The Daily Zeitgeist - TDZ's "Stories of the Year" Tournament of Champions 2024, Pt. 2

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

In this episode, Jack and Miles are joined by writer JM McNab and super producer Victor Wright to pit the top stories of the year against each other for part 2 of TDZ's inaugural "Stories of the Year" Tournament of Champions"!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions, the podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite hosts, me, Weezy WTF, and me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, we share our personal journeys navigating our 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engage in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that'll resonate with your experiences, Decisions Decisions is going to be your go-to source for the open dialogue about what it truly means

to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections. Tune in and join in the conversation. Listen to Decisions Decisions on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, it's John, also known as Dr. John Paul.

And I'm Jordan, or Joe Ho. And we are the BlackFatFilm Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Woo chat, this year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross, and more.

Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeart Radio app, have a podcast, or whatever you get your podcast, girl. Ooh, I know that's right. Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and mom to two awesome toddlers ages

two and four. And we're excited about our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, which talks about everything from pro hockey to professional women's athletes to raising children and all the messiness in between. So listen to Moms Who Pock on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons?

Hit play on the sex positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals.

You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that

past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello the internet and welcome back to the official 2024 Stories of the year tournament of champions.

It's it's getting very exciting over here. I'll tell you one thing. Heating up, heating up. Things are decidedly heating up. Yeah. My name is Jack O'Brien. That over there is Miles Gray. We are the hosts of the Daily Zeitgeist, and we are thrilled to be joined by. I like that we're talking like we're on a panel at a place.

Hi, so we host the show Daily Zite guys. It's like a comedy news podcast. It's kind of funky. We're thrilled to be joined by one of the producers of the Daily Zite guys. It is super producer Victor Ross. Victor! Hello., it is super producer Victor Roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Okay, and we are thrilled to be joined by a writer on the daily zeitgeist Mr. Our writer our writer. Mm-hmm. He's your Mr. Our writer your writer, mr. J Hello, hey, hold on a second. I'm just getting my Bettson on Polymarket for this.

Okay, okay. They're taking action on here? They're taking action? Yeah, yeah, it's huge. All right, give me one second. I gotta just switch some stuff into Dogecoin real quick. So we, in between episodes, we all compiled our order. So that, if you haven't listened, this is part two,

but episode one, we just kind of went through the stories. Please listen to that part. Solidified around 16. We had 24 stories that were kind of made the final, made the committee, the tournament committee. We eliminated eight of them, kind of. Some of them we just compiled into one big story that are obviously linked for very good reasons,

which we'll talk about. But now we had to seed the stories so that we could do our tournament of champions, tournament of champions, champions is a dough. It's our food. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the name of the dough boys season and tournament.

So that we could seed our tournament of champions. The stories in order are, should we just cut right to that? The first seed to the 16th seed. Okay. Starting at number one. Yeah. We just listed them in order. And then super producer Victor went through

and averaged out the like place that they were ranked. Um, and that's, that's why I smell like sweat and cigarettes right now. I've just been tallying away all morning. One of those see through green visors. And you'd have a garter on your arm too. Yeah. There's two phones to either ear. He's just working the phone. Buy, buy, buy, sell.

All right, so I don't think anyone was surprised by this one. Number one overall seed. So the first four are gonna be number one seeds because it's the 16 entry tournament. But the number one overall seed is Willy Wonka Glasgow. The story with everything, AI slop, scammers, amazing visuals, people who just couldn't look more over it,

including bartenders, the nowhere, all around. It's a story that got the most votes from our listeners. I think we were- Can I say real quick? Yeah. Three out of four of us name that number one. Wow. So it is a strong contender for a strong contender. Yeah.

Put your bets down now. Put your bets down. Yeah. Up next. And this one surprised the hell out of me because I didn't have it this high personally is JD Vance couch fuck. It's a story that really captivated the spirit of a nation. When he was announced as the VP candidate, I think a lot of people smelled blood in the water,

were like, wait a second, that's a bad pick. Up to that point, I think everyone was like, Trump is a juggernaut, he's untouchable. And then he picked JD Vance and everyone was like, oh, man, this guy seems like he fucks couches. And so somebody pretended that was written in hillbilly elegy. And away we went. I don't know. It seemed more fun at the time to me than it does in retrospect. Personally, that's where I'm at with it.

But it seems like I was in the minority here. Who wants to make their case? Oh, for saying it's number two? Yeah, for who you guys had it ranked high. Yeah, I mean, I think I'll, we can articulate those when we actually begin to cross swords with the other stories. But for me personally, I, yeah, I just thought personally, I just thought it just, it can see,

took up so much oxygen. I think that's kind of how I arrived there is that it took over the consciousness. I'll say for me, I had this as at number one, this was my favorite story because it was a nothing story. Sick fuck. I'm told that fucking freak. He's a bad guy He's a really bad guy Victor by the way has like the kindest Energy of he is a wonderful person for listeners who are just meeting their first time This guy picked JD Vance. Well, no, I was

Victor for the first time. This guy picked JD Vans. Well, no, I was like, that's what's so interesting about him being actually a true dirtbag is like he has Alex Schmidt energy, you know, like just kind person. And then, you know, he starts doing shit like this. Oh, I'm just saying. Yeah. He'll surprise you. Let me put it that way. Okay. This guy, Victor. He'll surprise you. Let me put it that way. Okay. Uh, this guy, Victor, he'll surprise you.

Yeah. One of the things that I felt very charming about it is that it had no basis in the truth. And yet a fresh show that's purportedly about the national shared consciousness, national shared unconsciousness. Uh, something came out of the collective consciousness and just was like, yeah, that's a, that's a thing. Now this guy fucks couches. All right. Uh, up next RFK, Heidi bear number three overall. Um, I think we had talked about the whale story seems to be the thing that like

people settled on more than the bear story, but the bear story really has it all. Um, so this is a vote for the truth, I think more than anything bear story, but the bear story really has it all. So this is a vote for the truth, I think more than anything. Number four and then our final one seed, Kendrick Lamar, disassembling Drake's career live in front of all of our eyes. We'll see. We'll see how the next album does. We don't really know. Yeah. Yeah. It was just a bunch of like, it sounds like every one of his albums and it has a bunch

of number ones, just like every Drake album. People are like, oh yeah, that was wild. Yeah, Drake, right. Anyways, up next, we have our two seeds. Kamala Harris, Fashion Week Party, one of my favorites. Just a perfect encapsulation of what went wrong with the campaign. Too late. We all found out that they were incredibly wrong about how to run a campaign a little

too late. Great things like grab them by the dot dot dot claw machine and a Jenga tower about all the rights you are about to lose under fascism. Anyway, a lot of fun. Up next and really like the committee has some explaining to do. This I thought was very clear. I believe this is my number two overall seat. It was definitely a one seat on my list.

The Food and Wine AI article, uh, six point eight weeks, uh, uh, we, we can get into it a little bit more, but it, uh, actually broke the brain of our show. Yeah. It has broken the brain of our show. This one was divisive. I'm sorry I'm cutting in, but I was looking at all of this, but, uh, the two hosts loved this story and the two people behind the scenes dropped this story way, way down. Interesting. It matters to you too.

But, uh, that's how that happened. Yeah. Okay. Fair, fair, fair. Um, all right. And we are, you know, and that's how most people look at things when their rights aren't directly in the crosshairs. That's right. And I'm so glad you said that it seems like a joke to them, but to some of us, this is, this is real life. This is real life. Y'all. Yeah. Yeah. But okay. Okay. Okay. Interesting. Wow. Interesting. And I guess we have to start taking a harder look at whether Victor and JM are using AI

to perform their tasks, Miles. I will say about this, I almost like kind of like it when they're shitty AI articles because it's a reminder of how shitty they are. Right, yeah. Up to the task of actually replicating. Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of this. Yeah, cause that's- Van Vought and this are, it I'm a big fan of this. Yeah.

Van Vought and this are, it brought me a lot of joy, this article. It's not secret. Because I think it was, was it also this year, there was like, was I09 or someone published, it was like Star Wars movies ranked in the order they were released and it was just the Star Wars movies like chronologically.

First episode four. Yeah. Yeah. Or could you imagine first is episode one? Wait, what is truly going in chronology? They're just, I guess. They had an idea at the editorial level and then they're just fed to machine. But this one just got so circular in its logic and just like a fucking ball of spaghetti. You can think about the paragraph that this AI spit out all day. And we will

be reading it later. Up next, Ray Gun from the Olympics, the Olympic break dancer, I feel like everything is there. Ray Gun was just amazing. I don't have much to say about that one. I think that'll probably be bad for Ray Gun's performance. There's not much to say. It's just an incredible. Humiliating, cringy shit for the Olympics. Yeah.

And a front to break dancing. And our final two seed, Mark Robinson, Porn Shop Regular. Yeah. Easier to digest this one since he didn't win his race. Yeah, exactly. Right. The three seeds, RFK, Whalehead, the people's choice for RFK stories, but not actually the best RFK story.

Although there is a detail from this that I do want to cover when we get to it later. RFK brain worm at the next three seed, number 10 overall. Olympic shooters, 11, again, like ray gun, just kind of all vibes, all just like, pure fun. Yeah. Not too much to say, although the fact that he was like aggressively divorced and was like sharing, give me my dog back was, was fun. Uh, and then up next, we have the, uh, combined story, cotton candy burrito, the election, just the election, and then fake Bridgerton,

which was like a Willy Wonka Glasgow, but in Detroit and for Bridgerton and just like slightly diminished. That one's, that one's I think pretty underrated in terms of its ranking because that is like the, no, just this three combo, candy, cotton, bur think, pretty underrated in terms of its ranking. Because that is like the- Fake Bridgerton? Yeah. No, just this three combo, candy, cotton, burrito, election, fake Bridgerton is kind of like an omni crisis happening in real time. Just like we're undergoing as a nation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. And then the four seeds, and we've got some really strong four seeds here, I got to say. We might have some upsets. I mean, when you're at the sweet 16, you got no 16 seeds usually left over. That's certainly true here. I gotta say, I mean, when you're at the sweet 16, you got no 16 seeds usually left over. And that's certainly true here. Private equity shrimp, the story about how the endless shrimp bowl that got published by mainstream media outlets was incorrect. And it was actually just private equity bleeding, red lobster dry. Elmo V Big Bird, a completely made up story that we ended up having a lot of fun with where Elmo and Big Bird were both trending and we decided like,

well, put them against each other and see who would actually kill who Olympic pole Valter who won the gold medal of having a dick as jam put it And tell them I put it like that Jam has it tatted. Yes. I think a wordsmith named Jam McNabb once put it and then finally Pulling up the rear

We got gymnast nerd. Yeah now Pulling up the rear We got gymnast nerd. Yeah now Yeah, on one hand I get why he's in this position on the other hand. He's been Underestimated before kind of by his very nature. He's been when he has glasses. Yes glasses this guy You wouldn't punch a man with glasses All right, so that is the order. We're going to come back. We're going to start playing the games.

You know, the reason wins for the season. The reason for the tournament is we're going to tip off the first game, which is going to be Wonka, Glasgow versus gymnast nerd. And I think some people are going to be a little bit surprised. We actually have no idea how any of these are going to go because we're deciding them live on air. We'll be back to do that in a moment. about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson-Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds

and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hey everyone, it's John, also known as Dr. John Paul. And I'm Jordan, or Joe Ho. And we are the BlackFatFilm Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections

of identity are celebrated. Ooh, chat! This year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross, and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts, girl. Ooh, I know that's right. Hi, I'm that's right.

Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And how would you feel if your doctor advised you to keep your life altering medical procedure a secret from everyone? And what if your past itself was a secret, and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child?

These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our eleventh season of Family Secrets. Some of you have been with us since season one, and others are just tuning in. Whatever the case, and wherever you are, thank you for being part of our Family Secrets family, where every week we explore the secrets that are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we keep from ourselves.

Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone. I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers.

And on our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising children and all the messiness in between. We're also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys and collect valuable advice. Like FIFA World Cup winner, Ashlyn Harris. I wish my village would have prepared me

for how hard motherhood was going to be. And Peloton instructor and Ratchet Mom Club founder, Kirsten Ferguson. And I remember going in there hot mess. So listen to Moms Who Puck, a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Predenti. And I'm Jeme Jackson-Gadsden.

We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, the early career podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. One of the most exciting things about having your first real job is that first real paycheck. You're probably thinking, yay, I can finally buy a new phone.

Mm hmm. But you also have a lot of questions like how should I be investing this money? I mean, how much do I save? And what about my 401k? Well, we're talking with finance expert Vivian Tu, a.k.a. Your Rich BFF, to break it all down. I always get roasted on the Internet when I say this out loud, but I'm like every single year you need to be asking for a raise of somewhere between 10 to 15%. I'm not saying you're going to get 15% every single year, but if you ask for 10 to 15 and

you end up getting eight, that is actually a true raise. Listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. We're back. Back, baby. Roll up the sleeves, everyone. I'm sweating profusely. Yeah. Yeah. So the first chain smoking is six to cigarette in a row.

Yeah. The way in a row. Yeah. The way you get it to dangle on your lip is pretty impressive though. I could never get out of that. He's wearing two visors now. Two visors. Front and back like Sherlock Holmes style.

Do we wanna, is there anything from Wonka, Glasgow that we wanna call out in advance or like call it, that we feel like we didn't cover on the last one. I mean, we got the AI slop of catcating live performances, car-cheat tons, Exarcerde lollipops, a pass a dice of sweet treats. We got, do we get any of the stage direction? Some of the stage direction? Some of the stage direction was pretty wild. It was just more fantastic. I don't know if like the details, I mean,

in retelling the story as it happened, I think that was like the funny part, but I think the power is far beyond just getting into the AI generated script of it, but yeah, they basically suggested, uh, and then he like magically, so he takes a bubble out of his ear and firefly like emerges from like just saying impossible things in the stage direction. Yeah, things that no person without seven million dollars to put towards visual effects could ever achieve. And this kind of budget of like six dollars. Even then, I don't think like the special effects they're imagining are clearly

things they could see happening in a movie. And they're just like so unseasoned at like live events that they're just like. And then like this this cool thing will happen. It's like, no, it won't. Yeah, it, it was like AI was that guy on cocaine who had an idea and everyone's like, yeah, okay. Okay. Okay. And then like, you actually sit down and trying to like, how do we get a bubble to come out of his ear? And then like the lights float. I don't know. But yeah, they're going up against gymnast nerd. I don't want to just say it's that's a rap already, but I think this is, I think this is a rap for gymnast nerd.

I mean do we want to say anything is there anyone who wants to speak on behalf of gymnast nerd? Probably not because you assholes all ranked him fucking last. So gymnast nerd to remind people is the guy who was specifically on the team to do the pommel horse. Yep. Had glasses everyone was like who's this fucking nerd? Get him out of here. What's he doing? For most of the thing, he was just cheering. And then the pommel horse thing came up, took off his glasses. Thank God. And became fucking Superman. Crushed it and like just kind of did his job. I feel my main issue with this one is I feel like it would be if we were like good morning

America, it would be like a top story. And they'd be like, I liked this guy. He gave me a good, you know what I mean? Like, right, right, right. Like this would be the story. Yeah. This would be like a USA today, like story that they would be like, and he's, he's onto the next round.

We really admire and salute him. Yeah. Michael Strahan would have something fun to say about a guy with glasses that he knew. He's like, never underestimate a guy in glasses. I'm Mike. I was gonna say, that's what I like about it is that it is a nothing store. I'm going to, I'm going to defend gymnast nerd. You know, I'm defending the underdogs.

Gymnast nerd is a guy with glasses, so he doesn't belong in sports apparently. So I'm defending him. But it's just nothing. The Glasgow thing, there would always be something to keep our attention. And even like this week, some new shit came out. But the Jim Nisnerd making national headlines. Yeah, the guy was just being a guy. Yeah, right.

Yeah. For just being a guy. I find that quite charming, you know, yeah Yeah, he also in addition to the glasses He also just kind of had the vibe of like a kid everybody went to school with who was always in the cafeteria playing cards You know, yeah that kind of yeah exactly there's something. Yeah endearing about him. I think too Yeah, everything is we barely like we're not even saying this guy's name. We're like, yeah, the glasses nerd guy.

It's actually Kajemiles. He doesn't have a name. Steven Netorosin. Also, weirdly, weirdly in my memory now, his legs don't work just because he does the pommel horse, you know? So for some reason, like- So he walked on his pants? Yeah.

So how I remember him is he's just somebody whose legs don't work and that's why he's an underdog. But now it's just, he has glasses. Yeah. It's just the glass. The glass is just doing a lot of the work. And I think that's why maybe it's. Yeah. I will say the, the difference between these two stories and why I think it's Wonka Glasgow

onto the next round and we can all vote at the same time in a moment. But the reason I think the, the difference between them is gymnast nerd is the story that Americans who watch Good Morning America might believe America deserves like an underdog who like comes through in the clutch. And Wonka Glasgow is the story that America actually deserves. You know, a scammer who believes in AI, gets fooled by AI into doing the dumbest worst shit and then just like still manages to like get famous off of it and then asks everybody to feel sorry for them as they like completely collapse as a human being in front of millions and millions of people.

So I all right. So on the count of three, we're all going to vote by just saying the story that we think needs to move on to the next round. Ready? One, two, three, Glasgow. I'm just joking. All right. Great.

Scott. The Scots are going to fuck you all up for keep saying Glasgow. Glasgow. What is Glasgow? It's Glasgow. Glasgow. Glasgow. Glasgow. They're going to get to. But I'm trying to be OK. I'm trying to be good with them. All right. Up next, we have Mark Robinson. Porn norm is what I like to think of it as,

because he was like the norm from Cheers at this weird windowless porn store where grown men came to converse, share pizzas, jack off in rooms next to each other. They said there's a loneliness epidemic. So in some ways, this was like an endearing thing. The one endearing thing about that we learned about Mark Robinson Yeah, he came armed with pizzas and I think that is that's the true mark of someone who wants to curry favor from others Is you always bring pizza? Was that a Psyop against Mark Curry? hanging in the mark of

Curry Crazy shit here. I'm doing some old-school like you're doing crazy shit here. I'm just doing some old school, like sixth grade vocab lesson shit. Yeah. Just curry favor right now. OK, Victor has a question on this one. I have a clarification question. Does the Mark Robinson porn, does that story also include him saying

that he's a black Nazi? Yeah, I'd say. Because a lot of things were, I think, again it's the, it is the Mark Robinson of it all because it was just like, it was this, everything just came out one after the other as if his comments out loud were not enough. It's like, well, do you know what the stuff at the porn shop? Oh, you hear about his browser history. Right.

So I think that's in there. When I was ranking it, I was just thinking of it as an isolated story about some people who just liked porn and were looking for a community personally. That's what I was thinking. I guess this kind of speaks to the, when we get to the couch one, but I love, this is a story that captured the country's attention, the world's attention. And most of it from like a dude that wanted his 25 bucks back. Right. And to promote his band on Spotify.

Because he got yeah, he like was still owed some money from some like bootleg porn tapes. I don't know, there is something like money. Yeah, I do love when like it's just some rando who has a story and it just blows up and becomes this huge thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he was explicitly like, I'm just annoyed at him for, because he like took some porn

tapes of mine, I feel like. Yeah. And yeah. Again, he said, he said, he clarified this isn't to affect the outcome of his campaign. Just want to promote the band. Hell yeah. Of the other Mark Robinson scandals, the other one that I found entertaining was that they ordered a, uh, badge winning amount of Girl Scout cookies and then refused to pay the Girl Scouts.

He and his wife, which the American way. Yeah. The American way. All right. Anything else on the porn, Mark Robinson, porn norm before we get to RFK Jr. Whalehead? No. All right, let's go Whalehead. So one of the details that I just wanted to highlight from this one,

I'm just going to read the quote because this was a story that people knew about RFK for the past decade. It was out there. They just re-highlighted it because his daughter was allegedly fucking Ben Affleck after Ben Affleck broke up with J.Lo. People were like, oh, let me find out more about his daughter or just like trying to Google more information about RFK junior daughter, fucking Ben Affleck. And happened upon this quote, quote said he ran down to the beach with a chainsaw, which that's the detail. That's it.

Yeah. It's a, but running with a chainsaw is, is leather. The only time I've ever heard of anyone running with the chainsaw is leather face It's just so crazed ran down the beach with a chainsaw Cut off the whale's head and then bungee corded it to the roof of the family minivan for the five hour haul back to Mount Kisco, New York every time we accelerated on the highway hall back to Mount Kisco in New York. Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car and it was the rankest thing on the planet. We all had plastic bags over our heads with the mouth holes cut

out. These are like Tom Waits lyrics. And people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us. Shout out to the drivers of New York who see people with bags on their heads and mouth holes cut out. And instead of being fucking terrified as like whale juice and brains are like sloshing into their windows,

instead of being terrified, they're like, hey, fuck you, buddy. It's just a fuck you. Yeah, it's just a fuck you. Hey, go fuck yourself. Fuck this car. Look at this fre, fuck you, buddy. It's just a fuck. Yeah, just a fuck this car. Look at this freaky fucking car, bro. Hey, fuck you. Fuck you.

I just, yeah, at that point, the idea of running down, just hurriedly down the beach with a chainsaw, like, A chainsaw over your head. It's like idling like, get the fuck out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way. Trying to get, like, it's a fucking Black Friday door buster deal. Yeah, I got to be the first one that saw the fucking head off. Yeah. Why does he have it? He's going for like a afternoon trip to the beach with his daughter or whatever. And he has a chainsaw. Like why?

What did that know there were like? So he has feel that was another interesting thing was like it like word reached him that a whale had washed ashore and he had been Hoping for this eventuality that a whale will rush ashore Exactly so that he could run down and chainsaw its fucking head off. Yeah. Yeah That was just the detail I wanted to highlight about the whale head now I'm just picturing him dancing and like the sunset, like leather face, just like twirling around.

Yeah, exactly. Like that's yeah. I don't think there's an image that is more. I don't know that I like. I feel like some painter should paint both an image of him running with chainsaw up to beached whale. And then also family mini van bags overhead whale juice sloshing in. I don't even what were the plastic bags doing over their heads?

Why? I can't. I would, you know, mouth holes cut out. What? Yeah, I think it feels like, I'm just trying to think of the artists that would really do that justice. Like you need like one of the Dutch masters to do it, or is it like a kind of like, what's the guy who did Nighthawks,

Edward Hooper or Edward Hopper? Yeah. Just that version of the van with the head on it. Just very slice of life. Rockwell, Norman Rockwell. That's like the classic. Yeah, I mean that's like the jokey version for sure. I feel like it needs a little more drama, you know?

But anyway, this is all art is subjective. I need some time to think about this. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back with our vote. This one, this is gonna be a nail biter. We'll be right back. A whale biter. ["Sexy Girl"] We'll be right back. A whale biter. and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds

and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hey, everyone, it's John, also known as Dr. John Paul. And I'm Jordan or Joe Ho. And we are the Black Fat Film Podcast. Hey everyone, it's John also known as Dr. John Paul. And I'm Jordan or Joe Ho.

And we are the Black Fat Film Podcast. A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Ooh, chat. This year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angelica Ross and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Film podcast on the iHeartRadio app. Have a podcast or whatever you get your podcast girl. Oh, I know that's right. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even

say hello? And how would you feel if your doctor advised you to keep your life-altering medical procedure a secret from everyone? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our eleventh season of Family Secrets.

Some of you have been with us since season one, and others are just tuning in. Whatever the case, and wherever you are, thank you for being part of our Family Secrets family, where every week we explore the secrets that are kept from us, the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we keep from ourselves. Listen to Season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone. I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York.

And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers. And on our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, we're opening up about the chaos of our daily lives between the juggle of being athletes, raising children and all the messiness in between. We're also turning to fellow athletes and beyond to learn about their parenthood journeys and collect valuable advice, like FIFA World Cup winner Ashlyn Harris. I wish my village would have prepared me for how hard motherhood was going to be. And Peloton instructor and Ratchet Mom Club founder, Kirsten Ferguson. And I remember going in there hot mess.

So listen to Moms Who Puck, a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Prentiti. And I'm Jeme Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, the early career podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. One of the most exciting things about having

your first real job is that first real paycheck. You're probably thinking, yay, I can finally buy a new phone. Mm-hmm. But you also have a lot of questions, like, how should I be investing this money? I mean, how much do I save? And what about my 401k? Well, we're talking with finance expert Vivian Tew,

AKA Your Rich BFF, to break it all down. I always get roasted on the internet when I say this out loud, but I'm like, every single year you need to be asking for a raise of somewhere between 10% to 15%. I'm not saying you're going to get 15% every single year, but if you ask for 10% to 15%, and you end up getting 8%, that is actually a true raise.

Listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. I don't know how about, I think this might be a three-parter guys. Because I have to, I literally have to go in 15 minutes. I gotta go. I gotta go, man. I gotta play some bets really quick

while the results are now. All right, let's make a decision here. Mark Robinson porn versus RFK whale head. All right, you wanna count us off? One, two, three. Whale head. Robinson porn. Oh. Oh. We're split. We're split.

And now we have to fight. All right, Bay. Bay. Bay. Producer Bay, come in with the tie breaker. Come in the chat and give us the... Bay has gone. Mark Robinson, are you in that set? Okay, there it is. Mark Robinson, you're on to the elite eight round of stories.

Okay. All right. Damn. Damn. That's early L for RFK. Where'd you find those? Damn, son, where'd you find those? All right, big L for RFK.

And is this going to be like an election where you see an early result and you kind of know how the rest of the night is gonna go for that person? Will it be a blue mirage? Yeah, I will say, I just picked one at random because I hadn't made up my mind yet. So that's why I voted Mark Robinson on that one. That's why I wrote in Fife dog. He's got something to say. All right. Up next, we have RFK Jr.

He's got many lives. And this is And this is what I'm talking about though. Did the loss of RFK Jr. Whalehead portend something bad for RFK for the rest of the tournament? We got RFK finding a dead bear on the side of the road, putting it in a car, driving into town because he had to have a meeting at Peter Lugar's dinner runs along. Everybody gets drunk, except him. He's sober and realizes he has to fly out and still has dead bear in his car.

He had planned to like strip it for meat and put it as a meat locker. The drunk people he's with, and he hatched a plan to. The drunk people he's with and he hatch a plan to construct a political cartoon about bike safety. Yeah. In Central Park because he also had a bike in his car because his car is like a clown car, like a erstwhile clown car that just like,

no shortage of space in this motherfucker. So he puts the bear in Central Park, puts the bicycle on top of it, manages to resist the urge to put a funny hat on the bear somehow. And it becomes this is like the early 2010s late aughts. I forget when when this is but it was years ago. It's like a long-term mystery media mystery One weird detail is that his niece the only weird detail Yeah, what weird detail and this is where it gets weird guys his niece

Writes the story in the New York Times about it. Yeah. The account that is like, this is a weird mystery moving along, nothing to see here. Jack Schlossberg's sister is writing for the New York Times at the time. Tatiana, yeah. Tatiana Schlossberg. Weird. As my friend John at the time said, he thinks the Kennedys might have found themselves in

the midst of a conspiracy for the first time in their long family history. And then, okay. And then talking to Roseanne, is that right? That's where it came. Yeah. When we heard him admitting it to Roseanne and then that became a meme where everyone started using that like shot of him in her kitchen to be like Rfk is going to admit to some horrible crime. Yeah. Yeah

So it turns out it wasn't the incredible Interviewing skills of roseanne that uh Brought the story out. It was the new yorker was about to drop an investigative report. was like, I think it was RFK who put that dead bear in central park. Anyways, uh, wild story. Wild. Yeah. For me, the whale head is more, was, was the, I had more of a personal

connection than the bear. Yeah. I do know that between the two, but again, this isn't my time for, you know, sour grapes, but I will vote against this and I'm just saying that I don't care who it is because the whale head spoke to me. All right. Uh, you can't say same same. You just went on the comments.

It's the same same. You killed the weather balloon just to see. Yeah, just saying. We'll put it on my back here. We'll get the move. I will say the bear thing has just got so many good details in it, like the part where he's like, he blames his drunk friends for doing the,

but he's also like, I wasn't drinking, of course. Like, oh yeah, of course, he didn't impair the laser sharp faculties that led you down this path of decisions where you're planting a dead bear in Central Park. Like, so he blames the drunk friends says that he's completely sober. And also like even just like he has a dead bear in his car. He's going to the airport that day. Like what, what are you thinking? Like there's just like,

there's 11 baffling things that happen before you get to 23 other baffling. Like, I don't know. It's just, it's like a Russian doll of just madness, the story. I guess it just strikes me as just like a white guy from a dynastic, powerful, influential family where like they don't have anything critical thinking.

Yeah, but like that's what have anything critical thinking. Yeah. Of course, like what is so fun to do. Put a dead bear on the road. Put it in my car. There's hiding a park. It gives us such a unique insight into that thinking. I feel like. I get that.

Yeah. That's kind of what I. I just like the entitlement of sawing a whale head off for yourself too. Just look, it's all different flavors of the same thing, but okay. So sprinting down the beach with a chance. I'll raise over your head. Uh, and whale juice. Yeah. And then, yeah. Uh, and then going up against Elmo verse big bird, uh,

big bird has a long, detailed social media campaign about somebody shrunk Big Bird, Big Bird, can you find Big Bird, Big Bird's like at all these places, but look, he's not big anymore. It was supposed to raise awareness for mental health, we think. And then Elmo comes through and straight up cocks Big Bird by being like, Elmo feels weird sometimes. everyone's like fuck you Elmo And get all the attention Nobody even realizes big bird is doing this thing and that of course leads us to have a long conversation about who would win in a fight

Elmo or big bird when we still aren't decided. I'm go back and forth. I go back and forth. I just think because Elmo is technically a monster that there are gears within Elmo that we have not seen that the public has not been exposed to. And I think that's what is that's the mysterious thing for me. I can see Elmo snapping and just going nuts all over. Like you'd be like a rabbit in Monty Python's like the Holy Grail. Right. Like we're just like, yo, what the fuck? Yeah. Rip that fucking bird's throat out.

I feel like Elmo snapping and going off would be like being attacked by, you know, like a teddy bear. Like you just fucking boot that thing. Like, do you OK? Oh, you think you. Oh, you just make sense of the density. Like you're like, well, yeah, yeah. Like wait, you're like, I could fucking kick that big bird. Looks like it goes to 50, you know, like Big Bird and all the birds

walking in the ring at 350. Yeah, yeah. Big Bird is Shack. And also like like birds that are built like Big Bird, like are like the cassowary, like a bird that is designed to just open up your guts just real quick. But I'm looking at those feet. Yeah. I mean, bro, maybe retracted. I don't know. Maybe the closet retracted. Okay. I just think there's an unknown quality about a monster. Yeah. I don't know. Have you seen Monsters Inc. Miles? No, no. Is that the documentary? That's the Pixar movie where starring a monster that is like two feet tall, just a big eyeball with feet.

And again, you could kick it like you could play a game of kickball with Mike, the character, I think, voiced by Billy Crystal. Yeah, I just you're giving a lot of weight to the word monster. But you're saying that Elmo is rooted in the world of Monsters, Inc. That he is that kind of monster. I'm just saying you are taking the word monster and running with it.

I'm from a Japanese background, so a monster is fucking scary as fuck. Okay. Yeah, but there are other Sesame Street monsters that are too Yes, and just living garbage cans. Yeah Garbage can't five miles Yeah, oh hell no. Hell no. Hell no some kind of monster by Metallica was written about Elmo. I'm pretty sure yeah I've also seen Big Bird work out and he's like slow and weak

So I've you seen Big Bird work out cuz he has like there was like a running thing and he has like yeah There's only fans. There's a channel Victor was in that porn shop with Mark Robinson They don't talk about it He has some weird... The videos he was watching include Big Bird working out. They're like, hey, I don't remember that title being in the shop. Nah, it's on my brow from home. I like how we're just completely going right back into the Elmo vs Big Bird debate.

Again, that's why it's a powerful story, but now the time comes to decide between RFK Heidi bear and Elmo V big bird. Yeah. All right On the count of three, let's do it one two three RFK Heidi bird movers big bird Elmo V big bird RFK I said our okay Heidi bird, but I meant to say RFK Heidi Bear. You're RFK. What did you say, Jam? I said RFK. Oh, another push. This is down the middle. Producer Bay.

Oh, I think we know what Bay's going to. So we're going to the scorecards again. Going to the tape. What are we saying here, Bay? Are we between RFK Heidi Bear and Elmo versus Big Bird? Should we let Brian the editor weigh in on this one Brian to sure Brian Yeah, Brian. Oh Shit Brian the editor also Brian you get this one tip the scale up to you get to break the tie here Elmovers big beard big beard big bird

We can get this game over with the better because I can't you guys are fucking around it's Hey and let's go Come on. All right, keep this had RFK scavenged Elmo's corpse, you know Why don't we just combine them in RFK left the almost body in Central Park? RFK left the almost body in Central Park? Yeah, I Could see like you're really thinking about finding big birds carcass like Yeah Seeing a dead big bird with a bike on it a way better. Should we get through the this side of the bracket? Let's do it. This is a good teacher conference to Mr. O'Brien.

Why are you late? This is a very important. First of all, Elmo versus Big Bird, who you fucking got? And I don't want to hear this monster shit. All right. Up next, we have the story that broke Miles's brain, broke all our brains. 6.8 week, Miles, I think we just need to read the paragraph. Oh my God. That shit had Miles like the lady in Total Recall. Like, just pulling his whole head off.

6.8 weeks. 6.8 weeks. It made no fucking, here we go. The pre-seasonal launch of the milk chocolate pumpkin pie M&M's is a strategic move that taps into Mars market research. The research indicates that Gen Z and millennials plan to celebrate Halloween by dressing up and planning for the holiday about six point eight weeks beforehand. Well six point eight weeks from Memorial Day is the Fourth of July!

So you still have plenty of time to latch onto a pop culture trend and turn it into a creative costume. What? What are you talking about? What are you fucking talking about? Shut up! 6.8 weeks isn't even, there's not the distance between the two of us. Okay, okay, my house, okay, my house. It doesn't even, sorry, sorry, yeah, my face is about to turn into a...

Latch onto a pop culture trend and turn it into a creative costume, what does that even mean? What does that even mean? I don't know. 8 week. Exactly. The research indicate the Gen Z millennials plan to celebrate a holiday, but everything,

I don't know. All right. So that is hell. And this is going against Olympic shooters. That is like what, I don't know, the just a brain malfunctioning in this specific way that our country has.

I mean, this is our future. Yeah. Taking facts from AI, I mean, facts in scare quotes quotes and presenting them as real and uh, just hoping no one notices Yeah, yeah So that's a heavyweight and that's going up against the olympic shooters the man from turkey and then i've been the south korean shooters That was this one was that was a very vibey one. though, Jack, you like the details about the guy's divorce. Going through a divorce.

Going through a lot. He was talking about, like the first thing we got of him was like, oh, it's so weird. This guy's just going out there. Like everybody else had like all this equipment, you know, weird like black disc over like one of their eyes and like, you know, uh, thing, steadying their arm and all sorts of equipment. To pay child support. I guess. Yeah. Yeah. And like, yeah, I, all this shit that I've like never seen before. I'm like, yeah, but okay. That I, that makes sense to me that like, you know,

the shooting game has advanced since I last saw it. And then he just went out there and straight up looked like a person holding a handgun. Didn't close one of his eyes, just had both of his eyes there, which I think is cheating. I think it's cheating. Yeah. Both of his eyes. No, he has depth perception. That's just doubling his vision. And in my memory, he had a hoodie on. I don't think that's right. No, no, no. He has like a polo on. He did have his hand in his pocket like a casual polo.

Yeah. Yeah. Jam is from Canada. So any time that there is a thing that could be tied back to Alanis Morris, it's going to happen. Yes, sir. I legally have to put in 20 percent Canadian. Yes. I got given a peace sign. The iconic Alanis. All right.

Yeah. And then I don't know why we're calling Olympic shooters. It's Olympic shooter. Anyways. And then he was talking about how people were like, this guy's clearly an assassin. And then he talked about how he got into this when he was going through a difficult divorce and wanted his dog back from his ex wife. Like, so basically making himself the real world.

John Wick. It was like if John Wick was a sitcom, that's right. I got to go to my day job as an Olympian. Yeah. All right. Again, this one might come down to the one we want to deserve versus the one that we actually deserve. That's kind of how I feel, but maybe I want to be aspirational in this one. Should we go in three? Yep. Anyone have anything else to add? No, for me, it's open. Speak now or forever.

Hold your peace until the next round when we'll be talking about one of these stories again. What kind of peace you hold them in? Yeah, exactly. It's a little air gun. The competition level, they're really fucked up. Like, I feel like the Olympic shooter would be better if the event itself wasn't just like person holding a thing. You can't even tell when they pull the trigger and then a dot appears on One of the screens is like on the half of the screen. Give me a blammer human targets, you know

Yeah, yeah, that's that's 2028 when it comes to the talent All right, I will say but with both of these though I feel like there are also other possibly better examples of sort of the core theme. There's other Olympic subjects, there's other AI slop competitors. So I don't know. This one hit the brain the hardest though. I think that's just the difference there.

We never said these were good. We never said we're good at our jobs. Yeah Yeah, all right good at we're good at getting caught up on the minutia of Elmo vs Big Bird, but here we go on the count of three You will then proclaim the winner between AI six point eight weeks in the Olympic shooter one two three AI Six point eight weeks shooter. All right, I think we have a quorum AI shooter 3 AI 6.6 point wicks shooter. All right. I think we have a quorum. I Shooter

All right, well there it is we got the first round of the first half of the bracket done We are going to be back for a part three of this definitely this point At point. And possibly four. Possibly four. How long is that? Possibly fouring at this rate, yeah. Yeah, this has been a lot of fun. Thank you guys all for doing it. And we'll be back with the exciting continuation, possibly conclusion of what the top stories are,

the top story is of the year 2024 on the daily zeitgeist so more to come we'll probably do all these in a row right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah cuz you just disjointed this one just like come the third one comes out before the first one yeah the next one's gonna come out over spring break I think yeah exactly now we'll put these all up in a row. So tune in tomorrow or whenever the next workday is, and we will see you then. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Welcome to Decisions Decisions, the podcast where boundaries are pushed and conversations get candid. Join your favorite hosts, me, Weezy WTF and me, Mandy B. As we dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often taboo topics surrounding dating, sex and love. That's right. Every Monday and Wednesday, we both invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms with With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, we share our personal journeys navigating our 30s,

tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engage in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that'll resonate with your experiences, Decisions Decisions is gonna be your go-to source for the open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world.

Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections. Tune in and join in the conversation. Listen to Decisions Decisions on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, it's John, also known as Dr. John Paul. And I'm Jordan, or Joe Ho. And we are the Black Fat Film Podcast.

A podcast where all the intersections of identity are celebrated. Oh, chat, this year we have had some of our favorite people on including Kid Fury, T.S. Madison, Amber Ruffin from the Amber and Lacey Show, Angela Carrasco and more. Make sure you listen to the Black Fat Fam podcast on the iHeart Radio app,

have a podcast or whatever you get your podcast girl. Ooh, I know that's right. Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlers ages two and four. And we're excited about our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, which talks about everything from

pro hockey to professional women's athletes, to raising children, and all the messiness in between. So listen to Moms Who Pock on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex positive and deeply entertaining podcast,

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions,

sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child?

These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.