Tomorrow - 146: A Lack of Innovations or Apologies

Episode Date: January 6, 2019

New year, new Tomorrow. On the first episode of 2019, Josh and Ryan discuss Kevin Hart, the "Mad Box," Louis C.K., Apple's earning report, and other huge disappointments. Then they perform a wellness check on Marie Kondo and share some thoughts about The Twilight Zone's general superiority to Black Mirror. Grab your VR goggles and voice assistant, it's time for 146. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey and welcome to tomorrow, I'm your host Josh Wittepolsky. Today on the podcast, we discuss Miles Morales, Frank Underwood, and Trevor Belmont. I don't want to waste one minute. Let's get right into it. Alright, it's a new year. It's a new day, Ryan. New year, new tomorrow. It's 20. That's wow. That's really good day, Ryan. New year. New tomorrow. It's 20. That's wow.

That's really good stuff. 2019. I definitely wrote 2018 on something recently. Like, I definitely am not, have not acclimated to the fact that we're in a new year. I wrote 2020. I'm just like leaping right ahead. You're like, yes. I'm doing elected new president.

No, it's, look, it's 2019. 2018 is over. It's dead and buried. Thank you. Thank you. And, but, you know, we're living in, we know that you're really the beginning of 2019. It's look it's 2019 2018 is over. It's dead and buried And and but you know we're living in within us It's really the beginning of 2019 is really we're living with all of 2018's bullshit. Let me think about it Mm-hmm. We're living we're still living in a 2018 kind of like I mean if we're if we're being honest We're still living with like two thousand spools. Yeah, it's really now more than ever since the two thousand years And the odds are coming back. So it's very clear. You're gun. It's time to get some silver pants with a lot of zippers or whatever it is the people are wearing these days

All right, so there's a lot to talk about. There's a ton of things going on. I have personal Grypes and rants that I would like to engage in at some point But I'm not gonna start with those we can start with whatever you want to start with okay your choice We have to start with Alan. I don't with whatever you want to start with, okay, your choice. We have to start with Alan. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Okay, so you have this on our list of things to talk about.

I don't know anything about what's going on with Alan. I talk about gay stuff on this podcast so much. Yeah, I'm a little worried, honestly, because I feel like the podcast is becoming a gay podcast and not whatever it was before. Now we're just now we're just gay. Just trust. I don't want to blame your mind but everyone is secretly gay. Hey, you don't tell me. Tell me everybody's. I mean, I have to talk about this. Okay, go ahead.

What is it? I can't believe we're leading with element. Let's go. Let's do it. So Kevin Hart just to catch you up. Oh, well, Kevin Hart was announced as the Oscar host and it made LGBT Q people a little, because he had for a long time done a lot of like pretty harsh homophobic jokes about gay children. Like if a child presented as gay to him, he would like violently. He said something about like hitting them and all this stuff. That's not cool. He used the F word quite a bit, which like, I'm allowed to throw around at the apartment, but it's a little weird when Kevin Hart does.

But so he had been asked about this previously and he always had like really like, well, funny is funny, kind of answers. Luis Vertele from the Keep It Podcast asked him at a press junket for a movie in which there's a lot of like prison rape jokes. If that made him uncomfortable with his history with the gay community and he was like, funny, he's funny. So he's not like our favorite person.

So you and C. Kevin Hartz, a gay icon. No, I wouldn't even call him an ally. But so he's, but he seems like a nice guy who's just an idiot and said horrible stuff. Like lots of people have said horrible stuff that I can fully condemn, but when you're a nice person and you realize what you've done, or someone says like you really hurt my feelings, you apologize. Kevin Hart has not done that.

Great. So catch you up. And he, in fact, was like, I've already apologized for this. And so, yeah, but like the original apology, he never really liked, there was no way. I'm looking now, I'm looking now at everybody's like, where are the old apologies? Like I just, there aren't.

Yeah, there aren't. I mean, culture did like a long investigation into like, like years of tweets and every statement he's ever made about it and they can't find an apology. But so he gets announced as the Oscars host, people get really upset. And so he canc as the Oscars host, people get really upset. And so he cancels as Oscar hosts.

He's like, I don't wanna be a part of this because obviously I screwed up and it's time for me to like, you know, I don't know, try to understand what you're saying or whatever. Not again, not an apology, but he's listening. Yeah, he's listening. I love it. I love when every, I love when people listen.

I love when we have a listening period. I really see Nine month listening period. It's just time to listen now. Okay But so he he he steps down and it's like fine. The Oscars cannot find a host because they refuse to hire A woman. They're just they're not hiring a woman. There's been no consideration And they have that whole Oscar so white controversy. So the, the, the thinking is they're trying to find out. Now it's like Oscars Oscars so straight. Yes. The thing is they're trying to find a person of color who queer people won't be upset about to host the Oscars, but it also needs to be like, they want like mass appeal. Okay,ars are no longer happy or just a small audience.

Queen Latifa. I have been saying Tiffany Haddish is taking every job center way. Why is she not hosting the Oscars? Why was she not nominated? That's another option. It's a Queen Latifa is out, right? She's gay.

Yes, she is. Is that not a thing? I was just going to say, she's gay, person of color. She's fantastically entertaining. I think household know household name as far as I'm concerned Like crazy far as anybody's concerned. I feel like she checks all the boxes. Maybe not super relevant People don't totally want the I mean that also the Oscars always place this story that nobody wants to host Askers which is the trick of the fucking Oscars. Honestly who cares about I'm sorry We can keep talking about it but fucking seriously the Oscars, which is the trick. She's sick of the fucking Oscars. Honestly, who cares about, I'm sorry, we can keep talking about it,

but fucking seriously, the Oscars. Who cares? The Oscars are so irrelevant. Do you know what mood make the Oscars relevant? If they were just targeted towards the niche audience that has always cared about them, they're a little core audience, which is like, do your fucking indie movies

and whatever else, this whole like putting out an Oscar for most popular film and stuff like that. Oh yeah. You're trying, you're doing the BuzzFeed strategy of like everyone, if everyone is our audience, it's just settled down. We'll make it more money. But the other issue is, it's like, the Oscar seems like the least fun of every award

show that has ever existed. Oh, by far, people can drink during the Golden Globes, even though you can buy the award, like you can just purchase one. People can drink during it, and the hosts are allowed to have a fun time. I mean, when the Grammys is a more watchable show than your award show, I don't even like a award show to begin with. I mean, we can go down to Rabbit Hole, but I don't like awards for art. I don't think that makes any sense. So, well, I mean, I'm a, you know, I'm just... You can honor artists, but art is not an objective thing you measure

There's no best actress in any objective terms and I understand people love right love these ceremonies I'm not saying don't have any but awards for art is always odd to me. Yeah, I'm sort of anti like it is hard to like put a number on art You know like this is ten and this is zero or whatever like it's not a race It's not like, oh, you. That's why to me, to me, to me, that's why rotten tomatoes is such garbage. It's like, it's like the, oh, the aggregate of, it's like this weird number has been created. The determines, you know, it's like my favorite, one of my favorite movies on raw and tomatoes is like 60% or something.

It's like, what does that mean? Like, to me, it's 100%. And somebody else is a zero. And you think that's the same percent of reviewers liked it, which, but it depends on who the reviewer is, because there's a lot of reviewers I don't agree with. And now that affects the score of how, it doesn't make any sense to me. But in any event, the Oscars has really,

has been in a weird place for a while now. They're trying really hard to like be relevant and truly having no clue where to start. And they constantly step in bullshit like this. But so all of this happens, especially people of color in the queer community are upset because people keep like stepping over them and telling them how they should feel about this in any event. Kevin Harco's on the Ellen show. He's supposed to go on on Monday and and nobody really knows what he's gonna talk about. Then she drops this Thursday night in the middle of the night on YouTube,

this interview where she essentially asks him about the controversy, quote unquote. He says he's already apologized for it. Wait, wait, wait, where this happens? Sir, on Ellen. On Ellen. Okay. He says he's already apologized for it

and he's like fine, you know, he wants to move forward, blah, blah. And then he goes on like a six minute rant about how, you know, he's persecuted and all these haters are coming after him and it's ruined his life, which like you're the richest comedian in the world. Like you're not entitled to host the Oscars. Or you know what, let's not even go that far.

You're not entitled to everybody liking that you are hosting the Oscars. Or, you know what, let's not even go that far. You're not entitled to everybody liking that you are hosting the Oscars. Like, people are allowed to tweet that they don't want to watch you. But in any event, Ellen then grants like her, because she's the queen of gainess. She's the only person who ever struggled with coming out. She was the first person on TV.

So she has all this power. She then grants him and we accept your apology on behalf of Queer Men and a specifically Queer Men of color, because that's who his jokes are about. And it is so fucking awful and bizarre and such a weird betrayal, because now my entire mentions about this, every time I've tweeted about it, like dozens of people are tweeting at me, but Ellen says it's okay. And it's like, there's no way to argue with that because I'm telling you, Ellen doesn't speak for me, but that's what you think is the truth. I think, look, here's the thing about Kevin Hart and Ellen and that is true about, there's

two things here. First off, no group of people is monolithic. And I think that there should be no single spokesperson for an entire group of people. Like, because if that was true, Caitlin Jenner would speak for all trans people. No, no, no. And we know that. We know that is not the case. But there's, so there's like,

it's like really dangerous to think that you're speaking for it. Like Ellen should not ever assume that she's speaking for any of her community. Like, I just feel, I mean, it's okay to like, to say like, I'm, this is how I feel, and this is how people that I know in my community are. And it's okay to want to engage with the topic.

I just said I talk about gay stuff on this podcast live, but it's because it's okay. It's, let me read it in part of every part of my life. So it's gonna come up. Well, I'm not saying for Ellen. I'm not saying she shouldn't speak on behalf of her community. I'm not, I'm just saying she shouldn't,

it shouldn't be a blanket thing like, but okay, that's one thing. Like, I don't think you should have like a monolithic single spokesperson for every person in the community. It like a community should be, you know, diverse. But the other thing is that like, the thing to remember is that

Ellen and Kevin Hart don't exist. And there is a, there is a leveling that wealth and fame brings that where like, they are not, whatever their relationship is, whatever her relationship to their relationship is, whatever her relationship to Kevin Hart is, is not in any way the kind of relationship that Kevin Hart has to like an average person gay or straight in the world. Like, so the idea that like she can grant him forgiveness is sort of like extremely misguided

because it's like you don't even live in the world that the people that he's hurting live it. So like you can't really understand or like appreciate like the problem here because you guys are like rich and famous together. So like it kind of feels like. It's not easier to empathize with someone you have dinner with who has the same problems as you which are like the whole media and your career and blah blah blah. Then it is to empathize with someone who just you saw, you read a tweet. Because you've never interacted with these people.

And you can be like, you can be like, look, oh, you know, it's like, you can commiserate about online mobs and forgiveness and all this bullshit. And it's like, it's fine, but like, can he just do a proper like regular apology and like be like, I fucked up. Like, does he even done that? No, not even close.

And I haven't seen the video. I haven't seen the video, so I don't know what he says. Oh, I've watched it like a hundred times. I mean, does he apologize? He doesn't. He basically says I've already apologized and like basically a real house lifestyle, like I'm sorry your feelings are hurt or whatever.

Which is not, by the way, I'm sorry your feelings are hurt. It's like another attack, just for the record. Like, I'm sorry your feelings are hurt. It's like another attack just for the record. Like, I'm sorry your feelings are hurt. It's like, it's like, it's a too bad that you're so sensitive that this is upset you. Yes, exactly. It's a passive aggressive.

Listen, I've been in enough arguments where I've made the argument to people where I'm like, well, I'm really sorry that upset you and they're like, you're a fucking ass. So I've had enough of those conversations to know, to be that I've been having been the perpetrator of such an argument. It's not a really good argument. You really can't, it doesn't work. It's kind of a passive aggressive bullshit way to get out of something. But the thing is working

on himself, when it directly affects Ellen, she stands up really well. Like she stood up to Caitlin Jenner about her views on gay marriage and voting for Trump and stuff pretty consistently and has, and has been really hard on her and asked her Touch tough questions and gotten real apologies out of her because it directly affects Ellen So Ellen's like, you know, this hurt my feelings. I want an apology. Ellen is now granting an accepted non-apology On behalf of people that she doesn't empathize with and it's not it's never been like more clear that half of people that she doesn't empathize with. And it's never been like more clear that not only are communities not like a monolith,

but like somebody should have Ellen's level of power in Hollywood that of every stripe. So that when this happens, you don't go on the Ellen show, you go on, you go on, Titus Burgess's talk show or whatever, and you have to talk to him about it because Titus Burgess would have very different views and a very different way of talking to Kevin Hart, and it might actually be productive.

What's not productive is to watch this like extremely wealthy cis white woman who is also gay and had like a tough time with that 20 years ago. Yeah, but also like sort through and be the judge Judy of like a whole community. It's very bizarre. I can't just say and then we should move on to other stuff, but like can I just say her tough time was like I was a TV star and then I came out and it was tough to get more

work being a TV star, which is a struggle and is unfair, but it is not the same thing as like at that average people go through in terms of like what? And you're like, Ellen's, Ellen's struggle is not like Britney Spears in 2007 had a complete mental breakdown. Like that is a pretty thing. How are we bringing this back to Britney Spears? Because that is a particular struggle that one person went through and you can empathize

and be like, I would never understand. So when she speaks about mental health, she's speaking from a position that she knows more than I do. Ellen had a tough time coming out. Guess who else has had that? Every single queer person has had a tough time coming out. Guess who else has had that? Every single queer person has had a horrible time coming out. She doesn't have some special protective, but Ellen really went through it.

So now she gets to speak from that place. Like Ellen went through it, just as much as I went through it, except she also had millions of dollars in was famous. So that's tough, but I just feel like it doesn't give her some kind of pass. But all of which to say, this is a really interesting media story because it's such clear PR. The Ellen has hosted the...

Well, it's definitely... This is definitely... This is definitely coordinated by managers and... I mean, this is coordinated by managers and publicists and agents. This is not... Didn't just happen. She wasn't like, we should do this. We should talk about it. This is like, somebody went to Ellen and they were like, is not, didn't just happen. You know, she wasn't like, we should do this, we should talk about it.

This is like, somebody went to Ellen and they were like, you're the only person who can redeem Kevin, how do we make this happen? And they made a deal. Yeah, like this is how, like, I'm sorry, like I don't wanna be conspiracy theory, but like Hollywood doesn't work it away where you're like, you know, these things

just spontaneously happen. This is arranged by people. And it's a range for specific reasons. every story has been called on colbert and that maybe he did and said listen i fucked up by blah blah blah this and that but they were like no colbert is not the right person will get now and we need that we need the get we need the spokesperson for the gay community to speak

on this yeah you know how do they aren, who are the other gay, like, spokespeople in Hollywood? Like, who else is there to go to? Like, RuPaul, maybe. RuPaul does have a talk show. Yeah, right, but yeah. So, who are they?

Who else would you go to? I have no clue. It's like, I mean, it's kind of incredible when you think about it, like, how limiting the venues are for these kinds of conversations in, like, popular media. It's like, I mean, there aren't, you can talk to six white guys or Ellen. And the thing is we live in an age of like, like Ellen posted this to YouTube.

We live in an age where if Kevin Hart really wanted to do a really productive conversation, he could sit down with literally anybody on YouTube, post it, get hundreds of millions of views in the same news story cycle. But it, because this is a PR arranged thing where he does it really give a shit, he goes on whatever talk show is the most like close and then like does the things so that all the locals are like, well, Kevin apologized and Ellen says it's okay.

So now I can watch the Oscars, which is all they really care about. Which, I don't know. I'm like, you know, honestly, more than anything. I, I feel like it's like, I, I just don't care about the Oscars. I think the whole thing is like, imagine a controversy, such a high, like, such a, such a pitched controversy about something that honestly is like, uh, if you don't, like, if you don't like Kevin Hart's jokes, like you shouldn't pay attention to Kevin Hart.

And if Kevin Hart won't like apologize for jokes that are lame and you disagree with his stance on it, then you should ignore him. He should be shunned. If you think it's okay, then that's the kind of person you are and you can continue following Kevin Hart. But at the end of the day, the Oscars are not important. It's like some things are going to,

some reason that this all came up is that they are really important, but to like the queer community. Like we take them very seriously. So it's sort of like the Super Bowl. I know that that's such a tried old joke, but it is kind of like the gay Super Bowl. And it's going to have like, it's gonna be seen. It's gonna be. No, I'm not saying there, I'm not saying that there's no value to them.

I'm not saying that they aren't important to some people. I'm just saying in the grand scheme of things, I feel that like the Oscars are increasingly irrelevant. And this whole, as an art platform, they're increasingly irrelevant. I mean, the whole thing is like, it feels like it's not much to do, I don't think,

because it is definitely something to do about something, is a do about something. But like, I think the thing is like, I don't know. I just can't go over my feeling about the relevance of the Oscars and how this all feels like theater to get people interested in the Oscars. Like every year there's some Oscar thing now. So people like, you know, I feel like almost this is almost engineered. Like in a way, and again, I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but it almost feels like it's like the Oscars so white thing, not saying that was engineered, because that's real,

but then their like response suit was so overwrought and so completely like transparent. I don't know, whatever. I'm already getting tired of this. How do we get, how do we get onto a topic that is not about Kevin Hart? Any, I agree with, I will say this. I think the point you're making is that

Ellen, it's not Ellen's place to speak for the entire community on this particular topic. Yeah, and it just becomes the nexus of like, everything we have more media than ever, but everybody wants to be mainstream and wants to be like mass market appeal. So all of that media is dumb. And we've got so, so, so much like video and interviews and blah, blah, blah,

but at the end of the day, like everybody kind of wants to appeal to everybody. So Oscars and Ellen are going to chase that market no matter like the niche markets that they could, you know, play to in any event. Right. Right. Other entertainment things that are more fun to discuss. Have you seen the mask singer? Okay. Okay. I saw the commercial. I saw commercial for the mask singer. Okay, so I saw the commercial, I saw a commercial for the mask singer. Is that what it's called the mask singer? Yeah, I saw it and I could not believe that that was a real show and I think it looks like a reality show. I think it looks amazing. I haven't seen it. It looks like an amazing idea. I hear it's, I understand it's doing very well. So Fox is a show. Like it's a big hit. Fox is this show where a bunch of celebrities are in like mascot outfits. And then they sing. Yeah, they're all like, what's the name

of the fillies? The fillies new fillies mascot. Yeah, they all look like gritty. Great. Yeah. They all it's like, yeah, it's all they're kind of like fucked up. Like costumes are not normal. They're like, no, they're horrifying like eldritch beasts. Yeah, they're pretty wild. Anyhow, so they sing. They sing. And then a bunch of bea-list celebrities then judge like trying to guess today. It's basically here's what it is. And this is I'm sure how it was pitched. It's, um, what was this name of that game show where they would try to guess? It's like a dating game.

Oh, what I think it's called what's my line? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. What's my line? We're watching this. People's jobs. Yeah, I watch that. I love what's my line. I watch it.

So it's what's my line crossed with like American Idol basically. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's a really based on a South Korean show. And nothing has ever more clear. Of course. That this is from South Korea. It shows good.

I'm not saying it's good. I'm saying I can't not, it is so weird and bizarre and like bad in a way that I can't not look, I can't look away. Like I know for a fact Tories Spelling is in one of those outfits. Do you know what I mean? How is this singing bad?

Yeah. I mean, some of the singing is good, but some of it's bad. And some of it's like in the middle, like Tory Spelling, for example, has to be one of those people. And she has been to like, I guess a couple of local lessons for the sort of like lip sync battle. They do some rehearsals. So it's not like unlistenable. It's just they're not like, you're not like, oh,'s Christina Aguilara in a mascot too. Right. I mean, but so it's so it's it's so it's kind of is there bad? I mean, it doesn't get bad. Is there like, who's the guy that

everyone makes fun of for singing really poorly on American Idol? Like do they have that level? William Hung. Yeah, William Hung. It's not that bad. But, but it's funny is that what's clearly obviously Tori's spelling in a lion suit. They've got these bela celebrities bela. How do you know? Is this Madonna? I mean, that's Tori's spelling.

It might be Madonna. That is literally my guess because the level of like production value and the celebrities, like caliber that they have is, it's got to be like, Dino Lohan. Like, so you think it's not going to be Madonna? No, it's gotta be like Dean a low hand. Like, so you think it's not gonna be Madonna? No, it's not gonna be Madonna. They're not gonna be like,

we've got Mariah Carey in a lion costume. I feel like that's what's gonna make the show incredible is that at some point they're gonna pull off the fucking hood or whatever. I don't know how they, how do they reveal them? Like what's the way they're they like take off their big mask? I Feel like the reveal is gonna be like

They're going to It's gonna be somebody incredible. It's gonna be like Mariah Carey That's what's gonna make it that's what we're gonna Grande hasn't been on hiatus recording an album She's been on the mask singer just as a unicorn. I'm telling you, I mean, you joke, okay? You joke, but I think that's what's gonna happen. It captured my imagination, and I have to say, for at this point, for anything to feel like a fever dream

on reality TV in 2019, like great work, everybody. You really did it. You both are. I think it sounds very exciting. I have to tell you, I'm very exciting about it. I'm very excited about it, and I You really did it. I think it sounds very exciting. I have to tell you, I'm very exciting about it. I'm very excited about it. And now I want to watch it. Speaking of things you've watched,

did you watch Bander Snatch? Yes, I watched Bander Snatch. I did all the Bander Snatch endings. I got every ending. Okay, so Bander Snatch at first, I was like, this is dumb. Then I was like, this is actually very cool. Then I was like, this is very clever how they've made it like meta

because it kind of works, it works a lot better as a meta kind of thing, right? Like it's sort of stupid to be doing multiple choice unless your multiple choice is part of the story. By the way, spoiler alert, like if you haven't used or played or whatever the fuck you were calling it today, but Yes, skip ahead if you haven't watched Banderstani. Yeah, but actually do because it's good but okay, but but and there is the real ending of Banderstani, which is like I mean, there's a couple of endings that are like throw away, but then there's a real one. And it has like pretty good emotional heft.

And I was like, that's pretty good. Like that's a pretty good story. See, I wanted the violent, like the violent one to be, the like a cartoony, campy violent one. That's like Street Fighter. I wanted that to be the real one. Well, but that's the thing is that there is a real ending that everything else is sort of a fake ending.

And the, you know, and they kind of make it easy for you. Like, it's not like it's hard to get to the real ending. But okay, so they don't like, okay, so I watch it and I was enjoying it. And, but then, after thinking about it a little bit, actually it's kind of bad. But then, after thinking about it a little bit, actually it's kind of bad. Like, I think the story itself actually doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

I think it is like a gift. I actually like a lot of black mirrors. Like much gets you at the gimmick, but if you think about it for too long, it doesn't make any sense. Like much of black mirror, it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. And when you really look at it, it's kind of like, you know, it is, it's kind of like, what's the point? Like they never really get anywhere. I will say there

are a couple of moments in it that are truly like amazing. There's a moment, there's a there's a drug sequence in the film that really fucks you up. Yeah. I think it's truly upsetting. Like there's a moment, there's a legit jump scare in Bandersnatch. Yeah. Maybe a given way too much now, unfortunately.

But that sort of made the end bag. There's a legit jump scare in Bandersnatch that's like fucked up. I feel like the story could have gone a lot of different directions that would have been more satisfying as a story. Here's what my pitch was to do this. And I'm never going to forget the chance to do it.

Maybe you will. You never know. Five years. This is my pitch for this, which was similar, but I think actually better because I came up with it. I think you can't just laugh on the last episode. I talked about that. I had this idea, but I'm going to tell you what the idea is.

And my idea for it was that at the beginning you start doing a choose your own ending thing, you pick just two options that you don't really understand. And it ends up with a character dying, sort of the fact that you made that choice resulted in them dying. Then we pick up, we go, it's screen goes black, we pick up with a main character and we control this main character. And this main character is trying to figure out why this person died, how they died.

Like it was a freak accident, like it doesn't make any sense. And that person slowly realizes that someone's controlling their actions and like you did it. The solution to the mystery is that the person sitting on the couch is the murderer and they're trying to like figure out who you are and you can control some stuff that they do and it becomes all meta. and then they have to piece

together the thing and I have a whole ending that I'm not gonna give away. But something that sort of implicates you because then there's a reason why we're pulling you into the story to make these decisions. It half does that. He realizes that there's someone controlling his actions

and he fights against it, but not to say anything, not to make any artistic statement. Right. That whole thing is like a throwaway. I mean, that's actually one of the things that's annoying to me is that like it's, that whole part of it is just not, it's like, yeah, it's happening, but there's no, it doesn't matter. Like it's not part of the story. And the whole backstory about the guy, the author of the book is really not part of the story either. I mean, there's really like one, okay, also it's Donnie Darko. I just want to say the story

is Donnie Darko. That's the other thing that we should really talk about, which like I feel like needs to be said. And I probably should have fucking written something about it, but like, talk about, which like I feel like needs to be said. And I probably should have fucking written something about it, but like it is about like this kind of misguided youth who's like on medication and people are like, well, he's fucked up. Like so he's something's wrong with him. And he's having all these weird-

And he's making the shoes your own adventure game. Yeah, he's having all of these weird things where it's like time seems out of sync. And then it's like he gets a message from this thing and it's like you can travel through time. And it's like, oh gets a message from this thing and it's like, you can travel through time and it's like, oh, where does that sound familiar? And then like, instead of getting the thing coming out of his chest, it's a mirror,

but like, you can use the mirror to like, move through like periods of time or whatever. And it's like, and then the ending is fucking identical to Donnie Darko. Identical. It's like, oh, he should have been dead the whole time. That's why everything seems so fucked up. Yeah.

So like, anyhow, so there's that, okay, which is you just recycled another story. But there's also like, I think that that whole thing with like, I love the metaness of the you're being controlled. If they had gone into that, they had been like, like the idea of you, of free will or not free will, or what it means, or like, what this guy discovered the author of free will or not free will or what it means or like what this guy discovered the author of the book that he discovered that somehow like we're all being controlled and like there's another level like above the what we see to like you know this control system.

Like that would have been really fucking interesting. But instead it's just like yeah, it's like, they don't do anything with it. You know, it just doesn't go anywhere. At one point, we as the character that is part of that story sort of explain what Netflix is to him as one of the endings. It's like, that's not come on. I mean, that whole thing, that whole, I mean, the Netflix thing was cute,

but it's like, obviously, you know, it's obviously not going anywhere. No. It's obviously to say anything. It was just to be cute. Right. So it's like, you know, I think, anyhow, so upon further sort of interrogation,

I think what you find is that it's not really that, it's not really that good, you know. It's got some good moments, but it's not that special. No, I didn't think either. And I think as a first launch for Netflix in this style of storytelling, I get why they went with it. But I feel like that kind of storytelling really taking off, it needed to really be an incredible story

that could only be done in that way. And it would have, I think, left a bigger impression on people. Sort of like tell-tale games had to really knock it out of the park with the walking dead or the wolf among us. Obviously that company had its own problems. But that style of storytelling, because it was a really well told narrative.

It brought in more people than I think. Like, I think a lot of people will watch that and they're like, that was a cute stunt and I'm never doing that again. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, I thought it was like, I don't know. Yeah, I just feel like there could have been

so much more done with it than what was actually done with it, you know? Like, it just felt like, I don't know, I feel like they missed an opportunity in a way. You know, am I crazy for thinking that? But you know what, I do applaud them for trying something. I actually think that it's great that they're trying to do something else

that they're like network, I guess. Right, I mean, yes, I mean, it was, I mean, I will say it was a pretty clever experiment. I mean, I think that they, I mean, yeah, I think it was a clever experiment. Like I think if it was worthwhile and it was enjoyable and I actually had a lot of fun with it, but it doesn't hold up.

Like it doesn't like, you kind of like the more you look at the worse it seems, you know. It's not like, you kind of like the more you look at the worse it seems. It's not like two years from now, you're going to be like, I got to watch Bander's match again. Right, exactly. I know. I watch San Junipero like seven times. I'm pleased with San Juniper.

I'm so sick of people talking about San Junipero. Okay. So moving on. So speaking of video game developers and weird experiments. Yes. This company in the UK is slightly experiments. Yes. This company in the UK, slightly mad, announced that they're making their own video game, this guy Ian Bell, who I guess works there, decided to announce that they're making their own video game console, and this was reported on in earnest by every media outlet.

Upon investigation, he's finding interesting investors. Well, I'm sorry. The whole thing is insane. There are literally headlines. I tweeted about this the other day. There are literally headlines. They're like a new entrant in the console wars. Just put it, you know, just stuck it to the man or whatever.

It's like, that's in Sega. It's like, it's like guys. This is, I mean, you know, he's a developer. He owns a size of him He runs a sizeable company that makes real games. They're drives. So did steam They're all the smoke and that's exactly my fucking that's exactly what I thought it's like fucking steam I'm sorry valve the you know the owners of fucking steam Could not make a console happen and they have a massive footprint

and a massive community. So like, I mean, a near monopoly. Yeah, the idea that this, some random guy is like, we're gonna do a console, it's gonna blow the doors off of blah, blah, blah. It's like number one, if you ever make a console, it will be a for enthusiast only. Only the most hardcore people care

about the shit he's talking about. Two, which is fine, fair enough, but it's not going to compete in the... I mean, the city is talking about... It's not about... To the people who care about that, it also doesn't make any sense. So it's not going to compete with the PS5 and the Xbox One Two or whatever the fuck they're going to call it. Yeah, definitely the One Two.

The Xbox X2, whatever. Okay, but also it's going to be a glorified PC, which they all are now, which is fine. But it's like, most likely it's going to be a complete dud and or vaporware and or a thing that you sell a couple thousand of, maybe if you're lucky and then you go out of business doing it. We've seen this game played a million fucking times and it never happens.

There is no incumbent and there's no little like, look, it's just like how Tesla is like, they've sold a lot of cars, but they're not fucking Ford and they're not gonna be Ford for a very, if ever. Okay, but at least Tesla's like, I mean, yes, they are a new car company, they're selling cars, expensive cars to people with money. But like, we're talking about mass market game consoles, okay?

The people who can sell and produce and actually make communities happen around mass market game consoles are pretty well established and they're gonna do what they do. And Apple incorporated, put Apple TV boxes in millions of homes and cannot get you to play cut the rope on it. I mean, it's just a weird company. It's not even gonna get those boxes in millions of homes and cannot get you to play cut the rope on it. I mean, just weird company.

There's not even get those boxes in the home. You know, there's this space where it's like there's a certain space for, you know, people who want to game. There's a certain level of like, I'm not a professional gamer. I'm not an enthusiast, but I love to play games and I will buy the $500 console that gives me the best gaming experience that gives me all access to all of the things I'm hearing about in scene and in media, that's like your average, you know,

you're kind of like average buyer of that. It's like, I mean, I'm not in that category because I'm a weird nerd, but I'm saying that like there are people, most of the gamers out there are like playing Call of Duty because they're kind of like regular, like they just want to play like a cool experience and they don't want to fucking think about

the complications of a console, they just want to like play a game. And I think that like the idea that you're like, oh, the specs have been lagging, it's like, well, not to the people who love their PS4. Not to the people who are playing Red Dead Redemption right now, the specs are not lagging to them. If that was the case, they would be PC gamers.

But more to the point, yes. More to the point, you can build a fucking sick or buy a fucking sick gaming box right now. It's called a PC. But beyond that, if you're an enthusiast, but beyond that, the idea that this is the guy, and this is the company that's going to produce the thing that we're talking about is absurd to me.

But what's more absurd and upsetting is the fact that the media covered it, of course, but people in the games press and beyond, for, I mean, the article's gone for a variety. It's like exclusive. It's like a new competitor in the, in the space or whatever. And it's like, fuck off. I mean, this is just garbage. I mean, this is why, this is why Trump is, where could I? Trump is president, okay? Like, you need mean, this is why Trump is president. Okay. Like, you need to interrogate and investigate the things

you put on your fucking website before you put them on there. I get it, you want the clicks. I get you need the clicks. But that's what's, but that's what's destroying the fucking world. Okay, your fucking desire for clicks is destroying the world. He said that there was going to be no exclusives to this console as a good thing. Like he was like, guess what?

We won't pursue any exclusive. We think, you know, play where you want to play. If any journalist worth their salt was really writing a critical piece about this or like that they thought about for two seconds, exclusives aren't a way of like keeping your games off of other consoles. It for the most part, the exclusives that end up on PlayStation end up there because Sony funded them existing at all. And because they funded it, it should only be on our console because we paid for it.

But it's not like that game was going to get made no matter what. Exclusives exist, so what this guy is essentially saying is, even if we did go forward with this, we would never have the money to fund first party titles published by us, other than the couple racing games that they already make. So it's an admission that their business model doesn't make any sense and you don't understand this industry and literally nobody wrote that story.

Everybody's story was like, watch out Xbox, slightly mad is coming with the mad box. It's like, guys, Microsoft is not quaking in their boots over this. It's insane. I mean, it's completely outrageous. And I just, you know, it's like, I just think we need some, we need people to act a little bit more responsible. I get it, like also I get that, I get that, like, you got to get the clicks and that, you and that maybe it's not that important to you

and maybe this story doesn't seem that important, but I do think that the little things matter from the little things to the big things, it matters. But it does matter because there's investors out there that don't really know what they're doing and don't have as critical at eye and who are gonna read these pieces and be like, yeah, sure. No, I get a city product is just gonna waste

a bunch of people's money. I'm less worried about the product, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm less worried about the product because it's, you know, if it happens, it's gonna be exactly what was just described, which is like a lot of nothing for most people. I don't care if investors want to, I mean, if they're investors who see here this and are like,

I'm going to put money into that, like, have at it. Like, the point is it's not a, it's not a, it's not a thing that competes in any way with the next PlayStation or the next Xbox. They just are not in the same space. Like, and I think that's important to note. Other worried investors, uh, include investors in Apple apparently. Apple missed its financial expectations and the whole world has now decided that cell phones are over because of this. I mean, looking here, there's a lot of factors.

I mean, you know, Apple, you know, Tim Cook issued this note basically, you know, cutting their, you know, forecast, reducing their forecast, reducing their forecast for revenue and sales. And look, there's a valley here. I mean, people talk about like, Keraswisher wrote this thing. It's like, where's the next, what's the next big innovation?

What's the next, you know, it's like, do you know how long radio existed before TV happened? Do you know how long the telephone existed before, whatever, the next thing was, which is just a different version. The cell phone is just a variation of the telephone. Like, I think that the idea that there is going to be some, and I've talked about this for a long time, the idea that there is going to be this, and I've talked about this for a long time, the idea that there is gonna be this wave after wave of unbelievable world changing innovation is fucking insane.

That is not how things work, okay? The iPhone is a television level invention, okay? Like the smartphone is a television level invention. And television level inventions don't just like show up, wow everybody, and then disappear. What happens is like they evolve, they change, they occupy different spaces in our lives, but they persist. And like, nobody's gonna stop having

a mobile touchscreen computer in the pocket, and at any time soon. We're in the persisting state. You're fucking smart speakers not going to replace your phone. A tablet is not going to replace your phone. A laptop is not going to replace your phone. A VR headset is not going to replace your phone. A tablet is not going to replace your phone. A laptop is not going to replace your phone. A VR headset is not going to replace your phone.

A fucking earpiece is not going to replace your phone. You know, it's like a robot dog is not going to come in and then you don't need to make phone calls. A special pair of glasses. Like, I mean, maybe if they invent a humanoid robot that's 100% like an actual human. Even then, it's wildly inconvenient to be walking around with your own humanoid robot that's a hundred percent like an actual human. Even then it's wildly inconvenient to be walking around with your own humanoid robot. Maybe there'd be like a nano person who sits on your shoulder and gives you know,

it's like whispers in your ears. It's like a zoo from the footstone. Yeah, but my point, my point is this like, like, Dovey, two things. One is like, hey, yeah, over here. No, please let me make my point. Sorry, I'm sorry. Stop dunking.

No, or whatever it is you're doing. Okay, no, my point is it's like, look, you know, we're gonna have a little bit of just like, we're living with these things now. They're just a thing. And there's not, we are not going, the Apple keynote fucking hype should end. It needs to end. The idea that Samsung gets up every year and tries to do what Apple does and that fucking, uh, fucking Huawei and, and Xiaomi and all these other

fucking companies are like, we have a new variation on an Android phone. It's like insane. You know, it's insane. Yeah, yeah, that like whole punch displays in the new Samsung phone is like Is does this change the face of computing? It's like you just need to like yeah now with a whole bunch of stuff and not you just need to it's all incremental now Okay, this is like exhaust on cars, you know, it's like windshield wiper technology. It's like TVs you know, it's like windshield wiper technology. It's like, more TVs, and you know what, HDTV was a change, but TVs have been TVs

since they were black and white tubes. Intermittent, intermittent, you know, sort of wipers have been around forever. Now we have like slightly better ones, like slightly different ones, like intermittent wipers existed, and now we have ones that like, well, come on if like they sense rain. It's like, that slightly different ones. Like, intermittent wipers existed, and now we have ones that like,

well, come on if they sense rain. It's like, that's really cool. But like, that's where we're at, okay? Like, we're not, it's not going to be like, next month Elon Musk unveils the neural link, and all of a sudden we're like jacking into computers, you know? Like, anyhow, so I'm annoyed, I'm annoyed with two things. One is like, first off, it's like,

Apple, I'm sorry, Apple is fucking boring. Their products are fine. I think most of them are mediocre. Like, their design has definitely fucking fallen off. I think they're in it. Their innovation in terms of mobile devices is non-existent right now. They're AirPods.

That's their big innovation. Is that both that and that? I mean, I'll say this, like, they like wireless earbuds and I'm like, yeah, okay, that's a good idea. Wireless earbuds are cool. But it turns out. It turns out, they're a variation on a technology. It turns out that we actually didn't need the cords and the cords are kind of annoying

and like, that's great. But like all I'm saying is this, you know, the new iPhones, it's like, there's nothing really special about them whatsoever. I think like the things they have, the Animojis or whatever, they're really cute, Zelda loves playing with them. They're really cool, like they're almost enough to make me go back to an iPhone because they're just like fun to fuck around with.

But they're not really good. I mean, they're not, it's not like an important thing. Nobody's using this daily. It's not important. And even if you are, it's not a sea important thing. Nobody's using this daily. It's not an important thing. And even if you are, it's not a sea change from voice notes and emojis. Yeah, at any rate. So it's like, I'm not, like Apple has definitely slowed

in terms of innovation. Now, here's the kinds of things that could happen that would be, you know, provocative. If Apple did release like a vehicle of some type, right? If they were like, we're doing a car that, not a Tesla, because they can't do, we're also doing a Tesla, that doesn't work for Apple. It would have to be something that's like,

we're creating a vehicle that's like, we're putting these in cities, like the city bike of cars, you'll be able to pick one up wherever you want. Like some weird innovative thing, but also the car is like this wildly innovative electric vehicle or whatever, that could be a thing. If they really want to like up end the transportation industry, that could be something. If they had

some big idea, that could be something that's really monumental, right? I don't think it's augmented reality. I don't think it's VR. I think if you have to put it on your face, it's not going to happen. That's my feeling for right now. Like for right now. I mean, if they invent a thing that looks like a pair of sunglasses and I'm completely fucking immersed in a VR world, like, that's a different story. But I also don't think that people want to be in a room where they're all wearing sunglasses in their Earth in another space. Like, that's just a different kind of experience, you know? And so, like, you have to think of like, what is it going to be that makes them really,

you know, that is the next thing? And like, there is no clear next thing for them. Yeah, it's not a voice. It's not a lot of pieces being like, the real innovation is in voice assistance right now. It's like, even that is not what, it's not the seed change you're looking for. So look, I think that there's,

anyhow, what I was saying is like, there's two things that are annoying. It's like, one is, we have to accept that Apple is not going to be the Apple that has just led everything forever. That just doesn't, I mean, I tweeted about this and it was like, remember when Apple couldn't stop selling iPhones and Facebook was like, couldn't stop making money? And it's like, these things, first of everything ends, especially in technology, everything

ends. Like, the whole idea is it's going to be replaced with something better. Apple's entire existence is predicated on the idea that they will replace it with something better. So like, yeah, cannibalizing their own sales is literally... The difference is, the difference is now it like it may not be Apple that replaces it. It may not be the next thing may not come from Apple. And like, everybody just needs to fucking deal with the reality of that.

And like, I'll just say, I think there are a lot of people making better products in Apple right now. There just are a lot of people out there. I mean, Amazon beat them to this concept of this ambient AI speaker assistant. Just beat them so hard on it. That should have been a domain that Apple was in. It should have been. Google is beating them on it. And partially, it's because of the data, partially, it's because of the internet partially. It's because of privacy, shit. they are getting stuff that Apple doesn't get, but also it's like they just weren't looking

in that direction. Yeah, you know, they release a speaker that plays only Apple music. For $350. It's like, get the fuck out of my face. So me, something I work with is like, why is iTunes so bad? I was like, I literally cannot remember

the last time I opened iTunes. Like I cannot remember and I won't, I probably open it ever again. Yeah. You know? Like, that's a real blind spot for them. You know, now they're like, oh, we have Apple music. It's like Apple music's bad. They have like, we have Apple music.

They have like, we have music is unreal. They have like, we have Apple news. It's like, you want to get the news space? Like, have at it. Like, good luck with that. You think that's a money, I think it's a money making business. Like, I encourage you to give it a shot. I think it's going to be really great for that. You think that's a money, I think it's a money-making business. I encourage you to give it a shot. I think it's gonna be really great for you.

So then that's like, anoint number one is like, Apple is the greatest. How could they ever fail? But then anoint number two is like, all these people who are like the next innovation, where is it gonna come from? It's like, guess what, motherfucker, we're in TV zone. We're in the TV zone. You got the innovation. It happened over the last decade. It's like, guess what, motherfucker, we're in TV zone. We're in the TV zone, okay? You got the innovation, it happened over the last decade. It's crazy.

It's insane what these devices allow us to do and how much they're continuing to evolve. But it is not going to be like, there's a new thing like the phone that changes everything, okay? Literally, remember, do you remember the commercial, the commercial for the original iPhone was everybody picking up the phone? Yeah. These old movies, like everybody's saying, like, like hello or whatever. It's like it's kind of like that

It's like there was the phone and now there's this new thing you put in your pocket and like the next thing is gonna Probably take about as long between those two technologies And the thing is too. It's like the phone that they put out the explanation I have for this like missed earnings call is both that everybody has phones and phones are fine and you don't really need, we're getting to a place where you don't need to replace them as often because the innovations even just from like a processing power standpoint are not really going to be coming as quickly. But also they put out a phone that was way more expensive in markets, outside of the US, especially where people are not willing to pay those prices because comparable products are cheaper.

And also, their phone was not that different. It had a slightly better camera, and it was a little slightly faster. But completely immaterialally, like, marketing-wise, like, it's not, these aren't factors that, like, this isn't why my mom would buy a phone. I'm a tech obsessive, this isn't why I buy a phone is for a slightly better camera. I'm not spending a thousand dollars

on a slightly better camera, I'll just get like a DSLR if that was what I was pursuing. And let me just be clear. But just because they put out a Wii U, doesn't mean that next year they're not gonna be motivated to try to crush it and pack more in for a cheaper price and then try to get those sales back to where they were. Like, they're, they're, this is like, it's such a non-story to me. Like, oh, yeah, Apple got lazy this year. Yeah, we know, we know. Hopefully next year

they'll get rid of the notch, they'll do a bunch of other stuff and then people will feel the impetus to go buy their phone. This is obviously an off year, but the idea that this has like earthshattering implications for like the future of voices assisted technology. Like, no, no, no, nobody's replacing the having a phone with a speaker from Amazon that orders fucking diapers. That's not. But also, but also it's like, I'm not saying, and I'm not, I think it should be clear. Like, we're not, no one is saying that, and no one should be saying that innovation isn't happening. It's just like, it's just a much more incremental kind of innovation.

It's iterative innovation. And that's fine. Like, that's how it should be. It can't be like nuclear bombs every year. It can't be, and it's not going to be. And so like, I think people need to kind of like accept that. There's a Different we're in a different time. You know, we're in a different period and it's like and that's okay

But everyone needs to chill the fuck out also listen We're probably about to go into some kind of insane recession and You're not gonna probably have as much money as you had before to spend on a new phone. So this is actually kind of a good thing You know, I mean the iPhone launched in 2007 and it was a must-have product and then we went through an economic recovery and like sort of a nice grace period to the end of the Obama years while it was still a must-have product. And like, it's now not a must-have product and we're about to not have the money that we've had for the entire life cycle of that product. And it also, we already have them. So like, of course, all these factors need less sales.

Like, that's not, I don't understand why this is like an existential crisis for the future of like design. Like, I get it. Apple design's got leaves. Anything. It's a shame. If anything, let somebody else, let somebody else designs them shit.

I'm so tired of Apple's designs. A tired of people following their design. Well, we've said this multiple times. The pendulum where we all have to have white glass plates is now swinging in the other direction where everybody has it, so it's not. It's not like special or like, it's not like a benchmark

or that we're all trying to reach design wise. It's not like, oh, we all want to have minimalist homes. Now, so we're going to chase that. Now, everybody has a minimalist home. So the pendulum swings in the other direction where you're like, I want this to be personal to me. I want it to take chances and be exciting. And just from a visual perspective,

like try new materials, try things that fit in different niches, like customizability, all of that stuff. Yeah, I mean, it's, yeah. I don't know, all right. Anyhow, I mean, it's the whole thing is, there's, we've beaten the topic. I think I'd like to think we have. It's just like there's so much weird group think about this stuff that is just, you can't,

people do not process independently, which is insane. All right. You should we talk about, can we talk about, uh, Louis C. K. and Kevin Spacey? Oh, sure. I kind of was late, too. I kind of was late to this. So, so two things happen. One is Kevin Spacey made a video like on Christmas day or something. This is Christmas Eve night. Okay, I like I sort of like got came to this like a few days later because you know I was relaxing and not looking at the internet.

You were you were anticipating the birth of your Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I was waiting for Jesus to return and take us all to heaven, or whatever is supposed to happen on Christmas. But, you know, we all go clear, yeah. But, but, you know, I don't know, Kevin Space made a video where he's like in his kitchen, I guess his kitchen, cooking or watching... He's at our kitchen. He's not kitchen.

Like washing dishes or cooking or something, I don't know. But he's like in the character of Frank, what's his name? Underwood. Frank Underwood from, from House of Cards. But he's not Frank Underwood, he's like Kevin. He's just being Kevin. I was Frank Underwood.

Yeah, I don't know. And he's like baking an argument for why like he's a bad guy, but like you know you like him. Yeah, he's like, he's like, he's like, you loved everything I did. It didn't matter to you because you loved Mr. Frank or whatever, like the way he like talks. He was like, he was like, he was like, there's a story in the peach pits of George

that everybody loved the worst man among them. He's like, you love me. He's like, you knew I was bad but you loved it anyway. It's like, yeah, your character on a TV show, we thought that was great. Not you like trying to like bang kids. That is less great. That's a lot less great.

Not you like using you being gay as an excuse for trying to bang kids. Like that's a lot less great. It would be like if like, like I show up to you in character as Buffalo Bill on the actor who played Buffalo Bill. And I show up in character as Buffalo Bill after it came out that I like killed a bunch of women and made a code out of them, and I was like, but you loved it. You loved it when I was a man

No, I'd be like if the actual played Buffalo Bill Did Buffalo Bill style killings in real life? And then he was like you love my Buffalo Bill and it's like no We like Buffalo Bill from the fictional film put the lotion on your skin, dear YouTube viewer. It's like, yes, Buffalo bills a very entertaining character when there are no stakes except my enjoyment. Yeah, like a very of the change. The very weird message. Yeah, anyhow, that's fucking to say, but then Luis CK went and did a set somewhere in like upstate New York or some Buffalo or it's like first off.

I don't know. Okay, you can do enough. He did some beset where he's like making fun of the parkland kids, like making jokes about the parkland survivors and then making jokes about like black guys and Asian guys. And like doing like people, what's that? He made jokes about queer people being like, oh, you want to pick your pronoun?

Ooh. So he talked about them, they pronoun, okay, so whatever. Okay, all a bunch of dumb jokes that are stupid, like, fucking, who's the comedian who said, Dane? Yeah, let's start at the beginning where the jokes aren't even funny, like we don't even need to get into the identity of it. Dane, they just weren't good jokes.

Dane's level bad, like jokes like Asian guys are good at math or something like that. Like literally, but it's like, okay, so anyhow, everybody's like this is fucking lame and this is Louis CK has become like, he's a intellectual dark web level. You know, he's basically one of these guys who's like, you're saying that I was racist, made me racist and it's like,

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That shouldn't happen. You know what I mean? If people are like, Lou, you're a bad guy and it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. That shouldn't happen. You know what I mean? Like if people are like, Louie, you're a bad guy and you should reflect on that, it shouldn't be like, you know what, I am a bad guy now because you said that about me.

It should be more like, I've reflected on it and here's some of the things I've realized and like, I think the thing that, so it's like obviously that didn't happen. Nobody's telling Louie what to do in terms of comedy. He can do whatever he thinks is funny. I think everybody's like, one, the shit's not funny,

and two, it's like you have gone in the opposite direction of like where you said you were going to go when people were like, hey, you shouldn't be masturbating in front of women, like random like. Also, the opposite direction of what any of his work has ever been. Well, this is, I think this is the most important part,

and the thing that resonates most with me, which is like, I think deep down. I think Louis was always like very woke, you know, and he kind of got away with shit because he was like being woke, right? Like he'd say something horrible and then he'd talk about why it was horrible. You know, like I think of one of the bits he did when he hosted Saturday Night Live was like about like women, how women are like in fear all the time because men are horrible and like, you know, trying to attack them or whatever. Like, and it's like, yeah, like that's a very woke

like way to think about it. And he said some stuff that was like pretty upsetting, but then you're like, oh, he's making jokes about it because it is like fucking insane. But now it's like deep down kind of what you've always thought, which like sort of exposed itself when the story, when his story came out to begin with is like, he kind of is a shitty guy.

And like all that stuff, all the woke stuff is him kind of playing a character of being like a not shitty guy. When what he really wants to say is like, fuck women, we should rape them or whatever he's saying in his new act, you know? Yeah, well, it was like, oh, you got to all this introspection because you couldn't, because there was a way you wanted to treat your daughters

that you wouldn't treat other women. So now that you made comedy out of it, but you haven't processed it to the point to be like, oh, I'm a shitty person. I'm sorry, the daughter stuff is the worst kind of like fake fucking feminism or whatever. It's not as a guy, misogyny, and whatever, like faux feminists, whatever.

Like the, the, the, I mean, yeah, it's, she's somebody's daughter. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. That's the worst kind of like being a good guy is when you're like a good guy for some specific personal reason, not a good guy because that's the right thing to do.

Like, and I say this guy, because it could impact you if you weren't. You should have been disgusted by how women are treated whether or not you have a daughter. Like if you need a daughter to show you how bad is, now I will say this, as a man with a daughter, I have seen things in society through her eyes, through her perspective,

I've seen things in her upbringing, in the people around her, in like the friends she has at school, in like the parents of the friends, in like what is kind of like broadcast to children. I have seen things that I would not have noticed otherwise because I'm a man, a white man who grew up in 1980s, America, and I didn't have access to those things. But I have added perspective,

but it has not changed my opinion on how women should be treated. I'm not like, wow, I thought women were treated great. And now I realize they're actually treated really badly in society. It's just reinforced that stuff. So it's fine if you get new insight, but if it took you to have a daughter

to think about women, there's something fundamentally flawed with you to begin with. And also, and I think this is the thing that's most often in my life. But the way that he positioned that in his act was always like, wouldn't it be ridiculous if I was that guy?

Do you know what I mean? And it ends up you are. The other thing is that like, the other thing is that like, it's the phoniness of the whole thing. To me, that's the most upsetting part, is that I, it's like not only has Louis C.K. has his new material, is it bad?

And not only is it like, it anti what he sort of suggested he would be doing following this like controversy. Cause I think actually, if there is anybody, I will say this, of all of the people who've been involved in this Me Too shit, and there's been quite a few. I think Louis, actually,

Louis K actually stood out as a man who had an opportunity to come back from it in a way that was like pretty interesting. Productive and interesting, and like that people could accept. Like I think given his past sort of like stances, given the particular act, which is like definitely something that is like someone who's like kind of sick

does and definitely not like, it's not like a violent crime, it's not like a rape. You know, it's like something that's bad, but it wasn't like he beat women, that we know of or rape them. It's that he put them in really uncomfortable fucked up weird sexual situations. He's actually assaulted people. He there was no like element of violence to it.

Right. He wasn't like the result of mental illness. It's definitely not that I'm not excusing. I'm not excusing the behavior. I'm only saying that that there's enough of there's enough in there that you're kind of like, well, this is a really particular weird case. He clearly has problems. And those are problems that you can overcome. Like those are problems that you can deal with.

Like it's not like you're a rapist. Like if you're a rapist, like yes, you can go to therapy and become like not a rapist. But if you've done rapes, like you're not, it's not like, like you've done rapes. Like that's it, like that's happened, okay? Like it's not like you erased the behavior, but this is behavior that you could come back from

in my opinion. I think it is possible. And I think Louis had an interesting opportunity to- I mean, the way that he comes back from it is not like, you know, and come back from it not meaning that his victims ever have to forgive him or anything like that. But what I mean is he could have come back from it in a way that he went through a personal journey that he could then advise other men to either prevent this kind of behavior or to help rehabilitate people who clearly don't are on some spectrum of like sociopathy or like behavior. And find a way to channel your like figuring out what you did wrong and why and what was wrong with you and the situations into something that he does, which is like comedy.

Like there is a way to take his understanding of the, I mean, I imagine and I'm kind of bummed because we won't ever see it in a way. Like it would be really interesting for somebody who's smart and really funny to really look at this and look at themselves and say like, boy, I really fucked up here and I did some really wrong things and like, and like I have figured out some things about myself and about like other people that I want to share. And he could do it in a way, I believe there's a way to do it. That's like really funny and interesting and introspective. And like there is a moment.

Well, that's and again, this, this is the Sarah Silverman thing where like she fucked up a bunch of times. She made a lot of racist jokes. And she has worked and the people she made those jokes about never have to forgive her. But she has worked really hard to engage a conversation with like especially the white community to say like what I did is super fucked up.

Here's why, here's a funny like, here's an hour long special about how it was shitty. Here's a new television show where people explained to me why it was shitty and how I could be different going forward. Like, that is a substantive conversation that I'm like happy happened. Yeah, I'm just saying like, he could do the work in private and then share with us his results his the results of the work.

I don't care how it's man, how it manifests, except to say that there's a version of this where it could have manifested. Like there could have been something positive that he delivered out of this, like, and actually saved his own ass, like, and actually gotten back into a some type of career.

I think, I believe that. I don't, I don't think he was so completely, I don't believe he was so completely untouchable. There wasn't a way to come back from it. Like I mean, and also, I mean, and this is the same thing with the Kevin Hart thing. If you genuinely feel bad about the way what you did and the amount of money you've made in the meantime, without people knowing and having like sort of pulled the wool over people's eyes about who you are to make money, you could take $100,000, which is meaningless to both of those people because they're so rich.

The level, a lot of people in entertainment aren't quite as rich as we imagine. Those two people are, they could have taken $100,000 and started a charity to help educate people, or given it to people who like Kevin Hart could go give money to the Trevor Project, which prevents LGBTQ youth from committing suicide based on bullying.

Louis CK could have given a ton of money to, like, and publicly said, like, this is my unactive tradition. Here's $2 million and I'm going to meet with you several times because I would like to become educated and I would like to be useful in some capacity to the people that I've heard. And those people don't have to use him some capacity to the people that I've hurt. And those people don't have to use him, but to even offer would mean a lot. Neither of them have done that. They've made a lot of moves to like get back to making money quickly.

I just, it just seems, I mean, it seems so like how can you be this stupid? Like I get being angry. I do understand the feeling of like you're being attacked and you feel like maybe wrongfully maybe in a way that is over the top and by the way I I will say this and that's defending him at all. I do think that Louis A. K. Price has experienced and an Ordinant amount of attacks over what he did like it's normal if like in a personal situation if you do something wrong Let's say between these people,

like let's say he's not a famous person, he's just a regular person. And you're in a situation where you've done something really fucked up, like there's an expected amount of like within your small circle that you're gonna get shit. Like you're gonna get it. But are they attacks or is it? I think consumer based, right?

I think something I think allowed to voice their opinion of what happened. I think there's some, come on. I mean, I think there's some. I don't like the word attack. Okay. Okay. Okay. But don't you think, do you not think? I'm not attacking Kevin Hartley. But at some point, I don't like what he said.

I get that. Don't you think at some point after you've, after there's been, after it's like very clearly, and universally stated that Louis CK fucked up, you don't think that there are any people who went beyond what was necessary. You don't think that there are any people who went beyond what was necessary. You don't think there's a single person on Twitter or on Facebook or on Instagram or to his fucking agents.

I don't think people have gone after him in the way that they go after Aegean Zalia for something that's even lower stakes. I'm saying, I'm saying, just going back to our dunk culture conversation, I do think that when somebody fucks up and he fucked up big time, but when somebody fucks up,

there is no quarter for them anymore. So like, I do think that it's probably been pretty fucking, I'm not saying that we should feel a lot of sympathy for Louis K. He made his bed. But like, but there is a general, I mean, he can, he can, he can, he can, he's still touring, he's still doing a show. I'm just saying I get that I want to I'm not again, I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve to be

like there doesn't deserve to be some pile on. But like, I would guess that he's experienced something that is so out like in terms of proportion, so unknown, so previously unknown to almost anybody in existence. Sure. Yeah. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, it is like, it is like the amount of the frequency of the space with which it is possible to like needle somebody now is so massive. And when you think about a character like Louis CK who's so big, so well known, and all of the avenues that people have for it. So I can imagine, and again, I'm not saying it's right or wrong at this point. I do think that I do think people need to, I think generally we all need to chill the fuck out and stop trying to dunk on everybody. I think that's, I just will say

that I'm not saying like we should give, you know, quarter to rapist or sexual assault people or fucking me too, dudes, but I'm saying that we are all living in a kind of like heightened state of like piling on and I think it's bad for society. And I will say that we are all living in a kind of like heightened state of like piling on and I think it's bad for society. And I will say that I do think like there should be a point where you go, okay, like we've let you know how we feel about this. And then it's like I think it's we can stop. We could say like you now have the information you need to fucking do something. So do something, right? Like there is a point with Louisie K where I think he got the message. Wouldn't you say? Sure. Like I would say there how how long I guess what I'm saying is like

if Louisie K if Louisie K fucked up and the world let him know how they feel about it for like a year. At what point is it okay to say like I think he knows now. I but I said ever okay. The point at which to be like, I think he knows now, is when he has started those acts of condition, and his return to public life is a way in which he is engaging with what happened and trying to be of use to the people that he heard, then you say, okay, but he's trying, we don't have to constantly

brag on him. But when he comes back without any of that, we bring it all back. Not again, we want to tell him. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no years or a year. However long it's been, it's been like a year or something. I don't even know if it's been a whole year. And I can't imagine him going like, what the fuck, like when is this going to end?

And I can imagine a reaction to it, which is like, fuck these people, right? I can totally understand that. I think we've all felt at some point in our lives when we have made a mistake. And we were like, because of the reaction of people that we decided to double down on the mistake, right? Like have you ever been in a situation where you're like,

I know I fucked up, but I'm so pissed about the way people are reacting to me about it. There be so- Part of becoming an adult was I think me letting that go. Yes. And being able to like be wise enough to let that part of myself go.

No, listen, of course, if you feel that like, if you feel that the other people have a point and like you're just too proud or too angry to accept it, like part of being an adult is going like, okay, I need to accept it and I need to like eat crow. I just need to be like, yes, like you're right, I'm gonna take this because I deserve it and you need to like find a way to move past it.

Like you personally. The, what I'm saying is, so I can understand the feeling, what I can't understand is him being, because I think, I don't, I thought Lucy K was like a pretty smart guy. Like, and a guy who definitely has access to things like, if he needs like a therapist or... He's got resources.

That's the same. He definitely has access to like the things you would need to like figure out, like how to think about these things. And also, there's definitely people around him who are not going to it, just straight up abandon him. I mean, not people who,

there are people who made a lot of money off of him who are not going to abandon him, okay? And somebody, somebody somewhere, or Louis C. K. himself, you think would have been like, I have to figure out the way out of this, the right way out of this, that is like, one, I have to figure out what the fuck I this, the right way out of this, that is, that is, like, one, I have to figure out what the fuck I was doing and why I was doing it.

And the second piece has got to be like, it's not doubling down on this, whoever that person is is not the fucking strategy. And it's insane to me that, like, the strategy, his strategy seems to be doubling down on that guy, you know? Like, how is it possible you're doubling down on the attacker? Like, I mean, the only thing I can imagine is, like, he's just not that guy. You know, like, how is it possible you're doubling down on the attacker? Like, I mean, the only thing I can imagine is like, he's just not that fucking smart. I guess, yeah, maybe not that smart.

I also think it is a level of like, eco and entitlement to use my least favorite word of someone whose career was constantly being told he was like a genius and under appreciated and then eventually was appreciated for a couple of years and now to go back to feeling like, but I'm still that all these, I have all this talent and you will let me use it. I do think there's an element of that that I don't know, fuck, fuck Louis K at this point is ultimately where I put it. I mean, it's yeah, I mean, the sad thing is like it is fuck Louis CK And yet like it didn't have to be like this. That's the thing that kind of bums me out

It's like is because I think what we need to establish what people talked about and written about is like there are cases here Where people fuck up and and can be redeemed like I want there to be cases where people fuck up and can be redeemed Like I want him to be better like I want him to be a better guy for this. Like figure out what you did wrong, figure out what's wrong with you. I mean, it's just better for everybody if we can allow people to be redeemed. Like my, my, ideally, I mean, we're talking about this about Nazis, right?

It's like ideally no one ever becomes a Nazi. But if you do become a Nazi, what I really hope for you is not that you die. What I really hope for you is that- And I don't even hope that the people who you hurt forgive you and we have a Cumbia scenario on the other end of this spectrum. What I really hope is like, what you're,

I think about to go into, it's just that rehabilitation, like- Yeah, I wanna be- You understand? What I hope for anybody who is a fucking white supremacist right now is not that you die. Okay, I'll just say that. What I want you to do is realize how fucking wrong you are. What I want you to do is realize how much damage how much damage you're doing to society by thinking the way you think and how wrong it is and how bad it is that you think

that way. And then I want you to like try to help fix it. Like that's what I really want for anybody who you know is in some way like has a broken way of saying. We always have an angel scenario where the vampire then becomes a hero who saves people from vampires. I haven't watched a lot of Buffy, so I think that's a Buffy reference. But all I'm saying is yes,

I want what I would like is for people to be, if not redeemed by the people who they've hurt, not redemption from the people they've hurt, but at least some kind of redemption for like themselves. Like I would like them to find something that can be a positive outcome from a very negative thing. And like it's a huge bummer. I think Louisiana is a kind of microcosm

of so many of these situations where it's like, your opportunity here is like, to go, I made a mistake. I learned a lot here. I can be better. And here's like what I'm going to do to be better. Like, and actually have some kind of positive, like, impact, at least in your life, if not like beyond your own life. It's just a fucking bummer.

I was like, you know, I was never that big of a fan of Louis K for the record. Like, I don't think his comedy is that great. I think he's done some really funny stuff and he's done some stuff that's kind of dumb. But it's like he could have done this very differently. And we could have been having a very different conversation right now. And I think it's sad for everybody, but especially him before we pivot into me having full hour longlong discussions about angel versus spike and redemption as a concept based on a conversation from a television show in the 90s. Let's talk about, okay.

Did you see the China landing on the dark side of the moon stuff? I haven't seen anything about this. I heard about, I saw an article and I was like, I saw a headline. It was like, why the dark side of the moon stuff. I haven't seen anything about this. I heard about, I saw an article and I was like, I saw a headline, it was like, why the dark side of the moon matters? And I was like, are they really talking about Pink Floyd? Is it really still talking about Pink Floyd? No, tell me what happened.

I love being totally not informed about things. So China realized that if you play dark side of the moon backwards and you sink it up with the wizard, I'm just gonna, wait a second. What? No, China landed on the dark side of the moon with a lunar lander. This is so dope.

So good. They're gonna take, they're just gonna be like, we're gonna take in the moon. Yes, and well, that's the thing. The conversation around it is both we're taking the moon and also like, what's wrong with America?

I thought we were this face country, like this whole, like, uh, has a point, but also so reductive conversation about, like, interspace stuff. Um, and, in any event, China's like, uh, Donna full space push, which is really interesting for a country that also has an enormous manufacturing footprint, because from, like, a science engineering perspective, we are being outpaced.

And it, it is a thing where we should currently. Oh, they're gonna blow the door. I mean, it's like Russia, you know? It's like, they have all of the reasons and all of the resources to do it, and they're gonna fucking do it. Where's, this country's in such, I mean, China, I mean, it's a communist country,

they can just be like, we're gonna do this, and we're gonna force all the businesses here to work towards and all the innovators to do it and like that's just gonna fucking happen. I know we used to do stuff like that. Well, we, I mean in many ways America used to be more like, it used to be less like a democracy. We had a lot, there was a lot more like, look, I mean the Republican started this thing

of small government and government, government funded agencies are bad and blah, blah, blah. That's why they want to dismantle the EPA and dismantle the FDA and like, just ban all the parts of the service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service.

And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service.

And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. And feel more like service. Even though if we widespread thought science was good, that would be translated from our government. I think people still widespread think science is good. We're just not able to turn that into actual action anywhere on behalf of the government. Well, we have a government that's totally dysfunctional and broken, run by people who hate the government, which is a real problem for the government. You know? Like, like, the government is there for a reason and you're supposed to use it and it's supposed to do things and we're like, let's just panel it and go back to like farm

studying or whatever. And it's like, yeah, that... Well, there's a xenophobic way to have that productive conversation where you're like, we need to get better so that we beat these people who I don't like because of xenophobic, nationalistic, jingoistic reasons. I think the other way to have this conversation is to say, look comparatively what humanity is still able to do. Why are we not achieving that over here and adding to the planet-wide progression of science and stuff like that? I think we need to look at that and be like, what are we, how are we failing that we can't do what they're doing?

But I do think it ends up becoming like a thing where people are like, oh, they got to the moon. So like, you know, like they win and we lose. Like, I do think there's like a, like we all won when we went to the moon originally. I think we all win every time we make these progressions. And I would like us to be able to reflect, at least in the press, reflect that side of, I don't know.

I mean, I just think it's like, we need to live in a country where we people appreciate science and a technology and art. And the government wants to fund projects that are fund and help lead projects that are more than just about lining the pockets of the people who run the country. And unfortunately, we have a we have a country that's more interested in making sure the NRA is protected than making sure kids are protected and making sure that the health, that insurance companies make more money versus having people, you know, have insurance, right? You know, like this country is like, we have all of the wrong, we're positioned all of the wrong ways right now for like innovation and exploration and moving forward. Like everything about what

we do is about moving backwards right now. And yeah, it's fucking sad. It's very depressing. But you know, good on China. You know, congratulations. It's just a funny little like weird. It is kind of funny that the people who want to quote unquote make America great again want to roll back the gains that were made.

Okay. So like we were moving forward at one point. And we want to get back to moving forward and their way of getting back to moving forward is to undo all the going forward that has happened. Yeah, I mean, they're like, remember when we were going so fast on the highway? Let's go back to where we were originally

while we were driving to our original where we launched from. And then we'll be going fast again. It's all bullshit. I mean, we have to move fast from where we are. I mean, the whole thing is bullshit. We have a government shot down right now because Donald Trump is asking for us, for taxpayers, for the human beings who live in American pay taxes, to pay for a fucking fake ass bullshit wall, a wall that will keep illegal immigrants

out of our country, which it will not do, but also is a child's fantasy about... It's just a symbol of racism. Like, because it's child-want to build about border protection. And also, he literally is like shut, like our government is not functioning right now because he wants your money for it. And it is hardly the biggest problem in America right now. Like immigration is hardly the biggest problem in America right now. Like immigration is not the biggest problem in America.

The biggest problem in America is that in college, Alexandra Acasio Cortez danced on a roof. Oh my god. This is true. She did a funny meme video, which makes her seem very adorable and adorable and lovable. And now the Republicans are very upset about it. No, I love it. That is the biggest problem that America faces. Then I like the new crop of Democrats. They're mad about her dancing video

when she was like 16 or 18 or something, which is like, fuck you. Like a fucking seriously fuck you. I mean, picture a more wholesome dancing meme video. In my know, it's like, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, it was like, it's like, it's like, it She's really like dancing in sunshine like well you would think it's

like she's a cam girl it's like no she's literally dancing in the goofiest most generic most like she's like raising the roof to be silly among her friends like in sunshine to all to any to any and all right wing people who are like even talking I I don't why we've been talking about the video of her dancing fuck you you're so fucking lame and stupid. That's the first thing. Second thing is, I like who's the other newly sworn in member of Rashida's lab?

Tlaib? I'm not sure how you pronounce it. Rashida's lab, I'm guessing. Anyway, she said we're going to impeach the motherfucker. It's like, listen, I'm sorry. If you're not thinking about impeachment, if you don't wanna talk about it, if you don't wanna act like like,

there's some seriously fucked up shit going on. Forget about the Russia stuff. Forget about the Mueller investigation. There are other things that he can be impeached for. There are lots of problems with Donald Trump. He's broke up impeachment the thing they're mad about or you don't know where the motherfucker is. I think they're mad about us.

But guess what? But guess what, also Democrats. That's how people talk. And that's how you talk. But also that's how Donald talks. That's how fucking Donald Trump talks. I know. And like, it's like, you know what?

It's maybe time to stop acting like little babies who are scared of their shadow and time to start fucking. I'm not saying you go down to his level, but you can be real. Like you can just get real with people. All right, well, let's move on to nice things. We got extremely real.

I'm ready. This is what happens when you stop. We got as real as Jaila. It's our getting real. It's very exciting stuff. All right, let's do some nice things. Okay, I've got three nice things because I've been over at people.

God, you're always so nice. You make me seem so lacking in nice things. It's annoying. First off is the Castlevania Netflix series, which I put on. I was a little baked and I was like, let's give this a shot because I love the Castlevania games, but any adaptation of the video game thing is bad.

No matter how many times people tell me, it's good. It's bad. This is good. I really, really, really, really loved the Castlevania Netflix series the second season came out in October and It's confirmed for a third and I really liked it I am vaguely interested in it. I love Castlevania. I don't know how I'd feel about the show It's it's definitely good like I sat there and was like, this is well, it pulls from all different parts of the lore from like multiple games and it synthesizes it into what feels

like a cohesive like, it feels like this was intentionally the story and they weren't piecing things together from other plots, which is always like the problem with video game stuff is that they just pull a bunch of references and then they don't actually care about how the character, like how the character dynamics work or any sort of like message. But I really, really loved it. It's lovingly made. The art style is gorgeous. American anime is sort of a weird thing that like,

I don't know, it's kind of fascinating. And I love the writing and I don't know. I really, I had a good time with it. And it took me back to wanting to play Castlevania games and I'm really sad that Konami sucks so much. Well, I mean, I, you tweeted about this, but you were like, bring the Castlevania collection to the switch and I have to say like, I just want a full, sweet compilation. What I want.

I want $100 for it. I don't care. Here's what I want. I want the PC engine version of Dracula X. I want a version of blood. Rondo? You want version of Dracula X. I want a version of Blood. You want Rando of Blood. You want Symphony of the Night. Just give me some good.

Give me some of the great later stage, 16-bit Castlevania experiences. Yeah. So I'm looking for. Yeah. All right. What are your other nice things? My other nice things are I saw into the Spiderverse, which is as good if not better than we hyped it up to date.

It was incredible. I read this New Yorker review where I was like, wow, they really like gave it some shit. And I was like, I tweeted it and people like this reviews bullshit or whatever. And I'm sure it is. I mean, I don't care about the reviews. The movie looks amazing.

It was incredible. I loved it. I had a wonderful time. The frame rate is like 12 frames per second, which is so gorgeous and amazing. And it's such a great indictment of Peter Jackson's entire like soap opera effect culture. Yeah, I like I think which yeah, there was a piece about on the outline. Yeah, I think it's an amazing looking um art style. Yeah, I think it's a really awesome

looking art style. Like I just loved it. And John went in, I had to bring him kicking and screaming. He is not a superhero person, but even more than that, he's not like, let's go to the movies for a superhero movie event type person. And he walked out being like, that was delightful. I'm so glad we went. It was my idea originally. And I was like, you know, it's rare when you see something

that obviously is made because superheroes are on trend right now, but that was made so thoughtfully and in such a loving, like, sort of like the Lego movie. They took this licensed thing and then they really lovingly made something out of it. And there's only been a handful of things that I really got that feeling from, like the Lego movie or the Batman Arkham games, like the people who made this really love Spider-Man and like the message behind him as a figure. And it was just just I don't know I loved it. Did you see it? I haven't seen it. Oh, you got to see it. No, I gotta see it

I have I have I only so much time I did see is you know, I saw Mary pop as returns I mean you had to see that multiple times. I'm fucking great All of my things this week are TV or movies, but my last one is Marie condo has a new show called Tidying Up on Netflix. That in combination with another Netflix show called Instant Hotel from Australia, it became its own subgenre of reality TV for me, and I devoured both of those in truly record time. Yeah. This show, Marie Kondo, the Marie Kondo show is Marie Kondo, the Japanese guru of cleaning,

shows up to your house, and she does like a pseudo spiritual awakening for you about cleaning your house. As a premise for a show, it is a little repetitive, and it's not like thrilling, but what I love about it is is even though it inspires to have great British big-off level like Tweet Cute We're All Friends reality TV, where like everything is pleasant and we're just like cleaning our shirts, but it's fascinating because of the aesthetic or whatever. It is filled with very weird character studies about what cleaning means to these people and the ways that

couples interact in their own spaces and the sort of the way that we live both amongst a bunch of like physical baggage in our apartments, but also like a ton of emotional baggage and the ways that those are intertwined. And unintentionally, I think, reveals a lot of like horrifying reflections. I don't know. Like, there's a gay couple on, and their episode I could talk about for 100 hours, but there's such specificity to the spaces in which we live that are reflection of like my own lived experience.

It's just, it's very weird. It's a weird, weird show. I don't know if it's good, but it is fascinating. And then there's this show Instant Hotel, where it's basically like Australian people who run Airbnb's are in a giant competition where they each stay at each other's Airbnb's and view them.

And then they're trying to find like the best Airbnb. They don't really use that name, a ton. They call it an Instant Hotel for branding reasons, but they try to find like the best one, like the best share economy house. And again, it aspires to be like an adorable like all these people who like run their own little small businesses are going to check out each other's and compliment and get ideas and collaborate and have a really good time on these beautiful locations and then compare the fun day trip activities. Like it sounds like British Bakeoff,

where everyone's going to be friends and Kumbaya and happy with who wins. But because they have real income on the line, they're unable to do that. And the fact that it's a competition will always come through. And the episodes devolve into what these people trying to be restrained and trying to come off as nice, but being like cut throat competitors. So they say things where they're like, you know, I just didn't love all the natural light.

You know, I know, listen, I'm not trying to be competitive. I'm just saying I didn't love the natural light and she's an idiot for doing it. And it was a waste of money and this is like, it's like when somebody is like, oh, your kitchen's cute. And it's like, oh, I see. Yes, it's super passive aggressive.

Yeah, it's cool. And you know what it is? It's that when you put money on the line, like maybe it's good that drag race and like, you know, survivor in these shows are as vicious as they are because at least people are being honest about wanting the prize. Right.

In this, it's like a weird study of trying to pretend that you don't, that you're just being nice, but then you, towards the end, they just, they lose control. Everything becomes real housewives. And it's just fascinating. And the Marie Kondo thing, sometimes the darker parts of reality TV are more honest than the pretend nice parts.

And rather than really breaking down that these couples talk abusively to each other, this first couple that you see is just so nasty to each other, but they try to do it in a nice way. I don't know, it's very fascinating and weird and I don't know why these shows are popping up now and why they're both from Netflix, but I have to recommend if you like reality TV.

I think so weird. I mean, the Mret condo one seems timed for like the post holidays, like okay, my life is- Self-improvement, yeah. My life is a complete fucking hell world, I need to do something about it. And, you know, so like, you're like, oh, yeah, Marie Kondo can give me,

she can give me inspiration. We did a piece about the show and how it's kind of like not good. And I sort of agree with the piece. I'm gonna have to say like, I don't know if it's a good reality TV show, but fascinating, it absolutely. It's fascinating, but it's also fascinating

because like the people, there's some pretty uncomfortable weird situations that go on amongst the people who see visits and also, I just kind of fundamentally, yes, I think people should definitely endeavor to get rid of clutter in their lives and you should also not, I'm the king of acquiring things and that I don't need, so I really have no place

to talk here, but I will. But I actually have been working really hard on like curbing that tendency and also like getting rid of things that I no longer need or want. But I do think there's also like, you know, her book thing is like, does this book spark joy?

It's like books don't, a lot of books don't spark joy. There's other reasons to have them. And like there's other reasons to have other things that you own and it isn't just about like. I mean, it is a capitalist flex to be like, I'm gonna throw out everything I'm not currently using because if I need it again, I'll just go buy it. Right. It absolutely, but also it's like, and like everything I own doesn't need to be like a perfect graphic. Also, minimalism is. And a reality and attached to a great memory. Sometimes they just own like boots.

Minimalism is really good for the rain. And minimalism is bullshit. Like, I'm sorry it is. Like as a guy who loves, you know, has loved and will continue to love things that are minimal in nature, I also like, that is not a one. That cannot be your only.

Sometimes minimalism is the solution to the problem that you have. Sometimes maximalism is the solution to the problem you have. Sometimes moderation is, it's about like solving for the exact problem that you have. Sometimes maximalism is the solution to the problem you have. Sometimes moderation is, it's about like solving for the exact problem that you have. It's about solving for your personality. Like there are people who have, I mean, I've seen some of those beautiful homes in the world

that are like floor to ceiling shit. Like they just have done it well, you know, and it looks really comfortable and interesting. Like I think that it's, there's not a one size fits. So I get it. It's like, well, you need to strategy between not. But that's why Winston Ho tell us the other side of this because these people are trying to create reflections

of their personality and fascinating places to be, but they also have to appeal to a consumer base. So it's this weird, like, even just the grounds of finding the quote unquote perfect Airbnb is such a weird attempt to do anything because they're very small businesses and so they have to have the charm of like a local mom and pop store but they never know who's going to stay there and they're going to get reviewed so they have to be great for

families and also single people and old people and accessibility. It's just a weird problem to solve. Yeah, I mean it's it, you know, it's great. I mean, also, as we live, you know, we live in a society now where like accumulation of stuff is like kind of a mandate. And so, I think increasingly people are going to start, I mean, this is like everything. There's the wave of this explosive wave of like gathering

and doing and then there's gonna be like a trimming back Which I think is a good segue into my nice things. What's your nice thing? Well my nice thing number one is actually like I don't know if it's a nice thing or not But it's like I think the Instagram is bad and we need to be on it less and I am Working on spending less time like look social networks are generally like feeding bad things now I don't think that there's a lot of positivity to be, there are moments where I'm like, oh my God, this is great. I see those moments fewer.

Less is more with social. Yeah, less is more. Like Marie Kondo applied the life-changing magic of tidying up to your social media situation is what I would say. I mean, I think we just need a lot less of it. I think it's bad. I think what's good is interfacing with the people around you

and interfacing with communities that you know and can speak to and speak in. I think the general, I've been exposed to things on Instagram where I'm like, this is one, it's self-harmed to look at this and two, it's just stupid and it's not worth my time. You know, it's like looking at people who are fantastically wealthy having great lives

is a waste of everybody's time. It's making you feel bad and you're not getting anything useful at it. What's important is like, there's always gonna be somebody more successful than you, more beautiful than you, more talented than you. What's important is to like do your thing. And like, I don't think Instagram helps any.

I think Instagram encourages us to be more like each other in a way that is negative and bad. To be more like other people in a way that's negative and bad. To be more like other people in a way that is negative and bad. So, so my one nice thing is that I'm trying to spend last time on Instagram and also like find a way to use Instagram that is actually like, make sense for me because I don't really want to like put a bunch of pictures of my family on there.

I'm not really like a selfies person. I'm trying to figure out like, what's the right way to use Instagram? Cause I like photography. But like, I don't walk around with a camera though I've thought I've recently started to think about doing such a thing because I do love Photography that I think but I think there's a lot of photos in the world and like I don't know that that's something where I want to like spend a lot of time Right now anyhow, but like the point is like use it if you love it. That's fine

I just think it's bad generally for me and bad for like. And I think it's the next social network to go. And I think we're gonna find that a lot of people, I mean, I've heard people say recently, like Instagram is over, like a lot of people. So I think we're gonna start to see a peeling back in a big way from that shit. Also, there's so many fucking phonies on Instagram. There's so much garbage, like Instagram influence

or bullshit. There's so many things that are just like recreations of what is going on. That's what's going on. I Almost everything you're looking at is fake, which I mean, even if you're just from a retouching perspective, every selfie you look at is fake. So. It's very sad, and I encourage people to,

I'm encouraging people to not fuck with it as much. That's what I'm saying. Okay, my second nice thing is Twilight Zone. So as you know New Year's Day, the Sci-Fi channel runs a Twilight Zone marathon for like 24 hours straight, which is awesome. I tried to watch a little bit with Zelda, but it definitely is like, she's still,

she's at the age now where she understands this going on, which is a problem because Twilight Zone is very fucked up and like a lot of those episodes were not working. So we did not spend a lot of time watching the marathon this New Year's Day, but it encouraged me to start Watching and rewatching episodes on Netflix. They're also on available on prime and so instead of like trying to binge watch Like whatever new like the fucking hotel show that you're watching

I've been rewatching like trying to find the best episodes that people are like these are the classics You have to see and going through all the ones I haven't seen and rewatching the ones that I love and then trying to like go through the seasons. I have to say like it reminds me of why in my opinion Twilight Zone is much better than Black Mirror, which is like the Twilight Zone is about people. I mean it really is largely about people and it almost never is like the result of like the terror is almost never because of like, I mean, yes, sometimes it's a device, but it's almost always like, it's not a thought experiment about a technology. It's like, what if we all had to rate each other? It's like, yeah, there's stuff like that, but it's also like more like, what are, what is what do we consider to be beautiful and how could that change and if it changed, what would it do? It's not a what it's a thoughtful,

philosophical discussion. Exactly. Anyhow, so that's my nice thing and I'm a nice thing and I think I recommend everybody goes back and watches the Twilight Zone to be reminded of what great, truly great science fiction slash horror television looks like. Excellent. I've seen every episode and I love it. Have you seen every episode?

I've not seen every episode so I'm working my way through it now. All right, well look, that's it. We got to, this is it. We got to have a very long one. There's a lot to catch up on And now we get now we go to go I have to start drinking I actually have not been drinking I did have a drink last night, but I've not been drinking largely for January for five days So it's been pretty great except for yesterday, but I had a drink so I don't know problem at all. I'm fine. Everything's fine Don't at me. Bye. Bye. Well, that is our show for this week. We'll be back next week with more tomorrow.

And as always, I wish you and your family the very best. Though I've just been informed that the Republicans have gotten your family's tape, and it is not of them dancing.