Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello the Internet, and welcome to this episode of The
Weekly Zeitgeist. Uh. These are some of our favorite segments
from this week, all edited together into one NonStop infotainment
laugh stravaganza. Uh yeah, So, without further ado, here is
(00:22):
the Weekly Zeitgeist. Really, what is something from your search
history that is revealing about who you are? I've looked
at why is t Rex the most famous dinosaur? Mm
hmmm do you guys? Does that even? Do you even
think about that? I didn't put it together until I
had read Oedipus Rex and then I was like, Oh,
(00:45):
that's what rex means. And then I don't know. Do
people just get lazy because like they just like like
a bout of them, like monarchical structures or something. I
guess from what I could from my limited research, because
I was looking at dinosaur names to try and add,
to learn how to spell them or to challenge other
people to spell them, and I it's widely regarded as
(01:07):
the most famous dinosaur. This is partly because it was
the very first large kind of dinosaur to be discovered,
and it was long believed to have been the largest
that ever lived. Another fact was that it was probably
the fascest meat eat that ever lived in. Another reason
is because possibly it was discovered in North America, and
it's North American heritage may explain its position as the
(01:30):
world's most famous dinosaur because you guys love growing on
about how you how you find dinosaurs and how great
everything is. Yeah. Well, and also, like, you know, the
American Empire is much more than the borders of the country,
Like we make all we were making nearly all the
entertainment at one point, so like we got everybody on
this diet of like, yeah, man, like fucking America. There's
(01:53):
something up over there. We just had. We just have
amazing pr you do. You've got a great PR machine,
although I will say that else do you appear to
be coming off slowly? Presently? They're loose? They're loose. Yeah,
what's the view? What's the view from down there? Mate? Honestly,
I watched the news in America. It looks like I
(02:14):
imagine the country is at a point when what would
traditionally happen when a country whips itself up into this
kind of state, is that America would say, do you
know what you guys need? Military? Yeah? Yeah, it is like,
is the coverage ever, like from the news like in
New Zealand sort of saying things like, you know, because
(02:35):
of America's rampant, unchecked racism. This is like a thing
like what's the sort of presentation of the unrest from
you know, the perspective Zealand. It's it's hard to say,
because news you get, you guys get some you know,
you get a bit of coverage. But the news outlets
from which I'm I'm getting my information a global or
(02:57):
often they remain American because they seemed to be keyton
most of what's happening. The coverage is sort of like
my read on the coverage is sort of like, oh boy,
I can't believe I left America in December twent talk
about a stroke of luck. That's sort of my spin
on the coverage, right right right, because you know, I
(03:19):
came back independent of anything that was happening. And my
friends would say, wow, is it tough? Do you do
you regret it? And I say, do I regret leaving
New York City in December tween nineteen? I say, no,
that's what I say. The other thing that was cool
to see was, you know, in all over the country
(03:40):
or all over the world, there were countries having their
own marches for like in solidarity of black lives and
things like that, and I was very very touching to
see in New Zealand those happening. What is like, what's
sort of the thing that motivates you know? I think
every country has an aspect of dealing with some kind
of racism or whatever that essentially people were connecting to
it at any point. It wasn't just about narrowly this,
(04:02):
but I think a lot of people felt connected of
this feeling of you know, oppression, colonization and things like that, slavery.
Is there something like you know, put me onto sort
of like what the temperature is in New Zealand that
you know obviously because you guys have your heads on
straight as people like what else was kind of motivating
people to go out there, And the marches initially were
(04:23):
in sort of just total solidarity. There was a big
from the organizers specifically, there was a considered effort to
not shift focus or kind of um use it as
a pivot point into local you know, local oppression. But
um there is also there's like there's a there's a
(04:44):
growing blank community in New Zealand. And then also traditionally
they're like, I mean, we we serve it from many
of the same problems on a much smaller scale in
terms of systemic oppression and a police force that you know,
disproportionately incarceraates pacifica and indigenous like Malti people in New Zealand.
And so I think middle New Zealand and sort of
(05:06):
you know that we don't really have these poles in
the way that America does politically, but middle to right
skewing New Zealand, I think we have this very we're
quite proud of this lacker days called like She'll be right,
aren't we lucky we're here and not there sort of approach,
And then beneath that there's an undercurrent of people saying, well,
it's very well for you to say that from inside
of the status quo, but this is not working for everyone.
(05:29):
And so I think it's just it's very clear even
from here that this is a moment in history, and
it's sort of like, you know, if you ever wondered
what you'd be doing when the worm turned, it's pretty
much what you're doing right now. And so I think
also because the um I mean yeah, I think also
because of relationship to COVID nineteen and how we sort
(05:51):
of have given it a bit of a spanking people
quite excitedly and confidently. We're like, well, what bitter way
to get out in the streets, you know, A fantastic cause,
Like on Sunday Sunday two weeks ago that I went
to the March Black Lives March and then which would
have been about six thousand people, and then into a
sports game with forty five thousand people and I thought, gee,
(06:14):
wods aren't we living? Yeah? Yeah, man, that's why they
even think that New Zealand March for Black Lives drew
nearly as many people as you know KKK Ploosa and Tulsa.
There was a big, big goal. We all sort of
had an email going around. We said, Liz le get
more people than Trump and Tulsa. Were you with the
(06:37):
K pop fans and the um of course tech talk
you guys? That was That was a separate but equally
important email thread. I sort of spearheaded both of the
threads I used. I used that traditional chainmail approach where
I say, ford this to tend people or your crash
work't like you back, and you'd be surprised how that
(06:58):
mobilizes people, how effective that still is df to come
through on the internet. Man, finally, what is a myth?
He's what is something people think it's true, you know,
to be false service versa. Mm hmmm mm hmmmmmm. Uh,
here's a myth that podcasting is better remote. I know,
(07:20):
like you know, listen, listen, It's definitely nice to be
sitting in my drawers right now. Y'all can't see them,
you know what I'm saying, so I can have the
THI meat out. It's very nice to you know, not
have to get up and go somewhere. Uh, we have
figured it out. Shout out to all the editors and producers. Uh,
(07:42):
as guests and hosts of a podcast, I'm letting you
guys know right now we have the easiest part of
this fucking job remotely right now. Uh So shout out
to all of those. But man, the energy of being
in a room. Uh. There are some podcasters who are like, yeah, man,
I'm liking the remote. I like it better and it's cool.
(08:02):
But as a performer, the energy of being in the room,
uh doing this, I I miss it. I think it
is better. And when we are able to get back
in studio. I think all your favorite podcasts are going
to turn out some of the best content that they've
had UH and like the past year, because just the
(08:26):
excitement and the energy of being back in the room
together UH is gonna be so evident in which you
guys are gonna listen to when it happened. So I
don't know if that's a myth or not, but you know,
if you're thinking that, I just want to debunk from
my own opinion that I think UH podcasting should be
done as much as possible face to face in person. Yeah,
(08:51):
and I think there's probably there probably is a myth
like I've kind of forgotten that they're doing it remotely
or at least that there is a quality different, you know,
because like that's what I've just been listening to for
the past few months. But yeah, I definitely think things
will I don't know that there's like a you know,
(09:11):
a ten to fifteen percent diminishment of like the energy
and the timing and stuff like that that I think
And just from a yeah, from this side of the equation,
it's definitely I definitely miss being in the same room
with you guys. He just miss he misses you, Miles,
he misses you. He wants to and I miss I missed,
(09:31):
you know, getting obsessed like looking at his sweat stains
and getting distracted by the record. I know he's and
I but the thing is, I know Jack is comfortable
right now wearing his gene cut offs because he's a
never nude like Tobias fu kuh. But it is true,
like there is something. Yeah, there's just an energy. And
obviously we are consummate professionals, so people didn't even know, Oh,
(09:54):
we're not in the same room. But that's because we're
having a we're digging deep to give you guys that energy.
But like the first first three weeks, I it was
so disorienting on top of trying to process everything that
was going on. But yeah, I think to your point,
like I think there will be so much more laughter,
um like in light when people are back in the room,
(10:15):
because you know, even like comedy podcasts, like it's easy
to still have fun and things like that, but like
when when funny people are all in the room together,
it's a completely different experience. And yeah, for sure, I
definitely missed that. I Mean, one thing I don't miss
is you know what I'm saying. Listen, you know, all
podcasts great, but you know, we do. I have been
(10:35):
liking the fact that only I have been using this
mic that I've been using for the past four months.
You know what I'm saying. Sometimes you get up on
knees Mike's after somebody else used it. You gotta spread
them bad boys now with you know, some glade spray
or something. So you know it's called lab you know.
So I do, I do. I'm not missing that. I'm
not missing you know, the multiple Mike used, especially once
(10:57):
we get back in after the COVID ship. You know,
I think that's why it that's the next step, you know,
because even the day we all had to shut our
offices down, we knew nothing is going to be the
same when we come back. And I think even like
to these points, like I think we're gonna be learned
to be more efficient, like with our time, like in
how we work and what the things are that, like
(11:17):
how we do things in studio with Mikes and keeping
things cleaner, because it's wild, I think the longest time,
because of relatively low incidences of pandemics like this, it's
just been like yeah, man, no, sanitary No, sanitary guidelines
is fine, Like we're just kind of rocking like that
for fifty years or whatever. Uh and now people, I
just glad. I'm glad that there's like sense now because
(11:39):
rather than people being like, okay, germaphobe when you would
like wipe some ship down at the grocery store, before this,
it's like no, it's standard now, Like yeah, what were
we thinking, like we should actually just keep things as
clean as possible. Yep, you know what's gonna happen now.
We're all gonna live to a hundred now after you know,
once the past, and we're gonna be stuck in our
relationships even longer now. Not right like birthday in Korea
(12:06):
that the mask wearing is much more normalized because of
having gone through sorrows. So I'm hoping that kind of
carries over in America. Now, Mama, do what do you
think is something that is overrated? Something that's overrated? Wow,
I'm about to make it kind of hot. I don't
(12:27):
know how I think about it. What we love? It's
cold in here. You can turn up, you can turn
it up a little bit. I think I think I
know it's unteen. This is gonna catch me some flak,
but like I think, I think chocolate is overrated. Oh,
the silence is that we're gonna do. He's gonna be
a mature like that. I think chocolate is overrated. Oh
(12:48):
just okay, look present your case, my hunter. Thank you gladly.
I just don't think it's as popping as people make
it out to be. And that and I'm not saying that.
I think that, Like, there's definitely tough industrial complex in
there too, holidays and chocolate, right, there's other stuff that's
also good. And I think that because you're like looking
(13:08):
at a chocolate woman right now. So it's yeah, and
the thing, and that's the thing I'm Scarry's saying. I'm
not saying that you're not a sweet person. I'm just
saying that chocolate has been treated as the sweetest thing
in the world for two Arguably is I just I'm
I'm fluxed, and it's arguably is that's the thing. And
(13:30):
also to your point, is arguably isn't. So it's I
don't think it's as popping as it should be. And
for me personally, and again he asked me, I just
want to be clear what I just know you can
have that opinion. I mean, it's just like how Donald
Trump stares directly into the sun and tries to fight it,
(13:51):
you know, during a clinse, Like you can fight anything,
So if you want to fight, you can fight the sun.
You know. The part is that I feel like you
want me to go to like the candy out after
Valentine's they just stand down chocolate now, like because I will,
I'll be like, I dare you to be off, Like
that's not how I am so just sucking knocked all
(14:11):
the Russell Stover's boxes off the shove. It's even like, yeah,
who is that needs to just go ahead and keep it?
Two virgils and just tell us why you tell us
that they are the last minute chocolate for your side
girls and for when you forgot about your wife. Have
any of you had to explain the virgils thing to anybody?
(14:32):
You're like people people saying like a Virgil to virgils,
like you know, like we've been in bondage for about
what eight virgils and people like what it's really funny
and like, well is that? Like I'm what's like, okay,
so Virgil alblow only gave fifty never mind you know,
it's a whole story, like you know it might not
(14:53):
be for you, you know, but you don't know. You
don't go because I'm like, finally we're getting like some
of our own language back that feels like it can't
be sold and bought by white folks for money because
they love to take Like remember Fleek, they destroyed that
in a week. Remember for Shisel. I'm still mad about
for Chisel. We had for hours before they were like
(15:13):
for shiz all my nansel and I was like, well
there it goes, snoop, pack it up. So I'm glad
that we keep that and hotep jokes because they don't
get right. So like what dr Umar and why should
I know what Yakubian? I will say though, the funniest
ship to me in the world is seeing a kufy
(15:34):
on a white person. That's like when Nancy never taken
any can't say club. I'm like, bro, they say, even right,
it's nothing you thought you did it. It was the
first time I had gone to Ghana in West Africa.
I had met this Canadian man who married a local
woman and basically became an elder like a chief of
his area. So he had the designation of Nana, so
(15:55):
he was called Nana Dave. He was like this, yes,
and they had not he had this Ghanaian wife. They
are they are full out kne like you know, because
that's a very Ghanaian thing, like they're a kintay cloth.
And I saw this, I was like, are you for
I'm like this Canadian okay, I mean he's out here,
he's like building a hotel and like trying to do
(16:17):
something like and live in the community. But it was
like very jarring when you see like white people are
like oh yeah. Like I had to get out of there,
and I had just come to Africa and I'd be sick,
bro if I was Wanst Africa and I went back
to West Africa and some dude named Spencer was running
my town. I beat the ship out of there. I couldn't. Like,
I was like this and people not not Chad, is
(16:38):
not not Chad he runs our village. That's not that's
not not Taylor, that's not like him, and that's not Karen,
and that's not not Kaylee. Hey, Like I don't I could.
I couldn't do it. I don't literally, Like I think
that's the why I thing about Africa is that people
don't realize that. Like some people are like, yo, I
(16:58):
can't do this America ship and they're black, can they
go there? And there's some people who are white, like
I can't do American ship where things are set up
for you to be the very successful, either honestly or not,
and you go to Africa and then you somehow find
yourself running ship that's white supremacy right right right exactly
full circle like on that savior behavior provided jobs, the
(17:20):
savior behavior. Gotta let it, baby, yeah, da Dave, I can't.
I'm not joking. I gotta find this photo. It was
like a J. C. Penny Mall portrait of like distinct
like like you know how these portraits look normally of
like a village elder or something like. It's very stoic
imposed and just to see this dude who was like
sun burnt to ship, uh and like with his wife
(17:43):
but very like we're out here, uh, surreal photo. And
it's also like it's that wild Olan Mills like kind
of blue kind of little textured background and it's got
to African person in a not the opposite African person
and they just standing there. Oh God, it's triggered. All right,
let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
(18:10):
And we're back. Let's talk about Columbus, Ohio, hometown of
the great Cody Johnson of Ohio State University, three hours
from place I grew up. And uh, named after Christopher Columbus,
the director, not the director of goods, which is what
(18:34):
I thought growing up. I was like, named after um,
that guy, the lead singer of genocidal tendencies. No, the
great explorer Christopher Columbus. Yes, yes, that was flippant. Yeah there,
I mean it's interesting. You know. Again, the anti colonies,
anti colonizer slaver wave continues. The Teddy Roosevelt's White Man
(19:00):
on Top statue is going to be taken down outside
of the Natural History Museum, which is, you know, again,
depending on what side of whether or not you like racism,
you'll have an opinion on that. But the statue itself,
I remember seeing it was like, wait, it's a like
a indigenous person and a black person on either side
of the horse, and he's a okay, well that's an
interesting message. So that statue has a planned retirement. And
(19:23):
then even like the ice cream, the Eskimo pie will
no longer be branded as such. I think Dryers is
the parent company. They're doing away with that. And if
you want like a Sports Center style recap of white
supremacy in full panic, just watch Fox News because like
they almost kick off like every hour with like an
Eskimo pie. Now it's like they have like this like
weird they always tune in with what what fucking company
(19:47):
woke up today? I guess, uh sort of guffying, um.
And now you know, Columbus, it's their turn for the
woke armies of Satan to put their attention upon this name.
But I think it's it's hard to say, like you're
gonna just completely rename a city because it's the capital,
it's like the largest city in the state. There's a
(20:09):
lot of signs are gonna have to come down. Um.
But there is a petition right now to have the
city renamed after a true son of Columbus, Guy Fieri,
but changed their name to Flavor Town. And I obviously
that's a good call. I think for now. It's funny
(20:33):
if it gets over the lad right now, because you know,
I mean, it's good marketing, isn't it. Everyone's gonna want
to go to flavor Town, and then what's it holds
if it's a place at of it somehow? You know,
sometimes people name these interim things and then they don't
get around to getting changed. Fifties, sixties, seventy eighty years
from now, you know, a whole new generation we'll get
(20:56):
to learn. But this place is called flavor Town to
the great Guy Fieri, right, yeah, absolutely, I don't know.
I mean the again, this is the thing that we
were talking about even last week when there were talks
of like what do you do with Nathaniel Bedford forests,
you know, statue in the Tennessee capital, Like do you
(21:17):
put up people like Dolly Parton because that's a Tennessee
and people you're proud of. But honestly, I think if
you're gonna be corrective, you need to put up representations
of the antithesis of what that former offensive form stood for.
So if you have someone that is a colonizer, then
you have to you need to actually set that balance
off by now enshrining somebody who is about liberation um
(21:41):
and things like that. I think just as a one
to one, because it could be easy to just be like, yeah,
that would be fun. Let's just replace it with something meaningless.
But I think just for the the ability for a
dominant culture to enshrine some of their worst people. Uh,
and we're trying to actually have some kind of sea change,
then do the right thing and actually let's celebrate people
that are we're doing that, we're doing the things that
(22:01):
are getting us towards the future we're trying to envision.
I would suggest naming it after a Native American word,
but that there's no American towns named after a Native
American word, so that would be just all of them,
all of them, like so many of them. Yeah, I
would I would agree, was there what what's the plan
(22:22):
for the statues? Are they going to get melted down? Like?
The things I would wonder about is is there a
place for you know, education through the horrors of the
people who have been deified and put up in these statues.
Is it worth creating essentially a you know, a museum
of horrors where you essentially advertise them with plaques which
(22:42):
actually detail what they did instead of sort of you know, like,
is there a revision assistory version of it where we say,
these are the statues, this is what they actually like,
here's what they represented is what they actually did instead
of just trying to sort of sid a ranger approach
of saying no, no, no, everything's been hunky dorry here
since don't one. I mean, how do you how do
you actually, you know, what's the proper course correction in
(23:05):
terms of re educating ourselves and future generations on this stuff.
I think that's sort of the you know, long term
discussion about you know, clearly right now, the what the
last few weeks have established that there's an appetite for
some level of equilibrium on some whether that's you know,
I think for people like us, we're talking about full
(23:26):
on you know, revamping, dismantling of these these systems of oppression.
That's the only way. I think that's the only way
we can truly move towards any semblance of equality. But again,
this is a slow moving machine, um and I think
those steps are gonna have they're gonna take they're gonna
take time, but we have to keep the pressure on.
(23:48):
And essentially, yes, there is going to have to be
some kind of like Truth and Reconciliation committee something where
America as a whole, like through our educations like that,
we are officially taking the time to like be like,
we really need to sit down with what happened before
you were born. You know, I remember what the momentum
(24:08):
was your life carried into this moment because it's off
the it's off the back of a lot of blood. Um,
and we were just we just did a really good
job of doing the thing of like, well that's not
actually yes, I think my parents sucks, but I don't
want to think about it because it's my parent, you know,
and they gave me life or whatever. But sometimes you
have to be like, yo, this this parent is a
(24:29):
straight up piece of shit. Um, But it's okay because
I'm not a piece of ship, and all I can
do is at the very least acknowledge what a piece
of ship looks like. So we no longer have more
pieces of ship out here running things. Yeah. I do
really like the idea. I mean, all all of the
really rich, fascinating cultures and uh intricate histories that were
(24:56):
just completely wiped out by these assholes. Uh there, there's
you could fill all every square foot of America with
testaments to that stuff, and that is way more interesting
than the version of history that they give kids currently. Um.
Oh yeah, I mean like, it's almost like you could
(25:16):
do a series and maybe we should not include this,
but I honestly think if you did a podcast that
was about your city and it was a true crime
podcast of how fucked your city has been that you
don't know about, people would just have their minds blown.
And people didn't know that like in Pasadena, like black
people couldn't like own property there to like the sixties,
(25:38):
you know what I mean. And then people look at
Pasadena now like, oh, it's so many like liberal, you know,
white people. But again we have to remember like what
liberal means versus like progressive or leftist or someone who
was actually fighting for equality, because liberal just means like
you're willing to stomach a certain level of white supremacy
until a point. Miles Jack, can I tell you that
(25:58):
I am so fucking tired. Yeah, we do this every
two years. This every two years. Um, this one felt
different for a second. We'll see what happens. So fucking tired, man, Um,
It's it's just it's always black folks getting murdered. Queer folks.
(26:18):
Maybe we don't have rights all of a sudden, and
we don't know. And and then and this time we
got lucky because this bunch of assholes decided that we
get to have rights. A couple of weeks ago, Uh,
women are are talking about all the stuff that happened
in the workplace. I'm so fucking tired you guys, Like
I I don't. I wish that I had like a
more eloquent, funny way to phrase it, um, And I
(26:42):
probably will, like literally three seconds after I get up,
I'll be like, there was a funny line. I kind
of said. I'm just I'm I am at that intersection
of like so many of these things where I'm just like,
I'm freaking exhausted, um, and I'm I'm I like Tina fake.
(27:04):
I think she's very funny. I think that she has
long had um issues with And a lot of people
have said, like, well, that was the point of that character. Okay, cool,
what about the other stuff? What about like like you
can say, well, the point of that character was that
they were shitty, but why there's a way to make
jokes that reflect that the character as a ship person,
(27:26):
and there's a way to make jokes where it's like
I just want to make that joke. Why Kimmy Schmidt
was there a dude who was named like Dong like
that is like, uh, and yeah, that character had agency
and was able to be like that's shitty, but you
kept making that joke, my dude. Um uh. And I'm
not saying you can't make jokes that push the envelope
(27:48):
or whatever, because that's always like the that's always the defense.
I'm not saying you can't do that, but like, actually
do that. Don't just be like, oh, well, we're it's
black face, it's whatever. There was this and we've talked
about it. I think you guys have talked about it.
I think as a comedy community, we've all talked about it.
In the two thousands, we were all fucking reckless, man like,
(28:12):
like the currency was be as shocking as you could
do the most. Yes, and that was the currency. And
I think a lot of people have a lot to
reckon with back then. And I think a lot of
us have moved on from that because we recognize that
was shitty and awful and lazy and lazy, not because
I think jokes about race that's like the boss level
(28:35):
of humor and irony. If you can craft actually accurate,
eloquent humor or jokes around race, it's not easy, and
I think a lot of people just do the thing.
We're like, dude, I'm just pointing out that that's racist,
and we're laughing that that thing is racist, and that's lazy,
versus crafting some kind of joke that actually goes deeper
than saying racism exists and actually, you know, exposing the
(28:59):
psyche of the kinds of people who engage in it.
Those are the jokes I find myself. They're almost like
the kind of jokes you don't laugh because they're so
really just go whoa, well, yeah. It's like there's a
huge difference between like, oh, well, you guys are just
supposed to know that I did this thing like the
Sarah Silverman show. You guys are just supposed to know
(29:19):
it was ironic artie. Is that how jokes work? Um,
Because if it's not funny and whatever, it doesn't communicate
the idea. Um. So it's And that was even in
the two thousand's, This was like too recent. And I'm
not saying I have opinions about a cancel about council
(29:44):
culture that I I don't think it fucking exists. First
of all, I think usually the people who were like
oh we canceled blah blah blah, we got them out
of here. It's kids, man being stupid and wanted to
spread memes on on your on your Twitter hash checks,
on your on your tiktoks on what the kids are doing.
Most people who are genuinely thoughtful people are not going
(30:07):
around being like we canceled this, unless they're joking. Um,
it's not about cancel culture. It's about like, Yo, you
did this thing, fucking own up to it, learn and
move on. And I think that when people are able
depending on what they did, because some ship it's like
like you raped a bunch of kids. You don't maybe
(30:28):
you get to just be in jail forever. Um. But
I do think that there is uh a space for
people to learn and grow. But I also think that
like you should probably more than just erasing the ship
that you did, uh, acknowledge the learning and growing. Yeah,
(30:48):
or realize yo, actually need to sub myself out and
I need sub somebody else. In In capitalism, we are
all just fucking ponds, dude. Like it's how much money
we can make this person or that person or whatever.
If you don't make the money, that's when you get
quote unquote canceled because they're like, well, we can't make
money off of you anymore, so we're just gonna move
you off the board. And everyone has a right to
(31:10):
say what they will or will not support monetarily, and
a lot of the stuff I see that's anti cancel
culture is very much like, well, you have to support me,
or you have to support this, not No, I don't
support anything that with with my money and my resources.
That's trash. And that's why companies say like we don't
want to work with anyone anymore, because it's all it's
(31:31):
capitalism all the way down. Jane Krakowski said anything about
being in black face? Does she have a Twitter account?
Or even though what are they like is she absolved
because she didn't write it and she's merely like the
actor because I'm curious to here too, Like it's not
you know, on some level, as a performer, you get
(31:52):
the script and you're looking at you're like, wait, I'm
doing black face in this episode, and you'ther like oh
I'm oh my god, Oh I'm god, I love it.
It's going to be so funny, lo lo lo. Or
did she feel really uncomfortable and just felt that societally,
she wasn't you know, we weren't out of place where
she could speak up and advocate on behalf of you know,
other people. Like it's I'm interesting to see all those
(32:14):
levels because on you know, it's not just Tina Fey, like,
it's also the actor who then embodies the script and
goes out there. And I get it, you have contracts
and things like that, but I'm just curious to know
what they're feeling, what like, what their thought processes in
this moment looking back, wheen Tina Fey seems to be
getting a lot of the headlines well, and and honestly
she should be, as it was her show, she should be. Um, yeah, absolutely,
(32:36):
for sure, for sure. I'm just feel like she has
to account. I'm just curious what that experience is like
for her. I wonder, well, because it's, oh god, it's
like speaking up about anything else. Right, There's a possibility
that she went in and said I am really uncomfortable
with this, or I guess at that point how her
management come in and say we're really uncomfortable with this,
and then someone smoothed it over and says no, like
(32:58):
this is the intent. It's totally gonna be fine. We've
been doing this forever. We know what the line is
and we know that this isn't okay. And um, also,
she is a very talented actress and she is really
funny in that show. Name me major roles that she
(33:18):
has done that hasn't been Tina fe Ali mcbeil tight,
name me major role? Well, no, no, no, And I
think that's great. But like that's where she I don't know, no, no, no, no,
you're right, but like name me in the last like
those were her things and she you know, we and
it does. It sucks, man, but it's you hit your
(33:40):
wagon to a star and it's kind of like this
has taking me to a certain point. And this was
even she wasn't even originally cast for that role that
was supposed to be Um, what's about? Sorry, I can't
think of names right now. My Rachel Rachel Dratch um
in the pilot that was Rachel Dratch and I wound
up being her. And I don't even, man, I don't
know how much people get paid. I'm sure that it's
(34:01):
more than I make. But it's also Jane Crisons, like
she's not bowling over Hollywood and get him a lot
of work. That is one of those things where it's
like this might be my one not to last me
the rest of my life. She was a woman who
was not young. Um, and that makes a difference. And
(34:24):
it doesn't excuse it, but to me it makes more
of a like it's not exactly like she could go
and make a commiserate like when when I talk about
people who work at d O J and people who
work at the White House and other stuff, you would
go to a law office and make that money. You
could go to other places. Yeah, it's not the prestige,
it's not the White House, but you can make that
money elsewhere. I don't Again, what is is she going
(34:48):
to work at her check? Like, what's she gonna do?
There's no place for an actor or actor performer, you know,
to go and just say like, well here's my resume, okay,
so can I get this you know, acting teacher gig
at this high school. Like because the industry is dominated
by this singular way of thinking and a very homogeneous
culture that is running it at the top. That yeah,
(35:11):
like that's the other thing again that to this point
of like that has to be addressed to and broken
up because that's the same thing. Yeah, and even like
with when uh, you know, Jon Stewart was talking about
like the writer's room practices in the Daily Show sort
of like we didn't, you know, we removed, you know,
any kind of names that would signify like gender or
(35:31):
race or anything like that. So we're just going off
the work. But at a certain point, because everybody's thinking
the same, you're just gonna agree with everything that's reflecting
your shared worldview and it's never going to challenge you.
And then you're like, wait, how did we end up
like this? And who is getting let into Harvard? And
who has money to do UCB and who has money
to do these unpaid internships where they can learn how
to write things, and who has blab the thing from
(35:54):
I really like Tina Fey's Bossy Pants memoir, But there's
this past where she talks about like it's like a joke,
a sentence. She's like a very funny writer. But there's
this passage where she writes about how she constructs a
writer's room, and she literally says half of the people
have to be from Harvard and the other half of
(36:14):
the people need to be from Second City or UCB,
it's just like, well, there's your problem, and then one
screwball and one wacky one who does the jokes that
you say, we don't do that. But I'm gonna say
this right now. I have been doing comedy. Okay, I've
been taking a way back. I've been acting for basically
all of my life, Like I mean student stuff, uh,
(36:37):
high school stuff, whatever, But I've been acting for most
of my life. Um, I have been doing stand up
for gosh, I don't know, over a decade. I have
been in l a UM for what six seven years,
and then when I first got here, I was doing, um,
a bunch of temp work and whatever. This is gonna
sound shitty, but it is true. I am, I have
(36:58):
a TV gig. I am working on TV, and it's
very recent. I have just now gotten to the point
where I could afford a fucking UCB class. That's stupid, No,
that's fucking stupid, And and my college is obviously like
that stuff is also trash that I can't afford to
pay for. But um, at least, I mean it's all ship,
(37:19):
but at least those were loans before and I'm not
even kidding, before I got booked on a TV gig
as a writer and to do voice over. I could
not afford a UCB class, right, trash man, Yeah, the
only way I could. Like when I just got in
getting into comedies, when I left politics and I just
(37:41):
had to save a ton of money because I was like, man,
I was just looking at these classes. I'm like, what
the fund is this? Like I gotta pay six hundred
bucks for some guy who I don't think it's funny
to tell me how to write, but ever fucking funny, right,
And I'm like, I guess I know, but I know
the game now and I could write a great game sketch.
But also like when you have of the other thing
is too like you get instructors there who like don't
(38:02):
understand your humor and shift on you or their their
critiques of your work has a dampening effect on your
creativity rather than like being an actual nurturer, like as
a teacher. And then it's you know, there's so many
levels to where there are a lot of cultural mismatches
in comedy where people are like telling groups of people
that that's not funny or this isn't as funny that,
(38:23):
but yet it's it's tough at theater school. And this
was I mean, granted, this was a long time ago.
I won't say how long, but I I would get
notes because I was the only black person in my
theater class. I would get notes that would be like
too urban to this, to that, like why are you
this urban? Why are you this that? Or whatever? Um
and from what and I get I've never I will
(38:45):
say this, I have never experienced working at Second City
or UCB. But for things I've heard from other people,
it's only been very recently where they've been like, oh, yeah,
I guess you're all black team, can like do a
herald or whatever. I guess, Like it's valid and you
don't have to blank yourself totally out because when they say,
and this was an experience I hadn't been for school,
(39:07):
they say, to make yourself neutral. Neutral is white. Neutral
is not any anything else. Neutral is get rid of everything.
That's excuse me, Oh god, I'm burping up coffee every Like.
Neutral is not The default is white. And that is
what is taught in schools is that you that is
your default is you have to talk this way, you
(39:28):
have to whatever, like you have to a Midwestern accent,
you have to be okay with straightening your hair, and
like some things are like okay, like tattoos, whatever, I
pierce things. Okay, I get it, those things are optional.
But yeah, who you are as a human being, you're
as a human being. Yeah, but that that is the expectation.
If you want to get ahead, you have to be neutral,
(39:48):
and being neutral means being white, right, And I think
I think this goes back to how at every level,
no matter where someone is, that you have opportunities to
correct the course of these kinds of things. Like if
you find yourself as a teacher, think of your curriculum
and what you are, what you're communicating to your students,
or if you work somewhere and you know that there's
(40:08):
a way for you to change something where you work
to actually address this problem. Like let's say just say,
well we don't we don't get a lot of black
people who apply for the job. It's probably because you
don't post your job anywhere either, and it could be
so insular that your job is strictly through word of mouth,
and because of that, you've completely cut off people who
are not in your social group or socio economic class.
(40:31):
That's there are things like that just very subtle things
you could look at that are very telling and people
can actually do little things like do that work? Do
you pay for your internships? And if you do, what
colleges are you looking through? Are you just looking for
colleges or are you also looking um? There are very
talented people in all things like it would it be
possible for people to say, I want to do an
(40:52):
internship and yet, um, maybe I did community college, but
I haven't done I'm not at Harvard like maybe i've
done or even um, I've written this many articles that
have been published, or I've written these things. I can
show you my work. Yeah, I didn't get into Yale,
but like I because for some of this, I'm sorry
man for comedy writing. You gotta go to fucking Yale. Man,
(41:15):
I'm sorry. You don't. You don't. You don't need to
be in the lampoon. We're not splitting like an atom's here. Man,
all right, let's take a quick break and we'll be
right back. And we're back real quick. I don't think
(41:37):
we got a chance to talk about They looked at
the security tape. They checked the receipts on that cop
who uh said there was a tampon places, uh, frappuccino uh,
and there's nothing that that didn't happen. Um, So it
seems like the police are really out of touch with
the wonders of video, Like the fucking that was not real.
(42:04):
I thought the tampon bab fucking near with his flo
paccino was the real story and that's not. Oh god,
then who so are people being mean two cops? I
don't get it. It's all these stories are so incredible
because it is watching like watching law enforcement officials essentially
(42:25):
right fan fake of their own persecution in real time
is an incredible exercise to see, Okay, what would be
the most egregious Well, I guess a tampon? What would
a guy like me get it? I guess I would
get a frappuccino place and like just kind of the
A two B two see and and you know, historically, um,
Starbucks has uh less we forget, has perpetuated a lot
(42:50):
of fake anti police violence. When the when the young
lady wrote pig on the guy's cup exactly self harm.
That's all you know, is this self harm. They're truly
just a vile group, you know what I mean. Like
and then when you look broadly at the conservative movement
(43:11):
against Starbucks killing Christmas with their like not putting crosses
on their Christmas cups. It's it's like a lesser version
of that, but it's still the same sort of idea
that like, you can get everybody outraged by claiming Starbucks
is attacking you. Yeah, well, I like the morals to
(43:31):
actually follow through on any of like their supposed boycotts
or anything, because at the end of the day, their
their brains are fully fucked off consumer culture. Like there's
no way that they're like, yeah, you know what, I've
really thought about my place in this consumer cycle, and
actually giving my money to Starbucks isn't what I want.
Aside from them destroying Christmas, I just think as an enterprise,
(43:52):
it's probably not a good idea for me to participate.
It's not that's not what it is. It's just pump faking.
That's all these people do, Just a pump fake. I'm
I won't go, Okay, then don't fuck you. We're doing
the same thing. And watch they still go and they
shut the funk up, and now they're just we'll not alright,
pig on my own cup. Okay, idiot, you're still here
and you gave them your money, you fucking dummy. Now
(44:13):
we're getting this news in just now, but from the
at Starbucks official account, they've announced that the new holiday
cups will be cops on their coups. They're gonna put
cops in Santa outfits on their holiday cups, making everybody happy.
Oh man, just saying pop pop po down the speaking
(44:37):
of front row seat. Uh So, I did just want
to do this quick guessing game of what do you
think the classic movie is that has topped the box
office at like drive through movie theaters? And I will
just say that I think it. I think it would
be a fun movie to watch at a drive through.
I I'm trying to think of what I've seen it
(45:00):
is for, because I know, like in l A, I've
seen the older movies. I've seen them advertise have been
um like one was et and another was like, p
it is some another eighties movie? It's it? What decade
is it? From? Nineties? Oh? Nineties? Movie is okay? I
have I have a thought. I have a thought. Yeah,
(45:22):
is an Independence Days? What do you say? I'm again no, no.
So the reason I think it's kind of appropriate is
because a lot of the movie takes place in a
parked car or parked cars. Oh mm hmmm, wait you
know oh uh the morning after No No? Is that real?
(45:48):
Or is that a pill? I think I thought that
that was an apocalypse movie after Tomorrow you mean oh
right right, oh yeah, because they're kind of like huddled
up in cars, like freezing a lot of time. Wait
wait what, okay, what is it? Jurassic Park is up
(46:09):
there too that you were on the right track with Spielberg.
But yeah, Jurassic Park the number one movie in in
America last weekend. It's like the number one theater dollars.
But still this feels like the thing like in my
mind I thought like a like a solar like a
(46:32):
solar flash, you know, magnetic fo like wiping out the
world Earth's electronics. And I'm like, that's why I have
all the albums I will ever want to listen to
on vinyl, where I will never on the c D.
I can always have this ship on I don't give
a funk. There can be no electricity. I can hand
crank that ship and put my ear nears the needle
and I can still hear j Dilla. So there's ship
like that where like this feels like that world where
(46:55):
our technology has ceased. So then all we can do
is just completely go retrospective now with all the media
we can do, and it's like, all right, yeah, get
ready for the re release of Babs. Alright, but act
like you wouldn't see Baps in a drive through saw Babs.
I've saw Baps in the theater, okay, and I know
(47:16):
I have that ticket stuff somewhere I saw at the
AMC North. Whatever happened to the short Chubby one, It's fine,
we'll talk about this. Other are yeah, Justice, mhmm. But
the top ten is Jurassic Park, Jaws at number two,
then The Invisible Man. So there's like some newer movies,
Trolls World Tour at number four, The Hunt, which is
(47:38):
I think a movie I think that was like not
no one cared that the controversy was more than the
movie was worth. Oh that's right, that's right, it was.
Remember I think it was both maybe then Back to
the Future and then uh a new movie followed, then
(48:00):
E T and Jumanji, then the Goonies. It's like my
favorite movies A lot of yeah, a lot of them
were released kind of around vaguely this week. Um So,
I think a lot of people are like, well, it's
not necessarily an anniversary that you care about. But it's
because I think Back to the Future was released around
thirty five years ago. It makes sense. I think the
(48:21):
first I don't know, man, you can't quote me, but
I think it was released like like there is close
enough to an anniversary where things are like, it's back
to the Future, man, we'll just do it. And also
it's like good marketing from the Drive the drive ins
because Jack, for that exact reason, you're like, oh I
love that movie. Guess what, You're the dad driving the
kids to the dry you know what I mean, So
(48:42):
if you can bait the parents, like because it's also
funny like when now we're in that phase I remember
like movies like my parents like, oh, you're gonna love this.
I used to love If I love it, You're gonna
love this one. And I'm like, what the fuck? Andromeda
Strain is bullshit? Bro, Like I don't like this ship
Like I was too young. I was too young, That's
what I'm saying. Or like Thunder he's like, oh man,
(49:03):
this James Bond. I'm like, this is old as ship. Bro.
This looks dumb as fun to me, but I remember
that excitement of like a parent trying to be like
you're gonna like this and be like trying to get
you excited about the thing that they're excited about you.
I'm like, put, So, what do you get into the
old James Bond movies? Yeah? I get Yeah, that's a
good question because I know drive So what do I
(49:24):
just like pay an uber driver to hang out with
me for? How do I know? Do I have to
date so I can go see movies? Now? Hey, you're
sitting You're sitting on a genius rom com script that
Lifetime will probably buy immediately met you. I wonder if
you could just like ride your bike up or like
what you know, like and just because it's still because
(49:47):
if people are getting uh gone out the paint for
trying to get through a drive through for Wendy's, I'm
not doing it for you know what I mean, Like
I'm not. But yeah, so this is like I haven't
I'm single during record, I don't and I don't have
a car. Okay, so you know, hop in let's let
people offer rides at the very least, do you want
(50:08):
to borrow a car okay, see date in the front,
me in the back of the way God intended. It's
it's a it's a date, mullet date, mummy. All right,
that's gonna do it. For this week's weekly Zeitgeist. Please
like and review the show. If you like the show,
(50:29):
uh means the world of Miles. He needs your validation, folks.
I hope you're having a great weekend and I will
talk to him Monday. By