Hour 3 - Steal the Bacon!

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show — "Hour 3: Steal the Bacon!"

Date: February 24, 2026
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton

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Episode Overview

In this lively third hour, Clay and Buck deliver their signature mix of humor and sharp political commentary as they look ahead to President Trump’s State of the Union address. The conversation meanders through fond memories of childhood games, critiques of modern political speechmaking, education reform, and listener reactions to current events. The show’s lighthearted banter is interwoven with thoughtful takes on how tradition, culture, and politics intersect in America today.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Previewing President Trump’s State of the Union (02:34–07:07)

• Anticipation and Predictions: Clay notes that the over/under prediction for the address is 99 minutes, lamenting the lengthy tradition:

  “Oftentimes I like to actually...read the State of the Union because I can read through it a lot faster than you can watch it with all the clapping and everything else.” — Clay (02:58)

• Both hosts discuss personal preferences, with Buck planning to multitask childcare during the speech, leading to a tangent on kids and pets at home.
• Advice for Speechmaking:

  “Great speeches are short. The best speeches are 20 minutes or less. Speeches go too long. Nobody wants to hear it.” — Buck (06:57)

• Real-life application: Both share advice for wedding and event toasts, emphasizing brevity and authenticity.

“Steal the Bacon” and Childhood PE Games (03:56–07:35, 25:56–28:37)

• Nostalgic Banter: Buck describes “Steal the Bacon,” a game neither Clay nor many listeners seem to know, sparking calls and messages from the audience.
• Cultural Differences: Discussion of regional variations of playground games, including the now-offensive “smear the queer” (05:01), noting changes in terminology and culture.
• Listener Responses:
  • A PE coach from Miami confirms "Steal the Bacon" is alive and well in schools, and even claims it teaches about life and competitiveness (27:46).
  • Jewish listener recollects her version was called "Steal the Salami" at summer camp (25:58), prompting jokes about meat and dietary laws.
• Buck’s Commentary:

  "It is a microcosm of capitalism. It's like, you know, you got to be, when you're called, when your name is up, you better get that bacon or somebody else is." — Buck (27:46)

Critiques on Political Performances & Teleprompters (12:36–17:21)

• State of the Union Attendance: Discussion of 50 Democrats skipping the event, and how their seats might be filled by first responders, soldiers, or the US men’s hockey team (09:53–11:55).
  • Notable quote:

    “I would rather stick forks in my eyes than be here tonight to listen to Donald Trump talk about the State of the Union.” — Rep. Angie Craig (09:39)

• Speech-Making Advice: Both hosts argue most politicians rely on teleprompters and would falter without them.
  • Clay:

    “If you can’t say what you’re arguing for off prompter, then you’re just an actor who is out there reading lines that somebody else wrote for you…” (16:12)

• Trump vs. Obama & Reagan: Buck notes Trump’s off-the-cuff skill, comparing favorably to Reagan and arguing Obama was only effective on prompter.

Suggestions for Trump’s Address — Substance Over Show (13:26–15:30)

• Messaging Strategy: Clay urges Trump to highlight positive data, like the 125-year low for violent crime and improvements in the economy (mortgage rates, inflation, GDP).
  • “Tell the story of violent crime hitting a 125 year low....this is your opportunity.” — Clay (13:26)
• Reaching Persuadables: They note the importance of moments when Trump can bypass legacy media and speak directly to voters who may not be deep into current political news.

Listener Reactions: Political Controversies & Patriotism (24:42–25:10)

• US Men’s Hockey Team Controversy: A female listener from Arkansas says she’s not offended by Trump’s remarks in the locker room, denounces the over-sensitivity of current culture, and calls shunning the president "unpatriotic."
  • “Can we stop normalizing getting offended and getting praised for? Instead of being called out for the lack of character and maturity...” — Kelly (24:42)
• Clay and Buck riff on generational names (“Ethel” and “Esther”) as a segue into audience feedback about games and regional differences.

Tangent: The Evolution of School PE and Teaching (28:14–38:08)

• Banter on PE Teachers: Clay jokes that PE is often the easiest teaching job, drawing mock outrage (and defense) from Buck.
  • “The number of PE teachers that had the greatest jobs on the planet and just rolled the basketballs out...overwhelmingly.” — Clay (28:57)
  • Buck retorts with respect for coaches doubling as PE teachers.
• PE and School Structure: Discussion on the lack of rigor in some PE programs, decline of exercise in schools, and nostalgia for sports-based discipline in childhood (e.g., calisthenics as punishment now being sold as boutique fitness classes).
• Education System Critique: Both hosts speculate on more efficient educational models, referencing the possibility of AI-enhanced/hybrid learning and the potential for shorter but more effective school days (32:07–35:29).
• Changing Nature of Teaching:
  • Buck suggests that economic opportunities for women outside teaching have changed the talent pool and quality of educators in public schools:

    “I do think that our generation saw the first surge of a lot of women who would have...become VPs at Morgan Stanley instead.” — Buck (35:29)

• Skyrocketing Costs: Debate over whether the $40,000 annual spending per child in NYC’s public schools is justified by results (37:38–38:08).

Childhood Swimming Anecdotes: Naked Pool Training?! (43:05–44:46)

• Listener Story: A caller from Michigan shares a memory of mandatory naked swim classes, leading to a brief, incredulous conversation on bygone norms of male club culture and co-ed pools.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “Steal the Bacon:”

  “This is not some Buck island phenomenon. This is a widespread camp gym class game called Steal the bacon exactly as I described it.” — Buck (06:21)

• On Speechmaking:

  “I have never been to an event where people were like, frustrated or annoyed that a speech was too short. I have been to countless events where people were writhing with agony...anything to make the pain stop.” — Buck (07:35)

• On Political Authenticity:

  “If you can’t say what you’re arguing for off prompter, then you’re just an actor who is out there reading lines that somebody else wrote for you...” — Clay (16:12)

• On US Hockey & Patriotism:

  “There’s nothing less patriotic than to represent the US on the World Stage and then shun the president of your country. Now that’s offensive.” — Kelly (24:42)

• On Culture & Schooling:

  "If you had to pick a school teacher who did the least on a day to day basis...PE Was the place where it was the easiest teaching job." — Clay (28:57)

• On Public School Spending:

  “Every public school kid in New York City, we are spending 40k a year, the equivalent of on their education in public schools and many of them are getting old, awful educations.” — Clay (38:08)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• State of the Union Address Discussion: 02:34–13:26
• Steal the Bacon & PE Memories: 03:56–07:35, 25:56–28:37
• Teleprompters & Political Oratory: 12:36–17:21
• US Hockey Team & Patriotism Listener Feedback: 24:42–25:10, 26:53–27:46
• Education Reform & Public School Debate: 28:14–38:08
• Naked Swimming in School & Clubs: 43:05–44:46

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Style & Tone

• Conversational and playful, with plenty of in-jokes (“Buck island”), light sarcasm, and a willingness to poke fun at themselves, their peers from childhood, and the American political class.
• Candid and critical of both left-wing and establishment right-wing traditions, while grounding arguments in personal experience and cultural zeitgeist.
• Inclusive of audience input, integrating live calls and talkback segments that reflect the show’s wide, ideologically sympathetic listener base.

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Summary

This episode captures Clay and Buck at their most entertaining: weaving together nostalgia, cultural critique, political commentary, and listener engagement to offer a uniquely American, irreverent, and thoughtful hour. From the anticipation of a Trump address, to “Steal the Bacon” and critiques of education, the show walks the line between hilarity and seriousness, all with sharp wit and pointed insight. Whether discussing the quality of political speeches, the role of physical education, or the merits of teleprompters, Clay and Buck keep the conversation lively, informative, and relatable for listeners old and new.

Transcript

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome in our number three, Clay Travis Buck Sexton show we've been having a lot of fun. You can hop always on the talkback on iHeart and you can send us your talkbacks. We'll take some of your calls. 800-282-2882 as we are moving closer and closer to the State of the Union address that will be delivered in primetime this evening by President Trump. Expectation, you heard Bill O'Reilly last hour say that he expects a long State of the Union address. Right now over under in the prediction markets is, I believe, 99 minutes. That's over an hour and a half. I don't know about you, Buck, but oftentimes I like to actually listen to the sorry, read the State of the Union because I can read through it a lot faster than you can watch it with all the clapping and everything else. Are you a nerd like that sometimes, too?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I'll usually watch it, but I'll watch it with Carrie and Speed and, you know, he'll do something cute and I'll stop paying attention for a second. Then I'll have to go back and or, you know, he'll start, he does this army crawl thing where now he army crawls so fast that you got to keep, you know, he moves like a little rattlesnake. I got to keep eyes on him. You know, he's very quick.

[Clay Travis]

But be careful around those stairs. Got the baby gates up, all that

[Buck Sexton]

stuff, all this stuff is happening. And I got Ginger Spice, who loves playing with, with Speed now on the carpet, they're like best buddies. And they, they will get like a toy, she leave a toy in front of him. And it's almost like you remember the game Steal the Bacon when we were kids, did you ever play Steal the Bacon, where you had to run and grab the ball that was in the middle between like two lines of people and you had to call people's names out. You don't remember? You never played Steal the Bacon?

[Clay Travis]

No, I don't never.

[Buck Sexton]

Am I is this like, only at my summer camps, they had maybe this is a Northeastern thing. I don't know. Maybe you guys called it like, you know, dodgeball.

[Clay Travis]

Like, I remember they would put the balls all in the middle for dodgeball, and then you would run and go grab them. And it was risky because you might get pegged while you were grabbing a dodge.

[Buck Sexton]

Like, you run, you grab the ball and you Run back to your line of people, and if the other person catches you and tags you, you're out. Or if they. Whoever gets the ball.

[Clay Travis]

I'm never heard of this game in my life.

[Buck Sexton]

Maybe like some camp counselors just came up with this at the camps that I went to. And I is this. Have you ever heard of this? Am I alone on this one? That I just. Oh, my God. Bucks on Buck island. On. I thought everybody knew Steal the bacon.

[Clay Travis]

I've never heard of steeled bacon. I probably will get in trouble for saying this, but I will say it. When I was a kid, we used to play a game called smear the queer, which is no longer a popular phrase anymore. Good heavens.

[Buck Sexton]

Good heavens.

[Clay Travis]

I really called it the ball. And everybody tackled him. That sounds like the Southern version on some level of what you are describing. Except your version is a lot more civilized than mine where everybody just destroyed one person. Did we lose Buck

[Buck Sexton]

Bacon is.

[Clay Travis]

I think we lost Buck's audio. He starts talking about steal the bacon. Now he's back.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, he's back. I am so outraged about this. Thank heavens for grime.

[Clay Travis]

People out there were like, this guy played Steal the bacon. We can't trust his opinion on anything.

[Buck Sexton]

Is a quote, poppy,

[Clay Travis]

did we lose. His audio's coming out. The big, big, big CIA has come after Bach, and he starts talking about steal the bacon. And is it just me or is he popping in and out? Are you back with us now?

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, I could hear you guys. I must be on the comrades or something.

[Clay Travis]

You're. You're back. You're back here, but you're. You're going in and out as you're trying to explain. Steve, of all the things.

[Buck Sexton]

My point is. My point is that this is not some Buck island phenomenon. This is a widespread camp gym class game called Steal the bacon exactly as I described it. Anyway, my point was merely that speed and spice play this game. Now. Ginger will drop a ball in front of him, and it's like, who can get to the ball first? And Ginger's a lot quicker right now, so she always wins. But it's very fun to watch them. So, yes, that will be happening while Trump is doing his State of the Union address. But also I will read it the next morning. Here's my thing for everybody, though. Great speeches are short.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

The best speeches, my concern are 20 minutes or less. The best speeches are 20 minutes or less. Speeches go too long. Nobody wants to hear it.

[Clay Travis]

Nobody cares.

[Buck Sexton]

Everyone tunes out after a while. This is. My people sometimes come to me Because I guess at some level you and I are public speakers of some note or have some capability in the speaking realm. We are vocal cord athletes perhaps.

[Clay Travis]

And we're never on a teleprompter. Sometimes people ask. So we have every day now, everything that we say is completely unscripted. So people sometimes come to us to ask for advice on speaking.

[Buck Sexton]

And whatever I say, and particularly for weddings is, or any. But anytime you're giving a toast or anything short, just make it short. Just say what needs to be said, say what you know you know, and be. Be who you are. If you can be funny, be funny. But if you know you can't be funny, don't try to be funny. Just keep it short and keep it straightforward. Be who you are and keep it short is the best advice I give to everybody. And they say, what short? I'm like, well, that is where you got to draw the line. But I'm telling you this much, I have never been to an event where people were like, frustrated or annoyed that a speech was too short. I have been to countless events where people were writhing with agony in their chairs and reaching for the nearest Johnny Walker to just throw down a glass, anything to make the pain stop. Because you know, page 47 of the speech, page 55 of this, like, no, nobody wants to hear it.

[Clay Travis]

The worst thing for best man, best woman, or whatever it's called, bridesmaid speeches. Some of those are just disasters. Like you go on.

[Buck Sexton]

When I met Sally, we were in the freshman year and oh my gosh, I thought we would be the best of friends from the first moment.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Ha ha ha.

[Buck Sexton]

That's why when I saw you just like, oh, please, please make it stop.

[Clay Travis]

Anything good story about your friend that will connect with everybody, not an inside joke that three people in the room are going to get. Make it toast. Get out, get in, get out fast. It's like a robbery. This 50 Democrats are skipping the State of the Union address up to this number. Representative Andy Craig from the crazy state that has gone insane of Minnesota said, well, listen to what she would rather do than attend the State of the Union. This is cut 33.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I would rather stick forks in my eyes than be here tonight to listen

[Buck Sexton]

to Donald Trump talk about the State of the Union. But this is the people's House and

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I will not abandon the people's house.

[Clay Travis]

So wait, she is going and she. Even though she would rather stick forks in her eyes, I can't even keep up with who is going to be there and who is not going to Be there. But that is very funny. That is Representative Angie Craig. I don't know the rules.

[Buck Sexton]

I tweeted, have you ever heard of that person before? I never even heard of that person.

[Clay Travis]

I just thought, you know, I love

[Buck Sexton]

people like you work in politics. There's 435 of these jokers. You think we know all of them? Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

And, and the forks in the eyes, really? That sounds kind of awful. And this is also very funny. I think it would be amazing. And I don't know what the rules are. Do we have Speaker Mike Johnson talking about this? I think it's cut 10 where he talks about trying to fit everybody in. I really do. Not only would it be funny, I think it would be a big deal. Going to the State of Union is a huge honor. There aren't that many seats. I know it looks big on television when you watch it, but the House of Representatives chamber does not seat that many people. So the idea that Democrats are going to just give up 50 seats, I think that the White House should just say, ok, we're bringing in soldiers, we're bringing in first responders, we're bringing in ice agents, and we're going to let them watch the State of the Union because it's an incredible honor to be there. Maybe you could even bring in the U.S. men's hockey team and put them in these seats. Here is Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, talking about the difficulties of just fitting everybody in and the rules accordingly. Listen, cut 10.

[Buck Sexton]

The President called me Sunday night and he said, mike, we got to make some changes. We need some more guests. Okay, well, you know, the State of the Union is a very well attended event and the gallery is already full and we have waiting list of people that want to be there. I said, Mr. President, how many people are you talking about? I think the whole team. Okay, well, so we're going to work out logistics and somehow, some way, we'll squeeze in the hockey players tonight and it'll be a great moment for America.

[Clay Travis]

It will be a great moment for America. And we'll see whether or not Democrats are going to continue down their absolutely insane path, whether they are going to steal the bacon, as one might say, or not from President Trump's already impactful statement that hopefully will be substantial. Look, buck hour 39, I would rather play steal the bacon for an hour and 39 minutes, I think, than watch anyone speak for an hour and 39 minutes. So I would agree with you. If I were giving President Trump advice, I would say in and out, 45 minutes. Or less. That's a decent State of the Union. This is an hour.

[Buck Sexton]

He would be, he'd be a hero for this. Because you could really do a performance in 45 minutes where you start off strong, you get to the sauce, you get to what you need, and then you finish strong. Nobody remembers the last 30 minutes of a State of the Union address. No matter. I don't care if you do this for a living. I don't care if you're Trump's biggest fan. There's a limit to how much sitting there and stop and clap and all this sort of stuff. Nobody remembers these. They're too freaking long, ok? This is just the reality of human attention spans. These speeches are too long. They don't need to be this long. And I'm just here to help and tell people the truth, to tell people the truth about this stuff. And trust me with my, with my keep it short. I'm saving you all so many, so many rough toasts.

[Clay Travis]

Everything else here is the other thing I would encourage them to do in addition to keeping it short. It's already written and I'm sure they're revising it up to the last minute. Tell the story of violent crime hitting 125 year low. Tell the story of border crossings not being basically existing. Now, the thing that I would say that is important is this is one of the few times when President Trump has the ability to talk to people who don't know the things that all of you listening to us right now do. You know we're at 125 year low for murders. You know that the border is completely secure. You know that quarter three, 4.4% GDP. You know that interest rates on mortgages are the lowest level since 2022, that inflation is down to 2.4%. This is one of the few times tonight when Democrats might be watching or persuadable voters might be watching where you get to tell them what you believe without it being colored by the prism of how CNN and the New York Times and MSNBC and the Washington Post and all of the legacy media outlets are going to cover your story. That's the one thing that I would say. Punch hard, factually accurate with the positive things that you have done in the first year and change that otherwise are not publicly out there. This is your opportunity.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I think that the president is, look, we're going to come here and say he did a great job, but that's because he has so much to work with that's going well and that he can say are true accomplishments. And also anyone who says that this president isn't an incredible showman and entertainer is deluding themselves. He's the most remarkable, certainly since Reagan, the most remarkable, entertaining politician. A lot of people say Barack Obama gave a great speech. I mean, off prompter, he was never impressive at all. He was not an impressive public speaker without a speech.

[Clay Travis]

He put everything on prompter for that reason, largely. Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, was he good on prompter?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, he was.

[Buck Sexton]

He was solid. I'm not going to pretend like he wasn't. He was good on prompter, but off prompter, he was very. I'm trying to look at this as a practitioner myself here. Off prompter, he was not impressive. Reagan, Trump, these are people who just came up with stuff on the fly that's hilarious, insightful, and Trump is in that category. So, yeah, his speech tonight, because he's going to do some of the asides. He's going to. We got some of them in the front row here. And hey, back there, high five. You know, he's going to be Trump. He turns everything into the Trump show. Whether you're in the White House, the Situation Room, you're in the joint. Joint session of Congress, anywhere you are, it turns into the Trump show immediately.

[Clay Travis]

Do you sign on this? I don't know if I've said this before. I think I have on the show. If you told me one thing that I could alter in modern American politics, imagine how much things would change if we banned teleprompters, ban them from all public speaking. You have to show up and actually make the case yourself for what you believe, like we do every day. I'm holding up my little yellow legal pad with my notes jotted down. Go out and make the case for what you believe without reading it off a teleprompter. I think 90% of politicians would be unable to do public speaking if you took away their teleprompter. Why does that matter? Because they're not arguing. If you can't say what you're arguing for off prompter, then you're just an actor who is out there reading lines that somebody else wrote for you to address the nation. And it means that you don't actually have any depth of knowledge yourself, which is how AOC at Munich and situations like these with Kamala Harris blow up so often. Because if I don't take them off, they have no depth.

[Buck Sexton]

But with tears in her eyes, or maybe she had a cold, I couldn't tell. AOC Clay thinks the problem isn't her knowledge. The problem is you.

[Clay Travis]

She was, she was definitely, definitely troubled. Poor AOC being held accountable for her moronic takes. If you're continuing to think on a serious level about what's going on in the Middle east and what has been endured by so many there. I went to Israel a year ago in December. It was an incredibly eye opening experience. I want to go back, I want to take my family, I want them to see what life is like in Israel for themselves. And I would encourage all of you out there to consider a similar trip. And what I saw is the attacks against Israel were fueled by complete anti Semitism and unfortunately we're seeing it all over the United States, around the world. We just saw what happened at, I believe it was Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia where guy showed up and just murdered innocent Jewish people as they were doing a beach gathering around Hanukkah at a time when Jewish communities. I was out to dinner last night with a, with a guy who is Jewish, lives in California. He said he never would have believed that he would be a gun owner, but after what he's seen happen to Jewish people, he felt compelled to get his license and trained to be able to carry a weapon. A lot of people in America are feeling that way. Our friend Carol Markowitz has written about this, about the need that she felt to arm herself. The International Fellowship of Christians Jews has an amazing track record of helping those in need in Israel. And by partnering with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the ifcj. You're empowering the IFCJ to continue their life saving work. Go online today. Visit ifcj.org you'll be reinforced by all their accomplishing with the donations that you guys are providing. Tremendous difference. That's IFCJ.org Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Mic drops that never sounded so good. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities. Completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures tired

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[Buck Sexton]

I don't think I've sold my Manufacturing Delusion book today, but it is week two, everybody. And people, you know what the greatest compliment is I'm getting on this book? Wow. It's actually really good. And it's like a real book with research and thought and stuff like yes, yes, all of that. It is not some rant that has been transcribed. It is a book book. It is worth your reading, I assure you. And and go check it out and I've been telling you about it and we were doing great. And props to. We crushed Jon Meacham. So thank you for that. And props to Not Bad Bunny, the other Bunny xo, not to be confused with Bad Bunny, although she also apparently was kind of a naughty bunny back in the day. But she had a book that was number one Clay in the country last week. Number one. I'm still kind of in shock.

[Clay Travis]

Credit to her.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Safe.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton show. Margot Martin reports from the White House that Team USA has officially arrived and she has posted a photo of them posing in front of the White House. I believe that is on the South Lawn. So prepare for everyone to lose their minds over that. Now we have got a bunch of talkbacks, many of them very funny. Uh, let's start with Kelly. Well, I mean, I'm not surprised by this take. I think everyone basically is not offended by President Trump's remarks in the locker room while talking to the US Men. But here is Kelly from Northeast Arkansas.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Gee, as a woman, I'm not offended by President Trump's remarks. He has daughters and granddaughters who play golf, so he obviously supports women in athletics. These hockey players just offended themselves out of once in a lifetime opportunity to be honored by their countrymen. Can we stop normalizing getting offended and getting praised for? Instead of being called out for the lack of character and maturity, it shows there's nothing less patriotic than to represent the US on the World Stage and then shun the president of your country. Now that's offensive.

[Clay Travis]

Well, totally. Esther.

[Buck Sexton]

Perfect.

[Clay Travis]

Esther. Was that the name that I said? What was the name?

[Buck Sexton]

That old timey name?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Is that what you're saying?

[Clay Travis]

Ethel.

[Buck Sexton]

Ethel.

[Clay Travis]

Ethel. I was like somebody, Somebody was mad at me in Ethel back in the day. I don't, I haven't heard of any.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, you said, you said everyone named Ethel is 80 years old. And then we had a bunch of our esteemed and beloved 80 year old listeners calling in to light you up for.

[Clay Travis]

For being correct. I think that's what I said. I said no one has been named Ethel since 1935. And that is true. I have not heard of an Esther in a very long time either. She's out in Staten island listening to us on WOR and she remembers Steal the Bacon. But she's Jewish, so they had another name for it.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Steal the Bacon.

[Buck Sexton]

I went to a Jewish summer camp

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

and instead of saying steal the bacon because Jews don't eat bacon, we played Steal the Salami. It's exactly the way you described it. Thank you. Love your show.

[Buck Sexton]

Wait, why is. Isn't salami also a pork product? Why would that be better? I'm confused, right? I mean, producer Mark. Producer Mark is Jewish. Help me out here.

[Clay Travis]

More of a sauce.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, I'm sorry. Salami is. Okay. Crash. Producer Crash comes in. Salami is beef. Whoa, who. I was way off on that.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Sorry.

[Buck Sexton]

I thought salami was. I thought salami was a pork product all this time.

[Clay Travis]

The salami, Kelly, it's no Polish sausage,

[Buck Sexton]

let me tell you.

[Clay Travis]

Vox roommate introduced him to Polish sausage. Also introduced him to hide the salami. Kelly from Oklahoma City, 1000K talk, which got for us.

[Buck Sexton]

Holy crap, Buck, you unlocked a memory treasure trove when you brought up Steal the Bacon.

[Clay Travis]

It is totally a thing.

[Buck Sexton]

Was a great game. Was a great game. And also if you were really good at it, you smoke somebody so badly that sometimes they would like kind of trip in the grass on the way because they got surprised. When they're naming you Clay, you'd call out their name. So I would call out like, or, you know, someone would call out like Clay, Buck. And you'd run to get the ball in the middle. And if you weren't paying attention, home slice, all of a sudden you were eating dirt and I was stealing that bacon.

[Clay Travis]

I've never played this game in my life, but a podcast listener who requests to stay anonymous says he is a PE coach in Miami and Steal the bacon, a big part of his PE repertoire cut 11, Bucky not long the Island.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm a PE coach here in Miami, Florida. And steal the bacon is the best game. It's the go to game here. Kids love it. Teaches them about life. They got to be ready to get that, get that bacon and take it back to their team. This, this gentleman is, by the way, he's correct. It is a microcosm of capitalism. It's like, you know, you got to be, when you're called, when your name is up, you better get that bacon or somebody else is like, this is life. He's correct.

[Clay Travis]

Did you have pe every day your fancy high end high school?

[Buck Sexton]

You did. We used to play dodgeball. We had to wear jack and tie. We would play dodgeball in our jacket and tie, which in retrospect feels like some kind of punishment. But we would just be wailing each other as hard as we could with these big rubber balls, wearing a little like emblazoned blazer with our, you know,

[Clay Travis]

our reptile on it. I don't know how PE Teachers are now, and PE Teachers of America are probably going to unleash upon me if you had to pick a school teacher who did the least on a day to day basis.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, don't be, don't be throwing this

[Clay Travis]

at the PE teachers. I don't want big, big PE Coming after me. But I went to public school K to 12 in Nashville. The number of PE teachers that had the greatest jobs on the planet and just rolled the basketballs out or just, you know, rolled the kickballs out or whatever it was, and just kicked up and chilled overwhelmingly. PE Was the place where it was the easiest teaching job.

[Buck Sexton]

I gotta, I gotta, I got, I gotta throw a flag here, Clay. Okay, Mr. First of all, for Mr. Sportsman to be throwing the pee. Teachers of America under the, under the proverbial bus here, all right? To be, to be leaving them last picked for dodgeball, so to speak. Unfair. And let me explain why a lot of places like this was the case. At my, my little Catholic school in New York, which is St. David's you, you had coaches. So the coaches of the teams also did PE Classes that. You know what I'm saying? So it was like the guy who was the head basketball coach would also take some PE during the day.

[Clay Travis]

That often happens too. So he has more time. But I had a lot of PE teachers. And again I'm asking, has the, has the PE E. Has it like, is it more organized now? I had a lot of PE Teachers that just said, hey, here's the eight basketballs kids and would just throw them out. And by. I don't complain. I would rather play basketball during PE class than have some sort of, you know, every now and then we would have a really aggressive PE teacher and he was like, this week everybody's playing badminton and you're like, what are you doing? Like, what are we playing badminton for? So I'm not opposed necessarily to PE teacher who just lets you play kickball every day, but are they more regimented now? And unfortunately, I also know that they have taken PE out of a lot of schools. And then they came back and said, well, we have to mandate PE Now. I'm just curious what I think there

[Buck Sexton]

should be like now I remember when I was a kid in school that there was never enough in the day. We never had enough sports time and we always had too much. You know, this is what like I said about the speech thing. I think kids are subjected to too many hours of wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah in a classroom. Most young kids who are reasonably energetic and you know, they want to be running around getting, getting after stuff for at least an hour and a half, two hours a day. And that's really what. And we. Sports class was always like 45 minutes. By the time we actually were, you know, ready for it was not, was not enough. So I think there should be more of that. But it's funny to me, Clay, because I remember again, I'm talking grammar school now, but if you had, if we like had a. And I had a pretty, my class was pretty notoriously bad. We a lot of misbehavior in that class. And if you were naughty, they would make you do like calisthenics and push ups. Which is funny because now as adults, my wife, all of her friends, they're paying people to yell at them, to make them do push ups at these classes. But when we were kids, if you were really bad, it was like, I'm going to make you get stronger and improve your physique, darn it. You know, and you're like, no. Why are you so mean?

[Clay Travis]

Arguably, push ups is the single best workout. If you had to only pick one that you could do. And in that context, by the way, you were talking about the hours that are wasted. AI, have you seen some of the articles about how AI is designing optimal 2 hour instruction days for kids? And I know a lot of you out there have done homeschooling and you have these homeschooling lesson plans and you can get through them in a couple of hours. And kids have hours and hours and more of entertainment. Clay, I do think re examining the way that we do elementary school education in particular. Much of it is broken. I think the data would reflect this is.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm. I am in it. I am an aspiring radical on this. And we should do a whole other, you know, we should do more of a deep dive into this and get some people on because there are things popping up here in Miami where you have. You don't have the same established school system at an elite level. I'm just going to say it. That you did in, say, New York City, where I was right. You just. It's not. You don't have the same amount of choice. You don't have. There's no Stuyvesant equivalent here, which is a public school where you basically have to test in like the 97th percentile of all test takers to get it. Like, you don't have that here. It's just not the same pool. And so people are getting more creative with how they're educating their kids because there's just too much demand on the school system already for the good schools here. There are some very good schools here, but there's too much demand. So people are getting more creative. I bring it up because even where I live, I'm finding that there are more people doing this. This hybrid learning has this terrible. Because of COVID And it's like hybrid learning. No, no, no. True hybrid learning, meaning they'll do with tutors in a pod two or three hours a day with a couple of other kids in. In one home or in one location. Then they'll join for sports and like traveling sports, like teams, like they're competitive and they'll go do that. And there's ways to do this because a few things are emerging. One is that kids are in school too long, especially at a young age, and the school system is not getting better. If anything, it's getting worse. And the. Also a lot of the school system used to have. Well, I could go on and on about this. I'll just say I think it is

[Clay Travis]

an interesting point here that AI gives us ever. There's a lot of talk about AI, but it gives us an opportunity to reexamine whether we are doing things in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible across much of society. And I genuinely wonder. My kids are basically through elementary school now, and I feel fortunate. They've all went to public school K to 6, basically, and then they've gone to private school since. But I feel like we had great public schools, great elementary school teachers. I have loved it. But I do wonder on some level whether there is a better way to educate kids that's more effective and more cost productive.

[Buck Sexton]

Do you think that also a lot of. Do you think that a lot. This is something that has been bandied about a little bit on the Internet. Do you think that a lot of particularly all who would have been all star female teachers because of the, you know, basically went to work, became.

[Clay Travis]

This is an Interesting.

[Buck Sexton]

Became VPs at Morgan Stanley instead? I think that's an interesting. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of great teachers. Okay. We're talking about at a macro level, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of different roles. But, but you know, small changes in the, in the average make big changes for the outcome. And I do think that our generation saw the first surge of, of a lot of women who would have just by nature of women tend to do. Veterinarians, nurses, pediatricians, school teachers. These were heavily female dominant professions became much less so. And I think you might have lost a lot of great, particularly female teachers. And I think the quality of the teachers you're getting because of the economic incentives to do other things has been hurt in places. So I think that's all real. I think that needs to all be considered as part of this as well.

[Clay Travis]

I'm.

[Buck Sexton]

I talked. I mean, Carrie thinks I'm nuts because I also went. You went to fancy schools. I went to fancy schools. And I don't pretend that I didn't. I mean, I went to a scholarship school and you went to school on a full scholarship. So it's a little bit of a different picture than like just fancy. But you know what I'm saying, academically considered, academically elite places. I think there are better ways. I'm talking especially for young kids. People want to send their kids to the most rigorous high school, the most rigorous college. I'm not going to pretend like that's not, you know, advantageous. But first grade, fourth grade, you got to have kids in class eight hours a day. I'm sorry, it doesn't add up to me. Doesn't make sense to me.

[Clay Travis]

I think we should re examine a lot of this and try to take the best practices that come forward. And honestly, we had Secretary of education Linda McMahon on. And for instance, going back to what makes more sense has been what led Mississippi, for instance, which is not renowned for its educational system historically to have tremendous success. And so I think challenging the way that people do things now, biggest challenge on this Buck is going to be teachers overwhelmingly because of the unions fight anything, anything that you try to change. But I, I definitely wonder if we're doing what is the best method to teach kids writ large.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what, do you know what the massive budget in New York City Clay of $120 billion. New York City's budget's going to be bigger than Florida's budget under Mamdani. 40% of that budget. Education department for New York City I

[Clay Travis]

think the number was that the average New York City kid, they're spending $40,000 a year on educating them. Is that the right number?

[Buck Sexton]

I saw they're actually $40,000 a year on adults getting jobs where they don't do very much but they vote Democrat. That's actually what they're spending them on.

[Clay Travis]

The reason why I was thinking about it is a lot of people out there hear and see, oh that private school costs $40,000 a year and they think that's outrageous. Every public school kid in New York City we are spending 40k a year, the equivalent of on their education in public schools and many of them are getting old, awful educations. It's just a broken system. I mean again I, I, this is a deep dive on this but when I see some of this data I, I think it is super intriguing and we should spend more time addressing it than we do as a, as a society and culture. Look, we all need more energy. If you want to accomplish everything on your plate and you want to have elite level energy, one way you can do that is with testosterone. That's what powers the male body, the male engine. That's what chalk does. They have a male vitality stack Best selling product multi supplement bundle designed to support men's vitality and healthy testosterone levels. For some of us, having lots of energy can come naturally and that's great. You probably know people in your life who do. Others need a little bit of help, particularly as you age. In fact most guys over the age of 40 their testosterone starts to drop precipitously which is why the leading ingredient chalks male vitality stack proven to replenish 20% of your diminished testosterone in three months time. You can check it out today. Visit chalk.com Start your path towards increased energy and when you subscribe using my name Clay you will get a free 99 bag of chalk lit powder with your first delivery. Choq.com My Name C L A Y Keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history. On the Team 47 podcast Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com Disclosures Life

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[Buck Sexton]

All right, I'm closing up shop on Clay and Buck. Want to get to a bunch of calls. We're going to dive into it right now. I just want to say, quick listener, point out Clay, that Genoa salami is, in fact made from pork. So I am not crazy. And Genoa salami is kind of the king of salami. So. David and Jackson, Michigan. David, let's go. We got 30 seconds for all of our calls. You got 30? Go to it. Indoor pool, about the early 70s. Three, maybe. Required in seventh grade, swim day, kids, indoor pool with the boys, girls. Locker room was on the other side of the gym, and it was required. It was strange.

[Clay Travis]

Gentlemen, thank you for the call. My in laws told me about this. No, no, this is. This is a Michigan thing. My father in law, my stepfather in law told me once, he said, you know, you. You think your kids. He was telling my kids, you think PE's tough now. We used to get trained to swim naked at school. And I was like, there's no way this is true. All over Michigan, they had pools. Indoors, they had naked pool training.

[Buck Sexton]

This isn't like the. Nice isn't. In fact, this isn't unique to Michigan clay men's clubs. And I don't mean like bath houses. I mean like men's polo and racket clubs. In places in, like, New York City, they were all male. And there used to be naked swimming. The New York Athletic Club, which is a vaunted institution in. Vaunted. Is that the right word? In New York City, when it was all male, it was optional, but there was. People would. Would swim naked there.

[Clay Travis]

I. I don't even know what happened back in the past.

[Buck Sexton]

This is crazy.

[Clay Travis]

Joanie. Des Moines, Iowa. Quickly, Joanie, give us an endorsement here. Okay.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Hey, guys.

[Buck Sexton]

My husband wanted me to watch the Miracle of the Blood of the Watch

[Clay Travis]

the new documentary on Netflix. Joanie didn't hit it fast.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Buck Sexton]

Guaranteed human.