Hour 3 - The Best of Clay and Buck

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: The Best of Clay and Buck

Date: September 1, 2025 | Hour 3
Host: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton

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Episode Overview

In this "best of" hour, Clay Travis leads a lively exploration into cultural trends and shifts over the past decade, connecting the evolution of advertising, body positivity, and social media to broader societal changes. The episode centers on how American culture—particularly in media, marketing, and family values—has strayed from what Clay sees as tried-and-true norms, but is now showing signs of rebounding to more "aspirational" models. Clay and Buck pepper their commentary with humorous banter, listener feedback, and references to iconic pop culture moments, drawing a through-line from retro sitcom dads to modern TikTok trends.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Power of Aspiration in Advertising and Culture

(02:58-16:00)

• Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle:
  Clay recounts how influencer and actress Sydney Sweeney became American Eagle's new face, sparking a major stock spike and viral campaign. He connects this shift back to a broader rejection of "body positive" (i.e., non-traditional model) marketing that, he claims, failed for brands like Victoria’s Secret and Nike.
  • "They replaced fat, unattractive models with attractive models... I actually think it's evidence of the culture healing." (08:24, Clay Travis)
  • He details the logic: advertising is aspirational, and people want to see idealized versions of themselves.
• Personal Anecdotes:
  Clay shares stories about his first job at American Eagle, where "the most fun job" was folding shirts and chatting up "pretty girls"—echoing the theme that "good-looking people in ads" are what sell products.

2. The Decline and Return of Classic Cultural Values

(16:00-20:00, 23:52-29:00)

• From Body Positivity to the Return of 'Aspirational' Ads:
  Clay argues the last decade's embrace of "real bodies" and anti-meritocratic culture, driven by social media feedback loops, was a mistake—one that brands are now admitting through their reversals.
  • "Everything that social media advocated for actually made things worse." (16:40, Clay Travis)
• Social Media as a “Carnival Funhouse Mirror”:
  Clay introduces his metaphor: social media distorts reality and leads to misguided real-life choices.
  • "Social media is to real life what a carnival funhouse mirror is... My argument is we're starting to come out of that carnival funhouse mirror era." (15:10-16:12, Clay Travis)

3. The Role of Media in Shaping Family and Gender Norms

(25:33-36:05)

• Sitcoms as Aspiration:
  Using an old Cosby Show clip (25:33), Clay launches into a meditation on family sitcoms of the 1980s and 90s as vital transmitters of healthy family roles and ideals—especially fatherhood.
• The Disappearance of Dads:
  Clay laments that today’s pop culture excludes strong, aspirational fathers, and argues this cultural erasure leaves young men aimless.
  • "There is almost no dad present in a nuclear household... Not having a male figure in your household and not even having an aspirational father figure that you see on television...you create weak men." (27:00-28:40, Clay Travis)
• Pop Culture Examples:
  He reminisces about sitcom dads—Heathcliff Huxtable, Tim Taylor, Carl Winslow—and insists, "The biggest, most aspirational goal that you should have is to one day be a good dad." (35:55, Clay Travis)

4. Listener Reactions and Further Reflections

(21:19-22:57, 41:41-43:43)

• Listener Voicemails:
  The show features humorous and supportive listener messages, from playful impersonations (e.g., "Hunter Bleepin Biden") to debates over sports analogies, and strong agreement with Clay's thesis on the importance of sitcom dads.

  • "Homer Simpson, though... Homer even though he's gets made fun of a lot." (42:59, Buck Sexton)
  • "Carl Winslow was like the best dad in the world and a great role model. I think we need that back on television again." (43:16, Listener 'BB')

• Nostalgia for a Past Era:
  Clay pushes media creators to revive dad-centric sitcoms, suggesting this would fulfill a real audience hunger and offer young men realistic, positive paths.

5. Cultural Trends, Politics, and Masculinity

(31:00-36:06, 41:41-43:43)

• Masculinity, Achievement, and Social Critique:
  Clay ties the decline of visible, strong masculinity to social trends post-MeToo and what he calls “the woke virus,” elevating the argument to be not just about entertainment but about the fate of American boys, family, and society.
  • "No one wants weak men. But if the culture creates weak men, then there are no aspirational goals." (31:20, Clay Travis)
  • He promotes his new book, Balls, as a continuation of these themes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Advertising and Aspirational Culture
  • "You see an attractive girl in that outfit, and you’re like, I want my wife or my girlfriend in that attractive outfit. Boom. It works. Because advertising, by and large, is aspirational. People want to look better than they actually do." — Clay Travis (09:18)
• On Social Media's Impact
  • "Social media is to real life what a carnival funhouse mirror is." — Clay Travis (16:00)
• On the Disappearance of Sitcom Dads
  • "Is it any wonder that boys are struggling in society today when we have, even in pop culture, eliminated all of the dads from the stories that we tell on television?" — Clay Travis (28:10)
• Listener Feedback
  • "Even the dysfunctional families were great to watch. Think about like Roseanne, Married with Children. Even the Simpsons had a dad in the house." — Listener Steve from Cincinnati (42:45)
• Buck Sexton's Pop Culture Memories
  • "When I was 10 years old, I think the coolest guy on the planet to me was my dad. And then Hulk Hogan may have been number two." — Buck Sexton (41:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |---------------|----------------| | 02:58-08:24 | YouTube Channel Plug & Sydney Sweeney/American Eagle Advertising | | 08:24-16:00 | Shift in Advertising, The "Culture Healing" Thesis, & Social Media Metaphors | | 16:40-21:19 | Social Media’s Negative Impact on Society (“Funhouse Mirror” Theory) | | 25:33-29:15 | The Value of Sitcoms, Cosby Show Clip & Family Representation on TV | | 31:20-36:05 | The Erasure of Dads in Pop Culture & Impact on Young Men | | 41:41-43:43 | Listener Calls: Response to Nostalgic Sitcom Dads and Family Themes |

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Episode Tone and Language

The tone is casual, humorous, and often nostalgic, with Clay’s signature blend of social critique and pop culture references. He employs colorful analogies (“carnival funhouse mirror”), personal stories, and direct listener engagement to drive home his points. Buck’s occasional interjections add camaraderie and cross-generational commentary.

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Summary Takeaways

• Brands are returning to ‘aspirational’ advertising after unsuccessful forays into body positivity, reflecting deeper societal shifts.
• Social media is likened to a distorted mirror, blamed for policy mistakes and unhappiness in the last decade; the hosts believe the country is now correcting course.
• Pop culture’s depiction of families—especially fathers—matters deeply; erasing strong, present dads from TV and media damages boys’ self-image and aspirations.
• Reviving classic TV family structures is posed as an antidote to current social malaise, with repeated calls for the return of dad-centric sitcoms.
• Listener feedback strongly reinforces the hosts’ critique of modern culture, showing nostalgia and desire for the kind of positive role models once found in classic TV comedies.

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End of summary.

Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the FOX voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox One for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming.

[Clay Travis]

Now take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.

[Clay Travis]

Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network iHeart. Open your free Iheart app and search the News agents to start listening.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Visit puretalk.com buck to get your free phone today and to switch to my wireless company. That's PureTalk.com buck America's wireless company, PureTalk.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you for listening. This is the best of with Clay Travis and buck Sexton. Bill O'Reilly came on and he dunked on us and said, hey, I've got a million YouTube subscribers. And he wasn't even trying to dunk on us. He was just kind of just dropping it in there, like, hey, no big deal. Million YouTube subscribers and we don't even have 100,000 yet. And I don't know, he's still gonna be dunking on us at a million to a hundred thousand, but at least it's a really bit more respectable. And eventually we're gonna have all three hours of the show up on the site. And I would appreciate if all of you would go and subscribe today. You type in my name, Clay Travis. You type in Buck Sexton. You can get the latest videos. We're posting clips from the show constantly. If you want to be able to share clips with maybe your kids or your grandkids or you are young yourself and you're out and about on the road. Maybe you don't get to listen to the show every day, but you think to yourself, boy, you know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to see what T shirt Clay Travis is in today. The only way you can do that is to be on YouTube. Maybe you want to know what T Shirt Bucks in. Only way you can do that is to be on YouTube. So let's get over 100,000 subscribers, and we will make Buck do a TikTok dance for over 100,000 at some point in time. And look, you can just catch up with the show and you can watch it on video. We want you to be subscribed to the podcast as well. But this is crazy. I was reading recently. That's why I've gotten so fired up about the YouTube channel. More people now watch videos of radio shows than actually listen to podcasts. Is that kind of crazy? And I understand if maybe you're not in that community that you're listening on the radio. 555 stations nationwide. We love all of you, all 50 states thank you. But people are busy, and I was kind of blown away that more people watch podcast video now than actually listen to podcast audio. So, look, we want to catch up with the where the world is going, and I would ask that you would go and join us. It's free. Just click like and subscribe, and you can put some questions in on the comments there. And we're going to start to do YouTube focused videos where we respond, Buck and I, to your questions. And you can only find that on YouTube. So go subscribe. Clay Travis, Buck Sexton, Click, subscribe. And also like the channel. So we appreciate all of you. Okay, I don't know how many of you saw this, but I was over yesterday. I was scrolling through, and I don't even know how the algorithm works, but somehow my social media algorithms saw Sydney Sweeney in a tank top and tight jeans at a car. And they were like, hey, let's feed this to Clay. I don't know what could. I don't know how that happened. I really. I have no idea how algorithms work. I don't know why they thought a girl in a tight shirt and tight jeans would somehow that I would be like, oh, I'm gonna. That video, it just ended up on my timeline. And it turned into a huge story yesterday because a store called American Eagle decided that they were gonna sign Sydney Sweeney as their chief spokesperson. And this thing went mega viral. The stock was up like a couple of hundred million dollars since they've announced it. And I was laughing about it because basically the very first job I ever had was working in an American Eagle clothing store. And yesterday going viral somehow. I don't know how it ended up on my timeline. Again, I don't know how algorithms work. I don't know why they thought that I would be interested in an attractive woman and not very much clothes. I don't know how that happened. But. So Sydney Sweeney stock is skyrocketing, thing goes mega viral, somehow ends up on my timeline for my very first job when I was like, 16 years old. And you know what they've decided to do? They replaced fat, unattractive models with attractive models. And you're going to think this is ridiculous, but I actually think it's evidence of the culture healing. And let me explain why, and I'll share some funny stories about that job that I used to have back in the day. But do you remember when a few years ago, Victoria's Secret decided, hey, I know the whole Victoria's Secret model thing. You walk it by in a mall and they Have a gorgeous woman not wearing very much clothes. And it turns out that putting gorgeous women and not very much clothes convinces women to go buy more underwear than they otherwise would and, like, body lotion and whatever else Victoria's Secret sells. And I'm not putting myself out of this category either. My wife still makes fun of me. I watched the Victoria's Secret, like, the Christmas special that they have, and then I went and bought, like, $200 of lingerie, like, the next day. So, yes, I am susceptible to advertising. My wife was like, I, too. Like, you bought everything in the whole store. Basically. I was all, I think you're gonna look amazing in it. And she was like, you watched the Victoria's Secret fashion show, didn't you? And I said, yes, and it was incredibly useful. And there's a lot of men out there that know exactly what I'm talking about. Like, you see an attractive girl in that outfit, and you're like, I want my wife or my girlfriend in that attractive outfit. Boom. It works. Because advertising, by and large, is aspirational. People want to look better than they actually do. You ever watch a romantic comedy? It's never the case that the guy and the girl in the romantic comedy are both ugly because nobody would go, I don't know why you just don't believe that two really fat people should get together and spend money to go watch it. You want to watch a guy that's typically sometimes better looking than you, a woman who's always better looking than the guy deserves. That is like the romantic comedy writ large, and Hollywood knows it, and that's why it works. Somehow Victoria's Secret decided, you know what? I think we'll sell more lingerie if we put fat people in lingerie. I just got to tell you, it didn't work. In fact, the company almost went bankrupt. And then they went back and they said, hey, you know what? We should put more attractive people in our clothes, because people want to think that they're going to look more attractive. I'm fat and not particularly good looking. I don't see somebody in an underwear store and think, hey, I want them to look like me. I wish I was in better shape. I wish I was more ripped. That's how everybody is. Okay, so American Eagle, where I used to work, they went with the fat model thing, and basically the entire brand collapsed. And so now they're pivoting, and they should fire everybody who said, hey, you know what? We need fat models, unattractive women. Nike did the same thing. Hey, let's Put Dylan Mulvaney in a sports bra. Hey, let's put fat people in yoga pants. That'll make people want to buy yoga pants. No, it doesn't work. Okay. Throughout history, attractive people, women in particular in clothing makes people want to buy more clothing. So Sydney Sweeney is now the spokesperson for American Eagle. And this happens almost identical with Nike suddenly deciding. Did you guys see Scotty Scheffler? 1 the British Open, the Open Golf Championship over the weekend, his insanely cute toddler kid, I think he's like 10 months old, 11 months old, year, roughly a year old. Was crawling around on the green. And Nike's new advertisement replacing trans people in women's gear, men pretending to be women and fat people in yoga pants is Scottie Scheffler with his son crawling. And it basically says, you've already won, but now you've won again. Hey, fatherhood is good. It's good to aspire to win a championship. But ultimately the most important job, I certainly feel this way is when you have kids, raising them to be productive members of society. So I'm looking at that Sydney Sweeney ad because again, I don't know how it happened, but ended up in my timeline. And it's reminding me of the 90s when I worked in the American Eagle store and in the Abercrombie and Fitch store. Back in the day, I made $4.50 an hour at American Eagle, Rivergate Mall, Goodlettsville, Tennessee. $4.50 an hour. Probably the most fun job I've ever had because I was 16, 17, 18 years old, and all I had to do all day long was fold shirts and talk to pretty girls when they walked into the store. I had an excuse to talk to every pretty girl on the north and the east side of Nashville that came to Rivergate Mall. In fact, if you are listening to this right now in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, if you were a cute girl that went into that store between 1996 and 1999, there's almost 100% chance I hit on you. But you. Because I had an excuse to walk up and talk to you. That was the best job ever. $4.50. Got to eat Chick Fil A every day for lunch, on my lunch break or my dinner break. Got to just hang out in the mall. Every teenager in America is there at that point in time. And you know how they sold gear at both American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch? Good looking people in the ads, wearing the clothes. And then we entered this weird world, this weird world where we were supposed to pretend that hey, instead of everybody aspiring to be bigger, stronger, faster versions of themselves or in better shape versions of themselves, that we should all just be body positive, that there should be no aspiration anymore, that the meritocracy shouldn't exist and that we should just take people as they were and put them in ads. And. And it failed. Utterly. And I was actually thinking about this not only in the context of what American Eagle is doing and how successful it already appears to be, but in the way that society shifts. It feels quite clear to me that we are trying to turn back time and go back to the 80s, the 90s and the early 2000s after a generation of where we tried to pretend things were not real, right? That your grandparents world didn't exist anymore, that your parents world didn't exist anymore. And now we're turning back the clock and going back to the era of the 80s and 90s and even the early 2000s when by and large most people got along. And I was thinking about this in the context of social media because I shared over this week, race relations suddenly collapsed about 2014. I'm saying, what caused all this? Why did we suddenly decide, hey, let's put fat people in spandex, let's put fat people in bras in the windows at Victoria's Secret. Social media. Social media came close to breaking this country. And everything that social media advocated for actually made things worse. Starting about 2014, overall happiness in this country collapsed. 30% of teenage girls suddenly want to commit suicide. Why? They're looking at Instagram. They've got zits and braces and they're looking at Instagram. They're like, I'm so unhappy. They're seeing this world that doesn't actually exist. And it's not a faraway world like celebrities have always existed. It's, hey, whatever your life is, somebody in your school has a way better life. They went on a better vacation. They've got a better car. They look better in that dress. Gratitude is the enemy of competition. And suddenly everything is collapsing. Black people, white people, suddenly race relations are collapsing. Why? BLM comes up and says, hey, every. The whole world's racist. Cops are unnecessary. Murder rates skyrocket, Violent crime skyrockets. All of it, I think, is connected directly to social media. And I think it broke the brains of lots of people. And I think society as a whole is paying the price. And we're slowly coming out of that fever and recognizing that everything that happened before 2014 was actually pretty good in this country. And we were on a good trajectory. And I think what Trump represents is that acknowledgement that America is the greatest country that's ever existed and what we were sold was a bill of goods. Now, I got a big theory on this. I think the problem was people tried to be too responsive to social media. Except social media is to real life what a carnival funhouse mirror is. You know how you stand in front of a carnival funhouse mirror back in the day? It makes you look fatter or skinnier than you actually are. It isn't reflective of reality. But we all know that. And that's what makes the carnival funhouse mirror makes sense, because it's humorous, because it's showing you what you actually aren't. My argument is social media is the carnival funhouse mirror. Imagine if you adjusted your diet entirely based on what you saw in a carnival funhouse mirror. You would actually be making worse decisions for yourself than if you had never stood in front of the mirror at all. My argument is we're starting to come out of that carnival funhouse mirror era because the nation as a whole looked at the reflection we saw in social media and we thought it was the real world. And we started adjusting policy as a result. And I think it explains almost everything over the past decade. And that's why we got so much wrong and that's why we're starting to fix so much right now.

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox one app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the FOX voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox One we live for live streaming.

[Clay Travis]

Now take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.

[Clay Travis]

And The News Agents USA listening to.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The News Agents on America's number one politics podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening.

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[Clay Travis]

You're listening to the best of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show. I actually go to some of these carnivals just to make my analogy about the. About the crazy mirror, the funhouse mirror, because I don't know how many kids actually still go to fun houses. So here's a challenge for you. If you want to make that analogy really stick, take your kids to the local state fair or the local county fair and find one of those fun houses. Because I don't know how many of them actually even understand that analogy. I think most people growing up would have been in there at some point, but I think if you stand in front of it and say, hey, that's social media. Get off your phone, knucklehead. Don't pay as much attention to it. They'll get it. There you go, solving the world's problems. Uh, a bunch of people want to weigh in. I'm gonna play some of these. Podcast listener Max. He's got a message for me. Clay bleeping Travis, this is Hunter Bleepin Biden. How dare you talk about my bleepin dad that way. And that's right, I cook my own bleepin. Cocaine and crack and whatnot. Deal with it, man. Bleep you. That is great. Make me laugh with the talkbacks. Here is podcast listener Tampa Todd. Ff. He can't believe I compared. Well, listen, Clay, what's up, brother?

[Buck Sexton]

Tampa Todd here. Did you actually compare my favorite quarterback, Kurt Warner, of all time to Hillary Clinton? And listen, I know Tom Brady's the greatest and Trump is the greatest president. I get that analogy, but come on, man. Kurt Warner. It's not Hillary Clinton. I'm big Rams fan. Go Rams. Anyway, great job with the show.

[Clay Travis]

Have a good weekend and keep rocking.

[Buck Sexton]

And let's hope this Russia Gates stuff really takes off.

[Clay Travis]

Apologies to Kurt Warner. That probably wasn't fair, but if Tom Brady is the goat, somebody has to. And that's Trump. Somebody has to be Hillary, and I think it's got to be Kurt Warner in that analogy. You're listening to the best of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Let's check in and see how the opposition to Trump is going. Rashida Tlaib is on the steps of the U.S. capitol. This is what it sounds like, palsy.

[Lisa Booth]

And people, this is all for you.

[Clay Travis]

Can we play that again one more time here? This is the opposition. I don't know If Trump's going to be able to overcome the guys. Rashida to leave just had a press conference. This is what it sounded like, people.

[Lisa Booth]

This is all for you.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, this is real. Come on. Hey, I'm gonna get all the media together and I'm gonna bang some pots and drums. Pots and pans. Not even drums. I could have played a flute. I could have at least. She could have at least gotten me out there with my incredible flute playing skills to try to get some attention on the Capitol steps. Um, all right, so I was talking about Sydney Sweeney and the way that culture is pivoting in a big way. And I think it's basically repudiating everything on the Internet, social media, for the last decade, which has actually made things worse. And much of Trump 2.0 is about reversing the awful decisions that have been made over the last decade as the woke virus has taken over. That's my big thesis here. I also think it's time for culture to go back to things that used to work. And I was thinking about this a lot because unfortunately, Malcolm Jamal Warner died this week, tragically drowned in Costa Rica. He played Theo on the Cosby Show. And I think the Cosby show, because of the allegations against Bill Cosby, has actually not been as widely distributed as it should have been. You know, young kids today, they love Friends. They're going back and finding a lot of older shows which are representative of how life was before they were around. And they're envious of what they see there from the 80s and the 90s. I have young kids. We have been watching all the 80s and the 90s movies. They love them. America's good. Hey, there's an aspirational goal to them sitcoms. I wanted to play this cut. This is from the Cosby show going back in time to, I think, 1984. And I want to talk about what we've lost and why I think we have to regain it using the cultural prism of sitcoms.

[Lisa Booth]

Listen, dad, when I wear this on my date with Christine.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, she is gonna die. Huntman's Desert again. How much is it?

[Lisa Booth]

See the label?

[Clay Travis]

Gordon Gartrell. This is the shirt. Gordon Gartrell is a big designer. Check out these details.

[Lisa Booth]

Hidden buttons, flap on the back.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Lisa Booth]

Two tone pockets.

[Buck Sexton]

Work of art.

[Clay Travis]

How much?

[Lisa Booth]

But the real thrill is fab. It's pure silk.

[Clay Travis]

Are your hands clean? Doctor's hands are always clean. You know why? They always washing them. How much? How much? How much?

[Lisa Booth]

Dad, if you want quality, you're gonna.

[Clay Travis]

Have to pay for it. $95. Oh, well, there must be a pair of pants in there too. Okay, that's a funny clip. For those of you that remember watching it, $95, I looked it up, would be the equivalent of $250 for a. But I wanted to talk about this because I know there are people out there, we have a big audience in la, for instance. And I wanted to talk about it because it tied in with, to me, what I'm seeing with Sydney Sweeney and the way that we are going back in terms of how we're selling goods, most of us. And I would put this in my camp in the 1980s and 1990s, when we grew up, we watch shows like the Cosby Show. And the Cosby show was a revolutionary show because Bill Cosby's character was a doctor and Claire Huxtable, his wife, was a lawyer. You had a high powered dad and mom, highly educated. Raising families and dealing with the hijinks and the cultural importance of the Cosby show was what it showed us, which is all families, white, black, Asian and Hispanic actually have way more in common than we do apart. And I think this is so important. I was thinking about it because I've been watching current pop culture shows. There's almost no dads. Think about it for a minute. There is almost no dad present in a nuclear household. Nuclear family, household. In any pop culture shows today, there are lots of strong moms. They tend to be single moms. But in terms of pop culture, just think about this. I grew up. Many of you grew up either raising your kids or watching these shows yourselves. The Cosby Show, Nuclear Family, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Nuclear Family, Family Ties, Nuclear Family, Growing Pains, Nuclear Family, Full House, dad, Mom Had Died. Think about all of the shows that we watched in the 80s and 90s. Even while there was a lot of divorce out there, we understood that the aspirational goal of a healthy household was a dad at home raising kids. All of these shows that I could run through as you think about them in your own life, Family Matters, and I might repeat some Growing Pains, Family Ties. All of the most popular shows had dads at home with mom raising kids. Dads, while they might have been the butt of the joke, as oftentimes happens in sitcoms, were still integral. Tim Allen with Home Improvement back in the day, even up to Modern Family, where you had non traditional, in some ways family, but also still very strong parenting father in the household, raising kids. Where is dad gone? Is it any wonder that boys are struggling in society today when we have, even in pop culture, eliminated all of the dads from the stories that we tell on television. And I've said this before. Buck and I have talked about this. Look, there's lots of shows that I think if I had billions of dollars and I ran a media company, I would greenlight the Lewis and Clark expedition show. Just make Undaunted Courage the book into a huge streaming series. It would be the most popular show in America. I'm telling you, if it was done well, going into American history, finding strong characters, being successful, there's a huge demand for them. I would submit to you because I asked about this on social media. Yellowstone, really? The reason why Yellowstone was such a huge success was Kevin Costner's father figure. Look, he's got a lot of flaws. If you watch that show, Spoiler alert. Lots of murders, everything else. But innately, what he's trying to do is hold the family together. He's a strong male character. They almost don't exist in the context of family today. Why? Why has Hollywood written men out of most of their comedic dramas and most of their movies and most of their streaming success shows? And really, is that representative of what America wants? Or is it another example of the carnival funhouse mirror of social media deciding that men are toxic, White men in particular. And I'm thinking about this a lot because my new book that's going to come out called Balls Yes, B A L L S and I'm raising three young boys. No one wants weak men. But if the culture creates weak men, then there are no aspirational goals. And you can say, well, if you have to look to television to raise your kids, you're in trouble. Yeah, I agree, that's not good. But you know what's worse? Not having a male figure in your household and not even having an aspirational father figure that you see on television. You. You may think it's ridiculous, but I guarantee you there were lots of young kids, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, that watched the Cosby show back in the day and thought, I want to one day be like Bill Cosby. I want to be married and I want to have kids in my house. And they thought, I want to be like Tim the Tool Man Taylor or I want to be on Home Improvement or I want to be like Jason Seaver on Growing Pains. I'm going to be the dad. I'm going to raise the kids. That's my job. I'm going to provide for a family, and I'm going to give them a better future than I had that guys is what men want. We are innately wired to provide for a family, to protect a family. What happens when you write men, fathers out of all of the Hollywood stories, you create weak men. You don't even create aspirational figures that dads, young men can aspire to be. And it feels very intentional to me. Looking at social media, you would think men don't matter, Dads are worthless, moms are celebrated all the time. And I wish no single mom had to exist because trust me, I can only imagine how hard it is to have to try to fulfill both roles. And I wish there were no men that walked out on homes. All those things, right? And I'm not disparaging moms who are busting their ass having to do two roles. But I just come back to one of the kids and this is in the new book, but I was thinking about it in the wake of Theo. I was going back and watching old Cosby show clips. I was thinking about it in that context. One of my son's friends came in recently and he said, you know, we're being taught that white men have all this power. This is a couple years ago, 10 year old kid, and he's going off on, you know, just being a funny kid. And he ultimately comes to the punchline, which is basically this. Mr. Clay, they tell me that boys and men, we have all this power and everything else. My mom doesn't even let me pick what I get to eat for dinner. And imagine for those young boys out there what that disconnect is between, hey, you're the cause of all of the problems in America today. You men, you're awful. And simultaneously, you don't maybe have a father figure in your household and you don't even see one in pop culture. Is it any wonder that young boys are lost? And I just implore you, Hollywood, how about just make a show where a dad is a dad like they were throughout the 80s and the 90s, 2000. I don't have to be a perfect dad, just a dad so that people can see, hey, this is what I could aspire to be someday. I'd like to have a family, I'd like to live in a household, I'd like to get married and help raise kids. I, we used to see that lifestyle all the time. It does not exist now. That is a flaw. And I would submit it's coming from the whole fallout of MeToo, which basically went from, hey, don't commit crimes to men are evil, men are wrong. And I think Hollywood followed that on social media and intentionally wrote men out of starring roles in the family unit. So we got a lot of people in L A Listening, a lot of smart people in the creative space. How about you just make a good old fashioned sitcom with a good dad? It dominated the ratings in the 80s and the 90s and the early 2000s. I got a crazy idea for you. I think you can dominate streaming in the 2000s because people are desperate to see it. The world's not as different as you want to think it is, whether it's putting a hot girl in jeans and a tank top and starting to sell gear again like American Eagle is doing, or just finding a great American dad, white, black, Asian, Hispanic, putting them into a sitcom and letting America recognize particularly young boys. The biggest, most aspirational goal that you should have is to one day be a good dad.

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox One we live for live streaming now.

[Clay Travis]

Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The news agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening happening. But why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award Winning Podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.

[Clay Travis]

Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the News agents to start listening.

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[Clay Travis]

Justin Real. You're enjoying the best of program with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Can you put us over a hundred thousand subscribers today on the YouTube channel? We're close. Go subscribe Search out my name Clay Travis. Search out Buck Sexton. Also Crockett coffee is on fire. Thanks to you guys, the number of you subscribing continues to grow by leaps and bounds. We want that to continue to grow by even more leaps and bounds. In fact, got a meeting tomorrow to allow us to do more advertising of a substantial degree because you guys are signing up in such great numbers. Building a great American coffee company that loves American history. Named after Davy Crockett. Autographed copy of my book. Use code book when you subscribe. Get sent right to you. Go to Crockett Coffee.com and subscribe.

[Buck Sexton]

We'll have some cool deals for subscribers. Also, when Clay's got a book coming out in November, I've got a book coming out in January. I mean, the publishers have actually got this set up. I mean, like, the books are happening. Yeah, my book got delayed by six months and then a whole year, basically because of the CIA review process. That's a conversation for another time. But the good news is there's some cool CIA stories in there that I finally can tell you for the first time in the book. So there you go.

[Clay Travis]

And they will both be out. You'll be able to get those autograph copies through Crockett Coffee. So in the meantime, my old book, new one will be out November. Then another new one from Buck in January. Great stuff, Buck. You'll love this. You were out. I talked about growing up. Unfortunately, we lost Malcolm Jamal Warner, AKA Theo Huxtable and the Hulk. Hulk Hogan. For if you were in the 80s, like two iconic figures of any of.

[Buck Sexton]

Our youths, I when I was 10 years old, I think the coolest guy on the planet to me was my dad. And then Hulk Hogan may have been number two. It was like my dad and then Hulk Hogan. Like, I think that might have been the list.

[Clay Travis]

I'm impressed that your dad was above Hulk Hogan because Hulk Hogan was. I think my dad was above Hulk Hogan too.

[Buck Sexton]

But I mean, the putting food on the table for us. As much as I love the Hulkamaniacs and all, you know, someone was feeding us, one was not.

[Clay Travis]

You will think about this now more. I think now that you're a dad and you start to watch more shows as your son gets older. But I went off because thinking about the Cosby show And all the 80s and 90s sitcoms, the fact that there are not strong dad figures in basically anywhere in pop culture and. And a lot of people reacted to that. Steve and Cincinnati wanted to react. Here's aa. Hey, your Friday third hour was really powerful and spot on. When you're comparing the nuclear family shows in the 80s, even the dysfunctional families were great to watch. Think about like Roseanne Married with children. Even the Simpsons had a dad in the house. Yes, the butt of the jokes. But a dad, a working dad in the house providing for his family. Keep up the good work, Clay, and welcome back. Buck thank you. Good.

[Buck Sexton]

I just I agree though. Homer Simpson, though. You love Homer even though he's gets made fun of a lot.

[Clay Travis]

All the dads are there. The other one Carl Winslow Family Matters White, Black, didn't matter. Carl Winslow Reaction BB Here I was listening to your bit here on where have all the Dads Gone and all sitcom dads and how great they were in the 90s. And I'm a white male and I used to think Carl Winslow was like the best dad in the world and a great role model. I think we need that back on television again. Thank you guys.

[Buck Sexton]

I love the I love the show Family Matters by I watch Family Matters all the time I think and you'll.

[Clay Travis]

I think sign on to this Dads in a Sitcom Nuclear family is ripe. People desperately want it this Labor Day.

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[Clay Travis]

Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening. But why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics, politics and.

[Clay Travis]

Current affairs and the newsagents USA listening.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

To the news agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the newsagents to start listening Oral health.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

Oh hey.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

Hey.

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[Clay Travis]

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[Lisa Booth]

This is an I Heart podcast.