687: Podcast Listeners Hate This One Weird Trick

Summary

Duncan Trussell Family Hour – Episode 687: "Podcast Listeners Hate This One Weird Trick"

Release Date: May 9, 2025

In Episode 687 of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour, host Duncan Trussell engages in a lively and multifaceted conversation with his producer, Josh Cabaza. The duo delves into a variety of contemporary topics, ranging from social media dynamics and sexual behaviors to the influence of satanic symbolism in modern performances and the intersection of art and politics. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode.

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1. Instagram Engagement Tricks and Algorithms (00:16 – 12:33)

The episode kicks off with Duncan expressing his frustration with common social media engagement strategies. He critiques the clichéd methods used to grab attention, particularly on Instagram.

• Lead-Up Tactics: Duncan highlights the frustrating pattern where content creators announce a "trick" and then drag out the explanation to maximize engagement. He remarks,

  "That's just say you have a trick and then lead up to the trick for as long as you possibly fucking can." (00:33)

• Algorithm Manipulation: He discusses how prolonged engagement through such tactics manipulates Instagram's algorithm, pushing content to go viral regardless of its actual value.

• Sexual Content and Algorithms: The conversation shifts to how Instagram's algorithms continually suggest sexual content (e.g., boobies) based on user interactions, contrasting this with private behaviors like pornography consumption. Duncan states,

  "Just say you have a trick and then lead up to the trick for as long as you possibly fucking can. And it is so annoying." (00:33 – 01:47)

2. Sexual Behaviors Among Friends (03:02 – 07:58)

Duncan and Josh explore the unconventional topic of friends engaging in mutual masturbation, questioning societal perceptions of such behavior.

• Normalization vs. Stigmatization: They debate whether masturbating with friends signifies a shift in sexual orientation or is simply a misunderstanding of personal boundaries. Duncan muses,

  "But you just don't entertain the idea you're straight anymore." (04:28)

• Kinsey Scale Reference: Duncan references the Kinsey scale to argue that sharing sexual activities with friends might indicate a shift towards more homosexual inclinations, stating,

  "If the ability to stream porn in real time was available, then jerking off with your guy friends in the same room to porn is going to land closer to the, like, hyper gay." (07:58)

3. Channeling and Spiritual Content on Instagram (12:33 – 20:04)

The discussion transitions to the rise of spiritual content intertwined with provocative imagery on platforms like Instagram.

• Satanic Symbolism: Duncan introduces the concept of channelers like Bashar and examines how spiritual messages are now being delivered alongside sexualized visuals. He comments,

  "It's genius. It's maybe the most genius thing I've ever seen. It's, like, really cracked into some new terrain here when it comes to, like, dispensing spiritual wisdom on Instagram." (12:42 – 12:33)

• Visual Contagions: They explore how certain viral trends blend philosophical discourse with enticing visuals, making spiritual content more palatable and engaging for a broader audience.

4. Social Media Contagions and Trends (20:04 – 35:00)

Duncan and Josh analyze how successful social media trends spawn numerous subgenres, often diluting the original message.

• Replication and Evolution: They discuss how once a trend gains popularity, others attempt to replicate its success by creating similar but distinct subcategories, leading to a proliferation of content that may stray from the original intent.

• Example of Shannon Blake: Duncan mentions Shannon Blake as an example of an influencer who successfully merged spiritual content with alluring visuals, contributing to this trend's expansion.

5. Concert Deaths and Alleged Satanic Symbolism (35:00 – 70:00)

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing tragic incidents at major concerts and the perceived presence of satanic symbols in performances.

• AstroWorld Festival Tragedy: Duncan recounts the tragic death of Gabby Petito during a van life trip influenced by social media trends, drawing parallels to concert casualties like Travis Scott's AstroWorld Festival where eight attendees lost their lives. He reflects,

  "Once you get to that level where, like, Lady Gaga level, she just had the most sold concert of all time... Somebody's gonna die in one of your shows." (35:00 – 37:43)

• Satanic Symbols in Performances: They scrutinize various artists' performances, pointing out recurring satanic motifs such as wings symbolizing masculinity, demonic transformations, and ceremonial elements. Duncan humorously theorizes,

  "You can know the size of a demon's dick by the wingspan." (51:52)

• Impact on Social Perception: The hosts argue that the overuse of satanic aesthetics has desensitized audiences, making such symbols commonplace and often losing their intended edge or meaning.

6. Political Endorsements by Artists (70:00 – 80:00)

The conversation shifts to the involvement of artists in political campaigns, debating the authenticity and motivations behind such endorsements.

• Authenticity vs. Compensation: Duncan questions whether artists who perform at political events genuinely support the cause or are merely being compensated, stating,

  "Are you a devil, or is it just what happens when you let too many people handle your shit and then you're just getting puppeteered here and there?" (74:47 – 75:00)

• Influence of Agents and Funding: They discuss how agents and financial influences may lead artists to align with specific political figures, potentially compromising their authentic voices.

• Case of Kamala Harris and Celebrity Endorsements: Duncan criticizes the strategy of leveraging celebrity performances in political rallies, suggesting that it often backfires by appearing inauthentic or pandering, exemplified by,

  "歌hey, we got to make America great again, or whatever. What does that even mean?" (70:02 – 70:20)

7. Reflections on Art, Authenticity, and Politics (80:00 – End)

In the concluding segment, Duncan and Josh reflect on the broader implications of their discussions, emphasizing the importance of authentic artistic expression amidst external pressures.

• Artistic Integrity: Duncan advocates for judging artists based on their work rather than their political affiliations or perceived symbolic gestures, asserting,

  "Just judge them based on what they make, not on some stupid allegiance with the devil. Come on, give them a break." (81:08)

• Impact of Fame and Power: They ponder how fame and the pursuit of power can lead artists to compromise their values, transforming them from genuine creators to figures driven by external expectations and financial incentives.

• Final Thoughts: The episode wraps up with a call to appreciate art for its inherent value and to recognize the complexities artists face in maintaining authenticity within highly politicized and symbol-laden environments.

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Notable Quotes:

• Duncan on Instagram Tricks:

  "That's just say you have a trick and then lead up to the trick for as long as you possibly fucking can." (00:33)

• On Mutual Masturbation and Sexual Orientation:

  "But you just don't entertain the idea you're straight anymore." (04:28)

• Critique of Satanic Aesthetics:

  "You can know the size of a demon's dick by the wingspan." (51:52)

• On Political Endorsements and Authenticity:

  "Just judge them based on what they make, not on some stupid allegiance with the devil." (81:08)

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Conclusion:

Episode 687 of Duncan Trussell Family Hour offers a candid and often irreverent exploration of modern social phenomena, challenging listeners to question the authenticity and underlying motives behind contemporary trends in social media, entertainment, and politics. Through humor and insightful dialogue, Duncan and Josh highlight the intricate ways in which symbols, behaviors, and external influences shape personal and collective identities in today's digital age.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome, my loves. You are watching the D T F H broadcasting from Comedy Frequency Studios with my wonderful producer, Josh Cabaza.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How are you, Josh?

[B]

Doing great.

[A]

Good. That's good. I'm doing pretty good too. I got a lot. We got a lot of ground to cover today. Boy, I hate it when people say that. And I've been very tempted to do a trick. I've noticed. I think I've been on Instagram more than normal. Have you noticed this trick? Do you know the trick I'm about to tell you about this trick?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

This is a trick that will definitely increase engagement with your content. Now, this trick has its roots in an ancient system, a system that has been lost for a while. I'm going to tell you what this trick is, but first, a little backstory I learned so they. They don't give you the fucking stupid shit they're going to say is like one sentence, it would be a three second reel. But they know that. And so they do this sort of preface towards whatever obvious shit they're gonna say. Like even right now, people are like, wait, what's the trick? What is the trick? And it drags people via some awful manipulation through this very, very long lead up, which gets engagement, which makes the algorithm like it and it makes it go viral. And that's the trick. That's it. Just say you have a trick and then lead up to the trick for as long as you possibly fucking can. And it is so annoying. So annoying. But I've been thinking about doing that.

[B]

The other thing you can do is booty shaking videos. So just put a girl like Pop.

[A]

That will get me. Yep, that will get me for sure. Booty shaking videos are just gonna get you. And then also. Cause the thing is, you know, some of us on Instagram are not married. Some of us are married and don't give a shit. But let's take like our private porn habits. You erase the history. I don't really like porn algorithms. I don't want to know that much about what I like. I don't like it when they're on. You might like this too. Like, whoa. I actually, yeah, that's pretty awesome. So. But you erase the history. I wash my hands of this. And theoretically you're somehow freed from your jerking off, your pathetic late night jerk off sesh. But if you look at, you know, the boobies on Instagram, you're gonna be haunted with boobies because the algorithm will just suggest them. Meaning. And it's a more public thing. We all are comfortable looking At Instagram together. No one that I know of watches porn together. Unless they're, like, fucking. You don't watch porn with your friends.

[B]

Oh, no. Actually, I've heard a lot of.

[A]

Stop. Okay, wait. No, don't stop. Go ahead. Wait, what?

[B]

Yeah, so people on podcasts have said that they have. They invite their friends over to their house and that they jerked off there and they'd go to a corner of the room and watch and.

[A]

What? Yeah, what podcast?

[B]

A few different.

[A]

It's a Ben Shapiro. Yeah, that would be amazing.

[B]

Yeah, so they just find a friend who has access to porn and they all go jack off at his house. Which I didn't do that. It was very foreign to me when I heard that, so it kind of freaked me out.

[A]

So. Okay, can you pull that up? Can you find that podcast? I kind of want to see that. Because that seems to be one of those, like, moments where, like, you real. In real time, you can see people kind of realize they're gay.

[B]

They. Okay, I might delete this part because I don't want to fuck up your algorithm or anything like that.

[A]

Oh, yeah, don't show it. You're right. Forget it. No, you're right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It'll fuck up the algorithm. Look, I get the point, but now let's really talk about this, like. Because this is an important thing, and there's nothing wrong with jerking off with your friends. You're gay. It's to. It's. I mean, that. It's like it's. Or bisexual or whatever. It's no judgment there. But you just don't entertain the idea you're straight anymore. And I don't think these guys are even entertaining that idea.

[B]

Well, no, what they said was, it's kind of like when you're in your dorm room and your roommates having sex. No, it's not sex in your bed. No, because there's women there. That was my point.

[A]

It's like you invited your friend to your house to jerk off. Yeah, that's what it's like. It's not like you're in your dorm room. It's not like you're in the shower in a dorm room. None of those things. You were on the phone with your friend. You're like, hey, what's up, Johnny? What's up, dude? What are you doing this afternoon? No plan, just kind of fucking off. Hey, you want to come over and jerk off with me? That's gay.

[B]

I don't think they said it over the phone, but they definitely said, come watch some nice movies. With me.

[A]

So they planned no. Okay, so for sure. First of all, it's. It's not weird to, like, go over to your friend's house to watch movies with your pal. That's fine. You get stoned, whatever. It's cool. But you get to your friend's house. Okay, let's say they didn't plan it. They were just like, hey, come over, man. Let's play some video games or whatever. Okay, yeah, I'll be over. Come over to your friend's house, smoke a bowl. Dude, what was the best porn you watched lately? Oh, let me show you. Damn, that's kind of getting my dick hard. Yeah, man, it's so fucking hot. What porn have you been looking at? Dude, I see your dicks getting hard, man. Go jerk off in the corner, and I'll jerk off in this corner. You're gay. That's the. That's somehow more gay than gay. It's. It's. It's like. It's something out of, like, call me by your name. Did you ever see that movie?

[B]

No.

[A]

It's, like, erotic. It's like, hot. It's like two repressed dudes with their backs turned to each other, listening to the sound of the porn and the hearing each other go, oh, it's gay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, which is totally fine. I'm not judging the gay part. I'm not judging any part of. I'm just saying that's one of those moments where two people have somehow not stumbled upon sort of the reality of. It sounds like they haven't stumbled upon the reality of their sexual proclivities, which of many haven't.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They don't want to face the reality, which is it's not just the porn you are enjoying. You want to jerk off with your friend.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, and this is. You know, I don't think it's uncommon. I mean, I know. And also, just because you've jerked off with your friends doesn't mean you're gay. It's a pretty common, like. It happens with kids and stuff. I can remember when I was a kid at a sleepover, and I had not discovered this yet, but my friend. We were sleeping in sleeping bags, and my friend was like, you know, if you push against the floor, it feels good. Humping the floor. Somehow I had yet to discover humping the floor. And I started. We were humping the floor together in our sleeping bags, and I was just like. I mean, this is like somebody share. It's like Prometheus. It's someone giving you Fire. You're like, holy. Whoa. Does feel good to hump the floor. It's amazing. So that doesn't mean one thing or the other, but I would say that if you're an adult male and you go to another adult male's house and in the same room, maybe. No, I don't think even in a different room.

[B]

Knowingly.

[A]

Knowingly jerking off. This is. I would say, if we're going to create a. You know, the Kinsey scale. Kinsey scale, basically, was this. This guy Kinsey was like some kind of sex doctor. People have problems with him. He came up with a scale of, like, heterosexual versus gay. And he said no one falls. Pure gay or pure heterosexual. It's. Everyone's different. Some people are a little gay, some people are, like, a little straight and a lot gay. But there's nowhere. No one lands on any certain place in that scale. But I would say on that Kinsey scale, if the ability to stream porn in real time was available, then jerking off with your guy friends in the same room to porn is going to land closer to the, like, hyper gay. It's not going to land on the straight side of the scale.

[B]

No.

[A]

So I did have this experience once, which is really weird.

[B]

Oh, the same friend.

[A]

No, this is when I was an adult comedy condo. And no, this is like, don't try to guess the comic, because you definitely won't. This is like early phase standup. I can't even remember his name. I'm laying in bed, I'm falling asleep. It's a comedy condo. There's three comics in it. We were definitely not the headliners. The headliner's in the room with one bed. There's two beds next to each other in the fucking comedy condo. You don't care. I'm falling asleep. Duncan. What? Hey, man, look, I can't fall asleep unless I jerk off. Do you care if I jerk off? I was. You could have jerked off. Why did you need to tell me that's what you're doing? Like, it was just weird? Because it's like, now I know you're jerking off, which means I'm gonna have to suck your dick.

[B]

I don't think that's what it means.

[A]

No, you have to.

[B]

Out of courtesy.

[A]

Basic manners. Okay. If your friend's jerking off, suck his dick. That is not gay. That's pretty much the Romans used to do that before battles. And that's very, very heterosexual.

[B]

Because then you care more for your mate and then you'll protect them.

[A]

It's just do unto others. Kind of stuff, you know, it's like if you're. You know, first of all, you're dry jerking because you're. You know what I mean?

[B]

It is weird. If you do pull out lube, it feels very premeditated, Right?

[A]

So there's the compassion part. It's like, oh, I'll just. You want me to spit on your dick, man? Or, like, suck you off? Like, just, you know, I'll pretend I'm sucking a lady's cock so it's straight, but in the same room.

[B]

Yeah, that's a different type of throat chant that I thought you were going to do. I thought you were going to do your throat chant, but instead you gave him throat.

[A]

Throat chanting. Wasps. Wow. Wow. I think you just stumbled upon something powerful there, man. Wow, Interesting. Let me make a note. Okay. I want to show you guys something. Now that we've covered that, it's very important. I don't know where we're going with that. Porn. Oh, porn. Instagram algorithms, boobies, jiggling. So, yeah, I've noticed this is a new thing, which is the thirst traps figured out that guys don't want to just watch the jiggling boobies. So if you add the jiggling boobies to some kind of philosophy, now you're kind of like, look, God damn it. I just wanted to know about stoicism. I didn't want to see, like, a hot jiggling ass. I just am really interested in Marcus Aurelius. But, you know, this is actually kind of interesting. So, yeah, I'll watch it, but kind of wish this wasn't there so you could trick yourself into thinking you're not there for the jiggles for the tits. So that's a new thing I've been noticing. I keep getting served up this one. It's the funniest thing ever. I wish I could remember her name, but she dangles her tits in the camera while saying how what a good person you are.

[B]

She's a brunette, right?

[A]

You don't remember?

[B]

You were listening to the message.

[A]

I don't only remember what color her tits were. Can you find it? Because it's genius. It's maybe the most genius thing I've ever seen. It's, like, really cracked into some new terrain here when it comes to, like, dispensing spiritual wisdom on Instagram. Instagram woman dangles breasts while talking about spiritual wisdom. I'll show you some other contagions that are happening right now that are really fascinating. And while Josh is trying to find this, which is really Funny, you will remember we've talked about her before. I mean, her no ill will, but there was that hippie who did. Took a little acid, took a little DM or whatever. Are you talking? Was that tree talking? Or was it me or whatever. And so like, that spawned for a while a terrible plague of, like cute hippies doing some kind of new spiritual rap songs or something. Remember that it wasn't just her, because that's the crazy thing about this stuff is, like, people see something that seems successful and then they try to imitate it and it spawns and it. And it grows genres and sub genres and subcategories of some initial style. You're not going to find it, man.

[B]

Dang. Yeah. And she's going to pop up in my algorithm because we're talking about it right now.

[A]

Yeah, you're not going to find it. It's. It's not going to come up. It's not easy to find this stuff on Instagram. The search functionality is different. You have to remember their names. But I'll show you some more contagions. So look up. This is the channeler everybody knows, Bashar. Can you pull him up? So pull up Bashar. Everyone knows about this. This is a channeler. Very successful channeler. Just pull up any video of him talking foreign. This episode of the DTFH has been brought to you by my dear friends at Squarespace. Squarespace, it's like the Swiss army knife of website platforms designed to help you stand out and succeed online. It doesn't matter what you're doing, whether you're just starting a business or scaling your business square. Squarespace gives you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings with a professional website, grow your brand, and get paid all in one place. And they're amazing. And I try them all the time. I revisit. I make important websites all the time using Squarespace. I definitely don't use it to make troll sort of types of websites, but every website I've ever made with them is very important. It's incredible. I've said this before. I needed to make a very important website about my son, Sheraton Tressil, who unfortunately drifted away because we tied too many balloons to him. And I needed that website so that the morning TV show I was doing on the road, if they looked it up, they would think that that really happened, because of course, it did really happen. And I needed to get, you know, just make sure they knew it really happened. And I did it on three vodka sodas at least at 2am made a great website. And if I could do that. Imagine if you were using this incredible technology to actually start a business. If I could do this, if I could make a decent website in less than an hour on three vodka sodas at 2am Just imagine if you were actually serious about what you were making with Squarespace. And if you want to see what it looks like when you're serious, go to duncantrustle.com example, not just my insane genius, but what happens when that genius meets the power of Squarespace. Head to squarespace.com duncan to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain using Code Duncan. Again, it's squarespace.comduncan to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using Code Duncan. Thank you, Squarespace. All right.

[B]

He'll say good day to you this.

[A]

Day of your time. How are you all? You sound okay? Positive. So he does kind of like when he's in front of people, the. The being he's channeling, uses whatever, like public speaking stuff they learned in theater school. He projects to the back of the room. I guess when he's just on camera, it's a little de emphasized. Play it a little bit more though. All right. All right. Let us continue with our transmission regarding the next phase of phase. Okay, now, without believing, just hopefully this will come up. Google channeler. Other times there are agreements that are made.

[B]

Okay, yeah, he's channeling right there.

[A]

So like while the human is asleep, gotta get his arm up. That did not exist prior to the incarnation. But because that person made certain. What is he channeling a crab life. And took. So, okay, go, go back and then look up. Woman channels. So this is this. So, so Bashar probably watches this and it's like, dude, that's my style. Okay, pull that out now. This is fascinating. Wow. Playing guitar. Air guitar. Go for it a little bit. Guitar, guitar, guitar. Hitting it hard now. Drumming and guitars. Shake it out. Up and down. Do the moves. Bring them together. Okay, go. Is she not. I feel like she does English playing guitar. I do not want to be on that spaceship, man. Whatever spaceship that is. That's an annoying fucking spaceship.

[B]

I kept looking at the fox.

[A]

The fox? Yeah. That's such a funny reply. Straight jacket fox. Okay, scroll down, scroll down. This might. No, can you scroll down now? And like it starts recommending things related to this.

[B]

Let me see. I don't think when I pull it up this way.

[A]

I don't know why people think speaking in tongues is such a big deal. It's so Easy to do that. It's the easiest thing to fake.

[B]

Yeah. It sounds like they're repeating the same thing too.

[A]

I could do. Watch. Watch me channel. I'm gonna channel now. From the seventh layer of the dark wind, I come bearing messages of the ship. The ship is made of pollen. The pollen is an interconnected vortex which you currently call your ethereal human body. It is a soul vessel within which your soul is held in time, space. It's like. Cause it's. You can't say. If you say anything these people are saying, normally it sounds like horseshit, but if you can do some kind of weird, I don't know what, like, alien transmission voice, then somehow it makes it more powerful, you know, like, you could say, like, what's like some basic bitch spiritual wisdom, Josh. Just like cereal box spiritual wisdom.

[B]

Anything to do with manifesting, just believe it and it'll happen.

[A]

Okay, so. Yeah, okay. Many think that they want the thing they desire, but the desire itself is pushing it. Oh, okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It is from the act of not desiring that which we desire that paradoxically we can manifest within our own material universe those things which we want. Because as we all know, we are all the same consciousness, the progenitor force of light and love.

[B]

Something like that, I think it would make it more powerful, is if you close your eyes and put your arm above your head.

[A]

Crab arm.

[B]

Yeah. And then closed eyes.

[A]

The secret of manifestation is not to desire. The secret of manifestation is to know that you already have that which you desire and that knowing you become a receptacle and vessel through which the universe expresses itself in the form of things you desire. Something like that.

[B]

Way more believable.

[A]

Yeah, it's way more. It's way more believable. You just say, like. If you say the normal shit, it's like, nobody wants to hear that anymore. And now the next phase is somebody needs to figure out the booby thing with channeling. Because if you, you know, do the jiggle and boobs and channel an alien and asmr.

[B]

Whisper it.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Trifecta.

[A]

Woo. Somebody out there. Get to work. I guess you could have an AI do it now, but then. So that's one of the contagions that has emerged on the grams. And it's an interesting contagion, which is channeling dialect. And there's many others. We've already seen this, but just pull up. Took a little acid. I've already talked about this before, and, man, I'm sorry to do this to you because Once you, like, land on her song, it will show up eternally in your Instagram. It's like a curse. You can't get rid of it. Okay, so this is the beginning. I would have been like, that's the most beautiful song I ever heard. Now. Okay, now see if it starts. The problem is, I don't know what genre this is, but see if it suggests more, because there was a rash of these. What are you. Your algorithm is, like, crazy, Josh.

[B]

Yeah, it's a lot of podcast.

[A]

A lot of podcasts. Look up, I don't know, spiritual hippie rap. Oh, my God, I already want to puke. Are YouTube shorts the same as Instagram reels?

[B]

No. Well, I mean, they're the same type of thing, but.

[A]

Let'S see. Ancient. Scroll down, scroll down. One will pop up. Maybe put up singers like Shannon Blake. Look, she's on a rock. She's selling tour tickets. I believe it.

[B]

Oh, yeah, she.

[A]

And also, I think you could pretty much argue that Shannon Blake was also. It also sort of, like, figured out the spiritual booby thing.

[B]

Yeah. Because this was her before.

[A]

Yeah. And then. Yeah. So it's kind of like the sexy, like, hippie thing. That's Shannon Blake.

[B]

Yeah. This one.

[A]

Click on that.

[B]

Well, no, it goes to that. Now it doesn't show this picture.

[A]

Oh, my God. She looks like Gabby Petito. Is that Gabby Petito? What if we find out Shannon Blake is Gabby Petito?

[B]

Who's Gabby Petito?

[A]

Gabby Petito. Holy shit. Remember? So another contagion. Some people started posting van life stuff. We live in a van now where we've sort of disconnected from default reality. We're free as birds, and it became a genre. And so you just show off your van. You show off how cool it is. You make it seem like you're having the best life ever, because you're not showing, like, the interstitial stuff, though. That was another genre's realistic van life videos. But Gabby Petito wanted to do van life videos and ended up going out in a van with this dude who fucking killed her.

[B]

Oh, shit. This guy right here.

[A]

Yeah. It's a great documentary. American Gabby Petito. Play the trailer. Go back to his face. Go back to his face. Pause right there. See that face? If you look at the eyes, you see a man who is fucked up, fell in love, he's crazy. He. There's some horrible brewing just under the surface, and it's being exacerbated by living in a van with your girlfriend who wants to be an influencer, even if you're not insane.

[B]

Or what if. What if he just really wanted to live the van life? And the influencer all. Let's reshoot it again. The last time was just like, oh, and he took that fucking tooth around his neck and just went off, dude.

[A]

I mean, that tooth says a lot. Yeah. If you're going to dangle the tooth out front. I get it if you want to. If you have your special fucking tooth that you wear under your shirt, but if you're. If you're showing off the tooth, something's fucked up with you, man.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Why are you showing off the tooth? Put it under the shirt. You decided to. No one wears necklaces like that. Nope. Wear the necklace. You wear it under your shirt. If you're. If you. If it's above your shirt, you're displaying something, might as well put a name tag. Now I get the cross you're showing other Christians. I'm a Christian. Okay, but who is. Who is he indicating to other people that he is like a Viking, a barbarian? Z, I guarantee didn't pluck that fucking tooth out of anything's mouth. Maybe. Maybe it's a wolf's tooth. That means he thinks he's a wolf. It's awful all the way around. But the wolf, probably as he views himself, the wandering wild Steppenwolf, the outsider, he probably pitched to this woman he was in love with that, you know, we gotta get out of society. He's reading Emerson. He's watching movies like into the Wild. And he convinces this cutie to use her money to buy this van. And part of the way he did it was saying, and, you know, we. Maybe you can become an influencer.

[B]

Oh, shit.

[A]

And then now he's like Ralph Waldo Emerson, but he's in a fucking van with somebody who's trying to get brand deals. And he's also clearly insane. Wolf tooth says of that and the weird piercing. So this is an awful collision. This is like the Shining. Yeah, it's the Shining in a van. And so as he's going around with his stinky fucking feet. Because if you're. If on video, she's like, your feet stink. That's a bad stink. Enough that it made her think to say, your fucking. Your feet stinky. Playing it happiest piece. Stop it for a second. The other creepy thing about it is his family protected him. And the other creepy thing about it is his explanation for why he did it was the most insane shit ever, which is that she had fallen or something in the creek and he wanted to put her out of her misery. So it was a mercy killing. And so he was nuts. He's out of his mind. And then he went off in the woods and blew his brains out. He, like, killed himself, too.

[B]

But that's like into the wild a little bit.

[A]

Yeah. But I don't think. I think you could say. I think what killed that guy was a combination of. If I had to roll the dice, bipolar, manic depression. He said, I think he might have been a little manic and hubris, which is he imagined he could survive out there, and he wasn't ready to do that. And people told him, you know, he was a little too, like, I'm protected by the earth or something. I don't know. I don't know if he really. You know, some part of me thinks if someone gets themselves in an avoidable situation like that, there is a part of them that kind of is ready to die. I don't know if that counts as suicide or not. A sort of. I don't know how to put it. A kind of, like, trick in your. Is it. Oh, shit. Are we supposed to say unaliving?

[B]

Ah, doesn't matter. Anyway, Those people are disconnected, I think, from the fear part. So they're just like. They're disconnected from personal example. Remember I had a Vicodin one night and I thought in my head, this could kill me.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I was like. And I took it. I didn't want to die. But if I did die.

[A]

Okay, I got you. Yeah, right. That's the scary thing with drugs. Yeah. Is that it's not that you're suicidal, it's that you are prioritizing. Stanhope has the best joke about. What does he say? Like, I ruin every joke. I try to regurgitate. Some things are better than life, you know, like, yeah, drugs will kill you. It's better than life. That's why you just sort of reprioritize the hedonic experience over maintaining your physical body. And, yeah, that's definitely a kind of suicide. I would say it's just a little watered down by your own sense of living life, even though the way you're living life is going to kill you. Listen, there's a lot of different ways to live in this world, but it's interesting to me, these examples like this, because this. The first person who did the Van Life video was not thinking, this is going to get someone killed. Someone's going to see this and end up getting murdered because their boyfriend's going to go insane. Being this disconnected from the grid. And weirdly in love with someone who wants to be an influencer. But something about repetition and scaling on social media increases the probability that someone's going to die because of it. The contagion doesn't just annoy. Inevitably, just because of statistics, it gets someone killed. Remember what was that called? Not planking. Remember that thing where people would like lay with their bodies straight? What was that called?

[B]

I thought that was planking.

[A]

It's not planking. It's like they would lie in between things. They wouldn't. What was that called? The planking challenge or something that shit. Planking fad. Wikipedia, pull that up. Planking or the lying down game is an activity consisting of lying in a face down position, sometimes in an unusual or incongruous location. Scroll back down. Let's go to the controversy part. Controversies. The planking fab made news in September when seven accident emergency staff workers at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, England were suspended for playing the lying down game. Oh, that didn't. There you go. I'm. 15th of May 2011. Acton Beale, a 20 year old man, plunged to his death after reportedly planking on his seventh floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia. Google Acton Beale, but this is what I like. No, the first person who decided to do. There he is, Acton Beale, whole life in front of him.

[B]

This is the death. Oh no, nevermind. I thought they showed it.

[A]

I'm sure it's recorded. It's gone from Internet fad to deadly controversy in the blink of an eye. Anyone who hadn't heard of planking certainly has now following. This is so funny. Crazy. The man who introduced him to the craze says alcohol, not planking, was to blame for the 20 year old's death. That's bullshit. In a very short time, planking has become the in thing. But the tragic death of who fell seven stories from a unit balcony early Sunday morning has been a sobering. Oh my God, that's a terrible fall. Richard Latona, interest. You get the point.

[B]

You think he held the plank all the way down?

[A]

No, I don't. I think he screamed and, and time slowed down. I think he thought of his parents and I think he maybe remembered his birth and I think he had to reckon with the absurdity of the sort of death that he was having. Like the pure absurdity. And, and he had his parents. It's just like imagine that happening to one of your kids. You know, he's a little nuts. Fun guy. Maybe he's just having a fun phase and then you get the call, yeah, act. And I'm so sorry. I don't know how to say this, but he was. He fell off a balcony. But how. What happened? He was planking. He was doing the planking fad. Have you heard of it? It's a fad. And it's crazy that when you scale up, someone's gonna die. This is kind of like the weirdness of concert death. Like, this is where I get weirded out by all the various concert deaths. Google concert deaths.

[B]

You know what's sad too? When they did the funeral, all he had was pictures of Planky.

[A]

Do you. I. I don't. Listen, I'm offended that you're making planking jokes. We've got to end this fad. It's way over. I'm old.

[B]

What was it you wanted me to google?

[A]

What? Oh, go google concert deaths. There's so many and it's so creepy. Concert tragedies. Astroworld. Go to joins a list of historical concert Deaths. Click on AstroWorld Festival. Eight people dead at the Travis Scott AstroWorld event in Houston. Now that got memory hold. You would like. I think Travis. Is Travis Scott still performing?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so, yeah, scroll down a little bit.

[B]

It's crazy because the. The audience starts to look like an ocean. The way they move.

[A]

Oh, it's horrible. Horrible death too. Crushing death. November 2021. Abbott tribute concert. Oh, God. Can you imagine your last breaths? It wasn't even abba. It's a tribute concert. Your whole life, everything, all your loves, all your successes, all your failures, all your aspirations, your dreams just smushed while you're hearing, like, Dancing Queen. But it's not even abba. Okay, scroll down. Ghost ship Fire. What's that one? A fire broke out at an underground electronic music party. The Indiana State Fair. Collapse. Scroll down a little bit more. Didn't someone just die at a Taylor Swift concert? Google Taylor Swift concert death. Yep. A Taylor Swift fan, Anna Clara Benavidez, died at her ERAS tour concert in Rio de Janeiro due to heat exhaustion. Now this is where it gets interesting to me, especially with concerts. So once you get to that level where, like, Lady Gaga level, she just had the most sold concert of all time. Before that, it was like Rammstein would have these massive concerts. So once you get to that level as a performer, you know someone's gonna die. From these shows that are this big, you know that there is a probably inevitably a 90% chance someone's gonna kick the bucket in one of your. Look up. I don't know. Lady Gaga concert death. I didn't hear about this, but I'm just curious. Oh, there you go. Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga fan dies, brought back to life. What? Open that. She resurrected her with her magic. Yeah. Thornton suddenly began to experience what appeared to be a seizure. Tuckman frantically waved down an usher, immediately paged the on site medics. The patient was unconscious with no heartbeat. So this, this is a classifies as a death. Now what's another person who has huge concerts?

[B]

Hmm. Metallica.

[A]

Look up death at Metallica concert. Like pretty much any concert. Any great band that you can come up foreign this episode of the DTFH is brought to you by the nectar of the gods itself. Bluechew. Oh, thank you creator of the universe. I shudder when I think of a time, the time before bluechew. I don't know how I survived, or anyone did for that matter. I don't know why there's children on the planet without Blue Chew. This is an incredible chewable tablet that has the exact same ingredients as Viagra or Cialis. And it works. The main thing is it works. I don't know if you've ever made the wretched mistake of going to like 711 and getting one of their BS boner pills and you have like a seven day headache and. But you're also somehow even more unhard. What's the word for it? Un erect. Than you were before. Bluechew is serious. I use it all the time. I have a subscription. I'm 50, man. I'm not some athlete. I'm not getting testosterone injections. No, I need bluechew. It's a holy sacrament and I love that it's there for me whenever I need it. And now bluechew is offering a combo so strong it'll knock your socks off and your neighbor's socks off too. They want to read that. You'll have to move towns with the amount of noise you'll be making. Bluechew Max has arrived and it combines the active ingredients of Viagra and Cialis into one chewable. The combo acts fast and lasts. Make life easier by getting harder and discover your [e-mail] and we've got a special deal for our listeners. Try your first month of Bluechew free when you use promo code Duncan. Just pay $5 shipping. That's promo code Duncan. Visit bluechew.com for more details and important safety information. And we thank Bluechew for sponsoring the DTF. What the fuck? 165 dead at the Beverly Hills Supper Club. 1977, 100 dead. The station, 11 dead. The who, 1979. They beat Travis Scott by one. Four dead at the Altamont Free Concert. One dead at Fish.

[B]

How do you diet?

[A]

The fish falling from upper level seating. Oh, now, this is something I think about sometimes. I try to not let my mind go here, but if there is, like, if you're, like, scaling at the level of Metallica or Fish Lady Gaga, what is the acceptable risk to keep doing concerts of that size? Like, in other words, like. Let's just say I came to you and I was like, listen, Josh, I know this is gonna sound like something that the devil would say to you. I'm not the devil, but I'm gonna make it. So you're gonna sell out arenas. You're gonna sell out more arenas than any other comic before you. And one person is gonna die. They're gonna get trampled at your concert, for sure. Do you keep doing the concerts?

[B]

If I can pick them, yeah.

[A]

What do you mean?

[B]

If I can pick the person that gets trembled.

[A]

You can't pick. It's gonna be random.

[B]

You know, they die doing what they loved. Now that's how they see me.

[A]

Great. Just sign this and we'll be on our way.

[B]

In blood.

[A]

Yeah. Thank you. Or come. It is weird. You sign contracts in blood and not jizz. Yeah, the. Okay, so the. The. Now if I come to you and say, listen, you will sell out all these great concerts, you just have to sacrifice one person. You don't even have to be the one who drives the dagger to their chest. We'll take care of everything. But are you willing to sacrifice one human for fame?

[B]

I mean, that sounds reasonable.

[A]

Exactly. And so, like, when you see these deaths, it's one step away from human sacrifice for fame. It's not that the human sacrifice caused the fame. It happened as is an effect of the fame. But still, in all, somebody died because of your ass.

[B]

Well, that's what they were saying at Astro. Or that there was demonic, like, pull it up.

[A]

Astral demonic symbols. I. I got way down this rabbit hole.

[B]

All right, so look, I'm watching the.

[A]

Travis Scott and Drake's yes concert, but.

[B]

What the is this?

[A]

What the was that? Go back. That was weird.

[B]

But what the is that?

[A]

Yeah, that's just someone throwing water. Give me a break. There's so many what the was that? Videos. They're really funny. Yeah, just like, creepy, creepy. He's eating you. He's eating you. Yeah, I'm sure he regretted doing that shit. Like, in retrospect, he didn't know that people were going to die. I doubt it. But People are also saying because the stage kind of looks like a portal.

[B]

Yeah. A portal to hell.

[A]

A portal to hell or somewhere.

[B]

Yeah, it's a cgi. Like, looks like a. Like a. Not an angel, but a demon flying around.

[A]

Yeah. Which is not uncommon at. You know, here's the thing.

[B]

There it is.

[A]

It's an owl. It's a burning owl. That's not satanic at all. It's just a burning owl. But, you know, here's the thing. What happens at these concerts is I fully doubt that Travis Scott, with whatever the fuck his busy schedule was doing, rituals to get ready for the show, actually walk through the. The light show phase. It's not like he looked at all the assets. Some dude was, like, projecting up there. So, you know, I don't know. I don't think it was literally. I don't think Travis Scott is a demonic being or anything.

[B]

Well, what about the flyer? What? People were talking that the flyer is demonic.

[A]

Click on it. Let me take a look.

[B]

I was trying to. It keeps just downloading it.

[A]

Oh, fuck. Don't open that. Go ahead and open it. Oh, someone wrote a paper on this. What the fuck?

[B]

It's a full paper.

[A]

Oh, my God. Scroll back up. This is amazing. Somebody did an actual real serious. Oh, my God. Symbols and forms of Satanism represented in Travis Scott Concert AstroWorld Festival 2021 by Tasia Ramadina and Muhammad Husni Ratonga from what university is this? Indonesia. The purpose of this research is to depict the symbols and forms of Satanism in the Travis Scott concert. Due to riots that occurred during the concert a few months ago, eight people were declared dead. Researchers discovered satanic symbols and forms in Travis Scott's AstroWorld Festival. Wow, thanks for doing the work for us here, guys. It seems like this was written at some kind of Islamic seminary. And among mankind of those who use useless words to mislead people away from Allah's way without knowledge and mock Allah's way, they will be subjected to a humiliating punishment. Yeah, well, whatever. We don't have to go through all the Satanic symbols. You know, it's there. But there is something interesting about the. The. The satanic symbols that seem to inevitably pop up at rock shows. Like pull up the Lady Gaga satanic ritual that she did at Coachella. I don't even know if you can find it online. I mean, is it just that the satanic aesthetic is cool?

[B]

I think so.

[A]

I mean, you know what I mean? There's just something like it's an easy way to seem edgy or Something that doesn't. That I can't tell. I'm not up to date on my rituals.

[B]

Taylor Swift, too.

[A]

Taylor Swift's concert had a lot of weird shit in it. See this?

[B]

This seems more fascist than satanic.

[A]

That seems fucking hot. That's exactly the lecture. I would love that. Getting a lecture by somebody dressed like that, angry at me. Look, I mean, I don't know. Taylor Swift has got weird shit in there, but there you go. Willow, you could pull up.

[B]

There it is.

[A]

Yeah. Coven of witches.

[B]

Yeah. They're saying it was a seance in front of a bunch of children.

[A]

And then, like. Okay, so there's that. And then if you. It is interesting, though, how you do see this recurrence of. Now, the truth of the matter is the occult is artistic. Like, you know, it's wild. It's. You know what occult means? What it actually means?

[B]

No.

[A]

Hidden. Hidden in plain sight. So you could say the Christian drawing of the fish in the sand. To say you're a Christian secretly would be an occult symbol. It's a hidden symbol, hidden in plain sight. So, you know, it definitely fits the literal definition of a cult, that in plain sight, people in front of kids are performing powerful rituals. Because it's like what you told me about the tabernacle earlier, which I didn't know. Someone always has to be watching the tabernacle. There's some kind of power in human attention, and they know that. So if you focus the energy of the crowd into your ritual, then it will be more likely to bear fruit than if you don't. And they know that, and so they are. And also, it's like, if you look at it from the outside in, definitely spooky, definitely creepy. But that's because we don't know anything about it.

[B]

Well, have you seen the Justin Timberlake thing? Like, his latest video? And now he's going through, people say, humiliation rituals. He got a dui. They put him in this sling, this harness that lifts him up, and everybody's like, oh, you got a little dick. And. Yeah. So all these things. But his last video, he gets blood poured in his mouth and his eyes turn, like, white. And the devil comes out and play it. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, again, if it's like just one. One of these, you know, you don't really think much of it. But when it's so many of them, I get why people, like, get a little creeped out. Whoa. Go click on that sweet lady.

[B]

So this is the lady that she. That was the one who he was in love with. And Then she does that.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Into his mouth.

[A]

Gross. Stop smoking, lady. That's what happens if you vape too much.

[B]

And they all start attacking him.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Blood orgy.

[A]

What the fuck? What the fuck?

[B]

And then at the end of the video, he gets in the car with her and he looks at the camera.

[A]

Yeah, he's been converted. Free. We're both blind. We're blind now. Okay, so, yeah, that's definitely spooky.

[B]

And now he's having humiliation rituals.

[A]

You don't have to pull up Justin Timberlake, little dick. Okay, are you saying, like, because he did the video, now they're doing humiliation rituals?

[B]

Well, you have to go just the same thing as Doja Cat went through where they shaved her head and her eyebrows and made her do all this weird shit and made her look ugly. And now she's saying, like, well, same thing. Have you seen her videos about. She's literally riding the devil.

[A]

Let me see. Where's the devil? That's a drag. Some kind of. I mean, you could argue that's not the devil. It's like an ogre or something. I'm not trying to protect. Oh, she's hanging out with the Grim Reaper dressed as the. Okay, what the fuck is that?

[B]

So they all have a rebirth. So like Travis Scott, at the end of one of his songs, he gets rebirthed and his wings come out. What's that one that whisper sings? She's very famous. Billie Eilish. She has one where she falls from heaven.

[A]

Let me see.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I mean, there is a point. Or maybe they're all using the same video producer.

[B]

What did I say her name was?

[A]

Billie Eilish.

[B]

They inject her with whatever they have.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then she grows the wings.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And she's cast out of heaven.

[A]

I mean, I get it.

[B]

So this is her getting cast out. She falls.

[A]

Ow. Pre made crater. That was lucky.

[B]

And she walks out and her wings burn off.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And now she. And I think it also has to do something with the size of the wings because hers are huge. And you look at Travis Scott and he has these little tiny baby wings.

[A]

So they're just like, you got a little dick, you got little wings. It's like the size of your hands. Size of. If you're in hell.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can know the size of a demon's dick by the wingspan.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Some kind of like satanic math. So, okay, so we've got all that, and we're covering a pretty wide variety of performers. Where I did Travis Scott. We know. We already got that. What about. What's some. I'm trying to think. Casey Musgraves.

[B]

Who's that?

[A]

No, I'm kidding. She's the furthest thing away from that. So you do, like, you have to wonder. Oh, you know another one. Another one is. What's his name? I want to take you down to the old town road.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Pull that one up because he did one too. Lil Nas.

[B]

Lil Nas X. Yeah. He gave the devil. He gave the devil a lap dance. So again, he falls to hell. He actually takes a stripper pole to hell.

[A]

That's hilarious. So funny.

[B]

So he takes the stripper pole.

[A]

See you later.

[B]

God goes to hell. He sees the devil and then shakes his booty cheeks on him.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

But then at the end, he kills the devil.

[A]

Well, he's. Yeah, to take over. Right.

[B]

Well, that's the. This is the first one that actually killed the devil.

[A]

Snap the devil's neck and took it. There you go. Now I'm the devil. Ha.

[B]

Again, little wings.

[A]

Oh, my God. So that's like. If you got little wings. If they sign little wings to you on one of these videos, they're making fun of your dick. That's what we figured out here. Okay, so now we've seen how many video. So now we've got.

[B]

It's like five or six.

[A]

That is crazy. It's. Again, it's. If it's just one look. We all like to bring tarot cards to school. Who hasn't toyed around with Satanism? But I certainly have. But when you see this magnitude, it doesn't just make you think, like, I guess they're all some kind of weird, secret satanic cult. It also makes you think that it's overplayed at this point. Like, we burn out the Satanism thing. What do you look at up here?

[B]

The Weeknd.

[A]

Not the Weeknd. Don't tell me the Weeknd is falling in with a. With the devil. Not. Not my weekend. Please, no. Please, no.

[B]

And this one's a little more forward with it because it. Like he's singing and then the audience doesn't. They don't really care. They're talking. And then the devil comes and he sits down.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's the devil.

[A]

Oh, great.

[B]

And he sits down and then throws a cigarette and alcohol or a lighter at him.

[A]

And then he lit on fire by the devil.

[B]

And then now everybody loves.

[A]

Everyone's dancing the satanic transformation.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Where's the da? I want to see the more of the devil.

[B]

He walks in with two girls.

[A]

The Devil does. Yeah, there he is. Kind of a mutated dude. This version of a meth addict. Yeah. Some kind of spooky alien fucking.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So there you go. There you go, folks. This is. Listen, if you're out there, you're a performer, even if you are a Satanist, you got to find a better way to do this because it's overplayed at this point. It's just silly now at some point, it's not even like. It's just silly. Right. Like, who. The whole, like, the sort of allure of Satanism or, you know, the occult is that it's edgy. That's what draws you, and that's how the devil draws teenagers in. Right. You want to be special. You want to be different. You're not like all the other jocks. The cool kids were never into worshiping the devil. You're an outsider. That was what the devil was, an outsider. So you align with the great rebellious spirit of Lucifer who said, listen, why do I have to worship you? I don't have to worship you. What? Wouldn't that come spontaneously anyway? Like, fuck off, I'm gonna worship myself. And you align with that. You've been rejected, outcast, kicked down. You're not getting laid. Basically, no one's fucking your ass. You're wearing trench coats to school. I'm talking about myself. And so what do you do? You turn to the dark lord. But now, if the cool kids are all worshiping the devil, is this why everyone's becoming Catholic?

[B]

Could be.

[A]

Oh, my God. This is the reason there's a Christian resurgence in this country. It's because the cool kids started praying to Satan. And once the cool kids start praying to Satan, it's not cool anymore. Nobody wants to. It's too many of them. Taylor Swift, Travis Scott, Justin fucking Timberlake. Like, ugh, that's embarrassing. So if. Now if you want to be a true outsider, you have to become Catholic. It's the craziest world ever. We're an upside down world right now. And the devil played his hand, didn't he? Thought he was more clever than the Lord. Thought he could eat. The devil did the exact same thing Kamala Harris did. Kamala Harris thought getting fucking Beyonce to sing for her would get her elected. Didn't work. It probably lost her votes. Remember, she surrounded herself with famous people thinking that that would get her elected, and it didn't work. Instead of focusing on, like, revising the messaging, she just poured money into. How many celebrities sing for Kamala Harris.

[B]

And Beyonce Didn't Even sing. People were pissed. She just came and introduced some stuff.

[A]

That's a dick move because I think they paid her. Just fucking sing something, man. What are you doing? There is no evidence that anyone. Okay, okay, whatever. How much the campaign's. She got Oprah. It was a real, real poor read on America.

[B]

A million dollars.

[A]

She paid Oprah a million dollars? God, that's crazy. The report said between October 25 and November 25, the Harris campaign raised $160 million and spent 277 million. Jesus. In comparison, the Trump campaign raised 87 million and spent 130. It's expensive to become president, ma' am. That's how you know there's money in it. Katy Perry performed at a rally in Pittsburgh. Lady Gaga. Lizzo. Wait, these are endorsements. Cardi B. That was a weird endorsement. I remember that one. Jon Bon Jovi. James Taylor. I get James Taylor. Megan the Stalin Stallion. Go back up, Google Lady Gaga performing at Harris rally. See if she changed her tone a little bit for the political rally. Oh, there you go. Edge of glory. Here we go at final Harris rally. Please welcome back to the stage lady. Oh, we're gonna get dinged for this, aren't we? I want to hear one bite. This episode of the DTFH is brought to you by Lucy. Lucy Pouches. 100% nicotine. Always tobacco free. And they've got an extra surprise. Each pouch holds within them a capsule that can be broken open to release extra flavor and hydration. Freds. It's like the opposite of the cyanide capsules. The spies bite when they've been captured. Instead of collapsing, you will experience a hydrating rush of flavor in your mouth. Plus, there's nicotine. I love wintergreen, Lucy. The dosage goes pretty high. I'm a 6mg man myself. But these are really good. And get the Trussell Nicotine Pouch seal of approval. I love them. Level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to Lucy Co Forward slash Family Hour. Use promo code Family hour to get 20% off your first order. Lucy has a 30 day refund policy. If you change your mind again, that's Lucy Co use code Family Hour to get 20% off. And here comes the fine print. Lucy products are only for adults of legal age. And every order is age verified. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Okay, go to. This is crazy, by the way. I mean, look, I get it. You know, like the allure of power is strong. You know, you could only get so far as a musician. But if the state seems to be opening its arms to embrace you, there's something exciting there. You feel like you're gonna have some power. It's kind of like a get out of jail free card. Probably kind of feel like you hit up the president. I'm friends with the president. It's not uncommon. Happen on both sides. A lot of people hitch their wagons to Trump, too. Like, you just get sucked in. It's powerful. You want to know about the aliens, you know, I get it. I don't judge any of them for it necessarily. I mean, I get it. It's not like. I mean, it's not like they thought they were embarrassing themselves.

[B]

I don't think they care.

[A]

Yeah, I think it's just more of a kind of messianic sort of, like, you know, I don't know. It's easy for me to get cynical about these things. You have to wonder to yourself, what's the analysis? How much of the problem is if you. Spontaneous as an artist, whatever you do spontaneously, that's you. That's your true voice. That's your authentic nature. Right. So, like, you do the kind of art that you want to do, you have to do it feels good to do. You don't know why you're doing it. You don't care if it's going to go anywhere or not. You're just in it for the moment of making something. Of course you want to make money, you want to support yourself, but the primary focus is the music and the art. That's it. And you follow this bizarre compulsion, and that either leads you to failure, mediocrity, never making it work, but you just keep doing it, you don't care. Or you end up, you know, with little demon wings flapping around in front of a million people in an arena. But that's what you wanted to do. You can't judge that. That's them. That's who they are and who they want to be. So anybody who makes a decision to perform for any fucking politician, if that's an authentic. If the same compulsion that's got you to make stuff, is getting you on stage at a Kamala Harris rally or a Trump rally, who are we to judge? You're fucking artists. I don't know.

[B]

I don't think the problem was that a lot of people were saying that with the Democrat side, that it didn't seem authentic. They were being paid, allegedly, to perform there versus people like Kid Rock, who actually really loved Donald Trump.

[A]

And, you know, that's not a Fair judgment. Because I guess we pay these fucking people to perform anywhere they goddamn perform. They don't perform for free. So. And that's agents. That's agents getting in between the. Whatever the two. The agent is just kind of like, hey, what's the budget here? And how much did you pay Beyonce? And then how much did you pay Oprah? Well, you got to cut out some of that dough. They know about super PACs. They understand. And also, I think it's like, I'm guessing once you get to the level of any of these people, we just showed, your autonomy is diminished. Probably you don't even realize it's a slow boil. Loss of autonomy. Is it a satanic humiliation ritual? Or is it just what happens when you let too many people handle your shit and then you're just getting puppeteered here and there, this and that, and you stop looking at things in the way normal people do? And then you do. Then you veer into the realm of what I would think of as, like, not occult Satanism, but something maybe worse, which is, you're just thinking about your demographic. You're just thinking about your audience. What do they want me to be? What do they want to see? Who do they support politically, how do I affirm that I'm with them all the way through? And then you start voicing things for their sake only you don't even know what you think or feel. That's where it gets.

[B]

You're a zombie.

[A]

You're a politician at that point. Whereas the artist just sort of, I don't know, stumbles around and says whatever they're thinking at the time suffers for it, gets successful for it. But they're just. That's all they've got. And that's what they do. There's. It's a big difference. And it's so. That's, you know. Yeah, like Kid Rock, he. You know, he. 100%.

[B]

Do you see him in the White House?

[A]

Yeah. Jesus Christ.

[B]

That's America, man.

[A]

I'll tell you, once you start dressing like that, it's probably hard to wear anything else. Yeah, I get it. It's cool. I want to go to the fucking White House. I would love to go to the fucking White House and dress like. I don't know, like, I sell acid at Grateful Dead shows in the Oval Office. I mean, that's pretty cool. But it just feels like. I don't know, something about it does feel weird. Like, look up. Remember, REM Are you too young for that? Look up, REM Walt's rally REM Got teamed up with Waltz. They didn't make it to the common level. For real. Like on YouTube. It really. I love REM, man. Hello? You're going to have to jump in. Can you hear me? 18. My friend's birthday and her husband invited.

[B]

Five of us to have a birthday.

[A]

Dinner with her at a restaurant in midtown Manhattan.

[B]

I heard that. We're going to do a song that I performed.

[A]

I'm sorry. That I performed once in public at another one of these rallies. Yeah. This one me out doing it then. And we were great.

[B]

And hopefully we're not gonna it up today.

[A]

I still. This is a song that I wrote with Aaron Desner from the band the national, and it's called no Time for Love. Like now. Here we go. Ah. See? It's well intended.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, I don't know. Are we to judge? It's R.E.M. they're great. Who fucking cares?

[B]

Case by case basis.

[A]

Yeah. Just who cares? This whole judgment of people. Who fucking cares? They're great. Killer band. Like, why do. Why do our artists have to align politically with us one way or the other? Why does it bother me when Stephen King fucking keeps tweeting like political shit? You know, it's none of my business. He's a person. He gets to voice his. Whatever old man opinions. We'll need to lighten up a little bit. I don't like. Who cares? If we start abandoning our artists because they worship the devil, we're not gonna have anything less to listen. We're not gonna listen to anything. Start abandoning our artists because they kneel at the foot of Trump or the devil or Kamala or whatever. Maybe there's no difference between the three. What do we have left? Who are you gonna listen to? Apolitical. Ugh. What musician has ever been apolitical? They're all political.

[B]

Electronic and Tejano music.

[A]

What?

[B]

Electronic and like Spanish. Mexican music. Tejano.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know if Tejano music. I bet there's some political Tejano music, right? There's gotta be. I just don't know.

[B]

I don't speak Spanish. There's some about, like drug dealers and stuff.

[A]

Yeah. And like edm. I don't. I'm sure there's. Yeah, you're right. That's for sure. EDM has avoided getting. I'm sure someone will send us something, though. Some fucking EDM song that's political. Look up political EDM song. But yeah, it's out there, man. Like, then it's. I get it. There's definitely a place for it. It's just sometimes it doesn't land right, you know what I mean? Like when Green Day or Rage against the Machine supports the state. Right. Didn't rage against the Machine, just do some shit that like. Or was it Green Day or both?

[B]

Probably both.

[A]

Because Rage against the Machine originally felt like almost like terrorists. They were so against the government and then they start supporting the government and it weirded everybody out.

[B]

It was Tom Morello. It says, which is their guitarist or bassist.

[A]

Oh, he said, vote Trump. Voting for Dick Cheney.

[B]

Wait, click this one.

[A]

Oh, no, he wanted to vote for Kamala Harris.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I think that weirded people out a little bit just because, like, they seem so anti establishment, like on both sides.

[B]

You, you know, system of a. Downstairs. What they don't. I, I don't remember them ever saying vote for this person.

[A]

But pull up like the Green Day. Green Day always fills in like American idiot. You could make a montage of like Green Day filling an American idiot with whoever they disagree with at the top. You know, because the thing is, it's like, is that really courageous at a show, a Green Day show, to say that in the sense that, like, it's not like you're going to get a boo out of that, you know, your audience. But something about that felt a little like, like talking shit about the president is a important American pastime. Presidents are fucking ridiculous across the board. Chogyam Troupa Rinpoche talked about this as it's embarrassing to run for president. The whole thing from top to bottom is embarrassing from beginning to end. I don't care if you're Kamala Harris. I don't care if you're fucking Trump. I don't care if you're Obama. You're going to do some embarrassing, you're going to say some embarrassing shit up there. You have to pander and you just look like an inhuman, like, alien imitating what you think humans are. You have to sum everything up in these sound bites that are digestible. And also super PACs. Also, you're funded by so many corporations and you're trying to build up the corporations and the people and you want to seem like you love humanity, but you don't want to piss off blackrock. And you, you, you security around you at all times. And then you start, you know, getting high in your own supply. You start believing you're muadib. You go crazy. The people around you start thinking you're muadib. You feel, you sense it, that shift when you go from am I. Am I going to run for president? To I'm running for president to holy, I might be president. And you feel the change in the audiences and the way people are treating you, and you start believing there's something incredible, incredibly spectacular about you. You ignore the fact that you're being funded by the military industrial complex by a variety of corporations, probably by, like, private billionaires with their own vested interests. You ignore the fact that you're going to owe a lot of favors after this shit. A lot of favors. You're going to be pardoning some people you don't want to pardon. You're going to be letting some people off the hook. But you're going to have to do it because it's worth it, because you want to. You are the one. Oh, my God, am I the one? Like, imagine being Kamala Harris in front of one of those fucking rallies. You are already a little insecure. Maybe you don't know. But then you look out, people are crying. People believe in children are telling you you gave them hope, even if there was insecurity in you. You're gonna start believing, like, I think that I have a divine mandate here to some degree, whatever your language is for that. This does make sense. I am the chosen one. It's embarrassing. You're not the chosen one. You're not the chosen one if you have to raise $50 billion to. To get in front of people. You're just someone who got a lot of money from rich people, is parading around like you give a shit. And you do in your own mind. You kind of give a shit, but not in the way people think you do. You know, like, you can't. You've lost all connection with reality. How is there anything normal about the whole situation? You know? So you have to make fun of the President because the President is like, basically, the White House is a trap for narcissists. The White House captures our nation's top megalomaniacs, imprisons them in the most surveilled place in America. I guarantee they measure the president shits every day.

[B]

They test it to see how it's health, and he's shitting in golden toilets.

[A]

They replace the toilets with gold, but let me tell you, they all run to the same CIA fucking laboratory. There's some poor CIA scientist who has to take every one of the president's shits and run it through some analysis device. It gets sucked through pipes underneath the ground. Who knows, maybe it gets shot all the way to, like, DARPA or. I don't know where it goes. DARPA's from. Not DARPA. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon. Whatever. The point is, if you wanted to lure the most dangerous megalomaniacs in your country into a place where you could control them, that's the White House. Get them in there, let them do their little meh. Let them do this and that. You don't care. Just as long as you get to keep dropping those fucking bombs. That's all. And it's crazy to watch. It's crazy to watch the change as they slowly get compromised, you know, as they slowly become increasingly like just the last president. You know, they've got their own little, like, winks and nods and their own little style. But why is it always the same fucking thing? Why is it always just war bombs, war bombs, war bombs? It's always that. You can't get elected saying you're going to do more war on bombs. You have to get elected saying, you know, whatever, we got to make America great again, or whatever. Hey, we're not going back. What does that even mean? Both of those sayings are idiotic. They mean nothing. Analysis. They mean nothing. And then when it finally happens, nothing. I don't mean to sound cynical or anything like that, but this is why, you know, Beyonce wants money from them if she understands what it is. Fucking milk it. Why not? Kid Rock fucked up if he didn't get paid, you know, why not?

[B]

I guess that's probably why they age so bad. They have to hold that within them.

[A]

Oh, I know. Can you imagine? Just think about that. Well, it's either that, you know, or they. Or we like to imagine that everyone's like us. And by us, I mean you and me. I mean super geniuses with the hearts of gold.

[B]

Certified.

[A]

Certified. But it isn't like that. Some people don't. I just don't think, like, they see things the way we think about things the way. Or they're just. They're so into the. Did you ever play Monopoly with your family? Did you play nice Monopoly or mean Monopoly?

[B]

Mean Monopoly.

[A]

Same. My brother and me and my dad would play. We would, over the course of a game of Monopoly, turn into the worst people on earth. We would cheat. We would lie, we would steal, we'd hide money. We would fight over rules. And whoever lost had to sign the dollar of shame. And the dollar of shame. Whoever won could write whatever they wanted above what you had to sign. So it could just be like, if it was my dad who won, it would be like, my father is the greatest man that ever lived or whatever. You just had to sign it, had no choice. And it sounds silly now, but at the end of a two hour game of Monopoly, you're pissed. You don't want to sign that fucking thing. But the game ends, you get back to life. Maybe you're annoyed with each other, but in a different way. But I think some people, that's how they live. The whole human experience is an extended game of mean Monopoly. And they don't think about things the way we do. When they get away with something, they're not thinking, fuck, I'm a piece of shit, man. I can't believe I lied at that level. I betrayed one of my dearest friends. They're just like that dumb piece of shit. Got one over on him.

[B]

That's the saying, hey, it's just business.

[A]

Hey, it's just business. Which is the same thing as saying like, hey, I'm just a piece of shit. Yep, it's the same saying. Yeah, it's that. So I. I think that maybe initially when you get called the service of your country in that regard, you aren't a piece of shit. But somewhere along the way, you get Timberlaked. Somewhere along the way, you're wearing tiny little fucking demon wings to indicate the size of your dick or whatever. Somewhere along the way, you just lose whatever that North Star is that makes a human a human. And then you're some. You're tired. And then when somebody comes in and says, listen, man, we're gonna have to drop some bombs on some, like, places in Yemen, fuck up these Houthis or whatever, and you're like, but the part of you that would have before been like, yeah, but I mean, we're sure that these people were blowing up are like terrorists, right? We're not gonna kill any kids. You didn't get enough sleep last night? You just wanna go to bed? All right, I'll sign it. That's it. You're gone, baby. You're gone. So anyway, the bottom line is, I guess something one must consider is what's worse. Is it worse to parade around in tights and devil horns on a music video, or is it worse to, like, speak at a Kamala Harris Trump rally? Isn't it both sort of idolatry? Isn't both sides of it, like, I don't think it's bad. It's just. Look, man, we all want to believe some person's going to save us.

[B]

People want to be on the winning team.

[A]

Damn right. That's right. Well, kids, I got to get out of here. I guess what we've established from this incredible episode today is that the satanic aesthetic is out. That being a president is embarrassing, but art is still alive and well. And, yeah, who cares if your fucking artist is a leftist or a conservative or whatever? Just judge them based on what they make, not on some stupid allegiance with the devil. Come on, give them a break. They're artists. They don't know what they're doing. Just stumbling around, kissing the feet of any succubus that comes their way. Doing humiliation rituals at the Bohemian Grove, lapping up jizz from the smattered glazed balls of people you'll never meet who run the nuclear missile silos. Getting punched in the face, getting black eyes, getting humiliated with their little demon wings because their cocks are small. I already know what size my wings would be. Yeah, so we gotta give everyone a break. Everyone's just trying to do the right thing. Especially the devil. Thank you. This has been the Duncan Trestle Family Hour Podcast.