Podcasts about Murdoch

Rob St. Mary and Rob Spencer join Mike to dig into Proyas's tale of John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), who wakes in a cheap hotel room with no memory, a dead body nearby, and a city that refuses to add up. Detective Bumstead (William Hurt) closes in while the pale, bald Strangers rearrange reality every time the clocks stop — building a world that is simultaneously a locked-room mystery, a Philip K. Dick nightmare, a Kafka story with a superhero ending, and a filmmaker's self-portrait: the Strangers as producers, Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) as the compromised writer, and Murdoch as the protagonist who tears through the painted backdrop and seizes the apparatus.The conversation covers the film's screenplay stages and two finished cuts, the studio-mandated voice-over that Proyas spent a decade trying to undo, and Roger Ebert's role as the mechanism of the film's survival. Mike and the Robs also place Dark City within the remarkable 1998–99 cluster of simulated-world films — The Truman Show, The Matrix, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor — and examine what it means that Murdoch's triumphant ending leaves the city still a construct, still running on hidden machinery, with only the god changed.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

 Steve welcomes author and paranormalist Sysco Murdoch from Journey Through the Gate Paranormal Portal Podcast as they discuss classic paranormal TV. Find Sysco on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@journeythroughthegateBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

The Wall Street Journal asked a federal judge to dismiss Donald Trump's revised defamation lawsuit over its reporting on a sexually suggestive birthday letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump sued Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and others after the Journal reported that a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein included a letter bearing Trump's name. Trump denies writing it and claims the story was false and defamatory, but a federal judge already dismissed the earlier version of the lawsuit because Trump failed to plausibly show actual malice, the demanding legal standard public figures must meet in defamation cases. Trump then filed an amended complaint, arguing in part that Murdoch had told him he would “handle” the matter before publication, but the Journal says the revised lawsuit still does not fix the legal defects.The Journal's dismissal motion argues that Trump's new complaint mostly repackages claims the court already rejected and still fails to show that the outlet knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The Journal says it accurately reported the existence of the letter, included Trump's denial, and conducted reporting steps before publication, including seeking comment. It also asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and seeks legal fees under Florida's anti-SLAPP law, casting the lawsuit as an attempt to punish or intimidate protected journalism. In plain terms, Trump is trying to keep the Epstein-letter defamation case alive after an earlier defeat, while the Journal is telling the court that the amended lawsuit is still legally empty and should now be thrown out for good.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Wall Street Journal Asks Judge To Toss Trump's Revised Lawsuit

The Wall Street Journal asked a federal judge to dismiss Donald Trump's revised defamation lawsuit over its reporting on a sexually suggestive birthday letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump sued Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and others after the Journal reported that a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein included a letter bearing Trump's name. Trump denies writing it and claims the story was false and defamatory, but a federal judge already dismissed the earlier version of the lawsuit because Trump failed to plausibly show actual malice, the demanding legal standard public figures must meet in defamation cases. Trump then filed an amended complaint, arguing in part that Murdoch had told him he would “handle” the matter before publication, but the Journal says the revised lawsuit still does not fix the legal defects.The Journal's dismissal motion argues that Trump's new complaint mostly repackages claims the court already rejected and still fails to show that the outlet knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The Journal says it accurately reported the existence of the letter, included Trump's denial, and conducted reporting steps before publication, including seeking comment. It also asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and seeks legal fees under Florida's anti-SLAPP law, casting the lawsuit as an attempt to punish or intimidate protected journalism. In plain terms, Trump is trying to keep the Epstein-letter defamation case alive after an earlier defeat, while the Journal is telling the court that the amended lawsuit is still legally empty and should now be thrown out for good.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Wall Street Journal Asks Judge To Toss Trump's Revised LawsuitBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

In this week's Flagship Flashback episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast from five years ago (6-10-2021), PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast with guest co-host Todd Martin, a PWTorch VIP analyst. They discuss New Japan Dominion, NXT on USA on Tuesday night, Preview NXT Takeover “In Your House,” AEW Dynamite, WWE Smackdown, WWE Raw, NWA's “When Our Shadows Fall” PPV, UFC results and previewing this weekend.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast--3076978/support.

The Wall Street Journal asked a federal judge to dismiss Donald Trump's revised defamation lawsuit over its reporting on a sexually suggestive birthday letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump sued Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and others after the Journal reported that a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein included a letter bearing Trump's name. Trump denies writing it and claims the story was false and defamatory, but a federal judge already dismissed the earlier version of the lawsuit because Trump failed to plausibly show actual malice, the demanding legal standard public figures must meet in defamation cases. Trump then filed an amended complaint, arguing in part that Murdoch had told him he would “handle” the matter before publication, but the Journal says the revised lawsuit still does not fix the legal defects.The Journal's dismissal motion argues that Trump's new complaint mostly repackages claims the court already rejected and still fails to show that the outlet knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The Journal says it accurately reported the existence of the letter, included Trump's denial, and conducted reporting steps before publication, including seeking comment. It also asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice and seeks legal fees under Florida's anti-SLAPP law, casting the lawsuit as an attempt to punish or intimidate protected journalism. In plain terms, Trump is trying to keep the Epstein-letter defamation case alive after an earlier defeat, while the Journal is telling the court that the amended lawsuit is still legally empty and should now be thrown out for good.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Wall Street Journal Asks Judge To Toss Trump's Revised LawsuitBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

In this episode Miles is joined by Lesley Chamberlain to discuss her newly-published monograph, 'Undoing the Moral Empire: Moral Philosophy in post-War Britain'. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/undoing-the-moral-empire-9781350457751/ After 1945, Britain wanted to be a new country. The authority of state and church were giving way, the Empire was dismantled, and it was no longer clear who was leading whom in matters of morals. Individuals were left to reinvent their ethical lives anew. The lives and works of the philosophers discussed in this book were caught up this sea-change. Bernard Williams, Philippa Foot, Iris Murdoch, Richard Wollheim, Charles Taylor and Alasdair MacIntyre were all characters in search of a moral England, with a particular vision of the good society. From communitarianism to swinging Sixties' individualism, and radical theories of art – which understood questions of ambiguity, error and forgiveness more than the state ever could – this is the story of their sometimes convergent but often discrepant ideas on ethical life in the second half of the twentieth century. Undoing the Moral Empire is a work of biography, social history and the history of ideas that masterfully reconstructs the shifting sentiments of the post-war era, reconfiguring enduringly relevant questions of freedom, virtue, and society. Lesley is an author, literary critics and translator whose work has focused on Rilke, Nietzsche, German philosophy, Conservative Modern Russia, Heidegger, Van Gogh, Lenin, Freud, travel writing, cuisine in Russia and Poland, journalism and fiction – twelve books in all. She's also the author of the forthcoming chapter on Murdoch and Russian Literature in the Oxford Handbook of Iris Murdoch. This new book marks a homecoming for Lesley. You can find out much more about her work at her website: http://lesleychamberlain.co.uk/

Kasib Murdoch after his "Road to UFC victory" over Yunosuke Minami via arm-triangle choke in Macau, and his next fight against Nepalese fighter Rabindra Dhant in Shanghai00:00 Introduction00:14 Travelling to Macau01:17 Fight against Minami02:52 Fighting with UFC promotion in a big stadium03:52 The crowd04:17 Next fight in Shanghai China05:24 Fighting Rabindra Dhant06:36 Nepal and Rabindra09:16 The matchup10:45 Training for the matchup11:50 RanDealing with his range12:36 Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit is crossing out laws just for sport. This time it's a 140-year-old ban on making homebrew hooch, because YOLO.   Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over an article describing his creepy birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein was dismissed. But … that dismissal was without prejudice, so he can take another swing at it. The trollsuit against the BBC is still limping along.   Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Education Josh Kleinfeld makes an interesting pitch to George Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School, which is currently under investigation by … the Department of Education.   And Trump's ballroom blitz takes a tumble in court.   MAIN SHOW:   Trump discovers one weird trick to make the Presidential Records Act disappear. All he has to do is order the Office of Legal Counsel to come up with a memo saying it's unconstitutional and — hey, presto! — he can steal or shred or delete any document he likes.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   Are we the pirates now?   Trump v. Murdoch https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70843413/trump-v-murdoch   Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation   Fifth Circuit Home Distillers Ruling https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/24/24-10760-CV0.pdf   Trump Admin Lawyer Applies To Be Law School Dean, Suggests It Might Help Investigations Go Away https://abovethelaw.com/2026/04/trump-admin-lawyer-applies-to-be-law-school-dean-suggests-it-might-help-investigations-go-away/   Ballroom Blitz Blocked https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ballroom-blitz-blocked   National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73127510/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps   April 1, 2026 OLC Memorandum on the Presidential Records Act https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1434131/dl   Judicial Watch v. NARA ("Socks Case"), 845 F.Supp.2d 288 (DC Cir. 2012) https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15818036517066124081   Trump v. Mazars, 591 US 848 (2020) https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2096461232780826445   Nixon v. Administrator of General Svcs. et al., 433 US 425 (1977) https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11884364268460571560   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

From a 24-hour hangover and the pure joy of a clean garage to campaigning for the return of the mixtape (Spotify playlists just aren't the same), Wells is showing his age again in today's episode. And after weeks of YFTers begging, Brandi FINALLY started Off Campus! The excitement continues as Wells shares that he got to film his golf show with the legendary Luke Wilson, where he discovers Luke's favorite Wes Anderson movie (not the one you'd expect) but somehow forgets to ask about The Family Stone. A devastating fumble. Meanwhile, Brandi spends her week h anging with all the dogs at Wags & Walks and accidentally spills the tea on a secret Cyrus family pet (and it's not the tortoise or the ducks!). Plus, they discuss the deeply upsetting Netflix documentary The Crash, the never-ending Murdoch family drama, and a book recommendation featuring aliens and a cat named Princess Donut. Please keep those DMs coming because we love hearing from you! Favorite Things: (18:37) Off Campus (22:38) The Crash (25:32) Instadocs: Alex Murdaugh, Unconvicted, (26:24) Dutton Ranch (SPOILERS) (27:01) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Book)(29:42) Ladies First (33:14) The Burroughs (34:21) Four Seasons Thank you to our awesome sponsors: Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Visit article.com/discount/yft and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. BetterHelp: You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/yft. First Leaf: Stop settling for wines that don't quite hit the mark. Head to TryFirstleaf.com/YFT to sign up and you'll get 50% OFF your first box PLUS free shipping for an entire year. Hers: Ready to reach your goals? Visit forhers.com/yft to get personalized, affordable care that gets you. Quince: Go to Quince.com/yft for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Zazzle: Right now, save 25% on your first order at Zazzle.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What a lot of fun I had talking to Zena Hitz about Gulliver's Travels. As well as discussing Swift, slavery, genocide, rationality, Christianity, and science, Zena told me that good philosophy is like a box of cake mix and that a liberal education requires you to be freed of false expertise. I also took Zena on a detour to discuss Iris Murdoch, the Catherine Project, and modern philosophy. TRANSCRIPTHENRY OLIVER: Today I am talking to Zena Hitz. Zena is a tutor at St. John's College. She is a philosopher, the author of Lost in Thought. She runs the Catherine Project. She's famous on Twitter. We don't know how she does it all. Zena, welcome.ZENA HITZ: Thank you, Henry. It's great to be here.OLIVER: And we're talking about Gulliver's Travels because it is 300 years since it was published, and it's a book that you love.HITZ: A book that I've loved for a long time.First Encounter with Gulliver's TravelsOLIVER: So tell me, when did you first read it?HITZ: Well, it was an important moment for me. I was in high school, and I was admitted to a scholarship summer program which offered college courses at different campuses. There were some normal-looking college courses at normal-looking colleges. And then there was this course at St. John's called Science as Literature, Literature as Science. [laughs] It had this description that was just unbelievable. And I thought to myself, “This is the one, obviously the one to go to.”So I went, and we read books that no one in their right mind would assign to high school students now, and maybe not then. The fragments of Parmenides, Plato's Timaeus, selections from Aristotle's Physics, Gulliver's Travels. After reading a number of—preface to Ptolemy's Almagest, geocentric astronomy. And we read Gulliver's Travels after reading selections from Hooke's Micrographia, so the inventor of the microscope, and Galileo's Starry Messenger, which is one of the great first uses of the telescope to discover the nature of the moon and the satellites of Jupiter.So then we read Gulliver's Travels. We also read Emma and Flannery O'Connor and various other things. And one of the faculty who was running it said at one point, “Well, we thought we'd throw a bunch of things together and see what you could do, what you could make of it. We didn't actually have an idea of how these all fit together,” which I think was probably true.At any rate, I think I came to Gulliver's Travels thinking about these scientists who were looking at very large things and very small things, and thinking in general about the follies of human perception, whether that was shown in literature or philosophy or what have you, the ways in which human perception and knowledge don't work very well. And I think Swift is still one of the best people to—Gulliver's Travels is still one of the best books about that because it's in the mode of a travel diary, an eyewitness account.Gulliver is trained as a surgeon, by his own account. He at one point says he was a bit of a projector in his younger days, someone who undertook scientific projects. And he's a terrible observer, the worst imaginable observer, and Swift so brilliantly lets us see through his eyes, lets us see all the things he doesn't see. And I think it's not just about seeing and knowing. It has a very profound, I think, moral and political set of commitments. So it's a very humane book. It's social criticism, but from a point of view of a very deep humanity. So I've always loved the book for these reasons since then.I came back to it more recently because it is part of the curriculum at St. John's. So when I came back to teach there, I began to reread it. The other experience I had was that I wrote a long essay on it when I was an undergraduate. So those are my—I'm not any kind of expert. My knowledge of the historical context of the book is limited. It's not zero, but it's limited. But I have always loved it as an account of human understanding and its failures and the way that might impact how we live and how happy we can be.The Houyhnhnm ProblemOLIVER: Have you changed how you think about it as you've taught it?HITZ: I have not really changed the way I think about it. It gets more—like all of these books, the more you read them, the more comes out of them, the more details come up. Hilarious. The more jokes you get, the more . . .I think the one more recent insight I had was, I hadn't understood the full horror of the Houyhnhnms in the last book until relatively recently. I think that took me some time to really take on. It's one of the cases where Gulliver's misperceptions are a bit harder to see, and I think many readers just assume that Swift is endorsing the praise of the Houyhnhnms in some sense or other.OLIVER: There are some very serious critics in the past who have called them Swift's ideal beings. Which at this point in history seems unthinkable, but it has been a belief among serious readers.HITZ: Yes, yes. And also common among students. Yes, it's absolutely one of the wrongest opinions you could have about anything, I think.OLIVER: Why does Swift allow us to make that mistake? Are we bad readers out of the context, or has he made too good a job of his diversions and concealments and ironies?HITZ: That's a great question, and I'll just take a stab at it. I think that he has hit on a mode of misperception which is very deep to us, and it's something that we're much more guilty of. We could imagine that if we were in a place where everyone was small or everyone was large, we might make mistakes like Gulliver makes. But we all live, I think, in communities that are a bit like the Houyhnhnms. And so we are all very subject to these kinds of deceptions, and I think that's how he gets us.That's not to really excuse the bad readings because, you know, Gulliver does leave the land of the Houyhnhnms with a boat made out of human skin, which should—I think that moment should make you realize, if you haven't yet, that something is very seriously wrong with Gulliver. Gulliver has been kind of destroyed as a person by his travels, and especially by this last trip. But if you pass over that little detail, maybe you think, “Oh, wow, he found some very simple beings.”OLIVER: Well, there's also the great council where they debate the genocide of the Yahoos.HITZ: [laughs] Yes.OLIVER: And it directly contradicts several things Gulliver has come to believe about the Houyhnhnms, about the Yahoos, and about himself. And he's completely unaware of these contradictions and so in awe of the Houyhnhnms that he doesn't quite understand, I think, that he's accounting a genocide.HITZ: That's right. That's right.OLIVER: Even though he uses a phrase from Genesis that's very unmistakable. It's a sort of remarkable moment of—particularly to us, having had the 20th century. I think that's why Swift came back into favor in a way, because people used to say, Swift's unbearable view of human nature . . .This is a great bit in Boswell's Life of Johnson where, when they're traveling through Scotland, they're with a lady, and she says to Johnson, “Is any man naturally good?” And Johnson says, “No, no more than a wolf.” And Boswell says, “Well, sir, what about ladies?” And Johnson says, “God, no, absolutely not.” And this woman says, “Oh my God, this is worse than Swift,” utterly horrific view of human nature.But of course, we can actually say, did he go far enough? [laughter] I mean, Swift clearly understands something very real and deep. The council of genocide is horrifyingly familiar to us. And I think that's much to Swift's credit that he can see that, and to show that Gulliver would blind himself to it. And people still blind themselves to it, right?HITZ: That's right. And I wonder—you would know more about this than me because it is a bit of a historical question, but my understanding is that quite a lot of the savagery, the worst parts of rule over men that we see in Gulliver's Travels are pictures of Ireland in the 17th, 18th centuries. And I wonder if that took some time to reveal itself to the British, and in some ways it's still not really as known as it might be. We think of the colonial project as being something that was directed at India and Africa—OLIVER: Faraway countries.HITZ: —faraway countries where people looked really different. And we're not as familiar with the kinds of things that were done to the cuddly Irish with their nice music, and who we don't think of as being people that you would savagely oppress like that. So I think—OLIVER: So, I think partly the English are not interested in their own history in the way that they are expected to be. And partly the English interest in Irish history has become very focused on the more recent events. And it's very hard to get back past that. And it all becomes very complicated, and it's a sort of different country. So there's some of that, but I think generally we don't want to know what we did, yes.HITZ: Well, and I think in anglophone countries in general, there's going to be a history of something like that. To attribute it to the British is not to say that—I mean, Americans have chattel slavery and the genocide of the natives, and the Australians have their own situation. All of the anglophone countries have something like this on their conscience.I think that obscures the meaning of that final book. I think we don't recognize—and that's really to Swift's credit, to have a social critique that is so real and so deep that you may not even recognize yourself in the picture.Slavery in Gulliver's TravelsOLIVER: Yes. When I read it again—I read it as an undergraduate, but I really was actually more interested in the other parts of Swift's work. And I thought it was brilliant, and then I read it again. And it was more recently that—I didn't understand how I couldn't have seen it, but it's basically a book about slavery, as I come back to it.And in each of the books there is enslavement of a different sort. So, to begin with, Gulliver is the one being kept in a box or kept in a house, or he's chained up by the Lilliputians or Glumdalclitch.HITZ: Right. That's right.OLIVER: She's a very nice sort of master, as it were, [laughter] but he has that box that can be sealed, and the dwarf has him swiping at the wasps. And then the enslavement that the flying island has of the country below is like England and Ireland. And then in the final book, you know, the Houyhnhnms are whipping the Yahoos.HITZ: That's right.OLIVER: The slavery thing gets worse and worse as the book goes on. And one of the things that's clever is that it's funny when Gulliver is enslaved, right? When the wasps are let out and he has to—and Swift sort of does that clever thing where he undermines things by making it a joke at the end. By the book of the Houyhnhnms, there is really very little humor. And the twist at the end is always dark.Gulliver can't see that—he can see that he's a bit like the Yahoos. But he can't see that they've been enslaved in the way that he—the farmer wanted to take him around the kingdom and show him off, and he says, “I couldn't possibly have had children in that condition because I couldn't have it on my conscience that I had begotten a slave, someone born into slavery. I couldn't do that.”HITZ: Right.OLIVER: Then he's in the Houyhnhnms and he can't—it's quite remarkable.HITZ: [laughs] Yes. I don't think it's quite true that in the end there's no humor. I read it with some Catherine Project group a couple of years ago, and one of the readers pointed out that it's not obvious Gulliver isn't leaving his home and sitting out in the ocean and always landing on England every single time; just every time, he lands there.And there's something hilarious about an Englishman that discovers a place where there's all horses, [laughter] and his love of horses overwhelms him, and he becomes persuaded that they're the only rational beings that there are. I mean, that is funny.OLIVER: Yes, I agree. There's a lot of irony and stuff. But I think it's in Lilliput when he describes their manner of writing. And he says they don't write from left to right as we do in England, or from right to left, or up-down like the Chinese, but from one corner to the other, as the ladies do in England. This is very funny, dry humor, and that sort of thing is gone. And the things that surprise you at the end of a sentence or a paragraph are more like, “Oh, and of course I used Yahoo skin to cover the boat.” And you're like, oh my God, this is not a joke anymore.You know, in A Modest Proposal, he makes real humor out of those kind of horrors. And with the Houyhnhnms, I think he actually refuses the joke to make you feel the disgust, in a way.HITZ: Yes, that might be right. That might be right.Swift and PhilosophyOLIVER: What do you think about the idea that the Houyhnhnms are drawn from the Phaedrus and Socrates's idea of the soul with the two horses? And there's the good, rational horse and the vulgar, passionate horse, and the Yahoos are the other horse. You see what I mean?HITZ: Yes, yes.OLIVER: Is Swift showing us the two sides, and Gulliver's mistake is to prefer the one and not the—HITZ: Right, I think I have heard something like this before. I'm a bit skeptical. Swift doesn't strike me as someone who uses philosophy in quite that way. I think he's much more interested in Gulliver's—the Houyhnhnms' self-deception about the kinds of beings they are. They do not say “the thing which is not,” yet Gulliver's master hides from him this conversation about the genocide for quite some time. And maybe we don't know if he tells him quite the whole truth about it. So there's—OLIVER: And he also conceals the fact that the others don't like Gulliver because he's a partial—a reasonable Yahoo, as it were.HITZ: Right. So their self-deception, Gulliver's being taken in by their self-deception, the ways in which they—this is one of the ways that I think it's profound about the nature of slavery. And to cheer us all up, I'll make a Holocaust analogy, as you also did.When I was traveling in Germany some years ago, in one of their Holocaust museums, there was an image from a Nazi-era German newspaper of Jewish people living in complete squalor in the ghetto. And of course, they had forced them into squalor. But somehow they forced them into squalor, and then this reinforces the sense that they're these rat-like beings.And there's something very similar that the Houyhnhnms do to the Yahoos. They force them into this animal state, and then they say, “Oh God, look, these people are disgusting. They just don't know how to act.” That seems to me the kind of level at which Swift is working. He is interested in the nature of a human being, but not in the abstract Platonic sense, I don't think.He strikes me as someone who believes in common sense, common decency, basic freedom, and basic use of reason. And he finds in his time that there's distorting teachings, distorting ways of behavior that have gotten people far off track. To me, that's what it feels like it comes from. It doesn't feel like Plato is in the background to me.OLIVER: Is there an extent to which, though, it's a work of sort of anti-philosophy? As you say, Swift, he likes common sense. He likes ordinary reason, and he likes what he would call the revealed truth of Christianity. So he talks, in his sermons about people, it comes to you from God like a light. It's revealed to you. And he doesn't like this idea that the philosophers can work it all out.And in a way, that's the same sort of mistake that the scientists think they can discover all this stuff, and they go in these crazy ways. And the Houyhnhnms are a bit like that. If you had philosopher-kings, they would end up being perverted examples of rationality because they're ignoring the—so do you think it's anti-philosophy in a way? The book is saying, “No, no, I don't want philosophers”?Criticizing Elite Intellectual CultureHITZ: That's definitely a plausible reading. But it's hard to tell whether it's anti-philosophy or anti a particular style of thinking. It's worth pointing out, in that light, that Gulliver, when he arrives in the land of the Houyhnhnms, before he even meets a horse, he sees a Yahoo who, from what I can tell from the text, is trying to wave at him and say hello, who recognizes him. And he's horrified. He sees him instantly as a monster.So I think immediately upon landing, he sees the Yahoos as monstrous, and that tells me that he must already be off kilter. So he's not just corrupted by the Houyhnhnms; he's been somehow led off track, away from the capacity to recognize fellow human beings before that.And he's come from this—the third book is all about various kinds of inquiry, scientific endeavors, practical endeavors, talking to the greats of the past, necromancy, and various kinds of inquiry into wisdom or things like wisdom. And somehow that's the thing that seems to push him to the point where he can no longer tell what a human being is.OLIVER: One of my favorite parts is when he's with the wizards, and he asks to be shown Homer and Aristotle and all their commentators. And he says that there were vast rooms full of these commentators, endless numbers of them. But Homer and Aristotle didn't recognize any of them because they were all so ashamed of the terrible things they'd said about these great men's works that they kept themselves forever in a different part of the underworld. They couldn't bear the shame of being revealed to having told lies and said second-rate things.It's very, very funny. And I think that's another sort of angle on which the book says, “You're so tempted to make a comment and have an idea and be a philosopher, and you should just accept the revealed truth of what is known. Just stop it. Just stop it.” [laughter]HITZ: Well, I suppose maybe I would also put it this way, that Swift sees the condition of 18th-century Ireland, which is quite poor, very bad. And it's ruled in a savage way by the English, who have a quite flourishing intellectual culture, as it happens, at this time.So I think what he might be is not a critic of philosophy so much as a critic of intellectual culture. Because intellectual culture seems to not only not help with existential concerns like slavery and oppression and savage poverty, but even serves to mask and hide and create illusions behind it.So that's, I guess, how it strikes me, as a book that's hostile to what you'd now call elite intellectual culture. And I don't know how fundamental that critique is, in light of its inability to solve problems for real human beings or to obscure the causes of what's going on with real human beings.OLIVER: I think it's quite fundamental because outside of Gulliver's—I think this comes into Gulliver's Travels, but what he might have said more explicitly elsewhere is, there are people starving in the streets of Dublin. And we've got corrupt politicians and intellectuals saying all these things, but you know, here she is starving. You don't need to work that out. [laughter] There's no question—the reveal—just be a Christian and, like, for goodness' sake . . .HITZ: Yes.OLIVER: And when, for example, he talks to the king of Brobdingnag, and there's that wonderful satire of the English government and everything. And he says, “Those people understood mathematics and poetry and whatever, but I could never drive into their head any sense of the abstract or any of these speculative—they simply didn't know what that was. They didn't know what I was saying.” [laughter]And so in a way, his ideal government is anti-philosophical because it would just look at the human problem in front of it. It wouldn't do speculative science. It wouldn't think of itself as rational, all this Platonic stuff. It would just—she's in rags, she has bare feet, you know?HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: What do we need a philosopher-king? Like, what are you talking about?HITZ: Exactly.OLIVER: The priest understands this because he's there in the city doing it. And is there something of that in the book, that constant resistance of the cleverness of people who cannot see daily life?HITZ: I think that's absolutely true, and I think it's probably one of the things I love about the book, because I think this somehow gets to something in my own heart. Even though I'm a professional intellectual—I have been my whole life—the distance between the concerns of professional intellectuals and the concerns of living, real people in various parts of the world is very large.And it's even worse when, as it was when I was coming up in grad school, there's a ton of explicit concern and various operations underway to improve life for others, which have zero connection with anything that anyone actually does. So I think the Laputans, which is the beginning of the third book, when Gulliver—OLIVER: The flying island.HITZ: Yes, when Gulliver visits the people on the flying island, who have one eye towards the heavens and one eye pointed inward. And they study music and mathematics, and they live in a giant flying saucer, which has the—OLIVER: And the flappers.HITZ: That's right. [laughter] When someone needs to talk to them, someone flaps their ears so that they pay attention. And their wives all run off with working people because they can't bear to be treated the way they are by men like this. And the flying saucer is not just distant. It also has the power to crush the towns underneath it if it judges them to be rebellious.This image will stick with you for the rest of your life. I mean, it's absolutely perfect, and the perfect image of bad government of a kind when intellectual culture is prized. And it's hinted early on in the book in Lilliput, when the rulers in Lilliput have to do these elaborate dances with ropes.OLIVER: Oh, with the king and the chief minister hold the pole, funny angles, and if you get under it, you get a green ribbon or a red ribbon.HITZ: Exactly. [laughter] And they have these athletic contests of grace and various colored ribbons, and that determine how far you get in the halls of power.OLIVER: Yes. Are you a cabinet minister or a junior minister? Yes, yes.HITZ: Exactly. So there, it's all just a funny joke. But it develops, I think, into the Laputans, people who have kinds of expertise that are actually hostile to them doing any kind of humane governing. So yes, that seems right to me.Christianity in GulliverOLIVER: To what extent is it a Christian book?HITZ: That's an interesting question. I've never found a strong Christian element in it myself. There are satires of religious wars, both in Lilliput, where Lilliput's at war with its neighboring city. Oh, wait a second, there's two different disputes in Lilliput. One is about what side you cut your egg on.OLIVER: There are the Little-Endians and the Big-Endians,HITZ: Right. And then there's also one about heel size. So there's two different kinds of disputes.OLIVER: With the marvelous image that the king is a Short-Heeler. But they think that the heir to the throne might be favorable to the High-Heelers because he has one heel slightly higher than the other, and he walks with a wobbly gait.HITZ: [laughs] That's right. This, again, in Lilliput is just utterly hilarious, outrageous, very silly, obviously a parody of religious wars between different kinds of Christians. But it resurfaces towards the end. It's the Houyhnhnms, where he talks to the Master Horse—OLIVER: And the horse sort of pretends to this great rationality, simply can't understand that men would kill each other over the question of whether flesh is bread or bread is flesh.HITZ: That's right. That's right. That's right. So there's definitely disparaging remarks about religious wars. And as you're talking about it, where along with Swift's praise of common sense, there's a kind of basic Christian morality, which is that the poor and the suffering need attention. That all strikes me as Christian. Apart from that, I'm not sure. If you have a religious take, I'd be interested to hear it.OLIVER: I find it very interesting that Swift had quite strict beliefs. He was not in favor of Catholics. He thought Dissenters should be tolerated, but he wanted the Test Act. He was very particular about all these things. And in his other works, he's quite direct about that. But in this book, he achieves a kind of high ambivalence. And he's not a Little-Ender or a Big-Ender.HITZ: That's right.OLIVER: And he says the religious text on which this is based simply says that you must break the egg at the most convenient end.HITZ: [laughs] That's right.OLIVER: Now, of course, in reality, he's a Little-Ender, and he's very committed to the Reformation, and he thinks it's all terrible that they're not. And it's interesting that someone with such angry, insistent beliefs on the Anglican Church would take this ambivalent position.And he satirizes so much. But the anti-slavery stuff, the description of the Laputans bringing the island down, and then he says, “I've never seen so much want and misery, and there's a wild look in their eyes, and they're wearing rags.” I mean, this is Dublin, right? This is just, along with the slavery, this basic Christian concern for the oppressed, the poor, the suffering.HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: And so I don't quite know. It's almost like the book is saying, again with this anti-intellectual thing, all these doctrinal disputes and which church this and who believes that. And here we have slaves and poor people and beggars and starving people.HITZ: Right.OLIVER: Christianity should deal with that first. So is the implicit criticism of his fellow Christians, in a way, that they're more interested in these disputes than in the fact that there are enslaved people and suffering people and—you see what I mean?HITZ: Yes, that's right.OLIVER: And Gulliver—the Houyhnhnms are highly rational but not Christian, which is a significant omission. And by the end, are you supposed to wonder if Gulliver actually isn't very much of a Christian? Because he can see this suffering and not respond to it at all.HITZ: Right, when maybe the—is the best person in the book the King of Brobdingnag? Does that seem right? The person with the—at least who says the best things?OLIVER: He says the best things. I think the best person is Glumdalclitch. She shows real charity and real love towards him.HITZ: What about the Houyhnhnm, the one who likes him, who says, “Fare thee well, gentle Yahoo”? It's tear-jerking—OLIVER: Oh, the sorrel nag.HITZ: The sorrel nag. I can literally weep at that moment when she says, “Fare thee well, gentle Yahoo.”OLIVER: That's true. That's true. She and Glumdalclitch are maybe more similar characters. Yes, yes, yes.HITZ: They're similar characters. Okay.OLIVER: And they have that basic, you don't need to call it Christian. You don't need—it doesn't need theology.HITZ: Humane. I would call it humane. Yes.OLIVER: They have that basic love of their fellow. You know, Glumdalclitch doesn't say, “Oh, how amusing this little man is, or how entertaining, or I can make—” She says, “He must be cared for. He looks a bit like me. He must be cared for.”HITZ: Right.OLIVER: And the sorrel nag, again, has the love of the fellow creature.HITZ: That's right. That's right.OLIVER: So I think Swift might be bringing in this, what he thinks of as the revealed truth of Christianity. Like, you shouldn't need telling, you shouldn't need to argue. It's there.HITZ: Right. This is just me making things up, which is what I'm here for. We're podcasting. Yes.OLIVER: Yes, of course. Also, is that not what the philosophers would do? That's what Swift would say.HITZ: But if I was going to make something up, what I would say is something like this: that Swift to me, from the testimony of Gulliver's Travels, which is the book of his I really know the best. I don't know much about the rest of it. He has a level of self-awareness and sophistication. So, he knows that that religious difference is being used as a pretext. He knows that it is obscuring the suffering of these people. So, for the purposes of the book, he says, “Look, if you're a smart person, if you're a smart ruler, if you're an actually humane, intelligent, commonsensical ruler, you know that the fact that they have the wrong religious views is not a reason for them to be enslaved and oppressed and starved.” So that would be my suspicion.And that's why I think, to me, the religion is so light, because it's not really a religious problem. It's actually just a human problem and a political problem that is, how do you run your country so that these subject peoples are allowed to be free and develop themselves and be full human beings? That would be my made-up guess.Students' Views of GulliverOLIVER: What do undergraduates think? What is it that they find interesting in the book, and what do they like or dislike?HITZ: It's been a couple of years. I think they like this idea that—we all think travel is very broadening, a great way to think about the world. You know, you can learn so much about one's fellow human beings. And whatever else is going on in Gulliver's Travels, travel does not necessarily produce enlightenment.So I think they like the attention to the ways in which, even when we are trying to learn, we fail to learn. And the ways in which structures of learning, like traveling or studying science, might actually make you worse and not better, things like that. But it's not a book—I think it's fair to say it's not one of the favorite books of the undergraduates.OLIVER: Okay.HITZ: I think they find it a little bit distant, and I'm not sure why that is.OLIVER: Is it because it sort of looks like a novel, but it's not what we have come to expect a novel to be? And it sort of has that—HITZ: I think that's right.OLIVER: The pre–Jane Austen novel is kind of weird to us now.HITZ: Well, they love Don Quixote.OLIVER: Okay.HITZ: And that is a challenge of a similar kind. It's a novel which doesn't quite read like a novel, and the humor is kind of old. I mean, it's also true—undergraduates, in my experience, in general—I hope they'll forgive me for saying this on a podcast—they're not always good at comedy. They tend to think that serious things must be tragic.OLIVER: You can't get an A by making a joke.HITZ: Well, more that they have a sense that an intellectual life is something serious. It's serious.OLIVER: Oh, yes. Okay. And the syllabus slightly reinforces that, doesn't it?HITZ: Well, it's sort of self-reinforcing because we used to read more Aristophanes. We used to read Rabelais.OLIVER: If you do Shakespeare, it'll be the tragedies.HITZ: No, no, we do Shakespeare comedies.OLIVER: Oh, you do? Okay.HITZ: Yes. We have As You Like It and The Tempest. And do we have more tragedies? Maybe one more tragedy than comedy, but not a terrible imbalance.OLIVER: Well, that's good.HITZ: It's not Shakespeare-type comedy that's—maybe, correct me if I'm wrong, a Shakespeare comedy is something that ends in a marriage, more or less.OLIVER: More or less.HITZ: It's things that are funny—they don't necessarily think that humor is a way of thinking.OLIVER: Do they struggle with irony?HITZ: No, not usually. As long as it's serious irony, Anyway, I'm not sure why. I think I'm making things—I'm going too far out of the grounds for drawing conclusions.Favorite Parts of the BookOLIVER: Sure. Do you have a favorite passage?HITZ: One of my favorites is the part—is it Balnibarbi where they have people who try to speak with objects?OLIVER: Oh, yes, yes, yes.HITZ: And they have to carry around wagons full of things because they never know what you might want to talk about. [laughter] That's so weird. Because I think I spent a lot of time studying with philosophers, there's a bit of—something's on the nose about this.OLIVER: Yes.HITZ: You know, it's like, “No, you've got to say exactly—no, that's too imprecise. You have to say exactly what you mean.” Bernard Williams, the great philosopher, has something complaining about how contemporary philosophers are very controlling of their readers. They don't want anyone to make the slightest mistake about what they mean by a particular word. That's how the people who speak by objects strike me.OLIVER: Do you think that is a problem of contemporary philosophy?HITZ: Oh, sure. Yes, absolutely. Yes. The way Williams puts it is that when you write something, it should be like a cake mix, and the reader should be able to put their own egg and bake the cake themselves.OLIVER: Oh, I see. You mean like a box of mix, yes.HITZ: Yes, yes, exactly. It's like a box of cake mix. Whereas making the cake painstakingly and force-feeding it bite by bite to the reader is not actually an—OLIVER: Telling them how it tastes.HITZ: Telling them how it tastes is not an educational endeavor.OLIVER: When does this become too dominant in philosophy?HITZ: It's a feature of 20th-century analytic philosophy to be very careful with the meanings of words. And it's by no means universal; it's just a natural vice to the territory.Iris MurdochOLIVER: Is this a problem for someone like Iris Murdoch, or is it more the A. J. Ayer type?HITZ: No, it's the A. J. Ayer type, not Iris Murdoch. No, Iris Murdoch is heterodox outside of the—OLIVER: Do you like her philosophy?HITZ: I do, yes.OLIVER: What do you like about it? Platonic?HITZ: Now, see, I came here to talk about Swift. [laughter]OLIVER: I know, but you made such a good point about the satire of philosophers.HITZ: I like her writing for a more general educated audience, her not making assumptions about the philosophical training of her readers, and her use of Plato for sure, which is quite interesting and creative. She sort of ingests Plato and does something with it that I think is very interesting.OLIVER: Is she properly appreciated as a Platonist, or do you think there's more attention to be paid?HITZ: There's probably more attention to be paid, but she gets some attention. She gets some attention. I also don't think it was particularly helpful, these two books that came out a couple of years ago about Murdoch, Foot, Midgley, and Anscombe.OLIVER: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I only read one of those. It was quite good.HITZ: It might be quite good, but those four women are quite different from one another. So it's an example of where attention to identity could obscure as much as it—OLIVER: Well, one of the books was more about the ideas—they were both obviously about the ideas—and one of them was more about the fact that they were together in Oxford. And that they benefited from hanging out, talking, doing different sorts of work, sleeping with each other's husbands, et cetera.HITZ: Yes, all the good stuff.OLIVER: And from the more sociological point of view, it was very interesting to see that, actually, a lot of what Murdoch did was bound up with her friendships and relationships, in that the argument basically is, A. J. Ayer and the others get sent away because of the war. So these four women are actually—they've been banned from this seminar and told they're not allowed.Well, now they can sit around and do what they want to do. And it worked, and they all produced very interesting things. So from that point of view, I think it was—but I agree with you, Elizabeth Anscombe and Iris Murdoch are not the same. [laughter]HITZ: Not even particularly similar. I also feel like I've read enough of Murdoch's novels to have a sense of what the sociological situation was like.OLIVER: You like the novels?HITZ: I do like them, yes.OLIVER: Do you have favorites?HITZ: I can't remember the name of my favorite because I haven't read them for years. It's one of the things I read years ago, the one—I'd remember it if I saw the title. There's an LSD trip at the beginning of it.OLIVER: Oh, The Good Apprentice. I love that book.HITZ: The Good Apprentice, yes. I think that was my favorite. But I never fell in love with it. I just liked it, and I found it interesting, and I found the sociology interesting. Okay, this is what academics at this time period were doing.What to Pair with SwiftOLIVER: We got diverted.HITZ: “We” got diverted. [laughs]OLIVER: We did. If Swift is on a great books syllabus, what is it good to pair him with? If people are reading Swift, on or off a syllabus, do you think there are other—Hooker, you said, which I think would be interesting.HITZ: No, Hooke. It's Hooke.OLIVER: Hooke. Hooke. That's a very good point.HITZ: The guy who wrote Micrographia, who has the enormous picture of the flea.OLIVER: Yes, yes, yes. So that would be good. But any other? Is it worth reading Plato alongside him?HITZ: Well, I like to—he's on the list for something we called Life of the Mind Seminar at Catherine Project, which is our introduction to the life of the mind.OLIVER: And just to tell people, the Catherine Project—this is not a university. Anyone can join a seminar.HITZ: That's right. It's an open online readers community. Consists of small, high-quality conversations, mostly on Zoom, some in person.OLIVER: You could be some kid, an accountant, a dentist, whatever, and you come and do a—you've got a PhD running a seminar, and you get that experience.HITZ: Right. Some of them are peer led, so they're not necessarily PhDs running them. The reading groups are not necessarily run by PhDs. But the core program in which the Life of the Mind Seminar is—either a PhD or an ABD [all but degree] or someone with some academic experience is usually leading that. We have it there, and we have it there with a set of books that are meant to disorient rather than to orient.So one of the difficulties with reading great books with more or less random selections of adults is that people feel uncertain, out of place. And they bring expertise, real or fake, to the table, which makes it very difficult to have a conversation. It's usually fake expertise, for what it's worth.OLIVER: Give us an example of what you mean by fake expertise.HITZ: Well, so someone will have—we'll be, say, reading Hamlet. Someone will have taken a class on Shakespeare in college, and they'll say, “Actually, we're asking this question. But what I learned, my professor told me, is that Hamlet actually symbolizes—he has an Oedipus complex and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then this is what this means, and this is what that means.” And then your conversation's over, because you need to focus just on the text that's shared between the—OLIVER: It's not a crossword puzzle.HITZ: Exactly. It's not a crossword puzzle, and it's not something where—or the other—people often, again, they feel a bit on their back feet. So they'll google a bunch of stuff about the author, and they'll start tossing out random facts about the book or about the author, about the context. And again, you don't get really into the meat of the book that way.So, Gulliver's Travels is there to help us think about ways in which we might not be expert in things we're expert. Ways in which we might think we understand something and not understand it. And ways in which people who, with every appearance of seriousness and scientific principle, can just say unbelievably stupid things.So it's a very, very good book for that, where in that sense, it's I think very good for any liberal education program. It's liberating that way. One of the things we need to be liberated from is false expertise.OLIVER: You're talking really about these secondhand opinions that you haven't interrogated and come to understand yourself.HITZ: Exactly. Exactly, exactly, exactly.OLIVER: This is what Mill says. Everything is new to someone, and the real genius is that you find it out.HITZ: Exactly.OLIVER: You don't get taught it. Yes, yes.HITZ: Exactly, exactly. So real learning is things you find for yourself. Anyway, that's what I like it with. As for pairing it, yes, I think it would just depend on what you were—I don't have a clear thought about that. I think it'd be good to pair it with Galileo's Starry Messenger and preface to Hooke's Micrographia.But you could also pair it with Emma. Be quite good, actually, because Emma is also about someone who really doesn't know what they're doing and has no idea. Thinks they know what's going on; they really have no idea what's going on.OLIVER: Yes. Hamlet as well, in fact.HITZ: I guess so. Does he not know what's going on?OLIVER: Who's diverting now? [laughter] Well, there's an interesting question, isn't there, about whether Hamlet has legitimate doubts. So he says, “This ghost could be a demon. I should be careful. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to pretend to be mad. I'm going to find out.” Or whether he just doesn't want to see the truth in front of him, and he quote-unquote “delays” because of that. I don't know if you have a view.HITZ: I don't think he's deluded. I think the problem is something different, but I haven't thought enough about it recently to know what his volitional obstacle is. But I don't think he's deluded. I think he sees what's going on, but there's something about acting that doesn't work for him.OLIVER: An internal—HITZ: Something internal. Something internal. In a way, I find the play very hard. I don't know what, for instance, what does that obstacle have to do with Ophelia? What's going on with that? Anyway, he's very mysterious, but I don't—yes, that'd be my sense, is that he's not—OLIVER: Do you buy this idea that he's a nihilist?HITZ: No, although he's definitely faced with something like nihilism. He has to look at it. And of course, the play does end with everyone dead, [laughs] so it's not obvious that he's wrong.Sympathy for GulliverOLIVER: This question hangs over Gulliver as well. Is the problem by the end that he's basically become a nihilist? His response to the Yahoos is to deny meaning, deny the possibility of meaning, to shut himself away.HITZ: He is a true misanthrope. He hates human beings and refuses to interact with them and in that sense, in some way, removes himself from any further mistakes. In another way, the mistake that he's in is so massive that that hardly seems like a consolation. But yes, he's definitely stuck, and he's stuck in a place where who he is—because he's a human being. We have to remember that.So he's in a place of total self-hatred and the hatred of his neighbor, what you'd call from the Christian perspective a total loss of charity. Is that nihilist? I don't know, but it's definitely bad. It's not a good state to be in. Maybe I don't know what you mean by nihilism exactly.OLIVER: Are we supposed to disapprove of him at the end or sympathize with him?HITZ: Disapprove, I think.OLIVER: Yes? You don't feel sorry for him?HITZ: I do a bit.OLIVER: But not much.HITZ: Well, should I?OLIVER: I have come to believe—yes, this is what I've come to feel in subsequent readings, is that Gulliver, as you say, is very mistaken. He thinks he understands things that he does not understand. He has the sort of pretense of rationality, but he lacks any sort of meta rationality to see what his limits are.And he becomes, therefore—he doesn't advocate genocide, and he doesn't take any pleasure in using Yahoo skin, but he's just completely null to it. There's a sort of void there where human feeling ought to be. And it's tragic for him. It's a tragic ending that he is so isolated. And we can't sympathize with him, as it were, but we can feel sort of awful that he's shriveled into this state rather than judging or blame.I think one of the persistent themes of the book is, as I say, this kind of basic love of fellow creature, the Glumdalclitch or the sorrel. And if you take that from the book, you will wish you could bring Gulliver back.HITZ: Right. What you're saying reminds me that there is an interesting parallel in Plato's dialogues that I hadn't thought of before, Plato's Parmenides, which is perhaps the most difficult Plato's dialogue. So it's a conversation between young Socrates and the philosopher Parmenides. The first third of it is relatively clear, some arguments against what people think of as Plato's theory of forms.Then there's an extensive, insane dialectical process where various theses about the connection between being and oneness are both argued for and then refuted, and argued for and then refuted, pages and pages and pages and pages of it. So this seems to be—it's Parmenides and Zeno who are running Socrates through this ringer.And the person at the very beginning of the dialogue who they have to go find, to tell him the story of how Socrates met Parmenides, used to study philosophy. But now he just trains horses. [laughs] One of my teachers pointed this out to me, and I've never been able to get over it, that he spent this time doing philosophy, and he's like, “You know what? I'm going to work with horses for the rest of my life. If I never hear another human voice, that's fine with me.”So I think that is an interesting parallel. And I think it is not really that uncommon to see people who are totally disillusioned with relating to humans, who then relate to animals instead, like they devote themselves to animals.OLIVER: But on that reading, it might be a disillusionment with philosophical humanity. It might be philosophy that's killed Gulliver's human feeling.HITZ: That's right. Well, I think that's one possibility, one very strong possibility. That's why I think the Houyhnhnms come after the Laputans. Going to the furthest reaches of his intellectual interests just destroys his humanity.But it doesn't seem like exhaustion in the same way that whoever, I can't remember his name, the character who relates the Parmenides, where you just think he must be exhausted from having heard more than one conversation like this. [laughter] And just in the stable with the horses eating oats, I mean, it's just delightful. It's just so peaceful, you know?OLIVER: Bucolic, pastoral, yes.HITZ: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Maybe you're right that we should be more sympathetic to someone in that situation.OLIVER: Well, next time you read it, you can tell me if you change your mind.HITZ: All right. I will tell you if I change my mind.OLIVER: Very good. Zena Hitz, thank you very much.HITZ: Thank you very much, Henry Oliver. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk

Roger Mitchell and Mark Oliver are joined by Peter Hutton – a man who has worked for three modern moguls, Murdoch, Zaslav and Zuckerberg – to unpack what sport really means to big media in 2026. From Eurosport and the Olympics to Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and the Saudi Pro League, they dig into whether spiralling rights fees have become a “survivor tax”, why bundling and streaming are reshaping the old playbook, and if the real endgame now is not buying the rights, but buying the sport itself and the power that comes with it. Brought to you by 54.

The New York Times‘ obituary (5/18/26) for former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman quotes him saying that “policemen never get the benefit of the doubt.” The racism of Mark Fuhrman, the Los Angeles police detective whose involvement in the O.J. Simpson murder investigation helped sink the prosecution's case, was so well-known comedian Dana Carvey once mocked him with a Nazi salute, calling him “Mark the Fuhrer-man.” Fuhrman's death this month (New York Times, 5/18/26) took middle-aged and older Americans back to 1995, when the televised trial of Simpson, accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, dominated media for much of the year. During the trial, audio recordings and witness testimony revealed Fuhrman's use of the n-word and other racist views, sinking his credibility as the cop responsible for recovering the “bloody glove,” the key piece of evidence tying Simpson to the killings. Because he had previously testified that he never used the word, it opened an opportunity for the defense to suggest he wasn't honest about other things—and had a motivation to frame a Black celebrity. Unrelenting racism In July 2017, CNN‘s Kyra Phillips played new excerpts from the Fuhrman tapes. The tapes portrayed hours of unrelenting racism. “All these n*****s in L.A. city government…all of them should be lined up against a wall and fucking shot,” he said. And often sexism as well: “What if I’ve just been raped by two buck n*****s, and a female shows up?” During the trial, witness Kathleen Bell testified that Fuhrman had said, “If I had my way, all the n*****s would be gathered together and burned.” Bell told the court, “When he sees a Black man with a white woman driving in a car, he pulls them over,” with no traffic violation needed (Washington Post, 9/5/95). Fuhrman became the national representation of the American racist cop. He invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned about his handling of evidence (LA Times, 9/7/95), offering the shadow of a doubt the jury needed to acquit the former football and movie star. In his fiery closing argument, defense attorney Johnnie Cochran characterized Fuhrman as “this perjurer, this racist, this genocidal racist.” Fuhrman pleaded no contest to a perjury charge a year later (CNN, 10/2/96). But there was something bigger about Fuhrman, and it's something we can deeply feel in the media environment today. ‘Unwitting catalyst’ Mark Fuhrman interviewed in ESPN‘s OJ: Made in America (2016). The legal “dream team” Simpson assembled certainly focused on pushing the jury for an acquittal—that's a defense lawyer's job. But as outlined in both the dramatized The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story on FX and ESPN's OJ: Made in America, defense lead Cochran also built a larger case for a larger audience. (Side note: FAIR's Janine Jackson briefly appears in the ESPN documentary in a segment about media coverage of the trial.) Nicole Brown Simpson was killed at her Los Angeles home, along with Ron Goldman, on June 12, 1994, just two years after the city was engulfed in racial rioting as a result of an acquittal of police officers who had been videotaped brutally beating a Black man, Rodney King. For much of America, the rioting was a dividing moment. Civil rights activists saw it as the explosion of a powder keg under pressure of decades of tension between LA's Black community and the cops. A great deal of white America saw the rioting as an inexplicable overreaction. Press voices had their doubts too. Newsweek (5/10/92) called the looting “a manic fiesta, a TV game show with every looter a winner.” Cochran set out to change the narrative, to demonstrate to the white public that Black Los Angeles has systemically suffered from racist policing. Ben Ehrenreich (Guardian, 4/22/20): “The thousands of African Americans who migrated to Los Angeles from the Jim Crow south had found similar cruel realities awaiting them.” In Set the Night on Fire, Mike Davis and Jon Weiner outline the ongoing war against the Black community by LA cops in the 1960s, erupting in the 1965 Watts riots. From the Guardian‘s review (4/22/20): LA's police make dramatic appearances in almost every chapter, clubbing peaceful protesters, brutalizing activists and killing so many Black men, and with such absolute impunity, that Davis and Wiener's claim that “the Manson gang were bit players compared to the forces of law and order” ends up feeling more than fair. In the authors' telling, the wanton violence of the police acted as a consistent if unwitting catalyst to historical change: It was the chaos that followed a ferocious LAPD assault on anti-war protesters that added to Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for re-election in 1968, and the LAPD's murder of a Black Muslim named Ronald Stokes—seven other Muslims were shot in the same incident—that pushed Malcolm X towards a broader vision of Black liberation. The shared experience of LAPD violence, Davis and Wiener write, forged a “common culture of resistance” among Black and Chicano youth, white hipsters and anti-war activists, and the city's gay community. This situation hardly improved with the economic turmoil of the 1970s, or the reactionary retreat of the 1980s. For many Black Angelenos, the 1992 riots weren't about one videotape, but about this entire history. Cochran had an opportunity to reveal the situation in the early ’90s to America. And with Fuhrman, who was called by the prosecution to bring the bloody glove into evidence, Cochran was able to show a feverishly racist man at the center of this investigation. ‘Kill somebody and go have some chicken’ Sean Hannity (Hannity, 1/10/23) interviewing Pam Bondi (then a former Florida attorney general) and Mark Fuhrman. In the end, Simpson was acquitted, and Fuhrman became a symbol of a divided America. It’s quite telling that the disgraced cop later found a landing place on Fox News. The Murdoch media empire created the news network the year after the Simpson trial as the antithesis to what it claimed was a liberal slant in corporate television news. Bringing on Fuhrman as a recurring guest—and, later, giving him his own show on Fox Nation—didn’t just promote his own public rehabilitation, it foretold a shift in “acceptable” discourse on right-wing TV. Fox‘s Greta van Susteren (5/19/05) defended having him on as a frequent guest: Mark happens to be a very, very, very smart detective—one of the best I have ever worked with and I have worked with many. He really thinks about the investigations we book him on the show to discuss. But Fox was attracted to Fuhrman not by his smarts, but by his hate. The racism that spilled out in the Simpson trial—Fuhrman's animosity toward the people who he was sworn to protect and serve—catered directly to the Fox audience. Another Fox star that routinely showcased Fuhrman was Sean Hannity (Extra!, 9/13). On Hannity & Colmes (11/16/06; cited by Media Matters, 11/20/06), Fuhrman asserted that the the type of “people” he “dealt with … for 20 years” will kill somebody and go have some chicken at KFC. You will catch them eating chicken and drinking a beer after they just murdered three people. He added that “these people are out there. They’re all over the place.” In another appearance, Hannity (Hannity, 7/16/13) brought the ex-cop on to speculate on whether Black people would riot if George Zimmerman were found not guilty of murdering an unarmed Trayvon Martin in Florida. “Mark, it seems to me like it's going to be a dangerous scenario for the cities where this is going to occur,” said Hannity. Fuhrman replied, “I think you're right, Sean,” and proceeded to fantasize about protesters “assaulting people, assaulting officers, so when you cross that line, it's pretty obvious, and, you know, this is completely drawn on racial lines now.” ‘They just take more and more’ “You can always find something that doesn’t look like justice was served one way or another,” Mark Fuhrman tells Megyn Kelly (and right-wing novelist Brad Thor) on Fox‘s Kelly File (7/8/16). Fuhrman had nothing but contempt for the Black Lives Matter movement erupting in Ferguson, Missouri. He told Fox News' Megyn Kelly (8/10/15): Stopping traffic is not a lawful demonstration. Stopping pedestrians is not a lawful demonstration.  Stopping regular traffic on sidewalks in front of buildings. That is not lawful demonstrations. And they should enforce it. And you know, when you allow some kind of, you know, leeway, they just take more and more. And now we have people that are not on the city council and they’re not on the police department, no matter how represented the Black community is. They are not there. You’re dealing with gang members and street drug dealers that are just hanging out. They’re armed and they’re taking advantage of a hesitant police department. How did Fuhrman respond to a video of “a white school police officer in a Columbia [South Carolina] classroom grabbing an African-American student by the neck, flipping her backward as she sat at her desk, then dragging and throwing her across the floor” (New York Times, 10/26/15)? He made the officer a saint on Fox. Media Matters (10/27/15) quoted Fuhrman: He requested her. He verbally did that. The next level is he put a hand on her. She escalated it from there. He used soft control. He threw her on the ground, he handcuffed her. He didn’t use mace. He didn’t use a Taser. He didn’t use a stick. He didn’t kick her. He didn’t hit her. He didn’t choke her. He used a minimal amount of force necessary to effect an arrest. In 2019, he attacked Democratic presidential hopefuls for their police reform rhetoric on the Ingraham Angle (8/2/19), saying those politicians were looking to win “that 18-to-25-year-old base that is involved in all these movements—these anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-republic, anti-Trump” movements. He eventually was given his own show on Fox News spinoff Fox Nation, the Fuhrman Diaries, which ran from 2018 to 2022. (Fox promoted him as “America's most controversial detective”—LA Times, 11/29/18.) ‘Total reputational annihilation’ Just because someone lied under oath about using racial slurs dozens of times doesn’t mean they should be canceled (Wall Street Journal, 5/20/26)—and by “canceled,” we mean given their own TV show. People can and do change over time. Fuhrman gave a somewhat nuanced view on Fox News (Ingraham Angle, 5/29/20) about the police killing of George Floyd, which resulted in widespread political unrest. He called Floyd's killing “a slow-motion homicide,” and said the video footage was “a slow and really painful thing to watch of somebody grinding somebody’s face into the pavement until they’re dead.” At the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, columnist Matthew Hennessey (5/20/26) christened Fuhrman a victim of cancel culture, admitting that he was a “bad cop,” but that he was among the first to suffer the total reputational annihilation that has become a hallmark of life in the digital era, where everything you say—or have ever said—will one day be used against you in the court of public opinion. It’s a strange sort of “reputational annihilation” that gets you regularly showcased on a national cable TV network, and then gives you your own show. Fuhrman’s afterlife as a commentator foretold a media conservatism that flips the narrative about racist policing on its head, where prejudice becomes a sign of expertise. It’s a legacy we live with today in MAGA America, even with Fuhrman having departed this world. Research assistance: Priyanka Bansal

Trump just refiled his $10 billion lawsuit against the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal over its reporting that Trump allegedly included a drawing and letter in a birthday book for Jeffrey Epstein. In an effort to prove “actual malice,” Trump now cites a statement that Ghislane Maxwell made to Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, shortly before her reported transfer to a cushier jail. Dina Doll reports. Biologica: make sure to go to https://Biologica.com/misstrial and get up to 32% off your first subscription order today! Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show The Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-show Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Blue Moon Spirits Fridays, is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, Trump refiled his $10 billion lawsuit against the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal and wants Ghislaine Maxwell to help cover up his dark past.Then, on the rest of the menu, Memphis residents are the latest to sue over MAGA federal agents' arrest tactics; California sued genetic testing company 23andMe, alleging it failed to protect user data in a 2023 breach; and, local TV stations owned by ABC across the United States blasted the MAGA Federal Communications Commission for launching an “unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional” early review of their broadcast licenses.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where a criminal court in Thailand acquitted the popular leader of a progressive political movement on charges of defaming the king; and, a Greek national appears in a British court today on charges that he helped the Iranian intelligence service target a journalist working in London.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live PlayerKeep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Structural linguistics is a bitterly divided and unhappy profession, and a large number of its practitioners spend many nights drowning their sorrows in Ouisghian Zodahs.” ― Douglas Adams “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

The countdown to another summer of baseball in Edmonton is officially on, and we catch up with the Marketing and Game Day Director Maddie Murdoch from the Edmonton Riverhawks to preview everything fans can expect at the ballpark this season. From brand-new promotions and returning fan favourites to the challenge of constantly evolving the game-day experience, we dive into what goes into making Riverhawks games one of the city's premier summer attractions. We also discuss the planning behind theme nights and in-game entertainment, new additions around the stadium and how the organization continues to strengthen its connection with Edmonton year after year. Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at the chaos and excitement of pulling off a successful game night — and the moments that make all the hard work worth it. Don't forget to subscribe to the show anywhere you get your streaming audio and follow Inside Sports on X (@InsideSports880). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

durée : 00:14:57 - Les Matins de France Culture - par : Guillaume Erner - Au début des années 2000, l'arrivée de Vincent Bolloré dans les médias est accueillie avec scepticisme. Vingt ans plus tard, ce pari est devenu un pilier majeur de son empire. Alain Minc, économiste et essayiste, revient sur la construction des médias Bolloré. - réalisation : Félicie Faugère, Yoann Duval, Marie-Lys de Saint Salvy, Emma Lichtenstein, Mathilde Thon-Fourcade, Alice Deschamps, Carolina Sousa - invités : Alain Minc Economiste et essayiste Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France

Once again we welcome author and paranormalist Sysco Murdoch to chat about spooky holiday goings-on. Find Syco on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@journeythroughthegate and on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3sQFzwYBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

On a very special Memorial Day episode, Jon Kelly rejoins the show to discuss a plethora of pressing digital media agenda items: the second- and third-order effects of James Murdoch's Vox acquisition; Barbara Peng's ouster from Business Insider; and the between-the-lines on Jeff Bezos's warning shot about The Washington Post during his CNBC sit-down. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In yesterday's Hallmarked Man Notes: The Christmas Charm Bracelet Decoded, Tod Jameson and the Ectopic Pregnancy, and Venetian Blinds, Ed Shardlow explained three sub-texts within Strike 8 that, though invisible on first and second reading, pop up during structural analysis and in light of other Rowling-Galbraith notes.* The Christmas gift charm bracelet that Strike gives to Robin, for example, appears to be a ring and a key to Hallmarked Man, a meaning that occurred to Ed in light of Rowling's own bracelet gift to fandom last year as a key to Sleep Tight, Evangeline;* John Granger's posts about Strike 8's cryptonyms similarly encouraged Ed to think about the meaning of ‘Todd Jameson' and how the “egg-shaped” man had several names and seemed to be stuck on the Tube; and* Ed's efforts to finish his charting of each Part of Hallmarked Man brought up the theme of Robin's blindness and mental struggles in Part Three's chapter correspondences.In conversation with Nick and John explore these ideas as well as the potential importance of A. H. Murdoch, a historical figure that Rowling-Galbraith invented whole-cloth, the meaning of his name (‘Alexander Hughson'), and the passages from his book, Secrets of the Craft, which of course are also Rowling-written.Below are relevant links to the subjects the trio discuss and copies of the ten questions John and Nick asked Ed. Enjoy!Links to Conversation Subjects* Hallmarked Man Notes: The Christmas Charm Bracelet Decoded, Tod Jameson and the Ectopic Pregnancy, and Venetian BlindsCharm Bracelets* The Christmas Charm Bracelet of Strike 9 Clues (Part One)* The Christmas Charm Bracelet of Strike 9 Clues (Part Two)* 'Sleep Tight, Evangeline,' Miniature Psalters, and the Head of Persephone: A Conversation with Dimitra FimiCryptonyms of Hallmarked Man* The Allegorical Cryptonyms of The Hallmarked Man, Part One* What do Tyler Powell, Rupert Fleetwood, Jolanda Lindvall, and Lady Jensen Have in Common?* The Allegorical Cryptonyms of The Hallmarked Man, Part Two* Wet Squibs, Islamic Cub Names, the Seven Strike Series Structure Theories, and How a Human Being Reads a Story* The Lost Child Golden Thread in the Work of J. K. Rowling (Kanreki)* The Pre Natal Infanticide Theory Explaining the Lost Child Golden Thread (Kanreki)Rowling as Sacred Artist: A Perennialist Reading* Ray Livingston's 'The Traditional Theory of Literature' (Chapter 1: Preface and Prologue)* Ray Livingston's 'The Traditional Theory of Literature' (Chapter 2: Man, Society, Art )* Ray Livingston's 'The Traditional Theory of Literature' (Chapter 3: The Creative Process)* Martin Lings' The Sacred Art of Shakespeare* J. K. Rowling's ‘G-Spot' and ‘Triple Play:' The Lake & Shed Secret of Her SuccessThe Ring Readings of Rowling's Hallmarked Man Chapter Sets* Index to the Group Adventure of Charting Hallmarked Man (scroll to bottom)* Ed Shardlow's ring notes for Part ThreeA. H. Murdoch's Secrets of the Craft Excerpt in Hallmarked Man:[Strike skim read the entry under Degree Thirty Two.]The Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret becomes with the degree's endowment none other than a Christian Knight, the spiritual and legitimate successor of the Knights Templar…When she elevates and illuminates, a pure and chaste woman is as silver, or the moon. The […] Freemason is sure never to mistake base lead for the nobler metal, else he may find himself forever entombed in the dungeons of lust and lasciviousness. (ch 53, pp 400-401)The parenthetic ellipsis is in text, presumably there because “Murdoch's book hadn't been properly formatted, but scanned into digital form, so that the occasional word was illegible.” The Ten Questions1. We have a special guest today, Ed Shardlow, the author of a commissioned post that went up this week, one we begged him to write up. It's a weird post erven for a site that embraces the exotic, weird in the sense that it's actually three posts rolled into one. What's up with that, Ed?2. So the three topics are:* The charms on the Christmas gift bracelet Strike gives to Robin;* The meaning of Todd Jameson's name; and* Robin's sight and memory issues, ‘Venetian Blinds'Is there a thread running through these ideas?3. Tell us your charm bracelet idea and the meaning you think each charm has --4. And it's a ring, right? What a hoot. --5. I loved the charm bracelet piece, not only because you read it as a ring and showed that the charms together and separately act as something of a cipher for the book, but because you linked it with Rowling's Strike 9 charm bracelet. Do you think per Shanker's advice that Rowling-Galbraith is giving us jewelry as a gift, one that acts as a key to the work in Hallmarked and before Evangeline, because she wants to make up with us for the hardship readers are having with the book?6. True confession, though I was laughing out loud and delighted with your breaking the Todd Jameson cryptonym, I was also pretty disappointed; that name was number 1 on my not-yet-written third cryptonym post. What consoles me is that I doubt I would have picked up on what you saw, which is mind-blowing. Tell us how you figured it out as well as what you found --7. Now this is a new variant of Rowling-Galbraith inserting a text within the text. This ectopic sub-story isn't a written text, a fairy tale, an epigraph, a song playing in the background, an illustration based on a mad detective's Tarot card throws, or the story the bad guy is selling that we have to unwind and re-write; we've seen those books-inside-the-book before. This is Rowling concealing a narrative inside the narrative with really only the name to act as the cipher for the coded message. Hence her talking up the importance of names in this book (e.g. Jolanda -- violets)?8. You make a fascinating connection with Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and Todd Jameson, the Son Who Killed His Mother (?). Do you think she finally wrote in a Chosen One echo in the Strike series via Jameson?9. I want to leave the board here because I know you have to run -- thank you for joining us on such short notice! -- and talk about something you've been sharing on the Moderator's Back Channels, namely, A. H. Murdock. His Secrets of the Craft is another text within a text, right? Have you thought about his name or why Rowling gave his book that title?10. When will you be done with The Ickabog project? Inquiring minds want to know! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

In today's MadTech Daily, we look at The Telegraph and AMI launching a £1m media fund, and Murdoch acquiring Vox Media, New York Magazine, and a podcast network. 

Webjet’s shares have nosedived to record lows ... .after its travel bookings have ground to a halt. Australia's major banks are hiking home loans after every RBA rate hike… but the interest rate on savings accounts isn’t following. James Murdoch’s company, Lupa Systems has just bought Vox Media for over $300 million USD… and it could be just the beginning for his very own media empire. _ Download the free app (App Store): http://bit.ly/FluxAppStore Download the free app (Google Play): http://bit.ly/FluxappGooglePlay Daily newsletter: https://bit.ly/fluxnewsletter Flux on Instagram: http://bit.ly/fluxinsta Flux on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flux.finance —- The content in this podcast reflects the views and opinions of the hosts, and is intended for personal and not commercial use. We do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, statement or other information provided or distributed in these episodes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Entérate de lo que está cambiando el podcasting y el marketing digital:-Murdoch cierra la compra de Vox Media y suma activos clave del periodismo digital.-Triton impulsa la publicidad en pódcast con IA contextual.-Roku apuesta por los creadores para reforzar su plataforma de streaming.Inteligencia artificial-Canva lleva la edición con IA a otro nivel junto a Gemini.-Google impulsa una nueva generación de inteligencia artificial.PatrociniosSuscríbete a la newsletter de Vía Podcast y recibe a diario en tu bandeja de entrada las últimas noticias de inteligencia artificial, marketing digital y podcasting.Este episodio es presentado por RSS.com, la plataforma de hosting de pódcast que te permite publicar, distribuir y monetizar tu pódcast de forma sencilla. Lanza tu pódcast hoy mismo y haz crecer tu audiencia con herramientas profesionales y analíticas avanzadas.

00:00 Welcome to Boys' Club Live 00:34 Summer Vibes and Weekend Plans 02:16 Touch Grass and Backyard Hole 04:36 Show Preview and Sponsor Polygon 06:37 Meeting a Crypto Macro Trader 09:52 Peptides Stack and Reta Results 20:38 Sam Altman GLP Overdose Story 23:33 Everlane Sells to Shein 33:30 Sponsor Vercel Plug 35:55 Waymo Backlash in Nashville 38:23 Kids Riding Waymo Debate 39:35 Waymo for Rural Safety 42:15 Murdoch Buys New York Mag 46:44 Girls Building Cyberdecks 50:21 Meet Tok-Edge Founder Raees Chowdhury  51:23 Why a Regulated Crypto Fund 54:37 Redemption Token Explained 58:16 TradFi DeFi Tradeoffs 01:03:07 Who Wants This Product 01:09:48 Market Outlook and Wrap

A member of the Murdoch family is buying part of Vox Media. The AP's Jennifer King reports.

A Midday Paranormal Hodgepodge - This episode, Sysco Murdoch and Lynn Monet return to join Steve Stockton in a PARANORMAL HODGEPODGE. Find Sysco here: https://www.youtube.com/@journeythroughthegate and Lynn Monet here: https://lynnmonet.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

Amid their own pivot to video, the besties Jon Kelly and Peter Hamby reunite to chew over James Murdoch's shocking but unsurprising bid for Vox Media's most valuable assets. Then the duo weigh in on a surprising wrinkle in the NFL's attempt to bid up its broadcast partners. Subscribe to the Powers That Be channel on YouTube https://youtube.com/@thepowersthatbepodcast  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ralph welcomes back Adolph Reed, Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College to discuss the latest Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act. Then, Ralph and our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, talk about what ordinary citizens can do to pressure their reps to impeach Donald Trump.Adolph Reed is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Mount Holyoke College. His most recent books are The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives, No Politics but Class Politics (co-authored with Walter Benn Michaels), and Black Studies, Cultural Politics, and the Evasion of Inequality: The Farce this Time (co-authored with Kenneth W. Warren).I think the issues are a lot more complex than they seem to be or than seems to be the way that they are represented in the debate [over the Voting Rights Act]…To cut straight to the political case, I think there's a distinction between the Act's guarantee that black citizens and others (where pertinent) who live in areas where there's been a history of suppression of the right to vote have the support of the federal government to make certain that Black voters have the ability to vote for and to elect candidates of their choosing. Which is not the same thing as a right of Black individuals to be elected to office. And I think that's one of the confusions that characterizes, frankly, both sides of the debate at this point. And I think that's definitely something that needs to be clarified.Adolph ReedSome of my friends and I have been talking about this, and have been bouncing this idea back and forth since, frankly, even before the court handed down the [Louisiana v Callais] decision. In thinking about developments in black politics across the board, the idea that all that Black voters are supposed to get out of politics is the representation of people who look like them and share in the same racial identification has also fueled backward turns. Like how all of a sudden the biggest issue in Black American politics supposedly had become the racial wealth gap, which boils down to a complaint that rich Black people aren't as rich as rich white people are. So, yeah, shaking up or reshuffling the deck for how we might begin to try to determine the stakes of Black Americans' engagement in national politics is something that needs to happen. No matter what brings it about.Adolph ReedBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.My website is www.lawofficesofbrucefein.com and my email address is Bruce@feinpoints.com. And I'll respond and give you guidance as to how you can help be part of this effort to impeach and remove by far the most dangerous President in the history of the United States. And he's most dangerous to the world as well.Bruce FeinNews 5/8/26* Our top story this week comes to us from the Bulwark, which reports that dissatisfaction with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is reaching a fever pitch. Martin has faced criticism over the course of his tenure for reneging on his promise to release an autopsy on the 2024 presidential campaign and for his decidedly lackluster fundraising efforts. The DNC has reportedly “spent more money than it has raised” and “has more debt than cash on hand,” while the Republican National Committee enjoys a “roughly seven-to-one money advantage.” According to this report, high-level DNC members are now privately discussing ousting Martin, only tabling these discussions “after members failed to identify an alternative candidate willing to step into the role.” Martin's failures have even led Democrats to openly wonder “whether the 178-year-old committee should even exist anymore.” Martin was elected DNC Chair last year, beating out Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, who helped rebuild the party and raise tremendous amounts of money in that critical swing state.* Speaking of money in politics, this week POLITICO released a damning report on End Citizens United, the good-government focused 501(c)(4) that has in past years been a “fundraising behemoth” but has now faded nearly into complete irrelevancy. The issues highlighted in this piece will be familiar to many who have worked in this world. Despite raising $14.8 million, the group's PAC arm is burning through the money more quickly than it can raise it, having just $324,000 on hand at the end of March. What are they spending the money on? According to POLITICO, about $650,000 has gone to candidates and party groups and about the same amount has been bundled. Meanwhile, payments to fundraising firms have eaten up an astonishing $5.3 million. This is just another case of Democratic Party aligned consulting firms run amok and growing fat off of small dollar donations.* Another disappointing story comes to us from the Teamsters. According to Bloomberg, the union has forfeited a hard-won union foothold – the first ever unionized Chipotle – following three years of battling the company and failing to secure a contract. A Teamsters local president said in an email to the National Labor Relations Board that the union “officially withdraws and disclaims interest” at the Lansing, Michigan location. Legally speaking, this means the company will no longer be “required to recognize or negotiate with the union.” The employees of this location voted to unionize in 2022 by a margin of 11-to-3. Chipotle corporate has been decried for seeking to bust this union, with Biden NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo accusing them of employing illegal anti-union tactics like “withholding raises from the store's staff and telling workers that the union was keeping their pay frozen…[and punishing] a pro-union employee to discourage activism.” However, it was the Teamsters themselves who ultimately gave up, paving the way for the demise of the workers' heroic stand against corporate power. As the saying goes, with friends like these.* In more positive political news, during the Washington DC mayoral debate last week, the Washington Post reports democratic socialist mayoral hopeful Janeese Lewis George seemed to endorse the idea of opening municipal grocery stores in DC food deserts, including the impoverished and majority Black Wards 7 and 8. Asked about this topic, Councilmember Lewis George committed to bringing at least one more grocery store to Ward 7 and at least two more to Ward 8, noting that she would seek to shore up investor confidence with public dollars. If private options do not materialize however, she vowed that “we will work towards” a publicly-owned store. Municipally-owned grocery stores were a much publicized part of the Zohran Mamdani campaign platform and, if Lewis George is elected, his success or failure in carrying out that pledge is sure to impact her decision making on this issue.* Meanwhile, in media news, the New York Times reports Lupa Systems – the private holding company representing the interests of James Murdoch, son of conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch – is “in talks to acquire major parts of Vox Media.” Vox, founded in the 2010s by journalists Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, now owns major media properties including New York magazine, the Verge, Eater and a podcast network featuring Kara Swisher and others. Murdoch, through Lupa, owns a “majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival.” Additionally, the Times notes that Quadrivium, the foundation founded by Mr. Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, has financial interests in “The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, a so-called ‘Never Trump' digital media company.” James Murdoch, along with his sister Elisabeth, are seen as far more liberal than the Murdoch patriarch and his other son, Lachlan, who together successfully ousted the other family members from control of the family trust in a recent legal battle.* Turning to international news, yet another deadlocked presidential election in Peru is looming. A new Ipsos poll, taken near the end of April, shows an exact 50-50 split between the two candidates in the runoff: the left-wing member of Congress Roberto Sánchez and Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori. This election was always going to be close – Peruvian politics have been deadlocked for years, resulting in ultra-narrow presidential victories frequently followed by impeachments. Fujimori has been a runoff candidate in every presidential election going back to 2011, losing each by extremely narrow margins. Most recently, she lost to Pedro Castillo by a margin of 50.13% to 49.87% in 2021. Castillo however was thwarted by, and ultimately ousted by, the Congress. The runoff will be held on June 7th.* In India, the Left suffered catastrophic defeats in this week's state elections, Al Jazeera reports. The state of Kerala – “the first in the world to have a democratically elected communist government” and “the last state in India where communists were in power” – will now be led by the United Democratic Front, a coalition headed by the Congress party, which won over 100 out of 140 seats. The Left bloc will likely capture around 35 seats. Beyond Kerala however, the Left has seen setbacks throughout the country, with no state now being ruled by the Left for the first time since 1977 and the national parliamentary Left bloc declining from 62 in the 2004 election to just eight seats today. Different factors are cited for the general decline of the Left in India, including an inability to adapt Marxist analysis to non class-related issues in the country, such as caste and gender, as well as the decline of industrial trade unions and a general trend towards Right-wing Hindu nationalism. Hopefully, the Left will take this electoral rout as an opportunity to rebuild itself into a viable force for 21st century Indian politics.* Turning to East Asia, the Financial Times reports North Korea has subtly revised its constitution to drop references to reunification of the two Koreas. Specifically, the new text reads “the territory of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea includes the territory bordering the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation to the north and the Republic of Korea to the south, and the territorial sea and airspace established on it”. In acknowledging the existence of the Republic of Korea, more commonly known as South Korea, experts see a move away from the long-held North Korean contention that the peninsula is a single country illegally partitioned. The revision was “disclosed by an academic at a press conference hosted by the South Korean Ministry of Unification on Wednesday.” Though this article notes that “North Korea has not made any comment on the revised constitution and the source of the text revealed by the unification ministry was not disclosed,” it highlights that Kim Jong-un has increasingly moved in this direction in recent years, renaming Tongil (“reunification”) metro station in Pyongyang and dismantling an Arch of Reunification monument.* Our last two stories have to do with the People's Republic of China. First, Reuters reports China's Commerce Ministry has issued an injunction to “block U.S. ​sanctions imposed on five Chinese refiners accused ‌of buying Iranian oil.” Hengli Petrochemical, one of the five small “teapot” refineries primarily located in China's Shandong province, was slapped with sanctions last month, when the Trump administration accused the company of purchasing billions ​of dollars in Iranian oil. The other four have been sanctioned since last year. However, the Ministry now argues that the sanctions violate “international law and ‌the ⁠basic norms of international relations,” and with the injunction in place, “the United States cannot recognize, ​implement, or comply ​with the ⁠sanctions imposed on the aforementioned five Chinese companies.” This is perhaps the most significant challenge to the American-led international sanctions regime in decades and whatever reaction issues from the U.S. will surely inform other states on just how far they can go in flouting such sanctions.* Finally, in a stunning legal decision, Fortune reports Chinese courts have ruled that “companies cannot terminate employees just to replace them with artificial intelligence systems.” The case in question hinged on whether a tech firm in eastern China had acted illegally when firing one of its workers, a “quality assurance professional…identified only as Zhou” after he “refused to take a demotion” and a 40% pay cut, when his job was automated by AI. The court found that the termination did not meet established standards, such as business downsizing or operational difficulties, and the court separately stated that “Companies cannot unilaterally lay off employees or cut salaries due to technological progress.” This stunning legal victory for workers in the face of challenges by technology is bittersweet – heartening in that it's happening at all, yet at the same time depressing because it is almost impossible to imagine an equivalent worker protection regime being implemented in the United States.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Today's Post - https://bahnsen.co/3QMkXSl David Bahnsen analyzes Rupert Murdoch's 2019 sale of major 21st Century Fox entertainment assets to Disney for $71.3B, emphasizing not the politics of the parties but the business logic and investing takeaways. He contrasts Disney's struggles since the deal with Fox's stronger stock performance, arguing the outcome reflects capital intensity and duration risk: Disney bought scale and IP to compete in streaming, requiring heavy reinvestment amid intense competition and limited margin of safety, while Murdoch kept Fox's news and sports assets (Fox News, Fox Business, broadcast and sports rights) as more durable, real-time, less disrupted businesses with higher margins. Bahnsen connects this to dividend growth investing as a shorter-duration equity profile that “gets paid now,” helping de-risk unknowns versus long-duration, capital-heavy bets like streaming content. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 01:10 Polarization Disclaimers 03:32 The 2019 Fox Disney Deal 05:13 Stock Performance Aftermath 06:48 Disney's IP Playbook 08:25 Murdoch Keeps News Sports 10:59 Streaming Wars and Capital Risk 12:52 Capital Light Durability Lesson 15:17 Duration Risk and Dividends 18:16 Dividend Growth Takeaways 19:30 Closing Thoughts Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com

Today on The Press Box, Bryan and David talk about oxpeckers in the media. They talk about the news of James Murdoch being in talks to buy parts of Vox Media and New York Magazine (11:03). Then, they talk about Trump almost giving a press conference in front of a bunch of golf reporters (26:13). They also discuss Adam Mockler vs. Scott Jennings(28:58), Tucker Carlson (32:02), some sports TV updates (37:54), and much more. Later, Bryan is joined by writer Bill Carter to talk about late-night comedy shows. They talk about the end of Stephen Colbert's show, Jimmy Kimmel fighting cancellation, and more (49:43). Plus, David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline! Hosts: Bryan Curtis and David ShoemakerGuest: Bill CarterProducers: Bruce Baldwin, Donald LoBianco, and Isaiah Blakely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Roger Mitchell and Mark Oliver launch Citizen AYNE, a new AYNE series inspired by Citizen Kane, by rewinding to the white‑heat of the dot‑com boom and Roger's time running the Scottish Premier League. Using their first deal together as a live case study, they unpack how tech money, over-excited broadcasters and new investors created a “boom on a boom” in media rights, why today's AI and chip-stock frenzy feels eerily similar, and how modern moguls like Bezos and Ellison now sit where Malone and Murdoch once did in deciding the future value of sport. Brought to you by 54.

It's the Netflix comedy from Mindy Kaling starring Kate Hudson that is equal parts glossy, chaotic, and completely addictive. Yep, we’re diving headfirst into Running Point Season 2!It’s a sports show, a family mess, a workplace comedy, and a rom-com experiment all at once — and somehow we’re still fully invested. We unpack why Isla Gordon is such a compelling disaster of a lead, why Season 2 pushes her even further into chaos, and why we can’t decide if we want to be her or run from her.We get into the love triangle that keeps collapsing under its own “perfect vs passion” logic, why Lev stops feeling so perfect this season, and how Coach Jay suddenly becomes a lot more interesting than expected. Plus, the friendship storyline that quietly becomes the emotional centre of the entire season, Cam’s slow villain energy, and the cameos that feel like Mindy Kaling collecting icons for fun.And then there’s that finale — the betrayal, the twist, and the very obvious setup for Season 3 chaos.Love binge-watching TV? The Spill has launched a new podcast called Watch Party where we deep dive into the shows everyone’s talking about. Follow the feed on Apple or Spotify now. Plus remember The Spill drops the tea twice a day in this feed so follow us for all the latest entertainment news… OR you can WATCH our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and enjoy the watch! Link here. THE END BITS Find and follow us on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespillpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thespillpod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thespillpodcast/ Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia: https://mamamia.com.au/entertainment/ Support Independent Women’s Media: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe/ Your subscription helps us continue to tell the stories that matter to women. Want to join the conversation? Have feedback or a topic you want us to discuss? Send us a voice message or email us at thespill@mamamia.com.au and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Executive Producer: Monisha Iswaran Audio & Video Producer: Michael Kean Mamamia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we have recorded this podcast. From MoMA Mia. Welcome to This Spill, your daily pop culture fix. 00:05Speaker 2 I'm Laura Brodnick and I'm and Benham and welcome to a. 00:08Speaker 1 Very special episode of This Spill. We have been just hanging out to do this since we heard that this show was being made on Netflix, So welcome to our brutally honest review of Running Points Season two. I love this show, me too. 00:24Speaker 2 I love this show so much. 00:25Speaker 3 We talked about it, I think for a week in watch and a bit when the show started in season one when they had season one, but we never did a brially honest review in season one. 00:33Speaker 1 No, I know we didn't mind, Mae, because we did three episodes leading up. Well. 00:36Speaker 3 I think there was also a lot of content happening around the same time, and also not a lot of people were talking about it. I remember we were like, are we the only ones watching this? Because we really wanted to do a brilliant review and we thought not enough people were watching it to be interested in really interview. And then when Netflix put out their numbers for that year and Running Point was so high on the list of being like one of their most watch shows, we were like, oh, we have to do it. 00:59Speaker 2 For season two. 01:00Speaker 1 Yes, and so season two debuted about a week ago and ever since then it's been number one on Netflix in Australia for multiple, multiple days. So we know you crazy kids are watching it because you listen to us. 01:10Speaker 2 Make your last week. 01:11Speaker 1 Yeahs all these running points, super fans, No, I mean I feel like it sells itself. I mean it's a comedy starring Kate Hudson created by Mindy Kaling. Like the show sells itself. 01:20Speaker 2 It's like literally the perfect Vendi. 01:22Speaker 1 Yeah. So that was our initial attraction to the show. Well, when I heard Kate Hudson doing like a proper TV show for the first time comedy, I was in obviously the Mindy Kaling of it all, but also that it was so many of the creative team like Ike Baron Holtz, who co created the show with Mindy Kaling. It was so many of the same creative team from one of our joint favorite TV shows of all time, The MINDI Project. The Mind Guys, if you haven't watched The Mindy Project yet after all these years, what are you doing? 01:53Speaker 3 I even think And this might be an unpopular opinion that like the funniest funniest parts in running point, the show barely even touches the surface of how funny Mindy Project is, But you can so tell which jokes Mindy and Ike have written compared to the other writers on the show, because it's so like, specifically that really smart, quick sense of humor that they had on the Mindy Project. And it's so interesting because I'm looking at Kate's character in this show, she plays Isla Gordon, and I'm like, your character would have fitted perfectly within the Mindy Kayling universe in the Mindy Project. 02:27Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. 02:28Speaker 2 That's the thing. 02:29Speaker 1 Running point is very much I guess, like almost like the Little Sister of the MINDI Project, Like it's it's fun, but it's not. And I say this myself, who as a little sister's it's like great and fun, but just not quite. 02:41Speaker 2 As good as the original. I my younger sister to put it. As an oldest girl, I love that. 02:49Speaker 1 Well. The thing is, I'm not trying to diminish it, but the thing is, like, in my humble opinion, nothing else that Mindy Kaling has come close to being as perfect and hilarious as the MINDI Project. But that's not saying how the work is an incredible. It's like the MINDI project is like lightning at a bottle, Like you can't recreate it, you can't move it over to other projects. It's just like that bar is like in the Heaven. 03:11Speaker 3 It's like perfect humor, perfect storyline, perfect cast. 03:15Speaker 1 But it doesn't mean her other TV shows aren't great. It's like that's a special thing all of itself. So in season one, we were introduced to the Gordon family and the character of Isla Gordon, who was played by Kate Hudson, who's based on a real woman who took over Do you not know that? 03:28Speaker 3 I feel like I kind of I think you told me in season one and I had the same reaction. 03:33Speaker 1 Like what, I actually love this that I can tell you the same facts like multiple times and you'll give me a great reaction each time. 03:40Speaker 3 Because I think the first time you told me, I was like, oh, yeah, she's based on the Murdoch family, like Terry Boys. 03:46Speaker 1 Well, yeah, based on a woman who took over a family NBA team and like rows up the ranks to be like a really high like player in the National Basketball League in America, But a lot of it is fictionalized in terms of like all the party of girls stuff, brother going to jail, little legitimate child, like, all that stuff is just like a Mindy Kaling oh creation. So in season when we introduced to Aila Gordon, who I loved. She's like a messed up party girl heiress who was always just kind of on the outs of this extreme family business of owning this LA basketball team. And when her oldest brother Cam played by Justin Threw, and Justin Throw he loves a quirky role. Yeah, he's so good at them, just like he did the same thing in Devils prior to He's done the same thing so many times of the year. 04:30Speaker 2 But he has such like a serious demeanor. 04:33Speaker 1 Yeah, he looks so serious. He looks like a brooding heart. 04:36Speaker 2 He's really serious and scary. 04:37Speaker 1 And inside is just a little quirky character actor just waiting to get out. So he went to rehab and there was all this terrible stuff. 04:44Speaker 2 So that's not Justin Throw his character. Yeah, although maybe his method I don't know. 04:48Speaker 1 I don't know what he does in his spare time, probably running point method for imagine. 04:53Speaker 2 Telling the police. 04:54Speaker 1 I just I'm in this Many Kaling show. I started to my character, He's like, you guys, get it right, like absolutely not, You're going to jail. So we saw Eila take over the family business and have to kind of like prove herself to her brothers and also the basketball team. 05:09Speaker 2 And at the same time, she was. 05:11Speaker 1 In a relationship with lev played by Max Greenfield, who I love and adore so much. 05:16Speaker 3 His character is so similar to his character and your girl. 05:20Speaker 1 Oh really, I think opposite? 05:22Speaker 2 No way, How are they? How are they similar? 05:25Speaker 1 Because both love green juice. Okay, you're just that's literally every white man in LA. 05:31Speaker 3 They're both they're both obsessed with their partner, like he's obsessed. 05:34Speaker 1 With her, Yeah, but in a different way like he he Schmidt because if you haven't seen you girl, also, if you haven't seen you girl, also what are you doing? 05:41Speaker 2 So many recommendations? 05:42Speaker 1 That is also a top top tier comedy. Here's character of Schmidt on that is just one of those breakout stars from like one of those ensemble comedies that is like such a kind of like an individual thing that can't be recreated. Whereas Levins, like he does have that same kind of lovable energy. I guess that Schmidt does. But I think that's just Screenfield in general, because and hiss like a little smile. Again, that's just Max Greenfield's face, because whatever, Schmid's so like neurotic. 06:09Speaker 2 Yeah, but I feel like, you know, I'm gonna stick to my guy. Okay, you similar like. 06:14Speaker 3 I when I was watching him in Running Point, I'm like, I couldn't take Schmid out of my head. Maybe that's just because he is that character. 06:21Speaker 1 Yeah, well he does kind of create that character. 06:24Speaker 3 And like when you watch New Girl, it's hard to like separate them both. Yeah, but I do think he was perfectly cast for this role. 06:31Speaker 1 Well, the thing is, they wanted her love interest to kind of like again be a bit out of like this like every other all the other men in the show, like a bit douchey but also really power, like hungry with secrets and stuff. And Lev is meant to be sort of like this outside world of like an opposites of track, like iile agorded as this rich, kind of messed up woman who is also like a big theme of also season two was like she's a bad person, which is, you know, the whole kind of like thing that we see her go through, and Lev was kind of like this all too good to be true, nice doctor who cares about his family and cares about her and gives her second chances and like makes her coffee in the morning, and it's just always there in the background. And that's a very common rom com trope, which indicating loves to take a rom com troop and like put it in the show, but then like play off it in a bigger storyline because it's his idea of like, this is the perfect guy, but I'm not in love with him, as we find out in this season, and I can't force on paper he's perfect, but there's no like fire, yeah, which. 07:28Speaker 3 We kind of saw towards the end of season one where she kisses Jay like coach j Coach also very hot and attractive, but it was one of those storylines where you weren't like overtly rooting for them because Lev is such a good guy as well, yeah, and you like love them both so much, so it was very much like up to I guess her discretion on what she would do, and the audience would just like back whatever decision she made. And then I think that's where like season one ended, was her kissing Jay after Jay announcid he's moving to Boston and leaving the team, as well as us finding out that Justin Thurrow's character Cam is not as good as he seems. 08:10Speaker 1 Yes, because you thought at the in season one that he had, even though he'd done some bad things, that he had picked Eyelight to take over the family business because he really believed believe her. He was giving her a chance. It's only because he thought she would fail huge plot twists. In fact, Mindy Kayling said recently that they put a huge amount of cliffhangers at the end of season one of Running Point, because she's like, You've got to do that on a Netflix show. You've got to fill the last episode with cliffhangers so that the people at Netflix are forced to go, oh, okay, we'll do a second season then. And I was like, Mindy Kelling, just so you know, that only works for you. Yeah, when you have a TV show starring Kate Hudson. Do you know how many shows Netflix cancels famously, things like. 08:50Speaker 2 The Society mind Hunters. Yeah, exactly. They ruined people's lives. 08:55Speaker 1 They don't care if there's a plot twist at the end, they will cancel that shit. Even if either you end on the biggest plot twist ever and everyone's like oh again, like a society, they'll just be like cut sorry, it's good. Sorry. Sometimes Mindy Kelly doesn't know her privilege. 09:09Speaker 2 Oh my god, she's. 09:10Speaker 1 Out there being like me, playing a fun little game Netflix this little thing. 09:15Speaker 2 Yeah. 09:15Speaker 1 So again, that's why they ended season two on a plot twist that we'll get to because is like it's probably gonna get picked up, but it's at the time of recording, it's not official, but Mindy Kellings knows what she's doing. 09:26Speaker 2 It has to be a picked up. It will be. It has to be. 09:29Speaker 1 You don't cancel Kate Hudson's show. Ah, so we pick up in season two. 09:35Speaker 3 Yeah, we pick up in season two with Cam having been out of rehab and surprising the family. He's back in their office and he's like sitting in the islids like now, I guess his old office and that has made her own, and he asks for his job back now because she CEO. She's like, are you okay with working under me? 09:55Speaker 1 And he's huge when you're the big brother and like the patriarch of the family. 09:59Speaker 2 Exactly, and he was like yes, yes, yes, And then her other brothers are so excited to have him back. 10:05Speaker 3 And the beginning, we just see like Cam trying to merge himself with the family while also the audience know that he's not there on good terms for himself, Like we know he has like this underlining message he wants to like delivered to them, and we're trying. 10:17Speaker 2 To figure out what his play is. Yeah. 10:19Speaker 1 Yeah. 10:19Speaker 3 At the same time anyway, as that's happening, we also are with Eiler while she tries to find a new coach for their team, which is actually so funny, Like I found all the interview processes I did for the coaches were so funny. Ray Romano, Yeah kill that role. 10:39Speaker 1 I know, so good and so funny the way he because he was talking about getting the role when you're very Romano like he's just so humble, but also he knows his worth. He's like, my people told me that Mindy Kayling you want to be for a role, and I was like, yeah, I know him, Mindy Kaling, she's funny, I'll do it. And then he's it's so funny because he's also like I guess people just think he's just a bit of a comedy kind of person, but he's also like white an actory actor. Yeah, he's like, no, no, but normally I have to because apparently they're like, oh great, we're shooting next week. So he got the call and they booked him and they're like, oh great, so be on set next week. And he was like, wait, an actor needs time to prepare. He's like I usually like because I give myself a backstory and I think about it and I do research and. 11:15Speaker 2 All this topic. 11:16Speaker 1 I was like, oh my god, Ray Romano preparing for his roles is like someone make a documentary about that. 11:21Speaker 2 It's so bad. 11:22Speaker 3 And then like Ike Barnhost is probably like, this is a Mindy Kaling show. 11:25Speaker 2 You don't need to be doing. 11:26Speaker 1 So apparently he started researching like famous NBA coaches. And it's even weird that even I know this name, Greg Popovich, who was the San Antonio Spur, like a famous coach. 11:36Speaker 2 I don't know this. 11:37Speaker 1 Why don't it must have been it must have been referenced in like movies or something. Probably I didn't know what team he was and I've just heard that name. Maybe it's one of those names because he How many famous coaches are they? I'm sure in America heaps, but how many famous coaches names get used in TV? 11:50Speaker 2 Shows and movies. 11:51Speaker 1 That's true, so he modeled himself off him. Oh and that's a fun fact for the sports fans. And I just will clarify that's the last fun sports factor. 11:58Speaker 2 Okay, no sports fact. I had my mind and I just used it. I loved his character. 12:03Speaker 3 I love that his character had the potential to be so serious, but then the other characters pull him out of it. Like there's so many points where he tries to bring up his late wife who passed away, and all the other characters is like, we. 12:16Speaker 2 Don't have to. They're like, yeah, for your wife, caresn for your wife. Let's go. 12:21Speaker 1 I know. It's so funny because the thing is he does sentimental so well. So he has all those like when he comes in for his meeting, like he has all these like kind of bumbling moments. But then when you see like, yeah, he tells a story about his late wife, but then also knowing that he left his playbook behind. And I love the thing between him and Marcus where AILA's like you have to make him feel like your main girl. Raymond is like, I know his name's not Raymond over, you don't He's like, yeah, I get it. 12:45Speaker 2 I get it. 12:45Speaker 3 Like Marcus, You're my main girl, and Marcus is like, who's like the star player, He's like okay. 12:50Speaker 1 Gets thrown off the court to look after him. So yeah, there's a lot of kind of movement in the team and in the business as they kind of start putting the new team together, getting a coach, and also looking towards the playoffs. Yeah, sports jargon. 13:02Speaker 3 The best thing about Mindy Kaling shows and Running Point does this so well is like there's always a female lead, Like all her shows have a female lead, and that female lead has at least five problems happening at the same time exactly. So you're seeing like this really beautiful, put together woman just have these like frantic moments of all of these things happening in her life. Like she's having to deal with a new coach, she's a sponsorship with the team, her love life is in perils, she has to plan a wedding, best friend Ali is trying to join a different team. 13:32Speaker 1 Yeah, so she's got all of these. 13:33Speaker 3 Things happening and they're all snowballing into each other exactly, and like it's only specific type of person can do those roles, which is why I'm so glad Kate Hudson is like the main character of that role because I feel like all the leading women in Mindy Kaling's projects have been the best at that type of person. 13:49Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly, Yeah, Mindy Hellings. 13:51Speaker 2 It's such a specific thing. 13:52Speaker 1 I can't even describe a Mindy Kayalen leading lady, but I would say fashionably dressed, yeah, running somewhere, dropping things, spilling a coffee and having a hand. 14:00Speaker 2 It's a man treat. 14:00Speaker 1 Her badly but also be in love with her. That's because Mindy Kaling is like, she is a die hard romantic comedy fan. She's watched every romantic comedy, study them, she used to watch them over and over again as a kid, and she just wanted to live in one so badly that she created the Mindi Project, which is just a TV series that's one big, long romantic comedy set in New York. But the twist is the character would never be in a traditional rom com because she's an awful person and famously rom com women are like in a lot of the old school rom coms are just like they're clutch in sweet, but sometimes a little bit bland and sometimes not quite like they're Yeah, they never do the wrong thing because rom COM's taught us like you have to kind of be a bit perfect and like the man will eventually realize he's actually in love with you plot. 14:46Speaker 3 Twist and it's a really cute and like mousey yeah, and like her co worker is like calling her big l. 14:54Speaker 2 She's like, I'm not big, al I'm a tiny age and they're like, yeah, you are big. I'm wasting away. 15:00Speaker 1 And that's the thing about the MINDI character and the MINDI project is like she's so unlikable and that's why she made her a doctor because she's like, oh, this woman's gotta have unlikeable in the best way possible. 15:10Speaker 2 We love her. 15:11Speaker 1 It's just like a traditional Romcom lady wouldn't be pulling the stunt set. Actually Lindy pulls in that show. And so she made her a doctor because she's like, oh my god, this one's gotta have one like kind of redeeming thing about her. Even if sometimes she's like, oh you do have insurance, she's like, oh, you're gonna do it tonight and lost at home. 15:31Speaker 2 Watch. 15:32Speaker 1 So she's not the doctor you'd call, but I guess if she was there, she would. 15:35Speaker 2 Yeah. 15:36Speaker 1 So I like characters kind of meant to be that, And I love that she does have this redemption where she does decide to try and be a better person, but she's still a bit of a shitty person all the way through. And I love that about her because if she had this complete personality change, it wouldn't work. 15:51Speaker 3 It wouldn't work, and it also just wouldn't be good content. Like you want to kind of like have this like push and pull against the main character where it's like a very clever way of writing a main character where everything about them you hate, but you're rooting for them so hard. 16:06Speaker 1 Yeah, And I'm always rooting Foriler, except every time she says I'm a bad person, I'm like, yeah, girl, yeah, but not a bad person, just a bad person. And just like when they show them montage of her doing bad things like stealing a sandwich or stopping a chair and stuff, and they're just like, yeah, that's weird. 16:20Speaker 2 Love that I've never changed. 16:22Speaker 1 The biggest sign to me they were trying this season to kind of paint her as someone who used to be a bad person is trying to get better is the fact that they point out that before she met Ali, she never had a female friend is like you just know as a girl, that's the worst thing you can say to another girl. It's like you're not a girl's girl. Women don't like you. And usually in a movie and TV show, that's the biggest red flag for a character like that would be the villain, not the main character. 16:47Speaker 2 That's so true, and they really showcase that with It makes you think about season one. 16:52Speaker 3 You're like, oh, yeah, I guess she's like so successful in this world because you would see I guess quote unquote past shots of her like bringing her friends into the basketball stadium and stuff, but you never really see the friends. 17:04Speaker 2 Yeah. You always just see her hanging out. 17:06Speaker 3 In the locker rooms with the players and like her dad and her brothers and stuff like that. But you like don't hear about her mum or any other women in her life besides Allie, who's honestly, Brenda's song is like amazing in this it was only because they had to live together in Uni, so like their friendship was kind of forced upon each other. Yeah, but then like Alie literally becomes her person. 17:29Speaker 1 Yeah, And I do love that because it's also saying like, yeah, this is that woman that you get warned about that. And again, we know so many of those women who hang out with their family or their partner and that's it. Yeah, and they're kind of stuck in that world because and that's the interesting thing about the Gordon family in this is they are that very specific family that everyone knows a family like this where they're kind of all terrible and they hate each other, but they just don't have anyone else. Yeah, so they have to Gordon family, always coming back together and having each other's backs, like, oh, it's us or nothing. 17:57Speaker 2 Yeah, that's so true and I love that. 17:59Speaker 1 And yeah, again, Eiler is that very specific character where she's just like, girls don't like me, and yeah, we sometimes see her with a group of friends, but it's very specifically that thing of like party friends. 18:08Speaker 2 Yeah, like you can like a rich people friends. 18:10Speaker 1 Rich people friends where you know, like Isla Gordon's got the bottle service, she's got the table, she's gonna like you can take her car there, you know what I mean. Like she's those people like I'm sure half those girls don't even have her number and she doesn't know their names. They're just like her party girlfriends that latched onto her when she was like young in. 18:26Speaker 3 Her ghost clubs, which is why I like the friendship episode with Alie started off so strong with showing their backstory of how they became friends, and then we find out that Ali has been asking for a promotion. Firstly, asking for a promotion from your best friend must be like insane. 18:41Speaker 1 Yeah, when your best friend becomes your boss, which is something that happens in workplaces because you bond and become friends with the people. 18:47Speaker 2 Especially for the only two women working in that workplace. 18:50Speaker 1 And she has become like part of the family to an extent, and you can see that in the way like Ness and Cam to an extent, but he's a bit evil. But like how like Kness and Sandy have a back and forth with her, Like it's very brother sister. Yeah, like they're so mean to her, but they're only mean to her because they kind of treat her like Isler and they call her out and stuff. 19:07Speaker 2 It's very brotherly. 19:08Speaker 3 Also equals, right, Yeah, it was like her and Ali aren't exactly equals when it comes to that like hierarchy of power, which is why when Alie said that she's going to Canada, Yeah, she's going to Canada because she got a new opportunity that has more money, and like Ila's team could not pay her the same amount, and Eila just couldn't like work out why she was leaving, and she was like, you're leaving because you hate me, and al He's like, if you're a good friend, you'd congratulate me. 19:36Speaker 2 Yeah, And it just shows that, like how she's. 19:38Speaker 3 Just been living in that world a privilege for so long. Yeah, that like I think it was the first time that Eyler realized that Alie is not on her level. 19:46Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. And also because it was so interesting how their like flashback scenes of them as college roommates set up their dynamic of the fact that Allie was the first person who didn't give a crap that she was Isla Gordon or Isla Gordon, and she's like, hey, Islam who didn't kind of give a crap that she was this rich, like party girl, that she came from a well known family and just well she didn't like her at first, which is in the chasing there was a classic like you know, opposite and then they watched slowly become friends that scene where they're crying together watching a movie and it and they're like he can't see without these glasses, and it flashes to my girl is so good, especially because Macaulay Culkin wanted a bigger part this season and he only got for anyone who doesn't know, I'm sure people do, but Macaulay Culkin is Brenda Song's partner and they have two children together and madly, madly in love. 20:40Speaker 3 And they're also both massive basketball fans, every single and she's. 20:45Speaker 2 A bigger fan than him. 20:46Speaker 1 Do you know that once in the Lakers game she had to be hospitalized because she was watching the game and she became so like fraught watching it, and then she took a sip of water and they scored, and then she was like, oh my god, you have like sports people are very superstitious, and they're like, if I won this day, I've got to wear the same underwear or drive the same way to work, or like put the same stick on or whatever it is. And she was like, oh my god, every time they should have just so she was hyperventilating and taking a sip of water to help them score, to the point where she like nearly stopped breathing and had to go to the emergency room. 21:12Speaker 2 Brenda song Man just just a girl, just a girl who loves it. 21:15Speaker 3 Was so funny when I was watching the like part of the promo for this season. Yeah, Kate Hudson and Brenda Song had to go to a few NBA games and sit like in the like celebrity see, like on the court and like Brenda songs like jumping up and down and like. 21:29Speaker 2 Yelling at the players and pointing, and you can hear Kate Hudson just sitting next to her and she's just like, you're crazy. Yeah, she was like, I didn't sign up at this level of promo. 21:38Speaker 1 And so when they went to that movie and crying, it's cute because that's Brenda Song's partner or pot we culked, and he gets a few little cameos in, but like he was gunning. Apparently he was gunning for a big partner, like we'll see you next season. So that's cute. So yes, so we see there's this whole story about like a headhunter's in town. Yes, this headhunter who's going to come and take the team away. 21:56Speaker 2 Did you recognize him? 21:57Speaker 1 I did, reckon absolutely, I really jumped off my chair because guys, he's from the MINDI Project. He's so in the fans. So the actor's name is Tommy Dewey and he plays Magnus in Running Points. So he's from the Toronto Trappers. I'm sure if that's a real team, and do you know what, I don't think it is, and I decided not to look it up because I didn't. 22:18Speaker 2 Want to ruin the magic yea. 22:20Speaker 1 And so he's called the Poacher, So he was, And there's just that was actually quite a good plot twist because they're like, they thought he was coming to take a player from their team, and then he wasn't. And so it cuts to the Gordon siblings and they're like, but if it wasn't for that, why was he here? And then it cuts to him offering her this job? 22:36Speaker 3 And isn't it so funny that that was his exact character in The MINDI Project. 22:40Speaker 2 He like managed an NBA team and he would be at all these parties. 22:44Speaker 1 No Mindy Kayling knows what she's doing. So yeah, he played Josh in The MINDI Project and he was one of Mindy Kayling's many love interests. But he had a couple of seasons up, yeah, and then he left when his girlfriend showed up, played by Ellie Kemper, who is Mindy Kaling's very good friend and a coast on the off and he was dating the Tools at the same time, and they have this massive fight, remember when she has to handcuff Midy Kelly handcuffs Ellie Kemper. But I always remember him from one of the very best scenes ever in the MINDI Project, where she goes, oh, after they've like woken up together. She goes, Oh, let me throw on your shirt. 23:18Speaker 2 It'll be so over I was talking about. She's like, oh, let me throw on your shirt. 23:25Speaker 1 It'll be so oversized on me because I'm so dainty to be so sexy. She puts on like fits perfectly, but just a little snug. Then he's like, what happened to my jeans? He puts on her jeans and again they fit. 23:38Speaker 2 And he was like, oh they fit me, and she starts screaming. 23:40Speaker 1 She's like it was so it's the funniest thing ever. And it's because like in your head, you're just like I'm living in a rom com in the rear. It's just like, absolutely not. 23:51Speaker 2 I love that. Let me put this on to be so dainty. 23:54Speaker 1 And so that's his whole character, is that he offers Allie this job that she can't turn down, and that causes that huge falling out between Ali and Isla. And it's the worst falling out of the show because, as we know, like falling up the family member, fine ya, falling up the love interest encouraged fully out of your best friend, especially when you've aready got one. 24:13Speaker 3 Oh heart breaking, heartbreaking, And they really pushed that storyline because I'm just gonna say it. 24:20Speaker 2 Alie was in Toronto for way too long. What she's there for one episode? No, it felt way too okay, Like she fully. I was like, oh my god, Isla, stop her at the door, stop her? Oh okay, and then she's like fully in a different country. She had to go. Actually, they made it so dark. 24:34Speaker 3 There's dark and gloomy and blue, and the poacher only cared about what Isla thought of her leaving. 24:41Speaker 2 Did Eila crime, She's scream. 24:44Speaker 1 So I thought it needed more of a build up than which they would just I thought the whole Gordon in my head, this is the note I had in my head. The whole Gordon family would just fall apart without her not realizing that she was the lynch pin or not holding the entire company together, because I do think that's true, and also holding the family together, and all these boys who are mean to her and had taken her for granted would also go with Island to apologize to her. That was my fantasy, which happened, But it was enough when Ilan went. It was enough when Island and they had their friendship moment and She's. 25:13Speaker 2 Like, how did you get in here? 25:15Speaker 1 It's no small planes. 25:16Speaker 2 Did you fly commercial? 25:18Speaker 1 You're like, yeah, that is the whip put in near the bathroom. That is the world we're dealing with. And at the same time as all that's happening, Cam is slowly but surely being the super villain of the season. 25:30Speaker 3 Oh I love him though, justin Thrower, he's so funny in this. So we find out that Cam is trying to take back his place as CEO, and he's doing it through like very discreete insidious ways where he's slowly trying to make decisions on behalf of Isler. Like firstly he tried to hire his own coach and was just saying, this is what we're doing now, and Isla was like, no, we're not doing that. And then he tried to get his own sponsor on and Isla was like. 25:57Speaker 1 No, which his own sponsor our fly? Can I give him a shout out? 26:01Speaker 2 Yeah? 26:01Speaker 1 Because do you know who that is? Yes, that is one of my favorite actors of all time. 26:04Speaker 2 That is Ken Marino. Where he's your favorite actor just in so many. 26:08Speaker 1 Things, so funny, so funny. So he plays a really iconic role in for Roddi Kamas. He's the rival private investigator to Rodi Kammas and her dad. 26:18Speaker 2 Just so funny. That's just so weird. Yeah, a lot of the times. So he's always like kind of like and again he's just he always plays like a goofy bad guy. 26:25Speaker 1 He plays like he always plays like the worst person who's also secretly hilarious. So when I saw him pop up, I was like, well, dog mindy Kayley. And he was also in that like iconic series like Party Down. 26:34Speaker 2 Yeah, he's just in Brooklyn, My night. 26:36Speaker 1 Yeah he's been You look for a really good comedy show and he's in it. He's like one of those comedy actors who just like everyone calls him to be in their show. So when he rocked up, I'm like, now we're going Now this is a show. 26:48Speaker 2 Now this is. 26:48Speaker 3 Happening when he rocked up too, because he sponsors the company on behalf of toilets. 26:54Speaker 1 Yeah, so he owns a toilet company. No, No, he's a he's I guess he does all the in the stadium. He owns like a toilet company that installs. Yeah, that owns all the pipes and toilets and stuff like that. So and he's a season ticket holder. 27:08Speaker 2 Yeah. And he's obsessed with the team. 27:10Speaker 1 And so he donates money to them and stuff. 27:12Speaker 3 And he keeps wanting more and more and more, and they're like, no, no, no, you can't sit courtside that You're not a celebrity, you're just a billionmaire. 27:20Speaker 1 And then he becomes like a co conspirator with Kim. 27:23Speaker 3 He does, and they become buddy buddy. At the same time, Eiler is trying to get their existing sponsor to stay on, so they have. 27:32Speaker 2 A family basketball playoff. 27:35Speaker 1 Okay, I freaking loved this. 27:38Speaker 2 Oliver Hudson. 27:41Speaker 1 No, that's so because it was because there wasn't inter you with Kate Hudson. They were saying, like, oh, Ali should have been in there because she's practically family, and Kate Hudson's like, no, I know, but like the rule was so clearly that they had to be family, and she's like to the point where we got my real life family in there. So that is her brother Oliver Hudson and I weirdly know so much about their sibling dynamic because they have a siblings podcast. 28:02Speaker 2 They do have a podcast. You listen to it, No, because it's wild. 28:06Speaker 1 I don't think Hate's been on it for a really long time because she's booked and busy now. 28:09Speaker 2 But there was a great he's just soloing it. 28:12Speaker 1 Yeah, sometimes he solos. He did a really good episode with Blake Lively sister where they're justalking about a siblings are more famous than us? 28:18Speaker 2 Oh, I mean I like that younger brother Wyatt. 28:21Speaker 1 No, because why it's also working. 28:24Speaker 2 You know what he's working on What Monarch? Your favorite show? 28:30Speaker 1 So they have to have this family basketball thing because they have to have a thing over the rent of a stadium to this other basketball family. 28:37Speaker 2 No, it's a hockey fan. 28:39Speaker 1 Sorry, please forgive me. 28:41Speaker 3 It's a hockey family who are like wanting to invest in that who in that space. So they're like rivaling and they had like this weird bet going on. What's funny is that Oliver husband's playing for the other family. 28:52Speaker 1 Yeah, because he's playing a different thing. 28:53Speaker 2 Which is so funny because then they bring in Barrett Hole. 28:56Speaker 1 Oh my god, can we talk me that for a second. So again, finally I've been waiting for him to get on my screen. Yeah, exactly, because he was on the MINDI Project with Mindy Kley and they have a great professional relationship together where they create together and he is the co creator, co writer all the things of writing point and they had been talking for a while about if they would co star, if they would like make a cameo, would they act on it, because up until then they were like no, no, no, we're just behind the scenes. And then I said he started to get really kind of just being like, oh, I want to be on the screen. 29:27Speaker 2 I want to be in the because he wants to. 29:28Speaker 1 Be like famous, cause he's already famous and he's like in the studio and stuff. But he more SOO was getting jealous of the actors because they're think such a good time. Than he found out the actors had a text chain that was just for the actors, and every time he saw the message on it, he was like, I want to get in on that, and so in his mind he was like, what if I played the coach of a rival basketball team and I had a love affair with Kate Hudson, And what about that dynamic? It's a will they won't they? And Mindy Kaling said, yeah, or you play their cousin and you're the. 29:58Speaker 2 Dumbest person in the world. And so that is he plays. 30:03Speaker 1 Their cousin, and he's just so creepy and wonderful. He plays his exact character as Morgan, but with a slight he's like, he said, from his point of view, he was playing it like this cousin character has sexual tension with his cousin Aila. So he's like, just in his head, just so gross. And he said, there's a scene where his character, I can't even think of his name. I just think of him as like his Eyke Baron in this Cousin Ike. And there's a scene where he comes over to massage Kate Hudson's shoulders, and he wanted to make her freaked out every time because she's meant to be repulsed by it, which is like fair enough, she's meant to repulse by it, And so every time he did it, he would dip his hands in like a little bit of warm water, so when he went over, his hands were warm and wet. 30:46Speaker 2 And that's why I'm in And. 30:47Speaker 1 The first time she did it, she went ah, And that's the take. That's why she looks so freaked out. 30:51Speaker 2 That's so funny, but you can malage you mention it. I have like on the. 30:55Speaker 3 Basketball in that basketball scene where like he's like dying on the ground and he's like, I help me up, but she just walks me. 31:02Speaker 2 So gross. 31:02Speaker 1 Also, can we talk about, sorry, I'm not feeling the sexual tension between her and the coach of the one she ends up with. Can I tell you who she had wild sexual tension with? Is Scott's Speedman? 31:13Speaker 2 Yeah? 31:14Speaker 1 The actor Scott Speedman. I mean not what the actor. The actor is Scott Speedsman, but he plays the head of the rival family that they and their sexual tension so horeririble. I love Mindy Kelling so much because he's a real nineties early two thousand's heart throm and that's exactly when she would have been in her like, I don't I've seen him before, really, Scott Speedman a little show called Felicity. 31:39Speaker 2 I haven't watched it. 31:41Speaker 1 What I know underworld movies, other things, he's been what's okay, Wow, that was so her fe. 31:47Speaker 2 I've seen him in Running Point. 31:48Speaker 1 I think he's on Greasy Anatomy right now playing meritiths love interest right now. Yeah, right now, he's just going between shows being a love interest, because that's what Scott Speedman does. He's the ultimate love interest. He comes on the screen and everyone like, that's who you fall in love with. He does actually play a bad boy like this. 32:03Speaker 3 Though, that is quite likely and it's not just a bad boy, but he's like I don't know, like when that scene where like her car has a flat tire, Yeah, and then he starts like flirting with her a bit to get butterflies. 32:16Speaker 1 Yeah, that's the thing. They have such good sexual chemistry and sometimes you just can't will that into existence there it's not So I want him to come on next season when season three inevitably happens, and be the love interest for her, because now we've got tension, now we've got stakes. And also I can read Mindy Kayaling like a book, mostly because I wrote all her books multiple times, and I know that she loves will they won't they enemies to love the story. 32:43Speaker 2 Her whole MINDI project was all will they won't they? 32:45Speaker 1 Yeah? Because the MINDI Oh my god, you know how the other day I said to you, Bridget Jones is based on pride and prejudice. Yes, do you know that the MINDI Project is also based on pride? I know that, Thank gosh, Oh my god, embarrassing. I'm like your mind you just pass away. If anyone's listened to that an episode or seeing that video that went quite via, Oh my god, Emily loses her mind because she didn't know that Bridgittan's Diary was based on briden Bridge. 33:11Speaker 2 Go look at the video on our Instagram page. You can fight with everyriend in the comments. 33:14Speaker 1 Everyone who's like opened the schools. So I loved that, and like all the cameos this year was so good. The other cameo I loved before we move on to the downfall of Eiler in Love, which is the next moment after this, The other cameo I loved and again and Mindy Kelly and I are the same. 33:28Speaker 2 Person is Nicole Richie. Oh my god, yes, I forgot I was in there. 33:33Speaker 1 Nicole Richie is such an elusive being. 33:35Speaker 2 She's really good in it. 33:37Speaker 1 No, she's good. She If anybody who doesn't know the I mean, you know who Nicole Richie is. 33:41Speaker 2 If you don't, it's hard to. 33:42Speaker 1 Explain unless you were there, unless you're a teen girl or a young woman in the early two thousands, it's hard to explain the power of Nicole Richie because for a long time there she was the ultimate girl, the ultimate taste maker. And unfortunately it did happen after she lost a huge amount of weight and also committed a few crimes. Yeah, drug beast, and then went to court, went to jail all those things. Was one of those jail you know, like for a while that like Chloe Kardashi and Lindsay Low and Nicole Richie all in jailed. 34:15Speaker 3 Like me, and they all had like these dark gray underbags, but like smiling and. 34:19Speaker 1 They take their mugshots. So she went through a lot of shit. She went through a lot of shit, which she's been opened about. But then she became this glamorous fashion it girl, and she was in the whole like Rachel Zoe co hole. She was. Yeah, she was a zobot and dressed in a very specific way, but everything about her she wasn't a manufactured it girl, like she was the old cool it girl. Like everyone got a rosary beat. I mean, not me, but if my mum would let me, I would have. She has a rosary beat around her and cool tattooed falling down to her foot. Coolest thing ever she wore, like all the headbands that she used to tie on her hair. I used to do that and I used to also, and I lived in Townsville, so what was I doing. I used to lay in necklaces like herd okay leggings and the like kind of like lacy singlet tops and the massive handbags. 35:05Speaker 2 And it was such a moment. 35:07Speaker 1 And even when she had her kids and she named her daughter like Harlow Winter Kate Madden, and I was like, why is that the coolest baby name? Now she goes by Kate, which I actually find disrespectful. 35:18Speaker 2 Kate, Yeah, that's so many other names. 35:20Speaker 1 And then girl, I'm like, imagine being called Harlow Winter Kate and being like going to school and being like call me Kate. 35:26Speaker 2 I would say, no offense. My sister's name is Kate. I just like that. 35:29Speaker 1 I remember when that name Everyone's like, that is the coolest name. I've ever heard, and now she has like the jewelry brand, the fashion business and stuff because people just still want to look like Nicole Richie to this day. And I was never sure if she was a good actress. But then she did a guest in on the show he was obsessed with called Chuck, where she played like this evil got that she only like for oneiso. Okay, she played the evil high school nemesis of the lead girl, and she was so funny and good on it, so I feel like, but she doesn't do anything like that anymore. So the fact that she came in did a cameo for Running Point was so good and again played a nemesis one episode. 36:00Speaker 2 Oyah, she's so good. 36:02Speaker 1 And that I was like, Mindy Kayling, I just again, I get you. Mindy Tayling's like I want the heartthrow I grew up with and the cool girl I grew up with in my show. 36:09Speaker 2 Yes, that's so true. Okay, moving on to the. 36:15Speaker 1 The ill fated wedding of Eiler and Love. Did you think they were going to get married? I thought I had seen obviously there's stills of her trying on the wedding dress, so I thought we were actually getting a wedding. 36:26Speaker 2 Well, the wedding was such like a subplot. 36:29Speaker 3 Yeah, I feel like this whole season her romantic life was a subplot, Like it wasn't the biggest thing that was going on. If it was happening in season one, I feel like there would have been more tension with. 36:38Speaker 1 A wedding happened. 36:39Speaker 3 Yeah, But I didn't really feel the tension of will it won't it at all, Like I completely forgot it was happening until we get to the night before the wedding, which I loved. I love when the brothers got up on stage and did their Scottish Dad. 36:51Speaker 2 It was so good. It was so good. 36:53Speaker 3 And also I think seeing the four of them up there reaffirmed the idea to the audience that it is crazy that she is CEO of the company. 37:01Speaker 1 Yeah, and there's like four guys who are working for her exactly exactly, but it was so well done. 37:07Speaker 3 And then in the at the end where she like opens the ring and sees the ring that Coach Jay had given her for like the for winning and that was like the catalyst of her breaking up with Lev. And that is when Lev says you are a bad person. I know, which is the worst and you can ever say to a significant other. 37:30Speaker 1 And the thing is, I think we'd had this character thread with her. It's like she had done bad things in her past. Sometimes she did bad things now, but she had this guy that was so good and he loved her, so by extension, she too must be good. And I think she was really hanging on to that, and that's why she was pushing forward the wedding and everything. And also there's so many jokes. They don't say how old she is, but Kate Hudson is late forties, and so the character you've got to think his late thirties or early forties. You know what that means in a rom coom in life at any time, but especially in her realm, they're like, girl, get married, what's wrong with you? 38:04Speaker 2 And so she's also got. 38:05Speaker 1 This thing of is like she's like, I need to marry this man because he's good and he's so different to all the terrible men I'm surrounded with my family, like love them, but like her brother's open and her dad. 38:13Speaker 2 Was an awful person, and her mum. 38:15Speaker 1 By all accounts like, but she's like, I'm marrying this good guy, so I'm different to you, and I'm finally doing the right thing after being a washed up party girl for so many years, that I'm finally doing the right thing by getting married and letting all of that go was like a huge character arc for her, and a much bigger character art than getting married, I think, because it was her letting go of everything that made her good and right and having to just be like, and I'm just gonna be this new person I am who tries to do the right thing but still steals the sandwich. 38:42Speaker 2 Oh yeah, yeah. 38:43Speaker 3 And you can tell, like in that breakup that they're having where I was like meant to be a conversation. He when he says I think you might be a bad person, he knows, like that's the worst thing he could say he could say to her, because he's known like forever. She just wanted to prove that she was a good person, and like he knew that would be like the final thing and then he blocked her on. 39:03Speaker 1 Into which again, the worst thing you can do is you can do and say this. But I understand again I'm saying from a storytelling point of view, because Minny Kaylene, like she knows in her head she's got that third season, and just for the rom com premise to work around this basketball show, she needs to be single so that she can have the back and forth with the coach, so she can hopefully have the back and forth with Scott Speedman and she can you know, having her like happily married doesn't fit with where this story needs to go. So then we get into the final act, which is cam Like showing his hand that he's also back on drugs and using Jackie for his urine. 39:35Speaker 2 Jackie, he says that whole thing. 39:37Speaker 1 So we obviously we got not as much Jackie this season. We had the whole subplot with the dancers. I like that, which she was like, I'm like, I'm sorry, is this a Dallas cheerleaders documentary? 39:46Speaker 2 I don't know where they got that? 39:47Speaker 3 Plus and also so fair, And then we got to see Kate hasn't dance. 39:51Speaker 1 Yeah, so so funny about that because she said that was the scene that she was the most nervous about, was dancing with the cheerleaders. And she's a trained dancer because she's all saw a trained see I don't know if you've seen her dance in nine Glee, you've seen a dance in Glee. 40:04Speaker 2 I her dancing in Glee. Oh my god, go after this, straight after this. I remember her and Glee. What I remember Gwyneed Paltrow and Glee. Yeah, okay. 40:13Speaker 1 So in Glee, Kate Hudson played Cassandra July. And when Rachel Barry, Lee Michelle's character moves to New York, she's her teacher. But they have they hate each other at first of her back and forth and at one point they have a dance and song off to all that jazz from Chicago, and it's actually the greatest scene ever. You need to watch it because they're having a dance battle. 40:32Speaker 2 It's so good. 40:33Speaker 1 Okay, And Kate Hudson's a trained dancer and singer, but she hadn't danced for a really, really long time. She's professionally singing now for the first time ever. She was too scared to do it before her forties. She's so good. Kate Hudson can start becoming a singer in her forties. I know she's Kate Hudson, but I think we can just all do whatever we want. 40:50Speaker 2 We can all do whatever. That's what I'm taking away from her. Whatever age. 40:53Speaker 1 So they showed her the dance so Kate Hutson said, she got to set, they had the dances, they did the dance and she's like, oh, that looks kind of hard, but yeah, I can do it. When are we shooting? And they're like, oh, tomorrow. So she learned that whole dance in twenty four hours. The girl can dance. 41:07Speaker 2 Yeah, she is talented. So I love that. 41:10Speaker 1 So Jackie's other main storyline, apart from the fact that his girlfriend was like leading a Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders coup over fair pay and fair working conditions, that part where they're like getting dressed in the alley and stuff was so funny is that he also was pulled into Cam's web of lies and having to give him urinec heare. 41:29Speaker 2 And like jump out a window so we want to get caught. 41:32Speaker 1 My funniest line of the season came after that when Ness who is such a good character and this is not even a funny line, but it made me laugh out loud, where they're like, oh, he jumped out of the window because he was looking at a bird, and he's we've got to get those windows speaks. He's like, yeah, we love birds, but we love brothers more. 41:48Speaker 2 Like you're so stupid. His lines are so funny, he's his only funny lines. 41:52Speaker 1 It's just so so good. And then we find out what Cam's been planning, that he's going to overthrow the company, and it's such a kind of great moment when Ali and I like kind of band together to overthrow him and get their own like sponsors and get everything sorted and that ness and Sandy and I also love Standy this season. I thought I wanted him to have this big romantic story arc and I'm sorry his lover left him to be on Lisa in a another great cameo. 42:15Speaker 2 He has shown like, oh he's so cute. I do love Sandy. 42:21Speaker 1 I know, I love I love because his whole thing is like, I'm not that type of gay, because it would be the whole thing for a show to have that like very stereotypical flamboyant gay character. And I love that they've just like he's just got this full accountant yeah, and he's just like kind of this like gruff businessman who just happens to also be gay. But I also love the idea of out of the whole family because sometimes they sort of treat him as like, oh, you're the stoic one, you're this, you're that, like you're the serious one. I really wanted him to be the only one that had this beautiful romance and it didn't really work out maybe a season, but. 42:52Speaker 2 The whole family was going through the season. 42:54Speaker 1 The whole family really went through the ring up and then the part where Ness and Sandy choose to stand by Isil or not I thought was the ultimate kind of like build up moment for this season. 43:03Speaker 3 Yeah, and then like took away from like season one where it was like Bro's band together, Yeah, where like she actually proved her worth and they really found newfound respect for her, not just as like a younger sister, but just as like a business partner. 43:17Speaker 2 Yeah. 43:17Speaker 3 I was so nervous in this season, like Mindy Kayling would do that trick where she's just like not boys will be boys, Like these are the worst men ever. 43:25Speaker 2 We just have to live with that. 43:26Speaker 3 And I'm glad they came around because I don't think I could have dealt with another like annoying brother sister things. 43:32Speaker 1 Yeah, we need to see a little bit of growth from the season one finale to this season two finale. 43:35Speaker 2 I think we got that. 43:36Speaker 1 So where do you think season three is gonna go after that. 43:40Speaker 3 Oh the cliffhanger for the last episode. Also, I have to talk about when Jay and Isla were making out on the couch and I walked in. 43:48Speaker 2 And took form, like I thought we were gonna go Skinny Saunery. 43:53Speaker 1 Yeah, He's like, we go ski to be like yeah here. 43:58Speaker 3 So it ends after they win the playoffs against Boston, which. 44:02Speaker 1 Was so good because that's why you watch a sports show, Like I didn't care about actual sports, but it's so hooked to like life and death, human emotion, triumph over adversity, all those things. 44:10Speaker 2 So good. 44:11Speaker 3 It was like down to like the last second and they scored and one and that was like Jay's team, and you can see him getting kind of like giving her like a weird look and then storming off and then they just partied really hard. 44:24Speaker 2 They all woke up so drunk. 44:26Speaker 3 The next morning in Eli's house, Jackie comes running in and turn on the TV and it's this big press conference where it's announced that Cam and Al are starting their own LA basketball team to rival the Waves. 44:41Speaker 2 And their head coach is j Yeah, that's crazy, the ultimate brother lover. 44:47Speaker 1 Betraying me and I have like wearble their romans. They're like Romeo and Juliet now that they're on proper like rival team. So yeah, so season three it. 44:56Speaker 2 Just ends with going motherfucker. 44:58Speaker 1 Yeah, so good. She's so angry and hate Hudson does angry so well. So yes, humps for season three. I think it'll be really fun. Indy Kelly will get her way. She's like, take that plot twist, Netflix, Oh my god, and Mindy get on screen. 45:11Speaker 2 Please. 45:12Speaker 1 Yeah. 45:13Speaker 2 I beg you, I beg you. No, she's got an idea. 45:16Speaker 1 She's gonna play ix side piece because she's like, what's worse than playing like the worst t emn ever? Playing the side piece of the worst funny. 45:25Speaker 2 I love them together. 45:26Speaker 1 She's joking, but I'm also like, don't toy with me, make that happen. 45:29Speaker 2 No, I would love that. I want them to have their own storyline. Yeah, do a spit please. Thank you so much for listening to the Spill today. 45:38Speaker 3 Do not forget. On Monday morning, on Morning Dose of Entertainment News, morning tea drops right here in this feed at seven am, just hit follow so you do not miss a thing. The Spill is produced by Venitius Wine, with video production by Michael Keane, we will see you next week. 45:53Speaker 2 Bye bye,Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year's Patreon support – that's 20% in total.  Oh Mandy… the scandal that won't die is back (again). Can Keir Starmer style this one out or is his credibility finally shot? Plus, imagine if you wrote a hoax government report about how a secretive shadow government controls America and then everyone believed it. Even though you admitted it was false. And believed it so completely that they ended up destroying democracy. Nightmare, right? Author Phil Tinline talks us through the scarcely believable true tale he sets out in Ghosts of Iron Mountain – a story that takes in Lee Harvey Oswald, the Oklahoma Bombings, neo-Nazis, hippies, Oliver Stone and The X Files – and how it's still warping our world today.  • Order Ghosts of Iron Mountain through our affiliate bookshop and you'll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org's fees help support independent bookshops too. • Hear America Against The World from This Is Not A Drill on your favourite podcast app. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk.  ESCAPE ROUTES • Rachel recommends The Critic with Ian McKellen on Netflix • Raf has just discovered Fast As You Can by Fiona Apple from the album ‘When The Pawn Hits Etc Etc Yadda Yadda'. • Phil has been listening to drum, bass and related stuff from Ivy Lab • Andrew went to see the Murdoch vs Brenda Dean play In The Print at the New King's Head in Islington, London – it's on til 3 May. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr Audio Production by:Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's Hormuz blockade and his feud with the Pope, a new oral history chronicling stark shifts inside the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's second term, and how to unwind authoritarianism after the consequential electoral defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orbán with guest Anne Applebaum.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the joint resignation of Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales after accusations of sexual misconduct became public, why powerful men make such terrible choices, and whether we live in a world where shame still matters. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's Hormuz blockade and his feud with the Pope, a new oral history chronicling stark shifts inside the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's second term, and how to unwind authoritarianism after the consequential electoral defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orbán with guest Anne Applebaum.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the joint resignation of Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales after accusations of sexual misconduct became public, why powerful men make such terrible choices, and whether we live in a world where shame still matters. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's Hormuz blockade and his feud with the Pope, a new oral history chronicling stark shifts inside the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's second term, and how to unwind authoritarianism after the consequential electoral defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orbán with guest Anne Applebaum.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the joint resignation of Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales after accusations of sexual misconduct became public, why powerful men make such terrible choices, and whether we live in a world where shame still matters. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week Fox News returned to its schizophrenic confused coverage of the war in Iran. In the mornings on Fox & Friends the conflict was depicted as a chaotic mess between a stubborn Iranian regime that refused to give an inch and Trump the misunderstood magical deal maker. The morning crew promised its viewers that although the war was a fiasco military success and lower gas prices were just round the corner.On Jesse Watters Primetime the Iranian regime was defeated and the war was already over. Trump had accomplished what no other American leader had done before - created peace in the Middle East by destroying the number one sponsor of terror.To many outside of the Fox News MAGA cult it seemed Trump brokered a brief ceasefire with Iran because he had absolutely no idea what to do next.Fox News, his personal propaganda machine, acknowledged but downplayed the fact that the two-week ceasefire included a 10-point plan that basically gave Iran everything it wanted including enriched uranium.The network also admitted openly that the Strait of Hormuz was essentially still closed, Israel continued to pummel targets in Lebanon and the Iranian people had not risen up and toppled their brutal theocratic government.Everything was terrible but the Murdoch owned media empire was determined to make it look like an amazing victory for its glorious leader.While Fox News put all of its focus on Trump's possible strategy for ending the war in Iran the PBS News Hour included segments about:* Problems for farmers - fertilizer prices increase due to the war* How the war affected Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays in the Middle East* Israeli strikes in Lebanon - the effect on civilians* U.S. service members with traumatic brain injuries* How the war is increasing inflation in the U.S. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the state of the U.S. war with Iran including what Tuesday night's abject ceasefire means, a deeply unsettling profile of the internet fringe group "Groypers" that shows how they are affecting Republican politics with guest Antonia Hitchens, and legal and moral arguments over mandatory school reading lists being considered in Texas which contain Bible passages.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the ins and outs of a strange story in which a FEMA official claims to have miraculously teleported to a Waffle House in Georgia, including the media treatment of the story and what it means that some U.S. officials are reporting such experiences. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the state of the U.S. war with Iran including what Tuesday night's abject ceasefire means, a deeply unsettling profile of the internet fringe group "Groypers" that shows how they are affecting Republican politics with guest Antonia Hitchens, and legal and moral arguments over mandatory school reading lists being considered in Texas which contain Bible passages.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the ins and outs of a strange story in which a FEMA official claims to have miraculously teleported to a Waffle House in Georgia, including the media treatment of the story and what it means that some U.S. officials are reporting such experiences. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the state of the U.S. war with Iran including what Tuesday night's abject ceasefire means, a deeply unsettling profile of the internet fringe group "Groypers" that shows how they are affecting Republican politics with guest Antonia Hitchens, and legal and moral arguments over mandatory school reading lists being considered in Texas which contain Bible passages.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the ins and outs of a strange story in which a FEMA official claims to have miraculously teleported to a Waffle House in Georgia, including the media treatment of the story and what it means that some U.S. officials are reporting such experiences. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Uploft Interior Design Podcast, I reflect on my experience as an interior designer and podcast host while answering a listener's question about how to make her living room feel more cohesive and inviting without a full redesign. I walk through practical, low-cost changes—like removing an unnecessary layered rug, swapping out matching furniture for more variety, and introducing color through pillows and accessories—to help transform the space from bland to personalized. Along the way, I also share my thoughts on a documentary about the Murdoch family, drawing parallels to Succession and exploring themes of legacy, family dynamics, and the complications of passing down a business, all while keeping the episode grounded in my passion for design and helping others improve their homes. Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro, podcast background, and listener mailbag 3:30 – Jenna's living room dilemma introduced 6:00 – Removing the layered rug and layout issues 9:30 – Furniture swaps and adding texture/variety 13:00 – Bringing in color with pillows and accessories 17:30 – Murdoch documentary discussion and reflections Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Uploft.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AffordableInteriorDesign.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Submit your design questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be featured on the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a Premium Member⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and access the bonus episodes Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to become an interior designer with Uploft's Interior Design Academy. Get Betsy's book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠betsyhelmuth.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more about our residential interior design services, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ModernInteriorDesign.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For our commercial interior design services, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠OfficeInteriorDesign.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@uploftinteriordesign⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/UploftIntDes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@uploftinteriordesign⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/company/uploft-interior-design⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoy the show, please spread the word and leave a review on iTunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss yesterday's oral arguments in the monumentally important birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court, Trump's primetime attempt to convince Americans that both their wallets and the Iran war are just fine, and strategy versus vibes in key Senate races in Maine and Texas.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission to the Moon. They muse poetically about space exploration, ask what NASA has been doing all this time, and discuss the benefits to humanity of such expensive missions. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss yesterday's oral arguments in the monumentally important birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court, Trump's primetime attempt to convince Americans that both their wallets and the Iran war are just fine, and strategy versus vibes in key Senate races in Maine and Texas.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission to the Moon. They muse poetically about space exploration, ask what NASA has been doing all this time, and discuss the benefits to humanity of such expensive missions. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why politicians keep failing to solve the escalating crisis of American air travel as massive lines and ICE agents disrupt airport operations, what could happen to the 2026 elections when the Supreme Court decides the fate of a state law on mail-in ballot deadlines, and how two jury verdicts provide new legal hooks to hold social media companies liable for harms to children.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the new book This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History with author and historian Beverly Gage. They talk about the value of exploring U.S. historical sites in all their complexity as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches this summer. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why politicians keep failing to solve the escalating crisis of American air travel as massive lines and ICE agents disrupt airport operations, what could happen to the 2026 elections when the Supreme Court decides the fate of a state law on mail-in ballot deadlines, and how two jury verdicts provide new legal hooks to hold social media companies liable for harms to children.For this week's Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the new book This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History with author and historian Beverly Gage. They talk about the value of exploring U.S. historical sites in all their complexity as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches this summer. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 2030, Miles and guest co-host Pallavi Gunalan are joined by comedian and co-host of The Bechdel Cast, Caitlin Durante, to discuss… Stephen Colbert Is Writing A Lord Of The Rings Movie?? TSA: Wait Times The Highest In History…, CEOs Are F**kin Tired of the TSA Shutdown, Some Good News! Meta/Google Found Liable For Mental Distress, New York Post Declares That “Smoking Is Cool Again” and more! Stephen Colbert Is Writing A Lord Of The Rings Movie?? Darrylgorn TSA: Wait Times The Highest In History… CEOs Are F**kin Tired of the TSA Shutdown Smoking is cool again! Here’s what you need to know Murdoch’s ties to Big Tobacco Cigarette smoking in America plummets to historic single-digit low, new study finds Back on Screen: The Return of Smoking in Films and Its Public Health Implications ‘Avatar’ Joins Holiday Movies That Fail an Antismoking Test Smoking is making a pop culture comeback (even if the risks haven’t changed) Why Is Smoking on Screen Popular Again? Smoking Is Back in Movies. Here’s Why Netflix to cut back on smoking after ‘Stranger Things’ criticism Cinema, sex and cigarettes - how Hollywood icons used smouldering image to reveal their passion Sex in Movies Has Dropped Sharply, Yet Gotten More Graphic, Study Says LISTEN: asian linen. by saimingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand.Sherman sketches each of the three main Murdoch children: the shrewd and overlooked Elisabeth, the conservative golden child Lachlan, and the restless, brittle James. He explains how Rupert pitted each of his children against each other to consolidate his own power. He and Plotz explore the parallels between the Murdoch and Trump dynasties, debate whether a James-led Fox News could ever have been tethered to reality, and ask what happens to the empire once Rupert is gone. Sherman's prediction: Lachlan sells.Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Nina Porzucki. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World. Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert's hand.Sherman sketches each of the three main Murdoch children: the shrewd and overlooked Elisabeth, the conservative golden child Lachlan, and the restless, brittle James. He explains how Rupert pitted each of his children against each other to consolidate his own power. He and Plotz explore the parallels between the Murdoch and Trump dynasties, debate whether a James-led Fox News could ever have been tethered to reality, and ask what happens to the empire once Rupert is gone. Sherman's prediction: Lachlan sells.Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Nina Porzucki. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate speaks with Sara Enright, executive producer of Netflix's Dynasty: The Murdochs, a docuseries that follows the Murdoch family's behind-the-scenes succession battle as Rupert Murdoch's adult children compete for control of his powerful global media empire. Drawing on thousands of internal documents, emails, and text messages, the series examines the extraordinary story behind one of the most influential and controversial families in modern media. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Twitter: https://twitter.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113157919338245 Amazon List: https://www.amazon.com/shop/katecasey Like it to Know It: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/katecaseySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.