It Could Happen Here - 2024 Predictions

Episode Date: January 2, 2024

We channel our inner Nate Silver to give predictions for the coming year, plus the long-awaited the return of our "death" segment!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was,

should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jacqueline Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. Black Lit is for the page turners,

for those who listen to audiobooks while running errands or at the end of a busy day. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything.

CallZ Zone Media. All right, this is the official It Could Happen Here predictions episode. And to start off here, Gare has some of our wins and some of our losses from last year's. That's right. I took a peek back at our predictions of the past to see how correct we are we got all of them right great job folks let's continue on no i i will say obviously the big dub for the year goes to sophie who said that kissinger would die yeah you got that one god i don't thank you for reminding me that i'm a genius wow we all said no there's no chance he's too psychically powerful but you maintained and it turns out all we needed was a little hope that's all we needed wow i really should use these powers uh yeah i mean i don't know who you're gonna take out next yeah we'll get there your prediction might have a death prediction for us just for funsies we once had a side note

we once had back in the beginning times when we actually went to an office at iHeart we once had a prediction of when George H.W. Bush was going to die and I was also right Sophie now you have to be

very careful which ones you guess and when I've been watching the show You So. Oh, okay. Well, Sophie, now you have to be very careful which ones you guess and when. You have to be very careful. Yeah. I've been watching. We got it hard. I've been watching the show You, which is primarily about how being a serial killer is a great idea.

God damn it. And I feel, I feel like. Why is Robert watching like white woman media? What is it? So that I can protect myself in case Sophie is secretly murdering people. Which I just feel. Two in a row.

Two in a row. That's all I'm going to say. If I was, it would be in your honor. So. So let's talk about two things Robert got wrong. Robert said that there was a decent chance, which I think there was, but it just didn't happen. That Nick Fuentes and Kanye West die together and under some mysterious circumstances i still feel like that do us all a favor sophie i think we i still think we got a shot i honestly

i think so too but it didn't happen last year the other thing robert predicted is that there would be a ska total supremacy that obviously didn't happen that's that that happened i'm sorry that happened did you miss me informing cody johnston about the mighty mighty boss tones george floyd album this year because i did and it was amazing you unfortunately did and if you haven't listened to that one of the worst things ever happened to humankind yes garrison please continue mia predicted that there would be kind of a new sort of like desantis style republican challenger approaching i think uh the fact ramaswamy perfectly fits the sort of thing that mia was talking about this the kind of new figure that enters politics but he also kind of gives

andrew yang in a way as well sure sure sure yeah yeah he's he's the fascist andrew yang he's fascist andrew yang and he's insufferable he's in fucking insufferable yeah yeah massive so fucking insufferable mia also predicted that mike pence would try to run for president the rest of us disagreed and mia was mia was proved let's give her 50 on that i don't know how much we'd say he really ran for president he jogged at most and um then he realized the only person that would vote for him was uh mother and then he was, I don't think she would. Yeah. I think she'll say she will,

but she's gonna, she's gonna pull the lever for Trump at the end of the day. Yeah, they are. Let's talk about some deaths. Mia said that Noam Chomsky would die. Shireen said Joe Biden would die. I think although they didn't physically die,

the last vestige of their like, respectability. That basically counts right they basically they torpedoed all the the last bit of like uh uh respect they had for for for people who would typically be aligned uh with them roughly biden has just been he's looked like he's on death death door for forever it's ice i similarly thought that steven crowder was going to die and instead he just he just kind of metaphorically died because he made us some a series of horrible business decisions and now is ostracized from much of the online right so that's cool um now the one that sophie's upset about is that she she wanted crypto.com to lose the name of the arena.

It's still there. Instead, the Miami Heat Arena is no longer called the FTX Arena. I mean, I'm happy about that as well. Crypto.com is still holding strong. So there we go. And I take that very personally. And it is Staples Center. Thank you so much.

And I take that very personally. And it is Staples Center. Thank you so much. Now, I will say that's I feel like I'm going to roll that prediction into next year. Yeah. Let's give it a roll. Let's roll that. I'm going to roll my Biden death prediction as well. James James said that there'd be more immigration bullshit, which obviously happened as James has been covering that most of this last year.

Also, James said that Twitter would die, which is which obviously happened as james has been covering that most of this last year also james said that twitter would die which is true because it's no longer twitter it's no longer twitter it's just like it's just like how henry kissinger changed his name so true yeah no i will say the most impressive kind of niche prediction this is the last one came from shireen oh shireen said that there would be the return of the flip phone. And searches for flip phones were up 15,000% last year among Jung-Z and millennials.

And foldable phones sold 44% more compared to 2022. So 2023 really was the return of the flip phone. So there we go I think it's going to continue because of what's happening in the Congo and all the tension that's going on over there

I think we're going to continue seeing a switch away from iPhones so that's proof of why we are all completely trustworthy and never wrong and what were you wrong about Garrison oh yeah you really skipped over your bit you really skipped over your bit. Yeah, Garrison. You really skipped over your bit, Garrison.

Oh, wow. I thought that Harry Styles, there'd be some damning information that'd come out and he would just plummet. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Styles is still hanging in there. Still styling. Here's to hoping.

Hey. Sophie's favorite musician. Not my favorite musician, uh puts on a good show all right all right predictions for this next oh wait hold on i i need to take one i need to take one other l which is that i i significantly overestimated my countrymen and i thought that yes that we'd see another wave of revolts from people dying from covid in china and we didn't uh i don't know. My countrymen suck ass like everyone else.

That's because COVID's not real. We don't agree about that. Let's blaze past that one. When we get back from this break, we're going to start going through some predictions. Hola mi gente. It's Honey German,

and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of Latin culture, musica, películas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters,

this is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories.

Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. belly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to leading journalists in the field. And I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible.

Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God, things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh.

And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez.

At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story,

as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. Yeah, so that's why I just don't really think the vaccines were. So 2024 is an election year, obviously. So there will be some election related predictions. Let's do. I don't want to immediately just go to like, who's going to win? Let's do some veep pics. Yeah election related predictions let's do i i don't want to immediately

just go to like who's gonna win let's do some vp picks yeah let's let's do some vp picks because this is this is gonna be a joe biden versus trump race right like unless one of them drops dead before november here's hoping this is not a chance of ideally murder suicide that's that's my hope that's my hope for them for once i don't disagree with robert but do we think that kamala harris is gonna is gonna it's gonna stick in uh the the democrat vp spot god i think so it's hard to imagine she wouldn't she's a dog shit candidate like yeah their best the best person i think they could run is whitmer like if i'm if i'm like war gaming the democratic party trying to give him the best shot it's throwing whitmer in but joe biden would have to at least his vp make a really fucked up joke

it's good he's gonna stick he's gonna stick with kamala for sure yes yeah which is unfortunate because there's definitely better there's like definitely i wouldn't say better there's definitely like more strategic people that but i mean if we were going by strategy we wouldn't uh the democrat i mean yeah it wouldn't be by biden trump again if we were going by what's best for the country sure um as for trump last year i said that i think herschel walker could be a potential of ep which i think is still true but there's not as not as much as it used to be um trump trump would become the third organization to become completely screwed by picking herschel walker like three consecutive organizations have bet everything on herschel walker and lost there's that's the biggest thing is that is that trump doesn't like losers and herschel walker is kind Three consecutive organizations have bet everything on Herschel Walker and lost. There's no way.

That's the biggest thing is that Trump doesn't like losers, and Herschel Walker's kind of only ever lost. Now, obviously, we've talked about this before, Vivek Ramaswamy is maybe a potential, but he could be too loud for Trump. He could kind of steal too much of the spotlight. Trump doesn't want to share the attention. Okay, does each person want to go around?

Let's go around the horn. So Garrison, who is your pick? I mean, I was mostly tossing between Vivek and Herschel Walker, but I'm not confident in either of those. But there's no other names that really come to mind because most of the other people on the debate stage either were too hostile to trump or just didn't seem like people trump would really get behind yeah i think bobby kennedy i think he could actually do it I think okay admittedly my biggest reason for thinking this is not actual political analysis

is that we live in the dumbest of all possible worlds and the dumbest of all possible worlds is Bobby Kennedy that is true this is the dumbest timeline maybe Nikki Haley if he can overcome his like misogyny

yeah but haley haley's been kind of not like attacking trump fully but she has not been super pro trump on this stage i think she may have alienated him too much i i i was also thinking like you know who's like uh a more like a docile woman that trump would want to run beside but yeah but nicki haley has has the reach that that he does i think she'd be helpful to him and like everyone is against every candidate until they're picked for fucking vp so yeah i think i think that there's there's several different um people that he he could pick he could pick uh carrie lake he could pick. He could pick Carrie Lake. He could pick Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

He could pick, oh man, what is that governor's name? Kristi Noem? Yes. Thank you, thank you. He could pick Kristi Noem. You're welcome. But if he's going to go woman, he's going to go, I think, one of those three because I think he's already

bad-mouthed Nikki Haley enough go, I think, one of those three because I think he's already bad mouth. He's already bad mouth Nikki Haley enough. But I think what people are forgetting is he might just pick somebody that he knows won't turn on him. He might just pick his fucking daughter. I was going to say, actually, I mean, he might pick Jared Kush kushner the kush bomb yeah yeah let's get that that's the fucking election i want robert do you have a pick i mean i suspect he's that that biden and uh fucking harris are going to run although you, you know, again, if I'm talking about who I think actually would be the smart pick for the

Dems, it's Whitmer and or Andy Beshear, who's the democratic governor of Kentucky, super popular, like really good at talking to kind of working class voters is, has been successful in a red state. We're in this weird situation where almost anyone kind of besides Kamala Harris

who were to run against Trump would win easily. And if Trump were to be replaced by like Nikki Haley, she would just absolutely pants Biden. This is what all of the data shows at the moment so we're in this really odd moment of like we have it's like it's the opposite of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object it's like the the very mobile object meeting the very light force it's they're both just sort of sliding around the room. Coughing baby versus coughing baby.

Yeah. It's two babies with tuberculosis in a steel cage while Joe Rogan narrates the fight. Which I would watch. What a country. So I don't know. I don't know who the fuck Trump is going to pick. Yeah, probably his daughter, Jay Kush. He might.

Probably his daughter, Jay Kush. He might, you know, I wouldn't be wildly shocked if he were to go with, oh Christ, what's her name? She ran as a Democrat last time. Oh, Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi Gabbard. I did think about that too. She's fucking mental now. Yeah, she's been out of her mind for a while.

I think she's too irrelevant. I wouldn't be shocked. She's a regular Fox News mind for a while. I think she's too irrelevant. I wouldn't be shocked. I think she's too irrelevant. She's a regular Fox News contributor. Yeah, yeah. I don't think, he doesn't want someone who is like, I think he's- Yeah, but he hates Fox News now. The unpopularity- Until they need him.

He needs them. The vapes unpopular enough that I think Trump might see him as a loser. Tulsi's not a loser. She's also not a threat to him being in the spotlight and he he might decide to roll those bones yeah i didn't think about that all right um do we do we want to switch over to another category gear sure um does anybody have a general prediction that they would like to share? Sure. I think a Daily Wire host is going to have something funny happen to them. Anything related to based on how much like there's going to be probably a whole bunch of rallies happening in 2024 in the lead up to the election.

I think there's gonna be a lot more on the ground stuff than there was in 2023. I think animosity has only really risen these past three years. And I think that we could see the return of pying as a widespread tactic.

From your mouth to God's ear, Scarissa. So, you can put that one together. All right, I'll go. My prediction is a two-part, and it falls under the Kimye. My first prediction is that Kanye, people are going to forget.

People are going to forget. People are going to forget. He's going to put out a new album and people, because he's already started to like do the thing that Kanye does, where he plays an album at a random club and or plays a listening party event. And yeah, people are going to forget. He's going to do that. And yeah, people are going to forget. He's going to do that. And then Kim has been hanging out with Ivanka a lot.

And she is almost done with law school. And I think she is going to have some kind of a feeler into the field of politics this year. Oh my God, what if she's VP? I actually, that thought actually did go through my brain. But I don't think she's there yet. We are not ready for a Trump Kardashian ticket. I'm sorry. But he would win, unfortunately. I am moving back to Canada.

That's simply not happening. A full reality TV ticket would be just so America of us. This is the worst country. There would be hell back by then. Then Trump would have to acknowledge the armenian genocide and it would make relations with turkey very difficult that would she would just lead into her presidency would be very good for armenia it would for the kurds it'd be amazing but like but like kim kardashian visiting the ypj since since trump's been out of office ivanka kind of went underground and you know most people have not been seen with her and in the last couple months she has

been photographed with kim kim has posted her they've been doing things together they've been coordinating outfits it's yeah and so i think we might see some kind of thing between the two of them there or kim is going to start making her way into a political career of some kind yeah although i do think that not you know some of the work that she's done helping getting uh innocent folks out out of prison has been pretty dope i will say yeah that is my prediction the kimye i hate this country i think we probably will go back we just did this episode uh spoiler we're recording in 2023 i predict that by this time next year we will probably go back to something approaching title 42 unfortunately uh which will be terrible given that, like, as Robert said, kind of

we're seeing increased conflict all over the world, people are coming here. They won't be able to, that will have massively destabilizing influence on Mexico as it, as it did last time and impact on Mexico. Um, I'm also really what my like concern prediction this year is violence against migrants in places where they're extremely vulnerable. As we go through the election cycle, which would inevitably demonize them from both fucking parties. So that's become a really big,

especially with this stupid practice of busing people across the country and then dumping them onto the streets. That's my big concern for 2024. Mia? and then dumping them onto the streets like that that's my big concern for 2024 mia uh you know what fuck it i can be wrong all right so my this is my this is my my a thing that i've been waiting for to happen that's going to be one of the just most one of the worst things that's going to happen eventually at some point this is going to be one of the just most one of the worst things that's going to happen eventually at some point this is going to happen we're going to get an attempt by the republicans to seriously come after interracial marriage and it is going to form the most insane political coalitions you have ever heard of in your entire life it is going to be like this nightmare word coalition of just like

the open white supremacists the like asian mra people a bunch of like you're gonna see a bunch of these completely deranged like korea like nom like nominally left-wing korean ethno-nationalist groups i you're gonna see like the the like andrew tate people i there's gonna be this it's gonna have this this just absolute nightmare coalition behind it it probably won't work but it is going to be one of the worst things and i don't know if i i hope it doesn't happen next year but i think i think the election year someone could actually decide that this is going to be the time they're going to try to do it that that is the sort of shit that when i when i think about like what

could upset the election in joe biden's favor, it would be the Republicans launching a crusade like that. Them going too hard too fast. Yeah. And on something that everyone up until the moment it happens would assume was just not up for debate. I don't know. It might happen if they go after gay marriage, but everyone's kind of braced for that. don't know it might happen if they let go after gay marriage, but everyone's kind of braced for that. If they were,

if they were to launch a crusade against interracial marriage. Yeah. That is the kind of thing that might, might just sink them. Everyone might just go, well, I guess we have to vote for Biden again, because this is just out of its mind.

I mean, one thing that Republicans have been talking more about, and I think it's maybe possible that there'll be one or two States that, that actually moves on this um is is abolishing uh no fault divorce i think that is something that could happen in like one or two red states that this year i don't know how much that would actually impact national elections but that is something i think the republicans are starting to focus more on yeah specifically like republican media influencers largely because they all have had their wives leave them yeah

shirini um well yeah i i do think that flip flip phones are going to continue being popular, especially now. It's doubling down. No, I mean, first of all, I was right. Second of all, I have a couple of ones that I hope aren't true, but I think they will be. I have a feeling that, and I think there's going to be something similar to the Muslim ban, but in specific, like about Palestine and israel i think that there's going to be something scary that targets an entire people that i don't want to be true but it just feels like we're we're going up that route so i feel like there's gonna be i have i have a thing

about what that's going to be i i think i think what's going to be and there's something we've been seeing in florida there's going to be a giant push to ban chinese citizens from owning property because this is this is already happening in florida um there's there's been this whole and like like florida's right now in the process of doing this thing where they're trying to prevent people who spent like one year in uh in china from like being universities i i think it's going to be this giant like they're they're gonna do one of these like chinese people can't own property things yeah i didn't know that be this giant, like they're, they're, they're going to do one of these, like Chinese people can own property things. Yeah.

I didn't know that. That's really unsettling. They're closer than you would think to already doing a version of a Muslim ban, not targeting Palestine, but well, and, and Trump has promised countries.

That's what I mean. That's it. It happened before. Like, why wouldn't it happen again? It just feels really unsettling that it's, that's a possibility of it happening again well and trump has promised that if he wins again we're he's moving straight to deportation of

muslims like yeah i i think we will like that that he's he said that that's what we're gonna do yeah i also think that there's going to be an uproar about a historical figure who was white being played by a black person like another another one of those yeah i mean that's that's like every week shereen it's uh what if i just want to be right it's already it's already starting shereen you are correct because next year what denzel is going to be playing playing hannibal barca in a movie about the second punic war which any person who is not out of their mind is like, that's inspired casting.

He's the best possible person they can have playing that guy, but it's going to piss off a bunch of people. You're the one who listened to that James Bond podcast, right? Kill James Bond. That's the name of the podcast. Yeah, okay. I just got to say this.

T-Girl James Bond, it would set the world on fire. It would be the funniest thing that's the name of the podcast yeah okay i just gotta say this t-girl james bond it would set the world on fire it would be the funniest thing that's ever happened yes do it god yeah yeah at least the dogs of war that way yeah the civil war will begin because of trans james bond you heard it here first yeah so true so true i see i'm i take a different tact which is that we should find the most cajun man alive and finally give the people what they want which is cajun james bond i mean that would also go hard like james bond making a like instead of instead of a martini shaken not stirred he likes a nice etouffee like come on let's do it let's let's be heroes i i i know we wanted to close with the with the with

the death segment i think because of kissinger we already took so many dubs there that i one thing that is on my mind is i surely there it's possible there'll be more kind of protests popular mobilizations like this summer before the election but i'm more interested in what's going to happen after the election because no matter who wins which i either i really don't have a strong feeling one way or another there's potentials for obviously if trump wins i think there'll be massive uh another january 6th type event or no no if pussy hats are gonna come back if trump wins there will be that's my prediction there'll be like probably at least two strong weeks of intense rioting across the country. I think we'll see more firm suppression than we did in 2020 in a lot of cases,

which will be interesting because at this point, Biden will still be technically in charge, but everyone's going to treat it like it's a Trump problem. On the other hand, if Biden wins, wins are we gonna get stopped to steal two or will a second or will or will a second defeat in a row almost be more of like a death kneel for this sort of like mega mobilization i get that i think that that's also a possibility that two two losses in a row could just just like disillusion a whole bunch of people who otherwise kind of want to do a Stop the Steal 2, but it may just not happen.

We literally can't, we can't, we can't let Trump pick more judges. I'll tell you what'll happen is, because I am aware of the predictive programming that the Obamas have been putting out through their new movie, Leave the World Behind. We're going to have a military coup and they're going to use the Havana Syndrome gun

to knock us all out while they fix politics one way or the other. Don't know which side is going to do it, but somebody's going to drop the Havana Syndrome gun. Yeah. Let's take a quick break and come back with our death predictions. How does that sound, everybody?

Let's take a quick break and come back with our death predictions. How does that sound, everybody? Hola, mi gente. It's Honey German, and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of Latin culture, musica, peliculas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you.

We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel winning economists to leading journalists in the field and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong though, I love

technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh.

And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez.

At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network,

available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Robert, who's going to die? Who's going to die, Robert? Robert. You know what? My pick this year is everybody. I think this is the year we all get it.

I think somebody's going to push the button and finally, finally, the world's atomic stockpile will bring us all sweet release. Okay, my serious prediction, I think Putin will be assassinated. Oh, that'd be cool. Dude, I was going to say, I have a feeling that there's going to be

some type of assassination that will rock the world. Yeah. Decent chance Assad eats it still, I think. God, you know know the only reason i wouldn't say that's like the guy i most want to see die in the world and probably will be until he does but like he tops that erdogan's up there but asad just nobody nobody else has that body count right now but no one can touch him that's the thing that really that's the thing bb's going for it but still he's got to kill i mean like asad's at six seven thousand something

like that i uh i just don't know he's he's a survivor unfortunately like you have to you do kind of have to acknowledge that about him like he's a religious vigor he's pretty good at not getting killed so far um i just don't know whereas like putin hasn't really been tested this way yet and i i do kind of think yeah i think that there's there's a chance i don't know that i think it's a high chance sure yeah i mean i think every day we get closer and closer to an elon musk overdose um well we overdose on elon musk and all and our own lives so so true james yeah yeah my prediction is that with the will of god morrissey will finally fucking die and rid us of his annoying bullshit oh my god because uh wow did not. That is not what I was expecting.

Great. Yeah. Inshallah. We will see the end of Morrissey this year. Friends. Has everybody, has everybody gone? Cause is it my turn with my,

with my power? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sophie, he gonna off. Yeah. I'm not saying Morrissey.

I really, he's a prick. I really thought about this and um it's time it's time david miscavige it's fucking time okay wow yeah he said it you're first yeah maybe from the person who predicted kissinger yeah and someone else she picked someone else right who else did you get to be i, right? Who else did you get, Sophie? I don't know. Who else did I get? I don't have anything else. You said something about when you were in the office.

Oh, George H.W. Bush. Oh, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. We could be two for two here. But I think it's going to be a Miscavige, but, you know, he'll just jump into another body. You know what I wish? This is a wish that I don't think will come true,

but McConnell. I mean, that seems pretty... He has a short circuit in front of a camera. He'll die live on TV when he dies. I feel like that has to happen. We have seen the android flip on and off multiple times. I think it's very clear that one day it just won't boot back up. Yeah, Pelosi could die too.

No, I think McConnell's going to die the way he lived, with fentanyl that got snuck into his heroin. You know? That's just, I think, obvious. And on that note, bye yeah till the turtle bye are we free we're free bye it could happen here is a production of cool zone media for more podcasts from cool zone media visit our website coolzonemedia.com or check us out on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources.

Thanks for listening. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast. And we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba?

Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while running errands or at the end of a busy day. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything.