The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.3 What Everyone Gets Wrong About "Youtube Dying", Vultures, & Baby Food... Plus More of Today's News

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

The Reports of Youtube's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated... PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Go to http://livemomentous.com and use code DEFRANCO to get 20% off.     Get up to 50% OFF @ https://BeautifulBastard.com today! Get your new favorite comfy tee, hoodie, & more 63 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Discourse About Multistreaming Explodes as Streamers’ Exclusivity Deals End 04:35 - 11-Year-Old Confesses to Killing Former Louisiana Mayor and Daughter 06:33 - 60% of Baby and Toddler Food Sold in U.S. Doesn’t Meet Nutrition Standards 10:10 - Sponsored by PDS Debt  11:08 - People in Turkey Protest Law Mandating Local Governments Kill Stray Dogs 14:25 - Hotel Workers Strike Across the US as Trump and Harris Vie for Labor Votes 18:27 - Russian Strike Kills Dozens in Ukraine in One of the Deadliest Strikes of the War  21:57 - Sponsored by Momentous  23:04 - How the Disappearance of Vultures Killed Half a Million People Ludwig’s Video on Twitch, YouTube, and Multistreaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66QhCpPuL4U ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Vultures: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #Moistcritikal #Pokimane ———————————— 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. Small, big, weird, scary. We got everything. So you just buckle up, hit that like button, train YouTube to let it know

that you like these big daily dives into the news. And let's jump into it. This is a news show. Is YouTube live streaming dead? That's a question some of the biggest creators in the world are debating right now as streamers are either shifting back to Twitch or focusing on multi-streaming. With us, for example, over the weekend seeing the likes of Tim the Tapman, Dr. Lupo, and more starting to stream on Twitch after their exclusivity deals with YouTube ended.

With also some of the reporting around this issue believing that YouTube's the one that's opting not to renew contracts. With the belief that the strategy is focusing less and less on the contracts. But really, whatever the behind is focusing less and less on the contracts. But really whatever the behind the scenes situation is, the main thing is that it's allowed these creators to now multi-stream to both Twitch and YouTube or really anywhere else they want to at the same time. What we've seen is that Twitch has actually pulled generally better numbers.

With some reports noting that Tim saw a closer to even split, slightly favored Twitch, right? It's like a 60-40 ratio. With Dr. Lupo, it was way more dramatic, with his Twitch viewers outnumbering ones on YouTube by three to one or even four to one. And So of course with that, now you have tons of creators talking about this trend, about why people are making the move from YouTube back to Twitch and what this means for each platform. With some creators like Moist Critical saying,

one major factor is just money. The earning potential on YouTube streams is substantially lower than it is on Twitch. Twitch is a platform with culture. Chat experience on Twitch has always and will always be better than YouTube. Twitch just has a culture of subbing. Tim the Tap Man can make in one day what it took three years for him to make on YouTube, at least when it comes to like membership numbers versus sub numbers. And there we actually saw Rod Breslau talk about the culture experience, noting that YouTube will never be able to replicate Twitch's community, so Twitch will always win there.

You also had other creators pointing to the pros and cons, the likes of Pokimane writing, streaming on YouTube is fun, but you can miss out on the traffic from game directories slash metas, and it takes more effort to interact with other streamers. Other creators like Valkyrie saying they both have their moments,

and it would be nice to just squish them together into one, which is also probably one of the reasons that multi-streaming has been taking off. But also when it comes to multi-streaming, some people seem to be more split. Creators like Ludwig, for example, saying that it's not all it's cracked up to be. I think when you fracture your audience,

you also fracture your peak growth. But I find multi-streamers to also be bad at multi-streaming. They usually care about one chat more than the other. You don't become the next Kai Sinat if you have 50,000 viewers on YouTube and 50,000 viewers on Twitch. You become the next Kai Sinat if you have like, you know, 90,000 on just one platform

and you're the biggest person on that platform. With the argument being that it is better to kind of climb to the top of one mountain so you can get promoted a ton there and become the star of that place. We did say that if you're new, you should try to grow your numbers and you should be using both platforms. Don't marry yourself to a platform.

You don't know where your audience is going to come from. I think it can be pretty good for creators who just want maybe as many eyeballs on them as possible. If they're trying to spread a message or raise money for charity or doing events. So there you also have the likes of Voice Critical kind of pushing back on that narrative, saying that he finds multi-streaming to be kind of the best of both worlds, especially for viewers. I think it's better for viewers because you give them the option to watch you on their favorite platform. And I think it's good for the streamer too,

because you're reaching two separate audiences at the same time. The YouTube audience and the Twitch audience, yes, there's definitely gonna be overlap, but it's not like it's the same audience on both platforms that's been fractured. It's two separate ones. So as far as like where all of this

actually leaves YouTube streaming, right? You had some wondering if YouTube's totally lost the war. Even Ludwig asking, is YouTube live streaming a wash? Has it been a failure of an attempt by YouTube to compete against Twitch? And there we saw both he and Moy saying that you could argue that maybe that's true in the US, right? The Twitch is still king here, but you have to look at the international market because international markets actually favor YouTube streaming. You know, with all that said, you know, while my experience has kind of been all over the place, for those who have watched me for a while, about a decade ago, I used to do an after show over on Twitch, which really was just me playing video games and destroying controllers while I sucked at FIFA or doing knife only streams on Call of Duty. And then

more recently, you know, I've tested just chatting streams in the morning with a little bit of multi-streaming, but really bit of multi-streaming. But really I think multi-streaming makes the most sense. Right, so generally I'm of a mindset of there, there's no single one answer for everyone. As far as what is the best strategy if you are the creator that is streaming. If you do want a deeper dive on this,

I think Ludwig's video is probably the most well done on this specific topic. I'll link to it down below. With all that said on this, I wanna ask you as a consumer, like what are your thoughts on the state of streaming right now? Do you have platform preferences?

Do you like multi-streaming because it allows you to stay in your main place of choice? Or when someone is multi-streaming, does it feel like the general experience is less than? Yeah, I'd just love to know your thoughts there. And then, we should talk about how a child just confessed to killing two adults. Because over the weekend, 82-year-old Joe Cornelius Sr. and his daughter, 31-year-old Keisha Miles, were found dead in Joe's home in Minden, Louisiana. And according to the neighbors, a fight had broken out between Joe and an unnamed 11-year-old relative.

And I say 11 years old because while police initially said the boy was 10, they very recently corrected his age to 11 after many articles had already been published. With the neighbors saying the two were arguing about credit card charges for video games, and then one neighbor heard gunshots. And when Joe and Keisha's bodies were found Sunday morning,

they had multiple gunshot wounds, with police determining that two handguns were used and the magazines on each were empty. There was also reportedly a six-year-old who was in the house at the time of the shooting, but wasn't hurt. And as a part of the investigation, the 11-year-old was brought in by his grandmother,

who is his guardian. And the police there are explaining that the boy's grandmother is also Keisha Miles' mother. And what we saw is that by noon on Sunday, less than six hours after the bodies were found, the boy confessed to shooting Joe and Keisha. The local police chief confirming that the boy had confessed and saying in a statement, we got a confession.

But in these cases, when you're in, it's very delicate. When you're dealing with a child of this age, you know, in their stage, we're looking at, you know, was there motive? What was the motive? And adding there that while the kid was scared, he also appeared to have, quote, mindset to commit a crime like this

and has not shown any remorse." And later saying, "'What I would say would be remorseful, sadness, sorrowful, apology, crying, none of those things happened.'" And so for now, we know that the boy is being held on two counts of first degree murder. But then also the big question of how the boy even got ahold of the guns,

that's been left unanswered so far. And as for the town of Minden, they're focused on the loss of Joe. Because reportedly Joe is well-respected in town and even considered a pillar of the community, with him even formerly working with the sheriff's department and even briefly serving as interim mayor. So with all that,

we saw the current mayor saying in a statement, Joe Cornelius's years of service to Minden were marked by his commitment and dedication to the betterment of our community. And adding, on a personal note, I am grateful for his friendship and the many ways he supported me and others in our city. During this incredibly difficult time,

I ask that we all keep Joe's family in our thoughts and prayers. May they find comfort and strength in the midst of this tragedy. And then, y'all, two thirds of baby and toddler food sold in American grocery stores is unhealthy. That's what was just found in a shocking new study by the George Institute for Global Health,

which is a medical research center in Australia, right? And specifically, you had researchers looking at 651 commercial infant food products purchased by the top 10 biggest US grocery chains to see if they met nutritional and promotional guidelines set by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. And in addition to finding that 60% of all products fail to meet those standards,

they also discovered that compliance was generally low across nearly all nutrients. The most serious compliance issues were around guidelines for protein and sugar, with more than 70% of food products not meeting protein requirements, while 44% surpassed total sugar recommendations. And this is a study also revealed that one in four of these products failed to meet calorie requirements, and one in five exceeded recommended sodium levels. Beyond that, the study also found that some of the unhealthiest foods

are the ones that have become increasingly popular in recent years, right? Like baby food pouches, which are the fastest growing product in the industry and they've absolutely dominated the market. With them seeing 900% market growth in the last decade and coming to represent nearly half of all products available for purchase last year.

But in addition to just being generally unhealthy, the researchers also found that almost all of all products available for purchase last year. But in addition to just being generally unhealthy, the researchers also found that almost all of these products are using misleading marketing tactics to make their foods seem healthier than they actually are. In fact, nearly 100% of products had at least one claim on their packaging that's banned under World Health Organization guidelines. And on average, each product displayed

around five prohibited misleading claims, though some had as many as 11. And manufacturers will use terms like healthy, convenient, and appropriate for child development to distract from the fact that their products actually have a bad nutritional profile. In fact, research shows that health and nutrition content claims are commonly used on products that contain nutrients of concern, such as sugars. And similarly, some manufacturers further mislead customers by highlighting positive aspects of the product, like that it's gluten-free or organic, in order to downplay or omit the mention of unhealthy nutrients. And all of that, it makes it incredibly difficult for parents and caregivers to determine what actually is healthy

for their young kids. And on this, you had Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, one of the study's authors, explaining, time-poor parents are increasingly choosing convenience foods, unaware that many of these products lack key nutrients needed for their child's development and tricked into believing they are healthier than they really are. And that is incredibly significant because the foods that kids eat and they're exposed to in early childhood

play a huge role in forming the food choices and dietary patterns that they'll have for the rest of their lives. So when the majority of baby and toddler food in the US is secretly packed with sugars, saturated fats, and preservatives, people form a preference for unhealthy ultra-processed foods early on.

And the impact that can have on childhood, and I mean, in lifelong health, it's absolutely huge. With numerous studies showing that children who eat ultra-processed foods are at a much higher risk of obesity and other diet-related illnesses. In fact, chronic diseases that used to be associated with adults like fatty liver

are increasingly now being found in children, something that we're seeing studies largely attribute to the consumption of highly processed foods. And the rise of ultra-processed foods in the 1980s that changed dietary patterns has also coincided with a dramatic increase in childhood obesity. I mean, childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s before the processed food boom, affecting one in every five children. And childhood obesity has also been linked to a whole host of other issues later in life, like diabetes, heart conditions, and some cancers. So setting up kids to have healthy diets when they're young,

it's absolutely imperative. But that can be extremely hard when you have companies not only packing their products with unhealthy ingredients, but then using deceptive marketing tactics to tell parents, hey, these are actually healthy, which is why the researchers behind this new study say that their findings should serve as a wake-up call

for policymakers to increase regulations, both for the actual content of these products and for the misleading labeling on their packaging. And then you should know you are not alone. And a lot of people experiencing the same stressful feeling of being at the bottom of a mountain of debt. I mean, just to the point where you really can't see a way out. And look, unexpected expenses, they are inevitable and they can easily grow into this mountain, which in turn grows your stress. It can just be so overwhelming, but there are options out there to help. And look, unexpected expenses, they are inevitable and they can easily grow into this mountain, which in turn grows your stress. It can just be so overwhelming, but there are options out there to help. And if you're finding yourself making payments on your debt, but you're feeling more like you aren't getting anywhere with it, know one, you're not alone. And two, the sponsor

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not your debt. And then in international news, we got to talk about why people are protesting what they're calling a mass murder at death camps in Turkey. Right, because for well over a month now, thousands of Turkish protesters have been out in the streets demanding the repeal of what's been dubbed the massacre law. A measure first introduced by President Erdogan's

ruling Justice and Development Party back in May. With the first draft of it proposing to collect stray dogs and then just kill any that weren't adopted within a month. But then after massive public backlash, the party revised the bill to make it a tad less murdery. And so what we saw is that the new version, which was passed in late July, required municipalities to collect stray dogs in shelters,

vaccinate, neuter, and spay them, and then put them up for adoption. And then with this new version, only the ones that were in pain, terminally ill, or posed a health risk to humans would be killed. Now with that, a lot of people still weren't happy with that version either, but the government argued that it was the only real way

to deal with Turkey's enormous population of stray dogs. Because current estimates put their number at around 4 million stray dogs, though it's hard to really know for sure. And you know, you have many accusing these stray dogs of causing traffic accidents, spreading disease, and just pooping where they shouldn't. Not to mention, of course, attacking people, which can be incredibly scary if they have rabies. With a report from an anti-stray dog organization counting 65 people who have died in street dog

attacks since 2022. But then of course, you have those who oppose the law for a number of reasons. For them first, arguing that it's impractical since Turkey's already cash-strapped municipalities don't have the money to carry out the policy. But the president of the Turkish Veterinary Medical Association telling the BBC that only about one third of the provincial and district municipalities have shelters. And so they're worried that this law is going to either put dogs in overcrowded, unsanitary shelters or just kill them on the pretense that they're sick

just to save money and make space. But also you have critics saying they're opposed to this law just in principle, arguing that the vast majority of stray dogs are harmless and they've become a beloved part of many communities for centuries. With residents and businesses traditionally leaving out food and water bowls on stoops and street corners for animals that they consider a fixture of their village, town, or city. I mean, it's actually comical how well assimilated turkey stray dogs are said to be. With the Washington Post, for example, noting that you'll find them patiently waiting to cross a green light, hitching ferry rides across the river, and marching alongside protesters. Even when these dogs don't technically have an owner, many have developed close relationships with specific people

who see and feed them every day. Which is why now the prospect of some government officials just snatching them up and whistling them away to possibly euthanize them has outraged quite a few Turks. And so with that, we've seen some mayors from the opposition party even vowing not to implement the new law, even under threat of incarceration. Though this also, as it's been speculated, the government could use that as an opportunity to persecute its political opponents. And then this also, as others claim that this is simply

an attempt to distract from the country's other economic troubles and recover from its electoral losses and local elections in March. But really, however cynical the policy may be, nearly 80% of people agree that some measure needs to be taken to remove stray dogs from the streets. So this also is less than 3% told the survey they believe those dogs should be euthanized, according to the BBC. And so all of that brings us to the question of, well, then what is the actual solution here?

Because if you have 80% of people going, yeah, something needs to be done, but seemingly only 3% okay with dogs being euthanized, and that's a massive part of now the law that's in place, well, what do you do? Do you just leave the stray dogs alone? Do you just continue with this policy, even though you know the resources aren't there? So even more dogs and really what's being advertised are going to be euthanized. And or is there something in the middle that could actually be a solution and not just like on paper? Because again, real world resources are a big part of this equation. And even in the proposed solution now, like it doesn't seem like they're there. But for now, we'll have to wait to see how this actually plays out. And then if you're not

traveling or you're not in the industry, you may not realize this, but thousands of hotel workers are now on strike in the country. And it's really just the tip of the iceberg. Because on Sunday, we saw more than 10,000 hotel workers in eight major cities walking off the job. We're talking Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and Honolulu, just to name a few. And this initial wave has focused mostly on Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt properties. And according to Unite, here, the union representing the workers,

these strikes are the result of negotiations breaking down, with the workers calling for higher wages, fairer staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts, with the union saying in their statement, "'Many hotels took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic "'to cut staffing and guest services "'that were never restored,

"'causing workers to lose jobs and income and creating painful working conditions for those who carry the increased workload. And the union's president, Gwen Mills, adding in her own statement, we're on strike because the hotel industry has gotten off track. During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. And saying too many hotels still haven't restored standard services that guests deserve. Workers aren't making enough to support their families. Many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to. Right? And the striking workers themselves have echoed that sentiment saying things like, I have to work a second job because my job at the hotel is not enough to support my kids as a single mom. I'm living on

the edge where I'm not sure if I'll be able to pay our rent and groceries or provide my family with healthcare. It's so stressful. One job should be enough. You know, that 10,000 number that I mentioned, that's just the beginning. We're just now seeing things like this morning, another 200 hotel workers reportedly walking off the job in Baltimore. With Unite here also saying strikes have been authorized

in New Haven, Oakland, and Providence. And those can begin at any time. Now, these strikes, they're not indefinite. With the union saying that each is only expected to last two to three days, and CNN reporting that over 800 employees went back to work this morning. But that's not to say that the impact isn't being felt.

Right, I mean, this stoppage comes as what the TSA predicted to be the busiest Labor Day travel period on record. While these hotels are still open, the union is asking those that have reservations at properties with striking workers to cancel it and demand refunds. And this is those who haven't canceled are seeing what no workers means

for their hotel stays and vacations. In fact, I mean, we're seeing complaints even make headlines in Hawaii with one guest saying things like, nobody's working. We're not getting our rooms, our bathrooms cleaned. It's just horrible. It's not a very pleasant vacation. And another adding, we support them for what they're trying to achieve, but we're having to get our own towels and make our own beds. And with all this, the companies that the union is striking against, they say that they have contingency plans to minimize the effects the strikes are having on guests and they're committed to coming

to an agreement with the workers. But this also is a spokesperson for Hyatt says that the company is, quote, disappointed that Unite here has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate. And Hilton has said that it, quote, makes every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with the union.

Saying that they're committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements. You know, all of this, it's not happening in a bubble. This massive strike is happening while unions are at the center of both the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns. Both candidates having said that they represent the working class in both campaigns, putting out statements attempting to rally support from the labor movement.

With Trump's campaign claiming President Trump is making lasting inroads with union leaders and broadening the Republican tent in a historic way. And Harris's campaign managers saying in their statement, Kamala Harris has fought for labor and workers' rights her entire career. And adding that Kamala, quote, promises to continue the pro-worker agenda

of the Biden-Harris administration. And with all that, I think it is worth noting that Trump reportedly did perform significantly better than expected with union workers when he won the presidency back in 2016. But then reportedly, most of that support went back to Biden in the 2020 race, and many argue that Trump's time in office,

it just wasn't good for workers. Something that's probably not helped by J.D. Vance's voting record. With Vance reportedly voting against working people in five key votes since being sworn in as Ohio senator in January of last year. And, you know, when he tried telling the International Association of Firefighters that he and Trump are pro-worker, they seem to have a different opinion. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app

and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history, and I want to talk about why we're fighting for working people, why we're going to fight for unions and non-union alike. And all of this is right now, Team Harris is campaigning hard for that union vote. I mean, their Labor Day tour included Kamala making an appearance in Detroit before being joined by Biden in Pittsburgh and Tim Walz speaking at Milwaukee's Labor Fest and meeting with local labor leaders

in Minnesota. But then in other international news, we got to talk about what's going on in Ukraine, right? Because today, at least 51 people were reported killed and over 200 wounded in a Russian strike on the town of Poltava, which actually makes it one of the deadliest single attacks since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion back in February of 2022, right? And according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the time between the alarm and the impact was so short that many people were caught trying to reach bomb shelters. And according to President Zelensky, initial reporting indicated that two ballistic missiles hit the area and they were targeting

an educational institution in a nearby hospital. And so with that, you had him saying there would be an investigation as well, as promising that, quote, the Russian scum would pay. With him then also taking the opportunity to ask again for more support from allies, saying, "'We continue to urge everyone in the world "'who has the power to stop this terror.

"'Ukraine needs air defense systems and missiles now, not sitting in storage. Long range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now, not later. Every day of delay unfortunately means more lost lives. And to Zelensky's point, military analysts have suggested that certain long range missiles

could help Ukraine push Russian staging areas and supply depots back by hundreds of miles. In fact, they could make it possible for Ukraine to hit targets nearly 200 miles inside Russia, which includes at least 30 air bases, some of which Russia has used to launch attacks in the past. And so with that in mind, another big piece of news today

is that the US is reportedly close to an agreement to give Ukraine long range missiles that could reach deep into Russia. But, and this is important, even with an agreement in place, it would be several months before the missiles get there. And of course, in the meantime, Putin is gonna keep trying to do

as much damage as possible. And all of this is while, yes, we're talking about dozens dying in Ukraine today, he's also been whipping up international controversy with a visit to Mongolia. Right, as far as what's so controversial about that, it's the fact that Mongolia is a member of the International Criminal Court, or ICC,

which is kind of a standout thing, because you may remember the ICC issued a warrant for Putin's arrest last year. You know, ICC members are technically supposed to, you know, fucking arrest the guy if he steps foot on their territory. But of course, there's actually no real enforcement mechanism.

And this is, obviously Putin's not gonna go somewhere without knowing damn well that he's gonna be okay. And in fact, there, a spokesperson from the Kremlin said before all this, they weren't concerned Putin would be arrested during the visit. This, of course, as Ukraine did its best to put pressure on Mongolia. With them doing this notably, along with the European Union,

international human rights organizations like Amnesty International and the ICC itself. But despite that, Mongolia not only welcomed Putin, they literally rolled out the red carpet for him. This also notably is not everyone in the country is happy about it. With us also seeing this with a small group of protesters gathering, holding a sign reading,

"'Get war criminal Putin out of here.'" But also beyond that, you know, you gotta say Mongolia, they're in a tough spot here. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. I mean, they are a landlocked country sandwiched between China and Russia. And so with that, they're also pretty economically dependent on them,

with them specifically relying on Russia for much of its gas and electricity. And actually there, you had a spokesperson for the Mongolian government telling Politico that the country's dependence on Russian energy makes it impossible to keep its obligation to the ICC, saying Mongolia imports 95% of its petroleum products and over 20% of electricity from our immediate neighborhood,

which have previously suffered interruption for technical reasons. This supply is critical to ensure our existence and that of our people. But still, despite whatever their reasons may be, Mongolia could now face prosecution at the ICC as an accomplice to Putin's crimes. So obviously, the government there felt

that it was a worthwhile risk. And so really all of this is just adding to a long existing and already pretty big pile of concerns about how effective the ICC really is. For example, a spokesperson for Ukraine's foreign ministry saying, the Mongolian government's failure to carry out the binding ICC arrest warrant for Putin

is a heavy blow to the international criminal court and the international criminal justice system. But whatever the case may be here, all we can really do right now is wait and see how this plays out. And then, supplements, I know it can feel like a dirty word, and navigating the space, it can be daunting due to the lack of trust and transparency out there. But also, because of that, I'd like to share more about today's fantastic sponsor, Momentus. Because essentially, it's part of my foundational health that I try to focus on. And Momentus is a respected brand, ensuring you're getting essential nutrients for foundational health. You know, Momentous creatine, omega-3, and protein taken daily provides essentials that the body needs to help function at its best.

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which is really the industry's leading standard in quality. I mean, there's a reason why the world's best athletes and experts use and help develop momentous products. So if you're like me and you wanna take supplements that are made by and used by the best in the world, go to livemomentous.com and use code DeFranco for 20% off. That's livemomentous.com with code DeFranco. And then we got to talk about why hundreds of thousands of humans are dying in mass because we neglected one of nature's most unfairly maligned characters, the vulture.

And I know right off the bat, it probably seems counterintuitive that these birds do anything good for human life, right? I mean, they are known as the harbingers of death for a reason. Because when you see their black form circling overhead and those huge wings casting their shadow on you, you know you've got a limited time left on this earth. Plus, I mean, they're just fucking creepy. I mean, look at this face. I know we tell our kids it's what's on the inside that counts, but oh, that face. Also, regarding what's on the inside that counts, but oh, that face. Also regarding what's on the inside of these scavengers, they have a tummy full of the strongest stomach acid

in the entire animal kingdom. I mean, it is even more corrosive than battery acid, which yeah, they need because they eat the nastiest shit in the animal kingdom. We're talking diseased, rotting carcasses, the kind of stuff other animals won't touch. So when that food reaches their stomach, they've gotta be able to digest not only the meat,

not only the bones, but most importantly, the viruses and bacteria. I mean, everything from Ebola and tuberculosis to rabies and the plague, even anthrax. So actually in simply eating food, they inadvertently provide the world with a very powerful disposal service, totally free of charge.

But then what happens when nature's cleanup crew suddenly goes MIA? Well, the thing is, we don't have to guess there because that's exactly what happened to India three decades ago. Tens of millions of vultures suddenly started vanishing without explanation, with more than 95% of them falling dead within a decade.

And so we had pathologists, veterinarians, and ornithologists scrambling to figure out what was going on, with them throwing out all kinds of guesses. Was it pesticides, pollution, hunters, infectious disease? But the true culprit remained a mystery for years until 2004. See, because that's when scientists discovered that diclofenac, a cheap painkiller used in cattle, was killing vultures. When generic versions came

out in the mid-90s, farmers started using it everywhere. And since cows are considered sacred in the Hindu religion, most Indian farmers don't slaughter them for meat. Instead, they let their cattle die naturally and then leave the carcass outside for vultures to pick clean. But a big thing with the vultures is that they feed in packs, so all it takes is one dead cow with a drug left over in its system to wipe out hundreds of birds. Now, fortunately, India, Pakistan, and Nepal banned the drug for veterinary use in 2006, and Bangladesh followed suit in 2010. But I mean, to this day, enforcement is spotty, the black market's a thing, and other drugs that are also poisonous are still sold. And regardless of all that, the damage has already been done, and other drugs that are also poisonous are still sold. And regardless of all that,

the damage has already been done. With Indian vultures now reportedly sitting at less than 1% of their former populations. And although they do appear to have stabilized at that level, they lay just one egg per year on average. So the recovery of these vultures, it's gonna take a depressingly long time if it happens at all,

which doesn't just suck for the vultures, it sucks for us. As one expert explained to Vox, this near extinction caused the largest sanitation shock you could imagine where you have 50 million carcasses every year not being disposed of. And so with all that meat lying around and no vultures to consume it,

populations of other less efficient scavengers like rats and feral dogs have exploded. But unlike the vultures, these animals don't finish the entire carcass, so they leave the remains to pollute rivers. And they don't have the stomach for all those diseases, so they end up getting sick and spreading them to humans. Hence, India being home to the largest population

of feral dogs in the world, with an estimated 65 million stalking the country. And then with that, every year, there are millions of reported dog bites, which infect tens of thousands of people with rabies, which, if you're not vaccinated, is fatal practically 100% of the time. And so we know we can draw this line of cause and effect

between vulture deaths and human deaths, but what are the actual numbers? And well, there, a new study that's soon to be published in the American Economic Review set out to answer that exact question. And what its authors ended up finding was shocking. In districts with no vultures before or after their near extinction,

human death rates remain steady through the years. But in districts that did have vultures after around 1994, when they started dying, human death rates rose too. In fact, over the first five years of this century, the decline in vultures was linked to over half a million excess human deaths. I mean, that's around the same yearly death toll from opioid overdoses in the US today. Or in economic terms, that translates to a cost of around $69 billion per year. So it turns out that far from being the harbingers of death, these ugly ass bald headed rats with beaks and wings, they're the only thing standing between us and death itself. And they're not the only ones, right? When other apex consumers die, we see ripple effects all the way down the food chain that impact humans in totally unexpected ways. Like for example,

Americans almost wiped gray wolves off the face of North America by the 1960s. And as a result, their prey, in this case deer, they multiply, surging from around two to four deer per kilometer in the pre-colonial era to around 15 to 50 deer in some areas today, which on its face, you might go, oh, okay, whatever. A few more Bambis. But you get too many of them, and they wreck an ecosystem, with them eating fucking everything, which keeps trees and plants from growing back and steals food from other animals. Not to mention, they spread Lyme disease, introduce invasive species, and damage agriculture. But then also, they do kill humans,

and they do it in the way that you'd expect. They're big, dumb, sweet faces. They jump in front of our cars. In fact, here's a little pop quiz for you. How many cars every year hit a deer? I'm giving you three seconds, two, one. About one million cars hit deer every year in the US, causing 200 human deaths, 29,000 injuries,

and nearly $10 billion in total economic losses. But those wolves, they could have easily put a huge dent in the U.S., causing 200 human deaths, 29,000 injuries, and nearly $10 billion in total economic losses. But those wolves, they could have easily put a huge dent in those numbers. With one study that looked at Wisconsin, where collisions cost nearly $200 million per year, finding that reintroducing wolves reduced collisions with deer by about a quarter, which notably creates an economic benefit that is 63 times greater than the cost of wolves killing livestock, with humans saving an estimated $11 million per year. But these benefits are relatively indirect compared to the obvious harm of wolves

just devouring your chickens in front of your eyes. People are often nervous about letting predators recolonize a landscape for understandable reasons. And it also doesn't help that when lawmakers try to restore grizzly bears, for instance, the likes of Fox News will pounce on them with sensational headlines like, Republicans urge Biden not to release

deadly apex predator near rural communities. But time and time again, we see that the benefits outweigh the costs. Like, for example, in Kern County, California, the government tried to protect pets and livestock by decimating skunks, foxes, badgers, weasels, snakes, owls, ravens, and hawks. Yet what happened is those efforts backfired, because with the predators gone, mice populations exploded. And those mice, they ended up damaging the very local industries

the government was trying to protect. So yeah, I guess the point is, while things may seem a certain way at the surface, we need things that eat other things. Otherwise the things they eat grow out of control and mess with humans. And while I am very critical of humans, I'm still team human for better and worse. And that my friends brings us to the end of your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news. And as always, I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.