The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.21 It’s Time To Say Goodbye, Sydney Sweeney, “Troll” Fetterman vs TikTok, & Today’s News

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

Go to www.babbel.com/defranco to get 55% off! Go to http://www.unrealdefranco.com/ to switch to Unreal Mobile and get three months of crystal clear connectivity for the price of two & a chance to win a one-of-a-kind Gameboy Color!  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Special Education School for Disabled Kids Shuts Down Amid Disturbing Allegations 07:00 - Fetterman Blames TikTok for Younger Voters’ “Warped” Perceptions on Palestine 11:20 - Sponsored by Babbel 12:33 - Sydney Sweeney Calls Out Double Standards Over “Busty” Body Comments 14:58 - New York City to Ban Solitary Confinement in Its Jails 18:22 - Warner Bros. Discover and Paramount in Merger Talks 20:23 - Sponsored by Unreal Mobile 21:22 - New Research Identifies Cause of Morning Sickness 29:49 - Yesterday Today ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  Associate Producer for “Northwest SOIL Shutdown:” Star Pralle Associate Producer for “Morning Sickness:” Maddie Crichton ———————————— #DeFranco #Hasanabi #SydneySweeney ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're going to talk about all the disturbing things that were exposed by one of the largest publicly funded private schools for children with severe disabilities, why the internet's freaking out about John Fetterman and Sidney Sweeney, why morning sickness could soon be a thing of the past, and my leaving the internet after this video. We're talking about all that and so much more on today, the final scheduled episode of the Philip DeFranco Show for 2023. But just with that, I gotta say two things. One, thank you for another year. Two, while the show is not scheduled to come back until January 9th, set your calendars. Don't know what that

voice was. Highly recommend you click and you tap your way to turning on all notifications for this channel. As well, as you joining the text line, just text me over at 813-213-4423, both because they get early and secret things. And during the break, I may upload a video here or there around the news just because I really want to talk about something. But with that said, we got a lot to talk about today, so let's just jump into it. Starting with... Y'all, we need to talk about ProPublica getting a school shut down. And they did it by shining a light on abuse, academic neglect, and among other things, inadequate training and staffing.

Because until recently, Northwest School of Innovative Learning, or SOIL, was the state's largest publicly funded private school for children with severe disabilities. And they raked in millions and millions of dollars, bringing in a hundred students every year from 40 different school districts. But then ProPublica and the Seattle Times, they do a little joint investigation into Northwest soil. And this includes interviewing former staff, reviewing records from the state districts. And just from these, it painted a really scary picture. With them writing, a staffer wands students with a metal detector as they arrive. Kids bang on the locked doors from inside so-called quiet rooms, whose walls are sometimes smeared with feces or blood. At times, children wander the school or aid sleep in chairs, with staff members being put into places that they just weren't qualified for,

like with Jimmy Fioretti, who worked at the school for five years. He was listed as a special education teacher, but that was one, despite not having the necessary certification, and two, he was accused of choking students once in 2017 and again in 2019. He's also been convicted of assault and felony drug possession. And then, in late 2020, Fioretti, who I guess just never saw a throat he didn't want to crush, he got caught in another choking scandal, reportedly wrapping his arm around the throat of a 13-year-old boy's neck and hauling him across the room. And a school counselor described the situation, saying that the boy was grabbing at Fioretti's arms, he couldn't breathe, his eyes were bulging,

and he ended up immediately throwing up in a trash can after being let go. But neither the state or the school district knew about the severity of the situation. Instead, the boy's parents and home district just received a report saying, hey, the staff had to restrain the boy. They tried to deescalate the situation and they escorted him to the hallway. Also, when Fioretti spoke about the situation with the school director, he said the boy was, quote, running his lips. And the director wrote in the report that he got teary-eyed and added, I can't do this. I love my job and you guys, but I am not okay to be here. With him then fired nine days later. That's also just one example of the many horrors. Another boy described feeling unsafe when watching another classmate be strapped down to a chair with a belt around his middle. So he tried to run across the

hall for a phone to call the police. But then before he could call out, a staff member grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back and then yanked him away from the phone. With the boy saying that person later threatened to break his arm, right? And all of that is on top of the teaching and academic problems this school had, right? A special education director reported watching uncertified teachers flounder with no curriculum, and some of the students at Northwest Soil reportedly made little to no academic progress. In fact, ProPublica and The Times say some even regressed, with the problems getting so bad that in her resignation letter, Northwest Soil's former top administrator, Donna Green, accused the company that owned the school, Fairfax Hospital, of crossing ethical boundaries, specifically saying

that Fairfax's parent company, Universal Health Services, that they cut staff hours and skimped on basic resources in order to maximize profits. And Green going on to say in an interview that the state, quote, needs to be more hands-on to ensure that these kids are getting a proper education and not just feeding a money horse for UHS. Because the big thing is that the state's been getting complaints regarding Northwest Soil for years now, but they've done little to address them. Now, that said, following ProPublica and the Times reporting, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction,

Washington's Education Department, opened an investigation into Northwest Soil. Arguably, late to the game, but hey, at least they showed up. And in January of 2023, the Assistant Superintendent for Special Education at OSPI wrote a letter to the CEO of Fairfax regarding the investigation, saying, Given the serious nature of the allegations made in the articles, OSPI is examining what,

if any, actions need to be taken with respect to Northwest Soil's approval to contract with Washington school districts. And this inquiry included demands for records of allegations of what they said were mistreatment, maltreatment, abuse, or neglect by school staff against students, as well as documents regarding restraint and isolation. And that was also on top of demands for records about staff qualifications and student-teacher ratios. Now, by that point, Fairfax had already vehemently denied the allegations laid out in ProPublica and the Times reporting, saying that, quote,

use of restraints and seclusion are always used as a last response when a student is at imminent risk of hurting themselves or others. And adding, we strongly deny any allegation that we understaff and or pressure staff to increase admissions in order to maximize profits. Also notably, at the same time this investigation was revealed, legislation was actually being considered that would give the state more oversight to these non-public agencies. With Washington State Senator Claire Wilson, the vice chair of the state's Senate Education Committee and the bill's prime sponsor, saying,

we have to figure out as a state and as a legislature how it is that we protect and make sure our children are getting the services and supports they need. And back in April, a bill was actually passed to strengthen not only oversight, but also regulatory power. Then in June, the OSPI temporarily banned Northwest Soil from accepting any new students, with them specifically citing what they call the unacceptably high number of incidents in which the school restrained or isolated students.

Because notably, in the state's investigation, Northwest Soil turned over records showing they restrained students 476 times and isolated students 447 times just in 2022 alone. And a key number there is that during that year, they only had around 119 students. So you had Northwest Soil defending themselves, saying that their risk management team evaluated several incidents and found them to be either accidental or justified, and adding that they happened while the student was behaving aggressively,

and also saying in a statement to regulators when the ban was put into place, we believe our staff act appropriately during incidents or restraint in isolation. So with this, we ended up seeing the school try about every single play in the book to get this admissions ban lifted. They filed an administrative appeal. They sued the state in the Thurston County Superior Court. They tried negotiating, with them requesting the state to allow the school to gradually admit students

while it compiled a corrective action plan, to which the state essentially responded, hell no, saying while NW Soil continues to make adequate initial progress, not enough time has passed for OSPI to see sustained implementation of the plan in order to release the enrollment hold. And so when all that didn't work, they tried an ultimatum. The CEO of Fairfax writing a scathing

letter to regulators in November, calling the ban, quote, unwarranted and egregious, saying the school could not continue to function while dealing with these financial losses. The CEO ending the letter saying either the state lifts the ban or Northwest Soil will close its doors. And that is exactly what happened. The state declined to lift the ban and now the school is closing, announcing that they'll be laying off their staff in January, and the school districts will have to decide where to send Northwest Soil's remaining 37 students. And while many are happy with this result, not everyone is celebrating this as a victory. With even some families standing by Northwest Soil saying it's actually been a positive influence on the lives of their students. Like

with Heidi Sepp, the mother of one of the remaining students at the school. She says she's worried that the closure is going to disrupt her son's education. Saying that they face numerous setbacks in public schools, and her son actually flourished saying that they face numerous setbacks in public schools, and her son actually flourished under the care of Northwest Soil, and adding, I don't feel like I have any options left. And all this has also renewed the ongoing debate within the special education community about private programs serving public school students.

Right here, some argue that public schools regularly fail students with complex disabilities, and others argue that more money should be invested in public school districts to develop integrated programs to keep these kids in local schools. But ultimately, that is where we are right now. Obviously, you know, this is a specific situation. There's also a larger conversation, which is why, like with all our stories, but especially these bigger dives into it, I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below, especially if you have any experience regarding, you know, schools serving special needs kids, whether it be through the public school system or private schools. And then young American voters are critical of Israel

and the U.S. response to the war because TikTok is warping their minds. That is an argument that's been made by a top U.S. lawmaker this week. And no, it wasn't a Republican. Instead, it was Democratic Senator John Fetterman. Because during an interview with CNN, yet host Jake Tapp reporting to a recent New York Times College poll that found that 72 percent of voters aged 18 to 29, they disapprove of how Biden has responded to the conflict. And then we see this back and forth. You've been very vocal in your full support for Israel. I see the Israeli flag behind you in your office there. You've been very clearly arguing that Hamas bears responsibility for the tragedy of what's going on in Gaza. Why do you think so many younger people, especially in your party, see it differently? I really, I really don't. I really don't know. I do know that a lot of people are getting their

perspective from TikTok. And I think if you're kind of getting your perspective on the world on TikTok, it's going to tend to be kind of warped or not reflective of the history and actually the way things absolutely are. And so as you'd expect, they got a lot of big reactions. You had many slamming him, arguing that just because people get news on TikTok doesn't mean it's inherently wrong. Especially because a lot of the content on TikTok are real videos of live accounts on the ground in Gaza. Writing things like, yeah, watching the videos from Gaza on social media should make people mad with Israel. What did he expect? And others mocking, it's the kids and the damn ticky-tockies, not the genocide, obvious.

You also had others saying that it's wrong to blame TikTok or even social media for young people's views on Palestine. Accusing Fetterman of trying to discredit opinions that they've formed from a range of sources and experiences. Someone writing, I'm sick of people blaming TikTok for criticism of Israel, opposition to genocide, and support for Palestinians. It not only underestimates the politics and morality of young people, but skips both the pro-Israel bias of mainstream media and those Zionist TikToks. Now, there's arguing that Fetterman and other pro-Israel politicians are heavily influenced by pro-Israel lobby, so their opinions are even more skewed. And that's on top of people calling Fetterman a hypocrite because his campaign relied so heavily on TikTok to reach the youth vote. But then, of course, on the other side of this, you had many people agreeing with Fetterman. That also included many conservatives cheering on his comments.

Many condemning TikTok, arguing that he's right about the app being manipulated and presenting skewed information. Writing things like, Senator John Fetterman is not exactly wrong here. I regularly peruse TikTok and its a cesspool of propaganda. 20-year-olds who think they're experts on the complexities and nuances of Middle Eastern history and current events. And to that point, Fetterman's not the only lawmaker who's taken aim at pro-Palestine content on TikTok. Last month, you had Republican Senator Josh Hawley writing a letter renewing his calls for a TikTok ban, citing concerns about how the platform was handling the Israel-Hamas

conflict. That's also been echoed by other Republican senators like Marsha Blackburn and Marco Rubio. But also, you know, going back to Fetterman, everything that we're kind of seeing right now has been building up for a little bit. You know, a few days ago, he said, I'm not a progressive. I'm just a regular Democrat. Without getting community noted, there being examples shown how he ran as a progressive Democrat. Commentators like Mehdi Hassan chiming in, saying Fetterman going full cinema. Totally unnecessary statement.

And a total attack on people who worked hard to elect him and defended him post GOP rose over his stroke and clothing etc and this in addition to big political streamers like Hassan Piker saying Fetterman falling further yeah John Fetterman I don't give a shit oh I'm not progressive actually I'm not it's like whatever who gives a shit I think it's simply that John Fetterman's whole shtick is that he just digs his heels in and then will just be like oh okay i'm trolling you i don't give a f**k like this is my point lol and like everybody liked it when he was doing it for progressive uh when he was doing it for progressive policies right but it's not funny or cool or or makes sense at all when you're doing it for an ongoing genocide that you are unconditionally

and vociferously supporting. With all that said, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts in general regarding everything that's happening with Fetterman and the controversy here, but also, too, what are your thoughts and experiences with TikTok and what it's been feeding you? Because obviously, like a lot of the feeds, they're hyper specific. Or I'll try to have this conversation with someone and they're like, I have no idea what you're talking about. My TikTok feed is all dogs and people playing pickleball. Or feeds all Pat McAfee and fantasy football memes. So we'll say for me personally, there have been times where I'm like, I'm getting fed insane content, but then sometimes, but not always, I'll get a wave of content of people like stitching

what I thought was kind of crazy content and doing like counterpoints. So honestly, the only algorithm that hasn't been feeding me like what I think is like crazy stuff has been YouTube. Like on Twitter, for example, I've reverted completely back to the just following tab because the for you tab is just like insane bullshit I would never want to consume outside of obviously having to research why everyone wants to tear each other apart. But yeah, let me know because it feels like everyone's getting a completely different version of the internet depending on where they are now. And then we all have someone in our lives who's impossible to shop for. So if you considered giving the gift of learning a new language, just thanks to today's sponsor, Babbel,

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bodies being discussed and specifically talking about how those standards often result in headlines sexualizing her, though notably like regarding why she was speaking on this, it came from a profile that was published in Glamour, where the interviewer asked about an article from the Daily Mail that said that Sweeney was putting on a very busty display in its headline. Which turns out busty display is a phrase they use over and over if you look. And you have people saying, sure, you know, in some she's flaunting what she's got, but in others, she's not necessarily going out of her way to do so. Right? In some, she's just a woman existing in like a regular tank top or a swimsuit. And so she said in the interview, well, especially

when it comes to red carpet pics and they're like, Sydney Sweeney displays bust or Sydney Sweeney wears a scandalous dress. I'm like, I'm wearing the exact same dress someone else would be wearing. I just have tits. And if someone else is wearing it, they'd be like, oh, so sleek and so well mannered. Just because I have boobs, it doesn't change. But they're also adding like how she feels about her body now. It's completely different. As a teenager, she would intentionally wear big sweatshirts to cover her chest. Saying when I was in high school, I used to feel uncomfortable about how big my boobs were. And I used to say that when I turned 18, I was going to get a boob job to make them smaller. And my mom told me, don't do it. You'll regret it in college. And I'm so glad I did. And I like

them. They're my best friends. Everybody's body is beautiful. When you are confident and you're happy within is when it really shows to other people. I want to show girls that it's amazing and beautiful and empowering to have the bodies that we have. And so with that, I think there's a lot to unpack there. One, I love the last message that Sidney Sweeney has there, although I will say it is very easy to say when you look like Sidney Sweeney. Or like if a sweaty Ryan Gosling with no shirt on was like, you know, guys, we're all beautiful. I'd be like, shut up, Ryan. Fucking gorgeous, charming man. Chill out. I mean, self-confidence is the key here, and I want everyone to have that, but come on. Two, since this interview, apparently Sydney

Sweeney's mom now has a fucking fan club. With people taking the quote, you'll regret it in college, noting that her mom talked her out of a reduction. That getting captions like, not all heroes wear capes, which obviously, again, to a certain degree, talks about how we talk about women's bodies. So also, that was the topic being discussed. But then finally, three, you know, there is something with this situation that, as a guy, I'm never going to be able to fully understand. This is the very least with this story. It feels like it has a happy-ish ending. She's comfortable with her body. She displays it as she wants. She uses it as she wants to better her career. But I also do imagine to a certain degree that that ends up taking a lot

of work because especially growing up like that, that had to have resulted in so many fucking creepy experiences, the lack of control, possibly feeling kind have resulted in so many fucking creepy experiences. The lack of control, possibly feeling kind of like prey. I don't know. With that said, what are your thoughts here? And especially because, you know, I'm an outsider looking in on the situation to any of the women watching this show. When you hear from her talking about this or based off your own experiences, what comes to mind? And then we should talk about how New York City just passed two laws and why it's got people screaming and others cheering. And the first one that we're going to talk about today is a ban on most uses of solitary confinement.

With the city council there voting 39 to 7 yesterday to pass a bill limiting jails to four-hour confinement in so-called de-escalation units. This is reportedly only for inmates who pose an immediate risk of violence to others or themselves. And for those involved in violent incidents, they can be put in longer-term restrictive housing. But they need to be allowed out of their cells for at least 14 hours each day and get access to the same programming as other inmates. And all that in hopes that jails can be more humane while still giving them room to punish inmates. Because critics, including the United Nations, have called this psychological torture.

Psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Gardier explaining to PIX11. So you've always been picky about your produce. But now you find yourself checking every label to make sure it's Canadian. So be it. At Sobeys, we always pick guaranteed fresh Canadian produce first. Restrictions apply. See in-store or online for details.

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Refreshingly simple. Who are in solitary confinement can have all sorts of issues, Refreshingly simple. Browder. He had this 16-year-old spending three years at Rikers Island on charges of stealing a backpack in 2010, and this despite him never actually being convicted of a crime. And for two of those years, he languished in solitary confinement. So his family blames the violence and psychological damage that he suffered there for what happened after the charges were thrown out and he was released, with him tragically taking his own life in 2015. Notably, after that, New York did pass some reforms, with the city's Board of Correction banning solitary confinement for inmates under the age of 21 at Rikers. And then in 2021, the state restricted it to no more than 15 consecutive

days and banned it altogether from certain populations like disabled or pregnant inmates. But then all of that, of course, leading to yesterday's bill. But again, not everyone happy about this. Correctional officers unions, for example, they've pushed back saying there has to be some way to punish inmates who break the rules or get violent. With that saying, you know, what about the more than 6,500 assaults against CEOs that we've seen over the past three years? Do those not matter? We've seen a number of people sympathetic to what they that saying, you know, what about the more than 6,500 assaults against CEOs that we've seen over the past three years? Do those not matter? We've seen a number of people sympathetic to what they're saying, including people in high places. For example, Mayor Eric Adams opposing the bill on the grounds that it makes jails more dangerous. And this bill is saying before you

put them in punitive segregation, before you take them out of population, we must have a due process. That's the same if someone comes and commit a felonious assault on you, and before the police officer can put them in jail, you need to give them a due process before you can put them in jail. So I'd love to know your thoughts there, but then we got to talk about the second one, which is honestly just as, if not more, controversial. Because the second one requires city cops to file reports on every level one, two, and three stop that they make with a member of the public. So while simple interactions like giving directions to a tourist, those are exempt, any so-called investigatory encounter, they'll have to record

the person's race and age. And so naturally, you got the NYPD furious about this because they're saying, hey, we're going to be drowning in mountains of paperwork more than we already do. Noting that officers have 7 million interactions on average with the public each year, Mayor Adams here also agrees, saying that this is going to slow down important police work. And they're using an example of a missing child case, pointing out that cops have to write a report every time they ask someone, hey, have you seen this child? And arguing you're just going to have hours and hours of wasted time. But you have advocates of the bill arguing it's not going to actually take up that much time. And I'm guessing this is the point of why they're trying to do this. It will help identify racial profiling. One activist

telling Fox 5 New York. So all we're saying is that when officers are doing investigatory stops, investigatory questions, we just want to get the demographics of who they're talking to. We don't need the name. We don't need where they live. And it's maybe three to five seconds, maybe 10, that can be done on the phone after they've had the conversation. Now, fortunately for him and other advocates, the council has passed both the solitary confinement and police report laws with veto-proof majorities. Even with the mayor not liking them, it looks like they're going to become law. Though notably, he did tell reporters that his legal team would be looking into other

options. So maybe this does go to the courts. And then, you know, in mainstream entertainment news, if there's something that we've seen a lot of lately, it's mergers. Right, companies just, hey, we're together now. Oh, now we're together. Let's make everyone download a new app to watch the same thing that they always watched and then also give them a bunch of crappy shows.

And that is showing no sign of stopping because we just got the news that Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global might be combining. With multiple reports yesterday saying that the two are in preliminary talks. With Axios being the first to report that WBD's CEO David Zaslav and Paramount CEO Bob Backish actually met this week in New York to discuss the possibility. We're talking about how what they have could complement one another. Like could they be more competitive with Netflix if they combine Paramount Plus and Max? Which for me, like, the first question is, are you going to make me download a new app? Or can it just be Max and not, like, CBS, HBO, Paramax Plus?

A Disney company in conjunction with ExxonMobil. But also, you know, when hopping back, you might think of, like, two things of equal size. Like, this would not be an equal merger. Warner Brothers Discovery's market value is nearly triple that of Paramount's. We also don't know if Zaslav's just going for Paramount or he's going for the parent company, National Amusements, Inc. But reportedly both paths could be possible and bankers are exploring it. And it's also interesting because like in addition to the TV and film side of things, there's news, right?

You have WBD bringing CNN to the table, Paramount bringing CBS News. This could also mean something on the sports front. But in general, online, if you look around, people haven't been reacting positively to the news. People saying things like it just feels like Zaslav keeps destroying legacy media brands. Others sharing, there's no way this is a good thing for people making films and television shows. And adding, oh, look at that, another potential merger

that may or may not collapse an entire sector of the entertainment industry. We really need Congress to stop having the interest of the wealthy and start laying out stronger antitrust laws around media monopolies. Which, I mean, on that note, you have places like Variety explaining, if this were to move forward, the companies have to overcome a host of obstacles and possible regulatory and legal challenges. So, of course, a big thing to keep in mind is that this is very early stages.

They could go down this road. They might not. Maybe, you know, the talks get other companies interested. They go with someone else. But again, while this affects so many things, the only thing I ask is that you do not make me download another app. You underestimate how lazy I am. Do I have a billion apps on my phone that I do not use? Yes. Have I downloaded a new one in the past year? No. I mean, actually, other than the update

to Macs. And then, so if you're like most people, you're probably overpaying your mobile provider for the exact same services that you can get from today's sponsor, Unreal Mobile. Like seriously, why are we paying the big guys two to three times more when you can get unlimited talk, text, and data starting at $20 a month with Unreal? I mean, they're powered by the number one most reliable network in America according to Global Wireless Solutions. The only difference is you don't pay a premium for splashy marketing or stores you never visit. There's unlimited connectivity at an unbeatable price. And for a limited time, buy two months of service and Unreal will toss in a third month free. Reliable service, no contract hassles, three months for the price of two. And that's not all. Switch to Unreal and

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And this includes even severe forms of it, right? Because, you know, you're dealing with the nausea, the vomiting during the early phases of pregnancy. And also, even though it's called morning sickness, it can happen any time of day, morning, afternoon, night. We're talking often 16 to 20 weeks. But now, researchers have found that a hormone called GDF-15 is the root cause of morning sickness. And they published a breakthrough in the journal Nature, explaining that fetal production of GDF-15 and maternal sensitivity to it will contribute substantially to the risk of not just morning sickness, but an incredibly severe form of it. It's known as hyperemesis gravidarum which yes it sounds like a harry potter spell

i'm just gonna call it hg because my tongue's too fat to consistently pronounce that correctly you know hg it's much rarer than regular morning sickness but i mean it still impacts three percent of pregnant women in the u.s and it involves incredibly persistent nausea and vomiting that could lead to weight loss and extreme dehydration and obviously when you're pregnant like we're talking about possible complications, right, like poor nutrition, even potential harm to the development of the baby. In some cases, it can even be life-threatening. So discovering that this hormone is the cause,

I mean, this could be life-saving. And with this, it's worth noting that nearly everyone has some level of GDF-15 within them, but fetuses release more of it as they grow, increasing exposure during pregnancy. And so this new report found that the higher levels of the GDF-15 hormone in the maternal blood, they're associated with both the regular vomiting and HG.

And how likely a person is to deal with that actually depends on how sensitive they are to the hormone and their levels of it prior to the pregnancy. Right, and that looks like you'd expect. Those who had low levels of the hormone while not pregnant had a higher risk of developing HG, whereas women who had higher levels of it before they were pregnant, they reported lower levels of nausea and vomiting while they were pregnant. What's kind of crazy is that there were actually opportunities that in a perfect world could have gotten us here sooner. The New York Times speaking to Dr. Marlena Faso, a geneticist at the University of Southern California, who is an author on this study and has been researching HG for decades, telling the outlet, I've been working

on this for 20 years and yet there are still reports of women dying from this and women being mistreated. And she knows what it's like herself because she dealt with HG during her second pregnancy in 1999. She wasn't able to eat and drink without throwing up. She lost weight. She couldn't even stand. But her doctor just dismissed it as her exaggerating her symptoms, and she was eventually hospitalized and miscarried at 15 weeks. And so she asked the National Institute of Health to fund a genetic study on HG. But they gave her a no, and so she decided to take matters into her own hands. But they're convincing 23andMe to include questions about the condition in surveys to its customers.

And then publishing a paper in 2018 showing the link between the GDF-15 hormone and HG, which of course has now been further confirmed and understood in the study that we're talking about today. Which I do want to say, it is just crazy to think, on this show, we've talked about the dumbest studies that have been funded. How the fuck does a study on this get rejected? Were you worried it might not be applicable to literally half the fucking population that's capable of getting pregnant? I mean, not to be that fucking guy because it's annoying when it goes longer than 30 seconds. But I mean, like, if somehow a guy got ball cramps after his wife got pregnant, this shit would have been figured out in 1802. We might not have ever gone to the moon. They would have been too focused on this. You know, this is a small

spotlight on a pattern. Research on women's health is routinely underfunded. And the actual gaps in research exist in many fields of medicine. But of course, reproductive health is a big standout. In fact, The Conversation pointed to an analysis from the UK that found that less than 2.5% of publicly funded research was devoted to reproductive health. And that's even though a third of women deal with reproductive health problems, meaning that roughly 16% of the population will experience an issue that receives only 2.5% of the annual research budget. But with that said, morning sickness is not done yet. But we're now seeing potential options that researchers are considering. Things including giving people who have lower levels of the GDF-15 hormone doses of it while they're trying to conceive, with the hope

of trying to desensitize them to reduce their chances of dealing with HG, as well as maybe antibodies that block GDF-15 or its receptors that could be used to reduce nausea and vomiting. But all of that, you know, it comes back to two things. Needing more time for more research. Because as clinician and researcher Katherine Williamson explained, we don't know anything about the role of GDF-15 in normal pregnancy. So we need to see if fiddling with the hormone could negatively impact the pregnancy first.

But again, this is a major step forward on a major issue, especially as you have the Wall Street Journal reporting that only half of women who seek help for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy actually get the relief from the treatments that are already out there. And with millions getting pregnant every year, that means a lot of suffering. But hopefully, thanks to this research and the years to come, there's going to be a lot of relief. And then let's talk about

yesterday today. Because on yesterday's show, we covered a lot of news, but there were two main stories that stood out. The first being the cops who crashed into a gay bar and then arrested one of the owners. And the second being those D-bag fitness influencers who got exposed, or really who exposed themselves. So in those comments regarding the cops, y'all said, imagine having someone crash their car into your home and then they try and make you the problem. Hope those cops are actually held accountable. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Thomas going on to say, you know, this whole situation's nuts, but also adding, I really do feel like the art of owning your mistakes is something the world needs to relearn, like badly. We have a society where everyone double and triples down and only apologizes when forced to. If you own your mistakes upfront and do so out of genuine empathy or understanding, then at least for me, that credit doesn't go

unnoticed. To which I would respond yes and no. And I also need you to understand this goes, this goes outside of the cop situation because this is a, this is, this is an insane one. That's my personal opinion. When it comes to like the general world and our society, yes, I do think that we need to relearn how to apologize. I think that's an important thing. But I also think to like to a certain degree, we need to maybe relearn or tweak how we accept apologies, right? Because while there are cases of like people making apologies and you're like, okay, this is bullshit. And that further complicates the situation, right? Because not everyone's going to receive an apology or anything the exact same way. Some people are going to be like, oh, that's genuine. Other people want to say, oh, that's bullshit. There have been a number of times where

I was like, okay, the situation doesn't feel like it's all that. And then, you know, you have someone apologizing and then people just use that to then beat that person over the head even more. And I feel like there are a number of times where we're like incentivizing people to just double down on bad shit. Because while some people want to be seen or to help educate or help someone grow, there are also a lot of people who call for apologies. I just want to like extract pain from someone. And how many times have we had that story where it was like someone said something wrong and someone's like,

you need to understand what you said was wrong. And then they make a video and they're like, hey, shit, I'm really stupid. I now understand what I said was wrong. And they're like, you're only apologizing because we got angry. But again, I don't want that to be like this broad statement like that's applicable to anyone

that's ever having to apologize for something. Then regarding the gym story, while a number of people shared their opinions, a lot of people shared their experiences. With Brooklyn sharing, I was actually at a gym and offered to help someone who wasn't using a machine correctly. They were a bigger individual and just needed to adjust a few things and they would be a lot more comfortable. I was just super casual and mentioned how they could lessen the strain on their arms and even joked I end up forgetting to adjust the machine to my height all the time. I'm glad the guy seemed open to help and I wished him luck. Humbling yourself while offering help can be a great way to bridge that awkward gap.

Which, just as a side thing, yes, shitting on yourself when you're giving advice or a critique, it's a cheat code. You also had Casey King saying, as someone that used to be insanely overweight, over 800 pounds, I remember trying to select a gym to use and I was mocked and stared at by people as I tried to see what amenities the gym offered. I remember one day I had someone sit beside me and attempted to conceal as they took photos of me on their cell phone. I was genuinely trying to better myself and turn my addiction to food around, but these random gym goers just made me into a freak show and made me feel like I should just hide myself away and never come out again. Which one? I was like, Casey, I went to your channel. Wow, congrats on the journey. But also too, what was really sad about that comment is if I, you know, as I scrolled through, there are a

lot of people right now that say like, this is their ultimate fear. With Unjustice saying, being a big person, my number one fear is going to the gym and being laughed at or mocked. I know most people aren't like that, but it only takes one, or in this case, two. But here's the final thing that I'll say with this. There are always gonna be shitty people. There's just too many people for them not

to at least some of them be shitty. People who tear down to feel big. And while everyone's journey is different and there are different, healthier ways to do it, here's what I say. Take that fear, take the things that would normally make you sad, and just get angry. Because it's bullshit I say. Take that fear, take the things that would normally make you sad and just get angry.

Because it's bullshit and not okay that you got to deal with people like that and fears that people are going to like film you. And just think about them as you're taking the steps to better yourself. But know that both generally, there are a lot of good. And in this specific field,

I think there's a lot of good. And there's like a rise thanks to a number of creators, shit like this, right? It's been a bigger topic of conversation. I saw in the comments, people mentioning creators like Joey joey swole right a big kind of like beacon as far as like call out content regarding bad behaviors with with working out or like how people are treating one another i also saw comments like that from a kyra pro who said as someone who

is a fitness creator when i saw that video of the two girls at the gym i was absolutely infuriated i had dozens of messages from people saying they're afraid of the gym due to people like this it's so sad gym should be a safe space. I think as long as we continue to have this conversation, perhaps it grows, we can make sure that they are. And that is where we're going to end today's show. And where I'm going to leave you today is with one last friendly reminder. Join the text line 813-213-4423. Turn on channel notifications.

Because while this is the last scheduled show of the year, the first scheduled show back is January 9th. Don't know if you can tell after me doing this for 17 years, I'm a little addicted to the internet and this gig and you, I can't quit you. But that said, thank you for being a part of the family for another year. My name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you soon.