Big Balls Mugging Triggers DC Crackdown!

Summary

FYPod Episode Summary: "Big Balls Mugging Triggers DC Crackdown!"

Release Date: August 12, 2025

Hosts: Tim Miller and Cameron Kasky
Podcast: FYPod by The Bulwark
Description: Gen Z swung hard for Trump in 2024, and Tim Miller wants to know why. He’s teaming up with Cameron Kasky on the For You Pod to break down the politics of the TikTok generation—what’s driving their shift and what it will take to win them back. Tune in weekly for sharp insights into America’s youngest voters.

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode opens with Tim Miller and Cameron Kasky delving into a recent high-profile incident involving a notable Gen Z figure in government. Their conversation quickly sets the stage for a broader discussion on crime, policing, and the political landscape affecting young voters.

Notable Quote:

• Tim Miller [00:01]: “This is FY Pod where we're discussing the news and the youth and other such matters and the anxieties of Cameron and his friends and Gen Z.”

2. Big Balls Mugging Incident

The hosts discuss the brutal mugging of Edward Corestein, known colloquially as "Big Balls," a prominent Gen Z congressman. The incident occurred in Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., where Big Balls was attacked while accompanied by a companion.

Key Points:

• Big Balls was "bloodied and battered" during the attack [00:32].
• The nature of the mugging suggests it may have been a targeted jump attack [00:32].
• Law enforcement arrived on the scene, but it remains unclear if the assailants were apprehended [01:04].

Notable Quote:

• Tim Miller [00:32]: “He got bloodied and battered... but he's in Dupont Circle and he's with a girl, it seems like. Don't exactly know what the situation with that is when this happens.”

3. Trump’s Policies and Federalization of Policing

The conversation shifts to the broader implications of the mugging incident, particularly focusing on the increasing federal presence in local policing. They examine President Trump's push to militarize cities and his specific actions in Washington D.C.

Key Points:

• Following the mugging, discussions about dispatching 120 FBI agents to D.C. surfaces as part of Trump's strategy to militarize urban areas [01:09].
• Trump has proposed changing D.C.’s laws to charge teenagers (14 years and older) as adults, blaming city crime rates on youth [02:10].
• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s directive to remove all homeless people from the Capitol area is highlighted as a significant, albeit overlooked, policy action [02:25].

Notable Quotes:

• Tim Miller [02:10]: “The FBI is moving to dispatch 120 agents to the D.C. streets as they're trying to look for more excuses to militarize our cities.”
• Cameron Caskey [02:25]: “Trump called for D.C. to change its law to charge teens 14 years or older as adults as he blamed the city's crime rates on youths.”

4. Racial Profiling and ICE’s Actions

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Trump's attempt to influence ICE policies, specifically regarding racial profiling. The hosts explore the legal and ethical ramifications of these actions.

Key Points:

• Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to permit ICE to conduct racial profiling, targeting individuals based on characteristics like appearing Hispanic or speaking Spanish-accented English [06:58].
• An injunction from a California court currently blocks ICE’s mass arrest program that relies on such profiling [07:34].
• The potential integration of AI in profiling raises further concerns about privacy and discrimination [07:44].

Notable Quotes:

• Cameron Caskey [07:57]: “How much he's trying to stoke the flames of something that isn't a non-issue, but is not the issue that he's painting it as.”
• Tim Miller [09:24]: “They have to explicitly say, yes, we are racially profiling, rather than just like racially profiling and trying to act like there's some other pretense for it.”

5. Debate on Representation in Media: The Superman Example

In a lighter yet insightful segment, the hosts debate the portrayal of Superman in media, using it as a metaphor for broader social and political narratives.

Key Points:

• Dean Cain criticizes the new Superman movie for being "woke," arguing that the character’s immigrant story undermines traditional American values [12:08].
• Tim and Cameron defend Superman as a symbol of progressive values, emphasizing his commitment to using power responsibly [15:03].
• The discussion highlights how media representations can influence public perception and reflect generational values.

Notable Quotes:

• Cameron Caskey [15:03]: “Superman is a story about somebody who could do whatever the fuck he wants. And he makes the choice, in spite of the cynicism in this world, to do what's right.”
• Tim Miller [12:26]: “Your grandparents were held in a Japanese internment camp. Did you know that?”

6. Analysis of Gen Z Personality Traits

The hosts present and analyze recent data on Gen Z’s evolving personality traits, revealing concerning trends that may impact their social and political behaviors.

Key Points:

• Data from John Byrne Murdoch at the FT shows a decline in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extroversion among young adults since 2016, with a significant rise in neuroticism [17:37].
• Tim explains that conscientiousness pertains to dependability and discipline, while neuroticism relates to anxiety and depression [17:00].
• Cameron and Tim agree that these trends reflect increased anxiety, reduced social skills, and greater antisocial behavior, potentially exacerbated by social media [21:25].

Notable Quotes:

• Tim Miller [17:00]: “Conscientiousness is being dependable, disciplined, committed. So I don't know. That doesn't seem great.”
• Cameron Caskey [20:22]: “There’s so much antisocial behavior, and I think it’s chipping away at our character.”

7. Impact of Social Media on Gen Z’s Mental Health and Social Skills

A critical discussion unfolds on how social media usage contributes to the decline in Gen Z’s mental health and social capabilities, emphasizing both negative and potential positive aspects.

Key Points:

• Social media algorithms promote self-devaluation and decrease empathy among users, fostering a need for external validation [22:46].
• The dopamine-driven feedback loops of social media can be addictive, impairing personal connections and self-worth [22:46].
• Despite these challenges, the hosts acknowledge that social media can also facilitate meaningful connections when used intentionally [27:27].

Notable Quotes:

• Cameron Caskey [22:46]: “Social media has really trained these algorithms to deep devalue ourselves.”
• Tim Miller [25:14]: “How does it go? If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anybody else?”

8. Personal Anecdotes and Community Engagement

Throughout the episode, Tim and Cameron interweave personal stories and engage with their listener community to illustrate broader points and maintain a relatable narrative tone.

Key Points:

• Cameron shares a personal story from a movie premiere where her candid conversation about crack caught the attention of a Biden family member, highlighting the intersection of personal life and public persona [16:46].
• The hosts discuss the nuances of digital communication, such as misunderstandings in text messaging, underscoring the challenges of maintaining relationships in a digital age [25:03].
• They encourage listeners to engage with the podcast through comments and share their favorite “woke superheroes,” fostering a sense of community [14:33].

Notable Quotes:

• Cameron Caskey [16:46]: “I was loudly talking about just an interest in crack in front of her child.”
• Tim Miller [25:03]: “You gotta have the seeds there. You gotta go out there.”

9. Conclusion and Future Topics

In wrapping up, the hosts reflect on their discussions and tease upcoming content, reinforcing the podcast’s commitment to exploring pressing issues facing Gen Z.

Key Points:

• Tim humorously notes the irony of their own personality trait changes compared to the data discussed [27:57].
• Cameron mentions her upcoming appearance on AEW wrestler Serea's podcast, hinting at future engaging content [28:14].
• Both hosts reaffirm their dedication to providing insightful analysis and maintaining a strong dynamic for their audience [28:35].

Notable Quote:

• Tim Miller [28:14]: “Well, this is fypod where conscientiousness is a little bit down... But things are doing good here at FY Pod.”

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Final Thoughts

In "Big Balls Mugging Triggers DC Crackdown!", Tim Miller and Cameron Kasky navigate a complex web of topics ranging from political violence and federal policing to the psychological traits of Gen Z and the pervasive influence of social media. Through a blend of data analysis, personal anecdotes, and spirited debate, the hosts offer listeners a comprehensive and engaging exploration of the challenges and dynamics shaping America’s youngest voters.

Transcript

[Cameron Caskey]

Camera. Hey, everybody, I'm Cameron Caskey.

[Tim Miller]

And I'm Tim Miller and this is FY Pod where we're discussing the news and the youth and other such matters and the anxieties of Cameron and his friends and Gen Z. But first, maybe the. Is this true? Is this the most notable Gen Z in government right now? Big balls. Is that possible?

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah, I mean, you can make the argument that it's like Max Frost, who's a congressman, but I don't think Max Frost has as much power to dismantle the government as Big Balls does. But I didn't know there was big balls news. What happened?

[Tim Miller]

Well, he got. He got beat up on the streets in D.C. no, I know, I know. It was. We'll put up the picture. He's bloodied. He got bloodied and battered. The situation though is kind of interesting because it seems like it was a mugging. Like he seems like he got jumped. Not good. Hopefully these young men are held to account. But he's in Dupont Circle and he's with a girl, it seems like. Don't exactly know what the situation with that is when this happens.

[Cameron Caskey]

Well, Big balls, yet another thing on which we cannot relate. Sorry, what?

[Tim Miller]

And then some cops roll up. He's getting beat up and some cops roll up. And I actually don't remember offhand if they arrested the youth or if they're still looking for them or what the deal is. But during the course of this mugging, the D.C. police show up. I begin that story, tell that story because it is relevant backdrop to the news. We want to discuss about how the FBI is moving to dispatch 120 agents to the D.C. streets as they're trying to look for more excuses to militarize our cities. And it's like this situation is, I mean, crime is bad. People that do violent crime should be punished. But the big ball situation is not exactly one that, that demonstrates that we need like more cops. Really. Like the cops were there. Like he was in a highly policed part of D.C. and yet they're just looking for any rationale they can to premise their desire to militarize the federal our cities.

[Cameron Caskey]

Well, so federalization talks intensified after two 15 year olds were arrested in fact last week in connection with the attempted carjacking of former Doge staffer and Edward Corestein known as Big Balls.

[Tim Miller]

There you go.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah. Trump called for D.C. to change its law to charge teens 14 years or older as adults as he blamed the city's crime rates on youths, which is what, you know, you call people. My Age, the youths, the youth. But it's worth noting also that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who in the 2023 Republican primary kind of seemed like a normal guy. He has been ordered to remove all homeless people from the Capitol, which seems like. Seems like a bigger story here than it might be getting credit for.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, I mean, it depends on the details. You know, I mean, there are certainly some things that could be done with the homeless encampments of D.C. but like the federal, to me, the story is that, like, okay, so we're in Los Angeles. We were in Los Angeles together last week. Still, like, there are military dispatch to basically run like perimeter security around immigration raids essentially in Los Angeles. Totally not needed. Now we're going to add more agents to the streets of D.C. going to, I guess, turn the Department of Interior into an enforcement vehicle for cities. That is the part that is kind of alarming because in a big country like ours, shit happens, bad stuff happens. And I feel like they. They are really looking for any excuse possible to further cement.

[Cameron Caskey]

It's a fucking military takeover. Trump wants his soldiers in as many dense population areas as possible so he can assert control. I mean, ICE isn't just about ripping babysitters away from little kids and taking innocent men and sending them to El Salvador to get shaved and beaten. Like ICE is there to be Trump's secret police force. This isn't a subtle thing. This is something they're basically touting. And now ICE has a bigger budget than the Marines. But another thing worth noting about this whole D.C. thing, and I think this is really important because it elucidates just how much nonsense Trump is trying to. How much he's trying to stoke the flames of something that isn't a non issue, but is not the issue that he's painting it as. According to data from the district, crime in D.C. was down 3.35% in 2024, the lowest it's been in 30 years. So acting like this is some sort of crisis that needs to be handled by federalization is blatantly ignoring the fact that this is a crisis that is currently being handled without Trump's jackboot soldiers getting involved.

[Tim Miller]

Crime's not everywhere. It's a weird part of it is like it's the one. It shows. It's the one issue where they are actually committed to power and to a power policy outcome is with regards to crime, immigration, militarization. Because in a lot of other cases, Trump would just be taking credit right now because there's been a trend downward from crime basically since COVID ended and it's continued into this year. You could imagine another world where Trump's like, Mr. Trump, big dick Trump got in. And now all the criminals are too scared to crime. They could be going that route, but they are so desperate to send the military into the streets that they have to do the were pretending like crime is up and there's a crisis thing.

[Cameron Caskey]

And there was something kind of annoying about the way crime was framed in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary because they were talking about it like it was one of the biggest issues facing the city. And again, this isn't to wave off violent crime. The victims who have had to deal with violent crime and things like that. It's objectively and statistically not even close to the problem. People say it is like, oh my God, someone stole deodorant from Duane Reade. And suddenly they're treating it as though this is a crime rampage city. And ignoring the fact that the highest crime rates are in these red states, the God's country, as Morgan Wallen called it on his way out of snl, which he did on purpose. So I don't know what the fuck he was complaining about. God's country is where you get the highest homicide rates. God's country is where you get these. You know, so much of the fentanyl crisis that is of course ravaging cities like San Francisco and Philly, but also the red states where people are acting like there's some sort of utopia. Have you seen that thing where right wing people on Twitter will post pictures of like this beautiful idyllic neighborhood and say, this is the America that we're fighting for? And we're like, yeah, the neighborhoods like that are in blue states in the Northeast.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, I do kind of love trad posting in the memes. One other thing on this we wanted to talk to news wise that I haven't gotten to previously is on Thursday, Trump asked the Supreme Court to essentially allow ICE to racially profile. There's an injunction currently blocking. ICE's mass arrest program was issued by a court in California because it bars ICE agents from arresting people because of four appearing Hispanic speaking Spanish or accented English. I wonder what accented English? Well, Koff has accent. Trump kind of speaks accented English.

[Cameron Caskey]

I believe that's when Shawn Mendes is singing the Senorita Song.

[Tim Miller]

Working on a particular type, Working on.

[Cameron Caskey]

A despacito by Justin Bieber, Working on.

[Tim Miller]

A particular type of job, like at a Home Depot or being present at a place where immigrants are known to gather. So you can't just pull up on people for those four reasons. And that's exactly what they've been doing. Trump's trying to get the Supreme Court to just give that a thumbs up.

[Cameron Caskey]

You know, it's become a little cliche to say, oh, gee, the thing that we all told you is gonna happen is happening. But it is worth noting and it behooves us all to point out that this is what everybody said was gonna happen. It's not just about going after the criminals like so many people say, including the MAGA people who are speaking out against this, saying, we thought this was just about the criminals. No, it is just people who are brown, appear Hispanic and are hanging out places where immigrants are known to hang out. Are you fucking kidding me? What does that even mean? And we were talking about AI in our last episode. One of the other scary things here is the fact that they're going to start using AI to profile people like this. And you see that with the way the Palantir operates. So I'm very concerned about this. But I'm curious what you're hearing, cuz you've been speaking to so many people who have been abused and preyed upon by ice.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, I just worry that racial profiling is kind of popular. You know, I do think some of the other Trump measures of the Trump immigration agenda are extremely unpopular. And it's also horrific and heinous, which is why it's unpopular, which is why I've been talking about it and talking to some of these folks. I do worry about this, that, like, it doesn't have the same resonance, but it is. I mean, it's happening. Like the fact that it's happening has been obvious from day one and the injunction is limited. Then like they, like people have been noticing and talking about this in the, in the immigrant defenders community now ever since January.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah. So I'm curious. So you're saying that some of the elements of the Trump immigration crackdowns that are unpopular with people who are otherwise really supportive of his agenda, that the profiling thing might actually be more popular than that?

[Tim Miller]

I don't know. What do you think? I don't have any actual data on this. I'm just speaking anecdotally. I just worry because, like, I don't know, I think the mask stuff is unpopular. It feels weird. It feels un American. Like going after old ladies who've been here for 50 years feels un American. Feels wrong. People aren't really for that. Like going after a group of Mexican looking dudes hanging out at the Home Depot about to do day labor. I do think that a lot of the Trump. I think the Trump people are basically for that. I guess that's what I'm saying. So I think it's an interesting story because it's like they have to explicitly say, yes, we are racially profiling, rather than just like racially profiling and trying to act like there's some other pretense for it. So I think that's interesting. I don't. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. Do you think I'm wrong?

[Cameron Caskey]

No. I totally get it. I think that pulling brown people off the streets is what a lot of people were in fact voting for. I was just curious, I guess, you know, where you think people draw the line. And I guess the masked, you know, thugs type of thing is definitely one of those places. But it's gonna be interesting to see where the protests move from here. You know, so many people write into FYPOD and ask about why Gen Z isn't showing up on the streets. But one of the things that I'm gonna be curious about is how we mobilize against what's going on with this. Because, you know, we always talk about this, but it's always worth talking about. We are all so exhausted and also overwhelmed with things to be furious about. That something like racial profiling by ice, as if they weren't already doing that, by the way. Something like the federalized agents throwing homeless people into God knows where. You know, I don't even know if people are really going to catch on to the fact that this is happening, especially since ICE getting the clearance to racially profile. I feel like everyone has already assumed that that's what was happening anyway.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, I mean, I think it was just kind of limiting because I made this injunction. Like they've been racially proselyting, essentially. But I guess the sense is that, like, ICE has created some level of internal self limitation that is. That has kept them from going totally ham on this. I don't exactly know where they have assessed that line to be, but I think that's basically the big concern. They have all these new recruits coming in. Superman thugs, the ex cops. And now they get totally unshackled from just rolling up.

[Cameron Caskey]

Do you remember when Dr. Phil was pulling up to ICE raids?

[Tim Miller]

I did. It's a little teaser, but I'm debating Dean Cain on this tomorrow on the Piers Morgan program.

[Cameron Caskey]

You're debating Dean Cain?

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. The newest ICE agent.

[Cameron Caskey]

Do you think that's going after Superman like Lex Luthor.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, I think. Isn't he. I would say you're more into the this world that I am. But isn't he just kind of like the evil Bizarro Superman? Actually kind of like that one Superman that went to Russia.

[Cameron Caskey]

Well, so the thing is, like, Dean Cain was talking about how the new Superman movie was woke because the director, James Gunn, was talking about how it's an immigrant story. Yeah. And it's like, yeah, it's an immigrant story. He's an illegal alien. He's literally an alien. And he came to the United States of America and by the way, like, assimilated really hard. Like, started carrying the American flag around. The degree to which Superman was a patriot kind of depended on who was writing him. Some comic books. He was like, shaking Ronald Reagan's hand and holding a giant American flag. Other comic books, he was sort of a globalist. But yeah, Dean Cain was complaining about Superman being woke because a masked agent threw him to the ground and sent him to a cell in an undisclosed location in the new Superman movie. But it's like, Dean, you didn't read the comic book or you're just being manipulative and everything. And Bulwark has covered this extensively, so I don't need to beat it any further into the ground. But also, like, your grandparents were held in a Japanese internment camp. Did you know that?

[Tim Miller]

I'm interested that you know it. I just found it out like 2 hours ago when I started to look into Dean Cain, before I. I started the debate tomorrow.

[Cameron Caskey]

Dean Cain said, you know what? My grandparents were Nazi ed by America. And that turned me into Superman. So if I not see more people's grandparents, perhaps we'll have a whole generation of supermen. That's my generous take on Dean Cain's whole approach here. But, yeah, I'm excited to watch that. I love watching you debate. Love watching you take on old Superman. But yeah, this is all. Well, you know, I'm nervous that these stories kind of blend together a little bit. Trump trying to get a federalized attack on D.C. and also ICE doing this profiling stuff right now. But I do think there is this real connective tissue of Donald Trump turning these agencies into his own secret but not so secret police force that really just does his bidding and doesn't hold him accountable in any way.

[Tim Miller]

We gotta do some Gen Z topics since this is a Gen Z show.

[Cameron Caskey]

Can I share a story real quick? Oh, yeah, please, everybody leave a comment down below of your favorite woke superhero. I don't know where that came From.

[Tim Miller]

Can I just say, though, really quick, I was going to interrupt you, but you were cooking. You could be a pro immigrant globalist who also likes the American flag and Ronald Reagan. All of those things are. Superman is consistent across those boards. Ronald Reagan had a lot, maybe plenty of issues for progressives, but he was a global. And he also liked immigration.

[Cameron Caskey]

The reason that I think Superman is a great superhero for just liberal left wing, progressive values is he's this person who's got all this power and instead of using it to take things for himself, he uses his power to give things to other people. And people talk about how Superman is a boring hero and he's too powerful and everything. And I say it's all about who's writing him. Because ultimately, and this is what the new Superman movie got so right. Superman is a story about somebody who could do whatever the fuck he wants. And he makes the choice, in spite of the cynicism in this world, to do what's right. Not because it's what's easy, but it's because that's how he was raised by his poor farmer parents in Kansas. And those are his values and those are the values our country ought to display. But I'm gonna tell a quick story before I talk too much about Superman. I was at a movie premiere last night for Mooch, guest of Anthony Scaramucci Jr. Guest of FYpod, will throw a picture of me and the boys up on the red carpet right now. We were at the LA premiere of his short film Money Talks. And I was chatting with my friends Elsie Snacks, the hip Hopper. Also a guest, Big Chris Carden, who's a guest on the FYPOD channel, Go subscribe, and a couple of. Couple of other members of my gang. And I was loudly talking about how I don't do drugs anymore. I never want to do drugs again, but I would love to know what crack feels like. And I was being kind of loud because it was a loud room. I was like, yeah, you know, I mean, the people who love crack, they love crack. So it must be really good. Like watching Hunter Biden talk about it when he was sitting down with Andrew callahan from Channel 5 New. Like, I feel like again, I don't even want to touch weed again. I don't want to drink alcohol, nicotine, none of that. But I would. I just wish I knew what crack was like.

[Tim Miller]

Maybe free based cocaine instead.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah. There was this adult woman with her husband and small child and they were kind of standing right next to us. And I had sort of clocked that they were there. And I was like, okay, I'm going to talk about crack a little bit more quietly.

[Tim Miller]

And it was a Biden family member.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah. She starts to walk up to me and I'm like, oh no, is she going to tell me to stop talking about crack in front of her kid? And she was like, hey, you do the show with Tim Miller, right? And I was like, yeah. And she said, I love the show. I think it's so funny. You guys are so great. You have such a great dynamic. And we just had a nice little chat. And she was like, okay, I'll let you guys have your fun. And I was like, oh, okay. So fypod listener out in the wild, hearing me loudly talk about just an interest in crack in front of her child. But I feel like if she listens to the show, she could also come to expect that from me.

[Tim Miller]

I feel like that's on brand. Thank you to that listener.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah. But anyway, you sent me something really interesting.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah. I don't know if this, if that story, that aside reflects the stats I'm about to show you because seems like you're still on the uptick when it comes to extroversion. These guys at the ft, John Byrne Murdoch does a great job with the FT doing data analysis and stuff. He looks at young people in particular. This chart came up and I saw it a couple times on my social media feed, including from one person saying, gen Z is so cooked. We are so cooked. Here's where we are. It's basically young adults personalities. The changes between 2016, 2014, really and today. What you see here is conscientiousness down. I don't really know what these numbers mean, what it means from being down from 50 to 30, but it's a lot. Chart go down on conscientiousness. Chart go up on neuroticism quite a bit. Significantly agreeableness. Chart go down. Extroversion. Chart go down. So we're getting more anxiety, less agreeableness, less extroversion, less conscientiousness, which I didn't really know what that was. Reading more that means being dependable, disciplined, committed. That's what conscientiousness is. So I don't know. That doesn't seem great.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah, I don't know how they measure these things. I don't know. I'm sure we could figure out what the, how they gathered these statistics. But just as somebody from within my generation, I can say that that all sounds about right.

[Tim Miller]

Just to give one example on how they, they do It. So they ask like specific questions underneath each of those categories. So like full and then it's self identified. Right. So some of this is like, this is self reported, so limits to that. But like, they'll. They'll ask, are you, you know, are you likely to make plans and follow through consistently? Do you persevere until something's finished? Are you easily distracted? Can you be careless? Things like that. And then they combine it into traits.

[Cameron Caskey]

Gotcha. Yeah. Well, again, speaking as somebody from within this generation, this all totally checks out. There's just been so many shifts where I'm blessed to have not only you, but just a gaggle of great millennial friends who I get to talk to and sort of ask, like, were you guys dealing with this when you were around my age? About a bunch of characteristics that I've just noticed in people in my generation. I think people have certainly become less dependable on and reliable. I think a lot of that does tie back to anxiety and existential anxiety. I think that people get anxious when there's a plan that they have coming up and they're quicker to not want to follow through. I think ghosting is something that is very much the result of the texting and messaging era in a way that maybe people weren't ghosting each other before, but I think that there's just this large antisocial movement that social media has been playing a big part in.

[Tim Miller]

That's funny. I was told by Mark Zuckerberg that social media is bringing the world together.

[Cameron Caskey]

Well, send him my warmest regards next time you guys chat. But I identified as neurotic just because I thought that neurotic meant, like, hyper fixating on details that make you anxious. What Google told me is it's a personality trait characterized by the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, worry, and depression. Like, I'm an extremely anxious person. I get debilitating panic attacks all the time. But I also love talking to people, being a reliable, dependable person. So, you know, I don't think that these things all cancel each other out. I think there's a way to strike balance between these different traits. But people are just not socializing anymore. I think that's a big part of it. There's so much antisocial behavior, and I think it's chipping away at our character. I think that it's actually making us less empathetic, and ultimately that ends up making us treat ourselves more poorly because I think that we have just lowered the bar for how we feel. Human beings deserve to be treated we're.

[Tim Miller]

Social creatures, all of us are built a little different. Shout out to the introverts out there, that's a real thing. There are people that get more energy from kind of having more alone time and having opportunity to kind of rest and recharge. But even introverts, like being an introvert does not mean being lonely and isolated, right? And nobody handles being alone and isolated well. And so I just like this extroversion thing is kind of interesting to me because it's just like, I think it's also kind of a stand in for isolation. Whatever you think about the specific questions in this kind of test, it's hard just to not note this observation, which is like throughout the. Since they began measuring this, the youngest people were the ones that said they were the most extroverted, most, whatever, social. Since the pandemic, it's flipped. Now they're the least basically since 2020. So whatever you think about how much the chart's going down, that is a notable finding that it's like it used to be young people that were saying that they were more extroverted wanted to go see other people, talk to other people. That makes sense. Young people are in school a lot of times, college, you're in more social environment. As I see this, as men start to get old, they get a little bit more weird and isolated, don't get a little set in their way. Certain types of men. And so it makes sense. So for that to flip is like not nothing. Like that's, to me, that's bad.

[Cameron Caskey]

And I don't think that everything is the boogeyman of social media, but I think most things are. And social media has really trained these algorithms, have trained us to deep devalue ourselves. And I think as I had kind of said before, like devaluing yourself and devaluing others go hand in hand. And I think the more we divest from our own, from the degree to which we all deserve perseverance and individuality and agency, the further we get away from treating ourselves with that. I think, how could we treat others? You know, it's like when you're talking about relationships and you say, you know, you can't really love somebody else if you don't love yourself. And that's not to say you don't, you can't have problems with yourself. That's not to say you have to be a narcissist, but you have to be able to treat yourself with love if you are going to give it to others. And that's just something that we aren't doing. And that's, you know, whether that's male algorithms training us to see content that turns us against women, whether that's women seeing content that makes them feel like their bodies are ugly and disgusting, they need to get on Ozempic and they need to face tune themselves. It's all part of this larger thing where in order to retain our attention, which is the most important currency for social media, they want us to feel like we have to go to their app for affirmation. Like. Like the drug. I mean, this is why you. You see all these stuff, studies about how social media apps literally interact with the dopamine in our brains. It is a drug now to go to these social media platforms and either see the versions of yourselves that you want to be, or see people liking and commenting and affirming to you that you are, in fact living up to that. So once our identities become commodified, suddenly we lose our personal connection to them. And we. When we lose that, we lose our connections to each other. And that's why it's so great that you and I have each other, because.

[Tim Miller]

It is great that we have each other. Camera.

[Cameron Caskey]

Yeah, we have a great time together. We were in LA recently. We had a blast. We were with our producer Dante, who's.

[Tim Miller]

The best, and we are in person.

[Cameron Caskey]

But it's scary.

[Tim Miller]

It is scary. But here's the thing. I don't know. My advice for young folks on this is like, there's something about the phone that also, like, not even social media. Like, everything you said about social media I agree with. I do think you stole a line from RuPaul there somewhere. But it was. How does it go? If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anybody else? Can I get an amen?

[Cameron Caskey]

I don't think RuPaul invented that.

[Tim Miller]

But you don't think RuPaul invented that dot. I think RuPaul. I'm pretty sure RuPaul invented it.

[Cameron Caskey]

I met RuPaul once. We'll throw up a picture right now of me and RuPaul anyway.

[Tim Miller]

Jealous. Anyhow, the phone, the communication on the phone is in some ways not natural to the human condition. And how many times have you thought you were in a fight with somebody over text and then you see them in person and you're like, oh, I was just misreading that. Or the context was a little off. Or I don't know, maybe they're just grumpy in the fucking moment they sent it to me. You know what? I Mean, that happens all the time. And I worry that the more your communication gets filtered through it, I can understand why your extroversion would go down because you get fucking paranoid.

[Cameron Caskey]

I thought you were mad at me the other day because I sent something like, totally normal that was just either us scheduling something or, like, me giving you an idea. And you responded in all lowercase sure. And all lowercase sure does have a tinge of I'm mad at you. I don't think that's what you were communicating. I think you were just like, sure, okay. But there's definitely so many ways for us to misread each other on text. And I am very much an are you mad at me? Person to everybody in my life, including in person, during regular social interactions. This is just anyone who wants to know some behind the scenes fy pod. I'll make a jab at Tim on the show and he'll, like, jab me back. And then I'll text him after the episode like, hey, man, I'm so sorry about that. And Tim will be like, oh, my God, we were fucking around, right? But there's also a way that the phone can fucking make you more social. Like, so many of the most important relationships in my life are friends that I've had for a really long time. And the way that I stay in touch with them, if they're still in Parkland, if they're, you know, where I am right now in Los Angeles and I'm in New York, like, texting somebody once a week. Hey, thinking about you. How are you doing? Swiping up on each other's Instagram stories to say just even LOL or great picture and stuff like that. It's a way that you can remain more connected. That is just. It's gardening the seeds of a relationship and allowing it to grow over time. So it's not like the phone and social media inherently isolate us from each other. It's about the way that you use it.

[Tim Miller]

You gotta have the seeds there. You know, you gotta go out there.

[Cameron Caskey]

In person, you gotta garden, you gotta tend to your relationships. And there are so many people that I know who don't text people. Hey, just wanted to say hi. Hey, just thought about you. And they say, well, I don't wanna bother somebody. And it's like, I really, truly believe most people love to get a text from a friend that's like, hey, just thought of you, sending you my best. And those are the things that tend to relationships and keep them going for years.

[Tim Miller]

Well, this is fypod where conscientiousness is a little bit down. Actually, we didn't have a guest this weekend because we had some scheduling issues. Sorry about that. Neuroticism also up. Agreeableness. Agreeableness is up. We were pretty agreeable this episode. Extraversion up. So things are doing good here at FY Pod. All right, everybody.

[Cameron Caskey]

And everybody, I just wanted to put plug something real quick. I'm going to be going on AEW wrestler Serea's podcast, Rule breakers tomorrow, where I'm going to be hooked up to a machine that simulates period cramps. So if anybody wants to watch that.

[Tim Miller]

I was interested until I heard the details. Good luck with that.

[Cameron Caskey]

With FYpod, we're Tim Miller and Cam Caskey. Stay tuned. We got a lot of great stuff coming up.

[Tim Miller]

Bye.