4/30/26: Tim Dillon Rips US On Iran AI Lego Clips, Dave Smith On Trump Humiliation, Ellison Hollywood Merger

26:24But just look here. OK, if we look right now at we're talking about net approvals on inflation, this number should actually be 46 percent, 40 minus 46. And if you look at this, though, even if I raise it a little bit, and I correct my error right here live on air, we're talking about minus 46 points versus minus 49 points. Donald Trump is in worse position on inflation than Jimmy Carter was, when, of course, Carter then got blown out by Ronald Reagan back in 1980. On cost of living country is on the wrong track or right track. Look at this. Among independents, 75 percent. 75 percent say the wrong track.

27:01Just 9 percent say the right track. Look among Republicans. The plurality of Republicans say that the country is on the wrong track when it comes to the cost of living versus just 39 percent, 45 versus 39. Donald Trump has lost every single part of this electorate. And when you take his name out of the equation, you see even the plurality of Republicans say that the country is on the wrong track when it comes to this. Beef prices. We're heading into summer. Just take a look here. Chance that April 2026 versus 2025, the beef prices are 15 percent higher. According to the Calcio prediction market, 75 % people are feeling the pain across different issues, including beef prices, as well as at the gas tank.

27:39Quite something, isn't it, Dave, for the president who was literally elected to try and to get inflation under control, to end up back here. And you know, I was talking about this early in the show. I'm curious for your reaction. I will not forgive Biden. You and I ruthlessly criticized the man over inflation and over his management of the Russia and Ukraine. At the end of the day, he did not invade Ukraine. This time, Trump actually is the sole reason why this entire thing is happening. The actual choice element of it is, I think, why it's starting to reflect in the polls over inflation and over betrayal by so many of the voters.

28:13I'm curious for what you think. Yeah, well, that's I mean, I think that's almost the only explanation that could explain how like I was surprised by that poll because I thought his numbers would be bad. But worse than Biden, when the immediate price inflation was so much worse and same with Jimmy Carter. And I think you hit on it, right? I mean, the idea is that the whole your whole point, the whole thing you ran on was to not get to not focus on on stupid foreign wars and instead to focus on bringing prices down. And of course, as you guys know, I mean, you know, inflation is cumulative. So they brag about how it's down.

28:48But I think it was Michael Malice who first had the joke, but it's just so perfect. But it's like if you gained 100 pounds in a year and then the next year you gain 50 pounds and you go, I've lost weight. And you're like, no, you have not. And for everybody who actually, you know, for regular people, which is the biggest story in America right now, is that regular people can't get by. Like, you know, the guy, the average guy, even like someone who has like a good job, like a plumber or something like that, can't buy a house, you know. And they're paying their grocery bills are more expensive than they were under Joe Biden.

29:21But I will say, because I just, since you played that clip, I really want to take a shot. I don't know that guy's name, but to me, he's a knockoff Steve Kornacki. He's not as good. He doesn't have the mastery of the, you know, say what you will about MSNBC, that Steve Kornacki is the best numbers guy out there, man. I mean, he is just, he's memorized every, anyway, it's incredible. You know, I used to, just on the Kornacki point, I used to co-host a show with him on MSNBC when I first started there. I remember. And his brain is just different. He can, if you give him a date, you can say like January 21st, 1991, and he will tell you what the headlines in the newspaper were.

29:58He can tell you what he had for breakfast. He can remember his day. It's just on another level. I still turn into MSNBC on election day. It's just because Steve Kornacki knows every county in the country. Anyway, this guy should be launched to the front lines. He should literally have, for them running that MAGA 100 % approval. poll nonsense at the beginning of this thing that actually really seemed to, of course, because Donald Trump is Donald Trump, he's brought it up like 15 different times. Like it really seems like that actually pushed him to, and it's on the level, you know, like, as you guys know, the way you could manipulate polls, like, so when Barack Obama first became president, he was very, very popular, had approval ratings in like the 70%.

30:41He had no track record. He was charismatic, great public speaker. We all hated Bush. We were hoping he would be better. By the end of his presidency, his approval was way down from there. Not like Trump's, but it was way down. And imagine someone I just run, but amongst hope and change Democrats, he's still at 100%. Well, yeah, if you put his slogan in front of it, but like what, so they really, in an effort, and you guys have been doing a good job covering this, but there's this like faux opposition by the Democratic and media establishment that's like, oh, we're against this thing, but we're also going to kind of like give you all you need.

31:18This war, if the polls tell us anything, I don't really trust polls. You know, remember during the campaign when it came out that the internal White House polls showed that Joe Biden was going to lose like by this huge landslide, but it's like, wait, so you get real polls, but we get nonsense poll. I don't understand it. It's above my pay grade. That being said, if the polls tell us anything, it's that this is the most unpopular war in American history. Donald Trump's approval ratings are about where George W. Bush's was, were after two disastrous wars and he destroyed the economy. Yeah. And if this thing keeps going bad, Donald Trump's going to be in the 20 percent.

31:54Like this is going to and you're going to see, look, as long as he's trying to overthrow the Iranian regime or as long as there's a chance that he might topple the regime and the war is still going, the Israel lobby will be behind him no matter what. If he stops short of regime collapse, they will turn on him. But what you're going to see in the next few months is the not Israel lobby, just kind of pro Trump pundits, the Stephen Crowder's and Benny Johnson's, those guys, they're going to all start turning on Trump, too, because as soon as they realize that there's just no popularity anymore in defending this, it's all going to go downhill.

32:29hill. So, but these numbers, I mean, if, when you really dig into where he is with independence and, and as you guys said on this, this inflation, which is the biggest issue, I mean, look, people give him credit for securing the border. And I do too. I mean, I think that was a real crisis that is over now, but the number one issue, this is why Democrats are winning on unaffordability. It's all anyway. There's one statistic that defines America more than anything else right now, which is that the average first time home buyer is 40 years old. It doesn't matter if you're left or right or progressive or conservative, you can't run a functioning society that way.

33:05It's sickening. If 25 year olds, 28 year olds, 29 year olds have to get a check from their mom every month or have to live at home or have to, then they're not grownups. They can't go start families. They can't go like there's, as we all know, right? Cause we used to be kids and now we're grownups. there's a thing about like it doesn't matter i'm not saying you have to be in a mansion you got to be supporting yourself in order to like feel good about yourself in order to feel like an adult who's contributing to be in the ownership class where you actually care about society you know how the difference between when you rent a place and when you own a place and all of a sudden when you own a place you're like all right let's let's not freeze any pipes let's make sure this doesn't correct like also the idea of some punk ass kid on my lawn it enrages me Now that you own a lawn, you're like, get the fuck off my lawn.

33:55Like you have no idea. Someone drives a little too fast? Oh, dude, someone drives a little too fast by my house? In a school zone? Oh, my God. I'm hot. You guys would fit in well in my HOA, apparently.

34:10$30 concert tickets are on sale now. It's Summer of Live, presented by Live Nation. $30 tickets to over 4 ,000 shows now through May 5th. Tickets are going fast, so don't miss your chance to see Kesha, Kid Cudi, Luke Bryan, MGK, the Pussycat Dolls, and so many more. Make it a summer of live music. $30 concert tickets this week only. Go to LiveNation.com slash summer of live. Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford, and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, every age?

34:56That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more at MeaningfulBeauty.com.

35:14You're a pro at running your life, at committing to your workout, at showing up every day. At Bombas, we're pros too. Pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to. Running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister-fighting details, and targeted art support. Bombas Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you. Go to bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's bombas.com and use code audio. To your point, Dave. Let me put some of there's this focus group done by The New York Times of Trump voters who are disappointed in Trump.

35:53And it's very interesting, some of the things that they say. First of all, the median voter brain is something I will never be able to fully comprehend. But in any case, put E4 up on the screen. We grabbed a couple of the of the comments from this group. And first of all, you've got in one or two words, finish the sentence. I'm feeling blank about the country these days. Disappointed and sad. Disappointed and hopeful. OK, concerned, worried, anxious, frustrated, annoyed, discouraged, surprised and discouraged, concerned, apathetic, betrayed. And that betrayal really ran through a lot of the responses.

36:26But the next one up on the screen, what grade would you give Donald Trump's second term? One dude gave him a C. Everybody else gave him D was the most dominant answer. And then three people gave him an F. Let's go to the next one here. I think we have one more slide. What word comes to mind when you think about your vote for Trump in 2024? Regret. Is there anything you wish you could tell your 2024 self as you were about to vote in 2024? Think carefully. When people show you who they are, believe them. Don't trust any of them. Argonus, who's the one who said don't trust any, said it exactly. I would repeat it.

37:02Don't trust none of them. If someone's making big claims, they're probably overcompensating for something else. I like that insight. But you do raise a good point about, look, the truism about Trump's base is he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and it wouldn't matter. And it is true that his voter, like his core base, not his voters necessarily, because some of them were independent and had voted for Biden previously, et cetera. But his core base does still support the war, is still with him, will still buy if he comes out with some kind of a victory narrative, even as we're looking at it like this is insane, they will still believe it.

37:41So what makes you think that there will be even among those individuals that there could be some erosion as a result of this catastrophic decision? Well, so like when you as you said at the beginning there, it's like getting inside the voter, the head of like the median voter is a very like it's hard for i think we always got to remember right there's a difference between the median voter and the people who are say watching breaking points oh yeah which we say every day yeah the people who watch your show or watch my show or what they're just they're more invested they're more involved in this five percent of news consumers right yes well look i mean if if joe biden so so when joe biden was forced to decide to pull out of the election right it's because essentially enough people in the Democratic establishment go, he can't win.

38:29Like after that debate performance, we don't think he can win. Yeah, they pulled his money. But if Joe Biden, and he would have lost, probably worse than Kamala Harris if he had run, probably. But Joe Biden still would have gotten 30-something percent, maybe 40 percent of the voters. Yeah, I think he probably would have gotten, if I had to guess, 45. Yeah. Right. So even in the worst case scenario, even when the president is a vegetable, there's still like a huge percentage of people who just, yeah, they vote Democrat or they vote Republican or they, so the question, like the action is always in the coalition.

39:02The act, so the difference between Donald Trump having like 50 % approval ratings as he did a year and a half ago or having 33 % approval, right? Well, that's the whole difference. That's, that's the difference between a blowout loss or winning the popular vote and every single swing state. So he's already destroyed that. Now, you know, I'll just say this because I don't know, I guess, you know, and I've been getting in some arguments with some people about this. Yeah, you know, I'm known to, even some people close to you, Crystal. But listen, I mean, and look, I have really nothing against Kyle or anything like that.

39:39But I do think that, look, it is true. There's always been this criticism of Donald Trump supporters that they're like a cult like following. Yeah, there's no question that there is an element of that with a lot. And then the comment about shooting people on Fifth Avenue, like, yeah, okay. They're essentially we're, we're running that experiment right now and finding out who will stay by him no matter what. But I do have to say just, just my opinion. And maybe I'm not the best guy to sell this message. Cause I did support Donald Trump and vote for him. And I did come on your show before all the others and apologize for that, even though that, that is very, that is very trendy these days.

40:14I was, I was seven or eight months ahead of most people on that. But whatever, I can't really brag. I voted for Donald Trump, and now I'm saying that was a mistake. But I'm just saying Barack Obama ran on peace. He ran on ending the wars. He ran on closing Guantanamo Bay. He ran on restoring habeas corpus. He ran on a million things that he just never did. And not only didn't do them, but expanded the worst of the Bush policies, and himself was even worse than George W. Bush. If you look up the civil war that he kicked off in Syria, the toppling of Gaddafi in Libya, backing the Saudis in Yemen.

40:49Barack Obama killed like a couple million people, just slaughtered innocent people, destroyed all countries, and by the way, surged in Afghanistan and then pulled out of Iraq and then reinvaded the country of Iraq. And how many prominent, how many of the most popular pro-Obama people turned on him in the middle of his presidency, said he ought to be impeached and removed. He's maybe even the antichrist. This guy, not that many, you know, and with Donald Trump, it's been a tsunami. So look, I'm not, I don't think the move, like at the same, I mourned the death of the anti-war left for 15 years.

41:26I was the anti-war left before I got converted to being a libertarian. It broke my heart that they all disappeared under Obama. And when they all came charging back under about gaza i was like let's go they're back like i don't think we need to sit here and get into these arguments of but you supported biden and therefore the genocide is all your responsibility or something like that like look man joe biden and kamala harris deserve to lose a thousand times they deserve to lose a thousand deaths and be launched to the moon and never allowed back on earth for for funding the genocide uh in gaza for their whole last year their administration.

42:02Just totally unforgivable. And Donald Trump deserves the same for all of this. So I think at this point, we're in a really dangerous situation. This war could really spin out of control very easily. And we've never really been in a situation before where there's a war launched and the propaganda apparatus is non-existent. They cannot sell the American people for this. This is why Mark Levin is openly talking about how we got to bring tech censorship back. I know. These guys know they got to shut all of us down. So instead of us sitting here quibbling with each other over who in a forced binary decided this candidate versus that candidate and for what reasons, I think we should just all be opposing this as loud as possible.

42:43And just to say, you know, because people say sometimes to me, they'll be like, oh, so you criticize all the presidents. Who was your favorite president? You don't have one who you give a pass to. And it's like, yeah, they're all war criminals. They're all genocidal maniacs. Why should we set the standards so low? They all get an F. The grade from George W. Bush to Obama to Biden to Trump, every single one of them gets an F. It's just terrible. And I think you do, you know, you do see maybe, yes, there are a percentage of people who will support Trump no matter what, but I think less so than any other president of my lifetime.

43:19I hope so. I hope you're right that we at least see that whenever it comes to war. Dave, as always, we appreciate your time, my friend. Thank you very much. I'll see you at our next smoke session. I got some good stuff. I got some good stuff for us. Don't you worry about that. I think that's what the kids are saying. No, I really can't just just say I really I know I say this every time I'm on, but I really do admire both of you guys so much. This show is phenomenal. I've been watching you guys since rising. And I will say I think I think this war in Iran, I think this has been the best period of your show.

43:49Well, thank you. The entire time I've been watching. I think we feel the same way about that as you do about, you know, being vindicated in your anti-war analysis of like, we would take a lower chart ranking and less YouTube revenue for the world to be more peaceful. But you don't get to pick that. So you take your consolation prize, which is 2 million subscribers and 15 on YouTube is still is really great. And it's really important to get the truth out to as many people as we can. So thank you, guys. Well, thank you. It's one of the things that does give me hope is even with the overwhelming propaganda, you know, on the genocide in Gaza, on, you know, pushing for war in Iran and all of that, that people are seeing the truth.

44:29Now, do we have a democracy worth its salt where that matters too much? That's another question. But that's something to work towards in the future. Dave, good to see you. Thank you so much. Thanks, guys.

44:41$30 concert tickets are on sale now. It's Summer of Live, presented by Live Nation. $30 tickets to over 4 ,000 shows now through May 5th. Tickets are going fast, so don't miss your chance to see Kesha, Kid Cudi, Luke Bryan, MGK, the Pussycat Dolls, and so many more. Make it a Summer of Live music. $30 concert tickets this week only. Go to LiveNation.com slash Summer of Live. Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford, and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, every age?

45:27That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more at MeaningfulBeauty.com

46:09delivery? Problem solved. Shop Grand Appliance. Appliance experts since 1930. Why don't we take a look at another industry in America known as Hollywood with a special guest that we have this morning. We have to talk about the Hollywood merger. We have actor India Moore here with us this morning. They are the star of FX's Pose and one of these signatures, over 4 ,000 signatures, on a petition to prevent or demand the stopping of the merger between Warner Brothers and Paramount. India, welcome to the show. How are you this morning? Thank you. I'm okay. How are you? Okay, good. Thanks for asking.

47:02Okay is understandable and considering the news. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I'm so grateful. We're grateful to have you. Maybe not grateful for this merger, but wanted you to react to the news yesterday that the Warner Brothers shareholders have approved this$81 billion merger to combine Paramount and Warner Brothers. What is your reaction to that? and why did you sign your name on this petition? I think, well, my reaction is that I was really disappointed and heart sunk, but also not surprised. I think that shareholders are prioritizing and are centering their financial interests and not really the interests of the people who ultimately were serving through our art.

47:56I think that it's a difficult sort of dissonance between the artists, the creatives, and the people who have money, you know, the business people. I don't think that their values are not always in alignment with the motivations of the artists of today. And I think that's what makes this merger so difficult. and what are some of the oh go ahead crystal i was just going to ask what are some of the the industry impacts that you're most concerned about here from an artist's creative perspective well i think that i what it seems is that paramount the creatives the the not the creatives excuse me but the executives behind paramount seem to be in political solidarity with the current administration.

48:47And, you know, I think the political agenda of the current administration is really scary. You know, they're prioritizing a sort of homogenous monolith of values and principles that don't fit everyone and that don't include everyone. And I think that, you know, based on what we've seen so much of this, the political landscape that the administration has created is one where they are deciding ultimately who deserves to live and who deserves to die. And I think that it's really, really unfortunate. I don't think that, I think our job as artists is to reflect the times, is to reflect people. is to reflect the truths that people are living and experiencing, and also to innovate, right?

49:49It's also to be really creative in what we imagine for our future, what we imagine for ourselves, for each other. And I think so much of that could be so beautiful, and it can include so many people, and it should, right? But I think that the current administration feels like a betrayal of the American dream, because I think the American dream is ultimately what everybody deserves. It's to live. It's to have a family. It's to be safe. It's to have your country respect you. And they're picking and choosing who gets to be a part of that. And I think that this is what this merger is going to amplify in our works.

50:36You know, I think they're going to continue to amplify the sort of messaging of who gets to be represented and who doesn't. And that should never be up to people whose values are not people, whose values are money, you know. And I think that it's really unfortunate, but it's not a done deal. The fight is not over. And I think that there's a lot that people could remain hopeful for. I think we have to continue to sustain pressure. But I think it's also really important to look at what that pressure is. Is that pressure a screaming, you know, and saying, no, no, this is wrong? Or is it actually bringing context to why this is a devastating decision?

51:23Right. And I think that context that I would hope people are able to amplify and deliver is that the reason why we reflect the experiences of different people is because we live with different people. We share the earth with different people. You know, we share our cities with different people, the land, you know, supermarkets, you know, businesses. and I think that if we're not able to rationalize why it's important to include everybody on a planet that we're all from, that includes everybody, I think we're going to have a lot of difficulty, not just in understanding why a merger is bad, but also in understanding why it's important to love.

52:11I think ultimately, for me, the political question hits a wall at some point. You know, the political question is, it hits a wall when at some point people are like, well, why should I care about issues that I'm not affected by? And that's hard to explain if you don't have love. You know, if love is not something that is a value and something that we're not actually sharing a definition around and exploring what that is. And it's okay that a lot of us struggle with understanding what that means for each other. and what the responsibility love holds us to with one another on a shared planet. But I think that art would not exist without love.

53:01And for you on a concrete level as an artist, let's say this merger does go through and basically all of the entities within this new company become basically political vehicles that are off limits to a huge swath of artists, like what does that take off the table for you as you're thinking about like what projects are possible? And like where are the spaces where, in a world where this is approved and goes through, where are the spaces where freedom of expression can still flourish? Like Netflix, like are they still decent? Like what's the, as artists are thinking like, okay, this would be a cool show.

53:43Let's pitch it to XYZ. like what what are the places left where if you have something that's a little bit i'm not sure i'm not sure what is safe where the safe spaces are um i think we were still on a journey to creating safe spaces for people who have historically been marginalized for who they are before this administration came in you know we were already still on that journey um and so i think the bar has been set a lot lower. And I think, you know, what it means for me is that, you know, it's going to be a lot more difficult for me to work. You know, I've been really vocal about the importance of not fighting with other, not hurting innocent civilians and people, not engaging in irrational wars.

54:40And also the lack of need, that there's no need for this, the kind of war and conflicts that we're seeing right now. And so I think that if people who are also, if people are benefiting from the war, and those same people who are benefiting from the war are also behind the media landscape and who gets to work, then people who are anti-war are going to have a difficult time working. Um, and I think also, um, you know, I, I am a woman of trans experience and I know that a lot of people have different, different opinions or, or beliefs or projections about whether, you know, my expression of the sincerity of my inner witness of myself is true or not, um, as a woman.

55:33And I don't think that I think people deserve to work out for themselves how they are trying to figure out what it means to to understand people. Right. Everybody deserves to have that journey. But I think there's so much more at stake for people who are who are seen as less important or less valuable or just weird because of the way that they exist. and I think that that's becoming such a political issue and it shouldn't be. I think that it's a devastating direction that we've gone in. And my hope is that, I think my hope is that, you know, we will still be able to have the resources and motivation and love to continue to build and create our own foundations for media and storytelling.

56:34I think that that's a really important thing. But I also think it's important for everyone to value everyone's story. I think it's incredibly important for every single person who carries a different experience to also think about other people who carry a different experience and their pursuit to creating spaces for storytelling. because ultimately you know what we want to fight against is this idea that stories get to be told one way and for one kind of people and um i think that when we do take on the responsibility of creating spaces for people um to reflect reality that it's respected you know and um I think like it's really interesting because you can take a snapshot of someone's life and make a movie out of it and then someone will call it political.

57:36But for that person that the snapshot is made of, they're just existing. Right. And so I think that even the language political is really confusing. it's really scary and I think it's been weaponized in a way that has manufactured consent to erase people you see a black person on TV oh that's political it's like we don't want politics and so politics has become a word to codify like trouble or discomfort or chaos and it's really unfair to I think to create a broad I think landscape out of that, when that landscape is made out of just regular people trying to live their life who just exist, who are human.

58:31So I think we have a lot to do in depoliticizing. Sorry. Oh, no, no. I was just going to say that. I was just going to say we have a lot of... Please, Ben. ...in depoliticizing what it means to be alive. and um i think that you know we have to we have to be careful not to define politics by this notion of who gets to live and who deserves not to live because ultimately that's what we're seeing right now and it's it's not it's not good for the future of our humanity for anyone's humanity and i think the people who are who are unaffected the most should care the most you know the people who are affected the most are very angry, are very hurt, are traumatized, are scared, especially when those people don't have resources.

59:20So I think that we need more voices. We need more people who can articulate why this is wrong without having, you know, people who don't, who wouldn't be affected, I think, are really important figures to rationalize why it's important for us to include as many people in everything that is about people. And I wanted to ask about artificial intelligence. My own perspective on this is that there was already, the industry is already overly consolidated and that was already creating some real ideological weaponization might be the right way to put it. But with artificial intelligence, I mean, everything that's getting fed into the AI, the new season of The Comeback is actually really interesting on this.

1:00:05I was curious, Inja, what you're seeing around you. What is the mood of the industry? The letter has so many signatories. You're starting to see this problems with AI consolidation be expressed in some of the art itself. Like I just mentioned the season of the comeback. There's a real, it seems to me from the outside, you really do sense that there's some life left in the artists and the creatives who are pushing back right now. that splashy Hollywood reporter profile of the writer who had been, he's now working as a contractor. He couldn't find work that was published this week, and he's now working as a contractor.

1:00:42It seems like people are really, really, really starting to push back and raise the alarm. Is that your sense? Like, what are you seeing around you on the ground in the L.A. area? I'm not in L.A. In the industry, I guess. Good for you. Yeah. Good choice. Sorry. Yeah. Um, I think people are, I think there's two things that are happening. I think that there are people who just really want to work and who are, um, who are trying to protect themselves by maybe not being too vocal. And I think that there are people who, um, are also who are, who are worried about other people's experience. A lot of people who are worried about other people's experiences, um, who are being vocal, you know, and who are fighting back, you know?

1:01:30So I think that that's really important. Artificial intelligence is just another way. I think it's another way that people are being erased. A lot of the heart of what it means to interface with a person that really exists. You know, where an artist is drawing from something that comes from the force that makes them alive when they're, you know, either writing on paper or performing on screen. And that, it's really scary. We don't know what the invisible connections are between a person that is interfacing with art is. You know, like we don't know what the metaphysical relationship is to the way that we receive art.

1:02:19But I think that if we replace, I mean, like, I don't mean to get woo-woo, but like. No, please. I have a specialist. We're not afraid. Yeah. But like, I think that, you know, it is, it feels spiritually disrespectful to replace art with artificial intelligence. I think that I think a lot of people feel that yeah there's something that feels like it's between what makes us alive what makes us live and the stories that come from that and so I think that it's really I feel really sad and emotional about anything that is taking away from life I don't know I think that life or money life money but those things shouldn't It shouldn't be life or money.

1:03:10It should be life and money, sort of. Yeah, yeah. Well, I am very sympathetic to the woo-woo case. But for people who maybe just treat movies and TV shows as entertainment, I do think there's a ton for anyone to be worried about with this merger because not only is it going to potentially silence interesting stories like the ones that you've mentioned, but there's just going to be less, a lot less movies, TV shows, and jobs. Now, I know a lot of people that work at Paramount, and they talk about how everyone at Paramount is walking around kind of like The Walking Dead, like a zombie. They all kind of know when these mergers hit that there's going to be mass layoffs.

1:03:54And for anyone that's used Netflix over the last five years, you can see sort of the slopification of content. There's just a million shows that look thinner and feel thinner and don't feel like the movies and TV shows that we used to watch. And that comes from sort of a industry consolidation. And of course, this one is a major one. I just wanted to list off some of the consolidation that Larry Ellison and David Ellison would be now owning, if this merger goes through, TikTok, Warner Brothers, Paramount, DC Studios, Discovery Channel, CNN, CBS, HBO, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, Nickelodeon, MTV, Cartoon Network, Food Network, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, Comedy Central, Showtime, TBS, HGTV, among others.

1:04:46So it does seem like there is going to be a lot less for you to watch and what it will be will be worse. is there is there a fear in Hollywood right now it's really upsetting less jobs I I can't I think yes I think um there's a fear for less jobs for everyone outside of Hollywood as well but I just want to say it's extremely frustrating for you know the Ellisons you know and I wish I you know I think that I wish I wish them well in life honestly I really want them to be able to have fruitful lives without destroying other people's. But I think that it's really frustrating. I think I heard the elder Ellison say something to the degree of, there was like a speech or something that he gave to the beat of creating a system of surveillance or some kind of system that ensures that people are well behaved or something like that.

1:05:47I don't know if you remember that. will be on their best behavior. It's really patronizing. It's really condescending. And I think it's really stupid because these are some of the most unbehaved people on the planet. I think that they're supporting people who behave horribly toward other people. So we don't really... When I look at what it means to be well-behaved to them, it's really to be submissive. They're calling our good behavior submission. And, you know, I think that that's really, really, it's terrible. You know, they're turning people into slaves, right? They want to create a new, forgive me for, I don't know if I can find a better language for this, but, you know, if you can't tell the truth about what your experience is, about what you're seeing, if you can't complain about the experience you're having, if you can't protest oppression and hurt, you know, like, or neglect, that's not good behavior.

1:06:59That is, that's oppression. That's slavery, right? So I think that that's an issue and I don't have faith in whatever they're doing. I think that whatever they're doing, it's very dark and it's scary. I also want to say that

1:07:18everyone should be concerned with the advent of ai especially in tv and film but especially most of the people who would be audiences to what we make most of the people who are audiences to tv and film are not are not like business owners they're not entrepreneurs a lot of them are people who work under business owners. They work under entrepreneurs. These are people who do a lot of manual labor. These are people who work very hard to bag our groceries, to scan our groceries when we're checking out in the supermarket. These are people who work in different areas of service, right? And I think that if those people don't speak up, those people are also manufacturing consent for their jobs to be replaced by AI.

1:08:13So this is a really, if we look at TV and film and the consumer base that we have, the people who are made up of the consumer base of media are people who are working hard labor. that is being threatened, and that hard labor is being threatened to be replaced with the same sorts of computer systems that we're seeing generate TV and film content. So the connections are overwhelming. And they are, it's just, there's so, there's just so many reasons why everybody should have an issue with this. And I think a lot of us are tired. I'm tired. I'm tired. We're all tired. And for so many different reasons, you know, like I'm trying to heal from my own, you know, background and history, what I've gone through.

1:09:15And it's exhausting. And like the constant. There's so much fight that we have to do, but I think that we have to evolve the way that we're fighting. Speaking of the fight. We're fighting so that the way that we're fighting doesn't just take away from us, but it also gives to us. And I think that we're not going to win what we're doing if we don't center love. I really believe that. Speaking of the fight, now the shareholders have approved it. Some people are calling on the California attorney general to still block the merger. I guess my final question, if I could get from India, and thank you so much for coming on the show, is do you fear a career reprisal from signing this list?

1:10:00Because this list of people is big, but obviously this could easily turn into a blacklist if you sign this. Oh, for sure, it already is. I mean, I'm already on a blacklist. Okay, cool. I guess. I would hope not, you know, but I think like,

1:10:26I think I think we need we need someone to represent people who care about people who has a lot of power who's behind you know I wish Mark Ruffalo and you know there's a ton of names on the list Robert De Niro has just joined about Polly Hunter or Sophia Kothala. Yeah, like I think a lot of some of these people are still working, right? A lot of these people are still working. A lot of these people have been vocal about the most controversial things and they're still working. And I think that if they are not in solidarity with artists who share the same values, who've given up their visibility, their platforms, their careers to sounding the alarm, you know, in what's happening to humanity not just in these silos that we're referring to industries you know that referring to as industries like but like I think that everybody everybody has like I think all of these people have to I mean I would encourage them um you know Pedro Pascal like you know these are like I I would love for them to advocate more for artists to not be blackballed you know for valuing other people you know um the i i i think that it's just we're we're advocating in silos and i think that if we're not creating more um more solidarity across artistry across talent across industry then it's going to be a lot more difficult to fight to fight back i think to push back against this so i mean that's my message.

1:12:15I think it's intersectional advocacy and solidarity. And I think I hope that people are willing to take up the challenge to do that. Okay, fantastic. Well, India, thank you so much for joining us today. We hope that this merger has a different outcome than what it seems is coming on the horizon. We'll, of course, link to you in our video description. Thank you so much for joining us today. Great to meet you, India. Thank you so much for your work and for amplifying you know what's going on. I really appreciate it. Nice to meet you all. I hope you guys will be back. Thank you guys so much for watching.

1:12:51We appreciate it. We will see you all, oh no, Friday show tomorrow. We'll see you then.

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