Lovett or Leave It - GOP in Chaos and Trump on Trial (Live from Asheville!)

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

Governor Roy Cooper stops by to talk Medicaid expansion, abortion access, and the fight for democracy in North Carolina, before telling us how to live it up in the Tar Heel State. Drag Race star LaLa Ri gets as congenial as possible given… the world. Tressie McMillan Cottom talks books, bans, and blondes. We spend a Happy Hour with our audience’s high notes, and we go a round with the Carolina Rant-thers. Look, not every Rant Wheel pun is going to work, but when you’re in beautiful Asheville, a city we could move to tomorrow, you just don’t care. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail] and include the name of the podcast. 

Hello, Asheville! Thank you. I have to say, feeling is mutual. Everyone that works on this show decided they want to move here. So I have some producer roles to fill. Shoot your shot at crooked.com slash careers. Welcome to the Errors Tour.

We have a great show for you tonight. Is that my fault? We have a great show for you tonight. Your governor is here. Drag sensation La La Ri is here, drag sensation Lala Ri is here, Tressie Millen Cottom is here, and we spin the rant wheel. And as a treat to this town teeming with hoppy ales.

We want to hear your high notes, and in exchange, we're going to give you increasingly alcoholic local beers. But first, let's get into it. What a week. Donald Trump, who has no legal obligation to attend his civil fraud trial in Manhattan, said this as he left the courthouse on Wednesday. I'm here, stuck here, and I can't come pay. I'd rather be right now in Iowa. I'd rather be in New Hampshire or South Carolina or Ohio or a lot of other places,

but I'm stuck here because I have a corrupt attorney general that communicates with the DOJ in Washington to keep me nice and busy. Complaining about being stuck somewhere where he 100% chose to be and could leave at any time? Who is this guy? Me at everything? The New York Times revealed this week that New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's wife, who is also under indictment, hit and killed a man with her car in 2018. Yeah! This was shortly before a New Jersey businessman gave her a new Mercedes, allegedly in exchange for her husband's interference in an unrelated criminal prosecution. It is rare that you kill a man with your car

and then get a nicer one as a gift. Editor's note, the car she hit the man with was also a Mercedes. This is like a bad person biathlon. Like, your car is so fucked up because of the human-shaped dent in it that you replace it with a car acquired through bribery. I ghosted someone six months ago. There are nights I can't fall asleep.

How do these people fucking function? Rudy Giuliani is suing President Biden for defamation, saying that he lost clients and podcast listeners after Biden called him a Russian pawn during a presidential debate three years ago. That's not why we stopped listening, cried his former podcast listeners. Giuliani, of course, is nothing like a pawn. A pawn moves in a straight line. A loud screeching test of the federal government's emergency alert system

hit Americans' phones and TVs on Wednesday. Immediately, Mitch McConnell jolted upright and finished the press conference he began on July 27. On Wednesday, the White House announced another $9 billion in student debt relief. Just days after student loan repayment went back into effect, that brings the total in student debt cancellation to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million borrowers. You know when your grandma starts getting forgetful and sends two birthday checks a year? Maybe we love having Biden run again. And sure, it would have been more if Republicans in the Supreme Court hadn't stood in the way,

but $127 billion is nothing to sneeze at. That's between 107,000 Mar-a-Lagos, depending on when you ask him. Said Biden, by freeing millions of Americans from the crushing burden of student debt, it means they can go and get their lives in order. I do want to take a moment, however, to hold space for the many Americans who do not have crushing student debt and also do not have their lives in order. We're here. We're wearing a bathing suit as underwear. Get used to it.

Biden explained that the law allows the Secretary of Education to compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances. What other obscure, cool laws have we been overlooking? Anything about the Transfersation Secretary being allowed to do abortions on trains? Biden could have thrown up his hands and said, hey, I tried. The Supreme Court said no, but he didn't. He kept looking for workarounds to do the right thing. That's the kind of president we need. A guy who hears, I'm sorry, they don't let us put tortilla chips in the burritos and says, then sell me a burrito and tortilla chips on the side And what I do when I get to the table is between me and God

The fallout from the removal of Kevin McCarthy as house speaker continues Fallout, fall out, stop it. Lock him up, no, no. After a fair and just trial. When asked if there was anything he could have done differently with the eight Republicans who voted to remove him, McCarthy said this. Yeah, a lot of a lot of them I helped get elected, so I probably should have picked somebody else. Over here, Dr. Frankenstein, my question is any regrets?

Let that one let that one simmer. North Carolina's own Congressman Patrick McHenry. Yeah, all right, boo him. All right. He doesn't listen. The only people that listen also hate him and also hate your hissing. As interim speaker, his first move was kicking Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer out of their hideaway offices in the Capitol. These are given to outgoing leaders as a courtesy so they can quickly get to

and from votes. Conservatives fighting with each other and taking it out on random old people. What is this? The inter-Republican debate over George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security? Holds for, holds for laughter. Let the laughs die down. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said this to the Republicans who voted to boot McCarthy. From my position as a longtime Republican activist, they're traitors. All eight of them should, in fact, be primaried. They should all be driven out of public life. Yeah, you know what?

That's a good point, Newt Gingrich. You are a longtime Republican activist. I wonder where these guys got this idea to behave in this manner. I wonder what kind of person might have inspired them to do this. I wonder what kind of person might have inspired them to do this. In 1978, Newt Gingrich said this at a speech to college Republicans.

This is real. I'm just going to read you something that Newt Gingrich said. This was his, I believe, his third campaign and his first successful effort to become a member of Congress, 1978. He said, I think that one of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don't encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, and loyal, and faithful, and all these Boy Scout words, which would be great around the campfire, but are lousy in politics. Don't run around and play games. When one of your elders comes in and says, I don't like what you're doing, tell them tough. One of the great weaknesses,

this is a real quote, one of the great weaknesses of the Republican Party is we recruit middle class people. Middle class people as a group are told you should not shout at the table. You should be nice. You should have respect for other people. When you see somebody doing something dumb, say it. And when you say it, say it in the press, say it loud, fight, scrap, issue a press release. Go make a speech. This is a society in which you've got to be willing to be rough and tumble. They learned it from watching you, Dad. All these fucking guys,

especially these old guys have been doing this forever. They're like, what happened? You happened. You did this over 50 years. You think Matt Gaetz hatched out of a fucking egg? You sat on that egg. You warmed that egg under your fucking butt

for 50 goddamn years waiting for Matt Gaetz to hatch. You built the nest. You got the twigs. You built the nest. You got the twigs. You laid the egg. You sat on it with your big, fat, fucking right-wing evil ass. And then you waited. And you waited. And then it hatched.

And you're like, ew, what is this? That's your child. I feel like my passion to analogy quality was off. Senator John Fetterman said of McCarthy's ouster, replacing one dick with a different kind of dick isn't going to change anything in the house. We're one DNA test away from the Jerry Springer Show. Which is obviously unfair.

The Jerry Springer Show would have had Lauren Boebert escorted out by now. Fox News host and guy who probably calls service workers pal when he's mad, Brian Kilmeade got into a heated exchange

with Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett. Oh, come on. Please? You're praying about it one minute. The next minute you're going to lead

an insurgency? So you don't think that praying about it is important? How dare you pray for something that hurts Republicans? Prayer doesn't do that. It only stops mass shootings. Louisiana Republican Garrett Graves said he supported the decision to take a week before voting on the next speaker. If we had stayed together in the meeting last night, I think that you would have seen fists

thrown. And I'm not being dramatic when I say that there is a lot of raw emotions right now. Said Nancy Pelosi in response, sorry, Garrett, the doors are locked from the outside and I'd look around because I've hidden nunchucks everywhere. Is that a roll of quarters and a sock under my seat? Nancy, diabolical. Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen told CNN on Wednesday that Matt Gaetz's fellow Republicans never defended him from the sex trafficking allegations

because they had all seen him sharing videos of women he'd slept with on the House floor. Mullins also said this. He'd brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night. You all saw that pause before energy drinks, right? You all saw that pause before energy drinks, right? Also, man, you draw a picture of a guy named Mark Wayne Mullen, you're drawing a picture of this fucking guy. That is Mark Wayne Mullen in the fucking dictionary.

It's not even a criticism. It's just that's what a Mark Wayne Mullen's supposed to look like. It's 100% Mark Wayne Mullen's shape. Anyway, the race is on. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise have both announced their campaigns to become the next Speaker of the House. Guy who's been known to pal around with white nationalists or guy who allegedly turned a blind eye to rampant sexual abuse at Ohio State, somehow Republicans will have to pick just one. eye to rampant sexual abuse at Ohio State, somehow Republicans will have to pick just one. Of course, as Sean Hannity pointed out, there's no rule that says the Speaker of the House has to be a human. Sources telling me at this hour, some House Republicans have been in contact with

and have started an effort to draft former President Donald Trump to be the next Speaker. to draft former President Donald Trump to be the next speaker. And I have been told that President Trump might be open to helping the Republican Party, at least in the short term, if necessary. Yeah, his source, Donald Trump. But let's hear it from the horse's ass's mouth. A lot of people have been calling me a bad speaker. All I can say is we'll do whatever's best for the country and for the Republican Party. That's the thing. He's the perfect choice for speaker because he's so good at speaking.

The Pope called out America this week for our irresponsible excess in his speech promoting climate action. He delivered the speech from his golden tax-exempt palace staffed by thousands in his little city where he's king. Yeah, okay. Now let's go get the papists. I don't know what's happening. Our responses have not been adequate, said El Papa,

while the world... It's fun to call him El Papa. Our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. Hey, here's an idea. Any way your friend could help? Talk to him every day. A model dressed as a giant furball derailed a show at Paris Fashion Week when, unable to see, she got lost on the runway and crashed into the front row. Hey, I would like to them just a little bit closer For those listening at home, it is as I described.

It was a giant furball bouncing around the runway, almost knocking over literal Sam Smith. Quick question. What is fashion? Quick question What is fashion? Do you worry our culture is in a tacky and decadent era at all? Oh no, cried the model Now I look ridiculous

Thank you A rogue Airbnb guest Thank you. A rogue Airbnb guest has refused to leave or pay rent for the luxury rental in Los Angeles, where she's remained since her stay ended in April of 2022. Oh, man. In other words, she gets free housing and just sits around doing nothing. Who is this, my frigging wife?

That's what I was trying to do, said Donald Trump. The guest's lawyer said she wasn't required to pay rent because the city never approved

the guest house unit for occupancy and the shower was constructed without a permit. We now go live to an exclusive interview with the guest.

I'm not fucking leaving! I'm not fucking leaving! A man in Nebraska is facing charges after accidentally shooting his grandson in the shoulder while officiating a wedding. That is terrible officiating. Usually the risks when you're officiating is like, is this joke a little too off color? Shot his grandson. That's a fuck up.

He was attempting to fire a blank into the air to start the wedding off with a bang. But the gun slipped. At least it wasn't a gender reveal, said the officiant. But no one laughed because the boy was screaming. He's okay. The kid's okay. In Philadelphia, a man was denied entry to a Phillies game when he attempted to enter the stadium with his emotional support alligator.

Yeah. It's adorable. He brought the alligator on a leash. They didn't let him in. Bullshit. He needs that support monster. Because when you visit Philadelphia, you realize therapy has not reached that city yet. They simply have no concept of it. When you cry in school, your teacher throws a battery at you. The local hospitals have replaced the psych wards with medical sandwich dispensaries, and the nurses also throw batteries at you. And finally, more than 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and facilities across the country walked off the job Wednesday

in the biggest healthcare strike in U.S. history. So it was an especially bad day for a suspicious-looking scab. That's how we're going out? Oh, no. Fall out. Fall out. That's how we're going out? Oh, no. Fallout, Fallout, Fallout. All right, when we come back,

yeah, the governor's hopefully still here. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back! The state budget is now in effect, which means on December 1st, my next guest brings Medicaid expansion to North Carolina.

And he decided to come here. Welcome to the stage, Governor Roy Cooper. Hi, Governor. Thank you for being here. Come on. You're right in the middle. They're fans. They're fans. Welcome. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having us in Asheville. Outstanding. Hello, Western North Carolina.

Love it. Love it. So Medicaid expansion will begin. It took an unrelenting effort over years. Could you walk us through what it took to get this far? Cliff notes, cliff notes. So, cliff note, you got it. Your former boss, your friend, President Obama.

I think I'd call him my friend. I don't think he'd call me his friend. Pushed through the Affordable Care Act. And it gave states the opportunity to expand Medicaid. And in 2014, states had the opportunity to do that. Taylor Swift was still singing country music at that time. So we pushed and we pushed. And many of you out there helped us get it done. But we had to put together, because we had a Republican legislature that continued to fight it and fight it and fight it. So we put together non-traditional coalitions. And you know, law enforcement was finding that many of their officers were spending so much time with people with mental illness and substance use disorder. And we got them to come to the legislature to tell these Republicans that, hey, these people need health care and not handcuffs. We pulled together Republican rural county commissioners, rural hospitals, rural chambers of commerce,

and finally, finally, we got them to agree to get health care to 600,000 North Carolinians, starting December the 1st. So, if I had a couch, I'd jump up on it like Tom Cruise. Like Tom Cruise? Okay. We should next time, we should have done that. You know, it's also a reminder. First of all, I think one of the things that was so galling, and it was actually quite surprising that a bunch of states didn't embrace expanding Medicaid,

because as you know, this was the federal government paying the vast majority of the expense to give health care to people in these states, and a lot of Republican governors tried to stop it. You are term-limited, so you're in your bucket era, I guess. But I have 15 glorious months to go, okay? And by the way, we were turning down $521 million a month. A month? A month. And think about what Texas and Florida is turning down for their working people.

It's absurd. It's ridiculous. You don't even have to assess any state taxes because you can put an assessment on the hospitals and it's all federal money, tax money that you've already paid to Washington that other states are getting. It's so galling. It's crazy. It's crazy. Crazy. It's crazy. Crazy. But it's a reminder that, you know, what the stakes have been in North Carolina, this state where we have so many competitive elections, this purple state. Can you talk a little bit about how important continuing the progress you've been able to make will be when North Carolina goes to the polls to pick their next governor? just say that because of technologically diabolical gerrymandering, this legislature does not reflect who we are as North Carolinians.

And we've got three things that we have to do, and I've already made some promises, but we've got to win this state for President Biden. and I've already made some promises, but we've got to win this state for President Biden. We've got to elect Josh Stein as our new governor. And we have to break the supermajority in the state legislature. And look, I'm going to work governing these next 15 months, but I'm also going to have shoulder to the wheel here to make sure that I am involved all the way up to 2024, raising money, helping get out the grassroots organizations, and making sure we do all three of those things. You got to help us do it, guys. Got to help us do it.

So you talked about this, the gerrymander that you've been dealing with here. There's also been efforts on the part of the Republican legislator to strip your powers away. So when a Republican wins, they get to govern. When a Democrat wins, a Republican gets to govern. North Carolina is a place other states have looked to in both directions to learn not for Republicans to take what they did here to try to strip power elsewhere, but also how Democrats have fought back. Can you talk a little bit about the fights you've been waging here on LGBTQ rights to protect voting rights and where you've found you've been able to kind of galvanize people, even when their votes are being discounted or their democracy is being undermined? You know, these Republicans are on the cutting edge of all the wrong things. You know, I've worked hard to work with them. And we got Medicaid expansion and we got clean energy legislation

that's going to require to get us to carbon zero in our power sector by 2050. And we've created a lot of really good paying jobs. But at the same time, this legislature has taken us backward. For four years, I had enough Democrats in the legislature to sustain my veto. So we kept all of that bad stuff at bay. And you would have thought that North Carolina would have learned a lesson with our bathroom bill. Come on. But what they've done that now we had a Democrat flip, and now they have a one-vote supermajority in the House and Senate, so they're going back and passing these anti-LGBTQ plus bills, this don't say gay bill, which let me just tell you,

our public school teachers are my heroes. And, you know, I had one of our leaders in our community say to me, he said, growing up as a gay little boy in eastern North Carolina, public school teachers saved my life. And to try to put this barrier in between teachers and these young students, for political purposes only, attacking vulnerable children, whether they be trans, whether they be gay, whatever it is, it's just wrong on so many levels. What we have to do is to prove them wrong at the ballot box. And we've got to make sure that our young people who are so excited about these issues, about climate change, about fighting discrimination, about public education, about gun violence, and making sure we take, you know, we live in North Carolina, guys, but

we should be able to take reasonable steps to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children and people who are a danger to themselves or others. But we've got to translate that excitement into making sure that young people get that vote in the ballot box. They're transient. Do I register at college? Do I register at home? Register in North Carolina. Help us out. We got to do it. Got to do it. How much has the overturning of Roe shifted politics in North Carolina? The legislature passed this restrictive ban. It's held up by the courts. How much do you think that is changing the political realities here? Are we going to fight back?

Are we going to fight back? It is absolutely changing the politics. You know, these politicians have no business in the exam room with a woman and her doctor. They went into a back room. They rolled out this bill. It's a 12-week abortion ban, and I know it's not as strict as some of the other southern states, but they said at the time they were coming back. They were coming back next year. And so what they did was galvanize themselves. They even had Republicans who had promised that they would not mess with these abortion laws. But every single Republican voted to override my veto. Every single Democrat voted

to sustain my veto. It was a one-vote margin in each chamber. We have to get galvanized ourselves and make sure we win these next elections. It is going to be an issue that I think is going to be talked about a lot, and I hope it will drive people to the polls because they're going to come back and they're going to make this law even worse. So what's funny? And they want to know what's funny, and don't we all? Well, can I tell you about the Western Residence? Please. Do you know that we have a Western Residence?

It's here. We have a governor's mansion. We have a Western Residence. It is a second home for the governor. It was given to the state in the 1950s. And I made my first trip out here after six months. It was July of 2017. And do you remember when Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey was having the budget fight,

closed the beaches in New Jersey, and the iconic picture of him and his family on the beach. So I came up here for the very first time that very weekend, and the New York Times decided to do a story, what governors have second residences, and are they there? Well, at least I didn't close the mountains, right? Well, at least I didn't close the mountains, right? Speaking of recreation... We have but 24 hours here in Asheville and North Carolina. And we'd like to make the best of it. And we have an expert.

And so it's time for 24 hours in North Carolina. And you're going to help us decide. Beyonce's Renaissance Tour or the 30th Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntsville, currently running from September 30th through November 19th. Gotta go. Gotta go to the Renaissance Festival. I know about Beyonce. Love Beyonce.

But my daughter and son-in-law are big Renaissance Festival people. I know about Beyonce. Love Beyonce. But my daughter and son-in-law are big Renaissance Festival people. So I gotta go with them. It's a family thing, okay? I love Beyonce. Teachers are heroes. What's your secret? Stop it.

Bojangles versus Biscuitville. Oh my god I'm just I'm just reading the card Gotta go with the Bo Biscuitville has a story About the legislature But we won't go there right now

North Carolina is known for barbecue In particular for having A vinegar based barbecue sauce Where should I try that sauce, keeping in mind that I am a coastal elite soft boy who prefers barbecue to taste like a beefy ice cream sundae? So Doug saws in eastern North Carolina. How about Luella's here in Asheville? How about 12 Bones? And remember, barbecue is not a verb. It is not a verb. And barbecue only refers to pork. And it's also, you can't say that you're going to go to a barbecue. No, it is pork. It is cooked pork. That's what it is. Just got to learn that. Okay. I'll take the note. Asheville's Biltmore estate is reportedly home to a number of ghosts,

including that of George Washington Vanderbilt, the heir for whom the house was built as a vacation home. Do you believe in ghosts? Sure. There's one at the governor's mansion. Oh, really? Yeah, and I haven't seen him yet, but some of the troopers who are here

and some of the people who work there say they see him. I'm going to ask him how he dealt with his legislature when I meet up with him. You told our producers that you travel with a case of sundrop soda. You don't even know what that is. Sounds like a Mountain Dew ripoff to me. Well, so wait a minute. I'm being a heel.

Mountain Dew is part of PepsiCo. It's the pride of the Carolinas. But I am a diet soda sommelier. And diet Mountain Dew is good, but it's a little sweeter. Diet Sundrop is a little more tart with a hint of chemicals. But it is delicious. One thing I did look up is that it almost has

as much caffeine as a Red Bull. Oh, my God. No wonder I've gotten a little jittery lately. Get one of these bad boys to Matt Gaetz. He likes energy drinks.

Governor of Florida, I hear. Yeah, next Governor of Florida I hear Yeah, next governor of Florida Now, the Wright brothers first flew Along North Carolina's Outer Banks Ohio calls themselves the birthplace of aviation Because Orville and Wilbur Wright were born in Ohio If someone from Ohio was visiting North Carolina Where would you tell them to go

To fist fight you for your state's honor? from Ohio was visiting North Carolina, where would you tell them to go to fist fight you for your state's honor? I'm ready to duel on Jockey's Ridge, right at Kitty Hawk, right where the first flight occurred, because North Carolina

is first in flight. No doubt. They just had a bicycle shot in Ohio, in Dayton. yeah that that checks out i mean that you want to miss debate no no i agree with you i actually don't think there's much of a debate here they didn't bring it wasn't like we shall use our ohio-ness to reach the skies it will be the qualities we brought from our native state of Ohio. No, they came here to do it.

Came here to do it. If they were going to fly in Ohio, they would have flown in Ohio. Can I steal that one? Sure. Thank you. Take whatever you want. Governor Roy Cooper, everybody.

Thank you so much. It was really fun. Thank you so much. You're a governor. When we come back, La La Ri is here. And we're back. Please welcome to the stage,

you know her from season 13 of RuPaul's Drag Race and season 8 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, the incredible La La Ri. Oh, my God. Hi. Hi, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me, love. Please. Hi, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me, love. Please. Hi, Asphiel.

Oh, my God. They're very happy to see you. Yes. Oh, yes. Now, I want to start with this. The sound has a reputation for having a bless-her-heart approach to being a gigantic bitch. Do you abide by that mentality, or do you just let them have it?

I just let them have it from time to time. No, I abide by that mentality. But, you know, every now and then you have to let them have it. Just let them know, girl. I'm not the one, honey, okay? There's something in common. There's a Minnesota nice and southern hospitality have something in

common which is that like bless her heart thing it's interesting uh-huh we don't have that where i'm from new york they don't do that we don't do bless we don't do bless your heart in new york bless your heart there's none of that just a lot of fuck yous and then in californ, no one says anything. And then they're just very angry in their cars. Everyone's so angry in their cars. Yeah, this is true. This is true.

Do they have that here? Well, I'm not from here. So do they have it here? Okay. Yes. Yes. I'm from Atlanta. So this is my first time in Asheville.

Yes. And it's a beautiful, beautiful town. I love the mountains and things. Yes. We love the mountains. Yes. You've been doing drag through this period of time in which suddenly the right wing has decided

they really care about drag. Have you felt the effects of that as you're touring? Have you felt the effects of it in your shows? How do you see it in your day-to-day life? Yeah, so I have been to certain cities where they would have the protesters on the outside of the show with the signs and the chat, chat, chat, whatever. And I mean, it is kind of scary, but it's like at the end of the day, girl, but you came out to see me, though. Thank you. But is it scary sometimes?

Yeah, it is kind of scary, you know. But thankfully, nothing bad has happened in any other cities that I have been in. But they just don't want to be heard, I guess. Yeah, I guess. Right. Now, you've been nothing but tasteful and refined. But I'm about to make that a lot harder in a segment we're calling Miss Congeniality.

Ooh. Okay. Here's how it works. I'm going to read you a person, a place, or a thing, and you're going to have to say something nice about them. Okay, let's see. Oh, girl. Oh, girl.

Here we go. First up, let's see. Oh, girl. Here we go. First up, it's George Santos. The congressman who's currently waiting to go on trial on 13 charges related to fraud recently revealed the existence of a secret husband named Matt in a tweet about

Dianne Feinstein's death. Nice glasses. Those glasses are really, really nice. They're so big and black. Yeah, I like those glasses. That is correct. Next up. There we go.

Next up... There we go. Next up... Khloe Kardashian's phobia of whales. In the season four premiere of The Kardashians, Khloe admitted to a fear of all whales. Later on Twitter, she said, I low-key have a fear of the ocean, but a whale I can't even look at. It freaks me out so much.

They are ginormous, and we discover new species all the time. That's bananas. The ocean, we don't even know what's in there. What do you think about that? I love her usage of big words. That's very intelligent.

That was very intelligent and very smart of her to use phobia and irrational. Yeah. Yeah. I. Yeah. I love it. A phobia of whales, it's like, hey, if you're

interacting with a whale, that's a choice you made. That's not the choice the whale made. Right. You don't accidentally see a whale. You gotta go to the whale. The whale isn't come to you. Next up. This is a tough one.

Okay, let's see. It's time to say something nice about the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Beautiful gowns. Beautiful gowns. Beautiful gowns. They do have beautiful gowns. That is correct

Your final question The bedbugs invading Paris Did you know about the bedbugs invading Paris? No I did not and I was just over there Wait a minute girl This is news to me The bedbugs are invading Paris And they're there

and the Olympics are going to be there. And so Paris is freaking out because they've got to kill all these bedbugs before the athletes get there. Yeah. Or not, right. You know what? What do I say nice about bedbugs? They're small and tiny.

They don't discriminate? They don't discriminate, obviously. I'm a little nervous because I was just over there. Let me go check my bags, girl. Oh, my God. And you're working on new music right now, is that right? I am working on new music, yes. Yes.

I'm excited about that. I don't know if you guys watch All Stars 8, but I released a new single. Yes. Called It's Chocolate. So we're working on the album for that. So stay tuned for that. Have you had any barbecue while you were in North Carolina? No, I haven't had any barbecue yet.

What's a really good barbecue that I should have? They all say different things I was going to say yes, okay, yeah, thank you I'm going to try all of them And no matter where you go, they're like, wrong You're not from here I know I'm not from here It's like, yes, I know I'm not from here You went to the wrong one

I asked you and you told me this one, but they're wrong. There's no right place to go. Everyone gets so upset. Yeah, I had Chinese food, so I don't know if that's right. Lala Reese, you'll be back for the rail wheel. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. One more time.

Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Let's elevate, all right? Let's get serious, all right? Let's get intellectual all right? Let's get serious, all right? Let's get intellectual. It's time. Once again, we have tricked an actual person of substance

to join us on our traveling carnival act. Please welcome to the stage the incredible writer and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom. Welcome. Thank you for being here. Come on through. I would like to say I did not sign up

to be this person of substance. Okay, great. We'll fix it in post. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Honestly, I had a feeling you were going to say that. Great. Let's just shoot this shit then. Who cares? Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Honestly, I had a feeling you were going to say that. Great.

Let's just shoot this shit down. Who cares? Thank you. Appreciate that. You're right. How dare I? You contain multitudes. We all do.

That's why you got to read the fine print in your contracts. I've never said anything. Thank you for having me. Hi, everybody. All right, we're going to get to the, we're going to have some fun. But I did want to ask you, you wrote an essay about the power of being blonde in America. I did. Yeah, yeah. And that's something producer Brian has been experiencing since he dyed his hair.

You said this, when people have outsized emotional reactions to benign inquiries about their self-evident beliefs, it is often an indicator that status is doing invisible work. What? That's what you said. First of all, you brought me all the way up here in the mountains and then set me up. And then you're going to just let me loose

after telling these people, but yes, I said it. And I stand by it. Thank you very much. You know, it was one of those things that people tried to pretend they didn't understand because they didn't like it. But people understood it just fine. But people understood it just fine. You know how I know people understood it? Because they come up to me at events, which has been happening ever since I published that piece.

It was a throwaway, which will teach me, first of all, to do throwaways. I thought it went without saying that in our culture, blonde was one of those things that for people who were not born blonde, that you choose for the most part, most people choose it because it comes with social status. People treat you nicer and they like you better. I literally thought I was saying one of those things that's like, there you go. Coffee's hot. You're right. I just thought I literally thought it was a taken for granted everyday truth.

And that actually, I think, might be the problem. It is a taken for granted everyday truth that people need to for it to go unsaid so that they can benefit from it without feeling bad about it. No shade to Brian, who looks adorable. He does. He looks great with the blonde hair. Yeah. But the blondes came for you? Hard.

And let me tell you, I don't think I'm a gangster, but I don't think I'm a punk. You know what I mean? I certainly never imagined a version of don't think I'm a punk. You know what I mean? I certainly never imagined a version of my life where I would be afraid of a lot of blonde people.

But there was a moment in my life here recently where I was like, I don't know, I'm here alone. There are a lot of blonde people. I don't know. A lot of misspelled protest signs. Right, yeah. Yeah, that's right.

I'll come for the blondes too. What are they going to do? What are they going to do, smile at me? Eat shit, blondes. I got your back. You're brave. They got plenty. You're brave.

They need you too. They got plenty. That's it. And that's who I would look for in the room. Someone with a little trauma in their eyes. And I go, well, if it breaks out, I'm going over there with you. There is something fundamental.

There is. It's interesting because children of the corn. Yes. There is on the other side's interesting because children of the corn. Yes, yes. There is, on the other side of the power of blonde hair in our culture, there is a sense in which it is dangerous and menacing and frightening in some way. Yes. That is true. I do think that children of the Corn is an interesting example because a lot of the the power of blondness that people are willing to accept is that, no, it's just a sign of youth.

And, you know, and the Children of the Corn is like, you know, the extension of that is taken to an exaggerated extreme. extreme. And I think that might be why we found the film so terrifying, because it was supposed to, you know, this extreme blonde is supposed to represent innocence and youth. And they, of course, make that very terrifying. And I have always found fascinating why people think they thought that film was terrifying. And I think it's actually that reason well it's interesting i mean it's also like being blonde even in youth is only available to a small subset of kids not a lot of blonde jews as kids uh not a lot of blonde black kids uh it really is only of that that kind of demonstration of youth is only available to i guess swedes I'm not really sure. So more seriously, the number of people who came up to me after I went back on the road,

that piece came out during COVID withdrawals. I don't like to say shutdowns because it was kind of iffy there. But the kind of COVID withdrawals, I wasn't on the road, I wasn't doing public lectures. When I went back out on the road, no matter what my lecture was about, all anybody wanted to talk about was this piece. And afterwards, people would come up to me and there were so many women in particular, older women, Iranian, Jewish, from all across, you know, of ethnic immigrants from across the world who wanted to tell me stories that were actually quite sad, full of like a lot of, I think, unresolved pain about the fact that not just that this thing sort of happened to them, like what it meant for them growing up to not be blonde, and that it wasn't just that they weren't considered pretty or dateable or whatever. No, it had left like a really serious thing mark on their lives.

And it wasn't just that that thing had happened to them, but that they didn't have any language for it at all. And like, these were like women in like their 60s and 70s and 80s who wanted to talk to me about this. And they wrote me these long, passionate letters. And I thought, well, yeah, if I've got to take the front of the blonde brigade coming for

me, the fact that there were these women from across the world and across the global spectrum who were saying, yeah. So, something else you've been talking about is the actual day-to-day impact of these efforts to ban books and stigmatize librarians and teachers. And you actually spoke to professors in Florida about what it's like. And one thing that you said was, they are living and working at ground zero of what feels like a culture of oppression from the McCarthy era,

while the public still thinks the culture war in higher education is about civility. Are the professors all right? No. We are truly, seriously, we are not all right. We are not all right we are not all right you know in a in the big scheme of things if we go far enough up the org chart uh governor cooper who did a great job tonight is my boss yeah uh because i work at the flagship public university thank you very much uh and so you know if you go up high enough, he's my boss.

And I was sitting back there going, yeah, I'm pretty proud of him being my boss, but so is everybody else in that chamber. And I was thinking, yeah, we're not doing all right. I mean, state after state, I think, especially in public higher education, which is where the battle is, it's most intense precisely because the levers are most available to public outrage and manipulation. And so, no, and we're not just all right because of the political interference in our daily lives. A lot of public workers are not all right. So we're not unique in that respect. But we're also not all right because, listen, COVID is not over. And we never healed, I think, from the traumatic loss that COVID visited upon us, upon our students, upon our extended families and our work lives.

And the fact that this country and our culture is so weird about that, that we just wouldn't stop and say, yo, this thing happened. And we didn't mourn or like, like we should have like ripped clothes or something, you know, like, like in the Bible, there should have been like some big ritual. You know, we're in the mountains. We should have went out and had a picnic at the grave site like you do. This is a thing we do. Don't.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we party at the graves. Yeah, yeah. It's a. Yeah you do. This is a thing we do. Don't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We party at the graves. Yeah. Yeah. It's a yeah. Yeah. It's a thing. OK. It's a good time. Sure. Sounds good. It's fine. It sounds fun. It does. It is. But we should have had some public ritual and we didn't. And so it's not just that. and we didn't. And so it's not just that, we never did that. And then you put that on top of, we're in year 28 or something of, you know,

public disinvestment and public higher education. And then to have people tell you that you are public enemy, number one, it is horrible for your country to say that you are an enemy. It is horrible. And again, not unique to us. This has been happening to K through 12 teachers. This has been happening to bus drivers. This has been happening to librarians. But your country turning on you is a kind of loss

that I'm not even sure we have a word for in our language anyway. There's a good tension because I've thought about that too, that like we went through this national, international, global trauma. And on the one hand we say, oh, we never took a moment to acknowledge it or address it. But at the same time, it's almost as if that requires acknowledging that it's over. But there was no moment at which it ended. So it does create this problem of we've all just sort of we went through it. It didn't end on a specific day.

It continued. It continued as a kind of slowly changing relationship with risk that continues to kind of ebb and flow with most people trying to go back to normal. Some people who have a greater risk are maybe feeling like people forgotten about them completely, but it all kind of added together to the kids lost a ton of schooling, but we didn't figure out how to address that. People kind of went into their homes and came out kind of weird. Not to mention all the people that lost or were lost in the pandemic. But it does seem like collectively

we're going to look back on this and like, oh, we never really talked about how weird we all were. Like I went to see Jinx Monsoon and people got up in the middle of songs to go get drinks and it's like what hello you're not at home you can't pause it you stay in your seat till the song is fucking over yeah yeah we have lost the ability to do publicness because public stopped and we re-entered it in a staggered sort of way. And so you're right. There was no mass reentry. It stopped collectively. You know, I always peg it to that day that they canceled the NBA finals.

That just felt like, oh, right. Yeah, exactly. That for me is the day it got real for everybody in that moment. But then there's no bookend date like that like we didn't flip the lights back on for everybody right so we all came back out in various times it was staggered and and so there is no like public on the other side I'm like you I go to theaters and movies let's not even talk about like planes trains and automobile like buses we've all lost our entire minds like nobody understands publicness anymore no it's it's i can't tell is it because we're filming them now or are people really losing their minds on planes in ways they didn't before i think they didn't i think something has changed listen i am i i am very I'm more conservative than the average getting old person about overstating the effect of media.

I'm like, ah, we've always been a little, we overstate the role that media, but no, no, we've lost it. That is my official opinion. So as part of this sort of broad kind of effort to undermine professors and academia to declare everything woke, there's this effort, it's in Florida, it's in Texas, it's everywhere, it's in North Carolina, for Republican politicians to try to use a defense of parental rights to empower the worst parent at your kid's school to make life hell for your kid's favorite teacher. That's about right. Yep. And there is part of this where there's just a baked in assumption like, oh, you know, there's a, there's a kind of like an assumption of power that like, oh, that's, that's the right that these parents have. There's a kind of, there's a way in which these conservatives and these right-wing politicians are playing on certain assumptions about who gets to be in charge of what's in a curriculum. And I know you've talked about that, so I'm curious what you think. Well, on the one hand, I am happy whenever, you know, people show up for the fight. I, however, say to people, I am the wrong person

for new recruits because like there's a certain, you need a good sensitive person to handle the new recruits. You know what I mean? Like, and I'm not that person. I'm not the person for neophytes. Give me the 300 level and above people. And I say that because I'm the person who's like, well, where were you when we were saying, this is an extension of suburban parents in particular, having been trained now since Brown versus Board of Education is where it really starts, really starts, but accelerates in the 1980s and the 1990s of mostly white middle-class and upper middle-class parents being trained to treat public schools as private property. Right? To push out the students and the people that they didn't want in public schools. push out the students and the people that they didn't want in public schools.

And that's right. And so they're just turning their training on now every institution. They're doing all of this training. They got all of this massive training. They've learned how to intervene as class moms and PTA warriors. And they've learned how to use phone trees, and they've learned, these are classic, by the way, organizational tactics, which by themselves are not positive or negative.

But when you pair them with a set of politics that say public is for my personal use, then they become poisonous. And so I say to people, when we say to care about other people's children is not just the right thing to do and makes you a good person, it prepares you for now when they turn on you which they inevitably always do and you know how I know that? It's in a history book It also, there is like, it does connect back

to what the governor was saying around Republicans sort of trying to control power or take power from a Democratic governor or trying to gerrymander, which is we have a process for what happens at school boards. It's a Democratic partisan. The community comes together and they elect people that are either directly or indirectly in charge of determining what the curriculum is. And everyone understands that, no, every single person isn't going to get to write that curriculum. You come together and you don't always agree, but you trust this process to create a kind of democratic way of figuring out what goes on in schools. But there's like, no, no, no. That's fine when I agree. But when I don't, I get to be in charge. I get to decide what happens. And I think there's some people that hear that and say,

well, don't parents have a say in what their kids get to read? Sure, but they don't get to be in charge of what every other kid gets to read. That's it. That's it. Now, as we've already covered, you contain multitudes,

and there was something I did want to ask you about. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey. you contain multitudes and there was something I did want to ask you about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey. Uh, he plays, he's some sort of police chief in Kansas and not, that's it. That's exactly it. Yeah. Now what is happening that this has gotten this level of attention. And why do people care about it? Why do you care about it? Oh, okay. Sure, I care. You know, bless Taylor's heart, I haven't cared about anything Taylor's done in so long. I don't not care. I just am like, okay, that seems fine. She seems mostly harmless until she was with that boy

who seemed very racist, but I... Zuri on the ones and twos. Did I win? Did I win? Did I win? Okay. I, you know, but everybody around me cares a lot. Let me tell you what's hilarious. The day after they, I don't know, debuted or entered society or were crowned or whatever happens,

I go to the gym, and it's a bit of a meathead gym, and that's all they were talking about in there. All the guys, and these are like former football players, like they are invested. So you know what? If she's done that, I think that's something. You know, good for her. You know, she's doing what women have done for generations.

She has leveled up a man that people thought were beyond her station, but in truth. Yeah. She's leveling him up. And, you know, she's also blonde. That's why I said nothing good can come from this question. I knew that going in. Hey, you think AI is going to replace us? No, I don't think it would want to.

Okay. Give it up for Tressie. She'll stick around Because when we come back It's time for the rant wheel And we're back One note The Supreme Court is back in session

And when the justices get messier than anything Andy Cohen has to contend with Strict scrutiny is just the pod you need To make sense of it. Each week, host Melissa Murray, Leah Lipman, and Kate Shaw unpack what's on the docket and help you keep up with the slew of legal news headed our way. Listen to episodes of Strict Scrutiny each week wherever you get your podcasts.

And it is not too late, dear listeners, to get tickets to join Love It or Leave It in Charlottesville on October 21st and Portland, Seattle, and Boulder. It's your last chance, people. People, these tickets are moving, all right? So go to cricket.com slash events. And now, please welcome Lala Reid back to the stage. Lala Reid, everybody.

Thank you for being here. Just look. I just can't get over it. Oh, my God. Thank you so much, Queen. I love it. Thank you so much. And now it's time for the rant wheel.

You know how it works. The wheel spins, we land on a thing we hate, and then we whine about it. There's a bunch of stuff on the wheel, let's spin it. The oppression of anti-panty lines This will surprise no one This is me What do you know about panties?

What do I know about them? Yes It's underwear. That is correct. I feel like categorically, when the word panties, it's underwear, but hey, it's flower. It's all frilly.

And it's for women. And it's like delicate. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I don't understand what I'm supposed to do. See, this is my point. I'm a, I, I'm a 41-year-old man who kissed a girl in college.

So you're gonna, I don't know very much. And this is my point. You don't have to think about it, you see? We woke up one day, does anybody, anybody here over a certain age? It used to be fine to wear underwear as a woman. It was fine. And then one day in like 2010, it was a crime if anybody could suss out that you had on underwear.

Right? underwear. And now grown, intelligent, competent women have to spend an inordinate amount of I'm wondering if we have something called visible panty lines. Amen, amen. Thank you. And you haven't thought a thing about it. How am I the villain in this story? We're boxer briefs. I don't give a fuck. By the way, I'm not looking

at women's asses. I just found out you have them. Tell the other people. I will. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't blame me. And I think, you know...

I'm an ally in this. Wear boxer briefs. They're great. And I just think it's time for it to stop. It had a run. Thank you. I think we've to stop. It had a run. Thank you. I think we've freed Britney.

We can free ourselves. I love you. Thank you. The governor's like, I love teachers and Beyonce. And you're like, fuck panty lines. Just so it's a... Everybody knows where this crowd is. Bring bra straps, too.

Yes. Some of the bra straps. No, that is exactly right. Yeah, this is a generic for all of the underwears. You're exactly right. Also the bra straps. Great. Let's spin it again. It has landed on liars and horrible communicators.

Stop wasting my motherfucking time, okay? Listen, okay? You know who you are from the beginning when you meet me okay don't waste my time why have a phone if you're not going to use it when it needs to be used okay listen i travel the world for a living thank god thank you jesus um and i still find time to communicate somewhat effectively so i feel like i, it should be a given, especially when we all have our phones in our hands all the time. Like, we're always scrolling on social media. So it takes nothing but a little text,

hey, how you doing, you know, to respond or whatever. And stop lying about the smallest little things, okay? Yes, just, yeah, stop. It's pointless. Like, why? Because you have to lie and keep lying to keep up with the first lie,

and it's going to keep on spiraling down and spiraling down, spiraling down, spiraling down. And I'm just like, girl, I mean, I already cautioned your first lie. Just stop right now, okay? So, liars and horrible communicators,

please go on, leave me alone, baby. I ain't got the time. This feels like this is directed at a person. Oh. And I'm not mad at it. I'm just saying I'm on your side. I just wanted you to know.

Do you mean to say, and I'm just learning this now, that people aren't just seeing this? When people say just seeing this now that people aren't just seeing this when people say just seeing this that's not oh yeah they saw it

they saw it yeah oh no that's the worst lie ever yeah all of us on our phones 24 fucking hours a day just seeing this

why cause you you went over from Wordle for 10 seconds? You freaks. Such an important point. Thank you. Amen. Let's spin it again.

It has landed on barbecue. Here's what I want to say. I haven't... I've already got to get the fuck out of here. Whatever you think I'm going to say is apparently what you think because you just projected so hard we picked it up

on our microphones. Here's the problem I have as a lover of food and a traveler of America. There's a specific problem that happens with barbecue

and down which is this. It's most kinds of food you eat. You eat it. Then a few hours later, it's time to eat again. Not so with barbecue. It's as if you eat it and it kind of gets comfortable. And then for the rest of the day, maybe even until the next day, it's like giving little bits out. Because I ate lunch at noon today.

I don't know if I'm ever going to eat again. It just stays around. And I want to try different things. I want to go to different places. You've made that impossible. It's all so solid. And by the way, I try to be good. I said, yeah, yeah, green beans. You know, you know, they put the green beans on there on the menu. Nobody wants them, but it's for the shame. It's the shame side. Green beans are because you feel shame. But even in the form of barbecue, in the form of a barbecue side,

a green bean becomes a potato. And you keep saying, and listen, I like collard greens. But as we, just say collard, it's fine. I'm not from here. I'm a Jew from Long Island. Deal with it. You tell me how to talk. I'll talk however you want till tomorrow.

But it's not like, it's not like It's not like Hold on a second Because what are you cooking Those greens in Those collards in It's not It's not It's in fucking meat

You're not It's not extra virgin olive oil Have you guys heard Of extra virgin olive oil Are you aware Of the vegetable oils Have they not reached here yet Did you spend No money for olive oil Because you were building Are you aware of the vegetable oils? Have they not reached here yet?

Did you spend no money for olive oil because you were building the Biltmore? And by the way, too big a house. True. What are you trying to prove, Biltmore? A lot of rooms that you don't need. Thank you. And that's the rant wheel. One more time for Tressie and Lala.

Thank you both so, so much. Thank you so, so much. So full. I know I look great. And just cause it's us, and just cause it's us, I did it with the power of discipline and a drug that they're giving to celebrities. All these fucking celebrities. Let's talk about it. I don't care. Here's the thing, okay?

I believe in doing whatever you fucking want, however you want to do it. People want to lose weight, keep weight, gain weight. Do whatever the fuck you want. Do you want to get hair plugs? I recommend it Do whatever you want Facelift, Botox, everybody do whatever you want To yourself to make you feel good

I don't care, airbrush yourself, don't airbrush yourself Use a filter, do whatever you fucking want I'll tell you where I reserve judgment I reserve judgment for all these people In Los Angeles Who are taking Experimental pancreas medicine and then doing interviews with reporters and saying they've just found a new dietician. They didn't find a new

dietician. They found Novo Nordisk. Because let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I'll talk about it. I don't care. I've had up here. The... This shit is crazy. You take this drug on a Monday, and you're like, on Wednesday, you're like, should I eat something? And the only thing is, it's experimental pancreas medicine.

And as far as I'm concerned, devil's bargains always work out, right? And I'll say one more thing about this. If anyone's in, are you interested in this topic? Okay. Here's the thing that's interesting about it. This is the thing,

the point I want to make about this. Maybe we put this out, maybe not. Listen, here's the thing that is absolutely mind-blowing. mind-blowing, which is, so a friend of mine who had long struggled with health issues, in part related, to wait, went on this before I did. And again, I did it out of vanity and insecurity, so that's different. But he was like my guide through this. And we went out to lunch after I took this drug for the very first time.

We went out for sushi. And normally I would do to a sushi restaurant what a whale would do to the sea. Open my mouth and go forward. I don't know. I hope so. Shut up. My C-minus analogies tonight. But he had this wise look on his face, and he said, order less than you think.

And then I did. And then we were walking back to our cars, and I'd eaten one sushi roll. And sir, I know this topic doesn't interest you. I can see your arms are crossed, and I'm sorry. Are you interested in this at all, even a little bit? Okay, good. He's in. Listen, your body language sucks. And is that something that you deal with?

Does he have resting this? Resting this face? Okay, so listen. But here's the part that was interesting. Okay. Which is I ate like a little bit of food, like much less than I normally would. Maybe like a third of what I normally would, but I felt really, really full. I felt like I'd eaten Thanksgiving dinner. I felt like I'd visited Asheville. And so, and I, and we're walking back to our cars and all of a sudden I realized something. I don't just feel full. I feel full

and guilty because for the first time in my life, I realized that it wasn't calories in, calories out that was making me feel bad. I had over years connected the feeling of being full with the feeling of being guilty, that being full meant I had failed because the, yeah, don't, full meant I had failed because the, yeah, don't all mean my life is amazing, but listen, but that was what was like an amazing revelation for me because I didn't know. I had no idea until that very moment that the feeling of being full and the feeling of being ashamed were connected, even though they weren't supposed to be because they're completely different feelings. Now, could I have figured that out through therapy? Sure. Is that what my therapist preferred?

Yes. But after... But what are we going to do? We're going to deal with this for fucking ever? And so I said... And so my therapist said, I can't stop you. And I said, you're right, Dr. Christie. So into my leg went the medicine

and off the weight went. That's my high note, I guess. What did you say? Oh, leave it in the show, you think? Okay. But it's interesting. It's just a wild thing. And the other thing I and the other thing I

wanted to say about this, which is there's almost these two competing theories of how we're supposed to respond to a culture that puts way more food in front of us than we would ever possibly need. And one is diet culture, which tells you to lose weight, exercise, beat this broken system with discipline. The other is body acceptance, which is obviously a more positive movement, but is also based on the idea that the only response to a system that has basically kind of beaten evolution and put way more food in front of us than we were ever meant to see is, again, individual discipline, either a discipline of losing weight or a discipline of not caring about your weight. And you know what? Capitalism is no match for that effort. It's no match. Capitalism as a, capitalism as a system that created this incredible abundance

for good and for ill is more powerful than our individual willpower or discipline. But you know what capitalism also made? Giant pharmaceutical companies. And I feel like we finally showed up to this fucking fight with capitalism on our side.

And yeah, yeah, it's a little weird that it's like, ha-ha, now I got Big Pharma behind me. What are you going to do now, Cheesecake Factory? Eat shit. But that's what happened. But that's what happened. And I really wanted to talk about it.

But I also want to talk about you. And it... Shut up. In honor... In honor of your city's reputation for what I would call downright weird beers, we're mixing things up tonight.

Instead of our regular high notes, we're serving up a segment we're calling Happy Hour Happy News. My beer wench Brian is in the house. Give it up for our blonde beer wench. Now, here's before, I'm glad you're up. Now, here's how this is going to work, okay?

Here's how it's going to work. We have beers of increasing percentages, okay? Someone's going to have a high note, and you have to beat that high note. You have to have even better news. So whoever goes first has to have pretty good news. He wants, okay. He wants to go last. And I, I, I, there's, there's a confidence in his eyes. He goes last. Who's got the first now? Keep in mind, people got to beat this. Just okay. Pretty solid news. Okay. They got it. They got it. I have a high note for both of us, actually. And what's your name? Maggie. Maggie, hi. Hi. Today is my daughter's fifth birthday. So shout out, Bug. Happy birthday. This may be the first time I have ever heard your show start to finish nonstop.

I got small children. This, like, I'm pausing every five minutes. Okay. So that's a high note for me. Great. All at once. Woo. High note for you.

You're just as funny long form as you are in small doses. Congratulations. That's a perfect way to start. As someone who's often been told, he's great in small doses, that means the world. What's the beer? Brian, what's the beer? This is In the Land of the Sky,

and it's a Session India Pale Ale. Yay! All right, who's got a high note that can beat that high note? Can we over here? Hi, what is your name? What is your high note? Hi, John. My name is Sarah.

So this probably sounds silly, but I love my parents. We're really close. But earlier this year, I decided to start a new chapter in my life. I uprooted my life, moved from Ohio, where my family lives, moved down to Charlotte here in North Carolina. And, yeah, my mom actually introduced me to your podcast. Nice. I would consider my mom my best friend,

and it's actually like a way we keep in touch. We talk about your podcast. It's very sweet. And they bought tickets tonight, and they're here with me, and drove down, so. Thanks for being here. And Brian, what's that beer?

This is a, I can't, it's a script that's hard to read. And it's a red ale. Hell yeah. Let's come around, it's scripts that's hard to read. And it's a red ale. Hell yeah. Let's come around, let's come around. Let's go to the we're here, we're queer, I have a brick shirt. Hi, what's your name and what is your high note?

My name is Lindsay. Hi, Lindsay. My high note is actually this shirt. Thank you. It's from you. And the whole point is that in Asheville, we bizarrely do our Pride in September. But last week, I wore this shirt to our Asheville Pride

along with my Envy Kid, who wore their Please Leave Trans Kids Alone, You Absolute Freaks shirt. And loved it so much. My Envy Kid, who just made it into the orchestra and is looking for a suit that will not look like they're wearing their dad's suit or like they're trying to be a sexy lady in a suit and they're having a hard time

so if anybody has any recommendations we're looking for some but my high note is the orchestra and that we all love our merch. Thank you so much. Awesome. Thank you. This is a Gruden Brewing Co.

Oktoberfest. Ooh. What even is that? Drink it and find out. We have two more. We have two more so we're going to land on him. So let's go one more over here. Hi, what is your name? What is your high note?

I'm Kelly. I bought tickets for this like a month before I had like major cardiothoracic surgery as something to look forward to. That was like two and a half months ago and I'm doing way better

than I thought I would. That's great. That was like two and a half months ago and I'm doing way better than I thought I would. That's great. That's great. This is an Asheville Brewing Co. IPA. Nice. Can you beat that? Are you still,

can you beat it? He can beat it. He was so confident. Hi, what is your name? And what is your high note? My name is Michael. My high note was My name is Michael. My high note was gonna be how much I love my husband

that I married eight months ago. But then I got here and we're about the same age. Okay. And living through your turning 40 was living me through, I'm older than you. And to see how you do you and live your life and how you are,

that's my fucking night. Oh my God, that's so nice. Thank you. Give him that great beer. Thank you for saying that. This is a high wire boogie board. And that's where we're going to have to leave it. said we were going to do five that's the end of the segment I don't make the rules

I hate to leave but we have to go Asheville that is our show thank you so much to Governor Cooper Trustee McVillain-Cotton and La La Ree there are 397 days until the 2024 elections. Have a great night. Thank you, Asheville.

Thank you to everybody at the Orange Peel. And have a great night. Hallie Kiefer is our head writer. Sarah Lazarus, Jocelyn Kaufman, Poulavi Gunalan, Peter Miller, and Alan Pierre are our writers. Lee Eisenberg produces the show. It's mixed and edited by Evan Sutton. Stephen Colon is our audio engineer. Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis provide audio support. Our theme song is written and performed by Sure Sure.

Thanks to our designers, Jesse McClain and Bernardo Serna, for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast, and to our digital producers, Zuri Ervin, David Toles, Mia Kelman, and Matt DeGroote, for filming and editing video each week so you can. You can find those glorious videos at youtube.com slash at loveitorleaveitpodcast. Do us a favor and subscribe to Love It or Leave It on YouTube, and don't forget to follow us at Crooked Media

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