Hour 2: The Lord's Cable (feat. JuJu Gotti)

Summary

Summary of "Hour 2: The Lord's Cable (feat. JuJu Gotti)"

Release Date: August 7, 2025

Podcast: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Hosts: Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, Chris Cody, Jeremy

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1. Pitch Clock’s Rising Popularity and JuJu Gotti’s Involvement

The episode kicks off with a discussion about the enhanced excitement surrounding the introduction of the Pitch Clock in baseball. Dan Le Batard highlights the surge in viewership for their "Pitch Clock" episodes, attributing much of the success to Chris Cody's engaging trivia segments.

Dan Le Batard [01:40]: "We got the most views that we've ever gotten on an episode of the Pitch Clock... Chris Cody being a huge part of that."

Mike Ryan then introduces JuJu Gotti, transitioning the conversation towards the "Thursday Thunder" segment.

2. Thursday Thunder: WNBA Highlights and Sophie Cunningham’s Controversies

Juju Gotti leads the "Thursday Thunder" segment, offering predictions and analyses of ongoing WNBA games. He focuses on standout players like Nas Hillman and Kalaya Copper, providing detailed point projections.

The discussion takes a deeper turn as Mike Ryan brings up the issues surrounding JuJu’s sister, Sophie Cunningham. Sophie has been critical of WNBA officials on her podcast, leading to escalating fines from the league.

Mike Ryan [03:58]: "I think it's very clear to me, Juju, that Sophie Cunningham needs to be a part of that because she needs some money. She keeps getting fined."

Juju Gotti [04:18]: "My sister got a bankroll and she got a lot to say, especially with her having that new podcast... she’s gonna say what needs to be said."

Chris Cody elaborates on the situation, explaining how Sophie's fines have increased from a $500 fine for a TikTok video to $1,500 for critical comments on her podcast.

Chris Cody [05:00]: "It’s been escalating. It’s been getting more and more of these fines."

The hosts express concern over the proportionality of the fines relative to WNBA players' salaries, debating whether Sophie should alter her approach to avoid further penalties.

3. Female Referees in Sports: Breaking Barriers and Facing Challenges

The conversation shifts to the broader topic of female officials in sports. The hosts discuss Jen Powell’s historic role as the first female umpire in Major League Baseball and Violet Palmer’s long-standing career as an NBA referee.

Dan Le Batard [07:40]: "Jen Powell is the first female umpire in Major League Baseball history... she’s doing Marlins games this weekend."

Stugotz compares the experiences of female referees across different sports, noting that while the NFL has female officials, their interactions with players differ from those in baseball.

Stugotz [08:26]: "In other sports... the referees are supposed to de-escalate situations, but MLB umpires sometimes escalate them by arguing back."

Mike Ryan raises a pivotal question about whether the presence of female referees signifies true equality in sports officiating.

Mike Ryan [10:16]: "I think it’s very clear to me... Sophie Cunningham needs to be a part of that because she needs some money."

The hosts debate the dynamics between players and female referees, contemplating scenarios where these officials might face unique challenges or acceptance within traditionally male-dominated environments.

4. Ethical Implications of AI-Generated Interviews with Deceased Individuals

A significant portion of the episode delves into the controversial use of AI to recreate interviews with deceased individuals. The hosts discuss a specific case where an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old victim of the Parkland shooting, was used in an interview conducted by journalist Jim Acosta.

Mike Ryan [18:35]: "Yesterday I tried to learn the difference between AI and not AI... I came across an interview that was... an AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver."

Dan Le Batard voices strong opposition to this practice, questioning the ethics of using AI to represent deceased persons without their direct consent.

Dan Le Batard [24:02]: "It feels like we are... allowing things that 10 years ago would have been insane to consider."

Chris Cody provides context from Variety, explaining that the AI interview was created with permission from Joaquin’s parents, aiming to honor his memory and advocate against school shootings.

Chris Cody [20:26]: "The interactive AI was created by Oliver's parents who granted a CASA the first quote unquote interview with the recreated version of their son."

Despite understanding the parents' intentions, the hosts remain uneasy about the implications of such technology, debating whether it truly serves memory preservation or crosses ethical boundaries.

Jeremy [23:52]: "This is not journalism. It's all shock value."

5. Clarifying the Status of Howard Stern’s Show

Towards the episode's conclusion, the hosts engage in a spirited discussion about recent rumors surrounding Howard Stern’s show on Sirius XM. Mixed reports suggested that the show might be canceled, leading to confusion and skepticism among the hosts regarding the credibility of the sources.

Jeremy [29:17]: "Jim Train up on the Howard Stern beat... If anyone believes that Report. They are a very stupid person."

The conversation highlights the challenges of discerning truth in media, especially with conflicting reports from unreliable sources like tabloids.

Mike Ryan [30:24]: "Why wouldn't he have just said that we are back?"

The hosts agree that definitive information is pending, urging listeners to await official statements before drawing conclusions.

6. Personal Anecdotes and Light-Hearted Banter

The episode concludes with the hosts sharing personal stories and engaging in humorous exchanges. Dan Le Batard recounts his experience of being deceived by a camper on Instagram, mistaking a real photo for an AI-generated one.

Dan Le Batard [35:10]: "I saw that story, and I was like, this looks fishy. Fake news story."

Additionally, the hosts humorously discuss high school experiences, including cheating on assignments and reminiscing about past sports figures, adding a relatable and entertaining close to the episode.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dan Le Batard [24:02]: "It feels like we are... allowing things that 10 years ago would have been insane to consider."

• Jeremy [23:52]: "This is not journalism. It's all shock value."

• Chris Cody [20:26]: "The interactive AI was created by Oliver's parents who granted a CASA the first quote unquote interview with the recreated version of their son."

• Mike Ryan [10:16]: "I think it’s very clear to me... Sophie Cunningham needs to be a part of that because she needs some money."

This episode of "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" offers a multifaceted discussion ranging from sports innovations and gender dynamics in officiating to the ethical considerations of emerging AI technologies, all interspersed with the hosts' characteristic humor and personal anecdotes.

Transcript

[Unknown Speaker]

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[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Mike Ryan]

One of the great things about being in the chair and I and listen, it's been great you guys. This has been. Thank you for the opportunity. Truly enjoyed it. That said, I get to do things my own way, which I like, which means that we, we can do all the baseball we want. So I want the post game to be just baseball, just Pitch Clock, which means we get to get juju right now.

[Stugotz]

I like Pitch Clock. I actually I had watched it for the first time was like a month or two ago and I text Jeremy right after. I was like, hey man, I just watched Pitch Clock for the first time. It shows a lot of fun.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was really nice. I really appreciated that. And it's been really cool because last week we got them or two weeks ago we got the most views that we've ever gotten on an episode of the Pitch Clock. Welcome keeps increasing and it's been really exciting. Chris Cody being a huge part of that. Constantly kicking my ass in trivia is I think a big reason why people like to see me suffer. But it's been a lot of fun. It's been great. And now we're getting to the most important part of the season.

[Mike Ryan]

You got to stay with things. It's a grind. But guess what? Juju starting right now with Thursday Thunder. Yeah.

[Jeremy]

Which is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings. The Crown is yours.

[Mike Ryan]

Go ahead, juju.

[Juju]

Yes, sir. Welcome back to Thursday Thunder. We took a knot on the head last week from Jake Paul. Roundhouse knocked us clean out. But this week we back, baby. First off, we starting with my sister. Six woman of the year candidate. Most improved woman of the year candidate Nas Hillman from the Atlanta Dream going to face the Chicago sky tonight. She will get over 10 big ones tonight. 10 points for NAS Hillman. Lock it in. Second leg, we're traveling to the Valley. We got some people returning to the Valley, and I don't think my sister is going to like people returning to the Valley. Kalaya Copper, I think she's going to have something big to say about people coming to the Valley tonight. So lock in her for over 15.5 points. Points tonight against the Indiana Fever.

[Mike Ryan]

And.

[Juju]

The last leg that so. And so who's returning to the Valley? My sister, Sophie Cunningham, pulling up to the scene of the crime. Allegedly. She's gonna get over eight points tonight against her former team because she's gonna want to show them, and I feel it. Lock it in. Thursday Thunder. The crown is yours.

[Mike Ryan]

I think it's very clear to me, Juju, that Sophie Cunningham needs to be a part of that because she needs some money. She keeps getting fined. Juju, what's going on with that and why Is it, like. Is it 500 bucks or 300 bucks?

[Stugotz]

It's 500.

[Mike Ryan]

When is she going to stop, right? Is she that rich? Like, it doesn't matter?

[Juju]

Yeah, unfortunately, my sister got a bank roll saying tall, and she got a lot to say, especially with her having that new podcast. I predict she gonna get a couple fines down the line as well. But my sister, her wallet, same thing. She got it, she gonna support it, and she gonna say what she. What needs to be said.

[Stugotz]

So she's been very critical of officials, right? That's what the fine is.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, she's been critical of officials, and she's doing it on her podcast. It's a new podcast that Mike. It's a real podcast. It's not a fake one. And. But she keeps doing things that get her fined, like she's some sort of. Sort of spokesperson for the truth, like speaking truth to power. But at some point, I think you say to yourself, wow, I need a different approach.

[Chris Cody]

The first one was a TikTok video that she did, and then she was like, tech. She didn't really say anything. It was just like a trend. But she, like, added the refs, and then they find her 500. And then in the first episode of her podcast, she was critical of the refs again. So they find her fifteen hundred dollars.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, so it has been.

[Chris Cody]

It's been escalating. It's been getting more and more of these fines.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, then she's got to stop now. I assume that's it then. She's done.

[Juju]

I don't know, man. It's chip in and help her pay some of these fines. Some people around the world. Because if you watching these games, you will see these referees are inconsistent at to say the least. You feel me? My bad, Billy. I cut you off.

[Chris Cody]

No, I was going to say, I mean, it's getting attention for her podcast, but if it keeps getting higher and higher, certain point, like how much money are they going to find her and how ridiculous is going to get? Because the WNBA can't find anything too ludicrous either, based on what they pay their players. So it's not like they can find her $20,000 if her salary is $70,000 or something. So it's got to be like 1500. Seems kind of high on the scale of what fines would be.

[Mike Ryan]

And at the end of the day, what she's doing, you say juju that the refereeing is inconsistent. I'm pretty sure that we talk about every sport with umpires, referees. There's inconsistencies everywhere. But she's doing something that's making her get fined. It feels like she's doing it on purpose. That's where I need your help, that she's doing it for a purpose. Therefore, you have to counter that with a fine where she will realize that the Juice is no longer worth it and she will stop. I assume that's what the WNBA will do.

[Juju]

I think the Juice is definitely worth it. And I've been taking trying to find out approaches and avenues on my show, the Alley, which needs your help, ladies and gentlemen. Like I say, we right now we on on at I. Not not. It was eyeball hoops, but we changed the DLS hoops on YouTube. Subscribe if you can. Even if you don't watch women's basketball, just come over there and tell us about how you feel. How. Why do you hate it? Tell me how you how much you hate me. Just please pull up on us. We're not a part of the Levitar fee, neither here nor there. But on that show, I'm trying to figure out avenues on how I can become a referee. Should I do some high school games? Should I do some middle school games? I want to work my way to being a WNBA referee because something has to change.

[Mike Ryan]

You got to work your way up. You can absolutely start by doing high school games. And that is what. First of all, did you guys see what happened with Jen Powell?

[Dan Le Batard]

Amazing.

[Juju]

I didn't see it.

[Mike Ryan]

Nobody. Jen Powell is a the first female umpire in Major League baseball history.

[Dan Le Batard]

That'll be this weekend.

[Mike Ryan]

She's doing Marlins games this weekend and she's got the plate on Sunday.

[Juju]

Nice.

[Mike Ryan]

She's got the plate. And I hope that we criticize her. I want equal opportunity. Criticizing you have. We have to give her the business when she gets the calls wrong. Juju, you got to do it.

[Juju]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, like you said, like, like my dog Mike said a couple weeks ago and also how we discussed on the alley OOP a couple weeks ago with TN Tran and Katie Kershaw from the jocular podcast, we should be allowed to hate some WNBA players in the same way that we hate NBA players. My dog ain't wrong, man. If you want to hate Angel Reese, as long as it's basketball, hate away. So I hope sister get them cars right Sunday. Or guess what? She's wrong. And let's attack.

[Stugotz]

So this is interesting, right? Because in the other sports, you know, you have female referees in basketball. You have, you don't see it in hockey, in the NHL. I don't think there's any female officials. You have it in the NFL. There's, you know, female umpire, side, not umpire, but there's side judge, line judges, back judges. And the difference between those sports and baseball, the officials in the other sports, they, they don't engage with the player who is angry at a call. They're. They're actually supposed to de. Escalate the situation. But in Major league baseball with the home plate umpire, they escalate the situation every now and then because they argue back with the player who. Or manager who is yelling at them like that. That's, that'll be an interesting look. If she gets into an argument with the player or the manager. We've never seen that.

[Mike Ryan]

But I think, well, what about Violet Palmer, Juju? She was, I think 1997, became an NBA referee. So been around for 25 years. And I would assume she's ejected players.

[Stugotz]

Absolutely. But there's no arguing. They don't, they don't yell.

[Dan Le Batard]

She just hears the argument and then argue.

[Stugotz]

Well, I mean, she may say something. She tees you up, throws you out piece, and then, you know, you're taught to walk away. At that point, Major league baseball umpires, they'll go nose to nose and yell with you.

[Mike Ryan]

So you're worried about the kicking of the dirt?

[Stugotz]

No, I'm not worried about the kicking of the dirt. I just think it's an interesting scenario that you could potentially have a manager or a player and for the first time ever, a female umpire just nose to nose. And yelling at each other. That's an interesting optic. No?

[Juju]

Yeah. Like last year, Joel Embiid had an incident where he got a technical file and I think an ejection and he had to be restrained. Held back for wanting to get at the referee who was a lady. So yeah, we. That poses an interesting dynamic, especially. Right. Right.

[Mike Ryan]

But doesn't that mean that it's working?

[Juju]

She knows what she's.

[Chris Cody]

We did it.

[Juju]

You're right.

[Mike Ryan]

We did it. David, I. I believe that that is when you know you have equality.

[Dan Le Batard]

Like we've arrived.

[Mike Ryan]

So I.

[Dan Le Batard]

How about us?

[Jeremy]

We're a very progressive society.

[Mike Ryan]

I believe that if Joel Embiid goes after a referee because that's what he does, he should not see the whole purpose is don't see the gender.

[Jeremy]

Sometimes quality looks like title nine. Sometimes it looks like a neon green dildo being thrown on a playing surface.

[Mike Ryan]

These are all steps you have to walk before you can crawl.

[Juju]

Right. Also, I agree earlier what you guys said about this is the wrong type of progress with espn. Do I got to subscribe now? Do I miss my YouTube tv? Going to handle it. Like, I think the varicose veins were worth it. I support it. I would named them the joker of the week if I hadn't already given it to Kenny Bednarik. You can't push me and then try to shake my hand in my face. Stick with one or the other. Don't push me. But at the same time, I agree. 100 and good luck. If you subscribe through Apple and you just get a receipt at 9:30pm Eastern Time and says thank you for your payment. To who? I don't even know what I just paid Juju.

[Jeremy]

What are these billing cycles? I get an email from Apple like every three days. Hey, here's your receipt. How am I getting a receipt on the 17th? That doesn't make any sense. They scatter these. They count on you just being confused by it.

[Dan Le Batard]

You probably signed up on the 17th.

[Jeremy]

No, no, that's not that. That is not an option.

[Mike Ryan]

That's exactly how I bill me on.

[Jeremy]

The same exact day so I can get a flood of bills and be like, what the.

[Mike Ryan]

Hey, it starts the day you subscribe. No, you have to press the button, Mike. No, now I'm.

[Jeremy]

No, no.

[Mike Ryan]

Because you were now trying to.

[Jeremy]

Excuse me, sir. No bullshit. Because I just bought a car yesterday. I gotta pay that mother on the 1st. I bought a house on the 27th. I gotta pay that mother on the 1st car. Don't do that. What? Because. Because I have Instagram premium. Now I'm married to the 14th everything on the first.

[Mike Ryan]

Juju. Thank you. Do you have any polls before you go?

[Juju]

Yes, man.

[Mike Ryan]

That was how Mike's doing.

[Juju]

That's the second time. Mike, don't wow me today. Also Trump earlier. Oh, my.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hell of a day.

[Jeremy]

You wanted veins. I give you veins. All I want to know is where I can watch backlash.

[Dan Le Batard]

All the veins.

[Mike Ryan]

Juju. We need Mike to take a breath, maybe take a sip, get a shake.

[Juju]

Yes, sir.

[Mike Ryan]

Did we do any pose? I'm sorry. This whole week I feel like I've ignored the poll system because I've just tried to do baseball and make it my own.

[Juju]

It's all good. You haven't ignored the shirts and they've been wonderful, brother. But we had one good poll today, one important one. Do you call it a pocketbook or do you call it a purse? 85% of the audience says they call it a purse.

[Dan Le Batard]

15% is a win for you, David. That. Can't believe 15%.

[Mike Ryan]

You thought it would be 99 to 1.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't even believe those 15% that they call it a pocketbook.

[Stugotz]

Those 15% are 70 year old Jewish women.

[Dan Le Batard]

How great we had that many in our demographics.

[Mike Ryan]

Exactly. You're welcome. DraftKings.

[Jeremy]

About to have a hell of a lot more if you keep losing weight, pal.

[Mike Ryan]

Juju. Thank you, man.

[Juju]

Thank you.

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm someone that's constantly adding stuff to different carts on random websites. Like, there's a teal marlins hat that's been calling to me for like two and a half years that I'm constantly getting advertisements for is something eventually I'll purchase because I keep those things in the cart. Then I see it. That beautiful, glowing purple shop pay button.

[Jeremy]

Boom.

[Dan Le Batard]

Checkout's done. I don't even have to get up and find my wallet. That, my friends, is Shopify magic. That little purple button means that the store is powered by Shopify, which doesn't just make it easy to buy, but ridiculously easy to start and run your own business, too. Whether you're a giant like Mattel or Gymshark or, you know, just launching something weird from your garage, Shopify has your back. Let's be real. If we can run a show with this much chaos, you can run a business with Shopify. With hundreds of beautiful templates, tools for payments, inventory analytics, marketing. It goes on and on, and it's all in one place. And yes, that purple button. That's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the Planet. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com batard go to shopify.com batard shopify.com batard so Bob Odenkirk is one of my actually all time favorite actors. He could be comedic, he could be dramatic obviously Better Call Saul, one of the great shows literally of all time. And a couple years back he showed up out of nowhere as an action star in the movie Nobody and I honestly really loved it. I couldn't believe what I was watching and had an absolute blast, was blown away by his physicality. The movie was a ton of fun. And now he's back in the sequel, Nobody 2, hitting theaters on August 15th. So Bob returns as Hutch and this time he tries to go on a vacation with his family, only for all hell to break loose. It's really a delight to see a guy like Odenkirk kicking some serious ass. Nobody 2 is produced by 87 north, the same team behind hits like John Wick, Bullet Train and the Fall Guy. The film also stars Connie Nielsen, RZA, and the legendary Christopher Lloyd and Sharon Stone. Nobody 2 is a perfect summer movie. You don't want to miss this one. Nobody 2 is only in theaters August 15th.

[Mike Ryan]

What does Zyn give you? Not just smoke free nicotine satisfaction, but real freedom. Freedom to do what you love and choose your rewards. With Zinn Rewards, you can redeem points for premium tech outdoor gear and gift cards to your favorite retailers. Find your Zinn and keep finding rewards that fit your [e-mail] rewards warning this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Don Levator Go pee pee Stugats Go pee pee.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Mike Ryan]

How special that we got juju not on a post game. Got him here.

[Stugotz]

Now you're doing what you want.

[Mike Ryan]

You know, this is how it's gonna Big macher. God, we didn't speak enough Yiddish this week. I really was hoping to speak more.

[Jeremy]

Yiddish translation on all of them, please.

[Mike Ryan]

Yiddish mockers like a big man or I wanted to say schmuck. Wanted to say wanted to say so there's so many things you can do, schmuck. I mean there's a lot of things. Not like Mike, which causes everyone to go crazy because he's swearing like a drunken soldier.

[Dan Le Batard]

The one I use the most is schwitzing. And when I'M When I'm sweating, I'm spitzing in here.

[Jeremy]

For the record, I don't like the Browns anymore. You don't have to ask me the question. Through a Browns fan prism, I'm just as confused as regular NFL fans as to why they have 17 quarterbacks, why they drafted one in the third and one in the fifth, how Joe Flacco is back and how we're just learning that he's Italian and how that's being reported on. When I thought that that was. He's Italian, I thought that was implied because of the last name.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought it was Jewish.

[Jeremy]

Flacco.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

I don't know enough about the tribe to know.

[Stugotz]

I'm not sure we've had. I mean, have we had a Jewish quarterback since Fiedler?

[Mike Ryan]

What about the guy starting quarterback, at least. What about the guy with the matzah. Byu who had to leave byu.

[Stugotz]

That's right.

[Mike Ryan]

He was Jewish.

[Stugotz]

Yep. But in the NFL, starting quarterbacks.

[Mike Ryan]

Bernie Kozar.

[Stugotz]

Kozar.

[Dan Le Batard]

We had Josh Rosen for a minute. Oh, yes. Rosen.

[Stugotz]

There you go.

[Mike Ryan]

Dr. Rosen. Rosen. I need to bring to your attention that I tried last night. You asked me before what I do after the show.

[Stugotz]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

And I forgot to mention there's something very important that I do. Yesterday I tried to learn the difference between AI and not AI so I can improve. So you got fooled Because I got fooled. And it turns out I came across an interview that was. That was Florida adjacent. A newscaster did a interview with a kid who got killed in the school shooting in Parkland.

[Stugotz]

Hold on. He did an interview with the kid who got killed?

[Mike Ryan]

Yes. And it was an AI avatar.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was insane.

[Stugotz]

Was it the. Was it like a made up kid or. It was.

[Dan Le Batard]

No.

[Stugotz]

That's awful.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was. It was truly, truly one of the most despicable things I've ever seen.

[Stugotz]

That's awful.

[Mike Ryan]

It's the same thing. Is that your view, though, of like the Tupac. What's it called when.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a slightly different.

[Mike Ryan]

Hologram. Hologram.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a slightly different thing.

[Jeremy]

It's a way different.

[Dan Le Batard]

Create an AI version of a.

[Stugotz]

At least two pockets for like entertainment.

[Dan Le Batard]

And this to get his opinion on things and basically regurgitate what you think through the voice and image of. Of a young person who was killed.

[Mike Ryan]

So just to be clear. Yes, it. Does it work that whatever the AI was answering was according to what he was programmed to answer by the interviewer?

[Dan Le Batard]

I don't know. Right. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe there's a world in which the AI is programming some of the things that his father, Manuel Oliver has said about Joaquin.

[Mike Ryan]

So no permission was granted. Is the assumption he was granted by his parents.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I still, either way, I feel like it's just to use the. The likeness of at this point. Right. Like to use AI to recreate this. This child.

[Stugotz]

Am I hearing this correctly? You said that the parents did grant that.

[Dan Le Batard]

That does change. That does change it a little bit. So it changes it. All right.

[Chris Cody]

According to Variety. And I'll just read you the first two like paragraphs here for some context. Jim Acosta, the former CNN chief White House correspondent who now host blah Blah whatever, published an interview with AI generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver who died at age 17 in Parkland in the Parkland school shooting in 2018. The interactive AI was created by Oliver's parents who granted a CASA the first quote unquote interview with the recreated version of their son on what would have been his 25th birthday.

[Mike Ryan]

Can we now get a revote?

[Stugotz]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Still odd.

[Stugotz]

It's a little different to me now.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's a little different.

[Jeremy]

It's different now.

[Dan Le Batard]

I still find the decision making.

[Stugotz]

I personally don't like it, but I feel different about it.

[Jeremy]

I. I felt like all of what Billy read was implied. I don't think Jim Acosta would just go rogue. And like this is no doubt provocative. It's certainly dicey and worth criticism. But I thought the buy in from the parents was implied. Jim Acasa does have a reputation, so I, I thought that it was certainly bored with the parents.

[Mike Ryan]

Do you remember the movie Irobot?

[Jeremy]

Yeah, it was horrible. We try to forget it.

[Mike Ryan]

Love that movie. I would love Bridget Monahan, Tom Brady's ex. Love Will Smith in that movie, the whole package. But one of the things is a hologram appears and the guy gets to. To basically live forever with messages to the current people post death. The concept here that I thought interested me is that once we die, we have a chance to live on looking at our best. By the way, he looked great. He never will age spewing messages that are his actually his with parental control or spousal control or family control permission.

[Jeremy]

That's up to debate as to whether or not they're his because he's no longer around to speak for himself. That it's dicey. But Jim Acosta, as a journalist, if this is presented to you, you. You deduce however you can through your ethics as to whether or not this is something that you should do. There isn't.

[Stugotz]

Why do it? Why that.

[Jeremy]

That.

[Chris Cody]

That this Is not journalism.

[Jeremy]

No, it's not journalism.

[Stugotz]

It's all shock value.

[Mike Ryan]

That's.

[Stugotz]

There's, like, why.

[Jeremy]

I will. I will say that this isn't the first time that we've seen something like this. We've. This is the first time that we've seen a journalist interview a victim like this. We've seen journalists interview AI before when doing AI stories. And we've seen attorneys turn to AI and have victims who are no longer here speak in the courtroom as themselves and speak about their testimony. I've seen these clips.

[Dan Le Batard]

Can someone write this?

[Jeremy]

No, no, no. They're not witnesses. It's for effect. It's for closing arguments where they say, look, okay, and the. The victim. The victim was speaking to testimony. The alleged shooter saying what he took away from him, that I was a hardworking man, I was a military veteran, I was a parent.

[Mike Ryan]

An impact statement done by a victim. It's not testimony. It is not correct. Jury doesn't get to use that in its deliberations. So let's make sure we're.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, thank you for helping me clarify. But, yeah, it's all for effect.

[Stugotz]

Can I ask you something? What do the parents gain from allowing this? Like, what are they trying to want.

[Mike Ryan]

Their child to keep living with and not have it happen to any other children?

[Jeremy]

I think that's a. That's a point that this. You can disagree with it, but they feel like they're helping with this and you're talking about it and bringing attention to a cause that is very clearly close to a lot of people.

[Dan Le Batard]

Look, the way I responded to it was at this point, under the assumption, genuinely, that I wasn't sure that the parents were involved. And I was just so frustrated because we have seen these misuses of AI. We have seen whether it's the Tupac thing or way worse, with deep fakes of all sorts of different stuff, people using AI for their own confirmation bias on whatever topic left right down the middle. It doesn't make a difference. I still am kind of grossed out by it because, like, we were just sort of saying, this child is gone. And you doing your own advocacy on behalf of your child is one thing. To generate their image or likeness for your own mourning is another thing. To then use that, to preach a political message through his words, through his voice is a third thing that does feel like potentially a bridge too far. And look, how am I to judge parents who have lost their child and are trying to figure out how to use their lives to make sure that what happened to him doesn't happen to anyone else, but it just feels like we are. We have already opened the floodgates on AI in a way that is really, really problematic and we're not going to go back. And the more that things like this just become acceptable, no different than the way we talked about within politics, where things have just gotten to this place that's so out of control that we allow things that 10 years ago would have been insane to consider. I'm worried that we're going to continue to justify things that go this direction, where today, yes, it's with permission, but.

[Mike Ryan]

Tomorrow, my words, Jeremy, ten years from now, you'll look back at this and this will be good and plenty. It'll be quite to an entire cake of candy.

[Jeremy]

You'll be living inside the Oculus Rift by then anyways. But but while I know that you're concerned and everybody is, I will remind you that AI told Billy earlier today that Hideo Nomo hit a 575.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, Japanese all Star Game.

[Dan Le Batard]

Also Sage Bros.

[Chris Cody]

In The Tokyo Dome 1995 all right.

[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

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[Stugotz]

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[Dan Le Batard]

Don LeBatard Cheaters never prosper.

[Jeremy]

Stugats I Ain't cheating.

[Stugotz]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the stuff.

[Mike Ryan]

I tried to better myself last night doing this AI stuff and I came across this. Then I came across another story and I was ready to go public with it in the show. And our producer, Matthew Koca, the producer, nothing personal, said, wait a minute. May not be real that Howard Stern got Canceled. That the show got canceled.

[Jeremy]

So who do you trust on the Howard Stern beat?

[Mike Ryan]

How do you. I told Coca, what do you want from me? Because he keeps saying, you're wasting my time. Cuz I'll text him ideas for stories and he'll be like, these aren't real and it's making me insane.

[Dan Le Batard]

So the headline said canceled while the article said just not renewing. I don't know for that.

[Mike Ryan]

What? That's not it. The question is, is it true that he is not being renewed or that it's not renewing because we don't have the right sources yet? According to Coke, everything I've seen and.

[Stugotz]

I for, I stopped listening to Howard about four or five years ago. Before that, I was a religious listener every day for probably 25 years. Since I was 16 years old. Every day on the school bus, I had my, my little radio and I, I was a religious listener.

[Mike Ryan]

Did you get beat to a pulp?

[Stugotz]

So why, why would you know?

[Jeremy]

He was a cool kid, Howard. Cool kids listen. Howard Stern.

[Stugotz]

So I mean, a religious listener for 25 years. And I grew out of it a few years ago because honestly, the show changed. Like the show's not even remotely close to what it used to be.

[Jeremy]

Well, in that he's not off and.

[Stugotz]

On, but I saw all the reports yesterday and everything I'm reading, like I don't know what to believe. And everything I'm reading is, oh, they're going to make him an offer, but it's going to be like a super low ball offer which he obviously is going to have too much pride to accept. And. And it's going to come to an end their relationship with Sirius xm. So I don't know what to believe.

[Jeremy]

I trust Jimmy Train up on the Howard Stern beat. He's reported on him, he's a fan of his and this is what he had to say. There was a question posed to him on. On X. What are your thoughts on Stern? Why wouldn't serious let him make it seem like it was his choice? He responded to this by saying, I didn't want to get into this, but people have been asking me about this non stop the report and he did quote report in quotes came from the Sun. Now for the uninitiated, the sun is a rag like it's a tabloid and they got a lot of stuff wrong. You may be able to hold up a couple of things. This tabloid has gotten right, but not super reputable. That was me editorializing. We continue with the tweet. If anyone believes that Report. They are a very stupid person. His contract is up in December. He's on vacation until after Labor Day. His show did not get canceled. That still leaves room for it to not be renewed. But the report said it was canceled. And this has been co opted by the right on social media and seen a lot of that misinformation cycle is totally fan the flames on this go woke go broke all that. He has not been canceled and he's due to return after labor.

[Mike Ryan]

Why wouldn't he have just said that we are back?

[Jeremy]

I mean give him time. It's been 24 hours. He's on vacation.

[Stugotz]

I mean how. Yeah, how he's on vacation.

[Mike Ryan]

No, but I'm saying that Jim Train a guy he used it seems like he used the word canceled purposefully. And when you say it opens the door to non renewal. You don't non renew Howard Stern. They don't just call him like the day before the contract.

[Jeremy]

Right. Sirius XM probably has a good idea of what direction they're going. And that being said, the reports are inaccurate because he hasn't been canceled. By all indications is he's gonna come back after Labor Day to do his show and he wouldn't be doing that if he were canceled.

[Stugotz]

Well, is it canceled? Like is it fair to say then that Colbert was canceled because that show is over but obviously they're fulfilling the remainder of the contract.

[Chris Cody]

Non renewals and cancellations really are semantics. Like it's effectively the same thing.

[Dan Le Batard]

And Howard shtick on air. I also not as much now but listen to Howard a lot throughout his shtick for the last 10 years. Is this is my last contract.

[Stugotz]

Like I guarantee and it goes down to the wire.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's what I mean.

[Stugotz]

Like he'll turn.

[Dan Le Batard]

He could just go to air when he comes back from vacation and be like I'm not renewing even if they wanted me.

[Stugotz]

Like he I don't know what's going to happen. We'll see. I don't have a deal.

[Dan Le Batard]

The running storyline for Howard every year for like 10 years.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah. I'm going to need a list of of ways to confirm stories because Jim Trany you would assume you can use that but you can't use the sun. And then blue checks don't matter anymore. Is it only cnn, Fox, msnbc? I mean do we just list the different main news outlets and say if it doesn't come from them, then it doesn't come at all? I the whole thing has been bothering me because I one day wasn't good enough and I Can't do it today, Zaz, because I'm leaving.

[Dan Le Batard]

Here's.

[Stugotz]

Here's also the thing. I mean, Howard's 71 years old, so, like, eventually, he's gonna stop doing the show.

[Jeremy]

He's made billions.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

With an S off of this show.

[Stugotz]

Stop doing it eventually.

[Jeremy]

And every contract, he does the show less and less and talks about how.

[Dan Le Batard]

Badly he wants to not.

[Stugotz]

And how he hates leaving his house.

[Mike Ryan]

It just rings familiar. I'm not. I don't. I can't figure out.

[Jeremy]

I understand this seems like spin, but if it is spin, it's a brilliant spin from the king of all media, because he's been setting. He's been planting the seeds for this exact spin for close to a decade.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

So you think he is at the root of this now? This is an angle I didn't think about.

[Jeremy]

I couldn't believe the last contract that he got. It doesn't really. None of the Sirius XM contracts that Howard Stern has received seem to make a lot of financial sense. And yet he keeps getting them. And every time everyone's bewildered, he does the show less, seemingly gets paid more. But along the way, as and Chris has said, he said, I don't think I'm gonna do this much longer. This is probably my last contract.

[Mike Ryan]

I think what the politics of it have been is that there is some sort of thought. And Dan had this thought with. With on this show that the Colbert. We had an issue. I was. I was a guest one week and I explained that the Colbert issue was totally financial related. And his view is. No, it was totally political related. And the fact that he had criticized the deal with CBS and Paramount, etcetera, Etc, etcetera.

[Stugotz]

I mean, Howard in that.

[Mike Ryan]

Yes.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, his show got very political.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's critical of the.

[Mike Ryan]

Right, Right. So that's what people are saying, is that Sirius xm. And what I would argue is that Sirius XM looks at its bottom line. They look at his show and they say, well, wait a minute, what? We're paying him the billions with an S total in totality, we no longer can do that. So then we go to Howard Stern and say, okay, we can talk about a renewal, but you're used to X. It's now going to be Y. And when people are told that their value has changed, they tend to not want to do the same job. If you go to Colbert and say, please keep doing this, but we can only afford to pay you 3 million, he's going to say, £6.

[Jeremy]

Howard's going to spin this into A win. And he shouldn't address his story whatsoever until he returns from vacation after Labor Day.

[Mike Ryan]

He's just in the Hamptons. I mean, he's able. I mean, I don't know.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, he's able, but why would he do that? That doesn't serve him. What serves him is being quiet. Let other people spread around their opinions on the matter. And he returns from vacation after Labor Day, and then you hear it from.

[Mike Ryan]

The horse's mouth, and just by saying, I told you so. I guess it's a good plan.

[Jeremy]

I guess that would be the plan. That would be the way that Howard Stern would always leverage this type of chatter. He's the king of all media.

[Mike Ryan]

The king.

[Dan Le Batard]

He'll spin it of like, they think I want to come back.

[Mike Ryan]

Okay, so I have not made progress. Is the bottom line AI versus not AI? What's a good story? What's true?

[Stugotz]

I don't think there's a way to make progress.

[Mike Ryan]

Everybody else seems to do it. Mike seems to say that everyone his age and that I'm an old guy.

[Stugotz]

No, Mike definitely gets fooled sometimes with that kind of stuff. I get fooled. I don't know all the time, but I definitely get fooled.

[Jeremy]

I've gotten fooled.

[Dan Le Batard]

There's just things you have to check.

[Stugotz]

Like, I mean, I think you're just upset that you got, like, really taken for a ride with that story of the couple.

[Dan Le Batard]

I saw that story, and I was like, this looks fishy. And I Googled it, and it was like, fake news story. Fake news story.

[Jeremy]

The things that. That are easiest to fool you are the things that you want to believe. For example, there's a video of the president doing his. His dance on the roof. I looked at that. I'm like, man, I really. No, they. I see.

[Stugotz]

I don't know.

[Jeremy]

It's not really that, but just to.

[Dan Le Batard]

Show you how far gone we are, no joke. When I saw one of my campers when I was there last week, he follows me on Instagram. And the picture that we shared a couple weeks ago of me as, like, my all county photo playing baseball from high school, we didn't share that. He said, well, hold on. We shared it on the show. Wasn't my decision, but we. He saw that photo, and he said, wait, that's a real photo of you? I thought it was AI. Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

It's just a photo of me because you looked thin. Oh, because you were tall. Which was it?

[Dan Le Batard]

Tall, short, tall, good at sports. My face looked a little different because I was 17 years old. Also, Sage Rosenfeld's. Not Jewish, but turns out J.T. daniels and Aaron Murray, both of their moms are Jewish.

[Mike Ryan]

And Rod Carew Converted.

[Jeremy]

Converted.

[Mike Ryan]

And AJ Dillon. How does that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Actually, I believe. I believe that's.

[Chris Cody]

He denied that.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Chris Cody]

Sandler.

[Mike Ryan]

It's incorrect. He wore a Jewish star.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, but that's a different thing there. There are plenty of players in the Dominican Republic as well who will wear the Star of David but are not Jewish.

[Mike Ryan]

I don't think I ever saw a Dominican player in my career wear a Jewish star.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, I saw it. Who? In the academy. The Mets academy. When I was like recently or when.

[Mike Ryan]

You were in the academy?

[Dan Le Batard]

When I was there for two and a half months.

[Mike Ryan]

Flamed out. Elbow hurt.

[Dan Le Batard]

Not playing there to teach English. But that's a story for another day.

[Mike Ryan]

That's nice of you. It's eye. Watch when we pay people to teach the Dominican players.

[Dan Le Batard]

It wasn't paid college credit.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, that's how it works. And then we get to say, hey, look, we're trying to take care of these players.

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, I. I did my best. I tried to help them, but. You are. I did teach them things. No, just for optics.

[Mike Ryan]

It's optics. Once they're.

[Dan Le Batard]

But even if the teachers do a good job, it's still just for.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, because once you realize that they're not going to be big leaguers and we're not even going to use a visa.

[Dan Le Batard]

Andres Jimenez was there.

[Mike Ryan]

We just all star. We just let him go one while. I mean, if I met Rosario. Get gold.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, they were really good.

[Mike Ryan]

Do you know the majority of those players, though, don't make it?

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, the majority of them are cut after a year and they send them.

[Mike Ryan]

Right back to where they are and it's terrible.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah, it's really rough.

[Chris Cody]

But they got to meet Jeremy, so.

[Mike Ryan]

And by the way, they all sign up for it. They all want to be in the academy. If they can be in for a year, they will do it and then get to talk about it forever. And it's a part of their life and we totally take advantage of it and I feel terribly about it. But we're not.

[Jeremy]

Oh, no, you do. No.

[Dan Le Batard]

I've been really getting that kind of.

[Jeremy]

Con man over here.

[Mike Ryan]

It's. No, this is not just the Marlins. This is all 30 teams do the exact same thing. Do not think we're special.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's the part when you say I feel terrible about it with a smile because you just.

[Mike Ryan]

You understand that you're. Don't you feel for people when you're giving Them a dream that you think can be attained, but you know it can't be, but they think it can be.

[Dan Le Batard]

Jose Altuve is who everyone holds up as Jewish. No, as the example where a guy who is signed for for no money, who had to try out for days and days and days and days, he wasn't even scouted, and then ends up getting signed and now has a Hall of Fame career, and every player, particularly Venezuelan players, look at him as this, you know, shining star to hold up as an example of, if he can do it, so can I. Borderline hall of Fame freak. Borderline hall of Fame. He cheated.

[Mike Ryan]

Border.

[Jeremy]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

Man. See, it is crazy. I was shocked. He got booed loudly every single at bat.

[Stugotz]

Why is that a shock?

[Dan Le Batard]

Lone Depot Park. I'm surprised that people outside of maybe eight years, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, the teams that the astros beat in 2017, I'm pretty surprised that he still gets that treatment around the league, considering how great he's been since it happened.

[Mike Ryan]

It's all. It's like this show a little bit in that the memories are very long. Just very, very long.

[Dan Le Batard]

It just surprises me considering, like, a lot of the steroid guys didn't even get that. You know, like, once it happened, a Rod didn't get booed at every single park that he went to for the years after that. He got booed by certain fan bases, but there are plenty of places he went where it was fine. And he was the worst of them.

[Mike Ryan]

The worst of the steroid guys.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, in terms of the public reputation, right. Because it was twice that he had to admit to cheating. Twice. In a public interview after denying it. It was pretty rough. I mean, he didn't have to testify in front of Congress and ruin my childhood dreams. That was the worst day of my childhood.

[Mike Ryan]

The worst day.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was. I mean, I lived a pretty privileged childhood.

[Stugotz]

Like, who in particular was in front of Congress?

[Dan Le Batard]

Like, my favorite player of all time. I know Palmero did the. Mark McGuire is still, to this day my favorite baseball player.

[Stugotz]

Not here to talk about the past.

[Chris Cody]

That was the worst part of your child.

[Dan Le Batard]

It was awful. I cried. I cried watching that.

[Mike Ryan]

Are your parents married?

[Dan Le Batard]

Yep. So that's why it was the worst. Yeah. No, I've lived a really privileged life.

[Mike Ryan]

Had a mole removed.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, yeah. That shit sucks.

[Mike Ryan]

Wisdom teeth.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah. But that was kind of funny. Yeah, it was kind of funny. Really big chubby cheeks. You break a bone ever? Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, I'm just asking, like, top line stuff.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ever get caught emotionally? That was rough.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Dan Le Batard]

Did you ever get caught cheating? I got. I cheated on a girlfriend. I cheated on. On a homework in my seventh grade Spanish class. And I just used to write, like, random words in because I knew she didn't check. And then the one time Senora Costa checked the. The work and she saw that all I was right. I was like, banana apple. Like, just writing not even words in Spanish, and she checked and she gave me the. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. And. Oh, man, it was awful.

[Stugotz]

Maguire was worse.

[Dan Le Batard]

Maguire was way worse. Awful.

[Chris Cody]

Seems like you were the Maguire Spanish class.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah.

[Chris Cody]

Doing it for a long time. You finally got caught. I mean, how long were you manipulating Senora Acosta?

[Dan Le Batard]

Couple months.

[Chris Cody]

Wow.

[Mike Ryan]

Oh, that's not as bad. McGuire was years.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, she's out there listening. I just hope she knows I still feel bad about it. I really do.

[Chris Cody]

I don't think so.

[Dan Le Batard]

I just immediately it came to mind.

[Mike Ryan]

You're smiling. You are smiling. And your smile looks great. Like your arms.

[Dan Le Batard]

Thanks.

[Mike Ryan]

Thank you, everybody. So, before we go, Zaz, Billy Roy, Mike, Cody, Jeremy. I've enjoyed this.

[Dan Le Batard]

What?

[Mike Ryan]

And now it's time for me to go. Oh, that's it. You had me here for four days. And, Mike, the. The first five minutes of our nothing personal interview. Memorable. Memorable.

[Stugotz]

Better than my appearance.

[Mike Ryan]

The audience was all over it.

[Dan Le Batard]

David, I'd say this week you made it weird, like, only, like, three times.

[Juju]

Hey.

[Mike Ryan]

All right.

[Dan Le Batard]

Yeah.

[Jeremy]

You hit the under.

[Juju]

Yay.

[Mike Ryan]

Like, seriously over. Under six and a half. Yeah. Ooh. That's crazy.

[Dan Le Batard]

You had a great week, dude.

[Jeremy]

Pusho.

[Mike Ryan]

Did anyone hear from our dad? Dan? Nary a word. Nary. Guess what? I'm coming back. That's what I'm going to do. Uh, oh, and Zaz, that threat. Yes. A promise, baby, I'll be back.