The Daily Zeitgeist - Franken Resigns, And The Top People And Movies Of 2017 12.7.17

Episode Date: December 8, 2017

In episode 43, Jack & Miles are joined by comedian Edgar Momplaisir to discuss Lavar Ball & his sons, Rand Paul, Time Person Of The Year, Al Franken, Brock Turner, Harvey Weinstein, Israel &am...p; Palestine, Trump speeches, the Jolene song, & more Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. What was that?
Starting point is 00:00:42 That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller
Starting point is 00:00:54 from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality,
Starting point is 00:01:04 cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast or wherever you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, everyone. It's me, Katie Couric. You know, if you've been following me on social media, you know I love to cook, or at least try, especially alongside some of my favorite chefs and foodies, like Benny Blanco, Jake Cohen,
Starting point is 00:01:46 Lighty Hoyk, Alison Roman, and Ina Garten. So I started a free newsletter called Good Taste to share recipes, tips, and kitchen must-haves. Just sign up at katiecouric.com slash goodtaste. That's K-A-T-I-E-C-O-U-R-I-C dot com slash good taste. I promise your taste buds will be happy you did. Hello, the Internet, and welcome to Season 9, Episode 4 of Das Daily Zeitgeist. For December 7th, 2017, my name is Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. Potatoes O'Brien, and I'm joined by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray. Yes, look at me. We're back. We're a family.
Starting point is 00:02:29 And it's your boy, Miles Gray, putting the funk back in erectile dysfunction. How is everybody? Oh, that's so good. Anna has been fired for trying to replace me yesterday. She's no longer with us. Rest in power. Rest in power. And we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat today by the hilarious Edgar Monplaisir.
Starting point is 00:02:44 Boingo, boingo. He's back. He's back. The kid is back. Edgar, what's something that you've searched in the not too distant past that is revealing about who you are as a human being? Oh, man. My last search was how to not be self-destructive. Ooh.
Starting point is 00:02:58 Wow. That's dark. That's dark, Edgar. Did you just listen to 444 or something? Yeah, I was listening to 444 and i was just like figure this shit out man right right wait did something actually spur that or were you just curious if there are articles about that yeah no i was just like trying to like not repeat patterns and stuff like that you know what i mean yeah yeah just you know like at the end of the year
Starting point is 00:03:18 you start reflecting on your whole year yeah i was just like let's let's see how i can improve next i always pick one thing to target and i think last like for 2017 i was just like, let's see how I can improve next. I always pick one thing to target. And I think last, like for 2017, I was just like, I want to accomplish these outside things. But for 2018, I want to accomplish internal things. Mastery of the inside so you can master the outside. Correct. Yes. This is real spiritual advice.
Starting point is 00:03:39 I'm so curious what you returned. Like if there was anything helpful on that. Man, it's a bunch of bullshit. Yeah. That's what I would expect. There was a lot of instagram photos that is not where i would go i would not go to the free internet for advice about how to not be self-destructive uh edgar what's something that's overrated megan markle oh shit i think this engagement heat fly through this fucking room from that hot take i saw saw this ABC News article that said, Meghan Markle's engagement offers hope up to black women.
Starting point is 00:04:10 No, it doesn't. Right, right, right. That's crazy. That is overrated. If you're a black woman listening to this, a prince is not going to find you and get engaged to you. I'm sorry. It's not going to happen.
Starting point is 00:04:20 It's a very isolated incident. It's extremely isolated. And it's just like, I don't know. It's bullshit is what it is. Everyone's hyping it, talking about first black queen or whatever. She's not. Prince Harry's never going to become king. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:34 I've talked to some single women in their 30s who are like, it gives us all hope. And I think they're half joking, but they do know every single detail about the whole thing. So I do feel like maybe it's a big deal. The queen's going to assassinate her. I think it is a big deal that a woman of color is now part of the royal family. I think that aside is great. But, I mean, that is purely because someone in the royal family loves her and they're attracted. It's not merit-based or anything.
Starting point is 00:05:00 Right, that's true. But that's changing the complexion, literally, of the royal family. That's true that's changing you know the complexion literally of of the royal family that's true but yeah i don't know if like a lot of the stuff of uh you know like and why this means you know it's great for everyone yeah it only matters if she has a baby if she has a baby then it's just like oh shit like you know what i mean because then he has like it's like a black person with royal blood right yes yes there's no black person with royal blood right have a baby there's a black and he looks like blake griffin and that's gonna be insane i feel like the whole royal thing is like a guilty pleasure for people but then the media treats it like it's an actual thing like gives hope to black women everywhere it's like no we just like think this is a fun like gossipy
Starting point is 00:05:40 bullshit thing to care about yeah yeah yeah Yeah. Like, will this change civilization? Like, will people look back like 50 years from now when like women of color are like in every imaginable seat of power and like, and this all happened when Meghan Markle opened the gates. Yeah. Edgar, what's something that is underrated? Shit talking as a,
Starting point is 00:05:56 as just an effective tool. You said that's underrated? Underrated. Clearly right now, based off the shit talking we're doing. Yeah. I mean, not,
Starting point is 00:06:03 not enough people are using, like I, I was watching Draymond Green play defense yesterday. And I was like, yeah, he's, like, physically capable. But I also think it's a mental thing. Like, he has his power over these people because of all the shit that he talks. And I saw it last night. I was watching the Warriors play the Hornets.
Starting point is 00:06:18 And this dude talked shit to Durant. And Durant talked shit back to him. And then it just worked the whole game. It was insane. So I think more people should use shit-talk. we should like have seminars about it and work being like here's how you can use shit talk so motivate yourself in a sports context that's easy because like you ain't got shit you ain't got what you're gonna do how do you now apply that to the world i can tell you how to apply it to the world outside so somebody was asking me uh if i was
Starting point is 00:06:41 taking my wife on a baby moon uh earlier and edgar had just arrived and he just took out a post-it note off my desk and wrote you are white on it and just put it right in my face that that's how you talk shit to somebody and did you cancel your baby moon yeah i did i feel worse about myself but uh i feel better about edgar i feel but see but that's interpersonal but i'm saying how do you do that you know, you're trying to close a deal. Oh, you're just trying to be like, you ain't no punk, right? Like, you're going to sign this fucking, like, you're going to buy these 500 widgets off of me? Or you call the, have you ever seen the episode of Mad Men where they were trying to, like, pitch to, I want to say it was Honda or Toyota.
Starting point is 00:07:19 And there was another company doing it. And then, like, they were just like, yo, we have to, like, trick them into signing with us. So what they did is they walked into the meeting and they said, we heard that you guys asked another company doing it. And then like, they were just like, yo, we have to like trick them into signing with us. So what they did is they walked into the meeting and they said, we heard that you guys asked another company. That's dishonorable. And they just all got up and walked out. And then they were like, no, no, no, no, no. And then they took them. And I was like, that's, that's it.
Starting point is 00:07:37 Like that shit talking to be like, yo, you fucked up. Right. You piece of shit. Peace. And then they left. Use that in your workplace. You know what I'm saying? So I think what we can all distill this down to is, Joe, be mad manipulative.
Starting point is 00:07:50 Yeah. Yeah. With your words. Just in any situation. Be pointed with your words. Be pointed. Yeah. WWDD.
Starting point is 00:07:56 What would Draymond do? Yeah. In all situations. All right. Let's get into the format. We're trying to take a sample of the ideas that are out there changing the world, trying to take the temperature of, yeah, the shared consciousness of the human species or our nation here in America at the very least. My house is still standing. I should have said that.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Oh, yeah, right, right. Yeah, my house didn't burn down. And that was not a joke, Gwen. I know it sounded kind of – that section started really dramatically. You were actually out there trying to save your home. So shout-outs to the LAFD team. Yeah, but thanks for all the good vibes and well wishes from everybody. Before we get into movies and news and pop culture, Edgar, we like to start out, as you know, by asking our guest, what's a myth?
Starting point is 00:08:43 What's a misconception? What's something that the zeitgeist has wrong uh that misery loves company yeah i don't think that's true i think when you're sad you probably don't want anybody around like you kind of just want to be sad by yourself and then if someone else gets sad with you like for example i i i get depressed a lot and then sometimes like i'll invite my friend g Ho over because he's depressed. But then he starts talking about how he's depressed. I'm like, hey, man, this is kind of my time to be depressed.
Starting point is 00:09:10 It's my thing. Yeah, like, go back to Long Beach. I ain't trying to hear your shit. I'm looking for support, bro. Yeah, exactly. You need a yes and my sad shit. Exactly. So I don't think that misery loves – I think that's bullshit.
Starting point is 00:09:20 I don't want someone else to be sad around me because I have to focus on their sad shit. Right. Let me be sad by myself. But, I mean, I think, not to be a total asshole thinking apart that up. Yeah, cuck. But, like, what about the idea of that phrase being that, like, miserable people love making other people fucking miserable? No, I don't think that's true because then you're going to think about how that other person's miserable. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:09:40 It doesn't add up to me. I think it's true in the sense that they do make other people miserable. Like one bad person, they've done studies, and one person who just has all sorts of bad energy in a group can make all the other people have bad energy. But I don't think it's anything intentional. I don't think they're sitting there being like, I'm going to fuck myself. No, no, not at all. I think that's just part of human nature. Yeah, it's just actually how we respond to other people. Yeah, we're empathetic beings.
Starting point is 00:10:05 Not necessarily their fault. Yeah, I don't think they love it. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, and also if you could stay at home, if that miserable person could have stayed at home instead of coming into work that day, they would have. So that's why you should be able to call in sick if you're just a little down. Or if they can shit talk, being like, you know what, Lisa, fuck you. You ain't shit. Your reports are all trash. Then maybe they'd feel better. You know what I'm saying? Or someone needs to shit talk you you know, like being like, you know what, Lisa, fuck you. You ain't shit. Your reports are all trash.
Starting point is 00:10:25 Then maybe they feel better. You know what I'm saying? Or someone needs to shit talk you out of your depression. Absolutely. You're like, you're one of these depressed assholes, are you? Man, fuck out of here. I'm not hanging with you. Wait, wait, wait.
Starting point is 00:10:35 No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm cool. I'm hella happy. I thought you were cool. I thought you were level. That's right. Let's shame people who are depressed.
Starting point is 00:10:41 Ooh, man. The shit talking can go many ways. Yeah. There's a lot of things that we're fixing today in the cultural consciousness. who are depressed. Oh, man. The shit talking can go many ways. Yeah. There's a lot of things that we're fixing today in the cultural consciousness. Yes. Shaming depressed people. We're figuring it out here. All right.
Starting point is 00:10:53 Let's get into the zeitgeist. Yeah. So awards season is sort of starting. I guess the WGA awards or what awards just came out? The list for the WGA awards just came out the list for the wga awards just came out yeah but it was only television and like radio but the movie one's gonna probably come out within the next few days the wga is the writers guild of america thank you uh so gotta let people know not everybody lives in la if you in L.A., I don't know who you are.
Starting point is 00:11:26 Sorry, mom. But so we were just talking about like what movies we feel like usually there's a there's a pretty good sort of sense of what what's going to make the list and what what movies people, at least in Los Angeles, are going to be talking about. Yeah. Before I said that, I didn't know what was going to be like the main one, I would like to change that statement to I'm kind of disappointed where it kind of just seems like same old, same old. Right. Like when we're going through the list of things, it kind of seems same old, same old to me.
Starting point is 00:11:57 Yeah. So you introduced me to this amazing site, goldderby.com, that is where people like put odds on what's going to win the Oscars. And you can see basically real-time odds of who is predicted to win. Right now, the list goes. It's betting for people who didn't lose their virginity until senior year in college. That's right. So the favorite is Dunkirk.
Starting point is 00:12:22 Which is insane. That's the favorite? Yeah, that's the favorite yeah that's right that's crazy i mean it was dunkirk was cool but i feel like there are many films that probably work on people more on an emotional sense than like cinematography wise i think that's like the best achievement it was an amazing movie experience but it wasn't like moving right yeah well i think and for me dunkirk like i've i don't know if i've said on the show but like i think it really encapsulates the feeling of like helplessness that people experience in warfare.
Starting point is 00:12:47 Right. I think that's what, that's what the achievement of that film was. It's like not using wanton violence and people's fucking bodies being blown and have to be like, oh my God, war is terrible. But like identifying these people and be like, yo, they have nowhere to go. Yeah. The sound, the sound design in that movie was very, I watched it in Arclight Dome, and you could feel it being like, oh, shit, there's bombs everywhere. I can't get out of this shit. But I wasn't just like, you know what I care about?
Starting point is 00:13:08 These characters. Did anybody else think that the one character we followed the whole time was actually like a spy? Because it said the mole, and the mole is actually like – What they called that space they were waiting on the beach. Yeah, exactly. Yes, I was confused until i think one like kenneth brauner someone references the mole right or something yeah i just wasn't paying attention yeah i can never pay attention to anything other than the fact that that guy has a
Starting point is 00:13:34 straight uh horizontal line for a mouth thank you no lips at all i'm glad i got you on team inside team calling kenneth brauner's no lips but two is The Post, which I don't really know much about. What is going on? It's about the Pentagon Papers. It's Tom. I think people are just saying Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:52 That's all you need to know. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like when Meryl Streep was in a film, he gets nominated. Yeah. Then Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name are third and fourth. You know Shia LaBeouf was supposed to be Oliver in that film? No, no. No. The original, I think, yeah, the original director, James Iv You know Shia LaBeouf was supposed to be Oliver in that film? No, no.
Starting point is 00:14:05 The original, I think, yeah, the original director, James Ivory, he wanted LaBeouf to be Oliver, the grad student. Oh, really? Yeah. Army Hammer's character? Yeah. Huh. That sounds awful. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:17 I'd like to see Shia LaBeouf make love. You guys? I have. Yeah, you have. Yeah, that's because we were in a movie together. Most of us have not been cued in on that. Then The Shape of Water, which is the Mexican director's... Guillermo del Toro.
Starting point is 00:14:31 Guillermo del Toro. Oof. Guillermo del Toro's next movie. Guillermo del Toro. You weren't jumping in there, I noticed. That's why I was like, nope. There's like three Mexican directors whose names I always confuse with one another. Iñárritu, Del Toro, and who?
Starting point is 00:14:47 Cuarón. Cuarón. Cuarón. Alfonso Cuarón. Exactamente. Then three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is the guy who directed in Bruges. Also wrote The Pillow Man. Irish playwright, right?
Starting point is 00:15:03 Yeah, Irish playwright. Who was a huge fan of The Walkman. I'd always see him at Walkman shows, weirdly. Then finally, Get Out. Get Out is seventh. That's insane. Get Out needs to be... I think Get Out will definitely get nominated. It's getting a nomination.
Starting point is 00:15:19 There's no way around it. Even though they submitted it as a comedy to the Golden Globes, it's still getting a nomination. It'll probably win. I think what I'm realizing is the Oscars are going to always repeat themselves. We have all the same things. A war movie, a deeply political movie, a movie about a wacky white girl, and then gay love. It's literally the top four movies. Or like, and what it's like to be black.
Starting point is 00:15:42 Yeah. Way at the bottom. Right. And if you can overlap those two, gay love story, what it's like to be black. War movie. Moonlight. It's a quirky black girl caught up in the war. Right.
Starting point is 00:15:54 Yeah, exactly. Look at the top four for last year, and I'm willing to bet that they're not that different. Well, La La Land would be the Dunkirk and that it was like a spectacle that is like a love letter to cinema type thing okay yeah and then uh call me by your name i guess is the moonlight um probably i don't know yeah but i i get what you're saying look we're not movie experts here we're not uh none of us have ever seen a movie based off our anecdotal observations and evidence yes yeah uh but miles so so your mom is a film critic. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Starting point is 00:16:28 Oh, yes. She's a film critic. Yeah, and you said she's super excited about Phantom Thread. She's really – so yeah, my mom, she is in the Hollywood Foreign Press, so they vote in the Golden Globes. So she's seen all this. She's seen it all. She's seen it all she's seen it all and yeah she is like very excited about uh phantom thread which is the pt anderson and daniel day lewis film because whenever they team up yeah it's always
Starting point is 00:16:51 an amazing performance yeah uh i have yet to see it but i really want to see it because i'm a like the biggest pt anderson stand because he's from the valley represent uh and also daniel day lewis is just so about that method life. He is the original method man. He is hot Knicks. He's the gold standard. Do you think he learned how to sell for this movie? Who knows? I mean, because in his off time, isn't he a cobbler or something?
Starting point is 00:17:13 Yeah, he is. He picks his shoes. That's what he does in his downtime. Yeah. So when he's not acting, this dude is working on his shoes. So I feel like he probably has already cultivated many of these skills. Right. Isn't this...
Starting point is 00:17:22 Apparently, Daniel Day-Lewis is saying this is his last film but uh this is something he's right this is something he said before uh i'll believe it when i don't see another film he's in for until he dies because this dude has fake quit the game a few times and come back so right man retired man i certainly listen i'm not a great actor i don't care i really don't care what makes him a great actor that he's just yelling all the time
Starting point is 00:17:47 that's it no he doesn't yell all the time at all his performance in that movie about the oil
Starting point is 00:17:51 is completely restrained what's he doing in that movie about the oil that's one film okay and then what's he doing in that movie
Starting point is 00:17:57 where he throws knives at Leonardo DiCaprio those are both those are his and then what's he doing he doesn't yell on Lincoln ever no
Starting point is 00:18:04 actually he never raises his voice I'm gonna look through that whole movie I'm gonna send you Those are both. Angst in New York. Those are his. And then what's he doing? He doesn't yell in Lincoln ever? No. Actually, he never raises his voice. I'm going to look through that whole movie. I'm going to send you guys a couple videos. Also watch My Left Foot. Is he yelling in that? Tell me if he's yelling in My Left Foot. Check out My Left Foot. Check out My Left Foot.
Starting point is 00:18:16 Watch the movie first. When you start watching, you'll be like, okay. He yells in the trailer for Phantom Thread, too. I'm just like, this is it. This dude is just good at being mad. He's like Marlon Wayans screams in every film. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:28 So that's his. He's the white Marlon Wayans. That's definitely going on in his obit. He's gunning for that spot. Some Daniel Day-Lewis once called the white Marlon Wayans. I guess so, if you think about it. Like, white girls. Like girls like you know he's had to embody other people yeah is marlon wayans not the most method actor that you know he played
Starting point is 00:18:53 a fucking baby once you know what i mean and he became a baby for the four all right we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was murdered there are crooks everywhere you look now the situation is desperate my name is Manuel Delia I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season.
Starting point is 00:20:02 That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all. And we are coming along for the ride. Woo-hoo. That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of, drumroll please. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:20:18 The Challenge 40, Battle of the Eras. Yes. Each week, cast members will be joining us to spill all of the tea on the relentless challenges, heartbreaking eliminations, and of course, all the juicy drama. And let's not forget about the hookups. Anyway, regardless of what era you're rooting for at home, everyone is welcome here on MTV's official challenge podcast.
Starting point is 00:20:40 So join us every week as we break down episodes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised 150 grand,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture.
Starting point is 00:21:15 I just don't believe they exist. I mean, my reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app,
Starting point is 00:21:43 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other,
Starting point is 00:22:25 a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current, available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeart heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Uh, we're,
Starting point is 00:22:55 we're still just marveling at, uh, little man. I mean, the conceit is so fucking flimsy because in the movie, Marlon Wayans plays a very short comic. It's like a, just a small
Starting point is 00:23:05 man a dwarf or i don't whatever the little person is the pc term and they're trying to steal a diamond they steal this gigantic diamond and then they're almost arrested but that's when uh the little baby man puts the diamond in a woman's purse and that woman is carrie washington and she's booed up with sean wayans and they are a couple that are eager to have a child. So then Tracy Morgan and Marlon Wayans, they hatch a plot to pass Calvin off as a baby left on the couple's doorstep. So then you're also counting on the idea that this couple opens the door, has an abandoned baby, and they're like, well, we want a baby, so I guess we'll just take it. Not just go to the authorities and be like, I think someone abandoned a baby. It's like, yep, finders keepers. No, for sure.
Starting point is 00:23:42 If Alan Day-Lewis did it, it'd be nominated for an Oscar. Yep, finders keepers. No, for sure. If Daniel Day-Lewis did it, it'd be nominated for an Oscar. Well, if that movie had been made in the 80s, they would have just been like, a curse happens, and Marlo Wayans is suddenly a baby. But at this point, why bother trying to make it? I think it's like the Christopher Nolanization even went to that point where they're like, it's real, it's gritty and realistic
Starting point is 00:24:05 the reason they're so open to it is because they're a couple desperate to have a child yeah as long as you emotionally justify it you could get away with anything exactly all right guys it's mangasi watch time uh so there's all sorts of things happening in the world of Benghazi. The women of Benghazi are Times Person of the Year, Times Peoples of the Year. This is presumably because Trump turned them down, as he said. Yeah, which is completely not the way. That's like how time – they had to come back and be like, yeah, that's not how it works. Yeah, until that issue hits the stands, nobody knows who the Person of the Year is. Right, and then you only know the runner-up after the fact.
Starting point is 00:24:46 Right. And Trump. And he's a runner-up? Yeah. Yeah, he's number one. But for destroying the presidency. It's not even like for being crazy. Like, it's all just about like, oh, we've never seen someone so off the rails and like
Starting point is 00:24:55 unfiltered. It's not like, because you're doing a great job. He is all over the person of the year story for being a sexual abuser. Right. They interview a bunch of the women who he sexually abused. And then they also talk about this theory that I've actually heard brought up just in conversations with people, the idea that we wouldn't be having this movement of women coming out and, you know, saying that they had been abused if it weren't for Trump winning.
Starting point is 00:25:25 But one thousand percent yeah yeah because of the women's march and then just because of you know this public sort of shaming of women by trump and by his followers uh you know they were motivated to kind of step out and yeah i totally believe that i mean it was a moral rock bottom right it's like i remember when that tape came out everyone was like this is it it's a wrap and then to bring in pence to close so then to watch it just like you know still go through was just like oh wow okay because really don't care like we're there yeah so i think a lot of people were just like now we can't let this happen and that's why the pendulum is swinging so hard the other way it was wow there's a there's an article that came out i think last week or this week about how pence basically was like after that tape came out he's like you know i can run with condoleezza rice
Starting point is 00:26:13 yeah yeah there's an atlantic article about how he basically had had a soft coup ready to go right and then trump had his second debate where he just like stalked Hillary around the stage. That was so crazy. Like he was fucking Jason Voorhees. And people were like, yeah. We love it. We love it. We like this sort of menacing energy.
Starting point is 00:26:34 He's doubling down on making women uncomfortable. Yeah. And so that coup went away. But Pence has always just kind of been in the background, just ready to step in. Yeah. in the background just ready to step in like the second if trump is like you know taken down by miller or like an assassin or whatever pence is gonna just like pop up out of the bushes and be like oh hey what's up didn't something happen didn't see you there uh yeah he's got a bag packed you know what i'm saying yeah there's also another thing that came out someone tweeted a
Starting point is 00:27:01 thing about how he's you know increasingly under pressure because of the russia probe and they juxtapose that with an article that came out a few years ago about when he was in a frat he ratted out his frat brothers because they had a keg and they're like oh i wonder how this is gonna go pensted yeah like that's couldn't even keep his mouth shut to print his fraternity that was like something like that yeah i think so yeah but that's the best i I hope he rats. Of course. We just fucking, let's find out everything. But if he rats, he can come to the cookout at my house.
Starting point is 00:27:33 So back to the persons of the year. So Trump did come in second for, not for any great accomplishments. It's basically for the same reasons that made him person of the year last year. They were like, he has changed the presidency with the passing feuds, the wild accusations, the crude and divisive language. It's like, yeah, he had also changed the how presidential elections are, you know, conducted in last year. And that's what made him time person of the year. So even though he's technically probably the person who, you know, when you think of this year in history books you're going to think of all the damage that was done by him uh you know it's the same article as last year you can't yeah it doesn't change we just add more fuckery right exactly and also keep in mind remember when hitler was person
Starting point is 00:28:17 of the year right so hitler won it twice but he didn't win it twice consecutively no no no yeah he didn't they're like people are over this hitler stuff let's move on um i think they went stalin that reminds me of uh connie west performance so he was on like vh1 storytellers and he's doing a song amazing and he did a speech afterwards and he was just like naming people he was just like uh michael jordan michael jackson james brown oj simpson and like the audience kind of goes, whoa, O.J. Simpson. And he's like, but wasn't he? Wasn't he amazing? Think about what he did.
Starting point is 00:28:50 Is that not amazing? And I think, like, that's what this whole Trump thing kind of reminds me of is, like, them. Like, they're just like, you got to kind of just give credit where credit's due. And, like, the amount of shit he's fucked up now isal to think about. No, it's incredible. He has definitely changed the entire political landscape and geopolitical landscape, considering our allies are fleeing and we're further causing more chaos just by him saying shit. Yeah. Trump truly is the white O.J. Simpson, we can say, I think. Yeah. But with not as good film appearances.
Starting point is 00:29:20 Right. You know what I mean? Because let's really give it up. Yeah, he sucked in Home Alone, too. He was terrible. Honestly, he was really, really bad. You just kevin in the plaza hotel lobby that's it he's not like oj out here building the od gun out of like a little suitcase and turns into like an anti aircraft gun and naked gun what two or three 33 and a third yeah he's got one speed and that's
Starting point is 00:29:38 it little man though uh second runner-up was chinese President Xi Jinping, and coming in fourth was Robert Mueller. So those are the people of the year. But also, let's not also – I mean, I have to call this out. Taylor Swift is also on that cover, and I'm not saying she shouldn't be. No comment. There are plenty of reasons why she actually should be. She successfully countersued someone that sexually assaulted her. I think that's great. Yes. I think – and she handled everything really well. Probably my favorite thing she's should be. She successfully countersued someone that sexually assaulted her. I think that's great.
Starting point is 00:30:06 And she handled everything really well. Probably my favorite thing she's ever done, other than shake it off. That's for you. To me, I'm like, yes, that's credit where credit is due. And I think a lot of people, too, have been on the internet kind of like, what is she doing there? Because she also has a history
Starting point is 00:30:22 of silencing people, too. So it makes, i don't know if it makes her problematic but it's interesting that you know i think some people have really taken issue to the what do you mean by silencing people so remember like there was that uh blogger who was like hey when you're gonna come out and tell people you're not a white supremacist or like you don't want you don't want to be associated with like this aryan you know ideal because i think they called her they use her as like the ideal woman a lot like the aryans do yeah our aryans are uh outright people like they use her as like a an idol yeah it was hitler and taylor swift because yeah they call her a quote pure aryan goddess right and so then right after that the lawyer like demanded a
Starting point is 00:31:01 retraction and a deletion and all this other shit. When like that's, you know, that's not her saying she's a Nazi. That's just someone being critical or vocal about what they feel that her place is. Oh, Taylor Swift's lawyer came out and was like, you better take that down. And the ACLU was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like that's not how this works. But anyway. This might make people upset, but I don't know. I feel like I have to say it's, I think Taylor Swift is a perfect example of how people are willing to swallow racism in the name of feminism and it kind of pisses me off sometimes
Starting point is 00:31:29 but like she does a lot of racist shit like not only that stuff but her attacks against a lot of black people her cultural appropriation but i think people just like yeah but she's like a female icon and it's like that's dope dude but like i would never accept a black icon for example like chris brown probably what he did for like black artists phenomenal but i'm just like i can't respect that because of what he's done against women i don't i don't understand why that's not a thing for feminism it's like people are willing to accept her because she's such a feminist icon but they just like be like we're just gonna ignore that racism kind of reminds me of a former presidential candidate which shit kind of pisses me off.
Starting point is 00:32:06 But like it. I don't know. I thought it was whack to put her on there. I think that's very fair critique. Hot takes on feminism from three dudes. Yeah, exactly. That's why I will not take it further because we are three dudes. So moving on in the mengazi train uh al franken
Starting point is 00:32:28 has resigned uh or agreed to resign in the next couple weeks and gave a speech in which he didn't really take credit for doing any of the bad shit that they said he did um he said that uh there were some things that were outright false accusations and other things that were. He remembered very differently. Remembered very differently from the accusers, which is, you know, not surprising. But I don't know. I still can't get past the fact that a woman came out and was like, here's a picture of us. He is grabbing my ass in that picture.
Starting point is 00:33:09 And his response was, I took lots of pictures with lots of people that day. Yeah. So like. If you didn't grab their ass, I would be like, yo, she's, what the fuck are you talking about? That's an insane response. Why would I ever grab anyone's ass? Like that is a horrifying idea to do to a stranger. It's not the same as like when Dustin Hoffman was getting pressed by John Oliver. Right, exactly.
Starting point is 00:33:24 You're not addressing what the issue is. So, like, I don't know. Like, I just don't. And the fact that so many women have come out with the exact same accusation that he just like forced his mouth onto theirs. So I don't know, man. At the same time, he did make a good point about like how he's like it's somewhat ironic that i am stepping down from my uh office while the president of the united states has bragged about sexually assaulting people on tape and uh the republicans are running a dude who is you know an accused pedophile an accused pedophile and probably gonna win but i think that's the thing that I really wish this whole groundswell of holding men accountable. God, why the fuck aren't we making more of a fuss about everything that Donald Trump is on the record for doing?
Starting point is 00:34:16 Right now, there are even people being like, oh, Clarence Thomas. He's like, okay, great, for sure. But this conversation, we need to also keep this conversation alive about all these people who have allegations against Donald Trump. And it's merely just because he's a threat to the agenda of the right that it's really not being brought up. I don't know. It just feels I don't know. Is it just dead because we feel like we can't do anything? So it's like, well, let's just stop talking about it because we've given up hope that we can hold this person accountable.
Starting point is 00:34:41 Yeah, I think that's it. I think people are just like, yeah, we tried this before. yeah well i think we need i think we just need to keep talking about it yeah just don't let it go away because think about all this shit that we've already forgotten about right like puerto rico like people still don't have roofs on their houses right and like we're like 900 scandals past that right that like it just goes on this pile of things we forget and this is very serious too like i don't know like come on let's keep we got to keep this conversation going yeah um and then uh there is uh a new development in the harvey weinstein case with uh apparently he uh might just get hit with a rico
Starting point is 00:35:18 yeah Yeah. Six, six, six. So, Miles, can you explain this? So, yes. Basically, a RICO, for those of you guys who don't watch The Sopranos and things like that, is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. So a RICO charge usually goes to a criminal enterprise of many people working together engaged in illegal activity. of many people working together engaged in illegal activity. So six women who have allegations against him have a lawsuit, and they want it to be certified as a class suit to sue on the grounds of racketeering, civil battery assault, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. So what they're saying is that this is a group between his army of spies uh his like you know investigators
Starting point is 00:36:07 and editors at other magazines he had a mechanism with many people to intimidate and influence the alleged victims uh and so that constitutes as a criminal enterprise because many of these entities as they call it the army of spies were quote, facilitating and using wires and mails to orchestrate his ability to violate women. So they say this, A, allowed Weinstein to continue doing this over the years, and B, cover it up. And the lawyer goes on to say, when you're using wires and mails, which are governed by the Racketeering Act for the illegal purpose of raping and sexually harassing, that falls squarely within RICO. So this is kind of crazy, because racketeering is usually for the illegal purpose of raping and sexually harassing that falls squarely within rico so this is kind of crazy because racketeering is usually like for legit like for the mob yeah or like gangs
Starting point is 00:36:50 yeah but this is interesting too because yeah when you have multiple people who are connected through contractual obligations or financial ties or whatever to work towards this common goal it's like i guess that by by this by this lawyer's definition or their view of the RICO Act, this falls squarely within that. So a New York Times article came out yesterday just about – I think it's called Weinstein's complicity machine, which, by the way, complicit word of the year according to the Oxford English Dictionary. But he would just be like, one phone call and you're done. And it actually had some speaking of a certain presidential candidate had some disturbing things about, you know, the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton campaign. And, you know, how Lena Dunham, Tina Brown, the famous editor, former editor of The New Yorker, all these people told Clinton aides and Clinton herself that Weinstein was problematic.
Starting point is 00:37:48 And, you know, obviously, I think Bill was well aware of it. They were told that he was problematic and that those warnings were ignored. But there was also just an amazing sort of anecdote about how Weinstein would just be like, I fucking know Obama. You guys. That is wild. That's the ultimate fucking brag thing.
Starting point is 00:38:11 You want to say something? Well, I fucking know Obama. So who the fuck do you know? Like you can't, there is none higher in the country. You would have to only way to Trump it is be like, I fuck with Christ.
Starting point is 00:38:21 Yeah. And Jesus was like, nah, I ain't trying to go up against Obama. Don't try to have me swing against Obama. Don't bring me into Christ. Yeah. And Jesus was like, nah, bro, nah. I ain't trying to go up against Obama. I ain't trying to have you swing against Obama. Don't bring me into this. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:30 It's tough, man. I mean, obviously that does not, that's not Obama endorsing him. No, but that just shows you like sort of how that works is like you donate enough to the party. You get brought into the circle and then you kind of leverage that to intimidate people because you can literally like you can actually say some shit like i fucking know barack obama i mean this absolute power corrupts you know what i'm saying right i think that's just what it is as much as i love obama man you have to wonder like what do you think happened when he went and visited richard branson on that island i mean you know he's got there's i refuse i mean look i don't think barack ob he's got... I mean, look, I don't think Barack Obama isn't an evil person.
Starting point is 00:39:09 Right. I don't think he's an angel either. I think Obama knows how to fucking party. I guarantee you that. Here's what I think. You spent eight years doing the best you can and all these white people were trashing you and treating you like shit.
Starting point is 00:39:21 I think he cloned all the Republican senators and they got some rifles it's like an island of dr moreau kind of shit i'm not saying obama has hunted anyone ever but he is definitely good friends with people who have hunted people because he went to harvard yeah we went to harvard he's friends with i mean richard branson's one of the richest students in the world like i think he's pulled the trigger on a drone himself before. He was like, listen, I've had a hard day. Let me pull the trigger on this one. Excuse me.
Starting point is 00:39:48 Move aside. Squeeze off real quick. You know what's so funny? You were talking about how complicit is the word of the year. I was just going through the evolution of the words of the years. Just in the last four years, things just get so dark, right? 2013, the word of the year was selfie. 2014, the word of the year was selfie 2014 the word of the year was vape 2015
Starting point is 00:40:08 so stupid the word of the year was the laughing with tears emoji 2016 the word of the year post truth and then 2017 complicit oh man like we are based off the word of the year, what's the next fucking 2018? We went from childhood to being victims in a fucking police lineup. Well, literally, we went from 2015 literally going, ha, ha, ha, crying face, laughing emoji to post-truth next year. I think 2018 is slave. Jesus Christ. The good kind of slavery. Oh, the best of cards. That'll be a new show. The good slave. The good slave. Jesus Christ. The good kind of slavery. Oh, the best of cards.
Starting point is 00:40:46 That'll be a new show. The good slave. The good slave. Michael Schur from Parks and Rec. I don't know. Who do you think would play that? Tim Meadows? Does he need a job right now?
Starting point is 00:40:56 Nah, he's good. Who would it be? I don't know. That's for Culture Kinks to figure out. Yeah, we'll figure that out. We'll figure that out. We'll figure that out. And then finally, the OG Benghazi, Brock Turner, the Stanford swim team rapist, is back in the news. He has been – He's trying to appeal his conviction.
Starting point is 00:41:16 Right. Why can't you leave well enough alone, bro? You got everything you wanted out of that case, and you're going to appeal it? That's insane to me. I mean, that just speaks to the height of this person's entitlement and their privilege that they think. It's not fair that I have to be a sex offender. That sucks. It's kind of basically where he's coming from. You're not going to jail.
Starting point is 00:41:38 Like, there are people who are in jail for less right now. Yeah. No, that's why it's so outrageous. You know what I mean? there's people who are in jail for less right now yeah no that's why it's so outrageous you know what i mean like that you have the audacity to be like well you know i don't i don't think i don't think this was just get the fuck out of here bro you should you should be in jail you should be in jail plain and simple he got time served right or something like that like was that a time served or a day it was something crazy so he was convicted of three counts of sexual assault. He only did three months. appeal is saying that that implied an intent on the appellant's part to shield his activities
Starting point is 00:42:26 from others uh whereas he was happy to openly rape her in public i guess is where he's coming from that's his appeal that he's making this dude just is get the fuck out of here. The literal worst. But his complaint is that this is going to hurt, you know, his prospects. And that's just basically what it comes down to is he has the assumption that I have the right to a life of privilege. Right. Like that's I am a rich white dude. I have the right to just, you know, live my life and do whatever I want to do. I shouldn't I shouldn't have to, you know, go and tell and do whatever I want to do. I shouldn't have to, you know, go and tell my neighbors that I'm a sex offender.
Starting point is 00:43:08 And it's like, no, dude, you should because you're a fucking sex offender. Because that's what you are. Deal with it. That's what the fuck you did. Own up to it. There are fucking so many people of color locked up for having weed. Weed, bruh. You know what I mean? Who are doing, like, real stretches in fucking prison.
Starting point is 00:43:23 And this guy is like, I don't even get the fuck out of here. And it's probably like, what neighborhood do you have to go through? Like to tell people, like if you're a rich kid, you probably live in a pretty secluded neighborhood. I don't imagine that you're going out into the city much. Who do you fucking tell that you're a sex offender? I'm pretty sure your dad worked out some bullshit that it ain't really that serious. I guess job opportunities, man, sit on the fucking money that you're a sex offender i'm pretty sure your dad worked out some bullshit that it ain't really that serious i guess job opportunities man sit on the fucking money that you have like if you wanted a free life i don't know man some accountability for yourself
Starting point is 00:43:53 bro like yeah and by the way i mean he should have faced up to 14 years in prison uh but he was sentenced to just six months it's just very clear three and serve three right and serve three it's just very clear that whatever the goal of rehabilitation and, you know, teaching people a lesson about what they've done and, you know, how to fix their lives and fix their behavior has not happened with this dude.
Starting point is 00:44:19 That is literally, it's affluenza. Well, he's not interested in that. Affluenza. At its worst. He's not, he's not interested in being rehabilitated. He doesn think he did anything wrong yeah right man rock turning your
Starting point is 00:44:29 ass bro your fucking ass bro uh all right we're gonna take a break we'll be right back definitely caruana galizia was a maltaltese investigative journalist who, on October 16, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,
Starting point is 00:45:19 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all. And we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers.
Starting point is 00:45:48 And we're here to take you behind the scenes of... Drumroll, please. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Yes. Each week, cast members will be joining us to spill all of the tea on the relentless challenges, heartbreaking eliminations, and, of course, all the juicy drama. And let's not forget about the hookups.
Starting point is 00:46:05 Anyway, regardless of what era you're rooting for at home, everyone is welcome here on MTV's official challenge podcast. So join us every week as we break down episodes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. TV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds. Sword Quest.
Starting point is 00:46:33 This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. I mean, my reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way.
Starting point is 00:47:12 Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman.
Starting point is 00:47:57 The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current. Available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. just decided that he is not going to follow in the path of Barack Obama, or really, in this case, any president ever before.
Starting point is 00:48:50 Because traditionally, the United States has been sort of the diplomat between the two sides, trying to not clearly take sides with one or the other. And then he just straight up took israel's side yesterday yeah and just declared jerusalem the capital but he's also trying to say that you know that's just what i think we're not gonna necessarily it was weird it was like the most half-assed way of declaring it the capital by but also trying to say well you know we don't fully believe that but we're going to say that which a lot of people were you know saying that it kind of say, well, you know, we don't fully believe that, but we're going to say that, which a lot of people were, you know, saying that it kind of undermines any possibility of like a meaningful, uh, peace deal happening.
Starting point is 00:49:31 Uh, and the crazy thing too, is to think of like how he arrived at this process. Like there, there are some reports that said that he would just literally ask any people like he would just, someone would, he was having dinner with or just met. He was like, Hey, what do you think about Jerusalem being declared the capital of israel and then like also madison tillerson apparently told him hey don't do this because it will cause problems right because this is a very very contentious complicated complicated issue but chiefly because subtle yeah well it's religious history alone like on one side for jud, the Temple Mount in the Old City is the most sacred place in Judaism. And also for Muslims, it is the third holiest shrine in Islam because that's where Muslims believe was the scene of the Prophet Muhammad's ascension from earth to heaven.
Starting point is 00:50:19 And for Christians too, it's also very sacred because, you know, that's where Jesus was last week. That's where he was crucified, on a hill outside of, like, the walls of the Old City. So it's, like, crazy how complicated this thing is. And he just simply, because he wanted to be different and provocative, was like, yeah, okay. That belongs to Israel. How long do you think until he, like, starts doing, like, policy decisions on Twitter polls? Just openly? Hey, should I declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, yes or no?
Starting point is 00:50:47 Yes or no. And the third option is I'm doing a great job. Yeah. I mean, he definitely seems to have a complete inability to view things the way that a diplomat has to view them, like in terms of diplomacy where it's not a zero a zero sum game, like he views everything transactionally. Like if I gain, you lose. If you lose, I gain. And like that just does not connect with diplomacy. That's almost exactly the opposite of diplomacy.
Starting point is 00:51:28 put on top of that how wildly easy he is to manipulate that basically anybody who gets next to him has the ability to just be like you know flatter him into doing whatever they want and you know his son-in-law is definitely isn't he pro-israeli like oh yeah oh very much strongly aggressively yeah um yeah i don't know it's like he brings a gun to a banana fight. He just fucking is always trying to turn things into a straight-up battle instead of trying to— Did you guys see what Tel Aviv did? No, what they did? They tweeted—I guess Tel Aviv, the city, has a Twitter twitter and they tweeted a gif of jennifer aniston on friends going i'm really happy for you but i'm also very jealous really yeah wow
Starting point is 00:52:12 that's crazy that that's where we're at yeah meanwhile what uh hamas they they basically were like okay well here's a third intifada that we're going to declare right so so it's like an uprising earlier what an Intifada was. Why don't you tell the people? I mean, I'm like, look, I'm no Middle East expert, but Intifada essentially is an uprising. And so the last time, the second Intifada happened, I think it was in 2000. And that was like two basically very violent years of Palestinians. You know, there's like suicide bombings and Israeli military killing people.
Starting point is 00:52:46 And that was just started after, I think, Ariel Sharon just visited the old city. So people die over these kinds of things, over this place. And that's why people are very careful about maintaining the status quo, because you don't want violence to break out over this. And just for this fucking asshole to just be like be like well what do the other presidents do like apparently he was very obsessed with just being different than everyone else not even about what the ramifications were of the decision he's like well who did that everybody else did that okay i'm not doing that well if this was a big moment for him then he has to be super pissed right now because uh his big speech he ended it with uh it i'm pretty sure his just teeth were falling out of his mouth yeah so when he
Starting point is 00:53:31 declared this uh we don't i don't even know what to say i guess he a lot of people were like why is donald trump slurring this shit out of his words like everybody was crossing their fingers hoping that it was a stroke but uh we think it was just his dentures yeah i mean of course everyone was like oh finally he's stroking out on the fucking podium but yeah it sounds like we have a clip actually let us rethink old assumptions and open our hearts and minds to possible and possibilities and finally I ask the leaders of the region, political and religious, Israeli and Palestinian,
Starting point is 00:54:10 Jewish and Christian and Muslim, to join us in the noble quest for lasting peace. Thank you. God bless you. God bless Israel. God bless the Palestinians. And God bless the United States. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:54:28 The United States. He was like holding it together up until that last, like, it was almost like, oh, maybe he has like a dry mouth or something. And then he was like. You hear him sucking it back in after every phrase. He's like trying to pull it in. Because when it happened on Twitter, they're like, oh, there it is. He's losing his mind. And I was like, no, if you've ever had a grandparent who's like dentures are coming out all the time,
Starting point is 00:54:53 like there's harder teeth are just falling out of that time. It's crazy. That is because one thing is he oftentimes doesn't seem that old. No. Yeah. But I'm sure that must have been the most embarrassing shit, right? Like you're saying, like, this is a big moment for him because he wanted it because he was also very clear that he wanted to be as pro-Israeli as possible with this decision. So he's like, oh, let me puff my chest out.
Starting point is 00:55:19 I'm going to declare it. And then not only do you slur your way through it like like that completely just probably like he's already self-conscious. But also now we know you just have straight up dentures. Right. So like he literally he could have just peed himself up there. He ate a baby after that for sure. Right. So mad.
Starting point is 00:55:34 Or he probably had his usual meal of two Big Macs and two Filet-O-Fishes. Right. Which, again, makes me so mad that he loves McDonald's. That makes me so mad. That's probably, for me, top five worst things he's ever done. It's funny. On Desus and Mero, Desus was like, I'm glad that this man eats Filet-O-Fish because I love the Filet-O-Fish. And at the very least, no matter how bad the world gets, the Filet-O-Fish will be around because Donald Trump needs it.
Starting point is 00:55:57 You know what? That's a good way to look at it. I'll take that. That was the most positive spin because it has nothing to do with policy or equality or anything like that. It has to do with, you know, a fake-ass fish sandwich fake ass fish i love that it's a great sandwich and you should stop your disrespect it's not fake ass it's great i mean look i eat it too but don't kid yourself do you think that's icelandic cod yes okay mcdonald's has never lied uh you know i'm just realizing that because i'm looking at these uh at gold der derby dot com and the movies that came out this year.
Starting point is 00:56:26 Fucking Logan came out this year. Yeah. That's how long the year has been. You get out. Came out in January or February. That's crazy. I thought Wonder Woman came out last December. I thought in June.
Starting point is 00:56:37 I thought Logan came out in like a couple of years ago. That's fucking crazy. Yeah. I mean, I knew it came out early this year, but. Damn. It's been a long year, guys. I don't think it's going to get any love. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:56:52 So that's another positive spin is that time is passing incredibly slow. Yeah, time dilation, guys. In this new world of ours. That makes me happy because I was like, man, I'm going to be 35 before I know it. Not. You wish. I'm not even going to be 28. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:06 But you will look like you're 35. Oh, I look like I'm 40 right now. But black don't crack. All right. What else is going on pop culture-wise? We got the LeVar Ball saga continues. Yes. So, okay.
Starting point is 00:57:21 So I guess today we found out that LaMelo Ball, the youngest ball, which sounds like the weirdest thing to say, he is now, he's signed with an agent, meaning that he has effectively surrendered any chance of him signing for a college and getting into the NBA the traditional way. Right. You know, sign with D1 school, prove yourself and get drafted. So because, so his dad took him out of high school in October. He's a junior and took him out of high school, and he's like, I'm going to train him myself. And now because his brother, Young Thug, the shoplifting extraordinaire, he was suspended from playing basketball at UCLA. LeVar took him out too, and the plan is now for the two of them
Starting point is 00:57:59 to play professionally overseas together. That is what LeVar Ball's vision is, and then they're going to do their thing over there and come back like the prodigal sons they were meant to be. play professionally overseas together. That is what LeVar Ball's vision is. And then they're going to do their thing over there and come back like the prodigal sons they were meant to be. I don't know. I was asked a question once, which was, should we support LeVar Ball just because he's black? And I think, fuck no, man.
Starting point is 00:58:18 This dude's insane. Like, I think literally to take LaMelo out of high school was one of the dumbest choices. But now to prevent him from even going to college is just so selfish. Like this man just wants to prove that he's smarter than these institutions, which I totally get. Man versus the institution, dope. But at the cost of your son's life, I can't sign off on that. Like that's so wild. LiAngelo, what he did was dumb.
Starting point is 00:58:43 UCLA's punishment I thought was an overreach. But still, to pull him out, that changes his career forever. Because we've all admitted LiAngelo is the worst out of the three of them. Oh, yeah, we know. He's the one who needed to stay in college. Yeah, to develop. But I guess, who knows? That's why I'm asking the rest of you.
Starting point is 00:59:01 Is that a viable strategy to take your kids and be like, well, they'll play together and dominate whatever foreign league. I don't know if they're playing the Filipino basketball league or where. They should play in China. His plan is to have them play together, even though one of them is like 13 years old or whatever. Yeah, his thing is like his goal is for them to be playing together overseas. Right. So he can show like, this is what the Ball Brothers do. And I don't know if that's, I don't mean like mean like is the competition good enough yeah the competition's decent i mean there's
Starting point is 00:59:29 been people who went over for a year instead of going to the going to college to play and came back and got drafted uh the issue with this strategy i think is that the middle brother was never perceived to be good enough to play in the league anyway. So the chances are he's not going to just magically develop into an NBA prospect by playing overseas. Or is it like a Trump move? He's like, I'm not going to let my son fail in America, so I'll obscure his failure by taking him to a foreign league. Could be.
Starting point is 01:00:00 But also with the youngest son, I just know that there's been a lot of prospects that go over there and become extremely depressed because it's culturally just completely different. Exactly. Shut off and you're playing in a league with like a bunch of middle-aged Italian men. You're like a 17-year-old dude from Chino Hills. What are you going to do? Yeah. It's not a great –
Starting point is 01:00:23 It's ruining his life. Yeah. It's not good for him. But I'm sure LeVar's like, no, but it'll be with me. And once you sign with an agent, you are at that moment completely ineligible to play NCAA basketball? I'm pretty sure. I've never heard of somebody sign with an agent and then beg the NCAA to let them back
Starting point is 01:00:41 in. Right. But usually when you do that, the NCAA's like, okay, so you've made your choice. Yeah. You're no longer an amateur. LeVar, the one thing I'll back you on is trolling Donald Trump. Yes.
Starting point is 01:00:53 But stop meddling with your children's future. But is it worth it, though? That's what I'm saying. It's like LeVar Ball going after Trump and being this big bad man against corporations. Is this really worth all this trash that he's doing like i don't know i mean we'll find out yeah i i don't know i i feel bad for his kids for sure they seem to like even lonzo i feel like is still like sort of fucked up because of yeah yeah he's playing garbage because everyone in the league
Starting point is 01:01:21 is like targeting coming for him because they're just like oh your dad's gonna talk shit that like i'm gonna fuck you up i will render you inert right and also he hasn't he like has a the personality of somebody who's like always had somebody else fight his battles for him like that there's that fight where they got the lakers got into a fight and he just completely walked away from it like in a way that was not very, I don't know. As a teammate, I would not have let that shit stand. I'm pretty sure his teammates hate him. Right. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:53 So, yeah, it's a tough, which is tough because, like, the whole thing is that he's a, like, fun person to play with. He, like, keeps the ball zipping around and uh you know he he's a distributor but uh yeah i i just think he's kind of been fucked by lavar uh and then just the very last thing in this first section before we go to break uh wanted to talk about the rand paul saga uh the mystery surrounding uh rand paul getting his ass whooped by his neighbor uh so he was mowing his lawn and his neighbor apparently just came up and jumped him beat the shit out of him uh his neighbor also a doctor uh and uh was i think like in his 50s maybe yeah and he broke i think five or six of ran paul's ribs yeah my God. Just a straight ass kicking.
Starting point is 01:02:59 And so allegedly the thing that they've said is that, oh, it was about a dispute because Rand Paul, when he mowed his lawn, his clippings would go on to his neighbor's lawn and like that pissed his neighbor off. But neither of them have commented on it. That's just like through spokespeoplepeople and they just have kept really like mysteriously quiet about it. So I don't know. It's just one of those interesting stories that I don't totally trust it. I think, I think,
Starting point is 01:03:15 um, I mean, on one side, right? Like some people say this has been going on for years that he was like, yo, you're writing mower keeps blowing clippings onto my fucking property and you need to clean it ramp i was like dude i don't give a fuck and i think so one one narrative is like that's been going on going on for so many years that finally this dude just broke and was
Starting point is 01:03:33 like that's it i'm i'm like you're gonna catch these hands but the other one is maybe there's a much darker story that we don't know about and that's the one i'm hoping it is because i don't want this to be about two middle-aged dudes fighting over yard clippings right i want it to be like intrigue and affairs and and lust or something i mean this sounds like a movie really like it's like like a coen brothers movie where he wakes up every day and sees this dude just on his lawn and then he goes to work and he's emasculated at work right right he right, right. He comes back and his wife's just like, I'm probably going to go to bed. Right. Tired.
Starting point is 01:04:08 And he just keeps watching this dude mow on his lawn. I'm going on a baby moon with Rand. What? What the fuck? And then he steps out and is like, get your clippings off my lawn. I don't give a fuck. What are you going to do?
Starting point is 01:04:21 Nah! This beats his nigga's ass. That shit's funny as fuck. That is my theory, is that something happened. The mowing of another man's lawn was metaphorical rather than literal. Oh, my God. It's just worth keeping an eye on. Before we go out, Edgar, it's been a pleasure, as always, having you.
Starting point is 01:04:43 Where can people follow you? You can follow me on Instagram at Awfulgram, on Twitter at Edgar Monplaisir, that's M-O-M-P-L-A-I-S-I-R. And then check me out at the UCB pretty much every day with Team's Arcade Currency or Leroy. You can also findgar on the upcoming podcast from the how stuff works west coast offices uh and that podcast is called culture kings and it is edgar who's on it with you edgar me the amazing carl tart the smooth jakeese neil uh we talk about everything just three black comedians giving you their rawest takes check us out on the how stuff works network january 10th we've already uh started recording and i've already said some insane things uh give you a sneak preview we try to guess who the next
Starting point is 01:05:38 michael jackson is it's amazing an amazing podcast uh glad to have it on this network. On our network. Miles, where can people find you? You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at milesgray. And you can follow me at jack underscore o'brien. You can follow us at thedailyzeitgeist on Instagram. We have a Facebook fan page, dailyzeitgeist. You can follow us at dailyzeitgeist on Twitter.
Starting point is 01:06:03 And we have a webpage, dailyzeitgeist.com, where you can find our episodes and our footnotes where we link off to all the sources and actual journalism that we back all this crazy bullshit up with. And that's going to do it for today.
Starting point is 01:06:20 And we're going to ride out on a musical recommendation from Miles miles uh what tell people about this song you know because last time people didn't get enough of the music so we're gonna hit bless them with another recommendation about it yeah well you know let me get my shine because i don't get to tell people that i'm the founder of an amazing website i don't have any bona fide so let me hang my hat on the fact i have good musical taste so this one is a dolly parton track j Jolene.
Starting point is 01:06:46 Very great. I love it. One of my favorite Dolly Parton songs. But this is a flipped version, so they slowed it down so it has, like, the vibiest version. It's, like, Dolly Parton chopped and screwed. Right. So this is Jolene played Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Starting point is 01:07:23 Please don't take my man. Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. Please don't take him just because you can. Your beauty is beyond compare With flaming locks of auburn hair With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green Your smile is like a breath of spring Your voice is soft like summer rain And I cannot compete with you jolie
Starting point is 01:08:07 he talks about you in his sleep and there's nothing i can do to keep from crying when he When he calls your name Jolene And I can easily understand How you could easily take my man But you don't know what he means to me Jolene Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Please don't take him just because you can You could have your choice of men
Starting point is 01:09:17 But I could never love again He's the only one for me, Jolene I had to have this talk with you My happiness depends on you And whatever you decide to do, Jolene Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene Please don't take it even though you can
Starting point is 01:10:13 Jolene, Jolene I'm sorry. was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unnerves the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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