Pivot - Zuck Under Pressure, Presidential Debate Rules, and New Covid Vaccines

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

Kara is joined by her brother Jeff Swisher, her son Louie Swisher, and best friend of Pivot George Hahn! They discuss the upcoming debate rules and the state of the race, Mark Zuckerberg saying he fel...t “pressured” to “censor” Covid-19 content, and burnout among teachers and parents. Also a new COVID-19 vaccine is here – when should you get it? Then, a discussion on rawdogging flights… because why not? Follow us on Instagram and Threads at @pivotpodcastofficial. Follow us on TikTok at @pivotpodcast. Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or at nymag.com/pivot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Support for Pivot comes from Virgin Atlantic. Too many of us are so focused on getting to our destination that we forgot to embrace the journey. Well, when you fly Virgin Atlantic, that memorable trip begins right from the moment you check in. On board, you'll find everything you need to relax, recharge, or carry on working. Buy flat, private suites, fast Wi-Fi, hours of entertainment, delicious dining, and warm, welcoming service that's designed around you. delicious dining and warm, welcoming service that's designed around you. Check out virginatlantic.com for your next trip to London and beyond and see for yourself how traveling for business can always be a pleasure. As a Fizz member, you can look forward to free data,
Starting point is 00:00:38 big savings on plans, and having your unused data roll over to the following month. Every month. At Fizz, you always get more for your money. Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at Fizz.ca. Lucky's calling. Hold on one second.
Starting point is 00:00:53 Okay, Mom, I'm about to tape a podcast with Jeff and Louie, so I got to go. Okay? All right. Okay, bye. Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher. It's the final week of Scott Free August, the final episode of it. So I had
Starting point is 00:01:12 to go big with not one, not two, but three guest hosts. Of course, it is Nepo Friday. I'm joined by my son, Louis Swisher, my brother, Dr. Jeffrey Swisher, and our best, very best friend of Pivot and Scott's sidekick, George Hahn. Everybody, welcome. Hello. Hey. Hi, Mom. Hi. How you doing? How's everybody doing? It's a man fest here. It is. Leave it to the lesbian to have a more interesting sausage party than any gay man I know. That is correct. And it's so different. Each of you is so different. And Louie is back at NYU. He started next week, right, sweetie? He started next week. Yep. Yeah. Right after Labor Day. Right after Labor Day. And Jeff is in San Francisco. He's at the hospital. I am at work. And George, where are you? I'm in my sumptuous bedroom.
Starting point is 00:02:02 Bedroom. How nice. Well, I just got back from dropping Clara off on her first day of public school here in D.C. Shout out to D.C. public schools. It was very exciting. So she's gone into pre-K-4, and we FaceTimed slightly with Louie for a second. It looked pretty cool, even though we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Yeah, it was. She was super cute. But the picture you sent me definitely had the first day of school blues in it, I would say. I know. She's like a little nervous. Does you
Starting point is 00:02:28 remember your first day of school, Louis? I do. That was a long time ago. No, not really, but I'm sure it was pretty fun. Yeah, it was. You did the wolf goodbye. Louis used to do a thing called wolf goodbye. I'm going to embarrass him where you had to put up your paw and say goodbye to him. It was very cute. George, do you remember your first day of school? I totally do. My father bawled. He just was the only time he walked me to school. And I went to kindergarten down my block and he cried. Kara, do you remember Pierce Country Day School? That's where we went to. I don't. I'm just assuming mom threw us out of the car and drove off. While it was moving. Get going, kids. Jump out of the back of the station wagon. Yeah wagon yeah that's and then forgot to pick us up at the end of the day always forgot to pick us up what a great yeah what a great time that good
Starting point is 00:03:11 time good times growing up with lucky and the sad part was Saul was like can I go in and I was like no not yet not yet what age is pre-k five uh well Clara missed the cutoff by a couple of days there's there's the end of September for DC schools and most schools and most schools. So she's going to be one of the oldest kids in our class. Anyway, good luck, Clara, on your journey forward in real school, which is exciting. And school, I don't have to pay for it. That's even better. to Congress, the Surgeon General's new warning about parents and the phenomenon of raw dogging flights. That's not as bad as it sounds. But first, the September 10th ABC presidential debate between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be back on again. The two candidates have been in disagreement about one rule, whether the microphones will be muted when a candidate isn't speaking. The Harris campaign favors unmuting while Trump campaign does not, although Trump said he does. Trump posted on True Social will be the same as the last CNN debate. The
Starting point is 00:04:10 campaign, the Harris campaign says discussions are still ongoing. George, let's start with you. Will the debate still be as bad for Trump with the mics muted if they are muted? He keeps insisting he doesn't mind them unmuted, but please. I believe the consensus last time in the disastrous Biden performance was that Trump, the muted mics would be bad for Trump and ended up not being bad for him. So, you know, TBD, I think, you know, TBD. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think it's not I think it's better for him because he says things. And in Scott's absence, I need to mention that Trump had a lovely post on True Social Wednesday resharing a photo of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton with the text. Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently. Um, Jeff, I'm gonna let you have this one. Obviously, it's a blowjob reference. And of course, he went there, as I noted, he might do on Tuesday. Next stop is a racist remark. And so I I mean, ultimately, I think the best response for Kamala Harris is no response. I think they just let that go. I mean, it says it, but it's the same thing
Starting point is 00:05:30 with J.D. Vance, where he told her to go to hell yesterday. It's like, just don't respond to that, because what can you do to make it any worse than what they already did? Yeah. Louis, any thoughts? Do you care? Well, yeah, I think it really depends on the type of debate that they want to have. If they want to have a really hyper political moment with a bunch of screen grabs and a bunch of clips and a bunch of jabs and comments and stuff like that, which is the kind of debates we've been having for like my entire lifetime, then sure. But if they want to have a substantive policy debate, I think maybe the microphone meeting would be good. But I think when it comes to like these really inflammatory
Starting point is 00:06:05 comments that the Trump campaign is going to make, especially Donald Trump himself directed at Kamala Harris, definitely taking like the brush it off your shoulder and move on comment, kind of let the piece of steak rot a little bit and let him just let the world see really how gross he is and let him and you know, when a joke and a punchline doesn't have a reaction, it's not really a joke. It's not really funny. And people can recognize kind of the vulgarness behind it. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:29 Does it offend you, Louis? I'm just curious when he does things like that, blowjob jokes. He's like within five seconds of making a racist joke, obviously, which he's done before. Well, I mean, they're not directed at me. And I'm personally someone who's not really affected
Starting point is 00:06:42 by those kinds of things as much as other people in the world. So no, on a personal level, but definitely as an American citizen, yes, highly offended. Because you're trying to get the biggest job in the country. You're trying to be our mascot. You're trying to be our leader. And you're trying to be our representation to the entire world. And if this is the way you conduct yourself amongst conversations with fellow citizens, opponents within the political ring, I can't even imagine what it's like on the world stage. I actually can. I can look back a couple of years and remember what it was like. Yeah, he did. What are you talking about? It's not a very good job application,
Starting point is 00:07:10 let's say. I don't think I would hire this man. George, what should be her response? Is there any line you could think of? For Trump? Didn't we all think, grab him by the pussy, that was the line I thought that should have ended everything, but apparently not. So no, I guess not. And could he shoot someone on Fifth Avenue? Probably. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll see. He hasn't done that yet. We'll get to that. Meanwhile, Harrison Walls are ignoring it pretty much, including a bunch of things on the trail where Trump was taking pictures at a cemetery, at a military cemetery at Arlington, which was repulsive on many levels. He seems to keep attracting attention to himself in a bad way. But Harrison Walls are on a bus tour in Georgia
Starting point is 00:07:59 and assigned the campaign sees the state in play. And the state is actually in play now. It just was shifted over to Leans Republican rather than possibly. She's quite close in Georgia, if in some polls slightly ahead. Biden narrowly won the state in 2020. It's a very tight state. She's got to go well beyond close to win any. How do you think that's going? She seems to be sweeping up the states, Louis. Well, yeah, I mean, personally, I'm going to wait until after the election to really see how the states have decided. But I think as the times as the times are changing and the country is changing demographically, electorally, I think you're going to see a lot more purple states and a lot more people voting on policy rather than ideology. Policy. What's that? I think if the Harris campaign keeps talking about the policy
Starting point is 00:08:48 that the Biden presidency has delivered over the past four years and keep talking about their vision for the future through policy, they have a much better route to the presidency rather than just going off rhetoric and ideology, like the Trump campaign is fully invested in. So we'll see. But Americans respond to action. So she is speaking of that. But after we tape today, Harris and Walz are sitting down for their
Starting point is 00:09:07 first joint interview with CNN. It'll be the first time Harris has sat down for an in-depth interview since Biden dropped out of the race. She's done lots of them over the course of time. Who will watch this, Jeff? Let's start with you. Well, I certainly will. I mean, I'm, you know, I'm a political junkie. If you, yeah, if you follow me on threads, I mean, obviously, I think I post more about politics than I do about medicine. Yeah, I call him my irritating leftist brother. I'm not a leftist. You know, I'm fiscally conservative, but I'm definitely socially liberal. But so no, I will watch it. And I think that I think most people will watch it. I mean, it's such a I mean, what
Starting point is 00:09:42 kind of substantive interviews has Trump done? None. Zero. And what he has to look at that thing he did with Dr. Phil. I mean, that's embarrassing. So I think that it will be helpful for Kamala to do some interviews with CNN, although I just don't trust the media anymore. Oh, thank you so much. I think it'll be. Why? Why? Why? Oh, thank you so much. I think it'll be good. Why? Why? Because it well, at least it maybe it's filtered through the lens of threads and the people who I because that's where I get most of my news from. So it's very possible that my feed is just filtered. But I mean, it's crazy. The New York Times, their opinion page seems to be in the tank for for Trump. Well, it is called an opinion page, right? I understand. I get it. But the way they choose headlines and you know, you can, because you have an opinion doesn't mean it has
Starting point is 00:10:32 to be disseminated. Oh, okay. All right. Okay. George, what do you think about that in terms of a lot of people are on threads, which is a little, a little tsk tskier for my taste these days. But is it important this, this interview? Obviously, she's going to do a lot more, hopefully with me too. What do you think is critical here that she communicate? I think she should just be herself and kind of stay on the message that she has a solid record. She got some heat. I would say, I guess, a lot when she was VP. But as has been discussed, VP is a thankless job. You know, you're not supposed to stand out. You're not supposed to, you know, shine or certainly not outshine the boss.
Starting point is 00:11:14 So this is our first time we've seen her sort of extend to her full wingspan. And an interview, I think, will serve her well. I don't think she's had really the chance. And so... Well, she had a bad one with Lester Holt and she had a very good one post-debate, right? Yeah, but she wasn't running for president at the time and she had to be, I think, measured in her responses
Starting point is 00:11:40 more than she needs to be now because she's running her own campaign, not someone else's. So I think this will be different. It's something I've told a lot of people when they're like, oh, she's terrible. And she's like, this isn't her. Just for people who spent time with her.
Starting point is 00:11:55 Louis, would you watch this interview? Do you just watch Eclipse? I probably won't be tuning into the interview because as most people my age, I don't have a cable box. So I'll be waiting for the clips on YouTube. I'll be waiting for the short form content on YouTube and other platforms. I think definitely going into this, I agree with Jeff sentiment a little bit about a bit of resentment for the like mainstream 24 hour news media apparatus. And I think while it is
Starting point is 00:12:18 important to reach like a large demographic of voters, I'm more so thinking of like people like you guys, for people, younger people, people who don't sit down and watch CNN every day. I think there will definitely be a lot of good content extracted from an interview like this. And also doing a joint interview together is a really good idea. You like that you like that a lot of people are criticizing it. Yeah, because it's like it's, I really think that the core message of this campaign should be that it's it's it's about us. And it's about us as a country. And it's about Tim. And it's about Kamala together as partners. And Donald Trump is about him. And if they can stay on that message and present a lot of really interesting
Starting point is 00:12:54 and innovative and progressive policies to the nation, I think that a lot of people are going to get behind that. So it's just about standing on message and reminding it's a group effort. Where would you watch that today? You do a lot of Reddit, you do a lot of YouTube. Well, I do. I still watch long form content on YouTube, obviously. I'm just saying it's these cable box, 24 hour news media companies have a little bit of a harder time reaching a younger demographic. That doesn't mean it's impossible. There's still news junkies. There's still people who go out of their way to watch these kind of things. And you can watch plenty of it on YouTube. I watch a lot of this stuff on YouTube.
Starting point is 00:13:25 But I think that it's just, it's going to be really interesting to see what is extracted from this interview and what is replayed and what resonates more so. And I'm excited to see that. And also, I don't think these platforms that Luis is talking about, like the mainstream cable outlets, are really news platforms anymore anyway. Yeah, I would totally agree. You don't go there to find out what's going on. You go there to be validated or infuriated.
Starting point is 00:13:50 Exactly. Actually, last night, I just watched a really good documentary. It's called The Anchorman 2. And it's about, it essentially makes the argument that only a caricature like Ron Burgundy could have created a modern news environment. You stay classy, San Diego. Exactly. San Diego, actually.
Starting point is 00:14:04 San Diego. You like two better than one. Exactly. San Diego, actually. San Diego. You like two better than one. Explain why. Explain this to me on vacation. Well, I think two, I think one makes, one is just a silly commentary on gender inclusion in the workforce and a lot of people's resentment towards that and the eventual triumph of Veronica Corningstone. But the second one really makes the grand argument that our modern 24-hour sensationalist news media is so ridiculous that only a caricature like Ron Burgundy could have created it by telling the American people what they want to hear,
Starting point is 00:14:36 not what they need to hear. And that's what a lot of these... You go to these platforms to hear what other people have to say about what's happening. There's not just direct information from them anymore. So I'd rather, I realized that when I was like 10 and I watched the whole news cycle and then I watched it again and I was like, okay, that's enough. But yeah, I think there's a lot more opportunities, especially through our pocket computers to find the information that you're looking for, whether it's a direct source, like a video on Twitter or
Starting point is 00:15:01 a news article. So Anchorman 2. Anchorman 2, I think, is a stunning critique of society. It is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I enjoy it every time. Thank you. Presumably, you don't watch your mother, clearly, at all, because I think I'm pretty good. No, you are great. You're a fantastic pundit. Pundit. Oh, my God.
Starting point is 00:15:20 What is your movie? What's your... Each of you, very quickly, what's your... Me, broadcast news was the same thing, similar thing. What's my your movie? What's your, each of you, very quickly, what's your, for me, Broadcast News was the same thing, similar thing. What's my favorite movie? No, what's your favorite movie that comments on the news media? Oh, God, Broadcast News, I think. I mean, you know, watching Broadcast News and seeing her character as a child gave me flashbacks to you as a young girl. I was like watching that and going, oh my God, it's Kara. It's hilarious.
Starting point is 00:15:46 Holly Hunter. I mean, if any biopic should ever, Holly Hunter. There is one. Well, I know it's going to be, but I mean. She's too old. I know she's too old, but oh my God. Yeah, I know.
Starting point is 00:15:58 It's broadcast news, Louis. You should watch it. It's very foreign. It's a similar thing. I will. You'll like it if you like Anchorman 2. I'll tell you, there's one more. George may reference it as the sweet smell of success with Tony Curtis, which was about a gossip columnist, kind of a Walter Winchell. J.J. Hunsucker. J.J. Hunsucker. That's another one.
Starting point is 00:16:15 It's an old movie. Louis, it's black and white. I know you don't love them, but. I like some of them. His Girl Friday. And Network News is a great one as well, too. Network, yeah. Network. Network. I mean, Network. Network. Network. I mean, network. Network. Network was my favorite line of all. It's like, is there anything I can do for you? He said, yeah, you could die. That would be nice.
Starting point is 00:16:32 Yeah, yeah. I've said that to a number of people recently. So I'm going to move on. Speaking of... He shouldn't die, but he's really kind of heinous. Mark Zuckerberg said he feels the Biden administration pressured Matt to censor content related to COVID-19 in a letter to Republican-led House Judiciary Committee in 2021. Facebook said it removed
Starting point is 00:16:49 more than 20 million COVID-19 posts that violated its content rules. Zuckerberg also said he will not be making any contributions in this election cycle and plans to be neutral. Although he said his contributions were not partisan, he still won't do it. He was obviously trying to get out of a hearing, Jim Jordan, in the House Judiciary Committee. He seemed to have badly timed it because a book is coming out where Trump threatens him with prison. He has done that before. So he was trying to make a trade to kiss up to a possible Trump administration, just in case, because he knows the Harris administration will not take revenge on him in a similar way. Any thoughts about this? George, why don't you go first? I think the timing is curious. You know, we're also witnessing, as we speak, the CEO, founder of Telegram getting in some trouble. Zuckerberg, as I said, the timing is curious. And there was nothing like this that
Starting point is 00:17:48 was found in the how many years did Jim Jordan try to sort of like squeeze water out of this rock? And suddenly we find something and this happens at the same time that a tech CEO is getting busted. So maybe this is a preemptive strike. Well, one of the other thing is Mark is not under oath. And two things. There are plenty of under oath interviews with executives that the Judiciary Committee is not releasing, meaning there is no there there. They would release them if these executives said that. That's one. So Mark could be lying. In fact, I think is. I will say that outright. Second thing is the Supreme Court ruled
Starting point is 00:18:25 that it didn't happen. And the Supreme Court saw plenty of evidence and is allowing the government to talk to companies like Facebook. So the Supreme Court has ruled absolutely opposite from what Mark was saying. They found that the people who sued didn't have standing. I mean, I think that was a narrower definition. Okay. But I'm just saying they didn't pursue it. They certainly could have pursued the situation. And they wanted to get out of it, but they have presumably seen the information. If it was egregious enough, they certainly would have acted and said something about it, which they didn't. They just said the government should be careful, as they should with these companies. But to say Mark Zuckerberg is under any kind of pressure from the government is just nonsense. He's not under oath, let's be clear. And there are other interviews where
Starting point is 00:19:11 people were under oath that were not released. And therefore, presumably, they say they weren't under pressure. Jeff, any thoughts? No, I agree. I agree with what George says. It's a cynical ploy. And it's timing. It's all timing of what's going on now. I mean, listen, the fundamental issue about the Facebook and these other places being the public square and that it's a First Amendment issue is crazy. These are private companies and other private companies have the responsibility not to disseminate harmful information, which is really literally harmful. I mean, you can't make a drug and say it does something that it absolutely doesn't do. There are rules against that. And I think for things like COVID, where how you disseminate information is important. But I mean, I think
Starting point is 00:19:53 that they do have a responsibility, whether it's legal or moral. I think there's a responsibility for these people not to disseminate false information about things which impact people. These guys have been dodging legal bullets since they started each of their or ran each of their companies. And the idea that, oh, wait, maybe we're going to be held accountable for the stuff that work that is posted on what we're just claiming is a bulletin board. No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, I think what George is referring to is Pavel Durov. He's the CEO of Telegram. He's sort of a globe-trotting Russian. It's a font of cybercrime, weapons, everything, all kinds of crime. But I think the thing that did him in is that there's a lot of CSAM, which is child pornography, on the site, and he has ignored all of government requests to fix it or to give them information about it out of in the interest of free speech. And I think the government said that's enough with child pornography. We're not
Starting point is 00:20:50 going to allow that. And you become like a bank who launders money for narco criminals is what you are. And banks do get sanctioned. Bankers do get arrested. And they think they're they're free speech warriors versus, you know, just allowing child pornography to go anywhere. Obviously, Elon Musk is jealous because one, Pavel Durov is in really good shape. He has fathered 100 children, he says. They're all of the same ilk. And he's trying to take up the mantle of free speech warrior. Louis, do you buy any of this, especially when it has to do with child pornography? I mean, it seems like an easy call. Yeah, really easy. No, not at all. It's not a public square. It's a goddamn beer garden. It's a private venue where people go to get intoxicated off the content that the company is responsible for and producing to some extent. And they should be held liable for what goes on on their premises, I think. It's really absurd to argue that your constitutional rights are being constricted by a private company that you agreed to participate with. It's really absurd. I think when a lot of people talk about cancel culture and a lot of the
Starting point is 00:21:59 First Amendment stuff, if the government was running Twitter and the government was shutting you down or the government is stopping you from saying something, then totally. But when it's a private company that you agreed to terms and conditions to to join and participate in a service, then it's total bullshit. I'm sorry you can't get your little piece out. You can go to another corner of the Internet to say that. There is ample opportunity. There's never been more opportunity to be more expressive than we are today. And the fact that people the fact that you can say something
Starting point is 00:22:25 doesn't mean that I can't tell you to shut up. Absolutely. I'm going to make a little correction. It's a Nazi beer hall, a la beer hall putsch, just so you know. What makes it interesting to me is that this guy is not in trouble for, he didn't do anything technically illegal. What he's in trouble for is enabling it and turning a blind eye and allowing it. And not responding to government inquiries around child pornography. Exactly. Which is going to make someone like Zuckerberg a little itchy. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:56 Yeah. Now, to be fair to Mark, they do respond to child pornography inquiries all the time. And so this guy just was like, we're not going to help you. And I think that's why they're making an example of this guy. Because, you know, Mark or whoever can, the person who's more possibly shouldn't be traveling to France is Elon Musk, because they have removed the trust and safety committees. They're saying we're not stopping anything. They have to show they're attempting to stop things like child pornography at the very least. That is sort of the lowest bar possible is to limit that. And that's, of course, where Section 230 got hit around child. This is
Starting point is 00:23:31 where it begins is if they do not enforce child pornography laws, they are going to go to jail. So we'll see. We'll see what happens here. But I would say this guy's the worst, and Elon is the next if they continue to not monitor especially critical things. They can sit around and have their Nazi beer garden, but they can't do it when it has to do with certain subjects. All right, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about the Surgeon General's new warning about parents and stress. I can assert this is correct and the trend of raw dogging flights. Fox Creative. This is advertiser content from Zelle.
Starting point is 00:24:20 When you picture an online scammer, what do you see? For the longest time, we have these images of somebody sitting, crouched over their computer with a hoodie on, just kind of typing away in the middle of the night. And honestly, that's not what it is anymore. That's Ian Mitchell, a banker turned fraud fighter. These days, online scams look more like crime syndicates than individual con artists. And they're making bank.
Starting point is 00:24:44 Last year, scammers made off with more than $10 billion. It's mind-blowing to see the kind of infrastructure that's been built to facilitate scamming at scale. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of scam centers all around the world. These are very savvy business people. These are organized criminal rings. And so once we understand the magnitude of this problem, we can protect people better. One challenge that fraud fighters like Ian face is that scam victims sometimes feel too ashamed to discuss what happened to them. But Ian says one of our best defenses is simple. We need to talk to each other. We need to have those awkward conversations around what do you do if you have text messages you don't recognize? What do you do if you start getting asked to send information
Starting point is 00:25:28 that's more sensitive? Even my own father fell victim to a, thank goodness, a smaller dollar scam, but he fell victim and we have these conversations all the time. So we are all at risk and we all need to work together to protect each other. Learn more about how to protect yourself at vox.com slash zelle. And when using digital payment platforms, remember to only send money to people you know and trust. Okay, boys, we're back. COVID has reshaped our relationship with work in so many ways. And for people suffering from long COVID, career paths have been dramatically derailed, according to a new article in the Journal. Economists estimate that long COVID has pushed about one million Americans out of the labor force. More than 5% of adults in the U.S. have long COVID and is the most prevalent among people in their prime working years. The federal government has said long COVID can be classified
Starting point is 00:26:21 as a disability, allowing workers to seek accommodations like remote work and flexible hours. Jeff, talk a little bit about what to seek accommodations like remote work and flexible hours. Jeff, talk a little bit about what's happening on the ground now and then long COVID in specifics. And then George, as someone who's experienced long COVID, I'd love to hear from you. Go ahead. Yeah. So first, let me just briefly talk about the vaccine is available soon. It's the new vaccine covers the most common variant right now. It's the Omicron KP21. That's the vaccine.
Starting point is 00:26:49 That's the variant that the vaccine now covers, which is going to cover the most common forms of COVID. The most common 37% of COVID cases are KP311. And, you know, like the influenza virus, the COVID virus changes its surface proteins. It's called the spike proteins. And so you need to be updated on the vaccine. Vaccines give you about four months of durable immunity. That's why it's important to get your boosters as well.
Starting point is 00:27:16 But everybody six months or older should get this new vaccine. And the issue of long COVID is really important. They estimate that 30% of people have some form of long COVID symptoms who've had COVID, and about 1% to 5% of people have serious long-term COVID symptoms. And I think a lot of it goes unrecognized as just depression, fatigue, anxiety. But these are all possibly elements of long COVID. And it affects literally every body system. Every organ system is affected by long COVID. It's your neurologic system. It's your kidneys. It's your liver. It's your skin. It's your joints, all these things. And it's a real thing. I have, I can, I can off the top of my head, I have two colleagues who I really respect
Starting point is 00:28:02 and admire. One is a surgeon and one is a nurse that I work with who have basically been unable to work. One retired. They basically just felt that he couldn't continue feeling the way he was feeling. Brain fog is a really important element of long COVID. And fortunately for him, he's got so many hobbies and interests and he's my age. And so maybe it was time to think about retiring. And people didn't take it seriously, correct, George? I mean, this is something you, you had, I have several friends who have it, written about it, Jen Senior, Laura Holson, and very severe. And a lot of people, they still suffer from people not believing them in some, like the same thing with Lyme disease or some of the other diseases in this genre of I'm tired right essentially talk a little bit about
Starting point is 00:28:52 your experience oh Jeff you just brought me back to some of the things that I were feeling was feeling at the time neurological I couldn't go out in certain public, I would start to have like a nervous system breakdown on a subway or in a theater. That's where I had my first panic attack. And this was, this had never, I had no history of this whatsoever. feeling that I'm having a heart attack. I couldn't be around other people, which just sort of added crowds of people, I should say, which just sort of added to the loneliness, isolation aspect, which is part of this, you know, long COVID effect. How did it progress? I, the heart attack feeling, the panic feeling, the neurological, all of that stuff, and the fatigue. There was brain fog. And eventually, we're going back two years, and eventually just kind of over time, when I went to the COVID care center at Mount Sinai, the doctor with whom I spoke believed me. And as I
Starting point is 00:30:00 gave her my litany of symptoms, nodded her head. She was the first one. She kind of nodded her head and she said, we're seeing a ton of this. So if it makes you feel less lonely in your experience, let that be a comfort, which it was. And she said, the bad news is that there is nothing you can do. You just kind of have to ride it out. And that was a pain in the ass.
Starting point is 00:30:21 But eventually she was right. She said it could be six months, could be a year. It was a year out before I started to feel sort of normal. When you're in medical school, one of the things you learn to differentiate and understand the difference between signs and symptoms, right? So symptoms are things like that you're feeling like fatigue, my muscles hurt. You know, these are more of the subjective things. There are actually signs of as well. And signs are things like fever, you know, elevated heart rate, you know, laboratory
Starting point is 00:30:54 studies, elevation, sedimentation rate in your blood, et cetera. And more and more as people are studying this, they're really understanding that long COVID has both signs and symptoms. And so doctors are more astute now about looking for those signs because they're objective, as well as the subjective sensations and believing people when they say exactly what George experienced. I could not have worked in an office. I had the good fortune of doing whatever I do to make a living from home or wherever, but working in an office would have been a problem. Louis, I'm just curious. You are going to get your COVID-19
Starting point is 00:31:29 vaccine, I hope, but you're an adult. How do younger people, I don't think younger people are thinking about this. It's sort of like a flu vaccine or whatever. The CDC will recommend that adults and children six months and older get updated vaccines. Are you how do you look at it? Well, I mean, I think for a lot of people my age and maybe more people in general, we every once in a while we get a little bit of a cold or a cough or something like that. And we're all like, oh, oh, wait, could it be the old friend? You know, is it are they back?
Starting point is 00:32:05 But yeah, I think there's definitely especially people with someone important in their lives or some kind of purpose, if they go to work, if they live with their grandparents or they have people within their network that are more susceptible. I think people who care, care, and people who don't, don't. So I'm definitely a bit behind. I probably definitely do for a new vaccine. So I'm going to get on top of that.
Starting point is 00:32:22 I actually, you know what? Maybe even to answer your question even better, I didn't even know there was a new vaccine until just now. So maybe that's an answer in itself. Okay. Well, they need to roll out that information thing. People ignore COVID at their own risk. I mean, it is a... Get like Ryan Reynolds to do a campaign or something like that. A nice, like handsome advertisement to grab all our attention. That's who you would convince you. When should you take it, Jeff? I've been told by my doctors that you should take it later in this later in September, not to wait. And then again, the booster again and the flu vaccine again in January, February. So so a couple of things you can take. You can take several vaccines at the
Starting point is 00:32:59 same time. There's no contraindication to getting the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time. If you've had COVID in the last three months, don't get the vaccine until about three months have expired. And not that it's dangerous to get it. The thing is that the actual fact of having COVID is going to give you immunity. So you want to, it's like putting gas in your car after you went, you know, like one exit. There's no point in doing that. Wait till your gas tank is low and then fill it up again with your vaccine. So you should get it. I mean, there's a spike in the winter of COVID and it's for several reasons. One is temperature and the other is that people tend to be inside more and it's more transmissible, you know, between people. So you should get it as soon as it's available, provided that you haven't had COVID in the last three months. Yeah, I'm definitely going to do my more susceptible. I'm just curious if I'm more
Starting point is 00:33:50 susceptible since I've never had it to it. Probably. Yeah, actually, you probably are. You probably are. Yeah. I mean, there are certain people who'd have just natural immunity. And, you know, the fact that you haven't, I've had it three times. So last time I had it was in May. I get everything else. Don't worry. I get everything else, which is interesting. Just not this one. It's interesting. What should Robert F. Kennedy do, junior? I mean, what should he do? He should just disappear from the public space is what he should do. He should eat a bear with COVID and then he'll be immune or something like that. Natural immunity. Thoughts on him, Louis? Do you have any thoughts on him? Oh, God. I don't know. I mean,
Starting point is 00:34:29 talk about nepotism. You know, it takes one to know one. He just backed Trump, just so you know. This guy is ridiculous. I'm glad that he's out of the race. Well, he's not out of the race, Louis. He's not. I mean, obviously he's not. He's stepped down, but he's just stepped to the side. I think he went with whoever's most viable and whoever's going to give him a job. Didn't he make some ultimatum with both campaigns that I'll give you my endorsement if you give a job? The only problem is that like Harris would have made him like the janitor or like, you know, the guy who holds the holds the towels in the bathroom or something like that. But Trump's going to make like under Secretary of Health. What the fuck? No, he made him his transition campaign transition, along with the other nutjob Tulsi Gabbard. Oh, that's a that's a great combo. But like, I think, you know, if Trump wins, like that was a was that not the job he promised him? Like, what the hell is going on? And also, like all these stories that are coming out about him that he's professing himself for insane. I mean, I was gone. Like when the worm, I was gone, I was never on board.
Starting point is 00:35:28 But, like, after the worm thing, I was like, okay. And then the bear thing happened, and it's like, okay, now I wonder where the worm came from, you know? You forgot the whale head, the whale head. Oh, the whale head. Yeah, I just heard about that. Like, who the hell is this guy? He really, like, I don't know, a renaissance man of types. Two things about that.
Starting point is 00:35:44 It's not like he needs a gig. He's a Kennedy. Yeah, yeah. All right. And also, do you guys notice that Trump world seems to be where people go when they run in some kind of popularity contest and find out that they're actually not all that popular and people don't like them? So they're sort of like consolation dumpster is Mar-a-Lago like that. They all want. It's like a drain catch. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It's like it's like participation trophy central or something like that. This is a really interesting statistic. If you look at states that have vaccine opt-outs, and the state of Oregon is a good example. 8.5% of people in Oregon have opted out for their children to get the measles vaccine.
Starting point is 00:36:34 And what do we just see? A massive measles outbreak. And measles is no joke. People who get measles encephalitis can die. So there is real-world ramifications of being a vaccine denier. Yeah, I had someone I know said that to me, who had children and, and they were not going to, you know, vaccines, vaccines. And I said, you know, they want to do a play date. I go not on this fucking earth ever. Yeah, you're in fucking idiot.
Starting point is 00:36:59 That's the whole point of vaccines. It's not just you, it's everybody around you. I just started to hear the whole litany of nonsense, which, again, back to Mark Zuckerberg. It's fine to take down bad information, Mark. It's OK. You can do it. You just hold hands. We'll do it together. But here's an interesting thing. Parenting is stressful, according to a new warning from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. Murthy says in his latest advisory that parents are currently under dangerous levels of stress. He's calling for policy changes in the form of child income tax credits, universal preschool, and paid family and medical leave. He's also encouraging family, friends and family to offer support for parents to prioritize their own self-care. I like this.
Starting point is 00:37:42 Murthy has issued advisories in the past on gun violence, loneliness, and social media effect on kids. Louis, what do you think you should do for your mom to make her feel better? Do I seem stressed? Yeah. I mean, you do so much. I don't know how you wouldn't be. I mean, you have a lot on your plate. But I think it's really amazing to see how parents hold up. And I think parents are like, yeah, I mean, like people talk about a lot, but like family units are really, really important to have. And the fact that I've been able to have such a lucky one with my amazing uncle Jeff, my amazing mother, Kara, and of course, the incredible George Han, a real father figure.
Starting point is 00:38:18 I'm going to cry. It's just, it's a really important thing. And it's only when you don't have it that you don't realize, you realize how important those things are. And I'm somebody who has definitely grown up in the bubble of luck and privilege and fortune. And I think that when you go out in the world and you meet people who just don't have those same things, it really impacts your perspectives a lot. And yeah, parents definitely are under stress.
Starting point is 00:38:43 And I think that it's about time that the government started helping out parents again with these tax credits, these kind of subsidies. Yeah. Yeah. Well, except for J.D. Vance is talking about how the Democrats are anti-family. He's talking about childless people, which is different. Yeah. The thing is that he's a fucking moron. And like he doesn't speak for any sense of majority of Americans. And he's just using these important core issues, important tenets of our of our cultural structure to gain power. And it's just another fascist tactic that we need to watch out for. He's manipulating us. And if we fall for it, we're just simply stupid. Yeah, it's not working for him. Well, for some of us, but like, hey, like we have family members who are on board with these kind of messages and are perpetuating them. And that is scary. And it makes us feel vulnerable as a nation. And I think that, yeah, it's a really sensitive and important issue. And it can be manipulated or it can be treated.
Starting point is 00:39:39 And I think people like Tim Walz are on the treat list. You like that Walz, don't you? Yeah, I've been a fan of him for a long time. I mean, why the hell isn't lunch free at school? Breakfast too. Why not? Kids can't learn if they are hungry. And it's important.
Starting point is 00:39:53 And I think, like I said, if the Democrats focus again on policy and they focus on delivering for the American people, not in ways that are unseen, like through tax credits and stuff like that or tax changes, but in actual ways where their kid doesn't come home hungry, I think they can make a lot of difference and they can also help our nation and they can get that support that they want so badly. And let me say, Louis is a very big support system for our little kids. For example, we're going to Scott's birthday party and Louis and his girlfriend, Ivy, are going to be taking care of the kids there. This is the kind of thing that really helps. So we can sit and drink whiskey with in kilts in Scotland for Scott's birthday. Exactly. Families aren't just parents. It's a whole network. This is interesting because the stuff that Vance is doing is so offensive. He's obsessed with family units in the weirdest fucking way I've ever seen. But isn't everyone, George, stressed out these days, regardless of who you
Starting point is 00:40:45 are and what you do as a childless cat lady yourself? Yeah. Well, dog, I'm a childless dog lady. I'm looking at them right now. They look, we have gone through nine seasons of the Trump show. We're exhausted. He's exhausting. He's like, you know, with all due respect to Jackie Mason, but Jackie Mason didn't change a line of his act for the last probably 10 years of performing. Trump's act is tired. He's exhausting. I think people are sick of him. And then you got to pile on a pandemic on top of that. It's been a lot, right? It has been a lot. And is it a mystery to me that people are burnt out, freaked out, stressed out, exhausted? No. And then this election is exhausting. I cannot wait. I'm so glad it's shorter. Oh, can we do like the British? Isn't their election season like six weeks?
Starting point is 00:41:43 Yes, exactly. That is gorgeous. It's regulated. Gorgeous. There's only so much they can spend. And yeah, lovely. So Jeff, with parenting, is it an actual health issue? Because, and you know, Louis, I don't know if you guys, but younger people are having
Starting point is 00:41:55 less kids because of these issues. Go ahead, Jeff. Listen, I have kids, you know, three of my children are, you know, 31, 29, and 26. And not one of them is talking about getting married or my oldest one, maybe. But yes, it's stressful. And I think it's, listen, we're in the first generation of parents who actually grew up with social media. And I think that has a lot to do with it. I mean, you've talked about this a lot about the impact of social media. lot about the impact of social media. And I think it's I really welcome the Surgeon General's report because that's his job to give advisories like this. And I think it's an issue when people are feeling isolated. And the other thing is the comparison issue. The comparisons are odious. When you have the ability to have Instagram and all these things that they grew up with, these parents now, they're overscheduled. And there are a lot of helicopter parents out there. My wife,
Starting point is 00:42:45 you know, is a second grade teacher, and she sees this is the degree of overscheduling of their children. I mean, soccer things where we used to go by ourselves to go play tennis or play soccer. Now, parents are driving their kids, like 200 miles on a weekend, and multiple times joining all these things, which, you know, increases stress. And plus, remember, there are two people working now. And most families now have two parents working as opposed to when we grew up in the 1960s. That was less common. And also village, you know, it takes a village to raise children. And I think less and less that people see that. And also social institutions are breaking down clubs and civic organizations.
Starting point is 00:43:27 I mean, you remember our grandparents were involved in so many things, Rotary Club, Mason, et cetera, that you just don't see that anymore. And I think we need to go back to a society which actually values elders and it values other people to help you raise your children. And I suspect the next generation will want kids, because it's interesting, because Clara talks about having kids a lot. Louis, I think you want to have kids, correct?
Starting point is 00:43:51 No, definitely. Well, I mean, not now, obviously. I still have one more year of college. Yeah, not now, please. I think it's definitely, I mean, it varies person to person. There's a lot of people my age who the idea of that is really repulsive to them, and they don't want anything to do with it.
Starting point is 00:44:05 They don't want to bring kids into this world, like, in the current state of affairs. Me personally, I don't mind. I'm, like, really excited for that part of my life, and I can wait for it as long as is need. But I'm looking forward to it, and I think I'm just right now I'm getting myself ready for that stage of my life where I can really deliver for the coming generation. You may not have kids right now. Just I can't deal with it. Yes. Take your time. How about the podcast paycheck would help out? No, I'm just kidding. There is no paycheck. This is like really important stuff. And it's really as families change in the definition of family changes, I think our understanding of it
Starting point is 00:44:42 was going to have to change. It's not, you know, not very long ago that marriages like what you have right now, Mom, were illegal, where people like me couldn't exist on this earth because of government regulation and because of the control of others over people's lives. And I think that's a very not-so-distant past. And as the definition of what a family changes is, I think we need to realize, like I said earlier,
Starting point is 00:45:04 it's a community, not just two parents. It's a village, not just one or two individuals. And it's often better when it's like that. So yeah, for those who are lucky enough to have that experience, why would we get in the way of that? You're a thoughtful young man, Louise Swisher. Thoughtful young. I highly recommend children if you have wonderful kids like you and the others. But let me say my greatest saddest moment, and I don't have that many of them, is when Proposition 8 passed, the marriage law in California, and you were very young and you said, can we not be a family anymore? It was really, I don't think you remember this, but... I remember that vividly. I remember that. I remember the campaign posters everywhere. I remember our neighborhood, the Castro, reacting vehemently to
Starting point is 00:45:44 this decision. And also the state of California overturning that as our neighborhood, the Castro reacting vehemently to this decision, and also the state of California overturning that as well. And the people reacting to those kind of regulations. I think often people can get caught up in their daily lives and their paychecks and their habits and hobbies, and then they don't really realize what's happening until it's happened. Like I said before, America is a reactionary society. And sometimes to our own fault, we have to watch things happen before we change them with Roe v. Wade, with Proposition 8. But that doesn't mean we're not going to react and that doesn't mean we can still change things for the future. So I'm feeling hopeful.
Starting point is 00:46:13 Yeah, I agree. The other thing I'll tell one story about Louis, we were in a Macy's looking at a couch, a sectional couch, the one we bought actually. And there were some tourists in Macy's sitting on the couch with us, clearly not from San Francisco. And Louie looked at them straight in the eye and went, Mama, Mommy, Mama, Mommy, and pointed to us. And they were like, because they did not understand our family, and you could see it. And he did it at a very young age. And that was one of my favorite moments. Was their last name Vance? No, no. By the way, another group of people struggling are teachers.
Starting point is 00:46:53 As kids go back to school, teachers are dealing with student behavior problems, cell phones in classrooms, AI-powered cheating, low salaries, and more. The number of teachers who say stress and disappointment in the job are worth it are 42%, down from 70% in 2018, according to the nonprofit think tank RAND. Louis, we talked about you becoming a teacher, but and Jeff, your wife is a teacher. Not just my wife, my daughter as well. Your daughter also. Yeah. So I'd love first you, Jeff, to talk about this.
Starting point is 00:47:17 Which is the biggest deal for her? Cell phones? She's in a younger age, so probably cell phones and AI cheating is not. No, not in second grade. And Kate teaches, you know, pre-K. Well, actually now she's in the Dominican Republic teaching elementary students. So the biggest problem I think with teachers and the whole burnout issue is, you know, people expect a lot out of teachers now. I mean, they're sort of loco parentis in a lot of ways. The other
Starting point is 00:47:43 thing, parents have very high expectations of teachers as well. And, you know, I asked Dana this question last night, and she said that the teachers that have burnout are the ones that don't find the joy in the teaching. And they really get joy out of it. And they're energized by it. If you're going into teaching and you see it as, you know, because you get a pension and a paycheck, even though it's not a great paycheck, it's still a pretty good lifestyle. But, I mean, as you know, you've seen her. My wife works till 7, 8 at night on everything. And she thinks about it constantly. So the burnout is, I think, from the teachers who feel like they're under the gun and are not getting joy out of it.
Starting point is 00:48:31 But most teachers I know really love it. Yeah, really love it. Louis, why are you considering it? Well, I don't know. I think it's definitely something that's been on my mind for a while, for the past couple of years, and just one career path that has just consistently remained interesting. You know, I've been studying and learning my whole life. So the one thing that is stands out to me about teachers is that they never stop learning. And I think that's something I really appreciate and something I admire and maybe something I would like. Yeah, I think. And also, like, I've been lucky enough to have just such a fantastic education over my entire life at these really
Starting point is 00:49:00 wonderful and let's be honest, like elite exclusive schools. And I think that the fact that they are so elite and exclusive is a real shame. And if I can leak any of their educational secrets, even if they're not so exemplary, I think that would be great. I would just love to pass on and help educate the coming generations, if I can. I have to say, having this short experience so far with Claire in the DC Public Schools, the service is so much better. I have to say, they're wonderful, wonderful teachers so far with Claire in the D.C. public school. She's going to, the service is so much better. I have to say they're wonderful, wonderful teachers so far. George, does Tim Walz change the equation here with teachers, the idea? Like he's the sort of perfect teacher in a lot of ways. I certainly think he does a lot for the image of a teacher.
Starting point is 00:49:38 You know, I had a lot of, I went to an all boys high school. I had in one through eight, I had one male teacher, Mr. Vasil, our eighth grade teacher taught us math and algebra and all that great stuff. And some of my favorite teachers were male. And Tim Walls, I think does a great service to the industry as it were were, as a role model, as, yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:06 Yeah, he's going to be good for people, of course. Let me just point out. What is not to like about him? It's almost ridiculous. Well, you know, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, the two most heinous people on the planet, just started to say some terrible things about him in that regard. They're a different breed of animal. And let me just say, every accusation is a confession for these people.
Starting point is 00:50:25 That's my feeling. I can't speak about Megyn Kelly or Tucker Carlson politely. Politely. None of us can. I want very quickly, and then we have one more topic. Favorite teacher. Name. Jeff.
Starting point is 00:50:36 Mrs. Emsley, fourth grade. George. Mary Vandevelde. What did she teach? Seventh grade, social studies, art, English, history. Louis. teach? Seventh grade, social studies, art, English, history. Louis? Bill George, freshman year, biology and advisor when I was an upperclassman in high school. Gay rights activist, really amazing teacher. Awesome guy. Great. Mine were two, Mrs. Draciniath, fourth grade. I'm sure she's not
Starting point is 00:50:58 living anymore. And Mrs. Gilbert, seventh grade English. Amazing. Oh, Mrs. Gilbert was the best. Kara, we had such great teachers. We had such great teachers. We had such great teachers and so important. Yeah. It's hard to pick one. I had so many, actually. Mrs. Shepard, who taught Shakespeare. Oh, not for me. She told me never to write. Yeah, she was an amazing teacher. She said I was incomprehensible. So that wasn't great. Anyway. I think you told me something once about English teachers. Yeah, I think you said something good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All English teachers are just failed writers. That's what you said.
Starting point is 00:51:32 Yes. Well, in any case, because she told me I couldn't write. Well, too bad, Mrs. Shepherd, although she was hysterical. She's quite a good teacher. Finally, last topic. Every mother wants to discuss with their son raw dogging flights. Raw dogging has become a viral trend this summer. People, mostly men, are challenging themselves to do absolutely nothing on planes. It has nothing to do with penises, just so you know. There's no watching movies, no reading books, no eating or drinking, and sometimes no bathroom breaks, which seems weird. You just stare at the map for the entire flight.
Starting point is 00:52:01 Some have described this as a form of meditation or digital detox. I'm going to start with, I want all of you to comment on it very briefly. Louis, you have gone off of a lot of social media, although you do use your phone quite a bit. But what does the word have the same meaning for your generation? Raw dogging?
Starting point is 00:52:19 It means sex. That's what it means. It means sex. Condom with sex. Correct. Unprotected sex. Yes. But if you want to take that concept and apply it to other things in your life, like having an unprotected experience with the airplane by just sitting through it. Or another one I saw was like a band saying they had an they were raw dogging a practice session by just listening to the beat tempo the whole time. Like, it's just a concept that explains just general concentration. Is it really concentration? I don't know how to explain it really, but it really just means sex.
Starting point is 00:52:51 Yeah, yeah. George, George? I think it's Gen Z's way of unsexifying as many things as possible. Like, kids, go get laid, slap some latex on it. laid slap some latex on it but like i'm not recommending raw dogging in the in the og sense of the term but please go get laid and stop unsexifying absolutely everything oh come on like is any like i'm looking at people i like wondering, well, no wonder no one's getting laid. We're dressing like we're up all night cramming for a midterm. Don't raw dog, but go get laid. Okay. All right, then. Jeff, any comment? the bad and the ugly. Okay. The good thing about raw dogging is it's meditation and mindfulness.
Starting point is 00:53:49 If that's how you look at it, that's great. It helps you. The bad is it's not a great idea to sit, you know, on an airplane and not drink because you get dehydrated on an airplane. Hello, stroke care swisher. Right. Now I was going to say that the ugly is if you do not get up and move around on an airplane and some sister I know did that from London to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Hong Kong. If I recall, you did two flights sequentially. I did. And ended up having a stroke as a result of an embolic event, because you did not get up on the airplane. So you need to drink, and you need to hydrate and you need to move. And the other
Starting point is 00:54:23 thing too is, I mean, listen, I just watched the entire, I think episode one and two of season two of dark the last time I flew to Australia and it was the best thing, you know, it's great. I was just going to propose another idea to this, to you boomers. Maybe people are just making funny videos too. They're not actually sitting for flights like that. You know, maybe they're just making TikToks. Oh no, I've seen people do it, Louis. I've seen people do it, Louis. Oh, really? I've seen people do it. They stare at the little-
Starting point is 00:54:47 The little map, the flight icon and stuff like that. Yeah, the flight icon. If I remember correctly, if I'm going to dive into the meme archives, is that it came from a modeling paternal figure such as yourself, maybe, Jeffrey, who sit down and just stare at the flight with their khaki shorts with many pockets and older ways. I think if we- Listen, like many things,
Starting point is 00:55:05 it's just a new idea recycled. It's, we learned it from you guys. I don't wear khaki shorts, Lee. I know you don't, but men of your era, men of your era. Yes, yes. I used to maybe. Exactly. But metaphorically you do.
Starting point is 00:55:19 Metaphorically you wear khaki shorts. Just please though, another general public service announcement. When you're hydrating, there is no need to carry around a Yeti or a Stanley keg of water. What the actual fuck? I have hot and I have cold. Louie, god damn it. I didn't have a glass of water until I was 35.
Starting point is 00:55:38 Listen. And it came out of a garden hose. Like, this whole pressure. Somebody has to dehydrate it. From what? Louie has so much liquid around him at all time. It's crazy. I'm just.
Starting point is 00:55:51 Always, always, always. But I didn't buy no Stanley. I didn't buy no Stanley. I bought a, I bought a Hydroflask. I got a Hydroflask years ago. I stuck with it. You know what I mean? He didn't buy no Stanley, but that's his Christmas present.
Starting point is 00:56:02 I, this is, this, see that? That's glass. You know what, George, I don't do that because sitting in an operating room for eight hours and if you're drinking a lot, that's a problem. I know it would be, but it's not, you're not training for an Ironman. A sip
Starting point is 00:56:17 of water should be sufficient. Alright, gentlemen, one more quick break. We'll be back for Predictions. All right, gentlemen, one more quick break. We'll be back for predictions. Okay, we're back. Let's hear some predictions. George first, then Louie, and then Jeff. I think Kamala's going to wipe the floor with Trump's ass, and I don't think it'll be close. Oh, all right. Okay. What's the number? Give me a number. Oh, the, like, what percentage? Yeah, just curious. What's an ass wiping. What's the number? Give me a number. Oh, the like what percentage? Yeah. Just curious. What's an ass wiping? What's the number of an ass? I think it might be close until like mid-October. And then, yeah. And then I think the spread will be maybe even
Starting point is 00:56:58 double digits. Yeah. That's what many people think. Like flirting with 10. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. Louis? Yeah. Mine is not that far away. I think. Like flirting with 10. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. Louis? Yeah, mine is not that far away. I think we're about around a corner in this country, just like we did, you know, almost 100 years ago with a reinvestment in American infrastructure and society in a real way that the government can help out a lot of people by helping with, like, almost like a New Deal era.
Starting point is 00:57:25 You know, and that's my. I think that's a prediction, but I think that if this election really goes the way that George Hahn has predicted, which I think it will as well, considering that there's been a generational argument for people, it's mom and dad in charge now. Well, not now, but soon. Mom and dad, not grandma and grandpa. So I think that's going to be really nice because especially people like me can have an easier conversation with mom and dad than grandma and grandpa maybe. But I think this is going to be a real turning point in America for left or for right, for better or for worse. I'm hoping for better, but I think this is going to be a real pivotal moment for America. I'm leaning positive. Jeff? So, you know, we didn't talk about the whole ketamine issue. Oh, right. We didn't. Sorry. Go ahead.
Starting point is 00:58:05 No, no, it's fine. Because, I mean, I've talked about it a lot. I was recently on News Nation with Elizabeth Vargas talking about the doctors who were and the other people who are going to be prosecuted for this. This is Matthew Perry. This is related to Matthew Perry's death, ketamine. Matthew Perry's death, right. And I think that my prediction is we're going to hear a lot more about similar situations with commonly used drugs that I use on a daily basis. For instance, ketamine is a very common intraoperative anesthetic. Fentanyl is another one. And so is propofol. Which killed Michael Jackson, which killed Michael, which, well, the misuse of it killed Michael Jackson and, you know, drowning killed Michael with Matthew Perry. And but but I think we're going to hear more and more about drugs like we hear a lot about Ozempic and various other drugs. I think that the public has gotten very saturated with hearing about drugs and how dangerous they are and various things like that. And I think that we need to hear more about their actual use so that we don't vilify these substances,
Starting point is 00:59:07 but understand, you know, that it's not the drugs, it's how they're used and the people that are using them. Plus, you know, the whole celebrity culture of, you know, him being able to get whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, and nobody said no to him. And that's a tragedy. But, I mean, I think that, so my prediction is that, you know, we're gonna hear more about this in the future,
Starting point is 00:59:24 more about drugs in the future, and about drugs in the future and about that. We have to be really careful about how we filter this news and understand if I had a dollar for every patient that came, you know, that I see every day says, oh, you know, propofol, fentanyl. I'm scared of that. And it's a bad it's you know, we really need to educate the public about that. So I hammer that message all the time. My other prediction is Apple 275. Apple. Oh, wow. OK. Your newest stock. 275. 275. Oh, okay. I'm going to the Apple
Starting point is 00:59:51 event in September, September 9th. I don't know what they're introducing, but I'm going to go out to Apple way. So I'll tell them you said that. I don't think I have a prediction except Scott Galloway will be back and ready to go. He's dying. He texts me all the time because he really wants to talk about issues. And there's so many going forward to talk about. He's going to have a comment on everything. And we certainly missed him. But you guys did a great job. That's, you know. I want to wish happy birthday, Scott. It's a significant birthday, I understand. Yeah. And it's not 50. Yeah, yeah, we know. Go with it. It's on the invitation.
Starting point is 01:00:28 We're going to be wearing kilts. We are going to say it's 50. Should I not wear anything under the kilt? Like go full on? No raw dogging it, George. No raw dogging it. You better not. You better have underwear on or I am not. I'm going to wear a kilt, no skivvies, and I'm going to twirl.
Starting point is 01:00:44 Do you know, I'm wearing a kilt. Amanda's going to wear a dress, but I'm getting fitted for a kilt. Yeah, we're all getting gonna wear a kilt no uh no skivvies and i'm gonna twirl you know i'm wearing a kilt amanda's gonna wear a dress but i'm getting fitted yeah we're all getting fitted the ladies are supposed to wear evening gowns which have they met you i know i've never worn an evening gown in my life i don't yeah i don't think you you you taught hillary clinton about the pants the pantsuit i did i taught her i'm. I'm talking this week with a style expert about political style. We're starting with Kamala. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:09 Good? Bad? Very. I am all here for the tailored Saturday Night Fever suit. I think it's a great look. Yeah. Yeah. She looks good.
Starting point is 01:01:16 She's so attractive that Donald Trump is attracted to her. So we'll see where that goes. He's so attractive that when people see the both of them on a stage together, it's going to do some things to some decisions. Yeah, yeah. Let me be clear, Donald Trump, she would never fuck you. Anyway, and nor will she, because she's going to be the president of the United States. No, she will fuck him.
Starting point is 01:01:38 She'll fuck him real good come November. We'll see. She'll fuck him. That's a good point. Good point, Louis. We'll see where that goes. Louis, well played, sir. Anyway, we'll see what happens on the interview tonight and everything else. I hope it'll be a good one. I think she'll probably be fine. That's my prediction.
Starting point is 01:02:00 We want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT. Okay, that's the show. We'll be off for Labor Day, but back next Friday with more Pivot and the triumphant return of Scott Galloway and Scott Free August, I declare officially over. I will read us out. Thank you, everyone. Today's show is produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Anderdot engineered this episode. Nishat Kerwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com slash pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. And Clara, congratulations on starting school.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.