The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 255 (Best of 12/5/22-12/9/22)

Episode Date: December 11, 2022

The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 266 (12/5/22-12/9/22)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. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of the Weekly Zeitgeist. These are some of our favorite segments from this week, all edited together into one nonstop infotainment laugh stravaganza uh yeah so without further ado here is the weekly zeitgeist miles yeah we're thrilled a little trepidatious to be joined in our third seat by a brilliant comedian, writer, actor, and twisted motherfucker whose stand-up album,

the Blake album, Stuffed Boy, and Live From the Pandemic debuted at number one on iTunes and Amazon. His album, 12 Years of Voicemails from Todd Glass to Blake Wexler, charted on Billboard. Please welcome the hilarious, the chaotic, he's riding a recumbent bike in short shorts and

his plumpers are on full display it's blake wexler hey guys thank you for having me this is blake wexler aka zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder day zyder Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Sites All Sight. That is not from Paul Garabenta. That's from me. I revert that. It is titled Saturday, Sites All Sight for Sighting. That's one of those songs now that I've heard it a bunch of times it doesn't strike me as much, but the first time I heard it

I'm like, this guy's just screaming Saturday over and over again. What the fuck?'s happening here someone remixed that uh like in the air tonight where with the with the drum where it's like but they looped it over and over and over again for like four minutes where it just never ends i wonder if someone could do that Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday

Just trying different Emphasises Is it like oh wait Has someone made it No The internet No someone did one for 21 pilots Saturday

Is there a different one Did somebody remake the 21 pilots saturday one hour different one is there did somebody remake the 21 pilots one jack we're talking about elton john's version oh okay yeah because you know with that one you're talking about like when people always do whatever for 10 hours is kind of like this that like youtube format just like just like when people do like i know i, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, where is it we're we're 19 minutes in 19 minutes yeah yeah an hour and 45 minutes in you still think you're gonna come in and change it at some point right like you still hold out

hope the best is the visuals to the video it's a non-ending loop of just like a infinite going into elton john's mouth zoom just 10 we probably can't even 10 hours long that youtube video is um look i'm just gonna say say it up top i was against having bl Blake on today. Yeah, I know. Our podcast. We were going to have Henry Kissinger on. Yeah. And our podcast is just recovering from the last time Blake was here and referred to his legs as plumpers. Sure.

Henry and I have the same agent. And I often get his bookings when he can't make them, which is frequently. He's not well, if you haven't noticed, I loved your talk at Davos. It was fantastic. I was so really put things in perspective. Yeah. Yeah.

Great delivery. It's like, no, it's not our fault. You're right. It's not. Why are they hating? Cause we have money.

I don't get it guys. Right. Oh, jealousy. Is that maybe ever heard of it? Thank you. Anyways, Blake, it's great. It's great to have you back. Is that maybe? Ever heard of it? Thank you. Anyways, Blake.

It's great to have you back. It's great to be back. Blake, did you see Shaq get pushed into the Christmas tree? Oh yeah, that's what we were talking about before we started recording. I said, the people crave this content. We need to talk about it online.

For people who don't know, on Inside the NBA, there was a foot race where Kenny shoved fucking Shaq into probably a 20-foot Christmas tree. They're running. They go shoulder to shoulder. Shaq goes head first into this

fucking Christmas and vanishes into it because it's so big. By falling into the Christmas tree instead of continuing to move unimpeded, uh, that Christmas tree saved three lives because if you had just like gone off, off stage into like people working behind the scenes,

they, they would have been crushed. I'm surprised Shaq hasn't given himself the nickname of the vociferous coniferous yet after falling into that tree. given himself the nickname the vociferous coniferous yet after falling into that tree i think there's nothing more objectively funny than a person falling into a tree because you think it would be painful but you do get absorbed by the the pot yeah there's something about what like someone that big like running at full because it feels very childish because they're just racing to the other end of the studio and Kenny Smith just gives them the

shoulder to shoulder here. You just see his feet sticking out. It looks like in Wizard of Oz when the house lands on her. His feet are just sticking out from the bottom. Toes up. I think I would be screaming. Maybe he would have been it were we not on um

not on tv maybe he would have been just going ow ow ow ow ow but he he held it in there was this guy who would hang out in the valley his name was christmas tree mike and he got that name because he was always jumping into christmas trees see this is the thing like keifer sutherland did it in that one video and it's like one of the greatest videos of just drunken uh madness that i've ever seen now shack getting pushed into one like this feels like a thing that just diving into christmas trees might its time might be coming uh and apparently it already was with Christmas. Is that like our new way of like pushing back against like creeping theocracy?

Yes. Oh, hold on. I just, I haven't seen the Kiefer Sutherland one in a while. Yeah. What is he like at a hotel lobby? You a pirate man.

That would explain everything. Oh, just take that fucker down. Take the tree down. He kind of dives. It's not a satisfying guy. He dives with his hands like straight up. That would explain everything. Oh, just take that fucker down. Take the tree down. He kind of dives. It's not a satisfying dive. He dives with his hands straight up. You want to full arm and leg wrap around the trunk.

Not to be underrated is the guy saying, Kiefer, you're a pirate man. And Kiefer responding, that would explain everything. Yeah, that would explain everything. It would. Yeah. That would explain everything. you ever seen him out in la drunk i haven't but i know a lot of people who have yeah that's like another la story people would

you'd you sort of like have is like back in the early aughts was like you'd always probably intersect with andy dick doing something absolutely ridiculous or illegal and then the other one was keifer sutherland. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, Brian came in the chat. Yup.

I know, dude, if you were hanging around the fucking canters on Fairfax, you definitely were running into Andy Dick because that's where I always saw him. I've seen him there. Yeah. It's crazy. Like,

yo, that washed up dude is there like eight times out of 10. I guess, I guess i'm just gonna get touched inappropriately while i eat a grilled cheese sandwich at one o'clock in the morning my my friend got in a car my friend got in a car with andy dick around the time he was like 20 years old and he was like very much starstruck by like being like hey you want to go to a party with us and he got in like this like p got in this Porsche with two other dudes, and then he got out immediately.

And we're like, oh. It became very lecherous and predatory very quickly. Yeah. This is what you're missing out by, by not living in LA, the rest of America. Yeah, I miss it. I miss that more than anything else.

Not the friendship. Hey, at least you get water ice now. I miss that more than anything else. Not the friendship. Hey, at least you get water ice now. I'll miss you most of all. A little Wizard of Oz reference for the kids. For the kids. What is something from your search histories that is revealing about who you are? Catherine, you want to start us off? Sure. I looked and I was like, what's sort of weird and illuminating here? Horse head bumper.

Horse head bumper. Yeah, was one. So I'm a horse mom. That's how you like to greet them? With a little head bump? A little head bump. It's like a little thing that they wear on their head if they have to travel. So that if they freak out, which he does, and fling their head in the air, they don't also split their skull open.

So it's like a little, it's like a really dorky kind of like thick leather Pope cap is kind of how it looks. Which Pope cap? Because Pope hats can get pretty wild. Oh, yeah. I'm thinking like, you know, the curvy one. The little curvy one. Yeah. Yeah.

That is a good point. The more modest popette. Yeah. There might be some really interesting directions to take horse bumpers in the whole popette variety. Yeah. The poofra. Yeah.

I feel like I haven't seen the big, good popette in a while. The one that's just not really like any other hat that has ever been worn by anyone else. It's just the size of a large basket, like a clothing hamper on top of someone's head. I don't know why that's what I went with. Holding in all that hair. For some reason, this is making me wonder how the Pope feels about White Lotus and if he's

been watching this season. Huge fan, I'd imagine. Maybe if he'll appear in the finale. These are all questions that are now coming up for me. Yeah. There's a lot of religious art in there, so who knows? How about you, Leah? What's something from your search history

that's revealing about who you are? Well, one of the most recent things I searched was Mistress America trailer, which is a movie directed by Greta Gerwig. I was reading a long profile about her. And the secret to my productivity is that I don't really watch movies. I watch movie trailers. And so on any given day i'm searching a trailer i mean most movie trailers give you the entire story in like two and a half minutes and then you're done you don't really have to watch the movie so they're so emotional they pack all those emotions in there why don't we have like best trailer awards at the oscars i've asked this question many times a brilliant observation something desperately needed and not enough credit given to those trailer cutters.

Right? Yeah. Exactly. They're the unsung heroes of our time, really. Thank you. Yeah. Are they the same people who do like the emotional sports video stories like for the Olympics? You know, those little like, they take you on that same emotional roller coaster in two and a half minutes before the next like hundred meter, whatever.

Yeah. Just make you weep. I'm such a baby for those. They make me cry every single time. I love an emotional Olympic story. Yeah. Micro emotional roller coaster. Yes.

That's like a professional skill set. I just looked at the runtime for Avatar avatar 2 the way of the water and it is like not it is not a number that i've ever seen as a run time before well yeah but they didn't do it it was like 190 something minutes oh wow so three hours 10 yeah three hours that's a boy they don't want you to know. They're like, maybe you can't do the math. Yeah, this dumb dumb can't do math. He'll just go to the movie. But I'm excited to see that.

But less, a little less excited. I might just watch the trailer a number of times. I know, right? Just, I mean, you're going to find out the whole plot, who dies, what the romance is. I mean, you just need two and a half minutes. There you go. How was the Greta Gerwig trailer?

It was great. I mean, I love Greta Gerwig. I should probably actually watch the movie. Like, that is something that I should maybe give time to. But, you know,

what I did give time to was the extremely long profile about her. So I have time to read. I just don't always have time to watch, you know, two-hour movies. I mean, God bless.

You are far more enriched for it, for giving time to reading more than watching. Like, props to you on that to you on that one gold star gold i'm like the last person in america who still reads it apparently so this is not the barbie movie that we've been no but it was about the barbie movie and did you see those stills they were were amazing. Oh, my God. I mean, the stills have been incredible. But Greta Gerwig has another more serious film dropping before that. No, no, it's actually old. I mean, why would you think I'm up to speed on culture here?

Mistress America is old. It's old. Yeah. Just to be clear. I'm not watching current trailers, okay? I'm not that hip. Cutting edge, watching current trailers, okay? I'm not that hip. Cutting edge, watching current trailers. Watching trailers from seven years ago.

That is what I do with my time, yes. Okay, cool. What is something you think is overrated? Voice memos. I don't know if, like, for me, like, voice memos feel really overrated. Like, unless it's just, like, a sweet, like, hey, think of you, or just going to say something stupid and fun. If we're having a whole conversation over voice memos, it's freaking hard to keep track for me. And then I can't go back and reference.

Yeah, just call me. I'm like, either text me or just call me. I want one or the other, but it's weird in between. When I have voice memos, it used to happen in two ways. On iMessage, like on your phone, people send voice notes. That's usually how drug dealers talk to each other. So there's no real texts. You just send these ethereal voice notes to, you know, to coordinate things.

Yes. And then, but then I also have a version where like i talk to people that live abroad on whatsapp and all that is straight voice memo conversations from people especially like i know a lot like there are people i talk to in like costa rica or like africa and stuff and they just hit you with a two minute and a half yes voice memo and i'm like yeah yeah yeah and it's like it's like for example for us like being like mexican and then having a lot of latin american friends and like also like my french sister was like here's the three different voice memos back to back which are each like three minute long things right and i'm just like oh my

god like i love it and i'm glad that whatsapp at least i can like go back and listen to it but there's still no mode to like fast forward. Yeah, like scrub to the right. Yeah. And I'm like, so if I've listened and then I had to pause and then it closes for some reason. And with iMessage, it's like the moment you pause it, it starts back from the beginning. Right. Here's a little podcast I made for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I get it too. Like it is hard because when you're abroad, right, the time zones, you don't know if you're going to actually call each other on the phone. So I understand the impulse to be like, let me send you my voice and then you send your voice back. So then it kind of feels like we're just connecting a little bit deeper than text. But like, when I got married, I had a cousin send me, no joke, a seven minute voice message about my wedding. And I was like, this is a lot to listen to like and that i'm like that's both really sweet and endearing and i'm glad you have it now but then i'm also like yeah i've gotten 12 minute ones before yeah and i'm like i love it i really do but

when i have then also what's ridiculous is when you go back and forth and you're like we're clearly in this chat at the same time we're clearly here together yeah let's use the terrible phone function on it instead yeah is the phone function terrible on like what's like a bit of a delay yeah yeah that's all yeah yeah it's also bad when like if you said a voice memo or if you're getting a voice memo and it transcribes for you and they've gotten good at transcribing. So like they're getting the words right. But like I've never felt stupider than like seeing my words transcribed because there's pauses. There's like and just like what is happening this. I would rather have just texted this straight and had the delete function. Then, yeah, there's always a chance you'll be transcribed.

And that's not good for anyone. Usually, unless you speak in complete sentences like some sort of freak. Gabe, what's something you think is underrated? I've been thinking about this a lot Because I've been trying to like give myself a nice Routine in life and If I'm thriving if I'm Like firing at all cylinders I'm eating fruit

Every day and we're not talking About fruit enough Fresh fruit give me some fruit man All the time fire them off Rattle them off oh I'm having bananas I'm having blueberries today I just had some Pineapple and uh oh i'm crushing it here i don't care all seasons who cares give me more fruit feeling good yeah pineapple peak pineapple when it's like at its most ripe is my favorite fruit i think it's i don't even know can we call that fruit

it's so delicious it's so fucking sweet i'm like there's no fucking way this is like that we can call this a like a healthy thing to eat because like yeah i'm starting to see like streaks of light in my like line of vision from how sweet it is also my favorite like uh fake flavor like i think they've mostly nailed pineapple in like gum and shit like that. Like, it generally is fruit. I guess there's not a lot of, like, pineapple candy. But I do tend to enjoy a lot of pineapple gum and pineapple flavored things.

Blueberries, year round, they're never that bad. I agree. We've been talking a lot about apples on this podcast but i think i think we should spend some time on bananas bananas are fucking delicious and i don't like them you don't like bananas no i mean we've talked about to make my throat itch oh yeah that's right you have you might be allergic yeah yeah yeah yeah that's all that's right justin's allergic too yeah but i eat but i have the same thing with avocados. It's like those high potassium foods.

They, like, trigger little things in my throat or, like, my lip. But avocados, I fucking fight. I'm like, I don't give a fuck. Those of us who can enjoy them, bananas are a real blessing. Real, real mitzvah. Yeah. I feel like we, yeah. They make me think of Tiger woods because it's like a

thing he'll eat right before he like wins a golf tournament yeah what's he doing he's like walking to the last hole and he's just like pounding a banana i'm like oh i guess that's what you're supposed to eat yeah i bring it for my kids anytime i need to like give them a snack it's like the easiest thing like it's it's so good they're a fruit that is creamy like there's not are there other fruits that are creamy but like if you're like doing a doing a uh smoothie like there's such a good base that adds it's like would you put like ice cream in this nope just bananas it's yeah i guess guava is a good creamy replacement according to super producer justin but and i i heard people like the organic

people the people who people who are worried about their food, which we just talked a lot about Taco Bell. I can't imagine that's any of us. But the skin is super thick. So it's not one of those foods. When you eat an apple, the skin has just been rolling around in the truck for four years. But a banana is protected.

So it's pretty safe even for the... I mean, I get the organic. I spend the the 20 cents but yeah it's like an armadillo it's got a thick skin on it you know there's nothing getting through there yeah i i am very suspicious of the amount of like really glossy apple skins that i've consumed like that look like they were buffed out with like car wax it's like come on they shouldn't look that good but every day of the year they look the. It's like, come on. They shouldn't look that good. Every day of the year, they look the same.

It's like something's wrong. There used to be. Food used to go bad. It was okay. Amazing. All right. Well, let's take a quick break. And we'll be right back to talk about some of the things that are happening elsewhere in the world.

some of the things that are happening elsewhere in the world. 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 L.A.-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. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes! Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do. Like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote.

What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 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? 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 the Georgia runoff is in full swing as of this recording. in full swing as of this recording and it's i mean it's look at so the big headline that we're seeing everywhere is that like the record-breaking vote turnout right early vote turnout and you know just from people who are standing in the lines like it's it seems like a remarkably and by design inefficient voting system. Oh, yeah. Just a lot of people voting. But it seems like they're voting in response to the voter suppression that people were trying to enact.

Yeah. So like after Trump was screaming about how the 2020 election was rigged, a lot of state legislatures like just cooked up some wacky voter suppression bills to be like, and that's how we're going to protect, like using the voter integrity wave to just bring in all this new voter suppression. Well, that bill in Georgia shortened the period between the general election and a runoff. So while also restricting the ability to register new voters in that period, and a lot of it seems to be like helping Democrats inadvertently, I think because the shortened time has led to a lot of people just turning out in droves because of like just generally the condensed time frame. In previous elections, Democrats, they struggled in runoffs to motivate voters to return to the

polls. But again, this shortened period seems to have enabled like Warnock's campaign to sort of continue the momentum from November, while the Republicans were just trying to sue their way out of this and being like, can we not actually have early voting the weekend before or like right after Thanksgiving, have it start then that would be bad. And then the judge was like, no, sorry, that that doesn't make any legal sense. So the early voting, you know, will commence then. And since then, we're just seeing like Republicans slowly start to be like, oh, yeah, maybe maybe maybe this one isn't that winnable. But it's also worth mentioning the whole runoff system in Georgia was put in place, you know, originally to dilute the voting power of black voters in the state, because the idea

being that working class black voters in places like Fulton County, they wouldn't necessarily be able to go to vote again on a Tuesday, like since they have their own obligations. And so even despite all of that, you're seeing a lot of this turnout, who knows where it's, you know, where it could lead. I mean, the poll said that Warnock had a slim lead, but you know, well, we believe things when we see them in this day and age and while all this is happening like they're the republicans are kind of retreating like barely anyone was campaigning for him and he's hardly done any real campaigning himself and the email for the election night gathering was described as an election night party when typically a confident

campaign would call it a victory celebration they're like join us for the victory celebration they said they might as well have been like yeah yeah we're gonna have the game on on tuesday if you want to stop by sort of like the energy from that email so you know and while all and then again on top of this we have grifting like trump and Senator Mike Lee in Utah and other Republicans are just using this runoff to fill their own coffers. They're sending emails talking about like, help us. Like Mike Lee sent one that said, quote, Warnock has been drastically outracing Herschel Walker and we have to pick up the pace. Please rush a generous contribution to help finish the job and pull off a huge win for Herschel. The thing is. Finish the job and pull off a huge win for Herschel. The thing is...

Finish the job. Yeah, right, exactly. Take him out back because this man is... He doesn't even know what office he's running for half the time. Senator Mike Lee, if you look at the fine print, he was keeping 50% of what was donated for himself. And then Trump was also doing this. This dude was keeping 90% of what was donated for himself and then trump was also doing this this dude was keeping 90 of what was donated for

himself and the other 10 would go to herschel walker on and then even worse and then when people were like yo 90 he slowly went down like a 50 50 split after getting called out then the niche the nrsc the national republican senator Campaign, these are the people who are in charge of, like, the Senate races for the Republican Party. They were keeping 99 cents of every dollar donated. So it's just, like, it's wild to see the levels of just, like, all kinds, like, just how race is playing out in so many ways. Like, the runoff itself is, like, a relic of, like, a tool of white supremacy.

The Republicans thinking that, like, black candidates are interchangeable to voters wow like okay the new like the lack of nuance or it's just the ignorance there and then like the extraction of capital like off the back of his campaign to benefit mostly white republics it's like it has it all folks this has it all so we'll see but i mean the the democrats already have their majority either way. But this is it's something else to look at. Wow. Ninety nine cents of every dollar.

That's that's wild. It's the whole I mean, that whole apparatus, like all the all the fundraising that Trump was doing in the aftermath of the last election and like not doing anything with that money like just building up his own personal quote-unquote war chest is it feels like something people are like that's crazy and then we just kind of moved on from but yeah it's straight up grifting the people that he's relying on to come out and vote for votes well for 2024 i must say is the republican party just going to crash and burn in a pile of grift yeah i mean it feels like it because like already there's infighting because marjorie taylor green denounced nick fuentes so now like the super far right that even had her back is now like oh she's a chump like right like getting mad at her you're like yo you can't make this

this whole group of people happy like yeah like it's just it's it's going to be interesting i mean i think that's why it's interesting to also see desantis's whole like strategy in 2024 which his whole thing is like he's trying to say as little as possible and trying to let trump do as much damage to himself before they start like trading shots and that's really the one i'm really willing to see if trump is able to just bully everyone into being like okay fine you're the fucking nominee like you know or if they're gonna try and and find a different strategy but i don't know the one thing with the the republicans is they're not very elastic no they're not very elastic.

No. Well, they are when it comes to white supremacy and letting, you know, far right white supremacists and Nazis into the party. They will stretch the shit out of the tent in that direction. They can bend that way. Sure, sure, sure. Yes. But that's one thing they can do. That's one thing they do well that the Democrats don't do is they can make people in their party fall into line around the points and the democrats are allergic to that the democrats i feel like aren't aligned with what the people who end up voting for them actually want whereas the republicans they're like yeah yeah we just don't say that shit out loud but we actually want the thing that you are voting for and that like you you want, like, ultimately, they're aligned with their base. And the Democrats are have to, like, remain. I don't know if it's even have to or want to, but they're ultimately beholden to, you know, corporations. And so you can't even really compare the two parties because the Democrats are like a corporate machine that is just doing the bidding of like unseen, unspeaking, like ultimately the most powerful people in the party. and they have this base that they have to like pretend like they're doing the bidding of whereas the republicans i think have the the advantage of at least they the courage of their convictions which are you know being being white supremacists exploiting like white grievance politics yeah

yeah because that is like a thing they're like yo look we all get it right we're mad about this okay we can move forward where yeah it's, look, we all get it, right? We're mad about this. Okay. We can move forward. Where, yeah, it's hard for Democrats to be like, we get it. Working people need support. And we need to stand by the unions in order to fight their employers for a better wage and cut to that railroad. Yeah. Unless they threaten the line go up. Yeah.

That ultimately they care about the line go up. I wonder if like eventually they're like, look, y y'all we'll try and get you health care if you can figure out a way for y'all to have health care and make line go up right if you can do that then sure like we're all ears but everything y'all are talking about means line goes down for people we fuck with and that's you know this can't happen baby all right well speaking of systemic problems yeah want to kind of continue talking to you cerise about just you know you've been reporting for years now of just this systemic problem of unaccountable police violence in los angeles and the similarity of the stories is shocking like each one is this cataclysmic failure of human rights and of just you know any sort of anything that anyone would think of as a

civilized family like it's just but over and over again you know the police or the sheriffs shoot or maim someone many times in front of their family. The person in question is often, you know, having a mental health crisis or doing some nonviolent offense like dealing marijuana. There's also, you know, an epidemic that you highlight of like brutal beating of people in prison, like to death or near death while handcuffed. And if the person isn't immediately killed, they often leave them to die with no medical attention, oftentimes, again, in front of their loved ones.

And then the officers make up a lie, not like many times, not even really attempting to make it believable. Like they'll plant a gun that doesn't even match their report. Yeah, or they won't't it'll be a ghost gun yeah yeah but they'll be like yeah it was a black gun and then the gun they plan is a chrome gun and they're just like oh yeah you got us because the lie they don't even have to like do a meticulous job of lying because when they get caught they just get sued for millions of dollars that comes from taxpayers like taxpayers pay for their fuck-ups and then you know it's not not only is

it not addressed at a systemic level the officers in question are either like left to continue doing the same job and like oftentimes kill other people or made to retire and collect like huge pensions again paid for by taxpayers and it's just i don't know it's really startling to you know read it in your original piece and hear it you know in your reporting in the podcast just like laid out side by side that like there's just nothing being done over and over and over again and yeah i mean i i don't know like we're we're also seeing like how do you think you you've you're you've done so much amazing like detailed reporting about los angeles do you hear from people in other parts of the country

saying that they see similar things happening where they are? Oh, yes, overwhelmingly so. I've heard from people, and I want to say 20 different states that have either been victims of what they believe to be police gang violence or even i've heard from police officers that reach out to me and say i am really concerned about what i think is a gang within my department right yeah is it like just operating pretty much in like the exact same way like they have they have like like there's semiotics their symbolism, they have tattoos or whatever names. It's not just sort of like, oh, that station is kind of out of control. Like they have a like identity as well.

They do. Yeah, they're they're doing activities that meet. Well, what we have in the California Penal Code as the standard of the gang, which is three or more people. They have a common name or unifying symbol or hand gesture. They are committing criminal offenses and they are doing that in order to further the reputation of the gang. Yeah. Do you think it's like, I feel like it's just like any social setting, like that, that people get in groups or whatever. And in this case, when you have people who are armed and can just kill with impunity, like that, like that almost that this gang thing is probably it's safe to believe that

more than not, it's probably existing in someone's city. I would say so. Yeah. I mean, there's definitely corruption happening in your city. That's not unique to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The tactics that are used by the LASD I've seen repeated across the country. And there are lots of stories by other journalists that break down these tactics that completely mirror what we're seeing in Los Angeles. that completely mirror what we're seeing in Los Angeles.

What's happening in the L.A. County Sheriff's Department with deputy gangs, it's probably the most well-known gang issue, but it certainly isn't the only one. Yeah. Really, the just lack of accountability and they feel like drunk on power. Sometimes they're just drunk, but just doing whatever the fuck they want.

It feels like a fraternity or, you know, like some Ivy League school full of rich kids who've just never seen a consequence in their life because there's just this institutional knowledge that they can get away with fucking anything they want and the the only thing that they seem motivated by is not keeping anyone safe but insisting on their own right to basically kill people at will like that's the thing that seems to really motivate them is when that is threatened when that's questioned they really seem to get that. That's when they come together and do a lot of damage is anytime they feel like somebody is going to criticize them or make it so that systemic advantage is not there for them. Right. Exactly.

There's a quote, I think, in the Jump Out Boys episode where they they're like booklet. They're like gang book defines them as alpha dogs who think and act like the wolf, but never become the wolf, which I don't know if it's like an overt reference or if it's just heavily influenced by the teachings of David Grossman, who we've talked about on this show but he's this former army ranger who goes around like teaching cops to think about the places they police as enemy territory and that's like warrior mentality right yeah warrior mentality his his uh quote unquote science is called killology and he's basically yeah he's he calls himself america's top police trainer and that sounds like he's like bragging, but he teaches, you know, countless police forces to marine training, this, you know, like just like you gotta have the wolf mentality and like because there's wolves and we're sheepdogs but we have to be able to think it gets very complicated and like you need a fucking flow chart to like know who's the sheepdog and who's the wolf and when you're acting like a wolf but you're a sheep and wolf's clothing and all this shit but ultimately his belief like for instance with the black lives matter protests

his state of belief is that they need to be more prepared to use force because of the black lives matter protests because you know he he was a big spreader of the lie that like the black lives matter protesters were trying to kill cops which you know comes up in your show that like that's just a thing that they really want to fucking believe and have no support for that like when people are protesting them that they're actually trying to harm them yeah what's the mentality like cerise like because we've seen clips where you know like people interview cops like john bernthal on his podcast he asked like this other cop. He's like, where do you think all this police reform stuff's coming from, man?

Like, what do you think? This is a dead on impersonation. That's literally what he said in that thing. We're like, yo, what, sir? How like, you know, like with the added scrutiny with like, like reporting like yours and things like that. Is there even awareness within the departments like that they're like hey maybe we need to tone it down or are they completely like

on some like self-righteous shit where they're like no no not like these people are tripped these people are tripped most most police officers that i speak to are very in favor of reform of oversight a few of them even say that they need less money in the department that's another sentiment i hear a lot they won't use the words defund the police but they will say we do not need a budget we don't need more money yeah i mean they say we don't need more we do not need more money and we certainly don't need all the money that we're getting and yeah i and that and that's police officers that i speak to across the political spectrum democrats republicans they all for the most part agree that yeah there is a huge issue going on we do need more accountability we need more oversight that is not coming from inside the

sheriff's department it needs to be an outside third party and yes we could do with less money and we should do it with less money yeah it's almost unbelievable it is some of them even say we should get rid of the department and that's coming from both sides of the political spectrum as well is that because they're saying like i'm not sure what good we're doing anymore or exactly oh they think they think that they're doing more harm than good and they think that the department is so far gone that it can't be saved. Yeah, it seems like a lot of the police that you interview are former police officers. They have this experience up close with like detailed, you know, just seeing the corruption, encountering like what happens when someone tries to address the corruption. And yeah, that like it's understandable that they're like, I don't know, this is this is hopeless. Yeah. Like, how do you feel with Robert Luna coming in, in terms of, you know, like his potential to, you know, obviously be somewhat better than Villanueva? you know, obviously be somewhat better than Villanueva.

Yeah, the bar is really on the floor there. Yeah, I think Robert Luna would have to do a lot of really truly awful shit to get on really anyone's bad side at this point. Yeah, I'm hopeful that, you know, we can see a return to normalcy in the sheriff's department. And we've already seen that. I mean, I've never, I don't think there would be a chance in hell in the prior four years for me to interview Sheriff Alex Villanueva,

but I was able to interview now Sheriff Luna, which, you know, Sheriff Villanueva, like, bounced me out of his press conferences. Yeah. So that's already, that's pretty out of his press conferences. Yeah. So that's, that's already, that's pretty positive. He's willing to speak. So yeah,

that's right. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, we'll see, we'll see what happens. I,

I don't think that, you know, he single-handedly can eliminate the deputy gang issue in four years. I mean, it's, it's a 50-year problem and he's one man. And I think that he understands that it's a deeply entrenched issue that's going to take, you know, some serious overhaul. And I'm excited to see, you know, what the Luna administration is going to look like and what it means to have Robert Luna as the sheriff of Los Angeles County. Yeah. I mean, Villanueva came to power on like as a quote unquote progressive Democrat, but he like your podcast like really exposed the like he was

connected already to like Kevin de Leon and like some of some of these people who have now been outed as white supremacists so it's this deeply entrenched you know problem so that was like i guess something that was making me feel less hopeful about luna is like well vienna wave came in and was claiming that he was going to reform things and he was like worse and like created more of a problem and so what's to be different about this guy and it does seem like there's a difference because of your reporting and because of you know some of the systemic white supremacy that's being exposed just throughout the political machine in los angeles and much more much more to be exposed, unfortunately. Yeah, right? Of course. Yeah.

All right. Let's take a quick break and then we'll come back and talk about some, that AI selfie art app that everyone's buying. 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 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.

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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

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culture listen to naked sports on the black effect podcast network iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast the black effect podcast network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back. And let's talk about your podcast, Maria. Let's talk about When You're Invisible. Yeah. Because your first episode dropped last week, I think. It did.

And episode two just dropped today. Yeah. Or yesterday. So in your first episode, you interview someone named ralph who works at an ivy league package center and it's columbia university you went to columbia that's how you kind of met him and he he talks about growing up in washington heights and then like coming to this ivy league campus with its like beautifully manicured lawns and old buildings and i think he said something like why why didn't i even know that this existed yeah yeah where was this but you specifically use the phrase working class in the intro to when you're invisible and you know like

i mentioned up top america has this pervasive myth that class doesn't exist because you're always just like one break away from being a millionaire and i think i think an idea that your first couple episodes get at is that you know that that is not true and also like when you are in the working class a lot of times people treat you as if you're invisible, like some of the behaviors that they describe. I think it was the guest of the second episode was talking about like a girl not getting the package she wanted, a student at Columbia not getting the package she wanted as quickly as possible. as quickly as possible and just laying on the ground, plugging her ears and like screaming at the top of her lungs until just being like, la la la la. Yeah. Yeah.

No, their stories are insane. Like even one that we didn't get to include for Ralph was like, he was like, there's these turnstiles to get into the building from the street where the package center is. And it's the big turnstiles like the full body bar one yeah and apparently there was a student who started going in the

opposite direction and the bars weren't moving because there's only one that like you push and you go through the open hole but the other side is just bar bar bar, bar, bar, bar. So she like gets to the bars, is noticing it's not moving, starts sticking her arms through it to try and see if she can like somehow finagle getting in. Wait, you're talking about the fixed side of a rotating door where the metal bars go underneath the other metal bars? Yes, exactly. She thought, okay, go on. And he like, he's like watching her and he goes excuse me other side and she like but he was like she full-on committed like had gotten like one full arm like trying to get through yeah that sounds like me when i'm too high though for

to be fair like just like coming to a thing being laser focused on like okay there must be some yeah right and i think it's like that laser focus that commitment that like and ralph even says that he's like you know she might just cure cancer with that level of energy it just like didn't didn't translate into like everyday things right yeah or just like yeah the little things in which like they they would often say it's like they'd often get a student who would be like what what like do you not know who i am do you not know who my parents are rather than just being like what's the logical thing that's happening right now and like are there people really actually trying to make my day harder just being like, what's the logical thing that's happening right now? And I'm like, are there people really actually trying to make my day harder versus being like, do you know how many packages we get and how we have to do this legally because to tamper with someone else's mail is actually punishable in our law?

Yeah. like punishable in our life so all of these like different factors and also just because like honestly they made like the package center home for so many of us and like a lot of us didn't know about each other like the students that actually like felt really connected to this group of people and like the more i talked to ralph and louis they would always be like oh yeah yeah this person stopped by and i was like there's other people like one that's awesome but also like crazy that it's it's not really a known or commonplace thing of like oh we all just hang out together like if you work here if you go here we all hang out and that there isn't this like marked difference uh that came into play and And I think for me,

there were a lot of great students there. Don't get me wrong, professors, students, there were a lot of incredible people. But you are met with a lot of different kinds of people and people where you're like, oh, doing your own stuff or doing things that... I'm trying to think of specific examples like for example like laundry for a kid for kids like a lot of them would outsource it

either have someone who their family hired or they would get a service to do that a lot of people who had tutors even throughout college where it's like yeah this person helps me perfect my papers and you're just like what i'm like my papers yeah yeah and you'd be like oh and you're already so brilliant in my brain like there was a level of just like understanding and how the world worked and also i i met people firsthand where they were like upfront and ruthless about like i want to make money. And that is the only thing I want to do in life. And like the way they related to other people was actually very much through that lens only.

And that was very different than what I'd come from. So for me, experiencing that wide range of humanity was fascinating. And then to hear it firsthand from people who were workers at that school like was really interesting and especially because they are really great people they are really wonderful yeah he talks about how he like wasn't being paid overtime but he stayed up and like did overnights at the package center because it was at a time when like the books were being distributed and like he was like well these students need their books and just like he has this in addition to just sounding like the most fun person he's like yeah if you're around me

like you're gonna have fun i'm yeah i can't help it like that's just what's gonna happen but also just like so firmly aware of the social contract that we're all supposed to uphold to like one another. And he holds himself to a high standard when it comes to helping people. who like went right into finance and you know some good really nice good people who went into finance and then a lot of like shitty people who who went right into finance but like the just more and more we're seeing with those kind of higher ruling classes like the more panama papers leak the more we learn that they're not holding themselves to like any environmental standards when, you know, the energy companies have known, the oil companies have known about climate change since before anyone, like they're not holding themselves to a standard that upholds

the social contract to not just egregiously violate other people's human rights. Like that, that felt like it was like really on display in a, in a powerful way in your show. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is partially why I wanted this show to exist is just some of the

people who uphold that contract the most are people who are like, to me, like working class folks or, or folks who are struggling. Cause like working class folks or or folks who are struggling because like it's very community-based and and also it's a practice of every day and I think like sometimes as you climb the ladder like there's this this like I don't have to uphold it today or like if I don't if I don't do what this person is asking me to do like then i lose everything i've been trying to build and you're like but how much are you actually losing versus the idea in your head of what you're losing and then you become then then you allow that to continue slipping slipping

slipping and then there's also people who are just like straight up villainous in this world straight up villainous in this world. And I think to me too, with seeing how those levels operate sometimes, I just want to continue connecting people to each other and being like, you're actually not that different or you are very different, but you can maintain love and compassion. And also like, heck yeah, I have your back like i want to have your back and guess what actually if we do understand each other better if we do connect we can be like be against all odds and change something we're seeing it like to me we're seeing it with the rise of unions again right and yeah and the labor movement and like being able to connect back to that and being like yeah like we we can like believe in the best of people especially like people who are actually like proving themselves to

be working towards that on an everyday basis right i i do think it's underrated how thoroughly the culture what as you said, as you climb the ladder, the more you see a culture that is just completely divorced from any consideration of the social contract. I think that's something people will continue to be shocked by. You see it with the Panama Papers and things like that. Like, you know, you see it with the Panama Papers and things like that. But, you know, I'm so glad your podcast exists to kind of have that come out, you know, more and more as you interview some of these voices. Yeah.

Aren't heard. So the first two episodes were kind of take place inside the Package Center. Where are you taking it from here? So actually, what's actually going to be really interesting in conversation to this conversation to see is my third episode is specifically talking to someone who has worked in household staffing for the wealthy of new york city yeah and like so there's some really crazy stories in it. And also the complicated conversation of like my podcast is is a short on the shorter side right now. And eventually, you know, we'd love to continue it to make it like hour long further because like it's such an interesting conversation to be like there are people who walk into these homes and don't have any protection whatsoever. And depending on your class, your immigration status, your education, all of these things like factor into how you're treated at times.

And that, yeah, there are really good people out there. There are for sure. But like what's really complicated is like when you start to see the grades of and then the really dark parts of it, where you're like, it doesn't matter that there are good people if someone can be treated this way when they walk into a home and on the day to day wherelement that can happen even to good people or decent people where it's like because i've earned this i deserve to be automatically like treated a certain way or like get all the perks of what i want versus being like no if i'm contracting you even for like domestic work, this is a partnership. This is an employee employer thing and it has to be laid out. And if there's like unsaid or like changing boundaries, like that's not okay. And I think sometimes people in positions of more power in those situations don't always see the full range of like, oh, wait, let me think about what this means for this person's life. their experience along with like what they they like look forward to in life and how they like

think about this country and then i also talked to like a woman who stutters so like the podcast is mostly centered around working people but it is also like taking in like to consideration people who have been othered in society no matter what that looks like and so i talked to consideration people who have been othered in society, no matter what that looks like. And so I talked to this woman who stutters and 1% of the population globally stutters. And there's actually no difference among different ethnicities or races. It's actually within gender. And so it's very rare to be a woman who stutters. And so I talked to her about what it's like to be perceived as stupid or like someone who doesn't like deserve the time of day to right to have a full conversation with or get to know and so and what that's like growing up even and having that experience so we like do a whole variety and then like my brother also

married into a white working-class family and so i sit down with my sister-in-law's sister, who I like knew very little about and was like, hey, can I talk to you about your life? Because my perception of your group of people is very different. And your perception of my group of people might actually be very different as well. So like a Mexican and a white working class, like very much a la New York Times. Yeah. I got to speak for the New York Times. Yeah, right.

I know. Let them know. Be like, guess what? The conversation is earth shattering. Yes. I'm heading for that New York Times piece. What's the reaction of people? Because, you know, you also mentioned a lot of these people, these workers.

It's like the first time anyone's bothered to interview them. Yes. That anyone has bothered to say, no, no, no. The story is about you. The story is about your lived experience. You don't have to like sugarcoat anything. We want to talk very, you know, honestly about your life. What is that? What's the reaction from people? Like when you ask them to do that or on the other side of an interview, like what kind of, what of what what what's the sensation for everybody involved? It's in who there's a lot of different perspectives or like feelings involved. Like my sister in law's sister was like, No, no, no, no, don't interview me. Like I have nothing. I'm not interesting. Like I have no interesting stories. And yet you hear her life stories and you're like, what the heck you are fascinating, incredible. And then like, even Ralph was like, I mean, I'll do it for you because you're asking me, but like, you know, like it's totally chill and then he actually was listening to his episode and was told me he was

like i had to stop and i want to finish the episode but it's taking me a while and i was like what you don't have to but like also can i ask why and he's like i just never really saw myself from the outside because no one's been interested in this way. And I am like, I can see how this is a good guy, but I also feel so strange

to be in this position of like, wow, I can admire myself. There's some things that come up throughout the first couple episodes that feel like, like almost internalized invisibility. Yeah. Yes. For sure.

Yeah. Yeah. That's all that's being reflected back to, you know, workers, especially people of color is like, yeah, yeah, yeah. More on that. Like, right. You know, it's very hard to, like, break out of that, to even embrace the fact that you are worthy or that, like, you know,

like, to, like, Ralph's point is, like, I've never even given myself the grace to put, like, observe myself and understand that I'm a good person. And even despite the terrible inequality, like, it's the people that are on the other side of the scale that are working the hardest to uphold some semblance of fairness. And I think that's like fucking wild. Yeah. And that's the thing that's like, so like my heart always fills and like makes me want to do this work more and also wants me like, I just want more stories like this to be out there because I'm like, yeah yeah the way he upholds fairness and kindness and respect in his own life is much more than most people give him and more than he's

given himself sometimes and even just being like you talk about like we mentioned how he's like oh my gosh i didn't even know this existed i remember when i was oh, you have to you like art. You need to go to the Met. Like it's free for New Yorkers. Like go to the Met. Take your family to the Met. And he was like, OK, sure, sure, sure. He goes to the Met. He's like, it's gorgeous. Like, what the heck? It's amazing. And I was like, why didn't you go before? And he's like, I didn't think it was meant for me. Yeah, right. didn't you go before and he's like i didn't think it was meant for me yeah right and just like that level of like here's a man who is interested in art but because of the background he comes from feels like he's not allowed to enjoy it in the same way or like it's not as common to hear like hey you know it is free for for new yorkers so like go check it out if you can. And like, just kind of working through that with them or even hearing about like, Louis being really conservative about his hopes and dreams of like, yeah, you know, I'm working on my real estate license. And just being like, sometimes

also working class people, they feel like, I think like like dreaming is not necessarily something they can do or should do yeah and yet like they deserve in my brain like i'm like everyone deserves to dream yeah you come from such an interesting background on like your mom worked as a domestic worker and like paid under the table. And she did that to get your dad to a position where he could be a professor. Yeah. Yeah. And it's kind of really incredible to have seen that and grown up with that.

I grew up going to people's houses and doing my homework while my mom cooked and cleaned and organized. And like I grew up bartering for all the things I did in my activities and stuff like that until like we got more comfortable. And even then, like because we do have family in Mexico

and unfortunately the economic situation in Mexico has never been amazing. Like my family has always sent money back. So when we got comfortable, we had people still relying on us. So the way I've gotten to see it is very different. And then but still getting to grow up around like education being important. It was my parents way out. to grow up around like education being important it was my parents way out like my mom backed my dad for his education to try and ensure a better life for their family and so like being aware of

that too and and understanding what a privilege that is and then also getting to hang out with all different kinds of people like i i hung out with my dad's grad students i hang out with all different kinds of people. I hung out with my dad's grad students. I hung out with workers my mom knew. I hung out with the restaurant workers in the Twin Cities. I hung out with a bunch of different people because I also do and did theater and opera. So it was like a strange little child who was running around in different

communities and was very like grateful to both be like accepted and not accepted in any of them so being in that like weird in-between space i think allowed me a lot of like access to worlds and feelings and perceptions and cuing into what was going on in different ways and then also we moved a lot so like experiencing that in upstate new york the twin cities then new york city and then now getting to experience what it's like to be in the south have all been like really really incredible and very shaping and also reminds me of like how much stereotypes we have out there and some of them are like fun whatever you know like i'll even say it like i'm super mexican like i freaking have

four kinds of tajin in my house at all times like i do carry hot sauce in my back like there you go like i know that i can be a walking stereotype in that way but like how much of it is wrong like like how much Lucas were you eating as a kid so much okay all right it was my favorite it's still my favorite thing ever like when I went to go see Wakanda forever I had like the you know there's like I had Lucas and then I also had like there's like now a whole bunch of assortments of it. So I had like cucumber covered tajin gummies. Whoa. So it's like, that's my preferred thing. Okay. Yeah.

So it's like, for sure. Like, yeah. But also like, you know, being in the South and being like, damn, there's some really cool people here. And then there's some people who are like just like in desperate situations and desperately ignored right it seems like the one universal thing yeah you know like no matter where we go like that's one constant is that there are a lot of people who are trying to uphold this sense of fairness in a system that has absolutely discarded them yeah that's like the kind of really

beautiful cruel irony of a lot of like these like hearing from these people too and there are two points like two things that i thought were like like straight wisdom from that first episode one was when ralph was saying he doesn't understand why people like if you're going to toil like why spend your whole week just looking forward to these two days where you aren't putting yourself through something when if there is a way to make it work for yourself or try and enjoy yourself then try that or at least pursue something like that and then which was like wild too because i've been in many jobs too i'm like man just get to fucking friday please right i want to do this and that was also like some of the hardest shit, like,

like in my life in terms of like, just being so deeply unsatisfied. And then the other was also, I think your grandfather telling your father that do take a job that stimulates your mind, that you use your mind and not just your hands and things like that. And I think that's such a, like, it's like, those are like those little things you grow up hearing as a child that set you on a path. And I think when I heard that, I was like, wow, that's such a like it's like those are like those little things you grow up hearing as a child that set you on a path. And I think when I heard that, I was like, wow, that's such a like such a great thing to be saying to somebody like when they're young or looking to what direction they want to move in. Right. Yeah. And that when I found that out from my father, I learned it young, too, like from him. I learned it young, too, like from him. And I like knew like it was a big thing because I've grown up with my grandfather's story. Like he was put in an orphanage at a young age, like didn't get to finish grade school. He was taken out at fourth grade and ended up working a lot of manual labor jobs, but also tried to make a lot of businesses work. He was a milkman. He worked on a farm.

He even did some illegal running across the barters. He was trying desperately to figure to like figure things out and was also a man who always loved information like he taught himself english and would read sci-fi books in english even though he never finished past the fourth grade like to me it was like really moving to hear those stories and then to like also connect that to like yeah like my grandfather had the same attitude Ralph has like my grandfather would be like I'm going to tell myself isn't this great I like this and then find the ways to figure it out and make it not just bearable but livable while I'm doing it if I'm required to do it right and that like mentality, holy cow, like that takes an incredible mind and incredible spirit and like such grit to like figure out like being like this.

If this is what I got, what do I need to do? Right. Yeah. Especially when increasingly like, you know, we're at that point now where we need more people to like advocate for a kind of life where people can work and not have to think this is torture at the very least i can support myself or my family with it too and i think that's you know i think the ultimate thing you probably want people to come away with when you hear these stories too is understanding like the how connected we all are and how much we how

much we owe each other in this process these people people we interact with day to day in their various roles aren't just fucking npcs in a fucking video game like everyone has their own life and is trying to go through in the same way and to not extend that respect or humility to them it's just going to happen you know at our own detriment so yeah i think it's encourage everybody to listen to the show because it's really fantastic yeah it's when you're invisible on the my cultura, and it's very good. Go check it out. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

Yeah, it was great having you. 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. It 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. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in.

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