The Daily Zeitgeist - Act Local To Fix The World, Mario’s Missing Butt 10.07.22

Episode Date: October 7, 2022

In episode 1347, Jack and guest co-host super producer Becca Ramos are joined by an organizer with Unite Here! Local 11 LA, Hugo Soto-Martinez, to discuss… Why Think Locally When We’re Facing Such Massive Problems? Abolish All Jaywalking Laws Already! The Internet Is Enraged At Super Mario’s Butt (Or Lack Thereof) and more! Abolish All Jaywalking Laws Already The US’s jaywalking laws target people of colour. They should be abolished These Communities Are Making Progress After ‘Jaywalking’ Reform The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of "jaywalking" The Internet Is Enraged At Super Mario’s Butt (Or Lack Thereof) Where Is Mario's Butt in the Super Mario Bros. Movie? First Super Mario Poster Has Fans Asking Nintendo to Fix the Plumber's Flat Butt VISIT: www.Hugo2022.com LISTEN: A Life Like This by NaoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just

starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture.

Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, the internet, and welcome to season 257, episode 5 of Dirt Daily's iGeist, a production of iHeartRadio. This is a podcast where we take a deep dive into America's shared consciousness, and it's Friday, October 7th, 2022. My name is Jack O'Brien, aka. I saw the first real woodstock. Was a boomer in my prime.

Met your grandma in the mud. Was the summer of 69. That is courtesy of Johnny Davis. Just working off of that bad mental image we had discussing where, where the, this generation of kids came from. And it's, uh, at least some of them must have been conceived that the line started in the mud in the summer of 69 and Woodstock.

Anyways, I am thrilled to be joined by a very special guest co-host, the producer behind many great podcasts, great podcasts, such as the Daily Zeitgeist. It's super producer Becca Ramos. Hello, hello. Don't have an AK, but I'm happy to be here. Yeah, you are here and we appreciate that. Thank you so much. And Becca, we are thrilled

to be joined in our third seat by an organizer with Unite Here Local 11 in LA, who is and has been successfully fighting to win material gains for workers, immigrants, the unhoused, people of color, young people, everyone who has been neglected by the city of LA. He's currently doing that by running for city council in LA's 13th district, where he got the most votes in the first round of the election upsetting a heavily funded incumbent please welcome to the show hugo soto martinez what's up thank you jack thank you becca happy to happy to be here happy to represent district 13 yeah yeah man excited the the election is coming up beginning of what how many many days out are we? We have 33 days left until election day. Yeah. How are you feeling? You seem energized.

You seem everybody in the neighborhood, everybody because I am District 13 and people seem energized, motivated. The signs are showing up. I'm loving to see it. The signs showed up on my yard. But, yeah, it's exciting times. Yeah, very, very excited. Feeling good. We're locked in. We're zoned in. You know, just looking forward to Election Day. Nice. All right. Well, we are going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment. First, we're going to tell our listeners a couple of things we're talking about today. I am going to ask you why we should be thinking locally when we're facing these massive global problems. That's something I struggle with. And I know we come back to a lot on this show as we talk about these intractable, huge problems like climate change and, you know, just a massive corporate media. Like what? Why come back to to local? Because that that is what we talk about a lot. It a local change that happened 100 years ago, 1925,

I believe, that ended up sort of designing the world that we live in in sort of a bad way. So like a small change and then outward ripples. And now I don't want to teach my kids to ride their bike in because I'm worried they're going to get hit by a car going 50 in LA. So we'll talk about jaywalking laws. We might even talk about a big controversy that's happening. And I didn't want to get you on the record on something too controversial, but this is a big one that I think people want to know where you fall on. but this is a big one that I think people want to know where you fall on. And that is the fact that the new Super Mario Brother released a teaser for the new movie, and his cakes are missing.

He's got no butt. And so, you know, there's petitions out. So we obviously want to talk about that and just get you on the record on something incredibly stupid. The people want to know. The people want to know. I'm sure it's the first question you're getting at rallies right now. So I mean, might as well just do it here, right? Before we get to any of that, though, we do like to ask our guests, what is something from your search history that is revealing about who you are? What is something from your search history that is revealing about who you are? Well, let's pull up my phone right here and see what it is.

Here we go. We love the raw action. Yeah. Okay. This should be no surprises. How many days until November 8th? That is the first thing on my search bar. How do you deal with the stress around that? Are you just kind of in the zone one day at a time type?

Or you're just checking in every day being like, are you feeling the noose tightening? Or I feel like I would not deal well with that stress. But how are you feeling? You know, I feel good. I feel focused. You know, I've done other campaigns nationally and it's just a little different because it's me, but we have our plan.

We're executing it and, you know, just really day by day. But I'm looking forward to election day for sure. Yeah. What's sort of your plan? I mean, it seems like your plan has been kind of laser focused to this point, but is there anything new you're doing as you get closer to the election? Are there new obstacles that have arisen as you're getting closer? on Sunday or this Sunday. I don't know when folks will hear this episode, but that's a big one.

We want to turn out 200 people, but it's really to build momentum for last election day. And so I always say that in the last moments of an election, it is your community and your support that will carry you. Happens every single time. It's like you're getting close to the crunch time and people's ability to come through. You just got to let it happen. But that's going to be the inflection point is this weekend. Nice. What is something you think is overrated?

I'm not going to name names because I have a lot of respect for this taco spot. But it's a very delicious food that you eat, but it's not a taco. It is not a taco. And so it was a little overrated. I was like, this is not a taco. Now this is hard because you're like, okay, what place is selling tacos that aren't tacos that are naming them tacos in LA? There's so many taco places. You can see the red string behind me.

Yeah. I understand your diplomatic stance, but as someone who likes to eat, I would like to offline learn what the spot is. Yeah, yeah. Let me just say that a taco does not have cheese or a bunch of, it's very decorative. It was very delicious, but I'm like-

I will say Tex-Mex tacos do. It's very delicious. I will say Tex-Mex tacos do. I will. I'll die on that hill as the Texan in the room. Tex-Mex tacos have cheese. Okay. Let's just say it's not my mama's taco.

How about that? There you go. And you're allowed to have that. I will also say my mama's taco was take me to Taco Bell. And they also have cheese and shredded lettuce i don't know where where you fall on that but what so it's cheat cheese is the main offender that's the ingredient that you will not allow on a taco but what about like cojita cheese cojita cheese yeah i don't like tacos don't have cojita cheese i mean but mexican food is so interesting because it's the same recipe it It's tortilla and meat.

But we call different things different things. Like now taquitos, which is different than tacos, does have cheese. That is acceptable. That is acceptable. I'm a quesadilla guy because I'm a little baby. I like cheese. Whenever there's a taco stand at like a birthday party or something, I pretend like I'm getting an order for my kids. And I'm like, yeah, load it up with cheese in there.

Give me that. They love it. They love the cheese. Yeah. Actually, they really like cheese. Could you double it up? Just really, really load that sucker up, my four-year-old, you know. What is something you think is underrated?

As far as movies go, there's one movie that I really, really love. I can watch this over and over. And that's the movie Little Nicky. Okay. I love that movie. Wow. It's in my top five. Wow.

I have never heard of this movie. Does that make me... All right, Becca's very young. Yeah, I was like, am I too young? Little Nikki is Adam Sandler. Oh, okay. Yes. This is one of the early Adam Sandler movies I've never seen

because it coincided with me starting to... I think it came out in 2000. And it coincided with me starting to take I think it came out in 2000 and it coincided with me starting to take myself seriously as like a movie fan. And also like at that time, water boy was my least favorite Adam Sandler movie because he like did the same silly voice the whole movie. And it seemed like the same thing was happening with little Nikki,

right? Doesn't he do like a voice the whole time? Yeah, right that's right that's his voice so i didn't give it a shot this is my fault i think this is a limitation on my part this came right before punch drunk love which was when we got our first like serious sandler and i was like it's like yes this is this is me i am a pretentious person yeah i prefer my sandler aged and matured um which is obviously ridiculous but yeah i missed this one what what is it about little nicky that speaks to you i don't know it's just so so different some of these jokes and cameo appearances and the harlem Globetrotters come out on it. That's like a talking, there's a talking dog. I mean, it's just, it's just, I don't know. It's

just very unique. It's very unique movie. Are you an Adam Sandler fan in general or just like a little Nicky purist? You know, I, I grew up, I, I was in, I graduated high school in 2001. So I think Adam Sandler was like kind of a hit, you know Sandler was kind of a hit. He was kind of in my formative years. But yeah, I would say I like him, yes. But this is by far my most favorite movie. That's so funny, man. Yeah, and I think it definitely matters what point in your life you're at when the movie hits, right? Because I was just like, I was in at that age when I think Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore were hitting and those movies, I'm like, oh, they're unimpeachable

classics. And I don't know if that's the case. Yeah. All right. Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about that. That first question of like, you know, I get into spirals of despair when we're doing this show and talking about climate change that seems insurmountable, a mainstream political system and mainstream media that seems incapable of telling the truth when the truth does not drive profit and profitability. You know, police, carceral system that is rightly viewed as a horror show just around the country. So the question I find myself asking a lot is like, what can we do other than like talk about these big, massive issues? Like how do you get into

action? And, you know, I know you're an organizer, but just how do you generally think about that? Interesting. You know, I think about this a lot because I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, very poor. My parents were street vendors. You know, the feeling of despair around me, I think, was something that formed my personality. And I remember seeing, you know, my dad was hurt. He was disabled and wasn't working. My mom was like working two, three jobs.

My older brother was in jail. And I remember that I thought, I cannot change the circumstances around, but I can change how I interact with them. And so I said, what are the one thing I could do that could change my condition? Now at that moment in time was just go to college, right? And so my goal was to go to college. And then after college was, you know, try to go to law school. And so, but, but, but I really think about those formative years as me as a, as a teenager and how it's been applied to the movement here in Los Angeles.

I become a union organizer at 23 and you become exposed to how terrible the world is. At some point you start learning more and more and more and you're like, wow, this really sucks. What can I do? But the same concept, right? It's like we organize one workplace at a time. But the same concept, right? It's like we organize one workplace at a time. Can we win the union at one place here, then another place here, and another place here? And so I always think just start small. And I got that from my formative years. All that was happening, my family, applying it to the union. And over time, you will see the change, right? It's just you're watering one seed at a time. And I think what we see now in Los Angeles is that those seeds we have watered one at a time are coming to fruition. And it's very exciting. I've never been the most hopeful I have

in my entire life than I am today. Well, that's really warming to hear because I feel like I get into existential dread spirals like at least once a day. It's nice to hear someone step back and breathe and just like, be like, let me be present in my community, in my local space, in my personal space, in my, in my home bubble versus like constantly doom scrolling, so to speak. Yeah. And I think the, you know, I think the internet has also changed the way we view things. We want instant gratification.

We want things now. We want things... But movements are not built that way. Movements... I mean, I think about the civil rights movement. The Montgomery bus boycott was in 1955. And Dr. King didn't have another real victory until 1964. Yeah.

Those were eight years of them trying to, and then they had Birmingham, right? And that sort of put it at an international scale. But it's about being diligent and not understanding that the results don't come immediately. And I think you will have success. Can you talk about one of the seeds

that you've seen like bloom over time? I know some of the big issues in this specific election or like in everything having to do with LA is, you know, safety and the unhoused population. And like those are big issues. And I know you guys just had a rally where you were talking about renters' rights being important on that front. But can you talk about just, yeah, what's making you hopeful right now at a local level? Yeah, the one that is making me the most hopeful is the conversation around housing. That is one where, I mean, a lot of the conversations are making me to be on the ballot in November, which I hope folks vote yes on.

That will put between $600 million and $1.1 billion in the building of affordable housing and acquisition of affordable housing and tenant protections and things like that. And then the governor, that's just at the city level. And then at the state level, the governor just passed SB 679, which would create a countywide housing authority. Similar to Metro, Metro is a countywide authority over

transportation that crosses the 88 cities. SB 679 would create a housing authority over the 88 cities within the county to really accelerate the building of affordable housing. And so that's happening now. And so we can get those things, the money of affordable housing. And so that's happening now. And so we can get those things, the money plus the housing authority, plus elected officials really talking about truly building affordable housing or social housing. The recipe feels that it's there for the taking. And again, there's been years of fighting,

but it feels like finally, for the first time in over 50 years, we can maybe build social housing in the city of Los Angeles. It would be incredible. Yeah. Yeah. Just hearing you speak at one of your rallies about just the, you know, the status quo got us to this situation where there is a, you know, crisis of unhoused people in the city of L.A. And, you know, just the fact that continuing to just use this approach of like the police kind of moving them around and doing these sweeps and like you seem to be more attacking it at the, okay, so what is the cause of this crisis? And like,

how do we actually address it, right? Absolutely. I think that, you know, elected officials are so quick to think about how can I score political points now, right? What can make me look good now? How can the decisions I make influence the public so that I can get reelected, right? It's a question of self-preservation of pulling the status quo. The more difficult conversation is, well, what's causing it? Let's actually look at the root. And it's, you know, they're decisions based on fear and, you know, unwilling to go into the public and just be, just be honest, just be honest with people, you know, about like, what's the real cause of this. And so, so yeah, absolutely. We're,

we're going to the, to the root of it and we're not being shy about it. Yeah. What is the cause? Like what, what, what do you tell people? Like, what's the honest message that they're not getting elsewhere? What do you tell people? Like, what's the honest message that they're not getting elsewhere? I mean, the number one reason people become homeless is because it's about deep poverty. You know, the biggest stat that I learned was that in the county of Los Angeles, over 600,000 people, so more than half a million, right, Spend over 90% of their income on rent. Oh my gosh. That's it. It's this crazy statistic. And right now we have an eviction moratorium that is,

it is held. It's not a full moratorium, but previous to the moratorium going into place because of COVID between, and the numbers are hard to pin down because not everybody who's evicted. So anybody who's evicted is someone who becomes homeless, right? They don't have a home. And so every month between 10 and 20,000 people were becoming homeless per month. That is an astronomical number. Now, a lot of folks figure it out. Like when my parents were evicted when I was young, they've stayed with my uncle for a month, right? Or two months until they got things. But 10 to 20,000 people per month, that is an issue of unaffordable housing, deep poverty, not having good jobs or the services available for folks. And that is a tsunami, right? That is out there.

And so that's, we got to speak to the truth. And that's the real reason people become homeless, or the main reason why people become homeless. Well, and especially because, I mean, I don't live in the city of Los Angeles. I live in Brooklyn, but obviously we also have a housing crisis here in New York City. Like these folks are getting evicted and those rentals aren't being filled as quickly. Right. So there's just like this deep, like disparity of housing where there is like lots of housing, lots of people who are unhoused. And because of the differences in rent prices, despite those people needing a home, they can't live in their homes. Right. Yeah, absolutely.

And then we have, you know, they're they're vacant right yes that's yeah that's what i mean there's like like 50 vacancy and some of these like luxury buildings and things because like the income is just like not they're not reasonable for the people that live in the city that's right that's right they're they're waiting for the speculation or the type of renter to come and take the spot. And yeah, meanwhile, people are first off in the street. They're making the money so they can fund these big organizations. But it sounds like you're saying that there's going to be a citywide organization to, you know, push back on that and represent the rights of, you know, renters. Right. Is that kind of the idea? Yeah, I think that they just create an agency that, you know, can really address a countywide regional issue. Right. It's it's you right? It's like I live,

the closest city to me is Glendale. It's about a mile and a half away to the north. And LA is weird in that it's a huge area, but it's 88 individual cities. And so those cities do not coordinate or talk to each other or build the housing that we need. And so it's to try to give people who rent, right, a little bit more power

over this mega metropolis, metropolis we call Los Angeles. Right. Yeah. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll keep having this conversation, talk about maybe some of the mainstream media narratives and how you see your ability and just our ability to kind of fight against that. So we'll be right back. ability and just our ability to kind of fight against that. So we'll be right back. Hey, I'm Gianna Prudente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan

Sanner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult.

And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold

and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection

of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that?

I just come here to play basketball every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her.

What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning.

In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church, and then a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And we're back. And yeah, I just wanted to, you know, your background is, you know, working in unions, and that does feel like a mainstream media narrative where there is some progress being made, right? Like, we're starting to see public opinion shift towards, you know, the people understanding the value of having strong unions. people are understanding the value of having strong unions, but I just wanted to kind of, when I heard you talk about your story, like unions played a big part and just, can you speak to that a little bit of how you've seen the value of unions? Yeah, I would say that it feels,

we have a moment of arrival with the union, which is great. Yeah. I don't, I don't know what it, what's changed, but I don't know. It's so interesting because if you look at unions, the only place where they've grown really is California, New York, Oregon, and Washington. At least that's always been the narrative for me growing up.

But I do think that the income inequality that young folks are facing, I mean, younger, I'm 39, but younger folks, you know, coming out of college to find jobs that, you know, paying minimum wage, student debt, I think all those things have really shaped, you know, the corporate greed, you know, Jeff Bezos being so wealthy and people having so little. I think people see the union as like one of the main vehicles to try to change that. I think it's very inspiring, but, but yeah. And of course, you know, Chris Smalls and that victory was really phenomenal for the New Yorkans out there. It was amazing. It really captivated people's imagination, I think.

Yeah. Yeah. And I, I feel like there's just a flagging of enthusiasm for the mainstream narrative that has been sort of ascendant for most of my adult life, like through, I guess, my teenage through adult life. But like, I feel like it really kicked off with the Clinton administration and just being like, we just let the market do its thing and it's going to take care of everything. And I feel like starting in 2008, we're starting to see kind of a flagging of that. And now just hearing more and more stories of people. I think you talked about your first experience where you were thinking about going to college and you were instead kind of asked to play a part with a hotel workers union and just like the night and day difference you saw between how the bosses and the powers that be in that instance treated you, right? Like once there was the possibility of organization. Can you talk about that story a little bit? Yeah, absolutely. So it was my last year at college.

I was a working student. So I worked this non-union hotel job all the way through high school and college. And my senior year, I'm getting ready to go to law school and i was literally doing my lsat prep course and i had it booked i was going to take it in june or sort of july and um the union came to my workplace they said you know we want to want to organize i met with the organizer you know just to give the story very quickly you know we we were doing on this under secret and finally came the day where we revealed ourselves, right. That we were organizing the union and we came in with like 35, 40 workers, you know, demanding respect. And I was off that day. And so I came and I did that and I left. And then a few days later I came back to work and I thought I was going to get

fired. I was like, oh, they're going to fire me. I don't know what's going to happen. And it was quite the opposite, right? The managers were like, what did we do wrong? How can we make it better? What can we do for you? And for me, it was very clear because I was always very outspoken as a worker. My managers would try to say things and I'd be like, actually, you know, the law says this, you know, cause they knew I was, I was going to go to, I was going to law school, but it never changed the way they treated me. And cause they understood we have the power. We have the power to go, right. We can write you up. We can discipline you, you, you know, who cares. Right. But it wasn't until we did this collective action that they were freaked out. You know, they just, they did, they just completely started

respecting us. And so eventually we won our first contract and, and, you know, people didn't have health insurance. Now they had health insurance. We had low wages, you know, used to beg to get a 25 cent raise, you know, 50 cent raise. We were getting like, we got dollar raises for the first time, you know, and all these amazing things. i was like wow like collective power works and uh it was just so life-changing for me and i think people that go through that experience it's sort of like uh it's an awakening it's like wow like i you can actually change the conditions that were that you know that are around us every single day so so yeah it became my last calling that's really cool yeah and i i feel like that really does tie into like the you know try we on this show we try and you know pay attention to the zeitgeist and it does feel like there is a just general waking up to the reality of the situation that when corporate power has nothing to oppose

them, they are going to do things that are bad for people, you know, and just good for the bottom line if unchecked. So, yeah, it is definitely good to see that. And hopefully, you know, you and everybody can kind of keep up that fight. So I want to take a quick look, quick trip into the past to look at something that I had never thought about, but that was sort of a local battle in the 1920s that has really shaped the world we live in, and that is jaywalking laws. So this is in the news because California will soon decriminalize jaywalking, the traffic violation, not the Jay Leno Tonight Show segment, which should be made illegal.

I think they should do just a trade of that jaywalking is illegal, this jaywalking is no longer. But the Freedom to Walk Act will go into effect on January 1st. And it's a good thing because jaywalking laws are, I think the legal term is fucking stupid. They disproportionately, they also just give the police the ability to, you know, stop. It's an opportunity for them to just stop people whoever they want it's more opportunity for the police to go after marginalized and low-income residents yeah so my question with jaywalking laws specifically when because i feel like it has been a colloquial like funny haha

as like a young adult growing up of being like, oh, you know, you can get arrested for jaywalking, but you cross the street. No one's ever bothered you. Like are the reason they're decriminalizing it now is because they are still actively picking up people on the sides of the road. Like, is it that you can get arrested for being on the side of the road? Is it that you can be arrested for just because I always think of it as like you're crossing the sidewalk when it says red light, you know. But now that I've been, you know, kind of perusing the dock, it seems to me that they can and will target unhoused people often of jaywalking, so to speak. But really, it's just because they don't want them around.

around, right? Yeah. I mean, so I think this is, in California is an example of actual progress and people recognizing that this has just been in 2019 90% of illegal walking tickets issued by New York

police were to Black and Hispanic people. And that makes sense to me. And it's fucked up as a walking city where, I mean, most people a walking city where i mean most people don't have cars and most people can't you know like they have to get wherever they need to go and that's crazy to me to think that i could ever be ticketed in a city like new york where everybody is fragrantly on the street at all times right Right. And the laws actually don't do anything to protect people. Like in the UK, for example, jaywalking isn't illegal. But in 2011, they had half as many pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people

as in the US. So I think it's like the question that this raised to me is not like, why are they making this legal now? And more, why was this ever a thing? Like, how did this ever become a thing that you that they can police and arrest you based on like where you are walking and how you are walking? It does beg the question of I I don't know if it was just offline conversations I've been having over the week or also I feel like we were talking about it when it comes to like the white flight and the suburbs and how suburbs are so designed for you not to be like walkable. They're like walkable in the neighborhood, so to speak. But like if you were to walk to the other neighborhood, you can't really do that. Like you need a vehicle. Like is it also to police people in the suburbs so that there

aren't fragrant, you know, people in those neighborhoods, you think? I'm sure. I'm sure there that is it's used in that way. Like the police use any law as a tool to, you know, go after whoever they want to go after. but it actually so before the 1920s everybody could use the streets which crazy concept it does seem crazy to me like it seems i really like as somebody who is coming to the point and you know my kids lives where i'm trying to you know i i lived in the suburbs in you know not not a big city uh like a suburb of dayton ohio and i my life was spent just like getting on a bike and riding around in the streets and like my parents were just like all right be back when it's dark and like the the idea of my kids just going out and being able to ride around on bikes like I feel like I have to like go to an abandoned parking lot to like teach them how to ride a bike.

And there's just so like it doesn't even and even walking around our neighborhood, you know, there's just so like the cars really own the streets in most major cities. And this is all the result of the 1920s. So the thing that happened was, you know, in the 1920s, cars were basically seen as a rich person's like hobby. They were like yachts because they're so expensive. rich person's like hobby. They were like yachts because they're so expensive. And they started running over mostly children and elderly people in cities. And the,

so the cities at a local level, like fought back. Cincinnati had a big, you know, referendum where they tried to make it so that cars could not go over 25 miles per hour, just at the like manufacturing level. They were like, please, this is, you're killing people. And that resulted in the automakers kind of coming together, you know, taking their own collective action and creating, you know, affecting these laws. And because there wasn't like collective action on behalf of children and elderly people who just want to be able to walk down like in their neighborhood, they were able to slowly over the course of 100 years, just like create the world that we have now where it's very strict pedestrian controls they invented jaywalking they did like a marketing campaign so jay used to be a term for like hick like and so

they oh wow everything stems from a derogatory at some point yeah so they like created this marketing campaign and like there were there were they like hired a hired a Santa Claus at one point to heckle people for not walking legally in the city. They hired clowns to cross the road and in some cases ran them with cars to make jaywalking seem foolish. There was this large-scale, mass-culture, brainwashing marketing thing that happened and it just slowly over the course of 100 years took hold to the point that i like never really even considered the possibility of a world where you know my kids could just like go out and roam the streets of la on a bike and like be safe from getting run over by a car. But like that, that is, that is the status quo that we were starting from, but because of the way that

things operate in, in the U S because there was money to be made by car makers, there was a massive cultural or, you know, both cultural and political move by them over the course of years to create the world that we have now where you you feel like you're in danger of both being arrested or getting hit by a car and it would be your fault if you just want to cross your street wow this is incredible incredible history you're you're talking about because i think i mean it's funny like when i grew up just being raised and living in the city, you just assumed the streets were for the cars, right? That's it. Especially in a city like LA.

Yeah. Like LA is such a big car place. I grew up in the suburbs of Texas, but my family grew up in LA and New York. And I felt very similarly where it's like in my very specific, I lived on a cul-de-sac, but my parents purposely picked a cul-de-sac house so that we could be in the cul-de-sac safe. And because they were worried if we lived on like a house that was more on the street part of the neighborhood that we could get hit or whatever by just like biking out. But like in the cul-de-sac, at least people have to like come all the way down there and see people and slow down before they like make the spin. But I also have a hovercraft mom. Love you. You know, she didn't let me out anywhere. She was Hawkeye at all times yelling at people for driving too fast at all

times. And but yeah, I definitely grew up in a place where I'm like, I will, until I moved to a real city, or not even a real city, I moved to Portland when I graduated college. And that was the first time that I was like, whoa, you can like walk around in a city? Like you can like, you can like get from point A to point B by your feet? Like never knew what that was like. I always thought I had to get a car to drive 10 minutes somewhere because it just like simply was not safe to like walk anywhere in Texas. 10 minutes somewhere because it just like simply was not safe to like walk anywhere in Texas. Yeah. And it's it is, you know, the stuff that when we talk about like acting locally, but like a lot of times the foe that you're operating against is power, powerful and either, you know, national or international, you know, and so that's just the organizing on behalf of people and, you know, the communication and having media that isn't just straight up controlled by the same, you know,

by the same profit motive. Like the auto industry group that took control of a series of meetings that were like meant to discuss this problem was headed by Herbert Hoover, who was then the secretary of commerce, to create a model traffic law that could be used by cities across the country. But due to their influence, the product of those meetings was largely based off traffic laws in L.A., which had already kind of enacted the strict pedestrian controls in 1925. So these powerful people are acting on behalf of the most powerful thing in the country, which is whatever is going to make the most money. Well, the government and the government acts on behalf of whoever's going to make the most money. Herbert Hoover wasn't acting on behalf of like the children who had lost a sibling to because, you know, somebody was racing around on their horseless carriage. He was acting on behalf of the you know, he was the secretary of commerce. So his job was to act on behalf of commerce. And and that became you know, he became president. Well, and it's one of those things. I mean, it's a tale as old as time in American history of like,

well, it's not going to affect me because I have money. You know, it's like those people in power and those very high seats that pockets are lined by all these different, you know, head honchos and investors and things like that. At the end of the day, they're like, you know, head honchos and investors and things like that. At the end of the day, they're like, whatever I do to make a decision that is benefiting my pockets, I know even though it's abhorrent and it's going to hurt children or whatever, they're not going to hurt my children because I have the money to fix this problem in my home, which is so fucked up. Yeah. Well, I find it very interesting that people are starting to like deconstruct the laws that were created over time and the facts like this yeah i thank the internet for this because imagine growing up all we had was a britannica right in the library so the fact we have so much information

now we can actually dissect it and look at it but i think the very interesting thing is how you know sort of the how sort of how white supremacy and like these laws show up in sort of the policing. And so I'm very proud that we did this in California. You know, hopefully it could be a model for folks because, you know, they do target, you know, black and brown folks or working class folks. Yeah. I mean, even Super Producer put in the chat, Tupac sued the Oakland Police Department for $10 million for stopping him while jaywalking and choking him out for resisting arrest. Like, black and brown, no matter the pocket size. That is absolutely insane. Yeah.

And I think you're right that we're starting a movement in the opposite direction of people having access to more information than they would have in the past when, you know, in the 1920s, like it's there aren't like a bunch of like radical zines or, you know, the radio shows were like brought to you by Geritol and they were just like, you know, cowboy shows or some shit. So yeah, hopefully, hopefully this can kind of, we can kind of continue this, this movement in this direction and, you know, small victories at a local level today, like could, you know, if you, if you look at how different things went from the 1920s to the 2020s, where used to be people could walk around and feel safe walking around. And when, you know, the ultra wealthy were running children, you know, the children of poor underrepresented people down in their yachts, like that there was a backlash. And now we live in a world where that seems completely out of bounds, like maybe with this new access to information and new movements at the local level, like small victories now can create a future that is unrecognizable to us 100 years from now in a good way. Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. Knock on wood. All right. Let's take a quick break and then we'll come back and talk about the thing that I think everybody's really wanting to hear and go weigh in on Mario's dumper. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Thank you. an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration.

It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline,

a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job

and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it, like, you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports where we live at the intersection of sports and culture up first I explore the making of a rivalry Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese I know I'll go down in history people are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game every great player needs a foil I ain't really near them boys I just come here to play basketball every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better.

This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, everyone. I am Lacey Lamar. And I'm Amber Ruffin. I am Lacey Lamar. And I'm Amber Ruffin, a better Lacey Lamar.

Boo. Okay, everybody, we have exciting news to share. We're back with season two of the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network. You thought you had fun last season?

Well, you were right. And you should tune in today for new fun segments like Sister Court and listening to Lacey's steamy DMs. We've got new and exciting guests like Michael Beach. That's my husband. Daphne Spring,

Daniel Thrasher, Peppermint, Morgan J, and more. You gotta watch us. No, you mean you have to listen to us. I mean, you can still watch us, but you gotta listen. Like, if you're watching us, you have to tell us. Like, if you're out the window, you have to say, hey, I'm watching you outside of the window. Just, you know what?

Listen to the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back and yeah so so there is a controversy happening in the world of mario the first controversy around this movie was that chris pratt is is cast as the voice of mario i'm still having a hard time imagining it, picturing it. I'm going to go see it, but I'm still uncomfortable. I need the it's-a-me, and he's not going to give me that. Should have been Chris Pine, right?

Is that what we're all saying? It's very strange. It's funny to see the direction Hollywood has gone, talking about changes over time, that the original Mario movie was Bob Hoskins played Mario. I love the original Mario movie. Yeah. Something I watched a lot as a kid. and more in the tradition of the Sonic thing, which, Ugo, I don't know if you were, you know, paying attention back when Sonic released

a early trailer for the first Sonic movie and they gave him, like, real, like, two separate kind of smallish eyes. It was so scary. It was genuinely, like, frightening. Oh, wow. That's not the Sonic I remember. Well, yeah.

And they literally got so much backlash that they had to, like, stop the release of the movie and push the date back and reanimate and, like, relaunch the movie. That's how bad it got. And I can see the meeting where this happened, where they're like, real animals don't have one goggle eye connected in the middle of their head. And we're trying to bring Sonic into the real world. And so, you know, they created something that looked more like an actual creature that might exist. It just happened to look terrifying. And I think that might be what's happening with Mario's butt. Because there's this whole new controversy where in the recently released poster,

Mario's butt is, people are saying, far less pronounced. It really looks like what an actual plumber's body looks like he's kind of like thick in the middle and then there's just not not nothing there it's just a kind of straight line down in the back but to me this is not i mean granted we have not seen what mario looks like from the front this isn't an egregious look to me as the Sonic one. That was, I dropped an image in the chat for y'all to see the side-by-side of what the original edit was in the trailer. And then what they animated it to because it was like, they got so much backlash for the original edit. Yeah, terrifying.

Yeah, it's just scary. Yeah, it's, but I'm like, he still looks cute. He still looks like cute little i mean it's definitely like animated mario versus like when the live action mario movie came out like i'm glad this isn't live action i guess what i'm saying because like i do expect live action mario to look like the fixed image on the right of the stock and i would be upset if it was more of the left right yeah if he's just like got you know like gin blossoms on at that point i look more like mario right yeah which i have been luigi

for halloween so you know great costume yeah yeah i i am of two minds of this uh of this issue you know i believe we should be body positive yeah and encourage all kinds of bodies but then again i have a nostalgic connection with mario and i just picture mario with a with a butt so yeah and also it's you know there's plenty of fictional characters like cartoon and comic characters that don't have a butt you know like it's they they've had representation the sort of just you know v-shaped to a cartoonish degree superhero body where there's like nothing going on in in the butt region and i have written many notes to the editor about this but superman needs cakes too but people are also pointing out that one of his superpowers like starting in mario 64 is a move called the butt stomp

aka the ground pound which both terms sound way dirtier than they should but it involves him spinning in the air and landing on his ass. Yeah. And without the cushioning, obviously he would shatter his hip bones. Logistically. Logistically speaking. Yeah. Like we, we need,

he needs some padding back there, but also just, I feel like in terms of overall body positivity, we don't have that many characters that are stacked back there in the cartoon world so but like i i want them to bring bring the cakes back yeah representation is important yeah representation is important and also i would like to i now have been in google images looking at old images of mario but i'm like mario's a thick king okay and if we're like like i want to see an image of him from the front for this new movie because like if they've slimmed

him down that's not the body positivity movement i'm looking for i want my thick king back i want to make sure that we're representing all types of desirable cartoons right, if they give Mario a six-pack in this? Like, he needs a gun. I'm sorry. Cannot have a six-pack. That's not the Mario I know. And this isn't even the first time this year that a Nintendo character's ass has come under scrutiny, and March

fans worried that an update for Mario Kart diminished Wario's butt. And, I mean, it definitely did. If you look at the side-by-side images. So I don't know what they think they're doing over there at Nintendo, but they're making a mistake. The only skinny character allowed is Waluigi.

Right. Because he's literally a pencil. That's kind of his whole deal. That's his whole thing and acts malnourished yeah all right well i think we've solved this bring the cakes back and you know if we have to start organizing locally about this then we will yeah you've you've heard it nintendo ugo such a pleasure having you is. Is there anything that you'd like to kind of shout out about the campaign, about what, you know, that we missed while talking about Mario's butt

and other stuff? Yeah, please speak to what you're fighting for. Yeah, I mean, I'm hoping to give working people a voice, organize, organize, organize. Every issue we talked about, whether it was starting at the local level or taking back our streets, which by the way, streets for a group here in Los Angeles is doing that fight as well. Or if you have strong issues about someone's rear end,

it's always about organizing. Organize, organize, organize. That's right. And yeah, folks have reached out. It's always about organizing. Organize, organize, organize. That's right. And yeah, you know, folks have reached out. It's been incredible. A few days ago, someone from Massachusetts reached out about how do I organize the union in my workplace. And so, you know, always making myself available to put more oxygen into the fire. And so anything folks can reach out to our Instagram or website. Yeah, where can people go to kind of find you and get involved?

Absolutely. So our Instagram is, and Twitter is my name, H-U-G-O-4-F-O-R-C-D-13. And our website is ugo4, ugo2022.com. There you go. And is there a tweet

or a work of social media you've been enjoying? Oh, yes. Every Tuesday, we do Takeout Tuesday. It's me. I'm a big foodie. And so every Tuesday, I go to a new restaurant, small business, and highlight the amazing food that we have in District 13. And it's been very enjoyable trying new spots and trying to be a food connoisseur for the district as well. Nice. What's your favorite thing that you've had over the course of that journey? So every Monday and Tuesday on Sunset, right by the Sunset in Kenmore, I believe, there's a pop-up Thai market from 5 to 10.

And it's literally just street vendors take over the street. And it's only two days a week, but it's incredible. Such amazing food, you know, brings a lot of attention and foot traffic to the area, which is, you know, it's always good. It's a good side effect. It's my favorite spot so far right now. Nice. I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining us becca uh where can people find you is there a tweet or some work of social media you've been enjoying everyone can find me at bex b-e-c-c-s ramos on all platforms you can find me at mil mundos in bushwick here in brooklyn every other saturday i'll be there this sat. And a couple of tweets. I have one by at Piggy Don't Miss, but I found it through the Instagram account.

Drag his ass. Love that account. It is a like live comedy show. Hating on men. But the tweet is happening National Boyfriends Day to the girls who don't know if they're allowed to call him that. Yesterday was National Boyfriends Day. Shout out to mine. He was mad I didn't say anything but i find that tweet hilarious it hit my core

as a girl who's been in a few situationships myself you're like haha that hurt um and then one from uh at diva lacy the scam goddess she tweeted i will be selling high vibrational fish plates outside the vet awards it'll call back to what Miles said about yesterday. So I thought it was funny. Yeah. I don't know if we got that on. Oh, it might have been. Yeah.

Off mic. We were talking about the scammers out there on the Internet. Life coaches. Life coaches. So. Yeah. There's a great video of one. It was a viral TikTok of this woman who is like this other woman's life coach.

And she's like shitting on her plate that she was served. And you're watching it and you're like, huh? Like, I don't understand. Like, to me, it looks like a yummy plate of food. And she's just like, I would not let anyone put that on my plate. And you're just like, I like, huh? And she was like, it's not vibrational. Like, my plate is high vibrational and it's crazy.

So amazing. A tweet I've been enjoying puppy love tweeted accidentally told Amelia Bedelia to slay everyone. Stay inside. You know, as we're as we're doing the horror reboot of Winnie the Pooh. Maybe maybe we take a take a look at Amelia Bedelia also. But you can find me on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien. You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist. We're at The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram.

We have a Facebook fan page and a website, DailyZeitgeist.com, where we post our episodes and our footnotes. Footnotes. Where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode, as well as a song that we think you might enjoy super producer justin do you have a song that you think people might enjoy i do this is a song by a amazing artist called now she's from east london i've recommended her music before this song has a close tie to me it gives me the vibes of like Kiss from a Rose, but like a modern day version of that where there's more modern production

going on in this, but very, very big song, huge emotions. Yeah. So if you want to check this out and have yourself a good day after listening to some good music, this is A Life Like This by Now, N-A-O. And you can find that song in the footnotes. Thank you, Justin. The Daily Zeitgeist is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That is going to do it for us this morning. Back this afternoon to tell you what is trending and we will talk to y'all then. Bye. Bye. I love y'all.

Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour.

If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed.

Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way

we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.

Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to The Making of a Rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.