Can Garbage Culture Be Stopped? Plus, Salena Zito’s Gripping New Book

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "Can Garbage Culture Be Stopped? Plus, Salena Zito’s Gripping New Book"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Ruthless Podcast
• Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook
• Release Date: July 18, 2025
• Description: A variety program where Smug, Holmes, Duncan, and Ashbrook elevate next-generation conservative talk with sharp analyses of daily news and cultural phenomena.

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Introduction

In this dynamic episode of the Ruthless Podcast, hosts Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook tackle pressing cultural issues, dissect political maneuvers, and feature an exclusive interview with bestselling author Selena Zito. The episode interweaves humor, critical analysis, and insightful discussions, offering listeners a comprehensive look into the current socio-political landscape.

1. The "Gay Chinese Robot" and Cultural Infiltration

The episode kicks off with a discussion about the emergence of a "gay Chinese robot," sparking conversations about cultural representation and technological advancements.

• Michael Duncan (00:00): Opens with a humorous take, "Is it more embarrassing to get caught like that or losing half your net worth at a Coldplay concert?"
• Josh Holmes (11:12): Explains, "It was built by Unitree Robotics, based in China. The Risbot adapts its appearance based on the city it visits—cowboy hats in Austin and pride flags in LA."
• John Ashbrook (13:25): Adds a satirical angle, questioning the legal implications: "Do you actually think that under California law you would be charged with a hate crime for trying to fight back against a robot who's trying to kill you?"

Notable Quote:

Josh Holmes (14:42): "It feels like an infiltration is what it feels like."

2. Smug vs. JD Vance: The Immigration Op-Ed Parody

The hosts delve into a viral parody of a Biden border advisor's op-ed, highlighting tensions and community responses in Ohio.

• Josh Holmes (03:21): Introduces the segment, "We have the gay robot and a man pretending to be a gender fluid poet from the Nigerian diaspora."
• Michael Duncan (04:48): Shares his initial disbelief: "I thought that had to have been made up, but it was actually real."
• John Ashbrook (06:04): Emphasizes Ohio's communal spirit: "There’s no group on earth with a chip on their shoulder like people from Ohio."

Notable Quotes:

John Ashbrook (05:11): "We've had down times. We've had good times. It is a very, very funny shot."

Michael Duncan (09:12): "Forever, fuck you, Bengals."

3. Rescissions Package and Funding Cuts to NPR & PBS

The conversation shifts to the recent rescissions package passed by Congress, focusing on significant budget cuts to public broadcasting entities like NPR and PBS.

• John Ashbrook (22:14): Celebrates the passage as a fulfillment of campaign promises, "This administration has worked so hard to deliver on the promises they made during the campaign to actually start cutting spending."
• Michael Duncan (23:00): Criticizes the cuts: "Cutting federal funding for NPR and PBS is a direct attack on unbiased journalism."
• Selena Zito (39:10) and John Ashbrook (25:43): Discuss the hypocrisy of NPR's funding claims and the reality behind their financial sources.

Notable Quotes:

Amy Klobuchar (23:00): "Remember, this is money that was already decided on by a Republican House, a Democratic Senate. It was a bipartisan agreement."

John Ashbrook (25:43): "They are pushing back on corporate funding under the guise of nonpartisanship."

4. Exclusive Interview with Selena Zito: "Butler"

The highlight of the episode is an in-depth interview with Selena Zito, discussing her New York Times bestseller "Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland."

• Selena Zito (39:41): Provides historical context, "People often say history doesn’t repeat itself. Well, it doesn’t, but it does rhyme."
• John Ashbrook (42:55): Draws parallels to George Washington's near-death experience, emphasizing the book's exploration of pivotal moments.
• Selena Zito (46:16): Shares personal anecdotes revealing Trump's empathy and leadership during crises.

Notable Quotes:

Selena Zito (46:33): "Don't think this is necessarily the plan for you, and I can't wait to meet you."

John Ashbrook (42:29): "The book reads like a novel. It's almost impossible to imagine that it's actually truth."

5. Variety Segment: Coldplay Concert Affair

A humorous segment unfolds as the hosts discuss a viral incident involving a CEO and his HR chief caught in an apparent affair at a Coldplay concert.

• Michael Duncan (64:16): Ponders, "Is it more embarrassing to get caught like that or losing half your net worth at a Coldplay concert?"
• Comfortably Smug (63:24): Analyzes the personal fallout, "She's the HR chief, which is just a great tidbit."
• John Ashbrook (67:04): Speculates on the implications, "If HR says it's okay, what does that say about corporate culture?"

Notable Quotes:

John Ashbrook (61:39): "Either they're having an affair or they're just very sharp."

Josh Holmes (68:45): "How could she possibly deserve this?"

6. Comedy and Cancel Culture: Shane Gillis at ESPYs

The hosts critique Shane Gillis’s performance as the ESPYs host, examining the intersection of comedy, authenticity, and cancel culture.

• Josh Holmes (75:37): Praises Gillis: "Shane Gillis is being the comedian because you did something way more offensive."
• John Ashbrook (73:53): Highlights Gillis's humor as a reflection of authentic, unfettered comedy: "Shane Gillis is being the comedian."

Notable Quotes:

Josh Holmes (71:27): "Shane Gillis just tells the audience, I know you're a fraud."

Michael Duncan (76:31): "She’s got to keep getting her ass kicked until she takes it."

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with enthusiastic endorsements of Selena Zito’s work and discussions about the show's partnership with Fox, emphasizing the importance of audience engagement and authenticity in media. The hosts reinforce their commitment to delivering unfiltered, honest content, celebrating their role in the changing landscape of conservative talk.

Final Remarks:

John Ashbrook (60:15): "Our audience is the most important thing that we will ever have. We love you and you are the reason for this show."

Josh Holmes (60:00): "Thank you so much, Selena Zito. And thank you so much to our listeners, new and old."

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Key Takeaways:

• Cultural Representation: Exploration of how technology and media influence societal norms and perceptions.
• Political Analysis: Insight into legislative changes affecting public media and broader political strategies.
• Journalistic Integrity: Emphasis on authentic, grassroots-driven journalism as exemplified by Selena Zito’s work.
• Comedy and Free Speech: Examination of the role of comedy in challenging societal norms and the impacts of cancel culture.
• Audience Engagement: Reinforcement of the show's dedication to its audience, highlighting the importance of listener and viewer feedback.

This episode of the Ruthless Podcast offers a blend of humor, critical analysis, and heartfelt discussions, making it a compelling listen for those interested in conservative perspectives on contemporary issues.

Transcript

[Michael Duncan]

Is it more embarrassing to get caught like that or that, like you're losing half your net worth at a Coldplay concert?

[Comfortably Smug]

I think it's. I don't think anyone has taken an.

[Michael Duncan]

L that hard, like, in history.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you actually think that under California law you would be charged with a hate crime for trying to fight back against a robot who's trying to kill you? If the robot is wearing rainbow, I.

[Michael Duncan]

Like the framing of your, like, fighting back because that is how we should treat this.

[John Ashbrook]

Hardworking Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. Now is the time to unleash our nation's energy to create jobs, secure our future, and make life better, more affordable, and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Michael Duncan]

Keep the faith, hold the line and own the lids.

[John Ashbrook]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. I'm Michael Duncan. Along with me, comfortably smug and John Ashbrook. No. Josh Holmes. Hmm. Sad.

[John Ashbrook]

Very sad. We miss our friend so dearly, but he is out there working away and hopefully we hear from him during this show.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes. Yeah. So for the listeners and viewers, you're gonna hear from Josh Holmes. He has some great takes on some very important segments here on the show today. And we have a banger of a show, guys, it's Friday. Welcome to Friday. You did it. You made it to the end of the week. Congratulations. We have a great show for you. You're going to absolutely love it.

[John Ashbrook]

It's going to be so good.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, there's so much that's going on.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So, okay, so first of all, gay robot. We got a. We have a gay Chinese robot.

[Michael Duncan]

This is not Mad Libs. This is real life right now.

[Josh Holmes]

This is real life. We have a gay Chinese robot. We have a man who is pretending to be a gender fluid poet from the Nigerian diaspora. We're gonna. You know, it's. It's not all candy. It's a lot of. It's Friday. A lot of candy. A lot of candy. There's some vegetables. We're gonna talk about the rescissions package. We got a fantastic interview, and I mean this. Sincerely, Selena Zito.

[Michael Duncan]

Huge.

[John Ashbrook]

Huge. She just hit number one in the New York Times bestseller list. They're making a movie about it. And she's going to make some news. I have a feeling in her conversation.

[Josh Holmes]

She'S a 10 of 10 journalist. She's also a 10 of 10 human being.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And it's so important that people like her have. You know, I'm just so happy for. I'm just so happy for. You know, it's fantastic. It's awesome. You're not going to want to miss that, that interview. And we have great variety, like the. Some of our best variety. I think it's gonna be a fantastic debate. I know there's a different opinions here on the panel, but we have a.

[John Ashbrook]

Special surprise for the Variety segment. An old throwback that you will not want to. Want to miss.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. For our new listeners and viewers, you might not be familiar, but for the OGs. For the OGs. You're really going to love our special guest for Variety here at the end. But the first thing we have to do, I got to do is the smug versus J.D. vance debate.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Highly contentious. I had no idea. I had no idea. Take. Take off like this.

[Josh Holmes]

Right? So, you know, there was this op ed that was put in, I think was the New York Times.

[Michael Duncan]

Is the New York Times.

[Josh Holmes]

The New York Times. And it was from one of these border czars under Joe Biden. Right. And, and the headline was, I was one of Biden's border advisors. Here's how to fix our immigration system. Which, which is just like, that's A1A content for you as a guy who's like the world's best Internet troll.

[Michael Duncan]

So when I first saw this, I thought it was made up, right. I thought that like, this had to have been this. There's no way this is real. I had to actually search it and it was actually real. And so then I saw there was a ton of people on X who were taking this screenshot of. I was, you know, Biden's border advisor. Here's how you fix our immigration system. I took that screenshot like everyone else and the meme basically became like, write your own version of this.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Duncan]

And can we get that graphic? My version was, I'm a Cincinnati Bengals player. Here's how you win Super Bowls.

[Josh Holmes]

Brutal.

[Michael Duncan]

Brutal. It's absolutely brutal because, like, you know, as a guy, your first thought is, how can I take something and attack one of my friends?

[Josh Holmes]

Exactly.

[Michael Duncan]

So my intent, of course is, is I'm going to attack, you know, one of Ohio's favorite songs, John Ashbrook, right here.

[Josh Holmes]

How did you, you know, how did you accept that?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, to be honest with you, once he posted that, there's so many people who follow smug out there on Twitter, all of them Kept just tagging my name. They're like, what are you going to do? As Brooke, how dare he do this to our Bengals? What are you going to respond with? And, I mean, I was like, okay, it's pretty funny.

[Josh Holmes]

It is funny.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, I love. I love my team. We've had down times. We've had good times. We've had a lot of down times. It is a very, very funny shot. And you just sort of took over the Twitter sphere when you did that.

[Michael Duncan]

So this is a. This becomes a common theme once you deal with folks from Ohio. They roll deep and, like, if they.

[Josh Holmes]

Feel slighted, like, it's the inferiority complex of Ohio.

[Michael Duncan]

There's no group on earth with a chip on their shoulder like people from Ohio. And they roll together. And so then JD Vance replies to it, right?

[John Ashbrook]

As someone from Ohio, Bengals fan, your.

[Michael Duncan]

Play is not cool. And so, like, if JD does anything, there's gonna be now, like, 10 million eyeballs.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, okay. So I gotta know, like, smug Ashbrook, who sent this to JD which one of you did? Did you text it to him?

[John Ashbrook]

Here's the thing. You will never get an answer to that question out of either of us. I mean, smug, maybe you wanna answer. I'm not gonna answer it. You will never get an an out of either of us. I will tell you what I think is true. I think that that guy is so dialed into what people from Ohio are.

[Josh Holmes]

Saying online or making it about Ohio.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, it's true. People from Ohio care about their state. You know, like, somebody's got to. You clearly don't. From Indiana.

[Josh Holmes]

Rude.

[John Ashbrook]

And so.

[Michael Duncan]

And so it starts taking off, but then it escalates even further. Can we get that video?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, let's play that video.

[Selena Zito]

The New York Times said just a couple of days ago, and I quote, I was one of Biden's border advisors. Here's how to fix our immigration system. What would he know about fixing our immigration system? It was the Biden administration that broke our immigration system. So we've been having a little bit of fun around the office. So the Department of Homeland Security, their take on this was. I was Humpty Dumpty. Here's how to sit on a wall. But be careful what you wish for. Now we're in northeastern Pennsylvania. I assume that this is Eagles territory. Is that right?

[Hollywood Hen]

Okay.

[Selena Zito]

Awesome dissension here. We've got a lot of Eagles fans, but not 100% Eagles fans here. But congratulations, by the way, on last year. But this is what a buddy of mine sent me. He said I'm a Cincinnati Bengals player. Here's how you win Super Bowls.

[John Ashbrook]

And that.

[Selena Zito]

That cut a little deep for the football fans out there will know. That was not a cool thing.

[Josh Holmes]

It was fantastic.

[John Ashbrook]

Just incredible. And you saw the Charlie Spearing tweet about it. He writes for the Daily Mail. Very sought after reporter, very well sourced. And that guy got it right to the quick.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. And so then it becomes a whole thing. And like, for the last three remaining people in Ohio who didn't see it, they now know about this. And as I imagine JD Intended, they all roll up and try to hold me accountable.

[Josh Holmes]

How dare you?

[John Ashbrook]

Well, the truth is smug. We're used to pushing back on people attacking our team.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, clearly. So, like, I went back, I pulled up the Tweet after like 24 hours. The top three replies. I've got JD Vance, I've got John Ashbrook, I've got Trey Stevens from Andorra. He's opening the biggest factory, like, in the history of Ohio in Ohio. And still he's like, no, must defend Ohio.

[John Ashbrook]

It reminded me of 2004. You guys make fun of me for being old. Reminded me of 2004 when John Kerry attacked the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, like two months before the election. And everybody was like, you're such an idiot. How could he do that? And then, of course, it cost him. George W. Won the election.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, so I'm going to tell a quick story. Ashbrook knows this, but if you want to know the reason why a guy from Indiana who now hates Ohio. The reason why I really hate the Cincinnati Bengals is I ha. I'm telling the story, pal. You comfortable with that?

[John Ashbrook]

Go for it.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm gonna tell it.

[John Ashbrook]

Go for it.

[Josh Holmes]

I had a family member who went to a Colts game at Cincinnati. Road game, who had a medical event at the stadium and had to go out in a stretcher into an ambulance. And they were wearing a Colts jersey. And the Cincinnati Bengals fans were cheering as they were loaded into the ambulance.

[Michael Duncan]

No way, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

And so for that reason, forever, fuck you, Bengals.

[Michael Duncan]

They are. They are going to be cursed for.

[John Ashbrook]

All attorney to never win a Super Bowl.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah. Because of that.

[John Ashbrook]

Not our best moment. Well deserved.

[Josh Holmes]

Well deserved.

[John Ashbrook]

Not our best moment.

[Josh Holmes]

Not your best moment.

[John Ashbrook]

On behalf of Bengals fans. Not our best moment.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, it's okay. Well, so coming up, we have the. You know, the gay robot. We have so much stuff.

[John Ashbrook]

I can't believe it's real.

[Michael Duncan]

So much is real.

[Josh Holmes]

And you're gonna hear. You're gonna hear from Josh Holmes. He has a Lot of thoughts on all of this right after this. America's beverage companies are investing in America. We're American companies making American products with American workers in America's homet. We're local bottlers and manufacturers operating in all 50 states employing more than 275,000Americans in good paying jobs delivering for the nation. Because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Beverage Association. Okay, so we have this gay Chinese robot running wild in la.

[John Ashbrook]

How is it real?

[Josh Holmes]

It's real, pal. It's real. And Lee was telling me that this robot apparently has made a lot of appearances in other places outside of la. That when they took him down to Austin he was wearing a cowboy hat. But when they took him to la, they chose a different vibe for this robot.

[John Ashbrook]

You gotta be kidding.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's called the Risbot. Risbot? What the hell are we doing? We're doing Zoomer. Talk about AI now.

[John Ashbrook]

Evidently.

[Michael Duncan]

So.

[Josh Holmes]

It was built by Unitree Robotics, based in China. Fantastic. I love that. I love the idea of random Chinese robots roaming our cities. Isn't that fantastic?

[John Ashbrook]

That makes everybody feel comfortable.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay, let's go ahead and play that clip.

[Hollywood Hen]

That is a robot. What the fuck?

[John Ashbrook]

It's got rainbow. Wait, it's undies. Rainbow.

[Michael Duncan]

That wristbands for our listeners. That thing was like running like a. Like a person. Like that was weird.

[Josh Holmes]

So it's got like pride rainbow stuff on its arms and it's hips.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

What is this Risbot?

[Michael Duncan]

And, and like pride flags on its arms or whatever. Okay, so, so, so that's not what I imagined it would be like. So I thought it was going to be like. Have you seen the robots that like Chick Fil A is using for delivery? Like I think in Atlanta they've rolled out. It basically just looks like a shopping cart covered in plastic.

[Josh Holmes]

Right?

[Michael Duncan]

Like I didn't know it'd be like. It looks like a little mini person. It's kind of scary, honestly. It looks weird watching that thing run.

[John Ashbrook]

But very.

[Michael Duncan]

My thinking was so like in San Francisco they have these like. Again, it looks like a mini, little shopping cart covered in plastic robot that'll like deliver stuff. And you constantly see videos people posted those robots where like some, some like homeless person is just gonna like rip the thing open, take whatever's in there. There's a horrible video of a homeless person just like using it as a toilet. The life of a robot. They're not gonna Forget this. You know, they're gonna, they're gonna punish us. But I was like, I wonder if they made this robot, like, gay in la so it'd be. They could try to charge you with like a hate crime if you try robbing it or beating up the robot. But I guess it has no purpose. It was just like running around wearing a cowboy. So it's not like one of these delivery bots or something. It just has no purpose. A hate crime. I guarantee Gavin would try to charge you with a hate crime if you, like, drop kick this thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Do you. Do you actually think that under California law you would be charged with a hate crime for trying to fight back against a robot who's trying to kill you if the robot is wearing.

[Michael Duncan]

So I like the framing of your, like, fighting back because that is how we should treat this. I mean, the robots, it's one thing of like, y' all saw that Elon Musk has that like on. On Grok that like, now you can have like a virtual girl talking to you. It's. It's wholly different when it's now a gay Chinese robot in real life. So you are fighting back.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, I mean, I bet Gavin.

[Michael Duncan]

Would try to charge you with a hate crime for that.

[Josh Holmes]

So the way that I read it though was like, this company wants people to love this robot, right? And so they're going to dress it up however they want to dress it up for the audience that they think they're serving. So they take it to Texas and they put a cowboy hat on, right? And they take it to California and they're going to put it, you know, pride flag stuff. It feels like an infiltration is what it feels like.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, it's hard to interpret it.

[Michael Duncan]

You're not wrong. And it's actually sad because, like, the Chinese government's like, boy, I bet we could make this robot gay. And they would 100 let us, like, surveil and map their territory.

[Josh Holmes]

And they're 100 right. They're 100 right. They're 100 Right. Okay. So that's not the only thing that I think is pretty remarkable in this sort of woke space. There's a fantastic article from the Free Press about this guy, this white guy, you know, just like a white guy trying to do a little bit of trolling here for the woke mob that won't die for whatever reason. He decides that he would like to submit as a test, basically a troll, some poems, and he's going to be a gender fluid person from the Nigerian diaspora. And submit all of these poems to see, like, maybe I can get some of these things published. Right.

[John Ashbrook]

So I saw the story this morning, and I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Is this tailor made for us or what? The subheader is what caught my attention. A young poet pretended to be a gender fluid member of the Nigerian diaspora and wrote intentionally bad poems. He says he got 47 of them published. Think about the people who are publishing poetry when they receive that, and they're like, oh, you know what? Seems to check all the boxes. Yeah, right in there.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like a college admissions program, you know? Let's put up that graphic. Graphic three, please. Yeah. This is remarkable. Look at that guy. He's very proud of himself.

[Michael Duncan]

And he should be. And I mean, so this is. He should be. Because this is the problem with DEI with wokeness. If you haven't yet, folks, I highly recommend you read Clarence Thomas autobiography. Where he really goes in on why he was against affirmative action is because he had worked so hard to get where he is. If affirmative action exists, and he walks into an office, everyone looks at him and is like, well, there's affirmative action. Pick. You know, it hurts. The cause of America is fundamentally built on who an individual is, what they're capable of, and that's how far you can go.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Everyone gets an even playing field. Everyone starts at the same spot. How hard you push is where you go.

[Josh Holmes]

So our dear friend Josh Holmes, who couldn't be here for this episode, unfortunately, I think it's only appropriate that we give him an opportunity because he can't be here, and he'd love to be here. He needs to weigh in on this. Let's go to his submission.

[Trey Stevens]

Hey, boys, back up here in New York getting a little work done. Lady Liberty in the background there. I don't know if you can see her, but she says hello. Anyway, I can't resist the temptation to weigh in on the Free press story about the dude who, as a joke, submitted, I think, what amounts to illiterate gay porn poems.

[Michael Duncan]

He's not wrong, dude.

[Trey Stevens]

And then subsequently submitted them, and they were given awards. And the trick was, of course, because you submitted them under a pseudonym that was like a gay black guy or something like that. And so, of course, work of art. Work of art, no question. So I think that the problem is here, I read the poem, and my sense is that if I read to you what the poem said, I have absolutely no doubt that Fox would cancel our contract. So I'm just gonna try to describe it as Best. I. It's as if the dumbest second grader in the world had an infatuation with banging William Shakespeare. It doesn't strike me as high art. Apparently there's a market for that. But this dude then came out and told Free Press all about what he had done. And it really is like a perfect thing that we've been talking about on the program for quite some time about just an absolute monument to the dumbest time in American history with DEI and everything else. Just a perfect story for that. If you want to read it, you gotta go there. I don't suggest it though. I mean, I did a lot of growing up in that two minutes that it took me to read what this guy had written. Concepts, frankly, that, well, he'd never crossed my mind. So you got to get on in on that. And then just quickly, on the gay robot thing, how do we know this thing is gay? Is it just because it's wearing the gay paraphernalia, the flags and stuff?

[Michael Duncan]

Amazing.

[Trey Stevens]

Because I mean, there is no axe that would suggest that this robot's gay. And I would just simply suggest that, like, we shouldn't be so quickly labeling everyone one way or another until there's some sort of proof of concept. The robot didn't tell you he was gay. So until I see that robot banging some dude, it's just a robot. But it's roaming the streets of San Francisco, so I don't know. Suspect. Anyway, fellas, I hope you have an absolutely wonderful day. Thanks for singing and dancing and entertaining while I'm out here trying to fill coffers a little bit. And we'll see you boys next week.

[Michael Duncan]

Oh, dude, that's a really good take.

[John Ashbrook]

You know what? He's not wrong. It is quite pretty presumptuous to assume that just because the robot's wearing the rainbow armbands and the rainbow undies that he's actually gay. You don't know.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I, I think that is fair. It's not sentient.

[Michael Duncan]

Although how old is the robot? It could be like a child. Like, you know, one of these parents were like, oh yeah, all of a sudden my child is trans. The robot could be the victim here.

[Josh Holmes]

The robot is definitely the victim. 100% right.

[Michael Duncan]

That's what the Chinese want you to think.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly how quickly you fell into this.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, that's so funny. I love that he. And I think, I think he, he, he got on the thing that we didn't discuss. When it comes to the gender fluid Nigerian diaspora poet, I'm not going to Read these poems he submitted because they're fucking filthy.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, they're horrific.

[Josh Holmes]

They're horrific. I just can't do it.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah, no, and, and if, if you did, your mother would be very upset.

[Josh Holmes]

She'd be mad. She'd be a little mad. You know what? She might actually like it, though.

[John Ashbrook]

I don't think so, Michael. I think she would be very disappointed. And I'm glad you chose to respect your mother in this situation.

[Josh Holmes]

That's exactly what I'm doing, listener and viewer. It's just because I love my mother. Okay, so the next thing we have to talk about here is this rescissions package that went through Congress again. This is codifying everything that the Trump administration wants to do with these Doge cuts. Right. Like, you couldn't put that in the reconciliation bill because it touched a different part of the budget that didn't qualify for the reconciliation. We talked about this. We talked about this whole thing. We got it done. It's very, very important that like, and Speaker Johnson talked about this when he came in here on the show. It's like, we're not doing the big beautiful bill and then we're going to wash our hands of this problem that we have for overspending in Washington. We, like, we're going to do things. We're going to do it through this, we're going to do it through the appropriations process, we're going to do it through other reconciliation bills. It's fantastic that they're still on the ball. Yep.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And I'll tell you, it was very nice last night to tune in to the news and find out that it had passed the Senate because this administration has worked so hard to deliver on the promises they made during the campaign or that our great president made during the campaign to actually start cutting spending. That's exactly what this bill does. And I know there's a lot of it you want to get into, but one of the things that cuts is federal funding for NPR and pbs. Let's go to left wing outlets that have for too many years benefited from tax dollars funding what it is they're trying to do, which is propagandize for the left.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I, I think the thing I find most fascinating about this whole discussion on the rescissions package is these Democrats are just like, they're just playing the same playbook over and over and over again. On the Big Beauty. What do they say? Well, people are going to die.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, which is what they've said forever on everything. Right. Like net neutral as we always say on net neutrality, like, oh, well, people are going to die if we don't uphold net neutrality. And they're, they say, well, if you don't fund NPR and pbs, well, people are going to die. Which seems like a fucking crazy thing to say. You know, it's an insane thing to say. I think we got to go to that Amy Klobuchar clip, please.

[Amy Klobuchar]

This is completely outrageous. Remember, this is money that was already decided on by a Republican House, a Democratic Senate. It was a bipartisan agreement. And if they can just start to go in there and take away these incredibly important funds, the sky's the limit. So that's my first point to our Republican colleagues. What are you doing? I guess you'll just rubber stamp anything Donald Trump wants. But the second one is, look at what this is for. Just as we've seen these weather disasters, including horrifically in Texas, but the fires in Arizona and the like in many remote areas.

[John Ashbrook]

Come on.

[Amy Klobuchar]

In states like Florida, with Hurricane Seasoned upon us, they rely on a series of public broadcasting to get alerts out. And when it works well, when you actually have a system set up, it works well. This is not the time to cut back on public radio and public tv.

[Josh Holmes]

Unbelievable. You know, the thing that's just, just so fascinating to me in this is you would think that NPR and PBS require millions, maybe billions of dollars from the taxpayers in order to exist as, as entities, which of course, is not a real thing until you maybe want to claw back some of the money the taxpayer gives them. And they act like everyone's going to die if they don't get this money.

[John Ashbrook]

No, no, that, that's exactly right. And first of all, these are partisan networks. Let's not, like, fall into the trap that, oh, they're trying their best to be a public service. And if you need proof, Lee, can you just put up the graphic of the woman who runs npr? There she is in a Biden cap and a mask campaigning for Joe Biden. Now, this is the same woman who claims over and over again, oh, no, we're nonpartisan. We're nonpartisan. You know the other thing they claim, Conveniently, in times when they're not about to be cut, they often push that only 1% of our funding comes from the federal government.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, boy, I haven't heard that lately.

[John Ashbrook]

Dude. They say that as strange. They say it as, like, a point of pride. It's like we're raising this money. We have corporate partners. We don't care about the government money until their ass is on the line. And this week, thanks to the majority of John Thune and Mike Johnson and the great leadership of President Trump. Thank you. Their ass was finally on the line and their talking point of only 1% of the money comes from taxpayers suddenly vanished.

[Michael Duncan]

Exactly. Exactly. And this CEO that NPR has, Kathryn Marr, I'm sure everyone at this point has already seen all the video of her giving a TED Talk being like, you know, independent facts. I don't think that's what's important. They can sometimes prevent us from coming to a consensus. I think it's more important about ideas that we need done. That's like, listen, we don't care about facts. It's about the activism. She's wearing a Biden hat right in front of you. What more proof do you need that this is not a, you know. Oh, it's just, you know, taxpayer funded information.

[John Ashbrook]

It's. Dude, I will tell you, it is so offensive in an era when everybody can access whatever information they want thanks to the Internet. I mean, you can get Twitter, you could get Blue sky, you could, you could get anything you want from the Internet and act like they're the only arbiter of what people are able to see or consume or anything else. Their funding is very interesting, too. I told you about the 1% amount that they claim only comes from the federal government. I will tell you, according to the NPR website, they say where the rest of their money comes from. They say 36% of their annual budget comes from corporate sponsors. And, and I got to think that some portion of that also comes from viewers like you and comes from millionaires and billionaires who bequeath their fortunes upon their death to that organization. But this is where it gets interesting to me. The next biggest chunk of their funding comes from program fees that local stations pay back to the national organizations in order to run Morning Edition and Sesame street or whatever the hell that they're paying for. So here's my question. Is it just that taxpayers are screwing these local stations or is it that the national organizations are charging fees that are way too high? And if you follow the money, which you always should follow the money, this.

[Michael Duncan]

Is a really way it works.

[John Ashbrook]

The way it works in public media is that all of us taxpayers, we give our money to the government. The government then appropriates that money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to local member stations. The local member stations pay fees to NPR and PBS to be able to license outrageous dude out fucking rich outrageous stations. So if you listen to the message from Amy Klobuchar and Democrats and the national libs at NPR and pbs, if they actually care about these local stations, maybe they should cut their fee.

[Josh Holmes]

So they're charging these local affiliates this fee, and they're coming to us, hat in hand, being like, you got to raise the money for this whole operation.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly right.

[Josh Holmes]

Which is insane. And the other thing that pisses me off about the whole, you know. And brought to you by viewers like you.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

No, me, right? No, by mandate from the government.

[Michael Duncan]

Stolen from.

[Josh Holmes]

Not by my choice. They make it act like we all chose as they passed the hat, like we were in church on Sunday and it, you know, it came across and I put the money in, right? It wasn't my fucking choice.

[John Ashbrook]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

Fuck you.

[John Ashbrook]

Right? And so their talking point is, oh, only 1% comes from the government. We all know in reality, a lot more of it comes from regular people. Oh, you lost your job. You still have to pay taxes. You have to pay the piper. PBS needs their program fee.

[Michael Duncan]

And that's the thing is, like, it outrages me. You could be a mechanic living in Wyoming. You could be a farmer living in Arizona. But this lady, Catherine Marr, is giving her TED Talks, and she's like, no.

[Hollywood Hen]

No, no, no, no.

[Michael Duncan]

You got to give some of your paycheck to me.

[John Ashbrook]

Can we put that picture back up of her in the Biden hat?

[Michael Duncan]

That's the lady who demands to have a piece of your paycheck. Every single American in this country, she wants your money.

[Josh Holmes]

Sick.

[John Ashbrook]

And if you listen to Amy Klobuchar, she's like, what about if there's a weather event? Get the fuck outta here. Like, you see a tornado coming and you're like, you know what? I really need to find out what Steve Inskeep says about it from Washington. Nobody does.

[Michael Duncan]

No one told me about this. All Things Considered. Wow.

[John Ashbrook]

It's bullshit.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's crazy. Crazy. Well, I hope we just save a boatload of money from NPR out of this $9 billion. $9 billion.

[John Ashbrook]

It's real money.

[Michael Duncan]

That's a lot of your money.

[John Ashbrook]

People work so hard for what they earn, and they believe in our country, and they follow the rules, so they pay their taxes on an annual basis. Unfortunately, Washington, for too long, has taken that money and used it for what they want.

[Josh Holmes]

That's fantastic, dude. Thank you for that deep dive. That was awesome, dude. That was awesome. So we get that $9 billion. That's our question of the day. It's our question of the day. We get that $9 billion from NPR and PBS. What do we use it for. What do we use it for? You got some great ideas. I want to see them in the comments. You got to like and subscribe. What do we. What do we say? Like and subscribe. If you wish to.

[John Ashbrook]

If you wish to opine.

[Michael Duncan]

That's right.

[John Ashbrook]

And we read every single comment. You guys know this. We go through them in an exhaustive way, all of us together, because we want to know what the audience is saying, because the audience is what builds this show.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right, absolutely. And when we come back, we're going to talk about all your comments about, you know, the Vox deal, Ruthless, the future, and all of these things. We want to answer all of those questions that you have. We've been reading all of them on YouTube. We've got a lot of feedback from the audience, which we love. We're going to get to that right after this.

[John Ashbrook]

President Trump's one big, beautiful bill is now the law of the land. A fantastic achievement that will kickstart our economy, strengthen immigration enforcement, and unleash American energy. I feel confident saying that no other organization put as much time, effort and money into making this happen as my good friends at Americans for Prosperity. Listen to this. Americans for Prosperity had 1500 meetings with Congress, contacted a million voters, and held more than 750 community events. And. And now that the bill is passed, AFP plans to defend those who took tough votes to support the President's agenda. That's the kind of grassroots activism Americans for Prosperity is famous for. As we move on to other important issues, like spending restraint, it's good to know AFP and its grassroots army is locked and loaded. Want to join a winning team? Check out [e-mail] that's AFP. Volunteer.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, when you like and subscribe, you get the chance to opine. And that's what we love about the Ruthless variety program. And all of you, and just at the top, I want to say thank you. This has been a huge week for this show, and it's not possible without you listening, watching, commenting. And we want to answer all of those questions you might have about the show, the future, all of these sorts of things. And we don't do that unless we can start with the Voice.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, so the first one comes from Mochi the argorist. And Mochi writes, whatever happens, don't let the corporate censor you. Stay honest to your roots and smug. Better not pull any punches I'm throwing.

[Michael Duncan]

Even more.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

I've never, never in my life have I ever seen him Pull a punch. Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Just for that, we're gonna. We're gonna do more punches.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, it looks like I gotta throw more punches.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I would not worry about that at all.

[Michael Duncan]

Comment 2.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Comes from Marty C. Marty C. Writes, well, there goes the cursing.

[Josh Holmes]

Fuck. Shit.

[John Ashbrook]

Yes.

[Michael Duncan]

I invite you to listen to the previous 15 minutes of the show.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. Marty, we will fucking stick to every single piece of bullshit that we call out about Democrats and the stupid media. You can count on that.

[Josh Holmes]

Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah. All right, so the last comment here is from Pam. Pam says please keep your editorial independence. Stay ruthless, Pam. I don't think you have to worry about that.

[John Ashbrook]

No, that's exactly right. And you know, Smug has had this point down pat. Like, we love our audience so much. Everybody's every. Here's one thing that you should know. Every show that you watch, you have some producers. Our show has 1 million producers. Our producers are our audience. These are the people who are giving us the content that we talk about, because our audience is the people who are living it. And we try to our best, inadequately, sometimes to carry their voice. And I know, Smug, you've talked about how what people get with this deal that we've signed with Fox, which is a huge deal. We are so proud of this. But what they get is more of the content they come to love.

[Michael Duncan]

That's the thing is all the discussions that we had with Fox, what impressed me the most is they said point blank, they're like, we're not going to tell you what to say. We're not going to tell you what to do. We just want you to do more of it.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

Not just two episodes a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How about three episodes a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday? So if you loved what you got, the only difference is you get more of it. You get at the same place you always did. If it's Apple Podcasts, if it's Spotify, if it's YouTube or wherever you already listened or watched, that's where you'll go and share with your friends, get them on board. Because now you don't even get just two episodes, you get three. That's what it is. It's just more for you. No other changes.

[Josh Holmes]

And just to the listeners and audience, like, we are going to do everything we possibly can to take this show anywhere that will listen, that will bring more people in with all of you. We're doing it on the channel with Fox, promoting the show, doing all of these sorts of things. And you know, Fox believes in that and, and, and wants us to be doing it. And I think it's, I think it's going to be great for, for you as a listener and viewer, and it's obviously going to be great for us, and we're just super, super excited about it. But the thing that really heartened, you know, me as we were going through all of this earlier this week was all the great things that everybody had to.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, yeah. Say yeah. Yeah. And I will tell you, one of, One of the big ones that stood out to me was the first guest on the Ruthless Variety program, Senator Tom Cotton. A legend in the United States Senate and the first guest we ever had on the Ruthless Variety program. He said, yet another blow to standards in journalism.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, that's true.

[John Ashbrook]

He said. But on a serious note, congrats to the Ruthless podcast team. It's a great program with sharp wit and insights, and I'll keep listening.

[Josh Holmes]

Awesome.

[John Ashbrook]

I mean, you gotta love Tom Cotton. He wasn't the only one. Chad Wolf, former Homeland Security Secretary under President Trump during his first term, Chad Wolf said, great to see the program soaring to new heights. One of the best sources of political analysis out there. Well done, fellas.

[Michael Duncan]

Chad Wolfe.

[Josh Holmes]

That's nice.

[Michael Duncan]

Like I always say, hardest name of the game since Dick Army.

[Josh Holmes]

It's great, dude. You know, I mean, you work your whole career in politics like, like we have, and you're sort of behind the camera until, you know, we did this show and everything, and you, you minimize the thing and you're not the story and all of that sort of stuff. And so when something like this happens, it just feels different, and that's great. But I, I just know at the end of the day, like, we are not the thing. The thing is the thing. The audience is the thing.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, and so if any of you think we're getting a big head about this, because I think I probably RT'd probably 200 people over the course of this week with great things to say about me. Don't worry about that. We're not getting a big head.

[John Ashbrook]

I will tell you one of our great heroes, and I think I'm speaking for all of us in, in saying this, one of our great heroes in this medium is Rush Limbaugh. He taught us what we, what we knew. He didn't even know it at the time, but every single day from 12 to 3, he taught us everything we know. And what he always used to say is that he had talent on loan from God, and no one will ever forget that.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

And I will tell you that I feel like our show as the hottest, most influential podcast in Washington, D.C. has talent on loan from our audience.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right.

[John Ashbrook]

Our audience is the most important thing that. That we will ever have. We love you and you are the reason for this show.

[Josh Holmes]

It's true. It's absolutely true. I've one more comment I want to read, and this is from Selena Zito. Oh, yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

Legend.

[Josh Holmes]

And this just like. I kind of teared up a little bit reading it because it. It just felt. It felt really good. The amount of goodwill these guys have earned on social media is a testament to their character and talent, which really.

[John Ashbrook]

Was something, especially from her.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

From her incredible book, you know, we're.

[Michael Duncan]

Incredible book.

[Josh Holmes]

We're gonna talk about her book. We're gonna talk about some stuff. She's gonna make some news, by the way. So let's go to that interview. Well, I thought we were having a good week when it comes to media, the Fox deal and all that sort of stuff. But our next guest keeps us humble. This is a New York Times number one bestseller new book out. Selena Zito. How are you?

[Hollywood Hen]

I'm awesome. How are you? I'm so happy to be with you guys. And also I'm so proud of what you guys have accomplished.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you.

[Hollywood Hen]

It's kind of a big deal.

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you. And I'm proud of you. This, this new book, Butler the Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland. This is fantastic.

[Hollywood Hen]

Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

I think. I think you are the best person in America to write this book for one reason and one reason alone. And I think obviously the currency of the realm right now in media is authenticity, like the deal we did with Fox and all of that and in the podcast election, all of these sort of things. But when I think of journalists in authenticity, I think of you more than anyone else.

[Hollywood Hen]

Thank you.

[Josh Holmes]

Because, you know, there's the stories of you in the Jeep doing hundreds of thousands of miles traveling this country. You're like John Madden, you know, like, he used to travel across the country. But it's the way that you learn, people. It's the. You know.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah. He made the decision about. About using his car or train or bus.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Hollywood Hen]

Based on. He didn't. He didn't like flying. I don't mind flying. It's. That's not why I do it, though. If I sit in a plane or if I take an interstate or a highway, like a turnpike. Right. It takes me past everything that tells the story of what's really going on. So I only take US routes or state routes, sometimes gravel roads where I don't know where they're going. That's always fun. But on my Google Maps it's always set on options. No highways. So that's how I get wherever I'm going.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's how you get the stories because there's just too many people in media who look at so much of flyover country, as you'd call it, and they study them like zoo animals.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah, I actually call it the middle somewhere. Oftentimes the catchphrase is, oh, they're from the middle of nowhere. I find that so insulting. This is America. In my estimation, everywhere is somewhere. And we need to treat people with equal respect wherever they live. And we have a hard time doing that in my profession because the bulk of my profession is located in sort of the super zip codes of this country. That doesn't make them bad, but it does disconnect them from the people, the very people who decide elections. They don't know anyone who owns a gun. They don't know anyone who knows how to fire a gun. They don't know anyone who went to a state school or trade school or community college like I did, or sits in a pew every Sunday. So they're disconnected from their lives and that makes it hard for them to write about them in a well formed way.

[John Ashbrook]

Well, you are at the top of your profession. I mean, you are exactly what every journalist should strive to be. And this book is incredible. It reads like a novel. It's almost impossible to imagine that it's actually truth. You know, this actually happened. We all witnessed it happen. But you start with a vignette about our first president and his near miss with death. And I wonder if you could talk a little bit about that.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah, absolutely. So people often say history doesn't repeat itself. Well, it doesn't, but it does. It rhymes. Right. You know, you have to think about what would have happened had President Trump died. We don't know who would have been the nominee. There hadn't been a VP picked. And so we would have had possibly a very different election result. And then there's consequences. There would have been no U.S. steel deal. There would have been no Israel, Iran deal. Cease fire. There would have been no annihilation of Iran's nuclear capabilities. There would have been no NATO and everybody paying their fair share. The list goes on and on and on. They have real life implications. But also George Washington, he was not far from in Butler County Was also had a near miss. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Crown's militia. He had been sent to, which is basically modern day Erie, it's called Fort Le Buff. To tell the French to get off our lawn, basically, because there was this sort of struggle between New France and England. And the French commander basically patted him on the back and said, go away, little boy. And he did. And he's making his way back to what was called the forks of the Ohio to Pittsburgh. He's in Butler. A French Indian shoots him from 15 paces away. And if you know anything about guns, you know, rifling makes things much easier. There was no rifling in 1754. And nearly and misses him. And then, you know, Washington's like, I gotta get out of here. He's gonna find me. And like, takes off in snow and rain and dirt. But just think about this for a second. No George Washington means there's no French and Indian war, which is the precursor to the Revolution. There's no French and Indian war. The Crown doesn't have debt. They don't tax the colonists. There's no Tea Party, there's no revolution. There's no General Washington. We. We don't know what we would look like. So. So it's important to think about that as we dive into the book.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So that historical context is important. I want to talk about the historical context of that moment in Butler for a second. You know, I mean, we do a show that's light and we do a lot of jokes and, you know, some of. Some of them even maybe at Donald Trump's expense, You know, and I remember watching that, and it sort of fundamentally changed my opinion of the man.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And you've talked publicly about, you know, people that you've seen at rallies after that event who put a red MAGA hat on and were like, you know, sometimes Donald Trump gets under my skin. But I'm putting this hat on because he showed me that day something different. And I wonder, like, you know, did it change your impression of the guy?

[Hollywood Hen]

Well, I have had been a witness to history with him, mainly because I cover him in the Rust Belt and I cover him in a way that he's very authentic and see him in a way with people that I don't think people always see.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Hollywood Hen]

And, you know, I was a few feet away from him. People can read about that and why I was where I was that day. I was not supposed to be where I was. He was not supposed to turn his head there. You know, you have to all and so when he calls me the next morning, am I allowed to swear?

[John Ashbrook]

Absolutely.

[Josh Holmes]

Of course he was.

[John Ashbrook]

The Internet, Yes.

[Hollywood Hen]

Okay. I hope my parents aren't watching.

[Josh Holmes]

My parents watch, and I swear all the time.

[Hollywood Hen]

So he calls me the next morning. I'm with my daughter. My daughter took the COVID photo. And he calls me the next morning. He said, selena, I just want to check. This is Donald J. Trump. Like, I don't know. Right. I just want to make sure. And I didn't even get to say a word. Like, I didn't say a word. Like, I didn't even say hi. And he said, I just want to make sure that you're okay, that your daughter Shannon is okay. And I really want to apologize for not doing the interview. And I'm like. Because I was supposed to fly to Bedminster with him. And this is the part where I hope my parents close their ears. I said, are you fucking kidding me? And then I went. I'm like, oh, I'm so sorry, sir. And he really laughed at me. But that's how the conversation started. I swore like a truck driver. But I'm like, sir, you've been shot. I'm pretty. Okay, we can do the interview another time. He would go on to call me seven times that day. He talked deeply about faith, about purpose. And I didn't press him. You know, a lot of other reporters would. I don't know that I did right or wrong. It's what felt right to me. And he was going through something. I could tell. And I could tell that I could tell he needed to work it out with someone who had been there. And so that's why he kept calling me back, and we kept. You know, why did I turn my head? Do I have a new purpose? Was that the hand of God Concludes that it is the hand of God, and it has profoundly changed him. And I see it every time I interview him.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And it's. You know, he was so vocal about his change in that moment, immediately after that moment. But I'm wondering if you've noticed ways that that change has been sustained in the last 12 months.

[Hollywood Hen]

I see it a lot. You see some public things with the young boy who has cancer, who wants to be a police officer. You see it in that. You saw with that meaningfulness when he talked to that Ukrainian reporter whose husband's on the front lines. Right. And that empathy there. But there are even more profound ones that I've seen in private, and I won't use names, but I will tell you, I just saw this Two days ago, and it brought the whole room to tears. There's a photographer that I work with who has photographed President Trump with me dozens of times, and he just found out that his father has a very bad diagnosis, and his father loves Donald Trump. So I slipped a book in my bag, and after the interview, I said, Mr. President, I never ask you anything for anything, but this means, I think, a lot to someone. Would you sign it for him? He said, see? No, of course I will. Like he does.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Hollywood Hen]

And so he signs it, and then he starts, and he looks at the photographer, and the photographer's clearly moved. He goes, I'm going to do one better. Get your video thing going.

[Josh Holmes]

I love that.

[Hollywood Hen]

It's so great. And he holds up. So the photographer holds up his camera, and he sends the most powerful message to this father. And one of the things that he said that I think is so important, he said, you have a good son. I see him. He works hard. He's a grinder. And, you know, God always has different plans for us. Don't think this is necessarily the plan for you, and I can't wait to meet you. And then he tells the photographer, make sure it happens. And I looked up and, you know, there's Secret Service guys and, you know, all the staff. Everyone's, you know, it's usually pretty stoic, and, you know, it's all about business. And I was like, oh, my God, there's not a dry eye in the room here.

[John Ashbrook]

Just incredible.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah, it was a beautiful moment. And I see moments like that all the time with him. Mark Vogel's mom, the woman that. Whose son was imprisoned western Pennsylvania from Butler, and just saw that emotional connective tissue between the two of them when she asked him to bring. Bring her son home. You know, these are the things we don't see with Trump. And it could be a mindset that he has that I think is important. You know, I asked him that day, the day after, why did you say, fight, fight, fight? And he gave me the most surprising answer. He said, I wasn't Donald Trump in that moment. I was a former president. I might be president again. There's an obligation to represent the country in the strongest way. We are about grit, we're about exceptionalism, about getting back up when we get down. And I knew that I needed to show that it wasn't about me.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Hollywood Hen]

And he said, I knew the impact might have on the crowd if I didn't, you know, if I'm taken off with my socks. Right. He kept. I could see him I'm four feet away. He's like, put my shoes on. I was like, oh, my God. But if he would have been carried out of there. Think about this.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. The different.

[Hollywood Hen]

The consequences. Right. Or he wouldn't have walked out on his own. What does that. That image of our country is very, very, very then looked at in a different way. And so that's why he did that. And that's. To me, that's like next level.

[John Ashbrook]

It is. And it is a fully American moment.

[Hollywood Hen]

That nobody like John Wayne kind of.

[John Ashbrook]

Like, yeah, it is John Wayne. It is seared in everybody's minds. They're like, yes, this is exactly what America is about. The guy is down and yet he is fighting. Like, we talked about this in our July 4th episode. We kind of got emotional about it. Because the more you think about what that meant for our country in the moment, from a guy who's getting completely attacked every day by the media and every day by Democrats, like, it is something that nobody's ever gonna forget and that they're gonna be talking about forever. In large part because of the way you chronicled it. It's not just stopping with the book. I know that there is a movie in the offing and I'm wondering if you can tell us anything about that movie.

[Josh Holmes]

It's awesome.

[Hollywood Hen]

Like me, a movie. Shampoo girl, a waitress, cafeteria worker. Like, I've. I've done every blue collar job, sewage treatment plant.

[Josh Holmes]

I maintain all of those jobs made you better at your current job.

[Hollywood Hen]

Oh, and all those jobs. All those jobs deserve the utmost respect. They are some of the grinding. Most grinding jobs I've ever done. So the bulk of the movie is about Butler. It's from the book, but it's also about the death of journalism and the importance of shoe leather journalism. And that's weaved throughout the rest of the book. The book doesn't stop at that day. It really begins at that day. But it's in pre production.

[John Ashbrook]

Pre production.

[Hollywood Hen]

Pre production. Penze is the name of the production company and they just filmed. I'm going to break this on your show.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, nice.

[Hollywood Hen]

I'm going to break this on your show. So they just filmed the first. The. The closing segment. I know these movies are like all like a. Like a puzzle. Right? But they. They filmed the closing credits.

[Josh Holmes]

No way.

[Hollywood Hen]

And it's my cowboy boots.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Hollywood Hen]

Because everybody knows, see, I got my boots on.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Hollywood Hen]

So it's my cowboy boots getting in my jeep, beat up jeep. I mean, I don't even have a gas cap on it. Because my 2 year old grandson Rocco ripped it off, who I affectionately call Bam Bam.

[Josh Holmes]

And we were all Bam Bam once.

[Hollywood Hen]

Oh my God, it's so embarrassing. I drive up to the gas station, whatever. So I'm getting in the, in the, in my Jeep, you see my boots, you see the door slam and I'm taking off from an event. And like my. I imagine my hair flowing in the wind. Right. And it'll show the mileage on my Jeep, which is now at 300,000. My last one had 400,000 miles. And then it pans back to what I'm leaving and you see those iconic cranes from Butler with the flag flowing and it pans out to everyone at Butler. Cheering and Kid Rock is singing Born Free.

[Josh Holmes]

Unbelievable.

[John Ashbrook]

What a great finish. I mean, what a great finish. Is it. So will this be a documentary style movie or. This is.

[Josh Holmes]

This is a movie.

[John Ashbrook]

This is a movie. Movie.

[Hollywood Hen]

It's a film. The reason we chose to have it end that way because the hope is with journalism continues on. Right. Continues on. Maybe in a way that I do it. Not that I'm perfect, but I think we need to be better at being more rooted to the people that we cover. It helps us be more respectful and understand them and not treat them like zoo animals.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Hollywood Hen]

You know, 62% of the people that live in Pennsylvania do not have a college education.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Hollywood Hen]

And they're grinding it out and they're successful. You got to understand those people.

[Josh Holmes]

So I have, I have a question about that and I'm curious your opinion of this is. I feel like it used to be in D.C. or New York that people work their way up through a farm system where they actually were plugged into a local community at a community newspaper where they did that shoe leather journalism. Right. It now seems like if you have the right credential from Columbia University and you did the right internship in Washington, D.C. and then suddenly you're at Washington Post or you're at the New York Times. That. That's the problem.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's the problem with all of our cultural curators, the people that curate what we see on television, that what we see in the news, we. What we see in Hollywood institutions, academia. You go right from an Ivy League school and nothing wrong with attending an Ivy League school. However, you go right into these businesses and you don't know anyone that you're selling your product to. You need to get started on.

[Josh Holmes]

But there used to be a kid who could be from the Ohio Dispatch who would end up at the Washington Post. Right. And they would bring all of those experiences from the middle of the country to how their coverage is shaped. And I feel like we lose that a little bit.

[Hollywood Hen]

We've lost that a lot.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Hollywood Hen]

And we need more of that. But there are news deserts everywhere. You know that you've seen it through your family experience. And every time a family newspaper is bought out by a VC who like, lives in, I don't know, Louis, Louisiana, they don't care about local connectivity to what their product is. They just care about how much revenue, how many clicks are we getting?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. All right. So we've talked a lot about Donald Trump, and obviously this book is mainly about him. I'm curious, is there a vignette that sticks out to you about a regular person during all of this, you know, writing of this, this book that really stands out that you think about day to day?

[Hollywood Hen]

It's, it's actually as simple as seeing this suburban mom. Her name is Chrissy, I won't say her last name. And she's in the book. And Chrissy, college educated, best neighborhood, right? Kids in the suburban schools. And she. It's two days after the President is shot and she. I never knew what her political leanings were. She's a neighbor and I see her at my granddaughter's, my granddaughter's soccer game. And she has a Trump hat on. And that wasn't typical of her to be outstanding about. I would have maybe guessed giving her qualifications. College educated suburban mom, right? And she had this Trump hat on. And I said, I would have never calculated that. And she said, yeah, of course. I mean, family is central to me. Faith is central to me. My children's education is central to me. And I'm very patriotic. So strength in our country, being strong. Two days ago, I would have been afraid to put this hat on, but if he can fucking take a bullet for me, I can wear a fucking hat. I was like, okay, everything's changed.

[Josh Holmes]

That's it.

[Hollywood Hen]

It was that simple.

[Josh Holmes]

That's it right there.

[John Ashbrook]

I love that so much. And I love that you came in and you spent more time with us than we had. You were the number one best selling author on the New York Times.

[Josh Holmes]

Buy this book.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah, buy this book.

[Josh Holmes]

Buy this book.

[John Ashbrook]

Buy it now.

[Josh Holmes]

Buy it now. We want it number one for as long as it can be number one.

[Hollywood Hen]

Yeah. I mean, I had to sacrifice my hair to get big, you know? Remember, remember in Friends when Monica says it's the humidity, right?

[Josh Holmes]

Thank you so much for joining us.

[Hollywood Hen]

Thank you guys so much.

[Josh Holmes]

I really appreciate it.

[Hollywood Hen]

Thank you.

[John Ashbrook]

What a treasure to have Selena Zito number one on the New York Times bestseller list with us here on the Variety program today. And I just absolutely love her story.

[Josh Holmes]

I do.

[John Ashbrook]

And so does every person who reads everything she writes. She's the antithesis of these elitist Brooklyn based, better than you journos who are always shitting on normal people. And everybody calls them like it's just flyover country. We talk about it in those terms too. No, no, no, no. These are the normal people, okay? The Brooklyn Elitists. They're not normal even though they have the pen. I just want to be very clear. They are far from normal.

[Josh Holmes]

And they're doing a movie now. Oh, it's so good you're doing a movie. How great is that? It's fantastic. She made some news in there which I absolutely love. I think it's fantastic. Are you guys ready for some variety?

[John Ashbrook]

Can't wait, buddy.

[Josh Holmes]

We have great variety. I think it's going to be a very healthy debate here on the Ruthless Variety Program. There's this astronomer CEO caught on camera with his HR chief at a Coldplay concert in Boston.

[John Ashbrook]

HR is never good.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. The pair was seen rushing to cover their faces as the Jumbotron panned to them during the Coldplay concert. Let's go to that clip, please. Yeah. Oh, look at these two. Oh, no.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, no.

[Josh Holmes]

Either they're having an affair or they're just very sharp.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.

[Michael Duncan]

So turns out they weren't shy.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. In case you didn't hear what Chris Martin, the front man there Coldplay, said. He said, oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're very shy.

[John Ashbrook]

Oh, man.

[Josh Holmes]

Rough, rough, rough deal. Okay. This is a very important segment for the Ruthless Variety program, obviously, but it touches culture in a way that I don't think we're ready to handle. I think coming in, I think it requires us bringing in an expert in culture. OGs of the program will understand what this is. We gotta bring in Hollywood hen.

[Michael Duncan]

With.

[Josh Holmes]

The theme song begins. Yes.

[John Ashbrook]

What a throwback.

[Comfortably Smug]

I'm so glad to be be back.

[Josh Holmes]

Isn't this great?

[Comfortably Smug]

It is great. It's so exciting. What a great week.

[Josh Holmes]

What a great week.

[Comfortably Smug]

I know. I'm so proud of everyone.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, first of all, I have to. I have to say none of this would be possible without you, Lee. The whole team. You are a incredible part of this entire operation. None of this would happen without you. You haven't been here on the show in a while.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

But the reason is, you know, I mean, like, culture is your thing.

[Comfortably Smug]

Culture is my thing. Yes. This is what I study.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

On a day to day basis.

[Michael Duncan]

And it was Hollywood hen who brought it to all of our attention this morning.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. You were very active in the slack.

[Comfortably Smug]

I was very active because. Okay, I know it's obviously a very. Adultery is a serious issue. It's very sad at its core, but I could not get enough of this content.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[Comfortably Smug]

Watching him, he didn't even, like, he didn't even turn around. He sunk down like an elevator.

[Michael Duncan]

That was a mime.

[Comfortably Smug]

It was like he was miming an elevator. And I was like, he's just watching his. His bank account just go down, down, down, down, down.

[Michael Duncan]

So that's the thing is, I was. There's so much to think about this entire situation. What's the most embarrassing part? Is it being on the jumbotron, everyone knowing. So, like, she's the employee and apparently the wife also works.

[Comfortably Smug]

She's the HR chief, which is.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. Which is just a great tidbit. The person he was having an affair with was the HR chief.

[Michael Duncan]

So, I mean, like, is it more embarrassing to get caught like that or that, like you're losing half your net worth at a Coldplay concert?

[Comfortably Smug]

I think it's.

[Michael Duncan]

I don't think it's. Anyone has taken an L that hard, like, in history.

[Comfortably Smug]

Somebody. Somebody tweeted. This is what you get when you go to a Coldplay concert.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[Comfortably Smug]

Martin calling that out so accurately, that was insane. I was like, he knows that's not where my mind.

[Michael Duncan]

Was he married to that actress lady?

[Comfortably Smug]

He was married to Gwyneth Paltrow. They consciously uncoupled or whatever.

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, that was that weird divorce that they had.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, wait, wait. What is that? You have to give me a little more color there.

[Comfortably Smug]

When Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced their divorce however many years ago, instead of just being like, we're separating and going our se. You know, and going our ways, please respect our privacy. They're like, we've made the decision to consciously uncouple.

[Josh Holmes]

That's so fucking weird.

[Michael Duncan]

And you know, it's not his decision to do that. That's not his decision.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I hope not.

[Josh Holmes]

Hollywood is full of sicko. Let's be serious.

[Comfortably Smug]

But how quickly this went viral. So this all happens. Then all these amazing Internet sleuths put it on TikTok or wherever they find his wife, start flooding her page to make sure she's aware that his husband Is that her husband's having an affair.

[Michael Duncan]

First off, stop snitching. Like, why are you doing this?

[Comfortably Smug]

What? No, I love the snitching. I love it so much. I thought watching him, I was like, that is a coward. Just, like going down, down, down, you know, like, if you're gonna be in a fair, be like, yeah, here I am. And he was so busted and so cowardly, and I loved it.

[Josh Holmes]

I can see smug gearing up for something. And what I want to do.

[Michael Duncan]

Before you do that, I need you to.

[Josh Holmes]

I want you to get to Graphic six, please. Here. This is the wife who has already removed her last name from social media accounts.

[Comfortably Smug]

And now I think she might have taken it down.

[Michael Duncan]

So this is the thing. So here's the thing. Her first instinct is to, like, go on Facebook and change her last name.

[Josh Holmes]

You don't know her first instinct.

[Michael Duncan]

That's her first instinct because that's what immediately happened.

[Comfortably Smug]

Imagine how many mentioned things.

[Michael Duncan]

Here's the thing is, if you're. She's going on there and being super dramatic about this for like the online clout, do you know what that screams to me? Abusive. What? She's breaking this family up for online. She's breaking it up in front of everybody.

[Josh Holmes]

He broke it up.

[Comfortably Smug]

He broke it up.

[Michael Duncan]

If you're in. If this was actually her feeling, like she had been like, hurt and wounded, you want. You'd, like, make your shit private so you would disappear. She's like, I'm going to make this about me. Chances are. Here's the thing is this doesn't happen in a vacuum. This is. If I had to guess, I have nothing to base this on, but I mean, a lot of guys, I bet you could probably believe me, she sounds like kind of an abusive lady who is being. Who's like this guy, he's a CEO of a startup. He's probably out there grinding, right?

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, he's grinding. We saw him grinding.

[John Ashbrook]

We saw him grinding.

[Josh Holmes]

We saw him grinding.

[Michael Duncan]

Any chance she gets, she makes a story about her, right?

[Josh Holmes]

What?

[Comfortably Smug]

So any edit to her profile, any edit, even an edit or taking down somehow that's chasing more clout.

[Michael Duncan]

Her changing her last name to, like her maiden name or whatever is like, I'm out here trying to make a statement, make. Make your profile private, you know? But no, it had to be about her. It had to be.

[Comfortably Smug]

It kind of became about her when everybody started tagging her.

[Michael Duncan]

And here's the other thing. If it was just like a normal affair thing, right? You're not like hanging out listening to Coldplay with this girl. It's not like, you know, just like a, you know, a wham, bam, thank you, ma' am kind of a situation. He clearly felt like he was in a place where he's got an abusive wife at home.

[Hollywood Hen]

What are you talking about?

[Comfortably Smug]

Smug, bro.

[John Ashbrook]

You can't parody with it.

[Josh Holmes]

Parody.

[Comfortably Smug]

You can't just say no. And obviously no one thinks that.

[Josh Holmes]

No one thinks that. You can't just say that.

[Michael Duncan]

We gotta hear both sides of this story 100%.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think the side of the story is that both sides. We'll find out things about her are creeps. I think the astronomer CEO.

[Michael Duncan]

I mean, it's the head of hr. So if HR says it's okay.

[Comfortably Smug]

I don't know about that.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't even. I don't even know where to take this segment.

[Comfortably Smug]

There is nowhere to take this because it's just.

[Michael Duncan]

That's your defense, bro. HR said it was cool.

[John Ashbrook]

You think that's what he said to his wife?

[Michael Duncan]

That's what I would say. I would say nothing to her, man. Lawyer up, bro. Lawyer up. Hit the gym. Say HR made it okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Hit the gym.

[Comfortably Smug]

Oh, my gosh. I just. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out now over the next, you know, days and weeks and see where it goes.

[John Ashbrook]

Social media has really changed society.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah. These guys are. These people are famous now. Whether they like it or not, they're in it for the rest of their lives.

[John Ashbrook]

That's right.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I'm with the wife here with the changing of the. Yeah, me too.

[Comfortably Smug]

I would have taken my.

[Michael Duncan]

We're find out more.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

If someone were hammering me with all of these clips about my husband cheating on me, I think I'd remove my profile.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, I think that's a very natural.

[Michael Duncan]

It's the way that. It's the way the Internet works is the initial, like story and narrative.

[Comfortably Smug]

You're just saying that she's.

[Michael Duncan]

And then two days later you find out, oh, actually, the other person was like, a monster.

[Josh Holmes]

How could she possibly deserve this?

[Michael Duncan]

Yeah, we never know. We'll probably find out. HR said it was okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Ridiculous.

[Comfortably Smug]

HR said it was okay is a good one. Well, I would just like to say I'm the HR here. I'm the HR here. Does that mean that I get to dictate what.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes, okay.

[John Ashbrook]

Exactly.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's very good to know.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's good to know. I would also note, if I was on the Jumbotron at Coldplay, I might hide that way. Just out of Embarrassment for being a Coldplay.

[Comfortably Smug]

I think that's fair. I think that's fair, too.

[Michael Duncan]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, so we have something else here. And I think this is important. I think it's important context for the cultural moment in which we are living. And that is Shane Gillis at the ESPYs the other night.

[John Ashbrook]

So good.

[Josh Holmes]

He did, I think, an absolute banger job of hosting the thing. And he got a lot of hate online from, you know, humorless, shrill people on the Internet who hate comedy and hate all of us. And I'm very glad that they hate him because I think he's very, very, very funny. But he did some really great bits where, you know, he did that thing that everybody does at an award show where, like, you're hosting and you got the mic and you're like, hey, so and so in the audience. So and so in the audience.

[Selena Zito]

And all.

[Josh Holmes]

All that really is is a setup for a bit to be able to, like, you gotta poke fun at them. Right? Like, that's the whole thing. Hosting an award show is like the whole monologue is basically like crowd work for a comedian where you call out people's names and that sort of stuff. And he did that. And it was fucking hilarious. I don't know if you guys watched the whole thing, but it was hilarious. There's two clips in particular that I want to highlight. Cause I think they're instructive to the freak out that we saw on the liberal left in media. Let's play clip number six, first four.

[John Ashbrook]

Time WNBA all star, Brittany Hicks is here. Give it up for Brittany, everybody. I'm joking around. That's my friend's wife. I knew none of you knew WNBA players. That's crazy. You clap for that.

[Josh Holmes]

It's yo, yo. It's crazy. You clap for that.

[John Ashbrook]

Amazing.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I love about this? And. And Shane is the best in the business at it. And it's the way Donald Trump does politics. He does comedy. And that is breaking the fourth wall with his comedy where it's like, the joke isn't the joke. The joke is the reaction of the joke. And so he can say, I made you look like a fool.

[Michael Duncan]

Yep.

[Comfortably Smug]

Which you did very well there.

[Michael Duncan]

Yes, but.

[Josh Holmes]

But it tells us a higher thing, right? Like it's. It's the joke isn't the joke. The joke is you're acting like the WNBA is this thing you all care about. And it's a fucking lie. It's obviously a lie. And the woke left and the media and the woke liberal sports people at ESPN have convinced you that you have to seal clap your hands and pretend you know who this person is.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And Shane's there to tell you, I know you're a fucking fraud.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah. And it's brilliant because when they all clap and they all laugh, he locks them in. And it's not like you can say, oh, how dare he? Because they're all clapping and laughing.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[John Ashbrook]

You know, it really front runs the bullshit. You make a great point about the reaction being the greatest part of that.

[Josh Holmes]

The reaction is the key thing, because it's like, now yous can't leave.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, because you bought into it. You bought into the thing, the setup that I did. And now I get to make fun of you. And you can't. You can't attack me.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Shane Gillis is being the comedian.

[John Ashbrook]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Because you did something way more offensive.

[John Ashbrook]

Right. And it's objectively funny. It is funny. The guy is so funny. And I would. I will never for the life of me understand is why Saturday Night Live let him go. You remember this? We talked about this. HR It's Saturday Night Live. Let him go. And he's obviously taken the Internet by storm because the guy is naturally hilarious. And you think, what's happened to Saturday Night Live? We. We were. We've talked over and over again about how great Saturday Night live was in the 90s, in the early 2000s, and then fell off the face of the earth for some reason. And you wonder where it went. It went there.

[Josh Holmes]

Yep, exactly.

[John Ashbrook]

Shane Gillis wasn't on it. If he was on Saturday Night Live, we'd still be talking about it. But nobody mentions the show since he was let go.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, exactly. Right? I mean, like Phil Hartman. Right. You know, you think. You think of the sort of stuff that he. Norm. What Norm MacDonald would do if Norm or. Or Phil Hartman did. Some of the bits that Shane does, they'd be like, you know, obviously they were on snl, but, you know, it was the best. He. He does it. And. And they. They canceled them. But the whole world. And we talked about this with Selena Zito and everything, and I think it reflects some of the stuff that we're doing with Fox and everything. It's like, there is a premium right now in this cultural moment on authenticity. Selena Zito has it.

[Michael Duncan]

We.

[Josh Holmes]

We have it. Shane has it. Shane has it in spades. That guy just talks observational humor, you know, and. And. And he just does comedy from a perspective of a person who's like, nothing is going to be off limits. It's Fantastic.

[Comfortably Smug]

He's also. He's also funny. Like your friends are funny. You know what I mean? He's funny. Like you guys are funny. Like, other people are funny. And I think it hit.

[Josh Holmes]

It's the can you believe this shit? Sort of funny.

[Comfortably Smug]

Exactly.

[Josh Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[John Ashbrook]

It's natural.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[John Ashbrook]

All of us, every single person in this room, every single person watching him has sat in a classroom for at least 12 years of their lives, kindergarten through, I guess, 13 years of their lives. Everybody knows the people who sat in the back, and I think we know these kind of people pretty well. The people who sat in the back and just made jokes that you teacher would get mad at them. The teacher says something, everybody starts laughing at what the people in the back are saying. And they're not, like, coming up with bits that are, like, well written and rehearsed. They're just reacting to life. And, like, you can relate to that. Everybody can relate to that. It's funny.

[Josh Holmes]

Absolutely. And you should feel comfortable to push the envelope a little bit because, like, being a little transgressive is what makes comedy comedy. It's what we do on our show. It's what Shane does. And this next clip is going to be. You're going to love this mug.

[John Ashbrook]

We'll see about this one. When Caitlin Clark retires from the wnba, she's going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most, fist fighting black women.

[Josh Holmes]

It's good because it's. It recognizes the reality of all the clips that we've all seen on Twitter about how she gets manhandled in the league. Right.

[Michael Duncan]

And it's like I've said before, and when we were in New York, we ran into people and they're like, I agree with Smug's take. I'm happy every time she gets her ass kicked because she went woke. She went woke. She. She put out that, like, statement interview. She was like, oh, I fully recognize that I have privilege and that I wouldn't be able to have this if it were not for the black women who were trailblazers for me. You got that job because you're good at shooting.

[Comfortably Smug]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

That's why you got that job. You're good at playing ball. Play ball and be proud of what you can do. Don't try to, like, minimize yourself because, like, the woke, once you bow down to the woke mob, never stop.

[John Ashbrook]

Yeah.

[Michael Duncan]

And you're getting your ass kicked again and again and again.

[Josh Holmes]

I've sort of come around to this mug. Like, I didn't like it just because I'd seen all the video and it was clearly fucked up that she was getting targeted by all these people. And I do feel bad for her. And maybe that's. Maybe my bias is being a guy from Indiana. And I want the fever to do well. I love that Caitlin Clark.

[Michael Duncan]

I want to break the fever of wokeness, man. She's got to keep getting her ass kicked until she takes it.

[Comfortably Smug]

Let's be honest.

[Michael Duncan]

She used to go up there with like a maga hat and be like, I'm done with you. I'm going to dunk on all of you, even though women can't dunk in the wnba.

[Comfortably Smug]

Also, let's be honest, none of us are watching the wnbi.

[Josh Holmes]

That's right.

[Comfortably Smug]

Myself, I mean, I think she's a great athlete, but I'm not watching the wnba.

[Josh Holmes]

Hollywood hen. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the voice of the people.

[Comfortably Smug]

That's my contribution.

[Josh Holmes]

Hollywood hen, you're always the voice of the. So glad you were able. You were able to join us for.

[Comfortably Smug]

Well, thanks for having me back on and congratulations on your big week.

[Michael Duncan]

Thank you so much.

[Comfortably Smug]

When there's the e. True Hollywood story. I hope that they come to me first for all of the interviews. You're going to be behind the scenes.

[Josh Holmes]

You're going to be the whole interview. It's just going to be you to camera and then us fucking things up.

[Comfortably Smug]

It's going to be great, guys.

[Josh Holmes]

I think this was a great episode. I think it was a banger.

[Michael Duncan]

Absolute banger of an episode. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much, Selena Zito. And thank you so much to our listeners, new and old. And if you have not yet subscribe and like the YouTube because it's more fun in video. Until next time, minions. Keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Tuesday. Stay ruthless.