The Daily Zeitgeist - More Like Injustice Kennedy, Johnny Depp’s Weird World 6.27.18

Episode Date: June 27, 2018

In episode 178, Jack and special guest co-host Ify Nwadiwe are joined by comedian Kurt Braunohler to discuss the Rolling Stone Johnny Depp profile, Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring at the worst time p...ossible, the travel ban hurting our chances of a brain drain out of Iran, the 28 year old socialist who who defeated an incumbent leader of the Democratic Party in NYC, the passing of Joe Jackson, a Facebook post made by a possible incel, a break down of Fortnite and PUBG, and more!  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years. 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. What was that? That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
Starting point is 00:00:18 They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hi i am lacy lamar and i'm also lacy lamar just kidding i'm amber revan okay everybody we have exciting news to share we're back with season two of the amber and lacy lacy 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. Listen to the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen,
Starting point is 00:01:01 wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen, okay? Or Lacey gets it. Do it. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the president of the United States.
Starting point is 00:01:20 One was the protege of Charles Manson. 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nickname Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI. Identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeartTrue Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. iHeartTrue Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on?
Starting point is 00:01:51 I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns in church voila you got straight away they try to save everybody listen to spiraled on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hello the internet and welcome to season 37 episode 3 of their daily zeitgeist yeah june 27 2018 thank you if you my name is Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. I was O'Brien when I met you. I was Aerosmith, and I'm thrilled to be joined by today's co-host, one of the funniest comedians and performers anywhere. He is Mr. Ify Wadiwe, a.k.a.
Starting point is 00:02:41 We're living most our life living in Ify's paradise. Uh-huh. You know, got to give it up to my man, Coolio. He doesn't get enough. I wonder if those songs were from the same year. Mine was supposed to be Crying by Aerosmith. I don't know if anybody can tell, because I haven't heard that song since I was 12. By the way, that A.K. was from at Snarky Desart.
Starting point is 00:03:02 Good Twitter handle. And Ify, it's lovely to have you. Great job. You did a good job. You brought it for Miles, who is still in Europe. Holding it down, living that World Cup life. I think he was in a small town today where smoking weed is legal. And it's a really weird, like permanent Renaissance fair. Like the town is like self incorporated, very strange place.
Starting point is 00:03:35 Anyways, we will never see miles again. And we are thrilled to have in our third seat, one of the funniest comedians and performers and just people anywhere, Mr. Kurt Braunohler. Hello. Hey, man. Hi, how you doing? Thank you for doing the show. We're excited to have you. Thank you for having me.
Starting point is 00:03:52 Excited to be here. Let's talk about stuff. All right. Your famous catchphrase, talk about stuff. No, my catchphrase is, oh, Braunohler. Kurt, what is something from your search history that is revealing that? The revealing about who you are part is difficult, but the best one I could find is just Dennis Miller cha-cha.
Starting point is 00:04:17 Because I was really just like, did he actually just say cha-cha all the time? And he does. He totally just says cha-cha and babe all the time i mean babe i remembered but i was like cha-cha like that seems crazy right because i think there's a thing i think i don't know if other people do it but i do it all the time where it's like if i had a time machine and i went back in time could i be a successful stand-up during that time period and i don't know if I could in the eighties, if cha-cha people were just like,
Starting point is 00:04:47 yep, very funny, very funny. That is good stuff. I know. I, I, I,
Starting point is 00:04:55 when I think about that, I think about the fact that I'd have to have like a nickname because that was the big thing for black standups back then was like, yo, I'm Tokyo. Let's go. Right, right. Yeah. Cha-cha.
Starting point is 00:05:07 You would need to find your stand-up comedy mantra or something that worked for you. I know. Cha-cha. I've gone through it many ways. Or you figure out right the time when a certain new form of comedy became like relevant in like small clubs in the Greenwich Village or something. And then you go there and you become really big and like that small thing. And then you like kind of take off with a new type of comedy that's just your comedy from the future. What is something you think is overrated?
Starting point is 00:05:39 I got a bunch, but I think I'm going to go with walking slow. Walking slow is overrated. No, I mean, sorry, it's underrated. Okay. We'll do underrated first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, walking slow is underrated.
Starting point is 00:05:51 I like that. I've been doing that a lot recently. And it's like, I used to be a real fast walker. I lived in New York City and it was always just like, get out of my way. I'm important. And now I really enjoy a slow stroll around my neighborhood. Usually if I'm like trying to write and stuff, I just walk slowly. And I find it's very, very relaxing to have no place in particular to go.
Starting point is 00:06:16 Yeah, no. It's also called being unemployed. Currently not having a job. Yeah, no, I didn't realize how fast I walked until I had a daughter and I would walk with her and notice that she's tripping because I'm taking such large strides. For a while I was like, why is she falling so much? What the fuck is this kid's
Starting point is 00:06:34 problem? I'm running. We gotta get her checked out by the doctor. How old is she? She's two. Two. I've got 15 months, so she hasn't walked in yet. Oh, just wait. It's the worst.
Starting point is 00:06:49 15 months is fun. What is something you think is overrated? Comedians doing improvised hours of stand-up. Fuck it. I'm over it. It's the last thing in my life that I want to watch is people getting up and not performing stuff they wrote. I'm done with it.
Starting point is 00:07:06 I'm done. And this is coming from a person who used to do a one-man improv show in 2001. So I understand where they're coming from. But if I'm paying money to see comedy, I want to see you have written jokes and have a lot of tags for every punchline. And I don't want to see just whatever's on the top of your head yeah no i because you're not that because that reminds me of like back in the day when it used to be big in the 90s i don't know if you remember jack uh hip-hop artists not the 90s like the early aughts like a lot of hip-hop artists was like i don't
Starting point is 00:07:41 even write songs i freestyle i can I was like, I can tell. Trust me. You're not fooling me. You use the word day a lot because it rhymes with a bunch of stuff. Yeah, and then freestyling, yeah, that used to be so cool. But you could tell a lot of the times it was just people had written stuff, right? And were just coming in and acting like, they were just
Starting point is 00:08:03 doing their standard rhymes over beats. Just like real standard beats. Yeah, you have to start it off with either like a lighter, like about to smoke weed in this booth. That's bad for the mic, sir. All right, and finally, what is a myth? What's something most people think is true that you know to be false, Kurt?
Starting point is 00:08:26 I think that you need to be an asshole in order to be a great artist. I think that's a myth. I think that's maybe being debunked more and more now. But it used to be like, you have to be like... I used to think this when I first started comedy. The people who I thought were really, really funny treated other people like shit. And I was like, well, that's what you do.
Starting point is 00:08:47 Like really good comics, like treat people like shit. So I have to like, I won't respond to this email for a few days because I don't want them to know I'm not a good comic because I'm like attentive to my business. You have it like fully drafted and very nice. And then you like go back and do like an edit on it where you're like take out the please and thank you i'm a badass i'm a badass yeah take this punctuation out of there no funny person whatever punctuate the email i do i i have done the same thing and then like sent it out a day later and also i've done that and found it in my drafts folder
Starting point is 00:09:21 like three weeks later i'm'm like, oh, shit. I'm bad at my job. Yeah. Why do you think that is? Because I do notice there are a lot of talented people who are fucking awful. And do you think it's a thing where they were awful before or success in this town in particular corrupts people's personalities? I've thought about this a lot because I've seen it. And you see it in comedy, I think, very often
Starting point is 00:09:49 just because you watch people go from being unknown to everyone knowing them. And you see it in a short span of time. And I've seen it happen with multiple comedians who were wonderful and then they get fame and then are just monsters. And it happens often. So it's not like one person. Do you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:10:08 And so my question always is in my head is, is it that they were just tricking us, that they were monsters all along, but they had to like learn to be like nice to people? Yeah. And then it just came out. Or is there something about fame that – because I've also seen it happen where people go from cool to monster and then back to cool after they realize that they've been doing that. Like someone, like after a while,
Starting point is 00:10:31 like a few years of being monsters, all of a sudden they have no friends left. Yeah. And then they're like, oh, I fucked up. And they go back to being a nice person. Yeah. So I think it must be something inherent in fame.
Starting point is 00:10:41 Yeah. But it's like, it's crazy that you, why don't you look out for it? Like we all, we see it so often in comedy. Why why not look out for it like when you know you're getting famous to be like i don't want to be a dick yeah you know like it might be a trick thing because i feel like there is like a level of when you watch someone like blow up to the stratosphere and you see like everyone around them start turning a little bit into yes men and so i feel like no one's there to call them out and be like yo you're acting different because
Starting point is 00:11:10 they're just like nah i want to ride this wave with you yeah and i think it's just a combination of those things and i think like i often think about how like especially stand up like you have to be a specific type of person to think that you're important enough to stand in front of a mic, say something and have a group of people listen to you. And there's like a certain like level of narcissism you need to actually get up on stage. And I feel like when you get that fame and you get so much positive reinforcement, that narcissism can blow up to a huge scale and with no one to check you. With no one to check you. Yeah. Yeah. Because also you're being rewarded for that narcissism all the time.
Starting point is 00:11:48 People are like, we want to hear more of what you have to say. It's like, yep, I am important, you know? Right. That's why I also find it's like people who that doesn't happen to are people who have friends from growing up. Yeah. Who like they still hang out with. Right.
Starting point is 00:12:01 You know, like- LeBron style. Yeah. Surrounds himself with the same people who knew him when he was 12. I really think that helps him a lot because he should be completely insane. And I'm sure he's a little insane. But from the time he was 13, he lived in a town where Nike and Adidas were taking out competing billboards just advertising only to him.
Starting point is 00:12:24 They were just trying to get him to sign with their company when he was a child. And he's not completely fucked. That didn't completely ruin him. I had no idea. Well, I think that's true too, Kurt, because if you think about the friends that you have outside the industry, like your only friends. I have a close friend who's not in the industry. He doesn't give a fuck about anything that i get or anything like i'm still the same iffy that like got him beat up
Starting point is 00:12:51 in high school so like so he he has no buffer he's just like okay whatever and i do think yeah your home you're like hometown friends who just don't care about any of your success really because they're like i have nothing to gain or lose from you because we know so much about each other. Those would be the ones that would be like, you're acting different. Yeah, and also they have a framework where all the little stuff that would bother you,
Starting point is 00:13:15 they don't understand it and it doesn't matter to them. Where you're just like, no, but I'm only a recurring guest star. I'm not the star. And they're like, you're still on a fucking TV show that I think is funny. Shut the fuck up.
Starting point is 00:13:28 Yeah. Yeah, and I think you also brought something up, Ify, that's kind of, I think, underrated is how differently people start treating you once you're successful. Like, I've had this thought with also, like, really attractive women who, like, people are like, oh, they're so weird and like fake and stuff like that. And it's like, they never interact with people who aren't like partially brain dead when they're talking to like men,
Starting point is 00:13:53 like men are just like, yeah, whatever, you know, like they never interact with a fully functioning male's brain. So yeah, they're going to be like, sometimes that's going to be fucked up.
Starting point is 00:14:03 Or somebody who's trying to get something from them. Right, exactly. Yeah, it's like branded or trying to get. And I think that maybe is part of it, too, when you become famous, people are trying to get stuff from you a lot. Yeah. Like, hey, well, now that you are doing it, help me. Yeah. And so maybe you become more suspicious of human beings for that reason.
Starting point is 00:14:21 Yeah, I think so, yeah. This actually ties perfectly. We've never had somebody's myth totally tie perfectly into our first story like this. But the first story we wanted to talk about is this Rolling Stone profile of one Mr. Johnny Depp. It is 10,000 words on Johnny Depp. And if you could have come up with a description
Starting point is 00:14:42 of an article that I wouldn't want to read, that is it. 10,000 words on Johnny Depp. Rolling Stone is notably way more fascinated by Johnny Depp than I am. They have had him on their cover five times. Yes. Which is shocking to me because, I don't know, he's an actor and they're a music magazine, but I guess they always identified him as bad boy, outlaw sort of actor. So they sent
Starting point is 00:15:07 a writer who did a wonderful job to hang out with him for five days at this giant mansion that he was renting in London. And it is just one of the darkest profiles of any human being. Like, you've probably seen photos of him lately looking like he's been poisoned by plutonium. Like, his face is kind of degrading a little bit. It's weird to see someone so thin yet so puffy. Right. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 00:15:40 It's like a skeleton was inflated. Right. Yeah, I think that's basically five years of untreated alcoholism because as you're reading the Rolling Stone article, you may be interested in this article pops up and it's like 2013, Johnny Depp, single, sober, and he looks great. Yeah. It's just like, ah, okay. looks great yeah it's just like ah okay and then in this article he's talking about how uh people claimed that he was spending thirty thousand dollars on wine a month and or three hundred thousand maybe and he was like that's way too little i spend way more than that on wine uh so and he's just like staying up all night he like wakes up at like when the sun is setting and
Starting point is 00:16:22 like just stays up all night watching movies and cracking up a bunch of yes men, basically what we were just talking about. Everything that you've just described up until this point is a description of a vampire. Yes. And that's my new conspiracy theory that Johnny Depp was bitten by a vampire and that's his new life. Well, that's his band, right? The Hollywood Vampires.
Starting point is 00:16:44 Oh, no. Yes. Yeah, it is. Oh, no. vampire and that's his new life well that's his band right the hollywood vampires oh no he is fully aware that that's what it seems like that is the that's the weird thing too where he he he drifts in and out of seeming like he has self-awareness right in this and that's what i think is the most interesting thing about reading that because I read the whole thing too. And I was like this is like one-eighth of the way through. I was like this has got to be over soon. I was like, oh, my God. I saw the little bar on the side.
Starting point is 00:17:13 It's just a tiny speck in the upper right-hand corner. Yeah. And so that's the thing that's fascinating to me about it. It's like you lose that outsider perspective. Also, what I wanted to know is how did that writer is amazing like did that writer do drugs because how is he staying up until dawn 8 a.m with this guy every night without doing drugs that's what i don't understand i mean he keeps talking about how he's tired that is a it's steve steven rodrick. He does frequently, he's like, and I was on the verge of passing out sitting up, but I had to tell Johnny Depp finally that I had to leave him.
Starting point is 00:17:51 But Johnny Depp is constantly just making people hang out with him and telling bad jokes. And he has this sense of humor that's really awful. of humor that's really awful. There's probably the most damning line in the thing is Roderick writes, Depp considers himself a funny man. And then one of his jokes is he's bragging that he said Dirty Sanchez in Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was too real for Disney and they had to cut it out. Too real, too dumb.
Starting point is 00:18:25 Yeah. He also plays a Don Rickles joke from Sugar Ray Robinson's roast from the 70s that's just openly racist, and he's like, man, that was ballsy, huh? The writer's like, yeah, man, I guess. But yeah, it's really, I don't know, like there hasn't been a great portrait of, you know, this sort of the logical extreme of sort of the pathological narcissism that Hollywood sort of encourages and that, you know,
Starting point is 00:19:02 even just American culture, we all sort of worship fame and like fame is a religion sort of encourages and that, you know, even just American culture, we all sort of worship fame and like fame is a religion sort of thing. There hasn't been a great portrait of what that looks like when it's just totally running on empty, like just completely fucked in a long time. Like it reminds you of like Sunset Boulevard a little bit the old movie where a writer like his car breaks down like next to the mansion of a silent film actress like 30 years after people stopped making silent films and she's just like completely bonkers it's where the line i'm ready for my close-up mr deville isVille is from Grey Gardens, is another example of just sort of opulence in decline. And this is, I think, one of the great portraits that I've seen.
Starting point is 00:19:57 What is interesting, too, is that he does have, he has 14 houses. Yes. And he has such money problems that he's like in this giant lawsuit with his old management company. But like imagine just selling one house of 14. How can you have an emotional relationship with a 14th house? Yeah. Do you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:20:19 It's like having an emotional relationship with a hotel you stayed in 10 years ago. Yeah. Yeah. You know, just be like, no, I can't give up the experience of ever staying in that hotel again. I know it's my 14th most valuable house, but it'll always be my ninth favorite house. So it's like, well, okay. So there's a great line by Bono, actually, of all people, who says about fame, if you sit down to dinner and you realize
Starting point is 00:20:46 that everybody who's there is being paid by you, that you're probably an asshole. And there's a moment towards the end of the article where the writer goes, I want to go home, but feel reluctant to leave. One of the most famous actors in the world is now smoking dope with a writer and his lawyer while his cook makes dinner and his bodyguards watch television there is no one around him who isn't getting paid like that's that's just what his life is now his best friend and like it seems like his only friend is his lawyer who is like just you know seeing him through all these like financial lawsuits and you know he he just hasn't paid attention to money at all ever and is in all sorts of debt and the only weird thing is that they don't really focus on the amber heard thing but i think it's probably because there's enough horror to go around without it yeah um and i mean
Starting point is 00:21:39 they mention it but uh i think he's probably reluctant to talk about it but I mean that is sort of an important background all of this is just the scenes from that marriage are like straight out of a horror movie except like a really pathetic one there's one part where she talked about how he cut off the tip of his finger and wrote easy amber on a mirror in blood and then wrote starring Billy Bob Thornton because he thought Billy Bob Thornton had sex with his wife. But it's like Easy Amber is such a seventh grade insult.
Starting point is 00:22:16 It's like, dude, what is wrong with you? Oh, no. But also that's what's interesting, that you learned through the article is that the reason he, it seems the reason that he is in this, um, uh, like this specifically dark hole is because he lost, uh, like contact with his sister who stopped talking to him when he wouldn't agree to do a prenup with Amber or Herd. Right. Yeah. And so now that he doesn't have the person he grew up with anymore is when he like really
Starting point is 00:22:44 goes into this vampire spiral. Right. Who like managed all of his yeah belongings and yeah yeah i mean it's literal like vampirism was originally seen as like a metaphor for like capitalism like sucking the life force out of things and like it really almost is a actual living metaphor for that in this article it really is but his sister that's a really good point that it was his sister who was running his career prior to
Starting point is 00:23:15 all of this shit going wrong for him alright so things are bad for Johnny Depp but fortunately for the rest of the world everything's going great, guys. We're going to take a quick break and then we'll be right back with just terrible news. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game.
Starting point is 00:23:44 Atari promised 150 grand in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. I mean, my reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes.
Starting point is 00:24:18 We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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
Starting point is 00:24:52 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.
Starting point is 00:25:24 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.
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Starting point is 00:25:59 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 a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
Starting point is 00:26:16 They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling.
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Starting point is 00:27:24 Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. And we're back. And one more Johnny Depp fact before we have to get into the bad news. I'm stalling, as you can tell. more Johnny Depp fact before we have to get into the bad news. I'm stalling, as you can tell. He wanted to dig a tunnel that connected all of his Hollywood homes. He has 14 homes, not all of them in Hollywood. So not clear whether he would have expanded the tunnels to connect to his homes in London or not, but he is not good with money. So you guys, Justice Kennedy is retiring. He's long been thought of as the swing vote. Whenever the liberal side of the
Starting point is 00:28:17 court wins a decision, it's usually because Kennedy has come over. He is going to retire in July. And so there will be an open seat for Trump to fill. And that's very bad news because the Supreme Court has already been showing a tendency towards, you know, right wing, being right wing ideologues in in the past few days really uh so here's my question about this why isn't there a fail safe for this why i don't because this has been the system for hundreds of years right that presidents uh put in supreme court judges is it just like oh well it'll be like fucked for 50 years until the next person dies? Or is there like some way to – because it does seem crazy that now it's just a majority of people who always vote the exact same way. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:13 You can kind of like just not bother bringing it to the Supreme Court because you know which way they're going to vote because they're just right-wing weirdos. Right. wing weirdos. Right. So one thing that has been thrown around, and I think FDR either did it or was talking about doing it, was he had a similar issue where the court was fucking things up and holding back progress in America. And he was going to just start nominating additional justices, sort of flood the court with more justices because there's nothing in the law that says you need nine. Yeah. So he can technically do that, or she, whoever ends up being the president after Trump.
Starting point is 00:29:57 You mean Trump? Yeah. Oh, boy. So, I mean, this comes on the heels of the Supreme Court upholding Trump's travel ban, which the minority decision Sotomayor said is put in the same tradition as the Supreme Court decision that upheld internment camps for Japanese people during World War II. Like, that's not some left-wing rag that is making that comparison. That is a Supreme Court justice in the minority decision.
Starting point is 00:30:31 But then to rub her nose in it, they went and reversed that the next day. Right. They said in the majority decision, they were like, and this has nothing to do with that. And in fact, that was a bad decision. We're officially coming out as saying that that's a bad decision. Just in time. Yes.
Starting point is 00:30:48 So I don't know. This is going to be an ongoing story, one of the main ongoing stories for the next couple of months. The Supreme Court also decided today to fuck unions over because they're way too strong in America. today to fuck unions over because they're way too strong in America. So they can no longer compel federal employees to pay dues into unions, which is going to make unions way poorer. So it's an already right-wing Supreme Court. Kennedy has been on the conservative side. He's been on the majority side for these past handful of decisions that have gone conservative. So it's not like he's a reliable liberal vote, but he has been a reliable champion of women's reproductive rights. He has been a champion of gay rights. So those are two incredibly important places where we could see things backslide a little bit
Starting point is 00:31:53 if everything goes according to the horrible fucking plan that the right wing will kind of try to hatch here. So does that mean that I don't have to pay my SAG dues anymore? That's a good question. I think that's what it means. It could be. Or it means that they can't kick me out if I don't pay. I know. Right?
Starting point is 00:32:13 Maybe. We got to get to the bottom of this, Kurt. I am now interested. If Kurt needs to pay his SAG union dues. And if you were pointing out that there was a federal judge in san diego that uh issued uh injunction basically saying that the government needs to reunite families in like 14 days i think yeah in a strongly worded opinion u.s district judge uh dana sabraw wrote facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government's wrote, older children must be united with their parents within 30 days. Within 10 days, federal authorities must allow parents to call their children if they're not already in contact with them, which
Starting point is 00:33:08 also that seems like a problem since they don't know where a lot of the children are. So like, so like that's like putting a bandaid on a gun wound, it seems like. But it is a common sense thing that if it had any teeth would be really good news for, that if it had any teeth would be really good news for you know these families that have been torn apart but uh because it can be appealed and you know like eventually would end up with the supreme court i don't it doesn't really mean anything i feel like yeah no it's it like i'm very cynical after these last two rulings i was like okay, okay, so Supreme Court's going to be trash again. Yeah. Three rulings because there was also them saying that people who are talking to women who come in pregnant don't need to tell them about options that involve abortion.
Starting point is 00:34:03 Yeah. What's interesting, what's interesting is those crisis pregnancy centers are so evil. Like they are set up to make people believe that this is where you go to get an abortion. And they're all always in States that it's like not very, uh, available. And then when you get in there,
Starting point is 00:34:18 they kind of like trick you and don't give you the information that like you, like abortion is legal and you can get one if you wanted one oh yeah right instead they show you like pictures of aborted fetuses and like traumatized teenage girls right show you that photo of the baby's hand reaching out and like holding on to the surgeon's finger that it turns out was completely doctored oh yeah not an accurate thing um so but we did want to kind of dig in a little bit more on the travel ban because it's just fucking all sorts of people's lives up,
Starting point is 00:34:51 particularly people from Iran. And super producer Anna Hosnier has family in Iran, has traveled there in the not-too-distant past. So I wanted to ask you, Anna. I am a success story. You are. Just kidding kidding uh well these articles we were writing were kept being like uh iranian immigrants are like the most successful immigrants in the history of america that are like 10 times more successful have like 10 times the homeowning
Starting point is 00:35:19 wealth and i was like damn i hope my father never hears this. He does not need to hear this. No, it's true. It's because you're, so my parents are from Iran. I'm first generation. I was born and raised in America, luckily. So I am a citizen for now. And it's an interesting thing because they come from Iran, which is, it's a country, a lot of, my parents came before the revolution. So they got to experience Iran in a different light.
Starting point is 00:35:46 And after the revolution happened, they were like, no thanks, never going back there again. But they come here and they work so hard. Like, my parents came to America and, like, learned English from, sorry to say this, watching the Cosby Show. And, I know, very problematic. Let's not get into it. I know. Very problematic. Let's not get into it.
Starting point is 00:36:11 And, you know, they work so hard and they get these like nice jobs and they have this money and they love they have these opulent lifestyles. But it's like they came from, for the most part, nothing. And another thing is Iranian parents are so stern. Like they tell you every day, get your ass up, go to school, get get good grades and if you're not going to do that don't bother coming home so you're like literally like it's broken into you that you have to be successful that's why i can't sit down for five minutes without like feeling my father's weight on me like well i gotta go let me just go plant a garden like i just have to do things because that's how you're raised and it's like in the culture is you you work hard it's just like work ethic is there and uh it's kind of shitty to think that they're not gonna allow all these like like there's a brain drain that they're stopping from
Starting point is 00:36:56 happening from coming into iran like i have cousins in iran who are just like these like young kids and they're being like i'm gonna be a neuroscientist and you're like these like young kids and they're being like, I'm going to be a neuroscientist. And you're like, what? Like, what does that even mean? Like, my uncle owns a school in Tehran and I went and spoke to the students and they all speak English perfectly. They're all like, hey, what's up? How you doing? What's going on? And I was like, oh, okay. Thought no one would speak English here. And I was asking like what everyone wanted to do. And these are like 10 year olds and literally like engineer, scientist, engineer, doctor. i want to be a yeah one of them literally said neuroscientist one of them was quoting robert e lee to me and i was like i don't know what that quote's from and he was like okay like he thought i was the idiot they were like what do you do i was like well did you burn him
Starting point is 00:37:40 by pointing out that robert e lee is a traitor, because I didn't even know the quote he was making. I was like, that one's not clear to me. Honestly, what you have to understand about U.S. history. That's exactly what he was saying to me. And I was like, tight, tight, tight, tight, tight. Okay, anyway, check, please. I was trying to get out of there. But yeah, it's a culture that they love to learn.
Starting point is 00:38:01 And my parents are some of the smartest people. And their english is like like if you spoke to my dad today you would not know he's been here since he was 24 years old like you're like sir do you speak english like but then he's also an engineer and worked on that like was on the board for the bay bridge like my dad helped build that bridge and to me that doesn't make any sense because he's such a goober in my eyes like right if we got him on the phone right now he'd be like whoa but he's one of the smartest dudes i know and like my mom designs cctv my mom designs spyware for this country to spy on us and they want to be like this terrorist like
Starting point is 00:38:36 yeah it's crazy it's really yeah it's going to be keeping people out of the country who are, yeah, exactly. People who like the Uber CEO is Iranian. The founders of eBay are Iranian. My dad loves to bring up eBay. He's like, you'll know eBay. My dad would always talk about Andre Agassi when I was growing up, too. I'd be like, cool. But, I mean, so it's keeping some of the best and brightest in the world from coming to America. It's also forcing people who are in just horrible war-torn countries from getting asylum here or getting out of where they are. A lot of people have, you know, one or two family members already in the U.S. and they're expecting to be able to bring their families here, you know, from Syria, for instance, like, which is just the worst place that you could possibly live right now. And they are now just going to be forced to stay there, like there as the government continues to gas its people. So it's just a really... There
Starting point is 00:39:48 are any number of ways to put a human face on it, but it is families that are being torn apart. And really, if you're just looking at it from a purely abstract political perspective, it's not good for the country in the long run. But here's my question. The idea – the thing that the Supreme Court backed up was the idea that the executive has – is within his power to limit travel based on like security threats. And who – what Iranian is setting off bombs in America? When has there been an Iranian terrorist attack on American soil?
Starting point is 00:40:34 There's never been. That's the interesting thing. So then how can the Supreme Court fucking back it up? I think they don't care for a country that is run by a regime that hates America so much. But those are the people like the good people are trying to get out from underneath the regime yeah i mean really if we wanted a travel ban that worked the way that you're saying where it'll protect us it would be
Starting point is 00:40:55 banning travel to and from hot topics to fuel all these school shooters because because that's been the number one attack that we've been having on American soil this past year. And it has mainly been the Hot Topic year that has killed it. You see the Rick and Morty shirts on them. The Rick and Morty shirts are the real problem. Well, that's the thing also. A lot of it has to do with money. Countries that make money for the U.S. are not on the travel ban.
Starting point is 00:41:22 Saudi Arabia is not on the travel ban. And guess who? Regime. Talk about on the travel ban. Saudi Arabia is not on the travel ban? And guess who? Regime. Talk about an oppressive regime. If you bring money into this country, you're cool. Who did 9-11? They did 9-11, guys. The only plane that was allowed to leave American airspace
Starting point is 00:41:35 after the attacks on 9-11 was a Saudi prince. Yeah. None of the countries that are on the ban list have planned or carried out a terrorist attack in the United States for the past two decades. But yeah, I mean, it's a purely political decision and the minority opinion in the Supreme Court,
Starting point is 00:41:57 one of the minority opinions compared it was like, this history is going to not look on this very kindly and said it's exactly like or you know in the same family as the internment camps the other side was pointing out like how it's not doing what it claimed to do i think i think the majority opinion was like hey it's not none of our business the president can say whatever he wants as as long as it's a security thing, we can't intervene. And the people who were on the minority side of the opinion were like, look, it says that you can appeal to be allowed individuals, which would make sense if it was
Starting point is 00:42:41 really concerned about security, that they would look at families' applications and be like, oh, okay, well, this family clearly is no threat to us and let them through. But I think there's a total of two or three appeals that have actually been let through. So it's not a security thing. It's just purely political. And I mean, there are members of the Supreme Court who pointed that out, uh they're just not getting anywhere i just want to say one last thing our gas is about to be so expensive because iran puts out about 580 million barrels a day so wow we have cut them off uh i mean that's that's it that's what i don't understand is like is it just
Starting point is 00:43:21 is it just that america's dumb do you know what i mean like is it just that that we like we've defunded education for so long that we now have a populist that's so fucking stupid that like this makes sense to them well i just i think it's such a combination of many things i think they're i do think that all of this is reactionary to eight years of Obama. And I think that really woke up the racists. And I think they really came out. And I think just also that with the combination of voter apathy that kind of happened, I think we're just going to see a huge shift in this space of politics. I mean, even with New York, a socialist winning is big.
Starting point is 00:44:05 I mean, even with New York, you know, a socialist winning is big, you know. So I think it was a combination of racism, social, like political apathy, and just I think just no one really kind of paying attention to what's going on. And I do think in a weird way, I think this is going to evolve into just some just dumb way that it's going to like change everything in also a good way after a long it's not going to be quick it's not going to be easy it's probably not even going to be pretty but i think in the end it's going to be good like i can hear just based on what anna just said you know about the gas going up i can hear elon musk's boner from over here like I feel like that's going to just like, we're going to be so busy putting out the fires that Trump are starting that I think we're going to be better for it. And that's just me being a huge optimist.
Starting point is 00:44:55 I hope so. I hope you're right. Because to me, I just worry that we're just... I was in Winnipeg this last weekend. They have this huge human rights museum there. And I went through it and there's a huge floor on the Nazis. And to learn that Adolf Hitler, from being time to be elected to him instituting fascism was three months. So they had a democracy and he, within three months, went from democracy to fascism.
Starting point is 00:45:22 And I was like, that's so fast. That's so fast that I just, I'm scared every day. Yeah. I do think the, you know, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28 year old democratic socialist who just beat like a, a very moderate Democrat in New York, who was like, so part of the, you know, power elite in the Democratic Party that he was expected to take over the Speaker of the House from Nancy Pelosi if, you know, she stepped down when the Democrats take it back, when the Democrats take it back in November. But I really think it is, that's a sign that it was about apathy. was about apathy. Nobody was excited to vote for this guy Crowley, who might as well have been a Hillary Clinton type, whereas Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a Bernie Sanders volunteer who was totally involved in that whole movement. And I think that's going to be important is that, you know, using people's taking people's interest now, like people are worried about politics now. But you have to you can't just be like, OK, well, they're interested in politics now. So we take their vote for granted and come along and vote for whatever Democrat we put in front of you. You have to have ideas and ways of changing things.
Starting point is 00:46:47 you uh you have to have ideas and you know ways of changing things i i also worry about did you hear the last weekend this american life on this guy jeff beal who was running for new york 19 no who was a bernie sanders style uh democrat who to the point where like the dcc like like disavowed him they they didn't like him and um he finished fourth oh did he and it's just like the mainstream main guy Democrat is the one who's going to be it. So it's like, I don't know. It's like I'm very worried still. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:12 But it is very cool that NY14 won. Yeah, because I feel like there's still just a level that we're still going to be fucked by gerrymandering. I feel like that's still a huge element. It makes sense that the Bronx is going to vote for this young up and coming, you know, whereas like if you have a traditionally older Democratic area, they're just going to try and stay the course. And so that's what we're going to go. But I don't there are – right now we know there are two – there is a line in the sand. And I think when it comes down to it, when it comes to the big election where Trump has to go up against someone, I don't think we're going to run into the same issue that we have between Hillary v. Bernie. I think we're really going to be like, all right, let's just get him out and then we'll work from there.
Starting point is 00:48:01 I feel like that's the energy. I hope so. Yeah. Me too. Me too because I felt that was what was going to happen the first time, but you know. All right. We're going to take another quick break and we'll be right back to wrap it up. In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds, In 1982, Atari players had one thing on their minds.
Starting point is 00:48:25 Sword Quest. This wasn't just a new game. Atari promised $150,000 in prizes to four finalists. But the prizes disappeared. And what started as a video game promotion became one of the most controversial moments in 80s pop culture. I just don't believe they exist. My reaction, shock and awe. That sword was amazing. It was so beautiful. I'm Jamie Loftus. Join me this spring for The Legend of
Starting point is 00:48:52 Sword Quest, a podcast about the fall of Atari and the disappearing Sword Quest prizes. We'll follow the quest for lost treasure across four decades. It's almost like a metaphor for the industry and Atari itself in a way. Listen to The Legend of Sword Quest on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.
Starting point is 00:49:38 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.
Starting point is 00:50:03 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
Starting point is 00:50:26 record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours. BPM 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
Starting point is 00:50:44 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 a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams.
Starting point is 00:51:03 Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everyone. It's me, Katie Couric. If you follow me on social media, you know I love to cook or at least try, especially alongside some of my favorite chefs and foodies, like Benny Blanco, Jake Cohen, Lighty Hoyt, Alison Roman, cook or at least try, especially alongside some of my favorite chefs and foodies like Benny Blanco, Jake Cohen, Lighty Hoyt, Alison Roman, and of course, Ina Garten and Martha Stewart.
Starting point is 00:51:32 So I started a free newsletter called Good Taste that comes out every Thursday, and it's serving up recipes that will make your mouth water. Think a candied bacon Bloody Mary, tacos with cabbage slaw, curry cauliflower with almonds and mint, and cherry slab pie with vanilla ice cream to top it all off. I mean, yum. I'm getting hungry. But if you're not sold yet, we also have kitchen tips like a foolproof way to grill the perfect burger and must-have products like the best cast iron skillet to feel like a chef in your own kitchen. All you need to do is sign up at katiecouric.com slash good taste. That's K-A-T-I-E-C-O-U-R-I-C dot com slash good taste. I promise your taste buds will be happy you did.
Starting point is 00:52:24 And we're back. And there's a couple smaller stories joe jackson michael jackson's father has passed away not that many takes on this we'll have to name a new scariest looking man alive uh but yeah uh if you were pointing out that it's good that he lived long enough to see the Teddy Perkins episode of Atlanta. Oh, yeah, to see him honored, you know, now that he's in the big house in the sky chasing Mike under the bed. Jesus Christ. Yeah, you know, bad dad. Bad dad? Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:52:59 Very mean. I like that's my take. Very mean, bad dad. Sad. Sad. Sad. And you also had a Facebook post that you're reading that had everybody intrigued this morning. Okay, yeah. So, yeah, this is a post that someone has been sharing, and it's about this guy who seems like he's an incel.
Starting point is 00:53:23 He seems like there's a lot wrong with him. And the first sentence kind of sets the tone, but it gets worse every paragraph. So I'm just going to read it. I'm going to do a quick live read-in. Okay. Because it's pretty long. And he posted this.
Starting point is 00:53:39 By the way, he posted this. No one is posting this about him. No one posted. This is his choice. He posted this to Facebook. Yes. Got him no one photos this is his choice he posted this to facebook yes got it so here it is i often eat alone at a wendy's that's just down the street from my house a little less than a week ago i noticed that they hired a new employee she's fair-skinned woman who for the sake of not violating a pending order of protection will say she's named michelle oh no yeah i was fond of her from the moment i first saw her i immediately went home and scoured the internet to find out more information about her i figured that this Oh no. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:31 It's so not a shame. I'm not ashamed. All I had to go on was her first name and location, yet thanks to Facebook's ability to search city and state, I was able to find her just after a few hours. Once I did... Not good, Facebook. Not good. Once I did, I realized I hit a gold mine. Her phone number was visible to everyone, not just Facebook friends. Most women are scared to give out their numbers to a stranger because they don't think they're trustworthy. Huh, Wonder why. But if someone asked you out on a date after looking you up and learning your phone number without you having to tell them, you'd likely be far more trusting of that person since they already know your personal info. You'd have nothing to lose.
Starting point is 00:54:59 That was my line of thinking anyway. After obtaining her phone number, I figured I'd try and do something romantic that would build up to me asking her out i decided to use an app that would let me text her without revealing my actual number this app allowed me to change my number at will essentially making it unblockable which i thought was a good idea since she might think it was one of her friends messing with her and block it right away this would grant me the ability to remain a complete enigma to her. Once a day, I told myself. Only text her once a day so it isn't creepy.
Starting point is 00:55:32 This guy fucking rules. Sadly, I was far too excited at the prospect of having my first girlfriend to stick to that. My first text to her was simply... He's so many steps ahead of himself. Oh, man. She's already his girlfriend. Yeah. My first text to her was simply, I saw that picture of your graduation you posted. You're beautiful.
Starting point is 00:55:48 Later that day, while I was sitting in the Wendy's parking lot, I sent her another text that said, I can see you right now. One day you'll see me too. Before I knew it. Oh, no. Before I knew it, I had texted her over 300 times in just a few days. Before I knew it. Yeah. She never once responded to any of them.
Starting point is 00:56:07 Still, not all messages contained text. Some were just pictures of her that I took while she was at work to let her know I was actually there. Some of you may have noticed that I wasn't online at all yesterday. There's good reason for that. Yesterday was the day that I met her in person and tried to ask her out. It didn't go as planned. I walked up to Michelle while she was at the counter and told her that i'm her admirer her cheerful expression changed
Starting point is 00:56:29 as she suddenly started shouting this is the guy marco this is the guy marco is her manager he jumped from behind the counter and grabbed me while instructing her to call the police i bit his arm hard enough to draw blood but he did not release me until the police were live the police said that the detainment was lawful which meant i was to be charged with battery for biting the manager in addition to stalking this amounts to almost 500 in fines thankfully father told me he'd take care of it since i'm currently unemployed father father this is fiction i call it father. That detail's too good. Father, it's fiction. There's too much psycho in it. Push me, father.
Starting point is 00:57:12 You pushed it one step too far for me. The police also told me that since she's filing for an order of protection, so I can't return to that specific Wendy's. Father told me to keep my chin up and to remember that some women just aren't worth it. He said that if she thinks having a guy flatter her and thinks about her all the time is something to call the police over, then she must be one of those nutty feminists. After spending some time thinking about it, I realized that he's right. Sometimes you just have to remind yourself that it's not you, it's them.
Starting point is 00:57:43 Yeah, no, this feels, that ending was just too... Took it too far. Otherwise, I would have been like not sure. Do you know what I mean? I still would have thought it was fiction. How many friends? Let's see. He's followed by seven.
Starting point is 00:57:59 Wow, he is updating quite a bit. It seems pretty regular, but I don't know. The case is still out. As a matter of fact, Zeitgang, tell us what you think. Do you think this is a real person? Do you think this is a troll account for lulz? The father thing is almost too much, but I can see, like, just based on having listened to or watched a lot of those Elliot Rogers videos,
Starting point is 00:58:28 the dude who ended up being a mass shooter who shot women for not having sex with him at UC Santa Barbara. And that is the exact tone. Really? Just completely deranged. No, I like just only views women as, you know, objects who are obligated to have sex with him at some point if he puts in enough effort. But he never called his dad father. Yeah. I don't know why that's the worst part of it, but it does seem like it's the furthest into just.
Starting point is 00:59:04 Yeah. I mean, I do make my daughter call me father. Of course. A father. A father. Oh, shit. That's terrifying. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:18 Hopefully it's not true. But yeah, people, let us know what you think. If anybody has any inside tips or if you're like, oh, yeah, that's my cousin. Yes. Let us know. We have time for a brief World Cup date. Yeah, there it is. Nice. It's time for your World Cup date, folks.
Starting point is 00:59:44 Germany has been bounced. Argentina. So yeah, apparently this happens a lot. The defending champ just comes in and shits the whole house. And this time is no different. If he has somebody who pays more attention to this than I do, why do you think that is? Is it just they get too confident?
Starting point is 01:00:06 I think so. And I think there's just four years of like, these guys go back to their leagues in play. So I feel like, you know, no, like any other sport, like, you know, Tom Brady in four years, LeBron in four years, you either get better or you get older and worse. And I feel like the four year gap between cups can really wear down on the individual players. Right. And when they come back, they just don't show up. Also, I imagine that these guys, I'm sure they're practicing from time to time,
Starting point is 01:00:35 but you're on different teams using different strats. I can't imagine you being able to assemble like Voltron and just work. Huh. Yeah, that's interesting. Those are my two theories. Who did they lose to? They lost today to South Korea Voltron and just work. Huh? Yeah, that's interesting. Those are my two theories. Who did they lose to? They lost today to South Korea. Shout out South Korea.
Starting point is 01:00:50 Every time I see a post about World Cup, I assume that was the end of it. No. I was like, oh, look, it's the World Cup. It just happened. I missed it. Oh, man. When is the final game?
Starting point is 01:01:02 There are 16 teams left now. That's when you were like, in this group, there's a bunch. And I was like, oh, maybe it's really the beginning. Yeah. You are still. I think they are basically final. Argentina. Boo.
Starting point is 01:01:18 Everybody was. Scumbags. Just talking shit about. These ne'er-do-wells. These scumbags. Going to beat the loyal, great team of Nigeria. Yeah, Nigeria is out. Argentina is in after making a huge comeback.
Starting point is 01:01:33 They lost their first game, I think, 3-0, and ended up winning the last one 2-1. And based on the bizarre rules of FIFA and international soccer, they made it and Nigeria did not. Made me sick to my stomach. Yeah, Nigeria was a pretty cool team that had awesome uniforms. Yeah. All right.
Starting point is 01:01:56 Now, Ify, I wanted to – anything else from the World Cup? Kurt, you clearly are – I got a lot of good stuff to say about it. I mean, the only thing I really have to say about the World Cup is it's so fun watching just how the World Cup in America is being treated now that America isn't in it. Like, it's like, oh, who gives a shit? Oh, you care about some kicking around some black and white ball?
Starting point is 01:02:21 Whatever, we're over here talking baseball, you know? Right. Because World Cup is when everyone in America pretends to care about soccer as America goes through. But now, since America didn't make it, everyone just, it's almost like it's not even going on. Yeah. Although, I'm more interested in it this time
Starting point is 01:02:40 than I have been in the past. I enjoy watching soccer more than any sport. Yeah. You're just not a sport guy? Because it's just a, yeah, I'm not a sport guy, but it's constant action. Oh, yeah. Every other game on television is boring. Like, soccer just always moving.
Starting point is 01:02:55 I like it. Yeah. I don't know anything about it, but. Yeah. Can you explain Fortnite and PUBG to us? Because this is, like, the thing that I feel like, as the host of a podcast that's supposed to be tracking the zeitgeist i feel like i am falling down on the job when it
Starting point is 01:03:10 comes to fortnight and pub g this is like uh everybody below the age of 20 this is how they communicate to one another they just like haven't seen relatives in years unless they're playing them on fortnight uh what's going on well basically hunger games and uh battle royale were correct in the future our kids would be obsessed with competing to be the last man standing on an island uh because yeah so that's basically the concept of fortnight and pub g is a hundred players drop in on an item you have to search for weapons and armor and the last man standing wins uh to give you a quick history it all kind of started it's heavily some people will say it started with uh minecraft hunger games that's bullshit and fuck you if you
Starting point is 01:03:50 believe that um it all kind of started with an arma mod that was like basically battle royale and then eventually the guy who created that mod went on to help create this game called h1z1 um which was uh king of the kill which was a last man standing then eventually he jumped from that and created his own game player unknown battlegrounds so that's all all the while while this going on epic's been developing this game called fortnight which was actually a kind of uh almost like tower defense uh game where you kind of build your base up and protect it against a horde of zombies and then for shits and giggles they're like let's do a fun battle royale game
Starting point is 01:04:29 mode just since it seems like all the kids are into that they blow up and they become like one of the biggest competitors to PUBG and literally right now they're kind of two factions currently I think PUBG just recently did an update that kind of made the game smoother that I think it's going to start bouncing out. But Fortnite has had the lead for so long. So then you enter Twitch where there are a lot of streamers playing the game. And Ninja became one of the most popular streamers. And all these subscribers are like 14 years old? No, some are adults.
Starting point is 01:05:01 Some are adults. Some are me. So you're a Twitch subscriber to this guy. Yeah, I'm a Twitch. No, I'm not to Ninja. I'm a Twitch streamer. Okay. But I live on that platform as well.
Starting point is 01:05:12 But yeah, so it's kind of been these two Battle Royale style games, but they have two very different components. PUBG is more tactical, more realistic. It has a more realistic look to it. And Fortnite is more cartooony and you can build stuff because they took the build aspect from their uh save the world part of the game and you can actually build a base while fighting and that's the new tactic is you try and build to get the high ground over the players and shoot down at them so fortnite is like almost has a nintendo feel to it it's like sort of like cartoon characters. Oh, yeah. Like doing with like fun weapons as opposed to like realistic war weapons.
Starting point is 01:05:49 Oh, yeah. And what is the platform that you play it on? PC and Fortnite currently is on PC, Xbox, PS4 and Switch. PUBG is currently on Xbox and PC. Okay. Got it. And so you're in a tournament coming up, right? Yeah, I'm doing the twitch rivals tournament this thursday uh so i'm playing against you saw me watching him earlier
Starting point is 01:06:10 this guy's shroud is insane and he's in the tournament i was hoping that for some reason he wouldn't be in it but he's probably he's the favorite uh guy i'm a nobody on twitch so i am the biggest underdog but i'm hoping to come through like the Celtics, you know, where people are like, oh, that's somebody to look out for. Right. Yeah. Come with the Brad Stevens. Yeah. Cool, man. So now do people who are going to watch that, are they people who were playing and then got kicked out and then watch it? Or is it just other people who are like, I'm going to watch this?
Starting point is 01:06:42 There are people who watch people who are good. so twitch as a platform is where you go to watch people who are either entertaining or very good at the game those are pretty much your two i'm on the more entertaining side so just making jokes while you play essentially okay and then so guys like shroud and ninja people watch them because they're so good and just like any other sport you're watching them so you can be better at it too. So you're going to have a whole bunch of people watching because they're going to be trying to see guys like Dr. Disrespect, Shroud. And a few of my guys will be in there cheering me on and hopefully the brand will get stronger and I'll get some of these guys on my side. Now are there like huge Fortnite or PUBG fans who have never played the game, do you think? I feel like some people in my chat, because they're like, I watch you play it, but I do not care to play this at all.
Starting point is 01:07:31 It's just purely a spectator sport for them. Interesting. And I feel like that's where there's strength to it, because I think it's easy to follow. I think anybody can sit down and watch, like, Carl Tart, TV's Carl Tart. Yeah, who's your roommate. Yeah. He never plays it, but he can't help but stop and watch me play because i think the concept is so simple it's like oh you're just
Starting point is 01:07:50 trying to survive right if you you're trying to be the last man standing so you can just watch someone and you get what's going on as opposed to something like dota or league of legends where it's like you're taking down towers and then you're pushing and then you're ganking then you're going to jungle you're like what are all these words you just said right where the concept of battle royale i think everyone's seen hunger games oh yeah all this all us weebs have seen battle royale you know yeah all right well kurt it has been a pleasure having you here thank you for having me guys uh where can people find you follow you uh enjoy you uh My last name is difficult to spell, so you can just Google Kurt Comedy,
Starting point is 01:08:29 and I will be the first hit. All right. And that's Kurt with a K. That's correct. And we usually ask our guests if there's a tweet that they want to share at this point, not necessarily from themselves, but just anybody that you like.
Starting point is 01:08:43 Oh, wow. I missed this part. Nope, I don't have one. I don't have one. I think everything is political at this point. Yeah, I know, right? There's no more fun on Twitter. It used to be fun.
Starting point is 01:09:02 It is no longer fun. But I would love to plug the fact that I'm going to be in Flagstaff, Tempe, and Tucson at the end of July. All right. Ooh, it should be fun and hot. Uh-huh. Flagstaff won't be. Too bad. But, yeah, Tempe and Tucson will be.
Starting point is 01:09:16 So come on out. Ify, it's been a pleasure having you as a co-host today. Oh, man. Where can people find you and follow you? having you as a co-host today oh man uh where can people find you and follow you uh you know you can find me uh at if you wadiway ify nwa diwe on twitter and instagram if d's on twitch a lot of the zeit gang has been coming through some people who just only stopped by to give me their twitch prime sub which i'm totally down for thank you everyone who did that remember you get a free sub if you have amazon prime and you connect it to your twitch account you can give did that remember you get a free sub if you have amazon prime and you
Starting point is 01:09:45 connect it to your twitch account you can give me that free twitch prime sub you're gonna have to do it once a month though so don't forget uh as for comedy uh all my people in new york uh white women me and carl uh are gonna be in new york this weekend for the del close marathon i will also be doing stand-up at triple Crown on Saturday at 6 p.m. And, you know, also on the 12th of July, I'll have a show at Dynasty Typewriter. It's going to be called Afrofunk. It's a dope lineup. We're going to have Dulce Sloan, Byron Bowers, tons of black comedy for you to just drip in.
Starting point is 01:10:24 It's like Black Panther the movie, except comedy. All right. And do you have a tweet that you'd like to share with the audience? Oh, yeah. I guess just to keep it in the fam of what we were talking about, I took Trump's tweet. So, you know,
Starting point is 01:10:35 we all heard how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won New York. Donald Trump tweeted out, Wow, big Trump hater, Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi's place, just all caps, lost his primary election. In other words, tweeted out wow big trump hater congressman joe crowley who many expected was going to take nancy pelosi's place just all caps lost his primary election in other words he's out this is the
Starting point is 01:10:51 big one nobody saw happening perhaps he should have been nicer and more respectful to his president and so i just retweeted that and went so who's gonna tell him that someone much worse uh bigger enemy than jo Joe Crowley is just one you do. Yeah, no, but that, I think that's what this was a referendum on, you know,
Starting point is 01:11:10 all those Bronx socialists were like, he should have been nicer to president Trump. I think so. You can follow me at Jack underscore O'Brien on Twitter. I'm going to share two tweets with you guys. One from a former guest, Jake Weissman, just pretended to like jazz to impress someone I'll never see again.
Starting point is 01:11:30 I just deeply identified with that. And then at the hubris guy, so Jack Prosobayek or whatever the fuck that asshole's name is, in the aftermath of the civility wars, that asshole's name is, in the aftermath of the civility wars, he wanted to make a point about how the right wing is being persecuted. He wrote, have they erected Republican drinking fountains yet? And the hubris guy retweeted that and said, yeah,
Starting point is 01:12:04 one got erected just the other day. It's called my dick. I thought that was the right answer to that. So well done, the hubris guy. You can follow us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist. We're on Instagram at The Daily Zeitgeist. We have a Facebook fan page and a website, DailyZeitgeist.com, where we post our episodes and our footnotes. Footnotes. Footnotes. Where we link off to the information that we talked about
Starting point is 01:12:28 in today's episode, as well as the song that we ride out on. And super producer Anna Hosnier has been bringing it, as far as musical recommendations go. And I think she's going to continue doing that. I have nothing. Just kidding.
Starting point is 01:12:43 I love women. Big woman. Just kidding. I love women. Big woman. Love her. Yeah. The band, right? The band women that is mostly white men? No.
Starting point is 01:12:52 Yeah, I'm a big fan of them. Today I'm going to recommend Stars by Connie Constance. She's this great artist out of England. She's just, I love her voice. She's like,
Starting point is 01:13:03 bringing soul back in the best way, baby. You know what I mean? And she describes this song that it's about escapism. So I think we all need a little escapism during these great times in America. So enjoy that. It's Stars by Connie Constance. All right.
Starting point is 01:13:21 We're going to ride out on that. We will be back tomorrow because it is a daily podcast. Talk to you guys then. Bye. Bye. Bye. Taking a walk in the park It's late so it's dark Flicking but there ain't no spark Fire is my only gun
Starting point is 01:13:53 Dancing to the beat of my heart Up to my knees in grass Sticks and stones can't leave scars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars
Starting point is 01:14:21 Looking for a clearer path Mouth wide open cause I'm tired of the past Wanna leave Earth and burn to live on Mars Build a UFO that's false to the new mom's car Stick out my tongue to the brain Clear my face from the cave Running, running circles insane Life is but a child's game
Starting point is 01:14:47 Dancing to the beat of my heart Up to my knees in bars Sticks and stones caught in the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars When I'm under the stars Looking for a clearer path Mouth wide open cause I'm tired of the past
Starting point is 01:15:33 Wanna leave up and learn to live on Mars Build a UFO that's faster than your mum's car Trying to grab a shooting star Put it in my pocket, take it home to my jar Bye. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years.
Starting point is 01:16:28 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. What was that? That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. Can Kay trust her sister? Or is history repeating itself? There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams.
Starting point is 01:16:45 Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In California during the summer of 1975, within the span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women did something no other woman had done before, try to assassinate the president of the United States. One was the protege of Charles Manson, 26-year-old Lynette Fromm, nickname Squeaky. The other, a middle-aged housewife working undercover for the FBI, identified by police as Sarah Jean Moore. The story of one strange and violent summer, this season on the new podcast, Rip Current. Hear episodes of Rip Current early and completely ad-free and receive exclusive bonus content by subscribing to iHeart True Crime Plus only on Apple Podcasts.
Starting point is 01:17:33 There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on? I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite.
Starting point is 01:18:18 For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church. Voila! You got straightway. They try to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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