UGLY TRUTH: The MAGA Makeup Billionaire | TMT 165

Summary

Too Many Tabs with Pearlmania500 — Episode 165

UGLY TRUTH: The MAGA Makeup Billionaire

Date: February 22, 2026
Hosts: Pearlmania500 (A), Mrs. Pearlmania (B)

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Too Many Tabs, the husband-and-wife duo tackle the tangled web of power, influence, and corruption running from the beauty mogul Estee Lauder’s family, through international mineral rights, to Trump-era foreign policy and the Epstein scandal. Prompted by a listener’s request for an Estee Lauder episode, Mrs. P’s research takes the show far beyond cosmetics, into “the dark waters under melting Greenland ice.” The episode moves through the Lauder family tree — focusing on Ronald Lauder, the scion using his wealth and access to shape US policy, cozy up to Trump, and allegedly benefit from the exploitation of global resources.

Expect history, sharp satire, and a dash of disappointment, as dreams of celebrating a beauty pioneer are dashed by the ugly deeds of her successors.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How This Isn’t Quite an Estee Lauder Episode

• Mrs. Pearlmania starts with a Patreon suggestion to dig into Estee Lauder but ends up deep in the exploits and entanglements of her son, Ronald Lauder.
  • Quote: “Oh my God, an icon. And then what happened was this episode is really not even about Estee Lauder anymore. It’s about her dumb son.” (03:03 – B)
  • Ronald Lauder (Ronald, Ron, or “Ronnie”) becomes the focal point, selected for his outsized impact on US policy — notably, the Greenland purchase idea.

2. Ronald Lauder, Trump, and the Greenland Saga

• Ronald Lauder, long-time Trump confidant (since University of Pennsylvania days), was the originator of the so-called “Buy Greenland” plot.
  • Quote: “Ronald Lauder of Estee Lauder is bestie friends with Trump. They've been friends for like 60 years.” (03:51 – B)
• Discussion covers Trump’s (infamously tone-deaf) offer to “trade” Puerto Rico for Greenland and why the US is fixated on Greenland—mineral rights, the melting Northwest Passage, and geostrategic opportunities as the ice recedes.
  • Quote: “[Ronald] went to Trump and was like, ‘You know what would be a really good idea? What if we as America got our hands on Greenland?’” (04:01 – B)
  • Quote: “Beneath its ice and rock lies a treasure trove of rare earth minerals essential for AI, advanced weaponry and modern technology. As ice recedes, new maritime routes are emerging, reshaping global trade and security.” (08:46 – B citing Lauder in NY Post)
  • The show highlights the hypocrisy of climate change denial paired with profit-seeking in a melting Arctic.

3. Ronald Lauder’s Business Empire

• Ronald Lauder’s fortune—initially inherited from the Estee Lauder company, primarily flows from stock ownership, not management.
• His business ventures include:
  • Water filtration systems.
  • Central European Media Enterprises (broadcasting in Bulgaria, Croatia, etc.).
    • Quote: “Central European Media Enterprises is such an evil group. That’s so evil.” (15:24 – A)
  • Luxury water extraction from Greenland (and the plot-thickener: tying this to Greenland’s mineral and water rights).
    • Quote: “He is in the president's ear trying to get him to steal Greenland so that he can bottle water to sell at luxury prices.” (16:52 – B)
  • Succession vibes: both of Ron’s daughters are Estee Lauder executives.

4. Nepotism and Corruption in Campaigns

• Ronald Lauder’s deep pockets support politicians (notably Trump), exploiting lax rules regarding inauguration committees and campaign finance.
  • Example: He donated $100,000 to the “Trump Victory Fund.”
  • Discussion includes how rich donors self-deal (e.g., renting event space and charging themselves inflated prices).
• Ronald Lauder’s failed 1989 NYC mayoral run, managed by Fox News’s Roger Ailes, placing him well right of Rudy Giuliani.
  • Quote: “He seemed out of step with most American Jews. He ran to the right of Rudolph Giuliani. And on Israeli issues, he was a vocal supporter of the Likud party with long-standing ties to Benjamin Netanyahu.” (27:18 – B)
  • The web of right-wing connections: Lauder, Trump, AIPAC, Netanyahu, and even Jared Kushner.

5. Lauder and Art World Shadiness (Epstein Files)

• Lauder is a major art collector. He purchased Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer portrait for $135 million.
• Mrs. P’s research uncovers Ronald Lauder’s mention in the Epstein files:
  • Lauder and fellow billionaire Leon Black (another Epstein associate) set up “Friends Ventures LLC” to co-purchase art, with Epstein brokering the deal.
    • Quote: “He was like the middleman. Like, he introduced them and then he was like, giving them advice on how to broker the deal for this art piece they wanted to buy with the LLC.” (35:33 – B)
  • Discussion speculates openly about art as a vehicle for money laundering.

6. Ronald Lauder, Israel, and Right-wing Influence

• Lauder is a passionate supporter of Israel, especially its right-wing government and Netanyahu.
  • Notably, he led the World Jewish Congress and has funneled time and money into both pro-Israeli and anti-antisemitism causes, sometimes for political leverage.
• MAGA ties: Lauder gave $5 million to MAGA Inc. in March 2025, attended $1M per plate fundraising dinners with Trump.
  • Discussions of transactional politics and how these donations quickly result in lucrative mineral rights (notably, Ukraine’s lithium) for the Lauder consortium.
    • Quote: “Weeks after Louder’s MAGA incorporated donations, the U.S. and the Ukraine signed a deal to jointly exploit Ukraine’s minerals… the Ronald Lauder consortium reportedly won rights to it." (42:43 – B; 43:06 – A/B)
  • Mrs. P: “We did mafia tactics. And by we, I mean Donald Trump. And he straight up was like, if you want us to keep giving you guns, then give us your shit.” (44:05 – A)

7. Trying to Actually Talk About Estee Lauder

• After the deep dive into Ron’s corruption, Mrs. P finally highlights Estee Lauder’s own story:
  • Born Josephine Esther Mentzer in NYC (1908) to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants.
  • She learned skincare basics from her chemist uncle, hand-selling creams in beauty salons.
  • Pioneered personalized sales and the “gift with purchase” model.
    • Quote: “Did you know that she invented gifts with purchase?” (40:54 – B)
  • Infamous motto (and proto-viral marketing strategy):
    • Quote: “There are three ways to communicate: Telephone, television, and tell a woman.” (67:19 – B)
  • Created innovative products like Youth Dew bath oil, revolutionizing the way women bought fragrance.
  • Developed "pseudo-competition": the Lauder company later created Clinique, Aramis, and other brands as in-house "competitors," a model much-copied in business.

8. Generational Wealth and Power

• Discussion of the family succession (from Leonard to Ronald to his daughters, Aaron and Jane).
• Jane's husband, Kevin Warsh: slated for Federal Reserve chair under Trump—yet another Lauder-Trump-Epstein connection.
  • Quote: “He is going to be nominated by Donald Trump to be the chair of the Federal Reserve… And he’s in the Epstein files.” (76:57 – B; 77:05 – A)

9. On Boycotts and Ethical Consumption (Re: MAC Cosmetics)

• Mrs. P shares her nuanced position on boycotting Estee Lauder-owned brands:
  • She supports general boycotts (Clinique, Bobby Brown, etc.), but draws a line at MAC, citing its longtime support and employment of LGBTQ+ and POC communities.
  • Points out that MAC’s Viva Glam campaign alone has donated over $540 million to AIDS charities.
    • Quote: “Mac teaches a lot of people how to do makeup, and it's such a specific, safe environment for groups of people that have a hard time finding employment...” (82:23 – B)
  • Both hosts discuss the complexity and limitations of boycotts under capitalism.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Estee vs. her Nepo Baby:
  “I wanted to talk about her, but now I gotta talk about Ronald… what does this Nepo baby do, you ask yourself?” (13:46 – B)

• On Art World Corruption:
  “I do personally think that some modern art, and specifically art dealers are just fronts to wash money. And I’m saying That for no specific reason.” (33:37 – B)

• On American Imperialism and Capitalism:
  “What this really comes down to is this is the exact scene from Don’t Look Up when they discovered that the comet that was going to crash into Earth... was actually covered in gold.” (12:07 – A)

• On Rich People Getting into Politics:
  “It’s weird because it always kills millions.” (22:00 – B/A)

• On Pseudo-Competition in Business:
  “They created this idea of competition, but the Estee Lauder was across from Clinique. They owned Clinique.” (72:54 – B)

• On The Limitation of Boycotts:
  “There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism... but I just like, there’s something in my brain that’s like, I don’t want to hurt the staff of Mac. And I know that’s controversial, but I felt like I needed to say it.” (85:53 – B)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:59 – Show starts & context for today’s episode
• 03:02 – Mrs. P pivots from Estee to Ronald Lauder
• 04:17 – TRUMP-Greenland trade (Puerto Rico for Greenland!) backstory
• 06:41 – Lauder’s $100k donation to Trump
• 08:46 – Ronald Lauder’s NY Post op-ed on Greenland’s mineral wealth
• 11:24 – Warming Arctic & Northwest Passage explained
• 14:01 – Ronald Lauder’s business profile
• 16:46 – Luxury water scheme in Greenland
• 19:51 – Ronald Lauder’s biographical timeline (Trump friendship, business school, etc.)
• 22:01 – Lauder’s political ambitions, government jobs
• 25:09 – 1989 mayoral run, Giuliani, & Roger Ailes
• 31:07 – Art collecting: Klimt, Neue Galerie, and the money-laundering angle
• 33:01 – Epstein files and art world dealings
• 38:07 – Passionate support for Israel
• 40:53 – Return to Estee: She invented "gift with purchase"
• 56:19 – Estee’s salon sales tactics, entry into Saks, department store culture
• 67:19 – Her famous “Tele-woman” motto and innovative marketing
• 71:56 – How Estee Lauder built “pseudo-competition” (Clinique, Aramis, etc.)
• 76:33 – Ronald’s daughters: the next generation, Federal Reserve connection
• 80:54 – Boycott debate, MAC cosmetics nuance
• 86:19 – Closing thoughts

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Summary: Why This Episode Matters

This episode names names and follows the money—tracing how modern political and economic systems intertwine with specifically named ultra-wealthy global actors, showing the consequences of inherited power unchecked by public scrutiny. It exposes how a cosmetics dynasty’s legacy is not just face creams, but backroom deals, imperial ambition, and a persistent web of influence reaching from Washington and Kyiv to Greenland and the Mar-a-Lago ballroom. Despite the dark turns, the hosts’ irreverent style, historical knowledge, and palpable frustration maintain engagement and provide comic relief. The final act attempts (with some success) to salvage Estee Lauder’s legacy, honoring her entrepreneurship and marketing innovations while recognizing the limits of individual action in a world dominated by mega-corporations and systemic rot.

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Have a great week, and remember:

“There are too many frauds and too many scammers that we wish weren't real. Too many cons and too many spammers. And we're starting to feel like we've got too many tables... tabs. Open at too many times. Remember to smile.”

(86:26 – Show sign off)

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[B]

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[A]

Hi there.

[B]

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[A]

Well, you're gonna take a left at the old oak tree end of this here road. No, I'm just kidding. Let me get my phone out.

[B]

How are you getting a signal out here?

[A]

T Mobile and US Cellular decided to merge. So the network out here is huge. We're getting the same great signal as the city and saving a boatload with all the benefits. Oh, and a five year price guarantee. Okay, here's those directions.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Ooh.

[A]

And you know what else I'm gonna be doing there? I'm not only just gonna be doing standup, I'm also gonna be doing a very special class explaining to people how they can do better at social media. We'll put all of these links down in the description below. I have more things coming up. We got a lot of different big things planned for this year, but I just wanna let you guys know about that. And as always, you can follow us at our Patreon. So with that being said, Mrs. P, now that I've gotten what I want to get off my chest. Yeah. What have you been obsessing about this week that you want to explain to me and the people?

[B]

Okay, so here's what happened. We got a suggestion from a Patreon that I should do an episode about Estee Lauder. And I immediately said, estee Lauder, love her. Would love to do some research about Estee Lauder. Oh, my God, an icon. And then what happened was this episode is really not even about Estee Lauder anymore. It's about her dumb son.

[A]

Oh, really? What's her son's name?

[B]

Ronald.

[A]

Ronald.

[B]

Ronald Ron. Ron. So, okay, that. The. The nutso proposal to buy Greenland. That was Ronald Lauder's idea.

[A]

So every three to six weeks, the President United States marches forward and yells, we need a Greenland, folks. We need Greenland. Is all. Because the. Some Ronald Lauder of.

[B]

Ronald Lauder of Estee Lauder is bestie friends with Trump. They've been friends for like 60 years.

[A]

Oh, my God, no.

[B]

Yes. And it was because Ronald Lauder went to Trump and was like, you know what would be a really good idea? What if we as America got our hands on Greenland. We could even trade Puerto Rico if we wanted to.

[A]

That's right. Everyone forgets that that was an offer that happened the first term. Yeah, like everybody forgets, like Donald Trump's history of hating Puerto Rico. Number one, he hates Puerto Rico. And there's a lot there on how he treats that. But, yeah, he offered to straight up to a trade. He's like, we'll give you Puerto Rico, you give me Greenland. And the. The. Because the Danes own it, Denmark owns Greenland. And they're going to argue about whether or not that they should have that as, you know, autonomous zone or all those different things. But he legit went to him and the people in Denmark are like, what would we do? No, what's famous. Actually, what's crazy is the Danes. There is precedent for a president to buy an island from Denmark.

[B]

What do you mean?

[A]

Denmark has sold the United States an island before.

[B]

What island?

[A]

They sold the United States the Virgin Islands, which includes specifically Little St. James Island.

[B]

No.

[A]

Yeah. No. Yeah, that's right. Denmark owned Epstein's island before Epstein did. Greenland's just a giant Epstein island, everybody.

[B]

Okay, no, that's not true. Now, Trump did decide that, no, we're not going to try to buy it anymore. He just got really into, like, the idea of imperialism, and he's like, no, America's just going to take it.

[A]

Yeah. And then the Europeans threatened to dump the entire bond market and crash the world economy. And he went, he's like, maybe I'll back out. Actually, it turns out that we already have bases there. So if anything, it's like, we already own Greenland.

[B]

Well, the thing is that maybe I'm not saying for sure that Ron Louder suggestions may have had something to do with his personal business interests.

[A]

Shut up. You're telling me. Mrs. You are telling me that a rich person is trying to use US Global foreign policy to have an effect, that he is less about caring about the rest of the world or even America, but it's actually about lining his own pockets and getting control, control over more power.

[B]

Well, maybe Ron Louder has acquired some commercial holdings there in Greenland, and maybe he also has sought out access to Ukrainian minerals as well.

[A]

Ukrainian minerals?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, boy.

[B]

He just, he's, he's made some suggestions. Listen, when Trump became president in 2016, okay, Ronald Lauder donated $100,000 to the Trump Victory fundraising committee. Oh.

[A]

Yeah. So, yeah. So those. This is a famous area actually, of corruption.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So there's a couple different, like, PACs and committees that you can have.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so a lot of people know about super PACs, right. And a lot of people know about, like, campaign funds. So when everybody's looking at aipac, one of the big things that AIPAC does is they give money to help you get elected. That's the whole thing. So that way you can hire staff, you can hire phone bankers, and you can hire marketers, you can hire door knockers and campaign team, and you can buy TV ads, all that different stuff. That's what these super PACs are like giving money to. And then also like building on the, on the side. The Victory fund is the inauguration committee.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's the big party.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And the rules around that Are real loose.

[B]

Real loosey goose.

[A]

Real loose. So let's say that, let's like, like let's say you're president states and you also happen to own, I don't know, a really nice venue in Washington, D.C. and you just got elected and you're going to throw a big ball gala and you're like, hey, guys, we're going to do it. We're going to do it at my place. So it'll be great. So I know everything will be really good. It's going to be at my place. And. Yeah. Oh, per share, rental per chair. It's $5,000 per chair. I'm not saying this is exactly what happened, but you could imagine it. $5,000 per chair to rent the chairs for us to have them in the building. And. Oh, my God.

[B]

Because you, that person potentially could own a company called Rental Chairs LLC that they own.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

They charge themselves an exorbitant price so that they're charging themselves $5,000.

[A]

And I heard the Secret Service needs rooms, but the Secret Service, you know, those rooms aren't cheap. Even though I own them myself, they got to rent them for me. And that's going to be a pretty penny and also get an nft. But yet this, this entire. And this is also this same idea that's happening is what is exactly happening with the ballroom.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Forever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Except it's also supposed to. That was supposed to be our land.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And by our, I mean the American people. That people's house that he tore down.

[B]

Come on. So, okay, so Trump's. Okay, so. Ron Louder.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

During an interview, these, this is some quotes about the Greenland issue.

[A]

Okay. This is Ron Louder talking about Greenland.

[B]

Yeah. He said Trump's Greenland concept was never absurd, it was strategic. He wrote in the New York Post quote, beneath its ice and rock lies a treasure trove of rare earth minerals essential for AI, advanced weaponry and modern technology. As ice recedes, new maritime routes are emerging, reshaping global trade and security.

[A]

It's crazy. It's crazy to say as ice recedes. As ice is like moving into more and more of our neighborhoods. Number one. But that's not the ice.

[B]

He's not the ice. He's talking about.

[A]

He is talking about glaciers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He is talking about melting ice. Yeah. And ice caps. And it's wild to me that the Republicans specifically behind Donald. I don't believe in global warming or climate change. Trump.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Specifically Donald. Oh, my God. What happens when the wind doesn't blow? The, the windmills won't Work for power. Oh, my God. On a cloudy day. We don't have solar Trump.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That man is pro. Invading Greenland and conquering it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And a big part of it actually has to do with shipping lanes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's a thing called the Northwest Passage.

[B]

Wait, I feel like the Northwest patches. A passage is something we've talked about before.

[A]

We have. We've mentioned it before in the past. The Northwest Passage is an idea that goes all the way back to like the 1500s.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The 1600s. So when they. When. When European explorers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

First discovered the Americas, when they first got over here, before we had Panama Canal.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They were like, there has to be some way through it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There has to be a spot. Because they were. It drove them crazy. Like, what do you mean? When we're going from Europe, we got to go all the way down the bottom of South America and then pop out. Because they were like, hoping for a faster route to India.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They wanted the spices.

[B]

I was going to say, isn't it the. The Indian. What's it? The West Indian West Indies Company. Yeah. I think they were the ones that were all about that.

[A]

Yeah. So a bunch of them kept looking for. Of they were looking for basically a river.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They thought there should be a river somewhere that you should be able to cut and get a shortcut to get around America to get over to India for the spice. India and China for the spices and everything. And so they kept looking, and a lot of them thought that they found it going down into the Great Lakes and stuff like that. So this is like, when you look,

[B]

then you get caught in, like, Michigan.

[A]

Yeah. They're like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. We're almost in India. It's Michigan. It's always Michigan. Anyway, so they. They were going through this and. But now, as we've had global warming and climate change, as we've seen ice sheets recede, there's more and more areas are opening up in the Arctic.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To areas where the shipping is getting easier and the trade routes are getting shorter. And also, again, minerals, oil and gas, all these other different things are there.

[B]

You think that the Republicans are pro petrol, not just because of the money, but also because it causes greenhouse gases which melt the glaciers quicker so they can get these trade routes quicker.

[A]

I think that they were like. I think they're into that thing. Remember back in, like, the 90s and early 2000, when people be like, there's like, it's ancient Chinese character that actually says that, like, when there's a disaster, it's also an opportunity. That bullshit. I think they think that. And they're like, okay, well, as long as I don't have to change anything. Oh, and now we can go conquer a whole new people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's where the thing is. In reality, what this really comes down to is this is the exact scene from Don't look up when they discovered that the comet that was going to crash into Earth.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Was actually covered in gold.

[B]

And they were like. Yeah. And then they're like, the jobs. Think of the jobs.

[A]

Think of the jobs.

[B]

The AI technology.

[A]

Yeah. This is that exact thing. Think of the AI that we could use.

[B]

So here's the thing. Then I start looking into what does this guy actually do? Ronald Louder.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Because I know what Estee Lauder did. And I went into this thinking I was going to get to do an episode about Estee Lauder the woman, the icon.

[A]

I'm thinking, whenever you say Estee Lauder, I think of a company.

[B]

Okay. She's a woman who started a company and named it after herself.

[A]

Oh, Estee Lauder is a person's name.

[B]

Yeah. That. Her middle name was Estee. It was kind of pronounced like Esther. We would pronounce Esther.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And as like, a branding marketing thing, she added the little thing above the E and started pronouncing it more as este instead of esta, which is how they would have pronounced it.

[A]

It's like when people would say target.

[B]

Yeah. It's that same idea that to herself, for the brand, she.

[A]

She branded herself.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, that's interesting, because I always thought that Estee Lauder was two people, and I assumed to be two old men. That in, like, a law firm situation.

[B]

Well, fun fact. She had two sons, Leonard and Ronald.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

There was a point where she had both of her sons running the company. So it was two guys running.

[A]

But they were both Louders.

[B]

They're both louder.

[A]

There was. Okay. Estee Louder was a person. And now I'm learning. A woman.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who was a CEO of our own company.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But we're.

[B]

She was super cool, and I wanted to talk about her, but now I gotta talk about Ronald.

[A]

But we're Now. Now we're gonna talk about her shitty son.

[B]

Yeah. And what does this Nepo baby do, you ask yourself?

[A]

I am asking myself.

[B]

He's the heir to the Estee Lauder fortune, but he is not the president of the company or the CEO.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

He has, like, other companies that he runs.

[A]

Oh. So there's just him having the last name Louder is the problematic part.

[B]

Well, that he owns a bunch of stock in it. So he makes profit off of the whole thing.

[A]

Well, yeah, yeah. But just like we learned in the. In the blackrock episode we just did. Or when we talk about all these different stuff, when people get rich enough, they just own stuff, and then that stuff just makes more money because that's, you know, that's what we are. We live in a world where the capital itself generates more than the labor.

[B]

Okay. So he has a bunch of companies. One company he owns is, like, a water filtration company that cleans wastewater. It's like, they travel around and, like, build these, like, wastewater plants. I don't know. He also owns a company called Central European Media Enterprises, which is a media and entertainment company that operates television channels in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

[A]

Okay. Nothing against any of those countries individually, but when you put them together, that doesn't paint a good picture. That doesn't paint a good picture. Did you say Hungary was in there or you said Bulgaria?

[B]

Bulgaria.

[A]

Bulgaria was in there.

[B]

Yeah. I think he's actually ethnically Hungarian. I remember reading that about Estee.

[A]

So he probably had some ties to Viktor Orban, which is not great. And if you need to know anything more about him, maybe we'll do an episode about him in the future. But everything you just listed in there. So he owns Seam.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or maybe Kimi.

[B]

He also.

[A]

Central European Media Enterprise is such an evil group. That's so evil. That is. No, but also, like, what you're describing there. I think that's like the Succession. Yeah, that's like what the guy in Succession is like. He's like, we got to buy more TV networks. We need more local tv.

[B]

Yeah. I want to know which one of his daughters is the redhead from Succession.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Because he does. He has two daughters now. Both of his daughters are executives within Estee Lauder. Okay, but we don't have time to talk about them, because Ronald.

[A]

I know, but this is like the dupont's, where they, like, plug and play. Like sometimes the dupont falls. Or like the Kennedys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where sometimes, like, one falls out with the rest of the clan for whatever reason or dot org. But it just goes in there, does their own thing, and then, you know, buys a ranch in New Mexico.

[B]

So one of the other companies he owns is a venture event. They call them Ventures. You know how they're like, oh, we're going. We're doing Ventures. Venture Capital is exporting, quote, luxury spring water from an island in Baffin Bay, which is in Greenland. And a Danish newspaper reported that Loud Ronald Lauder was among the investors and quoted a Greenlandic businessman involved in the endeavor who said, quote, lauder and his colleagues, colleagues in the investor group have a very good understanding of and access to the luxury market.

[A]

I don't love the idea of luxury water. I just think. I don't think water should be a luxury.

[B]

I. Again, they. He is in the president's ear trying to get him to steal Greenland so that he can bottle water to sell at luxury prices. Here's the thing is, because the ice caps are melting.

[A]

Because the ice caps are melting. But also, also, that's literally the plot of Tank Girl.

[B]

I was gonna say we gotta get iced tea in a kangaroo costume.

[A]

I know. Immediately we need. Oh, my God. This is legit. The play.

[B]

And I.

[A]

Let me tell you something about the movie Tank Girl. Holds up. Yeah, holds up. It's crazy actually how much it holds up. If you've never seen the movie Tank Girl, go find the movie Tank Girl.

[B]

Lori Petty is incredible in it. Lori Petty.

[A]

It's a great movie. What's wild is they used to play it on Comedy Central.

[B]

They would play Tank Comedy, right?

[A]

No, I know, but literally they would play Tank Girl on comedy set. I remember it would be like 1998. I would be sitting there and the movie set, like now. And they're like, it's the water world.

[B]

It's the water wars.

[A]

Water wars. It's within the resource wars. And there's just like people like, literally.

[B]

I like that it came out around the same time as water world in one where the whole world's covered in water.

[A]

Yeah, but there's too much water.

[B]

And then in Tank Girl, no water.

[A]

Either way, you're thirsty.

[B]

Yep. Whoops.

[A]

And it's not from looking at eight pack abs.

[B]

So listen, let's take a break and when we come back, I want to tell you about a few things. Like Ronald Reagan running for mayor and buying Nazi looted art.

[A]

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[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I don't. I have like a picture of this guy in my head, but I'm just trying to like, get. Figure out like ages and stuff like that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When was he born?

[B]

Like 1944.

[A]

He was born 1944.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And when did he become friends with Trump?

[B]

He became Trump friend of Trump in 1960s because they went to the same college. They went to University of Pennsylvania.

[A]

Oh, no, there's a Philly connection.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Upenn is in Philly. It's in West Philadelphia. Born and raised on the playground where I spent most of my days. But no, wait, okay, stop. You're really telling me, though, that there is a connection. If Donald Trump.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And Ronald. Louder.

[B]

Yeah. Went to Philadelphia to go to business school.

[A]

To go to business school. And they met and they were both like, hey, I also am a fucking idiot. And my dad's Rich.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What's your dad do? Oh, Rich dad, Rich mom, Rich mom. That's different. Rich mom is very different. But we should become best friends. Have you met Jeff? Anyway. What. What is. So in the 1960s, they become friends.

[B]

Yeah. At school, in college.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And then here, obviously, they go their separate ways, but they're still friendly. Yeah. You know, they're business New York guys.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They're in business in New York after that. Because Estee Lauders was based in New York.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

New York City. And he worked for the Estee Lauder corporation for like 20 years. Him and his brother Leonard.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Leonard's the older brother, Ronald's the younger brother. Leonard really ran the company.

[A]

Ronnie and Lenny.

[B]

Ronnie and Lenny. Lenny really ran the company.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

He was the big boss till the end. And then Ron really was like, had other aspirations. He did this because he was. It was part of the family thing. Like, they was raised in it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But he really had. Was interested in politics and because of his very famous mother who had access to world leaders.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He was able to really get his Footing into politics.

[A]

You know, that's what we didn't. I didn't like this story when we talked about the melons. I'm not gonna like the story when we talk about the Louders. I just. I have this feeling. It's just this weird thing, rowing. Guys who are super rich just decide that politics is their hobby.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Somehow weird hobby. It's weird because it always kills millions.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

In 1984, Ron Louder became. This is a long title. Became a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the European NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense in the Ronald Reagan administration.

[A]

I hated every word of that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I hate. That was like 22 words.

[B]

Too many words.

[A]

And each one was worse than before.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That was too many words for too many tabs. Which you should like. And subscribe, by the way. Give us five stars on all the platforms. Find our Patreon at Pearlmania500.net and more. So you can hear things like the under sec. What was it again?

[B]

No, I don't want to read it again. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense in the Ronald Reagan administration. Yeah.

[A]

So I love the fact that Donald. One of Donald Trump's friends. Yeah. Because I'm not gonna call him his best friend. No, because we actually talked about his best friend.

[B]

We already know his best friend.

[A]

It's Vince Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Yeah, it was Vince McMahon from the WWE. Did a whole episode about it. It's fucking crazy. But so Ronald Louder is. It goes and gets a government job where his job is Naito.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then his best friend, because President who was. He's out to be like, we should fucking get rid of NATO. You know what I hate Naito. It's annoying to say. Honestly, I just assume Naito. You know what? Doesn't sound like. It doesn't sound. Doesn't sound like somebody who could get into my country club.

[B]

Okay, listen. So after two years of that gig, in 1986, Ronald Reagan named him as the United States Ambassador to Austria.

[A]

Ronald Reagan named Ronald Lauder to be the ambassador to Austria.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And this is 1986. So he's 42.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is our age.

[B]

Yeah. He's.

[A]

Imagine if we were the ambassador to Austria.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Just think about that, everybody. Because that's a possibility. If your mom is rich enough, you too could be the ambassador to. I am. To Austria.

[B]

Austria.

[A]

Austria. Crazy.

[B]

Pick specific.

[A]

But also, it's one of those ones where ambassador jobs are weird.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you need to have, like, really good trained ambassadors.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For the important countries.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then there's other countries, like, you

[B]

can just put any idiot over there.

[A]

And all their job is. Is like, every now and then, is it literally, their job is dinner.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The people, actually.

[B]

I would be so good at ambassadors.

[A]

You would be so good at ambassador. Oh, my God.

[B]

Just like, eat dinners, have conversations. David, Mingle.

[A]

David, you'd be so good at ambassador.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I fucking. Yeah. Oh.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

What are we doing today? I don't know, but it's a brunch.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We're getting dressed up. We're using our Estee Lauder brand perfumes and makeups and going out, having a nice meal.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Shaking hands, exchanging business cards.

[A]

What are we here to talk about today? Today we're going to push back against human trafficking. While here with the brands from Nestle,

[B]

literally, how it goes to be like,

[A]

guys, hashtag, save our girls. Anyway, here's Alan Dershowitz.

[B]

So three years later, in 1989, he. He decides he's going to run for mayor of New York City.

[A]

Ronald Louder's running.

[B]

Ronald Louder's running for mayor of New York City in 1989.

[A]

1989. So he was like, listen, if this works out, Zoran Momdani will never happen.

[B]

He lost the primary.

[A]

Yeah, he did.

[B]

To Rudy Giuliani.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

He lost.

[A]

How long was Rudy Mayer.

[B]

Well, this was a Republican primary.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Rudy didn't win this election either.

[A]

Oh, he didn't?

[B]

No.

[A]

Oh, so this was just like. You lost to the loser. Yeah. That's incredible.

[B]

But I did find out that one of Ron Lauder's campaign managers was Roger Ailes of Fox News fame, y'.

[A]

All. That's. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. He had Satan himself with his campaign manager. So people don't know. Roger Ailes was not only was he the head of Fox News, and he's the reason why, how they built the right wing media machine.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He came in, worked with Rupert Murdoch to build all this different stuff out. Roger Ailes also worked in the Nixon, Ford, like, kind of crossover moment there when Richard Nixon was impeached.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And removed and had to quit being the president. And they brought in Gerald Ford. There were three guys that were really, really instrumental in the Ford White House. One of them was Dick Cheney, who's still dead. Donald Rumsfeld also dead.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And then the last one was Roger Ailes dead. And I'm gonna find that. That bathroom. But in that case, the three of them sat around. They basically were like, how could we make sure not to make sure we never have another Nixon? How can we make sure that if we have another Nixon, they will never be held accountable? And they basically designed Fox News in the right wing echo chamber in a way for people for the right to be able to retreat into. So for the fact that this dumb motherfucker had basically Republican Machiavelli as his guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And couldn't even win the Republican primary.

[B]

No.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

A newspaper writer discussing Ron Louder's campaign.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Wrote, quote, he seemed out of step with most American Jews. He ran to the right of Rudolph Giuliani. And on Israeli issues, he was a vocal supporter of the Likud party with long standing ties to Benjamin Netanyahu.

[A]

There it is. It's crazy. It's crazy. How many motherfuckers are tied in directly to Benjamin Netanyahu.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you know his best friend, Ronald Louder's best friend.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Donald Trump.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know who his son in law is?

[B]

The. What's his name?

[A]

Jared Kushner.

[B]

Kushner. Kushner.

[A]

Yeah. You know what's crazy about a crazy fun fact about Jared Kushner?

[B]

There's no fun facts. All right.

[A]

Benjamin Netanyahu slept in Jared Kushner's bed.

[B]

Wait, what?

[A]

Yeah. So the Kushner's were also very close friends with Benjamin Netanyahu.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And one time Benjamin Netanyahu came to visit.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And they, he needed a place to sleep. And they're like, oh, well, our kid will sleep on the couch. You can sleep in our kids room.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

So, yeah, like that's how tied in all of this shit.

[B]

You know who else is friends with Jared Kushner?

[A]

Who?

[B]

Theovon. Here's a picture.

[A]

Oh, look at him. Oh, wow. And now we'll put up a picture of Theo Vaughan talking to RFK Jr. And then we'll put up a picture of Jared Kushner's plans on how he's going to build data centers in Gaza.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I just wanted to put all that together just, just to tie it all in.

[B]

I, ron Louder spent $14 million of

[A]

his own money on this race, and that's in 1989.

[B]

And he did not win.

[A]

He. That's in 1989. Again, just to remind everybody, you could, he could have taken this money and he could have like built an orphanage.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He could have taken this money.

[B]

He could have done cool stuff.

[A]

He could have done that. He could have built a school, a library, and again, they don't do that. They don't do that they don't do that no more.

[B]

He did, actually, in 2001, though. It's a while later, he opened an art gallery. Okay, okay. It's called. I cannot figure out how you're supposed to pronounce this. It looks like new to me. N E U E New. The New Gallery in New York is an art museum dedicated to the art from Germany and Austria from the early 20th century.

[A]

Got it. So this is like one of those weird German ways of pronouncing it. This is like a central European way. It's not French. Yeah, it's not new at gallery. It's more like. Sorry, that was too loud. That was too loud. That was too loud. So I got very Octun, baby.

[B]

So on. In June of 2006, he purchased. Ron Louder, purchased my second favorite Klimt portrait, the Adele portrait, Adele Block Bauer by Gustav Klimt, for $135 million.

[A]

Wait, Klimt, the famous painter?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He spent $135 million?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is. Is this the kiss? Is that what you're talking about?

[B]

No, it's not the kiss.

[A]

Which one is this?

[B]

This is. It's a portrait of Adele. It's Adele the singer. No, no, no. Come on.

[A]

Well, you just keep saying Adele like. I know what it is.

[B]

The lady's name is Adele. I'll show you a picture of it.

[A]

Show me a picture of it.

[B]

This is the Adele painting.

[A]

Oh, okay. I've seen that one. Yeah, I know of that one.

[B]

It's beautiful.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I just. Everybody knows the Kiss.

[B]

That's the most iconic one. Not my favorite favorite.

[A]

That's not your favorite?

[B]

Adele one is my second favorite. My favorite is Judith. You want to see Judith?

[A]

Oh, is that a head?

[B]

Yeah, she beheaded him.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

The Bible.

[A]

Okay, so it's a lady named Judith from the Bible holding a head, and their whole entire thing's covered in gold.

[B]

Yeah, it's nice.

[A]

Okay. It's not $135 million worth of gold on that painting, though, right? It's gold today that Klimt put on everything.

[B]

Yeah, he painted them, and then he did, like, golden May on there.

[A]

But we're not an art history podcast. We are a comedy history podcast.

[B]

But I needed to tell you about this because Ron Louder is big into art.

[A]

He's big into art.

[B]

Loves art. This is, like, part big part of his personality. He loves art.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And that's one of the reasons he opened an art museum, but also because of the art is how I found out that he's in the Epstein files.

[A]

What?

[B]

Let's take a break.

[A]

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[B]

We absolutely do.

[A]

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[B]

Okay, Please. But you' really like this cardigan.

[A]

I like the cardigan too. I like that it has birds on it. It looks very nice, seems very comfy. But what I'm here to say, Mrs. P, is. You said that Ronald Louder.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Is in the Epstein files.

[B]

Uhuh. You found them there? Found them in there.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. So here's the thing. Isn't it weird that every podcast now I have to put people in a search engine to just check?

[A]

Isn't it weird, Isn't it weird that every podcast that we do about someone who's been alive anywhere in the last hundred years, you then have to go to justice.gov Epstein Click Yes, I am over 18.

[B]

Yes, I'm 18.

[A]

Then type in somebody's name and then go. Wait a second. Is this okay, Was this just an email blast or. No, that was direct. Yeah, that was direct.

[B]

That email did say I would like to buy Whitney Cumming tickets.

[A]

Never gonna drop it.

[B]

Never.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay, so here's the thing. I do personally think that some modern art, and specifically art dealers are just fronts to wash money. And I'm saying That for no specific reason.

[A]

Okay, I understand. You know what I mean? You can just say that. But also, like, that is 100% a thing. Yeah. There's a whole thing with rich people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where they go and they invest. Like, I think Jay Z laid this out in one of his songs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There literally is like a Jay Z song where he is laying all of this out.

[B]

Yeah. It's like you buy the expensive piece of art.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then that money can go to like an LLC or whatever or that the artist has that you help them set up. And then when you buy it, it promotes their name. And then your art that you bought goes up in value. Yeah, but that money transaction, that could go anywhere.

[A]

Yeah. It's also a thing too, of them when they loan it to the museums or all these other different things. The museum has it, but it's actually in trust for this thing over here. It's all there. It's all weird ways to wash and clean money in ways that are disgusting.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And all of this stuff should be in a museum.

[B]

Okay, so Ronald Louder can be found in the Epstein files. Okay. Because in 2013. 13, he was talking to Jeff because Jeff was the middleman for Ron to become business partners with this guy Leon. Now, Leon and Ron get together and start an LLC that I swear to God is named Friends Ventures llc.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So, okay, so you're telling me that Ronnie and Leon. By the way, is it Leon Black?

[B]

Yeah, that's his name. Leon Black.

[A]

Leon Black. It's Leon Black.

[B]

Yeah. I don't know who that guy is.

[A]

Okay, so. So Ronald Louder and Leon Black set up a business called Friends Ventures llc.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And how is Epstein involved?

[B]

He was like the middleman. Like, he introduced them and then he was like, giving them advice on how to broker the deal for this art piece they wanted to buy with the llc.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so they did. They. They purchased a piece of art called. I swear, I'm going to, like, really ruin this name. Jawas build. It's. It's very strange. They paid $25 million for this piece of art. Here, let me show you a picture of it.

[A]

Okay. It just. I mean, yeah, it looks like art. Like modern art. Whatever. It's. It doesn't look. That doesn't look like 25 million to me. But that's not me.

[B]

That's what I mean. I looked at it and I said, what are they washing this money for?

[A]

Yeah. But also. Okay, so we have. You have Ronald Louder and Leon Black. I can't believe this. Are the two of these guys are in the emails with Jeff Epstein. And Jeff Epstein is, like, brokering this?

[B]

Yeah. He's like, yeah. Ron, let me introduce you to Leon. Yeah. He's also interested in art.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Why don't we do some business together so you guys can buy this? And then they buy it and the whole thing. There's like, a quote from Jeff who says. He describes the agreement and says that they're each going to use the piece of art for two years, and then the other one gets it for two years, every two years until death. That's the contract they signed, passing this

[A]

piece of art back and forth together. But then again, with the way it's Epstein, you're like, yeah, that's me.

[B]

And I'm like, I don't know.

[A]

Like, why the fuck would you go to Jeff Epstein for that?

[B]

Listen, this is just.

[A]

By the way, the deal he came up with that is. I swear to God, that's like a fantasy draft trophy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's the same thing of like, oh, yeah, you both won the fantasy draft this year. Well, I guess we got to just. Every six months it stays your. Your house.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Then six months, it stays at mine.

[B]

You paid $25 million for it, though.

[A]

This is.

[B]

Who's Leon Black? Are you gonna explain that to me? Not.

[A]

I don't have the time.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I don't. It's just know that when they're talking right now, we're literally recording this as Prince Andrew was just arrested.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Leon Black's name has come up a lot in the Epstein files. There's been very specific allegations against him. His son also works in the Trump White House. So this is one of those things where there's like, again, because there's so many rich people and connected people who then have a lot of family members that are then used in these alliances. It. You can easily see the web together, and I'm not even gonna get the board for this, but you can start to see the web. But Leon's name specifically comes up around some really fucking horrific things.

[B]

Got it. So art is his passion outside of, like, this weird deal I found in the Epstein files.

[A]

Right. Yeah.

[B]

When it comes to Ronald Louder, he does love Art.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Art is his passion. But I think Ronald Louder's true love is Israel.

[A]

God damn it. Okay, okay.

[B]

All right, now listen. We literally do not have enough time to go into the hundreds of ways he has invested his time, money, and influence to support Israel. So I just want to do a blanket statement.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

He is a passionate about Israel and supports a lot of causes about Israel and also supports a lot of causes to fight anti Semitism.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So, like that. It's like a big part of his whole personality.

[A]

And a lot of this is tied in with very specifically Likud Netanyahu and Benjamin Netanyahu. Probably Benjamin Netanyahu's direct responses on how to weaponize anti Semitic when it comes to social media, all the different things.

[B]

This is why in 2022, when Trump was not president, he hosted far right short dork Nick Fuentes at Mar a Lago. Ron Louder, who was at the time the head of the World Jewish Congress, openly condemned Trump and potentially threatened to withhold future contributions, stating, quote, nick Fuentes is a virulent anti Semite and Holocaust denier, plain and simple. It is inconceivable that anyone would associate with him.

[A]

Got it. Okay. Yeah. So this was the moment when Trump had Kanye, he had Nick Fuentes, and he had Milo Yannalopoulos, though the three of them came down to Mar a Lago, and it was a very big moment.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It was what put Nick Fuentes on a lot of people's radar for the first time. Most some of us knew who he was. We were like, we're a little Nazi over. There was a weird little Nazi server. Yeah, there was that. But then it was also part of the Kanye freakout. The general Kanye freak out. And then Milo. It was also. You also just saw Milo coming back up. And this is right before Elon bought Twitter.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this is people, I think, at that point in time, I think that Milo and Nick Fuentes were both banned from Twitter at that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But they weren't banned from Mar a Lago. And so when that moment happened, this was actually a debate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Kind of between MAGA on the insane Zionists and Neo Nazis and which base to cater to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it sounds like Ronald Louder and Miriam Adelson won the debate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

With billions and millions of dollars.

[B]

Yeah. Can I just say something? So I'm writing this episode. Yeah. I was writing it, and I was again becoming frustrated because I just wanted to talk about Estee Lauder. And then when I saw Nick Fuentes, his name pop up, I got so mad.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I was like, I didn't want to be one of those episodes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you know that she invented gifts with purchase?

[A]

Who she?

[B]

Estee Lauder. Oh, Estee Lauder invented the idea of gift with purchase.

[A]

Okay, I understand. All right. She also apparently invented Ronald Louder, though. I know. I mean, like, that's kind of where the problem I have.

[B]

I know.

[A]

It's like. It just. I understand. We don't want to, you know, can't keep everybody based on the sins of everybody else. But, like, this is her son.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. So. But.

[A]

So he basically turned to Trump. He was like, you got to pick that. That. That weird twink. Neo Nazi.

[B]

Yeah. No, he didn't. As soon as Trump got back in the White House, Ronald Louder was back in, baby.

[A]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[B]

In March 2025, he gave $5 million to the Maga Incorporated super PAC.

[A]

I love that. It's called Maga, Inc. Yeah. That's crazy.

[B]

Maga, Inc. Pack.

[A]

Yeah. MAGA Inc. Is crazy. Like, that's straight up, like, gangster shit. Yeah, like. Like, back when. Back when you had, like, rappers, remember when they're like, it's gangster rap, and they'd be like, oh, my God, over here, Murder Row, and all this different stuff. Stuff. It was like, if you had one just called maga, Inc. He'd be like, here they come. Yeah, they can't keep a beat, but they do, for some reason, control our government and hang out with pedophiles.

[B]

Ronald Louder was reportedly among the guests at an exclusive candle at dinner with the president. Tickets were $1 million each. $1 million payable to MAGA Incorporated.

[A]

Make the check out to cash. No. Maga, Inc. I fucking. It's so crazy. It's just so crazy. Like, the part that's wild is this would be funny if this was 60 years ago.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, if this was, like, years and years ago. But instead I'm like, oh, and they're currently in charge.

[B]

Great, great, great, great, great.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Weeks.

[A]

We have to pay taxes. Do you know that?

[B]

Do we?

[A]

I mean, just saying, like, that's just the thing.

[B]

Weeks after Louder's MAGA incorporated donations, the U.S. and the Ukraine signed a deal to jointly exploit Ukraine's minerals.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

The lithium deposit was the first to be tendered under the minerals deal.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

This month, the Ronald Louder consortium reportedly won rights to it.

[A]

To the. To the Ukrainian lithium deposit.

[B]

Yeah, that's according to the Guardian.

[A]

You know what's crazy is so lithium's needed for batteries and stuff like that, especially in evs and things.

[B]

Things.

[A]

And it's used in a lot of different stuff. But actually, there's a very interesting thing that's happened, which is we just found $1.5 trillion worth of lithium in the United States underneath a. A super volcano.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So everyone's like. But it's. It's one of those things. You're like, how rare is anything? There's always this moment. It's like when we ran out, we thought, we're gonna run out of helium.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

We recently found there's a meme about it. It's like this cycle of we're running out of this thing, and then some farmer stubs their toe on the biggest deposit ever known of it in America because, you know, we are a continent. So.

[B]

So, yeah, Zelinsky even came out and named Louder Iran. Louder. As part of this, like, consortium that's hoping to exploit lithium.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he, like, came out and was like, I can't deal with you guys, like Bubba. But, yeah, I mean, like, it does.

[A]

I remember this. I remember when this contract was starting to come up, this whole thing. Because there was a whole thing about, like, the Ukraine, Russian deal they're trying to work towards and part. And also for the United States to keep backing Ukraine.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We did mafia tactics. And by we, I mean Donald Trump. And he straight up was like, if you want us to keep giving you guns, then give us your shit. Yeah, like, that was straight up his way.

[B]

If you want me to remove ice from your city, give me your voter rolls.

[A]

Yeah, it's that same thing.

[B]

So mafia, but it's.

[A]

It's. Yeah. Maga, Inc. Baby. MAGA, Inc. We got the paper. We're being run by the PayPal mafia. Maga, Inc. And then a cabal of fucking email nerds.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Fucking bunch of incel. Email nerds sitting around all day. I had so much fun at your island, Jeff. I'm having Jeffrey Epstein withdraw you fucking bags of shit. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew's the one that's the one that's in cuffs. Andy from Norfolk.

[B]

I can't even get mad at you for bringing all this up because I brought it up.

[A]

You brought it up.

[B]

I just wanted to talk. Say, Lauder. No. Can I tell you what happened?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, listen. How about this? We'll take a break, and when we

[A]

come back, everything smells lemony fresh.

[B]

I don't think you cleaned that bottle.

[A]

I haven't cleaned it well enough.

[B]

Like, we'll take a break. We come back. I want to talk to you a little bit about Estee Lauder.

[A]

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[B]

Thank goodness.

[A]

Yeah. Because you know what's happened over time, so many services have switched to subscription auto renewals to get a discount here or there or other different things that I didn't even realize I signed up for. To save a couple bucks. That's cost me hundreds of dollars in other places.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you've wanted to tell me now about Estee Lauder. You've actually wanted to tell me about her for a very long time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But more importantly than that, you've been wanting to talk about her this. This entire episode. The whole time I thought, son is a bag of.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you. You front loaded it with, here's her bag of shit, son.

[B]

Because it's. It. It matters more because he has his finger in the sauce of Donald Trump.

[A]

Yeah. Well, yeah, exactly. I mean, yeah. 100. He's actually.

[B]

And Estee Lauder is not alive anymore.

[A]

Yeah. She's dead.

[B]

So I was like, well, I need to talk about what's happening now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it was upsetting because I was. I. But I want to tell you a little bit about her.

[A]

Okay. Tell me about Estee Lauder.

[B]

Okay, so Estee Lauder was born Josephine Esther Mentzer in Queens, New York, in 1908.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Hungarian, Jewish immigrants. That's her family.

[A]

Okay, got it.

[B]

Now, when Estee Lauder like, kind of put out her biography statements and all of her information, she claimed to be a descendant of European aristocracy. However, that was not true. She just added a little accent mark above her name for. For flair and lore. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. But it's also. This was also a time, though. This is way before 23andMe and Ancestry.com.

[B]

yeah.

[A]

About last time episode and all these other different things where, like, listen, there are people out there. Pretend to be Anastasia.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, like, people would show up in America and, like, back home, I'm a prince.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And everyone's like, oh, rich, come to my island, though. But more importantly, though, is like, People would show up all the time and they would pose as royals. There's a whole thing too, of like, there was a guy recently, I think he was posing as like a Rothschild. There's always different people. It's getting less and less now because now you just go look up, that person's LinkedIn. It says, like, I know that you said that you were like Austrian royalty, but it said here that you worked at Burger king.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. LinkedIn, Burger King.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's very Anna Delvey. Do you know Anna Delvey?

[A]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. But again, those type of people, like, get caught now because of a couple searches.

[B]

But now she's an icon. People love Anna.

[A]

Well, yeah, because it's like that catch me with you can guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Remember that guy? Like, apparently that whole thing, by the way, was also fake.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

Yeah. A lot of that's the catch me if you can storyline is all like, horseshit that he made up. But, you know, again, it's like a con artist telling you he was even better con artist than he was.

[B]

The whole country is built on con artists.

[A]

Well, it's. I can't really complain too much. Yeah. Like legit. Like, we are being run by maga Inc. Yeah. So. So Estee Lauder.

[B]

Estee Lauder.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

She became interested in beauty as a young girl. Her uncle was a chemist who had come to live with the family, and he would create velvety skin creams at home in the kitchen. And then they had like, a stable out back of the family house, and he turned that into like a laboratory. So from her uncle, she learned how to formulate skin creams.

[A]

Can I tell you something?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Just real fast on this. It's. It's a thing I thought about a lot because my dad's a chemist. He's got a doctorate in chemistry, and I took chemistry at high school and stuff like that. We got away from a world of chemistry sets. Like the, like the little kid chemistry sets. Yeah. Like, I. When I used to watch, like, cartoons in the 50s and 60s, they'd always be, they get the little chemistry set and like, the kids would accidentally build a bomb or something like that. You know what I mean? But they were like, oh, the safety, the safety, the safety. And I feel like we've gotten so far away from, like, the garage chemistry lab.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, we have them, they're called meth labs. But. But I feel like it's because of the facility aspect of it.

[B]

I think it's, it's. It's the. It has to do something. With like, how the people. I don't know, like, I don't want to say like the cabal.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But like, there is definitely a push for anti intellectualism, but to the point of like, we don't make little kids sets like that for chemistry. But when you go to the toy store, it's a shopping cart, like a Target branded shopping cart. Or like I was at the Aldi and then the Aldi middle section, they had the cash register as the play toy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you could get an Aldi shopping cart and a cash register.

[A]

So you can play Aldi.

[B]

So you can play Aldi, but there's not a chemistry set. You know what I mean? Like, there's just like a different thing.

[A]

I think there's. I think it's that. But also, I think, like, logistically things have changed. I feel like back in the day you could like go to a place and be like, yeah, I need sodium chloride. And then just like handy, like a bit. Here's a bag of it.

[B]

Also, you could go to a toy store.

[A]

Huh?

[B]

Also you could go to a toy store.

[A]

That's true. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

You got to take your kid to the dog store.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. We took our kid. We took our toddler to a petsmart.

[B]

Yeah. And the aquarium.

[A]

Real. Exactly. Real fast. To all the parents out there, you got a real little. And you don't want to spend aquarium money. You don't want to waste your time trying to find parking at the zoo. Take that kid until they're three. Take them to a Petco or a PetSmart. It says aquariums. They had a. They had kitty day that day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They had a bunch of cats, kitty cat, dog. And there are people with dogs. And then when he walked down the toy aisle, he was amazed because first thing, it was just all the toys are bright.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And they're dog toys.

[B]

So it's like, it was like, it was so funny because, like, other than stores we don't go to anymore.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There are not really, like, toy stores, toy aisles. But there's like at the. I was cracking it because at the dog store there was Buzz Lightyear and Woody and Disney branded toys. And the baby's just like, like what? And he's never been to, like, a toy store.

[A]

But also, but also there was nothing chokable because of the dogs. So like, like, like. But that's the thing is like, when we take the kid, like we go to Barnes and Noble. Right. We'll go to Barnes and. No, Barnes and Noble now is like half A toy store.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we'll go there. And I'm like, okay, there is, like a. There's an age appropriate aisle for him, but obviously he doesn't want to be down that aisle. The one around the corner. That's the aisle he wants to be in with all the pointiest, chokeable list, little tiny cars and trucks and all those different things in there. And I'm just like, ah, guinea pigs.

[B]

He really wants a guinea pig. Yeah, he thinks that's really cool. He was like, what is that thing? I like that.

[A]

No, that's not happening. We're not doing guinea pigs. I don't know. There's just something.

[B]

I think we should definitely let someone who's two years old decide how.

[A]

No, it's not that. I've always just had a weird thing with guinea pigs.

[B]

I don't know what they are because they're delicious.

[A]

No, it's not that. It's just more of like a rat. I understand.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A hamster. A ferret. I understand. I don't know what a guinea pig is good for.

[B]

They're the same thing. There's like, cute little critters.

[A]

I don't. I don't.

[B]

Rats are smart, though.

[A]

I know. I feel.

[B]

Rats are small.

[A]

I feel like you can teach a rat a trick. I feel like I've dealt with ferrets.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That at least have. Seem to have a skill. Right. Hamsters are at least tiny.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so when I get to guinea pig size, I'm like, just get a rabbit.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Because it feels like. It feels like. Honestly, can I tell you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It feels like they're stealing the jobs of perfectly good American rabbits. That's why I think the guinea pigs are doing.

[B]

You know what else is delicious? Rabbits.

[A]

You know, during Lent, guinea pigs are not considered. They are, like, considered fish.

[B]

Really?

[A]

There's like a Catholic dispensation around.

[B]

That's incredible.

[A]

Yeah. For South America. It's like, crazy. All right.

[B]

It's incredible.

[A]

All right, go ahead. Back to Estee. Louder, though.

[B]

I don't. I don't. We're never gonna get through Estee Lauder.

[A]

Yeah, we'll try.

[B]

Okay. So she meets her husband, Joseph. Louder. Originally, his last name was spelled L, A, U T E, R. But they. When they moved to New York City, he actually changed his last name to correct the misspelling. From when they immigrated from Austria.

[A]

Got it. So it was louder. And he was like, actually, it's louder.

[B]

He fixed it.

[A]

He was going back to the European. That's a very common story. But about everybody who came through Ellis island or Baltimore, my family came in through.

[B]

But you can see that this is where we get the Austria.

[A]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Because they're Austrian. His dad is.

[A]

Oh, the dad is Austrian because. But Este herself was Hungarian.

[B]

Hungarian Jewish.

[A]

But when they left, that was all the same empire.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Cuz it was the Austro Hungarian Empire.

[B]

See?

[A]

One empire, two kingdoms. Hey, look at. Hold on. There we go.

[B]

So the they welcomed their first son, Leonard.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

In 1933. Estee did not let motherhood slow her down. She started to really develop her beauty business. She divorced her husband in 1939. She divorced him in 1939, but then they got remarried three years later. And in 1944, she gave birth to their second son, Ronald.

[A]

Oh, God. So there was actually. There. We had a chance.

[B]

We had a chance.

[A]

All right, everybody, if any, Listen to me. If any experimental physicists are watching this show, a lot of people think about different things that we could do. Go back in time. I could stop this thing. We'll go save Harambe. Right? Any of those things. Now you go back to 1939 and you make Estee Lauder's divorce stick. Stick. Okay? You go back there and you fall in love with her.

[B]

Yeah. You show her romancer.

[A]

Romancer, Real good romance scammer. Show, you know what?

[B]

Show me the crypto.

[A]

Bring her, Bring an iPad. Show her the first three episodes of Heated Rivalry. All right. Show her a different world. Actually, I might scare her back.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No, never know.

[B]

No way. Number one, what's an iPad?

[A]

Imagine going back and I'm like, I know. I'll show them this piece of media and that'll change their mind the whole time. Like, how are you holding a thin television? Like the size of a paper.

[B]

She loved television, though. We're going to get into. Okay, okay. So Estee begins selling skincare and makeup at beauty salons. She would go to a beauty salon, hair salon or whatever, and she'd have her creams with her. And while the women were like, sitting under the hairdryer, she'd be like, oh, my God. Like, let me, let me just put some cream on you. You're gonna love it.

[A]

Like, I swear to God, I love this. Can I tell you, it's so insane to me because again, from living in the city like this, we used to do like, like, I, I, this is gonna sound insane, but white people used to do this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And they all, as, as all the beauty salons got corporatized, all these different places. No, that's not what we do here. That's not what we do here. As that happened, it has killed innovation in this country.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is the reason why, like, if you go into a black barber shop, you can get bootleg DVDs and you can get oils and you can have conversations and all these different things.

[B]

I know you can get skin care and hair care made by local people

[A]

in your community that are tied in through that. Like, that place is a nexus, this point.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Versus if you go into a white salon, everything is under complete, strict control because everything has to go through the same point of sale system.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because they view somebody coming in and doing a skincare thing like that as a. We could have Estee Lauder do it, or we could go partner with this mega corp over here and have it come in and. Oh, we'll put a big.

[B]

And then I'll take a commission and

[A]

we'll put a big AI screen on the side and we can show people the different skincare that they could do, and then we can ship it off and have a drop ship.

[B]

So she's doing this thing at the hair salons. She's. She's rubbing her lotions everywhere. One of the things she's really trying to do is get her products into department stores. Of course, department stores is where she wants to be. We talked about this in the Macy's episode.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Having a little spot in a department store is where the money is at.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And she actually, now, this is lore. This is like, her story told by her is that she met with one of the executives at Saks Fifth Avenue.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it was a female executive in, like, the beauty department. And she literally was like, I just want to, like, let me just put my cream on your face for you. And the whole thing is Estee Lauder. I don't know if they had, like, full estheticians back then, like licensed estheticians, but she understood the idea of facial massage. So she did, like, a facial massage. Probably did a little bit of lymphatic draining, got the. Got the creams in there. And then after she put the cream on her face, she applied a little bit of makeup so the woman's skin looked really nice. And because of that, the buyer from Saks Fifth Avenue was like, immediately, yes, we want to buy 800 worth of your product, Bubba. And that was her endpoint to the department store.

[A]

And once you're in Saks. Yeah, that's again, the other thing, too, with the department stores, which I feel like we've lost because of Amazon particular and Walmart Yeah. Their web stores have destroyed this. There was a point in time where you could go to certain stores and if that store carried it, it was like a stamp of approval.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That this was a quality product that wouldn't hurt you. Like there was a time I remember, like being able to even go on Amazon and you felt like, oh, this was versus being on like the rest of the Internet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The reason, one of the reasons you went to Amazon before, the logistics and the two day shipping and all that shit. It was you went to it because there was a feeling. Don't know how true it was, but there was a feeling that someone at Amazon has vetted this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But at least also, if there was an issue, I could go send it back through Amazon versus going to, you know, Kyle's butt plugs.com or whatever. You know what I mean? Like, we don't know who Kyle is, but Jeff Bezos. Oh, wow. Like, there was like a different feeling about Amazon versus that. And it's the same thing with Saks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like Saks Fifth Avenue versus like a corner feed store.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's just the difference. Same thing with Macy's and all these others. But the fact also. But Sax has always been high end.

[B]

Yeah. Sax has always, always been.

[A]

Always, always. So. So the fact that she went from out of her bag.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At the salon.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To like, like random women are in curlers under the big dome thing. And this lady comes up. I'm gonna get you.

[B]

I need to tell you something.

[A]

I'm gonna get you in my crazy.

[B]

Under the thing. And a woman comes up and is trying to sell me lotions. Ointment. I'm in.

[A]

Because you can't go anywhere.

[B]

No, not because of that. Because we don't do it anymore. I've talked about this on a previous episode because I remember people commenting about it is that I love personally to be upsold. Like when I go to the hair salon and they're like, do you want to pay the extra 15 for the rosemary oil scalp massage? Yes. Or like when we're doing the hair, we're done my hair. And she's using this spray and she's like, I think, I think, oh. She says, I think that like, this spray would be really good for your hair. Blah, blah. And like explains to me what it is and how to use it. Yeah. I'm buying it. They don't do that at hair salons or any other type of beauty salon anymore.

[A]

Well, and part of that is because the feel. Part of that's because They've max paid all of us.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They've gone and they found what the breaking point is on prices for whether it be our homes or our food or anything else. It used to be if we go past this certain point, we won't sell as many units. And they stopped caring about the unit sales because they realized, oh, we can make up for them by just charging more to everybody. And, yeah, we'll lose that 2% over here. That 2% can't afford it anymore. They're not trying to sell as many units as possible. They're trying to make as much money as possible. And that switch is what's fundamentally broken our country.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When you look at the one big one everyone keeps pointing to is Chipotle. Chipotle has recently said they're going to aim for more of an upper middle class market because they don't want to sell as many burritos at a lower price.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They want to sell less burritos for more than more burritos for less. And that's their entire view of it. And it's just like such garbage shit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because that's not how you feed people and that's not how you actually process anything.

[B]

Yeah. But I also think I'm coming up from the perspective of, like, I love the experience of like, the department store experience. Wait, let me finish. Okay. The department store experience that, like, doesn't exist anymore, really. Which is like, you went to a counter and you the. A woman who was. Who was very knowledgeable and all the stuff that was being sold would explain to you in detail how each item worked. You would test it, you would feel it, you would smell it. It was like a whole little adventure. And the thing is, that's the thing I love about going to a salon. A spa used to be a part of a department store. Like, I love that at Estee Lauder fundamentally, like, invented this.

[A]

Yeah, I understand that and that's what I was going to say. But. But also, I think what you aren't cacing right now is like, what about mineral rights extraction instead? Okay, what about mineral rights extraction? So then we can build AIs? So then instead of us having to worry about what we're doing here in the flesh world with our meat bodies and trying to impress each other, we can impress an AI girlfriend that exists in my oculus rift that is tied to my goon chair. Because that is where the future is, everybody. That's why.

[B]

That's why this part of the episode is about Estee Lauder and I'M not gonna let you ruin it with whatever gooning is.

[A]

I'm not. Okay, first thing, I don't need to. I'm not explaining it. But the second thing is, though, is that's also just the shift in time and the difference.

[B]

Difference.

[A]

I think there was a time where people actually truly cared about half these things you're talking about because they cared about living in this moment. And instead we've all actually disconnected into a fantasy world of the Internet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think that's where things are, like, coming down to of like, oh, how do I fill this bit of time over here? So I look good for this fake number and I get this dopamine receptor over here during this time that matters more to me than helping my community, than living in a better world with cleaner water or just having nice skin.

[B]

Nice skin.

[A]

You know, especially when you can just go to turkey.

[B]

Okay, we're not going to turkey, but

[A]

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[B]

Thank you.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That's. That's my new year's resolution, right?

[B]

Yeah. Okay. In February. So, okay, she gets in the department store.

[A]

Estee Lauder, right? Yeah.

[B]

Estee Lauder gets in the department store. And the thing is, they don't Have. She doesn't have marketing the same way we do. Right. Like, it doesn't exist. Like you said, there's not iPads with Instagram ads and all this stuff. And she doesn't have a lot of money to put behind advertising. Right. So she goes to, like a big advertising company, like from, like that TV show with Jon Hamm, Mad Men, she goes, like, to like the Mad Men thing down in New York, and she meets up with this PR agency, advertising agency, and they're like, number one, you can't afford us. And we don't think that your. Your product is worth the amount of money that you'd have to put behind this, Bubba. And they're basically really brush her off. And she takes this personally because she

[A]

takes rejection as redirection.

[B]

Yes. So she decides that she's going to come up with her own marketing campaign because she's like, she has this much money to spend, and she can either give it to this marketing company that she fucking doesn't like and do traditional marketing, or she can take this money and invest it in a new way of. Of marketing. And so what she does is she uses that money that was for marketing, and she makes. She creates tiny, tiny samples of all of her products. And so whenever someone comes to the counter at Saks Fifth Avenue or whatever she is, and gets like a bottle of the Estee Lauder cream, they always get two free samples of something else. A powder, a little lipstick, a little blush. And so this is her marketing. She's like, I'm gonna invest in making teeny, tiny products that I give out to everybody. And she immediately saw people come back because they would go home with their cream, and then they come back and they'd be like, what was that lipstick you gave me? And then they'd buy the lipstick, and then when they got the lipstick, they'd get two other free samples. Bing, bang, boom. We just keep it going. So she had this motto that she lived by, because again, she's in her own sphere when it comes to marketing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And she said there are three ways to communicate. Telephone, television, and tell a woman.

[A]

Wow. So she went through and did basically a whisper campaign for herself.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

She set up word of mouth.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Through the samples.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And how that spread.

[B]

And like, this is very much what she learned at the beauty salons.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

It's like face to face with women. You have to tell the women. She said you have to tell the customers. This is how you use the cream. This is what it's. What it's going to do for you. This is how you put on the powder. This is how you put on the lipstick. Baba. So she was really into the idea of communicating with the customer directly, and she understood that the marketing was a word of mouth campaign with women.

[A]

Got it. You know what's funny is I've heard that saying before.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. What was the one you said? It was tele.

[B]

It was telephone, television and telewoman.

[A]

Yeah, I've heard it. Except it was about wrestling. What it was? Yeah, it was from a pro wrestling podcast where they would have these, like, old guys come on. And the one they always say over and over, over again, like if you want a rumor to spread is telephone. Tell a friend. Tell a wrestler. Because he's like, any piece of information about a pro wrestler would hear it. They immediately, immediately would like, pick up the phone and they'd start calling, like journalists, like dirt sheet writers. Yeah. Or they would tell other wrestlers. They're like, nothing. Like, everything leaks. And wrestling.

[B]

Wrestling, yeah.

[A]

Be like, oh, I think that thing was this. No, it wasn't. That was Steve the whole time. Like, it wasn't that masked man. That's actually the right one. So that's very funny. That. That's.

[B]

That's Estee Lauder.

[A]

Estee lauder.

[B]

So in 1953, around the. In the 50s, right. Most American women saved the purchase of fragrance. So the idea of buying a perfume was very much a special occasion treat. You would get a perfume for your birthday, an anniversary, if Christmas, things like that. Yeah. But Estee wanted to find a way for women to buy their own perfume. Right. She wants to sell to women, not to a man to buy the perfume for her.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

So what she does is she creates, which is very. You probably don't know this, but it's a very famous scent called Youth Dew, spelled D, E, W. Okay. And what she did is she made it into a bath oil scent. So you would put the scented bath oil in. In your water and it would actually perfume your skin. So when you got out of the bath, the perfume was already on your skin, and it was a blend of rose, jasmine, vetiver and patchouli. And this idea of a woman being able to purchase her own perfume, it's not like I'm spraying myself with it. It's different. It's a bath oil.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And it took the industry by storm. It literally built. Took the company from, like, what we would deem like a startup to a multimillion dollar company, like, within a year.

[A]

That's crazy. So this is very similar to me of the idea of, like, bath bo Bombs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I think about them, and not because of the perfume part. I think about the fact of. Of, again, what you're saying. So the. The women. Women weren't supposed to go to the perfumist.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because those guys were basically chemists.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so that was supposed to be two men talking because they're talking about technical jargon. They come in and be like, oh, well, you said, I just get a little bit of this, and I use this. I have to drop a little bit the amber ghee and all this other stuff.

[B]

And.

[A]

Oh, a woman's brain could never possibly follow through with any of these different things we were talking about. Got fragrance here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No, you, the discernible gentleman, must pick the smell that you wish to smell on your wife as you ravage on her birthday.

[B]

Oh, Jesus.

[A]

Yeah. But anyway, that was the thought process. The reverse of that, though, is bath bombs. Because bath bombs are bubble bath. They are nickelodeon gak bubble bath. Every time I've ever seen a bath bomb, it is never a color that I would say is adult. Yeah. It is always a purple. It's a neon green. It's an orange. It's always a thing. And you throw it in there, and it fizzes.

[B]

It's incredible.

[A]

And it makes big foam.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

And it smells often kooky.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Bath bomb smells are kooky.

[B]

Sometimes they're kooky.

[A]

And so you take all that different stuff. But again, she's doing this for, like, no, but then you'll be erudite, and it doesn't feel good, and. And you'll, like. It'll just smell you like. Because obviously she's crafting a smell she likes which other women will like. It's just so funny.

[B]

So after you stew blows up, it's

[A]

so crazy that if. That. If that. She didn't create that. That Greenland would be safe.

[B]

Okay. So the business continues to thrive over the next decade, and as it expands. So again, we're in a department store. You had a picture department store. Specifically the beauty section. The section you always try to rush

[A]

me out of because I get headaches from the perfume.

[B]

I know, and I don't care. I want to touch and smell things.

[A]

It's the mix of all the perfumes. Always been a thing for me. I know. And I, I. And I go past you just go to the shoes.

[B]

You're like, I'll be over here. And I'm like, oh, let me touch on this.

[A]

It smells like leather.

[B]

So here's the thing. Estee and her husband are running the company. Okay. Together they run it. And then Leonard, the older son, he's also really involved. He's like the executive, Right. His wife is also really involved. I forget her name. I don't think I wrote it down. But Leonard and his wife and Sa and Joe, these are the four people really doing stuff. Ronald is there. He's not as involved. He's very worried about Austria or something.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Okay. But so Leonard has this idea of, let's call it like pseudo competition. Right? So basically, you know how when you're in those beauty counters, you're like, this one is Estee Lauder. This one is Clinique. This one is Aramis. This is this. Right. And they're all the different places you can go to try all the stuff. Right. A lot of those are just offshoots of Estee Lauder. They created this idea of competition, but the Estee Lauder was across from Clinique. They owned Clinique.

[A]

It's a subsidiary.

[B]

Yes. And so basically, Estee Lauder, Estee herself was like, we need to make creams and lotions and face washes that are unscented for people that are allergic to scent. And that's where Clinique comes from. The idea of Clinique is very clean. It's for people that have skin allergies, things like that. But she didn't want to put it in the Estee Lauder line because Estee Lauder is known for it's scent. So they bought the next kiosk over and created this idea of like, well, we're different than Clinique. And it's like they are owned by the same people. And then RMS is a one that was made for men because they were like, well, we're not selling the men. And the Armis one's great because if you look at Pictures from the 80s, the men have like the little strappies on their thing. They're like old barbershop guys. Because men were so weird about buying cosmetics that they had to make it, like, really masculine. So they had like, like handlebar mustaches and the arm things, and they're like, this is a lotion for your face. And the men are like, ah. And then they did Origins. They did all kinds of. All the different brands were just Estee Lauder expanding. What?

[A]

I'm just mad. I'm just mad, man. No, it's fine. They're not. They're not the first ones to do It. I mean, I feel like other companies have done this. I mean, I know other companies have done this. Just how often do you go down an aisle and you're like, unilever again?

[B]

Yeah, it's always Unilever.

[A]

It's always Unilever. But, like, it's. It's that same sort of thing again, where they faked competition. I mean, not to bring it back to wrestling.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But I can. When WWE was the number one wrestling company, like the only wrestling company, basically, In America, Vince McMahon realized immediately they had an issue, which is that you had before you had WWWE fight, fighting WCW.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so there was a competition between the Coke, Pepsi type of idea. And so people had brand loyalty to one or the other. So he took his own company. We had. WWE was the main company, and then he divided the brands and he had Monday Night Raw over here and smackdown over here. A red brand and a blue band brand. So therefore, you could watch which one Raw might be a little bit more raunchy, but the blue one is a little bit more family friendly. Because Raw is on cable, but the blue brand is over on broadcast. And so is that same idea that you're talking about. Oh, my God. Oh, my.

[B]

This is like Estee Lauder. As of right now, like to jump forward.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They own Clinique. Bobby Brown, too. Faced smashbox origins, Dr. Jart, the Ordinary, Lemaire, Aveda, Bumble and Bumble, Joe Lamone, Le Labo, Killian, Tom Ford, Aaron and Mac.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because they've gobbled up. They started their own fake competition with their brands, but then they did eventually start buying other brands and gobbling them up.

[A]

Well, this is also very similar, also to car. You know, that's what I was thinking about. It was car companies. Car companies. Car companies did this. Have been doing this forever. And so, yeah, there's a lot of copying off of that. But again, this is also just this type of stuff that you learn at UPENN in the Wharton School of Business. Just go. So fake, fake competition. Pretend you're not a monopoly.

[B]

So listen, I have just a couple more things.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Okay. Okay. Stop being so upset.

[A]

I'm not. It's okay. I'm not upset at you. I'm upset at information. Does that make sense?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Ronald. Remember I told you that Ronald had two daughters?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Okay. They're both executives at Estee Lauder currently.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

There's one lady, her name is Erin. A E, R, I, N. Okay, Aaron. Now this is funny. And I laughed really hard when I saw this because There is a company that Estee Lauder owns called Aaron, and it's like a fragrance company brand. And so I looked it up. She is the, like, executive of that brand. She named it after herself. An incredible move. Listen, Estee Lauder did it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This is just family stuff. You just name it after yourself. But then. Okay, there's another. There's Aaron and Jane. Guys, that's crazy.

[A]

That's a while.

[B]

That's Aaron and Jane.

[A]

This is like my kids. Moon unit and Steve. Yeah.

[B]

So anyway, Jane. Jane is also an executive within Estee Lauder and she's married to a man named Kevin Warsh. Do you know Kevin Warsh is.

[A]

Why does that name sound familiar?

[B]

He is going to be nominated by Donald Trump to be the chair of the Federal Reserve.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

When Powell's term expires in 2020.

[A]

And he's in the Epstein files. He's in the Epstein files too. It was like a huge thing that came in there. Like you just said this guy's name yesterday.

[B]

What? That's Jane's husband.

[A]

Jane, what are you doing? Also, you can't really talk too much on the Aaron.

[B]

No.

[A]

For being the CEO of Aaron.

[B]

Why?

[A]

Because Pearlmania500.net you can join to support us on Patreon and get ad free content. Yeah. And find out more information about like, future tour dates and other fun things.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And get access to some of our Patreon paywalled podcasts. What's more, parasocial Pearl Maniac passions.

[B]

Good job. I'm really proud of you.

[A]

Thank you. I got it in there.

[B]

1973. Louder. Reduces her role at the company from day to day operations. She resigns her post as president, but stays on as chairman of the board. Her oldest son, Leonard, takes over running the family business.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Joseph passes away in 1983. And the death of her beloved husband, Joseph. What she does to honor his legacy and name is she creates an institute. The Institute of Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The Louder Institute.

[A]

Shut the fuck up. She. Okay, wait. He died in 83. Yeah. How do you always bring it back to Philadelphia?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

I don't know how you're able to do this. I don't. Is it.

[B]

No, I didn't mean to. I'm gonna talk about lipsticks.

[A]

Six degrees of Kevin Bacon, whose dad designed Love park, mind you.

[B]

Yeah. In Philadelphia, which is insane.

[A]

Ah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But that's really my last piece of information.

[A]

Okay. I.

[B]

How you feeling?

[A]

Bad. What do you want from me? I don't know, I feel terrible. I feel terrible. I mean, it's just so bad.

[B]

We gotta give people a light note to leave the episode on.

[A]

It's. It's the fact that you tied it all together. And now I'm slowly starting to realize that, like Ronald Louder's son in law is going to be the chairman of the Federal Reserve who will be the one who set future mortgage rates.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

As the entire economy collapses. Because Ronald Lauder's best friend is a president who is trying to distract everyone from the Epstein files.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So he's going to invade Greenland probably or something. I don't know. By the time this app comes out. But listen, by the time this comes out, we probably will have bombed Iran again.

[B]

Okay, Shh. So here's something I want to bring up. A little bit of a controversial take. I have. Have.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Can I speak?

[A]

I mean, it's a podcast.

[B]

Well, no. So here's the thing. A lot of people right now on the Internet, understandably so, is like this idea that everything we consume is political. Right. And so many people online have been calling for people to boycott Estee Lauder as a brand.

[A]

Yeah. I remember seeing this.

[B]

Yes. And because not only is he in the Epstein files, he has made huge donations to Israel. And so people have been saying for a while, like, you should boycott Estee Lauder and Estee Lauder brands. Yes, right. And I have. I agree with that, actually. I'm like, listen, I'm not buying Clinique. I'm not buying Bobby Brown. I. I'm doing. I'm not doing those things. But here's my. This is my controversial take.

[A]

All right.

[B]

This is my controversial take. And in the comments, let me know if you disagree.

[A]

Lighter up.

[B]

Whatever. There's a gray area, a nuance discussion to be had about a specific brand.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And that's Mac.

[A]

What about Mac?

[B]

Okay. Mac Cosmetics was purchased by Estee Lauder.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. And so I've seen people online being like, we should boycott Mac. Boycott Mac. Which is fine. If you want to boycott Mac, do it. I personally don't feel like we should. Or I'm going to. I'm not going to boycott Mac for a very specific reason.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Mac, in my experience, I've been a Mac customer for like 30 years. One of the first lipsticks I ever purchased in my life, I bought at Mac. I went and got my makeup done by Mac for our wedding. I still have the blush that I wore to our wedding. And like a secret area where I'm never gonna use it, like I really love Mac, and the thing that I have always loved about Mac is they had inclusion and DEI before anybody had a name for it, you know? And so Mac is a huge employer of the LGBTQ people of color. It is a creative and safe company for people from these marginalized groups to have jobs and income where they get to be creative. Like, every person I've ever known that works at Mac is, like, loves it. They're obsessed with their job at Mac. They love all the training they get. They. They go on to be like, do a lot of beauty makeup, maybe work in film and movies. Like, a lot of your favorite people that make content around beauty worked at Mac growing up. Like, I even know Trixie Mattel worked at Mac.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Like, Mac teaches a lot of people how to do makeup, and it's such a specific, safe environment for groups of people that have a hard time finding employment in certain places. And so, for me, I feel like I don't want to take my dollar out of Mac when I want to keep the, you know, 14,000 employees they have employed. You know what? I don't want to hurt people on the ground like, that are. That. That's their job, and they love their job. And, like, I don't know. It's like, my brain is like, there are a lot of companies that people work at that they have bosses that are doing things. And I don't think that just because Ronald Louder sucks that that the LGBTQ+ community that works at Mac should suffer or potentially lose income. Come. And I feel like that's a really, like. Like thing to say that people might not agree with.

[A]

Well, I think it's. It's a difficult thing to be clipped.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, it's a difficult thing.

[B]

Don't clip it.

[A]

No. But it's also. It's a difficult thing like. Like standing on its own. Because these days, when it comes to any sort of thought around everything, it gets down to one or two sentences. Yeah, Right. And the other side of it, though, is, as we've talked about on the show repeatedly, when we talk about this mega level of wealth, when we talk about the size of these corporations, when we talk about the. The international conglomerates, there's almost a part of you where you almost can't get away.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A lot of people try to remind everyone all the time, there's no ethical consumption under capitalism.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

You try to remind it. You know, you try to get reminded about it because there are choices. There are plenty of people who go to Target every single day.

[B]

That's Crazy.

[A]

We aren't one of them. But there are people who we can argue about that, that there's all these different sides. So I understand. I hear where you're coming from.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People are going to disagree.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're welcome to.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

That's all there is to it. And I have been informed before we recorded this show that the woker makeup is actually Mac makeup. So I can't say because we went to a store. I had no idea. But also I had no idea about the Estee Lauder. And it's usually aimed specifically at Mac. Over everybody else is the ones brought up up. Because the people who they typically get specifically Chapel Roan.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

For a Mac spokesperson.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Are people who are also more likely to speak out. So this would be very similar to. I was looking at something pretty recently and who's the guy played Incredible Hulk?

[B]

Oh, oh, I don't know.

[A]

Mark Ruffalo.

[B]

Mark Ruffalo.

[A]

I was doing a thing and I looked and they said, oh, they had a thing from Mark Ruffalo. And then my next thought was like, well, Mark Ruffalo is for it. It must be okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Then I went, oh, that's exactly how this works for sponsors. Like, that's exactly how this works. But some people will see stuff and go, oh, I, you know, I trust this person's politics. And then they take. Take a stand for a company or they become a spokesperson or they take a job and then what that kind of looks like somewhere else. And they try to look at putting things together. But you know, it's when you look at those things and you ask yourself, what has the owner of the company you work for do every single day when they go back out there again? I'm not. We're not saying it's good.

[B]

I'm not. No, no. I'm just saying on a personal level, like I, I know so many people that work at Mac, so many friends, and I personally don't want to like divest my small amount of money that I put into purchasing cosmetics, potentially making it so that they can't make rent or that they can't go on a vacation or do whatever they do with

[A]

their money, which would just leave more right wing coded things in the space.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's just how that goes.

[B]

And I also am just like, listen, I buy my Viva Glam lipstick. You know that the Viva Glam has donated over $540 million to different non profits that help people with AIDS.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah. So this thing is like, I. I'm personally, just like I will boycott all the other Estee Lauder brands, but I just like, there's something in my brain that's like, I don't want to hurt the staff of Mac. And I know that's controversial, but I felt like I needed say it.

[A]

Well, Mrs. Pete, any final words for the people out there who've been listening, liking, subscribing, watching and commenting?

[B]

Have a great week, guys.

[A]

Yeah, guys, have a great week. And we'll see you next week right here on Too many tabs. Every Sunday at noon. Too many frauds and too many scammers that we wish weren't real. Too many cons and too many spammers. And we're starting to feel like we've got too many tables. Tabs. Open it too many times. Remember to smile. If you thought the snack wrap was good before, wait until you get your hands on the all new Hot Honey snack wrap. All the sweetness and heat you can handle. Just one bite will have you falling in love all over again. Juicy, sweet. And now with a little kick to bring it all together. If they ask who we do it for, it's for you. So look no further. Hot Honey sauce is here.

[B]

Hey, y'. All. As a growing family, my husband and

[A]

I love game night.

[B]

Especially when it's Wayfair edition.

[A]

Let's do it. You gotta name as many Wayfair furniture and decor categories as you can. Ready? Go.

[B]

Sofas, barstools, beds, ottomans, outdoor seating, bookshelves, kitchen tables, garden sheds, mid century modern lamps.

[A]

Time.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

You got nine out of a lot. Not too bad. Keep practicing by visiting Wayfair.com where you can shop every style for every home.

[B]

Wayfair Every style, every home.