The Daily Zeitgeist - Lowering Of The Barr, How To Flirt 12.4.19
Episode Date: December 4, 2019In episode 528, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian and activist Francis Cronin to discuss the Apple Music Awards, William Barr not liking the investigative report he ordered, 2020 Democratic primar...y polls, Obama's thoughts on the current Democratic candidates, Kamala Harris suspending her campaign, the best pick up lines that work on men, the Peloton bike ad, and more!FOOTNOTES: Apple announces first ever Apple Music Awards Barr disputes key inspector general finding about FBI’s Russia investigation Waiting for Obama National 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Polls I am suspending my campaign today What Pick-Up Lines Work Best (on Men)? Peloton's perplexing new holiday ad has incensed the internet WATCH: Menahan Street Band - The Contender Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Hi, I am Lacey Lamar.
And I'm also Lacey Lamar.
Just kidding.
I'm Amber Revin.
Okay, everybody.
We have exciting news to share.
We're back with season two of the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network.
This season, we make new friends,
deep dive into my steamy DMs, answer your listener questions, and more. The more is punch each other.
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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen,
okay? Or Lacey gets it. Do it it do it hello the internet and welcome to season
111 episode 3 of dear daily zeitgeist a production of iheart radio this is a podcast where we take a
deep dive into america's shared consciousness and say officially off the top fuck the coke
brothers and their coke industries and fuck fox news it's wednesday december 4th 2019 my name is jack o'brien
aka let jack go let jack go brian make his dumb dad jokes baby yo baby yo gut is fine and pretty close. I don't care what people say.
Being old never bothered me anyway.
That is courtesy of Christy Yamaguchi-Main and P.D. Thorne.
And I'm thrilled to be joined once again, as always, by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray!
Come on, come on, come on, come on,
this race is done.
She's a cop, so
she had to
go.
Boom!
Add crispy meme donut
with the exact today
of AKAs. Very topical.
Hashtag topical.
Shit. That's a cop. The exact today of AKA is very topical. Hashtag topical. Yeah.
Shit.
That's a cop.
I was thinking of you singing Let It Go reminding me of a FaceTime I did with my, I'll call her my niece,
who is like three and was singing Let It Go.
But it's just that I forget what it's like to be around
young kids who are obsessed with the song yeah like an adult would sing the whole song a three
year old just goes let it go let it go it becomes like a let it go i was like isn't there like a bit
of a melodic change at some point but then i I was like, yeah, she's been really loving this song for the last couple of days.
And I'm like, that's right.
It's just, it's like a true earworm where you're just like, let it go.
My son spends most of the day singing and there is like two phrases that he sings with any sort of melody whatsoever.
He just like has a sense that that goes up at that point.
Right.
They're learning.
They're learning.
Well, we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by the hilarious and talented Francis
Cronin.
Hey.
Welcome.
What's up, man?
Hey, how you doing, guys?
Thanks.
Great to be here.
Yeah, it's great to have you.
What's that accent?
Boston?
Yeah, I did.
The Irishman is in vogue right now.
Yeah, no, I'm from Dublin, Ireland, and I'm in your beautiful country.
Thank you for having me.
For people, actually, when Francis got here, we had actually worked together years ago
on a now viral sensational video for Wired magazine where we had people with different
accents interact with different home assistants like Google Home and Alexa and Francis.
Yeah, killed it.
Dude, that was one of the most,
that was the luckiest little break.
So we got into some,
I think it was some con day now,
some huge organization.
Yeah, yeah.
And they brought us in,
I think it was Matt Kirshen,
great writer,
used to write for Jim Jefferies.
And he just brought us in
and he just needed us for our accents.
Yeah.
But they let us riff so long.
Yeah, yeah.
It was like,
it went super viral
and went trending on youtube yeah so maybe we can do it again today boys yeah i mean you put you two
you and miles in the same room i mean yeah magic happens if a podcast were ever to go viral i think
yeah run away between me and let it go first viral podcast ever i guess the wtf with Obama would be the other one.
Never listened to it.
Was it good?
Can that be replicated?
WTF with Obama?
No, but the next one, you know?
Do you think they can have another podcast?
It would probably need to be like Prince Andrew on Joe Rogan.
Wow.
I feel like that would be a...
People would be like, I don't know what the fuck this is.
Epstein on Joe Rogan.
Go on, Rogan.
Yeah, his embalmed body.
Yes.
All right, Francis, we're going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment.
First, we are going to take our listeners through a couple of the stories we're talking about today.
One thing we won't be talking about is the fact that we have opened up our offices to dental work.
There's somebody doing dental work next door.
And the Rio Tinto Mining Company as well.
So you will be hearing drilling in the background.
Hey, but you know what?
We got to get these precious, precious minerals.
Can't stop, won't stop.
We got to record this podcast and get it out to you.
We're going to look at the fact that there are Apple Music Awards.
Didn't know.
Yeah, I had no idea.
And they're today.
The prestigious Apple Music Awards.
Bill Barr issued the IG report, and he's not happy with the one that he ordered.
Yeah, he was like, go look into it.
And he's like, I don't like what you found.
Yeah.
We'll talk about what it is he doesn't like. Did he issue it?
Did it come out or it came back to him?
It came back to him.
And right now we have reports of what his reaction is to it because a lot of people who were looking at the whole lead up this,
obviously he wanted the inspector general to look into Russian meddling or the inspector general to look at the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation.
But look, we'll talk all about that.
It's just the intro.
We're going to check in with the latest 2020 polling.
Bloomberg has appeared on the charts.
He is a solid number five behind Pete Buttigieg.
Kamala is out.
Rest in peace, Kamala.
Long live Kamala.
And Obama is poosed. We're also going to talk about
that Politico story.
And we're going to talk about pickup lines
for all the
pickup
artists, Zyke gang out there.
Yeah. But first, Francis,
we like to ask our guests, what is something from your
search history that's revealing about who
you are? Yeah, when I was
coming in, I was thinking, well, let's just have a look.
And the last thing I Googled before I came in was the tides in Ireland
because I need to know.
Basically, I'm going home to Ireland to do a big walk across the country.
Yeah, right.
And we're doing a big swim on the west coast of Ireland.
So I have to check the tides so people don't headbutt the rocks
on the first day of a
big event. Wait, so what's the risk if the
tide is too high, you won't see
what you're swimming into? Yeah, so the first
day we have the Irish diving team is coming out
to dive off these epic diving boards
on the west coast of Ireland into the Irish Sea
on a freezing cold day on the 18th of December.
So I have to make sure that the
water's deep enough and lo and behold, it's not.
Good, yeah. I don't know if it's going to work.
How cold is the water?
We'll make the news with a few unconscious humans. Yeah, right.
How cold is the water?
I think it would be 32 here for you guys.
Basically four degrees.
You can stay in for about a minute and then you either get out because it gets painful
or you kind of of you get so numb
yeah exactly right yeah you'll be in wetsuit or no because i'll only be in and out for a minute
oh and then we do bits to camera and try and create content as we cross the country so this
is an extension because you had walked previously on foot from san francisco to los angeles to raise
awareness around homelessness yeah yeah with no tent i, is the thing I keep forgetting to say.
So basically, I was in the Irish Army.
I was in the quick reaction force in Liberia, West Africa with the United Nations.
So I learned a load of sneaky stuff.
I learned how to survive.
And I understand that that makes compelling viewing if you're uploading every day.
Right.
So basically, seven days crossing Ireland,
hopefully busking with Glenn Hansard and Bono on Grafton Street on New Year's Eve.
And then by the time we get there, I hope to have a thousand, few thousand people walking alongside in solidarity against basically 15,000 people in Ireland who are homeless, who don't need to be.
And apparently we're all doing great.
Yeah, right.
So that's the goal.
And have a little fun while we're doing it.
Yeah, Los Angeles too, where we have, what, what almost 60 000 unhoused people and it's just like well i don't know maybe we need to build more of these like
luxury apartments that are fucking ghost houses it's it's unreal i've only been in hollywood
five years yeah and you can literally see these they're basically becoming neighborhoods yeah of
that are growing and they've got their own little, you know, commerce and rules and everything like that.
Like, great that they're organized,
but like there's no reason for this to happen.
Yeah, it's an utter, utter failure of our municipality
to take care of these people.
What did you learn about California walking through our great state
without a tent?
Oh, yeah, man.
Well, basically the one thing that came out overall is that
americans despite what you see in the media on let's say on all sides just there's an abundance
of kindness out there that has yet to be tapped yeah and literally people are so hungry for good
news that when i started making that little content and walking across the country like a little weirdo, right? I became a conduit for people just, they finally had some place
to throw money and get behind a non-partisan issue, which is getting people off the streets.
And I had never experienced anything like that in terms of people getting behind. So
like there is an abundance of kindness and generosity in America. And you know,
there's a lot of people who are just great. Like people were letting me, complete strangers,
letting me go into their house, have a shower. They're meeting me by the side of the street,
bringing me a sandwich and then collecting hoodies together, giving them to the homeless
to keep them warm. It's like, man, people just want to collaborate for good. They're sick of all the bad news.
Yeah, yeah.
And thankfully, I found the Zeitgeist.
You provided a reason.
I just walked into the Zeitgeist.
And now every story, I don't know if you've noticed,
but homelessness is a global issue right now.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it's nonpartisan.
So we get to actually do something.
We don't have to fight about it.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
You know? So I'm excited about it. Yeah. It's beautiful. Yeah. You know?
So I'm excited about it.
Hey, Psych Gang, how you doing?
What is something you think is underrated?
Apart from this podcast, guys,
you guys are exceptional.
Underrated, guys.
You guys got sound effects?
Mm-hmm.
My God, the level of production here.
Basically, overrated.
You guys were talking about
rise and grind, you know,
like this mentality of always working.
When I was out on that little walk,
keep referencing the walk, Frank,
you're working hard.
It's a pretty formative experience.
I would reference it nonstop
and talk about nothing else.
Yeah.
Thanks, man.
So I'm walking out there
and I'm maybe 24 hours, 48 hours alone at times.
And when you're alone,
your brain has time to calm down and sort things out, you know?
And then you get a better perspective on, say,
the 20% that's giving you the 80% reward.
So all of a sudden, rather than having a cluttered mind
and not knowing where to put my energies or my creative things,
I had so much clarity at the end of that walk.
It was almost like, for anyone who's into yoga or any of that out there,
it's like chakra work, man.
I was in my root chakra.
I knew who I was.
It was very clear.
And I wasn't being brainwashed by eight hours of social media every day.
Yeah.
So I literally was meeting beautiful people, connecting,
making eye contact with humans for hours a day,
as opposed to us not making eye contact with anyone all day.
So, dude, that does something to the human spirit that's slowly being obfuscated from us.
So we're literally, we're slowly being pulled away from what we can be in terms of human connection,
collaboration,
and all that.
And we're slowly being separated by technology advances, some of which give us great things,
great benefits.
But basically, the less we do is underrated.
Do less.
Do less.
Just do really important stuff, like the 20 that gives you the 80 instead of doing the 80 that gives you the 20.
It's basic economics
but you know
rise and grind
yeah
so rise and grind
is overrated
doing less is underrated
yeah man
how did you meet people
when you were on your walk
like would they come out
and meet you
because they knew
you were coming through
yeah dude
so you know
and again
as I said
some multinationals
do great stuff
so Google has
a satellite tracking app.
So people could literally see the little blue dot walk along their screen
and they could see how close they were to me in miles, it tells them.
Oh, wow.
So it's like, how can you not see where the lunatic is
when you're putting your head down at night?
Yeah.
So that was it, man.
So satellite tracking.
So you'll be able to follow me as I walk across the country,
come out and walk, come to a gig.
We've got the best comedians in Ireland. Did and then we're gonna do you might be busking with
bono yeah new year's eve i damn it might be i can only say might because it's bono but i've been
invited basically basically the same charity that i'm representing the simon community of ireland
who does great work all across the country uh bono is also aligned with them and glenn hansard
is a huge huge huge, huge advocate
for the homeless in Ireland.
And it's a small world
and we have some mutual friends.
In Ireland, you can literally walk into a pub
and I won't say which pub,
but Bono drinks there, you know?
People leave him alone
because celebrity is a different kind of animal in Ireland.
Right.
We treat it differently.
Yeah.
But yeah, I think that's going to happen.
How do you treat it in Ireland?
Well, here. It's less worship, you worship you mean you know what i think it is is that we don't like to show
our hand and we don't like to discuss exactly how we're feeling in ireland because we've had
to hide it for a number of years because we had basically civil unrest until 2000 with the north
right and the south you know at. And people who looked exactly the same
fighting with each other. We don't need race or gender like as humans. We don't to fight with
each other. We can just go after someone's ideologies. So what was the question?
Now that affects celebrity or how celebrity is perceived.
Yeah. So we don't, we have, you know, in Ireland, there's great, great, super supportive people.
And then there's another side to the Irish psyche, I think,
which is basically we call it tall poppy syndrome.
So if someone's doing too great, we like to kind of hit them hard,
rag on them a bit, troll them basically
until they show their resolve to be respected.
And often you'll see artists going away to another country,
and when they go back, then they have an opportunity to maybe reach their true potential in their own country. Got it. And often you'll see artists going away to another country and when they go back, then they have an opportunity
to maybe reach their true potential in their own country.
Got it.
It's tall puppy syndrome, basically.
Yeah.
They don't want anyone to...
People don't want others to win
until they've proven themselves a worthy winner.
Right.
Yeah.
So different here.
Well, yeah, it's like, for example,
you walk down the road in Ireland
and you see a celebrity,
it's usually like, hey, hey. You you know if you pull out a cell phone most of the street will go what are you doing right is it more because a human he's got oh it's more like out of respect
for this person yeah because and the reality is man everyone knows that celebrity is it's a lot
about self-promotion and it's a lot about what machine is behind you
and how you use capital to propel your image.
So I guess there's enough deep thinkers to realize
that that person probably has real life problems,
might be suffering with depression.
Maybe just, like, don't get me wrong, man.
Based Ireland, yeah.
Now, here, do you know what's going to happen, dude?
Tomorrow there'll be some massive Twitter story about celebrity hounded in Ireland. Right here do you know what's gonna happen dude tomorrow there'll be some massive Twitter story
about celebrity
hounded in Ireland
right
right
right
zeitgang
yeah
I don't know what
in order to be
left alone in America
Bono has to dress
like a rabbi
did you ever see that
story
where he got into
a bike accident
and
yeah he was dressed
as a rabbi
he was dressed as a rabbi
is that real
yeah
oh beautiful
yeah he had to literally dress as a inbi. Was dressed as a rabbi. Is that real? Yeah. Oh, beautiful. Yeah, he had to literally dress in disguise
to just ride his bike.
We do get behind our people if they're, you know, for sure.
Right.
But it is so different here, guys.
You know, Hollywood is beautiful.
It's great.
But there is a kind of facade and a lack of empathy
among a lot of players that I don't think.
I would say total lack of empathy and a complete facade.
I wouldn't have to mince your words.
Yeah.
Well, you know, and there is great people and we all know them.
Yeah, for sure.
But like, let's be realistic.
I mean, are they feeling anything when they deliver something either down a mic or like are they even is there
any connection between their voice and what they actually think or is there just a massive
dissonance and they're just a facade and a veneer and a book just full of shit right you know yeah
so and if there's not true you know if there's no connection then no one wants to really listen
and there's no longevity in their career right Right. Because everyone does, like, humans have this, like, massive understanding of truth that we can't quite, you know, articulate.
Right.
But we know it when we see it.
And when we see it, it's so compelling.
It's like truth has a gravity so strong that when you speak it, it pulls people in.
It's like you don't have to be a genius.
You just have to be honest and truthful on the planet, and the world will come to you.
It's almost magic.
Yeah.
Sorry. No, no. That's almost magic. Yeah. Sorry.
No, no, it's a very, very good point.
I mean, that might have been it.
I was going to ask you, what's a myth?
What's something people think is true that you know to be false or vice versa?
I guess since we're talking about Ireland,
people think that Ireland, it's raining all the time.
That actually only rains a little bit for 151 days a year.
Right, exactly.
Yeah, not bad.
Yeah, it's like in LA, people, the weather's so predictable.
You guys can plant a flake on a barbecue six months in advance.
You know what I mean?
You guys are good.
But in Ireland, we have four seasons.
Planned a flake on a barbecue.
It's very true to LA.
Yeah, man. And yeah, in Ireland, barbecue is very true to LA. Yeah, man.
And yeah, in Ireland, we have four very distinct seasons,
but for convenience, we have them all in one day.
Yeah, there's a cold.
I studied at UCD for a semester, and there's a cold.
I got there in like January
and stayed till the spring but there's a
cold there that like gets inside your
clothes that you don't have in
America for some reason. It's like
a wet cold. Yes.
I think that is it. I think it's a moisture
laden air and
it permeates all your wear no matter
what you do. The quickest way around that
the Irish have found around that is layering.
So we put on a vest and then we put on a t-shirt,
then we put on a jacket, then we put on a hat,
then we go out and then we drink.
Drinking also helps.
Put the liquid coat on.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's talk about the Apple Music Awards, guys, which is a thing.
I had no clue.
How about that?
So are they basing this off of Apple Music
and what most listened to albums are?
It's weird.
There was a press release.
I don't know.
It says updated December 2nd.
I have a feeling this was announced just a few days ago.
The awards take place today, December 4th, for whatever reason.
But it says they're introducing the new awards,
a celebration,
a blah,
blah,
blah.
And I think a lot of it does have to do with like the amount of streams and
things like that.
Yeah.
They are based on streaming data and what Apple music customers have been
listening to on repeat.
So they only have a very few categories.
There's artists of the year,
Billie Eilish,
who also her album. when we fall asleep where do
we go will be album of the year because it was like had over a billion streams uh and then she
also received the songwriter of the year award which will go to her and her brother phineas who
had no idea it was the whole i don't i'm completely ignorant to the backstory of billy eilish i just
know she likes the office right uh but i didn't realize that was the person that makes a lot of the music with her.
And Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Lizzo.
Okay.
Song of the Year, Old Town Road by Lil Nas X.
Never heard of it.
That's it.
Short and sweet.
But for whatever reason, this exclusive event will be streamed live from the Steve Jobs
Theater at Apple Park.
Oh, okay.
So I guess all those artists will be there?
I'm sure.
I mean, they clearly were paid to come in for this photo shoot that they did
because it's all very uniform.
Looks like from the same photographer.
But this award that they won, it looks very...
Not like a thing I would necessarily be like,
damn, that is such a beautiful award.
It's a circle inside of a rectangle.
It's a circle.
It's an iPad without a screen.
Yeah, you turn that on its side,
put a few little rocket launchers on it.
It looks like a Star Wars.
Yeah, probably.
One of those space fighters.
It says, and then the way they made it,
it's so, they're so extra with how they made this award.
Each award features Apple's custom silicon wafer
suspended between a polished sheet of glass and a machined and anodized aluminum body.
The wafers start as a perfect 12-inch disc of silicon with nanometer-level flatness.
Copper layers are deposited and patterned by ultraviolet lithography to create connections between billions of transistors.
The result of this multi-month process.
Multi-month process,
multi-month process,
before it is sliced into hundreds of individual chips is stunning and distinctive.
In a symbolic gesture,
the same chips which power the devices
that put the world's music at your fingertips
sit at the very heart of the Apple Music Awards.
It looks like they cut out a circle of a wicker basket
and stuck it to the back of an iPad.
Yeah, dude. And then with the copy, they just basically put down a load of a wicker basket, and stuck it to the back of an iPad. Yeah, dude.
And then with the copy,
they just basically put down a load of word porn.
Like literally, there's people like,
oh, those lexical items.
Yeah, exactly.
Billions of transistors.
Let's use all the vernacular.
All right, Francis, if you'd give us a moment,
I want to talk to my friend Miles here.
Hey, Miles, it's me, Jack.
How are you?
I'm good.
Leaping into your view.
Leaping into my view.
I leapt at you.
Yeah.
I want to tell you about a little brand named Casper.
What do you need to tell me about it?
I have a Casper, and I don't need to be told what a Casper mattress is.
Okay.
Me too.
Well, okay.
Well, do you have one?
I just slept very well.
You said you seemed really well rested today, Jack.
I was going to say, you said that to me when I got here too.
And I was like, well, you already know what it is.
Yeah.
It was like that Spider-Man gif.
We were both pointing at each other about how well rested we are.
Casper?
Well, I mean, look, everybody knows what Casper mattresses are.
And if you don't
let me tell you first it's about the design the thing that i like is that it's designed to mimic
your very natural human geography your human curves okay so it no matter how you sleep or
how your body shape it just adapts to you and also what i've always said your your curves are
very human thank you so much.
That's not what I... You should have seen my drawings of myself as a kid. Not very human.
And also, when you think about it like this, right? You spend, what, 33.333% of your life
sleep? Mine is exactly like that. So you got to invest and you got to be sleeping on something
comfortable because that's a huge chunk of your life. Yes. And Casper offers three mattresses, the Wave, the Essential, and the Hybrid.
The Wave features a patent pending premium support system to mirror the natural shape of your body,
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And also it's affordable. Therefore, you won't have the stress of spending too much money on the mattress.
Oh, good point.
If I gain further, yes, illuminate.
Yeah, because it wasn't clear from what I said.
No.
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And Casper also offers a wide array of other products like pillows, sheets, to ensure an overall better sleep experience, guys.
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All right, Francis, we're going to loop you back in, pal.
All right.
So Bill Barr got his report.
He had been working on this.
He'd been traveling around the world, talking to people, interviewing people, probably going to various libraries.
Yeah.
Looking in the card catalog.
It was like the Da Vinci Code.
Right.
But with a walrus-faced asshole named Bill Barr.
So, yeah, he asked the inspector general. He said, I need you to investigate, you know, how the FBI came to begin this investigation of like Russian meddling in 2016.
You know, Carter Page with what happened with these FISA warrants.
What was really going on with Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, these FBI agents who had the temerity to say that they thought Trump shouldn't be president while being in the FBI.
be president while being in the FBI, because I think he was really hoping that someone would come back with the report basically saying, well, I guess if in your mind, if
you are like this Republican fantasy politician who has complete disregard for facts and objectivity,
you would hope that the inspector general would come back with a report that said, oh,
yeah, there's all of these biased, Hillary loving agents who are against the
president.
The Steele dossier was the entire basis of our legal system.
And Obama wired everything, tapped everything.
And Obama listened to it all.
And was being so spooky at Trump Tower.
But the problem is this inspector general, he is known as like being a stickler and being very, as many people, DOJ past and present officials said, he's known for being nitpicky a little bit.
Like when, even like when Eric Holder was attorney general.
It's kind of what you would want an inspector general, right?
Somebody who's a stickler for details.
Looking under rocks.
Exactly.
Especially when you say, hi, can you investigate my house and tell me what's going on?
Is my house in order?
Are people behaving correctly?
Yeah, yeah.
You kind of need those people to be like, yeah, I go by the letter of the law here.
Ah, that home inspector, such a stickler for details.
Yeah, it's like, damn.
So annoying.
Okay, there's a hole in the roof.
Fine.
But you can put cardboard in trash bags.
It works.
Right.
And so now he's come back.
And I was saying with Eric Holder, like typically attorneys general will be like, yo, come on.
Like they'll be like this person went too hard.
William Barr is like, nah, I don't like what this guy said.
Because what came back from the inspector general is that there was nothing untoward going on.
Right.
Everything happened to the letter of the law.
All these other conspiracy theories that they've been running around with, like, really don't
hold any weight.
There were there is that one moment we talked about a few weeks ago when they did find that
there was in the process of getting a surveillance warrant.
People were cutting corners and got sloppy.
Right.
And the right was hanging on to that.
But it was not really anything that they're saying, oh is actually the massive massive uh misconduct by anyone just a minor act of laziness exactly and so because
his whole reason for living has been to defend trump and shield him and make anything he says
true even if it is just patently false um he's basically said, this is from the Washington Post, what his reaction to seeing this report
was.
Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department's
inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report that the FBI had enough
information in July of 2016 to justify launching an investigation into members of the Trump
campaign.
Yeah, that is sort of the whole finding, right?
That's the whole thing.
Well, the whole thing was George Papadopoulos was saying out loud to an Australian ambassador
or official that, dude, these Russians, I heard the Russians are going to do some hackery
with Hillary Clinton.
Some person then goes to Australian officials.
They tell American law enforcement, they're like, someone seems to think this is happening if you want to look into it.
Yeah.
All pretty straightforward.
Then he goes on to say why he doesn't really like what Horowitz, who was the inspector general, his conclusion.
He says that he's privately contended that Horowitz does not have enough information to reach the conclusion the FBI had enough details in hand to justify opening a probe.
So he doesn't have enough information about them having enough information to justify it.
That's why this is wrong. Because actually, even though I told him that he needs to look into this
and he probably has all the information, it turns out based on his conclusion that he actually
doesn't have enough information because that's different than what i need it to be right
it's just very very alarming it's as it should be because william barr has been going to places
like italy or london to like talk to other allies yeah london that is alarming yeah for an irishman
i'm just kidding but like going there and trying to get other people, other intelligence agencies to say,
oh, yeah, maybe there was something wrong.
They're all like, no, man.
We've all been hearing the same thing.
We've all been looking at how Russia's become more emboldened and more and more aggressive since 2014.
It all tracks.
We have nothing to the contrary to say.
And I think this is where we have to think about what is his next move
because when he got the muller report that said there's all these accounts of obstruction there's
clearly some kind of conspiracy going on were it not for all the lying of paul manafort and others
involved i may know actually how dark this thing is right william barr came out and tried to get
in front of it and just basically lied and was like, yeah, it's all good.
This thing's pretty chill.
Nothing to see here.
Very good.
I wouldn't call it a lie.
I would call it selective summarization.
Yes.
OK.
You're right.
Summarize three of the 400 pages.
Yes.
Just focused in on that.
Right.
Exactly.
So, I mean, who knows what he's going to do with this if he's going to go on and say, ah, this one part i'm going to completely blow out of context to try and keep this sounds like he didn't even have like the
spec that he could blow out into a huge deal uh no because he is going back to them being like
just give me a fucking crumb yeah just give me something something do you know what the most
just to give an irish but not not an irish perspective i can only speak for myself but
like as an outsider looking in at America and the media
and how it's fascinating to watch
that it doesn't seem to be the truth,
but it's the most compelling narrative
and how you present it on air.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And literally, the talking heads,
who's the better talking head?
Who can hold the audience?
Because when I came here, I didn't know about the two sides because i when i came here i didn't know
about the two sides of the media or whatever like i didn't know right so i'm just flicking through
and like it's shocking to see how believable if you immerse yourself in one side yeah you know
how believable it can be yeah right so you know i'd be very slow to label anyone on either side anything because this is the most incredible propaganda
i've ever seen right and it's endlessly funded yeah it's unreal yeah yeah because it makes its
own money it's propaganda that people pay for yeah and it's yeah it's like it's shocking it's
entertainment disguised as news yeah it's just like this fever dream to whip people into a frenzy.
Unreal.
And you know the great thing about investigations, right?
Depending on which side you're on.
Just like investigations in general.
You want them to be happening to government all the time.
What's very interesting to watch right now is that no one...
I have a feeling no one's going to go to jail.
Because these are the lawmakers, right?
Right.
Yeah.
So no, like, it'd be nice for the right people to be held accountable, but it's becoming
very clear that no one seems to go to jail if they're in power.
Once you get to a certain level, yeah.
What's going on?
Like lower level, you could be made a, you know, sacrificial lamb as a gesture to people
to say that, yeah yeah the rule of law works
in some cases yeah but yeah i think i mean this is why we're like in this other phase which has
become even more sort of alarming is like this legal nihilism that people have it's like who
care like what are the fucking laws because even there are people breaking them and there's seems
to be no consequences or people completely outright
disobeying subpoenas or using stupid little counter suits to kind of just delay their
ability to be held accountable. It's made people very, very disheartened. But I think that's why
at the very least, like just keep doing whatever you can, because the second that I think, you know,
the foot comes off the gas a bit. Oh yeah. Well, you got it. You got, you know, because the second that, I think, you know, the foot comes off the gas a bit. Oh, yeah.
Well, you got it.
You got, you know, you got to fight for what you believe, you know.
And it's just shocking to me to watch just people there.
Say growing up in Ireland.
So at night on the news, weekly, monthly, or maybe just it felt like that as a kid.
Someone was either getting shot in the knees or a barracks being blown up or some explosive device going off, you know, less than 100 miles or 100 and whatever miles away.
And now that's where it can go, you know, and I saw that in Ireland.
And then I saw in Liberia, West Africa with the United Nations, I was doing peacekeeping over there.
I saw the extremes where you got child soldiers, people cutting off arms, long sleeve, short sleeve option was your only
option, you know, for these, and these child soldiers, just like, I don't think people
know the capacity humans have for evil because if they did, they wouldn't be, the rhetoric
people are using now and how they're talking about their adversaries.
Right. are using now and how they're talking about their adversaries, it leads down, it's a slow
erosion of the fabric of society that you don't, you have to be very careful with how
you speak about what you perceive to be your enemy, because you don't need race or gender
to be at war with someone.
I saw tribes in Africa attacking each other.
I've seen it in Ireland, Catholics and Protestants.
I would really like America to consider
that rather than trying to find the differences,
just really do reach across the aisle
because you do not want the deterioration
that is available in any country to happen here.
You guys have something special here.
No one's done this.
No one's got 350 million people from all over the universe
to live in relative, with a lot of problems, harmony.
Like this is potentially, I don't want to be too dramatic,
but you know, you just, the old phrase, powder keg,
don't start lighting matches around where there's a lot of tension because over 10 years, the slow phrase, powder keg, don't push, don't start lighting matches around, you know,
where there's a lot of tension because over 10 years,
the slow erosion, you won't even see it creeping, guys.
Yeah.
And be very, just lead with love, as they say, you know?
Yeah.
That's my honest opinion.
Yeah.
Like, and it is fun.
It's fun, you know, to rile up the far side,
but long-term, guys, not you guys but in general long time
long term the propaganda machines have to be very careful what they do because once you polarize two
groups it's very hard for them to see each other as human yeah no and i think that's the increasingly
the sort of dehumanizing rhetoric that comes out of like the president or people like this there's
this new thing of like, not new thing,
but as the president's actions become more and more obviously corrupt and
people are holding him accountable,
the rhetoric is also changing to now people who are asking for
accountability or subhuman, they're scum, they're whatever.
And that's, that's really, yeah.
And this is a thing that a lot of people are talking about in this
country too because as this keeps going and going and going you know it's the logical end that it
plays out to is not is not one of uh not not a good time yeah and we have a very short-term
collective memory right like luckily if you have history in the schools there's a real good chance
that people you know if history's been taught well in a country or at least somewhat honest, you know.
Not here.
Yeah, I didn't want to say it, but you know, that could be by design.
Oh, it is.
In Ireland, somehow that's one thing that I think we do quite well, which is teach history.
But you know, and that allows people to have a relatively good perspective on how things will shape up if you go down a certain road.
Now, did that, we still had a civil war.
But you don't want to be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
But yeah, I don't think in your schools you're teaching people that the Civil War was about a difference in economic systems. Right. Like where people – like here, like in some places, the history of the American Civil War is completely obscured.
And like the sort of facets about race are removed or slavery are minimized.
And it's like, yeah, you know, one group was kind of doing their thing and then there's a disagreement.
And anyway, let's move on.
I think as well – sorry.
I think it hurts so much to look at how bad we've been in the past
that it hurts.
So you don't want to look at it.
You want to kind of glaze over it,
but you got to sit with it, right?
Well, yeah, and I think American history is all about sanitizing
how bad things we've done have been,
how poorly we've treated each other,
how poorly we've treated other countries,
how we've completely decimated other cultures other economies it's just it's mostly about like like eye bleach it's like our
history it's like let's just yeah it's hard to i mean like it wasn't until college i was getting a
real understand like a understanding of american history or no high school i did have a really
great teacher and was like suggesting
to read like a people's history
of the United States
and you'd be like,
oh my God,
what the fuck is going on?
Yeah.
But most of the time
we're just taught like,
man, America's so chill
and everything we've done
has just been so great
for other people.
Well, that's one question
I get a lot just before you move on
because I think you'll like this.
It's basically a lot of people
want to know like,
what do people think
of America outside America? Right. And I think you'll like this. It's basically a lot of people want to know, like, what do people think of America outside America?
Right.
And I think, thank God, the branding is good.
The branding is good.
You guys live in America.
The brand is strong in America.
Yeah, because, you know, a lot of people see this
as a refuge for people from all different, you know, ethnicities.
Now, of course, you have the problems,
but the reality is, guys, America is,
it's not its foreign policy.
It's its 350 million beautiful individual people
walking the earth trying to do stuff.
The foreign policy, questionable, I think.
Most people would agree on both sides of the aisle.
Fucked.
Yeah, and on both sides of the aisle, for sure.
That's interesting to hear from somebody
who lived through civil war and a violent conflict
kind of within the nation they grew up in to hear that that's something that you're
concerned about.
Because that's something that when you talk to people who spend a lot of time in countries
that are devolved into civil war, they say that a lot of the signs are popping up in America
and people in America are like,
yeah, but I mean, it can't happen here.
And it might not be what you're picturing in your mind.
No, it is shocking because it was,
I wasn't directly affected by it,
but it rocked the country so much
we couldn't even call it what it was,
which was you know uh
probably some sort of civil war we called it the troubles right right and it was 100 miles away
there's people you know bombs going off and all that or 150 miles away and to me it was another
world but it was in the subconscious was just like wow why when you're a kid you understand
there's no reason for fighting you know right first time you see war on tv i remember i cry
crying because i understood the depth of it.
Yeah.
And then over time,
you have to distance yourself from that emotion
because it's too much.
Yeah.
I didn't live through a civil war,
just for the record.
Right, right, right.
But there was civil unrest in the north of Ireland
and it really permeated the culture
and really got into a lot of kids' brains
early on in Ireland.
So I think as a result of the pain,
maybe the people went through before in the previous generation, now there's a better
understanding of how we want to avoid that everywhere.
Right, right, right. Yeah.
So let's look at the peaceful way that we theoretically exchange power in this country with the upcoming 2020 election. There's some polling in the first
poll or one of the first polls since Bloomberg entered the race. He is at 6%, which is...
He's at 6% already?
Yeah. I know. That's what I thought. I was like, that's dark and depressing that he could just be
like, I'm going to buy all the ads and then you're going to vote for me.
And the polls.
But I bet he's depressed by that set, too.
That he can only get, he can't get to double digits.
Yeah, that he can't get to double digits.
Well, I mean, if you look, right, we're saying Bloomberg, he's going to eat into the Buttigieg Biden wing of things.
You know, he's a he's a centrist and he's not gonna
challenge the economic status quo of this country so yeah I mean they're they're fighting over the
same the same audience yeah so Biden saw an uptick of like a couple percentage points Sanders stayed
exactly where he was so Biden's at 31%%, Sanders 15%. Warren actually saw the biggest drop. She's down
to 10%, Buttigieg 9%, and then Bloomberg 6%. And Kamala Harris was at 2%, and right around 2% in
most of the recent polls that were coming out. And that's probably that. And the fact that one
of her lead campaign officials jumped ship to the Bloomberg campaign are reasons people speculate
that she decided to drop out of the race. Her statement is my campaign. This is a quote,
my campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue.
I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign.
And as the campaign has gone on,
it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.
Yeah.
I mean, she started off really strong,
and then it seemed like every subsequent debate,
just a little bit was starting to diminish.
Or she would have moments, like a pretty flat debate, then a couple moments here or there.
When she announced that she was running in South Carolina.
No, no, it was Oakland.
That's right.
Then she had a big rally in South Carolina.
But her announcement was the biggest rally of the 2020 Democratic presidential election
until Bernie had the rally with AOC about a month ago.
But I mean, yeah, she, she started with a lot of energy.
The first debate, she was the story coming out of the first debate.
And then it just seemed like, yeah, I didn't,
it never really cohered into a vision of like, okay,
this is what her candidacy is about.
Yeah.
It's pretty crazy.
You guys, like, have two billionaires fighting it out.
It's the most compelling narrative anyone has ever written.
Right.
It's like, talk about selling advertising.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
That will be amazing when the tax stuff comes out,
just to see the reality.
Yeah.
That's going to be fascinating.
Yeah, that's progressing.
Like, there's another batch of financial documents,
the Deutsche Bank financial documents
that are progressing towards the Supreme Court.
So they're going to have to decide on the tax documents
and these Deutsche Bank, or are they separate?
Yeah, well, I think that might, well,
I don't know, actually,
if it's the one specifically related to Deutsche Bank.
But, I mean, through that one, they've also seen how sort of deep the shell game kind of is.
It was from people talking about what they've seen from those documents.
But I feel like that's true about a lot of rich people.
Oh, hell yeah.
I mean, when you're that rich, another job you have is trying to fucking hide your money.
That's all it is.
I'm like, bro, okay, just give me your shit.
Speaking of people hiding things, there's a recent Politico article me that's all it is that's yeah i'm like bruh okay just give me your give me your shit speaking of
people hiding things uh there's a recent politico article that interviews a lot of people sort of
on background from the obama camp and basically he's just like they're just sharing his displeasure
with all of the democratic candidates like uh you know, Biden doesn't have a good sense of the electorate.
Warren, like, she can come up with all these plans for everything, but that's not a solution for uniting people.
And it's just like he has sounds like it sounds like listening to a great athlete criticize athletes like after they're out of the
game a little bit like can't give props to anyone right can't give props to anyone i'm still the
best to do it i don't know him the one thing you gotta touch her the one thing uh yeah reeks
insecurity to be honest the one thing that jumped out to me is that they said that if Bernie starts running away with it,
which they keep saying, which will never happen.
It'll never happen.
He's out of it.
But if it did look like he was going to get the nomination,
Obama said he'd have to do something.
Fuck.
Like that he'd have to say something against Bernie.
Wow.
I like this quote of,
this is someone who they're saying
was an advisor, right, to Obama?
Yes.
Yeah, that quote.
He hasn't said that direct quote.
He hasn't said that directly to me.
The only reason I'm hesitating it
is all because, yeah,
if Bernie were running away with it,
I think maybe we would all
have to say something.
But I don't think that's likely.
It's not happening.
Another close Obama friend said, Bernie's't think that's likely it's not happening another close obama
friend said bernie's not a democrat uh so it's yeah i guess i'm yeah if you're not like fully
you know hiking your skirt up for wall street then yeah are you a democrat yeah right you know
it's crazy how they speak to each other over here too isn't it yeah like it's so inflammatory yeah
it's wild dude it's on it's like it's like gladiatorial
well because that's sort of what our political system is completely devolved into you it's like
a glad you send your champion on behalf of big for the pharmaceutical industry or the banking
industry or the mining industry you have your champions in the form of congress people who you
fund to stay in office yeah and give you the votes in the in the fucking coliseum known as capitol hill and you fucking fight it out it's actually yeah
the the tiered seating it's like it is a coliseum no it's but that's sort of like how that's why
you know you need lobbyists to identify your champions that you can send forward and be like
hey are we on the same page how clear and then how clear is it becoming that money is so like
i think people knew that money was involved but but now with two billionaires going for it and it's like – and all the discussion about lobbying where money is going.
It's – like I think people thought they knew, but now they really know how dirty it is, right?
Well, yeah.
And I think that's why with candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who are pretty consistent in articulating the issues that are like plaguing
the system.
That's why you see when someone, when they even mentioned Bernie Sanders, they're like,
well, I guess we'd have to do something because that is a different, that's someone who has
been able to get the, like a lot of people who might not have been as politically engaged
or savvy to sort of look at the nuances and dimensions of how politics work and be like,
hold the fuck on.
Wait, I'm, I have so much lack in my life because of these rich assholes?
Yeah.
I don't know if I like this anymore.
Yeah, I love that old saying, you know, if you want to know who's really in power,
just watch out for who you can't speak about.
Yeah.
And that kind of comes to light here, you know?
Yeah.
You know, Bernie, I saw him on a long-form interview, and he was – I don't – look, I don't have a position in America.
It's not my place.
Right.
But there's no way he's the madman that he's made out to be.
No.
You know?
Yeah.
He's only mad by billionaire singers.
Yeah, and depending on what you're watching.
Right.
And, of course, the opposite on the opposite side.
But it's like if we could just get closer to the truth,
but unfortunately that won't win the election.
So we're destined for the polarity and we're destined for the conflict.
We just have to be very careful that the conflict in rhetoric doesn't bleed out.
Well, there's no money to be made in unifying people.
That's the problem.
Now, dude, the truth has a gravity so strong that when you speak it,
it pulls people in.
That is 100% true.
That's why.
100% true. Because if it were, that we would be unifying the out everybody get
your unification and shirts and hats and merch or whatever apps but it's like when the unifying
message right now is like working people are getting screwed we need to look at how we how
people are being taken care of what kind of financial services and support systems we have
for our unhoused
people are vulnerable people,
disabilities,
whatever this,
that,
and the other seed.
And a lot of those things,
so many people make money off of the fact of commodifying the fact that you
need help or whatever,
that it's,
it's just,
it's a threat to the game as it's being played now.
And I think that's why when you see quotes like this,
it's so damning for them to be like,
well,
if something happens, we might all have to say something on behalf of the wealth
class here. Well, we all have a negative confirmation bias. That's why Twitter works
so well and why all this stuff works so well. Because we're naturally anxious. We're naturally,
we were preyed upon. There's predators out there. So we still have a bit of that in us.
So it's just like division is the short-term hit.
It gives you that endorphin rush that gets you focused and aware of everything.
But you can win with unity and love, but it's just not as sexy.
It's not as sexy to the human mind, but it gives you longevity and peace and prosperity.
But division, man. Oh, I love division. It's so good. When you're reading it, you know what I mean longevity and peace and prosperity yeah but division man oh i
love division it's so good when you're reading it you know what i mean and you can sell ads
on division yeah exactly yeah math too yeah yeah long division oh yeah remainders oh yeah
all right we're gonna take another quick break we'll be right back
to take another quick break. We'll be right back. This summer, the nation watched as the Republican nominee for president was the target of two assassination attempts separated by two months.
These events were mirrored nearly 50 years ago when President Gerald Ford faced two attempts
on his life in less than three weeks.
President Gerald R. Ford came stunningly close to being the victim of an assassin today.
And these are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate a U.S. president.
One was the protege of infamous cult leader Charles Manson.
I always felt like Lynette was kind of his right-hand woman.
The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI in a violent revolutionary underground.
Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore.
The story of one strange and violent summer.
This is Rip Current.
Available now with new episodes every Thursday.
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I've been thinking about you.
I want you back in my life.
It's too late for that.
I have a proposal for you.
Come up here and document my project.
All you need to do is record everything like you always do.
One session.
24 hours.
EPM 110. 120, she's terrified.
Should we wake her up?
Absolutely not.
What was that?
You didn't figure it out?
I think I need to hear you say it.
That was live audio of a woman's nightmare.
This machine is approved and everything?
You're allowed to be doing this?
We passed the review board
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There's nothing dangerous
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They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from
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Listen to Dream Sequence on the
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And this season, we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history.
Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita,
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So all of these...
We have, we think, Latin culture.
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B.C.?
I didn't realize how old the hot dog was.
Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network.
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Hello, everyone. I am Lacey Lamar. And I'm Amber Ruffin, a am Lacey Lamar.
And I'm Amber Ruffin, a better Lacey Lamar.
Boo.
Okay, everybody, we have exciting news to share.
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And you should tune in today for new fun segments like Sister Court and listening to Lacey's steamy DMs.
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You got to watch us. No, you mean you have to listen to us.
I mean, you can still watch us, but you got to listen. Like if you're watching us, you to tell us, like, if you're out the window, you have to say, Hey, I'm watching
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And there's a study about which pickup lines work best for women that are hitting on men.
Yeah.
And I, for one, am curious, Miles. Yeah.
Oh, man.
You know, the brave people in Halifax, Canada decided.
I didn't even realize this was a question of what pickup lines for men are the most effective.
They got Halifax up in Halifax.
I mean, wow-y.
Sound the air raid alarm.
Okay, so the way they did it,
apparently they found that they were testing three pickup line styles,
direct, flippant, and innocuous.
And what they did in this highly scientific study,
and I say this with a lot of sarcasm,
is that they got 130 heterosexual adult males to basically-
Said yes every single time.
Yeah, I was going to say, I'm like, a fucking pickup
like, honestly, to me the premise is
weird. It's like, does this, is this necessary?
Has a man said no?
So what they were doing.
Has a man ever said no?
No, exactly, to any kind of positive
attention. So it says
they were asked to evaluate a series of 12 photographs
of women accompanied by a pickup
line. And then so when they looked at it, they asked the participant to rate the perceived attractiveness
of the woman, the perceived promiscuity of the woman, and the perceived effectiveness
of the pickup line.
Really what they found was direct was the most effective.
So an example, direct pickup line is stuff like, you want to have a drink together?
You have really nice eyes.
Can I have your number?
You're cute.
All those in a row?
Yep, very smooth.
I find that works, too.
You're cute.
And stare at the chest, apparently, is what...
You got a place to stay?
You got money for a ring?
Dude!
Because I got a...
Straight in for the kill!
Yeah, and then an example of flippant pickup lines is,
shall we talk or continue flirting from a distance?
I always see you here.
You must be the bar's best customer.
Since you're alone and I'm alone, why don't we sit together?
Dude, that makes me want to be single forever.
I'm easy.
Are you?
That was obviously there as a control, I think.
I think that is actually an example of scientists writing comedy being not a successful way to start a conversation.
Right.
And then innocuous.
Look at their sample size, 130.
They didn't exactly go into extensive research.
Very narrow.
Yeah.
That's what I said.
I'm like highly scientific.
Let's do this more as a conversation starter.
Of course.
Yeah.
And then innocuous.
Can you recommend a good drink?
I've seen you before.
Do you work here?
I mean, really, what they did find is direct were the most successful.
Flippant was second most successful.
Innocuous were least likely to be judged as effective.
But they did say no matter the pickup line, when they rated the attractiveness high,
it didn't matter what they said.
Yeah.
It was just like, yes, please.
I don't know.
Thank you.
Yeah, we're very visual creatures, aren't we? Yeah. It was just like, yes, please. I don't know. Thank you. Yeah. We're very visual creatures,
aren't we?
Yeah.
It's hard not to.
Do you ever,
you're walking down,
it's like,
it's hard not to look
at something.
You're like,
are we allowed to admit that?
It's hard not to look at something.
Well, you have eyes.
Yeah.
It's so hard.
How do you not look at anything?
It's so hard.
It's like,
a woman,
for me,
is the most compelling thing.
Now,
obviously.
You want to write songs and sonnets?
Yeah.
I mean,
that's what we do, right? Yeah. Yeah, we create, and then we songs and sonnets? Yeah. I mean, that's what we do,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We create,
and then we try and get on stage and we try and be funny and then hopefully find a wife.
But like,
yeah,
like,
and then I guess it's the same,
the opposite way.
It's just,
yeah,
man,
beauty.
Beauty is so hard to ignore.
Just this idea though,
that like,
there's a need for this study,
like there are women or I guess it just seems odd to me because the way our society is set up,
it's sort of just like this patriarchy where the man pursues the woman and that's sort of been –
people are just inundated with this sort of messaging.
It sounds like a thing that lonely men would need this study.
It's like, hey, direct is the best thing, guys. Don't be all like,
hey, did you see that fist fight outside?
That was so wild. I don't know.
I think these two women were fighting over a dude.
Anyway, hi, my name's Miles.
That's like literally
some pickup artist type shit.
Yes, you talk rather than
pulling up direct like,
yo, I think you're beautiful, ma.
Have this drink with me. know like six inches from the face yeah exactly there's like more about just sort of
being a little bit more obscure about sort of just a general conversation starter by pointing
to another event and then they go oh no i didn't see that and that's more organic and then you're
like anyway what's up i'm lonely lonely. I mean, I'm Miles.
Yeah. Do you ever notice as well, when you want to talk, when you really, really,
really want to talk to somebody, like you're, you know, that this is the one,
something in your brain, something in your brain literally sabotages you.
Yeah.
You can't, you can't speak. You can't think you start opening all the doors, the fridge door,
every door, right? And just everything's like, and then the conversation just, the fridge door, every door, right? And then the conversation just, it's like your genes know that you are not supposed to mate with that beautiful person.
You're not good enough.
Get out of here. You fry your circuits.
You're like, I am horny.
I don't know why I have to go.
Fuck.
But it's like,
it's your sabotage from the inside out.
Your genetics don't want you to win.
They don't think you're good enough.
The second date I ever went on with my wife,
uh,
she was like,
I kind of realized that,
you know,
I was in love with her,
but she like,
you know,
I,
but so it was the second date.
It would be really weird.
I love you.
Right. But she, she still talks about it because she was like, I, but so it was the second day. It would be really weird. I love you.
Right.
But she, she still talks about it because she was like, yeah, there was that one date when you like, couldn't talk and you were all sweaty.
Yeah.
The worst thing, the combat, you know, when you know that they're seeing it.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Cause dude, most fucking perceptive creatures on the planet.
Yeah.
And you start sweating. Like, are you sweating? No. Oh my God. You the planet. Yeah. And you start sweating.
Like, are you sweating?
No.
Oh, my God.
You're sweating.
Yeah.
And it's getting on me.
And it gets worse and worse.
Under my arms.
There's no way out, right?
Right.
The only thing I think you can do to kind of, is a preemptive strike, which is, it's
like before you go into an interview, go for a run.
So your endorphins are up.
Yeah.
Start like bench pressing something.
So there's a little testosterone in there i don't know maybe stand wide legged with your arms above your head
and some like power pose yeah and then you walk in and go hey uh do you live around here
yeah also why are you holding that those weights above your head why are you chewing raw meat
like steaks on your shoulders.
Hey, these are my new shoulder pads.
You like them?
They're dripping blood.
They're ribeyes.
I like your eyes,
but you like mine.
Ribeyes.
And then you flex.
You like beef.
You're like,
no, I'm vegan.
Get the fuck away from me.
God damn it.
But that is weird
how the universe keeps us in line, isn't it?
Oh, yeah.
Like, it's like it knows that you're, hey, dude, this one's not for you.
So, you know what I'm going to do?
I'm literally going to make you deaf and mute, and you're not going to be able to hear what
she's saying, and you're not going to be able to formulate it in your brain.
Right.
And you know what?
It's like you're talking with a concussion the whole time.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Like, am I seeing stars?
Yeah.
Question for the audience is like, does that happen on the other side? Do girls get that? the concussion the whole time yeah yeah exactly like am i seeing stars and like yeah question for
the audience is like gang does that does that happen on the other side do girls get that do
they get the same feeling i'm sure like anything we're human right if we like something yeah the
possible threat of losing something right causes us anxiety or not to get the thing we want i'm
sure on some level the thing i'm more interested in is this idea of being hit on
because I've only been maybe like a direct pickup line.
I remember someone said that to me when I was DJing a party in high school.
What'd they say?
This girl I was in high school was DJing a party.
She comes up to me.
She goes, you're cute.
What's your number?
Really?
And I was like, I fucking panicked.
I was like, I don't know.
I don't have a phone.
I walked away, and then I was like, yo, I don't know. I'm on the phone. I walked away.
And then I was like, yo, give her my number.
I'm so uncomfortable.
I'm lacking all confidence.
Indirectly.
She was so direct.
I fried my insecure hormonal teen circuits.
I just was unprepared.
And I just sort of went into myself.
But again, look.
Did that carry you for the week, though?
Because if I get a compliment like if somebody
says something nice to me
like that I'm attracted to
I'm terrible
it blows my mind
it'll keep me going
for a week dude
I'm like running extra miles
I'm donating more
I don't know
I'm terrible
just as a personality
like if I ever get a compliment
I'm like
I always mitigate
right
it's like
and that's the thing
I'm trying to do less of
because I think that sort of betrays my own ability to sort of see myself as being worthy of a compliment.
Right.
You know, let's get psychological real quick.
Let me get on my couch.
You'll be my therapist, Francis.
Because, you know, I want to feel like I am worthy of these compliments.
Right.
But inside, I don't want to feel like I'm flexing on people or something like that.
I don't know.
I'm flexing on people or something like that.
I don't know.
Chelsea Peretti had a great quote in her podcast about how guys,
you'll compliment a guy's shirt and that's all they'll wear for like the rest of the year.
That is so true to me.
That is true.
Oh, yeah.
It's a beauty.
Do you know the power a compliment has?
Yeah.
Man, you can.
And also, you know, it doesn't have to be even a lie.
Yeah.
You know, like we're talking as if it's a manipulation.
You can literally say to something, someone, just a nice compliment, like, hey, you know what?
You're just, you're a great person.
I really felt like we connected today.
I'd love to, I wish you the best.
Yeah. Yeah.
That, just that little serotonin hit, that cortisol spike in the brain or whatever, I don't know, goes away.
A little serotonin hit that cortisol spike in the brain or whatever.
I don't know.
It goes away.
And they just walk the planet a little better,
and then that trickles out like little reverse tributaries into the world.
Yeah.
Like, just because you said something nice,
that person walks the earth.
Feeling a little better.
Making people feel better all day, dude.
Yeah.
Go give a compliment.
Compliment challenge.
Go.
Do it.
But not to me. Tell us how.
Not to me, because I suck. Not me. Don't. me. Tell us how. Not to me because I suck.
Not me.
Don't lie.
Not me.
I'm a piece of shit.
That was lucky.
I smell terrible.
My granny said the best advice is just say thank you and smile.
Absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
And that really helped because it's so simple, but it's like you don't think of it because
you're just too much in a panic about where to put that energy.
Yeah, that's true.
much into panic about where to put that energy.
Yeah, that's true.
Well, speaking of serotonin hits, one way you can
accomplish that is
exercise. And one way you can
exercise is by getting
a Peloton from your husband
for Christmas because
it will give you self-worth. It will give you
an identity for the first time.
So there is a new Peloton
ad that is there's something
uncanny and weird black mirrorish yeah it's like this ad i guess it came out a couple like a couple
weeks ago and it's i think it's just over the thanksgiving holiday okay yeah and it's a young
mother comes down the stairs on christmas to find her husband has bought her a new Peloton.
And she then starts talking about how it transformed her life.
But she's also doing this running diary of trying this thing out.
I don't know.
Five days in a row.
Are you surprised?
I am.
Up at 6 a.m.?
Yikes.
Whoa, she said my name on the thing because that's one of the features on peloton bike there's live classes and then when you're
logged in someone might say your name or username and then you can have that one human connection
through a screen on your bike while you're inside your human hamster wheel in your yuppie prison
it's just really it's such an odd commercial yeah and the thing is it was shot with a budget i i
would say that was way bigger than it needed to be.
Because it's a beautiful convertible.
That probably could have housed 20 people.
And genuinely, why would you call a product a Peloton?
Because a Peloton is the second group in any bike race.
Right.
It's not the first.
It should be like yellow vest.
Right.
Yellow vest.
Well, I think Louis Armstrong.
Was his name Lance Armstrong?
No, Louis.
Louis Armstrong. Was his name Lance Armstrong? No, Louis. Louis Armstrong.
Yeah, Louis.
You know, Satchmo, the disgraced cyclist for using testosterone and other steroids.
In his own blood.
But I think that was like, maybe that ruined our yellow vest ideal.
Right.
Yeah.
Oh, that's true.
Also, it's a political thing in France right now, the yellow vest.
Yeah, that's right.
Well, Peloton does not care about that.
I'll tell you that much.
The whole thing, though, does feel like about that. I'll tell you that much.
The whole thing though, does feel like it's,
I don't know what the lifestyle change exactly it is because this one,
again,
this is how like advertising works.
The woman who comes down is attractive by every modern measurable standard.
So there isn't like some kind of transformation narrative.
It just seemed like I'm a woman that has it all.
And now I'm more grateful to my
husband at the end. Right. Because you gave my life, like, she's like, I never would have been
able to live a life like this without this or something. Thank you for giving this new life
to me. Exactly. But it's almost like, okay, like advertising, we know they're selling the feeling.
But I can't help but think if that was a product for a different market,
they would probably outline exactly,
like they'd be more systematic
about outlining the benefits.
The health benefits, yeah.
And the percentage of like increases
in what they've done
and the study they've shown.
An appeal to logic?
Yeah.
Come on.
No, man.
This is Fifth Ave.
This is Madison Ave, baby.
We go straight to the brain
and we figure out
what insecure type kid you were
and then fucking rip that out. Yes. And put it on the fucking screen dude it's so yeah grab by the
dick and tell them this could be your wife this could be your wife get it together but how crazy
is it they're probably they've probably done all the research that is the type of commercial that
works so we'd like to think we're logical creatures but really these these marketing
gurus they they know us to be emotional creatures
and they sell us on feeling as opposed to fact.
It's fascinating.
Like if you take that, it's-
I feel like it's almost like a,
I think the commercial is so weird
because it's like a passing of the baton
from like maybe boomer Gen X advertising mentality
to millennial advertising mentality.
We're like, then back old school marketing or
like was just like the thigh buster who gives a fuck man this thing is gonna make you smile and
hot right yeah and then but then they're using like the vlog aesthetic to be like see because
like young people they're like they're also maybe sending videos to other people right it was like
trying to blend it's almost like a instagram story like yeah very self-aware. It's so precise that it feels like a manipulation.
But it's poorly executed.
That's one question I had.
I think that's why it's bad.
Is it poorly executed on purpose?
Do they have one where the performance seems authentic
and they use this one because they knew that it would like create like traction in social media
yeah i wonder i'm starting to wonder there's all these different examples of people doing
mis things that are seemingly misguided right uh that then end up getting us to like talk about
those things like whether it's that negative bias again yeah we we need like if we see something
that just doesn't it's so close to being truth, but it's not.
We have to read up on it and we have to talk about it to figure out where the truth is.
Because we're truth seeking beings.
Yeah.
And when two people have a dialogue, right?
If two people have an open dialogue and they're not fixated on the result or the outcome of the conversation,
then the two interlocutors speak, right?
And when they finish speaking, in in theory there's a higher truth that
they've both realized and but what's happening here man is like so there's a dissonance between
what we're seeing and what they're showing us and we're like what like what is this we have to talk
this out world right because this does not make sense yeah like why is it called peloton that's
a losing name for you it's like that means you don't win, dude. Anyway, it's probably
a great product, is it? Yeah, I mean, people,
I mean, it almost has like, I don't know.
I'm getting it for my wife, so we'll see.
It has like, yeah,
cult-like appeal for people
already. I mean, their ads before
were just sort of like showing like very
straightforward exercise ads. There's like
one man or one woman got
on the bike, they're sweating, they're like, yeah, cool. They're indistinguishable from Michelob Ultra ads. There's like one man or one woman got on the bike. They're sweating.
They're like, yeah, cool.
They're indistinguishable from Michelob Ultra ads, which are the ads for the athletic beer.
Exactly.
Well, Francis, it's been awesome having you, man.
Thank you.
And guys, genuinely, you've got a great rapport between the two.
No, we don't.
Shut up.
You guys flow.
Thank you so much. And thanks to Mr. Sandeng. You have we don't. Shut up. You guys float. Thank you so much.
And thanks to Mr. Sand Engine.
You have a good rapport.
We suck.
France, it's easy to have a good rapport
when we have a guest such as yourself.
Where can people find you, follow you,
check you out, man?
Guys, first of all, anyone listening,
thanks very much.
I just want to mention the big walk I'm doing.
That's really why I'm doing all this press, right?
So 18 to the 25th in Ireland. I'm going to be the big walk I'm doing. That's really why I'm doing all this press, right? So 18th to the 25th in Ireland.
I'm going to be uploading content every day.
I'll be sleeping on the streets with just a waterproof sleeping bag.
People can come out and walk.
And we're going to raise money for the Simon Communities of Ireland,
which is a homeless charity.
We've got a big problem in Ireland with homelessness right now.
It's a global problem.
It's here in California.
I think nearly 70,000 people in California
are homeless on the streets.
So please just tune in to Francis Cronin
on all social media.
F-R-A-N-C-I-S-C-R-O-N-I-N.
And Rough Set is the name of the project.
Play on words.
So Rough, and we're doing comedy every night.
Nice.
So, yeah.
Guys, thank you.
Is there a tweet you've been enjoying?
Oh, ooh.
I'll be honest.
I do find myself reaching towards the political tweets of the people.
Again, the negative bias.
So the most inflammatory tweets that I see. And the thing with Trump with the belt around and just his timing for that, that was just like –
What is it?
He posted a picture, a tweet of him with his – a doctor picture of him with his top on.
Oh, that he's like Rocky?
Yeah.
Oh, right.
Yeah, yeah.
And I just thought that was fascinating to watch people call it a troll and then other people say that this is doctored.
And just like that blew my mind as to how far and how unstable the discourse is here in the country that that could be that inflammatory, you know?
Well, yeah, at this point, I mean, everyone is on a knife's edge to begin with with everything that the president does.
So the second anything comes out, it's just immediate fodder.
Yeah.
And you want to make – yeah.
And it's just – it's a little worrying when people are censoring their thoughts when they're speaking in public.
And, you know, you just don't want that.
If I walked down certain streets in my country, I'd have some problems because I wouldn't be from the right faction.
You don't want to see that here.
And that's my biggest worry for America right now.
And it's all coming from tweets.
Miles, where can people find you?
Find me, follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Grey.
Also, you know, a new podcast out for 20 day fiance.
My podcast is Sophia Alexandra,
where we talk about our favorite show,
90 day fiance in a very elevated way.
It's a very hilarious show.
If you want to know a tweet,
I like it's actually brought to my attention from Nick and a listener at call me Niles.
This tweet.
Okay.
So they were like,
yo,
check this tweet out.
It's,
it's just one of those petty tweets that clearly I'm just going to read it
for you.
It's from this woman named Meg.
It just said,
if your name is Jessica from Guelph,
your boyfriend,
Ryan ears pierced is sitting in the Brock library,
talking absolute trash about you to his lady companion.
I'm not trying to start shit,
but he said you're a six in bed, and she
says he should break up with you. I'm
snitching.
And then there's another, she replied to her own tweet, she goes,
the amount of tea I've gotten from Ryan and this girl
is crazy. I haven't paid attention to my assignment
for the past hour. I just like
when people, look, sometimes, you know, it's a community.
Gotta let people know.
I didn't know it was a tweet we like.
I chose a tweet in
general that was interesting oh man yeah i'll think about it keep going okay okay cool uh you
can find me on twitter at jack underscore o'brien and that jolly prostitute tweeted i'm no mathematician
but i think i may have smoked my weight in weed this year um which is impressive and I do wonder that like if you take everything
you've eaten
or smoked
or you know
how
how
like if it adds up
to your own weight
I've smoked my weight
in weed
this year
or in your lifetime
this weekend
dude and that's a lot
the volume is a lot more
than the human body
because weed is like
yeah it's puffery
yeah it's gonna be, like a room full.
Yeah, I just use it through a weed whacker or a leaf blower now.
Like there's a bunch of viral videos where people are just using leaf blowers
to burn like fucking quarter pounds at a time to fill up a garage with weed smoke.
Oh my God.
It's violent.
But also, I'm trying to try it out.
If you've got one of those setups, let me know.
I'll come through.
And Louis Vertel tweeted,
You're an adult when you realize the night before a holiday is better than the holiday.
Damn.
That is true.
Unfortunately.
You come up with something, Francis?
Oh, just anything.
Basically, I just got addicted to this.
I don't know, but Mark Norman tweets the funniest one-liners.
And one of them, here's one he did at Halloween.
He goes, he's a stand-up comedian.
He goes, the booing around Halloween seems a little less painful. whiners and one of them just here's one he did a halloween he goes he's a stand-up comedian he goes
the booing around halloween seems a little less painful it's just so succinct yeah yeah yeah well
done sir uh well the daily zeitgeist uh you can follow me on twitter at jack underscore o'brien
you can follow us on twitter at daily zeitgeist we We're at The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram.
We have a Facebook fan page and a website, DailyZeitgeist.com,
where we post our episodes and our footnotes,
where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode,
as well as the song we ride out on.
Miles, what's that going to be today? This is a track called The Contender by the Minahan Street Band.
Okay, so the reason...
First, I think their song was definitely sampled in Rock Boys, the Jay-Z song.
Anyway, but the reason why I like this band is because it's musicians from some of my favorite throwback-y bands.
So the Dab Kings, there's members of the Dab Kings people from
El Michael's Affair who do like dope old hip-hop covers guys from Antibalus which is like a really
dope afro beat band they were also the backing band for the Fela Kuti musical which if that's
ever out again you should definitely see that and the Budos band which is another dope band
similar style so they they're like a super group of some of my favorite studio musicians.
And this band is just a great, got great horns.
It's just a band.
It's like instruments.
It's people together.
Hosts.
Yeah, just making that music.
So check this one out.
All right.
We're going to ride out on that.
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In California, during the summer of 1975,
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