Hello the Internet, and welcome to this episode of the Weekly Zeitgeist. These are some of our favorite segments from this week, all edited together into one NonStop infotainment laugh stravaganza. Yeah, so, without further ado, here is the Weekly Zeitgeist. Well, Miles, you're thrilled to be joined in our third seat by a brilliantly talented filmmaker writer. She was one of the head writers for the Problem with John Stewart and wrote on Girls five, Have a Blessed, This Mess, The Opposition
with Jordan Klepper, among many others. She wrote, directed, and starred in the acclaimed short film Basic hosts the podcast Celebrity book Club.
It's Chelsea Davanta.
Oh hive intro like shouting my name into a cave, you know, seeing what echoes.
Back to a cave full of the entire Internet. So that's right, the whole damn Internet is here to welcome you on the zeit Geist.
I'm feeling very blessed to be back here and continue some very important discussions.
Yes always Yeah, So this is this is our Tuesday episode where we kind of take a look at one specific topic that we think kind of undergirds the whole zeitgeist. There's important to understanding the zeitgeist.
Yeah, the undergirds are what I use instead of spanks, So yeah, very.
They were the yeah, free date spanks, that's right, what's my undergirds?
Yeah, but yeah, I mean, so we wanted to have you on. You had one of our favorite observations in the history of the show when you you basically said that you knew Trump was going to win the twenty sixteen election based off of watching The Bachelor, and then you explained why, and it made perfect sense and looking at pop culture tea leaves and like reading what it acted, like what is actually being said about what's happening to people on the inside, what has gone on with our
shared dreams is one of my favorite subjects. You are really good at it. We love to do it on the Zeitgeist, and so we wanted to have you on to do just that, and we'll get into what specifically we're talking or actually we can do that now. I mean we throughout stan culture being the new religion. We've talked about that before, but this one subject keeps popping up on social media. Popped up over the weekend after we had selected this subject, and that is kind of
like the desexualization of pop culture. Movie movie sex scenes in particular seem to be like a particular thing that is that people are objecting to lately and are like.
Why do these exist?
When I watch in eighties movie, why does Dan Aykroyd get a blood job from a ghost? For instance? And that one's actually a really good question. But anyways, there's all sorts of things we've talked about before. The idea that like de sexualized beautiful bodies is like actually a feature of fascist art, and so we've puzzled over whether
that's what we're seeing here. But there's lots of As this has become more and more of a mainstream thing that we're seeing on social media, there's lots of explanations, and we thought you were the best person to have to have on the show to talk about this.
I'm thrilled to be here to talk about like very hot sexy bodies not having sex. No, but I was so fascinated you guys chose this because it's also something I've been thinking about a lot also just as like a side topic and where I'm coming from, I was,
you know, the writers are on strike, right now. But before we were on strike, I was pitching a show and one of the demographics it was going out to it was gonna be like part for Millennials, part for gen Z. Sort of this basically like late twenties early thirties audience that people seem to think millennials and gen
Z are just like so so so different. So when you're pitching for like that late twenties early thirties, executives start referencing studies like the ones we're going to talk about, like gen Z actually isn't having in sex anymore, so like like can one of these characters just like not have a partner of any kind and they just of like live in a hole and they stare at a wall because that's.
What we assume gen Z is doing.
And it was so frustrating because every time I looked around, be it from people in my.
Real life, the youth of the real life.
TikTok, social media, really anything, I just kept feeling like that is not true at all. Even in gen Z reality shows, like they are getting engaged, they are getting married, they're talking about dating, kind of like the thing way You've always had this feeling of like, you know, I want to be having good sex, but I'm not.
I don't know if that's something particular to me.
And my friends, but like I remember in my early twenties, it was like, yeah, we would like to be having sex, but no one's having sex, like sex in the city. Like that just feels like the twenties thing, unless, of course, you know, I'm sure some people were. But anyways, all to say that, like, I really think about these studies that are being referenced, like gen Z is like this, and dah dah da is like this, and all I
keep thinking about is like who's doing these studies? And maybe gen Z is just not participating.
Yeah, right, don't you know what?
We're actually not going to answer the polls about like what we've been fucking lately. We're just not because I just don't think they're correct. But I would love to hear what you guys think.
It's like the political polls that are like, man, these elderly people certainly over index. They seem like they're doing great, and it's like, well, how did you conduct this? Calling landlines exactly exactly.
It's like, oh, I guess we didn't predict the election correctly off of thee hundred landlines and then the I mean, how weird do you have to be to pick up the phone these days? Who is answering the phone? We're trusting them with our polling data. The people who answer an unknown number, I don't trust them.
We actually asked a bunch of gen Z people's grandparents about their sexual behavior, and this is what they told us.
This is what they told us. Yeah, I just I think so anyways, I do.
But what I do think is a really interesting discussion with this fascism thing is. And the thing that I've been feeling is that I'll say, as a millennial to the gen zs is perhaps lacking nuance discourse nuance, which I don't know how. I mean, how close do you think lack of nuance and understanding nuance is to turning fascist?
Right, you know, on the nuance.
To fascist spectrum. I do think we're somewhat close. But I don't think it's fascism. I think it's nuance.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's probably true.
Mort We do like to ask our guest, what is something from your search history?
I like to pick the I tried to pick the most boring one. Uh good, good, I feel like that makes a good good podcast. And last night I searched how do I cook potatoes? O?
Okay, yeah, my love this.
Yeah.
My wife made a really good curry. Although she and look this, I love spicy. I actually really do like spicy shit, but like by any measure, it was way too spicy, just like nose flooding kind of spicy, you know. So I had to go. I was like, we can't waste all this curry she made so much. So I went to the store and got potatoes, corn, and onions, and I was like, I'm going to thicken up this curry. I'm gonna I'm gonna cut the curry with various vegetab steps.
You need this curry to be stepped on exactly bingos. So then and then I just yeah. So then I ended up boiling the potatoes for twenty five minutes and yep, and it was great, Honestly. A little bit of salt and then a little bit of salt in the onions, cook the onions in a separate pan, and you ended up really, uh making a solid curry.
I'm gonna say this listen, as a potato lover, I wouldn't trust anybody who's who don't like potatoes?
You know everybody can eat them, Vecans can eat them.
Everybody can eat a potato, right, And there's a in the sit choose your own adventure with the potato, like, what is what would you see? What would you say your top three potato is?
I mean, look, potatoes are French fries. Potatoes are potato chips. Potatoes are you know the like a sad little cousin of the baked potato? Yeah, dude, I love a hash brown. I'll do a hash bro any day.
I love it.
I'll do a night hash brown. You know, I don't know why we're sing for brunch a night.
Yeah, a night hash brown. Yeah, night hash.
Brown is great, so good.
I'll do scrambled eggs with like veggies on top and hash browns on top.
It's this whole.
It's a hash.
It's a mixed up hash.
Are we talking are we talking redded hash or we're talking hash round patties?
Beautiful question, Thank you chichies.
I would do. I'm gonna go shredded just because they're a little good. You know what else I love is like the little shoe string potatoes.
I like a thin a thin.
Potato so you can get a lot of the crust on the potato. I feel like hash brown is like that. We have lots of potato options for dinner and lunch that are all good. You know, the chip, you you ran through a bunch of them, the chip, the French fry, mashed potatoes, I even love.
I love your mash.
Yeah, breakfast potatoes, though, I feel like hash Browns are so far out in front of the home style potatoes. I do not like homestyle potatoes either. Keep those in your home.
You see coming home. They're so easy to fuck up.
That's the thing, yes, Because like the thing about the thing about a breakfast potato in any variety, whether it's patty, hash Brown patty or shredded hash even breakfast is the seasoning, Like that's what's gonna.
That's what's gonna.
And like the thing about shredded is is shraded so thinly that the seasoning really soaks in really well. And when they're diced or home style, they're just cubes of potatoes.
So the season to be following, you gotta make them soft.
And if you don't, you make them too hard, then that season and not gonna hit the homestyle potato is my my least favorite of the breakfast potato.
And they're they're leaning so hard on rosemary. They're acting like Rosemairy is.
Gonna be just found out about it.
Yeah, it's not that great. No, it's like, yeah, it tastes. Yeah, it's like a it's like a subtle it's like slightly better tasting, like pencil shavings or something, you know.
What I mean.
It's just weird. It stastes weird.
Yeah. Texture is a problem. Yeah.
The roseberry is like a suggestion of it. It's like a whisper of a seasoning.
It's a garnish almost. Yeah, like oh the little the little spike things.
Oh yeah, yeah, it smells great, smells like it's gonna be the last.
Yeah, but you.
Shouldn't have to eat it. It's like pine needles take weird air. Yeah.
Yeah.
By the way, potatoes, O'Brien, my aka is not a good potatoes dish.
I don't think I've.
Ever fully come out and said that, but uh, it's like green peppers and red peppers and maybe some toomatoes thrown in and like with some home fries, and it's just not not the thing that I'm looking for from potatoes.
Yeah, that's fair.
It's all about the crisp. It's exactly like you were saying about the hash browns. What you need the surface area to be much larger than the interior area.
Yes, yeah, yeah, give me a nice crust.
Underrated potato, underrated potato, cheesy scalloped underrated.
Yeah, you don't get it too often, but every time I do, I'm like, shit, hits.
Well, here's what's interesting is most so like most cheese dishes are just cheese delivery systems, right, like your mac cheeses, you know what I'm saying. But the cheesy scallops or your potatoes, those are both potatoes which are amazing, and cheese, which is great. So you can't really go wrong.
Beautiful real cast role if if you're if, I'm gonna go cast role. I don't mind the two predominant ingredients being cheese and potatoes.
That's beautiful day.
This is now a pretty passable food podcast. We just changed it is.
Yes, it's whatever. It's whatever you want it to be. Alison, what is something that you think is overrated?
I'm having a tough time deciding between two things. One is the summer. I really don't care for it, like start to finish, don't mind.
Probably our most common answer to overrated.
And then the second then okay, you the duplas brothers any actually elga expand it.
Any brother related team inter.
Always overrated, always more than you need. For some reason, people around the world love to see brothers doing things together. I guess that's cute form or something, but not me. I don't care for it.
There's a whole other team twinsest thing with brothers that happens.
About that. Wait, wait, I have a brother. What am I doing wrong?
She just said that people love to see brothers.
Doing things and.
No, no, no, I was just bringing up that, like there's a there's a pornographic contingent to the phenomenon, aw speaking of. I was just giving further supporting evidence. I thought I was being helpful.
I think it's an interesting theory that the Coen Brothers are the result of everybody being like, what if those two brothers had sex with each other? Like the deep down, that's really what everyone's interested in.
I don't know.
I think I just think it's so fun that these brothers like want to work together brothers.
Yeah, I don't know people up.
Yeah, but uh.
I also recently realized that Joel Cohen was one of the writers of Toy Story, as was Josh Whedon, and I just thought, wow, that was before.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, Joseph Whedon. Yes, yes, they're.
Like writers of toys.
No, there's four there's wow.
But for like an animated movie, you know, that's that's not that anything.
Coin went out on his own and directed Garfield.
Yeah, yes, okay, but in a group of brothers, like when there's four or five brothers, you know, there's never more than two talented one. It's just like a gang mentality. You just see so many people coming. You're like, whoa, look at all this talent. But it's still just the one or two guys. It's still only Alec Baldwin and maybe a little Daniel Baldwin.
It's still saddled with a lot of brothers out there.
Yeah, the Hughes brothers, the who made menace to society and then like immediately or and then they made dead presidents and then split up. Yeah, there there's a lot of There is just something that people are like, God, it would be so fun if these brothers like kept doing stuff together.
Yeah, people are said, there's new brothers. I didn't see the movie, but that it's not called Talk to the Hand, but whatever that movie's called. Those has Australian brothers behind it.
Yes, and people really like that one.
I couldn't tell.
You could tell from the trailer the brothers had made it. Yeah, they listed their Okay, I thought you meant like you saw the first frames and you're like, wait a second and get no.
Probably brothers.
They're rarely sexy.
Rarely are the brothers sexy.
They're more often sexy, all right, but they don't.
They don't work together that much, those brothers, right, they happen to be brothers that both. I don't have a problem with that, Like if your brother is also out there, I don't. I don't enjoy the brothers that that have this, that work together as a team. I think I find that to be overrated.
Yeah, what's the question.
What about if they have different names like Estevez and Sheen? Can they work together?
I don't. I'm sure America wants them to.
And then yea beach Boys are not a fan. We don't like the beach Boys. Fuck the Beach Boys, right, we can all agree on that.
I like Brian Wilson, but I don't know if Brother seems to be a bit of a pill.
Yeah, Alyssa, what is something you think is overrated?
Well, I'm not going to say New York No, you just all clearly are big fans. I think showering. For me, showering, it just feels very like punitive. It feels kind of like a there's no dignity in it, you know, it feels like a punishment.
Cold, you know what I mean.
Yeah, I don't enjoy it. It's so boring. I mean it's it's mind numbing. That's a huge thing. It really like rips you out of your routine.
You know.
It's it's hard to have a fluid thought, you know, coming from like the desk into the shower and back out. I mean it's just like this like assault of the senses.
And I got a lot of fluid thoughts, like get this fluid off of them, right, Yeah, I feel like showering there's too many thoughts. Like I don't know, you're like kind of alone with your thoughts, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.
But like I and you're also like, oh right, this is my body, right.
Yeah, it's like a hard it's a moment, it's a time for a hard truth.
Yeah, it's a.
Very corporeal experience. Yeah, it's like you're watching things like go down and drain, you know, like things like suddenly a metaphor truly.
Yeah, it's also one of the last places you can't use your phone, and so that you know, that really irks me.
It's like that.
I think showering and getting your haircut the only two places now you can't use your phone.
You can't use your phone when you get your haircut. Do you use your phone? Do you like scroll through your phone when you're getting a haircut?
I just hire someone to hold it in front of my face for me and scroll.
Let's scroll.
Yes, it reads my eyes. Yeah, no, it's through, I guess. But if it's not rude, I'm doing it. I'm starting in.
No.
No, I definitely don't unless like somebody like there's something happening, like I'm getting messages or something. Otherwise, Yes, I find it rude, Like I am such a people pleaser that I like getting my hair cut as an intensely uncomfortable experience for me because I'm just like, oh.
God, what do I say, what do I do? What do I like?
And yeah, I just like want whoever's cutting my hair to like me for some reason. It's a bad scene. It's bad scene in there.
What is uh? What's something you think is overrated?
Overrated?
All right?
This was a little tough for me. But I recently do some miracle of financing, purchased a cabin okay, and I had a home inspection done and I thought, Okay, great, that's gonna that's gonna cover me for everything. And it turned out there were several things that he missed.
Uh.
And so I'm gonna say.
Home inspectors are overrated, or at least the one that I was assigned.
Was assigned by the by somebody who had a well okay, Tristan the sale going through.
Okay, maybe I fell for it. I've never I've never gone through the home buying process before.
Uh.
And this was someone that was that was recommended by our by our real estate agent who allegedly is there to advocate for us, but at the same time she also wants the sale to go through. Yeah, So anyone who's out there looking at a home, maybe get your own home inspector and uh yeah, just like uh, for instance, our the very first day after we closed the refrigerator, I noticed what was not working. Uh, And I looked in the home inspector report, and the inspector noted there
is a refrigerator. That was the extent of his inspection. Like he hadn't bothered to like open open it and touch a can.
Man, this is great. Look at that.
You got refrigerator.
Over there, got outlets to plug stuff in.
Okay, Okay, he didn't.
The outlets, so at least we know that's not the problem with the refrigerator.
Yeah, yeah, right.
And then and then uh uh there's a small deck that's off the back. And then when we wanted to get it tightened up and fixed up, and so the deck guy came and said, oh, they built out on top of the old balcony. And then look at that. You can see the old balcony joist. And then they just wedged the supports in under that, which again would have been nice to know, Freman inspector before we purchase the home.
Yeah, it looks like this part is made out of crackers.
Yeah, you know, here case, but I mean to be fair, this Captain was built in like the nineteen sixties.
There's there's definitely a lot of you know.
There's only a lot of love in there, but there's also was a lot of there's a lot of well that'll work for now. It's got a lot of Southern influences, let's say, in terms of the repairs were done.
Of not a lot of like overthinking of anything.
Yeah, like, I love the idea.
You had to get the deck tightened up, because yes, I never like a loosely assembled deck was.
Look he did, he did point out the railing needs to be tightened. That's fair enough. I'm going to tighten the railing and again disclosed that's all I asked for. And again, this is a total privileged thing. You know, not everybody can get a half. I've never been in this position. But at the same time, yeah, it would
be nice to know literally what you're buying. So I don't know, I don't know at what point the real estate agent and the inspector and everyone else got got together to have a good laugh at our expense.
But I hope they enjoyed their I hope they enjoyed their drinks.
I mean, I don't think you have zero recourse if you do feel that like you were, like, you know, at least got a terrible home inspection. I'm sure at some point you can like at least complain, so like, yeah, I.
Just I mean, we can't.
I can definitely let the let the real estate agent know, Hey, I think this guy missed some stuff in case, you know, you're going to recommend him to somebody.
He's like, wait, who's this? I don't know, Sorry, this is like a phone.
I don't know right now, I gotta go.
Yeah, kind, at least a new deck. You can't at least put a dead rat on his windshield. Yeah, the home inspector.
Thinking, which the chimney guy. I'll give this guy credit the chimney I found a dead bat in the which was not great, but better than a live bat.
Yeah.
Yeah, trying to look on the bright side.
So hospitable to bats was exactly mornings.
Ceased to exist when entering this fireplace.
My aunt and uncle just sold their house, and my uncle was telling me this thing he learned during the process that real estate agents, compared to the people they represent, are just people who aren't real estate agents. Their homes stay on the market for like six months longer on average than everyone else, like because they know that like a viral'll come along, they're not in a panic. But when they're representing you to jump on this, I don't
know if anything else is coming through. Ye, so, and presumably the home inspectors who they know are just gonna give it a nice little once over, and the ones who are going to like go in and like really inspect the ship. And then you know that probably.
You got to cuss the cans. I mean, guys, come on, yeah, I got to touch the cans.
That's right then, because part of me singing like if a real estate aate like they want to get the price down for you, so their inspector should be going in and like that this is fucked up.
This fucked up. Tighten that up. No, I mean they don't want to get the price down.
There the price up.
But I mean this is I don't know.
I guess this is me being like, when are they advocating for the customer?
I know, shoupendent, they tell you about the property, that's why they're advocating. And to be fair, we did we did sign something with both with the inspector and the real estate agents saying that you know so I'm sure you know, as far as recourse or whatever, you know, I'm sure it's all it's all legally and all that.
And then he wants to go to quarter get.
At Yeah, I might remind you to look at paragraph four. Okay, it just says.
Nana, Nana, Nana exactly.
Yeah, refer to the.
Two of you with your legs kicked up smoking cigars.
Yeah, that's so weird sharing it.
I'm going to try to fix the refrigerator myself. I have qualified myself by watching a YouTube video. Yeah, and uh, ordering a repair kit and then I will call a professional.
Yeah yeah, okay, well, like's get a new one.
The things that I can fix in a household include toilet and that's it.
Yeah, that's about it.
I think I think maybe like a drain pipe. I think I can usually figure out what's going on with one of those, but this onefriator gets pretty complicated.
This one again, I just watched the I watched two different YouTube videos about it. They each had the same solution to this to the problem of the refrigerator for this model and I, and neither of them involves opening up the back. So I think that part like that I think the fact that I can just do it all from like the internal or you know, from from just like moving stuff out of the front. Like I'm willing to try that. I'm also willing to abandon the project after ten minutes.
So it's see what I learned.
Like I've I've looked at all kinds of YouTube videos to like do kind of like electrical kind of stuff. I learned the most just from having like my best friend's dad who's an electrician, who like just came by to be like, okay, let me just show you the basics so you do not fucking hurt yourself, right, And then he's like, and this is a.
Couple of things you need.
Now I'm out here. I'll put in a fucking GFCI outlet. If we need to fucking switch it up, you need dim put in, I'll put in a light fixture.
I don't I'm one with.
Damn sir.
Looking to come up to a cabin and do a little electrical work for the you know.
I might work scares the ship out of me. I could just see myself dead next to a chair underneath like a light socket.
Do you know, do the most you know, the most responsible thing was just turn the power off, you know, like at the breaker, you know what I mean.
I did, actually did actually fix our stove yesterday, and and the only reason I did that is because the first instruction was unplugged.
I was like, Okay, yes, no risk. The worst that's going to happen.
If I'm going to make the stove worse, I'm not going to make myself worse.
Right.
So far, so far, so good.
What's uh, what's something you think is underrated? Well?
On my show, Go Factor sseelf, which I'm sure we'll have an opportunity to promote soon enough. We are scheduled to have Ed beg Lee Junior on the show. In fact, we were scheduled to have him this past Sunday, but we can we postponed because of the alleged hurricane. And I, in researching our guests, which I do, I believe that Ed Begley Junior is criminally underrated as an actor and as a person. Yeah, he's been over He's been in
like three hundred and fifty film and TV projects. He was completely right about the climate and about electric cars and about you know, all the stuff he does with healthy food and all that, and he was the butt of jokes for so many years because he was trying to save the planet and now we're all just trying to catch up to Ed Begley Junior.
And then on top of that, he was amazing on Better Call Saul.
And everything else he does. He does the comedy, does the drama. He's got a new memoir coming out. I think Ed Begley Junior is fantastic. And then you look at some of these films he made back in the seventies, like he worked a couple of times with Paul Schrader and just all these incredible directors doing all this, you know, very varied work, and Ed Begley Junior. I am on board and I'm very excited to host him when we reschedule that show.
Yeah for sure. Yeah.
Also, Stay is working and constantly like it's he's generous with his time he has you know, yeah, he does any films, he does feature, you know, he'll he'll do big, big projects. He'll do things to help people out. He's been on Broadway. I mean, he's he's amazing.
People were clowning him for having an electric vehicle like the game, and they're like and he's like, just wait, too dumb fucking from the future basically, yeah, and then it's very ed.
But also shout out to him.
He also went to we went to the same high school, not at the same time obviously, but he's also from the valor grew up in the valley. I know he's from New York originally, but he grew up in the valley.
To kidding, I always yeah, he's always at the like studio city. Yeah, you definitely can see him in the in the valley all over. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all the time.
And for a while it was sort of a joke because you knew when you were driving by Ed Begleye's house because it was the one with you know, the solar panels in the electric.
Car and yeah and all that.
Now all the all the houses in that neighborhood look like that exactly.
There is that Simpsons stroke that to producer Brian shared that I remember that.
Is powered by my own self satisfaction.
That's another thing.
He did that voice for that joke about point.
Hey, he was right.
All that, and you're right and you have a sense of humor about it.
Yeah, amazing. Well that's very cool. Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and talk about the news, and we're back, and we are at a point in history, just for for people listening to this on Friday, we are at a point where Donald Trump's mugshot has not been released yet. I don't know if where where you people are, it has been released. We we do not have any insight into the mugshot, although we have gotten
to see like his team's mugshots. Have you guys seen seen those, Rudy Giuliani looking the most like a crooked politician who's been caught doing something, Like.
I just it's pretty great.
It's amazing that that is what he went with that, Like I don't I don't know if they were like if he didn't know when the picture was being taken, but he just looks so much like she's just yeah, like a corrupt politician being caught doing something, and like he's in the middle of the phrase like I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't.
For meddling kids. Yeah, liberals, like nobody else.
Out of the group of mugshots, there's there's one guy who's like gone real evil, like there is a darkness inside his soul. The guy in the blue shirt. He looks like the mug shots of famous people, like when they're caught like doing a dui, Like you can see that their life is at the lowest point that it's ever been at like that, which again, it just feels like I don't know, I assume everyone would go in smiling, right, Like, isn't that what you're supposed to do?
Yeah?
Yeah, I mean smiling that guy, the blue blue shirt guy looks like if you the people that commit the most like atrocious crimes, or like, oh, that guy had somebody in his basement for twenty that makes sense, That makes sense why he has that look on his face like he's devoid of any soul.
Yeah.
Yeah, there's a woman smiling like the youngest person in these pictures. Uh is a woman who is one of Trump's lawyers who would like go on Fox News and say thing I forget her name, but she'd go on Fox News and say things that would make people be like.
Wait, you're a lawyer, are you sure? Sorry?
It says here you're a lawyer, but I research must have gotten that wrong because what you're saying does not make any sense.
But yeah, she's smiling.
I think she got the she understood the assignment, and.
Her picture looks the best.
She looks wonderful, hair done, you know, got the little side part almost going down.
I see her.
I see a little new gingrich guy who's like also smiling and just looks like, you know, he's having a good.
Time, which I think, I think that.
Should always be your goal. In the mugshot is like, don't let the bastards get you down.
He's also missing the top right of his skull.
It's like a blown out yeah, so white, his hair is so white.
And then they've like blown out the lighting.
So much just that he makes cameras not work anymore. He's just looks like he's dissolving into light.
But love that, Like I also love that, like still to this it has to be purposeful, like with how great cameras are, Like they still use like like a six like megapixel camera for all shots.
Make sure like the I phone can't get better pictures than these, but they still use.
The worst camera they can possibly use.
From much shots cracks me up so much, it's so funny.
On Juliani is very like German expressionism, Like he looks he looks like no Sparatu, like got forced to go outside in the daytime.
Yeah, it really does.
Like he looks like they were just like asshole like and he he was like busily like devouring a mouse in the corner.
And then they're like, hey, Rudy, what are you doing? He's looking.
Yeah, you seem borrett too, all right, So that is happening. This is there's all sorts of things happening that you know. The timing isn't great on this one, guys. Uh debate was a whole night ago. Have you guys had any chance to catch any of the clips anything jump out at you.
I called a couple I call I'll call it to it.
I'm not gonna attempt to say his name because I will butcher it. We all know who I'm talking. Yes, yeh yeah, I you know. My love that my guy, good old VR.
But I love that he's trying to poison.
So he even like said the same Obama line like I'm just a skinnycare with a funny last name. I bet you wonder why I'm up here. I'm like, dude, y'all shut your ass up.
Yeah he's here.
I think he wants to.
It just cracks me up when like because there's always the fresh faced one of the Republican group, and you know it's usually a person of color and and and like that bubbly but like, you know, I'm the smart young option. You know, basically is the is the is the Obama want to be of of the field, and
he is. I think like in his mind he's like, I'm going to be the I'm gonna be that for this like field as far as young personal color, so white people can be like, see, we do support the black and browns.
We support them, they just need to be a little bit more like him. Uh Like that's that's what he is. And he just cracks me up. But it's look, it's working.
He's he's rising as from what I've heard and the clips and everybody's talking about them, you know, he's rising as what people are saying could be the second option.
Yeah, the Santis is kind of fallen off or he.
Had that smile, that one moment where he like gave you know what was like a pre canned I don't know exact actually what he was like. And I'm your man, and that's why I'll be president and you can count on it, and I will never abandon you. And like hit his final line and then the camera lingered on him for like I guess two seconds longer than he
was expecting. Or maybe this was like a smile that he had been practicing we talked about on yesterday's trending, but it's it was the worst, like the most fail catastrophically failed attempt at a smile that I think I've ever seen.
Like watching the Terminator learn to smile or whatever.
Yeah, dude, he doesantell slut. He I've watched a lot of comedy. He had the vibe of this was his third open mic, right, yeah, like he was he looked so nervous, Like he looked like he had forgotten how to swallow and kind of talk, you know, like there was there was a look on his face like he was like, right.
I shouldn't be here. Uh is that mistake? Yeah?
There are different things like that. There's that one viral post where he's like or that you know, somebody's interviewing him, and like his eyes like go through these like different phases of like responding and like thinking about what his face looks like and thinking about like whether he's smiling, and like you can just see like things are coming apart inside of him, like he's just like not able
to like hold the forces within himself together anymore. And like that that seemed to happen at a few moments in the debate. It's not like he totally just lost his mind on up there, but he was pretty bad.
He's I mean, we're starting to see I mean, here's the thing. Here's a lot when people's like, man, you know, I'm really worried.
I'm really worried about the sensus. I was like, why why, Yeah.
He gives off the energy of a woefully laying person who now has power. Yeah, and once he got to the national stage, he was gonna get his ass eight the fuck up. And but but the difference though, is he has shame.
He's trying to pretend like he don't, but he has.
Whereas Trump don't get no shame, You're like, gat me up, I'll roast you back like, which like unfortunately works as a politician.
Desantas has shame.
So that's why he's falling apart, because like he's getting his ass ate up and everybody's starting to see, oh, like you're also terrible, but you're just lame, dude. You're a lame white guy. You have nothing else up.
He's just not Yeah, he's not built for it like Trump is for it.
Yeah.
Trump has a weird like Trump has the perfect personality disorder, where like he's uncomfortable unless he's like insulting someone or being insulted or like some part of him is like you know at stake, like unless like the like soul, like the hole in the center of his being that like you know, his narcissism is constantly trying to fill in for like and unless that is like propelling him
like a jet engine. Like he's uncomfortable, whereas like Desanta's is like furious all the time, but he's like trying to hide it. And then he's just like thin skin and he can't be thin skin.
Yeah, and like and and like look there's other people like like even Bush like was kind of thing skinned and weird and stuff.
But like at his core, Bush was a frat boy.
Like yeah, there was like there's has a degree of no shame to him, Like there's like.
A childlike quality to Bush. I think that was like, yeah, I like talking about shame as like the arburger of what's going on with these guys. Yeah, he wasn't smart enough to have shame. Yeah right, I think his has buried a lifetime of shame. So it's like there's a I think there's like an ocean of shame that cannot be touched, like if you get anywhere near it. He's like you said, he's so he's a snake, right, Like his heart is a spider. That's what you have to
fucking that's what you have to have going on. Uh yeah, these dudes, I think to really to have him be like fuck yet, like that's what they That feels like power to them, you know what I mean?
Yeah, Like what Santas is Catholic, so that that would make sense that he's got the shame, the focus on the shame.
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
It's like being like we should I think we should just run like Jeff Ross or something like you know what I mean, Like these are like the mid grade like insult comics, you know, right, they should just get a professional up there, just talk about his bad body and watch him cry, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah, as we talked about yesterday, like that's what Trump was doing for for most of the debate, was just talking about how Biden has like a bad beach body. On his Tucker Arlson interview, we dug into that a little bit more. You can go listen to our trending episode from yesterday. But I don't know what they're trying to do at the beach thing.
They're not uh, they look like he looks.
Yeah, he's insane. It's so funny. It's crazy.
He loves to make fun of Chris Christy for being overweight. He's always on the verge of toppling over.
Yeah, he's one cheeseburger away from being Chris.
That's rude. I'm sorry, but he will. He's talking about Yeah, it's just like, bro, do you see yourself?
Like, what are you?
What are you talking about?
Bro?
I think he's on oz epic though he's he's looking a little bit thinner. That's my guess is what's going on with both Trump and DeSantis. They both like seem like they're slimming down in a way that's probably not very healthy.
And not body ship. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being any weight at all. But when you come like everybody else that you is fat, You're like, no, you are, Yeah.
It is like do you see Like, what are you talking about? Bro?
Yeah?
Yeah, so, but yeah, Vivec was kind of the big focus.
You know, Pence came for him.
Like this is such a such a blessing for him to get is like the Pence comes for him. He's like, this is not the time for on the job training, young man. You need to be experienced and know that when you're in battle you just close your eyes really
hard and wish you were somewhere else, you know. But he basically called him out and then Vivec proceeded to you know, go after that, he told Mike Pence the uss R no longer exists, which I thought was kind of a good burn told Christy uh said that Christie is gunning for an MSNBC contributor position. Uh and that Nikki Haley's likely future is on the board of a defense contractor instead of the White House. So kind of like, yeah, good, solid, solid Burns.
This is this is fucked up.
This is so fucked up that like this is entertaining to me because these are terrible people who are like, you know, running to basically lessen the quality of mine and so many others lives. Yeah, Like, but like it's also like the nature that that it is also the nature of like I'm I love sports, Jack, you love sports.
I don't know if you love sports or not more, but like.
It it makes me upset that Like when Trump was like, yeah, I'm not going to debate, I was like, yeah, why would he? Because like the sport competitive brain in me is like, yeah, what, Like.
The saber metrics on that decision were actually really solid, uh just metrics.
People really love that.
Yeah, But like from a political standpoint, is shit because we as the people, should hear what you have to say about where you want to take our country, right. Yeah, but the political game, in the election game has become such a spectacle and a sport that like.
It this, that's exactly what it is.
So it's about burns and like all these things that have nothing to do with us essentially as far as like the actual people that you're trying to help.
It's it's a game. It's a game. It's popular contest.
Vivek sells himself as a science guy, even though he claimed he's the only person on stage who claimed that climate change is a hoax. Also like just based on you know, some people are like he was the focus because he's like serving as Trump's stand in because he's like a far right and experienced outsider outsider, and he is running third in Republican polling, so he has like a lot of interest I'm assuming from like younger people. He seems like he has more of a like younger
person vibe. Whoever the younger conservatives are, I guess just like fascist for young fascists. I love him. But so he describes himself as a scientist who has developed a number of medicines, when in reality, he's just like a hedge fund grifter bro who like got into the biotech industry and like it, is mostly known in that industry for a colossal failure that you know, because of the way he structured the deal that failed for everyone else,
he got incredibly rich off of it. But what he did is he basically looked for patents for drugs that had been abandoned for business reasons, then bought them for cheap, and then invested heavily in developing the drugs. And his big first gamble was on an Alzheimer's drug, and it had like failed four times, but he was like, no, I really have a feeling about this one, guys. Trust me here, I've got my leg businessman's intuition this is
going to work out. He got the company to like a three billion dollar valuation on this model and on like all of his promises around this Alzheimer's drug. And then this is all before the new clinical trial happened. But you know, he had a good feeling about this one.
And then when the drug finally conducted another clinical trial, it failed again like it had multiple times up to that point, and the stock price plun and you know, but because of the way the system set up, he's kind of insulated from the failure and he made like four hundred million dollars off of doing what I just described.
Yeah, yeah, Also, like I do, I'm a firm. I mean, this happens on every side of each aisle, especially in politics.
But like.
The notion that you just have to play the game as.
Far as like climate change, for instance, in him saying it's a hoax, like even though he's you know, not a respectable or reputable scientist by you know, the terms of a respectable and reputable scientist, but like, I don't believe in one second he thinks climate change is a hoax.
Like if you are around scientists enough and you actually believe in science, then you know, the scientific fucking like proven fact that climate change is not a hoast, right, So like, but him as a Republican and him, you know,
he has to say these. It's kind of like when Obama and when he first you know, came onto the scene and he was like, you know, he was saying things like you know, I don't believe in gay marriage, when like I knew that to not be true because Obama went to the same church as my mom, who is a lesbian, who got married at that church, and he was there, like you know, so like I you know, but he has to say that on a national stage, right,
because that's where we are. And so like it's just sad to me that like some of these things have to be said and they're of detriment solely because it's just what you think most of your party believes. So you have to, like you got to play the game. And like because I don't, I don't believe it for once. I don't believe that for one second. Maybe maybe it's true, maybe he doesn't and he's a moron, but like.
Yeah, right, if he's being honest, the reality is like I don't care the climate change exists right right, rather that it truly exists. I'm getting into I'm pocketing enough cash off this thing that I'll totally say that to like wild applause. Like he literally says, like we celebrated, we were taught to to celebrate diversity too much, That's what he said. Yeah, dude, they're not gonna run Like okay, there's no what do you guys think they're gonna run
a person of color? Like do you think that would possibly? Because yeah, maybe, Like here's who wouldn't vote for him is the old conservatives and they're like, I don't know, seventy five percent old you know right now?
Yeah, you know, I think what's gonna happen.
I think what's gonna happen is all these people are running to possibly become Trump's vice presidential pick.
Right or I think there's also some hope that like or his campaign falls apart because he's in jail.
Oh well yes that too, Yes that too. So it's that.
But if he doesn't go to jail and he is able to continue with this campaign and he gets the nomination, I could see him pick of somebody like VR, you know, uh, solely because he you know, strategically, he thinks it'll give him votes that he would not get, uh right, otherwise.
He does TV well, right, That's the entire thing now, Like that was the brilliant thing about bringing in Trump is that he is a television star, so he does TV relatively well. I don't even think that well compared to like normal TV people, you know what I mean. He's still like weird and sweaty and like, you know, kind of like like unpleasant to experience, you know, like he's like his charisma kind of bums me out, but it's definitely there, you know where it's like. And then
this kid, he's good at talking. He's good, like you said, he had a couple of birds. He seemed like he enjoyed being there, like Kent seemed like the whole thing was a goddamn headache.
You know what I mean.
And always, yeah, he always appears like you can just both him and Desanta's you get the sense like deep down they would not want to be doing this.
They are tolerating this.
And it's really condescending sort of like religious, right, like really disappointed in everyone. And that's why he like got booed when he said that thing to that kid is he was acting like he was talking to like a kindergartener.
Yeah, you know, he's talking to vivic.
Nobody likes that shit.
It's condescending, you know.
Yeah, Whereas like there's a there's a humor in what Trump does, whether you think he's funny or not, Like it's it is kind of funny to be an asshole all the time, right, That's sort of that's like a known comedic persona like, oh yeah, this guy's a monster dickhead no matter what happens. You know, it's like you could at least trust that there's a there's a confidence to it. I'm safe with this guy because I know
he's going to be a jerk no matter what. Where it's like Pence and Disantos, they don't feel safe because you know they DiSanto seems like he might start crying or like or hit someone, you know.
Yeah, yeah, it's he really seems like he's on the verge of like doing something catastrophe, like just really bad for himself for somebody like direct around him, like crying, or an act of violence, like a profoundly violent thing, like seems to be like both with him, reach it at any moment.
And I would. We would they want like somebody who's consistent in seeming powerful, even if it's like this desperate power that comes from like deep insecurity, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah, But just to kind of close the loop, because so he's not a man of science, Like he doesn't spend time with scientists. He spends time with other billionaires. He's a fucking hedge fund guy. He's he's just a fucking financial grifter. There's a chance that maybe he believes the climate change thing or that it's a posture, but either way, it doesn't it doesn't really matter. He would he would if he were in power, we would be completely fucked.
Yeah.
Yeah, but just that that investment that made him super rich. The California State Teacher's retirement system lost a shitload of money on that one. Lots of other people lost a shitload of money. And it also like setback research on Alzheimer's drugs, Like it duped people out of money, but it also a expert on like the search for research into Alzheimer's was like that money would have been better
applied almost anywhere else in the field. Well that's a direct quote, would have been better off applied almost anywhere else in the field. So yeah, it's he's it's he has some sick burns, but like the shit he's doing, he's just like.
These guys the ability to destroy everyone who they come in contact with. I mean, we're looking at all the mugshots of the people who supported Trump, Like that's what he does foundationally, is whoever he gets involved with fucking goes down. When the house burns down, you know, and it's exactly like that's good, like that smart capitalism actually is that, you know. That's the thing is these guys, there's a cunning to them that is really intelligent. It's just disastrous for like society.
For everyone else, and they're running for president, Yeah, to head up the whole society thing.
You guys should get a fucking like you should get hazard pay for having to watch all this stuff.
All right, let's take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll talk about Tom Cruise. And we're back, and Miles, I think you're about to task.
Oh just yeah.
I mean, like, you know, the other thing is like we're just kind of the evolutione I just think of like where I got my sexy imagery as someone born in the eighties like through you know, like coming of age and then like late nineties aughts and things like that, And it feels like at a certain point like it would be like, oh, a Van Damn movie is gonna have movies in it, Like that was a shorthand in my mind, like you were like conditioned to know like
certain directors, actors, whatever, like there would be that sort of thing and then you But but then like a lot of the sex or sexual content just really kind of shifted to like our popular culture, like it didn't have to live in these sort of movies like basic Oh what about basic instinct kind of thing. It's like it's in my music videos, it's in the advertisements, it's
on cable TV at night. So it's almost like I don't know if it's like also, again, this sort of diversification of where that sort of content lived to the points that it literally omni.
Sexual, like everywhere was sex.
So that also feels like another point where that I guess the appeal of it only getting it directly from film begins to wane a bit.
Yeah, And also like if you're like, Okay, check out this Van Damn sexy scene, or I can go to my OnlyFans of a real person who is alive, who's doing my niche fetish and will look into the eyes of the camera.
And say my name right, yeah what you know what I mean? So when you go back to a VANDAM movie, you're like boring, sid move it along.
Like yeah, I was just thinking of remember when Seth MacFarlane did that Oscar song called boobs and yeah the movies you can see boobs in And that was twenty thirteen, and.
The response was like yawn like on, like yeah, that's.
All you're in it for, and it's like shitty to treat women that way. And it's like I'm still I'm still here for a song, Like I still need to get to a place where like Seth MacFarland can sing a song about full frontal dick and he's got thirty movies to reference, Like I think I've got one, you know.
Yeah we're there, Harvey Kit, Yeah, there you go. I mean, so I do still think it's interesting. So like the Wells you were talking about, like they made did an analysis in the early two thousand and found that like nudity was not something that drove money making, and I
think rather than just that being always true. I think that's probably an indicator of like changing tastes in like film goers, and like the whole thesis that I have about movies is like, yes, they're like commercial ventures, but they people pay money to go see them because they are getting to see something that is happening that they can't really access inside them up on the screen, right, And so like that's why I think it's interesting that
like early two thousands, like as the country was becoming like explicitly fascist in the War on Terror, and you know that that was a time when suddenly people were like, yeah, yeah, we don't we don't want to see this shit. And I agree, like it definitely has to do with like that there became there like suddenly there were better places
to get that. But I also I don't know, like there it does feel like they're one of these articles from I think slash Film was saying that it's there's been like sort of an internalization of the PG thirteen rating when it comes to like our movies, where that's just kind of what people expect from movies. And I do think that there's like I think that happened because corporations came through and like overtook everything, you know, like
the big example that this blood Knife article uses. The blood Knife article that we'll link off to on the footnotes is called Everyone's beautiful and Nobody's horny or something to that effect, and it's about like superhero movies where everybody you know is just trained within just like an inch of like perfection, just like and that that goes forward the superhero. It also goes for like the FBI agent and the background character, and you know, like that
that's just how everybody is supposed to look perfect. But then our favorite filmmakers, this guy whose movies take place in a world where like dreams don't have sex in them.
And I think that there is something to the idea that like so fascist art, like when you look at like what was popular in Nazi Germany, like the films of Lenny Reschenstall, with like these documentaries where they would like glorify the human body and particularly the male body and like its strength and muscles, but like completely it was all about power dynamics, right, it was nothing about sex, and in fact, like sex was like to be completely
removed from the equation. And I feel like there is like we obviously those movies also had like Hitler, and it was like and all of the sexual energy is to be like sublimated to your religious fe to the furor.
And like that, horny for Hitler only, horny for Hitler only.
And now it feels like it is done to sublimate to like the broader just kind of ideals of capitalism, and like the the fact that there's like an internal understanding of like, yeah, why would they put like iron Man fucking in this movie? Like it wouldn't make as much money. And I root for this movie because like that's that's my team is Marvel and so like, and Marvel is winning against DC, and so I don't know,
I think it's interesting. I don't think it is, like I don't think it's a telltale symptom that like America is headed towards some sort of fascism with like a
central fascist leader. But I do think it says something interesting about our relationship to this all consuming like capitalistic ideal where it's like, yeah, no, we just take the sex out of everything, because like that is not actually making money for the thing that we want to see make money, and we're all on board with that, not just David Zaslov, like, we're all on board with that because it doesn't like you can just get my sexual content elsewhere.
I'm gonna say, I'm gonna push back on it.
Yeah, having written in late night comedy for I can't now.
I'm trying to do the math.
I don't know, but I feel like the like, are we turning fascist think pieces like make.
The rounds every three years?
You know what I mean?
And it's like, are we are?
We?
Are we to the point where like it's not even gonna matter because the term fascist now means something different to everyone.
It's lost all meaning, like we're never.
Gonna know, you know what I mean, It's gonna be here and no one will have any understanding on it. But taking this back to where we started the Bachelor, I will bring us into my main basis for this argument, which is that The Bachelor is dying a slow death. It's definitely slow, but it's just every season it's dying.
It's dining Sime.
And this last year we got reality shows about dating like Love is Blind, like The Ultimatum, Queer Love, which is Milf Manner one of the.
Best shows I've ever watched.
Would you say.
Miles, I said, Milf Manner, Milf Manner.
I did watch every episode, Yes I did.
And that's actually a great one to reference because in the ultimatum Queer Love, they've got cameras on and you, I mean, you're watching porn for a second, and you're watching porn if someone you've intimately gotten to know like all their relationship issues. And that show was wildly popular, and on TikTok the discourse about queer love stories and like there was an entire storyline of like, you fingered the woman I'm in love with and where's your fingers go?
When did they start? And how did it happen? Is that considered sex? And then there's a conversation of like, everyone, you know what I mean? Is that penetrative sex or not? Do we count that as sex? What is the consent needed for finger sex versus other sexy? And you're lie And TikTok is like going nuts and loving this conversation, and everyone is loving that show. And I think it's because it was it was showing sex in the way that we understand and want to see it now, which
is like real authentic. It's not through this like very singular patriarchal lens.
Even on like Love Islands there they live in bikinis.
They live in bikinis, and they switch partners every other day for fifty episodes every season, and it's crushing it Like Love is Blind, you know, they talk about are they having sex?
Are they not?
Meanwhile, the Bachelor, which is a very sterile show, which would fit this sort of like fascist thing where it's like overnight sweets, like the door closes and like who knows is dying a death in popularity. And so if we look to reality TV, I would say we are still very much here for sex, but we're no longer here for it in the ways that are harmful. Yeah, like it's it doesn't feel good. And then if sexing is to like make you feel sexy, you don't want to feel while you're watching it.
Yeaheah.
So maybe my ultimate plea is like the movies do something interesting with their sex scenes because that's what people want. And it's not that people are necessarily fascisted yo, that they just want something interesting and not like the traditional eighties movie sexcene.
Yeah, to Chelsea's point, Like again, I was raised on the buck Wild movie sex scenes.
You know what I mean.
And then then you know, the internet kind of was like I was like, Okay, I think I know what I like and to the point to nuance, like now I'm like, how come they not kissing in this porno? I'm like, nah, nah, I'm off this, Like y'all need to be making out as shit, like I need to, like I want to see y'all be passionate, right or y'all like in Bridgerton, I just started watching the second scene.
There's like one moment where this one character she just says she said, mister Bridgerton, and they just have like a look at each other, and I was like, oh shit, like and then you say shit, except like there was just a very tense moment and the release was just saying it and they shared a look, and I was even like, damn, that was all right, Like yeah, yeah.
We're like you're just like doing it well, you know, like that was hot and I didn't need to just see you coldly simulate motions.
Right right exactly like making the back of the beast with two backs as it were. And and I think, yeah, we're I think because we've moved on from just being like will they show sex, they.
Do yes, and then once everyone now this is I do want to say this is a direct attack on me, because that is a direct quote from something I said earlier before we started brawling.
So I didn't do the fist pump though, like I didn't do the double fist pump. Yes, but like yeah that now we're so like, you know, it's like when you, like you're you get introduced to a new cuisine. In the beginning, anything will do, and then as you formulate tastes, you're like, no, actually, I'm like, it's not just about having you know, steak or whatever or whatever. You know, you just you begin to actually understand what it is
that is appealing to you. And I think, y, yeah, I think it's like it's just sort of simultaneous cultural evolution along with the amount of things we've been exposed to that kind of puts us in this different place.
And I think it's the problem with art meeting capitalism right now, especially as like we're in the writer strike and the whole like you go Woke, you Go broke movement, which is that like people come in and try and quantify it and do the data and the statistics and what's selling when what's not selling and actually this is in and that is in blah bah blah.
But like the thesis is good, we would love a good movie.
We would love a good movie, and the moment we get a good movie, they go, oh, do that again, do that again? Or like, you know, network television was dead, then Abbot Elementary comes up.
Right, it was good.
Right, everyone goes.
Workplace comedies, right, workplace comedies, and you're like, oh, okay, so that's nuts.
That was not the only thing that made that show good, you know.
And I just feel like people want really great art and every time it shows up, they're gonna love it, and every time it's shitty, they're gonna hate it. And then people are gonna drain it down into headline pieces of what could sell more or less, and they're going to miss the point, which is that if it's good, it sells, and if it's bad it does not.
Right, Yeah, course, right, all right, that's gonna do it for this week's weekly Zeitgeist. Please like and review the show. If you like, the show means the world demiles. He needs your validation, folks. I hope you're having a great weekend, and I will talk to you Monday.
Bye St.