The Daily Zeitgeist - An Update From Miles, STFU Fonzie & Huberman 01.10.25

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

In this edition, Jack and Bryan The Editor relay an important message from Miles and address Henry Winkler and Andrew Huberman's arson rumors. DONATE: Fundraiser by Britt Zahren : Support the Kaller/Gray Family's RecoverySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joel, the holidays are a blast, but the financial hangover, that can be a huge bummer. If you are out there and you're dreading the new statement email that reveals the massive balance that you may have racked up, well, you could use our help. That's right. I'm Joel. And I am Matt. And we're from the How to Money Podcast. Our show is all about helping you make sense of your personal finances so you can ditch

your pesky credit card debt once and for all, make real progress on other crucial financial goals that you've got, and just feel more in control of your money in general. You know it. For money advice without the judgment and jargon, listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you want a shortcut to the best version of you? Here it is. Feed the good wolf. I'm Eric Zimmer, host of The One You Feed. Every week I talk to brilliant minds and brave souls about the art of small, powerful choices.

Our listeners say it all. This is a lifeline. Transformational. The best antidote to a bad mood I've ever heard. Join the pack and start feeding your best self. Listen to the one you feed on the

iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Nikki Glaser. So I hosted the Golden Globes at Hollywood's biggest party. Honestly, you've probably seen all the headlines this week, but like any good party, there's a lot of wild stuff that goes down behind the scenes that you don't know about. And since I hosted the Golden Globes, I'm letting my podcast listeners, my besties,

in on all the behind the scenes tea. Stuff that didn't make it to the live TV taping, what went down in rehearsals, who said what at the after party. You're going to hear it all. Listen to the Nikki Glaser podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all, I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford,

host of Therapy for Black Girls. This January, join me for our third annual January Jumpstart series. Starting January 1st, we'll have inspiring conversations to give you a hand in kickstarting your personal growth. If you've been holding back or playing small, this is your all access pass to step fully into the possibilities of the new year.

This is it there for Black Girls starting on January 1st on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together our mission. On the Really No Really podcast. Is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way

to the floor, what's in the museum of failure and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to reallynoreally.com. And register to win $500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblelet. The really know really podcast. Follow us on the iHeart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello the internet and Welcome to this special Friday

trending edition of their daily zeitgeist. Yeah, there he is. You might have. I'm hoping that he will keep it. You got to hear him take a big hit. Big old hit right as we were starting. I'm Jack O'Brien. That over there is Brian, the editor. Who's that? It's only over there is Brian the editor Who's that it's only me Brian the editor his I his only I

Coming to us all the way from Mexico de F a Mexico City One of the few pieces of middle school Spanish that school Spanish that I, I think I retained. I don't even know if it's right though. It's see that they make it go see that they may he go, okay. If you say so. Uh, but I think Mr. Vacchiano Italian Spanish teacher, uh, who got mad at me once I started wearing cross-colored clothes.

Uh, he might know a little bit better than you. Wow. Yeah. He just pulled me aside one day and was like, I used to think you were a good kid, but look at you. Look at you. Look at you. That is a fucking transgress.

I know. Holy shit. Now I think you're a punk. I think he literally used the word punk. And it was my last day. I was moving the next day. And he was like, I just want you to know on your way out that I think you're a real piece of shit. Anyway, at least he taught me the wrong name for Mexico City.

Brian, we don't usually do trending episodes on Friday. I was at my keyboard last night, furiously typing about some shit I'm seeing in response to the fires. But the main reason that I wanted to check in with people is, you know, Miles has been out all week. I wanted to let him kind of share what was going on with him and his family in his own time and in his own time and in his own way.

But he did tweet about it a couple days ago and given me permission to share a couple things with you guys. So first of all, just read his tweet. Hey everyone, the family is safe, but we unfortunately lost our home like countless others did in the Eton Canyon fire I will have more to say once I'm able to process things a bit But for now just wanted to let people know we are safe and we will find a way forward miles and Yeah, we actually you know, I've been texting with him a lot obviously, you know

Their safety was my number one concern I've been texting with him a lot, obviously. Their safety was my number one concern. I think a lot of people's number one concern, but this is just a real mind fuck and incredibly difficult to deal with. They're going through it, but as we were about to record this, he happened to call. So Brian and I got to speak with him. They just put up a GoFundMe this morning after a while of like kind of not knowing, you know, feeling weird asking for help. But they finally did, which I think is the right thing. And immediately,

you know, they're getting a lot of donations. They're well on their way to their goal. But we're going to we're going to put the link to the GoFundMe in the episode description of this episode. And, you know, please, if you can, if you have something to give, by all means, they're great people and just the the outpouring from the listeners. Yeah Yeah, miles wanted to want to thank all the listeners for all their kind words and support. Yeah, and Just for being the you know, great people that zeitgang are yeah, we're always you know we always talk about when it comes to like our

listeners showing up to comedy shows for guests on the show who have a comedy show and like gang will show up and they're always like man you guys have like Really great fans and they're totally not weird at all. They're not weird How did that happen? We don't know how that happened because we're both very weird. Yeah How did that happen? We don't know how that happened because we're both very weird. Yeah. But we're always so proud when we just get a look at who you guys are in the community

that we've built around this show. And yeah. Yeah. So I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. Miles was so grateful. And I was, you know, sitting there crying like a bitch as I were not like a bitch, but I was sitting there. It's more like a school girl.

Yeah, like very high pitched and unpleasant to listen to. No, but yeah, thanks to everybody who is reaching out and, you know, finding ways to help Miles and his family and a lot of the people who are, you know, going through it right now because of these kind of unprecedented fires, increasingly precedent fires, I will say. So yeah, I don't know. He said a lot and I don't, I wasn't taking detailed notes because again, I was crying but like trying to act like I wasn't. I was like, yeah, totally, totally man.

He is going to be back when he can be. So he'll be able to speak to it himself. And then I did just want to talk about the people who aren't being that helpful when it comes to the crisis that LA is living through. The fires, you know, as we record this on Friday, still the biggest ones are not contained. Some of them I think are 0% contained, which seems like not the number you're looking for. No, no. But a lot of people, a lot of firefighters fighting

valiantly out there. A lot of just Steph Curry from way downtown, water drops happening. Kobe, swish! Except not... Anyways, don't do that. I fear hell will crash upon you. I do just want to continue to talk about this American need to find the singular villain as long as that singular villain is not a wealthy fossil fuel executive who has been systematically poisoning and creating the circumstances for what we're all experiencing and living through. That would be, I think, if we're going to find a villain, there's your villain. These people who have buildings on college campuses named after them for having just made obscene amounts of money from the fossil fuel industry. Those are the people who we should be blaming.

If you're going to blame anybody, here's a novel idea. We could look out for each other and not try to constantly find a villain. Yeah. Yeah. That that that's something I'd like to see. Yeah. But, and I do feel like there are some people who are doing that, but the, the way it and that's usually happening under the surface and not, it's not being, it's not happening in the media.

No. And you know, the media, uh, it's not narratively as exciting to help each other out and, and yeah, cool resources and all that stuff. It's much more exciting to have an action movie going on in the fucking news yes exactly that's right and social media has also been I don't know I go back and forth on like the direction of media feels inevitable I always tell this anecdote about how the inventor of the loudspeaker blamed himself for the rise of fascism and social and. Oh yeah, that guy.

And I think at the time he was doing that, it made sense to people because like one day in order to reach a big group of people, you had to have a loud voice and stand on like a soap box. Literally, that's where that comes from. And then somebody created a technology and now, you know, they could reach an entire auditorium full of people. And he was like, that is my fault. Hitler is my bad. And which is funny because I mean, radio, you know, wasn't right around then. So I think he's big up in himself a little bit. Yeah. And I think that's why it looks ridiculous

because in retrospect, it's like, that was one tiny step along the path for like mass broadcasting technology. But I also just always bring it up because I think, you know, as invisible as that seems to us now, the invention of the loudspeakers, we're at a point where like social media, basically, like people like, OK, it's kind of beside the point to make arguments about social media, but just some of the like fucking Henry Winkler, the Fonz.

Oh, boy. I guess it was Thursday and it was pretty early on Thursday too. You know, apparently got like truly existentially scared for the first time and you know, seeing his friends houses burned down and declared, there's an arsonist on the loose in LA. And it of course got like tons of play and like so many people in the comments being like, yes, finally somebody's saying it. Like, so the idea that immediately took hold in the comments and around social media is like,

not only was there an arsonist, but there was a conspiracy to say there wasn't an arsonist. And because I guess they, this is like part of the narrative that we want to blame climate and fossil fuel executives unfairly. I don't know. Like I don't, I truly don't know like what baffling like, yeah. Based on, based on what Mr. Fonzarelli? Yeah, I don't know. It seemed like he was implying he had a secret source. I'm sure he, you know, wealthy people hang out with other wealthy people. They love to be like, I know a guy who knows a thing,

like who secretly knows that there is, in fact, yellow cake uranium in Iraq, you know? Like they all- He's like, Ron Howard told me that his brother Clint saw a guy with a flamethrower. Then they found a unhoused person with a blowtorch in the valley and this, you know, seemed to confirm what everybody already wanted to believe that it's actually poor people who are the problem with. Fuck did an unhoused person get a blow torch?

I know. And that's like early, early reporting of a thing that it seemed like everybody already really wanted to believe. Like Andrew Huberman. Do you know who that is? He's like, I know that has a massive podcast. He's like a Stanford PhD. Um, but he's like now spent four years, too many being told he's smart, uh, by everyone around him and his mind,

it's poisoned his mind and now he thinks he's like smart about everything. Um, and so he took a video of like an empty lot in, I think it was Santa Monica that that had a fire in it and was like, they're starting fires out here, man. Like, geez. And someone in the comments was like, wait, I know those people that are in that video, they were there trying to fight that fire. But it was, and you can like see the difference in like the person pointing out like, Oh no, that's me. That's, that's my friend. We were trying to fight that fire with a garden hose until the firefighters got there. Uh, those people are being down vote, you know, their,

their comments are dead before they hit the feed. And then the comments that are like, this is the conspiracy. They don't want us to know that it's actually drug addicts and unhoused people that are causing these fires. So horny for like secret knowledge or like they're in some sort of fucking club that knows more than everybody else. And the secret, the wild thing about this conspiracy, the reason I'm so skeptical about Andrew Huberman's

eyewitness testimony and the Fonz's testimony is it's a conspiracy that is protecting unhoused people and drug addicts, the people who have never once been protected and treated with any deference in the history of the United States. If there's a way to blame them, they are going to be blamed. Trust you, me. So anyways, after those initial reports, the other thing that's making me somewhat skeptical, the police, who would love nothing, you know, would love nothing more than a bad guy to pin this thing on. Yeah. Or something to do. They're already, as we've talked about, like during past press conferences, they're already jumping into the press conference being like, don't even think

about it. And the press is like, well, sorry, who are you talking? Don't even. Exactly. Don't even think about it. Okay. I'm just saying. Do you mean like arsonists? Do you mean loot? Don't. Nope. Don't. Don't even. Don't even think about it. Okay. I'm just saying, uh, do you mean like arsonist? Do you mean loot? Don't, no, don't, don't even, don't think about anything. Don't even think about anything, please. Uh, that would actually help us a lot. You know, like Andrew Huberman, uh, in his video is like on the phone with the police, uh, being like, Hey, there's a fire here or the fire station. Um, the police are coming.

They apparently arrived. It is not a location where one of the fires started. So they were able to put it out and like, there's a Fox news article that is like, uh, actually the police like say there's no instances of arson. Like that was before they found the one on house guy with like a lighter or slash blowtorch. But they were like, there's none. There's no examples to support the Fonz and Andrew Huberman. But like, you know that they would fucking do anything

to have that be true. I mean, you can tell from that press conference, it's like, looking at the context of that press conference. It's like why are you even here? Yeah, like either help or get the fuck out of the way like no one's checking for you Yeah, they're so horny for there to be a bad guy. They can blame they need it It's coming. It's coming. There's going to be bad guys There's going to be unhoused people that they're gonna pin this on. I think you got already got somebody But I'm just saying I I would remain pretty skeptical

that that is actually what's going on here as opposed to the fact that There are all these fires starting all over the place because it is the most windy it's ever been Which seems to be the thing that drove the fires? all over the place because it is the most windy it's ever been, which seems to be the thing that drove the fires. That's another thing where you can tell that everyone's brain is kind of broken. Not everyone, but people who are coming up with, coming up with these wild ideas. I lived in LA for 35 years. Yeah. Fires number one are a part of life

in Southern California. Like, there are fires that devastate people's lives every year. What's unusual about this is it's fucking January. And this is, I cannot remember That's right. a time when fire season extended well into winter like this. This is highly unusual to me as a native. When there's massive rains that cause flash flooding.

This is this is a flooding season, not a fire season. This is not fire season. This is not normal. And it just seems like people have this, it's like they memory hole. It's kind of like with the hurricane people during hurricane season where it's like the government sent the blah, blah, blah. And it's like, no, dude, this happens every year. It's just getting worse and more frequent. And there's no one to blame in regards to this is a thing that happens, but the frequency

and the scale of this is highly unusual. And this is a climate disaster. Like this is very not normal. Blaming unhoused people with lighters on them is fully delusional. And yeah, I get that it's a sexy, a sexy idea to like turn this into like some sort of criminal investigation, but we're in, we're in a really fucked up room. And acknowledging that is, is a, would be a huge step to addressing the actual issue. Yeah. Like,

it's, it's wild that people cannot accept the reality of the situation to me. Yeah, it's very frustrating and it just, you know, like the fact that it's the Fonz, like well-respected, I think liberal icon, the Fonz and like Andrew Huberman, like Stanford, scientists, Guy, like these are the sorts of people that we used to be able to rely on. And now, you know, I will say, all right, so fossil fuel, if we, if we need to create villains, it's the fossil fuel executives who knew about the ship before anybody and then took that knowledge and used it to suppress the information.

Also just the fact that, you know, so what we're seeing is a massive problem with the fact that for a long time, we didn't let people publish stuff they thought they saw, right? Like people would think they saw something and then they would go to a newsroom, they would, you know, that had a legal department that didn't want to get sued. And they would vet stuff. They would have to vet stuff and they wouldn't be able to publish stuff

without having it fact checked. And the reason that we had that system in place is because back when people could publish stuff, they thought they saw the world believed world believed in ghosts and they thought big foot and shit. They thought plagues were caused by like, you know, letting fresh air in and you know, demons and shit. So I just like, I would also lump Mark Zuckerberg in, uh, his new, his new plan to not fact check because that is biased is fucked up and probably going to take us into a down a very bad path that we're already like well on our way down.

But I don't know, man. You heard him, folks. The democratization of the news has ruined us. Uh, yeah, I mean, kind of, yeah, it really like, there are no arbiters. There are just people yelling into the void. It just seemed like this fight being in the midst of this fire and watching it, like I've talking to people the day after the Fonz is like, it's arsonists. People are like, yeah, I agree.

People are being weird, but I did hear there's arsonists. I'm just like, well, yeah, I don't know. And I don't, I don't think there's necessarily a way to put the whole social media, uh, Jeannie back in the bottle. But, you know, but if you got listeners, you know, if you're listening to this show, you probably got a decent head on your shoulders. But if you got any goofy ass friends

talking this nonsense, please check them. What they talk about, they talk about nothing. Please don't let these weird ass, you know, I would say thoughts, but there's not a whole lot of thought put into them. Don't let this stuff go by unchallenged, you know, I would say thoughts, but there's not a whole lot of thought put into them. Don't let this stuff go by unchallenged, you know? Yeah. If you, if you hear people spouting nonsense like this, check your people.

Yeah. I think like we're, we're at such a weird place where like a lot of community has been destroyed and then the one thing that gives you a feeling of being part of some larger hole is like whole is like shared delusions is like shared delusions like transmitting memes and shit like on social media, like being part of social media, but it's like so toxic. It's just like, and you get to be a neuron that's sending delusional messages to the shared brain that we're all part of. That's how you get to be part of this large

body of humanity that we're all part of. So it's, yeah. The past few days have made me certain that in like a hundred years, looking back on the year 2025, people will be like oh wow the United States was the worst place you could have possibly lived at that moment in time like those people worked so hard justified so much burned so many calories on cognitive dissonance in order to live and die in a place that objectively was one of the worst places to live and die. And yeah, a place that hates you. That hate you. Yeah.

Like, yeah, that does not want to see you shine at all. Nah. Anyway, so that's my hopeful take, but we do have each other. And like I said, we will be linking off to the GoFundMe for Miles's family in the show notes. Yes. In the footnote. Please only donate if you have the funds to do that. Don't put yourself out.

Yeah, yeah. If you can, Miles obviously will really appreciate it, but do not put yourself out. Yeah. And so many people have helped so much already. Like honestly, like please don't do anything that is going to make it too difficult for yourself. But yeah, you guys, Zyte Gang are great and we thank you for your support and your kind words.

Yeah, all right. Those are some of the things that are Are we not doing this Taco Bell story? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, All right. Have a great weekend. Again, thank you guys for being such a great community. We love y'all. And Miles loves you guys and really appreciates you. And we'll talk to y'all on Monday. Have a great weekend. Bye.

Stay safe, take care of each other. Bye. Joel, the holidays are a blast, but the financial hangover, that can be a huge bummer. If you are out there and you're dreading the new statement email that reveals the massive balance that you may have racked up, well, you could use our help. That's right. I'm Joel. And I am Matt. And we're from the How To Money Podcast.

Our show is all about helping you make sense of your personal finances so you can ditch your pesky credit card debt once and for all, make real progress on other crucial financial goals that you've got and just feel more in control of your money in general. You know it for money advice without the judgment and jargon. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you want a shortcut to the best version of you?

Here it is. Feed the good wolf. I'm Eric Zimmer, host of The One You Feed. Every week I talk to brilliant minds and brave souls about the art of small, powerful choices. Our listeners say it all. This is a lifeline. Transformational. The best antidote to a bad mood I've ever heard.

Join the pack and start feeding your best self. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Nikki Glaser. or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm letting my podcast listeners, my besties, in on all the behind the scenes tea. Stuff that didn't make it to the live TV taping. What went down in rehearsals? Who said what at the after party? You're going to hear it all. Listen to the Nikki Glaser podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all. I'm Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, host of Therapy for Black Girls. This January, join me for our third annual January Jumpstart Series. Starting January 1st, we'll have inspiring conversations to give you a hand in kickstarting your personal growth. If you've been holding back or playing small,

this is your all access pass to step fully into the possibilities of the new year. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls starting on January 1st on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together our mission.

On the Really No Really podcast. Is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like. Why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor? What's in the museum of failure? And does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to ReallyNoReally.com. And register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason

Bobblehead. The Really No Really podcast. Follow us on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.