Hour 3 - Where Are the Dads?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Hour 3: Where Are the Dads?

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode Title: Hour 3 - Where Are the Dads?
• Release Date: July 25, 2025
• Description: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the most significant news stories, politics, and current events, blending intelligence with humor. They navigate topics from the border crisis to cancel culture, providing listeners with engaging conversations and insightful opinions.

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Where Are the Dads?", Clay Travis addresses a concerning trend in modern pop culture: the diminishing presence of father figures in mainstream media. Alongside Buck Sexton, Travis explores the societal implications of this shift, the role of social media in altering perceptions, and the broader cultural consequences of sidelining paternal roles.

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The Decline of Father Figures in Pop Culture

[03:05] Clay Travis:
Clay opens the discussion by highlighting the absence of dads in today's television shows compared to the prominent father figures of the 1980s and 1990s. He reminisces about iconic shows like The Cosby Show, Family Matters, and Full House, where fathers played central, aspirational roles within the nuclear family.

Notable Quote:
"Where are the dads 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?"
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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Impact of Social Media on Society

Clay segues into the influence of social media, asserting that platforms have distorted societal values and perceptions. He likens social media to a carnival funhouse mirror, presenting an exaggerated and unrealistic version of reality that has led to widespread dissatisfaction and mental health issues.

Key Points:

• Distorted Reality: Social media creates an illusionary world that users mistakenly perceive as genuine, leading to poor decision-making based on these false representations.
• Mental Health Crisis: The rise of social media correlates with a significant decline in overall happiness, particularly among teenage girls, who face increased pressures and unrealistic standards.
• Societal Polarization: Social media fuels divisiveness by amplifying extremist views and eroding race relations, contributing to heightened tensions and misunderstandings.

Notable Quote:
"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."
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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Case Study: American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney

Clay discusses the recent marketing strategy of American Eagle, which has partnered with Sydney Sweeney as their chief spokesperson. He interprets this move as a pivot back to traditional advertising that emphasizes attractive models to drive sales, drawing parallels to past successful campaigns.

Key Points:

• Marketing Strategies: Transitioning from inclusive, body-positive models back to traditionally attractive figures to rejuvenate brand appeal.
• Cultural Healing: Clay views this shift as a step towards healing societal norms that were skewed by the overreach of social media influences.
• Historical Context: He compares the effectiveness of such marketing tactics to those of the 1980s and 1990s, suggesting that authenticity and aspirational figures resonate more with consumers.

Notable Quote:
"Throughout history, attractive people, women in particular, in clothing makes people want to buy more clothing."
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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The Role of Father Figures in Shaping Young Men

Clay emphasizes the crucial role that father figures play in the development of young men. He argues that the absence of fathers both in households and on-screen leads to a generation of "weak men" lacking clear role models and aspirational goals.

Key Points:

• Aspirational Role Models: Fathers in media provide young boys with examples of responsibility, protection, and family dedication.
• Consequences of Absence: Without visible paternal figures, young boys may struggle with identity, purpose, and societal expectations.
• Call to Action for Hollywood: Clay urges content creators to revive the portrayal of strong, reliable fathers to foster healthier societal norms and individual development.

Notable Quote:
"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, [03:05]

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Listener Interactions and Feedback

Throughout the episode, Clay engages with listener comments and feedback, reinforcing his points and addressing differing perspectives.

Notable Interaction:

• Listener Tom from Tennessee:
  "Let’s not forget about the fabulous Al Bundy with Married with Children, Nuclear family to the nth degree of love. Even when it was being played for laughs, as the Al Bundy character was, the dad was still home."

Clay's Response:
He acknowledges Tom's point, agreeing that even flawed father characters like Al Bundy served as central figures within family dynamics, contrasting sharply with the current lack of such roles in modern shows.

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Reflecting on the Cosby Show and Cultural Shifts

Clay reflects on the legacy of The Cosby Show, discussing how Bill Cosby's character provided a positive and aspirational figure despite later controversies surrounding Cosby himself. He underscores the importance of separating the influence of strong paternal characters from the personal failings of actors.

Key Points:

• Positive Representation: The Cosby Show depicted an educated, stable family unit that resonated with diverse audiences.
• Cultural Impact: The show helped reinforce the idea that strong family structures transcend racial and cultural boundaries.
• Legacy and Controversy: While Cosby's personal actions have tarnished his legacy, the show's impact on family dynamics and representation remains significant.

Notable Quote:
"What we have to regain using the cultural prism of sitcoms."
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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Cultural Reflection and Future Directions

In his concluding remarks, Clay reiterates the need to return to cultural norms that promote strong family units and paternal figures. He criticizes the overemphasis on social media-driven narratives and advocates for media that inspires and uplifts through relatable and aspirational characters.

Key Points:

• Reversion to Positive Norms: Emphasizing the revival of traditional family values and representations in media.
• Critical View of Social Media: Continuing his argument that social media has negatively impacted societal structures and personal well-being.
• Hope for Cultural Recovery: Optimistic outlook that society is beginning to recognize and rectify the detrimental effects of past cultural shifts.

Notable Quote:
"We are 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."
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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Conclusion

"Where Are the Dads?" serves as a compelling exploration of the intersection between media representation, societal values, and the psychological well-being of young men. Clay Travis advocates for a return to media portrayals that include strong, aspirational father figures, arguing that such representations are vital for fostering healthy societal norms and supporting the development of future generations.

Final Notable Quote:
"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."
— Clay Travis, [03:05]

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Additional Resources:

• Upcoming Book by Clay Travis: Balls – An exploration of masculinity and the importance of strong male roles in contemporary society.
• Subscription Call-to-Action: Clay encourages listeners to subscribe to their YouTube channel for more content and to follow their ongoing discussions.

Note: This summary omits all advertisements, introductions, and non-content segments to focus solely on the substantive discussions of the episode.

Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in final hour of the week, Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Buck will be back with me on Monday. He's celebrating his dad's birthday, traveling with his three month old baby and we just posted photos of that chunker of a kid. Babies. Chubby babies is I just, I think they are fabulous. The pictures are up if you want a smile. I believe they're up atclay and buck.com and you'll be able to check them out there. By the way, I haven't mentioned it yet today, but yesterday 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 a hundred thousand yet. And I don't know, he's still going to be dunking on us at a million to 100,000, but at least it's a really bit more respectable. And eventually we're going to 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 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. 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 in 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 so 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 Scottie Scheffler 1 the British Open, the Open Golf Championship over the weekend? His insanely cute toddler kid, 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 Scotty 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 on 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 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 do 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 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 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, 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. Want to talk about that more? We'll take some of your calls. Also want to tell you the IFCJ does incredible work. I want you to go to check out the work that they're doing right now. They're doing something very simple. They're just putting bomb shelters to try to save people from bombs. People of Israel have to constantly be rushing to bomb shelters. I saw it for myself. They constantly need so much, so much in the name of just basic safety and security. That's what the IFCJ does. They are absolutely incredible. They're on the ground providing much needed supplies and resources, also letting them know they've got friends in America. All you need to do is go to supportifcj.org my bad. That was the old website, ifcj.org it's even easier. Ifcj.org give the gift of safety to the people of Israel who need it desperately. You can call them to 888488 I CJ. That's IFCJ.org 888488 IFCJ.org sometimes all you can do is laugh and they do a lot of it with the Sunday hang. Join Clay and Buck as they laugh it up in the Clay and Buck podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

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. A bunch of people want to weigh in. I'm going to play some of these. Podcast listener Max. He's got a message for me. Gigi Clay bleeping Travis, this is Hunter Bleeping Biden. How dare you talk about my bleep and dad that way. And that's right, I cook my own bleep and 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 list Clay. What's up, brother? 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 a big Rams fan. Go Rams. Anyway, great job with the show. Have a good weekend and keep rocking. And let's hope this Russia gate stuff really takes off. 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. Since 911 tunnel, the towers foundation has been supporting America's greatest heroes and their families. Heroes who protect our communities and our country. Like firefighter James Dickman. Passionate about fire safety, aspired to do everything right. While responding to an apartment fire, he and his crew tried to save people trapped inside. Unfortunately, he was unable to escape and he perished in the blazing inferno while trying to save people's lives. Cause of the fire arson left behind a loving wife, Jamie two kids, Paige and Grant. Tunnel the Towers paid off the Dickman family's home mortgage and that's why they Jamie is so grateful. This is what Tunnel the Towers does. Join us in donating $11 a month to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's t2t the number 2t.org welcome back in clay Travis BUCK SEXTON show let's check in and see how the opposition to Trump is going. Rashida Tlieb is on the steps of the U.S. capitol. This is what it sounds like.

[Hannah Jewell]

Palestine people, this is all for you.

[Clay Travis]

We play that again dad. When I 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 palsing people.

[Hannah Jewell]

This is all for you.

[Clay Travis]

I mean this is real. Come on. Hey. I'm going to get all the media together and I'm going to 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. 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. Listen, dad, when I wear this on my date with Christine. Oh, she is gonna die. Does it again. How much is it? See the label? Gordon Gartrell. This is the shirt. Gordon Gartrell is a big designer. Check out these details. Hidden buttons, flap on the back. Yeah. Two tone pockets, work of art. How much? But the real thrill is pure silk. Are your hands clean? Doctor's hands are always clean. Then why they always washing them?

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[Clay Travis]

How much? How much, dad? If you want quality, you're gonna 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 shirt today. 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 watched 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, they 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 make 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. They 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 la. Listen, we got 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. Look, I want to tell you, speaking of aspirational goals, I wish my Braves weren't so awful. I wish that when I watched the Atlanta Braves play, I didn't have to in the back of my mind think, boy, you know what? I hope Ronald Acuna is playing tonight. Cause the team's probably going to lose. But at least he's going to make a bunch of big plays. He's fun, he's an unbelievable athlete. Maybe you've reached that situation with your favorite Major League Baseball team. You get to August, maybe they're not contending for the title like you hoped they would, but you can still have fun with it at price picks. All you have to do is use my name. Clay. You play $5, you pick more or less on athletes. Teams aren't involved. You just pick your favorite players. How many strikeouts are they going to have? How many hits are they going to get? Are they going to score a run? More or less. You dive in and you can turn a $5 pick into maybe $100, maybe $200 plus you'll just have a little bit more fun and when you sign up right now you get 50 bucks. Pricepix.com code Clay and that's prizepix.com code Clay $5 turn it into $50 prizepix.com code clay you can play in California, you can play in Texas, you can play in Florida, you can play in Georgia, all over the country. Get hooked up now. NFL training camp season is here. I promise you're going to have some fun. All you have to do is go to prizepix.com my name Clay. That's prizepix.com code Clay 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.

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[David Fromm]

Across the country, everyday Americans are standing up to expand freedom and opportunity not just for themselves, but for their neighbors and communities. There's small business owners, parents, farmers and local leaders. People who are pushing back against government overreach and showing what's possible when liberty is protected and individuals get involved. I'm David Fromm, host of the American Potential Podcast where we bring these stories to life. We don't just talk about policy solutions. Each week we share the impact of how these solutions benefit everyday Americans. Because behind every issue is an individual, a family or a community that's been impacted reminding us that policy becomes personal. So whether you're passionate about keeping more of your hard earned money, expanding school choice or cutting red tape, you'll hear from the people making a difference as they share their stories. Listen now to American Potential on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcast.

[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. Please go subscribe to the YouTube channel. We'll put up a bunch of these CL from the show if you like them. I know a lot of you reacting to what I just said about, hey, let's put some dads back in back in culture. And again, I understand if you're responding, you're saying, well, if you have to rely, yeah, I get it. In an ideal world, what kids see in culture would not impact them. I agree it's far more important to learn from your own parents. But what if you don't have a dad in your household? Maybe seeing somebody that is a dad could be aspirational to you on a sitcom. Look, the world didn't change in 2014 when social media just arrived. It is a carnival funhouse mirror going back to things that worked in the 80s, the 90s, and the early 2000s. It's still gonna work today. I'm willing to bet on it. Heck, my whole career has basically been a bet on it. Um, a lot of people reacting. Let's go to Tom in Tennessee. What you got for us, Tom? HH Hey, Clay. This is Tom in Tennessee. Let's not forget about the fabulous Al Bundy with Married with Children, Nuclear family to the nth love. Even, even when it was being played for laughs, as the Al Bundy character was, the dad was still home. Peg Bundy was still there. I'm not saying that's the most ideal, even heck, Homer Simpson. But dads were still all in the story. Now they almost don't exist. Rhonda, Cedar Hill, Missouri. What you got, J.J. hi, Clay. This is Rhonda from Cedar Hill, Missouri. Love the show. Just thought I'd let you know my husband now refers to low T men as flute players. Gotta love it. Flute players. I, I, they're going to come. I'm, at some point in time, I'm going to be dead. And you're going to be like, who killed him? And the, the number one suspect is going to be some guy walking around with a flute. This is from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. They sent this to me. I think it ties in with what we're just talking about. Jay Leno trying to explain why Colbert got canceled, says nobody wants to be lectured to. Cut 20. Good job by the Reagan Institute.

[Unknown Advertiser]

Funny is funny, people. Even you know it's funny when someone who is not who you make fun of. Their side and they laugh at it. I just find getting out. I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture. You know, to me, it's just when I was with Rodney, it was also the economy. Awards get to the joke as quickly as possible. Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole. I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture. I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just, just do what's funny.

[Clay Travis]

Amen. Just do what's funny. Just do maybe what's worked for generations and look at what has worked in the past and build new things on top of them. That's kind of the way capitalism works. Maybe get back to it. I love all of you. Have fabulous weekends. Please go subscribe. Subscribe to the Clay and Buck YouTube channel. Videos of everything we've been doing all week will be up. Be safe. Have fun. Buck will be back with me on Monday. Thank y' all for listening.

[Buck Sexton]

Football is back.

[Unknown Advertiser]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Christina Quinn]

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[Clay Travis]

I'm Christian Amanpour, and I've been on the front lines and interviewing world leaders for more than 30 years. And I'm Jamie Rubin, a former advisor to both Presidents and Clinton and Biden. We were married for 20 years and divorced for seven. Now we've joined forces on the X Files to make sense of how we ended up with no world order. Listen to Christiana Manpour Presents the X files on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Christina Quinn]

This is an iHeart podcast.