The Daily Zeitgeist - Foucault's Trenderang 1/14: Trump vs. Ford Workers, CBS Evening News, Tariff Checks, Olds vs. Youngs

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

In this edition of Foucault's Trenderang, Jack and Miles discuss Trump's Ford plant tour, how things are going on CBS Evening News, what's up with those Trump tariff checks, the elderly stealing Gen Z's jobs?!, and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high. And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right.

Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on. And the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name.

Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian, and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story.

John has never been anything that gay. but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally. And I'm Hurricane de Bolu. It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be.

I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that? I just depressed. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of Foucault's Trenderang. Oh. Courtesy of Infinite Jost on the Discord, Colin Jost's alias on our Discord.

Colin Jost, Big. There's Infinite Jost. Infinite Jost. My name is Jack O'Brien. That over there, returning from a trek. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The nether realm.

To the nether realm. Miles Gray! Oh, God. Can you hear it in my voice? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Wait, so Foucault has a boomerang and a pendulum? Yeah.

Fouca's... Damn, bro. How many fucking objects does Foucaulte got? Oh, man. Guys got so many weapons. Is it a Foucault? How's you? Have you seen Fouca's Boneymore? Co's utility belt.

We're fucking with Foucault's utility belt in the United States now. Yeah, we got Foucaultz grappling hook. Hell yeah. Boomerang, I think, is the one where the imperial violence that's enacted on other countries comes back around. Is he also Panopticon? I think so. He had a lot going on. Yeah.

Bro, this guy's got so many things, Foucaul. You got a panopticon. Opticon, you got a boomerang, just let us have something. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You were at Disneyland. Disney land. Running out the clock before the Geist Child turns three and you start have to pay, you got to pay for them. And right now it's also like SoCal

Residence deal. So it's like cheaper than normal. So we went because we're like, hell yeah, we're going if there's a deal. And I'm just sick. that's prime gang territory right there. Yeah, you know, Silka residents. I thought there were people waiting for a methadone clinic

outside frontier land. There were people trading pins. Oh, yeah, yeah. Motherfuckers had like, they were in there like motorized scooters.

They had a whole desk out. I'm like, is this Canal Street? Yeah. What the fuck is going on here? And then I remember reading about pin trading and all the wacky shit

going on with Disney pin trading and I was like, okay. The Disney pin trade. You know Chinese reps have also fucked that game? up too. Oh no. Yeah, because there are, you know, there's commemorative pins that all these people collect and some people have like, they'll go to, they'll find like a Chinese rep of it and then go to

Disneyland and then like trade and like fuck people over in a deal because they're like, bro, this fucking space mountain pin is fucking fake. They're not, they're not like cutting it and testing the pin. No, no. They're not biting it. Just stab it with a knife like a brick of coke. Yep, yep. That's good. That's good. Seems off. Anyway, more adults than children. there, which was always always a pleasure because it's a little less chaotic. But you're also like, wow, hell yeah. Shout out my Disney adults out there. Shout out the Disney adults. Yeah. A good tweet from somebody being like, I scoff at Disney adults as I put on my Minnesota Timberwolves. Right, right, right.

Sox drink tea from my Carl Anthony Towns commemorative mug. Yeah. As I put on my jersey of a person half my age with with stars in my eyes. fucking Disney adult All right, let's get to the news Let's fucking do it Let's talk about Donald Trump's little visit To the Ford plant in Dearborn Got a nice little little moment

That showed that he's an honor Unfustered Does not Does not care about all these Epstein rumors Not bothering him Not bothered at all Look honestly when I walk through a auto

Auto plant and I'm rightly described by the workers it's an honor. I'll play the clip for you. This is a fucking superhero name. I don't know what his problem is. Yeah. Well, let's hear what he's.

Superhero name. So, fuck. Okay, this is, this is Trump. You probably know what this guy is saying, but hopefully we can hear it in this clip. This is Trump walking through the Ford Plan, Deerborn. Woo!

You're at the beginning here. Petro Protector is what someone's yelling from the floor. Wow. Petto Protector. He's, and this guy must be looking dead in Trump's eyes because Trump's head is locked on whoever's saying that. And he goes, fuck you. Yeah. Mouths, fuck you.

Yeah. It's directly at the person. And then balled up his toddler-sized hand and flipped him the bird. Look, much strength. Hard to tell because his hand is so small. You can really see. Yeah, yeah. It could have been a thumbs up.

It's hard to know. It's hard to fucking know. But yeah. So this hero, T.J. Sabula was fucking, this is what he said right after. Quote, as far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever. Fuck yeah. Although he did say he was concerned about the future of his job and believe he has been, quote, targeted for political retribution for, quote, embarrassing Trump in front of his friends. Well, I don't feel as though fate looks upon you often. And when it does,

you better be ready to seize the opportunity. And today I think I did that. You know what? Salute. DJ Subula. Salute to this person. Salute to the person who. ran up behind fucking the vice president. Dick Cheney was like, fuck you at one time. It was an early work in the art of telling president to his face to get fucked. But yeah, it was right after Katrina. I think he was boring.

The regime's official description of the interaction, quote, A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage and the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response. In a fit of rage. In a fit of rage. I mean, yeah, of course. We're outraged at the injustice that abounds and the duplicity, the hypocrisy, the lies, everything.

Yeah, a bit of a fit, I guess you could put that. A blue collar worker who is supposed to be his base was calling it like it is. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There was something I saw where like unions were like, there's a lot of union leaders accused Trump. labor department of echoing Nazi rhetoric. So you're getting union bosses like, what the fuck is all this shit with your one home land,

one people, one heritage. Right, because it was the Department of Labor that put out that one homeland, one people. Exactly. One fewer. And obviously,

I know maybe 90% of Zygang speaks German, but for those that don't, it's ein volk, ein we like, einfeur, is what the actual, unvulk, I'm like,

can't dump, but thank you. A nice little, I'm right. I'm furor. Or no, it's Ine. Oh, oh, okay. Oh, like, Ien Rand. Yes.

This was a little reassuring to me that he is doing some fundraising around the midterms, which makes, this is the first that I've seen that suggests that he thinks that there's a chance of midterms that there might be elections. Well, I mean, he's already trying to get like states to do massive purges of voter rolls. So, yeah, he's, he's. is definitely thinking like, okay, we're going to lose, but how do I prevent that through any means necessary? But yeah, money begging, still his favorite. I like the message, though. It paints a picture. Yeah. I'm sitting here alone in the war room fighting for you. The rest of the staff went home hours ago. It's just me, one dying laptop. And the 72-hour countdown clock to my first mid-month

deadline of the year just rang. What is this shitty? Edgar Al and Poe? Yeah, also it's not sitting at a laptop. I mean, any laptop he's sitting at is probably dying. It's probably, you know, as we've talked about,

he was amazed by his son's ability to turn a laptop on. He definitely, he definitely probably, he looked, as he stared at that dying laptop and it finally just went, you and had no power, he'd been, how you do you?

How you turn up? I've been trying to turn this thing off for fucking hours. all the staff has left. Yeah, he goes on to say, if you don't help me crush that goal, that basically the, quote, radical left will flip Congress and, quote, finish what they started, like taking your guns or doing brainwash on your kids. So, yeah, yeah.

So it's interesting that he completely abandoned the thing that helped him get elected, which was affordability. No mention of that. No. Because I think he knows. You mean the affordability hoax? That shit is fucking Voldemort in that way. they like go don't fucking Mercedes fucking don't even fucking talk about that shit because people are going to be like yeah oh yeah what's up with that so many Voldemort's you know so many things that must not be named in that white house I feel like yeah oh my god it's it's quiet in there it's quiet it's quiet but yeah what doesn't matter about your bills yeah I mean all the prognosticators like traditional sort of political prognosticators are like man like the signs are even better than they were when in

Trump's first midterm election when the blue wave happened. They're like, yeah. Like, this is like, it's a mess. So that must be news to Chuck Schumer's ears who wants to say, we will not fight. We will wait for the midterms and then do less. Yeah. So that plane seems to be coming together.

Yeah. Just like sit back, let them fuck it up and then do nothing once we get into office. I do want to check them with CBS evening news because. You check their pulse. Yeah. Tony docupil. DeCopal. DeCopal?

Yeah. I mean, there's just, that name's a docupill. It looks better. Like it looks, you got it. You've been document pill. You want to be like DeCalple? Anyway, it's DeCopal. DeCopal.

We covered his first week last week, just massively fucked it up, was like, and we're talking about, oh, like, dead air, just sitting there, not knowing what to do. I guess we're doing the Mark Kelly piece or? First day, big problems. He said out loud, which is like a weird thing. Anyways, he was also caught quoting a claim wrongly made by Donald Trump as a fact. He quoted a factually incorrect true social post while trying to grill Colorado governor Jared Poleth on the issue of freeing one of Donald Trump's key pardon targets. Yeah. I don't remember if we covered the segment where he gave a salute to Marco Rubio.

Like a military salute? No, they did like a weird little thing where they were like, he's got so many jobs. Marco Rubio is the Secretary of State. Head of this, head of that. What's next? Is he going to coach the Packers? Is he going to? And they like started doing like AI generated images of Marco Rubio with like different job uniforms on.

Didn't the Packers just lose? Yeah, yeah. I think, I forget what the coaching job was. But like they were just throwing different things out. Like, is it going to be a fisherman on the deadliest catch boat? Yeah, I only know that very narrow bit of NFL news because my neighbor is a Bears fan. It was fucking losing his mind down the street. I was like, is it a good game or something?

He's like, yes, I'm like, okay, dude, I was based. Okay, man, bears, bears for sure. But they added it. Marco Rubio, we salute you. You're the ultimate Florida man. Oh, my God, dude. They're doing, they're doing like a restrained version of Gutfeld. It really gives gut fell.

And I think so basically the ratings for his first week came in and it's fucking tanking. Nobody's watching it. How bad could it be? Down 23% from the same week last year when they were like marketing this as like the launch of the new CBS evening news. And there was a lot of, you know, media attention around it. You would think that that would do something to bump overall ratings and instead they fell off, which who could possibly want the by the way the YouTube videos are up because I think they went viral because they kept fucking things up oh that that CBS's own YouTube is posting these Ls yes yes but

it truly is it it kind of reminds me of the Kamala Harris strategy in this past election where it's just like trying to go right but there's already state run media there's already the state-round media apparatus of Fox News. You can't out Fox News, Fox News. Like, what you're doing is just a warmed over shit version of Fox News. And, like, the people already go there for that. Right. The sort of people who watch Fox News are not going to come over here

because they already don't trust you. Yeah, right. If you want to, if you, yeah, if you want to abandon trans voters or trans people, like, like the Kamala Harris campaign did, like most people were like, yeah, I mean, there's other politicians out there that are going way harder on them. So why choose you? Maybe you should have protected people. Anyway, we talked on yesterday's episode about how Kamala Harris had run a campaign ad that was like Donald Trump wanted to defund the border. Kamala Harris has vowed to like fund. Refunded us. So bad. I mean, like, you know,

I hope most people, at least listeners of this show probably know, but just generally, please be aware of people's political adversaries. Yes. if their adversaries are not oligarchs and billionaires, these people are not interested in helping you. Just point blank. That's just a real quick math you can do. And I'm sure we'll talk about that in tomorrow's main show. We might.

We just might. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and we'll talk about how fucking old everyone is. We'll be right back. New year, new goals. And in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel.

We are from the How to Money podcast. And every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally. And I'm Hurricane DeBolu. It's a new year. And on the podcast, Health Stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health.

which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed? We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find where it is that you can have an impact in your own life and just start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about. Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us, affects our overall health.

We talk about all the ways to keep your body in mind, inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were. It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission.

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Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught the name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof,

why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath. Listen to the mailroom on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And we're back. We're back.

And there's a new report that the elderly, you know, we see it on our TV. we see with the leadership of this country where the elderly are just hanging on, hanging on to power as much as they can. I know, man. Still greeting me at Walmart at your age, dude? Get the fuck out of here. Oh, wait, what are you talking about?

So I'm talking about perhaps the president, for instance. He didn't know. There was an interview with the New York Times. You pointed out where he was asked about those $2,000 tariff checks. Dude, do you remember Okay, everyone remembers because he was like The tariffs are so great, I'm going to buy your loyalty and your vote with

$2,000 checks even though all of his fucking cabinet members like Promises. Dude, what? Shut the fuck up. What are you talking about? He first said it would happen sometime mid 2026. That was, that's what he said. Okay, I remember that. Where we add on those? Do you remember that, Donald?

You promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues? I did do that. I did do that Shut the fuck I'm already I did you did I do that That's Erica

That's Erica icon Check out the episode of diggies that geeks When did I do that? Yeah I'm thinking Well I did 1776 for the military Right when those Americans Get those checks Good question

Well I am going to The tariff money is so substantial That's coming in That I'll be able to do 2000, sometime, I would say toward the end of the year. Oh, okay. Wow. Seems very serious about that. Seems to be on top of that plan. I, this really reminded me of my grandmother as her memory faded pretty severely. Like, and it's kind of in that in between where you mentioned something they said and they are, they are true. They're like, huh? Yeah. I said that. And then you're like,

yeah, you said it. And the human part of you that doesn't want to acknowledge what's happening just kind of starts improvising and like yes anding. Sure. Like how he did. He's like, I did that. Oh, well, I gave the 17. And like, he connected it to a thing

he could remember. Right. I was just like, ooh. I mean, it's not like we need this clip to prove anything. And like I said, it'll probably be, yeah. No, I knew.

I knew I did that. I was actually kidding. I did do that. Jesus. So, yeah. Scott Gardner, a great comedian from podcast

the ride, made that show, tiny fuppets. He directed the Golden Globes podcast bit. Oh, did he? I was thinking the credit, yep, yeah, yeah, that was Scott Gairdner. He calls this filibustering, which I think is a good term for it, the habit of like the elderly people to just stay in their positions well past their usefulness to continue collecting a check. Right.

Because they have a terrible sense of their own massive limitations as they age. And we're apparently, so we've seen it with all over politics, but, but we're, But apparently it's happening across the workforce. They're basically finding that it's harder and harder for young people to get hired into entry-level jobs. And the average age for new hires is going up and up and up every year, essentially, because, you know, also the economy is fucking terrible. Right. But it's also that these people, it's like the problem we've seen with old people never realizing they're too old to drive. but with the entire country

just being accidentally driven through a farmer's market by an old person who mistook the break for the accelerator. I mean, it's part of that just because there's no social safety nets and people have to keep working. I mean, I think it's going to be a huge combination of things. Right, because I also get to like how

that completely, like when fucking average new hires 42 years old, holy shit, dude. Young people, and I can say that because I'm 41 now. I'm almost the average age of a new hire in 2025. It has to be so infuriating and so frustrating.

I mean, this was similar to like when I was looking for a job in 2008. Yes. And it was basically the jobs were like, okay, you could be like, I don't know, I don't want to call it a slave, but like kind of a slave for like very little money. Or you need 17 years of experience to get this job. I know you're 22. but if there's a way you could have an inordinate amount of experience for this entry-level position, we'd love to hear from you.

Yeah. The article says, younger workers face fewer entry opportunities. The pattern is consistent with a labor market that is slowing, becoming more selective, and prioritizing experience over long-term potential, which, aka valuing the hiring of people that they know over people they don't know and understand,

which, you know, this, I think there's all sorts of reasons for this, like we're saying, you know, there's less of a secure social safety net for the elderly. But just the overall trend in this country is the entire power structure openly runs on favors done by people for people that they know. Sure, sure. So, like, why would the labor market be any different whatsoever? Yeah, man. I mean like even in like a sporting analogy you wouldn't just be like we got to get a bunch of experienced vets in here. Maybe if you're like it's like one season and you're trying to like win or something like let's load it up with that long term you want to have. It never works also.

Never works. You guys tried that with like Carl Malone and Gary Payton. Look at the Lakers, baby. Let's get some old dogs in here that everybody knows they did a thing or two eight years ago. Clippers are trying it this season. Yeah. It's not going so well. And yeah, just as if long-term potential is a fucking negative.

Yeah. Prioritizing experience over long-term potential. That probably means good things for the long-term health of the country. Yeah. And I mean, I think you see this just in terms of like leadership too. Like our world is changing so rapidly. And people who have like existed in like the highest levels of management are not typically not very attuned to those changes and how to adapt. So then like you just see them like whole.

hold on even more to like old habits. I mean, you see this in politics all the time, but you see it everywhere too where people like social media, what's the point? YouTube? Never heard of it. Right. Yeah. All right. Those are some of the things that are trending on this Wednesday, January 14th. We are back tomorrow with a whole last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get your vaccines. Well, you still can. Get your flu shots. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye. Bye-bye.

The Daily Zykeyes is executive produced by Catherine Law. Co-produced by Bay Wang. Co-produced by Victor Wright. Co-written by J.M. McNabb. And edited and engineered by Brian Jeffries. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high.

And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for your year. you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to how to money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist, Dr. Steve Polt,

to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian and traveled the world.

telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. John has never been anything that gay, but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyankalwali. And I'm Hurricane de Bolo. It's a new year.

And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk. talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that, or am I just depressed? Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.