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- [00:00]
A
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B
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A
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B
Apply living with schizophrenia isn't easy, especially when you're not getting relief from some of your symptoms. It can be hard when you're still dealing with symptoms like hearing voices or seeing things that aren't there, and negative.
- [01:16]
A
Symptoms like feeling unmotivated or avoiding social situations.
- [01:21]
B
If this sounds familiar, it might be time to talk to your healthcare provider and explore a different kind of schizophrenia treatment. Discover your possibilities@treatingscz.com.
- [01:34]
A
And you attribute this to Judaism.
- [01:37]
B
This must be my we can't I have no gastrointestinal system. I'm allergic to.
- [01:44]
A
You. With your show and getting out of bed, it's at 3 in the morning. Stoned out of your mind, doesn't have thoughts.
- [01:54]
B
Hi, good to meet you.
- [01:56]
A
Excuse my left.
- [01:57]
B
No problem.
- [01:58]
A
Broke my you finger. It's been one of those months. You ever have one of those months where you just like all these nagging little injuries, you know, not the main, not the just the things that make your life annoying because you're like I've.
- [02:14]
B
Gotten to the point where I have to be careful when I'm like shampooing that I don't do it too hard or I'll tweak my neck. You know. I wrestled like 20 years ago at this point.
- [02:24]
A
Oh really?
- [02:24]
B
All throughout middle school, high school, a little bit in college.
- [02:27]
A
Just cause you like guys.
- [02:28]
B
Just because I like guys. Yeah. Apparently it's a sport too. No, and like man, it seemed fine at the time, but does it wreak havoc on your body after that?
- [02:38]
A
Man, when I was in high school, I remember we had to do wrestling it was like one of the. There was like, winter sports and, like, when I got. And that was one of the winter ones. You know, like one week basketball, next week wrestling. And. God, did I dread those weeks. I mean, I know it's a sport, and I'm always kidding about the guy thing, although the Greeks would have something to say about that. But, like, the idea of, like, getting on the ground with another sweaty man and just wrestling with him. And that's why it's wrestling.
- [03:08]
B
Yeah. I mean, like, look, if it was like a gym class activity, it would have been a lot less fulfilling. You know, we. I was lucky enough to be on some pretty good teams in school, and so we traveled across the country, and so it was great. And you learn a lot of discipline and, like, you know, I mean, it's the hardest. It's the hardest sport in the world, sitting there eating lettuce for like, 10 months out of the year so that you can keep your weight down.
- [03:33]
A
Yeah. And taking xlax.
- [03:35]
B
Yeah.
- [03:36]
A
I remember the wrestlers in our. The kids would. They would take XLAX to make weight.
- [03:41]
B
We would have guys that would. That would hold bottles and just spit in bottles all day, because you, like, might get a tenth or two tenths of a pound of, like, water weight after the full day. Or you. Or you'd go, you know, go and run. Put gym. Put a garbage bag on you.
- [03:55]
A
I'm surprised they didn't give blood.
- [03:57]
B
Yeah, I mean, you know, it got like, you can.
- [04:00]
A
I gave blood the other day. You probably a pint of blood. Probably weighs.
- [04:03]
B
Hey, any. Any way to like, get down and wait. Granted, you generally want to keep as much because you're gonna be on the mat 10 minutes later, but, you know, wow.
- [04:14]
A
But it just seemed boring. Besides being gross and sweaty and another man. It just seemed boring because, I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but there was like four moves, like a sit out and a this and a that. And like, you knew they were. Either you do it to them or they do it to you. And it was just. It's just grunting and it was like taking a shit with another person. That's what it reminded me of.
- [04:39]
B
Yeah. I mean, you know, if you're, like, deep in it and it's your sport, then it becomes just like anything else. Right. But you didn't keep up with it. No.
- [04:50]
A
You're not wrestling guys now.
- [04:51]
B
There's not a whole lot of, like, post college opportunities for wrestling.
- [04:56]
A
Good to have you here. Thank you for coming.
- [04:58]
B
Thanks for having me.
- [04:59]
A
Yeah, right. It's. It's not something felt like pickleball. Like you just say to a. Hey, guys, why don't we get on the mat with each other this week?
- [05:09]
B
Yeah. So, you know, bailed on that and actually moved out here to work in the entertainment industry.
- [05:17]
A
Oh, after wrestling?
- [05:19]
B
Well, yeah, after college.
- [05:20]
A
Right.
- [05:21]
B
Of which wrestling was a very small part.
- [05:23]
A
Right. Well, if you want to be on the floor with guys, there's a couple of directors I could recommend hanging out with where I'm pretty sure that would happen.
- [05:31]
B
Smooth transition, right. From wrestling to. To. To West Hollywood living, to Brian Singer's party.
- [05:37]
A
Did I have that name right?
- [05:38]
B
No, you got it right.
- [05:39]
A
That's it. Is that the guy?
- [05:40]
B
I mean, reputation proceeds him. Say again?
- [05:43]
A
They're not going to sue it. I mean, that was in the paper.
- [05:45]
B
No, I don't think. I don't think you can sue over the fact that Brian Singer had parties, and those were the kind of parties.
- [05:51]
A
It did seem like they were. Now, look, I also think it's as politically incorrect as it is to say it. I just. And it doesn't excuse, you know, really bad behavior, but to pretend that the gay world and the straight world are the same is naive. They're not. They're just not.
- [06:11]
B
Yeah, I mean, look, like, you know, my best friend is gay. I officiated his wedding with his husband, and, you know, now I've got my cred. I've established myself as an ally.
- [06:27]
A
I did too, by the way. I also was at a gay wedding.
- [06:31]
B
You know, it's interesting because in the entertainment industry, I think there's so much focus on. There has been so much of a focus for so long on, like, on exploiting the differences. And now I think there's a major focus on, like, okay, you can have a gay couple, but that's not gonna be like, you can still have a gay couple in the same storyline that you would have for a straight couple. And that's. And that's, you know, a new thing in TV and film now. Because usually the whole, like, the fact that those characters were gay would be the whole storyline, as opposed to now it's just like they're gay, but that's not relevant to the story. Right.
- [07:07]
A
That's the kind of progress we make that I'm always complaining. The left doesn't acknowledge. They don't want to acknowledge progress because it somehow makes you purer and a better person. If you constantly insist that things are worse than ever.
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B
No, I think.
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A
And they're not. They're better than ever. And things like that prove it.
- [07:25]
B
Yeah. I think there's not a whole lot of incentive to continue fighting for progress if you don't get a few moments to celebrate the wins that you've already notched. You know what I mean?
- [07:37]
A
Big ones.
- [07:38]
B
Yeah.
- [07:38]
A
But, you know, it's. I mean, I've been around longer than you have, and trust me, the country is somewhat unrecognizable from the one. Certainly the one I grew up in.
- [07:49]
B
Yeah.
- [07:49]
A
You know, I grew up in New Jersey.
- [07:51]
B
Me, too.
- [07:51]
A
All white town. You know, that was just the way it was.
- [07:55]
B
Where in Jersey?
- [07:56]
A
Bergen County.
- [07:57]
B
Okay.
- [07:57]
A
You know, and of course, this is where the liberals live.
- [08:02]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [08:03]
A
But that's where the liberals were in the 60s, you know? Yeah. That's. It was wrong, and that's where we were. And it's just. I mean, it's just. You couldn't even, like, imagine a show like Friends now.
- [08:22]
B
Yeah.
- [08:22]
A
If you pitched a show. Okay, there's six white. Stop, stop. Come in again. Come in again and pitch this again. What'd you say? There's an Asian man in a wheelchair. Good. I'm there. Of course, they always go too far. So there's just way too much box checking. Before they even write the script, they have to check the boxes.
- [08:44]
B
Well, you saw. Did you see the studio.
- [08:47]
A
Yes.
- [08:47]
B
Yeah. Where they kind of made fun of that one episode where they were trying to figure out who should be. I think the movie was about Kool Aid. Right. It was the Kool Aid movie. And so you don't want too many. Well, if there's no black representation in the Kool Aid movie and then there's too much representation, and then you have a Kool Aid movie where it's only black people.
- [09:04]
A
The way. That was a genius episode. Yeah. I'm remembering it now. Because they work their way to a place that was completely opposite of where they were intending to go, which was a. I don't know if Seth Rogen. I'm sure he does. My thought of him, I may be wrong, is that he's super woke, but that was not a super woke thing to do. That was a sly, brilliant sort of commentary on when that shit goes too far. That they worked themselves all the way back to. What was it? That now it's everybody's black. And so it looks now you have.
- [09:38]
B
A cooling movie with an entirely black cast. And it's like, who are the executives that greenlit a Kool Aid? The Kool Aid movie?
- [09:45]
A
The way they got there with certain steps along the way. Like, first it was just Gonna be like the.
- [09:52]
B
I think it was like ice cubes.
- [09:53]
A
The sidekick was black. So then. Oh no, that's not good because what are you saying? That blacks have to just be sidekicks?
- [09:59]
B
Can't be the leading man.
- [10:00]
A
Right. And then. So they just kept working there like they caught in their own head.
- [10:05]
B
Yeah, just spiraling.
- [10:06]
A
Spiraling.
- [10:07]
B
Yeah. I mean, it's interesting to see like, you know, the entertainment industry when I first moved out here, which was, man, 15 years ago at this point. Yeah, it was a totally different industry.
- [10:21]
A
No Jews.
- [10:22]
B
There were no Jews. Yeah. If Hollywood needed one thing, it was like, where are all the Jews around here?
- [10:28]
A
When are we gonna be able to break in the Jews?
- [10:31]
B
It was funny because like, you know, obviously I experienced all of filtering and figuring out which roles I can audition for. And I was a new actor. So it's like what smaller roles are gonna. Back then it was still. There were still a lot of. Pretty much all of the leading cast members were white. And so they would fill the minorities with the co stars and guest star roles. And so if you're a young white kid who wanted to move out here, you're probably not gonna get those roles. So it's tough to break in, you know, because they still wanted Brad Pitt to be the leading man and George Clooney and all that stuff. Now the whole industry is definitely changed. But I mean, I, you know, I have been in the industry in 10 years.
- [11:10]
A
Very often works in reverse. And I'm not even complaining about that. You know, I mean, turnabout's fair play for the longest time. It didn't work the other way. Now, as always with racial matters.
- [11:24]
B
I mean, I have, I have a really good friend who is Indian, like a dear friend of mine who's Indian. And the roles that he would get were like all the terrorists in the post 911 movie, that's all he could book. And he's like, he's a brilliant guy and he's a great actor. And it would just be like just the terrorists in those movies. And so there's a great silver lining.
- [11:47]
A
But that's not now.
- [11:48]
B
No, it's not. That's what I'm saying. There's a great silver lining where now.
- [11:52]
A
Let'S live in the year we're living in.
- [11:53]
B
Yeah. Like now you get to see that talent that was relegated to like, you know, the terrorists. Terrorist one, terrorist two on the plane.
- [12:00]
A
Right.
- [12:01]
B
So, you know, there's.
- [12:03]
A
But that is something that again is infuriating about the far left. I would say call them whatever they wanted not the woke, the stupid woke, like Whoopi Goldberg lover. But when she said a couple of weeks ago that being black was like the same as being a woman in Iran, it's like, yeah, 1920, but not today.
- [12:30]
B
Yeah.
- [12:32]
A
By the way, I was just watching this series. I guess it's a couple of years old. Taran, have you seen it? It's on Apple.
- [12:38]
B
No.
- [12:39]
A
It'd be a good way to get a little education on the subject.
- [12:41]
B
You know, it's interesting. Like, I mean, look, we're in Los Angeles. There's, you know, a military force deployed in this city. And granted, you know, not on the.
- [12:50]
A
Same level at all.
- [12:51]
B
Not on the same level. Of course not.
- [12:53]
A
Wrong. I agree.
- [12:54]
B
But like, you know, I mean, I've seen him, I've seen him in this city and it's weir. It's weird to like see. I mean, first of all, to see any type of police force in Los Angeles is bad enough, but like, I.
- [13:07]
A
Mean, it's just a bad idea to get the people used to seeing tanks and military vehicles on the street. That is one thing that's always made this country great, is that no tanks on the street.
- [13:19]
B
Yeah.
- [13:19]
A
As bad as it got no tanks. We don't want to see the tanks. That's not for Main Street.
- [13:26]
B
Yeah.
- [13:26]
A
You know, and now, you know, it's just, you know, one of the many things I said when Trump got elected. I said, I'm not going to pre hate anything, but, you know, I keep a list of what I hate and what I don't hate. And there's some things on the don't hate list, although the execution is never the right. But, you know, ideas like, you know, should Europe pay for their defense? Yeah. Not wrong. Should the border be organized instead of just open? Of course, to certain things. But on the hate list, which is still quite an extensive list.
- [13:59]
B
Yeah.
- [14:01]
A
You know, that's just one of the big ones. Like, I do not want military parades. I do not want the army playing cops. You know, I just. It's just a bad, like, I mean.
- [14:17]
B
Even on the don't hate list, when you have. Okay. Having Europe pay their fair share, it's like this would be a good opportunity to celebrate some wins. But he's so ham handed with the way that he does all of his international affairs that like, you get into office and the first thing you do is start. Start threatening to annex or invade Canada and Greenland and Panama and it's like. And then you try. And then you think that you created some charm offensive where you have 90 countries in 90 days, and that amounts to, like, Vietnam. You've inked a trade deal with Vietnam and can't figure out why nobody else is running to the negotiating table.
- [14:53]
A
But have you noticed that the Greenland thing, this kind of just got forgotten?
- [14:58]
B
Yeah.
- [14:59]
A
You know, in Canada, it was like, he's a different kind of cat. I mean, I gotta tell you, he just is a different kind of cat. And he's not going anywhere for at least another three and a half years. And the other party has no power, you know, just to go Gretchen Whitmer and pretend they can't see you there. Not the right strategy. And, you know, as far as, like, the don't hate lists, like, one of my big ones was always. Or the hate list was, you know, standing there with Putin and taking his side. Yeah, my point about, like, he's not going anywhere for three and a half years. The unpredictability factor, you're just gonna have to accept that and make the best of it. As opposed to just writing the millionth editorial. Yeah, about, you know, I'm just so not interested in this I hate Trump more than you do contest. It's not productive. It's not helping. It's not getting anywhere. It's not doing anything for the country. I'm for, like, you know, actually making this country work better. And that does not include just ignoring.
- [16:16]
B
Yeah. I think, in large part, once we recognize the extent to which so much of what he does is a deliberate strategy. Exactly. To your point, I mean, is he gonna annex Greenland?
- [16:27]
A
It is or isn't.
- [16:28]
B
It is a deliberate strategy to distract you from. I mean, Steve Bannon's whole shtick is that he's flooding the zone with shit. Right. And so once you can figure out, okay, what's. What is there to distract you so that you're not talking about the main thing versus what is the main thing?
- [16:43]
A
I disagree with that, because I think you're giving him, in a way, too much credit. I don't think there's that kind of thought that goes into it. I think he's just a cat who, like, you know, he lives on his phone like teenagers.
- [16:56]
B
Like, I've seen it, you know, errant synapses, fire.
- [16:59]
A
And just, like, he's an idea guy. Like, somebody is. He's a people person. He talks to a lot of people. That's not the worst thing in the world. It would be the worst thing if it was only the ass kissers, and it's probably mostly them, but I think he just likes a Wide array. You know, it's a lot of. Not what I read. It's a lot of what I heard. And people are saying, yeah. And he just, you know, he's an idea guy. Like, let's take Greenland. Let's reopen Alcatraz. Let's ate. Let's open Alcatraz on Greenland. Talk about ideas.
- [17:31]
B
I mean, maybe, okay, so maybe it's not a deliberate. Maybe these things are not deliberate. But I think it still lends itself to this idea.
- [17:37]
A
It does that.
- [17:38]
B
Okay.
- [17:38]
A
It's not that Steve. But it's not that. Steve Bannon made him into a guy who floods the bone machine.
- [17:43]
B
He knows how to explain Steve Bannon.
- [17:45]
A
Bannon found a guy who naturally floods his own machine. That's how it happened.
- [17:50]
B
And so I think the onus, I mean, look, for folks like me who are on the left, the onus then becomes how can we most effectively filter through that stuff and keep our eye on the main things? And that becomes difficult at times when there's 10 different things first of all at once.
- [18:06]
A
Be honest. Don't just be partisan. Just don't be like, don't be. I mean, you do what you want, you're very successful. It's not my way, exactly. I mean, I will always call it as I see it, no matter what it is. And I don't care who likes it or doesn't. That's my bond with the audience. It's worked for me pretty well. But it is, you know, in a way, harder to do. But just to take an example, tariffs. Now, I remember I, along with probably most people, were saying at the beginning, oh, you know, by the 4th of July, somebody had a thing how the country was. The economy was going to be tanked by then. And I was kind of like, well, that seems right to me. But that didn't happen now. It could happen tomorrow. I'm just saying that's reality. So let's work first from the reality of that, not from. I just hate Donald Trump because that's boring and doesn't get us anywhere and lead you to dishonesty. Because the truth is, I don't know what his strategy is. But look, the stock market is at record highs. I know not everybody lives by the stock market, but I also drive around. I don't see a country in a depression at all. I see people out there just living their lives. And I would have thought, and I gotta own it, that these tariffs were going to fucking sink this economy by this time, and they didn't. So, you know, how do we deal with that fact. Cuz that's the fact.
- [19:40]
B
Yeah. I think first is, and I've learned this the hard way, not to make predictions about what's gonna happen, because it's really fucking difficult to predict anything. And if I was good at predicting things, Hillary would have been the President in 2016, and I wouldn't have sold my Netflix stock back 2010. But here we are. I think the way that that's kind of exposing itself right now is with the Epstein stuff. I mean, you had all these Republicans that were clamoring because they thought that Trump.
- [20:08]
A
I'm on vacation a little bit. So I just heard the little bits of this fill me in what's going on with Epstein? So he's really alive?
- [20:17]
B
Like Elvis, he's alive, sitting in the cell? No. So Epstein, they had promised all of these Trump administration officials, Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino, Cash Patel, all had promised to release these Epstein files. And when they got in, I remember that when they got in, they would finally uncover these files that would be hidden by the Deep State and these communist Marxist Democrats, and they would expose this whole list. So these guys come in, I mean, you've got like, literally, Cash Patel and Dan Bongino made their entire careers in talking about this stuff over and over and over again. They get put into the top spots in the FBI and Pam Bondi, doj, and suddenly it's time for them to put up or shut up. And Pam Bondi and the DOJ released a report saying that there's no Epstein client list. So apparently nobody was benefiting from all of the depraved things that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were doing. And man, did that piss the fuck off the entire audience that followed Dan Bongino, Cash Patel, Pam Bondi, Alina Haba and Donald Trump, all of whom thought that they were gonna hold true to their word, to actually get some accountability for like these depraved crimes. And of course they're not gonna release this stuff because first of all, you've got Trump himself, who's been in God knows how many photos with the guy. Epstein called Donald Trump his closest friend for 10 years. That was like Epstein's direct quote. And so of course these files were never gonna get released, and they didn't. But now you have a whole sense of.
- [21:46]
A
Wait, wait, we are assuming that if I'm Epstein, who is. I said this on my show recently. If there's a guy who's like really rich and you're not quite sure how he got that Rich. He doesn't seem to have any talents. He's a pimp. He's a pimp.
- [22:04]
B
Okay.
- [22:05]
A
There are guys like that.
- [22:07]
B
Who are you referring to?
- [22:08]
A
Epstein.
- [22:08]
B
Okay, That's. Well, I mean, he's a pimp. A pimp for kids.
- [22:13]
A
I've known guys like this. Pussy whisperers. That's what a pimp is, a pussy whisperer. Someone who can, like, just. They just have this. I don't know what it is. I don't have it. I'm glad I don't have it. But they have an ability to talk women into anything. Like, even when it's not the woman doesn't benefit that much. It's just an amazing skill that some guys have. That's who he was. He was a pimp. We are assuming that this pimp kept a physical record. And I'm not. No. Maybe that. Maybe. Maybe I missed this in the.
- [22:46]
B
Who knows?
- [22:47]
A
So they don't know.
- [22:48]
B
I mean, we don't know what. We don't know what. Because we don't know any information. It's a black hole.
- [22:55]
A
Right.
- [22:55]
B
Because they keep refusing to release anything. So we actually know that.
- [22:58]
A
Okay, so they're saying if my business as it was Mr. Epstein's business was being a pimp. That's what he was. He was great at that. I've got girls. You say that to a nerd like Bill Gates?
- [23:11]
B
Yeah.
- [23:12]
A
Hey, I've got girls. Alan Dershowitz, you're an ugly looking motherfucker. Would you like to be friends with me? I know a lot of girls.
- [23:19]
B
Oh. I mean, yeah. Look, I think there's no doubt about why it works for a lot of these.
- [23:25]
A
But what I'm saying is if I'm that guy, do I need to keep a physical record? I know Bill Gates and Bill Glinton and Donald Trump want to come on the plane.
- [23:35]
B
Yeah.
- [23:36]
A
It would be like me keeping list of just my friends, you know, Like, I know who my friends are. Like, I don't know.
- [23:41]
B
You don't necessarily need to be like, sign here on the dotted line.
- [23:43]
A
Yeah. Like, who do I have dinner with? Let me check the files. Sheila, you keep records on who I like, don't you?
- [23:50]
B
And, you know, I think the broader issue though, is that, is that all of these people were so steeped in this idea that if they could just get into a position of power, then they would be able to finally do something and expose it. And it was so anticlimactic and so similar to everything else that's been said from. From the left that, like, it Just, I think it's really disillusioning for a lot of these folks on the right who kind of viewed the left as the impediment to getting that justice. And now you're seeing the exact same talking points being trotted out on the right. And like, you know, there's a lot of things that Trump has done to your exact point that fall into the category of, okay, this is gonna piss some people off, but it usually feels like it has very little staying power. Trump bombs Iran and like, even you have a few people that came out and said, okay, this guy promised to be the peace, the pro peace president. But, like, for a lot of people, is that really gonna. Is that gonna. Are they gonna, like, change, you know, switch sides, abandon the guy? But like this, I loved it. This, this year as it relates to Epstein.
- [24:51]
A
That was a home run for me and for him. And I'm a guy who was always saying we should. At least when they had the deal, we should try to see if the Obama plan, that the peace deal that Obama made would work. I, you know, I don't think I'm telling tales out of school, but once had a long conversation with Netanyahu, who was wanting to talk me into. And may I say right now, all these years later, one, maybe I was wrong. I thought it was worth a try.
- [25:25]
B
To bring the jcpoa.
- [25:27]
A
Yes. Oh, that's a.
- [25:30]
B
The Iran nuclear deal.
- [25:31]
A
Great.
- [25:31]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [25:32]
A
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- [26:24]
B
Yeah.
- [26:25]
A
And now, maybe. But again, here we are in a different place. A maybe I was wrong and Netanyahu was right. He probably knows A lot more than me. Like, his contention was that I don't care what it says on the piece of paper or what the inspectors are telling you. They're cheating. They're always going to cheat. They're trying to get a bomb they make no secret and never have about wanting to wipe us off the face of the earth, you know, okay, so we should just. We have to just take them out. And I didn't think that, but once Trump scuttled it in the first term, fait accompli. Now we're into a different era. So maybe I was wrong. Doesn't matter, because once we got to this place where they really were getting close, I mean, there was a report a little before he dropped the bomb, the first one from the inspectors, you know, the UN inspector who said, oh, no, that we don't know, and they're cheating. So it was almost something that had to be done. And, you know, look, Iran, I'm sorry, has been asking for it for the longest time. They have been sponsoring every bad news group in the Middle east who is anti Western civilization, places where you couldn't survive a day.
- [27:44]
B
Yeah.
- [27:45]
A
So please don't defend them.
- [27:47]
B
No, I mean, no, I'm not saying he would, but I got my defending Iran, I swear. What the hell did I say? What did I say?
- [27:56]
A
Palestine T shirt. Yeah, get rid of that.
- [27:59]
B
Look, what I hope happens in Iran is, I think what everybody across the political spectrum hopes happens in Iran, which is that there's some. I hope that folks in that country rise up. And there's some, you know, some. It can't happen at the hands of the US I hope that they rise up and we see something, you know, circa pre. Pre revolution.
- [28:19]
A
Here's the key thing about that. Rising up is so much harder than it ever used to be because of technology.
- [28:27]
B
Yeah.
- [28:27]
A
When we rose up against the British, they didn't have drones, they didn't have cameras you could hide. I mean, this. Even up into the Soviet era, this was the case. Now, for you to rise up and somehow evade the authorities who were looking to catch dissidents, almost impossible.
- [28:48]
B
Yeah. I mean, it happened, you know. Well, I don't really know any recent examples in point 2 where it happened. Proving your point.
- [28:55]
A
Well, the original revolution, not the original, but the Khomeini revolution, they called that, you know what they call the cassette revolution.
- [29:03]
B
Yeah. We're like six technologies past that by now.
- [29:07]
A
They smuggled in the dissident's point of view on cassettes and they played them on their fucking boomboxes. That's how. And that was only 1978. That's when the technology was.
- [29:18]
B
The irony is that, like, now, if you want that type of information to make it feel like you have, like, you're part of a community and that you have more people there to rise up with you, the hard part is that, yeah, it's easier to get that information, but it's that much harder, for the reasons that you just mentioned, to actually effectuate it.
- [29:37]
A
I mean, I don't know what's going to happen in. I mean, there. I saw Bibi was with Trump the other day, and they were talking about transforming the whole Middle East. And again, I know Trump. Look, I put up my. 56 years old.
- [29:55]
B
I was reading that, you know, I.
- [29:57]
A
Got him to sign that this is my favorite position. Yeah, 56 horrible things he said about me, obviously, which were in. Obviously, I said something about him that. So, like, no one needs to lecture me about Donald Trump, but. And well before I did the horrible dinner, which changed the world completely.
- [30:17]
B
I'm curious about that, about the dinner. Do you regret any part of it? Do you regret doing it? Do you regret before or after? I'm just curious, like, the way that all of it played out. How do you think about it? Do you think about it?
- [30:31]
A
The people who hated me from before the dinner, the 10% who live on blue sky, just found another thing to hate me for. But their hatred looks ever stupider as time goes by, because their big fear was that, oh, my God, I was gonna be seduced. And of course, I went right back to tearing him a new asshole every week. If you don't watch my show, that's fine. You don't have to. I don't hate anybody. Or just like anybody who doesn't watch it. But then you can't comment because if you have been watching it, you see that I didn't change one bit. So there was no argument there. Except your emotions. Except he went to see the bad man. Like, yes, I'm thrilled. First of all, you're invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. Really? You don't go, well, then you're a fucking idiot. In my view, no matter who the President is, two, he has all the power. So, like, maybe you should talk to him. And then part two, like, okay, I had to make a report on it. Once people knew, I went, should I lie? No, that was not an option. Never has been for me. That's my bond with my audience. So I told him the truth. That, yeah, that guy who lives there is different than the one you see on tv. And I kept saying over and over in the piece, like, I'm just reporting. You make your decisions, you do what you do. I'm just saying I went down into the mine and I'm telling you what's down there that you don't know. Or maybe you do, but like to just be like, oh no, it's just emotional.
- [32:04]
B
If I had the opportunity, if I had the opportunity to talk to Trump, I'd be happy. I try to interview Republican officials and the farthest right Republican that I've ever gotten on was like Adam Kinzinger. To give you an idea. And you don't really have to in this media environment because it's so bifurcated. And so you have all of these right wing outlets you've spoken to, you know, people have come, come here and you've spoken to them. There's no need for people on opposite ends of the political spectrum to go on opposing viewpoint shows anymore because there's so many like why, why deal with tough questions when you can just get pats on the head?
- [32:36]
A
But that's what my show is every week, right? My real tough show is like.
- [32:40]
B
But there's very, in this new media environment, there's very few shows that do that. I mean, I reach out to Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, their offices growing up, they all can respond.
- [32:50]
A
Yeah, well, well you reach out again. You know what, I'll call them all for you if you want. I will tell them to go on.
- [32:57]
B
Your show and they will do it.
- [32:59]
A
Because that's one thing that is very different from the left and the right. That surprises me because usually the right wingers will go anywhere. I just had that guy on, I loved him. Wesley Hunt, Congressman, African American congressman from Texas, Trump's biggest supporter. But it's so sincere with Paul Bagala.
- [33:19]
B
Uh huh.
- [33:20]
A
Okay. That's America. And by the way, loved it that they bonded. That's what we gotta do.
- [33:27]
B
I mean, look, I do debates. Fox LA anchor Alex Michaelson.
- [33:33]
A
Good.
- [33:33]
B
Who? I think he hosts debates between me and Tomi Lahren. I think we've been on like five times together already.
- [33:40]
A
Oh, Jesus. That's like Muhammad ali fighting a 7 year old blind girl. Why don't you fight somebody your own, Tommy? I mean, Jesus.
- [33:47]
B
I was on Piers Morgan's show today actually and went on with Ted Cruz's co host Ben Ferguson. So look, anytime I have the opportunity to talk to folks on the other side. But I can also see at the Same time, why people on the other side of the aisle would say, like, why engage in this when it can just be easier and not, you know, and in this digital media environment, you.
- [34:09]
A
Really don't have to. First of all, they should be giving me a fucking medal. All this talk about how Trump is only surrounded by ass kissers. Okay, but then when you have someone who's decidedly not maga, go there and speak to his face things he may never hear. I mean, I said things to hear. They should be carrying me off on their shoulders for saying to him in private. Yes, but I mean, he did, I reported it. He didn't object to it, and he didn't object at the time. Well, so things like, why are you scaring people? You're scaring people. Why do you want to do that to your citizens? What you did with Obama's birth certificate was low, you know, 2020 election, you know, you didn't win that. I mean, I'm not saying this is going to change the world. I'm saying like your shot doing nothing, not engaging has zero chance. Yeah, mine, this guy, I'm telling you, I know this cat a lot better than I did before. He's a people person. He talks to people. You have to keep the lines open. The stupidest thing the left does, and this dinner is a perfect example of it, is having this attitude toward the right that we won't even break bread with you. We are so far above you that we won't even sit down at the same table. No, I mean, look, that is their attitude. And that makes me sick too. I'm glad I break bread. And that, and that makes, it's what makes them hate the left so much. They think that they're deplorables. We're deplorables. And you won't even sit down to dinner with us. Well, good luck. See how far that gets you.
- [35:42]
B
Well, I mean, right, right now, look, we're in a position where Democrats lost the popular vote, they lost the electoral vote. And so we no longer have the luxury of excommunicating people from the party who are problematic. And so, and so that I think that's.
- [35:55]
A
We're not talking to the other party.
- [35:56]
B
Well, the who has all the power. Anybody who has any semblance of an ego, myself included, wants to see, like you see Trump engaged in all this bullshit. The Epstein thing, for example, whatever it may be, the pro peace and then he bombs Iran, says gonna release the Epstein files, doesn't do it. And you have folks on the left who Say who wanna be like, you fucking idiot, I told you so. Like, how did you not see this was gonna come, that this was gonna happen? How did you not see that when he said he's gonna lower costs for people, that he doesn't give a shit about people. He's promised cheaper healthcare before. He never delivered it. Promised infrastructure before, never delivered it. Promised a jobs boom, a manufacturing renaissance. This guy always plays the same populist shtick and he never delivers. And so how do you not get it? But I think the way that I have to check myself often now, because the goal is persuasion, right? Like, if you work in politics, the only way you win, the only way you exercise power is if you actually get an office so that you can enact your agenda. That's it. Otherwise you're just chirping at people on Twitter and, like, while that may be fun, not that fun if you're watching the other side enact their agenda and you have ICE agents on the street. So I had to check myself often. And instead of those moments where I can just. Where I want to say, like, you fucking idiot, how did you not know this was going to happen? To say, like, we're here with open arms and if you want lower prices, that's something that we can. That we can offer. If you want somebody who's going to expand your access to health care, that's something that we can do. If you think that workers should have dignity, if you think that unions should be stronger, if you see the effects of climate change and, and think that maybe we shouldn't be digging for more fossil fuels, when you have insurance companies that are no longer offering insurance in Florida or California, then, like, there's room in the coalition, and I think that's. That has to be my North Star. And again, I have to check myself often because it's not easy.
- [37:43]
A
You're doing the right thing, that checking yourself often is exactly how you do it. But to make this full circle to your question originally, like, that thing right there reminds me, see, I have standing to talk to the Republicans because, like, one reason I'm bored with the I just hate Trump more than you do people. How could you go to a dinner? It shows I hate Trump more than you. Boring. And also, I earned all these epithets. Not a smart guy, better than Salmonex, fired like a dog, dumbass, not an intellectual, terrible show, moron, stupid guy, bad ratings, failing comedian. I earned these because I did all these editorials about Trump before anybody. I did the one where he's. To your Point where he's a con man, where he promises things. And I did the one of, he's a mafia boss. I did these a long time ago. Well, okay, so like you, Johnny come lately, he's like, I've been there, I'm onto something else. You should get on that page.
- [38:46]
B
I think the hard part is like, look, I think that everybody should take the opportunity to go talk to anybody. If. Hell, if I had the opportunity to go sit in front of Trump, I would relish that opportunity to interview him. Seven days out of seven, I would take that.
- [39:01]
A
This wasn't an interview.
- [39:02]
B
No, I understand.
- [39:04]
A
It was more like this. But like, this is not an interview.
- [39:06]
B
But the point plainly.
- [39:08]
A
Plainly, this is not an interview.
- [39:10]
B
But the point that I'm trying to make is like, I do think that the idea that, okay, he's a different person behind closed doors, it's. It feels almost worse because he should know better then. It's almost. It's bad enough if he was like this guy, you know what?
- [39:27]
A
But you said it yourself, it feels. And that's the point. It's just about your feelings. I'm not on that page. Yeah, it actually, logically, I think it's better. I find myself more comforted knowing that. Oh, and here's the line I said, got admit. I said, a crazy person doesn't live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on TV lives in the White House.
- [39:53]
B
But isn't that worse?
- [39:54]
A
It's not the ideal. I agree. Well, it's not the idea, but we're not living in a world of ideals. But what's logically, what's better to think that the crazy person you see who's gonna go invade Greenland and do this crazy things is like, that's the only guy. Or to know that, oh, wow, there's somebody who's so much more self aware. Sorry, but he is somebody who actually can laugh. I made this point. I'd never seen him laugh in public. And I don't trust people who don't laugh. Yeah, but I saw it in private. But not a big belly laugh. But like, okay, there's somebody there who's better than the person I've been seeing. To me, that's better.
- [40:39]
B
Well, does this.
- [40:39]
A
Not ideal?
- [40:40]
B
Does this question. I get it.
- [40:41]
A
Not ideal.
- [40:42]
B
Does this question resonate with you? Shouldn't he know better then? Of course.
- [40:46]
A
But if shoulds and butts were beer and nuts, we'd have a hell of a party. But I'm living in reality. What world are you living In.
- [40:53]
B
I agree. But my contention with this is like, okay, if this guy is self aware, then what's the excuse for sending the military into Los Angeles? What's the excuse for pretending. For pretending that he won the 2020 election?
- [41:05]
A
Sweetheart, I have my hate list. Give me my hate list. It's. That's a long list.
- [41:09]
B
But that's the part that I think is like, if I don't disagree that he's more self aware than he's letting on. But that makes it almost worse for me because seeing somebody who knows better and yet makes the conscious decision to engage in this bullshit.
- [41:26]
A
People are complicated. Here's my theory on the whole thing. And I don't think it's actually something that hasn't been sort of said before by other people in different ways, but I think partly because of the way he was raised by his father, just.
- [41:41]
B
Partly New York, which is to say, not hearing the words I love you.
- [41:45]
A
Right, that kind of stuff. Yeah, it's in that great movie. I heard you.
- [41:52]
B
I was an executive producer on that.
- [41:53]
A
My friend Noor was a producer on that. Awesome movie, by the way, if you haven't seen it. The Apprentice, Sebastian, Stan and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohen. It's a genius movie that did not get its due because we're so partisan. Half the people were like, oh, it's terrible to Trump. And then half people were like, it's too nice to him because you see him becoming Donald Trump and you do feel because he is a human. People say, you went to the White House, you humanized him. He's a human. Yeah, okay, could we just get past that? He's not Hitler and he's not inhuman. He's a human. A flawed one, I'll give you that. But he is a human. And it's. I forget what we were talking about.
- [42:43]
B
Well, look, it's a low bar. Like, he is a human. I will grant him that.
- [42:49]
A
Okay, but some people don't. And he's also not Hitler.
- [42:53]
B
Look, I think that doesn't help. I think I have not and won't, you know, throw that around, especially, you know, as a, as a Jew with, with my entire family. But I would also say too, I mean, there. We would be fools to ignore. To ignore by virtue of not wanting to seem alarmist, some pretty telling warning signs that are right under our noses right now. I think if somebody, I think we, we. The problem that we face is we become immune to a lot of this stuff. It. The fact that it's like a slow moving. All of this Stuff is slow moving.
- [43:30]
A
Slow moving coup. I wonder who coined that phrase in 2016.
- [43:34]
B
Well, look, you got your sign there. It's a slow moving coup.
- [43:38]
A
I was saying that before he was elected the first time.
- [43:41]
B
I'm not taking it away from you.
- [43:42]
A
Okay.
- [43:43]
B
But I'm saying we inure ourselves to this stuff. It becomes normalized by virtue of the fact that it's happening over time. But I think if you asked anybody in 2016, hey, how would you feel if a president who defied a 9 nothing Supreme Court order decided to send the military into American cities with no end date so that he can enact some nebulous plan? You would not hesitate for a second to say that sounds fascy to me.
- [44:09]
A
It does and it is.
- [44:10]
B
And just because we've been here and we've seen it happen slowly over the course of a decade should not and does not negate the things that are.
- [44:19]
A
Happening and musing about a third term. Correct. All these extralegal things he does. I mean, yeah, of course. I mean, we have no argument about that. As I always say to the woke, we voted for the same person. You're just. Why she lost.
- [44:37]
B
Do you think that there would have been. I'm curious. Do you think any Democrat. I have an opinion on this. Do you think any Democrat would have been able to beat Trump?
- [44:44]
A
I am all in on Mamdani.
- [44:47]
B
Wait. Okay, wait. Well, let's stick with.
- [44:49]
A
I'm fucking with you.
- [44:52]
B
In 24. Do you think anybody on the left could have defeated Trump? I have an answer for this, but I want to hear what you have to say.
- [44:59]
A
Okay. I mean, I'm a Californian. Californian. And, you know, I'm friendly with our governor who I also get on his case and have. For being far too left. And I mean, it's becoming like we're friends, so it's kind of a kidding thing. But, you know, like, I will talk to him about the first thing when I see him. I won't even say his name. I'll just start on the potholes or I couldn't get my solar hooked up. All the crazy of California that he has to wear as baggage. I mean, you know, it's a state where it's hard to buck that, but yeah, I think you could. And he's starting to. He has moved to the right, let's say the center on three big issues that I could name. I won't bore the crowd, or maybe we will, but. And this is what I've been hoping he could do. It's a Lot of baggage. But I always thought this guy has what it takes to be a presidential winner because he's just really smart. He's a great fighter. Like, he's mean, which is great. He knows how to be mean where you should, and he looks great. That doesn't hurt to be the tall, good looking guy in the race. The Democrats, I think, have maybe learned their lesson and gone through their phase where they couldn't stand the sight of a white heterosexual man. And maybe they're over that now.
- [46:27]
B
I wonder if there will be electoral. Like, Democrats love to worry about electability, so we'll often get meta with it and say, like, okay, I want X person, but I have to choose Y person because I don't think X person can win. Instead of just choosing because you want them, because. Because you like them. But I think to that point, because I don't think that we've shed our interminable fear of not winning elections and focusing on electability. I do think that after Hillary, after Kamala, I don't know that Democrats are gonna be able to stomach putting forward a woman as the, as the nominee just because of those two reasons. I think that Democrats are. There's a world in which Democrats are gonna say the last, you know, two of the last three nominees were women. Both of those women lost. The man won. And so for fear of losing again to whoever of whether it's some iteration of, you know, the Steve Bannon, let's put Trump in for third term, or JD Vance or whoever it is, I think there will be a reversion if I had to guess. But then again, I told you I can't predict.
- [47:28]
A
I couldn't agree more. Again, and I have made a lot of predictions and all of them were right except Kamala. And that's okay. I mean, I kind of did that as wishful thinking, but this is where it circles back to the Seth Rogen show, because them casting the president and vice president slot is exactly that episode. They're gonna start out, they're gonna go, okay, we can't have a woman. Yeah, because we just had two and they lost. But we can't have a white man. Or we can't. We. We can't have a. We have to have some non white man presence on the ticket.
- [48:11]
B
So it's gonna be okay.
- [48:12]
A
So it's gonna be. Say it's Gavin, and then it's gonna be like, okay, and then. And okay, Pete Buttigieg, because he's also gay. Okay, but then what are you saying that gays can only get the second. And they're gonna do the exact episode, probably.
- [48:27]
B
I mean, that's what. That's. That'.
- [48:30]
A
I know.
- [48:31]
B
I mean, look, the reality of the situation is that Democrats are the Big Ten Party, and there are a lot of coalitions that are represented. It would be a hell of a lot easier to be a Republican. You're just a bunch of old Christian white guys, you know? And so.
- [48:42]
A
Well, I would hardly call Trump a Christian.
- [48:44]
B
Well, I mean, but that's who he panders to, you know, he's certainly not pandering to the atheists out there.
- [48:50]
A
No.
- [48:50]
B
So, I mean, that's their problem to deal with the fact that they have accepted as their deity a guy who, you know, I mean, not exactly. Not exactly embracing the ideals of Christianity on a daily basis.
- [49:06]
A
Question to me, is like a perfect example of how people want something in the middle. I'm hoping to give them that. And on either side, they're ridiculous. I mean, the Republicans are definitely too white male. And the Democrats are definitely too. We gotta check the box first. And America just wants something where we just. Okay, we acknowledge our terrible racial past. I think most Americans think it's apropos to not just acknowledge it, but make certain remedial steps. But it's a different world than it was back in, you know, when we were as bad as Iran. And it's also not correct to completely throw merit over the side of the chip.
- [49:57]
B
Well, I actually think that the defining factor in this upcoming election, again, to predict something that I have no idea if it's gonna pan out or not, is not gonna be political ideology. It's actually just gonna be a willingness to fight. And I think that far and away, is gonna be the number one thing. Democrats for so long have felt like the party of strongly worded letters. And for somebody like me who has grown up in the Trump era, like, I've come of age in the Trump era, and I've watched as these motherfuckers don't care about anything. Like, we're out here saying, like, process, norms, institutions, and they're like, we don't give a fuck about any of those things. Democrats are like, oh, the parliamentarian says no. Republicans are like, fire the fucking parliamentarian. And this has been my whole life in politics, watching this play out where Democrats will play by the rules in hope of some elusive reciprocation that never arrives. And we'll say, okay, Mitch McConnell says he's gonna put forward these new rules about the Supreme Court. Democrats get fucked. The parliamentarian Says we can't include something. Democrats get fucked. Like every single instance is Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
- [51:10]
A
They have no shame.
- [51:11]
B
And they have no shame.
- [51:13]
A
You have to start with that. When Mitch McConnell did that and said, well, we've always done it where when a guy dies on the Supreme Court, whoever's president gets to pick. I know it's sort of weird because, like, you know, five guys could die during one guy's term and no guys could die during another guy's term. So it's kind of a fuck system to begin with. But that's our system and we've always done it cuts out. And he just went, nope, not with this guy.
- [51:40]
B
Yeah, you know, we changed that.
- [51:41]
A
You know, like the law became make me.
- [51:44]
B
Yeah.
- [51:45]
A
So Trump did not exactly invent that. Mitch McConnell kind of invented that.
- [51:49]
B
Correct.
- [51:50]
A
And Trump ran with it. It was perfect for him.
- [51:52]
B
It was a symptom of the larger disease, but the disease was there. But I think that going back to that point, whether you are willing to come in there and actually fight back. And look, you can fight for virtuous things like you can fight for expanded access to healthcare, you can fight for women's reproductive rights, climate change, stricter gun laws, whatever it may be on the left, but like the key word is that you're actually willing to fight. And we just don't. I mean, Democrats are older, they are of a different generation. They don't have leadership that is going for whom fighting and winning is gonna be. Their M.O. is gonna be their North Star, and they need it.
- [52:28]
A
But you also have to fight against your own party's or own factions, fringe.
- [52:35]
B
I feel like, I think a big part, the reason that so many warring factions on the left are so unsettled right now is because we're not in power anywhere. And so now comes the point where everybody wants to come out of the woodwork and say, it's because of this. It's because you didn't do all of this. Like me, like my positions, because you didn't put forward these positions that I espouse. So there is no winning formula. And so as a result of that, everybody thinks their formula is the winning formula. And I think that once we win, all of a sudden it'll be like, oh, you're right, that's how you did it. Oh, Barack Obama won by doing xyz. That's how to win.
- [53:14]
A
Yeah.
- [53:15]
B
And it quells some of that turmoil that I think is brewing right now.
- [53:19]
A
I don't disagree with that at all. I'm just saying apropos to your question you asked a half hour ago or whenever it was about, do I regret going to that dinner? Not in the least, because I now have standing with the Republicans in a way you don't. Which is why they don't do your show and they do mine. Because, and I've said it a couple of times on my show already, I said, you know what? I went to the White House. A lot of people on the left said, you shouldn't even do that. And then I told the truth, and they really came after me. Remember, I had dinner with Hitler according to Larry David. Come on, man. Once you play the Hitler card, you lost. But okay, so what I can say to Republicans and have said to them is, you know what? I told the truth. I didn't shrink from that, and I took the heat from the left. Now I want you to do the same thing. You do it, you take the heat from the right. Because I want you to be honest. Do you really think it's cool to talk about running for a third term? Because I know you don't. And I have standing to say that to them because I already got my beating from the left. And about me telling the truth. Yeah, that's a really important weapon to have in your pocket.
- [54:36]
B
I agree. Up to the point where an important weapon to have. But like you said it yourself, this is a shameless Republican Party. And so when you come out shameless.
- [54:44]
A
But at least they hear it.
- [54:45]
B
I mean, I wrote a book whose title was Shameless. Like, that is the title of my book. And that came out last year. And so, like, I get it. And I think that that's actually their greatest weapon. And in a way, yes, because how do you shame the shameless? What tool do you have? What public pressure can you impose on somebody for whom shame doesn't exist anymore?
- [55:08]
A
To get back to what we were saying a little while ago, and I never finished it, I guess we go, one of us is stoned. But like I was saying, why Trump is different in public. And I'm saying his father, you know, the way he was raised, he just has it in his head. And, you know, as a political animal, it's not completely wrong that if you ever give an inch, if you ever.
- [55:33]
B
Show any weakness, that's the Roy Cohn School of management.
- [55:35]
A
Right. If you ever apologize, say you were wrong about anything, it is interpreted by a certain percentage of the lizard brain as weakness. And that's why in public, he never goes there. It's just always, you're an asshole. And I'm right. And I was never wrong. And it was a perfect call. And like, there's just. I don't give an inch. But that's not who he actually is. That's what I found out. So the fact that I have more information than you. The fact that you would think that's bad that I have more information than that.
- [56:10]
B
No, I don't think it's bad that you have more information. I just think it doesn't count for anything. Oh, it does if. If that's what he is in private. Because nobody get like, you don't get points. I feel like you don't get points for saying something. You don't get points for being self aware in private. You get points for what you actually.
- [56:27]
A
Do on the world st. Not looking to score points.
- [56:30]
B
Not you. I'm saying. I'm saying for him, no, I'm looking.
- [56:32]
A
To make the country better. And by the way, what happens in private is what always motivates him. I think in public, again, he doesn't do a lot of reading. It's a lot of. I was talking to people. People are saying, well, who are these people? Yeah, I would much rather there be people like me in his ear. I think there should be more people like me. And the thing is, I'm telling you, he will listen. That's also the thing about him.
- [57:06]
B
I would rather have moderating forces there too. But I think that world is. I think that world is gone.
- [57:10]
A
I mean, he reinvented the entire Republican Party corre. I mean, all the things. It doesn't matter. It's a cult of personality. It's also his superpower. It means that he can turn on a dime or go against the promise he just made. Just like the most amazing used car salesman. And the people will go along with it.
- [57:29]
B
Correct?
- [57:29]
A
It does not matter.
- [57:30]
B
I don't know if that's a plus for him or an indictment on the rest of the party.
- [57:34]
A
Well, it's a plus for you as a politician or a leader.
- [57:36]
B
I mean, and an indictment on the.
- [57:38]
A
Elon Musk was the greatest guy and now he's the worst. And Putin, like, okay, this apparently was his negotiating strategy. One, surrender, give Putin everything. And then when he disappoints me and doesn't like, take yes for an answer, then I turn on him. And I just cannot predict this guy or what will happen. And I'll tell you this, though, he is lucky.
- [58:06]
B
He's a motherfucker.
- [58:08]
A
I'm an atheist. I don't. A person who believes in like crazy shit or weird. But I'm. I mean, there is. I don't know if he sold his soul to the devil. That is certainly possible. But he has a luck. I mean, winning the first election, you had to have pull an inside straight. Like you can't believe in politics.
- [58:27]
B
I didn't watch the returns until late at night in 2016 or late 2015 because I was like, hillary's gonna win. I was working that night and I was like, I'm fine. Like, it's all good. No, I was. Well, I was. Nobody works as an actor. Like I was. I had my other job, which was. I was personal training at the time.
- [58:45]
A
Personal training?
- [58:46]
B
Yeah. And so wrestling. Well, no, it was just like weight weight training with, like, clients.
- [58:51]
A
Another way to get near guys who are.
- [58:53]
B
That's right. That's right.
- [58:54]
A
I'm not saying anything.
- [58:55]
B
They were especially confused when I was like, you have to show up in a singlet.
- [58:58]
A
But. But let's be honest. And you did find a way to put your hands on men again.
- [59:03]
B
You know what I had learned.
- [59:04]
A
Are you a married man? I don't know.
- [59:05]
B
I'm not.
- [59:06]
A
What is your personal life like? Let's get off politics. This is Club Random.
- [59:11]
B
It's weird being in LA because everything feels very delayed in la. Like, I'm from Jersey, like you. And everybody was married, had their families right away, like 20, 23, 24 years old with all my friends, I went to Lehigh University, so all my friends that I graduated with from Lehigh, all my friends I went to college with, Pennsylvania, Lehigh, all got married right away. Out here, it's like there's definitely a. A Neverland, you know, feel to, like the fact. Yeah, there feels, you know, there's like a major delay. I mean, all of my normal.
- [59:47]
A
That's what you mean by that delay.
- [59:49]
B
Like, people put. I think with the entertainment. All of my whole social circle is folks in the entertainment industry. And I think that there is such a. I feel like you can. When your career is in order, it allows you to get into restaurant. Say again?
- [60:07]
A
Restaurants.
- [60:08]
B
Restaurant, first of all, restaurants. When your career's in order, I feel like the rest of your life can kind of fall into place. But nobody's career is ever in order out here because you're just hustling the whole time. If you're in the entertainment industry. And so there's this unrest. There's this, like. There's this, like, sense that you're not settled in anything. And so. And so I don't know if it's like the Hustle. And I'm sure other industries are the same, but I've seen it to a degree that I've not seen it anywhere else in any other industry.
- [60:35]
A
That's exactly probably how I felt when I was your age. That's not how you feel now.
- [60:41]
B
When. When did you.
- [60:41]
A
You know, you're not. You're not going to feel that way. I mean, I'm almost 70 that you're not going to feel that way because you have established yourself. You're right. When you're.
- [60:50]
B
It's new, though.
- [60:51]
A
You're mid-30s.
- [60:52]
B
Yeah.
- [60:52]
A
You're still striving. And by the way, I'll tell you something about your future. It's like, this is a lot better mentally because. At least for me, because when you. Well, because one of the greatest anxieties I ever had was, am I going to be a failure? You know, how's this going to end up?
- [61:12]
B
Yeah.
- [61:12]
A
You know, once you've sort of, like, gotten past that where, like, oh, even if it ended tomorrow, I mean, I've been on TV 32 years straight. Okay. No one's going to say that was a failed career. So, like, you know, there's a certain equanimity that comes over your mind when you have that. That you just don't have at your age.
- [61:36]
B
When did you start Real Time?
- [61:38]
A
Well, I started real time in 2002, but I had done Politically Incorrect for nine years.
- [61:42]
B
And how old were you when you started?
- [61:44]
A
36. In real time.
- [61:47]
B
Yeah, 36.
- [61:47]
A
Politically Incorrect. Yeah. And until then, I felt like I hadn't gotten my ticket punched.
- [61:53]
B
But you grew up in Jersey, and so you grew up around regular, normal people who were not in the industry.
- [61:58]
A
Oh, not at all.
- [61:58]
B
And I'm sure that those people got their lives started way in advance of you, that they were having kids, that they already had two kids.
- [62:04]
A
I never wanted to have kids. So that was a victory.
- [62:08]
B
Right. But you saw people getting started with their lives in a different way than when you come out here.
- [62:15]
A
What I saw that caused great anxiety was People comics, who I had started with in the clubs in New York, starting to get, like, famous because they got to the sitcom level, for example, and I was still, like, in the. And I was like, oh, my gosh.
- [62:32]
B
Was there a point where you didn't. Where you didn't know if you would, like, make it?
- [62:36]
A
Totally. That's what I'm saying. That's what causes all the anxiety.
- [62:39]
B
Yeah.
- [62:40]
A
I mean, I came out here and I'd done a few Tonight Shows, and they Loved me. And, you know, when you're the new piece of meat in town, you're always gonna do well. And I got on sitcoms and, you know, it was all going uphill. And then, you know, at a certain point, it plateaus and you're like, oh, fuck, I don't wanna be the third lead on Bringing Up Chunky, you know, and then there's a part where you're. There was like, the early 90s. I was like, oh, shit, am I. I'm home all day writing scripts. Am I gonna ever really. And then I got Politically Incorrect and, you know, never looked back. But it takes a while to get that sort of feeling that, oh, I. I'll be okay. Yeah, I'll be okay. And I'll be remembered as a success. Maybe it's not.
- [63:31]
B
No, I mean, look, I think if you're in this industry, if you're in. And I say this industry, if you're in entertainment, I think that there is a. And I don't say this in a bad way, because I'm in the same industry too, but there is a degree of. Like, there is a degree of narcissism. Right? Like, I'm sure there's a nicer way to. Way to put it, but I think anybody in this industry is not an introvert. Right? And so there is that sense of, you know, anybody who wants to get in front of people, wants to entertain people, wants to move people. There is a degree of that. And if you feel like you're doing this job and you can't break through and that you're not gonna be remembered or you're not gonna get a good part, you're not gonna be able to show people what you can do. Then there is that nagging sense of failure looming.
- [64:14]
A
And there is also the possibility, although I would say it's fairly slim, but it is one of 10 chambers in the gun where you are really good and you still don't make it.
- [64:27]
B
Yeah.
- [64:27]
A
Oh, some of it is just.
- [64:28]
B
I would give it more. More than one chamber.
- [64:30]
A
You think so?
- [64:31]
B
Oh, I mean, this. I see the way. I mean, I've been. I've done the whole thing, the auditions and this and that. The easiest. The easiest jobs I've gotten and the best jobs I've gotten have not been because you walk in an audition room and they pluck you out of 30 people who auditioned. It's because somebody who's already on a movie tells the executive producer that, hey, I'm gonna do this, but you're gonna put my buddy in as guy number two. This is a nepotistic town.
- [64:56]
A
It totally is. And even if that happens, the luck part comes in is, is that movie gonna be a hit?
- [65:05]
B
Are you gonna be in the final cut?
- [65:07]
A
Right.
- [65:09]
B
I've gone through the whole shitty process of getting an agent, getting called in for an audition, getting a callback, going for producers, booking the role, shooting the thing, and I don't even make the final cut. So all is your day rate for the actual shoot, and you're not even in the thing. And so you have to go through all these steps, and at the end of the day, you might not even get anything for it.
- [65:30]
A
Right. And if the movie isn't a hit, no one will see it. You know, and if it is, even if you had nothing to do really with making it a hit, but you're in it, then your ticket goes way up.
- [65:42]
B
Yeah.
- [65:43]
A
You know, so, yeah, there is.
- [65:45]
B
It's all like kind of a crash.
- [65:46]
A
There is some luck. I do also think that the really superior talent always wins out. I just think there's no way to keep down. Sometimes you have to keep knocking on the door for a while, but there's no way to keep down one of those giant talents.
- [66:00]
B
I mean, there's no cream rises to the top.
- [66:03]
A
Yes, show business has a lot of bullshit in the middle, but the cream. I mean, there's no way Steven Spielberg wasn't, you know, maybe Jaws. What if Jaws was not a hit? What I'm talking people in 1975, people were like sharks. The last thing I want to see. I'm swimming in the ocean, for Christ's sake. But they did. But, like, would he have never risen? No, I don't think so. I think it would have taken the next one and the next one. And that's how real the contenders, not the pretenders.
- [66:34]
B
It's a tough industry, though. I mean, like, you know, I moved out here to act, and that exact scenario that I played out, which is like. Like getting an agent, getting representation, trying to get in these rooms, which is half the battle. Then when you get into the rooms, trying to get a call back, trying to get people to like you, the directors, the producers, whoever's sitting in that room. And there's a lot of people. The reason that I started doing digital media, digital political media. First of all, I'm passionate about politics, and that's been my whole life. But my whole career in entertainment has been a lot of people has been me waiting for people to say yes. And I can't move forward unless every single Person every step of the way says yes. And if there's one person who says no, you're right, I'm done. And so I started doing videos on way too collaborative. I mean, I started doing videos on Facebook and I would shoot them alone. I would set up my camera, hit record. I'd write my own scripts, and I continued to.
- [67:28]
A
You made the right choice. I mean, acting is such a one in a million shot. I mean, even if you're good at it, you can be, like, the greatest character actor in the world. You make middling money.
- [67:39]
B
Yeah.
- [67:39]
A
All the money goes to the above the title stars. At the end of the day, people know your face, and you can't even get a table at a restaurant. And if you dare to, like, turn a roll down because they're not paying you enough, they'll go. We'll go to the next character actor who's also very good at his job. And also, people don't know his name, and he'll be fine. You know what? We don't. The world has more than one Charles Durning.
- [68:07]
B
Yeah.
- [68:08]
A
I don't mean to insult Charles Durning.
- [68:10]
B
Who was terrific, but, like, you know, the world is changing too, because when I grew up, like, that was. I mean, TV and film are, like the thing, right? Everybody wants to be a movie star. And now these kids, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, they watch YouTube. And so I talked to my niece and nephew, and they love YouTubers.
- [68:31]
A
Yes.
- [68:32]
B
And it's weird because, you know, I grew up idolizing, idolizing, like, you know, Tom Hanks and all these guys who I, you know, Russell Crowe and Adam Sandler and all the guys that I grew up watching on tv, watching in their movies. And it's just a different. It's a different world where, like, now people watch streamers and, you know, stare at YouTube all day, stare at Twitch all day.
- [68:53]
A
I try not to pander to that, but I do have a new YouTube coming out about how to shave your back.
- [68:58]
B
I'm just saying, guys, huge, huge demand for that among the Gen Alpha contingent.
- [69:06]
A
But isn't that your impression that that's a lot of what goes on is like opening presents?
- [69:12]
B
I mean, like, it is weird because you have. You have the. We grew up in an era where you have the best 22 minutes of TV that get filtered down so that you're never. So that there's never a dull moment.
- [69:26]
A
Right.
- [69:26]
B
And streamer and streaming is inherently 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, as you know, hours of a lot of filler and. And even my Videos are short. Like, my YouTube videos average about eight to 12 minutes. And I make sure that there's not even a breath. So it's just protein, right? No empty calories. But streaming is a whole different animal. And people will just sit there. I mean, viewing habits have changed, and people will sit there and watch these people who kind of like, inform their whole worldview. Yeah, I mean, you know, I mean.
- [70:03]
A
When I started this the first year, we were doing like an hour. And the biggest complaint was, it's not long enough. And I would always say, wow, the American attention span. It's either 8 seconds or 3 hours.
- [70:15]
B
That's been the hard one.
- [70:16]
A
There's no middle ground.
- [70:18]
B
Yeah.
- [70:18]
A
I mean, but yet one hour was like, you are cheating us. And so I was like, yeah, hey, can I get high for two hours? You bet I can.
- [70:25]
B
Yeah. Have you. Have you ever had. Do you. Do you notice, like, a marked change from. As you smoke more and more? Do you. Are you. Are you different or are you basically steady the whole time? I smoke, I smoke.
- [70:39]
A
I wish I could get that high. I've been smoking for half a century. More than the time you've been alive.
- [70:45]
B
I see.
- [70:45]
A
I wish I could get that high, but they just don't have it. And I mean, I'd have to mainline it or something and that's okay. I don't need to get crazy high.
- [70:54]
B
Do you ever impose, like, do you ever impose like, you know, week long or month long stops so that when you smoke again, it'll be more potent and be more effective?
- [71:07]
A
That has been one of my New.
- [71:09]
B
Year's resolutions for how many years?
- [71:11]
A
1975. No, seriously, I would love to do that. Yeah. No, it's never the. It's like the guy in Airplane. I picked the wrong week to stop, sniff and glue, you know, I mean, there's just never a good week. And. And you know, what I have to say about pot is that it's not something that calls to me to smoke it, which I would call an addiction. When I was smoking cigarettes, it demanded that I smoke a cigarette. Pot. Never. I don't even think about smoking pot unless I have a reason.
- [71:44]
B
Until the joint is in your hand.
- [71:46]
A
Every day, as you can see. No, until.
- [71:51]
B
Tell me more about how you.
- [71:53]
A
Well, because you're seeing me at a moment where I smoke pot, right? No, I know, but, like, I really don't. Like, I'm not like, watching TV at night and going, oh, boy, I wish I was stoned right now. Or like, I gotta get up. It doesn't even cross my mind.
- [72:07]
B
It kind of does for me. Like, I.
- [72:09]
A
Do you smoke?
- [72:09]
B
I smoke every morning. Well, because. Oh, okay.
- [72:13]
A
I get it. I get it.
- [72:14]
B
Yeah. That would be any useful conversation.
- [72:17]
A
I get it. Same reason I don't smoke for real time. Yeah, that would be a disaster. Because it's too much. Some things you can do stoned. I mean, I can. I won't talk for everybody. And some things you can't. But the things that I can, I always want to do stoned.
- [72:32]
B
Yeah.
- [72:33]
A
You know, this fucking. You know, there's certain things. I'm sorry. Writing, you know, that are like, just easier. Better.
- [72:41]
B
See, I can't do anything where I need to be, where I. Where I have to make cogent thoughts. I. That's. It's. Which I think is actually a good thing because I reserve it for fun. Which for me is at the end of the day, like, I usually finish. I'll work like 14, about 14 hours a day. And I'll start at 7 or 8 in the morning and I'll go until about 9 o' clock at night.
- [73:02]
A
Wow.
- [73:03]
B
Which means I only have like a couple hours of downtime.
- [73:05]
A
Your girl must be pissed at you.
- [73:07]
B
I'm a blast to date.
- [73:09]
A
Do you live together?
- [73:10]
B
We do, yeah. But it's always.
- [73:12]
A
Do you work out of your house?
- [73:14]
B
I work out of the house. So I'm around all day long. It's not like she's.
- [73:18]
A
You could go from working dude to mack daddy in five minutes.
- [73:22]
B
Yeah, I mean, if I was working. If I wasn't working 15 hours a day, then, yeah. But I mean, I do. Look, I work out of my house and there's plenty to keep me busy the whole day.
- [73:34]
A
And you attribute this to Judaism?
- [73:36]
B
This must be my Judaism.
- [73:38]
A
We cannot build.
- [73:39]
B
I have no gastrointestinal system. I'm allergic to anything with whey protein. With whey casein.
- [73:45]
A
Are you serious?
- [73:46]
B
Any dairy? Say again?
- [73:47]
A
Are you serious now?
- [73:48]
B
I actually am. I actually am serious.
- [73:50]
A
Why? Is that a Jewish thing?
- [73:51]
B
Yeah, it's a Jewish thing. We're built, like. We are not a robust people. Jews. We may be like the attorneys and the doctors, but, like, give us a cup of fucking milk and we're done.
- [74:04]
A
What is. I've heard that. Why is that? What is it?
- [74:07]
B
Because we're 2% of the world's population and there is a certain degree of.
- [74:11]
A
Not even.
- [74:12]
B
Not 2% is it. Not even 2%? Is it zero?
- [74:15]
A
15 million people out of 8 billion? Is it 0.2%?
- [74:18]
B
Is it 0.2%, that's more likely 0.2% because we're 0.2% of the world's population. And 8 billion.
- [74:26]
A
So 2% would be 800 million. Right. Wait, wait, what's 10% of 8 billion? Oh boy, I'm the stone one. That would be 8. That would be 800 million.
- [74:40]
B
Yeah.
- [74:40]
A
Okay, so it's not that. That's 10%. So it's a fifth of 800.
- [74:45]
B
160.
- [74:46]
A
That's not what Jews are.
- [74:47]
B
Yeah.
- [74:48]
A
In any case, it's a 0.02 or something. Yeah.
- [74:52]
B
Okay. So anyway, that's why we're allergic to dairy. That's why our gastrointestinal systems are failing as a collective whole.
- [75:00]
A
It's interesting that the Bible, especially books like Leviticus, have a lot of laws about eating and they're right next to like slavery. Not a problem. Just, you know, don't beat your slave. Or if you kill your slave, if you kill another man's slave, he gets to take your slave. Like lots of rules about slavery. None of them, don't do it.
- [75:21]
B
Yeah.
- [75:22]
A
You know.
- [75:22]
B
Yeah.
- [75:24]
A
Right next to that is like, don't eat lobster.
- [75:26]
B
Yeah.
- [75:27]
A
Like fucking. Don't mix meat with milk. Okay. Slavery. Lobster. And they, and it's just so funny that people take to me that they take this shit seriously because it was obviously written in an era where people were just. I'm sorry, no insult to the people back then, but you were early on in the human parade.
- [75:49]
B
Yeah. I mean, you're talking about like bleeding people out via leeches and.
- [75:52]
A
Oh, that was much later. Yeah, that works. They still do it. Do you know that?
- [75:57]
B
No, I didn't know that.
- [75:58]
A
They absolutely still use leeches.
- [76:00]
B
But, but, but there's a question.
- [76:01]
A
Sometimes it's the best way to bleed someone out. Can you imagine when you say the.
- [76:06]
B
Best way to bleed someone out? Is that a thing?
- [76:08]
A
What do you do in the hospital?
- [76:09]
B
And leeches are the best way to do it?
- [76:12]
A
Yes.
- [76:12]
B
You mean in some places.
- [76:13]
A
In some instances. Not places, Instances.
- [76:18]
B
What would. I'm just so curious what an instance would be. I'm not talking about where they're like, we have a picc line here. But hear me out.
- [76:28]
A
Right? Hear me out. Sometimes the natural way is best.
- [76:33]
B
Yeah.
- [76:34]
A
Let me introduce Dr. Ho, my Chinese holistic. Yeah, yeah, no, they, that was just a bad example. But I get your point.
- [76:43]
B
But, but anyway, going back to the, going back to the weed thing. Yeah, that's, that's. I, I guess, I guess I only. I, I keep it to non work stuff and so for me, it has a good association because it means that I get to watch movies, I get to eat, and I enjoy food more. Like, you just enjoy everything a little bit more. And it's a quick way. It's a quick way to wind down without a hangover. And I have to be on camera every single day, and I work seven days a week.
- [77:09]
A
So you used pot the way most people do. More for relaxation. See, I'm the opposite. I use it for work. Not that sex is work, but it's effort. You know, it's like, you gotta be. It's good, but, like, it's not passive. And watching a movie is passive. I would never get stoned to watch a movie.
- [77:27]
B
I've had a couple of instances where I've smoked, and I'm like, for all intents and purposes, out of commission. And then something happens in the news, and I think, like, two or three times. And this is over the last few years, but, like, two or three times where. I mean, I'll usually wait until it's pretty late at night, but we live in the Trump era, and anything can happen pretty late at night, and I'm already high, and I'm like, see something break, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna try. And I just, like. And I have to.
- [77:56]
A
And you have to get it out that fast?
- [77:58]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [77:59]
A
Your audience wants you to react to something that quickly.
- [78:03]
B
That's the whole game. That's how it goes on YouTube. I mean, like, wow. I'm like, news has a couple. You know?
- [78:11]
A
So the opposite. I'm on vacation. This is our summer break.
- [78:14]
B
Yeah.
- [78:14]
A
I mean, right after we went off the air, Trump dropped his big bomb.
- [78:17]
B
Yeah.
- [78:18]
A
Like, And I'm not on social media. I'm like, you know what? If you want to know what I think, you'll wait for me to come back in August.
- [78:26]
B
You're lucky in the sense that you're established.
- [78:29]
A
I'm sure that's not the right way to do it, but I.
- [78:31]
B
No, but I mean, look, you're established to the point where you can do that.
- [78:36]
A
I'm just saying I shouldn't. It's not.
- [78:38]
B
No, I mean. But shouldn't. It's not really establishing, but you don't need. You're not trying to make a name for yourself. You know what I mean?
- [78:44]
A
You've got yourself.
- [78:47]
B
This is still part of the rat race and making sure that you can get your news out to people.
- [78:51]
A
That's why I do it. It's cooler. You'll wait for me, bitch. Yeah. You'll hear what I said about the bomb. Well, now they know I said it on the podcast.
- [78:58]
B
That's right. That's right. But, like, you know, it's all kind of like, you know, I left the entertainment industry because it felt like too much of rat race. I'm in a different kind of rat race, but it's, you know, it's the same thing.
- [79:11]
A
Also, you're still on the entertainment industry. You're just, you know, writing.
- [79:15]
B
Writing my own material.
- [79:16]
A
Well, and also for people whose idea of entertainment is something intellectually nutritious.
- [79:22]
B
Yeah.
- [79:23]
A
And something that has to deal with what's going on in the world. I mean, when you eliminate, like, the percentage of the population that they don't like you. They don't like me. It's not because of our. They just are not interested in what we're talking about. What was the thing that you called the Iran deal before the jbbb?
- [79:41]
B
Oh, jcpoa.
- [79:42]
A
Yeah. I mean, like, I didn't know that one. They don't even know about the Iran deal or care.
- [79:47]
B
Yeah.
- [79:48]
A
Did you see Trump the other day at the White House when he was putting up two giant flag poles and he had, like, six construction workers behind him, and of course, he's Trump. So he goes out there and he just starts riffing. And the picture, even the New York Times couldn't help themselves by showing a realistic picture. All the construction guys behind him just smiling from ear to ear, laughing, because he was just like. Whatever he was talking about. I mean, and they were like, wow. We're just here at the White House putting in a flagpole, and this dude wanders out and just starts spewing. And, like, that is a connection to the everyday person that most politicians love him or hate him that just do not have.
- [80:31]
B
It'll be interesting to see, like, who the Democrats do choose to put forward, because I think.
- [80:35]
A
Who do you want?
- [80:36]
B
Who do I want?
- [80:37]
A
Yeah. Who's your. You must have an idea.
- [80:39]
B
You must have a number one. I don't know who I want yet. Come on. Dead honest truth. I don't know who I want yet. I want someone who, like I told you before, is gonna be a fighter. I don't really know, like.
- [80:50]
A
Well, I'll give you my top two. My top three. Gavin, Pete. Ari. Not Ari. He's my agent. His brother.
- [80:59]
B
Rahm Emanuel. Yeah, Rahm Emanuel.
- [81:01]
A
I mean, and I get it. They're all white men. Thank God.
- [81:06]
B
God.
- [81:06]
A
Pete is not interested in vaginas. So there's something in there, but those.
- [81:15]
B
Are My topics retain your progressive bona fides.
- [81:17]
A
Oh, my God. Well, this is. I'm talking about. These are the demons.
- [81:19]
B
No, no, I know, but I think some other names.
- [81:22]
A
Those are three, I think, very talented politicians. They all have something that recommends them highly. They're all good. All those three guys are good. That is a talented field to, like, make the final choice from, is my estimation.
- [81:43]
B
I think those. Those names are very likely to be there. I think Wes Moore is another name to keep an eye out for.
- [81:50]
A
Yeah, I don't.
- [81:51]
B
The governor of Maryland.
- [81:52]
A
I just don't know enough about him.
- [81:53]
B
Yeah, agreed.
- [81:54]
A
That's the only reason why.
- [81:55]
B
Which, by the way, might. Which, by the way, in this environment may play to his. His favor. Because, you know, Pete has baggage with the Biden administration. Gavin has baggage because he's the governor of California, the big punching bag in the United States.
- [82:07]
A
Okay.
- [82:07]
B
Wes Moore has no. He doesn't have name id, but he has no baggage right now.
- [82:11]
A
But here's something that some percentage of voters will think. If it's Wes Moore. They'll think, okay, the Democrats put up Kamala, who really wasn't that great, because they're the Democrats, and they just had to put up someone, a person of color. So now you got this guy Wes Moore, and come on, isn't he there just because he's a person of color? I'm not saying that's what the truth is.
- [82:35]
B
Yeah.
- [82:35]
A
I'm saying that's what the Democrats bought themselves with going too far on the DEI train. That's what they bought themselves. Suspicion now for any person of color who is at the head of the ticket.
- [82:51]
B
I think he will. I know him to a degree, and I think that he'll dispel any of those rumors.
- [83:01]
A
The more the merrier. That are qualified.
- [83:03]
B
I really honestly think these days it feels less to me like it's gonna be about checking any boxes and more about who the person is. If you look at.
- [83:16]
A
Like, that's optimistic.
- [83:18]
B
Yeah. I mean, look, you have to have some optimism in this space. If you don't, you'll go crazy. Like, if you have no sense of. And you work in Democrat and you work in Democratic politics.
- [83:27]
A
Honestly, the fact that New York is considering electing Mamdani mayor is not a great harbinger for the Democratic Party. That is not a great look.
- [83:44]
B
It is a testament to the fact.
- [83:45]
A
Maybe you like him. Maybe he's your boy.
- [83:47]
B
It is a testament to the fact. Here's what I think. I think it's a testament to the fact that that despite what in the past might have seemed like disqualifying factors, I think that people are drawn to the individual candidates who can stand out among fields of very rote, boring politicians.
- [84:09]
A
You kind of look like him, you.
- [84:10]
B
Know, I look like.
- [84:12]
A
I'm just saying I don't know how you could like this guy, but okay.
- [84:16]
B
I think he is. I really don't have, I don't have a whole lot of opinions on the New York mayoral race because I really haven't followed that race.
- [84:24]
A
Oh, fuck. Who are you fucking talking to here? You, with your show and getting out of bed at three in the morning, stoned out of your mind. I doesn't have thoughts on the New York mayoral race where New York City is about to nominate. Well, he's definitely gonna be the Democratic candidate for mayor. Someone who has said things like, we should, the government should take over the means of production. I'm not gonna suggest what political party of the past that is aligned with, and I think we all know it begins with a C. That's pretty crazy stuff. And the ugly streak of anti Semitism that is going through the far left of the Democratic Party, that is gonna be the downfall. I mean, I would hope that at least the Jews would get on that page, I think.
- [85:12]
B
Well, here's what I do think as it relates to, like, Jews in New York. I think that if the Jews wanted a candidate to consolidate behind, if Mamdani was not their speed, that they made a mistake by putting Cuomo out as they did.
- [85:28]
A
But that's past history. On my hate list, Trump talking about how he's gonna have to, like, go after New York City. Like, I thought the Republicans were all about states rights and get the federal government. They're too powerful out of our lives.
- [85:46]
B
No, they're full of shit. They'll say whatever they need to say. These, like, flashy bumper stickers, none of.
- [85:53]
A
These things that Trump does elude me or stop me from criticizing. I get it. Like the idea to. As much as I don't want Mom Donnie to be the mayor, the idea that the president of the United States would say, well, the federal government is going to have to straighten out your city. Again, guys, Republicans, I have standing to say to you. Be honest that, you know, this is exactly the opposite of what you've always said you think the federal government should be. Not someone who says they can come and straighten out your city. Because that wasn't okay in Alabama, was it?
- [86:28]
B
No, I mean, what I, I mean, like, you know, for these local races, I, I, I Truly don't really focus on the local races other than la, because this city. I know and I've been focused on.
- [86:39]
A
Well, you should start because this is. Well, unfortunately in New York is not just. This is New York we're not talking about.
- [86:46]
B
It's the mayor's race.
- [86:48]
A
It's a mayor of New York City.
- [86:51]
B
I understand, but New York City is different.
- [86:53]
A
It is our financial capital, it is our cultural capital. In many ways it's New York.
- [86:58]
B
You know, I've never. I would say LA is the cultural capital. Our biggest export is culture.
- [87:03]
A
Well, look, I mean the entertainment industry.
- [87:06]
B
TV and film industry, although I have.
- [87:09]
A
My early years were all dominated by New York as a suburb of New York. My father worked in New York. New York, tv, New York sports teams. And then I lived there twice in my life. I very much know New York. I'm not fond of it, you know, I respect it. But there are reasons why I never wanted to live there. And I love here. That's just, you know, personality thing. But New York is New York. It's definitely the. It's the media capital, the financial capital. It is a bellwether like no other city is in this country. So don't tell me that who the mayor of New York is doesn't matter. It matters.
- [87:48]
B
Let me play devil's advocate for a second. Do you think, do you think, let's say, you know, on the seize the means of production. Do you think the mayor, that one person, if he is a democratic socialist, do you think that he would have the power and influence to be able to like usher in socialism?
- [88:04]
A
He definitely has the power and influence to elect J.D. vance or whoever is the Republican candidate next time. It is a walking commercial for the Republican Party nationally.
- [88:15]
B
The Republicans are going to.
- [88:16]
A
When you let the Democrats Socialist. And now they're actually calling themselves George. When you let them take over a major American city, this is what you get. The state run grocery stores which work so well in Cuba and the Soviet Union and Venezuela. Just bad ideas. And again this ugly streak. Well, you look at this streak of antisemitism.
- [88:38]
B
Who's the most popular politician on the left?
- [88:41]
A
Aoc.
- [88:42]
B
I don't know one of. But who's, you know. Bernie. Bernie is Bernie. Yeah, Bernie is. I mean he's not a capitalist, you know.
- [88:50]
A
No, he's not. And he's also not president.
- [88:52]
B
He's not. He's. But never would be. But neither is Mamdani.
- [88:56]
A
No, but he will, trust me. He will be featured in the campaign commercial.
- [89:00]
B
They're gonna feature People, they boogeyman everybody.
- [89:03]
A
Yeah, but you don't have to boogeyman him.
- [89:05]
B
He does it to himself, but they'll do it regardless. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Gavin Newsom, they make anybody. It has. I think it was.
- [89:15]
A
Just have more weight when it's real. I mean, when you can really show it. I mean, you know, look, I'm.
- [89:21]
B
If he becomes mayor, I'll tell you one thing is certain, I'm rooting for him. You know, I come from a long line of Brooklynites. My whole family's from Brooklyn. Before we eventually moved to New Jersey, and I moved 3,000 miles away. But, you know, I want to see New York succeed. I want to see him succeed.
- [89:41]
A
I do too.
- [89:42]
B
You know, and so I think in instances like this where a. You can call yourself a Democratic socialist, whether you're gonna be able to unilaterally usher. I mean, I know how LA works, I know how LA politics work, and I know that if the mayor wants to do something, they're probably not gonna be able to do it because the LA City Council is an impediment to that, because all of our local politics are an impediment to just about anything that you wanna get done. Things happen so slowly.
- [90:08]
A
I'm gonna let it go. I'm gonna ask you a couple of personal questions, and then we're gonna play the game with my.
- [90:15]
B
All right, let's do it.
- [90:16]
A
Do you read the New Yorker? Never read the New Yorker.
- [90:20]
B
No, I grew up.
- [90:22]
A
But you're kind of a New Yorker.
- [90:23]
B
Yeah, but I grew up, like, on the New York Times, and that slowly devolved into. And I used that word on purpose. Devolved. But devolved into, like, getting my news on Twitter and so if there's a news still. Yeah.
- [90:35]
A
Even after. Elon.
- [90:37]
B
Do I wish our news sources weren't controlled by megalomaniacal billionaires? Yeah. Is that gonna stop me from getting accurate news? No. I mean, look, you have to also be smart about it. Like, you can't. I'm not gonna go onto Twitter and fall victim to, like, you know, any fucking, you know, random account post something. I'm not just gonna blindly believe it. I know what sources I believe on that are on Twitter. But it's, you know, it's. I know what journalists I can trust, I know what news sources I can trust, but I get them on Twitter. That's the fastest way to get news, Unfortunately.
- [91:11]
A
Wow. I would not have even guessed that it kept that cachet. But I guess, you know, I do.
- [91:19]
B
It through gritted teeth.
- [91:21]
A
I mean, well, you gotta give it to Elon then, because, like, even after people started to hate him and light his Tesla's on fire, they somehow still couldn't get off Twitter. Because you know why?
- [91:32]
B
Because that's not because of Elon. That's in spite of Elon. Well, Twitter is a commodity.
- [91:38]
A
Right. But it's also because the alternate. Because. And I went after him for this. Like, he went back on a big promise he made, which was he wanted to take over Twitter because it had become a left wing echo chamber, which he was completely right about it had. But then he just made it a right wing echo chamber. He just reversed it. He didn't do what he said he was gonna do, which, like, I just want free speech. And nobody put their thumb on this scale, and it just switched. That's not cool. But the reason why it survives, I think so. Well, is because the alternative was blue sky, which is just that, 10%. The ones who absolutely hate me, the ones who just like to live divorced from reality, and that is their right, but they just want to hear coming back to them what they already believe. And it's. And sometimes it's true. And I would agree with quite a bit of it, but I don't want to just be in an echo chamber. So, like, all these things. And I could keep listing these things that the left does not condemn enough. And now you see politicians on the left who are starting to come out of the woodwork and do that. And until they. And I'm sorry, but people like you start condemning that stuff, that party is never gonna even come close to winning another election.
- [92:55]
B
Yeah. I think that there is an issue with some of the groups that are. I think, probably think that they mean well by saying, okay, even with these EDGE cases, even with these crazy transgender reassignment surgeries in prison. Right. Like, edge case. By putting politicians on record, they're actually doing more harm than good because the American people are not there. That's clear. And should they be. Should they be, like, transgender on the issue of transgender reassignment surgeries in prison? I don't think that that's. No, I don't think that that's, like, something that I'm willing to like. I don't think that's.
- [93:41]
A
They don't even need that many words. How about just. No, that's stupid.
- [93:44]
B
I don't think that's a Hill that I'm willing to die on.
- [93:47]
A
And so Hill should even fight for.
- [93:50]
B
So, like, I think the groups that think that they're helping are in fact, hurting themselves and the people they purport to want to protect by getting people on record in a party where I think the expectation is that you have to fight for all people, no matter how, like, off the beaten path, you know, like transgender reassignment surgeries in prison, like those people. But, like, I think that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of how A, information can be weaponized and B, the number, like, the number of those people that fall into those categories is like, minute, like single digit numbers of people.
- [94:28]
A
It's not the number of people, it's the number of people.
- [94:31]
B
I understand what you're sending it. I understand what you're saying.
- [94:34]
A
Okay. That's what's important. And you know, I know she said during the campaign. I never said that. And then, you know, like, come on, they have film of you doing it.
- [94:43]
B
Yeah. Look, I think there's. I think there's a sense that, like, and this is a tough juggling act because there's a sense of, like, no one. Like, everyone's okay. Every, like, whatever you choose to do is okay. You know what I mean? And it's this weird, like, I mean, this would normally be like a libertarian stance, but libertarians don't believe in this anymore. But, like, whatever you want to do is fine. And. And I think that's the hard part to reconcile because. Do you understand what I'm saying?
- [95:15]
A
No.
- [95:16]
B
If you want to, whatever, be a trans person, it's protected by law. Correct. But I think there's this sense of among Democrats, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to believe in, however you want to dress or love, whatever is okay. And the part that butts up against that is. Is okay. What protections should be made in sports, how should that be reconciled?
- [95:42]
A
It would be hard for you to point to somewhere in the legal system where we don't already have protections for every imaginable minority or marginalized group. It would be hard to find that in the law. I'm not saying everyone obeys the law all the time, but as far as in the law, systemically, I mean, you know, you can't really find that. Including the one that the Supreme Court made recently that included trans people in the. Was it 1964 Civil Rights act or something like that? Okay, you know, so look, you know, humans are humans. They're gonna believe stupid shit and there are gonna be a certain amount of racists and bigots and this and that, but, you know, you can't legislate humans. Yeah, you can. All we can do is, you know, we have Look, I think we live. You're happy you live in America, aren't you? As opposed to anywhere else. You're not looking and asking for the check, right?
- [96:46]
B
I'm happy I live in Los Angeles. I'm happy I'm living in California. I'm lucky as hell to live in.
- [96:52]
A
America, even with fires and all those problems.
- [96:55]
B
I would not want to live anywhere else, and I would not live anywhere else.
- [96:58]
A
I feel the same way. Right. See? Okay, well, you promised me one thing. If anybody gives you any call. You're right. Will you call me and I will make some calls? You meant that. You call me if you have any trouble. All right, I will call. Matt Gates was here. I mean, like, I met with Charlie Kirk.
- [97:22]
B
I saw. I watched the Charlie Kirk.
- [97:23]
A
They always do it.
- [97:24]
B
Yeah, and they.
- [97:25]
A
They.