The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 288 (Best of 8/21/23-8/25/23)
Episode Date: August 27, 2023The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 301 (8/21/23-8/25/23)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
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I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult.
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Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of the weekly Zeitgeist. These are some of our
favorite segments from this week, all edited together into one nonstop infotainment laugh-stravaganza.
Yeah.
So without further ado, here is the weekly zeitgeist.
Well, Miles, we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat
by a brilliantly talented filmmaker, writer.
She was one of the head writers for The Problem with Jon Stewart
and wrote on Girls 5 Ever, Bless This Mess,
The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, among many others.
She wrote, directed, and starred in the acclaimed short film Basic,
hosts the podcast Celebrity Book Club.
It's Chelsea Devante!
Chelsea!
Oh, hi.
I love that big intro, like shouting my name into a cave, you know, seeing what echoes back.
Into a cave full of the entire internet.
That's right.
The whole damn internet is here to welcome you on the Zyke guys.
I'm feeling very blessed to be back here and continue some very important discussions.
Yes.
Always.
back here and continue some very important discussions.
Yes.
Always.
Yeah.
So this is our Tuesday episode where we kind of take a look at one specific topic that we think kind of undergirds the whole zeitgeist that is important to understanding the zeitgeist.
Yes.
And undergirds are what I use instead of Spanx.
So very important.
They were the, yeah, pre-date Spanx.
That's right.
What's my secret?
Undergirds.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, so we wanted to have you on.
You had one of our favorite observations in the history of the show when you basically said that you knew Trump was going to win the 2016 election based off of watching the
bachelor and then you explained why and it made perfect sense and looking at pop culture tea
leaves and like reading what it like what is actually being said about what's happening to
people on the inside what what is going on with our shared dreams is one of my favorite subjects you are really good at it we love to do it on the zeitgeist and so we
wanted to have you on to do just that and we'll get into what specifically uh we're talking or
actually we can do that now i mean yeah we threw out stan culture being the new religion we've
talked about that before but this one subject keeps popping up on social media.
It popped up over the weekend after we had selected this subject.
And that is kind of like the desexualization of pop culture.
Movie sex scenes in particular seem to be like a particular thing that is that people are objecting to lately
and are like why do these exist when i watch an 80s movie why does dan akroyd get a blood job
from a ghost for instance and that that one's actually a really good question but anyways
there's all sorts of things we've talked about before the idea that
like desexualized beautiful bodies is like actually a feature of fascist art and so we've we've puzzled
over whether that's what we're seeing here but there's lots of as this has become more and more
of a mainstream thing that we're seeing on social media. There's lots of explanations and we thought you were the best person to have on the show to talk about this.
I'm thrilled to be here to talk about like very hot, sexy bodies not having sex.
No, but I was so fascinated you guys chose this because it's also something I've been thinking
about a lot. Also, just as like a side
topic and where I'm coming from, I was, you know, the writers are on strike right now. But before
we were on strike, I was pitching a show and one of the demographics it was going out to,
it was going to be like part for millennials, part for Gen Z, sort of this basically like
late 20s, early 30s audience that people seem to think millennials and Gen Z
are just like so, so, so different.
So when you're pitching for like that late 20s, early 30s,
executives start referencing studies
like the ones we're going to talk about,
like Gen Z actually isn't having sex anymore.
So like, can one of these characters
just like not have a partner of any kind
and they just kind of like live in a hole
and they stare at a wall because that's what we assume Gen Z is doing.
And it was so frustrating because every time I looked around, be it from people in my real life, the youth of the real life, TikTok, social media, really anything.
I just kept feeling like that is not true at all. Even in Gen Z
reality shows, like they are getting engaged, they're getting married, they're talking about
dating, kind of like the same way you've always had this feeling of like, you know, I want to be
having good sex, but I'm not. I don't know if that's something particular to me and my friends,
but like, I remember in my early 20s, it was like, yeah, we would like to be having sex,
but no one's having sex like sex in the city. Like it just feels like a 20s it was like yeah we would like to be having sex but no one's having sex like
sex in the city like it just feels like a 20s thing and unless of course you know i'm sure some
people were but anyways all to say that like i really think about these studies that are being
referenced like gen z is like this and da da da is like this and all i keep thinking about is like
who's doing these studies and maybe maybe Gen Z is just not participating.
Yeah.
Right.
You know what?
We're actually not going to answer the polls about, like, what we've been fucking lately.
We're just not.
Because I just don't think they're correct.
But I would love to hear what you guys think. It's like the political polls that are like, man, these elderly people certainly over index.
They seem like they're doing great.
And it's like, well, how did you conduct this? Calling landlines.
Exactly. Exactly. It's like, oh, I guess we didn't predict the election correctly off of the hundred landlines.
I mean, how weird do you have to be to pick up the phone these days? Who is answering the phone? We're trusting them with our polling data. The people who answer an unknown number, I don't trust them.
seen them with our polling data the people who answer an unknown number i don't trust them we actually asked a bunch of gen z people's grandparents about their sexual behavior and
this is what they told us this is what they told us yeah i just i think uh so anyways i do but what
i do think is a really interesting discussion with this fascism thing is um and the thing that I've been feeling is that I'll say as a millennial to the Gen Zs is perhaps lacking nuance, discourse nuance, which I don't know how, I mean, how close do you think lack of nuance and understanding nuance is to turning fascist?
Right.
You know, on the nuance to fascist spectrum i do think we're somewhat close but i
don't think it's fascism i think it's nuance yeah yeah i think that's probably true more we do like
to ask our guest what is something from your search history um i like to pick the i tried to
pick the most boring one um good good i feel like that makes for a good podcast. And last night I searched, how do I cook potatoes?
Ooh.
Okay.
Yeah.
I love this.
Yeah.
My wife made a really good curry, although she, and look, I love spicy.
I actually really do like spicy shit, but by any measure, it was way too spicy.
Just like nose flooding kind of
spicy you know so i had to go i was like we can't waste all this curry she made so much so i went to
the store and got potatoes uh corn and onions and i was like i'm gonna thicken up this curry i'm
gonna i'm gonna cut the curry with various vegetables stepped on you need this curry to
be stepped on exactly bingo so then
and then i just uh yeah so then i um ended up uh boiling the potatoes for 25 minutes
and uh yep and it was great honestly a little bit of salt and then a little bit of salt on
the onions cook the onions in a separate pan and uh yeah ended up really uh making a solid curry
i'm gonna say this listen i'm as a potato lover um i wouldn't trust
anybody who's who don't like potatoes you know everybody can eat them vegans can eat them
everybody can eat a potato right and there's a and it's a choose your own adventure with the
potato like what is what would you see what would you say your top three potato is i mean look
potatoes are french fries potatoes are potato chips potatoes are you know the like a sad little cousin the baked potato uh yeah dude i love a hash
brown i'll do a hash brown any day i'll do a night hash brown you know i don't know why we're saving
for brunch a night yeah a night hash brown yeah a night hash brown is great so good i'll do
scrambled eggs with like veggies on top and hash browns on top.
It's this whole...
It's a hash.
It's a mixed up hash.
Are we talking shredded hash or are we talking hash brown patties?
Beautiful question.
Thank you, Jaquese.
I would do...
I'm going to go shredded.
Just because they're a little...
You know what else I love is the little shoestring potatoes.
I like a thin...
I prefer a thin potato as opposed to a thick.
So you can get a lot of the crust on the potato.
I feel like hash brown is...
We have lots of potato options for dinner and lunch that are all good.
You ran through a bunch of them.
The chip, the french fry, mashed potatoes I even love.
I love your mash.
Yep.
the french fry uh mashed potatoes i even love i love your mash yep breakfast potatoes though i i feel like hash browns are so far out in front of the home style potatoes i do not like home
style potatoes i think keep those in your home you they can see them in home you yeah you they
they are so easy to fuck up that's the the thing. Yeah. Because the thing about a breakfast potato in any variety, whether it's hash brown patty
or shredded hash brown, even breakfast, is the seasoning.
Yes.
That's what's going to end.
The thing about shredded is it's shredded so thinly that the seasoning really soaks
in really well.
And when they're diced or homestyle, they're just cubes of potato.
So the seasoning to be followed
you got to make them soft and if you don't you make them too hard then that season's not gonna
hit the home style potato is my my least favorite of the breakfast potato and they're they're leaning
so hard on rosemary they're acting like rosemary is gonna they just found out about it yeah yeah
it's not that great no it's the most like yeah it tastes yeah it's like a it's like a subtle
it's like slightly better tasting like pencil shavings or something you know what i mean yeah
this is weird this tastes weird yeah texture is a problem yeah rosemary is like a suggestion of
us it's like a whisper of a seasoning it's it's a garnish almost yeah yeah oh the little the little
spike things oh yeah yeah it smells great smells Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Smells great.
Smells like it's going to be delicious.
Yeah, yeah.
But you shouldn't have to eat it.
It's like pine needles.
Tastes like weird air.
Yeah, yeah.
By the way, Potatoes O'Brien, my AKA, is not a good potatoes dish. I don't think I've ever fully come out and said that.
potatoes dish i don't think i've ever fully come out and said that but uh it's like green peppers and red peppers and maybe some tomatoes thrown in uh and like with some home fries and it's just not
not the thing that i'm looking for from potatoes yeah that's fair it's all about the crisp it's
exactly like you were saying about the hash browns you want you need the surface area to be
much larger than the interior area yes yeah yeah give me a lot of surface area nice crust underrated potato underrated potato
cheesy scalloped underrated yeah you don't you don't get it too often but every time i do i'm
like the shit hits well here's what's interesting is most so like most cheese dishes are just
cheese delivery systems, right?
Like, your mac and cheeses, you know what I'm saying?
But the cheesy scallops or your au gratin potatoes, those are both potatoes, which are amazing, and cheese, which is great.
So you can't really go wrong.
It's beautiful.
Oh, man.
Beautiful thing.
Real casserole.
If I'm going to go casserole, I don't mind the two predominant ingredients being cheese and potatoes.
That's a beautiful thing.
This is now a pretty passable food podcast.
We just changed.
It is.
It's whatever,
it's whatever you want it to be.
Alison,
what is something that you think is overrated?
I'm having a tough time deciding between two things.
One is the summer i really don't care for it like start to finish don't like probably our most common answer to overrated and
then the second then okay you the duplass brother um do i any actually i'll gonna expand it any brother related team interesting
always overrated always more than you need um for some reason people around the world love to
see brothers doing things together i guess that's cute for him or something but not
me i don't care for it there's that whole brother team twin cest thing with brothers that happens
i don't know about that wait wait i have a brother what am i doing wrong she just said that
that people love to see brothers doing things and i was you just bringing up. Oh, you think it's like a fetish? No, no, no.
I was just bringing up that like,
there's a pornographic contingent
to the phenomenon Allison is speaking of.
I was just giving further supporting evidence.
I thought I was being helpful.
I think it's an interesting theory
that the Coen brothers are the result of everybody being like,
what if those two brothers had sex with each other
like they deep down that's really what everyone's interested in i don't know i think they just think
it's so fun that these brothers like want to work together but they're brothers yeah i don't know
people really get a hang of it yeah yeah but uh i also recently uh realized that joel cohen was one of the writers
of toy story as was um joss whedon and i just thought wow that was before i knew i didn't know
that yeah um joseph whedon yes yes but were there like 25 writers of Toy Story? No, there's four.
There's only four.
But for an animated movie,
you know, that's not that bad.
And Ethan Coen went out on his own and directed Garfield.
Yeah.
Different Ethan Coen. Yes.
Okay.
In a group of brothers, like when there's four or five
brothers, you know there's never more than two talented
ones.
It's just like a gang mentality you just see so many people come and you're like whoa look at all this talent but it's still just the one or two guys it's still only alec baldwin
and maybe a little daniel baldwin he's still saddled with a lot of brothers out there yeah
the uh hughes brothers the um who made menace to society and then like immediately or and then they
made dead presidents and then split up yeah there there's a lot of there is just something that
people are like god it would be so fun if these brothers like kept doing stuff together yeah
people are excited there's new brothers i didn't see the movie but that it's not called talk to
the hand but whatever that movie's called called, those has Australian brothers behind it.
Yes. And, and I, and people really like that one. I could tell.
Yeah.
You could tell from the trailer, the brothers had made it.
Yeah. They listed their same name.
Oh, okay. I thought you meant like you,
you saw the first frames and you were like, wait a second.
I thought you meant like you saw the first frames and you were like, wait a second.
I can smell the five.
From the sexiest brothers.
They're rarely sexy.
Rarely
are the brothers sexy.
They're more often sexy.
They don't work together that much,
those brothers, right?
They just happen to be brothers
that both... I don't have a
problem with that like if your brother is also out there i don't i don't enjoy the brothers that
that have this that work together as a team i think i find that to be overrated yeah was the
question what about if they have different names like estevez and sheen can they work together um yeah i don't i'm sure america wants them to and then it works yeah beach boys not a fan
we don't like the beach boys fuck the beach boys right we can all agree on that i like
brian wilson but i don't know his brother seems to be a bit of a pill. Yeah.
Alyssa, what is something you think is overrated?
Well, I'm not going to say New York.
Okay.
Sounds like you were going to say New York.
No, you just all clearly are big fans.
I think showering.
For me, showering. um, it just feels very, um,
like punitive. It feels kind of like, uh, there's no dignity in it. Um, you know, it feels like a punishment cold. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I don't enjoy it. It's so boring. I mean,
it's, it's mind numbing. That's a huge thing. It really like rips you out of your routine. You know, it's it's hard to have a fluid thought, you know, coming from like the desk into the shower and back out. I mean, it's just like this, like a salt of the senses.
of the senses and yeah um i get a lot of fluid thoughts like get this fluid off of me right yeah i feel like showering there's too many thoughts like i i don't know you're like kind
of alone with your thoughts which can be a good thing and a bad thing but like i yeah and you're
also like oh right this is my body right yeah it's like a hard it's a moment it's a time for a hard truth
it's a very corporeal experience yeah just like you're watching things like go down and drain
you know like everything's like suddenly a metaphor truly yeah it's also one of the last
places you can't use your phone and so that you know that
really irks me it's like that i think showering and um getting your haircut the only two places
now you can't use your phone left you can't use your phone when you get your haircut do you use
your phone do you like scroll through your phone when you're getting a haircut i just hire someone
to hold it in front of my face for me and scroll. I say scroll.
Yes.
It reads my eyes.
Yeah.
No, it's rude, I guess.
But if it's not rude, I'm doing it.
I'm starting it.
No, no, I definitely don't.
Unless like somebody like there's something happening, like I'm getting messages or something.
Otherwise, yes, I find it rude.
Like I am such a people pleaser that i like getting my haircut is an intensely
uncomfortable experience for me because i'm just like oh god what do i say what do i do what do i
like and yeah i just like want whoever's cutting my hair to like me for some reason uh it's a bad
scene bad scene in there what is uh what's something you think is overrated overrated all right uh this was a little tough for
me but um i recently uh through some miracle of financing uh purchased a cabin um okay and i had
a home inspection done and i thought okay great that's gonna that's gonna cover me for everything
uh and it turned out there were several things that he missed uh and so i'm gonna say home
home inspectors are overrated or at least the one that i was assigned uh was it assigned by the by somebody who had a well okay vested
interest in the sale going through i okay maybe i fell for it um i've never i've never gone through
the home buying process before uh and this was someone that was that was uh recommended by our
by our real estate agent who allegedly is there to advocate for us.
But at the same time, she also wants the sale to go through.
Yeah.
So anyone who's out there looking at a home, maybe get your own home inspector.
And, uh, yeah, just like, uh, for instance, our, the very first day after we closed, um,
the refrigerator, uh, I noticed, uh, was not working.
Uh, and I looked in the home inspection report and,
the inspector noted there is a refrigerator.
That was the, that was the extent of his inspection.
Like he hadn't bothered to like open the,
open it and touch a can.
Oh man,
this place is great.
Look at that guy.
You got a refrigerator.
You got like chair right over there.
Whoa,
whoa,
you got outlets to plug stuff in.
Okay.
Okay.
He didn't let me test all the outlets. So at least we know that's not the problem with the refrigerator.
Yeah, yeah, right.
And then there's a small deck that's off the back, and then we wanted to get it tightened up and fixed up,
and so the deck guy came and said, oh, they built that on top of the old balcony,
and then look at that, you can see the old balcony joist, and then they just wedged the supports in under that,
which, again, would have been nice to know from an inspector before
we purchased the home.
Looks like this part is made out of
crackers?
No, here, taste.
Peanut butter.
To be fair, the cabin was built in the 1960s.
There's definitely a lot of
love in there, but there also is a lot of
junk.
Well, that'll work for now.
It's got a lot of southern
influences, let's say, in terms of
how some of the repairs were done.
Not a lot of
overthinking of anything.
I love the idea of
that you had to get the deck tightened
up.
I never like a loosely assembled deck.
He did point out the railing needs to be tightened.
Great.
That's fair enough.
Totally.
I'm willing to tighten the railing.
And again, disclosed.
That's all I asked for.
And again, this is a total privilege thing.
Not everybody can get a house.
I've never been in this position.
But at the same time, yeah,
it would be nice to know literally what you're buying.
So I don't know at what point the real estate agent and the inspector and
everyone else got got together to have a good laugh at our expense but uh i hope they enjoyed
their i hope they enjoyed their drinks i mean there i don't think you have zero recourse if
you do feel that like you were like you know at least got a terrible uh home inspection i'm sure
at some point you can at least complain.
I can definitely
let the real estate agent know, hey, I think
this guy missed some stuff in case you're going
to recommend him to somebody else. She's like, wait, who's this?
I don't know. Sorry. This is like a new phone. I don't know.
I'm counting money right now. Gotta go.
Yeah.
You can at least... New deck.
You can at least put a dead rat
on his windshield.
The home inspector.
The chimney guy, I'll give this guy credit,
the chimney guy found a dead bat in the fireplace,
which was not great, but better than a live bat.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Trying to look on the bright side.
Inhospitable to bats.
Yeah, exactly.
Let that be a warning.
Let that be a warning, bats.
Bats cease to exist
when entering this fireplace.
My aunt and uncle
just sold their house
and my uncle was telling me
this thing he learned
during the process
that real estate agents
compared to the people
they represent
are just people
who aren't real estate agents.
Their homes stay on the market
for like six months
longer on average than everyone else right like because they know that like a buyer will come
along they're not in a panic but when they're representing you right you got a house on this
one you gotta jump on this i don't know if anything else is coming through yeah um so and
presumably the home inspectors who they know are just going to give it a
nice little once over.
Right.
And the ones who are going to like go in and like really inspect their shit.
And then,
you know,
that probably,
you got to touch the cans.
I mean,
guys,
come on.
Yeah.
You got to touch the cans.
That's right.
Then it,
cause part of me is thinking like if a real estate aid,
like they want to get the price down for you. So inspector should be going in and like no this is fucked up this
fucked up you have to tighten that up no i mean they don't want to get the price down for you
price up but i mean at least up i this is i don't know i guess this is me being like
when are they advocating for the customer i know well that's why we should have hired our
own independent they tell you about the property that's why they're advocating and to be fair we did we did sign something with both
with the inspector and the real estate agent saying that you know so i'm sure you know as
far as recourse or whatever you know i'm sure it's all it's all airtight legally and all that
and then of course you know who wants to go to court or get a lawyer or any of that stuff i
might remind you to look at paragraph four oh okay it just says nana nana nana yeah exactly yeah refer to the no take back
the two of you with your legs kicked up smoking cigars yeah that's so weird um
sharing a bathroom i'm going to try to fix the refrigerator myself i uh i have qualified myself
by watching a youtube video yeah and uh ordering a repair kit, and then I
will call a professional.
Let's get a new one. The things that I
can fix in a household
include toilet,
and that's it.
That's about it.
I think maybe a drain pipe.
I think I can usually
figure out what's going on with one of those.
The refrigerator gets pretty complicated.
This one, again, I just watched
two different YouTube videos about it.
They each had the same solution
to the problem of the refrigerator for this model.
And neither of them involves opening up the back.
So I think that part,
I think the fact that I can just do it all
from the internal,
from just moving stuff out of the front,
I'm willing to try that.
I'm also willing to abandon the project after after 10 minutes so it's that's good i learned
like i i've i've looked at all kinds of youtube videos to like do kind of like electrical kind
of stuff i learned the most just from having like my best friend's dad who's an electrician
yeah who like just came by to be like okay let me just show you the basics so you do not fucking
hurt yourself right and then
he's like and this is a couple things you need now i'm out here i'll put in a fucking gfci outlet
if we need to fucking switch it up you need dimmer put in i'll put in a light fixture i don't i'm
one with the electricity damn damn sir you're looking to come up to a cabin and uh do a little
electrical work for the yeah you know i might electrical work scares the shit out of me i
could just see myself dead next to a chair
underneath like a light socket do you know do the most you know the most uh responsible thing was
just turn the power off you know like it's a breaker you know what i mean i did actually
i did actually fix our stove yesterday and and the only reason i did that is because the first
instruction was unplug it i was like okay yes no risk the worst that's gonna happen if i'm going
to make the stove worse. I'm not
going to make myself worse. So far
so good. What's something you think is
underrated? Well, on my
show, Go Fact Yourself, which I'm sure we'll have an opportunity
to promote soon enough, we are
scheduled to have Ed Begley Jr. on the show. In fact,
we were scheduled to have him this past Sunday, but we
canceled it. We postponed because of the
alleged hurricane. And I, in
researching our guest, which I do, I believe that Ed Begley Jr. is criminally underrated as an actor and as a person.
Yeah, he's been in over he's been in like 350 film and TV projects.
He was completely right about the climate and about electric cars and about, you know, all the stuff he does with healthy food and all that.
And he was the butt of jokes for so many years
because he was trying to save the planet.
And now we're all just trying to catch up to Ed Begley Jr.
And then on top of that, he was amazing on Better Call Saul.
And everything else he does.
He does the comedy, does the drama.
He's got a new memoir coming out.
I think Ed Begley Jr. is fantastic.
And then you look at some of these films he made back in the 70s.
He worked a couple times with Paul Schrader
and just all these incredible directors uh doing all this you know very varied work and uh
ed begley jr i am on board and i'm very excited to host him uh when we reschedule that show
damn for sure yeah also stay is working too and stay is working works constantly like it's
generous with his time he has good energy you know yeah he does short films he does uh feature you know he'll do big big projects he'll do things to help people
out he's been on broadway i mean he's he's amazing people were clowning him for having a electric
vehicle like early on in the game and they're like and he's like just wait you dumb fucks i'm
from the future basically yeah and that's and that is verygley way. But I think also shout out to him.
He also went to,
we went to the same high school,
not at the same time,
obviously,
but he's also from the Valley or grew up in the Valley.
I know he's from New York originally,
but he,
he grew up in the Valley too.
Oh,
no kidding.
I always,
yeah.
He's always at the like studio city farmer.
Yeah.
You definitely can see him in the,
in the Valley all over.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All the time.
And for a while,
it was sort of a joke because you knew when you were driving by ed begley's house because it was the one with you know the solar
panels and the electric car and yeah yeah and all that and now all the all the houses in that
neighborhood look like that exactly there is that simpsons joke that uh super producer brian
shared that i remember that is uh powered by my own was it sense of self-satisfaction. And that's another thing. He did that voice for that joke about himself.
That's so great.
Hey, he was right.
All that, and you're right,
and you have a sense of humor about it.
Yeah, amazing.
Well, that was very cool.
Let's take a quick break,
and we'll come back and talk about the news.
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 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, 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. 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
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 a hundred percent 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,
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?
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?
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're back.
And we are at a point in history, just for people listening to this on Friday,
we are at a point where Donald Trumpald trump's mugshot has not been
released yet i don't know if where where you people are it has been released we we do not have
any insight into the mugshot although we have gotten to see like his team's mugshots have you
guys seen seen those rudy giuliani looking yeah the most like a crooked politician
who's been caught
doing something
it's pretty great
it's amazing that that is what
he went with
I don't know if they were like
if he didn't know when the picture
was being taken but he
just looks so much
like he's just yeah like a corrupt politician being
caught doing something and like he's in the middle of the phrase like i would have gotten away with
it too if it weren't for you meddling kids yeah you meddling liberals like nobody else out of the like group of mugshots there's there's one guy
who's like gone real evil like there is a darkness inside his soul uh the guy in the blue shirt he
looks like the mugshots of famous people like when they're caught like doing a dui like you can see
that their life is at the lowest point that it's ever been at like that which again it just
feels like I don't know I assumed
everyone would go in smiling
right like isn't that what you're supposed to do
yeah yeah I mean I would go in
smiling that guy the blue shirt
guy looks like if you
the people that commit the most
like atrocious crimes
they're like oh that guy had somebody in his
basement for 20
you'd be like oh that makes sense that makes sense why he has that look on his face like he's devoid
of any soul yeah yeah there's a woman smiling like the youngest person in these pictures uh
is a woman who was one of trump's lawyers who would like go on fox news and say things i forget
her name but she'd go on fox news and say things. I forget her name, but she'd go
on Fox News and say things that would make
people be like, wait, you're a
lawyer? Are you sure? Sorry.
It says here you're a lawyer, but our
researchers must have gotten that wrong because what you're
saying does not make any sense.
But yeah,
she's smiling. I think she got the
she understood the assignment.
And her picture looks the best
she looks wonderful her hair done you know got the little side part almost going down i see her
i see a little newt gingrich guy who's like also smiling and just looks like you know he's having
a good time which i think i think that should always be your goal in the mugshot is like, ah, don't let the bastards get you down.
He's also missing the top right of his skull.
Uh,
in this picture.
It's like a blown out.
Yeah.
He is so white.
His hair is so white.
And then they've like blown out the lighting so much.
He's just,
he's so blind that he makes cameras not work anymore.
He's just, it looks like he's dissolving into light um but i also love that like i also love that like still to this is it has to be purposeful like with how great cameras are like they still
use like like a six like megapixel camera for all they make sure like an iphone can get better
pictures than these but they still use the worst camera they could possibly use for mug shots
and it cracks me up so much it's so funny the lighting on giuliani is very like german
expressionism like he looks he looks like
nosferatu like got forced to go outside in the daytime yeah yeah he really does like he looks
like they were just like a asshole like and he he was like busily like devouring a mouse in the
corner and then they were like hey rudy what are you doing here's a look all right yeah
you seen borat too um all right so that is happening this is there's all sorts of things
happening that um you know the timing isn't great on this one guys uh debate was a whole night ago
um have you guys had any chance to like catch any of the clips
anything jump out at you i called a couple i call i call to do it i'm not gonna attempt to say his
name um because i'll butcher it we all know who i'm talking vivek yes vivek vivek ramaswamy
yep yep i i you know my guy love that my guy good old vr um but just love that. My guy, good old VR.
But I love that he's trying to poise himself.
He even, like, said the same Obama line, like,
I'm just a skinny cat with a funny last name.
I bet you're wondering why I'm up here.
I'm like, dude, yo, shut your ass up.
Yeah.
I think he wants to, it just cracks me up when, like there's always the fresh faced one of the Republican group and, you know, is usually a person of color.
And and like that bubbly, but like, you know, I'm the smart young option, you know, basically is the is the is the obama wannabe of of the field and he is i think like in his mind
he's like i'm gonna be the i'm gonna be that for this like field as far as young personal color so
white people can be like see we do support the the black and browns we support them uh they just need
to be a little bit more like him uh like that's that's what he is and he
just cracks me up but it's look it's working he's he's rising as from what i've heard and the clips
and everybody's talking about him you know he's rising as what people are saying could be the
second option um yeah because desantis is kind of falling off or what a lot of people had a hearing he had a bad
he had that smart that one moment where he like gave you know what was like a pre-canned
i don't know exactly what he was like and i'm your man and that's why i'll be president
and you can count on it and i will never abandon you and like hit his final line. And then the camera lingered on him for, I guess,
two seconds longer than he was expecting.
Or maybe this was a smile that he had been practicing.
We talked about it on yesterday's trending.
It was the worst, the most catastrophically failed attempt at a smile that i i think i've ever seen
like watching the terminator learned to smile or whatever yeah but dude he does antel's like he
i've watched a lot of comedy he had the vibe of this was his third open mic right like yeah like
he was he looked so nervous like he looked like he had forgotten how to
swallow and kind of talk you know like there was there was a look on his face like he was like
i shouldn't be here uh yeah it's a mistake yeah there are different things like there's that one
viral post where he's like uh or that you know somebody's interviewing him and like his eyes
like go through these like different phases of
like responding and like thinking about what his face looks like and thinking about like whether
he's smiling and like you can just see like things are coming apart inside of him like he's just like
not able to like hold the forces within himself together anymore and like that that seemed to
happen at a few moments in the debate it's not like he totally just lost his mind on up there
but he he was pretty bad he's i mean we're starting to see i mean here's the thing here's
why when people was like man you know who i'm really worried i'm really worried about desantis i was like why why he he gives off the energy of
a woefully lame person who now has power and once he got to the national stage
he was gonna get his ass ate the fuck up and what but the difference though is he has shame he's trying to pretend like he don't but
he has whereas trump don't get no shame you're like eat me up i'll roast you back like which
like unfortunately works as a politician desantis has shame so that's why he's falling apart because
like he's getting his ass ate up and everybody's starting to see, oh, like, you're also terrible, but you're just lame, dude.
You're a lame white guy.
You have nothing else about you.
He's just not, yeah, he's not built for it.
He's not built for it.
Yeah, Trump has a weird, like, Trump has the perfect personality disorder where, like, he's uncomfortable unless he's like insulting someone or being insulted
or like some part of him is like you know at stake like unless like the like soul like the
hole in the center of his being that like you know his narcissism is constantly trying to
fill in for like unless that is like propelling him
like a jet engine like he's
uncomfortable whereas like
DeSantis is like furious
like all the time
but he's like trying to hide it
and then he's just like thin skin
and he can't be thin skin
yeah and like
look there's other people like even
Bush like was kind of thin skinned and weird and like look there's other people like like even bush like was kind of thin-skinned
and weird and stuff but like at his core bush was a frat boy cokehead like so right yeah there was
like there's like has a degree of no shame to him like yeah there's like a childlike quality to bush
i think that was like yeah i like talking about shame as like the arbiter of what's
going on with these guys yeah he wasn't smart enough to have shame yeah right right i think
has has buried a lifetime of shame so it's like there's a i think there's like an ocean of shame
that cannot be touched like if you get anywhere near it he's like you said he's soup he's a snake
right like his heart is a spider that's what you have to fuck it that's what you have to have going
on uh yeah these dudes i think to real to have him be like fuck yeah like that's what they
that feels like power to them you know what i mean yeah like what just santas is catholic
so that that would make sense that he's got the shame the focus on the shame yeah yeah
that makes sense it's like being like i think we should just run like jeff ross or something
like you know what i mean like they're all like pretty mid-grade like uh insult comics you know
what i mean like they should just get a professional up there just talk about his bad body and watch
him cry you know what i mean Yeah. As we talked about yesterday,
like that's what Trump was doing for,
for most of the debate was just talking about how Biden has like a bad
beach body,
um,
on his Tucker Carlson interview.
Um,
we dug into that a little bit more.
Uh,
you can go listen to our trending episode from yesterday,
but I don't know what they're trying to do with the beach thing.
They're not uh
they look like shit
he also doesn't have a bad beach party
but he has no shame
he's so he's insane
it's so funny it's crazy
he loves to make fun of Chris Christie for being
overweight
he's like always on the verge
of toppling over
he's one cheeseburger away from being chris
that's rude i'm sorry but you both like you have he's talking about us on yeah it's just like bro
do you see yourself like what are you what are you talking about bro i think he's on ozempic
though he's he's looking a little bit thinner um that's my guess uh is what's going on with both
trump and desantis they both like seem like they're slimming down in a way that's probably
not very healthy and not to like body shape there's absolutely nothing wrong with being
any weight at all but when you come out like everybody else you're as fat you're like no you are yeah it's just like do you see like what is you talking about bro yeah
um yeah so but yeah vivek was kind of the big focus um you know pence came for him like this
is such a such a blessing for him to get is like that pence comes for him he's like this is not the time for on the job training
young man you need to be experienced and know that when you're in battle you just close your
eyes really hard and wish you were somewhere else um you know but he basically called him out and
then vivek proceeded to you you know, go after that.
He told Mike Pence the USSR no longer exists, which I thought was kind of a good burn.
Told Christie, said that Christie is gunning for an MSNBC contributor position and that Nikki Haley's likely future is on the board of a defense contractor instead of the White House.
So he kind of like, yeah, good. Lee's likely future is on the board of a defense contractor instead of the white house. Um,
so he,
he kind of like,
yeah,
good,
solid,
solid burns.
Um,
this is,
this is fucked up.
This is so fucked up that like,
this is entertaining to me because these are terrible people who are like,
you know,
running to basically lessen the quality of mine and so many others lives
like but like it's also like the nature that that is also the nature of like
i'm i love sports jack you love sports i don't know if you love sports or not more but like it it it makes
me upset that like when trump was like yeah i'm not gonna debate i was like yeah why would he
because like the sport competitive brain in me is like yeah what like the sabermetrics on that
decision were actually really solid uh the metrics people really love that yeah but like from a political standpoint
is shit because we as the people should hear what you have to say about where you want to take our
country right yeah but the political game and the election game has become such a spectacle and a
sport that like it this that's exactly what it is so it's about burns and like
all these things that have nothing to do with us essentially um as far as like the actual people
that you're trying to help it's it's a game it's a fucking game it's a popularity contest vivek
sells himself as a science guy um even though he claimed he's the only person on stage
who claimed that climate change is a hoax also like just based on you know some people are like
he was the focus because he's like serving as trump's stand-in because he's like a far right
and experienced outsider outsider and he is running third in republican polling so he has like a lot of
interest um i'm assuming from like younger people he seems like he has more of a like younger person
vibe who whoever the younger conservatives are i guess just like fascists for young fascists. I love him. Sweet little thing.
but so he describes himself as,
uh,
a scientist who has developed a number of medicines when in reality, he's just like a hedge fund grifter bro who like got into the biotech
industry and like is mostly known in that industry for a colossal failure
that, um, you know, And is mostly known in that industry for a colossal failure that because of the way he structured the deal that failed for everyone else, he got incredibly rich off of it.
abandoned for business reasons, then bought them for cheap, and then invested heavily in developing the drugs. And his big first gamble was on an Alzheimer's drug. And it had failed four times.
But he was like, no, I really have a feeling about this one, guys. Trust me here. I've got
my businessman's intuition. This is going to work out.
He got the company to like a $3 billion valuation on this model and on like all of his promises around this Alzheimer's drug.
And then this is all before the new clinical trial happened.
But, you know, he had a good feeling about this one and then when the drug
finally conducted another clinical trial it failed again like it had multiple times up to that point
and the stock price plunged and you know but because of the way the system set up he's
kind of uh insulated from the failure and he he made like 400 million dollars off of
doing what i just described yeah yeah also like i i do i'm a firm but i mean this happens on
every side of each aisle uh especially in politics but like the notion that
you just have to play the game as far as like climate change, for instance, and him saying it's a hoax, like even though he's, you know, not a respectable or reputable scientist by, you know, the terms of a respectable and reputable scientist.
But like. I don't believe for one second he thinks climate change is a hoax like if you are
around scientists enough and you actually believe in science then you know the scientific fucking
like proven fact that climate change is not a hoax right so like but him as a republican and him
you know he has to say these.
It's kind of like when Obama and when he first, you know, came onto the scene and he was like, you know, he was saying things like, you know, I don't believe in gay marriage.
When like I knew that to not be true because Obama went to the same church as my mom, who is a lesbian, who got married at that church and he was there.
Like so like i you know but
he has to say that on a national stage right because that's where we are um and so like i
it's just sad to me that like some of these things have to be said and they're of detriment
solely because it's just what you think most of your party believes so you have to
like you you gotta play the game and like because
i don't i don't believe it for once i don't believe that for one second maybe maybe it's
true maybe he doesn't and he's a moron but like yeah right if he's being honest the the reality
is like i don't care that climate change exists right right it doesn't bother me that it truly
exists i'm getting enough i'm pocketing enough cash off this thing that i'll totally say that to like wild applause like he literally says like we celebrated we were taught to to celebrate
diversity too much that's what he said yeah and people are like dude they're not gonna run like
okay there's no what do you guys think they're gonna run a person of color like do you think
that would possibly because yeah maybe like here's who wouldn't vote for him is the old conservatives
and they're like i don't know 75 old you know right no yeah yeah you know i think what's going
to happen i think what's going to happen is all these people are running to possibly become trump's
vice presidential pick right or there i think there's also some hope that like or his campaign falls
apart because he's in jail oh or well yes that too yes that too um so it's either that but if
he doesn't go to jail and he is able to continue with this campaign and he gets the nomination
um i can see him picking somebody like vr you know um solely because he you know strategically
he thinks it'll give him votes that he would not get um otherwise he does tv well right that's the
entire thing now like that was the brilliant thing about bringing in trump is that he is a television
star so he does tv relatively well i don't even think that well compared to normal TV people.
He's still weird and sweaty and kind of unpleasant to experience.
His charisma kind of bums me out, but it's definitely there.
And this kid, he's good at talking.
Like you said, he had a couple of burns.
He seemed like he enjoyed being there. Pence seemed like the whole thing was a goddamn headache you know what
i mean and always yeah he always appears like you can just both him and desantis you get the sense
like deep down they would not want to be doing this they are tolerating this and this really
condescending sort of like religious right like really disappointed
in everyone that's why he like got booed when he said that thing to that kid as he was acting like
he was talking to like a kindergartner yeah you know he's talking to vivic nobody likes that shit
it's condescending you know yeah whereas like there's a there's a humor in what trump does
whether you think he's funny or not like it's it is kind of funny to be an asshole all the time
right that's sort of it that's like a known comedic persona like oh yeah this guy's a monster dickhead no matter what
happens you know it's like you could at least trust that there's a there's a confidence to it
i'm safe with this guy because i know he's going to be a jerk no matter what where it's like
pence and desantos they don't feel safe because you know they desantos seems like he might start
crying or like or someone you know yeah yeah it's he really
seems like he's on the verge of like doing something catastrophic like just really bad
for himself for somebody like directly around him like crying or an act of violence like a
profoundly violent thing yeah like seems to be like both with him reach it at any moment and i want i we
would they want like somebody who's consistent in seeming powerful even if that's like this
desperate power that comes from like deep insecurity you know yeah yeah but just to
kind of close the loop because so he's not a man of science like he doesn't spend time with
scientists he spends time with other billionaires he's a fucking hedge fund guy um he's okay he's just a fucking financial grifter um
there there's a chance that maybe he believes the climate change thing or that it's a
posture but either way it doesn't it doesn't really matter he would he would yeah if he were
in power we would be completely fucked that's a terrifying thing yeah yeah yeah um but just that
that investment that made him super rich the california state teacher's retirement system
lost a shitload of money on that one um lots of other people lost a shitload of money and it also
like set back research on alzheimer's drugs Like it duped people out of money.
Um,
but it also a expert on like the search for research into Alzheimer's was like
that money would have been better applied almost anywhere else in the field.
That's a direct quote would have been better off applied almost anywhere else in the field um so
yeah it's not he's it's he he has some sick burns but like the shit he's doing he's just like a bad
these guys ability to destroy everyone who they come in contact with i mean we're looking at all
the mugshots of the people who supported Trump.
Like that's what he does.
Foundationally is whoever he gets involved with fucking goes down when the house burns down,
you know?
And it's exactly like,
that's good.
Like that's smart.
Capitalism actually is that,
you know,
that's the thing is these guys,
there's a cunning to them that is really intelligent.
It's just disastrous for like society,
everyone else. Yeah yeah and they're
running for president to yeah to head up the whole society thing you guys should get a uh
fucking like you should get hazard pay for having to watch all this stuff
all right let's take a quick break and we'll come back and 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 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 Prudente.
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.
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 percent 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 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.
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?
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.
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 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're back.
And Miles,
I think you were
about to ask a question.
Oh, just, yeah.
I mean, like, you know,
the other thing is,
like, we're just kind of the evolution. I just think just think of like where i got my sexy imagery as someone born in
the 80s like through you know like coming of age and then like late 90s aughts and things like that
and it feels like at a certain point like it was like oh a van damme movie is gonna have boobies
in it like that was a shorthand in my mind like you you were like conditioned to know like certain directors actors whatever like there would be that sort of thing and then you
but but then like a lot of the sex or sexual content just really kind of shifted to like
our popular culture like it didn't have to live in these sort of movies like basic what about
basic instinct kind of thing it's like it's in my music videos it's in the
advertisements it's on cable tv at night so it's almost like i don't know if it's like also again
this sort of diversification of where that sort of content lived to the point that it was like
omnisexual like everywhere was sex so that also feels like another point where i guess the appeal of it only getting it
directly from film begins to wane a bit yeah and also like if you're like okay check out this van
damn sexy scene or i can go to my only fans of a real person who is alive who's doing my niche
fetish and will look into the eyes of the camera and say my name right yeah what's like
you know what i mean so when you go back to a van damme movie you're like boring
move it along like yeah i was just thinking of remember when seth mcfarland did that oscar song
called boobs yeah the movies you can see boobs in and that was 2013 and the response was like yawn like come on like yeah
that's all you're in it for and it's like shitty to treat women that way and it's like i'm still
i'm still here for a song like i still need to get to a place where like seth mcfarland can sing
a song about full frontal dick and he's got 30 movies to reference. Like, I think I've got one. Yeah. The piano.
So we're there.
Harvey Keitel.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There you go.
I mean, so I do still think it's interesting.
So, like, Miles, you were talking about, like, they did an analysis in the early 2000s and found that, like, nudity was not something that drove money making.
nudity was not something that drove money making and i think rather than just that being always true i think that's probably an indicator of like changing tastes in like film goers and like the
whole thesis that i have about movies is like yes they're like commercial ventures but they
people pay money to go see them because they are getting to see something that is happening that they can't really access inside them up on the screen.
Right.
And so, like, that's why I think it's interesting that are like early 2000s, like as the country was becoming like explicitly fascist in the like war on terror.
And, you know, that that was a time when suddenly people were like, yeah, yeah, we don't want to see this shit. And I agree, it definitely has to do with, suddenly there were better places to get that. slash film was saying that it it's there's been like sort of a internalization of the pg-13 rating
when it comes to like our movies where that's just kind of what people expect from
movies and i i do think that there's like i think that happened because corporations came through and overtook everything.
The big example that this Bloodknife article uses, the Bloodknife article that we'll link off to on the footnotes, is called Everyone's Beautiful, Nobody's Horny or something to that effect.
And it's about superhero movies where everybody is just trained within just like an inch of like perfection, just like and that that goes for the superhero.
It also goes for like the FBI agent and the background character.
And, you know, like that's just how everybody is supposed to look perfect.
But then our favorite filmmakers, this guy whose movies take place in a world where like
dreams don't have sex in them and i think that there is something to the idea that like so
fascist art like when you look at like what was popular in nazi germany like the films of lenny
riefenstahl with like these documentaries where they would
like glorify the human body and particularly the male body and like its strength and muscles,
but like completely, it was all about power dynamics, right? It was nothing about sex.
And in fact, like sex was like to be completely removed from the the equation and i feel like there is like we obviously those
movies also had like hitler and it was like and all of the sexual energy is to be like sublimated
to your religious fealty to the furor and like that horny horny for for Hitler only horny for Hitler only. And now it feels like it is done to sublimate to like the broader just kind of ideals of capitalism.
And like the fact that there's like an internal understanding of like, yeah, why would they put like Iron Man fucking in this movie?
Like it wouldn't make as much money.
And I root for this movie because like that's that's my team is marvel and so like and marvel is winning against dc and so i don't know i think
it's interesting i don't think it is like i don't think it's a telltale symptom that like america
is headed towards some sort of fascism with like a central fascist leader but i do think it says something
interesting about our relationship to this all-consuming like capitalistic ideal where
it's like yeah no we just take the sex out of everything because like that is not actually
making money for the thing that we want to see make money and we're all on board with that not just david zazaloff like we're all on board with that because it doesn't like i can just get my
sexual content elsewhere i'm gonna say i'm gonna push back on it yeah having written in late night
comedy for i can't now i'm trying to do the math i don't know but i feel like the like are we
turning fascist think pieces like make the rounds every three years?
You know what I mean?
And are we?
Are we?
Are we to the point where like it's not even going to matter because the term fascist now means something different to everyone.
It's lost all meaning like we're never going to know.
You know what I mean?
It's going to be here and no one will have any way to see it on it.
But taking this
back to where we started the bachelor i will bring us into my main basis for this argument which is
that the bachelor is dying a uh slow death it's definitely slow but it's just every season it's
dying it's dying time in this last year we got reality shows about dating like love is blind like the ultimatum queer love which is milf manner
one of the best shows i've ever watched oh would you say miles i said milf manner
milf manner i watched i did watch every episode yes i did and that's actually a great one to
reference because in the ultimatum queer love they, they've got cameras on and you, I mean, you're watching porn for a second and you're watching porn of someone you've intimately gotten to know, like all their relationship issues.
And that show was wildly popular.
And on TikTok, the discourse about queer love stories and like there was an entire storyline of like you fingered the
woman i'm in love with and where's your fingers go when did they start and how did it happen and
is that considered sex and then there's a conversation of like everyone you know i mean
is that penetrative sex or not do we count that as sex what is the consent needed for finger sex
versus other sex anyways and you're like and tiktok is like going nuts and loving this conversation
and everyone is loving that show.
And I think it's because it was showing sex in the way that we understand and want to see it now.
Experience it.
Real, authentic.
It's not through this like very singular patriarchal lens. Even on like Love Island.
They live in bikinis.
They live in bikinis and they switch partners every other day for 50 episodes every season
and it's crushing it like love is blind you know they talk about are they having sex are they not
meanwhile the bachelor which is a very sterile show which would fit this sort of like fascist
thing where it's like overnight sweets like the door closes and like who knows um is dying a death
in popularity and so interesting if we look to reality TV,
I would say we are still
very much here for sex,
but we're no longer here for it
in the ways that are harmful.
Yeah.
Like it doesn't feel good.
And then if sexiness
to like make you feel sexy,
you don't want to feel bad
while you're watching it.
Yeah.
So maybe my ultimate plea
is like that movies
do something interesting
with their sex scenes
because that's what people want.
And it's not that people are necessarily fascist.
Yo, that they just want something interesting and not like the traditional 80s movie sex scene.
Yeah. To Chelsea's point, like, again, I was raised on the buck wild movie sex scenes.
You know what I mean? And then then, you know, the Internet kind of was like I was like, OK, I scenes you know what i mean and then then you know the internet
kind of was like i was like okay i think i know what i like and to the point to nuance like now
i'm like how come they're not kissing in this porno i'm like nah nah i'm off this like y'all
need to be making out and shit like i need to like i want to see y'all be passionate right
or even like in bridgerton i just started watching the second scene there's like one moment where this one character she just says she said mr bridgerton and they just have like a look at
each other and i was like oh shit like and then they say shit except like there was just a very
tense moment and the release was just saying it and they shared a look and i was even like damn
that was all right like yeah yeah we're like you're just like doing it well you know
like that was hot and i didn't need to just see you coldly simulate motions right right exactly
like making the back of the beast with two backs as it were and and i think yeah we're i think
because we've moved on from just being like will they show sex they do yes and then once everyone
now this is i do want to say this is a direct
attack on me because that is a direct quote from something i said earlier before we started rolling
so i didn't do the fist pump though like i didn't do the double fist pump yes um but like yeah that
now we're so like you know it's like when you like you're you get introduced to a new cuisine
in the beginning anything will do and then as you formulate taste, you're like, no, actually, I'm like, it's not just about having, you know, steak or whatever or whatever.
You know, you just you begin to actually understand what it is that is appealing to you.
And I think, yeah, I think it's like a sort of simultaneous cultural evolution, along with the amount of things we've been exposed to that kind of puts us in this different place. And I think it's the problem with art meeting capitalism right now,
especially as like we're in the writer's strike and the whole like you go woke, you go broke
movement, which is that like people come in and try and quantify it and do the data and the
statistics and what's selling when what's not selling. And actually this is in and that is in blah, blah, blah. But like the thesis is good.
We would love a good movie.
We would love a good movie.
And the moment we get a good movie,
they go, oh, do that again, do that again.
Or like, you know, network television was dead.
Then Abbott Elementary comes up.
Right.
It was good.
Everyone goes, workplace comedies, right?
Workplace comedies.
And you're like, oh, okay.
So that's not,
that was not the only thing that made that show good.
You know, and I just feel like people want really great art
and every time it shows up, they're going to love it.
And every time it's shitty, they're going to hate it.
And then people are going to drain it down
into headline pieces of what could sell more or less.
And they're going to miss the point,
which is that if it's good, it sells.
And if it's bad, it does not.
Right. Yeah, it's bad, it does not. Right.
All right.
That's going to do it for this week's weekly Zeitgeist.
Please like and review the show if you like the show.
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I hope you're having a great weekend and I will talk to you Monday. Bye. Thank you. 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
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Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app,
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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, Caitlin Clark versus Angel
Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by
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If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation,
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Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app,
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