Ep 10: Francesca Fiorentini | Fascism Hates a Good Punchline - In the Meanwhile

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Francesca Fiorentini (00:00):
Democrats are trying to figure out, 'oh, how do we get to

(00:02):
the, you know, men, how do we?' Movementpeople have fucking paved the way for you.
We have laid the breadcrumb trailsaway from the witch's house.
The wolves are at the door, forget thedoor, they're in the house, and you're
still trying to do status quo politics?

(00:23):
What are we doing?

Nora Kenworthy (00:32):
Welcome back to In the Meanwhile, the podcast where the vibes
are questionable, the news is unbearable,and somehow we still manage to laugh.
Mostly so we don't crawlback into bed at 9:00 AM.
I'm Nora Kenworthy.

Marcus Harrison Green (00:43):
And I'm Marcus Harrison Green.
You know, Nora, could you explain to mewhy every time I check the headlines, I
feel like I accidentally stumbled into agroup chat run by white nationalists, gun
nuts, and in sales who think enthusiasticconsent means not getting maced on site.

Ugh.
It is exactly the worldwe live in, Marcus.
We cannot unsubscribe from thisdumpster fire of American late stage
capitalism, but we can bring on guestswho can help us make sense of it, uh,
help us rage and laugh, uh, to keep usfrom throwing our phones into traffic.

Marcus Harrison Green: We so need more of that. (01:17):
undefined
Like with all the misinformationflying around, I was just
ready to embrace pure fantasy.
Like for once, could my algorithm sendme a headline about free student debt
cancellation or universal healthcare?
I mean, my God.

Seriously.
I, I would happily observe thatmisinformation, but that'll happen
the day that Jeff Bezos gives hiswarehouse workers health insurance
that isn't just a first aid kid.
Or when Elon Musk stops naminghis kids after wifi password,

ah, that'll be the 12th of never as we know.
My God.
I will, I'll continue to dream though.
I will continue to dream my friend.

And it, that is why I think today's guest is so important
and such a personal favorite.
Um, I have to say, I am personallyfangirling out a little bit.
Same this week.

Same

because we have with us Francesca Fiorentini.

Yes.
You might know her from the habitationroom, AJ Plus, or that viral clip where
she made abolish ice sound less likea pipe dream and more like a dinner.
Table there.
She's a comedian and journalistwho proves you can go for the
jugular and still land a punchline.

One of the reasons we wanted to talk to Francesca is
that she's fearless about saying whatso-called progressive outlets won't,
whether it's free Palestine or defundthe police, or just the audacity of
pointing out the billionaires aren'tactually smarter than the rest of us.
They're just better at hoarding wealth.

Marcus Harrison Green: Oh God, the audacity. (02:42):
undefined
The audacity, um, well, she, as mostpeople know, who are familiar with
her work, is very sharp, funny, andrefuses to water down her politics.
So some cable news execcan sleep at night.
Honestly we, we need that.
We need more of that because if wecan't laugh at fascism while also
plotting its downfall, then I thinkthe bastards may have already won Nora.

Mm-hmm.
So grab a snack, grab a friend, uh, maybeyour favorite emotional support animal.
Um, and let's chat it up.
Here's Francesca Fi and de indeed.

So Francesca, you said news comedy is what we need
if we're going to survive this wave offascism that we are undergoing right now.
Like why do you think comedy cando what traditional political
media just can't right now?

I wish it weren't the case that comedy can do things that
traditional news media cannot because.
It says a lot about traditionalnews media that often we look
to comedians to like cut throughthe noise or ask a hard question.

(04:03):
Or in the case of the fascist and theauthoritarians, we look to comedians
to launder our BS because you see,whether it's, you know, Trump going
on the, you know, these, what is it,the Andrew Schultz all in podcast,
wherever it's called, um, to BenjaminNetanyahu going on the Nel Boys.

(04:23):
I mean, these are very softball interviewsand so it's funny because comedians
are being, are, are, I think we're ina moment where comedians are being.
You just completely useful idiotsand sadly because of how different
the second Trump administration is interms of, you know, where traditional

(04:46):
news media is, both, um, in termsof the backing and the commitment
to actual news and the integrity.
You've got, you know, CBSsettlements and the Paramount merger.
You know, and I know we'regonna talk about Colbert, but

Music (05:01):
Right.

Um, it is.
It is almost on.
You know, I think, I think a lot ofpeople naturally look to comics and
just like mockery to both lightenthe load of everything that we deal
with every single day, but also toget some amount of accountability.

(05:22):
I mean, people really, you know,when you have a Bill Burr or a
John Stewart or someone who canlike, break through the bs, they're
often like a breath of fresh air.
They feel like, you know, jumpinginto a cold lake because we've been
so deprived of real accountability asa lot of media outlets bend the knee.

(05:44):
Um, so that's why I think, um, newscom that, that, that's why I think
comedy can do something that sadly newsoutlets have abdicated for a long time.
Um, because of the way, again, capitalismis created, just nothing but the.
Private equity mergers and, you know,all kinds of layoffs and, um, I don't

(06:07):
think comedians should be looked to.
But also I'm someone who like thinkswe have to mock all of these fools.
Like last on this, Donald Trump.
Donald Trump ran in 20, you know, in 2015when he announced and Huffington Post,
I think put him in the entertainmentsection or like the comedy section.

Music (06:31):
Right.

And I remember there was a critique of like, we
didn't take him seriously enough.
And to me, I feel like weactually did the opposite.
I think news media gassed him.
Mm. Um, mm-hmm.
Took, they normalized his insanity.
They normalized things like,remember the wall, how quaint
it all seems that long ago.

(06:51):
And the right move actuallywas to treat him like a joke.
That is how we need to be treating some ofthese idiots who are running our country.
And so it's twofold.
It's soothing all of our pain, the veryreal pain people are going through,
but also really kind of, you know,this is the emperor has no clothes

(07:12):
moment and we all have to kind of be,especially comedians have to be that,
you know, the boy pointing at the, the,the gross balls that are hanging out.

Right.
Like a I've to your point, that's,that's a nice, that's a gross ball point.
This is all, all kind ofvividness right there.
I got, yeah.
So you're welcome.
Can't scrub that from my brain.
Um, but yeah.
Yeah, I mean, like to your point, like Iremember the CBS President at the time,
uh, you know, even before they sort of.

(07:43):
The, the knee most recently to Trump.
I, this was back in two, 2015.
He was saying that, you know,Trump might be bad for the nation.
Right.
But they're good for thebottom line in terms of Yep.
You know, the, the moneyand the advertising res
revenue that was coming in.
I, I do want to ask you, and this isseriously present, company accepted, but.
When I was growing up, I mean, we'rearound the same age in our, you

(08:04):
know, the, the, the north side of 40.
Um, but you know, the brown doesn'tfrown and black doesn't crack.
So we looking, you know,looking, looking alright.

But if you, but if you Google me for a while, I
was coming up as like a 55-year-oldItalian opera singer, which, yeah.
Which is very funny.
And I was like, no,

I thought, I thought you just had a great
like, skincare regime or something.
It was, but no, it's a yes,

but no, no, I'm almost 40.
I'm 42.
I'm gonna be 42 in September.

So it, you know, but I'll say it seemed like comedians
used to be, and again, present, companyaccepted, they were like the, the
most, they were the smartest amongstus, the wittiest that seemed like
they had, you know, very high IQs.
Um, and I'm sorry to sound like thecoastal elite that I am, but you know, I
was listening to the Vaughn the other day.
He's talking to Hanana and he islike, what does the word convene mean?

(08:52):
Like, I don't know, you know, he'sasking him to stop, to explain
the word convene and I'm like.
These people have millions of followers.
And I mean, like, I like what,what is the re shouldn't there
be some more responsibility thatcomes with, comes with that?
I don't know.
You know, whether youare a comedian or not.

I mean, you know, we have a dumb guy for president
because we, I mean, the right has sowedthis culture of anti-intellectualism
that, like, I do really think that, youknow, the, the, the, you know, the Pete
Buttigieg is, and the Kamala Harris iswhen she's, you know, getting po like

(09:32):
poetic and even the Hakeem Jeffrieswho speaks in haikus half the time.
I just feel like whether it's inpolitics or in culture, there is
something about being very directand kind of like dumbing it down.
In fact, that's actually as ajourney for me being, trying to
hone my craft as a standup is about.

(09:54):
Trying not to get a fewpaces ahead of the audience.
'cause then you're gonnalose the, the laughs.
It's not just, um, about, you know,people, I, of course people are my shows
who don't always politically agree withme or don't even follow the news or don't
know what the hell I'm talking about.
And so trying to, um, write in a waythat is inclusive and brings people

(10:14):
along and is, is accessible is somethingI've always tried to do throughout news
broke, which was my news, news, comedy,explainers that I still now do for the
situation room is like, how can this be?
Niche in a way that, that it feels likeit's, I'm someone's learning something
new or that there's something revealed,but accessible in a way that is like,

(10:38):
I'm still making a dumb, you know,like wine mom joke or like whatever
it might be, something relatable.
I think that is like thebrilliance of good standup.
That's a brilliance of goodwriting and especially writing
that has like a, a purpose.
And you see that a lot withlike John Oliver can do it well.
Um, and it's funny because whereasin the first Trump administration, I

(11:01):
think we had this explosion of newscomedy, especially desk monologue shows.
It was just like everyone was dunkingon the Orange man, orange Man this
Orange Man that, and it's like, I doalso think it didn't do shit like it,
there is a limit to how much mm-hmm.
Comedy can do.
And so for me, I've alwayswanted to, you know, um.

(11:24):
And I think some of the, thehardest hitting stuff are the people
who are actually in the streetstalking to folks, which is a risk.
I mean, it's a physical personal riskwhen you go out and talk to maga.
Um, you know, when they'reall amped up and uh, you know,
whatever, whatever they're on.
Um, and um, but people like WalterMasterson I think are brilliant.

(11:45):
You know, I think theGood Liars are brilliant.
Um, I think it's important to name, theseare all like white men who sort of like.
Go in and out of these spaces easily.
Um, but there was something that wasvery toothless to the news comedy that
was happening back in the first Trumpyears because it was all very safe.
No one was actually really in the streets.

(12:05):
No one was actually doing standup orlike mocking, you know, Sam b would
have some segments, but going to like,you know, a Ted Cruz, um, you know,
a book release or, or like how, whoare the powerful people like now?
Like what would that look like?
It's like, who are the people behindthis insane Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

(12:27):
plan to so-called feed people of Gaza?
But in fact they're being, they're being.
Killed and slaughtered.
Well, they're in, they're based in Boston,so let's go and talk to 'em like that.
To me, that's like the bird dogging,that's the kind of like yellow
journalism that, like the specialsauce in the show I have pitched
before, but never have gotten to make.

(12:48):
Is that like basically jackass forjournalists or like journalism jackass?
Like how are we going hard in the paint?
Maybe, you know, you've, you've seenKlepper, Jordan Klepper does this too.
Going hard in the paint, butalso holding people accountable.
It's like, you don't, don't just getit to the ledge of like, oh, we're
now we're gonna make a stupid joke.

(13:09):
No, no, no.
Make a, a good joke.
Make a searing joke about the powerfulor about the idiots who, you know, like.
Or walking around marching in khakis andsaying, you know, Jews will not replace
us, or whatever the hell they're doing.
Like, that's com like that to me.
I mean, it's dangerous,it's dangerous comedy.
Mm-hmm.
But that's sort of where, um, where Iwish we would have gone in this time.

Yes.
I really want you to beable to make that show.

Francesca Fiorentini: I know, I know, I know. (13:37):
undefined
Oh, we called it Social Justice Warriors.
That was the name.
Oh God, that's so great.
'cause back in the day, like not the day.
Well, when I, we pitched it in 2016.
And it was wild.
'cause you're in these rooms.
We had the meetings before Trump gotelected meetings on the book, get
in the room, and these executives inHollywood are like, it sounds mean.

(13:59):
That sounds like, it just seemslike a little mean-spirited.
'cause because remember back in2016, as soon as Trump won all
media outlets, all executives werelike, what have we been missing?
Yeah.
How do we reach the racists?
Like, maybe we need to hold hands.
We're in our bubbles.
Remember the bubble talk?
Mm-hmm.
Or we're in our bubbles.

(14:19):
Bullshit.
That was the time to double down to doa show that was kind of in your face
and like, you know, um, so anyway,yeah, it was just interesting to see
the inside of the way that even sortof the gatekeepers to things like a
a, a news comedy show that really hassome teeth, um, ultimately are scared
to shit of, you know, there's like, ah,let's just make another reality show.

(14:43):
Let's just make anotherlove island, you know?
Mm-hmm.

Well, I, I wanna push this a little bit further, um, into the kind
of the, the sort of immediate environmentthat you find yourself in right now.
I mean, we have media institutions,very large media institutions, not just
collapsing, but capitulating basically,um, to an extraordinary degree right now.
And so I guess I'm like, if youcould dream up a sustainable,

(15:10):
radical left media ecosystem, whatwould that actually look like?
And, and, and who's doing it and how canit be supported and, and, and fostered?

I don't know.
So many have tried andfailed to do exactly that.
I mean, every, every few months Ihear of like, whoa, this is gonna
be like a, you know, I mean, airAmerica had their moment and arguably
that was like fairly successful,though it got pulled way too soon.
You know, during, you know, inthe early two thousands, but

Music (15:46):
mm-hmm.

I always hear about people who are like, oh, this is gonna
be like, you know, a, a, a liberal, youknow, or like a left, um, you know, 24
hour news network, or this is gonna be theliberal blank, or this is gonna be, and
the reality is, um, especially now, you,that's not where the people are, right?
The people are on thesemassive, you know, news.

(16:10):
I mean, the people are on thesemassive platforms, corporate platforms
like Meta and Facebook and Instagramand TikTok and YouTube, and they're
getting pennies on their content.
And so to me.
It's, it's very, it, it would be verydifficult to start something that had,

(16:32):
that could actually be sustainable withoutalmost making it a campaign of boycott.
Like, of being against theseplatforms specifically because they
spy on us, specifically becausethey steal our content specifically.
'cause they don't pay us fairly.
Like, you'd have to reallymake a conscious break and, and

(16:52):
almost like utilize a moment.
I mean, you could imagine like BLMor Palestine say like, these, these
are the outlets and it's hard becausethe reason people know about genocide
is because of TikTok or Instagram.
So it's like, how do we balance this?
Um, these very, I think, you know, veryevil platforms that we all use and rely

(17:16):
on every day to get our message out.
So I think that it's just like,but I do think the moment the time
is coming where it's like, okay.
Can we create both a boycott,but then what do we go to?
What do we support?
I know Blue Sky has been like aninitiative, and Blue Sky is apparently
rolling out a video platform, whichI can't, I mean, or a Instagram like

(17:37):
platform, which I'd be very excited by.
But it's things like that and I thinkit would require money, but it's like,
yeah man, Disney plus is $10 a month.
You know, like all thesethings are cost money.
And pretty soon who, who among usdoes not think that in our lifetimes
you're gonna be paying $5 a month forInstagram or you know, we're gonna be
moving to that fucking model anyway.

(17:58):
So I'm just like.
It, but you need, and I don'tknow, I'm terrible with money.
Why are you asking me?
But I'm like, you, you wouldneed a lot of seed money.
You need like a, a starter.
And I think it has to be like acultural break from what we already use.
'cause if we're already going back tothe things that we use and we don't

(18:18):
punish them, um, and there is, you know,it's just not, it's not gonna catch on.
And I also think you need somemoney so people can, um, get paid.
You know, like they get paid on YouTubeor they get, you know, they don't
really get paid on TikTok or Instagram.
There's an initiative called News Sphere,um, that I know is being started by
journal, some journalists to do reallydirect, like on the ground journalism.

(18:42):
Um, people who've beenlet go by their outlets.
A lot of international journalists.
And it's a whole integrated platform.
It's a, an app and it's dope.
But I'm like, they're like, doyou wanna, do you wanna come on?
But, and I was like, yeah, butI, I. I can't give my, like, I
rely on these other, I rely onthese evil people for some money.

(19:03):
This is a very long answer.
That should be cut.
But you hear what I'm saying.

I was gonna say, Francesca, if you wanted to
shamelessly plug your own Patreon atthis point, this is, you know, yeah.
And there's opportune time.

The point is patreon.com/situation room $5 a month,
$10 a month gets you a shout out.
Um, yeah, no, I think it's, it's reallytough and I think it will, will require
a lot of, um, banding together betweencontent creators to withhold our materials

(19:36):
and move them away and, or like, you know.
I mean, shit, we couldalso do it top down.
I mean, waiting for ourdemocratic socialists to break
up big tech and to democratize.
Mm-hmm.
Um, places like Facebook, placeslike Instagram, places that should
be like property of the people.
We could also do it that way.

(19:57):
I don't know.
I'm open.
I'm open.
Mm-hmm.

It also strikes me that just like generationally, we're
not all in the same place anymorewhen it comes to media, right.
I mean, this isn't, sounds likesuch an obvious thing to say, but
as someone who teaches generationsyounger than me, I am, I know how out
of touch I am with like what 20 yearolds are watching or engaging with.
But I also see like, you know, my parentsstill sit down and watch the nightly news

(20:22):
every night, you know, and our generationis this like weird, uncomfortable
InBetween of like not trusting traditionalinstitutions and not being cool enough
to use new media a lot of the time.
And I. I wonder if we're ever allgonna get back to the same place
where we get our information andnews from a similar type of media.

And I really wanna like put that into a broader
context because it's been so many yearsnow and I feel like this same, the,
it is not about the media platform.
And I feel that so strongly that it's notabout, oh, the fact that Instagram exists,
or TikTok exists, or YouTube exists.

(21:02):
It's not about that.
It's about what are people getting therethat they are not getting from cable,
from, you know, your nightly news.
Why wouldn't they buy the subscription?
'cause people getsubscriptions all the time.
People use stuff all the time.
And media has been cracking.
Its, you know, breaking its brain tryingto, how do we reach out to Gen Z our,

(21:27):
you know, our viewership is dying.
It's like number one, how aboutputting some young people.
On your shows.
Yeah.
For analysis.
Um, but number two, how about speakingabout the issues that people care
about, whether it is the economyand how much folks are struggling,
whether it is ICE in our communities,rating our family members and DACA

(21:49):
recipients terrified for their status.
You know, what if it is, um,you know, a socialist, um,
what if it is about housing?
Like get some real shit.
Get some real voices.
Get some real people who come,come correct and are captivating,
but they can't do that.

(22:10):
And so I'm reminded of this conversationthat's happening right now around
mayoral, you know, candidate.
But you know, the nomineefor the Democratic party in
New York is a run mom, Donny.
And a lot of Democrats are like,oh, he just used media really well.
No, no he didn't.
He used media fine, but he's also.

(22:32):
Speaking to the needs of people, and ashe would say, relentlessly focused on the
working class, like the message matters.
And so mm-hmm.
I think that's what's been sorevelatory with this moment.
It's just like, you are like,oh, where is the, where are
everyone's getting their news from?
Different sources.
Yeah.
Because you lost their trusttime and time and time again.

(22:55):
Whether it was the Iraq war, whether itwas Occupy, whether it was bbl m, whether
it was Palestine, you lost their trust.
Palestine.
I mean, the fact that newsoutlets will not cover the
genocide, honestly, has lost them.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, a, an entiregeneration of viewers.
Viewers and audience,

why, why do you think they've so forcefully
sidestepped the conversations thatpeople wanna have in particular?
I mean, just the abomination of thecoverage of Palestine, um, and Gaza.

I mean, it's the same reason that anyone sidesteps
the conversation about Palestine.
It's that they're cowards andit's wild to think that even
people who have so much money.
Um, would be so cowardly still.
And I think it's also a, um, it'sa total slight of the younger
generations and people speaking aboutit, thinking that they're irrelevant.

(23:57):
Um, you know, and it's the samesort of like, just with voters
and viewers, it's the same.
It's like, well, we're gonnago to the middle because
these are the reliable voters.
We're gonna get the three swingvoters versus the millions of young,
usually brown and black people, uh, inthis country who could be mobilized.
It's the same thing with viewership.
It's like, we're gonna get thepeople who already have their cable

(24:19):
subscription or they're, you know,they're watch sitting down and watching
the news hour, not, we're not gonnatry to get, reach them, you know?
Um, and so, but it's just cowardice.
And I do think it is, you know, um, whothey are more afraid of, whether it's,
I mean, just politically going against.

(24:40):
Israel saying something critical, goingagainst APAC is like the third rail.
You never do it.
You never touch it.
And standing with Israel has beencollapsed into standing with all
Jews, and we know that's not true.
And so the ostensible, um, progressivewoke thing to do is to always

(25:01):
support Israel's right to existin quotations and say a bunch of
empty phrases no matter, you know,turn a blind eye to all the fascism
that you supported in this country.
As you know, white nationalistschanted Jews will not replace us as
the Tree of Life's synagogue massacrehappened inspired by Donald Trump.
No, no, no.
We can't really talk aboutthe real threat to Jews.

(25:21):
We have to talk about, you know, ourblind support for this militarized
and, you know, uh, nation that ismodeled on apartheid and ethnic
superiorities is say nothing of theethnic cleansing and the genocide in Gaza.
So it's just like, you know, it's, um.
It's just easier, right?
And so that's the other thing.

(25:42):
It's like I'm someone who talks aboutpolitics, but I'm also in the media
space and there's just this likepsychic break between people who
will speak honestly about what ishappening and people who won't, which
is why you have the right wingers.
The Marjorie Greens or the TheoVaughns, the kind of like outlier,

(26:02):
random dumb asses who are not.
Inculcated in, in the lobby to thepoint where they are not, they're
not being like trained to saythe thing you're supposed to say.
So they're just being honest 'causethey're calling it like they see it.
Um, which is, uh, very annoying.

God.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just, I don't even know what to say onthat, to be honest with you into this.
Yeah.
It's a whole

Crosstalk (26:30):
conversation.

No, it's, it's actually funny though.
You, you bring some of that up.
Like, you know, my partner is Jewish anduh, a couple of her friends are, are.
Friends her, some of her family membersare, are Zionists and they, you know,
had been sort of criticizing her forjust even going to your show, um,
in Seattle, you know, this weekend.
And she was like,

Crosstalk (26:51):
yes, yes.
Take that fire.
Take that fire.
And

they're like, why, why aren't you protesting her and her
Fran tfa or as, as I believe you call it?
And she was like, I'll,I'll be in the front row.
I'm, I'm part of the ffa.
So it's, it's just good to knowthat your message is certainly
continues to have an impact.
And, um, yeah, don't, don'tlet the haters hate, I guess is
what, is what I would say to you.

I mean, what's wild right?
Is like, you know,
is it like my, the person who I'm, I'm,one of the people I'm having on obviously
is my husband who's Jewish and one ofthe, has been a comedian, very much
outspoken against what's happening there.
And, but that is not enough, you know?

(27:35):
Right.
It's Zionism.
It's not about Judaism.
Some of the biggest Zionists in thiscountry are Christian and um mm-hmm.
If you speak out and you areJewish, you're irrelevant.
It's like you don't exist.
It's like, and, and yet it'sthe only way we're gonna stop.
What's happening, I think, is if, uh,Jewish Americans, um, who have been

(27:57):
leading this for decades, not justsince October 7th, but if they get more
support, um, they convince they havethose hard conversations, they piss
off their relatives who don't want themgoing to that podcast, and then maybe
their relatives, you know, maybe take alisten or they think about it different.
And um, you know, that's thislike hard work that we have to do.

Right.
As I tell them, justcome, come to your show.
Make sure it's sold out and,you know, see, see for yourself.
Everybody makes, so anyhow, um, outoutside of getting some of these folks a
dictionary, uh, you know, you talk aboutthe need for, you know, folks on the left
to just sort of stop paying attention andreacting to many of these, uh, bad actors

(28:46):
and podcasters on the right, whether it's,you know, Schultz or, or Joe Rogan or
Theo Vaughn, and I know they're different.

Even Piers Morgan, you know?
Yeah.
I, um, even that dude, yeah,

I, I, yeah, you and I only ever watch him with, if you are on
there, like dunking on him or Mei Hassan.
But other than, other than that, but,but that being said, like what, what
narrative should the left start tohave and actually create as opposed
to just, you know, something thatthey have to react to us about and.

(29:18):
And respond to us about, asopposed to us just, you know,
constantly needing to react to them.

I mean, that's what's so painful about the last.
You know, 30 years, 20 years, is thatthe left already has, I mean, as much
as the right wants to say they arecultural leaders or that, you know,
um, they're the ones selling out arenasand they're the ones who've got their
ear to the ground and they're theones speaking to, you know, lost men.

(29:48):
Um, it's bullshit because, uh, theirstreet movements look like Nazi rallies
and they're small also, uh, their streetmovements look like, um, Charlottesville
and their street movements murder people.
Um, and our street movements are massive.
What is it?
70% of all Americans participated ina Black Lives Matter demonstration.

(30:09):
I mean, there were Black Lives Matterdemonstrations where, where black people
didn't live, you know, like, and it.
That I think is real culture.
The problem is, again, the gatekeepersbetween the very righteous cries of
the majority of Americans and whatis acceptable, um, to the powerful,

(30:34):
to the politicians, to our media.
There's a gulf, a massive gulf,and Joe Biden, I think in 2020
used, used the narrative wisely.
When he, um, sat down withBernie in the campaign.
He tried to make these overtures.
I'm gonna be the most progressivepresidents in Sep DR. He, you know,

(30:56):
was very much making overtures tothe Black Lives Matter movement.
It was very clear that, you know,we talked about this on news broke,
that that movement helped Biden win.
And what did he do in office?
Nothing.
Right.
The movements have been there, theleft has set the narrative right.
We've set that narrative aroundend us funding to Israel.

(31:18):
It is out there.
I mean, you know, don't make me go tothe Luigi stuff, you know what I mean?
Like, and that's not even left.
It's just like people somehow thinkit's justified to murder A CEO.
How the hell of a healthcarecompany, how rotten does your
country have to be on this life ordeath issue to get to that point?

(31:40):
But that's not where the money is.
No one's gonna take that up.
And so I've been, I've been grapplingthat with, with that myself.
It's like, you know, Democratsare trying to figure out, oh, how
do we get to the, you know, men,how do we movements people have.

(32:01):
Fucking pave the way for you.
We have laid the breadcrumb trails,um, you know, away from the witch's
house, and you're just like,let's, let's not follow that trail.
Um, so I think that's,that's the big thing.
That is, that is the massive, um,crisis of legitimacy that, that

(32:23):
the entire liberal establishmentis going through right now.
I've, I don't think I've been in a,I don't think I've lived through a
moment with more of a groundswellshift away from centrist liberalism
where people are calling into question.
We've got.

(32:43):
The wolves at the door, forget thedoor, they're in the house and you're
still trying to do status quo politics.
What are we doing?

I mean, it always cracks me up to think that like progressives
have, like Beyonce and Taylor Swift andlike 70% of Americans protesting for B
BBL m and like the other side has liketrying to sell being a tra wife, you know?
Yeah.
Like,

and they get so much play.
How many times I have women this tra wifeinfluencer we're like, shut up, shut.
No one

wants to be a tra wife.
Yeah.
And

it's so, it's so top down too.
It's so Peter Thiel right now is investinga bunch of money in, in, um, specifically
influencers that target young girls.
I mean, yeah.
It's just so amazing we're talking.
Yeah.
We're in a time where like, you know.
Half this country can't get safe.
Abortion access.

(33:38):
And we're like, what's wrong with the men?

Crosstalk (33:41):
Motherfucker,

what's wrong?
Whatcha talking aboutwomen are dying right here?
Like, like, like way to reinforcepatriarchy and also reveal that
you were never really seriousabout taking it down, right?

Music (33:54):
Mm-hmm.

Crosstalk (33:55):
That

we're having these apples to oranges
conversations like, no, no, no.
All the window dressing you didaround abortion rights, around racial
justice, around economic justice.
It was exactly that.
It was window dressing around healthcare.
It was all window dressing.
We want some real shit to happen.

I just, I just gotta ask you like, what, what
keeps you being a real one for real?
Like, I, we were talking about Barry,Barry Weiss and the free press and
about how she, you know, she's, Ithink it's a million dollars a month or
something that her organization gets.
I can't, and I,

and I'm, I'm gonna immediately delete that
from my brain knowing that shemakes a million dollars a month.

So what.
Serious in, in all seriousness, like whatkeeps you not from doing that grift and
just, you know, you, you have literallyturned down opportunities that would
have, you know, for a few dollars more,you would've, you know, you would've
had these golden handcuffs of like, inM-S-N-B-C or, or Young Turks or something.
Like what?
Maybe not, maybe not the YoungTurks, but you know, some No, there's

no, no one, yeah.
No, no, no, no.
That didn't happen there.
But I mean, even like workingat Al Jazeera, I think it was
important, I love Al Jazeera.
I think they do excellent work.
Um, I, I just needed to challengemyself into doing something different.
And again, I think we talked about this,Marcus, but kind of having this, if you
build it, they will come, uh, mentality.
And I do think like we have again, thischasm, this, um, missed opportunity

(35:24):
that so many progressives, leftistsyoung people want in their media, um,
which is straight talk funny, um, and.
Accessible again, not like too highbrow,um, and not too up your own ass.
And I think there arepeople who do that well.

(35:45):
I mean, again, I just call him out.
But Bill Burr is someone who is cutthrough a lot of that bull bullshit.
And Bill Burr is by no means a, you know,careful politically correct comedian.
I mean, if you've ever seen him,he's kind of lays in on anybody.
And, um, you can't really pinhim down because he is just
being himself, he's being honest.

(36:06):
Um, and that's very attractive.
But I don't know.
For me, I mean it's 'cause I'm,I'm trying, what would I wanna see?
Who, how do, what do I respond to?
And I, I try to model that andI, I, I don't know, I think.
I don't fucking, I haven't had, Ihaven't had enough opportunities.

(36:31):
Um, it's easy to not sellout when no one's asking you
to do, you know what I mean?
So I haven't had enoughopportunities to be like, no,
fuck you, fuck you Comedy Central.
I will do this, but I'll letyou know, I'll let you know
when, uh, when that happens

with, if Peter till with his war book starts,
starts coming to you, then, then may,you know, we'll, that's how we'll
know if you're really a real one.

I mean, it is scary to me to see the amount
of billionaires who are reinvestingin this cultural space, in the
comedy space, in the influencerspace, in the social media space.
Mm-hmm.
And they have bankrolled, um,you know, progressive voices.
And that's just something I, I don't thinkI would ever do unless, unless I was like.

(37:18):
Made it into a joke or was ahundred percent honest with it,
or just like made, spent halfthe time bashing them, you know?

Crosstalk (37:24):
Mm-hmm.

You know, um, this is a weird aside, but like Hugo Chavez,
whatever you think of him, he put a lotof money into media during their 21st
century socialist revolution in Venezuela.
Nicholas Maduro is a terrible person.
Hugo Chavez had some moments, and, um,part of his like push was to fund media

(37:48):
that also was critical of him, you know?
And so like that to me was, is a shiningexample of like real democracy, you know?
And so it's like, um.
Yeah, I just, just some like, I'mjust thinking about like, what if
you can't be critical of the placethat you're getting funding from,

(38:10):
then that's probably a bad thing.
I mean, even when I was working at AlJazeera, like the, the news would cover
like, uh, the World Cup when they had itin 2022 and they were like, um, by the
way, they were talking about like, youknow, deaths from workers and they were
like, by the way, uh, Al Jazeera is inpart funded by the Qatari government.
And lately they like had to say that, youknow, um, I wasn't working there during

(38:31):
the World Cup, otherwise I would've beenvery tempted to do something about that.

Um, isn't that just a damn shame that you have a dictator?
It our quote unquote dictatorin Hugo Chavez who was willing
to fund media critical of him.
And you have a president herewho is like threatening to take
away, like broadcasting licensesof, of media just because he
doesn't like a joke that they say.
I mean, I, no, I,

I think the me, I think actually Latin America
and I lived in Argentina for fiveyears and studied this a little bit.
I think actually there's a lot of, um.
There are a lot of governments thathave modeled how you would go about
democratizing your media becausefor example, in Venezuela it was
like strictly owned by the 1%.

(39:16):
So the only public AirWave was like,you know, your PBS was used by Chavez
to like get his message out, you know,and similarly in Argentina, they would
do something really interesting thatI thought Biden should have done,
which was, come on Channel nine, whichwas their publicly owned channel.
Um.
And say, Hey, look at the, uh, new roadswe're building up in the Chaco region.

(39:38):
Like look at the, uh, sewagesystem we put in, in this region.
And sort of like heralding, youcan imagine Obama or Biden doing
something like look at what theAmerican Rescue Plan funded.
In fact, here in Seattle, you know,I, there was a, um, a ferry station
and I was like waiting at it andthere was a plaque and it was like,
Hey, this ferry station was redonethanks to the American Rescue Plan.

(40:02):
And it was like, oh, but like, sothe point being is number, like
we don't do that in this country.
That's scene.
I don't know what that scene as,but actually we should because
then we can defend the gains.
Like we should have a PSA that'slike, hey, guess what Medicaid is?
It helps sick children.
It helps the disabled, it helps new moms.

(40:22):
Like, you know, what is wic?
Well, it helps children get formula.
Like, we should be having that.
And so there actually are some lessonsfrom these socialist countries and.
In terms of how to use the media,but then also how to democratize
the media because in Argentina,man, they fought tooth and nail.
They had a basically a media breakup.

(40:44):
So you, there were, I forgot theexact, you know, restrictions, but
if you were a newspaper, you couldn'talso own, uh, a television station
or you could only own one newspaper.
There was, and you couldn'town all the radio waves.
So basically they forced the sale fromthese massive media conglomerates.
And that, of course, was seen as a,you know, a huge, uh, attack on the 1%.

(41:10):
It was an attack on the media, but whatit actually was, was democratizing it.
And so I do think there are modelsfrom around the world that if and
when we see the light at the end ofthis very dark tunnel, we are in.
You know, we should really lift fromand defend because it does, it does
matter that we break up big tech andbig media because that is the moment

(41:35):
that we're fucking in right nowwhere they're all bending the knee,
no one's representing the people.
And um, no, like what about programming?
You know, it's like, well,people like reality shows.
No, man, there are, there is legislationwhere you can say a certain amount
of your programming is educational.
A certain amount of yourprogramming can be entertainment.
A certain amount like that is, that is a,anyway, that, that's, that's the vision.

(41:57):
You know,

I wanna dive deeper on the billionaires, 'cause a lot
of this comes back to money, um, uh,rather than just political power.
Um, and I think one of the things Ireally appreciate about your work is that
you're willing to really emphasize theidea that billionaires and hyper powerful
people in our society are just fragile.
Idiots and assholes.

(42:19):
Um, and I think that's areally powerful notion.
And I guess I'm wondering if you couldtalk us through like why that's a
cornerstone of your work and, and howthe rest of us can leverage that, um,
to kind of fight through the moment.

I think if we are being honest with
ourselves, Trump has Riz, okay.
He has charisma.
He is a charmer, um, you know,watch your drink, but he is, and.
His, he's captivated so many people aroundthis country, and it's not transferrable.

(42:57):
It's not transferrable to his kids.
It's not transferrable tohis billionaire backers.
Have you ever tried to like, sitthrough a Peter Thiel interview?
It is the most terrifyingshit of your life.
You're like, I don't know if he'sbeing a, you know, inhabited by, uh,
an alien right now, or what's gonna, orlike someone's gonna, like, one of his

(43:17):
blood boys is gonna escape behind him.
But he is always wet.
It's very, and he can never get aword out like I've been mumbling.
That's fine.
But he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he,he, he, he, I, and I'm just like, you,
you, they gave you this much money.
And you see that with Elon.
My god, what an achilles heel.

(43:39):
That the dude cannot speak publicly,that he's cringe, that he's weird.
Mm-hmm.
And.
I believe in punching up deeply.
Believe in punching up, Ibelieve, unless it's Greg Abbott
in which you have to punch down.
See?
See how I specifically, I am no problemmaking fun of that motherfucker.
He's an evil human being.

(44:00):
Um.
And so that's, I dothink what we have to do.
And I, I hate it.
'cause every time I'll make funof Greg Abbott or I'll make fun of
Trump for being a fat piece of shit.
Um, people will be like, youshouldn't body shame him.
And I'm like, what is,this is how we lose, man.
Like no, we should body shame the shitout of the powerful, these evil fascists.

(44:23):
Like that's part of it.
And our failure to do so is why,um, I think we're not as attractive.
'cause like the human thing is being,he's a, he's a slob, he's disgusting.
Look at all that filet of fishstacked on top of each other.
You know, like that's, you know,we can't just, you know, be super
sensitive, um, about everything and'cause she on the other foot, you

(44:43):
know, that's all they do, right?
A woman is speaking, go in the kitchen.
Ha ha ha.
Like, that's so, you know, within limits.
I do think that we have to mock these.
Automaton saltine cracker personality.
Motherfuckers like JD Vance,who again is, is just such a

(45:08):
creation like of Peter Thiel.
Um, and he's so boring.
And so I think Trump's all they'vegot, they've got very few people.
You got Tucker Carlson over there.
He's, he's, you know, he's a good talker.
But I do think that using peopleon our side, whether it's AOCs or

(45:29):
on Momani, you know, whether it'speople who do have, you know, even
Bernie right, has a way about him.
The authenticity, the directness,and the, you know, even some of the
yelly stuff, um, they're authentic,they're authentically evil.
And I think, uh, we need some of theauthenticity to break through the noise.

(45:50):
I mean, it's just 'cause 'cause they'reso, they're so disgusting and they
deserve to be mocked and they're not,like, they're not actually going to,
no one is attracted to that shit.
Yeah.
Like no one is attracted to, uh, Hey,what if we redo feudalism and, uh,
what if, uh, we have a king, like intheir heart or hearts, if it's not

(46:12):
Trump, they're not really on boardwith it and Trump's gonna be gone.
Trump will leave at some point.
Yeah.
So, and then we can exhume his body.
I was just thinking, I was, this isthe thing I stay up thinking about.
I feel like there have been so manydick jokes made about Trump that he's
either a, gonna, he's gonna show it.

(46:35):
Oh my God.
Or which I think we should try to makehim, because it would just be so funny.
Or B, we're gonna be discussing it.
We should like make his dick size.
An issue for eons to the pointwhere we exhume his body when
he dies and like measure it.

(46:55):
Like, I just think that would be so funny.
Like, I, I'm just like, we shouldbecause he's sensitive about it, you
know, I mean, stormy Daniel said itwas a toed stool with Yeti pubes.
This

has been a, a very visual, very visual, heavy.
Uh, yeah, this is where

my mind goes.
I'm just random, you know.
Random.

Well, I know, I know you've been up
since three in the morning andso we want to wrap up with, um.
A question.
We have a, we have a segment on ourshow called Eight Ounces of Joy, where
No, and I usually talk about, youknow, what have we managed to squeeze,
you know, what, what joy have wemanaged to squeeze out of a week, even
as salacious as it might have been.

(47:39):
And, and I know this week has been,God, it's, uh, it is, you know,
when it rains, it hells shit kind ofthing in terms of just like, yeah.
You know, looking at the headline,seeing, you know, the emaciated, um,
children, um, in Gaza seeing so manypeople who don't wanna do shit about it.
Um, yeah.
And so I want to ask you, what,what is your eight ounces of joy

(48:03):
in the sense of what have you beenable to, to squeeze even like the
most minute amount of, of happinessout of in this, in this last week?

This is the hardest question you've asked by far.
Um, do you guys get to go too?
Do I have to go?
Do you guys get to goor we, we go at the end

of the, we go at the end of the show when
the guest is gone at the end.
Yeah.

That's not fair.
Okay.
Guess first.
Um,

Crosstalk (48:34):
Jesus, Jesus Christ.
What, what joy, what?

Eight ounces of joy.
I mean, um,
but I mean, obviously just likehaving a two and a half year
old is pretty joyful and funny.
Mm-hmm.
And, um.
She potty trained, which is very exciting.
And now when I pee, shegoes, good job, mama.

(49:01):
Good job.
And it's very, that gives me alot of joy is, uh, hearing her,
she also likes to repeat me.
So she'll say, as I just said, she'lllike Jesus Christ, and it's not good.
It is not good people.
And then she'll say, God damnit.
And then I'm like, goddammit.

(49:21):
You know?
And my only reaction is goddammit, becauseI've said that in front of her so long.
But she'll just stare at me andsay, God damnit, God damnit,
God damnit until I react.
Um.
If I'm like, I don't want you saying that.
She will just fake cry andit's fucking hilarious.

(49:43):
I, I just

Crosstalk (49:44):
wanna see God damnit.
And you know, she's two and a half.
This is not like a four or 5-year-old.
This is like a small creature.

Music (49:52):
I wanna

Crosstalk (49:53):
like the lower lip pout

and I'm like, I am gonna have to explain this
to my religious family that whenshe's just like, God dammit, my God,

I'm sorry.
I feel like kids cussing isalways a source of joy for me.
Yes.

Kids cussing and especially when they're like little,

the little cute ones.
Yeah.

And you can't, you can't let on that.
It's like funny at all.
Um, she also, this was fun.
Never had said this before.
I say, um, what does mamaand Papa do for work?
She goes, talk.

Crosstalk (50:28):
I was like, that's so sad and so true.
We just talk.
Well,

it only gets better as I get older because my
8-year-old woke up this morning.
She looked me in the eye,had to wake her up for camp.
She looked me in the eye and thefirst things out of her mouth
were, mom, how do you stay sohappy when your life is so dull?
Not like, good morning.
I was like, are you,

Crosstalk (50:57):
yo, are you for real right now?
The way they can read, like you're soroasted, they'll read you to shit, man.
Like I will.
That is so cruel.
IW your hand was just like, do not slap.
I would be so when your life is sodull, how, like what a mean girl.

I was like, I was like, um, what do you
want me to do that's not dull?
And she goes, well, youcould be more famous.

You are like, I am actually.

I was like, I have a podcast.
Okay.
Yeah,

exactly.
You could be more famous.
I swear to God.
I'm not

Crosstalk (51:43):
looking forward to that.
That is so funny.
It's brutal.

Well, not a, not a better note to wrap up this episode on.
So Francesca, thank you so muchagain for appearing on our podcast.
Please get some rest,everybody get tickets to the
show, even if it's sold out.
Donates, do whatever youcan supports this woman.
She is.
The Michael Jordan slash LeBronJames of news, comedy, whatever,

(52:10):
wherever you get down on the go.
Online

Francesca Fiorentini: news, comedy, influencing. (52:12):
undefined
Um, yeah, man.
Hey everyone.
Uh, come out to the Rainieruh, art Center, eight
o'clock Saturday, August 2nd.
Still tickets available.
It'll be a really good time.
Um, uh, mayoral candidateKatie Wilson will be there.
A Luo yes.
Yeah.
Matt Lieb of the Bad Hasbara podcast.
It'll be a good time.

(52:32):
We're gonna talk Palestine, we're gonnatalk, uh, we're gonna have some games.
It'll be fun.
It won't just be news on yourSaturday night, I promise.
Thank you guys.

Music (52:41):
Thank you.
Thank you.

My God.
Nora, like, I gotta admit that itwas the first time that I've been
nervous interviewing somebody.
On.
I know this podcast, my God,like I was, it is like, I, I was
just like super self-conscious oflike, not sounding like an idiot.
So

same.
And I am, yeah.
I'm not used to being around funnypeople like that, being a professor.
So I was just trying to keep it cool.
But

I think we did okay though.
Any awkward My own overall.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.
We got the thumbs up from ourproducer, so I think we're good.
No, was so much fun.
I, I

was actually good to laugh this week.
It's really nice.
So

I that, yeah, that I have another eight ounces of joy,
but that was, that was definitely one.
I will say that.
And speaking of, let's, let'sget into our eight ounces of joy.
Let's do it.
All right.
I have to say, now this is going tosound petty probably, but you know, we
can find joy and pettiness at times.
You know, there's been.
I don't know, maybe the last decadeor so, just a cottage industry of, you

(53:51):
know, sort of these, why I left the leftfolks and you know, yada yada, yada.
And then, and mostly they left becauseof their bank accounts exploded
after they did to, you know, hop onsome, you know, far right station
or, you know, go on, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Pretend to be an enlightenedcentrist who somehow always
rationalizes with fascism and.

(54:12):
I think there's nobodywho quite embodies that.
Like Barry Weiss, who is the founderof quote unquote, the Free press.
It's, no, not the actual free press,but a publication slash newsletter
slash substack called The Free Press.
Um, I believe she's also either oneof the founders or, or has something

(54:33):
to do with a outfit called theUniversity of Austin, which, um,
you know, is, uh, attempting to, uh,

yes.
Be an

opposition to the

quote unquote free speech university.
Yes, yes.
Well, we know what that is

Marcus Harrison Green: code word for mostly. (54:46):
undefined
Mm-hmm.
But, uh, and I have to say, it's, it'speople like that, that, to be honest
with you, that I think are almost worsethan the Stephen Millers of the World or
Stephen Van is of the world, in the sensethat these are the folks who are trying
to put some pseudo intellectual sheen and,you know, civic, libertarian, you know.

(55:06):
Sheen or our, our mascara, if you will,onto fascism and sort of normalize mm-hmm.
What shouldn't be normal, like,I mean, I just, to this day, I,

and they're doing it for, for clout.
Yes.
Right.
And

clout and cash and bear money, cloud and cash.
Yes.
And it's like, I just, I, I, I, wehave a president who literally was
like trying to stage a coup, a coup, aninsurrection on January 6th, but the,
you, but you know, to the Barry Weissof the world, the thing that is really
hurting us is that chat, GPT is too woke.

(55:38):
It said that, you know, yeah.
Black folks.
So I, I, I think the latestcontroversy is that it said something
about like black folks being.
The most, uh, like the divineof God's children or something.
Anyway, it's,

Music (55:51):
oh, I didn't know that one.
Yeah,

that's one of the truest things it's ever said, by the way.
But anyway, I, so anyhow, I was listening.

I actually didn't know that AI couldn't be not right.

I, you learn something new every day.
Maybe, maybe that's the eight ouncesof joy that I should have went with.
But I, but I gotta say, listening to oneof my other favorite podcasts, I mean,
this is obviously my favorite, but my,my maybe third favorite podcast is if
books could Kill and they have mm-hmm.
They have this segment called, uh,uh, profiles of, of pundits, and Barry

(56:25):
Weiss is, is, is the most recent one.
And they just, the take down,it was like a chef's kiss of
like just that whole sort of.
Movement that is basically justcashing in on fascism at this moment.
And I just gotta say

Music (56:40):
mm-hmm.

Yeah.
If, if after you listen to this podcast,listen to this one like as many times
as you as you want, but then go and,and go ahead and listen to that.
If books could kill the latestpodcast, it was, again, it was,
it was a, it was a sweet joy.
And I look,

it sounds like a little bit of therapy.
It, it really is.

I, you know, I try to be like Michael Brooks, the late
great, you know, uh, leftist commentatorwhere he is like, be, you know, be
ruthless with systems and kind of people.
But dammit, I just, I'm sorry, I just, Ijust could not live up to that with this,
with the podcast of if books could killthat, it was a nice Barry Weis takedown.
So anyhow, that is my eight ounces today.
Nice.

We are not, uh, beyond, uh, petty takedowns here.
Certainly not here because,um, fascist times demand.
Yes.
Um,
well.
Uh, I gotta be honest.
Uh, the news recently, especiallythe news out of Gaza, has
just been tearing me apart.
Yeah.
Um, and I think we're all walkingaround in serious states of grief,

(57:43):
uh, and all the dysregulation andmess that that brings into our lives.
Um, and I don't knowabout you, but my heart.
When my heart feels as heavy, uh,it's often hard to not dismiss
all the good stuff, you know,to be just so pessimistic, um,
that it's hard to take seriously.
Um, but recently I've been just tryingto like really pay attention to where

(58:06):
the good news is, you know, like wherethe small wind are and to really take
time to dwell in that and sort of, itfeels a little bit like clinging to a
pool floaty while going over NiagaraFalls, but, um, I'm trying it anyway,
that's, that's, that's a, that's a visual

right there, Nora.
I gotta say,

I know like a sparkly, like unicorn pool, floaty.
Um, but there were two storiesthat caught my eye this week.
Um, and neither got the mediaattention that they should have.
So I'm using my platform here.
Yeah.
Because these are stories that arevictories for communities that have
been fighting for decades, for justice.

(58:45):
So the first story is Flint, Michigan.
Finally laid its last foot of pipereplacement to address the lead
poisoning crisis that happenedthere, uh, more than a decade ago.
Um, this was a horrific injustice thatwas done to the city, and a lot of

(59:08):
people said, it's not gonna get fixed.
It's never gonna get fixed.
And it's thanks to community organizers onthe ground there who have persisted for so
long, who have kept this in the forefront.
Um, to do a project on thisscale of repair is just really
cool and really beautiful.
Yeah.

(59:29):
Then the second one is, um, so Marcus,you know, I spent my formative years
working on HIV in Southern Africa.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and I worked there at a timewhen very few people had access
to antiretroviral medicines.
It felt like I would take friendsto the clinic and we would get their
CD four counts and they would justget lower and lower and there was

(59:50):
so little that we could offer them.
A couple of months ago we had newsthat there was a kind of blockbuster
new preventative treatment that hadbeen developed and was on the market.
And this is an injectablepreventative HIV medicine.
It's really the first time that likeprevention seems not only within
grass, but like easy and somethingthat we could widely distribute.

(01:00:13):
Um, but most people are saying this isgonna be another case of like a vaccine
apartheid, where, you know, the poor folksacross the world are not gonna have it.
And thanks to the pressure of a tonof HIV activists, Gilead, which is
the company that produces this newpathbreaking vaccine, has agreed to
offer it at generic prices to 120poor countries around the world.

(01:00:37):
And so poor folks around the world,countries that cannot afford this
are going to have what is hopefullygonna be really cheap access to this
incredible feat of science that mostpeople never thought was possible.
So that's my, that's my eight ounces.
Awesome.

Marcus Harrison Green (01:00:54):
We're going to try something a little different today.
We're going to jointly do the sign off.
We still believe in equity andinclusion on this show, so Nora, if
you'll, you'll kick it off for us.

Nora Kenworthy (01:01:07):
Well, congratulations.
You have made it through another week ofAmerica's longest running reality show
who wants to be a functioning democracy,and we're getting canceled very soon.

Marcus Harrison Green: Yes, we are, unfortunately. (01:01:19):
undefined
Um, that being said, though, as always,a huge shout out to our fearless
producer, Jessica part now, and to Ahamalu for providing music for the show.
You can find and follow us on yourfavorite podcast platform, R on
YouTube, Instagram and Blue Sky.
If you'd like to support our show,you can subscribe to the podcast on

(01:01:41):
our website in the-meanwhile.com.
A reminder that new episodes dropevery Friday, and until then,
my friends, we will see you.
In the meanwhile.

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Ep 10: Francesca Fiorentini | Fascism Hates a Good Punchline

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep 10: Francesca Fiorentini | Fascism Hates a Good Punchline