The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 415 (Best of 1/19/26-1/23/26)

Episode Date: January 25, 2026

The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 422 (1/19/26-1/23/26)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high. And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right.

Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on. And the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement. The ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. John has never been anything but gay.

but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people, what's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only ASAP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Raq Kim had the bucket hat can go join on. My post is like, that's Raq Kim.

That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that fucking I sweat. Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kamal Nangiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she?

She is not with us. She... Great, great, great. right way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or girl?

Oh my God. All the time. I know. So I try to butcher it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up is basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn into Be Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the Iheart Radio 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 nonstop infotainment laugh stravaganza. So without further ado, here is the weekly zeitgeist. Olive, what's something from your surge history that's really about who you are with YouTube right now? It's something that I definitely have up, and it is, for sure, sure a real thing that I don't need to stall or scroll for because I do remember as a very constant guess of this podcast that I know exactly what you're going to ask and so I don't need

to scroll and scroll and scroll all past my real housewise history. I don't need to hack into anything. I know what's up when I joined TDZ. And we're going to cut all that out. I really just, I really just, I really only just do work or look up real housewives lore. That's insane. What's the latest lore you looked up? I just wanted to see if Vicki Gunwelson actually sells insurance. Oh my God.

You're going back to the fucking well, dude. Season one, Vicki Gunzelsen of OC? I watch, I'm a completionist. I watch each real housewives franchise from the. the beginning. I watch it all through because it's like a time capsule for like bad like quality film. You know what I mean? Like I watch it all the way through. I'm in season nine of the real housewives and it's at this point that I'm like, wait, is her job real? You know? Right. And so that's what I did. That's why I looked at her job. I looked up like she was just in,

what happens to the men they divorce, which I feel like with the animals, they probably just put them down. Oh yeah. What happened to Dawn? Yeah. It's at her husband. Don. It's a mass grave of old divorced men and their dogs that don't show up anymore. Yeah, I was going to say, and like, toy poodles and miniature dog puppies. You can visit get started if you have the money. Just so you know, she just received. She was just inducted into the Advisors' Hall of Fame for some for fucking financial.

So she's, I don't know, other fucking people who do the shit that she does are bigging her up. I don't know, whatever. I like that. Her face. Her face. The visor is extra large is sick. I don't know what it means, but it's sick. We should make up,

why don't you guys have like fake podcast awards for all of us? I want a fake award. I wish, but even the ones I think I can win, I can't. Okay. So we'll have to, we'll see.

Maybe I'll get an I heart podcast award. Finally, I don't know. Apparently they give it to shows that like have huge audiences, rather than the sickest audience out there. who is out there in physical space doing good, which is Zyte Gang, and I give you my own award. Growing up, grow up.

Everybody in this culture is a baby child person. We really, like, the privilege of being an American today is the idea of like, I don't want to. Like, I don't want to grow up. I don't want to mature. I don't have to change. Fuck off. And I mean, like, aren't we all miserable?

Aren't we exhausted? Like, it is so underrated to literally change and grow and evolve in relationship to external stimuli. Like, I would love to encounter more adults who are fucking emotionally regulated, who, like, know how to communicate, who are not conflict avoidance. Like, grow up. It is so, we talk constantly about therapy, culture, about optimization. Everybody's watching the Huberman Lab while literally not changing at all.

And I'm like, girl, if you can take an ice bath every day, maybe you could also be more emotionally kind to people. Maybe you could grow and be less jealous and less controlling. But the thing is I like to do these things because the internal work is too daunting for me. Yeah, exactly. So I'd rather just soak in an ice bath. Okay, so you know what? Don't talk to people about it.

Like, that's fine. Like, if that's what you want to do, like, don't talk about it. Don't influence about it. Like, go sit in your eye bath. But I'm really coming to a point where I'm like, you know what I want to see? I want to see people in my life and in the culture literally changing. Like, I want to see someone. I don't see them for three years and they come back.

And I'm like, wow, you really did evolve. Like, that's amazing. I think Americans collectively are like, we don't ever have to evolve in any way as a group. Evolving? I'm just like, okay, whatever. And proves I must be argument. See? Dude, what?

Oh, so what? I'm going to be a dinosaur and then turn into a chicken? Come on that, dude. I'm a fucking shit. Nobody calls me a chicken. Nobody calls Miles a chicken. I ain't turning to no crab. Yeah.

I like the point about like therapy culture, like Huberman. It's that there's a old joke about how, like, somebody was, like, telling their friend not to do cocaine because they had a bad personality. And so it was just going to be, like, more of that. Yeah, exactly. And, like, I feel like a lot of what people are doing is just, like, optimizing their productivity of bad vibes. Completely. I am off the charge of my ability to produce selfish off-putting energy. I mean, we've talked about this a little bit, but, like, I write about it.

My current research is about psychedelics and psychedelic healing and transformation. And I have a friend who said something who works at a wellness institute, who said, honestly, I'm very suspicious of the psychedelic renaissance because I know a million people who've been doing LSD therapy for 20 years and they're still total assholes. And like, that's like, I thought that was such a beautiful statement because I was reminded like, oh, yeah, like the will to actually transform has nothing to do with perform. bullshit about optimizing yourself and going to therapy and all of those tools only work if you're actually sincerely doing them in order to evolve. And I think the fact that as a culture

we're not able to look at ourselves and be like, wow, we're really bad at actual behavioral change. Like to me, for me, this goes back to like, I always say this story like, I remember very distinctly the first time I went back to therapy in adulthood. I had the first three sessions with this amazing gay male therapist. And he looked at me, Brian Gill in Washington, D.C. If anyone's in D.C., you should go, you need a therapist. Go to Brian Gill. He said to me something that was so powerful.

He said, wow, you are so smart about your problems. And you have so much insight and you do so little action. He's like, you just learn so much about your issues. Yeah. But he's like, when are you going to actually match that with behavioral change? And I, that struck me so deep because I was like, that goes against my values to only be thinking about something and not doing something about it. Like, I don't like that idea. And that was the beginning of a huge journey for me where I was like, okay, girl, like it's time for you to have learned a lesson and to actually behave differently.

So I think that's underrated. Amazing. Wow. Well said. You like how your answers have like structure and shit. Yeah. I mean, because I'm a professor. That's what we do.

That's why people should listen to us. more often. We actually have a flow. Whoa, you talk like a teacher. Talk like a book or something. Alan, what's something you think is overrated? Okay, I don't want to strip anything here, but, and I want to say this with, I love Carrie Coon, and I thought the first season was phenomenal. Don't you dare.

Don't you dare. The leftovers? No, oh, that's with, okay. The leftovers, I, I, I, I, I, I've only ever heard like, oh my God, it's awesome. And, like, the reviews are great. And the first season is, like, a perfect season of television. And then there's just a big, like, literally just a geographical, like, they,

they just move locations in the second season. And my, like, I, like, I stopped watching it. I'm kind of imagining to be sold on it. I need to talk to people that, that can speak to it because I, um, I really like it. And I don't know, maybe I was busy at like a juncture where, like, I'm, I missed out on something, but I'm right there with you. It got way too boring.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. I thought you were going to say Gilded Age was overrated because how dare you come after the Gilded Age? That was the joke I was going for. But you meant the leftovers. Yeah, you can only see a guy drown himself so many times to cross over. That was the part I liked, actually.

That was the only part. I thought that was the saving grace of the whole show. I'm like, will he drown himself more? More. And this guy's confusing. I think they did switch showrunners too. Oh, maybe that's what it was too. Well, it also, too, it's like, it kind of is, this was just a time when like, you know,

we're still in the wake of lost probably being the biggest show. Right. That had a huge footprint. So it's like, there were a lot of shows where it's like the whole thing was like, you don't know what's going on. And it's like, no, no, no, but we kind of do want it. We kind of want there to be so. Yeah.

And it's like, no, no, no, but we don't. don't, we don't even know. That's right. I forgot because the second season just goes to that town in Texas. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's weird. Although I'm like, I think I got through it because I'm a completionist. And once like, you tell me there's a mystery box thing, I'm like, well, fuck you. Right.

Fucking watch to land. I think I would have if, if the pit and industry didn't just come back, I probably would have kept. I was like, I was like just was watching. Oh, I love industry. I mean, I was. I was kind of watching it before. And honestly, I kind of, I think the showruns even said it. They're like, they're like, yeah, we kind of just vibe or whatever.

It's like the first season, the first season feels very like we're soapy. We've got a lot of young hot people. It's like euphoria succession. But then there's an episode in the last season in season three. It's like a bottleneck episode. I think it's called White Mischief. I can't remember off the top of my head. But it stars like the character Rishi.

it basically, it's this guy that has like a gambling problem. And it is basically like a 1970s like Cassavetti's movie, like in this one episode of television. The actor, I can't remember the name of his top of my head, but he's doing like 1970s Al Pacino level acting in this one episode. And it's like, it's like, Serpico. It's literally, it's literally just one of the best like episodes of anything. It stands alone. So I always say like, watch that.

If you like that, then give it a. a shot. But it's, you know, it's, it's, it's prestige HBO stuff. Or it's like, you know, we've got a cool soundtrack and everything. I wonder how soon the HBO name is also just going to get completely fucked over by like oligarchs owning that shit. We're like, I mean, it already kind of happened and it kind of withstood it. So it's like, I don't, I mean, it is kind of funny when you're just like, I guess more like when they're like this, there needs to be a new series on HBO called Melania and me. Right, right. You know what I mean? And they're like, oh my God, you're

using the fucking brand to like prestige wash right but anyway yeah enough about that thanks for that the leftover season two overrated underrated the forest um all right let's take a quick break and when we come back news hey what's up y'all this is quest love recently i had the opportunity to sit down with asap rocky ahead of his album release don't be dumb he reflects on his journey from his Harlem roots to global icon status discovering the hip-hop or origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Raqim had the bucket hat can go during the apostles.

Like, that's Raq Kim. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that fucking I swear. Rocky offers a window into not only a boundary-breaking artist, but as a man committed to fusing creative ideas, community, and remaining unapologetically himself. Have you ever gotten roasted for any of your outfits? For sure.

Some people don't be getting to vision. Look, they could roast me, they could cook meat, They can deep fried meat, like a saute, whatever they want. It's nobody who can be with my fashion sense and my taste is impeccable. I'm just like, I impress myself a lot. It's an amazing conversation. One, you definitely don't want to miss. So listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply. What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help? I'm Mike De La Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures were taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love,

then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolorotcha on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike Delarocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. New Year, new goals, and in this economy, a better plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt and I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, Director of the Men's Clinic at UCLA Health and host of the room podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved.

Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy, as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And we're back. We're back. And Ramsey, you've already given us the celebrity culture is. overrated, but let's add a layer.

I get the, I get the feeling that you got more. What's something you think is overrated? The fantasy romance plot of heated rivalry. Okay. Bad for us. Bad for us. I'm sorry.

Everybody needs to get their shit together. The idea of pursuing an emotionally avoided slash almost abusive person for 10 years because they might end up becoming your boyfriend in the last 10 days is psychotic. And if you are grown, to go back to my first point, about being grown, underrated, you grow out of the idea of pursuing people who are not available.

And gay men struggle with this more than anybody. We're just like, oh my God, he's so hot, I'm so dignitized, and I guess I'll just maybe have sex with him twice a year, and maybe one day we'll get married. That's fully unhinged. It does not happen. If it does happen, you will be divorced later. Like, to me, I'm like, what's going to happen after season one? real life is going to intervene. If you're going to unfold this story over four seasons,

like, I'm sorry, like, now they're going to be at circuit parties. They're going to be doing drugs. They're going to be dealing with people trying to steal their man. Like, I'm sorry. Like, the fantasy plot is so praised, and it's like, it's not serving us. If the reason we're all obsessed with that romance fantasy is because the dating pool sucks, that show is not helping make the dating pool better. It's making people crazier to believe in things that don't exist.

so that when we go back into the dating pool, we keep behaving badly. So I'm like, I was watching that show and I was like, uh-uh, you're not getting me. I was like, yes, this is hot. It's okay. I'll give you that. I was like, but I'm not, I am not,

you're not, I was like fighting it. I was like, you are trying to drag me back to my little 22-year-old, gay baby self, wanting things I cannot have that are bad for me. And I was like, I will not do this. No. You had the wisdom.

You had the wisdom to see the matrix. You're the one person who's not on board. No, I'm literally writing an essay about it, by the way. It's a joke between my brother and I. He used to actually make fun of me. He was like, why don't you write an essay about it? And now it's like, I'm like, I made a fucking living out of it. I am writing an essay about the new substack post is up.

Check it out. All right. Let's just talk briefly about what we refer to as kids these days. Yeah. Learning in a world. Chad, GPT, phone and social media addiction, porn addiction, the man is I'm just curious to hear from you as somebody who is in touch with them on a regular basis. How they doing?

We talked hopefully earlier this year about like the phone ban in high schools seeming to change people's behavior, learning environments in New York State. What are you standing around? Listen, so many of the students I work with are the coolest, most amazing, most inspiring, loving, I mean, I'm watching my students get into law school at Harvard, become doctors, go off and work for nonprofits, direct rape crisis. I mean, they're amazing. I'm just, I'm amazed.

This generation is a really beautiful mixture of deeply, socially, and politically conscious, and also, like, good to themselves. They're, like, better to themselves. They take care of themselves better. They rest. Like, those things, I think are amazing. I think the problem is, is that they don't know the things that are. bad for them and they don't actually know how to like take a break. I said once recently to someone

that like social media is like that abusive boyfriend that you know is not going to give you what you want, but every once in a while he's nice to you. So you're like, oh my God, that felt so good. So let me keep going back to it. And I think as a generation, they are responding in a dopamine driven way to a variety of things that are bad for them in the culture. Like AI, I will sit and have a conversation with my students where I'm like, why are you using AI? Like, let's be honest, you're literally just allowing the machine to do your thinking for you, which is making you dumber, which is making you less able to make, like, basic judgments about things like fucking groceries. Like, that's a, that's bad. And they honestly are like, I kind of don't know. I don't know.

It makes me feel like I'm saving time. I'm like, doing what? Did you write a fucking book? What are you doing? Like, in my doing. Grant writing? Yeah. Grant writing or something? I watched the Huberman lab to find out more ways that I could save time. Yeah, yeah. I was going out into sunlight. Sorry, Professor, I need to spike my cortisol right now. Yes. Exactly.

And so what's amazing is that when you actually have honest conversations with them about like what are you doing, like look at your life, look at your choices. You know, like what do you do? They're just like, I actually don't know why I'm doing that. And now that I think about it, like maybe it doesn't make that much sense. They are like they are very quick to be aware that this is. not good for them. I don't know that they have models of how not to do it because the rest of us who are not grown, to go back to my old point, are not modeling for them what it's like to actually

make good decisions about taking care of our mental well-being in the face of these things. So I think like they're stuck between a rock and a hard place where they're sort of like entering a society that's telling them like you're never going to get any of the things that you want. You're not going to get a house. You're not going to get more money. You're not going to get all these things. And so, of course, you would want to turn to social media and chat GPT and whatever for little moments of joy when the really big goals feel out of reach. So they are, it's not so much that the kids are not all right. It's like the, it's what Gabramate says, right, the holistic medical expert, like the culture they're in is toxic. Yeah, yeah. So they're trying to navigate

that and they're doing it in as best conditions as they can. But I think what they're lacking the most truly, like where they're really, really at a disadvantage, they need more intergenerational exchange with smart, wise people. Like that is why they need to go to school. That is why they need to be in different kinds of social programs where they have mentors who are older. They need to be in conversation with people that have gone through what they've gone through and said, here's another path. Here would be another way. And we need to be talking to them because they also have great ideas about social media addiction. I know. They were the first ones who, like, I have younger cousins who were like, yeah,

I've taken a break from social media at a time when I was like, oh, what, huh? Why? Why are you doing that? They were like, oh, because it's an addictive. Exactly. And I was like, oh, crap. Yeah, they knew it before other people. Yeah.

Why do you think that, because to your point about like needing those interactions, why do you think that's lack? Like, what's the difference in terms of like, because I think back of my own career professionally, personally. I had those intersections and interactions with people that help fucking change my thing. But what is the difference? Is it just because everything is so less person to person that that's going by the wayside? Or just culturally for them, it's less of an interest to interact with older people and whatever.

I think it's, yeah, that's a great question. My premonition based on what I see is that it has a lot to do with the insularity of digital worlds. So like when they are on social media and in TikTok, they're interacting with very limited demographics of viewership or people of their own generation that like certain things. And combine that with an amazing amount of social anxiety. Like most young people in Gen Z believe that the majority of their interactions with adults are interactions where they are being judged on their performance. Right. Like the amount of work, you guys, that I have to do in a classroom to remind my students that the grade that they're going to get at the end, end really means nothing. Right. Like the experience of needing in a group once a week for two and a half

hours and talking about ideas will transform their cellular being. And at the end, if you like put in the effort, you will most likely get a good grade. But the idea that like they're concerned that if I don't give them the grade they want, that their life will be ruined, some of them have fucking suicidal ideation about grades. Right. Unless you're going to go get a medical degree or a PhD, Nobody cares what your grades are as an undergrad. Like, you should be excited to do well because you want to do well, because you're paying a lot of money and you want to put in the effort, et cetera, not because someone's judging you.

So I think there is this perception that adults exist to judge them. And they're afraid of interacting with us and revealing stupidity, lack of knowledge, lack of wisdom, et cetera. And I have to do so much. I have to be a therapist, basically. where I tell my students, I am not here to be judgmental towards you. I'm here to help you practice good judgment.

So sometimes I'm going to say, do you really believe that? What did that idea come from? It doesn't mean I think less of you. It doesn't mean I think that you're worthless. So there's so much of a block towards talking to older people because of a fear of being judged.

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, which is how social media can... Operates completely. Yeah, yeah. Yes, totally. All right. We're going to get back into just sort of pop cultural stuff, specifically with regards to the right trying to take some of our comic books,

some of our sci-fi things. Yeah. But we do want to just touch on this Trump press conference real quick because he really let his unfit for office flag fly. Yeah, just continued to prove the haters right. So he gave a press conference, and by that he just went up on stage with somewhat of a plan rhetorically. And then after he got the first rehearsed sort of sentenced out, he immediately went into Trump jazz and just started doing some sundown improv, baby. And the main point of this pressure was to pump his own dick up about all the accomplishments he's had one year into the second term.

And he starts off with a big pile of papers he's holding that literally says accomplishments on it. He loves the prop. Yeah, to prove how much good has been done because he has a melted brain that could only work in literal terms now. So this is like, let me just play it. I'm going to give a few moments where you can see where this was headed and where it went.

So first, this is him, just again, starting off somewhat coherent, being like, look, guys, I've done a lot in a year in, more than anybody, even though that's not true. But again, that's what he's trying to sell to people. individual things I could stand here and read it for a week and we wouldn't be finished

It just is accomplished It's a big block of paper Yeah In terms of military In terms of ending wars In terms of Okay so low energy you can tell He's kind of like

He keeps like kind of closing his eyes A little bit too long They keep telling me to say this stuff Okay so I'll fucking say that part Then it starts going off the rails Like in this part He begins to like cast doubt on like the sincerity of protesters in Minnesota

based on how well people were screaming shame at ICE agents? They're paid. You know, when the woman was shot, and I felt terribly about that. The woman was shot. I understand both sides of it. But when she was shot, there was another woman that was screaming shame, shame, shame, shame, right?

You saw it so loud. Like a professional opera. singer. She was so loud and so professional. She was a woman that was hurt like all my heart's injured. She was a professional. She's shame, shame, shame. She's screaming, shame, shame. I said, that's not a normal person. That's, that's a professional. Okay. So professional shame screamer.

Again, because everything's like the outrage is not real because what's happening is okay. People who disagree with me aren't real. They're paid. Exactly. You can't yell shame like that. By the way, that woman's voice was quivering with rage. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Which, because she had just witnessed somebody, her neighbor, be murdered. By the way, the interpretation of this person's statement means nothing. I mean, this is what I think we've arrived at. We're like, whatever his statement about anything in the world is, it doesn't really matter what his interpretation is. If you live in a democracy, the people get to say, what they think and what they believe. And if mass groups of people are saying, we don't like this,

it doesn't matter whether you thought one protester was fake or not. It doesn't. That's beside the point. So, I mean, that's what's so amazing is the amplifying of these minute details that really are like missing the forest for the trees. Right. Then he goes on to talk about how the binder clip

that's holding all of his accomplishment papers together pinched his thingies. But you know what? I'm not big boy and I don't cry. is essentially what he says. I'm a book on accomplishments. And this is something, who I'm glad my finger wasn't in that.

That's how good. They could have done some damage, but you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I can't. I mean, where have we arrived to? Did you hear that?

That was dusty. Okay. But I wouldn't have showed the pain, like when I got my shots the other day, I didn't cry. The doctor did give me a lollipop. That was nice. Little bandage.

Then, again. It was late. On it, Buzzle, you're a good friend of mine. It's a very nice things about me. Further down the drain, now he just starts meandering, rambling. He's falling asleep. Oh, well, this- What happened to Sleepy Joe?

By the way, what happened to the Sleepy Joe accusation? Well, now he's making fun of his cancer diagnosis. It seems to be what Trump has been doing. And people are like, Jesus, what the fuck? So this is him now. He says something about D.C. Safe. And now your lover isn't going to be killed anymore. I don't love her.

With your loved one, with your lover? That word coming out of his mouth. Listen, this part, he just... The lover's not going to be killed anymore, so he can act like a real lover. What? But you can be, you can walk right through the middle of the town, and D.C. is beautiful again, too, you know? Wow. Hey, man.

Your lover's not going to be killed anymore, and you can act like real lovers. Then he does more racist shit. We've already heard it. Somali's bad. Minnesota. He's like, Minnesota. I actually won. You lost that straight three times.

So again, miss us with your fake reality. And then wraps the whole thing up with an exasperated gesture at his pile of papers, aka accomplishments, to be like, I mean, like,

I think he at that point doesn't know what to say anymore, but he knows he has this big pile of papers to prove how much he's done, and this is the most he can get up. Here's the book. These are all things we have, I'm going to read a few of the samples, but look at this.

Flips it for the microphone. Each line is something we did. That before. Did what? Look, we have the hottest country in the world. throws it on the ground. So, yeah, this was the beginning. Look, it's big stuff, too.

Of, I think everyone in Davos being like, oh, this guy's about to pull up and talk called Greenland, Iceland. Yeah. Look it is. There's stuff actually written on the pages. Is this big stuff? Each line in accomplishment. Give me a quarter, daddy. Nobody's ever done that before.

Nobody's ever done what before, written. I know. Nobody has been this out of sorts and president at the same time. So, again, this is like, you know, I think all part of the slow, slow sort of percolating headlines or I guess now because money's at stake, people are like, I think this guy is not good at president. Because Wall Street is starting to feel the. pain, like, suddenly there might be some consequences.

Yeah. Yeah. Our tolerance for this level of insanity and incompetence, like the incapacity to put together a sentence, like the production of an entire political regime based on random gestures and exclamatory statement, like, that's so wild to me, right? Because part of it is that he knows that the content doesn't matter. It's a certain kind of performance of your great-grandfather at the... the head of the Thanksgiving table being like, you just have to respect me because fuck off.

And people are like, we know this is awful and we hate this, but we will sit quietly and endure. Yeah. You know? And then there are people who are sort of like, I enjoy this because it means I don't have to make sense. If the most powerful person on the planet does not need to make sense, then the rest of us don't.

And you don't have to explain ourselves. And I think there's a certain kind of like almost like erotic fantasizing. around like, yes, like, I could be this unhinged, and I don't have to explain myself to anyone. And, like, it's just, it's, that's, wow. Yeah. Yeah, the, like you were talking about, the celebrity culture is, like, part of it is us dreaming of being better than other people by assuming. And so in this case, it's like people are getting out of this, seeing him go up there and

just ramble incoherently. and because they're, I guess, insulated from the consequences. They're just like that. That makes me feel good. I actually think that's cool. Yeah, I think that's right. He's like, I think really at this one,

he's like the peak sort of like manifestation of infallible white male power. I was just going to say, it is about failing upward to infinity. I mean, it really do. But I think for him to be a white, like you could only be a white man and be so, transparently out of sorts, so obviously senile, and no one says anything about it. And people say, yes, sir, yes, sir.

You're like, now that's some shit. His continued existence in a position of power is the ultimate statement of like the work done by white supremacy to just be like, yeah. Yeah, there are many ironies to this. And one of them is that people who claim to be as supporters are obsessed with the American family and the nuclear family and having kids. And the very reason that people are not getting married and not having children and not wanting to do all of that stuff is because that is the dominant mode of masculinity in this country. And people are like, you might celebrate that on TV.

In people's interpersonal life, many of the people that adore him would never want to sit at a dinner table with him, would find him absolutely insufferable. The charisma is not innate to him. No. It is what you just said, which is that it's appealing to watch someone be this unhinged and to be like they still keep winning. Like that's almost such a mind fuck to people that that's the entertainment is to be like, oh my God. And at what point do people collectively say this is now destroying our lives so much that we must put a stop to it?

And I think our tolerance in this country has become almost infinite. Yeah. Like that is crazy. The limit is when it affects my stock portfolio, really bad, apparently, because it wasn't enough when, like, marginalized people were just tossed to the side and being killed and kidnapped. Yeah. It's just now because, like, again, everything with America's like, it has to fucking be right in your face, smashing this shit out of your face for the rest of America to get it because it's not enough when the people in the margins warn everybody about it. It's like, well, I need to kind of get hit by the train head on before you tell me there's a, I'll believe you then. that a train was coming. Well, and also, like, I, you know what mystifies me, you guys, as somebody who studies American culture?

Like, I studied the period after World War II. So, like, I studied the Cold War. So much of what's happening now has happened before. McCarthyism, the internment camps for Japanese people. Like, this is, it's not like all of this is totally new. No, not if it's not. There are new versions of it that are more extreme, that are more horrible, than whatever. Yeah.

But what fascinates me is the inability of Americans left, left, right and center to simply accept that certain policies and ways of doing things are ineffective. Sure. One could sit in a room with 10 people who all agree that immigration is a problem and needs to be addressed. Is this particular way of doing it effective besides making people miserable collectively? It's not, because it's not actually about solving the problem of immigration. It's about creating a vibe.

It's about creating a vibe of constant threat and danger. But so, like, to me, the inability of people, of any political persuasion to just say, I get what you're trying to do, but I just don't think it works. Right. And like, like, that is just so mind-boggling to me. It's so simple to just say this is a not effective way of accomplishing something. Yeah. Unfortunately, like all these people, especially for people who say that these ICE agents are correct

and these raids are necessary, they've used those. the term immigration to sort of mask their just deeper desires for like a white ethno state. Sure. Yes. The Minneapolis Police Department just came out and was like our off-duty officers keep being targeted by ICE and all of them happen to be people of color. Of course. Yeah.

They're just rolling up on off-duty officers with guns drawn and saying, like, show us your papers. And they're like what papers I've lived here my whole life. Exactly. And then, yeah, the fucking chief of police said, I wish I could tell you that this was an isolated incident. If it is happening to our officers, it pains me to think about how many of our community members are being victim to this. Speaking of Overton windows and the opportunity that presents, gosh, the coughs, man. Somebody's being in your PR team, be like, we might be able to kind of win hearts and minds back if we kind of stand for something. But again, that's never going to happen because that whole thing is rotten to the core.

All right. quick break. We're going to come back. We're going to talk some pop culture. We'll be right back. Hey, what's up, y'all? This is Questlove recently. I had the opportunity to sit down with Aesap Rocky ahead of his album release. Don't be dumb. He reflects on his journey from his Harlem roots to global icon status, discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Raq Kim had the bucket hat can go during the past. I was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that my fucking got swag. Rocky offers a window into not only a boundary-breaking artist, but as a man committed to fusing creative ideas, community, and remaining unapologetically himself. Have you ever gotten roasted for any of your outfits?

For sure. Some people don't be getting to vision. Look, they can roast me, they could cook me, they could deep-fribe me, they could saute, whatever they want. It's nobody who can be with my fashion sense and my taste is impeccable. I'm just like, I impress myself a lot. It's an amazing conversation. One, you definitely don't want to miss. So listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were. It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help. I'm Mike Dalarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This podcast is a space for men to talk openly about mental health, grief, relationships, and the patterns we inherit, but don't have to repeat. Here, we slow down. We listen.

We learn how vulnerability becomes strength and how healing happens in community, not in isolation. If you're ready to let go of what no longer serves you and step into the year with clarity, compassion, and purpose, Sacred Lessons is your companion on your healing journey. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delo Rocha on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike Deloosa and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. New Year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt.

And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast. And every week, we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions.

Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy,

as in compassion. If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And we're back. So January, not typically known for its hot new movie releases.

In fact, I think it's usually like the movie graveyard is around now in February. So color me shocked when I found out that the new Chris Pratt thriller, Mercy, is dropping today. I had no fucking idea. This was a movie until about 35 minutes ago. And now, as we do a little bit of a dive into it and the story that Jam wrote for us, we just watched the trailer for this movie.

And let me just, I'll just give you the sort of like the quick law. Like said in 2029, Pratt plays LAPD officer Chris Raven. Okay, his name is still Chris. Thank God. Who was accused of murdering his wife, his true. trial involves being strapped to an electric chair for 90 minutes and arguing his case in front of an AI judge, played by Rebecca Ferguson. If he doesn't, quote, present evidence that nudges the probability of guilt below 92% in the allotted time, he will be fucking electrocuted to death executed. Which sounds like a, sounds like a real boring.

From what I saw in the trailer, he's sitting in a chair the whole time. But what is cool that we do find out. is that in order to prove his innocence, he gets to search all of the available data on earth, basically. It's like every camera, every text message, fucking anything, uh, to prove his innocence. But he is strapped to the chair.

Uh, and, and he can even phone friends like fucking who wants to be a millionaire. Like he can reach, he reaches out to his teenage daughter to proclaim his innocence, to his AA sponsor and friend, uh, in search for answers.

And even to his police partner to help track down the real murderer. Uh, A few critics have said, these are some of the headlines. It's early in the year, but this Chris Pratt Dudd may just be the worst movie of 2026. Another one, The Daily Beast, the worst movie of 2026 is here, and it's only January. Here's the fun bit. It was directed by Timor Beck Mambatov, who is the guy who produced that Ice Cube War of the World's movie on Amazon. Oh, wow.

Which was another fucking movie. That's what reminded me. About a dude sitting in a fucking chair looking at computer screens. for an hour and a half. Like, is this his new thing? It's a new genre. It's man in room looking at screens. And it's very lucrative.

Man in chair. Do you guys remember, this is a long time ago, but there was a really short-lived. This is like in the wake of maybe who wants to be a millionaire or whatever, like crazy game shows. The chamber? I think there was a one called literally the chair. And like, you sit in a chair. And I just remember, like, and I think they ask you questions. and like, but they're like, they're doing such a scary, like, so they make it really hot.

Yeah, it was the chair. Yeah. And I just remember there was like, I think one of the pictures, one of the commercials for it was like, they're like, what's your biggest fear? And she's like, alligators. And then it's just like an alligator, like on a swing is like swinging towards this lady in a chair. And it's just like, okay, well, it's good. We made like the 30-Rog version movie of that game show into a reality.

I remember that was like at the peak absurd. of the Fox game shows. It was a fine, yeah. Yeah, they did like man versus beast around that time too. And it's like, how many little people would it take to beat an elephant in a tug of war? And you're like, dude, way more than what you cast it. I'm sorry, they got fucking wrecked immediately. Or like other ones are like, they had Kobayashi try and eat as many hot dogs as a bear.

Classic, classic. Yeah. So I love, I remember. They have like Usain Bolt, like running against a cheetah or like a zebra or something. like that. Like, they're just like racing animals. I think was it also hosted by John McEnroe? If it wasn't, what a missed opportunity.

I think that, yeah, John, dude, okay, look at this clip. To get McEnroe out of the boots. I remember there's one where like, because you're, you're just getting distracted in this chair asking being simple. There was like one clip I remember seeing where the chair was vibrating so much. The guys couldn't even think. He's like, the vibrations. I mean, they're like, sir, how many stripes on an American flag?

The chair, the vibrations, the vibrations. You're like, what kind of a fucking game show is this? Here's a clip. That show is actually called the Sibian, I believe. It's Mac and Row. He's got $15,600. That's the chair. The red line rate is going to drop another 5% off.

And Doug, if you red line now, you lose $200 a second. Where's the vibrations? Okay, anyway, the show was absolutely dumb. But yeah, to your point. I'm so glad someone's clipping it and putting it on YouTube shorts. Dude, people clip the fuck out of those. I was always like, dude, do you remember Manverse Beast to like some of my friends in high school?

And they're like, what? And I'm like, we fucking watched it at my house, dude. We got together to watch this shit. There are plenty of, there's, dude, there are so many clips of the chair. Oh, no, this was ABC. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ABC. I didn't even lump you in with terrible.

Fox. But this was that same era. Nothing mattered. I think this is like, was this post 9-11? Yeah, this feels very post-9-11. Anyway,

this is right during that. The same canon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, 2000-

yep, exactly. We had to put our greatest minds into that. So anyway, this movie, honestly, less interesting

than even watching old clips of the game show hosted by John McAnneau. Because for some reason, this, also, this movie's being released in 3D

and IMAX. Oh, good. A fucking movie about a guy strapped to a chair and be like, I'm innocent, makes the line go down. What a fucking,

just an abomination. Well, you got to see it. Victor says, this is a tax right off. You got to see it in theaters, too, because then you're also in a chair,

and so you're kind of in the same. Yeah. Yeah, you're kind of held hostage by this situation. And you might, you might die after 90s. You're like immersed.

Yeah. Advanced sales, look, it comes out today, so maybe things could change. But just from today is looking at the advanced sales, uh, empty. Yeah, you can sit wherever you want. People prognosticators, forecasters say, quote, it may not even reach double digits at the box office. The server line of this awful movie is like maybe we finally reached peak Chris Pratt. Peak Pratt. Praturation. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And we'll kind of get to move on. Yeah, the Prattissance may be over for the man who's just been prattling along for so long. This is really funny, though. Chris Pratt really took this seriously. He was during the media fucking campaign for this, he was selling people. He almost went method for the role. And he's like, what do you mean almost? He said, quote, I told the director to lock me in the chair for real for up to 50 minutes at a time.

Whoa. So yeah, dude, Jackie Chan, you may do your own stunts. Chris Pratt does his own sitting. So hold that shit. This is what he said. Howie asked the director to put him in the chair for in the chair for real quote, I thought this would help lend itself to the performance and feelings of claustrophobia and being trapped. I was sweating. So if my face itched, I couldn't scratch it and I couldn't get up. I'm always eager to try new things to be challenged in different ways and maybe give audiences something they might not expect from me. Like, sitting in a chair. So sitting in a chair. You know what they should have died? People see me standing. That's not all me. That's not all I do. I sit.

I contain multitudes. Yeah. The bed is going to be compelling. They should have made the chair like a character of, and of itself. And the chairs were having a sort of like gruff, sort of like snarky attitude. Yeah. The chair would be like, hey, why don't I try, why don't I try sitting on your ass for a change or something like that? Yeah. Come on, Chair.

Come on, Chair. My guilt probability is hovering right at 92.1%. If we can get it below two tents, we're out of here. I don't know, buddy. What I know for sure is you're guilty as stinking. Come on, Chair. Start fart. I don't go to your work and farting your mouth.

Okay. I'd actually watch... What is this movie? I don't know. It's better than what we just saw. And to your point, Blake, we watched the trailer. it basically sums up the whole film, which is how you know it's bad also.

They're like, look, dude, here it is, no surprises. Check it out maybe. I don't know. I don't know. The other thing, though, too, is that Pratt also said their role is, quote, a real departure for me because he's, quote, a homicide detective in the near future. Oh, that's definitely a departure because if,

I don't know if you notice, Chris Pratt is not a homicide detective. in the near future right now. So range, range. Range. The other thing, and also his, the character's called Chris. What the fuck. The fun, I think the-

He doesn't have that much range. Yeah. If you give a different first name, they'll have no idea if you're talking to him or not. Detective? Detective? Detective? Detective?

Who are you talking? Chris, Chris. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, what's up? Yeah, yeah, what do you? Oh, this fucking chair, I tell you. No, no, hold on. Hold on. I haven't even said action.

Why is this? You can't just start. That's not the chair. You're just in your green room. Yeah. That's not the chair. I'm method. I told you.

I tell you. So the other thing, though, too, is the thing about the AI judge, like the movie could have maybe said something about the rush to adopt AI or even its weird-ass mischaracterization of like, well, crime's out of control. Therefore, we just need computers

to do summary executions of people. Like, we've already have, Like we've seen, we've talked about on the show like dumb ass legal proceedings that have used AI or like people trying to use like AI like deep fake lawyers and shit. There's a lot you could say here. But again, the fucking message apparently is that like even though this thing's like, I'm innocent and you almost fucking killed me. The message is like pro AI and like they're sort of like, hey man, human and AI were pretty

similar, huh? And that we both are fucking dumb and useless. We're both bad at our jobs. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to love chairs. Call it a push, huh? Let's call it a push. All right.

Great, great. Thanks. I'm Chris. Anyway, so, Zite Gang, let me know if you maybe do a, if you're theater hopping and you happen to go in there. Or maybe it's too scary because no one's in the theater because that is kind of an upsetting way to watch a movie. I'm not, anytime I've been in a theater when it's like a big theater and it's kind of empty, it's not, I'm not one of those people is like, I love it. I'm a little bit like, what the fuck? Yeah.

I don't like that. Fucking go. Like the fucking leftovers or some shit. One of the best shows ever with Carrie Coon getting blasted through a bulletproof vest for funzies. Anyway, all right. That's going to do it for this week's weekly. Zykeyes, please like and review the show.

If you like the show, uh, means the world to miles. He needs your validation, folks. Uh, I hope you're having a great weekend. And I will talk to you Monday. Bye. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money.

If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or, wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian, and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. John has never been anything but gay, but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story,

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us. She... Great, great, great way to start. Maybe you will cry.

Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or girl? Oh, my God. That's so funny. I love it. So I try to butcher it up for kids, so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching.

It's basically like Doris Day. Right? No, I turn it to be Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people, what's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only ASAP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name.

The ledge was on the TV. Raq Kim had the bucket hat can go join on. My post is like, that's Raqam. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that fucking I swear. Listen to the Questlove show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

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