The Daily Zeitgeist - Why Aren’t Movies Horny Anymore? The BS Return To Work ‘Movement’ 3.10.22

Episode Date: March 10, 2022

In episode 1201, Jack and guest co-host Joelle Monique are joined by comedian Lydia Popovich to discuss Biden Really Wants Everybody Back In The Office, Why Are American Movies Of The Last 20 Years So Sexless?... and more! Biden Really Wants Everybody Back In The Office Survey shows only 20 per cent of workers want to return to office full-time post-COVID-19 Tasteless Trolly Office Decor EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL AND NO ONE IS HORNY lydiapopovich.com Lauren Cugliotta's Pinball Twitter LISTEN: Galaxy Surfing by Jadu HeartSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just

starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because

of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello, the internet, and welcome to season 227, episode 4 of Dear Daily Zeitgeist. I'm production by HeartRadio. This is a podcast where we take a deep dive into America's shared consciousness.

It is Thursday, March 10th, 2022. My name is Jack O'Brien, aka Eat Shit From Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-U-S. That is courtesy of Christy Yamaguchi-Main. A reference to the little part of the banana. The little, like, nub at the end that is gross. I always feel like I'm eating, like, a belly button or something. Anyways, the Bananas. Well named by someone on Reddit whose name I don't remember. But shout out to y'all.

Well, I am thrilled to be joined by today's special guest co-host, a producer behind shows like Fake Doctors, Real Friends. Welcome to our show. You've heard her on Pop Culture Happy Hour, read her at Vulture, the AV Club, Teen Vogue, Pace, many more. She is the brilliant and talented Joelle Monique. Womp womp. Usually I like to give air horns when i come in but today is day two without coffee and apparently it's affecting me i've been so moody all over the place i got really mad because my playlist

wouldn't work it's a little embarrassing 33 why can't i control my emotions when I don't have coffee, but it's not happening. So just got to embrace it. For health reasons, energy reasons, what are we doing? Yeah, I was having horrible panic attacks and I didn't even really clock it until Justin pointed it out the other day. He was like, maybe it's all the caffeine. And I was like, right. Cause like I'm medicated for all of my things now. Like, I've been good to go. And then I added espresso. And it messed up the calm of my spirit.

So now I have to go off it. But I really, really get used to it. It's how I woke up every morning. So I switched to matcha like a month and a half ago because I live in LA and I've lived here for way too long. And I felt like I had the flu for about a week, but it's good. It like keeps me a little bit more kind of leveled out and less like spiky. But one of the benefits is that now coffee, like even like shitty, you know, whatever coffee is available like is like cocaine once again it's pretty cool so i recommend i recommend getting off coffee except for like when you need

just absurd uh boosts of you know insane energy yeah i have to figure something out because this chai tea is tasting like water it's really not hitting it's pretty good i to figure something out because this chai tea is tasting like water. It's really not hitting. That's pretty good. I'll figure it out. I mean, it's not good, but it's a substitute worth testing. I need a roasted bean flavoring, okay? I need full body flavor to smooth me into my morning. I'm going to figure it out.

Internet, you figure it out for me and then I'll try things. Well, Joelleelle we are fortunate to be joined in our third seat by a hilarious comedian one of our favorite guests on tdz dave girl once touched her arm and said hey you're pretty funny you can see her on stages everywhere from california to london berlin singapore uh go follow her on twitter and then watch her set from punchline sf last week it is brilliant and such a blast and makes me excited to go see stand-up comedy again. It is Lydia Popovich! Yay!

Bow, bow, bow, bow, bow! What's up? There's your air horns. Oh, my God. I'm so excited to find my talk. Joelle, I have a solution for you. Lydia, yes! I have a solution for you. There is i have a solution for you there is a product

that is i won't say the brand name because fuck a brand whatever right like i'll say i'm not giving anybody any free advertisement but there is a uh a mix that is chai tea flavored like espresso and i think it has a little bit of espresso in it but like pretty minuscule amounts and it is so delicious it's a little powder it comes in a canister it's made in san francisco you put it into water you can put it into coconut milk you can put it into regular milk you can put it into whatever milk you want give it a little zhuzh, and then next thing you know, you have a delicious coffee-tinged, like, low-caffeine beverage. I got you, girl. I got you.

Lydia, every time our paths cross, you save my life a little. Thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to trying this. I need it. I am full of lots of little things. I don't know a lot about a lot, but I know a little about a lot. Does that make sense? Yes, it exactly hell yeah is chai like caffeinated is that a pretty up the butt yeah the chai chai is super caffeinated just like yeah yes you know what i mean it doesn't smack you

in the face different different properties right it's it's the the real the real kicker about coffee and i i love coffee and i think coffee gets a bad name but i do think the coffee needs to be used in moderation like i spent a long time drinking way too much of it and now i've got it to literally like i have a cup of it in the morning and it's great and i'm fine the rest of the day that's the only way you got to do it if you're having that like 130 iced coffee you know what i mean if you were that's that's the slippery slope man that's that's a young person's game that's a young person's game i remember being in college just down in three of these a day just really embracing all the power my youth had to offer just hovering

slightly above the ground at all times yeah and then around like 6 25 p.m your palms are sweating and you're just like what's happening yeah that's that's vodka o'clock though so we're fine yeah yeah switching addiction you just switch over vodka o'clock oh man lydia how you doing it was great to see you back on on stage i'm good i'm good yeah it's awesome. I'm actually like so thrilled that comedy clubs have people in them again. It's not something that was happening kind of regularly. You never knew what was happening when you're going into places. And now I feel like people are really out like they're out. They're sitting in the chairs. They're excited to take their masks off. They're laughing. You know, people aren't on the verge of, you know, freaking out. They're just having a genuine good time. And it makes my job so much more easy just to get up there and have a great time and not feel bad about it. Right. Like not feel like I'm contributing to like putting people's lives at risk. I'm feeling much better about being a live performer. It's incredible.

Yeah, it's interesting. There's like an inverted thing where the harder you kill as a comedian, the more droplets you're putting out into the air oh and i'm a spinner i know it like i see it coming out of my mouth and i'm mortified like that's why i bought my own mic i take my own mic with me now that's actually very thoughtful of you yeah and i love a stage that's like cobs in San Francisco where it's elevated and you're also like away. So the likelihood of my like spit droplets landing on someone are pretty, it's not going to happen. But then like at Punchline, oh, for sure, I'm spitting on people like 100%. There's fluid flying out of my mouth.

So yeah, it's hard. There's no space between the audience and the stage there. Yeah, but that's why it's such a great room, though, you know? And they have, like, they have brought the, you know, those tables aren't right up on the stage like they used to be. So, I mean, the venues are accommodating as well. But, yeah, man, it is. It's a trip to be that conscious of it. You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah. And really, and see droplets and be like, oh, I'm killing someone. Maybe. I hope not. Lydia, what are the audiences like? Are you finding, I, cause as a movie theater goer, I have found that people are much more generous with their joy. In other words, what we used to have to work for to get an applause or, you know, a big group laughter. I feel like everyone's just very primed for that and kind of jumping in, maybe when it's not warranted, but still it's lovely. I mean, it kind of depends. I mean,

I think in general, you're right. I think people are excited to be out and be doing something and be doing it for fun and not like, because it's like a necessary activity. But I will say that I think there is a contingent of audience members that have, number one, forgotten how to act outside the house, right? Like they have just forgotten how to act. Like they forget that they're not at home. So their body language is weird or their facial expressions are weird or just some of their habits are odd or they are just rude, right? Where they're just like, oh, I'm going to just turn and have a full ass conversation with someone because that's what I would do at home watching Netflix. Or they are so excited to be out and talk to other people.

They want to literally like have a conversation with you where they're like, oh, I'm going to speak out loud after every joke that you say and tell you how great it is and then tell them it's great and then tell you why we think it's also. This isn't a panel discussion. All right. I'm up here doing a thing, and I need you to hush it up. But they're having fun, right?

Like, they're not trying to heckle. They're just like, want to be a part of what's happening, you know? Yeah, they're too used to the parasocial relationships we all developed when we were in quarantine. One hundred percent. One hundred percent. I talk back to my podcasts.

Yeah, they hear me. Yeah yeah you know i they like it i email them like long emails and they read them on air to me yeah right the other thing is is that i think i mean many of us during the quarantine uh while we are at staying at home and entertaining ourselves also maybe drank a little and then that became a lot and i think people forgot how to be public drunk right like at home drunk is a very different drunk than i'm in public bar drunk right versus i'm in public at an event drunk so some people are like just taking shots to the face and then 40 minutes in they're shithoused yeah and they're just like yeah like a lot of woos like it used to just be like you know bachelorette parties and now it's just like, yeah! Like a lot of woos. Like it used to just be like, you know, bachelorette parties. And now it's just like everybody.

Your grandma, your aunt, your uncle. I've seen three separate occasions. I've seen women in their 40s getting escorted out the club for being too lit. Wow. I love it, though. That's a very nice. A woo energy can be, it can be overwhelming, but it can also be extremely nice. It's awesome.

It's a great word for it. For like the first two minutes or whatever, you're like, all right, you're very excited. But then after like six minutes, you're like, okay, lady, I know I'm funny, but I'm not this many woos. You got it. You got it. You got to dial it back. You know? Woo!

I get it. Woo! Woo! Woo! You know? And you're like, I get it. You're 97% Chardonnay at this point but like i need you to just chill and shut the fuck up just yeah just you know just be public drunk be public drunk

have a good time i bet a lot of people like kicked up their drinking at home and now like they're back out and they're drinking more and then i think there's also people who like you know if you haven't drank in a long time you just don't know how to act oh absolutely i'm sure or just also just like feeling fun being like oh i'm fully in public lit everyone else is lit like and all that energy starts like just getting you feeling even more excited and then next thing you know you're like oh yeah i can do whatever i want it's dark in this room no one can see me right but i'm glad they're there i am glad people are there i will say that i'm and i think for the most part honestly like the shows i've been doing have been super fun super super super fun and it's it just feels like uh i don't know like whenever i

tour with felipe esparza his audiences are hands down the best audiences in the world like I will put money on it there's no way you cannot have fun at his shows his audience just come the perfect level of wasted and the perfect level of like just ready to have a good time and I feel like every show I've been to has been like almost a Felipe audience that's how excited people are to be honest I'm like yeah man this is great tides are turning tides are turning all right well we are gonna get to know you a little bit better in a moment first we're going to tell our listeners a couple of things we're talking about on the show later on we're talking about uh biden really wants everybody back in the office uh lydia you went back to your office the stage sure did but you know there's something about going to see live comedy that isn't replicable by, you know, being at home on Zoom.

Whereas many studies have shown that working from home, employees are more productive or equally productive and they prefer it. So there's there's like not really a logic that has been expressed other than like, we got to show we beat this dang covid and get back out there to the office, folks. And I think he kind of gave the game away where he was like, people can like return to their offices and like go fill fill up city squares or some shit like that, which is like, oh, OK, so it's real estate. But we'll talk about that. some shit like that, which is like, oh, okay, so it's real estate. But we'll talk about that. There's an essay on bloodknife.com, which is a website I had never been to before, but well-named. I was going to say, what are your bookmarks like, my guy?

Jesus. But it's from the writer Raquel, Raquel S. Benedict, about the sexlessness of movies over the past 20 years. Not even just like there's not sex scenes, but like they don't feel horny. Like it feels like the sex has been removed from them. And, you know, there's some good examples. I think Christopher Nolan is like the king of this.

Complete. He made a movie. Information only sex. Yeah. He made a movie that takes place in people's dreams where nobody there's not even like a a horny image in there it's just like a bunch of guys skiing around and like shooting at other guys like which is nary a boner in sight nary a boner in sight and nobody said shit they were just like no, that makes sense because he's good at making movies. So we're going to talk about that, all of that, plenty more.

But first lady, we do like to ask our guest, what is something from your search history? Ooh, search history. I took a look today and the first thing on there was 15 best places for champagne in Nashville. Yes. That's where I'm at in my level of evolving and getting back into the office because my other office is fucking brunch and i miss it i miss sitting in a restaurant with a fine white tablecloth i miss having a actual glass preferably a crystal glass that is filled with a real champagne and i'm not talking about a sparkling wine i am not talking about a prosecco i am talking about a champagne from france ladies and gentlemen i am

talking there's a difference true bubbles there's a difference listen once you have because at first i was like how how different could it be really what's what's truly happening. And then I went to France. I was at Cannes. I was interning. Someone handed me a glass of champagne. It took two to schnockered, first of all, just off my ass. And then second, I've never giggled so much. A baby could not have out-giggled me that day. It is the most uplifting, jovial drink on the planet. I will say, in defense of Prosecco, though, a Bellini hits in the morning.

I'm not mad at that, but have you had peach puree and a French glass of champagne topped with a little bit of Chambord? You're turning me. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I mean, and listen, the two are not mutually exclusive. You know what I mean? It's just a matter of where you're at in your life, where you're at on that any given exclusive. You know what I mean? It's just a matter of like where you're at in your life, where you're at on that any given Sunday.

You know what I mean? My any given Sunday would literally be about like an epic brunch. It would have zero to do with football. It would literally be like a presentation of breads. You know what I mean? And like salted meats and cheeses. Also a game of inches. Brunch.

You know? Yeah, man. Exactly. Miles' office's brunch, brunch by the way needs to be a t-shirt if it's not already you speak in brilliant t-shirts and coffee mug things i you're honestly you're right i i need to yeah you need to trademark that my other office is brunch is kind of perfect yeah what's the perfect brunch size lydia how many people are we sitting down to brunch with no more than four oh hard stop statements okay I mean I I really think that's where I've done brunch with five and I've done brunch with six I prefer an even number I think six works out fine too

but it has to be the right six people the reason why I say four is because I like intimacy I like being involved I like all parties being involved in the conversation. I feel like when you have a group of four, you can sit perfectly at a four top. There's not an awkward wait. You are more likely to get a good reservation and be seated in one of the preferable places of the restaurant where you have a great server. Four people can evenly split a bottle of champagne or two or three without having extras. Four people can also split entrees and you can split things in a much cleaner way. So you're actually maximizing your access to the brunch menu and able to enjoy more of it.

Lydia, I was brunching for enjoyment, but you're got brunching down to a science. Like that was epic. I'm convinced no more than I don't. I recently did an eight person brunch. Too many people. I did miss half the conversation. Yep.

And the other half was on the other side and it was lovely to see people's faces, but I didn't know what was going on in their lives. I didn't feel like I got caught up and the food was amazing. But yeah, no, totally. Okay. Four. Next brunch, we're trying four people. We'll see how it goes.

Yeah. Because for me, the brunch isn't about, I mean, yes, I enjoy the company, but like I'm laser focused on enjoying brunch foods and enjoying that meal like i really am about the meal like i came to eat and i came to drink i have a whole bit about it where i say like i i have two hundred dollars and three hours and i'm trying to get fucked up like i i mean i mean fucked up on food and on drink like when i'm done with lunch i'm done like i'm done with lunch, I'm done. Like, I'm done.

I have to sleep. The day is over. We're going back to the crib. We're taking dabs. And I'm getting in my cozies. And I'm going to take a nap. And I'll wake up and I will order dinner or something like that. Or I'll have, like, a soup or something.

You know what I mean? I'll have something very light. But, like, when you eat a brunch like that, like, that's the food you're taking in that day. And the rest of the day is just letting your body recover. Because there's so much butter and there's so much richness going on that, like, you don't really want to sell your body with anything besides, like, delicious butter, delicious champagne, gorgeous breads. You know what I mean? Just top of the line. Top of the line.

Gorgeous. So, yeah, I haven't found, like like my brunch spot yet in Nashville. So I've just been kind of looking because it's either they've got great food and a shit wine list or they've got a great wine list and shit food. And like I haven't found the middle. And like I love Southern cooking and I love Southern food. But like I really personally prefer a brunch that has a bistro, a French bistro lean. So, you know, I don't want a biscuit and gravy necessarily you know unless you're doing something really fucking special to that biscuit and really fucking special to that gravy that's how i feel i didn't come for grits but the last time i went to brunch is this black owned restaurant in brettwood that of course now i cannot remember the name of it but they had an oxtail and grits

i died like i fully ascended eating it no one one could talk to me. I was like, please, I have to eat this and focus on what is coming. Like, it's so good. Oh, man. Oh, that sounds delish. Yeah, see, I just, I love creativity. I have to plan a brunch now. Yeah. What's something you think?

Go ahead. Go ahead. Sorry, we're all like, no, what else do you want to talk about? Let's talk about food. How much food do you want to talk about? Talk about all day. What's something you think is overrated for me honestly good segue i think that tiktok recipes are these instagram chefs like these like 15 second like hey how to make 10 meals in one minute where you're like get

a get a sheet pan and then put dry noodles on it and then put cubes of cheese and then put a pile of meat and then put a pile of this and then put it in the oven and then it looks gross but stir it all together and it's a dip like no bro like i don't i don't that's not right you you gotta you gotta boil them noodles dog like i just i'm over this like tiktok chefing there's such a trend on it and it's so hilarious and everyone has like a little catchphrase there's this dude from new york that literally just fries everything and it's always like you you got to put paprika. You got to put onion powder. You got to put garlic powder.

You got to put your Lowry's. And then, you know, you just dip it in the sauce, you know. And then he always ends up with, and I got that Bev. Don't play with me. You know I got that Bev. And then he shows you like a jar of like fucking ocean spray cranberry juice. You're like, that's not an exclusive Bev, my guy. You took a trip to the bodega.

Like, who cares? All right? You made fried shrimp and you have some cranberry juice. Are you seven? What is happening? Last time I checked in

with the social media, like, chefs and recipes where you, like, actually watch the video, like, we found out that the thing

that everybody was passing around was, like, a fetish video. Like, those people who are, like, making lasagna on the countertop. Oh, yeah. Like, that was just a weird fetish video that, you know, everybody was like, I can't believe, you know, these people are so bad at cooking. And it was like, no, people are jerking off to this.

Yeah. Well, and there's also, like, these weird trends that are coming over from that like the food jerk-off world like there's a whole genre of like very cute sort of like homely girl next door cooks on instagram and tiktok and they all leaning over super close to the camera like in the worst kitchen position you could possibly do to chop vegetables but it's about a very specific angle like that chick who made the like salmon with the like seaweed and the rice in the microwave that people lost their fucking minds about like she does this same movement where it's like i'm gonna over lean and get really close to the camera and like asmr the way i'm cutting stuff and i'm just like oh my god what is this is like you're making

leftovers bitch like why is this a whole event like what, what is happening? Bring back Julia Childs, okay? I want my chefs six feet tall and crying when they eat bread. This is my ideal. I just want people to know how to actually cook. That's my whole thing. It's like, I learned how to cook from the women in my family and from my dad. And, like, I just feel like it's such, like, a sacred thing, right? Like, it's so awesome to learn how to cook from your parents. And I think that you should cook for yourself. And then that way you cook for your family but be it your kids or your your loved

ones or whatever like it's just it's such a human thing to prepare a meal and i don't like seeing it sort of convenient sized and i don't like seeing it fetishized and i don't like seeing it just sort of like these girls are like oh i don't know't know how to cook. So like I'm going to microwave this and then show you this paper plate and be like, oh, she's a she's a wifey now. It's like, no, bitch, you're going to lose the entirety of your man with that plate. Like that's not going to happen. Just learn how to cook. Just learn how to cook. What is something you think is underrated?

Persistence. OK. I think that people need to be more persistent. It's really difficult to achieve your goals, right? It's really difficult to achieve your dreams. And I think it's one thing to like dream up what you want to do, dream up what you want to see, dream up what you want to get. And it's another thing to actually follow through and start traveling down that path and getting to it, right? follow through and start traveling down that path and getting to it right whether that's something as simple as like you know me finding a dolly parton pinball machine that i've been looking

for for 10 years or it's like i want to be an ice skater right like whatever it is right i just think that a lot of the time we just give up right like you couldn't find it you couldn't you know you're not that great at skating like oh i guess i'm not going to be a skater like just keep trying like keep going because you will get what you want if you keep doing it, you know? And of course, like, it's just in my head because I did. I got this fucking Dolly Parton pinball machine that I literally have been looking for for 10 years. And any other normal sane person would have just given up. But like, no, my psychotic ass and persistent ass was like, no, no, no.

I'm going to literally look online twice a month and try to find one that is in good condition. And they're like, in one day I will find it. And I did. And now I have it and it's beautiful and I love it. But it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for persistence. You set an alarm like on this day every month or it was just that much of a like goal for you that you just like, like we're doing it regardless. You were, you were searching for the Dolly Parton pinball machine. That much of a goal for me. And also I just like, like I have weekly searches that I do for random Dolly Parton stuff, because like I said, I have a problem. So it's just like, it's part of my search, you know what I mean? It's just like, oh, okay. I'm looking for things today. Like I kind of always had this list of little things of like, oh, I wonder if there's a new Dolly Parton things here or there. And so I would always be like when i'm in that mindset and some days i just wake up and i think about it like when i this machine that's how i got it i woke up in the morning and i was like i haven't looked for the pinball machine in a minute and that's because i i lost one at auction two months ago and i was

really upset about it and i just was like oh i don't want to think about it i don't want to think about it and i thought it was like i'm never gonna find one that was that good and then i woke up like three weeks ago and was like you know what i'm gonna look and i went on ebay and there it was the dolly part holy shit yeah the dolly part pinball machine is behind lydia we can see it in the shot it was on when the the meeting the zoom started and it's a thing of beauty it's well well worth it and you had like people fix it up for you and shit right well it was it was all fixed up i found i found it on ebay oh you found the people yeah i was on ebay and the machine was all done it had been refurbished it had just been serviced it had just gone through

like all these things it had all original parts that was really important to me because i found a bunch of them that like have been reboxed and they don't have the original cabinet or like they have different flippers or they have like a new back plate or something and i really wanted like the 1979 like the original version and i found it and it ended up being from this really cool shop in florida that like that's what they do is they just restore pinballs they're just like super into pinball so i really lucked out it was just like very serendipitous and I offered the guy less than what he had it on for eBay and he took it. So I was like, hell yeah. That's the best.

Yeah. Well, congratulations. Yeah. And it was a big deal. But yeah, but persistence, man. Just like stick to it. And you've been on the Dolly thing since well before the rest of the world figured it out. But she's.

Oh, yeah. I'd like to say that I helped contribute to spreading the good word i'm kind of like the the like the johnny apple seed of dolly parton yeah i feel like i've been talking about it for so long and it's so wonderful to see everybody catch up and be like oh shit i get it like more people in the last four years have told me i understand why you like dolly parton so much i'm like oh you mean you don't think i'm psychotic anymore you get it now great cool very cool she like seems to be right about everything down to uh asking taco bell to bring back the maxi melt pizza like it's for real when i saw that i was like yo is this angel really gonna make this happen because i'm tired of making these at home i was like i will i don't even know

man right i will get if she brings it back i will get a tattoo of a Mexican pizza with Dolly Parton on top of said Mexican pizza on my body. Damn. That would be... A Mexican pizza tattoo would be pretty hot, actually. That'd be sick. I'd like that. I might just think about that as a concept. It's a work of beauty.

Yeah. All right. Let's take a quick break, and then we'll come back and talk about going back to the office. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high control

groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I've been thinking about you.

I want you back in my life. It's too late for that. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours. BPM 110.

120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not. What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of

a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams.

Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football,

the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church, and then a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine,

and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture.

This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States

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And Joe Biden last week during the State of the Union said people working from home can feel safe and begin to return to their office. And now he's doubled down, calling for an end to remote work. I think that was last week. But I don't know. I'm kind of seeing this this sentiment pervade. sentiment purveyed like that there was a new york times piece from yesterday that was this person being like you know they like the vaccine really helped but none of this other stuff working from home and stuff didn't help uh and in fact it caused people to die in more vehicle crashes and like linked off to an article which would have led you to believe that he was linked off to a source, but he was linking off to his own article that blamed the lockdown for more vehicle crashes.

And the only thing in that article was a psych professor who was like, we're just angrier now that we're locked down. We've talked before about how the more likely explanation for the increase in serious car crashes while we were locked down is that our roads are horribly designed and only work if there's like stop and go traffic because cars can't get going fast enough to kill each other. That just sort of slow bleed from on high down to these New York Times pieces of just like, time to go back to the office. We all want to go back actually do the research, it seems like people were happier and did better work from home. Like it doesn't, it doesn't make sense to like, I still haven't heard a good reason. And they're wild if they think people are going back, like it's not going to happen. It's such a strange phenomenon that we're seeing people say like, oh, let's return to how things were. Things were not

great beforehand. Think back, really try. We don't want to go back to the office for a bajillion reasons, but I think predominantly because the work-life balance for most people is in chaos. And at the very least, if you're home, you can be with your people. You can like run out and pick up your kids real quick without a whole bunch of people looking over your people. You can like run out and pick up your kids real quick without a whole bunch of people looking over your shoulder. Like why is she leaving the office and what's happening? The number of calls are taking people in their car trying to run an errand where before you'd have to like take time off work, not something a lot of people can do to like run to the bank during its open hours to, I don't know, get a loan or whatever it is you need to do to

survive. It's impossible to think of going back to life the way it was before the pandemic and the most interesting thing i heard about like why this push might be happening is because of gas and they're worried that people aren't driving enough and they're like you gotta buy more oil right now so back to the office go get your morning commute on which if true disgusting yeah disgusting our planet is dying it's just it's like a whole bunch of compounded things and the idea that we're just going to return to normal we could not possibly even if we wanted to it's wild too because i think it i mean i think i agree with you i think it really is like a very bad bad bad

way to be like yeah gas like gas is expensive we need to do this we need to keep supporting this industry but I also think that there's a fear from a lot of corporate employers in particular that there used to be pre-pandemic sort of this culture in a lot of these companies a culture of fear right like if you are not physically seen doing work and being productive and producing, if you're not the first one in and the last one out, if you're not always available regardless of time, if you're not willing to burn that midnight oil, right? There's someone else right behind you that's willing to do it. And a lot of places really depended upon that sort of culture of fear and that culture of missing out and that culture of sort of visibility and transparency

with, you know, if I don't run into the boss in the elevator then like this will never happen you know and that's what they did to keep people employed and also to make them work harder and now that that whole culture has literally been killed right because everyone's been leveled out people have seen their bosses in their freaking pajamas you know what i mean people are having these same struggles it's really kind of flattened and leveled it out. People have seen their bosses in their freaking pajamas. You know what I mean? People are having these same struggles. It's really kind of flattened and leveled it out. Or you have people that have not shown anything and are still in offices even when they shouldn't have been because they're so there. There's this discord, right?

Or this, you know, disconnect now where people are like, oh, my boss is an evil boss. My life has more meaning. I could probably be happy or not working. I mean, I think it's also about unemployment rates, right? And about keeping soldiers in line so that we can, you know, buy houses so that we can have extraneous money so that we can also have to buy fashionable clothes because now we all wear soft fuzzies, you know what I mean? And we're not selling enough Armani suits. Like it's just, there's so many commerce things that are tied into this that, like, it sickens me a little bit.

Yeah, it's silly. You're also seeing a workers revolution, like across the United States and across industries as well. It's happening in' rights that's occurring in the same way that there was a push for Black rights and defunding the police when we were getting money for free and at home and had time to think about these things. I think there's very much, probably not consciously, but a blowback from that of this is getting out of hand and we do not have control. And it's better if we go back to the way things were when we had that control. fill in, which is the real estate industry. Like you can see it in. Oh, absolutely. You can see it in Biden's speech where he says it's time for America to get back to work and fill our great town downtowns again with people. So, like, yeah, he's he he wants people to be back in offices and in these regions that have been abandoned.

regions that have been abandoned and you know that real estate is yeah you hear somebody works for exxon and you're like oh okay that person's fucked up but like you hear people so many people work in real estate and it's like real estate is a really really fucked up industry like it's a super shady industry oh my god it's it's based on presentation and lies. It's based on negotiations. You know what I mean? It's ever-fluxing. And it's wild to think about too, because obviously this pandemic spurred a huge sort of housing issue, right? People losing their homes, not being able to afford their homes, but then at the same time, a ton of people moving to areas so that they can buy homes and driving prices up. You know what I mean? I certainly am part of that problem myself. I know, I left California and came to Tennessee

where, you know, it was much cheaper, but at the same time, the prices like have quintupled since I've been here. It's ridiculous to kind of see that that's happening. It's like, oh, that's not enough. So now we have to do it on a corporate sector. It has to be impacting them. It has to be. Yeah, for sure. And like, if you don't have people in big huge offices and people are are actually maybe there's companies that are like yeah yeah we don't need to be here let's fuck this building like let's all work from home that's a huge money saver i think it's probably a combination of all these things right but the one thing we know is that we're not getting the truth like what do they know about the looming?

There's this article in Prospect that is just like, what do they know about the looming collapse of central business districts, about the erosion of municipal tax bases? Like, there are probably a lot of considerations, many of them fucked up, but some of them, like, probably pretty straightforward that they just, like, aren't mentioning. And instead, they're just like we want to see the beautiful sight of people in suits walking to subway and then eating their lunch at their computer it's like that that sounds crazy like you know like you can't just like say something that doesn't make sense to people and just like try and paper it over because you are a politician like what shit does not work anymore well i mean and that's where like we have a responsibility to ourselves right that's which is why like you guys have this podcast right and we're talking about this shit

like i think that you know as americans we need to wake the fuck up like our government lies to us our city governments lie to us like everything is a means to an end. So it is 100% your responsibility to open your eyes, take a look, and look for what they're not telling you. You know what I mean? And figure that out and make your plan based on your feelings and what you know about that. I always tell people that. Like, do not believe what your city politicians, your town politicians, your country politicians are telling you. Just do some reading. Figure it out.

politicians or country politicians are telling you just yeah do some reading figure it out but i mean a lot of the a lot of offices are open and people can return they just aren't returning they you know a survey found in january 61 of those working from home could be going into work but they chose not to because it's a much better situation and we now have the technology to make it like basically loss free it's a lossless like transition from working next to someone to working from home on zoom and you the one thing you lose is like these interpersonal conflicts that suck that people like yeah you know like that you just have to be nice to each other like you can't be a cunt over fucking zoom you know what i mean like you really got to be hardwired to content to just to be like i'm going to show up to this meeting

and just be a piece of shit like right no well and they're recorded like i mean hr i would love to get some hr reports out of this and like how much have those interpersonal conflicts decreased? And, you know, what has that freed up HR? HR has so many more responsibilities outside of just resolving conflict. It would be interesting to see, you know, what time for family yes more time for like sleep and self-care and all of these other things but from a corporate perspective what more can like the corporations be doing now that they're not having to manage the people so directly and i think that that can only be a positive for both sides of that conflict like for both the corporations and the people who work for them yeah for sure hr is the real estate agents of of the uh yeah i don't also very hard job that you know i feel i feel for anybody working in hr i mean what what a time to be a middle manager right this has just got to be fucking the worst and the best where you're just like man go with god i don't care like call

me never i'm just here i'm here i'm just here yeah on the list of uh people who are out of practice being around other humans you can add like bosses because they yeah so there's this office in toronto with signs that like that are welcoming people back that are like making people come back to the office and they have these like signs that are I guess supposed to be funny and they one is like a photograph of sweatpants and says miss your sweatpants yet and then wow then there's one this this one is the most confounding to me. Bet your dog's missing you. And it's a picture of a sad dog. It's like, yeah, motherfucker, that is exactly true and exactly why I didn't want to come back.

What the fuck? That is so, that really bothers me because it's so indicative of like, we're taking joy in you being uncomfortable and you being away from things that bring you peace and calm it's not dehumanization what could possibly be welcoming about going back to being forced back to an office when you know when you know you could do your job from home i i don't understand like if we're all connected if more work is being done and I can like take care of things at home and work on my relationships outside of the office without sacrificing any of the work I do, how could you possibly welcome me back to an office? Because basically it feels like going back to school when they're like, you got to be in this classroom. You better raise your hand to go to the bathroom. All of these ways we sort of used to control kids

very early. It's like, I don't want to bring that further into my adult life. I feel like we're good. We know how to work. We know how to turn things in. And if there's a problem, that will also be made abundantly clear. There's no reason to go back to a brick and mortar. It's also the, you know, a thing we've talked about. There's this essay that was turned into a book by David Graeber, and it's called Bullshit Jobs. And it's just a survey of all the jobs in America and the UK. It's like, oh, half of these don't need to exist. A lot of these are just moving shit around and pushing people around and creating chaos and the the people who mostly don't need to exist a lot of the time are those middle managers and the people who are like in

those meetings when they determine shit like we got to bring everybody back so we can you know make them cringe with our terrible senses of humor yes yes here we go okay so once i was working for a delivery company i might be in the aid so i won't say their name it was early in that company's existence maybe three or four years but they were doing well they were about to go public so of course what do they do they hire a team to come in and ask how can we be more efficient suddenly my very cool job where people would like chain smoke at their desks with vapes. We would watch, I had Netflix on the whole time, you know, just pop in a phone call, pause, whatever show I'm binging. I watched a lot of Disney's Robin Hood back in the day. Some girl would just play Sims the whole time. And look, it sounds like, how are these people

getting anything done? but what was interesting to me our numbers did not go up afterwards no there was no change in performance and we were just comfortable and they really hated that they were like look at they're doing something that isn't a hundred percent work it's like i'm waiting for a call to come i don't do anything but wait for my little screen to light up and then i click the call and then i help them out and then i go back to doing whatever and i think there's this very like old school idea of and and to that old school's point you used to work like working to six or seven was late like oh my gosh you see two extra hours at work I think in nine to five they were saying like twice a week I have to stay up until like seven

and I have to get my kids dinner and also this. People don't have time to cook their children dinner. They're like, fuck it, pizza, five dollars, go eat. I have more work to do once we get home. So it doesn't make sense to tell people like you must work around the clock and also no creature comfort. It's not tenable. And I honestly think it's why workers are like, listen, I'll just stay at home. It's fine. I'm not coming back. You know what's not compatible with efficiency? The death of the human soul. It feels like people are not efficient workers when their soul is being just ground out of their fucking bodies. 100%. I agree with you, man. This is why I think, like, again, take some personal accountability.

Like, if you, I just think it would be awesome to be like, sure, I'll come back. But then just roll in just as you've been at home. Like, just come in your sweats. Bring that dog. You know what I mean? Like, bring your little plug-in heater. Like, get rid of that office chair. Put the beanbag in there.

Get yourself a little Ikea sofa. Just go full Costanza. You know what I mean? And just completely renovate your office into, like, a creature comfort layer. And be like, I'm legit doing my work, but I'm not doing it unless I'm comfortable like that's just it just a vehement fight back on comfort level that seems fair unless you got a job where you like you know i don't want my doctor to come in in sweats that's a little concerning uh my lawyer can be more comfortable than a suit and tie but you know figure it somewhere scrubs or sweats yeah a little secret doctors. They are the one profession that gets away with wearing sweats nonstop.

Constantly. Scrubs are the most comfortable fucking clothes. They're designed to be. I'm sure there's another reason they get to wear that. But holy shit, those are so comfortable. And yeah, they like every other profession is fucking stupid for not having designed a uniform that everybody just associates with that profession. Like, if lawyers were as smart as they claim they are, they would be in, like, baggy onesies. That would be the thing that tells us that you're a lawyer.

I thought you were going to say they'd all be dressed in foghorn leghorn costumes. That would be great. Amazing. Not comfortable, but hilarious. gonna say they'd all be dressed in foghorn leghorn costumes that'd be great amazing not comfortable but hilarious yeah i do like the idea of like needing to have a dedicated like a dedicated uniform to your your job i think that's just awesome like mechanics coveralls you know what's going on plumber pants that don't fit you know what i mean like everybody everybody knows what you do you're like oh that guy's for sure a plumber. Yeah. 100%. You know? Oh, construction hats. Yeah, man.

Let's get some uniforms, man. You don't have to worry about what you're doing. I like that. Podcast industry. Unite. Let's figure out what the podcast uniform is. It's just whatever free clothes you guys are advertising. That's great.

If it's only socks, then you just got to make your whole outfit out of those socks. Bombas and nothing else. Yeah, just Bombas socks. And that's it. You're like, yeah, man. Knit together Bombas. That's going to be dangerous so fast. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know. I like the idea of just branded hoodies. And that's it. We need to know which podcast you're working on at all times. You work on a new one today, switch hoodies. Yeah. Actually, maybe you guys could kind of be like race cars.

You know how race cars are just covered in logos that they're paid for the car? Check. It should be that, but a hoodie. Or like, and it's just, that's it. That's what you wear. It's just all the current logos that people pay for ad space. Yeah, your mind. I swear to God.

Yes. Yes. I need a NASCAR style hoodie with all my shows on it. Yeah. And then you guys should also have a pit crew. People already do that with their email signatures with every logo. And it starts to look like you're in the Navy with all the decorations. So I feel like a sweatshirt that looked like that would be pretty dope.

I love it. All right. Let's take a break. And we'll come back and talk about why the past 20 years of movies is not horny enough. Ow. and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members

for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration.

It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I've been thinking about you. I want you back in my life. It's too late for that. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session, All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours.

BPM 110. 120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not. What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it.

That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm.

Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you feel about biscuits? Hi, I'm Akilah Hughes, and I'm so excited about my new podcast, Rebel Spirit, where I head back to my hometown in Kentucky and try to convince my high school to change their racist mascot, the Rebels,

into something everyone in the South loves, the biscuits. I was a lady rebel. Like, what does that even mean? The Boone County Rebels will stay the Boone County Rebels with the image of the Biscuits. It's right here in black and white in print. A lion. An individual that came to the school saying that God sent him to talk to me about the mascot switch is a leader. You choose hills that you want to die on. Why would we want to be the losing team? I'd just take all the other stuff out of it. On segregation academies,

when civil rights said that we need to integrate public schools, these charter schools were exempt from that. Bigger than a flag or mascot. You have to be ready for serious backlash. Listen to Rebel Spirit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria.

Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two. Season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right? And this season, we're taking in a bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history.

Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita, followed by the mojito from Cuba, and the piña colada from Puerto Rico. So all of these, we think, Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey

that dates back to the 9th century B.C. B.C.? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network.

Available on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And yeah, I actually, I heard this article mentioned on John Gabrus' podcast, Action Boys, and immediately was like, all right, I'm going to go read that article. And then I want to talk to Joelle Monique about this the next the next time she is on it's just a good like sort of meta analysis of movies of the past

20 years that's like you know like as recently as the 80s and 90s like people were horny in movies like movie characters were horny and now as like the human body has like the human body as it appears in movies has been like whittled down into more like traditionally like beautiful the people have just gotten less horny like people like the movie characters are just i don't know like i it really made sense to me in the article when the author was talking about christopher nola movies i've always noticed those about christopher nola movies there's not a like i said up top there's not a drop of sex in any of the dreams of inception but like it's not just like it's not just christopher nolan movies like we did i didn't even i was not like that movie's fucking weird like that's a that's a movie about dreams and like nobody it's like a world in which sex doesn't exist. And we just like, yeah, I don't know. And then,

I mean, it's true. Like the, the dark night rises sex scene between Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard is like, I think the low point of his movies and maybe all movies, it's just, it doesn't like so drab and unbelievable and just like plot mechanical.

It sucks. But, you know, the author also points out like all the Marvel movies like Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. Those people aren't fucking. You can just look at that and be like, those people. What are you talking about? Even Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, the entire second movie is based on her wanting to take does she take over a person in a coma's body or he takes over she takes over a person in a coma's body to bring this person back to life he does in part two yeah and they have clearly like just it's like they've

not heard of sex let alone like wanted to have it with one another. There's no time for sex when you're saving the world, Jack. Yeah. Priorities. Okay, so I have so many thoughts. On a direct tangent from what we were just talking about, the idea that movies are so focused on end-of-the-world scenarios, I think that we've been scared out of sex they're just like there's no time like christopher nolan isn't even interested in love even in inception which is supposed to be about a guy getting back to this woman that he lost you know it's falling deeper into his dreams to get to it's more a figment of his imagination than an actual person he's trying to get back to

all we ever see of her is like her with the kids she's very beautiful she's off in the distance they don't even show her face we don't know anything about her it's really more of a representation of that's where he feels safe it's about him it's not even about getting to her so that he can love her right like the way that they convey her at least that's what i got from it i was just like yeah so this is nothing to do with her this is everything to do with him needing to have the things that he thinks that he needs where he was the way he wanted to be it could have been his favorite armchair that yeah that would have been fucking amazing if it was just his favorite armchair that he likes to sit in like that's what he's fantasizing about the whole time.

Damn, my lazy boy. But in the Dark Knight trilogy, both the most evil and exciting, but, like, evil character of the trilogy is the only character with any sexual energy, and he's Ledger's Joker. Like, he's the only character that you're like, okay, this guy's, like, fucked up, but he clearly, like like has some sort of like

sexual urges whereas everybody else is completely removed from that it's happening on such a large scale i think part of it is like a purification of our country where we really like we we had a very large swift at least in my childhood this this idea of, like, protect the children. They can see, like, don't talk to them about sex, okay? We're going to go back to abstinence training, like, avoid it. And then because of that, then you had this movement of the MPAA, which rates movies, being a lot more stringent on how they were going to rate. PAA, which rates movies being a lot more stringent on how they were going to rate. And the theater industry or the movie making industry followed that and said, okay, well,

we'll just focus really hard on PG-13 movies. You'll get your F-bombs. A guy will definitely kill someone in a horrifying way, but they won't have sex and it'll be fine. People will be okay with that. I mean, we used to be a proper country. You remember when we had like erotic thrillers? They were just everywhere. And they were so good and so like steamy and fun and mysterious.

And someone died. But in the end, the hot person usually got away. And that's what really mattered. And I sort of miss these days of like, give me a basic instinct, a fatal attraction, if you will. I'll even take like a crush you know 1992 i just feel like as we embrace more violence and and more brotherhood and friendship we just aren't really interested in romantic relationships unless they're devastating. Your lifetime's super, they have cancer, they can't remember each other, they, their families don't want them to be together. There's an entire war

between, that's what we're getting in our love movies. Or they're silly beyond belief. We don't even have good romantic comedies anymore, fight me. I just feel like there's, we're not interested in expressing love in our films anymore. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting time in general. I mean, it's something I think about a lot when we think about the quality of relationships that are presented. And I'm somebody that I don't really even like rom-com movies because I feel like they're so ridiculous and they're so out of touch with what life is truly like when you're actually in a relationship. But it's weird because we live in this country where we are supposed to be exceedingly hot, right? And we see this reflected, you know, Jack, as you were saying in movies, right? People are these chiseled sort of beautiful,

you know, or, you know, the ideas of what society wants you to think is a beautiful body, right? But then there's also the other side of that is that you either are beautiful and non-sexual or you are sexual and not traditionally hot. I feel like those are the only two kind of like routes that we kind of want to see that. And now that we're seeing people really talk a lot more about gender sort of being a construct, right? And we're moving towards recognizing and sort of accepting that there are people who are non-binary who don't necessarily, you know, sit in either gender, you know, or people who don't identify even sexually, right? Like this asexuality kind of becomes a thing. And it's really weird because it makes me think like,

are we going to see stuff continue down this road where people don't even want to touch the sex because it gets too close to gender and they're too worried about putting people off, you know, and not representing that? I mean, it's already sad that we don't see enough homosexual love stories, right? And then when we do see them, it's usually like chittered and chattered about, and it's like this taboo thing that happens, you know, it's like a Brokeback Mountain situation, like, oh my God, you know, or it's like blue is the warmest color, like, oh my God, there's lesbian sex in that one. And it becomes this like dirty thing. And I don't understand because america

it's like we want our teenagers to be hot you know what i mean like we're we have movies that are supposed to be teenagers and we're casting 35 year old women you know what i mean where it's like that girl is 35 yeah and they're like okay well that's so we can see her fuck and not feel bad about it and it's like why do we need to see kids fuck? What is happening? Like, we're all fucked up about sex in the United States. I think we have a really shitty relationship with our bodies and with who can have sex and who can't have sex instead of just accepting that, like, there's gender and then there's sex and they don't necessarily go together. And then you don't have to be hot in order for that to be a thing, right? Like, you don't have to be hot enough to fuck. Right. be a thing right like you don't have to be hot enough to fuck right like i just i hate that concept of it you know or like you said it has to be tragic joelle right where it's like oh this tragedy happened oh my god like

this is so sad where it's like all right so we have to be talking about either a devastating relationship or we have to be talking about rape in order for us to be able to comfortable exploring a sex scene because that's the other thing that i hate is where it's like we won't see sex unless it's a it's a rape unless it's a violent crime that's happening right and you know and then it's okay because it's contextual it's like oh so in order for to feed me sex it needs to be violent what are we doing this film is not yet rated a movie from 2006 a documentary about the mpaa process and like their standards and what they give our ratings and nc-17 ratings what they will and won't allow to be showed on camera is i like as close to mandatory viewing as as possible for a listener of this podcast like

y'all need to watch it if you haven't. But they they talk about the thing that the ratings board really objects to is women experiencing sexual pleasure. Oh, yeah. It's not nudity. It's women like they are terrified of women experiencing sexual pleasure. show a rape scene and then that that will get an r but if a woman is shown like having an orgasm that is that will get you an nc-17 they'll always cut right before she hits climax yeah right like you could see her being penetrated and starting to enjoy and then they'll be like and that's the end you get we better get out of here she's don't show that women can actually orgasm that would be a problem she's a witch we can't show it but fascism so the this essay which is really good i highly recommend people we'll link off to it but it opens with a description of starship troopers the shower scene, which is, you know, all of these like sculpted soldiers showering together because they're part of this like military battalion. But the whole undercurrent

of that movie is fascism. And that's like a thing that's been remarked about repeatedly about fascist cultures and just the ideology of fascism is it's all about like beautiful efficient bodies but like completely removed from sex and like completely taken out of the context of sex and so so that movie was like making a commentary back in 1992 and it you know presaged a lot of things but i i think that's one of them that like just this idea that like bodies would be taken more in this direction of not not really like functional. They're not like we're trying to remove the function and just make them pleasing and pleasing to look at. But like we don't we don't let them have the horniness that that is like so deeply human you know they're there for your visual consumption for the audience to ogle and be like wow isn't that a perfect body but there's again no internal desires even when we had our first marvel sex scene in the eternals which really kicked off a conversation about sexlessness in heroic movies, in the superhero Cape and Callow movies.

I mean, if you saw the movie, it is the most bland, non-interesting sex. It is boring. Which movie? The Eternals. Oh, yeah. That movie sucks. First of all, not a great movie. I feel like I've talked that to death of why I don't like it.

Don't tell me about all your epic stories. Just please show me. But the other idea of these two characters, we're supposed to have this great romance across thousands of eons and always coming back together. And when you see them together, you're like, girl, get out. He's abusive. you see them together you're like girl get out he's abusive the whole time you're just like this man is not quite right he's a little obsessed with

you in a very unhealthy way you just seem like a sweet innocent person please remove yourself and then when they are together there isn't that the actors are trying to perform longing it's staged so that it's supposed to be there but it never connects or leaps off the screen and it's because it's it's a disney film disney's never going to allow you to truly invest in what it needs to be like in a committed sexual relationship that's not you are parents serving other people you are doomed lovers you are not ever happy and and really enjoying yourself when they had every reason to be. And it's weird to me that we're continuing to get that in spaces where the studio could go there.

It makes sense to me that Disney is like, that's not really what we're interested in. We are very strictly a family space. But Warner Brothers, y'all, you got so much space and time just to bring out the fucking, you could do it. It's not going to be a problem. Your audience is going to stay here for it. But I do think that a lot of people are afraid of slipping into that R category because even when you have movies like Deadpool, which does have a lot of sex and actually some pretty good fun sex scenes in there, it didn't do the same kind of numbers that I think a studio hopes to hit every time they release a superhero movie. It did well.

They're going to keep releasing Deadpool movies. But at our rating, it does have a, it makes a difference. I think they tried to go PG-13 on movie two, if I remember correctly. And so this article is kind of written in the context of maybe the Batman will save us from this trend. And I don't. We hoped. There's no like overt sex scene but i i have read people say like it's the the characters are clearly horny and like there's a like undercurrent of

sexuality at least as compared to previous batman zoe kravitz is absolutely horny for batman batman has never had sex ever this this version of batman not fucking uh and it's and it's robert it's just sad too like i mean batman has never been like the horny character for me like he's just such a sad boy you know what i mean it's like he just seems like the kind of guy you'd fuck and then he'd cry after and he'd be like god now i have to stay like i can't leave you know what i feel like michael keaton batman did fuck and that was the only one that was like yeah and maybe you're a coony because he had nipples but i would pay good money and i'm talking good money to see fat thor fuck somebody everybody all things like

when they had fat thor that really did it for me i was just like oh what's up i like that that little belly i was like yeah yeah yeah that really that thor was definitely hot yeah i'm into it on thor the writer points out like in greek myths thor is like uh oh yeah he fucks everyone yeah he fucks everyone and in the thor movies like the first one is basically a you know rom-com i mean there's like a very strong like lead actress in natalie portman and he just like looks at her like a fucking you know dumb puppy and just like grins at her and it's like movies are supposed to be our greek myth like or at least in my in my opinion like that's that's what reveals things about our inner lives and values and wishes and dreams is like the movies that we're into. But for some reason, like in the transition from like ancient Greece to today, we were like, get the sex out of there. We did none of that. Bring back the fuck hammer.

The other thing I think might have happened in just the last decade is after, like a little bit before Me Too and for sure afterwards, there's been this strange backlash of people being like, well, now just no sex. I mean, if you guys remember immediately after Me Too, there were a bunch of men who were like, well, maybe I just want to hire women because I don't want to deal with this. Which was, I mean, it literally floored me. But at the same time, I think we're seeing a lot of especially big movie production studios taking a step away from having sex scenes and the smaller productions that are continuing to, you know, if they want to have sex scenes or if they have a rape scene, like they're bringing in counselors and people who can sort of guide or set up a scene so that actors can feel safe and comfortable which i think is a great thing and i think we should continue to do moving forward because the one disturbing thing about if you look at older films that have sex scenes is like sometimes those scenes were surprises to the actresses which is a horrifying thought a lot of times if there's an actress involved she's the only woman on set that day which is a horrifying thought like there's a lot of i think in our new world discussions about how

do we do this in a way that makes performers makes them actually i'm gonna say feel safe but where they're actually safe where we're making sure that they don't leave a set with like mental and emotional scars, because that's, we're just making art. You shouldn't leave with a mental and emotional scars. And it's a tough thing to do. But in like adjacent to that, I think, you know, Barry Jenkins recently did an entire mini series about slavery. And he had to have a therapist on set the whole time, because we have people like we're visiting these historic spaces you know it can be triggering and traumatizing and i i don't know i just think it's like there's a lot of reasons for why hollywood at this point is like oh how are we

going to do this how are we going to be judged how do we make sure the actors feel safe how do we make sure that we don't get a rating that makes it impossible for our movie to do the kind of sales we need it to do i do hope that we're seeing a surge in indie films where these things are maybe not so taboo and smaller cast and crews tend to have better rapport overall. So I don't know. Right. I do think what one last sort of possible explanation is that like, it seems like a lot of the trend is happening at the same time as the explosion of internet porn and i feel like may like it could be just that like people are like well now we have a different place to go for that but that's bad because it uh internet porn is a horrible place to learn about sex.

Not saying movies are great, but at least there's like a artistic vision that is trying to depict something that is realistic and like say something about it, usually, as opposed to, you know, a lot of porn is really misleading and violent and not leading people down a good path so you're saying that gaping and throbbing aren't realistic words for uh a loving and sexual embrace right like the the thing that they're gaping gaping holes gaping oh my god that shit haunts me whenever i see that word i'm just like oh like i just want to like drop the keyboard i'm like i shouldn't be here this is gross i'm sorry i'm like apologizing to like the ghosts of my ancestors and they're just like what are you looking at i'm like i'm sorry i didn't i'm sorry

oh god you test the limits of your own shit there man whatever happened to that i just want to see regular old actors who looked good and worked out and ate fucking boiled chicken breast for a month fuck or pretend to fuck right put on stockings and rub against each other you know exactly the the writers like well hopefully this is going to change because they cast robert pattinson as batman and you know he's a sexual being on film and the evidence that he is sexual being on film is that he has masturbated in his last four films. Which feels kind of appropriate for our modern world. That that is what a sexual person is just masturbating to a mermaid icon carved out of whale bone. Which, by the way, Jo, I did watch.

You watched Lighthouse? And I loved it. Isn't it so good? Yeah. Thank you so much for that recommendation. Yeah. All right. Well, Lydia, such a pleasure having you on TDZ, as always.

Where can people find you, follow you, all that good stuff? Sure. You can follow me on social media on on Instagram and Twitter, at Hater Tuesday. You can go to my website, LydiaPopovich.com. Those are good places to come and find me. Yeah, for sure. If you're in Tennessee, I will be at the Bode Hotel on St. Patrick's Day down in Nashville. It'll just be a fun little comedy show.

You can come by there. And then I'll be at the Punchline in San Francisco in June, too. Yeah, yeah. Nice. What's a tweet you've been enjoying? Oh, I have one. I have one. Hold on.

Let me pull it up. So it's not a funny tweet. It's not a joke tweet. It's just a sincere tweet. So this week was International Women's Day was on Tuesday. Right. And I am a big proponent of supporting other women in general. I think it's very important.

And I love supporting women who are in technical fields. And because I'm still so excited about my Dolly Parton pinball machine, I wanted to give a shout out to at Lauren Cugliotta. It's L-A-U-R-E-N-C-U-G-L-I-O-T-T-A. She is a pinball technician based out of jupiter florida and she is one of the people that was on the team that helped put my machine together but she has a really cool twitter that she's just getting going and it's her basically walking you through like how she repairs vintage machines and she puts all these little cool videos and i just think it's super cool that she is following her dreams and she is persisting and she is learning how to be a pinball technician.

So follow her. Check it out if you're into pinball. And yeah, support women in technical fields. Let's go, Lauren. Let's do it. Awesome. Joelle, where can people find you? What is the tweet you've been enjoying?

Y'all know me. You can find me all over the Internet. At Joelle Monique. That's J-O-E-L-L-E-m-o-n-i-q-u-e today in response to bob chapik the new ceo of disney's decision to fund the don't say gay bill in florida josh beams at beams underscore josh tweeted a thread of lgbtq creatives who have brought massive success to the disney company as a giant fuck you to this douchebag i am so frustrated at the idea of a company that has taken millions of gay dollars who has a bunch of queer workers who

are incredible human beings who like work really really tirelessly to bring these stories to life and and manage parks and any job disney has whatever job Disney has on their fire force, whatever, that now their hard work and the dollars people have spent could be going to shaming queer children, which we know leads to death. So fuck you, Bob, and go check out Beams underscore Josh's list of fantastic queer creators. And on a lighter note karina longworth four hours ago the amazing podcaster she does you must remember this pod you can find her at remember this pod just announced that in three weeks the new season is going to be about erotic 80s movies so time you can go get your whole life with karina longworth amazing it's even like they the article

even just like points out in poltergeist like there's a scene where the parents like get ready to fuck like the mom's smoking weed the dad's a little drunk and you can tell oh these are like real human beings who have sex with each other like that's that's how that's a recognizable human sex went to tv yeah i'm guessing poltergeist won't be the movie that is covered in the series of erotic 80s movies. I mean, it's just like even down to like complete movies. We don't think of as erotic like in the least bit. Also, I'm pronouncing erotic erotic.

That's how little eroticism there is in our movies. I forgot how to pronounce it. I look forward to hearing her takes on Porky's one through three. All right. Tweet I've been enjoying. Joe Rumrill tweeted at a job interview to be a lifeguard, really trying to nail it. Sorry. Not used to a chair being so close to the ground.

Oh, God. You can find me on twitter at jack underscore o'brien you can find us on twitter at daily zeitgeist we're at the daily zeitgeist on instagram we have a facebook fan page and a website dailyzeitgeist.com where we post our episodes and our

footnotes where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode as well as a song that we think you might enjoy. And you know, when Miles isn't around, sometimes we like to ask super producer Justin what song he thinks our listeners should go listen to. Justin, do you have a recommendation, sir?

Yeah. Today, I want y'all to check out a song called Galaxy Surfing by a group of young musicians, very talented. I think it's just a duo. They're called Jadu Heart. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly. It's J-A-D-U-H-E-A-R-T. This song is very, very relaxing. It really, I mean, the title tells you everything you need to know about it. If you want to feel like you're drifting away amongst the stars just looking at beautiful visions and you want to just melt away for a little bit you can check out this track galaxy surfing by jadu heart

and it'll be in the footnotes is that were you describing dying right there sure yeah visions of stars and yeah it's the human soul. It's the corporation just killing your soul. But it's a good death. It's a happy death. A warrior's death. The happy death of having your soul escape your body because of one too many trust falls. Alright. Well, The Daily Zeitgeist is a production of iHeartRadio.

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's going to do it for us this morning. We are back this afternoon to tell you what's trending, and we will talk to you all then. Bye. Bye.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadson.

We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark. Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.