Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: Minister for Men, Kari Lake, Gay Mushrooms and Plants

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

On tonight' episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers debates whether the UK needs a minister for men. Piers is joined by Kari Lake ot talk about the lates in US Politics. Also Piers looks into whether mushrooms and plants can be gay. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8 pm on TalkTV on Sky 522, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and the app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Piers Morgan. On Uncensored tonight, influencers like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate have filled a vacuum of male role models. With growing evidence of a crisis of masculinity, could a minister for men be the answer? We'll debate. Jail for 22 years, leader of the proud boys orchestrated the US Capitol riots, but will a future President Trump set him free? Carrie Lake is one of his most influential allies, she joins me live. And the world-famous Royal Botanic Gardens at Q launches a much-needed queer, Nature Exhibition to promote the connection between plants, fungi and the LGBTQ-T-T-plus, whatever it is in our community. We'll get into the weeds of all that weirdness. Live from the News Building in London, this is Pearz Morgan Uncensored.

Well, good evening from London. Welcome to Pierce Morgan Unsensored. I love women. Let me make that clear. I think they have a pretty tough time of it. Certainly historically, many people have fought very hard over many years to bring women closer to much needed a question. I backed them with every fibre of my ghastly male being. That's why I've absolutely no issue with the fact the UK has a minister for women, as do many other countries, including Canada and Australia. America's Secretary of State has an Office for Women's Issues. New Zealand has an entire Ministry of Women, which sounds great, albeit a tad sexist. The UN has a Department for the Empowerment of Women, as well as a special rapporteur for women,

a commission on the status of women, a conference on women, and an honorary ambassador for women in the form of Wonder Woman. This week, the Labour Party re-shoveled its top tier and unveiled a shadow minister for women's health and women's mental health. What about men? There are no issues with men's health and mental health? Tory MP Nick Fletcher is making ways by campaigning for a minister for men. I'm from Doncaster and I see an awful lot of young boys and young men out there with little aspiration and life's not given the best opportunities and they tend to be neglected by by lots of people within the authority

and also government as a whole. We need to be addressing this. Well, he's right, of course, but the feminist blowback has been as swift as it's been predictable. One commented quip that as long as rooms of men are writing policy, every minister's already a minister for men.

This research group said there's simply no problem for men because men are rich CEOs who run the male-dominated patriarchal world. But the facts suggest otherwise. Nearly three quarters of adults who go missing are men, 87% of rough sleepers in the UK are men. Men are three times more likely to become alcoholics or drug addicts.

Men are more likely to be sectioned. Most suicides are men. Most prisoners are men. Most people who are vilified and ostracide for showing their opinions. They're men. Young men are falling behind in school. And young men are also constantly browbeaten by man-bashing movies like Barbie in phrases like rape culture,

which teach them that they are evil by design until they can prove otherwise. Men are also subjected to a case. kind of sex-based shadow justice system, which relies more on the court of public opinion and the court of law. Campaign has hounded Manchester United into offloading their star player Mason Greenwood over a charge of attempted rape, which was dropped. He admits he made mistakes. He may have done some pretty awful things, certainly tapes suggest that, but we all know for a fact that he'd be found not guilty of any crime. Why should he have to lose his job?

Now the knives are out for another United player, the Brazilian Anthony, who facing claim from an ex-girlfriend, but hasn't been charged with anything either. Stars like Kevin Spacey and Johnny Depp have been hauled over the coals on the assumption, presumed assumption by the court of public opinion of guilt, but were then found not guilty after their reputations were trashed for sometimes years. Spanish football president, Luis Rubiales, has been called the very worst of society by Spain's government over that unwanted kiss at the World Cup final. Film director Woody Allen said, well, wait a minute, the kiss was wrong,

but it didn't burn down a school. Now, Woody Allen might be the last person on earth. He should be saying stuff like this in this arena. But would a woman have faced the same tidal wave of hate? Two things can be important at the same time. That's why we can have a Department of Health and a Department of Defense without closing hospitals to go to war. A minister for men seems a pretty smart idea to me.

And if the UN is an ambassador for men, well, look no further. Well, do you want to me now? This is the political journalist Ava Santina, Talk to the contributor to Esther Cracko, making his much anticipated return to the Peers Pack, the author and journalist Tony Parsons, whose new thriller, Who She Was, is out now. So, Tony, welcome.

And with a quote from your... I was about to come to that. So... Well, on the front it says who she was, obsession lies. A woman intended on escaping a past. Can you trust the story she tells? Which I assume was Megan Markle's new autobiography.

And then I find there's a brilliantly... Somebody else you know. ...brilantly positive quote on the back, which says there's Unput-Danable. let's walk into lap posts with the latest Tony Parsons in your hand. Celia Walden, my wife. Anyway, it's a brilliant book. And everyone will love that as they do all your books.

It's why you're one of the biggest sellers in the country. Men, a minister for men, Tony. My gut feeling is no. Really? Yeah, I enjoyed Barbie. I thought it was a really funny movie. It didn't make me feel persecuted. I know we differ on this.

I'm not really persecuted. I just felt it was so lame, banging on about a dozen times about the Patriot. all this stuff. Yeah, there's that, but... I mean, look, you're outnumbered, look at you. Two to one tonight. It made fun of everybody. You know, Barbie gets silly, all right.

I mean, it made fun of... Yeah, but it was mainly mocking men. But I don't feel we... Ken's a total doofus. It gets his come up and it's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, no, I really loved it, in fact. The more you're talking, I'm finding I'm loving it more. Have I lost you to this world?

No, but you've become a bit woke. I thought it's pretty even-handed, and I think that's why it's been, you know, made a billion dollars is because essentially it's got um it's not all right but on the minister for men subject yeah i think it is a serious subject the reason the reason that people like andrew tate yeah get the traction they do a one in five kids who come up to ministry boys like teenage boys early 20s one in five maybe more they come up to me on a regular basis they want to talk about andrew take he has an extraordinary influence for better or worse right and definitely

Definitely for worse. But I do think he's filling a void. These young men don't feel they have role models like that anywhere else to go to. Why are you laughing? Because it's just silly, isn't it? Because it's not a role model. It's, you know...

Actually, a lot of men hate women, and I think that he appeals to that subset. Some men hate women. Some men hate women. I would say a very small minority, and there are some massive man-hating women out of them. Not all. I don't think you two are.

There's not that that you don't have that. power dynamic that men who hate women have. So, like, for example, Andrew Tate has been, what, imprisoned or under house... Be careful what you say. This is going to be part of the debate we come to. Andrew Tate hasn't been charged with anything here. He's been held under house

arrest a month on end. Andrew Tate has been accused of human trafficking, and how many boys don't believe that? Well, the court of law will decide whether he's guilty or not. But the court of public opinion, and you've just been guilty of yourself. You've already convicted him in your eyes. The court of public opinion have already decided that apparently this is

like some creation that has never existed. No, that's not what people are saying. People are saying they're waiting until the verdict is out, which should have been the standard, which would be the standard if we're talking about a woman, but apparently, because of his public persona, we're more inclined to assume that he's guilty. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think that women can trust the court process anymore.

I'm sorry, that's not fair, because actually men are hugely disadvantaged, particularly men that are in the public eye. Look, the point about this Minister for Men issue, I don't agree with it because I don't agree with the Minister for Women. I think if you're going to talk about issues, like the suicide rates or, cancer rates amongst men and women, for instance,

you should have independent ministries for those specific issues, because men and women, if you have a ministry for men and ministry for women, at some point, their interests will collide. So if you wanted to get funding for prostate cancer, you need a bit more engagement with fathers. I think fathers need to be a bit more engaged with their sons.

I think the reason why... But also... Can't we separate toxic masculinity from masculinity? Yeah, well, I think... There's nothing wrong with being a masculine male. No, but it's become, you know, It's become, since we were young men, it's become, you know, there's no Mohammed Ali to look up to these days. You've got these, you know, a surprisingly large number of them seem to be at Manchester United, I have to say.

You've got, you've got your problem in a way with, I'm not defending Mason Greenwood. I think he's a pretty scummy guy from what I've seen and read or whatever. I was thinking of the latest one. Well, the latest one, Anthony, the winger, again, an ex-girlver has made allegations, but that's what they are. Yeah, but he hasn't been seen. We know from the Amber Hurd Johnny Depp thing, you can throw all the money you like and it will stick. But if ultimately these guys, one, has not been charged with any crime. And there may be reasons for that, but Anthony may be completely innocent or he may not.

But I just don't like the trial by public court. No, I do think that those guys, those young, those elite athletes, I think that they have a responsibility. They have a responsibility to young men. They have a responsibility. But we have a duty as a society to be fair to them. if they are leveled with allegations, which may or may not be true. I think the reason why there is a void in sort of masculine role models is because we can't agree on what masculinity is.

Right. If you have a man that he likes to go to the gym who says he likes young, beautiful women or whatever, he's a toxic male because you have a bunch of old hags complaining that they're not attracted. That's kind of really. No, seriously, you have a bunch of old overweight women winging that those types of men don't find them attractive. We don't agree on what a masculine man is. And that's why there is a void. That's why you have such a specific.

between and rotate and drugs. I don't even think the patriarchy exists anymore. You are being disingenuous. What's the biggest movie? What's the biggest movie of the year? The biggest movie of the year celebrates the matriarchy and it is starring and produced by the production company of Margot Robbie, who's the hottest mood.

Can I say that without being arrested? She's very not unattractive lady in Hollywood, who is making about $100 million for producing this barnstorming It's all about a matriarchy and how awful men are. That doesn't mean the patriarchy. It's being quashed. The patriarchy is in our court system, which only prosecutes 1% of all allegations against rape.

The patriarchy is in our workplaces. The patriarchy is in our workplaces. When most men are not actually even given custody or are allowed to see their children. Patriarchy is in our workplace. Okay. So my boss, ultimate boss for Talk TV is a woman. My boss at the sun, where Tony and I write columns is a woman. Two out of the three panelists tonight are women.

How's the old patriarchy looking? A little bit diminished. Media has always been ahead of the rest of the country. We know that because it's a bit more liberal. We do know that. But the thing is, why don't we complain about the fact that the lack of female bin cleaners? The patriarchy only works one way. You want to see women in front-facing positions that look glamorous,

but we never complain about female bricklayers, for instance. I have not said that. I have never actually seen a female bin person. I've never seen one, yeah. And yet we can't even call them bin men because that's offensive to women. Exactly. When do you ever see women? doing the bin stuff.

Well, you see him on the ads, and the ads in the market. I'm going to make my wife put out the bins. Don't get me wrong. No, you don't. I'm talking about actual. Yeah, of course. In Barbie, they say the patriarchy is very much alive in one in my house.

Kenny's told that the patriarchate still exists. We're just a bit more quiet about it than we used to. Let's just segue slightly. There's an amazing auction going on at the moment for Freddie Mercury, who actually was a neighbor of mine in Kensington until his sad death, obviously from AIDS. His former girlfriend, Mary Osterner, who stayed his best friend, inherited the house from him in West London.

She's selling all the stuff from the house. It is incredible what was going on this auction. His back door has just gone for nearly 500,000 pounds. His silver snake bangal was supposed to go for a few thousand in the Bohemian Rhapsody video, 698,000. The autographed manuscript lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody just went for nearly 1.4 million. the Yamaha piano

or I think these might even be just the on some of these these are just the asking price yeah asking price but everything is going I think they're struggle to get maybe not they're like holy relics but here's my point to you tell you I wanted to read you

what you said about Freddie Mercury well when we were at the mirror at the mirror you know what they say I don't remember if you're going to read it to it I'm going to read it you're going to be down with your own words Queen were crap with Freddie Mercury pompous overblown all style no substance In the 30-year orgy of British groups,

Queen were never more than a fake orgasm. As a punishment, my first editor wants me to see them at Wembley Arena. It was horrible, like a pantomime for thick adults. No, that's true. It's true. No, it's true. And they think I'm a savage critic, my God, man. I know it's heresy to say that stuff now, but I,

and, you know, this part of me, I enjoyed the film, and I quite liked Fred. He was, like, he was very funny personally. He said to a colleague of mine at the NME, oh darling i thought you'd be editor of the time by now which i thought was funny at a time you're so wrong about freddie mercury he was the greatest most flamboyant brilliant showman i've ever seen front of band he was also i would say the best rock singer has ever been in terms of quality of voice and he was a wonderfully entertaining character nick jagged you say yeah yeah a better singer than

freddie murkley and a better songwriter too and a better songwriter too and a nicer and a nice of bum i love him i'll tell you about Like Mid Jagger, the stones were out today. Well, you can buy the back door. Well, the Stones today, the Stones today, press conference today for their new album, first one in years. Mick Jagger's 81. He was 18. He was 80 this side. I'm sorry, 80.

He's 80. Right. So I met Mick at the Lord's cricket this year, just after he turned 80. He's the same age as Joe Biden. So when you see Biden falling over, drooling, can't pronounce his any words, gets everything wrong, that's the same age. It's not about age with Biden. it's about mental and physical performance, right?

Jagger is still behaving like a teenager. But the idea he's a better singer than Freddie Mercury. Yeah, well, I would have to insist he is. Yeah, no, I know it's heresy to say this, but at that time, you know, in that period that we're talking about, there was so much. I mean, I saw Abba and was completely indifferent. I saw the Eagles and was completely different

because I was also watching the clash and the jam and Bruce Springs and the stones. I think the stones are the best rock band. Yeah. Freddy was the best singer, and I would put up there as rock singer Axel Rose. But I think the thing is, I think the reason why you revere him so, he's actually more Judy Garland than Keith Richards. You know, he's not very rock and wrong role. You know, he's not very much. I love Judy Garland and Keith Richards. Me too. Me too.

Talk about people we love. I want to play a fantastic clip from a new Donald Trump radio interview with an American host. Listen to this. I didn't like the way she dealt with the queen. I became very friendly with the queen. She was an incredible woman. They treated her with great disrespect, and I didn't like it. And it's not a good situation going on with the two of them.

But I didn't know that they don't like me. Somebody mentioning it might be so possible. They wouldn't be the only ones. But I mean, that would get ratings, wouldn't it? Oh, if you want to set it up, let's set it up. Let's do something. I'd love to debate here. So that could be Donald Trump debating, I think he said, Harry and Megan, on a state.

I'm happy to moderate it. It would just be Megan. Harry would cry. Harry would weep. Would it break all TV ratings records? Probably, yes. Donald Trump debating with Harry and Megan. I think so. He doesn't debate, does he?

He just sort of shouts his opinion over it. Yeah, it would be funny to watch. Incredible bravado of him right there to say that he liked the Queen or he enjoyed his time speaking with her. I mean, can you imagine what she had to say about behind the back? Actually, yes, I know for a fact she liked meeting him. You know why?

She found Trump very entertaining. But that was so a genius. I know this for a fact from a member. the Royal Family. The Queen actually found him very entertaining because he was totally unlike anyone else he ever met. But you're not meant to be entertaining as the president, right? Well, it doesn't hurt. You can be. In fact, one of the reasons that Trump is still surging ahead in the Republican race to be the president again is because he is very entertaining. It can be very funny. He has that charm side to him. It's the reason Boris Johnson got that to hear

unless he's trying to overthrow democracy. I'm not saying this right or wrong. I'm just saying the reason why he's so popular. Rather like with Boris Johnson. They have a charisma. They made people laugh. They made people laugh. and certain people like that. And also Trump is, you know, kind of inciting the far right and, you know, making them believe. I'm not defending either of them. I've been very critical of both. I'm just saying if you want to explain why they get traction,

it's because they have that side of them. And some politicians who you think otherwise have all the boxes ticked, they're not charismatic and they're not entertaining and we're not funny, and they don't get the popular vote. Talking a popular vote, last night at the National Television Awards, we, well, inexplicably, in my view, failed to win. We were nominated for the interview show of the year. Graham Norton, apparently does interviews.

I haven't seen them myself. But no, he's very good and he didn't win. But there were some headlines that came out after the event, or during it actually, which suggested, look at this. Piers Morgan fumes after we booed by crowd was one of these headlines. Others talked about me facing a brutal booing, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So I was like, really? It didn't sound like that in the room. So we got the clips. This is what happened. That was just silence in the arena. Well, this isn't very good for me explaining. There you go. We've got any volume.

There you go. Well, that wasn't actually the clip I was talking about. Have we got the clip I'm talking about? All right, let's play it now. Morgan is here. Hey, everyone, everyone, say what you like about Pierce Morgan. After the break with another brand new award TV interview. Pierce, you're in that one. Don't walk out.

And Pierce Morgan, uncensored. I mean, I haven't heard cheering like that at the end since One Direction reformed. Right, so there was a kind of low-level smattering of booth, but I think it was aimed at this host, this guy who I'd literally never heard of. I don't know he is. Yeah. Did anyone know he?

No. What did you know? Yeah. Do you know something gold on it? I think. I thought that was right. No. None of us know.

his name, this guy. You thought that was Ryden. None of us know his name. He had two wax in me, and I think they were just booing the badness of the jokes. And then when it came to actually celebrating our show, as he heard, just a stunning ovation. Right up there, I mean, I wouldn't compare it to the Beatles, although I just did. But anyway, my thanks to everyone who voted for us. We shouldn't have won. We will win next year. So thank you. We appreciate the support, and we'll keep bringing you great interviews. Pat, great to see you. Tony, it's a great book. Who she was. Thank you. Fantastic. Number one, best. selling author does it again. Obsession lies murder. And thank you to Celia for that

wonderful quote. Yeah, it's the check in the post. That's all she'll care about. It's a great book. And great to see you. Unsett's next as the former leader of the proud boys is sentenced to 22 years in jail. What a future President Trump, January, pardon, January 6 rioters. We'll discuss that and more with one of his more outspoken supporters, a regular on this show, Carrie Lake, after break. Welcome back to Piersburg and Unsensit. Yesterday, Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the so-called Proud Boys, was jail. over 22 years to orchestrate the attack on the US Capitol on 6th of January 2021. It's the longest sentence handed down so far over the attack.

His supporters are now calling for Donald Trump to say he'd pardon them and others convicted over January 6th. Trump has plenty of legal problems, of his own. The Fulton County Court today heard arguments on his racketeering case. The former president pleaded not guilty, waving his right to attend in person. Would join me discuss all this is one of Donald Trump's most fervent supporters and a regular on Piers Morgan Uncensored. Good to see you again. Carrie Lake, how are you?

I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. A couple of things off the top here. One, the proud boys, the leader getting 22 years, I've seen the reaction to this. A lot of people think good, justify, the neo-fascist, he was the ringleader, this is what he should have got for what people are calling sedition on that day

and insurrection and so on. Others are taking a position that there's an inconsistency here in the way that they've been treated and along with other January 6th rioters compared to other people who've taken part in other riots. What's your view? Well, I think Americans are coming around to the fact that it wasn't an insurrection. It was a staged riot.

It was a staged riot to cover up the fact that they were going to certify a fraudulent election. And here we're taking all of these people. Many of them did nothing wrong, sentencing them to long sentences in the D.C. gulag. While we remember the Summer of Love, as they called. called it in 2020 when we had BLM rioters and Antifa rioters literally burning down churches, torching cop cars, beating people up on the streets, destroying businesses and neighborhoods, and they haven't been punished at all. And so everyone in America is looking at this and saying, whoa, we don't have justice anymore

in America. Our legal system is in a wreck, and we can't even count on fair sentences for what happened there. And we know, as we've seen, tens of thousands of hours of video, some of it is starting to come out. We're seeing what really happened on January 6th. It wasn't as the media described it. It was not an insurrection. And many of the people were encouraged to go in by FBI informants. Well, hang on. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. The truth is that thousands of people descended on the Capitol as a howling aggressive and it turned out very violent in some cases mob, People were killed that day, and they broke into the U.S. Capitol the absolute epicenter of American democracy, and they did it to thwart democracy.

You might believe the election was stolen. Donald Trump might believe the election was stolen, but actually most senior Republicans don't think it was stolen. Most Americans, according to the polls, do not believe that election was stolen. And actually, the enemy of democracy is not, as you're trying to paint it, the FBI or those who don't buy into the stolen election narrative, the enemy of, people who genuinely propagate the myth of a storm election, like you? Well, let me just say one thing about the people who were at the Capitol that day. There were hundreds of thousands of people there peacefully protesting saying, we need relief because that election was not fair.

It was not on the up and up. And there were some people who went into the Capitol, and there were some instigators in that crowd. And we're seeing more and more of the video showing what happened that day. And you're right. There was somebody killed that day. Ashley Babette. She was shot.

She was shot by Capitol Police officer. And he's never been brought to justice on that. He's never been brought to justice. A lot of the people that ended up inside the Capitol ended up there going inside. And the doors were opened by Capitol police. There's a lot of questions that remain. And Americans don't see that as an insurrection. Here's a question that I would put to you, Carrie.

If it had been the other way around, if Donald Trump had won that election, he'd beaten Joe Biden. And these were Democrats. hundreds of thousands of Democrats storming the US Capitol to try and stop that election being ratified with zero actual evidence of any election being stolen. Zero evidence.

Trump's produced no actual evidence which has been ratified by anybody that this election was stolen. If it had been Democrats doing this, I can absolutely bet my house that you would have come on this show and argue the complete opposite. No,

If the November 3rd election would have been rigged and stolen the way it was against the Democrats, I would be appalled as an American. This isn't about Democrat-Republican. It's about the way that election was run. And you're saying there's no evidence, Pierce, but there really is a mountain of evidence. And more and more of it's coming out. We're looking at what happened in Michigan. As more information comes out about completely phony voter registration,

we watched as they pulled ballots from underneath tables after they kicked the poll. There are lots of these stories swore. around, but every single time it's gone before people who actually, whose job it is to say whether this has actually happened, there's no evidence. I keep saying Mr. Donald Trump, I don't know why he keeps flogging the dead horse of a stolen election. Well, I'll tell you what, the evidence, when actually what he wants to be doing is trying to persuade people that he should be elected again. Give us something for the country to feel positive about. And he is doing that. And he is doing that. But the evidence is coming out. And I know it's probably not being played in the UK. but it is coming out. Every day, more and more evidence is coming out about how bad 2020 was. The polls are showing that the majority of Americans

now believe that the 2020 election was wrought with fraud. No, they don't. That's complete nonsense. That's true. As we would say across the pond, that is an absolute whopper. No, no, 81% of Republicans.

There are no Republicans. You said Americans. You didn't say Republicans. 81% of Republicans, 60% of Israel. independence. And 44% of Democrats think the election. The majority of Americans in every poll I've seen do not believe that the election was stolen.

You know why? Because it wasn't stolen. I'm looking at polls. I'm looking at polls and I follow election integrity because it is near and dear to my heart. I don't think you follow election integrity, Carrie. I think what you want to do, like Donald Trump, you want to fuel a sense that every time you guys lose a fair election, it's unfair and rigged and stolen. And every time you win, it's the purest example of efficient working democracy imaginable.

That's really what it boils down to. When Trump won in 2016, it was, of course, a fair election. Suddenly when he lost, it's unfair. Because you just asked, you said President Trump needs to convince people why he should win again, why they should vote for him. And he's doing a great job of doing that. He's putting his agenda out. It's called Agenda 47, laying out how he's going to move America forward.

would pull us out of the ditch that Joe Biden and his corrupt administration has driven America into how he's going to strengthen us on a world stage. We know that we've lost our footing. America used to be a superpower and now we don't have the respect around the world. And I'll tell you what, Pierce, if America falls, the whole world goes. And President Trump wants to end that nonsense war. By the way, Carrie, I've just written a big column for the New York Post, which has gone up tonight, in which I'm heavily critical again of Joe Biden. I think he's, it's ridiculous that given his clear mental failings, his physical failings, clearly the age is now a massive issue. I don't think it's right that he should be contesting the next election.

But nor do I think it's right that Donald Trump is facing nearly 100 criminal charges, which at the very least will swallow up almost all his time in the next two years. You'd have no time to run the country. That's what they've intended. That's what they're intending with all of these charges. with that is that a lot of Republicans who, when Hillary Clinton was facing a similar scenario of criminal charges, all said that would mean she couldn't possibly run again, then all say the complete opposite. I don't think she was ever charged with anything. No, she wasn't. But when she was facing the possibility, a lot of Republicans said, actually, if she's charged, she can't

possibly run again. The difference in America is that the Democrats never get charged. You know, she can, you know, bleach bit her computer and destroy 30,000 emails and take money from all over foreign interests into her Clinton Foundation. And, you know, her friends can mysteriously just commit suicide and die. And nobody ever digs into anything the Clintons do. Well, they did dig into it. But when it comes to Republicans. Look, all that was obviously dug into at great length by the media.

But I do think, I do think there is a bias skewed to protecting the Bidens in a way, that it would never happen if it was the Trumps. All this stuff with Hunter Biden, which is leading closer and closer now to the White House and his father, I think it stinks to high hell. And if they were the Trumps that were exposed for doing all this, it would be a ferocious firestorm

all over the front pages every day. So I do think there is a double standard in American mainstream media which skews positive to the Democrats and protective and goes against the Republicans. And on that point, we're going to end the interview because we're going to reach a rare point. of agreement, Carrie. But it's great to see you.

Likewise. Thank you, Pierce. Come back soon. On sets of next, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Q in London are planning an event that celebrates the queerness of mushrooms and their connection to the LGBTQ community. I didn't make that up. This is actually real. After the break, we'll debate if it's time this kind of thing was weeded out of our great heritage and institutions. We launched this show about 16 months ago.

This was the kind of story I had in mind. The Royal Q Gardens are set to hold an exhibition called Queer Nature at the end of the month. The event promises to break the binary and challenge traditional expectations by showing how fungi and plants have a special connection to the LGBTQ community. Queer nature to me is basically a very apt description of nature. For me, queer nature is about rethinking how we see the world around us and our place in it. Viewing the world of nature as queer is an act. of freedom and liberation. With the event promises to bring together horticulturalist,

scientists, authors and drag artists, even featuring a performance from a bearded lady and a DJ who will play queer sets. My question for all this is why. Let's get into the weeds of the debate with Outkick host Tommy Lerrin and the comedian James Bar. James, welcome back. Sorry, did you launch this show with the idea of talking about gay mushrooms? Yes.

That's why you launched this. I have some gay mushrooms here. You just wanted to do a segment about queer mushrooms. Thank you for teeing up my gay mushrooms. Wow. They don't look very gay. Wow. And they look like normal mushrooms to me.

Well, are you feeling a gay connection to these mushrooms? Listen, I feel a gay connection to a lot of things, peers, including yourself right now. Really? I would say that mushrooms scientifically have about 23,000 different genders. So that's where this exhibit is coming from. 23,000 genders of mushroom. Exactly. They're not, this is a mushroom.

No, well, ask a scientist if you don't believe me. I'm not, I've got asked a scientist. This is called a mushroom. That's it. But they're like, they're fungi. I think sex is about mushrooms. What? Sex is not about mushrooms, no.

So why are we having some queer celebration of things like mushrooms? I just don't understand why you care. Why is this such a problem? I can because I don't see the back of it. Because, well, it's been queer people happy. We've just had Pride Month, where the entire month was taken up, we're turning everything, LGBTQ, and now it's two plus something else, right? It's extended.

So the letters I can't even remember. The rest of the year is straight. Why does Q gardens have to go queer? I don't get it. Why can't here? Why should it? Why come we just have straight plans? Because I say what it's doing, it's making queer people feel happy,

and ultimately isn't something that's making people feel happy a good thing? So that you, James Barr, get your kicks out looking at a kinky mushroom. Listen, you might want to spend your life being miserable, but I'll tell you what really is very happy. I'm very happy. I'm not actually happening. Yesterday, you lost an NTA to a gay man, so you've decided to find any story you can to attack queer people because you want to get your own life on Graham North.

I hadn't actually thought of that. That's exactly what's happening here. It is true. It is entirely Graham North. It's entirely Graham North. sexuality that enraged me. Let's bring in Tommy Leran. Tommy, I just don't know where we start with this.

Cougardons is like the epicenter of British heritage, the establishment. It's like you go there with your mom and dad, you take your cucumber sandwiches, and you look at lovely plants. What you don't do is think about their sexuality or 23,000 genders or have a queer celebration of mushrooms. What is happening? Well, I'll tell you this. What concerns me is if there are.

23,000 genders for mushrooms and fungus. I'm a little concerned because the LGBT-plus barbecue is already too long for most Americans and most people to memorize. So now if we have 23,000 genders added to that, I'm not sure we want to take our cue from plants. But you hit the nail on the head, peers. Why does everything have to be about queer this, gay, that? Why is that the only thing that leftists seem to respond to? It's either race, gender, or climate change. gender, climate change. That's it. Everything has to be gay. Everything has to be about race. Everything has to be about the planet.

Yeah, there has been a whole debate, actually, about whether plants are racist. I remember that one as well. The thing about this... It's probably a debate that you had, though. But the thing about this, James, is I just don't see the point of it other than to wind people up, which I think you're almost admitting. No, absolutely not. It's not winding anywhere. But imagine if I announce tomorrow, we're going to go down to Chelsea Flower Show,

and we're going to have a straight day. where straight people like me will go straight people like me, who, by the way, for the record, are not remotely homophobic, right? Go down to Chelsea Flower Show and we make everything about the straight sexual affinity. You did just say that, Graham Norton's sexuality enraged you. No, no, it was obviously a joke. Was it?

You made a stupid, facile point about sexuality. Interesting. But I don't care whether he's gay or not. I care that he beat me. That pisses me off. But let's go back to the Chelsea Flower Show. If I had a straight day or a straight week at the Chelsea Flower Show and started talking about the straight

heterosexual affinity that we all felt with fungi and daffodils, you would go completely nuts. I said, look at these white, straight gammon, abusing us in this manner, excluding us in this manner. If you and Tommy want to set up a straight mushroom exhibit with loads of straight, grey, boring, binary mushrooms, waving guns around, like, go for it. I'm not doing it. It's your community.

It's doing it. Listen, you're the one that's hosting a debailles on an international platform about mushrooms. Gay mushrooms. Because the event is happening. Gay mushrooms. When I was younger, I'm not taught of them gay mushrooms. What do you want to do with you older?

I don't think mushrooms can be gay. I want to defend queer mushroom. It's not a gay mushroom. Look, you just eat it like a mushroom. Right? Wow, I hope you enjoyed that. They're not poisonous, huh? You know, you're never queer

because you can catch queerness from a mushroom, by the way. Tommy. That's a judge. I just, I think, Tommy, my overriding view, like you said, everything has to be reduced to this kind of stuff. It is pandering very much. virtue signaling nonsense. But what worries me is that the corporate world, like Q Gardens and their management, they get sucked into this. They think it's a good idea. Well, as I can imagine,

lots of people who attend these events, we're thinking, what is going on? Why are they doing this? Yeah, I think it's just out of step with most people. I don't know why everything has to be about sex and sexual preference. It doesn't make sense to me. I don't think most human beings go about their day worried about the gender of a mushroom or a fungus or what gender they prefer to sleep with. I don't know why everything has to be reduced to this. Can we all just go about our lives? It hasn't been until 2020, I believe, that everything had to be about how you identify and what pronouns you use. Can't everything just be as it is without having to dissect the heterosexuality, their homosexuality or the queerness of everything, give everything some kind of a queer rating?

I don't agree. Why do you just go back to enjoying plans for what they are? Running at a time. James, final question and make it a quick answer. What is the gayest plan? I honestly, I'm not. I'm not. I'm I'm not answering that. Do you know what? All the plus are gay. Why not? Everyone is, every single person on this planet has different, different, I guess, I guess, to celebrate. Is it not one that you think... I guess a daffodil is pretty gay.

A gay daffodil. A gay daffodil. All right, well, on that bombshell, we'll leave it there. Tommy, thank you very much for day for joining me. It's nuts. We know it's nuts, but James will keep coming back to defend the nuts, and that's why I like him. Uncensored. Grease wants the old gimbals back as the scandal of stolen treasures at the British Museum

reignites an historic debate. Yannis Varufakis makes his pitch. Next. Welcome back to Pierce, Wilkins and I said, so the British Museum was hit by a scandal this summer when it emerged that more than 2,000 items were found to be missing, stolen or damage. The fallout has brought unwarranted detention to the museum, including questions of its security and reputation and renewed calls from some nations to have their treasures returned. Well, the new British Museum interim director, Sir Mark Jones, has previously suggested the Elgin marble should be shared with Greece and with British Museum chairman George Osborne, now in talk. to swap the marbles for other artefacts, they could indeed be returned to Greek territory soon. But should they? Critics say that will open the floodgates to dubious overseas claims on the treasures Britain preserves and exhibits for the world.

Well, joining me now to discuss all this is former Greek finance minister Janice Varifakis. Well, welcome to you, Janice. The one thing I knew when I read about this story about the British Museum was the very next thing I'd hear would be the Greeks trying to come after the Elgin marbles again. And here you are. Will you allow me, Pierce, not to be drawn into a Greeks versus the Brits kind of warfare?

Because from the very beginning, this was always a British discursive civil war. There were two lords, one English lord and one Scottish lord. The Scottish lord, of course, was Elgin, who removed the marbles and took them to Britain and eventually sold them to the British Museum. The other lord, of course, was Lord Byron, who right from the beginning, scolded Elgin. You will recall his infamous line. Dull is the eye that will not weep to see thy walls defaced,

thy mouldering shrines removed. So don't get us, you know, don't pit the Greeks versus the Brits. The English versus the Scottish aristocracy has to sort this out. The concern here is that if you use the pretty shameful behavior of an employee at the British Museum who's been looting away, it appears, with all these artefacts from the museum. If we use that as an excuse

to now let every country that thinks it wants to get back its own artefacts from the British Museum, where does that end? Why would we then not be entitled to go to every museum in the world that has British stuff and say we want it back?

Why wouldn't people that have stuff in Greek museums be able to say we want our stuff back? In other words, once you go down this, road of artifact reparation, where does it end? As a Greek, I'm going to make this point that no one, no one should take pleasure at the crisis that the British Museum is facing as a result of this mismanagement, let's put it thus way.

We should never use this case of this mismanagement to attack a fine institution like the British museum. Point number one, point number two, I would not want to see every artefacts being returned. The Parthenon marbles are a very different. special exceptional case. The point about the marbles of the apartment is that they were an integral part of the friezes of the Parthenon.

And without them, that's what Lord Biden was getting at when he said that your wars, thy wars were defaced, thy shrines removed. It was a kind of separation. The great British public are in their majority, as we know, from various UGov polls,

in favor of returning the Marathon. of returning the marbles to the Acropolis Museum. Well, okay. So this is what is... You say that, Janice. Let me just bring in a British person to debate that with you because we've got Louise Mensch

joining us from New York. She'd be listening to this. So Louise, apparently all the Brits want these marbles return to the Greeks is what Janus is telling us. Not all the way, the Greek. Not all the Brits. 58% of them, according to the last EUGov poll.

Okay, so there may be a slight majority of Brits in a poll say they want them returned. Should we not just give them back to the Greeks given how much it means to them? What is the point of relitigating things that have been decided for hundreds and hundreds of years? If we give back the Elgin marbles, what's next? The Rosetta Stone, the Assyrio-Babolian statues that are in the middle of the British Museum. The fact is you can't redo the past.

Greece, like other great cultures, plundered other nations. That was then, this is now. And I really think that the Greeks are just looking to set the clock back for no good reason at all. Well, Janice, I would also add to that that there is a plan to perhaps loan the Elgin Marbles to Greece. And no offense, but I would imagine the moment they're back on Greek land, there are going to be all sorts of attempts by Greeks to try and keep them there, probably legal attempts. Well, allow me to counter the point of your other guest. I did make a very crucial, I think, declaration. I don't believe that all artifacts should be returned. But if you had, imagine you had a brilliant statue. matter whether it's Greek, British, whatever. And it was cut in half for some reason. Doesn't matter why. And one piece of it

was here and the other piece was there. There would be an argument for reunifying it. This is the whole point. This is why I'm saying that the marbles are an exception. Okay, but let me just jump in. Just a second. Just a second. Just a second. And I'm not suggesting that the marbles come from the British Museum to the Acropolan Museum. No, no, no, no.

As I said, I care about the British Museum as much as I care about Acropolis Museum but imagine how beautiful it would be if the two museums the two countries the two governments were to agree that the British Museum would be stocked and restocked on a rotating basis by a large collection of as I said a rotating exhibition of beautiful treasures every six months imagine if you had an opening at the British Museum and the people of Britain as well as tourists could flock to see these antiquities that would never be seen but what about this

I have an idea for you. If you're, if you, what you really want is to reunite the two sections of these marbles, why don't you give us your half and we'll do it at the British Museum? No, no, that's not the whole point. The point is, remember, what it's the point. You just said it's the point. Your walls defaced. No, no. Well, let me tell you what the point is. The point is that the work of art that we are discussing is not just a collection of statues. And it's not, you have most of them anyway.

It's not a question of reuniting the ones you have with the ones that we've got left. It's a question of reuniting in the same line of sight, those friezes statues that were meant to be on top on the frieze of the Parthenon with the Parthenon. And if you look at the Acropolis Museum, it is situated in a way that you would feel great to see them back there. I much rather think things stay as they are than George Osborne's sordid proposal. Because think of what he's proposing.

He's proposing to keep... half or two-thirds of the collection which is now in the British Museum as hostages in the British Museum, collateral, sent the other remaining stuff to the Acropolis Museum and get Greek artifacts. So effectively, he's talking about breaking up violently a family in exile. That is a sordid deal, and I hope the Greek government doesn't agree with it. Okay. If you want to keep the status quo as it is, fine. It's better than what? but what Osborne is proposed. I actually agree with that.

On that point, I agree with. In my view, it would be the interest, it would be the interest of the British Museum and of the great British public to have this kind of collaboration, cooperation, cooperation with one fantastic exhibition every six months at the British Museum. I hear you. Louise? The Pattenham Marbles are reunited. Louise, your response to that? Pierce, you beat me to it.

You beat me to it when you suggested that we should reunite the Elgin Marbles by having the Greek government lend up. lend us the ones that they retain so that we can put the freeze together. How about this? How about this? As a compromise proposal, let's have the Greek government send their volume of the Elgin marbles over to Britain as a sign of goodwill and trust will reunite all of the freeze of the marbles in the British Museum and after six months of exhibition at the British Museum the entire thing can move over to Greece. I think if there is mutual trust established between these two authorities. There's nothing that we can't do together. But the Greeks are going to have to get over the idea that Britain is going to give up one of its proudest cultural treasures,

which was lawfully obtained and was obtained in the past. And we're not going to relitigate the past now just because Greece is salty. Well, lots of proposals on the table. Janice, I appreciate you joining me and your passion for this. Louise, thank you for joining me from New York. We will see what happens to these marbles, much coveted marbles. Whatever you're up to, keep it uncensored. Bye.