Pod Save America - 2023 Holiday Mail Bag!

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan answer your burning questions about the 2024 election, the future of Democracy, the best album of the year, the Philadelphia "Tush Push,” and much more! For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail] and include the name of the podcast. 

Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Jon Favreau. I'm Jon Lovett. I'm Tommy Vitor. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. Welcome to our annual holiday mailbag episode. It's here, guys. I can't believe it. It's here. And thanks to everyone who sent in questions via Twitter, Instagram, and of course, our Friends of the Pod Discord. And threads, bud.

Threads? Well, threads of the pod? Is that a thing now? We got some threads. I just read what's on my script. I'm just saying. No criticism. Just also reminding people about threads it is an instagram sure thing but yeah that's right anyway enough of this let's get right into it we got a lot of questions like this one from at means 23 on twitter are you concerned about biden's position on the war in g Gaza and how this will

affect voter turnout in particular with younger voters? Tommy? I am concerned. I think the polling is a little weird and all over the place on this, right? As of recently, there was a CBS poll from early December that showed 38% of Democrats think Biden has shown too much support for Israel, and that's up from 20%. I think that's sort of weird phrasing, though. I don't know what support means. Kind of got to define that. Yeah, right. I don't like vague polling. There's also, in that same survey, 26% of Democrats want Biden to support pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. There was another previous poll, though, that showed Democrats' approval of Biden's handling of the situation in Gaza went up from 50% to 59% right around the ceasefire, I think. So again, polling is a little all over the place. My concern is more

anecdotal. I've had a bunch of conversations with Arab American friends or Muslim American friends who say they're hearing from people that they feel demoralized. They don't know if they can vote. They feel like they were let down based on their support for 2020. So there's pockets of this happening in Michigan that's been highly reported or swing states like Pennsylvania. So I think it's something that, you know, Biden has time to fix, but he should keep an eye on and be aware of. Yeah, and I mean, I will say this, like if you are upset or disappointed or outraged with Joe Biden overiden over gaza like you have

every right to feel that way and i don't think it's very effective because i've seen this here and there uh to tell muslim americans or arab americans or any americans uh who are on the fence about voting for biden in 24 because of gaza like well if you uh if you don't vote for him you know good luck with the muslim ban but i also do think it's possible and even reasonable to vote for someone that you are angry with or disappointed with. And I think that because at the end of the day, your vote is not about rewarding or punishing Joe Biden or Donald Trump or really any politician. It's about choosing between two different outcomes that will each have tangible real life consequences for you and millions of other people. And in a country that's 50-50, your vote can be decisive in those outcomes.

Also, don't wait until 2024. You can be active now. Call your congressman. Yes. Say, hey, I'm disappointed in the lack of effort to push for a ceasefire or to limit civilian casualties in Gaza. I want you to do more. I want you to urge the administration to do more. And there is a $14 billion request for aid to Israel that you will ostensibly vote on in the new year. Tell your Democratic senators, don't vote for that bill if there's no conditions. Don't give Bibi Netanyahu a blank check. That is one way to get involved for sure. Dan, Sea Otter Friend asks, this is my favorite part of the

mailbag episode. I do love the names. Me too. So Sea Otter Friend asks, what should one say to swing voters who don't believe democracy is on the line? Don't tell them democracy is on the line. No, look, democracy is 100% on the line in this election. Donald Trump is being very explicit about what his specific plans are if he gets it into power, whether he says he's going to be a dictator on day one, or all the stories we read about how he's going to weaponize the federal government to reward his friends, protect himself, and punish his enemies. But if we simply make the case, say democracy is on the line, or this could

be the end of democracy, that's something that means very little to a lot of people, right? It's simply just saying, here's this political system that most of you think doesn't work very well. And here's this guy who's going to shake it up or destroy it or whatever version they say. So I think, say a few things. One, you should be very specific about the things that Donald Trump is going to do and how it's going to affect your lives. And if you want to make a broader argument, I would spend less time talking about how the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy and more about the threat he poses to people's personal freedoms, right? Whether that is what books you can read, what healthcare decisions you can make, whether you can access an abortion, access contraception, who you can love,

all of those things are going to be at risks because we have an authoritarian who will not abide by not just norms, but laws when in office. Unless people don't want to vote in any other elections. Maybe they want this to be the last election they vote in, in which case- Given the tempo of emails from Democrats, that could be appealing. You get a lot of time back. Yeah. If you skip this, it's like when Homer Simpson's boss said, if you don't come in Friday, don't bother coming in Monday. And he's like, cool, four day weekend.

Yeah, I do think that like, I think like Republicans, like their strength, they go to people and they say, you're not wrong to care about this, right? Like give into that feeling, that bad feeling that you have given to that worst instinct. And I think Democrats are our mirror image of that is less successful, which is you're wrong not to care about that, which is like hectoring people into caring about something the same way that we do. And I do think that like people are telling us what they care about. Abortion is something they really care about. Access to health care is something they really care about. And I don't something they really care about and i don't think we need to um uh send mail out copies of uh how democracies end

by those two professors i don't i don't think i don't think i don't think we can get people to read that how democracies die i'm sorry yeah i don't know that i don't know that mailing copies i can correct that but i cannot tell you the names levitan steven something i don't know a couple of fucking nerds from one of those anti-Semitic institutions up north. I'm not sure which one. Oh boy. Wow. Coming out hot. It's a great book. It's a great book. Long on problems, short on solutions.

But still pretty good. I like that. They came on Love It or Leave It. They were good. Let's keep it loose. Alright. Honestly, I really do appreciate you changing the tone from the top there. That's better. There we go.

Great. All right. This one came from Chelsea Amory. I'm all for backing Biden since this is most likely, but I am genuinely curious if it weren't the case, who would be a good alternative for the Democratic Party? I'm not talking about who was already in the race. Yeah, we know you're not. But potential people you would like to see as an option.

Okay, that's a fun hypothetical, right? So if Joe Biden wakes up tomorrow and tells us he changed his mind and he isn't running for reelection, most certainly, probably Gavin Newsom, probably J.B. Pritzker. I do think that the strongest general election candidate would be someone from outside Washington. Oprah.

One in a swing state. The Rock. Younger. Ooh. Not too lefty, not too centrist. Hey, what if they fixed a highway pretty quick?

Not a lot of baggage. Huh? Beyonce. I land on... Knows his way around a cheesesteak? Yeah, so Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. Not a lot of baggage. Huh? Beyonce. I land on... Knows his way around a cheesesteak? Yeah, so Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania.

Definitely up there. I think Gretchen Whitmer. Gretchen Whitmer is so popular in Michigan, has now won twice, has like a great story to tell, state we need. Gretchen Whitmer and Josh Shapiro are two, those are my two top right now.

And I think even though he's a senator I would also throw Raphael Warnock in there Because he's still relatively new to DC And he has won twice in a Really tough state Hey you pick any of those you put I'm not mad at you Those are great

Didn't just give a thumbs up on this one I hate when the Zoom does that Oh now he's frozen too Zoom has started giving you a Fucking thumbs up emoji on this. No, I'm just honestly ducking. Oh, now he's frozen too. Zoom has started giving you a fucking thumbs up emoji when you do a thumbs up. It's the one thing you don't need because the thumbs up

is the thumbs up. Why does doing a thumbs up give you an emoji thumbs up? It's a double thumbs up. It's so fucking stupid. Stop haunting us with new features like it's still the fucking pandemic. It's over.

Stop. It's over. We hated you then. Yeah, we hated you then yeah we hated you yeah zoom no zoom drinks let's do zoom drinks who are you doing zoom drinks with absolutely no one but apparently someone thought that we need a whole bunch of emoji reactions now it's free dan is dan is still frozen can you hear me looks like he's hammered in this picture he's got like one eye open. We can hear you fine, Dan. This will definitely be the thumbnail the social team will pick of me for this podcast. Yeah, it definitely will.

You look like it's like a Mr. Beast kind of goofy video thumbnail. Anyway, anyone else got some candidates they want to talk about in this fantasy scenario? You know who never gets mentioned? Tim Walls over in Minnesota. But they've done a lot of good stuff. Jared Polis stuff Jared Polis I think it's time for a gay president Pritzker

Wes Moore is going to be great someday he just was elected governor of Maryland but Wes Moore is someone to keep an eye on although I'm still pissed at Jared Polis for backing out of Love It or Leave It last minute so Jared Polis, you're off my short list one issue voter right here all politics is personal yeah damn right it is

alright back to a serious question for tommy uh sorry guys tine another friend of the pod subscriber asks with right-wing populists far right and outright fascist politicians on the rise in the u.s and many countries in europe but also in south america do you think there are connected global reasons for their rise i think the right-wing populism story is a mixed bag. In Poland in October, a right-wing populist lost to a coalition of pro-EU parties. So now you've got this guy named Donald Tusk. Remember him?

Yeah. He's from our days. He was a former president of the European Council. So like a certified globalist. It's a rocket ship. Running Poland. Argentina. Argentina voted for this crazy right-wing libertarian dude. The Netherlands

voted for right-wing populists who just demagogue Muslims. I don't know they're connected necessarily. I think they're common threads. It's like people are mad about the economy. They hate elites. They hate the corrupt ruling class. They want to break things or burn it down. They're mad at immigration. They're mad at changing demographics. And usually they find a scapegoat to blame. So I think those are the common elements, the kind of right-wing populist playbook that you have to watch out for. Sounds familiar to one we've seen here. I also think that because technology has connected us so intimately, unfortunately, on social media and everywhere else, that like some of these movements you can see are copying each other from country to country. And so I think that connects as well as, like some of these movements you can see are copying each other from country to country.

And so I think that connects as well as, like you said, mass migration that is caused by a whole bunch of different things is definitely challenging a lot of governments. All right. A man and his cat asks, when I hear Democratic politicians talk, they seem quick to pivot to voter hip pocket issues. Hip pocket? I guess that's like kitchen table, pocket book. I think it's combining pocket book issues and hip pocketing. Sure, whatever. Is concentrating on that message still a winning strategy in today's identity politics world? It feels like more food on the table for you and your hardworking family is a folksy and quaint approach nowadays, not meeting the moment. So the reason you hear so many Democratic politicians

talk about economic issues is because that is what the vast majority of Americans care about the most, because the vast majority of Americans, something like two thirds, do not have a college degree and do not make six figure incomes. And when you talk to these voters about politics, to the extent that they're paying attention, and many of them are not, they care about what politicians are doing to solve their biggest and most immediate concerns, which is their ability to afford the cost of living for themselves and their families. That is not to say that these Americans don't have other concerns. Many of them desperately want access to abortion. They want their kids to feel safe when they go to school. They want to be treated equally under the law. But what they think about all

the time every day is getting by. And that is true independent of identity, race, gender, sexual orientation, all of it. The sentiment that talking about economic issues is folksy or quaint or soft or not the right strategy is also a common one among certain pundits, a lot of posters, people who are posting on the internet all the time. And it's people who are disproportionately, I think, highly educated, relatively well off, and consume a lot of political news. And political news is also consumed with debates around identity and culture. So I do think there is a bubble effect there. But if you go talk to less engaged, less educated, less well off people, who are most people, and which pollsters do and politicians do and grassroots organizers do, you will absolutely hear a different set of concerns.

And that's why democratic politicians talk about those issues all the time. Can I give some numbers on that, Sean? Yes, please. Please do. Because the New York Times actually asked voters whether their vote was going to be more based on a politician's position on social issues, which includes guns, abortion, and democracy. And you could go, the way they word it, it could be because you're a conservative or liberal on those issues, or economic issues like jobs, cost of living, and taxes. And economic issues won 57 to 29, a number that is up 12 points in four battleground states since 2022.

And again, it doesn't mean that these voters don't care, because you hear a lot of people being like, don't they care that it's the democracies at risk here? It's like, yeah, they probably would care if they knew about it, but they were working three jobs to try to pay the bills and didn't really have time to follow all the ins and outs of Donald Trump's latest crazy moves on whatever, you know, like his latest speech or his latest trial or anything like that. So there's a reason that abortion, I think, is broken through in a way that some other concerns around democracy haven't. And look, like you go outside, the birds are chirping.

It's not like convincing people that we're on the verge of a dictatorship is very difficult it just is but what they do see is the cost of living what they do experience is uh like rising housing costs the fact that yes inflation is down but costs are still higher than they were a year ago two years ago like those are things people see and feel and experience every single day and i think our job is to have a case that makes people feel heard on those issues that respects that experience while at the same time, making real for people the threat around abortion, the threat around democracy. We have to just, we have to do both. Well, to your point, people also can viscerally see when they can't get an abortion, right? Because

there's no abortion access in the state. They read the news when they see like there's a school shooting in a nearby school, right? So they care about gun violence, but it is issues that actually affect people's lives and not like esoteric debates that happen on Twitter. Trump's going to change schedule F. Right. Which is bad for a lot of people

who lose jobs and who are civil servants. Yeah, look, I don't think it's good. Before we head to break, it's almost 2024, which means it's time to join the Vote Save America community for all the tools you need to take action in this presidential election cycle, from volunteer opportunities to making sure you're registered to vote. At Vote Save America, being an engaged citizen starts right now. Head to votesaveamerica.com to find out how you can get involved today. All right.

JSATS23 on Threads asks, what are your news sources? Curious where you get your information and why. Dan? Crooked media and only crooked media. There you go. That's it. It is actually really interesting.

The world we have come to live in in the last year since Twitter has been broken and other social platforms like Facebook have devalued political news. We're back to the place where we were a decade ago, where if you want to go find out what's happened, you have to go to a website or sign up for a newsletter to be delivered into your inbox. The idea that someone is going to deliver the news to your phone just doesn't exist anymore, right? You cannot just randomly bump into political news anymore. You have to actively seek it out. It has become much harder than it has been since any time I can remember in trying to follow politics. So where do you get your news from?

Yeah, where do you get your fucking news, Dan? While you're talking the question. While I'm giving it. Sove bannon's war room steve steve bannon's war room anything ben shapiro does no so uh all like the big newsletters like uh politico playbook punch bowl the nbc first read newsletter i think can be very useful the good one some of the new york times newsletters are very helpful um if you really follow polling then the the nate cone the Tilt newsletter is very good. A bunch of different sub stacks that I follow that help you. They're a little more like issue specific.

Like there's a bunch of ones around polling, some around like the legal stuff around Trump. It's a whole bunch of different places. But I will also just in the middle of the day, I will go to the New York times website, the Washington post website. And even sometimes, and I hate to admit it, but political's website to find out like what has happened during the day. Cause I can't rely on Twitter to tell me anymore. Yeah. I think it's actually, those are my big three too.

Yeah. I mean, I've noticed in just even the last six months, I was like, oh, that's right. Like it used to be like the osmosis of Twitter. You could feel like you were getting a good range of things, but I think I continued to feel as though that was true, even though it wasn't true for a long time. And fully giving up on Twitter has made me go back to literally just going to the websites like we used to. And I actually think it's better.

I think this is certainly a better way to stay. I feel more informed today than I did a couple months ago. When you go to the landing page of a website, you're not trapped by an algorithm. You're forced to see the international section the business section like a bunch of things you just never would seek out or would never feed you yeah it is a better way of getting news all right pete borkowski at pete b93 asks is ronda santos's presidential campaign the worst slash most disappointing in relation to expectations in American history. Oh, good one.

So I got some nominees here, and I want to hear from you guys who you, aside from DeSantis. I have some in my mind. Yeah, you go. Scott Walker. Remember Scott Walker? Yep. Former governor of Wisconsin. Ran in the 2016 primary.

Was mentioned as a top tier candidate early on in that race. Dropped out by, flamed out in September 2015. Fred Thompson, former senator from Tennessee, also movie star. Hunt for Red October, anybody? Everyone was like, oh boy, Fred Thompson's going to jump in the 2008 race. This is going to be a big thing. Great voice, too.

Great voice in a lot of ads for catheters or something. Reverse mortgages. Reverse mortgages, yeah, something like that. Ended up not winning, not doing well at all in the early states and dropped out in early 2008. Wes Clark. That was mine. Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

Great title. Best title on the biz, I think. Yeah, Supreme Allied Commander. That's pretty good. He was going to shake up the 2004 Democratic primary by jumping in. Wore a sweater, fucked up a question on Iraq he was out he forgot that was it he was on his plane a reporter started asking questions about Iraq he forgot his position and then screamed his press secretary's name and called for help help Mary Mary help help Mary help Mary uh so that was it for wes clark uh jeb bush i mean jeb bush 2016 the front runner the whole time and just 100 million dollars 100 million dollars yeah it just didn't didn't go

anywhere please clap this is me lighting it on fire please clap what about margot rubio same year also got a cover of time magazine is he Magazine. Is he the great savior of the Republican party? He didn't flame out as hard. Look, he did not. I mean, he didn't do as well as Ted Cruz, but he ended his campaign by losing a insult contest with Donald Trump about penis size and then cried because he was so concerned about Donald Trump having access to our nuclear arsenal and then endorsed Donald Trump like three months later. Okay, you're right. He also still hasn't, to this day, he still refuses to say that Donald Trump can be trusted with nuclear weapons.

So his position to this day means Donald Trump cannot be trusted with the nuclear codes. I would like him to have them anyway. That is his position. I got one more. And this is going to be be this might seem strange to you youngins but uh rudy giuliani in 2008 was the front runner most of the race in the republican primary he decided he had an interesting strategy of not focusing at all on the early states he was gonna he was gonna go right to florida because i had more delegates he skipped all the early states

did not do well in them and then came in third third in Florida and dropped out after like a whole year of leading the national polls. That flame out makes a lot more sense now that we know him in these later years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That flame out came hard earned at the bottom of a traveler booze. But it's hard to think about this now because of who Rudy is now as he's in a trial today for defamation. Hard to think about this now because of who Rudy is now as he's in a trial today for defamation.

But like after 9-11, America's mayor, one of the most popular politicians in the country, you know, obviously Bush wins in 2004. But then they're like, oh, the next Republican, next Republican president, that's going to be Rudy Giuliani. Yeah, it was interesting. Didn't do the flame out. And then it also just sort of because if you go back, like other primaries were like more consistent, but Rudy kind of like, like John McCain coming up the rear, you know? Anyway. Anyway, does anyone have a favorite? Who do you think's the, who do you think's the biggest flame out?

You guys have a winner from that list? Oh man, that's a really good list. I think it has to be Jeb Bush from your list. Cause a lot of these other people were, you know, came in, like the Fred Thompson, Wes Clark, were just kind of like these larks that happened late in the race where people got kind of desperate. We are leaving out Ed Muskie, who was the overwhelming favorite, who then

maybe possibly shed a tear in New Hampshire and then his campaign ended. Gary Hart. Gary Hart was the one I was going to say. Gary Hart is... Gary Hart. It sounds ridiculous saying it out loud, but Rick Perry was pretty highly regarded going into 2012.

Yes, that's who I... Yes, that's a good one. You know, John, we both were speaking. I don't want to gloss over the fact that you said Hillary Clinton shed a tear and then vroom. I heard it. I heard it.

She just didn't want to see us fall backwards, John. That fucking was good stuff. Obama for not getting the public option. Yeah. Sorry, I was just channeling my inner... Your inner who? Who's in there, buddy? My inner lefty podcast.

I think you're likable enough. Good question. Okay. Tommy. Yeah. We have one from Ryan Whitledge on Twitter. Tommy and Dan, they both want to hear some sports commentary. Ugh, yes.

First for Tommy, let's have an honest chat about the future of Bill Belichick. Is he still the coach of the Pats after this season? The New England Patriots. I know who it is. I know who it is. It's the guy that cheats and then everyone's like, eh, it's fine. 113 million people watch the Super Bowl and this guy treats these conversations like we're some some niche hobby we got over here tell me more about your fucking elden ring bill i love i love i love when tommy goes on this it's great all

right all right yeah you love football what a what a what a guy's guy let's hear it that's it i'm not like the other girls let's go all right something about bill belichick what what do you got to say about him here's a way to bring you in i don't want to be brought in just answer the fucking question look i'm gonna build bridges here politico you love politico they reported the patriots are so bad that republican candidates are finally allowed to campaign in new hampshire during patriots games this news i love that story oh wow that's interesting it's a sad because the patriots are 3-10. We're worse than the Jets.

I think Bill Belichick should get another year. He made some bad choices in the drafts. Shouldn't have hired a defensive coordinator to be your offensive coordinator. That was probably a mistake. It's weird that he hired his son to be a coach. Nepo baby? Yeah, he's got a Nepo baby on staff. As you know, I do not follow the Patriots as closely as you do,

but I just saw before we started recording that Tom Curran, who is an excellent sports reporter for a local NBC affiliate in Boston, he says that the decision has been made that Belichick's going to be out. This is it. This is the last season. So the flip side is he's the best coach of all time. He's 71 years old. Don't cry because it's over.

Laugh because it happened. Six Super Bowls. Yeah, nine Super Bowl appearances, six Super all time. He's 71 years old. Don't cry because it's over. Laugh because it happened. Nine Super Bowl appearances, six Super Bowls. That makes me sad. That's a ton of them. Most ever. Most ever. Wow. For an NFL coach. Anyway, we'll see. Maybe it's still an early report. Sports talk. By the time people hear this podcast,

we'll know whether it's true or not. Yeah, well, that's right. You'll all know by now. And in the pursuit of fairness, what are Dan's thoughts on the eventual banning of the tush push? And then it says in parentheses, love its commentary, welcome as well. Okay.

Dan, what do you think about the tush push? This is part of the freedom agenda I was discussing earlier. Oh, boy. Which I could... But what is – The tush push. Yeah, what is the tush push?

The tush push, otherwise known as the brotherly shove, is a play the Philadelphia Eagles do. Hey, not better. Yeah. I'm just telling you what it is that the Philadelphia Eagles do where the offensive line and the running backs all just push the quarterback over into the end zone to get the first down. And the – Short yardage situations. Oh, so it's like okay i see and it's not allowed it is it is allowed the nfl thought of banning it no one's ever done it before successfully the eagles did last season they thought they would ban it they didn't i'm being

asked this question because people assume fairly that i am an eagles fan because i grew up near philly and i'm a philly fan of everything else but that's not actually the case i'm actually a washington commanders fan because that's how I was raised. Is that why people throw batteries at you when we're in Philly? That's what my 2016 election takes, but it's so. Kind of like the football equivalent of putting a sumo wrestler in the hockey goal. Yes, yes. They just, even though they're kind of being tackled, they're being pushed from behind and just sort of forcing through.

That's cool. How can you ban that? Yeah, can I ask? That's cool as hell. Why do they want to ban the tush push? Because it's seen as an unfair advantage. I think they should not ban it. And the reason that people are paying even more attention to it is the key. The reason why Philadelphia can do it and no one else can is because the center for the Philadelphia Eagles is Jason Kelsey, Travis Kelsey's brother.

And now a huge podcaster. A huge podcaster. We got to take that fucker down. And their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, is super athletic and strong and just a badass. Can squat 600 pounds or something. Run people over. So the tush push is available to everyone

this is America but the eagles the eagles because they're because these are people that know how to climb a greasy pole like they figure

you know they're just they're people from Philadelphia they're animals they're fucking monsters you could come up with the name for it for every city yeah

you could and I will I was gonna say you keep thinking while we're doing the rest of the questions. Tush push. Tush push. It's fun to say. Buy me dinner first,

Philadelphia. You know what I'm saying? Okay. Another question for Dan from Marcus Lang. Dan, what have been some of your favorite music releases of 2023? This question is for everyone, but I think my music tastes are more aligned with Dan than the rest of the guys. Okay, Marcus.

Sorry, Marcus. Sent from Margaritaville. I'm assuming this is a hip-hop related question because I generally listen probably to more hip-hop than you guys do. And I would say that this is the year I've been trying mightily to outpace my age and stay very current on hip hop, but that became impossible this year. But there are two albums that came out this year that I very much like. One is by a rapper called No Name, who's a Chicago rapper and poet who sort of became famous many years ago by being on Chance the Rapper's mixtape. And she has an incredible album that came out this year.

And then Black Thought from the Roots has a solo album this year that's excellent. I want to be able to, I wish I could say that I was really into Andre 3000's flute album, but I can't make myself do that. Not doing the flute thing. All right. Has the Young Thug trial gotten you into any of his songs? I have listened to a fair amount of Young Thug in my life, but his involvement in a Rico

has not made it more appealing to me. Dan, what did you think of the latest Drake album? Not a fan. Yeah, I tried too and I was like, it's just a little too slow for me. Yeah, I feel like

he's missed his moment or his moment's over. Yeah. Anyone else have any music releases they'd like to tout? I'm listening to a lot of Ethel Kane. Our music taste is very different. Basically, somebody who's upset and non-binary,

that's what Spotify's going to show me a fair amount of. Cool. That's a lot of it. So yeah, I've been listening to Ethel Kane, really rising. Well, next question is we're really moving into recommendations territory here. Some Gold Can Stay on Instagram asks, what are you reading or watching or in Lovett's case, playing?

So I have been, I just watched Leave the World Behind, the Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali movie. And I think it's excellent. I've really liked it. I'm not playing anything yet, but over the break, I plan to play Tears of the Kingdom, Mahershala Ali movie and I think it's excellent. I really liked it. I loved it too. I'm not playing anything yet but over the break

I plan to play Tears of the Kingdom, The Lies of P and Baldur's Gate, the new Baldur's Gate. I don't know which order I'm going to play them in but I'm very excited

to finally have some time because I've just been on the road the last couple months and gaming is like, it is the reading of looking at a screen. You know what I mean?

In the sense that you need a lot of time, you got to get into it. You can't just do it here and there. You got to really commit. Okay. Did the Obamas produce Leave the World Behind? Is that a higher ground film?

They did. They did. They did. Why? I don't know, but they certainly did. It says higher ground on it. Yeah. And they were both posting about it.

I guess it is sort of, I guess there is a, I guess there is a logic to the kind of spirit of the film, I suppose, in the end. Dan, what about you? I don't know whether people hear this before they hear our New Year's Resolution episode, but one of my New Year's Resolutions was to improve my attention span. And one way in which I'll do that is get back to reading as much as I used to do, because this was not a good reading year. But one set of books that I think are excellent,

I would recommend to everyone, are the crime novels by S.A. Cosby, who writes about crime in the South, usually in the Virginia area. He's a black guy. It's very different than your typical crime noir. He has three. All the Sinners Bleed is the one that came out this year.

They're excellent. Oh, yeah. Watching anything good? You're always our... Any good reality shows that you're watching? I spent a lot of my 2023 catching up to Scandival on Vanderpump Rules, a decision I definitely do not regret in any way, shape, or form. It was very – made this year, this otherwise tough year, great.

That sort of reality TV stuff, I've been trying to think of, like, what was really good that I watched this year. I mean, obviously, we all watched Succession. That was amazing. Yeah. The Diplomat I found very enjoyable as a netflix show yeah it worked there are a couple of i bet i could see just being very angry at how absurd it is the lack of realism lack of realism in the uh brit the uh british ambassador also being a spy? Yeah, or being in charge of anything. Oh, tough hit. Well, the US ambassador to the UK is generally not running all foreign policy

or prepared to be the vice president. Spoiler. Or a former CIA. But I've been reading The 90s by Chuck Klosterman. It's a recent book that's out. It's very good. I was listening to some Noah Kahn. He had a great new album out this year.

Watching, though, the latest season of Dave a great new album out this year Watching though The latest season of Dave was good Was that this year or last year? That's a good one So I'm watching The Curse With Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone And the first couple episodes I was like what is going on here

And now I'm like Six episodes in and I love it I think it's really good. I'm going through. I think the curse is excellent. I'm going slowly in part because it's such an intense watch. And also like I just feel like there's so much prestige content that I like want to respect it enough to not binge it. Like the fact that like a Julia Roberts movie directed by Sam Esmail, who I love, just like pops up one day.

Or like there's a David Fincher movie michael fassbender in it and i like can't get myself to hit planet a new fincher movie there needs to be better curation of like the real good stuff that's out there because it is now impossible to find you want like a home box office because they've all yeah because they've all decided to be like fucking netflix now and so you if you go to the max app you're just like swimming through shit you know yeah same thing with netflix yeah same thing with paramount plus which is now showtime's going away now it's all gonna be paramount plus this sucks this new world like someone needs to tell us like what is the what's the great new stuff that's out there now what if someone started a publication called the tv guide and you could go there to find out what was airing and where?

Yeah, really, when you're back to the TV Guide. Yeah, I used to like my Entertainment Weekly, you know? And then it was like, it's still calling it that, but it's monthly. And they're like, it's nothing now. Now it's nothing. I love Nathan for you, but the curse, it feels like it's going to make me feel so awkward

that I'm not going to get through it. It gets, weirdly enough, it gets less awkward and funnier as it goes, I think. And it's like a real satire on a lot of things. One book I read this year was Termination Shock,

which I really recommend, by Neil Stevenson. I love Neil Stevenson and it's everything I wanted Ministry of the Future to be, you know? That's all. I just finished Yellow Face

by R.F. Kuang. Fantastic book. You can read it in one sitting it's great it's fun it's a follow-up question here from uh it's a similar question from This is a follow-up question here from a similar question from Veroska Korea, who says, At Jon Favs always says he does not read any books, even making it his New Year resolution to read at least one book per month. However, when he interviews guests that have written a book, which happens quite often, he always seems to have read them. Has he?

How do you? Well, Vera. Have you? Yes, I have. Ah, I get some knowing. Yes yes I have covered on the couch this is especially an offline thing yeah and I read them for offline everywhere when when my friend Tommy would interview people who've written books and he reads he's always like I'm reading the whole book and I was like how are you reading this whole book and he does but when you do it like for pod save america maybe you can get away with it

because it's like a 15 20 minute interview on offline on offline it's like i'm talking on them for 45 minutes of course i have to read the book so i haven't i read all the offline guest books and they're and they're you never uh you never kind of i'm a few pages ahead you never do like a chapter tick tock tick tock doppelganger from naomi by naomi klein just read a comedy book jesse david fox was great democracy awakening heather cox richardson i was just naming books stolen focus yoan harry yeah we know you know about books you can listen to the episodes you can listen to the episodes anyway i do that love it here's a question for you from twitter user baltiner dist uh question for john love it my primary care physician with no prompting suggested I too go on experimental pancreas medicine.

Now that your pancreas is well treated, would you recommend it to others? So I, listen, if I've said one thing on this show, I think you all know I'm not a doctor. It's true. All I will tell you is I, look, why did I decide to go on Manjaro? Because I felt bad about how often I was failing to eat well and in a way

where I didn't feel guilty all the time. So I decided to try this thing because they give you a coupon, you know, like a drug dealer outside of school. They give you a deal on the first one. I didn't know that. You didn't know drug dealers

give you a deal on the first one? The coupon for the pancreas. Yeah, there's coupons one for the pancreas yeah there's coupons one free pancreas buy one get one free promo code out there yes and i like so like look i've my yo-yoed for a long time and i've lost 20 30 pounds before but i've never done it without having to like fight tooth and nail for every inch like it came really easily and the thing that's amazing about it is it's not obviously I've lost weight. Great. But the way it stops like the food noise in your brain

and the way it has changed like my relationship to food, like the first time after I took Manjaro and I went out for sushi and I had like one sushi roll with my friend and I felt really full, I realized I felt guilty. And I was like, wait, you feel good

be guilty every time you're full you don't need to do that because you know being worried that you're eating too much or not taking care of yourself or that you're not achieving your goals whatever doesn't need to be connected to the feeling of being full anymore and once those things separated that changed my whole fucking life i'm driving slower out there i am i'm like there's like extra discipline for other things maybe for both of you yeah i was gonna say where where you see it if you where have you seen that i knew that you're not what no because i i think because like my mind is not what are you saying i'm spending less energy on the discipline of not eating and worrying about exercise and diet and so on the whole

i'm a less impulsive and less sort of undisciplined and procrastinating person. Maybe subtly. You could say, listen, I'm not looking, I don't need you to see it. I need Dan to see it. Two of us did write a book with you.

Yeah. And you know what? Is it done? You know what world we'd be living in? Remember when I would like work and get it to you over those weekends remember what it would be like before that there's no fucking book if I'm not on

this medicine anyway do whatever your doctor says don't take advice from me I'm an insecure and in vain Hollywood I love the way you phase the rollout of this whole thing because you would sort of allude to it early on.

In the middle of the fourth ad in a Pod Save America, you just drop it in. I soft launch it. I soft launch it. It went well. You traveled it. Anyway, all I'll say is, you can pry it from my cold, dead fucking hands.

I don't care how many diabetics can't access it. I'm getting it first. Oh my God. Get behind me. Get in line behind me, diabetics. I'm getting it first. Oh my God. Get behind me. Get in line behind me, diabetics. I need my tummy medicine. We do have another question about your relationship with food. Oh, good.

A Culfin2 on Instagram asks, Love it. Are you an applesauce, sour cream, or a combo person for your latkes? Combo, combo, combo. I like both. A little bit of both. A little bit of the sour cream or a combo person for your latkes combo combo combo i like both a little bit of both a little bit a little little bit of the sour cream a little bit of sweet it's great also although sometimes what i'll do is take a latke put some sour cream on top put some smoked salmon on that bad boy throw some locks on top you got yourself a sandwich okay okay we've um there's like a little latke song that we sing to Lisette that has like certain hand motions about you like peel them, roll it, pat it. She gets super into it.

That's cute. I like the Jewish energy. Yeah. I like that. I like that. We got another one. We got... Put her in the book.

Future college president. All right. in the book future college president all right uh last question is from kyle man chest hair yep yeah it is on instagram who asks best holiday food thanksgiving or christmas all right everyone dan you wanted to answer this question so what do you think well i am in charge of cooking christmas dinner this year and so so I Googled options. And here's the trick of this question. Literally anything can be Christmas dinner. You want to do a roast. You want to do a ham.

You want to do lasagna, meatballs, lamb. You can do anything. So I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite meals of the year. So much so that we have it. Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving, a lot of turkey and stuffing in November. But how can you go against the holiday where you can have anything you want? Get yourself a spiral cut ham. You know, I want to talk about ham. It's a big hock of ham. It's pre-cooked for you. And then someone dumps sugar all over the outside. That's

what we do growing up for Christmas. And I a good combo. That was their Christmas day, was the spiral ham. I didn't try. I, like, as a Jewish American, I remember the first time. Ham to me existed as like a lunch meat, like an Oscar Mayer thing that would be a sandwich. And I remember seeing. Like deli cut ham. Deli cut ham. And I remember seeing in film and like cartoons that there was such a thing as like a baked honey ham. But I didn't try it.

I remember it was at, it was a Hillary Clinton holiday holiday party so i was a full-blown adult i'd literally never had it for the first time i had honey baked ham a spiral cut ham i believe and i was like i cannot i tasted it i could not believe that you goyasha maniacs are calling this incredibly salty, sweet thing an entree. An entree. The idea of taking more than- You think it was like an appetizer or a dessert? No, I knew that you were describing it as an entree. I just assumed it would-

I just couldn't believe how much salty, sweet that this thing was bringing to the table. Like, you have a couple bites. I feel like you gotta take a nap. It's a big Easter day food, too. You're gonna have some ham on Easter. The saltiness. It's a big Easter day food too. You're going to have some ham on Easter. The saltiness. It's wild.

It's very salty. But you don't do any other. It's not like you take a bite of turkey and you're like, you got to drink a glass of water. No. It's just a special entree. Sometimes it's just a little too dry. Right. But the honey baked ham, the spiral cut ham.

So good. Wild. I will say though, despite the fact that you can have anything you want that's partly why i think i like thanksgiving better is because with thanksgiving you know what you're getting and you can look forward to the meal because you're forced to suffer and eat turkey well like a haiku it provides a creative bound but for christmas it's depending on where you go and what they decide to cook so you don't know what you're getting so you could get something great or you could get something shitty if you go to your random aunt's house and they decide to

make something terrible you gotta get better answers you you go to you go to benihana and you have a great fucking time benihana you can go to benihana on christmas that's the beauty of it you can go and that's a great night that's a great night do you look around the room you know what if emily hasn't had the baby yet, maybe we will go to Benihana. I'd like to see the college president say that there. There's a great TikTok. Come to Benihana on Christmas. Say it there.

You won't because it's filled with juice. There's a great TikTok I saw recently of a dude at a Benihana dinner and he brought a bunch of tortillas and he threw them onto the fire. And I was like, that is fucking genius. He brought his own tortillas. Benihana in a tortilla

must be so good. Well, I hope everyone enjoys their Benihana Christmas or Hanukkah or just going to Benihana just for fun. Bring your tortillas.

I'm going with Elise Stefanik. Benihana. Nice. I had to say it twice. That's great. Happy holidays, everyone. And we will talk to you in the new year. nice I had to say it twice that's great happy holidays everyone and we will

we'll talk to you in the new year if you want to get ad free episodes exclusive content and more consider joining our friends of the pod

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Our producers are Olivia Martinez and David Toledo. Our associate producer is Farrah Safari. Writing support from Hallie Kiefer. Reid Cherlin is our executive producer. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick. Jordan Cantor is our sound engineer, with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. Madeline Herringer is our head of news and programming. Matt DeGroat is our head of production. Andy Taft is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Haley Jones, Mia Kelman, David Toles,

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