History of Trendcrete 10/5: Vivek Ramaswami, Russian Plague, Spanish Tenant Protests, French Student Protests

0:02 The history of concrete that's supposed to be good. It's in theaters. That would be near the top of my list. That sounds like a nap. What the fuck? You don't like John Wilson explain it or whatever. Oh, John Wilson. I thought it was literally the history of concrete. It is, but by him, by him. Yes. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I did watch him talk about scaffolding for Ken Burns is a half hour. Ken Burns.

0:29 Yeah.

0:29 That's what I was picturing. A letter from. Like a 10 hour movie about concrete.

0:37 A letter to my darling in Des Moines. It's been another day laying this concrete.

0:42 My love.

0:44 The days are long, but I do see that we are literally pouring the foundations of a better America.

0:50 Wow. That's really a good improvised version of a Ken Burns letter home documentary.

0:55 I'll fucking freestyle a Ken Burns letter home.

0:59 You know why?

1:00 It's because I watched that Civil War one so fucking much as a kid.

1:04 Did you rewatch the Ken Burns Civil War? I watched Ken Burns Civil War maybe four times. Wow. And that was your entire childhood. Was it just like the only thing available or you were fascinated? You were compelled.

1:18 It's like when shit came in like a 15 tape box.

1:22 Yeah. I was like, oh, this is it. It's the biggest one. It's got to be the best movie. It's the biggest one.

1:27 It's got how many tapes, bro? How many tapes are in here? Because this is a VHS version. I remember a big ass VHS.

1:33 I didn't have it. One of my family friends had it.

1:37 And we were both on the same wavelength of both being obsessed with the Civil War.

1:42 And his dad had the thing.

1:44 So we would hang out, watch that shit on loop, basically.

1:49 Trading it back and forth via pitchfork or via forklift. Yeah, I'm not proud of it. I mean, it's cool.

2:03 That was, that was actually, it's just like a weird, I mean, it's a real texture speaks to like, kind of just where I was at a lot of the time. And they like, they have a certain wisdom about it where they're like, damn the civil war.

2:15 I bet they'll be talking about this for a year. You know, it's really crazy because we're brothers fighting brothers. And like that, that really fucked me up. Anyways, hope the kids are good. Yeah. I'm going to go die of dysentery.

2:33 I'm going to go just watch someone take a cannonball to the neck.

2:37 And then the just pleasure with which the experts recount to everything that happened, where they're just like so delighted by the stories, you know? And I was like, man, this shit's fucked up.

2:59 Hello, the internet, and welcome to this week trend edition of Dirt.

3:03 Hailing Night, guys!

3:04 Yeah!

3:06 Yeah!

3:07 Yes!

3:08 Indeed!

3:09 Production of iHeartRadio.

3:10 This is the episode where we tell you what was trending over the weekend, what is trending on this Monday morning, and what is trending in our hearts.

3:17 My name is Jack O'Brien. That over there is Mr. Miles Gray! Thank you so much.

3:21 Thank you so much.

3:21 Thank you so much. Thank you so much. It's crossover between SNL announcer and now spookiness. Are you getting spooky in your house? Oh, man. We just dropped. The witch just dropped over the weekend, Miles. The season of the witch. All right. The neighborhood is a flutter. It's active. Okay. I like that. People are stopping by, taking pictures. It really is. Now that we got the witch and the 12 foot skeleton, it's really, you know, it feels like there's something going on here.

3:54 Yeah. Yeah.

3:55 Yeah.

3:56 I love that. I love that.

3:57 Yeah.

3:57 Yeah, we don't have anything spooky up yet. Nothing yet?

4:01 Although, I'm realizing more and more, like, my kid is, like, he's one of those, he's like a spooky kid.

4:07 Yeah, yeah.

4:08 He loves, I was not spooky as a kid. He loves the spooky shit year round.

4:13 Yeah. All about zombies and shit. I'm like, ugh.

4:17 Love a zombie love a fucking zombie bro i like a robot they're i don't know it's like weird like in my mind zombies are stinky zombies are stinky man i'm like that's a really good point not really into it he i'm gonna have to be a zombie this i'm gonna be a zombie this halloween we're doing.

4:33 On the stinkiness scale zombies probably the stinkiest monster.

4:36 Fucking necrotizing flesh essentially walking around.

4:40 Like, Dracula is dead and loving it. Dead?

4:44 Yeah, but he's like immortal. He's not like in a state of dying, active death. It depends on which movie. But yeah, he's like the Robert Eggers thing. He's Nosferatu. He's nasty. Oh, yeah.

4:59 The Count, bro, smells like straight up shit for sure. Yeah, usually he's just a normal person with some fangs spreading out. But yeah, zombie smells like shit. What do we think the Wolfman? Wolfman probably, bro. You think so? You think a feral animal? He's probably got some, like, weird pheromones happening.

5:16 Weird glandular shit coming out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. From his ass.

5:21 You know? He can't even express his own anal glands. He needs the help of a human, like a dog.

5:27 Please. Yeah. He sticks.

5:31 Mummy.

5:32 I feel like mummy is past smelling bad. Yeah. He could be so dry.

5:37 Yeah.

5:37 Yeah. Yeah. It's like a dry piece of shit. It's not, it's, it's over. Like walking by a pile of dried shit versus fresh. You're like, exactly. It's dried up. Yeah.

5:46 The flies. Once the flies have even given up on you. That's a real way to just diss the mummy. Dude, the flies have even given up on you.

5:54 The flies don't even give a fuck about you, mummy.

5:57 You know they're shooting the new mummy film? I just saw pictures of Brendan Fraser in his getup.

6:01 Brendan? He's back? Yeah. Same character? You're just going to be like, yeah, man. It's been a couple of decades. The mummy four, homie.

6:09 Yeah.

6:10 Not as hot as I used to be, but I'm still out here. Don't worry, bro. We love him. And then skeletons probably... Not very smelly at all.

6:21 Yeah.

6:21 They're dry. It's like a bunch of rocks, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just bones, bro.

6:26 Even if it's a wet skeleton, it's probably not too bad. Look, it's just about the matter of, like, flesh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What stage it's at.

6:35 Zombies are the nastiest ones. Zombies have, like, shit rotting in them. Yes. You know what I mean?

6:42 Zombies are leaving a trail behind. It's disgusting.

6:46 It's nasty. Yeah, you should talk to... the zeit child the nice job about.

6:51 That shit i can look i'm not gonna i'm not gonna get in the way bro i'm i just i'm like yeah bro whatever you want yeah then we're zombies bro inside.

6:58 I'm like zombies stink bro don't pick a stinky one not external not externalizing that not externalizing that but that's good man but i mean they started me uh no bueno my kids were the second it was like back to school they're like and when is the skeleton going up when is the witch going up yeah you would think that yeah they're they're obsessed with you know halloween decorations you would think that would mean they'd.

7:25 Help me get them up miles but that wasn't happening they lost interest that's when that's like those are the seminal things your dad goes all right get up we gotta go do the thing and they're.

7:35 Like oh we worked we worked on it for like 10-15 minutes and then they were they were dropping some things that I didn't want dropped. So I was just like, you know what? Dropping what? Uh, like parts of the skeleton. I'll just say the skull of the skeleton now looks like it got a shot in the back of the head.

7:53 Um, Oh, so I like that it was more born out of the sanctity of the skeletons that they were respecting.

8:01 That you're like, you know what, guys? Why don't you go and have a lemonade? These guys are a big deal to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And by that, I mean my witch and my skeleton, not my kids.

8:10 You have them wrapped up like the remains of Christ or some shit.

8:13 You're like, oh, please be careful with the skull piece. We have a ritual for bringing them out that involves candles and a little song that I wrote. It's Halloween. I guess I didn't write it. Anyways, this is the episode where we tell you what's going on. We also tell you what's going on with us by telling you some things we think are underrated, some things we think are overrated. Miles, what is something you think is underrated? Underrated.

8:39 This is just stupid. And it's personal.

8:41 For me, it's underrated that I allow myself to see movies on streaming that have just released in theater. I have a weird thing because I'm an elder millennial that like I had such a, it's funny, like from 19, probably 95 to 2003, I was in that fucking movie theater constantly to see movies.

9:04 Like that's all it was.

9:05 And in the era of like, streaming like especially from lockdowns being like well you can get these movies now like a lot quicker it's kind of fucked me up a little bit where i'm like nah i gotta see it in the movie to the point where i won't see a thing because i think it has to be seen in a theater tom cruise.

9:21 Got to your ass i know tom cruise is in your head he's in my head one.

9:25 Dude he had me holding those metal sticks asking me questions about like junior high and stuff dude i said some stuff to him and those e-meter readings were right he was right and he got to me uh but anyway i just i've now especially now being like a parent uh and having much less time to be like yeah let's go see a movie on any random day i've had to allow myself to do that and i've i've really underrated how much how necessary it is for myself to be like yeah idiot it's fucking on you have time watch it don't think you're gonna Wait, why.

9:58 Are you being so mean to yourself while you're learning this lesson? Come on. It's an insight into Miles' self-talk. Yeah, you fucking idiot. You fucking idiot. Of course it is stupid. It's been there the whole time.

10:09 Be nice to yourself and let yourself watch a movie, you dumb-dumb.

10:12 Dumb-dumb. You stupid piece of shit. Oh, my God. You piece of shit. That's my other one. The other one, though, is... Uh, the underrated is remembering.

10:21 Uh, that especially this is, this is for the CIS head dudes out there. Uh, and just, just men generally remembering how much we benefit from patriarchy.

10:32 Okay. On every level. Right.

10:34 Because it's easy for me. Like I have my own experiences with racism and oppression. So 2020 comes around BLM. I'll go, yeah, I'm already on that page. Catch up, catch up to me. This is, this is not a fucking game. However, it also allows, I think, personally, I've also allowed it for me to not really be as self-critical or introspective about what my own relationship is to patriarchy or toxic masculinity.

11:00 I mean, on some levels, I'm like, well, I'm against it.

11:04 Yeah.

11:06 That's that's actually like like I was even saying and imploring people in 2020 and beyond about racism and white supremacy.

11:13 It's not enough to be against it. Right.

11:16 Because you need to actually be a node in the network and the flow of energy of things like this, of systems of oppression where you do not passively let it go by. Right.

11:27 You know what I mean?

11:27 You have to block. You have to say something. You have to make it known that that is actually not a thing. And I think it's very easy a lot of the time for people who have in the journey of self-realization, self-improvement, you go, well, I've definitely tackled my blind spots.

11:43 I feel about.

11:43 This form of this system of oppression that I actually benefit from or these other things. But it's another to actually really think, what's my part in this?

11:55 And how, and how do I address that? Because I think about it. Yeah. Yeah.

11:59 This is, and my overrated also relates to this all, but I mean like just with the past week and everything happening with this Cornell frat thing.

12:06 Yeah.

12:06 Um, I've, uh, a, I see the amount of pain and anger that's come out of, uh, especially from women in my life. And I think about the, what, what, what, people are asking for from that side of the equation for, for women who are saying like, we, what is going on with our out of control rape culture? And they say the same things that I feel myself saying as.

12:31 A person of color.

12:33 Which is why am I not believed when I say this is happening to me? How come I am seen as less than human because I happen to fall on this side of the leisure sheet?

12:46 Why do I feel so powerless?

12:48 And I obviously intellectually understand those things, but I think because of just the super tangible amount of anger and hurt that's out there, I really had to then really be like, Yeah, fuck, man. This is something I believe I take seriously, but am I taking seriously to the point that I want people to take seriously when I'm saying how much of a threat these other forms of oppression that are out there are and what your willingness is to speak up? Because at the end of the day, it's not enough to be against, just merely saying, I'm against it. We also have to actively participate in the being against it. Just like in the same way about being It's not about being just, I don't like racism.

13:33 If you're anti-racist, then your actions also have to show that you are doing things to combat that. So just, I think, very underrated, and I think for me personally to think about what my part is in all of that, because I already see myself as being oppressed in certain ways, but it's easy to lose sight of how it all intersects, and I think it's worth remembering.

13:54 Yeah, I think that's a really good point. And if you have women in your life, you know, listening to them and like giving them a chance to talk about it, not, you know, not being like, okay, do the work, teach me now, you know, because that is its own thing. But like being there and being willing, I feel like some...

14:17 Men are like, look, I can't be misogynistic. My best friend's a girl. She's my wife and she hates me.

14:23 Or even like, one of my best friends is a woman I've known since I was eight years old. We're totally platonic, whatever. It's like, there's so many other things that we allow. I think that's the thing. As society progresses, it's easy to sort of deconstruct these certain ways of thinking. But I, but honestly, like the patriarchy is like the final boss.

14:47 Yes.

14:48 For men.

14:48 It's fucking everywhere.

14:49 Yeah.

14:49 Because, because it's easy to sort of, you can, you can get past white supremacy or able, like there are many, many different forms. I think the biggest one being, I think is white supremacy that does have the most public reckoning, but that still leaves this other thing now, because we still live by America by definition. I mean, just looking at it is a white supremacist capitalist.

15:10 Patriarchy, right?

15:11 So, it's easy for people to get past the capitalist thing, the white supremacist thing, but then what about the patriarchy thing?

15:18 And I think that's one way to really think about that.

15:21 It's easy to be very casual about it because you don't think, well, I might not be actively perpetuating a form of patriarchal oppression, but.

15:32 Are you there to dismantle it? Yeah, am I actually actively working against it? I also think it's there's a a great deal of like lying to oneself and uh you know just knowing that it like people who are like yeah men are actually superior like just i feel like they know that that's not true but it's a.

15:59 Weird thing but i think that's again it's like the psychological process of like okay men maybe had to abandon class as a thing that made them feel superior then then race was like another thing. So, so for some people, if, if your whole identity or your worldview is built on some kind of superior, like need for superiority, then being a man is truly the last thing you have before you have to give up the game of saying, we are all fucking human beings get past the, like, well, I'll beat you in a foot race idea of what it means to be a person. And actually now contend with that because yeah, for a lot of people that does give, unfortunately, for a lot of arcane brains, that is a form of comfort to be like, well, at

16:42 least I'm strongest and the society will default to maybe what my needs are, what I'm, my version of the facts.

16:49 And when I feel like men get to, and they're like, men are just different. So like, it starts from men are just different and we have these other values, but then if it's just all men defining how men are different to one another in the like men's rights world, it like gets very, They're like, we're more honest. We see things the way they are, you know, and it's just, it's very self-congratulatory. And if you're saying men are just different, you're still othering. You know what I mean? Exactly. It's sure.

17:19 There are differences. I feel like that's where it starts.

17:21 But yeah, if you start doing like, well, we're different than, than so who's the human, who's not the human. Because at that point, if you're different because you see the matrix or whatever, then what does that mean for those that don't? And I think that's a lot where people have to begin unpacking all that shit.

17:36 Yeah. Yeah. Um, very good. uh, underrated. Mine is, uh, how awesome the name Arvides Sabonis is. Um, I didn't, I, yeah, that, that's just what I was thinking over the weekend. Yeah. I was doing some thinking. No, there's that part in Donnie Darko where Drew Barrymore's character is like, cellar door is the perfect combination of words and like that's apparently not just made up for the movie there's like linguists who say that cellar door is like the best phrase what in the english language like just the combination of the word like jr tolkien has like written about this he's like it's beautiful it's beautiful that's my impression of jr tolkien it's beautiful um And like, you don't, it doesn't like, it's just the combination of syllables and like

18:28 something about it. And I'm like, all right. That clearly like the, they had a different version of the English language than we do. Because like we were talking about Mignonese and how that language is just a bunch of different phrases and like nonsense words that are just like fun to say and how that kind of influenced then the, people like Italian brain rot and like stuff like that, where it's like these meaningless phrases that are just like being, uh, said and repeated for how fun they are to say and not, and completely disconnected. And I'm just like, I feel like the Italian brain rot, I feel like Mignonese, I feel like the name Arvidas Sabonis, um, all are better than cellar door. Cellar door fucking sucks. Cellar door

19:17 is kind of weak, man. I don't know. It's weird to me.

19:20 It's like, it's spooky, bro. I don't fuck with a cellar door. I'm like, who's in there? Right.

19:27 Like when you open the cellar door, who's like, get me out of here. Cellar door is like that. I don't know. It's like too heavy with the R's. It doesn't. And then, yeah, Tolkien was like, and then when you connect it to what's what it actually means that like adds a whole new level. And I'm like, I don't, I don't love the level that it adds. All right.

19:48 Whereas as opposed to, Arvidas Sabonis was seven foot three, uh, one of the best passers in the history of the NBA. Yeah. I'm just saying. The fuck did a cellar door do in a Blazers uniform, huh? Like Arvita Sabonis on its own would be like the perfect fictional name for like a cartoon dog. But like, then you add to it that it's this dude who was like behind the iron curtain and was like a legend that people just like heard tell of.

20:18 Yeah.

20:18 And then he came to the NBA and was like out of shape and almost 40 and still was like dominating. It's like that.

20:26 It feels like if he saw that, he'd be like, fuck. Fuck, I called that guy Legolas. Ah, should have been Arvita Sabonis.

20:34 Should have called him Arvita Sabonis. Fuck, that's good. That's real good. Arvita. Fucking, we got poets out here naming. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also. What the, like, an amazing name. Yeah. Just amazing basketball center names that I feel like are in the realm of like Mignonese and Italian Bramrod of just like the best. we have poets out here naming NBA players and like, um, yeah, it's a better than selling or Lithuanian. I don't know. Something like that. But yeah, Mignonese like pulls from all the languages that the creator knows basically. And it's like, uh, you know, pulls the ones that are the most fun to fund the one true global language. Yeah. Um, all right. Uh, what's something you think is overrated? My bro code. Bro code. I'm

21:26 still on this. Okay.

21:27 So, you know, like I said, the final boss of self-enlightenment for, for heterosexual dudes is, is, is patriarchy to masculinity. And again, just thinking of that group chat with those Cornell frat guys and how all that, all that culture and, you know, the, writ large bro culture, frat culture is underpinned by the devotion to bro code. Yeah.

21:54 Right. It's like that you don't.

21:55 Snitch on your fellow man when they are.

22:00 Acting like an immoral pieces of shit. Yeah. Yeah.

22:04 That, that thing, like I think it's in a, in a, in a, in its own way, it's a reminder to uphold that form of oppression.

22:11 It's like, dude, bro code, bro code. Don't, don't fucking give in. It's exactly what it is. Honest.

22:17 Allow the transgressions to continue and you stay mum about it.

22:21 Bro code. Okay. Shitty Omerta. Okay. For the shittiest mob that's ever existed. Yeah. I said Omerta because it's like, yeah, I mean, we recognize in a legal sense that that is evil and bad and like not okay. But I do feel like that would actually make the type of people who are like bro code, uh, actually like horny that they get to call it Omerta. Yeah, exactly. Don't, you don't want to make it about the mob.

22:43 But again, the idea that you say nothing in the face of transgressions, immoral, illegal behavior, uh, Because you are tied to the thing called bro code. And like anything, for any sort of form of privilege you have or a system of oppression that needs to be dismantled, it takes the people that benefit from it to actually be traitors to it.

23:08 Okay. So we don't.

23:11 Get past white supremacy without white people being able to throw whiteness onto the pyre and say, I don't need to benefit from whiteness because I see a much larger issue.

23:23 I see a much larger.

23:24 Goal here that is beyond my own comfort of whiteness or my own comfort of being a man. So you have to begin to look at those things and say, how am I am I upholding this or am I actively being a traitor to it? Because that's the only way. That's the same way we're talking about class. We're like, well, where are these billionaires? Well, we need some class traitors.

23:43 Right.

23:44 You need people from that are actively engaged in that form of oppression or privilege to be active in being traitors to it. So I think that's, again, It's a simple way of thinking about it because if it, it's not enough to be like, well, I don't, I'm not like them, but also are people getting jokes off like that in your group chat?

24:05 Right. You know what I mean?

24:06 And is that, is that who you surround yourself by at this point in my age? I'm, I can say, no, that's not really, that's not, that's not the currency I deal in. But I also find myself when I'm on social media of some shit gets served up to me truly on some toxic man shit.

24:20 And I'll go, right. And then I'm like, Whoa.

24:24 Yeah.

24:24 Hold on, bro.

24:25 Like we're still we're still getting entertainment from this because if so then like we need to think about it then i there's a lot and then your head begins rolling so again uh a lot of my overrated underrated this week just born out of a lot of introspection but i also think it it also it's like so obvious it's not like i needed to fucking go in the lab to think about this stuff yeah but it's a it's a reminder because yeah on this show we talk a lot about we're I think most people who listen to the show, we're all trying to build a world that is equitable, that actually offers equality and safety to every single person because every person is a human being that deserves that dignity. And so to that end,

25:06 I also have to then confront to them, like, am I optimizing... the information I'm consuming, the way I'm thinking about things to, to conform to that also.

25:15 So again, wherever anybody's being treated in inhumanely, whether it be like in the news, like the way, you know, Palestinians are being treated, like they don't actually exist and deserve the same rights as everybody else. Or yeah. In a group chat or on social media where if it's, you know, women and bro code shit.

25:34 Yeah. Because it don't just be like, they feel like, Whoa, dude. Cause you know, people say they'll be like, Oh, I was in that group chat, but I'm not with all that.

25:40 Right. Well, you, in a way you are.

25:42 Because guess what? You're standing on the sidelines. You might not be the starting five, but you're definitely on the bench.

25:50 Yeah.

25:51 Like if they look, they go, okay, who else, who else got the uniform on that we can call into the game?

25:55 That's you. Cause if you're not the one being like, yo, I'm your op, then you want, then you're, then you're on the bench. Right.

26:03 Yeah.

26:03 Yeah.

26:03 If you're not saying anything, yeah.

26:05 Yeah. So it's not enough just to be like, well, I'm against it. but I'm on the sidelines of that team.

26:11 Guess what, bro?

26:12 When you zoom out, you're still part of that because you're not saying shit while all that's happening.

26:18 Yeah. Very good. Very thoughtful. Overrated, underrated. Come on, Jack. What do you got for me? My overrated is protein bars that taste too good. Man, I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. Look, I had my own chaotic weekend thinking. Yeah. I'm just, I'm just here to say I, so I didn't have time to eat. I had to take my kids to your alma mater, UCLA.

26:52 So I didn't have time to eat before I went. So, went to a little grocery store at the UCLA bookstore. Was that there when you were there? Little like student grocery store. Yeah.

27:02 Yeah.

27:02 I mean, I don't know if there's a gross, but you could buy food. Yeah. Yeah. By the. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I got on campus. Yeah. On campus.

27:10 Yeah. Yeah.

27:11 Right by the math sciences building. Um, I ate a protein bar that was just a straight up candy bar. Like, um, there is no way this thing is not bad for you in some way, but like, apparently it.

27:23 It, It is.

27:24 It's just like they have, have figured out a way to make protein bars that don't taste like sawdust put together with like slightly damp wood glue. Um, but like, that's what you should feel like eating a protein bar is like, ah, I got to fucking choke this down, choke this down, you know? Um, yeah. Even if they do end up being good for you, that's not where we should be putting our science.

27:50 Yeah.

27:50 Apparently our best science is, scientists have been working on making a protein bar that is healthy and makes you addicted to eating them. Yeah.

28:00 We don't need, they don't need to be a thing that you're always like, Oh God, I can't wait to have another one of these things with 40.

28:06 Grams of protein. Yeah. Everybody's getting their macros. Jack, can I ask you something as a father to young boys?

28:13 Yes.

28:14 How are you looking at everything?

28:19 You know, like, in this really like, I I'm so not, not like worried, but I'm like, what are the, like, I, I, in terms of like misogyny and massage, but just even generally. Right. Because I think that the focus gets on like, what are you telling them about misogyny or these other things? Cause obviously that's part and parcel of it, but like even broader, what's my child's ability to see every single human being as worthy.

28:46 Of respect, like broadly. Right. Cause I feel like you need to tick that box too, because it's.

28:52 If, because if people can start, I'm like, yeah, like for, I don't know, like for, I, you know, my, my kid's only three, but I've really become pretty like strict about him understanding, like, cause he's, he's at that age where he's climbing on people and stuff and likes to like rip.

29:08 People's fucking shirt.

29:10 Collars you know stuff like that and I'm like trying to be like bro when people say like that's enough like you have to stop yeah yeah but like you have like we you have to understand what people are saying like this is uncomfortable like you need to stop and trying to like find all these things to optimize like there's still an ability to have fun but there's also these other lessons of like being able to understand that your own need to have fun and entertainment doesn't supersede someone else's need to feel comfortable or safe right Yeah.

29:39 I mean, I would say the two, like just saying things very, in a very straightforward way when, when they come up and just being as honest as possible. But then I also think that there's like, we're very strict about, you know, screens and phones and shit like that.

29:55 Right.

29:56 But then if we're not modeling that behavior, uh, then it's like, that doesn't, that's not going to stick, right? Oh, because it's like rules for the, but not for me kind of thing? Yeah, exactly. Well, I just think that they are, it's like so far beyond being able to just like control what they're learning by like, okay, this is a teaching moment and this is where I'm going to do the teaching. And this is where they're going to listen to me. It has to be like everything you're doing. It has to be like you thinking about how you're living your life in front of them, which is like every, every single day, you know? Um, so that, I just think that there's so much more that they're drinking in than like I at first wanted to realize, like,

30:44 I think they're just, you know, they're paying attention to everything. Everything is, you know, is what, is what they're learning and probably more loudly what, how you actually are on a daily basis more than like what, what you're saying to them about like how the world is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I don't know, just like trying to be attentive, like find those moments where like, Oh shit, like that kind of, seems to be something that we need to address, but not just being like, okay. And then I said a thing and I addressed it, but also like, okay, where's that, where's that coming from in how I behave around them and just like how I behave in general, because like they're more perceptive than I am, you know,

31:25 even about like my own behavior. So, yeah.

31:28 Cause you don't realize like every day, like your kids have a front row seat to like the movie of how do I behave as an adult?

31:35 Yeah. And where are the stars of it? Yeah. Yeah. So, I don't know. That starts with me. No, I mean, yeah. Everything I know about parenting, I learned from that ad where the guy catches his son doing cocaine and he says, where did you find this? And he says, I learned it from watching you, dad. I learned it from watching you. Wait, what?

31:57 That's an ad?

31:58 You don't remember that ad? That was probably before your time. I think it was like, it was all over TV in like the mid eighties. Like maybe just in New York. It was when I lived in New York, but there's a dad with like a curly hair and a mustache, I believe. And he finds a box of cocaine in his 12 year old's closet and is like, what is this?

32:23 where did you, where did you find this? Where did you learn to do this?

32:26 I learned it from you. But yeah, I mean, that's just something that I've learned from parenting is just like, it's, you, you can be, you can read the books and be intentional about like the things you say to them, but it also just has to come down to like how, how you're living in front of them and your relationship with your partner or with, you know, other people, whoever's around you on a regular basis. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Anyways, protein bars, man. Thanks for not shouting it out. Too good. Um, all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

33:12 And we're back. We're back. And the big viral moment over the weekend was when Vivek Ramaswamy, so he's, he was doing, it was like all hands on deck. He is reportedly trailing Democrat Amy Acton in two new polls of the Ohio governor's race. And so Donald Trump came in and did a thing that would have been like a major news story and any other administration where it's like, I won't, I won't help her. If you vote, if you vote her in, I'm not going to help her.

33:46 You guys like just basically bribing the entire state, um, which seems bad. Be careful. If that's her, you're not going to get anything.

33:55 Yeah.

33:56 You're not going to get anything. I'm going to starve you. Oh, thank you. That seems like it would be illegal. But no one paid any attention to any of that because they were all preoccupied by the moment when Ramaswamy tried and failed to pick up a 10-year-old boy. Did you see the video? No. Oh, man. So he brings this kid on stage who had a sign that apparently said, my dad has deployed proud military kid for Trump. Oh, my God. First brings him on stage.

34:33 And then it's getting a good response from the crowd. And so he randomly goes, I'm going to pick you up. And he certainly tries. Let's just play real quick.

34:46 Let's see if somebody skipped arm day. I'll pick you.

34:50 Up.

34:50 I'll pick you up. There you go. Big guy. I'll pick you up. Big guy. Whoa. The crowd's response is not. This one is very funny where he's.

35:11 Like, and he will raise you up on eagle's wings.

35:16 Oh, God. You're a big guy. You're a big guy, huh? Yeah, things that aren't helping him. The crowd thinks he's going to drop that kid. I think it's... It was.

35:35 Part weakness, I think, part not knowing, like, do you hold the kid under his butt.

35:39 That you don't even know? Well, the kid's 10.

35:41 Yeah, like, it's just a weird... You don't pick up 10-year-olds. I know, like, the whole thing, I'm like, bro, you gotta... I could see in his mind, he's like, what am I doing?

35:48 He's like... Right. First of all, I'm not even really strong enough to pick him up.

35:52 And then, like, when he tries to be like, okay, I'll support your butt with my arm, he's like, well, maybe not.

35:55 Shit, I'm too weak to pick it up. Well, no, because you're a 10-year-old boy. You're not a baby. Yeah. What am I doing?

36:02 What was going to be the point of that?

36:04 He was going to hold him up like Simba? And they're going to be like, oh! Yeah, I don't understand what his endgame was. Vivek, you're right. Oh, forget Amy Acton. You're the one. But yeah, the crowd, it's like the reaction... of a crowd at like a circus where like acrobats are doing a routine where they like pretend to almost fall, you know, the crowd.

36:27 Whoa, no, we're the amazing Shringy brothers.

36:34 And then he's just, he seems like he's on tilt. Like he's like, I'm going to pick you up. It was like so weird for like somebody with a 10 year old on stage. You don't hear people say, I'm going to pick you up because like, like 10 is if where a kid would ask his parents like hey pick me up and their parents would be like yeah you're too big for this shit yeah I.

36:55 Think he was trying he didn't know he thought he was going to get some like kissing a white baby cred or something completely the wrong moment if anything he'd be like hey you want to say something right get past the kid the mic or whatever let him say some weird fucked up thing or whatever that he heard at home and then move on with your rally It's wild though, because I mean like Trump had to hit some, he's hitting up so many States right now, trying to help anybody out because everyone is sinking underneath just the Iran war gas, like literally gestures to everything.

37:28 I will literally shoot you in the head. If you don't vote for Republicans, like essentially like, I feel like his, you gotta do it at this time at this point. Yeah. Yeah. It's not going well. It was funny. Uh, Vivek, uh, yesterday, uh, posted a picture of him with his wife and their baby and said a happy eight month birthday, uh, with him holding the baby. So it feels like he had to create a reason to like post him successfully holding a child.

38:00 He, he can't be doing it two handed. That's not, that's not going to be enough to fucking shut up the haters. No, he should have, he should have palmed his eight month old by the skull, like this straight out, like he's on the cover of slam or some shit.

38:15 Happy eight month birthday, son. Yeah, that's right. Boom. Straight up one handed grip on it. Um, anyways, he's, he was trailing on the polls, but now I think, I think people, I also like that. He's like, Oh, a big guy. I guess kids like being called big, but it doesn't. It's the kid's fault.

38:34 Rationalizing why he couldn't lift the kid to himself.

38:37 It's just like, It's just an all-around big stinker. Big stinking Al. People are comparing it to the Dukakis moment where he went in a battle tank. People were like, this guy doesn't seem like a president. He seems like a businessman. He just seems like a lawyer. And he's also kind of shorter. And he compensated by going into a tank And he just looked really silly. He was, like, standing behind a machine gun and had a funny helmet on.

39:07 Well, it's funny because it's just labeled in gigantic print, Mike Dukakis on the front. As if, like, they're like, no one's going to believe this. We need to label it as Mike Dukakis.

39:19 And it's also, yeah, it gives the vibe of, like, children at a, like, on a field trip, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

39:27 Exactly.

39:28 And this is, I'm Mike Dukakis. I get my very own helmet. Okay, Mike, come down now.

39:32 Remember I said five seconds for each kid to have a turn to take a photo in the tank? Here, can you help me down? Person, like, lifts him up off the... Oh, little guy. Okay, that was easy.

39:41 Hey, buddy. Thank you. Let's see. So, it's never great to see the word plague.

39:49 In headlines, which is something that we were seeing.

39:52 Over the weekend. Unless it's like plague somehow only affecting billionaires. Right. Billionaire plague. What's happening to these guys?

39:59 But yeah, there's, I don't know, there's just something about existing in the age of cascading catastrophes that like really just sucks. It's not just like that every day there's some new catastrophe.

40:13 It's just that they don't hit the same at all anymore. Right.

40:16 Like right now with this Russian thing, we're reading about the fucking plague.

40:19 And I'm like, yeah. All right, dude. I don't know.

40:22 Fine.

40:24 Fucking plague. Sure.

40:25 Like there's the fucking plague, but there's like right now in Russia, a lot of stress over a lab worker that died after potentially, potentially interacting with a lab specimens.

40:35 That contain a form of fusing story, which is kind of monic plague. Any story coming out of Russia feels like this, where you're like, it, You know, there's, like, a bunch of different versions, and then you just have, like, you are people who analyze Russian news and propaganda to try and, like, figure out what is happening. Right. But...

40:52 How plaguey is it? The version that was, like, initially across mainstream media was that a worker had dropped a test tube that broke, and then they... died of the pneumonic plague recently, like at a, at a different hospital, which like, so that people who are a little bit more like there's a, a senior Russian epidemiologist, uh, who has disputed the account that a broken test tube caused the infection, uh, and was like, the fact that they made that story up seems like it would be like, this might be a coverup because again, if they, if there's a broken test tube situation, like that's how this would happen in the movies, like test tube breaks. Oh no, they're exposed to the plague. They're butt naked in that room. Yeah.

41:45 That's the other thing he was saying. Like people are, Completely in, like, anti-plague suits. So you're not going to be exposed. They're wearing anti-plague suits, guys. Which I have to assume have those big, long bird masks. Oh, yeah, yeah, like an undertaker. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, so they were like, if you break a test tube, the likelihood of infection is very low. And also, they didn't... Like, they were moved to another place, and then people are pointing out that this person... just came back from a work trip.

42:20 And so that is, I don't know that, that all makes me feel worse. Yeah. That the broken test tube gives someone plague and they die from it. A story is the like kind of, uh, positive like spin that they were putting on it. Like propaganda being like, don't worry, we got this under control. It's fun.

42:42 Yeah.

42:42 It's, it's just odd.

42:44 Like where, uh, obviously like it doesn't help the russians to take this lightly since it could have devastating consequences if left unchecked but i also don't like when their own health officials like oh come on it's a little plague we got this totally under control and she probably got on a trip or something like what is it because then you're also hearing about 200 people that potentially been in contact with her are all quarantined the hospital she was at is quarantined yeah they're certainly not like Oh, she went to the Dominican and maybe got sick or something like that.

43:18 It's like, what? Yeah, they seem to have a theory of the case of what could have happened here because they have 200 people in quarantine. I will say, like, so I'll tell you the two things that made me what one that made me feel good. One thing that really worried me. So the one that made me feel good is that if you put aside any bioweapon fears, the thing about the plague is like it never went away.

43:43 Literally just last year, someone in Arizona died of pneumonic plague after being exposed to several sick cats. Okay. And there was no outbreak. There was no, you know, mass panic. Um, it has a high fat fatality rate if it, uh, if it's not treated immediately, but it is easily treated with antibiotics if caught early. Um, so that's the, that's the thing that made me feel better is that like, well, well, plague, very scary. Uh, we do have ways of treating it now. Uh, there's also a 2021 CDC report that the Soviet union developed antibiotic resistant, um, Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes the plague for biological warfare, uh, Oh, okay. So that's the thing that made me feel not as good is

44:28 the possibility. And we're caught in that liminal space.

44:32 Where we go, yeah, fuck it.

44:35 Which cascading disaster to be worrying about? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which one? Which one? I guess I'll just get my gutters cleared. Get your gutters cleared and buy some rice. Continue to focus on the climate disaster that's impending. Um, but this one feels bad. Yeah. Like cascading is a really good way to describe it because it's like, okay, so Trump, the Trump thing helps bring about a world where Russia is like less accountable and now Russia is even less accountable and also just, uh, completely chaotic. And so now we have this to worry about, you know, and it's just like one disaster begets another, um, and in a way that's, uh, and around and around we go.

45:19 Pretty unnerving. Yeah.

45:21 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

45:21 But that's what I'm saying.

45:22 Like at a certain point, you're just out of self-preservation. You kind of go into this numb acceptance.

45:30 Yeah. And then you're like, there is truly nothing we can do about a lot of it other than, you know, just keep our eyes open and tell the truth, I guess. And waiting for that moment when we all know it's time to do something. Yeah. Hey, speaking of time to do something, let's take a quick break. And when we come back, there are some countries that, they're doing things in a weird way that I don't know what's going on over there in Spain and France. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. And we're back. We're back.

46:10 And what's going on over in Spain, Miles? This is weird. People seem fed up with something. They have had it over there.

46:18 So, you know, in the last couple of weeks, there's an eviction of this 87-year-old woman, Mari Carmen Abascal, from her Madrid apartment that she's lived in for her entire, like, generations, basically. And, you know, seeing her be evicted in, like, a gurney where people are like, what are we fucking doing? Someone's 87 years old. And you're like, sorry, can't afford to live.

46:40 Then get out of here. Um, and this was first, the outrage sort of was coming mostly from her neighbors. Then that grew wider to like tenants unions, then a city at large, then the outrage spread across the country. Um, And a lot of people have been talking about, like, you know, similar protests that had also happened in Madrid where people were taking over, like, the main square there in 2011 because this was all stuff born out of the 2008 financial crisis.

47:07 Right.

47:08 But in Jacobin, they're also saying, like, this move in is also very different because it has a clear goal that is, like, unequivocal in its class consciousness.

47:16 Right. and tying it to housing specifically.

47:19 And people are seeing how bad capitalism has robbed us of our right to have a place to live in this overly financialized housing system. As from Jackman, quote, this new wave of protest makes clear reference to a working class identified with a sense of having the future stolen most clearly in a rapacious housing market. Ultimately, an increasing number of people, and especially young Spaniards in urban areas that find themselves under the assault of financialization, with no serious government response, have realized that there's no way out of this low in the political cycle and the ruling party's snail's pace, except for mobilization and organization. They understand that the only way to avoid this disappointing government being

48:02 followed by a reactionary one headed by the conservative Partido Popular is and far-right Vox is to reclaim the initiative, the streets, and the squares.

48:13 Which I think is very, very important to think about. Going back and forth between a do-nothing party and a far-right extremist party. Far-right reactionary nonsense.

48:23 And they see that cycle building, that you're going to get people who go, they're going to offer you fucking incremental change that does nothing, but allows the fucking pot to fucking.

48:33 Even boil harder and harder and harder boils over.

48:36 You get, you get these fucking right wing fascists to come in and be like, we got the solution.

48:41 And then let's just do this over and over.

48:42 They are realizing because people, we've seen this historically, this is such an important moment with people looking around.

48:50 Going, dude, capitalism is really fucking everything up. I have, I can't breathe.

48:56 Like, literally and metaphorically because i have because there is no way to survive unless i'm constantly working and scratching and scraping for whatever i can get and they realize that energy needs to be turned into momentum for a much first for a new way of of governance whether that's something more akin to socialism communism depending on where you know what people's political bent is, but.

49:22 That, that needs to be, that actually needs to be transformed.

49:25 So it doesn't just turn into this nihilism that allows for someone to come in and say, you know what, it's all these, it's all these immigrants, it's all this group and we need to get them. And because we've also seen that pop, that pattern play out over and over again. Um, The people are not responding well to the politicians, again, just paying lip service to their needs and protests, and they want tangible change. And, you know, the parliament was, they had a bill that was potentially going to get passed, but the opposition leaders voted it down, and now they are back in the streets. They're not quitting. Quote, demonstrators on Saturday waved posters calling for a general strike after the measures drawn up to address mass anger over

50:06 the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. and other housing issues were rejected in Parliament on Friday. Javier, 31, a solar panel installer, said, quote, we are demanding a fundamental right, decent housing, stability, and conditions allowing us to construct a decent life project. I spend half of my salary on a tiny room. Another person said, quote, what we are feeling in the streets is a new energy generation that we haven't seen in a long time. An energy that is showing that eight days of people power can achieve more than eight years of progressive government. That was from Valeria Raku, who is one of the spokespeople for the tenants union. Because again, this isn't, there are, there's clear groups that are helping organize this energy. And

50:51 I think because you have tenants unions who are like, it's real easy to get people on board with, Hey guys, What's happening? We're getting fucked over by landlords. The inability to actually put roofs over our heads. We need to band together because this is a fundamental human right. She goes on to say, quote, now begins real politics, politics, which has always belonged to the people and which will return once and for all to the streets.

51:12 Yeah.

51:13 So. I mean, having people who are organizing is one thing, but like having this much energy for them to organize, like it really just feels like this is where we're at and where we're headed everywhere. Like this back and forth between those two options. Everyone sees extremism and then a democratic party that, or, you know, whatever the mainstream non-leftist party is. Yeah. Neo liberal party is like doing nothing is just people aren't going to stand for that anymore.

51:44 Yeah, because I think, again, material conditions are such that you can't just kind of kick the can down the road anymore.

51:51 There is no can and there's no more road. Yeah. So what's up? So what's up then?

51:57 And I think that's a big issue that a lot of electeds are not realizing, which also brings us Just across the border.

52:05 Yeah. France. The kids. The kids aren't fucking around anymore either. They've also had it.

52:12 Right now, around 500 schools in France are closed due to protests that have sparked up across the country. If you read Bari Weiss's The Free Press, because I'm always like, oh, okay, interesting. You know, France, look up the 1968 French student revolutions. That was, I mean, major. You know what I mean?

52:29 Really changed the course of French politics. This is not a thing that happens. Again, all the time, I think we're always talking about, damn, man, the French, they know how to get down. They really do.

52:41 When they have had it, something is going to happen.

52:44 Um, but in the free press, the very, you know, right wing depiction of student protests is like far left. Politicians have encouraged protesters to become violent and burned things.

52:56 I know Donnie is behind this. I just have to figure out how I just don't know. He, wait, he likes arsenal.

53:02 There are French players on arsenal.

53:05 Therefore he, yes.

53:07 William Saliba is a sleeper cell agent. Um, uh, again, um, What the students are saying, it's about crumbling infrastructure. The classrooms are overcrowded. The schedules are too packed. There aren't enough teachers. They're not being paid enough. Staff's not being paid enough. The schools generally do not have enough funding to actually keep up with the demands that society will put upon people when they exit academia.

53:32 This is what the student unions are saying.

53:35 A lot of like the other things that they're calling for the end of the abolition of state run admissions platforms for higher education universities that they say only benefit a very specific group of people and not broadly the entire population of French students. This is from a one banner said, quote, we're not poorly educated. We're just not listened to was a protest sign that was being held. Um, and right now, a lot of science, a lot of headlines are talking about how like a 15 year old, you know, they kind of fucked up. He injured his hand after grabbing a police stun grenade. But it's like, that's the headline. It's like 15 year old, like blows hand off in protest.

54:12 Right.

54:12 Rather than like, what about the conversation about public education and the fact that students are saying they are feeling robbed of their futures in real time.

54:24 Yeah. I would, when I was in school, I didn't.

54:26 Know because I had the, we had the benefit of thinking that the economy was still going to be operating in the same fucked up way.

54:33 It was like, I go to college, I go middle class.

54:35 These kids are in school now and they go, bro, what the fuck am I, what are we doing?

54:39 Yeah. I'm fucked. If this is the education I'm getting.

54:42 I can't even, you can't even open a lot of students are like with climate change. Not a lot of ventilation. You can't even open windows to get fresh air into a classroom. There's a lot of things that need to be addressed, not just on the most basic levels. So I think the response in France, pretty familiar, even in this country, in that the defenders of the status quo are offering incremental change to try and quell the protests, while also saying that this is the fault of politicians to their left.

55:13 Right.

55:14 Um, not actually owning it. And like some have like, cause I think they do know they're like, okay, we hear you.

55:19 Okay. Now we hear you. We hear you. We get you. And we're going to have a conversation with it down the line somewhere, but we need you to stop doing this because you're, you're going to, you're going to put your eye out with all this protesting. Like that's honestly, stop burning on the hand. You guys are burning stuff.

55:35 That's not great. That's not good. Burning stuff. Yeah. Fires. That's fire stuff, buddy.

55:41 That's somebody's corporate car that you burned down.

55:46 So, you know, think about that. Yeah. Here, I'm going to pick you up. Oh, big guy. Big guy, huh? Big guy, huh? Wow, I didn't realize your demands were so... This is wildly impressive as somebody who, you know, the student government when I was in high school was like, we're promising to get more pizza parties. Yeah, exactly. I think everyone knew, like, I don't know, that's the concern of students.

56:11 But this is how far, and I'm sure like, and you know, this is the state everywhere because there's more and more of an emphasis on taking public funds away for education.

56:22 We know for damn sure that's happening in this country. Yeah.

56:26 And yet there's still, there's a lot of, you see the weakness of this, of this, of the status quo propping up in, in all these different ways and people really beginning to push back. And yeah, I, I, I hope this can be sort of protest succeed and help inspire people in more countries and more countries to realize it's like, you know, at the end of the day, that's what I love about calling for a general strike, because I think on some level people realize like, right.

56:54 You know, the, the economy runs on our labor, right? Like that's the blood of wall street. That's their, like their vampires and they need their blood. What is their blood? Us clocking in every day.

57:07 That's their blood. And yet, the line goes up when they fire people. Right. They also want to find a way to get rid of the blood. Sure.

57:17 But interestingly enough, what happens if the blood decides to stop flowing for a couple days?

57:23 Yeah. And what happens then? You might not like that too much.

57:26 But I think, again, we're in an unfortunate situation, especially in this country, where it's like it was only.

57:33 It was like in that summer of.

57:33 2020 when people had a moment to sort of like take a breath and look around that.

57:38 They get, holy shit, man, like this, a lot has to change. But I think we are seeing that too.

57:43 It's now, I think first potentially going to manifest in what happens in the midterms and then seeing from there. how much Democrats actually do anything with that? Because you can, I also see a world where they go, yes, look how bad they fuck. We didn't have to do anything to get the football back.

57:59 Right. Yeah, exactly. And just continuing to promise and promise and promise and not do shit. And then I don't think that's going to work.

58:07 Like the fear of the Spanish, like the Spanish people that are, are, are protesting now you get that version and it's, you let, the lack of action on addressing people's needs.

58:18 That just means you're going to get it.

58:20 The right wing goes back in the lab and throws more who's on some fucking creature to figure out what's going to get a share of the attention.

58:28 All right. Those are some of the things that are trending on this Monday, October 5th.

58:32 We are back tomorrow with a whole last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other.

58:38 Be kind to yourself. Get your vaccines while you still can. Get your flu shots. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. Flu rates are spiking already. I know. In California. They're like, we usually see this in like November. Yeah. Don't do nothing about white supremacy and we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye.

58:57 Peace.

58:58 The Daily Zeitgeist is executive produced by Catherine Law.

59:01 Co-produced by Victor Wright. Co-written by J.M. McNabb. And edited and engineered by Brian Jeffries.