The Daily Zeitgeist - Unity Ticket = Republican Op? Got The Avatar Blues? 12.19.22

Episode Date: December 19, 2022

In episode 1394, Miles and guest co-host DJ Danl Goodman are joined by actor and activist, Behzad Dabu, to discuss…  DeSantis is Making Moves - Establishing His Anti-Vaxx Cred and Election Narrativ...e..., And Now We Have a Spoiler Ticket Entering the Race…, Baller vs Haters…, Post-Avatar Depression Syndrome Is No Joke and more! DeSantis is Making Moves - Establishing His Anti-Vaxx Cred and Election Narrative... And Now We Have a Spoiler Ticket Entering the Race… Baller vs Haters… Post-Avatar Depression Syndrome Is No Joke The Avatar effect: Movie-goers feel depressed and even suicidal at not being able to visit utopian alien planet ‘Post-Avatar depression syndrome’: why do fans feel blue after watching James Cameron’s film? The Beauty of ‘Avatar’ Left Some Fans Depressed — After Forming a Supportive Online Community, They Now Brace for ‘The Way of Water’ LISTEN: Inconvénients by JeanJassSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
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.
Starting point is 00:00:30 I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
Starting point is 00:00:39 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
Starting point is 00:00:46 changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pardenti
Starting point is 00:01:02 and I'm Jermaine 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 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,
Starting point is 00:01:22 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. What's up, you bunch of lovable human beings? It is oh, I'm supposed to welcome y'all, yes,
Starting point is 00:01:38 to Season 268, Episode 1 of The Daily Zeitgeist, a production of iHeartRadio. This is a I guess a podcast for open discussion that is distributed in podcast form that takes a deep dive into America's shared consciousness. It's Monday, December 19th. And I have to take a beat because it's major today. National Oatmeal Muffin Day.
Starting point is 00:01:59 It's put. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And also National T Card Candy Day. But not about the nail polish that I used to buy the girls I had crushes on in the 90s. We're talking about the actual confectionery delight of card candy. Okay? Love it. Just letting people know.
Starting point is 00:02:18 Just letting people know. Hell yeah. My name is Miles Gray, a.k.a. Sweet CVS Butt Plugs. Did you hear what I said? I said butt plugs. We were talking about CVS butt plugs that Tucker Carlson lost it over. That's from Lockaroni on the Discord. Shout out to you for that one. Shout out, I guess, Neil Diamond as well. And yes, I'm hosting, so I'm thrilled to welcome my guest co-host today. Look, it's a Monday.
Starting point is 00:02:45 This is my fellow partner in the upcoming show, Washed Ones. That hasn't come out yet, but we keep talking about it. It's an idea we keep throwing around. This man is a wonderful man. He's a fantastic producer. He's a fantastic host. He's a sick-ass DJ, okay? And, I don't know, producer?
Starting point is 00:03:04 He does all kinds of shit, man. Whatever. You already know who it is. It's DJ Danil Goodnash! Happy to be here, Miles. DJ Danil aka, I actually saw that Neil Diamond play in New York and... Wait, what? There's an old musical or whatever?
Starting point is 00:03:20 Yeah, there's... Yeah, it's something... Crap, I can't remember. It's something noise. Like that wonderful noise the noise bringing the funk i believe yeah exactly you know as a jukebox musical it did great i wasn't prepared for that to be what it was at the beginning but then i heard all these people singing behind me and i was like oh it's like that oh sounds good yeah all right i guess yeah in my mind being like paying for a ticket and then hearing a bunch of people scream neil diamond at the back of my head is not
Starting point is 00:03:45 what I would I guess not an experience I can foresee myself enjoying but I am open to it yeah the best part best quote quote unquote best part was that the dude behind me in the first 10 minutes of the play was like they're gonna kick me out to his wife I was like oh no
Starting point is 00:04:01 real loud like they're gonna kick me out and then I realized why it was because on every song he would sing along off key and off beat. So when we got to sweet Caroline, which was the act break, he was just, it was like, it was bursting out of his chest.
Starting point is 00:04:14 Every time he went so good, so good, so good. Oh no. It was very, um, it was really, um,
Starting point is 00:04:20 exciting. It was thrilling. I was happy to be there. Touching me. Yeah. Touching you. Oh dude. to be there. Touching me. Yeah. Touching you. Oh, dude. They're going to kick me out, honey.
Starting point is 00:04:29 They're going to kick me. Literally. Put your shirt back on, Roger. They're going to kick me out. They're kicking me out. I got to get my shirt off to this one. Anyway, thanks for being here, Daniel. Good to see you.
Starting point is 00:04:41 My pleasure. Oh, it's a pleasure. Happy to see you as well. Look. Yes. Do people know Oh, it's a pleasure. Happy to see you as well. Look. Yes. Do people know what time it is? I think they're about to find out. Do people know that we're about to bring an actor, activist, wow, producer?
Starting point is 00:05:00 Wow. Wow. Coming from the shy, pulling up to my podcast. Oh man. Without much further ado, please welcome Bazan Dabu! Oh, you rhymed Dabu with ado. Yeah, yeah. Damn. I like that. I did that, Bazan. What's up, man? Good to have you. Much ado. I'm glad to be back. Thank y'all for having me back. I love being here. I like that. I did that. Good to have you. Much ado. I'm glad to be back. Thank y'all for having me back.
Starting point is 00:05:28 I love being here. Appreciate it. Yeah, Her Majesty, my wife just started watching How to Get Away with Murder. You know? Oh, okay. I'm gonna be like, yo, you might know somebody. Somebody who's fucking with that. You might know somebody who knows somebody. Pretty soon she's gonna start hating my character, even though my character's
Starting point is 00:05:44 the only person acting with morals on that show. Exactly. Let him know how you feel about your bulls. Just I'm going to get I always think of you when I watch the Chicago Bulls. Here's the problem, Miles. I'm a Laker fan. Oh, that's right. You're LeBron, huh?
Starting point is 00:05:59 You big LeBron fan. Big, big Kobe fan. Big LeBron fan. I've been a Laker fan since 95. Oh, OK. Good for you. Yeah. OK. You're good people good people thank you thank you uh it's difficult out here fan i've been a laker fan since like since the uh cedric sabalos eddie jones nick van axel two three on you like said okay i like that yeah but i i've you know with the nba i've always been
Starting point is 00:06:23 a guy too who like follows all the teams, though, right? So I follow 30 teams. So, of course, in the 90s, I loved MJ. I had the Orlando Magic Penny Hardaway starter jacket. I had the, I was wearing Grant Hill red Pistons jerseys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I loved all that. I even loved that, like, it was like the Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullen Warriors teams.
Starting point is 00:06:43 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But in my heart, I'm a Lakers fan. Good for you. Good for you. It's a hard time. that like it was like the mitch richmond chris mullen warriors teams oh yeah yeah yeah but uh but in my heart i was i'm a lakers fan good for you good for you it's hard time thank you hard time thank you for your service hey and also you know look we got ad you know fellow chicagoan so it all works out full circle it was hard to be a laker fan for my 11 years in chicago though i bet yeah it's hard to be a laker fan just in general i would say yeah uh emotionally but yeah i'm learning more as i do the basketball podcast i'm like i have to let go it's weird because i think i get so turned up because i feel the winds so hard that in order
Starting point is 00:07:18 for me to feel those i also have to feel the losses really hard too like that's just that's just how it is you know and i'm fine i bought the ticket i'm willing to go through it well we gotta every time i get on a podcast i i like make a note to myself i'm like don't just talk about the nba the whole time so when i get that nba podcast that's when i'm a chance i'm like oh no no no no we're gonna talk about a lot more actually nothing to do with the nba because surprise ron desantis is making fucking moves all right he's establishing his anti-vax spread the election narrative i believe is starting to form and it's a we'll get into what that looks like we'll also talk about how the republicans might win if there's a third party
Starting point is 00:07:56 spoiler fucking ticket entering the race which it looks like that may be happening generally we'll talk about some stuff going on in the world of i don't know avatar because avatar just came out talking about post avatar depression syndrome because it is a it's this shit is happening and i know like back in the day we were like yeah okay but as as the years progress it does seem to have a real effect on people and may just be a further indication of our general lack of connection which i think is interesting to dive into. But first, before we do all that, we got to ask you, Bezod, what is something from your search history that is revealing about who you are
Starting point is 00:08:35 or what you're into? The classic, I forgot to look this up. No, that laugh was sort of like, which one do I say? Okay. So recently in my search history, I typed in, I typed in like, have restaurant prices gone up? And obviously they have with everything. Right. But what I'm noticing is that I don't understand how,
Starting point is 00:09:05 like I used to order, I'm ordering the same meals from the same restaurants. And what was like, Oh, $38 is now like $64. And I'm like, wait, but how,
Starting point is 00:09:22 but how? And then you look it up and it'll be like, Oh, this dish went up $3 and this fish went up $3. And all of a sudden the tip and the charge and the surplus. And I guess what I've noticed, though, is that the prices are different if you get delivery. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's like a DoorDash price and then like if you call the restaurant price. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:45 And that is fascinating to me because I'm like, wait, on the menu on the website, it says this entree is $14.95. But on my price, it's saying it's $22.95. Yep. I think it's just to offset a lot of the like potential money they'd lose from using DoorDash basically. And that's the only way to keep sales up while also being able to be part of that ecosystem of delivery services and things like that. They're trying to cut out the
Starting point is 00:10:11 DoorDash cut, basically. Get the same amount of money for what you're ordering, but still be able to pay off DoorDash, which sucks. And I think generally, it turns out we're all feeling that inflation on some level. It's like the only thing that's gotten cheaper is weed. But facts. Generally, it turns out we're all feeling that inflation on some level.
Starting point is 00:10:27 The only thing that's gotten cheaper is weed. Facts. This shit is cheap as shit. Every dispensary is like, come in, it's 50% off everything. You're like, holy shit, this energy is so weird. I have to make a trip. I didn't realize that. A lot of these places
Starting point is 00:10:43 have every day a special. It used to a special having like every other week or something and now i feel more i think it's just generally the prices are coming down and uh you know my place has like a wheel that you spin you know oh cool you spin the wheel and it'll be like you know 10 off edibles or a half a half off a joint or something. Right, right, right. I just thought that was illegal where they were just serving it out of bags. Like, they're like, how much you want? They're like, all right.
Starting point is 00:11:11 They're like, all right, 30 bucks. Man, I miss those joints. Yeah, man. Shout out to people who are trying to get around those dumb ass licenses. Anyway, Baze, what's something you think is overrated? Not everywhere, but most of the time, what I think is overrated not everywhere but most of the time okay what i think is overrated is the like the
Starting point is 00:11:28 the world landmark at a place like a tourist destination is like world landmark is often overrated i went to san antonio i went to the alamo the alamo is overrated it's right across the street from mahouters it's not that big it Bam. It's just a building, and you're like, oh, okay. There's a river walk. You go to Italy, you go to Leaning Tower of Pisa. Leaning Tower of Pisa is overrated. Boring. Boring.
Starting point is 00:11:51 There's Leaning Towers literally everywhere. And it doesn't mean that, like, the place is bad. There's lots of exciting things. Like, I think Venice is a beautiful place, but that, like, bridge everybody goes under, under the gondola yeah yeah that's not it's just a little bridge where i proposed to my fiance yeah it ain't shit i don't have anything special about that place at all you're right nonsense i feel the same way about the taj mahal like i i got to the taj mahal like taj mahal is
Starting point is 00:12:20 beautiful like it's a beautiful building and it's amazing no you're saying that place overrated it's overrated because it's not as big as you think it's not as white oh right right right yeah because yeah that's the one thing I remember hearing like as a kid where some like a teacher was like and a lot of the photos they they the scale isn't the same and it looks much larger in the photos or whatever but I get that oh now I want to see it before my people come at me it is incredible it is moving i love it's just smaller than you thought that's a beautiful place and and i just i i feel that way a lot like i haven't been to the pyramids but my friend went recently and said that you you're at the pyramids and it's amazing but you turn around and you see like a kfc and a starbucks
Starting point is 00:13:00 in the distance yeah that's my favorite There's that picture of the pyramids when you go like 20 feet back and you're taking the same picture from inside a pizza hut. I love that. Oh, you could get a flick from a pizza hut of the pyramids? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:13 Yeah. Wow. I'm going to post it in the chat. That's dope. That's called convenience. And so, I don't know. I think it's overrated, but I've been traveling a bit recently
Starting point is 00:13:21 and what I'm noticing though is like the things that aren't the main landmark, the thing that isn't on the postcard has been my favorite stuff recently and what i'm noticing though is like the things that aren't the main landmark the thing that isn't on the postcard is was has been my favorite stuff like what okay so for like give me a thing where you said in x city everyone goes to see this i in fact got the most satisfaction out of seeing this well yeah so like in rome for example we recently went to rome and and everybody obviously they go to the go to the Vatican to see the cathedrals there. And then the basilica is there.
Starting point is 00:13:47 And then they also go to the Colosseum. But in my opinion, some of these other amazing Duomos that you can go into, these other amazing basilicas you can go to that we were just walking and finding were more interesting to me, more beautiful to me. The, the Pantheon inside was actually more impressive to me than inside the Colosseum. And, you know, it's just like, those are things you don't often talk about. We went, we drove through the small town and we, we, we wanted to get some food and we stopped in this place called Orvieto and it's outside of Rome. I had never heard of it in my entire life and there's this massive duomo one of the largest basilicas in the world is in this small town called orvieto i had never heard of it and it was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen but it's not
Starting point is 00:14:38 the vatican yeah and there was no line and it was four euro to get in. Yeah. You know, amazing. So yeah, it's funny how many, like, yeah, it's also too, just funny how like so much historical context is like stripped out of like these places. Like,
Starting point is 00:14:52 and here's the Alamo y'all don't worry about William Barrett, Travis. Was that guy just fighting to preserve slavery? I don't know. Whatever. Let's just fucking, you know what it is. Uh,
Starting point is 00:15:03 uh, uh, based on what is something you know what it is. You know what it is. Bazod, what is something you think is underrated? All right, I feel strongly about this. Go ahead. Covers by, like, really good covers of songs. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:17 Great. Could not co-sign this harder. Like, even sometimes by their, by the own artist, but they do their own song differently, like on a stripped album or like an unplugged album. They might do it later. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:29 Sometimes like some of my favorite artists from like the eighties and nineties are doing songs like they're doing covers now on like a talk show, but they can't hit the same notes. So they do it different. And covers are so underrated to me that I end up hearing the original and i'm like nah where's that cover that really hit where's the cover yeah so and i've been noticing as i've been in my car recently i'm like like there's a patty smith cover of nirvana smells like teen spirit oh and and then the other day i was in the... I was on like Apple Music or whatever and I had like a 90s playlist on
Starting point is 00:16:07 and Smells Like Teen Spirit came on and I was like, damn, I actually got off and like searched to find my Patti Smith cover because like the cover hit harder for me. So I think covers are underrated, though. Yeah. I love a good cover. I mean, I think one of the classic examples of this
Starting point is 00:16:23 is Johnny Cash Hurt over the Nine Inch Nails version, which just like, I mean, it completely steals the show. What? What? You're a stand for the Nine Inch Nails original? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I get it, but I'm not. Look, I get the appeal of the Johnny Cash version.
Starting point is 00:16:38 That shit always made me laugh. Laugh? I hurt my friend today. The music video is, you know, because that music is right before he died it's like all in black and white and he's like in that like broke down house he's like i hurt myself today it and i i had to because my like grandma was going on at the time i was like i thought he fell down okay but there's that's's how I saw it recontextualized the lyrics because that first one was like, I hurt myself today.
Starting point is 00:17:11 Sounds like he like, oh, he tumbled off his stepstool trying to reach for a pot or something. Another one that like, there's a disturbed sound of silence. There's a sound of silence by disturbed and if when you google it or youtube it the best version is actually the version they did on conan right so they do this live version on conan and it's disturbed doing sound of silence and i think it's incredible and then there's also the band heart doing stairway to heaven led zeppelin stairway to heaven at the
Starting point is 00:17:43 kennedy center honors i mean these are incredible covers and for i would say i'm gonna make the and Hart doing Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honors. I mean, these are incredible covers. And for, I would say, I'm going to make the bold statement here. Maybe I don't agree with it, but I'm going to say it. I just made one saying I didn't like the Johnny Cash Hurt cover, so go ahead.
Starting point is 00:17:57 For all three that I just mentioned, I think the cover is stronger than the original. Okay. And those are, I know those are like some of the greatest songs of all time, but right. Daniel, what's your favorite color cover aside from the hurt Johnny cash.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Do you have them? I feel like I have to go back to the Rolodex. Yeah. It's hard to ask a music guy who's be like, well, I have, I have a playlist of 700 covers that I love. I'll tell you what,
Starting point is 00:18:22 there's, there's one that went from, I really don't like it to actually, I do kind of like which is the and you know this is soft ass daniel coming out here but the iron and wine cover of such great heights by postal service oh i love that cover it's super soft but man i didn't like it at first because i was like postal service one is so much better but now i hear it in different settings and it's just like this is really gentle and nice and like super i don't know just it gets you in your feels like a rainy day song looking out the window right miles i do have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of covers on like on my playlist like i man make a covers playlist and put that shit public you know let
Starting point is 00:18:58 people get in there you go get into your world there'll be some songs that I'll have like 12 covers of. Yeah, right, right, right. Wow. Oh, wow. There's 12 different covers of. Yeah. One of the weird songs, there's a cover by the Suburbs by Arcade Fire that's done by Mr. Little Jeans. That was the first time that got me to like that song because it's really stripped down and like synthy. But anyway, look, we're all here to talk music, baby.
Starting point is 00:19:27 But yeah, check out Bayzod's cover playlist coming soon, if he will make that public, and he will share those riches with all of us. Let's take a quick break, and we'll come back to talk about their England over there on the right, right after this. Right after this. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult.
Starting point is 00:19:57 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, 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. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk
Starting point is 00:20:51 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.
Starting point is 00:21:21 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 Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports,
Starting point is 00:21:54 where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn 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. Why is that?
Starting point is 00:22:10 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 00:22:32 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. And we are back, it turns out. Ron DeSantis, I think we, at this point, we're like, yeah, he's going to run for president. We just don't know when, what the strategy is going to be. Even though he's being very coy, I think we all can see what's happening.
Starting point is 00:23:08 Like, how could a narcissist look at the polling numbers and say, nah, I don't need that. They're screaming for me. Anyway, DeSantis is creating headlines recently with his new investigation into the pandemic and the actions of public health officials and pharmaceutical companies. This is a quote from local papers. Quote, at a roundtable he convened of COVID vaccine skeptics and opponents, including his own surgeon general. He formally called on the state Supreme Court to impanel a grand jury to investigate whether
Starting point is 00:23:36 pharmaceutical companies criminally misled Floridians about the side effects of vaccines, a position at odds with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. effects of vaccines, a position at odds with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So he's going he's embarking on an inquest into the pandemic, basically, and vaccines and mandates and things of that nature. Right now, when in a poll of Republicans, less than 30 percent of Republicans think that public health officials handled the pandemic and people's personal freedoms in a good way. And DeSantis is probably taking note that, you know, election denialism and like overt racism aren't the best hands to play right now, especially, you know, if the point is differentiating yourself from Trump. So it looks like he's going to use like COVID as maybe his first battleground to begin the like i'm not
Starting point is 00:24:27 like him sort of campaign because i think it's it's an issue that clearly has like the right in rage still about like they look what they did to us and at the same time he can basically call trump like a vaccine simp and be like yeah and i let that shit cook in florida and look at us now the economy did okay and only thousands of people died but i think that is that's starting to look like that's going to be maybe the first sort of beginnings of being like is this your king is this your king no i got a question about all this because um it's it's very clear that they're trying to distance themselves from like trump people as it were, because Trump is a very negative narrative on the GOP. However, there's still a lot of those people who are voters, and Ron DeSantis seemed like a nice, easy follow-up.
Starting point is 00:25:16 So if he's going to shit on Trump, is this not just... I mean, I think this is also pertaining to the next story that we're talking about, about like, you know, this spoiler ticket, but like, are we not just further splitting the party, even if the thing that you are fighting for is like a GOP talking point being like COVID denialism or it not working out, but then being like, well, Trump was a COVID simp. Like, is that is that not I feel like I mean, you know, not that I really care about them running a bad angle, but that just feels like you're making half a good point. I feel they always do that, though. Remember, there's all these videos of Ted Cruz and Graham talking about how if Trump is elected, that's the end of the party. And then they go on simping for him forever. I think that's what they do. Dems do it, too, right? Kamala Harris and Biden were going at each other before they weren't.
Starting point is 00:26:07 Which actually leads me to my, like, my question is, I know, I think Pence is running. I think we know that. I think Ron DeSantis is running. Trump is running. Who's going to be Trump's VP? That's my question. He's going to, I think he's going to pick a person of color, to be honest. Really? question he's gonna i think he's gonna pick a person of color to be honest real i think he'd
Starting point is 00:26:26 go like tim scott maybe senator tim scott or like carrie lake although i don't i'm not sure what her ethnic background is but she she's she's to me ethnically ambiguous uh and certainly like is willing to scream the maga gospel at the top of her lungs so i don't't know. I mean, it's really hard to know because at the same time, Donald Trump's campaign hasn't done shit since they announced, like they haven't had one fucking event aside from that announcement. That's not true. I mean, they released Trump digital cards.
Starting point is 00:26:58 I don't know what you're talking about. Literally just about to say, and have you seen that? Oh yeah. You mean that money laundering shit? And they sold out and they're already worth double right now on the market, which is crazy to me. Yeah, well, that's the rug pull of all rug pulls.
Starting point is 00:27:12 And a lot of people are looking at like, I have to, I don't know if I, I saw a post like from an extract from an article that said that they, like some of the Mar-a-Lago documents that were seized, like show a connection between thisa-lago documents that were seized like show a connection between this nft project and this other person and sort of being like oh are you just trying to pay this guy four and a half million dollars but doing that through this
Starting point is 00:27:33 quote-unquote nft project more on that to come i'm sure as more news comes out but yeah that is about the gist of what's going on over there but yeah i think the main thing is like daniel your point isn't to be like yo fuck this guy he's not going to necessarily say like donald trump's whack as fuck he's just going to lean on the fact he's like i never did that i never did this i never he's going to be using i statements like in couples therapy he's not going to be making this motherfucker statements you know what i mean it's gonna be like i am the one who doesn't give a fuck i am down for freedoms at all costs you know what i mean i think that's what i mean as the first part so people can begin to say that's right donald trump did remember that one rally he's like and obviously i created the vaccine and then like half
Starting point is 00:28:20 the rally was like he's like all right folks right, folks, it works, but whatever, do what you want to fucking do. That's on y'all. So I think that's sort of where it's all going to happen. And I think it's very, I think very, very clever, right? Because if you start off your campaign like this, you're kind of bringing together people's anger at pharmaceutical companies, the media, together people's anger at pharmaceutical companies the media government and covid fatigue and you're turning it into this omni crisis that he is fit to do battle with i don't i don't think that strategy necessarily has like the legs to go an entire presidential campaign but that's a start to begin to just not be like and i fucking hate browns and gays which is what most MAGA candidates are probably going to lead off with he's trying to do the man covid was bullshit we need to look into what they did
Starting point is 00:29:11 to us and i think that's a very intoxicating appealing uh probably like election narrative for people to follow in the beginning but we'll see what happens all that to say the raptors are learning um you know they've been testing the perimeter fences and they know a bunch of clever but we'll see what happens. All that to say, the Raptors are learning. They've been testing the perimeter fences and they know. A bunch of clever girls. Yeah, that's what I've been saying. Like that's Ron DeSantis to me is the Raptors from the Chris Pratt films.
Starting point is 00:29:33 And Donald Trump is the Raptors from Jurassic Park, the first one. Like these motherfuckers in the later movies, like coordinating, they're like more evolved. They're still dangerous. But I think, again,
Starting point is 00:29:44 to center this covid thing around it is like doesn't immediately put people's alarm bells up from these other perspectives obviously to most people who are like this is fucking dangerous to impanel a fucking grand jury to like be like we gotta look into undermining everyone's belief in any kind of institution or like a specialty like science that's fucking very very dangerous but yeah kind of especially when elon is tweeting out prosecute fauci yeah oh yeah it gets it it it really does make it so that it really does make it so you're criminalizing truth. Yeah. Or, yeah, at the very least,
Starting point is 00:30:26 at the very least, you create a hostility towards people that would deign to speak truth to power and then begin to, you know, erode the, like, people's confidence in speaking out and things like that. I mean, that's sort of part and parcel of what that strategy is
Starting point is 00:30:42 because every time Republicans are like, listen to this straight up lie there's always experts be like that's fucking nonsense and then they're like you're fucking woke get the fuck out of here you fucking pedophile and it's like what the fuck i forgot i forgot where i read this recently but they were talking about the news and and and what happens with like misinformation in a weird way but they were saying like like let's say let's take something we know to be true like climate change right like climate change is real whoa we know that to be true and what ends up happening is in an effort to be fair and balanced you'll have a talk show
Starting point is 00:31:16 and you'll have one scientist who's a climate change scientist and you'll have one scientist who's a climate change denier and you'll have them each and you'll give them equal time because you want to be fair and balanced but there but what i was reading was like but in reality the way to be equal would be to have 98 scientists right that are like for climate change and two scientists who are not and you give them 98 percentage of the time versus two percent of the time that's actually fair and balanced but when we see this over and over again of like one on one side and one on the other, we believe it's a 50 50 thing when in reality it's like
Starting point is 00:31:50 98.5 to 1.5. Exactly. And yeah, too many, I think, especially news outlets or like pundits get completely freaked out when like conservatives like, you're not fucking giving fair blah blah. It's like, well this guy just said
Starting point is 00:32:05 werewolves were fucking real so what the fuck you want me to do with that that's not true like we don't have to fucking like i'm sorry but you're a child if you believe that and that's not on me to fucking hold your hand because you can't deal with that that's fucking bullshit now go over there and figure your shit out but it does that's That's what is frustrating when you, when people do see time, especially like in all, every argument that were every sort of debate of the time that's happening right now. It's like,
Starting point is 00:32:31 like that's why that New York pitch bot Twitter account is so funny because it's always sort of framing this thing of like, you know, we wanted to learn about global warming. So we talked to three Elon Musk fan boys to see what their thoughts were on the green new deal. It's like, sure. Okay. like, sure.
Starting point is 00:32:46 Okay. Yeah, obviously. I don't think he said werewolves were real. I think he said werewolves were stronger than vampires and that's debatable. Yeah. He's right about that. I mean,
Starting point is 00:32:55 I've seen underworld Jacob. So like, yeah, I'm feeling, I'm feeling that. What about it? Underworld? Who's more lit?
Starting point is 00:33:00 The Likens. Hmm. You watch all the underworld films? Hell yeah. You did. I mean, I got to go with Dracula. I mean, I got to go with vampires because Kate Beckinsale, was more lit the lichens you watch all the underworld films hell yeah you did i mean i gotta go with drac i mean i gotta go with vampires because kate beckinsale she makes it through all the movies so it's like i don't know oh yeah the lichens they're the lichens are the world they're like being like get the fuck up out of here this is our shit i guess i don't know whatever i mean for me i'm to be honest i kind of fuck with vampires more. Yeah, I'd rather be a vampire. Although I would, for the hairline, be a werewolf.
Starting point is 00:33:28 Oh, God, preach. Talk to me in about two years. I'm like, yo, it's a full moon. And then my fucking bald spot just turns into a full head of hair. I think being a werewolf is only fun if you're the alpha wolf. If you're not, you're just a follower your whole life. See, and then i would blow up the whole paradigm and be like yo that's a fucking fake concept anyway the alpha you know i mean
Starting point is 00:33:50 miss me with that you're a woke wolf i think yeah i'm the jordan peterson i'm pitching woke wolf to abc family abc signature next week yo oh my god probably would i'm telling you you know you you see how like so much of the programming we're seeing is starting to tighten up and become more conservative and like oh of course move away from that you know we're about to see some weird shit with the word woke in it coming soon can't wait can't wait y'all and then we'll have to take a big old dump on that but to kind of go along with this sort of idea of like this 2024 election you know the democrats are trying to figure out you know obviously who they're going up against is trump going to survive any challenges
Starting point is 00:34:30 to his uh run during the primary is it going to be desantis or is it fucking nick fuente who the fuck knows but there's just another chaos factor preparing to enter the fray and it's this bipartisan group called no labels they've raised about 70 million dollars they're like and they're doing this whole thing of like they want to put a democrat and a republican on the same ticket to offer americans a chance to quote make history and they want to gabbert oh my god she already exists her name's tulsi gabbard no it's gonna be like those liz cheney fan type people they're like she was on the january 6th panel you know what i mean but then also it's like have you seen her policies she's basically trump she just the only thing she just
Starting point is 00:35:17 had a disagreement on was stealing the election she's not pro-choice she's anti-choice she's a broken clock yeah 100 but yeah it's it's a very very like a lot of there's like a centrist democrat group that's like oh this isn't great for the democratic party if they're trying to really mount a serious effort to win back the like keep the white house i think in reality this is like at best a completely misguided effort by a bunch of political operatives that are raising money and trying to feel powerful and say blah blah blah and at worst it's like a stealth op from the right to split anti-trump votes because if you consider this if neither candidate gets to 270 electoral votes then the house of representatives will vote on who the president is all right and we we know the Republicans will be controlling the House when that election comes.
Starting point is 00:36:06 Right. But it is important to point out that third party candidates poll a lot better than they actually perform. Like like and don't get electoral votes. So always, if anything, you get something like the Nader effect where you split the vote and then you lose Florida. And like what happened with Gore. to vote and then you lose florida and like what happened with gore so this would be a very efficient way to win a presidential election without getting any sort of like true majority of the votes you know what i mean so i just went to the uh the no labels website and after you find like you know after you pass the 10 streetwear brands called no labels you uh i clicked meet the team white white white white white white white white
Starting point is 00:36:52 it happens for a long time and then there is a there is a black dude oh shit but it's funny because he's the first one without a professional photograph. And I feel like he was sort of like, like he was there and they were like, Hey, can we take a picture real quick? We got to take a picture real quick. Wow. This shit looks like a bunch of people that will call the cops on you for
Starting point is 00:37:13 like listening to music too loud. Yeah. As we scroll down, they've hidden them pretty well. As we scroll down, there's a few people of color down there, but yeah, I mean,
Starting point is 00:37:23 again, this is a very, like this, a lot of these people they're seasoned like they've worked on political campaigns that's why a lot of people in the political world are like these aren't a bunch of clowns that are like helping out on this joe lieberman you know the last democrat to flip uh to indie flip from democratic party is one of the people to be the chairs of this group so it's not like they're like these
Starting point is 00:37:47 people are versed in running political campaigns and a lot of people have been like asking them like yo are you are you aware of the threat this poses like that you would actually this would more than anything help donald trump or the republicans and many have said like look if it gets to if it's getting weird and we realize like there's like people are fine with the direction things are going and they don't need this other option then we will completely pull out but we're afraid that we don't want to get too far down the line while like while holding like staying on the sidelines and realizing we needed to lay the groundwork to effectively mount a campaign going into November of 2024. So they're being very coy about it.
Starting point is 00:38:26 I mean, article from last week and article from last week in political says, uh, 14 former employees of no labels reveals a cutthroat culture where staffers are routinely fired, pushed out, have little trust in management and believe that the workplace environment is very difficult for minority and female colleagues.
Starting point is 00:38:43 Are we shocked by that? Well, it's a unity ticket, basically. That's why, again, it's hard to take these people seriously because at best, you're like, man, this just feels cynical as fuck. I also have a slightly different perspective on campaign fundraising these days just because you see so much money
Starting point is 00:39:03 go into different parts of politics and it just really not do anything anything i think a prime example of that is rick russo in the mayoral race spending a hundred million dollars of his own money to lose to karen bass which is like i know it's you know probably different territories slightly different situations but that's a hundred million dollars that you've you spent right there for a political campaign and just seeing they've raised 70 million it's like okay so you raised 30 million less for a for a nationwide campaign versus just the city of los angeles and i know you know it's different spending money and blah blah blah but still it's like i don't know these amounts of money don't impress me anymore it's like it just doesn't mean as much
Starting point is 00:39:38 doesn't don't impress me much i get it i think i mean that's why they're you know like other countries 70 million on your campaign other countries just the government will some countries will give you a budget to campaign with yeah true and they'll be like that's it all y'all get the same check for your figure your shit out or there's a cap on what can be spent or you can't do i was gonna say it's a it's a it's a salary cap it's what every sports league does well not every but what the good ones do. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:40:12 When I was in, I was in Berlin with my family a few years ago and all of the political campaign posters are the same. You have exactly like one kind of poster you can use to make your political statement and show a picture. And that's all you get. And like, you know, the walls are littered with a bunch of these, or not littered, but like they have all the pictures posted and it's just one candidate, one line. And it's the exact same thing all across the board. Yeah. Like there'll just be like that one wall in town where the political ads are. Exactly. I really like this, Miles.
Starting point is 00:40:33 I didn't know that about like some countries doing the salary cap on the thing. I, or like the sort of like cap on what the budget cap on what you can do for the campaign. Yeah. And, you know, I don't know if people know this, but in the NBA, any team that goes over the cap, over the luxury, the money that they go over is dollar for dollar given to the teams
Starting point is 00:40:50 that are under the cap. Right. So if they did that, if they did that in politics, it's like every dollar you spend over this bonus, you've got to pay your opponent. It sounds like
Starting point is 00:41:02 what you're trying to describe is some kind of equitable situation now yeah we can't maybe we could start a unity party uh unite the haters but yeah uh look out for them because they look like they're up to no good but again like even at the end of the day i'm not not like, you got to protect Joe Byron because that's not really where I'm coming from. But it's interesting to see like the machinations of like or just the strategeries begin to emerge on what people are looking at, how people are looking at 2024 and what can happen there. But shit, maybe, you know, who knows?
Starting point is 00:41:38 Maybe it's Liz Cheney and Kyrsten Sinema on the ticket or something weird like that. OK. Yeah. Now you got my attention unity okay uh actually never mind fuck that guy um let's oh actually i wanted to talk really quickly just something i've noticed i keep saying this thing called ballers versus haters which is this mentality okay so i mentioned this last week that there's like there seems to be this line people cross as they experience more success or attain more wealth like at a certain point they're no longer capable of hearing any kind of like criticism or observations about their behavior because their constant praise from followers or like sycophants in their inner
Starting point is 00:42:19 circle just like reinforce their egos to the point that they just feel that they have become like infallible um and unassailable and we saw this like the one of the prime examples was with chapelle and elon at that stand-up show in san francisco oh my god like wow like when the booze came out they didn't know how to process that chapelle just went to oh it's because they're broke he said the people booing are in the cheap seats yep right and everyone's like huh so he decided like he wanted he said basically i don't give a fuck about the people that paid that are literally giving me money to see me i'll insult them i'll side with elon and that's what it is and due to like i think the meant the the logic is and due to their broke assness they are haters that's why
Starting point is 00:43:03 you don't need to worry about what they say it's not coming from a real place another example this popped up recently like on instagram i saw like this viral article about a fashion influencer in australia like was at a burberry event and decided to go off on her like the bartender because the dude only filled her champagne flute halfway and it was like people don't want to like people don't care this is like so disgusted like what a failure dot dot dot people in the comments are like what fucking planet are you on like like read the fucking room that's that's actually a tragedy in your life and then this person doubled down with this statement that like further
Starting point is 00:43:42 underlined that her worldview is like i am successful i deserve full champagnes and i don't give a fuck if i have lost all perspective on what hardship is because at the end of the day if i'm going to a luxury event and i don't have a luxury experience something is wrong there and i'm like it it was just this weird like justification of it and i just feel like it's this is starting to like really kind of take hold in this way where the, like the reflex of, of hearing criticisms about your own behavior is just to go to be like, this is woke BS rather than getting, gaining some kind of perspective, like in what is happening. Because at the end of the day, like complain all you want about your situation, but you also need to understand that the world is not a monolith where every person is living as comfortably as you are. So at a certain point, the wealthy and influential,
Starting point is 00:44:32 like lose total sight of the existence of people that are not doing as well as they are. So when these people voice their displeasure over inequality or these, the specific manifestation in a post or video or whatever, it just, it's just like dismiss that it's nonsense they're haters we're fine doing this it just i just i get like it's the same thing with like elon after being like the woke mind virus must be destroyed and it's really just people being like uh this seems actually like in poor taste because of like
Starting point is 00:45:02 rampant inequality and how much people are suffering right now in the world. Anyway. Yeah. There just doesn't seem to be a middle ground where people can like talk about things in a manner that is a little bit of this or a little bit of that. Like you can, you know,
Starting point is 00:45:14 and this isn't a way to defend champagne flute person. No, no, no. Complaining about certain things all of a sudden makes you like, you know, a 1% or, or,
Starting point is 00:45:24 or pointing out a flaw in something or pointing out a mistake in someone's or whatever makes you like you know a one percenter or or pointing out a flaw in something or pointing out a mistake in someone's or whatever makes you a hater and it's just like i don't know that it just discourse seems to be completely destroyed on the internet and it's just not even worth it's not even worth participating well it's yeah there's just this like thing this out it's it's the same. Like when people were talking about the Twitter files and they want or like Ben Shapiro was like, then the Twitter took this like do good in the world like ethos. Yeah. What the fuck is wrong with that?
Starting point is 00:45:55 Yeah. You know what I mean? And like to try and like label that as like, and you know what that means? What? Exactly. Help fucking people make shit less shitty for other people. What the fuck? what do you mean it's like it's just turning into like another thought killing cliche i feel like that is like kind of rendering people's ability to like you know reckon with like shit like this
Starting point is 00:46:17 effectively it's also then like what then what are you doing if that's an issue to you what are you doing is your job to make things worse in general is that the idea i don't know if that's an issue to you what are you doing is your job to make things worse in general is that the idea i don't know if that's what you take issue if that's what you take issue with people think do good in the world fuck that okay okay well i think it's because it's empathy right right yeah empathy you you can't there's no way you can like be like yeah i'm down with this oppressive bullshit if your levels of empathy expand because the more you have the capacity to sort of like understand someone's situation the more you will see how like caustic and repulsive like the treatment
Starting point is 00:46:57 of certain people are and i think that's where it's like they they can't get that going too far like if there's too much empathy then it's really difficult to like other people in ways that, you know, I think people who are like fear mongering or hate mongering are are used to doing. I'm interested in the psychology of this. As an actor, we often talk about like we have to justify the choices that the characters make. justify the choices that the characters make and as an actor playing it even if you disagree with the choice like if you're playing a bad guy you might disagree with the choice character but you have to justify why they're doing it and i think sometimes what happens is with politics and stuff we'll say that well the cruelty is the point well they're trying to be cruel but the a good actor would say well what are they really trying to do?
Starting point is 00:47:46 They think that I'm trying to be cool because I'm pro-choice. So they think I'm trying to be cruel. They think that my, my pro-choice opinion is cruel or that the fact that I support same-sex marriage, they see that as cruel, that it's mean that I'm doing that because I'm taking something away from their hetero marriage. And so then when we see it that way, I try really, really hard sometimes. I'm like, okay, what is their point with building a wall? Like, I see that as cruel and dumb. But what is their point? And I fail to come up with one i fail to come up with one sometimes
Starting point is 00:48:29 because it doesn't make sense because it's not logical it's not rational to hate people yeah you know what i mean that's the whole thing it confuses you because you're like you you you have enough perspective to be like i don't see people who are lacking as a threat i'm like i don't you understand like you understand the motivations of someone trying to migrate here because you're like the situation is so terrible that this truly because of the nature of like our you know geopolitical system that all the resources are on this side of the planet and you're just trying to get a piece of that. Whereas other people are like, it's a zero sum game.
Starting point is 00:49:09 These people are invading and are going to take things from me. And I think for them, it's like, I hate them because they're trying to take things from me. Yeah. And then I like read the things where I'm like, 80% of criminal activity coming in over the border comes in on an airplane with a person who has a visa. And then I'm like, and then I'm like, I read, uh, I actually seen, I've seen footage of like ventilated tunnels that the cartel has under from, you know,
Starting point is 00:49:39 under the, they can get in. So this wall is like like not only is it mean it's dumb yeah but again so is racism right right exactly and the wall is racist it's dumb big ass racist symbol yeah you don't win you're not gonna win being racist sure you may like you may like fash your way to the top or whatever but it's not gonna be because you win over hearts and minds and i think you say fash as a verb yeah yeah yeah oh i like that yeah you know that's what i do baby you know i like to make up new ways to describe creeping fascists you can fash your way to the top oh you want to fash your way into the party okay it sounds like you're getting a little fashy right now and then that word will lose total meaning and people will be like what's that mean again when you're mean
Starting point is 00:50:31 uh but yeah i think it's just it we're just in this really interesting place too where we're disconnected we're unable to like connect to our humanity in ways and like access our empathy and there's a lot of confusion that abounds because of it. And I think we'll talk about that a little bit more when we talk about the new Avatar film, which we will do right after the break. 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.
Starting point is 00:51:15 Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and L.A.-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, 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,
Starting point is 00:51:57 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. 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.
Starting point is 00:52:22 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? 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,
Starting point is 00:52:59 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four 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. 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.
Starting point is 00:53:24 I just come here and 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.
Starting point is 00:53:37 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? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all
Starting point is 00:53:52 things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back.
Starting point is 00:54:12 The new Avatar movie is out. I haven't seen it yet. I'm going. I'm going. Same. 100%. Same. How waved are you going to get before you go? Extreme.
Starting point is 00:54:20 Are you going to get waved? A bajillion percent. I'm going to come in on a fucking tsunami bro bro i'm about to it's about to be the day after tomorrow in that theater when i roll up in there completely oh my god eyes invisible yeah through the redness i can't even i don't even know what i'm i'm excited to to see it. Everything I see, like, I don't care about the reviews. I'm like, I just need to be like,
Starting point is 00:54:46 Whoa, like that's all. That's all to it. It's a fucking blockbuster. I, I, you know, this is,
Starting point is 00:54:53 you can't tell you something. I had a big sea change in my own life about the movie ambulance. You guys know that movie ambulance? Oh yeah. I remember it. Is that the one? I remember it. Is it Michael Bay?
Starting point is 00:55:03 I think it's a Michael Bay movie. Jake Gyllenhaal? Yeah, Jake Gyllenhaal. Was it Yaya Abdul-Mateen? Yaya Abdul-Mateen, right? Yes. And at first, I was watching the trailer. I'm like, this movie is stupid.
Starting point is 00:55:19 I know what's going to happen. It's a movie. It's a completely ridiculous plot. This is so dumb. Why am I watching this? And then I watched it on a plane, which is not the place to watch it. But when I tell you, I had my face like two inches from the screen.
Starting point is 00:55:35 It's like, Oh my God. Weren't people crying in that movie? I don't know. Probably. I remember reading people like Twitter jokes being like, that movie i don't know probably i remember reading people like twitter jokes being like man motherfucker crying to me in ambulance it's just it's a fucking action flick and it rules it rips you're not there for the yeah you're not there for the robert mckee perfect script right it doesn't need to it doesn't need to and it rips so i think that's what i mean that's
Starting point is 00:56:06 how i'm going into avatar i think that's how some people are going into avatar others with a bit of a heavier emotional burden you know like i a lot of people are like the new avatar is coming out are we gonna see their like resurgence of post avatar depression syndrome because i don't know if you remember when it came out in 2010 that was like a huge or like it was more of a joke i remember being like what i'm like people fucking like are so fucked up that pandora doesn't exist that they just keep going to like the movie theater over and over um the headlines are like audiences experience avatar blues or other ones are saying like avatar fans feel want to do self-harm because planet pandora is not real the avatar effect movie goers feel
Starting point is 00:56:51 depressed and even suicidal and not being able to visit utopian alien planet i think that you know we're looking at it that it's not just about that this thing doesn't exist and our writer jm mcnabb was like sort of just being like you know what it what? It's not just as simple as this thing doesn't exist. And when you track it, it started with a message board post in 2009. A guy said he was just depressed after watching Avatar. But not just because Pandora is so dope, but because it illustrates the current ecological state of the Earth and made him feel that quote humanity is going south and a lot of people talked about that in this like message this web board web board uh web board post and the thread had a ton other like fans being like this yes all of this which got the media's attention but it wasn't just
Starting point is 00:57:37 like happening in the immediate aftermath of the release in 2009 2010 the trend has even continued when people like like who have just watched the movie for the first time like on video and a lot of people like it's not a like obviously quote medically recognized condition but they say it is an observable phenomenon and it seems like as people like sort of like reckon with this a lot of the commentary seems to be that it's like sort of filtering these like really valuable or really valid relatable feelings that exist like outside of the film itself like you feel quote disconnected from nature like you're worried about the future of your own planet and you're feeling dissatisfied with modern life and these anxieties are just
Starting point is 00:58:21 being brought to the forefront by this film like like on a massive level, which makes sense because the film isn't just like this massive film. It was like a globe. It's like one of the most widely filmed scene, like widely seen films of all time. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it's just a very interesting take on that, because. So in 2010, my perspective about like how disconnect, I mean, I was what, 26 or something, barely figuring my shit out, like being angry as fuck that I was like living at home, like trying to be like, well, what's happened in this economy? Right. That, yeah, for me, I didn't have, I was just like, yeah, I don't know. Are they really that upset? Whatever. But the more you kind of, as life progresses and I've gained more perspective, I'm like, oh, there is something really interesting about that. Because did you see the How To With John Wilson
Starting point is 00:59:08 episode where he met up with other people in this sort of avatar support group? No. There's an episode about that? I did not. Oh, I have to watch that one. It's the second season, I imagine. Yeah. Oh, I've got to watch that. He finds, like, that's when it got more attention. That's when i began seeing it very differently because he went to this group they're all talking about their feelings of depression and how disconnected they felt and they just but one person said quote for me the post avatar depression hit hard because i have this serial track record of trying to escape my
Starting point is 00:59:39 reality oh and it's in that in that it was such a really like very sincere portrayal of all these people who are like learning that v and all these other things and it created like a community like with people who are really having like a like really struggling but they can't they found this like common ground through this and i was like oh my god like yeah it it's it for some for i mean i understand the reasons but some people it just resonates with like on a level that like you know it's different than most people and i just think that's a really or i guess underrated dimension of like what the avatar film is and i don't know how serious it will be in this era or what kind of commentary we're going to get out of
Starting point is 01:00:19 like this feeling but or this film but it is something that i just feel like i'm i understand a little bit better than i did like what 12 years ago yeah i was thinking about 12 years ago when i would watch a movie like this you know not just avatar but anything where you know other worlds are involved or something like that you you naturally think well what would happen if aliens landed tomorrow or what would happen if we invented a ship that we could fly to Saturn tomorrow? And I used to believe that like, oh, it would be something great for humanity as I've gotten a little older and
Starting point is 01:00:53 maybe more cynical. Now I believe like if aliens landed tomorrow, half of us would be screaming at him to kill him. The other half would be accept them. We would be, it would become a political thing within five minutes. You know, if, if we suddenly found that there was a way for us to take a ship and land on Mars, half of us would be saying we should not be colonizers of another planet.
Starting point is 01:01:15 The other half would be saying this is a new dimension for humanity. It's like we're so, we would poison it. We would poison it so quickly. Yeah. And when you watch Avatar, you see investment into science. You see scientists being believed. You see, like, future technologies being embraced and used for good and bad. But also, like, you see, it feels like a utopia that just doesn't or can't exist.
Starting point is 01:01:43 Yeah, but a utopia that has a very strong neocolonial themes very strong very fern gully yes very fern gully i was actually going to echo something very similar that you said bezod was that like you know i i feel like avatar is certainly unique in this and i think it's honestly a testament to how well james cameron was able to create this world of pandora and also literally like how it looks like the just the the the graphical caliber of this has got to be contributing to it because this is far from the first movie to purport purport a utopian society or just like a future world that's really cool it's like like, there are lots of, even like, you know, there's cartoons.
Starting point is 01:02:27 There's like, remember Titan AE, which was all about like, you know, there was terraforming, that whole planet and stuff like that. And even like Star Wars and Star Trek, which is all about a utopian kind of society where we are post-economy
Starting point is 01:02:42 and post-hunger and all this. We're post, not starvation, but we're post- basically and it's like you know i'm it's it is curious to me that avatar is the one to do it whereas there's been so many of these stories about the future that are like this is what society could be and yet avatar is the one that's creating the syndrome it's just like it's very that part of it is very interesting i think a part of it has it must be to do with the 3d you know it's like like you're to your point there are many other films that create these fantasy worlds that people have escaped in and like we've seen many fandoms like constantly like escaping to the realities of these like films right but i think the i don't know the 3d nature of it all, I think, was definitely, like, shocked my media brain.
Starting point is 01:03:27 Because I wasn't, 3D shit I was used to seeing was, like, having the blue and red lenses on and looking at a comic book and shit. Right. You know what I mean? It wasn't, like, move my head around and look around and be like, yo, I might be in some fucking place. Right. I don't know. It might have something to do with it. I don't know. It might have something to do with it.
Starting point is 01:03:51 But all that to say is like, I think it really kind of speaks to just a general malaise people do feel of like are increasingly like sort of isolated worlds. All that say, hey, get out there, get a sense of community. And yeah, like it's funny that people who have who suffered from this, like, you know, post-Avatar depression thing in like 10 years ago, like are just a little, like joking about it now. They're like, yeah. Like who have like sort of moved on and moved past that. They said, yeah, like in quote,
Starting point is 01:04:10 this one person said, this is a movie about blue space cats. So, and like at the end of the day, it's like, there's a good portion of people that are like Avatar two. Did we really need this movie? Yes.
Starting point is 01:04:20 Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Are we also like three, four and five. So, Oh yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:24 Isn't it up to like five? Are they doing like five? There are five on the books. Yeah. Stoked. Stoked? Ready. We ready.
Starting point is 01:04:33 We ready. But yeah, I think it's an interesting commentary. And I'm curious to see what this film brings out. If it is the same thing or if people just have these weird weird conflicting like ways they've taken the film in but it'll be hard for me to take anything in because i'll be wave okay wiggity waved uh bazod man thank you so much for stopping by the daily zeitgeist always love having you man where can people find you follow you support you check you out all that it's my name on twitter and instagram and website so it's b-e-h z-a-d-d-a-b-u that handle you can find me on all over the internet clean clean is the troll is
Starting point is 01:05:15 there a uh tweet or some kind of social media media media post that you've been liking that you want to call out you know i don't know if this counts is if youtube counts as social media it does yeah why not whatever you fucking with but but i uh i've been in a rabbit hole of watching just random clips not full episodes but just random clips on youtube from the show naked and afraid oh hell y'all ever seen that show hell yeah yeah yeah it's just wild the reason why i'm watching it right now is because it is so the opposite of anything I would ever do. I wouldn't survive five minutes in these places. I need a Hilton every night. I wouldn't survive five minutes.
Starting point is 01:05:54 But these people are like, you know, hunting animals with feathers and sleeping outside and the bugs and the rain. Oh, my God. I watch like five, six-minute clips on YouTube. And I've gotten to the point, though, where I've watched them all. I think I've watched all the ones available on YouTube. What about you, Daniel? Thank you, bro, for pulling up.
Starting point is 01:06:17 Oh, my pleasure. Happy to be here. How did they find you? What's some social media you're messing with? Similar to Bayzad, I have unified the brand. It is DJ underscore Daniel, D-A Bayzad, I have unified the brand. It's DJ underscore Danil. D-A-N-L on all the things. You can find me on Twitch on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. And on
Starting point is 01:06:31 Twitter, Instagram, all that shit. Anyway, my one piece of social media is from Grace G. Freud. Went to see Avatar 2 with my Na'vi friend. And he kept being like, nah, it's not like that. Shut the fuck up, man.
Starting point is 01:06:48 That's really good. If I could plug something real quick. There's this amazing Pulitzer Prize winning play called Disgraced that I worked on a while back ago, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013, I believe. But
Starting point is 01:07:03 recently, Los Angeles TheatreWork Works did a recording of it. And it's a really good recording because, unlike, it's not just our voices, they hired a professional Foley artist to sort of create the environment on the recording. Nice. And it's really well done. And you can buy it for five bucks on the Los Angeles Theatre website. That's a fucking deal. The Los Angeles Theatre Works website.
Starting point is 01:07:23 And you can buy it for five bucks and it's, it's pretty damn cool. It's an, it's 90 minutes and you get a full story and it's a, it's, it's really great. Features a lot of amazing actors and, and cool social issues.
Starting point is 01:07:35 So I want to plug that. And also I'm the director of the acting track for Lena weights, Hillman grad mentorship lab. And the application is out now for a season three of that, which is a free eight month program for actors, writers, and producers. Wow.
Starting point is 01:07:50 Completely free. And, uh, applications are out and due in mid January. So those are the two things I wanted to, where do they find the word if they want to apply for those that are listening, where can,
Starting point is 01:08:00 where can they apply? They can plan the Hillman grad websites and Hillman Grad Instagram has information and all that thing. So Hillman Grad is Lena Waithe's production company. And yeah, it's a really great program. Okay. Okay. Some tweets that I like. Jamie Lofty.
Starting point is 01:08:17 Jamie Loft has helped tweeted. If nothing else, 2022 is the year I sent a nude from the bathroom of a hot dog restaurant. And I'm like, yeah, that's the most on-brand tweet. Let's go. For our queen, Jami Lofty. Another one is from Rosie Card at Rosemary Card tweeted, Men, every list says you want beard oil, a pocket knife, or something leather. What do you actually want?
Starting point is 01:08:42 Man, I don't want none of that shit. Yo, what the fuck? What? Nah, miss me. Nah, I don't need a knife, I don't want none of that shit. Yo, what the fuck? What? Nah, miss me. Nah, I don't need a knife. I don't need beer. I ain't got no beard. You know, to necessitate fucking oil or something leather.
Starting point is 01:08:54 If you want to buy something, look, I love music. This is the easiest thing. We just had a Christmas party for the office and we were playing a white elephant party. I saw there was a vinyl record. I've snatched that at the white. I can tell it was a vinyl record. I opened it up. It was Mariah Carey special edition Christmas album on vinyl.
Starting point is 01:09:14 I said, let's fucking go. Shout out Anna for giving me that gift that she brought that to the party. But I think something just get the real no thought gift. Take an album somebody loves. Get it to him on vinyl. Truly great answer. Or if you want to get a man, if you want to get a man,
Starting point is 01:09:30 a gift, welcome to the manosphere, go to Brookstone and get anything. Go to Brookstone and literally get anything. Just like randomly fucking eeny, meeny, miny, moe a box or a sharper image. Same thing.
Starting point is 01:09:49 Same shit. Because I walk into a Brookstone and I'm like, oh, that's cool. Oh, that's cool. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Outdoor speakers. Oh, outdoor speakers.
Starting point is 01:10:00 Very good. I'll fuck with that. I'll tell you something I will fuck with. Like a cooler bag I can take out in the summer that you could just dump a bunch of ice in there you put your beverages in whatever that may be so you can just carry around the bag with you have to bring a hard cooler i like something like that i'll take a picnic blanket that's packable i just it was like it's like it fits in a little pocket like this you can throw that shit out and it's easy it's easy anyway uh what's be a little pocket like this, you can throw that shit out and it's easy.
Starting point is 01:10:25 It's easy. Anyway, what's Becca saying in the chat? She said, I'm on the Filson website. What's the Filson website? What's Filson? I don't even know what that is.
Starting point is 01:10:33 Filson? No, I don't know what that is. Okay, maybe it's just my partner's obsession with Filson, but. It's outdoor wear.
Starting point is 01:10:41 Yo, this is like cowboy gear. Yeah. Oh, this is like some outdoor. My. Oh, this is like some outdoor. My man's B on Filson's website. He's in the Filson's store. How many chainsaws your man got? You know, actually, I think he has two.
Starting point is 01:10:57 Okay. Because this website, one of the first images you see is like this dude getting down with a fucking chainsaw. Yeah, he's the kind of guy who wears Carhartt and means it. You know what I mean? There you go. It's the kind of guy who wears Carhartt and means it. You know what I mean? There you go. Yeah. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 01:11:09 He's like, I work in this. Okay. Okay. I'm also for street wear. So, you know, I've never,
Starting point is 01:11:16 I've never heard of Filson. Yeah. Damn. Dang. Maybe he's just, Hey, look, if you're all looking for a gift,
Starting point is 01:11:23 they got a motherfucking, they got a $500 fucking flannel. The fuck? Honestly, it honestly it's really nice every time i go in there i'm like wow these are some woodsy men that are really kind to me um hello i look out of place as fuck but their stuff seems really hardy this shit looks like also too like for a like a 150 flannel you're like yeah i bet you could fucking run through a fire in that shit. I mean, you better be able to run through a fire without paying $150 for a flannel. I could find this at TJ Maxx for
Starting point is 01:11:51 $8. Yeah, that's true. Woodsy men who are very kind. Sounds like the libertarian tagline. I mean, it might as well be Portland, they think. That's what Portland wishes they were, is that tagline. Do you own a gun but think gay people should be able to get married?
Starting point is 01:12:10 This website's for you. Shout out, Filson. Shout out, Filson. All right. Let's see. What else did I like? I don't know. There's some random TikTok.
Starting point is 01:12:18 Oh, my God. I got to start reposting these TikToks that I like. Stupid, man. There is some really funny stuff. Anyway, find me at Miles of gray on twitter and instagram uh you can also find me and jack on our basketball podcast miles and jack on matt boosties you can find me on my 90 day fiance podcast for 20 day fiance with sophie alexandra uh yeah and check us out at daily zeitgeist on twitter at the daily zeitgeist on instagram we got a facebook fan page a website dailyzeitgeist on Twitter, at The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram. We've got a Facebook fan page, a website, dailyzeitgeist.com, where we post our episodes
Starting point is 01:12:46 and our footnotes. Footnotes! Where we talk about, you know, you can see the articles that we're talking about, as well as the song we red-eyed out on. What's it gonna be? This song, I wanna do a little French rap. Ooh, great. This one is from this artist named
Starting point is 01:13:01 Jean Jass. J-E-A-N J-A-S-S. And this track, I got to make sure I got my fucking French pronunciation on, is En Convenience. Okay? And yeah, this shit goes. This is a dope track. Mostly because I don't understand the words, but I like the lyrical style of this MC.
Starting point is 01:13:24 So check this track out to start your week. And we'll be back later on to tell you what's trending. Oh, obviously, this show is a production of iHeartRadio. So get this shit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. See you later. Bye. Bye.
Starting point is 01:13:43 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. 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. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.
Starting point is 01:14:19 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.
Starting point is 01:14:44 Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadson. 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 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.
Starting point is 01:15:02 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.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.