# Podcast Monetization, Media Fragmentation, and Hollywood Deal Risk

**Podcast:** Pivot
**Published:** 2026-08-14

## Transcript

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I predict that Mitch McConnell is dead, or he's getting a BBL and he'll be back and up and running in no time.
Hi, everyone.
This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
I'm Kara Swisher.
And once again, it's time for...
Got Free August.
That's right.
Scott Briaugas is well underway.
And for my guest co-host today, I brought in another one of Scott Galloway's heroes, comedian, television host, seven-time New York Times bestselling author, Chelsea Handler.
Oh, Cara, it's so nice to be with you.
I have to tell you how much comfort you guys have provided me during this administration.
And yeah, I just love tuning in.
I love how reasonable you are.
I love how you are.
are able to insult people but remain on good terms with them.
Some of them.
Some of them.
Not all of them.
I love your pragmatism.
And I just really appreciate having something, a safe space to tune into when I really feel distressed.
Because you always seem to feel like there's a sense of optimism.
And I think that's because you have young children.
So you have to be optimistic.
I have to be.
I absolutely have to be.
I actually am.
I actually am.
I'm a student of history, so I know that all things come to an end.
Does this apply to Scott, too?
No, no, no.
I love Scott.
I have a very soft spot for Scott.
While Scott can be slightly, what's the word?
What is the word?
What is the word?
It's a brotherly kind of feeling I get from him when you want him to stop it, as you do quite often on the podcast.
Yeah, don't be such a nitwit.
It can be sometimes he can have this sense of this irritation, but then the minute he's gone, you miss him.
He says things and you're like, okay, come on, stop it already.
You're feeling yourself.
We get it.
But then when he's gone, immediately you're like, I want Scott back.
Yes, that's true.
And also, just for people to know, Chelsea always texts me anytime.
Scott says a word she doesn't like.
What is the word you hate the most?
I just, when people are super educated and they use terms like anyways, I find that to be a problem, like problematic.
I find it to be lazy way of speaking.
Yeah, yeah.
You don't like anyways.
Anyways is just so lazy.
Anyways.
Anyway is actually lazy.
You don't need just move on to the next topic.
You don't even have to say anyway as a clause or whatever it is.
But yeah, I find some words.
When he says that, I just always because Scott is so smart and I look up to him and literally and figuratively.
So it is it's disappointing when he uses it so often and frequently.
And thank you for letting your audience know how I feel.
Well, I like grammar, people.
I do enjoy all your grammatical corrections.
No, I'm not always right, but I am a grammarian.
I really love language, and I love etymology, and I love understanding words and how to use them properly.
I'm learning Spanish right now, so I'm on a whole new trajectory of learning words and that.
So, yeah, I respect people who really respect language because we're losing it.
What is the word that you have an issue that he uses?
Mendacious?
Mendacious.
He doesn't use it correctly.
He doesn't use it correctly.
It's a great word.
Yes.
But sometimes he uses it incorrectly.
So that's all right.
My wife does that.
That's a word that drives her crazy because that's a word.
Because she likes the word.
It's a great word.
It is a great word.
And I also am more forgiving for using a great word slightly incorrectly rather than using a word that doesn't exist.
And I like that he uses it mendacious fuck.
I think that works.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's a great way to do it.
But, you know, Spencer Pratt just insulted Scott's intelligence, which we push back against.
I heard that on your last podcast when Scott was here.
Yeah, Spencer Pratt is no longer in our zeitgeist, so we don't have to worry about him anymore.
I don't know.
I think he'll be back.
I don't think so.
I'm going to predict before the predictions that Spencer Pratt is gone forever.
Gone forever.
I don't know.
He was at the White House recently, but, you know, so were a lot of people.
I saw Peter Navarro was still hanging around the White House.
I was like, oh, him again.
Well, hopefully he was in the reflecting pool taking a swim.
No, no, he was face down.
No, he was not.
Anyway, before we get into anything serious, I have to talk to you about your summer vacation because you put up a nine-slide Instagram carousel, which I love.
loved late last month about rules for family vacation season.
Let me read an excerpt.
Our family is dysfunctional, and that is what families are.
What we need to work on, however, is manners.
There is a definite shortfall of manners on this trip, and I left this trip feeling embarrassed and taken advantage of.
What happened?
I love this.
I love your entire memo.
Well, thank you.
I want to first say that I wrote this in my last book, which came out a couple of years ago.
So this is an older letter.
It's not a newer letter.
But what happened when I did write this letter in real time, because a lot of people were like, why would you share something like this publicly?
And, you know, my answer to that is always, why wouldn't I?
Beautifully written.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It was post-therapy.
So I definitely had some skills that I hadn't had before when writing that letter.
But also, I had sent that letter to two women who were mothers to get their feedback at the time that I wrote it to see if it was toned correctly, you know, and, you know, everything.
And, or the tenor was appropriate.
And they were both asked if they could take the letter and send it to some of their friends, and they would take my name off of the letter.
And I was like, okay.
And they're like, this is an amazing letter.
You should definitely send this to your family.
So I gave them permission to share that letter.
And about nine months later, I got the letter sent to me from a friend who didn't know that I had written it.
Oh, wow.
And she said, I just read this thing.
It's so perfect.
You have to send this to your family.
I was like, oh my God, it's been around the world in 30 days.
I wrote this letter.
And she's like, no, you didn't.
I go, yes, I wrote this letter.
It's coming out in my book.
And it's about my family, right?
And it's about my family.
And because of that response and because of the realization that the impact that it had on so many people who felt similarly.
I just thought, oh, this will help more people than it will hurt.
My family had already read the letter, and it's old news, so we're not still upset about it.
What caused you to write it in the first place?
I mean, what I thought when I heard it, I was like, ingrates.
You know, when you're throwing up, I often pay for vacations too with the family, and I'm always like, why am I cleaning up?
Or why aren't you making your bed?
Or why, you know, that kind of stuff.
And I use the term ingrates.
Everyone thinks it's funny when I say it, but I'm like, ingrates, all of you.
And it kind of had that tone in a good way.
What caused you to write it?
My oldest son is extraordinarily polite to people who...
work for us and we hire.
But it's a really big deal for me.
That really, when I read that part, I was like, oh, I don't like that at all.
Well, that is it.
That's what it comes down to.
It's like, hey, how are you parented?
Who told you that, you know, that you didn't have to say hello and thank you and please and all of the things.
So it was just kind of like, I got excited.
I went a little too hard, too fast with my family.
You know, I wanted to share my everything I have with my family, with all my nieces and nephews and my brothers and sisters and their spouses.
I was just always, I'm a gentleman.
I always want to share and invite them and take them on these great adventures.
And I just overdid it, clearly.
And they became accustomed.
to it, acostumbrarse in Espanol, acostumbrarse.
I didn't learn that word.
They just became used to it without the understanding of what it costs, what it takes.
It's a choice I make.
I work really hard to pay for these things.
And your acclimation to it is a little bit too cozy.
The acclimation is fast, isn't it?
I said literally to my youngest son, that's all he's for.
And he threw something and I go, did it cost me to pay for that?
Like, and he looked at me.
I'm like, no, you don't.
But you will.
No, no.
But you shall.
Right.
And you will.
But also, and not in a way to be like, I'm a hero.
I'm saving my family.
I'm the best.
It's not about that.
It's about the way you are treating everybody and the way that you are being gracious.
You know, I would never be a guest in someone's.
I don't even like to be guests in other people's places or houses.
It's not my favorite thing.
I have a great family.
We have a lot of.
good times.
So I'm grateful for that.
And I don't want to lose that.
And I just had to figure out how to recalibrate that.
So right.
Everybody's not getting it twisted.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, you could just do like I do, run around the house and yell ingrates all the time.
So you joined us last year on Live Pivot Tour when we were in L.A., and thank you for doing that.
And you were about to head out to Antarctica, and that trip gave you some material for a tour you're currently on called the High and Mighty Tour.
Explain your tour.
It's like you added like a million and a hundred cities.
We do it.
We do it in phases.
So you're always adding a second leg to your tour.
You know, when you're a comedian, you do leg one, leg two.
the High and Mighty Tour is a feel-good, happy vibe tour to make sure everybody knows that there are alternatives to dealing with the reality we're living in.
And the biggest one being LSD and microdosing.
There are a lot of, as you covered a lot in your CNN series, you know, there are a lot of alternatives to dealing with this 24-hour-a-day news cycle.
And I have had to become healthy in my thought process and in the way I go about dealing with this administration the second time around.
The first time they stole my joy and they stole my life.
And I, you know, I let it go.
And I was like, they're not doing that again.
And they're 10 times worse, actually.
10 times worse.
But my joy, like my...
Joy is not for sale and it's not up for grabs.
And also...
It's a responsibility as a comedian, and I say this very seriously, to provide a really good fucking time for other people while we're all dealing with this.
And so I take that as a professional responsibility.
One of my many professional responsibilities is to make sure people are having a good time, to remind people about humanity when you're sitting in an audience, sitting next to a stranger that you've never met, and you're laughing so hard that your shoulders are rubbing.
That's a great reminder of the fact that we're all in this together.
You don't ignore it either.
You don't, you're not one, like, first, you're not a bummer.
And second of all, you know, you are a real news junkie in a lot of ways.
Like, you do pay attention to everything, pretty much.
Yes, I do.
But I don't let it drive me.
in the way that I let it drive me into a hole, the first administration.
Right.
So LSD is the answer to this?
Well, that is one answer, to be honest, Cara, microdosing LSD.
You know, I moved into my house in Whistler.
I bought this little ski chalet in Whistler when COVID happened, and I had to escape my family.
And I...
bought this little chalet on FaceTime because I wanted to learn how to ski.
I'm like, if the borders are going to shut down, I'm going to go skiing and make something good out of this horror show.
You're going to Maria von Trapp this thing.
Yes.
So I get into this house that I rented in Whistler.
I mean, sorry, that I bought, right?
I get in and there's a manila envelope waiting for me.
And on the manila envelope, it's from the previous owners.
And they were like, we were so excited when we found out that you were buying our house that we wanted to give you this gift.
We make this.
And I opened it and it was 300 micro doses of LSD.
And I was like, finally, I had found my real family.
You know, like, I'm like, this is why I love Canada.
They're so civilized.
You know, people hear LSD and they think about the 70s.
It's not like that anymore.
It's therapeutic.
It's helping people with PTSD.
It's helping vets.
So I'm very about, you know, finding ways to make, you know, things better when they seem...
Coping.
Yes.
Yeah, absolutely.
We all know alcohol is terrible for you.
So there are other alternatives out there, as you've discussed and I've discussed.
Did you enjoy the LSD?
I panned it out to anyone who will take it.
I gave it, bring it around, people at my shows.
I mean, it's all around.
So nothing gives me more pleasure than giving someone medicine and saying, report back, and then following up with my patients.
Yeah.
I'm not going to say which one of my children had tried LSD in my house, but it didn't last long, I can tell you.
Well, I think you've spoken about that before.
And let's just hope it's not the four-year-old.
It's not the four-year-old, but he could have found it.
Well, you're going to always have a child like that.
When you choose to have so many children, Kara, one's going to go off.
One's going to go off.
They're all pretty good right now.
They're all so far so good.
We'll see.
Let's talk a little bit about your podcast, because here you want a podcast, Dear Chelsea, which you started a few years ago and now streams.
on Netflix, which Scott predicted about a month before.
that happened, he predicted that iHeart podcasts were, or, you know, a bunch of podcasts were going to go and be on Netflix.
Right.
This is the full podcast network with iHeart.
Yeah.
And then Netflix bought a bunch.
Yeah.
Bought a bunch.
Talk a little bit about that.
What the business strategy behind that?
And is it because you saw how much money Joe Rogan was making and figured you could do better than 82 million?
No, no, I don't make, I don't make, I don't make $82 million a year.
I don't think I've ever made $82 million a year.
If that's the right figure for Joe Rogan.
Joe Rogan.
And Mike, first of all, I want to thank you for bringing up Joe Rogan because I want to clarify that or actually expound on that.
Joe, like, I don't think Joe Rogan's some evil guy.
You know what I mean?
I don't think that I've known Joe Rogan.
Explain what happened.
Explain what happened so people know.
They were releasing how much money podcasters were making and it said Joe Rogan.
made $82 million, and I commented something about that's a lot of money for something to do with the misinformation that are being misinformed.
And I don't think Joe Rogan is like enemy number one.
You know, like, I just feel like, I don't feel, I know, because I've looked into this and, you know, there's so much research about it, that this whole manosphere and this whole environment that is...
built on social media.
It's like you go in through one portal and these young boys are being fed over and over and over again this information.
So you go into Joe Rogan, who's got the biggest platform in podcasting and has, you know, is pretty responsible, has one of the biggest factors in getting Donald Trump elected, has this platform.
And it would really behoove us for him to use that for good in this moment when there are so many people who are, you know, former Trump supporters who are ready to admit how horribly wrong this has been going and how horrible this administration has been on multiple, you know, in multiple ways.
You know, there's Dave Smith, there's Sean Strickland, those guys who are former Trump supporters.
But there's also really great guys that are standing.
up for the rights of women, that are standing up for the rights of the LGBT community, that are standing up for people of color, that you wouldn't, that would seemingly be Trump supporters.
There's people like Trey Crowder, John Russell on Instagram, Brian Andrews.
And I want to shout these guys out because they are sending such positive messaging and they are talking about this.
You know, we're going to get Todd Blanche.
He's going to be confirmed and he's going to overturn Roe v.
Wade.
He was confirmed.
We're all sitting around.
All these men who have these powerful platforms are sitting around watching this happen to women, to communities that you could instead be supporting.
You don't have to like, Joe Rogan can lead.
He's not the worst version of anything.
He's just trying to be, I think he's genuinely trying to find out information.
But when you do mess up, like.
Come on.
You know, that leads to guys going to the Fresh and Fit podcast.
That leads to guys going to Andrew Tate, which is the worst, you know, version of that.
But and not comparing him to Joe, it's not the same thing.
But you get in this algorithm and there have been so many studies that show that these boys.
Yes, it goes from one thing to the next.
They did this study where they gave boys, they had blank phones and they assigned them, you know, made them seem like they were teenage boys phones.
And within 20.
three minutes they're fed women hating content.
How terrible women are.
Women are ruining your lives.
These people are taking your jobs.
And it's just hate, hate, hate, vitriol, vitriol, vitriol.
And so I would just love for these guys to come full circle and be like, hey, actually, we don't hate women.
We don't want women's rights to be taken away.
You want him to do better.
Yeah, I think he knows better now and he can do better.
If you're getting 82 million, you have to do a lot better.
Right, that comes with a big responsibility.
I take my responsibility pretty, you know, major.
Yeah, when people are watching my stuff or my comedy or coming, yeah, maybe they're getting fed things on being an independent woman, you know?
Ooh, like I know that's also a problem for a lot of these guys, but it shouldn't be.
Why is that a problem for you?
He doesn't seem too bothered, which means he is bothered.
said he's hugged you every time he's seen you.
Apparently that's the test.
Who said that?
Rogan did.
He said he's hugged you every time he's seen you.
And, quote, I don't know what's going on, but it has nothing to do with me.
He said that.
I don't know if you know that.
Well, that's nice.
But, you know, it does have something to do with him.
I agree.
I completely agree.
And I don't hate him.
But, you know, like, to speak to that, you know, I make that comment.
And my DMs are filled with people who are trying to get on this dating matchmaking site I'm doing.
Yeah, we'll talk about that.
And men from defending Joe Rogan's $82 million and calling me a cunt.
and a whore and using the N-word and that I'm an N- like, it's so vile.
Like, I wish he could see that that's, that represents a portion of the people that are listening to him.
We don't need to be talking to women in this way.
And we need to be denouncing that behavior.
So it's a larger issue, obviously, you know.
Yeah, you're making a salient point.
That's a lot of money for someone who doesn't, isn't vetting his information as well as he.
Yeah, and if I have made $82 million at any point in my career in a year, I would love someone to tell me.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, they're very sensitive.
You're so mean.
I'm like, oh, for goodness sake.
I know, and you're not mean at all.
Get a fucking dog.
No.
Oh, I know.
Get a fucking dog.
I don't know what to do.
In fact, don't get a dog.
You don't deserve a dog.
But I mean, listen, listen, I am so used to men telling me to shut the fuck up.
I mean, they've been telling me to shut the fuck up since I started talking.
It's not working.
So it's okay.
You only embolden me.
Like, it doesn't matter.
unless you believe it's true.
Do you know what I mean?
Right, that's correct.
I don't believe I'm a whore, so sorry, you didn't get me.
Well, not in the bad way of a whore.
No, in the best way.
In the best way.
Best whore ever.
You've launched this full podcast network with iHeart and Netflix.
Talk about your business.
What is the point?
What are you doing here?
How do you look at the business?
Great question.
I mean, my business acumen is not up to snuff.
Let's be honest.
No, it's pretty good.
No, I've been very lucky and fortunate, and I move quickly.
Like, if there's an opportunity that I like and I want, then I'll go for it.
came to me.
I've had a great experience with iHeart.
What was important for me to also give platforms to other comedians, I just launched a podcast for Yamanika Saunders called You're the Problem with Yamanika because I was sick of listening to her to complain, so I thought it would be great for her to have her own podcast.
And I have another one coming out in a few months for another person that I think deserves a platform.
And so that was a big element.
I don't, the other element is this podcast has been really successful, which has been a great surprise because I'm giving advice on the podcast, which is silly.
And its intention was silly, but it has actually turned into something quite serious.
At times, people call in for real-life advice, and it makes a lot of sense because, you know, who better to give advice on a subject that has nothing to do with your personal situation, who's got no emotions involved, you know?
And, you know, not like my advice is always flawless, but I'm going to have an opinion and I have a strong one.
And I am kind of a sister vibe.
You know, I always want everyone to kind of take a leap of faith and make the jump and leave the bad work vibe or leave the bad relationship and, you know, ask for better stuff for yourself.
You know, you kind of have to.
And you want to create a network, too, of others, right?
It's a great idea.
It's a powerful thing to have more.
So I'm doing that now.
Yeah, it's called the Dear Chelsea Network.
And I just, yeah, so podcasting's been a great gift.
I mean, we're basically.
circling the drain here because it's the new, you know, talk show.
So now they're doing a talk show for, you know, $20 million less than they were doing it, and nobody has to do hair and makeup.
Do you like being on Netflix?
Is that an interesting— I mean, I've had a long relationship with Netflix, so Netflix feels like a home for me in many ways.
All my specials are on Netflix, except one is on HBO.
I mean, I did my show on Netflix.
I did my documentaries.
So, yeah, I mean, Netflix is a very good place for comedians to be.
I've had a good, long relationship with them.
Yeah, yeah.
You know Obama's going to have a podcast about him reading, what books he reads.
I know.
I had the same feeling.
It's all about his books.
I'm going to say yes.
Yay.
I know.
Listen, I'm not mad at anything Obama does except...
I know.
I know.
I know.
I'm like, could it be a little angrier or something?
Could it be a little more?
pertinent to the moment.
Well, I'm sure he's angry.
I'm sure he is very mindful of not betraying his anger and dumping it on us.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I feel like he could do something besides books.
I feel like there's a place for him.
People seem to like him.
That kind of thing.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Give advice, maybe, or something like that.
Now, let's get to some real news now.
Even though it sounds like something out of a movie or a Taylor Swift concert, a reported Iranian assassination threat against Donald Trump prompted an elaborate decoy operation during his trip to Turkey last month.
Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras.
He ditched his new Qatari-gifted jet to ride on the legacy plane for old time's sake, as he put it, which was untrue.
But shortly after boarding, he left one plane for another.
plane, he was secretly smuggled off in a catering truck and taken to a smaller military plane, which he flew home.
Meanwhile, reporters and even some White House staff took off on Air Force One, believing Trump was on board and were basically sitting ducks without being...
told of the assassination plot.
So it was a decoy.
That's what they called it.
What did you think about him getting smuggled out in a catering truck?
Well, first of all, I love the idea of him being in a catering cart.
I mean, this is a great way for him to bring back Trump's shuttle, his failed bankrupt airline, and make it a catering cart with wings.
That should be his next.
But A, I love...
I love it.
I love it.
Because, first of all, he survived two assassination attempts.
So why not just play Russian roulette?
I mean, you're bulletproof, right?
Let's go for it.
See what happens.
Right, exactly.
The idea that he—I saw his clip of what he said to the reporters after, like, you're on a date.
This is a very dangerous job.
Maybe while he bailed on them and was like, you guys— He bailed.
Of course he would do at any time.
But that's good.
So fake bravery, and then he jumps into the— Yeah, I mean, I don't think anyone believes Donald Trump is brave at this point, you know?
And that's all gone out the window.
Maybe some people still believe it.
But yes, I love the idea of him riding around in a catering cart, hopefully on his knees to duck for cover, you know?
It's just such a circus that it wouldn't— I was trying to think this morning before we started, like, what would be more ridiculous than what we're watching?
And I was like, would Snooki, you know, from Jersey Shore, would one of the housewives, the real housewives, be more ridiculous?
And it's like, no, actually, they would be more sensible.
Yeah, they would.
They would.
The fact that he, like, cut and run on people and then didn't tell them that they were a sitting duck to me is like that.
Oh, yeah.
They were decoys.
They were decoys for this terrified president.
I mean, but that's so him.
That's like his whole staff watches him operate in this way and then thinks that they're going to be saved by him.
It's so silly.
You know, these like the den of incompetency that surrounds him is just like, I love how they think that there's a long game.
What is the long game in this?
Right.
There isn't one.
He just wants to save his own skin.
He's always done that way.
Remember when he went under the bunker when people were protesting outside the White House?
He went deep in the bunker.
I don't care.
Like, he's scared of people.
He's scared.
Well, the Iranians are terrifying.
At the same time, doing it this way is just so typical of him.
I just can't believe we're in a war with Iran and we're like we're walking around.
Like, I grew up believing that if we went to war with Iran, that would be nuclear and the world would be over.
So the fact that we are six months in to this war?
At least.
Six months.
At least, yeah.
And with no end in sight, because he's, you know, he's an embarrassment.
He has no idea what he's doing.
Snooki would actually be able to probably end this war in a more efficacious way than he could.
And he won't end it now.
He doesn't care.
We're running out of weapons.
Aren't we running out of munitions?
Yeah, we're running out of munitions.
Yeah.
That's Pete Heggs' problem.
That's why he did it.
Another nincompoop.
Did you see him?
That was amazing.
Wiping his nose and then...
I know.
They're all on drugs.
They all are wiping their noses and sniffling.
They're all so gross.
It's almost like, it's not like he hired people that weren't competent.
He hired the most incompetent.
Right, absolutely.
For each.
Egregiously incompetent.
Each position, the Pete Hegseth, the Christy Noem, the Dan Bogdino, like all of these people are just.
Freaks.
Yeah, so it's so hard to, I mean, I've been spending a lot of time out of the country.
People are just, they feel so sorry for us.
Yeah, what do they say to you, Chelsea?
They just are like, oh my God, what do you guys think?
Like, it's so amazing how looped into America every other country is.
But they're worried.
I was in Norway and way up in Bergen.
And they're like, what is happening?
And I was like, I don't have any explanation for you.
I can't tell you except we suck.
Like, I don't know what else to say.
Like, it's really hard when they see it.
And they're just perplexed in the extreme.
Like everywhere.
Everywhere I've gone abroad, it's like that.
Yeah, I went to this conference and I was listening to these European leaders talk about Trump and they were talking about the EU and how, you know, like you have to get 28 countries to agree on something, on a measure to like stand up to him or do something or, you know, even with Ukraine and Russia and you have to get 28 countries to agree, right?
And like...
That's almost, how's that going to happen?
You know, that's what, and so Europe, when I thought, oh, they'll stand up against Trump.
And now we know we do.
The president of Spain has said stuff.
There's other people that have said stuff.
The woman president of Italy or the prime minister, is she president?
She's a president, right?
I don't know.
You're supposed to know this shit.
She's prime minister.
She's prime minister.
Prime minister.
Yeah.
You know.
But as a coalition, it made me understand why Europe isn't stronger against Trump in a more, you know, cohesive way.
They're doing more than many people in this country, let's just say.
Let's go on a quick break.
When we get back, we'll talk about, speaking of incompetence, RFK Jr.
and the right-wing media's future.
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Chelsea, we're back.
I'm going to play something for you.
It comes with a trigger warning.
Hi, I'm Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr., your HHS secretary.
Welcome to The Real Food Show.
Thanks to President Trump, we flip the food pyramid and put real food back where it belongs, at the center of the American plate.
I'm traveling across America, connecting with renowned chefs to show families how to cook delicious, nutritious meals with real ingredients, all at affordable prices.
America, it's time to eat real food.
There you have the dulcet tones of RFK Jr.'s new cooking show.
Do you think this can be a hit?
You've had some, you had a real estate beef with him too.
But, and then this week, of course, the vaccines, the childhood vaccination schedule, which most parents will be ignoring, at least in certain states.
I hope so.
I mean, the only positive thing about this is that maybe with so much food in his mouth, we won't be able to hear him talk.
I mean, He is—who asked for this, first of all?
Who wants to watch Sautéed Roadkill?
My experience with Robert F.
K—like, if this is anything like my experience buying my house from him and Cheryl Hines, which I didn't know I was doing because it was a blind trust, and I was buying in a blind trust, blah, blah, blah.
If it was anything like that experience, this— show will cost $5 million to subscribe to and $20 million to get the video to play.
Right.
And the taxpayer will pay for it.
Yes, of course.
Of course.
And we don't need our heads of departments or heads of health and human services on TV shows.
That's also not necessary.
Nobody's asking for that.
Nobody's asking to hear him talk more.
He likes to talk.
He's running for president, you know.
Well, good luck with that.
Well, then you'll be living in the ex-president.
You don't live there, right?
He's not going to win.
Nobody will listen to that voice.
Nobody's down for that, except for Cheryl Hines, I guess.
I guess.
Another, the most unqualified person for the job.
Another person that shouldn't be doing this job, not only doesn't have, but shouldn't be anywhere near Health and Human Services, is running the department.
And now some...
People who are uneducated about vaccines are going to listen to that.
There will be people that will listen to it, of course.
There's a lot now.
Well, he's trying to deliver on his promises to wreck everything.
But also, yeah, and that's another point, you know, that Trump is going to tear everything apart on his way out.
And spare no one.
It's not just going to be the Republican Party.
It's going to be America.
So it's like that's even more why we need these guys like Joe Rogan to start getting everybody mobilized.
Because this is really dangerous.
Do you ever think there's a bottom to things like this?
Because they seem never to reach the bottom.
No, there is no bottom now.
Like Bill Cassidy going, I can't believe he did this vaccine thing.
I'm like.
Are you not paying attention, you know, after having just voted for Todd Blanche?
Right.
After being tough and then not tough.
I guess, I mean, I don't really understand the inner workings of how any of these political, like these senators and congressmen can just think.
that, like, they're going to have to separate from him at some point.
Like, it's not working.
You know, his policies are not popular.
People don't love him.
They have to steal the next election if they're going to win.
People are hurting, you know, 70% of people in ICE detention centers.
have no criminal history.
70%, like, that's what we're doing in our country.
This is America.
Like, at a certain point, we all have to stand up and say that enough is enough.
This Epstein, you know.
Well, I'm not sure they do have to stand up.
Well, they don't.
Maybe they don't have to stand up, but there are other people who need to stand up.
Maybe it's not these elected people.
Maybe it's the other people that do have these huge spheres of influence.
Well, I was told by one of them that he has a life after Trump, and so he can't go too far against Trump because he wants to be on boards.
He wants to be— Yeah, I heard that.
I think probably on your podcast.
Yeah.
I mean, it was pretty cynical.
And then Wall Street people are like, hey, we're doing well, so we don't really care.
That's how they articulate it.
That said, the reason I bring him up at all is to talk about the state of right-wing media.
New York Times analysis of a dozen right-wing influencers found views falling for a lot of Trump's biggest allies, some hitting new lows.
For example, Ben Shapiro's YouTube numbers are down from 27 million weekly views in 2024 to about 4 million now.
That's a real...
declined.
Charlie Kirk's assassination caused some big divisions.
Candace Owens went full conspiracy theory, and her audience spiked while others who just mourned him lost some ground.
The pro and anti-Trump split has widened further since the Iran war began, with critics like Nick Fuentes gaining ground while loyalists are losing steam.
The right-wing, you know, media system.
is really splintering in a really weird way.
And speaking of right-wing media, Melania Trump's first documentary bombed, and she's going to get in front of the camera anyway.
She'll make a new multi-episode series coming to Prime Video next fall, this time going behind the scenes of the administration's early days.
Her first film reportedly grossed under $17 million against the $75 million budget.
You'd love to get that deal, I'm sure.
It seems like this is part of a $40 million deal she made with Amazon in the first documentary.
Doesn't appear she'll be paid more for this.
I mean, talk a little bit about this right-wing ecosystem.
They love to talk about you, the AOC.
There's certain characters they love to go after.
Oh, yeah, AOC.
They're upset she's freezing her eggs now.
Is that their latest thing?
Yeah.
Yeah, because they prefer women to get pregnant the old-fashioned way, non-consensually.
Yeah.
I'm glad she's—I love AOC.
I love AOC.
I think the right-wing fracturing is also emblematic of, you know, what's happening in the Democratic Party.
We have our own fracturing that we have to deal with.
And I think, you know, this old institutional, like, kind of bias towards these traditional candidates is not what's happening right now.
It's not the temperature.
You know, we're seeing what's happening in Michigan with Mondani.
These candidates are AOC.
They are popular.
They're bringing the vote.
And they're heading the country in a different direction.
And it's like, you better get on the bus because the bus is leaving the station.
So we have to be careful about not fracturing our own party.
And in some ways, figuring out how to appeal to these people that are fracturing from the Republican Party and bring them over and form a bigger coalition than the one we have.
Because anything's better than this.
You know what I mean?
I'm willing to compromise on issues.
You know, I know I'm not in a position of power supply.
please, like, whatever headline this turns into.
It's like, let's all get, let's get on board with what's like basic decency and humanity.
Like, we can't be in the streets.
Like, it feels like we're about to have a civil war.
And there's one person in charge of that tenor in this country, and it's our president, you know?
But, I mean, I'm not sure there's anything wrong with dissent.
within the Democratic Party, at least.
Republicans look like they're just get on board or else kind of thing.
They look like hostages in a lot of ways or else regretful, right?
I'm regretting my vote.
I think one of the things that's really interesting, I was just thinking about last night, is there's such an attack against the DSA candidates or progressive candidates.
Let's do more broadly.
Not everybody's in DSA.
They're more progressive.
And to me, I'm like, Look, these guys are out organizing on the street, like organizing.
They're doing the real work of organizing, which I think is how you win elections.
And the old guard hasn't organized in a long time.
They did before.
And then they're sort of from the cheap seats insulting them.
Like if we don't, if we're not cautious, we're not going to get these other people back.
And I don't, I'm not so sure caution is a good idea anymore.
What do you think?
I think, you know, I just I kept thinking when they kept attacking people for voting.
Yeah, they yell.
As I said this before, they yell at young people for not voting.
And then when they vote and get involved, they say that's a stupid thing.
And I'm like, you know what?
First of all, you're going to die first.
So.
Like some of you, especially you over there, you're going to die, not you.
But you know what I mean?
Like some of them are quite old.
I'm like, this isn't about your future in any way.
It's about their future.
So let them make their mistakes.
Maybe they're making a mistake.
Maybe they're not.
But it seems like we can't.
tell them to be involved, and when they get involved, tell them they're stupid.
I just don't see how that makes any sense.
I agree with you.
And if we're talking about age and futures, I'd like to talk about Mitch McConnell's future.
Yes, yes.
Okay, please.
I would like to make another prediction before the prediction part.
Okay, please.
I predict that Mitch McConnell is dead, that he is no longer with us, and that we will find this out.
Really dead?
Dead, dead.
Like, we get at Bernie's dead.
I believe that he is—yes, I do.
Okay.
I believe he's dead.
out of it, not just...
Reindead?
No, I believe, yeah, he's a goner.
Or he's getting a BBL and he'll be back and up and running in no time.
Wait, what's a BBL?
I think it's a Brazilian butt lift.
Okay, all right.
So he took a seven-week leave absence from the Senate, standard medical leave.
Paid leave of absence.
Yes, standard medical leave after giving birth is six weeks.
Which he voted against, by the way, four times, I'm pretty sure.
Yeah, he did.
He did.
So you think he's dead?
You think he's absolutely dead?
I mean, it seems like he's dead.
Listen, obviously, I mean, I'm not a coroner, but I'm not a coroner.
But I play one in my show.
Yes, I don't put it past the Republicans to pretend a dead person is alive in order to avoid him being placed in his seat.
So you're telling me you've lost trust with these people.
You've lost trust.
I want to talk about the Melania documentary, and I want to know if you watched the first one.
I did not.
I couldn't do it.
I didn't do it.
You did?
Okay, tell me.
Well, you don't take drugs.
I took an edible, and I had some friends over.
Which one?
I just did an edible, gummy, like a cannabis edible.
A lot?
No, no, no.
I just took 10 milligrams.
A lot for some people, but not for me.
I'm kind of like a tank.
Yeah, I know.
And it was pretty amazing.
Okay.
It was...
Just her walking around.
There's a lot of voiceover because her talking directly to the camera, I think, is problematic.
And she changes outfits.
in a dining room about seven to eight times within the first 20 minutes.
And it's really about her planning the White House inaugural ball, which your takeaway from that is that she had absolutely nothing to do with it after she's demonstrated how much she had to do with it.
Yeah, yeah.
And so it was pretty ridiculous, right?
Yeah.
It's absolutely ridiculous.
But the idea that she's getting another opportunity to do something, it's like I've never seen someone who doesn't speak up.
for anything or stand for anything, keep getting a platform to say absolutely nothing.
Yeah.
Did you find any entertainment in it?
Did you enjoy it?
Was it a good time watching it?
It was entertaining for about 10 or 15 minutes, and then we moved on to something else.
The documentary that I would be interested in seeing about Melania would be how she became a United States citizen.
with the Einstein visa.
I would love to see more exploratory.
I feel like she's not doing that one.
I feel like.
I know.
Well, maybe it's the Epstein visa.
They spelled it wrong.
It's not Einstein.
It's Epstein because that actually tracks.
as to how she got over here.
What would you like to have happen in this series then if she's going to do it?
What would you like to see her do?
Maybe she unearths, maybe she's the person that brings us the Epstein files.
Finally, we get all of the Epstein files that all the Republican Party had, that everybody's been demanding.
Let's see them.
Let's see, you know, the person who's listed more than anybody else.
Let's have her hand deliver them to us on a platter.
Oh, really?
That would be a nice beginning or end to a doctor.
I found these in the hallway and I bring them to you.
That kind of thing?
Well, she's not German, so I don't know what that accent was.
Okay, do your Melania.
Do your Melania.
No, I don't have a good accent.
I don't do good accents, but she's, yeah, yeah.
But yes, her English is challenging.
Challenging.
She's been here a long time.
Yeah.
She is.
Yeah.
Oh, that's, oh, she can speak good if she wanted to.
Let me ask you a question.
These right-wing people are falling off a cliff right now.
And actually, the left is really seeing huge gains.
Hassan Piker, a whole bunch of people.
Our numbers are up quite a lot, which seems normal for that to happen, people shifting back and forth.
Is there any right-wing influencer you think is just the most loathsome?
Shapiro?
Is it Megyn Kelly?
Is it Candace Owen?
Is it Bungino?
It's funny that you say that because...
I've just taken on this kind of, I mean, the Tate brothers, obviously, that's just unforgivable behavior.
So that's the top of the list.
But they kind of all just blend together at this point and probably match in the same way that we blend together for them, you know?
At a certain point, you realize you're listening to a din, a din, a din.
And when you understand the way these machines work, these ecosystems and how social media works and that social, the arbiters of social media are all, are people like Mark Zuckerberg, you know, who couldn't get a date in college.
And so he had to start, you know, like it all makes sense because these are media, medias that are owned primarily by guys that aren't.
happy with women and they're not happy with immigrants and they're not happy with anybody that isn't a white guy, you know, and that wants to build a rocket or whatever that is.
So I understand now that I have a better understanding of how these algorithms works and how these kids get lost and are so addicted to their phones, I have a lot more sympathy for people and I'm grateful that You and I were born during a time where we didn't have the internet and we lived in the analog age.
So there is a difference.
I read more books now than I've ever read in my life because of how little time I want to spend on my phone.
I have the awareness of that.
And a lot of these kids don't have the awareness.
They don't know anything different.
Yeah.
No, I have to say, though, kids are coming off of it.
I am predicting the decline of social media.
My both sons are not on it.
They just watch YouTube for TV.
Well, that's good.
I love to hear that.
I don't know about your nieces and nephews.
No, they're pretty good.
The girls are pretty good in my family.
The girls are not into it.
as much as the boys are, and not all the boys are.
So I think there is a new wave of, like, you know, young people being like, no, this isn't cool, actually.
I do think the right-wing media is declining because they are doing the same crap, and they're always mad, and people are tired of being mad.
Like, they're always mad about something.
Megyn Kelly's always on about someone.
It's usually a woman.
Right, right, right, right.
Why?
This is, yes, yes, yes.
The vitriol, the vitriol, the anger, and the tenor of the conversation.
Why is everyone so?
angry, I really try not to scream or yell anymore.
I try to be really, I try and take a page out of your book and be relaxed and responsible and thoughtful about what I'm saying because I don't want to join that cacophony of that, you know?
I do get angry sometimes.
You know, Megyn Kelly's constant misogyny towards, always women.
It's always the same thing.
I don't like it and I do speak out.
I got mad about the AOC stuff, you know, when Matt Walsh went after her and I was like, I got pregnant.
at 38 and had a baby at 39.
For him to attack her at her age, she's younger than that, and telling her how to have a baby, I got furious.
I don't know why.
It just really, because I think it's because when I got pregnant, someone, when I was trying to get pregnant the first time, I got pregnant right away, a doctor said, oh, you're having a geriatric pregnancy because I had chosen to work because I had to before that because that's how you have to build a career.
And I was so angry at the time that someone, you know, essentially a senior pregnancy is like you took too much time.
The implication was that.
And so I think that probably set me off from long ago, but it sort of infuriated.
That does get me angry, that kind of stuff.
Oh, really?
Men deciding what women are going to do with their bodies and weighing in gets you angry?
I can't imagine why.
I do get it.
I start to curse.
I shouldn't do it.
I felt bad about it.
You know what's so funny?
I get so much crap from guys like that who are like, she's so sad and lonely.
Okay.
Okay.
Even if I were, okay, fine.
But why do you want me to have another me?
You want another Chelsea running around who's going to be even more outspoken than me?
Like, you should be grateful I'm not procreating because I'm not bringing anything that you're going to want your way.
I think you'd be an excellent parent.
I have to tell you.
Well, thank you.
I doubt that.
I just feel very, like, I have a great perspective because of my singledom, because of my, because I'm not.
blinded by my own set of children.
Do you know what I mean?
I see all of it.
I have friends.
I have family.
I watch it all.
So I feel like I have a pretty healthy, A, respect for parents and everyone who shows up as a parent.
But also, you know, bad parenting is pretty obvious.
It is.
That's the reason, well, Elon Musk, nice to meet you.
It's not an excuse, it's an explanation for many of these people.
Right, right.
Speaking of that, let's go on a quick break.
When we come back, we'll talk about Chelsea's Instagram dating service.
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Chelsea, we're back.
You've become quite a matchmaker lately.
I love Matt.
You know I'm a matchmaker too, but only quietly.
After starting your own dating service on Instagram, as I understand it, your motivation was your frustration with dating apps.
You've said endless options have created a generation that's unwilling to commit, but your matchmaking is yielding results, so clearly you're doing something right.
Explain how it works.
And in Scott Galloway's absence, I'd like you to deliver a message to the young men out there.
What are they getting wrong about dating and relationships?
There's a lot.
Listen, my platform is mostly women and gay men.
The conversations among women these days, men are so, I guess, have grown so accustomed to these dating apps and swiping that there's such an abundance that there's no real need, right, for connection.
It's like, well, there's going to be another 10 girls tomorrow or whatever that does to your brain.
I was at this dinner one night with all these successful women, and they were all telling me the same thing.
And I just was like, this isn't.
And the dating app is not for me, to be clear.
This is for people on my site who want to.
I've matched a lot of couples.
A lot of people meet at my shows.
Since I'm on tour, they'll meet online, and then they'll meet at my show.
Like in Philly, I have these two couples that I'm going to do something special with.
But like you basically send DMs to me and tell me if you're serious about finding a relationship about yourself and you have to have an open account.
And then we're just we're not I have a social media company that does a lot of my does all my social work for me, basically.
And we're just trying to put people out there like men who are serious about finding relationships and looking for love.
We're giving them a platform on my page to say, hey, here.
Here you go, ladies, go hit them up.
And for lesbians, for gay guys, we do it for all different, you know, pairings.
And it's been, we've yielded success.
I have a couple of couples that have been together now for like three or four months.
Wow.
I just showcased a lesbian couple a couple of weeks ago.
They're in love.
They've been together for like four months.
And this other straight couple has been dating for two months and they're coming to see, they're coming to one.
Like, it's really sweet.
So you're creating a community as well.
what you're doing.
You're using community.
I mean, I hope so.
It's just something that I wanted to do to spread joy and love.
And like, I hope that people find each other.
But again, listen, I don't, I have to, you know, like I, we're not doing, we're not going down the rabbit hole researching these guys inside and out.
You have, we're just kind of saying, hey, here are some guys who are looking for relationships.
Maybe you guys can connect.
I mean, so I probably will have to stop it for legal reasons.
The first problem, criminal behavior.
No, I like it.
I did a lot of doing the Yenta thing for a while, but I did it in a different way.
I was very surreptitious and sneaky.
I would meet these two friends of mine I thought should be together, and they didn't really like each other in college.
I kept making dinner plans with each of them separately and then at the same place.
And then I would not show up.
I'd be like, I'm at work at the Washington Post.
I can't arrive.
And so they would be forced into dinner together.
Like, oh, this person's meeting.
I like that.
I know.
Isn't it good?
And they ended up getting married.
They have children and they've been married forever.
Like, I just felt like they belong together.
I just decided.
That's really, I love that story.
I love it.
I know.
I do believe in arranged marriages.
I would like to be in.
Yeah, yeah.
No, I think, you know, if you have an eye for that and you can use it for good, then you should.
And also, like, I just think we need to.
update the etiquette.
Like, everyone needs, don't get confused, like, don't confuse, like, equality and chivalry, like, or, you know, massage, like, they're like, oh, you know, men who are like, well, we have to pay, you know, 50-50 if you guys want equality.
It's like, no, no, no, you can still be chivalrous.
Yes, I agree.
Like, you can still open the door for us.
It's not about that.
It's about treating us with respect and dignity.
And it's also about, like, On this dating thing, I implore all of the people that are participating to make sure you are respectful and respond to every single incoming message you get.
Whether you're interested or not, it's okay to say I'm not interested to somebody.
It's better than just blowing someone off.
Right, exactly.
So reintroducing kind of like behavior that's a little bit more elevated.
Like your letter.
You will behave.
You will behave.
Yeah, be nice and don't ghost people.
No one likes to be ghosted.
No one likes to feel that way.
And then I have a...
a bunch of guys in my DMs who think the dating service is for me.
And, you know, I can't repeat any of those things on any platform because they are really ridiculous.
Did they, did anything work out?
No, I don't, I don't really do that.
I don't.
No.
That's not how I'm going to meet men.
I mean, I've slipped into someone's DMs, and my DMs have been slipped into.
Let's not, you know, obviously.
You know the type of woman I am.
Yeah, a whore.
Yes, a whore on the loose.
But not a dirty whore.
But go ahead.
Not a dirty whore.
I love the word whore.
Yeah, I like this behavior thing.
I raised my sons.
One of my sons' girlfriends once said, your son is so nice.
Thank you.
And I go, yes, I worked at it.
I actually.
worked at it for lots of ways and continue to do so.
With my four-year-old, he was, you know, he hits his sister a lot.
And I looked at him, I go, You will never hit girls.
Like, look at me.
And my wife is like, well, everyone.
I'm like, no, girls.
You will definitely, like, I don't know about boys and we'll deal with that later.
You shouldn't probably hit anyone, but I'm not really concerned with that.
I'm concerned with girls.
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the biggest, it's such a huge responsibility to have a son.
You have to make sure that they know what's up and that they don't turn into a violent criminal or a rapist.
Although one of my sons, this was so funny, he's very literal and he goes, I go, you will never hit a woman.
He goes, what if she has a knife?
And I go, then...
You're bigger than she is.
You can get it out of her hand.
He goes, what if I can't?
I'm like, well, then you run.
He tries to find the loophole of having to hit a woman.
I'm like, never.
What do you think in terms of raising, since you have both a boy and a girl, and boy, well, more than one.
Three boys and a girl.
Three boys and a girl.
What do you think, Izzy, how do you view that as a parent?
I try really, you know, with a girl, it's interesting.
With boys, I want to make sure they, like, I remember.
I remember one of my sons used to love the color pink and then one day he didn't because something happened.
It was his favorite.
We found his pink hat the other day.
And I was sort of upset by that.
Was it a pink pussy hat?
No, it wasn't Pussyhats.
He loved it.
He loved his fucking head.
And then he said, I can't wear it because I'm a boy.
And I was like, what happened?
We live in San Francisco of all places.
What occurred in the ether that you couldn't like what you liked?
That was one thing I was concerned about with them is how do they get to be made?
I can't cry.
I can't like princesses.
I can be not gay and like pink, right?
That kind of thing.
But with her, I...
I know it sounds crazy, but I think about what's the day when she's going to feel lesser than?
Because I know it's coming, right?
Like, what's the day she's very confident, she's got incredible, what they call executive function, she's really on it, quick, strong.
I was like, what's the day they're going to slap her back?
Like, that's what I'm worried about with her.
Right.
And how is she going to react to it?
I think I think about that all the time.
Like, there's going to be a day, right?
Yeah.
But I mean, she has the advantage of having two, you know, female role models.
And I think that that is a huge advantage because you're demonstrating and modeling exactly what she's going to do.
Right.
I hope.
Stand tall, you know, I mean, with three brothers to boot.
That's a good recipe.
Yeah, she has a great relationship with her brothers.
But it's really, I just, I don't know why I think about that a lot.
I think it's inevitable.
And I just don't know.
I remember when I got called bossy for the first time, you know, didn't bother me, but it bothered other girls for sure.
Like they stopped.
Like it was that minute.
Like you're bossy.
I'm like, yes, I fucking am.
That's right.
Yeah, right.
I think you're going to be, I think your girl's going to be just fine.
I hope so.
I hope so.
She's very girly.
That's my prediction.
I have a girly girl.
A lot of ballerina situation happening.
All those kind of things.
That's cute.
That's cute.
It is.
It is.
But that's my worry for her is like, when is she going to feel lesser than?
I never think that of the boys.
When are they going to stop feeling more than?
More than.
Because they're like, I'm great.
I'm like.
You know, it's really interesting.
Gender is a thing.
Gender is a thing.
That's all I have to say.
Anyway, enough about my children.
One more quick break.
We'll be back for predictions.
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Megan Rapinoe here.
This week on Why Are You Like This, I got to sit down with legendary Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve in Chicago during All-Star Weekend.
We get into her personal style of activism, how she supports her players as people, and why she proudly considers herself a dyke.
Then we learn if she's more of a mommy, daddy, or baby.
Check out the latest episode of Why Are You Like This wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
Concerns about dark money in U.S.
politics date back years, at least to Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed barriers on corporate spending in elections.
During midterm cycles and presidential races, there's always grumbling about dark money.
And this year in Michigan, it sometimes seemed like the whole race.
The pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC spent about $30 million boosting the campaign of Haley Stevens.
Her opponent, Abdullah Syed, drew attention to this again and again, and she lost.
AIPAC is in a difficult position.
Its support can now be a liability, and some people are questioning the way the organization disperses money.
I'm going to sound crazy when I say this, but Crush MagaPAC is affiliated with a different PAC called Save Democracy, and Save Democracy has received...
$100,000 from United Democracy Project, which is a PAC super PAC.
So sometimes the layers here are two or three or even four PACs deep.
On Today Explained, the backlash against a PAC.
Today Explained drops every weekday.
OK, Chelsea, you can go first or I can go first, whatever you want to do.
I've made so many predictions already.
I think I'm going to predict that.
Abdul Al-Sayed wins Michigan.
Oh, good one.
Why is that?
Tell me why, besides being a handsome devil.
I just think that this midterm is going to be a big referendum on Donald Trump.
And you want to see a pendulum swing, it's going to swing.
So all those Trump voters are going to get this in return.
That's what I think.
What do you make of the attempts to make all this sort of anti-Islamic stuff?
Nancy Mace being at the forefront of that.
But everybody, they're trying to make them a terrorist.
They're sort of jihadist, everything.
They're communist, everything.
They're throwing at this one guy.
Yeah, I mean, the word communist is so silly to be using in any framework that we're talking about with these people that that goes in one ear and out the other.
It's really race, like it's all racial, obviously.
I think, you know, the more people that are not white that are in office is a good thing, not a bad thing.
It's more reflective of actually what this country is and what we showed during the World Cup, which was a welcoming of all of these people in these small towns and bigger.
cities, but these, you know, people coming from different countries and different cultures and people preparing different dishes and Somalian food and this food and like real—that was America.
That is who we are.
And that was so nice for the world to see just in time so that they know that not everybody is.
We can do it.
Yeah.
You know, the welcoming of that, of difference.
And so I just, you know, the more women we can get elected, the better.
The more brown people we can get elected, the better.
We need an age limit.
on our politics and our official, you know, our offices and political appointments.
Everyone needs to get the fuck out of politics at a certain age.
I'm not sure what that age is, but somewhere in your 70s, early 70s.
And then go swim in a lake, you know, like, and I don't know how much, like, money all these people need, but it is, it feels like the death cough of.
white male patriarchy, when you see people like Mitch McConnell, who probably has a an ID tag on one of his toes right now and is also serving.
You know, like, it's a wrap on that.
And so hopefully this whole new wave of people is going to set a different standard for what we're going to accept in American politics.
All right, El Saeed.
Yeah, I like it.
I like that prediction.
I have a feeling, too.
I do.
It's interesting because there's definitely a clap back, right, to him.
He seems to, to me, the attacks mean they're scared of him.
I think the worry that he is very appealing.
I thought for El Saeed, there was a commercial that his grandparents made.
I don't know if you see it, but it's fantastic.
I didn't see it.
These grandparents and couldn't be whiter people.
I think they did this on purpose.
And I have to say, it's a fantastic, fantastic.
They look like Michiganders, as the way the racist parts are trying to pretend.
But they didn't.
They did it in such a beautiful way, a loving way, that it was really well done.
This guy is like has got it all from high school on.
He seems to have done everything right the right way.
Yeah, he's pretty magnetic and you want to watch him.
And yeah, the anti-Muslim thing is also wrapped in, you know, anyone who speaks out against Israel is an anti-Semite.
I'm not on board with that either.
I do not believe that.
Everybody who speaks out against Israel.
I don't think that's true.
I understand there's a lot of anti-Semitism.
I'm not going to dispute that.
That's out there.
I'm a Jewish person.
I get it.
But, you know, so like I don't like that argument for all of these candidates, too.
Mamdani is doing wonderful things for New York City.
It's all out there.
You can look it up.
It's all available.
And so I choose to believe in that.
All right.
Well, that's a big I like that prediction.
I think you're probably right.
I would agree with you.
I'm going to make one.
David Ellison is threatening to move Paramount out of California if he can't settle legal challenges to Paramount-Warner deal.
Obviously, the trial is now not until next year, so he's in a lot of...
existential trauma right now because he thought he would have this thing sail through after kissing up the trunk so much.
And of course, he accuses California of politics when he himself used politics to get approved.
So I find that interesting.
I predict this effort he's had, all his PR efforts, whether it's getting Ari Emanuel to write an essay or Adam Aaron by doing payoffs to him, essentially, or special treatment from some of these theater owners.
Not all theater owners are on board, by the way.
I don't think any of this aggressive PR stuff is working at all.
Rob Bonta, there's no reason for Rob Bonta to do anything at this point since the trial is going forward.
And all these attempts to pressure him, I think are going to backfire.
And this latest one to me is the most desperate.
Temu Larry Ellison thing you could do.
Larry Ellison moved out of California, although he has a significant presence there still.
I just don't, this is just the stupidest thing yet.
You're not going to have Hollywood in Tennessee.
It's just not happening.
It's going to anger people in the industry.
It's going to anger workers there.
It's so desperate.
And it's your last arrow in this really sad quiver.
So I think he should settle, figure something, some way he can settle, or he's going to have to just go to trial and then he has all manner of.
pain during that.
You have to go to trial?
Wait, what would happen if they go to trial?
I don't even understand.
They could win or lose.
It goes to trial and then take, yeah.
But then California can appeal it to the...
to the Ninth Circuit.
So then he may not make the deadline in which David Zaslav can then pull out of the deal and collect $7 billion.
Or David Zaslav could extend it, he and the Warner board.
So he's really in a time constraint, given the judge has moved this until March.
Could take two months to decide after the March trial.
I don't know.
I don't know what to say about any of this stuff.
It's all just so ridiculous.
Like, you know, the amount of things that the monopolies, it doesn't seem like there's, I mean, moving it to Tennessee doesn't seem realistic.
And I don't really understand how.
these companies have these kill fees, you know, when these deals don't go through, learning about how much you have to pay.
Netflix got, what, $3 billion when it didn't go through?
Yeah, $2.8.
Yeah, $2.8 billion.
I'm like, whoa.
I'm like, that's a pretty big incentive to make the deal go through, no?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's a $7 billion one here.
Oh, my God.
You know, I just read something this morning.
Netflix is doubling down on their productions in California because people are talking about California possibly becoming the next Detroit because everybody's moving their productions out.
So Netflix is doubling down on their investments and their productions in the state of California.
And that's an opportunity.
Right.
Yeah.
They might have more tax breaks and stuff like that.
Yeah.
So I'd like to see more of that and just more.
You know, just the amounts of money makes it kind of everything seem illegitimate.
When you're talking about this, these billions, you know, we used to talk about hundreds of millions and now it's billions all the time.
And now we have a trillionaire.
Like when we're talking about this money, it's just not.
Oh, right.
Oh, right.
So he's not today.
But who knows next week?
I'll cross my fingers and my legs for him.
When you get into these categories of money and finances, it's just so far.
It's become so ridiculous.
And we just need to kind of rewire the system at some point.
So there's not five people owning and control of everything.
And that includes AI.
That includes the studios.
It includes everything.
Yeah, I agree.
And threatening to move out of California seems like I'm a rich kid who didn't get what he wants and I'm going to stamp my feet and move out of California.
What about all the people that threatened to move out of New York when all the billionaires did they?
No, they didn't.
They didn't.
Okay, so there you go.
I just don't think you use this one up for this.
It makes you look like a giant fucking baby.
Yeah, I would agree with you.
I'm going to defer to you on this character.
Bonta doesn't have to do it.
Like, the thing is, they're like, I got a call from one of them.
It was Ari or one of them.
He's like, oh, he's got to do it.
I'm like, the only thing you can do is settle.
Try to do a legitimate settlement here or to peel off the other attorney generals like that's your choice.
And I don't think it's going to work because you're all they're in a good position at this point, whether you agree with their legal analysis or not.
Like, they don't have to do anything.
Just sit there and wait.
And they're like, oh, they're going to be worried if he wants to run for governor of Democratic donors.
I said, oh, good God.
Who's going to run for governor?
Bonta, Bonta, Bonta.
Oh, God.
This story has too many legs.
I can't keep up.
I'm like, wait, in Tennessee or California?
I don't know.
I don't know.
Would you want to live in Tennessee?
By the way, I was going to make a list of everything rights that you have in California that you do not have in Tennessee.
And they are extensive abortion women.
I believe you.
Gay people.
Like, David, you don't want to move to Tennessee.
I'll tell you that.
Like, Georgia, maybe.
But still, even then, you're going to have a lot of trouble with people working for you.
And that's why it's all leaking.
It's leaking because they think this is a stupid fucking idea.
And it is.
But good luck.
Good luck to you, I say, young man.
Buenas suerte, as they say in Espanol.
Buenas suerte.
Give me some more Spanish.
Buenas suerte.
That's good.
What does that mean?
That's good.
That's good luck.
Que lastima.
What a shame.
Que lastima.
Oh, I like that one.
Let me hear you say that.
Que lastima.
What a shame.
Anyway, we want to hear from you.
Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind.
Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT.
Okay, that's the show.
Thanks for listening.
to Pivot and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
We'll be back next week.
Chelsea, thank you so much.
And by the way, you can get tickets for Chelsea's tour at chelseahandler.com.
I have been to it.
It's a wonderful show.
I'm going to see another one.
I'm going to try to drop in another one of your shows.
Yeah, that was fun having you there.
I have so much enjoyed our relationship.
It's unlikely, but here we are.
I know.
Me too.
I appreciate you doing it.
Listen to everything Chelsea does.
She's a really, you're a good egg, as they say.
A good egg.
How do you say it in Spanish?
Un bueno.
Un buen huevo.
Huevo.
You're un buen huevo.
Oh, thank you, Cara.
Chelsea, thank you so much.
Today's show was produced by Lara Neyman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Todd Wiseman.
Ernie Enderdot engineered this episode.
Rich Shibley edited the video.
Nishat Kerwa is Vox Media's executive producer of podcasts.
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Thanks for listening to Pivot from Vox Media.
We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.