The Daily Zeitgeist - Eclipse Conspiracies! Did Smartphones Ruin The Kids? 04.05.24

Episode Date: April 5, 2024

In episode 1654, Miles and guest co-host Blake Wexler are joined by comedian, Ian Lockwood, to discuss… Maybe Gen Z Shouldn’t Have Been Raised With Smartphones, Nobody Wants Twitter’s New Free B...lue Check Marks, Eclipse Conspiracy Theory Round-Up and more! Maybe Gen Z Shouldn’t Have Been Raised With Smartphones How mobile phones have changed our brains 7 reasons to break your smartphone addiction How to finally break free from your smartphone addiction Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time Even the iPhone's designer is worried about phone addiction 3 Stats on How Gen Z Is Being Raised on Smartphones END THE PHONE-BASED CHILDHOOD NOW Social media gets teens hooked while feeding aggression and impulsivity, and researchers think they know why Gen Z goes retro: Why the younger generation is ditching smartphones for ‘dumb phones’ Nobody Wants Twitter’s New Free Blue Check Marks Free blue checks are back for some accounts on Elon Musk's X. Not everyone is happy about it Famous X Users Horrified to Find Free Blue Checks Added to Their Accounts The Far Right Is Crawling With Eclipse Conspiracy Theories Why NASA is launching rockets into the solar eclipse path Conspiracy Theorists Think The Eclipse Will Begin A "Massive Human Sacrifice Event" LISTEN: One Hand One Bounce by Karate BoogalooSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties
Starting point is 00:00:12 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.
Starting point is 00:00:30 I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Starting point is 00:00:56 or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture.
Starting point is 00:01:21 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.
Starting point is 00:01:31 Hello, the internet. You see what I was doing? I was kind of doing a Joker thing. Did you catch that? I heard it. Did you catch that, Blake? Okay, let me do it again.
Starting point is 00:01:39 Hello, the internet. And welcome to season 332. This is too weird for me. 5 of the daily zeitgeist a production of iheartradio this is a podcast where we take a deep dive into america's shared consciousness it's friday yeah april 5th 2024 put it in the air put it in your hair put it wherever you want to because it's first contact day shout out the aliens don't fuck us up too bad it's gold star spouses day it's national flash drive day does any do people still use flash drives the little the little keychain usb constantly exclusively okay i got hundreds yeah uh also national
Starting point is 00:02:15 nebraska day i said shout what let me just say i'm the co-host i'm allowed to talk whenever i you're right okay that's the deal I'm not the guest this time. You're right. How did you want to interrupt? I wanted to say that my will, my living will, is stored on a flash drive. Now it's your turn. Oh, really? Yes.
Starting point is 00:02:37 Can I get that? See, it's better if it's just said in passing and then ignored rather than arguing. Let's start over. is just said in passing and then ignored rather than wait but arguing let's start over what happens if wait but what happens if that thumb drive is destroyed is is thy will no longer actionable upon god's earth that's a great question it would actually i wear it around my neck like an alpine skier in the swiss alps like would wear a little thing of rum so the upcoming ai beethoven dogs will find me wait you're talking about wait in this version you're saying you wear a little thing of rum like a saint bernard does correct sorry yes
Starting point is 00:03:11 beethoven i'm trying to make this a non-denominational non-religious show so like thank you so much yeah because we are not woke we are not pushing agendas uh like like bob eiger's disney is allegedly uh it's also national deep dish pizza day national raisin and spice bar day i'm not a fan of raisins and shit i'm sorry like i'll eat some loose raisins but i don't like it in bakers national caramel day car car do you say caramel or caramel i say caramel but that has to stop that's something i need to change. Really? I guess. Yeah, it's a little like, who do I think I am? All right.
Starting point is 00:03:48 It's caramel. It's also National Reader Roadmap Day. Yeah. Shout out to the people just using paper maps. And National Go For Broke Day. That's a picture of a guy climbing a mountain. I don't know what that means. But hey, I know what being broke is like.
Starting point is 00:04:00 So here we are. There's that. Who am I? Guess what? It's Miles Gray, a.k miles gray aka i love bad gum that's bazooka problems and yeah i like to zook i got bazooka problems if jughead ain't near is a bazooka problem bring his ass to joe maybe he could solve them okay shout out to jimboku over there for the asap rocky fucking problems because we you know we were talking a lot about Bazooka Joe recently.
Starting point is 00:04:25 So shout out to that, AKA. And I am pleased to be joined by Daddy Longlegs himself. The nicest guy in Philadelphia. The nicest guy wherever he is, in any town he is. And one of our favorite people to have on the show, despite our ongoing feud off mic, which sometimes translates to Mike. And I'm sorry if that tension is palpable for the listener, but guess what? He's here and he's back.
Starting point is 00:04:49 Please welcome Mr. Blake Wexler. This is Blake Wexler, aka. I can feel I heartbeat faster. Blake me home zeitgeist. I don't want to let miles go till Jack sees the light. Blake me home zeitgeist. Listen to me. Cause my legs are big, big old plumbers, baby.
Starting point is 00:05:13 Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, thank you. I've moved in. I've moved into the zeitgeist house. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:05:22 you have. You have took over Jack's lease. You have also, i feel like a lot of people don't remember the plumpers thing canonically does come from your appearance uh that's when we i think it was when you're talking about the recumbent mic maybe and your big plumpers or what was i i went through a phase where i was only doing leg-based exercises yes and that lasted about three years and uh yeah so so, you know, I was wearing a lot of elastic below the belt. And yeah, I still have the remnants of them.
Starting point is 00:05:50 Not as much muscle on them anymore. It's disgusting, to be completely honest. A lot of hanging. It looks like an old tarp, an oversized tarp over my legs. But skin. Yeah, but anyway, it's something that I think. Now that I've co-hosted two episodes i believe now iheart has to pay for my health insurance that is true that is true that is true you can
Starting point is 00:06:10 send yes please send your medical bills i'll give you an email address uh later you can send it to it's uh i believe w.h-o-c-a-r-e-s at iheartinsurance.fuckyou. Joaquin Phoenix. Okay, guys. We are thrilled, Blake, to be joined in our third seat by a repeat guest, actually. A wonderful comedian, musician, and look, comedy and music go hand in hand.
Starting point is 00:06:37 We all know that. These are timing-based arts, so of course one leads to, you know, what's the word? Exceptional talent in the other. They have a fucking solo show that they're bringing. I can say internationally. Ian Lockwood, the farewell tour.
Starting point is 00:06:54 He's bringing it to Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Maryland. I know that's a state in the first two cities, but we will respect Maryland. We will respect the crabs. And also for the whole month of August Maryland. We will respect the crabs. And also, for the whole month of August, in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the fringe, we've got Mr. Ian Lockwood! Oh, thank you.
Starting point is 00:07:14 Thank you. You'll want to know how I got these scars. Ian, welcome back. Thank you. It's so good to be back be back yeah like last time you were on i remember i had known you from your previous work on the internet where you had your your long blonde hair and then you cut it and then you said don't don't mention my hair man i'm talking i'm trying i'm trying to surprise my moms with my haircut when i go back for the holidays. She was so, so happy. Yeah, well, well. Oh, she was like, oh, what a nice change.
Starting point is 00:07:49 Huge smile on her face. I was like, oh, so you like it? She was like, oh, no, no, no, no. And she just like grinned for the next three days. Oh, I love that. She hated the long, blonde hair. Right, right. Well, hey, look, it's good to see you.
Starting point is 00:08:03 It's good to have you back. What's new with you? I mean mean doing a show at the fringe i know a couple people are we've had on the show who've performed there is that to me that sounds like the most intimidating thing ever because i just get to rant on a microphone every day and then move on and move on i don't have to perfect any i can be as sloppy or nonsensical as I have to be. But for you putting together a show like at the festival of festivals for, you know, one person shows. What's your mindset like right now? I am hyped. It's a lot of work.
Starting point is 00:08:33 But basically the show is me doing like a Dua Lipa concert and Ariana Grande concert. But very funny, very goofy. And I kill myself at the end. Oh, wow. On mic. Every show I kill myself at the end. Oh, wow. On mic. Every show I kill myself at the end. Because it is the farewell tour. And you want to make good on that. Okay, exactly. I get into a suicide pod at the end. Spoiler alert, which we are building. We are building right now. Wow. Wait, do you don't want to hide that? Do you want people to know that that's part of the show?
Starting point is 00:09:04 I feel like that's kind of like the magic of like, holy shit, this guy's hanging out in the fucking pod. I actually, I take the curtain off the suicide pod like 10 minutes in, and then I like goof around like I'm going to get into it constantly. Oh, I love that. I'm like, oh, I'm going to get in. Wow, wow, wow.
Starting point is 00:09:20 So yeah, I'm hyped, but mainly I'm just going because I want to get a Scottish husband because I already have an American husband and I just going because I want to get a Scottish husband because I already have an American husband and I just feel like it could work. It's networking. Wait, you said you already have an American husband or you said you don't want an American husband? I do have an American husband.
Starting point is 00:09:34 Great guy. Been there, done that. He's great. I can have it. It's different countries. I can have a second husband. I feel a Scottish. The Scots are really in right now.
Starting point is 00:09:43 You know what I mean? Yeah. I hear a lot of people talking about being like you know I'll go to Edinburgh maybe find me a little Scottish blue thing you know what I mean yeah what's Mary Queen of doing is she is she around still I think she might be dead she's dead and my grandmother rest her heart died a year or two ago uh told me constantly that we were related to her now i'm pretty sure that's absolute bullshit but i believe it are you scottish uh says my grandma yeah i mean ian
Starting point is 00:10:12 lockwood definitely i mean ian is already like a good british you know that's a scottish he could be anywhere english name lockwood like when it's two english words i'm like that's an english name yeah exactly that ain't german you know what i mean i feel like i'm gonna go there and see someone Lockwood, like when it's two English words, I'm like, that's an English name. Yeah, exactly. That ain't German. You know what I mean? I feel like I'm going to go there and see someone who looks just like me. And maybe that will be my Spider-Man meme. You're like, you're Ian Lockwood too?
Starting point is 00:10:37 You're going to see a few of you. Yeah, right. For the listeners who don't know, you will be doing your show like every single day for a month. And I haven't I can't wait to watch more of your videos. But it sounds like you the way you describe the show is hot. It's more high energy than of course, like a lot of just like a pure stand up talking would be. And I know stand ups get exhausted from just talking like once a day for for 30 days when is your do you know what your time slot is because uh people these shows happen like during the day in the morning at night like there's there's a bunch of different iterations of it my time slot is 10 20 p.m which is actually exactly where i wanted to be late night fun show yeah and i threw in a bunch of dance. I don't know why I taught I'm learning to dance and I threw in a bunch of dance breaks into the show. So I'm going to be tired. Oh, my God. Well, look, if you're going to be out there,
Starting point is 00:11:36 definitely check out Ian's show or if you live in Brooklyn, L.A. or the state of Maryland, you know, just just anywhere broadly in the state. You could be anywhere. Come to support. All right. You know, we're broadly in the state. You could be anywhere. Come through. Support. All right, Ian, we're going to get to know you a little bit better. First, we've got to do what we do and tell people what we are going to be talking about. There's been a lot of articles about how maybe giving Gen Z smartphones right at the dawn of adolescence may have been a bad thing. There's a few different ideas around that.
Starting point is 00:12:05 essence may have been a bad thing. There's a few different ideas around that, but I think generally smartphones, I like, I feel like we're in a place where people are kind of like, fuck man, like, is it that good anymore? Ian, what gen, where do you fit generationally? I am a gen alpha. I'm 13. Oh, okay. No, just kidding. I'm, I'm a mid, I'm a mid millennial. And I am seeing this for myself myself i keep my phone in the other room now and also keep in mind gen z lost like two years of development like social development yeah truly truly i know that's like when i see videos of like these i saw a video of these like young ass kids like at like a sea world type park like fucking with a mime who was just like performing like for no reason like just fuck it
Starting point is 00:12:45 with him oh i thought you meant they liked him no yo we fucking with this mind they were fucking with this mind oh that's sad and like it was just kind of this weird thing i'm like what the fuck like when i was a kid like like you just know like yo let the mind do their fucking thing if you don't like it then just talk shit you know and snicker behind you know like but from your seat don't go up to them and try and blow their hat off If you don't like it, then just talk shit, you know, and snicker behind, you know, like from your seat. Don't go up to them and try and blow their hat off. Anyway, I don't know why I bring that up. That's like me being like a crabby old man. Be like, leave that mime alone.
Starting point is 00:13:12 No, no. I think you're defending that mime. And speaking of, I do have a gripe with Edinburgh's French Festival is they've rejected my mime act for 20 straight years. And it's and it's gotten better. Just so you know. I mean, i remember when you did a preview show here in la uh i did it my way and i was sort of like i don't know it feels a little i don't want to say derivative and then you screamed and you cried and i said you know
Starting point is 00:13:37 what no no it's great it's great it's great it's great it's great it's great actually i'm sorry i'm sorry i had any feedback at all no i i know know. I know. It was also a Mike Pence fundraiser, which I think is what a lot of people had the issue with. When you said Mike's way, I thought we were doing Jersey Mike's and then Mike Pence came out and I was like, ugh. Danny DeVito made a cameo but it hasn't gotten picked up.
Starting point is 00:13:58 I heard a few people went to the hospital after the show. Yes, so we did have it catered by Jersey Mike's and that was, I think, there was a food poisoning incident and if that has to be edited out, I apologize.
Starting point is 00:14:09 I also said, do not leave the tuna subs out in the sun in the parking lot all day. On the roof. You said, I'm going to save money because then I don't have to pay
Starting point is 00:14:18 for them to toast it. And I was like, I don't know. I don't think that's how, I think it's botulism. Anyway, it's okay. Correct.
Starting point is 00:14:23 All lawsuits have been settled and we can speak about it freely. That's why we just did now. And also, aside from the smartphones, we are going to talk about Twitter. Just gave a bunch of people the blue checkmark and people like, I don't I never fucking wanted this. I'm not paying for this. So we'll talk about that fallout. And also, because Monday is the total eclipse of the fart, we do want to just do a little quick eclipse conspiracy theory roundup. Because before we were just kind of talking about how much people are descending upon different locations to view the eclipse.
Starting point is 00:14:56 Now the fucking freaks have real ideas about what's really going on. The fucking astronomical event that we have going on but anyway here we are this is the show but first we got to ask you ian lockwood our esteemed guest what is something from your search history or what's something you recently screenshotted on your phone that's revealing about who you are big huge sweatpants and I'm wearing some right now. I got sweatpants. I went on Amazon. I got sweatpants in an XXL. But here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:15:31 You can get sweatpants that have jogger bottoms that have cuffs at the bottom and they tie at the top. So I'm wearing the world's biggest sweatpants right now and I'm comfortable as hell. And I really recommend this to anybody. Why so baggy? Do you mind showing the class?
Starting point is 00:15:48 Absolutely. If you don't mind modeling. Hold on. It'd be funny if he's not wearing pants and it was a prank. Do they look baggy? Lift your leg up. Lift your leg. Oh, you look like an actor picture. Yeah. Wait, now why
Starting point is 00:16:02 so baggy? See, I was doing another joker thing again i'm sorry i don't know how i got these you know i got these baggy pants i don't know just full disclosure before we started recording i say this a lot before we record i go in a way we go and it somehow bled into the intro and now here we are doing terrible joker bits but why why so baggy well uh i hate to admit this but i have been taking hip-hop class twice a week for this show and so i've which is kind of embarrassing i'm sure everyone thinks that I'm like a straight black guy from my voice, but you'd be surprised to know that I'm a five, six white guy, gay,
Starting point is 00:16:53 very gay. Uh, and yeah, I know the voice completely betrays it. Um, it's crazy. Um, but I,
Starting point is 00:17:03 so I have been like, Oh, I need big sweatpants for hip-hop class but they're also just really comfortable to wear yeah well i was gonna say like because dancers have a specific style like you know what i mean like i used to i you know back in my day you know i used to date a lot of backup dancers you know what i mean so i've been i've been a millennium yeah yeah you know i mean i've seen the classes go down you know i'm I'm saying? I've seen Wade, you know, do some classes. But, like, I've always been amazed at dancer style. Like, I can always clock a dancer sometimes.
Starting point is 00:17:34 And I'm like, that outfit, that is something that just came straight from a dance studio. Because the pants are so fucking big. The shoes are so colorful. And I just don't know. Like, it's giving dancer. So, did you kind of go in there and you're like oh shit i'm not on my dancer wave really yeah exactly and i was like no i i look i look dorky i need to do this that said the dance instructors and the best
Starting point is 00:17:55 dancers the funniest thing they do is they wear their sweatshirts in the silliest ways they'll like yeah like tying it the sleeves like a bag yes they dance the whole class with like a completely lopsided sweater hanging off of them and i'm impressed yeah no i think i mean again shout out to dancer swag because it's different i remember like we had a uh when we were having our kid we had a doula who like the second they showed up, I said, are you a dancer? And they're like, I used to dance about 15 years ago. I'm like, I know because your sneakers are so fucking all over like wild. Like they were giving dancer.
Starting point is 00:18:35 You are a truffle pig when it comes to dancers. I've always found. I do have a concern about the large concern. Yes, I have. I have a concern that can't wait. concern about the large concern yes i have i have a concern that can't wait i slept in like a double xl maybe a perhaps a triple i it must have been a double and like like a large like pajama flannel pant and not that you said that you were going to sleep in them like this seems like you're doing the opposite it's an active activity but i would get kind of like trapped like in the pant where i don't know if you've rolled around in your sleep with like a like a sheet where you kind of like roll around
Starting point is 00:19:10 and then like you're uncomfortable you have to like pull it off but you're half asleep or something but is that would you would you bring personal question would you bring the large pants into the bed or is this that you don't sleep in a large pant? Like what was, is this active? That's inactive. Your thoughts. And take as much time as you want. More important than my response to that is I have to say, I'm so sorry that happened to you. Thank you. That's very sweet of you.
Starting point is 00:19:36 Thank you. I'm really sorry that happened to you. This iHeartRadio insurance is going to pay for the therapy. So of that traumatic experience, it was a nightmare. Anyway, no, I don't wear them into the bed. But my husband shaved his chest for like an EKG recently. And it's scratchy. So I make him wear a shirt and he's mad about it.
Starting point is 00:20:00 And I don't care. That is smart. That's like a symptom of a shaved chest that I feel like people don't initially think about. You think smooth, but you're going to get stubble unless you're up on it. It's horrible. It's terrible. And I diss him every day.
Starting point is 00:20:16 What's something you think is underrated? Okay, underrated. And this is kind of related to Gen Z, but I'm not dragging them at all. Underratedrated drugs, sex, risk taking. Hmm.
Starting point is 00:20:29 Yeah. Hell yeah. I'm still on. I'm still on that shit. I'm sorry. I, I did 31 like two weeks ago. I am still on drugs,
Starting point is 00:20:40 sex and risk. What's the, what's the latest risk? Uh, what was the riskiest thing you just did recently? Uh, I recently took mushrooms and went to a public sauna and like stayed there for like seven hours
Starting point is 00:20:52 and just sort of hung out. That's risky? How dehydrated did you get? That's the risk. Pretty dehydrated, honestly. Physically, I guess? Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:00 Or I guess like, yeah, people start looking like weird. Like you're like, yo, I think that person's face is like waving or something. Yeah. And like, I don't know. I mean, I guess like, yeah, people start looking like weird. Like you're like, yo, I think that person's face is like waving or something. Yeah. And like, I'll, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:21:08 I jump off stuff all the time. I love, actually, I love extreme sports. Okay. Parkour. Oh, I embarrassingly,
Starting point is 00:21:15 I did parkour for like age eight, 17 to like 25. I was really into it. Yes. I was so into it. You got a mixtape. People can check out. I got some videos. Ixtape you got a mixtape people can check out i got some videos i could say you got some footy yeah yeah absolutely and it was cool it was
Starting point is 00:21:30 because i was in la and so the gyms were run by like the uh the like stuntmen like professional stuntmen so i learned like cool tricks it was still kind of darky but i liked it legit parkour okay okay ian what's something you think is overrated okay honestly um voting just kidding not voting i think what if what i was like voting finally someone said it here first you heard it here first this is also kind of related but like i think cell phones and the internet might be over i think it's done it's just done i mean yeah the internet the internet just seems to be the used to be the cause of and solution to all of life's problems and now it just feels like the cause of and solution to cause of all and solution to some
Starting point is 00:22:19 of life's life's problems yeah in a weird way like we'll get into it later but like with twitter like everyone's mad about getting the blue check mark i didn't used to get mad on the internet i used to look up funny videos of people getting beheaded and learn how to make bombs yeah watching home star runner and maybe some like gnarly car crash videos on evil chili.com or one of those fucked up websites that i remember looking at and people would be like what are you yeah i don't know this shit's out this shit's on here this shit's on here and then yeah you have to i think they still have um wait can i say the f word on this podcast which one you can try of course you can wait actually that's a good question um the there there was a
Starting point is 00:23:05 site called e-fucked and oh you know it internet f-u-k-t yes and uh it's it's all like porn bloopers and like cake or just like really niche porn like one where like a dude's dressed like as an alien he got like seven dicks and shit yes yeah i was look i was i was in my 20s on the internet too at one point and i remember and they used to do the wildest shit they'd be like headshot there'd be like all kinds of weird sounds they would like edit into shit bro i'm so glad i'm off that you know i'm i'm mature you know what i mean but that was better it now it's like oh i have to see if a hundred people looked at my Instagram story. No, let me go look at cake farts. Right.
Starting point is 00:23:46 Yeah. The golden era. The golden era. When it was just more like, yeah, it was just a sordid lake for us to sip from, you know. Lemon party. Yeah. Yeah. I miss it.
Starting point is 00:23:59 Oh, yeah. The hits. The hits. Goatsy. We all know. Look. Yeah. There's so many of those things that were just for like
Starting point is 00:24:05 that's how you knew like someone was like oh you were like one of them weird bad motherfuckers huh because you knew about that shit yeah yeah yeah it was it was interesting running into those people where you would hear because it was word of mouth it was when word of mouth was right still more powerful than the internet yeah it's like hey have you seen this this video of a guy chops this thing off you know yeah it's a website that's fake and that's fake i know you're talking about yeah all right yeah don't yeah santa claus is not real are you gonna say that next so that's my santa claus if you want me to my santa claus is that guy from the body modification olympics or whatever that video is where he's completely yeah he's chopping off it wee wee that's fake yeah sorry to debunk that sorry to debunk that that's what i'm here for
Starting point is 00:24:49 i've i've done the research so you don't have to but yeah what were you saying uh yeah i don't even fucking care anymore that you can throw in there so yeah i don't everything's fucking altered man the internet access something whatever go ahead no but that was the thing like back then you would just be like yo man yo have y'all seen this video? And everybody will come over and you will be like getting high and shit. Everybody gather around your computer. You're at my time, my fucking like, like desktop, desktop computer. I'm like, y'all not ready for this one.
Starting point is 00:25:19 They're like, oh, and now it's like so casual. Like everyone's so decent. It really is like a a it's a terrible evolution that's occurred you know what i mean like everyone's nothing is is like shocking anymore and i think that's a really bad thing because i agree all we become numb to like really horrific shit but anyway that's the that's the internet of 20 years ago, 15 to 20 years ago. Yes. Right before Obama came president. Okay, let's take a quick break.
Starting point is 00:25:51 We'll be right back and keep talking about this technology thing. But yeah, the smartphone thing. Let's talk about it after this. 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.
Starting point is 00:26:25 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.
Starting point is 00:27:02 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,
Starting point is 00:27:32 like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote, what is it, like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, or wherever you get your podcasts. of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that? I just come here to play basketball
Starting point is 00:28:25 every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch.
Starting point is 00:28:35 She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these
Starting point is 00:28:44 two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back.
Starting point is 00:29:15 So there have been a few articles lately I've been just perusing that are some version of basically saying like, Gen Z has basically been totally fucked over by being the first generation to get smartphones as children. And it's leading to like, you know, measurably higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and not just in the US, but like all over the world. You know what I mean? Like these, these rates for depression and these other like anxiety and suicide rates, they were pretty stable in the 2000s and then rose by more than 50% in many studies from 2010 to 2019. And the problem again, all over, not just the US or Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Nordic countries, many, many other countries have seen these sort of
Starting point is 00:29:59 rise. And some of these articles are written in kind of like a fucking bullshitty fear-mongering tone like there's one piece in the atlantic that's sort of like saying like well now gen z quote showing less interest in ever having children than prior generations and are more likely to live with their parents which again coming from somebody who has been absolutely destroyed by like many recessions as i was coming into like young adulthood it's not because i was on a phone i think a lot of like the how many recessions do you have how many how many you're working with two three i graduated i graduated college in 2007 baby i was walking into the world with my shiny diploma being like yay no from college no no you're right i by the way, can I say something? I was going to have that corrected. I graduated high
Starting point is 00:30:46 school in 07. You're old as dirt. But I'm not that old. And obviously, Ian's the perfect one. I misspoke. I graduated college in 1907. So I saw the Great Depression. I saw the dot-com bubble burst.
Starting point is 00:31:02 I've seen them all, baby. You've had a hard life. You served in multiple wars. Yeah. Well, no, I'm a draft dodger. You know what I mean? Okay. I'm a pacifist.
Starting point is 00:31:10 I was wondering where the rest of your finger was. Yeah, no, that's just from playing Guitar Hero too much. I injured it. And then the doctor said- You had a bad pick. Yeah. Exactly. I had a bad pick.
Starting point is 00:31:20 But again, like, so some of these are sort of like they have that tone of like it's just a generational like just weird thing where they're like what's wrong with them it's like we're fucking broke dude and also like we've seen we've been told even millennials we've heard about like taking care of the environment and global warming from a young age and to know that very little is being done to really remedy all that adds to a thing a bit of existential dread and a bit of a thing where you're like yeah like fuck can i afford kids is it worth having these are all ideas people have i think that's pretty normal so i'm i'm less thinking that smartphones have something to do with that again because we're there's a fucking housing crisis and everything
Starting point is 00:32:00 costs so much more but if when you just look narrowly about like smartphones, how could they not have been affected by this technological sea change? Because the negative effects of social media, we've talked about a lot, but like even beyond that, there's just like, just having this little information rectangle
Starting point is 00:32:20 in your pocket that lights up 24 seven has rewired like all of our brains, not just younger people, fucking me, you, everybody. And I think the mere presence of smartphones, like even when we're not using them are a distraction. And studies have also shown that people are more capable when their phones are quote in another room instead of nearby. Yeah. So that's sort of just broadly, I think, where we're at. So far, thoughts from the class on that? Do you find yourself being slightly burnt out?
Starting point is 00:32:51 I know I'm on the older end. You know, I'm crusty and dusty and musty. But what about you, the people with less wrinkles and tighter skin than I? Yeah, the surgery has been successful in that case. I do have some of the tightest skin, a skin that's about to snap at any moment. No, your binder clips are showing from the back of your neck. Are they? Damn it. I said, don't go profile. Don't go profile on camera. They're going to see the binder clips. Don't buy in bulk until unless Miles has seen your binder clips before. Yeah, no, I, I I went ski I was
Starting point is 00:33:25 fortunate to go skiing with my in-laws last week and okay didn't use my phone hardly at all and it was because you know you're like going down the mountain with people that you enjoy being around he'd be an asshole if you're on a phone while skiing I need everybody
Starting point is 00:33:41 to shut up shut up I'm going live on this from this double black diamond. The service on top of this mountain 10,000 feet in the air sucks. But I also when I had downtime, like when you're on the chairlift or whatever, that takes you back up. Yeah, you don't have anything to do. And that's the time when normally you just start reaching for your phone. And the one thing that made me not reach for my phone is that I didn't want to drop my phone. So it was to preserve high risk. Yeah, exactly. So I totally feel that
Starting point is 00:34:13 good. And you said you do keep your phone in the other room. I think you said that when we started. Yeah, I tried to it. It is such a big difference maker. Even if you have it face down, you just don't look at it. I was at the sauna for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. On mushrooms. On mushrooms. And you cannot have your phone in the sauna because you can't be taking pictures of people. But you can be on mushrooms. But you can be on mushrooms.
Starting point is 00:34:37 Might as well. Yeah. Entertainment right there for sure. So maybe I'm not really increasing my attention span. But it was really, really. And looking at the wood paneled ceiling. Right. Yeah, it was great. But it really is so, so liberating. I am trying to do it more and more.
Starting point is 00:34:57 Right. Because I think the thing that keeps us looking right is what we always we've always heard about the dopamine hit that you get. Right. So we've already reinforced it with like beneficial behavior so like you get positive social interactions on your phone but now like you know we have a fucking just non-stop source of stimulation that we just can't fucking put down and like you know i can get that thing where i get the phantom buzz in my pocket when i'm like oh my phone and my shit is not even on me. And I'm like, fuck, you're the cramp. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:29 No, no, no. It's not even that. It's like my nerves are just misfiring because it's like phone, phone. this quote, our smartphone bottle needs to tell us we've had enough and suggested that government regulations might be needed if tech companies won't take this problem seriously. Spoiler alert for that person from 2018, they have not taken it seriously at all. Nobody has. And how, you know, I think, cause we think of it as just sort of this, like it's a phone we need it. But again, I think Gen Z comes back into this because they were definitely uniquely positioned as sort of this like, it's a phone, we need it. But again, I think Gen Z comes back into this because they were definitely uniquely positioned as sort of guinea pigs in this mass social experiment because they were so young when the technology became widespread. And on average,
Starting point is 00:36:17 Gen Z got their first smartphone at age 12. And few remember a world before smartphones like even existed, right? And i think that's the other thing that a lot of people are saying like in-person interactions are so important to the brain's development and swapping those out for virtual interactions may not have been a big deal for boomers or you know like boomers like me or even millennials but for gen z their brain's development was absolutely had to have been disrupted by sort of like this new technology. It's sort of like, yeah, you like thumbs up. Do you like heart? Do you like this? Do you like this? Do you like this? Are you going to get,
Starting point is 00:36:53 get your sense of self-worth? Are you going to derive it from what you're seeing on this screen? And I don't mean to say like all of it can be laid at the feet of smartphones, but it is very interesting to look at why like in that era what it looked like because i didn't get a fucking phone till i was in high school and even then hi the fucking nokia 3390 the most i could do is play fucking snake on that shit you know what i mean yeah like i was not oh hell yeah and you know how you knew somebody was good if they only use three and fucking seven you know i mean did you did you fuck with the three and seven i you know i needed more buttons than just three and seven are you
Starting point is 00:37:30 kidding three and seven but no that was efficient man if you only use three and seven to move the snake around anyway this is me being a boomer on my are you using okay let's talk about this i don't understand how you're just using three and seven. So on it, two, four, six, and eight were your up, like, left, right, and down. But three was up and right. Seven was down or to the left. And it's not like you could do, like, contextually it made sense if you were going to, like, depending on where the snake was going to go. You can't go right again if you're already moving in that direction. So if you hit three, you go up.
Starting point is 00:38:07 You know what I mean? Well, you don't have to condescend about it, but I do really feel bad. This is my new show. Hey, how do you play Snake, man? First question. How do you play Snake? What? He keeps talking over everyone about Snake.
Starting point is 00:38:21 It's like, there's threes and sevens? There's threes and sevens? The fuck is up with this dude it it all i mean it's hard to you know change uh tones after that but it is wild to me like i do feel really bad for like kids obviously where we of course we have some sort of perspective at least where at least we know it's bad for us and right you know like we can intuitively say it's incredibly difficult and that's the whole problem here is even putting your phone in the other room we're bragging that we're putting a like half a pound object in another room and it was right yeah i'm pretty like i'm mentally strong i don't have to
Starting point is 00:38:59 have it like right next to me and but it's still impressive and then just kids i just feel so fucking bad where it's like middle you think about middle school and high school that was just so hard enough when you would think that possibly people might be doing things without you or maybe people were talking about you or something and then it's actually in it's it's tangible and you can actually see because people are mean as shit at any age, particularly then and then that's in your face. It's just so brutal. So I don't know what that solution is. Well, here's the thing. I mean, like, right, like new technologies have always been sort of like the fodder for irrational fear mongering about how like the young people, you know, whether that was
Starting point is 00:39:41 video games or TV or jazz phonographs there's always there's always something but i think unlike these other ones this is one where like you know the we've seen the research like video games doesn't turn people into fucking like violent fucking freaks but like actual scientists seem pretty worried about smartphones and kids i think that's like the one difference here with a lot of these other ones. And one neuroscientist is sort of sounding the alarm on how smartphones alter young people's brain chemistry, which again, seems to be causing more anxiety or depression or even aggression. And I think you look at now, right? I, you know, I know young people. I know some Gen Z people, you know, I got, I got them in my family. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:40:22 I know how to talk to the youth, them, but your finger on the pulse. Yeah. I got him in my family. You know what I mean? I know how to talk to the youth, though. You got your finger on the pulse. I got my finger on the pulse, baby. And I say, hey, what do you mean you don't like Bazooka Joe? They're like, what the fuck are you talking about? What do you mean, what am I talking about? What are you saying? Oh, my God. Wait, y'all don't watch A Different World? Okay, fine.
Starting point is 00:40:43 Where's everybody going? Why is nobody in New York? Wait, wait, wait. Come back. Come back. Come back back come back now uh but like you know but i even hear this too from young people like flip phones like they they're they're not really feeling it either they're like bro i'm kind of fucking burnt out off this shit too and which also i think is the reason why we're seeing flip phone sales go up like especially in the last year more people are wanting just simpler you know know, quote, dumb phones and would rather do like you always hear about digital detoxes or people cutting down on screen
Starting point is 00:41:10 time. Because I think innately, we feel that there is just something slightly fucking off a bit, like when we're always on our phones and always like, you know, just engaging with each other in this like very non personal way. But at other in other times it's like having the source the phone be the source of like our positive or negative feelings for sure so all that to say is i would love i think i would fuck with a nokia 3390 again if they could just make it lighter if like because already you know look blake you know this we got the we got the big thighs so people know what model phone i have because it it there's a fucking a beautiful outline in my pocket well it tears through my pocket they see it because constantly i just take one step forward and pop through just like
Starting point is 00:41:55 salvaged denim it comes it just rips right through it it's yeah uh would you do a dummy phone like a normal phone or you think i mean i think I would use it contextually. Part of me, like if I'm traveling, I kind of need other stuff to kind of orient myself to be like, oh, yeah, where am I? You know what I mean? Like I don't have those kinds of innate skills. But other times in my day to day, it's like, yeah, I can check my email on my computer. Text me if you need me. And that's really about it.
Starting point is 00:42:24 Like the apps and shit that i was scrolling for so fucking long yesterday i'm embarrassed i'm humiliated it's crazy and like for me i think psychologically it's it's two it's probably more than two things but it's eliminating uh brainless use of it like to have intent so if i'm picking up my phone i want to intentionally be like i want to check my email for my career or i want to send a text to my wife or whatever you know i want to post even because we have to post these awful fucking videos like or i'm speaking for myself like i have my awful stand-up online so it's like i need to go on i need to post my stand-up and but then to your point it's like why you should have it in the other room it's like, I need to go on, I need to post my stand up. And but then to your point,
Starting point is 00:43:06 it's like why you should have it in the other room. It seems like that eliminates the mindless like, oh, I feel my brain isn't doing anything right now. I'm going to just mindlessly pick up my phone, my phone automatically floats to Instagram automatically floats to TikTok. And I think also, it's actually comprehending and putting rules in place about how available you actually need to be. I think that's another reason why I personally use it a lot where it's, oh, am I going to miss whatever opportunity this headlining weekend? Are they going to immediately pick someone else if I don't look at my phone for 10 minutes? No. Are they going to immediately pick someone else if I don't look at my phone for 10 minutes?
Starting point is 00:43:44 Like that's no. So or yeah, so or yeah, they will. They won't reach out at all. But no, I think it's intent. And then also having being actually conscious and critically thinking about how available do you actually need to be versus what you perceive. Right. For sure. And boredom is so important.
Starting point is 00:44:03 Like boredom is where you're creative boredom is where you rest it's where you reflect on things you gotta have breaks and you gotta be bored sometimes yeah the non-stop stimulation is not a great thing like i just think too of like before i even got a computer in my room like as a kid right like i was so into like whittling fucking sticks, dude. Like I remember when I was like in 1907. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were a whittler.
Starting point is 00:44:30 Yeah. Just whittling an old corn cob pipe for Pappy and me. Like, I remember like I did like one summer camp and like, like a fucking counselor had like a knife and like sort of like shaved it off and like made it in like into a spear. And I begged my parents to give me like a pocket knife i remember begged them and then when i was like 11 they're like all right motherfucker like we we think we can trust you with it i had that shit
Starting point is 00:44:53 bro all i was doing was just shaving sticks down doing all this shit had this little like stick collection of fucking little like walking sticks and i'm like oh yo you want to see a good like i used to be that kid they're like yo you want to see a good, like I used to be that kid. They're like, Oh, you want to see a good one? Like I would say shit like that. And I know now I think about that too, as a parent, I'm like, I hope, you know, like you just need these kinds of weird little things that are like tactile or, you know, just kind of for you that you can just kind of zone out while doing without any attachment again to like, well, this get likes, will this get, will this get is this will this get clout will this help me am i showing other people and just be like no this is me with
Starting point is 00:45:30 my little sticks i gotta see if my mom has she probably i'm laughing at your your prolific stick whittling where the camera zooms out and the whole area around your childhood house is like a fern gully level deforestation when you chopping down all these trees to whittle all these goddamn sticks no i remember dude there was one time we went on a fucking hike in griffith park i found this big ass fucking branch big at like this shit couldn't fit in my fucking parents car and i was like we gotta bring this back and they're like you're not dragging a fucking 60 pound branch back to the fucking car and i I remember being so fucked up about it. And then I was like, well, it snapped me off this part.
Starting point is 00:46:09 And then like that was allowed to take that part back. And I got that shit down so smooth. And then I was like, yo, dad, I need some sandpaper. I want to get this shit. Again, these are the sort of things that are born out of like your childhood boredom rather than kind of like going out there. And again, I know that like kids are much smarter these days, so I'm not,
Starting point is 00:46:28 I'm not holding them for having access to this information, but that's where, again, I'm old. I'm from the silent generation and it used to be about stick whittling. And nobody gets kids knives anymore. No, that's true.
Starting point is 00:46:40 Bring that back. You know, a knife teaches a knife teaches a kid responsibility. Yeah. You know what I mean teaches a kid responsibility. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, you can't go waving that thing out. But now, like, again, I feel like there's probably, like, all these videos on, like, how to start a fucking pyramid scam just with a pocket knife. And, like, you know, kids going the completely wrong direction.
Starting point is 00:46:59 I'm just trying to get whittling back. You know what I mean? Or be a pyromaniac like I was. By the way, you know what would look so sick for the three of us? We got to get flip phones, belt, holster. Yeah. Ooh, yes. We look so good.
Starting point is 00:47:13 You know that's coming back. You know that shit's coming back. I know. Like, the way mom jeans have come back and all the, like, dad shoes and shit like that. I'm telling you. People are going to start rocking the fucking gigantic Bluetooth with the fucking mic, mic piece, like the mic arm on it. You know what I mean? Like taking a business call with the phone holster tucked in polo shirt with a leather braided belt and some like leather braided sandals.
Starting point is 00:47:37 You know what I mean? And that's and that's that'll be called drip. You know, I just remember this kid peel sketch. I think it was called black republicans where keegan adjorded first of all everyone's like wear like their pant and just they kept pulling up their pants like over and over again and kept saying we're not a monolith we're not a monolith but they were all wearing the exact same outfits like with the holster on their you know like the phone holster pulling right right right it's it's a great sketch if
Starting point is 00:48:04 you want to check it out. We're a pretty diverse group. Yeah. We're not a monolith. Yeah. Pretty diverse group. And then, yeah. Oh, man.
Starting point is 00:48:13 All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back to talk about blue checks and the eclipses right after this. 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.
Starting point is 00:48:49 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.
Starting point is 00:49:24 Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. 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.
Starting point is 00:49:49 Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it? Like you miss 100% of the shots you never take. Yeah. Rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career
Starting point is 00:50:16 without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports.
Starting point is 00:50:55 Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back.
Starting point is 00:51:35 Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Not going to call it X ever in my life, ever. You can't make me do it. You're not my real dad, but thanks for the pocket knife, Elon. I won't do it. You're not my real dad. But thanks for the pocket knife, Elon. I won't do it. So Twitter, I mean, look, they had this like verification paid subscription system, obviously, when the blue check no longer came became about like being like, no, this is you can trust that this person is who they say they are. They are verified and became like, hey, you want to give Elon a couple bucks? but apparently uh lord lord twitter himself elon musk just decided that everyone with like at least 2500 verified subscriber follows will be given a premium account and people with more than 5000
Starting point is 00:52:15 will get a premium plus account for free and i guess the premium plus just means they have access to that thing grok which is the anti-woke chat bot chat gpt thing that just tells like the worst fucking jokes that you've ever heard but i know someone is probably taking that material to some open mic somewhere as we speak right now i'm sure of it um but now you don't have to put me on blast like that but go ahead well look you didn't have to cop to it but it could have just been a subliminal that i hit but look no you don't know what your tone's like do you when you speak it is you don't know what your tone's like do you yeah i'm just i'm just raised eyebrows looking at you the whole
Starting point is 00:53:00 time yeah man you know some through the back of your head. Yeah. It goes and it circles your head. Your eyebrow. It orphans. But now this means that pretty much anyone with a large number of follows, I think unless you're probably the kind of account that deals with actively shit-talking blue checks, you probably don't have that many blue checks following you. Good for you. Pretty much all of those accounts with like the large followings now have the blue check mark.
Starting point is 00:53:24 And it's like embarrassing all these people i don't know if you've seen on twitter all these people who are just like yo i never fucking ever would ever fucking do this shit uh who do we have there's marcy wheeler who's like a legal journalist who covers a lot of stuff in dc just did quote shit i've been forcibly blue checked uh another why a writer at wired said uh lauren good said my blue check is back and i just want to make it clear i am not paying elon musk for this thanks very much yvette nicole brown from community uh she said what happened i didn't pay for this i would never pay for this uh then another person of msnbc host katie fang also said what's with the random blue check i didn't ask for or pay for mark hamill of star wars fame i didn't pay for mine either
Starting point is 00:54:12 people please don't judge me for my complimentary blue check everybody is so sensitive because i get it it kind of became like the blue badge of dishonor for those that had it you're like yo bro you're really giving elon a fucking really like that like for what for what and he he described it or he he basically responded to all these tweets by saying he called them he said such ingrates um yeah i i guess thanks for that i yeah they're they're so ungrateful they never they never wanted it they're like they're ungrateful because you gave them a thing they never wanted and actively made a point to not have. And they're ungrateful. It sounds like you forcibly gave them a shitty thing that they never wanted. And you're violating.
Starting point is 00:54:56 Really, that's what it sounds like. He's such an asshole that something as banal and just boring as a blue check now has become a... He's made that controversial he's he's such a fucking pain in the ass that guy yeah and it kind of reminds me of um like anyone with a blue check that now you know like it generally does say not about everyone but it does say something that's what the inference is you know that you're supporting elon musk and you support what elon musk stands for and the stupid shit that he says and it reminds a little bit, there's a comedian named Luke Giordano, and he had a really funny joke about like, isn't it crazy that now when you see an American flag in
Starting point is 00:55:32 someone's Twitter profile, it's like, whoa, okay, Nazi. All of a sudden, that's been co-opted by these groups where it should just be the flag of a country. But it's been, I said co-opted. Can I, should I say co-opted a few times? I but it's been i said co-opted can i should i say co-opted a few times i'm losing steam sure co-opted okay thank you one more time and co-opted oh i'm out here being like yeah i think i don't not enough blue checks i'm like thank god i was like don't jump i'm like i don't have enough followers for shit to be popping like that on that shit enough for it to be like oh yeah okay um but yeah
Starting point is 00:56:05 i again it is funny just to see how how toxic the entire brand has become but hey you know we're not here to cry tears of pity for elon musk it's just now i hope you i hope you fuck right off asshole um let's see grades is such a thing that someone who owns an emerald mind would say yeah truly right it it does it is it is very um marie antoinette marie antoinette you know like such ingrates and then like goes back to like i don't know fucking making people that he stole from like the orient dance for him like in some weird fucking scene from like a 19th century movie such ingrates now keep dancing for me as i smoke my opium anyway so uh moving on though we have the eclipse coming monday you're in new york right ian yeah are you do you have any i mean you're not quite in the path of
Starting point is 00:56:59 totality but i know 29 counties in new york are do you have, do you have any eclipse plans? Are you trying to see it? I am definitely going to stare at it. I am kind of done with seeing, and I think that would be an awesome way to go out. That's risk-taking. That's the third principle. That's risk-taking. That's risk-taking.
Starting point is 00:57:17 There it is. Yeah. Man, you kind of got some big stuff coming up. Don't need mine. You know what? If I have weird spots in my vision, that's fine. I mean, I've always said like, man you got you kind of got some big stuff coming up don't need mine yeah you know what if i have weird spots in my vision that's fine i mean i've always said like if it were closer and i had planned
Starting point is 00:57:31 more i definitely would probably do mushrooms and want to have the totality sweep over me just because the videos that people just like oh and i know there's got to be something to it and it freaked the fuck out of the ancients. So just for that, I feel like it's worth something. But anyway, we have the total solar eclipse happening on Monday. But, you know, just because we live, we're not in the time of ancients, it doesn't mean our current society is too good for fucking weird ass backwards conspiracy theories. And there's just a lot. There's a lot of these fucking weird ones. Alex Jones,
Starting point is 00:58:07 remember him? He's out here screaming that the eclipse will be accompanied by Masonic rituals. Okay. That will usher in the new world order. I don't know how, again, how any of that works.
Starting point is 00:58:20 Others have also claimed that the various counties in Texas and Oklahoma, which have declared a state of emergency, many have because they're just merely saying there are going to be so many people coming to observe the eclipse that they just need to preemptively be like, yeah, we might need all hands on deck in case people get hurt, whatever. That because of that, the states of emergency have only been done to, quote, kickstart a billionaire-led world, new world order, which, again, obviously has anti-Semitic tropes there, too. But why this wasn't done during any previous eclipse?
Starting point is 00:58:53 Like, we just had one in 2017. Y'all were pretty quiet then. Huh. Unclear. Unclear. There's also, there's a project that NASA, this is also getting a lot of attention. Apparently, there's a NASA project on Chincoteague Island. Shout out Mr. Whippy, the ice cream place, which will fire rockets, quote, at the moon during the eclipse. And again, it's not because NASA is like, yeah, dude, we're about to fucking bring the return of Satan or something by firing rockets at the moon.
Starting point is 00:59:21 Well, they're trying to stop it. They're trying to stop the return of Satan. They should just say that. Who comes from the sky, of course. They're like, are you serious? You think we're trying to do something bad? We're trying to fucking stop the Lord of Prince of Darkness from descending on our fucking mortal plane.
Starting point is 00:59:37 Are you fucking for real? You should be thanking us. That's what we're doing. We're protecting y'all from Satan. Obviously, they're there to do actual actual research about like aspects of the sun and the earth that you can only achieve when there is an eclipse. But the thing that also has people's attention is the acronym APEP, A-P-E-P, which is a nod to the Egyptian snake god of darkness. And a far right influencer believes this will lead this will lead to the occult doing rituals performed by the quote brotherhood of the snake who unless i'm mistaken i think were
Starting point is 01:00:12 the villains of the first conan movie but i don't know that's that's for someone else to look into uh but again this is just to look at how the fucking magnetic and electric fields change during an eclipse. And again, it's to do research on aspects of the sun and earth that are only possible when the fucking moon temporarily blocks the sun's light. That's all. It's not because it's going to be snake fest 2024 with, you know,
Starting point is 01:00:41 who knows what coming in to be our new overlords. And then on Redditdit it's so funny like people on reddit like on the conspiracy theory subreddit they're saying this the eclipse could lead to a massive human sacrifice and when you you're like well where'd you get that they're basically just like laying over the path of totality from 2017 and the path of totality from 2024 and where the two lines intersect they're like right there that's exactly like what does one have to do with the fucking other x marks the spot and what's gonna happen in that spot other than a mass sacrifice massive human sacrifice and you're like what does that even mean like what they said it could trigger the new madrid fault line but then but the whole thing
Starting point is 01:01:25 is they'll make it look fucking natural but it's man-made and it could be a serious loss of life disaster for the united states i'm not sure but if things were that easy to explain i i don't know man shit maybe i should just start dealing in these conspiracy theories i could come with way come up way better shit than this i feel like there's a more fun, less stressful way to conspiracy. You know, like it doesn't have to be a mass sacrifice. Yeah. It could be like, yo, if you are like, yo, if you, you know, if you have asthma and you are in this and you are in this specific spot, your asthma will be cured. Like, I like that.
Starting point is 01:02:02 That's like a low-risk scam, con job to put on people. You know what I mean? But then, like, unless you have severe asthma, it's only for just very, you know, not as severe,
Starting point is 01:02:13 less intense asthma. If you're using a nebulizer, sorry, this eclipse will not help you. Maybe stick around for 2044. This is an albuterol situation, exclusively.
Starting point is 01:02:22 Definitely. A red and pink. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And given the state of how much our medications cost, people will be like, This is an albuterol situation exclusively. A red inhaler. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And given the state of how much our medications cost, people will be like, shit, man, these inhalers cost a lot. Maybe I will go there to get healed by the eclipse. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:02:35 That's a low stake one. I feel like that could be fun. These people are crazy. They don't even know what's really going on. Yeah. What is really going on? Oh, during the eclipse, me and all the other lgbt people we're gonna do spells to make people gay and trans it's awesome yeah okay see that was another concern uh that i had i didn't know how to bring it up with you so i'm glad i was gonna ask yeah well don't worry
Starting point is 01:02:57 insight everyone the way it works is each person can only pick one other person so we're just gonna double which isn't that much oh okay interesting oh now i'm gonna be upset if i don't get picked oh i'm so sorry in your mind i'm so sorry in advance blake you're not on the list i'm not picking no one's thinking about me nobody not at all guys god this is like a smartphone. Literally, this eclipse is a smartphone. Feels like I've been left out again, man. I'm sorry. I'm doing David Harbour. That's a great pick. From Stranger Things. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:03:33 I'm excited. That's a great pick. There's a whole spreadsheet, too. That's what Alex Jones would be like, here's an exact spreadsheet where all the LGBTQ people check off which person that they're going to focus on to make them LGBTQ during
Starting point is 01:03:50 the eclipse. And they make sure that there's no redundancy because they want this to be the most efficient operation absolutely possible. There is going to be an armada of David Harbors, of gay David Harbors. There's going to be a whole armada. There's going to be an Admiral David Harbor of the whole armada. And they're're gonna have to send them out of this country
Starting point is 01:04:05 and they're gonna go to the way in which states they won't be spared they will not be spared oh boy oh boy what a fragile world he must live in when it's like it's like someone can make me gay by thinking about it that's the fucking danger although i know it's just to
Starting point is 01:04:21 kind of keep homophobia alive in the air for his audience but my god either way um hey but let us know uh zeitgang if you do live in the like are going to be in the path of totality please fucking take a video please for me so i can live vicariously through you okay because i'm i'm not going to be able to make it jack you know he's he kicks he beats himself up yeah talking about how he thought it jack you know he's he kicks he beats himself up yeah talking about how he thought it would be a good idea to go he like last week thought oh maybe he could figure out something he's like everything is just sold out or like just
Starting point is 01:04:53 prohibitively expensive never mind i thought maybe i could take my kids to see it um but hey let us live through you if you happen to live in the path of totality you know what i mean what's so funny blake i'm sorry it's just the saddest thing i've ever last minute eclipse plan gone arrived even if you like it was cheap it would be like don't do that jack come on like don't just turn the lights off in your house like you don't have to do that and then it's just too expensive to go and then it's the travel is like oh god i'm sorry do sorry. Do you, wait, hold on. Are you not interested in the eclipse? No, I'm also glad you told me
Starting point is 01:05:28 because I didn't know this was coming and I would have been like, God, am I hung over? This is a really bad hangover. What happened? It's not hitting Philadelphia, is it? No, I think it's too far west. I think it's Western New York is the closest.
Starting point is 01:05:44 Like Indianapolis is going to be a huge spot. Like, Buffalo, New York. Burlington. Vermont, yeah. Yeah, Montreal, Quebec. You know what I mean? Lucky, lucky, lucky. I've always wanted to plan.
Starting point is 01:05:58 I'm sure I would get fucked out of this. But, like, a stand-up date during, like big event like that you know where they have to pay for your hotel anyway where like you know burlington has an amazing club i don't know if you've ever been there ian but it's called like vermont comedy club and it's one of the best comedy clubs in the country and it's like god if i i can't get there during the path of totality you know well i guess it's on a monday anyway but or the super bowl like you know doing us like doing stand-up in vegas during the Super Bowl or something. Right.
Starting point is 01:06:27 I'm sure they would just get a bigger act. Well, hey, I think the next one will be visible in the United States in 2044. So you have some time to get your cloud up. I might have to be the one after. It might have to be 2066. 666, 666. Oh, God. Can you imagine?
Starting point is 01:06:44 Why not? Half of the aardvark Bring on the masonic rituals And whatever what have you I'm really curious It's so funny like we never check in With like these fucking freaks The day after they say something's gonna happen
Starting point is 01:06:59 And they're like what are they gonna say Oh yeah well just the deep state Cut it off because we brought too much attention on it Oh okay just like that huh Well bless you like, what are they going to say? Oh, yeah. The deep state cut it off because he brought too much attention on it. Oh, okay. Just like that, huh? Well, bless you. Bless you. You still owe the Sandy Hook family a lot of money, Alex Jones. Yeah. Anyway,
Starting point is 01:07:14 that's going to do it for us, but Ian Lockwood, thank you so much for joining us. Where do people find you, follow you, engage with your work? Find me online on all platforms at MrI Ian Lockwood with an MR. I wish I had Ian Lockwood, but it belongs to a dead city planner. Oh, no.
Starting point is 01:07:35 What city planner? I think he did a dead one. I think he did like Fort Lauderdale, actually. Wow. Yeah. And it's just someone that it's just there. It's unmovable. Yeah, basically, I think he's probably in hell.
Starting point is 01:07:51 So that's just my guess. All right. Is there some tweet or work of media that you're enjoying? Yeah, I've been reading his gravestone a lot. It's been awesome. Who was he survived by? Here lies this fucking herb. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:10 I also, I saw Problemista recently, which I really, really liked. Highly, really liked it. Good movie. I've heard really great things about that. Blake Wexler, what about you? I have a one-hour stand-up special called blake wexler daddy long legs which is streaming on youtube right now and then uh some road dates april i'm going to be in cincinnati philly and brooklyn a lot of people last time i did the show at a strong rope in brooklyn
Starting point is 01:08:37 which i should i would love to have you on at some point and a lot of zeitgang came out one of them offered to buy me a beer and then then I told them I drink for free here, and then I got taken away. So that was, I apologize if I was rude. I think his name was John or Joe, but he was a fantastic person to meet. And then in May, I'm going to be in Bristol, Tennessee, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Starting point is 01:08:56 So you can get our tickets in my link tree at Blake Wexler social media. Wow. And do you still have nudes in bio? Nudes in the bio? Yeah. They're just pinned like I am in the photos.
Starting point is 01:09:12 They're pinned to my post. Yeah. To my grid. Okay. Is there a tweet or other work of media that you're enjoying?
Starting point is 01:09:22 Yes. And Ian's going to be in Maryland. This is, and then Hard Break, talking about a sad thing and then a funny thing. This is about the bridge collapse in Maryland. This is a tweet from at Roy Wood Jr. And he said, dude who survived the bridge collapse and declined hospital trip, declined a hospital trip, for sure had a woman to get home to. A hospital holding you up.
Starting point is 01:09:46 The later you get home, the less likely she's going to believe you. You want to get home soaking wet at 4am or dry in a hospital robe at 10am. Choose wet every time. Less shady. A tweet I like is from Showfave Blair Sock, at Blair Saki tweeted.
Starting point is 01:10:08 You can just hear it in her voice. Last night I opened one of my sets with, how do the holes keep in the piss and shit when we're asleep? And let me tell you, everyone just stared at me dead silent. She's so funny. Oh, shit. Oh, man. Big Dog, dog i believe is the name of her special you should check that out um yeah and you can find me at miles of gray twitter instagram all those places that have ad symbols hell fucking threads even uh and then you can find uh us you also find me on my other basketball podcast with jack miles and jack out mad Boosty. It's also on 420 Day Fiance, talking about 90 Day Fiance.
Starting point is 01:10:46 You can find us at Daily Zeitgeist on Twitter, The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram, Facebook fan page, website, dailyzeitgeist.com, where we post our episodes and our footnarts. Oh, thank you, Scoop. Thanks, Scoop. And you can also find out the song we ride out on, which is going to be this track, which is a really interesting... There's a band called Karate Boogaloo, and this track is called One Hand, One
Starting point is 01:11:14 Bounce. And, again, a fucking another band from goddamn Australia that's absolutely fucking killing it. I can't fucking believe how many fucking Australian bands that I'm, like, listening to. Like, every single one's like they're from sydney they're from melbourne they're from blah blah they're from western great great that does sound annoying no it's just like wild like when you have these like this like it's just wild creative boom period and it's like so specific
Starting point is 01:11:40 where it's like i guess especially it's music that i really like fucking fuck with it's like vibey more instrumental r&b you're just like really good shit this is again instrumental vibey track feels like something that would have been like sampled but this is a this is a new band and they're doing this fucking really fucking dope track one hand one bounce by karate boogaloo that's where you find it uh that's gonna do it for us today. We will be back on Monday to tell you what was trending over the weekend. Until then, have a blessed day and a weekend. Okay, we'll see you later. Bye-bye. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente.
Starting point is 01:12:19 And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadson. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit
Starting point is 01:12:50 Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil.
Starting point is 01:13:28 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 Elf Beauty. Founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

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