The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.19 The Truth About This Manufactured Controversy, Female Gamer Backlash, AOC, USPS, & More

Episode Date: August 19, 2020

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Sup you beautiful bastard, hope you had a fantastic Wednesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. Buckle up, hit that like button and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're gonna talk about today is a topic that people have really never been passionate or had polarizing opinions on, women and gaming. And as far as why we're talking about this, yesterday the official Twitter account for E3, which if you don't know, it's a major trade event in the gaming industry, they posted a tweet reading, great list of games women gamers are playing. "'Any of your favorites make the cut?' With it linking to a Parade article titled "'The Games We Play, 25 Online Games That Women Enjoy.'" And in it, the author Nicole Pager said

that she surveyed game developers, pro gamers, and everyday players to create this list of 25 free online games for women. With her then proceeding to list off her results, and already right at the top there was a red flag because many of them weren't even free. You know, number one on this list, right at the top, was a red flag because many of them weren't even free. You know, number one on this list right at the top, you see best gamer girl game.

Sudoku, apparently followed by Sayonara Wild Hearts and then Candy Crush. And then, you know, you have notable mentions like Animal Crossing, Sims 4, Kim Kardashian Hollywood Adventure. Also listing Bejeweled Classic, which she includes with the line, "'Diamonds are a girl's best friend, am I right, ladies?"

Also, she did include Overwatch on her list, though as part of the reason she wrote, "'Women like it since it has a lot of female heroes "'to portray, giving them the chance to hold their own "'amidst the boys and for its fantasy element.'" While in this writer's defense, she did also say that online games have no gender attached to them,

she added that these are some of the games that female players tend to gravitate towards. So E3 tweets this list out, and then just a lot of the gaming world was pretty offended. But to be clear, the issues weren't about the quality of these games, right? There's nothing wrong with the people who do play and enjoy these games.

The problem for many was that this list doesn't capture the full scope of women in gaming and their huge range of interests. And instead feeding into stereotypes about what women should like. Or as a writer for Kotaku put it, "'It might have been better received "'if a good chunk of the list didn't seem weighted

"'toward reinforcing stereotypes that women, "'that well-known monolithic clique, "'would rather shuffle jewels or go dancing "'than blow off demons' heads with a shotgun.'" You know, that's why we saw a number of women in the gaming space not reacting positively. We have the likes of Naomi Kyle, Trisha Hershberger, Jedi Justine taking the sarcastic approach, writing,

"'Thanks God Kim Kardashian "'Hollywood Adventure made the cut. "'What a great game. "'All my girls love this.'" You also have the likes of Meg Turney and taking the sarcastic approach, writing, "'Thanks God Kim Kardashian Hollywood Adventure made the cut. What a great game. All my girls love this.'" And also the likes of Meg Turney getting more straight to the point, writing, "'Whomst the fuck wrote this shit?' And then following that up with, "'Okay, I don't want to at her because I'm sure she did try her best.'"

But the author of this story has a tweet from a couple days before, asking if any video games experts want to help with a story with no replies. So I guess that's how we ended up having Solitaire be our favorite game. And there, the tweet she's referencing has since been deleted, but not before users of course screenshot it. It's the internet, everything will always exist forever. You know, the main reaction from Meg

and all these other people, it focused more on E3 itself, arguing that it as a video game organization should have known better than to share something like this. Which is also why after we saw this backlash, E3 deleted their tweet and issued an apology, writing, we messed up, we are taking down the post and apologize for perpetuating a harmful stereotype. We will do better.

With a spokesperson for E3 also telling Kotaku, we posted a story that does not reflect what we believe and know to be true. That women and girls make, play, and excel in games of all genres. Video games are for everyone as the unequivocal voice of the gaming community reminds us all. And also as far as Parade itself,

where the article was posted, that has now been taken down. But hey, ultimately, that is where we are with this story. And of course, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts regarding this article? What are your thoughts regarding this reaction? Personally, while I'm an outsider looking in for the female gamers and the women in the gaming industry that are frustrated by it, I think that's completely valid. And also for me, while I'm not in any way angry about it, it feels odd to have a gendered list like this. Like if you created a gaming list, it might make sense to do it based off of age, right?

Great for seven to 12 year olds. Or I mean, to even use a number that's in the article. 77% of women ages 35 to 54 say playing games helps them to relax. And 78% are using their downtime to hop into alternative worlds on their smartphones or devices. And maybe make a genre list or top 10 games that help you relax.

I don't know, for me it feels a little bit lazy, weird and unnecessary. But of course, that's a story, then my personal opinion. And now of course I pass the question off to you, whether you agree or disagree with me. What are your thoughts on this? And actually two other bits of entertainment news, though these are cool.

One, an update regarding the Fall Guys story we covered yesterday. But if you missed it, this week we're seeing massive brands and massive creators fighting to try to get their costume in the new Fall Guys game. Fall Guys, a new and massively successful battle royale game that decided to raise money for a charity. Special Effect, which is a UK-based charity

helping gamers with physical disabilities. And where we last left things, you had bids of around $100,000. As of today, it is on just a completely different level. You had massive streamer TylerNinjaBlevins coming in over $200,000. Then massive YouTuber MrBeast coming in at $300,000. And now most recently as of recording this video,

you have Ninja and Aim Lab teaming up, offering a new combined costume to go in the game along with a donation of $420,069. As far as where this thing's gonna end up, who knows, there are 12 days left. It is an awesome story for two reasons. One, at the end of the day, a lot of money is gonna get raised for a good charity.

And two, right now for anyone that wants to work in social media and marketing, just looking at the Fall Guys Twitter account, it's a masterclass so far. Along with how several other brands have interacted with it. It's really very interesting on the business side. And then the final bit of entertainment news actually has to do with David Dobrik. Of course, he's a massively successful creator online. He's broken out into the mainstream. But now it appears that in his own words, he's on massively successful creator online. He's broken out into the mainstream. But now, it appears that, in his own words,

he's on a mission to create the next great social media network built on authenticity. So if you didn't know, last Christmas, David Dobrik launched an app called David's Disposable. That's seemingly inspired by his hobby and massively successful Instagram account where he took photos of people with a disposable camera. And the kind of unique thing about the app was its limitations. It's a photo app, but it doesn't allow selfies. It always fires a flash, and it forces users to wait a day for photos to develop.

And it's a free app though you can get a $1 subscription to get rid of ads. Also you can order prints of the photos you take. And as far as how popular this app was, apparently in the first two months, they got 2 million users. And it appears that Dobrik is now trying to build something on top of that.

In a post on Product Hunt, as Tube Filter pointed out, Dobrik shared that he's seeking to hire several executives as he looks to turn the David's Disposable app into a full-fledged social media network. With the report saying, Disposable is hiring a lead designer, with Dobrik writing as well as three engineers. And honestly, if there was anyone in the community

that could do this, Dobrik's definitely one of them. Though, one of the big long-term questions is, can you build a social network if it is based on the limitations? Right, one of the previous attempts that comes to mind is Casey Neistat's Beam a few years ago. Right, before it became something else, it was initially an app company.

Right, the way you filmed there was you put your phone on your chest, the goal was you'd film what you were doing, but you'd still live in the moment. That limitation should lend itself to a more authentic experience, but we didn't end up seeing skilled success there. But with whatever David and his team ends up developing, that could end up being

an apples to oranges comparison. Personally, I'm just excited to see what happens with this. Any attempts at innovation and growth in the space, also hopefully leading to more competition, I think, ends up being a good thing. And then let's talk about some major updates that we're seeing regarding the continuing controversy and fight over the US Postal Service and mail-in voting.

So where we left off on Monday, you had the situation where hundreds of mail-in sorting machines at USPS facilities across the United States seem to be scheduled for decommission. There were very serious concerns about how those removals would affect mail-in voting in the November elections. Also accusations that the Trump administration was trying to engage in a form of voter suppression.

With us ultimately ending that piece with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows saying in an interview that between now and the election, the USPS will not be dismantling any sorting machines. Though his wording there was vague and it wasn't really clear if he was trying to dispute the fact that other machines had already been removed or if anything would be done to rectify that.

But now, the news that we've seen over the last 24 hours is that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has confirmed that the USPS will suspend its plan to decommission sorting machines until after the election. DeJoy's announcement also seeming to go a step further in suspending a number of operational changes that he's pushed since being appointed Postmaster General in June.

Retail hours at post offices will not change. Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are. No mail processing facilities will be closed and that overtime will be approved for postal workers as needed. And as far as DeJoy's reasoning here, he said that this was to avoid even the appearance

of any impact on election mail. Also announcing the expansion of the USPS's leadership task force, which will focus on delivering and handling election mail. And adding, effective October 1st, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand. However, right, there always seems to be a but

in stories like this. DeJoy's statement did not clarify whether the sorting machines that had already been removed will be replaced. Are the same question people had with Meadows still seemingly unanswered? And so because of that, you had local postal union leaders still expressing concern.

One local president, Roscoe Woods, saying a dozen machines at a distribution center in Pontiac, Michigan, they had been removed in recent weeks and that despite Joy's announcement, postal management has said that those machines aren't supposed to be put back to work. Adding that some of them are still in the process

of being taken apart and that two disassembled machines are even currently sitting on a trailer at the facility. But notably, they have no plans to put put back to work. Adding that some of them are still in the process of being taken apart and that two disassembled machines are even currently sitting on a trailer at the facility. But notably they have no plans to put them back together. Another local union president in North Carolina saying she doesn't know if dismantled sorting machines will be brought back, but adding it is highly unlikely they will be put back in place. We're also seeing similar responses and concerns

from top Democrats. House majority leader Steny Hoyer saying yesterday that while DeJoy vowed to suspend changes until after the election, we're going to make sure in law that this is the case. And adding that DeJoy must reverse any adverse consequences of the actions that have been taken to date. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterating that on Twitter,

saying, nice try Postmaster General DeJoy, but the House will still be passing our bill to ensure the delivery of the mail through the election. Right, and that bill seeks to revoke policy changes to the USPS until the end of the year, or possibly even until the end of the pandemic. Notably, it also now reportedly includes a provision to give $25 billion in funding to the USPS,

something of course the Democrats have been pushing for. Meanwhile, we've seen President Trump saying he doesn't want to give that funding to the USPS. Actually, regarding Trump and his administration, we've seen a number of lawsuits popping up, both by them and against them. Monday, of course, we talked about six states preparing to file lawsuits against the USPS and DeJoy.

Now it's being reported that at least 21 states are planning to file lawsuits this week. This, of course, over those election threats, but also over recent delays in mail that we've seen from DeJoy's changes. In fact, yesterday we saw Washington State launching its lawsuit against the USPS, accusing the agency of breaking the law

by making operational changes without first seeking approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Also arguing that recent changes will impede a state's ability to run free and fair elections. But then on the other side of this yesterday, we saw Trump's free election campaign suing New Jersey. That in an attempt to overturn an executive order by Governor Phil Murphy,

which is set to automatically send mail-in ballots to all the state's 6.2 million registered voters. With the Trump campaign calling the move a brazen power grab. But on the other side of this, you have Murphy saying, "'The president's campaign is putting itself on record "'as wanting to delegitimize our November election "'instead of working with us to ensure the voters' rights

"'are upheld alongside public health.'" And also reportedly adding in regards to the lawsuit, "'So as they say, bring it on.'" You know, at least for now, that is where we are with this whole situation. Of course, it is still developing. As far as what happens next, on Friday, DeJoy is set to testify

before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He's also agreed to appear in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday. Also, regarding the House, on Saturday they are expected to vote on that USPS bill. But, of course, it is important to remember that even if the House passes that bill, that doesn't make it law. It still needs to pass the Senate, which is Republican-controlled. Though, on that note, yes, we have seen some Senate Republicans condemning recent USPS changes, also expressing openness to approve more funding for the agency. However, we've also seen Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tell the Courier-Journal yesterday,

I don't think we'll pass in the Senate a postal-only bill. So, it is possible this bill gets no movement there. Maybe the funding is forced into a larger deal. I mean, even Trump, for his part, has said that he'll continue to block funding until Democrats offer a concession for Republicans on the next coronavirus relief package. But ultimately with this story, I do wanna pose some questions to you. First, what do you think about DeJoy

and what he's been doing with the USPS? Do you think the timing of him being put into place here and the drastic changes he's been making, is that incidental? Or do you think his drastic cuts and changes are intentional as a way to affect the election in some way? Whether it be votes not being counted because they were received too late

or just to cast further doubt? And also, what are your thoughts regarding the $25 billion proposal to help fund the USPS? Any and all thoughts? Yes, no, maybe so. Let me know in those comments down below. And then, regarding night two of the Democratic National Convention,

one of the things that was most requested from this event involved AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, because I've seen a lot of controversy, I've seen a lot of misinformation. So last night, one of the most talked about parts was AOC's 90 second speech and in that speech She opened by thanking everyone who is working towards what she described as a mass people's movement and added a movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice colonization

misogyny and homophobia and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past. A movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many, and who organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.

In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep, systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of healthcare, en el espíritu del pueblo, and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for President of the United States of America.

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Right, and so that last part generated a lot of confusion. You had a lot of people and a number of news outlets saying that she endorsed Bernie Sanders, others claiming that this was an intentional snub to Joe Biden since she didn't mention his name at all in her speech. So once all of this started blowing up, we saw AOC taking to Twitter to address this confusion, writing, If you were confused, no worries.

Convention rules require roll call and nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to second the nomination for Senator Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to Joe Biden. Let's go win in November. Okay, so to flesh that out a little more past Twitter's character limit,

any candidate that gets enough delegates can be nominated for the party's ticket. And while it's been set in stone for a while that Biden will be the nominee, because he's already passed that 1,991 delegates needed to secure the nomination, Sanders still had enough delegates to be a nominee, even if there was no shot at him winning.

Which is why when Sanders announced that he was dropping out of the race, he stayed on the ballot to collect delegates for the convention. Those delegates are then counted in a formal roll call, which normally does take place in person, but because of this virtual convention, it took place remotely with delegates in all 57 states

and territories casting their votes yesterday. Right, so nominating Sanders, even though everyone knows that Biden is going to be the nominee, is a symbolic gesture that acknowledges his run and his influence in the party. It's what Sanders had previously said he wanted, and when AOC seconded Sanders' nomination,

she wasn't taking a jab at Biden, she was just following a standard practice at the DNC. And despite a lot of the narratives that have been going around online and in the media, she also wasn't going rogue and using that 90 seconds to undermine the party. The DNC literally asked her to do this, a fact that she thanked them for while congratulating Biden

in another tweet yesterday. She also wasn't even the first person to bring up Sanders's nomination. The DNC also asked Bob King, the former president of the United Auto Workers, to speak before AOC and formally announce the nomination so that she could then give her speech seconding it. And even beyond that, the convention also published a press release that explicitly said that AOC and King would be giving nominating speeches for Sanders. So not only did she do exactly what the party had asked her to do,

this was something that had been officially announced prior. So that of course led to questions regarding the misreporting here. Is it just laziness or is it intentional? Because I think it's incredibly This was something that had been officially announced prior. So that of course led to questions regarding the misreporting here. Is it just laziness or is it intentional? Because I think it's incredibly understandable for the average person who doesn't read DNC press clips or know the ins and outs of convention rules to find AOC's speech incredibly confusing. But the news media should be held to a higher standard,

which is also why we saw a ton of backlash against outlets that ran this kind of AOC gone rogue, AOC endorses Sanders over Biden narrative. And the outlet that looks like they got hit the hardest here was NBC, which posted a tweet reading, "'In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, "'Representative Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden.'" That remained out for everyone to see and spread and click

until about four hours later when NBC issued a correction, saying the tweet should have included more information and that they deleted it to not spread further confusion. Also noting that AOC had in fact been asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination and that she had previously endorsed Biden. We also saw them seeming to go back on their claim that her speech was one of the shortest at the convention

by clarifying that it was a similar length to other nominating speeches. While they didn't say this, we should also note that her speech was that length because the DNC only gave her 60 seconds to speak, though she went over a little and took 90. But with all of this, regarding that NBC post and tweet, a lot of people felt that the correction

still didn't undo the damage it had done. This, including AOC herself, who criticized the outlet on Twitter this morning, writing, "'You waited several hours to correct your obvious "'and blatantly misleading tweet. "'It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, "'and now the misinformation you created "'is circulating on other networks,

all to generate hate clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion." Also saying, as I told you just moments ago, that the DNC had shared the purpose of her remarks with the media well in advance, and that NBC knew what was going to happen and that it was standard. Adding, how does a headline that malicious and misleading

happen with that prior knowledge? But they're going on to ask NBC how they were going to fix the damage and misinformation that they caused, because quote, a 1.15 a.m. tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn't it. Personally, I find her concern there very valid. It kind of boils down to that same question we always see,

was this laziness and ignorance or intentional? Shop generates clicks, so I could understand if this was intentional, but I also think it's important to remember that people are incredibly flawed So it's possible that someone made a mistake also to the people who are like Sanders and AOC They shouldn't be doing this everyone should have just said Biden by Biden I personally think that it makes sense for the Democratic Party to acknowledge and kind of tip a hat to Bernie Sanders and in effect The people who voted for it last thing the DNC needs to be doing now is looking like they're taking for granted the Bernie Sanders

Progressive vote, you know I think there are a lot of progressives right now that are thinking of the big picture, that it's literally anyone versus Trump. And a vote for a lot of, you know, progressives for Biden, it's for them probably akin to voting to eat a shit sandwich. The Democrats only ever have a chance to win

when they have a very big tent, a difference of ideals under one roof, right? It's why this week we're hearing from people like an AOC and then more moderates and people like John Kasich and Cindy McCain. But yeah, main thing, this is one of the most requested things regarding the DNC that people want to talk about. And also, I mean, especially on Facebook,

there's a lot of people sharing false information based off of misleading reports. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. To the 271 of you still here, thank you again for being a part of these daily dives into the news. Also, if you happen to be new here, definitely join the family, hit that subscribe button. I'd also recommend tapping that bell

to turn on notifications. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.