The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.14 I'm Sorry, But You May Have Brain Worms, The "Block War" on Celebs, MrBeast vs The Emmys, Google AI

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

A lot to talk about today, so you get an extra big one... Step into Spring with Vessi at http://www.vessi.com/defranco for an automatic 15% off your first purchase at checkout + free shipping to CA, US, AU, JP, TW, KR, SGP. Go to http://rocketmoney.com/PDS to cancel your unwanted subscriptions today. ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩- – 00:00 - Social Media Users Protest Celebrities With Blockout 2024 04:26 - YouTube Makes a Case for Creator Emmy Nominations 07:03 - Google Rolls Out AI Search As Websites Brace For Impact 10:45 - Sponsored by Vessi 11:46 - RFK Jr. Had Worms in His Brains, But He’s Not Alone 17:57 - NYC/Dublin Portal Temporarily Closes Amid Inappropriate Behavior 20:12 - Sponsored by Rocket Money 21:16 - Fires Spread in Canada, Pushing Smoke into Northern U.S. 23:39 - CA Prosecutors Excluded Jewish and Black People from Jury Selection  27:39 - 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, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Worms: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #BillieEilish #MrBeast ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards, you're watching the Philip DeFranco Show and we got a lot of news to talk about today. We've got YouTube going to bat for Mr. Beast, Sean Evans, and Rhett and Link. Our celebrities are being hit with a digital guillotine. We've now got tons of death penalty cases under review for excluding Jewish and black jurors. We break down how you might have worms just like RFK Jr. Google might be about to kill off websites as we know them. Plus we break down the disaster that somehow no one saw coming of the Dublin, New York portal. And then there's even more.

So just buckle up, hit that like button to let YouTube know you love these big daily dives into the news and let's jump into it. Starting with, let's talk about how in the past week, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, and a ton of other celebrities have found themselves on what some have referred to as a digital guillotine. And that phrasing will make sense in a minute.

Because this, as it turns out, is part of the Blockout 2024 movement, where you have social media users trying to hold celebrities accountable for their silence or perceived silence about Palestine, with many of them saying they're blocking celebrities who they say haven't spoken up in hopes of limiting their engagement online. And the thinking being that eventually you can hit them where it really hurts, their wallets. With one viral video explaining the movement saying, It's time for the people to conduct what I want to call a digital guillotine,

a digiteen, if you will. We gave them their platforms. It's time to take it back, take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money, by blocking them on all social media and digital platforms. Right, and this actually started last week after the Met Gala. You know, you had people outraged to see Hollywood just outdressed to the nines while so many people are dying

and stars largely saying nothing about it during the event. Right, and like we talked about before, some people got hit more than others initially. You know, you had examples like Hailey Bailey posting a Marie Antoinette inspired let them eat cake video while dressed up for the Met. Many thinking that was tone deaf, getting pissed off. And now the movement's really taken off and it's starting to boil over. But there are now being tons of different versions of blockout lists online telling people which stars need to be blocked. And there you'll see there's some variation among all of them,

but some of the most common names are Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, and then still many, many more. You know, often, the bigger the star's platform is, the more outrage there is regarding their silence. I mean, there are absolutely tons of videos right now about Taylor Swift specifically, considering the cultural sway she's had recently.

And while some fans have argued that she attended a comedy show that was fundraising for Gaza, many think that it's meaningless, arguing that Taylor needs to use a megaphone herself, considering her massive following. With some saying things like, It really rubs me the wrong way that four years ago,

she made a whole ass documentary where she was crying and talking about how she regrets not speaking up on political or world issues earlier, but four years later, a whole genocide is happening and she's at the peak of her career and she's not said one word. But then also with this, there's been some backlash and criticism

over who's been included on some of these block out lists. Or because some have actually cited stars that have supported Palestine. With people pointing to the likes of Jenna Ortega, who's appeared on lists despite the fact that she signed the artist for ceasefire petition. Also other lists have included Billie Eilish, even though she wore a ceasefire pin to the Oscars.

But with that, some saying she still hasn't done enough or said enough. And so while all of this is playing out, there's also some people who just argue that these lists haven't been effective and they're just a distraction. Writing things like blocking celebrities for not speaking up enough is not ending the genocide, nor is it raising awareness. Arguing this helps no one, turning such a serious issue into Stan Wars delegitimizes it. And some going as far to say, y'all don't care about Palestine, y'all just care about canceling celebs. But again, all of this is others then argued, no, it is effective. With reports saying that Taylor Swift, for example, lost 300,000 followers on TikTok and 50,000 on Instagram over the last week.

Which is a lot, but also a little compared to her overall audience, but the movement there is still new. You also have others noting that some stars have now spoken up. With the likes of Lizzo posting TikToks in the past couple of days saying things like, This video is long overdue, but I just want to take a second and give a personal thank you to all of the activists who have been working tirelessly to help the liberation and the freedom of the people who have been genocided all over the world, specifically Palestine, Sudan, and the Congo. You have helped so many people. You have saved literal lives. And on a personal note, you have activated me. With that then getting different reactions, right? Some have slammed Lizzo saying that the timing makes her videos look performative. But then others, you know, saying, well, wait, she is

speaking up about what we wanted her to speak up about. Isn't that the point of the movement? But then a lot of people finding themselves in a different version of the debate that we cover, you know, in other avenues. Is it more about inspiring and generating change or is it about punishing people? Then that breaking down into a messier conversation around like the intent behind one's actions. Are they genuine or not? You know, with everything we've talked about here and maybe that you've seen so far online, I got to ask, what are your thoughts about this whole situation? And then YouTube wants to get Mr. Beast an Emmy. Though it goes beyond Jimmy. YouTube wants a slice of the award show pie. Because YouTube CEO Neil Mohan just wrote a guest column in the Hollywood Reporter titled,

It's Time for the Emmys to Embrace Creators. Arguing that there are major personalities on YouTube that make content of a high enough caliber to be recognized there. Right. Also, to give some explanation, the Emmy Awards specifically honor television, not to be confused with the Oscars, which is just for movies. And Neil wrote that a lot of people may not realize how many YouTubers are influential in TV. Explaining, you might not expect Mr. Beast to stand on the same stage as Jeremy Allen White. Right. Not just because post-divorce Jeremy's outside randomly doing pushups on the side of the road when paparazzi show up. You know, a natural and very real moment. But Neil continuing, if you think creators are just

recording vlogs from their bedrooms, then I have some big news. Creators have writer's room, production teams, and business strategies. They're developing programming that's not just popular and relevant, it's breaking boundaries. And adding that because creators are defining a new era of entertainment, they deserve the same acclaim other creative professionals get. Especially since it would better reflect what audiences are watching. Noting that when people sit down on the couch to watch TV, they often pull up YouTube. So if the Emmys really want to celebrate

the best of TV screens, they have to be in the mix. With Neill also saying, "'Some might argue that broadening the primetime Emmys "'to include consideration of creators "'would detract from its storied history "'or lessen its cultural significance. "'But recognizing the work of creators "'is the best way for the Television Academy

"'to continue its legacy of honoring modern culture. It will add to the celebration by including everyone who deserves consideration, and saying that down the line, the Emmys could even add more categories so a wider range of content could be included. As far as what content should be in the conversation, he pointed to Hot Ones as one of the most popular talk shows right now. You know, Sean Evans has been constantly praised as one of the greatest celebrity interviewers right now. So, you know, it makes sense that people want to honor that. Neil also pointing to Rhett and Link's Good Mythical Morning as a groundbreaking variety program. And notably, while categories for the Emmys are subject to

change, there are already categories for talk shows and variety shows. I mean, hosts for them can be nominated as well. Plus, you can go even further, right? There are categories for competition programs. That's something that Mr. Beast's content might fit into. You know, obviously, with this, eligibility rules would also have to likely expand to fit all this in, which is why Neil kind of made this case. Further adding, creators are the new Hollywood. If creators are not acknowledged by the Emmys, then we should ask ourselves

if the awards represent the future of TV or just its past. If viewers aren't discriminating between these categories, then neither should the Emmys. But you know, with all that said, I gotta ask you, what are your thoughts here? Will there be including online creators in already existing categories, expanding out? You know, with all that said, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts here? Will there be including online creators in already existing categories, expanding out? You know, will there be a future where a Meat Canyon video beats out an episode of The Simpsons?

I mean, some of those videos are getting 10 million views. You know, it will be interesting to see if we see growth here or if we'll see a further disconnect and things like the streamies carrying more weight, you know, over time. But again, I'd love to know your thoughts here. And then the news around AI over the past 24 to 48 hours is wild. And while yesterday was primarily about OpenAI and GPT-4.0, the focus on all of its advancements, including that it has a voice

that sounds like it wants to have sex with you a little bit. Oh, a bedtime story about robots and love? I got you covered. What I want to talk about today is the potential carnage that we're about to see. Because right now we're seeing reports like that from the Washington Post saying, hey, if you have a website, expect a pretty bad time. And that because Google, far and away the most widely used search engine on earth, is making changes.

With one of the biggest that we're talking about today being the company's slow rollout of what it's called search generative experience or SGE. Basically, SGE, it's a way of integrating chatbot functionality right into the search engine. So you ask a question and you get back an AI-generated answer. And Google, they've been testing these AI answers publicly for the past year, showing them to a small percentage of its users as it tries to improve the technology. But today, Google announced its official launch of SGE, along with some new features. So with that, hundreds of millions of searchers will reportedly gain access to AI overviews this week, and over 1 billion by the end of the year.

And creators and web publishers are understandably worried. That's because these so-called AI overviews created by SGE, they push their website links further down the page where they're less likely to be seen. And that's even as the information in those overviews are often paraphrasing directly from their websites. In fact, they sometimes even lift phrases word for word. You know, this is an issue that we've talked about before. But the fact that not only Google, but also OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft have trained their AI models on millions

of news articles, blog posts, and so on. Most all of which were scraped from the internet without paying or asking permission of their original authors. Which of course has also led to a whole slew of lawsuits. But because so many websites rely on Google for traffic, SGE presents a whole new set of concerns. So all in all, its rollout potentially threatens the survival of millions of creators and publishers who rely on Google for website traffic, with some experts arguing that the addition of AI will boost Google's already tight grip on the internet. And even further, quote, usher in a system where information is provided by just a handful of large companies. Which actually, to that point, tech research firm Gartner predicts traffic to the web from

search engines will fall 25% by 2026, With Raptive, a media company that works with creators estimating that changes to search could result in about $2 billion in losses to creators. With some websites losing up to two-thirds of their traffic. And for example, you have Kimber McTherm. They run a major online recipe blog. They're a client of Raptive. And she says that 40% of visits to her website still come through Google, telling the post. Their goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to find the information they want. But if you cut out the people who are the lifeblood of creating that information, that have the real human connection to it, then that's a disservice to the world. Though with that, I should also note that Google executives have said that they're rolling out SGE

in a quote, measured way and prioritizing traffic to websites and merchants. But that, of course, has an assured website owners. But For example, a personal trainer by the name of Jake Bolley telling the post that even its limited rollout so far has coincided with traffic from Google to his website dropping 96%. With that, noting that it hasn't stopped Google from referencing his website and its AI summary. And so a big perceived problem right now is that people are only reading Google's summary and they don't visit the site. But then also with this, there's the other big thing. Is this actually going to be helpful for the consumer, right? You, right? Because if something is convenient, it saves someone time. That's seemingly a win for the consumer. But with

that, besides potentially disincentivizing content creation and information sharing, AI still regularly makes mistakes. With, for example, one review by The Post finding that, quote, Google's AI answers were long-winded, sometimes misunderstood the question and made up fake answers. And while, of course, this technology is in its early stages, problems are to be expected. You still have people concerned. But as we wait to see what happens from here, the one thing that we know for sure is that the landscape of the internet, it's going to change. I mean, it is actively changing right now. It's just that the painting isn't finished yet. We don't have the full image in front of us. And it's only then we'll fully realize who has been helped and who has been hurt.

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ate a portion of it and then died, right? Those are the now infamous words of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the other, other presidential candidate, with him revealing in a recently discovered court document from 2012 that in addition to mercury poisoning from too many tuna fish sandwiches, a parasitic tapeworm made his mind a home. Right, and now he claims that he's fully recovered from the resulting memory loss and fogginess. But, here's the thing. While everyone was making fun of him and they were memeing about this, right, because having worms in your brain, it just sounds weird,

I have to actually defend RFK Jr. a little bit. Right, because when you actually take a second to dig into this a little deeper, it turns out he's not alone. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.5 billion people, or just about a fifth of humanity, are infected with parasitic worms, making them one of the most widespread yet severely neglected causes of disease on Earth. But also, before we go any further, I should warn you that while this is interesting, we're going to be delving into some very, very nasty stuff. So if you're eating dinner or

something, maybe come back to this part later. Otherwise, for the rest of y'all, let's open up this can of worms. Fuck you, that pun's intended. Starting with, let's just get this out of the way right off the top, some mind-blowing worm facts. Like how they can grow up to 80 feet long and live in a human for up to 30 years, depending on the species. Also, what kind of worm segment would this be

if I didn't throw some of the grossest, most terrifying ones at you? Like guinea worms, for example. Over the course of several agonizing days or weeks, the pregnant females burrow their way out of your leg to get back to a water source. Or filarial worms, which make your skin thicken and harden and swell so your legs look like they're elephant legs. Or of course, loa loa, a worm that you get from fly bites that then nestle into just about the worst place imaginable, your eyeball. And what's even worse is it's said that you can actually feel it moving around in

your eye and you can even see it if it's big enough. And also, you know, there are pinworms, which are basically harmless, but they do crawl out of your asshole while you're asleep and lay their eggs there, which then makes your butt itchy. So then people scratch it. And then, you know, if it goes all to plan,

you stick your fingers in your mouth at some point and you re-ingest the larva, which is also why they're most common in children. But as shocking as they are, all these parasites are either extremely rare or simply less common than the main intestinal worms. The hookworm, the whipworm, the tapeworm, and the roundworm ascaris. And they all get inside you in different ways. The hookworm, for example, waits in the soil for you to come walking along barefoot and then it penetrates your skin and enters your bloodstream. But then most other

species, they usually have to be ingested somehow, usually by hitching a ride on contaminated food, water, or surfaces. So maybe you drink some water that hasn't been properly treated, or maybe you stick your fingers in your mouth without washing them, or maybe you eat some undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables. And then boom, those sticky microscopic eggs, they're inside you. When they're ready, they hatch, spawning larvae that wiggle their way into your intestines, with them growing into mature worms and then slowly but devilishly suck in your blood, which sometimes, you know, causes no symptoms or very mild ones. Meaning that you, the person watching this and feeling nothing out of the ordinary going, oh my God,

this would be the worst thing in the world. I'm so glad it's not me. It could actually be you. And you just have no idea there's something living inside you. I'm so sorry if you're watching this while you're very high. What a bad trip this is. Though in my defense, it's your bad decision making. But also as far as symptoms, you know, there are other times where they cause stuff like diarrhea, abdominal pain, malnutrition, anemia, and general malaise and weakness. But that's also just if they stay in the gut. Sometimes the larvae end up in other organs that have different effects, like in the eyes, where they can cause a blurred vision and blindness, according to a parasite expert who spoke to NPR, or muscles, which can weaken, or in the central nervous system, like the spine or the

brain, which is where RFK Jr.'s tapeworm went. And there, it'll cause headaches, cognitive issues, a lack of balance, and in very rare cases, death and also seizures. In fact, it is the leading preventable cause of epilepsy around the world. And in just the US, about 1,000 or 2,000 people are hospitalized with this condition every year, usually because they traveled out of the country and brought something back, or because the vast majority of parasitic worm infections happen in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Which is partly due to the tropical climate in those regions being friendly to parasites, but also it's a result of their extreme poverty. In poor rural communities especially, they don't have the money to invest in sanitation.

And the worms, they rely on their host to help them spread by shitting out their eggs. So if you live in a place without functioning toilets, and not a lot of them, you might pop a squat behind some bushes or by a river, which then contaminates the soil or the water. So if we look at the United States, hookworm was rampant, especially in the South until the mid-20th century. But thanks to economic development

and public health interventions, it's almost unheard of here today. Though one exception which proves the rule is it sometimes still thrives in deeply impoverished communities. Like in one town in Alabama, whose researchers found that 19 of 55 people tested in 2017 had hookworm.

And they also found that it goes the other way too, with infections helping to perpetuate the poverty. Most obviously is that if you're lethargic and anemic, not to mention all the other potential harms to cognition and vision, it's going to hinder your ability to work. But really the people who suffer the most here are those who get infected as children, because that's especially when you need all your nutrients for growth and physical development. Plus, if you fall behind in school, it can be hard to catch up. Yet, as one expert who talked to NPR pointed out, if all the children who have just this one condition, schistosomiasis, if they all held hands,

they would encircle the world one and a half times. But the treatments for the most common worms, they're cheap, effective, and easy to administer by non-medical personnel. They're also very safe and have few and minor side effects. So you might ask, why don't we just whip out the big guns and mow these motherfuckers down? Well, seemingly, as always, the reason is money.

Parasitic diseases, including those caused by worms, are generally found on a list of so-called neglected tropical diseases, or conditions that primarily affect poorer parts of the world, so pharmaceutical companies don't see them as profitable targets, which is one of the reasons why vaccines for them

have barely gotten off the ground, right? I mean, the first ever vaccine against a parasitic disease in humans, malaria, it was only just recommended by the World Health Organization in 2021. Though to be fair, malaria is a single-celled organisms and worms are full-fledged animals. So, you know, vaccinating against them is inherently more challenging. But even given that, there are a whole bunch of policies that governments could pursue if they only had the funding. Starting with an expansion of healthcare access and education about food safety and hygiene. They

could also try vaccinating the animals and stop them from free roaming so they don't poop everywhere. Next, they could strengthen food inspection and processing, improve sanitation, build modern sewage systems, and end open defecation. But then also as far as what you can do personally. If you're traveling or you live in a place that's got a lot of worms crawling around everywhere,

just wash your damn hands, don't walk around barefoot, don't swim in any water that looks suspect, and make sure that everything you eat or drink is clean and thoroughly cooked. Otherwise, you could be the next RFK Jr. Or possibly much, much worse. With all that said, you now know the appropriate amount or entirely too much about worms. You are welcome and or I'm sorry. And then, don't you think it'd just be like a really cool thing to expose two different countries,

two different cultures to each other in real time? Like those interactions. They're only gonna be positive, right? No one's gonna fuck around. So silly. So if you haven't heard, there's this interactive art installation that connects Dublin and New York City through a portal that shows a 24-7 live stream of people in each location. So through a webcam, New Yorkers are able to see Dubliners in real time and vice versa. The artist behind this explaining the idea here is an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is united and one.

And adding that the stream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet outside of their social circles and cultures, transcend geographical boundaries and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness. And the people of New York and Dublin responded, that's such a cool idea, I'ma flash it. I mean, less than a damn week after the installation opened, it had to be shut down temporarily because people were being, you know,

people. The video is showing people pulling down their pants and mooning their fellow global citizens across the world. At one point, you had an OnlyFans model in New York flashing her boobs to the Irish with her later explaining in a TikTok, I thought the people of Dublin deserved to see my two New York homegrown potatoes. You also had an apparently drunk woman grinding on the portal in Ireland until she was arrested by the cops. You also had things like people in Ireland

showing pictures of the Twin Towers burning, swastikas, swear words, and other inappropriate images. Right, the list of things that goes just on and on. With officials in Dublin finally announcing that they were taking away this new toy and quote, implementing some technical solutions to address this. Though adding that it will be up again soon and that they will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days with our partners in New York to ensure that portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world. Though honestly,

I will say I'm not sure what technical changes you can make to stop people from doing shit you'd expect people to do, even if it's just a small percentage of people. Because really, the only lesson that has brought us together, that has made us go, oh, maybe we are really all one, is that no matter the country, no matter the culture, there's fuckheads everywhere. Just different kinds of fuckheads with different fuckhead specialties. Some troll, some engage in casual bigotry, some just shake tits and ass. They are everywhere and they are many.

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fact, this year, we've already seen the largest wildfire in Texas history kill at least two people and destroy hundreds of homes. But that said, what's going on in Canada is what's most concerning right now. Because there are over a hundred fires raging across the country right now. Primarily in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. But as of recording, 39 of those fires being classified as out of control.

And notably, this comes after a record-breaking wildfire season in Canada last year, which only ended in October. Which is why Canadian fire officials are predicting right now that this year may be just as bad. And at that point, climate change in general is expected to keep driving larger and more intense fires across Canada. With that, also, of course, applying to the U.S., where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said,

climate change has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades. And with that, the current fires so far have led to at least 4,700 people coming under evacuation orders in Canada. And in the U.S., while only four states have issued air quality alerts, at least six states have had their air quality impacted in some way. But this being a big deal, because this type of pollution, it does not mess around. Where the particles in wildfire smoke, they're small enough to reach deep inside the lungs. They can cause inflammation, weaken the immune system as well, as exacerbate or increase the risk of asthma, lung cancer, and other chronic lung diseases. In fact, the U.S. already reportedly experiences upwards of 16,000 excess deaths attributable to wildfire

smoke each year, with that being considered a very conservative estimate. And that number is expected to rise to 27,500 deaths annually by 2050, which is due to the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires both domestically and across the border. I mean, last year, for example, you might remember smoke pollution from Canadian wildfires alone affected nearly 70 million people in 32 states. And at the end of the day, it shows us what we need to do. And that is go to war with Canada. No, it's not.

You gave us Michael J. Fox and Ryan Reynolds. It's even. But what it really shows us is that even though, you know, we often as Americans think domestically, this is an international problem with international consequences. And the only way to deal with it is with international solutions. And since I don't really believe

that all the big players will actually work together for a solution, it's very likely that we're just going to need to brace for this increasingly becoming worse and worse. Sorry, I was hoping if I rambled, I would find a silver lining, but there's no, it's just not there. Oh, California. Dozens of death row murder cases right now might get tossed out after it was revealed that prosecutors fought to prevent Jewish and black people from being jurors. And this is coming after the very recent discovery of very concerning notes written by prosecutors

in a murder case nearly three decades ago. It was back in 1995, a man by the name of Ernest Dykes was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a nine-year-old boy during a robbery in Oakland. But in 2011, Dykes won a stay of execution after arguing that he wasn't given a fair trial. While reviewing the case files, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office found handwritten notes that appeared to show prosecutors actively and intentionally excluding Jewish and black folks from the jury

in Dykes' case. With that, apparently based on the belief that black jurors were more sympathetic to defendants, particularly black defendants, and that Jewish people opposed the death penalty because of the Holocaust. Right, and legal experts and death penalty opponents, they've long claimed the prosecutors try to prevent certain groups of people from serving on juries in death penalty cases. With that, even though courts have made it clear that striking jurors based on race, ethnicity, or gender is unconstitutional. But now with this, we're seeing firsthand evidence that it appears to show exactly that. And it's kind of fucking wild. One note, a prosecutor discussed a potential juror who is a black woman writing, says race is no issue, but I don't believe her.

Well, another described a different black female juror as a short, fat troll, with the author adding that they don't believe she could vote DP, an apparent abbreviation for the death penalty. Meanwhile, in another note, at the top of a juror questionnaire, a prosecutor seemed to be documenting

which potential jurors they believed were Jewish. Writing things like Jew, yes. Another reading, banker, Jew. Followed by nice guy, thoughtful, but never a strong death penalty leader, Jewish background. And as far as who is behind these notes, that remains unknown right now. But it has been reported that the lead prosecutor

in Dykes' trial was a former deputy DA by the name of Colton Carmine. And he was also assisted in jury selection by another deputy DA by the name of Morris Jacobson, who's actually now an Alameda County Superior Court judge. But regardless of who is behind this, it seems like they were successful because according to KQED,

no black or Jewish jurors heard Dykes' case. And so now with all this, you have a federal judge for the U.S. District Court of Northern California directing Alameda County DA Pamela Price to review all death penalty cases. With Price saying that her office has identified at least 35 cases so far

that could be tossed and retried, with some potentially going back as far as 1977. And adding that while she's starting with death penalty cases, the review might actually expand to other types of convictions as well, with them going on to say that this involves a variety of prosecutors. And to that point, both Price and the federal judge overseeing the review have noted that there is already evidence that Alameda prosecutors engaged in discriminatory practices against Jewish and Black people for decades, which isn't the most shocking because this isn't even the first time these allegations have come up. Past evidence of Black women and black people for decades, which isn't the most shocking because this isn't even the first time these allegations have come up. Past evidence of black women and Jewish people being

removed from juries has already caused three people convicted in Alameda County to be resentenced and raised appeals for three other cases, including Dykes. Hell, all the way back in 2005, the state Supreme Court heard a case on similar allegations where Carmine, the lead prosecutor in Dykes' case, literally testified that prosecutors had been trained to exclude Jewish jurors. But that also being echoed by another prosecutor who gave a sworn declaration that this was standard practice. But despite that, the court rejected the misconduct claims. And so now, the matter is being revisited, experts hope that justice will be served, and that it'll also just raise awareness of these issues.

You know, because it stretches way beyond Alameda. In fact, in the past, convictions have been overturned in Philadelphia after it was revealed a training video literally showed prosecutors how to exclude black jurors. There was also a high-profile story out of Mississippi where a black man was tried six times in the same murder case. All before his death sentence was ultimately overturned by a Supreme Court ruling that prosecutors had violated the Constitution and jury selection. Just last month, the North Carolina court heard a hearing over allegations of racial bias in the case of a black man sentenced to death in 2009. Right, and the thing to understand is that none of this is to say the people that were convicted with certain juries, that all of a sudden that means

that they're 100% innocent. But there is an understandable cause for concern when people are specifically being excluded from jury pools, when, you know, the whole idea is that we're supposed to be convicted or found innocent by a jury of our peers, and not a jury of our peers, except for black folks and Jewish people.

But also, here's the deal. The cynic in me has no belief that anything's really going to change. I think of it more as getting pulled over by a cop. Give them enough time or find a cop creative enough, and they will find a reason to pull you over, even if it's not the real reason you're getting pulled over. And then finally, today we have commenter. We dive into the comments on the last show and see what y'all had to say and what your reactions were. Starting with Hill and Dates saying, Phil saying Boeing is facing 10 whistleblowers just makes me think Agent 47 is going to be busy. Also the deep dive into that college confusion story. That an undefined galaxy saying current college student here about to head into my last year of my undergrad. Something not

touched on was how much of an absolute nightmare FAFSA has been this year. My university is well into the summer semester and financial aid package offers still have not been sent out because of how bad they fumbled FAFSA this year. I depend on my Pell Grant scholarships and student loans to put me through and I, like so many other students, have had to have difficult conversations with academic and financial advisors about needing to drop out for a year or more if my aid is delayed further or isn't processed in time. I can only imagine going through that on top of entrance apps and exams. What a nightmare. And Chrisip adding, being a senior in high school in this period of time has to just be wild. With everything involving testing, loans, and interest rates,

how colleges deal with outside world factors, I sympathize with both students and families and teachers trying to navigate this landscape. And others chiming in saying applying to college recently has just been a nightmare. Also, I will say there was a very interesting comment on, of all stories yesterday, the dog panda story, with Laura Kastrup saying, Dog breeder and currently a groomer here. You can absolutely dye your dog's fur. Whenever it's a chow chow or a shih tzu, known as shit too, for the amount of time they'll take a dump on you during grooming, it's just about doing it safely. If you use human dye on them, it's going to give them skin disease and rashes. Because our hair dye is not necessarily meant to be on the skin

for long periods of time. Dog skin is a lot more sensitive than human scalp. If you want to dye your dog's fur, I recommend either doing a lot of research on skin safe or specifically dog hair dye, or pay the exorbitant fee for having a groomer dye them. I don't dye dogs specifically because I think it's weird and a little bit too much as if they're toys, not living animals. I do a lot of things for animals, including bathing and grooming cats, got the scars to prove that one, but dyeing is where I personally draw the line. I don't think it's wrong if a groomer does it. I just don't want to do it myself. I like my dogs and its natural hair color.

But that, my friends, is where your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning show is going to end. But don't worry, because remember, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow. Honestly, I'm one of the few things

you can count on in this world. You on my mind a lot Don't need no time to watch I don't know how I got You in my pocket spot Honestly, I'm one of the few things you can count on in this world.