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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
Welcome in our number two California Primary Day, Iowa Primary Day and more as we are coming on with all of you. Stock market continues to set yet another record high. The stocks have been on a tear all throughout May. We have now moved into June and there remains a great deal of economic optimism continuing to be back and forth. I described it yesterday, Buck, as Groundhog Day when it comes to what is or is not going to happen with Iran. Nothing particularly new there as that talks continue surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. Now several different stories. Graham Platner is in Washington D.C. today meeting with many different Senate Democrats as his Senate primary campaign in Maine remains imperiled. I'm curious maybe to dive into some of this with Buck during the course of today's program. We have a primary in both California and in la. And Buck, I told you in the first hour. Our thanks by the way to Andrew Giuliani Talking about the 11 different United States stadiums that are going to be hosting the World cup starting next week on Thursday. Nine days from now, things will begin to get a bit chaotic in a good way I think when it comes to everything surrounding there as the US hosts the World cup for the first time since 1994. The US men's soccer team, by the way, Buck scheduled to play two games in LA and one in Seattle in the group stages. The first one on June 12th. And they played well in their matchup, I think against Senegal. And Christian Pulisic scored his first goal in five months. So for those of you who are interested, I would like to think that we could win some games and start to have some pro US positivity. I know for a fact there are a bunch of die hard Trump guys on the US Men's soccer team. I'll leave it at that. So we will see how all of this ends up shaking out. Now we were talking about what the prediction markets say as we get ready for the midterm cycle. And Buck, I have been talking with Buck a lot off air. I'm obsessed with these and I understand some of you are gonna say, oh, I don't know why you care about what Poly Market's gonna say, Clay, or what Kalshee's gonna say. I am far more interested when people put their actual money down on what they think is going to happen than trying to glean what's going to happen from all of the different poll results out there. So the we'll see what happens. Everybody in California go vote. Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt right now are favored to advance to the runoff. Karen Bass is the incumbent mayor of Los Angeles. Javier Becerra and Steve Hilton are favored to advance in the in the California governors race. But Buck, you were asking me. I've got right now about $3,500, relatively small amount of money, but I am putting my money where my mouth is. And so I have a bunch of different predictions here. I have you asked. I have Susan Collins to win the main Senate race right now. The prediction markets give her a 41% chance to win. I have Ken Paxton to win the Texas Senate race. They give him a 59% chance to win. I have the 9th district of Tennessee, the one that they redrew in Memphis. I have the Republican Party to win that race, which I think they will. I have the Republicans to win the House. That pays out at 4 to 1. That is a less likely outcome. And I have Kamala to be the 2028 Democrat presidential nominee. I have a 10 to 1 payout if that were to become a reality. And I have Mike Rogers to win the Michigan senate race right now. They give him a 29% chance to win. So all of these markets are out there every single day on Kalshee and on Poly Market. And I pay attention to them because I think they are a better arbiter of where the current market is than trying to look at polls, which we know are often paid for by candidates or paid for by political parties to try and convince people of the legitimacy of those polls as a method, as Russia said, for a long time to drive the overall narrative surrounding all of these different cases.
Steve Hilton
So.
Buck Sexton
So Buck, Spencer Pratt. I have said if I lived in Los Angeles, I would vote for Spencer Pratt. No doubt I would. At this point, I think you have to vote for Steve Hilton because Chad Bianco I don't think has a chance to advance to the runoff. And I'm concerned that otherwise we could end up with two Democrats, both in the mayor's race and in the governor's race, which I think would be the worst outcome from the primaries in California today.
Clay Travis
I. I have this thought. I'm wondering about it and again, I go back to what people that people whom I see in person just sort of ask me, you know, which I always appreciate. Do you get the same thing too, that when you see people and you just want to hang out and talk to like, well, explain the thing that you talk about for three hours a day on radio. Do you get the personal radio show asks? I get that sometimes.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Clay Travis
Can you just do a show for me right now? It's like, yeah, I want to talk about dogs and like recipes and my baby. I have no. Anyway. But people ask me this when they see me. They say what is more likely here with the California situation? That it will be a test case that affects whether Democrats as a brand are on defense going into the midterms or that people still care more about prices. You see this thing on the COVID I think it was the Wall Street Journal. Clay, your favorite paper.
Buck Sexton
Oh, yeah, my favorite.
Clay Travis
Your favorite. I think it was in the COVID Wall Street Journal that truckers, maybe our truckers can. Can tell us if this is accurate. Some of them are spending twelve hundred dollars every two days on fuel. Something like that.
Buck Sexton
Because they're fuel. Now obviously those are for.
Clay Travis
Those are for major transport, commercial vehicles. But the point here being gas price. Now we're heading into a long summer where I think people.
Buck Sexton
Here we go.
Clay Travis
Yeah, some commercial truck drivers. This is cover the Wall Street Journal or I should say on the website, America's truckers are driving just a little slower to save gas. Some commercial truck drivers are slowing down to cut costs at the pump. One driver said it cost him twelve hundred dollars to refuel his truck every two days. Clay, there's a part of me that wants to say all this focus on the California madness is going to help us out. But do people in Iowa, do people in, well, more to the point, Georgia, Pennsylvania, do they care? You know, is this situation in California something that the political elites and commentators and Californians care about or does it have national residents in an election year? That's my question.
Buck Sexton
Yeah, I think it's a great question. And I think this is where California can kind of give us an indication of how viable is the Republican Party argument. Because if Spencer Pratt were to lose and you end up with two Democrats there and you end up with two Democrats in the Democrat race for governor as well, it's just gradations of blueness. And the competition is not going to require any real addressing of the larger issues there. I also think narratively, if Spencer Pratt is one of the finalists and if Steve Hilton is one of the finalists, you have to acknowledge that there still is enthusiasm for Republican arguments nationwide. And I think that is significant as well. I will say price of oil and gas has come back. It's come back an average of about $0.30 ish. I believe based on the numbers that I have seen since Memorial Day, as I told you based on oil and gas prices was likely to happen. I'm on the record as saying I think we're gonna be around $3 a gallon by the time we get to the election in November. Right now the average gas price is $4ish, like nationwide. And again, I always like to have fun with this, but average gas price nationwide does not mean that is what you paid this morning. So I appreciate that. If you live in California, you, for instance, are paying way more than if you live in Louisiana or Texas. And so there is a wide variety of different prices that people pay. I noticed in my particular neighborhood driving home a couple days ago, prices were down to 390 on the gas stations as I was driving past near where I live. So back under $4 here, average gas price around $4 as well. And so I think all of these, all of these factors are huge. But I think gas prices are going to be a big part and candidly of how people feel about the overall economic situation. And I was reading great piece in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that kind of ran through. In fact, I flagged this, Buck, because I did think it was. Perspective is important in life. And I think a lot of times here is. Warren Buffett said recently. And I flagged it because I thought it was so interesting that the poorest people in America today live richer than the richest people in the world did in the early 20th century.
Clay Travis
This sounds like your buddy Buck over here, who's telling everybody that wealth and status are different things. That wealth and where you fall within the hierarchy of the society around you are different things. And this is. Go ahead.
Buck Sexton
Sorry. I sent this in to producer Greg and it is cut 8. You will appreciate what Warren Buffet said. It's from, I think, a couple of years ago. But I do think it goes to perspective and to your point on wealth versus status, all these different things. But listen to Warren Buffett, the greatest, probably the greatest capitalist other than Elon Musk of all time. Certainly Warren Buffett is the greatest investor, I think it's fair to say, of all time. Listen to this bottom 2% in terms
Steve Hilton
of income in the United states, the bottom 3%, and for sure the top 1%, all live better than John D. Rockefeller was living.
Buck Sexton
When I was six years old, John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world.
Steve Hilton
And today you can get better medicine, better education, better entertainment, better transportation. You can do everything better than he could.
Andrew Giuliani
It's astounding. That's in my lifetime.
Buck Sexton
If you wanted to watch a football game, he still had to go there.
Steve Hilton
And I can sit there with this
Buck Sexton
big screen and they keep showing me
Steve Hilton
the replay so that explaining to me what happened and everything.
Andrew Giuliani
And maybe everybody doesn't have a screen
Buck Sexton
as big as mine, but damn near
Steve Hilton
everybody has a screen or an iPhone or a computer or access to one. I mean, when I was born, the dentist didn't use Novocate.
Buck Sexton
Yeah, I think that's really well said.
Clay Travis
Well, this is what I've been telling everyone, and this is what I keep saying in the context of artificial intelligence. Will there be some job displacement? And is that that is a societal concern? Yes, absolutely. Will I make everyone, everyone, no matter where you are in the income scale, markedly wealthier? In terms of those things that Warren Buffett just laid out, the answer is certainly yes, certainly yes. The same way that the Internet has made everyone, because of productivity gains in every product and every service and everything that you are exposed to, the Internet has made everyone wealthier as well. It has been hard on, you know, stockbrokers and travel agents, but overall, the Internet has made people much, much Wealthier. So wealth and status are different things, and wealth relative to other people versus. Versus wealth in an absolute sense. And this is also why I think, Clay, you have a society now here in America, and a lot of this is around the world, the same. Same situation where we now have problems, including diseases, physical diseases, of overabundance, but we even have overabundance in terms of entertainment options. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would be able to turn on, without commercials, a movie library with almost. With basically any movie that I had ever wanted to see, and I could just press a button, I would have said, oh, my go. That's amazing. Now what happens? You get analysis paralysis. How many of you sit there? The only thing you know is you got to listen to Clay and buck every day for three hours. But after that, what do you do with your time? How do you spend your time? So this is. This is the great wealth abundance problem that we have now. People are too fat from too many calories. People have too much entertainment. People are glued to all the screens that are everywhere with more entertaining, more addictive things for your eyes than ever before. People can shop with the stroke of a. Of a, you know, a thumb, you know, etc. Etc, etc. This is going to continue. And this is why I think spirituality and connection to people who matter in your life and family and those things actually become more important. But that's a conversation for another time.
Buck Sexton
I think the analysis paralysis is going to become more and more commonplace. And my concern is that you're going to see. I mean, I had to go buy. I think it was peanut butter the other day. I. How do you decide which peanut butter to buy? You know, like, there are. There is an element where you go from, okay, I want crunchy or I want plain to their 20 different brands. And God forbid you even make a decision about what makes sense.
Clay Travis
I. I used. I used to like hummus when I was younger, and the hummus that I used to eat, like the. From the grocery store, now I think of. It's like trash a la poo Belle. It is terrible quality hummus. It was delicious to me 20 years ago. But now, Clay, you go in there and there's all these amazing varieties. The same thing is true of milks. The same thing is true. We have more and more choice, and we have hedonic adaptation. We have so much access and so much wealth that we forget how things were before. And it's important to keep that. You know, gratitude and humility are two of the most important, most important things, I think for human happiness and human flourishing day to day. Just putting that out there. Being grateful for things I'm grateful for. Pure talk for 250 years, our nation has stood as an example of freedom and hope. That's because of the bravery of tens of millions of men and women willing to put their lives on the line to defend it. To Honor those patriots, PureTalk and its customers will raise $250,000 for America's Warrior partnership by the end of July. This essential nonprofit foundation stands on the front lines of preventing veteran suicide. They do this by covering the basics. They help with housing, coordinate access to VA benefits, and provide transportation and counseling. All the tangible things that give veterans a hand up. And here's how you can help when you switch your cell phone service to PureTalk this month, you'll have an opportunity to round up to support America's Warrior Partnership. Pure Talk will match that donation till they reach $250,000. Enjoy unlimited talk, text and high speed data for just 34.99. That's a fraction of the big guys. And be proud to partner with a wireless company that shares your values. PureTalk just dial pound 250, say Clay and Buck to be connected to PureTalk's friendly US customer service team. Again dial pound two five zero, say Clay and Buck. Start saving with PureTalk.
Buck Sexton
Preset your pals Clay and Buck on
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Steve Hilton
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Clay Travis
This is total non stop action.
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For showtimes and more information visit tnarrestling.com
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Okta Representative
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Buck Sexton
Welcome back in Clay and Buck, joined now by our friend Steve Hilton. He is in Huntington Beach, California. Pretty fantastic coastal community there. Steve, we know you're running around like crazy. We encourage everybody out there in the primary world to go vote in California. And I'll let you make the case to this audience why if they want a Republican into the final two, that vote needs to be for you.
Steve Hilton
Thank you, guys. It's really great to be with you. And I think it's really important just to think about the opportunity here in November. Today we've got the primary and I'll get to that in a second. But the reason it matters is because actually this state is ready for change. We are done with the insanity, the crime, the chaos, the homelessness, the taxes, the regulations, the bloat, the bureaucracy, the nanny state nonsense. We are done with it. And you can see that in the energy in LA around Spencer Pratt's campaign. You see it in the crowds that we're getting up and down the state. So I think when you look at the November election, we really can turn it around. It is not a lost cause. It really is the year when we can win. There's a majority of Californians now who want to go in a new direction. That is shown by every single poll. The Democrat candidates for governor are a disaster. You've got the billionaire climate fanatic Tom Steyer. You've got Biden's useless HHS Secretary Javier Becerra. So the opportunity, the golden opportunity is very, very big this year. But we only get it if we can get a Republican into the top two. And because we have this crazy system in California where you could end up with two Democrats, we got to really take that seriously today because the polls have been tightening. Tom Steyer, he's already spent $220 million trying to buy this election. He's creeping up. And most of the polls now show pretty much a three horse race. Myself, Steyer and Becerra, there's a few points difference in the different polls, but that's how we have to think about it. There is no guarantee at this moment that a Republican will make it into the top two. That's why every single vote is vital, like truly vital. And I want to address directly something that I hear from many people in our state, which is Steve looks like he's got this. He's been leading in most of the polls for most of the year. Let's see if we can get two Republicans in the top two by voting for the other guy running, who's a Republican, Chad Bianco. And I understand the sentiment there, but it is really dangerous thinking because the facts and the math don't bear it out. I'll just give you one example. Poll came out on Friday. This is from a Democrat pollster, has me at 27%. Javier Becerra, 26%, Tom Steyer, 22%. Chad Bianco, 9%. There is actually now no possibility that he can get in the top two. It's nothing personal. We don't disagree on policy. We have a good relationship. It's just where we are in the campaign. And so every single, single vote for anybody other than me, including Chad Bianco, is actually a vote to get two Democrats in the top two. And that kills the chance for change. That's why I'm so happy to have had the President restate his endorsement and urge everyone to get out and vote for me today. And I've just seen that the vice president, J.D. vance, has done the same. And I'm so honored to have his support on this very special day. But it's not going to happen, this amazing opportunity to save California unless we really take this seriously. Every vote counts. If you're listening in California, please make sure you get your vote in. Please make sure you vote for me. And if you've already voted, tell all your friends, text, email, you know the drill. We got to get every single vote. It's up till 8pm tonight.
Clay Travis
Steve, I just want to note that we've been having you here on this show to tell our California audience about your extremely viable and now leading, you know, in the very top of this race, candidacy from the beginning. So we're very proud that we saw that this was something that could. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Of course that we knew that you were a serious contender. We knew that you were going to connect with the voters there and that there's just a desire for things to be better. One of the aspects of this that I see in both your campaign and the Spencer Pratt campaign for the mayor's office in la, that one thing, a common thread that runs between the two of them is why leave the people who mess everything up still? Why leave them in charge? And also, why not have people who are just promising to fix the things that the people of California want fixed? It feels like that's the mental hurdle that we just need enough voters to get beyond.
Steve Hilton
Exactly. And just to believe that change is possible, that we just to just to say we don't have to live like this, we do not have to put up with this. The choice is in our hands with our votes today. And what's really interesting, look, Spencer's very different character in many ways. I know him a little bit. I endorsed him. We actually both spoke. I spoke at the same event where he announced his candidacy on January 7, the one year anniversary of the Fires that They Let us Burn rally. He's very different race, it's nonpartisan. In the LA mayors race, I'm running as a Republican. But here's the similarity. We are both outsiders, neither of us have run for office before and we're not afraid to just tell the truth about this totally broken, corrupt, failed system in L. A and across California. And you see the results all around us. And so we've just got to tell the truth about that. And honestly for these Democrats, sometimes I even wonder how they have the nerve to ask for another four years in power. They've had 16 years of total control of California, all the statewide offices, both chambers in the legislature with a 2/3 majority, all the major cities, all the major counties, the state Supreme Court with a 6:1 majority. They've had 16 years of total control to show us that this progressive model of governance works. And they've totally failed. We have the highest poverty rate in the country, the highest unemployment rate, the highest cost of living by far. Ranked 50th out of 50 for opportunity by U.S. news World Report. 50th out of 50 states for business climate by Chief Executive magazine. We have the highest taxes in the country for the worst results. The education results were a disaster. Homelessness, rampant crime and chaos everywhere. The cities are a total third world squalor in our great cities. And it's not just L. A, it's right across the state. I mean they've completely failed. But how dare they ask for another four years? You don't deserve another four minutes. And we just got to have people who are representing common sense, change. That's the other thing about our campaigns. They're not divisive, they're not ideological. What am I running on? Your first hundred grand tax free, $3 gas, cut your electric bills in half a home you can afford to buy. Cut your costs, help your business, fix our schools. Just practical things to make life better because California's got everything we need. Amazing natural beauty, incredible people the best weather talent, energy innovators. We got everything we need. We're going to have unlimited natural resources, oil and gas, water, everything we need except a good governor. And once we have that, all we've got to do is get out the way and California will thrive like you've never seen before.
Buck Sexton
What will the results of the primary tell you? I think you're going to be advancing into the final two. I think Spencer Pratt will as well. In order to get into the general, and I know the primary is today, we want everybody to go vote. We want you into that final two tomorrow. In theory, you pivot and it becomes a general election. How many persuadable voters do you think there are in California? Because California has voted overwhelmingly blue. The analogy we've used on this program is Giuliani and Bloomberg got elected in New York City because people were fed up with the status quo with traditional Democrats. California, potentially with Spencer Pratt, potentially with you, is finally saying as part of your candidacies, hey, the old blue ways don't make sense. Let's just bring in some sanity. How many persuadables do you think there are in the general?
Steve Hilton
Well, I'm going to give you a real number. This was a poll that the California Post commissioned and published just at the end of last week. 56%. That's the, that's the number who say the state's going in the wrong direction and that's a majority. And I think that's the group. It's more than we need. We just need 50% plus one. But I think that's where you start. And that is really what this is about. It's saying we really can. Change is possible, but you're not going to get it if you keep voting the same way. And so actually a big theme of the general election campaign, which as we plan to do starts tomorrow, is just those two simple words, vote different. You've got to stop voting the same way and think you're going to get a different result. We've tried that now for a very long time in California and it hasn't worked. I mean, you saw Gavin Newsom last time in his, in his re election campaign acknowledging he'd failed to solve homelessness, failed to deal with the housing crisis, failed to reduce the bloat and bureaucracy, and they got all these things he was saying and made all these promises. None of them have been delivered. Everything's got worse. Housing costs are higher, gas prices are higher. The homelessness is more than it was. You know, even though we've spent tens of billions of dollars on homelessness and in fact we estimate $425 billion and in fraud, waste and abuse in the last five years in California. So they're done.
Clay Travis
Steve, Steve, can I, can I jump in with. We know that it's a disaster. As you're outlining the previous or the up to this point, the recent governor, the, you know, what's going on in Los Angeles County. But you hit on three things there that I think go to not only critical issues for California, but in other misgoverned blue states, these tend to be problems as well. Well, certainly housing, gas. Right now, blue states tend to have higher prices. Depends. And then homelessness depends on which blue state. But a place like New York certainly has a lot of those challenges too. But what are your, in shorthand, how do you actually make those three things better as governor in California?
Steve Hilton
Well, I'll deal with the specifics on gas. You know, my target is $3 gas. That's the pledge that I've made going to try and get to $3 gas. And people say, well, how are you going to do that? It's so high now. Yeah, that's right. But before the Iran war, in 44, 0 states in America, gas was $3 or less. Most of them don't have oil reserves. We have abundant oil reserves right here in California. But because of their insane climate policy, we're importing it. 80% nearly of our oil is now imported. That's what we can change. And by the way, I can do that directly through the executive branch, through the state agencies, not needing the legislature to do that, even if it's a Democrat legislature, I can make that happen. That's the starting point. Instead of the cost and idiocy of shipping in oil, we'll use our own. Then there's a whole bunch of climate regulation that we can roll back and start to get back to. Because Most of the $2 or more increase in gas prices in California compared to the rest of the country is not actually the gas tax. That's about 60 odd cents of it. Most of it is these regulations that we can change in terms of homelessness, it's very straightforward. We've got to, number one, enforce the law. These homeless encampments are illegal. They've always been illegal, but they've refused to actually remove them by some misguided notion of compassion. How compassionate is it to let people live in those conditions? So my starting point will be to say to local politicians, I'll give it a certain amount of Time between three and six months to say you got to clean it up, all of it. Not some Newsom's bragging about a 9% reduction, which is B.S. anyway, if you look at the data. No, it needs to be 100% reduction. You don't see this in other states, you don't see it in other countries. It's totally avoidable if you just start by that principle of we're going to enforce the law. By the way, that's exactly what Spencer Pratt is saying in L. A. He's making the same point. And so the next step is to get people into drug and alcohol rehab because 80% of people who are homeless have those problems and mental health services, and the money's there for that because we've seen the billions that has gone into what they call the homeless industrial complex. All these useless nonprofits doing nothing except keeping themselves in business and crony developers who are selling these apartment units to the government for about a million dollars each, which they put people in there who are addicted to Fentanyl. Nothing ever happens. So we've got the resources to do it. Spencer Pratt's plan is basically the same as mine. I think L A is going to. If he wins, as I very much hope and think he will, then that's one city I can check off my list because he's going to get it done there. I want to make a broader point though, which is the foundation of all this is a strong economy. And actually the main mission I think for me is going to be rescuing our economy. We're heading for real disaster. So many business leaders that I've met in the last year or so have said to me, we're just waiting for your election and if you don't make it, we are out. The exodus that we've seen so far is going to be a stampede if we have another four years of Democrat rule and this state is in real trouble. And so we've got to turn that around. We made an estimate last week, we published this, that the total cost of the bloated regulatory nanny state bureaucracy in California on our economy is 745 billion a year in economic cost. If we cut that out, then California would become not just we're now the fourth biggest economy, we'd be the third biggest economy in the world if we just cut out all the nonsense. That's what we've got to do to start getting businesses back here. So we create the jobs so we don't have the highest unemployment in the country and good paying jobs. So we don't have the highest poverty in the country. So the economic crisis is something that's very much top of my list.
Buck Sexton
Steve Hilton, last question for you. From 1850 to 2020, to your point, California gained population every year. Starting in 2020, the population began to decline. That needs to be fixed. JD Vance just endorsed you. I just saw on social media. President Trump has endorsed you. Last question. What is the impact of the Trump Vance endorsement on primary day here?
Steve Hilton
It's huge because it will tell everyone who wants change, but particularly Republican voters, because it's a primary and typically it's the. It's people who are the more committed partisans who vote in primaries. You've got to get this done, because what that means is that you're going to have a partner for the administration wanting to make common sense change happen. The president wants to open up energy production. So do I. Newsom is blocking it. The vice president is heading his fraud task force, trying to save taxpayer money in California. So do I. But Newsom is blocking it. It's going to be a new day when you have a governor in California, in our biggest state, actually working with the administration to make common sense change happen. It's going to benefit everyone in California, but our whole country as well. But it won't happen unless people go and vote for it. And you got to do that today.
Clay Travis
Go vote. Californians. Go vote. Even if it takes a week or a month for these votes to be counted because of the dysfunction there, you got to go vote today. Go vote for our man Steve Hilton for governor. And Steve, we are pulling for you. We're counting on you. Or we're, you know, what's the word I'm looking? Not counting on you. What's the word I'm looking for?
Buck Sexton
Oh, we're looking forward to celebrating your advancement to the Final two. Do you expect to find out tonight or do you think this thing's going to drag on for weeks, by the way?
Steve Hilton
We think, we think that there's a strong chance that we'll get a sense that we've done it. Yeah. I don't want to put a number on it, but we think it's possible that tonight we'll know. Not for certain. It won't be confirmed, but we'll have a very good sense of it. We think that's possible.
Clay Travis
Maybe go vote for Steve Hilton. Californians, go get it done. Steve, best of luck. We'll talk to you soon.
Steve Hilton
Thank you.
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
Keeping it real, Keeping it right Clay and Buck find them on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back in Clay and Buck. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. It is World cup in America season and they're gonna be matches played all over the United States. And if you're upset at all with anything surrounding the World cup, this guy is to blame. Andrew Giuliani I saw the New York Times had a huge profile that I was reading, I think it was in Sunday or Saturday of you and the way that it was a great actually was a pretty good article like as these things go. I was reading it and I was like as New York Times, they're going to be awful. But it was actually, I thought, relatively fair. But the very last paragraph was if anything goes wrong, Andrew's gonna have to bear all the blame. We had dinner recently. You're running through all the different challenges at his official title is Executive Director, White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup U.S. plays June 12 on Friday of next week I believe that is in la. This thing starts next Thursday. You can correct me if I'm wrong on that, but I know you have been working all the time, all hours, dealing with mayors all over the country about these big events. What should our audience know about the World cup coming up starting next week, it's going to go on for a month and how significant it's going to be for the country.
Andrew Giuliani
Yeah, Clay, well, always great to be with you over here. You know, the funny thing was that was from Curtis Sliwa, who was a radio partner of mine.
Buck Sexton
Oh yeah.
Andrew Giuliani
Way back when. So I don't know what that tells you and what you and Buck should get from that right there. But I guess don't allow your radio partner to do a New York Times interview.
Buck Sexton
Otherwise.
Andrew Giuliani
Otherwise, they. They spill the beans. But no, really, look, we have the largest sporting event here in world history coming. When you look at the viewership numbers, and I know I've said this to you before, but about 130 million people watched the last Super Bowl, 1.6 billion watched the last World cup final. So this really is unlike every. Anything else. From a security setup. I was with Secretary Mullen yesterday in Dallas looking at the stadium. There they are setting up all 11 stadiums in the United States of America, all 78 matches exactly like it would be like from a perimeter perspective, from a counter UAS perspective, like it was a Super Bowl. So you could just see the exact same perimeter setup that they used in Levi's Stadium last year in February for the, for the Super Bowl. That's exactly what they're going to be doing for the World Cup. So, look, we've been telling fans, get there early, spend the day at the stadium. You want to make sure that you have the opportunity to get in, because we are not going to compromise our security, especially in light of some of the. Some of the issues that are going on. So that's been our main focus. And Clay, you know this, and you've seen this in a lot of the lead up to this, the excitement and the energy around the World cup internationally. It's been going on for months. You're starting to feel that it's starting to become palpable here in the United States. But once that first game kicks off in the US on June 12, you're right, we're starting in Mexico on June 11. The next day, the US will play Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on June 12. Once that game kicks off, it is going to be an incredible energy in this country over the course of the 39 days that the World cup will be here.
Clay Travis
Now, Andrew, I can bring a little special perspective to this because I recall almost, I don't know, 30 years ago, your own soccer career, sir. So you've been at this for quite some time. You were a goalkeeper, if I remember correctly, they called you the Great Wall of Giuliani and that nothing got past you. And on the St. David's Red Team, which was the, like, the varsity team, you were the goalkeeper. And people would. You'd run for that ball and they would scatter in fear knowing the drop kick that was about to. About to happen. So I just want everyone to know and you're not new to the soccer situation and, and you're certainly bringing a lot of, of enthusiasm to something that's going to have what, what kind of money is this going to bring in? And what kind of attendance numbers are we looking at overall?
Andrew Giuliani
Yeah, well, the Great Wall, Giuliani and wearing the Red team uniform. I just want to make sure, you know that I'm, I'm working for the United States of America. I love the United States of America. No issues with China there from that perspective. But you're absolutely right. We go way back here, Buck. I can tell you that this is going to be, from an economic perspective, a massive driver. We're expecting $30 billion in economic, economic impact. That's just for the 11 host cities. When you think about the fact that 39 of the teams will be basing in the United States. So think about the Croatian team will be based in Alexandria, Virginia. You'll have the Brazilians based in Morristown, New Jersey. You have England and Argentina based in the Kansas City suburbs there. That's where you're going to have tens of thousands depending on the country, tens of thousands of fans coming on out, spending their time, spending their dollars. That's where you're really going to see a major, major economic impact. The average traveler that comes here for the World cup, they may go to two games and spend, and spend 12 days. That's what we've been trying to do. We've been trying to then push them to freedom. 250 events. All these celebrations around our semi quincentennial. When I first spoke to the President about this, and I actually just spoke to him on Sunday, again kind of about the legacy aspect about this. The thing that I like to say is there is no larger platform that you're going to be able to go and get out the truth about American exceptionalism. We know that much of the media, especially the international media, has lied about American exceptionalism for the last many decades. This is an unbelievable opportunity to show firsthand that America is capable truly of hosting some of the great cultural events here in the world.
Buck Sexton
I know. And you have met a lot of the Fox people that are putting this on FOX Sports. Awesome guys and gals that are going to be a part of this big festivity. And even in those conversations, there's been some talk about, hey, what should we be telling people who are going to these matches? You mentioned 11 different stadiums. You mentioned the security. I've heard it's Super Bowl. Like I've been to a Few Super Bowls, they tell you to arrive hours early because it's not the same as going to a regular baseball game or a regular football game. What would you tell anybody that's out there going to a game? Hey, if the game starts at 4 o' clock in the afternoon, how much time do you think they should give to get into the stadium? Given all the security issues, what should they budget?
Andrew Giuliani
Give an hour and a half. Definitely at least give an hour and a half, I would say. And soccer fans are notorious for coming to the gates here within the last 15, 20 minutes. That's not going to work unless you're going to miss the first half of the game. So we really, really want you to get in there. FIFA's set up a lot of different fan activations for those that have tickets within the perimeter. So they're fascinating things to do. You can go and watch your team warm up for the hour before the game. So get there an hour and a half, two hours before. We know gates are going to open two to three hours for the final four hours before. So make sure you get there. Look, people have paid a premium for these tickets. We want to make sure that they're able to really, really enjoy this. And you know, Clay, I'm glad you mentioned the super bowl again because I was talking about the physical perimeters there and how you'll have three ticket checks, unlike your typical NFL game where you normally have one. But I think one incredible story really to tell is on counter UAS mitigation and what we've been able to do. So in 2025, for all the SEER event ratings around the United States, that would be the super bowl, that would be the Boston New York Marathon. Events like that. For all of them, only five were covered for counter UAS mitigation, drone mitigation. In 2026, for the World cup alone, all 78 games will be covered for counter UAS mitigation and one of the fan fests in each and every one of the cities. So just for the World cup alone, you're talking about over 156 different games sites that are being covered, compared to five last year. That's not even including Saleforth 250 Freedom 250 F IndyCar, that's going to be on the, on the National Mall, all those other events. So this has really been an amazing work here by the federal interagency led by the Air Sovereignty Task Force with President Trump signed and the White House Task Force on the World Cup.
Buck Sexton
Andrew, one of the big Conversation points has been dynamic pricing, cost of tickets. I've actually seen that the cost of tickets has started to come down in many of these different matches. I want to take my kids. I think there's a lot of people out there that are just sports fans in general, may not be die hard soccer fans, but want to see what the experience is like. What would you say about cost? What would you say about the, the, the comfort level when it comes to taking your family security wise? What would you just say about that experience for families?
Andrew Giuliani
Yeah, look, I, I agree with the president, what he said a month ago or so. Costs are expensive. And I think that part of that is the fact that FIFA had over 500 million ticket requests. This is going back to January at the, the half billion mark for what is about 7 million tickets between the three countries here. And so that obviously creates a, a supply and demand. Now some of those ticket requests were overloaded to games like Colombia versus Portugal or Brazil versus Morocco, where you might have some of the smaller countries or some of the newer countries, think Curacao, where There are only 300,000 residents. There are games that are available for less than 200. And you can look in most cities, you'll be able to now access a stadium for less than $250 for some of these games. So that's just the way that dynamic pricing works. Look, it's something that we've discussed. We certainly are aware of the price of this. We've, we have a federal, as a federal government has made sure that we put in federal security grants here for the states, for the 11 states that are going to be hosting World cup and World cup related events. And that's helped made the fan festivals free or very, very low cost for everybody. So we want to make sure that whether or not you're able to take your family to the stadium or whether you're going to a fan fest, that you're going to be able to have the opportunity to enjoy this World cup here in the United states over our 250th birthday.
Buck Sexton
Andrew, we appreciate the work. I know your wife, your daughter, you've been traveling all over the place. I can't wait to see how this going to shake out. And I know it's going to be fantastic. And thanks for everything you're doing, Clay,
Andrew Giuliani
thank you for your friendship. And Buck, I don't know who actually soccer career ended first, you or me, but you know, I think we're in the right places where we need to be.
Clay Travis
I'm going to tell you something, Andrew, I know. I know you're a very humble man, but if the USA Soccer team gets into a little trouble, I just think they should have a jersey on standby for you to get in that net. Because ain't nothing getting past my man Andrew. I've seen it before, man. I've seen you in that net.
Andrew Giuliani
Well, Buck, I appreciate it, but I'll put it this way. If we want the US to win and guarantee a win, you put me on the other team in goal there, and something tells me we're going to win eight games and be World cup champs. But thank you for the. I got to bring you on as my PR guy. This is amazing.
Clay Travis
So I do what I can. Andrew Giuliani, everybody. Andrew, good luck with this huge endeavor. I think World Cup's going to be amazing and we'll be talking to you as it goes.
Andrew Giuliani
Thanks, guys.
Buck Sexton
That's Andrew Giuliani. He's doing great work. I'm excited about the World Cup Bucks. Excited about the World Cup. I hope a lot of you are. I think it's going to be a really cool. I know there's the anti soccer element out there, but I actually think this is going to be pretty awesome. And I remember it being awesome back in 94 when we hosted the last time and there weren't very many soccer fans in general in the United States at that time. There's way more now. I think this is going to be cool. Hopefully the US Men can actually win some games. Every parent shares the same wish. Safety for kids. You can't keep them at home all the time. They're gonna be out and about. And this product, I love it. This is super cool. Go on Amazon right now. Check out Saber Smart Pepper Spray. This is pepper spray. Back in the day, I used to have pepper spray. I'd ride the school bus. My mom gave me pepper spray that I had on the keychain. I imagine a lot of you were doing that for your kids. Now. Now, Saber has been doing this for over 50 years, but this technology is brand new. When the pepper spray is activated, five different people, up to five, are immediately notified that the pepper spray has been utilized. And you can know that your child or your grandchild or your wife or whoever the person you love is that is using this, has needed to use that pepper spray. And you will be aware. And you can touch base until they mark that they are safe. Peace of mind, you can't put a price on. This is an amazing product. Search Saber Smart Pepper Spray on Amazon to get it today again. S A B R E Saber Smart pepper Spray. Because when it comes to your kids, you don't leave safety to chance. Sabersmart Pepper spray on Amazon. Laugh.
Andrew Giuliani
Learn. Hang with the guys right there when
Steve Hilton
you need them most.
Buck Sexton
Clay and Buck just preset them on the iHeart app.
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Clay Travis
Welcome back in to Clay and Buck. We're joined now by Kelly Paul, author of Goodnight Young American and Good Night Little American. And Kelly is The wife of Dr. And Senator Rand Paul, who is a frequent guest on the show. Kelly, congrats on the authorship on the books that come out today. Tell us a bit about these. We were just discussing the 250th and patriotism and it feels like it could use a little bit of a boost in some quarters these days. Your books talk about Americans, I assume from the perspective of loving America. Tell us about it.
Kelly Paul
Absolutely. Well thanks so much for having me. Yes they do. They were inspired by my grandson. This is my first time to ever write a children's book. He's about a year and a half old and my daughter in law late last summer was saying she thought we needed more patriotic books for children and board books for young children. And so I got the idea, especially with America's 250 coming up. My books really take a journey of a little boy who has a dream. On July 4, he's out celebrating with his parents and he goes to bed that night. He dreams all of American revolutionary history. So he's on the Mayflower and he's a pilgrim. Then he's a colonist. He makes friends with great American revolutionary heroes like Sam Adams and takes part in the Boston Tea Party. And he makes friends with Paul Revere and rides with him. And my hope is that it will spark conversation with parents and children just about the heroism and bravery, courage that our, our founders really showed.
Buck Sexton
Kelly, I appreciate you coming on and encourage people to check out the book. Buck and I were just having a conversation about America 250. I don't know if you remember America 200, but based on the things that we see, it seems like the nation came together for America 200. Even though a lot of things were objectively tough for the country at that point in time. You just had RFK and MLK assassinated. Richard Nixon had just been impeached and removed from office. The Vietnam War had been going on. Yet people seem to come together and really have a good time at 200. I don't get the sense that that's happening for 2:50, do you? How do we change that?
Kelly Paul
You know, I agree and I do very much remember America 200. I was a little girl growing up in a small town in Russellville. And that bicentennial summer was so exciting. And I think of just our little town. My mother and I had 1776 style dresses made and so did all my friends and their moms. And we all participated in this big festival in our downtown square for the bicentennial. And I just, I remember it just consumed the whole summer. And I wish I did see that kind of spirit for the 250. And you're right, I'm really not.
Clay Travis
How much of your efforts to write this book comes out of a recognition, Kelly, that there's a lack of content that I think young people are exposed to that celebrates traditional Americana and our history. I mean, I'll give you just, just an example. I have, I have a one year old and I won't name names here, but there's a communist on YouTube that he seems to want to watch all the time that does children's content that is very left wing. And I can't get him. He's. He's old enough now where he will, he will take the controller out of my hand. He can't really find things yet, but he'll take it out of my hand and kind of bang it until I give him the. The left wing song and dance from YouTube that he wants. So is this in part because you want kids to have content that aligns with your values? And, you know, I'm just wondering what spurred you to do this.
Kelly Paul
I agree with you 100% because our grandson is about 17 months old, and our son and daughter in law, they say kind of the same thing as I said. My daughter in law really gave me the idea for this because she's like, you know, we want to really instill these values and we want to have, you know, our son grow up with an appreciation for America and a love for America. And, you know, that's really my purpose in the book. I mean, I think we need to remember that the American Revolution was really a convergence of vision and resolve that has never been equaled in all of human history. I mean, our founders were really the original civil rights heroes. They took, you know, ideals from the Enlightenment and used them to challenge the divine right of kings and hereditary rule and challenge the most powerful empire in the world in order to say, look, we believe in natural law. We believe that our rights come from God and not from any king or any government. So their courage was really intellectual and moral, but it was also physical courage as they were all basically committing acts of treason. Right. That the Declaration of Independence was considered an act of treason.
Buck Sexton
We're talking to Kelly Paul. We'd encourage all of you to go check out her brand new book, it's for kids. It is out today. Kelly, you're talking about courage in this age in which we live? We've had your husband, Rand Paul, on a lot. What is it like to raise kids and also now have grandkids? As you just said, in a world where violence feels omnipresent for people that are in public life, people like your husband who had to deal with being attacked and having people celebrate his attacker. And certainly it hasn't even been a year since what happened to Charlie Kirk. The shooting of President Trump. What's that like for you as both a mom, a grandma, and a wife?
Kelly Paul
You know, it's very challenging at times. It really is. And there are moments when I'm just sort of like, Rand, gosh, just let's check this. And you can go back to being a nice doctor in bowling Marine. But then I remember that, you know, we've been given such an incredible honor and platform and voice, and I am so proud of Rand for the things that he stands for. And so I just try to, you know, feel. I feel brave. I mean, I try to feel like, okay, very few people have the kind of, you know, platform that we do. And so I want to use it for good. And that's what I try to focus on.
Clay Travis
So the book is out today, or the two books, rather, out today. Are you planning on doing more after this one? Kelly? The books, by the way. Good night, young American. Good night, little American. What age is this mostly geared for?
Kelly Paul
So, goodnight, Little American is a board book. So it's for babies and toddlers and it's lullabies and really beautiful illustrations. But they are. They're patriotic. I mean, they sort of distill down the idea that, you know, equality and joy are something for us all to pursue. And it came from, you know, Jefferson's writing of the Declaration. And it's a simple, sweet little bedtime board book. And then Good night, Young American is for children probably ages 4 to 8. So it could be read to your child or older. Children can read it themselves. And. And in that one, my little character, the little boy, as I said, he. He basically in his dream, is part of. He's just part of all revolutionary history. He's there in Philadelphia when the signers of the Declaration are signing, and he climbs up and he rings the Liberty Bell. He makes friends with Ben Franklin and learns about electricity, and he is crossing the Delaware with George Washington. He's just present for all of it, and it's written through the eyes of a child. And at the end of the book, when the little boy wakes up from his dream, there's a nice map in the back of the book, a simple map for children. But my hope is that more families will try to maybe see some of these great landmarks, make some Southern trips and summer trips and go to Boston or go to Massachusetts or see where the Declaration was signed in Philadelphia. I think that those are the kind of things that we did back in the bicentennial. Right. I mean, I know my dad took us on a trip and it was very special.
Buck Sexton
Kelly, if people want these books, thank you for making the time with us again. Good night, young American. And good night, little American. Amazon. Where would you suggest they can find these? And I believe your name is K E L L E Y. If people are typing in Kelly Paul, just to search for that, Right?
Kelly Paul
Yes, they are on Amazon, they're on Barnes and Noble, they're on online, they're in stores, they're just about everywhere. So I hope that families will enjoy them and I hope that it will inspire more children to really understand what we're celebrating when we celebrate Independence Day this year.
Buck Sexton
Awesome. We appreciate the time. Thank your husband for all the work he does. Thank you for all the work that you're doing as well.
Kelly Paul
Thank you both so much for having me.
Buck Sexton
And by the way, Kelly, I think you are a listener so you have great taste in radio as well if I remember based on past. So thank you for being part of the Clay and Buck family.
Kelly Paul
Yes. Love your show.
Buck Sexton
Thank you so much. That is Kelly Paul encourage all of you to go check out her new kids books that are out right now. And we were talking about America 250. We're talking about America 200. It's also coming up on the 25th anniversary of Tunnel the Towers and in fact during one of the commercial breaks, Buck and I were talking with producer Ali to make sure that we're going to be able to go to help raise money and honor all of the work that Tunnel the Towers has been doing in this 25th anniversary year. And right now I want to tell you all about Mario Nelson. He is an army sergeant. He served in the National Guard, volunteered at Ground zero after the 911 attacks and then enlisted full time in the army deployed to Iraq where he made the ultimate sacrifice when he was killed by a rocket propelled grenade. Mario left behind his wife Mecca, their daughter Mia. The Tunnel of the Towers foundation recognized the sacrifice of this family by providing Mecca and Mia with a mortgage free home help even more families like the Nelsons. Your donation today can make a world of difference in honoring their service and keeping their memory alive. Donate $11 a month month and amplify your impact with a car or land donation. Go to t2t.org that's t2t.org level up your brain and balance out your day with the right amount of information and entertainment. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the iHearts radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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This July 4th come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at america250.org
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Clay Travis
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Episode Date: June 2, 2026
Host: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
Guests: Steve Hilton, Andrew Giuliani, Kelly Paul
This special episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz," hosted by Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, features a wide-ranging conversation on the major political, economic, and cultural topics of the day. The duo is joined by key guests—California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, White House World Cup Task Force Director Andrew Giuliani, and author Kelly Paul—providing front-line perspectives on the California primary, the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the U.S., and American patriotism in the lead-up to the Semiquincentennial (America 250). Discussions weave through issues like gas prices, the future of the Republican Party, the broader economic outlook, and concerns about American cultural identity in a pivotal election year.
Timestamps: 01:51–12:09, 19:51–35:44
"I am far more interested when people put their actual money down on what they think is going to happen than trying to glean what's going to happen from all of the different poll results out there." (05:58)
California’s primaries are positioned as a potential test case for the Democratic brand heading into midterms.
Discussion of key races:
Clay Travis voices concern about one-party dominance:
“I'm concerned that otherwise we could end up with two Democrats, both in the mayor's race and in the governor's race, which I think would be the worst outcome from the primaries in California today.” (07:04)
"I think gas prices are going to be a big part and candidly of how people feel about the overall economic situation." (11:25)
Timestamps: 12:09–18:16
The group reflects on Warren Buffett’s thoughts about America’s current standard of living relative to historic figures.
“The bottom 3%, and for sure the top 1%, all live better than John D. Rockefeller was living... when I was six years old.” —Warren Buffett, quoted by Buck Sexton (12:51)
The conversation moves to “analysis paralysis” brought by abundance:
“People can shop with the stroke of a thumb... This is going to continue. And this is why I think spirituality and connection to people who matter in your life and family actually become more important.” —Buck Sexton (15:00)
Timestamps: 19:51–35:44
Steve Hilton describes California’s readiness for political realignment:
“We are done with the insanity, the crime, the chaos, the homelessness, the taxes, the regulations, the bloat, the bureaucracy, the nanny state nonsense. We are done with it.” (20:21)
He warns against “wasted votes” for candidates lagging behind, emphasizing the need for a Republican in the top two (due to California’s non-partisan primary system).
“Most of the $2 or more increase in gas prices in California compared to the rest of the country is not actually the gas tax... most of it is these regulations that we can change.” (30:05)
“The total cost of the bloated regulatory nanny state bureaucracy in California on our economy is $745 billion a year... If we cut that out... we'd be the third biggest economy in the world.” (31:52)
“They've had 16 years of total control to show us that this progressive model of governance works. And they've totally failed. ...You don't deserve another four minutes.” (24:30)
“Just to say we don't have to live like this, we do not have to put up with this. The choice is in our hands.” (24:30)
Timestamps: 38:05–47:56
“The average traveler that comes here for the World Cup, they may go to two games and spend, and spend 12 days. ...this is going to be, from an economic perspective, a massive driver.” (40:46)
“There is no larger platform that you're going to be able to go and get out the truth about American exceptionalism... This is an unbelievable opportunity to show firsthand that America is capable truly of hosting some of the great cultural events here in the world.” (42:10)
Timestamps: 51:47–61:44
“I wish I did see that kind of spirit for the 250. And you're right, I'm really not.” (54:95)
On Prediction Markets:
“I'm obsessed with these... I am far more interested when people put their actual money down on what they think is going to happen.” —Clay Travis (05:48)
On Abundance and Modern Life:
“This is the great wealth abundance problem that we have now. People are too fat from too many calories. People have too much entertainment. People are glued to all the screens...” —Buck Sexton (15:59)
California’s Political Moment:
“We have the highest taxes in the country for the worst results. The education results were a disaster. Homelessness, rampant crime and chaos everywhere.” —Steve Hilton (24:30)
On World Cup Security:
“For the World cup alone, all 78 games will be covered for counter UAS mitigation and one of the fan fests in each and every one of the cities.” —Andrew Giuliani (44:06)
On Teaching Patriotism:
“We want to really instill these values and we want to have, you know, our son grow up with an appreciation for America and a love for America. ...that’s really my purpose in the book.” —Kelly Paul (55:51)
The episode’s tone is upbeat but urgent—hosts and guests blend optimism (especially around economic and sporting events) with frustration over progressive policy outcomes in blue states, especially California. There’s a pronounced emphasis on reclaiming both political competitiveness and patriotic culture for conservatives, especially in the face of what they see as institutional decay and cultural drift.
Calls to action are woven throughout: vote in primaries, attend the World Cup and celebrate America’s semiquincentennial, and foster patriotism in younger generations through intentional media choices.
This summary captures the flow, tone, and substance of the episode, providing both context and detailed insight into major topics and guest contributions.