The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 15 (Best of 3/12/18-3/16/18)

Episode Date: March 18, 2018

The weekly round up of the best moments from DZ's Season 22 (3/12/18-3/16/18.) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a professional football player's career ends, and the applause fades, and the screaming fans move on? I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church. Voila! You got straightway. They try to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, voila, you got straight away. They try to save everybody.

Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the President of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nickname Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer,

this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeartTrue Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. A 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. MTV's official challenge podcast is back for another season. That's right. The challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all. And we are coming along for the ride.

Woohoo. That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of the Challenge 40, Battle of the Eras. Join us as we break down each episode interview challengers and take you behind the scenes of this iconic season listen to mtv's official challenge podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hello the internet and welcome to this episode of the weekly zeitgeist uh these are some of our favorite segments from this week, all edited together into one nonstop infotainment laughstravaganza.

So without further ado, here is the Weekly Zeitgeist. We are trying to take a sample of what people are thinking and talking about right now at the moment. And the way we like to open up is by asking our guests, what is a myth? What is something that people believe to be true that you know to be false? I think, and this was coming up in the conversation of the story that I was telling you in class. I think there's a myth that people who are racist or people from any specific group that you may not agree with, that their intentions are bad or that they're coming from a bad place. I try to take a step back on a lot of issues and try to observe it from a more disassociative, less biased, try to be more objective. from a more disassociative, less biased, try to be more objective. I think when people are stereotyping other races and stuff,

they're not coming necessarily from a bad place, even if the result is bad. They just don't know enough, and they just keep strengthening that point of view, and it's to enhance their sense of well-being. It's a terrible aftermath. But I don't think they're coming in from, I want to hurt this person or this person is bad. This is coming in. Oh, this is my group. And my group will always reign supreme. This is my team.

Yeah. Exactly. So I'm going to oppose all other teams. And you could root this in football, college basketball. You see the same thing. And it almost doesn't – Partisan politics. Yeah, and it doesn't matter.

Like you could watch the same trial whether – let's bring up OJ or whatever, and people are going to see the same cues, the same evidence, and will have two dramatically different points of view on it. And that point of view is aligning also with their group that they identify with. We're pro this or we're pro this or we're anti that and we're anti that, even though the source of information that two groups are witnessing are the same. Yeah. An interesting example of this, there's this article in The Atlantic called The Last Temptation that's by an evangelical Christian about him seeing his, you know, religion basically get tribalized to the point that they now are

all fully pro-Trump, even though taking a step back, that seems like the very last thing you would expect evangelical Christians to be into. last thing you would expect evangelical Christians to be into. But exactly like you're saying, because they sort of lumped themselves into this group. And also, you know, I would also say to add to that, even though, you know, there are some places where I think most of our listeners would agree, you know, that group is clearly wrong. would agree you know that group is clearly wrong that group has also faced a lot of just very dismissive like culturally you know shitty uh treatment from mainstream culture so uh every time they're treated like shit or dismissed or called rednecks or whatever uh that adds to that

sort of division and i think you're, like kind of viewing things as, okay, it's our tribe versus theirs. It really doesn't explain a lot of this. Which is throughout history, it's their tribe versus our tribe. Right. But it's, you know, the fact, it explains some of the things that you would think would be contradictory, like the fact that evangelicals' new, you know, figurehead is Donald Trump.

Yeah, I think when it when it becomes more severe and that's when it starts getting to race himself. will become a spectrum in the sense that as far as mental health is concerned, when people have extreme categorizations in their head to the point of absurdity, that's when it's a mental health issue. I mean, I'm not saying this is science or anything like that, but when the racism is so strong, it then becomes a mental health issue. It's like their brain cannot stop or know when to stop stereotyping to the point where they're just constantly categorizing, making it black and white, and then just dispelling hatred. That's when it's like, oh, your brain is not operating at a normal level and you're just

categorizing everything to the point where it's like a runaway train. Yeah, exactly. And then it's like, oh, no, no, there's something more there. You just don't know when to stop. And the reason I asked about the age of the women who you were talking about stereotyping earlier is just I read a statistic over the weekend. I've read a couple of statistics lately that made me kind of surprised at how focused the things we talk about when we talk about, you know, you know, Trump supporters being racist and all that stuff'll link to on our footnotes uh footnotes footnotes uh that we it we have a lot of older people who are you know putting this stuff uh front and center and then there's like some very visible younger people who go around marching with

tiki torches and we look at them and we we're like, well, it must be all ages. And it's actually very concentrated in the elderly. Yeah, and I think that's an important distinction, because that also goes up with their upbringing and also what they were exposed to when they were younger. Ah, the baby boomers. They're going to give me shit. I love them. Such a mess. Betsy DeVos, as we're pronouncing it.

She had a hell of a week. She had a fucked up week. So last night she went on 60 Minutes and had some very, I don't know, unimpressive answers to questions about her, like the very core tenets of her tenure as the head of the Department of Education. You mean just being an evil, out-of-touch person? And, you know, that public schools will be forced to compete with them and it will bring up their the performance of all the schools in, you know, an area. Yeah. Run it like a business. And she is doing this based on her work in Michigan where she did this exact thing. And, you know, you would think that she would be able to answer questions about how that went. But Leslie Stahl just kind of threw it out there.

she would be able to answer questions about how that went. But Leslie Stahl just kind of threw it out there. You could almost tell that Leslie Stahl, who's the 60 Minutes anchor, who was interviewing her, you could almost tell by her delivery of the question that she didn't think this was a question that was going to make air. She was like, well, you know, kind of threw it out there offhandedly. I think we have the audio from this part of the interview. Why take money away from that school that's not working to bring them up to a level where they are, where that school is working? Well, we should be funding and investing in students, not in school buildings, not in institutions, not in systems.

Okay, but what about the kids who are back at the school it's not working what about those kids well in places where there have been where there is a lot of choice that's been introduced Florida for example your argument that if you take funds away that the schools will get better is not working in Michigan where you had a huge impact and influence over the direction of the school system here. I hesitate to talk about all schools in general because schools are made up of individual students attending them. The public schools here are doing worse than they did. Michigan schools need to do better.

There is no doubt about it. Have you seen the really bad schools? Maybe try to figure out what they're doing? I have not. I have not. I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming. Maybe you should. Maybe I should. Yes. What the fuck? Her preparation for, if they ask you about the failed experiment in your core philosophy that you oversaw in Michigan, your response will be what? And her response was either she had no response because she was like, oh, shit, they looked that up. Oh, shit, they know me?

Or her response was, well, I can just say that schools are made up of students. And when you look at some students, they do well. It's like, wow. Yo, that's not how data works. That's not how any judgment of performance of any program would ever, ever be. So what is her overall stance or proposition that we should be taking money away from public schools? Basically, charter schools are the answer. Run charter schools like businesses.

They'll compete with each other, and that will bring up performance. away from public schools? Basically, charter schools are the answer. Run charter schools like businesses. They'll compete with each other, and that will bring up performance. It's sort of what this was all about, what she was pushing for a long time. So when Leslie Stahl references taking money away from public schools, that's basically the money that is being spent on public schools currently by school districts would go to charter schools instead. They would be taking that money away from public schools that are already failing and giving it to charter schools, these new schools. And the idea is that then these charter schools would do better.

And just by sheer competition, public schools would feel like they need would be inspired or just encourage competition among charter schools. Her whole thing is really just it's not based on anything factual. Does she want to eliminate public schools? She wouldn't. She wouldn't say that. But that's systematically what she's dismantling the public school system. So, I mean, basically, there are some great charter schools. But the problem is that you are not guaranteed to have a charter school in your neighborhood.

And so they're spreading the funding out. They're taking funding away from public schools, which you are guaranteed to have, and giving it to these other schools. So it's screwing people whose only option is public schools. My only option in high school was public school. Yeah, I mean, for most of my life. It's like a small town. Yeah, there was nothing else. Yeah. So the whole Devos, is that her name?

Yeah, DeVos, DeVos, DeVos, Sheworth, whatever you want to call it. So when you guys were saying charter before, I was putting it in the same breath as a private school. It's like this weird in-between it's interesting okay they have like an agreement with like this state to you know run as a school underneath yeah and some of them have been shown to you know work and there have been some that yeah you know create really interesting, amazing people like super producer Anna Hosnier.

Yeah, I've heard of her. But the idea is that basically they think something public can't work. And so rather than funding public schools, which, you know, used to be seen as one of the great strengths of America was our public school system. of America was our public school system. Rather than funding public schools and providing access to education that's equal for everybody, they are creating this new system that allows them to – like there's a reason they're doing this instead of funding public schools. Yeah. One of the other reasons to the profit aspect is that if you have to build a charter school,

that means a real estate developer can build it and get money to build it. And rather than the existing public schools, like, no, just build a new thing, which will cost money. And that money can go to someone in the private sector to build it. So there are many facets of it that can make it complicated. Yeah. So instead of doing a good job explaining this, she had an interview where she, you know, did a terrible job defending the idea. And presumably because they knew this interview was a huge L that she was going to take, the administration released a plan for school safety, basically in the dark of night on a Sunday night.

And there was like a media conference call where Betsy DeVos spoke to the media to announce their sort of actions in response to the Florida school shooting. And they're now calling it, rather than being gun-focused, it is a school safety initiative. And they will be focusing on repealing Obama-era school discipline efforts because everything done under Obama was evil and probably the cause of school shootings. Looking into the impact of video games on youth violence, which is just a widely discredited theory that makes zero sense. Every country has video games, and other countries are not having the mass shooting problems that we're having. And also they're looking at the effects of press coverage of mass violence.

I mean, we did on this show talk about the fact that the media could maybe stop talking about like putting the face and name of mass shooters front and center. So, I mean, it is cool that they're talking about press coverage of mass violence. It's cool to see a presidential administration talk about that. I just feel like they are going to treat that in a very strange way. The Trump administration, their relationship to the media is such that I don't necessarily trust them to be the ones to enforce rules uh there's just anything to antagonize the media and i don't think antagonizing the media is the way to go on that one it's everyone but the guns strategy yeah it's everyone but the gun strategy. I mean they're also supporting a couple very minor gun changes, basically making gun sellers actually do background checks like the law says they should. So there is some gun stuff, but for the most part it's an NRA response to –

It's just distraction. Even like last week when we were talking about that Florida bill, like yes, granted it's a small step. But really these people, a lot of Republicans will just use that as cover to say well we did something and then kick the can down the road like it's a distraction yeah well i guess i'm gonna have to dip into tv writing yes other than costco i know very little about most things in life um i find that oftentimes people don't understand that there is a hierarchy in the writer's room because people feel like, oh, like if this – I don't know. It's happened to me where like I've been like the only person of color on a show or the only woman and then people will be like, well, why – Why didn't you –

Why didn't you stop this joke or why isn't the show more representative? And it's like, dude, if you are a lower level writer you have zero power in the room you have no control it's not egalitarian like and also at the end of the day the showrunner who's the boss of everything is going to make all the decisions like uh i think that's the other thing too is that people don't understand that there is one person who is a writer called the showrunner who literally runs the show and they are the end all be all of all decisions because i've seen people like argue about casting too they're like well that's not the writer's fault that's like the casting director and it's like but who do you think that a casting director answers to so i

guess for people because we're all la people and understand the industry please break down sort of the hierarchy of power creative decision making on a show so i think for people to really understand what how this all works um so on a show there's a right for people to really understand what, how this all works. So on a show, there's a right one. First of all, like TV is the writer's medium. Like it's different in film in that,

like in film, like the director is kind of the end all be all. Right. And it's their vision, but in TV, it's always the writers. And, and specifically there's always one writer called the show runner, who is the boss of every,

every single thing on the show. And they usually are the creator of the show, but not always. Because sometimes, you know, like a more inexperienced person might create a show and the network will be like, well, you've never run a show. You've never really worked on a show before. So I'm going to bring in somebody who's more experienced. That we can trust. Yes, exactly.

But that's who the showrunner is. And it's always a writer. And then on the writing staff, there are two types of writers. There's upper-level writers and there's lower-level writers. And the simple way of explaining it is that the way they're paid is differently, but it's also like experience and power. So here are the titles. Like this is what's very confusing for a lot of people when they look at the credits of a show, which is there's no credit that's just writers. Right, just written by one person.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They all have different titles. And so these are the titles of what writers are. Lower level is staff writer. Staff writer is the lowest possible level writer. That's like entry level. And then next up is story editor. And then next up from that is executive story editor.

And these are lower level writers. They're paid a weekly salary. And then upper level writers are all people who have the word producer in their name so co producer producer consulting producer supervising producer co-executive producer and then executive producer that's the highest level writer besides showrunner so the show well the showrunner is credited as a executive producer and but most here's what's more confusing is that not all executive producers are writers right so like uh so there'll be like 10 executive producers are writers. Right. So like so there'll be like 10 executive producers, but probably only like one or two of them are actually writers. Right.

Like James L. Brooks for The Simpsons. Yeah. Yeah, totally. And like and executive like the show creators, managers, if they have managers will be credited as executive producers if they were the ones who kind of like put the whole thing together. So there and then like executives from like every production company that it went through, like it's a whole thing. But upper level writers are, you know, because they you kind of work your way up to that. So they're more experienced. And so generally speaking, at least in a comedy writers room, most showrunners will look to everyone's obviously different but most showrunners will look to the upper level writers to kind of do more of the big picture stuff like story the structure of the story like the actual story emotional arcs seasonal arcs whereas like with lower level writers they generally kind of just want them to pitch jokes

and like things just be joke machines really i mean everyone's different there are a lot of showrunners who are more egalitarian. It's like everyone should have a hand in everything. But more often than not, that's kind of the breakdown of power. So you as one person cannot completely dictate what the show is going to be. Yeah, especially if you're at the lower level. At the lower level, you're just like looking for like when is the conversation you're allowed to join, you know? Right.

Yeah. Have there been moments where you've tried to bring up a concern in a writer's room? Oh, a million bajillion times. And then it's just sort of just like, is it more like you're heard or people just kind of go, uh-huh, uh-huh? It depends. It depends on the people at the top. It depends on who you're talking to. Because there's some showrunners who are like, look, I'm just trying to keep my fucking head above water here.

Right. Like, I'm trying to deliver a show. Like, and if I don't deliver a show like my life is over. Right. You know, this is this is everything to me. I don't have time to like listen to the concern of like, you know, a young writer who's this is like their first job, you know. Right. But there are other people who but there are also other showrunners who are like, yeah, I want to hear it.

I want to, you know, especially if they're like a more sensitive or woke-ish like white showrunner and the person that is bringing up a concern is either a woman or a person of color or LGBT or something like that. Like they should like want to listen to that and be like, how do I not sound like a shitty 80s comic? Right, right. It's crazy that joke writing is not like a main person thing because that's something that's like for the staff writers because that's – Well, no. I mean obviously everybody does it. But generally speaking, they kind of – at least in more traditional rooms, they generally want the lower level people to just be joke machines. Like when the upper level people like get to a point where they're like, OK, we just need like pitches.

Right, right, right. That's kind of when you're – Just to get the conversation started. Yeah, that's kind of when you need to shine uh all right let us take a quick break and then we'll be right back hey i'm bruce bozzi on my podcast table for two we have unforgettable lunch after unforgettable lunch with the best guest you could possibly ask for. People like David Duchovny. You know, New Yorkers have a reputation of being very tough,

but it's not. It's not that way at all. They're very accepting. Jeff Goldblum. Are you saying secret fries? Secret fries. What? That's what you're saying? Yeah. And Kristen Wiig.

I just became so aware that I'm such a loud chewer. My husband's just like, sometimes I'll be eating and he'll just be looking at me. I'm like, I'm just eating. Like, I don't know how else to chew. Table for Two is a bit different from other interview shows. We sit down at a great restaurant for a meal and the stories start flowing. Our second season is airing right now, so you can catch up on our conversations that are intimate, surprising, and often hilarious. Listen to Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised 150 grand in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. I mean, my reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like

a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history.

People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that? I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black.

I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network,

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks. President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand

woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent, revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer. This is Rip Current. Available

now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Let's talk about the firing everybody's been talking about. Everybody in America is talking about John McEntee, who donald trump's personal assistant uh has been fired um that among other people yeah obviously we're like to the other one very dubious financial what i don't know it's really weird these reports are just so strange so first of all it's just weird that his personal assistant like the guy who has all the dirt on him was a like he has a

seven million view trick shot compilation on on youtube where he's like throwing footballs and basketball hoops from like 40 yards away mega uh but he so he was last night escorted out of the white house uh and it was such a serious matter that they wouldn't even let him get his jacket. So it was between 36 and 41 degrees last night in Washington, D.C. They were just not letting him go back to get his jacket. They just kicked him out in his shirt sleeves. Come on, buddy. Get the fuck out.

Can I get my jacket? No, man. We're serious. It's like they're throwing out a drunk from a bar at like 2 a.m. But that's kind of what the White House has become. But what's crazy is we all see this unfold. Stuff like this has been unfolding for the last year and a half, and yet more people continue to want to join this administration, which is so crazy. Yeah.

I mean, it's one of the few places you could be a felon and they'll hire you. Right. Yeah, that's very true. So obviously with something that serious and apparently, according to sources close to the administration, it was related to, quote, serious financial crimes. So obviously he is screwed and won't be able to find a job anytime. Oh, wait. He has already got his next job to be the senior advisor for campaign operations for the Trump campaign for 2020.

Cool. So apparently he knows something because they're trying to keep him as close as possible. They don't want him having another 7 million view YouTube video where he's like, okay, so this shit was crazy. For my next trick shot, I'm going to play a voice note I took. Boom. But I guess, yeah, that was a big firing. That was a big firing. But the other story that everybody's really talking about,

Game of Thrones for Dumb People continues. Rex Tillerson is out as the secretary of state. This was something that had been rumored to be coming down the pike since the fall that he was going to get fired because, you know, once he called Trump a moron and then the press was like, did you call Trump a moron? He was like, I'm not. We're not talking about this. Like, he just refused to deny. Yeah he like he could have lied yeah all you guys do is lie to the media that's all you do but he was i think he was sending a message he's an honest man yeah he's like no the guy's a fucking idiot yeah yeah he's like i'm wrong yeah you're gonna sit here and

tell me you haven't called him a fucking moron called him worse um and yeah so trump fired him over twitter uh and you know tillerson's main like right hand guy uh told the media that tillerson found out about his firing on twitter and uh oh he did he really found out on twitter that's what that's what tillerson's right hand man said And then the White House contradicted that and said, no, we told him Friday that he was going to be fired. And so he knew about it because we're a professional organization. Why would we fire him over Twitter? And then they fired Tillerson's right-hand guy who had contradicted them for telling the truth apparently. They're just cleaning house, man, before these very important negotiations.

My favorite part of the firing is that Trump did it and said he'll probably be much happier now, which is like the sort of thing that you would write like that a passive aggressive like wounded lover would say about someone like, I bet you're real happy now. Does she go down on you in a theater? Oh, hell yeah yeah uh anyways he continually undermined tillerson i'm sure he is much happier now uh everybody who has any history in diplomacy was like you know this guy should quit like especially when when he was negotiating with north korea and trump came out on twitter and was like, don't waste your time, Rex. These guys like – Right.

He's like, no, I think dialogue is the best route. Right. Well, because now that means that Mike Pompeo, who is the head of the CIA, is now next in line or that's who is going to be the next secretary of state. Right. So we'll see how that goes because they differ a lot on certain policy issues he's pretty hawkish right yeah and like he's down to pull out of the iran deal uh-oh um because like as we're saying before that's the only thing keeping them from having nuclear weapons right but just trump just wants to make good on his campaign pledge because

it's just a bad deal right uh but okay sure well it was done by obama yeah so if everything is bad obama bad uh everything good and like rex tillerson wanted to stay in the paris climate agreement uh mike pompeo doesn't really care he's kind of like a climate change denier i think he's openly a climate change denier in his confirmation hearing he was like didn't really want to talk about science at all right so in that way i guess trump has found a buddy that will just kind of go along with whatever he says right and also tillerson came out in the aftermath of the announcement that north korea and the and uh trump would be meeting and was like well we're let's pump the brakes a little bit here guys like we're we're not gonna just like

throw trump in there right in a meeting And Trump apparently didn't like that. And he's been sort of against Tillerson getting any credit for North Korea from the start since he like released that statement being like, don't waste your time, Rex. And apparently, according to inside sources, Trump decided to replace Tillerson now to have a new team in place before upcoming talks with Kim Jong-un. So it was explicitly like the North Korea thing. Jesus. Mike Pompeo,

Dennis Rodman better be part of that delegation. Oh, for sure. He will be just to make, I feel like that would be the only safety mechanism we have at this point. Well, sadly, is if he came with Pippen.

Oh, because the, his whole obsession is the 96 yeah yeah he just showed up he's like hey my man it's Steve Kerr Tony Kukoc I got even got Luke Longley right not Jordan though not Jordan yeah because Jordan's an asshole and probably wants to watch the world burn so right uh but then that means then there's an opening at the CIA which means the deputy director Gina Haspel uh is who Trump wants to be the new head of the CIA. And she'll be the first woman to run the spy group.

A victory for all of womankind. Yeah. But, you know, she's got a little bit of a past. What's that now? Like most CIA people do. I think she was one of the – she ran the first black site, like, torture facility in Thailand. Yeah. And was also – she was one of the top people running the torture program along with the al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah who they waterboarded 83 times in a single month and, like, slammed him into walls, put him in a coffin.

Her parents must be so proud. Right. They're bragging to other parents that they know. At one point they thought they killed him from all the torture. He did. And then they found out he didn't have any useful information to provide. So he went through all that shit just for that. And also ordered the destruction of videotapes of those torture sessions.

She's the one who destroyed the videotapes. Yeah, I know Dianne Feinstein blocked her once, too, when she was going to get a promotion. Again, a lot of intelligence people were like, look, you're not going to be able to be a top CIA person and not have your fucking hands all over the dirtiest shit. But at the same time, I don't know if that's like a good enough reason. Cause a lot of people will say like, you know, she was basically carrying out a program that the president and the white house and other top people had signed off on and she was just following orders, but we'll see. Cause she'll still have to get confirmed. And if like, you know, John McCain is not a fan of torture, so he might not be a vote that would confirm her.

Rand Paul, I think, voted against Pompeo. I mean, so there's, she might not be immediately seated. John McCain's not a fan of torture? No. Apparently he had, he went through something. He had a bad experience with that. So do we have any reason to believe that Pompeo will be like somebody who actually staffs the diplomacy, like diplomatic positions? Because I mean, that's the thing

that Tillerson's tenure has been marked by, you know, just not hiring any of the positions in the State Department. We'll see. I mean, he systematically gutted the State Department. So I don't know what Mike Pompeo's vision is for the State Department. Right. He didn't like gut the CIA when he took over. No, I mean, he was just, yeah, you can't. You know what I mean? Like you got to keep that agency running, baby.

Right, right. Yesterday, there was a special election in a heavily dark red district. At least it was the last presidential election, right? Trump won by 20 percentage points so red that democrats didn't even run a candidate for like two congressional cycles oh really yeah they're like fuck it bro like we don't need to bother but this year uh they ran connor lamb and he is a former marine and i guess he's somewhat conservative in his uh stance on like guns and stuff but it doesn't matter he's a democrat in a district where you know the guy who is running against

is like just straight up uh he he claimed he like one of his sound bites was i was trump before trump was trump like he was just yeah he he was noant? No. Yeah, just like whatever you guys liked about Trump, that's me, man. How was that, man? So let's just – let's see how you feel about Trump now. I was eating stuffed crust pizza before Trump. Less than two years after you voted for him in record numbers. How did that go? Yeah, I mean look.

The demographics of that district are really what's crazy it's a 93 white working class uh and like you said i think trump won by 20 points or something uh so the fact that this democrat eked out a victory means a lot of republicans were like oh i'm willing to vote for this democrat and that should alarm the gop uh and and most conservative like think tanks and and special interest groups because I think outside groups spent something like $13 million on this race because they knew this was such an important

race because it's a deep red district. And Conor Lamb, yeah. He obviously wasn't super progressive because you have to kind of take into account what the district is like. Either way, he still campaigned on universal health care, expanded background checks for guns he was he's pro-choice he supports medical marijuana you know all the things conservatives do right uh because you cut to

today and after this like really embarrassing defeat happened everyone and their mother on the gop is like well you know he ran like as conservative. That's why he won. Right. And the mitigating has begun. Yeah. So Fox News last night, I switched over to them as – CNN still hasn't called this as we're recording this. We're recording this on Wednesday morning. Right. CNN still hasn't called it. New York Times still hasn't called it.

Dale hasn't called it. New York Times still hasn't called it. But the latest is that Lamb leads by six hundred and twenty seven votes after all the absentee votes have been counted. So he leads by six hundred twenty seven votes with all the votes counted. So barring any sort of recount, I'm no Stephen Hawking, but he has more votes than one. Right. But I don't know. There could be some kind of for some reason, nobody's calling it, even though everybody seems to be implying that he won. I wonder if because they think it might be a lawsuit situation or something. Right. Yeah. Like with Al Gore and Bush.

Yeah, it could be. But I don't know. Especially because this is so embarrassing for Republicans that they – and there are weird things with different counties holding back their votes last night. And people were like, this is really irregular and the sort of thing that would cause a lot of red flags to go up. If you're basically holding the votes back until you need those votes to see how all the other votes are counted, which is kind of a shady thing. And these were in heavily red districts. So people were maybe thinking that something was going on there. But as of right now, it looks like all of the absentee votes have been counted and the democrats are still leading by 627 votes so i flipped from cnn over to fox news and it was being downplayed

like a motherfucker i couldn't believe it wow the best was uh fox and friends this morning what were they doing because you know that's daddy's favorite show right and so they and already the rumors were that like if if uh connor lamb won like heads were gonna roll right because like again trump picked a fucking loser uh and you know clearly that fucking rousing rally that he gave over the weekend where he called uh chuck todd yes chuck talk on him a son of a bitch and you know mocking maxine waters and all this other shit mocking the idea of him being presidential yeah exactly where he was like oh i love the troops like he literally said a line like that it's like yo what the fuck are you saying that's that is a sentiment you should hold sincerely as

president anyway so that didn't work because this guy, Saccone, he ran on that like liberals hate God kind of message and they hate our way of living. And yeah, cut to today. So on Fox and Friends, they were like – they're like, yeah, he basically ran as a Republican. He supported the Republican tax plan. He did not. He did not. I mean that's just a complete – that's completely falsified. He said he supported the president's like immigration policies.

He did not. He was like like supporting dreamers and undocumented people. And Satcom ran on the tax cut. Yeah, exactly. And no one gave a shit because there's a lot of polling to suggest a lot of people who are not wealthy do not give a fuck about the tax cuts because it does not affect them. I'm telling you guys, people aren't stupid. Like, yeah, you can pretend like they are, but they they know people start to figure this shit out and then the last thing was like oh you know he stood with the republicans on abortion and because he's a catholic he's basically a conservative he said yes i am catholic

and i'm opposed to abortion but i believe that a woman has a right to choose what they want to do right so they sort of took that in as a candidate he's not going to impose his religious beliefs on the people that he's – What a novel idea. Yeah. Also, he's 33. Yeah. So he's a former Marine and now – wow. Easy on the eyes, I would say. I need to get my life together.

Yeah, seriously. You got to stop hitting up those Marvel characters on Twitter DMs. I need a superhero and not a regular man. Yeah, exactly. Well, this dude might be as close as they come because former Marine who just knocked off. I know. Is he single? That's going to be my next Google search history.

Go ahead. I would guess not. That's the favorite of Democrats right now to run in conservative districts is get a veteran in there. Yeah, for sure. It's much easier for people to kind of trust. They're like, okay, you may be a guy who knows how to handle a gun. Right. And I mean, there's nothing wrong with, you know know that i say that is something that's smart i mean if

that's what you need to do to bridge the gap and make people understand that you can also have the this common the shared common ground or shared like core values and also be like yo you might also i think the thing that we saw the most this past year at least that i saw the most was especially on social media and like twitter was the assumption that all veterans are republican right Right. That is that is a big thing. I think him being a former Marine is probably you don't have to be a Republican to love your country. And I mean, I and serve for your country to like that is an incredible like sacrifice that people, you know, give to fight for their country and sacrifice themselves themselves and yeah well yeah but conservatives not all republicans they weaponize that during all the iraq war shit too because

they want to be like oh you're like you're against this like illegal war but you you know you don't support the troops it's like no come on that's not what we're talking about but i guess the other thing to talk about with this too is the district the reason it was vacated is because the the former congressman who had it he's like an anti-abortion guy and was like leaning on his mistress to have an abortion. And then that got out. As they do. And so that's why. As they do.

That's why the seat opened up. But the other thing to talk about, too, is that this district is not going to exist next year. Right. Because of like the redistricting. That was what Tucker Carlson was saying last night. He was like, and just so we're clear, this isn't going to exist pretty soon. Right. Yeah. But either way, the fact even if Conor Lamb, they find that he loses a district that's not even going to exist here in like 11 months. So but Super Producer Nick Stumpf was pointing out that this is a district that isn't going to exist because they are redrawing it because it was so unfairly slanted to the Republicans. The Republicans drew it up themselves to have an unfair advantage.

And so they weren't even able to win this district that they drew up like to have an unfair advantage and so they weren't even able to win this district that they drew up like to cheat essentially they had the game genie invincibility code on and they still died in the game right i mean deep cut video game you guys should just yeah i don't know i'll post a picture of tucker carlson's face on twitter so you can see what like you can tell that he realizes deep down like his insides are are digesting themselves because he knows he knows what's really going down. He's just he just isn't willing to say it out loud. And I will post a picture of the game genie by Galoob. Oh, crap.

This Conor Lamb kid is not kid. Mr. 33. He's cute. You better. OK. I think I might see somebody sign the DMs. But hey, we can talk about health care. But this district, it won't exist because of all the redistricting, because the Pennsylvania

Supreme Court found that the gerrymandering heavily favored Republicans. So now they broke it up into new districts. So if he wants to stay in office, he's going to have to run in a different district come November. So he's going to if he wants to stay in office, he's going to have to run in a different district come November. Like both of these guys potentially could be in Congress by 2019 if they run in different districts again. But he will hold this seat at least for this session of Congress. Right. But yeah, to go along with the whole like, oh, he won because he's a conservative.

So the people who are really scared are obviously congressional Republicans. Right. People who are really scared are obviously congressional Republicans. So today, Paul Ryan really tried to fucking do a little spin job to try and frame Conor Lamb as a Republican. I don't know that there's a big surprise. I think the candidate that's going to win this race is the candidate that ran as a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-Nancy Pelosi conservative. That's the candidate that's going to win this race. pro-life pro-gun anti-nancy pelosi conservative that's the candidate that's going to win this race so this is something that you're not going to see repeated because they didn't have a primary they're able to pick a candidate who could run as a conservative uh who ran against uh the minority

leader who ran on a conservative agenda yeah a conservative agenda of universal health care background checks medical marijuana and pro-choice yeah so i'm a republican yeah so i mean paul ryan is just it's hard for him to get his mind around the fact that his main you know the way he defines being a conservative and a republican inside his mind is we give as much money as we possibly can to rich people like we we just give all the taxes and we get rid of all the entitlements for people who need help. And there are just no, you know, safety nets in America. That is what being a conservative means. And the fact that people would be disagreeing with that. And I don't I

still don't understand where he thinks the numbers are coming from, like why he thinks anybody would think that's a good idea other than him and the billionaire. So he works for. But, yeah, he just he's never going to get his mind around. I mean, around that idea. Sweet, sweet justice would be the house flipping in November and Paul Ryan losing his gavel. And we get to see him, man, if he got even voted out of office, that would be amazing. But I would love to see him lose his speakership.

Well, because, I mean, when you look at how different counties voted, his county wasn't like plus 20 Trump. It wasn't that high. I think it was plus 11 Trump. So when people are seeing a plus 20 Trump county flip, then it seems like anything can happen. Anybody can go down in this next election. Which is why I think they're panicking that's and even brian kilmeade on fox and friends his tweet was democrat conor lamb's great showing in red district shows dems the way to november success support republican issues right what the fuck are they they're what are they telling like i don't understand how a republican would read this and be like, oh, yeah, OK.

So the Democrats are Republicans now. Yeah. Panicking is uncomfortable. It causes your heart rate to shoot through the roof. Yeah, I think they have to justify it in some way. Right. And nobody likes to panic. And the Democrats were the victim of a little bit of gaslighting themselves in the last 2016 presidential election

and now it's the republicans turn to tell themselves that everything's all right right it's all going to be okay man it was russia that's what they start saying about all right we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds. Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion

became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. I mean, my reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever Bruce Bozzi. On my podcast, Table for Two, we have unforgettable lunch after unforgettable lunch

with the best guest you could possibly ask for. People like David Duchovny. You know, New Yorkers have a reputation of being very tough, but it's not. It's not that way at all. They're very accepting. Jeff Goldblum. Are you saying secret fries? Secret fries.

What? That's what you're saying? Yeah. And Kristen Wiig. I just became so aware that I'm such a loud chewer. My husband's just like, sometimes I'll be eating and he'll just be looking at me. I'm like, I'm just eating. Like, I don't know how else to chew.

Table for Two is a bit different from other interview shows. We sit down at a great restaurant for a meal and the stories start flowing. Our second season is airing right now so you can catch up on our conversations that are intimate, surprising and often hilarious. Listen to Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carrie 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. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts, separated by two months. These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts on his life in less than three weeks.

President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today. And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president. One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson. I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer.

This is Rip Current, available now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Now we have this dude who used to work at the Pentagon who just left his job and was like, yeah, so my job was to monitor UFOs and they weren't taking me seriously enough. So I've left my job. I'm starting this thing with the dude from Blink-182, which makes it sound weird. No, it makes total sense. He's just a really smart guy who has always been about this. And he's like, yeah, no, they're UFOs.

He's always been about this. And he's like, yeah, no, they're UFOs. So in case you thought that they had just been explained away, the Washington Post just had an article that came out that was like the military keeps encountering UFOs. Why doesn't the Pentagon care? former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. And they were like, you know, they have insight into how the Pentagon operates. And the point they were making, which I thought was really smart, is, OK, so let's say they're not aliens. If this is Russia or China, they have technology that is like decades ahead of ours. We need to fucking figure this out. Yeah, that's what's crazy because obviously Sputnik was enough for us to be like, okay, fuck that. We're going to own space. And that created something. But now it's like – it's weird to think that if this is actual technology that another nation is wielding, like, wow, we are really fucking behind.

Yeah. And this was accompanied by another video of a tic-tac-shaped thing like the New York Times article. It's a tic-tac-shaped object that is moving and flying in seemingly impossible ways. flying in seemingly impossible ways and you can hear the like naval aviators like on the thing being like holy shit what the fuck is that uh and they you know because nothing is supposed to be able to move they sounded a little bit too excited for me yeah no they were fucking psyched which i would be too and another reason why this guy had came out with this piece is because he was saying he meets with a lot of people in the military who see this and like they just get kind of like yeah yeah we hear you we hear you we hear you and nothing's really happening uh and that's that is a little concerning because

they've gutted like they apparently they've really have no budget dedicated to this unless it's so secret that they just don't want to talk about it but right i mean i i feel like this is something we need to seriously discuss have you seen the monsters are due on maple street episode of the twilight zone i always have to reference i have not okay well um it was essentially that aliens don't actually have to do anything that we will just destroy ourselves so that's what i would like to think why doesn't the pentagon care because there's so much going on right here that we're like already killing ourselves here so like the aliens don't even have to this is like a bigger picture come fuck us yeah they don't even have to come and fuck us up um also did you see that somebody made

the golden girls theme song over the x files opening did you see that no oh man it's so good we're gonna have to post that wait they like? They took the Golden Girls theme song and put it to the X-Files opening, and it actually works. Wow. That sounds amazing. No, but that is my, like, I don't know. Yeah, I agree that obviously we should be focused on this, but what you're saying makes more sense as far as it being another country here as opposed to actual aliens. Right.

Right. Oh, God. But what I'm saying is if it is actual aliens, I would love the fact that they're just sitting back and watching us destroy ourselves. Right. And they don't have to do anything. Right. I think when Jaquese was here, when this story first came out,

we were saying, like, I think they probably just come watch our planet like it's reality TV. Yeah. They're like, these motherfuckers they're like yeah this motherfucker holy shit this guy is the leader of that that mound of earth yeah uh oh the other thing they're saying is like there's just kind of like a real stigma of being like a the quote-unquote alien guy in the national security bureaucracy like no one really wants to be caping for aliens, but like, what the fuck? Like if you're looking at this, like really this irrefutable evidence, whatever it is, there has to be some kind of legitimate interest put into this. And you can't just be labeled

like a heretic or something. Cause you're concerned. Yeah. But there's such a negative connotation with believing in aliens. I mean, when you look back in history of people that said they got abducted, you know, their anal probing and stuff like that. Those people are normally seen as being crazy. So Kanye is in the news for a couple of reasons. First of all, I guess he's been holed up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is like this, you know, very gorgeous, like lush nature town looks like crazy yeah crazy views of you know uh mountains and yeah the tetons yeah uh and you know he's there for recovery purposes but all

of a sudden all these artists started uh visiting him and we don't know if they're visiting him but a lot of people were posting pics in Jackson Hole, and we can only assume. Travis Scott, The Dream, King Louie, Kanye's cousin, who's featured on a bunch of his albums, Tony Williams, all suddenly are in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is not normally

known for its diversity. That's not the Miami for whatami is for hip-hop like people like right right jackson hole my god right make a lot of white people uncomfortable right uh but no i mean because when he was doing um my beautiful dark twisted fantasy he did the same thing in hawaii right like he made that whole album in hawaii and basically had everyone come to him to do this so i mean, it follows a pattern. He was there, like, I think last year,

but they say there's reporting now that he's there again. And when you couple that with this, I just don't – I'm curious to know what this album sounds like because clearly Pablo was made while he was in the midst of free-falling mentally. Yeah. He was in a manic period. He was – I think he had been – And Yeezus, too, was kind of like that, too.

Yeah. The way he came out to impress for Yeezus it was kind of like that too yeah the way he came out yeah to impress for yeezus was also kind of like yeah so what is he is he actually in recovery right now for is or is that he's just is that a cover i think they've kept it kind of vague yeah like i think maybe there was some drug stuff there was also some bipolar stuff and he like went off his meds and then maybe got into some substances uh but yeah it's been vague like that uh like espn's john skipper's latest interview if anybody's seen that he's like talks all around like what actually happens very very weird uh but that's also a

substance abuse thing but anyways so uh the other reason that we've been talking about Kanye at the office is because somebody released a Kanye madness bracket. As the March Madness brackets came out on Sunday, somebody put out a bracket of Kanye's, what they deemed to be Kanye's 64 best songs pitted against one another. They have it color coded by album, which is really useful. And, you know, I, I appreciate them for doing this because it's a,

it's a great presentation. It's a lot of fun. The conversations we've been having, I just think they're way off base with their taste, but I mean, that's going to happen. That's just going to happen with, you know, something as subjective as music, but in particular, Kanye's music, because there are so many people who are like, I only liked Kanye's first two albums. And that's me. Everything like sucks after that uh i personally have really enjoyed his more recent stuff a lot and

i think the person who created this bracket might be more in line with you might be me yeah the one seeds jesus walks college dropout touch the sky uh-oh uh all falls down and can't tell me nothing is only one that isn't off the first two. Which is off the third. Yeah. Very early. It's all like early, sped up. But then the twos, you know, the twos are also, yeah, I mean, it's, look, all I'm going to say is Last Call wins over everything for me. Personally, I just love, I have an emotional attachment to Last Call.

I can't objectively say it's the best Kanye song, but emotionally it's my favorite. I think it's the best Kanye song, but emotionally it's my favorite. I think it's the most Kanye song. It is the most Kanye, Kanye song because it is him just talking – About himself. About himself over a beat. For eight minutes. Just being – Yeah.

And it's like putting – Yeah. It's just his sort of tireless fascination with himself and like with telling his own story. And it's just such a great beat. Yeah. with himself and like with telling his own story and it's just such a great beat it yeah it is weird looking at it like you it takes you down memory lane like how much kanye has changed you know he's like his music changes so much it's really hard to i like all of this i like everything he's done but yeah it's it's tough to like looking at all falls down i was like god that's a totally different person yeah my 50 seconds of fame and coming next year with the whole fucking game i mean because you know why he's still hungry this is

still humble kanye like as if there were such a thing i mean obviously oh kanye yeah but like he's still obviously gassed up on his own accomplishments but he's still talking like he really has a point to prove now kanye is in the i've proved everything fuck you i'm god which yeah that version resonates less with me than someone who's confident in himself and still has a humility to know that he has things to achieve or is not perfect but talking about the subjectivity and this person hating uh certain kanye projects like uh yeezus which is one of my favorite kanye albums uh the seeding is they only have four songs from it. And Bound 2 is a 10 seed. Black Skinheads is a 13.

New Slaves is an 11. And Blood on the Leaves is a 13. So like, which all seem like classic, classic songs. And they're all treated like underdogs. Wait, you said Yeez is one of your favorites? Yeah. Or is it your favorite? Or Twisted Fantasy is yours?

Probably Twisted Fantasy. But it's up there. What about you, Lamar? Late Registration is probably my favorite. Crack Music is – What is Crack Music? It's number 60. Yeah.

I love the production on Late Registration. Yeah. Because I think John Bryan came on that to help basically be like let me show you how like someone like really produces an album or executive produces an album yeah and yeah you can really feel that touch on like because it was almost the the refined version of college dropout with john bryan on there Yeah. Touch the Sky is a one seed. Heard Him Say is a six seed. I really love that song.

Ultra Light Beams as 12 is a little bit, I feel like it could be higher. Yeah, no. So, and then Pablo, which I also love. Real Friends is a 13 seed. Famous is a 14 seed. Real Friends is a great song by the way. I love that song. And I think to go back to your point of

people of like him sort of like not being hungry anymore it feels like what he's trying to do if i could try to get in his head a little bit he's sort of like using himself as an experiment like with his fame right and like you're because he's his music is sort of starting to mirror his his what he's becoming yeah yeah yeah and it's like uh it's hard to relate to but it's also like interesting to watch him become that person but also rap about that yeah because on real friends he's talking about real like he's kind of he's being very introspective he's like right man like i can already tell people just hit me up for shit that i want i hit people up for shit just when i need something yeah you know i've been potentially extorted by a cousin

right like all that kind of stuff yeah it's that's why i think maybe i think that's one of the reasons why i think i really liked life of pablo is one of his later albums there was like a humanity or not that it like there's a lack of humanity but it felt a little more real or that he was like vulnerable yeah i mean yeah we've all been there when we're having sex with a porn star and she's just bleach her asshole and then it gets on your t-shirt it's like that happened to me last night does that make me an asshole yeah no no don't be too hard on yourself yeah uh but you just fuck right here in the middle of this vogue party shut down the whole party would everybody start fucking i mean i mean would everybody start fucking if that's not a direct quote from me, I mean, I don't know what it is.

What if we fuck here right in the middle of this dinner table? That's a real freestyle because he's just like free associating at that point. He's like, yep. This is real life. We should talk about this living Portlandia sketch that happened. In Oregon. Oregon, Portland. That happened in Oregon, Oregon, Portland. So a man, Alex Lovell, nearly lost his fingers, his life, and he appears to have lost the woman he loved. I'm just reading directly for beating this samurai wannabe crazy lady with hate in her heart, level 29 told the Oregonian in a Facebook message exchange Wednesday.

I've been preparing my whole life for something like this. Now, Jack, what is something like this? Because that was a good lead up, but what are we talking about? So his girlfriend, Emily Javier, 30, attacked and repeatedly slashed him with a samurai sword in his sleep. That is such a very specific thing for him to have been preparing his whole life for. I've prepared to fight an angry girlfriend armed with a samurai sword. Immediately roused from sleep and beat off my girlfriend who was attacking me with a samurai sword immediately roused from sleep and beat off my girlfriend who was attacking me with a samurai sword uh and then it goes into his video game playing habits uh well because this is why right right uh level admits he may spend a bit too much time in front of a computer screen

but he insists he never cheated uh she apparently thought he was cheating and found said she found some hair in the drain of their shower. I don't know how the video games come into it. Well, he was saying he spends like 12 to 13 hours a day. Too much, my man. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's not paying attention to his girls over here training for it. Right, right.

With the samurais. Well, that's what's crazy. So because of that, he's like, well, how could I be cheating? I'm fucking literally playing this video game all day. I can barely see you, let alone another woman. But she found, I guess, a dating app. But he's like, I don't use that shit. Okay, well, I don't know.

You know, whatever. E-athletes or E-thletes can also be players too. Yeah, he said, I wasn't a sweaty nerd. More of an E-athlete. E-thlete. E-thlete. Yeah, yeah. That's dope.

But the thing was, look, do your thing, man. You're going to play 12 to 13 hours. I mean, if your girlfriend's not down with that, you probably shouldn't be dating anyway. But, like, what's crazy is that she had basically, like, prepared for this because they said when they talk about the night when she attacked him, he came home late, ignored her, and she went to the couple's bedroom where she had taped the samurai sword and two knives to her side of the bed. So, a little

premeditated yeah like the end of diehard shit where she has it like taped up so she can just grab it i think everybody in that house is playing too much video games because she's like i'm gonna shinobi this motherfucker samurai sword i have like like fucking you know taped to the my side of the bed but anyway man yeah he woke up to her, you know, attacking him. And he was saying, he's like, I was able to Wing Chun my way to survival. He said he drew on a lifetime of Kung Fu films and martial arts training. Jesus. Bro, you almost died.

Right. It's really weird. It's like he has this whole, like, internet vibe to him. Like, that he just, like, can't break out of. Maybe he didn't check. I don't know. Who would sleep with this guy? Right. I mean, he looks dope. He looks like Shia LaBeouf

and Post Malone mixed together. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's like smiling in his wheelchair, bandaged up. I mean, he could be so jokey internet that he doesn't even know how to properly make sense of an attempt on his own life without being like, yeah, bruh. Wing chug my way out of that one.

What do you mean? You almost lost all your fingers. Yeah, but fucking owned it. So. All right. That's going to do it for this week's weekly Zeitgeist. Please like and review the show if you like the show. Means the world to Miles.

He needs your validation, folks. I hope you're having a great weekend and I will talk to you Monday. Bye. Thank you. So so In California, during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the president of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson.

26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nicknamed Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeartTrue True Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church. Voila! You got straight away. He tried to save everybody.

Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even Lucha Libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. MTV's official Challenge podcast is back for another season.

That's right. The Challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all, and we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Join us as we break down each episode, interview challengers, and

take you behind the scenes of this iconic season. Listen to MTV's official Challenge podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.