The Daily Zeitgeist - Talking Aliens With An Astrophysicist, Front Door Nudity With a Delivery Driver 06.06.23

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

In episode 1496, Jack and Miles are joined by theoretical physicist, Avi Loeb, to discuss Aliens/UAPs..., A Cocaine Bald Eagle Story, Zeitgang Listener Interview and more! LISTEN: DO 4 LOVE (Black Cof...fee Remix) by Snoh AalegraSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just
Starting point is 00:00:39 starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.
Starting point is 00:01:04 Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeart on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you
Starting point is 00:01:25 get your podcast presented by capital one founding partner of iheart women's sports hello the internet and welcome to season 290 episode one of the daily production of iheart radio this is a podcast where we take a deep dive into America's shared consciousness. And it is Tuesday, June 6th, 2023. Oh, yeah. My name is Jack O'Brien. Wait. I'm thrilled to be joined. Let's gloss over the day, Jack.
Starting point is 00:01:53 Yeah. Oh, shit. Come on now. It's National Yo-Yo Day. You freak. It's National Eyewear Day. It's World Pest Day. It's D-Day.
Starting point is 00:02:03 Quite literally, June 6th, 1944. I'll land in Normandy. National Gardening Exercise Day. It's D-Day, quite literally, June 6, 1944, landing in Normandy. National Gardening Exercise Day. I don't know what that is. National Applesauce Cake Day and National Driving Movie Day. Applesauce Cake. Eyewear Day on the day after,
Starting point is 00:02:17 or is it the day that Apple introduces their big opaque eyewear? It just happened. Yeah. May have just happened. My name's Jack O'Brien, a.k.a. Potatoes O'Brien and I'm thrilled to be joined as always by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray! It's Miles Gray,
Starting point is 00:02:34 a.k.a. Miles Morales, but the older, blazing one who's in his middle age. Just saw the Spider-Man movie this weekend. Fantastic. Yeah, yeah. Alright, Miles. We did it. We broke the damn format. For the first time in the history of the show,
Starting point is 00:02:50 we are doing a new publication schedule. You are listening to the first full episode of the week on Tuesday. We've scaled back to a mere eight episodes this week. A meager eight episodes. We've scaled back to a meager eight episodes and we're trying some new episode formats
Starting point is 00:03:08 and this is one of them. We're going to talk to some listeners today. We're going to talk to an astrophysicist. In that order. We're going to talk to We're going from high to low. That's right. Exactly. Yeah. So basically
Starting point is 00:03:24 the idea is we spent 1,500-ish episodes talking to comedians. Is it really 15 and that long? I think it's been that long. It's been a lot. But we've been talking to all. I'm sorry. Is it weird to you that it disturbs? I find it weird that it's kind of disturbing that we've done that many episodes.
Starting point is 00:03:45 I'm like, and Jack, we've done so many. I'm like, what? I feel like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill when she's looking at the lines on her hands to figure out how long she's been in a coma. Right. Seven years. Yeah. And I also find it disturbing how hard it is for me to do this other format. My brain is revolting.
Starting point is 00:04:04 Yo. I'm like, where's the comedy guest sight gang let me tell y'all what this is like every human being when you get used to doing things a certain way it's a very very hard to do something new and like the whole time i was like but this is what is this do i know how to talk on a microphone if i'm not yelling footnotes in the same way every day but yes it's working out it's working it is and big shout out to super producer justin super producer brian all the supers producers it's a it's a little bit of a heavier lift and we're still figuring it out as we go but we're very excited about the two conversations we had for this
Starting point is 00:04:44 episode yesterday was kind of more of a trending episode catch up on all the stuff we missed over but we're very excited about the two conversations we had for this episode. Yesterday was kind of more of a trending episode, catch up on all the stuff we missed over the weekend. And this episode, we're talking to different people, people who aren't the normal comedians or guests that we normally speak to. Exactly, other podcasters. Other podcasters. Other podcasters. So we're doing kind of a mixed expert and
Starting point is 00:05:07 mailbag episode in this first episode to kind of give you guys an idea of the different directions that these episodes can take. So with that in mind, we are going to give you a sample of, we asked you guys, hey, what's something interesting
Starting point is 00:05:24 about your job? What's something you learn in your job with something people don't understand about your job what you know just craziest thing you ever saw and you guys did not disappoint we got some amazing answers and so we're going to be sharing those with you and having a few of you on in the coming weeks but i do we we got one answer that we just have to have to share with people yeah up top yeah so we said a message hit us up on discord on instagram wherever wherever we're at at us dm us whatever but tell us some wild things about your work and i'm just gonna this story this is like one of the first messages i got on discord this is from we'll just call this person and it was
Starting point is 00:06:06 just saying i i would like to stay anonymous uh oh wait so maybe i shouldn't use your name but we'll just call this person the doctor and said i'm just gonna read their their their dm and said i'm in a pretty niche field so i'm a veterinary pathologist basically means i did extra board certification after vet school veterinary pathologist equals autopsies on animals to figure out why the animal died and biopsies to diagnose your dog's cancer and such etc so it's ventura pet detective right uh so for simplicity's sake simplicity's stake actually for simplicity's sake yes i guess csi slash medical mysteries for animals but wait wait i get even more niche i I specifically subspecialize in wildlife veterinary pathology. Gnarly stuff, but I'm interested in conservation and emerging infectious diseases.
Starting point is 00:06:51 So somehow I want to try to make a difference in the world this way. A voice for the voiceless and such. Anyways, weirdest case. Because again, we're saying what's the weirdest or wildest thing that's happened? So this veterinary pathologist says, weirdest case during my residency came at the wildlife diagnostic center I was at. I get three bald eagles delivered to me in trash bags, found at a landfill.
Starting point is 00:07:12 I opened the first bag and poof, cloud of white smoke billows into my face. Couldn't help but sniff a bit more. All three eagles were covered in this white powder that kind of smelled chemically to me, almost like pool cleaner. I'm taking really good whiffs of this stuff. Can't stop myself. were covered in this white powder that kind of smelled chemically to me, almost like pool cleaner. I'm taking really good whiffs of this stuff. Can't stop myself. No other interesting findings for any of the three eagles in terms of cause of death, but we always look at the organs
Starting point is 00:07:34 microscopically too. I'm totally vibing out while performing autopsies on these birds. I have some music playing. It's a Friday afternoon and things are great. If anything, I'm wired. I thankfully thought ahead and collected some vials of the white powder to submit for toxicology testing. I was super productive and necropsied like five other animals that afternoon. Three weeks later, we get the tox reports back. Cocaine. I'm kind of a dweeb in terms of anything beyond weed. So my first and only time doing cocaine has been off of dead bald eagles you could say merica um changes what changes that i signed microscopically in these
Starting point is 00:08:10 three eagles were non-specific but technically could be attributed to a cocaine overdose i guess someone had a hideout spot in the landfill and some poor eagles weren't there for a long time but a good time r.i.p so shout out to that was that was one of the first things we read being like this what i don't have any stories like this yes yes please more of that daddy that was so good bald eagles coked like cocaine covered bald eagles and trash bags like i i never even thought of that as like a like a i feel like an ai couldn't have even like generated such a visual than this first story so and people are hiding cocaine in landfills they're like burying their cocaine in landfills the former interesting
Starting point is 00:08:58 to me the former street chemist in me is like what are you not what maybe they accidentally threw away a bunch of cocaine i wonder if it's like cocaine bear like cocaine eagle like right maybe like yeah maybe someone threw a fucking bailout and like you hit a nest or some shit i don't know i don't know but anyway those are the kinds of stories that we have been getting and we want to continue to get from you all so please keep writing in uh because as we go these, we're like, oh, yes, yes, yes. We're going to talk to this person because, yeah, you all do
Starting point is 00:09:29 such fascinating things. And all I do is sit down and smoke weed and talk to a microphone. So an incredibly high bar set from that person, literally figuratively amazing work. So we're going to take a quick break.
Starting point is 00:09:41 And when we come back, we're going to actually call all a listen on all on the phone on the on the telephone yeah who sent in you know let us know some interesting things about their job as a pizza delivery man that we we had some follow-up questions for for their description of what was happening when they're delivering pizzas. So we are going to be right back and we will talk to Hugo Bosque on the Discord. We'll be right back. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk
Starting point is 00:10:23 Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it? Like you miss 100% of the shots you never take?
Starting point is 00:11:02 Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films
Starting point is 00:11:41 and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling first-hand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:12:21 I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports where we live at the intersection of sports and culture up first I explore the making of a rivalry Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese I know I'll go down in history people are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game every great player needs a foil I ain't really near them boys I just come here to play basketball every single day and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained?
Starting point is 00:13:04 This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Hello? Hugo! Hugo Bosque.
Starting point is 00:13:35 Hey, what up, gentlemen? As we live and breathe. Sorry, I'm just going to do this like I do every phone call in a professional setting and open it up with. Oh, man. So we're here with Hugo Bosque. From the Discord. From the Discord. Also, I'm guess like I've said before, I think when we referenced your name from a that you're referencing the bounty hunter, correct? I am.
Starting point is 00:13:57 Yeah. Yeah. Jack, you know all about Bosque, correct? I mean, I wouldn't call myself a Bosque expert, but I definitely am a Star Wars fan, for sure. I'm sorry, I was shaming our other Star Wars expert, Jack, just now, asking if he knew all about it.
Starting point is 00:14:14 I'm just learning. I'm going through a crash course, but your name, when you did an AKA, actually brought up my lack of knowledge of Star Wars and how I'm cramming to try to just keep up like my my uh lack of knowledge of star wars and and how i'm cramming to try to just keep up in my damn household people don't know what a trend ocean is jack that's the thing they look like the little lizard headed people anyway all that to say
Starting point is 00:14:38 here we are our first zeit gang and like worker interview What are we even calling this, Jack? Yeah, worker interview Zeitgang. I think those words in some order. W-I-Z. Here to take a whiz, y'all. Yeah. And we had some people who worked for CERN. We're going to keep doing this segment. We had some people who do all sorts really like highbrow, crazy stuff.
Starting point is 00:15:07 But as it is, when I'm making my decision of where to order pizza, we got to go Domino's. You know, it doesn't matter what's on offer elsewhere. We got to go Domino's first. But no, Hugo, you wrote in and basically said that being a Domino's pizza delivery driver is a fascinating angle to view the world from. And I'm just curious to hear more about that. What are some things that you are seeing as a pizza delivery guy? I mean, I think the most interesting thing about it is that you kind of get to experience almost every day, sort of every level of American society in terms of class, in terms of workplace, in terms of age demographic. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:53 I mean, I feel like there are a lot of jobs, and I've had many of them, where you sit behind a desk all day or you stand behind a counter all day and you just interact with the people in front of you or around you. You stand behind a counter all day and you just interact with the people in front of you or around you. And this job is it's fascinating in that, you know, you interact with every level of the economic stratum from people living on the street or in RVs all the way up to people living in multimillion dollar mansions and every point in between. Yeah. Like, like, do do people in mansions, do their houses smell like shit you know what i mean like one of the things i was very surprised by in the course of this job uh because you know when you when you are right at people's front doors you get to see into at least the open area of a lot of people's homes right right and uh one of the things i was genuinely most surprised by was that very wealthy people are just as filthy as everyone else.
Starting point is 00:16:49 OK. Or at least in like the same proportion of like people who like don't take care of their homes versus people who do. Oh, right. Because in your mind, you're like this person who surely has this like this gigantic home must take pride in keeping it completely clean. Right. I would think if nothing, they could at least afford to pay somebody to come around and take care of it. But I regularly deliver to multiple multi-million dollar homes that are just absolute spies. I don't know if they're hoarders or if they just have just been setting stuff down since they moved in there
Starting point is 00:17:26 and never picked up anything since right it's too big the house is too big they've got too much shit they can't pick it all up yeah i think they probably do hire people to pick it up and it's just so like they're worse somehow that's that's really incredible yeah they just go right back to it yeah especially with the the way in which in which houses are sort of the closest thing that most people have to a way to retire in this country in terms of home ownership being the one asset that you're supposed to take really good care of so that eventually when you retire, you can sell it off. I don't know if there's some sort of disconnect where they have so much wealth that they just don't have to think about it that way. Right. I feel like wealth, like probably there's some shared mental thing with accumulating wealth and being a hoarder, right? Like you're accumulating an illogical, irrational, immoral amount of wealth.
Starting point is 00:18:21 Maybe you're doing the same thing with objects. No, Jack, some of these people are just unburdening themselves that's right you just have to what other stuff like what what other things do you see like what's the like what's the wild shit that you see because i know obviously on top of again like starting from a very foundational level you're like you kind of see it all like doing doing what i do but what are the parts that i think you know like in my mind, the concept of like a pizza delivery person, I'm like, it's either starting off a porno
Starting point is 00:18:50 or they witness like a robbery or something, things like that. Do you find yourself in situations like that? Or is that mostly the movie Hollywood brain? I mean, I've definitely seen some strange stuff out there and also just people acting in uh extreme ways let's say uh there are definitely some people who really don't take it well when you won't give them the uh the thing that they want that you can't actually make
Starting point is 00:19:17 right like i i feel like i see this all the time like i, I feel like people just since, you know, 2020 and like all the lockdowns are becoming more just rude to anyone, any service capacity or like retail capacity. I'm, I'm guessing it's no, it's probably no different. Like, does that bleed into even when you deliver? Like,
Starting point is 00:19:37 I feel like when someone brings the pizza, you're like, yeah, the pizza. And are, do you also get other people like, like what the fuck? Yeah, I will say there is definitely a different like a very marked difference between people who come to pick
Starting point is 00:19:49 up carry out versus people that you deliver to generally speaking i've been delivering for like seven years now because the the money is shockingly good for how easy of a job that it is when you go to people's doors yeah uh i think I've only ever had once had somebody who was upset when I got there, and it was because we were insanely busy, and I was two and a half hours late with their food, which that is pretty reasonable to be upset about. That's got to be tough. But what did the tracker tell
Starting point is 00:20:15 them? Well, okay, just to roll in on a little secret with the Domino's tracker, it doesn't actually track anything. It's just a timer. We heard that, and I didn't want to believe it. And the whole podcast has actually been building to this moment where
Starting point is 00:20:31 we could actually confirm this reveal. And I don't know what to do with myself at this point. So are the names random? Are the names at least true? Is Brian putting my pizza in the oven? They do use the real names,
Starting point is 00:20:50 although it is like they are somewhat randomly assigning the, like who is actually putting your pizza in the oven. It might not be who's actually putting your pizza in the oven and all that. Right. How many people like answer the door butt naked? Yeah. So that was actually one of the things that I was genuinely shocked by with this job is the number of genitals that you end up seeing.
Starting point is 00:21:12 Like for real? For real? Yeah, mostly dicks. What? I know. I know that's a shock. Now I've heard everything. Yeah, you wrote in your thing, like, I've seen more dicks than you'd expect. And I assumed you meant people acting like dicks, not like penis dicks. It's actual penis dicks you're seeing.
Starting point is 00:21:36 Yeah. I mean, I just, between when we did the little pre-interview and now, I had another incident, although it was a woman this time. Wow. But just somebody coming to the door and wearing a t-shirt and nothing else, and the t-shirt wasn't long enough. Right. So, how frequent, just real quick, like, how frequently is that happening? I mean, I've been doing this for about seven years now. I would say that I've had it happen at this point about two dozen times.
Starting point is 00:22:07 So maybe like two to three times a year. Damn. So once every few months. Is it always on some like predatory shit? Like are people just trying to like flash you like that? Or are some people completely like out of sorts and like, oh shit, I got low. I have some theories about this. Part of it I do think is that I live in a place where weed is legal and you know we we like to we like to blaze up
Starting point is 00:22:32 sure and i think a lot of people are as part of their like day off ritual you know they blaze up they maybe grab a shower and order a pizza they throw on a shirt and then they come to the door just like so blazed up that they're not thinking about. Oh, so like you're looking at people like with eyes redder than the state of Arkansas. Oh yeah, people with eyes red like stop signs.
Starting point is 00:22:54 Got it. Because part of me is like, that sucks like if you're just also having to contend with just like fucking perverts who are like, yeah, thanks for the pizza, man. They're like, fuck. I mean, yeah, thanks for the pizza, man. They're like, I mean, I will say there, the very first time it happened,
Starting point is 00:23:08 it was a dude who just came to the door, just fully nude. Yeah. And in fairness to him, I mean, dude had a hammer. Like I also would not ever wear pants if I was packing with that guy was packing.
Starting point is 00:23:20 Like it was, it was out of control. I thought you meant he was wielding a hammer. In all fairness, he did seem unhinged with a hammer so i just kept him moving yeah yeah somebody shows up at the door naked with a hammer i'm not going to complete that friend yeah right right right um but they don't so they there's not a moment where they're like oh my god i'm so sorry and like run and put because that's the thing like i've had like stress dreams you know the famous stress dream of like now you realize you're not wearing pants like a speech or something like it seems like the sort of thing that could happen to someone as like in a quick moment of
Starting point is 00:23:57 like not you know being fully aware but the second you see the person it feels like you would immediately but but you're saying they complete the whole transaction just poo bearing it just But the second you see the person, it feels like you would immediately. But you're saying they complete the whole transaction just poo bearing it. Just Donald Duck. Yeah, just Donald Duck. And yeah, I think it's a combination of like, it's people who literally aren't aware of the fact they're, you know, showing junk. of the fact they're showing junk. And people who I think maybe in a prior era would have been exhibitionists or flashers.
Starting point is 00:24:32 But as our culture has become more automated and less, there are fewer third spaces in which to expose yourselves to people. This is proof we need community. Yeah, I mean, I hate to say it, but in a weird way, I really do think that it is. And so because we have so much more,
Starting point is 00:24:55 like so many more services where people are coming right to your door, the opportunity space for people to engage in that kind of, I don't know if you would call it a fetish or just a sex crime but i think that a lot of it is transferred to the the door people of the world you know delivery guys like me or like your amazon guy or what have you right or your uber eats you know the guys dropping off your starbucks yeah however However they self-identify. In every context, I'm always amazed by that,
Starting point is 00:25:27 like how many people have that impulse to show everybody their dick. Like when Chat Roulette came online, and like that was just all anybody was using it for. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, it is a crime. Like the shit I obviously shouldn't be doing. Unless you showed up to the dick show. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:47 Yeah. I don't think, uh, yeah, I don't think that's a consent thing. Yeah. And I mean, I,
Starting point is 00:25:51 I always think too about, uh, I mean, you know, we, we have female drivers and I always wonder, I, at least I've never heard from them that they're doing this.
Starting point is 00:25:59 So to an extent, I almost wonder if the fact that they have like the tracker and they can see whose name it is. Right. Det is determines whether they're doing that. This could all just be a Hitchcockian plot to drive me mad. I've considered that. But who would be behind such a thing? Yeah, it does seem to happen enough that I'm like, something's up here, right? This must happen to other people.
Starting point is 00:26:24 Right, right. It can't just be me what's i mean what tell me like just sort of from you know from doing this job what is like kind of what what what's the shit that irks you the most about the work or about the what it means to you know do the work you do whether that's in the context of what like people who are interacting with you don't understand or even like the you know the fucking business owners of you know do the work you do whether that's in the context of what like people who are interacting with you don't understand or even like the you know the fucking business owners of you know franchise don't even understand uh well part of it is that the franchisees are um extremely cheap extremely right-wing people and they don't believe in uh like updating or replacing equipment and other necessary tools in a timely manner.
Starting point is 00:27:08 It's always pulling teeth to get the things out of them that you need from them, sometimes months. What are those kinds of tools? Even just basic stuff like uniforms and replacement kitchen tool stuff.
Starting point is 00:27:24 Getting things fixed. Right. Wow. Just, just the most base up that you would think would be like part of being a responsible business owner. Right. I mean,
Starting point is 00:27:33 these are people who just like, they, they live in a, like a compound way, way outside of the city, you know, and just like siphoning money from this. Right.
Starting point is 00:27:40 And then they just have the managers that they send around to, you know, make sure everything is basically running and, uh, collect the checks, so to speak. Right. And then they just have the managers that they send around to, you know, make sure everything is basically running and collect the checks, so to speak. Right. And I suspect that this level of gentry, for lack of a better term, that every like major city and town is full of these kind of people. Or rather, its power structure is full of these kind of people. Right. Sure. people or rather is his power structure is full of these kind of people right sure people are just like oh this is just passive money i just get to sit back and not do this job in any way and make other people's lives miserable but i'm insulated enough from it that oh yeah there was i worked
Starting point is 00:28:19 with somebody whose family were like the like in the top five franchise owners of dominoes and like for the longest time i was like what do you what do y'all do blah this that and the other like and like one of my other friends like it's all dominoes money like they have like 70 restaurants some some obscene number of franchises that they just sort of were like yeah and that's kind of where all the money comes from and i did yeah like i i failed to realize like those sort of mini like fiefdoms of uh like owning numerous franchises that's wild i i'm also curious like what are i think you know jack we were talking about like we kind of want to do overrated and underrated too yeah like what's something job that you like about your job or like a skill that your job kind of requires or has like given you access
Starting point is 00:29:06 to i mean i will say the two most underrated things about the job one is uh i get to listen to podcasts all day and that is i'll be honest it's part of the reason it's hard to leave that job uh the idea of having to work at a place where i have to like just my own thoughts and uh just stand there doing whatever in my head all day instead of just getting to listen to podcasts all day and hand people food exchange for money that I don't know if I can go back guys um but also uh it definitely and I've had prior jobs that sort of did this to a degree I worked at a call center for Comcast many years ago. It just sort of forces you to be a level of social that I think a lot of people are no longer forced to be. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:53 Where insofar as you're social, it comes to this extremely mediated interaction where you're like, work your way through like a sort of pre-written conversation. Right. Whereas at least in the context of being a pizza guy, I mean, you know, the interactions you have often are fairly perfunctory. But they're still realer in a way than any other job that I have
Starting point is 00:30:15 because people are always happy to see you. Nobody pissed off because their pizza has arrived. Right, right. And so you do get to see... Sorry, I'm trying to think of a way to articulate this. Is it heartening? It's life-affirming in a way? In a way.
Starting point is 00:30:34 I mean, it is and it isn't. Sure. When you asked before about the thing that is most frustrating about the job, what came to mind was people who don't tip. Sure as far as i'm concerned are moral monsters yeah well yeah the way this country operates like it's incumbent on on on tipping right for sure that i think a lot of you would think over time i would get more used to it and just eventually stop caring but if anything the longer i do the job, the more
Starting point is 00:31:06 just every time it just feels like a core betrayal of the social compact. Right. I understand the history of tipping and that it was originally instituted for racist reasons and stuff like that. Yeah, after slavery. But here we are now and now
Starting point is 00:31:22 everybody suffers under that shit. Exactly. And that's the Exactly. Exactly. And that's the thing, is at the end of the day, if you can afford to order to your home, you can afford to tip. Right. Just full stop. It's like going to a restaurant or a bar and then not tipping your waiter or your bartender. It's just as rude.
Starting point is 00:31:40 Sure. Sorry, I don't want to sound cranky about that. Totally. rude sure sorry i don't want to sound cranky about that totally i think it's any i see all the time people debate this though like about like i'm not tipping blah blah blah and like do you understand like what the the toll it would a take on your vehicle if you have to it's your own car right and then that there's gas and these other there's it's not just like well that's what they get paid to do there's all these other parts of a job that I think a lot of people don't understand or, or really look at it very narrowly as to who does or does not, you know, deserve a tip like in a given industry. I mean, I do think that there is an extent to it, especially if you don't take the time to
Starting point is 00:32:20 pay attention to it. The sort. The logistics behind how everything works are masked for most people. Unless you really spend the time to look into it, you end up with these very almost magical thinking perceptions of the world. Based on interactions that I've had with customers, I think there is a substantial percentage of them who think that pizza just comes out of a magical hole in the wall.
Starting point is 00:32:44 I think there is a substantial percentage of them who think that pizza just comes out of like a magical hole in the wall. Yeah. Right. Like people will come in and ask for food and then we'll be like, OK, it's going to be like 10 to 15 minutes to make. And they'll be like, you don't have it ready. Like the words just left your mouth, my dude. Yeah. But yeah, I think it's masked intentionally.
Starting point is 00:33:25 Right. But yeah, I think it's masked intentionally, right? Like that is more and more the world that we're built into is that everything like all the behind the scenes stuff like that's what Amazon puts behind a wall. That's what a lot a lot of these, you know, food delivery services put behind a wall is. And I guess Domino's was at the at the forefront of that of just getting rid of any human interaction other than like that quick transactional moment like that that's what the people who build this system call friction and they want to like create less friction and it's like that's very bleak and also makes us all dumber i think that's how they sell it but to be honest i think it's a form of oblique union busting right that essentially after the sort of um the height of unionism in like the 60s and 70s capital started to rearrange the actual physical terrain of how businesses are put together in order to prevent unions from rising like now factories are out in the middle of nowhere instead of in a city where they have like a set of third place bars and stuff like that around them where like people can get together after work
Starting point is 00:34:13 and talk to their coworkers. Now, you know, if you work at a factory, you're out in the middle of nowhere. You live in a house that's out in the middle of nowhere that you drive 30 miles to and then you drive back to your house. Everyone is literally atomized in a way that... Exactly.
Starting point is 00:34:27 I don't want to sound like conspiracy brain about it because I don't think that it's that. I do think that it's more like aggregate classes acting in their own interests. Right. But the asymmetry of power, because they have so much more money and political access, allows them to rearrange that terrain. money and political access allows them to rearrange that terrain. And I think that that's true with stuff like that masking is just a side effect of that process, I think. Right.
Starting point is 00:34:52 That if you can't see the labor conditions, then you can't even build the awareness necessary to overcome them. That's right. Yeah, for sure. Why would I worry about this guy who just gets the pizza out of the hole in the wall down the street for me and brings it to me in a duffel bag? Takes 20 minutes to get it from the hole in the wall to my mouth. The hell? I always think about that.
Starting point is 00:35:15 There's this anecdote that like London cab drivers have like this super powered part of their brain that, you know, they have access to just like, and now obviously we have GPS, but like, is there anything that you know better than, you know, people might expect based on what's a superpower? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you definitely, at least for your delivery area or mine, I suppose you do get like a perfect mental map after a while
Starting point is 00:35:47 to the point where people can just tell you where they're at in a more general sense you'd be like oh yeah i know exactly where to find you or you know all the little like tricks of oh this building is impossible to park at so here's where you have to go instead in order to get to them and also uh you you sort of you see the insides of lots of places and people just sort of freely give you the like access codes to their buildings or offices constantly right to the point where i often think about how like if somebody wanted to you know be like a like a serial thief right become a pizza driver like people will just give you access to everything. It's wild. Right.
Starting point is 00:36:26 I guess your defenses go down because they're like, well, they're only here to deliver the thing and not remember how to get into this bank building. Well, not just that, but you almost get treated as background noise. I've definitely delivered to business meetings where people are like discussing
Starting point is 00:36:45 high level stuff and i am just not there as far as they're concerned right i am just like a like a like a star wars droid it's just like putting pizzas on the table for them and that can just be safely ignored right right yeah oceans 11 needs to hire a dominoes delivery driver to their crew dominoes cab burglar that's just the new way that you infiltrate like the capital hire a Domino's delivery driver to their crew. Domino's cab burglar. That's just the new way that you infiltrate like the Capitol. Just like, Oh no,
Starting point is 00:37:15 just go into the Rayburn building just with some pizzas to Senator Schumer's office. And then just like, hang out, listen to stuff. Yeah. I mean, I, I genuinely wonder sometimes if any like clever foreign power has ever like gotten a guy into the Pentagon by literally just waiting until they ordered a pizza and then intercepting that and sending ahead and i never asked i'm like they they i don't know they had a shopping bag it all seemed up and up but one thing i like
Starting point is 00:37:48 to ask right because i'm a big fast food head and food head in general it's actually a two-part question are the secret codes real at domino's and are this is there a secret menu at domino's uh i'll be honest there aren't as far as I'm aware, secret codes. If there are, nobody's revealed them to me. And I feel like I've been far and away the longest serving person at that store. So if there were, I feel like I would have found out about them by now. But do you know what I'm talking about? Like about like there's like these coupon codes people use?
Starting point is 00:38:18 Oh, well, I mean, there are like codes that only we as employees can use that are just for us but to be honest i i don't know if it varies from franchise to franchise but the ones that bust not actually as good as the ones the customers get happier discounts right right they're like what did we say, Hugo? Three pepperonis on there. That's it. Don't lose your shit now. Insofar as the secret menu goes, there are definitely combinations of food that we make for ourselves that are not on the menu. Yeah, okay.
Starting point is 00:38:56 I do like what I've called the heart attack special, which is the Wisconsin three cheese with salami. Oh. Adding salami onto something called the Wisconsin three cheese with salami. Adding salami onto something called the Wisconsin three cheese. Amazing. You tuck the salami in under the cheese
Starting point is 00:39:12 for the proper layering. Old school Papa John's style. They just debuted that new loaded tots item a little while back. We've been experimenting with mixing that with the chicken and doing like a thing where it's like Cheese blend and some bacon and then doing
Starting point is 00:39:33 Like a mango habanero sauce Drizzle and like some of the regular like hot sabar big sauce combined with that for like a real like Good sort of spicy savory. Yeah, it's it's it's good stuff but yeah you can't really order it there's not like a way you can be like secretly ordering it off the menu because a would be crazy expensive and b uh with like the really good stuff that we make for ourselves there it would take too long to make for a regular customer it would take like 20 minutes because we're putting it through the oven multiple times. Oh, wow. Okay. One of the things I will, you know, put
Starting point is 00:40:08 out there to the listeners as a good hack for our wings, never let them put them through just once. Always make sure they put them through at least a second time if you're willing to wait. Well done. Ask for them well done. Wait, like you ask for it like that way? Like put them through twice. So the thing is, when you
Starting point is 00:40:23 order well done, all we do is just push it back in the oven one length of the tray back. You genuinely want to wait the extra 10 minutes to have them put it through a second time if they're willing. Sometimes they will not be, just to warn you.
Starting point is 00:40:40 Don't be surprised if you ask them. They're like, we're not going to do that. They're like, who the fuck told you that, man? Like, don't be surprised if you ask them. They're like, we're not going to do that. They're like, who the fuck told you that, man? Yeah, there's a decent chance that's the response you will get. Yeah. But if they're cool about it or if it's a slow day that day, ask them if they will put it through a second time for you. Because then the wings actually come out closer to good.
Starting point is 00:41:01 I won't call them great. Right. Yeah, I know what you mean. good. I won't call them great. Yeah, I know what you mean. Then they're not... I feel like slightly undercooked or not undercooked in terms of they're inedible. I'm like, these could get a little bit
Starting point is 00:41:12 more of a cook on them just for taste. Yeah. They did used to have an item which I desperately wish they would bring back. And I think they still have it other franchises. A half-dipped chocolate cookie do they have that where you guys are at
Starting point is 00:41:27 no no no yeah that was that was one that I was a big fan of for a long time you take one of those throw it in the microwave for like 10 seconds and it just comes out just beautiful they should have a unified menu with all the states that have legalized cannabis
Starting point is 00:41:43 you know like I think that just makes sense as a general business practice. I'll be honest. I am genuinely surprised that they haven't gone the route of Jack in the Box, where Jack in the Box just openly has its munchie menu, where it's just like, listen, stoners, we are here for you. We know where our business comes from. Right, right, right. And I feel like enough of Domino's business
Starting point is 00:42:05 also comes from that same crowd that it's wild to me that we haven't literally started just being like, hey, guys, we got something for you. Hey, yeah. Look, weed. You guys like weed, right?
Starting point is 00:42:15 We get it. We know. Try this new one out. All right. Well, Hugo, this has been such a pleasure. We really appreciate you taking the time. This was a blast. I feel both more informed on your particular job and worse about humanity based on the number
Starting point is 00:42:34 of people who are showing you their dicks. But yeah, very thrilled that you are a listener. You're a really smart dude. And it was really great talking to you. Thank you. And likewise, I just, if I say, I've, Jack, I've been following since the since the beginning of Cracked and Miles since you started on the podcast. Giant fans of both you just can't thank you enough for all of the hours and hours of entertainment and insight that you all have given me. I just from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, guys. We are just as indebted to Zeitgang
Starting point is 00:43:07 for making this a thing that we can continue doing all together. So yeah, it goes both ways. And yeah, we really appreciate you all, especially you for being our inaugural call-in Zeitgang listener. I'm genuinely honored by that, you guys. I had no idea.
Starting point is 00:43:21 It really, I, you know, I'm almost well enough. It is genuinely a real honor to be the first all right well hugo get back to catching those uh vagabonds out there get back to your transocean bouncy hunting ways absolutely all right thanks all right folks thank you again to listener hugo bosk on the Discord for talking us through, you know, life out there in these streets delivering the Domino's pizza that everyone craves. these like like restaurants and stuff where everything's behind a wall yeah and you absolutely it just becomes completely obscure and i really never truly never considered the fact of how like taking away that visual of workers working would somehow like it's a very ghost it's done by ghosts i wish i had brought that up but they called it a ghost kitchen they're like yeah yeah it's a
Starting point is 00:44:22 some mythical character yeah it makes your pizzas for you. The ghost of the middle class, actually. Yes, that's right. Okay, so with the important business out of the way, we also wanted to talk to the theoretical physicist who works on astrophysics and cosmology
Starting point is 00:44:40 was the, or I think is the Frank B. Baird Jrr professor of science at harvard university was the longest serving chair of harvard's department of astronomy and is the founding director of harvard's black hole initiative and also is you know open to ideas around you know extraterrestrials and like what what first contact is going to look around extraterrestrials and what first contact is going to look like, the sort of thing that you guys have heard me just not be able to stop talking about.
Starting point is 00:45:14 I've sometimes said, why do we ever talk about anything else? I sometimes wonder. But just a fascinating question, especially right now you know we're as we mentioned on yesterday's you know weekend catch-up there's there's been a constant back and forth on uaps in the media but recently uh nasa is impaneling a group of experts to figure out like the best way to assess these uap phenomenon they were like
Starting point is 00:45:46 yeah they're for instance there are a lot of metallic orbs hovering around the globe that we have caught on various you know cameras that we can't can't really explain so we are going to try to we we want to start investing in getting scientific reading, you know, scientific observations, these things. And it's it's like it's kind of it's this isn't something NASA does like ever. They do not. They never wade into the arena of like about UFOs or UAPs or whatever you want to call them. or UAPs or whatever you want to call them. So like it just shows like as more and more of these sort of clips or like videos
Starting point is 00:46:27 or anecdotes and things come out about UAPs or observable phenomenon and things like that. It's just like more and more agencies are like, hey, maybe we need to talk about this also. But it's interesting how like how contentious it is too because that first meeting, there were a lot of people who were like, what are you guys hiding from us? It's like, what's kind of the energy from some people of course but again this is because it's around like such a huge like existential question of
Starting point is 00:46:55 is is it more than this little marble we're on and i think i mean like like you'll hear me say in the interview like like I've, I can't imagine why we could be alone just given the probability of everything. I'm certainly not thinking like, and it's the only place that special is here. And I'm the most special one here. We are the most special little boys in the universe. And yeah,
Starting point is 00:47:17 there is one part where I think obviously just that the world doesn't revolve around me as a, as an individual. And we may have cut that out because that was one of the most inflammatory things we'd heard on this podcast. Yeah, we probably cut it. But just everybody knows that I disagree with that.
Starting point is 00:47:33 But yeah, interesting conversation, interesting time for people who are open to the idea of UAPs. And we talk about the very specific case of Oumuamua and all sorts of interesting things around that. So we're going to do that right after this break, and we will be back at the end to wrap things up. So we will be right back to talk to Dr. Avi Loeb. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden.
Starting point is 00:48:10 We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions, like how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan
Starting point is 00:48:38 Sanner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career. Without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jess Costavetto, executive producer of the hit
Starting point is 00:49:10 Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts,
Starting point is 00:49:47 the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
Starting point is 00:50:21 I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that? I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on.
Starting point is 00:50:31 From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game?
Starting point is 00:50:47 And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Avi, thank you so much for
Starting point is 00:51:16 joining us. Dr. Avi Loeb. Dr. Avi Loeb. We're not that familiar. We'll get there in the intro. You don't need to spend too much time on the intro. You can just call me a farm boy. Farm boy. Yeah, that's what I was going to do, actually.
Starting point is 00:51:32 So I was going to say, this next person is a farm boy who we found on the side of the road to talk to us. No, I've been reading you for a while now, but I want to get people kind of up to speed about who you are and your career. You didn't spend your career thinking about contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, or at least that was not your area of expertise, right? Your area of expertise was black holes. And then you came across some ideas that sent you down this path. So I was just wondering if
Starting point is 00:52:04 you could describe your career up to that inflection point, and then talk about kind of what those ideas were. Well, let's start from the beginning. I grew up on a farm, and I was mostly interested in the big questions that were in the realm of philosophy. And I thought of becoming a philosopher,
Starting point is 00:52:24 but then circumstances forced me to pursue physics because that was the closest to philosophy that I could get while serving in the Israeli military in a special program that allowed me to finish my PhD at age 24 in physics and mathematics. At that point, I said, well, it looks like I'm, even though it was an arranged marriage, I'm actually married to my true love. Because in the context of astrophysics, there are some basic fundamental questions that we can ask about our existence. For example, where did we come from? How did the universe start? So my first projects were about the first stars, the first galaxies.
Starting point is 00:53:05 And, you know, the most fundamental question perhaps that we can ask is, are we alone? Is there anyone else out there? And in 2017, October 19th, the first report about an object from outside the solar system was announced. And I did not expect that because a decade earlier, I wrote a paper saying that this telescope in Hawaii, Pan-STARRS, should not find any rocks from other planetary systems like the solar system.
Starting point is 00:53:37 We showed that based on what we know about the solar system, the number of rocks per unit volume in interstellar space is so small that the telescope will not find anything. So to me that was intriguing, but as time went on, this first object appeared to be anomalous. It was given the name Oumuamua, which means the scout in the Hawaiian language. Also it was pushed away from the sun by some mysterious force without any cometary tail. So to answer your question, this brought me to a new subject that I started working on over the past six years, which is the possibility that we are not alone, that there might be technological objects near Earth that were sent by an extraterrestrial civilization far away.
Starting point is 00:54:26 Because, you know, just to put things in context, most of the stars form billions of years before the sun. And it takes half a billion years for spacecraft of the type that we send to space to traverse the entire Milky Way galaxy. So they could have made it here. the entire Milky Way galaxy. So they could have made it here. And by the way, this morning,
Starting point is 00:54:50 there was a report by a very reputable journalist that interviewed a former government employee who disclosed that the U.S. government has a special section analyzing objects that are non-human in origin and without giving further details. So it's interesting to see how this will unfold. And I should say that I myself established a scientific project called the Galileo Project, where we are searching for such objects.
Starting point is 00:55:23 And I'm about to go to an expedition to the Pacific Ocean to search for the relics from the first interstellar meteor, an object that collided with Earth in 2014. That was four years almost before Oumuamua was discovered. And the U.S. government confirmed the discovery of this object as being of interstellar origin. So with my student, we were first to identify this object as an interstellar meteor, and the Department of Defense, the U.S. Space Command, wrote a letter to NASA confirming that.
Starting point is 00:56:03 And so we are going on an expedition to retrieve the fragments left over from this object and I can talk more about it. I had underrated how uncommon it is for an object coming from outside of our solar system. I assumed that that's where lots of asteroids or meteoroids or that stuff came from. So can you talk a little bit about, like, how uncommon that is?
Starting point is 00:56:27 And, like, are we seeing these things because of better technology? Like, would we have been able to see Oumuamua in the 1980s with the technology we had at that time? No, only over the past decade, we had the technologies to find such objects. So that explains Fermi's paradox. He asked, where is everybody? And the answer is, you better use a telescope or
Starting point is 00:56:54 check your backyard to find objects that were sent by an extraterrestrial technological civilization. And he simply didn't have good enough telescopes at the time. So in 2005, the U.S. Congress tasked NASA to find 90% of all the objects bigger than a football field, 140 meters in size, that could collide with Earth. These are called near-Earth objects.
Starting point is 00:57:26 And so the Pan-STARRS Observatory was established in Hawaii for that purpose, to find near-Earth objects. These are, I mean, objects the size of a football field is roughly the sensitivity of present-day telescopes in terms of seeing the reflection of sunlight from an object. You can have much smaller objects, many more of them, but you won't notice them because they reflect very little sunlight. And so Oumuamua happened to be one of these near-Earth objects. It was flagged by this telescope without them knowing where it came from. And then they realized it's moving too fast to be
Starting point is 00:58:04 bound to the sun, so it must have arrived to the solar system from outside. And that's how it was discovered, completely by coincidence. And the meteor that I mentioned before was found by, again, a set of sensors that the U.S. government put in place over the past decade to look for ballistic missiles, for objects that might risk national security. And, you know, every now and then they see a fireball created by a space rock that collides with Earth and burns up in the atmosphere as a result of the friction with air. And so in 2014, they noticed this object. And with my student, we realized that it was moving too fast to be bound to the sun.
Starting point is 00:58:50 And the U.S. government confirmed that. So it turns out that this object, if you do the calculation, was actually made of a material that's tougher, has material strength, larger than all 272 other meteors that came from the solar system in the same catalog that NASA compiled over the past decade. So not only is it the first object that was recognized to come from outside the solar system, but also it was able to maintain its integrity down to the lower atmosphere of the Earth. And so that's the fundamental question.
Starting point is 00:59:29 Why are these first interstellar objects like this meteor or Oumuamua so unusual, so unfamiliar? And Oumuamua was flat, was pushed away from the sun by some unusual force without evaporating. And, you know, three years after Oumuamua was discovered, the same telescope in Hawaii found another object. And this one was pushed away by reflecting sunlight. It was very thin. It was given the name 2020 SO. There was no evaporation observed, and then a few weeks later the scientists realized, oh, 2020SO, this object, actually is a rocket booster that NASA launched in 1966. They could trace back the orbit and figure out that it came from Earth. So we know that 2020SO is artificial because we made it.
Starting point is 01:00:26 The question is, who made Oumuamua? I suggested that it was also pushed away from the sun by reflecting sunlight because it had very thin walls. Interesting. I mean, a blind spot that's always stuck out to me in terms of how we conceive of the search for intelligent life and what
Starting point is 01:00:41 first contact would actually be like is just the time horizon of like it's one of the first things we learned in school is that you know humanity's time on this planet has been relatively brief just in comparison to like grilled sharks have been here for 150 million years and like the bible was written a few thousand years ago. So we're just a blank, like a, you know, a 10th of a percentage point of, of that time. Like when you're just stepping outside of our species and then you step off
Starting point is 01:01:12 the planet and it expands again. And I've heard you say there are lots of stars with good candidates for, you know, like Goldilocks planets or planets that might sustain life that are much older than our star. old Elux planets are planets that might sustain life that are much older than our star. So we're conceivably just starting out compared to other intelligent life. We're extremely young for our planet. Our planet is extremely young for potential life-sustaining planets. We're just a blink in a time spectrum that itself is a blink. So for me, it was important context, right?
Starting point is 01:01:45 Because it makes me wonder if first encounter we have might be with a species, like a piece of technology or like something that is, you know, more of an archaeological find than, you know, aliens stepping off of a spaceship and asking to be taken to our leader. Yeah, there are two aspects. One is indeed time, and the second is space.
Starting point is 01:02:10 Space is huge, and the situation is similar to an ant that surveys the head of a pin and wants to make a statement about the most distant planet in the solar system. This is a very presumptuous end. That's my point in terms of space. Now, in terms of time, well, let's just go in logarithmic steps. You know, the appearance of humans, which were a factor of almost 10,000 times more recent than the Big Bang. You know, they represent just the end of the cosmic play. And, you know, we know that we are not at the center of the universe.
Starting point is 01:02:52 We know that we came to the cosmic play just at the end. And if you come to a play at the end and you are not at the center of stage, the play is not about you. It feels like that's kind of the tension that kind of exists when even discussing things like uaps or the existence of ufos and things like for me i'm infinitely interested in space and the idea that like surely this we can't be the only people here just based off of like the probability but then you go a step further and like when it's discussed in more formal arenas or even scientific places there's like you start getting accusations about people like saying oh
Starting point is 01:03:31 like this is for this is for this reason this isn't because someone is actually interested in the observable science or there are people who are just reluctant because i think to your point there's this idea that how could we as human beings not be the like is this not the apex of living intelligence everywhere and what what do you think is that like is that like sort of the biggest hurdle in terms of like really studying or discussing these things it as it does it all sort of relate back to our own sort of sense of self-importance because yeah i mean like you're like we started off thinking like yeah everything, everything revolves around us. Like, yeah, very early on was where we got in there like, okay, maybe not. And we're beginning to shed those assumptions more and more. Like even Fermi's paradox is like, we, you know, there should be so many life sustaining planets. Where is everyone? And it's like, well, why aren't they talking to us? What's their fucking problem? Do they think they're better than us? It's like, maybe they're just not interested interested because we're you know um i've always thought that was kind of a funny the point is that the common
Starting point is 01:04:30 sense is not common and what i mean by common sense is that we should not have an opinion we are talking about the reality that we live in and it's not a matter of having an opinion whether we have a neighbor in our cosmic street and whether the neighbor is this or that relative to us. That's not a matter of opinion. We, of course, can have long conversations about our opinions, but a better approach is to look for evidence. We just need to step outside to our backyard and see if there are any tennis balls or other objects that came from the cosmic street. That's an easy thing to do.
Starting point is 01:05:08 We have the instruments for that. And in terms of waiting for a phone call from a neighbor at home, listening for radio signals just because we are transmitting radio signals, instead of doing that, we better check our mailbox whether there are any packages that arrived there, because the sender may not be alive. Waiting for a phone call is really not a valid approach if those civilizations are dead by now, most of them. We've been talking a lot on the show about UAPs like seen closer to the planet. That's become more of a journalistic mainstream, if not a scientific mainstream.
Starting point is 01:05:50 But 60 Minutes had the story about the Nimitz sighting off of the aircraft carrier. And I think you've mentioned these UAPs in the context of this new NASA panel that is going to be looking to try and explain what these metallic orbs are and the Galileo project trying to kind of eliminate or
Starting point is 01:06:13 offer scientific explanations for what these things are. But can you just talk a little bit about how you encounter these intellectually, these UAP sightings that are more... I think I read that you had a pilot on who had a photograph of a cigar-shaped thing
Starting point is 01:06:34 that was spotted over Spain, but it's not something that you can take into a lab or get data on. So just how do you think about that as you're having these parallel inquiries into Oumuamua and the other meteoroids? Well, Oumuamua and the meteor that I mentioned at the beginning,
Starting point is 01:06:59 they were observed by scientists, by scientific instruments that are monitoring the sky. And the data is of high quality. It's believable. It was published in peer-reviewed journals. This is the way science is done. If you look at the UAP reports, they are all based on anecdotal evidence where people by chance found some evidence for things that were not expected.
Starting point is 01:07:28 And that's very different because, first of all, they were using instruments that are not calibrated, are not under control. We cannot tell exactly whether it was perhaps the malfunction of the instruments. Perhaps these were optical illusions, perhaps the distance was not assessed correctly, so an object moving close to you can appear to be moving very fast if you are thinking that it's far away. And so that's the problem with past data, that you can't really verify it. You can't go back to these events and examine the circumstances and try to get better data. 24-7 with infrared, optical, radio, and audio sensors.
Starting point is 01:08:25 And then we analyze the data using artificial intelligence software to classify objects, to distinguish between natural objects like birds, from human-made objects like drones, balloons, airplanes, and see if there is anything else. And this is the first systematic, not anecdotal, study of objects in the sky. And that's extremely important because by monitoring the sky continuously, you can tell how rare are anomalous objects,
Starting point is 01:08:56 how anomalous they are, and because you understand your instruments, you can figure out their properties very well. Okay, well we do have to let you go, but I just want to get you to promise me here that if you do find evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, that you come on this podcast and break that news here. Could I just get that real quick from you? I feel like this is the place to do it.
Starting point is 01:09:22 In my last class at Harvard, I asked the students, if you were to find a gadget, let's say in the expedition to the Pacific Ocean, and it has buttons on it, would you press a button? Hell yeah, final answer. Oh yeah, yes, yes, yes. How many buttons? How many buttons? Are they light?
Starting point is 01:09:41 Do they light up? Is it like Simon? How many buttons are there? Are they light? Do they light up? Is it like Simon? So half of the students said no, because we are worried about what will happen to our body,
Starting point is 01:09:52 to humanity and so forth. Half of the students said, yes, we are curious. We would like to know what will happen. And then one of the students asked me what I would do. And I said, well, you know, I would treat it like an intelligent animal that suffered a trauma and I have to bring it to the laboratory to examine it before I engage with it physically. So bring it on this podcast. If you want to press the button, if you're willing to press the button, maybe I'll bring it to you.
Starting point is 01:10:20 We'll do it live on the show. It'll be huge for our numbers. He's brought the recovered artifact to the show. Jack and I are about to press the button, everybody. And then a black hole appears. Well, this was a really interesting conversation. We really appreciate you taking the time. Yeah, we're looking forward to seeing how things go on the Pacific.
Starting point is 01:10:41 Good luck. Thank you so much. I will keep a diary on medium.com. If you just want to follow what happens there, look for, search for Avi Loeb, A-V-I-L-O-E-B at medium.com and you will find my diary reporting back what we find over there.
Starting point is 01:10:59 Great. All right. Well, good luck. Godspeed. Thanks for doing the show. We appreciate you. My pleasure. And that was our interview with Avi Loeb.
Starting point is 01:11:09 Miles, what a first crack at these special, weirdly formatted episodes. Again, can't thank the super producers of this podcast enough for helping us try some new things out. Yeah. And please keep hitting us up with just anything. I mean, like even if you have an interesting job, like we're hearing all kinds of like celebrity animal wrangler there. This is wild. The kinds of things that we're hearing.
Starting point is 01:11:36 The phones are lighting up miles. Yes. The proverbial phones are blowing up right now. But yeah, again, I think it's, it's so interesting just to hear from people doing the shit that they do then just you know screaming into the void all the time so please
Starting point is 01:11:52 join us on this journey uh yeah we have a lot of professional void screamer i'd love to hear about that oh yeah absolutely sounds like let us know miles where can people find you and follow you Let us know. Miles, where can people find you and follow you? Oh, well, you can find me, follow me at all, at based life form symbol. What am I trying to say? At based.
Starting point is 01:12:14 Find me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Gray. Okay. And I'm also on PlayStation Network, Miles of Gray. If you see me on there, try and, you know, step to me on FIFA or maybe we can team up on Red Dead Revolver Redemption because I really want to do that again. Also find Jack and I on our basketball podcast and Miles and Jack on Mad Booskies. And, man,
Starting point is 01:12:32 shout out to Heat. Shout out to Heat. Okay, so look at Spoh making adjustments. What's that like, Darvin? So good. And what else? Find Sophie Alexander and I on 420 Day Fiancé, which will be back just better than ever this week, along with the new season of 90 Day that just premiered on Sunday. Amazing.
Starting point is 01:12:51 Is there a work of media you've been enjoying? Honestly, the works of social media I've been enjoying are all the people that have tagged me or DM'd me or added me with their super interesting lives. And as much as I'm like, yeah, I got shit to talk about on a podcast. I'm like, this is fucking great. So yeah, please, please keep talking to us.
Starting point is 01:13:10 Please interact with us. Cause we love hearing from you. That is what I'm fucking with on social media. You can find me on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien. And a tweet I've been enjoying is just somebody tweeted two videos of owls and said, there are two types of owls. And owls apparently run very funny or walk around very funny. They like walk like they are cartoon characters trying to sneak around.
Starting point is 01:13:36 And then in another video, an owl like literally like cramers into frame. Like does the run slide in. Owls are cool. That's the media I've been enjoying. Simple. The good old-fashioned media of owls. It's, uh... How'd they get their eyes like that?
Starting point is 01:13:55 Have you seen them without feathers? It's kind of like... It's probably like seeing James Harden without the beard. Yeah, it's scary. It's like a little bit of cool. The person who posted is why you should have an animal on twitter you can find us on twitter at daily zeitgeist we're at the daily zeitgeist on instagram we have a facebook fan page and a website dailyzeitgeist.com where we
Starting point is 01:14:17 post our episodes and our footnotes we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode as well as a song that we think you might enjoy. Miles, is there a song that we think people might enjoy? Yes, there was a cover of Do For Love. What you won't do, do for love. But it's by Snow Allegra. But then this is the remix by Black Coffee. So this is the Black Coffee remix of Do No. 4, Love, with Snow Allegro on vocals.
Starting point is 01:14:45 So check this one out. I just love that song and that melody is just so, I don't know, the first time I actually heard it was when Tupac sampled it when I was like an adolescent. And then ever since then, I got into the real version and every other cover. So this is like a
Starting point is 01:15:01 great darker sort of ambient cover that's really dope. So check this out. Do For like darker sort of ambient cover. That's really dope. So check this out. Do for love. The Black Coffee Remix. Amazing. We will link off to that in the footnotes. The Daily Zeitgeist is a production of iHeartRadio.
Starting point is 01:15:12 For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That is going to do it for us this morning. Back this afternoon to tell you what is trending. And we will talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. Bye. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series,
Starting point is 01:15:34 Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts.
Starting point is 01:16:06 There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app,
Starting point is 01:16:26 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports.
Starting point is 01:16:48 Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

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