The Daily Zeitgeist - RFK Jr. Running As An IndeTrendent 10/10: Shakespeare Skeptics, Kevin McCarthy, Israel/Hamas War

Episode Date: October 10, 2023

In this edition of RFK Jr. Running As An IndeTrendent, Jack and Miles discuss the Rights' Shakespeare skepticism, Kevin McCarthy floating a return to the position he was fired from last week, and some of the hateful and ignorant rhetoric around the Israel/Hamas war.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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 Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pardenti

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. Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of RFK Jr. running as an indetrendent

trendent indetrendent indetrendent indetrendent day. This will be our indetrendent. Intrendent. Intrendent. This will be our Intrendent day. I'm Jack, that's Miles. We got there. And by there I mean

to, you know, a thing that doesn't really make sense. By there we mean an end of a sentence. And here we are. Here we are, folks. Hi, Miles. How are you doing? I'm well. How about you?

Oh, great. We're like two hours into recording together for the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's why it sounds weird. Not because we secretly hate each other. We outwardly love each other. Why did you say that? I told you not to say that.

Okay, sorry. Damn it. I want people to know. It ruins the illusion. The illusion trend uh the illusion trend dist we gotta pass this i can't man i can't this is gonna be the whole episode um

uh uh i've had a cough for like six weeks also yeah we all have i've had one like a wet cough too joelle had one i think might have one i don't know i was gonna ask justin if if it subsided everyone's got this like for me it's all like post nasal drip tickling my throat from the allergies tickling them threading the little cords vocal cords um anyways my throat let's tell the people about some things

that are trending there's a new thing happening on in the world of I guess tech and the right Shakespeare skepticism mainly that Shakespeare was good

it's not that like Shakespeare like didn't exist or he was, you know, a bunch of different writers. It's like, what do you think Shakespeare's good? I mean, let,

let me hit you with some Bayesian with the Bayesian priors on that. My dude, they're damning. Yeah. So there's a new book by Michael Lewis where he was kicking it with Sam Bankman free during the collapse of his empire. And I'll just I'll just quote from the book to Sam's way of thinking the case against Shakespeare could be made with basic statistics. OK, and this is from him. were busy farming and very few people attended university few people were even literate probably

as low as 10 million people by contrast they're now upwards of a billion literate people in the western sphere what are the odds that the greatest writer would have been born in 1564 the bayesian priors aren't very favorable god they love they love a bayesian fucking prior don't they yeah dude they love bayesian statistical and analysis dude they're like i don't need to see the data the fucking bayesian priors are damning yes um you know what i mean this sucks so bad i mean like it's it's a great speech about like isn't it amazing that Shakespeare was such an incredible writer? He lived at a time when, it's so wild that he was just so incredible that our greatest writer lived at this time.

It's a real anomaly and it doesn't make sense but clearly he lived you know he wrote and everybody like most people who are literate agree his shit is pretty good um and instead he's like so therefore he must suck he must just not be good if he lives i'm sorry that's how you just look at the world through your like weird rigid statistical analysis no wonder you're into effective altruism, because there's no such thing. I mean, I don't, sure, Shakespeare, fine. I'm not a fan or a hater. I'm just like, yeah, oh yeah, cool, Shakespeare. But the idea that...

Yeah, cool, Shakespeare. Oh, cool, Shakespeare, sure, man, if that's what you're into. But the arrogance of people being like, dude, shit's not that good. Come on, whatever. Or like, I could do that. Really? Richard Hanania. Who is this guy?

He's a writer. He's the author of some books about the woke mob. I think is mainly what he's known for. Oh, yeah, the origins of woke is his latest book. Origins of woke. President of CSPI Center, or who the fuck knows what that is. The Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology.

Yikes. Former UT Austin. Huh. I wonder what happened at UT Austin. Anyways, he has come through and said pretty sure if you gave me a year i could write shakespeare quality work like if someone hadn't read all of shakespeare and you randomly gave them me or him on average they couldn't tell the difference of course without the blind test people would pretend it wasn't as good i don't have time of course okay so i don't think

i'm gonna do it but if someone wanted to off so i could write shakespeare quality work but i don't have time oh okay it's such a great dude i that's the same thing as like just be fucking boring this is such this is such ray j with the fucking glasses being broken energy. Yeah. Go ahead. These are indestructible glasses. Break them. Yeah.

I dare you. They can't break. And then when they do it, I don't care. Do it. I don't care. I don't have time. Like, oh, okay. This guy also, too, as I read more about his book, well, this guy's a fucking trash white

supremacist, man. He's talking about how, like, the fucking civil rights, like, act it was like the origins of the the downfall of america yeah complete piece of shit okay okay okay but hey i'd love to see you try i mean i'm not even out here i'm like dude i couldn't write a fucking sonnet if i wanted to yeah because my brain isn't in that space but i bet i could smoke more weed than Shakespeare. I bet I'd be a better battle rapper than William Shakespeare. Oh man. Wait, do you see,

uh, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Shakespeare biopic? Oh my God. Could you imagine? It's shot like those YouTube, like rap battle videos where it's like a whole, like there's like a whole cipher of people. And he's like up next,

big bill with the fucking ruffled collar and shit. videos where it's like a whole like there's like a whole cypher of people and he's like up next big bill with the fucking ruffled collar and shit big willy shaky spear is what uh dan o'brien once called him in a column and i've never forgotten big willy shaky spear shaky spear all right uh kevin mccarthy we're not we're not through with him yet, folks. Nope. First of all, he's claiming that what happened in Israel is probably going to happen in the United States. When you look at the dang border right here, down there.

Have you seen? Dude, that was another huge misinformation shit. They're going like, oh yeah, Hamas is activating terrorist cells in the United States because of the poorest southern border uh-huh like it was so weird to see people share like potential like warnings but not give detail or like if you actually care about people wouldn't you like alert people or you're just saying like i've heard some weird stuff and it's all because of the border that's right yeah

we found we found a way to make it about everything else again but anyway he don't he also doesn't know when to quit and uh is saying that uh he might be open to reclaiming the post from which he was ousted last week this fool is just dude yeah who is this like i mean apollo creed i liked so it's not someone i want to be like stay down you know what i mean like was that was that him when they're like stay down is there a scene like that what's a boxing movie where they're like stay down well rocky's like i'm gonna throw in the towel and he's like we're not you're not oh right right right yeah yeah yeah that's maybe the big big energy of like no no tal no no tal you're like oh sir buddy okay but like but i'm not

rooting for you so in a way i'm like yeah go ahead yeah yeah no tal no tal right right actually get up get on up get on up james brown come on now let see it. Show the people what you got. He was playing the intro music for Apollo Creed. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's true. Okay, so we've got something here. Woke. Get on up now.

All right, Kevin McCarthy, so he floated the possibility on Monday that he might be open to reclaiming the post, summoned reporters to Capitol Hill to lay out a plan to defend Israel and rescue American captives. And it just felt like he was still trying to interview for the job that he just yeah it's it's like truly has that energy of like dress for the job that you want right even though you don't have it where it's like okay you might say that but we already saw who the new speaker is it's the the little guy with the with the bow tie who likes to do smashy smash with the gavel yeah um does he have the gavel anymore like is that his thing maybe no i think they're on a recess right now um they may be coming back but again this it's also just another

complication because as much as you know like any kind of aid package that would potentially go to israel like has to be you know be what Congress would need to vote on that. But without a speaker and it being in disarray, it makes things a little bit sticky. But yeah, there's a lot going on. There's a lot going on and Kevin McCarthy just doesn't know when to... I mean, maybe he does know. It would be so wild if he was able to regain the speakership that would just make the republic like somehow no there's no way they can look

more clowny or unserious at this point so it would be predictable at this point yeah it really feels like one of those things where like wait yeah have you ever known somebody who like they're trying to break up with someone like they break up with them for like a minute and then like it's just like oh they're gonna get back together even though it feels like like they say they break up all the time it's not even fucking real dude yeah just he said they're gonna be the next wedding so let's be honest about our conference is our conference just going to elect somebody to throw them out in another 35 days? That's what he told reporters. So like,

I don't want the job back, but like, come on. Sure. If you get somebody else, isn't the same thing. Right. Just putting it out there.

Um, all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. We'll be back. I'm Jess Casaveto, 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. 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 Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% 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 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. 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 podcast the black effect podcast network is sponsored by diet coke and we're back we're back and um yeah so uh the you, there's a lot of, there's like viral tweets going around that I keep seeing, like people being like, you should reach out to your Jewish friends and like,

let them know that you care about them and that you stand with it as a real, um, and right. I don't know. I guess it's never a bad idea to let somebody know that you're there for them. If they're going through a difficult time, um, absolutely.

The implied, uh, and let them know you stand with israel that is getting lumped in feels disingenuous and fucked up um but yeah like i think we all hope our jewish friends know we stand with them in opposition to anti-semitism and the slaughter of innocent people and hope they would stand with us in opposition to white supremacy and the slaughter of innocent Palestinian people. Like, I think it's a little, it's, I don't know if it's like the same kind of like binary, right?

And just like so many people are experiencing this in, from so many different perspectives, whether you're like come from an oppressed former colonized society, community culture that is looking at it this way from people who have friends or family in Israel who are just absolutely aghast at like how horrific the violence is. I think the thing that's really alarming for me is how much the media airwave battle is being won by Israel and their interests, because I'm seeing so many things that is just casually saying the most dehumanizing language like marco rubio he is not able to differentiate between hamas and palestinian people living in gaza he's like the way that like palestinians are even being all

lumped in this together as a way to be like yeah and like they need to be eradicated and you're like who i'm just saying gaza it's gotta like it that's what's really freaking me out like the momentum at which we're just accepting violence uh around this whole thing and not actually trying to understand like how this can how we can like overcome anything if there's any sort of solution here and just rather than being like yeah so that terrible thing happened so i guess now just have to destroy a city where the median age is like 18 um because like almost children yeah almost half of the people that live there are our children in Gaza. Yeah. I mean, the Israeli defense minister, like saying we are fighting human animals and we act accordingly in a speech where, you know, he's also saying, like, we are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.

Everything will be closed. Like that shit is just like that's like five alarm fire and as that is being said at that time as that press conference was happening that is when like nba teams are coming up like making statements about standing with israel and you know the president of the united states is making statements about standing with israel and yeah it just it feels like i don't know the the same thing is not being said about standing with innocent palestinian people being slaughtered no no and i think that's that's what's a little bit weird is i mean not weird like we were saying before america especially american media because we also have our colonial history uh it's just like a dimension that isn't spoken about like so many things i see like on cnn msnbc are like they're like

horrific violence committed by hamas so now like that rhetorically feels like therefore every person in gaza is fair game to die right and that is where like you're like we're completely losing sight of everything but i i don't i don't know if what i expect because america is you know like again they're steadfast to send whatever is needed there i don't know at what point america gets involved i know you hear like the punditry class talk about like well this is where this is joe biden's moment where he has to project power and he has to project the authority of the united states and i'm like this is such a weird calculus about joe biden's re-election that like it's going to be all this like bluster talk when we're talking about so many innocent people like the the people of israel are bearing the brunt of the foreign policy decisions of their

government and the people of palestine also are caught up in this mix too and then you have people like marco ruby was like there's no off-ramp for this there's no off-ramp for this yeah and that inevitability i think is really disturbing uh and not taking into again like the like how different it is like this like again like the defensemen were saying they have the ability to cut off power and water and food to Gaza. That is asymmetrical. Isn't that a war crime? I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that to innocent people, to non-military. To a civilian population.

Again, the argument will be is that I that i have i've heard people say that like the people in gaza should have known that hamas was going to do this therefore they're complicit and we're it's just like it's wild how even on the other side yeah not a lot 100 yeah and and then but then you now see like more you see increased islamophobia you see increased anti-semitism right and all that rhetoric is just like spiraling in a way that like i'm it's just this just looks like it's it's just going to get worse and worse and worse like for the entire region i think we can all agree to be against the murdering of children and innocent people across the board yeah it doesn't seem like too hard to take um but that i don't know yeah uh but again that's that's why i'm like uh i there's so much like this conflict is so

loaded and there's so much tension around it that like one sentence can be perceived like 800 different ways depending on your worldview and i think that's also a really dangerous thing because it's it's also like it's just creating even increased conflict between i'm even seeing it like in instagram posts between people like that we're not really political um but anyway i'm we're just here watching in awe and then i'm just left here thinking of like even the united states place and all this and yeah i mean it's all fucking it's we're all we're all so connected in this way that's really unavoidable yeah and i like innocent children innocent people have been being killed on the palestinian side for a long time and it was just being ignored so like that's

when when people are like you know call your friends on this side not that side it's like well you know that that doesn't that doesn't really make sense to me and it does see like i can see how like something that seems well-intentioned like that can feel like a fuck you to one side you know the sort of like both sidesing of it too isn't helpful uh but again i think like everyone is trying to point out like that what what is important to them in this instance but we're we're looking at a situation that from the beginning we're just seeing that the violence begets more violence yeah and more destruction and it's poisoning everyone at the end of the day. But this is what happens when people are colonized or occupied.

It will fucking destroy you as a person. Like when the place that you believe you live, the country you believe you have is gone, that does things that most American people don't understand either. things that most american people don't understand either and i think there's also like a very there's a unique american ignorance that i see like applied to all of this too that people just look at it through like the perspective of whatever they know which is really narrow in the context of shit that can happen to you as a human being on planet earth like you know we're we live in a place that fortunately has never had a fucking like ground war air war uh like reach its shores like to the continental mainland so it's like an obscure thing and airstrikes are like yeah i don't know sirens go i don't i see it on tv without understanding like what the horror is of that

um so yeah a lot of people are learning in real time it feels like online which is very very freaky yeah i feel like the united states particularly has the muscles built up for ignoring the consequences of like aerial bombardment like you see a flash of fire and a cloud of dust and that's just a thing that happens on the news in a foreign country like that yeah that's the only context that americans have um and so that's when i think that's why the invasion of Ukraine was like horrifying to a lot of like American people because they suddenly saw themselves in the faces of these like Western European looking people.

Yeah. Oh my God. That's horrifying. Yeah. So yeah. We will see where this come back to white supremacy repeatedly over and over again. Yeah. All right.

Well, those are some of the things that are trending. We are back tomorrow with the whole last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get the vaccine. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye.

Bye. Bye. 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. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history.

People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. 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.