The Daily Zeitgeist - Trendylephrine 8/31: Mitch McConnell, CNN MAX, Baja Blast, Ferrari, Taylor Swift

Episode Date: August 31, 2023

In this edition of Trendylephrine, Jack and super producer Joelle discuss Mitch McConnell glitching out… again, CNN giving it another go with CNN MAX, the new Baja Blast Gelato, the Ferrari trailer, and Taylor Swift bringing the Eras Tour to theaters!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just

starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, the internet and welcome to this episode of Trendolephrine. That is a trending title

courtesy of Manish in reference to the chemical from over the counter, cold and sinus medications. That is supposedly a placebo. And the, the cursed placebo episode that we did. And then everybody involved got sick. Damn you. The placebo or nocebo for infecting my brain with your inception illness. I am Jack and I'm thrilled to be joined in our second seat by the wonderful, the talented

Joelle Monique! Hey Jack, what's up? What's up? How you doing? We got some fun trends today. I'm excited. excited yeah we do uh so first off some fun some fun stuff is just uh mitch mcconnell continuing to reveal himself to be a non-playable character an npc um froze mid-sentence while delivering uh an answer to a question this last time he froze uh for 20 seconds this time it was

for 30 seconds it was a smaller gaggle it was in kentucky um and uh yeah it's it's either he's an unplayable character or he uh is very old just very just, very, very old. Oh, he looks old. This man looks old. Anyways, he got walked off and then they came back and were like, he's talking to his doctors. They think he's good.

He should be back up and at him soon enough, folks. But it's grim. It is grim grim as hell um is just a weird structural quirk of our political system where the incumbents have a massive advantage and people like power and so uh the shit just keeps keeps on and it's gonna be weird to be his staff just puppeting him through the motions at this point in time but republicans have a long history of doing this they're like it's fine as long as we continue to get our way it does not matter if

this person is confident to stand for the job i think it's also wild for the doctor and listen i'm not a medical professional and just give that warning right now. But my grandmother had similar issues. She fell down, hit her head, and then dementia increased after that. And for them to be like, oh, well, you know, concussions, sometimes you blink out. Yeah. But also when you're old and you start having concussions and falling like that is a symptom typically of something much much larger like it's not a good sign and it's usually doesn't get better yeah yeah and then we have two folks on either side of the line one on either side of the line um with deep deep memory problems and an inability to perform their job

like clearly an inability to perform like a very basic question will you run again yeah the question that he was asked and he couldn't answer it that's a problem that's a problem and i think we have to put in some new parameters obviously carefully worded because we don't want ableism or even ageism like i'm not ageist i don't think that there needs to be a max number of years and then like you're out but i do think you should have to be able to be a level of competent in order to perform your duties otherwise why are you here what is the point you are not the person the people elected it's a problem yeah yeah he's it's the bad bad scene all over the all over the political power elite. Well, in some fun news,

HBO Max slash Just Max has come up with their worst idea yet, which we're always excited when they can top themselves. So Warner Brothers Discovery has announced they will introduce a 24-7 live-streamed news service dubbed CNN

Max. Not a second CNN app. Yes. They're just kind of hoping everybody forgets about CNN Plus, which they launched last year and announced that they were

giving up on it within the month, I think. It was a wild... It was fast. It was very fast. They were like, psych, about that thing. You know that press release that's like nine emails below this one in your inbox about how we're excited to launch CNN Plus? That was all bullshit.

We're actually... Sorry. We're out. Cut the cord. Cut the cord. We're out anyways the company is reportedly going to try out a feature

with this in which people watching shows and movies on max will have their shows interrupted by breaking news from CNN what are you doing which sounds breaking news?

Why would you? Who would want that? Why would you think anyone would want that, Joelle? Oh my God. Joelle, you're famously somebody who understands and can speak to the thought process of David Zasloff. Yes. Why? understands and can speak to the thought process of david zaslav uh why um the only thing i can think of is back in my day we had 24 7 news channels you know right that was cnn's height people seem to really like that uh also what if we gave people you know like that old tv

watching experience like done here's news sure the truth is the world is like it's like they're not living on current planet earth it's very surreal to think that anyone would want you know what i mean because that is that also you have so much children's programming on there if i'm watching like a miyazaki film it's certainly going to interrupt and be like the death of one of our very old presidents is happening right now like what right jimmy carter has passed away also back to yeah like it's weird to me to be like uh you know what they really hate ads but i bet they'll love just being interrupted in the middle of their service it's crazy especially because half of your audience probably like will consider that a political act because they think cnn is like the communist manifesto um i also think that if you have like what's the real problem is capitalism

here's why hbo max was a perfect app there was nothing wrong with it i mean there was plenty wrong with it but the content like the content was fine yeah the only issues were sometimes it was a little glitchy which is we expected apps when they first come out the only thing that's not glitchy when it first comes out is a nintendo product they're the only people who have figured out everybody else has issues the first couple of months fine um but the content was excellent the search engine was pretty supreme i like that they had it broken down in very specific categories like i cnn is already its own channel they re-air stuff from

earlier in the day but it's already running 24 7 like it's not like cartoon network where at some point in the day it switches to adult swim at night like what are they talking about cnn is already 24 this doesn't compute and if i'm on an app watching cnn i can just watch it into infinity it'll just keep replaying different segments of news this this is clearly dumb i'm glad the internet read them for filth um yeah you're gonna want your tv to be more like your phone which you're also already using while you watch your tv um it's interesting i do wonder like part of it i think is probably like they're just trying to do cable tv again uh because that's where like these people probably made their millions and like in the same way that famous people still dress the

same way they did when they won their oscar or were at their peak of fame business people probably still hold to all of the truisms that were true when they made their first couple million or whatever you know so it could be just that or it could be like there's definitely this idea that is pretty funny to me that elon musk is subscribing to and that i wouldn't be surprised if zazloff is subscribing to that like this should be your everything app that like one of them is going to create their the everything app that is like people just are like i just go i wake up and i go to hbo matt i mean max and then i just float there in a cocoon of content and it tells me when news happens and this is where i do my banking like what we'll see if

david zazloffaslav's also Max's entering the world of banking. Offering an exciting banking. I could see that being the next step in this. It's such a bonus idea this idea because if you know anything about an American consumer what we love is choice. We're constantly

searching for choice and your app cannot have all the choices just by the decision that there are other apps we're gonna have to go explore i need to know what's on netflix and disney plus and the hulu and paramount plus and the abc app whatever that one's called peacock i think sure uh listen i'm gonna float around see what's on and then i'll make a decision i'll come back to hbo uh frequently because y'all have a again a really good selection you have all the warner brothers classics great films you have the miyazaki stuff bomb you got

cartoon network and adult swim content perfect i could watch any time of day or night plus you have everything in the hbo library there's literally and you have friends there is no stoppage like you're already at the top it's wild to me that they're like how else can we improve you don't need to improve plus when you're watching friends you can find out if bob barker just died so that's important really helpful all right let's take a quick break we'll come back we got some taco bell news we got some taylor swift news we'll be right back hey i'm gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden.

We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if

we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep.

Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members

for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives.

Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Forgive me for I have followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.

Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire?

Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back. And Taco Bell will be testing out a Baja Blast gelato in Irvine.

Love that they've gone with gelato and not ice cream. You know, so many options. Yes. They're like, listen, we have the slushy. What is the next elevated form of that?

And I respect that. They were like, let's borrow from the Italians. I'm sure Mexicans have a bunch of frozen creamy desserts that we could apply to our Mexican branded store, but no, we're going to go straight to Italy. We're going to try a gelato and see how people like it.

I'm actually excited to try this. I hope they do do take it national it sounds like it could be tasty i love the the flavor of baja blast who doesn't it's exquisite yeah and it's not it's like 2.99 for what three and a half ounces that's a great price that's a good price on gelato yeah and i mean the the gelato uh selection lacks a something that is that color as does most food stuffs like there's not there's not an option that will be confused with this one you know it's true it's true bubble gum is like a weird inhuman like bluish light blue color and they do make a bubblegum ice cream flavor over at the baskin robin yeah there's also people like to do a cookie monster ice cream that they dye blue yeah but none of them have the flavor in the east of blue you know what i mean like yeah exactly baha blast you're like this is blue this this flavor is blue and i love it i feel like taco bell yeah because so they have this like high uh high-end taco bell chain concept that they've been trying

to introduce and like the i haven't really been following it so maybe they've already introduced it but like the art that they created for like the world with high end Taco Bell, like reminded me of like an alternate universe. Like that kind of reminds me of what, what we got inside the Barbie world, like in Barbie. I feel like there, you know,

Taco Bell is the, is the best at like finding these collaborations yeah i think they found the best brand collaboration with the doritos locos taco like i feel like they could do something with some chains that are like explicitly because like this news that we're getting of the Taco Bell Baja Blast gelato is in the OC register, like the Orange County register. It's like a local news in Orange County. I'm just wondering, could they start creating Taco Bells that feel like they are in that Barbie world?

That would be amazing, first of all. I love, because then what you're doing is, like, dreaming up the old Barbie, like, ice cream shop, sort of like the Play-Doh ice cream shop. Yeah. That's cool. And in the same way that the Barbie film is not necessarily for children, but is accessible to them,

I feel like Taco Bell does occupy that lane, unlike McDonald's, which very much has to stay in its disney family friendly lane and even burger king is sort of like stonery but still like definitely children's 15 year old stoners yeah i feel like taco bell has more range uh i listen barbie brandon can go on forever would absolutely take a trip to taco bell to experience a barbie club but in the same way that like toy like barbie food is not real food like taco bell feels like it has a remove like what it is one layer removed from reality as well um and this like so producer victor asked the good question why isn't this sherbert and the answer is because it is not an affront to god and reality to claim that you have a baja blast sherbert

but it you you have to like go a step further ideal of what ice cream is. And it's just bright green monstrosity. Like that is the mission, you know? In the same way that Ken's job is beach, like Taco Bell's job is whatever the fuck they do, you know? It's Baja. It's Baja. All right. Did you watch the Ferrari trailer?

I sure did. I sure did. So dropped a couple days ago. Adam Driver will be playing Italian sports car entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari. Yeah. And it's...

I don't know. It's edited together like a jewelry commercial. It's, I don't know. It's edited together like a jewelry commercial. It's, I don't know. The vibes on this trailer, I'm a Michael Mann fan. Sure. The vibes on this trailer felt pretty sleepy to me. It felt like they were like, so let's look at what Gucci did.

We've got better accents here. let's look at what Gucci did. We've got better accents here. There's no Lady Gaga to really give us the meme culture that the first Gucci trailer gave us. So we're going to have to rely on older Adam driver, which is such an interesting choice. He was like, screw it.

I'll play 50. I don't care. I'll be great. Penelope Cruz is 20 years. My senior will be my wife. I love it. I think they were trying to bring out that same level of like drama and stuff which is not really michael man does great drama but not the high-end um commercialized super glossy drama he does like heat gritty drama

yeah which is great i I don't think the The trailer properly emphasized that I imagine that's what the field will actually be when we get there I just kept waiting for either you know Ferrari himself or like one of his you know kids or lovers to have a moment where they're walking happily down the street and then in have a moment where they're walking happily down the street and then in one second realize that the heat is on and flip a machine gun around from their back and start firing it like uh like in that one scene with val filmer coolest moment in any movie ever where he uh you know proves out the thing that he's ready to rock and roll at a moment's notice um that part is cool i don't know yeah it felt to me like they were like it could the trailer at least could have

been achieved by saying put a house of gucci filter on the movie ford versus ferrari um and adam driver like i kept waiting for he he looks fine in some of the shots but in some of the shots he was giving me there's too much shit on me. I don't want to I got too much shit on me. It's heavy. Too much. I imagine we'll see you

in Oscar contention anyway. It's Michael Mann. It's a stacked cast. Stacked cast. I'm curious to see it. It's a movie where I'm going to have to be like, Dad, let's go to the movies. Let's experience it. It's a dad movie. Oh, big dad movie energy.

For sure. Oh, yeah. This is four dads by dads meant to be watched standing in the living room. Oh, yeah. Arms crossed. Yeah, arms crossed. It's like, this is pretty good.... Arms crossed. Who's that character? The greatest compliment anyone can get

is that this one's actually pretty good from a dad. Actually pretty good. And then, finally, Taylor Swift, The Errors Tour, a concert film, will be coming to AMC theaters

soon. It's coming in october i like i assume this would be happening like you know a year or two down the road it's coming like as the eras tour is still happening like the eras tour is happening through 2024 um this is late 2024 too i think like november it's crazy this is hitting theaters in october i feel like this is being done like like the government like was like we need to get this tour to people like we like it's like operation warp speed like getting this thing into theaters i love that no i feel one, this is brilliant. So Beyonce really changed, not to make everything about Beyonce, but Beyonce really changed the game when she did her Coachella tour.

And she was like, okay, I'm going to come to Coachella. I'm going to do it for a million instead of four so that I can retain the rights to my show. And then I'll sell my show for, I think, 16 million. Don't quote me on that. To Netflix. Then everyone was like, oh, we should all be doing this. I think Demi Lovato does one.

Selena Gomez does one. I think Taylor also did one for that. Lady Gaga, 5'2", did one. So that becomes a big thing. So then Taylor clearly was like, okay, guys, but what if we did theatrical releases? And I just think it's such a stroke of genius

because there's so many people who cannot afford the price especially in america in europe concerts are much more reasonable and i think i could say the same with most other nations like africa south america you can go to concert for a very reasonable price um in america tickets are very expensive ticket master has cornered the market obviously Obviously, they're the devil. But if you can get a $22 to $11 ticket, depending on your theater, to go see Taylor Swift, you can still fan out with your girls. Also, people who already went to the concert are going to want to re-experience it. Am I in the movie? Oh, I was there at that show. I remember this.

Like, the nostalgia, the recent nostalgia of it, I think it's also going to fuel tickets. It's crazy to me that people are already saying, like, this is going to save movie theaters falls. But the show has been doing well, so maybe it will. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. Yeah, I mean, some of the people even forgot that they had gone because they had, like, Taylor Swift heiress tour amnesia, as we talked about. So maybe they'll just need to go to remember what the fuck happened. I did go to the what the fuck happened. I did go to theirs tour.

So I have to imagine I'm in there, right? Like it would be weird if they didn't put me in it. I'm sure you were fangirling out in all of your tailored gears. So the camera would have been drawn to you. Of course. Of course. Yeah.

I look forward to Beyonce's announcement that she will be doing a theatrical run of her show. I'm sure it's coming. That would be. Yeah, I would, I would like a Beyonce one because the Netflix one was really cool, but it would be cool to have the theatrical option as well, right?

Hell yeah. And listen, the Netflix one was two weekends, so four shows. She had one big costume change where she goes from pink to yellow in a now iconic scene that's also a meme. I know. But what a costume change. She goes from pink to yellow in a now iconic scene that's also a meme. I know. What a costume change. She has a

new costume every show for this, at least one new costume each show for this tour. So I look forward to all of the fun editing and the joys of Beyonce. Amazing. Well, Joelle Monique, thank you so much for joining us. Where can people find you and follow you?

Yeah, Joelle Monique, you guys can follow me all over the internet at Joel Monique. It's J-O-E-L-L-E-M-O-N-I-Q-U-E. All right. That's going to do it for us this afternoon. We're back tomorrow with a whole ass episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get the vaccine. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye. Bye. Bye. Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeart

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

If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carrie Champion,

and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player

needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way I Heart Women's Sports.