TIME’s “100 Most Influential People of 2024”

ICYMI: Hour Three of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Thoughts on TIME’s ridiculous list of the “100 Most Influential People of 2024” (thus far) - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kellyon demand from KFI AM six forty.
It's a Later with Mo Kelly liveeverywhere on the iHeartRadio app See to all.
He didn't go to a white schoolgrowing up, so he doesn't know
nothing about the pet shop boys.He doesn't know anything about the pet shop
boys. I'm gonna have to schoolhim later. Let's talk about the Time

(00:21):
one hundred most Influential People of twentytwenty four. It's a list which comes
out every single year, I thinksince nineteen ninety nine. It's a tool.
It's a marketing tool to get peopletalking about Time. Anytime you see
a list of the most, thegreatest, the best, it's always controversial.
It's a conversation starter. It's adiscussion maker, and it leads you

(00:42):
back to the website where originally wasposted. It is what it is.
Let's not make it more than whatit is, but there's some worthy conversation
here. If they had called thislist like the one hundred most interesting people
that you may not know about whowere becoming very very popular over the past

(01:03):
year, that would have been morean apt description. When you look at
all the names and people brought together. Oh, they're all famous, they're
all well known, they're all evenpopular within their respective spheres of influence,
but they're not the most influential peoplein the world, like, for example,

(01:26):
and Tuila. I think you wouldappreciate this. I'd love to get
your opinion on this. On thelist it features artists music artists like Dua
Lipa and Dojha Cat. It isinsanely impossible for either or both of them
to be on this list as themost influential people of twenty twenty four.
Not when Taylor Swift and Beyonce Knowleshad the years that they've had. All

(01:52):
Right, alady, you can't putDua Lipa and Dosa Cat together to add
up to one Beyonce or one TailSwift in terms of influence social media,
music, hair styles, clothing styles, lingo. There's not a day which

(02:12):
goes by that you don't hear aTaylor Swift or Beyonce record on multiple formats
stations all around the country and streamall around the world. Do Yeah,
So let's look at the list withinthat context. It's not even debatable.
And if you're not familiar with thelist, if you check it out,
this really don't need me to tweetit out or sit it out. Each

(02:35):
person who's featured has a person whowrites a letter kind of explaining them in
support of them, and you willnotice that the person writing the letter and
support usually has more influence than theperson who's being honored, Like, for
example, you cannot tell me,I don't care if you like the president
or hate the president, regardless oftime and history previously, presently, it's

(03:00):
still the leader of the free world. When you have the leader of the
free world in this case, PresidentJoe Biden writing a letter of support or
detailing like profile the head of theUnited Autoworkers Union, Can I ask anyone
who's that person without googling? Don'tget me wrong, the president of the

(03:22):
United Autoworkers Union is very powerful andinfluential within his sphere of influence. Is
he one of the one hundred mostinfluential people of twenty twenty four? Well
this year he might be. Isthat that Sean Fame guy? It is
Sean Fame, Okay, Yeah,he's been in a lot of headlines this
year in with some major union movements. He has, but he's not one

(03:45):
of the one hundred in the world. It's good that you can list in
Mark and name check him, butI'm like, who, right, Okay,
I mean I'm part of this istranscendence. Okay, give you up
the list, and there are someobscure ones on here. Let me tell
you, having been worked at newspapersand magazines, these lists are just who

(04:09):
the people on staff like. Okay, right, there's nothing authoritative or objective
about this stuff. Ever, I'llgive you a perfect example. Jeffrey Wright
is an actor who I love,and he's one I think who's been underappreciated
for decades. I had a chanceto sit down and talk with them when
I was working the DNC in twothousand and eight. He's funny, he

(04:30):
is affable as nice as can be, but still most of the world don't
know him by name. He's acharacter actor. He's a character actor.
Like I love him. You know. I loved him in Westworld, I
loved him in the in the DanielCraig Bond series. But he's not one
hundred top one hundred influential people inthe world. Coleman Domingo. He was

(04:58):
up for an Academy award. I'velong followed his work. He's not a
household name. I'm serious, he'son the list. You're kidding. Not
Jeffrey right on the same Okay,all right, right right, that's what
I'm saying, you know, Andit's no hate to any of these people.
I'm just talking about the list andhow it's named and when I think

(05:19):
of the most influential people of theworld, because it's a world list.
You have world leaders, you haveleaders of movements. You have the widow
of Alexi Navaldi. She's on thelist. I would agree with that one.
Yeah, but I can't have heron the same list as twenty one
savage. Oh come on, butstop being serious. I am so offended

(05:46):
right now. There are newsmakers onthis list. There are people who've inspired
others. I am not diminishing theiraccomplishments or contributions. I am saying that
they're not necessarily on the level ofthe top one hundred in the world.
Give you a perfect example. Andit's open to having people on multiple years.

(06:10):
And wanna make this point. Theyhave Mark Cuban on this list,
but you don't have Elon Musk.Is there anyone who's been more influential over
the past year, for positive ornegative good or evil, love him,
hate him? In terms of technology, social media, news media, has

(06:31):
there been anyone more influential who transcendsjust what they're best known for more than
Elon Musk or can you say,is there anyone who has been more influential
than Donald Trump? And he's beenon the list twice, he didn't put
him on this year. If anything, I think he's more deserving this year

(06:53):
than in previous years. Yeah,this list is actually hating if Trump isn't
on the list. I'm being serious. Yeah, yeah, it's not a
no, it's just people like toMark's point, it's people we think we're
we think are cool, who welike, we want you to know about.
We want to give some press andpublicity to at least Stephonic is on

(07:16):
the list. Now, this iswhat I would say if she were already
the vice presidential candidate, I wouldhear that argument. I'd hear it,
I'd listen to it. But aslong as she's just a member of Congress
who gets into headlines every now andthen, she's still just a trivia question.
And the only reason we know hername is because we follow this stuff

(07:36):
every single day, every single day. Interesting. Yeah, So that's the
thing. It's like, I'm notgoing to get upset. I know what
it is, and I know it'spurpose. It's for us to get bothered
and all lathered up, have thediscussion, talk about it. In fact,
we're going to talk about another segmentbecause we're going to go down these

(07:57):
lists and get a nice hearty laughout of some of these names, and
we're gonna say, who the hellis that? That's the whole point of
the list. So we should nottake it for anything more than what it
is. And Time magazine is notwhat it once was, be it Time
person of the Year, the Timeone hundred lists. It's a magazine from

(08:18):
a bygone era. And I usedto love Time, the magazine, and
I read it when I was inhigh school. But I'm not in high
school anymore, and Time has notgrown in any measurable way. It's Later
with mo Kelly. We'll have moreon the Time one hundred most Influential People
of twenty twenty four or not whenwe come back. You're listening to Later

(08:39):
with Mo Kelly on demand from KFIAM six forty. We're talking about the
Time, the one hundred most InfluentialPeople of twenty twenty four last segment,
I was just giving some overview thoughtshow this list, like any other list,
is just to provide controversy and converseand publicity and exposure. Four Time

(09:03):
magazine and this list, you know, click on the list and talk about
it at the water cooler, onyour job, on the air, all
that kind of stuff. We seeit for what it is. But if
we look at the list on itsmerits, I don't know if there are
even ten people on this list whoare amongst those one hundred most influential people

(09:24):
of twenty twenty four in the world. Because this is a world list.
Now they break down the different groupsinto artists, icon, pioneers, yad
yah, yadah, blah blah blah. I was saying that this list and
Mark said, at first, thisis the list of just the employees who
they like, because it doesn't reallyit doesn't jibe with reality. If you

(09:45):
have music artists on here, butyou don't have the most influential music artists
presently in the world on the list, it's suspect. If you have tech
innovators on here, but you don'thave the most influential tech vader on here,
then it's suspect. If you don'thave the leader of the free world,
regardless of party, it's suspect.This is what I want to do,

(10:07):
So get ready, Stephen Mark Twalla. I'm going to read names on
the list in the various categories,and I just need to know if you
know who in the hell this personis. Can we do that? Yeah,
I gotta tell you. I pulledup the list and it's hard for
me to express to you how muchnews I read in a given day.

(10:30):
I didn't know half these people,right, no exaggeration, half of them.
All Right, let's go down thelist because people are listening and they
said, well, I've been lookedat the list yet. Well okay,
well we'll take care of that foryou. Let's just start at the top,
in no particular order, just howthey're listed on the Time website.
It starts with artists Dua Lipa.We've covered her. I know who she

(10:50):
is. I know she isn't oneof the most influential people in the world.
Yeah, not even in music rightnow, he's not at all.
Yeah. No, couldn't name asong either, could I you know?
But I know her music's not forme. But I can name a Taylor
Swift song. I can name aBeyonce song. Death to tell know who

(11:13):
he is. But he's not oneof the one hundred most Wait a minute,
he just has a new movie.I was right. But before that
then like slum Dog Millionaire, likewho put him on the This is for
people who just made this list yesterday. Great inflation here. Yeah, it's
almost like we we hope that thisperson comes really big in the future.
Twenty one Savage. No, yeah, but I know him. Yeah,

(11:39):
I know right, he's on he'son the radio all day long. But
influential, No, no, Elijahbot A L I A B H A
T T. Nope. I couldn'ttell you, Jenny Holzer, these aren't
real. These are staff, right, These are people who contribute to Jenny.
Don't do that to Channing, Jinny. I have to read because I

(12:03):
honestly don't know. All right,that's too much reading because if look,
if your bio is that long,then you can't be that influential. He
should be Donald Trump, former Presidentof the United States, real estate magnate,
Oh, got it right, shouldbe that short Coleman Domingo. Yes,

(12:24):
he was up for an Oscar I'mfamiliar with his work as an actor,
but he's still not even a householdname. Jump yeah yeah, Divine
Joy Randolph saying, except she wonan oscar? No, like, like,
what was she in when? Okay, sure, all right, all
right, all right, it's agreat movie, but she's not in the

(12:46):
top hundred. Yeah, that's no. No, I don't know the name.
I'm sorry, you need do ILauren Groff sounds familiar, but look,
familiar doesn't get on. Listen.We need some Jeopardy music, right,
Yeah, I don't want to readthe whole bios. I mean,

(13:07):
how long you know who the personis? How long is the bio?
Is a page? Usually? Okay, yeah, we don't need that.
Jeffy Wright covered him. Fantasia Barrinaknow who she is? She's not even
one of the most influential names inR and B or God doesn't make any
sense. I mean, look,I know she was just in color purple.
Theyre talking about people who were inmovies they just you know, basically,

(13:30):
I think that's the prevailing theme.Next up, former guests on the
show love this guy. I don'tknow if he's in the top one hundred.
Leslie Odom Junior Manuel Miranda before LeslieOdem Junior. Yeah, yeah,
that's fair. LaToya Ruby Fraser.Okay, sure, Alex Edelman once again,

(13:54):
I know the name, but Icouldn't tell you what way you're doing
thing from? Where is? That'swhat I'm saying. I know it's he
related to Rick Edelman. What dowe say? Give it to him?
Give it to No? Oh,you mean as in Rice Delman Ricedelman dot
com. That's an inside radio joke, right, Yes, it is h

(14:18):
James McBride. No, no,Brooks Headley, Heady heady, never bother
Hele Singer. That was that wasThat was a history of the world joke.
Y'all missed it? No? No, that was a uh blazing saddles.
Oh yes, well Harvey Corman,how about that? Okay? Taraji

(14:43):
p Henson, she's a newsmaker.You know who she is, But see
that one kind of I mean,not influential, but at least she's more
of a household name than you knowthese last few. I mean, she
was trying to go all out forwomen in acting while ago, but nothing
happened. I could I could getthat one. I'm saying, nothing happened,
like like all of a Sudden Studiosdidn't say, hey, here's more

(15:03):
money. So I don't know aboutthe influence. I'm saying influential and how
in what ways. I'll hear theargument, but it probably would fail Kylie
ten years ago, Wow, yeah, ago, Elliott Page, I like,
yeah, yeah, I could seethe influences. I could see the

(15:26):
influence because of what he's done andthe attention that Yeah, okay, burn
a boy, no, come on, wow, come on stop it.
Get some music artists don't worry aboutit, So go ahead, Michael J.
Fox. Yeah, I can seethat. I can say that for

(15:46):
four I mean between the film thathe's yeah, the the attention he's brought
to the cast, I mean absolutelyright now yeah, and he's still acting.
Yeah, so that's I'm a goldenwho. Moving on Sophia Coppola,
No, the most influential Copla inthe family. Random, she's the third

(16:11):
most influential, right, Like that'sa promo right there. Okay, uh,
Jenny and misog name Frank are yousaying these names right? Because you're

(16:33):
just making up serious motaz A Zisa. I had a case of that once
ftastasized it was painful to sit onSaks Malik that required penicillin. Mark Mark

(17:00):
Cuban. Okay, there we go. Okay, we're getting somewhere. Hiyao
Miyasaki. Yes, yes, yeah, yea, yeah, absolutely especially right,
yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely,
absoluolutely. Suzanne Samard absolutely not atype of the type of French cheese.

(17:22):
Absolutely not. Julianne Lessinge, RosannaFlamer Caldera. It's almost like this is
high school graduation. I'm reading offnames do fromage No, no, no,
okay, let's do this one moregroup before we go to break.
This is the Titans category. PatrickMahomes, I'll listen to it. He's

(17:48):
the you have a football player inthe league. I'll listen to it.
Satya Nadella maybe maybe, Okay,sure, go for it. Oza Wilson,
I know who she is, Okay, w Inba on the Best Wnba.
Oh okay cool. Kelly Reaper,No what no? Wait from the
show A Morning Yeah are usual?That's not a soccer player, isn't it

(18:15):
the morning show host? I thinkthat's a soccer player. Yeah, it's
good, Good Morning America. No, don't no, no, that one's
got her own show with her husbandnow well yeah, yeah, with Mark
Yeah, Kelly, Yeah, butthat show. I thought the one you're
talking about is a soccer player.There there's there's a Ripper who's a soccer
player. I don't know. Idon't know. I would neither on the

(18:37):
list. Neither one of them makethe cut. Okay, we gotta go
to break, but we're gonna finishthis list when we come back. It's
Later with bo Kelly K six fortylives everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You're
listening to Later with Moe Kelly ondemand from KFI AM six forty. Because
we continue with the list of timesone hundred most influential people of twenty twenty
four or maybe the most influential peopleof their office. Because half these people

(19:00):
I don't know the name of nodisrespect. We're going to continue reading through
the list just if we've heard ofthese people, not whether they're the most
influential, because they're not, justwhether we've heard of them all. Right
back to the lists. We're stillin titans. This is Jack Antonov.
Anyone that's alyphemism for something we can'ttalk about before ten pm. I quite

(19:25):
safe for word. Come on,be stingy. He is looking at this
Okay, No, no, dice, keep going. Uh the thunder tests,
Sunda Brown Ducket. I think it'stests, Sunda Brown Ducket. I
think you have that wrong. Butthe person, but the person who wrote
her letter is Jamie Diamond heard ofJamie? Kay? Yeah, he belongs

(19:49):
on the list more than she is, right, Which takes me to the
next person, Donna Langley, whoobviously is a filmmaker because there's like a
film camera right next to your head. But I don't know who she is.
Does this say what she's done?I'm quite sure. I don't feel
like, Look, you gotta readthe whole page now. Yeah, okay,
but you know who wrote her letterthough, Jordan Peel, I know

(20:10):
who he is. He's influenced alot of people. Yeah, he's influential,
all right. Do you know whoBeth Ford is? Great granddaughter of
Henry Ford? Maybe maybe gonna bemy guess too. Yeah, there are
only so many fours out there whoare influential related to the Oh, no,

(20:34):
I'll let you. I'll let youhave that one. I'll let you
have that generous Well, you knowI'm a generous guy, you do know,
That's what I tell everyone okay,back to the list. Wang shue
afoot now now if you said WangChung, I would do blow down.
The last name is spelled c hu A n F you. That is

(21:02):
a respectful Bart Simpson right there,c h u A n F you.
Everybody before we get all get putoff the air. Kelly Robinson, oh
from yeah, of course, okaywith Alexander Scott, Yes, no different

(21:22):
Kelly Robins at uh Chizuku. Weknow, okay you e n o Okay,
okay, Jasper Broden, Jessper,that's a one ja but Jesper,
I know that's they can go withJasper Wow, Jess Okay. Larry Ellison
Oh wait wait wait the writer.Yes, Tony Blair, that makes sense.

(21:47):
Yeah, yeah, we've had we'vehad I think we've had him on
the show. I believe. Soif I'm not mistaken for I think if
we go back, I think we'vehad him on the show. No,
this this guy developed oracle, differentguy. Are you sure we'll look it
up? Yeah, I'm looking atI'm looking at right now. Okay,

(22:08):
keep them all right, let mego back. Took me to the top
of the list. I'm gon scrolldown. Next is Joanne can we get
an easy name to pronounce Jesus hJoanne, cravosorot c R E v O

(22:30):
I S E r A T.She still don't know who she is?
What does she do? I'm notlooking, but she does. She makes
you appreciate Jackie right, if youhave to ask, that means we don't
know who she is. All duerespect that Max Verse stopping. Okay,
that's that's like something you're I don'tknow, the influential in the world.

(22:56):
You're stopping, Mark Schnell, Holypulse. I okay, that was a
diehard reference. Now to the leaders, Julia, Yes, okay, yeah,
uh, these names are really difficult. Narga's mohammedy. What's that one?

(23:19):
A R G E S. Mohammadi. You don't want to get kicked
in the nargist. Mohammedy, You'regoing straight to hell. Do not pass
go You scold me, and yetyou laugh speech. I know, I
know I'll be behind you, butI'm saying you go first. Donald Tusk,
Oh yeah, president of mm hmm. William Lae creator that you put

(23:45):
in your hair to straighten it.I think he's the new president Taiwan.
I think I'm pretty sure, okay, yeah, okay, Greg Abbott as
in governor, Oh yeah, okay, influential, Well, yeah, I
want to say rondas four, GregAbbott, he's one of fifty US governors.
Yeah, how was he even closeto the one? You could say?

(24:07):
He's very influential in the debate aboutimmigration. I'm just trying to figure
out you're trying him makes sense?That announsense I'm trying to Yeah, and
I know that's my number one rule. Marina Silva. There's a brazil connection
because I see a Brazilian flag inthe background of her. She gives people
Brazilians. William Burns is just gonnamove right past that. William Burns,

(24:33):
Bill, I have no idea,no e g and Carroll you know,
yes, yes, Rina Lee re n a Rina. Yeah, that's
what happens when you're Kidney knew youwere going for that. We've known each

(24:55):
other too long, Okay. JavierMilet in my l e I no blank
Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Junior. I knowis daddy. Yeah, it's got to
be somebody in the Philippines who wasrelated to the how many Ferdinand Marcos?

(25:17):
Yeah? There did he Inherit hismom's shoe collection. That's the important thing.
That's a deep cut. Okay,history for that one, all right,
keep going. Was it Amelda?Yeah, Mohammed ben abdua raman Al
Tommy. I like the way onthat one. Yeah, solid, But

(25:37):
that's all. That's it though.Yeah, at least the fan it we
covered her. Diana Salazar Mendez.I know she has something to do with
ecuador crickets. I've reckoned. I'veheard the name before, Ecuadorian crickets.
Yeah, Jack Smith okay, oh, the special prosecutor. Yes, yes,
yes, I'll accept that one.In terms of influence, Rachel Goldberg,

(26:03):
Poland, Are you saying that's whereshe's from? No, p O
L I N Poland? Yeah,A J bangam behave Mark behave Mark,
Gavin Newsom oh g t f oh. Come on, hey, he

(26:26):
runs the world's fifth largest economy.That is that is that is okay?
All right, that's an argument.William Rutto No, uh, Georgia Maloney
no relation to Christopher the Italian PrimeMinister. Okay, Lee kang as in
q I A m G. Thatsounds like a star Trek villain. Come

(26:48):
on, he's a klingon g r. Shaw is gonna keep going past that,
right. I am Lauren Lovett,Blovelt Blauvelt. These names are killing
me. Andre You're not take abreak, okay, Innovators, We're gonna

(27:11):
run through this. Maya Rudolph knowwho she is? Sean Fay covered him,
Seea Kalishi a Kiko of Asakian Kreesenothing. I think it's the brothers.
Uh Sense cries, oh my god, Corry Birch, Rachel Hardiman,

(27:41):
Katsuhiko Hayashi. I like to orderthose extra spicy. I feel like we're
at the DMV. The window twentyfive, Dominique Crinn, Dave Rix,
Connie Walker, Julie Sweet, JonathanAnderson, Mister Anderson, Marina Tibasum and

(28:08):
Pioneers. I think this is thelast category because I know we're over Leslie
Loco l O k Ophelia Doll.That is a fake name for sure,
Ophelia Doll. Come on, showme on the Afelia Doll, Kennedy odentity

(28:29):
O d E d E Kennedy Odsity, Joshua Benio. I'm just running through
these. Ozma Khan, Kelly Sawyer, Pratchikov and Norah Weinstein. These writers
really had their finger on the pulse, didn't they? Priam Priam, Vada,
Nata, Johann Lana must Chop andDan Drucker any one of the three

(28:56):
sam S, Simberis Sharon the norelation to Avril and Stuart or Kin.
I think he owns a pest controlcompany. If this were jeopardy, we'd
all be getting our asses kicked.No. Look, look, one hundred
most influential, and we don't knowmost of them, not even half.
Most of them. You're listening tolater with Moe Kelly on demand from KFI

(29:22):
AM six forty and before we getout of here. Look the list was
what the list was the time?One hundred the most of influential. I
guess they wanted to influence us andget us to learn more about those individuals
more than anything. But I don'tthink anyone was already being influenced by most
of those people. A handful atbest a handful. But you know,

(29:48):
congratulations, Time Magazine. You gotlike an hour on my show, so
that should be worth something. Thatwas their goal. No, it was
their goal, and I get that. I don't think they're fully anybody,
but it's just you could have donebetter. You really could have done better.
If you want to call it,hey, people to watch in twenty
twenty four, got it, I'mright there with you. I can't argue

(30:11):
with any of those names because they'reprobably on the precipice of doing something which
is newsworthy and maybe someone that you'llwant to find out more about learn more
about. But if I don't knowyou from just name alone, it's kind
of hard for you to say thatyou're one of the most influential in the
world, because the people who arereally most influential in the world, they're

(30:33):
kind of known the world over.Kind of those hand in hand, doesn't
it. In my experience, thestaffs at papers and magazines, they get
so far up their own coinslots thattheir things are obscure because they think if
they pick somebody or something popular,that that's beneath them. You got to
be correct, because going back tothose variety lists of the of the you

(30:57):
know, the greatest television shows,of the greatest movies of all time,
it is so esoteric at times andso far afield you think you're missing the
obvious ones right in front of you. They don't make sense more times than
not. But you know, Yeah, how would you say a full fifty

(31:18):
percent or more of that list werecompletely alien to us? Seventy five percent
I'm being serious, no exaggeration.Agreed three out of four, which begs
the question. Then just had tothrow that in to annoy you. But
it begs the question. Then thenhow authentic can that list be if you
have a room full of I wouldsay pretty knowledgeable people who stay abreast of

(31:41):
current events and news, who followthis very closely, have no idea who
most of the people are. Notsaying that they're unimportant. I'm just saying
they're not readily recognizable. And ifthey're not readily recognizable outside of their sphere
of influence, then how influential canthey honestly be on the world stage.

(32:05):
Twala called it right off the bat, that list is invalid. Yeah,
yeah, maybe we're overthinking it.It's just invalid. And that's that kind
of like Ta Walla's knowledge of music, Okay, whatever, Okay, just
like Kenny Love. Look, Ilike Kenny Loggin's better one. His name
was El Debars. How about that? That's what I'm gonna say about like

(32:28):
El Debar's too. No, That'swhat I'm gonna say about that enough Kenny
Loggins. Wow, you really gotto go out of your way to dump
on Kenny Loggin's night. What's heever done to you? Nothing except create
great music. You need to timeout to wala. I don't know who
did you wrong, but someone hurtyou. Your antipathy toward him is palpable

(32:49):
and I don't get it. Notto figure that out, but we'll figure
it out tomorrow. If I amsix forty, we're live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app. We're watching everything soyou can watch your sanity. K s
I and k os T HD twoLos Angeles, Orange County live everywhere on
the radio.