The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 377 (Best of 4/14/25-4/18/25)

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 384 (4/14/25-4/18/25)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith. And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, d***less version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless, D***less Me. I'm the old one. I'm the young one.

And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, D***less Me on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your kid. It could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out. It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, ****less me on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever. You get your podcast. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope,

about the rise of deep fake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Sam Mullins, and I've got a new podcast coming out called Go Boy, the gritty true

story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. That spent 24 of those years in jail. But when Roger Caron picked up a pen and paper, he went from an ex-con to a literary darling. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to Go Boy on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm ready to fight. Oh, this is fighting words. Okay. I'll put the hammer back. Hi, I'm George M. Johnson, a bestselling author with the second most banned book in America. Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back.

Part of the power of Black queer creativity is the fact that we got us, you know? We are the greatest culture makers in world history. Listen to Fighting Words 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.

So without further ado, here is the weekly zeitgeist. Andrew, we are very thrilled and honored. You know, we like to we get to elevate. We'd like to elevate sometimes it's not just all it was not so second rate people. It's not just a second rate podcast. Sometimes we have fantastic on the show. Like today, you might know him as the editor of the left hook sub sub stack. You might know him from his show with Francesca Fiorentini

America unhinged. You may know him from countless other things. Maybe the co host of the democracy ish podcast. We know him as what's your name? Spoon man. Oh together with your hands. Say it with me. I'm together with your bland spoon man. That's why I'm an English major and was never part of a ska rock band. But a deep cut old school reference has to be rewarded and respected.

Thank you. Also, you're from the Bay Area. I'm surprised you didn't hit us with some Bay Area rap or something. I am from the Bay. I'll, you're from the Bay Area. I'm surprised you didn't hit us with some Bay Area rap or something. I am from the Bay. I'll give you a yeet-yeet. There we go. We'll do some Golden State Warriors fanning, and hopefully the angels of basketball give them a victory over the Grizzlies tonight.

Oh, boy. That was rough. That loss to the Clippers. It was very painful. I was surprised. I surprised looking at them like the Clippers, Kawhi and James Harden. Take what? I mean, I know this on paper was supposed to work, but my clip, my L.A. Clipper friends who are fans, they're just like nihilist and they're like, of course, wait, something bad is going to happen.

Oh, yeah. I'm like, can you just take a moment to enjoy? They're like, no, no, something terrible is about to happen. I've seen this. It sounds like Donald Trump for some reason too. Yeah, right. Kawhi's knees are gonna turn into candy. That's the point of nihilism. Yeah, truly. I mean, yeah, I mean, as an unwell Laker fan, I'm also the same. I'm like, all right, yeah, I'm glad you had your little fun because it's about to get ugly, baby. But hey, look, we got our own, I mean, we're gonna play the the timber wolf. So we'll see. We'll see how that can ask you a question. Cause all my Lakers, you know, we're on WhatsApp chat and all my college friends, they talk mad shit whenever it's Lakers.

Where's they were dead quiet yesterday? Cause I think everyone, you warriors fans, the Lakers fans were like, we don't have to face each other. Yeah. Oh, hell yeah. Of course. That was, we don't want, we all knew it was like a hidden dude code. We all knew. Don't, don't need that. Don't need to start. And that's also the rivalry everyone else was praying for. Like let one of these teams just knock each other out and help it make it a little bit easier in the postseason.

Ed, we do like to ask our guests, what is something from your search history that's revealing about who you are? So Rob's, it's lyrics, Rob Sonic meaning. So I've been listening to Rob Sonic. Yes. So Rob Sonic is an excellent rapper. However, I've been listening to him a lot and I sent it to my mate Casey. I'm like, Oh, what'd you think of this?

He goes, the lyrics are nonsense and they are. And the first result is a Reddit post being like, do these mean anything? And people being like, I don't think so. And it's like the phrases Reddit post being like, do these mean anything? And people being like, I don't think so. And it's like the phrases mean stuff, but together they do not. So it was like reading that and being like, am I stupid? Am I just, am I, is this like cocoa melon for like white boys? Like, what is, and I still listen to it because Rob Sonick fucking bangs. Cocoa melon for white boys. I love that.

Yeah. I'm not familiar with Rob Sonick, but have you gone to genius and like watch people try to ascribe meaning to the lyrics? Entirely people just being like this one phrase means this and this one phrase means this. Literally this is what it means. Yes. Like this is it.

I respect it because it's so fun to listen to. And I found him through ASAP rock, who is an excellent rapper. And lots of like fun word play that would, that is fun to look at on rap genius. And, um, one of their best, one of the best Rob Sonic songs is kill joy, which has ASAP rock on it. I cannot recommend it enough. All right. We'll check that out.

Uh, what is something that you think is underrated? So, uh, about two weeks ago, I had like a minor breakdown. Like, it's like, I was just like called a friend crying. Like it's the normal way. Uh, and I need to call more friends crying, by the way. That's underrated. They look the only way I call friends. My wonderful, beautiful friends were very much there for me, but I was like, I hit burnout and one of my anti burnout measures, because I found myself just like forcing myself to like listen to music with how I felt just like reinforce a feeling. So I've been listening to albums through

the whole way. That's my underrated thing. I think people really need to like sit down and say, I'm gonna listen to this thing front to back. And like, see what I think. I've done it mostly successfully. I've listened to a few like In Flames Clayman, Rob Sonics album, I can't remember the name of. Of course, you can't remember the name. Because none of it's all nonsense. It's like, how would I possibly append meaning? LPs, I'll sleep when you're dead.

Absolute banger. Incredible. Then I listened to the Blur's Great Escape, and that album does not hold up at all. There's four or five really great songs and a lot of stuff where you're just like, oh, I didn't listen to this album through. You know what? For a reason. I just have, I'm actually not going to say that.

That would have just destroyed my mentions for the rest of my life. But there's a- Say it. So, say it. Say it. For a long time, Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid Mad City. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it.

Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it.

Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it.

Say it. Say it. Say it. Say'm going to burn down your house. I'm going to burn your house down, Jack. There are just a couple of dead spots that I had totally written out of my memory. I have one album that I just consistently listen to all the way through and it gets better and better every time, which is Blonde by Frank Ocean. I can't stop listening to that album. Wait, are you okay? Are you mentally okay, Jack? I don't think so. I think there's something wrong that album. Yeah, yeah. Wait, are you okay? Are you mentally okay, Jack? I don't think so.

I think there's something wrong. In my case, no. One album I will recommend that I don't think anyone else will have mentioned, but if you like jazz, Charles Mingus's Black Saint and The Sinner Lady is one of my top three albums of all time. And I have not sat down and listened to that all the way through in like 12 years and I was like brought to tears by it's fucking incredible. But yeah this has been like a I've really been avoiding doing it for no good reason just like listening to music to poke my brain to

feel better rather than enjoying it and it's just been it's been lovely been really enjoyable. We just had yesterday's guest Jodie Aragon who is who releases a new podcast every week, a new entire different podcast every week, has a new show called Winter Albums, Summer Album, which you go through and talk about albums. From that perspective, you categorize them, which I thought was a fun way to think about stuff. But we're an album podcast these past couple of days, talking a lot about albums. I agree with this though, but this is, uh, yeah, I'm a dork though.

Like I, yeah. Have you read Questlove's MoMeta Blues? No, I've heard really good things. It's so good. He has, it's like an autobiography kind of, and it talks about like, from when he was like a toddler, um, on, but like every chapter is interspersed with like letters to and from the roots manager and then also With all of his recommendations of albums from that year So like from when he was like four or five like the albums he would recommend from that year and why like how they're ranked

So like every year of his life, he has album recommendations. Hell yeah. Somebody has to have a list of those online somewhere. What's something you think is overrated? Well, this one I'm curious your thoughts on, but my overrated is MAGA. So here's something I've been thinking about. Magazines? No, yes, magazines.

No, here's something I've been thinking about. Magazines? No, yes, magazines. No, here's something I've been thinking about and I actually would love your thoughts. But you know, on my history podcast this day, we did an episode right before inauguration where we were chatting a little bit about kind of the present moment. And I said then, and I think I kind of feel like I was right. I said then whether, I was wondering whether the window between. Trump's second election and inauguration was the high water mark for the kind of cultural cache for Trump world and purely in a cultural sense, you know, that was when it was like felt coolest felt edgiest, like

let's take a chance, let's roll the dice. And a lot of people I know who voted for Trump, like that was kind of the vibe in those last couple of weeks heading into the election, you know, it's just like, well, let's, let's see, you know, this, this feels, this feels cool. Which I think is a big part of how people make political decisions. And I just feel like in the last couple of weeks for some, maybe for obvious reasons, just the cool factor is gone. I mean, and you know, I think a lot of the people I know who were the like,

anti-left heterodox thinker types who found themselves voting for Trump, or at least flirting with that, like they're kind of horrified, uh, by what Musk is doing and then more of her by what happened to their portfolios over the last few weeks. But you know, like some guy went on Joe Rogan and like kind of called him out and was like, what's going on here? Like I'm just seeing like the cracks seem to be forming in a way from a cultural sense, like I'm not trying to say that like the real world fallout of MacGill

world is not real, but the cool factor seems to be disappearing. And the sort of knockoff to this is I've also been thinking about how like Mark Zuckerberg looks like the biggest doofus in the world. Like that guy, no one has ever bought high more than Mark Zuckerberg. Like showing up in that chain and talking about massive energy. Like at the very, very, very peak moment that I feel like the wind started shifting two weeks later. And I just look back at it and I'm like, oh man, like you really, what a torque. Yeah. I mean, he was like, he was getting into UFC,

the evolution of Zuck, the thing you gotta understand about the evolution of Zuck is not- The second he did join the Jits mob, it was over. When he got into Jiu Jitsu, I was like, oh, you're the Jits mob now? Hmm, I don't know now. Masculinity and crisis, perhaps.

But he'll just switch back. I mean, he'll probably be. And this is a controversial take. He'll tuck the chain? That billionaire will probably be fine. By the way, do you feel like the vibes have shifted? Is this wishful thinking on my part? I think just from watching, I think just the last few weeks

with the tariffs, I think it's especially been pronounced because a lot of the influencers, especially online, who were like, yeah, man, it's Trump, baby, let's do this. Because right after the election, everyone got their bump and their crypto and stuff and all these mouthpieces that like the Dave Portnoy's and the Aiden Ross's of it all were like, yeah, dude, this is what I'm talking about. And then, then came reality. And now all of these guys like, what the fuck is going on? And I think that's, that's like, I think that's like sort of the first layer. Then I also think like the Tesla of it all has also brought to the surface, like

this idea that suddenly now the, the sort of ideology that was screaming about how dumb electronics, electric vehicles are, are suddenly like caping for them and being like, the Cybertruck's actually really sick. It's just like, you see a lot of these, like even comedians online are like, dude, the truck fucking sucks, it looks stupid. Like, why are people even like pretending?

So, they definitely see that wobble. That right wing art form of comedians. Yeah. Which I feel like that is like now the thing that. No, but like what is, I would love to hear what like Theo Von really feels like right now. You know, because that guy clearly I think was just like, oh, this feels cool. All my friends are doing this. Let me get on board in the last few weeks and sort of shift. And I wonder if he's just like, what?

He's just a useful idiot. Like this is not what I signed up for. Yeah, I feel like a lot of those guys, you know that Pete Davidson character on SNL who's just like following, like the girls like, put this on, he's like, okay. Okay. And then, yeah, okay.

Just like says okay to whatever people are. I feel like that's him, that's like Rogan in a lot of cases, like they're just, what you put somebody in front of them saying a thing. They're like, yeah, yeah, that's interesting, man. That's interesting. Cause yeah, yeah, I was doing some research. Yeah.

Well, yeah, I think even with Theo von, like one of his recent episodes, I saw a clip from it and they were talking about the tariffs and he was just kind of like confused. He's like, why would they do? I don't get it. It's like, this isn't, isn't this like bad? Like, and before, I think a lot of these people who would just be like, yeah, everything's good. Everything's great. This is the way to go. They're now

they're kind of falling into this bucket. Like, at best, they're like, I think he knows what he's doing. But like, this doesn't make sense to me. And then you have the people who like, fuck all this. I'm not I'm seeing less and less of like, the people fully come out, at least in from like that Manaspierre area that got a lot of attention where they're like, you know, this is it, this is the, this is the way. I did have the question heading into this presidency of like, how are these

people who are like edge Lord, you know, mega fans going to continue to be edge Lords when Trump is president, like how they have a lot of power and every day and be like I think the president's doing a good job I think he's cool. But like now like the presidency is going so badly like I feel like maybe they can continue to be edge Lords because it's like such a Counterfactual take to be like, yeah, I don't know. I think he's doing a great job. But yeah, the degree to which they have to whiplash what they support, like on it from day to day is probably a little bit deflating.

Yeah. I mean, my friend Nicole Hammer, who's with the co-host on my history show and is like a historian, but she really watches right wing spaces. Bless her heart. She listens to like hours of right wing talk and sort of watches this stuff every day. And she's like, there are very few, even the like pure uncut MAGA folks, there are very few like defenses of the tariff policy and even the Doge stuff. And it is entirely, do you trust Trump? Like that is the safe haven still left. And I mean, that's pretty powerful, you know? And so it might still work.

But even that doesn't feel like Trump's cool and doesn't it feel great to own the libs. Like that is just seems to have evaporated. Or it's definitely diminishing returns. And so who knows? I mean, I don't know what that means for coming next but i i don't know if the pendulum swings all the way back to you know dei is cool but uh you know but it is it that's that's uh that's my that's my overrated i think like yeah i mean magas i'm buying low on mega i think they're

going through a rough patch but buying the dip huh. Huh? I'm buying that to a well, that's the guac because I am buying that dip. Yeah. Ben, what's something he thinks over it? Toes. Toes. It's the lack of hesitation for me. Hey, I just, you know, I was, I was looking my own earlier and I was like, I have bills. What the fuck are you guys contributing?

Like I know the the big toe in the human is necessary. The big toes in the humans are necessary for balance and stuff like that. Shout out Matt Boos. But you you look at, you know, we talked about toesies Boosies. But you look at, we talked about Tozies and Fingies as Jack once said. Not too long ago. I also call them Fingies. Chicken Fingies.

Yeah. I think he knows. Miles does too. Anyway. Well, Sophia, one of Jack's many street names is Fingies O'Brien. Oh my God. I'm sorry, you had to learn that on air. Yeah, nice. Super into it. I take it all in my mouth.

He does love stealing. It's true. He does love stealing. So we, nah, I was just, you know, I know people like fetishize any part of the human body or whatever. There's someone listening right now who is like, oh, fuck, is this the episode where they get to elbows? It's not, bro. It's probably not.

But, but- But stay for the trends. Yes. But, but anyway, you know, I've always had a difficult time calling stuff overrated because it's cool to like believe in people even if they're Quentin Tarantino. But the thing is, I just don't understand the function of most of the toes are main overrated that we were talking about a little bit earlier that we can all agree with is this is the moment where Sophia, you and I gang up on

good old Fingies O'Brien. This guy owns a printer. Like on purpose, you have a printer, one percenter. One purse, printers, but we'll work on it. One print enter. One printed it. Yeah. Printers overrated. Yeah, printers overrated. Toes like I did. Why is there never a solution where they just keep printing? Like, why is it that I always have homework? Bitch, I bought you for one purpose to print. Now I have to buy friends for you.

Like, that's how I feel. It's like offensive to me. It's like babies. They'll let you have them for free, but they don't tell you how much they're going to cost. You know, they got to keep feeding them. You got to keep. Yeah. You got to act like their ideas are interesting when they're around like four.

Yeah. They're free when your fingies, O'Brien. I just feel like they're like AirPods. You know what I mean? It's like, Oh, now I have fucking homework to go with my headphones. Like why are we printers or children? Printers. Okay.

Children question mark for me. I don't know. All right. Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and talk about RFK. This is courtside with Laura currenti, the podcast that's changing the game and breaking down the business of women's sports like never before. I'm Laura, the founder and CEO of Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, your inside source on the biggest deals, power moves and game changers writing the playbook on all things women's sports.

From the heavy hitters in the front office to the powerhouse women on the pitch, we're talking to commissioners, team owners, influential athletes, and the investors betting big on women's sports. We'll break down the numbers, get under the hood, and go deep on what's next. Women's sports are the moment. So if you're not paying attention, you're already behind. Join me, Courtside, for a front row seat into the making of the business of women's sports. Courtside with Laura Carrenty is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Courtside with Laura Carrenty starting April 3rd on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. In 1978, Roger Caron's first book was published and he was unlike any first time author Canada had ever seen. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. Had spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. He went from an ex-con to a literary darling almost overnight. He was instantly a celebrity.

He was an adrenaline junkie and he was the star of the show. Go-Boy is the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. I had a knife go in my stomach, puncture my skin, break my ribs, I had my guts all in my hands. Only to find himself back where he started. Roger's saying this, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Ron. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to GoBoy on the iHeart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The number one hit true crime podcast, The Girlfriends is back with something new, The Girlfriends Spotlight. Our first two series introduce you to an incredible gang of women who teamed up to fight injustice, showing just how powerful sisterly solidarity can be. And we're keeping this mission alive with The Girlfriends Spotlight. Each week, a different woman sits down with me, Anna Sinfield, to share their incredible

story of triumph over adversity. Like Tracy, who survived a terrifying attack. I remember that feeling of, okay, this is how I die. And turned that darkness into the most incredible journey. I want to take over the world and just leave this place better than I found it. Which took her all the way to Paris for the Paralympic Games. Oh my gosh, this is amazing.

So come and join our girl gang. Listen to The Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish-speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur, and almost most importantly, a Perreo enthusiast. And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like call me a Perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it?

Our podcast, Hasta Abajo, is where sports, music, and fitness collide. And we cover it all, de arriba hasta abajo. Sit down with real game changers in the sports world, like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shumate, who is redefining what it means to be a Latina leader. It all changed when I had this guy come to me. He said to me, you know, you're not Latina.

First of all, what does that mean? My mouth is wide open. Yeah. History makers like the Sucar family, who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy. It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level.

Listen to Hasta Wajo on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. And we're back. And we're back. Any kind of fool could see can't stop saying that When we come back from things now for some reason anyways we do have RFK jr. As the death czar and health czar and We've we've seen quite the boom in anti-vax

grifter activity Since measles is now a thing that we have to worry about. This bitch. People aligned with RFK are trying their best to obscure the threat of measles and simultaneously profit off of the fear of parents who refuse to use vaccines. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. to use vaccines, you know?

So last week, the guy behind the PlanDemic documentary had a webinar along with Children's Health Defense, which is an organization that RFK Jr. founded. And on that webinar, he made the claim that measles actually, and I don't know if you guys knew this, it's actually a bio weapon, and that's why shit is out of hand in West Texas. So yeah, you guys probably thought it was an illness, um, that was happening to these families because they haven't vaccinated their children, but to quote him from the webinar, my belief after interviewing these families is that this

has been manipulated and targeted toward a community that is a threat because of their natural way of living, call it what it is and that is a bio weapon. Okay. Okay. I, I hate when podcasts say this ordinarily, but pause, uh, natural way of living is. Do you hate it when they do that because it's confusing and you pause the podcast? Wait, they said the pause. I, yeah, like I, I think we're all on the same page together here in that getting

measles is not the ideal, you know, Tuesday or whatever. Right. Right. Like I could probably fit it in on Wednesday, but definitely not Tuesday. It's more like, like a afternoon vibe, but like I can't come in right now. Yeah. Morning measles means you have a problem. Save measles for like after five.

Like, let me get some fucking breakfast in or something. Problems save measles for like after five This is fucking scary though and pardon my my blue language there because we Notes about oh my gosh, I'm still in court. Okay countenance it podcast court pause All right. So the Can we unpause again? We can unpause, we gotta unpause. We can't, we can't. Overruled, we get overruled. Overruled, but yeah, if you remember last week,

the media was breathlessly claiming that RFK Jr. had come around on vaccines because he said the words measles can be prevented by the MMR vaccine. And then the media was like, and then we stopped listening. So we didn't hear what he said after that. But he, they left out the part where he turned around a few hours after that statement and celebrated the healers that were helping kids in the Mennonite

community. Uh, one of those healers is Richard Bartlett, the guy who was doing this, hosting this webinar. Oh, I thought he's the guy that makes pears. Yeah, he's from earlier. The Bartlett family, the pear. He invented pears, am I correct? Okay.

I think you're Dale. The pear entrepreneurs. Sorry, I'm better prepared for this current events podcast. Prepared? Oh my God. Fingies. He used the webinar to also sell, and this is really like next level grifting. This probably should be in the Ken Griffey senior segment, but he is selling AI powered snake oil as part of a measles protocol.

Quote, along with mouthwash, supplemental oxygen, and a few other items, the measles protocol includes Rebel Lion's own fierce immunity capsules, which cost $50 for a single bottle and contain a blend of five supplements available off the shelf that the company claims have been formulated with a supposed AI technology known as swarm intelligence. Oh, my God. This is so Leonine. I just want to say that unpopular opinion, but those motherfuckers, if they're going to be doing dumb shit, are going to have fresh breath while doing it.

Yeah. So, you know what I mean? Mouthwash? Yeah. It's probably mouthwash that makes your breath smell like shit, to be honest. No. Why are you ruining the one good thing about this? They're like, you got to do a rinse with something that smells like vinegar or something.

Now, AI is a pretty controversial thing at the moment, often misunderstood. In fact, I fundamentally disagree with the phrase, artificial intelligence. I think it's often misused. We're really talking about large language models or algorithms. But Jack, as you found, there is a difference here for the swarm intelligence. Yeah. Unlike regular AI, his technology is the natural form of intelligence. That's the way our brain works. That's the way our body works.

Oh my God. All organic AI? Is it fucking cage-free? Is it free range? It's free range cage free AI intelligence. Finally. And it doesn't hallucinate because everything we are doing is based on reality, based on the real evidence. It's like real. It reminds me of like a Tim Robinson like character. It's a natural form of intelligence.

That's the way our brain works. That's the way our body works. I can totally picture that. And also, I just think it's weird to be like, it's a bio weapon when like, yeah, it is. If no one is vaccinated. Yeah, yeah. You are literally making it into a bio weapon. So that's a really confusing accusation to make.

It's being like, hey, guys, I've made this lethal to children. And then being like, you know what's crazy? This thing is lethal to children. And it's like, no, you didn't vaccinate. We already solved this problem. It's the MMR vaccine. It's been solved. You don't need to come through being like, oh, now it's mouthwash and bleach

and like clicking my heels three times and getting a perm. Like, no. I hope perm is one of the things. Yeah. That's one of the side effects. Everybody needs perms to fight measles. Oh, yeah. Hot dog costume.

We're all trying to find the guys who did this. Everybody needs to be looking like Art Garfunkel. If they're going to stay measles free. The future is now. All right. We do have to move on to Complicity Huffman. And this does tie into science and RFK Jr. because there is something called the Breakthrough Awards that are considered the Oscars for Science and Seth Rogen.

But, you know, I think they try and have some entertainers there to like kind of make it underline that idea of like the Oscars for Science. This is like the glitz and glam. Hey, I love Seth Rogen. Yeah, I like him too. And I like him even more after this story, so this being a room full of scientists being rewarded for breakthroughs and like progressing human knowledge and understanding of the universe, you might think that this would be a place for some commiseration on the blatantly anti-scientific

values that have overtaken the US government and that are on the march around the world. Then you look at who funds the awards and you start to realize that nowhere is safe, nowhere that the long thingies of capitalism touch is actually safe. The event which was attended by Jeff Bezos and the founding sponsors Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin. safe, the event, the quote, the event, which was attended by Jeff Bezos and the founding sponsors, Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, Sergey Brin. So Seth Rogan thought it was worth noting the irony of an award honoring science

sponsored and attended by the very oligarchs who are most responsible or at least partially responsible for dismantling scientific values in the United States. So his speech opened. It's amazing that others in this room underwrote electing a man who in the last week single-handedly destroyed all of American science. That's my dog right there. It's amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr. very fast. Er, get him, Seth.

That's my fucking dog. Yeah. I am assuming that got like a pretty good pop from the actual scientists in the room. And I'm going to be forced to just assume that because whoever edited the award show for broadcasts thought that irony was less worth noting and cut his comments. In the version, those broadcasts,

Rogan just starts talking about the person they're honoring. I'm assuming they just have a picture of him that they just move out to the podium, and then he just starts like a fucking, where'd Smoochie go? Smoochie went back to his home planet. That's, that's a position where, what do we say? Uh, or what we used to say, only a cat can stare at a king. I can't believe they edited that part out.

That's probably the part that meant the fucking most to him. Yeah. Even more frustrating is, and this just like seems like it's the way things operate right now. The people who make the show or who like the behind the show just made a statement to the Hollywood Reporter that said the cuts to the YouTube broadcast were made because of time constraints. Yeah, of course. It's just like, yeah.

I don't know. I just feel like this slide into authoritarian oligarchy and fascism, like we have, we just have so much experience now at this point, just having marketing and all the various forces of capitalism and like the market, just tell us blatant lies with like just careful wording and, you know, message discipline that the entire thing's just happening in like very polite language by polite people, you know, Or, you know, just straight up lies being like, oh, the zero to nine Supreme Court decision. No, it zero to nine Supreme Court decision?

No. Oh, it was zero to nine for you. Yeah. No, nine was for me. The zero wasn't for me. Yeah. Like the administration itself doesn't give a fuck. They're going to just tell blatant lies and like not even try and make them sound real.

But I just feel like the lies that these organizations are telling themselves are, like they're just like, yeah, whatever. I don't know, man. Just say it was time constraints or whatever. How scary is it that Orwellian doublethink has become cliche and hack? Yeah. Orwellian doublethink is too much work. They're just like, no, just tell the easiest lie. Like we don't have to create new language for just fucking use like highly. You have like, you know, the marketing industry, like I always think about the fact that like the most educated people graduating from like colleges every year are going into rooms where they like come up with the best language to lie to people.

Like that's what our world is. And yeah, I mean, it's just, it's been stacked up against everybody for so long that we like don't even notice. Like we're just all, all of the, you know, our immune system is down. Like we just like don't even. As someone that grew up in the Soviet Union, you know, I can tell you that this is like a really familiar. Yeah. And it is especially like I was thinking about this in connection to the White House Correspondents Dinner thing that I think we might talk about later, right? Yeah, yeah. in connection to the White House Correspondents' Dinner thing that I think we might talk about later, right? Yeah, yeah.

Amber Ruffin. Yeah. But just the idea that everything changes to where it's essentially like, you know, people after Stalin spoke would clap for like 20 minutes straight because you never wanted to be the first one to stop because you were afraid. And now we do that for movies at Cannes. So no, but just the idea that like you can completely warp what people actually think about a thing based on all of this other stuff. So it's like you want to warp the idea of, oh, Seth Rogen was at this thing and he fully approves it.

Right. Like you're putting out a YouTube thing that is actually like based on a false premise that Seth Rogen, I guarantee you, would not have said yes to this shit if he knew that they were going to cut his speech like that. So now, as far as history is concerned, hey, Seth Rogen was at the Jeff Bezos and Sergey Brin thing, and he fully supports it. Right. Hey, Seth Rogen was at the Jeff Bezos and Sergey Brin thing, and he fully supports it. Right.

And that, I think, is very, to me, like Soviet Union manipulation. Like, you just take out this little part, and now the history's totally changed. Right. And the fact that he was completely erased from any pictures at the event. Exactly. That was actually done to conserve printer ink. Yeah. We actually needed to, I don't know if you guys know how expensive that shit is.

Right, right. So we just had to- Also, credit where due, Yosef Stalin, very much a- Yosef. Very much a- Good rapper name also. Pioneer in the world of Photoshop. Yeah. Weaponized. Really, truly. very much a good name also pioneer in the world of Photoshop.

Yeah. A weaponized. Really? Truly? Like one of, one of our first, he would just erase people by hand. Yeah. He was really an old school kind of guy. Oh gosh.

It's a, it's also, it's, um, a terrible and an impactful point. You know, the, what we're, what we're saying here, folks, is that we need to pay attention to how quickly things can erode, like how quickly on normal things can be normalized. Right. Yeah. Now we're. And we just have so much experience just being like, no, it was done for time constraints. I've had to tell that lie before that like edits were made because of time constraints when it was actually like, no, that just like didn't work.

Yeah, I was there. Thanks. Yeah. I, it was, yeah, Ben's whole thing at the beginning of this episode. Yeah, I remember that five minute TTC episode I was on. Yeah. But it, you know, it's, I don't know. So yeah, let's, let's get into the Amber Ruffin thing.

Cause it kind of flew under the radar, but a couple of weeks ago, I mean, like a month ago it was announced Amber Ruffin was going to host the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which is a super funny comedian, used to have a podcast on our network, but, uh, late night host, which I know is really super funny. Yeah. Super funny stand is really super funny. Super funny standup and incredible fashion. And so she had said on a podcast that her roasting duties, like wouldn't necessarily be even handed and would focus on the administration and office.

Like, you know, every single White House correspondent ever. Literally. But the explanation, so she was removed a couple weeks ago and after like one of the, you know, partisan MAGA people in the Trump administration was like, she's like, look at this, she's admitting it's not going to be even-handed. Like she, this is a disgrace, but I just want to read the explanation from the president of the white house correspondence association who is like from Politico, you know, so presumably thinks of himself as a, you know, I call balls and strikes just right down the middle. Tastemaker, umpire.

Yes. He said that it's not because Trump mad, it's actually the reason they removed her is because it was like part of his, he kind of had like a vision for this dinner. He had a vision board? Yeah, yeah. Eugene Whitehouse Correspondents Association.

I'm sorry, are you a 14 year old girl planning your wedding? What the fuck are you talking about? Eugene Daniels said his group wanted to refocus the Ritzy annual event on journalistic excellence and wouldn't have a comedian. He said in his statement, he said, he'd been planning for a couple of weeks to reimagine the dinner tradition for a couple weeks.

I wanna ensure the focus is not on the politics of division, but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the new generation of journalists. What? It's he's just, yeah, it's like, I feel like this one, he might actually believe this himself, that that's why he's doing this, but it's again, it's somebody who a stencil like tells themselves like, I'm a again, I'm not for what Trump is for. Yeah.

But is just doing the thing to, you know, be complicit, but like not have to admit to himself or to anybody else that is complicit by being like, actually, it's like more about wanting to focus on excellence as opposed to the politics of division. It's like, go, truly go fuck yourself. My arm is not long enough for the jerk offhand motion that is in my soul right now. Oh, yeah. I was doing that in my head the entire time. Also, the thing about it is, at the most basic level, it's showing up to your own roast and being like,

Whoa, whoa, whoa. So you're saying you're going to make fun of me mostly. I think it should be even handed between me and the other people on the dais and like all the audience, because like that seems really unfair. It's like, motherfucker, that's the point of the roast. That's what the White House Correspondents' Dinner is. And the whole thing about being roasted and being good natured about it is you are in power. Mm-hmm.

So the least you can do is take a couple of ha-has, okay? And the fact that you're so soft, that you couldn't let this happen. I'm like, this is so embarrassing. And then you're like out here being like, you guys are snowflakes. Yeah. You can't literally can't take a joke. Yeah.

They didn't have the last time that they didn't have a comedian at the White House correspondents dinner was in 2019 when Trump was in office the first time around. So, uh, yeah, it seems like they're a little thin skinned. in 2019 when Trump was in office the first time around. Yeah. Seems like they're a little thin-skinned. Guys, the Friars Club roast should really be about excellence in Friardom. Yeah. Excellent. Who has the best fries? That's what we're talking about.

Pretty much. Yeah. All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and talk. Ken Griffey, senior. This is Courtside with Laura Corenti, the podcast that's changing the game and breaking down the business of women's sports like never before. I'm Laura, the founder and CEO of Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, your inside source on the biggest deals, power moves, and game changers, writing the playbook on all things women's sports. From the heavy hitters in the front office to the powerhouse women on the pitch,

we're talking to commissioners, team owners, influential athletes, and the investors betting big on women's sports. We'll break down the numbers, get under the hood and go deep on what's next. Women's sports are the moment. So if you're not paying attention, you're already behind. Join me, Quartzside, for a front row seat into the making of the business of women's sports. Quartzside with Laura Corenti is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Quartzside with Laura Corenti starting April 3rd on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. In 1978, Roger Caron's first book was published and he was unlike any first time author Canada had ever seen. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. Had spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. author, Canada, had ever seen. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. Had spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. He went from an ex-con to a literary darling

almost overnight. He was instantly a celebrity. He was an adrenaline junkie, and he was the star of the show. Go Boy is the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. I had a knife go in my stomach, puncture my screen, break my ribs, I had my feps all in my hands. Only to find himself back where he started.

Roger's saying this, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Rod. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to GoBoy on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The number one hit true crime podcast, The Girlfriend's is back with something new. The Girlfriends Spotlight. Our first two series introduced you to an incredible gang of women

who teamed up to fight injustice, showing just how powerful sisterly solidarity can be. And we're keeping this mission alive with The Girlfriends Spotlight. Each week, a different woman sits down with me, Anna Sinfield, to share their incredible story of triumph over adversity. Like Tracy, who survived a terrifying attack. I remember that feeling of, OK, this is how I die. And turned that darkness into the most incredible journey.

I want to take over the world and just leave this place better than I found it. Which took her all the way to Paris for the Paralympic Games. Oh my gosh, this is amazing. So come and join our girl gang. Listen to The Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish-speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur, and almost most importantly, a Perreo enthusiast.

And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like Cami, a Perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it? Our podcast, Hasta Abajo, is where sports, music, and fitness collide. And we cover it all, de arriba hasta abajo. Sit down with real game changers in the sports world, like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shoemate, who is redefining what it means to be a Latina leader.

It all changed when I had this guy come to me. He said to me, you know, you're not Latina. First of all, what does that mean? My mouth is wide open. Yeah. History makers like the Sucar family who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy. It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career.

Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level. Listen to Hasta Waho on the iHeart radio app app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. And we are back. So the, the Blue Origin flight with the star studded crew, including Katy Perry, Gail King and Bezos is Beyonce, Lauren Sanchez, among others, went up up there into the great beyond for a little bit and came back and everyone is safe.

Apparently, this is the quote first all female flight crew in more than six decades to head to space. So, uh, I didn't, I didn't even realize this is waste. So what was that 60 years from right? 20s in the sixties. Okay. Um, is this the same shit where like when they, when they had the deep water horizon, like everyone, all the passengers technically have to be classified as crew to get around liability?

Probably. I mean, I mean, like in what sense is Katy Perry crew? Well, hold on. That's really unfair. Let me just tell you, she was preparing, Andrew. So please don't be flipping about this absolutely significant contribution to scientific research. Uh, in advance of the launch, Katy Perry was telling

people she was preparing by reading Carl Sagan and learning about string theory. Okay. Which I mean, she was preparing by reading Carl Sagan and learning about string theory. Okay. Which I mean, she was crew for a flight that was fully automated and only lasted for 10 minutes. And she also wore an $11 setting spray to quote, lock in her makeup during the flight. And she said it truly held. Wow. See? And that's how I do when they go What was that? Oh, that's my brand that I just launched into space with me baby. She also held a daisy I think to commemorate her child Daisy. So she

brought a daisy and look and now you went to space. Just wanted this is a quote from when she was talking about the lead up to this from Katy Perry. I think actually I'm really excited about the engineering of it all. I'm excited to learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing. I was winding down from a rehearsal the other day. And I was listening, I was listening to Cosmos by Carl Sagan, and

reading a book on string theory. And yeah, I was like going to bed. That was definitely like helping. I was like Pythagoras Pythagoras. It says snoring parenthetical goes on to say, but you know, I've always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars. Um, the first two were sciences. Those were actual scientific. Those were bodies of scientific research.

The other one, that's a more vibe based thing, but connected to the stars. And I do respect that Katy Perry that you tried to elevate astrology. I'm glad she didn't go into space X rocket because that would be a firework. Yeah. Deep cut. They said, uh, Gale King said, oddly enough that she didn't sing firework or roar because quote, according to Gale King, she didn't want to make the moment about herself, but she did sing.

She covered what a wonderful world for her literally captive audience. Oh my God. We are being destroyed by the dumbest people on earth. It's like really frightening. I mean, my favorite evidence is, listen, and Katy Perry's an entertainer. She does not need to be a mathematician. No, just go up there and be like, what does she want?

Pythagoras is the first and often last thing that has the word theorem attached to it that Americans learn. Right. And that shit is from when you're 12 years old. Yeah, hey. She should just say, like seriously, that's when dumb stars try to appear. Yeah. Hey, I know. She should just said like, seriously, that's when you, when like dumb, like stars try to like

appear like they're scientific and smart intellect, just be like, yo, Bezos DM me, said you want to go on a rocket? I said, dope. I said, yeah, bet. Sick. Yeah, bet. California girl in space.

That's sick, dude. You know what I mean? Remember, remember that track I did, ET? Hell yeah. I was ET for a second. Yeah, exactly. I'm extraterrestrial. I again, great. I think but yeah, to your point was I had like, there's just you can just be like, I don't know, man. I gave me a chance to go on a spaceship. That's cool.

Rather like I was in the lab fucking looking at all these theorems and string theory. I was looking at Pisces and at all these theorems and string theory. I was looking at Pisces and school. Yeah, exactly. Checking out what was going on with mercury rising. You feel me? Uh, it was 10 minutes. It was 10. Here's a question.

Do you think when Katy Perry covered one wonderful world, she did it in a Louis Armstrong impression? Oh my God. May I don't know. I feel like hopefully Gale King would have shot her dagger eyes if she started doing that. She'd like you are out. What is she stuck?

Yeah, they're in take it. Do you think I mean, like if this is true, what the fuck is the like I feel bad for the other people on there. We're like, is she really like singing up here? Like, can we just can we just all appreciate that, you know, we're killing the earth together and we have to go back down there? But I don't know. They have to. I mean, they're all this. I mean, this is exactly like Deepwater Horizon meets the Barbie movie. Like it's just like, you know, fake feminism,

whatever connected to the most evil people on earth. And it's fine. Yeah. Like they knew what they were getting into. That's right. It's capitalism for it. It's PR for billionaires. Exactly.

They got played and used just like Bill Maher got played by Donald Trump. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, but- And you should just admit it. You should be like, if it was me and I went, I'd be like, like yo a rich billionaire Gave me a free trip to the space or space ish. It's not really a space and

Jason's basically Beverly Hills. I was asymptomatic to space and I would never be able to do it and I did it and It was dope and I I didn't fully understand the safety risks and I am fine Yeah, so okay and look I pressed a lot of buttons when I was in there and nothing broke And I didn't fully understand the safety risks and I am fine. Yeah. So, okay. And look, I pressed a lot of buttons when I was in there and nothing broke. You know, there's no way that pass those passenger seats don't have a bunch of fake buttons attached to nothing. Oh, just like when you're on like a star war, like you're on the yeah, it's like the Maggie Simpson driving the car in the opening credits of Simpsons. Like, it's just fake.

It's fake for children to cause trouble. All right, all right, Sergeant Katy Perry, on my mark, please hit the oxygen button. Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready. Three, two, one, engage. And Gale King, can you hit the booster? Booster two, hit booster two, Gale King. There's no way that's not, right. There's just a bunch of, there's an iPad that beeps when you touch it and it

doesn't connect to anything. Yeah. I, I, yeah. I mean like, but like it's wild too, because while there is like the, like the Katy Perry's and Gail's of it all, there's like Aisha bow, who's like a former actual, like not NASA rocket scientists and Amanda Wynn who's like a bio astronautics, like I wonder for those people, they're like, bro, I was going up there. She kept talking to me about fucking string theory. Yeah. What the

fuck was that? I'm fucked. I'm legit. It might just kill them, right? Like you might kill them as they're seeing as NASA is being destroyed and actual science programs are being dismantled that Katy Perry and Gail can get to go to space on a billionaires rocket. It's just like the pain, the pain that they must experience. Yeah, there's just got to be like a level of disrespect. Like it has to be existential, like for especially for these actual bona fide scientists, they're on this rocket with like these very wealthy people. They go up and like, wow, this is great. And they're like, you guys

aren't doing nothing while they destroy science in America. Well, but I do think that the evilest middle ground is, I don't know these people, I don't know what they thought about this, but I feel like when I've seen other people in this position, they are always rationalizing, like, yeah, they're destroying the space program, they're destroying Earth,

but like, this is my chance to like change their mind. Right. And it's always like, you know, you know, maybe the fucking AFL CIO speaking at the RNC guy. Right. I'm just like, yeah, no, man. If Bezos gave both of you a chance to go on the rocket, we do it. Yes. I know what sabotage it. I got to be on with a lot of billionaires and I'm going to do

all solid up there. I know. Yeahage it. I got to be on with a lot of billionaires and I'm going to do all solid up there. I know. Yeah. Luigi moment. Yeah. But I just be farting in there and they'll be out of the Luigi. Yeah, I'm farting the whole time.

They're not. They're gonna be like, what happened? I don't know. I don't know. Miles, what was your resistance? I was stuck in so much billionaires. Yeah. So much Taco Bell.

They didn't know it for two hours. They didn't know. Very, very, you know, they're somehow smarter. I'm sorry for that. But yeah, we will see it 22 because like like William Shatner went on one of those celebrity space rides in twenty twenty two. His reaction, like Katy Perry said, quote, she felt super connected to love when she was up there. This is what fucking Captain Kirk

said when he went up with Jeff Bezos. It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, it felt like a funeral. Hmm Yeah, you know, I interviewed him two years ago was on his birthday for South by Southwest them. I think he's in his 90s You know, he's an interesting guy, but he has a lot of age a lot of wisdom He's a person who actually thinks deeply about life and also at this stage of his life death So we actually gave like a profound answer and then you have

Katy Perry Astrology yeah, yeah. Hey, yeah look different strokes y'all for different folks that's all we say look if you if you want to feel connected to love or the The the cold the vicious I know of space I mean there is a little bit of billionaire space washing here too cuz all this like we're Mars. Like they're, they're literally trying to make this seem like fun. And guess what? You're going to die alone in the freezing cold that you've never. Like that is in our lifetime, every Mars colonist is going to die alone.

Will we see them get there? I don't know. Will we, will we see that? I mean, I don't think the engineering currently supports it, but when we're old, they're going to send some dickheads at some Bitcoin dickheads out there to try it. Oh yeah. Oh my God. But you know what the funny thing is? Is, uh, I mean, it's not funny, but it's actually, if you study the brologarchy and what they are afraid of, they've gone around taxes.

When you, when we were all grown up, we used to tell like Gen X and millennials, there are only two things guaranteed in life, death and taxes. But if you say that to like Gen Z or Gen Alpha, they like rich people don't pay taxes, but they're say that to like gen z or gen alpha they like rich people don't pay taxes so the only thing that's guaranteed in life is death and they're trying their best to escape death and they can't yeah they did they ticked off the taxes box yeah now it's the death box they're trying i don't know i mean they're trying really are that's why they're all into ai transhumanism because you I meant they're trying really hard. That's why I draw into AI humanists. Because you

imagine all that this like maybe we go to Transylvania, maybe we can meet a vampire and get turned. And then we can be, you know, immortal like them. And it seems like a fucking fucked up life. But fine, dude, it's as good as any of their other schemes. Yeah, I know. Right. Like, fire just as plausible as fucking. Yeah, pivots from Mars to a vampire just as plausible as fucking colonized Mars. Musk pivots from Mars to be like, we have to make real life vampires with immortality. I think that's it.

And they only like, they sell the vampires, like there's a tier of vampire blood. They'll find a way to capitalize on vampires. Oh yeah, yeah. The cryer popping out saying it's actually a vampire. Ah yes, vampire. Yeah, actually, if we're going to say it in the proper pronunciation, pronunciation, I prefer to be identified as vampire human. Yeah.

Like, okay, sorry. My bad. Yeah. They're like, oh, you could only afford the 60 year life extension of that vampire blood. Huh? Huh? That's a couldn't be me broke boy.

I got, I got three millennia on this one. I'm on that one. Uh, they're like, you're going to see the end of earth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to gonna see the end of earth? Yeah, yeah. It's gonna be cool. I will bring about the end of earth. Yeah, actually you are too. Yeah.

Yeah. And then finally, just with the box office. So the Minecraft movie continues to be number one. Kids are still losing their shit in the screenings on the chicken jockey. It is now my kids made me take them both. My kids made me take them and I felt so bad. I had no idea what was happening. And then I saw this happening all throughout the they just threw their popcorn.

I just yeah, I'm like the poor underpaid. Yeah. Age usher. Yeah. Who have to deal with this like, bro, you're making more work for your friends right now. And what the fuck? I mean, it's wild to see how much copycat behavior like in the realm of social media because like, and so many clips, I've seen these kids. When the chicken jockey part comes out, they all have their phones and they're almost like, trying to look around to be like we're doing the thing now right right? Yeah. Turn up even more. Very surreal to watch.

Anyway, around 434 million has been made globally from that. The number two movie was The King of Kings, which we have mentioned before that this was coming out. Maybe it's a CGI kids movie about a time traveling Charles Dickens visiting Jesus. Wow. It's sort of like, and like an AI T mu Pixar, Pixar. 100% Yeah, we got we got Pixar. We got Pixar at home, kids. It really looks bad. Yeah, it's bad. It looks like like shit. And I

hate to say that about a movie about Jesus Christ. but it the story the film's called the King of Kings, a story told by Charles Dickens. Why didn't they just do like the biblical version of Jesus that would have been fine. The King of Kings, the story. Yeah, I know was the Charles Dickensian take on it. Yeah, no, I either did I but so it was released by Angel Studios, which you might remember from 2022's Sound of Freedom. And as they say, they'd had the quote, best opening for an animated biblical movie,

which seems very specific in order to give yourself a superlative achievement. But Deadline did note that I guess Prince of Egypt, that came out 27 years ago is the closest thing that they're saying. I guess that is the one they're referencing because it did better than Prince of Egypt. I saw that in the theater.

That was by DreamWorks. It was like 1998. I randomly remember I got a free screening in college. So yeah, it took them 20, 27 to 20 years and not counting inflation to beat Prince of Egypt. Exactly. And again, the reviews are all over the place. Well, one critic pointed out that the movie's message

that quote, it's wrong to profit from religion is somewhat undercut by the fact that it's a movie that's literally profiting from whatever. Jesus didn't know what he was talking about. I will just say, and I know I keep punching, I mean, punching right for me, but punching left from what people consider the center. Every time a fucking, you know, a democratic, democrat-ish type person points out the hypocrisy

of these people, it's like, dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. This is, they don't care. They don't care. That's not the point. They get to say it and then most uncritical viewers of it will be like, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Self-awareness, not really for me. Well, like the look, you all fall that sound of freedom scandal. The dude who was inspired on apparently is like a total fraudster doing the things allegedly that he said that. Of course. Yeah. Like doing these like weird romance scams. Like we got to go undercover and

maybe we should be intimate to make it believable that we're like, Whoa, no, no, no, this is all bad. But you know what I've been, I've been keeping an eye on angel studios for a while because I've been noticing they've been releasing these movies for a couple of years in the first week in the second week are really good. They're low budget. They always make a big profit, right? So they have these niche movies and I'm like, Hey, this is like, low budget. They always make a big profit, right? So they have these niche movies. And I'm like, Hey, this is like if you want to actually make money in movies, you do these niche movies that appeal to either the Christian faith based audience, Latino

audiences, Indian South Asian audiences via Bollywood or horror movies. And now it's been fused with MAGA right wing politics, which is something we should keep an eye on. Like it's not separated. If you think it's whack, I give you sound of freedom. Yeah, right. Yeah. I mean, similarly to sound of freedom, a lot of people are like, wow, like a lot of people seem to have been going to see it obviously because it coincides

with Easter, but again, like sound of freedom, they pulled a pay it forward ticketing gimmick where allowed people, whoever who knows maybe their own, like their own benefit, whoever people are buying just large sums of tickets and people can go like go to a pay it forward sort of ticket site, get a code and then buy their actual ticket without actually paying for it. Yeah. Yeah. So the box office can be inflated by a donor.

It's like the same way that people do that with like New York Times best seller things. So yeah, I bought 16,000 copies of it. Donald Trump Jr.'s best selling book. I think that is the thing that is sort of heartening about this stuff is like, because this is all, they do this thing because this is what they believe all marketing is, is simply using a bot to inflate the number. Yeah. Sure, sure. But the reality is it's like,

that just makes this movie less profitable because like all this, like pay it forward, all these like unused pay it forward tickets, I would bet money they are being funded by the producers of this film. Oh, I don't. Yeah. Or they or they have other people. There's like a network where some people are producers and other people. It's like, yeah, dude, you can count me in for like a million dollars worth of tickets or I'll buy it. The ecosystem is not earning money because it doesn't

have eyeballs and interest in humans, which is like, again, cold comfort, but. But you know what they do, right? They then get to Trojan horse and quote unquote mainstream media that we are much stronger than we appear. And the center right is forgotten by liberal media. And then, you know, look, everyone talks about how they work the culture very well in 2024 through podcasts and UFC and Barstool. Sure. But it took them all all that and this is the one positive Donald still barely one by one point four percent. Yeah, so they're always trying to inflate I think Their their numbers and their reach more than they are and then you see people like Bill Maher in New York Times always bend the knee

Yeah, yeah, well because just fun Yeah, yeah, like those people are cowards, but the reality is they do not have the humans that they have. No, no, the numbers are not there. The numbers are not there. So like that again, cold comfort, but like when it's time to measure numbers of humans against another numbers of humans in opposition, I don't know what that is called.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the other, the other thing they were doing doing too is they were doing a kids go free promotion. So like an adult could be like, oh yeah, it's cheaper than taking my kids to Minecraft and getting popcorn in my really stylish haircut. But that's awesome too, because that just helps remind your kids that they hate you and And you didn't bring them to like, bro, I had all my friends are talking about whether they're all showing their chicken jockey video clips turned up in the theater and they asked where mine was. And I had to show them a scene from the resurrection and shit. And

everybody with tears in their eyes, the resurrection with Charles Dickinson. If I took my kids to King of Kings instead of Minecraft, I think my son would like there would be like permanent damage done to our oh yeah, of Minecraft, I think my son would like, there would be like permanent damage done to our, Oh yeah. He would, he would do the thing. He's like, dad, I'm gonna call the city on you. Yeah. Like I'm a good dad, I think, but this would be like, some of these like, does dad hate me? Why? Yeah. Why would he do that to me? He's like, well, yeah, Christian, why would he even do this to us?

This is fucking, what is this? It's nonsense. It's mixed signals, dad. I understand. We were fasting for Ramadan and now you're telling me that Jesus is God. He's the true son. What the fuck? And then Charles Dickens is a time traveling prophet. Why did you just take me to Minecraft? That's how he knew it was the best of times and the worst of times.

Deep cut. Yeah. What is the theology of Charles Dickens is Dr. Who at the fucking resurrection. The crucifixion of Christ. Are you just making it up because this is the first time I've actually heard it's that Charles Dickens is in this movie. Yeah. Apparently, that is literally what is that. I thought maybe he wrote a story,

but it's Charles Dickens. Here, I will read you the plot. It's the avatar of Dickens. This is the plot. While Charles Dickens. Here, I will read you the plot. This is the plot. While Charles Dickens is performing a stage reading of his novel, A Christmas Carol, his unruly son, Walter, oh, maybe one of your pseudonyms,

disrupts the performance while playing King Arthur backstage and gets scolded by his father. On the evening when Dickens returns home, he decides on the advice of his wife, Catherine, to use Walter's passion for kings to tell him about the life of the King of Kings. Jesus Christ. Total youth pastor, I was like, you know who the King of Kings was, son?

I mean, it has to be that they count on their audience to be literally so illiterate that Charles Dickens is the only author connected to a Christian thing in a Christmas story. You know, I haven't even ruined it by telling you who lended their voices to this film. Do you know who played Charles Dickens? Who voiced Charles Dickens? Kenneth Branagh. You know who voiced Catherine Dickens, his wife? Uma Thurman. You know who played King Herod? Mark Hamill. You know who played Pontius Pilate? Pierce Brosnan.

You know who played Peter? Forrest Whitaker. Oh my God. High priest, a cacophus? Ben Kingsley. Sir, Ben Kingsley. Yeah, sorry, sorry, sir, sir. This is good because all this fake money

that's being used to inflate the ticket sales does have to be paid as a percentage to things like residuals. So like as they scam the fucking audience, they do have to pay these people. Also there is no sure sign that we are in a recession that A-listers doing this stuff. Oh yeah, 100%. Bro, that means they have like a few money that they give, right? That's, that's, you'll get good actors and they'll throw money at them and these actors have no have no idea What's gonna happen in the future because Netflix is just like dumbing down all the content

So like hey go for two days for angel studios and get paid to play Charles Dickens Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is also true that like the fucking Yeah, like it's it's just worth it for them to do this Like they have to do it and something's keeping Hollywood afloat. I fuck yeah. Yeah, if they paid you both Would you do this and you do it? I played I would have to be I would have to be Jesus That's the only way I'm doing that would be my hard, that would be my bargaining chip. I'm like, if I'm Jesus, and then I would crash out, I would crash out before the movie came out to completely fuck it up.

But how much, hey, if I can get on, you know, in one of these freedom cities, and be protected in one of them freedom cities, I think I'd do it. I'll do it for scale. I just love the story. Yeah, you do it for scale? Okay. I just love the story. Yeah, I mean,

as long as it's not, if it's a U I just love the story. Yeah, you do it for scale? Okay. I just love the story. I mean, as long as it's not, if it's a U7 part, hell no. You know what I mean? If it's gonna get strict industry. How about number two role, Charles Dickens? You don't get Jesus, but they'll give you Dickens. Oh. I imagine, how much is Jesus actually in this, do you think?

Ah, I mean, he's in it. I mean, it ain't just all Charles Dickens that's reading a bedtime story and shit. Jesus. No, I'm saying I'm saying But he's like a like a side character. It feels like this is oh, I forgot to tell you know who Jesus Christ was voiced by Oscar Isaac. I read that. Yeah. Oh Man, this is anyway this rule anyway, he and look just like Oscar Isaac, bro He is risen. He is risen me up, dude I can't handle this. I can't handle this savior

I would I would only do it if they made me beat Jesus just so when like people saw who actually voiced the characters They saw a brown Muslim voicing Jesus and we just mess with them for a long time Right, right, and then they find out Muslims believe in Jesus and it would just double mess with them And then P. Hexen would need to get another coffer tattoo on the other arm. 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. Yeah. Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith. And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, d***less version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless D***less Me. I'm the old one. I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard.

Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. It could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out. It's a work in progress.

Listen to Beardless, it's me on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever. You get your podcast. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope, about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's

Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Sam Mullins, and I've got a new podcast coming out called Go Boy, the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. Has spent 24 of those years in jail. But when Roger Caron picked up a pen and paper, he went from an ex-con to a literary darling. From Campside Media and iHeart podcasts, listen to Go Boy on the iHeart radio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm ready to fight. Oh, this is fighting words. Okay, I'll put the hammer back. Hi, I'm George M. Johnson, a bestselling author with the second most banned book in America. Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back.

Part of the power of black queer creativity is the fact that we got us, you know? We are the greatest culture makers in world history. Listen to Fighting Words on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.