Is Everyone At DOGE An Intern??

Summary

American Fever Dream: "Is Everyone At DOGE An Intern??" – Episode Summary

Release Date: February 25, 2025
Host/Author: Betches Media
Presented by: Betches News

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Introduction

In the February 25, 2025 episode of American Fever Dream, hosts Bea Speer and Sammy Sage dive deep into the chaotic interplay between politics, media, and pop culture. Steering clear of mere sensationalism, they offer insightful commentary infused with humor and a dose of perspective, aiming to empower listeners amidst a tumultuous political landscape.

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AI-Generated Political Media and Cultural Resistance

Bea Speer opens the discussion by highlighting a perplexing AI-generated video allegedly featuring Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet, proclaiming him "the real king." [01:11] She criticizes the use of AI to portray Trump as a superhero and suggests countering this narrative with AI-generated content that reflects his true persona.

Sammy Sage agrees, emphasizing the importance of creativity and humor in fostering cultural resistance. She asserts, "Humor is resistance," advocating for using comedy as a tool to reshape public perception rather than succumbing to despair. [02:35]

Bea adds, "Anything can be true," referring to Trump's portrayal through NFTs and AI art, which, despite being fake, have a significant emotional impact on the public. [03:21] The hosts agree on the necessity of balancing creative expression with factual integrity to influence public opinion positively.

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Senate Voterama and Democratic Resistance

The conversation shifts to recent Senate Voterama activities, where Democrats took a more assertive stance against Republican budget proposals that threaten vital programs like Medicaid and the Department of Education. Bea Speer recounts her experience hosting a live roundtable with 15 senators, noting the unexpected enthusiasm and fire from Democratic legislators. [10:59]

During the Voterama, Susan Collins joins Senate Democrats in supporting an amendment to prevent tax cuts for billionaires amid rising food prices. [12:17] Sammy Sage explains that while this amendment may not pass, it serves to publicly hold Republicans accountable for their stance on economic policies, even if the immediate impact is limited. [12:40]

Bea discusses the shift in Republican behavior, particularly highlighting Josh Hawley's unexpected support for Democratic amendments related to Medicaid funding. [13:04] This move, influenced by overwhelming constituent backlash, underscores the growing dissent within the Republican ranks against policies that adversely affect everyday Americans. [14:41]

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Impact on Government Employees and Federal Funding

The hosts delve into the repercussions of proposed budget cuts, emphasizing the real-life consequences for federal employees and ongoing projects. Bea Speer shares personal anecdotes about explaining government spending to her parents, who are influenced by misinformation about waste and fraud. [15:05] She underscores the inefficacy of blanket cuts, explaining how terminating grants does not equate to immediate savings but rather leads to increased expenses in the long run. [16:36]

Sammy Sage echoes these sentiments, highlighting the irresponsible nature of such fiscal policies aimed at personal control rather than genuine efficiency. [17:35] Both hosts agree that the current administration’s approach fosters chaos instead of constructive government reform.

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Media's Struggle with Trump-Era Pressures

Transitioning to media dynamics, Bea expresses concern over journalists fearing legal repercussions from Donald Trump, leading to self-censorship and staff reductions. [26:22] Sammy Sage challenges this notion, suggesting that many media personnel changes are driven by business decisions rather than ideological pressures. [27:42]

They discuss high-profile departures like Jim Acosta leaving CNN and speculate on the motivations behind Joy Reid's departure from MSNBC. [32:07] The hosts debate whether these shifts are purely business-driven or influenced by Trump-related pressures, ultimately leaning towards a mix of both factors.

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Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Rise of "Intern" Management Practices

The episode takes a critical turn towards Elon Musk's management style at DOGE. Sammy Sage introduces the segment by unraveling the enigmatic figure Big Balls (real name Edward Korstein), a 19-year-old associated with controversial activities, including alleged affiliations with Russian hacking groups and the founding of dubious companies like Tesla Sexy LLC. [38:28]

Bea Speer and Sammy Sage dissect Big Balls’ questionable actions and the bizarre integration of his grandfather's KGB ties, drawing parallels to the movie "Breach" where espionage and betrayal ripple through generations. [40:35] The hosts humorously critique the absurdity of Musk's decisions, such as sending out corporate-style emails reminiscent of intern tasks, questioning the competence and intentional management missteps at DOGE. [36:42]

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Germany's Election and the AfD's Performance

Shifting focus to international politics, the hosts analyze the recent German elections where the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) failed to secure a majority. Sammy Sage highlights Friedrich Merz's commitment to European unity and his resistance to American political interventions, noting his criticism of Elon Musk's involvement in German politics. [42:21]

Bea Speer humorously mocks Alice Videl, the AfD leader, pointing out the contradictions in her stance on traditional values versus her personal life, which includes an openly gay partnership. [43:45] The hosts critique her historical revisionism and anti-immigration rhetoric, arguing that such narratives are both unfounded and hypocritical. [47:40]

They conclude that while AfD made significant strides, garnering up to 20% of the vote—the highest since WWII—it remains a fragmented and controversial force within German politics. [44:22]

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Conclusion

In this episode of American Fever Dream, Bea Speer and Sammy Sage navigate through a labyrinth of political maneuvers, media challenges, and international dynamics with sharp wit and insightful analysis. From critiquing AI-generated political propaganda to dissecting the internal struggles within the Senate and media industries, the hosts provide listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current political fever dream. Their exploration into Elon Musk's management at DOGE and Germany's political shifts underscores the complexities of modern governance and media influence, all while maintaining a tone of humor and resilience.

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Notable Quotes:

• Bea Speer (01:11): "I think that I need to start flooding the zone with trash AI showing up how he actually is."

• Sammy Sage (02:35): "Humor is resistance."

• Sammy Sage (12:44): "We just had to rise them up. And I you can watch the whole thing on YouTube or on Substack or whatever."

• Bea Speer (14:41): "I refuse to lose my father to MAGA."

• Sammy Sage (27:42): "I don't think Joy Reid is getting laid off because of ideology, but more because of business reasons."

• Bea Speer (32:31): "MSNBC is getting sold off anyway."

• Sammy Sage (35:08): "He’s like, okay, this is just an email I'm gonna send out."

• Bea Speer (47:40): "She's like, I'm a champion for traditional values... how do people not get that?"

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This episode underscores the importance of staying informed and critically analyzing the interplay between technology, politics, and media. American Fever Dream continues to provide a vital space for discussions that seek to illuminate and navigate the complexities of the American and global political landscape.

Transcript

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[Bea Speer]

Rise and shine, Fever dreamers. Look alive, my friends. I'm Bea Speer.

[Sammy Sage]

And I'm Sammy Sage.

[Bea Speer]

And this is American Fever Dream, presented by Betches News, where we explore the.

[Sammy Sage]

Absurdities and oddities of our uniquely American experience. Happy Tuesday, Vee.

[Bea Speer]

Happy Tuesday. And for those who are watching at home. No, I'm not in my Jeff Goldblum era. I just have a bangin migraine in these little glasses. Help me with all the lights in here.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, we appreciate your sacrifice and being here staring at the screen and talking about some of the craziest shit we've seen.

[Bea Speer]

You know what I think triggered this migraine intended?

[Sammy Sage]

What?

[Bea Speer]

Okay, I was watching this morning because we record on Mondays, remember? But you hear us on Tuesday and today on hud, unlike all the TV screens, they were playing this AI generated video. Allegedly AI generated. We don't know, it could be real. Of Donald Trump kissing Elon's feet, saying long live the real king. And I think that that is one so iconic. Good trouble. They do so much with AI to make Trump look like a superhero. We need to start flooding the zone with trash AI showing up how he actually is. But I do think that I incurred perhaps an aesthetic injury watching that.

[Sammy Sage]

Oh, well, you'll have to ask the Supreme Court if they agree. But no, I understand. The thing is, I love that story about the HUD AI on the screens. And when people say like, what should I do? That's the kind of creativity and artistry and like ultimately harmless, but something that you could only do in a. In a country where you have free speech. And I think that that's the kind of thing that people should be thinking about trying to change the culture on a base level and change people's opinions in a more fundamental way. And you can do that by being funny. And I would recommend actually being funny as your main approach. Like we say on this show, we gotta. Humor is resistance.

[Bea Speer]

Yep. You gotta laugh or you'd cry the whole time. But I loved it. And I was like, you know, I'm not Saying I'm gonna start, like a finsta account where I start posting, like, AI generated anti Trump propaganda. But if I do, there'll be signs, like, I'll suddenly not have time to do the news at night, but there'll be this new popular channel with like, all just AI generated trash out of Trump. The way that he's done it over these number of years is that anything can be true. And he is presenting himself, like, through his NFTs and through the AI generated art of himself as this, like, very strong person. And while we know that it's fake, it's obviously having an emotional impact on people. Like Christ with Trump. Right. And all of these different Facebook memes. Maybe we do need to start to flood the zone and act like he acts with actual things that Trump is more like than these, like, Christ putting his hand on his shoulder stuff.

[Sammy Sage]

Right. Well, I think there's this asymmetry because they're happy to create this sort of like, fictional fantasy, but I think the sort of allegiance to what's true and not wanting to contribute to the conversation with AI slop and sort of like, fake. Fake news, so to speak. Because, you know, that's really the problem. It's like the Democrats or people on the left are held to a much higher standard because they have spent.

[Bea Speer]

We.

[Sammy Sage]

They have spent so much time yelling at people I know and the right for not being truthful.

[Bea Speer]

I mean, in our version of, like, memeification or whatever, like political cartoons, which are very, like, academic and like, thoughtful and whatnot, but they're just not slapping as much as that video on HUD did. And I'm like, more of that. Let's see more of that.

[Sammy Sage]

The HUD video slapped because of where it was.

[Bea Speer]

Right.

[Sammy Sage]

It was. And it was clearly an employee resistance.

[Bea Speer]

Sure.

[Sammy Sage]

You know, someone figured out how to do that. And what was even more funny was that they couldn't figure out how to turn it off. They probably fired that person. And so they had to run around unplugging all the TVs.

[Bea Speer]

I love it.

[Sammy Sage]

You know what I love? Reported that.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah.

[Sammy Sage]

Credit to the Hand Basket. Subscribe to her newsletter.

[Bea Speer]

Oh, her newsletter's great.

[Sammy Sage]

Very good. It slaps, as the kids say it does.

[Bea Speer]

It's wrist up. Also rised up was the governor's ball this past weekend at the White House. It was like the governor's. Not the governor's ball. Like a governor's dinner at the White House. And the gov Ball. It wasn't gov Ball, the music festival. It was like governor's dinner at the White House. Right? The state dinner thing. And a lot of Natalie's friends are in the military bands because it's like some of the most accomplished and prestigious musicians of the world have the option to, like, join the military band. It's a good, steady gig. So a lot of folks who went to Eastman with her, she knows that are in these bands, right? So I show her a video of them at the. They do all the music for the White House and everything. And at this ball, they did Les Mis. They sang. Do you hear the people sing? They fuck. I was like, natalie, you gotta find out who it is. And she's like, if I do, you can't tell anybody, because I don't want them to get in trouble. But, like, yes, that was selected by the music director. And it was, you know, at least we think it was a form of protest, like, at. And these people, because MAGA thinks they're the Parisians at the fucking barricade was like, oh, I love this song. Oh, Les Mis. How classic. Andrew Lloyd Webber. What a slap. Not Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was thinking of Cats at the same time, which is Trump's favorite musical. Anyway, there's too stupid to realize that you're being protested at your own event. And it is a song of warning. It is warning of the people and their voices rising up against tyranny. And I just think that's cool that they did it at the White House event.

[Sammy Sage]

Yeah. I mean, it doesn't really get any clearer in terms of protests, revolution songs.

[Bea Speer]

Viva la France.

[Sammy Sage]

It's not like they chose to sing On My Own or Castle on a Cloud.

[Bea Speer]

Well, maybe they'll do that for NATO. Right? Like, when we appear at NATO, we'll be like, hi, we're the United States of America, and we're feeling very. On my own pretending NATO's beside me. Or, like, Ukraine can sing that and then we can all, like, rally for them. I do. I do think it's. We're starting to see some cracks, though, because they're doing crazy shit. And, you know, there's been some great protests in favor of Ukraine over the weekend as well, which is good.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, as we're talking about that, to your point about picking the right song and all of that, that's also, you know, again, using art as protest, art as resistance. It doesn't have to be this, like, loud, disruptive thing. It's just. And that also is partly about creating a sense of visibility of one's protest for other people to. To stand up and there Was actually, again, I'm going to shout out Tim Miller. Did I talk about him on the last show? He. He was speaking with Sarah Longwell and he was saying, like, I'm not afraid of these. Like, you have to stand up to them because who else is going to, like, you have to stand up. And he was saying how, like, seeing other people stand up is really important. And I happen to agree with that because it's, you know, there's no obvious big protests this time or, you know, there are protests, but it's not.

[Bea Speer]

It's not safe to do it like that. It's not the same vibes we need, like, yeah, everybody's in their state house, in their local community doing their real, like, local stuff.

[Sammy Sage]

Right. It feels more targeted, less performative this time, which is good.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah.

[Sammy Sage]

And one thing I do want to say is that Zelensky, he's number one fan. Fan girls on this show.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah, we love them.

[Sammy Sage]

He's. He, I feel, is kind of becoming like the. The spear. Well, not even. He's really like, the armor that's going to either, you know, get pierced through or he's going to be able to protect himself and Ukraine and Europe. What he's doing is raising morale. And when you think about it, like, Europe is finally getting off its ass. The German election was yesterday.

[Bea Speer]

The smoked them. Afd. Smoked them. We are the best AFD out there.

[Sammy Sage]

They didn't smoke. They weren't smoked.

[Bea Speer]

They were smoked. Compared to what they said they were going to do, which was win by, like, thousands of millions of points, they came.

[Sammy Sage]

That's crazy. They would say that.

[Bea Speer]

And they only got that last boost because of JD Vance and Elon Musk. Prior to that, they weren't even doing that well. So I feel like I'm going with, we smoked them. What if we sued them for brand infringement? This is what I mean. Yeah. This is how we take out the AFT.

[Dr. Naomi Bernstein]

Hello, Oversharing listeners, it's Dr. Naomi Bernstein with some exciting news. Starting January 13th, our Oversharing Calm the fuck down subscription is getting even better. Subscribers will get oversharing episodes a day early, plus additional exclusive bonus content on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Here's what's new. One bonus episode with even more emails and advice, and another where we follow up with past email writers who could be you. While we won't be releasing new meditations in the new year, don't worry, all of our past meditations will stay available on the feed for you to enjoy anytime. Plus, we'll have a new Meditations playlist for our Spotify listeners. To sign up now, head to subscribe.basches.com and select Oversharing. Calm the Fuck down we're so excited about creating this new bonus content, talking to more of you, hearing your stories, sharing some of our own, and reminding us all to calm the fuck down.

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[Bea Speer]

Okay, we're back now from our break. We're going to get into the meat of our episode because we could just riff on how much we love Zelensky forever and ever and ever. But there was a lot of cool stuff that did happen domestically. We are seeing some resistance and I think it kicked off with last week the vote a rama in the Senate. I think the Democrats got a little, they got a little bit pushier and a little bit braver than they had been and I was pretty glad for that. I did like a three hour round robin with 15 senators. Each one gave me 15 minutes and we went live on substack. And I didn't mean to turn it into like a pep rally for Senate Dems, but I did and I think that that was my little part in the resistance. Right? So often when we get a Democratic legislator on the line, we want to hold them accountable. In this case they were about to go into the voterama where the Republicans are proposing a horrible budget that would gut Medicaid, that would get rid of the Department of Education, that it would continue to have a negative impact on like the Veterans suicide hotline. They want to like, defund parts of that. And so they were going in there with their amendments to try and challenge certain parts of the bill and we just had to rise them up. And I you can watch the whole thing on YouTube or on substack or whatever. But I felt a fire and an enthusiasm from the Democrats that I wasn't sure we were going to be able to rekindle. And I felt like they did well at the vote. A Rama getting in there and getting their amendments heard.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, what did they do with the voterama and what was the result?

[Bea Speer]

So a couple things. Susan Collins, who's. Oh, God. All right, starting off there, she joined all Senate Democrats in voting for an amendment that would prevent tax cuts for billionaires as long as food prices are rising. So as long as eggs are 12 bucks, they can't pass that. Trump tax extensions, which is what was.

[Sammy Sage]

That enough for them to actually get it included?

[Bea Speer]

Oh, we only need two Republicans to like essentially say, yeah, I agree with not giving billionaires tax cuts while food prices and inflation is high. And they're trying to put what they tried to do is not necessarily get it passed, but get the Republicans on record saying things like explicitly, they voted yes for a bill that gives tax cuts to billionaires while inflation is high, stuff like that.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, what does that really help when it's going to happen and the billionaires will get the tax cuts and the people will still be suffering from the egg prices. Can you hear the people sing like, okay, great, we have you on record. They have, we have them on record of doing, for doing a lot of really terrible things. And.

[Bea Speer]

Well, let me tell you where I think it turned. Where I think it turned is Josh Hawley, right. Who is very maga, very Freedom Caucusy, very Republican, also backed a Democratic amendment that would prohibit tax cuts for wealthy Americans if any Medicaid funding is cut. So now these are just little cracks in the thing. They're going to go back in this week and be voting more and restructuring more. But I think Republicans are actually afraid to get on record with things like Medicaid cuts. Josh Hawley in particular, I think there's like half a million people in his state on Medicaid, children and stuff. And what we're hearing from Senate is, is that they are getting 16,000 calls a minute. And this has been going on for over a week of people saying, because you fired the federal parks employees. This is what's happening to me now. Because you're considering cutting Medicaid my child will die because you froze grants to the nih. My daughter, who was in the middle of an operation, cannot. They're just keeping her alive because they don't have the funding to complete this, this course of treatment and stuff. So they're getting all of these stories from people and I think, I think they are really starting to be like, like this is actually, I, I won't either get voted back in or I'll be responsible for such grave harm. Or maybe it's not exactly in the line with what I want to do. I also think they're annoyed with Elon.

[Sammy Sage]

But yeah, because literally nobody voted for this. It's almost like that money wasn't just randomly allocated money and it wasn't some stupid surplus waste. And for the vast majority of the government's trillions of dollars that it spends, it is not going to waste. In fact, the government could be funded better.

[Bea Speer]

It could be funded better. And I don't think that 19 year old big balls who we're going to get to later in the segment is the one to find government waste. And also these people don't understand government spending and granting. So I was trying to explain this to my parents, who also are very now like, for like a hot second, they go back and forth. Cause they live in Florida, you know, they get influenced by the people my dad golfs with.

[Sammy Sage]

Everyone's all, waste, fraud and abuse, waste, fraud and abuse.

[Bea Speer]

So they're all about that. So I was like, pop, I want to just show you one thing quick because you are better than this. And I refuse to lose my father to maga. So he, I was like, pop, look, here's the grant for $8 million, right? They've already spent six and a half of the million. And because of the paperwork we've got, they gotta spend the rest to make it to eight. Now they don't have to renew that grant. If that grant, which, you know, because I worked in nonprofits, Pop, I had to do all that reporting, remember? And I had to show him every, all the good things I did and what the value was. He's like, yeah, I'm like, right, so they're gonna send in the report. And if the government says, hey, you know, we did that $8 million project with you last time, but you didn't show us enough value, we're not gonna renew that grant. That's one thing. But he's not finding and saving money. And what he's coming out and saying is, I canceled an $8 million grant. That money's already spent, Pop. And he's like, what an asshole. So now he's getting it because Fox News and his buddies and the news that they get on Facebook and everything just. It's not doing the follow through. It's not showing the math. Soon as you show the math, people are like, oh, well, that's not okay. So he could cancel it for next time, but that's not actually saving anything right now. I'm like, exactly, Pop.

[Sammy Sage]

Not only does the math not make sense, the way that you would go about auditing, this is totally irrational and irresponsible.

[Bea Speer]

He's not an auditor.

[Sammy Sage]

He's not auditing anything. He's just cutting things.

[Bea Speer]

And he's not even cutting them, Sammy, because some of these people even. So when I was talking to the senators, a couple of the federal employees that were fired. There are federal employees, by the way, across the nation. They are not all just in D.C. they're all over the place and the.

[Sammy Sage]

Country and the world.

[Bea Speer]

Right? So, yeah, some, some folks are stuck in Somalia that were aid workers. Not only if we cancel the USAID Somalia, let's say, do we have to move pay to move those people and their families back home, which is a massive expense. But it, China is going to come in right behind us. Right? So moving. Let's, let's hold that for another time. But it doesn't save us any money. It costs us a ton of money to reclaim back all of these programs that are half done.

[Sammy Sage]

This isn't really about reducing the.

[Bea Speer]

No, it's about faking numbers. They're all, they're all fakers.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, there was one instance where they, some of their $8 billion worth of what they had saved so far, they had cut maybe like 50 something billion. Eight billion of that was actually eight million.

[Bea Speer]

Right. He's like, well, I got the number wrong.

[Sammy Sage]

They are hardly checking their work. He's irresponsible. It's irresponsible. The entire way he's going about it is irresponsible. But also that's on purpose because this isn't about making the government more efficient.

[Bea Speer]

It's about chaos.

[Sammy Sage]

This is about reducing the government so he can control it personally. And whether Donald Trump is aware of that or not. But I do think employees are becoming aware of it because one of the most disturbing genres of tweet I'm seeing these days is the p are the people who are getting fired from their federal jobs. And they're saying, I voted for this because I thought it was going to be cutting dei. I thought it was going to be about cutting something else, about pointless jobs. My job is really worth it.

[Bea Speer]

Mission critical. And I'm like, yeah, they don't care.

[Sammy Sage]

It's like, yeah, well, you should have done more better due diligence as a government employee on who your new boss was going to be and maybe not just trusted Fox News or what's that?

[Bea Speer]

Second you think it won't happen to me? You're not paying attention. It will always happen to you. Also, you are not better than anybody else that you work with in these places. When the hammer comes down on a union, right, and you're a non union worker, it benefits you none to be like, well, fuck the union. The union. Like, same thing with these government workers. I didn't think it happened to me because I'm a white guy who works for the va. Too bad. Senator Duckworth, now this is. Remember we talked about states rights and how the states would have to really organize to fight the federal government. And this is where I was like, ooh, that's so interesting. Senator Duckworth was telling me that there was like maybe like 15 or 20 federal employees in the state of Illinois who were fired. And she basically called back and was like, no, they're not, and they're going to keep their job. And they backed down and they let them keep their job. In Hawaii, there's again, 10 or 15, however many. And Senator Schatz said, well, I'd love to hire you for the state because the state of Hawaii local legislature was having such a difficult time hiring that level of talent. And they're like, look, you got screwed by the federal government. I need engineers. I need it. I need cybersecurity, I need administrators, because some of them were like, you know, more secretarial administrative positions. We need that here. I'd love to. We've been trying to start a program that's like a Head Start thing for Hawaii Local. How about I hire you and use state money and we'll, we'll take care of you. And so those federal employees are now working for the state that is fortifying the state against the federal government in some ways. And so I think that that's very clever and interesting and I doubt a lot of people are hearing about that stuff that's going on, but there is some very good stuff going on in here.

[Sammy Sage]

I think. I totally, I totally agree with you. I think that there is. The, the answer is going to be with the states. Last week, Governor Pritzker gave an incredible speech. It's discouraging that. Congress doesn't seem to necessarily have a strategy or be so great at messaging, though. Bernie Sanders on his national tour, you know, this guy's doing more than all right at his age. Good for him. Seeing the power sort of be distributed across the party, I think is a good thing, ultimately, because it kind of creates almost discord, like a consistent debate in the discourse for what people are responding to. And that will help kind of the best ideas and leader rise to the top, hopefully. And I'm not even saying this to necessarily, like, be president. I mean, just like, as a messenger. And good ideas will flourish, I think.

[Bea Speer]

Well, look what's happening with some of the choices that were made by top brass to put different people in a leadership role. And those people aren't doing well in that leadership role, and other people are working around them. I think of, like, how Hakeem Jeffries is on a book tour right now, and Jasmine Crockett is speaking for the party. She's not the party leader, but she's the one out there that people are listening to. She's doing the most communication. She's like, whatever. I'm not the leader. I'm going to act like a leader anyway. You got Jerry Connelly out there being like, I don't know. He should be in some sort of, like, cancer rehab, treatment center. The man is not well. He got the job at the Oversight Committee over aoc. AOC is like, whatever. I'm gonna perform the job functions anyway. I'm gonna be in the street at these protests. I'm gonna be making sure that I'm caught up on how I'm going to respond to different representatives in the House. I'm gonna make sure that I'm the leader of the Oversight Committee, even if I wasn't anointed with the job. And I think that's really cool, too. That's giving me a lot of, like, you know what? No, the structure is done. We're just doing what needs done right now.

[Sammy Sage]

I think it's good that things are becoming more decentralized, because the Democrats or people on the left generally have been sort of looking for a savior for the past 10 years. Like, where's the next Obama? Who is going to be the spokesperson who's going to, quote, save the party? And I think that that really made a lot of people sort of become reliant. It's like. Like a. What's it called? Like, social loafing, you know, in a group.

[Bea Speer]

You know, when you go to college for the first time and you're like I, I had like a strict mom when it came to like when I, you know, like I still have an 11:30 curfew and stuff and my mom was really strict when I went to college. I kept an 11:30 curfew because I was so nervous, right? She couldn't watch it. She didn't know where I was. I could have done whatever I wanted to. And I feel like Congress has had Nancy Pelosi mothering them for the last 40 years and being this like dominant force of you line up and you do what she wants and it all comes from her down. And now they're kind of like mom's old. I think we could get away with a little bit more than what we're getting away with. Mom's not actually here. Maybe the power, maybe I'm big enough now myself to have my own power and my own financial responsibility and I don't have to be as scared the way that I used to be with strict mom. Maybe now I can like rebel in the way they're rebelling is by like being the voice and going to protests and doing stuff. But I do think that the Nancy Pelosi era is over in many ways. And I'm glad for that because for 40 years there was a top down government, whether she was speaker or just the party leader. But there was a do as I say or I'll destroy you kind of thing. And now she's weakening in many ways and it's giving way for people like Jasmine Crockett or AOC or Summer Lee or Maxwell Frost or any of these folks. Alyssa Slotkin, the freshman Andy Kim, the freshman class right now is very strong and they're very unafraid.

[Sammy Sage]

This time the American people have elected individuals who are much more in the public servant realm than in the politician realm and people who really understand that they are there to represent their constituents interests and to stand up for the system. Although American voters have sort of rebelled against that. They know that they need to preserve a system of democracy and standing by the rule of law is critical to that and not bending to it because things seem unfavorable.

[Bea Speer]

They're a little bit more social justice warrior, a little bit more vigilante justice, a little bit more democracy protest voters than they are diplomats. Like where I think that the boomer class of politicians were sort of like, oh, we're so gentlemanly, oh, we're so diplomatic, oh, we're so educated, we're so academic. And these folks are like, you know, Andy Kim's like, I'm from New Jersey and I got two kids and, like, I don't want the world to suck for them, all right? Like, I'm actively your peer. He is suffering under the same policies that come down on the state of New Jersey from a corrupt federal government as we are. Whereas some of the older politicians are isolated from that because of the amount of money they have or clout they have or whatever the case may be. And so I like seeing people my age in power because they got kids, like, everybody, like, you know, and they're like, hey, I'm kind of in the swim with you. Even though I have a voice at the State House, I still have to deal with the fact that if property taxes go up 20% because they get rid of the Department of Education, that's going to fuck me. Whereas Nancy Pelosi is like, whatever, my house is in a revocable trust and it won't go up anyway because I haven't paid property taxes in however long. I'm not saying that she hasn't paid property tax. I'm just using it as an example.

[Sammy Sage]

Right. I think the difference is how insulated are you from the actual consequences of this, other than, you know, Donald Trump coming after you because you are his opposition, which is not cool either. But the difference is that it's a personally interested concern that I'm sure they all have contingency plans for versus, like, it's sort of out of your control entirely, and it will affect your family, and you are just going to have to figure it out.

[Bea Speer]

Right, let's talk about that next. Because I think this idea of Donald Trump coming after you is having an outsized impact on the media compared to politicians. I think Cash Patel has his enemy list of politicians, and they're kind of like, whatever. We're going to deal with him, however we're going to deal with him. But I'm seeing a lot of, like, scared people in the media who. Even some friends of mine who are in the digital journalism area who are like, I'm thinking about maybe not talking about Trump or not going so hard on Trump because I'm sick of seeing all the comments, which are mostly bots, and because I'm afraid he's gonna sue me. And I'm like, you can't. You can't do that. You can't give up like that. And there's one particular news person who's really big, who is losing staff because they're saying, I think we're gonna lean a little bit more. Right. During the Trump years. And it's not going good. And then you see, like, I'm not saying it's happening with Lester Holt either, but I just heard Lester Holt is leaving NBC News, but he's keeping his Dateline gig. We see CBS kind of like, acquiescing in some ways to Trump's shitty little lawsuits. ABC was. It paid him. Was it ABC that paid him, like, $15 million over a shitty lawsuit where he said he was liable. Oh, he didn't like the way that the Kamala Harris interview was done or something? I don't know.

[Sammy Sage]

It was ABC who paid him. About. Paid him for. For George Stephanopoulos.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah. I'm worried about media companies because they are such big enterprises throwing a bunch of money at him, making it look like, you know, well, if CBS is afraid of him and paying him off, or ABC or whoever, or all these journalists are kind of leaving. Jim Acosta left his post like, what are we doing? Are we okay? It makes other people jumpy. I think.

[Sammy Sage]

Yes, I agree. It makes people jumpy. And I think in some situations, they're correct to be jumpy. For example, like the. The abc George Stephanopoulos thing, the cbs, you know, those are concerns. Because the idea is that when those companies, even Mark Zuckerberg meta. When the biggest players who could defend themselves and have a good case cave in that situation, that takes away the protections for the independent journalist. Now, I firmly believe in stating facts that are established, and I feel comfortable leaning on the journalism of bigger entities. And I think, like Tim Miller said, like, you have to talk about it. But I do want to just. Just say, I question whether all the situations that you named are due to fear about Donald Trump. So, I mean, first of all, Axios had an article that MSNBC is going more progressive.

[Bea Speer]

I don't know about that. Not with firing Joy Reid, they're not. Or whatever happened there.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, what I. What I suspect happened with Joy Reid is that she didn't want to take the pay cut that she was reportedly kind of off. You know, you know, they said you have to take a pay cut. They cut a bunch of salaries. They laid off a bunch of people. And my sense is that she didn't want to do that. And perhaps there were other reasons, that there was ill will that made it harder for her and the network to reach a compromise. Whereas, you know, if you do, if you are taking a pay cut, you may be able to, like, comp. You know, if you, you know, you want to stay still, you're gonna try be able to find a Way to compromise. I don't really see, though, how. Okay, so. So let me say I think people think everything that happens in a media company is ideologically driven when more of it is actually business model driven. And, you know, like, I don't think people are. I don't think Joy Reid staff is getting laid off because the. Because event. It's not personal. It's that they didn't reach an agreement with her show. And, you know, obviously they're tons more factors, I'm sure, but I think, like, when someone's contract is up and they can't reach terms, and maybe that person sort of feels like, well, I have other opportunities, I have other priorities, it doesn't necessarily have to mean that they're backing down. You know, like, Jim Acosta is now doing his own. His own journalism, even though he's not on cnn. And that could ultimately be more powerful. You know, like, if that's kind of the way I think about it, too, is like, I actually think Joy Reid has a great opportunity now. She could go work for an independent media company. She could get significantly more distribution, and probably even if she builds the business model right, she could make more money doing independent work. And she clearly has a very strong fan base who would support her, who would pay for her content. So my feeling is like, Joy Reid could. I see a world in which Joy Reid could easily make up her salary within a year or two. And, you know, Midas Touch last week just beat Joe Rogan. So Joe Rogan, I guarantee you, is making more money than any MSNBC anchor, except maybe Rachel Manow. People can do very well in the independent space. And she could contract for the dnc. There's a million things Joy Reid could do. So I don't think that everything is ness. Everything that we see at these news organizations and the personnel changes, like, I don't think those are all necessarily reflective of ideology.

[Bea Speer]

Unless, like, how the money shook.

[Sammy Sage]

Yeah, the money, the timing, the other opportunities the person might have.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah. MSNBC is getting sold off anyway. Right. So it's kind of like.

[Sammy Sage]

Yeah. And they had to cut costs across the board. And if your contract's up, it's up, and you have to renegotiate. You know, I'm not saying that the media isn't caving in some situations, but I don't know if, like, the personnel switches are necessarily reflective of that, especially when MSNBC is saying they're trying to be more progressive. I don't know.

[Bea Speer]

I don't know. I only watch Ali Vitale's show. I don't watch TV news. She's she's my company in the morning when I wake up like before my family but Ali Vitale, friend of the show.

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[Bea Speer]

What you have prepared for today. I'm excited to hear now that we've been kikiing about the media and Trump and all of this stuff, but we have to take a hard look at who it is that people are afraid of and who these Doge kids are. Right? And you put together a nice little piece here for the people on big balls that I'm very excited to hear about.

[Sammy Sage]

I've actually put together an entire section of the outline called the Nazi section.

[Bea Speer]

Yes. Let me get my kosher fruit roll up to enjoy this moment as you tear down the Nazi section.

[Sammy Sage]

The power of Hashem compels you.

[Bea Speer]

Right? Yeah.

[Sammy Sage]

First of all, I do want to call attention to another media adjacent event, which was CPAC this last week where Elon Musk Appeared alongside Argentine President Javier Malay. He's kind of like the cool autocrat on the block. The magas love him these days.

[Bea Speer]

He's got mutton chops. Yeah, I. I mean, I'll take it.

[Sammy Sage]

Depends on your definition of cool and what year it is. So the chain. So Javier Malay gifted Elon Musk this chainsaw which he starts waving around on stage. I would be having a heart attack if I were in that room. Or.

[Bea Speer]

I think people look too nervous. I think they look. Yeah. Now you know why he gave him that chainsaw though, do you know?

[Sammy Sage]

To take a chainsaw to the bureaucracy.

[Bea Speer]

Right. Because Milei was gifted a chainsaw when he won president of Argentina to take a chainsaw to the bureaucracy. So he's like essentially passing on the chainsaw.

[Sammy Sage]

Wow.

[Bea Speer]

These guys, they're so fucking original.

[Sammy Sage]

So brilliant. You know, it's like when he brought the sink.

[Bea Speer]

Stupid.

[Sammy Sage]

You're such a tool.

[Bea Speer]

We are just 1k bump away from all of this going away.

[Sammy Sage]

I mean, we live in an era where the best. Where the best troll wins. To that effect, Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday the following. Consistent with President Donald Trump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. So they then got an email from the Office of Personnel Management where they were asked to describe in five bullet points what they had gotten done last week and that if they don't send it in by 11:59pm Eastern Time on Monday, they will essentially they'll lose their job. And he was like, completely serious about this. He continued tweeting about it throughout the weekend. So even though the email came from hr, supposedly it clearly is him.

[Bea Speer]

It seemed like it was a real email too. Like, who does that? You gotta do like a no reply email. This guy was like, okay, this is just an email I'm gonna send out.

[Sammy Sage]

Why didn't everyone just reply? All.

[Bea Speer]

Some people have. I. So many people have sent into this email, which cracks me up.

[Sammy Sage]

Right? So bunch of people responded.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah.

[Sammy Sage]

Some people are not sure if they're gonna respond. Mostly people don't know what to make of it because it's crazy nonsense. Yeah, yeah.

[Bea Speer]

It's also like MBA 101. Please send your manager an email of what 5 things you are did last week. It's the most toxic, corporate bullshit, stupid thing I've ever heard.

[Sammy Sage]

I honestly don't even think that would. I think that would be taught as something you shouldn't do in A business school?

[Bea Speer]

Definitely not it. This is like middle manager micromanager stupidness.

[Sammy Sage]

It's like a. It seems like a job you do for credit where you have to like, tell your teacher what.

[Bea Speer]

You know what it is? What? It's because these kids are fucking interns. So they. It's because they're interns. I was like, when's the last time I ever had to do that? It's because they're interns. I'm having a revelation. Is that what it's called? Revelation? Either way, these kids who are writing these emails were just came off internships. The only time you get asked, hey, can you tell me five things you did last week? Is when you're a baby. When you're a baby intern at a company and you're like, oh, last week I did these things and this is what I learned. Because you have to prove to your class that you did it. Oh, my God. That's why.

[Sammy Sage]

Yes. And these kids.

[Bea Speer]

Oh, my God.

[Sammy Sage]

And Elon is taking this advice that this is an effective way to manage because he's never run a company before.

[Bea Speer]

No.

[Sammy Sage]

Okay, but let's talk about some of these kids, because Elon says he isn't running Doge. He told the court that last week. But if he's not, who is? Is it this 19 year old kid named Big Balls? Have you heard of Big Balls?

[Bea Speer]

Yes. His father owns Lesser Evil Popcorn, which I stayed at a hotel this past week in the Arlo Williamsburg, and I wrote to them because it was in the minibar, and I was like, please do not support this company in the future. And they were like, we'll take it under consideration. Which is. I'm sure they say that to everyone, but I want you to know I've.

[Sammy Sage]

Never even heard of that. Popcorn for the best. Okay, let me just give you a few bullet points for people who are not acquainted with Big Balls. Big Balls is his nickname. Real name Edward Korstein, born in the 2000s. He interned for Neuralink, where I guess he was asked to submit five things he did that day.

[Bea Speer]

Almost killed a monkey. Almost killed a person. Yeah, right.

[Sammy Sage]

He only interned there for three months, by the way. That is Elon's brain implant company. So he also was fired once from a job at a cyber security firm called Path Networks because he gave documents to competitors. He was associated with a criminal hacking group, who he hacked on behalf of it, who he allegedly hacked. Who he allegedly hacked on behalf of. And in 2021, he founded a company called Tesla Sexy LLC. That company supposedly controls Dozens of web domains, including at least two Russian registered domains. One of them is still active, and it offers a service called Healthy, which is an AI bot for Discord servers targeting the Russian market. Now, there's always a Russian connection somehow, isn't. Isn't there Russia?

[Bea Speer]

Can I ask you a question?

[Sammy Sage]

Can I ask you a question? Did you see the movie Breach?

[Bea Speer]

No.

[Sammy Sage]

Ever? Okay. It's about this American agent named Robert Hansen who spied for the Russians for 20 years from within the United States, and he passed them tons of information. Laura Linney's in it. It's great. I highly recommend it. One of my faves. Um, so I bring that up, because if anyone's seen the movie Breach, there is a tie between Big Ball's grandfather and the Robert Hansen, the main character in that. So Big Ball's grandfather. Grandfather. Not like, great, great. You know, one guy.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah, pop up. Yep. Pop, pop one away.

[Sammy Sage]

Was a guy named Valerie Martinov. He was a KGB spy who was sent to work in the U.S. undercover at the Soviet embassy in D.C. in 1980.

[Bea Speer]

No.

[Sammy Sage]

You were almost born. While he was there, the FBI ended up recruiting him as an agent. So he started. He turned on the Soviets, and he started giving secrets back to the FBI.

[Bea Speer]

So traitor runs in the family, trader.

[Sammy Sage]

Runs in the fam. So why I bring up the movie Breach is because the kgb, the American Robert Hansen, who was the KGB molecule, a mole for the kgb. In that movie, he helped find out that Big Ball's grandpa was. Was a traitor against the Russians, and he blew up his spot, and he ended up engineering his return to Russia, his callback to Russia, and the way that he was dealt with in the wake of that.

[Bea Speer]

Oh, my God. There's always a Russia thing, man. I mean, Trump's got a Russia thing now, too. Are we getting to that today? The alleged Trump's been bought by the Russians since 1987.

[Sammy Sage]

There's a lot to talk about there, and, I mean, it's been in the public domain. So if anyone wants to do the reading ahead of. Ahead of next week, just Google the Russians.

[Bea Speer]

I know they bought his casino debt, the Russians, at one time.

[Sammy Sage]

So, yeah, there are so many pieces of objective evidence, but I recommend people Google it if you want to skip ahead. But we will be talking about that next week because I don't want to just sort of ramble about such a topic irresponsibly, but there is a little bit of slightly better news on the far right front.

[Bea Speer]

Okay.

[Sammy Sage]

In Europe Sunday was the election in Germany.

[Bea Speer]

Yep.

[Sammy Sage]

And the AfD party was not victorious.

[Bea Speer]

No, because we're the only good AFD for you listening out there. It's American AFD or nothing. All right?

[Sammy Sage]

Exactly. So the conservative opposition leader, Friedrich mears party, the CDU, got 28% of the votes. Merz said that his priority is creating unity in Europe and that he has no illusions about what's happening in America. He said, take a look at the recent interventions in the German election campaign by Elon Musk. So this is, this guy is pro Europe. And that's why I say like Zelensky really got people people or this, you know, Donald Trump's election and everything happening really got the Europeans to get in there.

[Bea Speer]

Look, the Europeans do not like ugly stuff, all right? I've been over there. Their stuff is gorgeous. They are known for having nice, pretty good looking stuff. Okay? And in particular in Germany, they are very about like the rules and like things being right and like this, you know, culture of apology and facing your past so you can have a brighter future and all of this great stuff, right? Germany in no way looks at Donald Trump and goes, oh, that guy's cool. They would never have this, okay? The Germans are like notoriously fit and up, like uphold really high standards for themselves. So you can't. I imagine that when they look at Donald Trump and Vance, they're like, we don't want that shit here. Absolutely not.

[Sammy Sage]

Yeah. Deeply unsophisticated. But there's this, this is the thing. Mers still has to pull together a coalition government. He says that he expects to have that done by Easter. And I imagine that he will be able to when you put, put together the other parties. But Alice Beadle, the leader of the AfD party, she came, they came in second and they got 20% of the votes, which is the most that the Nazi party ish. Has gotten since World War II. So they did make progress. And it, it's not like, you know, I wouldn't say Germany's out of the woods.

[Bea Speer]

No. But I do think because they were doing really bad until JD Vance kind of like got involved there and Elon got involved there. But I think now beginning losing, hopefully continues this idea of like, okay, well, you're not gonna win. Also, she's so insane to me, like this, the fact that this woman is the head of the, the new Nazi party in Germany while like living the life that she does. I'm like, girl, this is like a walking contradiction. This is like when I see lesbian magas and they're like, we're normal gays I was like, you are not. You're the worst of us. Nobody wants this.

[Sammy Sage]

This woman has like a lore to her.

[Bea Speer]

She's wild.

[Sammy Sage]

Her whole thing is I'm a champion for traditional values. She grew up in a small town where brown skinned immigrants mocked her for being the blonde German girl.

[Bea Speer]

They didn't. Because they didn't exist. I fucking promise you this bitch is making this up. There's no way in Germany there was like a cohort of brown people attacking her. It doesn't exist. She's like, the Venezuelan gangs ruined my childhood, girl. That shit doesn't exist in Germany.

[Sammy Sage]

There was a caravan.

[Bea Speer]

No, there was none of that. The only brown people you ever saw in your small village in Germany were the ones you saw when you went on vacation somewhere else. Okay, that never happened to her. Never.

[Sammy Sage]

Well, here's the thing. So she defines. She endorsed the definition of a family as being between a mother, a father and children. However, she herself is openly gay and in a civil partnership with a Sri Lankan woman who's a filmmaker.

[Bea Speer]

Yep.

[Sammy Sage]

And that would make the Sri Lankan woman her wife, or, sorry, her partner, an immigrant.

[Bea Speer]

Yes.

[Sammy Sage]

Which is only relevant because Alice Videl is strongly against immigration. And Videl herself isn't even a full time resident of Germany because she spends half her time in Switzerland where her kids go to fancy international schools. Because Alice Bedell came from employment at Goldman Sachs and the bank of China where she lived for six years. So I don't know how this like. And how do people not. Does it not bother them? They accepted that Hitler wasn't Aryan.

[Bea Speer]

That's true. It's the greatest trick the Austrians ever played was convincing people that Hitler was German. He was actually Austrian. Right. A vegetarian and a painter and whatnot. This woman is wild to me because, like, lady, she's like the Clarence Thomas of Germany. Where, Remember when they asked Clarence Thomas what he would do about interracial marriage if it ever came up, like, Loving v. Virginia? And he was like, I don't have an interracial marriage. I just love my wife. And she said a similar thing. They were like, what do you think about gay marriage? And she's like, I don't think about it. I just am in love with this woman and we share a beautiful life together. And it's like, girl, the willing suspension of disbelief is insane. The delusion of these people.

[Sammy Sage]

It's wild. Just one more thing on Alice. Her own grandfather was a Nazi judge who was appointed by Adolf Hitler.

[Bea Speer]

Yeah.

[Sammy Sage]

A fact she says she was ignorant of until she was told by researchers. However, during a chat, she did a chat with Elon Musk on X Spaces and she claimed that the Nazis weren't right wing, that Hitler was a communist, communist socialist guy. She's also an anti vaxxer. She questions climate change and has echoed the great replacement theory.

[Bea Speer]

Let me go back on that one thing here about Alice saying that Hitler was a left wing socialist person. That's like when the Republicans try to say that the Republicans are the ones that freed the slaves and that. No, no, you were Southern motherfucking Democrats. Okay? There was a party flip in the 60s that they don't want us to admit to because they like the idea that all the good presidents were Republican before when? Before the 60s, when all of a sudden they were like, we flipped. And all the good presidents that were about like, humanity and the public service were more democratic values like you guys. But this is her trying to rewrite history the way that our Republicans try to rewrite, like, Abraham Lincoln. And he will not have it.

[Sammy Sage]

It works when your country is not super literate.

[Bea Speer]

So insane. Anyway, Alice, best wishes in Switzerland with your multiracial family. I hope that you stop hating yourself someday.

[Sammy Sage]

Yeah.

[Bea Speer]

Until next time. I'm Vspier.

[Sammy Sage]

And I'm Sammy Sage, and this is.

[Bea Speer]

American Fever Dream Batches.