Is Elon Musk the Savior of Innovation? | David Rubin DSH #1137

Summary

Digital Social Hour: Is Elon Musk the Savior of Innovation? | David Rubin DSH #1137

Release Date: January 23, 2025

In episode #1137 of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a candid and multifaceted conversation with political commentator Dave Rubin. The discussion spans a wide array of topics, including media dynamics, political leadership, social media's societal impact, Elon Musk's role in innovation, climate change skepticism, and personal insights into parenting and aging. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key points, notable quotes, and the flow of their engaging dialogue.

---

1. Media Insider Perspectives and Industry Insights

The conversation opens with reflections on media transitions and experiences within the industry.

• Dave Rubin shares an anecdote about interacting with former mainstream media figures, highlighting shifts within the media landscape:

  "She's running for office on the left side... But you know, she came from mainstream media, and now she's one of us."
  [00:31]

• They discuss Sage Steele's transition from mainstream media to seeking advice within their current media circle:

  "Sage Steele is asking me for media advice."
  [00:58]

2. Political Criticism: Focus on California Governor Gavin Newsom

Rubin offers a critical analysis of Gavin Newsom's tenure as Mayor of San Francisco and Governor of California, particularly regarding homelessness and environmental policies.

• Rubin states his disapproval of Newsom's handling of homelessness:

  "He laid out his 10-year plan to get rid of homelessness... but it's 2025, and California is ground zero for homelessness."
  [04:05]

• He criticizes Newsom's approach to disaster management and immigration:

  "Everything the guy touches just becomes worse... they don't wanna do it for environmental purposes. How about you make sure that you don't let illegal immigrants in who are gonna be arsonists."
  [07:01]

3. Internal Right-Wing Dynamics: Ben Shapiro and Andrew Tate

The duo delves into the internal conflicts within the right-wing community, particularly focusing on figures like Ben Shapiro and Andrew Tate.

• Rubin expresses concern over the right embracing controversial figures:

  "There's something weird going on with a certain segment of the right embracing Tate."
  [11:15]

• They discuss the potential fragmentation and internal fighting within the right:

  "There's a lot of internal fighting right now on the right."
  [12:07]

4. Technology and Social Media: TikTok, Doom Scrolling, and Parenting

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the impact of social media platforms like TikTok and the phenomenon of doom scrolling, especially concerning young users.

• Rubin critiques TikTok's influence and potential dangers:

  "Empirically we do know that young people's brains... are being destroyed... it's wired to basically destroy your attention span."
  [23:48]

• He elaborates on doom scrolling and its effects on mental health:

  "Doom scrolling is... you are just going and going and going to the pit of hell to find something."
  [24:48]

• The conversation shifts to parenting in the digital age, emphasizing the challenges of controlling children's media exposure:

  "I have 2 year olds now who are starting to want to look at my phone... That's another thing... families have lost the game."
  [26:11]

5. Elon Musk: Innovation and Regulatory Challenges

Rubin offers a nuanced perspective on Elon Musk, recognizing his contributions to innovation while critiquing the regulatory challenges he faces.

• He defends Musk's endeavors in combating climate change and advancing technology:

  "Why would you be going after the guy who not only is doing the electric cars but is also trying to make life interplanetary."
  [28:40]

• Rubin criticizes the timing and motives behind regulatory actions against Musk:

  "The number one thing with Elon is if for no other reason than climate change... they create all of these obstacles."
  [29:44]

6. Climate Change and Environmental Policy

The discussion touches on climate change, with Rubin expressing skepticism about mainstream narratives and advocating for practical environmental actions.

• Rubin differentiates between believing in environmental improvement and opposing extreme climate change policies:

  "I don't believe in climate change in the way that climate change is framed... humans can do more to make the environment better."
  [28:46]

• He criticizes policies like the Green New Deal, arguing they are economically detrimental:

  "If you think that by completely rejiggering our economy... that's psychotic."
  [30:20]

7. Personal Insights: Parenting, Aging, and Health

Towards the end of the episode, Rubin and Kelly share personal anecdotes related to parenting, aging, and health choices.

• Rubin discusses his late entry into fatherhood and the motivations behind it:

  "My only regret in life is that I didn't become a father till 46."
  [27:25]

• They talk about dietary choices and their effects on health and energy levels:

  "I've been doing it for about two years, largely because of Jordan Peterson. I feel better at 48 and I'm in better shape at 48 than I felt probably when I was 35."
  [32:34]

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• On Media Transitions:

  "She came from mainstream media, and now she's one of us."
  [00:52]

• Beating Stephen A. Smith:

  "I did beat Stephen A. Wow."
  [02:42]

• Critique of Gavin Newsom:

  "Everything the guy touches just becomes worse."
  [07:01]

• On Doom Scrolling:

  "It's like, I have 2 year olds now who are starting to want to look at my phone."
  [26:30]

• Defending Elon Musk:

  "Why would you be going after the guy who not only is doing the electric cars but is also trying to make life interplanetary."
  [28:40]

• Climate Change Skepticism:

  "I don't believe in climate change in the way that climate change is framed."
  [28:46]

• On Parenting and Aging:

  "My only regret in life is that I didn't become a father till 46."
  [27:25]

---

Concluding Thoughts

Throughout the episode, Dave Rubin presents a blend of sharp political critique, skepticism towards mainstream environmental policies, and personal reflections on life changes such as parenting and health management. His defense of Elon Musk positions Musk as a pivotal figure in driving technological and interplanetary innovation, while simultaneously criticizing regulatory bodies for hindering progress. The discussion also underscores the challenges posed by modern social media platforms, emphasizing the need for parental vigilance and conscious media consumption.

The episode offers listeners a comprehensive look into Rubin's perspectives on contemporary issues, shaped by his experiences in media and personal life. For those seeking unfiltered and thought-provoking dialogue on the intersections of politics, technology, and personal growth, this episode of Digital Social Hour serves as a compelling listen.

Transcript

[Dave Rubin]

Right. And I was like, why didn't you say that on camera? That was the most interesting thing you said. But you waited literally, till the cameras went off to say, funny.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow. Well, she can't admit it. I mean, she's running for office on the left side. Right. So I guess I.

[Dave Rubin]

This is what they've done. It's basically like a giant game of Russian roulette. They're all just waiting to shoot each other because. Because nobody really has a good idea over there anymore.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. All right, guys. In D.C. with Dave Rubin, part two. Thanks for coming back on, my friend.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, well, I just want to talk basketball and video games.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

I mean, I know there's some kind of political event happening here, but hopefully we can do that.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'd much rather talk hoops. When Sage came on yesterday, we talked hoops in life. We didn't even talk politics.

[Dave Rubin]

Nice. She's something, right? Like, she is just. Is that the first time you met her?

[Unknown Speaker]

We met at AM Fest briefly. Charlie Kirk's event.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. First time to sit down with her and. Wow. She's very impressive.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, well, you know, she came from mainstream media, and now she's one of us.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Similar to you. Right.

[Dave Rubin]

Longer than her now.

[Unknown Speaker]

I know, right? She was. She was asking me for podcast advice. I'm like, sage Steele is asking me for media advice.

[Dave Rubin]

You know, it's funny, when I saw you last time, which is just like, two months ago or so in Vegas, you said to me before we started taping, you were like, oh, Dave, you know, you're one of the OG, like, YouTube guys, and now you're a veteran compared to someone like Sage Steel from mainstream media.

[Unknown Speaker]

So that's how fast the time. It happens.

[Dave Rubin]

Quick, man. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Because I've only been potting for two years, but I guess that's considered a veteran to some people.

[Dave Rubin]

And you're still alive.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'm still alive.

[Dave Rubin]

They didn't take you out yet?

[Unknown Speaker]

No, I'm still here, man. But you recently had a shooting conference with Stephen A. Smith.

[Dave Rubin]

Yes, I beat Stephen A. Smith in a shooting. Wow. That's how we should be framing this thing. So I had him. Had him on my show, which we had a great conversation, and, you know, he's just an interesting guy on multiple fronts because, you know, obviously on this first off, anyone that talks like this and everything that he says sounds like the most important thing, you know, so, like, there's just that part of him and just like the TV personality side, that's just so freaking huge. But Then also seeing the guy kind of be more outspoken about politics and wake up to a lot of the stuff. We definitely don't agree on everything and we had a little push and pull, but the entire time I really just wanted to get him on my court and shoot around a bit. And I don't know if you saw, he did a contest on Kenny and he beat him. He beat him, but Kenny shot lefty. So Kenny's a righty, but he shot lefty, but whatever still. So we got him out there and we did a quick shooting contest. It was whoever hit five shots first. And I did beat Stephen A. Wow. And free throws or threes. It was free throws I wanted to do. He's 57. He said he's not shooting as many threes, but I've got a pretty banged up shoulder anyway at the moment, so. Which I just did some peptides for and some other stuff. So I was probably not going to shoot my best threes anyway.

[Unknown Speaker]

So well done. Beating Stephen A. Smith, that's bragging rights right there.

[Dave Rubin]

I have to beat a real NBA player though. It's one thing to beat a broadcaster, but like I got.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, he used to be a Hooper, though.

[Dave Rubin]

No, he, he. I think he played in College.

[Unknown Speaker]

He played D1 and he got injured. He might have made it far, who knows?

[Dave Rubin]

I'm trying, you know, he moved down to Florida, so I'm trying to get him in my old man basketball thing that I play in. So we'll see if we.

[Unknown Speaker]

Everyone's moving out there, man. Sage is out there now.

[Dave Rubin]

Sage just moved down. He came. I mean, everybody and their brother. And now, you know, with all the, with the LA fires and everything, it's just we're going to get another influx of people. So Florida just continues to boom and explode.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I saw you've been going at Newsom on X pretty hardcore.

[Dave Rubin]

The guy is just evil. I don't know how to phrase it any other way. If everything that you do in your career just turns to shit at some point. If you don't look in the mirror and basically be like, maybe I had something to do with this. Like his bank account always goes up, his properties always have more value. But you know what he did to San Francisco as mayor. There's a great video, if you haven't seen it, around 2008, as mayor of San Francisco, him laying out his 10 year plan to get rid of homelessness. And it's like, well, it's 2025 right now. You've now become governor of California. San Francisco is ground zero for homeless in America, and California is ground zero as a state for homelessness. So everything the guy touches just becomes worse. And yet somehow, I guess because he's got slick hair, he just hangs around.

[Unknown Speaker]

There's a certain look to him that is. It's hard to explain, but it kind of feels weird, right?

[Dave Rubin]

Well, it feels creepy, doesn't it? It's funny because people will be like, he looks like he should be president. It's like, well, he looks to me like a psychopath. If you saw American Psycho, he is Bateman. I forgot. What was not Jason Bateman. What was the guy?

[Unknown Speaker]

Was it Christian or.

[Dave Rubin]

No? Well, it was Christian Bale was the actor. What was Bateman's name in.

[Unknown Speaker]

I didn't watch that.

[Dave Rubin]

In American Psycho, somebody. What was his first name? That more else someone will get it. We got all these people.

[Unknown Speaker]

We got four people.

[Dave Rubin]

These guys got phones. What do we got? What was his name? Not Spencer. It was something. Not Norman, that you're thinking Patrick Bateman.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, Patrick.

[Dave Rubin]

He's thinking Norman from Psycho.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

Which is kind of similar too, actually.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. It's nuts, though. You see Callie getting, what, billions for homelessness, and then it's worse.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, because the point is throwing money at things. I mean, this is what the average Democrat or the average liberal these days, they think if you just throw money at things, that that's the solution. Like, oh, we have an education problem. Throw money at listeners.

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[Dave Rubin]

Oh, we have a homeless problem, throw money at it. We have a mental health problem, throw money at it, et cetera, et cetera. It's like, no money is good, but it's only good if it's used in a proper way. And they never wanna think about that, right? So they're very good at like, oh, take from rich people. We want more of their stuff. And it's like, okay, you can maybe make an argument for that it's not an argument I make, but you can make an argument for that, let's say. But then it's like, you gotta do something proper with the money, and that's where they fail. Because then they usually just hand the money to organizations or institutions that are no good, largely staffed with DEI people or that have their own agenda. And then you see what happens. It's like, it's not surprising that the Palisades went through this fire. Clear out the brush. They don't wanna do it for environmental purposes. How about you make sure that you don't let illegal immigrants in who are gonna be arsonists, which now they're finding out that several of these fires were set by illegals.

[Unknown Speaker]

I didn't see that.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, yeah. So it's like, there's lots of ways. Look, you can't stop acts of God. I live in Florida. We get hit by hurricanes, right? There are places that hit, get hit by earthquakes. You can't stop acts of God. But what you can do is do the best you can around it. And if you're in Cali right now and you think this is the guy to do the best around a disaster.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, over a million people signed that petition. So there's a lot of people that are frustrated.

[Dave Rubin]

A million people did it last time, too. Have a million people already signed it? The one that's going on?

[Unknown Speaker]

I think so, yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

Wow, that's incredible. Because, you know, he was recalled during COVID and Larry Elder, who's a good buddy of mine, he campaigned and I campaigned with him. And it's like, if Larry was governor right now, I just have no doubt things would be better. So, you know, how many times the Cali people, like, you know, it's like they get smacked and then they go, thank you, sir.

[Unknown Speaker]

They go right back. Yeah, Yeah. I totally agree with you, though. Taxing the rich. I don't think that that works because like you said, it's how you spend the money.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah. Well, look, you live in a place, Vegas, where there's no personal income tax, and because they create the economic conditions for success. I mean, I was. I haven't been to Nevada in a while, but I was so impressed with Vegas and when I went to Reno also. And, like, it's not like it's all perfect. I'm not saying it's all perfect. And obviously you got own struggles there and they have their own issues, but you could see people are coming here to build, and that's what you want to do. You want to bring in people that know how to do things and then let them create goodness as opposed to just, oh God, those billionaires. And take their cash, take 15% stuff. Yeah, 15%, man.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

No, no, no, but I mean, but then you throw on the, the federal.

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, Trump's talking about the External Revenue Service now. That's exciting, right? Let's get rid of the irs, please.

[Dave Rubin]

How about just a flat tax? I mean, that's what I wrote about in my first book. Steve Forbes, who ran for president from Forbes magazine. He ran for president 20 something years ago. How about a flat tax? Figure out what the number is.12% for everybody. The rich people are still gonna pay the most, cuz it's just flat for everybody. And then you could still throw the progressives a bone. You wanna throw them a bone? How about if you make under 50, you pay no taxes and if you make over whatever it is, pick the number 5 mil a year, you're ticked up like 3%, but basically so that 99.9% of Americans just pay the same 12%. And then literally the tax code is a page. These aren't rocket science ideas. Although it might take a rocket scientist like Elon to make them happen.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Cause right now the tax code is hundreds of pages.

[Dave Rubin]

It's like, yeah, hundreds of pages. And then they always get angry, you know, and they'll be like, Donald Trump didn't pay any income tax. Or Elon paid. It's like, dude, don't be angry at, you know, don't hate the player, hate the game.

[Unknown Speaker]

For real. Have you been following the Tate vs. Ben Shapiro drama?

[Dave Rubin]

Little bit on Twitter. I'm trying to dip out of like the interpersonal stuff all of the time. Look, there's something weird going on with a certain segment of the right embracing Tate. I'm not that versed in all of the things that he's done or alleged to do. I know there's some videos out there. I know that the media goes after people unjustly, so I can't really speak to all of the specifics, but I think there is a little bit of an issue with the people on the right. And I think maybe Ben was talking about this where it's like if anyone starts kind of being on the right, they just kind of go all in on, oh my God, we have our new Jesus. Right? And I think that that's kind of what Ben is warning about. And I sense that that's right. But if you want to share a little bit more about what's going on.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, Ben was just attacking him for his previous stuff. I don't know too much too. But there's just a lot of internal fighting right now on the right.

[Dave Rubin]

I noticed.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Dave Rubin]

So the reason I'm trying to dip out of it right now is, you know, I consider myself now still. I consider myself someone that's kind of new to the right. So I'm always just like, hey, I'm in somebody's new home. And then all these people are coming in. And I'm just trying to welcome everybody. I'm like, o you guys welcome me, Could I just bring in more people and let's see what we can work on here. So I really try to stay out of the fights because there's a much bigger fight. We just won the biggest fight. Right. I mean, Donald Trump's gonna be president in two days. That's pretty great. So, like, how about we focus on that for a little bit rather than whether it's Tate versus Ben or Agreed. You know, this, that or the other one. It's like, guys, do you think America's good? Do you think capitalism's good? Do you wanna live in a country with people that maybe look differently from you or think differently? If you do, then we can work. So I'm trying to dip out of that. Some of the smart move. But that might be just because I've been in this game a long time. You should get in some fights. You should be fighting. You're young, man.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's good for views. But I'll moderate debates. I myself do not want to be debating people, to be honest.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, listen, I get it. Because once you go down that path too, especially in our game, then people see you as someone to attack. Once you're in the fight game, then everyone else is like, this is someone I can fight with. And then it all just becomes fighting. Right. So it's like you can either be in that or you can try to be a little bit above the frame. It might cost you some clicks and everything else, but you also have to decide. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Because I want productive conversations. Like, sometimes I'll watch Piers Morgan show and it'll be just people yelling at each other. I'm like, how is this productive? You know?

[Dave Rubin]

Did you see me in that?

[Unknown Speaker]

I saw you against. Was it jank or was it jank? Yeah, well, jank does that on every episode. It's not just you.

[Dave Rubin]

What an utter. You know, I don't like talking about him because it's just so ridiculous. But, like, just embarrassing. When I ended that show, I was like, man, if. Imagine what it would be like to be his wife or his son and watch this sweaty, psychotic buffoon screaming. And, you know, I kept saying to him, man, just gimme one thing that you think I say that I don't believe. And he just couldn't actually. It was right before Christmas, the one he said, well, you think that gay people shouldn't be firefighters in Cali. Now, obviously, I was talking about DEI in the fire department, and then look what happened in California just weeks later. So it's like these people, they just. They just have nothing, and that's why they're screaming all the time.

[Unknown Speaker]

I think he does it on his show. Cause I've had him on here, and he's total opposite, super calm, not raising his voice at all.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I think he just does it on Pierce's show.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, you know, it's also like, you know, it's. All of this is a little bit of theater to some extent. Right. Like, you're very natural as an interviewer. So, like, if the mic wasn't here, we'd be talking the same way, but it would be like 5% different. Right. It's just how it is. We know we're being recorded right now, but when I used to be on the Young Turks, one thing that I was amazed by was that he would be on air screaming. I mean, throwing shit all over, sweating, like, spitting. Literally would be spitting on me. It was disgusting, gross, angry. And then they'd cut to break, and they'd be like, so what are you having for lunch today? Like. Like, to be able to do that thing is. Is, you know, it's a skill. I suppose it is.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. I feel like this all started with the H1B drama and then just spiraled into all this. Different fights. But I'm just, you know.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, well, even the H1B, I. I sat out that one. I was like, I'm just not doing this on Christmas week. I'm like, I have off for a week. I'm playing with my kids. I'm. I'm just not gonn about this Visa thing, guys. Trump's not even president yet. Is what you really want right now to start the America, you know, the America first fight versus the tech bro fight? For real. But I can tell you, I was at Teal's party last night. So it was all the tech bros, and JD Was there, and Ted Cruz was there, and Mike Johnson was there. Everybody's okay. It's gonna be okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

I saw the Winklevoss brothers were there with Zuck So did they interact?

[Dave Rubin]

I saw Zuck. I did not see the Winklevoss brothers.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, they weren't there.

[Dave Rubin]

No, no, no, they were there. I just didn't see him. I was told that they were there.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, yeah. Watched the Facebook documentary, so that. That whole story is nuts. Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

Was there a. The movie or was there a doc?

[Unknown Speaker]

The movie.

[Dave Rubin]

The movie.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, the movie. But how? Basically, he kicked them out and they sued him. But the fact that they're all together now, and it seems like Trump's, like, repairing a lot of bridges.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, look, I mean, the Zuckerberg thing, it's like, do you trust him? What do you think about this evolution?

[Unknown Speaker]

I think he's just taking, like, you know, taking advantage of the moment.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, yeah, I think so, too. However, I will say, sometimes you can work with that type of person. Right. Like, he's doing it for his own interests, but that's how people operate. Right. Your own sort of self interest, but. Okay, so you did a lot of shit wrong. I would have liked to have heard an apology. When he was on Rogan. He never said, I'm sorry about any of this, or. I also would have liked for him to give the names of some of the people.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, he was vague.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, he was like, you know, they were calling us from the government and yelling at us, and it was brutal. It's like, wow, that's interesting. Who called you? I'd like to know that person's name. Cause that person should be in trouble. Someone from the government calling a private company to silence people. But that aside, it's like, if he's coming this way right now, it's like, to me, you don't try to burn him down in the process. I'm not saying he's perfect. I'm not even sure he's a human. I mean, the guy's like, part robot, right? But, like, if he's coming around, you try to work with that.

[Unknown Speaker]

Agreed. Yeah, I mean, he provides a lot of value with his platforms. Over 2 billion users. Crazy.

[Dave Rubin]

Are you gonna follow him into the metaverse? Do you have one of the. Do you strap that one?

[Unknown Speaker]

I bought the Quest. I used it once, and I was like, I'm over it.

[Dave Rubin]

I have one. I used Beat Saber once. I was like, I don't know. I can hit somebody with a stick in real life.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's not there yet. May maybe with our kids as they grow up, but I'm good with just regular old movies.

[Dave Rubin]

Even that, though, don't you think it's just part how old do you get 27? 27. So, like, your kids are gonna be in that world, basically, whether you like it or not. There's gonna be no way to stop it. And that's a messy thing. I remember when I was playing video games. I remember when 8bit Nintendo came out, 1985. And suddenly I was inside playing video games all day, and my dad's yelling at us, get back outside. Get back outside. But you weren't addicted in that sense because it was just you and your friend, you know, in that room, and at least there was some direct social connection there versus now with just, you know, the freaking audio strapped on and you're screaming at people and. Yeah, it's a whole other world.

[Unknown Speaker]

I've picked up a couple video games since our last episode. Yeah, I'm playing Call of Duty now.

[Dave Rubin]

Call of Duty.

[Unknown Speaker]

And there's a new one called Marvel Rivals. Have you seen that one?

[Dave Rubin]

No. No, no.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's pretty fun.

[Dave Rubin]

I like co op. If I could do something, it's co op. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

How crazy is the 3D situation? I told you, I can only.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's very crazy. Spider man jumping off buildings. You got Iron man flying producers right here.

[Dave Rubin]

I will do some kind of online game with Sean. I will do something and we will put it online. And you will coach me through probably.

[Unknown Speaker]

Fortnite, because I'm decent, or that's where.

[Dave Rubin]

You'Re going to throw me right into that something. Something like, let's ease in. You know what I mean?

[Unknown Speaker]

Trying to think of a game that you can ease in. Because they're all so. I know, advanced now, all the new games. It's like even myself, because there's teenage kids that play Fortnite. All the best Fortnite players are like, 13.

[Dave Rubin]

That's how young age you're aging out.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'm aging out at 27. Isn't that nuts?

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah. You taking fish oil or something?

[Unknown Speaker]

No. Fish oil. I might get on the peptides.

[Dave Rubin]

You need it for the fingers.

[Unknown Speaker]

I know.

[Dave Rubin]

I just did. Peptides.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

It wasn't this week. I mean, I don't know that I felt anything yet, but my shoulder's really been hurting from basketball and I think lifting the kids and, you know, peptides are not legal, actually, for human use in America.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, basically, you can get peptides, but it's. It's for research purposes, but then you have to inject yourself with basically an insulin shot. And I've done it a couple days and we'll see what happens. But that's the Type of thing that I saw Bobby Kennedy a week ago. And he's really gonna work on that kind of stuff.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, he wants peptides.

[Dave Rubin]

He wants peptides. He wants to open up more research around stem cells and make it more accessible. And that's good use of the government. Oh, there are ways. I have a friend, you probably know him, Dennis Prager, who's the legendary Dennis Prager. And he had a slip, a fall, and he's hurting right now in a very tough recovery. And it's like, there are things that can help him that are not quite legal right now. And it's like, what right does the government have to say, oh, you have some major medical problem. We're just not going to allow you access to this even experimental drug if you have autonomy over your body. That's what I believe.

[Unknown Speaker]

Agreed.

[Dave Rubin]

Hopefully they change some of that. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Even stem cells, they're not as strong. You know, you got to go to, like, Costa Rica or Mexico if you want the strongest.

[Dave Rubin]

I'm in Florida. Everybody goes to Panama.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, Panama.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. We might partner with Panama. Right. It's looking good there.

[Dave Rubin]

We might get the canal. We're going to get Greenland. It's all. It's all very.

[Unknown Speaker]

A lot of good stuff happening.

[Dave Rubin]

You know, I don't know if I want Canada now. There's too many jihadists there, and I don't want to live in the same country as Trudeau.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, if they.

[Dave Rubin]

If they boot Trudeau, then I would consider.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, he resigned.

[Dave Rubin]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's laying. Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

But, I mean, they have to kick him out of the country. I just can't live in the same country as Trudeau.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

I mean, we already have Newsom. I can only take one of these.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Knew some might run in 28. Man.

[Dave Rubin]

If this doesn't irreparably damage the guy, I don't know what will.

[Unknown Speaker]

You know, I mean, he's come back from so much. I wouldn't be surprised.

[Dave Rubin]

But it's like if anyone just honestly looked at the guy's track record, and then you were like, boy, look at San Francisco. Is it better or worse? It's obviously worse. Look at Cali. Is it better or worse? It's obviously worse. Yes. Let's make him president. So hopefully we're beginning to see the end. But, yes, I put nothing past.

[Unknown Speaker]

They don't have many options, man. I'd say maybe Mark Cuban. I had Marianne Williamson on yesterday. She's. She's not. Not bad, in my opinion, but she's not bad.

[Dave Rubin]

But she's Not. She's not gonna be president.

[Unknown Speaker]

She was saying, attacks the rich. That was like, our biggest disagreement. That doesn't work.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, She's. You know, I've had her on, and I have some differences with her. And, you know, she's like, well, she's one of these people that. She pushes a lot of the tax the rich stuff.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

And then when I've been with her off camera, like, I don't even think she fully believes it. I think it's just kind of.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, that happened the first time I had her on. She was talking about getting the vaccine. And then off camera, as soon as it ended, she's like, do you think I should have gotten that? Like, what's. You know, what's your opinion on.

[Dave Rubin]

How do you deal with that when someone's different off camera? Cause that's one of the things that has been tricky for me to do.

[Unknown Speaker]

I lose a little respect for them, to be honest, because I feel like I'm pretty similar on camera off camera. But if they're, like a total 180, I'm like, you know, it doesn't feel authentic to me.

[Dave Rubin]

The first time I think I've had her on my show once, it was in my studio, and she was going on and on about a lot of the stuff about tax the rich. And I swear to you, the second the show ended, she said, you know, I really do get a lot of your libertarian stuff, and I get more hate from the left than I ever do from the right. And I was like, why didn't you say that on camera? That was the most interesting thing you said. But you waited literally till the cameras went off to say, wow.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, she can't admit it. I mean, she's running for office on the left side. Right. So I guess I can't.

[Dave Rubin]

This is what they've done. It's basically like a giant game of Russian roulette. They're all just waiting to shoot each other because nobody really has a good idea over there anymore. So it's basically like, we're all hostages. It's like 10 people, all with guns pointed to somebody's head, and they're all just waiting for somebody to shoot first, pretty much.

[Unknown Speaker]

And the left is known for paying certain people to push agendas.

[Dave Rubin]

Oh, yeah, I'm doing Piers Morgan tomorrow with this Harry Sisson kid.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, you are? I was gonna bring him on.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And he was allegedly exposed for getting payments.

[Dave Rubin]

For getting payments. I don't even. It's like, okay, fine, you're getting payments, but it's also like to be so young and be so sold out and misguided is very strange to me. It's like, dude, you're, you know, six months ago he's screaming that Joe Biden is mentally healthy and ready to go and then they get rid of Biden, then he completely changes his tune that Kamala's the hero and then it'll something else and it's like, it's no way to like, I get it. He's got some cash now and he's got some notoriety and that must feel good at 19 or whatever. But dude, that's no way. Like your reputation and your honor and prestige is way more valuable as you get older. So, okay, it might, it might be burning hot for him to a degree right now, but that doesn't last very long.

[Unknown Speaker]

Last. It's going to be interesting to see how he pivots with a TikTok band, with how Dean Withers pivots because TikTok's gone now. So.

[Dave Rubin]

Well, we'll see what happens. I think Trump maybe is going to give it a 72 hour reprieve or something and then they'll try to. I heard that what's his name, Mr. Wonderful might buy Kevin O'Leary.

[Unknown Speaker]

So that would go.

[Dave Rubin]

I don't know. I mean, I'm very conflicted about it. I don't use TikTok myself. My social media guy uses it and when he came on board, I said, look, I don't want it on my phone. And I said, I'm hiring you, but I'm not going to force you to do it. He said he wanted to do it. So we are on TikTok. But the simple truth is we know that it basically is a Chinese spy app. At the same time, most of our apps are American spy apps or some other version of some kind of spyware. Right. So I don't know what the best solution to this is, but empirically we do know that young people's brains, either via propaganda from China or from just the general brain rot of scrolling young people are being destroyed. Destroyed like not only the gender stuff, but literally everything their brains because of the way it, it is wired to basically destroy your attention span and everything else. So that is a problem. So we should think about that whether that means taking out TikTok or not. Yeah, I'm not sure they call it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Doom scrolling, you know, doom scrolling. Just scrolling for hours.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah, well, you know, the doom scrolling thing is interesting because you know that I think we talked about this last time the Internet Used to end like you used to go to a website in the old days. You would go to CNN.com and you could just scroll to a point and then it would be over. Be like, that's all we got. And then there was the guy who created Infinite scroll and then Tumblr started using that and everything else. And the guy, I wish I could remember his name, but the guy who created Infinite scroll basically was like, man, I opened a Pandora's box from hell. Because once you had Infinite scroll it became doom scrolling. So even think about how many times you've done this. I try not to do it anymore, but I used to do it. I tweet something, right? And I get 10,000 retweets and 20,000 likes and 99% of the comments are good or funny. But then I just start looking for the negative one. You literally are just going and going and going to the pit of hell to find something. And that's what doom scrolling is. So now imagine handing that to a 12 year old whose brain's not fully formed. They're seeing all kinds of wacky shit that they shouldn't see at their age. All this stuff, I don't even know what half this stuff is like, all this tactile stuff, they're just watching videos of things being smushed and popped. All this weird stuff on top of the porn and all of. And then you wonder why these kids are confused and antisocial and nervous and neurotic and all that. It's like, yeah, not rocket science.

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, I'll say this, I love free speech, obviously, but on X, if you're not careful with your feed, you could see some wild stuff on X. Oh yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

I mean, well, look, that's. I would. My preference always is that should be on you and then by extension that should be on the parent. So I want as much stuff that is legal to be out there. Of course I'm not looking for these companies to censor. Yeah, but that doesn't mean you just. And we'll all deal with this to some extent. Like I got 2 year olds now who are starting to want to look at my phone.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Dave Rubin]

And we don't want to let them do that. We don't really. They watch Bluey. That's it. We're not letting them on YouTube to just do all that stuff. But you see how quickly a 2 year old can suddenly start manipulating and realizing how to move around the screen and all of that stuff. So that's another thing. When you have kids, they are Gonna be thrown right into that world. But I would say that's mostly on the parent. I don't want the corporations or the government to decide what all that information is. I like that it's up to you as the parent, but that's tough because then your kid goes to school and all their friends. Parents have already lost the game. They conceded. And now you're going to be the one parent that's not letting your kids on that stuff. And that's tricky. But that's also why, you know, homeschooling's booming and all that.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. I think I'm going to homeschool or do like a nice private or like something interactive school.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah. Are you married?

[Unknown Speaker]

Married this year.

[Dave Rubin]

Married this year. Congratulations. Are you guys moving on the kid.

[Unknown Speaker]

Thing quick next year? Yeah, yeah. I really want kids, man.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah. Get going, get going. I really only have one regret in life, which is that I didn't become a father till 46.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Dave Rubin]

So you got 20 years on me on that. And it's like I now when I play basketball, I'm like, man, I gotta stay in shape for another 15, 20 years so that I can do this with all kids now. You know what I mean? So you have 20 years now to.

[Unknown Speaker]

They gave you that additional sense of purpose, right? Was that intentional waiting that long or was it. You were just so.

[Dave Rubin]

First off, I'm married to a man, so that makes it a little more. That makes it a little more complex. No, no, it was like a series of things, partially that because there's obviously biological issues that make it a little more complex. But also I put so much into my career and all of that kind of thing. But in. But it's funny because I have friends now. I have friends now that have kids that are like 28, 29, you know, so that's wild. I have two year olds and yet my best friend, since I'm four years old, has like a 24 year old. That's a huge, huge gap.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, I kind of want to time out. My best friend just had a kid, so I think it's cool to see them grow up together with their friends.

[Dave Rubin]

There's just no reason not to. You're still gonna have your life, you're gonna still do your podcast. Yes. It's gonna change some things, but it widens your world in a way that just can't be explained.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Gives you another perspective. Elon's got, I think 12 or 13 now. He's rocking him up.

[Dave Rubin]

He's got five more by the time we finish. That guy's got a lot of money.

[Unknown Speaker]

Shout out to Elon. He's dealing with a new lawsuit. SEC coming after him again.

[Dave Rubin]

Man, it's so evil. It's so evil. The number one thing with Elon is if for no other reason than climate change. Now, I don't believe in climate change in the way that climate change is framed. I do believe that humans can do more to make the environment better, and everyone wants clean air and water and all that stuff. For the type of people that think everything comes down to climate change, it's like, why would you be going after the guy who not only is doing the electric cars, but is also trying to make life interplanetary? So if there was real shit here, if we end up in an interstellar moment when we can only eat corn for a while, and then the corn's gone too, it's like, maybe you should stop attacking the guy who's literally trying to get us to other planets. The guy who has the boring company, which is building underground tunnels to get cars off the roads in Los Angeles. The guy who is putting implants into people's brains so the paraplegics can play chess. It's like, stop. But this is what they do. People who don't create hate creators. That's how it is. It's just jealousy. It's Human Psych 101. Right?

[Unknown Speaker]

And the timing of it was nuts. Right before they leave office, they give him a fat lawsuit.

[Dave Rubin]

No, of course. And it won't go anywhere. It won't go anywhere. It's sort of like the Trump stuff. They create all of these obstacles, and I think Elon is smart enough to know. He knew what he was walking into with this. The day after Trump almost got assassinated, when Elon was like, I'm going all in. He knew what the machine was gonna do. But look, we're right now 48 hours out from Trump being president, so the machine did an awful lot. And here we are.

[Unknown Speaker]

Exciting times. Yeah, I agree with you on climate change. When I was growing up, they really pushed that global warming stuff, and it, like, stuck with me as a kid. I'm like, climate change is real. Like, you know, it's getting warmer.

[Dave Rubin]

Look, without even getting into the climate change debate, you can do stuff in your own life to feel better about what you do. So you can recycle. There are things you can do. But if you think that. That by us completely rejiggering our economy or doing AOC's Green New Deal or Any of these things that that's gonna affect the environment, it's psychotic. And also if you think that the progressives who can't do anything, really, that they can't fix any economic problem, they can't seem to build things, they burn down cities like all this stuff, but they will fix the environment. On top of the fact that China is building, I think, 200 coal plants a year or something like that, India's going through their industrial revolution. What right do we have as the United States of America to tell India with how many billion people, no, don't do what we did 50 years ago so that your people can flourish. And also, if you don't want fossil fuels, well, you're going to freeze a lot of people. That's just absolutely the truth right now. So we could do more with solar, we could do more with nuclear. Although they don't like nuclear very much. But yeah, they bludgeoned. I mean, you definitely got bludgeoned with it. When I was growing up, it was like just starting to get bludgeoned with it. But I think I escaped like a little portion of that.

[Unknown Speaker]

I was full on a believer. I was brainwashed, to be honest. For years, global warming, like, it really stuck with me. And then when you actually look of recycling, man, that's a rabbit hole.

[Dave Rubin]

Oh, well, I mean, recycling is basically you feeling good about that garbage can, you know what I mean? That's pretty much what it is. It's like you got your regular trash and your recycling. You put it in a bag, you put it in a different color thing and then they pretty much just put it in the same spot and you're like, I do feel good. I saved the environment.

[Unknown Speaker]

Think about if they actually recycled it, how good it would be. But they don't.

[Dave Rubin]

Look, some places are better than others. I'm in Florida, where it's notoriously not particularly good when it comes to sorting. I think some places are.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dave Rubin]

But you also have to keep in mind the trash business. I mean, did you ever watch the Sopranos or Mafia things like the trash business is a. No pun intended, is a dirty business. Like they're probably not the most environmentally conscious people and somebody's got to do the work. So if you don't want the trash piling up, you probably have to leave it to some people that are going to do whatever with the garbage and just kind of accept it. It's just. It's just true.

[Unknown Speaker]

You still on the carnivore diet Mostly, Pretty much.

[Dave Rubin]

Mostly, yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And it's been great I just saw Paul Saladino talk about it. It looks like an interesting diet for me.

[Dave Rubin]

I think I told you I had alopecia. I lost huge amounts of my hair. I just did. My energy levels were low. I just was not feeling right. And I've been doing it for about two years, largely because of Jordan Peterson. I feel better at 48 and I'm in better shape at 48 than I felt probably when I was 35. Wow. Yeah. I mean, when I'm playing ball, I play as hard as I can. I'm not as fast 48. You're not as fast as 25. I don't jump as high. I can do a lot more now. That's one of the funny things in life when you watch the old veteran and he do all these moves and it's like. Because you can't jump over people anymore. Which is why I liked watching Jordan in the later years actually more than in the early years. In the early years it was just obvious. It's like this guy can fly and the hang time and everything. But especially those last two years, even the last year, maybe more than that. When he became basically the best jump shooter, the best mid range jump shooter in the league, it was like, like, what an awesome thing. Kobe was the same way. It was like by the end, the amount of moves he had in the middle that nobody else had, and that was only because he couldn't dunk over people anymore. So anyway, to connect that to diet, it's like as you get older, you can do some things so that you can still do the things you love.

[Unknown Speaker]

I love it, man. I just saw Pippen on pbd. I think I was telling you about it. They don't talk anymore, man. Pippen and Jordan. It's a shame.

[Dave Rubin]

That is a damn shame. You know, look, it's always tough to be number two. It's always tough to be number two. But Pippen owes Jordan so much and he was a great number two. And the year that Jordan retired, Pippen was basically the best player in the league that year. I don't think he won MVP. That was 94. Oh no. Elijah won one MVP that year. But like he was basically the second best first or second best player in the league. So. Yes. Could he have had better stats overall without Jordan? Of course. But the guy was 6 for 6 in the finals. Freaking legend in his own mind. So yeah, I didn't see that episode with pbd, but. But I've heard about the tensions there. And it's like you always Want it to be something more magical than I always see when people are like, the cast are friends. They didn't really like each other as much as on the show. And it's like, well, you're not gonna believe it. Those aren't their real names.

[Unknown Speaker]

I see it from his point of view. It must be annoying to constantly be asked about Jordan on every interview you do for the rest of your life. And he's such a good player.

[Dave Rubin]

What do you think his main beef is? Is it just that he doesn't want to discuss it anymore? Is that. Does he actually have a beef with Jordan at this point?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I think it started from the last dance. He said he got to like Epis and he had to turn it off. I don't know how he was portrayed in that exactly, but I guess he didn't get the spotlight he thought he deserved.

[Dave Rubin]

Right. I told you, Clyde the Glide was my hero. And in the last dance, they totally dismiss him.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, they do.

[Dave Rubin]

They don't even show one highlight of him.

[Unknown Speaker]

No way.

[Dave Rubin]

They just show Jordan going into the 92 finals. And then, of course, that's the six threes in the first half. And the shrug. And you see Cliff Robinson basically die right there. And Jordan. It's funny, Jordan in that. He basically was like, they compared Clyde to me, and I took that personal. That's his line. Right. But I watch. Cause I still watch old games from back then. And during the finals, there's a halftime interview with Jordan where he says, clyde is my mirror. He says, clyde is the mirror image of me. So it's like Jordan has shifted his attitude. But that was also. Jordan was great at psychological games. In 92, it might have been very smart for him to be like, clyde is the mirror of me. Because then he went out there, and even though I love Clyde, he just demolished him. That's just the truth. So Jordan was always, like, a master. And Phil Jackson was really the master of. You know, he would put stuff in the media. The big thing in 92, they would say right before the finals that the Blazers were a dumb team. So then in every interview, the Blazers had to be asked, are you guys a dumb team? Why do you blow big leads? And then that became a distraction. So they were amazing at the psychological part. That's what Phil was like, the architect of that. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So he's playing mental games. It's not just a physical sport for him.

[Dave Rubin]

Yeah. So I don't. You know, Jordan does the. I took that personal thing now, and that's his. Like, that's like the meme about Jordan, but he played it very differently back then.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely.

[Dave Rubin]

In some ways. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Dave, it's been fun again. I know. You got a new book, too, right?

[Dave Rubin]

I got another book. Well, it's called Don't Burn this Country, which I meant it was a sort of metaphor. But now they're literally burning the country. So we'll make it fun. Hopefully it's raining outside. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Stopping snowing, but yeah. Thanks for coming back on.

[Dave Rubin]

Good to see.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. That was fun. Boom. See you guys.