This is why the liberal media is failing - DC Journo Scandal Explodes

Summary

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Ruthless Podcast — “This is why the liberal media is failing - DC Journo Scandal Explodes”

Date: November 21, 2025
Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the D.C. journalism and media scandal swirling around journalist Olivia Nuzzi, her high-profile relationships with politicians and other journalists, the sensational fallout, and how these events reflect on the state and culture of modern media. With trademark irreverence and biting humor, the Ruthless crew break down the details of Nuzzi’s alleged affairs, book launch, and social media firestorms, exploring why these messy, personal stories are becoming the center of media attention—and what it all means for liberal (and broader) media credibility.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Olivia Nuzzi Scandal & Book Launch

• Scandal Recap:
  The show opens with discussion of Olivia Nuzzi, a once-prominent New York Magazine feature writer whose career “came to an abrupt end” due to alleged inappropriate relationships with subjects she covered—particularly RFK Jr.

  • “She was quite a gifted writer, to be honest... and then in 2024, it came to an abrupt end... it was then alleged that she had developed what was characterized as at least a digital affair [with RFK Jr.],” (Josh Holmes, 04:13).

• Conflict of Interest & Media Fallout:
  The ethics of a journalist in a “digital dalliance” while reporting on a presidential candidate are dissected, noting how once such an action would have permanently exiled someone from serious journalism, but now it's part of the spectacle.

  • “This is somebody who in previous generations would have been just excommunicated from the whole thing... I’m not even mad at it,” (Josh Holmes, 07:51).

• Book Launch:
  Nuzzi's comeback via her new book, American Kanto, is discussed, with amusement at her dramatic presentation and the fact that she doesn't name RFK directly, though the subtext is obvious.

  • “She was going to put pen to paper and tell the real story of her at least digital affair. Who was asked for this? No one,” (Smug & Holmes, 07:11).

• Timeline of Scandal:

  • Nuzzi: Internal affair with RFK Jr. while engaged to journalist Ryan Lizza; joint book project with Lizza falls apart; public online fallout.
  • “They’d also secured a joint book deal to write a book about the election together... It’s like a divorce. Who gets the book?” (Comfortably Smug, 10:12).

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2. Ryan Lizza’s Revenge: The Substack Bombshell

• Lizza’s Perspective:
  Lizza responds to Nuzzi’s return by publishing a well-written, dramatic Substack essay detailing the implosion of their relationship—the letter, the hotel stationery, the heartbreak.

  • “He details a long narrative that walks through all the pain and suffering... and he drops an absolute bomb,” (Holmes, 14:57).

• The Big Twist:
  Throughout Lizza’s letter, the narrative mirrors widely known rumors about RFK Jr., leading everyone to expect familiar revelations. The shock: Lizza reveals Nuzzi’s affair wasn’t (just) with RFK Jr., but with former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford!

  • “You, the audience, are like, what? We just followed this RFK story all the way through... Why does it say Mark? ... Olivia is sleeping with Mark Sanford,” (Holmes, 27:38).

• Memorable Writing & Messy Details:
  The hosts repeatedly marvel at the literary quality and slow-burn revenge of Lizza’s release, comparing him to Ernest Hemingway and Charles Dickens:

  • “He buried that in a way that only Ernest Hemingway could have,” (Ashbrook, 28:07).

• Lizza’s Domestic Revelations:
  Lizza includes details about arranging Nuzzi’s shoes and helping untangle her from a previous relationship with Keith Olbermann, prompting jokes about possible foot fetishes.

  • “In my thinking, if you’re playing with your wife’s shoes, you’re a feet dude,” (Smug, 21:33).

• Keith Olbermann’s Hilarious Response:
  Olbermann tweets a calculation of the value of gifts given during his relationship with Nuzzi—prompting delight and further mockery from the hosts.

  • “That’s like $1,250 of jewelry per celebration... What was I supposed to do, get her a gift from Kmart?” (Reading Olbermann tweet, 20:14).

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3. Meta-Analysis: What This Says About Modern Media

• Messiness & Jealousy Among Journalists:
  The group notes the jealousy in journalism circles as Nuzzi lands another big job after scandal, hinting at a broader culture of hypocrisy and cannibalism within the industry.

  • “At the end of the day, these are all just jealous, horrible little monster people. ...You gotta remember, they’re terrible to each other,” (Ashbrook & Smug, 11:43).

• New Patterns of Career “Redemption”
  Scandals that once would have ended a career are now just plot points in the redemption/monetization cycle, with book deals and media coverage abounding.

  • “This has all happened in the course of twelve months... Used to be like, this is the ten-year cycle of someone’s downfall. Nope, calendar year,” (Smug, 07:17).

• Audience Appetite for Mess & Spectacle:
  The hosts and guest panelists repeatedly emphasize that none of this would have legs if the public didn’t eat it up.

  • “I think this is one of the only redeeming qualities of this town is the messy garbage these people leave behind,” (Smug, 31:03).

• Dizzying Timeline:
  Years of overlapping relationships and journalistic conflicts are charted with gleeful incredulity.

  • “Is there a timeline of her that she does this kind of a thing over and over again?” (Smug, 32:15).

• Authenticity vs. Ethics in Modern Reporting:
  Citing media writers like Dylan Byers, the gang debates if the messiness (proximity to sources, blurred lines) is simply a reflection of audience craving for “authenticity.”

  • “A situation like this would blow up a career. Is it not going to? ...Is this just what the state of [media] is?” (Smug, 46:35).

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4. Recap of Olivia Nuzzi’s Pre-Scandal Career

• Origins & Recurring Patterns:
  Tracing her path from intern for Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign (2013), to writing about that campaign’s dysfunction, to relationships with high-profile men, the hosts suggest a motif of “getting too close” to power.

  • “She was an intern for Anthony Weiner’s mayoral campaign... she writes this piece about being an intern on that campaign—how deranged and crazy that campaign was,” (Holmes, 35:21).

• Past Jokes Turned Real:
  The group digs up old Nuzzi tweets about how Hollywood thinks “female reporters sleep with their sources,” and an even older one: “Well, this proves my ideal friends are 50- to 60-year-old men,” (42:41, 43:08). Both raise eyebrows as uncanny in hindsight.

• MySpace Embarrassment:
  A MySpace-era song Nuzzi recorded in her teens (“Baby, I’m not your girlfriend...”) is played, triggering fits of laughter and jokes about the cringe legacy of anyone who wanted to be internet-famous in the 2000s.

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5. “Fun Time Friday” Spirit

• The show relishes the absurdity, sparing no one (not even themselves or their “journal buddies”) the jibes. Running gags about foot fetishes, bad pop music, “maximum impact,” and the artistic/capitalist hustle of modern journalism run throughout.

• Ongoing commercial and Q&A segments (skipped here) sandwich the episode’s investigative riffing.

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6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Quotes:

• “He let the missiles out of the silo… Art. Pure cinema.” (Smug & Holmes, 14:37-14:40)
• “You, the audience, are like, what? We just followed this RFK story all the way through… And then it’s Mark Sanford!” (Holmes, 27:38)
• “These are messy, messy people, dude. These are just horrible little gremlins,” (Smug, 32:21)
• “Don’t hate the player, hate the game, because that’s the world we’re living in,” (Holmes, 47:11)
• “In my thinking, if you’re playing with your wife’s shoes, you’re a feet dude,” (Smug, 21:33)

Memorable Moments:

• Lizza’s Substack twist reveal — the bombshell that Nuzzi’s affair wasn’t with RFK Jr., but Mark Sanford (27:38)
• Keith Olbermann’s “Rain Man of jewelry” — Olbermann doing the math on gifts given during his relationship with Nuzzi (20:14)
• Hosts trying to decide who should be “in jail” after the revelations — e.g., “If all these details are true, she should be in jail, and so should Lizza,” (Smug, 33:27)

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7. Discussion of Jasmine Crockett’s Epstein Gaffe

• The group takes a break from the Nuzzi saga to roast Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s embarrassing false accusation that Lee Zeldin received donations from “Jeffrey Epstein,” not realizing it was a different person with the same name.
  • “Who could have known? ...She’s too stupid to insult,” (Holmes & Smug, 60:02–60:06)
• They lampoon the way political and media figures spread, then quietly retract, damaging rumors for tactical advantage.

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8. Media Culture & Audience Takeaways

• New Rules for Scandal & Redemption:
  The Speed and spectacle of scandal/redemption is a symptom of the modern media ecosystem—with little incentive for shame or reform.
• The Blurring of Ethical Lines:
  The episode underscores rising indifference to conflicts of interest—and how “getting close to the action” now sells more than detached reporting.
• Parody and Pop Culture Satire:
  The commentary is attached to a throughline of mockery: foot fetishes, pop songs, media self-dealing, and “variety program” showmanship.

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Key Timestamps

• [03:08] — Olivia Nuzzi’s journalistic rise and ethical downfall
• [07:47] — The speed of modern media scandals
• [09:04] — Impact on Ryan Lizza and their joint book project
• [14:00] — Ryan Lizza’s Substack narrative begins
• [16:27] — The shoe arrangement and “feet dude” jokes
• [20:14] — Keith Olbermann’s “gift math” tweet and response
• [27:38] — The Mark Sanford twist revealed
• [32:21] — Pattern of messy, public relationship drama
• [35:21] — Nuzzi’s career origins and Anthony Weiner campaign
• [42:41], [43:08] — Old tweets joking about journalists and older men
• [44:32-45:21] — MySpace song cringe-meltdown
• [46:35] — Debate over “authenticity” vs. ethics in journalism
• [60:02] — Jasmine Crockett’s Jeffrey Epstein faceplant

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Conclusion

This episode of Ruthless turns the sex, drama, and slapstick of D.C. media’s latest self-inflicted wound into both an entertaining roast and a trenchant exploration of how modern journalism—especially on the left—operates in an age of blurred boundaries and viral spectacle. With meme-level irreverence and tasty gossip, the hosts turn inside-outsider knowledge into something essential for anyone fascinated (or disgusted) by the state of American media.

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Notable Closing Question:
“If Olivia Nuzzi picks up singing again, what should the title of her next album be?”
— In true Ruthless fashion, the audience is invited to pile on with song title puns in the comments.

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Transcript

[A]

It is more than a story, it's a tale. It's a moment.

[B]

It's a saga.

[A]

It's a saga, right? Smug? It is a saga. I cannot think of a thing more custom produced for the Ruthless Variety Program than what we're about to discuss with you, dear listener and viewer. It's almost like this show was made for this sort of thing.

[B]

In my thinking, if you're playing with your wife's shoes, you're a feet dude.

[C]

Well, the fact of the matter is the feet guy, whether he was he.

[B]

Already sloppy people, man. Like this is a mess.

[C]

It's a mess.

[D]

A lot of blame to go around.

[A]

Well, okay, okay, so the. So the thing that he's sort of alluding to, I. I think we haven't really even discussed it yet. And why this is so controversial in, in D.C. and journalism circles is. You know she was in a relationship with another journalist at the time. Yeah.

[E]

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[A]

Paid for by Americans for Open Government.

[C]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[B]

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

[D]

It's time for our main event.

[C]

Fun Time Friday. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. We're going to have a very fun time today. I'm Josh Holmes along with comfortably smug Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. Left to right, across your radio dial, as always. There's a story. Folks.

[B]

This is going to be good.

[C]

There is a story.

[A]

There is. It is more than a story.

[B]

It's a tale.

[A]

It's a moment.

[B]

It's a saga.

[A]

It's a saga, Right, Smug? It is a saga. I cannot think of a thing more custom produced for the Ruthless Variety Program than what we're about to discuss with you, dear listener and viewer. It's almost like this show was made for this sort of thing.

[B]

Ashbrook's a little nervous cause it involves a lot of his journal buddies. But we're just here to tell the truth.

[D]

Well, I was gonna say that if you haven't heard this story, it means you're a normal person. But if you're familiar with it, when we start talking about it, it means you're a little bit of a degenerate, just like us.

[C]

Yeah, well there is a vignette here that's happened in Washington, D.C. in the world of politics and journalism. It's been going on for quite some time, but it just sort of come to a head this week. And we've saved it. We have. It's been very difficult for us to get through Tuesday and Thursday without talking to you all about it.

[A]

We've been so patient.

[C]

We've been so patient. We've been so patient. I think it's a credit to us here at the Ruthless Friday program for having the patience to make it a fun time Friday event. So let me preface this by saying there is a woman by the name of Olivia Nuzzy.

[D]

Is it Nuzzy or newsy?

[A]

I think it's newsy.

[C]

Is it newsy?

[B]

It's newsy to me. Am I right?

[C]

Well, the whole thing is newsy.

[A]

Very newsy.

[C]

So let's go with newsy. Okay. So there she is. That's the picture that she popped up there. Anyway, she is a column like a feature writer who rose to some prominence from, like 2016, 15, 16 through the last election cycle. And she become. She was quite a gifted writer, to be honest. She worked for the New York magazine, and her beat was basically Republican presidential candidate. She profiled many of them in 2016, started that process several other times, and then in 2024, she did, and it came to an abrupt end. And the reason for the abrupt end of all of that was that it was then alleged that she had developed what was characterized as at least a digital affair.

[B]

What a horrible time to be alive. It's like digital affairs. Like, what is wrong with this world? We'll get into how wrong it is.

[C]

About a subject of her profile. Right. And so you may not remember this story, but it was quite a scandal in the D.C. political and journalism world about how this sort of highlight name, who'd profiled all these important people and written all kinds of incredible things, was alleged to have some kind of an inappropriate relationship with RFK Jr. And now, to his credit, he has denied any. He said he's only met her twice. I think there is some wiggle room in terms of what actually happened. But both parties confirmed that there was not a physical relationship. The concern, of course, for her employer is that she was profiling someone who was running for president at the time, at the same time carrying on through their investigation at New York magazine what they would characterize as an extremely inappropriate and conflict of interest of such. Right. And this became lore. Right. So in, like, the scandal sort of chatterbox that is D.C. whole bunch of people were speculating as to what it was that was the nature of their relationship. Some people had different ideas of what that may be. Far be it from us with the integrity of the ruthless variety program to get into that filth. Yeah. But you should look it up because it's kind of funny.

[A]

It's very funny. And they say, you know, write what you know. And she was just trying to know.

[C]

My God, she was just trying to know. So her career abruptly ended and it went dark. And she'd been sort of a staple in terms of the long form journalism of politics and people for a decade. I mean, it's just sort of a staple. And it came to an abrupt end. She went dark. Well, she came back out this week and she'd written a book. You remember what the title of this book is?

[A]

American Canto.

[C]

Yeah, That's a perfect name for it. Is it American Kanto? It's a bit much, but that's exactly right.

[B]

Much.

[C]

I guess that's my point.

[B]

Yeah, it's a bit much. She thinks she's Dante or something for American Kanto.

[A]

Yeah, it was just. There's a drama to it. There's a drama of her life where she becomes betwixt these characters that she writes about and yes, it's a bit much.

[B]

It's a bit much. And you know, like, well, we'll get into this, we'll get into this.

[C]

So, like what happens through all of this is that she doesn't name RFK specifically by name, refers to him as the politician, but then repeats the story that we'd all known and had brought her career to an end about all the various pieces of it. And her idea, the whole resurrection of her career in many ways, was that she was going to put pen to paper and tell the real story of her at least digital affair.

[A]

Who was asked for this?

[C]

No one.

[A]

No one.

[C]

No one.

[A]

Nobody needs to be clarified on this thing.

[B]

Also, just a quick kind of like assessment from me of the way things have become. Is this whole story about the digital affair or whatever with RFK and her getting fired and her then getting a book deal and then her writing a book and the book is, I guess about to hit newsstands or has hit newsstands. This has all happened in the course of 12 months. Yeah, it used to be like this is the 10 year cycle of someone's downfall. Nope, calendar year.

[C]

I want to be very clear.

[B]

It's just like speed running life ruining scandals.

[C]

I want to be very clear, clear about why we're bringing this up. One, you need to know what the culture of all of this journalism and politics and the new media and digital whatever and where you get sources of information, it has changed. And this is somebody who I think in previous generations would have been just excommunicated from the whole thing. Right. This one I want to be very clear for my part, I'm not even mad at it.

[A]

I'm not even here to judge.

[C]

I'm not gonna scold it.

[A]

Who are we to judge? Sinners. All of us, I'm sure.

[D]

Which I think sets us apart as a program. And one thing that the audience should understand is that journalists are terrible to each other. Okay.

[E]

Oh yeah.

[D]

They journals say she's the life of the party because she takes a drink or two. But you know what? I think they should all take a good look at themselves.

[C]

Wow, that's coming from Smash.

[D]

I think they should because. Just because she's a little over, over the top, just because she's performative, just because she's writing shit that nobody asked to read and very few people probably actually did. It's a lot, it's a lot of blame to go around.

[A]

Okay, okay.

[B]

So.

[A]

So the thing that he's sort of alluding to, I, I think we haven't really even discussed it yet. And why this is so controversial and in D.C. and journalism circles is, you know, she was in a relationship with another journalist at the time. Yeah, Ryan Lizza, which is going to.

[C]

Become a huge part of this story.

[A]

Uh huh.

[C]

So her book American Kanto came out. She refers, as we said, to RFK junior as the politician and details, this is according to the New York Post, details how their digital dalliance blossomed into a hot and heavy genuine connection after she wrote an article on him in October of 2023, which of course, as we've covered, and ended her career at New York magazine. Now she was engaged at the time to another journalist, a guy who wrote the political playbook, Ryan Lizzo. You got to imagine that this created some problems. And it did. Immediately online, it's like a battle, right? They break up and he's got his version of events, she's got her version of events. It's all spilling out into the open one.

[B]

Quick details. They'd also secured a joint book deal to write a book about the election together.

[C]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. They were working on a joint project.

[B]

It's like a divorce. Who gets the book?

[C]

Yeah, who gets.

[B]

That's the journo nightmare world they live in.

[C]

Well, it turns Out. They both did.

[A]

Who gets the family Bible? But no, really. I mean, this became a war. It was like East Coast, west coast rap. It was like Tupac and Biggie fighting over this.

[B]

And they were doing it in public. Shameless people.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And you might say to yourself, oh, the Ruthless guy seemed pretty fired up about people sexting. It happens in life. You're all very well aware of people who do that kind of thing. So why are they acting like that? Well, it gets so much better.

[B]

There's a lot more to this.

[C]

It gets so much better. So look at the bottom half of all this in her return. The big splash, all these articles. And then the publisher of her book, whoever that is, is just focused on the RFK stuff and it comes out and it's like, you know, she's detailing this stuff and it's all over everywhere. Obviously puts RFK Jr. In a tough spot. Like, nobody wants to have this conversation again, obviously. And then the journos are kind of consternated about, oh, my gosh, she's coming back with, like, this thing and she's now re employed and she's got another big new job. And it's sort of like a microcosm of today's journalism and information.

[A]

There's some jealousy in that.

[B]

Bingo. And a lot of journalists are mad because them and their friends are all getting fired. And then she gets this big job. Yeah. And they're like, what? Because they're. At the end of the day, these are all just jealous, horrible little monster people.

[D]

You gotta remember, they're terrible to each other. Yeah, terrible.

[B]

They're terrible people in general. You can say that. They're all your friends, these little gremlins.

[D]

No, they're terrible. Listen, one thing you should know is that I did have a journo in my wedding party, but Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza were both in Smug's wedding.

[C]

Oh, that's it. Is that right? Yeah. Were they invited any of your happy hours back in the day, by the way?

[B]

No.

[D]

No, That's a grad section. Great question.

[B]

They weren't, but I died.

[A]

Wait, you didn't hold them accountable?

[D]

You can get him there.

[A]

Hold them accountable?

[D]

You couldn't get him to come?

[B]

I never hang out with. I never hang out with journals to begin with. But first off, he's mad because everyone in this town knows that J Mart was his best man in his way, and he goes after me for it.

[D]

He's trying to change the subject because he invited both of them and they didn't come. Wow.

[B]

Journeys never want to hang out with me. They know I'm a problem for them. I hold them accountable.

[C]

So here's where I have to get the jumping off point before we get to a break. And then we detail why this is so freaking hilarious. Liza. Not to be outdone by all of this, he's a bit of a showman himself. His fashioned. Himself is sort of a lefty glitterati of the media. In fact, he's been around for a long time. I think when my career started, he was writing feature pieces much like the ones that Olivia was involved in for, like, the New Yorker or something like that. Yeah.

[A]

When she was in middle school.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. He was asking.

[C]

That's a fair. That's a factual point.

[A]

Honestly.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

He's not wrong.

[A]

Right.

[C]

So as her fiance, who was. Life was disrupted by all of this.

[B]

So from my understanding. So he leaves his wife and children for Olivia and then this all happens. Correct. That's where we are right now.

[C]

Oh, yes, yes. I'm sorry, that is.

[B]

So he leaves his wife and children, then gets engaged to Olivia Nuzzy, and then this happens. And then.

[C]

So in the backdrop of all of this, the reemergence of the RFK piece, the re emergence of Olivia Newsy, he takes to the twits and puts out a substack entitled How I Found Out.

[B]

And so everyone's like, oh, my God. Oh, here we go. He's gonna tell us the RFK story from his perspective.

[C]

So it goes, who shot ya?

[A]

It goes, but you punks didn't finish. Now you're about to feel the wrath of a menace.

[B]

This is how journos do it. This is how journos do it.

[A]

That's what I'm saying, dude. And that's what I love about what Ryan Lizza did here.

[C]

It's art.

[D]

This is.

[A]

It's art. This guy could have dropped that at any point. And what he did is he saved it.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

For this moment.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

And that's very critical is because, like, she's beginning her, like, book rollout where it's, like, time for her to start doing media and stuff. He held this together. He held this back until right at this moment.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

He let the missiles out of the silo.

[A]

Art.

[B]

And he hit the button.

[A]

Art. Pure cinema.

[C]

And he's a good writer.

[D]

He is.

[C]

That's the one thing you can accuse this guy of as being a bad writer, much like Olivia.

[B]

And he hates bamboo. The dude hates bamboo. Can't stand the bamboo in the backyard.

[C]

There's some of that too.

[A]

We'll get into it on the other.

[D]

Side of the bracelet in this area.

[C]

Here's where this goes. He details a long narrative that walks through all the pain and suffering of his relationship right up until the point where he found out. And he drops an absolute bomb. And we're going to get to it right after this.

[F]

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[C]

Okay, so that was a hell of a tease and we just gave you a little information you didn't already know, which is that this thing gets a big turn. A big turn. So Lizza writes this sub stack and it begins. Olivia had just returned from a reporting trip. At least that's what she told me. It was in her Herschel backpack, the one with the flap that never quite closed properly was tossed beside our bed, its contents scattered on the floor. That's when I noticed the sheets of Kimpton hotel stationery that would alter the course of our lives. And I'm reading this thing.

[A]

High drama.

[C]

I'm reading this thing and I'm like, I cannot wait to see how this thing plays out because this has been a DC Drama. You're now getting into it. Dear listener, I can still picture the hotel paper. He's a good writer.

[D]

He is a good writer.

[E]

He's a good.

[C]

I can still picture the hotel paper and the reporting notepad spilling into the walk in closet where a year earlier I had spent an afternoon on my knees carefully arranging scores of her boots, high heels, sneakers and slippers on an enormous shoe racket. Cock.

[B]

Cock. Also, is he a weird feet dude? Yeah, like, is that what's also getting out there? Is he a feet dude? Is that what this is saying?

[C]

Well, there's. I mean, that's one reasonable explanation. The other is just like, you know, I mean, look, you're listening to this. Women who are listening to this, how many of your husbands arrange your high heels and boots and shoes in their closet? I.

[B]

The answer is zero.

[C]

I don't think it's ever been done.

[B]

I don't think that's ever happened until this dude put it in. I was like, I think he's a weird feet dude. Hashbrook. You know him. You're buddies with this guy. You ever get the feet dude vibe off him?

[D]

She sounds like Imelda Marcos. How many pairs of shoes did she have? The guy was working for an entire weekend in a walk in closet.

[C]

You know what, though? I bet Mr. Marcos didn't do the arranging of Imelda's shoes.

[D]

I think that's probably right.

[C]

That's what the important part is here. Anyway, so we've summarized some of this stuff, and basically the upshot is that he finds this stationary.

[B]

You're not gonna skip this part, are you?

[C]

Oh, you want to do the run up?

[B]

Yeah, because I think that's important. Cause, like, when he's like, how does she have so many pairs of shoes? During his, like, little storytelling, Lizza brings up that not that long ago, I had helped her untangle herself from an unusual relationship with Keith Olbermann. Oh, the former MSNBC host. She had messaged him out of the blue. They started talking. Soon after, she fled her unhappy home in suburban New Jersey. And you knew it was New Jersey, right, folks?

[A]

Why?

[B]

I mean, you knew she was a New Jersey gal with these kind of problems.

[C]

Anyways, this is Italian Blast.

[B]

They started talking, and soon after, she flooded her on happy suburban New Jersey and started living with Keith in Manhattan. He paid for her to attend college, outfitted her and Tom Ford and Herve Leger dresses and some $15,000 worth of Cartier jewelry. Later, he covered her rent, furniture, apartment in a doorman building in the West Village. While Keith, who was 34 years older, was generous, there were strings attached.

[C]

Okay, hold on. I need to pause you on this. This is an important component.

[D]

Going back to what I'm. Go ahead.

[C]

Well, there's evidence on this front, right? That's kind of a salacious claim that he had basically rescued her from this horrible relationship, which, by the way, just imagine a relationship with Keith Olbermann. Just think about the tempestuous nature of all that. It's got to be a volcano every night, you know?

[B]

But does it beat New Jersey?

[C]

But. But she got.

[B]

Your choices are New Jersey or Oberman. That's. Oh, man.

[C]

But so what Liz is alleging of all of this is that she got a little something out of it, right? Which is a big allegation. It's like, basically this old man who's crazy, we all know, had this hot young girlfriend because he bought her stuff. And it's like, I wonder if he's gonna hear from Keith on that. In fact, we have. Can we get that tweet? Do you have that Oberman tweet.

[B]

There it is.

[C]

There it is. By the way, about this from Liz's reply. Olivia and I live together for four plus years. Four B days, four Christmases, four anniversaries. That's like $1,250 of jewelry per celebration.

[B]

He did the math.

[A]

He did it.

[B]

Bro's like, breaking this down like an equation. It's incredible.

[C]

Her apartment was a studio, and I made a f ton. Then he's talking about his MSNBC days, right? What was I supposed to do, get her a gift from Kmart?

[D]

I mean, Oberman.

[C]

But, dude, it's so funny for so many reasons. It's a great little component of this larger story.

[B]

Also, it says a lot about the nature of that relationship when he was, like, doing the Math. We got four birthdays, we got four anniversaries. That comes out to 12, 50 of jewelry.

[A]

He's like the Rain man of jewelry.

[B]

Yeah. He's doing the Julie extremely loving relationship or math equation.

[C]

He's got, like, a spreadsheet of gift giving.

[B]

Like, he's doing doordash tips. He's like, so, yeah, I gotta give 20%, right? What kind of relationship is this?

[D]

Meanwhile, Liz is on his hands and knees rearranging her shoes.

[B]

I think he wants to. I think he's a feet dude. I'm just saying, it seems to me as a feet dude kind of thing, which is probably. I mean, one of the worst allegations made.

[A]

Parody. Parody.

[D]

We're laughing.

[C]

We're laughing. But honestly, that's the better of the two from my standing, so. Oh, I'd rather be a feet guy than I would be a guy who's arranging my wife's shoes.

[B]

I think the guy arranging the shoes are a feet dude, is what I'm saying. I'm alleging. No, I get that in my thinking, if you're playing with your wife's shoes, you're a feet dude.

[C]

Well, the fact of the matter is, is the feet guy, whether he was he already adorned to the race.

[B]

Sloppy people, man. Like, this is a mess.

[C]

Well, it's a mess. It gets worse. But I do love the fact that Oberman's whole takeaway from this entire thing, which was an absolute atomic bomb in Washington, D.C. is like, wait a minute. Let me do the math on gift giving. Like, he's the center of it anyway. The whole thing goes.

[D]

By the way.

[C]

Yeah, right.

[B]

He's like, just the most nervous opportunity to jump in.

[C]

So Olivia had concealed the relationship for me and other friends, but one day she told me Too much, actually. And together, we hatched a plan for her escape. And this is from Oberman. So he who had a family and she who was with Oberman, hatched a plan which ultimately resulted in their engagement.

[B]

This is a wild plan. He's like, so I'm gonna hatch a plan for your escape. Step one. I leave my wife and children.

[D]

Day two.

[C]

Jesus, man. You got brought this to a dark place. Her enemies became my enemies, and vice versa. When friends asked why I never responded to Keith's public attacks and me and Olivia, I explained that she had felt stalked by Keith, and she didn't notice he didn't address that component. Yeah, it was the gift giving that really chapped his hide. The stalking. He's like, eh, it's a light. A light stalk.

[B]

Light stalking.

[C]

He's just a light stalk anyway. And we had a strict policy of never engaging with him.

[E]

Interesting.

[C]

But one mess at a time. As I tidied up the desk, something in the Kimpton stationery caught my eye. I started to read.

[B]

If I swallowed, there's a quote from the stationary.

[C]

Yeah, he's reading from the Kimpton stationery, which strikes me also as a very sloppy way to do this kind of thing.

[B]

These are messy people.

[C]

You'll find out in a second quote. If I swallowed every drop of water from the tower above your house, Olivia had written, I would still thirst for you. Unquote. Well, that catches a husband or a fiance's eye. Is this you're writing a novel, sweetheart? Or is this you and the Kimpton.

[B]

Writing crazy, awful prose?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is that your thing?

[C]

What is this?

[D]

I think when it comes to people like this, every room is a writer's workshop.

[C]

Just some creative writing. Just some stuff. Putting your head together, trying to get something going. Unfortunately, the lack of a water tower on our Georgetown home roof ruled me out as the note's intended recipient.

[D]

Oh, no, man.

[B]

Brutal.

[D]

Oh, man.

[C]

I flipped to another page and saw a name in the first line of an unfinished love letter to him that included enough details to confirm a physical relationship and the hint of some kind of falling out. My heart stopped when I realized who he was. So all of this has led to what she and her publisher had billed her. Great. Tell all about RFK American Kanto. American Kanto. He was a famous politician, 32 years older than Olivia and well known for a sex scandal, but more importantly, was a presidential candidate and a source of the subject of Olivia's recent profile for New York. Again, all very consistent with what is.

[D]

Boy, he's a great writer.

[C]

By the way of rfk. I started to build a mental map of the potential blast zone and ticking through the concentric circles of our lives that a recklessness could shatter the privacy of my children. The wedding.

[B]

Oh, he's so concerned about the kids that he ditched for her.

[A]

Hold him accountable. Smug.

[C]

The wedding Olivia was pressuring me to plan.

[B]

That's a wild detail, too, to throw in there. Dude, I know he's not taking prisoners here. He's got nothing left to lose. She's already taken the shoes, and he.

[D]

Has to play in the wedding.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[C]

This is where, you know, her journalism career.

[B]

I organized the shoes. I organized our wedding.

[C]

And then finally, our book project. Cause, remember, as you said, they had a joint book project. I was not the perfect partner. But the scale of Olivia's betrayal was devastating. She had an affair with someone who would provide the maximum level of humiliation and personal and professional ruin, perhaps for both of us. Again, very, very consistent with what we knew about this story up to this time. She later explained to me that she became infatuated with him after their interview and that she couldn't get him out of her head and that her obsession intensified. She sent him increasingly risque pictures and texts. Oh, right. Again, this is exactly what we knew came out about the RFK situation.

[A]

I've heard rumor of these photos and spreads.

[B]

I mean, that's a whole other story, but let him go on.

[C]

Yeah, you need. It's Google Street.

[D]

Google it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

There's a whole lot there. There's a whole lot there. But we won't discuss. Don't Google it, but whole lot there.

[C]

Secretly following him on the campaign trail when she told me that she was out covering other candidates and fantasized about a rendezvous which was consummated at his home in South Carolina one night after she went dark on me and made up a story about how she was dealing with a crisis concerning her sick mother.

[B]

Keep going, keep going, keep going. Audience, continue listening.

[C]

I was sure our relationship was over, and certainly our book project was dead. She had crossed the journalistic red line. How could we write a book about a presidential campaign if Olivia had a sexual relationship with one of the candidates? Again, very, very consistent. I looked at the date on her aborted letter to Mark.

[B]

What was the date?

[C]

You, the audience, are like, what? We just followed this RFK story all the way through. You guys are really into this thing. We were talking about rfk. Why does it say Mark? Well, I, too, in reading this thought. What is that all about? March 5, 2020. Just a few days ago, I called my agent and I said, quote, we have a big problem. Quote, olivia is sleeping with Mark Sanford.

[A]

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

[D]

I mean. I mean, he buried that in a way that only Ernest Hemingway could have.

[B]

Are you talking about Sanford?

[E]

Wow.

[A]

Yikes.

[C]

Yikes.

[A]

Have you guys. You guys ever watched that movie Amadeus?

[D]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

Mozart.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But there's this wonderful scene when Salieri reads like, the. The. The symphony or the. The composition. Yeah. That Mozart had created. And he looks at it embarrassed about his own mediocrity. And that's how I. And he has it in his hands and he sort of just like drops it. And in reading, what Lizza wrote, felt like. That's what it felt like. It was like, this man has done art. He has created art.

[C]

He created art to the point where it was like, holy shit. No one was talking about Mark Sanford. Now, recall former South Carolina governor, he had to leave office because he was up on the Appalachian Trail. Remember, the authorities were looking for his wife, was looking for him. Everybody was trying to find this guy, and he was having an affair, and he had taken off and decided that he was going to go for a different life with this new woman and throw everything behind. Well, he got back into politics, ran for Congress again, one improbably. And then decided, well, now is a good time for me to run to president. And of course, Olivia Newsy is there to try to profile the gentleman. At which point, according to Ryan Lizza, a relationship was consummated.

[D]

You know, I always wondered when I heard Mark Sanford's speech surrounded by pastors and he was crying and recommitting himself to morality, how he would spend the early days of the COVID crisis. But apparently he spent them the same way he spent those days on the Appalachian Trail.

[B]

That's right. By the date. That's it. March 5th.

[D]

Right. Well, you were being told to stay in your house and shut down your business and your kids can't go to school. The journos and the politicians are stupid in each other.

[C]

Well, don't you kind of wonder, like, from the New York magazine standpoint, whether her readers were more offended that she was sleeping with Mark Sanford or she wasn't wearing a mask.

[B]

Were they double mask?

[C]

2020.

[D]

Right.

[C]

It feels like that was mask time.

[D]

Right. You know, I'm sorry, your Olive Garden franchise cannot remain open any longer because Olivia Newsy needs to hook up with the guy who was on the Appalachian Trail and worked in the House of Representatives for a few years. I mean, if anything makes normal people hate Washington more than this, I don't know what it is.

[C]

Well, I don't hate it at all. I think this is one of incredibly entertaining.

[A]

This is one of the only redeeming qualities of this town is the messy garbage these people leave behind.

[C]

I love.

[A]

You know, like, I agree with you, Ash Brook, but, like, this is funny. This is the one little thing we get.

[B]

So I also want to give some context. So when Ryan Lizzo wrote this, he entitled it Part one of, like, I guess, a trilogy. He's gonna drop, like, three.

[C]

Oh, there's more.

[B]

Yeah. So this was part one. He's gonna. I don't know when part two drops, if you hear this part.

[C]

Can't wait.

[B]

Drop part two immediately.

[C]

Let's get that out there. And also, come on in the studio and tell us.

[B]

Yeah, tell us your side.

[C]

Let's talk about the shoe thing, too.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, that's got it. I mean, that's like. There's a lot of questions there, too.

[C]

I have a lot of questions.

[B]

You got to get in here because, you know, she's going to. She's going to go scorched earth.

[C]

So, like.

[B]

Like, she's got a book tour to do.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And she's not going to let you get away with this.

[C]

You're going to take a bath on this deal, bud. It's time to get in front of it. Which you did with this piece, which was fantastic. And of course, the great irony of it all is Everybody, the whole 500, 600 words of this thing thought she was talking about RFK. It ends with Mark Sanford. Something we didn't know. Yeah. And it's the same exact profile.

[B]

It's crazy, because there's pattern.

[C]

She wrote in her book, in the excerpts that were released about her alleged affair with RFK Jr. Now, we understand that wasn't actually physical. This one sounds like it might have been. Lizzie decided to jump the gun and get this one out first.

[B]

And that's the thing. So, like, when I was reading this, he was like, there's proof in this letter that it was a physical relationship. And I was like, oh, so he's alleging it was physical between her and rfk. And then when you get to the end and it's like, it's Mark Sanford. I was like, these are messy, messy people, dude. These are just horrible little gremlins.

[C]

But also, just think about. He's been planning this for years. He knows her, right? I mean, he's engaged to her. He knows she's gonna make a reemergence for sure.

[B]

And. And this is the other thing is, yes, you guys have mentioned that, you know, Liz is great at the writing, but I think the most critical thing that he did here, and I think that we're gonna get into, is he's. By making the twist. That's Mark Sanford. When every detail that you're hearing is like, I've already heard this about the RFK thing. I've already heard this about the RFK thing. Is that you're like, wait, so this is a pattern. So this is a pattern. Like, is there a timeline of her that she does this kind of a thing over and over again?

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

All right.

[A]

I don't blame her for a second. I just want to get this on the record, really. I don't blame her for a second. I think she is who she is. She is just a. She's just a shooting star.

[C]

I think the player.

[B]

If all these details are true, she should be in jail, and so should Lizza.

[C]

That's outrageous.

[B]

And Lizza, too. Both in jail.

[C]

Nope.

[A]

She is who she is.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And she's a sinner. And she's done things that I would have never done. But it's not like she didn't hide who she was. In fact, at this time, in all of his reporting, he's trying to extricate her from this up relationship she has with Keith Olbermann. It's like you as you, Chris or Ryan, Lizza, you know what you were getting into?

[C]

Oh, 100%.

[B]

You.

[A]

You done it deliberate.

[C]

I don't.

[A]

You done it deliberate. And then. And then on top of that, you leave your wife and your children for this.

[B]

Allegedly.

[A]

You're like, that's this, right?

[C]

That's for this situation.

[A]

For this situation. Yeah, man. That. That's karma. No, that's what that is.

[C]

It's also like, you know how I like my rock stars all fucked up.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And my actors and my. My singers, and I like them all fucked up. It's for the same reason. I think it's like this is. This is the kind of edge that I like to think about. So, you know, it got us to thinking, like, who is Olivia? Like, how did this whole thing get put together? Because what we knew is that she was a prolific writer and she covered all of the presidential candidates, and she did so in a way that was very compelling, even for New York magazine, which I find abhorrent. I can't read a single word in that. I would always read her stuff. Cause I found it like, you know, sort of.

[A]

She's not allowed to profile us. We are married men. We are happy.

[C]

Well, I was gonna ask for the profile, but I'm sorry that you formal request is in. But it's gotta be all four of us. It's not gonna just take smash. Reading about some.

[D]

Never mind.

[C]

I'm not gonna let me go anyway.

[A]

No go.

[C]

In 2013. So in 2013, you know what her first gig was?

[D]

What?

[C]

She was an intern for Anthony Weiner's mayoral committee.

[B]

I remember this.

[C]

Yeah, so that's how her start was in politics. And recall, it was just a few years earlier. The reason he was running for mayor is cuz he had to quit the House of Representatives because he sent his cranks to absolutely everybody under the sun. And it kept getting worse. At first it was like, oh, my Twitter account was hacked. And it's like, oh, somebody's.

[A]

She learned it from watching him.

[C]

Yeah, somebody's impersonating me. And then. And then he.

[A]

My God.

[C]

Oh wow. The upshot.

[A]

He sent some spreads.

[C]

Well, that. My God, that's the one that got him, by the way. Like he was denying all allegations until he took an upshot of his cranking. His face was in it. And that was before the AI days. So it was nothing.

[A]

Best episode. Yeah.

[C]

Anyway, so like in that same year, she starts this relationship with Oberman.

[B]

Oh, but real quick, in that 2013. So she's an intern that. And then she writes this, a piece in NSFW Corp, the name of the website, about being on that campaign. She just like laid bare how completely insane it was. It went viral.

[C]

Oh yeah, totally. I mean, she.

[B]

So that's when she first got on everyone's radar of like, who's this person? She writes this piece about being an intern on that campaign. How deranged and crazy that campaign was.

[C]

And a gifted writer. So it was very, very compelling. I remember reading it.

[B]

And also apparently Anthony Weiner would refer to her as Monica. So like, is that like foretelling or what?

[D]

Really?

[B]

Wow. Yeah. Wow.

[D]

Cuz he couldn't remember the name.

[B]

I mean, who knows why?

[C]

Like why?

[B]

Who knows why? There's lots of questions to be answered.

[C]

There's questions about that. Why would you call her Monica? Interesting.

[B]

Calling your intern Monica seems really weird.

[C]

Yeah. Especially when his. Well, I don't know if he was together with. What's the name at the time.

[B]

Yeah, he was.

[C]

Was he?

[B]

I mean, who knows the nature of their relationship, but like they were together.

[C]

No, I feel like he was put that Was post.

[A]

No, it was pre.

[C]

No, it's pre. But I. No, maybe it was. I don't know.

[B]

I remember. So they were at the time, like a power couple in New York. This is what led to his downfall is because none of that was out until he was running the crankshots. No, no, no. It would be years later. It would be years later that, like, him texting minors and stuff like that would come out. Yeah, they were heaven. Huma. Who is now with George Soros, his son.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Hilarious.

[A]

Sick town, these degenerates.

[C]

Hilarious. No, you're right. So, like, having a relationship with Hillary Clinton's top aide and calling your intern Monica. I don't know.

[B]

There's a lot of crazy question stories here.

[C]

So in 2019, this is where this story picks up that Lizza left off with. She profiled Mark Sanford.

[D]

Oh, interesting.

[C]

Or his 2020 GOP primary. And apparently, that's where this whole thing began. She continued to work for the New York magazine and a whole bunch of different stuff. This is where he found the Sanford thing. And then she got engaged in 2022 to Lizza after the Oberman thing and had to extricate, which lasted a while, I guess. Anyway, what happens at that is then she decides she's gonna profile RFK in 2023.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And that's what led to the downfall of her career at New York magazine, is because they found out about the nature of her relationship with rfk, which started during her profiling. She published the piece, and they not only did a investigation into her and her writing, if it was somehow compromised. So that's the thing.

[B]

So like this. It was in 2023, she publishes the RFK Jr profile in People. That relationship allegedly between her and RFK Jr continues all through late 2023, early 2024. It continues while she's engaged to Lizza. August of 2024, RFK Jr suspended his campaign. The relationship allegedly between her and RFK continues. September of 2024. That's when she discloses. She gets. I remember what's happened because she, like, sent out a tweet about. I can't even remember what it was. And then, like, seconds later, New York magazine's management calls her to the office. Yeah. And then news breaks. She discloses to the management that she was engaged, allegedly, in a relationship with RFK Jr. She was placed on leave by New York magazine, and the news broke everywhere, and everyone just lost their minds.

[C]

Yeah, well, it's part of it, because the Wall Street Journal had the goods, and they inquired and at that point, New York Mag had to do what they had to do. They ended up parting ways after what they call an ethics review.

[B]

That's October 2024.

[C]

All hell breaks loose between her and Lizza. And it just becomes absolutely.

[B]

It was. It was truly messy because they were like going after each other online and then like through their companies, they're going after each other. Like they're all trying to tell the company that they worked for at the time that, like, oh, this person's doing unethical things. And remember, they have a joint book deal also at the same time. These messy people.

[C]

So this is like a wild deal. And then end of last year, after the election, they announced that she's going to write a book. That's her big coming out party, so to speak. And now it's here. So he's had some time to think about it. He hits her with this. It is a complete disaster. And like now it's just like spilled out to the open. Apparently the part one of three.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

A trilogy, bro. Decided to go for a trilogy.

[D]

Listen, I think that's the most interesting piece of this. I don't know if you guys are familiar with a book called David Copperfield. Yes, But Charles Dickens published that in a serialized manner.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

Okay. And so what Ryan Lizza is doing is giving new life to an old style and also giving a reality twist. And the hero in this story is actually a heroine. And Michael Duncan, I know, is very familiar with this, this book. I know he's read it five or six times because he is. He is a keen observer of Western literature.

[B]

You think so? So the fact that it went on his substack, you think he's Gonna Payball Part 2?

[D]

I think so.

[A]

100.

[D]

How would he not?

[B]

You think that's the play.

[D]

And I think part three is more expensive than part two.

[C]

Yeah, No, I think that's.

[B]

Bro, these are some sick people. These are like the people who are like buying, was it the 50 shades of gray? Reading it on the train on their Kindles.

[C]

I don't think this is sick at all. This is a capitalist.

[D]

Is it Charles dickens of the 21st century?

[B]

This guy, he's like, I want you to read them part two.

[C]

Yes, he's right.

[B]

I want to read it. You gotta pay.

[A]

You know, Part one is get under the circus tent.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Part two is buy some fucking popcorn.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because we're gonna be here for a while.

[B]

We're gonna be here for a while.

[A]

And you know what? I'm here for it.

[C]

I'M here for it. So we started thinking about this in terms of, like, you know, we really don't know a lot about her until this last thing that's now all spilled out in the open. And we were looking at stuff and we were like, has she ever really addressed any of this stuff? So we went Back to like, 2015. Graphic 3 please.

[B]

This is a tweet for listeners from Olivia Nazi. The date is January 19, 2015. This is when that House of Cards show was popular on Netflix. And there were a lot of women reporters who were mad that on the show there's a woman journalist who's sleeping with sources. And Olivia Nuzzi has a screenshot from that show and she writes, why does Hollywood think female reporters sleep with their sources? Which is a good quote.

[C]

In fairness to her, she doesn't sleep with her sources. She sleeps with the principals. Yeah, allegedly.

[A]

Allegedly. She goes right to the top.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, as, as Lizza said, maximum impact.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Allegedly.

[B]

Allegedly.

[C]

So then we thought sort of we're like, all right, so what else does she have out there? We have to go back a little bit further to 2011. Graphic four.

[B]

Please. This is a tweet from Olivia Nuzzy. October 1st, 2011. Well, this proves that my ideal friends are 50 to 60 year old men.

[C]

Oh, my God. Well, she undershot it a touch, but she's gotten older too. I mean, it's 10 years or 10.

[B]

It's just a moving window. It's like a reverse Leonardo DiCaprio.

[C]

And finally, the coup de grace. I almost feel bad about rolling this.

[B]

You gotta be a scumbag to do this.

[C]

But it gives you. He was pushing for it.

[B]

He was pushing for it.

[A]

It's so funny.

[C]

She always wanted. Clearly, she always wanted to be in the limelight at some level. So as a late teen, remember MySpace? Yes, I hardly remember MySpace, but Olivia had a MySpace. And at the time, it had morphed from what was a competitor of the early days of Facebook into a place for artists and musicians to just put up content that they could try to get people interested in and go viral in the early days of, you know, social media and that kind of thing. She has a song. Oh, I wonder what that's about. Clip one.

[A]

I mean, this visual is incredible.

[C]

Baby, I'm not your girlfriend, okay? Not the girl next door, not your girlfriend.

[A]

Oh, Jailbase.

[B]

Dude, this is so insane.

[D]

Wow, this is really hurt.

[B]

Isn't her singing.

[D]

I mean, she can carry a tune.

[A]

No, she fucking can't. Ashbrook, what are we talking about here.

[B]

Ashbrooke.

[A]

This is like. This is like some Temu Auto tuned Britney Spears shit from the mid aughts.

[C]

Well, it was hot then.

[B]

This gal Nuzzy is counting on people in the entertainment industry being like, Ashbrook, like, well, I think there's a future for you.

[C]

Jesus, it's like halfway to accusing you of going to the casting couch. That's unbelievable.

[A]

This is the most unhinged episode.

[C]

Amazing drive by.

[D]

Just think of the clicks. God, you can be a star. Front page of the New York Times.

[C]

Right to the top course for 25%. I can make that all happen. I mean, so look.

[B]

But she knew.

[D]

She knew that's the way they treated her. And she is doing the exact same thing to these politicians.

[B]

I will say one thing. So in the aftermath, I've seen some, like, articles, especially today, coming from, like, some journalist opinion. I think it was Dylan Byers, friend of the program.

[C]

Yeah, he's actually a good guy.

[B]

Did you see this? Like, it wasn't a bad thing.

[D]

I see what he wrote.

[B]

He was like, this is kind of like telling about the state of modern media where, yes, listeners and readers want more authenticity. They want them to have more proximity to sources. And we're like, a situation like this would blow up a career. Is it not going to. Is this just like what the state of.

[C]

No, it shouldn't. He's entirely right. That is what we're dealing with here. If you're looking for the puritanical to try to get the real story, I can tell you it looks a lot like CBS Evening News, left wing nonsense lying about Donald Trump.

[D]

And what do you know about that? Nobody watches it.

[C]

Nobody watches it.

[D]

Everybody's reading this story.

[C]

And like, I'm not saying that this is like, oh, terrific behavior, you know, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, like, don't hate the player, hate the game, because that's what the world that we're living in. And like, this is a lady who has an unconventional approach to profiles.

[B]

What was his name? The guy who did the gonzo journalism had his ashes.

[A]

Hunter.

[B]

Hunter. Is this just like a modern Hunter S. Thompson? Is this what it is?

[C]

It feels like it. It feels like it, but it's also something that's.

[A]

But instead of ketamine, she has sex with you.

[C]

Oh, my God, dude. What?

[A]

Oh, I'm out of line. Oh, I.

[B]

This is such a good.

[A]

Oh, sorry, I'm out of line.

[C]

Fun time Friday.

[B]

Oh, hell.

[C]

Anyway, we've reiterated our request to have Olivia drop by into a Profile of.

[B]

Martha's side or Eliza or both. Because the thing is, you want to get your side out. Fun. So whoever arrives on the show first is what you want do.

[C]

It leads us to our question of the day. Oh, boy. Now that you've heard her first pop hit, if she picks up singing again, which, you know, there's new technology now. This is back in the day when she dropped that thing, we could maybe improve even the beat and whatever. But it was catchy. What were the names of her new songs on her new album Be?

[D]

Oh, it's a great question.

[B]

Good question.

[C]

First one's Jail Bait. Where do we pick up?

[D]

I feel like the audience is gonna have some great stuff on that.

[C]

Remember, when you like and subscribe to the ruthless variety program, we read every single one of your comments. Love them, by the way.

[D]

Love them.

[C]

On the last episode. Like, we're just consuming this stuff. Love to get your feedback. This is a pretty good question. What should the name of the songs or the next album be on Nosy's second deal? I don't know. I think I got some ideas, but I want to leave it to you anyway. I do think that perhaps Newsy in her next profile, and I know me going into the weekend is going to need some zbiotics.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

I mean, we've told you folks about this before. There it is on the screen right now for our YouTube viewers, ZBiotics. I'm going to tell you straight up, it's just magic. Like, I know Duncan and everyone can explain how this was developed by PhDs, but even online, when we talk about this, you see on X people who are like, I tried it. I don't know how it works. It just works. It truly does work like magic.

[A]

It's funny you say that, dude, because I think over the weekend, there was a minion friend of the program.

[D]

He was at the Ole Miss game.

[A]

He was at the Grove, you know, watching the Ole Miss game, tailgating and stuff, and he took a zebiotics and he was doing his own test.

[C]

I mean, look, he was like, you guys are liars.

[A]

Well, I get it, dude. I was fucking skeptical when we started doing this thing. It's like, all right, so I'm gonna drink this thing, and it's gonna like, come on.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But he put out a tweet on it, and he's like, I'm gonna go, you know, tailgate. And then the next day he's like, you know what?

[B]

It worked. He's like, I feel like a million bucks.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So you drink it before you drink. It's your pre having a good time drink. And the thing is that for so long, we thought that, oh, if I'm feeling terrible the day after drinking, it must be that I'm dehydrated.

[E]

No.

[B]

As Zebiotics, the scientists who make it figured out it's these toxic byproducts that are left in your stomach when it breaks down the alcohol, while Zebiotics just knocks it right on out.

[A]

I'm gonna go ahead and take one right now because I feel like after that whole segment we just did, might.

[B]

As well get started.

[A]

I gotta detoxify a little bit.

[B]

It's incredible. And the thing is, it works. It truly works. And even it doesn't matter if you're young, if you're extremely old, like our friend Will Kane, I gave him some when we were up there for the Patriot Awards. This is a man who's pushing. He's like 68, 69.

[D]

Come on.

[A]

No, he's not.

[B]

And it still worked for him. I'm sorry, Information, sorry, Will.

[C]

And I'm sorry to Zebiotics. But if you go to zebiotics.com ruthless to learn more, you get 15% off your first order when you use Ruthless at the checkout. Zeobiotics is backed by 100% money back guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money back, no questions asked. And I mean they mean it. And like you're not gonna want their money back. This is great stuff. So you gotta go to zbiotics.com Ruthless use the code Ruthless at the checkout for 15% off. Okay, so your comments from last episode, which, you know, look, it's a little different than what we normally do on a Thursday. We like to. We ramp up the fun we usually do. Like Tuesday we have some serious stuff to set the table for the week. Thursday we have a little bit more fun. And Friday we funtime Friday, as evidenced.

[B]

By the first unhinged Friday couple of.

[C]

Segments in our show. But we went in on the abstinent thing. Cause it was pent up with us and we wanted to talk about it. We think it's all like unbelievable amounts of bullshit attached to a real issue. But it's not about the real. You're hearing about it because it has nothing to do with the victims. Everything to do with politics. We get it. I'm proud of that episode, by the way, fellas. I think that was a really good show discussion on it. So we asked the Question. Are the Epstein files the new Russia hoax? You gave us our responses when you liked and subscribed. And we always start with the voice.

[D]

Okay. First comment comes from hypercoach, and hypercoach writes, the Epstein files are the new. Quote, is this dress blue or black meme.

[A]

Oh, I remember that.

[D]

People will see what they want and never concede. And then all the Dems in Congress will start saying, six, seven.

[B]

Yeah, there you go. I bet your kids go crazy whenever.

[D]

You say they lose their minds on that. That's code for. Okay, here we go. This is. This is very funny. Let me just start again. And then all the Dems in Congress will start saying, 6, 7 is code for white supremacy or some other deranged Rosetta stone they claim to have found until they discover a new reason to fall on the fainting couch.

[C]

What, like hyper?

[D]

Best. Best. Best audience.

[C]

Good stuff. All right.

[A]

It's just proof you can be a good writer without getting cucked by Olivia Nuzzi. My God. You know, you can just be a good writer. You don't have to do what you did to yourself.

[C]

Do you have to arrange high heels? No, you don't have to do that.

[B]

Can you text Lizza and be like, what's the deal with that?

[A]

Yeah, what's the deal?

[B]

And be like, I'm gonna tell him. Don't just roll up to the show.

[D]

Listen, dude, I'm gonna tell him. Don't listen to Duncan. You should come on the show and tell your story right. And you can have his chair.

[B]

Well, he can.

[C]

He can clean things up here. Because there was, in my estimation, one real hanging liability there that he needs explanation.

[D]

I have a feeling that for 1995, next month, we will be able to subscribe to his substack.

[B]

And you're like, that's how you get the story.

[C]

It's like, all right, about the high heels.

[B]

That's the.

[C]

That's the subject about the high heels.

[D]

He's not dumb.

[A]

Okay, okay. Common two. This is from Craft Happy. They write it won't matter if the files are released or not for Democrats trying to use it against Trump. If Trump isn't in the files, they will say they are hiding them. That's the thing. This is. This is a very smart comment because what it shows is sort of the complexity to this that we talked about in the last episode, where it's like, they're not actually after the truth. Dude.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

If he's in there, they're gonna do a redaction to make it look like he's Doing a crime that he didn't do. If he's not in there, his absence will be also a crime.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

It's. It's. You're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't.

[C]

Which is why this whole thing is fucking dumb. Yeah. All right. Comment 3.

[B]

Comment 3 is from JR and JR writes. Yes, the MSM and Dems will continue to weaponize and lie about any reference in the files to Trump. Even when the material support Trump. They'll just yell, quote, trump was mentioned in the Epstein emails. Yes, because Epstein had tds. Wolf worked closely with Epstein to attack Trump and rehabilitate Epstein. Yet nothing supporting the Dems narrative. But don't call it a hoax. Even that will be weaponized. Call it what it is. Projection from the Dems and Team Epstein. That is what it is.

[D]

Oh, that's J.R. around the corner on that incredible analysis. You know what I think we should do, and we've talked about this a few times. I think at some point before the end of the year, we need to basically do an entire show based on comments from our audience.

[B]

And they're like Nostradamus. I bet if we go back and look at them, they nail them.

[C]

Yeah, well, we've been talking about different ways to do that. We're going to get back to you on how we execute such a a plan, but it's worthy because all these things are great. When we come back, yet another prominent Democrat, one of our faves. So you probably know who we're talking about. Caught in a humiliating lie. And we have the response right after this.

[E]

Why was the government shut down? Because big insurance greed knows no limits. The same insurance companies pocketing billions in profits were demanding billions more in taxpayer funded subsidies again putting millions of families at risk. Shutting down our government. Now, unless they get their billions, the big insurance companies are threatening to raise your premiums even more. Putting greed and profit before patients. It's time to hold them accountable.

[A]

Paid for by Americans for Open Government.

[C]

Okay, welcome back to the Ruthless Variety program. One of our absolute favorites, Jasmine Crockett. I'm not sure that she goes a day without doing something that is noteworthy and well worth covering here on the program. Well, she's caught in a massive lie here and it's a tough one because it's a doozy. She's trying to attempt to justify a lie about Lee Zeldin accepting contributions from Jeffrey Epstein. Well, of course, this is like one of the ham handed staff that dumb politicians have where they see Jeffrey as if there's not two Jeffrey Epstein's, which by the way, tough name to have. I feel horrible for anybody who's named Jeffrey. I'm probably somebody who's listening to the show whose name is Jeffrey Epstein. He's like, it's been a tough week.

[B]

It's been a tough decade and a half, folks.

[C]

Tough week.

[B]

Not good times.

[C]

Anyway, she's confused all this. Of course, it was a different Jeffrey Epstein.

[F]

Clip 2 Secretary he responded and said it was actually Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, who's a doctor that doesn't have any relation to the convicted sex trafficker. Unfortunate for that doctor, but that is who donated to a prior campaign of his. Do you want to correct the record on the people that you listen?

[G]

I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein. Just so that people understand when you make a donation, your picture is not there. And because they decided to spring this on us in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen because I knew that they didn't even try to go through the policy. So my team, what they did is they Googled and that is specifically why I said a Jeffrey Epstein, unlike Republicans, I at least don't go out and just tell lies.

[A]

You just did.

[G]

Because it was not when Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein. So at least I wasn't trying to people now have I dug in to find out who this doctor is? I have not. So I will trust and take what he says is that it wasn't that Jeffrey Epstein. This is on national television attempting to mislead anybody. I literally had maybe 20 minutes before I had to do that debate.

[F]

Yeah, but people might then say, well, you're trying to make it sound like he took money from.

[G]

I did not know.

[F]

Registered sex offender.

[G]

No, but I literally did not know.

[A]

Didn't know.

[B]

But you said it.

[G]

He searched FEC files and that's what I had my team and I said listen, we're going up. They are saying that she took donations.

[F]

Right. But someone might say, well, your team should have done the homework to make sure it wasn't the convicted sexual.

[G]

Nothing within 20 minutes. You could not find that out. Not from just doing a quick search on fec.

[A]

Yeah, you can actually.

[G]

A Jeffrey Epstein. But I never said that it was specifically that Jeffrey Epstein because I knew that we would.

[C]

You threw that name out randomly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. So real quick, I just want to say it's important to note that when they had The Chiron on cnn for Jasmine Crockett, it said d Oversight committee. Yeah, this is the level of idiots that the devs are standing for Oversight. And she's like, well, you know, instead.

[A]

Of just admitting, like, I got it wrong. Hey, I goofed. I kind of goofed. She was like doing. She's like doing the, the dun dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.

[B]

It's like, it's not the same.

[A]

It's not the same. It's like ice, ice baby under pressure. It's. It's actually a different thing. She does like a whole run up of like, why it's not actually her fault that she checked whether this pedophile donated to this guy that I announced on the floor of the House of Representatives actually donated. It's not my fault.

[C]

Amidst a debate about Jeffrey Epstein.

[A]

Yeah. Who could have known? Who could have known?

[C]

Dude, I'm not kidding you.

[A]

She's too stupid to insult.

[C]

It's. It's like a glorious gift for the ruthless variety program to have content like this. Oh yeah, if you listen to that, it is one of the top five dumbest things that I've heard over the last 20 years escape the mouth of a politician and think of where that bar is set. This woman thought. And by the way, just imagine the comms meeting before. Because I'm sure CNN was like, hey, we're gonna ask.

[A]

We have to, we have to ask.

[C]

We gotta ask you about this because, you know, it's not the same Jeffrey Epstein that you just accused a former colleague of taking money from. So like, can you just clear that up? And they're like, yeah, no problem. So they huddle. She's like, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna say a Jeffrey Epstein. And I meant any Jeffrey Epstein.

[A]

Literally, anyone.

[B]

Eddie.

[C]

Jeffrey Epstein was during the floor vote.

[A]

On Jeffrey Epstein, the pedophile. It's just another Jeffrey Epstein.

[C]

Yeah. Which we all know are pedophiles like Adolf Hitler.

[A]

Painter. We're now Painter.

[B]

And here's the thing is like the reason also that Dems do shit like this. This is the same reason that the media does stuff like this where they'll put out a lie about a Republican and if forced to retract six months down the road. At the bottom page 93 in the back in size 2 font. They just want to get the slander done. Think about the lie that they spread about Donald Trump that half this country believes about Russiagate. They did their job. They're like, as long as the person is slandered, we got what we wanted out of, of it. And enough is enough. She should be jailed.

[C]

I mean, it's unbelievable. But she wasn't done for the week, fellas. That wasn't embarrassing enough.

[A]

I love her.

[C]

If the level of embarrassment can carry you through. And I bet she walked off that set, by the way.

[B]

Nailed it.

[C]

Hammered that. That sounded great. Everybody gonna love that. Let's do a tick tock clip 3.

[D]

What?

[B]

Wait, wait, what?

[A]

What is a meme? It's a meme.

[C]

So for those of you unfamiliar with this, this is a tick tock trend that's been going on far too long now. And that's probably the formal end of it, by the way.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Anytime you have a politician that's trying to like, work that through, generally speaking, the Youngs don't care for it and they will change whatever the next meme is. But she's decided that this is a good opportunity for her to jump into the.

[B]

There was a discussion that was going on. I think it was journalists who were pointing out that part of the problem that they see that Democrats have is that their entire social staff is like 20 something gay guys who just like jump on. I'm being serious. This is a discussion that like.

[A]

No, it's very true.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The Democratic Party's had this discussion internally themselves. Yeah.

[B]

Of like their entire social and comms operation is just like 20 year old gay guys on TikTok who their entire understanding of a way to drive a message is like, well, this is big on TikTok.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so this is what you end up with.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

This is how you lose the podcast election.

[C]

That's why he spent $20 million of donor money on trying to figure out how to talk to men.

[B]

Yeah. And then you end up with this.

[C]

That ain't it, that ain't it, that ain't it. I don't know who that's for. But anytime a politician does something that's supposed to be a TikTok meme. End of meme.

[D]

Yeah, I think that's. I think that's axiomatic.

[C]

End of meme. So remember our question of the day. As you've heard, Olivia Nuzzy's first pop hit, if she picks up singing again, what will the name of her new album be called? Give us your creative stuff when you like and subscribe. We read every single one of them. And to play us out a cut out of her new album, Olivia Newsy.

[A]

What does that mean? To play us out, Play us out.

[C]

Does that mean in the show to.

[A]

End the show means in the show.

[C]

What are you talking about?

[A]

Do a lie?

[C]

16 will get you 20. I've got your luck for life. Don't even think about it. Because, baby, I'm not your girlfriend. Not the girl next door, not your girl.