Zuck Under Pressure, Presidential Debate Rules, and New Covid Vaccines

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Lucky's calling.

Hold on one second.

Okay, mom, I'm about to tape a podcast with Jeff and Louie, so I gotta go.

Okay.

All right.

Okay, bye.

Hi, everyone.

This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

I'm Kara Swisher.

It's the final week of Scott Free August, the final episode of it.

So I had to go big with not one, not two, but three guest hosts.

Of course, it is Nepo Friday.

I'm joined by my son, Louis Swisher, my brother, Dr.

Jeffrey Swisher, and our best, very best friend, Pivot and Scott's

sidekick, George Hahn.

Everybody, welcome.

Hello.

Hey.

Hi, mom.

Hi.

How you doing?

How's everybody doing?

It's a man fest here.

Leave it to the lesbian to have a more interesting sausage party than any gay man I know.

That is correct.

And it's so different.

Each of you is so different.

And Louis is back at NYU.

It started next week, right, sweetie?

You start next week.

Yep.

Yeah, right after Labor Day.

Right after Labor Day.

And Jeff is in San Francisco.

He's at the hospital.

I am at work.

And George, where are you?

I'm in my sumptuous bedroom.

Bedroom.

How nice.

Well, I just got back from dropping Clara off on our first day of public school here in D.C.

Shout out to DC Public Schools.

It was very exciting.

So she's gone into pre-K4 and we FaceTimed slightly with Louie for a second.

It looked pretty cool, even though we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Yeah, it was.

She was super cute.

But the picture you sent me definitely had the first day of school blues in it, I would say.

I know.

She's like a little nervous.

Does you remember your first day of school, Louie?

I do.

That was a long time ago.

No, not really, but I'm sure it was pretty fun.

Yeah, it was.

You did the wolf goodbye.

Louie used to do a thing called Wolf Goodbye.

I'm going to embarrass him where you had to put up your paw and say goodbye to him.

It was very cute.

George, do you remember your first day of school?

I totally do.

My father bawled.

He just was the only time he walked me to school and I went to kindergarten down my block and he cried.

Kara, do you remember Pierce Country Day School?

That's where he went to.

I don't.

I'm just assuming mom threw us out of the car and drove off.

While it was moving.

Get going, kids.

Jump out of the back of the station wagon.

Yeah, that's and then forgot to pick us up at the end of the day.

Always forgot to pick us up.

What a great, yeah, what a great time.

Good times, good times growing up with Lucky.

And the sad part was Saul was like, can I go in?

And I was like, no.

Not yet.

Not yet.

What age is pre-K5?

Well, Clara missed the cutoff by a couple of days.

There's the end of September for DC schools and most schools.

So she's going to be one of the oldest kids in our class.

Anyway, good luck, Clara, on your journey forward in real school, which is exciting.

And school, I don't have to pay for it.

That's even better.

We've got a lot to get to today, including Mark Zuckerberg's letter to Congress, the Surgeon General's new warning about parents and the phenomenon of raw dogging flights.

That's not as bad as it sounds.

But first, the September 10th ABC presidential debate between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be back on again.

The two candidates have been in disagreement about one rule, whether the microphones will be muted when a candidate isn't speaking.

The Harris campaign favors unmuting, while Trump campaign does not, although Trump said he does.

Trump posted on True Social will be the same as the last CNN debate.

The campaign, the Harris campaign says discussions are still ongoing.

George, let's start with you.

Will the debate still be as bad for Trump with the mics muted if they are muted?

He keeps insisting he doesn't mind them unmuted, but please.

I believe the consensus last time

in the disastrous Biden performance was that Trump, the muted mics would be bad for Trump and ended up not being bad for him.

So, you know, TB.

TBD, I think.

TBD.

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know.

I think it's not, I think it's better for him because he says things.

And in in Scott's absence, I need to mention that Trump had a lovely post on True Social Wednesday resharing a photo of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton with the text, funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently.

Jeff, I'm going to let you have this one.

Obviously, it's a blowjob

reference.

And of course, he went there, as I noted, he might do on Tuesday.

Next stop is a racist remark.

And so I think they're worried about what comes out of his mouth.

Well, he's a pig.

I mean, that's just basically what he is.

He's just a pig.

And, you know, pigs are going to pig.

And so, I mean, ultimately, I think the best response for Kamala Harris is no response.

I think they just let that go.

I mean, it says it, but it's the same thing with J.D.

Vance, where he told her to go to hell yesterday.

It's like, just don't respond to that because what can you do to make it any worse than what they already did?

Yeah, Louis, any thoughts?

Do you care?

Well, yeah, I think it really depends on the type of debate that they want to have.

If they want to have a really hyper-political moment with a bunch of screen grabs and a bunch of clips and a bunch of jabs and comments and stuff like that, which is the kind of debates we've been having for like my entire lifetime, then sure.

But if they want to have a substantive policy debate, I think maybe the microphone.

muting would be good.

But I think when it comes to like these really inflammatory comments that the Trump campaign is going to make, especially Donald Trump himself directed at Kamal Harris, definitely taking like the brush it off your shoulder and move on comment, kind of let the let the piece of steak rot a little bit and let him just let the world see really how gross he is.

And, you know, when a joke, a punchline doesn't have a reaction, it's not really a joke.

It's not really funny.

And people can recognize kind of the vulgarness behind it.

Yeah, yeah.

Does it offend you, Louis?

I'm just curious when he does things like that.

Blow job jokes.

He's like within five seconds of making a racist joke, obviously.

Which he's done before.

Well, I mean, they're not directed at me.

And I'm personally someone who's not really affected by those kind of things as much as other people in the world.

So no, on a personal level, but definitely as an an American citizen, yes, highly offended.

Um, because you're trying to get the biggest job in the country, you're trying to be our mascot, you're trying to be our leader, and you're trying to be our representation to the entire world.

And if this is the way you conduct yourself amongst uh conversations with fellow citizens, opponents within the political ring, I can't even imagine what it's like on the world stage.

I actually can.

I can look back a couple years and remember what it was like.

Yeah, he did.

What are you talking about?

It's not a very good job application, let's say.

I don't think I would hire this man, George.

Uh, what should be her response?

Is there any line you could think of For Trump?

Didn't we all think grab him by the pussy?

That was the line I thought that should have ended everything, but apparently not.

So no, I guess not.

And could he shoot someone on Fifth Avenue?

Probably.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we'll see.

He hasn't done that yet.

That's, that's, we'll get to that.

Meanwhile, Harrison Waltz are ignoring it pretty much,

and including a bunch of things

on the trail where Trump was taking pictures at a cemetery, at a military cemetery at Arlington, which was repulsive on many levels.

He seems to keep attracting attention to himself in a bad way.

But Harrison Walzer on a bus tour in Georgia and assigned the campaigns he's the state in play, and the state is actually in play now.

It just was shifted over to Lean's Republican rather than possibly probably, she's quite close in Georgia,

in some polls, slightly ahead.

Biden narrowly won the state in 2020.

It's a very tight state.

She's got to go well beyond close to win.

Any,

how do you think that's going?

She seems to be sweeping up the states, Louis.

Well, yeah.

I mean, personally, I'm going to wait until after the election to really see how the states have decided.

But I think

as the times are changing and the country is changing demographically, electorally, I think you're going to see a lot more purple states and a lot more people voting on policy rather than ideology.

Policy, what's that?

I think if the Harris campaign keeps talking about about the policy,

the policy that the Biden presidency has delivered over the past four years and keep talking about their vision for the future through policy, they have a much better route to the presidency rather than just going off rhetoric and ideology, like the Trump campaign is fully invested in.

So we'll see.

But Americans respond to action.

So she is, speaking of that, after we tape today, Harris and Wallace are sitting down for their first joint interview with CNN.

It'll be the first time Harris has sat down for an in-depth interview since Biden dropped out of the race.

She's done lots of them over the course of time.

Who will watch this, Jeff?

Let's start with you.

Well, I certainly will.

I mean, I'm a political junkie.

Yeah, if you follow me on threads, I mean, obviously, I think I post more about politics than I do about medicine.

Yeah, I call my irritating leftist brother.

I'm not a leftist.

You know, yeah, I'm fiscally conservative, but I'm definitely socially liberal.

But, but, um, so no, I will watch it.

And, and I think that.

I think most people will watch it.

I mean, it, it's such a, I mean, what, what, what kind of substantive interviews has Trump done?

None, zero.

And what he has to, look at that thing he did with Dr.

Phil.

I mean, that's embarrassing.

So

I think that it will be helpful for Kamala to do some interviews with CNN.

Although I just don't trust the media anymore.

Oh, thank you so much.

I think it'll be why, why?

Why?

Because it, well, at least it maybe it's filtered through the lens of threads and the people who I because that's where I get most of my news from.

So it's very possible that my feed is just filtered.

But I mean, it's crazy.

The New York Times, their opinion page seems to be in the tank for

Trump.

Well, it is called an opinion page, right?

I understand.

I get it.

But the way they choose headlines and, you know, you can

because you have an opinion doesn't mean it has to be disseminated.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Okay.

George, what do you think about that in terms of

a lot of people are on threads, which is a little tis tiskier for my taste these days.

But is it important, this interview?

Obviously, she's going to do a lot more, hopefully hopefully with me too.

What do you think is critical here that she communicate?

I think she should just be herself and kind of stay on the message that she's staying.

She has a solid record.

She got some heat.

I would say, I guess a lot when she was VP.

But as has been discussed, VP is a thankless job.

You know, you're not supposed to stand out.

You're not supposed to, you know, shine or certainly not outshine the boss.

So this is our first time we've seen her sort of extend to her full wingspan.

And

an interview I think will serve her well.

I don't think she's had really the chance.

And so.

Well, she had a bad one with Lester Holt and she had a very good one post-debate, right?

Yeah, but she wasn't running for president at the time.

And she had to be, I think, measured in her responses more than she needs to be now

because she's running her own campaign, not someone else's.

so i think this will be different it's something i've told a lot of people when they're like oh she's terrible and she's this isn't her just for people who spent time with her louis do would you watch this interview do you just watch eclipse i probably won't be tuning into the uh interview because as most people my age i don't have a cable box so i'll be waiting for the eclipse on youtube i'll be waiting for the short form content on youtube and other platforms i think definitely uh going into this i agree with jeff's sentiment a little bit about a bit of resentment for the like mainstream 24-hour news media apparatus And I think while it is important to reach like a large demographic of voters, I'm more so thinking of like people like you guys.

For people, younger people, people who don't sit down and watch CNN every day, I think there will definitely be a lot of good content extracted from an interview like this.

And also doing a joint interview together is a really good idea.

You like that.

You like that.

A lot of people are criticizing it.

Yeah, because it's like, it's, I really think that the core message of this campaign should be that

it's about us and it's about us as a country and it's about Tim and it's about Kamala together as partners and Donald Trump is about him and if they can stay on that message and present a lot of really interesting and innovative and progressive policies to the nation I think that a lot of people are gonna get behind that so it's just about standing on message and reminding it's a group effort where would you watch that of today you you did a lot you do a lot of reddit you do a lot of youtube well i do i still watch i still watch long-form content on youtube obviously i'm just saying i it's it's these um cable box 24-hour news media companies have a little bit of a harder time reaching a younger demographic.

That doesn't mean it's impossible.

There's still news junkies.

There's still people who go out of their way to watch these kind of things.

And you can watch plenty of it on YouTube.

I watch a lot of this stuff on YouTube.

But I think that it's just, it's going to be really interesting to see what is extracted from this interview and what is replayed and what resonates more so.

And I'm excited to see that.

And also,

I don't think these platforms that Louis are talking about, like the mainstream cable outlets are really news platforms anymore anyway.

Yeah, I would totally agree.

You don't go there to find out what's going on.

You go there to be validated or infuriated.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Actually, last night I just watched a really good documentary.

It's called The Anchorman 2.

And it's about, it essentially makes the argument that only a caricature like Ron Burgundy could have created a modern news environment.

You stay classy, San Diego.

Exactly.

San Diego, actually.

San Diego.

You like two better than one.

Explain why.

Explain this to me on vacation.

Well, I think two.

I think one makes, one is just a silly commentary on

gender inclusion in the workforce and a lot of people's resentment towards that and the eventual triumph of Veronica Corningstone.

But the second one really makes the grand argument that our modern 24-hour sensationalist news media is so ridiculous that only a caricature like Ron Burgundy could have created it by telling the American people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

And that's what a lot of these, you go to these, you go to these platforms to hear what other people have to say about what's happening.

There's not just direct information from them anymore.

So I'd rather, I realized that when I was like 10 and I watched the whole news cycle and then I watched it again and I was like, okay, that's enough.

But yeah, I think there's a lot more opportunities, especially through our pocket computers, to find the information that you're looking for, whether it's a direct source like a video on Twitter or a news article.

So Anchorman 2.

Anchorman 2, I think, is a stunning critique of society.

It is one of my all-time favorite movies and it is, I enjoy it every time.

Thank you.

Presumably

you don't watch your mother, clearly, at all, because I think I'm pretty good.

No, you are great.

You're a fantastic pundit.

Pundit.

Oh, my God.

What is your movie?

What's your each of you?

Very quickly, what's your form?

Me, broadcast news was the same thing, similar thing.

What's my favorite movie?

No, what's your favorite movie that comments on the news media?

Oh, God, broadcast news, I think.

I mean, you know, watching broadcast news and seeing her character as a child gave me flashbacks to you as a young girl.

I was like watching that and going, oh, my God, it's Kara.

It's hilarious.

Holly Hunter.

I mean, if any biopic of should ever holly hunter there is one i know it's gonna be but i mean she's too old i know she's too old but i mean oh my god yeah i know it's broadcast news louis you should watch it it's very form it's a similar thing i will you'll like it if you like anchor men too and i'll tell you there's one more george may reference it is the sweet smell of success with tony curtis which was about a gossip column is kind of a walter winch jj hun sucker jj hunsucker that's another one it's an old movie louis it's black and white i know you don't love them, but.

I like some of them.

His Girl Friday.

And Network News is a great one as well, too.

Network.

Yeah.

Network.

Network.

I mean, network, yeah.

Network was my favorite line of all.

It's like, is there anything I can do for you?

He said, yeah, you could die.

That would be nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've said that to a number of people recently.

So I'm going to move on.

Speaking of,

he shouldn't die, but he's really kind of heinous.

Mark Zuckerberg said he feels the Biden administration pressured Meta to censor content related to COVID-19 in a letter to the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee Committee in 2021, Facebook said it removed more than 20 million COVID-19 posts that violated its content rules.

Security also said he will not be making any contributions in this election cycle and plans to be neutral.

Although he said his contributions were not partisan, he still won't do it.

He was obviously trying to get out of a hearing, Jim Jordan in the House Judiciary Committee.

He seemed to have badly timed it because a book is coming out where Trump threatens him with prison.

He has done that before.

So he was trying to make a trade trade to kiss up to a possible Trump administration just in case, because he knows the Harris administration will not take revenge on him in a similar way.

Any thoughts about this?

George, why don't you go first?

I think the timing is curious.

You know, we're also witnessing, as we speak, the CEO, founder of Telegram.

getting in some trouble.

Zuckerberg,

as I said, the timing is curious.

And there was nothing like this that was found in the how many years did Jim Jordan try to sort of like squeeze water out of this rock?

And suddenly we find something, and this happens at the same time that a tech CEO is getting busted.

So maybe this is a preemptive strike.

Well, one of the other thing is Mark is not under oath.

And two things, there are plenty of

under-oath interviews with executives that the Judiciary Committee is not releasing, meaning there is no they're there.

They would release them if these executives said that.

That's one.

So Mark could be lying.

In fact, I think is.

I will say that outright.

Second thing is the Supreme Court ruled that it didn't happen.

And the Supreme Court saw plenty of evidence and is allowing the government to talk to companies like Facebook.

So the Supreme Court has ruled absolutely opposite from what Mark was saying.

They found that the people who sued didn't have standing.

I mean, I think that was a narrower definition.

Okay, but I'm just saying they didn't pursue it.

They certainly could have pursued the situation.

And one of the, they wanted to get out of it, but they have presumably seen the information.

If it was egregious enough, they certainly would have acted and said something about it, which they didn't.

They just said the government should be careful, as they should with these companies.

But to say Mark Zuckerberg is under any kind of pressure from the government is just nonsense.

It's just, it's, it's, he's not under oath, let's be clear.

And he, uh, and there are other interviews where people were under oath that were not released.

And therefore, presumably they say they weren't under pressure.

Jeff, any thoughts?

No, I agree.

I agree with what George says.

It's a cynical ploy, and it's timing.

It's all timing of what's going on now.

I mean, it listen: the fundamental issue about the Facebook and these other places being the public square and that it's a First Amendment issue is crazy.

These are private companies, and other private companies have the responsibility not to disseminate harmful information, which is really literally harmful.

I mean, you can't make a drug and say it does something that it absolutely doesn't do.

There are rules against that.

And I think for things like COVID, where how you disseminate information is important.

But I mean, I think that they do have a responsibility, whether it's legal or moral.

I think there's a responsibility for these people not to disseminate false information about things which impact people.

These guys have been dodging legal bullets since they started each of their, or ran each of their companies.

And the idea that, oh, wait, maybe we're going to be held accountable for the stuff that work that is posted on what we're just claiming is a a bulletin board?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Yeah, I think what we, George's revenue is Pavel Durov.

He's the CEO of Telegram.

He's sort of a globe-trotting Russian.

There's, it's, it's a font of cybercrime, um, weapons, everything, all kinds of crime.

But I think the thing that had did him in is that there's a lot of CSAM, which is child pornography, on the site, and he has ignored all of government requests to fix it or to give them information about it out of in the interest of free speech.

And I think the government said that's enough with child pornography we're not going to allow that um and you become like a bank who launders money for narco criminals is what you are and banks do get sanctioned bankers do get arrested um and they think they're they're free speech warriors versus uh you know just allowing uh child pornography to go anywhere um obviously elon is musk is jealous because one pavel durov is in really good shape he has fathered a hundred children he says they're all of the same ilk um and he's trying to take up the mantle of free speech warrior.

Louis, do you buy any of this, especially when it has to do with child pornography?

I mean, it seems like an easy.

No, not at all.

It's not a public square.

It's a goddamn beer garden.

It's a private venue where people go to get intoxicated off the content that the company is responsible for and producing to some extent.

And they should be held liable for what goes on on their premises, I think.

It's really absurd to argue that

your constitutional rights are being

amended or being constricted by a private company that you agreed to participate with.

It's really absurd.

I think when a lot of people talk about cancel culture and a lot of the First Amendment stuff, if the government was running Twitter and the government was shutting you down or the government is stopping you from saying something, then totally.

But when it's a private company that you agreed to terms and conditions to to join and participate in a service, then it's total bullshit.

I'm sorry you can't get your little piece out.

You can go to another corner of the internet to say that.

There is ample opportunity.

There's never been more opportunity to be more expressive than we are today.

And the fact that people,

the fact that you can say something doesn't mean that I can't tell you to shut up.

Absolutely.

I'm going to make a little correction.

It's a Nazi beer hall.

A la beer haul putsch, just so you know.

What makes it interesting to me is that this guy is not in trouble for he didn't do anything technically illegal.

What he's in trouble for is enabling it and turning a blind eye and allowing it.

And not responding to government inquiries around child pornography.

Exactly.

Which is going to make someone like Zuckerberg a little itchy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, to be fair to Mark, they do respond to child pornography inquiries all the time.

And so this guy just was like,

we're not going to help you.

And I think that's why they're making an example of this guy, because, you know, Mark or whoever can, the person who's more

possibly shouldn't be traveling to France is Elon Musk because they have removed the trust and safety committees.

They're saying we're not stopping anything.

They have to show they're attempting to stop things like child pornography at the very least.

That is sort of the lowest bar possible is to limit that.

And that's, of course, where Section 230 got hit around child.

This is where it begins: if they do not enforce child pornography laws, they are going to go to jail.

So we'll see.

We'll see what happens here.

But I would say this guy's the worst, and Elon is the next.

If they continue to not monitor, especially critical things, they can sit around and have their Nazi beer garden, but they can't do it when it has to do with certain subjects.

All right, let's go on a quick break.

We come back, we'll talk about the Surgeon General's new warning about parents and stress.

I can assert this is correct, and the trend of raw dogging flights.

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Hello, Daisy.

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This September on Criminal, we've been thinking a lot about scams.

Over the next couple of weeks, we're releasing episodes about a surprising way to stop scammers.

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Okay, boys, we're back.

COVID has reshaped our relationship with work in so many ways.

And for people suffering from long COVID, career paths have been dramatically derailed, according to a new article in the journal.

Economists estimate that long COVID has pushed about 1 million Americans out of the labor force.

More than 5% of adults in the U.S.

have long COVID and is the most prevalent among people in their prime working years.

The federal government has said long COVID can be classified as a disability, allowing workers to seek accommodations like remote work and flexible hours.

Jeff, talk a little bit about what's happening on the ground now and then long COVID in specifics.

And then George, as someone who's experienced long COVID, I'd love to hear from you.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

So first, let me just briefly talk about the vaccine is available soon.

It's the

new vaccine.

covers the most common variant right now.

It's the Omicron KP21.

That's the vaccine.

That's the variant that the vaccine now covers, which is going to cover the most common forms of covid the most common 37 percent of covid cases are kp311 um and um you know the like the influenza virus the covid virus changes its surface proteins it's called the spike proteins and so you need to be updated on the vaccine vaccines give about four months of durable immunity that's why it's important to get your boosters as well but everybody six months or older should get this new vaccine

and the issue of long COVID is really important.

They estimate that 30% of people have some form of long COVID symptoms who've had COVID, and about one to five percent of people have serious long-term COVID symptoms.

And I think a lot of it goes unrecognized as just depression, fatigue, anxiety.

But these are all possibly elements of long COVID.

And it affects literally every body system.

Every organ system is affected by long COVID.

It's your neurologic system, it's your kidneys, it's your liver, it's your skin, skin, it's your joints, all these things.

And it's a real thing.

I have, I can, I can, off the top of my head, I have two colleagues who I really respect and admire.

One is a surgeon and one is a nurse that I work with, who have basically been unable to work.

One retired, they basically just felt that he couldn't continue feeling the way he was feeling.

Brain fog is a really important element of long COVID.

And, you know, fortunately for him, he's got so many hobbies and interests.

And he's my age.

And so it's, you know, maybe it was time to think about retiring.

And people didn't take it seriously, correct, George?

I mean, this is something you, you had.

I have several friends who have it, who've written about it, Jen Sr., Laura Holson,

and very severe.

And a lot of people, they still suffer from people not believing them.

Like the same thing with Lyme disease or some of the other.

diseases in this genre of I'm tired, right?

Essentially.

Talk a little bit about your experience.

Oh, Jeff, you just brought me back to some of the things that I was feeling at the time, neurological.

I couldn't go out in certain public, I would start to have a, like a nervous system breakdown on a subway

or in a theater.

That's where I had my first panic attack.

And this was, this had never, I had no history of this whatsoever.

And then the feeling that I'm having a heart attack, I couldn't be around other people,

which just sort of added crowds of people, I should say, which just sort of added to the loneliness, isolation aspect, which is part of this,

you know, long COVID effect.

How did it progress?

I

the heart attack feeling, the panic feeling, the neurological, all of that stuff, and the fatigue, there was brain fog.

And eventually, we're going back two years, and eventually it just kind of

over time, when I went to the COVID care center at Mount Sinai, the doctor with whom I spoke believed me.

And as I gave her my litany of symptoms, nodded her head, she was the first one, she kind of nodded her head and she said, we're seeing a ton of this.

So if it makes you feel less lonely in your experience, let that be a comfort, which it was.

And she said, the bad news is that there is nothing you can do.

You just kind of have to ride it out.

And that was a pain in the ass.

But eventually, she was right.

She said it could be six months, could be a year.

It was

out, a year out before I started to feel sort of normal.

When you're in medical school, one of the things you learn to differentiate and understand the difference between signs and symptoms, right?

So symptoms are things like that you're feeling, like fatigue,

my muscles hurt.

You know, these are more of the subjective things.

There are actually signs of as well.

And signs are things like fever, you know, elevated heart rate,

you you know, laboratory studies, elevation, sedimentation rate in your blood, et cetera.

And more and more as people are studying this, they're really understanding that

long COVID has both signs and symptoms.

And so doctors are more astute now about looking for those signs because they're objective as well as the subjective sensations and believing people when they say exactly what George experienced.

I could not have worked in an office.

I had the good fortune of doing whatever I do to make a living from home or wherever, but working in an office would have been a problem.

Louis, I'm just curious.

You are going to get your COVID-19 vaccine, I hope, but you're an adult.

How do younger people, I don't think younger people are thinking about this.

It's sort of like a flu vaccine or whatever.

The CDC will recommend that adults and children six months and older get updated vaccines.

How do you look at it?

Well, I mean, I think for a lot of people my age,

and maybe more people in general,

every once in a while we we get a little bit of a cold or a cough or something like that, and we're all like, Oh, oh, wait, could it be the old friend?

You know, is it, are they back?

Um, but yeah, I think there's definitely, um, especially people with someone important in their lives or some kind of purpose.

Um, if they go to work, if they have uh, they live with their grandparents, or they have people within their network that are more susceptible.

I think people who care care and people who don't don't.

Um, so I'm definitely a bit behind.

I probably definitely do for a new vaccine.

So, I'm gonna get on top of that.

I actually, you what?

Maybe even to answer your question even better, I didn't even know there was a new vaccine until just now.

So maybe, maybe that's an answer in itself.

Okay.

Well, they need to roll out that information thing.

People ignore COVID at their own risk.

I mean, it is a get like, get like Ryan Reynolds to do a campaign or something like that.

A nice, like, handsome advertisement to grab all our attention.

That's who you would convince to.

When should you take it, Jeff?

I've been told by my doctors that you should take it later in this, later in September, not to wait.

And then again, the booster again and the flu vaccine again in January, February.

So a couple of things.

You can take several vaccines at the same time.

There's no contraindication to getting the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time.

If you've had COVID in the last three months, don't get the vaccine until about three months have expired.

And not that it's dangerous to get it.

The thing is that the actual fact of having COVID is going to give you immunity.

So you want to, it's like putting gas in your car after you went, you know, like one exit.

There's no point in doing that.

Wait till your gas tank is low and then fill it up again with your vaccine.

So you should get it.

I mean, there's a spike in the winter of COVID, and it's for several reasons.

One is temperature, and the other is that people tend to be inside more and it's more transmissible, you know, between people.

So you should get it as soon as it's available, provided that you haven't had COVID in the last three months.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to do my more susceptible.

I'm just curious if I'm more susceptible since I've never had it to it.

Probably, yeah.

Actually, you probably are.

You probably are.

Yeah.

I mean, there are certain people who have just natural immunity.

And, you know, the fact that you haven't, I've had it three times.

So last time I had it was in May.

I get everything else.

Don't worry.

I get everything else, which is interesting, just not this one.

It's interesting.

What should Robert F.

Kennedy do, Jr.?

I mean, what should he do?

He should just disappear from the public space is what he should do.

He should eat a bear with COVID and then he'll be immune or something like that.

Natural immunity.

Thoughts on him, Louie?

Do you have any thoughts on him?

Oh, God.

I don't know.

I mean,

he's talking about nepotism.

You know, and it takes a while.

He just backed Trump, just so you know.

This guy is ridiculous.

I'm glad that he's out of the race.

Well, he's not out of the race, Louie.

He's not.

He's not.

I mean, obviously, he's not.

He's stepped down, but he's just stepped to the side.

I think he went with whoever's most viable and whoever's going to give him a job.

Didn't he make some ultimatum with both campaigns that I'll give you my endorsement if you give a job?

The only problem is that, like, uh

um harris would have made him like the janitor or like you know the guy who holds the holds the towels in the bathroom or something like that but trump's gonna make him like under secretary of health what the no he made him his transition campaign transition along with the other nut job tulsi gabbert oh that's a that's a great combo but like i think you know if trump wins like that was a was that not the job he promised him like what the hell is going on and also like all these stories that are coming out about him that he's professing himself for insane I mean, I was gone like when the worm, I was gone long.

I was never on board, but like after the worm thing, I was like, okay.

And then the bear thing happened.

And it's like, okay, now I wonder where the worm came from.

You know, you forgot the whale head.

The whale head.

Oh, the whale head.

Yeah.

I just heard about that.

Like, who the hell is this guy?

He really, like,

I don't know, a renaissance man of types.

Two things about that.

It's not like he needs a gig.

He's a Kennedy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

And also,

do you guys notice that Trump world seems to be where people go when they run in some kind of popularity contest and find out that they're actually not all that popular and people don't like them?

So they're sort of like consolation dumpster is Mar-a-Lago.

Like that, they all want, it's like a drain catch.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like participation trophy central or something like that.

But you know what?

I'll tell you what, Kara, on a serious note about Kennedy,

the vaccine thing is really serious.

And if you look at states, this is a really interesting statistic.

If you look at states that have vaccine opt-outs,

and the state of Oregon is a good example, 8.5% of people in Oregon have opted out for their children to get the measles vaccine.

And what do we just see?

A massive measles outbreak.

And measles is no joke.

And people who get measles and cephitis can die.

So there is real world ramifications of being a vaccine denier.

Yeah, I had someone I know said that to me who had children

and they were not going to, you know, vaccines, vaccines.

And they said, you know, they want to do a play date.

And I go, not on this fucking earth ever.

Like, you're a fucking idiot.

And then that's the whole point of vaccines.

It's not just you, it's everybody around you.

I just started to hear the whole litany of nonsense, which again, back to Mark Zuckerberg, it's fine to take down bad information, Mark.

It's okay.

You can do it.

Just hold hands.

We'll do it together.

But here's an interesting thing.

Parenting is stressful, according to a new warning from U.S.

Surgeon General, Dr.

Vivek Murti.

Murty says in his latest advisory that parents are currently under dangerous levels of stress.

He's calling for policy changes in the form of child income tax credits, universal preschool, and paid family and medical leaves, also encouraging

friends and family to offer support for parents and to prioritize their own self-care.

I like this.

Murti has issued advisories in the past on gun violence, loneliness, and social media effect on kids.

Louie,

what do you think you should do for your mom to make her feel better?

Do I seem stressed?

Yeah, I mean, you do so much.

I don't know how you wouldn't be.

I mean, you have a lot on your plate, but I think it's really amazing to see how parents hold up.

And I think parents are like, yeah, I mean, like, people talk about it a lot, but like family units are really, really important to have.

And the fact that I've been able to have such a lucky one with my amazing Uncle Jeff, my amazing mother Kara, and of course, the incredible George Hahn, a real father figure.

I'm going to cry.

I think

it's just, it's a really important thing.

And it's only when you don't have it that you don't realize, you realize how important those things are.

And I'm somebody who has definitely grown up in the bubble of luck and privilege and fortune.

And I think that when you go out in the world and you meet people who just don't have those kind of things, it really impacts your perspectives a lot.

And yeah, parents definitely are under stress.

And I think that it's about time that the government started helping out parents again with these tax credits, these kind of subsidies.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, except for J.D.

Vance is talking about how the democrats are anti-family um he's talking about childless people which is different yeah the thing is that he's a fucking moron and like he um doesn't speak for any sense of majority of americans and um he's just using these important core issues these important tenets of our of our cultural structure to gain power and it's just another fascist tactic that we need to watch out for he's manipulating us and um if we fall for it we're just simply stupid yeah it's not working for him well for some of us, but like, hey, like, we have family members who are on board with these kind of messages and are perpetuating them.

And that is scary.

And it makes us feel vulnerable as a nation.

And I think that, yeah, it's a really sensitive and important issue.

And it can be manipulated or it can be treated.

And I think people like Tim Walls are on the...

You like that, Walls, don't you?

Yeah,

I've been a fan of him for a long time.

I mean, why the hell isn't lunch free at school?

Breakfast too.

Why not?

Kids can't learn if they are hungry, and it's important.

And I think, like I said, if the Democrats focus again on policy and they focus on delivering for the American people, not in ways that are unseen, like through tax credits and stuff like that, or tax changes, but in actual ways where their kid doesn't come home hungry, I think they can make a lot of difference and they can also help our nation and they can get that support that they want so badly.

And let me say, Louis is a very big support system for our little kids.

For example, we're going to Scott's birthday party and Louis and his girlfriend Ivy are going to be taking care of the kids.

This is the kind of thing that really helps.

So we can sit and drink whiskey in kilts in Scotland for Scott's birthday things.

Exactly.

Families aren't just parents, it's a whole network.

This is interesting because the stuff that Vance is doing is so offensive.

He's obsessed with family units in the weirdest fucking way I've ever seen.

But

isn't everyone, George, stressed out these days, regardless of who you are and what you do as a childless cat lady yourself?

Yeah.

Well, dog, I'm a childless dog lady.

I'm looking at them right right now.

They

look,

we have gone through nine seasons of the Trump show.

We're exhausted.

He's exhausting.

He's like, you know, with all due respect to Jackie Mason, but Jackie Mason didn't change a lines of his act for the last probably 10 years of performing.

Trump's act is tired.

He's exhausting.

I think people are sick of him.

And then you got to pile on a pandemic on top of that.

It's been a lot, right?

It has been a lot.

and

is it a mystery to me that people are burnt out freaked out stressed out exhausted no

and then

this this election is exhausting i cannot wait i can't i'm so glad it's shorter oh can we do can we do like the british isn't there election season like six weeks yes exactly that is gorgeous it's regulated gorgeous there's only so much they can spend and yeah

so jeff with this with parenting is it an actual health issue because and you know Louie, I don't know if you have this, but younger people are having less kids because, because of these issues.

Go ahead, Jeff.

Listen, I have kids.

You know, my three of my children are, you know, 31, 29, and 26.

And not one of them is talking about getting married or my oldest one, maybe.

But

yes, it's stressful.

And I think it's, listen, we're in the first generation of parents who actually grew up with social media.

And I think that has a lot to do with it.

I mean, you've talked about this a lot, about the impact of social media.

And I think it's, I really welcome the Surgeon General's report because that's his job to give advisories like this.

And I think it's an issue and people are feeling isolated.

And the other thing is the comparison issue.

The comparisons are odious

when you have the ability to have Instagram and all these things that they grew up with, these parents now, they're overscheduled and there are a lot of helicopter parents out there.

My wife, you know, is a second-grade teacher and she sees this

is the degree of overscheduling of their children.

I mean, soccer things where we used to go by ourselves to go play tennis or play soccer.

Now, parents are driving their kids like

200 miles on a weekend and multiple times joining all these things, which

increases stress.

And plus, remember, there are two people working now.

And most families now have two parents working as opposed to when we grew up in the 1960s.

That was less common.

And also, village, you know, it takes a village to raise children.

And I think less and less that people see that.

And also, social social institutions are breaking down clubs and civic organizations.

I mean, you remember our grandparents were involved in so many things, Rotary Club, Mason, et cetera, that you just don't see that anymore.

And I think we need to go back to a society which actually values elders and it values other people to help you raise your children.

I suspect the next generation will want kids because it's interesting because Clara talks about having kids a lot.

Louis, I think you want to have kids, correct?

No, definitely.

Well, I mean, not now, obviously.

I still have one more year of college.

Yeah, not now, please.

For the love of God.

I think it's definitely, I mean, it varies person to person.

There's a lot of people my age who the idea of that is really repulsive to them, and they don't want anything to do with it.

They don't want to bring kids into this world, like in the current state of affairs.

Me personally, I don't mind.

I'm like really excited for that part of my life, and I can wait for it

as long as there's need.

But I'm looking forward to it.

And I think I'm just right now, I'm getting myself ready for that stage of my life where I can really deliver for the coming generation.

And

you may not have kids right now.

I can't deal with it.

Yes, take your time.

I thought the podcast paycheck would help out.

No, I'm just kidding.

There is no paycheck.

This is like really important stuff.

And

it's really...

as families change and the definition of family changes, I think our understanding of it was going to have to change.

It's not, you know, not very long ago that marriages like what you have right now, mom, were illegal, where people like me couldn't exist on this earth because of government regulation and because of the control of others over people's lives.

And I think that's a very not so distant past.

And as the definition of what a family changes is, I think we need to realize, like I said earlier, it's a community, not just two parents.

It's a village.

100%.

One or two individuals.

And it's often better when it's like that.

So, yeah, for those who are lucky enough to have that experience, like...

like, you know, why would we get in the way of that?

You're a thoughtful young man, Louis Wisher.

Thoughtful young.

I highly recommend children if you have wonderful kids like you and the others.

But let me say my greatest, saddest moment, and I don't have that many of them, is when Proposition 8 passed the marriage law in California.

And you were very young and you said, we can't, can we not be a family anymore?

It was really, I don't think you remember this, but.

I remember that vividly.

I remember that.

I remember the campaign posters everywhere.

I remember our neighborhood, the Castro, reacting vehemently to this decision.

And also the state of California overturning that.

as well and the people reacting to those kind of regulations.

I think often people can get caught up in their daily lives and their paychecks and their habits and hobbies, and then they don't really realize what's happening until it's happened.

Like I said before, America is a reactionary society.

And

sometimes to our own fault, we have to watch things happen before we change them with Roe v.

Wade, with Proposition 8.

But that doesn't mean we're not going to react.

And that doesn't mean we can still change things for the future.

I'm feeling hopeful.

Yeah, I agree.

The other thing, I'll tell one story about Louis, we were in a Macy's looking at a couch, a sectional couch, which we, the one we bought, actually.

And there were some tourists in Macy's sitting on the couch with us, clearly not from San Francisco.

And Louis looked at them straight in the eye and went, mama, mommy, mama, mommy, and pointed to us.

And they were like, because they were under, they did not understand our family.

And you could see it.

And he did it at a very young age.

And

that was one of my favorite moments.

Was their last name Van?

No, no.

By the way, another group of people struggling are teachers.

As kids go back to school, teachers are dealing with student behavior problems, cell phones in classrooms, AI-powered cheating, low salaries, and more.

The number of teachers who say stress and disappointment in the job are worth it are 42%,

down from 70% in 2018, according to the nonprofit think tank brand.

Louis, we talked about you becoming a teacher, but,

and, and, and Jeff, your wife is a teacher.

Not just my wife, my daughter as well.

Your daughter also, yeah.

So, I'd love first you, Jeff, to talk about this.

Um, which is the biggest deal for her?

Cell phones?

She's in a younger age, so probably cell phones and AI cheating is not.

No, not in second grade.

And Mike, and Kate teaches, you know, pre-K.

Well, actually, now she's in the Dominican Republic teaching elementary students.

So the biggest problem, I think, with teachers and the whole burnout issue is,

you know, people expect a lot out of teachers now.

I mean, they're sort of loco parentis in a lot of ways.

The other thing, parents have very high expectations of teachers as well.

And, you know, I asked Anna this question last night, and she said that the teachers that have burnout are the ones that don't find the joy in the teaching.

She loves teaching, and so does my daughter.

And they really get joy out of it, and they're energized by it.

If you're going into teaching and you see it as a, you know, because you get a pension and a paycheck,

even though it's not a great paycheck, it's still a pretty good lifestyle.

But I mean, as you know, you've seen her.

My wife works till seven, eight a night on everything, and she thinks about it constantly.

So the burnout is, I think, from the teachers who feel like they're

under the gun and are not getting joy out of it.

But most teachers I know really love it.

Yeah, really love it.

Louis, why are you considering it?

Well, I don't know.

I think

it's definitely something that's been on my mind for a while for the past couple of years and just one career path that has just consistently remained interesting.

You know, I've been studying and learning my whole life.

So the one thing that stands out to me about teachers is that they never stop learning.

And I think that's something I really appreciate and something I admire and maybe something I would like.

Yeah, I think,

and also like I've been lucky enough to have just such a fantastic education over my entire life at these really wonderful

and let's be honest, like elite exclusive schools.

And I think that the fact that they are so elite and exclusive is a real shame.

And if I can leak any of their educational secrets, even if they're not so, you know, exemplary, I think that would be great.

I would just love to pass on and help educate the coming generations if I can.

I have to say, having this short experience so far with Claire in the DC public schools, she's going to, the service is so much better.

I have to say, they're wonderful, wonderful teachers so far.

George, does Tim Walls change the equation here with teachers?

The idea?

Like, he's the sort of perfect teacher in a lot of ways.

I certainly think he does a lot for the image of a teacher.

You know, I had a lot of, I went to an all-boys

high school.

I had, and one through eight, I had one male teacher, Mr.

Vasel, our eighth-grade teacher, taught us math and algebra and all that great stuff.

And some of my favorite teachers were male.

And Tim Walls, I think, does a great service to the industry, as it were,

as a role model.

As yeah.

Yeah, he's going to be good for people, of course.

Let me just point out.

What is not to like about him?

It's almost like a little bit of a title.

Yeah, well, you know, Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly, the two most heinous people on the planet, just started to

say some terrible things about him in that regard.

They're a different breed of animal.

And let me just say, every accusation is a confession for these people.

That's my feeling.

I can't speak about Megan Kelly or Tucker Carlson politely.

Politely, none of us can.

I want very quickly, and then we have one more topic.

Favorite teacher?

Name, Jeff.

Mrs.

Emsley, fourth grade.

George.

Mary Vandevelde.

What did she teach?

Seventh grade, social studies, art, English.

History.

Louie.

Bill George, freshman year, biology and advisor when I was an upperclassman in high school.

Gay rights activist.

Really amazing teacher.

awesome guy.

Great.

Mine were two.

Mrs.

Trisiniath, fourth grade.

I'm sure she's not living anymore.

And Mrs.

Gilbert, seventh grade English.

Amazing.

Oh, Mrs.

Gilbert was the best.

Cara, we had such great teachers.

We had such great teachers and so important.

Yeah.

It's hard to pick one.

I had so many, actually.

Mrs.

Shepard, who taught Shakespeare?

Oh, not for me.

She told me never.

She was an amazing teacher.

She said I was incomprehensible.

So that wasn't great.

Anyway, I think you told me something once about English teachers involved.

Yeah, I did.

I think you said something good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All English teachers are just failed writers.

That's what you said.

Yes.

Well, in any case, because she told me I couldn't write.

Well, too bad, Mrs.

Shepherd.

Although she was hysterical, she's quite a good teacher.

Finally, last topic every mother wants to discuss with her son, raw dogging flights.

Raw dogging has become a viral trend this summer.

People, mostly men, are challenging themselves to do absolutely nothing on planes.

It has nothing to do with penises, just so you know.

There's no watching movies, no reading books, no eating or drinking, and sometimes no bathroom breaks, which seems weird.

You just stare at the map for the entire flight.

Some have described this as a form of meditation or digital detox.

I'm going to start with, I want all of you to comment on it very briefly.

Louis, you have gone off of a lot of social media, although you do use your phone quite a bit.

But

what does the word have the same meaning for your generation?

raw dogging?

It means sex.

That's what it means.

It means sex.

And condom is sex.

sex.

Correct.

Unprotected sex.

Yes.

But, you know, if you want to take that concept and apply it to other things in your life, like having an unprotected experience with the airplane by just sitting through it.

Or another one I saw was like a band saying they had an they were raw dogging a practice session by just listening to the beat tempo the whole time.

Like it's just a concept that explains just general concentration.

Is it really concentrated?

I don't know how to explain it really, but it really just means sex.

Yeah.

Yeah.

George, George?

i think it's gen z's way of unsexifying as many things as possible like kids go get laid

slap some latex on it but like i'm not recommending raw dogging in the in the og sense of the term but please go get laid and stop unsexifying absolutely everything ugh Come on.

Like, is any like looking at people?

I'm just like wondering, well, no wonder wonder no one's getting laid.

We're dressing like we're up all night, cramming for a midterm.

Don't raw dog, but go get laid.

Okay.

All right.

Then did Jeff any comment?

So listen,

I look at the raw dogging flight.

I'll use a Clines with film reference, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Okay.

The good thing about raw dogging is it's meditation and mindfulness.

If that's how you look at it, that's great.

It helps you.

The bad is it's not a great idea to sit, you know, on an airplane and not drink because you get dehydrated on an airplane.

Hello, stroke Kara Swisher.

Right.

Now, I was going to say the ugly is if you do not get up and move around on an airplane.

And some sister I know did that from London to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Hong Kong.

If I recall, you did two flights sequentially.

I did.

And ended up having a stroke as a result of an embolic event because you did not get up on.

the airplane.

So you need to drink and you need to hydrate and you need to move.

And the other thing too is, I mean, listen, I just watched the entire, I think, episode one and two of season two of Dark the last time I flew to Australia and it was the best thing.

You know, it's great.

I was just going to propose another idea to this to you boomers.

Maybe people are just making funny videos too.

They're not actually sitting for flights like that.

You know, maybe they're just making TikToks.

Oh, no, I've seen people do it, Louis.

Oh, no.

I've seen people do it.

They stare at the little

map, the flight icon and stuff like that.

Yeah, the flight icon.

If I remember correctly, if I'm going to dive into the meme archives, is that it came from a modeling paternal figures such as yourself, maybe, Jeffrey, who sit down and just stare at the flight with their khaki shorts with many pockets and older ways.

I think we, if we, listen, like many things, it's just a new idea recycled.

It's, we learned it from you guys.

I don't wear khaki shorts.

I know you don't, but

men of your era.

Men of your era.

Yes.

I used to, maybe.

Exactly.

But metaphorically, you do.

Metaphorically, you wear khaki shorts.

Just please, though,

another general public service announcement.

When you're hydrating, there is no need to carry around a Yeti or a Stanley keg of water.

What the actual hydrogen is.

I have hot and I have hydrogen.

Louis, god damn it.

I didn't have a glass of water until I was 35.

Listen.

And it came out of a garden hose.

Like.

This whole pressure.

Somebody have to have to hydrate it.

I'm going to do it from what?

Louis has so much liquid around him at all times.

It's crazy.

I'm just.

Always, always, always.

But I didn't buy no Stanley.

I didn't buy no Stanley.

I bought a Hydra flask.

I got a Hydra flask years ago.

I stuck with it.

You know what I mean?

He didn't buy no Stanley, but that's his Christmas present.

See that?

That's glass.

You know what, George?

I don't do that because sitting in an operating room for eight hours and if you're drinking a lot, that's a problem.

I know it would be.

But it's not, you're not training for an Iron Man.

A sip of water should be sufficient.

All right, gentlemen, one more quick break.

We'll be back for predictions

for a limited time at mcdonald's get a big mac extra value meal for eight dollars that means two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun and medium fries and a drink we may need to change that jingle prices and participation may vary trip planner by expedia you are made to outdo your holiday

your hammocking

and your pooling.

We were made to help organize the competition.

Expedia, made to travel.

Charlie Sheen is an icon of decadence.

I lit the fuse and my life turns into everything it wasn't supposed to be.

He's going the distance.

He was the highest paid TV star of all time.

When it started to change, it was queer.

He kept saying, no, no, no, I'm in the hospital now, but next week I'll be ready for the show.

Now, Charlie's sober.

He's going to tell you the truth.

How do I present this with any class?

I think we're past that, Charlie.

We're past that, yeah.

Somebody call action.

Yeah.

Aka Charlie Sheen, only on Netflix, September 10th.

Okay, we're back.

Let's hear some predictions.

George first, then Louie, and then Jeff.

I think Kamala is going to wipe the floor with Trump's ass, and I don't think it'll be close.

Oh, all right.

Okay.

What's the number?

Give me a number.

Oh, the like what percentage?

Yeah, just curious.

What's an ass wiping?

What's the number of an ass?

I think it might be close until like mid-October.

And then,

yeah, and then I think, I think the spread will be maybe even a double digit.

Yeah, that's what many people think.

Like flirting with 10.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

All right.

Louie?

Yeah, mine is not that far away.

I think we're about around a corner in this country, just like we did, you know, almost 100 years ago with

a reinvestment in American

infrastructure and society in a real way that the government can help out a lot of people buying helping with like almost like a new deal era you know that's my i think that's a prediction but i think that um if this election really goes the way that george hahn has predicted which i think it will as well um considering that there's been a generational argument for people it's you know it's it's mom and dad in charge now well not now but soon mom and dad not grandma and grandpa so i think that's going to be really nice because especially people like me can have an easier conversation with mom and dad than grandma and grandpa maybe but i think this is going to be a real turning point in america for left or for right for better or for worse um i'm hoping for better but i think this is going to be a real pivotal moment for america i'm leaning positive

uh jeff

so um you know we didn't talk about the whole um ketamine issue with oh right we didn't sorry go ahead no no it's fine because i mean we've i've talked about it a lot i was recently on news nation with uh elizabeth vargas talking about uh the the doctors who were and the other people who are prosecuted are going to be are prosecuted or going to be prosecuted for this i and i think this is matthew perry this is related to matthew perry's death of ketamine matthew Perry's death, right.

And I think that my prediction is we're going to hear a lot more about similar situations with commonly used drugs that I use on a daily basis.

For instance, ketamine is a very common interoperative anesthetic.

Fentanyl is another one.

And so is propofol.

Which killed Michael Jackson.

Which killed Michael.

Which propofol, well, the misuse of it killed Michael Jackson.

And, you know, drowning killed Michael with Matthew Perry.

But I think we're going to hear more and more about drugs.

Like we hear a lot about Ozempic and various other drugs.

I think that the public has gotten very saturated with hearing about drugs and how dangerous they are and various things like that.

And I think that we need to hear more about their actual use so that we don't vilify these substances, but understand that it's not the drugs, it's how they're used and the people that are using them.

Plus, the whole celebrity culture of him being able to get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and nobody said no to him.

And that's a tragedy.

But I mean, I think that, so my prediction is that, you know, we're going to to hear more about this in the future, more about drugs in the future, and about that we have to be really careful about how we filter this news and understand.

If I had a dollar for every patient that came, you know, that I see every day says, oh, you know, propofol, fentanyl, I'm scared of that.

And it's about, it's, you know, we really need to educate the public about that.

So I hammer that message all the time.

My other prediction is Apple 275.

Apple.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

You're new to stockwatch.

275.

275.

Oh, okay.

I'm going to the Apple event in September, September 9th.

I don't know what they're introducing, but I'm going to go out to Appleway, so

I'll tell them you said that.

I don't think I have a prediction, except Scott Galloway will be back and ready to go.

He's dying.

He texts me all the time because he really wants to talk about issues, and there's so many going forward to talk about.

He's going to have a comment on everything.

And we certainly missed him, but you guys did a great job.

That's, you know, I want to wish happy birthday, Scott.

It's a significant birthday, I understand.

Yeah.

And it's not 50.

Yeah, yeah, we know.

Go with it.

It's on the invitation.

We're gonna be wearing kilts.

We are going to say it's 50.

Can I not wear anything under the kilt?

Like go full.

No raw jogging it, George.

You better not.

You better have underwear on.

I'm going to wear a kilt, no, no skibbies, and I'm going to twirl.

Do you know, I'm wearing a kilt.

Amanda's going to wear a dress, but I'm getting fit.

Yeah, we're all getting 50.

The ladies are supposed to wear evening gowns, which I don't know.

Have they met you?

I know.

I've never worn an evening gown in my life.

I don't, I don't think I've ever.

No, you, you, you taught Hillary Clinton about the pantsuit.

The pantsuit.

I did.

I taught her.

I'm talking this week with a style expert about political style, and we're starting with Kamala.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Good, bad.

Very.

I am all here for the tailored Saturday Night Fever suit.

I think it's a great look.

Yeah.

Yeah, she looks good.

She's an attractive.

She's so attracted that Donald Trump is attracted to her.

So we'll see where that goes.

He's so attractive that when people see the both of them on a stage together, it's going to do some things to some decisions.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Let me be clear, Donald Trump, she would never fuck you.

Anyway, and nor will she, because she's going to be the president of the United States.

No, no, she won't fuck him.

She'll fuck him real good come November.

We'll see.

She'll fuck him.

Yeah, that's a good point.

Good point, Louie.

We'll see where that goes.

Well played, sir.

Anyway, we'll see what happens on the interview tonight and everything else.

I hope it'll be a good one.

I think she'll probably be fine.

That's my prediction.

We want to hear from you.

Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind.

Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT.

Okay, that's the show.

We'll be off for Labor Day, but back next Friday with more Pivot and the triumphant return of Scott Galloway and Scott Free August, I declare officially over.

I will read us out.

Thank you, everyone.

Today's show is produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin.

Ernie Enderdott engineered this episode.

Nashot Kirwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio.

Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media.

You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com/slash pod.

We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.

And Clara, congratulations on starting school.