The Daily Zeitgeist - Dems V Casual Midterms Strategy 10.20.22

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

In episode 1355, Jack and Miles are joined by the author of If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe, Jason Pargin, to discuss… Dems told NOT TO TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMY…GOP IS, The Multiverse Of It All and more! Dems told NOT TO TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMY…GOP IS LISTEN: Making Sense Stop by Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis PupulSee 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 259, episode 4 of Der Daily Zeitgeist, a production of iHeartRadio. This is a podcast where we take a deep dive into America's shared consciousness, and it is, of course, Thursday, October 20th, 2022. My name's Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. Potatoes O'Brien, a.k.a.

Bad on Pot To Eatos O'Brien, and I'm thrilled to be joined, as always, by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray! Well, before I get to my a.k.a., my good man, I might let the people know what today is. Oh, shit, I forgot about the day. It's okay. You know, it's a busy day. It's National Youth Confidence Day, National Chicken and Waffles Day, National Get Smart About Credit Day, but that's probably for the banks to let you know but anyway shout out to chicken and waffles and youth confidence youth confidence oh also brandied fruit day that's brandied fruit is that even a thing that's like from the victorian yeah no we're not. I'm not really interested in that. But yes, my name is Miles Gray, a.k.a. Cake Crotch, laser tag Cake Crotch, laser tag Cake Crotch with Harrison Ford.

Shout out at So Trash, S-E-A-U-X Trash. You know, because look, I was out here with Cake Crotch and met Harrison Ford and it was a whole thing. So thank you for creating an AKA to commemorate that. He gave you the literal sunglass tilt of the 80s movies. Yeah. Like this nerd, he's like, is this that laser zone place? But it was probably a practical sunglass tilt in the sense that he was coming in from outside, from the street, into a dark room where some kid was furiously doing something to his crotch area and so he probably was like i was getting icing off yeah from a

costco sheet cake anyways miles we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by the best-selling author of books like john dies at the end zo Zoe Punches the Future and the Dick, and the newly released fourth book in the John Dies at the End franchise, If This Book Exists Here in the Wrong Universe. He's my former co-worker at Cracked.com, co-creator of the Cracked Podcast. Welcome back to the show, Jason Pargin! So once again, we did not have a horrible tragedy break out right before I was about to come on which is something that I never want to happen on a show where I'm going to be promoting my book

because it should be on like the day after a queer national tragedy or some sort of a terrible event that we've been forced to spend the entire episode talking about and then at the very end of it, just having to say, well,

and also with, in this trying time, if you want to be distracted with, uh, right. You know, a piece of, of like humorous cosmic horror.

Yeah. I have written a novel that will, but again, you don't, please don't feel pressured. Like I'm, this is a day of mourning. Yeah.

I'm trying to think of like the worst day to have come on to promote a book that is a like humor cosmic horror novel like we we did we recorded through january 6th like january 6th was happening on our tvs as we were recording that was pretty that would have been pretty distracting, I guess. Yeah, that was a little bit tough, for sure. At least there was the element of the ridiculous, like the guy in the buffalo horns and stuff like that. It was obviously horrible, but also there was still plenty

that people were making fun of. So it would have to be some truly like another, yeah, I don't know, a mass shooting involving a school or something. So, but, but it does not look like, uh, now not to jinx it.

Right. Nope. But, uh, yeah, this doesn't come out until tomorrow. So this episode might just be completely unusable. Oh,

Jesus. Well, look, I mean, the Lakers and the Sixers were robbed, uh, recently. So that was,

that was a tragedy, but we'll get into that. We're all coping with that. It is the Sixers were robbed recently. Oh, my gosh. So that was a tragedy, but we'll get into that in another podcast. We're all coping with that. It is the day after the NBA season, so for at least half of NBA fans, you know. But anyways, it's good that you at least evoked, brought into existence via just speculation, a horrible tragedy. So that's at least good. How are you doing, Jason? It's been a while.

It's fine. I've become a TikTok influencer. I've noticed. Because, yeah, I realized a couple months ago around in August that I had to be on there because the audiences elsewhere were just dying off. And it's so hard to watch that happen to Facebook, too, to see their engagement just fall and that stock price just fall. The good people at Facebook. Yeah, they've done so much for us.

But anyway, so I could spend the entire show talking about that because TikTok is unique in that there's no, like you can't hire somebody to run a TikTok for you. Right. Unless you do like a face-off situation because it's got to be your face, your voice. It's not, you're not posting just, you know, like some comedians get a Twitter where all it is is some bot posting the tour dates, stuff like that. Right, right. Well, TikTok, they don't show it to anybody unless it's your face, your voice.

It is the entire point of the app. It's not for uploading funny clips. It's not for anything else. It is your face, your voice. It is the entire point of the app. It's not for uploading funny clips. It's not for anything else. It is your face and your voice. So suddenly after spending much of my career, like not even wanting people to see me and then not wanting people to hear me and then like joining your podcast, like, well, that's fine. It's just my voice. Now it's like, no, you are judged based on how you look that day. Your, your physical attractiveness will, will to some degree play into how your future books sell. It's a great world that has been personal charisma. You didn't have any fun with it. Like try like a mask or like a mustache.

So at least you're physically present and it is your voice, but you've obscured your sort of appearance. If that is a thing people can do, I guess that is, I could have done that. Like I wonder, yeah, like it's like Jason with the Jason mask or something, you know what I mean? They're like, yo, this Jason's are actually really insightful. And then that way I could, I could in fact, just hire some intern to put on the mask and post for me. There you go. And then he's got an audio track. I'm just telling you. All right, Jason, we're going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment. First, we're going to tell our listeners a couple of the things we're talking

about today. The Democrats have been told not to talk about the economy. The Republicans are talking about the economy. We'll talk about how that is looking for the midterms. Anyways, all of that, plenty more. But first, Jason, we like to ask our guests, what is something from your search history? Anye Name Change. Because I did, you probably think I only did your podcast in the course of promoting the book this week. I actually did several. Yeah. Oh. And the last one, which I'm not going to say the name of it because it's another news show. And I know you have a bitter rivalry with all other. Yeah. Like daily or weekly headline shows. Yeah. We don't even acknowledge their existence. There's no such thing as other news shows. We're going to cut this out, actually.

Yeah. Justin, just. Well, no, we don't need to say. We don't need to say what show it was. But on the show, like Cody and his co-hosts were, they kept referring to Kanye as yay. And I thought they were being informal, like, you know, like referring to Shaquille O'Neal as just Shaq. And I thought they were just doing it. And then finally realized, oh, no, he legally had his name changed. And I probably came off like a dick because I called him Kanye during the whole thing. But no, it legally had his name changed. And I probably came off like a dick because I called him Kanye during the whole thing. But no, it's legally Ye.

And so. But you know what? It's kind of like when Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of Facebook to Meta. Like not everybody's respecting it. It's like, okay, fine, you're Meta, but like, you're still Kanye. Like, cool, Ye.

But to some of, I was, it's hard for me to like, like you're saying be like, well but to some of I was it's it's hard for me to like like you're saying be like well he did change his name to yay like Puff Daddy did this a ton of times I kept calling him Puff Daddy didn't call him Diddy didn't call him P Diddy Puff or whatever so I don't know I switched to Diddy because it was easier to say yay is just confusing it's a it's hard for me to kind of it's harder for me so i'll just i just stick with kanye i'm not trying to boast about my ignorance here i don't know puff daddy's current correct legal name i think he's just diddy at the moment that was his first one that was no

first was p diddy then it was he he realized that the news would report if he made, like, slight alterations because I think then he was, like, from P. Diddy to just Diddy, and people were like, new name change. Because first he was Sean Puffy Combs, then he was Puff Daddy, and then he became

P. Diddy, then his solo album came out, he had that one track produced by the Neptunes, where he said, the D, the I, the D, the D, the Y, the D, the I, the D is Diddy, Then his solo album came out. He had that one track produced by the Neptunes. He said, the D, the I, the D, the D, the Y, the D, the I, the D is Diddy. And now I think all his handles are at Diddy now. But you're Sean Puffy Combs. That actually spells Diddy Did,

I believe. Yeah. Look, I was confused by that. It's not a palindrome, as he realized. He's like, what if I... Nah, forget it. It's fine. Yeah, the name change. Do we think, as we were mentioning that Facebook tried a name change to Meta, do we think they were inspired by Meta World Peace,

which was one of the more successful name changes, I feel like, one that everybody was on board with? Do we think they're like, that everybody was on board with. Do we get there like that? That's so what Mark Zuckerberg is like, cool. I want people to know that Facebook went to therapy and got it together. We are now meta. Yeah.

Like meta world peace. We're not running our tests anymore. I think it's just, it's them. Remember? Cause he's just trying to do the metaverse and every article, we haven't really reported about it, but like every report is like, we're losing users.

Only five people use this. People are getting sick motion sickness from vr headsets jason pargin has started a tiktok account we're fucked yeah what's something you think is overrated jason i'm not reporting this as news that's why we have it here and not in the news section but apparently air, among these people talk, they have Facebook groups, they are active on TikTok. And somehow I have wound up in Airbnb TikTok for some reason. And apparently bookings have collapsed. So I've got in our notes here, I posted in our doc, but this is just people eavesdropping on all of these groups. And apparently Airbnb owners everywhere are saying the same thing that they, that bookings are way, way, way down, which if you don't understand why some people are getting some like glee from that

Airbnb, like this has screwed up the real estate market in a very terrible way because people would snatch up these properties and then turn them, flip them into Airbnbs. And it is a business model that should never have been a thing in the form that it is right now. The hotels are better in a lot of ways and the way they'll do a thing where they list it for $260 a night, but by the time they've tacked on their cleaning fees and everything else, it's $600 a night. Everybody's mad at Airbnb. So hearing that these people who, especially during like the stimulus period, were taking their money and rolling it into investment properties for Airbnbs, these people kind of, if this is true, kind of having to eat their words on this, it's kind of similar to when the whole NFT market collapsed,

when a lot of, we really didn't feel too bad for these. Like I get it. It's real people losing real money. But also, yeah, it's, you're,

you're, you're preventing real affordable options for people to live in when you're just hoarding all the, the inventory to be like, you know what? If I put a couple of fake bank sees on the wall, I can charge 700 a night. Yeah.

It's also just similar to Facebook and all the failing tech businesses we're talking about. Another example where like they were just like, what if we just completely removed the oversight from any any of the communication, any of the journalism, any of the technologies that have existed before, such as hotels and motels. What if we were just like, yeah, no, that's just up to everybody now to determine and tell the truth and not be racist. And that has not turned out well for a lot of people to the point that we talked recently that Airbnb horror movies are kind of like the new rage.

Venue for horror. Yeah, which kind of makes sense. Let me ask you this, Jack. I'm going to ask your opinion. So Uber and Airbnb both, in their early, early stages, allegedly were only intended to be this almost what they called back when they called it the sharing economy. Almost this hippies idea of if you're in your car, it's like, hey, I got to drive to the airport. Anybody else need to go to the airport this afternoon? Right.

Pay me a few bucks. And all this app does is arrange that. And then Airbnb, same thing, where it's like, hey, we've got a spare bedroom. If you're in New York for whatever, $240 a night, you can stay in our bedroom instead of a hotel. Like this very friendly

share and share-like, it's going outside the economy, it's outside of capitalism. It's just an app that organizes this transaction between two people that obviously since then, they've both become freaking $100 billion venture capital monsters. Because what you actually have done is like, oh, you've actually tried to make cabs obsolete by eliminating all regulation oversight. You've tried to make hotels obsolete by eliminating all the overhead costs. oversight. You've tried to make hotels obsolete by eliminating all the overhead costs. Do you think when they first came up with these ideas that it's true that they only thought, oh, it'll be a fun thing just for individuals? Or do you think they secretly thought, no, this is a way to circumvent?

Yeah, I don't know, because there is something exciting about both of those ideas. I could see those getting off the ground a little bit. And, and, you know, I could see myself getting excited about the idea of like, yeah, what if we all just like shared stuff?

And, you know, you had, it was like basically a replacement for hitchhiking, except you had a technological record of like the car you were getting into. So it was safer and you weren't going to be murdered or like completely disappeared from from the planet and then it really does seem like the trillion dollar valuation is where you like where you run into trouble because that's when you have to just start

enforcing like no no no no we we cover this up like anything bad that happens here we cover it up we have massive hordes of lawyers who are are in charge of covering it up whereas you know like there's craigslist is you know has had its you know bumps but like it's one that just kind of stayed the same as like we're going to replace this very specific, not profitable, like older piece of technology of like the back of the newspaper where people would advertise like come come get my mattress if you if you're in the market for a mattress. And that that feels like it's at least managed to be like not overtly evil you know and so maybe there is a different path but i it almost feels like academic to ask the question of like what what their intentions were at that at that original point because well you i think you can just look at the evolution of all these things that brand themselves as disruptors to a given industry and it seems like there's probably

the vision of like someone who's like yo what if we we offered a different vision but i'm sure once like you get into the vc world and you're relying on like venture capital to like actually make your expand your business they're like hold on yeah we can disrupt the fuck out of the hotel industry and it's more like yeah maybe this can go in that direction but it's hard like i mean yeah it's it seems like they constantly evolve in that same direction so it's hard to know if that was always the intent or just what happens when inherently you kind of, especially with Airbnb, you see a lot that people just got, they're like, oh man, I can do some like, like part-time landlording stuff and

see how that goes. And you see how much the prices have just gone up and up and up and up to the point where like, i've seen like in that article that you were sharing jason like a lot of people talking about palm desert and palm springs there's a lot of people from la who would rent those houses but the the houses themselves cost more than hotel rooms and like without the same amenities so people are like who the fuck do you what are you fucking kidding with these prices so i'm sure there's like i don't know what the middle is like if it's half the people who are the hosts kind of getting, you know, in over their skis with how they're pricing stuff or, you know, if that's just sort of the nature of how these kinds of

platforms move. Yeah, it's interesting. All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll talk midterm elections and tease of your underrated. Sorry, I don't like to do that. tease of your underrated. Sorry, I don't like to do that. Nope. 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 L.A.-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 first-hand 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? 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. 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.

In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised 150 grand in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful.

I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks.

President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current.

Available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And Jason, what is something that you think is underrated? The importance of midterm elections. What? Apparently. And this is something like, I think a piece of history that has gotten lost, which is that the 2014 midterms after Obama won his second term, that's where Mitch McConnell and this Republican Senate became a thing because they won a bunch of

seats in those midterms. And everything that's happened since, including losing abortion rights, that happened because of 2014. Because the moment McConnell gains control of the Senate and makes the world-changing rule that a Republican Senate will only approve Supreme Court justices from a Republican president, like they will not even hold a vote from, like that's now the rule from now on. There will not be a vote from any Democratic Supreme Court justice as long as Republicans hold the Senate, the McConnell rule. Like, that was one of the most consequential decisions ever that allowed them to obviously get an extra seat, and then that set the stage for everything that came after that. But that was, that all history pivoted on a midterm election in which 37 percent of registered voters turned out because we tend to not care about the midterms,

even though they are just as important as the presidential elections and probably more so. Yeah. That we are about to run into one where I think the consequences of the Republicans gaining both houses of Congress, which is extremely possible, are monumental. And I don't get the sense that, like on Twitter among pundits, they talk about the consequences. I think out among the regular average people, either they're not going to vote at all or else they're voting based on abortion. That's a minority, though. And then everybody else, it's are you mad enough about

high gas prices to vote and everybody else stays home yeah i mean especially like right now you if you want a preview of what a republican controlled you know congress looks like there are just like 30 republicans just introduced a bill that was like a federal don't say gay bill you know where they're just like you know what if you like you will not get federal money if you have sex if you make quote sexually oriented materials available to children wow and yeah like it's there there are i think they've messaged or made it clear to the people who are like looking at what they were saying that it's like yeah we're all in on this Like, we're not going to hold back once we're there. Like we're trying to get this thing over the finish line to ram through as

much regressive legislation as possible. And also just successfully like just choke the life out of, by, by just putting Biden through like, this is going to happen if the house swings Republican, which, you know, polling is suggesting 80%,. But like just the Benghazi style like hearings and, you know, just nonstop attacks on on Biden, which are just going to be like so boring and just choke the life out of and like the energy out of out of people's

like ability to give a shit or even like take take politics seriously i feel like i don't know republicans must have polling that shows that that whole like they are grooming our children in the schools to become sexual deviants. They must have polling that shows people are just incredibly passionate about that in their key demographics or whatever, because they hit that so hard. And it's such an inconsequential nonsense issue. Like, even if schools were, even if their libraries contain nothing but filth, the school library is not where kids find their filth. Right.

It would make it unpopular. Yeah. Yeah. It wouldn't, if anything, it's the same thing as like these bitter, bitter fights about how they're teaching about slavery. It's like,

you know, they're not listening, right? You understand that the kids are, don't pay attention either way. And it's like, no, we demand a whole week teaching that actually the American exceptionalism is good. It's like, fine.

They're not going to retain any of that. School is not where those ideas are formed. It's from their peers. It's from pop culture. It's from their friends and what they're watching on YouTube. But it's such a phony issue that they hit it so hard. Because a lot of these bills they introduced, they're not going to hold up in court. A lot of cases, it doesn't matter. They want the headlines that they passed a bill to protect the kids from the groomers and the public school system. And it's so destructive and so weird. It makes life so much harder on teachers. But they must, like I said, they must have internal polling showing that that is just such a, just a killer.

And it must be because they think it shows, it drives turnout. Yeah. Because it must really motivate people to come out. It's, it's like the, we got to push back on the sexual revolution thing appeals to conservative religious people, like no matter what religion you are. You know, we've seen that in Michigan where you have Christians and conservative, like no matter what religion you are. You know, we've seen that in Michigan, where you have Christians and conservative, like Muslim Americans who are like, we don't want this stuff in front of our kids. And suddenly you're like, wait, okay, I guess I see the overlap here where they, you know, no matter how the religiosity of people is really feeding into that sort of like

pushback against anything they see as any kind of progress in terms of how we view sexuality in the country. And I think that's, there was an article in the New Republic talking about that. Also, just like when you see like democratic analysts go out there, sometimes they're always talking about like, well, you know, the economic anxiety and things like that. But there's also like this religious devotion dimension to a lot of it that is suddenly kind of resonating with more people to be like yeah you know what protect our kids right because i think this stuff is just beyond the pale for how i was raised or my belief system right and it's it's it's like the a great way to get people like outraged and angry and you know to bringing up kids is like one of the oldest things.

Well, one of the oldest plays in like the antisemitic playbook is like that Jewish people attack children or eat children and babies and, you know, but yeah, ban Bannon was saying six months ago in like on, on his podcast that like the, the future of the fight is in like pta meetings

he was like i i found my first like group of exploitable angry people in gaming forums like he specifically like went after like the gamer gate thing and was like that that was eye-opening to me and now he's going after pta meetings. He feels like that's that's where the future of the movement is in that anger. But let's stay on on politics, because it does seem like there's a continued strategy for the Democrats not to talk about the economy. to talk about the economy. Republicans are willing to talk about the economy. And there's just like at least how it breaks down nationally. It seems like that's Republicans want to make this about the economy, but the Democrats want to make it about abortion. And that feels like not I don't know, hiding from the economic realities of people's lives and the struggles they're going through is probably not a not a winning formula. Right. No. To be clear, there's no there's no Republican plan to fight inflation.

Right now, other than what they're already doing, which is to raise interest rates like that. There's not many levers you can pull to make that go away. You still just have the issue of production is slower than demand and that people are fighting over goods and prices keep going up. And then once prices start going up, everyone who is selling something has an excuse to raise their prices because you can say, oh, that's inflation. It's inflation. Yeah. Like, who wouldn't tack on 20% if you thought you had permission from the public to do so? them, you know, just fuel their casual strategy, despite

having literal, like, you know, theocratic fascists, like, foaming at the mouth to normalize even more cruel bullshit. It's like, do they understand the stakes? Because like you're saying, Jason, like, the sad thing is the Republicans are fucking terrible about talking about the economy

like in a substantive way because their economic agenda basically boils down to hey, fuck your life. Like, there's nothing much there in terms of like, here's a lifeline, here's an idea, what economy like in a substantive way because their economic agenda basically boils down to hey fuck your life like there's nothing much there in terms of like here's a lifeline here's an idea what can we do they have like nothing to address address like income inequality they don't pretend that wages are an issue so they're able to just be like it's out of control byron's raising the prices gas is out of control it's all because of this woke stuff that he's doing, which they've kind of they're trying to meld inflation with like whether that's student loan forgiveness or stimulus checks during the pandemic. They're just really going after that. And it's really hard to watch because

like there was a note that there's an article about how like Democrats were told just don't talk about the economy. And it's almost like they they don't want to acknowledge the thing that is very real and happening because they don't want to suddenly make the headlines and be like, oh, Democrats do think the inflation is a problem despite the Inflation Reduction Act that they just signed. So they're in this really ineffective position where they're just trying to hope that something else might shift the conversation again away from the economy. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen, especially as like the polls type. later, it's like, well, the reality is still the same. If anything, we've seen further examples of now floating a national abortion ban that they would do if they had all three branches of government at some point. So you would think, but you can see it in the polling, like the relevance

of the issue just kind of goes down and down and down with time as people, and same thing with scandals. It's like the scandal never went away, but a few weeks later, you kind of see people move on. And I don't know. I guess they could still turn up at the polls. It could still turn up. But at least in the polling, the passions over abortion as they go down, people angry about high prices just kind of swamps it because ultimately, most people do vote based on how much their gas is, their gasoline is. It's just it's just a reality. inequality because like again they've hit the peak of like a globalized economy and then anything else because on the path to this like peak that they've reached it created all these people left behind in the economy and to now look back at that it kind of like we've said before it requires them to begin having a reckoning with like capitalism which is just impossible so for them it's like fuck just don't fucking talk about it maybe we can just like we can just kind of you know stifle this the voices that are saying something bad is happening in the economy because they like why not just talk about inflation for

what it is like you're getting gouged by companies right but they can't because they're getting money from this it's like what the relationship is all fucked up that it's even hard for them to speak honestly about it. But it would be very difficult for them to do that, especially for, you know, like the mainstream establishment Democrats. I mean, the Democrats were still investing, like funding campaigns of very Trumpy, like hate speech spewing candidates, Trump approved candidates in six primaries during this election where they thought it gave them a better chance at winning. And it's probably going to work in at least five of the six and maybe all six, according to polling, although according to polling should probably be on 2016 was probably one of the all time biggest fuck ups in the history of U.S. politics. But the fact that they still pursue that strategy of like, well, the extremists like don't appeal to as many people. It just it's it's cynical. It's how you play politics, I guess. But yeah, it also Russian roulette. It's Russian roulette. And you're also contributing to a discourse that is normalizing like that sort of talking those sorts of ideas like what you're you're funding people who put those sorts of ideas. commercials where they like question the legitimacy of the election and right you know like just wild shit that and like the long there's no it seems like there's no long-term vision in in that game like the republicans just keep drifting further and further out to sea and the

democrats just like stay on shore and are like we're the only ones you got until it becomes clear that they're not going to do anything about economic inequality or, you know, the economic conditions that are making people's lives difficult, at which point they lose. And a party that has gone fully like white nationalists, misogynistic theocracy is now in power. And I think I think they probably had that as like a long term, like 20 year danger or something when they're right when they're doing these things. But it's it's it's not like it's it. There's just this cynicism. Like I remember listening to the crooked media guys talking ahead of the trump election being like we got all these bedwetters out here who like think that trump actually has

a chance and it's like this cynicism that like we got this we our numbers are good they like show us what's going to happen in the future and it really is fucking us in by having that be the default position of like the only alternative to something that is quickly becoming like a just overtly fascist party it's really it's really fucking dangerous and it's really frustrating the fact that they won't even talk about the economy because i mean i think that has more to do with the fact that the same thing that was driving Biden once he got into office to be like, I don't know my hands are tied here, guys.

Because he can't do anything because of how powerful the market is and these massive corporations are. Well, yeah, that's how entrenched he is in that too. Yeah. It's kind of a catch-22 though,

because one thing I know, and I got into arguing with some people about this, but whether or not you think Trump is a fascist, the one thing we did find out was that making your entire campaign calling him a fascist doesn't work. Right, right. Among the people who would potentially vote for him

or thinking about voting for him, that just, off them and all the talk about he's white nationalist he's a misogynist they're theocrats all those all those are just buzzwords where so i my fear is that in the next election or the next or the next if you think well hey, our entire campaign has to be playing like our ads are just lowlights of them saying horrible things. And us saying, see, it's us or the monsters. Yeah. That's just not a compelling message to people. No, you can't just gesture to the right and say, this is what you want. And again, like by even backing these people in the primaries, you're normalizing in the sense like Democrat or Republicans now like,

I don't know, you could be a Coke or Pepsi person. They're pretty similar because they're normal. That's like the binary when really it's like, no, they're going to create a world that is even more insufferable than the one we fucking have now. But even now we have people who are saying, I'm the alternative. What can I offer you for a vision of the future?

Not much, just that it's not this right now. And that, again, like it's just that's that doesn't really connect to people who might not be as engaged and are really asking questions. I'm like, what can I do to make my life better? How does how does represent how does representation and government affect me? And they're absolutely going to like miss that, like really fuck that fight up. Because I just want to point out, there's this guy, Bo Hines, who's running in North Carolina. He's like running in the 13th congressional district in North Carolina. He said this like at a rally. Again, this is them talking about the economy. He's a Democrat or a Republican? Republican, Republican.

This guy's 27 years old, I think, or 28 or something like that. He said, quote, me and my wife, we can't afford to give up a month's salary. With 8.3% inflation, that is the equivalent of one month's salary for the average American. I know in my household, my wife and I can't he said me and my wife's salary guess what this guy has no fucking job because he lives off of a trust fund he has no income you look at the filings for his electors for his campaign he's taking money out of like the heinz children's trust to finance this shit and we have and so like this is a guy who wants, you know, QAnon to be his like fucking new dad, have no exceptions for abortions. And the Democrats think that staying silent while this fucking clown cosplays as someone with a job is the smart choice. And just be like, yeah, let him say that.

Democrats, what about you? What's your what do you what's your take on inflation or the economy? Well, you know, I really want to talk about the lack of choice people are experiencing. Like that's you've you've that's not a compelling argument for someone who's actually on the fence with this shit jack i know we did a podcast a thousand years ago it cracked about the whole dichotomy of trump being a billionaire who was born wealthy but being able to i guess speak the language of the common working people because it's it's a class thing and class doesn't cross perfectly over into income. Like everything you just said there, again, this guy's supporters,

they're not going to hear that because it's like, no, he gets me in the same way that Trump gets me. It's like, well, Trump has never lived like you for even one day, but for whatever reason, he's always been good at, you know, he's got working class taste. He eats McDonald's, you know, he does all the, and so you can see these lower, yeah, these lower level candidates doing the same thing. It's like suddenly they've got a pickup truck and they wear a Carhartt jacket. All those signifiers it's like, well, this, yeah, you were, you were born in Connecticut and went to a private school. You've never, but it works. It works. And I don't want to act like these people are ignorant or whatever. I think they're just so happy to have someone who seems to care about

them. It, to me, it seems extremely transparent, but it feels, I don't want to do the elitist thing of what are these, these illiterate morons not see how they're being played. Cause I, I don't know. They're desperate. They want somebody who acts like they're standing up for them. And if you're on a fixed income, you're some older person trying to get by on your social security check on a part-time job, man, that inflation is killer. Yeah. And my critique isn't of the people who would say, wow, this guy gets me. It's the fact that the Democrats are just as easily, like you have just as many trust

fund or millionaire people there who are like, I don't know how to talk to working people at all. You're like, I just don't. And I think that's that's also like my confusion is to completely cede the ground to have a substantive, like actually say things like if you're you're really trying to connect to people like that. You're really trying to connect to people like that. You have to speak to the lived experience of those people and not just like these sort of speculative boogeymen that they cast in the future to avoid really talking about how we can change things now. It all seems like things that should be very easy to defend against if you're a smart campaigner or a smart politician, right? Like the claims, everything they claim about themselves, the conspiracy stuff, because that is part of the whole,

the schools are grooming our children. You're looping in the QAnon people because that's, you know, you're sending code words about the powerful trying to groom your innocent children into weird sex stuff. You would think in a better world, it would be very easy to counter that with straight talk about, you know, kitchen table issues. But you see it. These elections are either very close or else. Like, it's I don't know, it feels like this shouldn't work. But I will admit to anybody listening to who listened to this show who hate listens because they want to do their own show

about how terrible we are i will admit i'm out of touch because i don't see why it's not the example you just gave this guy i don't see why it's not you can't just knock him down with a single ad exposing his real background or his work whatever no but i know yeah it feels like it should be easy to defeat but but it's not. Right. It's more just like the idea that you're like saying, well, like if I'm running, I'm asking leadership, why can't I talk about the economy? Right. Why can't I?

Because it's actually like by avoid, it's you avoid that discussion at your own peril. And I'm not saying that that's the key to even taking Bo Heinz down or something like that, but just in general to avoid like, again, like, I mean, Joe Biden wrote in on this, like, vision of, like, the Build Back Better thing, and people were like, oh, interesting. You're saying new, different things about the world we're living in. But now it's like, don't

fucking talk about that. Just fucking avoid that. Even though that is probably compelling for a lot of people to hear. Are only upset about the economy because politicians are talking about it versus they went to go buy eggs at the store and the eggs cost three times much what they used to. Like you don't need to talk about the economy for them to feel it. It's their everyday life. They they're looking at the receipt right now. So yeah, that's very strange to think you can distract people from that. It's like kind of nothing else matters after that. Right. Yeah. I mean, and I think it just gives, it's just like you're also arming any person

running against a Democrat with even more, like just more ammunition to be like, they don't even want to talk about it because they know how bad it is. They know how bad it is. They don't want to talk about it. They want to, they want to subdue any like report that would suggest there's any kind of recession occurring or anything like that. And it's just, just talk about like the stuff that is okay. I don't know. It's just like, it is a disservice to people who are probably for the first time being like, I'm completely underwater with bills that I have to pay. Things are just exponentially becoming more expensive and my paycheck can't keep up with that. I need a solution to that. Like, can you say something that I can believe in that makes sense that you're going to adjust the scales or rebalance the scales?

But again, this is like stuff that's so antithetical to how the mainstream Democratic Party speaks that it's just kind of like, right. They don't have an answer that is not like, let the market decide. And the market has gone haywire. And they're kind of at a loss for what to say in this case. So, all right, well, let's take a quick break and we'll come back and talk about the structure of the universe. quick break and we'll come back and talk about the structure of the universe. 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 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. 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 Santer. 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. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised 150 grand in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist.

My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago

when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore.

The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current. Available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back and Jason, your new book, as the title suggests,

is about the multiverse, right? A multiverse, different universes? Yeah, there's an element of that in there yeah uh which i i'm not seeing that i was ahead of the curve on this it does take like three years to get a novel from idea to the to the world so the fact that there's like nine movies about multiverses in the last year with each each one of those, were you like, oh! This fucking, it's in the title?

Fuck! Yeah, because already I have a book that if I describe it, it comes off as like, oh, so it's like a book version of Rick and Morty. Right. Like these two,

it's like this guy and he's kind of crass. And, and, and, but also there's weird stuff coming from other universes and that you're always like dissecting some sort of a sci-fi trope in some horrible way. And yeah,

it's very profane sense of humor. It's like, okay, listen, I started writing this in like 2000. This is where people were right. Rick and Morty had not even been born when I started writing. I don't want to hear it.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's always been like fun multiverse stuff in your books. So that just made me want to, like, I think a lot about the multiverse. Do you think of it as like a fun plot device to play with? Or is it a actual like scientific theory

you take seriously? How do you think about it? So, I have read books about the many worlds interpretation of physics. And by books, I mean I have watched two TikToks from Hank Green

explaining it in a course of about four or five minutes. Oh, they're long ones. Those are long ones. Wow. Okay. I do not understand. Because the multiverse, the way it's presented in Hollywood, where it's like sliding doors, where it's human decisions that cause realities to split, that's not the theory.

That would be extremely weird if the entire universe, all the particles in the universe pivoted on humans, human decision making and this one animal on this one planet, that would be very strange. It is a very complicated thing where every particle in the universe, I guess, you start getting into wave functions. I guess you have to know what a wave function is for this to make sense and that it collapses in like infinite ways so there's like every time a particle enters into a quantum state it splits the universe again so there's when you say there's infinite universes it's literally trillions upon trillions upon trillions of universes and that there's no way to like travel from from one to the next so the theory in my mind exists just as nonsense kind of

like trying to figure out how time travel would work which is the answer is that it wouldn't right but as a plot device it's fantastic for the same reason for the same reason that time travel is because it is usually and the film that everything everywhere all at once what that film did so well that's what multiverse movies are at which is they're about regret. It's about wondering what kind of life you could have lived. And same thing with most time travel plots,

that's what it is. You're going back and trying to change something. And then in the course of it, you learn something about yourself. And this is why usually when in the movie, they start explaining

the science of the time travel or the science of the multiverse. They usually skip over it because that's not the point. These are stories about people and it works as a plot device because it's about, well, what would have happened if it turned

out that the Spider-Men from the different franchises all existed actually in parallel universes and they all had slightly different methods and then they all met each other. You get a movie that I could barely follow and I did not find very interesting at all but i'm glad other people enjoyed it but you're talking about the uh not not the animated spider-verse one you're talking about the latest no no the one with uh with uh all the why can i not remember the names of any of the spider-man

actors tom holland holland tom collins mix oh jesus yeah and you know tofer great right from Tom Holland. Holland. Tom Collins. Tom Collins mix. Oh, Jesus. Yeah. And, you know, Topher Grace, right? From that 70s show. Oh, yeah. Make use of real name. Don't make up the Topher. Please.

Imagine an actor being named Topher. Nah, can't. Hey, he took the other part of Christopher, man. That's like, he's just like, when you zig, that guy zags. And that's what's cool about him. There's some ethnic background to that name that we're actually saying something incredibly insensitive. We apologize. If Topher is actually, if it actually has important meaning in some ethnicity, we've meant no harm by that. But anyway, back to what I was saying. No, I love it as a plot device in terms of, you know, is it real? It is my understanding, according to what I just read on Wikipedia 30 minutes ago, that the many worlds interpretation is believed by a majority of physicists. They actually did a poll and something like 70%,

like, because I guess the alternate explanation of why particles behave the way they do is even weirder than the many worlds interpretation. Where it's just like, no, it all exists simultaneously. And that's why when you try to observe them, there's a curious thing where it collapses into a waveform of your reality. But it could just as easily have been another state. Every attempt to explain it, people will say, look, we're going to make it very, very simple. We're going to explain it like you're five. I apparently need it explained like I'm three. Because it totally loses me. It's the same thing when a physicist on YouTube

or somewhere is trying to explain how the universe is always expanding, and then you ask the obvious question, well, what is it expanding into? And they're like, well, nothing. It's like, well, okay. Throw a smoke bomb down and exit the room. But like ineffectively, like when a physicist tries to use a smoke bomb to exit the room, it takes like three smoke bombs. So it's a thing where I guess if you try to use what you know about

the world to understand it you're immediately lost because it just doesn't line up with anything you understand about how physics works or anything right yeah i mean it's like the when you get down to a quantum level, like particles start doing two different things at the same time. That was it for me. I was like, all right. So I don't know. My brain, when I was on too many drugs as a teenager, my brain actually was right about everything, it turns out. And that I would need to get back on that many drugs to understand or even conceive of this.

And that's not good for me. So I'm not going to do that. I'll leave it to the physicists and to Jason Pargin to write about it. Smart, smart. People do understand. The times you see Neil deGrasse Tyson, his whole Twitter is just complaining

that their science is wrong or whatever. He's a comic book guy. You do understand that whenever you have a plot device like this, it's always just an excuse to tell a human story. And that no writer actually cares about the science stuff. Even stories that seem like they're very based in research, like The Martian, there's probably a million reasons why that story could not actually have happened the way it's depicted.

It's just, you know, it ultimately is about loneliness and isolation and having to overcome it and hope and all that stuff. But people care about stories. People like stories because they are about people not because they're about physics right i remember people were like actually that's not how you'd get water on mars i thought was like the one science take when the martian came out it's like that would actually that's not how you would actually do it on mars but go off matt damon go off then i only trust

matt damon when it comes to crypto. I don't know. Thank you. Nowhere else. Fortune favors the broke. Yeah. Or the bold. Just very, very briefly. I'm not going to go off on this.

Listeners, if you hear about an investment opportunity in a commercial at the Super Bowl, you're not getting in on the ground floor. The people who are currently holding the bag are trying to get rid of it. And they're trying to lure in rubes to buy the asset that they know is about to go bad. See, if it was like a gold mine already, they wouldn't tell you about it. They would just collect the gold for themselves. They wouldn't tell you about it. Right. They would just collect the gold for themselves. The moment they pay millions of dollars to try to get you into crypto, they were trying to get you to hold the bag. And then the price immediately collapsed after that.

That was on purpose. When the thing they're selling is nothing, be a little wary of that. Because that's, yeah, it doesn't add. that because that's yeah it doesn't add the whole i feel like at this point so much of the market has broken down into ponzi scheme like it's just all yeah so so be wary jason pargin as always so fun having you on the daily zeitgeist uh where can people find you follow you all that good stuff harley tikt. My username there is Jason K. Pargin, P-A-R-G-I-N. The name of the book that I'm

promoting all week, because this is the first crucial week for the new book, is I've got a copy of it behind me. If this book exists, you're in the wrong universe. But if you have seen the John Dies at the End movie, that's the most likely thing. Or if you know me from the crack days and have read the books, it's one of those.

They're not serialized. You can just read this one if you've not read any of the other ones. Or if you've only seen the movie, you can start with this one. It would make much more sense for you to just get one of the older books from a used bookstore for like 99 cents rather than paying 30 bucks for this one. But please do pay the 30 bucks for this one. And it will explain the multiverse and the true nature of the universe. So, you know, how can you resist?

Bitter patter. Yeah. Literally better than going to college. I would drop out of college and put your money into this, buying this novel. Oh, I know some homies that would love, they're like, wait, what? Going to college instead of this? Tell me more. Yeah. And is there a tweet or some of the work of social media you've been enjoying yeah there's a tweet it's a video

so maybe this doesn't convey as well here in the show but is from zank i think zuizen but there was a clip where i guess during when they were promoting the film nope from uh jordan peele they did a thing where he went into they did a cross promotion with a metaverse yeah and they did a recreation of the film inside the metaverse and then he with the gear on had to pretend to be incredibly impressed with it and it is just the worst jankiest 1995 level animation. It looks like absolute shit. And he's having to be like, wow, oh my gosh,

this is like, we're living in my movie. I'm like, whoa, we used to be just chatting on the porch here. That's one of the actors. For the fans to be able to come see Heywood Ranch and to see this world and to experience it like I intended them

to experience it. I was completely immersed. Yeah. Shout out to Kiki Palmer. She got no legs on that motorcycle. No, no. The characters do not have legs. I don't know if you guys covered this. Oh yeah, the update. Right. They got legs now. No, it turned out that did not. That fell through.

That was like a mocap thing, right? They're still not capable of doing legs in the metaverse yeah so it is it is tragic the thing that was great about nope is how like intricately imagined it was how many like just cool things there were to see everywhere on the screen and he's here having to sell like something that's just like a house that is in the general shape of of the house from nope in a void with like one one tree like not even they didn't go out of their way to do a good job like if if a 80s like nintendo entertainment system game tried to recreate the world of nope they would have added more trees and details than it feels like they've done here.

It's just like a beige void. And Jordan Peele, I need to remind myself, is he might be my favorite comedic actor. Before he was making movies, watching Key and Peele, I was like, some of the subtlety of what he does, he is the greatest actor. watching Key and Peele, I was like that, like some of the like subtlety of what he does. And like, he is the greatest actor. And even this challenge was,

was too much. Yeah. You can't see it. Yeah, man. Wow. Oh, so this is definitely how I envisioned the world.

The fact that he said that was so good. Just flat two dimensional world. Yes. The fact that he said that was so good. Just flat, two-dimensional world. Yes. I could add another hour to this podcast with my... Okay, look, listeners, I understand that a lot of people work at Meta. I understand that they need those jobs.

I'm not rooting for them to lose their jobs. I've been through that. I know what a layoff is like because of Facebook. their jobs. I've been through that. I know what a layoff is like because of Facebook. But it is for the fact that Mark Zuckerberg thinks that because he got in on the ground, he was the second one in the market after MySpace with the whole social media thing. It is slightly more usable and made an all-time epic fortune off that. He now thinks that he has a second good idea, and he doesn't. He does not.

There is, no one wants this. No one will ever want this. It doesn't improve anything. It is what we thought the future would look like back when we were too dumb to know what the future looked like. Like in 1983, Tron or whatever, this is what, it's such an antiquated, ridiculous idea. The thought that the kids coming up now on TikTok and Snapchat and all that, that this is what they want is this terribly rendered

thing that their grandparents are using and with a big, stupid, sweaty helmet on their head. It's so stupid. I'm not rooting for it to fail. Well, no, I am rooting for it to fail. How can I say this? I hope that after it spectacularly fails that everyone lands on their feet except for Mark Zuckerberg. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. I just, I do love the confidence with which he's just sticking with this. He's seeding it in the mainstream media. He's getting like nope and, you know, like movies that are coming out. Billions. Billions on this. media he's getting like nope and but you know like movies that are coming out billions and billions on this but he because he has the confidence of that first decision and he doesn't realize that every moment since he became a billionaire has taken him further and further away from having an instinct for what people what real normal people are like oh yeah and so he's yeah it's it's fun it's

you know it's it's like when a celebrity loses it and you know is starting to like create things that are like wait what like you have to kind of squint at it that that's what meta feels like to me he's just he's he's on his own planet, as all billionaires are. Just let it go, Mark. Let it go, sir. Yeah. Then, nope. Simulation looks pretty cool.

Miles, where can people find you? What's a tweet you've been enjoying? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles Gray. Catch Jack and I lamenting or celebrating the ongoing NBA season on our basketball podcast, Miles and Jack got mad. Boosties also, if you like 90 Day, check me out on 420 Day Fiance. That's another podcast. Some tweets I like. First one is from New York Times

Pitch Bot. I don't know if you heard about this Arizona Republican who was running for the community college board seat, who was running on a Save Our Children campaign and the police arrested him for masturbating by a school and he just said i'm sorry i i fucked up i'm under stress and then like the secretary of state's like we can't get this guy off the ballot it's just kind of difficult this is from new york times

pitch bot at doug j balloon just for reference whether it's democrats using closed captions during interviews or republicans masturbating preschool parking lots, both sides have struggled with some troubling optics. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Fair. New York Times.

And then at Gnome to Barbarian tweeted, quote, tweeted first a tweet from Simply Shingy that said, Homer Simpson was a true baller because how did he afford three children, a detached suburban house, two cars, a stayhome wife, and extra change for his drinking problem with absolutely no side hustles? And Gnome to Barbarian tweeted, He had a union job and a house bought in the 80s with money given to him by his father, who was himself a veteran who was able to receive GI Bill benefits, and he was supposed to represent the decline of living standards in the 80s. His was supposed to be a low-class life. Yeah. It's food for thought.

Definitely. A couple tweets I've been enjoying. Taylor at Billy Idol tweeted, to be a low-class life. Yeah. It's food for thought. Definitely. A couple tweets I've been enjoying. Taylor at Billy Idol tweeted, one thing about me, I'm not going to read the room. I will, however, fill it with my presence. Your mom died?

Mine didn't. I went to the beach yesterday. And then Fafa Pazul tweeted, oh, America isn't exceptional? We put the first ever school teacher in a space shuttle and then blew her up over the ocean. Did your country do that? Oh, shit.

Which is dark, but yeah, it's exceptional. Fact. Also, go check out the new podcast from former guest on this podcast, Cerise Castle, A Tradition of Violence, about LA Sheriff's Department gangs. Just dropped its first two episodes yesterday.

Just great, eye-opening, incredible work from Cerise and team. We're really proud of it. 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. 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. Miles, what song do we think people might enjoy? This is a group called Charlotte Adigeri and

Bolas Pupul. P-U-P-U-L. They are an electronic duo from Ghent, Belgium. And like their lyrics like talk about like post-colonialism and all kind of like really interesting lyrics for how like kind of dancey and just sort of light feeling the music is. This track is called Making Sense Stop. And it's just like a fun track. Their music's really cool because it's like the lyrics actually have a little bit of substance to them and they're, you know, just kind of easy

listens, but fun too. So this is Charlotte Adizuri and Ballas Pupil with Making Sense Stop. It's like if Radio Guess Machine had like fun dancey pop music instead of... Yeah, exactly. And you're like, wait, hold on. What'd they just say? Rolling down Rodeo with a shotgun.

Alright, 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's going to do it for us this morning. Back this afternoon to tell you what is trending. And we'll talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. 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. 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. or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil.

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