The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 6.12 Joe Rogan Slams Robin Williams, Trad Wife Leans Into N Word Backlash, Ariana Grande, & Today’s News

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Go to http://claritin.com right now for a discount so you can Live Claritin Clear. Go to https://buyraycon.com/defranco for 15% off your order, plus free shipping! Brought to you by Raycon. Use code ���PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL   Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/  New 3-Packs & Cyber Lime Collections NOW LIVE @ https://BeautifulBastard.com ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩- – 00:00 - Comicstorian Cause of Death Revealed 02:10 - White TikToker Lilly Gaddis Loses Job After Dropping N-Word in Video 04:15 - Joe Rogan v. Robin Williams, Ariana Grande Speaks Out, & Kevin Spacey “Apology” 10:12 - Sponsored by Claritin 11:09 - “Dancing for the Devil” Cult Documentary Subject Speaks Out 13:40 - North Dakota Voters Set Age Limits for Members of Congress 15:55 - Chiquita Found Liable for Colombia Deaths, Ordered to Pay $38.3M 18:38 - U.N. Commission Accuses Israel & Hamas of War Crimes as Negotiations Drag 23:25 - Sponsored by Raycon  24:29 - Thousands of Prisoners Forced to Work Dangerous Jobs Without Basic Rights 30:17 - Your Thoughts on Yesterday’s Show ——————————   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 Prison Labor: Jared Paolino ———————————— #DeFranco #Comicstorian #ArianaGrande ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show, your daily dive into the news, and I got an extra large show for you today. So you hit that like button to let YouTube know you like these big daily dives into the news, I'll hit you with that monkey, and let's just jump into it. This is a news show. In internet community news, police just revealed the cause of death for Ben Potter, aka ComicStorian. If you don't know, he was this massive YouTuber who broke down and recapped a ton of comic book history. But on Monday, we saw his wife post this very tragic update on his ex-account, saying, Two days ago, on June 8th, my husband, Ben Potter, passed away in an unfortunate accident. Ben spent over 10 years spreading his love and appreciation for his hobbies. It was

through his love of exciting stories and well-written characters that got him started on YouTube. The team and I want to keep that going, to honor him by continuing to tell great stories by great people, as well as to keep the memory of our very own superhero alive. We supported each other on everything we wanted to do, and I'm not about to stop now. And when we saw a ton of people grieving and also celebrating and remembering his legacy, including a number of big creators and brands in the space. It was really all we knew at the time. But then yesterday, we saw the Colorado State Patrol release a statement saying that Ben had been driving down the interstate Saturday morning when his truck drove off the right shoulder, crossed the frontage road, and rolled several times. With CSP adding that he died at the scene,

also saying that Ben had been buckled, that he was the only person in the truck, and that no other vehicles had been involved in the crash. And while CSP hasn't said what they thought caused the crash, they said investigators said that they don't believe that he was speeding or on drugs or alcohol. But as of now, that's really all we know about this incredibly tragic loss of a very gifted creator and storyteller. And unfortunately, this ends up being yet another reminder of just how fragile life is. How every interaction we have with one another, it could be the last. You just don't know, and it never hurts to let those that you love know it. Because while hopefully, and

most of the time, you will get another chance, there will be a time where it is the last. And it's also a reminder that we are not just our bodies. We are the stories we tell. We are the people we bring together. I think it's important to try to find life lessons and stuff like this, because while it does not make it easier, it can hopefully lead to a different kind of good in the world. And then it's been requested. Let's talk about trad wife, TikToker, Lily Gaddis. Trad wife, short for traditional wife. Basically, the idea that a woman's proper place is in the home, cooking, cleaning while the man brings in the money.

And Lily's been in the news recently because there was a video that she posted where she was chatting with her viewers about a quote, "'Dumb whores, immigrants fresh off the boat "'looking for a green card as well as gold diggers.'" With it all then leading to this clip. Everybody I know who's married right now, they're married to broke ass. And they don't care, we don't give a about your money. With that video blowing up,

a lot of the responses go, and what did she say? They're getting millions and millions of views until her TikTok got suspended. Right online, you saw tons of people super pissed off and disgusted, with Lily then responding with this video. So a recent video of mine seems to have upset members of a certain community, and all the backlash just really made me, you know,

just really do a deep dive, like do a soul search. And after all that, I still couldn't find a care. With all of that leading to people online finding her job, sending the clip to her employer, which also I will say I found confusing. Why does a trad wife have a job? You should be in the kitchen making sandwiches and babies, making Harrison Butker types feel like manly men, despite playing the one position they sometimes let women play. But yeah, she was apparently a marketing and sales manager at a home health care company for the elderly and disabled in North Carolina. We got to go past tense because yesterday, without naming her, the company announced that it had fired an employee over, quote, inflammatory remarks on social media that do not align with the values and beliefs of our company. Right into that news, we saw a lot of people rejoicing, but also a lot of other people pissed off. Though personally,

my reaction was much closer to Hank Green's, with him saying, there has never been a more clear example of a person trying to rage bait their way into becoming a conservative pundit than this woman. And in fact, Lilly herself ended up tweeting, thanks black community for helping to launch my new career in conservative media. You all played your role well, like the puppets you are. And it appears like she's going to be speed running the circuit. I mean, she was just on InfoWars. She just made a video about everything being gay. And ultimately, this ends up being an example of the culture war economy that we see online. And then, so on internet and comedy drama news, you got a lot of people going after Joe Rogan right now over this whole Robin Williams situation. And that, because a clip from Rogan's podcast that happened a couple of weeks

ago is now going viral. With Rogan talking about how before the internet, there were a lot of predatory comedians who just stole other comics material without making anything original of their own, which is when the guest of that podcast, Harland Williams, asks. I always heard, and I'm sure he could do,

you know, anything he wanted on his own volition, but I had always heard stories that Robin Williams was that guy. Yeah. Did you ever hear anything about that? Yeah, i heard a lot of stories that he was that guy yeah and i think robin williams was so like part of that manic sort of style it's like this constant need to have a bit about anything that you're talking about ever and killing i think was more important and filling that hole inside of him was more important than anything. And so he would just do other people's stuff if he didn't have anything to say.

There's always instances of Robin going on a talk show and doing your bit. And to that, we saw people had a lot to say online. With some just outright denying the claim about William, saying stuff like, I don't know why Joe Rogan would even make an accusation like this when, one, no one else has ever said this about Robin, and two, he has never once in his life, even on accident, said something funny enough to be stolen. Though also with this, you had others pointing out that Robin's joke theft was an open secret in the comedy world for decades. In fact, according to Cracked, a 1979 issue of Los Angeles Magazine, it included a gossip item about comedians who claimed Williams came to shows at the comedy store and swiped their jokes. And then

much more recently, you had comic and voice actor Joey Kamen saying this on the Marc Maron podcast two years ago. Yeah, well, Robin, you know, you know, I stayed away from the guy, you had comic and voice actor Joey Kamen saying this on the Marc Maron podcast two years ago. Yeah, well, Robin, you know, you know, I stayed away from the guy. You know, I mean, he used to steal material. Yeah. You know, I mean, he stole my material. He did. He stole one of my bits and did it on the Mork and Mindy pilot.

Oh, really? Yeah, it was on a pilot. Wow. And I got really pissed. Regardless of everything, you also had others online saying we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, especially with someone as beloved as Robin Williams and people also accusing Rogan of attacking someone who's not here to defend himself. Though actually, looking into this, Williams has already defended himself, with him saying on the Marc Maron podcast back in 2010,

I think in the old days, if you hang out in comedy clubs when I was doing almost 24-7, you hear things and then if you're improvising, all of a sudden you're repeating going oh right that's where your brain works my brain was working that way now i went and then i went i literally had to go through a period and went i'm not going to hang out anymore i can't because i don't want to be getting into that thing and i was also like the bank of comedy went oh here here you go here's money i'm sorry i didn't know that so basically william's saying you know when you're in that environment everything's kind of going in and out of your head your stuff gets mixed in with other stuff. All of a sudden, he's improvising. Accidents happen. With him saying that he would apologize and pay the original comic for it afterward. Of course,

whether you believe that or not, you know, that ends up being up to you. Also, while we're talking about celebrities, talking about controversy, we should talk about Ariana Grande. And that because she just appeared on the Podcrushed podcast where she talked about her time at Nickelodeon on shows like Victorious and Sam and Cat. You. And with that, to be sure, she said she loved getting to create this character and be something so special in young kids' lives. But then she also talked about how she's had to wrestle with those memories

since growing up and since Quiet on set and all the allegations against Dan Schneider. I think that was something that we were convinced was like the cool thing about us is that like we pushed the envelope with our humor and the innuendos were like, we were told and convinced as well that it was like the envelope with our humor and the innuendos were like we were told and convinced as well that it was like the cool differentiation and um I don't know I think I

it just all happened so quickly and now looking back on some of the clips I'm like that's damn like really and then the things that weren't approved for the network were snuck onto, like, our website or whatever it was. And that is another discovery. But my relationship to it has and is currently and has been changing. And I'm reprocessing a lot of what the experience was like. With Ariana going on to advocate for reforms to the industry that could help prevent other kids from going through

what she and others went through. Yeah, I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting. And I think there should be therapists. I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be. But then finally, for this section that's turned into celebrities talking about, you know, controversy and backlash and the ramifications, there's been a lot of talk about how Kevin Spacey just gave an interview to Piers Morgan

where he was literally crying about his situation. Where'd you live now? Well, it's funny you ask that question, because this week, where I have been living in Baltimore, is being foreclosed on. My house is being sold at auction. So the answer to that question is, I'm not quite sure where I'm going to live now. How much money do you have? None.

I still owe a lot of legal bills. Millions? Many millions, yes. Right, and then as far as the sexual assault allegations, he really only fessed up to bad behavior by touching someone sexually in a way that I didn't know at the time they didn't want. I agree that the word grope is a very odd word.

I personally, I have caressed people. I have been gentle with people. That is the way that I am. You're making a pass at someone. You don't want to be aggressive. You want to be gentle. You want to see if they're going to respond positively. So I think the word itself is not a word that I associate with my experience. But the sense of Morgan countering that by saying when you're in a position of power, especially over very young, inexperienced actors, they may not be able to consent. With then Spacey vowing, I will never behave in the ways that I did previously ever. You know, all of this where as of now, aside from the legal bills, he's avoided any fines or jail time.

Or with the court finding him not guilty of sexually assaulting four men in a UK trial last year. He was also found not guilty and not liable in the sexual assault lawsuit brought against him by actor Anthony Rapp. Though he's still definitely not done with this because next year he's going to face yet another civil trial in the UK for sexual assault. And then we've got more big news we got to talk about in a moment, but I got to take a second to say a thank you to Claritin for supporting this episode and providing us with samples. You know, allergies, they can stop you in your tracks when your nose is plugged up. You know, I feel like I can't do anything. I can't enjoy dinner because I can't taste food.

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Because if you haven't seen, it's this new Netflix doc series. And there's been a lot of drama unfolding in the week since its release. With some saying that it is approaching baby reindeer levels of messy. And so the story that you have Dancing for the Devil laying out is that you have Dancing for the Devil laying out

is that you have a number of TikTok dancers getting sucked into what they believe is a normal talent management agency called 7M. But in reality, over the course of three episodes, they say it's actually a cult led by a man by the name of Robert Shin, a church pastor who uses religion to cut these women off from their friends and their family and then controls every aspect of their lives.

With that, apparently including their finances, with there also being a breakdown of their paychecks. 20% going to 7M management, 10% to tithes for the church, 10% to the man of God, which is Shin, and 10% going to an offering. And to top it all off, he sexually abused them. And in this series, one of the main subjects is Miranda Derrick. And she's got a massive following, 2.7 million followers on TikTok, 1.7 million on Instagram. And in the series, her family describes how she was pulled away from them and into 7M by her now husband, where she still is today.

With all of this leading to yesterday, where she posted an Instagram video alleging that Netflix actually did more to hurt her than to help her. Before this documentary, my husband and I, we felt safe. Now that this documentary is out, we feel like our lives have been put in danger. We have both been followed in our cars.

We have received hate mail, death threats. People have been sending us messages to commit suicide. We've been stalked. Someone said that if I see you on the street, I'm going to come and gut you, so you better get security. Someone also said that if I see you walking on the sidewalk, I'm going to come and gut you, so you better get security. Someone also said that if I see you walking on the sidewalk, I'm going to come and shove you in the trunk of my car. But then going on to claim that for a couple of years, she's been slowly rekindling her relationship with her family, saying the documentary, it screwed all that up. Notably, her family maintains that whether she knows it or not, she is trapped

in a cult. Miranda's sister, Melanie Wilking, telling Access Hollywood. All of the dancers that are currently in, all of the members that are still in. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes.

Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. They are all victims. At some point, we'll know that we've done all of this because we love her unconditionally and we'll do anything for her. And I know she'll know that at some point, we'll know that we've done all of this because we love her unconditionally and we'll do anything for her. And I know she'll know that at some point.

Meanwhile, we're seeing 7M and its defectors being caught in an ongoing legal battle. One that honestly looks to be dug in until at least 2025. Shin suing several former dancers for libel and defamation in 2022. Though then in 2023, all the defendants countersued him, his wife, and his organization for fraud, forced labor, and human trafficking.

So we wait to see what all happens. In the meantime, especially if you've seen the docuseries, I'd love to know your thoughts on this. And then, are you tired of having a bunch of old bastards running the government? Like, I just don't know how you do that job. I'm 38. I take pretty good care of myself. I'm almost tired all the time. At 80, I'm going to have to pay someone to put me on fucking marionette strings to do this show.

Let alone run the government. You have to I'm gonna have to pay someone to put me on fucking marionette strings to do this show. Let alone run the government. You have to weekend at Bernie's my ass by then. And unfortunately, like we've seen that essentially happen with a number of politicians. But here's the big news today, right? Whether you agree or you disagree with me, some out there agree. This now seeing North Dakota in the news because they just became the first state in the country to set age limits for congressional candidates in the state. That might sound familiar because we talked about the ballot initiative on the show in the past, but specifically it bars candidates in the state from running for the U.S. House or Senate if they're going to turn 81 by the end of the last year before their term expires. Or in other words, to run for a full two-year term in the House, a candidate couldn't be older than 79. And in order to run for a full six-year term in the Senate, a candidate cannot be older than 75. Very notably

here, this first-in-the-nation age limit law was massively popular, with almost 61% of North Dakotans voting in favor of the initiative. Though despite this widespread support, it's not a done deal, because it's widely expected that this is gonna face legal challenges, and there is Supreme Court precedent

that could undermine it. The precedent with the Supreme Court, it's softer, we'll call it these days, because while the Constitution only sets minimum ages for federal office, back in 1995, the high court ruled that states aren't allowed to set new limits for candidates that aren't already listed in the Constitution. With that decision stemming from a case in Arkansas after the state tried to impose term limits on its U.S. senators and

representatives. So advocates for the North Dakota measure hope that it'll serve as a test case. And if there's a time to see if the Supreme Court might go another way, it's now. Because we've seen the ultra-conservative majority in the Supreme Court pointing out they're fine with undoing precedent. So they might be open to revisiting questions about states' abilities to set additional qualifications. You know, if this measure got the thumbs up from the Supreme Court, I mean, we're talking about a potentially enormous impact, right? Other states could follow. And I mean, according to 538, Congress is older than it's ever been before, with the median age of members in both chambers steadily increasing

over the last few decades. And just using the parameters set by North Dakota, 21 current representatives would be ineligible from running because they were born in 1945 or earlier. And in the Senate, almost one in every five would be aged out if everyone were to go up for a six-year term this fall. Which I guess to say is, even if North Dakota's age restrictions, like it gets struck down, or it fails to pick up the momentum in other states, it still has served as a reminder of just how fucking old our leaders are. And then when I tell you that the Chiquita Banana people are being forced to pay $38.3 million, what might you assume that's for?

Might you maybe guess they were price gouging bananas during the pandemic? Possibly did they sell tainted bananas and people got sick? Well, as it turns out, neither of those guesses even remotely close. Because in reality, it's that a Florida jury just found them liable for financing a Colombian paramilitary group that was infamous for its murders and a designated terrorist group.

Yeah, the Chiquita Banana People. With the group being the far right AUC, which was active in the Colombian Civil War from 1997 to 2006, with them spending time fighting the communist groups in the country before then turning into drug traffickers. And while it was disbanded in 2006, it wasn't until after they killed a lot of people. And what we ended up seeing here is that the lawsuit was actually brought by the families of eight victims in 2008

who accused Chiquita of facilitating the group's activities through nearly 100 payments that totaled $1.7 million. Which, I mean, really speaks to how slow the legal process can go. I mean, we're talking about nearly a decade and a half before we got this week's decision, a jury decision that's actually received some notice abroad with Colombia's president tweeting in frustration, why could US justice determine in judicial truth that Chiquita Brands financed paramilitarism? Why couldn't Colombian justice?

Because while all of this may be new to you, Chiquita's history with the AUC, it's not a surprise. In fact, they had already pleaded guilty to making those payments to the AUC in 2007, despite them being a designated terrorist group and having to pay the DOJ $25 million at the time. Now, Chiquita had tried to claim that it was for security services,

although it looks like they never actually received anything in return. And instead, you had a company executive saying, essentially, they were being blackmailed, claiming that they were being forced to make those payments by the AUC or have their operations in Colombia face problems. You know, with that, Chiquita's hardly the first company to be associated with a situation like this. There's

a reason that the term Banana Republic has existed for like 120 years. It was coined by an American author who lived in Honduras and saw just how powerful the United Fruit Company, which would later become Chiquita, was in the country at the turn of the century. And they, alongside players like the Dole Fruit Company, controlled almost all of the country's infrastructure and police forces. With them being so powerful, they were able to influence the government to crack down on labor movements. And two decades later, in nearby Guatemala, Chiquita was the single largest landowner

and used that influence to get its way in politics. Then in the 1950s, they managed to convince the Eisenhower administration and the CIA to initiate a successful coup alongside rebels against the left-wing president there because he was taking unused Chiquita land to give to landless Guatemalans. Although arguably, the first real banana republic action was in the 1870s, which is when the Cayamal Fruit Company literally hired a private army to successfully overthrow

the Honduran government, only to then later be bought out by Chiquita anyways. Fortunately, such blatant meddling in those countries' politics and governments happens way less now. And let's also hope it stays and trends that way, because people in those countries, I mean, they still remember how much American companies and our government back screwing them over and souring diplomatic relations. And then, so in international news, we are seeing Antony Blinken back in Qatar this week, pushing for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. But today's big update being that Hamas has delivered its official response to the latest ceasefire proposal backed by Biden. And in a shocking turn of events, we still do not have an agreement.

Right. And according to an Israeli official, Hamas, quote, changed all of the main and most meaningful parameters of the deal, saying the group has effectively rejected the proposal for a hostage release that was presented by President Biden. That said, Hamas, on the other hand, says that their response was, quote, responsible, serious and positive, that it opened up a wide pathway to reach an agreement. And with that, they're saying they simply reaffirmed their long held demands that a ceasefire must lead to a permanent end to hostilities in Gaza, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. You know, a key thing to mention with that is that those were all

things that Biden said were part of the three-phase peace plan that he laid out in a speech a couple of weeks ago, with him and other U.S. officials insisting that it was an Israeli proposal. Though that, as Israeli officials said, that Biden's description of their proposal was not accurate and that it wasn't an Israeli proposal at all. So in general, there's just been a lot of confusion about whether Israel actually committed to that original deal in the first place, especially as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from right-wing members of his government to reject the U.S.-backed plan. And I mean, this week, for example, the U.N. Security Council, with Russia abstaining, actually passed a resolution backing that ceasefire plan. But notably, the delegate from

Israel, which isn't represented on the Security Council at the moment, wouldn't say that Israel had accepted the terms of the plan, adding that Israel's goals had not changed and that the military operations would continue until all of the hostages were returned and Hamas's military capabilities were dismantled. And with that, Netanyahu has not yet publicly endorsed the plan at all. In fact, he's also said since Biden's speech that he won't accept any deal that ends the war before Hamas's military and governing capabilities are destroyed, which is notable because some experts say that may not even be achievable. But still, despite all that,

just yesterday, Blinken claimed that Netanyahu had explicitly told him of his commitment to the ceasefire proposal and that only Hamas stood in the way of progress. And actually, with all that, it's not like Hamas is necessarily making things any easier. But the same things like the Wall Street Journal uncovering text messages suggesting that one Hamas military leader, who was an architect of the October 7th attack, actually calculating that a continuation of the war could work to his advantage. But with that, saying that his ultimate goal still appears to be a permanent ceasefire.

And in any case, with all this, we've seen one Qatari official involved in the negotiations saying, we have seen the behavior from both parties, Israel and Hamas, on different occasions being counterproductive to the efforts. And at that point, we also have both sides being accused of war crimes by a UN-backed commission, with it all being laid out in a brand new report that was released today, providing what's been called the most detailed UN examination yet of events on and since October 7th. And of course, with that, there are going to be a lot of people thinking, no shit. There have been reports of the atrocities committed by both sides for months. Of course, with that, there's also been a lot of disagreement, a lot of disinformation, and a lot of confusion, which is also why this report could be valuable. It's the

results of an independent investigation based on not only interviews with survivors and witnesses, but also satellite imagery, forensic medical records, and open source data, that including photographs and video shot by combatants and shared online. And even more than that, it's a legal analysis. It's not only saying what happened, but also how specifically it violated international law. So with that, it's likely to be considered by the International Court of Justice and in other international criminal proceedings

involving Israel and Hamas. And so even though it's not necessarily all new information, we should talk about exactly what the commission found. With some of the key findings, including that many Hamas abductions on October 7th were carried out with significant physical, mental, and sexual violence and degrading and humiliating treatment, which included in some cases parading the abductees. And in addition to that, the commission cited significant evidence

of the desecration of corpses, including sexualized desecration, decapitations, lacerations, burning, and the severing of body parts. And then on the flip side, the report also documented evidence of what it described as the Israeli military's, quote, intent to cause maximum damage, disregarding distinction, proportionality, and adequate precautions. Notably, they're saying that Israeli violence against civilians may rise to the level of a crime against humanity, which can refer to a variety of acts when they're committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. With that, the report says that Israel has actually committed a whole bunch of them since October 7th, including extermination, murder,

gender persecution, targeting Palestinian men and boys, forcible transfer of the population, torture, and inhuman and cruel treatment. And in addition to that, another one of Israel's alleged war crimes is the use of starvation as a weapon of war, with a report saying that Israel not only failed to provide essential supplies like food, water, shelter, and medicine to Gazans, but acted to prevent the supply of those necessities by anyone else. And also, to that point, the UN is now warning that over 1 million Gazans could face death and starvation by mid-July. And this, as a vital border crossing for aid deliveries, remains closed. But also with all this, you had Israel's embassy with the UN saying these are abhorrent and immoral accusations, and in turn, accused the commission of systematic anti-Israel discrimination. And as far as the US,

for its part, as of recording, it has not responded. Blinken saying that he hasn't seen the report and that the U.S. will, quote, make its own assessments. And of course, all of this is also happening as rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is a whole other thing to keep an eye on, with many thinking that could be the thing that actually brings the region into a wider conflict. And then if you haven't pulled the trigger on a pair of Raycons or you're in the market for more because they're just that good, now is the time. Raycon, a fantastic sponsor of the show, they just launched their upgraded model of their best-selling everyday earbuds. And some of the changes,

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Their upgraded model will blow you away. And don't forget to check out the different protective capsule charging cases. Yeah, just go to buyraycon.com slash defranco and get 15% off your Raycon purchase plus free shipping. Remember, they offer a 30-day free return policy. And then we need to talk about how incarcerated people in the US have been seriously injured

and even killed while working dangerous jobs with little or no training. Because this new investigation from the Associated Press found that prisoners are doing everything from fighting wildfires to operating heavy machinery to working on industrial farms and meat processing plants. Despite the risks that these jobs entail and these people are taking, they are denied the basic rights and protections guaranteed to other American workers. And so where I'll start here is to note that there are around 800,000 incarcerated people employed in some sort of state or federal work program in the U.S. And to be clear, that is not always by choice, right? And that's because the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude only when it isn't punishment for a crime. So as a result, prisoners across the country

can be sentenced to hard labor, being forced to work and punished if they refuse. And in most of the cases, they're being paid pennies on the hour doing things like laundry and mopping floors inside prisons. But what less people know is that they're also doing some of the country's dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. In many states, for example, laws actually mandate that prisoners be deployed during emergencies and disasters. And in some rural communities in Georgia, incarcerated individuals are actually the sole responders for everything from car wrecks to medical emergencies. And they're paid nothing. Meanwhile, in California, we see the state's more than 1,000 incarcerated firefighters being paid as much as $5 a day, plus a whole extra dollar an hour when they're working during emergencies. With, for example,

22-year-old Shauna Lynn Jones being one of them. Right, and she's a standout because with just six weeks left on her sentence for a nonviolent crime, she and her crew got sent to fight a fire in Malibu. But then a boulder fell 100 feet from a hillside onto her head, making her one of the 10 incarcerated firefighters killed in the state since 1989. And that was actually a case where the family received compensation to cover the hospital expenses and funeral. But that's something of an exception. See, workers' compensation, it's only offered to incarcerated individuals in some states. And when it is, the amount is typically determined by the size of their paycheck. So because their wages are so low compared to a civilian worker, incarcerated

workers are eligible for far less. I mean, in one case, for example, Nevada's Supreme Court determined that an injured firefighter could receive the equivalent of only about 50 cents a day in workers' comp, ruling that the amount should be based on how much he earned in prison instead of minimum wage. And similarly, the few cases that result in settlements are often far less than what they would be otherwise. And that's in part because those behind bars are seen as having little or no future earning potential, which is why you have Chris Peterson, an ACLU lawyer who filed a lawsuit

on behalf of a group of incarcerated firefighters who got second degree burns while getting paid a dollar an hour telling the AP. At the end of the day, the idea is that if I get my finger lopped off, if I am an incarcerated person working as a firefighter, I am entitled to less relief than if I am a firefighter that's not incarcerated.

And actually with that, just getting less is in some ways a best case scenario, right? More often than not, incarcerated workers end up with nothing. And that's because in many states, prisoners are not classified as employees. And what that means is they're just straight up excluded from workers' compensation benefits along with state and federal laws that set minimum standards for health and safety on the job. Plus in most of the country, public institutions actually can't be held liable at all for incarcerated workers' injuries or deaths. And that's what happened to Candy Fueling, for example, who nearly died while assigned to work at a Colorado sawmill. With

her saying she received only a few hours of training and that her injury was in part caused by a manager urging her to hurry up. And saying that despite being dizzy and confused, she was put back to work in the prison's laundry room almost immediately after being patched up. Also saying she received almost no additional treatment for months, even when her wounds started oozing green pus. And finally, after all of that, a lawsuit was dismissed after a court ruled she wasn't even allowed to sue state entities. And in fact, what we see with that case

in terms of the questionable medical treatment fueling received, it's another important part of this issue. Incarcerated workers, they can't call an ambulance or demand to be taken to a hospital, even if they suffer a life-threatening injury on the job. And the AP documented several cases of prisoners' conditions worsening, even after getting care for their injuries. And with that, it's notable that prisons and jails often hire physicians who have been disciplined for

misconduct. A Louisiana state prison, for example, they employed a doctor who served two years in prison after buying $8,000 worth of methamphetamine in a Home Depot parking lot with intent to distribute. And so yes, of course, second chances are all good, but the problem is that this man was hired even while he was barred from practicing medicine in most other settings, with prisons being one of the only exceptions. Or in other words, it was kind of like, we don't trust you to treat most people,

but I guess we'll let you treat inmates because they're not really people. And in fact, there have been reports in several states of prisons hiring doctors without full medical licenses. And on one hand, you know, you have people saying it's really hard to find people who wanna do those jobs, and sometimes you have to make compromises. But for others, it's just another example showing how incarcerated lives can be valued less than the lives of others, how these

people are not seen as people. And so with all that, you have Michael Duff, a law professor at St. Louis University, telling the AP, we've got this category of human beings that can be wrongfully harmed and yet left with no remedy for their harm. And adding that an entire class of society is being denied civil rights and saying things could change if there was the political will. And actually to that point, there is something of a push to deal with forced labor at the federal level by revising the 13th amendment. But there's actually no signs right now that that could actually happen. But at the state level, we've seen things like Colorado amending its own constitution to ban forced labor in prisons way back in 2018, which actually led to a wave of other states doing the same. But

as we've talked about on the show, those reforms often don't lead to meaningful change. And in part, that's because there are a lot of problems with the system, even if you make it voluntary. The Prison Litigation Reform Act was passed in the 1990s, placing several restrictions on prisoners' ability to file civil rights lawsuits. And you have a Supreme Court ruling that's been in place for decades, making it so that incarcerated individuals can't join or form unions. And also more recently, in 2022 in Arizona, for example, a bill was passed limiting the evidence prisoners can present in lawsuits following work-related injuries. And notably, the nonprofit organization that lobbied for that bill, it was headed by one of the men who ran an egg company called Hickman's Family Farms, which wouldn't you know it, just happened

to be the Arizona correctional industry's biggest customer, bringing in nearly $35 million in revenue the past six fiscal years. With that, I should also note that the jobs for incarcerated people at this particular company, they're actually voluntary and even highly desired by some prisoners. In fact, several current and formerly incarcerated workers praised the company. And to that point, all of this is not to say that offering incarcerated people the opportunity to work is inherently a bad idea. I mean, many prisoners reportedly see work as a welcome break from the boredom and violence inside their facilities. And actually, very few critics believe that all prison jobs should be eliminated.

They just say that the work should be voluntary and prisoners should be fairly paid and treated humanely. And then, finally, today we've got a congratulations and comment commentary. The congrats is to Tim M., the latest winner of our weekly $500 giveaway towards any tickets on SeatGeek. Tim planned to take his wife to see Meghan Trainor. What a good husband. But for everyone else, I mean, that's right. SeatGeek and The Daily Dip are still giving away up to $1,000 in tickets, and you should definitely

enter today if you haven't already. You just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. With $1,000 prizes available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS newsletter, doubling entries and winnings. So you're welcome and also thank you. But then, comment commentary. Where we dive into the comments on the last show, see what y'all had to say, and talk about it. Starting with a fact, I want to thank a lot of you guys for not giving me too much shit for the audio yesterday. Throwing that travel mic in the trash. I don't know why it sounded like I was fucking a robot half the time. You know, regarding the Hunter Biden convictions,

the most popular take was me when Trump was convicted. Yeah, if he broke the law, he should be punished. Me when Hunter Biden was convicted. Yeah, if he broke the law, he should be punished. Me when Hunter Biden was convicted. Yeah, if he broke the law, he should be punished. It's not hard to believe both of these. And others adding that they are not gonna vote for either of those two. Hunter Biden definitely losing some votes yesterday.

And on the topic of just how hard it is to buy houses these days, my favorite comment was my biggest regret in life is that I chose to attend elementary school way back in the 90s instead of buying a house. Which yeah, you have no one else to blame but yourself. You were too busy trying to learn how to count by tens when you should have been counting bread. Meanwhile, regarding that news around that investigative journalist and all the controversy, most were on her side with a scene comments like, how dare that

investigative journalist go undercover to pursue truth and expose one of the most powerful people in the country. She should openly identify herself as an investigative journalist and I'm sure Alito would love to speak to her then. Another is breaking down the situation as Alito's saying the people don't trust the courts anymore. Everyone, well, how about y'all stop fucking up and take accountability? Clarence Thomas, wee, free yacht trip. And then finally, regarding the story and the situation around inflation and prices changing and price cuts happening, the most popular comment I saw on that story was, it's not inflation if companies post record profits. Yeah, as we've seen revealed in more and more places,

it's not inflation as much as it is just price gouging with inflation being used as a smokescreen. But that, my friends, is where your Wednesday evening, Thursday morning dive into the news is gonna end. But do not worry, because my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.