The Daily Zeitgeist - PTA-Pocalypse, Britney Was Right 8.13.21

Episode Date: August 13, 2021

In episode 969, Jack and Miles are joined by Toxic: The Britney Spears Story's Tess Barker & Babs Gray to discuss the Texas voter suppression bill, dipshits in Tennessee, Britney Spears update, and more!FOOTNOTES: TDZ LIVE SHOW TICKETS! Texas passes their voter suppression bill, DOJ almost made the coup happen This Scene In TN … These Dipshits Are Getting Out Of Hand Britney Update Listen - Jono Das - “Hurricanrana” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refused to ask for directions. It's Space Gem, there are no roads. Good point. So, where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit.

With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts trust us it's out of this world there's so much beauty in Mexican culture like mariachis delicious cuisine and even lucha libre join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. I'm Dr. Laurie Santos, host of the Happiness Lab podcast.

As the U.S. elections approach, it can feel like we're angrier and more divided than ever. But in a new, hopeful season of my podcast, I'll share what the science really shows. That we're surprisingly more united than most people think. We all know something is wrong in our culture, in our politics, and that we need to do better and that we can do better. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you listen to podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo!

That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of the Challenge 40, Battle of the Eras. Join us as we break down each episode, interview challengers, and take you behind the scenes of this iconic season. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, it's Jack. About three hours in the future from the Jack you're about to hear from.

Just wanted to let you know we're going to be talking about the Free Britney movement, and there's an update that came after we wrapped on the episode that Jamie Spears has agreed to step down as the conservator of her estate. It doesn't really change anything that we talk about, but just an additional twist and turn in that story. And enjoy. Hello, the Internet, and welcome to season 197 episode 5 of the production of iheart radio this is a podcast where we take a deep dive into america's shared

consciousness it's friday august 13th 2021 my name is jack o'brien aka that was my attempt at down with the sickness courtesy of tyler olton at as fainter says he doesn't he doesn't really tell us what these fingers anyways i'm thrilled to be joined as always by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray! T-D-O! Oh, no! I'm happy. I'm feeling glad. Got pop culture in my head. I'm the co-host to O'Brien.

T-D-Z is coming on, is coming on, is coming on. I would do the Dell part, but nothing was written there. But shout out to at Radio Georgio on Twitter for that wonderful Gorillas. Clint Eastwood inspired, a.k.a. Hell yeah. Well, Miles,

how are you, sir? I'm great. Good to see you. You've never asked me that before. Yeah. Is everything okay with me that before. Yeah. Is everything okay with you? Yeah, no, no. Oh, great.

Okay. Yeah. No, I'm great. Thank you. Cool. Just caught off guard. Just caught off guard. Usually you're very cold.

The second we end the recording, he's like, I got to go. Shut up. Yeah. Don't talk to me. No eye contact through the Zoom. All right, Miles. Well, before we get to our very special guests, yes, plural today, we got to tell the people what's happening. August 25th, 6 p.m. PST, 9 p.m. EST. We are bringing you the year 2000 live show, live streaming, audio, visual extravaganza. There's going to be pictures. There's going to be riffing. There's going to be pictures. There's going to be riffing.

There's going to be dancing. There's going to be Shrek. Jack will be seawalking. Yeah. So you've got to tune in to see that go down. I keep saying dancing, and there's no way I'm going to dance. You can crip walk him, baby. Let him know.

Let him know how you get down. Shoulder action. Yeah, and join us. We'll have confirmed special guest, none other than the cold brew king himself chris crofton to bring his takes from his time machine from the year 2000 not sure how much he remembers from it but it's guaranteed to be a fantastic guest and show so get your tickets at momenthouse.com slash the daily zeitgeist. And if you can't make it live, don't worry. If you have your ticket, you will have an option to watch the video on

demand version so you can watch it at your leisure. Yeah. Or at your leisure. It doesn't matter. Either one. Yeah. I got to say, you know, this is going to have the same bones as the live show that we did that we took on tour for like the first half of the tour before it got canceled by COVID? But now that Crofton's here, baby, this is going to be a whole new ass vibe. There is the potential that he doesn't he might not add anything at all because he might not. And he's just a pure chaos agent throughout the whole thing. But either way, we want to discover that together with you. So please join us.

Yeah. All right. Well, Miles, we are thrilled to be joined by the duo behind Britney's Graham, the podcast that, via analysis of Britney's cryptic Instagram, helped spark the massive hashtag Free Britney movement.

Their new podcast is a 10-part fact-finding deep dive called Toxic, The Britney Spears story. When they're not making history by freeing Britney, they host the hilarious podcast Lady to Lady with Wednesday's guest, Brandi Posey. Brandi! And they're just two of our all-time favorite

Daily Zeitgeist guests. Please welcome Tess Barker and Babs Gray! Hey! Hello! Wow. That was the best intro we've gotten in a long time. We've been doing a lot of stuff, so good job. I can tell you've been doing this.

And you guys have been on legit shows, and that was the best intro. Well, thank you so much. Look at us, Jack. Look at us. We might not be second rate after all. No, you are, but I mean, it's still a good job. But you still give good intros. Look, there's expectations being taken

into... So it's more like fake tanner. It's like, yeah, maybe the skin tone changed, but it washes off at the end of the day. We still pay it on second rate. It gets streaky. Don't look at our palms. They're copper orange. What's good, guys?

How have you been? Pretty good. Tired. We're good. Yeah, we're finishing up. Babs eyes said it all right there. We're good. We're finishing up like the last, you know, few episodes of Toxic.

And we're just very tired. It's been a crazy amount of work. But, yeah, we're doing good. Just kind of the last home stretch. Running on Dunkin', baby. Just like America. In that way, you are our most American. Not sponsored, but we just literally are.

Yes. By default, we're all running on Dunkin'. Yeah, we're doing good. I'm actually in Denver right now doing some shows. And I met a, you know, Zeitgang member last night whose name is Bags Gray. What? No. Yeah. What? My cousin Bags?

Yes, your cousin Bags. She was like, my name is Bags Gray and people always think it's weird. And I was like, I mean, it is. Is it short for anything or she's just Baggata? I don't know. She said like, she goes by Bags.

Reusable grocery bags. Alternate universe. It's short for Ziploc bags. That's a very dope name. I'll take that. Bags, shout out to you. Let us know if you're listening. Shout out to you.

What's your name? I like that. Also, are we related? I think we all are somehow. In some really fucked up way. Yeah. Kind of a great way to add. Hey. Uh-oh. There it is is watch out now all right guys we are going to uh get to know you a little bit better in a moment

we're also going to catch up on the whole britney saga a little later on in the show a couple other things that we're talking about texas has successfully passed their voter suppression bill. So shout out to them ruining America one bill at a time. Speaking of ruining America, there's that scene at a school board meeting in Tennessee that just, I don't know, just spectacular, offensive, frightening, dipshittery going on and then we'll we'll get into some britney updates all of that plenty more but first babs tess what is something from your search history sound artifacts that's the last thing i googled found is that a sound sound because our producer for lady to lady said something about a sound artifact and i was like what the hell is is that? And I didn't want to ask. I wanted to seem like I knew what it was because I've been doing podcasting a long time. So I felt like

I should know. It's like when there's an unwanted sound, a mysterious sound somewhere. Artifact makes it sound like important. I know. It's kind of an really exciting phrase. It's just in there. It's kind of a really exciting phrase. It's just in there.

It's stuck in there. Stuck in the track. When you said found artifact, I thought that was just sort of like how the British talk about their history museum. Where it's like, I don't know, we just found these artifacts all over the world. We brought them here. I found them. Just found artifacts. Just found them.

They were flying loose around. Yeah, didn't wrestle them away from anyone's hands after we killed them. Yeah. You're saying it looks like it was sawed off from something that's in Egypt? I don't know. I found it. I swear to God, it's found. I was holding a saw, and I fell.

And then when I woke up, I had found an artifact. There you go. That's weird. I don't know how that Rosetta Stone got this stamp in it from the British Empire. I don't know. It must have fell on there. I don't know. I found it like this.

I went to the Natural History Museum with my kids when I was in New York. And they have the same problematic diorama model things with model things like with native americans and like the dutch greeting each other but then now they have like writing over the window that's like here's why this is problematic it's like they didn't bother redesigning it they're just like huh now we should question this shouldn't we so That's interesting. Is that going to help? It's not going to help. You're not going to... Hold on, dad. Lift me up so I can read

the full text of this disclaimer. Kids are in museums for the plaques. Absolutely. I didn't learn a fucking thing at a museum as a kid. It was basically still life TV. Dinosaur, bug, fucking shield.

Right. Right. Pictures of an old boob. Oh, yeah. My favorite part of the museum. Went back when boobs had hair. I guess they treat it like how the Sesame Street episode just had a disclaimer, like before the Johnny Cash Confederate flag episode where they're like, now we're not going to not play it. But just ask yourself, should we be doing this?

Probably shouldn't. Okay. Let it rip, folks. Let it rip. Here comes the man in black. Well, we're 12 for cigarettes. Something from my search history. I recently searched for where to stream The Simple Life.

Okay. Is it still available? You can buy episodes and no, I'm going to have to pay for this. Yeah, which I'm willing to because I've got a real hankering to watch Simple Life. That's probably also problematic. It probably isn't up because

they haven't put up the disclaimer yet. Yeah, they don't have a plaque in front of The Simple Life but it will be necessary probably. i mean i feel like paris is having her little parrenissance so you know maybe people can look at it with kind eyes i just remember how much they would make the fucking people they lived with how uncomfortable they would be and i'm like this is kind of great but also tone deaf deaf. But fuck it. I love reality. It was great. Because that's one of my favorite periods in television is just when there was nothing more amoral than just what was going on in reality TV. They were just like, fuck it.

How far can we go with everything? And it was great television. Yeah. Yeah. When they put all those kids on an island and just like got them. Oh, yeah. It was a good time. Was it called Kid Island?

Here's five doctors with everything that's wrong with you. Yeah. Right, right, right. Kid Nation. Kid Nation. Kid Island is better. It is. They should have just called it Lord of the Flies. I know, right? We already have this. Lord of the Flies, the reality

show. Oddly, a child with glasses and asthma did die tragically. Similar to the book. What is something you guys think is overrated? Tomatoes. I said it. Put it out there. Go ahead. Expand on that. I just think that they're

too prevalent and they don't taste good. They don't taste good unless you add a bunch of shit to them and I think that they should stand on their own and they don't taste good they don't taste good unless you add a bunch of shit to them and i think that it should they should stand on their own and they don't does this okay so your own your beef is only with naked tomatoes you're not talking about like tomato sauce here i think tomato sauce is the only thing i accept but any other form ketchup even uh i guess ketchup but it's like is that even tomato really that's like barely a tomato that feels like the american way to be like yeah i had my vegetables i ate three ketchup

packets with it you say when they like some i can't remember but some uh shitty whatever organization lobbied to like have ketchup count as a vegetable in kids lunches that's right i remember that too and so like they could so they could just serve as much garbage as possible. And they were like, ketchup, it counts. Right. Yeah, tomatoes, I don't eat on there. I'm the same way. Like, as a kid, I hated them.

And then I learned to, like, respect them on a sandwich because I'm like, oh, it's with a bunch of other shit. And I love salsa because it's with a bunch of other shit. And I'll have, like, a caprese salad because it's with a bunch of other shit. And I'll have like a caprese salad because with a bunch of other shit. But like my mom will just like slice a tomato up and just like have. I mean, there are people who do that. Honestly, also, I obviously was reaching. I really had a hard time.

Okay. So. Well, you coaxed me out of the shadows. It's got to be with other stuff for me. I'm sorry. That's how I feel. I had to figure out. I hated tomatoes as a kid too. But then i became a vegetarian when i was eight and i was like well

you can't be a vegetarian and not like any vegetables you know so tomatoes were kind of my first thing about like mind over matter where i was like you just have to make yourself start liking tomatoes and i did being more interested in being intersectional too i don't think i've ever enjoyed a like cherry tomato or grape tomato i think those taste like what if grapes weren't sweet and tasted dirty instead and we already have beets for that so yeah yeah i guess beets are sweet if you just want some dirt taste test what do you what do you think is overrated? For me, it's got to be Ikea. That's a good call. For me, guys. Let's bring it home.

I hate that place so much. I've never been happy in an Ikea. I've always regretted it. I find it exhausting, confusing, and labor-intensive, frankly. Also, the stuff is like a price where you're like, should I just spend more to get a thing that isn't a piece of shit? Just a little bit more? It's a weird,

confusing thing where you think you're saving money, but it's not worth it. Exactly. Are you saving money if you're buying disposable furniture? Yeah. You're definitely fucking the earth. Because when you see all the clear-cut're doing like in romania and places like that to get that wood

you're like never mind i guess i don't need this ecdoll shelf anymore yeah there's a there's something about the experience of being in ikea that feels like you're in a like an epcot for people between the ages of like 30 and 35 like a thousand i'm surprised there's not a train from yeah the cafeteria to like the end of the of the definitely like archetype archetypes in ikea it's like the the kids who just got their first apartment like young people who are like, you got to get some shit for the apartment. And you see those people, you see the new couple that's just moved in together and are fighting.

You see the exasperated older couple with children who have like lost track of their kids, but like they've like transcended to another level of existence where they don't care. Kind of hoping they just leave them there. And then there's the newly, there's your mom. I always see your mom at Ikea.

Yeah, absolutely. And she's never buying anything. She's just like sighing. She just likes to wander. Yeah. She's like this. But also like,

it's so confusing. It's like, to me, it feels the same as being in like a parking structure. I don't like being that disoriented. Give me a Target. I can stroll through a Target all day long because I know where everything is. Yeah. I feel like IKEA was designed

by the same people who design casinos to make it hard for you to figure out where the exits are and just keep you there for as long as possible. Just intentionally disorienting so time disappears and you get out and it's like the next morning somehow i'm always impressed when you see people that work there like cut through

that because they they know the fucking layout and they're like yeah yeah right through here and you're like are we you know like is this where it is like yeah follow me and they're like but we're going the opposite direction of the arrows on the floor right what is something you guys think is underrated i can only think of food stuff because the world. Right. What is something you guys think is underrated? I can only think of food stuff because the world is so sad. I don't like to think about anything else. Spicy jellies.

Like a spicy jam. Yeah, we talk about that. I'm replacing any jam or jellies with some spicy. Wow. Any specific ones? Trader Joe's has this really good just spicy pepper jelly that's

insanely good. Have you had that shit on top of cream cheese? Oh, yeah. You know what's also good in Japan? What we do is, speaking of cream cheese, is cut up kombu, like seaweed, on top of cream cheese. It's like a decadent thing with the salt from

the seaweed and the cream cheese under underrated bar snack that i've had over there i say seaweed is overrated in every capacity over wow i don't like the taste of those i don't like those i don't like those snacks and when you're in the ocean and it touches your legs, it can go fuck itself. I don't like it. You're like, fucking kelp, fuck. I hate it. Kelp is, it's just, that's my kelp yelp for you. I think I was raised on screensaver images of what oceans look like, and it's always clear.

So I remember as a kid seeing a kelp bed in a thing and being like, oh, this place is dirty. Like, no, no no this is not the sea this is some growth that i don't want to deal with but it's kind of uh i think of it a bit as like nature's bubble wrap because i repossess that kelp yeah oh yeah especially when they come on come to this yeah yeah come to the shoreline and uh you get in trouble for smacking your friend with it on a beach trip exactly Exactly. Just watching giant kelp forests kind of sway in the water is also a nice vibe.

Very peaceful. I can observe, but I don't want to interact. From afar, I like it. I just eat that shit raw out of the Jersey Shore ocean. I just throw it in my mouth like a sea monster. You scare your kids, wrap yourself in it i do i do love a a nice little crispy sesame flavored a seaweed snack hey dangerous for kids i almost died i don't know if i said that before as a kid because i would because it's a snack you

know asian people eat like nori you know that's like a snack so i remember i would fucking eat just sheets of that shit but i remember i was like four and i you know i took maybe three sheets more than my little tiny esophagus right windpipe could handle and it basically turned like a dental dam over my windpipe and like my mom had to grab me by my ankle and like fish it out of my mouth to like get me i don't know i think it was like there's a whole thing about inverting kids if they were choking you know so she but she was you know she had that like superhero mom strength she's like get your ass and i was got it out and i was banned from eating it for like years i was like we can't trust you with this shit i didn't think that you could use that as a dental dam a backup if you have one eco-friendly yeah responsible right and

very attractive looking to just have your mouth coated in a dark green film for both of our safety yeah there are multiple times i almost choked to death but i would have successfully choked to death with my hands over my head because that was the thing that my mom always made me do she's like oh put your hands over your head if i was like coughing or like choking on food oh yeah i forgot about that did we phase that out i don't I don't think it does anything. It certainly didn't help me. Maybe it calms you down or something. I don't know.

Yeah, that's like... Because I remember in The Nutty Professor, at one point, one of the brothers is choking and she's like, lift your arm up. Yeah. And I remember like,

is that real? Yeah. It's just a more comfortable... Five myths and truths about choking. The medical. I hope you get a lot of medical tips from Nutty Professor because that's a good place to. Or from us. Both really solid places to get medical advice, I think.

It says raising the hands above the child's head stops the coughing or choking. This is a myth. It says raising arms when someone coughs might actually make the situation more dangerous. The motion of the arms influences the motion of the child's neck and trunk. In turn, the food causing the coughing can shift and block the airway. Hey. Shout out to mine. You know what, though?

They were doing the best they could in the 80s. Oh, for sure. Tess, anything you think is underrated? Yeah, mine's also a food, and it is the salads at pizza places. Like, just an iceberg salad, like just some shitty iceberg, some shitty Italian dressing, a couple of croutons, a pepperoncini, like that kind of a situation. Yeah, just the very spare, very sparse carrot shavings, little chunks of, yeah, yeah. Maybe black olives out of a can.

chunks of yeah yeah maybe black olives out of a can yeah i've really given up on a healthy salad personally lately and i'm all about yeah just a total garbage way worse for you probably than the other shit you're eating so much dressing what's that way so what abs what's your salad look like you don't want to know i do because i know i mean i think i had one i had one at like a steakhouse the other night. It was a little in between, but it had cheddar cheese, hard-boiled egg, iceberg lettuce, onion, and blue cheese dressing. And just like, and croutons. So just like nothing. It's not healthy.

It had vegetables in there though, so it's salad. I guess there were cucumbers that I kind of avoided, but yeah. You're like, ugh, I feel like are like an abomination. The Coors Light of salad in that they distract you with the shoddy ingredients by just being really cold. Yes, exactly. And you know what? Coors Light is like my favorite shitty beer yeah it's just perfectly refreshing but offers you virtually nothing yes yeah yeah it's a texture but yeah i do pizza salad i i remember i used to work at this spot where all my co-workers love to order

the pizza salad and i was like what the fuck is this it's disgusting i hate wilted lettuce it's like the worst fucking thing oh yeah eat. No, no, no. And to have pizza salad, I'm like, you're getting the worst of every world in one bite. Wait, are you talking about a salad on a pizza, Miles? Yes. Oh. Oh. No, bro.

No. We're just talking about that ice cold salad that comes out. It's like a real half-assed salad that comes out. Oh, yeah, yeah. You're talking about the- Oh, I'm sorry. are you talking about a salad on oh no who the fuck is no have you seen that shit they do that at fresh brothers disgusting they do it at cpk too yeah oh it takes two wonderful things and it just ruins them because

who yeah you're right a hot hot arugula no yeah no and they i like a veggie pizza that has like you know the things that are supposed to go on pizza. And sometimes you'll order that and they just dumped a fucking salad on there. It's it's really a problem that needs to be solved. What's an ingredient that absolutely shouldn't go on anything leafy? Anything leafy. Right. Right.

Get that shit out of here. Yeah. Yeah. I have had somebody put a crispy kale on the salad that was actually pretty good. Right. But that's not happening at like Domino's the salad that was actually pretty good. Right. But that's not happening at like Domino's or... No. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Come in Domino's kale salad. You'll love it. All right, guys. Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and talk about a little bit of news. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds. Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game.

Atari promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades.

It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president.

One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, 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. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhearts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption

that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks Everywhere starting September 25th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation.

KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved.

You mix homesteading with guns and church, and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. I don't know why I did that. I guess because we're about to talk about Texas.

Yeah, I think so. Uh-huh. Got in your mind. You got a Lone Star brain? Got Lone Star, yeah. Got a little Lone star brain going on. The Texas politicians have successfully tried to, are successfully ruining democracy in the state of Texas. You know, latest state to pass more voter suppression laws that essentially make elections harder to vote in and easier to overturn or alter.

Look out, folks. And this was despite, you know, like a lot of Democrats left the state. There was a 15-hour filibuster from Democrat Carol Alvarado. But at the end, there just wasn't the votes for it. So, you know, took its course. They voted it in. And this has been happening across the country. We've been talking about it ever since the big lie began to take hold, because that's

when a lot of state legislatures use that as the logic for, I guess, what people call the second big lie, which is that our elections are actually at risk and there's massive voter fraud across the country that has to be addressed. And so many of these bills are hitting the desks of governors to sort of seal the fate of our elections. And so this is how they intend to the desks of governors to sort of seal the fate of our elections. And so this is how they intend to stay in power and possibly bring Trump back. And I think it relates to the sort of second part of kind of what we're talking about, because people, ex-DOJ officials, have been testifying to Congress about what was going on from Election Day up until January and what what trump was trying to do and we've learned all kinds of things and essentially like we came so fucking close to this thing getting flipped on

its head we came really close and we didn't even realize it we thought it's like well you know it's like it couldn't have been that easy well it there was a it only took a couple more rogue actors for the all the shit to fall into place and the first thing we found out you know we obviously knew bill barr signed this bizarre order that allowed the doj to like look into any fraud allegations after the election and many in the department were like there's not i know people are saying this but like we haven't found anything that even rises to the level that would actually necessitate an investigation. And then through these hearings, we found out that the second command at the FBI and the deputy attorney general at the time,

they were like, we got these emails where you see that they're discussing like concerns from their staff over the partisan nature of these investigations, like into the election. And this, I just want to read one of the replies from the deputy AG, because it sort of paints a picture of like the logic that was circulating at the Department of Justice and also the pressure they were experiencing, quote, it may well be that the Georgia Secretary of State is correct in concluding that nothing nefarious happened there. But the fact is that millions of Americans have come to believe, rightly or wrongly, that something untoward took place and is incumbent on the department to timely conduct a limited investigation to assure the American people that we have looked down these

claims. And they're just going like, but we don't know. It's like, well, then if there isn't anything, then they'll know that there isn't anything happened. But like, we have to. There's pressure. We're getting pressured to look into this shit. And then we also found out in Georgia, there was a lot going on because Trump like wanted to get that guy Raffensperger to like, remember, he's like, I gotta find me 12,000 votes or whatever. We also found out that there was a U.S. attorney that was in Atlanta who was pressured to say that he discovered widespread voter fraud and he basically wouldn't agree to it and resigned. And he basically wouldn't agree to it and resign. Byung Jae Pak, again, this is just from this article, former U.S. Attorney at Atlanta, told congressional investigators Wednesday that his abrupt resignation in January had been prompted by Justice Department officials warning that President Trump intended to fire

him for refusing to say that widespread voter fraud had been found in Georgia. While he did not discuss Mr. Trump's role in his decision to resign at the time, he told the Senate panel that the president had been dismayed that Mr. Pack had investigated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton County and not found evidence to support them. Right. I mean, it seems like we have a lot of people who aren't who are like saying, all right, we have to appear to take it seriously. Is there anybody who is like behind the scenes like really trying to tip the scales like other than the president i mean i don't know why i'm overlooking him there was like a rogue u.s attorney too who was willing to go to bat and so you use his office to sort of bolster those claims right and there were just a lot of people who you know the acting ag was like

dude i was getting calls constantly right from him to do shit and i just i i wasn't i couldn't but i had to just be like no no no worries no worries presumably because they know their safeguards in place that they like they would have gotten caught essentially yeah but had we're changing the law so that those safeguards aren't in place. Yeah. And there was safeguards. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

And now a lot of these safeguards are coming down because you're seeing like in some places like Georgia, they're trying to pass laws. I think they have laws where if they find something that arises to fraud, then they can do an investigation and determine whether or not the results can be certified or not. And so we're setting this table so that just only a few people need to be in on the fix to make shit happen. Doesn't have to like they're just only a few people need to make the right decisions to just overturn an election. And if these states are empowered to allege that their votes, that their vote counts are fraudulent and can overturn them, we have no reason to believe that Trump wouldn't want back in

because he's sort of like, well, then I win this way because it's we were going to do the thing right that we didn't do right last time. And it's the perfect environment for him to run in and potentially reenergize the whole January 6th crew to commit even more violence if he lost in the second election. So, you know, blow up the fucking filibuster, y'all, in the Senate so you can pass, like, you know, these proper voting safes, these pesky safeguards that are, in fact, just really

keeping us from going over the edge. Yeah, it almost makes me wonder if they're going to pull that shit. I don't know. I think, because I don't think Trump wants to be president. I think he just wants to, like, win like win another contest yeah so maybe we just need to have like either make the elections not feel as much of like a contest or create a second contest that we can just let him win right oh like a loser's bracket but yeah like yeah like i think it's a bucket give him a parade i don't give a shit. You know what I mean? Like, let's just give him something to win.

Right. Can he win being a king of some... Yeah. Some island or something like that? Exactly. He can be distracted. King of Americana. Yes.

Ooh. And he just presides over the... And he lives at the Americana? On Brand in Glendale. Yeah. That's his piece of... He just comes out and does speeches on a little balcony. Right.

Above Katsuya. We could have the fountain do YMCA. Yeah. He comes out right on the terrace in front of Katsuya and he's like, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Please go to Din Tai Fung. They're doing 15% off take home cocktails. Very local flavor for LA Zyka.

As someone who lives near Glendale, though, I would actually prefer that we pawn him off on the farmer's market. Yeah, either one. You can have whatever one you want. I think I think he's coming back. I think all of the, you know, people speculating that he might not want it. I don't know. It seems like wishful thinking. I don't know. It seems like wishful thinking. I mean, all he wants is power and he is the easily the front runner for the Republican nomination. Like, I just don't. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I feel like in my gut it's happening.

I feel like this is early stages of, you know, we'll look back on the January 6th insurrection. I was i was like oh that was like the failed version yeah like oh that was exactly the red flag that most of us thought it was yes okay cool yeah do you guys think though that it's possible that he could just stay deplatformed for the next three and a half years because i do think that would make it significantly more difficult for him too yeah for sure it could yeah but you see even press, though, his name comes up in headlines more and more again, even though he's saying the same bullshit. But they're definitely the media has like this whole narrative that they're seeding, which is like he's screaming from the sidelines and Republicans don't.

Some are listening. Some aren't, which is true. But it almost feels like it's gaining momentum again to begin starting to just broadcast every word he says in a press release, no matter how insignificant it might be, just because, I don't know. Yeah. Old habits. Yeah, I don't think him not being on Twitter or Facebook would be the thing that would prevent him from running or winning.

Yeah. Right, because he'd be on TV running as a presidential candidate and then, boom. And the signs and the, you know, bumper stickers and all that shit, like, it's not like those have come down. Like, they're still out there. I feel like they're maybe, you know,

licking their wounds a little bit. Yeah, no, they already have, I don't know if you guys have seen these, but they already have, like, the new rollout version of the flags and the signs and stuff. I don't do that. Yeah, I'm in Ohio right now. We've seen revenge tour flags.

Revenge tour. What's the one down the street? It says like, make America good again or something. Get America back to being great. It was some like convoluted version of that. And I was like, let's just switch around the word. Great America, come back around again. This is for the people of the sun. Wait, it's been six months. Let's just switch around the words. Make great America come back around again. This is for the people of the sun.

Wait, that's a rage lyric. Mega, make America great again again. Yeah. I mean, either way, still fucking scary. If you guys need any branding help, just reach out. Yeah.

Well, there was a scene. Did you guys see the video of the school board meeting in Tennessee? So they had health experts come through, talk about, you know, the Delta variant, that they're seeing the Delta variant infect so many children that they're running out of ICU beds in their COVID tents for children. you know, talked about the efficacy of masking since the vaccine isn't going to be ready for children to take in time for the start of the school year. And I'm just talking to like people whose kids have already started school because like some places in the South, their school has already started and like kids are, you know, like they haven't been in school. Their immune systems aren't ready. Like if they don't get COVID, they're getting all sorts of sicknesses. But anyways, so they got this advice and it turned into,

it had hints, overtones of the January 6th insurrection, just like parents losing their minds. It was like they had voted to require kids to wear plastic bags over their heads. Like, right. Yeah. Duct taped around their necks. Yes. They were saying like, we know where you live. Yes. We see you like threatening these health experts who are trying to leave after for merely saying masks work. Yeah. There were people screaming and threatening me. I just couldn't believe it said one parent who is a surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and mother of four kids in that school district. And yeah, I mean, it's we I feel like we have to keep covering it because it's this isn't new, as we've talked talked about like this is what happened back in 1911 you know the they attacked doctors they attacked nurses definitely happened even more violently in

the dark ages during the black plague but i don't know the other thing that happened during the dark ages was that like a traveling circus of guys who whipped themselves was like the number one attraction during the black play because it right made god see how sorry people were for uh whatever sins that was like their real their bachelor yeah so like i just but they were live shows that were super spreader events too right yeah they literally were right yeah wow so i i don't know like when you look at that you kind of hope oh we've come along a long ways since then mark yeah but yeah i mean because it again we say this all the time the most propagandized people on the planet but like the next level just misinformation campaigns that are out there like we're also just seeing that too like these people have consumed so much nonsense that it's well and truly become their reality and they can't even

they can't even stand to hear an expert give them medical advice because everything they've seen from some woo woo tiktok video or instagram or youtube or Facebook post has just put them in this place where they're like, oh my God, it's actually terrible for the kids. We can't do this to our kids. We have freedom and it doesn't make sense. And those are the stakes and not your actual physical health. It's so asinine too, because it's like, hello, yeah, this is school. Kids don't have rights at school. Your kid has to ask to go to the bathroom. Right, right. at school like your kid has to ask to go to the bathroom right right my kid is the king of school let him be the king of school he does whatever he wants it's just so hard because you know you keep seeing people try to attack this with logic and bring in experts and try and it just nothing's

working it's so terrifying i feel like the only way is like you have to have like a counter misinformation yes program that you're like well watch this shit y'all like videos okay here we go watch me watch me play the part of the person you'll listen to and start fucking you up from the inside i don't know like i truly don't know if that's the case because yeah to your point an expert is the enemy yeah yeah until unless i don't know unless you say this thing like, you know, we talked yesterday, like, well, what's the what level at which are they willing to cede ground to an expert or to to acknowledge the things they don't know? Right. Like whether it's technological or medical or scientific, what have you. Yeah. Because at some point they know they will need the hospital if they're injured. have you yeah because at some point they know they will need the hospital if they're injured so it's like you almost gotta take a hard line it's like well if you're not fucking with science

then don't don't come near places that require science at all don't drive a car don't eat food because that's all science definitely stay the fuck up off of uh social media since yeah i mean right like if you took that's what i'm wondering. And this is probably like, yeah. Like, do we need to just redesign our entire education system? So like at kindergarten, we just start at the dark ages and then just like construct all of the things that our modern world is like all of the amazing advances that this world has been created by like brick by brick so that people like have an understanding of what's around them because they people are like looking on these phones that have essentially magical technology like that like lets them pull data from like halfway across the globe onto them that tells them then that like science isn't real and it's like right and don't ask about how it got to your phone right now it's not connected to anything don't worry about that part and i saw

there was a video that went viral of this guy who was pleading with people saying like you know his wife who has breast cancer he she had to be she was actually like they had to discharge her early because they had to make room for all the COVID patients. And he's like this. Y'all are fucking this up for people who actually need medical attention. And he's like, if you're not willing to get vaccinated, then why the fuck are you willing to go to the hospital? Two of my favorite human beings in the world have died in the last two weeks because of they had cancer or preexisting health conditions. They had cancer or pre-existing health conditions. And, you know, you can't draw a direct line to it, but they're in the hospital at a time when it's a really fucking bad time to be in the hospital.

Right. Or people have to put off going to the to prove all the reasons what you just said are wrong. And therefore it's effective because like people just it's like it's not effective to talk that long and it sounds like you're talking in circles when somebody when you're having to explain like 20 different reasons something is wrong and i feel like they've just gish galloped humanity like humanity is just we're at a point where things are so like so obviously and completely backwards that like we can't even argue it's like how do you win that argument

right it's in a way it feels like trying to explain the plot of cats to someone yeah you know and it just makes no sense and the more you talk about it the less sense it makes and all we know is that at the end a girl sings a song and a cat goes oh no tess tess froze at the exact wrong what happens to the right moment hold on what no let's come back what happened

sorry she goes up on a giant tire to the delical cat heaven. Oh, thank God. Yeah. I don't want to leave you guys hanging. Yeah. Sorry. We got enough going on. No, it does. It feels beyond.

Yeah, we're just beyond being able to fix it. It feels like. I don't know. I mean, I think the one thing you do see is they're slowly pushed back, though, from even in these statesida and texas where people like well the freedom thing was good to a point but now like it's clear that unvaccinated people are getting fucked up like that's why we're trying to do it which is why like in tennessee and arkansas you see these like people are like they're going against their republican governors who a year ago were like it it's all good, baby. And now that they've changed their tune, like, what the fuck out there? You know, like it's this whole that they've changed their tune up or they have seen the light or the research that there's like this whiplash effect that a lot of people are experiencing, too.

But there are Republicans who are very much like, I don't know this. We can't we can't do this and like have a defense for this yeah no and no matter what your beliefs are it still sucks to get sick you can talk all the shit you want but it feels like shit to feel like shit you know so i think enough people are getting this virus too i mean i yeah yeah i i'm definitely tired of seeing the videos where people on their deathbeds are like i wish i had gotten the vaccine because it's very sad and I feel sorry for them. But maybe one of those will get through to somebody who who knows. It's very exhausting.

But, you know, there's we've had pretty big problems, obstacles to overcome in the past. So, you know. All right. Let's take a break and come back and talk, Brittany. Yeah. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds. Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game.

Atari promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus.

Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago, when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president.

One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, 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. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state and she paid the ultimate price

Listen to Crooks Everywhere starting September 25th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone

involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. So, guys, since you've been coming on Daily Zeitgeist, you've gone from having a podcast that looked at Britney Spears' Instagram

and kind of you guys suspected something strange was going on to basically starting the Free Britney movement to being proven right and it becoming like this global movement. Can you just talk a little bit about like sort of the journey and where you're at right now in that process? Yeah, I mean, it's been a totally wild ride. I've been trying to talk about it on stage because it like feels like I should, but it's so hard to talk about because it's just a totally wild ride i was i've been trying to talk about it on stage because it like feels like i should but it's so hard to talk about because it's just so complicated right and i was thinking like you know people always say like man if you could talk to your like you know 13 year

old self and be like look what you did you're you got it's like my 13 year old self would be like what the fuck are you talking about like i don't even understand what you mean social media social media a conservatorship like what probate law yeah you're not getting a mess with probate law so yeah it's just a very surreal you know experience but basically yeah since we you know released an episode in april 2019 when we had had gotten a whistleblower voicemail saying that Britney was being held in a mental health facility against her will. That was the episode we released that we called Free Britney. And that kind of started off that movement. And then it snowballed into everything where the documentary came out.

And then more people got on board. And then Britney actually spoke in court, which then, you know, validified all of it. So yeah, it's been, uh,

it's been a very crazy ride, but now we're just happy that she spoke and that she's gotten it. You know, she had, she had this really shitty, uh, court appointed attorney for 13 years who basically didn't do anything. Didn't tell her she could petition to get out of it, all this stuff.

So now she has this new attorney who hopefully will be, you know, the big change that she needed. So what's like the latest? I know the last time I think we probably spoke about it was when we heard her speak and it was like, oh, shit. OK, yep, there it is. And then I think the last thing I read was that a judge sort of denied to expedite her hearing, I think, to have Jamie removed from the conservatorship role.

Where are we? What are we? Unfortunately, yeah. I think if you paid attention at all to what she said, she was outlining clear-cut abuse, and it's a pretty emergent situation. So she got this new lawyer who's petitioned to get rid of the dad which we think is probably a strategy they have to get rid of him first and

then terminate the conservatorship because while he's still on board then he gets to have his whole big team of lawyers helping him fight so you kind of gotta get rid of him first so he petitioned to get rid of the dad the mom signed on to that petition as did the the woman who's britney's professional conservator right now but the judge denied that petition to move forward the hearing and basically his argument was like look yeah my client feels like she's being abused every day that this happens it's a problem and it was totally within the judge's discretion to move that up and and she did nothing when she was being held in a like there are just these moments where in just reading about the story where it's like, oh, this is straight out of a dystopian sci-fi novel. It's like The Handmaid's Tale.

All of that shit just wrapped up in a massive reality. Can you just talk about when you first found out about that, like what are the kind of overall details? Because now you guys are doing this one that's like a retrospective or sort of deep dive into the whole situation. Like what are the things that were kind of the hardest to wrap your head around as you've just been going back through the whole thing? So basically the Toxic, the podcast we're doing now, we go through her early career and then just kind of like the first early signs of them trying to control her

or trying to kind of, yeah, control her. And then we go up to the conservatorship and like the whole weekend that that went down and that she got conserved. And just from day one, it's been unjust and illegal, I think. They didn't get the capacity declaration that you're supposed to have when you conserve somebody.

They planned it far in advance, her 5150, which is not how that's supposed to work. It's supposed to be for emergency situations only. Wait, what do you mean? How do you plan? Wait, they planned the 51? Yeah, the LAPD was planning a route

to her house for days. Two days before, as if they were running a marathon, they put up like barricades that were supposed to keep the paparazzi out. And they have like a whole route planned to get to the hospital two days ahead of time. And the conservatorship itself had been planned as early as six weeks before she got conserved. And just, you know, there's a different kinds of conservatorships. you know, there's a different kinds of conservatorships. And if she was going through some kind of mental health crisis at the time, they could have put her into the mental health conservatorship, which you renew every year because you're hoping the person gets better. She was put into probate, which is basically a lifetime one because of her money. So it's just

like thing after thing that immediately from the bat, you're like, this is so insanely fucked up. And she tried to get her own lawyer back then, and they said she didn't have the capacity. So she could have gotten out a long time ago if she'd actually been able to hire somebody she wanted. her i mean she had she was expressing over and over again that she wanted to get out of this and the only lawyer that she had access to was refusing to ask the court to do that and they made it so when she first got conserved and they had that hearing where she tried to bring in her own lawyer back in 2008 they stipulated as part of her conservatorship that she wasn't allowed to meet with any other lawyers without the permission of her dad yeah i mean that's the six weeks before thing is like it makes it sound like it was all a conspiracy to like drive her to behave in a way that would allow them to like in the media seem like she was like needed them to take control

that seems like so complex and yeah i think they definitely needed that narrative to get her into it you know in the first place so yeah and and the episode we have coming out next week will kind of catalog the last 13 years and her attempts in the background to get out so i think that that's one of the biggest shocks i mean and you know it obviously it makes sense that she was trying to but just knowing she kept trying over and over and over yeah and that that's hard as a britney spears fan to just have been buying all these albums and going to all these shows and then looking back and knowing in retrospect oh my god that entire time she was like trying to claw her way away away out of this uh situation yeah she was like a prisoner

while being one of the most famous people in the world she was yes and and still is i mean that's the other thing is like you know everyone was so alarmed by her testimony but that's now been almost two months ago and the same people are still in power over her the same people i mean her conservators uh can decide obviously who visits her they hire her security those same people are still working for her so that's the kind of like really frustrating thing too is like nothing really has meaningfully changed for her except i guess she has her own attorney now but sure and i mean is it is it does it seem feasible that even though this motion to like sort of speed up the removal of jamie spears has been denied that it's

still possible like that it it's on the right track or there's still a lot of other because it seems like they're hell-bent on keeping her in this conservatorship so like are they out of moves legally or is it seems like a more of a when than an if thing I hope it's a when yeah I mean without wildly legally speculating right no I obviously we don't know, but I think the problem now is that everyone is trying to shift the blame basically. So Jamie's trying to blame the professional conservator who's been around

for a few years. They're trying to blame. They're all just blaming each other so that no one gets sued. You know, so that's the, it's going to be a hard legal battle because everyone's trying to pretend it's not their fault you know yeah and if the dad gets kicked out then he's going to be liable for his own legal fees all of a sudden so that's part of why he's clinging on

for deal that dear life is as long as he saves the conservator britney foots that bill right but i one thing that makes me optimistic is that this new attorney is like very hollywood like he just has like a hollywood swagger and he's very like he's represented Steven Spielberg. So I think that A, he's going to act really aggressively. He already has been acting pretty aggressively. And B, like he's just going to want to save face. Like this is a really high profile case and he has a reputation to uphold. So I just I do think he's going to fight tooth and nail.

Yeah. And the public opinion is at this point is just like, yeah is open and shut get it done man exactly so i mean just kind of stepping back the way you guys's way into this in the first place was her instagram and like feeling like she was sending messages or like whether you know just through the circumstances you were seeing weird things like what what is you guys's like feeling about her instagram now like do you do you think that she was actually like sending messages through through the things that she was posting? I mean, yeah, the Instagram has a lot of, you know, questionable things about it as far as like people aren't sure if it's actually her posting because, you know, there's been investigations that have come up like, oh, it's other people who do post it and it gets sent through a filter.

It's not directly her. So there's a big question mark around it when we were doing britney's graham we were just kind of taking it face value that it was her and yeah i think we started as a comedy podcast it wasn't supposed to be like let's dig in and see what she really means behind these messages it was more of just like a funny we're doing it you know with a sense of humor digging in too deep but then that naturally turned into like wait what does she mean because she we realized she's into under these weird you know these constrictions so what does it mean when she says let me shop and no one gets hurt like you know so

it kind of started as a funny look at it but then got more serious and then as we looked at the actual court documents involved it was like whoa this seems really messed up so yeah it kind of and so yeah her her instagram is a mystery i mean lately you know it seems like it's her posting she posted there was a free britney flag that she posted she called it my flag and she actually said the word conservatorship in an instagram post recently so it seems like she's maybe communicating a little bit more directly with it now but we're not. She definitely loves ice cream based on the last post. Yes. Yes.

A lot of good food posts on B's ground. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, she also has like a long history of communicating to her fans. She used to write these things called her letters of truth back in the early aughts where she would like get real on her website about what was going on. And I think knowing how restrictive her life was, you know, throughout the entire conservatorshiphip I don't think it's at all implausible that she was using that one outlet as a way to try to subtly pass messages on to people I mean right she was doing crazier things than that to try to get her message out so yeah and yeah I mean the the documentary that you guys

are heavily featured in that that did it win a I don't I don't know it's an award-winning and like just an amazing documentary if people haven't seen it it's called Framing Britney by the New York Times but it really makes you kind of recognize that just the sort of toxic masculinity that was like still is but like especially during her rise to fame was like built into the culture and her just being the center of all this attention like she's been sort of imprisoned by that from the start and then yeah it makes sense that she yeah it's really gross to just when you look back at that footage of her and the paparazzi and just like 50 men around her at all times like trying to catch any little mistake anything goading her yeah and you

know there's one part where we talked about her her custody case was really intense you know her custody battle that was all going on and in that era 2006 2007 and you know her her kfeds lawyers would say that she was a you know have what was it test now i'm gonna mess it up they would use the driving her driving with the baby yeah she would be they used the fact that she was being hounded by the paparazzi as why she should have less custody like they faulted her for being followed by paparazzi as if she had any kind of control over that yeah and then the paparazzi would like publish these really like lurid stories and Kevin's lawyer would call in people from,

he would use the tabloids as a place to like find witnesses in the child custody case. Yeah. I mean, by the end of just kind of that re-examination and just like everything that you guys have kind of uncovered and examined it,ination and just like everything that you guys have kind of uncovered and examined it it really starts to feel like she went sane like in 2006 like she did finally after like a lifetime of just bearing this inhuman weight of like everybody's attention all these like really unhealthy expectations she finally

reacted the way that like i would have for like 30 minutes and people are like all right that's it we gotta allow whoa whoa yeah see that she said she's off this no no come on a thousand percent she she always had the expectations of her were always ridiculous you know the expectation of her to be perfect and that's what so many of her fans loved about. You know, the expectation of her to be perfect. And that's what so many of her fans loved about her was that she was not a perfect person. She was, you know, very raw and funny and just like didn't give a shit about like where, you know, wearing flip flops to the gas station or whatever. Stuff that they would like make fun of her for. And it was also very classist.

Oh, yeah. And that's what, you know all all those expectations were just put on her and she just kind of had enough of it yeah well yeah and it's also i think about this a lot too like another big piece of this tragedy is like if she had just gotten famous like two years later instagram would have been invented you know right she might have been able to have that outlet instead of getting yeah stalked all the time yeah well and like with social media the paparazzi kind of stopped being a thing like she was there kind of right at the tail end of the paparazzi being this really like aggressive force well and they had to stop because they laws were enforced you know they couldn't do that anymore because of how they treated her and yeah so it's just it's a really sad sad, I mean, I'm so grateful that there's like finally like the end of the tunnel for her because when we started making it, we had no idea she was going to speak. You know, we just thought it was going to be business as usual and she was going to be stuck with this lawyer forever and all that stuff. So that when she spoke, it was a shock to us. We had no idea that was going to happen and it's really changed the game. So we're just hopeful that, yeah, she has a way out now.

Well, that's awesome. Keep doing the amazing work you guys have been doing and thank you for doing all that work. It's really fucking cool and important. And yeah, thanks for being on TDZ today, guys. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Blasting up the joint.

Yeah. Where can people find you and follow you, Tess? Let's start with you. I'm Testify Barker on everything. That's Testify with two S's. All right. And is there a tweet or some of the work of social media you've been enjoying? Yes.

This is from Devin Sala, who is actually very funny on Twitter. Hi, Devin. He said, I just started laughing in bed thinking about how my parents, at some point, went into the cabinet and grabbed that big ass vodka bottle that was there for years and poured their friends and themselves a stiff shot of water.

Babs, how about you? Where can people find you? And what is the tweet you've been enjoying? Babs Gray on Twitter and Instagram. And I just put out my first comedy album called If I Did It. So you can find that online. And a tweet I'm enjoying is by a lady named Tess Barker. Ah!

Says, put the vaccine in Mountain Dew. It's time. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Parallel thinking. We were saying that new alcoholic Mountain Dew. Just put the vaccine in that motherfucker right there. That's the next level.

Perfect. You'll get everybody at least over 21. Yeah. And we'll have fun doing it. You'll get people under 21. I mean, yeah, I think everyone's gateway drink is like the sweetest form of alcohol. A thousand percent. Yeah.

Like Smirnoff's Ice and Zima. You should have to show your ID that you're under 21 to buy that. Right. They're like, wait, really? Okay. You're 19. Okay. Yeah.

Go ahead. I have more respect for the Mountain Dew community. I think they've all already been vaccinated personally, but that's, you know, get that, get that, get that hashtag trending on Twitter.

Be like, do heads for vaccines. I got mine and I drink do don't get it twisted. Do the vaccine. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Gray. And also the other podcast, 420 Day Fiance, talking 90 Day Fiance with Sophie Alexander. So check that one out. Some tweets that I like.

First one is from Sally Ann Hall at me. Sally Ann tweeted in movies. Whenever a woman gets dumped and eats ice cream, I always think, oh, no, can she not afford drugs? Sometimes you're like, OK, do you? And another one is from at Lars Adams tweeted. Me thinks is the funniest, most underutilized word ever. I can't think of any other word that's so scientifically formulated to piss you off. It's like, I don't know how you say it, and it doesn't sound flippant as fuck.

Oh, the worst. Let's see. Me thinks you should have got the vaccine. All right, I'm on the anti-vaxxer side now. Fuck you, man. All right, I'm on the anti-vaxxer side now. Fuck you, man. Well, one tweet I've been enjoying that's been mentioned already on the show, but I finally got to experience it, is the Marjorie Taylor Greene workout video.

Her pull-ups. Did y'all see that? I was out of the culture, out of the zeitgeist for a week and a half but so i missed but it was before you left though oh was it yeah yeah yeah that's my you know just but look we can't we can't just like shaking like just shaking her body around uh it's very strange it's uh only somebody with that little self-awareness could think those are pull-ups. It's also probably how I do pull-ups. Yeah, exactly.

And then at Hyatt's G tweeted, not saying I want to experience demonic possession, but it might be a nice little break to let someone else steer for a while. I've kind of felt that. 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. Footnotes. Where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode,

as well as a song we think you might enjoy. Miles, what song do we think people might enjoy miles what song do we think people might enjoy today this track is called hurricane rana like the wrestling move h-u-r-r-i-c-a-n-r-a-n-a and it's by this beat producer jono das j-o-n-o-d-a-s and it's it's just got this again it's it's familiar but spooky and it's just a good mashup of like funk, but also feeling like something you found like on an old cassette tape, like in your uncle's house. And you're like, what is this?

And then it takes you somewhere. That's how I envision this track operating on you. So this is Hurricane Rana by Jono Das. So enjoy that. A little laid back music. Go check that shit out. The Daily Zeitgeist, a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's going to do it for us this morning, but we are back this afternoon to tell you what's trending, and we'll talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre.

Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE Superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem, there are no roads. Good point. So where are we headed?

Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief, one episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. I'm Dr. Laurie Santos, host of the Happiness Lab podcast. As the U.S. elections approach,

it can feel like we're angrier and more divided than ever. But in a new, hopeful season of my podcast, I'll share what the science really shows, that we're surprisingly more united than most people think. We all know something is wrong in our culture, in our politics, and that we need to do better and that we can do better. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride.

Woo-hoo! That would be me, Devon Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of the Challenge 40, Battle of the Eras. Join us as we break down each episode, interview challengers, and take you behind the scenes of this iconic season. Listen to MTV's official challenge podcast

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.