The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.5 Taylor Swift Attacked Over Eras Tour, Are Joe Rogan, Meghan Markle, & Alex Cooper Killing Spotify, &

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

Start your free trial today: http://www.Squarespace.com/Phil  & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase!  Go Buy http://WakeandMakeCoffee.com 50% OFF select orders! This batch won’t last long. Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/x6dteHsGSyI?si=sHvh82iqv7eoYox1 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 - Taylor Swift Fans Plan to Be Rowdy at Theaters for Eras Film, Prompting Backlash 03:21 - UN Report Warns That Invasive Species Are Destroying Global Ecosystems 06:11 - CDC Warns of Deadly Flesh Eating Bacteria 07:05 - Spotify’s Billion Dollar Podcast Bet Isn’t Paying Off 10:03 - Sponsored by Squarespace 10:48 - Cuban Government Reveals Human Smuggling Ring to Fight in Ukraine 12:19 - Texas AG Paxton’s Impeachment Trial Kicks Off 13:43 - Congress Faces Fast-Approaching Deadline to Avert Government Shutdown 16:19 - What You All Thought About Yesterday’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 #TaylorSwift #JoeRogan ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about why people are scared of Swifties causing a riot, where we might actually have a government shutdown, the Attorney General of Texas is on trial today, how Joe Rogan may inadvertently be killing podcasting, fun new flesh-eating bacteria just dropped, and I kid you not, how alien invasions are costing us half a trillion dollars every year. We're gonna talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, but quick thing, I gotta say a thank you and I'm sorry.

Yesterday, if you didn't see the Labor Day show, I launched my coffee company, Wake and Make Coffee. I said we could probably only do about 2,000 orders. My numbers were wrong. We actually ended up crushing my initial goal. But the good news for those of you that didn't catch yesterday's show, we actually have some bags still up for grabs. So go check it out. Snag yourself a bag or three. We have three fantastic core launch roasts, Guiding Light, Happy Medium, and Dark Matter, each with awesome flavor notes. If you go by now, I'm so sure that you're going to like it. I have offerings of 25% to 50% off. But that's the last I'm going to talk about that this week.

We got a lot of news to talk about, so hit that like button and let's just jump into it. Starting with, in entertainment news, the Swifties must be stopped. That's something a number of people are yelling right now because of this whole Errors Tour concert film that's going to be hitting theaters in October. Because if you missed it, Taylor's Errors Tour, in addition to being just like crazy successful on its own, it's also coming to movie theaters. And even though it's over a month away, the anticipation has been through the roof. With a presale breaking records for AMC theaters, making $26 million on its first day at AMC alone,

and totaling $37 million on first day presale across other theater chains. Y'all, it beat Spider-Man No Way Home. Y'all, she beat Star Wars The Force Awakens. And so theaters are already expected to be crowded, but the people attending are also planning on being loud, essentially acting as if this is the actual concert and posting TikToks saying things like, We are treating this movie like it is the heiress tour. That means we need costumes, dressing up, dresses, glitter, sequence, the whole shebang.

And we are screaming the Cruel Summer Bridge and screaming the delicate chant and screaming all lyrics. With tons of people not only saying that they plan on screaming, but they also expect others to do the same. Arguing that it's not a normal movie, that it's a concert experience,

that's the way it should be treated. Others saying if you feel compelled to stand up, you should do it. And Taylor Swift herself saying in the Instagram caption announcing the movie, era's attire, friendship, bracelets, singing, and dancing in courage. But on the other side of this, you have a lot of people just wishing she left that part out. Arguing that by giving her fans that inch, it's clear they plan on taking a mile.

With some concern, things are gonna get so rowdy and so loud, it's gonna turn this thing into a negative experience. Whether it be for people going to those shows that maybe want more of a laid-back experience, or, probably more likely, people in neighboring theaters. And So some have called her out saying, I say this as someone who loves Taylor Swift. She should be in jail for encouraging fans to sing and dance in a movie theater. Absolutely the fuck not. And you've got people who work at theaters saying things like, please, dear God, do not treat this like the stadium tour. Movie theater soundproofing only goes so far. If you piss off the theater next to you, if you piss off the people sitting next to you,

we as the movie theater employees are gonna be the ones that have to handle the complaints. We are gonna be the ones that have to get yelled at. This is a concert movie in a movie theater. You still have to follow theater etiquette at least a little bit. Right, with others arguing the rules are made by the theater, not Taylor's Instagram post. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm just gonna get my popcorn. I cannot

wait to see how this plays out. Because it's either gonna be this like really fun, we're all together having a great time thing, or an absolute shitshow. And transparently, either way, that sounds entertaining to me. But I gotta pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And then, y'all, aliens are invading our planet. But they're not coming from UFOs. They are coming from the bottom of your shoe. Right, if you've ever gone hiking, you sometimes come back to find sticky seeds clinging to your boots, clothing, car, even your dog, and those are often invasive alien plants

using you to get from point A to point B. And after they plop down into a new area, they grow into plants that crowd out other flora and disrupt the ecosystem. And while it's completely normal for plants and animals to move around, it certainly isn't normal for them to do it as quickly as they have been and to leap across oceans and mountains. But thanks to humans hopping into cars, going on boats, flying in tubes in the

sky, this has absolutely exploded. With an absolutely exhaustive UN report finding that over the past few centuries, we've introduced at least 37,000 species to places outside their natural habitats. And over 3,500 of those are considered invasive since they're harmful to the ecosystems they inhabit. One of the most wild things is how this has impacted the economy, with it estimated that $423 billion is lost every year in the global economy because of this. With that number at least quadrupling every decade since 1978, researchers say that's actually a conservative estimate. But far worse than all that is the environmental cost, with invasive species being a major factor in 60% of recorded extinctions of plants and animals. And most often, this is happening unintentionally, with species hitching a ride on our transport networks like plane, train,

boat, or car. The most famous and most widespread example being the black rat, which actually came over from India and is infested everywhere from the largest cities to the most far-flung islands. And those little motherfuckers chew through power lines as eagerly as they devour ground-nesting seabirds. Hell, even the fish can feel the impact of its destruction as it alters the flow of nutrients under the ocean. Or to use a more recent example, we got the Maui wildfires. Those were spurred on by invasive vegetation from Africa

that's used to much different fire cycles where it burns, grows back, and then burns again very frequently. And that's not a unique thing. Invasive grasses have helped fuel wildfires in other places like Chile, Australia, the Western US as well. Notably, species invasion

isn't always an accident. Sometimes we do it on purpose. Or while it can work, like with chickens or potatoes, which have effectively been domesticated and pose very little threat, other times we bring a species in, hoping that it'll provide benefits, and then it spreads out of control and wreaks havoc. For example, Europe's been dealing with the American mink since the 1920s, with people initially importing it for furs, but then it escaped and now it pretty much eats anything that it gets its grubby little hands on. But with or without our help, invasive species are also spreading due to climate change. The changing temperatures pushing them out of their native habitats by the equator and toward the poles, which is why you're seeing less sharks off the coast of Florida and more of them as far north as Long Island.

But understand, shark attacks are the least of our worries when it comes to species invasion. But the more concerning thing is how it breaks down ecosystems, which threatens things that we depend on, like fisheries, croplands, rainfall patterns, and drinking water. With that then contributing to the biodiversity crisis, which we've talked about in the past that threatens human civilization as a whole. So we have this troubling cycle,

and as far as the governments of the world, they're aware. In fact, last December, nearly every country in the world signed a treaty aiming to half the rate of invasive species spread by 2030. But as we often see, whether it be a private company or a government, having goals doesn't also mean that they're actually met. Which I guess also hits on the fact and the hard truth that the worst

invasive species on the planet may be us. And then, in more shit to get scared about news, let's talk about a fun little flesh-eating bacteria. With the CDC now having issued a health alert warning doctors about this rare bacteria, which has a totally unpronounceable Latin name. And this after growing reports of infections near the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast. And health officials have reported 13 deaths caused by the bacteria this year, including one in New York, two in Connecticut, three in North Carolina, and seven in Florida.

The CDC explaining that the bacteria lives in coastal waters and is mostly transmitted by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. Though in some cases it can be caused by an open wound coming in contact with infested waters or even undercooked seafood. And very notably here, the agency also warned

that the bacteria thrive in warmer waters, especially during the summer months. And adding, extreme weather events such as coastal floods, hurricanes, and storm surges can force coastal waters into inland areas, putting people that are exposed to these waters at increased risk, which of course is significant given the flooding and storm surges we've seen across the eastern seaboard

from last week's hurricane. So know this, be safe, but also understand you're more likely to probably get hit by a car. And then, is Spotify dying? And what they did with Alex Cooper and Joe Rogan, is that putting the knife in their heart? That is something that's being debated right now, as podcasting hasn't made the company any money so far.

And compared to their competitors, Spotify has the most to lose here. Because Spotify has very publicly spent over a billion dollars building its podcasting empire, funneling money into exclusive shows, big names, building studios. With Spotify back in 2018, setting its sights on becoming the top

of the podcasting food chain after noticing a spike in demand in Germany. We've seen them sign huge high dollar exclusive deals with Alex Cooper and Joe Rogan. But their deals also went outside of just big names and podcasting and turned to traditional celebrities like Kim Kardashian as well.

Signing an exclusive contract with Kim back in 2020 for her original podcast, Kim Kardashian's The System, where she discussed criminal justice reform. With her first episode airing in October of 2022, two years after signing the deal with Spotify and quickly hitting number one on the charts. Also, Dawn Oshroff, formerly in charge of building Spotify's podcast empire, signing a multi-million dollar deal with the Obama's production company, which then made five podcasts with Spotify,

but also signed a deal with Amazon's Audible last year. Oshroff also locking down Meghan Markle for an exclusive deal, with their show Archetypes debuting last year at the top of the charts, but then failing to sustain a large audience and not getting renewed for another season. And while those pricey deals were very, very expensive, notably, they were only part of Spotify's spending in the podcast space. The company also spent over $200 million on building two podcasting studios. They spent hundreds of thousands per episode to try and lure in new listeners. And these investments have yet to turn a profit

with the company reporting over $500 million in losses in the first six months of this year alone. And notably, this is podcasting currently only represents a tiny fraction of the massive $200 billion digital advertising marketplace. With Evan Shapiro, a media consultant and producer saying, the size of the bet up against the size of the market just seems irrational in retrospect.

They're out of runway. But notably, Spotify says they're actually on track to make podcasting profitable by next year, saying they had 100 million podcast listeners on their platform in June, which is 10 times more than they had in 2019. And understand, they are under some serious pressure from investors to keep that promise. So we've seen the company making some changes. Like back in June, the company laid off over 200 employees and cut a bunch of shows to focus more on their limited and exclusive content. They did away with their two podcast brands, Gimlet and Parcast, consolidating them into Spotify Studios. They also started cracking down on white noise podcasters, which are just shows that have ambient noise rather than people talking,

removing those from the Ambassador Ads program, which is where Spotify pays hosts to read ads, encouraging listeners to join the platform and make shows themselves. We've also seen Spotify sharing some of the risk with their creators. Like in a recent deal with Trevor Noah, Spotify agreed to pay him $4 million and the company can then collect revenue from the podcast to cover the investment. And after they're made whole, both Trevor and Spotify will split the profits.

And there, according to executives, Spotify plans on pursuing similar deals in the near future, which immediately makes me wonder about their future. Like if you look at the Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper deals, what happens when those are up? Because they're sweethearts, do their deals stay close to what they were? Like the number would change or are they going to try and sell them on what is essentially in advance which hey we're in speculation bill here but i don't imagine

they would take because i mean just looking at rogan other platforms have offered him crazy amounts of money to move his podcast there and he has a show that has proven its audience will follow him but as far as how it's going to play out, only time can tell. And then for any of you focused on getting your business off the ground, creating a place to share your homemade goods or even a personal blog, I got a great solution for you. And it comes from the fantastic sponsor

of today's show, Squarespace. You know, I've been partnering with Squarespace for years now, and I have to say it is just so easy. There's nothing to install, patch or update ever. Creating a beautiful website with Squarespace's Fluid Engine is so easy. You just drag things where you like,

no coding necessary. And if you need a starting point, Squarespace has a bunch of great professional templates. You can even sell custom merch easily. And Squarespace handles all the production and shipping. Plus, with Squarespace, you get access to all their marketing tools and analytics and their award-winning customer care team via email or live chat 24-7. So go check it out. See why so many others love it. See why you're going to love it and start your free trial today over at squarespace.com slash fill. And when you realize it's for you, just make sure you enter an offer code phil to get 10% off your first purchase. And then, Russia may have just made a major diplomatic mistake with a long-standing ally after the Cuban government announced that it had actually uncovered a large

human trafficking ring to get its citizens to fight in Ukraine. With the Cuban government saying in a statement, the Ministry of the Interior is working on the neutralization and dismantling of a human trafficking network that operates from Russia to incorporate Cuban citizens living there and even some from Cuba into the military forces participating in war operations in Ukraine. And overall, they do not seem happy with this turn of events, with Cuban authorities adding, Cuba is acting and will act energetically against anyone who participates in any form of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment of Cuban citizens as mercenaries to use arms against any country. Now, notably, this is not the first time that we've heard of Cubans fighting for Russia in this war. But in those cases, it didn't seem like there was a network to coerce them into doing it. We also right now don't know exactly how far the government has gone to dismantle this network. But the fact that they are publicly calling this out is especially

interesting because on top of Russia being a major ally for them, there has been a longstanding precedent for Cubans to be sent abroad to fight in the then Soviet Union's proxy wars's proxy wars. Though notably, this time, there are some key differences. Right, first off, in those wars, Cuba was able to portray its troops as revolutionaries who would then return home. This time, though, they feel like many nations do, that Russia's just being predatory and trying to take advantage of desperate citizens. Right, they're offering like $2,000 a month to foreign fighters on top of the possibility of citizenship, which for many Cubans could be an amazing combination, with reportedly doctors there maybe not even making $2,000 a year, and there's always people desperate to leave.

So for being real, if you take the morality out of Russia's bullshit war, and you go like, hey, I'm desperate, it's easy to see why a Cuban citizen might take that deal. But I guess also why the Cuban government would find it such a massive insult that his citizens were considered so cheap to recruit. And then, in political news,

we are now staring down the barrel of the shotgun that is a potential government shutdown, and the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has officially started today. As we've talked about before, Paxton was suspended from office after a majority of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House voted to impeach him on 20 counts, including bribery, abuse of public trust, dereliction of duty, and more. And the trial, which will take place in the Texas State Senate, focuses on 16 of those articles, which Paxton has denied. And as far as what's going to happen, we should know relatively soon with reports saying that this trial is set to last over two weeks, with both sides getting opening statements as well as 24 hours each to present evidence and

witnesses. And notably, if Paxton is convicted of just one of the impeachment articles, he will be removed from office. And in order for that to happen, his removal will need to be supported by two thirds of the state Senate, which is made up of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats. And what's also interesting is the senators could also vote to prevent him from running for elected office again. And a really key thing is that we actually got some indication on how these senators might vote as the trial was underway today. And that's because we saw the senators striking down a series of pretrial motions from Paxton's team to dismiss the case, with all but one of those motions failing by a vote of more than two thirds. In places like the New York Times explaining,

the unsuccessful maneuvering provided early hints into how the trial might take shape. Mr. Paxton appeared to have the support of at least six senators, but a solid majority of Republicans do not appear to view the trial as a sham as some of his supporters have called it. And beyond that, we also know for sure that one senator won't be allowed to vote,

Paxton's wife, with rules set earlier this year saying she will be counted as present but barred from voting or deliberations. So we're gonna have to see what happens there, especially because it's gonna have massive implications. But to then hop from a state story to a nationwide story, we got the government shutdown. The Senate officially returned today and they are faced with a massive mounting deadline, averting a total government shutdown that will happen if Congress doesn't agree to a spending bill to fund the government by September 30th. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is still on vacation for a whole other week, which key thing means that they will have just 11 legislative days to hammer out an agreement to keep the government from shutting down.

Which for some things sounds like a lot of time, but for this, not really that much, especially as Congress is so divided on how to deal with this. Specifically, a key issue here is that the House GOP has put forward budget bills that'll include spending cuts that would go against an existing agreement

Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with Biden during the battle to raise the debt ceiling. With that coming after pressure from the far-right Freedom Caucus, which was super angry with McCarthy for making that deal with Biden, even though the US was literally about to default on its debt. But those McCarthy for making that deal with Biden, even though the U.S. was literally about to default on its debt.

But those proposed spending cuts obviously aren't gonna fly with a Democratic-held Senate. So with the shutdown deadline inching closer and closer, congressional leaders on both sides have agreed that there is no way they're going to fully hash out a budget. So instead, they're focusing on passing a short-term measure called a continuing resolution

that'll keep the government funded through as long as December, while a more long-term deal is hashed out. Now, notably here, passing a continuing resolution, that wouldn't be a weird thing, right? Congress constantly puts on short-term band-aids. But despite the fact this is literally just an extension to keep the government open

so Congress can figure out how to fund itself, the Freedom Caucus is once again fucking things up. But last month, the group putting out a statement saying they will refuse to even support a short-term funding bill unless their demands are met. With those demands being that the continuing resolution included GOP border security bill as well as measures that address the so-called weaponization of the DOJ and end so-called woke policies at the Pentagon.

But those demands are dead on arrival in the Senate. Because McCarthy doesn't have a majority in the House without the Freedom Caucus, it's basically assured that he doesn't have to pass a funding bill with support from House Democrats. But then that move would likely create a whole new battle with the far-right faction of the party, a faction that notably has threatened to strip McCarthy

of the speakership in the past. Meanwhile, you got McCarthy making the whole situation even more of a shitshow by saying in recent weeks that the House could start an impeachment inquiry into Biden as soon as it returns from summer break, with that move being largely seen as an attempt to appease the far-right members of the GOP, especially because some moderate Republicans have been wary of the move. And so McCarthy has tried to tie the spending show down to the possibility of impeachment, even trying to convince the right-wingers in his party that if the government shut down, it's going to be so much harder to pursue an impeachment inquiry, though that actually backfiring with the House hardliners rejecting that argument and making

it clear that an impeachment inquiry will be a top priority for them when the chamber returns next week. So now McCarthy is going to have to try to balance all that. To make things even more complicated for McCarthy, all of this is happening as both of the two other top Republican leaders are dealing with health issues, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise saying last week that he was diagnosed with blood cancer. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of course, facing tons of questions and concerns after he froze up at press conferences last week. And there being extra scrutiny over McConnell's ability to lead the party. So yeah, you know, it's government, it's Congress, it's a mess, it's always a mess. But

this is a super special mess. And then finally, in a news segment that needs a name, so please help me in the comments, I want to take a quick look and talk about your reactions to news stories yesterday. Because regarding Mr. Beast, a lot of the conversation wasn't actually about the NFT scandal with Creator League. Instead, it was more focused on the drama between he and Jacksepticeye. And while there were a lot of different takeaways, one of the most core things was this was an example of why a lot of people hate the internet. The people feeling like social media has become less about being social and almost using it more as a weapon or a way to get pitchforks out. Because that whole situation started because Jack said he doesn't like MrBeast's content. Which is why we had many of y'all saying things like,

YouTubers cannot even have an opinion without people being up in arms. I'm kind of glad Jack feels he can speak his mind. People always talk about how we all have hot takes and then when one comes up, people act so outraged. I don't 100% agree with Jack, but I'd 100% defend his right to have a say on a platform he's been on for so long. And a number of people taking that MrBeast ruined YouTube comment as, MrBeast didn't ruin YouTube personally, he just perfectly represents the most exhausting aspects of what YouTube became. And I work as a video editor, and I will say it is happening more and more often recently that I get client notes that essentially translate to make it like MrBeast. I'm always being asked to

emulate the editing style of his videos. There's a pertinent point to be made that for many people, in order for your content to perform well, you just edit your videos like Mr. Beast. It's having an effect of homogenizing the platform. And then the other thing a lot of people were commenting on was a story about pregnant women in America essentially being harassed and screwed over. A number of comments, which included a lot of people from the medical field

just kind of thanking us for the coverage, but also reactions like, as a woman, even when you're not pregnant, women's healthcare is a nightmare. I don't know how many times I've heard, we don't know what that is. It just happens to some women or just dodging questions in general a number of

people sharing their stories things like i had my first child in the hospital in 2011. i felt i was constantly talked down to in the sense of where the experts just let us do our jobs i was given drugs in my iv with no consent required and no information of what anything was my epidural broke during my labor causing intense pain on one side of my body and no one did anything about it nor could i alleviate my own pain as i wasn't allowed to move around. And I was given a two-hour window to push and was told if I didn't deliver in two hours, I'd be transferred to an OR for a C-section. And the worst was I required an episiotomy and I could feel myself receiving stitches. And going even further in her explanation, but saying all in all, just a borderline dehumanizing

experience. And that was just one of so many stories being shared that I just, I couldn't imagine living through. Thank you to everyone that shared their experiences and their opinions because I mean I really feel like that's the other part of the news. The actual human element and that's something that can be experienced when you have a community like this. And if you want a deeper dive into the things we're talking about here you can click or tap right there. I got links in the description. But that is where today's daily dive into the news is going to end. As always thank you for being a part of this, being subscribed to the channel. Also don't forget snag yourself a bag or three of Wake and Make Coffee at wakeandmakecoffee.com.

You can even get a bag or three for 50% off today. But as always, my name is Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.