The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.15 WOW! 5 Charged In Matthew Perry's Overdose Death including The "Ketamine Queen", Dr Disrespect, &

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco   Level up your health at  http://www.TryARMRA.com/DEFRANCO  and use code DEFRANCO at checkout to get up to 15% off your first order. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL   Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ Get 50% OFF Tee & Tank 3-Packs @ https://BeautifulBastard.com and 25-35% Off Select Graphic tees and tanks while supplies last. 82 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Convicted Murderer on the Run in North Carolina  02:35 - Demi Lovato Opens Up About Child Stardom 04:37 - Billie Eilish Leaves Wasserman Agency Amid Tabloid Scandal 05:39 - DrDisrespect Deletes Confession He Messaged Minor, Teases Return 06:42 - Five People Arrested over Matthew Perry’s Death 08:34 - Judge Puts Teenage Girl in Handcuffs for Falling Asleep on a Fieldtrip  10:29 - Sponsored by PDS Debt  11:21 - Win for Artists: AI Companies Fail to Get Copyright Infringement Case Dismissed 13:48 - Medicare Drug Prices Fall after Negotiations 16:25 - Nassau County, NY, Passes First US Ban on Wearing Face Coverings in Public 20:19 - Sponsored by Armra 21:24 - Are the Olympics Really Fair? 28:50 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 29:22 - Comment Commentary ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Olympics: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #MatthewPerry #DrDisrespect ———————————— 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 we have a lot to talk about today. So you just hit that like button, and let's jump into it. This is a news show. If you live in or near North Carolina, or you know someone who does, listen up.

Right, because currently, there is a convicted child murderer who's on the run after escaping custody in North Carolina. So meet Ramon Alston, who in 2018 was convicted for the 2015 murder of one-year-old Malia Williams. And this little one-year-old was just playing outside her family's apartment on Christmas Day when someone opened fire from a car driving past, with Malia getting hit, then taken to the hospital where she ended up dying three days later. Before this, Alston was sentenced to life in prison at the Birdie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina.

And that is where he has been since until this week. Because on Tuesday, Alston was being transported to the UNC Gastroenterology Hospital in Hillsborough for a follow-up medical appointment. According to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, the prison transport van rolled up to the hospital around seven in the morning. When the officers opened the door,

Alston just jumped from the van and ran into the nearby woods. With the department also saying he had freed himself from his leg restraints, but still had handcuffs and a waist chain on. Also, if you're wondering, yes, according to the department's communications director, Keith Akri, police did have weapons at the time

of Alston's escape, but they didn't fire because, quote, "'It all happened so quickly.'" And so now, two days later, this baby killer's still on the run, with sniffer dogs being brought in, helicopters sweeping over the area, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood saying they've even talked to Alston's family in the area

with varying degrees of cooperation. But still, there's just no sign of him. And at this point, the U.S. Marshals and the FBI have jumped in on the hunt. According to ACRI, 335 law enforcement personnel from 19 different agencies have covered 1,335 acres of land in this search. Between the state, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals, the reward for information leading to Alston's capture has been bumped from 25,000 to 50,000. But as of yesterday, Blackwood told a news conference that they have, quote, no concrete leads on Alston's location. Though, the emergency services director for Orange County said that Alston is likely not in the immediate vicinity of the hospital.

And adding, we feel comfortable in saying that the community is not in imminent danger or risk right now. But still, Blackwood has asked those residents to remain vigilant and to check their house cameras for any sign of where Alston went. And this, as a creree told the New York Times, that while there isn't any direct evidence that Alston has a weapon, he should be considered armed and has likely gotten out of his handcuffs by now. With Blackwood also noting there,

he's extremely cagey, he's extremely dangerous, and he has nothing to lose. But for now, that's really all we have on the status of the search, with authorities saying they don't wanna publicize all their information, but it is possible that Alston has left the state. And a Cree saying the ground search phase of this is coming to a close and it becomes more of a phase where we follow tips and follow leads and

work the investigative angle of this. So keep your eyes out, be safe, but if you see something, say something. And then, you know, let's talk about this reckoning on child fame that we've been seeing lately. Earlier this year, the Quiet on Set documentary really exposed horrifying things that were happening behind the scenes at Nickelodeon. And now we've got this Demi Lovato-directed documentary called Child Star that's coming out next month. And in it, Demi will tell her own stories and also talk to other former child stars like Drew Barrymore and Christina Ricci.

Though notably with this, she also did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of it. And the outlet said that the doc does not place direct blame on anyone the way Quiet on Set did. Instead, saying that it examines the industry overall, looking at what happens when you give a serious job and serious money to a child. And there,

Demi's saying that having a child bring home paychecks, it really changes family dynamics. And adding, it becomes like, how do you discipline the breadwinner? I mean, my mom and stepdad would try to ground me, but I was an egotistical child star and I thought I was on top of the world. I'd be like, but I pay the bills and what do you say to that? You know, with that, you had Disney Channel saying at the time that they kind of left it to the parents to raise their children, but Demi said that it would have been better if Disney had done more, at least at the time that she was there. Arguing, I just think leaving it up to the families is really risky because not everyone has a healthy family dynamic and you're putting them in a pressure cooker.

Though there, you had the outlet noting that in the years after Demi left, Disney did hire a life coach. And of course, all of this is Demi has been very open and honest about dealing with substance abuse, body image issues, and other complicated problems at an incredibly young age. But they're noting that those issues made her prone to really heated onset outbursts, and she now just overall regrets her behavior. Saying, I think I'd passed the threshold of what I could withstand emotionally and physically. And it's easy to excuse that behavior because I was so young and in so much pain, but I'm really remorseful and that's a guilt that stays with you forever. But also you have people saying some of the most interesting parts of this profile

came from not discussing the past, but the future. With Demi and Camp Rock co-star Alison Stoner saying they're both encouraged by younger generations because they're learning more about boundaries and mental health much earlier. But still, one of the reasons Demi made the upcoming doc was to enact change. Because while some attitudes might be healthier,

child stars have to deal with so much more now in the age of social media and influencers. So with that, you have Demi speaking with activists and lawmakers who are working on legislation that would help online child stars and make sure that they're legally entitled to the money that they earn. But this notably, as she also echoed comments

that she's made in the past, that no child should ever be in the limelight. Also, you know, while we're here, we have other quickie entertainment news, like the fact that we're seeing a ton of fallout at a major Hollywood agency. And that because earlier this month, a report from the Daily Mail alleged that Casey Wasserman, the CEO

of the Wasserman Talent Agency, was a serial cheater who had a string of affairs with his female employees. And even though that might seem like just some kind of tabloid scandal, the situation has really blown up, especially because Casey also happens to be the chairman of the 2028 Olympics in LA. His agency also represents a lot of super big names, some of whom aren't happy about these reports, namely Billie Eilish, because she just left the Wasserman agency over this with sources telling The Wrap that she was very upset about the allegations. And a spokesperson for her adding, while grateful to their former live booking agents at Wasserman, Billie Eilish and Phineas O'Connell have opted to have film, TV, and music handled by the same agency, WME, moving forward.

And according to Variety here, Billie did not work with Casey closely, but once the report came out, she had no desire to be associated with the agency at all. And so it'll be very interesting to see if and who follows. With Variety noting that names like Kendrick Lamar and Chapel Roan are also represented by his agency. And notably, this is all happening as the Olympics are being handed off from Paris to LA, so it'll be very interesting to see

if there are any other dominoes that start to fall. Then jumping from mainstream to online, we have Dr. Disrespect in the news. And that because seemingly the streamer has deleted his earlier confession, admitting to sending inappropriate messages to a minor. Right, and all that connected to initially allegations

swirling around that he'd been banned from Twitch in 2020 for sexting someone underage. With him then in June taking to ex to say he's quote, "'No fucking predator or pedophile.'" But at the same time admitting that the ban did in fact have to do with messages to a minor that quote, "'Sometimes lean too much in the direction "'of being inappropriate.'"

But also there you had him claiming nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed. But then after that, all really people saw from him was him sharing a cryptic tweet with an image seeming to show him playing chess against someone else playing checkers, with him also then replying to some others on the platform.

But now, that earlier tweet, that confession, it's gone. Though this is the internet, so nothing's ever really gone. But there are a number of people immediately posting screenshots of the various versions of the original statement, right, because he had actually edited that post multiple times. But now also along with deleting the earlier post,

he had Dr. Disrespect tweeting yesterday, "'Vacation is just too good right now. "'We'll be back soon though, champs. "'We have lots to talk about.'" And so with that, it appears he is gonna try to make some sort of comeback. Though the details of how and where, that remains to be seen right now.

Though with that, there has been a good amount of speculation that it would likely be with a streamer like Kick. But then with that said, the final bit of quick entertainment news, it actually centers around Matthew Perry. Along with the text, I wonder how much this moron will pay.

Because that was a text message that was actually found on the phone of a doctor who's now been arrested as part of a drug investigation into Matthew Perry's death. Because if you didn't know, Perry had struggled with drugs and alcoholism for decades, even while filming Friends. With him ultimately being found face down,

dead in the hot tub at his Pacific Palisades home back in October of last year. With the LA County Medical Examiner's Office able to quickly determine that he OD'd on ketamine. And while at first his death was ruled an accidental overdose, in May the LAPD and federal authorities opened an investigation to how he got a hold

of that ketamine. And with that, we now have the Justice Department announcing today that five people have been arrested, including Perry's live-in assistant, two doctors, and a trafficker known as the Ketamine Queen, with the department alleging that they uncovered a broad underground criminal network and addict. These defendants took advantage

of Mr. Perry's addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off Mr. Perry than caring for his wellbeing. And prosecutors saying that over a two month period during the fall of last year, they gave Perry 20 vials of ketamine

in exchange for $55,000. With that doctor who called him a moron at one point, also injecting him and watching him freeze up as his blood pressure spiked. But the DOJ adding there, despite that he left additional vials of ketamine who called him a moron at one point, also injecting him and watching him freeze up as his blood pressure spiked. But the DOJ adding there, despite that, he left additional vials of ketamine to Perry's assistant to administer to Mr. Perry.

And also as part of this investigation, prosecutors say they raided the Ketamine Queen's home and uncovered a drug-selling emporium filled with 80 vials of ketamine, thousands of pills, methamphetamine, and cocaine. But they're being hit with multiple counts of distributing ketamine and forging documents related to the investigation.

And then as far as everyone else, we are seeing similar charges, including distribution of ketamine resulting in death. We know all of these defendants facing anywhere from up to 10 years to over two decades in prison if they're convicted. And then never before have I ever seen a nap be at the center of a controversy.

But today we're here, thanks to the greening of Detroit, a nonprofit environmental group, taking a group of teens on an educational field trip to a courthouse. And while there, you had Judge Kenneth King talking to them. And at that point, a nonprofit environmental group, taking a group of teens on an educational field trip to a courthouse. And while there, you had Judge Kenneth King talking to them. And at that point, a 16 year old girl apparently fell asleep twice.

And so, you know, with that, you had King's response being, well, naturally to threaten to throw her in jail. You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I'm putting you in the back. And so, you don't care? As soon as we bring the prisoner out, she can step back in. But then instead of actually putting her behind bars,

he made her change into jail clothes and put her into handcuffs, with him then continuing to argue over what he perceived as her giving him attitude. You sleep at home in your bed, not in court. And quite frankly, I don't like your attitude. I'm thinking maybe she needs to go to the juvenile detention facility.

You do understand we have a jail for kids. Now with this, King told Channel 7 that he just meant to teach her and the other kids a lesson so they wouldn't end up back in his courtroom for the wrong reasons later in life. Was I really going to do that? Probably not. Could I have? Probably so. But that's not what I want to do to a kid who's there on a field trip. So that was my own version of scared straight. But of course, on the other side of this, you had the nonprofit group that brought these kids there saying the girl was traumatized by the experience and the chairperson writing. Although the judge was trying to teach a lesson of course, on the other side of this, you had the nonprofit group that brought these kids there, saying the girl was traumatized by the experience and the chairperson writing. Although the judge was trying to teach a lesson of respect, his methods were unacceptable. The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful.

And then on top of this, you also had this kid's mom telling the outlet her daughter was tired because they don't have a permanent home. To make her even feel more worse about our situation, I'm a single mother. I'm trying my best. I'm doing everything that I can. So the fact that he was talking about you go home and get in your bed. How do you know my baby got a home? How do you know my baby got a bed, her own bed that she could sleep in? She don't have that right now. So she was tired. And so then after all that, Judge King had the balls to offer to mentor the girl with the family then replying that they are not interested. And then, you know, I don't know anyone who has it at some point in life experience unexpected expenses that come up and throw a wrench into your bank account. The types of expenses that can easily find you in

debt or greater debt with credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, vet bills. I mean, it can go on. And this can be overwhelming, but there are options out there to help. So if you find yourself making payments on your debt, but feeling more like you aren't getting anywhere with it, you aren't alone. And the sponsor of today's show, PDS Debt, they can help. Because PDS Debt strives to understand your specific scenario and can help provide

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Get a free debt analysis right now at pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco. Because nobody likes the stress of mounting debt and the pressure that comes with that. Surviving, it's not living. Regain control of your life and live for you, not your debt. And then, in potentially game-changing AI news,

we may be about to find out how much these AI companies have stolen. Because artists are now claiming that they've scored a huge victory this week after a judge denied a motion to dismiss their case against AI giants like Stability AI, Midjourney, and Runway AI. Now, this doesn't mean that they are going to win this case, but they did manage to show that the AI companies plausibly infringed on their copyrights when training their generative AIs. And specifically, what we talking about is the high profile case that was brought by Carlo Ortiz, who has worked on major titles like Black Panther, Avengers Infinity War, and Thor Ragnarok. And on Twitter with, she reacted to the news saying,

we won big as the judge allowed all of our claims on copyright infringement to proceed. And we historically move on the trade dress claim. We can now proceed onto discovery. And adding, we are now potentially one of the biggest copyright infringement and trade dress cases ever. Looking forward to the next stage of our fight. You know, that next stage of discovery, it could be groundbreaking because it means that all of these AI companies are now required to hand over a ton of information about how their AIs work and

how they train them. And if they don't, well, I mean, they're going to have bigger problems to worry about when the court cracks down on them. And so with this, you have the plaintiffs pretty confident that the discovery is going to show just how much of their copyrighted works were used to train these models and how other actions by the companies infringed on their trademark. Because in particular, there are US laws that protect an artist from the commercial misuse of their names and unique styles. And that last part is very important because the plaintiffs claim that Midjourney CEO misled consumers when he posted a list of 4,700 artists' names on Discord and claimed his AI could mimic their work. With the argument saying that by posting their names, consumers were misled into thinking they supported AI when they often clearly

do not. It is believed that this specific claim could actually be summarily judged, meaning that the evidence is so overwhelming that the judge doesn't even need to go to trial for it. Notably, with this situation, the discovery process also gives Ortiz and others a chance to amend claims that were already dismissed, such as, for example, the accusation that the AI companies unjustly enriched themselves off the artist's work. And if the discovery backs up that claim, the plaintiffs will be allowed to amend their case to try and get that back on. And that would be huge specifically for showing damages, which is important in civil cases. However, it wasn't all wins for the artists. They tried to accuse the AI companies of scrubbing content management information from their work in

direct violation of the DMCA. But there we saw the judge throw it out under a legal framework that hasn't been challenged much. So for now, it means the claims there, they won't be allowed. However, it does leave the door open for them to be brought up again later in a different case, using slightly different arguments or if the framework that was used to dismiss it is later removed. And so for now we'll have to wait and see what happens, right? Because there is a small chance that the judge orders discovery, but also says that it can't be released to the public until proceedings are done. Which, you know, in my opinion would be an example of being too demure, being too mindful because I'm a gossipy, nosy bitch, and I want to

know all the secrets. And then, in huge news, it's going to help millions and millions of people. For the first time ever, Medicare has negotiated prescription drug prices down to make them more affordable for millions of Americans. And if you're understandably like, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, they didn't negotiate before? Yeah, I know, it's weird. And by weird, I mean it's politics politicking. You know, because just about every other entity, from private insurers to Medicaid to veteran affairs to foreign government health plans, they negotiate lower drug prices.

And not only does that make them cheaper for patients, it reduces government spending, which ironically is what Republicans claim to want. And I say ironically, because when Medicare Part D was created back in 2006, the GOP actually banned it from negotiating. It's literally one of the reasons why so many Americans pay so much for prescription drugs, as Biden pointed out last year. We pay more for prescription drugs than any.

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the agency's done for 10 of the most expensive and popular drugs. With those being some that treat high blood pressure, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and heart failure. With 8.8 million people receiving these medications under Medicare Part D last year. And so now, all those people, and likely more that are going to need those medications, they're going to pay a hell of a lot less in out-of-pocket costs. Because the government just announced the new prices and the discounts. They range from 38%, which is still huge, to 79%, which is absolutely massive. So for example, a senior that's taking Stolar, which is a drug for Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, plaque psoriasis, and arthritis,

they currently pay a 25% coinsurance for that, which may amount to about $3,400 for a 30-day supply. But under the new price, the same coinsurance would shrink to $1,100 instead. And actually, in all, the cost of these 10 drugs to Medicare, which was $50 billion in 2022, one, that would have been cut down by $6 billion if prices had been negotiated in 2023,

and two, beneficiaries who forked over $3.4 billion, they would save nearly half of that amount. Now that said, as far as their defense, you have pharmaceutical companies claiming that if they can't keep prices as high as they are, they won't have the incentive or the funds to innovate new drugs in the first place, which you know they argue will end up hurting patients

in the long run because fewer drugs will be available. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that of the 1,300 new drugs expected to come to market over the next three decades, the Inflation Reduction Act would only stop about 13 of them. While you have them making a big stink about this in the public, several of the drug companies have been a lot less worried in private, with them reportedly just telling shareholders in the past few weeks that they'll be able to manage the losses from lower Medicare prices. And so for now, what that means

is we can expect to see these new prices take effect in 2026. And the negotiating is also not over, with Medicare aiming to pick 15 more drugs to negotiate prices on next February. But they're also planning on holding further rounds every year for the foreseeable future. That is, of course, unless the pharmaceutical industry stops it. Because as you'd expect, they've lobbed several lawsuits at the government seeking to end Medicare negotiations altogether. And then, Nassau County, New York just passed the nation's first ban on wearing face coverings in public. With County Executive Bruce Blakeman just signing this into law. And specifically, this makes it so that wearing a face covering

to conceal your identity in public is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Though with this, a key thing is that the ban exempts people who wear masks for, quote, health, safety, religious, or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or a similar religious or cultural event

for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn. Though I will say, those exemptions have done very little to ease a lot of the concerns that a number of people have. Though also to really talk about this, we should talk about where the idea for this ban even came from. Because basically it all has to do with the growing concern about rising anti-Semitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7th. But really, you know, more than that, it's backlash to the wave of pro-Palestine protests we had earlier this year at American universities. Like Colombia, which isn't that far from Nassau County, it was the epicenter of all of this. And it was very common there for peaceful protesters to wear masks, whether it be for health reasons or to protect their identity

against doxing. But this also, as there were reported incidents of mass protesters engaging in genuine acts of anti-Semitism. While it's not clear that the lawmakers in Nassau County have differentiated between those two groups, that's what got this whole thing going. Right, when Republican Mazie Pillip introduced the bill, she claimed, terrorist supporters around the country, and especially New York, are hiding behind the mask and terrorizing the Jewish community. With her then last week being joined

by all 11 other Republicans in the county's legislature to pass this bill, also all seven Democrats abstaining. But then of course, all of that bringing us back to Blakeman signing this bill into law. And while you had Blakeman saying, yes, the mask wearing campus protesters,

they were the impetus for the ban, you had him saying that he sees this new law as a tool to fight other crime as well. This is a broad public safety measure. What we've seen is people using masks to shoplift, to carjack, to rob banks, and this is activity that we want to stop. And notably there on the whole Democrat-Republican thing, he's claiming that this is actually a bipartisan effort, with him pointing to the fact that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has shown support for mask bans in the past. You know, even New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has said that she is open to the idea. But still, you know, calling it bipartisan here, it is a bit of a stretch. With one Nassau County Democrat,

for example, saying the bill overstepped and could be detrimental to First Amendment rights. And another calling it nothing more than political theater and a blatant waste of taxpayer money. With that lawmaker also noting that Republicans actually turned down any opportunity for bipartisan compromise by failing to even consider a Democrat sponsored bill that added charges and penalties for wearing a mask while committing a crime. With the goal being to make it so that the wearing of the mask is not illegal in itself. And then outside the parties, you have the director of the Nassau County New York Civil Liberties Union saying in a statement, Nassau County's mask ban is a dangerous misuse of the law to score political points and target protesters. But they're then going on to say masks protect people who express political opinions that are

unpopular. Making anonymous protest illegal chills political action and is ripe for selective enforcement, leading to doxing, surveillance, and retaliation against protesters. And finally, they're adding that concerns that masks disguise criminal activity must not be answered by banning anonymous protest. Police should respond to a person's actions, not their attire. And with that, you have the NYCLU arguing that the language of this bill is vague and it doesn't differentiate between medical masks and other types of facial coverings,

including religious garb, wrapping a scarf or bandana around your face, and costume masks. Which is why you have people like this mask-wearing teacher telling NBC News that she's worried that she may now be breaking the law. I know that there is some vague exception for medical conditions, but I don't know if I fit under that or not.

Which to add there, you have the Nassau County NYCLU director saying the ban so-called health and religious exceptions will result in police officers who are not medical or religious experts, but who do have a track record of racially biased enforcement to determine who needs a mask and who doesn't

and who goes to jail. Although with that, the Nassau County Police Commissioner claims that officers would know the difference between someone wearing a mask for criminal reasons and someone who's wearing it for medical or religious purposes. With also Blakeman arguing that the county's police officers are actually human lie detectors.

They can sniff out somebody who's lying in most circumstances, and this gives them the ability to stop them and ask them, what are you doing? But with now all that said, while we wait to see how this plays out, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? But then just to take a little 60 second break from the news, I got to say, you know, my buddy got me into Armoura Colostrum and I got to tell you, I really do feel better. So thank you to Armoura Colostrum, not only for sponsoring today's show,

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And then, so the 2024 Olympics, they're over, right? It's done, it's in the rear view. And for all the talk of bringing the world together and forgetting our differences, there was a whole lot of anger and division this year. From the pro LGBTQ opening ceremonyTQ opening ceremony, to the trans-not-trans boxing controversy, to the Chinese doping allegations. But in focusing on these specific issues, most observers miss the fundamental problem

that betrays the Olympics ideals of fairness and equality. And it's called technological doping. And unlike traditional doping, where you take illicit drugs to get an advantage, this kind isn't inherently illegal. In fact, it's ingrained into the games themselves. You know, to explain this, let's look at one of the most infamous cases of alleged technological doping,

the Speedo Laser Racer Swimsuit. And if you don't remember this bad boy, this was the full body suit that was co-developed by fucking NASA and carefully engineered to mimic shark skin. Though I will say the research suggests that the fabric plays less of a role in performance than the full body coverage.

With that, reducing drag and making energy expenditure more efficient by minimizing muscle vibration and smoothing skin texture. And so what we saw at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is that athletes wearing this swimsuit, they won 94% of all swimming gold medals and set 23 out of 25 new swimming world records. Which I mean, to put that in perspective, that many records had not been broken since 1976, when swimmers started wearing goggles. And so what we saw is that people complained that the suit was unfair and World Aquatics, the governing body for water sports,

they banned the full body swimsuits. But like a game of whack-a-mole, the tech doping problem just kept popping up. Like in 2019, for example, when Nike created a super shoe, specifically designed for a Kenyan distance runner. And with those, he ran a record breaking, though unofficial, sub two hour marathon, with runners then picking up the shoes commercial versions, the Alpha Fly and the Vapor Fly. And And with those, he ran a record breaking, though unofficial, sub two hour marathon. With runners then picking up the shoes commercial versions,

the Alpha Fly and the Vapor Fly. And along with that, breaking a whole slew of distance running world records in 2020. From Usain Bolt to call the shoes unfair and laughable, and to claim he would have run even faster if he had worn them. And yeah, research has shown that the Vapor Fly shoe line improves running economy by an average of 4%.

Doing this with energy returning foam, a carbon fiber plate, and a curve shape that makes them lighter, softer, and bouncier. And what we ended up seeing is World Athletics updating its rules to cap maximum heel height at 20 to 40 millimeters, limit shoes to one rigid plate, and mandate that shoes be available to the public for at least four months. But still, even with the restrictions,

Nike shoes have an edge over other brands. Which when you're talking about the best of the best of the best athletes competing at the limits of human performance, just that tiny difference, it can be enough to get you past the finish line before the next person. And so you have places like Scientific America noting that quote, all else equal,

a Nike sponsored athlete may beat a non Nike athlete simply because of shoe choice. Which is also why athletes deliberately gun for partnerships with winning shoe brands and shoe brands gun for partnerships with winning athletes. And if you're not sponsored, you can still get super shoes, but it gets very expensive very fast. But the initial price tag can already reach up to $300,

and then they break down so much faster than standard running shoes, so you gotta keep buying new pairs over and over. And it seemed like every four years, you got some new mind-blowing footwear coming out into the market. And so this year, it's these robotically applied spray-on shoes that perfectly mold around your foot, like a shell with no laces, reducing friction and drag. And so this year it's these robotically applied spray on shoes that perfectly mold around your foot,

like a shell with no laces, reducing friction and drag. And so the big question from some surrounding all of this is how do we stop technological doping? One obvious solution being just to make everyone complete butt ass naked. And if you think that is absurd, you should understand that that's actually how the original Olympics were done in ancient Greece.

Right, according to Greek legend in 720 BC, an athlete by the name of Orysippus was running the 185 meter dash when his loincloth slipped off. But instead of stopping to fix it, he just powered on, dick swinging for all to see, and he won. And from there on, Olympians shed their clothes, they lathered up in olive oil,

and they put on a show for the gods. With historians saying they believe that nudity exhibited their physical power and muscular physique to Zeus. Though also, the intimidation factor was a small bonus. Now, of course, that said, for a long list of reasons, the New Olympics probably wouldn't work well in the modern era. I mean, for one thing, the games were almost exclusively

an elite male event back then. And because of its religious overtones, historians say that it wouldn't have been sexualized. Whereas today, you know, it's this global event, including every culture from hyper-conservative to ultra-liberal. You have multiple genders and an audience on social media that sexualizes literally everything.

But then even if we put those concerns aside, we still need technology at the very least for the Paralympics. If you're unfamiliar, disabled athletes use different devices to help them participate. Like for example, in 2020, the blind pro cyclist, Tristan Bangma tested cameras on his bike

that mapped out the track in front of him, converted the images into audio signals and then sent them to his helmet. And despite being 99% blind, he could zip down the track at over 30 miles an hour without crashing into anything or anyone. But once again, things get complicated if we take another example, like running.

Because since 2012, people have debated whether double amputee sprinters outperform single amputee and even non-disabled runners. With those on one side claiming the double amputees gain height and therefore run faster. And then those on the other side argue that even if that's true, they start off slower and have a harder time navigating turns.

So it's actually a net disadvantage, which I will say, in fact, a study from 2022 backed up that argument showing a significant overall disadvantage. So if we need technology, but that creates inequities, what should we do? One answer is to just give all the athletes the same equipment and apparel. But even that isn't as simple as it seems because one,

every sport is different, which is why each one's governing body, not the IOC, decides those rules. And two, every athlete has a different body and different needs. So one universal standard might advantage some more than others. Plus, it would just wipe out the fun of seeing each person's unique style and choice of gear.

But then also, even if we completely eliminate technological doping, we've still only made sports fair on the surface. But we can't just look at the players once they've already arrived at the game. You also have to consider how they got there and whether they enjoyed equal opportunities to prepare for the competition.

Just like how some students get better education and tutoring before the SAT, some athletes get better training, equipment, coaches, dieticians, and physicians before the Olympics. Like for example, Team USA athletes stay at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. And that place is decked out with enormous state-of-the-art facilities for every sport you can imagine. I mean, we're talking

about them adjusting the temperature, humidity, and altitude to exactly match the conditions of wherever you're going to compete. And then once American athletes got to Paris this year, instead of going to the Olympic Village, they could stay at the much more bougie High Performance Center. With that, offering complete medical and recovery facilities, a nutrition and meal cafeteria, mental wellness and psychology services, a lounge, high-tech massage tables, cryotherapy pods and sleeping rooms. Basically, Disneyland for athletes.

And then if you got the money, you can get the most advanced wearable tech and apps that track everything from sleep and diet to health and performance data. So for example, cyclists wear sensors that measure their speed, aerodynamic drag, and position on the bike. So if you start to get tired and you lift your head

or your chest up a little, invisible lasers will immediately catch that and notice. And then back at the training center, all that data gets funneled into a computer that your coach can use to make adjustments to your performance. And I mean, pretty soon, we're gonna probably see artificial intelligence

helping coaches pick through the data and find things that the human eye might miss. And so all that's to say, you know, these problems or these issues that we've been exploring, they're about much more than just shoes or a swimsuit. A lot of people like to think of the Olympics as a time when countries that are vastly unequal economically and geopolitically can compete fairly as equals

in the realm of sports. It's just bodies against bodies, a test of raw human strength and endurance. But in reality, we know that's not the case. The Olympics is a deeply unequal event, even if it's attracting the world's best athletes. Because each athlete, they're not just a human body. They are a union of biology and technology whose potential is honed from the moment of birth, the moment the starter pistol goes off from the country that they're born in. Which to be clear here is not a knock on the athletes who put in

unbelievable amounts of work to pull off shit I could never do. That swimsuit's not gonna make me look any less like a dying seal in the water. Rather the point is that by regulating the Olympics a little bit more tightly and making the broader world a little more equal, we can make those athletes' achievements even more meaningful than they already are. Or we could also not do that, because I like seeing America at the top of the medal counts. Because there is something about seeing that medal count

that injects five times the normal amount of patriotism into my veins. But then finally today, let's end on a congratulations and let's talk about yesterday. Starting with the congrats to this week's SeatGeek prize winner, of course, getting $500 towards any tickets on SeatGeek. And for the rest of y'all, keep in mind,

you can go see your favorite artist, comedian, or play. I mean, there's over 70,000 events to choose from, because 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, and $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS newsletter, doubling entries and winnings. So get in on that if you haven't already, but then let's talk about yesterday. Starting with the very unsurprising news that there were a lot of comments about Disney. With, for example, Overbake saying,

it is absolutely ludicrous for Disney to try and block that lawsuit like this. Imagine if one of your family members died at Nintendo World and you try to sue Nintendo for it, only for them to basically say, sorry, you bought Nintendo Online once in 2018 and thus agreed to never sue us for anything ever. This is downright near dystopian levels of corrupt corporation, with people calling on others to be named and shamed. We also had Shay Smith saying, I've mentioned this quite a few times now in previous comments, but I've worked as a chef for nearly 10 years now. You absolutely cannot take the risk with allergens. We are responsible for our food and clearly the proper precautions weren't taken. The idea you can't sue a company that killed your wife, one of the largest companies on earth,

is so mind-numbingly idiotic, I don't even have the words for it. The chefs and Disney itself should be held responsible. Even if it was a horrific mistake that needs to be known, fuck Disney. Others chiming in, imagine slipping and falling in a Whole Foods and being told you can't sue them because you have an Amazon Prime account. Also people noting that he signed up for Disney+, not the woman who died. Others just joking about how ludicrous everything is.

Saying, person, can't wait to watch this Loki show. Disney, thank you for your purchase. You are now able to be killed by Disney. And me, signs up for Disney+, free trial. Disney, so you have chosen death. Well, that was definitely the most popular story to talk about in yesterday's comments. There was also a lot of discussion about India. Some of y'all saying things like citizen of India and specifically West Bengal, the state where the rape and murder happened. And I'm so grateful this is getting some

international coverage. Saying doctors have been asking for protection for decades now. Maybe international shaming will move the needle. But I also want to add that in this specific case, the violence was very personal and utterly gruesome. With them saying there are details coming out now that points to gang rape and violent beating of her body post death. It also looks like an act of cover-up is going on which is stoking the protests. And others adding, I'm from India. Women's safety is questionable here. Almost all women I've met here including myself have faced harassment and sexual abuse. Some face it on a daily basis.

What happened to the female doctor is horrific. The hospital administration and police are trying to hide evidence. It's frustrating this political hypocrisy. 50% of voters are women, yet the clutch hold of patriarchy is so strong at grassroots levels. I hope the doc receives justice ASAP. But that, my friends, brings us to the end of your Thursday evening, Friday morning dive into the news. That said, this, of course, is the last show of the week, but I'll be right back here on Monday with a very special slate of shows next week. So make sure you subscribe, that you got notifications turned on, and I'll see you then. Love your faces.