β Did you know that we have a Canadian? I'm like, we? She's ours on The White Lotus. Ooh, the Quebecois woman? Charlotte LeBeau. You knew I knew that she was Quebec was actually, no, I just did the character. She's Canadian. She was born in Montreal. She's fabulous on this show. So she's dating one of the characters.
The character is like, Oh, we have our differences. I'm American. She's French. And she is just she's incensed. She's offended. I'm not French. I'm not French. What are you talking about? I'm QuΓ©bΓ©cois. Yeah, she's I'm Canadian. I just love that because it was like a little Canadian moment. And so much more fun because she's actually Canadian. Also, Mademoiselle Lebon. That body. Well done you. Did you see what she wore on the boat? I did see what she wore on the boat.
And there's the shot where she turns around and the sun's coming through and I was just like, good golly Miss Molly. Way to go.
People are whining about the season of White Lotus. Sure, people need something to whine about. But I do believe assigned television times. are giving me life. You mean like an episodic release once a week on Thursdays, on Sundays. I agree.
You watch it, you have to sit with it for the week. You read other critiques. You consider it. And it gives me a little something to look forward to. Yeah. I am a huge fan. I'm a little antsy when I have to wait to watch it. It's like remembering you have chocolate in the cupboard. It's exactly like that. are you watching Severance?
No, I don't like that show. I find it boring. I would love to have written the script. Would have taken me one day. It's one damn page. There's no dialogue whatsoever in that show. Oh God! It's like tonal, monotone sounds and then someone opens a cupboard.
That's the scene! Sorry, do you like Severance? I do. Okay, that's great. I'm really happy for you. It's weird. I used to really struggle in the first season. I would have to pause it and just give it a rest because it was quite triggering in a corporate way. But they also filmed some of the show in Newfoundland. The eighth episode of season two, titled Sweet Vitriol, is filmed in bonavista. unmistakable. You can watch the houses, the style, you're like, that's Newfoundland. Any Canadian knows that's Newfoundland. Yeah, I've never been and I still can tell you what Newfoundland looks like. Absolutely, it's stunning. Actually, I'm going to talk about Newfoundland on this week's episode.
Oh. We're all about Canada today. Made in Canada. With a new prime π minister. π Welcome to your weekly breakdown, the silly and occasionally smart podcast. I'm Emily, a washed up tech exec, mother of two, and I've just got a lot of plates spinning.
. Everything's rocking and rolling, some days I'm like, I can't possibly write another word. I'm just feeling the output, exhaust, I'm feeling the demands. Anyway,
spring's almost here. We got this. We're almost there. You and me both. I'm Caitlin. I am an early to mid late woman curiously connected to Pisces women as my best friends, and married to my guy for 11 years. I'm also a working comedian who needs breaks, too. Every week we get together to chat about cultural conversations in the news.
We make fun of the latest pop culture dramas, judge each other's style and life choices, and rant about life's minor inconveniences.
This podcast is brought to you by Hard Copy, the free comfort newsletter for cozy weekends. You can join the thousands of busy women who already subscribe to enjoy curated recommendations for what to watch, listen to, read, and indulge in, and to stay in the know on all things culture, work, and women. You can grab that at hardcopy.
online. My grandma Glenn, born March 9th. My best friend in high school Jillian, born March 9th. My best friend Kayla, born March 10th. Weird. two of my girlfriends are Sagittarius.
I'm also very drawn to Cancers. Are we compatible via signs? Let's find out. Aquarius and Libra. Oh, we are fellow air signs.
Okay. We share a strong intellectual connection and enjoy a harmonious, mutually supportive relationship built on shared values and a love for intellectual discourse. Oh, this is perfect for us. Guys, astrology is real. This is what we're meant to do forever and ever. Actually, that's really cool.
And it's true. What do you want to talk about today? We were talking about Newfoundland earlier, and I'm very curious about how can we stay within our country right now. I'm not interested in taking big trips to the US, I was looking up girls trip destinations.
Kind of inspired by White Lotus. The three girlfriends go to Thailand together. Yeah, it's not going well. It's not going well, but it's so good. It is so good. Like, It's so, so good. Where are places to go in Canada that aren't just Banff?
Oh, so many good options. So many good. Oh my god, tell me what you discovered. If you want to take a girls getaway. And you don't want to go to Thailand. And you don't want to go to the U. S. There are some great places we can go within Canada. I've never been to Haida Gwaii.
Have you ever been to Haida Gwaii, B. C.? No, but on my list. It's supposed to be beautiful. Great indigenous history there. It used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is the Haida Gwaii Islands. There's old Haida villages you can explore.
There's traditional arts. It's just beautiful. There's a national park. Next one is the Fogo Island in Newfoundland and Labrador. Have you ever heard about this? I feel like there is quite an architectural marvel of a hotel there. Yes, there's a five star hotel there that's supposed to be absolutely beautiful.
And it's not what I think of when I think of. Newfoundland and Labrador is like five star hotels. It's not exactly a place where you're going to go and do a lot of stuff. Gorgeous. It's so funny because we're like, what are you going to do?
And it's I'm going to look at stuff. Yes, and that's enjoy the view. There's a lot of art studios on Fogo Island and beautiful hiking trails. Another one is, cleoquot Sound in British Columbia. It's on Vancouver Island, but it's also a UNESCO reserve site. And I was like, oh, didn't know. that's the island for you.
There's a wilderness lodge that's the hotel they recommend, kayaking, hiking, wildlife watching, just chill with your girlfriends in the woods. I would like to go do that. Do you, have you ever done a girls trip? Yes. Yeah. Yes. Have you done it in Canada? It's been a destination. No, usually in Canada.
We did one a while ago, years ago, I should say, in Montreal, which was so fun. We did one. Another group of girls just on the Sunshine Coast. I say just on the Sunshine Coast, but they're exquisite. Our country is gorgeous. There's so many different terrains and there's so much history. Yeah. It's pretty special.
And I'm in a Canadian mood because we have a new Canadian Prime Minister dun dun Dun. Prime Minister Mark
Carney
is the interim prime minister.
He's taken over for Justin Trudeau for the Liberal Party. Does he have to have an asterisk interim by prime minister? I think so. Until he wins his own election. Yeah. Eventually. It's interesting because the Liberal Party voted Overwhelmingly for Mark Carney against Christopher Freeland.
He got something like 87 percent of the vote. They said about 151, 000 people voted in this liberal election. So he is now our Prime Minister until there is the next election.
He is a Harvard grad. He was head of the Bank of Canada, appointed by Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper was a conservative Prime Minister I think it speaks well to Mark Carney that he has a good relationship with the Conservative Party in that kind of way.
I want neither! You want neither? I want neither! But that's why your vote is not a valentine, right? I love that quote. From Dan Savage, it's the idea where you're not giving your heart to someone.
You're not proclaiming your love to this one person. You're just saying this is the chess move that makes sense right now. So your vote is not saying this is the person I love the most. Your vote is saying this is the direction we need to go in. That's solid advice given today's political climate.
I don't think our listenership is the kind of people that don't vote. I think the people who listen to this podcast do vote. I think they care a lot. Yeah. And our aware of what's going on in the world and want to be more involved. It's interesting what's going on politically within Canada. Sometimes we can't really hear it from the noise that's happening downstairs.
I call the U. S. downstairs. I like that. Yeah. I like that a lot. You were talking about beautiful places. I did bring a couple books and I'm going to use that as my segue. For. That's a gorgeous book. Isn't it beautiful? Oh my God. Isola. Isola. It's a great book from Allegra Goodman. This book had been on my wishlist for a while. It's actually part of Reese's Book Club, which I don't follow Reese's Book Club, and it's probably the only book that I've read that's part of Reese's Book Club.
It is a book to savour. Marguerite is a woman who was once destined for a life of wealth and luxury, but is orphaned and left at the mercy of a volatile guardian. Stripped of her privileged life, She's left to Fight for survival in the harsh elements, discovering a newfound faith in the process.
So it's actually based on the real life experiences of a 16th century heroine. It's a gripping tale of resilience and survival. Just gorgeous. I like reading about struggling women who make the best of it. Anyways, you were talking about Newfoundland. look at this cover.
It's like cliff, ocean. This is the prologue. I still dream of birds. I watch them circle. Dive into rough waves and fly up to the sun. I call to them but hear no answer. Alone I stand on a stone island. I watch for ships and see three coming. Tall ships close enough to hail. I load my musket and shoot it into the air. I see pennants close enough to touch as I run barefoot to the shore.
Love that imagery too. Gorgeous. And then the other one, very different one of my favorite Canadian writers, Scaachi Koul
called Sucker Punch. It is her second book. Her first novel was a best seller, One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter.
Gives you a very solid, that's her. In a nutshell, in this one, Sucker Punch is, again, a group of essays. Not a memoir, but, I think a reflection on a very intense period of time. It's gutting. It's visceral. It's raw. It's cutting. It's, I think, fresh.
I I know I use the word fresh sometimes describe books. But when something just pulls you in and it's a little step off the path that maybe you normally read. Super relatable. Speaking of Reese's Book Club. Yeah. If any of you are listening and know Reese Witherspoon, you have got to tell her. to buy the rights to Elizabeth Ellen's American Thighs. Remember I talked about that book a couple weeks ago? It's fucking fabulous.
And it's super niche. Like clash books who published it is very tiny, and I can't believe this does not have a bigger, broader distribution. This book is. So good, American Thighs, it was one of those ones I had to, I was up until like, 4 a.
m. reading it because it was so good like, you read to your eyes hurt, somebody call Elizabeth Ellen, because this is it, this is her smash. That's what Justin Baldoni did with It Ends With Us, with Colleen Hoover books.
I don't want to talk about him. They don't matter, but. You don't like Justin Baldoni? Are you on Blake Lively's side? Yes. You're a Baldoni girl? No, I'm a neither. I think what they're doing is so fucking annoying.
It doesn't matter if you like them or not, I think if you have an interest in entertainment law, and employment law, it's an interesting lawsuit. Sure, but a lot of her lawsuit is her describing the job of acting as though she's being put out. Oh, so mad. She's I had to go into work and pretend to kiss him.
You're like, acting? He inserted intimate scenes that were not called for in the script. That's not OK. Correct. Yes. That is part of the lawsuit. But also a lot of. What she's complaining about is she's just describing having to be an actor. That, I can't speak to because I'm not an actor. I totally hear you, I know more about employment law than I do about the job of acting.
I think these people are fucking loaded and can figure their shit out. Yeah, I don't know why it's in the news.
Constantly in the news. The Economist had something on Threads, which is like Meta's version of Twitter, I saw this post from The Economist critiquing Megan Sussex's new show. With love. Love Megan. Love Megan, yeah. Which is on Netflix.
Which is a harmless, comfort, watch, Pamela Anderson can do it, why can't Megan do it, etc. Whatever. But The Economist is getting in on the engagement. Because it gets clicks it was just a perfect example for me of how media companies are so desperate for engagement and clicks that they will go way outside their lane or continue to post the same shit. DeMoine the Hollywood Reporter. They will not stop posting about Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Because it is rage bait. Because people are going to click on it. 100%. And that is their job, right? This is to Is it their job? No. It's someone's job. It's someone's job to make sure they're putting out engaging content. But at the same time, those entertainment outlets, yes, they are supposed to report on entertainment, but are they actually, or are they just saying the same shit over and over for clicks?
So I think we're seeing that again, building a media business right now is really interesting. and by interesting, I mean, why am I doing this? Did you hear about the woman who went viral after receiving a note while she was at the airport? No. She was sitting at the airport by herself, sitting at a bar.
Good for her. Yeah, sounds like a dream. Sounds so quiet and peaceful. And this pilot walked by and dropped a note in front of her and kept walking. And the note said I've been all over the world and you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Aww. That's so nice. Now, how many times has that pilot done that?
So many. So many times. Hello, if you have a move, you do it over and over again. And that's why, so this went viral. Because everybody's like, he's done that before. He's done that before. But then also the other conversation that came up was, bullshit, this woman who posted it is an influencer. Did she write it herself?
You guys, no. Maybe. Maybe. Yes. But then I also heard another opinion which was in defense of the woman sitting at the bar alone, which was Leave me alone. Don't drop a note in front of me while I'm having a drink. Fuck off. Don't do that. It was Emma Hunter, who's a comedian here in Canada.
And I really liked her take where she was like, Leave, go away. For what? For who? Now what do I do with this note? Oh, thank you. I'm having a drink. Leave me alone. I don't mind a compliment. I felt the same way where I was like, I also don't mind a compliment that doesn't require a like Interaction.
Interaction. It's not in her face. Yeah. Trying to pick her up. But it spurred a lot of conversation and then now this woman is It was in People magazine. This is a thing. Oh my god, imagine if we cared this much about like literally any policy. But it's so boring. We love to talk about other people's drama. It's why reality TV is so popular. Did she write this herself? Oh my god. But did she? We don't know. Probably. , if you were an influencer and that is your job is to create content. Yeah, absolutely. She wrote that herself.
But also we're sitting here on our podcast talking about it. It worked. It worked. Yeah, good for her. So we're talking about romance here, and like, what's romantic or not.
I stumbled upon this article, Love in the Time of Magga Bros, Why Women are Craving Romance Novels. my first reaction when I read the headline. Which has nothing to do with men. Like why, when we're talking about what women do for pleasure or read for pleasure, we just, again, centered men in the conversation.
Being like, I guess reading romance is a reaction to this shitty dating scene. Folks, women have been reading and writing romance for a lot longer than men have been heading right. Well Said, Emily. But I will take any excuse to Talk about what they call romancey novels, but romance novels and fantasy novels or romance novels and sci-fi novels are different.
Sometimes the genres are blended. Romancey Romance Plus Fantasy are outselling other adult fiction. Is there still a stigma around romance novels? And I thought that was really interesting because when I was a teenager, like the Danielle Steele on the Shopper's Drug Mart counter.
And there was absolutely a stigma. It was like, chick lit, low intelligence, smut. 1. 99 for the book. what is so cool is now there are whole bookstores dedicated to romance novels. They have popped up. Really? Yes. They have popped up multiplied would be the word I would use.
They have multiplied and are thriving. There's a romance bookstore in Harvard Square, technically, it's like where all the intellectuals are Yeah. and it flaunts its existence with a canopy and faux flowers, It is a whole thing. And she I'm beaming right now. I know I'm so happy with what you're telling me. something women enjoy. Why does it need to be so hush hush or like in the back corner of a store?
You know what it's pleasure. And a lot of you have probably read Onyx Storm, books from Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yaros. It's an exciting time for women's fiction and romance novels. Lovestruck is one of the stores. The Ripped Book. Bodice, Love Sweet Arrow, Grump and Sunshine.
There's just so many. Those are great names. They are really good. And you look at book talk and romance books on TikTok, there's over four and a half million posts on TikTok using the hashtag romance books. And a 70 percent increase in posts between 2023 and 2024 is really significant.
Yeah. I don't think there's a lot of shame in it anymore, and I really love that.
If you go into an Airbnb, there's always going to be some sort of romance and that book is going to be well read.
When you see a book that has had like many a page turned and dog eared and the spine has been worked. Yeah. If you know what I mean. Oh, Cait. Reading is meant to be enjoyable, and there are so many different types of books you can read, right? I call romance my palate cleanser, but really it's the type of book I don't have to struggle to get through because I know I'm going to be hooked, I enjoy it.
I love the story. I love the woman's, the protagonist's struggle. God, I love a fantasy man who's like your dream man, who doesn't let you down, but he does let you down, but then he redeems himself. I love that shit. He learns! The book that I wrote that was not very good is a romance novel.
It was very cathartic to write. I think it's nice to fantasize, and that's what books are for. They're supposed to transport you somewhere. So I was excited to read that about, we were talking about romance, I love that. Make me happy. Speaking of romance, have you ever used Dipsy? No, what's that?
It's like a Quinn app. Oh, no. Another one. Dipsy is a spicy audiobooks, let's just say. It's audio erotica. But Dipsy is different from Quinn because it's more plot based. So there's chapters and so sometimes with Quinn, it's shorter erotic stories.
We would call that Efficient. Efficient. For a woman on the go. I really need to integrate that more in my life. , what am I going to do, listen to it in the car? In the car, you'll get arrested. But hey, to each his own, if you can find the time. Yeah, where's the time? Have fun. But I think that's also the point, right?
That's the like, creating a ritual around it, that is also a pleasure that you should integrate in your life. Yeah. I don't do a lot of audiobooks. I find I can't really stay on track with audiobooks, with the exception of an audiobook like Chelsea Handler's I'll Have What She's Having. Did you listen to it?
I did. I just finished reading it last week. I got an audiobook version for that one because it's her reading her book. That's the best. And I really like that. So if you can find the essays that are performed by the writer, I really like those.
It is much better, especially someone like Chelsea Handler, who's, an entertainer, comedian, host. I read her book, and a third of the way through, I went, oh, I should have got the audiobook. Yeah. I struggled through some of the essays, and was like, I need her tone.
It was a great audio listen. I'm a Chelsea Handler fan. fan. I think she's very divisive. And of course I enjoy her crass behavior. I like her. I like her because she's also doing things that really piss people off.
she's outspoken. She's living her own life. She does as she pleases. She's messy, but she's honest about it. You could describe Elon Musk that way. And yet I won't. I saw a bumper sticker that said, A Luigi for an Elon. I second the motion. Is that crazy? No, it's not crazy.
On our way into the studio today, we saw like an XXL version of a Cybertruck and we both booed it. We were like, bleh! And we booed. Boo! Remember we talked about booing? Yeah, we did. We did. Yeah, it got full thumbs down.
I think Luigi's innocent, but you know what, I'm in a conspiracy theory on my way through life, free Luigi! You know who else we should free? now I'm gonna get mad. The nipple. No, this one's for real. Oh. Do you know about Mahmood Khalil? Tell me all about it. This is a real gear shift. We were talking about really fun things and this is not a fun thing. So I'm really sorry everyone, but it's something that we need to know about. Don't apologize. They want to know. Who is Mahmoud Khalil? I'll tell you. He's a a Palestinian activist, born in Syria, has Algerian citizenship.
Is this my boy on Big Ben? Oh, that's another guy. Okay. Sorry. I keep going. A different guy, but he also has an American green card. He's graduated from Columbia's University School of International and Public Affairs and he has led negotiations for the Gaza Solidarity encampment at Columbia in April 2024 and he has faced university disciplinary investigations for his involvement in pro Palestinian protests.
Okay. I remember what Trump said. Trump was like, illegal protesters are out of here. That's just it. So Mahmoud Khalil was arrested on March 8th by ICE.
they say he was arrested, but you're right, there's no charges yet. The DHS claims Khalil was involved in activities aligned with Hamas, citing President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti Semitism.
Yeah. Whoa. Are you dizzy yet? Wow. He is a lawful U. S. permanent resident with a green card, married to a U. S. citizen. By the way, his wife is eight months pregnant, Legal experts, politicians, civil rights groups are all criticizing this arrest or seizure as a violation of the First Amendment, which Donald should read, by the way.
So Khalil's lawyer tried to call and find out where they were keeping him they just hung up on the lawyer. They're like, we're not answering. is he breaking the law or is this, are they, is this an attempt to try to Set an example, like what's the buzz?
I think the buzz is okay. So first of all, you should know that a judge has blocked his deportation. Judge Jesse M. Furman has blocked his deportation to be like, you can't deport this man. He deserves a trial at least, or at least they're trying to figure things out.
What freaked me out was that it, it highlights the increasing government scrutiny of student activism. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's a case for the future of free speech.
that's what scares me. Yeah, the idea that what we see as a peaceful protest is can be perceived by someone else and called an illegal protest or just apprehending. Outspoken people. Hello. Heaven forbid you speak against a government.
Oh no. Is Columbia University going to take a stance and protect him? Is, and no they won't is the answer. But should they take a stance in defense of their students? What is the responsibility of the university? It's a national security action on one man that was organizing a protest that was a pro Palestinian protest you know what I said before, I was like, is it because of anti Semitism?
Is it free speech? Is it protesting? What is wrong? But also, this is highlighting how many demonstrations are expected around the U.
S., which then makes people afraid to protest. I thought you were talking about the gentleman with the Palestinian flag who climbed London's Big Ben Tower and refused to come down. 16 hours.
Traffic around the Palace of Westminster in London came to a standstill a couple weeks ago as emergency crews tried to reach a man who climbed the Big Ben Tower holding a Palestinian flag. Negotiators were lifted up on a fire brigade ladder. platform several times before eventually talking him down.
The barefoot man who was staging a protest on a ledge several meters up Elizabeth Tower which houses Big Ben stepped off the building and onto a cherry picker after a long conversation with negotiators.
Daniel Day is the man accused of climbing Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower. Okay, he is, I love headlines. He's not accused, guys. He fucking did it. Hey man i love a protest I'm surprised I didn't hear about that this is the thing though there is so much, it's a firehose of noise. So how do you even figure out what to truly consider or investigate more deeply?
This is the state of our world right now. That's why we should leave the world and go to space.
I have a lot of people in my life who are down for this, and I am not. I'm good here. I don't want to go to space, but they're growing wine on the moon, so I'm pumped. Excuse me? When are we going? Exactly. How much do I have to pay to go? No, I'm just kidding.
I like our wine here. I like our wine here, but our wine here is struggling because of You can't get those big, bold reds from the States anymore. liquor stores in Canada are Oh my god, Americans didn't believe that we would pull their liquor off the shelves. I'm so sorry gang, but when we say we're going to do something, we do it.
Yeah, Canadians aren't passive aggressive. We're petty as fuck. We're direct aggressive. No bourbon. Nothing like that. No big reds. Maybe growing wine on the moon isn't a bad idea. Why are we growing wine on the moon?
So in 2019 Space Cargo Unlimited, great name, guys, sent 320 vine canes, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon varieties, to the International Space Station. After spending over a year in these factories in space, they've done these studies finding that the space exposed vines exhibited increased resistance to diseases, such as mildew.
And phylorexia, which makes sense because there's no oxygen. Additionally, genetic analysis revealed changes in gene expression related to metabolism and defense responses, suggesting that potential adaptations of these vines could be beneficial in combating climate related stresses. on earth. So even if the world is burning, we can still have a nice glass of wine.
That's basically what I took. So what you're saying is the world will not be able to grow wine at one point. So we better send it to the moon. But if we can't grow wine here, then what else is happening here? The world is ending. Let's pop open. Stop shooting unhopeful news. We're going to take our hopeful news where we'll get it.
I, it was hopeful news until they're like, to the point where we'll be combating climate related stresses on earth. And you're like, Oh yeah, that part. That part. That's why we're sending wine to the moon. Have you watched paradise. No.
Okay. So you know how handmaid's tale is like a bit triggering and it's a little yeah, a bit. So there's a show out on. Hulu slash Disney called Paradise. Huh with Sterling K. Brown and it's About this the U. S. government that's like very small group of people who basically go into a bunker as the world is ending and there's like nuclear war and shit.
It's so alarming and triggering I watched one episode and was like, this is a great show and I will not be participating in watching it any further. But I do recommend it if you like that kind of sci fi, post apocalyptic. Television. Sure. And Sterling K.
Brown is great. Also James Marsden. Oh, I've loved him forever. Same. That face. He can do no wrong. He does comedy so well. He does drama so well. Those lips. Oh my god, those eyes. It's rare. That hair. I think, excuse me, I need to open an app. Excuse us. I wonder if he's on Quinn at all.
He would be a good get for Quinn. He was in Dead to Me. And then The Jury. Playing himself. So good! .
He's had a nice little comeback. Emily, you were talking about His lips? Yeah, no. What you said before that. God, I'd like to be kissed. The idea of going into a bunker? Yeah. Did you ever hear about the hidden city of Derinkuyu? It's in Turkey. It's an underground city that housed almost 20, 000 people.
This has to be what the show was based on. But this was like, in 7th or 8th century B. C. What were they hiding from? Bad things. Literally everyone was just killing each other at that point. Yeah, it was a multi level underground city that sheltered over 20, 000 people.
That's literally the plot of Paradise. Yeah, and it remains one of the most impressive feats of ancient engineering. I wanna go. It was carved out of soft volcanic rock that hardened over time. So cool. Isn't that cool? It's believed to have been built in stages, but with the earliest construction possibly dating back to the 8th or 7th century B.
C. E. the engineering feat alone is astounding, let alone it being 800 B. C. Yeah, around the Byzantine era as well. Unreal. It was 18 levels deep. There were living quarters like kitchens, schools, chapels, and even a winery. There was a complex ventilation system too with over 50 air shafts.
I knew. There were massive stone doors, some were up to a thousand pounds, and they were used to seal off tunnels from invaders. There was traps, hidden passageways. . It's important to remember when people go this is the worst time ever, you're like, you've no fucking idea.
Tove it to the Byzantine era. Yeah. So get this. This was only, though, discovered in 1963.. Do you want to know how it was found or discovered? Yes. A man was renovating his home when he broke through a wall and discovered a passageway leading into the ancient city.
why hasn't Disney bought the rights to this man's story? Is that not nuts? Cool. It's a great example of human ingenuity and also stupidity. What do you mean? We had no idea it was there! okay, so he found, he's doing renovations in his home, 1963, goes through a wall, he's I really would love a solarium here. I don't know what he was doing. Finds this hidden Passageway. You would think you were high as a kite. Yeah. You'd be like, what kind of bathrooms were those?
And since 1963, more than 200 underground cities have been discovered in Cappadocia. We gotta go. Isn't that crazy? Holy shit. Speaking of post apocalyptic, saw this headline you knew I was going to click it.
So the LA Times replaced me with an AI that defends the KKK. Brian Merchant is one of my favorite writers on the topic of technology. He has a newsletter called Blood in the Machine. And it is one of my favorite individual contributors and individual writers. used to work at the LA Times. This is my favorite. So the LA Times right now is laying off and buying out staff. This is happening around the industry like crazy.
What do you mean buying out staff? Offering a severance package. Okay, yeah. Yeah, like being like, we'll give you this if you leave. And at the same time, introducing what Brian calls highly dubious AI tools.
My former employer got into some more hot water this week when its new AI tool came to the defense of, I shit you not, the Ku Klux Klan. AI feature called Insights is, for some reason, designed to evaluate the political orientation of opinion articles and then artificially generate countervailing points for the reader's consumption.
So in theory, I do like, you know, that someone's opinion in here are the counterpoints, as Brian Merchant's former boss the LA Times owner Patrick Soon Shiong explained in his introduction to the feature, Insights, offers an annotated summary of the ideas expressed in the piece, along with different views on the topic from a variety of sources.
Guys, this is it's a great idea, but you can imagine given the slop of internet and like the content that the whole internet, the interwebs contains, where this could cause problems. So in this case, the A. I. responded to a piece by Brian's former columnist colleague Gustavo Arellano, which argued that his hometown of Anaheim shouldn't forget the KKK's reign of terror there. The AI Insight then informed readers that, actually, it well actually'd the reader. As the New York Times Ryan Mack pointed out.
The Klan may simply have been responding to societal changers rather than explicitly hate driven movement, which is an objectively insane thing to say about one of history's most obviously hate driven movements. Media organization has been firing, laying off its writers because it's not making money anymore because the media landscape has changed and instead it's replacing it with AI and the AI hype, stop buying the AI hype guys, There are some really cool things happening with AI, but in general, it doesn't think it pulls from existing resources.
This is just my favorite example. The fact that this AI bot was like, the KKK was maybe just responding to cultural shifts when Brian first heard about the project, he said he rolled his eyes.
There's a lot going on. It seems quite dumb. . Investors will put their money in AI right now because it's the big hype thing. Brian was like, okay it's just like an innovation nobody asked for.
It's output presents the tool as an authority over subjects including political ideology. It's like, this AI chat bot knows the answer, that this answer is correct, when in fact it often is incorrect. Yeah, it reason that's important is the week before this happened, the Times accepted the buyouts of 48 journalists and staffers, which is super sad.
This is a year after the layoffs hit 120 journalists. or so people, including this guy who's writing about a Bryant merchant. And then the AI tools tend to get injected then and it's really, it's bleak guys. BuzzFeed announced to be using AI to create content, games and quizzes around the same time that the CEO laid off the entire news division.
So in a time when media literacy Needs a real boost. We're also removing human writers, people, we're removing people from these roles, and replacing it with very imperfect technology. It is a recipe for a clusterfuck, we're gonna see that, who better to be in charge in the states than the master of clusterfuck himself.
We've talked about it before, I think there should have to be a disclaimer on things that are AI generated. When I do a call for submissions for the Hard Copy blog, you would be surprised at the number of people that were like, submitting AI generated work and you can, I can tell, I have my ways.
the number of people who asked, are you open to AI generated stuff? And I was like, no. I just can't believe that someone would ask you so blatantly to be like, would you be cool with AI work?
it would be ignorant of me and of us to assume that people aren't using technology and tools to increase their own capacity. To work. Have you seen the working conditions out there? Speaking of work,
Ever wonder what happened to the girlboss? The Girl Boss Has Evolved.
She's Grown Up to Become the Non Profit Boss. You May Have Even Met One. They Assure Employees That They're All Family While Simultaneously Denying Time Off Requests. You guys, this is the funniest articles on PopSugar of all places by a writer, Emma Glassman Hughes. says the girl boss grew up into the non profit boss and she's still just as toxic.
There's a woman Nicole Daniels. She does this character on social media. hilarious. Each of Daniel's non profit boss character videos follow a super similar formula.
A tight shot of Daniel's with a vibrantly patterned scarf knotted around her neck and a separate, differently patterned scarf hanging loose over her grey cardigan. She's usually snacking noisily on something plucked from the specialty aisle at Whole Foods, like popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast, sheets of dried nori, plantain chips, or a full tin of sardines.
She looks into the camera and coos directly at you, her employee, who's been called in for a private meeting to discuss the importance of The mission, how to hold space, and oh yeah, why you won't be getting time off you requested for your grandmother's funeral. Sad face. I will link to the video in the show notes because I will never do it justice, but I will read to you what she says. This is the kind of boss we have now. It's like a toxic positivity, the toxic soft positivity. She says. Nicole Lee, I hope it's okay I call you that, she begins. It's the day after devastating wildfires knocked out electricity in the L. A. office, and she tells you in soothing tones that while her heart is just so heavy right now, she also sees that you're working from home.
She says there are a bunch of candles and an air purifier making the air in the office feel really safe and super cozy, even though there's no electricity. I think I'm just wondering, Just to take a temperature check, if that's not too insensitive. Are you planning on coming in later?
Will you be in the office tomorrow? Either way, zero pressure from me, right? Do what's safest for you. She says, nodding up and down like a very understanding bobblehead. I think that I'll just offer you at this really chEllenging time, Is this idea about fires, she continues, they burn bright and they burn strong and that should be how you feel about the mission.
The choice to come into work is a way to say the mission matters more than me. It's really funny, it's very accurate. And it's yeah, it's a really slimy thing. One of the slimiest elements of this non profit bossery is that they prey on employees innate desire to feel like a part of a community, which is something we've discussed before that we're, really missing out on right now.
You wouldn't betray your community and family by not showing up them in their time of need, right? But work always fucking needs you. So it's a really. interesting kind of new boss persona that's actually really toxic. In the past it was all the like she EOs and all the like girl bosses in our suits.
the nonprofit boss has a gentle approachable and very maternal communication style, but it's a guys to distract the many different ways she's trying to squeeze the most out of her employees. Yeah. What a tricky thing too, because it's easy to believe in a cause if you don't believe in yourself, right?
If there's times we struggle with our own self worth, you can believe in something bigger than yourself sometimes, but they're taking advantage of it. , we've talked about this, I miss working, but I don't miss corporate. No. I don't miss that shit. Fair. And I wasn't a great boss all the time, like I did my best, but I definitely struggled as a new manager with no training, the only types of books I used to read were, like, how to be a better leader books. Fun. No.
Probably because you were trying to get ahead and get some sort of equal pay. Sorry, that was a joke. You know what's crazy, did you find International Women's Day celebrations a little limp this year? A little? Yeah, there was nothing, eh? And I felt limp about it. I was like, yeah, I reached out to the women in my family and to my girlfriends and I just said, I love you.
We did a, a real bitchy text back and forth. I had to say to Chris, I was like, so do you want to wish me something?
Didn't even think about it. Oh, yeah. Happy Women's Day. I was like, oh, my partner wouldn't even know. It was very limp. Very disheartening. I sent a group chat to my husband, my brother in law, my mother in law my brother in law's girlfriend, myself it's my like, in law family, right?
Saying, to the women of this family, I love you so much, you are strong and kind and thoughtful and beautiful, so proud to, be, be amongst you. Anybody reply? Yeah, the other women. And then my brother in law. And I said to Chris, I was like hey, what a great opportunity that I've given you to chime in.
Isn't that funny? I wasn't disappointed. I was more like, pfft. I was I was resigned, I was neutralized. I wasn't surprised, I wasn't disappointed, I was more just like, oh yeah. Ambivalent. we have made a lot of progress over decades. It feels as though some of that's being rolled back. And even after all the fighting, even after all of the work that so many women do, after all the screaming and shouting, and after all the policy changes, and after like, the foundational work, we still don't have equal pay.
No, we don't. And that's going to affect women as we get older, because we also live longer, which means we're retiring with less money. Oh, yeah, we're fucked. I'm never retiring. I don't make any money right now, so I'm definitely never retiring.
I can never retire, but also we could never retire too because the Gender pay gap exists. So you're gonna list out all, oh, this is a little depressing. Ready for it? Okay. This is why women can't ever retire. So women in Canada continue to earn less than their male counterparts, so that obviously affects our ability to save, to invest.
There's career interruptions, right? Moms more likely to take career breaks for caregiving responsibilities, such as raising children or caring for elderly family members. Those interruptions lead to a cumulative earning that we're not getting right.
You miss out on that time. You're missing out on that money. Also, you're missing out on the ability to grow in your career. There's a slower progression into what you can be in your job, in your role. Then there's The thing of more women are likely to engage in part time work. It makes sense, yep.
Because they're trying to balance work life, family obligations, and typically part time jobs don't get the same benefits as full time jobs. Nope. Studies have also suggested that women may adopt more conservative investment strategies compared to men. She has less wiggle room to be risky.
That's right. And then there's the kicker, which you think is good, but it's the fact that we generally live longer than men, which means we need more substantial retirement savings to cover those extended periods. And then also there's the pink tax. So we pay more for things as women for the things we need.
We joked before that I'm never going to retire, but then you think about that, you're like I don't think of the pay gap long term, I think of it now, in my mind, I think about it now, what I can make now is not as much, and I wasn't thinking about it long term. Oh yeah, the cumulative, the math on the decades more of this.
Yeah. It just opened my eyes and I was like, okay, so then what can I do to change that? Men on the right would you're seeing more and more of them wanting women to embrace more traditional roles. That's right. There was a study that just came out, I'll link to it in the show notes.
There is a significant increase in the number of Republican men. and women, who believe women should embrace more traditional roles. Instead of planning your own retirement, Caitlin, you should just marry someone rich and depend fully on them and give up all your autonomy and independence. Okay. That sounds like a great plan.
That sounds like something you and I would totally do. Also, it doesn't sound like that could go wrong at all. Oh. Yeah. So then what can we do? We could become more financially literate. I agree. Let's take some financial education programs to empower us as women to make informed investment decisions.
Let's adopt more strategies that promote wealth accumulation. Let's learn about that. I don't even know where I would start, so I would take a course. Let's also encourage and support women's entry into higher paying, traditionally male dominated industries. Lol. They'll never allow it! it! Ha ha ha Ha! Ha ha ha Ha!
Ha ha ha Everybody's cracking up in the studio. That's a fun one, that's a fun one. We should have more support for caregivers. That's a big thing. It's going to be even bigger as well. As our parents are going to live longer, they are probably going to also need more years of care.
The notion of a pension credit was, it was interesting. So if you do have to take time away from your job to care for a family, have to be a caregiver in any capacity, The idea of offering a pension credit during these periods of absence from work but then also let's look into some pay equity legislation, let's talk about protests let's show up and implement and enforce pay equity.
But didn't we fucking do that? And it didn't change. What do you mean we did that? Oh, there's been legislation passed. Yes. And people have been shouting and protesting, and we've been talking about this forever. And we still don't have pay equity. Keep making noise, keep fighting, we can't stop. And to the people who listen to this podcast, I think we're in good company.
But I think everybody's tired. I know, We're always gonna be tired. What are you gonna do? Although I am tired. π Do you want funny news? Let's switch gears. I like funny news. Oh god, this is so got this headline She's rubbing her face, her neck, she's turning red, she's turning pink, she's cringing, I'm, this is a good lead up.
This is exactly the kind of Canada that I'm like, yeah. This is a very Canadian podcast today, I'm a big fan. Me too. Fort McMurray man's penis freezes to ground in viral arrest. Of course I'm gonna click on that! This is sent to me by my friend Nils, who lives in Fort Mac under the context of like, I don't know, Fort Mac seems like a great place to live.
This guy goes viral because he was in Fort Mac where It's cold. I think it's minus 20 degrees Celsius. So he got into a bar brawl, started fighting at a bar, and the police came, and as he was leaving the bar, the police were like, Okay, cool it, buddy. And he put up a little bit of a fight.
So the police had to arrest him. In arresting him, he fought back a little bit, so they put him on the ground. And then he wiggled a little bit more. And he claims the cops took his pants off. the like, melee of trying to arrest him, his shorts came off, his undershorts came off, and his pants slid down.
And his penis was exposed to the ground. And the ground was cold. During the arrest, Mr. McPhee's pants and underwear slid off as he was tackled. Weather reports show that the temperatures that night in Fort McMurray were around minus 20. And his penis suddenly became frozen to the pavement.
Emergency workers were able to free his frozen penis, don't worry. The internet Had a blast with that. Read me comments. Try havin a dick and gettin her frozen frickin solid to the ground and we'll see how small that shit gets. That's a quote. That's somebody from the East Coast.
Yeah, for fuckin Shuri. This is what the guy said, the guy who had his penis frozen. He goes I still don't understand why it was necessary to rip my fucking drawers clean off while I'm being arrested with three cops and two security dicks on me, but that's okay, he wrote. He goes, He goes, gone are the days a feller can get his wiener frozen fucking solid to the ground without it going viral, hey? Gone are the days, my friend.
So there must be body cams from the cops? It's body cam footage from the cops, yeah. And then it was released. And he must be just like screaming bloody murder that his dick is frozen to the ground. Yeah. They were trying to pull him off. And at first he has to be like wait. And they're like, nice try, buddy.
I'm literally picturing the Dumb and Dumber scene where they lick the pole, but his dick is literally, yes, it's body cam footage, but then it's also just like someone outside the bar being like, So it's just a guy getting beat to the ground and he's shrieking like a girl because his dick's frozen.
He McPhee, the man whose penis was frozen, was freed. He's okay. He used to be a boxer. He used to be a top boxer in 2017. Oh my god, is he gonna be like the Hawk Tua girl?
I think McPhee's a nice guy. Because, you know what, he ended the post with Sorry, Ma. Oh, you're such a sucker. No, but the idea that he like He had to acknowledge this. He went viral because his penis got frozen to the ground and he ended with like I'm glad I can be some entertainment and back to making headlines.
Anyways, sorry ma. And also, you know you're saying the stupid things people do?
I, like I'm one of them. I, I too would lick a pole. I think I would. If I had a penis, I might put it on, I might, Oh, for sure. I might do things with it. I would get up to no good if I had a penis. I remember in high school, there was this one guy he had a huge penis, and he would use it to swing the locker doors closed.
And I I get why a stupid boy would do that. It was on, it was too much yeah, I think we would get up to no good if we were boys. If we had penises, I'd be up to no good. I would pee everywhere.
I'd pee everywhere. I'd never have a UTI. What would you do if you were a boy? If I was a boy, I'd go into politics. If I was a boy, I'd retire π early.
Japanese researchers are doing drug tests, or tests, to regrow teeth. I can't. That gives me a little heebie jeebie.
So they're doing drug tests to see if you can regrow teeth? They are regrowing teeth. That's gross. that's substance energy. That's Demi Moore in the substance energy. Yeah, they're regrowing the teeth to help with people who have like dormant tooth buds. Okay, I get, you can cut your arm off and I'd be like, I got this.
But pull a tooth? My, every time my kids would lose a tooth, I'm just like, I don't know what it is So they're trying to find a way to regrow new teeth and reduce the reliance on dentures or implants. Why they work great,
you guys, we're going to start to regrow limbs. I cannot. Oh, my uncle was a genetic scientist and he would do this thing with fruit flies where he was cloning fruit flies with limbs without limbs as a way of manipulating. Like the fetus so that if there was a baby in utero that had one leg missing that they could somehow alter the genetics to grow another leg. That's insane. That's crazy. It will save so much down the road if it's something like a heart valve. But with every good thing there comes a way to um, exploit it. And I know already Elon who's a trans woman, at birth was male. Is alleging that, yeah he disowned her and dead names her because he paid for her to be a boy. It's disgusting how much he didn't get what he paid for. he uses gene selective IVF so that's why he won't acknowledge her. That's what she alleges, yeah.
Vivian Jenna Wilson, who is Elon's daughter, said that her father Elon Musk used sex selective IVF to conceive her, and that's part of the reason why he's so anti trans. she says, my assigned sex at birth was a commodity that was bought and paid for.
So she's implied that her father Elon Musk has used sex selective IVF. Many of the billionaire's 14 children were conceived via IVF. His ex wife, Justine Wilson, had his first six children, five of which were conceived via IVF. All of them were assigned male at birth, though Vivian later came out as transgender.
Elon has three children with Grimes. Neuralink executive Sivan, that's his staff Sivan Zillis has four children with Musk, now Vivian and Elon are estranged she said that expectation of masculinity that I had to rebel against all my life was a monetary transaction. A monetary transaction, she continued. How the fuck is that legal? Crazy. Yeah. Anyway, science? Equal bad guy, Elon Musk's dad Errol Musk.
Oh my god. Vile. Vile human. He was like, any woman with a slight brain would be mad to say no to Elon wanting to impregnate her. Blech. How about that for a little bit of protest? What can women do? Don't let him in you. Technically they're not. No, his sperm. Don't let his sperm in you. I don't want to think about Elon's sperm.
I bet you it's too liquidy. It's gross and awful, and I don't want to see his dick, and I don't want to know. I don't either. I hope it sticks to the frozen ground. Also, don't forget guys, genetics don't come with all the work that someone has done, like hair implants, Botox, chin implants filler, hair plugs. So remember!
The genes are real. You can't fight those. If you're my kid, you're gonna be an asshole. But π smart. There is something happening between the ages of 37 and 42 it was the Issa Rae thing. She just said that she's seeing women, and she doesn't want to call it a midlife crisis because that's really limiting her longevity, but the idea that between the ages of 37 and 42, she's seeing a lot of her female friends having a massive pivot moment.
Yeah, really questioning their career. called it the instinct to blow up your life. I definitely feel that. You're right at the end of that. Yeah. Did you blow up your life in the last five years? I, every day.
I love hearing when people say yeah, something different. I blew it up. There's a really popular podcast called the Second Life Pod, and it's about women who've are on their second careers. But I do love that idea of like reinvention and just reminding people that the way it is is not the way it has to be.
I literally have to remind myself of that every day. It won't always be this way. I'm in control. I can change this, this, this, and this. This isn't what's in my control. This is what's not in my control.
I'd say a little midlife crisis y. Sure.
It's that you go huh, really in it now, huh? Really in it now, someone I respect said you have to live within the confines of the decisions you've made.
I agree in part. There are some decisions you've made, like having children. You're not gonna get out of that one. Yeah. Everything else though, you can change. You can Get married, get a divorce, you can move, you can quit, upsize, downsize, you can start going to the gym, you can quit your job, you can try something new, you can start a new hobby, you have the capacity to push what those confines are.
I don't think there's many confines of, that I have to live within. You like take back a little bit of that power. You are not a fucking helpless person. Yeah. Mae Martin who I know, they're a very funny stand up TV creator, they wrote the show Feel Good, which is on BBC. They're a stand up comedian, they have a new show coming out on Netflix. May just came out with an album. Like a musical album. What we were talking about. The idea of can you pivot? May is 37. And They wrote an album and now they're going on tour and it's very different from doing comedy or television and it's cool to see an artist do something that makes them very uncomfortable that is very vulnerable have a brand new album and it's great.
I'm a big fan of May. I love their album. I can't wait to listen. I'll put the link in the pod. It's called I'm a TV. Also, May is Canadian. It's a very Canadian episode. It is a very Canadian episode. Should we wrap her up? Much like Elon Musk π should.
π Alright, friends. We are done here for this week. Please click subscribe or follow or whatever the little button says so that you don't miss the weekly episode. We'd love it if you'd rate and review the podcast so that other people like you can find the podcast more easily. Better yet, busy woman, send this to her.
We absolutely love being here with all of you and we are so frickin happy to hang out with you on Spotify or wherever else you listen to your podcasts.
Both
Bye π bye! bye! bye!