Some commentators and stuff talk about how like the transphobia thing, like once you start being transphobic, it's just like this spiral into like it feels like mental illness because you just like JK Rowling, like that became her personality.
Yeah.
Have we've seen that black mold theory that's been on the internet.
Yeah, yeah, And it's multiple pictures and then she changed her profile picture and they called they're trying to call her JK Molding, like fucking amazing.
It really looks fucked up, like she hasn't. I guess it's just it's like the gray Gardens thing, where you haven't had anyone around you who has told you the truth in such a long time.
About the insides of your walls.
Right, you would think that she would have had enough contractors come through her house to like is it.
Just so so rich?
Like yeah, and also self farness. As a writer, she's like living inside of a tragedy. Like her house is a metaphor. Right, it's very it's very direct, it's very meta.
I quite like the black mold as a metaphor.
Where do you think the name Cho Chang came from?
Cho Chang? I don't know the sporesang sounds like the Jews.
Out of the Goblins. The spores told me.
Hello the Internet, and welcome to season three point fifty one, episode four of at Least I Guys, WHOA My voice cracked a little bit. It's a production of iHeartRadio. It's a podcast where we take a deep dive into America share consciousness. I'm trying to learn not to speak directly with my lips pressed against the microphone here, like three thousand episodes into the show, I've been told my mike discipline is bad.
Quick kissing your mic.
Quick making out with the mic. I'm eating that thing, probably spitting on that thing.
To be honest, the mic is his couch.
Yeah it is. It's to me what the couches to other people. It is Thursday, August fifteenth, twenty twenty four. Did I say that? I don't know who cares? Who knows? My name is Jack O'Brien aka.
I guess where stuck above the world because of budgets. Guess where stuck above the world because of budgets till twenty five.
Stuck at doc in Nita shower. My teeth rot from bowing cowers can't return. It'll burn people. Second, first, the firm. That's it. That's it. I know you expect this quit going, but it did not. It was plenty well done. Jmu sick one on the discord in reference to the Boeing astronauts who are stuck on the International Space Station because Boeing cannot stop fucking up. They just they don't want to. Actually they're yeah, so they're gonna keep them up there
until twenty twenty five. It makes them horny. Boeing is like, ooh, did we do that? Sorry, making a little betty boop.
Like they're like rubbing their nipples.
God, Boeing is so horny getting those astronauts stuck up there. It is boy astronaut, girl asternauts.
Like the emergency room. They're pulling astronauts out of bowing yeah, like no, you're back again. You just fell on an astronaut.
Oh no, that's right. Yeah. It's like a less feel good version of the Martian, Like if all the scenes about science were about like quarterly earnings and like pr spin and them just fighting with NASA to be like let us blow them up. We just want to get them. This just looks so bad. And anyways, I'm thrilled to be joined by a very special guest co host, a hilarious stand up comedian, writer, actor improviser. You can catch her on stage at the monthly Facial Recognition comedy show,
which she also produces. It's probably gunwa.
Get ready for this one.
I know you wanted me to stay, but I can't ignore the crazy visions of me in DC. And I heard that there's a special couch where boys and girls can all be queens. Every single day, I'm having wicked dreams of leaving Ohio. I hear the White House. I swear it's calling me. We'll make the tech bros proud. It's gonna cause a scene they see their baby boy. I know they're gonna scream events.
What have you done?
You're a pink pony boy and you dance with repubs Silk and Valley. I'm I'm just having fun on the stage in my wig. It's where I belong. Down with the All Ride Rip pubs. I'm gonna keep Bond dancing with the All Ride Rip pubs. I'm gonna keep bon dancing down and washing Ton. I'm gonna keep bon dancing with the Ride Rip pubs.
Oh Ride Rip pubs.
Wow, I had to make up for yesterday.
Wait, what was yesterday? I don't know.
I was hosting and I didn't do it.
Yeah, well you went you went hoard today I went forward.
I had to. I had to balance out your throwbacks, Jack, you have a good you have a good selection. And I had to throw in someone whose name I can't pronounce.
Still, what is that song?
It's Pink Pony Club by Chapel Roane. I can't even I don't even know. I don't even know how to say her name. Chappelle, you know, I keep calling her Dave Chappelle Roam, which is so bad.
Yeah, I figured it was a song by either Chappelle Roan or the other one who rat Espresso I know, Charlie, Yeah, Serena Carpenter the other one that I'm just like, yeah, sure, but uh huh, I get it. That's that is some energetic pop music. But I am too old. Well, Paulavy, it's wonderful having you here. Tip your waiters. She's here all week, folks, But we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by a very talented writer, stand up comedian co host of The Bechdel Cast. One of
the great film podcasts. They also happen to have a master's degree in film, not something that they ever mentioned. I'm putting it out there.
That's wild. I didn't know that.
I had no Oh my god, I had no idea. The most anagrammable name in the English language. So if you've been given their name in a jumble of out of order scrabble tiles, you may know them as Lauren d Titanic or nine tit Dracula or Latin dancer Uti it to us, they will always be Caitlin D.
Got another one, got another? I think this is new. Wow, Okay, ready, let acid rain nut.
Let you know, acid rain nut.
If you're like, what what should I let acid rain do? N let it nut?
You know, thank you gross. But I.
Feel like that's been a Republican policy for generations.
Yeah, the environment all over.
Let it nut like mother nature, more like male.
Nature, Daddy nature. Let it fa chemical, harmful, corrosive chemicals all over your face.
Yeah, and then it throws up the towel at us tells us to clean up after exactly.
Caitlin, how are you doing?
Oh gosh, I'm as good as anyone could be. While we're all dying of capitalism.
Yeah, I'm so great, great just in Denisle, you know, just making our way through the world.
Making our way through the world today and it kind of sucks. All right, Well, Caitlyn, we're going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment. First, we're going to tell the listeners a couple of things we're talking about today. Trump is suing America as things continue to go bad behind scenes for him. I love the picture of him. Did you guys see the picture of him just like staring down at his phone kind of with his head and then it's folded.
The men'swear guy started to going on his shoulder pads because they're all weird looking.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, too padded. But yeah, I feel like that really sums up where we're at with him, where he's just like looking at his phone. I think it was actually the Elon Musk interview, but it does just look like somebody looking at their phone waiting for someone to text back. And it feels like he is at the point where he's like waiting for America to text back and be like, we are still interested in the crazy shit you do and it's just not happening.
Hey man, you're weird.
Yeah, we'll talk about how that's all going. We'll talk about the plans to rat fuck the election from the Republican side. We'll talk about the decline of Hollywood. We talked yesterday about Apple reigning in some of their streaming spending. Paramount just shit canned their TV studios. So we'll look at just the broad world of a depressed entertainment economy. Might even get to mister Beast's real world squid game, which insane apparently not great, which I was surprised by.
I mean, you've got, mister Beast, You've got an unronic, real world version of squa a game. I don't see what could go wrong with those two ingredients combined.
There's the interview of the person who was kept awake for a lot in solitary confinement for thirty days.
Did you no? I didn't see that.
But it might be violating war rules Geneva convention.
That's what's so funny about him is he violates Geneva conventions, but he gets people to do it because he has a lot of money. So it's cool and we like it. Mister Beast, folks, we love him. Don't we folks. I think Trump's going to fire bands and replace him with mister Beast. I think that's the only thing that could save his campaign. Before we get to any of it, Caitlin, we do like to ask our guests, what is something from your search history that's revealing about who you are?
I googled this phrase dating apps that don't suck shit?
Oh okay, and I don't yield.
The results I was up for.
Did it yield results about dating?
It was just like, here are some dating apps that you already use and.
That do have traumatize you in real time.
Yeah, so didn't really find what I was looking for, but I think I made a valiant effort.
Yeah, that was a good search. I don't know how they got around that search. That seems pretty air tight.
That's well, what is the name of the like when someone's attracted to somebody's intelligence, sabio sexual? They had an app that was like that, and it was all the dumbest people, right, It's like people who just found out what the word sabio sexual means.
Sure, people, And I'm sure it attracts a lot of people who do their own research, which are not always actually the smartest people I have found, And that's just
a personal opinion, but it's what I have found. Yeah, I feel I feel like eight, like there's probably a dating app that, like their log line, their pitch is like, We're the dating app that doesn't suck shit, and it's just the worst dating app, probably because like that's just how capitalism, this modern version of capitalism works, is like, so we'll claim that we don't do the thing that we actually do, and then we do that thing harder than any anybody.
Else, anyone else. Yeah. Yeah, they all seem to be competing with each other for the suck shittiest.
The shit suckingest app. How is the.
Meeting people in real life situation right now? Given that the app sucks so bad, I feel like I'm people might be going back to that. Is that true? I think?
So I keep hearing about people joining like running club to meet people, and here's the thing. I don't want to be in a running club. But I did join a co ed soccer team.
That's There's like, so there was a moment where meetups were a thing where they would do like Peyton wine nights and it was just like strangers, you know what? I mean or people who were trying to make friends and stuff, and I feel like that's kind of coming back in. Maybe not in that format, but.
Yeah, I think so. I did like a speed dating like my first ever speed dating event, I don't know, like a while ago now is like probably sixish months ago, but it was kind of as it was pretty suck shit as well. Yeah, it's just it's the quality of the people is the big problem.
I think.
I don't have anything against. It's the people who suck shit.
And that's the whole thing with dating is you have to interact with people, and if they suck shit, the whole experience. Shit.
That's right, and it just so happens that most people suck shit. So you got to.
Get through that shit suckers to find a real diamond sucker, you know what I mean exactly. There's a lot of shit around diamonds.
That's true.
The diamond in the rock more like the diamond in the ship.
Yeah, the diamond in the heavily compacted ship. You know.
Okay, car all right, Daily's sikey No, No, I wasn't getting you on track at all.
Trust me.
I would never do that. Daily zyke eves people if you know a single person who doesn't suck shit, damn me so that it doesn't go to Caitlin's inbox, and then all of you filled that all that, Yeah, thank you, Kaitlyn deserves the best, and then maybe we'll get one person who is perfect for you.
Oh, let's hope. So they have to like Paddington and that's about it. Does anybody know Paddington? Does anybody know Paddington? Do you know him personally? I just want to date you to get to Paddington.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's that's what this all comes down to. The people on the dating apps suck shit because they don't know Paddington.
I met this person on a dating app. They were Paddington, fucker.
And that was that was like a story of a great experience, right, That was the beginning of a tail that ends with wedding bells.
Yeah, that's me meeting Caitlin on a dating app.
They just keep asking about Paddington, my cousin, Have you tried AI? I've been told by the creator of Bumble that we're all just going to be on dating apps using AI as our personal Our ais will date each other to figure out if we're compatible.
I'd rather walk into the ocean.
Muttering to yourself with fish. Yeah. I think that's a better plan actually than the their plan. What is something you think is underrated?
I think raccoons. I love raccoons, I know, but I think they have a bad reputation. People think they are, you know, these like skeevy, little gross, little creatures who go through trash and they love. Yeah, but they're so cute, And I don't really know a whole lot about them, aside from the fact that I think they're cute and that they have this reputation for being little trash monsters.
But I don't know.
I love raccoons. I think they're adorable, and I think people should not be so harsh on them.
So a couple of quick questions, have you seen a raccoon without hair?
No?
Okay, and I don't do that, And then.
Don't cover the alopecia raccoons.
Jack, I'm not coming for them. I'm just warning because I don't want Caitlin to stop liking raccoons. On the other hand, I also think raccoons are very cute. However, I also so I was trying to befriend a murder of crows in my backyard. This was happening over the course of a year.
That is such a choke, Like you feel so chosen when they like you.
I know, they never really came around they I think it was my personality. They were like, he's like too desperate, Like yeah, like he just like sits out there next to those almonds and just like has that sad look on his face. Anyways, I found one of the crows like ripped in half in my backyard and I was like, what, like monstrous cat did this? And then I noticed that it was like right next to a overturned trash can, and I have to assume.
Circumstantial.
Yeah, it was circumstantial, but it was like the most circumstantial.
And also a raccoon watching blood off its little tiny paws.
He like caught him, like he like turned around like looking guilty as fuck.
He shoved the bandana from his around his eyes in his pocket.
And I had seen a giant raccoon like in my front yard like earlier that week. It was it was a lot of circumstantial evidence.
I don't think raccoons kill rip crows in half.
I did find a video of a raccoon grabbing a crow and then like just absconding with the crow into the underbrush.
Like on YouTube or something. So it's something that they do.
But not that you can believe everything you see on YouTube, but it was.
That was an AI generated video.
Probably.
I do think that they're very smart and very cute. I've seen like a lot of rehabbed raccoons on my Instagram and they're like, they're all just like I feel like all animals are puppies if you give them enough time to get to know them, you know what I mean. Yeah, so I feel like raccoons are similar. And I do feel like the reason that we get so annoyed with animals that are in our proximity because of our own our waste products, is because we don't want to be
reminded of our dirtiness, you know what I mean. Because raccoons survive off of that, or like those monkeys that kind of survive off of human waste or like waste products or whatever or trash or whatever. We're like, oh, they're dirty or like pigeons, But that's us, that's not the raccoon, you.
Know, it's our wasst that they're ours, like going through Yeah, they're clean. They're un wasting all the food that we waste.
Yeah, they're cleaning everything up. They're a little recycling pandas not trash can does.
That reduce, reuse, recycle, that's the motto of raccoons.
Raccoon reduce respecting.
You try to throw it away and hide all the ship that you're wasting. They rip it back out and just put it on blast for everybody to see. Look at look at what you've done, you know.
Yeah, they're the little Greta Thunbergs of cards.
That's great. Underrated, even though they did murder one of my crows. What is something you think is overrated? Kitlin?
All right, living in LA this is blasphemous to say, but I think hiking is overrated.
I hate it.
Anyone who's like go hiking with me, I tell them to shove it.
Yeah, quote shove it.
It's just it's too hard. I know it's a good workout or whatever, but it's slow, and it's much time with you, and it's hard. Yeah, and I'm sweaty, and especially like people I've suggested or no sorry, people have suggested to me as a first date that we go hiking and I'm like, you want to see me all gross and sweaty and a not sex context, right, You Like, no, I'm going to be smelly yea and nasty. And also hiking is hard and that's why I don't like it.
And I what if you sprain your ankle? The risks are high. I hate hiking the end.
I don't. Okay, here's the thing. I like having done a hike. In the moment, I'm like, what did I do? Why did I do this? Especially when it's hot. If it's a cool day, that's different. It's like a fun walk.
And also I think a big part of the LA hiking culture is we don't have enough what is it like third place is like not work, not home, but someplace else where we can yeah, third place, And we don't have enough nature that's like right next to us, that's like not crowded because of how the city is laid out. So we all take our dogs there because we don't have enough dog parks or yards or whatever.
And so for me, my goal with hiking is to wear my dogs out so that they don't take control of my one bedroom apartment when I come back, you know, right, And so I think a lot of people think that way. They're like, oh, like, it's not just for me, it's for my dog, and then.
Fat, I don't have a dog. I have a hundred raccoons.
So they can carry you up and down.
On a sea of raccoons.
That is such a disturbing and.
Keep the intimidating.
For some reason, that's why I have such a hard time on the dating apps, because they see me with a photo with one hundreds and.
You're getting sweaty during this during them just carrying you everywhere.
Yeah, what is your ideal first date activity? Is it a movie? Is it just a no?
I think a movie is a bad first date, as much as I love movies, because you don't have the opportunity to interact really and talk. If it's like dinner plus a movie, maybe, but I tend to prefer the standard, like grab a drink. Sure, if you have like an easy you're not stuck it with a meal. If you don't, if you're not into the day and you need to bail early, yeah.
We have heard that you are willing to bail mid meal, mid drink, Like just right.
I've done it.
Yeah, I've bailed. I've bailed after a half hour kind of thing, which.
What did you did you say anything or did you just slowly back into a bush like Homer Symon.
No, I'll be like, look, I'm not really feeling this, I'm going to go, and usually it works out something great.
I love that. I wish I had done that on so many occasions. I wish I'd been like, this date is not going well, and then I just moved over a seat and gotten a drink with myself, you know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, I mean that. Superducer Victor points out that the hiking date, if it's not going well, you are still.
Stuck walking back a few miles, and which is a strategy on the first like I think three dates even.
I think that's why a lot of men choose it is because they're like, I'm I want to go hiking act with me. It's free. And then they're like, you can't bail, so they can, you know, stick stick with you the whole time. And I think that's why a lot of men use it as a first date. And that's why I hate going. I don't think I've done like hiking dates as a first date ever. I only
do that with friends. I need to catch up with I'm like, I had a long catch up with my friend, and it works great for that, but I would never do it as a date for sure.
Does take like forty five minutes for them to explain the finer points of libertarianism though, So that's why it does work out pretty well because for the first like thirty, you might not be on board, but it really they bring it home and deck.
When you say them, do you mean.
They just other guys?
Definitely not me, not me. I definitely don't have my favorite libertarian hikes mapped out across the city.
This one has timed out perfectly for the Joe Rogan arguing for libertarianism. Yeah, I like work on my breath so that I can talk like it's like Beyonce before a concert. Wait, I have to be able to talk the whole.
I literally used to do that to try to wrap the bust of rhymes verse on. Look at me now. I would walk up and downhills while I.
Was like, I did the dice rolling.
Yeah, to keep the dice rolling.
It works. Wow, Yeah, amazing, that was I remember that was an anecdote about big Boy from Outcast that like blew me away when I was a kid that he used to like wrap while running to like get his wind up. Like at live shows, he never was out of breath.
Yeah. I have friends who are rappers who who since they've started running, have really improved their performance. And I'm like, wow, I guess I'm never going to be performer.
That's crazy, that's right, all right, I run while I do my stand upright, stand up while I'm running, so that I.
Never I'm just running past people. I'm like, you ever suck a dick?
You'd see in La just sprint doing sprints, hill sprint for the croft. Yeah. LA sounds terrible after this first act, where like running clubs are where people meet and like everybody's just hiking.
Hiking, and people hate.
Yeah, we're allowed to say it. Other people in New York don't even start saying anything. We're allowed to say for me, we can hate La. We live here, that's right.
All right, Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. And we're back. So Yeah, there's the image of Trump looking at his phone on a table, looking kind of forlorn that I feel like is the image of the moment just wait, Trump waiting for America to text back. But yeah, while Kelly and Conwen, his advisors, continue to like beg him to stay on message and
deliver disciplined attacks on Harrison Walls via Fox News. We talked about on trending, like they're just going on Fox News to be like, okay, so this is the strategy, sir, because they can't. He won't listen to anything that's not like coming through his TV on Fox News. But yeah, so in public appearances, he's acting like nothing's changed. He's got this in the bag, there's nothing to worry about.
Behind the scenes, it's apparently getting a little sweaty, which might be why he's gone with a new color palette. By the way, have you noticed that he's like no longer as colorful. He's just kind of looks like a pale old man. Now.
It's kind of like Biden took his hand. Do you remember when they started teaching Biden towards the end, like old leather towards the end when he was like debating and stuff, and like right after the debate they started making him take the orange, and it's like he sucked the color out of Trump.
Yeah, through the dick. He sucked it through the dick. I'm just I have some short stories and that you should check out. But yeah. So apparently he has grown increasingly upset about Harris's surging pull numbers and media coverage since replacing Biden on the ticket, complaining relentlessly and asking friends about how his campaign is performing, which is I love that little detail.
Instead of telling that's gross. Oh my god, I love to see it.
Yeah, he's like, do people like me? Yes, exactly.
Oh my god. We need to bring back the tiny hands thing. We could have this whole. It could be another raccoon moment, you know.
Yeah, God, they do have terrifying I.
Love their tiny little hand Yeah.
Yeah, but they I mean, but I think that's why they're able to tear a bird clean and half. Anyways, they uh did not go the way you want it.
I don't think you have enough proof. Okay, but it was a raccoon? Yeah, who tore this crow in half? That's what I'm saying.
I just anyone has information on the crow that was torn in asf please please let us know.
Even if it was a raccoon that tore the crow in half, I'm sure he had a really good reason.
What if the crow was trying to get at the trash while he was eating the trash, which is his duty as an American. So you know, the crow fucked up.
I mean, you're not getting any closer to the crows either, Jack. They're going to hear this.
You know that. Oh yeah, they're they're big listeners. But yeah, I just like that the Trump campaign has all the pulling and like strategic firepower of a leasing leading like presidential campaign. And he's just like asking his friends how he looks. He's like, he did, so, how do you think we're doing? Do you think we're Do I look cool out there?
I mean that's the whole reason he's running, That's the only is for money and power and like to feel cool in front of Baron, Like that's.
It, I don't think.
Yeah, but I mean like the people that that baron, like his friends.
Yes, yeah, yeah that's true. I do feel like a group of like fourteen year old boys could completely ruin his self self confidence, which is very relatable.
If I got roasted by a group of fourteen year old boys, yeah I would have a run for president again.
Yeah, I'd never leave my parents' basement.
Yeah yeah.
But also so he's also in public been expressing a lot of confidence in the JD. Vance pick. Behind the scenes, not so much there. There's quotes from people who have been talking with him who said he picked Vance, he knows Vance was a terrible, terrible pick. This is Scaramucci, remember him.
This guy is back in full force.
I know quote he's lighting people up and I had his campaign right now about picking Vance, which just you know, we all we already know how he feels about Don Junior, who is the one who like chose this candidate.
It's like, who DoD Junior?
Who's that Yeah, you're dead to me. I do wonder if he like it's probably too late for him to switch up VP candidates, although he seems so jealous of the Democrats making the change that I could see him trying to do it, trying to like fire Vance, and I don't know who he would bring bring in in
his place. But like the other quote that they say is he keeps saying it's unfair that I beat him, and now I have to beat her too, So he's like the you know, I could see that logic leading him to try and fire Vance.
But then, yeah, who would he bring in? Who do you think I.
Don't even know, like probably not Marco Rubio, but I really don't know. Maybe Nikki Haley, although.
I mean that would be really funny because he is very hypocritical, and so he would be like, oh, I'm very insecure about being old and not a woman and not ethnic in any capacity. Right, so I'm going to bring someone in which is for the for a DEI whatever that I called the other group out on. But then he would hate her immediately. Yes, there's no one that he could bring in that he wouldn't absolutely hate. I feel like it almost he almost would like want to get rid of Vans and then just run the
show on. Like he would be like, I'm also vice president or like Ivanka come back, like like the like defendant who is his son defending?
I mean, he is suing America. He's basically doing the equivalent of being like this whole courtrooms out of.
Order because he loves this country.
Yeah. So the thing that's kind of putting the whole movement of like the polls away from Trump towards Harris and Walls into perspective is actually a clip from Nicky Haley being interviewed on CNN last February, where She said, the party that gets rid of their eighty year old candidate is the party that will win. There will be a female president of the United States. It will either be me or it will be Kamala Harris. If Republicans nominate Donald Trump, it will be Kamala Harris. We have
to respect. Seventy percent of Americans said they don't want a Biden Trump rematch. The majority of Americans disapprove of Trump and disapprove of Biden. So if that's right, that explains kind of what is happening. People like didn't don't like either of them, and the only reason Trump looked like he was going to win was because they like really didn't like Biden.
How freaked out you're saying? Nicky Haley is like, oh my god, I was right, you guys, that's crazy.
If did it, I got one right.
It's insane. I can't believe they recorded that.
Yeah, But I just think that there's so much energy right now, Like the latest polling has Kamala up five. Inflation just dropped to its lowest level in three years, so everything's looking good for her. It would be so cool if she could get her administration to stop funding the mass murder of a bunch of innocent children in Palestine.
But she is not paying a price for that right now, unfortunately, So why would she stop if she doesn't have the external pressure to do so.
I mean, I think there are going to be protests that the DNC. It will be interesting to see how much attention they get and what that attention looks like, because it really feels like the way the mainstream media metabolized the student protests, it has like turned it into these are like anti Israel protests, anti Semitic protests like that, they just like went with the bad faith interpretation.
Yeah, it's also interesting to see how the trends have gone on Twitter, Like there's a huge increase in people calling Palestinian protesters or activists the watermelon people, Like this has become a thing, like I knew those watermelon people were insidious or whatever and trying to pit different cultural groups or races against each other, and it's just been it's just been really weird to see the influx of
those types of tweets. So I'm not sure if they're like genuine or if people are getting caught up, or if it's like box or something or some combination of them. But we do know that there have been Box involved in previous American elections right before to try to influence it, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some of that. But simultaneously, it is such a dismissive terminology. I really hope it's not something that's taking on a life of its own.
Yeah, I mean Twitter is absolute garbage.
That's when I do it.
Yeah, we are good. But then no, but they're like they just keep pushing the dial to be like more fascists more. Oh you you're still using it? How about even more fascists like they I did get a helpful notification that the Trump Musk interview was happening the other night. I was like, oh cool, thanks, you know me so well. So I don't know, it's a it's not a good.
Why do you turn into Mario when you're thinking about the.
That's that's how I'm getting good. So if I I'm trying to wean myself off of a Trump my Trump voice by doing a Mario.
Going back to the last choice, yeah, that's a really great choice.
You're a fashions Let's take a quick break, shall we, and come back and talk about things that aren't Donald Trump, Maybe let's do it and we're back. And so we talked yesterday about how Apple announced last week they're reigning in they're spending on streaming after launching a bunch of shows and keeping them a secret, like like it was a trade secret, like there were no supposed to know about that.
That's what I make just for me.
That's right now. Paramount announced within the past couple of days that they're shuttering their TV studios. But these are just examples of how economically depressed the American entertainment industry seems to have been for the past year.
Not just economically, buddy, have you seen my bank account?
Yeah, it's it's bad out there. Like everybody I talked to who works in the entertainment industry is like, this is the worst I've ever seen it. Like that seems to be the and I've talked to I'm old as fuck you, guys. I've talked to some very old people who say it's the worst they've ever seen.
It, well, like over thirty.
Like even thirty five.
Disgusting.
I try not to hang out with them, but you know, weird.
They take your life for us.
Yeah, they need their putting fed to them.
So but I feel like this is all because of and I don't know enough about it. So I'm kind of speculating here, but the that's what that's how this show should be, right, just like making wild guesses and yeah, all.
Weird, caveat it, you can say anything. Yeah, So I think I don't know enough about it.
There's like too much supply and not enough demand. There's just like too much content and they're spending money on all these shows and like all these things, and every platform has like bazillion original series and original movies and stuff like that, and it's like there's no conceivable way that any person who even like even people who consume a lot of media, such as myself, I'm constantly watching Flims, but.
Like whim, I don't know.
Yeah, Flims.
Okay, they're about three hours long with no breaks. Now you know Flims. You go to the movie Nicole Kidman talks at you at the beginning.
Yeah, we'll come to this place for Flims. So it's just like there's too much And that's why I'm guessing that's why there's such a Because back in the day when Hollywood was thriving is because there were like I don't know, likeludes three there's lutes and.
That coalutes and cocaine at the same time, we thought both of them were healthy and they're only.
Like, you know, five new movies coming out every month. And there was like just not that much content, and now there's too much. And if I know anything about the economics, which I don't, but I know some I know that it's like supply and demand. Yeah, and there's too much supply and not And there.
Has been.
Investing or like mentoring or allowing things to grow, which I think is tied into that problem. They're not allowing good content. That's like kind of the As an avid reality TV show fan, I have to call out that the reason that they do that is because it's a lot cheaper to do that and pump out a ton of seasons of the same show rather than invest in like the development of characters and plot and getting like
the actors that you really want to get. That's like great, you know what I mean, They're not just not as invested in the quality of the content.
Yeah, I mean, so they invest they overinvested in streaming. They like went too hard on streaming, and now they have stopped developing like anything new, like they just cut it off. And that's why I like all these streaming companies are like you know, you're starting to see the headlines that they're like pulling it back after overinvesting without really any business plan of like how to make money
off of that. It was just so I think there's like one of the big things that happened is like there's no it's now controlled by like five big companies. Like in the past Hollywood had been had enough regulations in place to prevent just massive consolidation like we have now, and then slowly by slowly, like starting with Reagan and into like the Clinton administration.
Reygun yeah, well famous breakdancer Reygun.
Yeah. Yes, she was the president of the US from eighty to eighty eight, and she came through and just deregulated, Like it's just deregulation over and over until now there's like only a handful of companies and they're all chasing each other, and you know, so like one of them has like decides to invest in streaming, and so they all like overinvest in streaming, and then there's just not
the small companies anymore. Who like when the big companies all do the same stupid thing, are there to like zag and like do the smart thing that then the big companies like impersonate and like copy off of you know. So now it's just like big guys making terrible decisions and making the same terrible decision all at the same time, and nobody there to do the smart thing that like
creates the market correction. That and then the other really big problem is that private equity has gotten Like in two thousand and eight, you know, when they were just basically printing money for free, private equity got involved in Hollywood, and so now we have a handful of like massive companies and they private equity money is involved. So their instincts are like private equity are these like massive companies and their model is like trying to make money as
quickly as possible. They're just like extracting capital from these companies that they're investing in or taking over.
And so it's private equity equity.
They're just like us, yes, yeah, And so I just feel like we have fewer people calling the shots, and the people calling the shots have just way worse instincts. And this is how you get to the entertainment dark ages that we might be about to live through, which.
Is a bummer because so many good movie I feel like there was a period of like the content that was coming out and yet and like I'm speaking from a place of like my personal taste, yes, but but so so many of the movies that came out have come out with in the past like and I'm speaking again and also specifically about movies more so than TV. But I guess what I'm saying is no more TV. More movies. That's the platform that I'm running.
Glimbs on flims.
We've been heard this period in the past couple of years where like some really good not like major studio pictures, things that are like lower budget, not based on you know, comic books or any existing you know, huge properties, just like independent, low budget but like really well done movies are coming out. Because there was like I don't know, there was like five years where I'm like, every movie
I've seen this year sucks. But within the past couple of years there's so much new good stuff and I would hate to see that all go away because Hollywood doesn't understand what people want.
Right.
Everyone should see DD. Everyone should see meeecap. Everyone should see other movies that have come out recently.
Good the end, Thelma, Okay, is that good? Thelma?
I loved Selma. I thought it was so fun. And then like last year, there were all these great movies Theater, Camp, Dix The Musical, and also others. Unless I have a list in front of me, I never know what I'm talking about.
But obviously The Beekeeper is on that list for sure.
The bee Keeper Fully in the.
Caper, Jason Statham in the actor Darling.
Yes, I just watched Trap. That sure doesn't make sense. Yeah, but I'm a huge advocate of Indian mediocrity, so I'm going to always support mn.
Shyamalan and his kids. And Taylor he said.
Yeah, he said that she was his niece in the movie. But it sounds but it might be as kid it was fully just an album rollout for her.
I will say, intrigued by that. I want to see that the same I had.
Such it's a trap itself because I had really high hopes.
And isn't there anyone in your theater like trying to kill like kill people?
Because I feel like no, well kind of because we went and Jackieth and I went and saw it, and Ryan from the Boys, the kid Homelander's son in The Boys, was there with all of his friends, like the actor who played Oh wow, that kid, but he wasn't trying to kill anyone.
That's disappointing.
It was a trap in that I thought it would be fun, and then it was fun, but also very confusing. One thing that I was going to say is like, this is all like on a high studio. Oh, there are these conglomerates, deregulation, regularization level, but for how that affects like us individually, the fact that we can't pitch new shows. But even beyond that, I'm seeing more and more huge celebrities in commercials that just nobody's like us should be in. You know.
So the day to day in used to be just everyday actors.
Yeah, it used to be just every I went into audition and I saw somebody who I've seen for I don't remember. He's one of those people you see him in everything, you don't know his name. He was also auditioning. I'm like, what are you doing here? You're like a TV movie star. Let me sell my soul for this, Like why? And you see that with also like what
they're willing to take risks on. And then the second thing I wanted to say was I saw a clip that Jackie supposed today of like Matt Damon explaining why you can't make the same movies that you did in the nineties, and it's because of streaming and how like they had the DVD release and so they were able to get their income both from the box office and
then the later DVD release. But now it's it's only it's very it's a lot less in theaters because people have the option of streaming, which I think is great and accessible, but it just means that less money is invested into different types of films and there's fewer risks that are being taken or fewer incentives for people to bet on these movies that might not might not have big box office summer action film Fast and the Furious thirty two rest assert release.
Yeah, they because it's they've been taken over by corporations. Corporations always want to like eliminate risk as much as possible, which is impossible with art. But up to this point, we've had a bunch of federal regulations protecting it from being the way it is, like right now four companies controlled more than seventy five percent of WGA writers earnings. Like there's four companies that control the whole thing like that.
There were so many laws in place to keep that from happening, and now it's just these four companies who all when like one of them said we're going to do our launch our own streaming platform and like double
down on content, they all did that. They created this like bloated thing that wasn't well thought through and like where they didn't know how they were going to get people to actually fucking watch the stuff that they were making, and then when that failed predictably, now they're like, well, you know, the way that they're responding to that is like writers are no longer like they took away development pay.
It used to be a thing where like they would sign on a writer to develop a pitch that they had approved or that they were interested in, and like that writer would be on the payroll for however long it took to develop it. And now they've just like changed it so that writers have to do that all by themselves, Like they don't get paid during the development process.
Can you imagine a people to judge like McKinley consultant coming in and being like, you have to play moms now, you're too old. Top down consultant, business person.
Yeah, I know writer who have like spent years developing projects that like are you know, have actors attached and like seem like they're gonna go and then never go. And that person just like worked for a year and didn't see like a single cent and it's just like that's the way it's set up. Now. It's like a really anti worker situation. It fucking sucks.
Yeah. Yeah. I have a friend who has been working for a couple of years on a script that's like a studio backed superhero movie and like has not been paid to like frequently enough or enough like amount of money for all the work he has put in. And I keep being like like can you can you like, how do you advocate for yourself? Can you ask for money for the labor you're tirelessly doing? And he's just like, uh, yeah, I'm trying, but they don't want to pay. And I'm
just like what is this? What is this world? Yeah?
That's wild because also everybody is desperate and so there's always someone to replace you, and that just that feeling sucks. Yeah, or like how during the writers' strike, I forget which executive said that they were essentially like trying to threaten us with homelessness.
Yeah, oh yeah, which guy was that? Which horrible monster?
It was either a Disney guy or Zazz the Zazz. But yeah, So the thing that they're going to because the development process has too much quote unquote like risk for these now like purely corporate entities that run seventy five percent of Hollywood, they're going to be even more reliant on IP, which is going to make movies shittier. Like we're already seeing people be like God, like Shazam
two came out last year, Like I like that. I can't believe speaking of Libertarian last year, right, the same actor just drop what's his name zach Leva.
Zackly, Zachary Levi and Harold and the Purple Crown.
Yeah, another another IP grab from like a nineteen fifties children's book. But because you don't have to like pay anyone whose idea that was, they're just like, I don't know, let's just grab fucking everything on our shelves and green light it. The Rubik's Cube the movie like whatever.
You know, it's only okay when it's patted right.
It's fine when it's and sometimes it works out.
It wasn't for those reasons, if it wasn't to avoid paying people, mm hmm, because then they could actually make a good movie.
Heard of. The Purple Crown cost forty million dollars on production, probably another forty in you know, marketing it, and it made nine million globally, like in its first week. Like it's just a complete And I could have told them if they had they had just asked me, I could have told them that was going to happen.
And that money, that forty million is not going to Caitlin's friend who needs to get paid for them, No, going to other people.
It's going to this already rich studio execs and shit like that.
Yeah, but yeah, I mean the there's a good article on Harper's about this. Author basically argues that some kind of radical intervention, either from the government or the workers, will be necessary to fix the problem. But I think everybody, you know, everybody just lived through a really scary and difficult strike and now it's like worse than it's ever been. Daniel Bessner is the name of the person who were
at the Harper article. So yeah, but that's like I think, I don't think people are quite aware of what's going on outside of Hollywood, but like inside of Hollywood, it's like, no, no new ideas are being like they're not even like responding to pitches anymore. They're just like that. Yeah. We there are a handful of massive companies and they have absolutely no appetite for risk a kaa like creativity or art.
Whatever you do, do not let this episode get back to my parents. Do not let them know that we're doing fine health insurance. We're going to bu house any day now.
That's right. Yeah, Well, Caitlin, what a pleasure having you as always.
Thank you so much.
Where can people find you? Follow you all that good stuff?
You can follow me on Instagram, I guess. Actually please follow me because it makes me seem like a legitimate comedian, which I am, and I'm trying to do more stand up So if you want to book me on your stand up show, you can do that. Please, let's do that. You can listen to my podcast, The Bechdel Cast, where
we examine movies through an intersexual feminist lens. A little plug I'd like to plug is Jamie and I are presenting a screening of the movie Chicken Run Wow in Los Angeles, the place that is actually awesome, even all over it for most of the episode. No, I actually really like living in LA and that's the truth. And we're doing this screening of Chicken Run a great flim as a part of American Cinema Techs Friend of the Fest podcast festival, where they have podcasters present one of
their favorite movies. So Jamie and I are dressing up like chickens and this movie on August A Studio execs.
Yeah, I love it.
But come out to the Lowsphilas three on August twenty fifth at four o'clock for this screening of Trick and Run. Trick and Run, Yeah, it's like trick or treat, but you run afterwards after you've tricked the person.
That's right full them big time.
Chick and Run tickets are if you go to link tree slash Bechtel Cast. You can find them there or on the American Cinema Tech website. I'm also gonna plug once again my screenwriting classes. Again. I would never mention my master's degree in screenwriting never, but I do teach screen, I would mention my classes. I have an intro class and a workshopping class that I teach, So check those out.
You can go where you can find out more about your master's degree. Yes, I actually just monologue three hours at a time about my master's degree. That's right.
Yeah. And also when the when the entertainment industry comes back, you want to be prepared. Okay, They're gonna eventually take new pitches, and you want to be the first pitch in line.
Okay, you want to be the not going to get paid for all the labor that you do, and you can learn to do that by taking my class. So go to Caitlin Durante dot com slash classes for all of that information. And uh, yeah, a piece of media I've been enjoying.
Hey, is there a piece of media you've been enjoying, Hey, caitlinjoying.
Well, for all the gang out there who are cat quest heads, cat Quest three is a video game. Okay, Uh cat Quest three dropped recently and I've been playing it and I've been enjoying it. So that's my answer.
There you go, that is a piece of media you've been enjoying.
So true, so true.
By the way some spec scripts. These are the sorts of movies that we wouldn't have. You got your Thelma and Louise Goodwill Hunting American Beauty, the sixth sense, massive movies that north by Northwest Like a lot of the greatest movies of all time were movies that were not based on IP. I don't know why I need to give examples of that. A lot of good movies not based on IP out there, folks. I will be reading a three thousand movie long list about that later. Amazing.
Paula Be, thank you so much for co hosting. Where can people find you as their workimedia you've been enjoying.
I am at Paulivian Alan p A L l A v I g U n A l A N I am everywhere. I'm inside your walls like the moment, everywhere. I run a stand up show at the comedy store. August twentieth is our next show, and then the show after that is September twentieth. It's facial recognition comedy. You can follow our Instagram to find out more about that. Okay, I'm gonna do one. That's my own tweet because I am obsessed with what this is. But then also I'll
do a different one. But have you guys seen the Have you seen the Andrew Garfield Florence Peugh picture of their promo of their new movie in John Crowley's We Live in Time, And they're like on a carousel and Florence Pugh is like holding on to the pole on the carousel, and then Andrew Garfield has his head nuzzled into her. And then there's a really fucked up horse. It's part of the carousel and it's dumbest base. So it's supposed to be this romantic moment, but it just looks.
I posted like I'm dying a this horse. But then I'm also like, this is me third wheeling my couple friends because I can't. I cannot stop looking at this poster. It's just it's bringing the Internet together. I just thought in the most fucked up way, Hey guys out It's like and I'm also here and everybody's like this this horse is British coated, like I'm just Strollberry. It's just like the most wholesome, innocuous, stupid thing. And then I'm gonna send this some.
Horror film about.
No idea.
No, but I I'll write that on spec.
Unbelievable that they were just like, yeah, I don't see anything weird about this at all. Let's get it. Let's get it out to the people. The internet thinks.
It's so funny. It's some I feel like they almost did it on purpose. And then I saw this clip of Quinta Brunson being interviewed with the cast of Avid Elementary and I just sent it in the chat. But she had to wear heels and she for some of the episodes, and she was talking about how difficult it was and how Janelle James always has to wear heels, and she got so she was had this newfound respect for Janelle James for having to do that on set
all day. She got really tired and she took them off and changed into Quinta took them off and like changed into you know, regular shoes because she her feet were so tired. And Janelle James just turned to her and went, she ain't no DVA. And I just love that whole cast. I just they're the best.
They're a blast. Yeah great, let's see. You can find me on Twitter at jack Underscore O'Brien a tweet I've been enjoying at Jackie underscore, Sabage Sabba g h that can't be sabage. Saba Sabah asked the question is the music they play baseball games diegetic? Like can the players hear it in the world of the game, which would be a great question. I don't know the answer to. You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeitgeist. We're
at d daily Zeitgeist on Instagram. We have a Facebook fan page and a website, Daily zeitgeist dot com where we post our episodes and our footnote, but where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode, as well as a song that we think you might enjoy. Super producer Justin Connor, is there a song that you think people might enjoy on this line Thursday Morning. Yeah.
I love when a singer has the ability to flow like a rapper but can also stack gorgeous harmonies over their tracks. And this song goes even farther by having like these string arrangements and smooth guitars straight out of a classic Bond film. It all comes together in this amazing song from this London based artist named any That's E and Why And the song is called charge It And you can find that song in the footnotes.
No Botz. The Daily Zeitgeis is the production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's going to do it for us this morning. We are back this afternoon to tell you what is trending and we will talk to you all then. Bye bye bye