
Friday, February 12th, 2024 Donald Trump encourages Putin to invade NATO allies in Europe; the FCC makes AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal; RFK Junior’s super PAC is accused of campaign finance violations; new January 6th footage shows an insurrectionist firing a gun; the man who dove over the bench and attacked a judge in Nevada has been charged with attempted murder; and three people caught bringing fentanyl over the border are US citizens. Plus Allison and Dana deliver your good news.
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Lori Kilmartin
History is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising, heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.
Allison Gill
MSW Media. MSW Media. Hey, everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried Beans, where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week either one, two, or three years ago, so we can see how far we've come. So please enjoy this episode from days gone by and note the date in the intro.
Dana Goldberg
Refried beans.
Allison Gill
I like refried beans.
Dana Goldberg
That's why I want to try fried.
Allison Gill
Beans, because maybe they're just as good and we're wasting time. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, February 12, 2024. Today, Donald Trump encourages Putin to invade NATO allies in Europe. The FCC makes AI generated voices in robocalls. Illegal RFK Jr. Super PAC is accused of campaign finance violations. New January 6 footage shows an insurrectionist firing a gun. The man who dove over the bench and attacked a judge in Nevada has been charged with attempted murder. And. And three people caught bringing fentanyl over the border to the US Are citizens. I'm Allison Gill.
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Allison Gill
Hello, Dana. Happy Taylor Swift Bowl Sunday.
Dana Goldberg
Happy Usher concert. Absolutely.
Allison Gill
Usher concert. Yes, indeed. We're recording this before the Super Bowl I'm going to be rooting for the Chiefs, and it's not just because of Taylor Swift. Although that's, you know, MAGA tears would be icing on the cake. It's because I have been rooting against the 49ers since they shellacked my Chargers in 1995 in the Super Bowl. So I've never really been a huge 49ers fan, but all right, big game.
Dana Goldberg
I'm one of those people that, like, I'm excited about the commercials and I want both teams to stay healthy. So that's sort of where I'm at. I also love that there's so many articles right now talking about how this is like Taylor Swift. And I know people are tired of hearing her name, but she's literally brought to fathers and daughters together in a way to watch the super bowl in numbers that they haven't seen, which is A really beautiful thing.
Allison Gill
So those. That. That one commercial that's been going around, I reposted it on Twitter. I'm like, oh, I'm not crying. You're crying.
Dana Goldberg
Before we get to news, if I may. And I would normally keep these for my final thoughts, but I think it's important to hear. I know not everyone listens to the good news. I was just in North Carolina. I was doing a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, and they brought to my attention and this is a problem in the next election. So I want people, especially in California, to be very vigilant and aware of this. There was an elected official that ran as a Democrat, and when she got in, she flipped. Her party gave North Carolina's legislature super majority within the legislature, and they redrew, really voter suppressed maps and it fucked all the North Carolina voters.
Allison Gill
Yep.
Dana Goldberg
This is also happening in California. If you're in a district in California where there's a new Democrat on the scene that you've never heard of before or someone that you think is sketchy, do some research, because oftentimes that person, if you've got your little hairs up, there's a reason why. Because right now, people are running as Democrats because they know they'll get elected in California planning to switch parties. I know that sounds very conspiracy theory. It's not. And I just saw it happen in North Carolina. So please, please, please be vigilant in this election.
Allison Gill
Yeah, and we talked about that. When that happened. I remember them getting the super majority. It was really unfortunate, but, yeah, it really was. Later in the show today, you and I have the amazing honor to interview comedian Lori Kilmartin.
Dana Goldberg
She's brilliant.
Allison Gill
Brilliant. She has a new comedy special out called CIS Woke Grief Slut. I really highly recommend it if you have a dark sense of humor. Gallows humor. It's. She's amazing.
Dana Goldberg
Dark sense of humor is a must for Lori Kilmartin. If you are easily offended by things that didn't happen to you but happened to other people and they're bringing light to them, this may not be the one for you, but stretch yourself. Watch it. It's worth it. She's so smart, too.
Allison Gill
Yeah, she is. I love her. And I love. I love this new special. So we'll talk to her later in the show. We've got a lot of news, just a couple of quick hits today.
Dana Goldberg
Make a long story short. Too late.
Allison Gill
All right, first up, the Federal Communications Commission announced the unanimous adoption of a declaratory ruling that recognizes calls made with AI generated voices. Are artificial under the telephone Consumer Protection Act. The ruling which takes effect immediately. Do you hear that? You hear that? Jacob Wall? The ruling that takes effect immediately makes voice cloning technology used in common robocall scams targeting consumers illegal. This would give state attorneys general across the country new tools to go after bad actors behind these nefarious robocalls. Yay.
Dana Goldberg
Good, good, good. Speaking of bad actors, that man who leaped over a judicial bench and attacked a Nevada judge during a sentencing hearing in Las Vegas last month that was captured in a courtroom video. That thing went viral. While he has been indicted for attempted murder. A grand jury returned the nine count indictment against Redden, who's 30 years old, in Las Vegas on Thursday. His arraignment is scheduled for February 29th. And I am happy about this. That attack was horrifying.
Allison Gill
I was wild. He just dove over the bench, flew.
Dana Goldberg
The adrenaline that was running through his body, flew over and attacked her, put her head into a wall. It was, it was a horrible video. A horrible video to watch.
Allison Gill
Harrowing, scary, frightening. So nine count murder charge. All right, we have a lot of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from cbs, CBS News, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said Saturday that as president, he warned NATO allies that he would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want. That's a quote to countries that are delinquent as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and long standing international alliances. Speaking at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him over his threat not to defend members who failed to meet the transatlantic alliance's defense spending targets. But this time, Trump went further, saying he told the member he would encourage Russia to do as it wishes. In that case, you didn't pay your delinquent. He said, no, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. NATO allies agreed in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula to halt the spending cuts that they had made after the Cold War and moved towards spending 2% of their GDPs on defense by 2024. In response, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told CBS News in a statement Saturday night, that, quote, encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged, and it endangers American national security, global security, and our economy here at home. Rather than calling for wars and promoting deranged chaos, President Biden will continue to bolster American leadership and stand up for our national security interests, not against them. Trump's comments come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia's 2022 invasion and as Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical of providing additional aid money to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapon shortfalls. And I'd like to just interject here, Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical of providing additional aid money. They have voted against it every single time and refused to bring it up in bills. So let's be clear, they also come as Trump and his team are increasingly confident he will lock up the nomination in the coming weeks following commanding victories in the first votes of the 2024 Republican nominating calendar. During his 2016 campaign, Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that the US under his leadership, would abandon its NATO treaty commitments and only come to the defense of countries that meet the alliance's guidelines by committing 2% of their GDPs to military spend. As of 2022, NATO reported that seven of the 31 NATO member countries were meeting that obligation, up from three in 2014. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has spurred additional military spending by some NATO members. Trump has often tried to take credit for that increase and bragged against Saturday that as a result of his threats, hundreds of billions of dollars came into NATO, even though countries do not pay NATO directly. Trump as president eventually endorsed NATO's Article 5 mutual defense clause, which states that an armed attack against one or more of its members shall be considered an attack against all members. But he often depicted NATO allies as leeches and openly questioned the value of the military alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades and decades. He wants to dismantle NATO, and in fact, there was a recent bill passed in Congress to prevent presidents from unilaterally withdrawing the United States from NATO because of Donald Trump. And I find it very interesting that Trump encouraged Putin to invade NATO allies in Europe on the heels of Tucker Carlson's embarrassing two hour interview with President Putin, during which the Russian president mocked Tucker for not being a serious enough person to get accepted into the CIA.
Dana Goldberg
And Tucker just stared at him like, okay, this is happening. Is it? Yep.
Allison Gill
Yeah, just blinking. Just like doing his Tucker blink.
Dana Goldberg
What the hell is this going to say to him? It's Putin. Jesus.
Allison Gill
He's like, well, you know, I heard you didn't get into the CIA, but that makes sense because the CIA is a very serious organization. Wow.
Dana Goldberg
Wow. You set yourself up for that, you schmuck. All right, this is from ryan Reilly at NBC, newly unearthed footage from January 6th of 2021, you know the day appears to show a rioter, a man identified in NBC NBC News story nearly two years ago, firing a gun into the air outside the Capitol during the attack. Online sleuths who have been amazing, they've aided in hundreds of January 6th prosecutions. They say he is the same man they identified to the FBI who is currently individual number 200 on the Bureau's Capitol Violence page, which he first appeared on three years ago. Videos and photographs from the Capitol on January 6th showed him with what appears to be a gun in his waistband. As NBC News previously reported, that man, John Emmanuel Banuelos, told Salt Lake City police that he was at the Capitol and had been captured on film with a gun. I was in the D.C. riots. That's what he told investigators, according to the police transcript. He said I'm the only one in the video with the gun right there. Okay, well, Benuelos had not been arrested or charged in connection with January 6th. The Salt Lake City police had arrested him in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 19 year old Christopher Thomas sen in a park on July 4th of 2021. Quote, man, should I just tell the FBI to come get me or what? That's what he asked Salt Lake City police officers, according to a police transcript. Weeks later, Benuelis called an investigator with the department and quote, talked about going where Donald Trump sent him, apparently referencing the Capitol. According to police record, the Salt Lake City DA's office did not pursue a case against Benuelos who claims self defense incends death. Now footage released by another January 6th rioter appears to show Benuelos firing the gun into the air twice during the chaotic scene on the west side of the Capitol as rioters battled with police online. Sleuths also surfaced U.S. capitol Police surveillance footage previously released in connection with another Capitol attack case that shows the man they've identified as Benuelos appearing to fire the gun. They found multiple other videos in which the gunshots can be heard. The footage is the first showing a rioter firing a gun on January 6. The incident took place at about 2:34pm which is about 10 minutes before an officer inside the Capitol shot and killed Ashley Babbitt as she jumped through a broken window leading into the speaker's lobby after they told her several times not to. The incident with the gun outside the Capitol was not previously known to online Sleuths and has never been mentioned to any court filing at the time and location where the shots appear to have been fired. The Capitol grounds were in chaos with law enforcement firing their own non lethal rounds of crowd control munitions following sustained repeated assaults on officers, which could explain why the sound of two gunshots didn't grab much attention. Despite repeated false claims from conservative media figures that the mob that stormed the Capitol were unarmed, a multitude of defendants were were armed with deadly or dangerous weapons, including several who carried firearms, as the Justice Department had proven in court several times. Among January 6th rioters were proven to have carried firearms during the Capitol attack are Christopher Alberts. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Mark Maza carried two guns and was sentenced to five years in prison. Refitt, who was sentenced to seven years in prison after he became the first Jan. 6 defendant to go to jail. Another Jan. 6 participant, Jared Barger, he dropped his gun in the mob and was recently sentenced to five years of probation with six months of home confinement. The officer who recovered Barger's weapon on the ground was, quote, aware of multiple reports of firearms in the crowd. That's all. According to prosecutors, Trump also knew the crowd was armed. He knew it was armed. His former aide, Cassidy Hutchinson testified before the House January 6th Committee in 2022. He urged security to remove the magnetometers as at his rally that morning. We have testimony. This is what Cassidy Hutchins said, adding that Trump yelled, they're not here to hurt me, okay? Because so few rioters were arrested on the scene on January 6, there will never be a full accounting of how many rioters were actually carrying guns and other weapons.
Allison Gill
That's frightening. It could have been so much worse.
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
Allison Gill
All right, next up from Michael Shearer at the Washington Post. The DNC Democratic National Committee accused third party candidate RFK Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On Friday of violating federal election law by unlawfully coordinating with a super PAC in a $15 million effort to collect signatures for state ballot access. The complaint followed an announcement effort by The American Values 2024 PAC that it will spend $15 million to collect signatures in 15 states so Kennedy can appear on the ballot. In a call with reporters Friday, DNC legal counsel Bob Leonard argued that state law presumes and in some cases requests that the candidate, committee or candidate is involved in the petition process, making the super PAC spending an illegal in kind donation. Okay. Super PACs are allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money, but they are not allowed to coordinate spending with campaigns, and this shows that they are. Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the candidate's campaign manager and daughter in law, said in a statement that the FEC complaint was a non issue. The campaign, she explained, had created a structure that allows any volunteer to download signature forms for the various states and then mail them in for verification by a campaign vendor. Quote, we receive parcels of signatures from our volunteer groups all over the country, she said. To my knowledge, we have yet to receive any signatures from American Values PAC or any pac, nor have we provided any information that is not available to every volunteer and media outlet on our public websites. So. Well, that might be under federal criminal investigation.
Dana Goldberg
We'll see. I think so. All right, Ag, thank you. And last in this segment. This is from Michael Daly at the Daily beast. In one 48 hour period last week, Customs and Border Patrol officers, they thwarted three separate attempts to smuggle fentanyl into the US at the Paso del Norte border crossing in Texas. None of these people were migrants. None. Despite the narrative being peddled across Maga World that immigrants bring the deadly drug with them as they pour across a supposedly open border. All three. All three of them. A 20 year old who had 37 pounds stashed in a spare tire. A 45 year old who had 0.29 pounds in her vagina that could have gone terribly wrong. And a 26 year old who had 0.16 pounds similarly concealed.
Allison Gill
They were all similarly concealed.
Dana Goldberg
Like, and that sounds like up the butt or they would have said that in that it was also in the vagina. I don't know why they didn't.
Allison Gill
I think that one keister stashed them. I do.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, a little bit up the butt. Little Fentanyl up the butt. I mean, who hasn't among us, me and Ag.
Allison Gill
Okay, maybe not people in the White House. In Trump's White House.
Dana Goldberg
Oh my God. Maybe Don Jr. I'm sure that's he doesn't snort cocaine, but he didn't say anything about the other thing. In fact, back to the story. Nearly 90% of those arrested for trafficking in fentanyl are Americans. 90% are Americans. Roughly the same percentage of interceptions at legal crossing points such as Paseo del Norte. Virtually none of the asylum seekers detained at the border are found with the drug. And yet right wing figures, from House Speaker Mike Johnson to J.D. vance, at least Stefanik, they stridently seek to link migrants in the fentanyl epidemic. Vance and Stefanik have even sought to use that fiction to perpetrate another okay, they both said that Trump was really speaking about fentanyl when he said in December that migrants are, and I quote, poisoning the blood of our nation. Wow, that's a fucking leap yeah. Quote, he said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of the country, which is objectively and obviously true to anyone who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdoses. That was from Vance. And Stefanik said, our border crisis is poisoning Americans through fentanyl. None of those are connected. In truth, Americans are poisoning Americans. Clearly from this article, David Lucky at a senior international and defense researcher at RAND who participated in the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking's study of the fentanyl problem, told the Daily Beast on Saturday, quote, there's not a single silver bullet that's going to stop this from happening. We need to do things across three dimensions. Supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction if we're to save lives. He suggested that supply should be a focus. Quote, Every 55 gallon drum of precursor chemicals that we can prevent from being shipped from China to Mexico stops millions of potentially lethal doses at the user level. This is what he said and went on to say, it is easier to stop millions of doses from reaching their intended recipient or it would be easier to stop one 55 gallon drum of precursor chemical, which would be easier. He said that he and his colleague determined it takes very little fentanyl to supply the annual demand in America. Quote, basically what we came up with was about three large pickup truck loads of pure fentanyl will supply the entire US demand for a year. Three pickup truck loads from the tons and tons of goods that the cross the border. Just three pickup trucks. Unbelievable. At least the bipartisan border bill backed by President Joe Biden would have provided 1500 more custom officers. It also would have funded 100 outsized X ray machines to screen vehicles at points of entry where almost all fentanyl comes into the country. In declaring that bill had no chance of passage, Mike Johnson used the same phrase that he seems to be using all the time now, employed to describe an ever growing number of Americans who are poisoned by fentanyl. And he said, dead on arrival. He is such a schmuck.
Allison Gill
Yeah, that guy.
Dana Goldberg
Fuck that guy. Indeed.
Allison Gill
All right, we have some good news to get to, but before that, you can hear Dana and I talk to Lori Kilmartin about her new special CIS woke grief slut, right after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frangela. You know what you need in your life? The Final Word podcast. Yes, you do.
Dana Goldberg
That's right.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
It is the final word on all things Political and pop cultural, where we make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can resist. Subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear.
Dana Goldberg
That's right.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
We think you need to hear it.
Lori Kilmartin
Okay. Yeah.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
It's what we say, so. That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our history hysterical podcast, idiot of the week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.
Allison Gill
Okay. All we do is give. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm excited today to be joined by staff writer for Conan O' Brien for 11 years, co host of the Jackie and Lori show podcast, which you must listen to wherever you get your podcast. And her new stand up special, Cis Woke Grief Slut, is out now available to the masses. You know her, you love her. Please welcome Lori Kilmartin. Hi, Lori.
Lori Kilmartin
Oh, my gosh. Thanks for having me. This is so exciting.
Allison Gill
I. It's exciting for me. You know, I, I did comedy for 10 years. I've been following your career. I absolutely love your stand up because you come at it from such a real, but also dark, like, gallows place.
Dana Goldberg
So good.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah.
Allison Gill
And that is in my mind, like, so important, you know, to, to be relatable. And I, I know it sounds odd to people to think like, how am I, how do I relate to dark humor? But we all really do.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah, I, I know there's like, to me, it's upbeat to be really dark about awful stuff. Like, that's how I get through it. So to me, that's being positive. But I, I don't know, Some people think it's too much, but I'm like, no, that's being happy is too much. What are you thinking? Look around you.
Allison Gill
It's awful. Yeah.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah.
Dana Goldberg
The world's burning. Why are you smiling?
Allison Gill
It's like a Christmas album. Like upbeat depression, I think.
Lori Kilmartin
Yes.
Allison Gill
You know, I think it's fantastic. Meet you at the cemetery gates.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah.
Allison Gill
Who you know, so, yeah, absolutely fantastic. I want to talk about this new special because I've, I've watched it. It's incredible. It's funny. But it's also got a lot of really poignant sort of moments in it that you spin into comedy gold. So, so talk a little bit about, about some of those, those moments. Like, I know that in this particular, first of all, the title, CIS Woke Grief Slut. Fantastic.
Dana Goldberg
So good.
Allison Gill
Thank you. You know, like, first of all, you talk about getting doxed by Fox News viewers, right?
Lori Kilmartin
Right, yes. Yeah, I, I, you know, I told like a middling joke. It wasn't even a good joke on msnbc.
Dana Goldberg
Show your a material on msnbc.
Lori Kilmartin
It's going to be your absolutely at best. And you know, it's a, you, you, it's zoom commentary, which is tough to do. It's, it's not, you know, it's not the best place for comedy anyway. But it was the weekend, Mother's Day weekend, when they leaked the draft that they're going to overturn Roe. So I just made this dumb little abortion joke and it was clipped out by this site called Media, which I'm sure you're familiar with. And it was presented as, you know, guest says she'd a border Republicans fetus. And then that turned into, oh, this is classic liberals. And then it went up all the way up the right news, right wing news chain to fi. To Sean Hannity. And then he did a segment on me. And so there was lots of, there was doxing. There was lots of death threats. There was lots of, you should have been aborted from pro life people. And it was like three intense days of me thinking I was going to be shocked to death. And then it just went away. It was a very strange phenomenon.
Dana Goldberg
They found someone else to, you know, to focus on. And their attention span is really that short.
Lori Kilmartin
It is like Steven Crowder sent them.
Dana Goldberg
A different we want to kill her. I want chips. Yeah, that's it. Yep.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're driven by, they're being told to go after clips and then they're given a new one to get mad about. So it's. Yeah, that was a, that was a wild ride.
Allison Gill
Yeah. Well, no. Trump is now saying, hey, guys, maybe we shouldn't have gone so hard against Bud Light. Right. So. Because I guess probably he needs the donations.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah.
Allison Gill
Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. It's the attention span of nats, of cultists, really. I mean, if you think about it. And you also talk about losing your mom to Covid.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah, my mom got Covid early in June of 2020 and she died June 18. And you know, I had already like live tweeted my dad's death, so I, I don't know, I just write jokes in real time and Twitter is such a great place for that stuff. And you, you know, you, I'm not going to go to a comedy club and do, you know, especially you couldn't go during the pandemic to do jokes. So I, I just tweet them. Just like all comedians do. And I think at that time, it was the first time someone was doing it live as it was happening instead of, you know, my loved one died, here's what it was like. So I think it kind of took off in a. In a way, because people were following her journey through me, so. And it was. It was, you know, the first couple months of lockdown, so everything was so strange and weird, and I don't think it. There was some pushback, like, who's that baseball player? Aubrey Huff? You know, there's a couple people like that, but it seemed like more people were just scared out of their minds and were kind of doing what they were told a little bit. And it was before things got super, super partisan, you know, at that time, at least Trump was looking for a vaccine, you know, and so, yeah, so anyway, I have, like, five minutes on that. It's so.
Dana Goldberg
It is so well done, and I love that, you know, I don't want to give away any of the material. You all have to watch the special, but you're basically like, you know, 85% of my audience is horrified, and the other 15 or you were like, tell me more.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah, and also the. The. The mortician. That's completely true. Her name's Lindsay. She's this young woman who started a mortuary in January of 2020. Just like, let me just try this business. And I don't know, she must own an island now, but, you know, that is insane that. I know.
Dana Goldberg
That's like acting, getting lucky, buying apple when it first started at, like, $5 a share. I mean, I know she didn't do it on purpose, but starting that business right at the beginning of the pandemic, it was a windfall.
Lori Kilmartin
I know. I'm like, there, maybe. Was she getting, like, reading other news sources? I have no idea.
Allison Gill
But was she on a committee with the Republicans who traded stock on body bags? Because that's what it sounds like.
Lori Kilmartin
Oh, God, I bet. But, yeah. And I've done motor. You know, the amount, and it was 1200, which is really cheap for cremation. So, yeah, it was. It was a deal. And I recommend her services to anyone looking.
Allison Gill
And I think one of my favorite parts of this. And you've shared this clip pretty widely on social media, too, is why trans women are your favorite women. Mm.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
Lori Kilmartin
I mean, I. I wouldn't even be writing about trans women, but I was so irritated by everyone else who was. But coming at that. Coming at it as like, they're. They're hurting me, or they could get me or it was just like a, a weird thing. And I wanted to come at it from like a, like a CIS woman point of view of, you know, let's walk arm in arm and try to make the world better. So that was like the intention and then there's just a bunch of jokes on top of that intention. But.
Dana Goldberg
I think you did it well. I mean, like you said, there's so many in male comics, we know who they are, we won't have to mention them, that it's just not, they're not even good, well written jokes. And so I just feel like yours were very empowering. The jokes are well written and I also have a size 11 foot, so I feel you, Lori Kilmartin.
Lori Kilmartin
I'm in my Uggs right now, but yeah, and it's always the same point of view, you know, like, are you.
Allison Gill
Do.
Lori Kilmartin
Does anyone even have an original point of view if you're gonna, you know. And I honestly much rather hear from trans women what their lives are like anyway. So, you know, there's so many great trans comics that the fact that anyone has to hear from a CIS comic on them at all is obnoxious. But at least I thought, well, let me come from the, the other point of view. So I would want it. I would hope that if there's ever a trans woman in the audience and they're up, you know, there frequently is that they laugh at those jokes. You know, I mean, obviously you're not going to get everybody with every joke, but they wouldn't feel, you know, stigmatized at all. Just like feel like, hey, hey, that.
Allison Gill
Was like destigmatizing our genitals. Another great bit from. And I, I will just let you, I will let everybody watch that because I'm not going to walk on any punchlines, but there's other great material about sort of transforming douchebags after they have daughters. And I immediately am thinking back to. As you're talking about these douchebags doxxing, you like the MAGA crowd going back to an op ed a piece that you did in the New York Times about being a female comic in Louis CK's world. And I, I want, I know we're focused on your, on your new special here in this particular interview, but I think that this kind of lends to what you end up talking about as far as kind of recruiting, you know, these douchebags into the world of feminism. But talk a little bit about that, what it was like to be a female comic in the time of Cholera. I mean, Louis C.K.
Lori Kilmartin
Well, sort like, I, I, I knew Louie a little bit, and he was always nice to me, so I never had, like, that kind of a negative interaction. But it, it was more like just the always just being careful and navigating, you know. Like, I recently did a podcast with Nicole Byer, and she's asked about Chuckle. I don't know if I can swear, but it basically, Guys, yeah, guys, you know, that will. That you would hook up with after a show. And so few female comics even feel safe enough to, like, act like a male comic does with female audience members. It's just a completely different world that we live in and, and you're always just trying to, like, you know, not piss off the booker again. I'm sort of aging out of some of this stuff, but when I was younger, it was like, I'm the same age as the booker and am I gonna get paid without having to, you know, give a, you know, give a close hug or all that kind of stuff. It's just extra stuff you have to constantly navigate that I'm sure women in many, many professions understand and have to constantly worry about, you know, and then with that, that, that idea that guys, that the guys that overly announce that they're a father of a daughter and then, you know, say women deserve equal rights, like half of them, I'm like, are you, Wasn't there a story about you sexually assaulting? But okay, I'm having two different images of you, you know, and it seems like they're always trying too hard. Like, there's plenty. My dad never said that. He's just a good dad, you know, so it always seems like they're trying to change everyone's opinion about them or, or stamp, you know, that they're a feminist now. So you can't, you know, you can't point out that, you know, there might be charges in another state or something like that, you know.
Allison Gill
Yeah, well, that was always one of the hard parts about being a comedian for me, was getting flack for doing shows with sex pests. Like, I had a choice, like, like, I'm going to turn down a show because somebody on the show is a piece of shit. And, you know, like, I am somehow responsible for that when I am clearly not anywhere near the headlining, you know, part of this show, but also, you know, being sexually assaulted and then not being able to tell anybody about it because I wouldn't be passed at the Comedy Store or, you know, I'll make sure you never work in this town again or whatever the shit it is. And then finally going back after the podcasting thing blew up, finally going back and talking to the GM down at the Comedy Store, like, by the way, this guy did this. That guy. And I don't care if he never passed me, because I don't want to be here anymore. So it's difficult. But it's also, I found in some ways easier because, because people have this idea that women are not as funny as men get. You know, I got asked all the time, like, what's it like in that world? And I was like, I actually like it better because if I'm as funny as the guys, I am perceived as funnier because they have such low expectations when I walk out on stage. So I, I liked it. Being underestimated before anything comes out of your mouth. But it's a totally different world.
Lori Kilmartin
Well, you know, yeah, with, when it's just me with the audience, I'm like, I got this. But when it's a booker going, well, I don't know. Women don't. Then it, they stop you from getting work, and then you don't get to be in front of that audience. Like, if I, if it, you know, they're always the barrier. And I mean, it's so different now. But like in the 90s and whenever that Vanity Fair article came out, like Chris Hitchens, like, damaged me financially. And a lot of women, you know, just because people ran with that, they, and used it as a reason not to book us and not to go see shows. You know, if we were booked, it was just like a prejudice you could easily access. And, you know, because it was in Vanity Fairs on it, it was a headline and not even go to the show. So, yeah, I, I, I always feel like, just get me in front of the audience, I'm fine. And in terms of if I start, you know, not, you know, working with people because they're.
Dana Goldberg
Sex pass.
Lori Kilmartin
I will never work. It's. From day one, there's always been. I would actually rather open for somebody who's a sex pass just to get a bunch of material out there. And like, all right, now you follow that? Because I've, I've, I put a few seeds in their brains and let's see if you can. I mean, they would be able to follow it. But there's women in the audience and there's people that don't know. They just go to a comedy show. And so, you know, anything you can do to offset the they're about to hear is always good, as far as I'm concerned.
Allison Gill
Yeah, no I agree. Talk about the title. Please tell us how that came about. I want to know. The workshopping of CIS Woke Grief Slut Sis, I guess.
Lori Kilmartin
Well, you know, it got even more alluring after Elon Musk called it a slur. That was like, wow, it's hard to put it down now. And just because I wanted to, I guess even though I was doing trans jokes, I wanted. I wanted it to be about CIS me, you know, So I didn't want it to stigmatize, you know, I just wanted it to be focused on me. Grief woke, woke. Because I always get called woken comments. So I would like to get ahead of it. So if someone calls me that, it's like, yeah, okay. Did you just read the title? Grief because of my mom. It was some mom jokes. And then slut was what I was called repeatedly by, I think a church in Florida that kind of all emailed me. They kind of got together to call me a slut because I told an abortion joke. And as I said in the special, I would. I'm a middle aged single mom. I please slap me and you dox me so you know where I live. So stop by the house and, you know, talk me up, make me an.
Allison Gill
Offer.
Dana Goldberg
The way you took it and made it into comedy. And that's what we do as comedians when stuff like this happens. Like, otherwise we would be in fucking therapy. Well, we are in therapy anyway, but, like, for our entire lives, like, we would crawl into a hole. And you're like, no, I've got to make some sort of light of this, otherwise I'm gonna go crazy. Because the shit you went through was scary. Like you said in the special, like you were for a good three days, like, oh, God, this is. Am I okay?
Lori Kilmartin
It was scary. Someone sent me pictures of my house, you know, and that's. And then I realized that was from a real estate listing. But for a while I was. I thought they had stood outside my house. I was like, oh, my God. It's like.
Dana Goldberg
It's like watermarked Zillow. Oh, okay.
Lori Kilmartin
We're okay. But it was scary. Yeah, for sure.
Allison Gill
Yeah. But I mean, you do it so well. You take all of these relatable real life things, you spin them into comedy gold. And I absolutely love your new special. Everybody must watch it. We will have a link to it in the show notes. It's called CIS Woke Grief Slut. And it's almost like man, woman, camera, tv, but on the correct side of history. So thank you so much for joining us today. It's been really wonderful talking to you. And I also encourage everybody to listen to the Jackie and Laurie show because that's an incredible podcast. So tell everybody where they can find that.
Lori Kilmartin
Pretty much anywhere you find podcasts where it's just myself and Jackie Cation. She's another stand up. We both started at around the same time. She started in Wisconsin and I started in San Francisco. And back then, women weren't allowed to work together, so we had. We didn't know each other. We kind of met in Los Angeles later in life, like when we were in our 40s and we just started a podcast because at the time it just felt like podcasts were guys talking to guys and they hardly had women as guests. And we. We decided to have no guests because that's easier to book. And so we just. It's just us for. Yeah, I do. Wait a minute. It just. It's just us for an hour, once a week, talking about comedy. And we didn't think it would last us long, but standup comedy simultaneously became like the most popular thing in America. So there's always something to talk about and there's always gigs to talk about and stuff. So so far, we are able to fill an hour since 2015, once a week.
Dana Goldberg
It's amazing. Jackie's brilliant. You're brilliant, the two of you together. Yeah.
Allison Gill
Oh, thank you guys so much. I'm glad Dana could join us for this interview too.
Dana Goldberg
Me too.
Lori Kilmartin
Yeah, me too.
Allison Gill
I appreciate your time again, Lori Kill Martin. It's called CIS Woke grief Slut. Find it wherever you get stuff. I mean, you know, go to the Internet, Google it, go to the world book encyclopedia and look up under W for who is for woke slope.
Dana Goldberg
Where can I find Lori Colbert special? Where can I find it?
Allison Gill
That's a callback, motherfucker. All right, everybody.
Lori Kilmartin
Exactly.
Allison Gill
That was like a double callback. Thank you so much and we appreciate your time. Everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frantala. You know what you need in your life? The Final Word podcast. Yes, you do.
Dana Goldberg
That's right.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can hashtag, resist, subscribe, and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear.
Dana Goldberg
That's right.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
We think you need to hear it.
Lori Kilmartin
Okay.
Allison Gill
Yeah.
Frances Collier and Angela V. Shelton
It's what we say. So that's Right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our history hysterical podcast, idiot of the week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.
Allison Gill
Okay? All we do is give. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news. Good news, everyone. And good news, everyone. Good news, good news. And if you have any good news confessions corrections, especially pronunciation corrections, you could send those to us. If you have a shit kids say, or daily beans monda greens, which is misheard song lyrics, you can send that to us. Thesis titles, dissertation titles. Those are always fun and sometimes very difficult to understand because y' all are so smart. If you have would be stories, blanket stories, stuffed animal stories, stories about the va if you have a good story about healthcare at the VA or a student debt relief story, those are. Those are like bringing me to tears. I absolutely love those. Send those to us. Shout out to a loved one. Small business in your area, Adoptable pet in your area. If you don't have pod pet tax to pay anything at all, send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. And don't worry, we will address the Murfreesboro pronunciation. I can't even say like when I have to say Murfreesboro. I can't pronounce other words around it.
Dana Goldberg
See, the thing is ag like. And I totally appreciate everyone giving feedback. The pronunciation meaning like what it's supposed to sound like isn't the problem. It's getting my mouth to actually not tongue tie it. Yeah, that's the problem. And I don't know if any pronunciation explanation is gonna fix that.
Allison Gill
Well, we'll get to it. I spoke to. I spoke to the incomparable Phil Williams of News Channel 5. Okay, Nashville. And he has some things to say along with a lot of our other listeners. But first, Murphy. And they're laughing at us. I just want you to know, people in Tennessee are like, why are you having such a hard time?
Dana Goldberg
Someone's like, just call it burrow. They're going to think you're going to the tourist. Just call it burrow. I'm like, okay, cool. That I can do.
Allison Gill
You could say a little south of Nashville.
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
Allison Gill
But anyway, first up from anonymous pronouns, he and him. Howdy, beans, Queens. I want to do a huge shout out to my lovely wife, Kate. She stuck with me through some of the roughest times of our lives, including 11 months of unemployment. Thanks, Covid. The loss of my father to Alzheimer's and recently, her father's own Alzheimer's diagnosis. So hard she's been standing beside me and putting in the work while still managing to hold it together. I love you, Kate. And I can't think of anyone I'd rather scream misheard Coheed and Cambria lyrics with. That's fantastic. For context. In their song welcome Home, the actual line is fucking up all I do. But when the song came out, she thought it was fucking Apple of Doom. Oh, and we've been screaming Apple of Doom at each other at every Coheed show we've been to since Apple of Doom for Pod Pet Tax, including a picture of Fry and Leela, our little Planet Express crew. Fry is the void, both in appearance and intellect.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God.
Allison Gill
And Leela is the pretty gray lady. Oh, like the Queen Mary. They may be expensive, but they make our lives better. Thank you to you and your crew for all that you do to keep us informed and laughing. And this is a beautiful photo of your kitties.
Dana Goldberg
Very sweet.
Allison Gill
Anonymous. May I recommend the song Kate by Ben Folds Five? I think you will enjoy it.
Dana Goldberg
Well, there you go. All right, this is from Annie Fox Pro N. She and her My debut young adult novel is coming out Tuesday, February 13th, Galentine's Day. It's called the Little Things that Kill. A Teen Friendship Afterlife Apology Tour because it's never too late to say you're sorry. It's available on Kindle Print Audiobook. So far, early reviewers gave it 4.3 out of 5 on Goodreads. Hell yeah, Annie Fox. Hashtag women helping women. Also, my husband David is a Daily Bean supporter. We both love your shows. Gracie the dog does, too. Look at Gracie's ilk.
Allison Gill
Wee face that second photo. Hey, where are we going? She's in the car.
Dana Goldberg
What are we doing where we're going?
Allison Gill
We're going to the park, right? Not the vet, Right? Not the groomer. Yeah. Park, park, park. So cute. So good. Thank you for that. And congratulations. What's the book called again? It's called Little Things that Kill A Teen Friendship Afterlife Apology Tour by Annie Fox, everybody. Check it out. Next up, from Anonymous. Pronoun she and her Good news. My team received a company award last fall. Was it a leg lamp? I was lucky enough to plan some family time with my daughter and granddaughter in Europe, making memories that will last a lifetime. It was such an incredible experience for all of us as a first trip abroad. Pics of us in Ireland and Amsterdam. And for pet tax, I submit piglets to fall in love with from my brother's farm. Love you all a bunch. Hope you get to Enjoy the downtime. You got to go to Europe.
Dana Goldberg
Look at how fun these photos are. Fabulous.
Allison Gill
Look at us. Look at the pictures of this lady. Look at the piglet. Oh, Amsterdam. And a baby piggy. Little snorty piggy cutie.
Dana Goldberg
Thank you so much for that. This one's from Anonymous pronoun she and her longtime listener first time writer I'm a little behind in listening, but the episode from Monday, February 5th made me want to respond to two things. The first, in response to the person getting Trump Republican texts, I have found the most effective way to end those is to respond there is no way I will vote for Trump Republicans. This specific candidate I have found this ends all texts from them immediately. The second is addition to the Be assured we know that bird. This lovely bird has been seen multiple times over the last few months and I also hear it wrestling with breakfast on the roof some mornings. Do you know what the bird is?
Allison Gill
Oh, that's a red tailed hawk. I think that's a red tailed hawk or a Cooper's hawk. Let's see. It's a red shouldered hawk.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, that's because that's where the red is me.
Allison Gill
Oh, I should have. Yeah, I guess I could have looked at the anatomy. Way to go, Gil. Good job.
Dana Goldberg
All right, this one's yours. And it's all of our corrections for.
Allison Gill
Great I get to say Murphy's Burro. All right. The Murfreesboro pronunciation bruhaha. A lot of people wrote in to help with the pronunciation and a lot of you didn't agree with each other. Brenda, Charlie A. And Ann M. Yvonne, Kimberly, Beth Case Scenario and Scott P. Are in the Murfreesboro camp. Evan, Justin V. Stephanie L. Just an average Grandma Kat, Lucy, Brian, Pat, and Catherine are in the Murfreesboro camp. Dustin pronouns he and him says the trick is to throw a little Southern drawl into it and let it pour out like you're drunk trying to pronounce the word sobriety murders Brar Murfreesboro Chris she and her says just mush it all together and say it fast and you've got Murfreesboro. Mark S. Pronouns he and him offers a secret fourth way to pronounce Murfreesboro. He says start with Fresno, as in California. Change that to Fresboro. Add the mer to the beginning mer Fresboro and make that first syllable the most emphatic one. The gratuitous Murfreesboro. The gratuitous E might make you want to say free in the middle of a city name, but that Syllable is usually pronounced fre, as in Fresno. Murfreesboro. There you go. Now you can come visit and sound like a native, of course. Phil Williams, the. I. I believe I said I was going to reach out to Phil Williams.
Dana Goldberg
You did.
Allison Gill
But what actually happened was I just got a text right after the podcast came out that day.
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my God, that's funny.
Allison Gill
From Phil Williams laughing his ass off at us, by the way. And here's the back and forth laugh, crying emoji three times big, and then Murfreesboro. And he said, you had it. And I said, well, don't put that extra R in there. So wait, I said, is it Murphreesboro or Murphysboro? And he said, it's freeze. It's freeze. And I'm like, I'm gonna ask Phil Williams. So thank you to Phil Williams, everybody. Well, it's already Monday, but if you get a chance to. I know it's gonna be on his Twitter feed. He did this incredible story. It's gonna air after the super bowl, but you can watch it again and I'll share it on my Twitter feed too. This story is called He Once thought I was the Devil. Now he's telling me his story and the story of Gwen Shamblin. And it's about this cult leader. So definitely tune into that. Check it out. I know it'll be available to view after the Super Bowl. So thanks to Phil Williams and all of the other people who wrote in with some conflicting ways to pronounce Murfreesboro.
Dana Goldberg
I appreciate you, Mark, Chris, Dustin, Lucy, Pat, Catherine, Average Grandma, Evan, Justin, Stephanie, Brenda, Charlie A, Ann M. Yvonne, Kimberly, Beth Case Scenario. And Scott P. Thank you all very much for not agreeing on anything and confusing me even further.
Allison Gill
I love. I love Beth Case Scenario. That's. That's.
Dana Goldberg
That's such a great name. Beth Case Scenario. Yeah, well done on that, by the way, in the write in name.
Allison Gill
Yes. Thank you for the town south of Nashville, Murfreesboro. I think I've got it. I just need to practice. We appreciate all of you. Do you have any final thoughts before we get out of here, my friend?
Dana Goldberg
Oh, no, I think I've said enough.
Allison Gill
I think I've said enough. I just want to thank again, Lori Kilmartin. Please check out this woke grief slut. It's really. It's amazing. It's funny if you have a dark sense of humor. You like Gala's humor? Definitely. Check. Check her out. She's brilliant. Everybody. We will be back in your ears tomorrow. We will then know who won the Superb Owl contest, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about. Until then, please take care of yourselves. Take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. Vote blue over Q.
Dana Goldberg
Take everyone you know with you.
Allison Gill
I've been EG and I've been dg, and that was the beans.
Dana Goldberg
Refried beans.
Allison Gill
I like refried beans.
Episode Date: February 12, 2024
Host(s): Allison Gill (“AG”), Dana Goldberg
Guest: Laurie Kilmartin (comedian)
This episode of The Daily Beans delivers their signature blend of progressive political news with sharp wit, covering a rapid-fire array of headlines. Central to the episode: alarming escalations in Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric, the FCC’s crackdown on AI robocalls, January 6th updates, fentanyl trafficking realities, and campaign finance drama involving RFK Jr. The latter half features a lively, darkly comic interview with standup legend Laurie Kilmartin about her new special CIS Woke Grief Slut, exploring grief, gender, and comedy’s role in processing trauma.
This episode exemplifies The Daily Beans' blend of incisive progressive commentary with unapologetic snark. The hosts dissect the chilling implications of Trump’s foreign policy chest-thumping, expose disinformation about opioids and migrants, highlight the stakes of election manipulation, and then transition seamlessly to the healing power (and cathartic punch) of dark comedy in the age of relentless outrage. Laurie Kilmartin’s interview shines as a testament to the role of humor in survival and the importance of feminist voices in comedy.
For more from Laurie Kilmartin, listen to “The Jackie and Laurie Show” wherever podcasts are found, and don’t miss her special CIS Woke Grief Slut.
Podcast Link: Daily Beans Podcast
Guest Info: Laurie Kilmartin – Twitter | Comedy Special