Loading summary
A
Since we last spoke, some 20 hours ago, the United States and Iran were on the brink of a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war. Then Iran said the deal was off because the Israelis were bombing Lebanon. Then Trump said he didn't care if the Iranians stopped the negotiations, it was fine by him. And then Trump called Netanyahu and Hezbollah and told them to stop shooting each other, and they agreed to stop shooting each other. And then Trump said the negotiations were back happened. Since I was Speaking to you 24 hours ago, not even 24 hours ago, I'm filming this show slightly earlier than usual because I'm flying to the UK because I'm not Hasan Piker. So in the short period of time between when this show was filmed and when this show will air, the situation will likely have changed several dozen more times. But, and this is the crucial point, the fundamentals of this war actually have not changed at all. My position on this war is exactly what it was before the war started, as the war was beginning, as the war continued. This is, in fact, one of the few instances when I actually hate to say I told you so. We'll get to what it means then. Speaking of fire and brimstone raining down from the sky, it's pride month, albeit a relatively subdued pride month. Since the American people are clearly sick of the weird sex stuff, we will get to the worst offenders, which it pains me to say, includes my beloved New York Yankees. Yankees, you don't have to go gay. You're not the Mets, you don't need to. But they felt like they had to do it anyway. Then, speaking of New York sports, the Giants are in disarray after quarterback Jackson Dart commits the unforgivable sin of introducing the President of the United States. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. Welcome back to the show. Hey, what do you think about Israel? What do you. Just let me know in the comments. Just let me know what you think about Israel. Do you like it or not like it or what do you. I've decided, you know, because it helps us in the YouTube algorithm if we get a lot of comments and stuff like that. So I just decided I wanted to open up with a question. Just figure maybe you could just let me know what you think. This is the shortcut. If you want to generate a lot of comments, get a little bit of engagement. I realize the shortcut is you just, hey, what do you think about Israel? You can also hit the like button and subscribe. Also, check us out on Spotify where you can download the full episode audio and video to watch or listen whenever you want without using your data. Do not miss an episode. What do you think about Israel? Before we get to that or any other issues I want to tell you about Tokovis, go to tokovis.com knowles K N A W L E S Anywhere worth going is worth going in good boots and loafers, which I'm wearing right now and which I wear most days. Folks, I have trouble pulling off cowboy boots. I think you know that I'm not totally meant for. I wear them in the winter. They're the only cowboy boots I ever wear. People love the Tokovas cowboy boots for good reason. They are built for everyone from lifelong ranchers and cowboys to people buying their ver very first pair handcrafted through more than 200 meticulous steps using premium materials and genuine leathers and somehow they manage to be comfortable right out of the box. No break in period whatsoever, which is very impressive for me. I'm not as much a boots guy. Their shoes, they are some of the most comfortable. They are probably the single most comfortable loafer I've ever worn. They're great and I wear them almost every single day and I get a lot of compliments on them. Also, they have great wallets. My wallet is a Tokova's wallet. I have gotten compliments on this wallet, including from members of the Prelature. Do you know that right now get 10% off@tokovis.com Knowles K N A W L E S When you sign up for email and texts, that is 10% off at t e c o v a s.com knowles to covis.comknowles c site for details to Covis Point your toes West Speaking of not speaking of Israel exactly, totally. But speaking of the Middle east more broadly, the Iran deal. I'll give you the quick rundown. You got most of it in the introduction. The deal was on and then it was off and then it might be on again, says Trump. But the irgc, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps says there is no deal on. And I guess the Americans are negotiating with the Iranian government, people like the foreign minister. But the government doesn't even really have control over the Revolutionary Guard Corps. And even the government is pretty irritated because Israel keeps attacking Lebanon and Lebanon is not Iran. But Lebanon has Iranian proxies in it, notably Hezbollah. Hezbollah attacks isra. Israel wants to preempt any further attacks if there is a peace deal. And so now that there might be a peace deal According to Trump. But the Iranians haven't said that much about it. And that's where we're at, I guess. According to the CBS reporting, an Iranian news outlet linked to the IRGC says they're gonna suspend all their indirect talks with the U.S. even the talks are not even totally direct. The Pakistanis seem to be playing some role in mediating the ceasefire, but the Iranians are saying, well, we don't have a ceasefire because Israel's attacking Lebanon. And the U.S. says, well, hold on. Israel attacking Lebanon has nothing to do with the ceasefire between the United States and Iran. But Iran says it has everything to do with the ceasefire, because the war is not just between Iran and the U.S. it's between Iran and the U.S. with Israel. And that's why Iran isn't hitting America. Iran is hitting our Gulf allies like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Oman and the uae. And so where are we at in the meantime? The US has intercepted two Iranian missiles that the Iranians sent targeting US Forces in Kuwait. That was early Monday. Then, I'm very sad to say four US Service members and three contractors were hit when the Iranians hit Kuwait. Now, thankfully, the service members seem to be okay. They returned to active duty 24 hours later. But we're not even just dealing with the hardliners of the irgc, because the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Aragchi, says that this US Iran ceasefire has to be unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, which Israel doesn't want. So then Trump's got a rein in the Israelis, and he was talking to Hezbollah, and they say for now they're gonna stop shooting each other, But Hezbollah and Israel shooting each other is one of the most popular sports in the Middle East. So. So what? Now we're hearing that there is another chance. Talks are continuing at a rapid pace with the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to President Trump. Thank you for attention to this matter. Trump has also said Iran really wants to make a deal, and it'll be a good one for the US and those that are with us. But don't trust the Democrats and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans. They don't understand that it is much tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate when political hacks keep negatively chirping at levels never seen before over and over again that I should move faster or move slower or go to war or not go to war or whatever. Here I think Trump is actually capturing the dynamics of the situation in Iran, which is just there's really no big win Here. So then Trump concludes that. He says, just sit back and relax. It will all work out well in the end. It always does. President DONALD J. Trump okay, this to me means that the fundamentals of this war have not really changed. Before the war kicked off, I argued against further strikes on Iran. Don't forget, we already had the strikes on Iran last summer on the Fordo nuclear sites. That went pretty well. But this latest round, Operation Epic Fury, I argued against escalating the war with Iran. Obviously, my views did not prevail. No one invited me to the National Security Council. So as the strikes kicked off, I was in this chair on this network, and everybody was all excited about the war with Iran, and I was the voice that said, well, hold on, guys, I don't know that it's gonna work out that well. If it does work out, it's the greatest masterstroke of US Foreign policy since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But if it doesn't work out, it could actually imperil Trump's entire legacy, as Iraq and Afghanistan did to Bush. And I said, this is a huge, huge gamble here. And I think that the situation is really tough. I don't really see how you're gonna get a satisfactory outcome. Part of what's going on here with the Israel bombing Beirut is, is that the US And Israel have diverging interests here. Because if I'm the Prime minister of Israel, I don't want this war to end. I don't want this war to end in the sense that Israel's popularity in the United States has crumbled, including with Republicans. It long ago crumbled with left wing Democrats. It's been crumbling with moderate Democrats, if there are any of those left. And now it's really getting hit with Republicans, especially with younger Republicans, who really don't like the state of Israel. So if I'm the state of Israel, this is my last shot to have US Backing with a strong ally like President Trump. So I want this war to go on as much as possible. I wanna pummel the Iranian proxies in Lebanon and I want regime change in Tehran. But if I'm the President of the United States, I don't want this war to keep going on because Iran is much more of a direct threat to the state of Israel. I don't think that it's very likely that we'll have regime change in Iran. I think that's a much more durable regime than a lot of the war hawks pretended that it was. So I don't think you're gonna have a lot of a very reasonable probability of success on that front. You could end up in a situation where the regime that replaces it is even worse, or there's civil war, chaos, which would not be good for U.S. interests. And so I just don't think from a standpoint of proportionality, it's a great idea. So if I'm in the US Position right now, I want a peace deal, which President Trump obviously wants, but that puts him at odds with Israel. And so the US And Israel, while we have plenty of shared interests here, we have diverging interests. And that's brutal because the US And Israel are the chief belligerents in the this war against Iran. What this means to me is what I've said from the very, very beginning. I've been totally consistent. I will get absolutely no credit for it because I haven't been hysterical like many podcasters. I haven't been whining and crying about things that absolutely cannot change because the die is cast. I've been very even keel, very level headed, very reasonable this whole time. I'll get no credit for it whatsoever. It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. I'm not angry about it. But what I've said from the beginning is there are really two ends to this war. I think one end is we get a peace deal that most people probably aren't gonna like that much, but whatever, we deal with it, we move on, or we escalate it significantly. And you get something like a ground war in Iran, you get something like regime change in Iran, which is gonna have a lot of fallout where there's no domestic political support for it whatsoever, where it could really, really risk President Trump's legacy and derailing the administration's agenda. So between those two options, seems to me the better choice is to take a peace deal, even if it's not that great, even if it includes a lot of stuff that we don't like that seems likely to me. Now, the criticism that Trump's gonna face if that happens is, well, we already had a peace deal. It was called the jcpoa, which was negotiated by Barack Obama, and it was capping the Iranian nuclear capacity, and it was Trump that ripped that up. And so that's what you're gonna hear from Democrats, that's what you're gonna hear from even Republicans who are opposed to Trump. Now. Now, the problem with that argument is, in fairness, the Iranians were kind of complying with the JCPOA when it comes to their enrichment. The JCPOA said that it was going to push the Iranians breakout time to about a year. So if the Iranians started violating the jcpoa, which we would certainly know somehow, then they would have about one year before they got a nuclear weapon. There were more aggressive analyses, though, more skeptical analyses, even at the time that said Iran's breakout time was gonna be about three months, even under the Obama deal. It's one of the reasons Republicans, and Trump in particular, said the Obama deal is no good. On top of that, the JCPOA did nothing to reduce Iran's ballistic missile capacity. And one of the arguments for this war that we're currently engaged in is that it's not that Iran was so close to a nuclear weapon. It was that Iran was so close to a point of immunity, after which they had so many ballistic missiles that you wouldn't be able to stop them if they decided to greatly increase enrichment of the nuclear program. So you're in a just a terrible situation. Both sides, the super hawkish side and the super dovish side, are really seriously oversimplifying this issue, which has not begun under Trump's second term or in Trump's first term. This has been going on for 47 years now. And the Iranians obviously want a nuclear weapon. But facing a situation where you have only bad options, seems to me if your two options are get a deal, whatever the deal is, just get it, or greatly escalate the war in Iran. If I'm President Trump and I want to protect my legacy, and I want to, more importantly, even from our standpoint, protect the domestic agenda and the rest of the geopolitical agenda, I'm going to do my very best to get a peace deal here and the die is cast. There's nothing good that can possibly come from whining and crying and sobbing and saying, Trump's the worst guy ever and this is the worst war ever, there's nothing good that can possibly come from that. And there were arguments to make the strikes, and Trump does have a good record on foreign policy, but you got those two situations, you got those two options now in a brutal situation for the President. I'm really glad I'm not sitting behind the Resolute desk right now between those two. I wanna get a deal. I wanna reopen the Strait of Hormuz. I want 20% of the world's oil supply to move through there. I don't want gas to go up to six, seven bucks a gallon. I don't want the midterms to be a blowout. We have scored some tactical wins in Iran, but blown up a lot of their nuclear program, destroyed their ballistic missiles, sunk a lot of their navy. So you can claim a lot of victories here. You could even claim that whatever deal Trump gets is gonna be better than the jcpoa cuz it's got more teeth and Iran's had more pain inflicted on it. But I take the deal. I'm for the deal. We'll see if a deal can actually happen. Okay? Speaking of fire and brimstone, some celebrities, they haven't gotten the message that pride is over. So they're still celebrating it. We'll get to that momentarily. First though, I want to tell you about Dose Go to dosedaily co Knowles America is dealing with a real cholesterol and liver health crisis. For a lot of people, it feels basically unavoidable with how we eat, how we sit, how we live right now. Then when we finally go in for blood work, we're told to hop on some traditional healthcare option and start taking capsules that we're not even comfortable taking for the rest of our lives. People want to feel like they still have some say in how they take care of themselves, not just do whatever the big corporations tell them. That is why more Americans are turning to gentler alternatives with ingredients they actually recognize. Things like CoQ10, ginger, pomegranate, amla, turmeric. So they're not putting a bunch of nonsense into their body. That is where our sponsor Dose Daily comes in. Dose for Cholesterol is a clinically backed cholesterol support supplement that supports triglycerides, HDL and total cholesterol levels so that you can self manage your cholesterol alongside your doctor instead of just throwing up your hands. I love this stuff. I think it's terrific. Just a daily 2 ounce shot. Tastes great. New customers can save 35% off your first month of subscription by going to DueDaily Co Knowles or entering Knowles at checkout. That's D O S E D A I L Y C O slash Knowles K N A W L E.S. for 35% off your first month subscription. Folks, it's Pride month. It seems subdued just the other night, not to tell tales out of the home, but sweet little Lisa turned to me. She goes, mag, doesn't it kind of seem like there's not a lot of pride stuff going on? I said, well girl, it's still May. It isn't Pride June. But she made the good point. She said, yeah, but it used to be. You start hearing about this in March, April, May, you know, it's just going on. You're not really hearing very much. And now we're in June, and you're really not hearing a ton about Pride. I think this is because Pride is mostly over. And the reason Pride is mostly over for now is because of the popular vote victory in 2024, during which time Republicans campaigned against all the weird LGBT stuff, and the corporations and the Democrat politicians got the message, so they're trying to downplay it. They haven't given up on it. They wanna bring it back, but they wanna downplay it for now so they don't get totally blown out in the marketplace or at the ballot box. Some libs haven't gotten the message. Here is JLo, the ageless J. Lo, with her Pride message.
B
Hi, beautiful people. It's Jennifer Lopez, star of Office Romance, and I am here to wish you a very happy Pride Month. Let's be honest, you deserve all 12 months of the year, so make sure this one is extra, extra special. In fact, you officially have permission to skip work. Just tell your boss Jennifer Lopez said it was okay. I am sure they'll understand. But in all seriousness, I hope all of your months are filled with love, laughter, joy, and chosen family. And if you're not out yet, that's okay. We're here and we're waiting for you whenever you're ready. No rush, no pressure, just love. Now, let's get loud and proud this month. I love you.
A
Happy Pride. Chosen family. That's the weirdest phrase from that to me, I hope. What is chosen family? There's not really any such thing as chosen family other than you choose your spouse, but then you're stuck with your spouse forever. So at that point, it ceases to be a choice. But one of the defining features of family is family's not chosen. You choose your friends, you can choose your colleagues to some degree, your business partners and stuff, but you don't choose your family. A chosen family is a contradiction in terms. Yet another reminder that all of the Pride activism is simply about attacking the family and about attacking normal relationships between men and women and the. The fundamental building block of society. And I think maybe JLo has some family, LGBT stuff. I don't know. But in any case, it's notable that she's not, you know, lady doesn't tell her age. She's no spring chicken. It's not all the hottest young stars who are really out there with the Pride stuff. Pride feels dated to me. It feels kind of passe. It's kind of like your boomer Relatives growing up when they were just, like, trying to relive the hippie days of the 1960s, try to relive their cool years in the 70s. And you just felt like, ah, that's over, guys. Come on. Get with the times. That's how I feel about the pride stuff. But some of these corporations are still pushing it. Sesame Street. This was a sad one. Cause my kids do like at least some of the Sesame street songs. Sesame street comes out. Happy Pride Month from Sesame Street. Join us in celebrating and uplifting the LGBTQIA members of our community. And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by this one, because. And a lot of people don't know this. Do you know Joey and Davey Monkeys? They're kind of minor Sesame street characters, but the two monkeys, Joey and Davey, those are actually who the pox was named after. That's where you get it. So it's no surprise. Sesame street returning. But pretty creepy, because Sesame street is just to kids. And I don't know. They didn't get the message. They didn't get the message from 2024. Gotta tune it out. Some of the Elmo songs are kind of cute, but otherwise, that's over. And then the one that hurt me the most, it was my Yankees. I was looking. I said, okay, a lot of sports leagues are going to be pushing this, but baseball is one of the more normal sports leagues, one of the more conservative, one of the more normal. And I'm looking at some of the teams falling. And I say, no, please. I'm actually Davies and I. Mr. Davies and I were refreshing our pages. No, please, not the Yankees. Not the Yankees. No. Happy Pride month. Says the New York Yankees with a rainbow flag in the Yankee. No, you don't. You don't have to do this. Yankees. You're not. The Mets. You don't. The Mets do that. I'm not even. I'm half joking. But the Mets is. That's a more liberal team. It's a little weirder. It's a little Yankees. You're the one. You remember the good Steinbrenner era. You weren't even allowed to have a beard. Now you're not allowed to have a beard. Like, in the sense of a gay guy having a wife. You can't even know it's all gay. You don't have to. Oh, you don't have to do this, guys. Who is this for? We won the popular vote. Running against the rainbow. You don't have to do that. The mlb, broadly. I mean, obviously it was the MLB that made them do this. But the MLB posts from the bleachers to the ball field. I shouldn't. This is very immature, but the ball field was what made me from the bleachers to the ball field, everywhere in between. Baseball is for everyone. Hashtag pride. It's for everyone except for kids and Christians, religious, Jews, Muslims, normal people who don't want weird sex stuff just constantly foisted upon them. It's for everyone. And by everyone they mean for like 2% of the population apparently. I'm not going to go when when MLB got into blm, they even put BLM reversing MLB on the pitcher's mounds during the Year of our Floyd. I actually canceled my MLB subscription and I did not watch baseball for years other than occasionally if it was on at a bar or something. And then I finally, I was like, whatever. I gave up on my boycott. I like the Yankees too much. And then this isn't going to make me boycott it because it seems so lame and minimal and under duress. But you don't. Guys, you don't have to do it. The tide is turning away from this stuff. Even the New York Times is admitting it. The New York Times Beautiful guest essay. We are sliding back into the Middle Ages, to which I say don't threaten me with a good time. This is one of my favorite. It's not even predictions. It's wishcasting being proven true. All the libs and even some of the fancy Republicans and conservatives, they made fun of me a year or two ago. Cause I came out and I said, guys, it's not enough to just be like the libs were two years ago. Don't be squishy. I don't want to return to 2012. I want to return to 1220. We can keep some modern things like modern dentistry, but otherwise the guys in 1220 understood the world a lot better than people did in 2012 or 2026. And all the libs and all the fancy Republicans made fun of me. But it's happening. We are returning to 1220. Love that. We'll find out why. First though, I want to tell you about Mizzen and Main. Go to mizzenandmain.com, use promo code Michael20. Folks, I absolutely love Mizzen and Main. And sometimes people are going to say they have to choose between what is comfortable and what looks really, really good. Well, you know what? There's actually a lane intersecting both. That is where Mizzen and Main finds itself. Mizzen and Main is classic menswear made with performance fabrics that look polished but feel more like athletic wear. They're stretchy, lightweight, moisture wicking. They're wrinkle resistant and machine washable. With Mizzen and Main, there's no ironing and dry cleaning. They are easy clothes meant to be grab and go. One outfit can carry you through multiple parts of the day. Great for travel too. As summer comes around, Mizzen and Main lets men look put together without having to overthink it. I really love Mizzen and Main. I love a lot of their stuff, but especially their polo shirts because the designs are very, very nice. Not too minimalist, but not too much going on. It's really good. It's classy. Okay, well right now folks, Mizzen and Main is offering our listener 20% off your first purchase at mizzeninmain.com, promo code Michael20. That is M I C H A E L 20 Mizzen in Main Mizzen M I Z Z E N and Main m a I n.com, promo code Michael20 for 20% off mizzenmain.com, promo code Michael20. If you'd rather shop in person, you can find Mizzen and Main stores in select states. Really good New York Times Essay Sentence I Never Thought I'd say by Katja Ungerman Ms. Ungaman writes some newsletter under the pen name Katherine D. So much for that pen name. Now we all know who she really is. Anyway, she writes this piece in the New York Times. We're sliding back to the Middle Ages, and it opens by making fun of Tucker. It says, In 2024, Tucker Carlson revealed that he'd been physically attacked in his bed by a demon or by something unseen. The entity left four claw marks on each of his sides and on his left shoulder. He said he was bleeding when he woke. Catholic and Orthodox clergy weighed in publicly with an Orthodox priest, lamenting that Mr. Carlson's Episcopalian faith left him ill equipped to respond to such an attack. Now, I don't know if Tucker actually was physically attacked by a demon or not. He sleeps with his dogs, so a lot of people figured his dog probably just scratched him. But regardless of what you think about this alleged attack, or what you think about Tucker even, or whatever, demons exist. If you're Christian, you believe in demons and angels and spiritual beings. Really, if you have any even slightly religious inclination, you believe in that. Even if you have the elevated paganism of a Plato or a Socrates, you believe in spiritual reality. So the New York Times kind of making fun of that, then he says. More recently, Greg Phillips, head of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, made news for saying he had once been teleported to a Waffle House. I think I read something vaguely about that. So again, they're still making fun of this in a less esoteric vein. This past Easter, Catholic priests across the country welcomed the largest classes of converts they'd seen in 15 or more years. Notice what they do. They open up with these really scintillating, kind of dubious accounts, and then they use it to just attack Christianity, Catholicism in particular. But it's true also of the Orthodox Church. The Antiochian Orthodox Church is also apparently exploding. And then they get to their point. Demonic vexation, teleportation, increased interest in religious practice. Those phenomena are all signs that life feels to many increasingly charged with unseen forces. You might say it has been re enchanted. That's a key line, because one of the hallmarks of modernity is that we've become disenchanted. We no longer believe in love or glory or virtue or anything. It's all just sort of chemicals firing off in our brains to create an illusion of an immaterial reality. But actually, we're all just sacks of flesh. That's what modernity tells you. So modernity disenchants the world. You no longer have a love affair. You have a relationship. All of our language. You no longer have a lady. You have a person with a uterus. You know, it's just. It's all so disenchanted and clinical and gross. And what the Times writer is saying is, no, no, no, now it's maybe been re enchanted. There's a widespread feeling that the material explanation is no longer sufficient, that something uncanny, maybe even numinous, is diffused into the texture of ordinary American life. Excellent observation from Katja Ungerman. Really good point. Then it goes on. Pew goes on to find that 30% of Americans consult astrology, tarot cards, or fortune tellers at least once a year. New Age practices are even more popular among some demographics, like young women and LGBTQ adults. Of course. During my first pregnancy, I received a Reiki, or energy healing. Yikes. Bad stuff. Treatment for my unborn son. It's now offered at major hospitals across the country. What's going on? And then it goes on to try to explain it or explain it away, but the point is, it is happening. It is happening. And the headline gets it wrong. It says, we're sliding back to the Middle Ages. That part is not true. Really? You should look at it from the other angle. It's not that Middle Age medieval Christian Scholasticism is on the rise again. So much as liberal rationalism is failing. It has collapsed. Liberalism, rationalism, the modern ideologies don't explain the world. They erode the foundations of our civilization. Society begins to fall apart. They fail to explain things that we know to be true, the longings of our heart and the deepest intuitions we have. They're just insufficient. It's just false. They make claims about human nature that are not true. They try to atomize us, reduce us from social creatures to mere individuals, and from mere individuals down to sacks of flesh. And they make us on the same level as the beasts and in many ways lower than the beasts, and it just isn't true. So it failed. Failed socially, it failed intellectually, it obviously failed spiritually. And so as that falls apart, there is now a vacuum into which we are not necessarily seeing the return of the Middle Ages, which, contrary to nonsense you might have read in school, actually were the high point of our civilization. The high Middle Ages were the absolute high point of our civilization in terms of philosophy, in terms of theology, but also in terms of architecture, in terms of literature, in terms of building, in terms of. Well, I guess that goes with architecture. But not even just the great cathedrals, just our whole civilizations, townships centered around something that were coherent, that made sense. Painting, sculpture, all the rest of it were really coming to the fore in the high Middle Ages, even just before the turn of what we call the Renaissance. The Renaissance, which in many ways became a rejection of Christendom, an attempt to return to pagan antiquity, a rejection of Christianity for humanism and the beginning of modernity. But what you're seeing is just a vacuum now. And it's going to be filled up by something. It's going to be filled up by Reiki, which is just demon worship. It's going to be filled up by tarot or astrology. It's going to be filled up by New Age. It's going to be filled up by witches. It's going to be filled or it's going to be filled up by Christianity and a robust Christianity that takes religion seriously, which was the Christianity of the Scholastics and of the Middle Ages. Those are the choices, though available to us. The choice is not between liberal modernity and the dark Middle Ages. Liberal modernity sucks and failed and it's falling apart. And its promises didn't come true and its explanations of human nature were insufficient. So that's not the choice between the Dark Christian Middle Ages and rationalist liberalism. The choice is between Christianity or New Age or a modern ideology like communism or socialism or something like that. The choice is between a world that will be re enchanted with some kind of spirit, either the spirit of the science of history, as the left has presented to us, with the spirit of weird Eastern mystical forces like Reiki or yoga offer you, or with the Holy Spirit, the spirit that animated our civilization. Those are the choices. Choose wisely. Please, please. Speaking of bad choices. Bunny Blue. Bunny Blue is. She's the porn lady who films herself in particularly degrading circumstances. And what distinguishes her, I think, is that she is famous or infamous even among people who have never seen a single frame of her actual pornography. Hand up. I've never, I'm pleased to say, not saying I'm purer than the freshly driven snow through every period of my life, but I can honestly, truthfully, in every way, say I've never seen a single frame of Bonnie Blue's pornographic oeuvre. But I've seen her pop up a lot on social media. Because what's even almost darker about what she does is, is she does these interviews where she's totally clothed. She's not. But where she just describes all of the particularly degrading acts, you know, sleeping. I think she slept with a thousand guys in a day. That kind of stuff. So she's back at it. And here I think she actually can teach us something about politics and the limits of politics. She was on a British show and she explained how she's pregnant. I don't even know if I even believe that, but she says she's pregnant, and. And for her baby shower, she's gonna host a gross sex event.
C
Did I hear right that you have a stunt planned for June? Yes, I have a baby shower on Saturday, next Saturday. And I'm inviting the public to turn my baby shower into a golden shower.
B
Why?
C
It's just fun. It's a twist on the baby shower. I'll be having sex with the people as well as. And it's gonna be like a mixture of wholesome baby shower games, like the traditional. Trying different baby food along with other fluids added in there. Now I'm uncomfortable. This is your baby. This is your child? Yeah. Again, my body, this is what I'm choosing. Do you not see that in any way as a denigration of your baby?
A
No.
C
Like, it is difficult because I don't want to sexualize the baby.
A
Yeah. But she otherwise doesn't see it as a denigration of the baby. So she's going to host an orgy, but also an orgy that'll be particularly degrading and at which men will relieve themselves on her. Okay, so the question beyond. I hate even playing a clip of hers, but it's making the rounds, it's quite viral and it actually does tell us something about politics. And it's a question that we need to address, which is, what is wrong with that? What is wrong with that? I think obviously child protective services should be called. I think this woman should be locked into a loony bin and someone should care for the kid and all the rest. But. But what is wrong with that? People have marital relations while they're pregnant, so there's nothing particularly wrong or illegal certainly about that. The degrading acts that she'll be engaging in, promises to engage in beforehand don't directly affect the baby. Right. So in that way really is her body her choice. She's not talking about killing the baby. So what's wrong with that? From the standpoint of liberalism, laissez faire, live and let live, you do you what's wrong with what she's doing? Everything. But from the standpoint of that ideology, nothing. So what should be done about it? Well, the only answer would be that we need to assert the right to tell women and men how to behave in their private lives. We need to assert that right even if it's not always enforced. We're not gonna have the purity police coming around like Sharia. But there's a big difference between, you know, like some aberrant actions and what this woman's planning to do. So are we willing to do that in principle? When we had laws against all this stuff, laws against adultery, which are still on the books in some places, when we had those on the books, they weren't even always enforced, but they set a standard. Are we willing to do that? Would you be willing? Obviously people viscerally would say, yeah, this woman needs to be locked up. She's a total lunatic. Okay. Would you go so far as to say that there should be legal punishments for women who do this kind of stuff? And what's the line? And who decides? And all these questions are gonna come up, which are the usual liberal rejoinders to common sense. But are you willing to do that in principle? I for one am. And Pride Month, I guess is as good a time as any to say, yeah, there should be limits to what people do individually, to their own bodies, in their personal lives, in their private lives, there obviously should be limits. Those are matters of public interest. The state does in fact have the right to enforce those standards. We the people have the right to pass those laws, to charge the government with enforcing those standards. And that stuff should all be illegal. She cannot be trusted to have custody of a child, obviously. And what she does in her private life should be limited by the state. Are you willing to go that far and say that? Because if so, that's going to pertain to a lot of other people beyond Bonnie Blue, beyond the most crazy, extreme examples of it. Are you willing to say that or no? Is that authoritarian and really it makes us no different from the left or whatever objections you hear from the libertarian side. Are you willing to say that? If you are, then prove it. If not, you're going to get more of that. Now, speaking of disgusting demonstrations, the New York Giants are being brutal to their QB because their quarterback, Jackson Dart, you can tell what a huge football fan I am. Their quarterback had the temerity to introduce President Trump at a rally. We'll get to the blowback. First, though, my favorite comment Yesterday is from Tia Tiagorodriguez 3730 who says, I mean, in principle, dating a girl who works for you is a red flag in itself, regardless of whether she is a pretend girlfriend or not. It's so funny when you look at the two sex scandals. You got this guy Platner up in Maine who was sexting all these women. He's on some abusive app, whatever. And then you get Talarico in Texas who says he has this girlfriend. And everyone's no one's really shocked by the first story. Cause Platner seems like a scuzzy guy, but it's pretty outrageous. And the only reason people are shocked by the Talarico story is because some people thought he was gay. So much so that people are overlooking the fact that he says he met his girlfriend because she worked for him. And everybody. People are so skeptical that he actually has a girlfriend that they're not even digging into that it's not even cause if it were a guy that everyone thinks is straight, if they believe the story that he actually has this girlfriend who by her own admission loves dancing the night away at gay clubs. And it doesn't seem like, I don't know, maybe they are a perfect match. But regardless, if people actually believed that this guy were dating this chick, this would be a big scandal. You're not allowed to date people who work for you. Especially when you're in politics, you're not allowed to do that. But he did. And the only reason he's not in trouble is because no one believes he's actually dating her. Okay. Jackson dart. Can you believe what he did? Quarterback for the Giants. He had the audacity to introduce the President of the United States.
D
I'm grateful, I'm honored, I'm pleasured to introduce the 45th and 47th President of the United States of America, President Donald J. Trump.
A
That's all you need. We got it. We got the whole. That's the whole story. He goes out behind a podium. Not even a podium, like a Trump Vance campaign podium. It's a podium with the seal of the president. And he goes out and he says, hi, I'm honored to introduce the President of the United States. So, yeah, that's cool. If I were asked to introduce the president, even a president I don't like, I'd say, okay, well, that's an honor. He's the president, and for whatever reason I'm being asked to do that, especially if I'm in a public role that's supposed to be nonpartisan. Oh, yeah, that's fine. And this guy just got absolutely pummeled for it. So much so that he had to answer these reporter questions.
D
I can honestly say that I love every single one of my brothers, my teammates on this team, regardless of politics, regardless of religious beliefs, regardless of anything that may be different between us. I love them. And they know exactly what. What kind of person that I am, who comes into the facility every day and, you know, who lays. You know, I lay my body on the line for my guys each and every week. And, you know, it's from the connections that we build, the love that we have for each other, and, you know, I've been somebody who's always respected, you know, the different perspectives that people may have, the backgrounds they come from. I understand that, you know, we have such a cool opportunity as people, you know, to be in a locker room where it's a melting pot of people from everywhere and we get to be together.
A
Was this what it was like under Stalin's Russia? Was this what it was like? This is what it was like. These struggle sessions, these show trials. I just. I don't. I just. Look, I respect everybody, and I just don't. I try to. I mean, I'm just doing my job, and I just. I just think maybe. I mean, I know I should, but I spoke. I just introduced the president who won the popular vote, and I just. Look, I don't mean to make fun of him. I thought his answer was perfectly reasonable. I think it's good that he did what he did, but why is he being asked to explain himself? Oh, I'll tell you why. Because another New York Giant, Abdul Carter, decided to throw shade at his own teammate for doing a very basic thing.
E
So, first off, I'm going to say that some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things. Jackson is one of our leaders. He's the face of our franchise. He not only represents himself and what he does, but he represents all of us. And that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform. But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it's my responsibility, based on what I believe and what I stand on, to not only show my teammates that I'm against that, but to show the world. And that doesn't mean that we have to spread hate. It doesn't. Doesn't mean that me and Jackson hate each other or we have beef. I sit next to Jackson every day, every team meeting. We close, we talk. You know, we just. As long as we make sure we got the same goal as a team and our goals align, which they do. And I feel like that's all that matters. So I just want to move past this and. Yeah, that's it.
A
Yeah, okay. But you got the main part wrong, where he says, look, I just feel like he says some nice things about his teammate, but he says, I just feel like if my quarterback is gonna align himself with someone like President Trump, first of all, align himself like he was hitting the campaign trail with him. He introduces the sitting President of the United States at an event, and the totality of his remarks are basically, it's my honor to introduce the President. He says, well, then I just. It's my responsibility to speak out against that. No, it's not. It's not your responsibility. It's not even your right, really. You're a New York Giant. When you sign that contract to be a New York Giant, you are signing up for a certain code of behavior. You're signing up to speak and act a certain way, certainly around members of your team. It's a kind of a public role. And you don't get to just mouth off all the time. You don't. And you are expected to behave in a way that is normal. What did this guy do? It would be one thing if Jackson Dart were campaigning, hitting every single MAGA rally before the election in 2024. That would be one thing. The guy's the sitting president. He said, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the president. That does not require a response and a response is not appropriate there. And it's this is, this is I think what really pushed a lot of the popular vote win for Trump in 24, which was just how are we the controversial ones? Why is it upside down day? Why is it backwards day? I think about this, think about liberal family members, liberal friends, where somehow if you're the normal one, you're on the outside. I think of. Do you remember the old show, the Munsters? This old show, the Munsters, which I'm not that old. I watched in reruns when I was a kid, like on Nick at night. And the show, the monsters, they're all monsters. They're all like ghastly, horrifying monsters except for one hot blonde. But because everyone around her is such a total freak, she is considered the freak. She's considered ugly and the abnormal one. And that's one of the jokes of the show. And that's how we feel that Jackson Dart has to apologize for this. He has to get grilled by the press for doing it is good for sports figures to introduce the sitting president. There's nothing wrong with that. That's actually laudable and whatever the guy's. Abdul Carter should apologize to his QB for throwing shade and then he should move on and throw the football. Why is it the only silver lining to this is that when everything's upside down and it's always backwards day, that does redound to the benefit of the normal people. Cuz there are more normal people and most people have a healthy bit of normality to them and it might help us in the midterms, you know, we'll see how Iran goes. But down the line politically, you know, the weirder the public people get, the better it is for the normal side. And right now we remain the normal side. Okay, so much more to get to. But it's TE Tuesday. The rest of the show continues now. You do not want to miss it. Become a member, use code Knowles Canada WLAS at checkout for two months free on all annual plans.
Date: June 2, 2026
Host: Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire)
Main Theme:
A critical walkthrough of the latest political instability in the Middle East (US-Iran-Israel conflict), the subdued nature of Pride Month 2026, the ongoing "culture war" on sexuality and family, corporate and sports responses, and a broader philosophical discussion on the reemergence of spiritual or pre-modern perspectives in American culture.
Michael Knowles addresses the shifting but fundamentally unchanged dynamics of the US-Iran-Israel conflict, asserting his longstanding opposition to further escalation. He transitions to the muted tone of Pride Month after conservatives’ electoral victories in 2024, critiques ongoing LGBT activism (especially where it intersects with kids or sports), and deconstructs concepts like "chosen family." Throughout, Knowles contends Western culture is rejecting late modern rationalism for a return to spirituality—arguing forcefully for traditional values and legal limitations on sexual behavior.
[00:00–14:00]
[09:30–14:00]
[15:00–22:40]
[23:00–30:40]
[31:40–34:50]
[36:45–41:10]
In this episode, Michael Knowles covers recent events in the Middle East, chronicling the chaos yet “unchanged fundamentals” of the Iran conflict. He dissects the tone-down of Pride Month, attacks on the “chosen family” narrative, and various celebrity/corporate Pride celebrations. A lengthy critique of modern disenchantment follows, culminating in an endorsement of robust public morality and limits on private sexual behavior, illustrated via viral news of Bonnie Blue. The clash over the New York Giants QB’s Trump introduction closes the show, highlighting the upside-down culture war dynamics. Throughout, Knowles maintains a consistent push for traditional values and societal re-enchantment.
[End of summary]