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Mike Rugnetta: Friends, hello
and welcome to Never Posts.

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Finally, it is spring twenty
twenty six mailbag in which we

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respond to listener emails,
comments, voicemails, voice

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messages about our segments.
When you have thoughts, send

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them our way. They don't even
really need to be about the

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show. Not sure what color to
repaint your bedroom?

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Send those swatches over. We
will weigh in. Got a kid on the

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way and unsure what to name
them. Jason has ideas.

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Jason Oberholtzer: And they're
all German words.

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Georgia Hampton: But not the
ones you think.

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Mike Rugnetta: New exciting
German words. Volkswagen. For

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your baby today.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Hey, gang.
It's finally spring, and it's

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snowing outside of my window.

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Georgia Hampton: I was gonna say
it is, for sure undeniably 35

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degrees

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Mike Rugnetta: right now. Will
we ever see the end of winter?

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Georgia Hampton: I think this

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year, no. I think they're doing
it differently.

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Mike Rugnetta: We're gonna skip
straight to a 100 degrees and

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99%. Yes. Yes. Yes. And it will
have been because of them.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Welcome
to our Los Angeles listeners.

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Currently at 95 plus degrees.

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Georgia Hampton: Oh my god. Yes.

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Mike Rugnetta: I'm your host,
Mike Rugnetta. Joining me today

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in order of tales Georgia first
heads Jason first. Woah. Oh.

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Never Post producer Georgia
Hampton.

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Georgia Hampton: Bullshit. Yes.
Yes.

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Jason Oberholtzer: The
unluckiest man alive.

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Georgia Hampton: Eat my dust.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Okay.

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Mike Rugnetta: And Never Post
executive producer Jason

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Oberholzer.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Well,
nothing's going my way this

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year, is it?

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Mike Rugnetta: Hans will not be
joining us today because he has

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literally been sent to The
Hague. A sentence I could

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explain, but I will not.

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Georgia Hampton: No questions.
No.

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Mike Rugnetta: Nothing. He knows
what he's done.

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Jason Oberholtzer: But we don't
need him anyway, because we have

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you

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Mike Rugnetta: That's not true.
We obviously We've been we've

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been recording for two minutes
and thirty seconds, and it's

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obvious that we need us.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Anyone who's
seen any of the livestreams we

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have tried to accomplish while
Hans has been gone knows we

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desperately need him.

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Georgia Hampton: God.

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Yeah. Me and Jason together

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Jason Oberholtzer: Oh my lord.

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Georgia Hampton: Trying to
stream video games.

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Jason Oberholtzer: It's not our
fault. We're We're children who

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can't do technology.

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Georgia Hampton: We're just two
infants

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Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah.

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Georgia Hampton: Using a
computer for the first time.

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Mike Rugnetta: Oh, but it's so
cute. Alright. Let's see what

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people had to say about some of
the stuff we did.

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Georgia Hampton: So we got a
very interesting message from

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Elise who called in to weigh in
about my archive episode, which

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was actually my first segment I
ever did, about the

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disappearance of tween fashion
and how the algorithmic Internet

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is partially to blame.

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Speaker 5: In thinking about the
way that tweens dress now, it

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definitely is interesting. I'm
currently 29, so I'm definitely

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someone who shopped a lot at
stores, like, limited to when I

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was younger. A thought that I've
had, and I feel like friends of

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similar ages have talked about
and it's pretty popular online

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that people are always
discussing. It's just this

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concept of looking at middle
schoolers or early high

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schoolers or just really any
tweens and teens and being like,

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wow. They look like adults.

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And I think it makes sense
within the clothing aspects that

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you were talking about on this
segment. But, also, the way that

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makeup trends have changed is
really interesting to me.

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Because when I was in middle
school, everyone was, you know,

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getting into makeup for the
first time, And there were a

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number of people who were just
smearing on crazy eyeliner or

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putting on way too much blush.
And it felt like this rite of

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passage where both in clothing
and maybe also in makeup, kids

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kind of like, we just looked
like shit. And we look back at

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pictures, and we're like, damn.

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I look like an awkward, weird
little middle schooler. And it's

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really crazy that it's different
now. And they look like many

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adults, and I feel like a lot of
that has to do with makeup

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trends, which I'm sure is also
related to the rise of TikTok

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and YouTube tutorials and
different things like that.

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Georgia Hampton: This is a great
excuse to talk about my favorite

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makeup memory

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Jason Oberholtzer: Oh, okay.

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Georgia Hampton: Which is one of
the first pieces of makeup that

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I had was a single eye shadow
from Revlon in, like, powder

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blue, like, baby baby blue. And
I remember going to school with

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it just slathered

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Mike Rugnetta: Yes.

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Georgia Hampton: Over my
eyelids.

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Mike Rugnetta: Yes.

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Georgia Hampton: Dusty
eyelashes. I was not wearing

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mascara. I hadn't gotten there
yet. And I remember being at gym

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class, which for some reason was
the first class that year with

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just, like, a metric ton of baby
blue eyeshadow on my eyelids,

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feeling very vividly the
transition from, like, I am the

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most beautiful woman in the
world to being, like

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Mike Rugnetta: Oh, no.

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Speaker 4: Somehow, this is I've
made a terrible mistake. Jim Jim

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first period, like,

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Mike Rugnetta: middle school is
the coolest shit in the world.

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Georgia Hampton: Evil evil
behavior. And that is

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Mike Rugnetta: I had to do that
every, like, a a couple years

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and, like, whole there is no
quicker way to be like, oh, I I

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have no idea what I'm doing just
as a human.

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Georgia Hampton: Oh, yeah. Do I
hate myself?

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Jason Oberholtzer: Because you
lack, like, both the old man

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wisdom and audacity to show up
to school in gym clothes with

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your regular clothes in your
bag, and then just take a full

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fucking shower after gym class.

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Georgia Hampton: Oh, wet hair
all day? Hello? Hello? Wet hair

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all day during my Spanish exam?
Anyway Anyway.

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This is such a great point
because I completely agree. I

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mean, when I was first
researching this, those

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conversations about, like, the
tweens at Sephora buying drunk

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elephant and doing, like, 12
step skincare routines on, like,

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prepubescent skin and using
retinol and, like, all of these

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products that are really not
meant for them at all. I do

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agree that I think there's this
odd, like, jump to a

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presentation of adulthood that
is much more smoothed out. And I

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think access to makeup
tutorials, the social Internet

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writ large, influencers, any
kind of online video content,

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written content, any content
that is showing you how to

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properly do, like, a cut crease
or, like, baking your face or

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doing, like, certain kinds of
eye makeup looks, it it's just

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so much more accessible, which
doesn't necessarily have to be

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bad, but I do agree that I think
there is a sort of beautiful

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rite of passage component to
being a tween and looking like

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shit.

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Mike Rugnetta: Looking like an
awkward weird gremlin for a Yes.

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Couple of Mhmm. This makes me
think of like, is the awkward

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phase of being a tween and the
fashion associated with it sort

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of being treated in a way like
boredom? Where it's like, it is

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something that

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Speaker 6: Mhmm.

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Mike Rugnetta: In the on the
individual level, you're like,

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oh, this is unpleasant to
experience, but what's really

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important is the stuff that you
get out of that unpleasant

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experience. Yes. And so we've
sort of, like, massaged away

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boredom with devices, and we
massage away this kind of, like,

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awkward period of dressing and
figuring out who you are and

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applying makeup and getting
haircuts and whatever just like

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through content. And, you know,
you I mean, may maybe it's maybe

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I'm just old man yells at cloud,
and what happens now is, like,

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the awkward period disappears
because you can just figure out

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who you are faster because
there's more options and there's

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you you're exposed to more and
more quickly, and so you don't

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have to stumble through it. You
can just point at something and

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be like, I'm Matt.

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That's me. I'm gonna do that
one.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Or does the
awkward period just happen

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constantly and more publicly,
you just look better while it's

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happening?

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Mike Rugnetta: Okay. Fair.

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Georgia Hampton: I mean, that is
kind of the thing. I think

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because also so much is
documented online and there is

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so much incentive to document
online, And you're as as a young

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person, I feel like
significantly more susceptible

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to being like, oh, well, I
should be posting online. Like,

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all my friends are online, and I
should be participating in this

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experience together, which I
think is also very normal. I

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think there's a version of this
that happens to everybody when

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they go through this age group.
There is such a a I mean,

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discomfort an important
discomfort in being seen,

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stumbling through, and trying
and failing to figure something

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out.

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And everything is so documented
and available to not just your

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friends, but anyone that that
kind of experience becomes a

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performance, which then turns it
into something that is more

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polished, at least, on the
outset.

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Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. Mhmm. Wear
your gym clothes first period if

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you have gym class first period.
Just wear them to school. Yeah.

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Georgia Hampton: And might I
suggest Revlon's single

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eyeshadow palette. Baby powder
blue. It's it's coming back.

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Speaker 4: It's coming back. It
stings the

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Jason Oberholtzer: eyes when you
sweat.

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Georgia Hampton: God, it really
that was yeah. That was that was

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the big problem there. Georgia,

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Jason Oberholtzer: where is the
Internet?

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Georgia Hampton: Well, Jason,
the true Internet is in your

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heart.

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Mike Rugnetta: No. Get it out.
Get it out.

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Georgia Hampton: But to answer
that question more fully, we

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must turn to yet another message
from a beloved listener. This

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time from Julia, who has written
in on, you guessed it, my

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segment about where exactly is
the Internet and what kind of

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place is it. Julia writes, I
think a strong contender for the

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inheritor to the throne of the
computer room is the bed. With

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phones being untethered from the
cables of the desktop, I have

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gravitated to my bed when
crossing the threshold into the

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online what? Unseelie?

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What is that?

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Jason Oberholtzer: I don't know.

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Georgia Hampton: I mean, look
them. Silly? It's kind of Okay.

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Sorry.

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Mike Rugnetta: That looks
purposeful, doesn't it? Right?

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Georgia Hampton: I think so.

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Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Unsealy
court

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Georgia Hampton: this word ever.

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Jason Oberholtzer: The dark,
malevolent, and often aggressive

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faction of fairies in Scottish
folklore and fantasy.

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Georgia Hampton: Let's go. I'll
take that sentence again. Woah.

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With phones being untethered
from the cables of the desktop,

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I've gravitated to my bed when
crossing the threshold into the

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online unsealy. And I see a lot
of people posting that they have

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too.

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I think this in part comes from
people's living situations.

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Since we're seeing a shift
toward people renting individual

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rooms in flats, or as you
Americans would put it,

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apartments, thank you, The
computer room has been dissolved

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into storage, or even worse, a
bedroom charging two times the

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average income. And the bedroom
has become one of the few spaces

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we feel are actually our own. I
think this has significant

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implications for both your
discussions of third spaces and

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people's behavior being unusual
online. I have had very few

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interactions with anyone in my
bed other than sexual partners,

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or I guess my cat.

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So now a significant amount of
social life is occurring from a

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space which has had no history
of socializing other than the

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intensely intimate.
Additionally, beds are very

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comfortable. If we spend our
time in algorithmic feeds and

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constant simulation while
wrapped up in a literal comfort

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blanket, do we further the
current moment's fear of boredom

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and discomfort? In this
situation, we are at our most

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physically comfortable and
completely alone. Is it any

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wonder that we are so sensitive,
erratic, and unadventurous?

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Julia.

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Mike Rugnetta: I think Julia is
just right.

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Georgia Hampton: Yeah. I think
this is an amazing observation.

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Mike Rugnetta: I think this is
ugh. I think when we log on,

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maybe, like, a hair shirt and
nail chair.

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Georgia Hampton: Jared
Oppenheim. We are in a position

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now more than ever of of
creature comforts, both in

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00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,480
sensation, physical sensation of
being in a bed, being in

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sweatpants, being in your own
space that has all the things

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you like in it, and then using
your phone to be in a space that

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has all the things you like in
it. And, absolutely, I think

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there is a direct correlation
between that state of being, And

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I I don't know if it's even a
conscious feeling, but, like, a

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a lack of desire to do anything
about it because there is the

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risk of boredom, of uncertainty
of, like, well, now what do I do

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I with my time? What do I how do
I interact with the space? Like,

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why worry about that when you
can just go back on your phone?

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Mike Rugnetta: Yeah.
Everything's just a little

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harder. Everything's just Yeah.
And and, like, I'm more unsure,

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you know?

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Georgia Hampton: And you're even
less incentivized to be in a

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state like that.

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Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. I think
it's such a great metaphor.

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Like, the few open up your phone
in any particular location.

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Right? In one place, in one way,
what you said is absolutely

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true, Georgia, in the segment,
like, you open up the phone and

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you automatically, instantly,
kind of, like, transport to

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another room that is either on
top of or below whatever room

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you're currently in.

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Speaker 4: Inside, within, and
without.

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Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. Whether
it's, like, the train or the

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coffee shop or the office or
whatever. You know, you it's a

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portal into this other space
where you keep all the things

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that you like. Mhmm. And how
interesting to think of that as

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like, you know, which one is a
metaphor for which?

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Like, is the bedroom the
metaphor for that weird

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psychogeographic space? Or is
that space a metaphor for the

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bedroom? But it makes it at
least feels really right to me.

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Jason Oberholtzer: There's
another email that came in that

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00:14:18,975 --> 00:14:22,015
I think actually puts an
interesting spin on this. This

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00:14:22,015 --> 00:14:25,295
came from Ari. Ari says, this
episode really made me think

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about my relationship with the
Internet and work. From 2020 to

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2022, work and home were the
same place for me and the

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combination of those spaces
eventually started to drive me

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mad. I wanted work to be a place
I go to, spend time in, and

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leave.

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Now, being back in the office
full time, I appreciate the

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space between my worlds. Still,
I spend a lot of time online as

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I work. But for some reason, my
time on the Internet at work

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feels different. When you
describe the Internet as a

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place, I realized my work
Internet is separate from my

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home Internet.

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Mike Rugnetta: Big screen, big
screen, small screen,

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Speaker 4: big screen, small
screen. Back here again. But so,

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Jason Oberholtzer: like, that's
also true. Right? We have this

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superstructure of emerging to
the Internet room when we're on

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the train or we're in our bed or
we're wherever. But I think the

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most discreet difference is work
Internet is a different

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Internet. And I don't think it's
just because there's, like,

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certain sites you're not allowed
to go to.

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It just, like, feels different.
It's work Internet.

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00:15:20,795 --> 00:15:23,140
Georgia Hampton: And I do think
it matters where you are going

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to the Internet in the sense of
on your phone, on your tablet,

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on your computer, on a desktop.
How visible is your screen to

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other people? How big is your
screen?

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Mike Rugnetta: That's exactly
what I was gonna say. Like, how

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00:15:33,700 --> 00:15:36,100
much of work Internet feeling
different is, like, people can

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see what I'm doing. Yes.

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00:15:38,045 --> 00:15:39,885
Jason Oberholtzer: I have always
thought of that it is completely

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00:15:39,885 --> 00:15:45,565
destabilizing that I would
feasibly break up with my

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00:15:45,565 --> 00:15:49,805
girlfriend and have an important
meeting with my boss in the

305
00:15:49,805 --> 00:15:53,245
exact same location staring at
the exact same device, mere

306
00:15:53,245 --> 00:15:57,540
moments from each other, and
have to exist as a cohesive

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00:15:57,540 --> 00:15:58,340
human.

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00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:01,860
Georgia Hampton: Damn.

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00:16:01,940 --> 00:16:04,180
Jason Oberholtzer: There's one
final email that came in about

310
00:16:04,180 --> 00:16:08,635
Internet places that I don't get
because I have not seen any of

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00:16:08,635 --> 00:16:11,755
this media, and I just want
Georgia for you to tell me if

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00:16:11,755 --> 00:16:12,795
this makes any sense.

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00:16:13,195 --> 00:16:16,475
Mike Rugnetta: No. Okay. I'll
read it because this makes this

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00:16:16,475 --> 00:16:17,275
makes sense to me.

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00:16:17,275 --> 00:16:18,555
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mike.

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00:16:18,555 --> 00:16:20,075
Jason Oberholtzer: Who who knows
this media?

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00:16:20,075 --> 00:16:23,230
Mike Rugnetta: Oh. Okay. So
Denise sent an email in, and

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00:16:23,230 --> 00:16:25,870
Denise said, I had to pause
George's piece on what kind of

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00:16:25,870 --> 00:16:30,270
place is the Internet to make
this meme my first one. I'm old.

320
00:16:30,270 --> 00:16:31,470
Probably did it wrong.

321
00:16:31,470 --> 00:16:33,710
I'm from Minnesota. You kids are
great.

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00:16:33,710 --> 00:16:34,990
Georgia Hampton: I'm rooting for
you, Denise. First of

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00:16:34,990 --> 00:16:38,135
Mike Rugnetta: all, huge
compliment. I like I like how

324
00:16:38,775 --> 00:16:41,575
Denise being worried that she
probably did this wrong seems

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00:16:41,575 --> 00:16:47,255
somehow connected to us being
great. Oh. The the movie

326
00:16:47,255 --> 00:16:51,415
Surrogates 2009 always comes to
mind when I feel the wake up

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00:16:51,415 --> 00:16:55,390
detachment of looking up from my
phone, especially the scene

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00:16:55,390 --> 00:16:58,910
where a disheveled Rosamund Pike
staggers out of, quote, the

329
00:16:58,910 --> 00:17:02,510
computer room where she's been
linked to her robot surrogate

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00:17:02,510 --> 00:17:06,175
that has been out in the world
being beautiful and amazing. So

331
00:17:06,175 --> 00:17:09,455
the surrogates is a movie that
if I remember correctly, Roseman

332
00:17:09,455 --> 00:17:11,535
Pike and Bruce Willis.

333
00:17:11,775 --> 00:17:12,335
Georgia Hampton: Okay.

334
00:17:12,335 --> 00:17:14,495
Mike Rugnetta: It's based on a
comic book. It is a very poor

335
00:17:14,495 --> 00:17:18,015
adaptation of what I remember
being a very, very good comic

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00:17:18,015 --> 00:17:18,335
book.

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00:17:18,335 --> 00:17:18,655
Jason Oberholtzer: Okay.

338
00:17:18,655 --> 00:17:21,135
Mike Rugnetta: And basically,
this last sentence that Denise

339
00:17:21,135 --> 00:17:26,120
writes is effectively the
premise of the movie, that there

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00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:28,760
is a murder mystery. I think
it's a murder mystery. It's been

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00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:34,755
a long time. But you can, as a
person, have a surrogate. You

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00:17:34,755 --> 00:17:38,195
can sit strapped into a piece of
technology in your room

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00:17:38,195 --> 00:17:41,875
completely still, kind of like
WALL E style Mhmm.

344
00:17:41,955 --> 00:17:46,675
And have this perfected robotic
version of yourself walking

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00:17:46,675 --> 00:17:51,450
around out in the world. And so
the two pictures that Denise has

346
00:17:51,450 --> 00:17:56,010
sent is Rosamund Pike's
surrogate, who's beautiful, has

347
00:17:56,010 --> 00:18:00,490
perfect skin, flowing blonde,
like, you know, nineteen

348
00:18:00,490 --> 00:18:05,465
seventies pinup Yeah. Model So
it says me when I'm online on

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00:18:05,465 --> 00:18:08,825
the first picture, and then me
when I turn off my phone and try

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00:18:08,825 --> 00:18:11,065
and get something real
accomplished. And it's Roseman

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00:18:11,065 --> 00:18:16,025
Pike like, her skin's already
blotchy. Yeah.

352
00:18:16,025 --> 00:18:21,600
Her hair is, like, all dirty.
She looks very unhappy. Yeah.

353
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,640
Jason Oberholtzer: One assumes
that this is the real person who

354
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,240
has just left the computer room.

355
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,720
Mike Rugnetta: Yes. I like, the
way that I describe this is

356
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:33,325
often it's like scrolling
hangover or, like, screen

357
00:18:33,325 --> 00:18:34,045
hangover.

358
00:18:34,045 --> 00:18:34,445
Georgia Hampton: Oh, yeah.

359
00:18:34,445 --> 00:18:36,285
Mike Rugnetta: And it's like,
there's a moment where I, like,

360
00:18:37,005 --> 00:18:41,965
you know, when it happens, I
kinda come to and I'm like, I

361
00:18:41,965 --> 00:18:47,190
need a glass of water.
Literally. I have to go to like,

362
00:18:47,190 --> 00:18:52,390
I both I'm, like, embarrassed,
and my throat is dry, and my

363
00:18:52,390 --> 00:18:55,430
skin is itchy, and I need to go
take a shower. And

364
00:18:55,830 --> 00:18:59,590
Georgia Hampton: Oh, completely.
I feel for, I don't know, maybe,

365
00:18:59,590 --> 00:19:03,505
like, ten to fifteen seconds
after I emerge out of the

366
00:19:03,505 --> 00:19:06,705
scroll, kind of like the mental
equivalent of coming off the

367
00:19:06,705 --> 00:19:11,185
tilt a whirl, where at first
you're like, like, getting your

368
00:19:11,185 --> 00:19:15,110
sea legs back and being like,
where am I? And what are my

369
00:19:15,110 --> 00:19:17,030
values? Yeah.

370
00:19:17,030 --> 00:19:19,350
Jason Oberholtzer: Guys, I gotta
update you. Since I deleted

371
00:19:19,350 --> 00:19:22,870
TikTok at the beginning of the
year, I scroll so much less.

372
00:19:23,190 --> 00:19:27,155
Like, I try to scroll on Reels
and it, like, barely holds the

373
00:19:27,155 --> 00:19:30,595
attention. It's so deeply bad.
It's such a watered down drug.

374
00:19:30,915 --> 00:19:33,955
Like, I'm really, like, getting
off. This is, my Narcan or

375
00:19:33,955 --> 00:19:37,715
something. Yeah. It's my update.
That's a good update.

376
00:19:37,715 --> 00:19:39,635
Mike Rugnetta: Wow, Jason. Your
hair looks beautiful.

377
00:19:41,710 --> 00:19:44,510
Jason Oberholtzer: Thank you.
Anyway, congratulations, Denise.

378
00:19:44,510 --> 00:19:46,990
You did it. You made a meme. It
made sense.

379
00:19:47,070 --> 00:19:47,310
Yeah.

380
00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:47,710
Georgia Hampton: Was great.

381
00:19:47,710 --> 00:19:49,470
Mike Rugnetta: Thank you.
Denise, good meme. Nailed it.

382
00:19:50,430 --> 00:19:54,685
Next up, we have a voicemail
that was sent in by Penelli on

383
00:19:54,685 --> 00:19:58,445
Hans' segment about Minneapolis
and clicktatorship that I'm

384
00:19:58,445 --> 00:20:02,365
gonna respond to because I think
it's something that I have a lot

385
00:20:02,365 --> 00:20:04,285
of thoughts about, something I
think about pretty frequently.

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00:20:04,685 --> 00:20:09,240
Speaker 7: The thing about the
clicktatorship and how power is

387
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,800
content, policy making is
content now, and the the right

388
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:19,400
the right wing media ecosphere.
So I teach civics. I'm a high

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00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:25,735
school government and economics
teacher, and I am required by my

390
00:20:25,735 --> 00:20:28,695
job description of the fact that
I teach AP gov, which, you know,

391
00:20:28,695 --> 00:20:34,055
by college board through to be,
quote, politically neutral as a

392
00:20:34,055 --> 00:20:40,520
teacher. I'm also required to
teach media literacy. What is

393
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,720
media literacy in 2026?

394
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,720
Okay. So as of the twenty
sixteen election, everybody was

395
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,805
like, oh, we gotta teach people
how to distinguish fake news,

396
00:20:51,805 --> 00:20:57,005
and we gotta teach people to
slow down and not trust

397
00:20:57,005 --> 00:21:00,525
everything that comes across
their social media scroll. But,

398
00:21:00,525 --> 00:21:04,560
like, all of the lessons that
people have come up with and the

399
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,440
ideas of, like, what media
literacy means with social media

400
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:12,240
age are inadequate to handle
this. I mean, they just they

401
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,120
don't. And I don't even know,
like, how to begin approaching

402
00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,955
this in this era as a teacher?

403
00:21:21,995 --> 00:21:23,755
Mike Rugnetta: Penalty, I do not
envy you.

404
00:21:23,835 --> 00:21:24,955
Georgia Hampton: Oh, no.

405
00:21:25,115 --> 00:21:27,035
Mike Rugnetta: God. Oh, boy. I'm
just

406
00:21:27,035 --> 00:21:29,115
Jason Oberholtzer: sitting here
hoping that another sentence

407
00:21:29,115 --> 00:21:31,755
arrives in this message and
nope. That's the end of it.

408
00:21:31,755 --> 00:21:32,235
Georgia Hampton: Nope. That's

409
00:21:32,235 --> 00:21:36,120
Mike Rugnetta: it. It's like and
that's why we Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

410
00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:36,840
I know.

411
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,760
God. I think about this all the
time, and I don't I'd like I

412
00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:42,280
don't think I have a good
answer. I don't I don't know

413
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,280
that there is a good answer, but
here's where I've arrived, and

414
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,665
I'm curious to know what Jason
and Georgia think. I agree that

415
00:21:49,665 --> 00:21:52,465
the whole framework of media
literacy just kinda doesn't work

416
00:21:52,465 --> 00:21:53,185
anymore.

417
00:21:53,345 --> 00:21:53,745
Georgia Hampton: Mhmm.

418
00:21:53,745 --> 00:21:56,865
Mike Rugnetta: And because
because the whole framework of

419
00:21:56,865 --> 00:22:01,505
media literacy is to, like, take
the media that arrives in front

420
00:22:01,505 --> 00:22:05,350
of you and to compare it to
other pieces of media, and to

421
00:22:05,350 --> 00:22:09,110
use your experience out in the
world to confirm which of those

422
00:22:09,110 --> 00:22:13,990
things is the one that, like,
you feel like most aligns with

423
00:22:13,990 --> 00:22:18,925
what you experience in the
world, and to maybe take half

424
00:22:18,925 --> 00:22:22,365
truths from some of those things
or to reach an aggregate of

425
00:22:22,365 --> 00:22:25,405
meaning compiled from those
things. And so what do you do

426
00:22:25,405 --> 00:22:29,405
when all of those things is
wrong? Right? Like, the

427
00:22:29,405 --> 00:22:33,470
information environment, like we
talked about with our science

428
00:22:33,470 --> 00:22:36,830
communicators, is, like, so
poisoned that it's, like, really

429
00:22:36,830 --> 00:22:43,735
hard to even know that you are
getting a full portrait of what

430
00:22:43,735 --> 00:22:47,255
is going on in the world even if
you have many, many media

431
00:22:47,255 --> 00:22:48,375
sources at hand.

432
00:22:48,375 --> 00:22:48,695
Jason Oberholtzer: Mhmm.

433
00:22:48,695 --> 00:22:51,815
Mike Rugnetta: I think that
there are a few things that are

434
00:22:51,815 --> 00:22:57,530
true. The first is there's no
future in media literacy if we

435
00:22:57,530 --> 00:23:00,650
don't wanna completely abandon
that title or that framework

436
00:23:00,810 --> 00:23:06,650
where you're not intimately
familiar with how the media is

437
00:23:06,650 --> 00:23:12,835
made and by whom. Oh, yeah.
There's just absolutely no no

438
00:23:12,835 --> 00:23:18,595
way forward without intimate
knowledge about who holds the

439
00:23:18,595 --> 00:23:23,450
power in creating the media and
what they want in the world. And

440
00:23:23,450 --> 00:23:27,210
what's nice, at least, about
right now is that most of the

441
00:23:27,210 --> 00:23:31,290
people who are in positions of
power, they're very clear about

442
00:23:31,290 --> 00:23:31,930
what they want.

443
00:23:31,930 --> 00:23:36,730
They kinda go on their own owned
media and say it very clearly.

444
00:23:36,730 --> 00:23:37,050
Georgia Hampton: Oh, yeah.

445
00:23:37,725 --> 00:23:39,965
Mike Rugnetta: You just have to
believe them, which is maybe

446
00:23:39,965 --> 00:23:43,485
sometimes a little bit hard.
Mhmm. I have seen a couple

447
00:23:43,485 --> 00:23:46,525
people render this a few
different ways. Cameron

448
00:23:46,525 --> 00:23:50,365
Kunzelman, who does the shelved
by genre podcast, who's really

449
00:23:50,365 --> 00:23:53,165
great. He's like a
communications professor and a

450
00:23:53,300 --> 00:23:57,300
game studies person, rendered
this really succinctly recently

451
00:23:57,300 --> 00:24:02,980
as, I think, something like
tired media literacy or retired

452
00:24:02,980 --> 00:24:05,460
media literacy, wired ideology.

453
00:24:05,945 --> 00:24:10,905
There's kind of no analysis of
this that doesn't just really

454
00:24:10,905 --> 00:24:15,145
fully focus on ideology. Mhmm.
And I think I don't know how you

455
00:24:15,145 --> 00:24:18,505
do it as a civics professor or a
civics teacher, especially in,

456
00:24:18,505 --> 00:24:22,700
like, AP classes, but there's
kind of no way around this where

457
00:24:22,700 --> 00:24:27,820
you don't have to do Marxist
analysis of things, and talk

458
00:24:27,820 --> 00:24:32,300
about, like, how capital in all
of its forms plays a huge role

459
00:24:32,865 --> 00:24:37,745
in the creation of meaning in
the world and how things reach

460
00:24:37,745 --> 00:24:41,505
the level of prevalence that
they are. And, like, you're

461
00:24:41,505 --> 00:24:45,185
basically just replacing media
literacy with sociology. Yeah.

462
00:24:45,185 --> 00:24:49,010
Whoops. Yeah. But, like, I think
we maybe kind of have to.

463
00:24:49,330 --> 00:24:52,770
Georgia Hampton: Yeah. I mean,
to to your point of, like,

464
00:24:52,770 --> 00:24:55,890
specifically ideological
approaches to looking at media,

465
00:24:56,610 --> 00:24:59,730
I think also it just I'm
thinking of this idea of having

466
00:24:59,730 --> 00:25:03,415
to present civics and things
like that from a, quote,

467
00:25:03,415 --> 00:25:06,775
unquote, politically neutral
perspective. How do In a you in

468
00:25:06,775 --> 00:25:09,095
an environment where, like,
being politically neutral is now

469
00:25:09,095 --> 00:25:13,255
a kind of I mean, it's a
position. It's a position. Like,

470
00:25:13,255 --> 00:25:17,050
it is it is also sort of it its
neutrality doesn't exist

471
00:25:17,050 --> 00:25:17,690
anymore.

472
00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:19,610
Mike Rugnetta: No. And I think
and I think now being

473
00:25:19,610 --> 00:25:23,850
politically neutral would, in
fact, get you being accused of

474
00:25:23,850 --> 00:25:27,465
being a leftist by many of the

475
00:25:27,545 --> 00:25:27,705
Georgia Hampton: you know

476
00:25:27,705 --> 00:25:28,665
Mike Rugnetta: what I mean?
Like, have

477
00:25:28,665 --> 00:25:30,505
Georgia Hampton: to gonna say
republican. No.

478
00:25:30,505 --> 00:25:32,185
Mike Rugnetta: You have to act
like, I think a lot of the

479
00:25:32,185 --> 00:25:35,465
people who are the most mad
about this and who are in charge

480
00:25:35,465 --> 00:25:39,625
of a lot of the the media at
least would say that, you know,

481
00:25:39,625 --> 00:25:44,230
you have to, like, vociferously
affirm their positions or else

482
00:25:44,390 --> 00:25:45,750
you are taking a side.

483
00:25:45,750 --> 00:25:47,590
Georgia Hampton: Sure. Well,
yeah. And also it's yeah. It's

484
00:25:47,590 --> 00:25:51,670
the politicization of all
topics. Yeah.

485
00:25:51,670 --> 00:25:54,550
It also then, yeah, makes makes
for a very difficult

486
00:25:55,515 --> 00:26:00,955
interpretation, if it's even
interpretable anymore, of media

487
00:26:00,955 --> 00:26:03,915
literacy if you have to consider
neutrality as the goal.

488
00:26:04,475 --> 00:26:05,035
Mike Rugnetta: I mean, I think

489
00:26:05,195 --> 00:26:07,035
Georgia Hampton: Which I don't
think you can Yeah. Anymore. I

490
00:26:07,035 --> 00:26:08,075
think that's a problem.

491
00:26:08,075 --> 00:26:11,110
Mike Rugnetta: We're so far
like, there's it's really,

492
00:26:11,110 --> 00:26:13,670
really hard to defend the
classical journalistic

493
00:26:13,670 --> 00:26:17,510
perspective of, like,
positivistic empirical analysis

494
00:26:17,510 --> 00:26:19,750
of, here's what's going on in
the world. Like

495
00:26:20,310 --> 00:26:22,150
Georgia Hampton: Oh, yeah.
Because I think in the last, I

496
00:26:22,150 --> 00:26:24,735
don't know, at least twenty
years, if not more recently,

497
00:26:24,735 --> 00:26:28,015
like, there has, as you said,
been this far broader

498
00:26:28,015 --> 00:26:33,215
understanding of who is
controlling these media outlets,

499
00:26:33,695 --> 00:26:36,495
what their perspectives are, and
also the people controlling

500
00:26:36,495 --> 00:26:40,310
those media outlets becoming
people like Jeff Bezos owning

501
00:26:40,310 --> 00:26:41,350
the Washington Post.

502
00:26:41,350 --> 00:26:43,910
Jason Oberholtzer: Right. I
think this runs into exactly

503
00:26:43,910 --> 00:26:48,710
where media literacy contains
two incorrect words for the

504
00:26:48,710 --> 00:26:52,965
moment. Media literacy would
tell you that Jeff Bezos owns

505
00:26:52,965 --> 00:26:56,405
the Washington Post and has done
a measurable series of things

506
00:26:56,405 --> 00:27:02,085
with obvious outcomes. And that
like Sinclair News shows the

507
00:27:02,085 --> 00:27:05,460
same news feed across the entire
world, and here are the people

508
00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:09,140
whose concerns are involved in
the operation of that media.

509
00:27:09,700 --> 00:27:14,180
That that is also easy to
document, and that the

510
00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:21,215
disagreement lies then past that
point onto me bringing that up

511
00:27:21,215 --> 00:27:25,775
is a political position rather
than a documentation of like

512
00:27:25,775 --> 00:27:29,775
obvious flows of information
that's publicly available.

513
00:27:30,095 --> 00:27:33,390
That is where the literacy is
at. So it's not about the media.

514
00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:36,190
Also, media is like a very weird
term here because it sort of

515
00:27:36,190 --> 00:27:41,630
assumes some presentation and
receiving of information rather

516
00:27:41,630 --> 00:27:45,230
than a a constant interaction
with information, which is

517
00:27:45,230 --> 00:27:47,470
really how people engage with
information at this point.

518
00:27:47,765 --> 00:27:50,165
Georgia Hampton: I mean, it's
content literacy.

519
00:27:50,405 --> 00:27:52,325
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. And so
maybe it's like content more

520
00:27:52,325 --> 00:27:56,085
than media or maybe it's like we
have like transcended media's

521
00:27:56,165 --> 00:28:00,805
screen bound utility to instead
constantly be in political

522
00:28:00,805 --> 00:28:06,030
discourse about the things we
will or will not be open to

523
00:28:06,030 --> 00:28:09,870
believing about our worldviews.
Yeah. And that is really the

524
00:28:09,870 --> 00:28:13,150
consistent meta conversation
that's happening regardless of

525
00:28:13,150 --> 00:28:14,190
the formats in the middle.

526
00:28:14,495 --> 00:28:16,655
Mike Rugnetta: And that's before
you even get to, like, does the

527
00:28:16,655 --> 00:28:20,255
fact that Brendan Carr approved
the merger of the News Corp so

528
00:28:20,255 --> 00:28:25,375
that now one company controls
60% of the news in The United

529
00:28:25,375 --> 00:28:29,660
States, is that is knowing that
media literacy, or is that

530
00:28:29,660 --> 00:28:30,700
something else?

531
00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:33,180
Georgia Hampton: Is is having to
teach my parents how to

532
00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:37,260
recognize if a video is AI? No.
Like, where does that lie in

533
00:28:37,260 --> 00:28:39,740
this? That might be media
literacy. I think that I was

534
00:28:39,740 --> 00:28:39,980
gonna say

535
00:28:39,980 --> 00:28:42,035
Jason Oberholtzer: that I think
that is media literacy.

536
00:28:42,035 --> 00:28:42,275
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah.

537
00:28:42,275 --> 00:28:43,875
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. That
might be the only thing.

538
00:28:43,875 --> 00:28:44,915
Mike Rugnetta: That is the

539
00:28:47,395 --> 00:28:49,315
Georgia Hampton: piece of media
literacy that I think is

540
00:28:49,315 --> 00:28:52,755
genuinely correct by the
traditional definition that has

541
00:28:52,755 --> 00:28:53,075
remained.

542
00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,680
Mike Rugnetta: Penalty, we got
it. If you need to teach media

543
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,840
literacy, it's the the the
curriculum's very short. It's

544
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,960
one item. Yeah. Show your
parents.

545
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,280
And the and the answer is, it's
always AI.

546
00:29:05,465 --> 00:29:07,625
Jason Oberholtzer: I'm sorry,
captain disillusioned. You are

547
00:29:07,625 --> 00:29:10,665
now the only media literacy
professor in the world.

548
00:29:10,665 --> 00:29:15,785
Mike Rugnetta: The only
educator. Next up on the

549
00:29:15,785 --> 00:29:20,665
subreddit, we got a comment from
Nondeterminist System about our

550
00:29:21,220 --> 00:29:24,740
chat on digital storage. They
write, I'm sympathetic to Hans's

551
00:29:24,740 --> 00:29:28,100
position, which to review,
Hans's position is you're all

552
00:29:28,100 --> 00:29:28,900
gonna die.

553
00:29:29,460 --> 00:29:29,860
Speaker 4: He was

554
00:29:29,860 --> 00:29:32,980
Mike Rugnetta: freaking out. Be
You thinking about that

555
00:29:32,980 --> 00:29:37,675
constantly. Yes. So, like,
whenever you open up your text

556
00:29:37,675 --> 00:29:40,635
edit program on your computer
to, like, take a note just to

557
00:29:40,635 --> 00:29:43,995
make sure that you capture,
like, the grocery list or

558
00:29:44,235 --> 00:29:46,955
something you need to do later,
you gotta make sure you save it

559
00:29:46,955 --> 00:29:48,155
because you're gonna die.

560
00:29:48,235 --> 00:29:49,915
Georgia Hampton: Yeah. You're
gonna die. Mhmm.

561
00:29:49,915 --> 00:29:52,220
Mike Rugnetta: And you have to
make sure that those files

562
00:29:52,220 --> 00:29:54,620
Georgia Hampton: are Every if
your eyes touch it or your hands

563
00:29:54,620 --> 00:29:55,420
Speaker 8: touch it.

564
00:29:55,660 --> 00:29:59,500
Jason Oberholtzer: It's your
responsibility for those who

565
00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:00,460
come after you.

566
00:30:00,460 --> 00:30:02,460
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. And please
make sure that you appreciate

567
00:30:02,460 --> 00:30:04,860
each individual file as a
different individual

568
00:30:04,860 --> 00:30:05,740
responsibility.

569
00:30:05,740 --> 00:30:07,235
Speaker 4: Of of course. I'm so
glad

570
00:30:07,235 --> 00:30:08,995
Jason Oberholtzer: Hans is at
The Hague and not here to defend

571
00:30:08,995 --> 00:30:09,635
himself.

572
00:30:09,715 --> 00:30:14,835
Mike Rugnetta: Ephemera can
certainly be helpful in the

573
00:30:14,835 --> 00:30:18,355
mourning process, but but
ephemera are meant to be

574
00:30:18,355 --> 00:30:21,320
ephemeral and have been
painfully so for the vast vast

575
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,280
majority of human existence.
Personally, I don't think that

576
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,160
my life will, one, require
tangible reminders to be

577
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,760
remembered by my loved ones in
the short term, or two, benefit

578
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,365
from tangible reminders in the
long term. Now, if I were a fur

579
00:30:34,365 --> 00:30:37,165
trapper living in seventeen
hundreds Kentucky, the journal

580
00:30:37,165 --> 00:30:39,965
of my quotidian life may have
become a valuable historical

581
00:30:39,965 --> 00:30:42,845
relic, a window into everyday
travails that would be

582
00:30:42,845 --> 00:30:47,730
immortalized via recollection on
niche YouTube channels. But even

583
00:30:47,730 --> 00:30:50,530
that level of recollection would
be contingent upon my musings

584
00:30:50,530 --> 00:30:52,930
surviving the very organic
process of historical

585
00:30:52,930 --> 00:30:56,530
preservation. I worry that our
current emphasis on preserving

586
00:30:56,530 --> 00:30:59,170
everything will contribute to a
collapse in perspective.

587
00:30:59,410 --> 00:31:01,935
When everything is important
enough to immortalize, nothing

588
00:31:01,935 --> 00:31:04,975
is. So I guess if I felt like
anything about my life was

589
00:31:04,975 --> 00:31:07,695
important enough to immortalize,
maybe I should set it to paper

590
00:31:07,695 --> 00:31:10,335
and donate the chronicle to an
organization dedicated to

591
00:31:10,335 --> 00:31:14,175
preservation, like a museum. Or
Hans. Or Hans. Maybe or Hans.

592
00:31:15,370 --> 00:31:16,410
Interesting.

593
00:31:17,610 --> 00:31:17,850
Jason Oberholtzer: Or if

594
00:31:17,850 --> 00:31:19,770
Mike Rugnetta: I don't feel like
it's that important, maybe it's

595
00:31:19,770 --> 00:31:22,490
better to just let it go. Or
maybe I'm being proud in

596
00:31:22,490 --> 00:31:24,890
thinking I should be the one to
curate what's important about

597
00:31:24,890 --> 00:31:27,530
me, and that's a task I should
turn over to people who care

598
00:31:27,530 --> 00:31:33,665
about me instead. I legitimately
don't know. I so my family,

599
00:31:33,665 --> 00:31:35,905
there aren't a lot of, like,
heirlooms. There aren't a lot

600
00:31:35,905 --> 00:31:38,145
of, like, we don't have many
documents.

601
00:31:38,145 --> 00:31:41,025
We don't have a lot of photos.
It's maybe, like, from each

602
00:31:41,025 --> 00:31:46,480
side, there's, like, one or two
books just of, like, mostly

603
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:52,240
photos, mostly photographs. And
I think that's just because, you

604
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,640
know, they didn't have much.
They really didn't have

605
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,000
anything. Yeah.

606
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,040
You know, they my family my
family on both sides were, like,

607
00:31:59,545 --> 00:32:05,145
fishermen mostly, like farmers,
and like didn't really have

608
00:32:05,145 --> 00:32:08,025
anything. And so the I guess
what I'm saying is that, like,

609
00:32:08,025 --> 00:32:13,465
the small number of things that
we do have are cool and feel

610
00:32:14,180 --> 00:32:17,620
significant because we have
them, and I think because

611
00:32:17,620 --> 00:32:23,460
there's not much of that. And I
think about what sorts of stuff

612
00:32:23,620 --> 00:32:29,725
we're gonna leave behind when
when we die for Clem to have to

613
00:32:29,725 --> 00:32:33,645
look at with her family when
she's older. And, like, I think

614
00:32:33,645 --> 00:32:36,605
about it in a very similar way
where I'm like, a couple books

615
00:32:36,605 --> 00:32:39,005
is probably fine. Yeah.

616
00:32:39,245 --> 00:32:41,565
You know, unless, like, when
she's older, you know, like,

617
00:32:41,565 --> 00:32:43,485
I'll have a discussion with Clem
where I'm like, do you want the

618
00:32:43,485 --> 00:32:46,030
guitars? If you want them,
they're yours. Like, do you want

619
00:32:46,030 --> 00:32:48,110
the studio equipment? Like,
those are legitimate

620
00:32:48,110 --> 00:32:52,030
collectibles, but, like, none of
that stuff exists in my family.

621
00:32:52,030 --> 00:32:53,230
There's up until me.

622
00:32:53,230 --> 00:32:56,750
Like, I'm the first one that
will have, like, things to give

623
00:32:56,750 --> 00:33:04,845
to a kid. And I do feel like it
not being a lot is probably

624
00:33:04,845 --> 00:33:08,125
meaningful, and I never ever
think about any of the digital

625
00:33:08,125 --> 00:33:09,165
stuff ever.

626
00:33:09,325 --> 00:33:10,285
Georgia Hampton: Mhmm. Mhmm.

627
00:33:10,285 --> 00:33:13,405
Jason Oberholtzer: I come from a
family of like quilters, like

628
00:33:14,260 --> 00:33:19,220
crocheters, knitters, textile
people. Yeah. Woah. So like Oh.

629
00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:21,140
My mother is an incredible
quilter.

630
00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:24,020
And so that is sort of what we
have, like she has pieces from

631
00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:27,905
like her great grandmother that
like, she found fabric

632
00:33:27,905 --> 00:33:30,705
collections of and then she
turned them into something, and

633
00:33:30,705 --> 00:33:33,425
so like, there are all these
sort of handmade objects that

634
00:33:33,425 --> 00:33:36,945
survive generations that have
meaning to them, and then

635
00:33:36,945 --> 00:33:42,750
there's also a fair amount of
like, you know, furniture that's

636
00:33:42,750 --> 00:33:46,030
interesting just by dint of it
having been sat on by a couple

637
00:33:46,030 --> 00:33:49,870
generations of folks that kind
of floats Not a lot of

638
00:33:49,870 --> 00:33:54,745
photography, but there's some.
And the member chat we had was

639
00:33:54,745 --> 00:33:58,425
specifically about our digital
collection of photography

640
00:33:58,425 --> 00:34:01,945
mostly, and the archiving
practices there. And I was

641
00:34:01,945 --> 00:34:04,505
actually just talking to my
parents about it this weekend,

642
00:34:04,665 --> 00:34:07,545
talking about our very
conversation, and how very

643
00:34:07,545 --> 00:34:12,200
similar very similarly to how
non determinist system put it.

644
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,800
If everything is worthy of
documentation, nothing is, and I

645
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,200
don't think I'm just like built
for that. I am sort of built for

646
00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,835
a time where you have eight
pictures maximum of somebody and

647
00:34:23,835 --> 00:34:25,355
you do the rest of the work.

648
00:34:25,435 --> 00:34:27,595
You look at those and you
conjure a character, you think

649
00:34:27,595 --> 00:34:29,995
about who they might be and you
try to connect it to stories you

650
00:34:29,995 --> 00:34:33,275
have of them and it comes to
life for you rather than a world

651
00:34:33,275 --> 00:34:38,220
where I could have feasibly one
to one documented without

652
00:34:38,220 --> 00:34:41,820
spending that much effort or
money, like my entire life from

653
00:34:41,820 --> 00:34:44,700
the age of 20. I could have just
given that to somebody. I could

654
00:34:44,700 --> 00:34:46,540
have done that work and it
wouldn't have been that hard or

655
00:34:46,540 --> 00:34:50,095
expensive. That's unbelievable.
I'm not prepared for that.

656
00:34:50,095 --> 00:34:50,815
I don't want that.

657
00:34:50,815 --> 00:34:54,335
Georgia Hampton: Yes. I yes. I
completely agree with that. I

658
00:34:54,335 --> 00:34:58,495
can also feel Hans, like,
emotionally reacting to this all

659
00:34:58,495 --> 00:35:02,175
the way across the ocean, like,
just knows we're talking about

660
00:35:02,175 --> 00:35:07,280
it. But, yeah, I I feel
completely the same way.

661
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:13,920
I think volume is the enemy of
sentimentality in many That's

662
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:21,765
good. Yeah. Crushed it. And I
mean, I I do have a good amount

663
00:35:21,765 --> 00:35:25,685
of heirlooms and things from
generations of family I never

664
00:35:25,685 --> 00:35:30,485
even met. Like, my great
grandfather made banjos.

665
00:35:30,965 --> 00:35:34,085
So we had, like, a bunch of
banjos. But then, you know,

666
00:35:34,085 --> 00:35:41,100
like, my mom donated quite a few
of them to a museum. And the

667
00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:44,940
conversation around what to
keep, what to donate, what to

668
00:35:44,940 --> 00:35:49,805
sell is a practical one that I
have with my specifically with

669
00:35:49,805 --> 00:35:54,365
my mom, virtually every single
time I come home to visit. Mhmm.

670
00:35:54,365 --> 00:35:55,725
It happens constantly.

671
00:35:56,285 --> 00:36:00,285
Often, it's like the first thing
that happens when I come home,

672
00:36:00,605 --> 00:36:03,165
where we sort of go through the
the art on the walls and she'd

673
00:36:03,165 --> 00:36:05,440
be like, well, this is you know,
you should keep this, you should

674
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,360
donate this, you should do this
this this this this. Wow. So

675
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,000
it's just a conversation that
we've had and that we've been

676
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:17,145
having and, like, the awareness
of my parents' mortality, of my

677
00:36:17,145 --> 00:36:19,865
grandparents' mortality when
they were still alive, was

678
00:36:19,865 --> 00:36:23,945
abundantly some like, something
I was abundantly aware of

679
00:36:23,945 --> 00:36:27,865
forever. There was no space for,
like, the fantasy of, like, this

680
00:36:27,865 --> 00:36:30,985
is never gonna happen, and I'm
never gonna have to think about

681
00:36:30,985 --> 00:36:32,185
this. Yeah.

682
00:36:32,265 --> 00:36:35,430
I think about it all the time.
And when I think about it, I'd

683
00:36:35,430 --> 00:36:40,310
land very much where, Jason, you
just described landing, which is

684
00:36:40,870 --> 00:36:47,750
I am not built to become a
museum of myself. Whether that's

685
00:36:48,105 --> 00:36:54,425
a curator of a museum of of
endless amounts of ephemera, nor

686
00:36:54,425 --> 00:37:00,985
a museum of my own life in its
minute detail. I think there is

687
00:37:00,985 --> 00:37:07,340
so much beauty in being able to
imagine and interpret through

688
00:37:07,340 --> 00:37:11,180
context of certain ephemera. I
think ephemera is very special.

689
00:37:11,420 --> 00:37:15,820
But I think volume can really
get in the way of how special it

690
00:37:15,820 --> 00:37:15,980
is.

691
00:37:16,615 --> 00:37:18,695
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah.
Ultimately, where I landed on it

692
00:37:18,695 --> 00:37:23,255
during the discussion, where I
land on it now is like and I

693
00:37:23,255 --> 00:37:25,495
think nondeterminist system put
a little bit of this language in

694
00:37:25,495 --> 00:37:30,200
there too. Like, it's kind of
for other people. If they want

695
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,760
more of me or to keep more of
that, they can. And I hope they

696
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:35,960
do and they're thinking about
it.

697
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:40,360
But like, I'm gonna do my best.
I will keep around what I can.

698
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,520
It's a deeply sentimental
project. But like, if you want

699
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:47,055
more, it's on you, man. It's on
you.

700
00:37:47,055 --> 00:37:53,375
Mike Rugnetta: To quote Jason,
come and take it. We're gonna

701
00:37:53,375 --> 00:37:55,375
take a quick break. When we get
back, we're gonna talk about

702
00:37:55,375 --> 00:37:57,695
gamers No. And customization.

703
00:37:57,695 --> 00:38:19,545
Jason Oberholtzer: Yes. Yes.
Welcome back. We have got an

704
00:38:19,545 --> 00:38:24,985
email from Germany. From Gwyn, I
believe, g w y n.

705
00:38:25,990 --> 00:38:30,390
Gwyn wants to talk about video
games in relation to George's

706
00:38:30,390 --> 00:38:34,710
segment on customization. The
death of customization over time

707
00:38:34,950 --> 00:38:39,590
from the hallowed halls of my
space dripping with your

708
00:38:39,590 --> 00:38:46,585
personalized nonsense to the
anodyne corridors of Facebook

709
00:38:46,585 --> 00:38:47,145
and other

710
00:38:47,385 --> 00:38:48,265
Georgia Hampton: Oh my god.

711
00:38:48,345 --> 00:38:51,145
Jason Oberholtzer: Corporate
dystopian platforms where your

712
00:38:51,145 --> 00:38:55,210
personality should not exist and
only might perhaps in the

713
00:38:55,210 --> 00:38:56,890
personalization of your ads.

714
00:38:56,890 --> 00:38:57,450
Georgia Hampton: Mhmm.

715
00:38:57,450 --> 00:39:00,330
Jason Oberholtzer: Oh. Win.
Writes about video games. Video

716
00:39:00,330 --> 00:39:02,410
games, mobile games in
particular, and the surrounding

717
00:39:02,410 --> 00:39:05,450
spaces have become somewhat of a
testing ground for predatory

718
00:39:05,450 --> 00:39:08,490
digital practices and business
models. There seems to be a

719
00:39:08,490 --> 00:39:12,165
pervasive and not completely
incorrect sentiment among the

720
00:39:12,165 --> 00:39:15,605
business side of the industry
that capital g gamers.

721
00:39:15,925 --> 00:39:18,725
Enjoy their gamer swag that they
will eat up whatever you market

722
00:39:18,725 --> 00:39:21,925
to them, that they will take
their increasing exploitation

723
00:39:21,925 --> 00:39:25,130
sitting down. Many of them are
young and impressionable, not in

724
00:39:25,130 --> 00:39:29,290
a, so will somebody think of the
children kind of way, but in a

725
00:39:29,290 --> 00:39:31,850
way toy companies learn to
advertise to kids directly

726
00:39:31,850 --> 00:39:34,090
instead of their parents because
it's much easier to get their

727
00:39:34,090 --> 00:39:36,505
hooks into them. Getting an
eight year old to gamble on

728
00:39:36,505 --> 00:39:40,265
mom's phone is well, literally
two steps removed from taking

729
00:39:40,265 --> 00:39:44,665
candy from a baby. They go on to
write more about the pervasive

730
00:39:44,665 --> 00:39:49,385
addition of monetization stages
and ads into games and continue

731
00:39:49,385 --> 00:39:52,330
here. Discord has taken what
Steam introduced and run with

732
00:39:52,330 --> 00:39:52,490
it.

733
00:39:52,490 --> 00:39:56,090
The platform is VC funded unlike
the privately owned Valve slash

734
00:39:56,090 --> 00:39:59,130
Steam and has been adding more
and more monetization features

735
00:39:59,130 --> 00:40:02,570
in an effort to become
profitable. Since 2017, users

736
00:40:02,570 --> 00:40:05,285
have been able to subscribe
Discord Nitro, which at first

737
00:40:05,285 --> 00:40:07,925
allowed them to use animated
avatars, upload bigger files,

738
00:40:07,925 --> 00:40:10,725
and a handful of other things.
In the last few years, this has

739
00:40:10,725 --> 00:40:13,285
expanded exponentially with more
and more features added to the

740
00:40:13,285 --> 00:40:16,245
platform in order to make the
subscription more appealing, and

741
00:40:16,245 --> 00:40:18,565
a few things that used to be
free locked behind the paywall.

742
00:40:18,565 --> 00:40:22,240
You can now get special banners
and animated profile backgrounds

743
00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:25,920
and emotes and frames and more.
You can change the color of your

744
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,880
client with Nitro and just
generally present yourself much

745
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:33,760
much more ostentatiously than
people who don't spend money on

746
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:34,320
Discord.

747
00:40:35,495 --> 00:40:39,735
They continue later. All of this
is gamification and is obviously

748
00:40:39,735 --> 00:40:42,775
in shitification. And assuming
that nothing fundamentally

749
00:40:42,775 --> 00:40:45,335
changes about the ways in which
we collectively use social

750
00:40:45,335 --> 00:40:49,175
media, I think this might well
be what's to come for the more

751
00:40:49,175 --> 00:40:52,430
mainstream social platforms. You
can already buy a Twitter

752
00:40:52,430 --> 00:40:55,310
subscription and get that blue
tick. What's stopping them from

753
00:40:55,310 --> 00:40:58,830
making that more appealing by
making your profile all sparkly

754
00:40:58,830 --> 00:41:00,430
for a little extra cash?

755
00:41:00,830 --> 00:41:03,470
The digital gifts and hats and
whatnot you can give people on

756
00:41:03,470 --> 00:41:07,105
TikTok live aren't that far
removed from their counterparts

757
00:41:07,105 --> 00:41:17,105
on Steam. I think this is so
good. Oh my on gamers to mass

758
00:41:17,105 --> 00:41:22,260
media adopting of the will buy
some silly little trinkets and

759
00:41:22,260 --> 00:41:24,740
maybe reclaim some
personalization of our online

760
00:41:24,740 --> 00:41:27,140
spaces seems so accurate.

761
00:41:27,220 --> 00:41:30,100
Mike Rugnetta: What do they call
it on MySpace? Blingify? I think

762
00:41:30,100 --> 00:41:30,660
so.

763
00:41:30,820 --> 00:41:31,700
Jason Oberholtzer: Sounds right.

764
00:41:32,020 --> 00:41:34,580
Georgia Hampton: The whole time
you were reading Jason, I was

765
00:41:34,975 --> 00:41:40,015
sort of experiencing the entire
grieving process, all the stages

766
00:41:40,015 --> 00:41:45,055
of grief. Because it is so sad
how true this is. That, of

767
00:41:45,055 --> 00:41:48,735
course, customization, which was
something that was so beloved

768
00:41:48,735 --> 00:41:53,280
and so special about, at least,
my early experience of being

769
00:41:53,280 --> 00:42:00,160
online, is now monetized and
weaponized and used as a tool in

770
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:06,000
a in a larger, horrible machine
of getting you to invest in

771
00:42:06,625 --> 00:42:10,545
micro transactions and spend
money that you don't necessarily

772
00:42:10,545 --> 00:42:13,185
think about until it all adds up
and you're like, uh-oh, I can't

773
00:42:13,185 --> 00:42:15,665
afford groceries. I think this
is so true.

774
00:42:16,225 --> 00:42:18,065
Mike Rugnetta: Someone take the
lathe of heaven from me. Just

775
00:42:18,065 --> 00:42:20,705
take it take it from me so that
I'm not holding it when I say

776
00:42:20,705 --> 00:42:22,870
this. Just take here, George.
I'm gonna hand it to you. Thank

777
00:42:22,870 --> 00:42:23,030
you.

778
00:42:23,030 --> 00:42:23,270
Here's the

779
00:42:23,270 --> 00:42:24,150
Georgia Hampton: wave of heaven.

780
00:42:24,310 --> 00:42:26,310
Mike Rugnetta: Okay. Sharing the
Ready? I'm gonna say a string of

781
00:42:26,310 --> 00:42:32,790
words. Social media profile skin
loot boxes.

782
00:42:33,110 --> 00:42:38,665
Georgia Hampton: Stop it. Mike,
stop it. Stop it. Stop.

783
00:42:39,465 --> 00:42:40,505
Jason Oberholtzer: Just a

784
00:42:40,505 --> 00:42:42,505
Georgia Hampton: I'm just a
baby, Mike.

785
00:42:45,145 --> 00:42:49,465
Jason Oberholtzer: God. Someone
is going to become a billionaire

786
00:42:49,465 --> 00:42:52,240
because you just said that. And
it won't be me.

787
00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:54,080
Georgia Hampton: How could you?
How could you, Mike? How could

788
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:54,880
you do this?

789
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,680
Mike Rugnetta: We often get
accused on Fun City of

790
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,960
predicting the future, except
it's the bad future. Yeah. And

791
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,360
so maybe we can get some of that
credit here on the Yeah. This

792
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,695
seems inevitable. And Discord
will absolutely be the first.

793
00:43:06,695 --> 00:43:09,175
Right? If they haven't already
done it and I'm just not aware

794
00:43:09,175 --> 00:43:09,735
of it.

795
00:43:09,735 --> 00:43:10,935
Georgia Hampton: Although, I
don't know. I could see Meta

796
00:43:10,935 --> 00:43:15,095
doing this as well. Like, I
could see it being like, hey.

797
00:43:15,095 --> 00:43:18,855
Remember when we basically
devoured Myspace in front of all

798
00:43:18,855 --> 00:43:19,415
of you?

799
00:43:19,415 --> 00:43:20,135
Mike Rugnetta: Like, no. No. No.
No.

800
00:43:20,215 --> 00:43:22,910
Georgia Hampton: If we just gave
it back to you at a price.

801
00:43:22,910 --> 00:43:24,670
Jason Oberholtzer: Hey. Does
Justin Timberlake still have

802
00:43:24,670 --> 00:43:26,670
Myspace? Because I've got some
ideas.

803
00:43:26,990 --> 00:43:32,670
Georgia Hampton: I know how to
save the world tour. Next up is

804
00:43:32,670 --> 00:43:36,765
Liz calling in with her thoughts
on my segment about why nobody

805
00:43:36,765 --> 00:43:40,685
dances at the club anymore and
how smartphones are to blame.

806
00:43:40,845 --> 00:43:43,805
Speaker 8: I was hearing about
the discussion about places

807
00:43:43,805 --> 00:43:49,680
where you use of phone as
explicitly, prohibited, And you

808
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:55,520
mentioned church, sir. And I am
driving back from my church, and

809
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:59,280
I regret to inform you that it's
not really true anymore even

810
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,575
though the message there is
still on the And I've been a

811
00:44:02,575 --> 00:44:06,015
volunteer for my church for a
long time. And, like, I have to

812
00:44:06,015 --> 00:44:09,375
have WhatsApp business
constantly open because I have

813
00:44:09,375 --> 00:44:13,935
to watch the church WhatsApp
number. And, like, when we are

814
00:44:13,935 --> 00:44:17,680
studying our religious texts,
then there's a lot of language

815
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:21,360
that's from a long time ago that
uses very weird words, and we

816
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:24,240
have to look words up. So we
have to use our phones for that.

817
00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:29,360
And, you know, that ship has
sailed, and it sucks. But at the

818
00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:33,175
same time, it's good to have
those tools. But when people are

819
00:44:33,175 --> 00:44:37,575
just, like, I don't know,
browsing Instagram during church

820
00:44:37,575 --> 00:44:41,735
functions or whatever, like,
that's usually called out. So

821
00:44:41,735 --> 00:44:46,730
it's like it's we we try to use
it well, like, it as a tool, but

822
00:44:46,730 --> 00:44:49,690
it's still always an uphill
battle. But it's like that

823
00:44:49,850 --> 00:44:52,970
that's the place where I have
that most healthy relationship

824
00:44:52,970 --> 00:44:53,770
with my phone.

825
00:44:53,770 --> 00:44:54,570
So that's something.

826
00:44:54,890 --> 00:44:56,970
Jason Oberholtzer: So that's
something. So that's something.

827
00:44:56,970 --> 00:45:00,335
That is something. You know what
this made me think? We've talked

828
00:45:00,335 --> 00:45:03,935
about this in Never Watches when
we're watching great movies of

829
00:45:03,935 --> 00:45:05,695
one particular year in the
nineties.

830
00:45:05,775 --> 00:45:08,015
When we envision future
technology, it usually is

831
00:45:08,015 --> 00:45:11,295
devices that are somewhat form
and functionally related to what

832
00:45:11,295 --> 00:45:13,920
they do. They look like a thing.
Like, if you were to say, we

833
00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:16,480
have these ancient religious
texts and scholars are going to

834
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:18,800
need to translate and
transliterate them across all

835
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:22,720
these things, you would imagine
some, like, cool fucking tome

836
00:45:22,720 --> 00:45:25,760
reading table that, like,
doesn't your fucking minority

837
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:28,355
reporting on it. And, like, it
just sucks if it's just your

838
00:45:28,355 --> 00:45:29,555
phone. It's always your phone.

839
00:45:29,555 --> 00:45:31,075
It's the same Yeah. Dumb little
shit that

840
00:45:31,075 --> 00:45:32,195
Mike Rugnetta: does everything.
Yeah. Yeah.

841
00:45:32,195 --> 00:45:33,875
Jason Oberholtzer: There's
nothing cool. They gotta, like,

842
00:45:33,875 --> 00:45:36,435
look at old text with their
fucking Instagram machine, and,

843
00:45:36,435 --> 00:45:38,355
like, that is why things are
lame. Yeah.

844
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:41,520
Georgia Hampton: Not to bring
customization back into it, but

845
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,720
because the phones all just
kinda look like this big soft

846
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:47,440
rectangle, like, with rounded
edges

847
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:48,320
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Boo.

848
00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:48,640
Mike Rugnetta: And

849
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:53,280
Georgia Hampton: and not some
beautiful gilded specialized

850
00:45:54,615 --> 00:45:57,175
sort of holy feeling object.

851
00:45:57,255 --> 00:45:59,015
Jason Oberholtzer: Right? Like,
we could make a digital object

852
00:45:59,015 --> 00:46:02,935
that was, like, commensurately
reverential to the rest of the

853
00:46:02,935 --> 00:46:05,015
spiritual architecture of the
building.

854
00:46:05,015 --> 00:46:07,400
Georgia Hampton: And every day,
we refuse to do it. Yeah.

855
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:10,440
Mike Rugnetta: Is this what
straying further from god's

856
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:13,960
light is? Is the light the light
of the screen?

857
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:15,880
Jason Oberholtzer: Oh. The
length of heaven is still in my

858
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:16,840
hands, Mike.

859
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:21,705
Mike Rugnetta: Give it back.
Give it back. I just wanna know

860
00:46:21,705 --> 00:46:23,065
what the church WhatsApp is
like.

861
00:46:23,065 --> 00:46:24,025
Georgia Hampton: Oh my god.

862
00:46:24,185 --> 00:46:29,305
Mike Rugnetta: Drama. Alright.
Next up, Drew wants us to know

863
00:46:29,305 --> 00:46:31,785
more about Empreg Garfis. Hi.

864
00:46:31,785 --> 00:46:32,265
Georgia Hampton: Okay. This

865
00:46:32,265 --> 00:46:35,305
Speaker 6: is Drew. First time,
long time supporter of the show.

866
00:46:35,850 --> 00:46:40,410
I'm listening to Mailbag number
five. I'm about forty minutes

867
00:46:40,410 --> 00:46:45,770
in. You guys are talking about,
quote, Garfies, and you talked

868
00:46:45,770 --> 00:46:49,210
specifically about one that has
a large, you know, maybe

869
00:46:49,210 --> 00:46:52,785
distended belly and big hoohas.

870
00:46:53,345 --> 00:46:57,425
And I really think I can't see
the image, but I really think

871
00:46:57,505 --> 00:47:01,665
this is not a, like, a fat
satisfied Garfield that ate a

872
00:47:01,665 --> 00:47:04,945
lot of lasagna did we get here?
But maybe a Garfield that is

873
00:47:04,945 --> 00:47:10,480
pregnant. This comes from, like,
like, fantasy pregnancy type

874
00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:16,160
stuff where, like, males get
pregnant called mpreg. I just

875
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,760
feel like it's pregnant
Garfield, and I think you should

876
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:22,005
know. Thank you much for doing
the show.

877
00:47:22,005 --> 00:47:22,565
Bye.

878
00:47:23,125 --> 00:47:24,725
Mike Rugnetta: I don't even
think we need to respond. I

879
00:47:24,725 --> 00:47:28,405
think we can just file this
under FYI. Yeah. Is this show

880
00:47:28,405 --> 00:47:28,965
good?

881
00:47:31,925 --> 00:47:36,920
Georgia Hampton: I think this
shows that it is very good.

882
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:38,680
Jason Oberholtzer: Okay.
Alright.

883
00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:40,600
Georgia Hampton: I can't believe
we were so blind.

884
00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:41,880
Mike Rugnetta: I should have
looked at that, and I should

885
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:44,280
have said immediately, m preg
garphys.

886
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:46,200
Georgia Hampton: He's got the
glow. He's got the glow. I know

887
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:47,080
exactly what that means.

888
00:47:52,085 --> 00:47:56,965
Mike Rugnetta: Alright. And
finally, here it is. If we can

889
00:47:56,965 --> 00:48:02,565
find the theme music from Hans
before we have to publish this,

890
00:48:02,965 --> 00:48:04,005
a Molly's Corner.

891
00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:20,615
Speaker 9: If you were all on a
season of the traitors, who

892
00:48:20,615 --> 00:48:26,295
would you collectively, banish
at the round table? Like, who

893
00:48:26,295 --> 00:48:30,375
would you think was a traitor?
Thank you. And oh oh, wait. And

894
00:48:30,375 --> 00:48:32,695
who who do you think actually
would be a traitor?

895
00:48:33,330 --> 00:48:36,370
Might be the same question.
Might not be.

896
00:48:36,770 --> 00:48:38,770
Georgia Hampton: Have fun. Oh my
god.

897
00:48:39,730 --> 00:48:42,610
Jason Oberholtzer: I don't know
how the traitor works.

898
00:48:43,090 --> 00:48:49,585
Georgia Hampton: I do. Alright.
So for those who are unfamiliar,

899
00:48:50,065 --> 00:48:53,905
the traders is basically a
hidden role competitive reality

900
00:48:54,145 --> 00:48:55,745
It's like mafia. Game. Yeah.

901
00:48:55,745 --> 00:48:58,350
Okay. Where, like, in the very
beginning, a couple people are

902
00:48:58,350 --> 00:49:02,590
chosen as the traitors. Every
episode, there is a roundtable

903
00:49:02,590 --> 00:49:07,310
where everyone, traitors and
faithful included, votes someone

904
00:49:07,310 --> 00:49:11,985
to be banished who they think is
a traitor. And that person has

905
00:49:11,985 --> 00:49:15,265
to reveal if they're a traitor
or not, and all remaining

906
00:49:15,265 --> 00:49:18,225
traitors then get to choose
someone that they're going to

907
00:49:18,225 --> 00:49:21,105
murder. So just, like, remove
from the game completely.

908
00:49:21,105 --> 00:49:21,665
Okay.

909
00:49:21,825 --> 00:49:24,385
Jason Oberholtzer: So if I had
to pick who I think is a traitor

910
00:49:24,385 --> 00:49:28,070
in our group, it's probably the
person at The Hague right now.

911
00:49:28,070 --> 00:49:32,310
Georgia Hampton: I literally was
about to say the same show.

912
00:49:36,310 --> 00:49:38,310
Jason Oberholtzer: But as for
who has the temperament for it,

913
00:49:38,310 --> 00:49:40,895
which I think is Molly's second
question, not just like, who

914
00:49:40,895 --> 00:49:43,615
would I vote out, but who would
actually betray me.

915
00:49:44,095 --> 00:49:50,015
Georgia Hampton: Okay. Hold on.
And do it with a smile.

916
00:49:50,175 --> 00:49:52,655
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Same
answer.

917
00:49:54,170 --> 00:50:00,730
Mike Rugnetta: Wow. Wow. Damn.
Yeah. I don't does friend of the

918
00:50:00,730 --> 00:50:03,050
show, Meagle Jnarden, count as
Yeah.

919
00:50:03,050 --> 00:50:06,490
Yeah. I'm gonna I'm gonna say, I
think Meagle I think Meagle.

920
00:50:06,490 --> 00:50:06,730
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah.

921
00:50:07,175 --> 00:50:07,655
Speaker 9: It could

922
00:50:07,655 --> 00:50:09,655
Jason Oberholtzer: be one of us
three. Right? No.

923
00:50:09,655 --> 00:50:11,415
Mike Rugnetta: We're very
trustworthy here.

924
00:50:11,415 --> 00:50:12,135
Jason Oberholtzer: Think we're
aware

925
00:50:12,135 --> 00:50:14,615
Georgia Hampton: that actually,
usually, there are three traders

926
00:50:14,615 --> 00:50:15,175
chosen

927
00:50:15,175 --> 00:50:15,975
Speaker 4: at the beginning of
the game.

928
00:50:16,295 --> 00:50:18,695
Georgia Hampton: Just us. Mhmm.
I think we're in an oops all

929
00:50:18,695 --> 00:50:19,815
traders call.

930
00:50:19,815 --> 00:50:19,975
Mike Rugnetta: Right?

931
00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:22,120
Georgia Hampton: I'm gonna be so
honest.

932
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:24,520
Mike Rugnetta: And we've just
and we've just voted to out the

933
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:26,040
only two faithful people.

934
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:27,480
Jason Oberholtzer: Yes. So we
win?

935
00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:28,680
Georgia Hampton: But that means
we win the game.

936
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:31,960
Mike Rugnetta: Does that mean is
Audrey the Alan Cumming of the

937
00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:32,760
group? Yes.

938
00:50:32,760 --> 00:50:36,245
Jason Oberholtzer: She'd be
honored. Oh, yes. And now for

939
00:50:36,245 --> 00:50:41,045
everyone's favorite postscript
to the show, Jason wrestles with

940
00:50:41,045 --> 00:50:45,045
the listeners Yes. In a segment
we like to call one word

941
00:50:45,045 --> 00:50:49,420
graffiti, or as the first
submitter Weston put it, is it

942
00:50:49,420 --> 00:50:52,620
two word graffiti now? It's
impossible to say, I hope Jason

943
00:50:52,620 --> 00:50:53,500
will be okay.

944
00:50:53,500 --> 00:50:55,740
Mike Rugnetta: He won't be, but
that's not your problem. No.

945
00:50:55,740 --> 00:51:00,300
Jason Oberholtzer: Weston's
first submission here is a one

946
00:51:00,300 --> 00:51:06,005
word graffiti that they say is
very Kiwi, a very Kiwi word, and

947
00:51:06,005 --> 00:51:08,645
it is on the side of a
transformer box and it says

948
00:51:08,645 --> 00:51:13,365
jandal, and pictured under it
looks to be a thong sandal.

949
00:51:13,365 --> 00:51:15,125
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. Yeah.
Jandal. Flip flop. Is it that's

950
00:51:15,125 --> 00:51:16,645
the word jandal with a picture
of a jandal.

951
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:18,160
Jason Oberholtzer: That's a
jandal? That's a jandal?

952
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:19,200
Georgia Hampton: Just so we're
clear.

953
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:20,160
Mike Rugnetta: Just so it's
clear.

954
00:51:20,160 --> 00:51:22,160
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah.
Alright. I'll take your word for

955
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:26,240
it. Going back to the subreddit,
a place you can all hang out r

956
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:27,760
slash never post.

957
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:29,760
Mike Rugnetta: I believe this is
from Talia.

958
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:31,920
Jason Oberholtzer: Talia sends
in

959
00:51:32,245 --> 00:51:35,605
Georgia Hampton: the word
caring. In a beautiful font.

960
00:51:35,605 --> 00:51:37,205
Jason Oberholtzer: A considered
and caring font.

961
00:51:37,205 --> 00:51:40,405
Mike Rugnetta: It's great. It's
like bright, all lowercase, on

962
00:51:40,405 --> 00:51:43,445
the side of King Tut. Mhmm.
What's King Tut? King Tut's the

963
00:51:43,445 --> 00:51:43,925
place for

964
00:51:44,165 --> 00:51:45,045
Georgia Hampton: Nepalese food?

965
00:51:45,430 --> 00:51:47,830
Mike Rugnetta: Oh. Painted on
the side of King Tut, the place

966
00:51:47,830 --> 00:51:48,630
for Nepalese food.

967
00:51:48,630 --> 00:51:49,990
Jason Oberholtzer: Our next
submission from the subreddit

968
00:51:49,990 --> 00:51:56,230
comes from Mothalax, who has on
the side of a DHL van, either

969
00:51:56,630 --> 00:52:01,175
Moses with an m or Hoses with an
h. What do we think?

970
00:52:01,415 --> 00:52:04,375
Mike Rugnetta: I'm I'm going
with Moses because that first

971
00:52:04,375 --> 00:52:06,695
letter has a little package.
Yes. You know?

972
00:52:06,695 --> 00:52:08,695
Georgia Hampton: Yes. I was
gonna say the exact same thing.

973
00:52:08,695 --> 00:52:10,295
It has a sort of like v.

974
00:52:10,855 --> 00:52:12,615
Jason Oberholtzer: The traders
have spoken. It's Moses.

975
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:15,200
Georgia Hampton: And so it is
writ.

976
00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:18,720
Mike Rugnetta: Also, like, you
know, you've heard of cool s's,

977
00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:23,600
but cool h's, o's, and e's?
Woah. Oh. They abound here. Just

978
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:25,760
a quick reminder, we're gonna
put all these on the website so

979
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:27,040
you can see them, and you
should.

980
00:52:27,275 --> 00:52:27,995
Jason Oberholtzer: Next one from
the

981
00:52:28,155 --> 00:52:30,795
Mike Rugnetta: This next one in
particular, I think, slaps. This

982
00:52:30,795 --> 00:52:33,915
is maybe the best one we've ever
gotten. It's awesome. I love

983
00:52:33,915 --> 00:52:35,755
Jason Oberholtzer: it. This
comes to us via the subreddit

984
00:52:35,755 --> 00:52:40,235
from GigaDumpy. Woah. And I am
struggling to describe it.

985
00:52:40,235 --> 00:52:42,395
Georgia, can you use some art
school words on this?

986
00:52:43,330 --> 00:52:46,610
Georgia Hampton: Okay. So we're
looking at a a a kind of script,

987
00:52:46,850 --> 00:52:50,450
I would say, that's almost like
calligraphic.

988
00:52:50,850 --> 00:52:53,730
Mike Rugnetta: But it is
definitely graffiti in like,

989
00:52:53,730 --> 00:52:57,535
graffiti style lettering, but
Yes. Calligraphic in nature.

990
00:52:57,535 --> 00:52:59,055
Georgia Hampton: But, yeah,
like, with this sort of quality

991
00:52:59,055 --> 00:53:03,215
that has a lot of filigree and,
like, accenting on each letter

992
00:53:03,215 --> 00:53:05,935
and, like, some of the tails of
the letters are really long and

993
00:53:05,935 --> 00:53:09,055
then, like, turn into a circle
with a bunch of lines. But it

994
00:53:09,055 --> 00:53:18,330
does undeniably say absorbo. And
that's so important.

995
00:53:18,330 --> 00:53:21,450
Mike Rugnetta: It does. You
cannot argue that it says

996
00:53:21,450 --> 00:53:25,905
absorbo. Yeah. Absorbo. And we
also know from the post that

997
00:53:25,905 --> 00:53:28,945
this is from the inside of a
porta potty.

998
00:53:28,945 --> 00:53:30,945
Georgia Hampton: Oh, let's go.
God.

999
00:53:30,945 --> 00:53:33,345
Jason Oberholtzer: That's good.
It's despicable. And I love it.

1000
00:53:33,345 --> 00:53:35,185
Mike Rugnetta: Jason, I'm
curious if you think this next

1001
00:53:35,185 --> 00:53:36,065
one counts.

1002
00:53:36,065 --> 00:53:36,705
Jason Oberholtzer: Now this

1003
00:53:36,865 --> 00:53:37,425
Georgia Hampton: Oh, yeah.

1004
00:53:37,505 --> 00:53:41,780
Jason Oberholtzer: This
submission from land of doom, I

1005
00:53:41,780 --> 00:53:45,540
feel like is rage bait. You are
trying to get me mad because you

1006
00:53:45,540 --> 00:53:50,500
have submitted me a finger
drawing in the snow of the word

1007
00:53:50,500 --> 00:53:57,185
high with an exclamation point.
This is not graffiti. This is

1008
00:53:57,185 --> 00:53:57,905
snow.

1009
00:53:58,065 --> 00:54:02,065
Georgia Hampton: But what what
is a line in the snow if not

1010
00:54:02,545 --> 00:54:04,545
graffiti ephemera, Jason?

1011
00:54:04,545 --> 00:54:05,985
Jason Oberholtzer: Oh, come.
This is don't you

1012
00:54:05,985 --> 00:54:08,460
Mike Rugnetta: fucking take take
a picture take a picture. We're

1013
00:54:08,460 --> 00:54:09,180
all gonna die.

1014
00:54:09,180 --> 00:54:11,260
Georgia Hampton: We're all gonna
die. We have to remember this.

1015
00:54:11,260 --> 00:54:13,660
Jason Oberholtzer: Hans might
think this is precious graffiti

1016
00:54:13,740 --> 00:54:16,460
worth surviving, but I think
this is a sand castle that

1017
00:54:16,460 --> 00:54:19,820
deserves to go back into the
sea. To you, land of doom, I say

1018
00:54:19,820 --> 00:54:22,435
no. I say no. This is not one
word graffiti.

1019
00:54:22,435 --> 00:54:24,755
Georgia Hampton: But, Jason,
what are we if not sandcastles

1020
00:54:24,755 --> 00:54:26,835
that will one day return to the
sea?

1021
00:54:26,835 --> 00:54:29,955
Mike Rugnetta: Okay. Alright.
Too many art school words.

1022
00:54:30,435 --> 00:54:31,475
Jason Oberholtzer: You're cut
off.

1023
00:54:31,555 --> 00:54:33,635
Georgia Hampton: You have woken
the bees. Alright.

1024
00:54:34,740 --> 00:54:37,140
Mike Rugnetta: Take your
notebook to the seaside. Next

1025
00:54:37,780 --> 00:54:38,180
up,

1026
00:54:38,180 --> 00:54:41,620
Jason Oberholtzer: we have j j c
mouldery in the subreddit with

1027
00:54:41,780 --> 00:54:49,965
droidica. Droidica. One word, d
r o I d I k a droidica, which I

1028
00:54:49,965 --> 00:54:53,805
understand is like a misspelling
of a Star Wars term.

1029
00:54:54,045 --> 00:54:56,285
Mike Rugnetta: Okay. I would
just like to comment on the fact

1030
00:54:56,285 --> 00:54:59,085
that this is on the side of a
good barn directly next to some

1031
00:54:59,085 --> 00:54:59,645
train tracks.

1032
00:55:00,860 --> 00:55:02,620
Jason Oberholtzer: I'm told in
the comments that this is in the

1033
00:55:02,620 --> 00:55:04,860
Hudson Valley. So hello
neighbor.

1034
00:55:06,300 --> 00:55:07,660
Georgia Hampton: Gotta go look
for it

1035
00:55:08,700 --> 00:55:11,340
Jason Oberholtzer: Our next
submission, I love. This is good

1036
00:55:11,340 --> 00:55:13,900
and this is right and the kind
of thing I want. This comes from

1037
00:55:13,900 --> 00:55:17,985
Colin, and on the side of a
beautiful green building is the

1038
00:55:17,985 --> 00:55:23,105
word green written in yellow.
Yellow. And that's what I like.

1039
00:55:23,105 --> 00:55:28,290
Awesome. Amazing. And finally,
for the one word graffiti

1040
00:55:28,290 --> 00:55:31,170
section, Mike, it looks like you
submitted something of your very

1041
00:55:31,170 --> 00:55:31,650
own.

1042
00:55:31,650 --> 00:55:34,770
Mike Rugnetta: Oh. I did. There
is one word graffiti that is

1043
00:55:34,770 --> 00:55:39,010
showing up all over Bed Stuy.
This person has ups, as they

1044
00:55:39,010 --> 00:55:44,265
say, everywhere, and it is in
all caps, always the same style

1045
00:55:44,265 --> 00:55:47,385
lettering, and it just says
guillotine.

1046
00:55:47,625 --> 00:55:48,905
Georgia Hampton: Hell, yeah.

1047
00:55:49,145 --> 00:55:52,425
Mike Rugnetta: Guillotine is
guillotine is all over the place

1048
00:55:52,425 --> 00:55:53,865
in Bed Stuy at the moment.

1049
00:55:54,105 --> 00:55:55,705
Jason Oberholtzer: Thank you for
your service, guillotine.

1050
00:55:56,160 --> 00:56:00,480
Spreading the message one word
at a time, which is what I like.

1051
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:04,560
Mike Rugnetta: Okay. So but now
we've also got a bunch of two

1052
00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:05,760
word submissions. And

1053
00:56:06,240 --> 00:56:09,375
Jason Oberholtzer: to be fair,
this is what I told people they

1054
00:56:09,375 --> 00:56:14,895
were allowed to do this year. On
the final recording of 2025, I

1055
00:56:14,895 --> 00:56:18,175
opened up the possibility for
two word graffiti for this year.

1056
00:56:18,495 --> 00:56:22,190
So I am accepting it and we got
some stuff that has come in.

1057
00:56:22,270 --> 00:56:26,510
Josh b sends in two examples.
Well, no.

1058
00:56:26,510 --> 00:56:28,670
One of them is two word
graffiti. The other I don't

1059
00:56:28,670 --> 00:56:28,830
know.

1060
00:56:28,830 --> 00:56:30,510
Mike Rugnetta: The second one is
I'm mad again.

1061
00:56:30,510 --> 00:56:31,310
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. I gotta
be done.

1062
00:56:31,310 --> 00:56:34,395
Georgia Hampton: This one's not
it's demonstrably I'm trying to

1063
00:56:34,395 --> 00:56:34,955
be charitable.

1064
00:56:34,955 --> 00:56:36,795
Jason Oberholtzer: I'm trying to
broaden the parameters by which

1065
00:56:36,795 --> 00:56:40,315
people can send me graffiti, and
still, they send me fucking

1066
00:56:40,875 --> 00:56:44,315
finger diagrams in the snow.
Anyway, gotta move on.

1067
00:56:44,730 --> 00:56:46,810
Georgia Hampton: It's if you
give a mouse a cookie. Right?

1068
00:56:46,810 --> 00:56:48,090
That's what's happening. Yeah.

1069
00:56:49,610 --> 00:56:51,530
Jason Oberholtzer: Alright.
Well, first he sends is two word

1070
00:56:51,530 --> 00:56:57,210
graffiti. The iconic Houston one
forty five b someone across a

1071
00:56:57,210 --> 00:57:00,515
bridge across a highway, which I
believe you it's iconic. It

1072
00:57:00,515 --> 00:57:03,075
looks beautiful. It's a
wonderful thing to say to people

1073
00:57:03,075 --> 00:57:04,995
in two words on the side of a
bridge.

1074
00:57:05,555 --> 00:57:10,595
Bonus, Josh is also sending me
the tag of the Nighthawk, which

1075
00:57:10,595 --> 00:57:13,395
says beware the Nighthawk and is
found on the side of the

1076
00:57:13,395 --> 00:57:17,210
building which he says is a
Houston icon, a knockoff Batman

1077
00:57:17,210 --> 00:57:20,810
who calls themselves the
Nighthawk, which I think is

1078
00:57:20,810 --> 00:57:21,370
exciting.

1079
00:57:21,370 --> 00:57:25,290
Mike Rugnetta: Okay. So the
beware is kind of an accessory

1080
00:57:25,290 --> 00:57:27,770
to the main tag, which is the
Nighthawk.

1081
00:57:28,125 --> 00:57:30,445
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. I would
say so. I wonder if they say

1082
00:57:30,445 --> 00:57:33,965
other things in other tags about
the Nighthawk, like, was here or

1083
00:57:33,965 --> 00:57:34,845
is coming.

1084
00:57:34,845 --> 00:57:37,645
Mike Rugnetta: I'm gonna say
just the Nighthawk, in case

1085
00:57:37,645 --> 00:57:38,765
you're listening, just

1086
00:57:39,005 --> 00:57:39,645
Georgia Hampton: And you are.

1087
00:57:39,645 --> 00:57:43,005
Mike Rugnetta: On off chance.
You could do better, pal.

1088
00:57:43,510 --> 00:57:44,070
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah.

1089
00:57:44,230 --> 00:57:46,230
Georgia Hampton: No. I don't
wanna I don't I I don't want

1090
00:57:46,230 --> 00:57:46,710
them to do

1091
00:57:46,710 --> 00:57:47,430
Mike Rugnetta: better. I love

1092
00:57:47,430 --> 00:57:49,830
Jason Oberholtzer: it. Scrawled
nonsense on the side of this

1093
00:57:49,830 --> 00:57:50,390
building.

1094
00:57:50,870 --> 00:57:54,550
Georgia Hampton: It's just like
capital letters, handwriting. I

1095
00:57:54,550 --> 00:57:56,550
love it. Never do anything else.

1096
00:57:58,545 --> 00:58:01,025
Jason Oberholtzer: I prefer this
Batman to the buttoned up one.

1097
00:58:01,425 --> 00:58:04,785
Mike Rugnetta: It does it is a
tag that reads as sudden.

1098
00:58:04,785 --> 00:58:07,025
Georgia Hampton: Yes. Oh, yes.
Like, I was just sort of walking

1099
00:58:07,025 --> 00:58:08,465
down the stairs, like Yeah.
Yeah. Oh.

1100
00:58:08,465 --> 00:58:09,985
Oh, that's right. I'm a
Nighthawk.

1101
00:58:09,985 --> 00:58:12,625
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. Like as
though like as though in a

1102
00:58:12,625 --> 00:58:15,290
moment, the Nighthawk had to put
this here.

1103
00:58:15,290 --> 00:58:17,530
Georgia Hampton: Yes. Well, the
spirit overtook them.

1104
00:58:17,530 --> 00:58:22,330
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Josh
Pelton sent in a few eligible

1105
00:58:22,650 --> 00:58:25,930
pieces of graffiti, one of which
I particularly appreciated and

1106
00:58:25,930 --> 00:58:29,975
is two words. And Mike, you
wanna describe a piece of

1107
00:58:29,975 --> 00:58:30,615
graffiti?

1108
00:58:31,495 --> 00:58:34,455
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. This looks
like some marker on the inside

1109
00:58:34,455 --> 00:58:37,655
of a frosted window. It's hard
to tell the larger context

1110
00:58:37,655 --> 00:58:40,695
because it's pretty close-up.
And it sort of looks like a

1111
00:58:40,695 --> 00:58:46,300
piece of, like, the outline,
drawn in black marker of a piece

1112
00:58:46,300 --> 00:58:50,300
of paper towel that you've
ripped from the dispenser, in

1113
00:58:50,300 --> 00:58:54,865
the bathroom, and written on it
in all caps are two words, and

1114
00:58:54,865 --> 00:58:58,065
those words are magnum dong.

1115
00:58:58,385 --> 00:59:01,745
Georgia Hampton: Yeah. That's
good. Hell, yeah. See, we all

1116
00:59:01,745 --> 00:59:02,225
like that.

1117
00:59:02,225 --> 00:59:03,585
Jason Oberholtzer: That's the
kind of thing I like.

1118
00:59:03,585 --> 00:59:05,265
Mike Rugnetta: It's good. I
really like the next one too.

1119
00:59:05,265 --> 00:59:05,985
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. This
one is one of

1120
00:59:05,985 --> 00:59:06,305
Mike Rugnetta: my favorites.

1121
00:59:06,305 --> 00:59:07,345
Georgia Hampton: This one's so
good.

1122
00:59:07,345 --> 00:59:09,970
Jason Oberholtzer: Georgia, this
one deserves the art school

1123
00:59:09,970 --> 00:59:10,690
treatment.

1124
00:59:10,690 --> 00:59:13,650
Georgia Hampton: Oh, and I'm
happy to deliver it. So we're

1125
00:59:13,650 --> 00:59:17,730
looking at a sidewalk,
specifically a manhole cover.

1126
00:59:17,890 --> 00:59:24,365
And below it, in two layers of
spray paint, first is green,

1127
00:59:24,365 --> 00:59:29,485
second is pink, it says vault,
question mark, and then under

1128
00:59:29,485 --> 00:59:32,045
it, in parentheses, empty.

1129
00:59:32,845 --> 00:59:34,605
Mike Rugnetta: Though that could
be what the Nighthawk has

1130
00:59:34,605 --> 00:59:35,405
written to throw you

1131
00:59:35,405 --> 00:59:35,645
Jason Oberholtzer: off his

1132
00:59:35,805 --> 00:59:36,365
Mike Rugnetta: Just what

1133
00:59:36,365 --> 00:59:37,005
Speaker 4: they want

1134
00:59:37,005 --> 00:59:40,210
Jason Oberholtzer: us to think.
So do you think do you think our

1135
00:59:40,210 --> 00:59:46,050
tagger arrived at this sewer
cover, scroll down vault,

1136
00:59:46,210 --> 00:59:49,170
excitedly went down, looked
around, and came back up, and

1137
00:59:49,170 --> 00:59:52,645
really disappointed, followed up
with empty.

1138
00:59:53,285 --> 00:59:55,365
Mike Rugnetta: Empty. Just
letting the next guy know.

1139
00:59:55,445 --> 00:59:58,965
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. Sorry.
You were in a Dark Souls game,

1140
00:59:58,965 --> 01:00:02,485
just giving you the directions.
I think this one's particularly

1141
01:00:02,485 --> 01:00:05,125
gorgeous. It just it's nice to
look at and it's the kind of

1142
01:00:05,125 --> 01:00:08,050
thing I like and it's why two
words full of graffiti is

1143
01:00:08,050 --> 01:00:09,330
something that I now allow.

1144
01:00:09,570 --> 01:00:11,330
Mike Rugnetta: It's so my
question for this was gonna be

1145
01:00:11,330 --> 01:00:13,490
whether or not this counts
because I don't think that this

1146
01:00:13,490 --> 01:00:17,170
is graffiti. I think that this
is probably functional text for

1147
01:00:17,170 --> 01:00:22,545
a utility worker. Because if you
look, there's there's spray

1148
01:00:22,545 --> 01:00:24,945
paint on the side of the picture
too that seems to draw an

1149
01:00:24,945 --> 01:00:28,945
outline of what is maybe a
utility cable in the same in the

1150
01:00:28,945 --> 01:00:29,825
same color.

1151
01:00:29,905 --> 01:00:33,505
Jason Oberholtzer: See, one of
the things that I like is to

1152
01:00:33,505 --> 01:00:36,200
have fun and the things you're
saying aren't fun.

1153
01:00:36,680 --> 01:00:39,720
Mike Rugnetta: Fair. Fair. Fair.
I take it back. I take it back.

1154
01:00:39,720 --> 01:00:41,560
Georgia Hampton: Thank you. I
don't claim this energy.

1155
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:43,480
Mike Rugnetta: Yeah. Perfect.

1156
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:45,320
Jason Oberholtzer: Thank you,
Lenny, for sending that in.

1157
01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:46,520
That's truly a delight.

1158
01:00:46,920 --> 01:00:47,640
Mike Rugnetta: It is really
good.

1159
01:00:47,715 --> 01:00:50,195
Jason Oberholtzer: Yeah. One of
the things I don't like Uh-oh.

1160
01:00:50,195 --> 01:00:54,115
Is when somebody sends me in
four words of graffiti. I'm not

1161
01:00:54,115 --> 01:00:57,075
even gonna talk about it. Favy
fake, you know who you are and

1162
01:00:57,075 --> 01:01:00,115
you know that sending four words
of graffiti means I won't read

1163
01:01:00,115 --> 01:01:00,275
it.

1164
01:01:00,275 --> 01:01:04,790
Called out. Four words in this
economy? Are you kidding me?

1165
01:01:05,670 --> 01:01:07,350
Mike Rugnetta: Let's end on a
high note. Jason, what's this

1166
01:01:07,350 --> 01:01:09,910
last thing you've put here under
the heading poem?

1167
01:01:10,070 --> 01:01:14,390
Jason Oberholtzer: Oh, this will
cool us all down. So many

1168
01:01:15,110 --> 01:01:21,395
mailbags ago, Michael Bukino had
sent in a poem that they had

1169
01:01:21,395 --> 01:01:26,675
written and we had read on the
air called Bugs on My Beard.

1170
01:01:28,115 --> 01:01:32,570
They have since animated that
poem in a delightful little

1171
01:01:32,570 --> 01:01:36,490
YouTube video that we will put
in the links here. And I figure

1172
01:01:36,490 --> 01:01:40,490
it's been since it is our custom
to end things with poetry

1173
01:01:40,490 --> 01:01:43,985
wherever possible, that perhaps
we can just play ourselves out

1174
01:01:43,985 --> 01:01:49,425
in Michael's own reading of his
own poem, the bugs in my beard,

1175
01:01:50,545 --> 01:01:53,745
and send us all into this good
good night.

1176
01:01:53,745 --> 01:01:55,105
Mike Rugnetta: I think that's a
great idea.

1177
01:01:55,105 --> 01:01:55,665
Georgia Hampton: Love it.

1178
01:01:55,665 --> 01:01:58,890
Jason Oberholtzer: Happy spring
everybody. Let me go get my

1179
01:01:58,890 --> 01:01:59,690
shovel.

1180
01:02:02,410 --> 01:02:05,130
Speaker 10: The bugs in my beard
I bring back from my bike ride

1181
01:02:05,130 --> 01:02:08,970
are just souvenirs from failed
attempt flybys. Buzzing and

1182
01:02:08,970 --> 01:02:11,985
bumping and flipping and
flapping, jittering, jumping,

1183
01:02:11,985 --> 01:02:16,865
slithering, slapping. One
proboscis, two antennae, 600,000

1184
01:02:16,865 --> 01:02:20,945
limbs, shiny shells, wondrous
wings, and a slimy trail of

1185
01:02:20,945 --> 01:02:25,400
mucin. Each camouflage colorful
cute creepy crawly itching a

1186
01:02:25,400 --> 01:02:28,920
lift on the fuzzy face trolley
can look like a lot at the end

1187
01:02:28,920 --> 01:02:31,960
of my hall, but these little
critters don't bug me at

1188
01:02:31,960 --> 01:02:35,080
Mike Rugnetta: all. Okay.

1189
01:02:35,080 --> 01:02:37,000
Jason Oberholtzer: Bye. Bye.
Bye.