The Daily Zeitgeist - Hope For The Left?! Capitol Police: Nothing To See Here! 06.16.22

Episode Date: June 16, 2022

In episode 1270, Jack and Miles are joined by hosts of American Prestige, Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison to discuss… Is There Any Hope For A Leftist Movement In The US?, Coupchella Night 3 an...d more! Coupchella Night 3 LISTEN: Les jolies choses by Polo & PanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.
Starting point is 00:00:20 Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:01:00 Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour.
Starting point is 00:01:19 If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:01:57 The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, the internet, and welcome to season 241 episode 4 of production of i heart radio this is a podcast where we take a deep dive into america's shared consciousness it's thursday june 16th 2022 what do we got miles it's a couple days before National Fudge Day. National Fudge Day. You a fudge fan? That's what I was about to say. It's a couple days before National Fudge Day. I get jumpy around National Fudge Day. I'm always, you know, sometimes I miss it.
Starting point is 00:02:34 But glad it's finally here, National Fudge Day. Do you like fudge? Yeah. I don't dislike fudge, you know. I grew up going to a boardwalk on the Jersey Shore on a summerly basis, and that was always the free samples of fudge. Never disappointed, as opposed to the saltwater taffy, which exclusively disappointed. Fudge delivers, I feel like.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Aren't some, I feel like, so packed with sugar, like one bite, right? Which is like one bite and you will like start hallucinating from the sugar. It's wild because I remember vividly once eating a piece of fudge so fast and like my grandmother being disturbed. Yeah. Like being like, how the fuck did you just eat all that? And I'm like, I'm a child who loves sugar, and this might be the best thing I've ever had. You just got fudge all over your lips and mouth. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:28 Well, anyways, my name is Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. keeping track of all the Mountain Dew flavors and the January 6th hearings. Call me Count Dooku. Oh. That is courtesy of Chris Barrera. And I'm thrilled to be joined, as always, by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray! All the other kids with gazumped-up scoops Better run, better run your derp before I air it
Starting point is 00:03:54 All the other kids with gazumped-up scoops Better run, better run before my tabloid swears it Shout-out to Scouty Magoo. Reference to that really awesome uh so was it the sydney morning herald going after sydney morning herald we will drag you out if you don't say why they were pissed that somebody outed themselves before they could thus gazumping their story well miles we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by the host of the American Prestige podcast, which is a foreign policy podcast about the United States and all the
Starting point is 00:04:31 friends that made along the way. A really great listen. I suggest everybody go check it out. They are Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison. What's up? Hey, hey. Hey, guys. Happy to be here. Happy to be here. Thanks for having us. Good to have you. Hey, thank you for being here. Yeah. Where are you coming to us from? Los Angeles, California, Echo Park. Okay.
Starting point is 00:04:53 Northern Virginia. I'm the only person living here who isn't a defense contractor. All right, Nova. That we know of. My understanding is you wouldn't be allowed to tell us if you were like in the... Derek's an op, actually. that's yeah this group here today uh we will try not to gazump it although you know the defense department might come through yeah uh had you guys ever heard that phrase gazump or that word no i just heard it for the first time yeah is it a thing the kids are saying i feel like i why the fuck have I heard gazump before?
Starting point is 00:05:26 I can't be alone in everything. And I'm a professor, Matt, and none of my kids have ever accused me of gazumping or I've never heard each other, you know, accusing each other of gazumping. Is that bad? I mean, maybe you're not cool enough to be gazumping. How dare you, Derek?
Starting point is 00:05:39 Well, I'm just saying. I mean, Miles is young and cool. You're getting to an age where... There's a very good chance that like people know not to say gazump to us, maybe. But they're like, this guy looks like, no, it's like regional UK English or something. You know what I mean? Like, that's why we're not here. Because it's not like a cool word. I'm just like, I just know. Definitely not. No. Yeah. It is what it is. That's really funny. Cool. Yeah. So, Daniel, you are a professor.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Yeah. And Derek, you write about foreign policy. I'll just you guys. You guys know your shit, which is important to establish up top. Yeah. There's a slight contrast where we are not experts. We know about we know about Mountain Dew yes Taco Bell we know about weed we know about basketball and we know something is terribly afoot in this country that's about it but I mean those are all important things to know exactly yeah we're on the road to
Starting point is 00:06:38 a new level of consciousness I would say by the way I do want to uh just kind of put it out there for our listeners I will be doing a Mountain Dew tasting tomorrow. I will have a spit bucket and I will be doing a Mountain Dew tasting with a couple new flavors. So after the headiness of today's episode, you can look forward to that. I think we got thrashed apple and
Starting point is 00:06:58 we got another new flavor. So they're doing the extreme 90s things still. They're doing like radical blueberry. The 90s are alive. They're doing like radical blueberry. Yeah, the 90s are alive in the hills in all of our hearts. All right. Well, we're going to get to know you guys a little bit better in a moment. First, we're going to tell our listeners a couple of things we're talking about. Just off the rip, I'm going to be like, hey, like, is there any hope for a leftist movement in the U.S.? Hey, you guys, you guys know stuff. Is there any hope?
Starting point is 00:07:29 Because, yeah, I'm just genuinely curious. It's something that comes up pretty frequently, just the lack of a revolutionary imagination in the U.S. So I want to get you guys' thoughts on that. We'll talk about Coachella, Night 3. We got Loudermil louder milk which is a great name and he apparently gave some insurrectionists a tour the night before january 6th and no big deal nothing to see here but yeah says the cops and you're like wait hold on what uh okay but so
Starting point is 00:08:00 we'll talk about that plenty more but first we do we do like to ask our guests, Daniel, Derek, what is something from your search histories? I was looking up things for her to see. She went to Freud's house, but I also thought she needed to get a little sweet in there. And that is an apricot-filled bun called Buchtelm. So if anyone ever goes to Vienna, strongly recommend you get it. Hold on, what's the bun made of? Describe the bun, the pastry. It's like a kind of a popover, like a southern popover, but it's filled with fresh apricot jelly. And it was at this famous cafe, I believe, called the Cafe Havelka, where, because the Viennese have really good pastries. And also, I would recommend the zahartort, if you're ever there. It's also really good stuff. Okay.
Starting point is 00:09:13 The Spanish empanadilla. Spain, I don't think, is very known for their pastries, but man, that shit is really good. You put a piece of paper on it, it immediately becomes see-through. Oh, that's what I like you know but and it's filled with things that like don't typically go together in my day-to-day diet like olives eggs tuna tomatoes tomato paste and it just fucking really goes it's really good i like that you said that it passed the simpsons dr nick test like when homer's trying to gain the weight, it's just like, yeah, rub it. And if it goes see-through, it's good.
Starting point is 00:09:49 Didn't you put it on a wall and the wall became transparent? He's at a Krusty Burger, yeah. Yeah, and then a bird hits it. Anyway, I'll always remember that. You say it turns things see-through. Derek, how about you? What's something from your search history allow us to pry into your privacy yeah i googled the uh plot of the new jurassic park movie this
Starting point is 00:10:11 is something i do when i with sequels when i've like seen one of the movies like the first movie or whatever but i have no desire to see the sequel but i'm still like morbidly curious what the story is so i just like spoil myself and then i have no desire to actually go to the movies and see oh i have that same morbid curiosity and it drew you in just when you thought you were out miles just when i thought i was out hammond's ghost pulls me back in damn john hammond it was so bad was it really okay yeah but so so i did the right thing then Googling spoilers. And I love a Jurassic park movie. Like, because the first one's so good, I, I will suffer every single one in the theater.
Starting point is 00:10:53 I have the same, like, like the same philosophy with Terminator films. Like I will go to the theater. I don't care. I don't, even if it's so clear that it's bad from the trailer, I'm like, it's still, it's still, it's still a moment. So I go the trailer, I'm like, it's still, it's still, it's still a moment. So I go, but this one has like a Tim Cook analog in it.
Starting point is 00:11:10 That is so fucking weird. And just the, it, it touches on like, what if there were dinosaurs? And then we're all back to a, a contained dinosaur thriller, like every other fucking Jurassic park movie.
Starting point is 00:11:23 You're like, like, they just stick them in like a part out there they're in the dolomites in italy like in the mountains of italy there's i'm like wait hold on now we're in fucking italy with dinosaurs and i'm like whatever fine fuck it is there any cool stuff up top with the like world now run by people be like just fleeing from dinosaurs yeah the film opens with okay different news stories about our new world of you know cohabitating with dinosaurs and what do we do with them so like first it'll be like little cutie dinosaurs at a park and like wow and then other ones were like a fucking stegosaurus like blows up a gas truck and you're like yeah maybe not so it's like that part i was like this is great this is great
Starting point is 00:12:09 yeah wait is this gonna be good yeah but you couldn't so for you derrick like you just saw it and you like it enough that you want to know what happened but not enough to subject yourself to two hours not to go to the secret yeah but your i mean your relationship with jurassic park sounds like mine was star wars i mean i've seen every oh whatever they've been 11 now yeah even though like you know maybe two of them were good i've seen every one anyway right and i keep yeah it's like weird how things from the 80s or 90s i'll just pledge these blind allegiances to and i'm like i am a guaranteed ticket sold for all of your terrible fucking output. And I think that's because there's no outlet for politics. So we just pour it into culture. That's what I think is really going on there. You know, back in the day,
Starting point is 00:12:55 people used to find meaning in associations and politics. But since there's really, I think, a lack of mass politics today, and Jack, that might answer your question a little bit, is just we pour all of our meaning into these cultural products that we we saw when we were kids and they made us feel good and we keep on trying to make it we keep on trying to hit that sort of like heroin dopamine button and each time it's a little less it's a little less yeah because like yeah if you look at jurassic park as a vein you'd shoot up into. The first one, healthy as shit. That motherfucker was popping out. And by Jurassic World Dominion, you're like, man,
Starting point is 00:13:29 maybe there's some shit on the bottoms of my feet. I don't know. It's mostly baby powder. You're going through the carpet just looking for anything. Matching up little pieces of Flintstone vitamins. I like a good heroin metaphor i like
Starting point is 00:13:45 to just keep it going you know yeah you know keep running as long as possible yeah that's what so i i mean i'm glad you mentioned that because i i will be proposing my idea to have ryan johnson lead the leftist revolution the director of the last jedi because there has been more anger and energy around uh the last jedi than i maybe, yeah, any political movement in my lifetime. Whoever directed RRR, too. RRR. Did you watch it yet? That shit's fucking three.
Starting point is 00:14:15 It's three hours, but it flies by. I have 45 minutes left. But all that to say, I cannot stop watching it. Have you guys seen RRR? No, but I hear it's, but it's all that to say, I cannot stop watching it. Yeah. Have you guys seen RRR? No, but I hear it's amazing. Yeah. I haven't seen it yet either, but I, like Danny, I've heard it's pretty wild. What is something you guys think is overrated?
Starting point is 00:14:37 Daniel, let's start with you. The American empire. Okay. All right. I mean, we're, we'reamerican empire in this podcast yeah hold on what are you trying to say man whatever bro well i think that's one of the just to get into our little podcast a bit one of the reasons that we actually started it is because we think there's kind of a fawning coverage in the mainstream media about what the united states does in the world
Starting point is 00:15:01 and ultimately there's this belief that i, as a historian, think has been empirically proven incorrect, that the United States' military and economic power is going to be able to make the world a better place. And I think a lot of people really still believe that, and they believe that out of the goodness of their hearts. But I just think, for reasons we could go into, that that's really not the case. And so i think that's really one of the most overrated things in american politics today do you think people still actually like genuinely believe this this actually i did i did like a 20 minute chunk about how weird the like i hadn't listened to npr in a number of years and then i like started listening to npr and i was just like so taken by how weird the voice is and i i think that like there's like some
Starting point is 00:15:48 weird cognitive dissonance like thing happening with neoliberals and like i think they're like starting to understand like that it's all bad but they can't and so like now they have to like be talked to like this and they have to like have people explain the conflict in Ukraine to them like it's a fun wine picnic that they're planning. And like, yeah, I feel like more and more people it's like creeping in a little bit. Because it's just hard to deny. I do think there's a big generational gap. But even if you look at statistics, I think I might get this wrong, but it's something like 44% of millennials still think the United States should like run the world. That's pretty high still, you know, roughly one in two. And if you go to boom in, the air that they breathe. It's not something that they think about because I think very smartly, the United States imperial state in the early 70s ended the draft. So if you're like a normal person, you're really not going to encounter the military in any way, shape or form really in your life. And so it just allows the empire to kind of hum along in the background. So I think there's unquestioned support or an unthinking support for what we do in the world. Another piece of propaganda that I think is very reflective of
Starting point is 00:17:11 this is the new Top Gun movie, wherein they don't even pretend to mention another country. I think it's pretty clearly Iran, but they are just like, these are the bad guys. We, they can't have nuclear weapons. We, we blow them up and it's just, just baked in there. It's so like faceless. It's like a target range with just like bad guy pop up, you know? I think, I think so. And we actually just, we did a special episode with Chapo Trap House on our podcast. We did Top Gun 1 on their podcast. We did Top Gun 2. One of the things that's interesting about that is that that's kind of how Americans view the
Starting point is 00:17:52 world, right? It's like it doesn't matter who they are. We're just going to fucking do whatever the fuck we want because we're America, goddammit. We're the main character. Exactly. And so I think that could be read as a form of critique. I don't think the intention of critique was there. But, you know, from a postmodernist, the author is dead. So let's just say it's a critique. Sure. Let's do it. How about you, Derek? What's something you think is overrated?
Starting point is 00:18:24 and I saw that the live-action Aladdin was on TV the other night, and I just thought, these live-action Disney remakes, I haven't seen one that was better than the 1990s cartoon, and I just don't get it. I don't get that. I mean, I know they make a ton of money. I get why they get made, but I just don't get why people care to go see them. So I think they're overrated.
Starting point is 00:18:43 And Aladdin, the live-action Aladdin, just didn't pull at those heartstrings no i mean it really didn't and like i mean you know i saw i went to see the i remember like going to the movies to see the beauty and the beast remake because my daughter was at that time of of the age where she was into that kind of thing and just watching it and like the whole time i i couldn't stop going like why did why did this have to be made? What was the purpose of making this? And in the in the minds of the people who did it, like what were they fixing about the original?
Starting point is 00:19:13 And, you know, you can't think about it. Think of it. Right. Yeah. Did they mention a country at all or is it similar like broadly Orientalist space? In Aladdin? In Aladdin. Yeah, in Aladdin. Because in the original dimension i don't
Starting point is 00:19:27 think they mention a country yeah it's a mix between arabia and like um pakistani well the original got in a ton of trouble they had to like overdub lines and stuff because it was it was a little bit yeah hey hey it's barbaric yeah that's where it's from the place was called agrabah in the right in the in the animated version yeah and it's like uh the taj mahal but but in arabia kind of if i recall yeah it's a it's a real mixing of muslim cultures don't worry we're just over there you guys you know you guys remember a few years ago somebody ran a poll and they asked like people if they would bomb a particular country and they included agrabah and like a third of, people if they would bomb a particular country, and they included Agrabah. And, like, a third of Republicans said they would support bombing the nation of Agrabah.
Starting point is 00:20:11 Yeah. Make it a democracy. You know, the sultan is a monarch. You got to turn Agrabah into a democracy. What is something you guys think is underrated? So I can go here because I have actually, I think I have a serious one for this. It was, when I studied, when I was in grad school, I studied Islamic history. And one of my favorite figures in Islamic history is a guy named Ibn Battuta, who was a traveler in the 14th century and traveled farther, if you believe all of his accounts, traveled farther than anybody else has ever traveled, basically, in world history before modern times when you could like hop on a plane and it was just yesterday was his uh the anniversary
Starting point is 00:20:49 of the beginning of his hajj which he started from morocco at tangier and then just kept going after he did the hajj all the way to china and back and i don't think enough people know about him i think he's very underrated uh underrated guy for having traveled supposedly 73 000 some something like 73 000 miles in his lifetime although it's possible he made up parts of his parts of his travel log but we don't know yeah that's my favorite thing about the history of like explorers and like you know the people who we lionize as great explorers and i'm not saying this is the case with him but like a lot of european explorers you know you you look at the things they were claiming to have seen and it's like oh you guys are just like professional liars
Starting point is 00:21:36 right right right and then we met the three-headed people of the amazon who were 13 feet tall and yeah yeah it's wild man but you'll never get there you're poor anyways love marco polo yeah i mean like this guy definitely traveled a lot but there are some parts of his account like the china part and a couple of other kind of side trips that that some historians think he may have just cribbed from somebody else's description travelers named ibn you know because i studied viking history and there's uh i've been fodlon who's like oh yeah i've been fodlon's a big one sure it means son of right eric yes yeah i've been his son it's like ben and he there it is uh but yeah i just was thinking of him as the guy who's like yeah and then i went up the volga river and met the vikings're like, what the fuck? People were getting out there.
Starting point is 00:22:25 Yeah, like the Northman. Also, I'm just going to put it out there, traveler as a profession. Just like, hello, friend. I'm just a fellow traveler. I feel like that's always a nice, mysterious thing to say that I've never thought to of as an option. It's hard to do now. I mean, he was able to go places places and he had training as a lawyer so he or a you know kind of a judge like legal training so he was able to get like notes of good conduct
Starting point is 00:22:52 all along the way to say like this guy knows what he's doing he could get jobs wherever he went uh it's like a as a scholar or a judge but i don't know nowadays i people get like gofundmes or something to like pay for my trip or whatever but i don't know. Nowadays, people get GoFundMes or something to pay for my trip or whatever, but I don't know what the modern equivalent is of that. It's a Kickstarter for your travel blog. Parachute sheets pays for your travel whatever.
Starting point is 00:23:16 How about you, Dane? Derek took mine. No, just kidding. I was going to recommend a book called The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. It's a really short book on U.S. foreign policy, but I think it really gets sort of at the major trends by a guy with a hell of a name, William Appelman Williams. So I recommend people to check that out. William Appelman Williams. Hell yeah. I mean, aside from what's for you, what sort of differentiates it and why do you why do you suggest it? Because it really shows the economic basis of a lot of U.S. foreign policy, the search for export markets, the search for capital intensive development aid and things like that.
Starting point is 00:23:58 And so it was really influential when it was released in the 1950s. And it's just like a very short, very readable book that explores why the hell the United States does what it does in the world. Right. So it tells you how the world actually works. Yes. How the world, if it was released today,
Starting point is 00:24:17 it would be like how the world actually works. One of those like slate pitch titles. Right. How to explain through this one cool thing how the United states does everything in the world oh i believe slate pitch that's probably a dated reference now that's an elder millennial reference the kids are going to be like what the fuck is slate so we'd like to actually make this part of the freakonomics franchise if possible mr williams uh it will be economic
Starting point is 00:24:40 foreign markets mr appleman williams please mr appleman williams yeah i mean the apple in his They will be Economic Foreign Markets Freakonomics. Mr. Appleman Williams, please. Mr. Appleman Williams. Yeah. I mean, the apple in his name could go with the logo of Freakonomics. Oh, yeah. You could do W Apple W. There you go. All right. Let's take a quick break.
Starting point is 00:24:58 We'll be right back. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts,
Starting point is 00:25:42 the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Starting point is 00:26:01 or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes.
Starting point is 00:26:25 Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it, like you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:48 Rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history.
Starting point is 00:27:20 People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better.
Starting point is 00:27:53 This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. 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.
Starting point is 00:28:39 One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current. Available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:29:12 And we're back. I was going to say, and we're good. We're good. Something we cover a lot on the show is just the lack of a revolutionary imagination or an imagination for an alternative for how the U.S. could work without the current state of things, like after the 2008 collapse and then just the continued persistent evidence of the whole thing. It's just corruption all the way down. And we're being given like I think logically we should have two options.
Starting point is 00:30:06 logically we should have two options one would be a leftist alternative or like a socialist alternative and the other is fascism and it feels like sometimes fashion fascism is the only one that's like fielding a team in in the modern world which scares me so i don't know you guys cover all sorts of very interesting stuff you're you're very uh, but you've covered the history of leftist revolutionaries and countries that are more socialist than the U.S. So I just wanted to kind of put that subject out there to you guys. Sure. Well, I have a lot of thoughts about this. It's kind of what I focus on in my academic work. So I think there's a lot of things you've got to focus on. One, things that we've been talking about in the general discourse, of course, like the Senate and the counter-majoritarian institutions of the United States, like the Supreme Court, are kind of baked into the cake
Starting point is 00:30:52 from the beginning because there's a skepticism of democracy and the mess just baked into the cake of the American state. And I think over the course of the 20th century, what has happened, particularly after World War II, is that the actually existing American state that has been developed, particularly when we're talking about U.S. foreign policy and U.S. economic policy, has been specifically designed in a way to ensure that both ordinary people, what you just called the public, but also Congress, doesn't really have that much of an effect on foreign policy and economic policy. And this was actually, this is the period I studied, this was actually, this is the period I studied, this was actually a conscious decision made by American elites, because when they were looking at the 1930s, they saw the rise of fascism in Europe, they saw the rise of, you know, imperialism
Starting point is 00:31:34 in Japan, they saw in response to the Great Depression, a lot of labor strikes at home, and they became very skeptical of mass politics. Because it's really in the 1920s, when you have the first type of real mass politics, like the's really in the 1920s when you have the first type of real mass politics, like the radio and all of those sorts of things allow people to form large collectivities. So over the course of the 20s and 30s, they become very skeptical of this. And so from the 1940s onward, they create a state in which ordinary people don't really have that much say. And I think that's the experience that we're living in today. It's just it's just evolved into other directions. And so I wrote actually a piece for Derek's Substack Foreign Exchanges called The End
Starting point is 00:32:10 of Mass Politics, because I think one of the reasons that everyone feels like they're going crazy today is that all we do is talk about politics, but there's very little actual road to make political transformations. I said at the beginning of the of the show, this is why people are really interested in culture, but it's also why people are really interested in fighting online, because there's no real way to actually channel your political energies into something meaningful. So if we're thinking about a leftist revolution or a change in actual fundamental structures of the United States, I think we need to do an old school 1930s power mapping and see where power lies. And right now, in the literal structure of the American state, power literally lies with several thousand people living in and
Starting point is 00:32:52 around Washington, D.C., both in the government, like in places like the State Department and the Defense Department, and then in nominally private institutions like think tanks, which are really just analogs of the government. So I think we need to really reform the structure before we could even start talking about making actual political and policy changes. So I think the lack of revolutionary consciousness and the channeling of a lot of these energies into, you know, ephemeral culture, you know, ephemeral arguing is just really a product of the literal reality that there's very few ways for us to actually shape politics. And I think that is what we need to be focusing on right now, actually making this country a democracy in a real way, actually bringing mass politics back. Cool. So how do we do that?
Starting point is 00:33:36 Start one is identify the problem. Seriously. I think there's a lot of magical thinking on the left. I think the way that I put it, and this is a little harsh, and I'm being a little bit facetious, but when we don't have an answer, we say organize, right? Right. But when we say organize, right, what does that mean? When people were organizing in previous moments in American history, they were organizing with the guy or the woman that they spent all day living next to, working next to in a real community. What capital has done over the last 40 years is really
Starting point is 00:34:05 reform labor relations so that you have things like the gig economy. You have things like where people are working three jobs that prevent the solidarity upon which actual organization relies. So I think the first thing to do is really just take a step back and look at how power actually functions and look at how society actually functions. And from there, we could begin to develop actual strategies for how we can reform some of these very, very significant obstacles to any form of left-wing organizing or left-wing transformation. I think the problem also is the fact is that right now the left is really concentrated in basically people who went to college, people who are relatively highly educated. So there's a significant disconnect from the working class base, which is partially a function
Starting point is 00:34:49 of this reformulation of labor relations that we really need to attack head on, or there's very little hope, I think, for left-wing transformation. Derek, any thoughts? I would seize on, or I would kind of grab onto something you talked about there, which was the concept of solidarity, which used to mean something. I feel like just like sort of organized, it doesn't mean anything anymore. scolding the left in the U.S. for not taking some foreign policy catastrophe seriously enough. So there was a lot of this talk with respect to Syria. You see it sometimes with Ukraine now, you know, the sort of like, you're not doing it right. You're not approaching these issues with the right mindset. Well, OK. And then, you know, you sort of say, well, what do you what is it that you would like the left to do? And the answer is always something like solidarity without any meaning behind it.
Starting point is 00:35:48 Like we're just supposed to feel solidarity with feel harder. Yeah, feel harder. I mean, that's that's really what a lot of this is. It's vibes politics. It's not real material politics. It's vibes. You know, I I have little hope for a true leftist movement in the U.S. and even less, despite, you know, I know you guys have talked about Gabriel Boric in Chile and some of the other kind of Latin American leftists that have come into power again. It's been a little bit of a wave of late. Those movements are great as far as they go. They're sort of optimistic as far as they go. But it's the United States that ultimately, especially in the Western Hemisphere,
Starting point is 00:36:38 sets the terms for how far any movement like that is allowed to go before there's some kind of pullback. And in the Cold War, that would have been a coup for how far any movement like that is allowed to go before there's some kind of pullback. And in the Cold War, you know, that would have been a coup and, you know, possibly the murder of whoever was being a pain in the ass leftist. Now it's sanctions. It's, you know, Cuba, the Cuba-Venezuela model. You know, you can see it even in the leftists who have been elected over the last couple of years, you know, really like sort of self-moderating in a sense, you know, they run with these backgrounds that are of the left, but they run on campaign. They run campaigns where the message is, don't worry, I'm not going to change that much. I'm not going to nationalize anything. We're just going to kind of make some
Starting point is 00:37:21 reforms around the edges. And that message is meant for domestic political audiences, but it's also meant for the U.S. It's also meant for Washington. Like, don't worry, I'm not going to rock the boat too much. You don't have to treat me like Nicholas Maduro or the Castros. So I think as long as the United States maintains the kind of power that it has to affect global politics. And I don't mean like geopolitics, like politics, domestic politics in countries around the world.
Starting point is 00:37:50 You know, there's always going to be a cap on, on how far these things are allowed to go, at least in countries that are dependent on the U S whether it's for trade or, or a vulnerable to, you know, depend on the U S for military support or are vulnerable to the U S in a security sense. There's always going to be this limit on how far they can go.
Starting point is 00:38:28 on the left even is that like the sanders campaign and like the inability to to get sanders the nomination in 2020 was like that was the last chance and now like it's kind of hopeless from this point forward and like it feels like the just the general you know the thing that we try to track on this podcast, the general zeitgeist, the American shared consciousness, is moving in the direction of socialism. day and like their general outlook on the world not perfect by any means but definitely more sympathetic and like there's more energy on that front and like that does you know that seems to be the thing that fuels these sorts of movements is like the students just because there's like a reputation that like well students don't vote in amer. It's like, well, probably for very good reasons, like to this point, but like, I don't know. It just feels like there are things to be optimistic about within America, at least in terms of like improving the odds and improving the chances
Starting point is 00:39:39 that we can like get socialist reform like in the country. But yeah, I don't know. know like i don't have the specifics of like how that is done and it does seem like you know the fact that you like identified the deep state well that's something that like is being identified as a as a problem and like a holder of power but it's being identified by like the fascists you know absolutely yeah i mean i i think there's always room for optimism and there's always room for hope because that's just the reality. I mean, the empirical reality is that things change over time. I'm a historian, things change over time.
Starting point is 00:40:15 So it's never, I don't view what we're saying as black pilling necessarily. I just view it as trying to take a realistic strategic look at the situation in order to change it. I think a couple of things need to be recognized. The era of, you know, great revolutions of the first half of the 20th century and the second half of the 19th century, a lot of that was spurred by literal things like starvation and food. And one of the great developments of the 20th century is the green revolution, which allowed us to produce a ton of calories for cheap. So that's a big shift. And I think that that's not that's not something to be to be underestimated. The fact that people aren't hungry, the fact that in fact, in fact, across the class spectrum, you could eat a lot of calories for relatively cheap is actually a huge obstacle in front of
Starting point is 00:41:00 revolution. I think that's also true for cheap entertainments. One of my big predictions that I've been making is that in the next 5, 10, 15 years, you're going to see the legalization of a lot of vice, things like sex work, things like drugs, because I think that's going to be a solve on revolutionary political energies. It's not going to be a conscious choice. It's just going to be something that's going to happen. You're going to have vice and you're going to have cheap food. And those two are really big obstacles in favor of revolution. Now, in terms of younger people, that's generally true. But a lot of the reason that's true is because younger people have time. And one of the things that capitalism does very effectively is that the penalty for not being in the system is like so bad. It's being unhoused.
Starting point is 00:41:42 It's not having access to health care. It's basically being considered not a human being. And correct me if I'm wrong, Derek, but I think Tennessee just basically made it illegal to be an unhoused person. So I think you're going to see things like that because when you're actually in the rat race of capital, you have very little time, one, to think about revolution or two, to enact it. So before, one thing you actually hear throughout history is kind of like, not that the kids are going to save us, but that there's going to be revolutionary energy in younger generations. But oftentimes what happens is as they get a little older, that revolutionary energies are dissipated just by the dictates of the system. I am encouraged by Amazon and
Starting point is 00:42:18 Starbucks unionization. I hope that could happen. But I think we just need to wait and see to determine whether that indicates like a return to the 1950s where you had relatively high levels of unionization in the country. I think it's an open question, but it is it is something hopeful and it's something that hopefully we'll be able to build on. Yeah, my skepticism is is that the institutionalization of sort of counterrevolutionary impulary impulses just gets more and more entrenched. I mean, anything from gerrymandering House districts to the new hurdle in the Senate now that you need. Well, it's not that new anymore, but you need 60 votes to do anything. A simple majority isn't enough anymore. The court system increasingly has always been
Starting point is 00:43:07 counter-revolutionary to some degree, but you're talking about things that are being instantiated now that are going to take a generation or more to be washed out and to have sort of these structures lifted so that there's room for serious change. And I think Danny's right. The idea of the revolution to overthrow these things all in one fell swoop is pretty far gone. You talk about over a longer term, yeah, there could be some reasons to be optimistic, but then you start to run into things like, you know, are we going to get another pandemic that's worse than this one? Are we going to start? I know it's going to be decades before the United States really starts to feel the effects of climate change. It's happening already in some other parts of the world. But what happens when that really becomes a problem? You know, how does that change politics? And I think it inevitably is going to reduce the scope of people's thinking down to a more local level. And, you know, what am I doing just day to day to survive this, which makes the possibility of like large scale,
Starting point is 00:44:12 systematic change, you know, it sort of atomizes everybody. It makes it harder to to conceive of anything like that. And I think you're going to see a return to liberal federalism where liberal states, because this is where populations are so concentrated, are going to start defying the federal government. That'll be very interesting. Because for most of the last century, the centralized state was the focus of liberalism. But I think that it's been captured by so many reactionary interests that you'll actually see a return to what might be termed a state's rights liberalism. turn to what might be termed a state's rights liberalism. I'm in California. I don't know where you guys are, but I think you're already seeing the glimmers of that. That'll be very interesting. That'll be something new in our lifetimes. Right. I think, Miles, you were making the point recently that like a lot of the revolutionary energy we saw with regards to police and the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of that started really picking up and getting organized and making a like gaining national attention around the time that everything shut down, like during the pandemic. Right. Giving people time is so important because we took our foot off the pedal of capitalism and it wasn't crushing people anymore.
Starting point is 00:45:22 And they took a breath and they said, fuck my working conditions. and it wasn't crushing people anymore. And they took a breath and they said, fuck my working conditions. Fuck this thing. The big transformation, I think the big transformation, at least for what, it's going to be remote work.
Starting point is 00:45:31 People are going to accept that deal. I think a lot of people are. You let me not have to go to the office. I really, I like work all day, but really I worked for three or four hours and I could live my life. I think that's a deal. That's going to be a deal
Starting point is 00:45:44 that capital makes with labor. And I think that's going to be, that's going to be a big thing. And it's not a surprise that you see unionization in the workplaces where you can't do that, where you can't be a Starbucks remote worker or an Amazon remote worker. Because yeah, most workers aren't remote. Exactly. And you do have to recognize the second they could get AI to replace all those workers, they will now. And that's coming on the horizon relatively soon. And we need to be planning for that if we're serious. And this is more than just like a subcultural identity, like being a punk. We need to be like ready for that transformation, which is coming very soon.
Starting point is 00:46:16 And the way to be ready for that, I think we can all agree, is just when you see a robot in the wild, you got to kick it over, right? You got to kick that thing over yeah yeah kaiser now employs the the big like hospital conglomerate out here employs those you see them rolling around the city all the time just kick that shit over that's probably not uh what you guys would recommend but that is interesting right because every like you're saying like capital always has to find a way to kind of be like fuck it all right let's give them that so it's not full-blown like wait what the fuck are the bosses doing we need to fuck them up like what then i think because that's why so many people are
Starting point is 00:46:58 interested in like ubi and things like that it's like well if they don't have fucking jobs we can't just have hungry people out in the streets because that, like you're saying, those are the little bit of seeds of revolutionary action and to keep people docile. I'm curious, like if that, how that will be looked at, like how they are going to then support a whole other chunk of the population
Starting point is 00:47:20 who isn't able to work because of automation and how that's, you know, how they're going to subdue those people's appetites for something better for themselves. I mean, I think UBI is a possibility, but it's going to come at a cost at the cost of something else. And I don't know what that is, but it'll come at the cost of some other part of the welfare apparatus. Right. Well, Derek, I know you have to run. We really appreciate you joining us. Yeah, sure. Thanks for having me.
Starting point is 00:47:45 Can you let people in? Daniel, you can stick around for... Yeah, I can stick around for however long you guys need. Okay, great. I got nothing going on, man. My teaching is done. Nice. Derek, where can people find you,
Starting point is 00:47:57 follow you, all that good stuff? So there's the podcast, American Prestige, which is pretty much anywhere you get your podcasts. But please come check us out. We're on Substack now. That's our home. AmericanPrestigePod.com. And while you're at Substack, you can also check out my newsletter, which is Foreign Exchanges, FX.Substack.com.
Starting point is 00:48:18 Those are the two places. And CIA.gov, right? Well, obviously, yeah, but I don't like to talk about that openly. All right. Great meeting you. Thank you so much for coming on, and we'll be right back. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, have fun in Davos. Yeah, thanks.
Starting point is 00:48:41 I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers
Starting point is 00:49:14 have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of
Starting point is 00:49:46 Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Santer. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like Like you miss 100% of the shots you never take. Yeah, rejection is scary,
Starting point is 00:50:27 but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture.
Starting point is 00:50:52 Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on.
Starting point is 00:51:08 From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained?
Starting point is 00:51:27 This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. 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
Starting point is 00:52:06 to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore.
Starting point is 00:52:31 The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current, available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And so the January 6th House Committee hearing. Coachella. Coachella primetime event. Was it really postponed due to that dude not being able to make it no no technical difficult they said technical difficulties what yeah they said
Starting point is 00:53:12 they're having i have no fucking idea i'm they're fucking 90 years old dude like somebody probably misplaced a thumb drive i'm like where's that stick with the videos on it you know and we're like fuck we're fucked they're the ones that are gonna fucking oh fuck but yeah was postponed due to technical difficulties and if you read the fine print on the poster for coachella you knew that it was subject to things like that but they did i think as like a consolation prize release some footage of representative louder milk from the state of georgia so i don't know if you remember right after January 6th, there was a member of Congress who was a former military that recalled another member of Congress giving tours,
Starting point is 00:53:54 but to them looked suspicious because it looked more like recon than it did. Hey, and this is where I eat lunch. It was more like, yeah man like look over there take a picture of this entrance or this tunnel and that sort of raised some alarm bells so i believe let me just make sure it was yeah it was representative mickey sherrill and louder milk filed an ethics complaint against this person against representative sherrill because of this allegation in 2021 around that time completely denied giving any fucking tours at all never gave a tour ever to anybody around then the fuck you
Starting point is 00:54:32 talking about then this spring he kind of revealed a little more he's like okay fine I may have given a tour to like a family with like some small babies or something but that was it like there's really nothing to see. And then he even went on to Laura Ingram's racist shriek show to double down on the fact that he did absolutely nothing. And this is all just a bunch of hokum. And I just want to play you this because things begin to change for Mr. Loudermilk. Then they say, oh, it was at the Capitol Complex. There were hundreds of people in the Capitol Complex, the House office buildings. In fact, it was the Democrat leadership ordered the gift shop open on the 5th because there were so of people at the House office buildings because it was just another day. And now when it comes out and no mistake about it, the Capitol Police were clear that they are trained in looking for suspicious activity. And the group I had in the House office buildings had did nothing suspicious.
Starting point is 00:55:37 It was a total lie. I was going to say, Congressman, it was a lie. It was a smear. They did the same thing to Donald Trump. Okay, cut to Wednesday when the January 6th. The headline there on the chyron was they smeared good men. Is that a play on words that I'm not understanding? Like a few good men? No, they're good. Is that what they were?
Starting point is 00:56:01 They smeared good men. I feel they're completely out of ideas over there because they're like, man, they're good men. They smeared good men. committee describes it quote surveillance footage shows a tour of approximately 10 individuals led by you to areas in the rayburn longworth and cannon house office buildings as well as the entrances to tunnels leading to the u.s capital individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists including hallways staircases and security checkpoints so now he's out here being like Alright so what But they were there for the gift shop It had nothing to do with any January 6th stuff Just because that guy was wearing a MAGA hat And then you also found out that one of the people
Starting point is 00:56:53 On the tour was live streaming Shit or posting shit to Facebook on the 6th Talking about we're coming for you Nadler, Pelosi and those coincide With pictures they took In the capital So it's very It's like one of those things too like we're saying Pelosi and those coincide with pictures they took in the Capitol. So it's very it's like one of those things, too, like we're saying, like that politics isn't like fucking real anymore because this guy is just he's been lying the whole time. He's on another show that's pretending to a certain group of the country that it's news and being like, it's all fake.
Starting point is 00:57:21 It's all nonsense. And I even have this letter from the Capitol Police that says they didn't see anything suspicious, which to me, I think is actually the thing that sticks out the most at this point, because he's like, they're trained into identifying things that are suspicious. I was like, it looked like some of them were taking selfies. Was that suspicious to people who broke into their job right so i'm really curious now you know they say the next day will focus on trump and pence but i'm like the more and more we we look at it and as many of us remember watching the events on the six being like yeah when's the
Starting point is 00:57:58 day about the capitol police right like do you have is that another day too where you'll talk about anything you that was determined to be uh untoward or maybe aiding and abetting what was happening because that it's weird that this letter helps to quote unquote vindicate this guy who was giving a capital tour now i don't know if it's because their own incompetence and they have to say that just to be like yeah we saw that and it was it was fine okay maybe we completely fucked that up but it's the same thing i don't know it reminds me of how like the police in texas too are like we can't show you guys body cam footage or else they're gonna know our secrets yeah the i mean this is being programmed the the whole thing is being programmed by like an abc news present former abc news president who's like in charge of like the martin beshear interview
Starting point is 00:58:46 with michael jackson like he he he's a lower lowest common denominator guy and i think the two decisions that it seems like they've made is um one to like the thing that really got people was like kimberly guilfoyle getting paid too much for her speech which is like women making money like they know they know americans don't don't like that so like i feel like they're doing all of this with like targeting like things and then they've decided to ignore the role of the police in this and just be like, well, Americans love police. And in fact, we will put like one woman who was like run over by the rioters, like out front and center and like put make that a heroic thing, because like I think those are two assumptions they've gone. They're just trying to program this as much as possible, like a Michael Bay movie.
Starting point is 00:59:43 I have a couple of questions for you guys. Is that cool? Yeah. Yeah. So one, I'm curious what you think of the fact that they're not going to do any criminal anything. And then two, I'm just curious, so what's your take on the event itself?
Starting point is 01:00:00 So just to put my cards on the table, and this might be wrong, but I'm always skeptical about sort of heating up political rhetoric in the society. And as someone who studied, who studied coup attempts and things like that, in the past, I mean, obviously, I think what happened was very disturbing, and particularly if you're a congresswoman in the building on the Democratic side. I mean, it could have been very dangerous and incredibly scary. But I've always been skeptical about calling it a coup attempt because it just seems like it didn't have any of the features of what a coup attempt would need to succeed. And it seems like this might be, and I'd love to hear if you think that I'm wrong,
Starting point is 01:00:40 it seems like this might actually channel energies in a direction that is not particularly helpful for achieving left wing transformation. It's basically spectacle, not only spectacle, they're not even going to do criminal charges. So I don't know what it is from. So just to lay my cards on the table, I guess I'm a skeptic in that regard. I was just wondering what you guys what you guys think yeah i mean i'm definitely skeptic i'm skeptical of any time the american government is in charge of tackling extremism of any kind so from that aspect i'm like this seems like a way to just basically try and push public sentiment in one direction or another i mean obviously if anything's you know they're gonna wreck up they can recommend things to the doj but the doj has their own investigation happening where if anything's going know they're gonna wreck up they can recommend things to the doj but the doj has their own investigation happening where if anything's gonna happen it's probably out of that investigation rather than this like show and tell of like remember how bad it was when like they were
Starting point is 01:01:35 there i think with like the cooch i like i think even with naming a coochella is very tongue-in-cheek right and i think for americans we had never seen anything quite so brazen on TV like that, that it just like people were like, what the fuck was that? And I think because our like probably our vernacular, the lexicon that we use in talking about politics is so all over the place that we're not even using the words that we even know to mean anything because we've got like technical sense yeah like a democracy even we're just like well if we really want to pick that apart but i think for me you know the as i saw it was pretty much the audacity of powerful white people being able to say yeah there's a way we can just kind of keep just do as we please and i think that was what that's how that's what i was like wow they they're the fucking law doesn't exist to these people at all because like you're saying it was it was the sloppiest attempt at overthrowing an election
Starting point is 01:02:38 when like drunk rudy giuliani is running point so in way, we were saved by their ineptitude and they're just like, like weird, magical thinking. But yeah, I mean, I guess that is that isn't a dimension I had really thought about of like what the like rhetorically what that would do, because, yeah, I do get the sense or it's very clear that, you know, conservatives or people on the right want to just as easily categorize any kind of action from protesters fighting against capitalism as like an insert, like using all of these other words to kind of just like nullify the importance or like what people are fighting for, for sure. Yeah. Or like the emergence of new domestic terrorism laws. Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:03:22 That'll be used against the left more 90% of the time, you know. So yeah, it's just an interesting moment, because it was obviously so dramatic that it's, of course, it's going to be a central thing. But I just am worried about sort of the channeling of energies into something that's pure spectacle when we should be focusing on, especially now that this is a criminal thing. And I don't think the DOJ is going to do anything because no one wants to start that precedent. I mean, when Biden, when Biden lose, when the Dems lose in the midterms, he's going to be impeached three times. That's the new norm. The new norm is now the president's going to be impeached.
Starting point is 01:03:55 So I don't think that the DOJ is going to prosecute because none of them want to go to jail. Let me, that's why they never prosecuted Bush, anyone in the Bush administration for violating not only international, but domestic laws. So I think it's a very interesting moment, and it's good to be able. And I think getting people familiar with that pattern is also pretty important because you will see, hey, are you like trying to protect like an unhoused community or pushing backs against police violence? They'll fucking shoot you in the eye. Right. But if you're there saying MAGA and fucking America first, you're getting selfies. Right. You know, and i think that and i
Starting point is 01:04:46 and then i mean that is that much is clear i think to most of our listeners but yeah there are there are many other dimensions to it that as we i think because like you're saying we have most people are experiencing a reality where there's no ability to affect change then we have these weird moments where people want to put all their eggs in the basket where it's like muller time exactly russia gate you know yeah yeah yeah got him the myth of fucking steel dossier i do feel myself like pulled in two directions because i i do worry about fascism fascism in this country and like a belief that like it can get much worse because it can get worse. Like it can get worse. And I think it will get like that is the path we are on is it getting way worse because like I said, there are two paths for America to go forward. I don't think that like and it sounds crazy and
Starting point is 01:05:42 probably might be a little bit like extreme, but it really feels like the energy has just gone from the neoliberal, let Wall Street lead type kind of ideal that was considered mainstream in America for so long. like democratic socialist, or you could go in the direction of fascism. And the, like America, like I've been using this metaphor of like having like America having an immune system and like America being absolutely allergic to anything that is like slightly socialist and being very welcoming of things that are fascist. And like, I, I just, just i feel like so seeing these things like i i see seeing like what happened on january 6th like it's still like i i think it's serious because it's an indicator of where things are headed and how much worse things can get in this country like that i think that's where the seriousness and like my attention to it is coming from. Not necessarily that like they almost they were like right there and could have overthrown
Starting point is 01:06:53 it. But just like that, this this seems to be what the country is more comfortable with than any sort of even like soft socialism. in this country that's fair absolutely yeah yeah no i mean it's it's all very it all comes together and we just look and we're like wow because also too you think about all these people now these maga q anon people who are sending into positions of like secretary of states or being able to now have like their hands on the votes and stuff you're like oh my god like it's wild they're really like they're really going for it and yeah i it's it's odd to see just a lack of urgency about being like that's on a very basic level not good to have people who are outwardly being like i don't believe reality and i will determine who you, what votes mean or I'll have a lot of influence potentially in an electoral decision.
Starting point is 01:07:48 And those things, yeah, they all come together. But I think with the reason why America, I think, is just more open to power, just like when you put two things in front of like the American consciousness, it's like, what's the one that's more aggressive and dominates the weak? Yeah, yeah. That's kind of more our vibe since the beginning. And so anything that's like about empathy or being like, no, like we need to we need to take care of each other. Like, what the fuck is that? I never heard of that. about is like what looks more fun because i think generally there's like more despair in american society like people just feel totally disconnected from power they feel totally not in charge of their lives and i think the big appeal of someone like trump is that he channeled all of those in a direction that seemed like almost jester like you know like that that seemed more more fun and i i do think that we on the left need to embrace that element of fun,
Starting point is 01:08:46 not in obviously a horrible, racist, disgusting way, like someone like Donald Trump or Ted Cruz or someone. Well, Ted Cruz is not fun. He just can't fake it. But I do think that's an important element of politics that we never talk about. It has to be exciting. When you go to a protest and you chant it, it feels good. It feels fun. It feels good to be part of something. And I think that we've sort of ceded that territory. And that's not I don't think that's good for for political strategy or particularly winning over people who don't really pay attention to things. But we need to get anything done in this country. Right. So come to our leftist Coachella. It's going to be a really fun event, y'all. We're going to exchange some radical ideas and march on the Capitol. Well, Daniel, it's been a real pleasure having you. Where can people find you, follow you, all that good stuff?
Starting point is 01:09:34 Sure, on Twitter, at D. Bessner and American Prestige. Please like, subscribe, review, listen. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much for having us on. Is there a tweet or some of the work of social media you've been enjoying? Oh, yeah. Under the Banner of Heaven. Have you guys been watching that show? No, I haven't.
Starting point is 01:09:53 Oh, it's really good. I've heard a lot. Yeah, people have been talking about it. It's really good. I strongly recommend it. It's really interesting, and people should check it out. I love Andrew Garfield. I liked the book when I read it. And I love any story that takes place in the, you know, Latter-day Saint community. What do they prefer to be called? LDS. There's the Latter-day Saints.
Starting point is 01:10:15 LDS, yeah. Yeah, the LDS. And yeah, this is basically about a radical group. So it's pretty interesting. Oh, you're talking about the Netflix documentary? I blanked out for a second. Or the book about it? No, just the fictionalized representation. The show.
Starting point is 01:10:31 Are they like FLDS kind of people in this one? Like fundamental? I don't think they're FLDS, but they're because they talk about the differences between FLDS, I think, but they're basically a radical break-off group. There is so much LDS stuff going on right now there's like that Netflix documentary uh two about that FLDS community uh Miles where can people find you what's the tweet you've been
Starting point is 01:10:55 enjoying uh find me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Gray if you like basketball check out the latest episode of Miles and Jack got Mad Boosties, where we distract ourselves with sports. And if you want to hear me distract myself with reality TV, check out 420 Day Fiance, where, you know, we just trying to zone out on something. A tweet I like is from Amy at LOLNUE tweeted. Oh, we're in a bear market. Well, I think we're in a platypus store. That's what you sound like. That's you. All right.
Starting point is 01:11:31 Tweet I've been enjoying. No context. Brits tweeted a picture of a Big Mac that has a label on the side that said 100% British and Irish beef. And they just tweeted the troubles. That was a good one. I saw that. Oh, actually, at American Prestige, we're doing a long history on the IRA. So this week on Saturday, we're releasing our third episode on the history of the IRA.
Starting point is 01:11:52 So if anyone's interested in Irish history, please check that out. There you go. You can find me on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien. You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist. We're at The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram. We have a Facebook fan page and a website, DailyZeitgeist.com where we post our episodes and our footnotes, where we link off
Starting point is 01:12:10 to the information that we talked about in today's episode as well as a song that we think you might enjoy. Miles, what song do we think people might enjoy? This is a group called Polo and Pun and they are like a Parisian duo and they, it's just like very cinematic sounding you know
Starting point is 01:12:28 i like music where like when you listen to it like it immediately sets off like your visual imagination and this is a track called le joly chose and i'll look i'm not a good french speaker but i'll say it like an american less jooses. Okay, if you wanted to Google that shit. By Polo and P-A-N-P-A-N. But it just sounds like you're in like some, you know, French new wave film or something. But it's just kind of, I don't know. It's enjoyable. So put that in your ears on this wonderful Thursday.
Starting point is 01:13:00 All right. Well, the Daily Zeke is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's going to do it for us this morning. We're back this afternoon to tell you what's trending, and we'll talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry.
Starting point is 01:13:24 Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 01:13:43 Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden.
Starting point is 01:14:21 We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation,
Starting point is 01:14:41 then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way
Starting point is 01:15:02 we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

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