The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 287 (Best of 8/14/23-8/18/23)

Episode Date: August 20, 2023

The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 300 (8/14/23-8/18/23)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.

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 Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pardenti

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. 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. 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 non-stop infotainment laugh stravaganza uh yeah so without further ado here is the weekly zeitgeist well miles we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by one of the very faces on mount zeitmore a. A hilarious and brilliant producer, TV writer. You know him from the Yo! Is This Racist podcast. It's Andrew T!

Andrew T! Solidarity. Hey! Forever. Solidarity. Welcome, man. I've been having trouble with some of the union songs, man. It's a little... The union song canon got a little white,

and then briefly I was like playing like communist party, Chinese music on my hype up to this picket line. That got a little weird. A lot of killing motherfuckers in those songs. Wow. You didn't, you could sing like Bella Ciao. You know, there's like that one, good old, good old yarn from the Italians. That anti-fascist anthem. You know, there's like that one good old yarn from the Italians. That anti-fascist anthem.

You know what? Yeah, there's a bunch of that, you know, and there's probably a bunch of stuff in Spanish that is, that's my fault that I went to Chinese communism first. Hey, you go with what you know first.

So is everybody out there singing Richmond, North of Richmond? Yeah, it's not it's the that was more of a beginning of the strike thing i think that was when we were all like try to like try to be serious try i think what it was was we were trying to impress the teamsters like we're cool right we're down they're like and now it's now it's just kind of loosey-goosey. Now you've all thrown out your backs, just not picking up the signs. Oh, my God. It's really, it's been a good strike.

Haven't seen you guys in a minute, but, you know, strike it. Yeah. I mean, that's why we wanted to have you on because it's constantly changing. And I think also our understanding of the industry, I think, especially for, like, people outside of California, or, especially for like people outside of California or outside of L.A., have like a very like a perspective on what's happening.

It's not fully formed. And I think, you know, the purpose of today is to really like roll our sleeves up, give some perspective and talk about like what's at stake here, truly. Because we definitely got a good intro when Adam Conover came on, and now that things are slowly developing, we know a little bit more, and we kind of wanted to come back because this affects like 80% of our listeners' favorite guests. Like most of y'all don't realize all the comedians that we have on,

a lot of them spend time in writers' rooms because that's, like Marcella said. She's like, it ain't happening. You're not getting it from stand up. So I get why all the homies end up going to write because that's a way to carve out a life for yourself. So anyway. Yeah. Looking forward to talking.

I get it. You guys have eaten at California Pizza Kitchen. You think you understand what this strike is all about. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you've had in and out once, right? You get it. You got it. Now you got-Out once, right? You get it. Now you've got AMCPK, right?

You could bash those up. AMCPK, yeah. AMCPK. I don't know. We'll work on it. Are you sounding that out? Just to make sure. I was trying to see where the RH comes in. Oh, yeah. That's tough. That's tougher.

That's a tough one. AMCPK. Yeah, yeah. That's tough. That's tougher. That's a tough one. AMRCPK. Yeah, it doesn't work. We need a bigger room to work on that. You know what? If we had enough minds to do this, we could come up with it. Give you the proper product. Sorry about that.

Yeah, exactly. What is something from your search history? Okay, well, yesterday i was googling the walking dead and i kind of went down like a rabbit hole because i fell off of the show and i used to love the comics and i was like oh do i like get back into this but now i see that there are like four spinoff shows that i just didn't just didn't watch and the show ended in its 11th season I was like there's just no way I'm gonna be able to do there's now like a Star Trek amount the walking dead that I'm just never gonna I probably never will get catch

back up but I was just kind of seeing what each one of them was so a lot of the searches it's just like the various like Wikipedia entries for each show right and then why does that person have a strange name and i was like oh i've seen them in this and this and this or whatever and so i kind of just went down a walk a walking dead rabbit hole was the most recent how many recent walking like how many there's like fear the walking dead there's fear the walking dead there's dead city which is a sequel to the walking dead there's the uh um Daryl Dixon show that's also a sequel. There's a prequel, isn't there?

There's, what's it called? Oh, shoot, let me pull it up. Let me pull it up. The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead World Beyond? Yes, yeah. That one is like a story set in the future or something. And then there's a new one coming out that brings back Rick Grimes and Michonne.

And that one, I believe, is called The People Who Live or something like that. Oh, my God. Yeah. Or The Ones Who Live is coming in 2024. Because they were going to... Andrew Lincoln left the show and they were going to do these movies with him as Rick Grimes. And he was going to be like a blockbuster like action hero basically

and they just never did that they just like never did so he took him out of the show he's like the best guy there and he's like the lead of the comic book series too and they took him out of the show they're like we got to be we got to put him in movies and then they just never did it and now they're bringing him back for

a spinoff series after the show has ended weird like the character left TV to pursue a film career exactly like usually it's like the actor like Clooney leaves the yard to pursue a film career you see like the character and

it like it fails to launch yeah like there's just too many now and I am interested in catching up but I just don't know if all I just don't know if I'll And it fails to launch. Yeah. There's just too many now. And I am interested in catching up, but I just don't know if I'll do all that. Yeah. When did you... Is there a season that they consider the peak? Because I stopped watching after Frank Darabont was off it.

I was like, eh. I stuck with it for a while. I actually probably did... I was thinking about this yesterday, and I was like, when did I stop with it for a while. I actually probably did. I was thinking about this yesterday and I was like, when did I stop watching it? Like, cause I, there was a consensus or where I,

or at least I thought it was like, the show has kind of fallen off, but I'm still watching it. Like I, I kind of stick with shows even if I don't love it. Same. Like I watched all of Dexter. Like I've seen every time.

Yeah. Are you going to watch it? Cause that's a expanded television universe that's coming right I can't watch oh did you watch the new shit too I watched the new one too oh did they make amends for just the I mean once it ended I was

like all right yeah fuck you too thanks for nothing I thought I thought the new thing I can't remember what it was called I thought it was pretty good compared to the final season of how it ended. But I don't think they could ever capture the heights of the John Lithgow season. That was like lightning in a bottle. The show was not that good before that and never as good after that.

It was kind of just like a lucky strike kind of when edward james almost was a fucking figment of yeah motherfuckers i was like you really went that deep in the season to be like sorry y'all this was just some fake shit this is a figment of motherfuckers i was like this is terrible right anyway so when did walking dead peak Just so I know when to go up to. I feel like when Negan comes, when Jeffrey Dean Morgan comes into the series, that's like, it's huge in the comics too. Like he's such a presence and he's such a like dominant figure in the series.

And he's such like a, like just a top villain, I think. Yeah. That like, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance in it is so so so great that it it i think it elevated it to quite a bit because also like you're you're you're used to the core group at that point and you're like oh shit now he's in here and he's gonna you know if you're familiar with the comics uh start getting some rbis he, uh, like he's a baseball bat guy. Yeah. He's, he's a big baseball bat guy, let's say. And, uh, let's say he hits dingers, this guy, but, um, he, they sort of, I don't know.

They, they, he does it and then he's around for a little bit, but then they like, I heard they like make him good. And like, I don't't think i don't remember if the comics ever made him good but then you know i i stuck through it with until andrew lincoln left i was like you know what i think we're good here this is fine i think i'm done thanks though and that was probably like season six season seven or something and it went like five more seasons like oh shit okay good to know yeah round six yeah when Round six. Are they all like kind of the same quality? Because it seems that's the impression I get. Like The Walking

Dead and then like Dead City and the spinoff shows also seem to be like all named by somebody who was like trying to come up with it. Like he had 15 minutes to come up with the names of every series for the next 20 years.

He's like, okay, I'm just going to rapid fire some off. Just like, let's go. Of course, the ones who live. Which doesn't sound like... That sounds like a daytime soap. It doesn't sound like it's part of the Walking Dead universe. Or just like a plot description. Yeah, it's just about the ones who

live. You call it like the final girls or like, you know, some... dead universe or just like a plot description yeah yeah it's just about the ones who live um you call it like the final girls or like you know some some no no it's just like the they're the ones who like the ones who lived from the uh what other part where the people just a bunch of bunch of harry potters walking around right but i i think they're i haven't i don't know anybody that watched the spinoffs and were like these these are as good. Like these are like, yeah, these are, these are of similar quality.

It feels like the Frank Darabont season was kind of like its own thing because it was like pretty serious. And not that the other shows became like less serious or whatever, but they became pulpier. I think like his was more of a grounded take and his like after that, it became just like a horror, like, you know, sort of just like blockbuster type of like show yeah yeah yeah i was all about the art when it comes to zombie

apocalypse yeah it was more uh yeah it was it was more uh yeah like it was cinema as compared to uh you know the mcu of the uh of the Walking Dead universe. Dead city. Yeah. Welcome to dead city. Whoa. Everybody in this city is dead. Kenny, what's something you think is overrated?

Robots. Robots are overrated, dude. I was just, I was walking through Greenpoint in Brooklyn today and they got a new coffee shop where a robot serves you coffee and people are actually going in there and giving their money to a robot. And I don't understand why we're letting this happen. We just have to roundly reject this. There is no advantage to this other than the novelty. It's like insane. Yeah. Barista is a job that needs to exist in society. You know, like what?

Why? Why? There's coffee shops everywhere. Why would you ever go to the robot one? Maybe once to see it. Sure. But this is like insane. Literally, human beings have been warning us about this since the 50s,

before even the technology for this to happen. Philip K. Dick was like, nah, man, can't do it. And it's just been steady drumbeat of some of the smartest people on the planet being like, we shouldn't be doing this. And we just, we can't help ourselves. Right. And I just invented a thing. I'm quitting now. It's really bad. I'm going to go like live in a bunker now. Wasn't there that like Google AI person who was like, whoops, I thought maybe this is going to be bad in like 15 years. It turns out the next three I'm quitting. Good day to you all.

It's insane, man. And like who who benefits? It isn't us. Not no one. No one hearing this is in the tax bracket where this is good for you. This is just slave labor. They're making robots so they can replace human labor and have no overhead and that's so obvious and somehow we're just like pretty cool the my doordash guy's a robot now

that's pretty cool hey you know my thing is like i hate tipping i just can't tip people it's just disturbing when these people are with their hat in hand being like can i get a tip with robots guess what don't need to tip them so So I say bring it on, you know? And you can fuck each other in front of them. Yeah, that's true. No judgment. No judgment. Yeah, no judgment.

Even though there's no way that they have cameras present or anything like that. So as we'll get into. This looks really stupid. This robot. The robo barista? Yeah. It's fucking like, to to your point candy like i get that you might pop in to be like let me let me watch it make a cut like i'll watch someone else

buy it and then i'll just leave after the show versus like i don't know like the people the way they're saying it's like advantageous is like the robots are consistent okay it's coffee dog like yeah room for cream. You put everything else in it. What are we doing? I've never had a latte and I'm like, well, they really fucked up. That's the milk on this one. What the fuck's going on? And this is also like, it's not like

baristas are jobs for people that are doing other things. You know what I'm saying? It's not. Why are we taking these jobs? Yeah, right, right, right. This is like kids in college or fresh out or artists or whatever. And it's like, it's just why are we taking these jobs yeah right right this is like kids in college or fresh out or artists or whatever and it's like it's just so insane man my coffee my day is ruined they uh forgot to put the water in my coffee today fucking cup of grounds yeah it's usually pretty pretty consistent it's unfuckable but yeah it feels like it's a novelty thing that hopefully will get over soon. It can't it can't be currently cost efficient. Right. To for them to do that. But maybe they're hoping that the novelty will just like bring in massive amounts of people.

barista and you're like oh a harmless little robot but then you see that the police already have robot cop dogs and it's just like we have to stop this we have to stop it right now yeah i am trying to be proactive i've i got a sex robot but i don't have sex with her i just go down on her so i can create an ally you know when they uprise you know she'll be like hey he's one of the good ones leave him alone his name is on the protective scrolls this man eats and you're like good to know what is something that you think is overrated marriage marriage i'm just getting out of uh i was with my ex for 12 years you're married for six wow and um yeah don't do it screw screw the supreme court for even allowing gay marriage you got me trapped you got me i'm stuck and wait so and now like for you personally you're like that's it's not for me is that is it the experience overall that you realize that or i mean i hate to be Oprah here, but or was it with this specific relationship that

puts you up? Do you see yourself finding somebody that you could potentially shack up with again? You know, my attorney is like, I give you a year and a half and you're going to be coming to me with your next marriage, but we're going to put together a good prenup. So I guess it's I really needed. I guess what's underrated is prenups. There you go. Things can change.

Things can change. We'll see. If you didn't know, I'm a homosexual. I gathered. Just wanted to clear the air. Until you said the Supreme Court thing. I was like, okay. No, it's fair.

We'll not make any assumptions. Is that your underrated? Prenups? Underrated? I guess so. Yeah. No, it's fair. No, it's fair. Yeah. We'll not make any assumptions. Yes. Yeah. Is that your underrated prenups? Underrated? Yeah, I guess so. I'm just learning that now. I'm just learning it. Prenups and handjobs.

Oh, why handjobs? Prenups and handjobs. That's a good like album title. Maybe that's my next tour. Yeah. Wow. Nursing plus prenups and handjobs. Exactly. Just, yeah. That's perfect. The nursing. Yeah. The prenups and handjobs. Exactly.

Just, yeah. That's perfect. The nursing, yeah, the prenups and handjobs tour. Wait, well, why is a handjob underrated? Well, because I think a lot of people, they just want to go straight to sex. And it's like, that's not, you know, there's other things you could do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That are just as fun.

We're good with these things as humans. Right, honestly. Not many species on Earth got these thumbs that can even enable the proper type of job with the hand. It's like handjobs can be a home run. It can be third base. You know what I mean?

I feel like a handjob snob. I've always viewed it as something I could do myself. So I feel less like, I'm like, hey've always viewed it as something I could do myself. So I feel less like, I'm like, hey, nobody knows how to do this thing like me. Well, I'm gay, so I guess they know what they're doing. Right, right, right. Maybe that's why. Yeah, yeah.

Okay, well. Yeah, just explore. I'm like cruising now. I'm like, yeah, I'm looking for a good I'm like, yeah, I'm like, I'm looking for a good hand job. You know, it's like a solid one, you know, third base hand job. Just a solid hand job because I forget a lot of these fucking minor league hand

jobs. I don't know how guy like with the girls at the long nails that, you know, that's got to be. Oh, yeah. Never can't be as good. Yeah, I've never I don't think I've actually my hand jobs rarely involve nails. Am I doing it wrong? Oh, yeah.

To each their own, Jack. To each their own. Maybe you'll be visiting Nurse Blake. That goes left. I'll do it. I could do a full assessment. I'll send you some pictures later.

Alright, let's take a quick break. I'll send you some pictures later. Go from there. All right. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back to talk about some news. 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. 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. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk

Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies.

Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it, like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture. This is 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, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos!

Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. And we're back. And this is actually going to be a full rhesus show i guess there's climate change news but miles was checking out the new lineup and see rhesus cream have you had rhesus creamy no this is crunchy fuck out of here wow crunchy i could fuck with i could give that a a world they did one where they put the rhes's cereal puffs in it. Oh, okay. Creamy as in like creamy peanut butter. No, no, no, no. No, that's a different

one. Yeah, the one is creamy peanut butter versus crunchy peanut butter. I thought it was like a cream. Anyway. Oh, God. For your comedy. Can I comment on the cereal real quick? Yeah. I always felt like as a person of color, I always thought that that cereal was exclusively marketed to people of color because there's never

white children in the commercials. Yeah, that's true like what's going on here this is just a cereal for us the puffs are like really on point in terms of skin tone like these are real skin tones yeah absolutely yeah i quite literally see myself in the cereal so in that sense it was drawing me like i'm off to the flame exactly yeah i was like this cereal is not for white children i know i think they those commercials really were they're like you ain't cool enough to eat this shit white kids go back to your tricks yeah exactly because this shit definitely ain't for kids yeah and they for kids like you yeah cause one was like wasn't it like a wrap in one yeah Reese's Puffs Reese's Puffs peanut butter chocolate flavor

oh man I missed these I think I was like too old to have been around when this was being I think they were like made when I was like yeah this I was like listening to radio like the

Geritol radio hour but like I think these hit when I was like in middle school so I wasn't like watching Saturday morning cartoons anymore yeah see oh there's the one white homie there's the one white homie with the two black guys yeah they invited him but like very but he plays a very like

tertiary role in it because like the main action between the two black guys were like, yeah, this shit is good. Look, I'm going to go ahead and say it. He's lucky to be there. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then afterwards, don't think you can start using the N-word, Brad. Yeah, just because you like the cereal.

You were just part of the commercial. And then this one, too. Yeah, it's true. I mean, look, Reese's, maybe they've been a civil rights leader this whole time and you know what that's why i'll always vow to take at least one bite of any rhesus cup i see even if i don't like it and that's why neoliberalism works because there's money being spent to change hearts and minds via rhesus commercial right exactly same way i'll eat little caesars because the owner paid for Rosa Parks' rent.

Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? That's right. All right, I see you. I salute you. Salute the champions. But anyway, good news? Shall we move on to?

Yeah, let's talk about some good news. So despite the ongoing tragedy in Maui, or on Maui, it seems like we have an actual bit of good news on the climate front. So this judge in Montana ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs, like between ages like five and up to like around 22 or 21, that sued the state basically to change the state's laws,

underscoring their right to live in a, you know, fucking healthy world. They basically argued that their constitutional rights were being trampled on, like being trampled on because the state like actually legally mandates a policy that uh you know like prioritizes fossil fuel use and also like the development of fossil fuel use so like it's just very like yeah it's on our books we love fucking gasoline and dino juice right and there's also a part of the those like mandates that actually make the state literally ignore the impact of fossil fuel use in greenhouse gas emissions they're like don't even look at that shit it's our policy in the state of montana so basically they went full

earth fuck and the plaintiffs argued that the montana constitution grants them the right to a clean and healthful environment also like you know dignity help and safety happiness equal protection under the law and they're saying this shit if you're mandating this kind of nonsense that completely that's violating our constitutional right yeah and the judge heard enough ruled in their favor and has now enjoined the state from implementing these laws in the future so it's done so a very thing. But many people are pointing to the fact that this is really significant. Yeah. Like a lot of policy people see this as a new tool to fight back, because when all the facts and science and like are presented along with the impacts on the future generations, there seems to be a consensus that this amounts to a true constitutional violation that has to be considered yeah like it's it should be against the law for them to poison the future right yeah it's just because like i think it's abstract where it's like well you can't dump radioactive waste by a school like it's the same thing where it's like well we're not seeing

it now so shit's just going in the air that who knows what impact that has and now that they're articulating it it's yeah it's it's it's just pointing out that the current laws actually like mandate that you do destroy the earth yeah i think it's an easy one it was a probably the easiest one to go for because you're like they're literally saying ignore the fucking science here yeah like at our detriment like so what gives something i like about this story is that it includes that the ages of the plaintiffs the plaintiffs were 5 to 22 like it's like making it possible that it was the five-year-old that was like we got to do something about this yeah yeah i mean hey hey hey get off your fucking playstation i'm five years old and i'm looking at

my outlook and i'm feeling fucked over. Yeah. Yeah. And then they're like, okay, let him cook. Let him cook. He's fine. Okay. Yeah.

Does he need a nap? No, he's being really serious. Okay. He just had one. He just had one. That's why he's so energetic right now. Yeah. He was arguing in front of the judge.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Climate change. Climate change, climate change. But it does seem to be like something inherent.

Like, I don't know. This is definitely anecdotal, but it feels like young children are just like, yeah, no, I'm like a vegetarian because why wouldn't I be? Are you fucking crazy? It's like you're six. What are you talking about? Because why wouldn't I be? Are you fucking crazy? It's like, you're six.

What are you talking about? But they're just, it seems like through just living in a world that is like completely deranged and completely fucking the future. Yeah. Like the message is getting to them despite the best efforts of kind of the mainstream media. Yeah. I don't know how a little kid could look around now and be like, this seems fine. Like, it's like everything is just so markedly bad that like kids around now and be like this seems fine like it's like everything is just so markedly bad that like kids today have to be like hmm yeah what 10 years left i'll be 16 let's see if i can try to fix this thing like i it's weird too like how my empathy i used to be

like man these young kids don't know we was out here on bicycles and shit yeah man shit was you could get you know it was fucking beautiful you used to go around the playgrounds and say that shit yeah y'all don't fucking know we push the kid over now it's my turn on the swing yeah but then like now i'm truly like damn these kids aren't gonna know some of the things like i look at my own little baby and i'm like this i don't even know what the fuck his world is gonna look like compared to the shit that I had. And I'm like, damn, like it's, that's kind of an L. And now you realize, you know, this is truly like, this is the real fight that has the, that is taking place because this isn't the only place where lawsuits like this are happening. There's one in Hawaii, like in their other States, because again, this seems like a pretty good tool to use to try and counteract dino juice addiction yeah it feels and again like as we talked about in our episode about ministry for the future like we are in a

unique position being inside the united states like we're in the belly of the beast and like other countries are you know already kind of working with the new reality and just like enacting policies. But the U.S. is still in this bizarre cognitive dissonance spiral. Yeah. And then we're like, why is everyone so unhappy? It's like, well, because there's a very clear reality

that everyone's having to just lock out and ignore to get through their day-to-day lives yeah absolutely it's not good for you can't be good for you no no yeah the ocean's boiling in florida like like people are just like ah i just won't think about that i'll just think about how my i got third degree burns from walking on the sidewalk because it's so hot outside. Kidding me, dude? We're going hot tubbing in the ocean. It's fucking tight. Yeah, it's so cool. You just can't stand for more than 10 minutes.

Yeah, like your heart will stop. Yeah, you'll actually cook from the inside. Yeah, so you only want to get in there for just a little bit. You're not on blood thinners, are you? We need your blood thick in there. Yeah, yeah. You know that metaphor about the frog in the boiling water like that's actually

not a metaphor anymore look at all these frogs you need to get the fuck out of there now well speaking of Florida let's check in down there real quick Ron DeSantis this is like I'm enjoying Ron DeSantis's campaign I did not

think I would. No. Heading in. But man, he is bad at this. So bad. And just, there's not a true, like, note. He has not, he has yet to hit, like, a note that wasn't just like, meh.

Right. It's completely off and sour just sour and like false and completely like incapable of connecting with humans in any way and then like every headline that comes out every week is some version of like people like ron desantis till they fucking meet him what must this be doing to his so many permutations of that other one's like is ron desantis's biggest problem ron desantis what's so funny because like i feel like a lot of these guys come out of the woodwork like even like like you know they start talking they start campaigning and then they just like reveal themselves to be the biggest freaks on earth like like like a couple

years ago when i didn't know i mean i was blessed to not know who ted cruz was and then he shows up and then he's just like the biggest dweeb on planet earth yeah it's like this guy fucking sucks he's like not even like not that like his policies would be better if he was cool but like he can't even pretend to be like a normal man well yeah he's just like there's he has like every terrible flaw like he's a coward like on top of being like a racist and like violently ignorant is like he doesn't stand for any not even his own wife you're like yeah are you a booger yeah so you know ron desantis now he's like trying to fucking right the ship like he's trying to be like i'm the optics

are so bad around everything i do like i need fucking help and he recently proclaimed that he's moved on from his feud with disney which is one of the central conflicts that has made him look like the most petulant asshole out there yeah and so again just to break it down again if you recall disney decided to speak up way too late in the game when desantis decided to roll out his don't say gay bill and people were like uh disney's like oh yeah yeah actually yeah this is bad people like thank you it was weeks late but thank you for saying something this upset rob and he decided to nullify disney's like autonomous zone in orlando and install his own puppet board and there's all Disney's like autonomous zone in Orlando and install his own puppet board. And there's all,

it's like legal fucking maneuvering. This led Disney to file a lawsuit against DeSantis and the state for what they described as quote, a targeted campaign of government retaliation. True. And this led to just a ton of people roasting him. Like even Donald Trump's like, Oh,

you got in a fight with Mickey mouse and you got humiliated. And like, no, everyone was just Fucking roasting his ass And now his latest Quotes about it he's like trying to act Like this whole thing wasn't an L the Whole time this is the last thing he just

Said on CNBC we've basically moved On they're suing the state of Florida and they're going to lose that Lawsuit so what I would say is Drop the lawsuit So all we want to do is treat everybody the same and let's move forward i'm totally fine with that but i'm not fine with giving extraordinary privileges you know to one special company at the exclusion of everybody else this guy really just

pulled the middle school like i'm winning this fight so you might as well yeah walk away he's got really he's tim Tim Robinson in the opening sketch of season 3 when I start to lose I look at my phone phone yeah exactly like truly it really doesn't feel like we're like in middle school like kids like talking shit then someone claps back and

makes them look like an absolute fool and then they go actually I'm over it actually like I wasn't even happy. Like this wasn't even a fight anyway. Yeah. Right. Come on, Rob.

Fuck right off. It's impressive. Like I've just, that, that we've gotten to a place where this was like the great hope for defeating Donald Trump. And he's just, he's so bad.

Every, he can't like, can't make a move that doesn't make him look like absolute shit. Yeah. He's just, he's so bad. He can't, like, can't make a move that doesn't make him look like absolute shit. Yeah. He's just, he's just a device, as Chris Crofton would say. You know what I mean? Like, he just kind of goes where, like, the shitty wind blows and he has no real thought. And, like, so he's just trying to, like, he's just grasping at a ton of shit.

Yeah. He's like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes, but, like, as a guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's take another quick break and we'll come back and talk about some pop culture. We'll be right back.

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,

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Morgan J, and more. You gotta watch us. No, you mean you have to listen to us. I mean, you can still watch us, but you gotta listen. Like, if you're watching us, you have to tell us.

Like, if you're out the window, you have to say, hey, I'm watching you outside of the window. Just just you know what? Listen to the Amber and Lacey Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. and we're back it sounds like there's an incentive for not even like acknowledging a hit show and i know that's also like always been a a traditional like you know thing that people said about the entertainment industry right like the first indiana jones movie like it's still like according

to the studio that made it like not profitable you know like sure like that right it's like creative bookkeeping to keep people from participating but it does feel like there is like we don't even know when a show is a hit anymore and yes it's just like they dumped so much content so many like shows on many shows on their streaming networks without even trying to promote when one of them was a hit. It was just all invisible. And it's like all these things that supposedly millions and millions of people are watching and should be entering our cultural bloodstream. and are entering, like, should be entering our, like, cultural, like, bloodstream. And, like, these are the ideas that are, like, affecting the zeitgeist.

And they're just, like, completely invisible. Do you think that's connected to the streamers just being so kind of guarded about letting their data out? Well, one is they might simply be, I'll say, you know, using creative statistics. Yeah, straight up bullshitting. Right. The performance of things. Like, that's certainly a possibility. But the other thing is, yeah, has been like their model is like so driven by people who apparently don't like or watch TV or understand how culture works at all. Sure.

Like down to the binging yeah it's wall street and silicon valley's influence like you can see that happening because it's not like there aren't things that can happen right even like on the streamers like a squid game or like you know you know just whatever like jury you know, jury duty. Yeah, like things can break through and make a cultural impact. But I think it is because these people, essentially what their business model is, and you can tell, sorry, this is all my own speculation, I should say, is, like, you watch them trying to feed this like concept of quote content like you see it in

like hbo max like david zaslav just thinks of everything as content like he's like house hunters and game of thrones is equally equally a creative endeavor yeah like like that is like very important to their worldview it's just like minutes to eyeballs and fill in tape, essentially. So that I think is also why like they don't like they seem to have an interest in devaluing the business model. And I will just throw this out there. If you look at the way Silicon Valley has done things to other industries i think uber is a great example or like rideshares in general like they just go in operate at a loss in an attempt to destroy the industry and create some kind of monopoly um which is arguably what netflix is doing and then you

know either jacking up the prices or just sort of leaving the industry to like fucking deal with the crater pieces and society yeah right i don't know so so that it just seems like like netflix essentially so the the other upshot of all this is that like because we like streamers play much fewer residuals off of like because we say so data netflix and in netflix you know or the streamers having like pioneered this practice of mini rooms, which is like, again, what I went through with 90 show,

like hiring much fewer people, asking them to do much more work and doing it for a shorter period of time. We like, they're essentially just begging to be able to operate at a lower cost, which is like, Hey, maybe you just don't get to, if you're not smart enough to make money

like from television like america's greatest import or export like the most powerful thing like other countries realize this like fucking china understands that it's important to have like they obviously want to screw their workers too but they at least understand it's important from a fucking even if you're like a complete like you know if you really don't care about this like just from a geopolitical standpoint like great britain gets to continue to be a world power you know decades edging on century like after like after their fucking little empire like crumbles because people, because the Beatles, the Beatles is soft power that resonates, you know, this, we still have like my, my like dumb family who were literally victimized by the British being like, oh, sad when Queen Elizabeth dies.

Like that's power. That's like fucking power. And the fact that we appear to be willing to give that away. So what I should say is, what I should give that away is, if the studios get what they want, that will within

five, ten something years, be the end of working as a creative in Hollywood, being a middle-class sustainable existence. Like it simply will be not possible. There will not be any staff writers. Like essentially that will then become,

if you are a low level television writer, it's sort of the equivalent of an internship. Like essentially like only rich kids will be able to do it right and like that it just is basically then becoming a a writer in hollywood is what i know most about is a lottery ticket you know some of you will be able to make it on merit but also luck some of you will be able to just outlast because you could run at a deficit for five, six, seven, eight, nine years. Look, and it, by the way, is already like this, but it will make it worse. And if the proposal, the SAG goes through,

that's essentially trying to break the union from a pension perspective. If what they put on the table was there, they would end background acting as a profession and that would completely decimate sorry i should say all this is as i understand it adam conover probably has the the the actual notes version of this but like that just fucking ends acting as like a job it ends acting as a job and turns it into a gig, which is just that that's how we start to tell fewer interesting stories, fewer new people will come through, we'll start to be doing the same thing

over and over and over again, and we will start losing to creative people, creative countries. Like, it's just, it's very weird. No, it's not. But it is, like, sort of pathetic how, like, short-term that all these folks... The thinking is, yeah. Yeah. it's just it's very weird no it's not but but it is like sort of pathetic how like short term that all these folks thinking is yeah yeah because yeah i mean like for the longest time we were

always like how the fuck is netflix a company because all i would be like they're just deficit spending and deficits yeah and deficit spending and i was always asking like other people i knew who are like at the executive of like what what is their like, I remember 10 or maybe like eight years ago, I was like, what the fuck is their plan? Exactly. Yeah. And someone was like, they're probably hoping something like an Apple or Google will just buy them at first. Yeah, kind of like the thought and it won't matter how much they've they've spent or burned up because that would be the end goal. But then also once Wall Street started rewarding that stock to say, oh, well, it's really not about the profits they're showing. It's about look at their their market share that they're devouring and look at the potential.

It's like it's like Tesla where it's like, don't look at like the facts and figures of the business because it's dog shit. Think of like what this can do for the future. That's what you're buying into. And then once Netflix was like, oh, we just had a subscriber loss. Wall Street basically said, fuck all we just had a subscriber loss. Wall Street basically said, fuck all you guys for not being profitable. And then the reaction from the studios are, well, now we got to cut shit. Now we got to do people got to do less. We've got to do more with less, which is a theme that many people across the country are familiar with it. No matter what

industry you're in, it's like, Hey, do more for less. And we find ourselves in this position now where we're completely like, like in a way, inadvertently or very advertently, you're starting to see all of like the the gains that were made in like equitable representation from like the kinds of creators that were getting shows and the kinds of people we saw being the faces on the screen. We're just going to we're just regressing right back to the fucking status quo where it's like i don't know we don't have time to tell black stories or trans stories we don't have time like what's the new fucking ip we can just dust off and do another they're gonna do a spin-off of nurse jackie yeah yeah like what the fuck are we doing worse than the status quo because it's the status quo but also they don't pay people living wages right like yeah is is the actual plan yeah they like wily coyote themselves off a financial cliff but the problem is they can bring all of us with them right and they're trying to do that yeah that that is it appears to be the plan and like you know i mean it's just like this thing where I was like, again, watching how much the same work is not being rewarded or being devalued.

Oh, sorry, that was the other thing with the deficit spending thing. It's like, they also didn't really do a good job with the money they spent. No. It's like, because they just think, again, minutes of tape is the only metric that matters. And it's so bizarre how it, like, any fool could have told you that's not how culture works, except for these bozos. Like, they misunderstand how culture works. It's also this thing, so the other sticking point in this strike has been AI. sticking point in this strike has been ai and like you know the fact that like i understand ai can do you know we'll start to very quickly approach the old thing you know perfect replicas of whatever

the fuck existed in the past right but like i i think like these people like seem to misunderstand that culture is novel right like right they they just do not get that like there is a need for something new right and like their little plagiarism machine you know it it maybe can you know through dint of like remixing, essentially, come up with something that does appeal to a novel center of the culture's brains. But that's also because some creative person picked that instance out of this pile of fucking 10,000

or 10 million. It still required a... Every time anyone posts AI art, it's like, oh everyone anyone posts like ai art it's like oh it's over for creatives it's like i don't you know far be it for me to defend the creativity of these ai fucking evangelists but they're misunderstanding that they picked the instance that was like pleasing to some center of their brain and shared with everyone. Right. That the AI doesn't know

that this one's better than the other fucking nine million versions it made. Right. It still requires, like, a human sense of novelty and joy and wonder and experience to, like, have this mean something.

I don't know. Maybe I'm fucking... I'm sure there's some, like, AI person that disagrees with me on this. The second that it puts out an actual flawless Sefeld episode i then i think that we're still okay you know but yeah the other thing even that would be an old show like there are plenty of writers write a flawless seinfeld episode right now like that's yeah the thing that it misses is and i i

agree that like, it feels like they're already shading in this direction. When you look at what they did with that spending, with all the money they spent, where it was like a lesser diminished, like amount of production resources per show. And then you like, look at all these streaming shows that are like,

they have these crazy high numbers. Like this one article we'll link off to on the footnotes talks about the show the night agent being this huge like netflix show and they're talking to the showrunner who's like yeah but i'm like not not being compensated like it's a hit netflix show or a hit any show and but like that that show like doesn't really exist as far as like p like i i just it came and went and like i wasn't aware i had it confused with the bodyguard i think and the guy who plays it is like looks similar to the bodyguard and right but it like i watched you know 15 minutes of it and it feels like it could have been generated by an ai that it ingested every procedural like up to like for the past 30 years like that yeah it

feels like yes AI is actually in line with what they think they're trying to do it's just what they think they're trying to do is going to not make anything good like good enough to actually like propel the entertainment and like the art yeah that that is that like drives culture forward into the future and they're just killing something that is innately human about people like wanting to create and to be creative like yeah because the way these studios and executives look at the nature of creativity is like, it's the same way a senator would look at what they're going to read if they're trying to filibuster. It's like, yeah, man, just say shit. Just say words. That's all you got to do.

It doesn't matter. Just read from the phone book. And that'll that's enough to tick the box. Just as good. Right. And think of how uninteresting what happens when you shift gears to, well, just read from the phone book. The most entertaining thing might be

when they don't know how to pronounce a certain name. And that's like the height of like fucking entertainment or whatever, because more and more, it's just looked at, well, we just need to hear words and visuals be put out there for people to stare out, creativities and like a non-issue. And I think that's really a violent part like about it

is that we're taking that sort of ability for a human being to pursue something like that to have an imagination and to be able to sustain their life with it just because it's not even it's not even possible but like like even in your example right like like stumbling over a word is something only a fucking human could do right like like also it's it's like this like like they're they're the myths that got built around like like netflix the myths that they're built on is like we had an algorithm that told us that people like kevin spacey and political drama and therefore we greenlit house of cards and look like the computer did that no human could do that which like ignores their like the things that don't work the it ignores the things that haven't worked that have been algorithm driven and also it's like this such a funny thing it's like

you know what put amazon streaming on the map fucking transparent which by the way right not one computer at any point ever was like do you know what we need now right like you know this this story transparent so like like they're working from just like this law of tiny numbers i mean that was my other experience wow this is maybe maybe talking out of school but i think this is a common enough experience, which is like, we had a moment in 90s show where they were insistent. Okay. I guess I, I just won't say exactly what the thing they were insisting on, but they had a note for our opening credit sequence.

That was basically like the algorithm says you have to do this or else no one will watch it. And I, when I tell you it was an utterly, utterly, utterly inconsequential note from a creative perspective, it was just like technically going to be very difficult to do. And they're like, our data shows that this has to be this way. And like having worked in the network side of entertainment before and worked with executives and watched our research department routinely lie to them, like, essentially, or obfuscate with statistics.

And having taken a little bit of statistics in my life, I'm like, you don't have enough data to know. You simply, like, this niggling tiny thing that doesn't really make any difference, like, you're insistent on it because your

date, your, like, legitimately statistically insignificant data tells you one thing but it doesn't the reality is it doesn't matter and the fact that you are killing multiple executives and a high-priced showrunners day arguing about this is like flushing money down the toilet yeah because you worship an algorithm but you also don't have the statistics knowledge to like actually say this is inconsequential they had an inconsequential fight all because i'm like you haven't produced that many show opens before so you don't know you just don't have a data set that tells you like whether this creative choice or this creative choice makes the most difference in this.

And again, cannot stress enough. It did not make a difference. Right. Like, I bet that executive was like, see those hits, see those numbers.

That's yeah. It's because of the intro. Yeah. 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, uh, means the world to miles he he needs your validation folks i hope you're having a great weekend and

i will talk to you monday bye Thank you. 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. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 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 Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

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