Fox's New Suit, The Yeast Of Us 03.22.23

I don't know. He's usually such a reliable source, yea. Anyways, my name's Jack O'Brien aka plump Pers. I got plumpers, milky hit white plumpers, plumper plumpers. I got plumpers, milky thick white plumpers. That is supposed to be thunder by Imagine Dragons. I did my best. That is courtesy a fighter of the night man on the discord. That is an evil song man thunder by Imagine Dragons because it is very catchy to the five and six year old mind,

and it is just the bitchiest. He's just like, everybody laughed at me, but now you'll all be crying in the nosebleeds at my concert because I am imagine dragons. Anyways, I'm thrilled to be joined by today's special guest co host. You know him from many a podcast his new podcast with Ted and Pushkin as Good Sport. It's Jody Aberga. Thanks for having me back. What percentage of your day is spent? Comamp with the little Songs? For the beginning of this show, we have a we have a thriving

discord and they feed him and I scroll through and anything. Yeah, I don't know, and I will find out after we hit record, whether I know how to sing that song, whether it's within my vocal range. Um, not a ton of prepperation, but I do appreciate it, and there's some real geniuses in the discord. We also bring up a question of who gets to refer to themselves as having a quote vocal range. That's right. If you can hit one note, that's a range, right, that's range. Uh well, Jody.

We're thrilled to be joined by two very funny comedians who together host the podcast Blocked Party, which you're not going to believe. This also very funny. Please welcome to the show, John Cullin and Stephan he Hey, guys, thanko, thanks for having us On. Yeah, thank you, thanks for doing the show. Guys, your show is very funny. You're recently talking about an issue that I've been noticing more and more recently, um, which is, you know, you talk a lot about social media and the ways in which

social media is getting worse. Um where the way is Google is getting worse. I was told that things were going to get better, and it does not seem to be the case with Google is pretty much unusable as of late. Google is all like if you search for anything, it's like three ads and then fifty things created by like an ai bought and it's just like impossible to use now. But even like Twitter, not even Twitter, especially Twitter Twitter, Yeah, but we're owned by Elon must Yeah,

even managed to get fucked up. I don't know if you noticed today, but there's a thing going on where you'll click on a tweet and then it'll say it's been deleted, but it hasn't been deleted. So that's like a new thing. Yeah, it is sort of fun that it is like getting broken in new and exciting ways every single day. So I do sort of appreciate that. For the longest time, when Twitter was functional and kind

of a big part of my life. I kind of would tell myself, Actually, the best version of Twitter would be one in which I write a tweet but no one sees it right, just getting out of my system, but then not have to deal with any of the fall back. And now I think I actually am living that out and I don't live in the dream. I don't like it. No, I don't like it. Elon must made that possible for you. Man, I don't know what

everybody is complaining about. Well, this was my theory, like from day one of Donald Trump when he was that his his team should have created a basically a fake Twitter for him and just let him like rage type into a phone and tell him that it was like doing great, um, but never actually haven't brought into the well that's smart. It's like because I remember hearing a new story a while back, where I think it was

in Germany. Outside like a senior center, they put like a fake bus stop for the for the Alzheimer's patients, so they think they're waiting for the bus. Would be the same sort of idea. Basically, I think they should have. I think they should have got Trump on the Dawn Cherry plan, which if you're not a Canadian. We are, We're both Canadians. You're not a Canadian sports watcher, Dawn Cherry is sort of um. He was like a hockey prognosticator for a long time, and they let him be

on the air well into his senile years. And then when they first gave him Twitter, the rumor was that he couldn't use Twitter, he couldn't figure it out. He was in his seventies, and the rumor was that he would call a number and the number would go to an interns voicemail and he would tell the intern what he wanted the intern to tweet, and then the intern would tweet it in all caps. Because Don Cherry's whole thing was yelling, you know, kind of a Stephen A.

Smith type deal. And yeah, they could have got Trump on that plan. They should have had. It should have been a step between him and tweeting. Just call a voicemail. They can edit out the crazy stuff and you know, and then deliver it to the masses. I think that was the method for a while there, minus the editing out of the crazy stuff. Yeah, I think he I don't think he's ever typed anything with his tiny fingers before.

I think it's all you know him dictating two various people. Listen, people who are not familiar with Don Cherry, we'll be shocked to hear from John's description of him that he ended up getting canceled and said some pretty awful things air. Yeah, terrible thing, Well he said, he said terrible things for like years, right, and it really just took a while until he said one thing in particular that was like quite heinous. Um. But he was canceled. Culture to catch up. Yeah,

he was famous for and I guess he's still alive. Um. But uh, and his I mean, I don't want to, like say, go listen to his podcast, but his podcast

is truly insane. Um. The intro music, how would you describe it, John, Um, Well, he used to put out these videos every year called rockham sock'em which was a rock'em sock 'em Hockey, which was a compilation of hockey hits and goals and saves from the previous year, narrated by Dawn Cherry and often, for some reason, all of the clips and these videos were set to bad techno

sounding music, nineties techno, nineties techno. And so that is the opening of his podcast and It starts with him staying his famous phrase, all right, let's go, and then the techno music kicks in. So yeah, I would describe it as like early nineteen ninety two bad techno music with Don Cherry soundclips over and he's like ninety years old now too, so it like fits even less D did Don Cherry. Is he the origin of the reason why everyone well, well why and also why everyone says

let's go all the time. Yeah, I'm fascinated with trying to track down how let's go became the go to catch crass. That's an interesting theory because he was possible. Yeah, he was saying it like I remember growing up watching him on Hockey nine Canada every Saturday, and he would say it a lot. And that was in like the mid nineties, late nineties, so oh yeah, even earlier, maybe

he would do the gun. He would do a gun like it would be like and do a finger gun to the camera, So that could be something worth dive into. F I'm planning to the extended go the let's go like it was kind of let's go, Yeah, let's go. And then Tom Brady you know, like like it's like jazz, you know, Uh, Tom Brady is the Coltrane to Don Cherry's Davis, you know, and he comes along and he really pushes things along and and and and reappropriates let's

go and then you know. But yeah, I mean people have been saying let's go in sports contexts for for a long time, right, it's just the saying it constantly, And now it's now it's jumped out of sports, right and it's just basically a it's I mean, it is the default expression of enthusiasm in any context now, and it's kind of bizarre to me. I'll say when I'm when I'm playing soccer in real life, or when I'm playing like FIFA or like John and I play NHL a lot, and like it's very common for us to

say that after we score a goal or something. So and I'm like, thirty four, Like, it's not I don't it's not okay. Yeah, No, I think I think it's fine. It's acceptable. We don't have to hate every new trend that comes along. I think that's a fine one. That doesn't bother me. I think there's a lot of performative like this new thing that people everybody's doing all of a sudden, it's like, that's that's a fine one for me. I'm doing it because of Don Cherry to be clear, Yes, okay,

it is a homage. Yeah, all right, John Stephan, We're going to get to know you a little bit better in a moment. First, we're gonna tell our listeners a couple of the things we may talk about. There is a new story about a deadly fungus that I am here to tell you, I don't think if I had to guess, and I am not part of the CDC's Mycotic Diseases branch um, but the CDC's Micotic Diseases branches on their bullshit again, They're they're saying this is something

we need to be worried about. If I had to guess, I think this is maybe a reaction to the last of us um and scientists getting excited when people are listening to them so famous lat Like I would love to be the guy who's like, don't listen to this, like the day before the Apocalypse. But we'll talk about that. We'll talk about maybe this Fox News producer's lawsuit against

Fox News. The reviews have started trickling in for Ben afflex Air, and they are incredibly positive, So we'll talk about the same with the flame and hot Cheeto's origin story. So we're just this has been a trend on the daily zygeist of late, but this new wave of brand related movies and the idea that brands are to modern American culture what royalty was to Shakespearean culture and like that, this is just what our movies are going to be about from now on. So we'll talk about all of

that plenty more. But first, John Stephen, what is something from your searchest three that is reeling about you? John? You want to kick us off? Sure? I look, you know you said you you Jack. You've been listening to a little bit of block Party the last few days. And while look, I'm a pretty white guy and just searched I think probably the most white guy thing I've ever searched. This happened last week and Stephan was actually present for this, but I had to Google search how

to get kombucha out of a laptop. We were just about to record an episode of block Party and I spilled about half a can of kombucha on my MacBook Air keyboard and how I knew it was a Mac? Yeah? Yeah, exactly, Yeah, No, quick about it kimbucha has never been spilled on That would have actually been a first in history. You can't google it. There's no results if you look up kombucha

PC spill um. But yeah, so I did spill a kombucha on my MacBook and I was, yeah, googling how to take care of that, And turns out I took it into the Apple Store and blockily didn't hit the board. So I only look at that. I only owe them four hundred and eighty dollars for a dome. It's bad. Well, the guy the genius bar would have been like, what it's like the most common This happens like ten times

a day. Yeah, so let me ask kombucha. He just looks you up and down, like, let me guess, um, the I feel like there's a big portion of LA's population. That would have been like, that's actually good for your computer and you actually don't need to take it in. You should just let it rock a little bit. It's gonna grows some healthy biomes in there. Yeah, how about you, Steth And what's something from your search history? Well this,

so this is something. John's gonna hear this and be like of course, and he's gonna kind of be mad at me. I think too. But I'm a big fan of like uh digital like card games, so like Hearthstone, I got like way too into and still kind of am. And this is a reason development for me, Like reason is in like the past, like four or five days. But I've started playing a game called Marvel Snap, and so my search term is Marvel Snap beginner decks. And have any of you played the game Marvel Snap? I'm

assuming no. I mean I'll ask John. I know what the answer is, John, have you played Marvel A Life? Okay, Well, I don't know. The thing is, I don't like this has taken over my life. It's a very fast paced, very addictive digital card game. You can play on your phone or on your computer, and the games are like two to three minutes long, so you can play like, you know, one to four of them on the toilet,

depending on kind of what's going on there. And I'm I'm just like hooked to the point where it's like, oh, this is like going to be dangerous for me, Like there's no doubt in my mind. It's it's incredibly addictive and you collect a Marvel like an individual card and then like that is yours. Like I feel like this is backing up into NFTs somehow, just in my brain. I feel like it just barely dodged being connected to NFTs.

But yeah, and the thing is, like, I'm not even like a Marvel guy necessarily, Like I've stopped watching the Marvel movies and like I so it's not that, it's just that the gameplay itself is like so perfectly and like tightly designed to the point where I think John would actually like it, because John's a big board game guy and like strategy games and things of that nature. So I think there's a chance he would like it. But it's just like such a hard sell to get

John past the Marvel stuff. I think, what are you talking about? Man? I love what Avengers s dot T dot A dot t dot I dot oh dot M I saw that the thing that's coming out. I don't know. I don't want movies, but I Avengers station. Yeah, but it's a I can't read what what did you just spell? Station? Yeah? Station, don't add for it. I think it's I don't know

what stations. I think that's a local thing in Vancouver actually have only Oh, you're right, Yeah, it's a completely immersive and educational experience that brings visitors into the world of the Avengers. Not educational in there. They probably got like a grant for funding because they have to work about Marvel. That's learned about the entire MC. But what does station stand for st? That's how much scientific training

and tactical intelligence operative network. Okay, this is where the minds that used to work for the CIA have gone to. Right for the Marvel Cinematic u direction, Like everybody's talking about STEM, we need we need our own, right, what's the acronic for us? Seven? Where did where did the Marvel Cinematic Universe lose you? Because I have a pretty specific answer that I feel like it was. Um, was it Guardens, the Galaxy two? I think No. I was

kind of on and off. But the last one I saw in theaters because it was kind of like, well, there's nothing to do this weekend, let's just go see a movie was the last Thor movie. And it was to the point where we almost like walked out of it because we were it was just not maybe it just not for us. I mean it's it's not aimed at us, maybe necessarily, but it just like really pissed me off. I guess like everything about it that was

loving thunder. Yes, yeah, um, I would imagine dragons. I thought I thought Christian Bale was good, but see I do have range, Jody, But Jack, where where did it lose? You? Like? Right around the same time with watching the Doctor Strange one from Sam Ramie, Like I was like, oh, this

could be cool. It was like and it had like cool moments in it, but it just I feel like every time I watched one of them, it inevitably gravitates back towards a lightning fight like Cgne like if I I think they just need to set an internal rule for themselves that if a giant like purple lightning portal opens in the sky, we have made a mistake and need to like, you know, go back and rejigger things because yeah, yeah, it's the beam stuff is just like

it's everyone has the same power and then everyone gets hit by the beam and they're just like kind of they're just like singed a little bit. They're like fine, you know, it's like daffy duck logic. Yeah. Um so yeah, I'm not I don't like Marvel necessarily, but the game itself is like it's incredible, Like within like a day, I was like, oh, this is like taking over my entire life. And yes, all right, well let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll do some overrated, underrated

and maybe get to some news. We'll be right back and we're back, and Stephane, let's stick with you. What is something you think is overrated? This is something that I discovered last year, but I would say kind of just like regular like soft bath mats are now those are overrated to me now, um, because I was at an Airbnb. I went to Twitch Con in San Diego last year, and at the Airbnb, they had these bath mats that are like like hard almost like almost like

hard like the bamboo ones. No, it was almost like hard like clay or like stone kind of um, and they were like incredible. It was like, I can't go back. John shaking his head. I mean, well I was. I was at like a normal Airbnb and they just had these these We saw the math mats and and we're like this is interesting. And then there's a stone that absorbs water. I'm I, yeah, I've heard about this. Yeah, so I I guess going like the regular bathmat to me is now overrated because of how much I like

this stone bath mat. Did you have one? Yeah? Of course, Oh my god, you came home from twitch Con and you bought a stone bath mat. Yeah, that's like a normal thing to do. How much was it? Well, look, let's move on to the next question. Well, my question on that is like shipping what a what a shipping like that like getting a stone delivered to your house.

It would be lighter than pet And I guess, like my worry was like if you step on it in like the wrong way, will it like crack because it does sort of feel that way, but it is actually pretty solid. It seems like um. But it was shipped in like a huge box with like tons of like extra packaging and stuff, right like the box they put the Arc of the Covenant in at the end of Indiana Jones just arrives on your front front. The box was like legitimately the size of like if you bought

like a huge TV. And then the bath mat is just like normal bath mat size. So it's like very strange, um, but it's it's very nice. It's just nice to to step on it. It absorbs the water by this ninety dollar one. No, it was less than that, but not much by the tone of your voice. Okay, just well, and I was also in that's in Canadian dollars, so like that's that's like that's like nothing, right, So yeah, anyway, moving on, how about you John with something you think

is overrated. So there's been this recent trend in my internet algorithm where I've really cornered the market on Instagram and Facebook when I check it occasionally, where I'm now almost exclusively getting played like inspiring sports videos like it'll just oh, Josh Allen, you know, threw a ball around with this kid who or you know who's sick or whatever. And I love now. I'm a huge sucker for all that kind of stuff. Athletes being nice to kids. Love it.

The only problem is I'm now sucked into this sports video vortex where Instagram also thinks I want to see videos of what teams are playing on the JumboTron during a game. Um, and I've got I've got news for you. Not interested? Um, if I'm not at the game, I don't care who in your crowd looks like the lion from Madagascar. I don't care that you oh we lit up the visiting team with this little insult or with it. Wow,

I think it's way over rated. I don't need to see a video of the JumboTron at a sports game, no, thank you. Yeah, that is a really not a transferable like Uniti team. And I've written for the JumboTron, Like I I worked for the Vancouver Canucks for a while writing wows for the JumboTron, which is a very Canadian thing. I think, um, and wait, wait you wrote you wrote jokes? Are you like we're coming routs? Yeah? Like more jokes.

So I auditioned to be the Canucks in arena host at different times and I was rejected both times, which, if you know about the state of the Canucks franchise right now, probably a blessing. I think I dodged a bullet. But yeah, they knew I was a comedian, so they wanted to start doing some more funny like in house stuff.

And one of the main things they were doing, which you will see on your Instagram algorithm if these sports JumboTron video shows up, is one thing they'll do is they'll try and catch an opposing fan looking at their phone and then they will imagine, like there's a text conversation happening to them and another, so it'll be like, oh, here's a Flames fan. Let's imagine what the two Flames fans are texting each other. And I would write the like I would write the jokes for the for the

text stuff. So that was kind of like the main thing they had me do and it was actually pretty good. That's awesome. I would enjoy the hell out of that in arena in arena, probably not on Instagram, yeah, but exactly. Yeah. I will say, like the the in arena stuff you obviously have to be there for. But the stuff I do like is, um, who's the Chicago Bulls mascot, Benny the Bully. I will never get tired of seeing Benny the Bull just dump uh, like a huge plastic bag

full of popcorn on someone like that. That is funny every single time to me. But that is humiliating someone I'm on board of course, absolutely. That goes without saying. Yeah, but I don't need the kiss caam No, I don't know. I think some of those are funny, and I mean they're clearly staged, but some of those, some of those are pretty good. Or that the dance offs you know with the units here we have an insider. Here are some of the kisscams staged? Oh almost everything, yeah staged? Yeah,

I mean, no, no question me. I think that they are consistently finding couples where the woman refuses to kiss the guy and gets super upset and then dumps her soda on his head and storms out of the arena. You think that's happening like like a few times a week around in arenas around the country. I mean, catching very boring kisscams, I guess because I've never seen that happen.

The new bit they they're doing a lot is like they'll do the they'll show a kiss cam and then a woman and a man will start kissing, and then another man shows up, Yeah, and they sort of like, oh, like, oh, he doesn't Scotti doesn't know, you know, what is he doing? Like he's like cheering so hard he doesn't notice his wife is like kissing the guy on the other side or something. Is that the fre he's coming back from

the bathroom or so. Yeah, the joke will usually be that she is kissing like so, let's say it's at that Canucks game kissing a guy in a Canucks Nucks Jersey and then her husband by friend or husband will come backward flames Jersey. Yeah, and this is good stuff. Elaborate humiliations opposing team. I love it's funny. Those are real. I've got a Marvel snap. What is uh? What of the thing? Is underrated? John? Yeah? Sure, underrated. I'm sticking

sort of sports theme algorithmically themed skate videos. I'm not a I'm not a skateboarder. I used to a skateboard to get around a little bit, but not a huge skateboarder. But god, I love a good skate video. Nothing better. Just pausing on Instagram. Wow, this is a great skate video. I love it. It's harmless most of the time, just a great way to pass the time. You're a big Tony Hawk pro skater player, all yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

But that doesn't mean anything. I'm just saying, I you know, I love I just love to watch a good skate video. I think they're underrated. I think not enough people appreciate how hard skateboarding is and how impressive a lot of these videos are. In my opinion, that video game did ruin skate videos for me for a little bit, because I was like this, these people aren't shit compared to

what I can do. And on n sixty four, I haven't played video games since then sixty four, but have a use, Steph, And what's something you think is underrated?

I would say goldfish crackers as like a snack for adults, Yeah, because I think people think of goldfish crackers and they think, oh, that's that's like a that's like a child snack, that's for children, and you know what they would be right However, Uh, they're just a very nice snack to have, although I do feel like because I always get like the huge carton of them, and you never feel worse than when you were like elbow deep inside the carton trying to

get the goldfish at the bottom of it. I guess you can pour it out into a bulb. I don't do that. I'm just reaching in um. But just just the regular flavored, not the because there's the goldfish ones where there's like no flavor to it, right, just the saltine flavor. Almost. Yeah. I don't know if you've ever like purchased original Yeah, I think those are called original, right? They blue box white crackers, Yes, just a disaster. They're more like soup crackers. I guess right, like you put

them in soup. But to me, original goldfish are like the orange ones and like the orange total right, and they're fantastic as a sack. I think I would say underrated. I feel like people don't talk about them when they're talking about like best snacks. So yeah, goldfish crackers for me, Yeah, they're actually the origin story of goldfish crackers is in

development Warner Brothers, and I think it's gonna be great. Actually, I mean we might as well just like get right into Ben Affleck's Air because it premiered at south By on Saturday. Ben Affleck called the premier the most important night of my professional life. And the reviews are in. They're literally all positive, like it's one hundred percent. There's only nine reviews in I guess, but not the first nine that came in. It's one hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

And I just want to like read a description of like from one of these reviews. Afflex successfully captures nikes heartwarming and hilarious marketing journey while paying respectful homage to all involved. Air is a tremendous underdog story filled with lovable characters. Um, it's just like there's something so strange to me about all of this, and yet like it makes perfect sense. But it's also like to be like the underdog journey of Nike's marketing decision to make Air

Jordan shoes. Well, it's one of those movie concepts that feels like, oh, this is like a funnier die fake trailer from like twenty fourteen. Yeah, but it's real, and like it sort of reminds me because I didn't. I'm not surprised it's getting good reviews because it has a really good cast and I'm sure I will watch this movie eventually. I don't think I'm going into theaters to

see it. But um, there was that McDonald's movie, The Founder, Yeah, and that was a great movie, right, and I and I think going into it, I was like, how is how is this going to be good? And it's because they made The Founder McDonald's into like a huge dick, yeah, just a monster yeah, And so it was that was I really enjoy that movie. So if this is I guess this won't be the same sort of style of

movie necessarily. But if the McDonald's movie can be good, then I don't see why Air can't be good either. It will not be the same style. It turns out it's like it is the It turns Phil Knight and Sonny Vaccaro like into these underdogs who like coming up with a marketing concept around the air Jordan's shoe, which I totally fell for. I am gonna see this movie. I am like, I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it. But it's you know, this is an important myth for

my life, like my childhood. I still wear Jordan's I Love I Love Air Jordan's. This completely captured me so like seeing what happened behind the scenes, but it's also upsetting to me that this is this is what we've got. It totally makes sense. These are the most powerful and influential forces in our civilization. They of course we would want to watch movies about them. But it's just weird. How does it? How does it make you feel that

like the kind of big first swing at a Jordan movie? Um, not a documentary obviously, but the movie is like this weird kind of sideways angle in at it. Would you Jo of sorts? No? No, I would not, because I

don't like I think that. My first question was, like, wait, who did they get to play Michael Jordan and they completely like cut around him, and uh, like I don't I don't know like about the ethics of this and like it's but it it seems like the thesis of the movie is like he's just this sort of like god like entity and they're trying to like move around him and harness. But yeah, like that that is one

of the things. One of the not uniformly positive things somebody said was just like George gets just one word to say, and when he's present, the film shoots and cuts around him. It's unintentionally hilarious when in one crucial boardroom scene, he hastily turns his head away to study something on a wall before you can catch a proper glimpse of which is its like like an Austin Powers opening. They have like, you know, a tray of flowers following

his face around. But that I think that's the only way to tell this story until like, you know, twenty thirty years from now, when like nobody remembers what it was like to actually watch Michael Jordan. Yeah, I mean it is a little strange or I don't know what it is. It's it's something that you know, it's like here's a story about a black athlete, one of the first like people to really like gain some agency and

build some real capital. And the story they tell about that is about all the like schlubby white executives surrounding him, heroes Jody yea heroes man. But you know, I was just scanning headlines about this, and it's like one after another, the headlines are all like Ben Affleck talks about why Michael Jordan isn't in the movie, like, here's why Michael

Jordan isn't. I mean, it's just going to be the question around this movie, and Ben Affleck's I think very carefully crafted response to it is like Jordan is so recognizable, so steeped in the culture that like to put him in in any way. People know who he is and they would like ring hollow or whatever, which, you know,

I don't know. I think there's probably other reasons why Michael Jordan isn't portrayed in the movie necessarily, though I guess he was involved behind the scenes a little bit and sort of at least given the blessing to the to the film. I would be interested to know if if John, because John famously does not watch movies yea, so he I think he watches like one or two movies a year. Maybe will this be on the list, John, Oh,

I'm going to the theater baby more. I love the Underdog Story and Shoe Doog of course my favorite book of all time, and I'm really looking forward to digging in. No, I I'm sure. Maybe why shouldn't say I'm sure I'll see it because that's never does seem like the type of movie you would see though, Like I mean, our block party listeners understand that John sees like no movies, but when he does see a movie, it's one that

you would like, never expect. So I think a couple of months ago we were talking about movies you had seen, and you had almost seen Up in the Air. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, maybe I'll see It's it's very anything with air in the type. Yeah. Air is a big Ye, the air up there are is a big for me. Do love that pawn air I also love. And the one thing I thought stuck out when you know, looking at some of the the stuff around the show was that quote that you said, Jack about Ben Affleck

saying it's the most important night of his life. That was the funniest thing to me, because that, to me is like the equivalent of spring training right now and oh, he's in the best shape of his life. He put a lot of work in this winteris are the best shape of his life, He's going to be ready to go. It's very similar to that. It's like, this is not the most important night of your life been up for you to say, but there's what was the because what if?

What if? Was the article like the the twice married Ben Affleck referred to this as the most special, the most important night of my professional life. Everyone, I would say that was probably when you won the Academy Award and launched yourself into a yeah, yeah, I don't it's um. It is just I think one of the we are going to just be getting these movies now, uh, NonStop.

And it's just the the detail that Nike becomes an underdog in this telling, like a you know, the billionaire founder of Nike becomes an underdog, and like that's the version we get feels like it's in it's not healthy for the overall like body politic of very civilization when you know, I think movies like The Founder and The Social Network are probably a little bit more important because they show that like people, like they're behind the scenes

of these things that are already celebrated as triumphs. Um are people fucking other people over? Yeah, it's like correctly showing them as like sociopaths. Right. I feel like that's probably not going to happen in this one if Nike signed off on it, right, No, yeah, I think that

absolutely they're not. The inevitable conclusion of like ip Yeah Films is going to be a movie about the like founding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie franchise or something, Oh my god about all the Sony Exacts or whatever. Oh totally dead after Spider Man three and this one

man like the Underdog story. Yeah yeah, God, the movie poster it just gonna be his like worn like baseball cap with like a spotlight on it, you know, and all the scenes are at Bruce Springs theme concerts with a bunch of fifty year old exacts making deals with each other. I mean, it is just that's how people

view the American dream in general. Right. It's even like if you are a NEPO baby or or you know, the whole there was that narrative of oh, Kendall Jenner is the first self made billionaire or whatever the hell that that whole thing was a couple of years ago, and it's like, no, no, none of this is like

in a very rare case. You know, it's sort of the true American dream where people come from nothing and you know, they start these multi billion dollar companies, but most of the time there isn't really a true underdog in the situation. But everybody wants to believe that every that's the that's the key sort of piece of the American dream is, oh, I was down on my luck.

I had nothing going on, and generally leaves out the part where even if you did come from nothing, um, you stepped on as many heads as possible on the way to the top. That's the only way to get there. You know, it always has to be this. Oh, it was just such a lovable person. You know, my dad didn't own an Emerald, mind, he just owned several shares in it. Okay, so let Brad's get this straight. So

I never even saw an Emerald growing up. Yeah, but yeah, Ceo biography, there's there are all these ways that success in you know, capitalism and the Western world gets laundered from being you know what, I think it was. Jody's uh partner, Malcolm Gladwell wrote wrote, uh uh yeah, um, but he he did like a deep dive into like comparing the CEO biographies and the stories of how people become the richest humans on the planet with the reality.

And I bring this up all the time, but I think it's one of the most important and kind of details about our culture that like gets left out is like all of them did, like found a thing they could exploit and exploited it over and over and over again, Like it was just a very boring transactional predatory thing. Like all you become unreasonably wealthy by being like a very successful predator and praying perfect chance. I'm just saying, yeah, um.

But the like so that there is already this whole body of you know, like bookstores are filled with the CEO biographies revisionist histories where like everybody told them they couldn't do it, and they like came in and like

cowboyd their way through the boardroom. And I feel like we should hope for, you know, because these brand movies are coming, we should we should hope for versions that are like The Founder, which somehow guy made and also told a story that was critical of like the founder of McDonald's and didn't have to change the name of the company. So did you see did you read The Founder?

I did not know. Yeah, So I think it's part of it is like The Founder is written by Ray Croc, and he kind of says like, yeah, I stole it from the McDonald brothers, and I did that, Like wow, that's part of the reason why like it. It's short, it's only like one hundred and fifty or two hundred pages, and he is actually very honest. I mean, obviously there's some revisionist stuff in there, but as far as like a CEO autobiography or memoir goes, it is found the

honest one. Yeah, exactly where he you know, I think that's how that one maybe got made was Ray Croc was pretty honest about like, yeah, the McDonald brothers were kind of whimps, and so I just like, yeah, I'm a big psycho. Yeah it rocks. I'm a big psycho. They were like kind of nice guys, and that was you can't succeed in business being a nice guy. So I thought, you know, why don't I a psycho and take this over and I cut them out of the deal.

No problem, because huge houses and bingo bengo. There you go. All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll talk to that Fox News story. We'll talk about the deadly strain of fungus that is about to turn you on to zombies. We'll be right back, and we're back. And a Fox News producer named Abbe Grossberg, who worked with both Maria bartar Romo and Tucker Carlson the you

know what a one to what a combo? Yeah, just filed two lawsuits against the channel, alleging that their legal team engaged in wrongful conduct while preparing her for her deposition in the Dominion case, the case that's being brought against them for saying that the election was stolen and that dominion voting machines were faulty or at least like

helping perpetuate that. The allegations are that Fox's lawyers coached her to avoid mentioning prominent male executives and on air talent to protect them from any blame while effectively throwing herself under the bus, and they pressured her to downplay a text exchange with the senior vice president of Weekend News in which he instructed her in regards to a segment with Rudy Giuliani, there will be no fact checking today.

There's just so much good ship coming from the dominion thing like, yeah, the texts from Tucker Carlson being like Trump is a disaster, Like we all know this. This is all such bullshit, like everything that we're having to repeat on air as such bullshit. And then I love the ones where they're talking they're like making fun of their listeners and viewers, where are like, oh, boy, our viewers for are a bunch of stupid, ignorant hogs that

we hate lot. Yeah, And like, I think the way around that is to do just what like me and John do on the podcast is just like say that explicitly at the top of every show, just to get it out of the way. Basically we respect that more. Yeah exactly. Yeah, that's how we start every show. Yeah,

slop in the trough. Yeah, there you go. I was struck by how much they would couch their decision making in the context of it's what our viewers expect, right, And there was that little that was that week after the election where Fox had you know, called Arizona and sort of like actually proclaimed that Biden probably are actually one. And they started losing viewers to Newsmax. And it was a story that Fox executives told themselves, but you know, it was like, oh, our listeners are leaving us and

they're going to Newsmax. And the reason they're going to newsmaxes because Newsmax is telling them lies about how the selection was stolen. And so we owe it to our viewers. It's like this really weird logic and like almost a cover,

you know, that they're giving themselves. We owe it to our viewers to embrace these lies because it's and it's kind of like, you know, I mean, obviously there's so many things that are broken about that logic, but it was just a friend journalism, I think, yeah, yeah, journalist journalism, you know. But you but that's how you hear politicians talk too, right. Um, they say like I can do whatever I want to wash in DC, and I could

stand up on my principles. Then when I go back to my constituents, all they want to talk about as Hunter Biden's laptop. So I owe it to my constituents, you know. And it's just this like really messed up um inversion of that, like you know, in theory, which

should be a pretty like honorable motivation. It's also wildly disingenuous of them to claim like Web Newsmax is pushing it is forcing our hand when they've been like Tucker Carlson's producers listened to the most right wing like talk radio just you know, the equivalent of like Coast to Coast am of like right wing conspiracy theories and Alex Jones that that was actually very unfair to Coast to

Coast AM. I shouldn't I shouldn't have said that, but like you know, their level of fact checking, uh, and they listen to that and let that lead like their editorial, you know, agenda is just like whatever the craziest shit is that's resonating with people, and they've been doing that from Jump. Well, yeah, Tucker Carlson talked about like ratings. Most of the texts were not about news, they were

about this is killing our ratings. Yeah. Yeah, you'll see it with like insane like qan on people on Twitter where they'll say at this like they're so far gone that they'll be like, oh, news Max and Fox News have gone woke, like yeah, because because they're not feeding them the exact conspiracy theories they want to hear. And it's just like, I mean, you can never please these people. You're gonna have to just go more and more far right, which I guess is sort of what they're doing anyway.

But um, it's it's just so funny to see people completely straight faced thinking that because Newsmax had to like legally apologize for something that they have now gone woke. Um it's just like so insane to me to see that. Yeah, and we just got a quote yesterday from I think it was Kevin McCarthy that Biden is siding with woke Wall Street. So that's you know, the other uh fully woke out institution is Wall Street. Yeah, yeah, the damn stock markets go and woke? What are they over there?

That's right, you know. I mean one of the things that just there's so many things in this revelation which I actually think is like going to really hurt Fox. I mean I actually think like this is this might be a turning point momentum, both financially but just in the public kind of imagination. You overall lawsuit or the specific revelations in this uh suit that she's bringing. Oh not this specific soup, but the overall kind of like

that story. Yeah, yeah, the story that's that's coming out about Fox that you know, I think most people just kind of knew, have known for a long time, but nevertheless, um, it's out there and in a way that I think

is actually seeping through. But you know, one of the things that also just strikes me, and I think about this too with like Trump World as well, it's like these people spend so much time like putting out fires, squabbling with each other, like you know, doing hush payments, like like coaching people on how to talk to lawyers

and like dealing with it. And I'm just like, when do you have time to do because I've worked at a news organization and like it's a lot of work just to do the thing that goes on TV and then I do all this other work of like being sketchy. It's just I just part of me just marvels that kind of like when do they have the time to do all this chicanery behind the scenes. So you're coming away more impressed than anything. I think. I think they're

good producers, think they're at some level. I mean the juggling. Juggling is impressive. It's true. UM, just some other details from this report again by a Fox News employee, UM, who was of course immediately countersued and put on administrative leave. But as of you know what, while we're talking, she's still a Fox News employee. UM that Tucker Carlson's offices featured large pictures of Nancy Pelosi wearing a plunging swimsuit.

The staff casually makes anti semitic and misogynistic comments. Mister Carlson's staff held a mock debate about whether they would prefer to have sex with Miss Dixon or her Democratic opponent, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and that so like there's this detail of like her first full day on the job working for Tucker Carlson discovered that the Manhattan workspace was decorated

with the Pelosi picture. Then the next day, Justin Wells, mister Carlson's top producer, called her into his office and asked her whether Miss ms Bardaroma was having a sexual relationship with the House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. That was day two of very healthy. Yeah, it sounds cool as hell. And look, I don't want to be a pure want to be a third Fox News. But isn't every swimsuit of plunging swimsuit anyway, right, plunging into the pool? Yeah,

I have many many a plunge John. They repeat that line multiple times in that and I know I like the idea of a plunging swimsuit. Yeah, thats just that wording got got approved. Um yeah. But then when she complained about being harassed by male producers, HR told her that she was not performing her duties. Um so yeah, it's in some level, it's kind of what you would expect from Fox News, but it's still horrifying to see it in detail, like what would it actually looks like

behind the scenes. Nobody likes to see how the sausage gets made, but you have to be impressed by their ability to just juggle it all. As Jody Abrigant can be quoted as saying, I can't wait to see Dominion in theaters March right, starring Ben Affley. I mean that

there already was that Fox News bombshell. Yeah, all of the details that I've learned from the various like dominion reporting and you know, reporting on on the lawsuit is like that movie must have had to cut so many details for just being like two over the top, because yeah, they still made it seem like there wasn't out in the open, just you know, uh, these sorts of things happening, all right. So a deadly fungus is supposedly you know,

it is trending on Google yesterday. Transition. I well, I do just want to let you know that increasing number of fungus samples resistant to the common treatments for it are are appearing. I don't know. I tend to think that when a threat so perfectly matches a pop culture event that recently was incredibly popular, to be skeptical. Um

so um. I have a less popular opinion that Jeffrey Dahmer never ate anybody, um, because he was arrested after Silence of the Lambs came out, and I think he was just an alcoholic who didn't clean up of his murder. Love this theory. I love that you voluntarily wedge that in with no real hook. This is a great event that you're about here, new deadly fus. Yeah, other news, Jeffrey Dahmer did he really eat anybody? Did he? I don't know. It's a theory. These are John level. John

is very segus too. So well, you guys have a nice little song for reference, Yeah, to reference your amazing seguys. Yeah, if you just say the segue is good, it's a good segue. Yeah, it's But anyway, the other details that leading me to think this might not be something that everybody needs to worry about. Do check your strawberries though there was a strawberry recall. We we talked about that on yesterday's Trending Frozen strawberries are might give you pepe,

So definitely everybody check that out. I think I saw something about that on John's Gonna Hate This. But one of my favorite websites it's called I Was Poisoned dot com and it's I don't know if you guys know about it. It's like a crowdsourced website where people can post about if they got food poisoning and where they think they got it from. Wow, And it's like very useful on its face, but also sometimes people will it's

not it's not useful adults, it's somewhat useful. Maybe gonna eat KFC tonight, I should check out I was poison dot com to see if he's got Yeah, it's it's worth checking out. But what's really funny about it is that occasionally people will upload just like the nastiest picture you've ever seen of like the end result of their food poisoning, and it's like, we would believe you if you just said you pute, like we didn't need to see it. Yeah. Um, So it's a very it's a

very good website. I really like it. But John John hates it. Someone that did that have any relation to the sort of help a thing or No, you were just kind of doing a jack. I think the strawberry stuff they post stuff about, like, yeah, exactly, So it is they mixed in real news with just diarrhea and vomit pictures, which is actually a pretty good metaphor for our podcast as well. Um, anyways, it's not it's not new. The fungus isn't new. The numbers are the result of

the pandemic. And you know, with a lot of attention from the medical community being paid to screening for COVID, less emphasis was put on screening for this. But it's a it's a thing that they've known about. We're worried about this for a long time and have an eye on so just in case anybody is out there concerned that the Last of Us is about to happen to them. Uh, it doesn't. It feels like it's just trying to get you to click on an article. FYI see the last

of Us Pedro Pascal boy. I hope that happens. Thank you, amen, John, Pedro Pascal will still exist whether or not there's like a fungus infection going around the world. You don't know, Okay, fair enough? Yeah, but will he escort me around while I act like a little baby? So yeah, that's a good point right there. Yeah, good point. Yeah, Thank you, John Stephan. Such a pleasure having you on the show. Where can people find you? Follow you all that good stuff?

Thank you so much for having us the last As you referenced off the top of the show. We have a podcast called The Blocked Party where we bring on a guest every week to talk about a time they were blocked on social media. We've had some some great guests on the show recently and in the past, Tony Hawk, Nicky Glazer. You talked about Emily Heller before we got on air. There's some great episodes there. You can check

you out drill on right. You've had him on a few times show a few times we've had some weird Twitter guys on the show, and he does look like a wrinkled Jack Nicholson and for kind of wild. Yeah, So you can check that out wherever you get your pods. And I also have a podcast about new metal. You know, and I know the Daily Zeitgeist fans are huge morn at Limp Biscuit people. It's a monthly podcast me and and Brian Quinnby, formerly of street Fight Radio and now

of the podcast Guys. We review a yeah, a classic new metal album every month. People seem to like it. That one's fun too. Block Party you can check out at block Party pod on Twitter and the podcast is at the pod underscore cast and we spell cast with a K. Yeah, yeah of course. Yeah. And I have a Twitch stream we stream nightly. It's with Jesse Farrar from your Kickstarter sucks if you're familiar with that podcast, and it's called The Go Off Kings Twitch dot tv

slash Go Off Kings. Nice. And is there a tweet or work of media, probably social media that you guys have been enjoying. I've been watching the New Party Down season and it is fantastic. They did not lose a single step. Um, and I've been I've been really enjoying it. I've rewatched the first two seasons to kind of get ready for this one. Um, and it's it's great, just a very funny show. Yeah back and I started watching the New Party Down last night. It's I would actually

argue it's better. I think that's I think they've figured really good joke tone a little bit better in this new season. Very good. Um. I was gonna be that guy and share a tweet that I did myself because it's from the podcasts Patreon, so it's not actually I was just sharing a story, but we got basically the most unhinged Patreon message I've ever received, and I've I've ever seen. Uh And so I figured your listeners might

like it and I would share it with you. So someone to keep in mind, someone donated to our patreon, so they paid us to send this message. Um, I haven't heard one second of your podcast. It's a great way to start, greatly to start a message to someone. I'n't heard one second of your podcast, but I signed up for your Patreon because I feel like I need to be involved in a new metal apologist discussion. Let me be frank. New metal was the most artistically bankrupt, idiotic, cynical,

and probably toxic genre in music history. It really sucks, and this is we have a four year podcast talking about this genre. I would like to offer my assistance and expertise on an episode dedicated to metal bands that briefly became new metal. I'm thinking Slayer's Stain of Mind,

Anthrax's Inside Out, Machine Heads, the purd Red. I'll even talk about the talent load and reload, although in retrospect those seem less like a cynical catch in and more like James Hetfield's less than stellar ability to copy his newfound favorite bands. Anyway, while I will never agree with someone who concludes that Limp Biscuit was ever pretty good,

I really want to have this conversation. Thanks, and so I replied to that by saying, Unfortunately, we do think Limp Biscuit is one of the best bands ever, so I'm not sure that convo will work out. Thank you for thinking of us, though, and then he replied, um, do you understand that you are objectively incorrect? Try listening to Limp Biscuit to find out again. We have covered five Limp Biscuit album show already and the show is the literal first episode of the show is about Limp Biscuit.

And then he stopped donating to the show. And when you stopped donating on Patreon, you have the option to fill out an exit survey, and his comment on the exit survey was, I thought these guys wouldn't be morons who actually liked the two of us discuss. Oh, well, right there. Maybe he stopped contributing because he thought it might be a conflict because once you guys hired him to do the coverage that he was advertising that that

could do. Did you say this person submitted this comment like anonymously or like could you have even no, I see who it was? You out their name? They submitted under a name, and it's a fairly common like it wouldn't there would be options like it wasn't a sort of you know, I would imagine there's you're probably the only joke and like it. You know, it wasn't that type of It was common first name, common last name.

But there is an like a sort of bit part actor that has that name, and I looked at their Twitter and they do kind of tweet like that, So mind, I'm sort of hoping that that's who it is. And I'll tell you guys the name off air so you can also amazing. Oh yeah, Jody, pleasure having you. Thank you so much for listening today. Where can people find you?

Is there a work of media you've been enjoying? Um, well, not much has changed since yesterday, so I you know, I haven't made a new podcast since yesterday, so um, but people can listen to good Sport wherever you get your podcast. Als will have this Radiotopia history show this day in political History. People can check that out. And yes, since yesterday, what have I consumes? What if I? Um, actually,

you know what I'll recommend. I'll recommend this app that I really love and I do a little work with them Photosclosure. But it's called Hark and it's a like a podcast discovery app, and it solves something that I certainly have always felt, which is like feeling very overwhelmed by podcasts. And what they do is they take little snippets from a bunch of different shows and make little

playlists out of them. And so it's a great way to get a sense of a bunch of different shows, and then often I find myself saying, oh okay, I have a sense of that that's not for me, or oh wow, I can you know, find out find a new podcast. So it's it's hark uh, it's it's actually great and um they're nice people and I'm I'm into what they're up to amazing. Don't use that app to find podcasts besides this one. This is the only thing. It's just a direct link. You open the app, it

just goes daily. I feel like I do. I do really like Locked Party. I highly recommend that. I also just James Urbaniac tweeted that Ron de Santis is the same age as Jason biggs um and I'm having a hard time with that. But I do love a good blank as the same age as blank. Uh. Not that one got me. 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 and a website Daily zeitgeist dot com, where we post our episode and our footnotes, where we link off to the information that we talked about in today's episode as well as a song. Usually super producer Justin is out, Um, super producer Brian, is there a song that you think our listeners might enjoy? Yeah? Yeah, So this song is by Elle Michelle's Affair featuring Bobby Arosa.

It's called Stack a Deck and it's just what I've been hooked on for the last like two three days. It's kind of like m like a funky ballad. I guess. Definitely a love song and a lot of card game metaphors. Hey, we were talking about card games earlier, right, so yeah, is it? Is it specifically Marvel snap metaphors? Well, you'll just have to listen to finals. Yeah, I guess you will, all right. We will link off to that in the footnote.

The Daily Zeke is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That's gonna do it for us this morning, back this afternoon to tell you what's trending, and we'll talk to you all then Bye.