The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.27 "BAN HIM!" Kai Cenat Hanging Prank Scandal Has The Internet Divided, Elon Musk vs The Onion, &

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

Happy Thanksgiving yall Go to http://partner.bokksu.com/defranco  and use code DEFRANCO to get $15 off your Bokksu Japanese snack subscription box! Go to https://buyraycon.com/defranco to get up to ...30% off sitewide! Brought to you by Raycon. 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/ GET 40-70% OFF @ https://BeautifulBastard.com til December 2nd – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Kai Cenat Faces Backlash After Magician Pulls Noose Stunt on Stream 5:16 - Musk Claims He Owns Users’ X Accounts in Filing Related to InfoWars Sale 8:31 - Sponsored by Bokksu 9:30 - NC Gov. Vetoes Bill that Does Little for Hurricane Aid, Strips Democratic Power 12:54 - Consumer Watchdog Warns of Loophole that Can Lead to Choking Hazards in Toys  16:19 - Sponsored by Raycon 17:28 - Scientists Are Warring with Each Other About How Fast the Universe Is Expanding 24:36 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 25:14 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Universe Expansion: Chris Tolve ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #KaiCenat #xQc ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 There is a lot to talk about today, but let's start off with some what the hell news. It was the most requested story on the text line for the past 12 hours. Let's talk about this Kai Sinet situation. And for those who don't know, Kai Sinet is arguably one of the biggest streamers in the world right now.
Starting point is 00:00:14 And he's in the middle of this marathon stream subathon where he became the most subscribed streamer in the world. But now we're seeing people yell, what the hell, that was messed up, or ban Kai Sinet. And the reason they're saying that right now is because there was a stunt aired on his stream where it appeared that Kai pulled a rope that then hung someone.
Starting point is 00:00:32 Because like I said, Kai has been doing this subathon and last night he was joined by a magician by the name of Max Major, who seemingly had a surprise trick for him. Because when Kai walked outside to find Max, Max was already on a platform accompanied by three nooses, which resulted in this reaction. Yo, what the?
Starting point is 00:00:48 Bro, what is wrong? Max, what the are you doing up there, Max? And then as they got closer to Max, he explained the stunt, noting that there were three nooses up there with him and three cords with handles down by Kai. And in this setup, the way it's shown is that even though Kai couldn't see what cord belonged to which noose, he was going to pull one when Max told him to.
Starting point is 00:01:05 Notably, Max attached to one of the nooses, but first he also warned the audience. I have to say that I'm a professional. This is my decision to do this. I'm supervised by professionals. We have emergency personnel standing by and that absolutely no one should try anything like this or anything dangerous at home.
Starting point is 00:01:23 They then do a pool test where Kai pulled one of the cords to see what would happen. And sure enough, one of the nooses goes up. But then after that test, Max putting his head through one of the nooses and with only two cords left to pull, it seemingly meant there was a 50-50 shot that Kai was gonna pull the one that Max was attached to.
Starting point is 00:01:37 And initially with this, you have Kai seemingly getting worried. If I kill you, I go to jail, right? Bro, what the? No! Everyone in Kai's group also appears to start getting uneasy with the whole thing, but Kai did as Max instructed and pulled one of the handles.
Starting point is 00:01:49 And as it turned out, he pulled the one that Max had put his head in. So Max goes up into the air for a few seconds, but his crew then quickly dropped him down and got him out. Now with that, the reason I'm describing it rather than showing you is I do not think I can or would want to show you someone getting hung by a noose. But in the aftermath, what we saw and what I can show you is Kai's reaction. Oh my God. Yo, what?
Starting point is 00:02:27 I get banned. Is he good? It's gotta be a prank. It has to be a prank. Still laying in the box. Bro, I just pulled a... All my life, I didn't mean to pull the wrong cord. All my life. Kai's team then is instructed to go back inside.
Starting point is 00:02:40 Kai continues to wonder if he was pranked, asking is Max okay, and then he finds a note from Max instructing him to watch a video where he essentially explains that the whole thing was pre-planned. If you're watching this, that means that something has gone terribly wrong. But what you don't know is that was all according to my plan. You see, at the start of my performance, I said that tonight was all about choices. But not just the choices that you made tonight, the choices that you've made since the day that we met.
Starting point is 00:03:05 But all along, I planned to influence you to make the wrong choice, and I knew you'd pick the red handle. You then see Kai seemingly worried he was gonna face a ton of backlash, and he definitely did. With people generally thinking prank or not, whether Kai knew or not, he shouldn't have let this whole thing happen.
Starting point is 00:03:19 With people writing things like, it doesn't take a genius to know once a man was on a stage with a noose around his neck, you probably shouldn't continue with the stunt. No matter if the magician tricked him or not, there comes a point you need to use logic in your brain and call things off. I'm not saying Kai is a bad guy,
Starting point is 00:03:32 but he needs to be held accountable. And Kai Sinet had someone almost break their neck for his enjoyment, and his first words are, "'I might get banned.'" And this is people saying that because of this and other recent controversial elements of his stream, he should be banned with other creators like XQC even chiming in.
Starting point is 00:03:46 This kid is just weird. Imagine inducing like mental trauma, people like, oh dude, you pulled the wire and you just killed somebody. Oh, it's a sticky note. It's just a prank. And with this, understand you do have people defending Kai saying, you know, he didn't know it was gonna happen.
Starting point is 00:04:02 He got set up. Some think that Max was intentionally sabotaging him. Though there we've seen some pushing back, speculating that every element was staged. With this, you know, others are more mad at Max, calling him out in his YouTube comments, saying that he owes Kai and his viewers an apology for this prank.
Starting point is 00:04:16 But as far as my opinion, I'm not inside Kai Sinet's brain. I don't know if he was in on it or not. It seems crazy that he would do it, but I also do not know him as a person. But I do find myself agreeing with the argument that even just seeing the setup for this would have been enough to kill this. Right, I mean that either way you look at it.
Starting point is 00:04:32 One, purely on Max's side, right? I think just as a concept, fake accidental hanging prank, fucking loser of a concept. As well as then on the other end, the 50-50 will he get hung challenge? Insane concept. Like I cannot imagine how hard it is to come up with new interesting ideas for 30 days straight
Starting point is 00:04:51 of nonstop streaming. But I mean, just like, holy shit, what a spectacular disaster. You know, with that, I gotta ask, what are your thoughts here? And also let me know if you're familiar with Kai or not. What are your thoughts on the people alleging that Kai was in on it or not?
Starting point is 00:05:04 Also, if you didn't know, what are your thoughts about him even participating once he saw the setup? Or with this situation, do you end up falling in the camp of seeing Kai as the victim here? He trusted someone that did something fucked up. Let me know what you're thinking and why.
Starting point is 00:05:16 But then we should talk about how Elon Musk and Axe have jumped into the middle of this whole InfoWars onion situation. Right, and all of that kind of centers around the idea of you not owning your ex account. Because that's basically what the company is saying in a new legal filing in the bankruptcy case of Alex Jones, the man behind InfoWars.
Starting point is 00:05:31 Right, and that because in 2022, a judge ordered Jones to pay more than $1.4 million in damages for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a hoax, with him quickly filing for bankruptcy. And then this month, the Onion buying InfoWars at a bankruptcy auction with the backing of Sandy Hook families.
Starting point is 00:05:44 And the Onion, which is a satire news publication, saying that it would turn the site into a parody of itself. Except that sale, it's not final yet. You have Jones and his backers alleging that the sale was a result of fraud and collusion. With, for example, The Other Bitter, a company that runs a website selling nutritional supplements in Jones's name, they pointed out in an emergency filing
Starting point is 00:05:59 that it offered $3.5 million in cash. The Onion, they only offered $1.75 million. Though notably there, the auction process approved by the judge did not require the company to be sold to the highest bidder, saying instead that the trustee could reject the bid that was, quote, contrary to the best interests of the Sandy Hook families.
Starting point is 00:06:14 And in this case, the trustee reportedly determined that the creditors ended up significantly better off under the Onion's bid, with one of the reasons being that the majority of Sandy Hook families were willing to pass on their share of the sale proceeds. Instead, they would take a percentage of future revenues from the new InfoWars,
Starting point is 00:06:26 leaving more money for the others to get right now. And that's without mentioning that Jones would then not be able to keep InfoWars, which I imagine is an upside for all, if not some of the families. But in any case, right, Jones's side has also taken issue with other aspects of the sale as well. And with that, there will be a hearing in December with a judge saying that he may decide to approve the sale, order another auction, or hold additional hearings. And this is he also may weigh in on what assets can be sold, right? And that is where Musk and X come in.
Starting point is 00:06:49 You see, because when we're talking about the sale of InfoWars or technically its parent company, Free Speech Systems, we are generally talking about all of its assets, the physical studio and its equipment, but also less tangible things like its video archive, website, and social media accounts. But regarding social media accounts, you have X now saying that Alex Jones, Infowars,
Starting point is 00:07:06 really nobody else actually owns those accounts. With the company writing, X Corp's terms of service make clear that it owns the X accounts, as the terms of service is explicit that X Corp merely grants its users a non-exclusive license to use their accounts. Ownership of the accounts remains with X Corp at all times.
Starting point is 00:07:22 And so with that, while not opposing the sale in general, the company is opposing the, quote, sale or other purported transfer of the account's remains with X Corp at all times. And so with that, while not opposing the sale in general, the company is opposing the quote, sale or other purported transfer of any account used by Jones or FSS that is maintained on the X platform. And while with this, you had X acknowledging that the users own the content that they post, the company's argument could obviously have massive implications for the site's users.
Starting point is 00:07:38 Now with this, Jones, for his part, who also had his X account previously reinstated by Musk, has been celebrating X's involvement in the bankruptcy proceedings. With him, for example, resharing one post saying, "'So important ex wins this one "'so we don't have an ungodly legal precedent set "'where as soon as you bankrupt someone with lawfare,
Starting point is 00:07:53 "'you get to steal all their social media accounts.'" But then on the other side of this, you have a lot of people reacting saying, "'What's really scary is ex even making this claim "'in the first place.'" With, for example, one person writing, "'Ex's legal filing in the InfoWars bankruptcy case "'is both batshit crazy and also what you'd expect.
Starting point is 00:08:08 "'It asserts that X owns every account, "'can do whatever it wants with them, "'and can inject itself into legal proceedings "'that have nothing to do with Twitter.'" And another saying, "'His claim that users only have use of their accounts "'would mean, according to Musk, "'he owns all government and lawmaker X accounts.'
Starting point is 00:08:21 Gives a person pause. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this legal battle plays out, both regarding the specifics around X, as well as just the general thing. And in the meantime, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below.
Starting point is 00:08:31 Then taking a quick break from the news, you know those people in your life who seem to have everything and are really tough to shop for? Well, Bokksu, our amazing sponsor, is an unforgettable gift for the person who has it all. And it's not just snacks. Bokksu is a Japanese snack box
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Starting point is 00:09:26 for $15 off your first Bokksu order. It's a gift that they'll remember in a good way. Then we're going to talk about this major showdown going down in North Carolina. Because yesterday, the state's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed a hurricane relief bill passed by both chambers of the GOP-controlled legislature. Which of course brings up the question
Starting point is 00:09:41 of why the hell would the governor veto legislation that would help his state continue to deal with the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene? And well as it turns out it's because the hurricane relief is just a small part of what the proposal would do. Because despite the fact that the legislation was titled as a disaster relief bill, just 13 of its 131 pages actually deal with storm relief. Now it allocates an additional $252 million for hurricane relief and while that's on top of the roughly $900 million the lawmakers had already put towards recovery, that total was still less than a third of the $3.9 billion that Cooper had asked for. And even then, it's not like the money
Starting point is 00:10:12 is going out the door immediately. Instead, it's just being shuffled to a rainy day fund that won't be accessible until the General Assembly appropriates it. Reince Wall of that then brings us to the question of, well, what does the bill actually do then? And as it turns out, a bulk of the bill would actually strip the state's incoming governor,
Starting point is 00:10:24 Josh Stein, and other key Democrats of their power. And the timing here is super important because while the governorship is just being passed from one Democrat to another, this move is coming as Republicans in the legislature are expected to lose their veto-proof supermajority. And also I say expected because there are still some close races
Starting point is 00:10:38 undergoing recounts. Now that said, while the Republicans will still be able to maintain a strong, simple majority, this loss of a slim one vote supermajority means that they will not have enough votes to override the Democratic governor's vetoes, which is a tool that they have used numerous times during Cooper's term. Or in other words, when Stein assumes office, he'll have more power to keep the Republican agenda in check, which one, is exactly why the GOP is trying to limit his authority,
Starting point is 00:10:59 and two, why they are doing it now while they still have the ability to override Cooper's veto. And what we're seeing is that among other measures, one of the most significant provisions in this bill would take away the governor's ability to appoint members to the state board of elections. Instead, giving that power to the incoming state auditor who just so happens to be a Republican, with him then widely expected to create
Starting point is 00:11:15 a Republican majority on the panel, which is currently controlled by Democrats. This legislation would also seriously undermine the governor's ability to fill vacancies on the state court of appeals and Supreme Court. And this by making it so that he can only choose candidates approved by the political party of the outgoing judge, a move that'll prevent Stein from appointing Democrats to fill any future openings on the Republican-controlled state Supreme Court. But again, all of this as Stein is not the only
Starting point is 00:11:35 top Democrat that this bill targets. The proposal would also ban the state's incoming Democratic Attorney General from challenging laws passed by the Republican legislature. It would also bar North Carolina's Democratic Superintendent of public instruction from appealing decisions by a state board that reviews charter school applications. With then all of that on top of a host of new election restrictions, including some that would make it harder for voters to fix errors with their mail-in ballots.
Starting point is 00:11:54 Which is why with all of this, you have a lot of Democrats slamming the measure as a blatant power grab. Others also condemning Republicans for trying to hide all of this behind a hurricane relief bill, accusing them of politicizing essential aid for their own political gain
Starting point is 00:12:05 while also failing to actually provide adequate resources. And that last point is actually something that's been echoed by Republicans who represent some of the areas of Western North Carolina that were hit the hardest by the hurricane. And in fact, three Republican House members actually voted against the measure with one explaining, "'I didn't see anything in there
Starting point is 00:12:19 "'that really did a lot for Western North Carolina. "'I'm not sure why it had disaster in the title "'and I even asked that be removed. "'With them adding, I am not going to vote for something that when I get home and go to the grocery store at 9 a.m. the next morning, that if someone asks, I can't explain what I did and what the bill is going to do.
Starting point is 00:12:33 And it's insanely significant that three Republicans voted against this bill because it could mean that those same members would not support a veto override. Because the current Republican supermajority is so slim, they need every single member to vote in favor of overriding Cooper's veto. And so with them not having a lot of time
Starting point is 00:12:47 to whip up those numbers, it's unclear if they're gonna be able to accomplish this. But one way or another, we will know soon and the impact will be huge. But then with Christmas just around the corner, of course, it is that time of year again to buy kids choking hazards. That's right, we were all on the same page there. I mean, what kid would not love
Starting point is 00:13:04 these delicious looking sprinkle size beads that expand into squishy balls when placed in water or in a stomach maybe? Now, obviously I'm being sarcastic though. I say obviously, because the times I'm sarcastic and people take it at face value, it just, it hurts my brain because while 99.9% of people aren't buying toys because they're choking hazards,
Starting point is 00:13:23 unfortunately, as many as 150,000 kids under 14 suffer toy-related deaths and injuries treated in emergency rooms every year. And this is choking's not the only risk, where there's also lead and phthalate exposure, button-sized batteries, and flammable materials. And so you wanna make sure that the gifts that you're getting this Black Friday, that they're safe.
Starting point is 00:13:39 Like, I don't know any of the stuff that's 40 to 70% off on beautifulbastard.com right now from now till December 2nd. Always be plugging. But it can often be very hard to tell what's actually safe. And as it turns out, there's actually a loophole in US trade law that makes it even harder. The de minimis exception.
Starting point is 00:13:54 De minimis is a Latin expression that means trivial or so minor that something can be disregarded. And so in trade, that means low value items which are allowed to enter the country tax and duty-free and with less stringent inspections and paperwork than higher value imports. Right, it's meant to speed things up, right? Grease the wheels of trade
Starting point is 00:14:09 for what's seen as more minor cargo. And this is a pretty normal thing, right? About a hundred countries have de minimis exceptions. With the United States formally drawing the line at $200 in value. Then, late into his presidency, Obama signed a law raising the threshold to $800, which is one of the highest in the world.
Starting point is 00:14:23 So from 2014 to 2023, the number of de minimis shipments each year rose from 140 million to 1 billion, with them now making up some 92% of all cargo entering the United States and primarily coming from China. And so these customs and border protection inspectors, they just don't have the resources to deal with this never ending avalanche of goods,
Starting point is 00:14:39 especially if they're mislabeled, they're smuggled among other things, or they're counterfeit products. Now to be fair here, the vast majority of Chinese toys, they're fine, especially if they're made by a reputable company. But a small minority of shady exporters, they aggressively exploit this loophole, and not just to sell toys. They use it to smuggle in everything from narcotics precursors and weapon parts to illegal meads and clothing made with slave labor from Uyghur Muslims. Hell, just last year, someone tried to ship a disassembled helicopter from Venezuela to Florida
Starting point is 00:15:06 by squeezing each part through the de minimis loophole and labeling the whole thing as personal effects. So one of the questions we get is, you know, what can we do to fix this? And well, just first of all, the government needs to act. Whether that means more tightly regulating de minimis shipments, hiring more CVP inspectors, or penalizing online retailers
Starting point is 00:15:21 who distribute unsafe products. But in the meantime, especially as the holidays approach, there are several things that you can personally do to keep yourself and your family safe. First, try to buy through retailers or other trusted middlemen who vet products before selling them to you. Second, if you are gonna go straight to the source,
Starting point is 00:15:34 only buy from companies you know are reputable. Third, resist the temptation of rock bottom prices, unless they're rock bottom prices at beautifulbastard.com, because they can often be too good to be true, unlike ours. Four, just because you see something on social media and advertisement or online marketplace, that doesn't mean it's credible. Fifth, check if a product has been recalled
Starting point is 00:15:50 by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sixth, check if it has reviews on the saferproducts.gov site. And seventh, closely examine labels and packaging to make sure that you're getting the real thing and not a counterfeit. And then once you've done every single one of those things because the system in place has failed you,
Starting point is 00:16:06 you can enjoy the fruits of global capitalism knowing that your children are safe. Probably, maybe. I mean, are they or really anyone ever truly safe? No, the answer is no. But now you know the specifics of why not here. So do what you will with that information. But then taking a quick break from the news,
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Starting point is 00:17:28 But then, actually for this next story, which is a very fun one, I need to do this at my other desk. I accidentally set the heat in this room two degrees higher than I wanted and I feel like I might die. I'm a sensitive baby when it comes to inside temperatures, but here we go. Did you know that there's a cosmic war playing out among astrophysicists? Because if not, I want you to take a second to open your mind. We're gonna take a little deep dive into the expansion of the universe.
Starting point is 00:17:51 Starting with the fact that the universe is expanding. We know this. And as far as how we know, I mean, first of all, the faster an object, say a galaxy moves away from us, the more the light we see from it stretches and appears more red. Or just think about like when a cop car or a speeding vehicle of some sort races past you.
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Starting point is 00:18:57 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. And so instead of distorting the frequency of sound, distant galaxies elongate the wavelength of light, shifting it to the red end of the spectrum. And with all this, in 1929, a bamp by the name of Edwin Hubble discovered that galaxies farthest from us actually appear redder than the ones closer to us, suggesting that they're
Starting point is 00:19:28 moving outward faster as well, a discovery known as the cosmological redshift. And it led to the conclusions that one, the universe is expanding, and two, the universe must have started from a single unexpanded point. Hence, we get the Big Bang Theory. Now astronomers, they all agree on those basic points, but where we're seeing the war play out is how fast the expansion is or because depending on how you try to answer that you get different numbers and so we'll start with a method that you might have heard about before analyzing the cosmic microwave background radiation basically this is just the oldest light in the universe and by measuring teeny tiny fluctuations in its temperature scientists estimate the rate of expansion right after the big bang then from there they extrapolate to the present factoring in the influence of dark matter and dark energy to come up with a current
Starting point is 00:20:07 rate. And that number is known as the Hubble constant. And it clocks in at 67 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Also, before you start shitting your pants and crying, going, what are you saying? One, I understand that feeling. And two, it's actually not as complicated as it sounds. For the first part, 67 kilometers per second, that's simple. It means that a galaxy moves 67 kilometers further from us every second. But remember, galaxies further away are moving faster than those nearer to us. Right, so we have to adjust the rate of expansion
Starting point is 00:20:32 as they travel outward. So for every megaparsec, or just over 3 million light years of distance, right between Earth and another galaxy, that 67 kilometers number doubles. Meaning that a galaxy two megaparsecs away recedes 134 kilometers per second, and three megaparsecs away recedes 134 kilometers per second, and three megaparsecs away
Starting point is 00:20:46 recedes 201 kilometers per second, and so on. But for simplicity's sake, 67 is the Hubble constant given by measurements of the cosmic microwave background. But as it turns out, astronomers have come up with another method to calculate the expansion rate, and it actually takes the exact opposite approach. Instead of starting with the oldest observable thing and coming to the present,
Starting point is 00:21:03 this method starts with what's right in front of us and extrapolates outward and back in time. Right, so first, astronomers find a nearby star that's close enough and whose brightness is predictable enough that they can get a really solid measurement of its distance and velocity. But I'm usually picking a star called a Cepheid because it routinely pulses and the pulse rate
Starting point is 00:21:18 indicates its brightness and therefore its distance. Then using that as a standard yardstick, astronomers leave behind the Milky Way and look for nearby galaxies that have Cepheids as well as even brighter exploding stars known as type 1a supernovae. Because when they explode, they have a predictable maximum brightness. So by comparing the distance measurement given by the Cepheid to the brightness given by the supernova, we can turn the type 1a supernovae into our new standard yardstick, which is argued to be incredibly useful because it allows you to go even further, right out to further galaxies that don't have Cepheids. And so with this method, which is known
Starting point is 00:21:47 as the cosmic distance ladder, since each step builds off the last, one team of astronomers led by the Nobel laureate, Adam Ries, estimated that the Hubble constant is actually about 73, which, we don't have to break our brain with math here, is higher than 67. And when Ries repeated the same analysis using the data from the James Webb telescope, which is far more precise than Hubble, he still got 73. And so with all that said, here is where the war begins. Because despite trying for over a decade, scientists haven't been able to solve this discrepancy. In fact, it's become such a problem, it has gotten the name the Hubble Tension. And with this, another figure taking the role of Reese's arch nemesis, Wendy Friedman. Because in 2019, she and her own team
Starting point is 00:22:22 of astronomers put forth another Hubble constant using an altogether different method. Because they examined red giant stars, which peak at the same predictable brightness at a certain point in their evolution. And according to those measurements, the Hubble constant is actually just under 70. So yeah, right in the middle of the tension. Which just raises more questions than it answers. But then, in August of this year, Friedman's team took another shot at it. This time, combining three different methods together. First, measuring Cepheid stars, then measuring red giant stars, and then measuring a new type called carbon stars,
Starting point is 00:22:50 which have constant colors and brightnesses in the near infrared spectrum of light. And so by using these methods independently, but within the same 10 galaxies, Friedman hoped to cross verify them against one another. And their estimates for the Hubble constant ranged from 68 to 72. With their measurements for the red giants
Starting point is 00:23:04 and the carbon stars agreeing very closely to about 1%, both differing from those of the Cepheids by 2.5 to 4%. Though then putting all the numbers together, the team arrived at a Hubble constant of just under 70, which notably falls within the margin of error for the estimates given by the cosmic microwave background method. Or in other words, Riesz's numbers are possibly wrong.
Starting point is 00:23:22 But we saw Riesz shooting back at Friedman's paper, criticizing it for analyzing too small a sample of supernova, but then Friedman in turn criticizing Reese's method, arguing that the crowding of many stars close together could throw off measurements of the Cepheids, to which Reese responded that his team found no evidence of any such crowding in the data that they used. But Friedman argues back that crowding
Starting point is 00:23:39 might have more prominent effects at larger distances than the ones studied by Reese. And so back and forth they go, big brains just battling it out, bickering about the fundamental nature of the universe. And all of this as meanwhile in 2019, a third team at UC Davis tried a totally different method called gravitational lensing to get the Hubble constant. And to be honest, I'm just gonna decline at this point to try to explain it. My brain is tired. There's a reason I make YouTube videos and I'm not duking it out with fucking Nobel laureates.
Starting point is 00:24:06 But the important thing is, is they came back with a Hubble constant estimate of 77. So the question becomes, well, what do we do with all these conflicting numbers? And well, basically there are two main ways to interpret this. The first is to claim that the 67 estimate, it's essentially correct and the others are wrong,
Starting point is 00:24:19 whether because of errors in data or faulty methods. Or with that being the conclusion that Friedman tends to endorse. Predicting that as more advanced telescopes hit the scene with more precise data, the whole Hubble tension thing is gonna disappear. And in a way, to back her up, neither her nor Reese's latest studies
Starting point is 00:24:32 have been peer-reviewed yet. And we've really only begun to analyze data from the James Webb telescope, so further research could vindicate her suspicion. But then the second way to look at all this is to look at the higher numbers and go, no, I think those are correct. That the tension is very real.
Starting point is 00:24:43 And therefore, something is deeply wrong with the standard model of cosmology. Right, because that initial 67 number, it's not just some random number, it is a foundation. Or the foundation of so much more of what we think we know about the universe. From its 13.8 billion year age to its 93 billion light year diameter.
Starting point is 00:24:59 And also astronomers came to that number by using certain assumptions about the nature and distribution of dark energy, this mysterious force thought to be driving the expansion. So if the real Hubble constant, it turns out to be different, that could imply we need to radically rethink what we think we understand about physics. But for now, you know, normies like you and I, we have bigger things to deal with. But I think every now and then it serves us to look at the mysteries in the sky and just wonder. And of course, yeah, let the big brains battle it out.
Starting point is 00:25:25 And these days, for some reason, with everything's feeling so uncertain in so many different ways, the thing that used to make me feel so tiny and scared makes me feel, makes me feel free. But then finally today, I'd like to give a congratulations and also talk about yesterday. Starting with a congratulations
Starting point is 00:25:41 to this week's SeatGeek prize winner, of course, $500 towards any tickets on SeatGeek. Now you can go see your favorite artist, sporting event, or play, and there's over 70,000 events to choose from. And for the rest of y'all, that's right, SeatGeek and the Daily Dip are still giving away up to $1,000 in tickets, and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. And it's simple, you just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And in fact, $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS Newsletter, doubling entries and winnings.
Starting point is 00:26:09 So yeah, it's a no-brainer, get in on it. But then finally, as promised, let's talk about yesterday with some comment commentary. Starting with there being a lot of comments about that whole Drake situation, with people like Mitchell saying, "'The Drake situation is the softest response "'to losing a rap battle.'
Starting point is 00:26:21 Might as well have told his mom "'to make Kendrick apologize.' So you had people firing back saying, "'Who says he hasn't already?' Others adding, "'Not Like Us' reentering the charts is hilarious. I don't listen to either artist, but Not Like Us has me boppin' here in Australia."
Starting point is 00:26:33 Which yeah, as of this morning, Not Like Us is top 20 in Apple Music US, within the top 12 being songs from his new album. You also had others doubting Drake's claims, saying, "'The second Not Like Us came out, hundreds of creators listened to it live, to crowds of thousands each. There was no need to promote.'" And others seeminglyting Drake's claims, saying the second Not Like Us came out, hundreds of creators listened to it live to crowds of thousands each. There was no need to promote. And others seemingly called Drake a hypocrite for certain aspects of the story, saying things like,
Starting point is 00:26:51 remember the time that Spotify had to hand out refunds to paying customers after it plastered ads for Drake all over its site? There you had some saying probably why he knows exactly how they manipulated the streams, to be honest. Also in those comments yesterday, there were a lot of people talking about that grandma AI. People like Nicholas, for example, saying the fact that grandma AI is realistic enough to be able. Also in those comments yesterday, there were a lot of people talking about that grandma AI. People like Nicholas, for example, saying the fact that grandma AI is realistic enough to be able to make scammers angry without realizing it's not a real person is funny. But there you also had some saying,
Starting point is 00:27:12 the only problem is that the opposite is also possible. Right, when they train AI to scam, oh boy. Others adding that AI granny is what we should be using AI for. Though this is others shared personal stories like, my mother is a daisy. She actually got a collection call for my son. "'She asked this woman so many questions,
Starting point is 00:27:28 "'the woman finally got so overwhelmed "'that she ended the call after about 45 minutes. "'I got the same call and ended it quickly, "'but finding out mom drove her so nuts, "'as she has been known to do, made me deliriously happy.'" And finally, there was a decent amount of chatter around Ozempic and the Biden administration proposing that Medicare and Medicaid actually cover it.
Starting point is 00:27:44 Though notably with limits in place, right? If someone is obese, they would be covered. But even if you're just technically overweight, you wouldn't be. And there we saw things like, I'm a board certified FM physician and practicing. I'm all about having Ozempic being covered for obesity by Medicare and Medicaid.
Starting point is 00:27:58 And adding, when people have this argument that obese people shouldn't have access to medications to assist with weight loss and should use diet and exercise, which of course are the cornerstone to healthy lifestyle. What they're doing is backing people into a corner and saying that you have to lose weight only in the way I think you should and then get mad at people for still being obese. Obesity is an incredibly complicated condition that goes beyond willpower and unhealthy lifestyle. But I'm also writing the other thing to understand is that the Medicaid population is primarily underserved low socioeconomic background. So by saying that they should not have access to a medication that people with money or
Starting point is 00:28:28 other insurance types have access to, that is being a proponent of health inequity. We can't want people to be healthier and lose weight and then limit the options that they have. With him then closing by saying the other thing to understand is weight loss medications and then listing out several only reduce weight by a certain percentage. So diet and exercise are always concurrently recommended slash implemented. But yeah, that is where, well, actually your final show of the week is going to end. Of course, like I mentioned, I'll be off for Thanksgiving,
Starting point is 00:28:51 which on that note, I hope you have a good, or at the very least, not horrible Thanksgiving. But no matter what goes down, just remember, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here on Monday.

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