The Daily Zeitgeist - Weekly Zeitgeist 326 (Best of 6/17/24-6/21/24)

Episode Date: June 23, 2024

The weekly round-up of the best moments from DZ's season 343 (6/17/24-6/21/24)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. 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
Starting point is 00:00:12 you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:00:30 I'm Jess Costavetto, 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,
Starting point is 00:00:56 or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. 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.
Starting point is 00:01:15 Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeart on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast presented by elf beauty founding partner of iheart women's sports hello the internet and welcome to this episode of the weekly zeitgeist uh these are some of our favorite segments from this week all edited together into one uh non-stop infotainment laughstravaganza. So without further ado, here is the Weekly Zeitgeist. We are thrilled to be joined by the Executive Director of Civil Rights Court,
Starting point is 00:01:59 which is a nonprofit dedicated to fighting systemic injustice. It's been a civil rights lawyer, a public defender, named 2016's Trial Lawyer of the Year by Public Justice, author of several books, The Incredibly Compelling Usual Cruelty, which we've had him on to talk about before. He's got one coming maybe this year. Most importantly, a great follow on Twitter and all the social medias.
Starting point is 00:02:23 Just kidding, that's not most important. But please welcome back to the show the brilliant, the talented Alec Karakatsanis! Alec! What's up, Alec? Hey, y'all. Thanks for having me back. Thank you for joining here. And the reason we're talking like auctioneers is because we only have you for 45 minutes, so we wanted to get right into it.
Starting point is 00:02:43 Y'all sound great. Thank you, man. We're just revved up, just trying man just getting through it just getting through it just know some people from the biden white house and they they've got some uh daddy's little helpers is what they call them no it's uh amazing to have you back you know we usually do search history underrated overrated but i think i think we can just skip that unless there's something you desperately want to get off your chest that you think is overrated or underrated or something from your search history. I don't have anything I'm dying to tell everybody, I don't think. Okay. Okay, good. Then we'll ask the questions.
Starting point is 00:03:20 We'll ask the questions here, Alec. Alright, so last time we checked in with you, there was a little over a year ago or maybe actually a little less than a year ago. But there much much less popular story with the mainstream media and i'm pretty sure there hasn't been like a corresponding like the police were never defunded so like their their theory of the case seems to have been exposed as bullshit so presumably the mainstream media has been flooded with articles explaining what they got wrong and taking a long, hard look at their methodology. How are you seeing these latest crime statistics where crime has gone down? I think it's important first to just take a step back and understand that whether we're talking about last year or the year before,
Starting point is 00:04:24 the year before that, overall levels of police reported crime in this country are near historic lows. So even when there was all that frenzy about retail theft and shoplifting or car theft or violent crime or robberies, you know, we were still at a stage in history where all of those things were extraordinarily low relative to what they were, let's say, in the 90s or in the early 2000s. And it's also important to understand that when you hear about crime statistics in the news, it's really only seven or so crimes that the police track and report to the FBI. And even then, most people don't understand that like 40% of police departments don't even report that data to the FBI. So a lot of it is just like FBI statistical estimates based on the police reporting like a few what they call index crimes.
Starting point is 00:05:20 So what is left out of crime statistics? Well, almost all the crimes committed by police themselves, almost all the crimes committed by jail and prison guards, almost all white collar crime, right? So while you hear a lot about theft in the news and retail theft and shoplifting, what don't the police report and what doesn't FBI report when it's talking about crime rates? What don't the police report and what doesn't FBI report when it's time of crime rates, tax evasion or wage theft? You know, wage theft is about 50 billion dollars a year. So that right there is three times all of the crime that FBI is reporting as property crime combined. And so you have to understand that the way the media talks about crime statistics is really messed up on like a lot of different levels.
Starting point is 00:06:03 talks about crime statistics is really messed up on like a lot of different levels. Yeah. Wage theft and tax evasion being two crimes that the general populace, the readership, the intended audience of the mainstream media are the victims of. Those are the ones that get ignored. The ones that get breathlessly reported are the ones where Procter and Gamble is, are the ones where Procter and Gamble is, you know, is the victim. And that's treated as like the more important crime. And I think this is really important lesson for people. Like you can really mislead people by giving them a few anecdotes. So, for example, if you have like a week of news stories, even if the anecdotes you're giving are true, like you report on seven true examples of
Starting point is 00:06:46 shoplifting from Walgreens every night, you give the people the impression that shoplifting is a huge problem. It might be increasing even, right? It's kind of like if I compiled a video of every shot Michael Jordan missed in his career, I put them all together. This guy stinks. Yeah. You could create the impression that Michael Jordan is a terrible basketball player just by taking all of the shots, which he actually did miss, right? If you don't show the other shots, right? And what the news is doing is something very similar. It's not showing the public any of the tax evasion or any of the wage theft or any of the pollution violations, right? There's a hundred thousand violations that we know about
Starting point is 00:07:24 of the Clean Water Act every year. It causes enormous death, cancer, rotting teeth, children suffering from a variety of different preventable illnesses, et cetera. Those are not treated as urgent. And so there's this, and they're not reported on the daily news. And so just through its reporting of anecdote, even if those anecdotes are actually happening and true, the news can distort our much deeper truths about what kinds of activity is really harmful to us. And shoplifting is a good example because tax evasion is about a trillion dollars a year. So that's 60 times every property crime the FBI reports combined. And, and yet everyone is freaking out over shoplifting and nobody's thinking about tax evasion. Right? I feel like the shoplifting
Starting point is 00:08:11 thing is still like vibrating through like my childhood neighborhood. Like there are people who like lived in the neighborhood I grew up that are still harping about like, we know there's nothing at CVS anymore, because all the shoplifting and like, we need to have like a neighborhood meeting about this. And it's like, dude, this and like we need to have like a neighborhood meeting about this. And it's like, dude, this is like a this is like a two year old conservative take on crime that you're like now being like it's it's happening. And we it's the scourge of our community at the moment. But like, I'm curious for this stuff that you're talking about, like where is there like a centralized place where you can see like where like DAs or something are reporting things like wage theft or like in a centralized place? So I can be like, well, what about this stuff? Or is that more just having to be really vigilant about what is actually coming out of the courts and
Starting point is 00:08:53 things like that? Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, one of the big scandals of our time is that the agencies who are supposed to be investigating a lot of these crimes have been completely decimated. So for example, the federal antitrust regulators have been completely decimated. There are far fewer regulators even looking into whether companies are doing price fixing and doing all kinds of illegal stuff that drives up the costs of goods for consumers, etc. than there were 40 years ago. We have fewer people investigating that stuff now. And the same is true with the so-called war on drugs, right? They shifted a huge percentage of federal agents who were working on things like white collar crime, fraud, corporate fraud, tax evasion, et cetera. And they shifted government resources toward the
Starting point is 00:09:41 drug war. And so there's just fewer people actually even looking for the crimes that are committed by wealthy people. And that means that unfortunately, a lot of the crimes that are happening just like aren't even brought into the legal system at all. And so they're not being reported by prosecutors, not being reported by police at all. And so we rely on nonprofit organizations, really good investigative journalism. Sometimes the government will itself investigate in some ways that shed some light on some of these things and you really have to cobble it all together. Yeah. I mean, you realize too, just how much of that is just to kind of emphasize what sort of the status quo wants to even define
Starting point is 00:10:23 as crime. Well, it's like, well, don't look at that stuff because then all these other people get caught up in our perception of what criminality is and we're absolutely don't want to do that it's to actually just be like no no it's the shoplifters it's these kinds of things that are big capital c crime that we need to worry about when yeah so like everyone's saying these are the ones like these other things are the things that affect the everyday person on a much deeper level we're the victim they locked up old spice at cvs also we're the victims there i do not want to wait 15 extra seconds to get my old spice deodorant out of the plastic case but it's embarrassing to say i want anybody using old spice as a victim anyway yeah oh yeah we're just to pretend you didn't say that.
Starting point is 00:11:06 What about Axe? I smell great. And it's a combination of Axe and Old Spice. I mix it together. It's a home blend. The Axe is the new. The Old Spice is the old. And that's why I smell great.
Starting point is 00:11:18 To myself. Not everybody agrees. What is something that you think is underrated? Okay, guys. If you must ask i'm gonna tell you oh boy not enough people are talking about the 1994 film angels in the outfield with danny glover and joseph gordon levitt wow it's just so good and having christopher lloyd as the wacky angel like i i just watched it on a plane recently saw my goddamn eyes out what a heart expanding story of hope and upliftment and then when he also surprise
Starting point is 00:11:55 adopts JP like the literalist the cutest kid I've ever seen in my life couldn't believe it and then also to see like the bit parts of the early launching pad careers of um matthew mcconaughey adrian brody tony danza they had really small parts and it was like, yeah. And it was just a delight and incredible. Why have we forgotten? Why don't we have more sports movies with angels mixed in? Amazing. Right.
Starting point is 00:12:33 Is it a story that like did a team plane like go down or something? Why are there so many angels in the outfield for this? Okay, this was another shocking thing because like I have had a lifelong attraction to dermot mulroney which i just failed to mention he is the deadbeat dad that causes all these issues and he says to tiny we'll get together right yeah no oh yeah he says to tiny little joseph gordon levitt the child he says like tiny joseph gordon levitt the child which is my rap name yeah he says he says um you know if the angels win then we can be like a family again what a horrible thing we'll get together yeah wait what he's like i'll be your dad you're riding on it or something is that no he's just like no he's just like no because there was no way because the angels were so bad so we was basically like if the angels win then i'll be
Starting point is 00:13:30 your dad again so then of course little baby joseph ward love it he's praying praying praying like for the angels to win thinking that it's gonna come true and he's gonna get his dad back so then the angels arrive to make them win yeah So they answer little kid prayers if they're like sad and pathetic enough. If your parents have horses on the land. But then they got him a different dad. So I don't know. Yeah. So it's not, I don't know why I associated angels with ghosts.
Starting point is 00:13:56 Angels aren't ghosts, right? In a way they are. I don't think you're too far off. I think it's context. They're like benevolent, like incredible beings. far off they're like benevolent like incredible beings in city of angels was nicholas cage a an eternal being who had never been alive or was he like a dead guy anybody remember we had a real run in the 90s of angel movies huh yeah i just saw this movie again in the last year also on plane i you know i thought you know my passion what's with you
Starting point is 00:14:25 yeah angels on planes for you the whenever you're on a plane you're like gotta get an angel flick in yeah well i'm like i'm probably pretty close to them up here you know maybe i should look over on the wind they're just reading the paper just hold it up yeah it's a good movie. I loved it. I love this. I love those movies. Michael, the John Travolta movie, which I don't know anything other than. What if John Travolta was an angel, though? Oh, my God. I also watched that movie. Did you?
Starting point is 00:14:58 Wow. You really are a freak for the angels. I didn't realize how many of these I've watched in the last year. Did you even see Alita Battle Angel? No, I've never seen that one. Is that good? No, it's not. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:15:13 It's not. It barely has nothing. It was like a sort of title of the character. Have you watched the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Crossroads video lately? Not lately. I can't say I have, but I can do it after this podcast that's no problem i can fire it right up because there's a there's an angel with big old wings big old honkers i do have a recollection of that from my childhood actually
Starting point is 00:15:39 touched by an angel super producer justin is pointing out touched by an angel was a big 90s oh yeah i watched the shit out of that on channel 4 cable as a child you know i was like maybe if i watch them they'll come to my room so were you was that like an obsession of yours when you're a child did you like when you were in school were you like drawing angels and shit i mean like no it's not just angels and it really hasn't stopped like I it's been consistent as every year of my life but I just have a lot of interest in like what could possibly be and like God like I don't know what God is but like I pray a lot and like I love the idea of angels like I don't know if it's real or whatever I also love like shit, like witches and magic and wizards and things like that.
Starting point is 00:16:30 Even though I'm a jock and very cool and not nerdy at all. So it's confusing. Do you think if you were an angel, like in a child made like a sports prayer, like it would have to be like volleyball based for that way? You're like, I got this one. I can handle this one. Not at all like i don't even feel too large of a tie to volleyball although i love that sport but no i'm not like volleyball is supreme sport you know well i'm saying as an angel if you're giving your expertise to like
Starting point is 00:16:56 anybody do baseball up here no um all right we got another kid who's praying to that his family reunites if they can win this beach volleyball tournament. They need a defensive specialist. Yeah, you know, Miles, you pose an excellent query as always. I think I would have to go with the child who, you know, needed me most, really. But that's just sort of the type of heart I have. I get that. I get that. I appreciate that. You're humble. Or Highway to Heaven? Any Highway to Heaven takers? Which one is that? So that was the 80s. That was before that was a show wasn't it that was a show yeah where it was like what if the guy you see hitchhiking on the highway is actually angel
Starting point is 00:17:37 though and it but and the guy was michael landon who was a very handsome man. Oh, well, that sounds right up my alley. Might have to check that out also. Yeah, worth a shot. What's something you think is overrated? The VIP area. Oh, okay. I think that. Tell them how you live.
Starting point is 00:17:57 Tell them how you live, DVK. How many times? Because we've been to this. You've been to a thing. It's like, oh, we have this area for you. You guys actually be over there. And you'll be at a club or a bar or whatever. And as a person who, I don't frequent the VIP area.
Starting point is 00:18:12 I'm not of the love. But, but, oftentimes, people in the VIP area, they're like, if you want to get in and be a part of the party and have fun, you have to go out into Gen Pop. Right. Yeah. So it's like people pay these tables to do these bottle service just to like stand there and not really be a part of the party. Yeah. But if you do decide, if they're like, what do we do this for? Let's be a part of the party.
Starting point is 00:18:39 Well, then you realize you didn't need the VIP area. No. What you wanted was a place to sit. Which I can understand. But oftentimes, if I need to get out, just sitting somewhere in these lights and or loud music, I will want to have stepped outside for a minute anyway. Right, right, right.
Starting point is 00:18:59 And that's the greatest VIP area of all. Outside. The out of doors. God's VIP area. Yeah. Nature. vip area of all outside the out of doors god's vip area yeah nature gaia gaia nailed it yeah that's right no yeah the vips i mean because it's it's it's wild how different like when back when back when i was going to clubs in the early aughts the shit was there was maybe only a couple vip tables and it was mostly still a like a place you got fucking gnarly sweaty dancing and shit and then you left and it's interesting to see how over time like the flex culture has taken over even the like spaces that were just meant to get
Starting point is 00:19:38 like sweaty and dancing where it's like now it's like 40 fucking tables or 50 tables and no one dances and it's just to be seen and that's like where i feel like so old i'm like damn like okay but like i think about this too like in in vegas right if you're living that vip life you probably like when i go to vegas i'm there to sort of run amok with the peasants we're all peasants running around freak out so like i want to go to the pool at the Flamingo and just people watch while drinking a Miami Vice.
Starting point is 00:20:11 Just pee in the kiddie pool. I'll make an eye contact with everybody. Then I pee in the sphere. If you're like VIP lifestyle, you're like, oh, we got a room and it has its own pool. That's going to be the most boring pool in vegas right yeah exactly what's up eric yeah hey guy i oh shit
Starting point is 00:20:33 i work with coming over yeah guy i work with who i flew here with and now it's just me and him in this pool in this room we paid for it i gotta uh i gotta have the pb and j over there in the uh in the fridge or out of the fridge? In the fridge It's in fridge actually So it's still pretty good Alright, alright, alright But like you get a great room
Starting point is 00:20:50 They're like The room has its own pool And I'm like Yeah, but I'm in Vegas This isn't the pool I want to be at Yeah Right, yeah, for sure I want to be in the pool
Starting point is 00:20:57 That gives me syphilis Yes And I give it right back Right I want someone to say You didn't open your eyes eyes underwater there, did you? And then you go, why? What's wrong?
Starting point is 00:21:09 Oh, shit. I can already see it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I 100% agree. I don't really do VIP areas. The times, the very few times that I've encountered, I feel like there are two types of VIP areas. the times, the very few times that I've encountered,
Starting point is 00:21:24 I feel like there are two types of VIP areas. They're the ones that are like kind of off to the back. And then they're the ones that are like in the center of everything. Right. To be like the look at me VIP. To be the look at me VIP area. That feels like so desperate and thirsty to be in that VIP area. Like that's embarrassing to be in a VIP area. That's like in the middle of the whole thing yeah
Starting point is 00:21:45 yeah like what the fuck are we doing can i side question you guys really quick yeah have you seen any like lately in your life or just on the internet like when they do bottle service at a club yes that's like what they're writing on the signs as they walk out like holding you know sometimes it just says like happy birthday yeah yeah whatever but i've seen recently where they're so like left field and hilarious like they're walking out and the sign says she's not going to text you back they're walking out and the sign says it's just paper right it's like they're they're they've become like meme boards right and they're hilarious and i always wonder does the club do that or is that what the person requested when they ordered the bottle because i've never ordered a bottle i have
Starting point is 00:22:30 no idea how this works i was hey i'm gonna pay you a thousand dollars for a single bottle of booze could you roast me while you bring it out to me could you just absolutely rinse me in front of all these people i'm so desperate to impress i'm sorry sorry. That would be cool. So the Smirnoff is $1,000 for a 750 mil? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I guess I'll take that then. That's the cheapest one?
Starting point is 00:22:52 Yes, it is. Do we get orange juice with that? For $100? That's $78. Yeah. I was in Japan recently for a friend's wedding, and at the end of their wedding, it was very low-key, just super chill wedding. It wasn't a huge affair and afterwards the bride and groom were like we kind
Starting point is 00:23:08 of want to go dancing so like me and a few of our other friends we like we didn't get him a gift because they're like you guys traveled all the way here please don't get us gifts but we're like old and we went to a club and we're like i kind of need to sit down dude like i'm not young enough to want to be up in it right now like Like I'd rather just sit off to the side. Luckily bottles in like Japan were not expensive. So like between the six of us, we're like, all right, if we all put in like 80 bucks, like we can all sit down. And we did that.
Starting point is 00:23:35 And the funny part was they go, oh, where are you guys from America? So when the bottle came out, they had like sparklers and they were just waving American flags and shit. And I was like, no no no no we don't gotta do all that but then like the people next to us from like australia then they brought an australian flag out and they were like you're like making it rain napkins and shit like it was just very yes then the sparklers and i at that point i was like see this is why i'm i'm the only way i can body when it comes to it drink any liquid is if it has a sparkler and an american flag in it gotta have always been that way yeah it's the only way I can drink any liquid is if it has a sparkler and an American flag in it.
Starting point is 00:24:06 Gotta have an American flag. It's always been that way. It's the only way I can wet my whistle. That's how your dad made your lunch. Exactly. It goes back to my childhood. All right. Let's take a quick break and then we'll get into some news.
Starting point is 00:24:19 We'll be right back. We'll be right back. 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 LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths
Starting point is 00:24:53 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.
Starting point is 00:25:19 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
Starting point is 00:25:52 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, Apple Podcasts,
Starting point is 00:26:26 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.
Starting point is 00:26:42 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.
Starting point is 00:27:00 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,
Starting point is 00:27:22 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast the black effect podcast network is sponsored by diet coke and we're back uh we missed you bye oh hi oh miles what the fuck you said bye i bye. I thought we were over. You just threw me off with the bye. Hi. Well, let's talk. Speaking of Biden. Speaking of bye, Joe Biden. That's what you were saying. You were just trying to get started on this next story. What's he up to this time, Miles?
Starting point is 00:28:00 What is this rascally rabbit up to? Joe Biden's presidency has been a lot, like recently, a lot of one for them being the GOP and one for you, the left or Democratic base or people who thought the world could be a better place. But, yeah, Biden hasn't really done much to differentiate himself from Trump. You know, when it comes to immigration, like he left a lot of policies in place from Trump's administration and even like altered some of them a bit. And then he really pissed off his own supporters by appeasing Republicans and cracking down on the number of asylum seekers that can enter the country. Well, I guess Biden decided that now, or at least on Monday, which was the anniversary of the DACA program from Obama, is the day he will announce a policy that is the biggest push to grant amnesty to undocumented immigrants since Obama's DACA program in 2012. So what does it do? It essentially
Starting point is 00:28:53 gives a path to apply for permanent residence to undocumented people and their children that are married to U.S. citizens. So basically anyone, undocumented spouses, stepchildren of U.S. citizens can apply. This is around 500,000 spouses and about 50,000 of their stepchildren that could be eligible for this new program. And these people do have the opportunity to apply for permanent residence already by being married to an American. But if you've entered the country without proper legal permission and stay for over one year, you have to leave the U.S. and stay abroad for at least 10 years before you can actually apply for permanent residence. So, again, this means that families don't have to be broken up despite their immigration status, which is a great thing. And to qualify for the program, noncitizens must, as of June 17th, have been living in the U.S. for at least 10 years and have been married to a U.S. citizen before that date.
Starting point is 00:29:49 And the administration, they've they estimated that the average time that applicants have spent time in the U.S. is 23 years. So this isn't the kind of like immigration bill where Republicans can claim that like the borders are open. But obviously, that will not stop them because nothing is about fact. And it's just about cranking up the xenophobia before the election. So yeah, a bit of good news, despite the last thing that that came out of the administration regarding immigration. addressing for people who are married to somebody who aren't actually like allowed because if you get married to an american like that doesn't automatically make you an american a u.s citizen i thought that did well you know you're able to this whole time you can apply but if your legal status was not like if you didn't have the proper permission to be in the united states then that would cause people to have to exit the country for 10 years for 10 years is so crazy like i thought i thought it was gonna be like okay go back and then come back and you're good but no yeah you're you're good you just need to leave the country for 10 years tv shows like every tv show is like oh i made you married her for a green card.
Starting point is 00:31:05 Yeah, right. But you could do that if you can. Let's say you had a visa to come in. And during that time, you were actually allowed to be in the United States. So you're legally here in the U.S. That's what 90-day fiancé is. Yeah, exactly. The 90-day visa that allows you to date like mad and hopefully find a spouse. And then from there,
Starting point is 00:31:27 you're usually like in a very long process to get, you know, your green card or permanent resident status and things like that. But this will allow people to work and do other things. So it's, you know, it's not as disruptive. And a lot of people wouldn't go through
Starting point is 00:31:38 to apply for permanent residence because they would have to leave for 10 years. I'm like, why the, I have fucking kids and shit. I can't do that. So yeah, this is a little win, tiny wins, small victories. Because they would have to leave for 10 years. I'm like, I have fucking kids and shit. I can't do that. So, yeah. This is a little win. Tiny wins. Small victories.
Starting point is 00:31:49 And also helps. There's also some streamlining of the laws for people in the DACA program. But, yeah, this was a I'm surprised that on the front page of the Drudge Report did not have them screaming about this new sort of program as it relates to immigration from the Biden administration. Yeah, worse. They had the fucking Boston Celtics championship instead. I was like, oh, fuck, man. I was so excited to come on here the day after the NBA
Starting point is 00:32:16 finals. Of course, Boston Celtics get a front page drudge report. It's a win for us Bruins you know because of drew holiday but god drew holiday is the man man i don't even know why i hate the celtics at this point like i know why players i just the team something about it maybe it's anti-lakers inherently yeah that's i mean that's yeah we have a we have a just a lifelong we can't handle it
Starting point is 00:32:44 here yeah seeing that they have one more banner than us. So, yeah, I've already received plenty of dunks on the internet already from my field of an 18th banner. But, hey, we accept it and we breathe through it. Yeah. And we breathe through it. The last time the Celtics won, the last five Celtics championships were followed immediately by at least one one lake a record that will soon be broken exactly yes they're not good not with this team not with these probably not with these guys that's sad though like i you know everyone on twitter was
Starting point is 00:33:23 like trending saying it was the worst NBA, like, championship game ever. But there is something. I mean, it's great for the winning team. But for the viewer, like, a blowout is just, like, not fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. The ratings are way down.
Starting point is 00:33:40 I feel like people generally don't like the Celtics. So when the Celtics are doing good, when things are good for the Celtics, America is losing. Celtics win, America loses. Just keep that in mind, NBA and the referees. I'm just saying, guys. Help! On the thing with the immigrants, I was just going to say, like, I guess the important thing is the numbers, right? They're putting up numbers.
Starting point is 00:34:04 500,000 spouses, 50,000 of their stepchildren could be eligible. That's the thing. I just, from a political perspective, again, it feels like a lot of people are probably like, wait, I thought those people already had, like, access to legal immigration. Anyways, I do want to just talk about immigration in general, because there's just all of this evidence that immigration is just a win. It's like win, win, win, like wins all the way down for America if they would just let it happen. And the thing that has been happening to care about like the economy like it's it's not just that the u.s can handle more immigrants we desperately need more immigrants like the it's the thing that drives the u.s economy like anytime the u.s has like an uptick in economic success it's usually because immigration is up right like the right is always like so scared about like population growth and like well like people the birth rate's going down so we're fucked and it's like well actually not if you just allow people to immigrate like a lot also like
Starting point is 00:35:38 yeah we're not fucked because the birth rate is going down i I was just going to say, what's bad with the birth rate going down? It poses economic challenges that they really want to emphasize and be like, we're fucked, you guys. This is bad news. Yeah, maybe if you make it better. And also, a lot of billionaires are like, we need more people. It's a crisis.
Starting point is 00:36:02 Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have said... And that's why you should fuck me. Yeah, Jeff Bezos has also said... Elon is obsessed. people like it's a crisis like elon musk and like that's why you should fuck me yeah he's like if we had more people born we could have more mozarts and more einsteins and things like that but the thing that they fail to like really acknowledge is like you need a level of stability for people to become mozarts or einsteins and if yeah and you don't even have enough days in the week to go visit all your kids so and by the way the last generation of billionaires they were freaking out because the population was growing too much so like they just they just always want to have a
Starting point is 00:36:37 thing to freak out about that allows them to speculate about getting rid of huge swaths of people or uh everybody fucking them in this case. Right. But just like putting aside the moral responsibility the country has for safely welcoming migrants into the country, like the so the nonpartisan congressional budget office projected a smaller deficit and national debt than last year because of an unprecedented spike, like not unprecedented, but like just normal pre-pandemic levels of immigration. Like it's the thing that is allowing the U.S. economy to bounce
Starting point is 00:37:12 back is immigration going back to pre-pandemic levels. But if there's immigrants, my wages go down. No, that your wages actually go up. Like that's, it's good for, like, that's the, there's just so many details of this argument that we've been hearing for fucking decades that just, like, aren't true. And, like, the mainstream media has just been allowing, like, Fox News to say them and not being like, actually, no, it's the opposite of that. Right. like actually no it's the opposite of that right the immigrants boot so there's a study that shows immigrants boost the economy by sparking innovation driving up wages driving up wages like across the board as well as appealing to foreign investors opening long-term export opportunities so it's like all the shit that the mainstream media loves to talk about like uh you know think about your country as an investment it's like all that stuff, immigration drives that,
Starting point is 00:38:08 is the best thing for that. Right. There's this one article that notes that the so-called immigration surplus boosts the GDP and raises incomes for non-immigrants. And if you're wondering what left-wing rag printed that story, it's the goddamn George W. Bush Institute. I didn't even know that was an institute. Wow.
Starting point is 00:38:31 It's my favorite institute. Oh, Blair, you must. I've got some articles I have to share with you. Yeah, please do. Thank you. Do they do painting workshops there? Yes. How to draw an apple tree.
Starting point is 00:38:42 Oh. And there's like elderly art galleries and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. And good studies on immigration. Wow. Beautiful. So well-rounded.
Starting point is 00:38:53 He's, yeah, a true Renaissance man. He can both lead directly to the deaths of all the soldiers and do a C-plus job of painting them after they died. He's got all the soldiers and do a like c plus job of painting them after they died he's got all the bases covered uh the u.s department of health and human services published a groundbreaking report which concluded that refugees and asylees had a positive net fiscal impact on the u.s government over a 15-year period totaling 123.8 billion dollars again like i think it's weird to like quantify people human lives and like the need to do the morally correct thing in dollar figures but it is the like the mainstream like supposedly left-leaning media is allowing it's just like leaving all the shit on the table that they
Starting point is 00:39:43 love talking about or even like perspective right because there's always like this all the shit on the table that they love talking about or even like perspective right because there's always like this hand-wringing about like i mean you know because many people are sort of bought into this idea it's like we're letting too many people into the country but if you actually add some context to that we're like really low on the list of developed nations that are actually like the amount of people that are entering the united states as immigrants is completely different than you know we're between 40 and 41 on the legal immigration uh list and like 35th on the overall immigration so right yeah like behind like in terms of per capita per capita per capita immigration yeah so it feels like the main issue is that because of racist fear and these tropes that like immigration is bad for the economy and like bad for crimes like across the board. They are like this is a thing
Starting point is 00:40:47 that's obviously raised repeatedly by the right wing when it comes to immigration. Immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than people born here in any demographic just across the board. A new Stanford study, even white patriots, Stanford study found immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated for a crime than native born white Americans. And this has been true since the 80s. And by that, I mean the like Social Security. There's like all this money coming in. They you know, they pay taxes. They don't commit crimes. All like just we have massive troves of data that say that like this is the best thing that the U.S. has going for it is people want to come here. And when they do, they do great work, essentially, and they don't commit crimes. Basically the opposite of all the bullshit that dominates mainstream media accounts of immigration. But because of racism and white
Starting point is 00:41:58 supremacy, they like it becomes a political issue. And then they don't fund this intake systems, the systems for necessary infrastructure to help those people in. And so you have these areas that are just like overwhelmed with people. But it's not because there are too many people. Again, Miles, like you said, we are low on the list of per capita immigration. It's it's not that we have there are too many people for the U.S. to handle. It's just the U.S. is choosing not to handle the people because of racism. Well, and also, like, we're constantly meant to think that we're living in this, like, fucked up zero-sum game, too, where it's like, there's nothing. There's just nothing. Like, we can't handle anything. If that happens, then you lose something. Like, that's always how so many things are framed like when we're trying to progress societally it's like well if those people do better then you're going to lose something is like always like sort of the default context that we're operating in or how these things are presented but yeah like you say
Starting point is 00:43:17 all these charts make it look like line go up right all the charts all those charts that y'all seem to love is line go up and does not seem to matter in this case you seem to be very selective of when you care about line go up yeah so it really i i feel like a lot of it is just like yeah i think their music's weird man like i don't i don't like right their music you know like the shit that the same fear that like old people have of young people i feel like it's just that it's like they're different and so i don't i don't want it in my country like i don't want to be replaced by that and it's just it's like well you're going
Starting point is 00:43:55 to be replaced either way because you're going to be replaced and the thing that you're worried demographically or because of your existence but yeah that's. So let's embrace the thing that helps people. And also, I think that's the other part too. We were talking about this with Alec Karakatsanis. There's so many, so much of the reason people end up having to flee their countries typically intersects with U.S. imperialism at some point.
Starting point is 00:44:19 And it's like, yeah, maybe, I mean, look. We could have a great perpetual machine where we export imperialism, make their countries unlivable, and then take them in if we just embrace it. And then we win the Olympics at every competition. We'd get really good at soccer, finally. Oh, we're on the way. We're on our way. We're on our way.
Starting point is 00:44:41 Are we about to get our ass kicked in the Olympics? I feel like. Copa America? Copa america that's the that's that's the next tournament but no they're doing all right because precisely that because it's like it's you know servicemen abroad and also because of like people who come from countries with strong soccer cultures are making sure they look for even even the american sports argument immigration yeah we got a lot of big we got a lot of big big people in our country too yeah yeah we got i think compared to others right oh larger do like do we have those i feel like americans are how what do you see like which country is the biggest bodies yeah like we got a lot of antibiotics in our food and shit like that. Growth hormones, don't you think? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:28 Let's see. Maybe not resident for soccer, but for other sports, you know? Oh, yeah. I mean, I still You don't need to be a tally for soccer. You gotta be like a little quickie. You gotta be quick, man. It's all about that lateral speed. Fast twitch, yeah. Dutch people are the tallest in the world.
Starting point is 00:45:44 They're the tallest. Why are they so tall over there, you know? I don't know. Yeah, but we got the body mass. We have to be top in the body mass. That or like Pacific Islanders too. Yes! Let's go! You know what I mean? Like Tongans, Samoans. Yeah, and also we got a lot
Starting point is 00:46:00 of protein culture, I feel, here. Yeah. At the expense of our health declining life expectancy i think the life expense expectancy dropped for the second year in a row is that true yeah yeah it's like it's that's like historic it's never happened before two straight years my grandma and great auntie just died at like 98 and 97. And then I just went to my other great auntie's a hundredth year birthday. And then I think these people were like smoking and drinking and stuff. Like, I don't know what makes sense fully.
Starting point is 00:46:36 I wonder how much of it too is like, cause I think about that with like my, my mom's mom in Japan, she lived to be 101 and it's like, they, she didn't start eating like processed. She didn't start eating like process she didn't start eating like processed food until like the 70s so a huge majority of her life was like i was growing
Starting point is 00:46:52 food or like eating food we made by hand whereas now i need my two cans of pringles i know i know it's very sad we've gotten so far away. I feel like Japan is Japan. One of like the what are they called? Those places like the blue blue zone. Yeah. The blue zone. Yeah. I mean, it definitely has like some of the highest life expectancy.
Starting point is 00:47:16 Yeah. Used to. Yeah. By the way, nacho cheese Doritos introduced in the 70s, 1972. So Jack, you're sick and you need God. Just and that's not I wasn't reading that off the internet. I was reading that off the tattoo that I have on the inside of my arm. Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan are the top three.
Starting point is 00:47:38 The nations with the longest life expectancy? Yeah, then Switzerland, Singapore, Italy, Blair. Yeah, let's go i thought that hong kong had crazy pollution like that there was a lot of lung cancer there is that not true their life expectancy on average 85.83 years for both whoa that's high as hell that's great hong kong i've never heard that i've always heard Japan, that one town in California. Dude, this is from CIA.gov. Yeah, because
Starting point is 00:48:09 I thought... Here's a problem we gotta fix, guys. Well, actually, their latest one says Monaco has the highest. What the fuck are they doing in Monaco? They're just rich as fuck. I know. They're too busy gambling. Damn. To eat shit like doritos
Starting point is 00:48:26 they're at the yeah macao says gambling the craps table their doritos are like good for you they're like i actually got all my macros through these uh special millionaire doritos really good really good for your gut biome monaco doritos yeah yeah they don't have doritos on yachts i guess monican what do you what's the adjective for monica monica yeah monican it is i think so wow hey monican monica one time oh monagask or monican monican hey all right monican monagask is kind of cool though that goes hard yeah yeah i like that bro yeah yeah i'm changing i'm changing i'm changing my nationality i'm monogast there you go thank you i didn't know you could do that yeah miles it's actually his superpower kind of problematic
Starting point is 00:49:17 when i go to ethnic restaurants but hey i still try yeah or and by ethnic restaurants he means the cheesecake factory yes thank you yeah just like give me my ethnicity firecracker chicken all right let's take a quick break and we'll be back to hear about the cheating husband who blame apple Apple. 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
Starting point is 00:50:05 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, first-hand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:50:48 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 Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get
Starting point is 00:51:22 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,
Starting point is 00:51:50 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.
Starting point is 00:52:03 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.
Starting point is 00:52:17 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
Starting point is 00:52:33 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, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. And we're back.
Starting point is 00:52:56 We're back. And so RFK Jr. did not qualify for the CNN debates. Were you guys making a lot of noise? What metric are you using, man? Didn't qualify for the CNN debates. Were you guys making a lot of metric are using, man? Didn't qualify for. So CNN's polling threshold of 15% and at least four approved national polls. Okay.
Starting point is 00:53:16 So he got to three. So congratulations. This was the big detail that I feel like is being under emphasized in the mainstream media he also fell short of the ballot requirements to secure access in enough states to win 270 electoral votes so he this person who's like being given this much media attention is mathematically eliminated before the election starts well that's i think you're focusing on the wrong stuff because he also hold on miles he ticked he ticked a couple boxes is he at least 35 years old to run for president yes and he's like a nailed that was i will born was he born of the United States. Yes, he was. Did he file for his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission?
Starting point is 00:54:09 Yes, he did. This is like watching Rabbit in 8 Mile right now. Yeah, thank you. Skibbity-dee! I'm fucking white and I vomited backstage. Yeah, this is all, it's all bad. I mean, it is true. Like, you don't, dude, even if you tried, I think the most you can get to is like 160 something.
Starting point is 00:54:25 That's wild. So it's all just to prove a high minded point. Like, this is what's frustrating. Like at that after the 2000 election, after, you know, like Bernie made a run and then it was like, oh, the Democratic Party will never allow something like that to happen. I think a lot of us were like, I wonder if there's ever a path to a third party candidate. And so the fact that he's doing this and is like a lot of the arguments he's making are also the arguments that I'm like, yeah, no, if if you were trying to prove a point other than that presidential candidates should do their own medicine and science like you know like if you had an actual point to make i think other than
Starting point is 00:55:15 do your own research i would be like on board we need it to be easier for there to be a third party candidate. But this guy fucking sucks, man. It's inspirational. It's inspirational that he can pull this off. Brainworm survivors can run for president. But the thing that I think is also kind of wild, too, is this also doesn't preclude him from running. It's like, do you even have the votes to be president? Nah. All right, man.
Starting point is 00:55:44 You can keep running. All good. Nothing bars you from not running. I'd say, do even have the votes to be present no all right man you can keep running all good yeah nothing bars you from i'd say do you have the votes to stop me yeah perfect dumb guy logic wow you really do doing a weekly podcast let me ask you this can you kick my ass? Quote Chris Rock's special. Yeah. Yeah. The thing about a real third party, we're not, we are not going to have a third party
Starting point is 00:56:14 candidate until we've, this is sort of a chicken and egg thing, until we've had a third party president. Like the person, we're going to have a third party until the person who is running in the third party wins. Yeah, well, I mean, I think more than that, like there actually needs to be more like third party people in Congress. That's really the building blocks you need is like you got to start getting people in Congress first before you can't just jump. You can't just skip to the oval from there like yeah i mean i
Starting point is 00:56:45 think that's the trouble that especially on like the left has with like the two-party system is figuring out what the best best path into that is but the the only way to start is to actually run people for congress and at least get a foothold there because otherwise yeah it's going to be very difficult but i think like with rfk's campaign the thing is even before all these you know numbers that mathematically quote preclude him from winning the presidency like the campaign was just fucking wobbly as shit like they were not making and they weren't raising any money he brought in that tech person nicole shanahan to be his vice president to put her own money in it. It wasn't enough.
Starting point is 00:57:28 Like, the biggest person bankrolling this is, like, a Trump donor. He was even doing stuff. He's like, hey, man, if you fucking donate, whatever donations you can get, I'll give you 15% of whatever you gave to me. Let's just split it. $15.85. Wait, what? Yes. Let's just split it.
Starting point is 00:57:42 Fifteen eighty five. And wait, what? Yes. He was trying to, again, to bring the sharks into it, chum the waters by promising a 15 percent return on whatever you helped fundraise. Dark money goes in the water. You go in the water. Exactly. It's in the water.
Starting point is 00:57:58 Exactly. So, yeah, it's it's just all like there's another thing they like, there was, you could do like a luxury sunset sailing adventure. Like he tried to do raffles and stuff. Selling off family heirlooms. Yeah. I mean, what body of water? Is that in like Hyannisport? Like, is he doing the, is he trading in on the Kennedy magic?
Starting point is 00:58:20 What are we doing? You can't run a campaign like a school silent auction. Exactly. That's what he's doing. Yeah. Right. Or, yeah,
Starting point is 00:58:28 or I guess you can. Yeah. It turns out. It's like, Hey, does your dad still work in the garage door business? Yeah. You think he could like donate a, a new garage door that I could put that in the raffle for people?
Starting point is 00:58:39 Free estimate. We could do a free estimate. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll take that. This thing's not running on anything except my brain worms. Yeah. We could do a free estimate. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll take that.
Starting point is 00:58:48 This thing's not running on anything except my brain worms. The other thing that he's getting ridiculed for lately is claiming that the head of NPR is a CIA agent. This is another way he pisses me off because some of his conspiracy theories are good. I like the conspiracy theory that the head of NPR is the CIA agent. Personally, I don't I don't know it to be true. I haven't done my own research into this one, but there is a history of CIA involvement in American media. I doubt the head of NPR is a CIA agent. But and then he's also getting made fun of for, man, he's so close. If his whole thing wasn't just fuck science and medicine,
Starting point is 00:59:31 I'd be a big fan. Because his other thing is like, he's a weird bird person. He's like trying to train ravens in his yard with like scraps of meat, which... He's got the bird vote, huh? He's got the bird.
Starting point is 00:59:45 He has a pet emu that is constantly attacking Cheryl Hines. So he's in his own version of the staircase. Yes. Exactly. Yeah, if Cheryl ends up with a weird, what he calls, raven injury, then we'll know absolutely
Starting point is 01:00:03 what happened. You can tell by the scratch marks. That's right. It was definitely a raven injury then we'll know yeah yeah absolutely what happened you could tell by the scratch marks that's right it was definitely raven dude and finally grimace is back grimace grimace left not my heart grimace grimace is like the kennedys and that we are just dying for any way to get him into the zeitgeist just Just give us anything, Grimace. Please, yeah. So in this case, Grimace is a baseball sensation. So last year, he put out a milkshake that was made of his cum. We pointed that out on our show. Almost exactly a year ago.
Starting point is 01:00:40 Yeah, almost exactly a year ago. He became demonic off of it. Then McDonald's profited off of it. Yeah, almost exactly a year ago. Off of it. Then, you know, McDonald's profited off of it. It was almost like we were CIA plants who had been put there to make that joke to sell Grimace milkshakes. The worst CIA plants. What's our mission?
Starting point is 01:00:54 The worst CIA. All right, Agent Gray and O'Brien, you got to get people to think this Grimace milkshake is his cum. All right. This is so confusing. Way ahead of you. No, trust me. Is this for national security? Fellas, we. Way ahead of you. No, trust me. Is this for national security? Not really.
Starting point is 01:01:09 Just something we think would be interesting just to see where it goes. Yeah. All right. All right. This is like the winds of change that create a meme,
Starting point is 01:01:19 a bunch of memes about the Grimace milkshake. All right. So the Mets are having, all I know about the Mets is heading into the season, their fans are like, but this is like a literal super team. Like we have paid all the best players in Major League Baseball to play for the Mets. How could it go wrong? And then the next time I hear about them, they are having a disastrous season.
Starting point is 01:01:46 Those are the two times because I don't really pay that much attention to baseball. So it's like those stories pop up every once in a while. So that happened again this year. They have the highest payroll, $308 million. Started the season 29 and 37. And then
Starting point is 01:02:02 a little something happened. They invited Grimace to throw out their first pitch and they won that game and that's it no no uh then they won seven more they won seven in a row after grimace throughout the pitch And everybody has been speculating. This is Grimace's doing. Because some of the wins have come with bizarre errors by the opponents. So Grimace's magic is malevolent. It's fucking people up.
Starting point is 01:02:48 malevolent it's like fucking people up like it's causing other teams to have errors and yeah fall down and hurt themselves so i'm just so they they finally the grimace winning streak came to an end and lost to the texas rangers last night but get them back out there yeah i mean they weren't gonna win every game grimace can only do so much if i don't like that i don't like that kind of limited thinking i think we really need i think they should lean the fuck into this and hope to fucking god this is what's going on that grimace is the the savior of their season i think that would be that'd make for a better angels in the outfield type movie yeah just talking about that with blair other day. Grimace should be like their Jobu from Major League.
Starting point is 01:03:28 Exactly. Whatever their offensive caricature is. Yeah, exactly. That always blew my mind when I started watching 24 and my movie conscious, my awareness around Dennis Haysbert's career
Starting point is 01:03:43 was murky. So when he showed him, I'm like, dude, that's fucking Serrano from major league the president is serrano he's american i thought that guy was foreign so stupid like just not understanding what a fucking movie is but also what an insult to the fucking players like it, it's fucking Grimace, man. And I get that a lot of it was, like, self-inflicted by their opponents, but that's got to be terrible for morale when everyone's like, dude, we got to fucking pray to our Grimace statue tonight because that's what's going to help these bums.
Starting point is 01:04:17 All right. So I've heard it said baseball players not always the smartest and in many cases not the is there a sport of the professional athletes is there any sport though where we would say that we're like you know those guys yeah i would say smart baseball uh often or uh basketball offensive linemen and quarterbacks tend to be really have to be really smart but i feel like baseball players are pretty smart insanely superstitious more than i feel. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Starting point is 01:04:46 They're super, super late. Right. So they're very superstitious. Yeah, they're. I feel like like the Red Sox had that big turnaround around the team motto that they were the idiots. I think like they called themselves the idiots. I think in baseball, it actually helps to be like proudly stupid in some cases. And so I feel like this would actually be a good thing for them to rally behind. Just be like, yeah,
Starting point is 01:05:13 it's good. Like we now just like say our prayers to Grimace before we go out there. Because yeah, it's happening one way or another. A player was literally asked, how much credit do you give to Grimace during a post-win interview? Like, literally. That happened. I hope that straight face that player said, all of it. We don't even know what we're doing. Give them all the credit. Brandon, you're always very articulate,
Starting point is 01:05:39 but I want you to be very thoughtful about this next answer. How much credit do you guys give to Grimace for this recent story? I mean, hey, you know, I don't know about coincidences, so, you know, I mean he definitely correlates with us, you know, going on this run
Starting point is 01:05:58 and, you know, if that's what you want to attribute it to, then I'm all for it. Whatever it is, let's keep it going. I'm all for it. Whatever it is, let's keep it going. I, I'm all for it. I like that. He was just sort of like correlation and causation.
Starting point is 01:06:11 He was like keeping the relationship straight, even in his answer. I know. Well, it does correlate with this. Well, fuck me then. This guy's knows correlation causation.
Starting point is 01:06:18 This guy, no, you're right. This guy's pretty smart. Yeah. Whatever it is, let's keep it going. Yeah. He like, he also doesn't want to lean into it.
Starting point is 01:06:27 In his mind, he's like, we can't let him know it's because of Grimace, man. I think it's his mouth that makes it look so much like he's coming. That fucks it up. I'm sorry, who is? Grimace. Sorry, not the baseball player. I was just looking at a picture of Grimace
Starting point is 01:06:41 and his mouth just looks... It is like... Plus, he's sort of Grimace and his mouth just looks. It is like. Yeah. Plus, he's sort of always looking down at his sexual partner. Say like, you like that? Yeah. His eye line does is, you know, could be read as pornographic if you were looking to read it thusly. I am.
Starting point is 01:07:00 And we are. We always are. And that's why we love you, Daniel Van Kirk. 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. Means the world to Miles. He needs your validation, folks.
Starting point is 01:07:23 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
Starting point is 01:08:33 behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Every great player needs a foil.
Starting point is 01:09:26 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 Elf Beauty. Founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

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