The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.5 Russia Secretly Funded Right-Wing Youtubers With $10M according to DOJ, But They Say They're Victims

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Head to https://tryfum.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO  to get a free gift with your Journey Pack!  today. Go to http://rocketmoney.com/PDS to cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL  Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ Get up to 50% OFF @ https://BeautifulBastard.com today! Get your new favorite comfy tee, hoodie, & more 61 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Right-Wing Influencers Allegedly Duped Into Spreading Russian Propaganda  07:51 - Chappelle Roan Cancels Scalper Tickets 09:34 - Sponsored by Fum 10:38 - Travis Kelce PR Team Consider Legal Action Over Fake Breakup Contract 12:37 - Authorities Questioned Apalachee High Shooter Over Online Threats in 2023 15:57 - North Carolina Man Arrested Over $10 Million AI Music Streaming Scheme 18:45 - Sponsored by Rocket Money 19:53 - Why People Are Invested in Astrological Election Predictions 27:18 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 27:50 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Astrology: Maddie Crichton ———————————— #DeFranco #TimPool #ChappellRoan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are they traitorous grifters? Are they victims? Are they just useful idiots? These are the questions people are now asking after an indictment was unsealed that alleges that some of the biggest right-wing influencers on this platform received millions of dollars to pump out videos

to spread Russian propaganda ahead of the 2024 election. We're gonna be talking about that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so let's just jump into it. This is aco show. You daily dive into the news. So let's just jump into it. So the Russian government has allegedly gotten millions of dollars to some of the biggest right wing influencers in the world who just so happen to say things like this is psychotic. Ukraine is the enemy of this country. Ukraine is our enemy being funded by the Democrats. I will stress this again,

one of the greatest enemies of our nation right now is Ukraine. And so that is Tim Pool. He's one of six big personalities at a Tennessee-based company by the name of Tenant Media. But the biggest ones there besides him being the likes of Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin. And with this, I want to say, one, they, along with Tenant Media itself, are alleged to be just one key part of a massive Russian influence campaign targeting unwitting Americans all over the country. And two, to be clear, neither Tenet Media or anyone at the company is actually being accused of wrongdoing.

And I'm not saying Tim Pool was ordered to say those things about Ukraine. Part of this alleged Russian scheme could just be Russian operatives seeing creators saying things that they love, pro-Russian talking points and going, let's make sure these guys don't have to worry about cash. Which funny enough is a tactic

that Tim Pool himself talked about in the past, though through a slightly different veil. So what happens with social media, particularly YouTube, where it's really easy, you can have a foreign agent or even the government or some corporation or whatever say, this guy talks about things that we really like. Dump ad money into his channel through Google AdSense, and they'll never know we were the ones funding them, and you can't prove it. Because all of this actually has to do with the DOJ charging two employees of the Russian

state-controlled media network RT with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. And they're accused of secretly paying $10 million to a company in Tennessee that's now widely understood to be Tenet Media to spread nearly 2,000 English language videos on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and X. With one unidentified influencer, for example, reportedly getting paid $400,000 a month with that coming after a $100,000 signing bonus. And so, you know, with all of this, you had A.G. Merrick Garland saying, the subject matter and content of many of the videos were often consistent with Russia's interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Russian interests, particularly its ongoing war in Ukraine. Right, and one of the examples provided

is that the Tennessee company was reportedly told to blame Ukraine for an attack on a concert venue in Moscow back in March, even though ISIS had already claimed responsibility. But then the company's founder allegedly replying by saying one of the contributors would be happy to cover. And there, like I said, Tenet Media isn't actually named in the indictment or being accused of anything right now.

But the company's co-founders, right-wing influencer Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan, allegedly knew the money came from Russia. And actually with that, we're now seeing that Chen's contract with a conservative media company, Blaze, has been terminated in light of the allegations. But also very notably, it's not clear

that anyone besides her and Donovan were aware of what was going on at Tenet. And you also have the indictment alleging that at least two contributors were misled about the true source of the site's funding. And so with all that, you had Poole, along with Johnson and Rubin, issuing statements on social media

saying that they were victims and they hadn't done anything wrong. With Poole, along with Johnson and Rubin, issuing statements on social media saying that they were victims and they hadn't done anything wrong. With Poole, for example, saying, "'Should these allegations prove true, "'I, as well as the other personalities and commentators, "'were deceived and are victims.'" That being said, we still do not know what is true

as these are only allegations. And finally adding, "'Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks donkey balls.'" Also seemingly regarding his past comments on Ukraine, he appeared too sarcastically right. "'Upon reflection, I now understand "'that Ukraine is our greatest ally. "'As the breadbasket of Europe balls. Also, seemingly regarding his past comments on Ukraine, he appeared too sarcastically right. Upon reflection, I now understand that Ukraine is our greatest ally. As the breadbasket of Europe and a peace-loving people, we cannot allow the fascist Russians to continue their crimes against humanity. We must redouble our efforts and provide an additional $200 billion at once.

But really, your opinion on Tim Pool or any of these other creators aside, right, the focus of this story is on Ukraine. That is a key thing. You know, because this tenant media thing, it is just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, reportedly, this whole Russian influence campaign has been codenamed Doppelganger. And according to the DOJ, it's run by Sergei Kuryankin, a former prime minister who's now Putin's first deputy chief of staff. And with that, the department actually published

a document produced for a Russian company by the name of the Social Design Agency, detailing something called the good old USA project. And there, the top objective was to quote, increase the percentage of Americans who believe that the US has been doing way too much to support Ukraine. With that, they were apparently targeting certain groups in particular, including residents of swing states

and conservative states, US citizens of Hispanic descent and American Jews. But then also lastly, the quote, community of American gamers, users of Reddit and image boards such as Fortune and the documents describing this cohort as the quote, backbone of right-wing trends in the US segment of the internet.

And then besides that, I should also say the document along with the others obtained and released by the DOJ explicitly talks about securing Russia's preferred outcome in the election. Because there, while the party and the candidate names are redacted in the versions we have, it's pretty clear from the context clues that this means Trump and the Republicans.

Which I know absolutely makes sense because it lines up with what we've heard from intelligence officials in the past and just based on comments Trump has made in the past. If we don't pay and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them

to do whatever the hell they want. Though also there, you know, I'll mention that there's a video going around today where Putin claims that he wants Harris to win. But really we've seen most serious people having the impression that that was just a joke because really everything points to his real preference being Trump.

And in any case, this comes as the Biden-Harris administration has announced a bunch of new measures to fight back against Russian efforts to influence this year's election. With the State Department, for example, designating five Russian state-funded news outlets, including RT, as foreign government missions. So with that, making it harder for employees

of those outlets to get visas to the US. And then you have the DOJ seizing 32 internet domains that were reportedly used to spread Russian propaganda. There, notably the websites being designed to look like authentic news sites, but they were actually fake. Also the treasury department announced new sanctions, including against RT's editor-in-chief

and nine other employees. The department saying there that the editor-in-chief is a quote, central figure in Russian government, malign influence efforts. And of course, all of this is on top of other actions that we've seen recently. Like in March, for example, the treasury imposed sanctions on the social design agency and another Russian company accused of creating fake news sites to spread misinformation. Also law enforcement has reportedly even been investigating Americans who have worked with Russia's state television networks in the

past. With that actually leading to another indictment today of a guy who was an advisor to Trump's first campaign and who's now accused of money laundering and violating sanctions. But of course, you know, with all this, especially when you're talking about investigating Americans, there's a question about where the line is. Right, some Americans, especially amongst Trump supporters, they see accusations that Russia is spreading disinformation as efforts to undermine their views.

And to that point, I mean, you just have to take a quick look online, especially on X. Right, you had Russiagate trending and you had people, not even necessarily just Trump supporters, saying things like, just as in 2016 and 2020, Biden admin "'to activate Russiagate propaganda

"'to manipulate US opinion ahead of the 2024 election.'" But you know, I will say, this is kind of more of a general statement. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, it never hurts to be a little bit skeptical. But I also think it's important not to have such an open mind that your brain slips out. And often what I see is for some reason,

when the topic of Russian interference pops up, some people will automatically try to make it sound like you're saying, oh, the election machines, those were tampered with by Russia. And what you're actually talking about are the bot and troll farms and the attempts to spread misinformation online, which has been seen and proven.

Also a big thing with this situation is you have people like Paul M. Barrett, the deputy director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU, arguing the government has to walk a fine line to distinguish between foreign election interference and free speech. And actually with that, you had him telling the New York Times,

"'The dividing line is when you identify activity, "'particularly concealed activity "'that is circumventing established regulations "'for how we try to prevent foreign interference "'in our election.'" And if that line is crossed, he says, "'It's not a reason to just run up the free speech flag "'and throw up your hands and we're helpless

"'in the face of Vladimir Putin's very clever operatives.'" And you know, there, I should also say that Biden officials have not a reason to just run up the free speech flag and throw up your hands and we're helpless in the face of Vladimir Putin's very clever operatives. And you know, there, I should also say that Biden officials have made a point to say they are not aiming to curb free speech. They've actually been saying that Americans won't be investigated just for repeating or spreading stories they see on Russian state media. And so far, we've seen no indication that that's untrue. Yeah, for now, that is where the situation is going to end, though obviously we're going to keep our eyes on it. And in the meantime, I got to ask, what are your thoughts on any and all of this? Whether it be around Tenet Media and the influencers there specifically, or just the situation as a whole. Then, shifting gears to a very different topic, let's talk about why so many people are focused right now on Chapel Roan fighting scalpers.

Because she has an upcoming show in Franklin, Tennessee in October, and she posted a video explaining, hey, tickets sold out incredibly fast, but not in a good way, in a very sketchy way. And that was because bots and scalpers took basically all the tickets. With that, obviously not ideal for anyone except maybe the scalpers. So her team came up with a plan to get those tickets back to the fans. So we went through and canceled

all the scalper tickets we could. So from that, we're gonna release a limited number of tickets to you because I wanna make sure that tickets go to people who actually wanna come and like, are fans. And as far as how that's gonna work, there's a site that fans can go to request up to two tickets. Just fill out a form with payment information

and seat preference, and then a select number of fans will get assigned tickets, with them learning by the end of the week if they're picked and chap-a-latting. I know it's confusing and it's so annoying, but I genuinely am so pissed about the scalper situation and think that people actually deserve to get to my show. It's, this is a larger issue.

We're dealing with it. And so with this, you have places like Variety noting, you know, this is not a new problem. Race scalpers are a very big problem at basically every concert on the face of the earth, but there's not a ton of precedent for artists actually finding and canceling those tickets. So there is some, right? Eric Church has done it. The Cure has as

well. Oasis warned that it planned to do it for its tour. With them actually having a sale that was so messy, it's now under investigation in the UK. But really, other than that, it's not too common. You know, Taylor Swift did a similar fan request ticket system after the Eros tour sale was botched. Though there, it was never really clarified if those seats were from canceled scalper seats. But for now, we'll have to wait to see how this plays out for Chapel Roan, and maybe this becomes the norm. Or what we may see are scalpers finding just another way around this as well,

which personally is what I have my money on. And if not now, it's just a matter of time. And then, you know, we all have changes that we should slash need to make, but in order for them to take, most of us need to ease into it. You know, it can't be about giving up a bad habit, but more like reworking your brain to switch up your habit. I mean, take it from the sponsor of today's show, Fume. Fume

takes your habit and simply makes it better, healthier, and a whole lot more enjoyable. Because Fume has no artificial flavors, nasty chemicals, or batteries involved. And it's founded on the flavor, fidget, and fixation principle. If you ingrain your good habit into everyday life, it makes healthy changes feel easier, less intrusive. It's a guilt-free alternative. And the fidgeter in me likes the movable parts and the magnets. You know, it's balanced just right to keep your fingers busy, which is kind of calming in a weird way for me. And you can even adjust the airflow to your liking. Plus it tastes great with tons of flavors to choose from, like retro sweet flavors and their most recent peach blush, all lasting three days a pop. They're tasty, exciting, and subtle, not overwhelming.

And Fume has served over 300,000 customers and you could be the next success story. Just go to tryfum.com slash DeFranco and use code DeFranco to get a free gift with your journey pack. That's tryfum.com slash DeFranco, code DeFranco. Then we had Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift back in the news. Though not because Taylor Swift was featured five times in a 29 second hype video for the opening of the NFL season,

rather over allegations that their whole relationship is just one big giant hoax. But that allegation absolutely blowing up after alleged breakup documents went viral on Reddit and Twitter outlining Travis's media plan following their planned separation. Those documents were said to be photographed from a desk and said full scope public relations at the top,

which is the company that represents Travis. But the set objective of this plan being to effectively manage and mitigate the fallout from the breakup between Travis, Kelsey, and Taylor Swift, ensuring Travis retains a positive public image, minimizes negative media portrayal, and continues to build his personal and professional brand. And it adding that key messaging would be emphasizing

that the split was a mutual decision and that they respect each other and want privacy during this time. Right, and this document even had a date saying the breakup would be announced that the split was a mutual decision and that they respect each other and want privacy during this time. Right, and this document even had a date saying the breakup would be announced September 28th. And that following that, Travis would do interviews with a ton of outlets like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair, GQ,

and even local station, even including plans for interview prep and training and sort of canned phrases Travis could use during those. Right, and so those documents made people think not just that the two might break up, but that this whole thing was just bullshit. It was just a PR stunt to begin with. But big thing, those documents are apparently fake

and Travis's team might even lawyer up over it. The spokesperson from Fullscope telling the Today Show, "'These documents are entirely false and fabricated "'and were not created, issued, "'or authorized by this agency. "'We have engaged our legal team "'to initiate proceedings against the individuals "'or entities responsible for the unlawful

"'and injurious forgery of documents.'" So yeah, we'll have to see what comes from all this, but it's not surprising that there was this big freak out or really that anything's happened. The amount of people that are so invested in this is, it's just huge. It's just a matter of if the attention is going to be as big as I guess the honeymoon season of the announcement. Right now there's an insane media frenzy speculating about whether or not Taylor's going to be at tonight's Chiefs game, which yes, in the DeFranco household, we will be watching my wife for Taylor and Travis and me because this is the first time Lamar Jackson's on my fantasy team. So sorry, Ravens fans in advance, if tonight does not go your way, it is 100% my fault. So yeah, you're welcome or sorry in advance.

But then switching to sad and serious news, we need to talk about updates to the tragic school shooting that happened in Georgia yesterday. First up, we saw the authorities releasing the identities of the four people murdered at Appalachee High School, with the two children being Mason Shermerhorn and Christian Angelo, both of whom are 14 years old. And the two educators who were killed were 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall and 53-year-old Christina Irimi. And as far as the nine people who were hospitalized with injuries, authorities said that eight of them were students, one is a teacher, and thankfully, all are expected to survive.

We also got more information about the shooter who's been identified as a 14-year-old student at the high school, as we mentioned yesterday. While the authorities have still not publicly stated a motive, we did learn that law enforcement officials investigated him last year in connection to online threats of a school shooting. And more specifically, the FBI said that it had received

several anonymous tips in May of 2023 about posts on a gaming site that contained photos of guns and warnings of a school shooting at an unidentified location in time. With the FBI telling reporters that it tracked the post to Jackson County where sheriff's deputies then continued the investigation, which led them to the suspected shooter who was 13 at the time.

And so with that, Jackson County officials brought in the teen and his father for an interview, but the teen denied making the threats. And while his father told the authorities that they did have hunting guns in the house, he said that his son didn't have unsupervised access to the weapon. And so as a result, no charges were filed on you,

with the FBI saying that the investigators lacked probable cause to make an arrest or take any additional law enforcement action on the local, state, or federal level. Also in a separate statement, Jackson County Sheriff Janice Mangum said a thorough investigation was conducted, but the gaming site threats could not be substantiated.

And adding, my phone is blowing up with messages from people about social media postings about other possible incidents. To my knowledge, there is not a list indicating any of this. Now with that said, the FBI did say that Jackson County authorities alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject. But according to the New York Times,

it's unclear if Appalachian high school officials were among those notified by Jackson County officials because the school is technically in the neighboring county. And also super notably here, just this morning, we got some more details from the records of the investigation by the County Sheriff's Office obtained by several outlets. With those records showing that Jackson County officials

were specifically investigating posts in a Discord chat group where a user had threatened to shoot up a middle school. And the investigators were ultimately led to the suspected shooter because the Discord account that made those threats was associated with an email belonging to him. That report noting that the username for the account was written in Russian and translated to the suspected shooter because the Discord account that made those threats was associated with an email belonging to him. That report noting that the username for the account

was written in Russian and translated to the last name of the Sandy Hook shooter. But then also with that, the 13-year-old and his father told the authorities that they didn't speak Russian. And while the shooter did say that he used to have a Discord account, he claimed that he had deleted it

because he had been hacked repeatedly and was afraid someone would use his information for nefarious purposes. With him also telling the investigator that, quote, he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner.'" Also significant here is the information we got from the teen's father about his access to guns. With him having told investigators that his son quote,

"'Is allowed to use them when supervised, "'but does not have unfettered access to them.'" But it's also unclear how those weapons were being stored or how the teen was prevented from accessing them with the investigator writing that they had quote, "'Urged the father to keep his firearms locked away.'" And then beyond all that, the Times also just reported this morning

that while police were searching the shooter's room, they found evidence that he quote, "'had an interest in mass shootings' per two law enforcement officials." While they didn't provide specifics about the nature of that evidence, they did say that he appeared to be particularly obsessed with the Parkland shooting.

And then the final update I want to hit on is that, while I was filming, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation officially announced that the shooter has been charged with four counts of felony murder. And so as of recording, that's pretty much everything we know But of course, this is still a developing situation So for now, we're gonna have to wait to see if more information comes But I mean as far as what happens next the shooters expected to make his first appearance in court tomorrow And then AI made this guy millions of dollars, but now he's facing prison time for it. I'll explain right? We're talking about a guy by the name of Michael Smith,

who was just arrested and charged with three counts of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. And this, because according to prosecutors, Smith used AI to create fake music, uploaded that music to music streaming services, and then used bots to play that music billions of times. And in doing so, he made $10 million

in fraudulent streaming royalty payments. And actually, according to the federal indictment, this scheme started all the way back in 2017. Right first, Smith allegedly acquired thousands of email addresses online and using those made thousands of bot accounts on the music streaming services. And at the scheme's peak, Smith allegedly had 10,000 active bot accounts and even hired co-conspirators to do the data entry part of creating these accounts. The indictment then went on to say that Smith created software that streamed the songs that he owned on loops from different computers to make it all look genuine.

And that, along with a number of other methods to conceal his fraud. Though apparently his foray into the music world, it didn't start with the goal of fraud. Turns out as a legitimate musician, Smith started by posting his own small catalog of songs onto music streaming platforms. But then, according to the indictment,

when he realized he needed more content to make more money, he initially partnered with a music publicist. Also later, even trying to sell his services to other musicians, asking them to pay him to play their music or hand over a chunk of their royalties. But when both of those plans didn't work out, Smith allegedly turned to AI. The prosecutor saying that he partnered

with an unnamed CEO of an AI music company and an unnamed music promoter in 2018 to create just an absurd number of bogus AI songs. I mean, we're talking thousands of which he uploaded every week to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. And with that, one of the ways that he allegedly avoided detection by the platforms was spreading out the streams

over this massive number of songs, never streaming one too many times. And then even when he did catch somebody's attention, prosecutors said Smith just lied through his teeth to get out of it. Also getting into the specifics of the numbers here, according to a financial breakdown from 2017, Smith allegedly calculated that he could stream his song

661,440 times each day. With that bringing in daily royalty payments of just over three grand and totaling over a million dollars annually. But big thing, that was before he started using AI, right? By June of 2019, Smith was allegedly earning over a hundred thousand dollars a month with a portion going to his co-conspirators.

And in an email sent in February of this year, Smith reportedly bragged that he had reached 4 billion streams and $12 million in royalties since 2019. With the US attorney, Damian Williams saying in a statement, there was brazen fraud schemes, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters, and other rights holders whose songs

were legitimately streamed. And adding, today, thanks to the work of the FBI and the career prosecutors of this office, it's time for Smith to face the music. These motherfuckers. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool.

Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. You know, you know that motherfucker laughed when he wrote that down.

But bad pun aside, Smith is in very real trouble. He is facing decades in prison with each of his charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. And then, so y'all, I am a fan of Rocket Money. And one of the reasons I'm a huge fan is because they make my life easier. You know, I got an alert the other week

that another subscription price increased. I mean, I'm keeping the subscription, but I love that it alerted me. Also too, yeah, another reason I love them is Rocket Money. Thank you for being a fantastic sponsor of today's show again. You know, the key thing is that Rocket Money is a personal finance app

that finds and cancels unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so that you can grow your savings. The dashboard's absolutely great, giving you a clear view of your expenses across all of your accounts. You can get alerts like I do if bills increase in price, there's unusual spending activity, or if you're close to going over budget. Or you can also

create a personalized budget with custom categories to help keep your spending on track. I mean, y'all, they will even try to negotiate to lower your bills by up to 20%. You just submit a picture of your bill and Rocket Money takes care of the rest. And Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved over 500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features. So stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash pds. That's rocketmoney.com slash pds, rocketmoney.com slash PDS. And then, with the election coming up, forget the polls. Look up to the sky and look at the stars. That is a real thing that people who are going to vote are doing right now.

With seemingly an increasing number of people getting very invested what astrologers have to say about this election. And as wild as that may all sound, I mean, this is actually far from the first time astrology and politics have intersected. I mean, if you actually look into it, a lot of historical world leaders have relied on astrology, right? I mean, this phenomenon,

it didn't fall out of a coconut tree. It exists in the context. And right now, a lot of readings about the election are going viral because as chaotic as this cycle has already been, some astrologers actually predicted how it would go down. Not only calling that Biden would jump out of the race, but getting some of it down to the exact date he'd Not only calling the Biden would jump out of the race,

but getting some of it down to the exact date he'd do so. I mean, some of these predictions, they go as far back as 2020. And in the weeks before Biden even stepped out, some started looking at Kamala and saying, if you put Biden up against Trump, Trump's activations astrologically look a lot better. However, because Biden's looks so weird, it's like it doesn't even

look like someone who's doing anything major, really. It looks like somebody who is staying home, essentially. So looking at his chart, I was like, okay, is he even the nominee? I then almost feel like Biden somehow does come into presidency in some way. And mostly I feel that way because I feel like we might end up with Kamala Harris as our actual president. Again, this is a hot take. I actually really don't follow politics closely. So this is just based on astrology, honestly.

Right, not every video got everything 100%, but a lot was pretty on the money. You know, astrology, it's something you either buy into or you don't. Just to be clear, I personally do not. But the point here isn't to sell you on it or sell you against it or tell you what's bound to happen in November. Instead, what's really interesting

is why so many people are looking at it right now and how it's being used for potential answers during a time of political uncertainty. So with this, we actually talked to astrologist, Catherine Urban, who not only made accurate predictions about this election so far, but had very interesting insights as to why people have become so invested. I think people have always looked to astrology to help answer questions that are unknown. People have always consulted the stars as well as other forms of divination to gain clarity on the future, especially when there's a lot at stake, like there seems to be with this election.

Brissang, usually she talks to people who want answers about personal issues, like their marriage, their career, or their health. You know, right now, the line between personal and political, it is super, super thin. I guess maybe that's one of the reasons why we're seeing it more and more mainstream around this election is because this the outcome of this election does become personal for a lot of people. You know, as far as the decisions people are able to make about their bodies, for example, you know, that being like a high ticket issue, people do feel that the outcome of this election will impact them personally. And so I think more people are invested in knowing what's going to happen. And astrology generally is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people. For example, a survey from YouGov in 2022 finding that 27% of Americans, including 37% of adults under 30, say they believe in astrology or the general idea that the stars and planets influence our lives. And in fact, as many as 70 million Americans reportedly check their horoscopes every day. But I mean, this election

in particular, it is so crazy. It is people turning to literally anything for guidance. I mean, there is a woman, and prepare yourselves to hear this sentence, who predicts the future by looking at asparagus. Yes, the vegetable asparagus. She is called the asparamancer. And at the start of the year, she said that the US would get its first female president this year, though she later indicated she didn't think it would be Kamala. As far as why people are turning to divination specifically to seek out these answers, Catherine says it's twofold. People have a natural longing to find something bigger than themselves. It's why a lot of people turn to religion, but for those who want something non-denominational or more open-minded for themselves, astrology can fit that bill. And this is we see the stars and the moon every night, which makes them easy to relate to.

But she also added that lately it feels like there's a lot to make sense of. We live in an information age, and this is kind of a newer development for human beings. Our nervous systems are not used to taking in this much information. Historically, human beings are wired to know what's going on locally and maybe a little bit nationally. We're plugged in all the time. And so there are more things to be anxious about generally. And so I'm not so sure that we necessarily live in times that are more stressful than our ancestors. It's just that there's a deeper awareness of more ongoings. So there is more that we are forced to care about.

You know, like I said earlier, some of the most powerful people in the world have been certified astrology girlies. I mean, even Ronald Reagan, he and Nancy were known to frequently refer to an astrologist while in the White House, specifically turning to the field after the assassination attempt against him.

While they downplayed it as a hobby, many others have shot back at that. For example, Reagan's former chief of staff once writing in a memoir, virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House chief of staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in favorable alignment for the enterprise. And that woman was Joan Quigley. And she said that she worked in the White House for seven years and was responsible for timing press conferences, speeches, when Air Force One would fly,

and even when debates would happen. Many reports also claim that J.P. Morgan, the actual human person, not the bank, was also into astrology. And he is often credited with saying that millionaires don't need astrologers, but billionaires do. And as for why powerful people

have often turned to astrology, Katherine said that, like everyday people, it all has to do with feelings of uncertainty and a need for answers. Historically, a lot of world leaders have used astrologers because, you know, there's a lot at stake for that kind of role. And to try to anticipate what might happen

as far as world events and things that might impact a nation. And in fact, those stakes actually kind of brought on the first forms of astrology ages and ages ago, right? I mean, it was initially used to look at more of a collective. It was used by kings and rulers in order to understand what's going to be impacting our kingdom as far as things like droughts or famines or pandemics and things like that. Then fast forward to today, and it's not just about personal life or politics or global crises.

Some people use astrology to predict what's gonna happen with the stock market, which I know may not be the finance bro crossover you expected, but you know, it's happening. But as far as November goes, you have Catherine saying, you know, it's not like astrologers look into crystal balls or have that so Raven-esque visions, right? Though when it comes to the election

and even just to how we got here, she did say. For many years, many of my colleagues, as well as myself, have been anticipating the rise of Kamala Harris, as well as issues with Biden's health. I started paying closer attention to Kamala Harris's chart when she became elected the vice president. And that's when

I was like, ooh, watch out. With all that said, you know, I'll say a different version of what I always say. Ignore the polls, ignore astrology, and make sure you just Virgo to the polls. Don't boo me. You can't shame a man that's embraced his cringe. But that aside, any and all thoughts you have regarding astrology, tarot, anything. I'd love to hear from you and maybe even you with your experiences in those comments down below. But then finally today, we got a congratulations and then let's talk about yesterday.

Starting with a congratulations to this week's SeatGeek prize winner. Of course, getting $500 towards any tickets on SeatGeek, where you can go to see your favorite artist, comedian or play or really whatever. I mean, there's 70,000 events to choose from. And for everyone else, that's right, SeatGeek and The Daily Dip are still giving away

up to $1,000 in tickets, and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. You just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And also, $1,000 prizes are available for Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS,

newsletter doubling entries and winnings. But then with that said, of course, let's talk about yesterday with some comment commentary. And there we definitely saw a lot of comments around that HOA deep dive. Whereas I'm like Steven saying, "'Wait, so you're telling me "'that effectively privatizing infrastructure

"'by giving it to an HOA "'instead of leaving it to the city isn't working out?' "'Insert shocked face here!' "'Morgan saying the fact that the idea of an HOA "'even exists in the modern world is insane. "'And adding even more insane is that the amount of houses "'that's stuck under an HOA has increased. "' It's maddening. And while that was a very popular comment, you also had some pushing back, like Chris, who said, it is not insane, it's practical.

My dad's house was next to a junkyard crack den house, and it really screwed him over in selling his house. Everyone saw the neighbors coming down the road, and that was all it took for them to bail. We also had some insanity. Sharon grew up in an HOA for mobile homes where the board didn't upkeep roads, the park, the pool, or the public boat lawn. Took my parents to court for refusing to pay fees, but the judge threw the case out when my parents brought photographic evidence of zero upkeep. Basically told the HOA it needed to do the upkeep

instead of pocketing the fees. And there's really no shortage of anecdotal stories, right? My lady absence sharing. My friend bought a house with an HOA right before the pandemic, and he's now being evicted because there is a water leak problem causing sinkholes, and the city said the HOA has to pay for it.

And the HOA doesn't have the money, even though they're charging over $300 a month and barely maintain anything. And here, you know, I will say I've had different experiences. Like where I live right now, knock on wood, the HOA has been fantastic. Very hands-off, it seems like.

The things that need fixing get fixed. No one's being like crazy nitpicky. But the rules and the guidelines seem to make the neighborhood look fantastic. But then in other places like where I've set some family up, super over the top nitpicky. I mean, we've been trying to get a generator installed for far too long.

You know, sometimes it feels like jumping through hoops for the sake of hoops, like a power thing. But luckily none of my experiences are any of the numerous nightmares that were shared in those comments. But then also in the comments, we'll end on something lighter. And that is all the conversation around that whole Concord failure. And a also in the comments, we'll end on something lighter, and that is all the conversation

around that whole Concord failure. And a number of the comments left me wondering, you know, if they do try to bring this game back, could it actually be successful as a free-to-play? Or because it very much appeared that a lot of people never knew this game was a thing, like me. With Daniel saying,

I never even heard of Concord until everyone started talking about what a major flop it was. Followed by, same, this video is the first I heard of it. The other is also saying that's surprising because they tried really hard. It was a feature at a few games conferences. The devs made waves recalling everybody

who had a valid criticism of it, talentless freaks. It's probably not a great thing if true. I mean, so there is a world, if you take a game that was previously being sold for $40 and granted, not that many people bought it. With this whole debacle, I mean, there is a possibility that people become interested and go, "'Hey, if it's free 99, I'll try it out.

"'See if it is actually trash.'" So then of course, if it is trash, people will just drop that game and play the other of plenty of free games. So who knows? But that my friends is the end of your Thursday evening, Friday morning dive into the news. If you're new here, make sure to subscribe.

If you're anyone, just hit that like button. And of course, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you're new here, make sure to subscribe. If you're anyone, just hit that like button. And of course, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here next time.