The Daily Zeitgeist - Worse Than Watergate, Babies 'R' Bust 3.20.18
Episode Date: March 21, 2018In episode 108, Jack & Miles are joined by comedian Charla Lauriston to discuss the consequences of if Trump fires Mueller, viable nuclear fusion, the real reason Toys 'R' Us is closing, first day... of spring, Iranian New Year & more! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years.
I have a proposal for you.
Come up here and document my project.
All you need to do is record everything like you always do.
What was that?
That was live audio of a woman's nightmare.
Can Kay trust her sister or is history repeating itself?
There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm.
Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and culture in the new iHeart podcast,
Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.
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New episodes every Thursday.
Hi, everyone.
It's me, Katie Couric.
You know, lately I've been overwhelmed by the
whole wellness industry. So much information out there about flaxseed, pelvic floor, serums,
and anti-aging. So I launched a newsletter. It's called Body and Soul to share expert-approved
advice for your physical and mental health. And guess what? It's free. Just sign up at katiecouric.com slash bodyandsoul.
That's K-A-T-I-E-C-O-U-R-I-C dot com slash bodyandsoul.
I promise it will make you happier and healthier.
Captain's Log, Stardate 2024.
We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map.
Yeah, because you refuse to
ask for directions it's space gem there are no roads good point so where are we headed into the
unknown of course join us on in our own world as we uncover hidden truths navigate the depths of
culture identity and the human spirit with a hint of mischief one episode at a time buckle up and
listen to in our own world on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Trust us, it's out of this world.
Hello, the internet, and welcome to Season 23, Episode 2 of Dare Daily Light, guys!
For March 20th, 2018, my name is Jack O'Brien,
a.k.a. We're going back.
Jack, do it O'Brien.
That is courtesy of Soybo.
I believe that is short for Soyboy.
And I'm joined, as always, by my co-host, Mr. Miles Gray.
Jack, I'm not going to do an a.k.a. today.
I am worried about you.
You sound sick. I am worried about you. You sound sick.
I am sick.
And I think you just scared our guest, Sharla.
What?
She heard you sing, and she looked away in a way that I've never seen recently.
My ears weren't ready. What show am I on?
Yeah, she's like, what fucking show am I on?
I didn't know that would be loud singing.
Or a crazy scream of the top.
Yeah, sorry.
But also,
you know,
aka nothing like
100 miles
by Gray Charles.
Thank you to Dan Graham
and many other people
who suggest that aka
on Twitter.
And we are thrilled
to be joined
in our third seat
by the very
not sure how
to think about me
and very funny
comedian and writer
Charla Lauriston.
Yay!
I think well of you.
Okay, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry for singing.
I'm sorry for screaming.
Don't apologize.
I wasn't ready for it, but I appreciated it.
And you've written on
some incredible shows.
Yeah.
You wrote on Kimmy Schmidt.
You wrote on, what else?
Why with Hannibal Buress on Comedy Central.
Damn.
People of Earth on TBS.
Damn.
Ghosted on Fox.
Wow.
Been a lot.
Yeah.
It's been a lot of shows.
What was it like writing on Kimmy Schmidt?
It was my first job and I was terrified the entire time.
Man, because that show packs in.
But it was really cool.
Man, I got to give it up to that writer's room because the fucking jokes come off. Man, because that show packs in. But it was really cool. Man, I got to give up to that writer's room
because the fucking jokes come off thick and fast on that show.
I always say that show taught me how to write jokes.
I do.
Yeah, I'd imagine any Tina Fey show.
Yeah.
That's my favorite thing about those shows.
Right, the jokes.
The jokes are so good.
The nonstop, yeah.
What is something from your search history
that is revealing about who you are as a human being?
Right now I'm like looking for a chest of drawers for my clothes.
I've been like I missed out on this Craigslist sale for a gentleman's chest, which is a piece of furniture I've never heard of before.
What's a gentleman's chest?
It's half shelves, half half drawers which is dope as
fucking like totally useful and i missed out on it because i thought he was charging too much and
then i started googling it non-stop and it turns out that they're so expensive like he was selling
it for like 400 bucks and like i told him no before i googled it which was the dumbest thing
i've ever done and then i started googling it and they're like definitely double that and like in
the thousands like for the most part.
Is it because it's vintage or just like that style is rare?
I think it's just because it's rare.
Yeah.
I think it's like, it just takes a little bit more crap.
Allow me to, what is it called?
A gentleman's chest?
It's called a gentleman's chest.
I was shocked when I just Googled it that it wasn't a picture of like a bare chest of
man.
Seriously.
Yeah.
I was like, what is it called?
I guess because most people who are looking for that are not like speaking and like proper
of it.
Like I would like to see a gentleman.
And the guy got it from like an estate sale from like literally somebody who died and
I should have got it.
And it was I'll never regret anything more.
Now that shit would have been haunted.
Trust me.
It would have been haunted. Yeah me. It would have been haunted.
Yeah, you don't want a haunted chest.
For sure.
But for half the price.
Yeah.
I would have taken a haunted.
Worth it.
Yeah, for 400 bucks less?
Yeah.
What is something you think is underrated?
What do I think is underrated?
Lotion.
I don't know if people are thinking about it but i've
been dealing with a lot of dry skin and i've been like very happy that i have lotion in my life
good that's it we were told that we were uh culturally biased when we set up our uh
bathroom in the new studios with no hand lotion uh the culture kings were like what this is a very
white bathroom right right or not feminine like ladies like ladies yeah it's just white men who
are like i don't give a shit yeah my whole body dries up crazy i i need i'm so dry yeah it's
crazy like have you the like a couple times i a massage, you know, they use like lotion or whatever.
My skin just absorbs it immediately.
Right.
And you're like, oh, wow.
I guess I'll use more oil.
No, literally.
I have to like put oil over my lotion in order for the lotion to work.
It's like.
Yeah, you need that layer.
And the California dry air, I think like exacerbates my dry skin.
Oh, because you said you've lived on the East Coast or something.
I moved here from New York, and I have just been really struggling with this dry skin.
Right.
It's been a problem.
How long have you been out of New York?
Since July.
Oh, okay.
So you're fresh out.
Fresh out.
That's a comedy show in L.A.
Fresh out of?
Four people who just got out here?
No, I think it's hosted by
like emily heller and like they've been out here for a long time okay uh what is something you
think is overrated two-door cars oh yeah sports cars i think they're you looked at me like i
pulled up in a two-door car when you said a lot of energy eye contact because i feel like it's
better for the um talking yeah yeah no no i my husband got us a two-door car and i feel like it's better for the um talking yeah yeah no no my husband got us a
two-door car and i just like kind of went along with it but like we've as we've been moving we
just moved again it's been the worst possible car to have like we can't do anything oh you're
trying to move like i mean even domiciles yeah we just moved to a new place and we're like we've
been trying to like move our stuff and like get furniture in there you can't do anything with that car it's not a good like errand car and i realized that like
they're fine to look at which i don't even care to look at a sports car but like when you need
to do normal everyday stuff which is what i do every day in my car like a two-door car is
bullshit what kind of car is it it's a sports car h car. Okay. I mean, two-door cars are sporty cars.
Yeah, well, you know who the two-door car is perfect for?
Like a high school guy.
Yeah.
Or a college guy who never wants to give a ride to everybody because they can use the excuse like, oh, why don't you drive?
I'm like, bro, you know I got the two-door car.
That's why my husband got the car because he was like, I don't want anybody else in the car.
And I was like, you don't want anything else in the car, period.
You don't want items.
You can't just items. Yeah, that was my out in high school or college because I used to always get the ride with people.
And then I got the two-door Honda Prelude that I was rocking for many years.
And I was always like, oh, well, I can't take everybody because, you know, I got the two-door car.
That's real.
I can't help you move because, you know, it's mean.
Yeah.
And now, you know what?
I've caught up and I have a hatchback that's like a station wagon.
And now I'm moving all kinds of stuff.
All kinds of stuff. Good. You're a're a good friend miles thank you so much i had a i had
a two-door chevy blazer which most people oh yeah that thing yeah the new body type or the square
body square like oh shit that i think laser oh no maybe it was new body like the one that like
when the gmc jimmy came, it was like the same body type almost?
Yeah, basically.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Where is that buried?
Where is that buried?
It's definitely dead.
Yeah, yeah.
It's definitely dead.
Did you sell it?
Those have not been seen on a street for like the past 10 years.
It was a-
Oh, no.
It's right through Sylmar.
It was a lease.
Oh, God.
You leased a two-door Blazer.
Shazzy.
Oh, God.
You leased a two-door Blazer.
It was through something, some deal that my family had with a car dealership or something.
And so we got an extra car.
I got that one.
And, yeah.
And your life's been perfect ever since.
Yeah.
And everything's gone right for you, hasn't it, Jack? It has.
Almost exactly.
I had to go to the auto auction in Tustin.
That's tough, man.
It was a really bizarre place.
Have you been to an auto auction?
I have.
They're crazy.
Like when you walk around and see what's available.
And like there are some things that you're like, this is for sale?
This looks like a crime scene.
Right.
No, all of them look like someone was doing some sort of crime.
Yeah.
But like my dad got me.
I'm from Taunton, Massachusetts. My dad got me like this white pickup hatchback pickup hatchback it's like a pickup
truck with a hatchback on the back so it's like a cover thing like yeah so it's like enclosed so
you can like live in it you could you totally it's a house kinda right so it was the shittiest
truck ever just like this shitty white like 1990 i don't even
know uh and i think he got it for like 900 right that's how my auction i like my dad at an auction
yeah when we went i was looking for my first car and i couldn't be there for the auction so my dad
was like is there anything here that you like i was like honestly no just get the thing that's
like the least crimey right because like there was one that legit had like the most concerning stains like all over the seats and i was like no seriously
like all the crime cars at this auction just looked really tricked out they were just like
really expensive like drug lord cars and i was just like and actually i was like dad get me
any car except for that white picture and then all those other cars went for like eight thousand dollars or whatever right naturally and then my dad was like nah
Yeah, have you noticed that cars last out here more you know, I think you have to take care of them, right?
Right. Well, and I think also because there's not as much rain and there's not like winter yeah yeah it's like a whole different level of uh cars i never see
out here i never thought of it of the west coast being like cars last out here no they do yeah it
was like the first thing i noticed when i came out here to la like the different like i grew up on
the east coast and you know if you saw a car that's more than five years old,
the bottom of it was being eaten away by salt and shit.
And then you'll see a pickup truck from the 50s out here that's just mint condition.
There's no moisture in the air, and it's always sunny.
And it's just like, yeah, I've never gotten in an accident, and so this car still works.
I guess that's my West Coast privilege.
Yeah, exactly, Miles. And and then finally what is a myth what's something people think is true here's a myth that my mom thinks is true um she thinks when you when you're when your right hand
is itchy that means money's gonna come to you and um my right hand is always and i don't ever see this money that's supposed to be coming but
she really will call me and be like my right hand's been itchy i think we're gonna get some
money like it's like newsworthy but has so there had to have been a moment where i personally
debunked it because it's never worked for me i think it's just her own special power you're like
i'm looking at my bank statement i'm yeah shit out of my right hand the numbers are not changing
wait but did something must have happened for her to to be like oh to'm looking at my bank statement. I'm itching the shit out of my right hand. The numbers are not changing. I'm itching the shit. Wait, but did something must have happened for her to, to be like, oh, to make that connection.
My mom is very, um, superstitious.
So like, you know, she has a lot of dreams, like she, you know, and I think that's like
something that like my grandma, grandmother also believed in.
Right.
So like my grandmother's like, you know, your right hand is itchy.
That means money.
If your left hand is itchy, it's bad. If your right hand is itchy that means money if your left hand is itchy it's bad if your right hand is itchy it's good it's money
um but it has never i have all i have timed it i have put in my calendar right hand was itchy
on this day at this time and just waiting for money and like and i don't want like you know
like if i'm at a job and I get a check money.
I don't mean that money.
I mean like unexpected money. Oh, shit.
Right, right.
Like $20 in my pocket.
Right.
Or like on the street or something like that or an unexpected check or something.
I mean it's never happened.
So I've debunked that personally.
And that's like a Haitian thing?
That's a Haitian thing.
Gotcha.
That's interesting.
In like Japan and other cultures, like if your middle toe is bigger than your pointer finger toe,
like the one next to it, then that means you're going to be taller than the parent of that sex.
Whoa.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
That seems like a very abnormal thing for your middle finger toe to be longer than your pointer.
It's crazy.
No, some people, they stack up nice and evenly, and if you're really hopeful about your height,
you'll really stretch that shit out.
So you know what's weird is that there is an actual scientific thing that when you look at your hands, the length of your ring finger in comparison with your pointer finger is an indication of how much testosterone you got in the womb.
No shit.
And so people who are ā
My ring finger is longer than my middle finger.
It's my longest finger.
Oh, your ring finger is?
No, I'm joking.
You look like the craziest unbalanced man.
What if you're ā
Wait, so what happens ā so looking at that ā
It's something with ā longer ring finger means more testosterone.
Interesting.
Yeah.
So on ā nah. they're like equal.
Yeah, I think most women's are equal and most men's are a little longer, varying degrees
of longer.
Yeah, on one hand, one is a little longer.
Yeah.
All right, let's get into the stories of the day.
I wanted to talk about the Mueller investigation because that's still out there.
to talk about the Mueller investigation because that's still out there. I think this has been sort of the response to Trump's tweet storm over the weekend. And then now Trump is thinking about
remaking his legal team to bring on a conservative lawyer who has been very vocal claiming that the whole Mueller investigation is a ā
Sham.
A conspiracy to frame President Trump by Hillary Clinton and Obama.
All of them.
All those ā yeah, Joe DiGenova is the new guy that he signed who is ā
again, Trump is just picking people he sees on Fox and hiring them
because he's on Tucker Carlson all the time.
And yet he has some hot takes like, oh, the single most important scandal the last 50 years
because senior DOJ and FBI officials engaged in conduct that was designed to corrupt an American presidential election.
It wasn't the Russians who corrupted the presidential election.
It was the American officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI.
So, yes, of course you want this man caping for you because he believes the same crazy shit that you do right
one thing i keep hearing from both sides uh but especially after trump's tweet storm i've been
hearing it from conservatives they're like well what are we just going to let this go on forever
like he's just going to be able to be investigating the president forever like i want to
see some evidence and um the so 538 put together a infographic where they uh represented all the
different special counsel investigations from history with like a line and like showed how
many years they lasted and then they put circles for each time there was an indictment filed.
And so Mueller's investigation is actually like filing indictments faster than basically any of the ones in the past.
And every single past investigation has gone, you know, years at the very least.
Yeah, well, the shortest is like nearly three or just over three.
Yeah, and the Iran-Contra was the other one that had very early indictments, but that one lasted six years.
Like the indictments are a sign that, you know, there's something maybe going on here.
are a sign that there's something maybe going on here.
The Valerie Plame investigation during the Bush administration, I think that was one of the shortest that went a little over three years.
And indictments didn't come till nearly two.
Right.
Yeah.
So that's one thing that I don't know.
I haven't seen fully represented when people are talking about this.
Well, I think it's people are just so eager to just figure out like you know on the left people are just so horny for like muller to come through
with handcuffs and just cuff everybody up and take everybody out of the nightmare and that's like
the left version for wanting this to happen faster and then on the right is just sort of like
all right like uh let's not keep underlining the fact that this guy
i mean do we have to keep just doing this forever?
It's like, well, he's innocent.
And what the fuck is the problem?
Like, I feel like we all know they're not innocent.
They're like making it plainly obvious by the with the firings.
But I really like what you said about what the left is doing about like, which is what I feel.
I don't I don't have any optimism when I look at these investigations, you know, because I feel like we're putting all our eggs in this basket.
Right. When this is the issue, I think, as a country, I feel like we're not learning any lessons as a country, the way that we're watching and reacting to these investigations, which is that we're not trying to.
I mean, a little bit with the incoming elections, you know, like trying to do this blue wave of like, you know, take back Congress and all that other stuff.
But I really feel like this is the issue with us as a country is that we are not we're not thinking about like the big picture.
We're just like waiting for somebody to bail us out.
And like, right.
I don't know.
It's easy.
And it's easy for a lot of Republicans to sort of sit on their hands right now and not do anything.
And whether it's like, oh, we need to protect Robert Mueller or we need to just wait and see what happens.
Yeah.
I think this is the litmus test on which the left and the right are the furthest apart.
And if Trump fires Mueller, it's going to bring that to a head.
I don't know what happens at that point, but it is going to be a crisis.
It's going to be worse than I think people.
What does that look like?
Right.
So, I mean, I think on the right, they're just hoping it looks like the left being outraged
and then nothing happening.
And then on the left, I don't know what we're turning.
Well, it's essentially overturning the rule of
law in this country like is there going to be a coup like is that what the crisis signal well i
think you know the most calm version right is like let's say he fires muller in the next month
right and the republicans just sit on their hands because their strategy going to 2018 is basically
like let trump do his thing in every vulnerable district and he'll keep the Senate majority.
But then I think really the way it would play out, obviously people would take the streets and protest because I think most people do realize that it's like a step towards Trump just becoming a total dictator, being like, no, I'm above the law.
But I think the only recourse we would have is to really ensure that there is some kind
of massive democratic wave in the midterms so at least there's a congress a house and a senate
that are diametrically opposed to the president's agenda i mean i kind of think that like i mean i
have a very dark view of what's going on i think we're already pretty much in crisis the fact that
we absolutely like the fact that any of this is happening at all, that
the president fires these people at will and nothing happens. And the fact that like, I don't
even think what's happening in Congress is what is representative of the crisis. I think it's
what's happening everywhere else. For instance, the Parkland shooting and the protests for that
and how the NRA is pushing back and how no one is
really no one's really standing up for those kids you know it's just like i mean that's that's it
it's like that's the crisis it's that like the people can die no one really stands up for it
it's like we could wait for people to stand up uh in congress but i've long since lost any hope in those guys.
Well, yeah, because partisan politics is just turn it into a game of sort of like, I just need to get through these elections.
I need to do whatever I need to do.
And if that means not rocking the boat to keep my head down and stay in office and be the most popular person in my state or whatever, then so be it.
And like, yeah, that's where I think eventually we'll have to come to a head because what happens then when we really do have a president who is saying like, I'm doing like wild illegal shit and you can't prosecute me.
But also it's just like, what is keeping people in Trump's corner?
It's like, does he have stuff on people?
Because it's just like he literally like at the drop of a hat will fire or out people or like ask them to sacrifice their careers and their livelihoods for to keep him
safe and it's like what are they getting i i don't see anybody getting anything out of it
i think some people are just so purely focused on power that they get to be near it that
yeah everything else goes out the window it's like oh yeah so what i've completely compromised
my dignity or like i have no moral scruples or whatever yeah but like what's scaramucci up to
right now and what did he really benefit from the power?
Yeah, I don't know.
He's fallen ethnically ambiguous on Twitter, I guess.
Yeah, that's true.
And his podcast.
He's fallen.
Former cons director for like a week and a half.
Right.
But he's got a book.
You know, I think that's the other thing.
People are just using this to like, oh, let me just get my name in the news and then I'll
just do the wild book deal.
Yeah.
And then I'll make money off of being near this president.
And that's how I can do it.
But yeah, it's, you know, like they say, there's a lot of articles now that's like this will be
worse than watergate right right uh because in watergate you know the democrats had control of
congress right and so they were able to enact some sort of well they also had republicans that were
willing to step up to their own president and be like yo there's got to be a line here like we then that's why you know nixon eventually was you know
had to resign because there was enough pressure from within his own party this is not going to
happen now because there's only what maybe four or five top gop members of congress that are really
being like no don't fuck around and even then they're not even the ones that i would even
believe because they're so inconsistent.
Yeah.
And I wonder if Trump is even responding to pressure.
I don't think he's like the regular, like lifelong politician or like or even someone who understands politics enough to know that he should be listening to certain people.
Well, yeah.
I mean, now that he's got the A-team of weird people around him, he has no reason to act normal because at least he had like the people that he's like, you know, purged out of the White House or the people who would be like, you can't really talk like that or like you shouldn't really we shouldn't go into something like this.
And now that those people are gone, he's like doing whatever the fuck he wants.
I had no idea how much power a president had until I watched Trump just do whatever he wants to do.
I was like, oh, you could do all that?
Oh.
I mean, there are a couple of ways in which like thinking forward, whatever happens with the Mueller investigation, when Trump is out of office, hopefully in 2020, whoever the next real president is like an actual president who like we want to be able to do the job of president
yeah like if there is a special counsel like if there's precedent to just have a special counsel
who uh can you know just do basically what kind of started clinton and you know what uh we want
muller to be able to do to trump uh Trump that that could also be sort of a shitty precedent.
So there are things that I don't know by having Trump in office.
It's a little bit, you know, it sets precedents that aren't aren't good.
And it uses precedents from real presidents that, you know, make us regret every decision.
Giving a president power.
Right, right.
Right, yeah.
Cool, because I think, too, with a lot of Republicans, it's sort of like when the Vikings came through in the beginning.
They were just robbing monasteries because they're like, y'all got all this gold in these churches and you got these monks protecting it.
Meanwhile, we're crazy and we'll kill everybody for gold.
And everyone's like, yo, what the fuck?
Normally you would respect the church.
You wouldn't do some wild shit like that.
And this is kind of what Trump is doing, just coming through, doing shit that people are like, whoa, yo, what the fuck? Like normally you would respect the church. Like you wouldn't do some wild shit like that. And this is kind of what Trump is doing.
He's coming through doing shit that people are like, whoa, wait, what the fuck?
And I think it's going to take a second to fully be like whatever that line comes.
That's the thing.
It's like people act like Trump is a rational president that understands.
And it's just like, no.
It's like having a comedian run the White House or something.
What? I can do whatever I want.
See, I think this is all just Miles's anti-Viking propaganda.
No, I fuck with the Vikings. Love them.
Those monks were cucks and the Vikings came through with their masculine.
Their masculine energy. Right.
And we're like, come off your gold.
Shouts out to Jordan Peterson.
All right. We're going to take a quick break and we're like come off your gold shout out to jordan peterson uh all right we're
gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back i've been thinking about you i want you back in
my life it's too late for that i have a proposal for you come up here and document my project all
you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours.
BPM 110, 120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not.
What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That
was live audio of a woman's nightmare.
This machine is approved and everything?
You're allowed to be doing this?
We passed the review board a year ago.
We're not hurting people.
There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller
from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm.
Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, everyone. It's me, Katie Couric.
If you follow me on social media, you know I love to cook, or at least try,
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slash goodtaste. That's K-A-T-I-E-C-O-U-R-I-C dot com slash goodtaste. I promise your taste buds
will be happy you did. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the
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Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita,
followed by the mojito from Cuba,
and the piƱa colada from Puerto Rico.
So all of these, we think, Latin culture.
There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey
that dates back to the 9th century B.C.
B.C.?
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When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine,
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And we're back.
The first subject we wanted to talk about
is a little bit of good news,
the fact that it's looking like
we're going to have viable nuclear fusion
coming down the line in about 15 years, which is exciting.
All right, let me set my alarm for 15 years.
But that, I mean, that is one of the ways that, you know, we could definitely see climate
change being addressed as, you know.
But before we get to that, we're just also talking about ā How deeply cynical everyone still is about everything.
Well, yeah.
I mean, for instance, the idea that there is a nuclear option.
Charlie, you were saying that like we didn't even know that was a thing.
I didn't know that was a thing.
Like Miles was talking about how 30 ā like Democrats have won 37.
A lot of special elections, yeah.
Special elections and republicans
have only won four and i was saying like let me just rain on your parade there because he was
trying to make me more hopeful right because i'm like even if the democrats do take that congress
i just don't see them being ready for power right like they just don't use power the way that the
republicans do in the sense that like the i didn't even know what nuclear option was until the Republicans used it on the, what was it?
The house floor or something.
Or like, I had no idea the kinds of things and tactics you could, you know, employ, um,
until Republicans did it.
So I'm just like, are they ready to like, are they ready, ready to like go balls to
the wall?
Like, are they ready to like really push through some things the way that the republicans push things through you know right yeah i was talking to a friend of
my very smart guy one of the smartest people i know who happens to be a conservative and just
you know he was making a lot of different points about the muller investigation but
the thing that just kept popping up in my head was, man, if this was Obama, you guys would have been like Fox News would have been like losing their mind.
And, you know, we wouldn't have even gotten to where where we are in the Trump situation because of just how crazy the right-wing media would have gone. And, you know, I do feel like it's just people are playing two separate games
and the right-wing media and the right-wing politicians are just so much shrewder and just more effective.
They're still doing Jedi mind tricks.
The right-wing is doing Jedi mind tricks and everyone ā the whole gaslighting term that started being used.
That's what's happening.
The NRA is doing it.
Everybody is doing it and no one is being honest.
This is what I was talking about with Miles too on the break.
It was about how Trump is just a symptom of everything else that's going on and like of what we've
allowed as a country to happen.
You know, like, of course, Obama couldn't do this because he's black and Trump is white.
And this is what the country wants, like the country wants.
I mean, not the country, I don't think.
But like, this is what the people that voted for him want.
They want their power back.
So they're going to be using all kinds of backhanded terms and like alt-right instead of just saying Nazi and things like that.
And the news goes along with it because that's what makes money and that's what people watch.
So it's like we're just going to keep doing this little dance until we like ā I don't think we're ever going to stop the bullshit.
But I do got to say, yeah, with the nuclear option, the Democrats started.
Schumer was the one to use.
No way.
Yeah, because it was during the time when the Republicans were fucking just obstructing like Obama couldn't get shit done.
And I was like, we may have to we have to blow this thing up.
But yes, now it's like anything.
Right.
Because you have to shift the rules like Jack was saying before of like Obama had expand powers were obstructing you know his sort of policy goals
and then in the in the senate and things a lot of uh procedure was altered and things to sort of get
around these things and now we're kind of you know on the other side but anyway what about some good
news jack you're saying something about fusion something about the environment yeah so um this
is something that uh i had sort of just put out of my mind as a possibility, nuclear energy being a thing.
I think I was raised on The Simpsons where Homer works at a nuclear power plant and there's a fish that has three eyes because of that nuclear power plant.
And, you know, in the late 70s, early 80s, there was a movie called China Syndrome, which I never knew where that title came from. core is so hot that it will actually burn through the planet and like come out the other end in china which uh is not how gravity works uh but right at a certain point it's just gonna be on
the other right it would just stop okay anyway anyways um so that's that's where that's the idea
there and there's a lot of just fear and you know uh trinobol was obviously uh awful and a lot of just fear and, you know, Chernobyl was obviously awful and a lot of bad shit happened there.
But they have made nuclear energy much safer than it has been in the past.
And a lot of the nuclear energy stuff besides Chernobyl has really been panic-based stuff.
And Fukushima?
Well, Fukushima, it didn't end up hurting that many people.
And like people.
Right.
But it destroyed the water.
I mean,
like the effects are pretty profound,
like to the actual water table in the surrounding area and things like that.
Yeah.
But like,
I guess,
yeah,
if you're not talking full blown meltdown,
but yeah,
I think there's still an inherent risk with,
with some,
right.
With some.
no,
no,
I think there is,
but I also think the response in the aftermath,
like Nancy Grace was freaking out about planes coming from Japan having all this radiation on them. And the level of radiation she was talking about was actually just from those planes being above the clouds, like close to the sun.
Like that's ā
Right.
It's like atmospheric radiation.
The sun has lots of radiation.
But ā so I just think that it's overrated how dangerous nuclear power plants are. And now that we're actually seeing some consequences to global warming at nuclear energy and especially now that uh some scientists
have come out uh the guardian just had a report on the 9th of march saying that we're only 15 years
away from nuclear fusion which uh nuclear fission is what we've been working with up to this point
uh it's got all the you know dangers inherent that uh you know that caused Chernobyl and all that bad stuff.
Fusion is basically how the sun works.
It's by fusing two atoms together.
It creates this boundless energy, but it's much safer.
It's much more stable.
It creates more energy.
It's basically like the holy grail of energy.
And they think we're about 15 years away from it.
But it's not fashionable to be into nuclear, especially in the West, which is kind of ā
Why not?
Because of those things that we're talking about because people associate those cooling towers with like nuclear meltdowns and stuff.
towers with like nuclear meltdowns and stuff um but it's perfectly safe and you know much better for the planet than the things that we're currently using to heat and power our electric grid right
because like photovoltaics and like solar and things like that can only generate so much energy
whereas like fusion is like you're saying like it's an insane amount of energy that like enables
a lot of other things like even desalinization and things like that because like being able to do that, like there are knock-on effects.
If in 15 years ā I'm starting to count ā if they actually do have this full-on carbon-free scaled fusion power, that could have like pretty widespread benefits for humanity.
I feel like as soon as they make it viable, like somebody is going to start selling it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cause right now I think it's like,
you know,
it costs like billions of dollars just to research it.
Yeah.
And they're saying like,
you know,
the first plants could be tens of billions of dollars,
maybe trillions more depending on like,
you know,
how sophisticated it is.
Because right now,
like the whole struggle has been like,
they've been able to
uh fuse the atoms to sort of create the energy release but they haven't been able to generate
more power from the fusion than it takes to even create the reaction in the first place so like i
think now that they're starting to reach that tipping point where they can be like okay we're
getting a return on the energy we're putting in i guess it's becoming more feasible but i have to
say that is like the one thing i am looking forward to like unlimited energy technology like tesla doesn't have any huge
competition right now as far as their standard of car you know like if like other when other people
get in the game and you can get like a cheap electric car that's like really nice right or
like uh we phase out gas cars you know like which is a long
time from now but still totally totally in the distance you know well a lot of countries aren't
trying to phase them out so that's it's a sign it's a step towards it's cool i think russia even
though they're the site of the one nuclear meltdown that has killed lots of people, they have invested more in nuclear power than
we have, I think, purely because we're ruled by the whims of the public, you know?
And if there's a scary movie like The China Syndrome that comes out, that's going to
determine how viable it is for a community to invest in nuclear power.
There's this thing I just found out about called like the race for the Arctic shipping
routes.
And basically, Russia has all these different boats that are called nuclear icebreakers
that are basically nuclear powered boats that break through ice in the northern, like in
northern shipping routes. And basically,
they're going to rule all the northern shipping routes once the ice has melted enough due to
global warming. So they're sort of investing for a future that includes global warming.
And they're able to do it better than us because they can invest in nuclear energy and not have these like sort of misunderstandings about how safe nuclear energy is.
But yeah, I mean, super producer Nick Stumpf just sent a list of energy source mortality
rates, deaths per year per TWH, which I'm assuming is like per 100,000 or something
like that.
I'm assuming it's like per 100,000 or something like that.
But coal, the world average is 161 deaths per year.
Coal in China, 278.
In the U.S., it's 15.
Oil, 36.
Natural gas, 4.
And nuclear is 0.04.
So it's basically the safest.
Like it's safer than ā I guess rooftop solar according to this list.
Right.
Rooftop solar, there's ā
But what are the ā I guess you have to think about ā
They cause fires.
Right.
Wind, I think ā I don't actually know how wind kills people.
It kills all the birds.
It kills a lot of birds.
There's like trees falling and unstable buildings.
But it's weird to think, you know, like that only 15 people, I guess, are like ones that they can directly relate to coal-generated energy essentially.
Is that the idea?
So it's deaths per year per tetrawatt hour, we think, which is a guess.
But we think it's like per unit of energy produced.
But look, we're not scientists.
Right.
They're basically saying nuclear energy is per unit of energy the safest type of energy when you compare it to oil, coal, natural gas, biofuel, heat, solar slash rooftop, wind, and hydroelectricity, which I thought was the safest.
Okay.
Well, get that fusion going.
Like I said, scientists, you have, I i guess 14 years and 363 days now yeah but i'm saying i'm saying get the fission going too like we're too scared of
fission like this the nuclear energy table that we were just looking at where that says nuclear
energy is the safest type of energy that's based on nuclear fission like that's current oh right
right right right so like just let's start using nuclear energy uh this episode brought to you by the uh atomic uh
administration of america right i see you couldn't even come up with a company that's how yeah
that's how shitty our nuclear power energy is uh and then one other uh super depressing thing we
wanted to bring up uh in under the guise of bring up under the guise of good news.
So Toys R Us, a lot of people claim that they're closing because Amazon is putting them out of business.
And while that's partially true.
Wait, Toys R Us is closing?
All of them?
All Toys R Us are closing.
Okay.
If anyone is a child listening to this, go tell your parents to buy your toys right now because they'll probably be so cheap.
Right.
And just have them stack up right now.
Man, fuck.
I wish this happened when I was a kid.
I would use this.
I would be like, you know what, Mom?
I should be able to get at least one more Ninja Turtle action figure because this store is liquidated.
Anyway.
Yeah.
Yeah, Toys R Us was like the dopest place to possibly go when I was a kid.
I only went one time in my entire childhood.
Yeah.
In my life, actually.
And what was it?
And do you remember what the situation was?
I wanted a Barbie dream house or an Easy Bake Oven.
Okay.
We did end up getting that oven.
And it wasn't just the Easy Bake Oven.
We got this whole little kitchen.
Oh, wow.
So that was pretty cool.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that was really cool.
The cool.
Yeah, man.
That's where I got my He-Man Castle of Greyskull when I was like a kid.
That's where the dopest shit was.
What is it?
Persian Gulf War themed Ninja Turtle action figures?
War propaganda toys?
Or like Leonardo was an Air Force pilot?
Why did you guys get fun toys and I got like laborious toys?
I got toys that were taught in teaching me labor.
Well, that was in addition to books. Like, man got books which in retrospect i'm like thank you no we
gotta get you got a helpful toy i don't think we gotta get all ready for their role ready to cook
huh right here's your pickaxe what here's a pickaxe and an easy bake set because you learn
how to mine any he-man and ninja-Man and Ninja Turtles. You guys are being prepared to do nothing.
My first washing board.
It's obsolete technology.
And I had so much fun with that EasyBake oven, too.
I mean, baby's first loom.
It's like weave your own fabrics, kids.
Right.
Coal mine.
So anyways, there's an interesting report in, I believe, the Washington Post that says
that one of the real problems for Toys R Us and Kids R Us, which is their baby...
Babies R Us, right?
Babies R Us.
Oh, Babies R Us.
That's right.
Which is like sort of baby clothes and baby products.
Baby everything.
Baby everything.
Cribs.
Is that...
Shouldn't I know this?
I'm the one who's like the parent
meanwhile i'm the creepy single guy babies r us i just like to know what's out there right uh we
actually have a babies r us gift card that we need to use this is reminding me but anyways uh
toys are so they're they have a map that is uh like basically babies born in the U.S. rolling 12-year total and change from the year earlier.
And then they have that chart.
And then below that, Toys R Us revenue, calendar year totals,
change from a year earlier.
And they basically map to each other.
So it's like how many babies we're having
completely maps to how profitable Toys R Us and Babies R Us are.
And our child output has gone down.
Since 2010, we've been on a ever downward slope, which used to be seen as like something
to aim for.
In the 70s, everybody was worried that like the world was going to end because of overpopulation. And then all these amazing breakthroughs happened that we never talk about, like a guy who figured out a really hardy form of wheat that fed basically billions and billions of people and is the reason that we're able to sustain as many people on the planet Earth as we are today.
the reason that we're able to sustain as many people on the planet earth as we are today uh like all these amazing things happen and now we're like ah we got to get those baby making
rates back up yeah which i don't know i think people should be able to have children at whatever
rate whatever that seems to happen i think people are pushing back more on the traditional thing
like oh you should have kids by this age or whatever you need a family immediately where
i mean most people my generation are like i'm good on kids right now
right yeah is it just that we're good on kids or is that like we have student loans we have like
so many barriers right like the milestones that our parents reached at our age because there were
like a middle class back in the day where you'd be like hey i could be like a city worker like
and i could also put kids through college like i won't even think about having kids until i pay off my student loans like i just don't see a way that it makes
sense i just know that past generations did not view that as much as as much of a barrier like my
grandfather was a philadelphia city cop and a truck driver like alternatingly his wife my grandmother was did not work and
they had eight kids yeah because they were irish catholic yeah that's just how you do it to the
same my parents don't see any correlation between my student loans and having kids which is like you
should be having kids and i'm just like see the way the world works right now is that i can't do
that right now yeah this cost a lot of money.
I think they cost more money than they did in your day.
You have to be balling to have a kid.
Like, I look at somebody who has a kid, I'm like, oh, you're doing real good.
You're rich.
I'm just like, you have a kid. I know you guys were saying that I ā
Yeah, you got two kids' money.
Yeah.
I use my kids mostly as a status symbol.
That's mainly why I had them.
Yeah, you have an iced out chain with a picture of two just two
birth certificates hanging off right like yeah i just had one got the dealer plates on it and
everything uh i mean it's just like a cultural shift i don't even think it's just the financial
aspect i think it's also that like people are just waiting longer to get married people are
waiting longer to settle people are waiting longer to have kids.
People don't really want kids like feminism.
Women are like, I'm free without having a kid.
Yeah, I think this is all good for everyone.
It's fine for everybody.
Including for my kids.
Although they're in a little baby like bust.
They're not in a baby boom.
So less competition
they're gonna be you know rolling yeah but they'll still be competing with each other
right exactly yeah and that's how i like to keep it yeah you should bring in other kids just to
keep your own kids like in stranger kids right these are some wild card kids i brought home y'all
just to keep you guys you you know, at attention.
Right.
And we're going to feed them first because they got better grades than you.
Are you kids ready for attention tryouts?
Hey, but population and generation size allows me to talk about my second favorite thing to the British coal gas study, which is my favorite thing.
I talk about it for
usually on average an hour every day. It just happens to be sometimes in front of these
microphones. But so there's also this thing called the dependency ratio, which is how many
working age people a population has compared to non-working age. So people who are under 18 or over the age of 65,
they put those like children and elderly people on one side of the scale.
And then you put the working age people on the other side of the scale.
And if you have more of the working age people, the more like the better the balance is in favor
of the working age people, the better your economy is going to do essentially.
And so this is why China on one end of the scale has been doing so well because they had that one child policy for all those years.
And so they had this huge baby boom of children going through working ā going through their working age from 18 to 65.
And then behind them, they had very few children because they had the one-child policy,
so they had a really good dependency ratio, a lot of workers,
not that many children to take care of, not that many elderly people to care for.
And then on the other hand, you have developing countries
where people have to have a lot of children to have a full-sized family
because infant mortality and death rates are very you know out of control for younger children and
so that keeps them at a bad dependency ratio um but then china's kind of going to have the tail
end of that now right so china's all those people are going to be retired. Right. America and China are both heading for a much worse dependency ratio because America's baby boomers.
So America, for the past like 30 years, was passing through the period where our baby boom, our biggest lump of people, was passing through working age.
And now they're all about to retire.
So we're going to have all those old baby boomers dragging down the
economy.
We're already seeing it in some instances.
See, Sharla, aren't you excited now?
Okay.
So this is what I'm thinking about.
Yeah, I know.
Now we're looking at this shit.
But this is what I'm wondering, because I'm'm like so many things are going to be autonomized or like autonomous driving.
Like all those Lyft workers are going to be out of work.
Like Boston Dynamics is creating all these like people and dog robots that are like so scary.
Frightening, yeah.
They're so scary.
And I'm like we're going to automate so much that like how much people, how many people do we actually need in the workforce?
That's a very good question.
It might make the dependency ratio obsolete.
Exactly.
And then we have to talk about the universal basic income then.
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
To tackle that problem.
Right.
And then on top of that, we got the immigrants.
Okay.
And MS-13.
The problem should never end, man.
I can't take it.
Anyways, that is one reason why not having a great childbirth rate is something that countries have traditionally feared.
Right.
And why Russia has, like, baby-making day in their country where Putin is like, now everybody fucks.
Yes?
Do it.
Great Putin impression. everybody fucks yes uh because great putin impression uh but yeah like they actually
literally have like a national like sort of enforced valentine's day where they tell everybody
to have sex with each other japan was trying to do that too yeah the population contraction is
still happening and they're like even the companies are like hey please take the day off and like try
and find someone to start a family with like but at the same time, they have like people die at work because they have that crazy work culture where people ā
It's like you guys got a lot of problems.
In a non-slave labor context, people are voluntarily working themselves to death.
Yeah.
Well, not voluntarily, like culturally whatever.
Culturally expected, yeah.
But yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
I've been thinking about you. we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. always do. One session, 24 hours. BPM 110, 120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not.
What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the
review board a year ago. We're not hurting people.
There's nothing
dangerous about what you're doing.
They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller
from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio,
and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right? Okay.
And this season, we're taking in a bigger bite
out of the most delicious food and its history.
Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita,
followed by the mojito from Cuba,
and the piƱa colada from Puerto Rico.
So all of these...
We have, we think, Latin culture.
There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the 9th century B.C.
B.C.?
I didn't realize how old the hot dog was.
Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network,
available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, everyone. It's me, Katie Couric. If you follow me on social media, you know I love to
cook or at least try, especially alongside some of my favorite chefs and foodies like Benny Blanco,
Jake Cohen, Lighty Hoyt, Alison Roman, and of course, Ina Garten and Martha Stewart. So I
started a free newsletter called Good Taste that comes out every Thursday, and it's serving up recipes that will make your mouth water.
Think a candied bacon Bloody Mary, tacos with cabbage slaw, curry cauliflower with almonds and mint, and cherry slab pie with vanilla ice cream to top it all off.
I mean, yum. I'm getting hungry. But if you're not sold yet, we also have kitchen tips like a foolproof
way to grill the perfect burger and must-have products like the best cast iron skillet to feel
like a chef in your own kitchen. All you need to do is sign up at katiecouric.com slash goodtaste.
That's K-A-T-I-E-C-O-U-R-I-C dot com slash goodtaste. I promise your taste buds will be happy you did. show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network. You thought you had fun last season? Well, you
were right. And you should tune in today for new fun segments like Sister Court and listening to
Lacey's steamy DMs. We've got new and exciting guests like Michael Beach. That's my husband.
Daphne Spring, Daniel Thrasher, Peppermint, Morgan Jay, and more. You got to watch us. No,
you mean you have to listen to us.
I mean, you can still watch us, but you got to listen.
Like, if you're watching us, you have to tell us.
Like, if you're out the window, you have to say, hey, I'm watching you outside of the window.
Just, you know what?
Listen to the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. hashtag for like nuclear energy just to make it cool nuke gang nuke life nuke family i think they
should embrace that three-eyed fish from the simpsons and just like make that their you know
but make that the third eye right you know i mean i have to look at how spiritual we can be
and look at the possibility of humanity there you go look hire me nuclear atomic agency that i just
made up for the purpose of this bit uh all right to close out, we wanted to talk about
the holiday
that we're all celebrating
here at the Daily Zeitgeist Studios
because it is the spring equinox
and also the first day
of the Persian New Year.
No way.
And we are going to bring on
super producer Anna Hosnier
to discuss this holiday with us.
Anna, how are you?
Thanks for having me. I want to make it very clear. When I was growing up,
I was allowed to take this day off of school. So the fact that you have me here today.
Well, you know, it's funny. Yesterday you were toying with the idea and then you didn't full
stop ask Jack if you could take the day off. You're like, so tomorrow's New Year's and I
would have been like, look, Jack, this is a religious holiday. So if you want to get sued.
Here's the other thing.
I was raised by Persian immigrants, so there's no way I can't come to work.
Like break me if I knew you guys were sitting here and no one was taking notes and I wasn't doing my job.
So it's kind of a catch 22.
I have no freedom.
On the other hand, all your notes are fuck Jack.
I did draw a cool babies are us Us logo while you guys were talking.
Oh, you should submit that.
That might help them.
Oh my God, thank you so much.
So tell us about...
So Spring Equinox, first of all, just from like a scientific perspective,
this is the point at which the northern tilt of the planet starts getting closer and closer to the sun. So it's like it passes from the northern hemisphere being further away from the sun to the northern
hemisphere being closer to the sun, essentially.
And then summer equinox will be when the northern hemisphere is at its closest point to the sun.
Right.
The sun crosses the celestial equator, as they call it.
And it equalizes night and day.
Oh, right, because it's like nearly, because I looked on my phone, it was like sunrise 703, sunset 707.
I was like, wow, look at that.
It's 12 hours.
The Persians turn up.
What a cool holiday.
Wait, so tell me about, I mean, growing up in L.A., I had a lot of friends who would miss this day in school for the Persian New Year.
But just let me know.
What's going on?
So Persian New Year is actually interesting because it actually predates Islam.
Oh, my goodness.
It's like 3,500 about years old.
Like it goes back to like Zoroastrianism.
Yeah, Zoroastrianism.
It goes back to then.
Zoroastrianism.
Which was ā that's an old, old, old, old religion.
As do a lot of Christian holidays, but I'm not going to say that.
Okay.
Wow.
Okay.
Podcasters for Christ over here.
So it's actually interesting.
It's the vernal equinox.
It ushers in the Persian New Year, and it's a celebration of nature's rebirth, and it lasts about two weeks.
It's a two-week party?
Is it a party?
Well, do they turn up for two weeks or just the two-week party is it a party well do they turn
up for two weeks or just the first no just the first day but you you prep for it so you clean
your house you fix anything that's broken in your house it's almost like a spring deep cleaning that
you do to get ready for it um wait what does the turn up look like oh i'm sorry before the turn up
when you said fix stuff you'd be like you know that light that hasn't been working yes you got
it no more you gotta fucking fix that what if it's like a tv what would'd be like, you know that light that hasn't been working? Yes. You got it. No more. You got to fucking fix that.
What if it's like a TV?
What a great way to turn.
Would you be like, we got to go get the new TV too?
Yeah.
You would like refresh everything.
That's awesome.
To make it work.
Or if that chair was wonky, you would fix the leg.
Or would you buy stuff too?
Or is that more like just fix something you don't necessarily go and consume?
Well, it is.
You do give gifts.
Today is the day you give gifts.
So you guys, I'm ready for my gifts.
I'm giving the gift of love. Yes. I'm giving the gift of love.
I'm giving the gift of attention.
Okay, so go on.
Now the turn up.
So yeah, so we have ā this is the best part.
We set up fire pits that we jump over.
What?
Yeah.
It's pretty wild.
So we have parties at night and then there's fire pits.
You jump over the fire.
Older people put the kids on their shoulders and jump over the fire and then we eat.
It's pretty fun.
It's a little fire, I'm assuming.
It depends.
Oh, my God.
There's a photo of my father from his teens jumping over the most blazing fire I've ever seen in my life with a little tiny kid on his shoulder, which is just so crazy to me.
Maybe if I find this photo, I will bring it to you guys.
But it depends like i think now in america when people celebrate like fire marshals like shows yeah they're like uh that is a viking pyre you've created now it's like a little tray they set a
little fire and you jump over it because as you know people get older right you can't risk it you
can't jump over and they still do like i have are, like, in their 80s who are jumping over these fires because, you know, tradition.
You got to turn it up.
Tradition rules.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So in the final days leading up to Noru's, we set up a half-scene table.
And it's like a little table, and it has seven items that are symbolic of the year.
Okay.
So to bring in the new year, we set up lentil sprouts for rebirth, sweet pudding for abundance and fertility, vinegar for wisdom and patience, garlic for health, dried fruit.
Fruit.
Fruit.
I like fruit.
Now tell me, is that like fruit?
Dried fruit.
Fruit.
Why do I think I can't say that?
I think that's like an Iranian fruit.
Yeah.
Fruit.
Dried fruit for love.
Apple for beauty. Sumac
berries to allude to the colors of
dawn.
The word Nowruz translates to
a new day. So we refresh
all our vibes. And then wait, what was the thing
about the fishbowl? Isn't there a fishbowl
thing too? Yeah, you kind of put
literally life.
Oh, and some people do.
You put a little fishy. And then you sacrifice it? No, but some people do. So yeah, you put a little fishy.
And then you sacrifice it?
No, but usually if you have a cat,
that fish does not last more than a day.
So do you actually celebrate this?
Yeah.
I grew up celebrating it.
We would always go to family members' houses and stuff. And like I said, I would always get the day off
and I would get a gift.
Now my mom, if I ask for a gift...
I think if she mentions,
I would get the day off one more time.
Look guys, I want to make it very clear.
Everybody has to drink.
I am doing everyone a favor by being here.
Yeah, wait, so are you going to do something today?
I am going to leave early today.
I didn't tell you guys that.
Bye.
Oh, wow.
She's walking out right now.
Anna?
Oh, okay.
So she's gone.
Cool.
But also, there's also, do we want to talk about Homeboy?
Homeboy?
Mr. Blackface?
Oh, right.
Right, so there's a problematic.
Homeboy, Mr. Black.
Yeah, so there is this, like, it's almost the best way to describe it.
He's kind of like an Iranian New Year's Santa Claus.
He wears all red, and he's this fictional character in, like, Iranian folklore.
He's called Haji Firuz.
His face is covered in soot, but really, if you look at it now. He's called Haji Firuz.
His face is covered in soot, but really, if you look at it now, it's just kind of blackface.
He wears bright red clothes, and he has a little felt hat, and he dances through the streets, and he plays the tambourine and sings, and he gives the kids candy.
And so he comes through.
His history is that he was kind of like this serf if you will he was like this controversial character
who would just come through and like shake things up he would like create parades to be like guys
it's the new year and we're here to celebrate he would just show up out of nowhere like he
would just poof and be like whoa i'm here to party god yeah and he would start like parades
of people who would see him and be like yeah yeah, follow Haji Feroz. And then everyone would just dance behind him because he's like the party popper.
That's the thing.
It's weird.
In retrospect, it seems like it came from slavery.
Well, that's the thing.
When we were looking at it yesterday, when you're telling me about it, like even though
the sort of it started off as just a like a Persian person who had soot on their face
and with no real thing like, oh's that african man who's
fun but then over time i don't know if that like melded with like western races well yeah but
on wikipedia it says it's claimed that the blackened face symbolizes his returning of
from the world of the dead and his red clothing is a sign of the blood of siaash, which was a prince in folklore. And singer.
That's not their name.
But then they say it's like the soot, when he comes from the dead
and he appears out of a cloud of dust, he's covered
in soot. But in reality, it's just
blackface. That seems like a long
walk to get to blackface.
I wonder if there's a connection between
the soot from the fire.
Maybe, because you might hear out of it.
I would go with that explanation next time.
It's hard to explain.
Oh, Anna's in blackface today.
We forgot to mention that.
She called it soot again.
That's not real, you guys.
Please don't at me about this.
Today, to deal with more of the controversial kind of blatant racism is now they only paint half the face black.
Cause I think people were kind of being like,
let's just be half.
It's kind of a funny thing because when I was growing up and I was,
I took like,
um,
like a Persian Sunday school where I would learn to write and read and Farsi
that we would have a yearly party,
like at the community center where we would put on a show.
And it was like actually a
great honor to be chosen to play haji firoz which like looking back on it was like why would anyone
be so hyped to be this like now i'm really like wondering like what is the history of africans and
uh iran or yeah in the persia iran it's an old-timey culture and they do have a tendency
to be racist. No.
I'm kidding.
But how many ā what's the immigration like in Iran?
Right.
I wonder what is the history of African slavery.
Very little, I think.
Especially after the revolution.
I don't think many people are immigrating there.
I think they're all from Iran right now, if you know what I mean.
I'm sorry.
You're saying that through clenched teeth.
No, they're not.
Yeah, okay.
Sorry.
You don't want to get hemmed up at the border.
I still have family in Iran and next time I go, I'm not trying to get held as a political
bargaining tool.
What's it like when you visit?
It's chill.
I always go, and then I'm surrounded by my family, and literally no one lets anyone talk
to me on the streets.
It's pretty cool.
And I always have an uncle who walks behind me very quietly as if I have a bodyguard.
No way.
So if anyone says anything to me, they step in like, don't bother her.
She's American and she's not here for you.
Oh, shit.
Yeah.
It's actually pretty wild.
That's the dopest way to travel, actually.
Do they do that because they know you'll say something problematic?
I mean, yeah.
They know I'm not.
Yeah.
I mean, you know me.
I'm a little feisty sometimes.
Yeah, yeah.
And I have kind of spoken.
Here's the thing.
I'm not used to the fact that
as a woman there i'm not allowed to like right right right right yeah you know i have literally
a microphone in front of my face half the time and they're like so really when they keep they're
protecting you because i've done don't talk to her she's gonna talk like and then my cousin pulls
me aside it's like let's be real you know you're not allowed to do that. You can't woo.
Well, I can't be acting a fool out there because women are very quiet and they're kept, you know.
Acting a fool.
Don't they know you're from the Bay?
You go dumb.
You know what I mean?
You don't know that?
You go hyphy out there. They do point out that I have like the most California accent when I speak Farsi.
Like they're all like, whoa, where are you from?
What is that?
Califarsi?
I have like a super like, hey guys,
Farsi.
What's a word?
Salam!
What's hello in Farsi?
Salam.
Salam.
Salam, bro.
And they're all just like, cool,
that's the American cousin.
Yeah.
Well, happy Iranian New Year, everybody.
Thank you, everybody.
Ana, you can leave now.
You can all send me gifts.
I'll Venmo you.
How stuff works.
I'll Venmo you.
I will.
Thanks for having me.
Your gift was coming on this podcast.
What was that?
Salanom Obarak.
Salanom Obarak.
Happy New Year.
Oh, hell yeah.
Salanom Obarak. Boom. She's already. Happy New Year. Oh, hell yeah. Saleno Mubarak.
Boom.
Boom.
That was actually
really good.
We out here.
Charlotte,
it has been a pleasure
having you on this podcast.
Yeah.
Where can our audience
find you?
Follow you.
You can follow me
at I'm Charlotte Face
on Twitter.
I am Charlotte Face.
I hate that that's my handle. You shouldn't. It's. I am. I hate that.
That's my,
uh,
handle.
You should,
it's hard to say.
It is awesome.
It's always hard to say.
And you can,
I'm Charlotte.
It's Charlotte face on Instagram as well.
And I run a show called velvet.
Uh,
the next show is April 6th.
Um,
at Copperstone in Korea town.
Awesome.
Miles.
Yes.
Where can people find you?
Oh, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Grey.
You can find me on Twitter at Jack underscore O'Brien.
You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist.
We're at The Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram.
We have a Facebook fan page, but I don't know if you want to go there.
You might want to protect your information.
All of that, your information.
And we have a website, Dailyzikeice.com, where we post our episodes and our footnotes.
Footnotes.
Where we link off to the information that we talked about today.
That is going to do it for today.
Miles, do you have a song for us?
Yes.
Okay.
So yesterday, we did a Herbie Hancock little remix of Watermelon Man.
Today, I want to do a hip-hop track.
Well, kind of like reggae track.
That Super Cat samples that Herbie Hancock song and turns it into one of the early hits for Bad Boy.
This is Super Cat, Dolly My Baby, remix with Puff Daddy and Biggie rapping on it.
And, oh, my God, if you want to hear early Puff Daddy rap, you just hold on to your cigarette butts.
Early Puff Daddy is my favorite rapper.
Oh, yeah.
Early Puff Daddy is everyone's favorite rapper.
No Way Out.
Oh, yeah.
Man, he was so good.
When he adopted Mase's style.
Oh, yeah.
All right.
You mean when Mase wrote for him?
Anyway.
That's going to do it for today.
We will be back tomorrow because it is a daily podcast.
Talk to you guys then.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
because it is a daily podcast.
Talk to you guys then.
Bye.
Bye-bye. I love the girls, they're forever But I let love go, babe, who lets the lover stay?
And I let the lover keep on trying to rise along the way But I'm hoping this is just him or the girls, them, these, me
I said, darling, show me, darling, my baby
Open, darling, show me, darling, my baby
I miss the darling, miss the darling, my baby
I miss the darling, miss the darling, my lady
I just love me and she's driving me crazy I said she love me and she driving me crazy
I said she love me and she driving me crazy
I took her to the wedges spot, Phillip and Robson Johnny
And when she spots a Mr. Cat on down the puppy
The girl tell me she want the milk and now she on it
She come to the place and hold the general and get her honey
Said Mr. Cat, you are my one and my only
She said I like it when you driving me crazy Oh baby girl, you know I love you, I love you. Just go across the sea No matter, baby, girl, you're one of my, one of my Cause you're my dolly, you're my dolly, oh, baby
Honey, my dolly, you're my dolly, oh, baby
I miss the dolly, miss the dolly, my baby
Honey, your dolly, miss the dolly, my baby
But I said let love go, baby, let the lover stay
And I let the lover keep the sign of Christ along the way
And I'm up in this, I'm catching all these girls, them DJs
Yeah, I'm down there, I'm a along the way. I'm out of my house, I'm in love and I'm kissing on the thing that wasn't gone. So I dance and if I miss her from out of my house, I'm in the tend of love and baby girl,
I'm in the tend of love.
Bling, bling, who's that with supercats?
Third eye, third eye.
Just black, where my troopers at?
Up town, up town.
Well, they got my back, but I'm still trapped.
Got a real fat, fat track for my L rap, black.
Ain't no shame in my game, just see what's real. You think that I will scoop your girl? Oh, yes, I will. Check it, check it. Outro Music You can see me like Stevie Wonder how I'm livin' dick Oh I'm livin' lovely It's the bad boy dick
93 we comin' through Can't get rid of the flavor dude
It's your one and one and two Then you on the mission
And you think I'm crazy Supercap, dolly dolly dolly my baby
I'm straight in the...
Nah, nah, who's this?
Pump Daddy Hopps
Link to my brother to come with Mad Rob's
I feed the funky pop, My man remake hits the high tech
That they get on your radio
It's the bad boys, making that noise
93's low, I like you know, bro
Pup Daddy rollin' to a super cat in Mary Jane
So what you say, what you say?
I love it when you call me Big Poppa
The Joe Stockspa, the Rob Droppa
Super Cat Pack
The Clock
I see you shivering
Check the flavor
Biggie Smalls is delivering
Lyrical lyrics
Just flowing lyrics
Out my larynx
Clubby competitor
With the kick to jump
In the chest
Yes, it's bad boy
On to the floor
God, make that ticket no more
Out
The bad boy a bad boy.
I'm a bad boy.
I'm a bad boy.
Kay hasn't heard from her sister in seven years.
I have a proposal for you.
Come up here and document my project.
All you need to do is record everything like you always do.
What was that?
That was live audio of a woman's nightmare.
Can Kay trust her sister, or is history repeating itself?
There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.
They're just dreams.
Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm.
Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and help you pursue your true goals.
You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead,
now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes every Thursday.
Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from?
Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs?
Hi, I'm Eva Longoria.
Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon.
Our podcast, Hungry for History,
is back.
And this season,
we're taking an even bigger bite
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Seeing that the most popular cocktail
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Hi, I am Lacey Lamar.
And I'm also Lacey Lamar.
Just kidding.
I'm Amber Revin.
Okay, everybody, we have exciting news to share.
We're back with season two of the Amber and Lacey, Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's
Big Money Players Network.
This season, we make new friends, deep dive into my steamy DMs, answer your listener questions, and more.
The more is punch each other.
Listen to the Amber and Lacey Lacey and Amber show on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Just listen, okay?
Or Lacey gets it.
Do it.