I'm mainly in it for the branding. I got I got Bundo dispensaries for the branding.
You don't even smoke. We I just like to collect the boxes.
A clean design on this ship. I feel like an apple. Yeah right, yeah, oh, I order off a iPad. This one this week is called Rico Suave. Okay, I remember that song? Hey, hey, I remember that song.
What are you talking about? Many two?
We named it that by accident.
Yeah, what do you mean? We call Rico Swave.
Oh, Hello the Internet, and welcome to season three point fifty eight, Episode three of the Guys Day production of iHeart Radio. We are America's only undecided podcast even after last night's VP debate.
Still who knows?
Bill? Who knows? We're actually recording this before the VP debate, folks, So our VP debate takes will be on this afternoon's Trent episode. This though, Well, this is a podcast where we take a deep dive into america share consciousness. And it is Wednesday, October second, twenty twenty four. Man October first was a load bearing.
Hawk full chop, absolute Chalcas night with Choco Holidays. Now October secondies National Smarties Day for the Camp National Walk to School Day, National Pumpkin Seed Day, National Name your Card Day, National Custodial Workers Day, National Pride Scallops Day, National Produce Not Dude, National Produce Misting.
Day, miss to the produce misters, that is. I don't know why.
That's like the most specific thing that I've always been fascinated with, like as a kid, always just wanting to touch the mist when it comes down.
But anyway, Yeah, those a your holidays produce missing is underrated. I'm always I'm always impressed by that. Yeah. Yeah, they seem to get it pretty right. Yeah, it feels like, I think, is it just presentational or does that like keep the produce frost it?
Apparently, and the it says a little bit a bit of misting history for you. Before the missing systems, grocers do away too much data product, so they would do things like wrap things in wet or soak, burlapped potato sacks of water and then lay that over the vegetables.
So they did it dry out.
Which looked like shit. Yeah.
Yeah, I'd be like, oh, bro, this fucking apple smells like an old ass potato sack.
I put the onion sat we put a wet onion sack over it. We hope you enjoy over these blueberries.
They're very delicate.
They take the smell and taste of it just mashed with onion scent. Yeah. Anyway, your voice, how's your voice? Was not detecting something? I was. I was detecting something through my ears. I feel like something. Yeah, man, I feel a little bit sick. And I just got hit with a notific cache from a kid's school that there is a confirmed case of streptoccuscus. That's what that's the full name of strepp was pronounced. It's st I might I might have that wrong, but I'm doing my best
over here. No, you got it strepto cockle pharyngitis and and or and as a nickname. Because I'm so familiar with it, I just kind of mashed those yeah, which is what I got. Anyways, I'm not doing great, miles, but thank you for asking.
I had to check in. I heard something.
I heard something. Yeah, there there is a little bit of something going on, something sitting on the old voice box. My name is Jack O'Brien aka, and I did choose to do a sung aka today despite the fact because I hadn't really spoken out loud much when I made that decision. Anyways, here goes nothing, and here's to you, Mark Robinson. No one loves you like you love to goon. Tone it down, please, Mark Robinson in heaven you can
jerk and bust all day. Please just wait, hey, hey, hey, hey, oh courtesy of Christy Yamagucci Mane, the one and only Christy Aamaguchi Main on the discord. Actually there's probably some imitator body accounts, but this is the christ the real one. Yeah, who got a shout out when somebody else made reference to Mark Robinson gooning, they were like a shout out to Christy Aamagucci man and Geort Center. So I have to assume Christy Amagucci Mane a gooning expert. That's what
That's what I'm picking up. Yeah, shout out to you, sir.
You know what Arsenal fans are called? I knows. Yeah, And is that.
Where the nickname gooning came from?
Well, that's that's why I decided to support the club, attached to my own meaning to it.
So you know, we kind of found each other.
Oh my god, what a coincidence. Your family base is called that, and I'm sitting here with my dick in my hand for eight hours in a row watching porn. Anyways, are you to be joined as always buy my co host, mister Miles Gray.
Miles Gray, the Lord of Lankersham, the no Ho God, the showgun with No Gun aka Bill Shitters because I love it days.
Okay, that's me.
Thank you for having me back Jack another season.
Hey man, touch and go.
But we're here and it's great to be back. Great to be back. Oh man. Yeah, we were talking about like the the every week when we get the notification that we've been renewed for another season, it's just celebration over. And that's why my voice sounds like that the last
season renewal party went a little hard. Anyways, Miles, we are thrilled to be joined in our third seat by a talented producer and the director of films such as the upcoming drama Cycles and his directorial debut documentary Coaching While Black, which is premiering at the International Black Film Festival this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Please welcome to the show, Alex asking Darker, Welcome.
Thank you guys, did what with the last thing? That was pretty good?
All right. I didn't even ask how to pronounce it before. Yeah, this guy, you saw my energy. You're like this guy, You're like, fuck it up? Yeah yeah, Wait, what's the the way he said caucus?
That was like, yeah, yeah, he might know how to do multiple multi syllimpic words.
May come up usually though, Yeah yeah, how bad way?
What's the worst mispronunciation of your last name?
You've been hit with?
You know, some people just miss all the hard constants they ha ha ha. School school was rough for a little, right, you know, yeah, but you got through it, made it, made it.
Yeah, Alex, we'll call you. Yeah yeah, yeah, it's your gym teacher. Yeah yeah, hey, Alexy, get over here, call you Alex e scandal. How about that?
That's a good one. Actually, all right, all right, all.
Right, yeah, so wait, you're coming to us from Canada. You're in Toronto. You know, this is an international podcast. We always love having people on from from all over the globe. But dude, the documentary Coaching While Black is
so dope. Like again, I was like, looking at the trailer, I can't wait to actually watch the full documentary, but just like this idea of a black team performing really well and how that invites added scrutiny and all these other things that eventually lead to something a little more chaotic for these players and coaches. It's like a very it feels like a story as old as time, but every time you see it, like it's always still super engaging and riveting.
Like, well, I'm.
Guessing you're a big basketball but that'd be a wild if you're like, I actually hate basketball, but.
That's what they were doing. Okay, Okay, So that was No, that makes so much more sense. That actually clears up a lot for me.
Yeah, how did you like?
How what was your like path in even getting into making a documentary like that?
Well, I played in the conference the film talks about, so I was familiar a little bit with what was
going on, and like, you guys had a podcast. Then somebody came to me and they're like, it was a dope coach, you got to bring on your podcast stories you know, this, this and this, And I started vetting the guy and I'm like I had just watched the last dance, so I was like super inspired, but you know, and I'm like, yo, I called one of my homies up and I'm like, yeah, we got to make a movie, and he's like shut the front door, bro, like what are you talking about, you know, And I'm like no, man,
Like I did the research and I'm like, this's got the story is kind of cool. And I knew nothing about filmmaking. I just knew what we wanted to tell the story, and we went we started to try to raise some money for it, raised like six figures to do it first time. For the first time with a bunch of money in my hands. I'm like, damn. And then we just said, yeah, let's make it, you know. And I knew kind of what was going on in the gyms I played in them. I had a little
bit of a frame of reference. It took me like three years to make it so and then yeah, man, and then you know, when when did the film circuit? All that stuff? Had fun with it and people liked the film. So I'm like, okay, right, that's the last dance.
I noticed how they're people like, man, they're they're recruited kids out of province like is is Ontario or I guess Toronto specifically, that popping with basketball players.
Like they got they got guys from Toronto, Like they're cheap.
Yeah, that's kind of was that was. That's kind of was the was the framing, like, oh, you're bringing all these these black kids from the inner city. You know, there's kind of like I would say, like, you know, maybe the Texas of Canada, and so they didn't like that.
They took the exception to that, and we were, you know, these kids were wopping all these other teams, Like it was just too easy, right right, a bunch of black kids on one team and you play a bunch of you know, white kids that are you know, just probably never seen a black kid up until that point, and it was just too easy. You know. They were back
back championships. And then after the second one coach got fired and then you know that's kind of where we were backtrack and go through the lived experiences of them players and see what they were, you know, what they were dealing with on the way of those chips. But yeah, it's pretty much the bulk of the story, man.
That's yeah cool man. People can check it out on Prime right now.
Yeah, it's available on Prime right now for rental, you know, and then it'll be at the festival and I think that'll be the last few festivals over the last next couple of months and then that's it.
Are you going to Nashville?
I was going to go to Nashville, but then my bag got stolen out of a jeep, the jeep whole jeep Bustle and my friends jeep Bustle and my bag was in there with my passport and my laptop, which was like a couple of weeks ago in the middle of Like, yeah, I was planning on going, but.
Man, I'm sorry. That sucks.
Yeah, I want to see Nashville. Man, I was really excited, but the film will be there without So.
Yeah, I think it was Gang Nashville's that gang pull up to us. We know you're out there.
Yeah yeah, all right, well Alex, 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 stories we're talking about. So this is weird one. Kamala Harris is underwater in Michigan, according to some internal polling from Michigan Democrat Alyssa Slotkin. Yeah, we don't know where this could be coming from. Maybe the uncommitted movement and her complete ignoring of them of said movement couldn't be but
we'll look at that. We'll look at the forty three foot tall statue of a anatomically correct nude Trump stress anatomy like it's anatomically correct. Yeah, We'll talk about Donald Trump's beach, talking about Donald Trump's beef with insects plenty more. But first, Alex, we do like to ask our guests, what is something from your search history that's revealing about who you are?
Food near me at the top of the list, you know, yeah, I get hungry. And then right after that was Jammy making food near me.
You know, wait, so you went from food to Jamaican food.
Yeah, I got a little more specific, you know, a little more Yeah. And then after that, I'm like, oh, warman near me? Okay, Well it seemed like I was really indecisive in my last few meals. But we did settle on Jamaican food. We're in Toronto, you know, make food out here, and uh, you know that I think food. You know, I love food. It's really hard to say no food. You know, that was a lot of I'm not a foodie.
Yeah, food. With that first search term, I thought for sure you were like a foodie with food near me that sound like it's just food, the vibe.
I'm really easy to please. It's not that serious.
Hungry, right, I just want to see what that search is that I'm gonna do that right now with me. Is it gonna be like grocery sellers grocery stores? Oh no, there's some little okayo. Yeah yeah, I mean they're just kind of be like my favorite restaurants near me. So they're literally near me like that. Yeah, they know they know too much. Actually I need to talk you wait too much? Yeah, for sure. So you know they're like, there's a sandwich in the refrigerator, Jack, Wait, what the right?
They're like, look in the back, dude, I think you've been ignoring it might be bad. You might need to throw it out, Like, how do you know you're starting to smell off?
Yeah, I should have never got that smart refrigerator. Homie. My Google calls me homie all the time. Alex, what is something you think is underrated?
You know, I get a lot of crap for drinking Perry of water. I think you should be underrated. You know what I'm saying. Maybe it comes off as a little bougie.
I mean, like from La you said Perry, I was about to laugh at you.
Perry, what's bro your time machine breakdown from the eighties?
Uh wait, people give you a ship for for is it for just because it's carbonated like imported spring bubbly water or just the bubbly Why don't I don't know.
Yeah, it tastes a little better than that glass, you know, like, yeah, that's true, you know what I'm saying. And then like the bubbly and all that stuff is cool, but I'm like, you know it'sposed to flack aperio water. I want the bubbles without the sugar, right, was my figure? You know what I'm saying. When it's coming up, you know, I'm just skipping out on a bee somewhere in the summer. I skipped my summer body a few summers now, so yeah, to make an effort.
Do you guys have Topo Chico up there?
No? I don't know. You know what that is.
Topo Chico is like a Mexican sparkling water in a glass bottle. But the way we talk about topo is like the carbonation. It's like trying to fucking fight you. It's so intense, like you'll take a similar.
Like that.
It's crazy.
But yeah, no, no, No, it's great. I love I mean, I love too. It's like sparkling water for people who are into hot sauces. Who are you know, attack as it goes down?
Yeah yeah, yeah, you just spike the bottle.
But it might have to be a funking water.
Look out for it, Yeah, look out for chea for it. Topo Chico, Yeah, topo cheek. What is something you think is overrated?
I think the Lakers, you know, I think every year we're like talking about the Lakers as if they have like this chance at a title. And I don't know how it is to be a Los Angeles fan, but I'm looking at them like the guys are not in a conversation, no championship. They haven't been since Yeah, yeah, you know.
The Los Angeles Lakers from the mbia. Yeah there. Actually, forget the franchise.
Maybe it's just the Lebron fans. I don't know.
Yeah, although I feel like it wasn't like this when he was in Cleveland, right, Like the ESPN was not leading off every show being like Cleveland might be in trouble.
Right well, I think cause you get to combine having the goat player with a franchise that everybody except Laker fans hates, so it all works.
I get the momentum to do that.
Look as a lifelong Laker fan, I'm hurt by that take, but I'm also one hundred percent also believe that. I'm like, every time they're like they could do something, like, we're not doing that, I'm always we're not doing shit. Okay, just leave that alone. And in a way, I feel like we're kindred spirits between raptors and Laker fans. Like we had, we had a good thing going and then we completely blew it up without properly replacing parts, and I'm like.
Are we so what are we just gonna wait another twelve years or something? So yeah, no, I agree. I agree that no one should be saying that we're at the moment in any kind of conversation given.
What we got.
But hey, and yet you're in every conversation that happens.
I think because now, especially with Bronni being there, there's all this new intrigue and I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lebron, but the Lakers is not a discovery zone. This is not a place for you to play with your child and make memories. This is a serious basketball franchise, send that young man to the G league where he will actually develop, and then let's talk.
But I'm a fan of the nepotism though I'm a fan of it.
You know, it's la you know, it wouldn't happen any other way.
Had to be the Lakers for something like that, for sure. I'm wondering, like, is Lebron the l Like if the Lakers had to be a single player throughout the history of the NBA, I'm sure Lakers fans would want themselves to be Kobe. But I feel like they're actually Lebron. Why is that because they're the second best ever, they're the second greatest, right or at least you know, the it varies depending and people love to hate both the Lakers and Lebron.
Yeah, but.
Yeah, but he isn't.
I mean, he, like Kobe was like the one who's like, no, yeah, hate me so I can like traumatize you in your own arena was his whole thing. I think with Lebron, he just hasn't played with the Lakers enough I think to be able to be like when people think of the Lakers, they think of Lebron, because I think people would think in l A people would think of magic
before Lebron. I would say, like Kobe saying he's the defining player, I'm saying, if we're doing allegories, also both and Kobe stayed in the same place their whole career, whereas the same can't be said for the Lakers.
Right, Oh, got it? Okay, interesting, Interesting, I'm just saying the Lakers are the Lebron James of the n.
B A for ESPN, Like, yeah, I mean, that's a good outrage article out of that election.
You believe O'Brien has dropped off ESPN.
Funk here, I'd be walking out of ESPN's headquarters like Reagan and during this assassination attempt. Yeah, all right, let's uh, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. And we're back. And as mentioned up top, we're recording this on Tuesday. We don't know exactly what happened to the VP debate. We don't know what happened to the VP debate at all. But we've got a presidential election
coming up. Yeah, yeah, a very close presidential election, one where every ingle swing state is going to be a tight race. Now, there's a lot of times like it'll be like Harris up three or whatever. But that's also like the margin of error too, So most people are like, it's that's close.
Everything is close. Nothing can be taken for granted.
And on election night, Kamala Harris would need to win all of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania plus no freaky upsets to get to two hundred and seventy electoral votes. Okay, if Trump wins in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, he would need to flip Michigan to get to two seventy. And so a lot of people are looking, like, you know, rightly, Democrats are looking at North Carolina because if you take North Carolina off the table for Trump, that could be
a wrap for him. And in the other direction, Republicans looking at Michigan seeing that as a flip that could be completely detrimental to Kamala Harris's aspiration. So earlier this week, Michigan Democrat Alissa Slotkin raised a lot of alarms during Like This virtual fundraiser when she said that her internal polling from her campaign showed that Kamala is quote underwater.
She said, quote I'm not feeling my best right now about where we are and Kamala Harris in a place like Michigan, we have her underwater in our polling.
Now a place like Michigan. She didn't say Michigan specifically. We're we got to keep it very Vagueeah, yeah, because you don't want to be putting smoke out there for the Michigan right now.
This could be this there's two possibilities here. It could be that, like the polling is pretty similar, she might not be underwater, and this could be like a fundraising tactic to get donors to kick in more, because the I am the underdog, help me tactic is pretty common in politics. I think anyone who's ever received a fundraising email, you'll you've seen some language.
It's like, we're getting fucking kicked. The dark shit is getting kicked out of us.
We got jack, yeah, welp jack all caps. We're fucked Yeah, thanks asshole. You got five bud no, yeah, yeah, let
me hold thirty bucks please. Now that's one version. But this could also be a sign that Harris's unwillingness to break from Biden on arming and turning a blind eye to Israel's actions are manifesting in lower support than previous cycles, and the primary showed that the uncommitted movement had over seven hundred and fifty thousand voters across the country, one hundred thousand of them in Michigan specifically.
Now, when you look at the.
Margin in the primary, like, these are the likeliest of likely voters. They voted in the fucking primary, and.
Let it be known that we are uncommitted as a message to be like, we're not saying we're turning our back on y'all, but you need to under you need to hear us as a voting block that you count on to win elections. Right, So the margin of victory in Michigan in twenty twenty was one hundred and fifty four thousand votes. Okay, one hundred thousand of these uncommitted voters are in Michigan. Okay, so in twenty but Biden again, the missions. That's what's so wild about the messaging this cycle.
Like in twenty twenty, you saw how it was much more being like, hey, like immigrants and people who come to America become citizens, they are Americans too, and we respect you. Because this was the time of putting kids in cages or the Muslim band and things like that, and the message there was like we see you, we embrace you, we don't want it. We're not trying to do what Trump is trying to do to you. And this year it seems like total silence in terms of
again hearing out a key group of voters. You know, Harris like wouldn't even meet with the organizers from the uncomitted movement. And that's a huge that could be a huge rake to step on and a self inflicted l for this very very consequential election. And like when you look at the polling, many Americans are against the occupation, an ongoing siege and arming the IDF. But for Arab Americans,
this this election presents a very complex moral dilemma. There's a few like a lot of journalists have been speaking to people in Michigan and there's like this one I think quote really sums up kind of what people are feeling in Michigan. This is from doctor Masa Hyder Baboon and she is a she owns a chain of pharmacies and like like in in Michigan, lifelong Democrat.
She said, quote, we are good Americans, We are good tax paying, law abiding citizens, but our money is being funneled overseas and killing people that are actually physically related to us, and to not hear these kinds of concerns and you know, present some kind of like, you know, the air of leadership that you hear what people are asking of you, I think could be a huge, huge setback.
But again, if you look at a lot of the polling that the that's made available publicly, you know, she could be up anywhere between two to three and a half points or something like that, but still very very close.
And I think for you know, you'd imagine that a political campaign that is looking at all these fine numbers and margins would see this and be like, is this like are we ready to say something about this or are we just going to try and bury our heads and hope that people will hold their noses and just vote because of you know, the possibility of tromp. So it's so, yeah, it's a very very delicate situation that I'm not I'm not quite sure what where this is
going to move. But I mean, based on the comments even this week, it doesn't seem like Harris is quite ready to change anything up if at all.
Yeah, it's more unpopular. I mentioned this yesterday, but just to reiterate, like, it's more unpopular with Americans than the Vietnam War in nineteen sixty eight when that war lost Democrats the election, and Biden's actions in relation to that are the lowest rated things like it when it comes to like how all of this stuff is poland and right, they just refuse to distance themselves from Yeah, yeah, so that's not great. Well, Meanwhile, on the other side.
We wild transition to us next story. I'm sorry listeners, do you know how the show moves? You know just what we do. This is what's in the zeitgeist. So we're gonna have to go from the Michigan Democratic you know outlook to forty three foot naked Trump anatomically correct nude Trump.
Yes. Yeah, did they like scan him or this is just like based on best guessing.
I think they.
I think they told Donald Trump he was gonna be in the New two K, so he had to come in for a body scan, and then they used that data to then create this forty three foot tall monstrosity. I think so. A group of anonymous artists recently erected a forty three foot tall statue depicting again an anatomically correct nude Donald Trump. And it was installed on the fifteen, which is the interstate that you take, like if you're driving from La to Vegas, Like, I mean, that's how
most Azelinos know it. That's how you get to Las Vegas, just outside of Las Vegas. And the intent of the nudity, according to the artist, was quote intentional, serving as a bold statement on transparency, vulnerability, and the public personas of public of political figures, well Republicans and conservatives. They freaked
out online. The Nevada Republican Party put out a statement that said, quote, while families drive through Las Vegas, they are forced to view this offensive marionette designed intentionally for shock value rather than meaningful dialogue. Another person on Twitter, who's like our right wing influencer said, quote.
All caps political violence.
Nevada Democrats have hung a forty three foot tall, six thousand pounds naked President Trump in effigy near Las Vegas on Interstate fifteen. The display costs five hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It is designed to incite violence against and on behalf.
Of the former president. Is what this is supposed to do? What the fuck does that mean? So? Incite violence on I get against yeah, and on behalf people are gonna see it and be like that is a lawyer and like people if.
It's on behalf, it's there so offended that like I'm gonna have to turn up on a bunch of people now because you guys made fun of our guy.
But also the other part is I'm like a doll with fungi.
Fallis is not meant to be like the bat signal to like activate a bunch of Manchurian candidates for some like dark day of violence. But it is wild again, Like we always talk about how like laughter and ridicule is truly like the most like potent weapon against like authoritarian types.
And yeah, and Donald Trump, like yeah, just reading and seeing like what he says on a daily basis, like being made fun of is the most humiliating thing that he can imagine. Yeah, satire quite opposer. And that's the worst thing.
That little thing thing between the guy's legs, that's us And they're making fun of us.
That's what they're trying to say about us. That's not true.
That's the violence they're talking about right there.
Right right, Yeah, It's it's truly like the attack on the like physical masculinity part, that this is a bridge too far. Forget the stuff we say about immigrants or any whatever people, we dehumanize the fact that you did this. No, no, no, we can't stand by this. And apparently this statue is like doing a whole tour. So look out for dates near you where you can watch people scream at this this statue.
And cry days on my website.
Yeah, come through it.
Yeah, I mean, this is not the first time that we've seen a nude Trump as. Yeah, much as I may enjoy looking at the nude form of Donald Trump, I feel like a lot of other people might not enjoy it based on some of these reactions, But I it taps into I mean, there's like the Old Emperor's New Clothes folk tale about the vein emperor who like gets exposed walking around naked in front of his constituents.
But I think it's also like the way that they depict him, the way they depict Donald Trump right in the NFTs, in the AI art that they put out of him. He looks like, you know, a Hemsworth, like a long lost Hemsworth brother, Like he's just like shredded up and so I mean, showing something that is actually realistic depicture of what he must look like based on how those clothes sit on him, probably is doing a public service to two people. And also like what we've
heard from sexual partners. But yeah, so I don't know. I think I allow it. Miles.
That's where I I feel like, in a way, you probably still would have upset them even if you were like Tidy Whitey's you know what I mean, because I think to your point, right, it's all about projecting this like powerful masculine figure that's like ready for action, like and you know, like you said, looking like a Marvel comic book character. So even if you just saw like some regular astitude in his underwear, they'd be like, oh fuck, man, don't make it real. But yeah, we'll see, well you
see me, Yeah we'll see again. I think that like they really are taking this place around the country. I don't know if this is like for the election or maybe just generally speaking, but yeah, that is that is that's that's the point of this is going to be a tour at some point. So and again, like you said, not the first time, like there were like new NW Trump statues like in New York In LA and San Francisco a few years ago.
There's this always seems to.
Be a like you say, just just just low hanging fruit to create outrage on the right.
This would be a dope thing, like to a dope way to one up your neighbors with the twelve foot tall skeleton for Halloween. Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, brought to you by this ship is three and a half times taller.
Yeah, that would but you just you do need a crane to to fully hoist it up. But hey, maybe we will see this on Michael's or one of those websites for art and crafts.
And the fact that it's six thousand pounds is pretty wild, Like that's.
Really like a weight.
Yeah, the wind it is impressive. I don't know, I did, like I did assume this was going to be inflatable in some way, like I did. They built this out of like it's original. Yeah, it's rigid. It's a rigid structure. Does not look overly durable. But yeah, and then five hundred and fifty thousand dollars is a lot.
Yeah, but hey, but I love again that like that sort of that the way that take is sort of constructed to be like, first of all, it's like a waste of money or something. It's like it cost five hundred dollars and it's like gonna make people violent.
Yeah again, first of all, what do you think of the economy?
Yeah, exactly what you think? What you think of the children? Families are driving through are can It is a you know, credibly accused sexual predator, but think think of.
The families too. At the same time, both things can be true. All right, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. And we're back and all right. So it's been it's been a real roller coaster ride in terms of my relationship to insects on this podcast. Now I think I'm so Last week I was pro I said insects underrated, very entertaining, fascinating, amazing to look at.
Then on Monday's episode, I was thought they were overrated because we've had a mosquito just absolutely lighting up my family in a way that I can't I can't countenance. I will not allow it. I did catch one the other day though, So maybe France there are weak flyers fans my tip to you, and we've got another person who is less on the border about his take on insects,
and that is, of course, the aforementioned Donald Trump. So it was recently announced that the government is considering a proposal that would list the Bethany Beach firefly among the Endangered Species Act. The firefly is just the latest insect to face extinction because we're currently living through what is being called a bug apocalypse because of a bunch of things. I don't know. I don't know if we've covered this before. There's something happening called climate change in the world, and
that is leading to insect populations. Global insect populations declining at an unprecedented rate of up to two percent per year.
And I mean, I think for the first time we heard was like all the reduction in biomass too, was like the first thing. We're like, oh no, they're like just generally things are dying. And I hear this so much too about the firefly. Like anecdotally, I feel like on Twitter, so many people are like, have you noticed there's not as many fireflies anymore, Like in certain parts
of the country. A lot of people are saying that, Like when I was a kid, they used to be everywhere, and now like I'd like, really look for them to show my kids. So I'm like, yes, this tracks with anecdotally what I see on Twitter and just generally when I hear from people.
But yeah, that's not a good sign.
I just assumed that there weren't fireflies in Los Angeles, but you.
Know there aren't. No, I'm not saying that people in LA were, but like people in the East Coast and like other places where there are are, Like, yo, where are the fireflies? What is going on?
So generally this is bad for the health of our planet because insects are a critical part of our ecosystem. They're food for animals and fish obviously critical to pollination, and with fewer insects, we'll just have less food for animals because far Also we'll have less food for ourselves
because farmers rely on them to pollinate crops. And yeah, so lots of causes urban areas, pollution, artificial light, but the big one is climate change because of ocean rise and depleting, drying out parts of the planet that used to be chronically wet is leading to just not as much natural habitat for them, and according to one biologist, without insects, our world will slowly grind to a halt where it cannot function without them, which sounds bad. I think, Yeah, no,
that's not good. So, which is all to say, this is yet another problem that is going to be even
worse if Donald Trump gets re elected. In the final days of his presidency, he upended the rules for the Endangered Speed Act and actually made it harder to protect wildlife from threats of human development and global warming by like, one of the changes allowed for the use of economic analyzes when weighing whether or not a species should be listed under the Endangerous Species Act instead of like science.
They were like, yeah, but how much is that condo projected to make when it goes up on top of that mangrove forest?
Yeah, it's also like I mean the trust he I don't know why bugs are always around this dude. Maybe because he's like rotting from the inside. I guess that is a sign of decomposition on some level.
Yeah, like covered in he's like mostly hairspray at the Yeah. Like there was then that like Mike Pence thing when he just had a fly.
Was that during I think was that the vice presidential debate when the fly was just like and I live here now? On your head and you will talk and nobody cares because they're all looking at a fly on your head and that it is what it is.
I'm getting my mic Pence moments mixed up because I thought it was during the Trump Nancy Pelosi meeting. No, I think that was the one where he tried to teleport out of his body. Yeah, and that was was the VP debate. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So then like recently Trump again had like another weird thing with a fly. But I like, based on your like his past history in terms of being like I don't like the Department of Interior or endangered species or living things generally, this clip I think kind of tracks with just how he's saying I will end all bug problems.
Remember there's a hat that's made that sounds like crazy fly fly. Oh, I wonder where the fly came from. See two years ago, I wouldn't have had a fly up here. No, you're changing rapidly, but we can't take it any longer.
Okay, So first of all, I want it.
I'm so interested to hear what what hat he was gonna talk about there? But yeah, they say there's a hat for sale, they say.
There's a hat for that hair green.
I don't like see two years ago, I wouldn't have had a fly up here. These are the are these that came from where? You have to look at what this man is saying and being like, is he okay? He said to what happened two years ago that you wouldn't have had you were in less of a dire state of decomposition, so you weren't attracting flies. And then but they're changing rapidly, we can't take it any longer. That's like the kind of language he uses, like with immigration.
Immigration related. I think he's saying immigrants are bringing flies.
I don't know states, I need the whole. The whole used to have flies. He wouldn't say that based on what he's saying. He's like, yeah, they wouldn't. They weren't flies.
There were no.
Bugs before people came in here on the border. So two years ago that wouldn't have happened.
But now I'm like, two years ago, I don't even you're you weren't president two years ago. But hey, the the the I guess the insect nemesis continues to present a threat to him. But then, like on the Today Show when they played that clip. They were like, oh, that's charming.
Yeah, I mean that was a so that was an old one the Today Show played in that first running for president. So, but just before we get there, I mean, obviously he is anti science, pro condo development. You know, he just wants everything to be coded in a fine layer of condos and you know, fuck any insects. That that right, Alex is Uh, the backdrop is the most Toronto landscape.
Most condos.
What's the bug situation? How many bugs you got though?
Yeah, you know what, it's flies And I don't think it would have been here two years ago.
Yeah, damn condos. So reports suggest that if Trump got into office again, he'll once again fuck with the Department of the Interior, presumably just institute the same terrible policies he had before. But also it just seems like he hates insects. He when he first got into office, he undid an Obama era ban on bee killing pesticides in twenty nineteen, which one environmental group called nothing short of reckless.
And he did that just two weeks after his Department of Agriculture decided to stop tracking the health of bees, like at a time when people were really worried about like honeybee population collapse around the globe, and he was just.
Like I don't like it.
To fuck that.
Yeah, I think because back then his whole sort of way of deciding policy was like, well what did Obama do?
I'm against it?
Yeah, like this is these are for like bees, dude, like we fucking need It's like, I'm against it, all right, against bees? Okay, you're against as a place against Are you against Queen Air?
Yeah, I'm against that too. If Obama what was for it? I don't care. I don't care. Yeah. The bike God Jesus christis is like.
Every single thing he's he has lost his grip on reality and now he's like, I don't know, maybe day one shifts his entire focus on the insects that he dislikes.
Yeah, he does seem to frequently just get distracted by insects that are around him when he's on the prompt, when he's like up on stage, and just start swatting at them in a way that suggests that he's never encountered the insects before, Like he doesn't know how to swat at an insect. He he does like a weird
conductor thing with his hands. Well, well, look, I think when you're that rich and you've probably never been outside growing up like you were, like, oh bugs, they're usually not here on the eighty fifth floor where I live.
Yeah.
Anyways, so yet another reason probably bad for the future of humanity if he gets gets back into the White House Jesus Christ. All right, Alex, what a pleasure having you on the daily Zeitgeist today? Where can people find you? Follow you all that good stuff?
Yeah, man, I'm always a flex on TikTok and Instagram and then Alex HQ on Twitter and then you know, Coachman Black available on Prime on Video for the Americans. It's not available in Canada yet unfortunately, but yeah, I'm around in the US really really soon. But thank you guys for having me. It's been fun. And uh protective flies.
Yeah, protect the fly. Thank you. Is there a work of media that you've been enjoying.
Yeah, I'm watching the mister McMahon doc. I'm loving that. It's uh insightful mister McMahon on Netflix.
Yeah, that's the Vince mcmahn one.
Yeah, Yeah, that one incredible.
Yeah, it feels like it's probably heroing to watch based on anecdotally what I've read on the side, but yeah, it like sounds like a wild, wild one.
Yeah, especially for I mean I was I was such a wrestling fan growing up.
To me too to know what's going on behind the scenes.
Is yeah, super dark.
Absolutely, Thank you guys for having men.
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Miles, where can people find you? Is there a working media you've been enjoying?
Yeah, find me on Twitter and Instagram at Miles of Gray, Jack and I airreing the basketball podcast Miles and Jack got mad boosties. We're talking NBA. You can find me talking ninety day Fiance on four to twenty Day Fiance. A tweet I like is from at Cheesy Underscore Tea. She tweeted, Kith is foobu for white people. That's like a streetwear thing that just hit me direct in my heart.
But shout out Kith amazing.
You can find me on Twitter at Jack Underscore. O'Brien a tweet I've been enjoying Thomas White at Leno Killer with the Obi and the Zero tweeted, hey man, just wanted to reach out and say I loved how much you drank at my wedding last night. And then I also enjoyed Boots with the fur at Afraid of Wasps tweeted, I love agreeing to sit in the exit road, knowing full well at the slightest sign of an emergency, I will bite into my Cyanide muller and kill myself immediately.
You can find us on Twitter at Daily Zeichgeist. We're at the Daily Zeitgeist on Instagram. We have a Facebook fan page and a website Daily Zeikeeist dot com where we post our episodes and our footnotes where we went off to the information that we talked about in today's episode, as well as the song that we think you might enjoy. Miles, what song do you think people might enjoy today?
There's a let's go out on a track by Sudan Archives La Artists. She's super talented, like avant garde violinist, but you know her music has evolved and this was like from one of her recent albums. This track is called Selfish Soul and it just has just a really really dope track with her vocals and like the violin loops that she uses that she's playing.
So check this one out.
Sudan Archives Selfish Soul. All right, we will link off to that in the footnotes. The Daily Zeitgeist does a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio ap Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. That is going to do it for us this morning, back this afternoon to tell you what is trending and we will talk to you all then. Bye bye Ges