted people to know, at least in that interview when I was talking to him, that he was committed in a relationship, and that's where home was for him.

Miss Jack Yew, D.C. Youngfly's partner and the mother of three of their children, the mother of their three children, shall I say, passed away at the age of 32. Devastated. Just incredibly saddening. I went to go send a DM to him to say, I'm sorry for your loss.

and when I went to go see the DM, I saw a DM that he said to me after my father died. That said the same thing. Because the dude is just a good dude. He's just a good guy. Three kids, it's just unthinkable. Yeah. Just asked so many whys and so many questions.

Beautiful woman. They met while D.C. and her were both doing Wilden Out. The, you know, obviously you guys know the show Wilden Out. And it was just gutting, gutting, gutting, gutting to see that. So the whole 85 South family, D.C. Young Fly, his children, everyone, my sincerest and most heartfelt condolences, man. like really

God damn just I'm telling you man just nice real people not a comedian not a celebrity just a man going through this right now

I don't know what to say it's just really really really horrible yeah so you know I know that this pledging trees and we try to start off on a pleasant note,

but just want to take a moment to be human and tell everybody, D.C. Youngfly, the whole Wild and Out family, the whole 85 South family. I'm thinking about you guys and your brother, and I'm praying for y'all. Absolutely. All right.

On the other side of this, the Little Mermaid. The playoffs are here. You can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul predicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandul prediction markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at Fandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash herms. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject trumphia, proper training is required.

Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severe active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Trimfairadio.com. Rachel, have you seen a little Burmerey movie? I have.

I talked about it on this podcast. I loved it. You enjoyed it? Loved it. I didn't enjoy it. I loved it. You thought it was great. Fantastic.

Amazing. So the movie is done really well. Have you seen her? No, that's right. You were going to buy a ticket. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, actually, I did see it.

I don't know, I got to be honest. I saw it. Why did you change your mind? Because you talk big. You talked big about not seeing it. I had to be a part of the discourse, so I did see the movie. And so the movie is very successful.

Very successful film. Made a lot of money at the box office. People are loving it, inspiring a whole generation of young black girls, of people, but particularly young black girls. So because it was inspiring young black girls, you know that the bullshit was coming.

Okay. The film is an absolute success. Hallie, Javier Bardem, Davy Diggs, Melissa McCartney, everybody, fantastic job to you guys. But I've seen some of the discourse. And some of it's funny and some of it's downright hilarious. What?

I saw the, well, so, Dr. Umar's discourse was that. Oh, God. What are you funny?

What did he say? Dr. Umar was talking about the fact that, you know, it's an interracial relationship. But I thought he excused it for black women. I thought for black women, he was like,

it's okay. Yeah, but I don't know if that is from mermaids from back in the day. I think that's for like right now. I don't know if that's for mermaids back in the day. But, you know, that's on brand for Dr. Um, Dr. Umar, who is really about the black family unit and the black family structure and what he thinks are black people pledging themselves to one another to build community and control culture and control dollars.

So you'd expect a movie that celebrates an interracial relationship to draw the ire of Dr. Umar to a degree. But I'm wondering if you heard some of this other criticism. Coming from a guy named Marcus Ryder, who's a British campaigner who chairs the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he celebrated the cast and of Halley, but said that the film doesn't depict race in the right way, movie is set in the 18th century. And there would definitely been slavery, chattel slavery going on there. And she is black. And we are on the seas where this would have been happening.

And he says that in the Caribbean islands, the fact that the movie makes no mention of slavery is unacceptable. He said, I don't think we do our children any favors by pretending that slavery didn't exist. Settling the fantastic story this time and place is literally the equivalent of setting a love story between Jew and Gentile in 1940 Germany

and ignoring the Holocaust. Fuck! The Reding guns blazing, Rachel, should they have been in the Disney movie The Little Mermaid with singing and dancing

clams and fish and lobsters and a mermaid who falls in love should we have put slavery into that? What say you, Rachel? First off, before I comment on this, did you like the movie? I feel like you skipped over it.

And I think you did exactly. What? That's crazy. But I thought, did you like the movie? For what it was, yeah. You were not one of us. Why didn't you like the movie? Why didn't you like?

Because you skipped over it. I'm not a stupid fan. This is what you kept saying. The movie is a success. And I'm like, no, no, no. But what do you think about the movie? Can I ask a question? Can I ask a question seriously?

Why do I have to like the movie? I want to know why you didn't. Because you know why I want to know. There's a lot of, there's been a lot of criticism about this movie. And it's pissing me off. It really is.

And I'm going to get into old boy in a second. But it's really upsetting me. Coming into this movie, people were very critical about Hallie because she did not look like the cartoon version of Ariel. So you had to deal with all that. Then it's come out,

and I'm seeing people nitpick this in a way that just doesn't make any sense. Okay? I thought the reimagined version of the Lion King was awful. And I can see it just was not good. To me, this was totally different from that. People are talking about the CGI. They're talking about her look.

They're talking about Ursula's makeup. They're talking about the women being, the sisters being different races. There's just so much nitpicking with this movie when you just sit down and watch it for what it is. And to me, what it represents with Hallie and other people, the queen, the sisters, all of it, it's a really good moving movie. And I think the themes that exist within The Little Mermaid are really beautiful. So I'm sick of the criticism.

But I noticed that you didn't feel like me. I could tell how you talked about it. Why didn't you? Like, was it the story? Was it the acting? was it was it the special effects what what was it van so let's let's

talk about a couple of things I'm a 43 year old black man okay all right I'm 43 year black man this movie is not for me too much but you read comics it's not you read comments and watch cartoons I can't you read comics

comic books so what does that mean those are child stories like comic books you started reading them when you were a kid That stuff is kid stuff. It's not. It's not. I can tell you right now that you might think comics are something that you get into when you were a child.

They're not child stuff right. They're really not. Especially the comics that I grew up on when I got into Frank Miller, when I got into Watchman, when I got into a lot of that stuff. A lot of those things, it's even harder to, it's hard to understand if you look at it to each other. Like if you're reading Jonathan Hickman, if you're reading Starlin, if you're reading Starland, If you're reading all those guys and the intricacies of these stories and the concepts and all of that stuff, it's really not kid stuff. But look, I can understand what you're saying. This to me is kid stuff. This is, you know, talking animals and songs and all of that stuff. It's kid stuff. I don't think that it's necessarily for me. I appreciate the movie for what it is. But let me be honest with you. With these Disney movies, these live action remakes, they have all been back. okay the jungle book was palatable I guess well not palatable

tolerable okay the Lion King was bad Aladdin was atrocious it's bad okay Aladdin was bad the Little Mermaid is better than those but it's like not something I don't know what the purpose of these movies really really is

I don't know what they're doing them to bring the IP to life, but the films are better animated. You know what I mean? They are. They feel more authentic. They're a little bit better. The beauty and the beast went to me.

Once again, it's like, that's not, they're not working for me. And I don't, and with this movie, I mean, if you're going to ask me my opinion, nah, it wasn't my thing. Like, I didn't get into it, but I think it's important to be positive about the film and to be supportive about the film and not to talk down on the film because of what the film represents. If you're going to ask me whether or not I liked it, no. Like, I didn't. And it didn't look bad. To me, it didn't look bad. It looked bad. See, I don't think so. When they were in the water or out of the water. But, like, the fact that this film looked bad,

it's like, this is a running thing with the CGI, not just a film of Disney movies, right? not just specifically Disney of Marvel films of the last couple of years with the crunch and everything like this and Disney is Marvel of course but a Marvel is Disney

but we've been going through a CGI issue for a while so it didn't I wasn't shocked that this didn't look great but I thought she was mesmerizing I also did not see the movie on big screen

so maybe that maybe she was mesmerizing She was fantastic And, you know, I temper my expectations for a film just like I think people should do for some of the Marvel movies for who the film is for.

And this movie wasn't really, it's not for me. So it's not the worst thing I ever saw. But if you're asking me if this is true. That's a comparison. I mean, it's had the worst thing I've ever seen. Jeez. Interesting. Was it good.

I disagree. You know? A man swinging around in a suit doing this. It's kid like, whatever, you know. Look, look, to me, to me, this is the way I look at it, right? So, I mean, Spider-Man, to be honest with you, Spider-Man is probably one of the more kind of kiddy things.

And obviously, I don't think these things are kidding things because maybe they are, right? I've been into it for a long time, and I've seen, I mean, I've seen kind of the stories be really, really violent. Like, there's all different types of comics, right? Like, there's certainly comics that I read that are not for kids. There's certain, there's certainly comic book movies that are not, you wouldn't say deadpools for kids, right? Never seen that. Well, I mean, there's a very high body count in the movie and there's blood everywhere. or like Logan would be for kids.

So it's like, you know, there are Disney movies to me that aren't necessarily for kids, but this is one that's for children. I guess what I would argue is, I think you look at things different. The way I look at Little Mermaid Now and the themes that exist within it,

I didn't recognize as a child. So I saw it one way as a child. I see it another way as an adult. And I would say the same thing. Wait, you know what I'm like? I would say the same thing about these other movies, right? Like, I saw Spider-Man into the Spider-Bers.

I thought it's an animated movie. I thought it was very good. But I didn't look at it through the eyes of a child. There are themes in it where, as an adult, I was like, oh, like, this is really good. I laughed. They're adult jokes. I was entertained. And I think you can say that for a lot of these movies as well.

Agreed to Discret. To be real with you, to be a real with you, you. I would say that Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse or Spider-Man across the Spider-verse that is for kids. Which one's the sequel?

Into the Spider-Vers? Across the Spider-Verse. Oh, that's one I saw. Into the Spider-Vverse. Well, I've seen both, but that's the one I just saw across the Spider-Vers. I would say that that is for kids. Okay.

Like, the character of Miles Morales to me, especially in the way that he is right now, is a little bit more, you know, that's a little bit more, angsty and angst written. That's why I said the Spider-Man from the MCU, you could argue that that's some Disney XD shit. And I have argued that that's some Disney X-D shit. But, you know, then what happens after that is Spider-Man that I read when I was a kid, Spider-Man was struggling to make ends meet. He was recently married. Like he,

you know what I mean? All of those things were things that I couldn't relate to when I was 11 or 12. That's in the new one. Oh, is it? Yeah, that, without giving it away. I'm not sure. get trouble. That is something that happens in this one. Okay. So like all of that stuff, it just depends on the story. But yeah, so, you know, I'm not going to go into a movie that's like

for 11, 12, 13 year old girls and then be shocked if I'm not like overjoyed about it, right? Okay. Well, I thought, you know, okay. Okay, so what's his do his name? What's his same? Marcus? Marcus? His name is

Marcus Ryder. and he said, see, that would have been different. Maybe it would have been a little bit more like mature and for a 43 old guys if it had been some niggas getting whipped in it because that's what Marcus wanted. Marcus wanted the little mermaid roots. Think about this.

Think about if there would have been a scene. Think about, I want you all to think about what Marcus wanted. This is what Marcus wanted. Marcus wanted there to be a slave ship headed towards the Caribbean and Ariel pop up out the back of the water and free everybody. Because that's a totally different movie.

Or Ariel be singing and turn around. Can you imagine how the movie looks if Ariel turn around and she locks eyes with one of our enslaved ancestors or she asked Triton or whatever, why do they look like me? You know what I mean? Or if Ariel gets kidnapped

and then put into slavery, you get the Little Mermaid mixed with 12 years of slave. Okay. It's the dog. I'm saying, this was hilarious to me, man. Marcus?

I wanted to have Marcus on the podcast. This was a step. I thought about it, but I can't. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Like, this is, if the purpose was for you to just have a hot take, a different take than we've seen, on The Little Mermaid, congratulations, you accomplished it,

and a lot of people are talking about it. But this is truly one of the more idiotic takes that I've seen. Because he contradicts himself, I went on, and I read his full article, but he contradicts himself because he acknowledges, okay, he gives a lot of positive things towards the movie. I'll give him that before he completely turns on it. But what doesn't make sense is he acknowledges that they take, that they make differences in this film in regards to race.

Pretty much race, and these are his words, as a social construct, as we know it, in reality, does not exist under the water. Because if you watch this movie, Ariel is black. Her sisters are an array of different cultures and ethnicities. They all look different, the seven sisters. Her dad is Spanish. Prince Eric is white. His mom is black, even though she adopted him.

You see everyone in this film. So by his own words, race does not exist in this way. So in this fantasy world, where the Little Mermaid is, if race doesn't exist, how are you going to all of a sudden make slavery exist? Why does an actual place exist as a setting? You don't know if it's in the Caribbean. That is never established. You are simply basing that off of water and Sebastian's accent. It doesn't say that it's in the 18th century.

You're just assuming that off of the way that the people are dressed on land. All of these are assumptions. The reality is this is a fantasy world. They're fucking mermaids and mermin, for goodness sake. None of this is real. And the problem with him comparing it to like a love story between a Jew and a Jew in a Gentile in 1940s is a difference between fantasy and fiction.

This is the fantasy, The Little Mermaid. It explores what's impossible. Fiction explores what is possible, but it's not true. This is so bad that it almost enraged me. Matter of fact, I hope Marcus comes. So I will say this. The original Little Mermaid was in fact published in 1837.

The book. The book. Okay. So I'm just saying I'm saying that there's, you can make an argument that is supposed to be set in the 1800s. No, because, no. Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing.

Just because the book came out in the 1800s, we live in 2023 and people write about things that don't exist in 20203. It's a fantasy. It could be anywhere. It could be anything. It could be its own world. It obviously is because mermaids. Mermaids exist.

So I guess my thing is so what you're saying is that this exists in the world. Because if you set a movie on Earth in 19, in this fantasy world, and you're saying in this world, there's no racism, there's no slavery. That's what the movie permit. It's like it's almost as if there was never any slavery because there's like no race. or race is like not a social construct in this, in this world. Do you know what I think about about why the sisters are different races

and all of that stuff? Because they fish. Think about their animals, right? So if you have a dog, you know, if you look at Bozeman's brothers and sisters. It makes all the sense in the world. Some of them are like all, some of them, Bowzman's black and brown and white,

but some of his brothers and sisters, one is brown. You know what I mean? one is brown with a little black, they look different. It makes sense. My sister down there right there. I'm a regular black American. My sister downstairs right now is basically a white person. Don't do Emily like that.

She's the same color as these walls. Don't you. So it happens. Mark, y'all got to relax, bro. Celebrate this film. Celebrate the fact that this movie is an absolute success. A star has been born in Hallie Bailey. And the reality is,

that we don't have to think peace. Who watched the movie and went, where the slaves at? God damn! I think when I interviewed them, I said, where is this place? I think I asked that. And I think they said something about South America. Wait a minute. So when you ask them, where's this place?

Because you wanted to know where you go, where the white boy is at, especially what you was asking. Where do white boys at over here, right there? What a white boy is that? Yeah, hi, what a white boy is that? You know what I mean? This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer,

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Visit weathertech.com today. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tramphiara.com. Big news in the world of sports debate talk show. Shannon Sharp is leaving undisputed. Shannon Sharp, who's been with Skip Bayliss for a while now, also has his club Shay-Shay podcast. He's a fellow Equinox member.

I see Shane there lifting so much weight that it makes me want to take steroids. He's leaving undisputed. I don't want to take steroids, guys, but that nigga's strong as fuck. He's leaving undisputed. It's going to be a buyout. Bailout the rest of his contract.

And Skip Bayliss will need a new co-host. The show comes on in the morning. It is opposite first take. They debate some of the hottest topics in sports. and as we have covered here, things have been, what would you say, testy, Rachel,

train between Skip and Shannon in the last year. When you saw this news, what did you think? Do you think that Shannon is sick of Skip Bayless's bullshit and he's out? Or do you think this is more about career?

I think it's both. I think that he's obviously sick of Skip. We saw him take a full day off that he was, because he was so frustrated. I think that's obvious. And it seems to be a pattern when people work with Skip. They just seem to get sick of him all of a sudden.

You don't think about it. He's dealing with Skip five days a week. It's a lot. And I feel as if Shannon also has to defend himself sometimes because of the things that Skip says and make sure that he's, you know, like still holding it down. It's a lot. There's a big responsibility for Shannon Sharp.

So we knew this was coming. So I'm not surprised. but also his star is so big. He's so talented. He's so great on television. He's got a successful podcast. There's so many memes about him. He's good on social as well that I think that there are bigger things for him than to be opposite Skip Ailes.

I think he's going to go on to do bigger things. I think that it's probably an issue with the network as well. So I'm curious to see what Shannon Sharp does next. but this is the least surprising news. Maybe came sooner than I thought it would come, but Shanna's bigger than the show right now. So this was interesting to me in a couple of ways. Number one is interesting in like Shannon Sharp's star

and how it's on the rise and some of the things that have happened. I mean, the ways that Skip Bayliss has, some of the exchanges that Skip Bayliss and Shannon Sharp have had, they always struck me because, Shannon always, to me, had an extra burden in those exchanges. Okay. So to me,

when Skip Bayless is going back and forth with Shannon Sharp, and he's saying that Shane Sharp is jealous of Tom Brady. And, you know, there's a point that Shannon Sharp gets really upset. Skip Bayliss is saying that Shannon Sharp is being critical of Tom Brady's

played because he's jealous of him. for you guys that don't know Shannon Sharp is a three-time Super Bowl champion that is in the NFL Hall of Fame. So the fact that another player's accolades even if they are superior

to Shannon Sharps, the fact that he would really be jealous of anyone, it's kind of crazy. He pretty much had the ideal position for the ideal career for his position and his time than anyone could have.

He's a Hall of Famer, bar none, won everything, set records, all of that stuff, right? I remember there's a point where Shannon Sharp

takes his glasses off. And he's trying to ask, Skip, he's saying, you would disrespect me for Tom Brady. And Skip goes, put your glasses back on.

And it made me uncomfortable, and I'll tell you why. Skip, to me, didn't understand what it was like for Shannon to be in the seat across from him. Shannon is a big black man. At any point,

he could have looked like he wanted to come across the desk on Skip or looked like he was being aggressive in a certain way towards Skip, and Shannon would have been excoriated for that. Skip Bayless continuously, in my opinion, disrespected Shannon Sharp in a way that Shannon Sharp

that put him at a disadvantage because he really couldn't treat Skip that same way. He couldn't cut Skip off and be aggressive towards Skip and do all of that stuff. One, because Skip is more powerful in the show, they built that show around Skip.

But also, because at any point, Shannon Sharp looks like he's a little too aggressive with Skip. Billis, the narrative changes. Mm-hmm. And there's something else on the other side of that. And being a black guy on a white show before, I know how this goes as well. If you don't do that to a degree, if you don't as Shannon Sharp, check Skip Bayless, as people will want you to check them.

Or shut Skip Bayliss down or get Skip Bayliss right. then black people would be like how in the book is Shannon Sharp letting Skip Bayliss talk to him like that and that's a thing for me when I was in kind of that same situation that might cause me to overreact to things sometimes

would cause me to go hey well shit number one I can't let you get off of me like this and number two I can't let black people think then I'm standing here for you to get off on me like this. And because Skip Bayliss probably is not interested in that at all, one time, Skip Bayliss asked Shannon Sharp what he would do if somebody called him an N-word on the street.

And they made it see, and they put Shannon Sharp in the situation to where Shannon Sharp is arguing whether or not it would be okay to physically assault somebody. Shane Sharp goes, you probably have to find another co-host. And Skip Bayless goes, so you throw it away, you throw all this. There was just,

there's a part of this that I think was different between Skip and Stephen A and with Shannon who he is and who he was, I really think that sometimes when white people see that guy,

they want to take a chunk out of his ass a little bit more. They talk to him a little bit different. What Shannon was given to Skip, the big accomplished athlete, Skip treated him. different. And it was, it puts Shannon in, and I feel that same time, I'm not an ex-NFL player, but I'm a 6'4, 275-pound black man. And so sometimes when people are fucking with me, it's almost

as like, if they get my scalp, then that's a better one for them to have. It's, they, they want to be like, okay, this guy here, we got him under control, which makes me hypersensitive to that. And then after I'm hypersensitive. Now we're no longer debating about sports. I'm letting you know that you can't fuck over me. Right? And we're doing that every single time. I think that got a old for Shannon. Yeah. I think it got old for Shannon. Skip, number one, not understanding that. And number two, Skip bowing up to him a little bit and putting him in the position where we're looking at him like, dog, what are you going to say? We've even done it here. I've done it here. Like, Skip really Shannon like shit. And so, you know, I'm even, I've even fallen victim to it.

So I just think he got sick of that. And he doesn't have to take that from him. And I think last thing I'll say is like black people, a lot of times in situations all over America where they don't have the power or the money or the resources to say, hey, buy me out, I'll go do something else. You know, Shannon's in a different position. A lot of people can't do that.

So I'm glad that he, if in fact this is the reason, I'm glad that he decided to give himself out of that situation. Yeah. No, couldn't agree more. I can't wait to see what Shannon Sharp does next. What do you think he'll do? I'm not sure. Who do you think should replace Shannon on what I got a name for you?

I do too. Joy Taylor. Oh, I'm not going to top that. Joy Taylor should replace Shannon Sharp on undisputed. But let me tell you something. if you thought skip disrespect to Shannon watch the way he's going to disrespect

Joy. Joy would fucking skin skip a lie. Don't doubt it at all. That's the reason why. Don't doubt it at all. And the optics would be different

if he tried to get too spicy with her, which is probably why he wouldn't do it. But I think I think Joy would be, because I was thinking about it. Acho's probably not going to go to that. Shady McCoy is probably not going to. They may bring somebody in Nick Wright wouldn't be bad.

But I think Joy Taylor would be perfect for it. And that would be, a way for them to shake it up. I wouldn't be shocked if Emmanuel did it at all. Really? I wouldn't be shocked. I'm just saying that's a three-person show. This is two.

It's one-on-one. It's a big seat to fill. And I think he would, I would, if it was offered to him, I really bet he would take it. But I like to joy. choice and I know Joy could handle her own. But I like that. That's not who I was going to say.

I like it. Who are you going to say? Who are you going to say? Marcell. I was going to say Marcellus. I don't think Cell would go back. I don't think he would either, but that was my name. I'll be honest with you, though.

Maybe he would. You know, you throw the right bag, you know, throw the right bag and sell. Maybe he would. But, you know, in that situation, I think this might also send, that this era of sports talk, even first take has changed a little bit from the old formula. This era of sports talk might be wearing and grating on people, not just the people who watch it,

but the people who participate as well. Isn't that just like the theme of what is happening right now in the industry? The industry is really just turning a corner and really just seems to be out of, not out of whack, but everything that we knew, I feel like, or we've been doing for the past few decades with TV, is not working anymore in light of social media and streaming services. It'll be really interesting. You're right.

Same with like entertainment magazine shows. All the information is out. Why are you always laughing? Why you always got a smirk on your face when I talk? What, man? No. What? It's not.

It's nothing. Nothing. No, you're right. I was, it was, it's the next topic. I looked at the rundown. Okay, okay. To go to the next topic. It's the next topic. My point was just that things don't have to exist the same way because of how things are turning, the social media and streaming and everything. And we don't consume things the same way. So you're right. That airs over a lot of what I do on entertainment magazine news. It's like, who is the audience? Because everybody can get it on your phone first thing in the morning.

Are you saying that, are you saying that like, like access Hollywood or extra? I'm just saying, no, I'm just saying that they're fading out. I mean, who who wakes up and who is like, I'm going to go, I'm going to go watch

this. They've already read all of that stuff. And celebrities don't regard them in the same way because they take control of their own brands in regards, because of social media. They give exclusives to print print's not going anywhere. Print, people will sit down with a magazine

or like a Hollywood reporter. Well, that's a magazine, but you know, like those type of things all the time. But the TV stuff, not so much. I don't know if I agree that print's not going anywhere. Well, certain print, like the varieties, celebrities still look at that in a different way because I will see them skip.

Some prestige to it. Yes, I will see them skip national outlets, but we'll talk to variety deadline Hollywood reporter. because, yeah, it's different than the way that they look at the other stuff. What are you going to say? It's funny that you mentioned this because I remember when North was born,

the Kardashians gave the story to TMZ. They gave her name to TMZ, the name. But when the next baby was born, it was on Instagram. I remember when I saw that, I was like, wow, that's different. Like people, you know, It's like, do you have to change the way you cover things?

You go from being a celebrity news situation to be like a current events type of deal. It's like whatever. All right. So what's your body has the, no. That's what's, that's the smirk on your face. You're cruel, man. You're cruel. You're cold.

Okay. So here's the thing. Here's a thing. Okay. So, Joe, Joe Biden. So, the Air Force Academy Commit Smith. And this is in Colorado.

You know, they're graduating. Shout out to those guys. And Joe's got his hat on. I'll know if you've seen it. But you saw it. You saw it. And so Joe, he was supposed to turn around.

What's his hat on got to do with it? The bag of he has his hat on. What does it have to do with the story? Joe Joe's because you had the hat on he was looking like Top Gun he was like a bureau

His hands were like This is like he was looking And Joe Joe Like he was going to turn around And kind of like Get a little jog off the stage That motherfucker Joe

Just tripped straight Down Look man So here's the thing it's watching people fall in this funny. You guys, I fell coming down to bleachers ninth grade year,

Baton Rouge right here in this city, McKinley High School. And I just, I fell in slow motion and I actually looked around to see if anybody saw me and everybody did and everyone. It's funny when people fall. I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you.

It's like a fall was always funny. But it's interesting that Joe Biden fell and even the president falling becomes a politically charged incident okay president Harris was trending on Twitter after he fell I'm just so messed up

it's not funny it's not funny guys it's not funny it's not it's not I mean the him falling was funny because he tried to Donnie Johnnie jump on the best part was that after he got up He pointed to something on the ground. He pointed to something. Let everybody know. This is a faulty stage.

It was the best part. He tripped over a sandbag. And the narrative that comes out is he's feeble. And so that he tripped. I don't like, don't use that word. Don't use people. I'm sorry. It hits harder.

It hits harder. The narrative that comes out is that he's feeble and he tripped because he's feeble. But this is a real thing. Earlier in the week, James Vanderbeek, trended on Twitter because he feels like that the Democrats should open up the debate for fucking Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

Marianne Williamson, or whomever else is primarying Joe. And there are a lot of people out there. And the Vanderbite thing is very specific. There's some anti-VAC stuff in there that Van der Beatt's wife supports and so he is he wants his guy, which is Robert Kennedy Jr. To be able to debate Joe Biden and he's basically saying that because of that

that he feels like the Democrats are doing a disservice to Americans by not letting this debate happen. I don't think that there's any real political value to anything that James Vander to be saying. However, there is something that people are wondering in terms of 2024 and whether or not Joe Biden is healthy enough to go through the campaign and another four years of being president.

And at times, you know, Joe ain't as young as he used to be. So at times, it does seem as if he struggles a little bit. For you, are you concerned? We're not going to talk about him tripping, okay? He was smiling after this. he jogged towards his vehicle, he's fine. He did.

He wanted to make sure that he showed people that he was okay. Are you concerned? Did he keep the hat on when he jogged? When he jogged his vehicle? He's 80 years old.

Okay? He jogged he had the hat on. Are you concerned about Joe Biden at all? Listen, he's older. We know this. It was the same thing we were talking about

in the last election. And he did five. He's fallen a few times, but he's gotten right back up. Donnie play the song. Put it in and post. We fall down. We get up. And he does every single time.

And now he's ready for president again. Listen, it's obviously a concern. It is not my greater, I have greater concerns. There are other things that are important that we as a society want to see go through, that we want to see Biden do into the next election. I'm not hung up on his age. And let's not forget, Trump is 76, guys. He's 76.

He's right behind him. And we all know, typical with the Republicans, that what applies to one, doesn't apply to the other. We know that. But they're older. And typically presidents are older. Now, we know Biden's the oldest, but still, it's not as big of an issue. It's just another thing for them to harp on. Do you think that because of the president's age and the fact that he's taking a couple of

of spills, that it's important that going into 2024, I'm being serious here, that the Democrats reaffirmed their support, belief, and their investment into Kamala Harris. Do you think it's important that a lot of Americans believe that she's capable of running the country? Well, I think you have to. And it shouldn't come to the fact that he's 80. You should be doing that before, right? Whoever's the vice president. In case something happens to the president, the vice president is next.

I know. But we never give a fuck about whether or not the vice president can run the country. I get it, but I'm just saying you should. Right? We're thinking about it now because of his age. But we should be thinking about that. So absolutely,

we should be reaffirming Kamala Harris and we should be supporting her. And there is a possibility. Now, you looked at what was trending. What were people saying about president? and Harris? Were they in, were they happy about it? It was on both sides. Obviously, it was like a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. So if you don't like Kamala Harris, that's a weapon that the right would use to say don't vote for Joe Biden because he's not

going to survive the next four years, which the president gets checked out by doctors. There's no reason to believe at this point that Joe Biden won't survive the next four years. The guy's older. Obviously, a spill could be very serious for him, but there's no reason to believe that. And then on the other side is people that are just, the jokes is flying. Like, hey, Kamala, I hope you're ready. I hope you're throwing in the bullpen because you might have to step up and pitch a couple of innings. You know what I mean? But look, it's, it's a, these are the kind of things that when a president, you know, you talk about the history of America and what it means to be president on television. At first, the president was president in newsreels,

the president was president at appearances. Now, I don't know if America elected president in a wheelchair, and that's a horrible thought to have. And I don't know if that works. I know that Greg Abbott is, but I don't know if America elects a president in a wheelchair like FDR was. And then things change once you can see your president up on television. And now it's even more than television.

We are all present everywhere at all times in the day. you never know when someone is going to take a snapshot of you. And so your political enemies and people who want to get jokes off on you are going to have a lot more opportunities to do so. But, I mean, if I don't feel like, to be honest with you, that there's been much investment into Kamala by the Democrats in these first handful of years, these first few years. I don't think they've really done anything to increase her standing, but they've really supported her in the first. way that they should. I don't. I think that they've left her hanging and holding the bag for a lot of things. And I don't think the administration, I think the administration gave us our black vice president and then made sure to remind everyone that this guy is the president and this person is

the vice president, which maybe it's always says. Maybe politically that's the way that works. But I do think that we were owed more with her candidacy and her station. I think... Because she was the first? No. Because, not because she's the first. Because I think what

choosing her meant, in my opinion, was not tokenism. It was agency. And I think what I wanted was, was someone at a very specific time in American history, someone there who had agency to deal with things in a very specific way. I think her being the vice president to me signaled

that there was a multi-generational administration, someone who was a little bit behind him and had a little bit better of a cultural understanding of some of the things that specifically black people need it, but even people who are a little bit younger, the new wave of the left, not that she is a progressive by any means, but that maybe she could speak to that a little bit more. And I think the marginalization that I feel like she's had to deal with is indicative of the fact that those older boomers don't want to seed power. And you see this everywhere. You see

this in organizations. You see this in packs. You see this everywhere. because they're not ready to take their hands off the woods. I mean, it's happening on the right, too, right? You have Donald Trump, who is the older sort of older version of whatever, and he's not ready for Desantis or Haley or any of these people to come up and usurp him yet. So, you know, it happens. But I think it's more important that they kind of lean into that for the next couple years. We'll see if they will.

Speaking of Trump, your guy might be in trouble. You like him. Stop it. Stop it. I like it. You like him. You think she's funny. Do you think Trump's funny?

That one line is funny. I'm not going to bullshit you. That one, she had a dog named vagina. That's funny. Dog or a cat. A dog or cat named vagina. That's funny. Like nothing that Trump, nothing around Trump is funny.

He's a. Nothing around him. But he has, no, absolutely. But putting fingers, I'm sorry. That shit is funny to me. You got it. That's Trump didn't come. up with putting fingers, though.

No, I know, but his, but still, a PAC supporting him is funny to me. You put Trump on me. I said the pudding fingers video was funny. And from that, you have now made me a Trumpster. So apparently there is a recording of Donald Trump talking about sensitive military documents that you took with him after you left the White House. This guy's a bumbling fucking idiot. Okay.

This is, of course, on the heels of an investigation into Donald Trump and his handling of classified documents, which caused an unprecedented, a historic raid on his compound down there in Mara Lago. This recording is apparently from July 2021. It's a meeting in New Jersey between Trump and a bunch of other people that were working on memoir by his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. And I haven't heard this audio recording yet, but apparently Trump is talking all kinds of wild shit on there about documents that he has. Some stuff have to do with a potential attack on Iran and all of that stuff. I said Iran. It's Iran. I'm sorry, but I'm from the South.

It seems like, Rachel, that they're inching closer and closer and closer to having something actually really substantive on Donald Trump to where his candidacy could be an actual. jeopard. Do you feel that way? No, it definitely does. And it seems that even journalists haven't heard that those that are reporting on this haven't heard the actual recording. It's what there's more than one source is

telling them what is allegedly on this tape. And the reason that this tape existed is because Mark Meadows was writing his memoir, and so they would record these conversations because he was working with the people that were helping him with it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So even the people reporting this haven't heard yet. We just know that it is in the hands of the special prosecutor who's handling the case. It looks bad. I think last week it came out that there was something that was going to hinder Trump's defense in regards to this case. And now we know what it is that they're talking about. I don't know when they plan, you know, or if they will charge him and move forward with this. but I also don't know if it'll affect him with the primary. Nothing has at this point.

That's my question to you. Do you think even if they move forward on this case and they charge him, he gets indicted, do you think that that affects him at all come the primaries in March? You know what the interesting thing about him is, is that his coalition is ideally the one that you would want for a candidate that you back. let's say the money leaves Trump because I'm not sure what the actual rules are on whether or not you can run if you're indicted, whether or not you can run if you're convicted. I would imagine that if you're convicted of a felony during the, during a campaign that that would have to be somewhat disqualifying. But I don't know if to tell you're talking about a constitutional law elections expert. But this is what I'll tell you.

in past years, what would have happened would be that, you know, Trump would become so toxic that the money would move away from. And the big guys like the Larry Ellison's and the,

the Koch brothers, and though these guys wouldn't support a run, and because they wouldn't support a run, then Trump would be dead in the water. Mm-hmm. Right. And that was and is just American politics, you know, the ability to raise money and use that money

to, for your political campaign is part of what gets you elected. Trump could be immune to that. I mean, what you've always wanted was a candidate that had such a grassroots appeal, such an appeal with the American people or their constituents. that they didn't need to cater to big business, not saying that Trump doesn't, and that they didn't need these gigantic billionaire donors in order to put them across the finish line. That way, you could elect someone that wouldn't be beholded to special interests after they became the president. That's ideally what you would want. There's an argument to be made that Donald Trump might be that. Not that he doesn't cater to special interests in billionaires. We know that he does. But that even if the money, of the Republican Party moved away from Donald Trump, even if the big heavy hitter donors, and they haven't all, they haven't all at all.

A lot of them still really love him. Of course, he still got the My Pillow guy and other guys like that in his pocket. But I believe that even if those guys were to leave Donald Trump, that he could still fundraise, based upon his ability to grift and appeal to just the people. And that would be more than enough for him to, running his campaign.

And I'm envious of that. I wish that there was a, that there was a guy who, or a woman, a person on, that was running for president that I liked or running for anything that I liked that wasn't necessarily beholden to the money into the structures of the way politics work now. And I say all that to say that because of that, because that's probably the only thing, barring something that I'm not up on

that can hurt him? I don't know if anything can. Because I don't know if anything can stop if anything can stop his momentum if he has enough money and I think he always will. Unless it's a legal issue

like you were saying, which we don't know, if there's something, if you are convicted of a felony that that prevents you from being able to proceed in the race, that would be the only thing it seems like this point.

It would have to be some type, something, have to be some type of law. It won't be the money. It won't be, it won't be the constituents. It's got to be something like that that holds him back. And even then, he would just say, but you know what? He being convicted of a felony before all of this stuff gets cracking is is not going to happen. Maybe even not in New York. It's going to take a while to. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So, I mean, Trump's going to be here. So he just answered our own question. Yeah. Trump is going to be.

or Trump is going to be around, man. It's going to be around. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with Internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business.

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That's a new sound, Donnie. You upgraded. I want to let you guys know something. The circle of life. That's all I'm going to say. You've been itching. You've been itching to talk about this. My guy, P22, is in the hereafter.

He's running around in that big mountain range in the sky. I won't let you guys know that there's three. New kittens. P-11, P-1-14, and P-1-15. They were born to a five-year-old cougar named P-77 that's been tracked since November. Okay? The Los Angeles National Park Services let us know that we got three little baby, Mount Lion, that are out there doing their thing. just like a lot of kids today, we don't know who the father is. We might have to do a whole episode of Mori to find out who the father of these three little kittens is.

It would be so hilarious to bring them on there. All right. Rachel, I know the natural world upsets you so much that you don't care about this, but I am overjoyed. P-13. P14, P115. They're out there. I can't wait because the animals are taking this, this, this, this world back. Orcas sank three boats off the coast of Portugal. And while Rachel's on the phone, I got to tell you guys something.

I'm with the orcas. And I'll tell you why. The orcas sank three boats off the coast. host of what nation? Portugal. What did the Portuguese have a lot to do with? Aha, the Little Mermaid slave trade. I think these orcas

didn't know what year it was and were trying to help my people by sinking these boats. Not the best strategy, orcas, because who knows if we could swim around in the water, but these orcas are sick of environmental shit.

They're sick of these boats fucking polluting and they're sick of the legacy of the Portuguese and their proximity to the slave trade and these orcas are on our side. Now, tell you what, Marcus Ryder earlier, what he wanted, Rachel's texting, what Marcus Ryder wanted was he wanted there to be a slave scene in The Little Mermaid.

I say no, but what I would be in for is a scene with three fucking angry motherfucking orcas all right. Attack a ship. I want more animal retribution is what I want. We are treating this world so badly. All right? Rachel, you're going to have to say something

pretty soon here. We're going to treat you this world so badly. I need orca massacre. Did you see this? I saw it. And I wholeheartedly believe it. I totally believe that the orcas are coming together. See, I, yes, I stepped away for a second because I have a crack in my windshield and I'm waiting for the insurance to call me.

And I really needed to take that call. And I really needed to take that call because the crack is huge. It keeps growing. So this was like- The crack is huge. Wow. Okay. Grow up.

Grow up. So I apologize. But also, this was your moment. This is your segment, Animal Agent. I wanted to give you the floor. Now that I'm back, no, it's not my favorite segment. But yes, I do believe that the orcas are uniting. And every time I see to take down ships or whatever it may be,

and every time I see one of these stories that you put out there, when you find them, I'm going to be very honest. It scares me. Because if there is an animal that is going to unite and attack us, it's going to be birds because you see it happen all the time. You see the birds. You know, have you ever been driving, driving, and you look up and you see just birds all along the... The life of wires?

Yes. I've seen birds, but see, I think that birds do this to you because they know that you don't like. No, no, no, no, no. It happens all the time. They fly all into a park. They fly, they move. I'm telling you, birds are going to come together, and they're going to attack us. First, it's the birds. First, it's air, then it's sea, then it's land. Oh, land is already happening. I'm actually terrifying. I'm lying. See, like, I'm cool with the animals. When the animals take over again, I'm going to be like. They don't know you. When the animals take over, I'm going to be like a house nigger to the animals.

No. Like I'm going to sell out the rest of humanity. You know, and I'm going to be like on the side of the animals. Like they're going to have a thing. I'm going to be like, do I mean, me and Kalika will have a little hut? Don't bring Kalika into this. Let me tell you, let me tell you who you're going to be. You saw the movie dope?

Dope. Not dope. Excuse me. You saw the movie Nope. Yeah, nope. Nope. Remember the guy at the end turns on them. and just gives his body to the thing

and it's such as you. You think you're one with the animals. You put your body out there and they just go maul you down. But what a way to go for you? That would be poetic. We should say that a biologist at the University of Averro

in Portugal thinks that this aggression started because an oracle was injured by one of these boats and now sees these boats as a threat and is ramming the boats. And what I'm saying is, that's even more. Even if it's not about the history of Portuguese, that's even more. Orca Revenge.

I'm into it. That's your next movie. Six feet over. Orca revenge. All right. Most terrifying thing in a week, these reports are unconfirmed, but we have to get somebody on to talk about AI because the conversation about AI is just, it's one of the most important conversations that you can have right now in terms of loss of jobs,

in terms of what automated systems can do in terms of what it means for creativity, all that stuff. AI is just exponentially becoming a part of our lives. That's a good idea. We should get somebody to come on and talk about it. I'm trying to. It was revealed at the Future Combat Air and Space Capability Summit in London that the U.S. Air Force tested an AI-enabled drone that was tasked to disdust.

destroy specific targets. These reports are unconfirmed. I want you to listen to what these reports are saying. Apparently, a human operator had the power to override the drone in this simulation. The drone, which was powered by AI, ended up viewing the human as a threat and an impediment to its mission in attack

the human operator. It's not funny, but you're reporting. My nigger. It's not to me. In all, if true, I looked, I read the tweet, then I read the site

that this came from. There's going to be more information that comes out about this. I'm imagining that someone will ask some senior person, either at the Air Force or at the Pentagon about this. You guys, if true, this is absolutely cheering. I don't know nothing about AI, but what the fuck? It's your biggest fears realize that the robots would be smarter than us.

And it already seems like there's the technology out there that it is. I mean, that's what I want to ask somebody who comes on. What is this with these people going to Congress and saying things are out of control? The people who are creating this are saying it's gone too far. That's what I want somebody to break down. Where are we with this? Because I feel like every day, we obviously AI has been around for a while, but it seems like every week we are getting more information about these very scary stories in regards to AI. What's the deal?

I want somebody to explain this to me. So in case you guys don't know. Off for suggestions. A case you guys don't know, this is what happened in the motherfucking Terminator. Never seen that. We enabled,

we enabled, amazing. You know, I've talked about this before. At this point, they made like nine different movies, though, but you get to a point

where it's like, I missed it. I missed it. At this point, like, why would I go back and watch the original? So Terminator movie

that came out maybe like two years ago, you just never been, well, You never saw it. I'm not about to, hold on, I'm not about to ridicule. I'm just saying that's impressive. But you managed to miss every single iteration of the terminator that's ever come out.

It's impressive. You guys were watching Jesus Christ Superstar, and you didn't see it. I'm not on you. You're my sister. I don't judge you. Yeah, so Skynet was a computer program that the government entrusted all this defensive capabilities, too. it became self-aware and started a nuclear war.

And then the motherfucking machines that were run by Skynette started trying to kill humans and have their own society. And the only person that could save was John Connor. So I don't know why we're delving into this. Same shit happened in the Matrix, really. In the Matrix, if you watch the Animatrix First Renaissance, a robot was accused of killing its master. A robot was then put on trial, executed.

The robots then were kicked out. They started their own country. After they started their own country, they ended up working so quickly and so fast that their economy grew. We started a war with them. The robots fucked over us. And then that's how the world ended up fucked up in the Matrix. I robot. You love that movie.

That's one I saw. Mailbag, Tommy. Mailback time. Time to read your letters And then we'll reply to them Oh, it's mailback time Write us with your queries And we'll chime in

First Melbaq question is from ShowVis on Insta They ask, what is your stance on house cats Their smaller versions of Mountain Line? What? Like a cat cat? Yeah. Yeah, cats.

I love cats. Shocking, I know to most of you, I had a cat. I grew up with a cat. So I'm a fan of cats. I didn't grow up with dogs. So I like a cat. I didn't used to, but I like a cat. I had a very close relationship with a cat named Tom when I was growing up.

He was like a gigantic. friend of mine. Then one day he just left and never came back. So I'm not sure what happened. He lived in the house? He lived in the house, yeah. Then one day he just left and never came back. But Tom was my friend.

I have no problem with cats. Cats are fun. Cats don't really love on you like dogs, but they do love on you. I love it. It's different. They take care of themselves. It's a different type of thing. Man, I love my cat.

I was like one of those kids, tell my cat, all my secrets. you know, like, I just say, don't tell anybody. You know, like you see that, you see it in a movie, and then you try to imitate it. My cat's my best friend. Don't tell anybody. Rest and peace, the smoking. Wow. All right, next question.

All right, he's smoky. Okay. Nico already asked, yeah. Should folks be held accountable for the behavior of their friends? This is a van question. No. You got the raggedy friends. You got the raggedy friends.

You know what? I'm not going to talk bad about your friends because you have some friends I can fucking talk about too, but I'm not going to because you're not your friends. No, you shouldn't. Let me tell you what my thing is about this, and I'm glad that this question has been asked. Of course, to a degree. Submitted by me. Of course, to a degree.

This is the thing with this about me. I understand people when they say you are who you associate with and all of that stuff, of course. I get that and those people are not wrong. For me, I never got a pristine group of people to pick from to be my friends.

And so I think I'm a little bit I just didn't. Like I got like, you know, I'm in the car my homeboy and he's giving me a ride to school. He gets out. He's got a gun on him. You know, I've always had to do

they're their guys in the player proof proof I've told you before turned to a life in the streets and I have to love them through it

or like whatever you know I just where I grew up I give people a little bit more leeway sometimes maybe than I should

and so I and so I get that I get people's thing with all of that stuff and it's not and anyone who wants to criticize me for that

I get it. I do think, though, that I have to do the best in my life to live a certain way. And I have to balance being both, having both standards for people who I associate with and also being in their lives the person that tries to help them do better. I think sometimes when you're, like, sometimes like when you're me, that's not always as delicate or easy a dance to do. Well, I think that I was, and that's as honest as I can be. I think most people would say that.

In all seriousness, I think, and especially if you're talking about people that you grew up with, not like, not to diss newer friends, but not newer friends, so I think when people would joke with you, it's like, it's like a glasses or an academics, but like, there's something different about your childhood friends

and the ones that you grew up with who, like, y'all grew up together. A friend gives grace and leeway to their friends, when they act out a certain way or do certain things. Otherwise, you're not a friend. You know, the way people think that I,

that I could be judgmental or hard up, I give my friends a lot of grace. I don't have perfect friends either. And I don't talk about them on the podcast. I don't talk about them. I have a question for you, Rachel. And can I have the last mailback question, Donnie? What is that?

Yeah, this time. Okay. Oh, ooh. Rachel, have you ever had Rachel have This is for all four of you guys Ashley Donnie Have you guys ever had a ringworm?

No But I used to always think that I was You know like you see other people get it And I was like oh man I'm going to have a ringworm I've never had one You have? Yeah, same. I never had it either

But it was always a fear Like ringworm was out there I saw classmates get ringworm And I was always afraid of getting it but never did. Ashley, have you ever had ringworm? No, I've never had it. I've heard, like, stories about people having it before,

so I, like, stayed away from, like, cold hot dogs or whatever. What? Just so that I couldn't get it. Actually, hey, yeah. First of all you should never eat a cold hot dog. Somebody told me they got it. Well, when you're a child and you get, like, those luncheables with, like, hot dogs in it, you're kind of like, oh, I would eat this.

And then somebody told me they got a ringworm from a cold hot dog or something. And so I stayed away from them. It's an urban, no, this is an urban legend. It's urban, yeah. Of course.

Of course I've had it. How many times, Van, geez. So, look, like, I,

I had ringworm. I don't know what to tell you guys. Like, I've had ringworm, like, ringworm I've had. Who submitted this question? No,

I'm asking this question to you guys. I'm from the country. That is nothing to do with it. Yes, it does. I feel like if you're from the country, you're more likely to get rainworm. You don't think so? No.

I do. I think so. I had ringworm. I had ringworm one time, and I remember I had it, and it was on the side of my head. That's one. That's those are the worst.

Yeah. I had it. It was on the side of my head. I remember my barber went. My bar was cut my hair. it was itching me but I didn't like

I still I didn't know what it was and my barber was like cut my hair and he went nigger what the fuck is that I was like

what he was like you heard what the fuck I said what the fuck is that and I was like no

and your guy named Orlando was like dog that looked like a fucking ringworm bro get up get up

get up like and you said got up And a ringworm right there. A ringworm on the side of my head. I don't know how I got it. Maybe it was maybe from my football helmet or something like that.

But I've had ringworm. And I was talking to some kids. No. I was talking to some kids yesterday. And they pointed at one of the kids and he has a ringworms. Kids outside playing in his neighborhood. We got the Airbnb. And I was so fucking disgusted.

I was like, oh my God. I had to go in and take a shower, washed everywhere, because I don't know they're joking about who has ringworm. I just haven't heard anyone talk about ringworm in a long time. I was just wondering if any of you guys have ever had ringworm. Rachel, I knew you never had it.

Because you just, I can just tell, because ringworm not your tax bracket. One of my sisters had it. One of my sisters got it. I can't remember which one, but one of them had ringworm. Did the judge kick him out of the house? No. Get out of here.

Get your filth. out of here. Get out of you. All right, we got to know. All right, take your big caps off. But do not stop learning. I am Van Lakey Jr. I'm Rachel Lynn Lindsay.

Bye, guys.