Lovett or Leave It - Oh these gold bars? (Live from Madison!)

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Lovett or Leave It brings the dairy sweats to the beautiful Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin! Ben Wikler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, calmly walks us through the anti-democratic onslaught the state is constantly experiencing. The super cool and supremely nerdy Alice Wetterlund looks to the stars for societies more civil than our own. Peter Sagal and T. J. Jagodowski have a (CIVILIZED) debate about theatre etiquette when every one of us is the most important person in the world. And comedian Felonious Munk takes a look back at a summer of fails, just in time for autumn/pon farr. Plus, fire finally gets torched during the rant wheel. May your name be inscribed in the book of life, sluts! 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, Madison. It's great to be back. Welcome to Love It or Leave It, the Errors Tour. I've been in the Midwest for 48 hours. I'm going to give you a list of every meal I've eaten. Deep dish pizza. Deep dish pizza. Italian beef.

Drive to Madison. Culver's. And move over Los Angeles. We're going to milk this crowd for all it's worth. We have an utterly delightful show for you tonight. Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, friend of the show, Ben Wickler is here. T.J. Jagodowski and Peter Sagal have an incredibly civilized debate about the do's and don'ts of theater etiquette. This is the point where I will remind all of you, we have a strict policy on boberting.

And while you all know something else, that's a pitch I stole from the VIP meet and greet. Alice Wetterlin can't find rights on Earth, so she looks to the stars. Phelonious Monk takes a retrospective look at the duds that riddled the summer of 2023 as we head into this season of autumn. You may know it as fall. Plus, the rant wheel spins, and we'll hear your live high notes, so think happy thoughts. Brian will be out there at the end.

But first, let's get into it. What a week. What a week. at the end, but first, let's get into it. What a week. On Friday, ProPublica reported that Clarence Thomas secretly appeared at two fundraising events for the Koch Political Network, which he did not include in any of his disclosure documents. At this point, I don't know if Thomas is deliberately hiding this stuff or just can't keep track

of it all. The man has the social calendar of a Jewish seventh grader. All the bar mitzvahs. That joke would have done slightly better in Milwaukee. This coming term... You get to know the state. This coming term, Thomas and his fellow justices will hear at least one case brought to the court through the Koch network,

a case that might limit federal agencies' power to regulate the environment, workplace safety, and consumer rights. But that's the extent of it. Just the planet where we live and the things we do on it. Speaking of shockingly brazen corruption, on Friday, Senator Bob Menendez

and his wife were indicted on bribery charges. This is the second time Menendez has faced corruption charges, though he was acquitted after a mistrial the last time. Seems like he learned his lesson, though. According to the indictment, searches of the senator's home and deposit box turned up gold bars trial the last time. Seems like he learned his lesson, though. According to the indictment, searches of the senator's home and deposit box turned up gold bars and nearly $500,000 in cash, some of which was found in envelopes in jackets embroidered with Menendez's name.

The rest, of course, was found in a big safe labeled bribe money. The DOJ claimed some of the envelopes, these are the envelopes stuffed with cash in the pockets of jackets labeled Senator Menendez, had fingerprints or DNA of one of the business contacts accused of bribing Menendez. And to answer your question, it was semen. No, sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The indictment also alleges that in 2021, one of the New Jersey businessmen involved in the scheme bought gold bars, then a driver for one of the other businessmen

picked up the Menendezes at the airport, just being neighborly, I guess. You know how it is. You hear your senators traveling and you offer to pick them up at the airport. Then while Senator Menendez was in the car, the car the businessman sent, the associate of the guy who bought the gold bars,

in the car, he Googled, how much is one kilo of gold worth? Goldworth. Solving crimes used to be harder. You had to navigate subtle clues and construct a motive. Now you just have to subpoena someone's browser history to see if they Googled the phrase how to dissolve wife bones. Prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife were gifted

a Mercedes by two of their co-defendants, New Jersey businessman Jose Uribe and Will Hanna, in exchange for Menendez interfering in the criminal prosecution of one of their associates. The confidence of driving around in a fucking bribe mobile when you've already been indicted once for taking bribes. Were the gold bars too heavy to carry around in a see-through tote?

In another corrupt scheme, Menendez allegedly provided sensitive government information to secretly aid the government of Egypt and helped Egypt unfreeze $300 million in military aid in exchange for a no-show job for his wife. Now that's what I call a pyramid scheme. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please. Please. I do it for you. Thank you. Thank you. Please, please. I do it for you. Also on Friday, President Biden announced

the creation of a new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which will be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris to coordinate the implementation of Biden's 2022 gun violence law across agencies. Because if they don't, yelled Biden, swinging a Glock around wildly at a press conference as reporters ducked behind their seats. The platform Vote.org saw over 35,000 people register to vote on National Voter Registration Day after Taylor Swift put out an Instagram post calling on her fans to do so. Now the pipelines, Taylor. Target the pipelines.

Could you imagine? Lawyers for Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss said in a new filing that Rudy Giuliani has failed to comply with a judge's order to turn over evidence for their defamation suit or to pay them the legal fees they racked up while trying to get him to comply with a previous order. In an attempt to defend himself, Rudy Giuliani scurried up through a hole in the ceiling

using some kind of capillary action. Fired ink at them as he moved up into the walls. It's because he's scared though. There's a stink to it, like a mink. What the fuck during a pretty contentious hearing in which republicans peppered attorney general merrick garland with a bunch of ridiculous questions wisconsin congressman tom tiffany used his time to ask garland this there was a world naked bike ride in Madison, Wisconsin, just a couple months ago, and I sent you a letter two months ago asking if you had a problem with that. First of all, love what you do here. Love the energy.

Love that it made Mr. Tiffany so upset. Love the energy. Love that it made Mr. Tiffany so upset. When asked about the naked bike ride, Attorney General Garland replied only, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, my little jurors. And Tiffany didn't really understand that response, hence him raising it at the hearing. Meanwhile, Indiana Republican Victoria Sparks took her moment at the hearing to defend the good people who came to the Capitol on January 6th. There probably were some people that came on January 6th here, you know, that had bad intent. But a lot of good Americans from my district

came here because they are sick and tired of this government not serving them. They came with strollers and the kids, and there was chaotic situation because the proper security wasn't provided. Look, we've all been there. We're walking the baby around a park because it helps her get to sleep. You see a mob try to rip some cop's limb from limb while smashing their way into a famous landmark. You go in. You always go in. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin on Thursday circulated proposals to reinstate the Senate's dress code

after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer relaxed the rules. Manchin told reporters, This has nothing to do with Senator Fetterman. I just can't look at Chuck Grassley's toes anymore, man. Mexican cartels have grown to the point where they're now effectively the country's fifth largest employer, according to a new study. Why don't you try unionizing that workplace, Brian, see how far you get. According to a new SEC complaint, monkeys that received Elon Musk's experimental brain chip suffered horrible side effects, like infections, brain swelling, and paralysis,

which necessitated being euthanized. It sounds bad now, but all that suffering will be worth it when the first people to voluntarily get these brain chips are also euthanized. Musk later said in a misspelled tweet, to minimize risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal monkeys, close to death already. This raises more questions than it answers. Bring me more dying monkeys, said a billionaire on ketamine, to whoever his version of Malcolm is.

I'm only doing this until my student loans are paid off, said America's saddest veterinarian. Yeah, yeah. You're right. I don't want to argue with you. I'm not going to argue with you on that. Astronaut Frank Rubio is scheduled to return to Earth next week after setting a new record for the longest continuous spaceflight for an American.

His wife said she can't wait to see him and finally find out, as Frank has been alluding to more and more fervently in his emails the last few months, what the moon has planned for all of us. Alarming. Rubio was originally only supposed to spend six months on the ISS, but wound up on a 371-day mission after a coolant leak on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft forced a delay. That did I do, said Russian Urkel. That did I do. That did I do. That did I...

It's hard to hit. It's hard to hit. I also don't know if it should count as setting a record if you're stuck somewhere against your will. We admire the people

with the world's longest fingernails because they made a choice. Those fingernail people, they're a choice. Those fingernail people, they're a little bit like quicksand in that they loom so large in the minds of children. Those fingernail people,

remember, you'd see them be like, that is important. That's something I'm going to think about and see pretty often for a long time. When I'm growing up, that's important. Those records, the Guinness Book of World Records, what goes on in there is important. It's a big part of what it is to be an adult. Those records and what they mean and how much

they mean to all of us. The fingernail thing, big things, little things, long things, short things, tall, short, important, heaviest, lightest, important. That's what being adult is about, knowing that, thinking about that, caring about that. Yeah. George R. R. Martin and 17 other authors joined a class action lawsuit alleging ChatGPT violated their copyrights by training open AI on stolen e-books,

constituting systemic theft on a mass scale. George, let it finish the fucking books. What was that? Oh, also why the responses suck. They all sound like George R. R. Martin. Hmm. Everybody's a critic. And finally, a high-speed rail line launched in Florida on Friday.

It's the country's first private intercity train in a century. And before you ask, yes, Floridians are already doing meth and fucking on it. The company, Brightline, will run trains between Miami and Orlando at speeds of up to 125 miles an hour. High-speed rails in Miami and a new train. When we come back, Ben Wickler is here. And we're back.

Please welcome back to the show the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, who's already out here, and a person we would duplicate 49 times if we could. It's Ben Wickliffe. Come here. Come here. You want me to sit here? We're changing it up. Hi, Ben.

Hi, John. It's good to see you. Good to see you, John. So first of all, your shirt says Mickey's Dairy Bar. Yes. And is that sort of like right from the udder? What kind of... So if you like dairy products,

if you like pancakes, if you like scramblers, if you like calories, if you like paying in cash for the best food arguably on earth, then Mickey's Dairy Bar is the place where you should spend as much time as possible. Okay. Then I'll do that. I'll simply do that.

I think a lot of people here in this crowd know the situation in Wisconsin, and a lot of our listeners try to keep up with the depravity. But I want you to walk us through it, because I think sometimes it can sound like hyperbole to summarize just what's going on here in this very delicious state. So I want to go step by step. The last time I saw you was in the run-up to the Supreme Court election. What happened in that election, and why was it so important? So this spring, this April, we had what arguably, I would argue, was the most important election of 2023. It was a state Supreme Court election, which normally is a low profile thing that only people within the state really know about. determine the balance of power on our state Supreme Court, which could be the only way to essentially unlock this trap that Republicans have caught the state in for the last 12 years.

Because if the progressive candidate could win the state Supreme Court race, it would become possible to actually look at whether the ultra-gerrymandered maps in our state are unconstitutional, to see whether the pre-Civil War abortion ban should actually be in effect in the state of Wisconsin, to see whether the state should actually honor voting rights or whether it should overturn presidential elections, which is what some of the old Supreme Court justices liked. So with all that on the line, Wisconsinites turned out at record numbers. And in a state where four of the last six presidential elections has come down to less than one percentage point, they elected progressive justice Janet Protasewicz

by 11 percentage points, a gigantic landslide. Incredible. And I was here, we were right before the election. And we were going to send people off to knock on doors and turn out the vote. And I remember right as we were leaving, you said something like, let me tell you what's next. They're going to use this gerrymandered map to try to get one more seat. And if they get that one more seat, they might try to impeach her. And it seemed, and it was like, don't tell me that today. That's a tomorrow problem. I can't think about that today. Can we just win this thing and have a good day for once in our fucking lives? Ben Wickler, can we have one good goddamn day? But you were already thinking ahead because you saw

how much of a threat it posed to Republican power for the voters of Wisconsin to change the makeup of the Supreme Court. So why do Republicans now in this state have the ability to basically undo this election? So this is a power kind of written into the Constitution by accident, as far as we can tell, that Republicans figured out this set of loopholes where they essentially gerrymandered the living daylights out of Wisconsin. So they several times have lost the majority of votes for state legislative elections and then won gigantic majorities because they rigged the map so badly. At this moment, Republicans have 65 out of 99 seats in the state assembly, excuse me, 64 out of 99 seats, so almost two-thirds. In the state senate, they have

two-thirds of the state senate seats. They're the most gerrymandered, the biggest partisan gerrymander of any state legislative chambers in the country. And under the constitution, if you have a majority in the state assembly, you can impeach. You can impeach a Supreme Court justice. You can impeach whoever you want. And then the state Senate, if it has two-thirds of the votes,

it can convict. So after the election, actually before the election, Republicans started imagining, wish-casting this moment when they could just overturn the election, punch voters in the face and nullify their votes by impeaching a Supreme Court justice. Right afterwards, the head of the state Senate said, we're not going to use impeachment to overturn an election. And so

it seemed like the danger went away. But in August, Justice Protusewicz was sworn into office, and the Republican speaker of our state assembly, a guy named Robin Voss, Republican speaker of our state assembly, a guy named Robin Voss. Not a beloved figure among Wisconsin voters. Robin Voss started publicly threatening to impeach Justice Proto-Sawitz before she ruled on a single case in the state Supreme Court, essentially to take her off the bench. And if he does that, this is the really devilish thing. Even if they don't have a trial to convict her in the state Senate or acquit her, which would be totally logical

because she's done nothing wrong. Nothing wrong. And the Constitution requires doing big things wrong to be impeached. Even if there's no trial in the Senate, if they impeach, the Supreme Court justice is suspended until the trial, which means that they could essentially just delete the election, tell the voters, I'm sorry, your vote has gone up in smoke. And that is what they're threatening to do over and over publicly right now in our state.

And there is no, it's shocking how brazen they're being about the lack of a rationale or offering rationales that, of course, would apply to every single conservative justice as well, right? About donors, about taking positions, right? There's members of the Supreme Court that have worn NRA hats. They're ruling on gun cases. There's no logic to it. So first of all, can you talk a little bit about the blowback? Obviously, Democrats are outraged about this, but it does seem as though this has slowed a bit and they've been looking for ways to seek some kind of political cover because of how unpopular and radical this is. Now they are. So at first they were talking about this. They were trying to intimidate a justice on the Supreme Court into recusing from a case.

And their claim about why she should do that is it runs directly into the rules that they set up. So they said that she should recuse from a case about the constitutionality of our gerrymandered maps because they claimed that she had said the maps were rigged on the campaign trail, which is a statement of fact, but it's also kind of a personal opinion. They claim that to say the maps are rigged is to prejudge the case about whether it's constitutional to rig them, which is exactly the opposite of true. Courts have found that our maps are rigged, and the whole question is, is that constitutional to do? So she said the maps were rigged.

They say that's a problem. Republicans on our Supreme Court, before they were elected justice, have said that compared abortion to slavery and the Holocaust, said Planned Parenthood is wicked, said that they would never have to recuse in abortion cases even involving Planned Parenthood. So that is totally bunk. The other thing is they say that Janet Protasewicz received support from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which is true. Now, we're not a litigant in the case, but even if we were, conservative justices on our state Supreme Court made the rule that campaign donors do not force recusal by the justices that they gave money to on their campaigns. campaigns. And the big moment around this was when the current Supreme Court Chief Justice got millions of dollars in support from the big business lobby in our state, Wisconsin

Manufacturers and Commerce, then opposed and blocked a proposed rule to require recusal, and then ruled for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for that special interest. So they created these rules, and now they built this house, and now they want to light it on fire because they don't have the keys anymore. So that is the moment we're in. They thought they could get away with this impeachment without the public noticing. And a week before the rumors were flying they were going to do this, at the Democratic Party and with a bunch of different grassroots groups, we launched a campaign called Defend Justice. If you go to defendjustice.com, great website. Everyone loves defendjustice.com, great website. Everyone loves

defendjustice.com. You can look up your state legislators, see what they've said, contact them. Thousands of people have been flooding the state legislature with info. People have been knocking on doors, thousands of doors, tens of thousands of phone calls. And the Republican legislature, they are now freaking out. They're divided. Some of them love impeaching because they just love breaking any norm that they can find. Others are recognizing that this could turn into a gigantic political fiasco for the GOP. So right now, this is a jump ball. It could go either way. And frankly, the public outcry, the intensity of the public outcry will determine what happens next. Basically, this is sort of a destabilizing step in a bunch of

different ways. But one of the things that forces the governor to think about is, well, do we ask for this judge to resign and then you can appoint someone, right? Doesn't it open the gates to like, well, then they resign and you appoint someone new and they serve until the election and then they resign and then you appoint somebody else, right? Doesn't it start to cause a chain reaction of having to figure out ways around this kind of anti-democratic fervor? So this is unprecedented. This is never, nowhere in the country have we been able to find a situation where a Supreme Court justices were removed before they ruled on something to stop them from ruling on it. It essentially would end the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government.

And there's all kinds of scenarios people map out. One of them is, if they impeach, in our Constitution, it requires corrupt conduct in office or crimes or misdemeanors. Obviously, none of those things have happened in this case. If they impeach, this will immediately go to court. And there could be a court case where Republicans discover that this gun is not actually loaded.

There's all kinds of scenarios where this doesn't actually work out for them to stop the consideration of the maps, to stop consideration of our abortion ban, to stop consideration of voting rights lawsuits. And at the same time, if they do this, then they enrage the entire public, the million Wisconsin voters who turned out, including tens of thousands of people voting for the first time in their lives in the state Supreme Court race. So that's the question Republicans have to ask themselves. This's kind of a, are you feeling lucky situation for them? And they don't seem very lucky in this case. Isn't it interesting that we use the term

co-equal branches, but the co doesn't do anything. It's like the Guinness Book. This is the kind of thing you think about a lot. It is. Yeah. What is the co doing? What is it doing? Nothing. I've talked about this many times. Equal branches.

They're equal branches. Co-equal. Sure. What? It's like the Co-Equal Rights Amendment, you know? Yeah, exactly. The CRA. It doesn't do anything. It doesn't do anything it doesn't do

anything but that's not important so a lot of these republicans in the assembly these are MAGA republicans that have uh spouted trump's election lies uh then there are senate republicans state senate republicans who just voted to try and fire a state election official who had the audacity of knowing that we were in a pandemic, among other sins. You now have this effort to basically delegitimize an election because you didn't like the outcome.

What should people listening that are in, you know, we've talked a lot about Wisconsin feeling like a harbinger for the rest of the country. What is the lesson for people in other states that see what's happening in Wisconsin? What have you learned about how to fight back against this kind of anti-democratic sentiment, especially when, as you said, you're in this trap where they've used anti-democratic sentiment to hold on to power despite the voters in Wisconsin wanting something else? This fight about democracy,

and I think the biggest issue driving our elections right now, which is the fundamental freedom to make your own decisions about your own body and the freedom to decide whether to access an abortion, they're deeply, deeply connected because Republicans think, they know that the only way they can rip away a basic freedom from half the population

is if they then take away the population's ability to do anything about it. And to fight back, you have to fight on both fronts. And that is what we've seen here in Wisconsin, and you can see across the country. In this moment, as Democrats and people who care about democracy, we didn't wait for them to actually impeach Justice Brunner-Sawitz before we started fighting back against it. And I think when we look at 2024, when we look at other states like North Carolina and what Republicans are fantasizing about doing in Georgia, all these different places where Republicans are essentially talking about ripping up the basic idea of democracy in order to lock in total control, we need to go on offense and make the case that they're doing this

because they want to take away basic freedoms and people will vote and fight and organize for their freedom so intensely. Republicans are terrified of it. And they know that short circuiting democracy is their only path to be able to keep those freedoms away. And so across the country right now, Virginia, all this is on the line in the elections coming up for the House of Delegates, for the state legislature. In Ohio, there's an abortion referendum. They tried to short circuit democracy this August to stop that referendum from passing. And here in Wisconsin, the pressure campaign, you can join a phone bank and call voters in Republican legislative districts right now at DefendJustice.com. voters in Republican legislative districts right now at defendjustice.com, and you'll actually help get people informed and then angry and organized. I think the key thing for us is not

to wait until the attempted coup 2.0 in 2024. We need to organize like democracies on the line right now, 365 days a year across the country. What do you think about the Culver's cheese curds? It's more of a mozzarella finish. You know, it's a mozzarella stick style. Yeah. It's not like the kind of smoother kind. That's true.

I mean, so there are some gas stations in Wisconsin that will have an entire rack of cheese curds of different flavors and varieties. Those are not

fried cheese curds. It's a whole different experience. What I admire about Culver's cheese curds is that they're bringing cheese curds to non-Wisconsinites and teaching them

about the most important state and our culture. And that's so important. That's so important. And that's so important. That's so important. And that's so important. Yeah, we got to, I really, the thing is that it's your best kept secret. We got to get the Culver's West. I mean, these, these, these, these in and out people are just resting on their laurels

thinking that they're offering something sufficient. You know, they're, these Chick-fil-A's aren't open on Sunday. We've got to get the Culver's everywhere. It doesn't need to be the best regional rapid food chain in the country, because it's not fast food, to be honest. This is made to order each time. Culver's needs to be a national force. I think that's right.

Yeah, it is different when you're handed a number. You know? It's better. Ben Wickler, everybody. Thank you. Go to defendjustice.com. Thank you. That was great.

Come on. Ben Wickler. Thank you. That was great. Come on. Ben Wickler. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Please put your hands together for the second biggest nerd you'll see on stage tonight, the hysterical Alice Wetterlin. Hi, hi, hi, hi.

The shirt says, I'm with logical. Illogical. I'm with illogical. That makes more sense. Ah, I blew it. Oh my God. Oh my God. John, thank you so much for having me on the show.

I'm so happy to be back here. You know, because I'm from the Midwest. Yeah, did you not know that? Yeah, I grew up in Minnesota. I'm from Minneapolis. So, yeah. Where are you from? I'm from Long Island. Oh, you're from the East Coast. That must from Minneapolis. So, yeah. Where are you from? I'm from Long Island. Oh, you're from the East Coast. That must be nice.

Sure. So, the thing is, you know, when we cross state lines, I live out in LA, you know? And when I get back here, when I cross state lines, I just let it out, you know? It's so good to be in a cheese forward state. I'm done with that part. Thanks.

Alice, we have a lot in common. Yes, we do. We're hot as hell. That's right. Genius IQs. Okay. We both instinctively understand Worf's sex appeal. His dick has to have bumps, right? Why is Star Trek The Next Generation

the best Star Trek franchise, in your opinion? Oh, okay. I thought this was going to be a hardcore quiz, but I can answer that real easy. Picard, it's the best captain. Jean-Luc, he's the best captain. Jean-Luc, he's the best captain. He's the best captain. Here's the deal.

This is what happens when you let creators just off the leash. And then you trap an Englishman. Where he doesn't really want to be that much. And then you make him stay. And I think that the reason Next Gen works so well and it's not been repeated is that the, well,

the formula is basically Twilight Zone, right? Because, like, if you create a world in which anything can happen and you care about the characters from week to week, it's, like, mind-blowing. But at the same time, you know,

Picard, he's got this low... he's got this... you know, his pajamas, they go low. And there's hotties, you know what I mean? But it's also... it continued the progressive, you know, vision of Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball? Yeah. Oh, people think Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, but actually Lucille Ball got the wheels rolling. That's right. Really?

Yeah, a woman did it. A woman did it, John. She got behind the idea of creating Star Trek, the original series, the show. There was a, Gene Roddenberry's a creator and didn't really have, people weren't buying it and Lucille Ball was like, oh, I like this show. Sorry, I'll let Nicole Kidman, the master, do that.

Well, you know, when you're thinking about making a Lucille Ball movie, you think, who's funny? Who's hilarious? Who's got the chops? Whose face can move? Who's perfect for it? Whose face can move? You know, in the way that Lucille's ball, I don't know.

Whose face moves? You know, really, really, really vibrates with those jokey, jokey smirks. And I know who. It feels like somebody did trap her in it. Like they were like, you gotta do this. And then she's stuck. I don't know. She's got a snatched waist though.

I don't know. I'll talk about Hollywood later. Star Trek movies. Best, worst. Oh, I'm not good at this. Star Trek movies best worst oh I'm not good at this this is where I get into trouble because I'm a Star Trek fan I have a Star Trek podcast

it's called Treks in the City I know you're all fans by the way you didn't clap for me when he mentioned me the first time I heard that I'm so glad you did because I tried to move past. You know, you saw me get out.

I was, but you were there. Alice Wetterlin is here, he said. Silence. I have a Star Trek podcast, which you should all subscribe to. You can go to mostlyfans.net and subscribe to my podcast

and my other podcast, Treks in the City. Critically acclaimed, also critically ignored. But I'm also a hot girl who's into Star Trek, so remembering names of movies, I have nerds for that. Have you seen this Alex Trebek clip before? It's people who identify as nerdy rapping about the things they love.

Video games, science fiction, having a hard time meeting romantic partners. You know. It's really catchy and fun. Losers, in other words. Well. May his memory be a blessing. Absolutely bodied that poor woman.

Losers, in other words. He should have played Lucille Ball. Yes, that's right. That's a joke. Oh, we missed it. We missed our chance. Perfect cast. Star Trek has a reputation for its progressive views on sex, race, and gender.

When you start using alien sex and murder as a metaphor, things get dicey. Which is why we wanted to challenge you to a game we're calling... Rights in Space! Nice! Did it. did it so just for people listening at home it's is that Deep Space Nine but Voyager

give me a it's Voyager I'm a next gen I'm a next gen girly deal with it if you wanted me to watch Discovery and Voyager 8. I'm a next-gen girly. Deal with it. If you wanted me to watch Discovery and Voyager or Deep Space Nine, then WPIX should have put on two episodes a week in New York City on Sunday nights so that I was tired every Monday.

But they didn't, so now I know about Next Generation. In the Next Generation episode... It's okay. I'm here. Hey, you got it. Here you go. In the Next Generation episode,

The Child, how did Deanna Troi get pregnant? Oh, jeez. Well, she was mind-raped. Can we say that? Again? Again. Yeah. pregnant oh geez well she was mind raped can we say that again uh again yeah yes it was a ball of energy yeah it just kind of yeah i mean you know she's a counselor her mind was asking for it uh you know her mind was really slutting around trying to get in everybody's just an open to any any ball of energy really that just comes on by.

Her mind skirt was all hitched up to the... What? Unionized counselors. Well, they didn't make money, so... Once you get rid of money, the whole thing for unions, it's more federations at that point. They still had problems. Anyway, next thing. The crew debated whether Deanna

should give birth, but in the end, she did. What did she give birth to? Like a full adult? Well, very quickly became a full adult. Yeah. It was a rapidly growing baby boy named Ian, who when asked if he could tell them who or what he was, said, not yet. Yeah. Well, in the long extended cut, this is an interesting fact, in the extended cut, he was a SoundCloud rapper. And they didn't, yeah, very prescient. On the planet Angel One, what was the major difference in their society

that would make modern day dorks on the internet shit themselves? A, there were no men. B. All genders were equal in every way. Or C. The men were second-class citizens. It was B. Right? No.

Which episode is Angel 1? Angel 1 is the men were second-class citizens and physically weaker than the women, wearing flouncy clothing and perfume. Oh, was that the Swedish society? I believe so. Okay. They went to Sweden. Oh, was that the Swedish society? I believe so. Okay. They went to Sweden. Yeah, I forgot.

They went to Sweden. Is that the one where Wesley got in trouble? No. Wait, isn't there one where Riker's just like, this place is the best. He just met a really strong woman and was super, super into it. And they're all wearing thong onesies and they run everywhere. Is that the right, is that the same one?

No. No, I think that's a different planet. I think I, I know the onesie planet where they're all hot, have sex all the time. They run everywhere.

And they run everywhere. It's Sweden and Riker fucking loves it. And they're like, Riker cleans up. And then, and then he's like, I don't see what's wrong

with this planet. And Wesley's like, I know, they're going to sentence me to death for throwing a baseball in the wrong place. Yeah. Sweden. Sweden.

Sweden. In the Voyager episode Lineage, what Klingon feature did B'Elanna Torres, I don't know that character. You didn't watch Voyager. I didn't watch Voyager. What did she want to edit out of her unborn baby? I really want to say Bumpy Dick,

but it's probably the forehead ridges. Yeah, that's it. I didn't watch Voyager, but what else would it be? She definitely doesn't want to edit out his honor. Can we give him more honor? It's like, chill. In the Next Gen episode the outcast commander reicher fell in love with soren an alien from a planet where gender did not exist

when soren decided she wanted to live as a woman how did the episode end uh i'm trying to remember i think she just he like well he couldn't date her because he had to be on the ship so she just was like i'm gonna go be a woman elsewhere her people declared soren was sick and she then underwent corrective therapy oh yeah i remember that yeah yeah she seems fine to remain genderless yeah she likes it can you believe that isn't that insane yeah. It's like the show is so progressive and then they were like, so we want to make this progressive show and then these bunch of nerd writers,

these dudes were like, yeah, sure, anyway. We got this. Where does Royker run a fuck? Take a weekend. In Star Trek Enterprise, Vulcan officer T'Pol goes through Ponfar, which is a condition that does what to a Vulcan?

Enterprise, the series. Ponfar. Hmm. Nerds? I heard it makes him super boring. You said that. They get so horny, they become violent and crazy until they fuck or else they die.

Oh my God. Me on a Tuesday. Hello. John, John, stop. Producer Malcolm, unbidden, decided to add this clip of this character. My Vulcan rank supersedes yours.

All right, get out of it. Get out of it. Get out of it. Stay in it. There's a horny Klingon. Or Vulcan. Vulcan, I know. I was a virgin long enough that I should know more.

And Alice, you've won the game no thanks for playing okay thank god rights in space thank you thanks you guys do I get out of here

come on come on Trex in the City alright it's good I promise subscribe to Trex in the City I love Trex in the City, all right? It's good, I promise. Everybody, subscribe to Trex in the City. I love Trex in the City. It's a blast.

And listen to our podcast, Mostly Fans, which is a funny name. It's really a podcast, not a joke. It's called Mostly Fans. When we come back, it's time for an incredibly civilized debate. And we're back! As a man of class, taste, and refinement,

I can't help but tremble at the ongoing dumbing down of America. Just kidding. I'm a brainless trash goblin that runs off Diet Coke and the kind of reality TV that would make Norman Lear puke in that little hat of his. You know the one. I'm like every normal American, but my next guests are a cut above and they have agreed to let me moderate a very civilized debate. Welcome to the stage, wait wait don't tell me I'll tell you. It's Peter Sagal and the hilarious T.J. Jagodowski. He better come over here.

T.J., I think you should go over there. Peter, it's good to see you. Good to be here, John. T.J., thanks for being here. Come on in. Come on. Now,

these are all blank. Wouldn't that be something? That would be. How did she not know Pon Far? I'm sorry. I am an original nerd. And Pon Far is canon from the original series. It just seems very alarming to me that she didn't know this.

Well, we're next generation people, all right? And you have to accept that. Things change, Peter. The world changes. The world grows and changes. And Ponfar, for you, Ponfar meant a lot to you, but it didn't mean as much to us. But that may be true, but every few years,

Vulcans go into heat, whether you know about it or not. And that's so important. I don't know if I went through, I don't know if I went through Pong Far, but I was 15. I thought I'd die if I didn't fuck.

And I didn't. I didn't die. Yeah, you made it. You made it to the other side. You found a way through. I did. TJ's been in the bathroom a while. He's in Ponfar. Self-induced Ponfar. He's treating his Ponfar.

Before we get started, for both of you, one of the reasons I want to do this segment is I went to see Jinx Monsoon, a wonderful drag queen at a show in Los Angeles. And she's singing song after song. And I noticed that people were getting up mid song to go get drinks in a theater they weren't waiting

till the end of the song and I thought my god what has become of us what has become of this human society let the let the icebergs take us. Is this just what it is to turn 40 or is something really changing? What do you think? Did you think or even say out loud the words kids these days? Thank you for asking. No, I did say what happened to people?

When I was young. Is it just me? That's another version of it. These all came to you when you turned 40. They just come into your brain. I think never before have so many of us been so important. You know, I'm like like we're important now and we are more important than the others of us now you know yeah right if you need a beverage you go get one because you're important

i do think that's part of it because you're thirsty and you're important. Yeah, and that has to be satisfied because I'm important. Basically, society is now, is every individual on this planet yelling at every other individual, don't you know who I am, in unison. Oh no. That's basically it.

And unlike us, of course, they're all fooling themselves. Right, right. It's just sort of a ridiculous thing for all the people out there to think. I know. We're up here. Right. They're down there. Exactly.

That's how you can tell. Do you have any of your own bad theater behaviors uh well i i'm i'm usually an improviser and so improv theaters are kind of like doing a show in your neighbor's basement um so as long as you don't like fuck with the furnace you're kind of okay that is rude yeah so i that's that's my rule i don't touch the furnace peter do you touch the furnace only during pon far oh that's you know what that was that was wait wait don't tell me energy you know uh by the way tj says he's an improviser i don't know if anybody knows this tj among the improvising

community of chicago is like a living god like he's an improviser's improviser it's true this is see we're gonna debate and he's psyching me out already. No, it's true. I don't think people know, man. And he's famous. I have walked around a baseball stadium with TJ. I'm baseball stadium famous, baby. No, it's like, I mean, we were seeing a Red Sox versus a White Sox game down at that stadium. Sox versus Sox. Sox versus Sox.

Carmines versus the Pale Hoes. Exactly. As Harrelson would say. And let versus socks. Socks versus socks. Carmines versus the pale hose, as Harrelson would say. And let me just cut right to the chase. Nobody had any clue who I was. But I was walking next to TJ and everybody was going nuts. It was like, that's the guy from the Sonic commercials.

They were going crazy. It was really something. And then did you just start sort of projecting to hope that you'd get a little to sort of... Yeah, exactly. I fell into my catchphrases. I was like, so what does he win, Bill? And nobody... It's not my demographic out in...

out in the bleacher section C. I'll confess to something. One time my friend Spencer and I decided we were going to go see a movie we thought it might be empty it was and it was quite full which upset our plan to quietly

and without bothering anyone eat two fully loaded Chipotle burritos and we sat in our seats and it was assigned seating and there were two people that ended a lot more wholesome than I thought it was going to, just so you know.

That's what Spencer said. But so we're sitting in our two seats. There's one empty seat to our right, two people sitting to our right. Spencer's next to the stranger who clocks the fact that we're consuming these bricks of odor, you know? And that guy just sort of turns over and says to Spencer, hey, would you mind sliding over, you know,

to be one seat further away? And Spencer said, nah, we're good. I don't think we're the heroes in that story, Peter. No, I don't think so. What heroes in that story, Peter. No, I don't think so. What do you think? That's some big dick energy right there. It was the we're good, I remember forever.

Nah, we're good. I had to respect it. I had to slid over. The point is... Debate. Right. Thank you for keeping this civilized so far first of all you've been respectful of each other oh we will continue to be absolutely now i will present you with a horrific theater etiquette faux pas that would make patty lapone slap you across the face in front of your mother-in-law

at a sunday matinee of company i will assign each of you a pro or a con. You will have 30 seconds to passionately defend your position or play along, because people do listen, and we've got to give them a show. Okay. So without further ado, let the civilized debate begin.

First up, sneaking a Chipotle burrito into the movies. TJ, you are pro. Yeah. TJ, you are pro. Yeah. Peter, you are con. Let's start with the pro. You have 30 seconds to defend the practice. I mean, the human body in its most basic state is a machine.

And all machines run on some sort of fuel, right? And as far as I know, human fuel is food. So if you're in a spot where you might be sitting there for two, two and a half hours with an intermission, you've got to make sure your body has enough to keep you going so that you're energized and ready to clap at the finale. 30 seconds, Peter, to you. It's not the smuggling in the food,

it's the cultural appropriation. Not only is the burrito itself a weird American amalgam of actual Mexican traditions, it was stolen by this heartless corporation called Chipotle from the Mission-style burrito of San Francisco. So you are only allowed to bring a burrito to the theater if you get it from La Cumbre in the Mission and you apologize to them in Spanish.

Wow. Incredible. I believe I lost that one. All right, well. You may not be ballpark famous, but you can make an argument, Mr. Sitter. Which is not nearly as good. No, it really isn't.

It's a much less cool thing to do I guess next time I go to the ballpark These guys are like, hey that guy He can hold his own in a bullshit debate Wow, I've seen that Yeah, sure, this guy's hilarious But this guy makes such a good point That's not America

That's not this country Next debate. You have to wait for quiet moments in a movie to open candy wrappers that crinkle. Peter, you say yes. TJ, you say no. Okay. Peter, take it away. Well, I think that the advantage of doing that is you can lessen the tension. Because you all know, quiet moments in a movie, perhaps someone is breathing their last. Perhaps someone, a character, is deciding

whether or not to go back to the love of their life. Perhaps Lawrence of Arabia is staring into the distance, contemplating his fate. That can be a little tense. So I think a good thing to sort of level everybody out, get them out of their heads, is to open up a Werther's Candies and then yell, oh, this one's stale. Powerful argument, TJ.

But you say you should wait. Well, I would say just go to see a movie with no quiet. Don't go see like an Adam Driver Scar Jo relationship piece just go to a Fast and Furious and open up everything throughout the course of the entire film bring every grocery you have open your cereal electric can opener, your canned goods. Open whatever you would want, and then that way, as you head home, you just shake and heat. Wow. I think we're tied. I think it's 1-1. Shake and heat. I saw the film Oppenheimer. It's about Oppenheimer.

Which one? The one from the movie. Oh. And it's quite long. It could have been, you know, I think there's 15, 20 minutes you wouldn't have missed. But somebody waited until there's a scene where it's very quiet. Because the whole point is that it's quiet because the bomb has gone off.

Spoiler alert for Oppenheimer. The bomb has gone off, but the sound hasn't reached them yet. That's sort of the whole idea of this moment. You're living in the silence of the time between the first nuclear weapon being detonated and where they realize and feel and hear and experience the full force of it.

And that was the moment this person next to me decided, it's Reese's time. Right. Let's fucking get into it. Oh, wait a minute. Reese's?

Reese's? Reese's. But just getting into one of the bags and I don't know exactly what they were trying to do inside of it. But it was a loud process.

I'm just saying if it's the original Reese's Cup, that's allowed. No, no, no. It was the little circles. Oh, the Reese's Pieces. Oh, fuck that monster. Okay. Move on. The Reese's Little Circles.

What do you call them in Madison? Reese's Pieces. I know. That's what they call them everywhere. Your rubes. I have become the destroyer of candy. Hey. Huh?

That sounds like what you would say. Yeah, yeah. Alright, so we're tied. Okay. Next up, taking a shit in the aisle of a Broadway performance of Some Like It Hot, attended by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. Peter Sagal, you have the pro.

TJ, you'll have the con. Well. Do you want more time? Everybody has their dream. And what if your dream is to do something to Hillary Clinton that even in her life of being a punching bag for the worst people in society no one has yet done to her and what if you think about it all day you you you sacrifice your family and your job and you finally come up with an idea, I think you should be allowed to live your dream. Yeah. Especially because getting the timing right is no small feat.

No. Yeah. That's been done. Now there's some other guy out there who's got an even bigger challenge. Don't shit on his dream. And don't shit on his dream. Yeah. This seems oddly related to the burrito one.

My con is, if this is an editorial shit, if this is a statement about the Clintons, don't do it near. Do it right there. Let there be no confusion about it. You know, like, if you do it right there. Let, let there be no confusion about it. You know, like if you do it near, it just, it leaves kind of a mixed message of,

was that about us? Was that about someone else? Was that about the show? You know, like, so my, I, my quibbles with positioning on that one.

I think... Also, don't knock it until you've tried it. Positioning. Did that... It is my job to know about these things

quite literally, but I missed that. That actually happened. That actually happened and some facts about it. The manager was quoted as saying this actually is the fourth time it happened not sorry that's confusing not next to not someone

shitting near hillary clinton taking in a show it seems as though this was a regular theater goer with sort of an irregular problem right and so to your point was this editorial right? It turns out it was biological Okay, and Hillary Clinton being there just made it a more interesting episode If this is the fourth time there's something wrong with this production of some like it hot Yeah, yeah some like it steamy Yeah. Yeah. Some like it steaming.

The fourth time. What? I think there are. After the third one, you put up a sign or something. Was it the same person doing it four times? Because that is a very forgiving theater. Because it's like, all right, Mrs. Fieldsteel, we'll let you try one more time. I do believe that this was

an elderly patron of the arts. Yes. For whom there was some sympathy, but I... Not here. Yeah. It's more understandable to me if it is the same person, because

if you only do it once, then that could seem like it was an accident. If you do it four times, that's just what you do, man. Yeah, it's like vocation abdication. That's my thing. Next up. Vaping,

singing, and groping in the audience of Beetlejuice the musical, like Congressman Lauren Bogart. TJ, you're pro, but Peter, you're pro. Oh, we're both, we both have to present. I would like to hear the best argument for why this conduct should be allowed, respected, and appreciated as a lover of the arts. Who goes first?

Peter, you take it away. Okay. Look, I'm a theater guy. I love going to the theater. And I know that you're there, you're in communion with the audience and with the performance. It's kind of a sacred space. But you have to be forgiving because there is such a thing as bad timing,

and sometimes people go to the theater not knowing that it's Pon Far. And you don't want her to die. Wow. Powerful words. Powerful words. TJ. I'm not super familiar with this young lady,

but I think she's going to turn out okay. I mean, she's got to be like 18, 19, right? It's not like she's a grandmother or anything. So, I mean, I should be so lucky to go on a first date where I top bongo my gal that she's courteous enough not to light up a cigarette, but vape, which I think is really going above and beyond. And if she's nice enough to grab my pants while this is happening, then I think this is a nice night. This isn't something to be kicked out of a theater for. This is an instructional for later teens.

Wow. Besides, who knows if the same thing isn't wrong with this Beetlejuice show that's wrong with Some Like It Hot? That could have been a lot worse. Yeah, it's all on a relative scale. Wow, such important arguments. She might have been in Vulcan Heat, and, she's just a teen. Two arguments that I think are really important because they haven't really been made. They haven't been part of the public discourse, and that's why we do this show. I know. That's why we take this show on the road to expose ourselves and this audience

to incredible and thoughtful arguments like that. And that's what debate is all about. Debate, of course, a really cool way to solve hard, difficult questions. Barking at each other in periods of time, that's the smartest way to come to conclusions. That's the best way to do science. I think so.

I actually have a story, and I hope TJ forgives me, because if you want to misbehave, if you want to go nuts in an audience, go to a sporting event. That's what it's for. That's why it's fun. And TJ and I used to go nuts in an audience, go to a sporting event. That's what it's for. That's why it's fun. And TJ and I used to go to see Red Sox games when they played the White Sox. And we went down.

We got good seats, which is relevant because we were sort of near the camera wells. And I forget the situation in the game, but Red Sox hero David Ortiz came up. The Red Sox were behind, and Ortiz, in his classic fashion, hit a clutch homer. And TJ is a really big Red Sox fan, and really celebrated, just an incredible emotional celebration, which, because of the camera angle I mentioned, made it onto the clip that they showed on the sports shows. And so for at least three or four days while they kept going over the game, there was this clip shown of in the background, David Ortiz admiring his homer and starting to walk around the bases. And in the foreground, TJ Jagadowski rubbing his own nipples in pleasure. I can tell you exactly what happened. It sounds lascivious, but it was really just good, wholesome fun.

Our friend Mark Baser had bought a licorice whip, and on the licorice whip, it said, three feet of fun. And he was eating it, and he's like, I don't know if this is that fun. It's like, this doesn't seem like fun. And then Ortiz went yard knocking. I said, I'll tell you right there, that was 400 feet of fun right there. Yum, yum,

yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. That's what happened. Alright. But all they saw was the yum-yum-yum. I'm glad I brought it up, because I would have gone to my grave thinking something else. I'm glad we were to air this out. And I think if we've learned one thing tonight, it is this.

If you want to shout and yell in stadium-style seating while caressing, yours are a different chest. Save it for sports. And with that, our two debate champions, Peter, TJ, thank you so much. They'll be back for the rant. Well, when we come back, a fire sale. Don't go anywhere.

This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back! America is a used car lot, and baby, everything must go. Please welcome to the stage, the guy who's here to kick the tires, is the incredible, hilarious, felonious Muck! Good to see you again. Thanks for being here. Good to see you. Right there in the middle.

Nice to see you. Right there in the middle. What a glorious... This has been a summer of all kinds of failures in the news of various kinds. Many. How do you think this show's going so far? Is it still summer? Is this the 22nd or the 23rd?

Oh, well, this isn't a summer failure. This is amazing. It's going great. It's going fantastic. Yeah. Did I do zat? Is that better? Is that good?

It was better. Did... That did I do? No, that gets a little Jewish. That's not good. That's Ukrainian. That's different. That did I do?

That did I do? What did I... What? What? What did I do? What did I do? What? What? What did I do? Did I do that? That was the one? We're right there.

We're done. Let's isolate that. Do you find yourself unable to recall the timeline of even the biggest news stories just as soon as the new week begins? I have a seven-year-old, so I find myself struggling to recall the timeline of today. Is it Wednesday? It feels like Wednesday, but sure, if you'd like it to be. It's very fast. Everything is happening very fast, and my brain is no longer. It does. It feels like we're constantly binging the news, that we binge it as if it's going to run out.

But it doesn't run out. They keep making more of it why it's it's hard to say it feels like a scroll though doesn't it like the like it's constantly up oh no no no longer doing that we're on to another cocaine binge or whatever it is yeah it's a lot that nipple thing was like a couple of that was last week right yeah the nipple thing was a while ago. Jeez. I don't even know... We don't even know anymore. But it is officially fall.

Yes, thankful. As of this Saturday, September 23rd... Oh, so it's on the card. That's the last day of summer, everybody. Oh. So we're going to wrap up the events of the last three strange, inexplicable months with an end-of-summer-fails event. All right.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. That's good. What are those things called, the wavy... Wait, one person. Wacky, wavy, inflatable, arm-flailing tube man. Wacky, inflatable, arm-flailing... Wacky, wavy, inflatable, arm-flailing tube man. You know what's interesting is I've always just called it

the thing that's in front of the car dealerships. Yeah. You know. You know. Flonies, I'm going to ask you about a summer fail. And if you can't answer correctly... Oh, no. Who knows what happens.

You want to make me repeat the summer? Yeah, that could be it. Jesus, that'd be great. Whatever. You know, I'll do summer again. Let's do it. Let's take it to one. Back to one, everybody.

We're doing summer again. Anyway, let's get started. In June, Elon Musk officially gave up the world's second worst gig, the first of course being Elon Musk, and passed on Twitter's CEO position, which seems like mostly tweeting frantically to manage Elon Musk's constant fuck-ups. Who took on this job? Is it A, Claudia Carino, B, Maureen Albertino, C, Linda Iaccarino, or D, Donna Duncaccino? Maureen Albertino, C. Linda Iaccarino, or D. Donna Duncaccino? Well, I thought I knew.

Woo. Okay. I didn't know they were going to be... It's A. It's B. It's C. C? Linda Iaccarino. Are you sure? Pretty sure. Yes, it is. It's Iaccarino. We knew that, right?

I really like the choice she made because Elon will go on social media and be like, Jews, are they worth it? And then she'll be like, this is also going to be a bank soon. And we're going to charge you to read this. You'd pay to read this, right? Wild. Not at all. I have been on Twitter for a long time, and every day is my last day. And I think I just won't quit because I assume he's going to shit in the aisle at some point.

Yeah. I want to be there to see that. Look under your accounts. If you don't pay, he's going to mail shit to your house. Damn it. In July, Vietnam announced that it would ban this year's second best movie so far, Barbie, because of a cartoon map. What did they and many critics claim appeared on the map?

cartoon map, what did they and many critics claim appeared on the map? The line in the water between or that gave Taiwan made Taiwan owned by China. Yes, it was the visual representation of China's

ongoing effort to take over the South China Sea. Damn right. The nine dash line that they claimed was over on the right. I gotta say, you know, it's just... What? It's eight. It's only eight, yeah. In the movie, you're saying it's only eight.

And yet, they put a dash line there. It's close, alright? It's close. They acted like you're being crazy. Don't gaslight us, Warner Brothers. We know you've got interests abroad. Like, you guys are being nuts. We would never do something like that, even though we've done it, something similar,

in several other movies we've tried to release in China. We would never. Maybe. All right? Sometimes Ted Cruz has a point. I'm just kidding. Uh... Why did I do that? It's usually the top of his head. I don't know why you would do that.

It shots yourself in the foot. Tight crews never has a point. Another summer fail. One last one. In June, Doug Burgum threw his cowboy hat in the ring for the Republican presidential race, a race that he has absolutely no hope of winning. At all. He's polling it below 1%.

What state is Doug Burg bergham the current governor of you know the entire time i thought this was the oldest son from succession that we were talking about kevin i what that is not that's not connor we're not talking okay he's connor adjacent he's connor adjacent adjacent uh um polling at less than one percent which i'm gonna be honest with you i don't know this story i know you guys are shocked and uh but i'm gonna assume he's from somewhere that no one gives a crap about there's so many places it's it's actually the north one, it's North Dakota. You got it. Don't tell anybody.

I always get nervous in front of Peter Sagal. Also in June, YouTuber Colleen Bollinger, best known for her character Miranda Sings, here in a scene with a baffled Jerry Seinfeld. So are we going to get the interview after the coffee? No, this is the interview. You haven't even asked me any quenching. Any what? Quenching.

I love this episode because Jerry Seinfeld is like, what the... Who is this? Who booked this person? How did I end up in this situation? They like convinced him, oh, you got to do a YouTuber. You know, it's the next generation. And the lesson he learned is never do that again. She apologized for cultivating inappropriate relationships with underage fans by playing

what instrument? A ukulele. You got it. She played basically a juvenile guitar. Wow. Come on. Really makes you think in July

Ukraine named this company an international sponsor of war for continuing to operate in and pay taxes to Russia is it A. Procter & Gamble B. Unilever C. Kimberly Clark owner of brands like Connell and Kleenex or D. Johnson & Johnson there's no E all of the above

no it was just one of them wow Procter & Gamble so close or D. Johnson & Johnson. It's not, there's no E, all of the above? I feel, okay. No, it was just one of them. Wow. Procter & Gamble. So close. It was Unilever, owner of brands like Ben & Jerry's and Dove, for continuing to operate in Russia.

Oh my God. I don't... Benjamin & Jerry? I don't think, I feel like they... Ben & Jerome? I don't think Ben & I don't think I don't I feel like they listen Ben and Jerome I don't think Ben and Jerome

did that they took the check that's what happened to them thanks in June the world was wrapped as they waited to learn the fate of the passengers

of a submersible visiting the sunken wreck of the RMS Titanic that was this year that was this year what was the name of that submersible that we talked about 24 hours a day for days on end? Yeah, no. Yeah, nope.

It's gone. The USS Dumbass. Why? That's correct. You know what's crazy is I follow that story every day for every five seconds that we knew they were dead after they went down. And I know everything about everything. I know the 18-year-old who was suckered into it.

His dad's going to hell quick. And I don't know the name of it. It was the Titan. I totally forgot, too. Because it was going to the Titanic. Oh, jeez. What's your second idea, you know? In a couple ways.

Let's pitch on it in a couple ways. Hey, oh, you made this a fiberglass? Let's pitch on it. Yeah, that's a dumb... That's terrible. In July, 78 people in Ecuador were rescued after being stranded for 10 hours on one of the world's highest what?

I also remember that. The highest, the world's highest what? I also remember that. The highest, the world's highest. Oh, this is so hard. Cable car. You got it. That's a good guess. And then on August 6th.

And then in August, six children and two adults in Pakistan were rescued by helicopter and zip line after a 14-hour ordeal being trapped 900 feet above the valley floor in what? In Pakistan? A cable car. It was also a cable car. I'm killing it. Absolutely crushing it. I know all of these stories. After being indicted over and over again this summer,

without going over, how many felony counts does Donald Trump currently face? I do know this one. Ninety-one. As of this taping. As of this taping, Polonia. In July, this drug was found in a cubby near the White House West Executive Entrance.

What drug was it? I know what you all are thinking, right? It has to be something cool. But nope, it's cocaine. Just regular old, no beer, nothing. Just regular old cocaine. Not progressive nothing, just regular old cocaine. Not progressive enough. They could have done like meth.

No, we're going to do old school. Take us back to the 70s. Micro doses of mushrooms. That would have been great. Something new, something exciting, something you can order in the mail. Oh, Zympic, so they could get slim. But no, no, no. Just regular old cocaine, red eyes, and staying up till two in the morning, sure.

Bad app ideas. Just like people in the White House late at night. What if we make our own NRA? What? Shut up. Go home. Thank you so much,

Valonius Monk. He'll be at the Commonwealth Comedy Club in Dayton, Ohio on November 25th and the DC Comedy Law from December 29th through the 31st,

a New Year's Eve show. I am doing a New Year's Eve show. I will be asleep by 10. I'm an old person, but let's do it. But let's do it. He'll be back for the rant. We'll stick around.

We'll stick around. Stay around. Stay around. We come back, the rant wheel. We're going to bring out some chairs. But before we get to the rant wheel, a little housekeeping. Our next stop on the Love It or Leave It tour is in Atlanta, Georgia.

After Atlanta, we're heading to D.C., Charlottesville, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, and Boulder. You can find out when the show is coming to a city near you by visiting cricket.com slash events. There's pod save shows. There's love it or leave it shows. A lot of them are close to selling out. A couple of them aren't. You'll find out. Starting October 19th, John, Tommy, Dan and I are hitting the road for live PSA shows in DC, Louisville, Cleveland and a few other

cities. We hope to see you there. It's been so fun so far. Truly one of the great joys of getting to do this podcast. If you would have told me when we started this that I'd get to go and do these shows in front of incredible crowds like this, I wouldn't have believed it. It's a dream come true. So thank you all for coming out to shows like this. Please welcome back to the stage TJ, Alice, Ben, and Peter. Please welcome back to the stage TJ, Alice, Ben, and Peter.

I'll go over there. Come on out, everybody, grab a seat. They're not assigned. You guys want to go over there? I'm going to sit in this one, so I don't match the chair. Hi, Peter. Hi, John. There's a look you have on your face whenever you come on this show,

which is like, we don't do the same thing. Now it's time for the rant wheel. How can I rant when I'm now going to be self-conscious? No. I'm going to be sitting here like... No, I like it. I like it. Encouraging and welcoming look in my face. I feel terrible. No, please. I'm sitting here and like, just trying to give you a more encouraging and welcoming look in my face.

I feel terrible. No, please. I like it. I have another story. So we're downstairs with your producer, Brian, right? This is true.

And we're all in the green room downstairs and Ben has his 10, 12-year-old? 11. 11-year-old son who's standing there

and your producer, Brian, is like, oh, you're going to go on stage, and John's going to do this with you guys, and do this with you guys, but you've got to remember with John, it's great. You can really just go after him. You can kick him around. You can dom him.

And Ben's son says, what does dom mean? And your producer, Brian, did something I've only seen in like cheap comedy sitcoms. He went, well. He actually, you didn't

hear him, he actually goes, oh, I'm so busy. And runs away. Give it up for producer brian everybody brian's the best let's see what we have on the rant wheel this week we have the dumbing down of mad, Wisconsin. We have inflation. We have sitting is the opposite of standing. If you know, you know. We have Aaron Sorkin writes fiction. We have fire.

We have I need more time to think of a good rant. Trains. And Joe Barry should be fired. I need more time to think of a good rant. Trains. And Joe Barry should be fired. Let's spin the wheel. It has landed on Aaron Sorkin writes fiction. Peter, I believe this is your suggestion. How long do I have?

A good, you know, you vibe it out. All right. One of the worst things that's ever happened to us as a nation is the West Wing. Nothing against Aaron Sorkin. He's a brilliant guy. He's prolific. He's amazing. I love some of his movies.

The show's great. What a writer. But it led a vast number of well-meaning liberals to think that life, and specifically politics, is like that. You know that clip where President Bartlett absolutely shuts down that evangelical woman that's the big speech that ends with her saying, and in this place, no one stands till the president does, or something like that, right? It's all bullshit. It will never happen. Politics is real. It involves real people. It is not this really cool drama thing, and then MSNBC after 7 p.m. is not watch what happens live. It is real life. And the longer you expect that the next time there's a hearing,

there's going to be some witness who says just the perfect thing that's going to make Jim Jordan sputter and stop and quit out of shame. It's never going to happen, people. Stop hoping for it. Thank you. All right, well, let's spin it again, I guess. It has landed on fire.

That's me. Take it away, TJ. Do we need it anymore? It was like one of the first things ever, and it feels like we should have improved on it, which I think was like a microwave or a laser or something. So if we're only using it for s'mores, and last night I saw a guy burning his leaves,

then maybe we should put it to the side, because also once it gets out of its box, night I saw a guy like burning his leaves then maybe we should like put it to the side because also once it once it gets out of its box we're we're not good at stopping it after that which leads me to a mini rant inside this which is comparative sizing so when like California or Canada like huge fires and they said it burnt up an area half the size of Connecticut. I'm not sure how familiar I'm supposed to be with the size of Connecticut. From from space or whatever, but like outside like that's huge. Nothing else. Also, if you say it's the size of two football fields, I want to know if we're including the end zones.

And stop comparing tumor sizes to fruit. No tumors should be compared to anything that you might eat. So just stick to balls. Softball, tennis ball, golf ball, whatever. But not a grapefruit, because no one wants to have breakfast something that's just been compared to a tumor you know like so oh fire i think i think we're past it yeah yeah let's spin it again.

It has landed on sitting is the opposite of standing. Now, I just want to ask this crowd, if that is not a reference you immediately understand, please do not make any noise right now. If you know exactly what I'm talking about, please clap. I just want to ask this crowd, if that is not a reference you immediately understand, please do not make any noise right now. If you know exactly what I'm talking about, please clap. Now, if you are one of those people, if this has broken you in a way that no song has broken you in quite some time, please clap. some time, please clap. There is a song that a performer named

Brian Jordan Alvarez has put into the world called Sitting is the Opposite of Standing. A term that once you hear, you can't unhear. A song that once you know, you can't unknow. Can we play a clip? I'm going to spread it like it's the fucking ring. Sitting, sitting is the opposite of standeeem. Sireem is the opposite of running around. Sireem is a wonderful thing to do.

This is what we're watching because everyone's on strike. But when I say that if you have seen this, if the algorithm has decided to hurt you with this, if the algorithm looked inside of your soul and knew that your brokenness would lead you to like this in a way you can't describe, to the point where you and the person you're dating learn it in full and sing it

like a fucking hymn. That was a dependent clause for a sentence I've lost. Now, if it's grabbed a hold of you, you're also seeing remixes. I got one thing to say. I think that sitting is something that people say it is bad.

But you know that sitting is actually good because you deserve to relax. It's kind of like a nap. It's kind of like something else. But it is actually just sitting. Now that wasn't the remix, Zuri. That was just more of the original. something else but it is actually just sitting. Now that wasn't the remix, Zuri, that was just more of the original. But I think I've made my point. Let's spin it again. It is... Yeah, no, it's not a real wheel.

It's cool. We can put any words on it. And you'll make sure it doesn't stop on something it's already stopped on, right? Yeah. What? What? The whole thing falls apart

if this wheel isn't rigged. What is this, a congressional map in Wisconsin? It is landed... Speaking of, it is landed on trains, which I believe is Ben Wickler's rant. So my rant is about a topic that's very painful for us here. How many people here tonight got to Madison

on the high-speed train that connects Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Minneapolis. That train... What if one person did? That time traveler, or that universe hopper, I honor that person

because this is a dream that has united people across this great land. For so long, this was an idea that former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson had, a high-speed train in Wisconsin, when he announced it in his 1999 State of the State address. He said it took him back to his boyhood when he used to hop on trains like a hobo. That was in the state of the state. And he started getting the rights of way, and then Democratic Governor Jim Doyle moved the ball forward.

2008 came. Joe Biden came to Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Secretary of Transportation came up to him. He was a teamster, and he said, Joe, I know you. You're a train guy. You get it. And Joe Biden talked to Barack Obama, to your old boss, and they put $810 million for a high-speed train in Wisconsin into the American Recovery Act, the American Recovery Response,

the ARRA, the stimulus bill, a beautiful bill, tons of money. Scott Walker comes along. The stimulus bill. A beautiful bill. Tons of money. Scott Walker comes along. Who they love. Let's give this guy a chance.

This Scott Walker guy. Hey, is that who we are? Sorry, Ben. The fire and venom that courses through Wisconsinites' veins as we think about the train that is not, but should be. It's still, we feel it, right? So Scott Walker runs for governor, and in his campaign, he sets up a website called notrain.com. That sucks. And he says that we should say no to all the money from the federal government, because after spending $810 million building this beautiful train that's going to help energize, help make it possible for people to move from place to place, can to commerce, love, live, laugh, all the things that he hates, that

the Wisconsin Republicans hate. He says it'll cost $7.5 million a year if they build a train, and we need to kill this big government out-of-control spending. You know what he said? He said, choose traffic. Oh, my God. So he comes in. He kills the train. The thousands of jobs don't appear. The many, many more thousands of people don't move to our state

because it's not easy to get around. Then Robin Voss decides, who's right now, Robin Voss, our state assembly speaker, he's running the budget committee and he breaks our state's contract with the people making the trains who are making them in Milwaukee. The state gets sued for $50 million and the company keeps the trains and sends them to Indiana and they're badger colored trains that have no place in Indiana. And Robin Voss, to this day, last year, he came out publicly and said he would not spend a dollar of state money to build a train that connects Milwaukee and Madison, no matter how many other stops in intervening places that

might come in between. There are empty spots where the train is supposed to be built. There are places where the train stations are supposed to go. There are plans sitting on shelves. Here's the thing. Joe Biden is now president of the United States. He put, yes, because of you, because Wisconsinites rose up, and our friends in some other states, and he put $102 billion for high-speed rail into the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which in Wisconsin is called the Democratic infrastructure bill because every single Republican from Ron Johnson to Tom Tiffany on down voted against it. So the money's there, but it can only be spent when Robin Voss is no longer in power, which gives us a one-item to-do list, people. We need to save the trains and bring back the future that Wisconsin has been

denied. Yes. Yes. Build that train. That's... Come on, ride the train. That's why I couldn't get that domain name. NoTrains.com. I know. It was a sex thing.

Which is... Which is another... Let's spin it again. Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire. It has landed on inflation.

Flonius, it's yours. Inflation. Do we still need it? Sorry. I will say this. When they asked me what I wanted to rant about, I didn't have an idea, but I was pissed off because I paid $8 for eggs.

And I don't think you should pay $8 for whatever I paid for groceries last year. I'm paying 50% more. I'm not getting 50% more groceries. They're not 50% more delicious. I don't make 50% more money. What the fuck is happening? It doesn't make sense. And I read the Wall Street Journal because I want to look like somebody who knows what the hell is happening it doesn't make sense and i i read the wall street journal because i want to look like somebody who knows what the hell is going on but i i promise you i'm like many average americans who have no idea what the stock exchange has to do with why my rent is a hundred dollars more than it was last year or why i have to pay more to ride the bus or the train that we have

in chicago but you guys don't get to come and take from Madison down there because your fucking legislature sucks dick. But here's the thing. It's really frustrating to do the same amount of work year after year and be told that we don't have money, we are on strike for SAG. The writers are on strike because billionaires don't have enough money to pay us. They've literally said the WGA, the AMPTP said when the WGA was on strike that they would try to wait them out until people started to lose their homes so that we would feel the pinch. We feel the fucking pinch now. We don't have to wait. You don't

have to go on strike. You don't have to be out of work. It's already expensive. We can't keep saying we're the best country in the world if you're fucking 95% of the people who live here. It's not inflation. It's old people being greedy. It's rich people not giving a shit about poor people. And we are better. There's a punchline at the end, but fuck it. Yeah.

Fuck it. Let's spin it again. Choo-choo's inflation. Choo-choo's better policies. It has landed on fire. It has landed on I need more time to think of a good rant

well Alice time's up you're up alright so it's a vibe that I have to cause like they give you the day to think of the rant but then you're like I gotta read the room when I'm there and then you get there and I am here and I see the vibe

and I thought of a rant that's perfect. But then I was attacked. And I have to do this petty mini rant before my other rant. So it's really important that I put that like that. You know what I mean? I love you, John. So after my segment, you may remember.

Someone on this stage came out and said, how did she not know about Pon Far? Now I could do the easy route, right? I could go, Wait a minute. I am reclaiming my time Reclaiming my time Peter

There's an easy joke here There's an easy joke I just wanted Ben's son to watch To find out what the word means. He's watching. Easy joke would be, how do you know so much about Ponfar? But that easy. Here's the thing. Here's

what I want to say. A lot of women and non-dude bro guys don't feel welcome in the fandom community of various sci-fi things, right? So I thought, hey, and why is it? It's because, no offense, I know you did not mean to attack, and they don't mean to attack, right? They're just having fun their way, right? Everybody likes to have fun their way, and that's

good, and we should encourage that, but I have fun my way, so I was like, I'll create a podcast for people who don't know what Ponfar is, and I'll be like, hey, I don't know what Ponfar is. don't know what Ponfar is. And I'll be like, hey, I don't know what Ponfar is. I'm busy. Come listen to me talk about my shit. And about Klingons having bumps on their dicks. And so that's, I'm just saying,

another plug for my show, that's what you're gonna get. It's real dirty. I could probably sit down for this. But what I want to say, I want to end on a high note before the high notes, because you brought up something, and this is what I was going to talk about. I'm on strike right now. And you know, they did say people are going to have to lose their homes. An anonymous executive

said people are going to have to lose their homes. An anonymous executive said, people are going to have to lose their homes. And it's like, great, great strategy. You think we have homes, you know? And idiots, idiots, right? And you think, what are they in this for? They've already won. They've already, I mean, Hollywood wasn't great to begin with. And it's getting harder.

And they're squeezing us and squeezing us and squeezing us just so they can win more. And they know, we know they think they're better than us. We know that. It's obvious. They're villains. They're doing villain shit. And they don't care what we think because they literally think they're better than us. And that's what they're, that's the kind of traffic they're working with right now. But here's the thing. This is what's crazy. They're part of a system too. They can't see that. They think they're controlling all the levers, right? They think that they're just moving money around and competing with their bros or whatever. And they think that they have got all this control. And it's just they're just creating a system that's rigged but

there's another system and it's us and we are that system and when the strike hit I'm so proud to be on the picket lines with Jerry Ryan from Voyager and and what they don't realize and and nobody gets this, people are going to keep making stuff. I'm going to keep doing what I do. We're all going to keep doing what we do because we don't do it for money. It's a service. We do it to connect with you,

and we're not going to stop doing that. And they're going to find ways to steal from us, and that's always going to be a thing. But look what happened with the music industry. They broke it. They completely broke the music industry. But guess what? There's still music because they're not going to stop making music for you. You're not going to stop making music. We're not going to stop because we, we're the system. We're the other side of the system. They can't do anything without us. They can't be better than anybody if there's nobody to be better

than. And there's more of us than them. So just look around. Look around at this room right here. This is the system too. And we are a much bigger and we have a much more chance at longevity than they do so keep fighting it's a great place to leave it that's the rant wheel thank you so much to tj alice ben

felonious and peter incredible guests incredible panel thank you all so much we come back we'll end on a high note. And we're back. It's time for some high notes. We're going to do three. So if you have a high note, raise your hand. Brian will come to you. Oh, down here.

Let's go to here. Let's go here. This person put their hand up very quickly and has a Star Wars shirt on. What's your name? What's your high note? My name is Alex. And my high note, this is actually a shout out to a high note from a few months ago. It was someone who was really excited for Pikmin 4 and I Am 2 and Pikmin 1 and 2 just came out on Switch today

also. I fucking love Pikmin. It's so good. It is so good. If you think about it for two seconds, it's dark as hell. Oh yeah. And I love it. Pikmin 4! Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And 1 and 2 on Switch.

Brian doesn't know. Yeah, what's your high note? Should I say who I am? Yeah. What know. Yeah, what's your high note? Should I say who I am? Yeah, what's your name and what's your high note? Yeah, I'm Jeremiah Shaw. This is my partner, Hannah. We are getting married in eight days. Congratulations.

She's the love of my life. I feel so lucky to have her. And it's been a whirlwind. And obviously, we couldn't do it without each other. We couldn't do it without our family. And it's been a whirlwind and obviously we couldn't do it without each other we couldn't do it without our family and it's been such a crazy process and we were like what are we going to do to make it a time for us and we said we're going to go see John Lovett

and so here we are so thank you for everything that you do congratulations to both of you let's do one more high note such a fun show yeah sure go that person hi what's your name what is your high note Such a fun show. Yeah, sure. Go, that person.

Hi, what's your name? What is your high note? Hi, I'm Jacob with a K-U-B. It makes me seem taller. He's got jokes. Jacob's got jokes. Jacob's with a K, got jokes. My highlight is getting to see you here now in this moment.

I had tickets last year to see you in Minneapolis that I bought for myself as a present for getting through drug and alcohol treatment. Unfortunately, the day that I was supposed to come see you was the day of my mom's funeral. So a year later, I'm still sober, still in recovery, still living my life. Well, Jacob, what a milestone. And I'm so glad you could have it with us. Jacob, thank you. What a high note. What a place to leave it. Madison, thank you so, so much. What a place to leave it.

Madison, thank you so, so much. That is our show. Thank you to TJ Jagodowski, Alice Wetterlin, Ben Wickler, Philonious Monk, Peter Sagal, the Barrymore Theater, and everybody working here at the Barrymore Theater. Thank you all so much. There are 406 days until the 2024 elections. Have a great night.

And thank you, thank you, thank you, Madison. Thank you, Madison. Lovet or Leave It is a Crooked Media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett, and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our executive producer. Brian Semel is our producer. And Malcolm Whitfield is our associate producer. Howie Keeper is our head writer. Sarah Lazarus, Jocelyn Kaufman, Poulavi Gunalan, Peter Miller, Rebecca Kaplan, Alan Pierre, and Chandler Dean are our writers. Evan Sutton is our editor.

Stephen Colon is our audio engineer. And Kyle Seglin provides audio support. Our theme song is written and performed by Shersher. Thank you. You can find those glorious videos at www.youtube.com slash at love it or leave it podcast. It's the best we can do, I guess. Subscribe to Love It or Leave It on YouTube for access to video versions of your favorite segments and other exclusive content. Don't forget to follow us at Crooked Media on IG and Twitter. And if you're as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review. It's Love It, Believe It Love It, Believe It It's Love It, Believe It