Sarah Longwell (4:00)

I mean, you should really go to Adrian for this. Look, I. I'm not a big halftime show person. I like, never care that much. In part, like, the last halftime show that I was like, oh, that was really fun, was the one where they catered specifically to me because they were like, here's Eminem and 50 Cent and.

JVL (4:20)

Like Dr. Dre, Z and Snoop, everything since the 90s.

Sarah Longwell (4:25)

And I was like, okay, now I remember when they used to play like Mick Jagger or whatever for our parents. And I was like, this is me now.

JVL (4:32)

Now they're doing it for us.

Sarah Longwell (4:35)

And like, I've always just understood Bad Bunny as like, this is a person who is too cool for the 45 year old, like middle aged white lesbian who lives in the suburbs. And also just, I'm sorry, but like, basically only listens to country music. And so I knew that this was like, not going to be exactly for me. But here's what I will say. The one thing I was struck by after I confirmed that he would only be singing in Spanish was a. He's like a. He's a riveting performer, right? He is handsome and big and stylish and then whoever built the sets. So, like, the one thing I do love is musical theater. And so like, the theatricality of what they did, I Was, like, laughing my head off this morning as. As they were playing the videos of people, the brush that they were using or the bamboo or the. Whatever they were that were bushes that he was kind of walking through.

JVL (5:33)

Yeah.

Sarah Longwell (5:33)

Well, they all got up and walked. Like, they all got up and walked.

JVL (5:36)

Because it was like a living maid. Yeah. They were able to wearing.

Sarah Longwell (5:39)

Yeah. The things. And, like, here's the thing. I. The. The only thing to really love about music is, like, does it bring you joy? Right? Like, is it filled with the kind of joyous? Not. It's not the only thing to think about music. But I would say, like, for a halftime show where what you're doing is, like, we're all just, like, celebrating together this fun thing that we do culturally, to have it be, like, a big celebration and really fun, I just thought was, like, a good vibe. And so I enjoyed it. But. And so Adrian could talk. And then I want to tell you, because I did go. I watched the Kid Rock one. I'd like to tell you about that, but.

JVL (6:17)

Go ahead, Adrian. I would like to dispute Sarah's claim that the only thing music can give you is joy, because you can also give you grievance, which is what the Kid Rock thing did when they, you know, like, the country guy, like, talking about how only little boys are little boys and little girls are little girls, and so you can get grievance. And I have to admit, I got a great deal of joy watching the Bad Bunny performance, because I knew the minute it opened that we would be getting a string of. Of truth tweets from the president. And I thought, it's going to give MAGA people a stroke. Like, he's singing in Spanish. There were. There was a shot of a couple dudes grinding on each other. There are all these brown people. I just thought if only they could put a drag queen in the corner reading a book to some little kids, then we'd have the trifecta. And, you know, may. Maybe this is what calls Donald Trump home to his lord. So I got a great deal of joy just knowing how. How many conservative tears were going to be shed because of that show. But I also. Then again, look, I am not a. Not a native Spanish speaker. I took, like, you know, six years of high school Spanish. And so, you know, I'm operating at, like, I'm a full minute and a half behind. Like, whatever is being said is in my brain as I'm trying to, like, figure out what's going on. But it did seem to be, like, a very, like, literary Deconstruction of all sorts of very interesting things going on in the world and Latin American history and the history of America and, like a very thought provoking halftime show.

Adrian Carrasquillo (7:56)

Yeah.

JVL (7:56)

Am I wrong on this? Like, it was both, like, super fun and a bop, but also, yeah, you know, interesting.

Adrian Carrasquillo (8:04)

So I think one thing that I hate about this administration and MAGA is that they've taken away that I can just watch Bad Bunny without thinking about politics the entire time. The bat in the back of my mind, I'm like, oh, maga's gonna hate this. Oh, they're going to hate this. Oh, you know, like, that was just. I had this huge smile on my face. But the entire time thinking about it through a lens of politics, there were a couple of moments that I found, like, particularly powerful and beautiful. And I would start with, like, they do this wedding. And that just reminded me, like, I think it was meant to evoke a lot of just like, yes, we all go to weddings, but sort of like this, like, Latino family wedding where there's the kid asleep and the music's really loud. There's always memes about this and just like the party and the dancing, right? So, like, that was so cool. The.

JVL (8:44)

The.

Adrian Carrasquillo (8:44)

He could. He could have had anyone for this wedding. He has, like, a lot of friends, as we saw with Pedro Pascal was there, Carol, a lot of people. Jessica Alba. I mean, he can pull who but like, the Lady Gaga of it all being like, all right, this is. This is for the people. And then I think Ricky Martin was kind of like, he never got something like that.

JVL (9:01)

He.

Adrian Carrasquillo (9:02)

He only crossed over because he got to be. He had to speak in English to cross over. And they're very close. They did a lot of Puerto Rico advocacy years ago to oust the. The governor who was corrupt. So I think that, like, that was like, really a sort of like a powerful thing that he did there. Ol French. But then the one that stuck out to me is when he says America, and then he lists all the countries in Latin America and all these islands, and then he ends with United States and Canada, because America, we. We just think that America's us, you know, And. And so that I thought was, like, pretty cool and, you know, the flags and everything. So, yeah, that was awesome.

JVL (9:37)

And I don't like the whole. The whole thing with the. The sugar cane, like, you know, nods to colonialism. Like, it's. This was. This was not like the Stones were just like, yeah, we'll have a lot of pyrotechnics, you know, like, this Was, again, there's a lot of thought going on. That thing was packed full of Easter eggs for anybody who wanted to go through and deconstruct all sorts of stuff, which I imagine, like, somebody in the Claremont Institute is going to write 15,000 words about that halftime show at some point where they go through frame by frame and. But don't you see what they're saying here? And I love that. I love that.

Sarah Longwell (10:19)

So I want to throw in just a couple of the Easter eggs that were fun. So I don't know about you guys. So, like, in the Heights is. Is. Is. Is the musical before Hamilton that our boy did. And I. I love in the Heights second act. Kind of falls apart a little bit, but you can, like, see his genius gaining steam in that show. They made a movie about it not that long ago, actually. Thought the movie was pretty good. And we did. I thought, as I was watching it.

JVL (10:46)

Movie. Do you remember that?

Sarah Longwell (10:49)

Did we. You and I did back when it came out. I can't even remember what all my feelings were about it. I think I probably. I'm sorry. I love an original stage production.

JVL (10:58)

What fought about that thing?

Sarah Longwell (11:00)

Oh, you hated it. Ew. Ew. It has that, like, Puerto Rican American blend in New York, where, like, it lapses in and out of Spanish, and that makes it. And it has that energy. Right. And so. But. So I was watching the set, especially when they're kind of in the town, that felt very much like that show, the dancing and the energy, but also like they're outside the barber shop, which is a. A pretty. It's, like, kind of a staple in the show. But, like, there's a kid in there getting his hair actually cut. It's not like they just have a set piece where it's a barber shop. There's, like, a kid in there getting his fade done while, you know, the people dance around. I did. Only I actually thought that maybe the two guys grinding was an accident of numbers, but now that you say it, I guess you're right. It was probably intentional.

JVL (11:50)

Yeah.

Adrian Carrasquillo (11:51)

Well, also, that with the. The city one, the Streets, that's a video that. A song he does called Nueva Yol. So it's New York with, like, Puerto Rican sort of accent. And that's really interesting because in that video, he has a Puerto Rican flag on the Statue of Liberty. And at the end, he does a Donald Trump AI voice that's like, I want to apologize to all the immigrants. I actually want. You know, you guys are all great. So anyway, it's just sort of Hilarious. I mean, it's always. The political stuff is just always on the part of not just all of our culture, but a lot of the stuff that Bad Bunny's doing. And I just thought, like, the Grammys was him saying, like, here's my explicit statement. Would you like my explicit statement? Here it is. I want you to be clear on where I stand. And then he was allowed to actually, like, enjoy the. The show and be like, this is kind of like my thing, and it's like a Puerto Rico thing, and. And it's a Latin America thing. And it's like, you can be for this, and if you are against us for all the reasons that we've heard, all these wackos are against it. Like, that's your thing. But so, like, I sort of thought that was cool that he didn't have to, like, because I was like, he's gonna wear the Liam Bunny hat and I'm gonna cry. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I just thought there was going to be some such an overt message. So anyway, I thought it was cool.

JVL (12:57)

It wasn't. Yeah, it was all.

Sarah Longwell (12:58)

It was him handing the Grammy. So there was, like, a thing that I saw, like, when it happened, as I was watching it, I saw him give the gramm kid, and I was like, wait, is that Liam Rob? Like, it happened kind of fast and by the time. And, like, everyone I was watching it with was like, yeah. Wait, was it. And then, of course, in the Internet said it was for a period of time, and then it's not actually, because it would have been kind of cool if it was, but. But it. But symbolically, the fact that we were confused enough, it felt like it was pretty clear what he was getting at there.

Adrian Carrasquillo (13:27)

Yeah, they said it was, like, meant to evoke him as a kid. Like, he's giving a Grammy to him as a kid. But we all thought of Liam in that moment, like, oh, my God, this is so powerful. And. And it just tells us, like, what was literally happening to this kid a week ago. And, like, the fact that we thought that on the biggest stage is pretty insane.

Sarah Longwell (13:43)

Can we just say a couple words or. I would like to say a couple words about. The NFL is not always who we look to. To be like, boy, the NFL is really just, like, standing its ground, doing the right thing. But, like, they announced Bad Bunny and my girl Brandi Carlisle, by the way. But they announced Bad Bunny, and then, like, every. You know, everyone on the right had a conniption fit, like a little snowflake meltdown. And the NFL, like, never even blinked. Like, you could tell. And this is. Again, every time someone does this, I just want to go over to Paul Weiss and, you know, every other capitulating institution and kind of grab them by lapels and say, like, see, the NFL just said, okay, so what? And. And then turned in, like, the highest rated super bowl halftime ever. And, like, I don't know. I kind of like that energy, like, to bring more of that energy to America here.

JVL (14:40)

I fully agree. I actually thought there was a chance they were gonna. Gonna blink. Did you guys think, oh, really? They might. Did you, Adrian? Did you think they might blink after they announced?

Adrian Carrasquillo (14:49)

Only because Jay Z has been in charge of the show for a few years now, and I think part of it, controversy, like, last. Last year was Kendrick. Yeah, I just. I felt like they kind of stand on that, you know?

JVL (15:00)

Yeah, that's great. Last thing about Bad Bunny, and then we'll talk about the alternative halftime show. He's also super funny. I don't know if you. I mean, I'm assuming you've seen him, Adrian, on, like, Saturday Night Live, and he's. He's in the Adam Sandler Happy Gilmore sequel, which is, like, way funnier than it has any right to be. And he's sensational in it. Like, he's just so funny. And I don't know, like, again, my spider sense tingles whenever I hear people talking about, like, oh, multidisciplinary crossover stars, because it almost never works out. You know, you get somebody who's, like, good in one thing, and they're not actually very good in the other things, but he seems like he's genuinely talented across a whole bunch of different things. I kind of love him. Is this. Is this right, Adrian? Is he.

Adrian Carrasquillo (15:51)

Yeah. I always try to, like, control my, like, Bad Bunny love, but at this point, when I saw that every Instagram story was about him, I was like, I've arrived. This is my moment.

Sarah Longwell (15:59)

You know, he is.

Adrian Carrasquillo (16:02)

He is. He is that guy in terms of bringing the talent. Look, I have this whole thing where. Where I've talked to my sister who's a therapist about, like, why is this guy? Why him? You know, talent. But there's something else. He's just, like, authentically himself, and he really doesn't give a shit. He literally has an album called I Do what I. So, yeah, in these moments, I'm just, like, always, I had no problem, like, doing Fun prediction on TikTok of what's he going to do, because I always know his show is always going to be better than any prediction I could come up with. Yeah. And I just think he was having a blast being himself. And you know, there's stuff like the guys were hanging off of like power lines that are.

Sarah Longwell (16:40)

What's the point?

Adrian Carrasquillo (16:41)

The power always, the power always goes out in Puerto Rico. So for Puerto Ricans, that image is like very like close to home. Like after Hurricane Maria, a lot of, a lot of people lost their lives and like power took forever. And so that it just goes back to the colonial stuff. And you know, no one's more into being a colonizer than Trump when he wants to take Greenland and all this other stuff. Right. So I mean, I just feel like it's, you're just triple underlining the reality for some folks. And he's just real and I think that that really serves him in moments like this.

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Sarah Longwell (18:27)

Know, I was thinking about Kid Rock as a choice for the alternative. And I gotta say, part of what's been interesting in this moment is that I think it's fair to say that I've always liked the adage, or maybe it was Ezra Klein who said it, but I've always felt like this was interesting and an astute observation, which is that Trump won the culture by more than he won the vote. That there's been this real sense of. People sort of feel like maybe the culture of the left is. Is not so. Not so winning broadly. And there's been like a real hard pivot or retreat from things that I guess code woke into a big. I don't know if you like watch CBS or ABC or anything, but if you're watching those channels, it's all like, you know, NYPD 76, law and order, the 12,000th season. And you know, it's all new, just like cop or. Or it's like all kind of Landman derivative, you know, very Western now. And so this like kind of hard pivot in the culture. Yeah, but they're like, they're Yellowstone derivative. It's like if Yellowstone was the top of it. It's all like things that Tyler Sheridan light things. Some good, some bad from what I've seen. But like, you can just tell it's in the ether, it's in the commercials. Like you can see it all over the culture where people were like, we got to. I even. There was, There was a commercial last night. We haven't even talked that much about the commercials, but there was one from the American Beverage association that was like brand heavy around Dr. Pepper, whatever. But it was practically Make America great again. It was like, let's make our drinks great again. It's like something ridiculous where I was sort of like, I think you guys are. You guys are playing like you're catching up now. And what was interesting about the Bad Bunny, like there were a lot of views on the. I think it was. There was a little over 5 million concurrent on YouTube, which is quite a bit for a YouTube live show. Although I gotta say we don't hit quite those numbers. But like, you know, a good, A good Tim Miller banger with, you know, we can get to a million when we're going live and stuff. But the thing, it was like such a half ass. There's just two things about one, it was like such a half ass show. They pre recorded it. Dude was lip syncing so bad. Like, you know how when someone lip syncs, like, remember when Milli Vanilli happened and it was such a big scandal. Like, this is. I love that I picked this up as a mic. I have an actual microphone right here, so I'm gonna use it. But like Kid Rock's doing that thing where moves the microphone and like the voice is still coming. Like he drops the microphone down but like the song still, You're like, oh, he's like lip syncing super poorly. He's like a 55 year old man in jorts. He was wearing these like jeans. A very bad pirate. Super, super toy. I, I, I like a 55 year old man with stringy hair.

JVL (21:47)

Tobias Finke. I was like, Kid Rock is a never nude.

Adrian Carrasquillo (21:51)

What?

Sarah Longwell (21:52)

Yeah, it was just. And then. But here's the second point. So the first point is it was objectively bad and like points for trying to counter program. Okay, you don't like the culture over here, you go make your own. That's good. But it was terrible. And I like country music. Like I was, I was kind of trying to watch being like, oh, who do they have? And I was like, well, I've never heard of these people either. Except for Kid Rock. Kid Rock is phoning in this garbage performance. They've got the Turning Point USA pyrotechnical scheme going on. So the whole thing looks very amateurish and like no in no way connecting with the spectacle that you get from the Super Bowl. Like when you just compare the two. So it's like laughably bad. And then it's just like with Alex Preddy. Like, I don't mean to compare these things exactly, but there is a set of influencers who are so desperate to bend the will. Like, they're just like, I'm going to bend reality to what I do. And they're like, that was the best most American halftime show and that Bad Bunny garbage. And I was like, so interesting how uniformly these right wing influencers didn't like the Bad Bunny show. Who I wonder what, what that is about that. And it's like they're all trying to make Kid Rock happen. Guys, that is not owning the culture is the roundabout way of me getting to my point about there, There is this, this way in which I think there was an over indexing away from an aesthetic and storylines that I think were really appealing to like a broad swath of Americans. But like Bad Bunny is also appealing to a broad swath of Americans. Like, and I think people really emphasize the Latino part or you know, but like, and yes, but also this is how America works. I'm not cool enough to be into Bad Bunny, but I recognize just like when we were young, like he's a huge star. Kid Rock looks like a washed up old man in shorts. And Bad Bunny was a handsome, like radiating charisma. I couldn't like. And I was a little mad because at some point he stares at the camera and he whispers and he's saying something and I'm like, what's he saying? What's he saying? And I'm grabbing my friends, I'm trying to pause it, and I'm like, translate that. You know, people in the room who might know it, and they're all badly trying to be like, I think he's saying this, but like, where is the library? In a way. Yeah, right.

JVL (24:24)

Donde Estelle?

Sarah Longwell (24:26)

That's all I got it. That's all I got. But the Kid Rock thing was also a vibe. And they are. They are taking what was a moment of cultural supremacy. They are sacrificing it on the altar of. Of Kid Rock and other things that, like. It was relentlessly embarrassing. It was embarrassing.

JVL (24:43)

It was like if this was the 1988 Super bowl and Madonna was the halftime. And there were a bunch of people who thought that, like, oh, see, she's blasphemous. We're going to counter program with Perry Como. That'll show people what real entertainment is.

Adrian Carrasquillo (25:03)

Well, I love Sarah saying that it was embarrassing because that's what I said the other day on ms, which I was just like, I had to, like, meditate to get through this. Bad bunny has 87 and a half million monthly listeners and kid rock has 5 million. And, you know, there's just like artists like Gloria, Stefan and Lil Kim and Cypress Hill who have 5 million at, you know, so it's like all artists who had their time, but no one's saying they should be the center of, like, a Super bowl performance. And can I just say, if someone hears me say authentic, they're like, what the hell does that even mean? Here's what that means. And I'm going to traumatize both of you. Remember Hillary's 2016 love, Trump's hate. And we were all like, this is. This is not working for her. And Bagwini is basically saying, like, the only thing more powerful than hate is love. But it's the branding, it's the package that comes with that message. And then you're like, oh, yeah, actually, I've seen some pretty terrible shit over the last year. So I do think that I'm down for that message now.

Sarah Longwell (25:58)

You know, it's like when someone can pull something off, like, I don't know, I can't pull off. What is that? An all white outfit where, like, vaguely meant to resemble a football player's pads underneath.

JVL (26:09)

Whiteout.

Sarah Longwell (26:09)

Like a number. Yeah, he can pull that off.

JVL (26:12)

We're going to get out of here in a minute. I want you both to think, because I'm going to put you on the spot and you have to name your two greatest super bowl halftime shows ever. Not three, just two. Before we go, I want to ask you two questions about spots paid for by the United States government last night. The first was the MAHA spot with Mike Tyson talking about how food is poisoning people and whatnot. Did that strike either of you as what the hell is going on? Why is Mike Tyson the guy we're going to for science and nutrition?

Sarah Longwell (26:52)

Yeah. I mean you do you. He's right though. You have to go. You have to like go down to the fundamentals when it comes to nutrition. Like we should only eat ears. Ears are good food of.

JVL (27:05)

Imagine taking she means of corn.

Sarah Longwell (27:09)

No, imagine making Mike Tyson your spokesperson again. Weird throwbacks who also like has what he likes. Sexual assault and battery and like. Oh yeah, you. Well, he fits the mold. He fits the mold for what RFK would want.

Adrian Carrasquillo (27:25)

Yeah. And I'm going to dodge this question by telling you that I do a Super bowl party every year. This was my first Benito bowl, obviously. And I had three buddies who used to come to all of my super bowl parties. So they were watching the game intently. And then I had 20 friends that I've met over the last year from salsa dancing and they were not watching the game. And this was the first year that I didn't watch any of the commercials. I was just. We were just locked in ready for. For Bad Bunny.

JVL (27:49)

So the other, the other thing I saw and I want to see if anybody picked this up. So there are a bunch of as there are I think most years U.S. army spots be all you can be. I do not believe I saw a single person featured in any of those spots who wasn't white. Did any of you notice that?

Sarah Longwell (28:09)

Is that true?

JVL (28:11)

I don't know if it's true or not. Like I was looking and maybe we got a brown face flash to once. But again it just like understanding the racial makeup of the armed forces, it was shocking, just shocking.

Sarah Longwell (28:30)

I had a different reaction to the commercials which was it really tipped over this year into primarily commercials by AI Crypto, the government.

JVL (28:44)

And like not a sign that it's a bubble at all.

Sarah Longwell (28:47)

Yeah, I know, but what's interesting is it's. We all people used to say like big businesses and corporations, but actually you're going to miss like the Mr. Peanut of it all and the Clydesdales and the normal sort of humanizing corporate America stuff that is linked to things we engage with in our day to day lives when all you have are the crypto, AI whatever guys selling you robots. I I just. I. I could really feel that this time.

Adrian Carrasquillo (29:28)

We were watching the karaoke one where they're, like, playing Backstreet Boys, and we're, like, singing along. We're enjoying it. And then they're like, coinbase Crypto. We're like, oh. They're all like, oh, we're all just like, you know.

JVL (29:40)

All right, each of you. Who wants to go first? 2 Best Super bowl halftime shows ever.

Adrian Carrasquillo (29:44)

I can go first because I thought about it when you mentioned it. Making it two definitely made it hard. I'm gonna go with Michael Jackson, early 90s, I think it was Buffalo Bills. Watching. Watching it with my dad. And just like this. Just like one of those special memories, you know, they're just like, that's so cool. And of course, I'm going to go with Bad Bunny as my number two because that was so fun last night.

JVL (30:04)

Sarah.

Sarah Longwell (30:05)

I did like the one that we got a couple years ago with 50 Cent and Marshall Mathers and all of the Dre. Suit.

JVL (30:16)

The Dre. Yeah.

Sarah Longwell (30:17)

That hit me in all of the feels, and I was like, oh, this is why they do this for the parents. Do you remember the one where Bruce Springsteen slid on his knees into the camera and was, like, yelling at people to put down their chicken finger? That. I like that one. That one sits with me, too. Or at least it. I remember it. It's in my head. And I've. I've recently gone back. Maybe it's because of Nebraska. You know, there's. There's, like, some new biopics around Springsteen. He just released this Minneapolis song, and so, like, he's in the discourse. But I've been listening to old Bruce Springsteen lately. I don't know if you guys know this, but he's quite good. Like, a great singer. People should. People should check him out. He's going places.

JVL (31:04)

All right, the correct answer is Prince. Guys, thank you for playing. There are a handful of tickets left for the Minneapolis show. The second Minneapolis show. And by handful, I mean there's like, a few dozen left. Hop on them now if you can. And if you are in Tejas, we now have tickets on sale for shows in Dallas and Austin.

Sarah Longwell (31:27)

Yeah, go to the events page to get the.

JVL (31:30)

So go to the bulwark.com events. You can find tickets to all of our live shows. Come and hang out with us, because once a quarter, we get to talk about fun, nice things, because we don't have to talk about all the terrible shit that's happening in the world. We'll be back soon. Good luck. America.