The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.7 Dead Man’s AI Speaks To His Killer in Court And It’s Divided The Internet, & Today’s News

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

We just live in a Black Mirror episode now... Go to https://sundaysfordogs.com/phil to get 50% off your first order of Sundays for Dogs! PROJECT BB.28 is LIVE! https://beautifulbastard.com/collection...s/bb-28 Get your $28 tees while you can. Testing this for 7 days and then I'll review the data Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here: https://youtu.be/_85sltQPNhc?si=5HSKsJln3SQO4Whe&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1 – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - AI Video of Road Rage Victim Used in Court to Address Killer 04:58 - DOGE Aims to Build System with Obtained Data, Raising Security Concerns 08:57 - Sponsored by Sundays 09:56 - Trump Announces Deal to Stop Strikes on Houthis 12:35 - India Strikes Pakistan-Controlled Territory 15:53 - Project BB.28 is Live 17:01 - Kai Cenat Launches Streaming University 20:23 - Man Who has Hundreds of Snake Bites May be the Key to Universal Anti-Venom —————————— 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 ———————————— 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 #ArtificialIntelligence ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:29 So, you're hosting the family barbecue this week, but everyone knows your brother is the grill guy, and it's highly likely he'll be backseat barbecuing all night. So be it. Impress even the toughest of critics with freshly prepared Canadian barbecue favorites from Sobeys. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. You daily dive into the news. My name is Philip DeFranco, and we have a lot to talk about today, starting with this. I'm very interested to know
Starting point is 00:00:55 your thoughts on this. An AI video of a man who was killed in a road rage incident was used in court to address his killer. So back in 2021, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas. And it happened in Chandler, Arizona, after an argument had taken place while they were driving. But according to reports, the men had stopped at red light when Pelkey then got out of his vehicle and walked toward Horcasitas, who was in a car behind him,
Starting point is 00:01:15 and he responded by firing multiple rounds. And then, you know, heading into the trial, Pelkey's sister, Stacey Wales, she began collecting impact statements and preparing her own when she had an idea. We received 49 letters that the judge was able to read before walking into sentencing that day. But there was one missing piece.
Starting point is 00:01:34 There was one voice that was not in those letters. And so she turned to her husband and a friend of his who had been working with AI for a while. And together they created an AI rendering of Chris that delivered his impact statement in a video shown in court with Stacey further explaining. I have my own thoughts and feelings about how much time I wanted the sentence to be.
Starting point is 00:01:56 If I forgive the shooter or not. I have very definitive opinions about that. But it was important not to make Chris say what I was feeling and to detach and let him speak because he said things that would never come out of my mouth, but I know would come out of his. So notably here, she also told other local reporters that she was the one who wrote the script that A.I. Chris read before the court.
Starting point is 00:02:21 I said, I have to let him speak. And I wrote what he would have said. Chris read before the court. I said, I have to let him speak. And I wrote what he would have said. I said, all right, that's pretty good. I'd like to hear that if I was the judge. You know, in the video that was shown in court, which also included real footage of Chris, the AI rendering thanked everyone who was present at the trial and the judge overseeing the case
Starting point is 00:02:41 before addressing Horkositas directly. To Gabriel Horkositas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances. In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have, and I still do. And then AI rendering it seemed to be received very well
Starting point is 00:03:02 by many in the courtroom, including Chris's other family members, who Stacey said she had surprised with the video to get their genuine reaction. With her brother John also telling reporters, there was something about seeing Chris and the man that I knew and the belief that I thought in my head
Starting point is 00:03:18 that Chris would have forgiven this guy. But to see his face and to hear his voice say it, just waves of healing washed over my soul because that was the man that I knew. And it wasn't just the family members that judge overseeing the case also appear to be moved by the AI. I love that AI. Thank you for that. I feel that that was genuine, that whose obvious forgiveness of Mr. Lucas Tito's reflects the character I heard about today. But that was genuine, that whose obvious forgiveness of Mr. Horcositas reflects the character
Starting point is 00:03:48 I heard about today. In fact, the Pelkis family told reporters that the judge was so moved that he ended up giving Horcositas a longer sentence, with the judge sentencing him to 10 and a half years, even though prosecutors had recommended nine and a half. And in addition to this just being a standout situation, it's also historic with one local report saying,
Starting point is 00:04:04 it was the first time in Arizona judicial history and possibly nationwide that AI has been used to create a deceased victim's own impact statement. But all of this, it comes as the growing use of AI in the court system is becoming a bigger topic. With the same, for example, back in March, a man in New York who was representing himself in an employment dispute hearing,
Starting point is 00:04:20 trying to use a video of an AI generated avatar to make his legal case in front of a panel of judges. There, I will say that did not go over too well. I don't appreciate being misled. Shut that off. If you want to have oral argument time, you may stand up and give it to me. It's a very different from what went down in Pelkey's case,
Starting point is 00:04:40 but it also illustrates how the court system has responded to the AI boom with a broad patchwork of differing rules and mixed responses. Because on one hand, you have some courts embracing the use of AI for more administrative tasks or to deliver news of rulings or important opinions. And some state Supreme Courts have issued rules allowing judges and or lawyers to use AI in their work
Starting point is 00:04:58 under certain limited conditions. And others, they've pushed for more restrictions. Like in Virginia, for example, where lawmakers recently proposed a bill that would regulate the use of AI in courtroom proceedings. Just last week, a federal judicial panel advanced a proposal that would also set rules for the introduction of AI generated evidence at trial.
Starting point is 00:05:13 With a draft rule there specifically being designed to make sure that evidence produced by generative AI can meet the same reliability standards as evidence from human expert witnesses. So this is a rapidly developing area and you definitely shouldn't be surprised to see legislation and just news stories popping up everywhere. I mean, even what, just about two weeks ago,
Starting point is 00:05:29 a story came out that AI helped write bar exam questions. It is going to invade every aspect of the legal system and really everything in life. We've been saying that for a while, but like it looks like the frogs almost boiled. But in the meantime, the question I want to throw to you is what do you specifically think about the AI video of Pelky that was used?
Starting point is 00:05:45 Then next up, let's talk about how Doge is now building a single centralized database with the personal information of millions of US citizens and residents. Because that is what we're seeing the Washington Post reporting today with government workers telling them that Doge's work often violates or disregards core privacy
Starting point is 00:06:00 and security protections meant to keep the information safe. With the whole thing also kind of serving as a reminder that even if Elon Musk is stepping back, Doge may just be getting started. And that because so far, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has reportedly eliminated protections around sensitive information,
Starting point is 00:06:14 including social security numbers, birth dates, employment history, disability records, and medical documentation. And that is as it's still fighting for more access, with the Trump administration just a few days ago making an emergency request to the Supreme Court to let Doge access sensitive information held by the Social Security Administration.
Starting point is 00:06:29 And notably with this, you have security experts claiming that the administration's actions increased the risk of hackers or other adversaries getting their hands on sensitive data, with one even telling the Post, "'Separation and segmentation is one of the core principles "'in sound cybersecurity. "'Putting all of your eggs in one basket means
Starting point is 00:06:44 "'I don't need to go hunting for them. I can just steal the basket. And of course, that doesn't mean that data can't ever be shared, right? There are often good reasons for doing so. It just means that there's a multiple step process that has to be followed, including getting legislative permission,
Starting point is 00:06:55 notifying the public, and finalizing inter-agency agreements, specifying what exactly is being shared and why. With independent inspectors general, several of whom have been fired by Trump, also helping to make sure information is used appropriately. But now what's reportedly happening is that Doge is bypassing those procedures that pleased according to employees
Starting point is 00:07:11 from 10 federal agencies who spoke to the post. With some saying, for example, that many agencies have stopped creating records of who accesses or changes information while also granting some individuals more authority over computer systems. And similarly, you have some saying that Doge staffers have been empowered to add new accounts and disable automated tracking
Starting point is 00:07:27 logs at several departments while officials who objected were fired, placed on leave, or sidelined. Also, reportedly, some new Doge employees have started working with laptops that did not have the security programs typically installed by White House officials. With these employees then taking their devices to various agencies and pushing for access beyond even what those agencies' own security teams have. And so with all this, you have people like the head of the surveillance technology oversight project telling the post, this threat isn't just going
Starting point is 00:07:50 to exist tomorrow, but it is going to exist for decades to come. Whenever we're thinking about privacy, it's really hard to unbake the cake. With that, the White House of course is pushed back with a spokesperson saying in a statement, every action taken is fully compliant with the law. And then adding that quote,
Starting point is 00:08:04 by advancing secure data sharing across agencies, Doge is enhancing accountability, eliminating fraud, and streamlining operations across the board. Though a big thing here is that even without the privacy and security concerns of it all, that's up for debate. But a number of experts have actually said that Doge has done major damage. Cause you know, you have Musk, for example,
Starting point is 00:08:20 claiming that it saved the government $160 billion. With that number, of course, in dispute, given his past history of making exaggerated and erroneous claims about its success, but also because it doesn't account for the cost of the cuts that he's making. With one recent analysis, for example, finding that Doge's work will cost taxpayers
Starting point is 00:08:34 $135 billion this fiscal year. And that, as you have some experts saying, that we're still far away from seeing the full impact. With, for example, Martha Gimbel, the head of the Yale Budget Lab, saying, things will definitely get worse.'" And also claiming there that there is waste that Doge could be targeting,
Starting point is 00:08:48 but doesn't seem interested in. And adding, what you have is a relatively expensive exercise in slash and burn that sometime in the future will cost a lot to fix. And with that, Doge's full speed ahead, sledgehammer-like approach to all this, we are also seeing that on display with its use of AI. For instance, just over the past week,
Starting point is 00:09:03 Wired reporting that one, a college undergrad was put in charge of using AI to find ways to legally roll back housing regulations. And two, a Doge recruiter is looking to hire new engineers to deploy AI agents across the government with the aim of replacing tens of thousands of federal workers.
Starting point is 00:09:16 And this is, you had Reuters reporting earlier this month that Doge was using AI to surveil at least one federal agency's communications for hostility to Trump and his agenda. Which you know is potentially one of the big answers to the question that a lot of people have been asking, and that is if Doge isn't actually saving money, what is it really doing?
Starting point is 00:09:30 And with that, you had analysts at the Libertarian Cato Institute, for example, having come up with six possibilities for understanding Doge's action to date. But those including not only that it's trying to purge progressive influence within the government, but also that it looks to expand presidential power or provide political cover to Congress.
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Starting point is 00:11:38 Pick any two breakfast items for $4. New four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's, taxes extra. But then, next up from that, we have the news that the U.S. is putting an end to its attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. And this is Trump announcing that, in exchange, the group has agreed to stop targeting most ships traveling through key shipping lanes in the region. Though this is notably the group has said that it will absolutely not stop attacking Israel. Because since November of 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with them claiming that they were
Starting point is 00:12:12 connected to the United States, UK, or Israel. And they sunk two of them, seized a third, and they killed four crew members. But then fast forward to March this year, you had the White House ordering the military to step up strikes against the Houthis. And by the end of April, it said that it had hit more than 800 targets, as well as killed hundreds of Houthi strikes against the Houthis. By the end of April, it said that it had hit more than 800 targets as well as killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders. So this is you had Houthi officials claiming that more than 100 civilians had been killed. And that notably being before a suspected US airstrike
Starting point is 00:12:35 reportedly killed 68 African migrants. And so with all this, of course, you had rights groups criticizing the campaign for making an already bad humanitarian situation worse, but you also had others questioning its effectiveness. Right, and that for a number of reasons, including just three weeks in, you had congressional officials reportedly claiming that the operation had run up a billion dollar tab while having a limited impact.
Starting point is 00:12:53 You also saw the New York Times reporting that the military was burning through existing munitions stockpiles, which led to officials worrying that they might need to dip into stockpiles in Asia and leave the country less prepared for a potential conflict with China. And that's without mentioning things like just this week, a second $67 million Navy fighter jet fell off of an aircraft carrier and into the Red Sea. And no, I didn't misspeak. I said second because last week,
Starting point is 00:13:13 a whole other $67 million jet fell off of the same aircraft carrier. And those two accidents, they're far from the first major mishaps that we've seen over the past year. And I'm not talking about things like our country's highest ranking officials talking about their attack plans for the Houthis
Starting point is 00:13:27 and signal chats with a stranger and family members. I'm talking about things like back in December, a third fighter jet from this aircraft carrier was accidentally shot down over the Red Sea by another Navy warship. While that aircraft carrier was also involved in a collision in the Mediterranean Sea in February. But, you know, with all that,
Starting point is 00:13:41 you have Trump now claiming that everything that we're seeing is a win in a major way, with him saying that the Houthis capitulated. At the same time, you had one Houthi leader similarly claiming that it was the U.S. that backed down, and adding there that the group's support for the Palestinian people in Gaza will not change, and that it will continue to launch attacks against Israel. Which I will say, connected to that, tensions between the two have been especially high since a Houthi missile landed near Israel's main airport over the weekend. With Israel first responding by striking a key port in Yemen, which is the entry point for about 80% of the country's food imports.
Starting point is 00:14:10 With it then carrying out an airstrike on the main airport in Yemen, reportedly targeting three civilian planes, the departures hall, the runway, and a military air base. With one official telling AFP that the airport has been completely destroyed, while the Israeli military simply said it had fully disabled the airport. You know, we may be seeing the US pulling back on this front, but a lot of moving pieces, a lot of new developments. But then next up today, we're gonna talk about
Starting point is 00:14:31 the massive, massive international news that actually started breaking when we were uploading yesterday's show. And that is that India launched air and missile attacks against Pakistan. Right in this is the two countries have always had a lot of animosity and both claim control over the region of Kashmir.
Starting point is 00:14:44 So occasionally they do exchange fire. But then as we got more and more reports, it was clear that this was a much bigger attack than just a missile or two. Because in what India has called Operation Sindor, missiles hit what they described as terrorist infrastructure in both Pakistani controlled section of Kashmir as well as Pakistan itself
Starting point is 00:14:59 in the early hours of Wednesday local time. But Pakistan claims that's not what happened and that multiple civilian sites were struck, such as mosques, with military officials from the country claiming that at least 26 civilians were killed in the strikes. Additionally, they claim the operation was costly for India with five Rafale jets being shot down in dogfights,
Starting point is 00:15:16 according to Pakistani officials like the prime minister. Though, you know, I will say this is where the fog of war makes things really hard to prove. Where we have some images of what seemed to be destroyed Rafale jets floating around, but then you've got people claiming that the images were actually old leading to an entire back and forth to prove that the images were new and genuine
Starting point is 00:15:31 to this conflict. With also France, which makes the Rafale claiming that only one was shot down and it's the first one lost in combat ever. Now with all this, for some, it all sounded a little bit like the start of Ukraine, Russia, where propaganda efforts were in full swing, which then led to some to meme that there was a ghost of Kashmir,
Starting point is 00:15:45 a reference to the ghost of Kyiv, which was an alleged fighter pilot at the start of the war that shot down many Russian jets. Something that even Ukrainian intelligence admitted it made up to raise morale within the country, as well as to use as a lesson later about being wary of misinformation. And so, you know, like we warned
Starting point is 00:15:59 at the beginning of Russia invading Ukraine, take a lot of things that we're seeing right now with a massive grain of salt, especially because it really does look like both sides are trying to spread their version of events all over the internet. But back to the conflict itself, you have India claiming that in response to these strikes,
Starting point is 00:16:12 Pakistan has launched artillery strikes over what's called the Line of Control, which is pretty much the de facto border within Kashmir that divides it between the two. But with that said, you know, after hearing all this, it obviously begs the question of, well, why? And there you have India claiming that it was in response to a massacre in Indian Kashmir that killed over two dozen civilians, mostly tourists,
Starting point is 00:16:28 that it believes Pakistan was involved in. But Pakistan has denied any involvement whatsoever, but clearly India doesn't believe it. And so as far as, you know, what's next, it's widely viewed that this attack, it puts the two on the brink of a full-blown war, which could just be catastrophic, right? Because not only do they both have massive populations that they could use in any war, they're nuclear powers. But it's even seeing the Pakistani Prime Minister warning that, quote, we are a nuclear power and a conventional warfare power. There is no higher respect and honor than this. So you also had the Pakistani Defense Minister adding that while the country was prepared for a war, it still wanted to avoid a full-fledged war.
Starting point is 00:17:00 But either way, right now, both sides seem to be taking the risk of an all-out war very seriously. With a saying in India that there were nationwide civil defense drills which included emergency responders practicing and school children learning how to hide in case of a missile attack. With the saying the possibility of a bigger conflict also worrying world leaders. You had the UAE urging both sides to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and avoid further escalation that could threaten regional and international peace. A sentiment that was also shared by Japan and Russia. Then as far as the US, you had Trump calling the situation a shame while Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Starting point is 00:17:29 spoke to military officials from both countries and urged both to keep lines of communication open and avoid escalation. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens. And hopefully, you know, this ends up just being another one of those attacks where the two sides, it kind of fizzles out. Cause really the situation is primed to spiral out of control and involve a lot of people outside of just these
Starting point is 00:17:47 two countries. And then I've got more news for you in just a moment. But first I got to sponsor myself and let you know about beautiful bastard.com and specifically project BB28. Cause right now you maybe have 12 hours left, which if you missed the announcement for BB28, it's essentially all the shirts you've ever wanted, loved, but never got over a beautiful bastard.com, but for just 28 bucks a pop. Or think of BB28 as the's essentially all the shirts you've ever wanted, loved, but never got over at beautifulbastard.com,
Starting point is 00:18:05 but for just 28 bucks a pop. Or think of BB28 as the Nordstrom Rack to Beautiful Bastard's Nordstrom. Because you know, there are tons of people that love and buy our custom cut and sewn Beautiful Bastard shirts made with our premium high quality cotton spandex blend. I genuinely believe it is the best mid-weight shirt out there for under a hundred bucks.
Starting point is 00:18:20 And while the business does very well and people love and buy the stuff, I also know that the prices we have at Beautiful Bastard, it prices some people out. And so that's why I've run Project BB28 for the last week and it ends at Wednesday at midnight. We're just making these shirts with non-Beautiful Bastard blanks.
Starting point is 00:18:33 They're still very soft. They're also lighter, which I think works perfect because we're going into summertime. They're also, don't worry, not Gildan quality because I want people to like the brand and come back and buy more. So yeah, if there's a tee that you've ever wanted but the price just was a little bit too much,
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Starting point is 00:19:01 Right in that, because one of the biggest streamers in the world, Kai Sinet, just launched his streamer university, which he announced plans for back in February. With him saying at the time, "- I'm gonna rent out a university over a course of a weekend. It'll be streaming university, okay? I'm gonna rent it out.
Starting point is 00:19:15 I'm going to put out enrolls and applications of people to enroll into the university. No matter if you're big, no matter if you're a small streamer, you can stream the entire weekend. I will get dorms. Boys will have their own, girls will have their own. I'm principal.
Starting point is 00:19:31 With Kai then also adding that alongside courses like film and acting, music production and more, Kai wants to bring in big content creator giants like MrBeast and Mark Rober. There, I will say we haven't gotten public confirmation yet about their participation. But yesterday, what we did see was the official launch with Kai posting a Harry Potter style trailer on X
Starting point is 00:19:47 and saying, Streamy University will be an all-inclusive trip paid to where all creators will be living on a college campus for free and just enjoying getting content in general. If you wanna be a teacher or student, apply now. That sentence made me feel like I was having a stroke, but then he continued,
Starting point is 00:20:00 you don't have to be a streamer, just a general creator is needed, quick as possible. If you wanna be a part of it in other creative ways, DM me as well, but make sure you enroll now. And sentence structure and grammar be damned, people listened when he said enroll now and as quick as possible. Though that also caused problems
Starting point is 00:20:14 because within minutes of the website's launch, it reportedly crashed due to high demand. With Kai posting on Instagram that they received over a million visitors within just a few minutes and almost 7 million within an hour. Right, and with all this, the general reaction online to the whole Streaming University thing
Starting point is 00:20:27 has been pretty mixed. Some people absolutely chomped at the bit to sign up and be involved in any way possible, while others were calling it a scam. They're saying things like, this is more of a cash grab than real university. I didn't know it could get worse than that. And all of this is, you know,
Starting point is 00:20:39 while Kai's Streaming University stands on its own because he's one of the biggest creators in the world right now, it does come as more higher education institutions have leaned into influencer education as well. Big name creators have jumped into existing courses to shed some light on how they built their brand, like Mr. Beast, for example, making an appearance at the Harvard Business School a couple of years ago. Though then also more directly, we're seeing courses, clubs, and entire degree programs being dedicated entirely to content creation popping up at
Starting point is 00:21:02 universities like Penn State, Duke, UCLA, and the University of Alabama. You even had Cornell recently launching a content creator scholars network, which includes Professor Brooke Erin Duffy, who told The Hollywood Reporter, "'I've been studying digital content creation "'for more than a decade,
Starting point is 00:21:15 "'but the topic has only recently become legible "'to a wider academic audience.'" And you know, this academic acceptance of content creation as a career, it makes sense when you think about it, because I mean, just talking about the money, the creator economy, it's been valued at $250 billion. Not to mention, polls show that half of Gen Z
Starting point is 00:21:31 reportedly wanna be influencers. And so, you know, with all this, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on Kai Schumer University specifically, or higher education getting involved in the content creation game in general. But I will say, just kind of more generally speaking, I do love that creators are making their own
Starting point is 00:21:44 kind of courses and ecosystems. Like I think it just makes sense when you see creators like Patti Galloway offering services, when you have creators like Colin and Samir having creator startups. And some, you know, going super niche and specific, whether it be just like a title thumbnail fucking system, one that's around marketing,
Starting point is 00:22:00 which obviously is like more applicable to other things. It's smart, it's genuine value creation on both sides from people that are actually living through it. Though I will also warn you as more and more people are getting involved in this space, these courses, these systems, they're not all made equally. But I think it absolutely makes sense in general and I'm very interested to see what happens
Starting point is 00:22:16 from Kai's Streamer University specifically. Then shifting gears from that, I wanna talk about this really weird, cool news. So I'd like you to meet Tim Free. And a fun fact about Tim is that he is a big fan of reptiles, specifically venomous ones. Tim, he used to milk the venom from scorpions and spiders as a hobby,
Starting point is 00:22:32 and he boasts a collection of dozens of snakes at his home in Wisconsin. But also his passion for reptiles, it goes beyond just having cool house pets. For nearly 20 years, Tim has allowed himself to be bitten by venomous snakes over 200 times. And that's on top of the 700 deliberate injections of venom that he had in that same timeframe.
Starting point is 00:22:48 With Tim telling the AP, at first it was very scary, but the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it. Or with this whole thing starting in 2001, when Tim began injecting himself with highly diluted venom and gradually increasing the doses over time. With that then leading to the first deliberate bite he took from an Egyptian cobra. And then after an hour pass with no reaction to the first deliberate bite he took from an Egyptian cobra.
Starting point is 00:23:05 And then after an hour pass with no reaction, he took another bite from a monocled cobra. With that one then landing him in the ICU. But that didn't stop him, right? Tim then exposed himself to so many bites and injections that his immune system has reportedly adapted to withstand venom from cobras, black mambas, typans, rattlesnakes, and more.
Starting point is 00:23:24 And eventually Tim realized, hey, there may actually be some scientific value in doing what I'm doing. But I'm telling the Washington Post, I was more concerned about protecting myself and surviving first. And then I realized that I'm beating death and it's great, but how do you get it out to the rest of the world?
Starting point is 00:23:37 And that is absolutely a problem that does need solving because according to the World Health Organization, around 110,000 people die every year from snake bites. Not to mention the fact that making an antivenom is difficult, expensive, and very specific, meaning that one antivenom can only be used for specific snake bites. With Jacob Glanville, for example,
Starting point is 00:23:54 the CEO of a biotech company leading antivenom research saying, the market's fractured into 30 to 40 products, which makes it really tiny markets, which are not attractive to innovation. For that reason, antvenom hasn't really changed in the last 125 years. Then when Glanville stumbled upon Tim
Starting point is 00:24:08 on social media in 2017, he realized that the key to a universal anti-venom may actually be within Tim's veins. But I'm saying, if anybody has these broadly neutralizing antibodies, it's gonna be in this guy's blood, right? And as far as Tim, he said he'd been waiting on that phone call for years.
Starting point is 00:24:22 And then we flash forward two years and Glanville is sitting at a table with Peter Kwong, who's a structural biologist and vaccine researcher from Columbia University, who, after hearing about him, was interested in applying his work with broadly neutralizing antibodies against viruses to snake venom. With Kwong saying, he was interested in my technology,
Starting point is 00:24:38 I was interested in the antibodies that he had pulled out. With all of that bringing us to now, where you have a recently published study authored by Kwong indicating that mouse studies using antivenom derived from Tim's antibodies fully or partially neutralize the venom of 19 of the world's deadliest snakes. Now notably, this is still very early in the process.
Starting point is 00:24:55 Like I said, these are mouse tests and human tests are still at least two years away, but this is no doubt an amazing step forward with a lot of promise for a universal antivenom and Tim's work may very well save countless lives. And with that, you have Tim saying, it's an overwhelming feeling knowing that what I'm doing someday can change. It already has medical history. Though I also feel like I need to add a disclaimer here. Absolutely no one should be deliberately injecting venom into themselves in the name of science. And that is not just me. That is also what Tim has said to anyone
Starting point is 00:25:22 who wants to be inspired to follow in his footsteps Please do not take the wrong lesson from this very interesting piece of news But then my friends is the end of your Wednesday evening Thursday morning dive into the news. Thank you for watching I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow Cuz of course I got a brand new show for you every Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 p.m. Pacific

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