The Daily Zeitgeist - Top Stories of 2025, Pt. 1

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

In this special holiday episode, Jack and Miles are joined by Bryan, The Editor to discuss the top 15 stories of 2025!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast, Guaranteed Human. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman's Cut Bourbon.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit

Gentleman'scuturban.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of Footloose? I'm comedian Rory Scoville,

and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause? Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry's killed, Gabe must untangle the dangerous past,

one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you.

This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law, until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face. to the day that you die. I got you, I got you, I got you. Listen to the girlfriends, untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hello, the Internet, and welcome to this special holiday year-end episode of Dirtyaily Zeitgeist. Yeah! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. It's a production of I Heart Radio's podcast We take that

Dibb and Merry Share Consciousness And for the holidays We like to take a deep dive Into Some year-end shit You know Take a deep dive Into a look back

Into the year that was I'm joined as always By my co-host Mr. Miles Gray Yes Here I am Probably luxuriating in a bathrobe As you listen to this

I'm most likely luxuriating in a bathrobe. He's just airing out a sniffter of brandy. I've taken so long trying to replace a bathrobe that I had pre-fire. And it's very, it's a delicate decision. Because I, the bathrobe I like, I'm trying to, I'm trying not to be the same person, but the same person. And it's very hard. Makes some changes.

Yeah. Miles. Mm-hmm. We're thrilled, fortunate to be joined. as always, but this time he's going to be popping off on the mic a little bit. Yes.

Not just in the in the chat. It's Brian the editor. I'm normally luxuriating in a robe. You are. This is actually today. People don't know how fucking comfortable Brian is. I'm the most comfortable motherfucker motherfucker

on earth. She's always smoking in a robe. That's what's happening. That's what I'm looking at. While we're recording, just so you guys know, I'm looking at Brian smoking or vaping while wearing a robe at his desk. In locations unknown. Are you wearing jeans, Brian?

No, no, sweats. Oh, good. Thank God. Thank God. No, jeans are violence. That's a law on this show. Leg jail. Leg jail.

Yep. Leg jail. That's what I call it. It's fucking leg jail. I hated jeans so much when I was like seven years old. I was like, how do I itch my ass? They're so stiff. Dude, I barely wear jeans.

I only have like two or three pairs of jeans now. I got rid of her jeans. Yeah. All right. So last year we did a year-end tournament where we went through pitted our 16 favorite stories against one another. And this year we're doing something a little bit different. We've invented a new format that is called the countdown. Yeah.

The list. And yeah, it becomes less redundant at certain points. yeah yeah we noticed last year we were like the first episode was super fun because we were just like blasting through all the stories in the second episode we're like all right so we said everything about those first stories so anyways we're gonna go through our 15 favorite stories of the year across three episodes that we can remember so that we can remember we're probably fucking this up in somewhere or another but we're also leaving room by doing one honorable Menchie at the top of each episode

a story that didn't quite make the list but that made a mark on us, on our hearts. So guys, should we get right into it? Yeah. So for our Honorable Menchie, before we get through, before we get into stories number 15 through 11 of the year,

I wanted to bring us all back to April 2025 when we were all in growth in what some Speculated might be the challenger of our time. Not hopefully. Oh, okay. But, you know, Katie Perry, Gail King, other people went to space together.

I think the other people were like famous. Isha Bo, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Wynn and film producer Carrie Ann Flynn, baby. Miles was pulling all of those off the dome. wasn't uh wasn't bezos's girlfriend on there too yes yes and of course lauren sancho yeah that's a name also we have to brian as as angelinos we have to give it up to lauren sancho who is all we know her from fox 11 news way that yeah yeah yeah we got some interesting insight did they get married this year was that one of the story i remember they went to venice and like they're going to buy out a city they're going to be so fucking mad at us

yeah jeff when i talked to jeff over this holiday and he's like my wedding didn't even make the top 15 he's going to be pissed we had to honor his fiance and Gail King and Katie Perry for going to space

the first all female flight crew in more than six decades to head into space this felt like the imagine video of 2025 the way it was handled was this also like an era where people wish they didn't even live

on this earth for his reasons and they're like fucking like I mean we're already insulated by our wealth but also fuck y'all bye it just felt like such a weird different like again so in the same way that the imagine video was just might have made sense like five years before even like one year before when it came out everyone was like fuck you yeah yeah this was like yeah I could see this like in the 90s everybody being like celebrities in space why I never um and this time I feel like everyone was just like Like, man.

The two reactions were, man, fuck them. And then also the other reaction was, uh, no, they didn't. I don't believe they went. It's the whole, it's the whole thing of it that people were calling them astronauts and diminishing the profession of astronauts. It wasn't just that celebrities went to space, which has been happening for years. Like they kept calling them astronauts and it was. He's, yeah, it was like it was like a big step forward for womankind. As if Richard Branson did this 20 years ago.

Right. You're just riding. This is like being like, I'm a pilot because I'm in the backseat of 747. But you know what? This Bezos got his little spaceship company add up. And at the same time, Katie Perry's like stock fucking crashed harder than the capsule coming back to Earth. Yeah, but she caught Justin Trudeau's attention.

Yeah, she did. So you know what? Maybe all as well that ends up. I just want to read this quick quote from her. I think actually I'm really excited about the engineering of it all. I'm excited to learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing. I was winding down from a rehearsal the other day and I was listening to Cosmos by Carl Sagan and reading a book on string theory. And yeah, I was like going to bed.

That was definitely like helping. I was like Pythagoras, Pythagoras. I think she said Pythagoras Pythagoras. and then snoring sounds. But then, but you know, I've always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars. I feel like we are all,

and this is, I like this quote, I like this quote because it's how she, she implies that she's making this next part up. I feel like we are all made of stardust and we all come from the stars. It's like, oh damn, you feel like that? You just came up with that?

And it'll be exciting to see them twinkle from that site, and also have such an appreciation for Mother Earth when we see it that way. If I may quote, if I make quote the famous, yeah, I'll quote the famous astronomer Moby and saying we are all made of stars. I feel like we are all made of stars. Gail King noted that Perry didn't sing firework or roar because this is great. I feel like Gail King is working in satire here. Of course. Because she didn't want to make the moment about herself.

Uh-huh. Yep. No, but she still did sing. She's saying, what a wonderful world for her literally captive audience as they returned to Earth. And then she kissed the ground. It's like somebody performing on a subway in front of you. You just, yeah. All right. So that's our honorable Menchi. Now we're into the real shit, the stuff that made our list. Everybody's competing. Get on the TDZ top 15 stories of the year. we're given our 15th spot to our obsession with spooky dolls this year. We had a real spooky doll-a-sense with both the last Annabelle movie coming out. Annabelle, the doll going on a rampage and killing people. And then, of course, the Labuboos, the Labubo dolls. Yep. We covered back in July that the Labuboos were,

being accused of having satanic ties. Yeah, I mean, they're ugly is sin. I told you the first thing I ever heard about Lububu's was a kid at my 7-year-old school brought a Labou and my 7-year-old was like, Dad, the thing turned its head and looked at me like this. I was like that, I mean, okay. What do you say to that?

You know, what am I supposed to say to my kid when he started saying just straight up bullshit. Straight up bullshit. That's what I said. Bullshit. Bullshit. Yeah,

you didn't even do this sneeze. You scream bullshit. Then sneeze that bullshit. It's tough because he's like got a real creative spirit. And so sometimes I just want him to like kind of live in his fanciful little world. But other times I'm like I don't want him to go too far off in that direction. I was saying bullshit too. So what am I saying?

Yeah, let him cook. Let them cook. But yeah, La Boo Boo thing, I mean, it was not only just like, it scratched the itch of like the satanic panic kind of thing and the Annabelle stuff, but also became like the Stanley Cup of the Stanley Cup of the Stanley Cup. Or yeah, just like the new fad consumer item. I liked J.M.'s, our writer J.M. McNabbs. description of them that they look like if Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things are,

got drunk and tried to draw Wilm Defoe. I feel like that's as as good a description. It is that those teeth and eyes, I think, are very Defoe-like somehow, uh, Shane. They were like the must have thing, like Rihanna

was rocking them share. Lisa was Oh yeah, so many like soccer players in Europe, like we're bringing them in on their like duffel bags and shit. What, I don't know, man. I'm, this is where I know I'm too old and just, like, out of the loop on shit. Yeah. A giant Lubu showed up to protest ice. So we know they're on the right side of history.

They're in the mix. Yeah. And then there was the little food craze. Right. Yeah. Well, it's also funny that because this shit has already moved on. Remember, like, by the, by like, fucking October, this shit fell off really hard. And then Sony's like,

We're making a movie, and you're like, uh, no. And then Carmen Laurent came on and she put us on to like the new shit, which is skull panda or whatever the fuck. That's right. So the fuck is skull. Skull panda is a spooky. As I described, the eyes can move independently so you can make that joint look like Kerry Russell a mission impossible three. Make it look like the crazy gremlin. Yeah, exactly.

But yeah, so there was a controversy with it wasn't like explicitly. like buy a demon was the like that wasn't the sales pitch for Lubu but that was I immediately was like we love haunted dolls we've covered like our obsession with haunted dolls before that there's like you know a surprisingly

healthy cottage industry of haunted dolls being sold on eBay at all times and I feel like this is just the sort of capitalization of that market but there

there was a literal exorcists who warned parents not to buy the toys if they're Christians. If you're not, you're fucked anyways. Yeah, yeah, don't do that. Don't do that. But yeah, they made, they sold billions this year.

Good for them. Good for the dolls. And as the, as Lububu's were peaking, I feel like we weren't the only ones noticing a similarity between or like a connection between our obsession with haunted dolls and the Laboo craze. Because

the owner of Annabelle was taking that shit on tour around America and there were rumors that went around that she went missing and possibly burned down a mansion

those turned out to be false however so like all of that's happening there's like this Laboooo craze there's the Annabelle's on the loose nobody knows where Annabelle is shit and people are like

everybody knows and then the paranormal investigator who was touring with the doll died on the tour and that was not Neda. Yeah. Straight up passed

from this mortal coil. This makes the countdown because it feels like a fitting end to the Annabelle thing where like you wanted to be able to say it killed somebody. Yeah. And then it finally did

and it was a person who was being reckless with the haunted doll. So it feels like a tidy end to that. I guess who, do we know who has custody of Annabelle now? Miles.

Annabelle, nobody knows. where Annabelle is right now. Do we know the circumstances of this this death? He suffered from, he had a history of cardiac issues. Spooky.

So they were like, yeah, yeah. So it's entirely possible that Annabelle frightened this person to death. Yeah, it's They're like, it was a history of cardiac issues and then don't mention that there was a knife in his heart when they found him. There's a lot, it's

everyone was like a lot of the skeptics. or people just don't give a shit about this story. Like I was reading, like, comments around posts about it. And people were like, there wasn't even the fucking room when the guy fucking died. Right. Fine. But you know what? We want to believe that it was a haunting so severe that his heart stopped due to preexisting conditions.

I feel like the bad vibes can be so overpowering that, like, they don't, the Annabelle doesn't need to necessarily be in the room. Yeah. I'm so aggressively anti-ghosts. You know, like, I fucking don't. I think it's dumb. I like, I like the idea that it could be real, but I think also because it freaks me out, I'm aggressively like, man, man, but also at the same time, like, bro, don't leave me in a

fucking room with this shit. I don't, I don't need any of that nonsense. I'm, I'm anti, I'm anti- freaky doll. Yeah. Because I'm scared. As well, you should be. I feel like, I feel like there are the two genres of stories that we'll be hitting on this list. Some are like, oh, yeah, that happened this year.

That's crazy. Like these, like, our Honorable Menchi in this one. Yeah. Which I feel like the Annabelle Labibou sweeping America feels like it could have been any of the years. Yeah. But again, I think for how significant it was, even for how many of our guests who came on talking about like Labuboos and stuff, I'm like, no, it's, it's a thing that happened. And that episode, Brian made us delete where we had a Labubu on the episode. We were just like we don't

I thought it was pretty cool Yeah I thought it was pretty cool El Bube had a lot of interesting takes You could tell it was Miles Making the mouth move though No it fucking wasn't It was a haunted Labubu I bought on eBay I saw the little string miles

All right we're gonna take a little break And we're gonna come back And we're gonna get to Story number 14 of the year 2025 Fuck it man We might even get to story number 13 In this next part, we're crazy like that. We'll be right back.

I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman'scuturban.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older.

Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman'scuturban.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this? How is that not a story we all know?

What's this? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From Smartless Media, Campside Media, and Big Money Players comes Crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean, investigative journalists And me, Roy Scoville, comedian

As we celebrate the amazing creativity Of the world's dumbest criminals We'll look into some of the silliest ways Folks have broken the laws Honestly, it feels more like A high-level prank than a crime Who catfishes a city? And meets some memorable anti-heroes

There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys Clap if you think, she's a witch And it freaks you out He has X-ray vision, And how could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow me. He can see right through me. Listen to Crimless on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us. Two brothers, one devout household, two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years, total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed. He stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang and nobody was going to tell him what to do. You're going to push that line for the calls.

Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry is murdered, Game is forced to confront the past he tried to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming. My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like my mom started screaming my dad's name and I just heard one gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family, and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said, through your two times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of?

This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I'm Nikki Richardson, and this is The Girlfriends, Untouchable. Detective Roger Golubski spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence.

This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Galoopsky, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And we're back. We're back.

And ice. Story number 14. I think another thing they might notice is there was so much fucked up shit going on this year too. We tried to just kind of condense shit in a way that. The 15 most important stories. This will be the top stories that we enjoyed talking about and covering. I mean. And also.

And also just shit that was conced. But yeah, the ice raids, I would say it would even go lower my list, barely even noticed it in Beverly Hills here. There's just, I don't even know. But yeah, the ice raids were one of the definitely like the beginnings of the feeling of the like physical presence of the Trump administration completely wrecking your life. Aside from all of the like bureaucratic shit that was destroying people's lives. But like the arrival of physical space. that at this point was undeniable for pretty much most people living in a city. Like, even if you were, like, I think there, you know, there are even wealthy people in L.A. and other cities were like, oh my God, what's going on? Which before was something that I think was easier to put in the back of mind. So with this, it was definitely a very vivid moment.

And alongside that, it introduced us to the absolute dumb shithead losers that are ice agents. but also, yeah, I sandwich guy. Yeah. I think it was this year when, like, I remember that first story, like seeing people in a parking lot being like, they just came and took someone. They don't even have, like, ID on them. This is fucking crazy.

And that just seems, it was, like, isolated, like just people pulling up and unmarked cars, kidnapping people. And it seemed. bleak and apocalyptic and then it just became like even more systematized and then they got helicopters

and then they just started invading entire cities at a time I think it was one of the times I noticed like younger members of my family who were pretty disengaged from politics finally be like yo what the fuck is this because I think

so much stuff can be abstract for people but when you are subjected to seeing video after video of literal just mass goons disappearing people. Yeah. It has an effect on you. And I think that's probably why the sandwich guy also... Yeah. So number our number 14. Yeah.

14. 14. 14. Is the sandwich assassin. Yeah. This dangerous. Okay. So, yeah, we don't like ice. Okay. We think they're bad. But you don't go and do this. This is dangerous stuff. I mean, this guy. Come on, guys. We do not condone in the eye, man.

That's not cool. Yeah, can you imagine, can you imagine being in this person's position and, like, having that sandwich coming at you that fast? That olive oil is never going to come out. Yeah. I think he got an extra wet. He's like, yeah, make my subway extra wet. The clips of it, man. Oh, wait, let's listen to this and do it.

Tonight, Sean Dunn accused of attacking a federal officer with a foot on a foot on. Subway sandwich, similar to this one right here at 14th and you this past weekend. I like how this local guy's holding a sandwich. Yeah, I like how he had to get the sandwich. See these fascists right here? Fascists? You! Take a look at this cell phone video from late Sunday night.

He could tell this is kind of, his movements are kind of drunk. Yeah, yeah. He's probably a little bit drunk, you! You! On 14th Street in D.C. You know, for real shame now. Moments later. Oh, here he goes.

to show him crossing the street screaming just inches like Merton Hayes his leg is so loose yeah this guy's loose and then appearing to hit the officer in the chest with a foot long sublaces

all right so slow chasing done in the street and eventually so all right for people who aren't watching the video with us which is everybody except us three

I had watched the video in a long time he is a drunk man in short shorts and a pink polo who uh and you could also tell he's drunk because he's walking home in the middle of the night with a subway with a subway yeah yeah yeah 12 in a subway sign uh holding that shit like it's gandalf staff or some shit and then just starts yelling at these guys doing doing the right thing yelling shame shame and then

walks up point blank sandwich to the chest and this is also another another reason i love this story is because it highlights one of my favorite trends in ice resistance, which is that you can be a foot from them and do something to resist them and then run away. These are some of the slowest of foot

like Keystone cops. And they have too much shit on them. They got way too much shit on them. Yeah. I'm surprised they don't have like some like they start like orcs, you know, like in Lord of the Rings have different specialties. Like there's the berserorks and the ones like who don't have

much shit on that can run you down. Right. Miles, you're giving them good ideas right now. I don't know. Brian cut this. They just have a sprinter with them at all time.

You'd think that they would just watch Lord of the Rings. You'd be like, dude, we need like a berser guy. Yeah. And one dude who like has a guy with a big hammer. But like the videos of people, you know, doing acts of ice resistance to just like humiliate them. It's not like throwing something at them from like down the street. It's like a guy on a scooter who like rolls up and like flips the guy's hat off like

and then it's like, deuces and rides off. And then you just get to see these. I mean, we, we also got treated to watching them train on a child's playground, watching Dean Kane make his way through the ice training facility and like just skip a couple of the things. But yeah. But yeah. I I mean, it's a great, it's a great way to underline how hapless these dipshits are. And also the trial of Subway Sirhan, I think, is also worth talking about. Because we're, again, and I'm not, obviously it's fucked up, but like, you know, they're, they're going after these people who, quote, unquote, resist, who are mostly being like, get your goddamn hands off me type shit. Right. Yeah, yeah. So that was a big move by ice agents is being like the number of assaults on ice agents has gone shot through the roof.

And then you like see the video and it's somebody like squirming as they're like grabbing their hand. Yeah. It's like a 19 year old woman like squirming to like get away from them. And they're like, ah! Yeah, exactly. But then that trial for Subway Surhan luckily ended in an acquittal. And I think we had our all. lot of fun just in how that case was being tried generally, how they're trying to make serious that the guy through his subway Sandy out of a guy's fucking bulletproof vest. I wonder if there was a part in the trial where like they had to like detail what was in the sandwich and how dangerous it was. Get ready. Oh, my, my dear friend, you mostly work on the trending episodes.

So you missed actually what I think our biggest Instagram clip this year. Yeah, this is it says border patrol. Agent Gary Laramore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the Sammy toss quote, now he struck me with the sandwich Laramore says Border Patrol agent Laramore testifies that he was not injured by the sandwich but he felt the impact through his ballistic vest

the sandwich came apart and quote kind of exploded on his chest upon impact he says quote I can smell the onions and mustard I can still smell them yep and then never forget I still snap awake show me on the show me

on the doll where the sandwich hit you right well then the during the crossing nam's examination this Dunn's lawyer says quote shout to this defense like unsung hero here playing it real straight do you recognize the sandwich Laramore won't confirm quote I did not go back to collective he says

the defense team presses Laramore where the sandwich really quote exploded they returned to the photo of the sandwich and wrapper on the ground quote that sandwich hasn't exploded at all has it defense asks quote it looks like a little bit is coming out towards of the bottom Laramore replies oh yeah oh my god

and then they it's revealed that he has been roasted like they they said that like he's been getting the defense is like so how how have you been dealing with this since the attack like have you had to take time off the attack how of your fellow how of your fellow agents

treated you have they been helpful and supported you they've been giving me sandwich artist they've been giving me subwhip plush toys. They sent me, they gave me a patch that said felony footlong on it. Oh, shitty little Laramore. May your name live in infamy, you fucking goof. Yeah.

Amazing. Amazing work by that defense attorney. Yeah. All right. On to another victim that we learned about. This was kind of an all-around trend that business insider was like doing. these op-eds about what you know just people who are going through some shit they saw that you know America is having a tough year this year we talked about how it's like no longer feels

good to ever be like how's it going to people like that that question is now off limits because everybody's doing badly because the government is fucked up and the economy is fucked up. Business Insider came through and was like, we got to start singing people's pain to the streets. We need to let everybody know. We know it's 2025 and a lot's happening in this country. But let's also, there's a few victims we're forgetting, namely white guys named Chad. And that is your story number 13. 13. My name is Chad. My name is Chad. This one is the one that kept my eye on business insider throughout the year and why we were able to talk

about the lady who named her kid Disney. Like, yeah, I'm brave. We also, right. We also got the woman who was like, you know, it's so hard giving your kids cool names like Disney. Right. And then the parent who's like,

I use AI and I outsource all my parenting to AI. Yeah, that was the other one. The Chad one is this one. Quote, my name is Chad. Yes, I'm white working off his job. And sometimes I wear a vest. And he goes on to talk about his name. and how it's, you know, like maybe Chad is kind of a cool thing.

Quote, still I worry about it because my name is Chad and sometimes I look like what people think that means, even if I'm not. That guarantees a daily dose of perspective and I'm determined to use it well. It's a reminder not to take myself too seriously. So he says that and then goes on to do the exact opposite of that of have perspective and not take himself too seriously. Brian, can you relate to this one? The only time I truly worry about my name is in professional settings.

It's hard not to picture a hiring manager, potential client, or editor seeing my name and shaking their head. So I heads from time to time using my initial CW. This is from Business Insider. Yeah. Hey, they're just telling the truth about what it's like out here on the streets for, you know, work a day employees. Okay. They've got all kinds of stuff on there. There's like, usually a lot of their like sort of op-ed-y section.

is always like stuff about like people are like I left my job in marketing now I live in you know sevia spain uh oh yeah i've seen those people did they do one on did they do one on a woman named stacey too and i'm sure i wonder at business insider karen i wonder they must have done that like that that one must have dropped like back when the karen thing was happening oh fuck it was right before okay so we got Chad in May of 2025. April 29th, 20205 we got, my name is Karen.

Oh, so this has been chasing the trend. I think they... Like, late as fuck, though. I should have, I should have stayed on this, man. See, I slept on the Karen one. The Karen one actually makes sense. So this one sucks, though. This one is Egyptian. She's like, I'm, I grew up in Egypt, man. Like, it's also because Karen is used by...

I don't want to say everyone, but it's... It's used by a wider demographic of people than the Chad thing, which to me is, was created by sad, lonely white guys to talk about other white guys. Right. This is a thing. Like, I don't think Chad is ever used in a negative connotation. No. Right. And it's the people who use it are using it positively.

And they're like, that guy's a Chad. He's like, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they use it for like looks maxing. There's looks maxing chads. and there's like the insult chads and he is just doing he's trying to you know my name's yeah my name is bobby stone here i was named i was named bobby big dick my life is so hard you wouldn't even believe i do feel like this is also a part of a trend that we've seen uh like the olivia nuzzi

story comes to mind of like people just trying to make their existence poetic in a time when like just everything is bad and they're like kind of focused on the wrong thing. They're like have a sense that something's bad but they're going to write like try and wax

lyrically about the difficulty of having the name Chad like some of the shit that's in this article I know some things about the name Chad that others don't like when I hear it spoken by my way who doesn't say it often I can't help but feel a small flutter

in my chest or when I think of my childhood best friend whom I haven't spoken to a year like you think he's going to be like who died but instead he can't he doesn't even have that trauma whom I haven't spoken to in years I remember the way our names

were always said in a pair Cam and Chad and I smile because there are lots of stories caught in between the utterance of those names together for better or worse Chad is my name

and I still long to hear it said again in the voices of people who are no longer here and whom I miss dearly but you know if anybody in his life had died he would have crammed it in here but it's yeah uh I can remember writing it on my first love note signed slow and scared it's like motherfucker what are you what are what do you think you're what's your life like I'm surprised he didn't say that the wind is whispering his name or some shit like the that that got edited out by this the business the person the editor at business insider who had to go through this like so i can't put that there man this is already it's too much pretty out of control stupid but i feel like this is one of

the best depictions of white culture that we have like just the desperate needs to be victimized like find a way to be the victim it's it's you think this was like written by alice walker or but you just change some shit around for it to be about a white guy. Yeah, I mean, he might have actually just straight up done that. That also sounds like weight culture, just appropriated. Well, like the idea, truly, like, I mean, I remember when we recorded this, the idea of like your name being to, like, my dad and uncle, my grandmother consciously tried to choose names for them that wouldn't trigger like Negro alert in 1960s America

so they could get a job. And like, that's such a real thing. but this fucking guy's named Chad, you know what I mean? And he's like, that's why I have the name of a Welsh slaver. Right, exactly. Yeah, like,

I have an English as fuck name, Miles. But like in, and so I think that's what's so funny to me, to your point, Jack, is like you're almost just swapping out these experiences that are very real for other people and just be like, and that applies to me too.

Yeah, but like the subtext is the thing that they think you are, so people on the right think you're cool and people everywhere else just think you're a white guy, which is the least discriminated against her. White guy with a white guy name, too. Yeah, this has to be, like, he has to be writing from the perspective of like, it's tough to be a white guy, actually, which, if anything,

the fact that that's just like, that's not even said in the article, that's just an idea that he's digested and is like writing from the perspective of that is fucking wild. This piece would have been better written by Chad, Ocho Cinco, Johnson, you know what I mean. But I love the pseudo poetry about how his wife saying his name makes him a little

bit horny. Who doesn't say it often? She doesn't say it often. I wish she would. Calls me dickhead. Yeah. Hey. Anyways, all right. Those are stories number 14 and 13.

We're going to take a quick break. We're going to come back and we're going to get in to the vaunted top 12 TDZ stories of 2025. We'll be right back. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman's Cut Bourbon.com or your nearest total one. lines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut

Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit gentlemen's cuthuburn.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this? How is that not a story we all know? What's this you? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you? From Smartless Media, Campside Media and Big Money Players comes crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean, investigative journalists. And me, Roy Scoville, comedian,

as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. We'll look into some of the silliest ways folks have broken the laws. Honestly, it feels more like a high-level prank than a crime. Who catfish is a city? And meets some memorable anti-heroes.

There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys. Clap if you think, she's a win. And it freaks you out. He has x-rayed vision. How could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow him. He can see right through me. Listen to Crimless on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us. Two brothers. One devout household. Two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years. total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind

and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang and nobody was going to tell him what to do. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry is murdered, Gabe is forced to confront the past he tried

to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming. My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like, my mom started screaming my dad's name, and I just heard one gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family, and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened?

I just fail and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said through you got 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake.

He'll hurt you. I'm Nikki Richardson, and this is The Girlfriends, Untouchable. Detective Roger Golubski spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Galuski, I said,

you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. and we're back we're back and all right this was a major one Charlie Kirk passed was killed

they had a funeral the world his supporters went fucking bonkers started canceling people who weren't like do you accept Charlie Kirk as your lord and savior Cancelling is too weak of a term, I would say. Got people fired. Ran out on a rail.

They were dachshin people online. There was something about, I think there was an analysis about the hundred or so people or hundreds of people that in the aftermath who were just doing shit about like, I quoted Charlie Kirk's own fucked up words in a Facebook post. Yeah. And now I lost my job because people were like, again, that cognitive distance. that kicked in there where people could I think we're under attack yeah but also realizing like that racist vitriol that is my life's blood in terms of the content that I ingest you're pointing out

how fucked up it is how dare you there's like also that part of it yeah yeah um but yeah this was a very uh wild time because just as quickly as that guy like was put laid to rest in a casket his wife was like already at it running turning point and kicked off like a whole whole like a fracturing in the MAGA base too where there were a lot of people who were I think just for mostly misogynistic reasons but also just kind of the timing were like I don't trust this Erica Kirk

she's suddenly running everything what the fuck is this why isn't she mourning what was that funeral looked like a fucking kickoff or whatever that whatever that funeral was a wild that was a round it was like huge turnout huge pirate technique display as one would expect from a

W.E. Monday night Oh, I'm sorry. This was a funeral? Yeah. I don't have an issue with fun funerals being fun, but I like it. I don't know if that was fun. The tone was fucked up. Yeah. It's like the idea of a fun funeral with like pirate techniques. That sounds. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool.

That's like if like Gerbils and Vince McMahon teamed up. Yeah. That's what it felt. That's what you got. Very specific. Nazis. Look at these fireworks. Yeah, they didn't even have this technology. How could that be Nazis? Donald Trump, so his wife said she forgave the killer, not interested in seeking the death penalty. Erica, nay, Kirk, soon Vance, said, yeah, like this would be the Christian thing to do.

And Donald Trump literally, like, got up after her and was like, fuck that. Yeah. Said he hates his enemies. Does not wish Biden well. Couldn't stop talking about Biden. He was playing the hits from the. campaign trail. Was this the one where Stephen Miller started quoting the Nazi speech, or was that?

He does it every time. There's always some... When Inslee not quoting a Nazi speech. Honestly, like, that's even a thing that we're not even journalists, but even if I was, I would be safe just writing that, that it was like lifted from gerbils because I think we're like nine out of ten, like we're about 90% or something here. Tugger Carlson gave a speech where he like burst into maniacal laughter. it seemed like it was like right as he was about to be overtly anti-Semitic instead of like just kind of implying.

And then he like kind of stopped himself and then was like, Yeah. Very strange. Yeah. But then it's the aftermath too that I think is also interesting because J.D. Vance, who has made our countdown very in that upper tiers of the countdown last year for being a couch copulator. Oh, right. That's right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, is now, you know, there was that hug heard around the world where at an event where J.D. Vance like, man, my wife's like Indian and shit and she won't fucking worship Jesus. I don't know, man. Maybe this isn't the wave. Then got on stage with Erica Kirk and gave a very, very cool hug, you know. Grabbing surety by the waist. A lot of thumbs. Yeah. She's got long ass thumbnails. She's running her. fingers through the back of his hair. It touches her love language. Touch is her love language. Touch is her love language. But yeah, I think the thing that really made it like such a weird event was

he was just slamming his wife for not being a Christian, like white American. And then you'd see this like outward display of affection with Himmler Barbie. Right. And cut to like they're at the Taj Mahal like the next month.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, what do you want? Why? oh man yeah i probably it would have been like i he's probably like an awkward person and but the fact that it was like the same day that he was like and i wish she did accept christ and yeah i think about it every every day but uh it was was a little bit weird i mean i think but it makes sense right all the anti indian racism in like the maga thing has come out so hard core just with all of the

people who have intersected with the party already, whether that's Vivek, Ramoswamy, or Cash Patel, like something about this guy. I don't know what it is. And I think this is just a lesson to people when you're trying to be a token around fucking racist, it's never going to be safe for you. No. It's never going to be fucking safe for a little while when you're like having kids together and shit. But eventually there are the people, the fact that everyone else in their life is like, I don't know. Yeah. Dude, Ramoswami thought he was. the shit being part of doge and then the second he starts doing

events out there, people are point blank asking him about like, oh, how come, I'd prefer if you were Christian, I don't know about this, I don't know, but that, da, da, da. And I feel like I'm assuming J.D. Vance thinks it'll be a fair election in the 2028 presidential because he's trying to maneuver as if like he gives a fuck about how

people vote, but maybe those are just his true feelings. Who knows? I do. An underrated moment in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination was when you know, Donald Trump was asked. It was, I think, within 24 hours, like, how have you been affected by this? How are you doing, sir?

And he said, doing well, actually, we have this beautiful ballroom over here that's going to be the best. We're about to tear it down, but it's going to be one of the best. Just instant moving it along. And then he did also on the aftermath, find a way to brag about how an assassin tried to kill him. But he's like, you know, Charlie was actually. really impressed. He was like, how did you, how'd you do that? How did you get away from that bullet?

I don't even know. I don't even turn my head. I tell you, turn my head. Yes, he didn't. Back into the left. That's right. And our number 11, 11, 11. 11. One of the dumbest stories that we couldn't stop talking about this year. I don't like, we went back through the dog and we found like a paragraph where we covered it. But it was essentially something that I think we we talked about um unscripted across like five episodes yeah and that is the 100 men versus one gorilla uh thought experiment that everybody just kept coming up yeah toxic masculinity experiment yeah yeah can we fucking take him how do we do how do we how do we how do we how do we fucking get this gorilla is it in waves do you tire the gorilla out so many strategies were launched i don't think

Jane Good all though. I can't believe it went on so long with how rapacious humans are. How many species we've eliminated that the idea that a hundred dudes couldn't kill a gorilla. Right. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it's just like there's a people build up like the gorilla in their mind, too. Also, gorillas are famously done. Like they, they don't really get up too much.

That's the thing. It's like whenever they were asking primatologists, because, you know, you know, so many outlets are like, hey, ex, if anyone's going to fucking know, it's going to be this person who studies them for scientific reasons for a living. Might have been what killed

Jane Goodall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The number of incoming she had of people being like, hey, we have a quite Jane. So many, so many of those privatologists are like, dude, no, what the fuck? They don't want that at all. Like, that would be terrifying for them. And, like, how would be the best

way to do it? Like, what, do we sneak up behind him. Do we send ten at them from the front? And then we like grab them from the back. From the back? No. I don't know. Like I just keep having this thought, this invasive thought, like gorilla from the back.

Is that, is that weird? In what context, sir, the gorilla from the back? And who is in the back at this point? I'm working some stuff out. All right. But yeah, then like it got, it turned into a meme where at that point people were like using those video simulators where it would be like a hundred men versus a gorilla and then there was 10,000 gorillas versus one million men yeah and the guerrillas are like

hitting the men and then like 30 men are going like flying off toward the horizon it's like well yeah this is one way that it could go I guess yeah I'm still it's still a fun question to think about I'm not going to deny that it's not fun to think about like I'm more I'm more invested in the idea that one gorilla could kill 100 men. It's really not like what's feasible. I like the reality where the gorilla is so powerful that it

could defeat 100 men. Here's the thing. I think if the men, yes, it seems like 100 people, you send 100 people at anything, and it's probably not like that. That's what kills tons of people every year is like, you know, a smash of

people, you know, a crowd control being mishandled. You could probably handle it, but I think we need even the playing field. I didn't see this mentioned enough, but the gorilla's naked, the people need to be naked, you know? What, do you think the guerrilla's going to be weirded out by seeing a bunch of naked dudes? No, I'm

saying this evens the playing field. Like, because otherwise you're just giving humans the tools that we've always used to dominate. So I'm just saying, like, those hundred people need to be transported there without

in the same way as the gorilla. in the same way as the gorilla is like in my mind it's always okay gorilla's just like what where am i what the fuck's happening and there's a hundred men coming at them i think everybody's like okay so here's you you have to strategize miles you don't look convinced think about it this way no i'm much more carefully you would approach something with your dick out yeah like you'd think a little bit harder before you got close oh well you don't know me that well yeah And then the girl's just going around ripping dicks. Yeah. Miles runs in dick first. That's an easy target. Somehow I defeat the gorilla. It's like, dude, you weirded the gorilla out.

It started, why are it? It held its own breath until it died. That's unheard of. I do think that's important because every, all the answers that I saw kept being like, all right, so here's our strategy. We send them in waves. It's like, no, the gorilla doesn't get a chance to, like, you know, think about it ahead of time. Neither should the hundred men. Yeah, that's the other thing.

I think the men that are transported there should have no idea that they're about to fight a gorilla. Yeah. Right. I think, yeah. It has to be like D-Day where there's, like, these landing boats where there's each boat has like, like, like, a hundred dudes. But you don't know which boat is going to open. Pissing them. Yeah.

And they're all naked. And but you don't know what's on. the other side of this fucking door when that shit opens and they blow the whistle. You know what I mean? I think that would make it a little more fair. So that way, there's no way to blit. What if Steven Spielberg had done that in saving private riot and those doors open?

And they just run out onto the beach and get their shit rocked by a gorilla. Also, every one of them butt naked. You should juice the gorilla up on PCP or bad slots or something. Well, for the people are, I mean, what percentage of the people, you're taking a random sample? of people. It's not like we send 100 of our best fighters.

You are just like, you know, doing a randomization machine that like pulls 100 people. A lot of them are going to be children. A lot of them are going to be elderly. And a lot of them are going to be high as fuck. Wow.

You know? Here's your looking at the, I thought it was 100 men. Is it 100 men? All right. Even so. All right. 100 elderly men.

Even so if we're just going over 18. a lot of them are going to be... A hundred members of Congress. Old, infebled, high, drunk. I think... Or just like, look at what happened when they tried to, like, put together

a fucking crack squad of ice agents. Yeah. Like, these motherfuckers, like... No, it's going to be weird. Because if you get... Here's a deal. If you did a thing, we're like, dude, you want,

if you're down to fight animals for like a huge prize, sign up, you probably get a ton of signups. But I think the kinds of dudes who would sign up for that, the second they have to get naked, they're just gonna fucking, they're gonna be like,

I'm gonna let the gorilla kill me, dude. I don't, I'm not comfortable. This is so weird for me, dog. They didn't tell me that this was gonna happen when I went to my man camp where I just hugged that guy.

Just think of how many dudes are just gonna be out there covering that job. There you are. Oh, man. Yeah, I find it a very interesting question. Again, I think it's more,

from my perspective, it's not about what I think, how the equation I think works out it's more of who who do I want to believe in more right it's a very fascinating of course you think it's a fact you're fascinated with getting your whole shit bit jack yeah yeah not by a gorilla man I'm fascinated by get my shit rocked that would be fun like just ragdolling people left and right have you seen I don't do you I don't know if you remember there's a show called wild boys with Chris Pontius and I think stevo on MTV on MTV and they would go around with like

this like nature dude and there's one episode where they go to these gorillas and there's a the moment where this gorilla runs up on them and swipes away like five bamboo trees so casually I saw that I was like that was for me that's that's my like origin gorilla strength myth video that I'm like I remember being in college being like yo it's like that dare story with the the dumpster the guy who threw the PCP dumpster that is not true yeah exactly exactly Exactly. It's that visual that I think I cherish so much that I think I can't have that not be true. Like I just picture that Wild Boys gorilla. I do think it's just interesting to revisit

this question also because this kind of went viral before we had seen a hundred ice agents like trying to chase somebody who just flipped their hat off and like falling over like their shoelaces were tied together. Like if it's a hundred, like I feel like people would have a little bit less confident that the men would win if we had seen all those videos by that point. Oh yeah, here. This is where they, okay, there's a little baby that kept following them and they're like, yo, you better watch out. Look at this. Just

Yeah, just like accidentally knocking bamboo over. Yeah, but fine. I'm not going to sign up to fight them, but I do think the D-Day idea just generally when, because I know we're all work, like the billionaires are thinking of some weird entertaining form of population control. that do the D-Day landing craft. Naked dudes in D-Day Landingcraft.

They don't know what's on the fucking beach. And it is what it is, bro. And if you survive, your family will be on the protective scrolls. There you go. We also just gave you a good idea. A good use of AI is redo the opening scene of saving private rhymes. I am going to, we're going to have to get Amblin pictures, Steven Spielberg, on board.

Tom Hanks. Let's do this for real. Should I call Tom? Let's get Chris Nolan. Get Chris Nolan on the phone. Let's do this all in camera. Yeah. Get Chris on. All right.

That is episode one of our countdown of the top stories of the year. As you can tell, this is a very scientific process and makes a lot of sense. Exactly. We are going to be back probably tomorrow with stories 10 through 6. Yeah. That would be the next five. Yep. We're entering the top 10 and also probably another honorable Munchy, if you're good.

So thanks for joining us. Brian, thank you for joining us. It's good to have you commenting not in the chat where I'm like, oh, you should have said that as we finish. See, the reason I comment in the chat is because I no longer comment on things on the internet. So this is where I have my funds. This is my in written form. this is my internet um wonderful uh are you going to ask me where people can find me jack i like to ask you you always have go on ask me hey hey brian the editor where can people find you uh you can find me on uh only fans only fans oh shit finally yes yes yeah you finally taking my advice

a sex for paychecks okay i like it i'm uh the world's first asex Asexual, only fan star. Amazing. I watch Maritime Disasters on stream. All right, Miles, where can they find you? Where can they find Jack? Miles of Gray. You already know.

Just find me. Jack underscore O'Brien on Twitter. Jack O.B., the number one on blue sky. That's going to do it. Back tomorrow to continue the countdown to number one. Hope everybody's having a great holiday. Bye. Bye.

The Daily Zykeyes is executive produced by Catherine Law. Co-produced by Bay Wang. Co-produced by Victor Wright. Co-written by J.M. McNabb. And edited and engineered by Brian Jeffries. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product with every sip you get a little something different

visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com or your nearest total wines or bevmo this message is intended for audiences 21 and older gentlemen's cut bourbon boon county kentucky for more on gentlemen's cut bourbon please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com please enjoy responsibly have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers who catfishes a city Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of Footloose? I'm comedian Rory Scoville, and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast

that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery gay,

didn't want to solve until it was too late. He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause? Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry's killed, Gave Must Untangle a Dangerous Past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the brothers Ortiz and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times. A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law, until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die.

Listen to the girlfriends, untouchable, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast, guaranteed human.