The Daily Zeitgeist - Name Dropping With Style, Tent City Brentwood 03.21.23

Episode Date: March 21, 2023

In episode 1445, Jack and guest co-host Jody Avirgan are joined by journalist and host of City of Tents: Veterans Row, Anna Scott, to discuss... Questions for Anna On City of Tents: Veterans Row, The Cut New Rules For Social Etiquette and more! The Cut New Rules For Social Etiquette LISTEN: Gravity by River TiberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties

you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season 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. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, the internet, and welcome to season 280, episode 2 of Dirt Ailies, I Geist, a production of iHeartRadio. This is a podcast where we take a deep dive into America's shared consciousness, and it is Tuesday, March 21st, 2023. Yesterday was the first day of spring. Forgot to mention that to you yesterday. But yeah, happy first day of spring to all who celebrate.

My name is Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. But did you know when L.A. snows, my thighs become so white that the light that you shine can't be seen. That is courtesy of La Caroni, a little reference to L.A. weather. Those happened a couple weeks back, and my blindingly pale thighs that I like to talk about on this show for some reason uh i am thrilled to be joined by a very special guest co-host who you know from the podcast this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia good sport from ted and pushkin 30 30 or 34 30 with espn the 538 politics podcast way back in the day where i first heard him it's joey abriga

you want to talk about the stuff i did in college in high school and i don't know man that's where Keep going. It's Jody Avergan! You want to talk about the stuff I did in college and high school? I don't know, man. It's where I heard you. It's where I fell in love. So I have to honor it. I have to honor my truth of the Jody Avergan experience. Fair enough.

Thank you and happy first day of spring. It does not feel like spring. It doesn't. Both physically and mentally. It does not feel like we've turned a new leaf in a sense. No. Yeah, you're in New York, so especially. We're talking Stormy Daniels and potential mega protests.

Today's lineup, by the way. I mean, it's your job to introduce it, but gosh. I was like, okay, well, we'll start heavy. I was like, okay, i looked at the second topic i'm like okay and then it's the third topic and yeah really you really lined it up here for folks that's right well the the news cycle lined it up for us we are thrilled to be joined by the host and reporter behind the new podcast from kcrw city of tents veterans row which i highly recommend everyone go listen to. She also created KCRW's podcast Samaritans. The podcasting talent we have on the show today, folks. It's intimidating. Get ready. Hold on to your butts. It's Anna Scott!

Thank you. Thank you. I love that. It's like my WWE intro. That's right. We try and bring a lot of WWE energy to the news cycle because there's not enough of it with our former WWE wrestler ex-president. We like to keep it live. How's everybody doing? How are you guys doing? How's spring treating you so far? how's spring treating you so far well it does not feel like spring in los angeles it is no it's cloudy it's wet and like i know the the wet is good for our climate we need the rain etc but i'm over it i'm really over it yeah i feel you all right well anna we're gonna get to know you a little bit better in a moment first we're gonna tell our listeners a couple Anna, we're going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment. First, we're going to tell our listeners a couple of things we're talking about today. We are going to talk about City of Tents, Veterans Row, and just the issue of homelessness in America that you do a lot of reporting on and just kind of get your thoughts and insights because you have a lot

of really interesting things to say in the show and just across media. So we will talk about that. We will talk about Trump's announcing his arrest on today it's supposed to happen. And, you know, he has called for protests. The response seems to be somewhat muted, but it feels a little strange to be like, you know, prognosticating how people are going to react. But that's what we're going to do for a little bit today. So we'll talk about that. There's conspiracy theorists, dating sites. See what I was saying? Yeah, we might skip down to the new rules for social etiquette,

which is something that I like to throw to when things get a little too dreary. All of that, plenty more. But first, Anna, we do like to ask our guests what is something from your search history that's revealing about who you are? Well, yeah. So I looked on my phone and the most recent one

last night, I think this is telling enough. So I decided last night to re-watch the old movie Sid and Nancy. Old classic. I hadn't seen it for a long time. And then I searched Alex Cox dead because watching the movie made me curious

about the director. And I'm kind of morbid. I don't know. My first question was whether the director, Alex Cox, is still alive or not. And you had a guess it sounds like you were like watching you're like this the the vision on on screen here this person can't be alive i mean the movie came out in 1986 so i just thought he's probably dead but in fact

he's not and he's actually not really even that old he He's in his 60s. But the search did turn up a big rabbit hole that I guess there is a Netflix true crime documentary that has someone in it named Alex Cox, who is in fact dead, and also maybe murdered someone. So that led me down a whole rabbit hole. And I may have to watch that documentary now, in addition to Sid and Nancy.

Well, this story is bringing up a very interesting question for me, which is you referred to this as an old movie, 1986. I mean, you know, I wasn't aware of Sid and Nancy when it came out in 1986, but I'm curious what the line is for referring to something as an old movie. Yeah,

that's a good question. I mean, 30 years. Yeah. I'd say 30 years. it's just right on the threshold about right yeah like right but that that was what i was thinking it's like somewhere right in there you're right you may have pinned it like like it may be that 1986 is the year that you know if this movie come out in 1987 would you have called it an old movie

maybe not maybe not i feel like 86 is yeah i don't know something about the mid-80s seems like a good dividing line so when my my son was born in 2016 so that exactly 30 years after the sid and nancy came out so it like the movie that was 30 years old when i was born are were came out in 1950 and there are things Destination Moon, a sci-fi film where they're like, what if we made it to the moon? And then, you know, it was made of cheese or whatever. I don't know what their thesis was at the time. But it's very old by comparison. Those movies were extremely old as far as I can tell.

There are much older movies. I like that you went to Destination Moon and not Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve. Oh, yeah. Or all the other movies that came out in 1950. Those are timeless classics, though. That's the one. Those are timeless classics. I was trying to make a point that we're all very old.

But time is slowing down or compressing in this weird way. I mean, it really is like cultural time is like skewing. Yes, for sure. Now I'm just going to be asking you questions, but actually Googling the plot for Destination Moon in the background. But after their latest rocket fails, no, I won't read just read you the IMDb summary of Destination Moon in the background. But after their latest rocket fails, no, I won't read, just read you the IMDb summary of Destination Moon. But how did Sid and Nancy hold up? Well, I fell asleep after about 20 minutes because I ambled. So I have to, I've got to finish it. But so far, so good.

It's, I don't know what, I don't know why this movie came to mind as just something I'd like to rewatch, but I think it's a very good movie about being on drugs. Yeah. I was going to say it's very appropriate that you nodded off during Sid and Nancy. Indeed, yes. Yeah. Yeah. I nodded off totally sober, um right but nonetheless still appropriate reaction uh

very young gary oldman in this movie as sid vicious which is uh it's kind of interesting to see haven't seen a very young gary oldman for a while also courtney love has a small part in the movie which i've forgotten about she is i don't know if she comes back i can't remember but she's she's in it early on in one of the first scenes she's she has a brief crying scene because the movie opens with discovering the body of nancy and you know this i don't know i don't know if people know this movie it's about the uh sex pistols. Sex pistols, yeah. Basically, yeah. The doomed romance. The doomed romance, yes.

Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. So it kind of starts at the end and then backtracks. And so Courtney Love is briefly in the beginning sobbing and saying something like, she was a really nice person. Kind of chewing the scenery in her 15-second appearance. kind of chewing the scenery in her 15 second appearance. I did not know she was like an established movie actor when she came on the scene and like met Kurt Cobain and all that stuff. That's interesting.

Yeah. So, so far so good. What is, what's something you think is overrated? Bacon. Bacon. Bacon.

Overrated. Overrated. Overrated. I don't get it. Never liked it. Don't like it. Don't understand the fuss. There have to be other people like me out there. There has to be. And when you say this, people immediately are like, you've just never had good bacon, right? Yes. Yeah, that's the immediate response. Or they think I'm being contrarian on purpose. Like I've chosen something that, you know, just because it's so great and wonderful, but I'm not. I don't get it. I don't understand.

I don't like it. I don't think it's that great. How did you hold up during the bacon craze of the, was it like the mid-2000s or something when there was just bacon flavored everything? Everywhere. I just tuned it out. I mean, there must be other people like me, right? Yeah. I can't imagine you're the only person on earth

who has this opinion. For me, someone who enjoys bacon a lot of the time. I don't enjoy all bacon. I don't think bacon is like unfuckable it's very hit or miss but like when it's really done to my liking i really enjoy it but i prefer super producer becca came in the chat to say sausage over bacon i think that is generally true in terms of like sausage is pretty easy to prepare and replacement level sausage yeah

replacement level sausage versus bacon also i don't feel good like cleaning up bacon after the fact i'm like what people who don't like bacon are correct this is gross like this is this is not something that was meant to be consumed by humans. And of all the breakfast foods to freak out over, I just feel like there are so many better ones. Take a pancake, waffle, scrambled eggs. I mean, almost anything over bacon. There's so many wonderful breakfast foods. I just don't get it. Yeah.

So you go sweet over savory generally at breakfast i guess so i guess i am more of a sweet tooth person than a salty tooth person so maybe that is a that is a factor here i like that though i'm a salty tooth a real salty tooth sounds like a like an old sailor or like a old sea captain. Yeah. Which is maybe why it didn't take off the way Sweet Tooth did. Superduser Bay coming in saying Canadian bacon better, which is certainly an opinion. I have never gotten on board, but I probably haven't had good enough Canadian bacon. And it definitely falls into that same category of like it always seems like it's about the same as opposed to.

Would you call the movie Canadian Bacon an old movie? Oh, yeah. Yeah. That is from 1995. We have to move our line. So 28 years. It's coming. It's bordering on the old movie.

Yeah. All right. All right. Data point. It's aged. Yeah. What is something you think is underrated? they are. Probably my favorite kind of indulgent thing to do is take a bath in the middle of the day if I have time. I mean, having a young child and during the work week, that's usually not possible. But if I find myself with a pocket of time during the day when I'm alone in the house,

and I can take a bath while the sun is still out and it's midday, I mean, it's amazing. I feel like we should talk about it more. And you can do so many things to your bath. You can put bath salts in there, bubbles. Right. Ducks. Yeah. Ducks, bath beads, like make it smell good.

Rubber ducks. It's like going to a spa, but you know, you don't have to pay any money and you don't have to leave your house. I experienced a bit of a bath renaissance when I had a kid as well, just because, you know, you remember, oh, baths, right? Is that what happened for you? You feel like you're a young kid and brought them back into your life? I think that is part of it. It's both the ritual of giving him a bath, you know, every day or every other day that kind of reminded me of baths and also of Mr. Bubble, which I advocate for as well. And then also, I think

just having an uninterrupted block of time alone is also at a high premium after having a kid. So that's probably part of it as well. I think baths are for people who aren't me because I feel like I'm steeping in my filth like a teabag. Well, this is the bath conundrum. Take a shower first. What's the end game? Okay, shower before bath is something I need to try. A shower before bath?

Okay, now we're talking. That does make sense. Like a little rinse and then soak. See, I always solve this by going shower after bath. Interesting. Okay. Interesting. Okay. Yeah. But then you're still steeping in your own filth

for a little bit. The shower before bath had never occurred to me. Just a quick rinse, you know, because then also you don't have to kind of, I feel like taking a shower right after a bath kind of washes away the bath glow. I just want to get out of the bath and chill. No, you're right.

You're right. Yeah. Putting a little oils in there. Yeah. It's just the bubble bath. I need the skim of bubbles to not see below the surface what's happening down there when I'm in a bathtub personally. That's just how I feel.

Well, this is a call back to the thighs thing that they're distracting i'll say there it's pretty distracting my eyes can't see the light that you shine i for the the lyrics to kiss by a rose are really kind of they seem like a daydream that someone like someone trying to write a lyric as they're falling asleep. It's very strange. Anyways. All right. Well, I feel like we've gotten to know you a little bit better. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed?

Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Sanner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting

yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career. Without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades.

Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. 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. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back and and i wanted to talk about city of tents veterans row which is a series that you have been reporting out so so you you start the season off talking about like you say that homelessness is an issue that the more you've reported on it, the less kind of energy to it you become, the more like kind of outrage you feel. And you also say it's a problem that you feel like we could solve if we really wanted to. Can you talk a little bit about like just that that feeling that you get from, you know, knowing more and more about the homelessness crisis in America and, you know, where that kind of outrage comes from. Yeah, you know, I think that there is a certain amount of numbing out that happens almost as a defense mechanism when you live in a city like Los Angeles, where I live, and the homelessness crisis is so visible every day. There's encampments under just about every freeway over a pass, parks. So I think a lot of people, I mean, the nice way to put it is, you know, you get desensitized, right? It becomes part of the landscape probably as a necessity because otherwise you would be upset all the time. I think the not so nice way to put it is there's a lot of dehumanizing that goes on.

I think unhoused people are really, I mean, one group of people that a lot of folks seem to feel very comfortable generalizing about and saying some pretty horrendous things about just in casual company. And which, and so, you know, a lot of my time is spent talking to people who are experiencing homelessness, because they're the most affected by the crisis. And so I think naturally, that just chips away at that layer, you know, that might otherwise develop otherwise develop and you know you you get to know people on an individual level you see how close a lot of us could you know are to the to becoming unhoused and um so that's why i say early on in the series just the more i cover it the more sensitized uh if that's even a word i feel feel to it. And it's, you know, it's, it's, it's outrage, because I also get an up close look at a lot of the systemic failures

behind the crisis. But it's also sad and upsetting. And yeah, all those things, all those things. It's, you know, it is a humanitarian crisis that's unfolding in a lot of our big cities. And I guess when you are really plugged into it and talking to people experiencing it all the time, it's just hard to backtrack and just kind of, oh yeah, like accept it as a regular part of the landscape. But I also do say in the first episode

that it's not an intractable problem and there are solutions I don't want people to feel hopeless about it because I mean it's it can be complicated on a one-on-one level right when you talk to individuals and get to know their stories and all the factors that might have led someone to falling out of the housing market but really you know there there are a lot of things that work and we've seen them in one of the reasons with this podcast, actually, that I focused on unhoused veterans specifically, is that they've been an interesting case study in recent years and recent decades in this country about what works. Veterans are generally more politically popular as a group of people than non-veterans. So they've gotten more assistance and it's worked. And as the series unfolds, we unpack what that assistance is and we look at how these things

could be applied to non-veterans as well. But yeah, I mean, I can go as far into the weeds as you want or stay as big picture as you want, but basically there are things that we know work. There are big common drivers of this crisis that we know work there are big common you know drivers of this crisis that we can address but that doesn't mean they're easy to do that these solutions are easy um you know they require a lot of resources in some cases a whole new social contract so i don't want to minimize that but sure it's not like this is a mystery this is an issue we've been dealing with for decades in this country that's been studied a lot and there's a ton of research about it and yeah so we do know what the causes are and and what the solutions are

just that big picture like american reaction to and i it's probably other country other western countries too but the reaction of wanting to dehumanize and And it also reminds me of a thing we run into where billionaires are more popular than they should be with the people whose lives they spend a lot of time making worse. It's like this American thing where we want everyone to be getting what they deserve at some level and so

they're like they want to blame the homeless people who are you know suffering from homelessness for their situation and you know also give billionaires credit for their circumstances and it's i don't know i don't know how we get out of that, because it runs deep, it feels like. But I think talking to and like hearing reporting, where you're actually speaking to these human beings and hearing their stories, and you know, that they are here because of like something that they sacrificed and like gave to the country is is a pretty powerful way to do it i guess thanks yeah i that is i mean another another reason that this story was interesting is because it does focus on a group of unhoused veterans and

it definitely i'm always looking for ways because as a reporter i don't i don't want to write policy prescriptions or get into that territory i can certainly talk about policies that have worked in certain instances or case studies or research, et cetera, et cetera. But I'm not going to advocate for, oh, this is specifically exactly what we should do. I'm going to present you with what we know and what has worked before. But something that I do try to do pretty actively is just pierce that numbness a little bit and hopefully present the issue to people with a fresh lens so that, and veterans were an interesting way to do that because there is a kind of general goodwill that Americans have for people who have done military service, just kind of by and large. And so I think that in some ways expanded the audience of people that would be receptive to hearing it and just

automatically humanize the people at the center of it for some folks. I mean, I think, I don't know, for better or worse, that is just true and then also I'm always trying to find ways to break the conversation out of super partisan political lenses because this issue especially in a place like LA where it's a real top issue for people it's become so political and the way people talk about it it's so binary and and a lot of people just have these preconceived ideas. And it's very hard to break through that. So I'm always looking for ways. And again, with veterans, it was an opportunity to break through some of that because the

politics just got all turned upside down because of the military angle. So on that point, I mean, I take your point about how veterans are an entry point for a lot of people because people tend to want to support them. But the flip side of that is, you know, that talking about veterans and talking about supporting our troops is just so, is used so cynically by politicians, you know, on both sides. And GOP loves to talk about supporting our troops and then very rarely backs it up with supporting veterans. And Democrats don't seem to be doing that much better. I'm just curious, like, do the people that you talk to that you got to know, do they feel connected to that sniping back and forth at the political level? Does it matter to them whether a Democrat is president or Republican is president and how they've talked about supporting our troops? Well, the story that I follow over this series, it focuses on one encampment that was on a street in LA for more than a year. And at any given time, there were as many as almost 50 people living there, pretty much all military veterans. And so they themselves were a really mixed bag in terms

of their backgrounds, their own political beliefs, how much they were following national politics. It was all over the place. It was really hard to generalize. The issues that they were dealing with, the kind of service they'd done, it was all over the map. What was interesting about this encampment, which was nicknamed Veteran Row, one of many things that was interesting was how it attracted a lot of people who I've never seen at any other encampment in Los Angeles. And there are many large encampments around LA and different ones that have become flashpoints at different points in time, which this one eventually did as well.

But it also drew a crowd that was really unusual. People, I mean, people had political rallies, they're different candidates running for office, like back when there was a recall effort to try to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, there were people who wanted to replace him who had events there that they would broadcast on YouTube. There were, you know, usually kind of fringy candidates, to be honest, but they threw barbecues. There were people always showing up to do different kinds of events. There were always people coming with cameras and making documentaries and doing all sorts of projects like that. Specifically because of because it was veterans. There was Yeah, walmart commercial was filming

there one day or at least that's what the crew told me i have searched for this walmart commercial online to see if it ever saw the light of day and i haven't found it but but yeah early on in the series you hear a crew they're shooting what they say is a walmart a documentary style walmart commercial so walmart is a filmmaker I should just say they're very, they're like Kubrick, they will do take after take until they can get it right. So that's why it might not have come out. Walmart is a very exacting filmmaker. They might still be. Yes, perfecting that. But that was one of the things that drew me to it. And you know, in the middle of it all, you had these dozens of unhoused military veterans were

kind of being used as a backdrop backdrop a lot of the time and you know they themselves i mean they were more concerned day to day with trying to get into housing where you know where's the next meal going to come from you know they generally speaking they really did not want the encampment to be known as a political partisan place. They didn't really want to be affiliated with any particular candidate or party or anything like that. But a lot of people showed up there genuinely trying to help, but also promoting themselves in different ways. And I found that really interesting. And I found that really interesting. having other people around and like having this community that has kind of come together they have a dress code kind of they have like a homeowners association type rule about like having your flag facing a certain way but like yeah it's i don't know comparing it to so just to for people who aren't familiar with brentwood Brentwood is this super wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles. If you saw the People vs. O.J. Simpson, that's where O.J. lived.

And those mansions are just up the street from where this is happening. The reason it's happening here is because there's also the Veterans Administration right there. This massive chunk of beautiful land right in the middle of the city. here is because there's also the Veterans Administration, like, right there, this massive chunk of beautiful land right in the middle of the city that the government's just not doing anything with for years. But yeah, it just, like, when you compare the number of, like, Taco Tuesday parties and barbecues and, like like things that were coming together with these people. There's like just so much humanity there and community that you don't see in those surrounding neighborhoods that are like fighting so hard to get them out of there in a lot

of cases. That's interesting. Yeah. And, you know, encampments are generally communities. I spend time at any given one, anywhere in LA, and most often it is a community and people have relationships. And I think it's easy to underestimate that. And I think it's hard to understand, like, well, you know, if you hear something like, oh, somebody, you know, turned down a particular shelter offer, for example, you know, they must be resistant to all help, you know, they must be. But a lot of the time, you know, people do have community where, you know, they make community at often at encampments. And most people certainly do want help and they would prefer to live in a house or in some other circumstance. But also, you know, you can develop ties and relationships and a feeling of community anywhere that you live for a long period of time.

relationships and a feeling of community anywhere that you live for a long period of time. And so, you know, sometimes there can be a few steps to finding a solution for somebody that that'll work for them where, you know, they don't necessarily have to give up that feeling. But, and all of that played out at Veterans Row. Veterans Row had its own unique flavor to its community because it was all these unhoused veterans who were in that location for a very specific reason. Like like you said it's because they were right outside of this enormous huge campus owned and operated like rotting dormitories just like yes it's a super weird place if you're here in la i mean most people you know if you don't have a reason to go there you just drive past it and you kind of are vaguely familiar

but it's this huge va campus with a hospital on it and other medical facilities and various things, you know, that are fully functioning. And then it has all these creepy old buildings and open space. And a lot of people wonder what is going on there. And there's a long backstory that we get into, but the important part is the reason it's a VA campus is the land was donated more than a century ago to be a home for veterans. This was at a time when the United States actually had these veterans homes all over the country, these campuses where people returning from the Civil War and later conflicts could live and see doctors and get health care. So this particular campus was part of that system for a long time. But over time, we abolished that system and the VA evolved into what it does today, which is largely healthcare,

as well as cemeteries benefits. And so this campus really reflects that because it has the medical facilities, but then it has these old remnants of what it once was. And there was, they also lease parts of it out to different entities that have nothing to do with veterans at all, like some schools that have athletic facilities there, which has always been controversial, and even led to a lawsuit some years ago, resulting in a plan, the VA, you know, because they were because the government was given was, you know, given this land or chosen to be the stewards, I suppose, of this land under these particular stipulations that it be a home for veterans. They ended up agreeing some years ago to create new affordable housing there for specifically for homeless veterans. specifically for homeless veterans. So one of the reasons that this camp formed right outside that property is because a lot of the vets there, they were receiving services at the VA. They

maybe landed on the street after trying to get into different VA programs. But also they, by putting up these large tents that they had put up and these flags, they were trying to call attention to this plan that still hasn't come to fruition, although it's underway to build this new housing there. They're trying to, they're trying to let kind of let people know, hey, this is, we're supposed to be living on this land, but we're on the street. And so, yeah, so it was, they had this, you know, this connection in common to the, to the land next door. You know, most of them were under the care of doctors on that campus. They sort of brought like a military flair to the encampment on the street with these matching flags that they had.

And they had some tour rotations and things like that. So it was a very unique community. Yeah. Well, it's a really it's a great podcast. Everyone should go listen you know we're just scratching the surface here but it's a it's a really mind-blowing you know snapshot of america in all its good and really bad glory on display and like some really yeah, just surreal ways. Thank you. It feels like, yeah, the veterans campus,

it feels like an Ivy League school that was just left, just abandoned decades ago and is just rotting there while they're like, we don't have housing for these people. It's very surreal. Yeah. Very strange. Very strange place and very interesting dynamics with this camp next door. And then the surrounding neighborhood, as you mentioned, is Brentwood, which is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

So yeah, all of that and how the community interacted with the encampment and the encampment and its relationship to the VA, it was all pretty fascinating. And, uh, you know, it was, it was a tragic situation and some,

and some awful things happened, but also, you know, there was, there was a lot of humor in it. I mean, just with the spectacle that it was and the people that would show up and so yeah yeah i think we tried to get to all of that

there's one veteran who's like i need surgery for my like badly hurt ankle and a guy shows up and like keeps trying to let him pray over it and he's like yeah yeah no no it helped like it definitely feels like five percent better can i leave now the guy's like no no let me let me keep praying over your ankle it was just like a small yeah example of these things that would happen all the time where people would show up with their own very particular ideas about how to help and um you know and and a lot of people were drawn to it because it was veterans for different reasons and wanted to help but a lot of people were drawn to it because it was veterans for different reasons and wanted to help. But a lot of the time, their idea of helping wasn't necessarily connected to what the veterans themselves wanted or needed.

And I found that very interesting. So that was the other common thread through the whole series is just me trying to sort out who is helping, who is actually helping here. who who is helping who is actually helping here yeah there were some really good examples though of the of people who were helping by just being like these are humans what would make them feel better you know like what like the the person who was a former food company exec who started barbecuing there and like started the regular barbecues, just like brought a Weaver grill and created a regular kind of community event. She did.

Now she also had a very large Instagram following that she was documenting all of this for, which I thought was interesting. There were a lot of people that would come to do altruistic things, but also would promote themselves at the same time, which I felt was worth pointing out. But a lot of people, you know, they would look, they would come with like basic stuff, you know, water, food, socks, things like that. And, and yeah, I mean, I think, you know, after reporting on this issue for so many years, I feel comfortable saying homelessness is a big systemic problem in this country that requires big systemic fixes. And so people will often ask me like, well, what should I do as an individual? How can I help? And I just tell them, you know, we'll think about like, what, what do

you want to get out of your helping? And, you know, I, think about like, what do you want to get out of your helping? And, you know, I don't think there's a lot of ways to go wrong unless you're doing something really destructive or harmful. You know, I don't think there's a bad way to get engaged because you're not, you know, you're certainly not going to solve this crisis just on an individual level. Right. And, you know, I don't think you're probably going to to solve this crisis just on an individual level, right? And, you know, I don't think you're probably going to make it worse either. But if you, I mean, yes, if you just start with connecting with people on a human level, asking them what they need, what they'd like, getting to know them, that can become hugely, hugely impactful. If I mean, if that's something you're comfortable doing, and have the opportunity that can be transformative in somebody's life. If you can just be an advocate and ally for that person, because the system around helping them is very under-resourced and understaffed. And so,

so that can be a big way to start. So can I just quickly highlight like the immense wisdom in what you just said, which clicked for me which is like when something is so complicated and intractable it actually means that basically everything is worth doing uh and i mean that's like i will carry that with me going forward i mean it's such such a brilliant articulation of how to approach these things yeah and if you and it feels like a lot of the stuff that seems intractable and, you know, systemic is also the result of under-resourcing. Like, in this country, there's just a lot of things that haven't been given the resources for decades now that we're seeing the consequences of. Yeah. I mean, I can, you know, one example is just, I mean, the, you know, the big underlying factor in places like LA, New York City, San Francisco, where we have these large homelessness crises is housing affordability and housing availability. When you don't have much of either one, people tend to fall out of the housing market. That doesn't mean

that individuals who are experiencing homelessness don't have other issues going on some of the time, you know, other than financial issues or needing next month's rent. But that's the big underlying factor. They all fell out of the housing market at some point in time, for all different kinds of reasons. And it's very hard to get back in once that happens. And then once you're on the street, the homelessness crisis overlaps with all these other crises that we have. There are holes in our mental health care system. Meth is ubiquitous on the streets of LA because it is unbelievably cheap.

And so I think sometimes people conflate homelessness with mental health crisis or drug crisis, meth crisis, but they are not one in the same at all. And the big thing when it comes to homelessness is housing affordability, housing availability. And one of the things that really helped us reduce veteran homelessness over the last decade and a half was putting more resources into essentially the veteran version of Section 8, which are, these are vouchers that provide rental subsidies for low-income people.

So if you qualify, you get a voucher, you can take it to a landlord, pay a percentage of your income towards rent, and the federal government will pay the rest. Now, normal Section 8 is very oversubscribed. If you want to get a voucher, even if you qualify, your chances are like one in four, maybe, maybe nationally and less than that in Los Angeles. There's a huge waiting list. It's really hard to get. If you're a veteran who qualifies, you have a much higher chance of getting one of these vouchers because they have their own pool, which Congress has been more generous about funding. And so those vouchers paired with

services provided through the VA are really at the heart of a big push that resulted in a huge decline nationally in veteran homelessness since 2010. So yeah, now fully funding Section 8 for everybody would be enormously expensive. It's not politically popular. Right. But but that's like one example of of a big system thing that, you know, we can look at something that worked, at least with this one group of people that's under resourced when you're talking about the general population. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us about it and for doing the reporting. Everybody should go check out the show City of Tents Veterans Row. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and talk about some other stuff. We'll be right back. 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.

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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 Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them.

Why is that? 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. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back. And we'll probably, the Trump thing, I think we all know Trump claimed that

he's going to be arrested probably today and has called for his supporters to protest. We talked about it on yesterday's trending. We'll have more updates on this afternoon's trending. Well, Jack, it's almost like Schrodinger's podcast. Right. If the fact that people are hearing this means that things didn't melt down. Right. Because if there truly was chaos, you'd probably do an emergency episode. Yes, of course.

All right. But for the rest of the episode, I wanted to just run down. Did you guys see the article in New York Magazine that was like the new rules for social etiquette? It's this like grandiose project. It's got hundreds of rules. They are real hit or miss. And we've just been kind of checking in with the list and talking to our guest co-hosts and guests about about their thoughts on on these things i think there are a few that we feel like could be canon like should

be things that we adopt into our social etiquette like never tell someone who they look like yeah oh yes like it's it never goes one never goes well for you always tell me i look like miranda july and i find it really annoying yeah it's nobody ever likes to hear that well i think the someone is the key word there which is like this isn't like fodder for small talk with a stranger i think like right if you're a friend you know had a friend for a while and like i mean a good friend of mine actually texted me today and said, what is he said? I wish I had better news to share. But the far right Israeli finance minister is in the news for all the wrong reasons. And he looks like a bizarro evil version of you. Yes. And that is coming from a longtime friend. I'm happy to hear that, but I don't want to hear that from someone. No. And I always run it through the filter. Like if it's a famous person, it's like, okay, what you're really saying is that I look like this person's less hot cousin.

Let's be honest. It's like, it's just never good. One more thing on this. I know you were doing this as a throwaway check but uh but one more thing about this which is i think so many of these pieces of etiquette sort of have this through line which is like don't do stuff that doesn't set someone else some set someone up to like respond in a productive way like you know and a lot and like that just telling someone who they look like it's like what am i supposed to do with that information there's no yes and to that right it's just like okay. And a lot of the pieces of advice kind of fall into that category of just like, don't say something where, think about someone's

response when you say something and whether they're going to be able to kind of pick it up. Totally. Yeah. Another one that I think is probably solid for everybody to adopt is actually, it's great to talk about the weather. There was like this unofficial agreement in the nineties. I think like there were standup comedy bits. It was like, don't talk about the weather. It's boring.

What are you a 50 year old man? And it's, but we, we live in strange times. The, the weather is something that should be fine to talk about. All right. So these are the only two things

left yeah just kind of start this whole conversation talking about the weather yeah yeah and that's what i use this list to just exactly all right here's some for discussion you guys can stop me when you hear one but that you have some thoughts on you and bob Bobby De Niro may go way back, but to everyone else, he's Robert. This is aimed at a very specific... So one of the overall notes I have on this list is the very first item is you don't have to read all your friends' books. And it's like, well, that's for a very specific group of people

whose friends are constantly publishing books. I do know one person that's written books. Right. Yeah. So on this one, it's like they're writing specifically to famous people who drop the nicknames or people who are, you know,

in the orbit of famous people. This like, I think it's hilarious when famous people do this. I, it also feels like doing it must be the greatest feeling in the world because of how ridiculous it makes them look and how hard they insist on doing it every time. So it's like, I don't feel like I can make a full, hard judgment on this one because I don't know any famous person well enough to try this shit. But man, they really seem to like it. Yeah. But I mean, but you're saying when you hear an actor refer to.

And all my examples are basically. Annie. People in the Goodfellas. Annie Hathaway. Or Annie Hathaway. Right. Or like Marty Scorsese. Marty.

I feel like it's the one you hear all the time. But if it's someone who's worked with them and is famous and like that's what they get called on set then you're okay with that but if it's like me uh i happen to have seen them at a bar or even like sat next to them at a random dinner i can't i can't switch over to marty and i'm fine with it oh i'm fine with it across the board i I think you should be willing to accept the consequences of your actions when you do that. But I don't, I'm just like, that is a choice. But it's a choice that I'm glad people are out there making. It doesn't necessarily endear me to those people, but I don't think that's their goal either, right? Well right well yeah it must be kind of an awkward thing too like let's say you're a celebrity that's worked with one of these people you're

doing an interview and you want to say something about robert de niro but you know him as bobby like it it probably feels just even more pretentious to say his full name if you actually know this person and have worked with him well me and robert de niro you know there's i mean i kind of have some empathy for the celebrities on this one i don't know i don't i i recently had a sort of like inverse name dropping awkward experience where someone was talking to me about their friend greta for like a long time yes and then through context clues i realized that it was greta gerwig and they were talking like about my friend greta's movie and like going to the and and and i was just like

just you should just drop that name from the beginning and just owned it rather than trying to like over correct for not being a name dropper but it's tough this stuff is tough yeah it's a high class problem to have. Totally. It is very high. It's up there with not reading your friends. We're on a podcast dissecting a list from New York Magazine. Let's just be upfront about the air in which we are operating here. We had Robert Ori, the famous NBA basketball player on our NBA show. And I just called him Robert Ori the whole time. I was like, well, thank you, Robert Ori.

You didn't call him Big Shot Rob. I think that's also, you could also steer really hard into that. And just anytime you're referring to your friend, Bobby, you just say Robert De Niro. Get it all out there, all the way out there. All right. Some others never send an edible arrangement. What? They're great. They're great. Yeah, um i i don't think that this is a net a hard rule this is not a never don't use your friends as foreplay is we is another one of the ones where i felt like i was learning a lot about whoever wrote this what does that mean so that's what it then goes into like a discussion of like friends fighting in front of their friends and like i don't know like i i had no real world experience to like put it onto i guess like the

the assumption is that their friends get horny from fighting with each other in front of them. And that is somehow, I don't know. My main thought is like, you sick little freak. There's a lot of nested pathology and etiquette in here. Stop using me to get horny by yelling at each other when you got to dinner with me and my wife. I don't know. It sounds like very specific to me often. I'm just trying to have a dinner in which my friends argue in front of me without it being sexual.

Can you just argue, please, and make this a normal dinner where my friends decide to argue in front of me? Yeah. The other example of like, huh, for me was always wink. Always wink is just one of the rules. No explanation. I love that rule. Can I tell you a story about a buddy of mine who was applying for a job at Home Depot when he was a sophomore in college, maybe junior or sophomore in high school, maybe junior in high school. And he's going through the interview and he's like super nervous.

First ever job. year in high school and he's going through the interview and he's like super nervous first ever job uh and the like you know the shift manager at home depot is like being a kind of like big timing him you know during this interview he's peppering him with questions asking all these questions and you know my my buddy's trying to answer be earnest and so forth and then like three quarters of the way through the interview he just there he looks at my my buddy and goes stop winking at me son and my friend just goes okay but like he hadn't been winking at me, son. And my friend just goes, okay. But like he hadn't been winking at him. He wasn't trying to do it,

but he was just so thrown off that he couldn't bring himself to question the premise and be like, no, what are you talking about? Or he was just like, okay. And then he continued. That's like one of those Google mind fuck interview questions.

All right, at this point we- Accuse you of winking at us? Accuse the attendee, the interviewee of winking at us and see how they respond. You can callously cancel almost any plans up until 2pm. Specific.

I don't know. Sure. I'm fine with canceling plans. I won't be mad at you if you cancel plans with me. One of the best feelings in the world. I know. Truly. Like, oh, no. Unless the plans are 230 or something. Right.

Right. Yeah, exactly. And then this one is if for purposes other than like you are writing a rom-com screenplay and like, you're just adding, like, I understand the overall gist of it is like, you don't want to just keep hammering them with criticisms.

I'm like, you want to do it in a targeted, thoughtful way. But at the same time, like being like, you only got one chance. And once you do it in a targeted, thoughtful way. But at the same time, being like, you only got one chance. And once you do it, it's over. And you have to live with the decision that you've made. It just feels artificial. And they needed to fill an article full of rules.

Sounds very arbitrary. I mean, I'm more of the mindset that unless someone asks, I'm not going to just sit them down and tell them my opinion, but it also depends on why you object to the person. I mean, if you know something egregious about this person or they're engaged in really abusive behavior or something like that, then maybe it's appropriate. But if it's just kind of run of the mill i don't like this person then i don't i don't see any need to have a sit down i don't know i'm yeah i'm not objecting to this based on me wanting to have the conversation like i do not

like conversations like this i'm not going to be the person who's like keeps bringing this up but it just it does feel like sometimes you just gotta help your friend like you have to sounds like they're trying to like universalize something and make a rule about something that's kind of just very dependent on the situation yeah look i know this is the second time we've talked about this but i need you and your wife to stop trying to get horny by arguing in front of me. I mean, to your point, and I mean, that is the exercise, I think.

And they're very upfront. And it's why I love this list, is they're just going to, we're going to just throw a bunch of very specific and sometimes very outrageous things out there and let the internet talk about it. And it certainly did, but I respect that. It felt like a very 10 years ago kind of project. Yeah, absolutely. And it worked and it worked. Here we are. All right. Well, Anna, such a pleasure having you on the show.

Where can people find you follow you all that good stuff? Thank you for having me. I'm on Twitter at Anna Scott Journo, short for journalist. And you can find my podcast, City of Tense, colon Veterans Row, anywhere, all the usual places, Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, etc. Yeah, yeah. And that's a great one. Go check it out, everyone. Is there a tweet or a work of media that you've been enjoying? is there a tweet or a work of media that you've been enjoying? I will say there is a work of media that I'm really looking forward to enjoying because I have been listening to a ton of podcasts. Working on one, I want to get inspiration from other good ones. And I see that The Atlantic has a new one hosted by Van Newkirk.

And they did the Amazing Floodlines podcast some years ago about Hurricane Katrina. And they have another one called Holy Week, which also takes a historic event and puts new eyes on it. And I'm super excited about it. So I don't they don't need my help promoting it. But I just feel like I'm so excited about it that I'm just talking about it everywhere. Amazing. Jody, such a pleasure having you. As always, where can people find you? And is there a work of media you've been enjoying? I'll mostly plug this new series

that is coming out right now called Good Sport, which is an eight episode series about sports, but not really, mostly about kind of how sports can help us understand some bigger things. And it's wherever you get your podcast, Good Sport, but I'm very happy with how it's coming out and the reception it's gotten so far. So yeah, go ahead and check that out. And then in terms of media, well, mine is sort of nested. So I've been really, really

just like binging this podcast called The Rest is History nonstop, which is, you know, two historians, British historians, and they just sort of go deep on history. It's nothing, nothing mind blowing about the format, but it's just really good chemistry and really sort of thoughtful and funny. But they did a series on the rise of Hitler and the rise of Nazis. And in that, they kind of shouted out a number of times a Netflix series called Berlin Babylon, which is set in like 30s and early 40s uh berlin and so now i've jumped from the podcast to this recommendation to this netflix series berlin babylon which is a docu-series or no it's no it's a it's a scripted series yeah

and it's it's fantastic i mean it's really good it's german but it's you know it's really good awesome uh you can find me on twitter at jack underscore o'brien uh i'm still out here liking tweets like it's three years ago uh trash jones tweeted if at first you don't succeed think about it for the rest of your life when you're trying to fall asleep you can find us on twitter at daily zeitgeist we're at the daily zeitgeist on instagram we have a facebook fan page and a website dailyzeitgeist.com where we post our episodes and our footnotes where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode as well as a song that we think you might enjoy super producer justin connor what is a song that you think people might enjoy so i'm not going

to be here tomorrow so it's up to jack or or Brian or whoever takes over for me to continue the string of hits that have been coming the pressures on but this track is by a composer singer and multi instrumentalist from Toronto who goes by the name River Tiber this guy can really sing and lay down some interesting harmonies the beat was made by Kate Renata who I love I'm a huge fan of his work but this one is an underrated top five for me. So this song is Gravity by River Tiber, and you can find that song in the footnotes. Footnotes. The Daily Zeitgeist is a production of iHeartRadio.

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's going to do it for us this morning. Back this afternoon to tell you what is trending. And we'll talk to you all then. Bye. 7M Films, and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert

Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports.

Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin 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.