The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.25 Taylor Swift Just Broke The Internet, Canada's Nazi Praising Scandal, Creepy Kick Stream Backlash, &

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Click my CoPilot link https://go.mycopilot.com/PhilipDeFranco or scan the QR code to get a 14-day FREE trial with your own personal trainer! https://beautifulbastard.com/ NEW Beautiful Bastard Drop! ���Bearly Functioning” Tees & Hoodies, Spooky Season Gear & More! Go Buy http://WakeandMakeCoffee.com 50% OFF select orders! This new batch won’t last long. Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/jlIyMJLv14w?si=jhao9kGWM1T02gg5  Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Streamers Slam Kick Over Creepy, Controversial Ice Poseidon Stream 05:19 - The IRS Is Cracking Down on Resellers After Eras Tour Disasters 07:54 - Writers Reach Tentative Deal With Studios 10:51 - UAW Strike Expands Against GM and Stellantis, Sparing Ford  13:06 - Sponsored by CoPilot 14:03 - Canada House Speaker Apologizes For Letting Nazi Speak 17:06 - Pressure Grows on Sen. Bob Menendez To Resign 19:41 - Gen Z Spends Big to Cure Loneliness 22:24 - Your Thoughts on Thursday’s Stories ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #Hasanabi #TaylorSwift ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about this absolutely wild situation around Taylor Swift and how she may be why some of you are about to get audited by the IRS. This disgusting and creepy livestream scandal that's got the internet freaking out right now. The writer's strike might be ending. The US Senator has been indicted for accepting bribes. Canadian Parliament invited a Nazi to speak

and gave him a standing ovation. We're talking about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, all made possible by beautiful bastards like you who do things like take part in this surprise drop I just launched at beautifulbastard.com. It is only live for the next 36 hours.

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So if you want, you can snag one of three new designs, which include one, barely functioning, something that I can relate to while I'm making this video. Two, might have gone a little bit too specific on this one. My body hurts and I hate the government. Can we cuddle and watch spooky movies? Spooky season tee, hoodie, and crew. And finally, the flowery, I just wanna make enough

to comfortably live the lifestyle I'm currently living uncomfortably. Tee, crew, and cropped hoodie. And again, you only have a few select hours to grab it if you want it, so link down below. And like with surprise drops, these are made as you ordered, so it's literally first come, first serve. But enough of that. We got a lot of news to talk about today, so let's just jump into it. Starting with, Kik is currently embroiled in controversy, getting a lot of backlash, which they have seemingly embraced in the past, but some say that this time feels different. And that's because this is stemming

from a stunt that longtime streamer Ice Poseidon pulled. Because he and Sam Pepper, who you might be familiar with, he's an old school content creator. Some have referred to him as a disgusting, predatory con man. But reportedly, they were in Australia and they paid a man to hire an escort and they live streamed the encounter while they were apparently hiding in the room next door. In a viral clip from that stream, you can see the man and the escort on the couch together when she gets a message on her phone from someone seemingly trying to warn her that she's being set up, trying to say that there are two men,

presumably Ice Poseidon and Sam in the other room, and it's hard to hear exactly what she's saying, but you hear her go. What's this about the guys you're messaging now? Guys are in the bedroom, I am watching a live stream. Guy, Sam from the Speaker was the two guys in the bedroom. They're setting you up, by the way, if you leave. But the whole situation then clearly becoming uncomfortable for her and she starts to leave.

But then he appears to block the door saying he paid her $500, but she tells him it's creepy and essentially has to force her way out of the door. And so people saw this clip and they were horrified that it was allowed on kick thinking it's creepy and just proves that the whole platform's unsafe. With one of the big online reactions being people horrified by a guy blocking a door and trying to stop her from leaving. Meanwhile, others were outraged because they thought that the escort was being filmed in secret, that the cameras were hidden, though Ice Poseidon did hit back at those claims,

saying the camera was not hidden, and sharing a clip where the woman is told there is a camera. That's all right. Filming? Yeah. Okay. That's on the live stream? Yeah, sure.

As well as a clip from earlier where she says it's $100 more to film, that she doesn't care what's done with the video. I'm wondering if it's okay100 more to film that she doesn't care what's done with the video. I'm wondering if it's okay to film. Is that alright? Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's an extra $100 for filming now. Alright. Perfect. It doesn't matter

what I do with the video. No, not at all. Also sharing a clip where he's telling the guy that it wasn't okay that he was blocking the door. Definitely cannot hold the door shut. You have to let her go. You cannot hold the door shut. I was about to fly out. If you would have stood there for a second longer,

I was about to fly out of the room and just try to resolve everything. Ice Poseidon also hitting back at the many people saying he was arrested, writing, I got swatted after, not arrested. It's legal content that even the police wrote off as legal and safe.

But still, you had tons of people saying, okay, legal or not, this whole situation is just gross and predatory. With people in the space like Jake Luckey pointing out that Ice and Sam were still allegedly hiding in the room next door, right? That certainly adds a level of discomfort. But what potentially outraged people the most was the fact that Eddie Craven, the CEO of Kik, was in the chat putting out emojis laughing, seemingly encouraging this behavior. And so you had people saying things like, if you in any way, shape, or form still believe Kik is somewhere to foster a community, you are part of the problem.

A literal co-founder was in the stream and did nothing apart from laugh, even after she was blocked from leaving. As well as ice needs to be gone. Eddie needs to apologize. If Kik streaming doesn't do anything about this, it will say a lot. Meanwhile, you had some saying they're no longer going to stream on Kik because of this. Others saying, if you're on Kik after this, I want nothing to do with you. Condoning this content slash behavior is unacceptable. And if you believe streaming

on that platform has nothing to do with this, you are sadly mistaken. Also people condemning Kik and the situation, but seemingly staying on the platform so they can quote, make sure Kik is growing a community that is inclusive and safe for everyone. You know, as all this was playing out, the backlash was happening. Kik released a statement saying, there's incredible untapped potential in what live streaming has to offer. We're firm believers that the greatest days of live streaming are yet to come. With that said, community and public safety cannot be compromised in the process of making content. We're continuously learning where this balance sits

and are making changes daily. We appreciate our community for the continuous feedback, both the good and the bad. We'll keep you updated on upcoming changes to community guidelines and subsequent enforcement measures. And while that may have satisfied some, there were a lot of people online that just thought that statement was bullshit. But that also including the likes of streamer Hasan Piker saying,

Incredible PR statement from the website where the founder was laughing in the chat of a sex pest streamer trying to stream a sex worker and not letting her leave. And others saying things like, sorry, but you're still learning where the balance sits? So you didn't know people would be upset about attempted live sexual assaults? And saying the site is a boys club that enables and celebrates predatory behavior. We've all seen how these sorts of environments are behind the scenes. Is anyone even surprised? I'm certainly not. But with all that said, as we wait to see if there's more fallout, how things play out in the court of public opinion, if there are policy changes, I gotta pass the question off to you, what are your thoughts here? And then, Taylor Swift took over an entire weekend news cycle

just by showing up to a place. With people losing their damn minds over her going to Arrowhead Stadium to watch Travis Kelsey play. With all of that coming after weeks of, oh, are they dating speculation online? Like you had news reporters post-game where they're normally asking questions like, hey, so when it was third and seven and you threw the ball over here, what was going through your mind? I didn't see any of those clips. I just saw people asking football players of like, hey, did you feel pressure to throw a touchdown to Travis Kelsey because his maybe girlfriend's here? Everyone went into high school gossip mode. Did you hear

the captain of the football team might be going out with the head cheerleader? Though in their defense, that was probably the most interesting of the questions you could ask for a game that was so one-sided. Though not as one-sided as that Denver-Miami game. Oh my God, Denver, are you okay? Watching that game made me feel less bad about being a Jets fan. But to bring it back around, the reason I'm talking about Taylor Swift today actually has nothing to do with what happened with Travis Kelsey, but everything to do with Ticketmaster. Because as tickets for Olivia Rodrigo's Guts Tour went on sale last week, Ticketmaster has been trying to squash the scalpers by introducing an interesting new policy. With it working like this, purchased tickets will only become available 72 hours before the show you paid to see,

regardless of when you bought the ticket. Now with that, according to Variety sources, this is actually not a super new concept, with a similar delay being reportedly used in tours for Ed Sheeran, Jack Harlow, and Doja Cat. However, you also have some concern this is actually not gonna do anything to stop scalpers. With reportedly many sites already selling

what they refer to as speculative tickets, and this delay could just result in a massive stampede on the secondary market during those 72 hours before the show. But there also might be a bigger deterrent on the horizon for resellers, taxes. And that's because the IRS got wind of all y'all that were reselling Error's Tour tickets

at ridiculous prices, and now they want their cut. Which makes sense. Taylor Swift's The Error's Tour drew so much attention to the obscene prices that resellers charge for concert tickets. With Fortune reporting that the average cost for a ticket to The Error's Tour was $254, but the average resell price was reportedly over $2,000.

And now, thanks to a new law that was just passed, it'll require Ticketmaster and StubHub to turn over information to the IRS about sellers who sold more than $600 worth of tickets. And those sellers will then be required to bill out forms reporting those sales, and then will be taxed for it. And a very important note here is that $600 number is based on the sale price, not the profit made by the seller. And the reason you might have never heard of this law is because it's part of the American Rescue Plan Act and was implemented for the 2023 tax year. And so one of the big things here is whether it be you resold Arastor tickets for thousands of dollars or others over this amount, you might be getting a call from Uncle Sam soon. And this is expected to hit a number of people because before this law, sellers were only required to report if they made more than $20,000 through 200 or more transactions throughout the year.

There's a pretty huge difference between $600,000 and $20,000. So with all that, I guess, one, good luck to those about to enter their audit era. And two, just for everyone else, what do you think about these anti-scalping measures? And then, the writer's strike may actually be over soon, but we do have to hold up for a second. That's because the Writers Guild and studios reached a tentative deal last night after nearly 150 days on the picket lines. But just because it appears that a deal has been reached doesn 150 days on the picket lines. But just because it appears that a deal has been reached doesn't mean that the strike is automatically over. The picketing will come to a halt, but the legal language still needs to be approved, and it

needs to face several rounds of voting and ratification before anything's official. Though with that, we're seeing writers finally feeling like they can breathe a sigh of relief, with the guild sending a letter to its members saying, what we have won in this contract, most particularly everything we have gained since May 2nd, is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side by side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days. It is the leverage generated by your strike in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal. And adding, we can say with great pride that this deal is exceptional, with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership. Now, with that said, right now,

we don't know the details of this agreement, but many outlets like the New York Times have said that writers were able to secure many of their demands. So we likely won't know what's in there for certain until the Guild shares that information, and it also won't do so until the deal is 100% finalized. With the Guild also with that, asking for patience as things wrap up, and also explaining what the next steps look like. Because once the deal is actually completed, the negotiating committee will vote on whether or not to recommend it to the boards of both the East

and the West Coast branches of the Guild. Then, both of those branches have to vote on whether or not they want to send the contract to a ratification vote by union membership. And if things go as planned, leadership votes are currently scheduled for Tuesday. Though, the Guild is emphasizing that even as things are looking bright, no one is to return to work yet.

Or the Guild will set an end date to the strike, likely sometime during the ratification. And so once that officially ends, late night shows and talk shows will be the first to return to air. And that, likely to kind of be it, because the actor strike will continue to halt most other productions.

Which on that note, SAG, the union representing the actors who still remain on strike, have put out a statement saying, we extend our heartfelt congratulations on securing a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We applaud your dedication, diligence, and unwavering solidarity over the last five months and are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as creative partners in the entertainment

industry. This notably as both actors and writers have been fighting against things like increased residuals and against the use of AI. And so a very key thing is that you have writers still emphasizing the importance of standing with the actors, even if their deal is near the finish line. With, for example, the LA Times even speaking to writers who were out celebrating at bars all over the city last night, many of whom were excited but still thinking about their colleagues. With one showrunner, Dan Ewan, telling the outlet, in one aspect, it's done, but we also have our SAG brothers and sisters out there, and it's

important to get this entire industry up and going again. I think in a general momentum sense, it's a giant step, but without them, there's nothing in front of the camera. And you also have people like showrunner Mark Blutman telling the outlet that now that the writers are done, he thinks that the actors are likely to follow very soon and explaining, We were carefully negotiating a lot of things that will set a pathway for SAG-AFTRA. The heavy lifting was done. And I don't think I'm being optimistic. I think I'm being realistic. I'm hoping it'll be two or three weeks, maybe four, they'll make their deal.

But we will be out there with them. So fantastic news for those in the industry, fantastic news for movie fans, and fantastic news for me, who is hoping to still be alive when Beyond the Spider-Verse comes out. But notably, the writer's strike isn't the only one making headlines today. The United Auto Workers Union has widened their strike against two of the big three automakers here in the U.S., with workers at 20 Stellantis and 18 GM parts distribution centers walking off the job over the weekend, a move that could seriously impact the supply of spare parts for their vehicles. However, we saw the union spare Ford and their strike expansion, saying that the company has actually done more to meet the demands of the union than the others. And the union saying to its members

over the weekend, our pressure on Ford is starting to pay off. With the UAW saying Ford has agreed to adjust workers pay with inflation and increasing profit sharing. But the big concession that Ford made was agreeing that workers have the right to strike over plant closures, with UAW President Sean Fain saying, I don't have to tell you that this is an important victory in our fight to save our jobs, keep families together, to keep our communities from being gutted. And so now a deal between the UAW and Ford for all or at least most of what the union is looking for puts some serious pressure on GM and Stellantis, according to Michael Duff, a law professor and former attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. It forces them to argue why are they different from Ford and shouldn't

be expected to make the same concessions. We've already seen Ford offer a quote exceptional deal in Canada, a deal that was ratified by their auto workers union over the weekend. So far, we haven't seen a comment from the UAW regarding the deal reached in Canada. So we'll have to wait to see what effect it will have on their strike or any potential deals here. And while, of course, the most important thing about this strike is making sure that workers get a fair deal, we also need to talk about the politics of it all. Because actually, Biden announced last week that he'd be visiting the picket lines tomorrow. With that announcement notably coming quickly after Trump made plans to visit Michigan himself to give a speech to current and former union

members, including the UAW. Biden has faced a lot of political pressure regarding the UAW strike, with the union president, Sean Fain, openly criticizing the president earlier this year because of his administration's push towards electric vehicles. And he openly called upon the president to show his support just hours before Biden announced his plan to visit the picket line, saying, we invite and encourage everyone

who supports our cause to join us on the picket lines with our friends and family all the way to the president of the United States. And this as Biden has yet to receive an endorsement from the union, despite presenting himself as the most pro-union president in history. And so his visit is set to take place tomorrow. Trump's speech is scheduled for Wednesday.

Though notably, Fain has historically been pretty critical of Trump and Republicans, and last week denounced Trump's planned visit to Michigan. Though Trump, of course, has been undeterred, saying on Truth Social, if the UAW, quote, leadership doesn't endorse me, and if I don't win the election, the autoworkers are toast with our great truckers to follow. And so in general, we're going to have to wait to see how all this plays out. And then, you know, change and

making changes is hard for most of us. But that feeling that you get when you start seeing the results from those changes, amazing. May I even say motivational. And thanks to the sponsor of today's show, Copilot. I know this to be true. Copilot takes the thinking out of working out. You just follow the scheduled workouts our coaches give you. And after the workouts, you can give feedback, staying in touch with your coach through messaging or calls. And that's what I do. I follow Thanks for watching. want to join me on a fitness journey of your own, just click my copilot link or scan the QR code to get a 14-day free trial with your own personal trainer. And remember, the changes that you make today can enhance your life in ways you never thought possible. Seize your moment, and with a guiding hand like Copilot, your success has never been more attainable. And I feel like I'm proof of that, because remember, while I'm not done with anything, because there's no done here, because

while it's all about the journey of life, I mean, this is where I started my health journey, and this is where I'm at right now. And then, oh my God, these Canadian lawmakers. And I'm sorry to all you Jewish beautiful bastards for having to cover a story like this on Yom Kippur. But they're in high water right now because they gave a standing ovation to a man who fought for the Nazis in World War II. Which like, y'all, the bar couldn't get lower unless it was under the ground. And to make matters worse, this guy who literally fought for the Nazis spoke right after Ukrainian President Zelensky, who was Jewish and had family killed during the Holocaust, gave a speech. He was even introduced by Speaker Anthony Roda as a hero, with a Ukrainian veteran in question being a 90-something-year-old named Yaroslav Hanka.

And apparently the reason he was invited at all is because he fought against Russia like his modern-day countrymen. However, a key thing is that politics were way different back then. At the time, Ukraine was part of the USSR and had just endured a genocide, and many still wanted independence. But because of the war, they had few potential allies. Russia was part of the allies and close partners with the US, unlike today. And at the time, there were a ton of groups working in Ukraine to get its freedom that ranged in ideology. And unfortunately, many Ukrainians at the time bought into the Nazi ideology completely and helped them not only fight Russia, but also round up Ukraine's considerable Jewish population and killed over a million. And Hanka seems to have been one of those, with him fighting for the 14th

Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, with one major Holocaust awareness group pointing out it's a Nazi military unit whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well documented, with him also going on to add that Hanka's unit in particular was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable. And so with this standing ovation, we saw Putin immediately capitalize. With his spokesperson calling parliament's reaction to Hanka revolting and adding that, quote, a whole new generation has grown up in Canada

unaware of fascism and Nazi crimes, and we can see Nazism resurrect here and there, like, for example, in Ukraine. Some also memed Don Trudeau for inviting a Nazi to parliament and suggesting that German should be the national language. Meanwhile, you had Jackson Henkel, who some said must be getting paid by Russia,

or he at least wants Putin to be his daddy based off of how much he gushes about him on Twitter, saying, After Zelensky, Trudeau and the Canadian parliament gave two standing ovations to a Ukrainian World War II Nazi yesterday. I hope people understand why we must all come together and support President Putin's heroic mission

of denazifying Ukraine. But here's the thing. One, fuck all Nazis. I think that's the bare minimum. Worthless pieces of shit. Two, to act like this is anything other than a mistake, stupid fuck-up is like shouting that you're trying to push Putin propaganda. And that's because, three, if you take a few minutes and you trouble yourself to look into this,

it doesn't seem like nearly anyone knew that Hunko was a Nazi or that he'd even be speaking at the time. You had Trudeau's office saying that no advance notice was provided to the prime minister's office nor the Ukrainian delegation about the invitation or the recognition. And it looks like Hunka came at the sole invitation of Rhoda, who has taken full responsibility for this whole shit show. With him also going on to say,

I particularly want to extend my apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my actions. And so it completely makes sense that he's currently facing calls to resign. So just based off of everything we know, you kind of just got to make one of two decisions, right? You either think the situation boils down to Zelensky and Trudeau being engaged in a secret Nazi conspiracy, or it's a colossal fuck up by people that didn't

look into a guy's past. Also, it's a huge lesson on why learning about history is so important, right? Because just some casual knowledge about World War II's Eastern Front, what if we use major red flags if you said, some Ukrainian who fought Russia is going to speak? And then, y'all, ooh, the U.S. Senate got shaken up last week after federal prosecutors accused Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his wife of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes. These bribes allegedly coming in the form of not only raw cash, but also gold bars and Mercedes-Benz, and among other things, mortgage payments.

In return, it's alleged that he used his power in the Senate to help out three New Jersey businessmen. With that said to include things like trying to disrupt investigations into some of them, or allegedly getting cash from one businessman who was originally from Egypt in return for having dinner with Egyptian officials and discussing the status of military aid, which would already be an issue, but also considering his status as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that's a pretty massive deal. And so as you would expect, he's facing tons of calls to resign. The New Jersey's governor putting out a statement shortly after

the indictment was announced and saying, the allegations in the indictment against Senator Menendez and four other defendants are deeply disturbing. These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system. With the man going on to say that while Menendez had the right to a fair trial, the alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state. Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation. And in fact, many Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives echoed those calls. He's even now facing a challenger from Representative Andy Kim from New Jersey,

who said that he didn't expect to run, but now felt compelled to. However, we've seen his Democratic colleagues in the Senate far more reluctant to call for his resignation. And actually, as of recording this video, the only one to openly do so has been Senator John Fetterman, who said he's entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations.

So we saw other colleagues far more cautious, with many criticizing him and saying the allegations were extremely serious, but then they stopped short of asking for his resignation. With, for example, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praising Menendez's years in office, while also saying he should temporarily step down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. With, for example, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praising Menendez's years in office while also saying he should temporarily step down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee until the matter is resolved,

which notably is something that Menendez said he would be doing. Though also, for his part, Menendez has denied the allegations and is resisting calls to resign, saying, Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to fight for the people of New Jersey

with the same success I've had for the past five decades. He also said that some of the calls to resign were motivated by the fact that he's Latino, although notably on that last part, he got some pushback from AOC, who said that while obviously there is systemic bias against Latinos in many parts of the U.S., quote, I think what is here in this indictment is quite clear. And this is, you know, a U.S. senator being accused of corruption and taking bribes is actually pretty rare, or at least, I mean, officially accused by prosecutors. So actually, in Menendez's case, this has happened before. The last time this happened being in 2017, when he was accused of accepting bribes from a wealthy doctor before a mistrial was declared. So no matter what, we're

going to have to keep an eye on what actually happens here. Although, a key thing, if Menendez does actually step down, it is unlikely to upset the balance in the Senate. That's because if that were to happen, New Jersey's governor would actually be able to appoint a new one, and he's a Democrat. And then, y'all, we have a huge loneliness problem in America. Also, specifically, Gen Z is the loneliest generation in America, but also, it is affecting people in ways you might not know. As of December, over a third of Americans aged 18 to 25 reportedly felt lonely frequently almost all the time, or all the time. And it's often been observed that loneliness can literally kill you. Even the U.S. Surgeon General wrote in a recent report that social isolation can be as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and it

contributes to health issues including cardiovascular disease, dementia, and stroke. And while you may be familiar with that aspect, what's less often recognized is the financial cost of being lonely. Because of the 23 young people whom Insider interviewed for their piece, all but three said that they spend more on social activities to make friends than they did before the pandemic, with many spending several hundred dollars a month on things like gym memberships, art classes, or social clubs, not to mention the cost of going out to restaurants or bars. And while some worry about their finances, many, like one guy who spends $230 a month for memberships at a rock climbing gym and a jujitsu gym, argue that the investment is worth it, saying that if you pay for something, you're more likely to show up to it and consistency

is key to building connections. And adding, these types of activities ease the process of making friends more so than free activities because they tend to be more structured. Saying basically, you're stuck together with everyone else there and forced into new social situations. Of course, with all that, not everyone can actually afford to do so, even if they're willing. So you're seeing others seeking out less expensive social venues, things like free gallery events, volunteering gigs, or book clubs. Or I mean, if you don't even want to leave the house, there are apps like Bumble, BFF, and Meetup that have become popular ways to create platonic friendships. Although some people may feel awkward using those apps now, they might just evolve the same way romantic dating apps did. I mean, while I didn't

use apps, I remember it was weird that I met my now wife online. There was a time where people were like, what are you talking about? You met a person online? Why would you do that? But now it feels like it's just completely flipped. So obviously not for everyone. And that's because there's no one size fits all, right? Just as different people have different attitudes towards the loneliness epidemic, right? Some are optimistic, like this woman who says that running, biking, and a mini golf course membership helped her meet people with her sharing this advice, saying, if you just take the leap and go find something to do, you'll end up making some friends. Adding odds are there's probably hundreds of other people that are in a similar position to you that are also looking for

friends. But then others are more pessimisticistic like this Forbes contributor who argues that the ruthless pursuit of maximum convenience has constructed a world in Which human contact is minimized. Where as back in the old times you'd naturally have to interact with people in your daily life Now you often have to go out of the way to find that same level of intimacy with them writing when we go to the Supermarket machines scan our items with no need to say hello. Goodbye or thank you Delivery services will drop off our shopping without the need to leave the house. We can work from home and speak to people via digital screens. Social interaction is a wasteful activity viewed through the lens of cold, hard numbers. But when viewed through human eyes, social interaction is what makes us inherently human. And so I'll pass that question off to you fellow humans, definitely not

an alien here. What has your experience been with loneliness, especially post-pandemic, and how do you try to deal with it? And then let's talk about yesterday, today, where we take a look back at the last show where we covered so many news stories, and then we dive into those comments to see what your reactions are, your opinions are, what your experiences are.

And the comments last show had a lot to do with work. I mean, regarding strikes, we saw comments like, I feel like we're getting closer and closer to a general strike. Companies throughout all industries are pushing people to their limits, and we're all just so tired of it. With a big portion of the conversation having to do with companies trying to get people back into the office.

With beautiful bastards like Vanessa sharing, the mandatory return to office thing is so surprising. I feel like people are more productive at home and don't have to deal with office nonsense. All this feels like is a control issue. Like company heads want to micromanage to assert their dominance, and it's silly. And many agreeing it feels like they're trying to put the genie back in the bottle with bed saying this remote work situation has been a real eye-opener for me i used to commute one hour 30 minutes one way to work on top of the frustration of traffic my pocketbook was taking a hit of over 400 in tolls and more in gas every month saying i

had to stop work early to commute and then work more when i got home my family suffered because we weren't able to spend time together all my time was company time saying since the pandemic, our company had closed its office location where I live and made everyone remote. Ensuring not only was this a huge benefit for me money-wise, but my family and mental health saw the benefit as well. And for the company, they no longer have to pay a lease on a brick and mortar establishment or those utilities. Which I got to say, as a business owner myself, that last part definitely resonates with me.

Well, obviously, every business is different. We were able to go remote and actually thrive. It saved us money. It also allowed us to hire more people from out of state. All of a sudden, having people on the East Coast that can start before other people, it allows these bigger shows to be easier to put out. Just as an employee and an employer, it provides a lot of flexibility. Well, obviously, it's easier said than done. I think a lot of employers do need to try and get past the fear of people aren't working because a lot of that honestly comes down to you. If you're

the one setting up the deliverables and your employees are meeting that, what's the problem? Otherwise, you end up in that classic position of employees feeling like they're being penalized because they did a good job very fast, right? In situations where they do that, all of a sudden now they get more work. That's their reward. Also, I will say what was really notable from the conversation is how companies are going about this push. With a number of y'all sharing experiences like, my husband was hired as a virtual employee years before the pandemic. Now, out of nowhere after a decade and with a stellar performance record, he's told to relocate our family to an unaffordable city without any kind of pay raise to compensate for the cost of living, which would triple for us. He's now hunting for a

job and is one of the most stressful times we've experienced together. We're both angry and disillusioned. It just reinforces what so many people have learned. Hard work gets you nothing. With that kind of thinking also tying to the general kind of feelings about post-pandemic life. Like I'm so angry about the positives of the pandemic being systematically undone. Or with that, obviously connected to work from home, but also all the safety nets we saw

now getting pulled away post-pandemic. And that is where your daily dive into the news is gonna end. As always, thank you for watching and being subscribed to our daily dives into the news. For more news you need to know right now, I got you covered right here. You can click or tap, or I got links in the description.

And as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here for more news tomorrow.