Lovett or Leave It - TEAM JEREMY STRONG

Episode Date: December 11, 2021

Comedian Kevin James Thornton stops by to talk TikTok and to autotune our childhoods. Nancy Cuomo (Jackie Kashian) updates us on the Cuomo family Christmas newsletter. Andy Slavitt breaks down what we need to know about omicron. Tawny Newsome and Danielle Perez deserve an Oscar for their knowledge of method acting. And do not ask for whom the Rant Wheel spins. It spins…for thee.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.

Isn't it rich? Are we a pair? Me singing theme songs again You out of your lair Now it's live or else. Just when he starts live shows again. Omicron threatening laughter

as if it's a sin. John's making his entrance again with his usual flair. Hot with his takes. Will you be there? Isn't he rich isn't he

queer VCR cleaner jokes might make a career he's life or else till the world

melts which may be next year Next year. Good evening, Los Angeles. Thank you for coming out on a cold for Los Angeles night. It's cold for a lot of places tonight. You've passed the test.

That amazing song was by ex-fiancee. Tribute to Sondheim. Next week is your last... It was. And to a lesser extent, me. Next week is your last chance to send us a live or else theme song. If you have a song in your heart, email it to leaveit at crooked.com and we'll be posting them all as a playlist very soon.

Boy, do we have a show for you this week. Kevin James Thornton is here with reports from the front lines of TikTok. Tawny Newsome and Danielle Perez are concerned about these method actors running amok. Chris and Andrew Cuomo's cousin has some updates for the Cuomo family holiday newsletter. Andy Slavitt is here to talk about what we talk about when we talk about Omicron. And the rant wheel is back. But first, let's get into it. What a week. On Wednesday, a 50-foot Christmas tree outside Fox News headquarters in New York was set ablaze by a troubled man who was arrested soon after.

When discussing the incident on his show, Tucker Carlson said burning a Christmas tree is tantamount to a hate crime, adding this. The DOJ can tell you precisely how many Korans were burned last year in the United States, but they don't keep track of Christmas trees. Why is that? Because Korans don't burst into flames on their own all that often. It's actually one of the main things Christmas trees do. A Christmas tree is a stack of kindling we wrap in light bulbs.

We might as well give gifts under a Molotov cocktail. We might as well decorate gifts under a molotov cocktail we might as well decorate a deep frying turkey to celebrate the arrival of the newborn king well your newborn king just a rabbi to me great rabbi you know kind of rabbi you gotta be like listen i found this amazing rabbi his name is jesus He's from Nazareth. I'm going to try to get him to do our wedding, but it's tough. He doesn't do a lot of weddings. But he's the one you want to get.

If the DOJ starts keeping track of Christmas tree fires, we're going to see a lot more mischievous kittens in prison. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Louie Gohmert held a press conference demanding information about the January 6th riot from the FBI and complaining about the treatment of the defendants. Gaetz added this. Because we are going to take power after this next election. And when we do, it's not going to be the days of Paul Ryan and Trey Gowdy and no real oversight and no real subpoenas. It's gonna be the days of Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Dr. Gosar and myself doing everything to get the answers to these questions. Yeah, not good.

Current polling suggests we could very well lose the House to these people and not just because of gerrymandering because democrats are also just not very well liked currently losing to those people on the one side you have democrats and independents who are worried about the economy the pandemic inflation and crime they're sick of the infighting in dc on the other side republican voters think democrats are some kind of blood drinking snake robot people who must be defeated to reinstate their golden god it's a tough messaging environment i don't even have a joke i'm just real worried about it i leave 21 deeply concerned but i came in terrified you know 2021 in like a lion, out like a lion that's a little bit further away. That makes sense.

Meanwhile, convicted Capitol rioter Jenna Ryan posted a video explaining her plan for how she'd spend her time in prison. She was going to lose weight, work out and detox, saying this. Hopefully they have like some protein shakes and some protein bars, I think. Because you don't want to eat like green bologna. Doctors hate this one weird trick. And that trick is attempting to overthrow the government. She also released a second video where she clarified that she wasn't eager to go to prison

and also planned to read books while she was there. I don't believe that. On Tuesday, President Biden had a two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin to discuss Russia's potential invasion of Ukraine, a move prompted by the arrival of 175,000 Russian troops to the country's border, as well as the establishment of medical support and fuel supply chains. Observers think the call may have been so long because Biden told part of an anecdote.

In a teaser for her upcoming master class, Hillary Clinton shared the acceptance speech she would have given had she won in 2016. If she had done it at a seedy New York open mic, that could have been her Joker origin story. I'll tell you, the masterclass is not on how to move on. It's actually from a masterclass on speeches you'll never need, which includes my lesson on how I'd accept a sexual invitation from Paul Rudd. Masterclass is also teasing a class from George W. Bush on principled decision-making. Whether you're a small business owner, a young professional, or a senior executive, these are timeless lessons that anyone can use to absolutely fucking lay waste to the Middle East.

that anyone can use to absolutely fucking lay waste to the Middle East. While warning it might be too early to tell for sure, scientists are suggesting the Omicron variant might be more contagious but less severe than previous iterations of the virus. Can't help but notice how our standards for good news have fallen. In another year, we'll be cheering early reports that the murder mosquitoes are not fireproof. Billionaire Michael Steinhardt surrendered $70 million worth of stolen ancient artifacts. The end of an investigation that involved authorities from Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Turkey.

Now it's your turn, the British Empire. Ooh. Big Ashmolean fans here? They should give some of this stuff back. Former Senate Majority Leader and one-time Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole died at the age of 98. In addition to his political accomplishments,

Dole was spokesman for Viagra, and they still haven't been able to get that coffin shut. The internet debated the use of wired headphones after a political article alleged Kamala Harris uses them out of a fear that hackers can gain access to wireless Bluetooth headphones, calling her Bluetooth phobic. For those keeping score at home, Kamala spends too much money on pots, but not enough on headphones. The job of vice president is more or less the same as being a contestant on The Price is Right. After initially complying with their subpoena, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has stopped cooperating with the January 6th committee, even as the National Archives said that they are currently in talks with Meadows

about Trump-era documents that may not have been properly turned over from Meadows because they were on his personal phone and email accounts. That's right. He did not turn over his private phone and emails. That's why the second episode of Hillary's Masterclass is just her making a crossbow. In the British Parliament, cocaine use is reportedly rampant. And it wasn't the only drug detected. Investigators also found evidence

of poppers, or as the British call them, stodgy bottoms. I would have also accepted crisps. Britain has assigned Parliament's drug problem the country's highest possible threat level, sticky wicket. Finland's Prime Minister, Santa Marin,

who is 36, apologized for leaving her work phone at home to go clubbing, leading her to miss a text that said she had been exposed to COVID-19 and needed to quarantine. I love this story for a lot of reasons. First of all, their country has a Prime Minister who is too old for clubbing. We have a president who's too old for everything.

But also, she left her work phone at home. And so the nation of Finland could not reach her. The nation of Finland does not have her personal number. The nation of Finland does not have her personal number. Chanel is getting heat online for selling an advent calendar for over $1,000 that contains cheap stickers and plastic bracelets that are worth nowhere near that amount. If you don't like Chanel's advent calendar, you're going to hate her role as a Nazi spy in World War II. Many marine animals are now living on the 79,000 ton plastic debris pile

known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It may sound grim, but it's becoming a promising area for millennial home ownership. Hippos in Belgium tested positive for COVID-19. After they were observed having runny noses, the hippos also seemed to have lost their appetite.

According to a zookeeper, they barely touched their dozens of tiny white marbles. Yes! Because of the game Hungry Hungry Hippos. Which...

Hungry Hungry Hippos was the best game in the world for 15 to 20 seconds. The least longevity. You guys want to sit down for a couple games of Hungry Hungry? 10 seconds later every child is done with it.

It's not that fun. It's a little too random. And finally, and it's a doozy, the Pope told reporters Monday that sins of the flesh, such as sex outside of marriage, are not the worst kind. He went on to say, God thinks theft and murder are way, way worse than a silly little sin like,

I don't know, sucking off the Pope. Just one example. I don't know. Just off the top of my head, blowing the pope. Not as bad. Off the top of my head, spitballing here.

This is me, the pope, thinking out loud about what's bad and what's not bad. When we come back, a Cuomo cousin faces a very challenging writing assignment. Earlier today, this skirt was a slightly longer skirt. Does it have pockets? Yes, it has pockets. And I want you all to know something.

The ratio of skirts with pockets to not pockets compared to the ratio of pants with pockets to not pockets, it's... I have to say, I'm starting to think that misogyny is very real. And maybe, maybe kind of wends its way

through virtually every facet of our society. Something to think about. That's something I learned when I got stoned and bought these skirts. And we're back! After CNN fired broadcaster Chris Cuomo for his involvement in his brother Andrew Cuomo's

defense from sexual harassment allegations, the allegations that forced the now former New York governor to resign, Chris Cuomo announced that he will be ending his SiriusXM show. Meanwhile, Harper Collins has pulled his forthcoming book, which was originally titled Deep Denial, from their publishing schedule. Here to discuss the complete dismantling of the Cuomo brothers' public stuff, it's the

relative that writes the family's Christmas newsletter. It's Cousin Nancy Cuomo. Hi, Cousin Nancy. Hi. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. So you're here to talk about the newsletter you're writing for the Cuomo family.

It's true. Merry Christmas, everybody. Happy Hanukkah. Merry Kwanzaa. If you're an atheist, I hope you get your laundry done. Everybody, happy solstice. Thanks so much for having me, John. Boy, do I love the holidays.

Wow, I'm surprised that you're in such a good mood, Nancy. I don't want to be the task ahead of you considering the years the Cuomos have had. Not at all. Not at all, John. I love writing about the wonderful things that have happened in the past 12 months. For example, well, let's see. After 2020, things were looking up all across the tri-state area, but especially for our near and dear.

Becca had her twins. Congrats, Becca. And John Patrick graduated from Hudson University with honors. That's the fictional college from Law and Order, but go on. And that hotshot cousin Chris is finally taking some time off to relax and recharge. I'm going to stop you right there. Nancy, taking time off, Chris Cuomo was fired for secretly helping find information on his brother's accusers to fight sexual harassment claims. And you can imagine how stressful that would be, John.

Now Chris can kick back, put his feet up, and like I say in the newsletter, focus on his journaling. Nancy, just because HarperCollins pulled Chris's book, that doesn't automatically make it a journal. A book that you write yourself that only you read? Sounds like a journal to me. And Breeden Brown says journaling can be very rewarding. I mean, not financially. But spiritually, John. Now, can I finish reading my newsletter?

Please. After two hectic years, Chris is really hoping to enjoy the quiet moments and simplify his life. Quiet because Chris had to shut down his radio show. Well, I'm sorry. Does a radio not broadcast sound, John? I don't know what kind of radios they have in Calaweirdo, but in New York, they might make noise. Sure, but Chris Cuomo is only simplifying, as you put it,

because CNN is refusing to pay his severance because of the unethical things he did. Which is why he has to decide which things bring him joy and sell the rest, John. Marie Kondo, literally a millionaire based on simplifying. She has a line at the container store. Do you have a line at the container store? Not yet. And, if that wasn't

enough good news, Chris's boss had a company-wide meeting just to talk about him. Well, Jeff Sucker had CNN down all to tell everyone that Chris Cuomo got fired. Nancy, I feel like you're following the newsletter of the law, but not the spirit. No jury in the world would convict me, John. No, not even some kind of festive Christmas newsletter jury made up of candy cane men and a licorice judge with a gumdrop gavel. Boy, it looks like I found an idea for my next gingerbread house, though.

Well, if that's what you wrote about Chris, Nancy, then I'm dying to know what you put in there about Andrew Cuomo. Oh, well, he has had actually a truly momentous year, too. Let's see. In other news, Cousin Andy has decided to take a step back from politics, which I think is great.

Yeah? You think it's great? Yeah. Why? Everything is so political now. Oh, right. Did you know that you're not even allowed to scream at cashiers anymore? I mean, even if they make like a single mistake. So it's true. It's politics. Nancy, Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign.

He allegedly harassed women and bullied his employees. Always the optimist. Andy is looking forward to focusing on what's next. And what's next, Nancy? Probably a jury trial, but that is a problem for 2022. Nancy, isn't the moral of the entire Cuomo saga that loving your family is an excuse for becoming an unethical slimeball?

Doesn't it make you want to stop sugarcoating things? Stop turning a blind eye? No. It's like Chris said, when you're here, you're family. That is the Olive Garden. That is the slogan from the Olive Garden. Well, and finally,

Aunt Sandra is getting used to her new apartment, not to mention a new roommate, and is looking forward to making a ton of new friends in 2022. And what is Sandra actually up to? Well, she's in prison for arson. Nancy Cuomo, everybody. Thank you so much, Nancy Cuomo. Guys, give it up for Jackie Cajun.

Tough year to write the newsletter. When we come back, more show. No. I don't know how. Stop it. Stop it, you leches. Listen. We have an established rapport.

I am a bully you like. A bully in pink. And we're back. Facebook is meta. Meta is probably going to keep destroying democracy. Twitter feels like the worst party on earth ended an hour ago and they're putting chairs on top of the tables. Instagram is literally sending our tweens into a grief spile. Face it, the old guard is out of breath and unable to keep up with the new kid in town. It's TikTok. There are only two ways to relate to TikTok, ignoring it completely or obsessing over it totally, watching Gen Z trends like a Victorian ghost haunting an urban outfitters. That's how I feel. And of course, there are still

concerns about privacy and security and the relationship between the company and the Chinese government. But also, the algorithm knew pretty quickly that I was interested in logic puzzles, space facts, cooking tips from hot gay guys, and amazing stories from our next guest. Here to talk about how we can avoid those cautionary warnings from TikTok that tell you to go outside

if you've been scrolling for over an hour. No, thank you, TikTok. It's comedian actor Kevin James Thornton. Hello. Hi. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Give it up for Kevin.

So it really rained in LA today, which was surprising. Well, we stuck with the show, but the chairs we normally use got soaked, so now we're in some nice reclining chairs, which is very exciting. I've given myself to the chair. Give yourself over to the chair. All right. You've built this huge following on TikTok and you tell stories about growing up gay in the evangelical church, developed a huge

following. You actually had to address the fact that they were starting to use some of your stories in churches. The lines got weirdly blurred for a minute. What led you to start making things on TikTok? I had no aspiration at all. It was a weird, happy accident. I just signed up for an account to watch other people's videos. And then I thought I'd try it myself. And now I'm very famous on TikTok. Is going viral on TikTok the same kind of nightmare hellscape that it is to do the same on twitter i don't think so i think people went to tiktok specifically during the pandemic to like feel joy and the people that i think are really drawing audiences are feel good people so far far, I weirdly don't get any haters. That's cool. I get lovers.

TikTok lovers. I just made that up. TikTok lovers. So I get a constant stream of excellent dog and baby videos, but it also will sometimes suggest that I watch something that is shockingly horrifying. Like you'll just see a woman telling a story, and then she'll describe the moment she

realized her father killed her mother. That'll happen. That doesn't go with the joy thing I just said. It doesn't. Well, it's mostly a lot of joy and then every once in a while you get a taste of something very real. What is the most surprising thing that the algorithm has suggested you were in the mood for?

Oh, probably cake decorating videos. I don't know why I get a lot of those. I get a lot of those. I get a lot of cake decorating. I also get a lot of innovative French toast. Oh. Somehow it becomes a sandwich. Thoughts on that?

That sounds delightful, I think. I wish they would show me French toast videos. Do you get a lot of kids in the evangelical church reaching out to you? Yes. How's that been? I was surprised. My memories are like 25 years old and I've been totally surprised how many people today have reached out and said, that's my experience right now. And then, so then what happened when they started, when you found out that people were starting to play these auto-tune stories in actual church services? I made a video telling them to stop. And have they stopped?

I don't know. I'm not going to go there. You did a beautiful song. It was actually one I wanted to reach out to. You made a beautiful song because you tell these great stories about what it was like to be a gay kid in the church in the 90s. But you actually wrote a beautiful song about how you moved beyond the church and moved beyond religion and that you weren't really sure how to keep telling the story on TikTok. Yeah, I had a vulnerable moment. I was just feeling it. I was getting so many messages from people. And some of them were almost like asking me for guidance.

And I wasn't, I'm not there for that. I'm trying to be honest. And I mean, all of those memories come from actually a very dark place. But enough time has passed. I look back now and they don't have any power over me. You know, it's that thing where you laugh at the void. Yeah. So TikTok's head of public policy for the Americas,

Michael Beckerman, told Congress that the platform does not give information to the Chinese government via its parent company, ByteDance. Isn't that exactly what someone who's giving information to the Chinese government would say? Then at the same time, I think, what the fuck are they going to do with this information? I know

Republicans and even some Democrats, there's real genuine concerns about China, but like, oh no, the Chinese communists know that I like to see a hot guy use a pottery wheel. America's over. Yeah, it's cool. He's making pots. You know what I mean?

Right. What are they going to do with this data? They're envious of our French toast recipes. It's like deep in the heart of some secret facility in Beijing. It's like we looked and John Lovett was really interested in a video of a bobcat trying to get a little puppy on the other side

of glass. It's a cute, scary video is what it was. I don't care if they know that about me. So if you know Kevin's TikToks, you know he layers a heavenly robotic auto-tune over his voice. We can't do that during the live show, but we're going to try to recreate it

for the podcast listeners at home. Either way, Kevin, we'd love to hear a story from your life, and it would be an honor to share a story about being a tiny gay baby me with you. I also wondered if there's some trick you have to make it sound so great when it's auto-tuned. But I guess we're going to find out. We'll all get to see

it pre-auto-tuned. You're going to try and auto-tune this? We're going to auto-tune it after. I didn't know that. I don't know what that's going to sound like. Exciting. Okay. Here's the cool thing. It's a podcast and the stakes are incredibly low. You got a story for us? Yeah.

Let's hear it. I grew up in a super small town in Indiana in the 80s. Very conservative and I have this memory of being in the living room with my mom and dad, and on the TV, there were, like, male strippers. It was like a Donahue episode with male strippers. You guys remember that Donahue episode? And my mom and dad are, like, quiet Indiana people. They're getting super awkward, and baby Kevin is just delusional with happiness about the male strippers.

And I'm like, Mom, are they going to take off their pants? And my mom gets up to change the channel. But it's too late. They took off their pants. I have this memory burned in my brain of this bright yellow G-string. In the back, it was like two christmas hands and in front this pouch of i don't know what i'm looking at what's in that pouch mom and then the next morning i recount every detail of the prior evening

television spectacle to my grandmother evening television spectacle to my grandmother. And she's like, I don't like that sort of thing. I'm like, I do. I love it, Grandma. That's awesome. I'm going to tell one tiny story based on that story

and then another story. Tiny story based on that story. Listen, I was also a small, closeted gay person. It was the 90s and a show called ER was on television. I had very specific taste in that era and I developed a crush on Noah Wiley. That was who my crush was on. And I was watching television with my father, who's going to hear this for the first time, via this experience,

and then he was flipping through the channels, and there was some promo for some Noah Wiley vehicle, and I just went, ooh. And I kind of went, ooh. That's my short story. Other story. I was a tiny little baseball player, 10 little gay baseball player when I was at summer camp and all the other kids were bigger than me. But because it was in two year chunks every other year, I was just big enough to be the same size

as the kids who were one year younger. And there was one year, one time, where I made not just the baseball team, but the away baseball team. And when the away could be away baseball team, that's where they really have to cut people because they can only fit so many kids on the bus. And I would get on the away team bus and I would go to the game. And because the other players were better, I didn't actually get to play any baseball on these trips but i was there if they needed me and it was a sign of prestige and respect that i had made the away baseball team until one day they gathered the away baseball team the morning of a game i'm in my uniform i have my baseball glove and the coach says we have a different bus today and instead of having 23 seats

this bus has 22 seats and then in front of the entire away team they said unfortunately Jonathan this week you won't be able to go at which point I decided to kill them all

and I vowed on that day So at which point I decided to kill them all. And I vowed on that day that one day I'd be on this stage and I'd tell that probably 19-year-old kid who was in over his head and not sure how to manage children, I fucking hate you. And that's it. The end of the story is I cried and went back to my bunk. Sad. Because it of the story is I cried and went back to my bunk. Sad. Because it was the 90s.

Anything else you'd like to share about TikTok? Any other tips? You want tips? Well, here's why. I think that you have mastered the art form of TikTok. Oh. Because, listen, I think we can all agree. I don't think it's beyond this conversation to say

it's mostly a place where teens do dances. And then there is a fair number of people who are no longer teens making absolute embarrassing fools of themselves. But then there's a lucky few who are not teens anymore, yet remain cool in the medium of TikTok. What's your secret? I am just trying to be authentic. That's what people, I think, have connected with. I'm just, you know, I'm being truthful and authentic and myself. And, you know, I think people have been lonely during the pandemic.

And a lot of people tell me I'm like their phone friend. That's so nice. The message I get the most is I wish we could have brunch. And I hate brunch. It's just shitty lunch. Kevin James Thornton, everybody. We come back.

Housekeeping. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of love it or leave it coming up. And we're back. Guys get so, uh, boisterous during the breaks. What's the word?

There's a word for when people don't follow instructions. Drunk. Before we move on to our next guest, couple notes. Big announcement. Love It or Leave It is coming to San Francisco. We're announcing one show at the Castro Theater on March 4th, 2022. You can get pre-sale tickets.

If you are listening to this on Saturday or Sunday, there is a pre-sale right now with the code GAYNEWS. Use the code GAYNEWS. General sale starts Monday. I think it's all one word, GAYNEWS, for those listening. All capitals on my card. I don't know if it's case sensitive general sales starts monday for tickets go to crooked.com slash events i am very excited to go back to san francisco also this week on keep it ira lewis and guest host aminatou so discuss the downfall of the brothers andrew and chris cuomo

and other american dynasties jeremy Strong's polarizing New Yorker profile, and Alec Baldwin's ABC interview. Plus, Chrishell Stouse joins. Oh, they got Chrishell. That's huge. I'm learning from this card. About the latest season of Selling Sunset and her soap opera pass.

New episodes of Keep It drop every Wednesday. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. All right. We've already had to learn so much about MRNA, immunology, and horse to warmer. Now we had to learn so much about mRNA, immunology, and horse to warmer. Now we have to learn the letters of the Greek alphabet. We should be blissfully enjoying baked brie and kisses under the mistletoe with a dozen of our closest drunkest friends this holiday season, but instead we're still doing those things, then immediately going home to swab our nostrils. But is Omicron an Omicrisis? crisis oh my god what do we know and what should worry us and what should it

joining me now to discuss covet 19 the remix is former senior advisor to the administration's covet response and host of in the bubble with andy slavitt it's andy slavitt welcome to the stage you need a microphone oh you do he's got his pocket men's jackets have pockets yeah they do the men's jackets have pockets. Yeah, they do. The men's jackets have pockets because of misogyny. Thanks for being here, Andy. I'm so glad we finally can talk. So news this week suggests that Omicron might be more contagious but less severe than the COVID we've seen so far.

How confident are you in that? What are you seeing? It's actually not necessarily less contagious. seeing? It's actually not necessarily less contagious, but what's happening in South Africa, where the first hotspot is, is that there are a number of people who have either been vaccinated or have prior COVID. And so it's highly contagious. So they're all getting COVID. But what's happening is, and this is what's going to start to happen likely here, is all the prior immunity, all the prior COVID, all the things from the last couple of years are making COVID feel less lethal for people who've either been vaccinated or had it before. So it's likely to spread like wildfire.

But at least so far, we think it's going to result in a lower percentage of people sick. Now, the bad news is a small percentage of a big number is still a big number. So we still have to worry about that. And what is the latest on how effective the vaccines are? On the one hand, you have companies like Pfizer saying that boosted vaccinated people are pretty well protected. On the other, you see lab studies that say that it's evading antibodies, including the vaccine. What are you seeing? We'll start with the good news. There's a three-dose vaccine. It's actually pretty strong. Think about it as 80 to 90 percent effective against

really severe hospitalization, 60 percent effective or so against some mild infections, and about 40 percent effective against spread. Those are the numbers that people are playing with in the first studies. But that's with three doses. So that means what we've been thinking about as our booster now with Omicron is just a part of the core program. And no vaccines or just two vaccines are going to be more problematic. And is that a time thing or is that a dosage thing? It's been hard to really understand, right? Like the reason at first we were told to get boosted is because of waning immunity. So is a person with three shots after six months kind of back to where they were as if they had

two shots? How does this work? Well, we don't know exactly. But if you've had a third boost, you've got a really good reaction. Or if you've had two and prior immunity, you're getting a pretty good response. It's really the response falls off pretty significantly because what really surprised everybody about Omicron is people expected if there was going to be something next, it would come from the lineage of Delta. So it would look enough like Delta that it would be marginally the same. But this Omicron, what's happened with Omicron is the lineage came from way last year, even before Delta,

and very likely in a single individual that was immunocompromised. It had basically, imagine just it replicating almost continuously for a long period of time, and their immune system giving up just enough of a response that it had to fight for survival. And when it fought, it mutated. And this virus mutates about every 14 days. So this thing was in somebody for months and months and months. And so what you have now is a completely, almost completely different virus. Omicron and Delta look almost nothing alike. And so that's why the immunity doesn't get shared quite as much from prior immunity. And that's why it's the most

likely case in the U.S. when it comes here is that we're probably going to have both Omicron and Delta, not one or the other. And that's why they've been talking more about an Omicron-focused booster. Yeah. So right now, the vaccine companies are exploring whether or not they should create an Omicron-specific booster. My guess is that for people who are very high risk, it might make sense to have an Omicron-specific booster. More likely, it's going to make sense for everybody to just get the regular third dose and then probably move on to a cycle once a year where we have sort of an updated booster, like we do for the flu,

that captures whatever variants are out there in the course of the previous year. Yeah, look, the other day, a friend of mine were talking about this. We're all talking about this all the time. And they said something like, I wonder if this is going to be something that doesn't totally go away

if we just deal with it year after year. And all of a sudden, it sort of dawned on me, like, we are, that's it. We're there. This is what's happening, right? Like, do you see a trajectory where we're not dealing with some kind of a variant endemically? Like, I think for those of us that live through 2020,

I want to be careful because when you say that, it feels like, oh, shit, we're going to have 2020 over and over again. And we're not. 2020, we had literally one tool, close the whole economy down or keep it open. We are already way more sophisticated than that. We have great surveillance tools. We've got great therapeutics coming. We've got boosters. We've got the nasal swabs, as you said, for the home tests. So it's a very different world. And over time, as we had more and more immunity, this will be more and more of a routine thing. Now, having said

that, there are people in the population I still worry about. I worry now about kids under five or a few months out from when they'll be vaccinated. I worry about seniors. I worry about people who had transplants or people with AIDS, HIV, who've got compromised immune systems. So this is moving into more and more of a place where it's going to hit marginal communities. Many people are going to think they can go on with their lives. It'll be seasonal. We'll have big waves. But as a researcher wrote today, our great, great, great, great grandchildren are going to be getting strains of this virus. But it's just not going to feel anything like it feels today. So one debate has been about the availability of vaccines in richer countries versus the lack of availability

or the lack of distribution in countries that have a much lower vaccination rate right now. Some of this became part of the debate over whether the FDA should approve boosters. And there was a disagreement between the Biden administration, or at least the political people, and even Fauci, and then the FDA about whether or not boosters should be available to the whole population. What did you learn from the handling of that situation and the decision to ultimately approve boosters for everybody just before the holidays? I got to look for the Biden talking points. Give me a minute. They're not in there. We don't have those here. As a matter of fact, I do happen to know them, so I can give you.

I can give it to you. happen to know them, so I can give them to you. As a matter of fact, the U.S. is the only country in the world that's given away over 200 million doses to other countries, including 90 million in Africa. We really need the rest of the G20 to get together and do what we've done and start giving away doses to Africa. And then we've also spent $250 million from USAID on the ground to help vaccinate people. So those are the talking points. They're all true. The reality is poor countries have gotten screwed. And we run the world the same way we treat this virus, me first. So how many people, like truly, when they heard about this happening in South Africa, their first thought was, oh my God, those poor people, I hope they're going to be okay. And how many people thought was, oh shit, I hope this doesn't come here, right? That's the lesson of this virus over and over again. Not just country to country, but block to block, city to

city, family to family. We've not yet gotten the message that until we care about everybody else getting sick, this ain't going away. And that's the place we're in. And it's a place where we're in at a multinational level. It's a place we've been inside this country. Yeah. And it does seem that there's like kind of overlapping reasons. I think a lot of times it gets simplified as the West has the vaccines, right? And US has vaccines, other countries don't. But right, like countries like South Africa actually have some vaccine hesitancy that's not dissimilar to our own. And there's also distribution questions. How much of this can be solved with just more doses being created? How much of this is our failure to create a proper

pipeline? And how much of this is just the kind of misinformation and propaganda that's plagued not just this vaccine effort, but the polio vaccine effort from 50 years? Yeah, well, look, I mean, if you live in Africa, you went through hundreds and hundreds of thousands of deaths from HIV AIDS at a time when the West actually had the medicine to cure you, right? And it wasn't until PEPFAR, we should credit George W. Bush for, to say, no, wait a minute, we can get together and we should do this for free in low-income countries. Now, next year, Pfizer is building a plant in Africa, but you're absolutely right. This is an effort that is, you know, kind of full-sale everything. We've got to be focused on making sure there are enough vaccines, and there are. We've got to make sure that there's

enough money, and the World Bank has done that. But it's this last mile problem. In South Africa, about a month ago, they told Pfizer to stop sending them vaccines because they would spoil, because they couldn't get enough people to take them. So it's all true. It's a challenge that the West needs to own. But it's not a simple challenge. It's as complex a challenge as it has been in the U.S. What do we do when we run out of Greek letters? I think by law the virus has to stop, right? That'd be great. That'd be terrific.

So as we look forward to the holidays and into the next year, is your behavior different at all? And when friends, I assume, direct message you and text you and ask you for your advice and treat you like a free source of professional expertise. What are you saying to them right now about what they should be doing over the holidays and how they should be thinking about going into next year? Sure. So, look, if you're able to afford rapid at home tests and they're like ten dollars a pop and they're getting now down to about seven dollars a pop. And soon, thanks to the Biden administration, there's going to be 50 million free tests at community centers. It's going to be automatically forced to be covered by insurance, which is a bit of a hassle, but still a better thing. You know, our kids are

away in the East. We want to go see our kids. We make him take, you know, our kid's 20 years old. He's an idiot. So he's a smart idiot, but he's an idiot. So we make him swab and like to take the test. We saw them at Thanksgiving. So we make him swab and take the tests. We saw them at Thanksgiving. So for us, because we can afford these tests, we're not going to let it get in the way of seeing our family, seeing our friends, experiencing life, wear a mask on planes.

Everybody's decision is different. But to me, these are very small inconveniences, putting on a mask, being in a ventilated space, sitting in a fucking freezing outdoor venue like this. How come every time you and I have done this with you, we've been in the most shitty weather possible? Do you remember when I did this in Minnesota? Oh, God, yes, that's right. It was during that blizzard.

It was that crazy blizzard. Yeah, you're fucking cursed. It was beautiful here last week. No, it wasn't. It was freezing. Yeah, that was insane. That was insane. And we packed that place.

We packed that place. And the people come in snowshoes, and the mayor had to come. It was a very fun day. It was an awesome show. It was cool. And we packed that place. We packed that place. The people come in snowshoes and the mayor had to come. It was a very fun day. It was an awesome show. The spirits were high. Listen, alright? There's gay New Yorker running through these veins. The show must go on. You know what I mean? The show must go on. That was a great show. That was fun. It was a great show. I don't know what else

else I was saying. Get tested. Yeah. But people should make sure that if they're boosted, they should feel confident, right? That they're protected. Yeah. But people should make sure that if they're boosted, they should feel confident, right? That like they're protected. Yeah. Yeah. We can't prolong the meaningful things in our lives. There's a cost to that.

You know, we have to be careful. We have to be careful around people. I mean, we got to all kind of feel like we've got an ability to go do what we need to do in life. There's a lot of broken relationships because of the pandemic. A lot of stress. A lot of people hating each other, a lot of these things that I hope we repair and start hating each other for other reasons. Exactly. And on that note, Andy Slavitt, everybody. Thank you so much. That was great. Thank you. Don't go anywhere. Love it or leave it. There's more on the way.

And we're back! This week, The New Yorker published an incredible profile of succession actor Jeremy Strong and his use of, as the magazine called it,

full immersion acting methods, which sounds like an excuse to Scooby-Doo villain would use to explain why he's dressed like a ghoul terrorizing children at his own abandoned amusement park. We're talking about everything from tying his shoelaces super tight, because Rupert Murdoch's son ties his shoelaces super tight,

to asking Aaron Sorkin to spray him with real tear gas on the set of The Trial of the Chicago 7, a request that Aaron Sorkin denied. Said strong about playing Kendall Roy, who is, as you recall, a fictional television character. To me, the stakes are life and death. I take him as seriously as I take my own life. It rules. Here to talk about method acting, or more accurately, the American obsession

with actors being weird that we call method acting, are two wonderful performers and comedians, Danielle Perez and Tawny Newsome. Hi, Tawny. Hello, hello. Hi, hi, hi. Welcome back. Hi, Danielle.

Hi, Danielle. Hi, John. Hi, everybody. Oh. Thank you. Hi, hi, hi. Oh, my God. I love your brother.

Oh, thank you. Nice to meet you. We look like two friends in an 80s film. We sure do. 100% free of charge to say it was three friends in an 80s film. You have the hot tea. You know what? It was right in front of me.

Here's the thing. Three friends from an 80s film was sitting right here on the shelf, and you reached up, and you grabbed a two. Because I feel like you're like the friend we're trying to have. You're like the cool girl that we're trying to be with. Oh, wow. We're like girls just want to have fun. We're Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt.

Yeah. Oh, my God. Big TBT. One note I want to make on this idea that Aaron Sorkin declined to tear gas Jeremy Strong. I don't believe that for a fucking second. That is not the director's prerogative. It's not like if Aaron

Sorkin said, yes, I shall tear gas Jeremy Strong, it would have taken place. You know what I mean? I think the fire marshal said no. The fact that there were 200 extras, he was like, yeah, the thing is, it's not just your life, but really opening myself up

to a lot of liability here. A lot of liability. You can't tear gas actors. I mean, Aaron Sorkin did let him use a fart machine under the judge who had a monologue. Read the story. It's in the New Yorker. It rules. So I want to read a choice quote

from Jeremy Strong from their profile from Kieran Culkin. Here's what he said. After the first season, Jeremy said something to me like, I'm worried that people might think the show is a comedy. And I said, I think the show is a comedy. He thought I was kidding. As performers yourselves, is this the greatest thing you've ever heard?

This is incredible. I love this so much. I love that Kieran Culkin is just, like, trapped. He has to coexist with this man for however many seasons it continues. And I want to be clear about something, all right? I am 100% on Jeremy Strong's side. I am 100% on his side. Maybe it's a bit pretentious.

Maybe it's a bit annoying. But you know what? He's fucking committed, you know? He's showing up on days he's not supposed to be working, crying at a funeral he's not supposed to be attending. That rules. Are you sure this is too tight?

John, I don't know about this. Maybe he is a very nice man. Jessica Chastain came out and defended him and was like, he's a great person. I love working with him. Maybe he's a great guy who just did something obnoxious. We've all been there. I was assigned dessert at a family cookout. I love working with him. Sure, maybe he's a great guy who just did something obnoxious. We've all been there. I was assigned dessert at a family cookout. I showed up with sliced pineapple to put on the grill.

I should be in prison. Like, I get dividing the room, okay? But the fact that he has to do all of this to do a good job, I'm like, why are you so bad at your job? You have to trick yourself into thinking it's real. You have to trick yourself into thinking it's real life. You have to do a VR headset to act like it's acting. Like just act.

He broke his femur jumping off a stage for a scene they didn't even use. It's like how committed are you that it still ends up on the cutting room floor? That's tough. That's tough.

I have to confess something to both of you. I realized something when I read the article because I didn't realize until I read the piece in full that he was in the movie Lincoln where he played a street writer. And I said, oh my God,

when I was a speech writer, I met with an actor who was preparing for the role of a speech writer in the film Lincoln. And then I remembered, I had a lovely lunch with Jeremy Strong, and he was nothing but nice. And I am sick of all the hate my friend Jeremy is getting. My dear friend Jeremy is a committed

and dedicated professional actor. We live in a time when so many people phone it in. Everywhere you look, nobody does the fucking work. Everybody wants things to be quick, and they want everything to be easy. But he doesn't see it that way. Not my friend Jer. Jer puts in the goddamn time.

And yeah, maybe he goes to people at their jobs where they have busy work doing props, and he says, make a secret prop just for me. It's like a three-year-old at a party who's like, I want my own secret toy that no one knows about it's insanity but i also would like to say about your friend and mine jeremy strong because i'm an actress in hollywood and i would love to keep working um just that you know you just you're doing the most you're doing the most you don't have to you can can do less. We can all do less. I don't know if I can. I'm already doing a low amount. You're in like a hammock chair.

That is. Yeah. I'm reclined at all times. But, okay, when you had lunch with Jeremy Strong, was it Waldorf salad or was it a fennel salad? He's very particular about his salad choices as they inform his character. He was about to play a speechwriter for Lincoln, so I assumed it was some kind of a simple stew.

A root vegetable. Some kind of root vegetable. Served in a tall hat. Served in a very big hat. Obviously, famously, hats were worn and also vessels for stew. It's like the bread bowl when you go to San Francisco. You eat out a Lincoln hat. It Francisco. You got a Lincoln hat. Soup and a Lincoln hat.

So the other piece of this is critic Angelica Jade Bastien wrote in The Atlantic about method acting that this couldn't exist without a culture of permissiveness and indulgence that Hollywood has, specifically around, what do you call them? Men. Men.

And it does seem like this is not an avenue of performance available to women. No! Imagine Meryl Streep. You ever hear this shit about Meryl Streep? Viola fucking Davis. Imagine if Viola Davis did this. They'd put her black ass under the studio.

They would be like, please get out of here. They would put her in jail. I think you're forgetting the time Amy Adams sent a used condom to get into character for Enchanted 2. You know what? Good for her. She's a queen. I once heard a story about Jennifer Hudson, who is a queen.

I heard a story from a makeup artist in Atlanta that Jennifer Hudson once brought two cats into the makeup trailer. No, this was not for the film Cats. She just brought her two pet cats to hang out in the makeup trailer. If you've ever been for the film Cats. She just brought her two pet cats to hang out in the makeup trailer. If you've ever been in a makeup trailer, it's a small space. There's pots. There's open powders of things. You don't want two fucking sedate raccoons running around that shit. But Jennifer Hudson did it. And you know what? I said, you know what? She's been

through a tough time in her life. She's a queen. She's the only thing that made sense in the movie Cats. She was in Sex and the Cities too. She's incredible in it as Sarah Jessica Parker's assistant. Yikes. Yeah, she has to wear a love too. She's incredible in it as Sarah Jessica Parker's assistant. Yikes. Yeah, she has to wear a love necklace. It's really tough. But I'm like, you know what? Is that the one where they go to Abu Dhabi?

Yeah. It's tough stuff. It's tough. It's tough. Tough watch. And just like that, they're in Abu Dhabi. The fact that she does that stuff,

I'm like, I'm here for celebrities being bananas. Like, you've earned it. You're a fucking super A-list or whatever. But don't tell me it's to make the work better. Don't insult my intelligence and tell me you brought your two cats into the trailer because it makes you a better actor. And that's not what J-Hud did because she has class.

She brought those cats in the trailer because she wanted her furry, nasty friends with her. And we respect the hell out of that. We absolutely do. J-Hud's a queen. All right. Now it is time for a method acting quiz. Are you both ready? Here's how it works.

I will ask you a question. You have to say whether it's true or false. We will alternate. And bonus points if you can say who the actor was and what the film was. Two points if you know both. And all points are important.

So I should have been paying attention to all the white men in college who told me about films, is what you're saying? Sure. Well, the English majors like Jeremy Strong. Close

personal friend of mine, committed to his fucking craft. Also. Would that we all were as dedicated to our own professions. Brought that level of dedication, care, attention, seemingly endless time. Alright, here we go.

Tani, we'll start with you. While filming, an actor not only slapped Meryl Streep across the face without her knowledge or consent, he also threw a glass that shattered so close to Meryl's head, she got glass in her hair. I'm going to give this to Danielle. You know it. I know it. It's in Kramer vs. Kramer, and it's Dennis Hoffman? Yeah, sure.

Correct. That's the name from now on. Of Dustin? Oh my god. You know, Batman. He did that to Meryl Streep without her consent. Also, a poster on Jeremy Strong's wall in the piece. Committed. Moving forward. Tawny.

An actor reportedly paid a dentist $5,000 to grind down his teeth to play a vengeful sex offender, only to have to pay $20,000 to have them fixed after filming. Oh, I know this because it was in the profile, but it was so long. I don't remember. Who is this man? It was Robert De Niro in Cape Fear. Ugh.

Was it worth it? Did anyone look at Cape Fear and think, good job on the teeth? It's like, that's why prosthetics exist. Makeup artists, stop taking them out of a job. Danielle, over to you. An actor became so entwined with a character, he repeatedly experienced hallucinations of the character visiting and talking to him. Danielle, over to you. An actor became so entwined with a character, he repeatedly experienced hallucinations

of the character visiting and talking to him. True or false? True. It is false. It is the plot of the film Birdman. Tani, over to you. In order to get a reaction from his co-star, an actor repeatedly whispered the name

of his scene partner's recently dead partner during filming. It's true. I would murder that person. It is true. And it murder that person. It is true. And it was an actor called Dustin Hoffman in a film, Kramer vs. Kramer. It was a rough shoot.

It was a rough shoot. That was not a fun romp. I don't know. Got some pretty good performances out of both of them. I don't know. I'm on the side of this. I am too. I'm repped by CAA.

Please reach out to my reps. No one commits like Tawny. I commit so hard. I commit sopped by CAA. Please reach out to my reps. No one commits like Tawny. I commit so hard. I commit so hard by showing up. This is the thing. I'm like, Meryl Streep just does her job. She just shows up. She eats a flaccid breakfast burrito like the rest of us. She gets her face painted by a woman with crystals in her bra like the rest of us. And she goes

on stage and she pretends to be a bitch in Devil Wears Prada or whatever. And we love her and she's giving. And we love her for that. And why are these men, why is no one ready, as she would say? Why are these men, why do they need all the artifice? Danielle, over to you.

An actor who was so dedicated to getting inside his character's twisted mind, he sent Margot Robbie a dead rat. Oh my God, this is true. And it's Jared Leto and it's like Suicide Squad. And it's like, do we forgive him?

Because he is the funniest thing about House of Gucci. He's also the funniest thing about 30 Seconds to Mars. Take that, Jared Leto. Over to you, Tawny. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher says an actor's insistence on repeatedly running in a scene after injuring his knee in a kicking incident during filming was something he respected big time. False.

No director. That one's true. Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. Get out of here. Over to you, Danielle. In order to capture the nuances of everyday life, an actor was filmed 24-7 for years. Oh, are you talking about boyhood or something? No, it's false.

It's the plot of The Truman Show. It's sad that we can't tell what's fake. You can't tell. Tawny, over to you. An actor lost so much weight to play a role that in the words of his co-star Michael Ironside, one day on set he turned and dropped his overalls, which he was naked under, and the muscles in his ass had literally dropped out of the sockets of his hips. I said, you've gone beyond body fat, and now you're into actual muscle tissue, and things are being affected.

Okay, this is either Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, or is it Matt Damon when he only ate chicken breast for like six months? Oh, I think I know. I want a steal. It's a steal. Christian Bale. You got it. Yes. For The Machinist. Yes. Oh, yeah. Which is a movie impossible to watch more than six seconds of. You click play and you're like, nope, life's too

short. I don't know what's going on, but it is no thank you. See you later. I'm going to something involving real estate and terrible ladies. An actor was so obsessed with channeling a challenging role, she stabbed herself in the stomach, which ironically allowed her to finally give the ultimate performance.

Danielle. Oh no, this is Black Swan. You got it. It falls as Black Swan. Tawny, an actor joined the military, got baptized, became a military chaplain's assistant, and pulled a tooth for a role and refused to shower for so long

that Brad Pitt allegedly had to intervene about the smell. This is both true and the plot to Forrest Gump. It's true, and it's Shia LaBeouf in Fury. Final lightning round. American actors in particular

are susceptible to the siren song of acting like a dumbass for the sake of art. Again, I disagree with the card. But performers from the United Kingdom cannot help but clown us, even though, as you know, Daniel Day-Lewis is the OG number one method actor, and he's from across the pond. I'm going to give you a quote about how weird Americans are about acting,

and you will have to name the performer who said it. Are you ready? Yes. Either one of you can jump in. What British thespian once told Dustin Hoffman in response to him deciding to stay up for days at a time to shoot Marathon Man, have you tried acting, dear boy? It's much easier.

Laurence Olivier. Yeah. When asked his opinion on Jim Carrey's over-the-top behavior on the set of Man on the Moon, which is fucking appalling. That documentary that he made, I'm like, Jim, you don't look the way you think you look in this. Like, he's presenting it like he's proud, and I'm like, this looks bad, sir.

It's wild. A British actor described it as the most self-aggrandizing, selfish, narcissistic fucking bollocks I have ever seen. I don't know. I don't know. Martin Freeman. When commenting on Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert De Niro's acting methods, which Irish actor said, there's a lot of bullshit in acting. I'm not criticizing those guys as actors,

but sometimes you just have to show up and deliver a speech. You don't have to pretend to be somebody. I like to think I'm enough. I'm not interested in, oh, he lost 30 pounds for this role. I think that should stay private. I don't want to hear it.

I don't know any Irish actors. Oh, you said Irish? The guy from Normal People? I just watched that. No? Liam Neeson. Okay. And finally, which Scottish actor said this?

Actors are funny creatures. I've worked with intense actors before. It's a particularly American disease, I think. This inability to separate yourself off while you're doing the job. Brian Cox. The guy from Succession, yeah. You've both won the game.

Wow! Thank you so much to Tani and Danielle. Stay right here because coming up next, we're going to let loose with the rant wheel. And we're back. Joining us, please welcome back Kevin James Thornton. Now it's time for the rant wheel. You know how it works.

We spin the wheel wherever it lands. We rant about the topic. This week on the wheel, we have December, selling sunset, workout leggings without pockets, a theme for the evening, when old politicians die, boats and cabins as recreational activities, Kamala's Bluetooth gate, Thanksgiving movies, and bulkhead seats on airplanes. Let's spin the wheel. It has landed on workout leggings without pockets. Oh, that one's mine.

John, thank you for paving the way earlier, talking about the plight of, you know, the patriarchy is why we don't have pockets. Look, a lot of weird shit has happened in my life in the last two months. Everything's sad for me. I have, like, family stress and grief. My cat of 17 years died please don't say ah don't say ah don't clap if you were gonna clap um what i want to do is i want to pretend that that stuff doesn't exist and just pretend that i'm like a character in a nancy myers movie like i own like a paper store and i

like write novels about paper or some shit like let's just pretend that so in this reality my biggest problem are the workout leggings that don't have a pocket. I'm specifically talking about the phone pocket. Because I like to run. And when I run, I'm trying to run away from my troubles. So I need an escape. I need a soundtrack.

If I don't have that, I'm just listening to the sound of my own worries and stress. And no one wants that. Nobody wants that. No no when i leave my house i run and sometimes i think maybe i won't come back right like maybe i'll just do a little gone girl on myself just a quick little gone girl getting darker at this point yep a little darker and gone girl had a great soundtrack that was trent resner so i at least deserve do a lipa i don't know what i deserve but the thing about pockets is that like they are stingy with them

from us it's like the people controlling the fabric in the world are like, just enough to cover your thighs, not enough to hide your woes. So they won't give me a place to put my phone. And I know you're like, oh, you could do other exercise that doesn't have, where you don't need

a phone. Like you could do your stationary bike. I have a Peloton. It's a fake Peloton. I call it a Well-a-ton because you're like, close enough um and yeah i could ride that but like doing a bunch of effort and sweating and straining to then find out that you're still in the same place that's just a career in hollywood so i don't need to do too much of that i could do yoga but like breathing and looking inward is frankly for chumps sorry um so i like to. I want to run away. And I need the pocket so I can put the phone in there so that I can listen to something else beside the sound of my

own stress. Because my life is crazy and my cat, whose name was Bernadette Peters, died. And then Stephen Sondheim died just to be like, hey, remember your cat? And I'm like, I know. I know that they're dead and I'm sad and I just want to run away from my house. So please let me listen to Dua Lipa or at least an old Stephen Sondheim recording.

Yeah. Thank you. Let's spin it again. I agree. Thank you. It has landed on boats and cabins as recreational activities. Kevin?

That one's mine. And I already know that I'm alone on this one, and I'm prepared to be alone. It's not relatable. It's personal for me. Where I'm from, everyone likes to, for fun, go to the lake and get on a boat, and I don't like that.

I don't like being trapped in a small space with a Bud Light lime and Like, and the sun? I'm not a fan of that, personally. It's okay if you are. Don't invite me to do that. I don't want to do that. And in the winter, you think that you're off the hook, but the winter version is renting a cabin.

It's kind of the same thing. Like, small space, Bud Light lime still. I don't know what you do in the cabin. But now there's bears. I'm not a fan. Not a fan. It's a limerita.

I have two opinions that I think are related. One, boats are just houses you can't leave. Yes. And dinner parties are just restaurants

that serve one thing. That one's more controversial. Let's do it again. It has landed on December. Why? December. Look, 2021 is over. I get it.

December just started, but let's just call it a wrap. Like, how many days until Christmas? What really are you getting out of these last three weeks? Let's call it. Right? We're done! Save any kind of

personal growth you have. Take it to 2022, okay? Because I'm sleepy. I'm tired. Why go to work? Why do we still have to keep working this year? I don't want tired. Why go to work? Why do we still have to keep working this year? I don't want to. I want to be done. It's cold.

We're all cold. You guys are wearing blankets. We are outside. Let's go home and call it a day. We're done. 2021, you're over. Bye. But first, let's spin it again. It has landed on Selling Sunset.

I'm too short to see all of you. I'm going to stand up for one second. I have a couple key points on this show, a show I've recently discovered and made Ronan Farrow watch. One, Chrishell Stouse was named after a shell station. I think that rules.

Two, it is lit like pornography. They are blown the fuck out. It is so white and so bright. In every room these people have a conversation. They are in their private homes having a glass of wine.

And it looks like a high school cafeteria. Final point on Selling Sunset. In the second episode of season one, which is so far the end of my journey. No idea what they've been up to in the years since. Two characters go out for dinner. They're ostensibly supposed to be in a long-term relationship. They are strangers to one another, have absolutely nothing to talk about.

They don't even really speak the same language. They can barely communicate. And then I was stunned, stunned by the order. Here is what these full-blown adults get at an Italian restaurant. This adult man for dinner at a restaurant has an espresso martini and a margarita pizza. What kind of adult human being orders a margarita? This is not a shared pizza. This is not a let's split a pizza and a salad situation like a civilized fucking couple.

This is not even the extravagance of a night out where everyone gets their own thing and then a pizza for the table. All valid and justifiable moral ethical uses of the margarita pizza. No. This adult man who seems genuinely surprised that A, he's dating this woman, and B, is on television, and C, is in America attempting to speak English throughout, orders

an espresso. I think he might be French. He's French. He's French. And sometimes hot. But confusing in a way. Confusing hot. Hot fusing. An espresso martini and a

margarita pizza. Shame on them. What did she order? She got a pasta. Okay, that's sensible. It was fine. Did she drink an espresso martini too? She ordered two espresso martinis for the both of them. The three choices in season one are insane. They're doing like, ooh, let's do fireball shots and then follow it up with like a lemon drop.

It's like they're cosplaying 2002. Basically, yeah. And that Israeli woman seems like she's on a different show. Yeah, for sure. And like a real full-fledged person. I think she's on a different show yeah for sure and like a real full-fledged maya i think she's cool i like her whole situation let's spin it one more time this is a quick one and we're gonna end here when old politicians die bob dole died and whenever an old Republican dies, there's a stupid

discourse about how mean you're supposed to be or not supposed to be. Not my issue. Not my debate. Not entering it. Don't care. Here's my problem. Every time one of these old Republicans die, where they're like a hundred when they die, they eventually show you a picture of what it looked like when they were in the military in the 1940s, 50s,

or 60s. Please throw it up. They're always hot. Bob Dole is a fucking smoke show in this picture. That is unacceptable. Look it up. And then we had a debate about this in the office because he doesn't look as hot in other pictures. And then producer Brian said, it's just the uniform.

And I'm like, what what that's not him so what do you think there's been so you don't think that's Bob Dole you think there's some kind of a conspiracy theory where a bunch of people created an illusion that many decades ago Bob Dole was smoking hot you don't think Bob Dole was smoking hot. You don't think Bob Dole would lie to us? You don't think I would? And I wouldn't. But maybe the world is lying to us.

It's possible. Thank you to Kevin, James Thornton, Tani Newsom, and Danielle Perez for joining for the rant wheel. We come back. We'll end on a high note. Thank you, guys. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And we're back.

Now it's time to end on a high note. I love it. This is Robin from Denver calling with a high note. I have had size H breasts since I was 15 years old. And finally, this month, I got a breast reduction. And they are fucking beautiful. Have a good week. Justin, what is your high note?

I competed at a jiu-jitsu competition for the first time in nine or ten years, and I won third place. Nice. Nobody mess with Justin except two people. There's only two people that can beat Justin up. Fuck them, because they're not here. Hi, Lovett and everybody. My name is Emily.

I'm calling from Minnesota. I just got done listening to the podcast and figured I needed to share this good news. So this last week, after use of opioids for 10 years and a lot of it fentanyl, I am three months sober. So that's a pretty big deal in my life and something I look forward to keep working at and hopefully keep staying clean. So thank you for everything and helping me get through the pandemic in such a hard time with your show. Thanks. Bye. the pandemic and such a hard time with your show.

Thanks. Bye. We have one more high note this week. And somebody just wrote in a scrawl with no name, I had a great holiday party. And to that person, I say thank you. And to all of you, I say thank you for coming out. That's our show. Thank you to Kevin James Thornton, Tani Newsome, Danielle Perez, Jackie Cajun, and Andy Slavitt.

Everybody who wrote a high note. Special thanks to to ex-fiance for making this week's song 332 days until the 2022 midterm elections have a great weekend and see you all one last time in 2021 Love It or Leave It is a Cricket Media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett, and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our senior producer. Hallie Keeper is our head writer. Jocelyn Kaufman, Pauly V. Ganalen, and Peter Miller are the writers. Our associate producer is Brian Semel. Bill Lance is our editor. And Kyle Seglin is our sound engineer. Thank you.