The Philip DeFranco Show - 4.16 “WE’LL MURDER YOU!” Violent Protest Rhetoric Getting Worse, Warhammer 40k Controversy & Today’s News

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL   Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/  Visit  https://www.cozyearth.com/defranco and use my code DEFRANCO to get 35% off your purchase! ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Sen. Tom Cotton Calls for Vigilantes to Break Up Pro-Palestine Protests 04:57 - DOJ Prepares to Sue Ticketmaster Parent Company Live Nation  08:42 - Trump Appears to Fall Asleep at His Own Trial 11:29 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 12:23 - FBI Stop Extortion Scam Worth Millions 15:34 - Warhammer 40k Fans Argue Over Controversial Retcon 19:49 - Sponsored by Cozy Earth 20:50 - LAUSD Launching AI Personal Assistant for Students  26:08 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on AI in Classrooms: Maddie Crichton  ———————————— #DeFranco #JonStewart #BillieEilish ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards, I hope you had a fantastic Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning. You're watching the Philip DeFranco Show, you daily dive into the news, and my God, we have a lot of stuff to talk about today. So buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. Starting with, you need to take matters into your own hands. That is what Senator Tom Cotton from the great state of Arkansas is telling people to do when dealing with pro-Palestinian protesters. Or as he put it on X last night, I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic, take matters into your own hands.

It's time to put an end to this nonsense. With him then, just minutes later, maybe realizing it sounded possibly a smidge too homicidal, editing that post to now read, take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way. Although I guess possibly worried that it might sound like he was telling people to treat these protesters like speed bumps. But here's the thing. While Tom Cotton has a name that sounds like he's the antagonist in a novel about slave

times and in real life, he has consistently been crazy. This particular mindset here, it's not coming out of nowhere because yesterday pro-Palestinian protesters shut down multiple highways demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, with that including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the I-90 leading into Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Protests that resulted in Cotton going on Fox News where he turned up the incitement dial up to 11. If something like this happened in Arkansas

on a bridge there, let's just say, I think there'd be a lot of very wet criminals that have been tossed overboard, not by law enforcement, but by the people whose road they're blocking. If they glued their hands to a car or the pavement, well, probably pretty painful to have their skin ripped off. But I think that's the way we'd handle in Arkansas. And I've encouraged most people anywhere that gets stuck behind criminals like this, who are trying to block traffic to take matters in their own

hands. But I'm also posting a video showing people roughly dragging protesters off a road in a foreign country and captioning it how it should be done. And so naturally, all that drew comparisons to the New York Times op-ed that he wrote at the height of 2020, calling for the military to crush the BLM protests. And while you've got Cotton advocating for vigilante violence, and he is exceptional in that regard, notably, his hostility towards protesters is not. I mean, one, protests in general where the intent is to block traffic of everyday people, those are incredibly unpopular, with many arguing that it's more likely to turn people against your cause. But also too, because many have grown increasingly angry

over pro-Palestine demonstrations, and actually yesterday, Republicans landed a heavy blow against activists in general, with the Supreme Court handing down a ruling that critics say effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three states. And that actually goes back to 2016, when a Black Lives Matter protest ignited in Louisiana

after police shot and killed a black man by the name of Alton Sterling. Because during it, one officer was struck in the face by a rock or a piece of concrete, suffering head and brain injuries. With him later suing the protest organizer for negligence and arguing that they should have known that the protest would turn violent. With the organizer then countering that, saying that his First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly protected him from the claim. You know, in 2017, a district court ruled in favor of the organizer dismissing the lawsuit. But last year, the conservative fifth court of appeals revived the case favoring the cop instead. And so now the Supreme Court has dismissed the organizer's appeal, though notably it neither embraced nor reversed the lower court's decision, which means that that ruling only stands in that jurisdiction, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

But of course, critics fear that that may stifle protests in those states. Right, because if you're an organizer there, you could face crippling financial consequences if even one person in your demonstration does something illegal. And of course, the more people you're organizing or the more people that show up, the more likely it is that someone's going to step out of line. Hence the claim and the concerns that this effectively abolishes mass protests. But we'll all have to wait to see if this decision gets challenged and how much it affects political expression in the meantime. You know, all of this, it makes me end up thinking about another thing.

And I gotta say, this is not a complete one-to-one, but what we saw play out in Bakersfield, California this week, right? It touches on how it feels like the rhetoric around situations, it's just getting more and more violent as well, as it only takes one person to derail a protest, right? Because for weeks,

protesters have been urging the city council to take up a vote on backing a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But then last week, this person, Riddhi Patel, steps up to the plate and says, hold my beer. Because while it seemed like she was gonna start out normal enough, it did not take long for things to go from bad to unhinged. I don't have faith that you'll do this. You guys are all horrible human beings, and Jesus probably would have killed you himself. And I hope one day somebody brings the guillotine

and kills all of you mother---- So regardless of whether you elect people into office, they'll backstab you, they'll let you die. And for that reason, you guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors? We'll see you at your house. We'll murder you. And that then leading to this moment. Ms. Patel, Ms. Patel, that was a threat, what you said at the end. And so the officers are going to escort you out and take care of that. Police then arresting her and charging her with 18 felonies, all related to threats against city officials.

And you know with that, we saw other protesters and pro-ceasefire groups quickly distancing themselves from her comments. And the nonprofit that she'd worked out also announcing yesterday that it had fired her in a statement condemning violent rhetoric. And while Patel did show up to her arraignment sobbing, she also pleaded not guilty and is currently being held on a statement condemning violent rhetoric. And while Patel did show up to her arraignment sobbing, she also pleaded not guilty and is currently being held on a $500,000 bail. Notably there, prosecutors had tried to keep her

from having any kind of bail, saying that she poses an extreme threat to public safety. But with any and all of the messes that we touched on here, I'd love to know your thoughts. And then we should talk about this massive DOJ lawsuit against America's favorite company, Live Nation, who of course owns Ticketmaster. We love them. They're the best. Definitely never, who of course owns Ticketmaster. We love

them. They're the best. Definitely never had a bad experience with Ticketmaster. Is the sarcasm coming through? Because this lawsuit will reportedly allege that the company has, quote, leveraged its dominance in a way that undermined competition for ticketing live events. With this lawsuit making a lot of people happy, and notably, they likely have Taylor Swift to thank for this. With reporting indicating that that 2022 ticketing fiasco with Swift's Eros tour was such a colossal fuck up that it's one of the key reasons Live Nation has come under increased scrutiny. And the Wall Street Journal noting that the department's investigation gained momentum after Ticketmaster crashed and prevented thousands of Swifties from getting their tickets. With Ticketmaster having to learn the hard way that it's a life lesson.

Swifties are like wolves. You can maybe deal with one one-on-one, but when they're in a group, they will chew your ass up. They'll make a meal out of you. Fucking Swifties are like wolves. You can maybe deal with one one-on-one, but when they're in a group, they will chew your ass up. They'll make a meal out of you. Fucking Swifties were protesting outside the US Capitol building as the company executives testified before Congress. Though very notably, this was not the first or the last time Ticketmaster fucked up. Which is also why so many people from so many different backgrounds are seeing this news as a positive. Right in 2019, the company had to apologize for botching the pre-sale for Billie Eilish concert tickets. And then last year, they started selling so-called listening seats for Beyoncé concerts, which many viewed as a new way to squeeze revenue out of its biggest acts.

Then just a few months ago, Olivia Rodrigo fans were freaking out over what they saw as Ticketmaster's mishandling of the launch of the ticket sales for her Guts World Tour. And even now this week, we're seeing performers turning their back on Ticketmaster, with it being reported that the internet's own Dimension 20 opts out of controversial Ticketmaster pricing after ticket costs climbed past $2,000. With them explaining on Sunday that the dynamic pricing system in platinum tickets had not been something explained to us, nor something presented as something we had the ability to opt out of. And going on to say, once we had a better understanding of the situation as a group, we communicated to Live Nation that it was our desire to opt out of all dynamic pricing tickets for this event and for all events going forward. But of course, with all this, right, this is more than just persistent technical issues or overpriced tickets. Although

those high profile cases are a big part of what's put Live Nation under the spotlight, this is actually an issue that's been going on for almost 15 years. I mean, the DOJ actually filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster way back in 2010, saying back then that the merger as originally proposed would have substantially lessened competition for primary ticketing in the United States, resulting in higher prices and less innovation for consumers. But in the end there, the DOJ reached a settlement with the companies to allow the merger to go through, saying the move would actually benefit concert goers, artists, and the industry as a whole. After that merger, Live Nation became the world's largest concert promoter, venue owner,

and artist management company, with exclusive ticketing contracts with many of the stadiums and arenas where the biggest names perform. Ticketmaster now holding more than 80% of the market for primary ticket sales in the biggest venues in the U.S. But despite the DOJ's promise, it's not clear that anyone's actually benefiting other than the company. And actually, notably with that, in 2019, the DOJ actually found that Live Nation repeatedly, and over the course of several years, engaged in conduct that violated the original settlement. And specifically, that the company threatened and retaliated against concert venues for using other ticketing companies. And that led to the 2010 settlement being revised and extending through 2025. With a modified agreement including a provision that would subject the company to a $1 million penalty for each violation of an anti-retaliation clause.

Which would prevent Live Nation from threatening to withhold shows if a venue sells seats through a company other than Ticketmaster. But again, despite that, the company has continued to face accusations of excessive ticket fees, poor customer service, and other anti-competitive practices. And these criticisms are coming from lawmakers, regulators, and state's attorneys general. Though of course, the company for its part has denied, denied, denied. For example, in an essay published

on Live Nation's website last month, the company's head of corporate affairs, Dan Wall, argued against the idea that Live Nation's and Ticketmaster's alleged monopolies are responsible for high ticket prices. And you had a Ticketmaster spokeswoman also saying that the company has more competition today than it has ever had. Though obviously, the Justice Department disagrees with that. But even with all that said, we are still now waiting for the lawsuit to officially be filed.

So right now, we still don't know exactly what arguments they're going to be making to counter Live Nation's claims. But when it does happen, of course, I'm going to get you those specifics. And until then, I'd love to know your thoughts. And then, so the first trial of a current or former president in American history has begun. With that, of course, being the hush money trial in which Trump's been charged for falsifying business records to cover up payments to Stormy Daniels. And the first step in the trial is jury selection, because the judge is tasked with finding 12 jurors who aren't biased either for or against the former president, which obviously is going to be hard, if not impossible. This is Donald Trump we're talking about. But rolling up his sleeves, Judge Juan Mershon brought in 96 New Yorkers to pick from,

and then immediately dismissing more than half of them because they admitted they couldn't be fair or impartial. Of course, in Trump's eyes, it doesn't really matter who the jurors are. The whole thing's a witch hunt, with him expressing as much right before he entered the courtroom. Every legal pundit, every legal scout said this trial is a disgrace. But to be fair to the judge, he gave some wins and some losses to both sides of the case. For example, agreeing with the defense that the grab-em-by-the-pussy tape can't be played in court, nor can any of the sexual assaults or rape allegations that came out afterward. And then on the other side, allowing the prosecution to bring actress and model Karen McDougal on to testify against Trump.

Because while she's not a part of these charges, her claims that the former president also paid her hush money to cover up an affair could establish a pattern of behavior. Also, if any of this sounds boring to you, maybe your eyelids are starting to feel heavy. You're not alone. And that's because at a few points, Donald Trump himself appeared to fall asleep right there in the courtroom. With the New York Times reporting that he appeared to nod off, quote, his mouth going slack and his head drooping onto his chest. But then after his lawyer passing him several notes, he jolted awake and noticed them, which is why we saw many poking fun at this, most notably Jon Stewart. What part of head down, eyes closed, drool coming out of his

mouth do you not f***ing get over here? He's snoring. He's doing the hong shu. He's doing the me, me, me, me, me, me, me. There's a piece of paper going up and down and up and down in his mouth. He's asleep. Imagine committing so many crimes, you get bored at your own trial. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner.

Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. So it's not all fun and games for the former president because already the Manhattan DA asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt for violating a gag order blocking him from speaking about witnesses, court staff, or the DA's office. And specifically, asking the judge to fine Trump $1,000 for each of the three posts that he made on social media. The first, calling future witness Michael Cohen his sleazebag former attorney. The second, reposting Stormy Daniels' letter from 2018 denying an affair with Trump, which he has since rescinded. And the third, reposting remarks from Daniels' former attorney, accusing her and Cohen of making money on bogus documentaries and TV interviews.

So the judge, with that, has scheduled a hearing on the DA's contempt motion for next Tuesday. And the district attorney is also asking the judge to warn Trump that further violations could result not only in fines, but as much as 30 days of jail time. Which, obviously, not ideal for a man who's running for president. I mean, November is just several months from now. So also, understandably, the Trump team's legal strategy is to slow down the process as much as possible, using motions, appeals, objections, and sidebars.

Because the more that they can delay any resolution and the other trials, the better Trump's chances are of reaching November before he gets sentenced. But as far as how this is actually gonna play out, we're gonna have to wait and see. And then, in case you missed it, SeatGeek and I are sending several of you and your friends to your favorite live events.

But time is running out, so you gotta listen up. Because with over 28 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. And I told them that I wanted to do something special for you guys. And they came through in a very real way, because we've been giving away $500 in SeatGeek credit weekly. Yes, really, every week. Someone like you can win $500 towards any of SeatGeek's 70,000 events. You know, basketball's in full swing, baseball started back up with artists like Drake and Bad Bunny also on tour. I mean, what better time than

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so subscribe today. And then, to the guys watching this video, I got a little pop quiz for you. If some random beautiful woman online just suddenly comes onto you and she's offering to send nudes and clips of herself to you, do you assume A, okay, that's a bot,

B, something's up, this seems too good to be true, or C, yeah, that makes sense? And I ask that question because a lot of people that have answered C in their lives, they have found themselves to be the victims of a sextortion scam. And now, according to the DOJ, one of the biggest ones being run

by 28-year-old Hadia Kone was just busted, with Kone and her co-conspirators targeting thousands of young men, and sometimes even those under the age of 18. They'd approach these guys as if they were interested young women. They'd start conversations. Those would then turn sexual and then a photo or two would be sent. With Kone then suggesting, hey, let's get on a webcam together for a live video chat session. At which point,

their targets would be recorded as they exposed their genitals and or engaged in sexual activity. And that video would then be used by her co-conspirator in the Cote d'Ivoire to extort the victims. With Kone threatening to send the clips to family, employers, significant others, pretty much anyone unless they agreed to pay. And in total, for sure, they made $1.7 million, but had upwards of $6 million on the line if everyone agreed to pay. And that money would normally be sent to an offshore bank account run by her co-conspirator. But fortunately, that 22-year-old woman was also arrested, with the two together now staring at charges for cyber-stalking, interstate threats, money laundering, and wire fraud. And so altogether, they're looking at a maximum of 20 years for most of the charges, each.

Though, due to federal sentencing guidelines, it's likely that they'll get far less per charge. And it's unknown if they'd be served consecutively or concurrently. But regardless, one, it's a lot of time behind bars, and two, this entire case actually highlights a growing trend of sextortion cases, according to the FBI. And they especially warned about its dangers towards children as there's, quote, a huge increase in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced

into sending explicit images online. And they went on to say, from October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security investigations received over 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors. The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims, primarily boys, and led to at least 20

suicides. And with this, to be clear, this is not a male-only problem, but it is a male-majority problem. Women are solicited for sextortion all the time too. It's just that the scammers have found that young men and boys are easier marks. Also with this news, at the platform level, companies are taking notice. Places like Instagram and Snapchat trying to add some protections. I mean, you had Snapchat reporting last year that they talked to 6,000 teens and young adults about sextortion, and they found that two thirds said that they were or they knew someone who had been targeted.

So that actually led them to adding a feature to specifically report sextortion. And in a complete coincidence, Kone's arrest comes just a day after Instagram announced it was, quote, testing new features to help protect young people from sextortion and intimate image abuse, and to make it more difficult for potential scammers

and criminals to find and interact with teens. But those features, including things like blurring out sexual images shared over DMs by default as well, is offering information to those receiving DMs. But ultimately, you know, with this story, it leads me to the final point. Or rather, points, because one, the fucking monsters behind these scams,

like they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But also, two, just a great way to move through life is that if it seems too good to be true, it very likely is. And also when it comes to the internet, it is not right that you have to have this mindset, but it is the mindset to have. You should assume at all times that anything you post or share online, it will be accessed by someone that you did not intend to give it to. If something does happen to you, that doesn't make you any less of a wronged party or a victim,

but it is a very helpful mindset to have if you want to protect yourself. And then, okay, so we're going niche with this one. This news is either going to immensely matter to you or it's going to be like you hearing news about another planet and the people on it. But either way, it is interesting. So anyone who is a fan of any nerdy franchise gets that retcons can be annoying. When a franchise just does something that revises something that was previously established. But by the Emperor, Warhammer 40K fans are tearing themselves apart after the company behind the game decided to make what's been described as a woke retcon to a single faction. And again, as an outsider looking in, this is all going to sound a bit crazy. But let me try to explain, starting with the basics.

Warhammer 40K started as a miniature tabletop game that's turned into a media empire. Tons of books, video games, even an upcoming show by Amazon being produced by Henry Cavill, all in order to sell plastic armies that you can paint. And the most recent update will be for Adeptus Custodes, a group of superhuman genetically modified guards for the emperor of mankind. The problem though is that the update includes a short story

about a female custodian, which is the first in lore. Mention of one in the official Warhammer account later coming out to confirm there have always been female custodians. And so for a huge number of fans, this is full-blown heresy by the company. Entire threads were made saying they proved that custodians were always a brotherhood as well as takes like. Have fun ending up like Star Wars. Get ready for Pride Hammer 40,000, guys, where the diverse perium of they-them fight the evil bigoted forces of the cis white male, as well as people can 3D print

your models, hope this was worth it. And I'm not buying anything else. You made a cool universe. Stick to the rules of it or it ruins it. I play Warhammer and I read Warhammer because it's fun escapism, not because I want to engage in contemporary politics. Meanwhile, other fans accused the company of pandering, with there being full-blown conspiracies that this was because of BlackRock and Vanguard Group, though others there, you know, saying they are not woke groups and both are minority shareholders. But then others came from the angle that this was unnecessary since 40k already prominently features women, right? There's one major faction that's women only, while also a minor group that supports the custodians that's composed of only women. And that's without mentioning all the groups that the lore states are explicitly mixed with men and women.

And then also among people having different takes are people that were upset not because this group suddenly had women in it, but because their addition was lazily done. Because with a wave of their hand, Games Workshop announced, hey, it's always been this way after decades of lore never mentioned it, rather than there being a long, more fleshed out story to show it. But then on the other side of this, you have a lot of other people celebrating the addition, saying things like, I thought it would be years before we saw something like this, and I'm so happy to be proven wrong. I have seen so many women in the hobby today expressing sheer delight at this change, which means that this was absolutely the right thing to do. Truly, thank you so much for this. There was also a lot of people

who made fun of those who were angry about the change. Writing things like, I like how Games Workshop decided in a single press release that the entire Galactic Core is inhabited by a brand new major faction who destroy entire planets. It has been for millennia, didn't really upset these supposed lore lovers. And then going on to say, Warhammer lore is literally just 99% soft retcons, which many argue is objectively true because over the 40 year history of the franchise, there has been retcon after retcon. With it being said that the lore is set up so that no one ever fully knows the truth of things and stuff is discovered or added all the time. With it argued that there are very, very few hard truths in the lore. And so some with all this were

pretty apathetic, such as with the 40K lore content creator, Major Kill. And for context, custodians are his favorite faction, so you might think that he's a purist. But with this, he pretty much said that the lore has been vague on whether it was possible or not, and it's not like that it actually changes much. Are you talking about genetics? Superhumans covered in armor, so what's the difference?

So yeah, overall, I'm pretty cool with female Custodes, especially with how they're presented by Custodian Cash in the new short story. And so that middle of the road stance, it kind of got him some flack, but it also seemingly came from a lot of people who didn't watch the video. Because he made it clear it wasn't something that he liked,

but it also wasn't something that he particularly cared about. And also noticeably with this, Henry Cavill hasn't said anything about this. And that guy, if you don't know, is a major Custodians fan and the patron saint of 40K for its fans. And I will say as like an outsider

looking in on the situation, one of the most interesting aspects is kind of this sentiment that from this entire saga is that many feel that the changes are one sided. Because what I mean is that, you know, the game has female only groups like the Sisters of Battle. But many highly doubt that Games Workshop will ever change the lore to allow men in that group. So with that in mind, like, does that come off as pandering? Also, when it comes to things like what are your thoughts on is this something where people are getting too wrapped in the lore of something or no, you know, people they focus on whatever is interesting to them.

And so one, whether you're an insider or outsider on the story, I'd love to know your thoughts in general, but also two, for nerds and or fans of anything, what is your favorite and or most hated retcon of something that you love? And then, now moms are sleep deprived. This is a fact. So why don't you get ahead of the game this year for Mother's Day and treat the mom in your life to the softest sheets

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And thanks again to Cozy Earth. And then we should talk about how the Los Angeles Unified School District just rolled out a first-of-its-kind AI assistant for students. With them doing this in hopes that it's going to keep these kids on track, especially amid post-pandemic setbacks. But of course, this is coming at a time when AI in general, but also in the classroom, is a hotly debated subject. Now, as far as specifics, the AI tool in LAUSD is called ED. And it uses student and school data to create individual learning plans for each student, but it's allowing them to ask about grades, attendance, and other information as well as having games and interactive activities to boost proficiency across a handful of subjects.

And in March, it rolled out a pilot phase where it's available to around 55,000 K-12 students at about 100 schools in the district, with Superintendent Alberto Carvalho saying in a statement, We understand that one size fits none when it comes to education. This resource is a game changer. By leveraging the power of AI, we are creating a tool for all students that maximizes resources beyond the school day by individualizing their education and integrating information for accelerating learning at a level never before seen. But I'm also telling reporters that this tech is not meant to replace people who work at these schools. That it's just meant to be an additional enhancement for the students. We saw with the start of this rollout the LA Times watching a high school student testing it out.

With them noting that when the student asked for her grades, Ed quickly told her her grades in several classes and told her to keep up the good work. Also when asked about college applications or school meetings for parents, it directed the student to school resources. And when the student asked what she could do to improve her math, it told her to complete activities on the Ed dashboard and directed her to other forms of assistance. With the Times noting there that the answers were pretty generic, but it did give concrete responses, even if some did seem obvious. The Times also noting that depending on the age of the student, they'd experience a different version of Ed. For older students, for example, it was all about utility, it functions kind of like a mentor. But the animator behind Ed told the outlet that for younger kids, we have to have a character that they love. And if they do love it, then as they grow, they'll gravitate back to it.

I've always found that if your character really loves the kids, the kids, the younger kids, tend to love the character. With the Times noting that Ed literally tells the young students that it loves them and they are superstars. And on top of all this, it also performs more basic, but essential functions like waking students up

in the morning and even telling them the status of the school bus to know when it's arriving. With notably all of this coming as schools across the nation are trying to recover from learning losses from COVID. And those super basic functions, they're the ones that are aimed to correct some of the school bus to know when it's arriving. With notably all of this coming as schools across the nation are trying to recover from learning losses from COVID. And those super basic functions, they're the ones that are aimed to correct some of the most serious issues. As we've talked about on the show,

chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed since the pandemic. In the 2021-22 school year, nearly 15 million students missed 10% or more of the year. So this is just one of the ways to try to curb that issue, which in turn should help with the other struggles that students have been experiencing since 2020. But of course, with AI in the classroom, there's been a ton of debate to be had in general. I mean, it's a topic of discussion all over the country.

And since LAUSD is the second biggest district in the country, the program is going to get a lot of attention, potentially even inspiring similar initiatives. And this also, as the concerns around it will be echoed even louder, because some parents are not thrilled by this. The LA Times, for example, pointing to some parents who were very concerned about the data that was being collected on the students, as well as other questions about safety. Meanwhile, you had others taking issue with depersonalization here, with one arguing, Spending money on this AI model is just more proof that the district values its relationship with data more than they value the relationship between students and teachers. Though with that, the district has pushed back on some of those concerns, saying that confidentiality, security, and ethical data use are paramount to Ed. Also saying that there are guardrails to filter out things like hate speech. And on top of that, right now, Ed only has access

to resources and tools within the district's offerings. And board president Jackie Goldberg saying in a statement, no matter your opinion about artificial intelligence, it's here to stay and will be an important part of our future. So let's harness its power to help our students plot their own course of action toward meeting their education and life goals. You know, that's something that many discussing AI and education have said in the past. I mean, Harvard's Graduate School of Education previously put out a piece about embracing AI in the classroom, arguing that you can't just pretend that it doesn't exist anymore. Students know that it's out there, and what they need is guidance about how to use these tools in the best way.

And on top of that, you have things like Forbes publishing a survey back in December that found that 55% of educators say that AI has improved educational outcomes compared to 18% who said that the tech has hindered them. You also have 60% of teachers saying they've already used AI in the classroom to some extent with teachers under 26 most likely to use it. And they're the most common uses being AI powered educational games, adaptive learning platforms,

automated grading systems, student support, chat bots and more. But of course this doesn't necessarily mean it's all good. There's still plenty of concerns to be had and things that teachers are still unsure about, with one of the biggest concerns being the potential for AI to be used for plagiarism and for its lead to reduced human interaction. But then lower on the list being privacy and security, job displacement, and unequal access to the tech. Which is why with this, there are some researchers who believe that use of AI in

the classroom should be paused until it's proven to be safe for students. And then of course, because not every situation is just black or white, there are people that are more in the middle that have more kind of balanced approaches. Right in there, noting that some schools that have sort of over-limited AI use end up changing course. Like last year, for example, New York City Public Schools banned

and then unbanned the use of chat GPT. With the Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, David Banks, writing in a blog post, the knee-jerk fear and risk overlook the potential of generative AI to support students and teachers, as well as the reality that our students are participating in and will work in a world where understanding generative AI is crucial.

While initial caution was justified, it has now evolved into an exploration and careful examination of this new technology's power and risks. So if New York City, the home of the biggest school system in the country, is letting its students embrace some uses of AI, and then LA, the second biggest in the country, is giving its students AI assistance, it is very likely that other schools will likely feel that they're putting their students behind if they also don't integrate it as well.

But now, with all this said, I gotta know, where do you land on this debate? Are you a full yes on the integration, a full no? Are you landing somewhere in the middle? And also, with that answer, why? And then, finally, today we have Comment Commentary, where we dive into those comments, and actually today, we're diving into the comments on yesterday's show, but also a YouTube community post I put out.

Because I was very interested to know people's thoughts on this. Because I wrote, I'm torn. I binged through Fallout on Prime, and it was fantastic. I loved it. I want more of it. But it made me question if I still like full seasons being dropped all at once. By the binge model.

With me then going on to say, there's something nice about having a week to digest and talk about an episode. And I've enjoyed it with more and more shows in recent years. Whether it be The Boys with Friends or Percy Jackson with my kids. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy. Especially because the binge model was something that I loved and advocated for when I first got Netflix a million years ago, but it doesn't fit into my lifestyle anymore. In closing, like I always do,

I'd love to know your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree. You know, there was plenty of agreement and some disagreement. As far as agreeing, we had people like TJ Hooker saying, on one hand, the weekly model definitely fits my lifestyle more and I appreciate the chatter it creates. But saying, on the other hand, I'd never want a show's production to feel pressured to design their show around that model. And while others specifically talked about Fallout, saying, I wonder if they didn't expect it to be such a hit, so they decided to drop it all at once. And saying, I think next season,

they'll switch to a week by week so fans can stay tuned in and hyped about it. But then on the other hand, people that loved the binge model kind of universally responded with, hey, Phil, it's called self-control, which I have to say, how dare you think that I have self-control? I don't know what I've done to make you assume that. But also, while I understand where people are coming from, I think that misses, it's not even really a criticism. What I'm talking about is a preference. I like what feels to be like the community building of a weekly show now. And I understand this is a boomer ass take right now. If a season has eight to ten episodes, that gives me what?

Like two, two and a half months to talk about it on Reddit with other fans or on X or wherever the hell. You're more inclined to talk about specific things that happened in a specific episode. I also think that there is a difference here between like 23 minute and one hour episodes. Whereas I feel with a drop, you know, I'm just, I'm watching it all at once and then it's just like gone. I also, with a full season drop, feel pressured to watch it as fast as possible. Not only because I'm like, oh, I'm so excited,

but I'm always genuinely worried that I'm gonna come across some spoiler online, which I just feel like happens constantly these days. Once again, it's just a preference. So whether you agree or you disagree, I'd love to hear from you. I will say, I also think this connects to how conflicted I am over anything that's a massive time sink these days. Like for example, in the video game

world, I was and am still so pumped about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. But for a game, if you're doing the main story as well as all the side quests, that possibly taking around 80 hours, as a kid, I would have been so excited. But as an adult with a full-time job and kids and a wife that I don't want to ignore, that's so much time. And like, I've loved my time with the game, but it's gonna take forever for me to finish the damn thing. And I know at some point, if it hits some sort of lull,

it's gonna feel like work. And that's not specifically about Rebirth, that's just any game that has like a solo story that goes over, let's say, 20 hours. But with that said, to jump to the comments on yesterday's show, there's primarily a lot of focus on two stories. With the first being the MKBHD situation

with Humane AI and the supposed outrage with pretty much everyone in Marques's corner. Kiefer saying, letting people pay $700 for a bad device is harmful. Saturnalia saying, I watched the entire MKBHD video reviewing the product. He spoke to its impressive build, admired the vision behind it,

and showcased well just what it can do. After which, he articulated why the product, in its current form, isn't ready for the market. He wasn't unnecessarily cruel or vindictive, he just spoke as an expert in the field of tech. And what a monster he is for doing so. Mr. Apollo saying, it amazes me how angry people get every time a reviewer gives their actual opinion. Do we want them to be transparent and objective or be a shill for corporate interest? You know, hard agree with that, but also, like, it still is so weird to me how a lot of this focus so much on Marquez. Because as Catherine pointed out, MKBHD is not alone. Every reviewer is stomping on the AI pen. But then finally, there was a lot of conversation,

not specifically just about the attack in Australia, but about the father of the person responsible for the attack. People saying the clips of the father made them cry. How do you love a monster broke my heart? Yes, his son committed a horrible attack, but this man had decades of experiences with his son that were not horrific. It's so sad that the people we love can do horrible things. I feel awful for all those who were affected. With so many agreeing saying I'm tearing up too. I can't imagine how shocking it must be. He clearly feels for the victims and like he has a responsibility to express that, but he's still processing what his son did. Even people who call themselves

desensitized American zoomers saying that it had them in tears. And of course, some in this situation trying just to remember those affected as well as the heroes in the situation. With Neon Nikki noting that a security guard that was killed in the stabbing was Faraz Tahir, saying that it was his first week on the job, his first shift during the day, and he managed to alert the security operations room before he died and his actions saved lives. And of course, with that news, again, our thoughts and our well wishes go to those affected. But that is where we're going to end today's show. Thank you for being a part of another daily dive into the news. And hey, since this is the note that we're ending on today, if you watch this show, you know that horrible things happen all the time. And how about we today take a second to think of the people that we care about in our life and then let them know. You never know what's around the corner,

how much time anyone has, including ourselves. You know, the world could always use a little more positivity and love. I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.