Billionaires, the Met Gala, and the Fight for American Democracy

This episode moves fast — from Ted Turner’s passing to the bigger question underneath it: what does billionaire culture say about who we are and what we value. We talk honestly about how extreme wealth doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it’s built on systems that keep wages low, avoid taxes, and reward the people at the top for doing the least. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez come up, not because of the gossip, but because the display of wealth feels especially tone‑deaf in a moment when so many people are struggling.

We get into the Met Gala — the spectacle, the money it raises, and the growing list of people choosing not to show up. Meryl Streep, Zendaya, even elected officials like Zohran Mamdani. It says something when the culture machine keeps spinning but more people are stepping off the ride.

From there, we widen the lens: capitalism’s excesses, Delta cutting snacks while pulling in $63.4 billion, CEO pay exploding, subscription fatigue hitting everyone. Gas prices spike again because of the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz — a reminder that global conflict always lands hardest on regular people.

Politically, we talk about the real threats to democracy: redistricting used as a weapon, the Supreme Court’s unchecked power, and federal judge nominees who can’t even say out loud that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. These aren’t small things. They’re signals. And they matter.

We also look at the nearly 95,000 science‑related federal jobs lost across agencies like NIH, FDA, and NASA — and how anti‑science rhetoric shows up in real‑world consequences, including the return of measles. It’s all connected.

And because we always end with something human, we close with a moment of joy — Barack Obama on Stephen Colbert — a reminder that even in the chaos, there are still things that make us smile.

If this episode brought you a little joy, consider liking, subscribing, or sharing it with someone who might need it. 

We appreciate it so much. And remember, at the end of the day, it really is ALL ABOUT THE JOY!  

Thank you for stopping by.  Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share.  

You can now watch the livestream version of the show on YouTube at @CarmenLezeth 

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Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth


DISCLAIMER:  As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast.  Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance. 

Transcript

[00:10:00] Carmen Lezeth: because what ends up happening usually, Billy, is we end up like having-- and we get into the conversation, and then, like, I've lost the best parts. You know what I mean?

[00:10:07] Billy: All right. All right.

[00:10:09] Carmen Lezeth: you doing?

[00:10:10] Billy: Very good. How are you?

[00:10:11] Carmen Lezeth: Good. 

[00:10:11] did yoga go well?

[00:10:13] Billy: Yeah, it was great.

[00:10:16] Carmen Lezeth: am I supposed to call you William? 'Cause I'm feeling bad now.

[00:10:19] Billy: No, you can call me Billy. I

[00:10:21] Carmen Lezeth: I know we...

[00:10:21] Billy: William aka Billy.

[00:10:23] Carmen Lezeth: Well, it doesn't matter because I'll change it on the other side, but I mean, I, I can change... Like, anyways, it doesn't download here anyways. Okay. Welcome everyone to All About the Joy Culture and Consequence.

[00:10:33] Billy's in the house. we have a lot to talk about, but did you wanna start with something?

[00:10:40] Billy: You know, I... There's always so, so many things we can start with. although, the most current thing is that, Ted Turner just died.

[00:10:49] Carmen Lezeth: Oh, right, he just died this morning.

[00:10:51] Billy: just died this morning at eighty-seven. So I think, you know, as the founder of CNN, um, and the first, uh, you know, twenty-four-hour news channel, I guess he was the first one to, to do that.

[00:11:06] Uh, y- I think we have to give a shout-out to him. Plus, he was married to, um, our friend Jane Fonda, and, he's done a lot of, a lot of work with the United Nations and, he's, I think, one of the better billionaires that we've come across. So we could s- we could start with him, and then we could certainly work our way over to, if you'd like to get started right with the Met Gala and discuss any of that.

[00:11:35] Carmen Lezeth: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I just wanna, I just wanna preface something. Well, I mean, I don't know what else to say about Ted Turner. I, I honestly don't know what else to say, but you mentioned, um, one of the better billionaires. I, I have to tell you, I'm kinda done. I'm, I'm, I'm done with all billionaires.

[00:11:53] Like, being a billionaire should now be, like, a horrible thing. It should just be... It should, it should have always been a horrible thing.

[00:12:01] Billy: Yes,

[00:12:02] Carmen Lezeth: because as I've said a million times, you cannot become a billionaire without somehow finagling the system in order to not pay taxes, not... You know what I mean? Like there's...

[00:12:14] Y- you cannot work enough days in life, manual labor or in, like intellectual labor. You're, you're basically investing, investing. Like billionaire has become the word we use now so casually,

[00:12:30] Billy: I know.

[00:12:31] Carmen Lezeth: being a millionaire is bullshit now.

[00:12:33] Billy: I don't really... I don't know what the actual figure is of how many billionaires there are on the planet. Is it

[00:12:40] Carmen Lezeth: There's too many.

[00:12:42] Billy: or whatever? 

[00:12:43] Carmen Lezeth: There's too

[00:12:44] Billy: Yeah, there are too many. but I do, I do find it obviously, very, very, offensive when someone like Jeff Bezos, who is so, you know, obviously weal- wealthy, he could be like the third or fourth richest person on the planet, and you don't pay your workers enough to live.

[00:13:07] It's just, it's gross, and it's a shame, and it's a stain on your life. And then I th- was it you that sent me...? Someone sent me something about how much he has given in terms of charity, and it is astonishing how low it is.

[00:13:25] Carmen Lezeth: Well, well, because his ex-wife is over there giving money every day at the, you know, whatever. And you know what? I, I'm not a s- that's how you become a billionaire. Look it, I'm gonna... I, I really, this is, uh, this is the hill I'm willing to die on. you are not allowed to be praised and admired and loved and liked when you are a billionaire and there are people who can't eat anywhere in the world, or people who are suffering, who don't have housing, who...

[00:13:54] It, it just doesn't make sense to me. And it may seem unfair, I don't give a shit anymore. I'm done with billionaires being... And, and I don't-- Warren Buffet, all of them, I'm done. Because

[00:14:07] now 

[00:14:07] Billy: but also... Yes, but also you said when there's people starving all over the world, never mind when you personally have a service industry or a business, right? Where you employ people, right? Where you, uh... And then there's a whole class of people that you employ that obviously you're not gonna pay them $500,000 a year to work in, you know, in your sweatshops, not your sweatshops, but your factories or whatever.

[00:14:38] Uh, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Your, your warehouses and... But you don't pay them enough to live, you know, just to live. So that to me is,

[00:14:53] Carmen Lezeth: It's gauche. It's so gauche. It's so

[00:14:58] Billy: I say grotesque, but you can say

[00:15:00] Carmen Lezeth: I'm using, gauche because there was this great post, which I'll, I'll show it here, I don't think I sent it to you, where this woman, talked about, Lauren Sanchez being gauche, and she broke it down so brilliantly. 

[00:16:31] Billy: Yeah. No, no, no. That's a, that's actually a great term for her, you know, and, and you and I have already tr- talked about, that. Was it The Washington Post that did the article on how, Lauren Sanchez is not, you know, is not ashamed of her happiness, or something like that? It's like...

[00:16:51] It's like, girl, I, I guess she's not, married to J- Jeff, and, and strutting around. Although I did... The, the, the internet had a field day on her. Field day.

[00:17:08] Carmen Lezeth: Wearing Schiaparelli and being boring as fuck.

[00:17:11] Billy: Yeah, yeah. No, and, and people making fun of it like she got it on Amazon Prime. Shit.

[00:17:18] Carmen Lezeth: Schiaparelli. Like, I, it, it's just one of the... Anyways, we can get into the whole fashion design thing,

[00:17:24] but I 

[00:17:24] Billy: I don't even know enough about it except for the people said, "Oh, she wore, she wore Schiaparelli," or whatever. E-e-except for it looks like every single one of the dresses that she wears all the time. It's

[00:17:36] Carmen Lezeth: that's exactly the point.

[00:17:38] Billy: dress.

[00:17:38] Carmen Lezeth: No, that's exactly the point, and you do know Schiaparelli, you just don't see it in what she chose to wear. Like, that was one of the most bor- like, you don't w- anyway, you don't wear that to the Met Gala. But we can slide into the Met Gala, 'cause I don't think people understand what the Met Gala is.

[00:17:53] They think it's just about celebrities showing off outfits, you know what I mean? It is one of the biggest fashion moments, um, but it's for the Metropolitan Museum. They raise a lot of money for costuming and all of these other things, um, and I think they raised, like, 42 million or 45 million, even though so many people boycotted it.

[00:18:13] I know. I know. I, I was shooketh by it. Um, and the people that boycotted it, boycotted it because of... Look at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez basically bought their way into becoming part of this, and that's what is gauche, right? Like,

[00:18:31] Billy: Exactly. That... And that's the... That is gauche, and that is the perfect term for that because that's exactly what they did, and that is what people are having a real, a real problem with, right? Because it's like you sh- you know, it's like now you can actually... Now we can buy our way into this sort of world

[00:18:53] Carmen Lezeth: there was a time you couldn't do that, so I don't know why Anna Wintour and all these people did this. And look it, it is not the most important thing on the planet, but then it is, because it's the same thing that's happening in our country, right? Politics. It's like everything is just infused with money.

[00:19:11] If you have money, you can do anything you want. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna totally take a left turn here. What I read this morning with Delta Airlines, they're going to get rid of, cookies and, and soda carts on the plane. Because... No, seriously. So no snacks when you're flying, if you're going under, I guess 500 miles or whatever it is.

[00:19:35] You would think they're struggling. You would think like, oh, Delta Airlines is having to turn around and, and do something major because they're gonna go under. No, it's

[00:19:45] Billy: No, it's, it's just to make more money.

[00:19:48] Carmen Lezeth: More money, and they're using the fuel situation as a way to now turn around and... But what is wrong with our humanity? Like, so I, I just wanna tell people, Delta last year, operating revenue was $63.4 billion.

[00:20:07] Billy: Yeah, I know, and they can't serve their cookies.

[00:20:12] Carmen Lezeth: They're like, like, they're like, "No, no, no, no, no, we're having so many sh-" I guess like Spirit Airlines went defunct, and so

[00:20:20] Billy: Spirit Airlines

[00:20:22] Carmen Lezeth: to save Delta, we're gonna like... I just... I am so... I'm laughing, but the truth is I'm so sad as to where our world is going. Like, what is this world we're creating and living in?

[00:20:37] Billy: no, it is truly capitalism gone awry, right? like capitalism to the point of where it is now is... And imagine it's really happened in our lifetime, right? And that's when it really has taken off. Because if you compare CEO pay to regular work pay in the ' 70s, it's not even close to...

[00:21:06] Right.

[00:21:07] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah. It's crazy.

[00:21:08] Billy: even close. I don't know what the numbers are, but I know I've, I've seen them and I've, I've, 

[00:21:13] Carmen Lezeth: Well, we don't even need to know the numbers. We can see it every day.

[00:21:17] Billy: I mean, it's like, so now the CEO, as an example, this one I... This number I did fi- uh, suss out. The CEO of Starbucks makes $98 million, right? Like, that's his annual, his annual paycheck, $98 million.

[00:21:35] I mean, I... It's like, it's like $98 million. Like, are you kidding me? Like, it's just like, I, I don't know.

[00:21:46] Carmen Lezeth: Wait,

[00:21:46] Billy: So the top, the top is really

[00:21:48] Carmen Lezeth: wait. Is it only 98

[00:21:51] Billy: 98.

[00:21:53] Carmen Lezeth: And is that a salary? 'Cause here's the thing that people don't understand. They get the...

[00:21:57] Billy: know if that's, I don't know if that's incentives

[00:21:59] Carmen Lezeth: a salary, and then they get what's really more important, what, what's the stock options. That's right, because you don't pay

[00:22:07] Billy: don't know. This is, this is just a statistic I saw.

[00:22:10] And, you know, and especially now, and I, I... It is, it is true. They all came out of the woodwork when Daddy Trump took office.

[00:22:23] And we saw them, right? They were all surrounding him. I was shook. You talk about shook? I was shook because remember they had to take it inside 'cause they couldn't do it outside or something like that. It was too cold or something. They took it inside to that little area or whatever, and I was shook when I saw them all lined up.

[00:22:43] All lined

[00:22:44] Carmen Lezeth: All of them. And you're, you're talking about the Zuckerbergs, the- Steve- Uh, not Steve Jobs. What's the guy? Tim Cook. Uh, all of them.

[00:22:52] Billy: Tim, r- you know, wa- you know, groveling to Trump and bringing him little, you know, little crystal, you know, statues to say, "Oh, thank you."

[00:23:05] Carmen Lezeth: that's the part that was so... That's where you knew we really went off the rails as far as money, because when you have that kind of money and that kind of power, you could actually say no to

[00:23:16] Billy: Yeah.

[00:23:17] Carmen Lezeth: and instead they were

[00:23:19] Billy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah, more. More for us. Why not? More for us. He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna loosen the ropes and, and sure enough, what he's done to the environment is absolutely horrific, How he has released so much public lands that he is giving away to oil companies or whatever.

[00:23:44] Um, and so,

[00:23:45] Carmen Lezeth: everything. There's not any... I mean, there's nothing that Trump touches that hasn't only benefited him, and in the process of doing that, and this is my problem with billionaires, in the process of doing that, hurting everybody else along the way, whether it's the environment, people of color, women, men, poor people.

[00:24:08] It doesn't matter. The disabled, LGBTQ. Like, everything that people are doing who are billionaires, who have a lot of money, keep doing it to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else, and that's where I have a problem. That's where I'm kind of like, you know what? I don't care if you make a lot of mo- I really don't.

[00:24:29] Go with God. Make as much money as you want. If that's your drive in life, knock yourself out. But you don't do it while there's someone next door to you who's homeless. You don't do it while someone next door to you can't pay for their cancer treatments, or worse, you take away the only healthcare they have.

[00:24:48] Like, look it, there's so much coming at us every day. People have forgotten health prem- healthcare premiums have gone up ridiculously.

[00:24:58] Billy: Yeah. and for 

[00:24:59] Carmen Lezeth: can't afford it. 

[00:25:00] Billy: for less service, for less, you know, for less covering, coverage.

[00:25:05] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, because it was bad to begin with, but now it's worse. Yeah.

[00:25:09] Billy: Yeah.

[00:25:11] Carmen Lezeth: I don't know. Okay, so the Met Gala, I just want to shout out to Meryl Streep, who banned it-- who refused to go.

[00:25:17] Billy: I was gonna say, when you were talking about she's... And, and she's, and she's Miss The, The, The Devil Wears Prada.

[00:25:25] Carmen Lezeth: Uh, Zendaya didn't go. Uh, Mayor Mandani, Mamdani. I always say his name wrong. Mamdani. Mayor Mamdani did not go, which is weird 'cause it's in New York. You know what I mean? Like, he didn't go. So, um, anyways, I just was kind of sad about the Met Gala. I did see people, like especially the fashion commentators on Instagram, you know, 'cause the

[00:25:49] Billy: For the first year, for the first year in a long time, I just boycotted it.

[00:25:54] Carmen Lezeth: Complete- well, I didn't watch it, but you did, you didn't even watch, you didn't see

[00:25:57] Billy: Nope, I didn't watch the red carpet. I didn't watch anything. I, I saw... You know, what I saw, I saw come through, um, Instagram. I saw some stuff on

[00:26:06] Carmen Lezeth: No, that's what I mean. That's what I saw too. Yeah. I didn't watch it.

[00:26:09] Billy: individual stuff like that. I got to see, um, Lauren Sanchez get trashed about her dress.

[00:26:17] I was a little pissed at, you know, that Nicole Kidman was there. She probably... And she was standing right next to Lauren, like dancing away, you know, uh, which I, I would have preferred if she

[00:26:31] Carmen Lezeth: It's so many people. Well, like I'm, like Benito was there, right? Bad

[00:26:35] Billy: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:26:36] Carmen Lezeth: there. Like why, dude? Like, Beyonce was there, Rihanna

[00:26:40] Billy: Beyoncé was at...

[00:26:41] Carmen Lezeth: there. There was... But they're all billionaires, right? What do we have in common? And they are, they're all billionaires, right? So it's-- or, or close to it, or wanna be next to it, or have more money than God, and it's like, a-again, I'm just...

[00:26:54] When is, when is the line?

[00:26:58] Billy: N- And, and there should be more, and there should be more people that actually stand up for what is right As often as possible. So someone like Beyoncé, who... I'm sorry, Beyoncé, I, you know, I adore you, really I do. I think you're awesome, and you should be standing on the right side of history right now, especially you of all people.

[00:27:27] Carmen Lezeth: I know, but they, but here's the thing. They're gonna say, "We needed to raise money." We- you could've written a check. You didn't have to show up. You could've write a check and support it, you know? And then other people were saying to me, um, you know, I was online with a couple people, and they were saying, um, "Carmen, we need the w- we, we need some joy.

[00:27:47] We need the levity. We need the..." And I'm like, when is

[00:27:49] Billy: yes, yes.

[00:27:51] Carmen Lezeth: line?

[00:27:52] Billy: Yeah. Well, yes, exactly. I think... Well, exactly. I think there's other ways of finding, happiness and joy, you know?

[00:28:00] Carmen Lezeth: here's the thing that's really interesting to me, 'cause I'm gonna bring it back to, to this. So we get, um, I don't know what the right word is, but we get desensitized to things, and I know this is a weird kind of analogy to make, but there was a time when I would pay $80 for my cable bill back in the day, like, you know, back in the early 2000s, right?

[00:28:21] You'd pay $80 for your cable bill, and you'd get your internet and your cable, and you'd watch all your shows. But now I have a cable bill so I can stream stuff, and then I have to pay streaming services $20 a pop or

[00:28:36] whatever it is, and there's like, what, eight of them, nine of them? 

[00:28:40] Billy: is, everything is now a, not a service, a, uh, a subscription. Everything is a subscription.

[00:28:47] Carmen Lezeth: And so now we don't even realize how they've duped us, and the only reason why I know this is 'cause everyone knows I don't have any streaming services. I, I do it on purpose 'cause I'm so angry about how they've manipulated us to believe that this is how it has to be.

[00:29:02] So now if you add up, right, and you have, like, even just four or five of

[00:29:06] those streaming services plus, and now you have to pay internet

[00:29:09] separately. People are paying over two, $300 a month

[00:29:13] Billy: Yes.

[00:29:15] Carmen Lezeth: that you... So we get desensitized

[00:29:17] Billy: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:29:18] Carmen Lezeth: Just like the word billionaire, like this is an okay thing. Just like, oh, we're gonna go to the Met Gala anyway because we need to find...

[00:29:26] Where is the line? When do you stop feeding the bullshittery? Like, when do you stop? I'm, I'm... Lookit, I live in Hollywood. I should be watching all these shows, but I knew what they were doing. Nobody I know, and I love you too, but nobody I know watches all their streaming services at least three to four times a week to make it justifiable to be spending $20 a month, right?

[00:29:51] So

[00:29:51] Billy: partner says it all the time. He's like, "Oh my God, I'm..." You know, between this and that and the...

[00:29:58] Carmen Lezeth: It's a ridiculous amount of money, but they got us believing it. And also, like, in, in Los Angeles, like in California, we have high gas prices. So here's the difference. We do. We always have. We're always like a dollar or two above everyone else in the nation, and people don't understand why. They're just like, "California sucks.

[00:30:15] California is so expensive." Do you know why we pay more money than most people? Because our gas goes through a refinery, and I wasn't here... I've been here 30 years. I wasn't here when there was so much smog you couldn't see down the street in California. Like, that's what I heard. It was really bad, and people used to associate California and smog

[00:30:36] all the time, 

[00:30:37] Billy: LA for sure.

[00:30:38] Carmen Lezeth: for sure.

[00:30:39] We don't have that anymore because... See, and that's where it makes sense. Like, I wanna pay more money when I know it's going to help

[00:30:48] Billy: Because the gas is more refined, that's what you're saying?

[00:30:51] Carmen Lezeth: Well, it goes through a refinery process. I don't know what that means, but it does something so that because we have so much traffic, we don't add to the pollution, which is what part of the problem was.

[00:31:01] So that's why we pay more money.

[00:31:04] Billy: know that. That's, that's, that's really

[00:31:06] Carmen Lezeth: That's why, like, right n- I've seen $8 a gallon. I have seen it in Beverly Hills. Uh, but we are at like, like $7.29 right now in Ca- like here in Los Angeles. Like, we're at... It's pretty expensive. I mean, you can find some places at like six-something. It's still really

[00:31:25] Billy: But I mean, uh, but that's also, but that's also because of the whole war.

[00:31:29] Carmen Lezeth: Right. So let me just give this little snippet. We can talk, 'cause that's the next thing we're gonna talk about. so US-- This is as of today, which is, May 6th. US gas, gasoline prices surged to over $4.50 a gallon, a 50% increase from where they were before the Iran war began. I'm sorry. I'm like... I know I'm laughing, but I'm like, what did they think this man was going to do when he got into office?

[00:31:57] This is exactly what he was gonna do 'cause

[00:31:59] Billy: Yeah, some kind of disaster, and then everyone's scrambling around and, you know, trying to, trying to justify it in some, strange way. And the sad thing about Iran is we're not even really getting any news about, uh, Iran. We're not... It's not i- it's not really in the news. I mean, I, I listen to A- AP, you know, they...

[00:32:23] I get all of its, all of its headlines

[00:32:25] Carmen Lezeth: associated press.

[00:32:26] Billy: The... And there's not much being said. In The Economist, not much being s- It's just like you have to go and source and look for it. It's not coming up like, "This is what's going on," or nothing.

[00:32:38] Carmen Lezeth: Right. I think,I think it's helpful for people to understand, 'cause now I've learned so much because I didn't know enough about it, you know? I couldn't understand what is the big deal, like if it's a, if it's a throughway. It's not, it's a cul-de-sac. So if you imagine that area, right? When you go through the Strait of Hormuz, it's a cul-de-sac, so ships go in, pick up oil, and then ships go out.

[00:33:02] And the Strait of Hormuz is only 21 miles width-wise. It-- That's not very big for all those ships, so you have to have a lane go in and a lane go out, okay? So when you go in to get your oil, right, that goes to other countries, so y- so you, you get it from Qatar. You've been to Qatar, right?

[00:33:23] Billy: I...

[00:33:25] Carmen Lezeth: Arabia.

[00:33:26] It's all the countries at Kuwait. So they go in there and they get their oil, and then they leave to go to the other countries, right? And I, I didn't realize this. Right now, all of the ships going in and going out are lined up on either side of the Strait of Hormuz because of this war, and because nobody wants to go through because they might get shot at.

[00:33:53] You know, there's, uh, sea mines, which I didn't know what that was. There are... they're gonna shoot at them. So unless you are a country that Iran is okay with, or you pay a million dollars, you can't get through. 

[00:34:06] I just think it's a fascinating... I did not know that it was like a cul- Like now it made sense to me. Did you know all...? I didn't know

[00:34:14] Billy: knew that.

[00:34:15] Carmen Lezeth: not understand that that's how it worked.

[00:34:17] Billy: I, I totally knew that. 

[00:34:19] The, the, the more frightening prospect is what's gonna happen down the line,

[00:34:25] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah.

[00:34:26] Billy: right? And which should line right up with, you know, the midterms. But, um, I don't know if he's just going to try to... I, I don't know what he's gonna do with that because I think...

[00:34:41] Carmen Lezeth: talking about Donald Trump?

[00:34:43] Billy: Yeah, in the midterms. Yes, because I think he's going to finagle, something, some huge, national horrible, you know, event that will allow him to, suspend maybe the midterms or... I don't put any... Do you put anything past them?

[00:35:04] Carmen Lezeth: No, no. Lookit, I... He's already trying to do it, right? Which is why I keep telling people, and I've never said this before in my life, but everyone needs to just go out and vote, and vote Democratic. I don't care. I don't care what your... This is not about whether you believe in abortion or you're pro-choice or you're whatever or you...

[00:35:23] What

[00:35:23] Billy: Or you're fiscally conservative.

[00:35:26] Carmen Lezeth: just vote. Shut up. Right. Shut up. Everybody just has to vote Democrat. It doesn't matter, just vote blue all the way through because we need to fix this. And I absolut- he's already trying. That's what the whole redistricting bullshittery is. He's trying to fix it. And so the only way to really overcome that, although I do understand the blue states are trying to do what they have to do to overcome the new Supreme Court bullshittery, at the end of the day, if everybody went out and voted Democrat anyways, it wouldn't matter.

[00:35:55] Do you know what I mean? Like, and, and that's a, and that's a high bar to reach, but this is... And I still think even after all that, he's still gonna find a way to cheat or stop it or whatever, because here's the thing that people don't understand. The minute the House and the Senate is, uh, Democrat, it's all blue, everyone associated with Donald Trump- is going to be in hearings, and they're going to go to prison.

[00:36:22] It's not even a question. And if they don't go to prison, let me just say this, if the outcome, I don't care how many years it takes, if the outcome isn't they go to prison, everybody who's in office will get kicked out again. Because as Americans, as United States citizens, we're going to be angry about you not doing your job, which is making sure people are held accountable for the bullshit this administration has caused.

[00:36:46] Billy: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:47] Carmen Lezeth: just think that's why they're gonna do everything in their power

[00:36:50] Billy: Power to hold on.

[00:36:52] Carmen Lezeth: Absolutely. And,

[00:36:53] and they 

[00:36:53] Billy: They, they have no choice. They have to.

[00:36:56] Carmen Lezeth: They have

[00:36:56] Billy: you... B-by the way, did you hear, um, all of those current hearings that he had with those, uh, federal judges? They had hearings for federal

[00:37:06] Carmen Lezeth: Oh, yeah, I know

[00:37:07] Billy: and they were all not willing to say that Joe Biden won

[00:37:13] Carmen Lezeth: I know. It's such coward- cowards. Cow- how can you look at... Yeah, okay, so we should tell people there was a hearing, and these are all, these are all judges who are going to be on the bench, right? Is that

[00:37:25] Billy: Nominated. They're being nominated for the federal bench.

[00:37:29] Carmen Lezeth: And they were asked the question, and it wasn't just one of them, they were all asked the same question, "Did Joe Biden legitimately..."

[00:37:36] or, "Did Joe Biden win the last

[00:37:39] Billy: The 2020 election.

[00:37:41] Carmen Lezeth: election?" And none of them would say it, and they... And what was worse was watching them turn into pretzels.

[00:37:47] Billy: Yeah. Well, they all said, yes, he was certified. He was certified as the... A-and,

[00:37:54] Carmen Lezeth: they were questioned again, "That's not what we asked. The question was did he, we didn't ask if he was certified." Billy, what is it, and I want you to speak on behalf of all white men. I'm just kidding. What is it about Donald Trump that all these people are scared of? I don't get it. He is such a wuss.

[00:38:13] Billy: No, because I think they're... I think it's just proximity to power. I think people look at it as proximity to power, really. Because all of those... I mean, look, half of the mealy people that he has around him, they're not... I don't find them to be smart. I don't find them to be, thoughtful. I don't find them to be compassionate or people who care about other people or...

[00:38:43] Any of the people that I've seen around him are all just proximity to power, money hungry, "Look me, me, me, me, me. What can I grab for me?" They don't care about anybody. And I think that... I think that's why these people... so they feel like, "If I can go along with him, I will get the job," right? Like, so it's like, "I'm going to agree with him to get the job, 'cause if I don't agree with him, I'm not gonna get the job," right?

[00:39:19] Carmen Lezeth: I know, Billy, how can you not see? Not you, but how can they not see what he is? I understand the proximity to power. Like, I remember when I first came out to Los Angeles and, I worked for... She's huge now. huge,personal manager. I was working as her assistant. She had just left a huge agency, and she was starting her own management firm, and she took some of her clients with her, right?

[00:39:44] Which, you know, she was being a manager, not an agent, which is very different here in this town, so she was able to take some of those clients with her. And these clients now are big names, A-list celebrities, Oscar winners, you know, Grammy winners, blah, blah, okay? But I remember feeling like, especially, 

[00:40:02] We had somebody, I'm about to really age myself. We had somebody who was, uh, going to- who was on the show Murphy Brown. Remember the show Murphy Brown? Candice Bur- Candice Bergen? Yeah. Um, and we went on set, and I remember being like, "Oh my God. Oh my God, this is so cool. This is so cool." You know what

[00:40:21] Billy: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

[00:40:23] Carmen Lezeth: being like, 'cause it's proximity to celebrity, to power. I get it. But once you're there, okay, once you're there, and I was on the set of ER, I was on this, I was on a lot of sets, okay? regular people. Like, you

[00:40:42] get it. They're, they're funny, they're bitchy, they're classy, they're dumbass, they're, they, they're just human beings.

[00:40:50] Like, it doesn't take more than a couple of days to figure out that they're just regular human beings, and that's my point. I don't understand, once you get close to this supposed power you want, how you don't see that it's not even just a regular person, but he's an idiot.

[00:41:09] Billy: Well, he's, he is the proverbial, uh, the, the, the, um, Wizard of Oz, right? Like he's the man behind the curtain. He's like the Wizard of Oz. 

[00:41:20] Carmen Lezeth: So they think they're next to power, but not yet. They don't

[00:41:24] Billy: anything. He's not... he... I shouldn't say he's not anything. It's just I think it's so funny that he's doing all these things with the image of him on them, right?

[00:41:35] Like he's... He wants to even put himself on Rushmore, right? Like he

[00:41:39] Carmen Lezeth: Or on, on our currency, on a

[00:41:41] Billy: Yeah, on our

[00:41:41] Carmen Lezeth: on a... But he's always been that. He's always been

[00:41:44] Billy: I'm thinking how long is it gonna be after you're gone

[00:41:51] Carmen Lezeth: Mm-hmm.

[00:41:52] Billy: all that is gonna come tumbling down? Because I'm telling you right now, the first Democratic administration that comes through, they're going to get rid of all of

[00:42:02] Carmen Lezeth: it. Yeah. Yeah. And that ballroom, that ball... Let's talk about the ballroom, okay? So for people who don't know, the ballroom is now gonna cost the taxpayers $1 billion. That's what they're asking Congress for. The ballroom, which he first said was gonna be 200 million, then it became like 400 million, and him and his donors were gonna pay for it.

[00:42:25] It doesn't even matter. But that, to me, his obsession with that ballroom, Billy, he carries pictures of it around with him. He's showing it

[00:42:34] all the time. 

[00:42:34] Billy: know, 

[00:42:35] Carmen Lezeth: He was talking about the

[00:42:36] Billy: It's his imprint. He just want-- He wants his imprint anywhere and everywhere. And imagine something... I mean, he's transforming the White House.

[00:42:48] Carmen Lezeth: Th- that's not a transformation, that's a degradation. That

[00:42:51] Billy: I know it's a d- I agree with you, but it, it... but he's doing it. He's

[00:42:55] Carmen Lezeth: we just say money does not buy you class or...

[00:42:59] Billy: j- Taste, honey. But you know that I know that as an interior designer.

[00:43:04] Carmen Lezeth: It's so g- But Billy, you don't even need to be an interior designer. I am not an interior designer, and I'm like, "What in God's name is that horrible

[00:43:14] Billy: No, what I meant was the, the idea that money doesn't

[00:43:18] Carmen Lezeth: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[00:43:19] Billy: taste. It just doesn't. Money doesn't buy you taste because I, I mean, how many pro- Look, Miami has turned into, you know, this sort of new mecca for the ultra-wealthy, right? There are so many properties in the South Miami, sort of South Gables and Coconut Grove area, 20, 30, $40 million landlocked properties, quite frankly.

[00:43:47] They're not even on the water, right?

[00:43:49] Carmen Lezeth: Right.

[00:43:51] Billy: They're hideous.

[00:43:53] Carmen Lezeth: Oh my

[00:43:53] Billy: There's no other way of putting it. They're hideou- They're big. You know, they're estate-like, but some of them are just, they're just

[00:44:03] Carmen Lezeth: Gaudy and

[00:44:04] Billy: Yeah, just so... I mean, it's like, it's like the Oval Office.

[00:44:10] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah. Well, out here, they used to call them McMansions, right?

[00:44:14] Billy: yeah,

[00:44:15] Carmen Lezeth: Where all of a sudden, like every other place was being built and it was like ugly and gaudy, but they were all kinda looked the same, and they were just gauche.

[00:44:24] Billy: Yeah, gauche again.

[00:44:26] Carmen Lezeth: gaudy and gauche. It's, um... Yeah, I have no doubt that Donald Trump isn't planning on leaving office at all.

[00:44:36] I have no doubt that that's his

[00:44:37] plan 

[00:44:38] Billy: I have n- I have-- I think he's not gonna make it, so let's... I-- Or at least that's... I'm putting that out.

[00:44:46] Carmen Lezeth: What do you mean? Make it through his, this

[00:44:49] Billy: Make it through his term. I don't think he'll make it through four years.

[00:44:54] Carmen Lezeth: Okay, let's be clear, he only has, like, three and a half left, right? He has, like, three

[00:44:57] Billy: three.

[00:44:58] Carmen Lezeth: It's not four. Um, you mean 'cause he's going to get impeached, or... Or you mean physically?

[00:45:06] Billy: he could just... I-- Look at him.

[00:45:08] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I don't know. I... Lookit, yes, I agree with you. I'm not worried about... So I've said this a million times to Andrea, I don't, it, Donald Trump is not my issue.

[00:45:16] It's not actually Donald Trump. It's the infrastructure of the dumbasses he has in office that keep enabling him. And even if he were to, whatever, move on, I'm more concerned about the Republican Party that continues to do and enable him. They're gonna continue to keep doing this. The redistricting thing is exactly the point.

[00:45:39] Like, now we're

[00:45:41] Billy: Yeah, I know.

[00:45:41] Carmen Lezeth: against morals.

[00:45:43] Billy: I agreed. And I'm of the, I'm of the thought that I don't know if the US and democracy really have a chance, in part for things like... Because of, I should say, things like the Supreme Court.

[00:46:02] Carmen Lezeth: Ugh.

[00:46:03] Billy: It's frightening to me that they are able, with a straight face and with all the clout and power that they have, able to administer some of the blows to democracy that they have, right?

[00:46:24] Carmen Lezeth: this has been John Roberts' plan since day

[00:46:26] one, though, 

[00:46:27] Billy: yes. Correct. I--

[00:46:29] Carmen Lezeth: So there, lookit, there is a fix to the Supreme Court, actually. There

[00:46:32] Billy: Yeah, I know there's, there's a couple fixes

[00:46:34] Carmen Lezeth: fix. There's a couple fixes, but one of them is vote blue and make sure we get as many Democrats as possible, and we do have to have a Democrat president, one with cojones.

[00:46:44] You know what I mean? But what we need to do is actually bring more Supreme Court justices into the fold, and instead of having nine, having whatever it is, 13 or whatever it is. Whatever the, whatever the number is, that is going to be a fix 'cause it will quelch. And you know what? Like, I hate that... I don't want this to be the country I live in, where we're changing redistricting to fight the red states and, and we're gonna add more

[00:47:10] Billy: But it is that.

[00:47:11] Carmen Lezeth: is what it is. Because this is where we are when we have

[00:47:14] Billy: That's where we are because... And w- because ultimately, what it's come down to, and I've, I, I've said it, I-- It's horri-- The Republican Party is poison, and they've been poison for a very long

[00:47:27] Carmen Lezeth: For a long

[00:47:28] Billy: And, and they continue to be poison. And the problem is, is that they've managed to, to grab a hold of the working class, and they've man-- they really have.

[00:47:41] And they've managed to grab a hold of everybody who has any kind of gripe or issue or anger or whatever. They're all on board with them, right? And they have been responsible for the fact that our education system has become a disaster, right? and from basically taking away, Pell Grants and financial, true sort of financial where public universities were free for most People, right?

[00:48:18] Like they could go for a nominal in this... You know what I mean? For a public university, you could go... Even when I started, you could go for a normal, like, amount of money and not put yourself in debt to get a degree.

[00:48:34] Carmen Lezeth: Well, but even, but even still, like, you could put yourself in debt, but you had the option. Now they're putting caps even on that, so they're really trying to dumb down people. So if you're an 18-year-old, it's only 'cause all my godchildren are this age right now, like, they're putting caps on how much loan you can take out, which now means if you got accepted to...

[00:48:54] This is actually happening to one of my godchildren, got accepted to a great school, and you and your family make the decision that you are gonna go to that school because that's the end result of your, what you wanna

[00:49:04] do, they can't even do that because they can't afford it, and they're not getting enough grant money or the ability to take out loans 'cause there's

[00:49:12] Billy: Yeah, or a loan.

[00:49:14] Carmen Lezeth: on it.

[00:49:14] Unbelievable.

[00:49:15] Billy: So, and so they, you know, Reagan was the first one to start that. They're also respon- responsible for all deregulation that has anything to do with the environment because they want corporations to have the freedom to poison and pollute and do whatever they do so that they make more money.

[00:49:38] Carmen Lezeth: Mitt Romney for Citizens United for saying that corporations are people too, remember? Like, I will always... That was later on, but it's the same concept of this idea that corporations have some ability to be like human beings, and that they have rights like we do, which they do not.

[00:49:58] They should not, but here we are.

[00:50:00] Billy: So, so when, when people talk to me about all of it, it's just like I... It comes down to I don't know. A-and we have a country where, let's say, 50% of the country or 46% or what, I don't know what the statistic is, is Republican. Like, somehow agrees with all that. And

[00:50:25] Carmen Lezeth: at me, I'm like, "Mm."

[00:50:26] Billy: I-- Yeah, I w- I would think not.

[00:50:28] I mean, I would think not if you just looked at some of what they have done through the years, right? Like, through the decades as administrations. Like, give me one good Republican administration and... 'Cause they love to talk about Reagan, and yet I just gave you examples where Reagan was horrible for, for us as a nation.

[00:50:53] Carmen Lezeth: think the principle of... Okay, so I'm not defending the Republican Party. I'm not.

[00:50:58] Billy: don't need

[00:50:59] Carmen Lezeth: But there was a time when the Republican Party was kind of based on the idea of less government in your business, and I can see that. There was, like, a resistance to having... Except somehow the Republican Party has always confused me because unless it was about a woman's right to choose in her body, you wanted your business to be all up in it.

[00:51:21] Like, there are just so many contradictions with that. 

[00:51:24] There was a time when the Republican Party had at least a little bit of

[00:51:30] Billy: Integrity.

[00:51:31] Carmen Lezeth: when, like, uh, like I think of John McCain, right? Doesn't matter whether you voted for him or not. I did not vote for him, but I, I respected his point of view, and he did actually have a right on certain things.

[00:51:44] You know what I mean? Like, he, I think he was more fiscally conservative versus socially not conservative. I can't, you know... But he was a good person, you know? And

[00:51:54] Billy: Well, he was a good person. I, I would, I would just... I would, I would stay, I, I would stay there because again, I don't know his policies and I don't... I, I, I n- I never followed his policies, so I wouldn't know what he supported,

[00:52:07] Carmen Lezeth: a conservative Democrat back in the-- Ugh, even when I say that, I wanna gasp. Like, what was I thinking? But that has always, like, I've never been a true-- I mean, I am now totally on the liberal bandwagon. Don't even come near me. But I've never been on the Bernie

[00:52:23] Billy: call me... I'm, I'm one of those libtards.

[00:52:26] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, I'm a libtard.

[00:52:27] Thank you. Yeah. But you know, like, I would never have been on the... Like, I have never voted for Bernie Sanders. Like, I'm not that person, you know what I mean? Like, I'm just not that left. But n- now I am, I just wanna

[00:52:38] say. 

[00:52:38] Billy: I-- just for the record, he probably, he... Well, he probably sh- he should have probably been the nominee. He probably would... He would've beaten Trump.

[00:52:49] Carmen Lezeth: No.

[00:52:50] Billy: Yes, he would've.

[00:52:51] Carmen Lezeth: Oh, well, any white man would've beaten Trump. We already

[00:52:54] know 

[00:52:54] Billy: that,

[00:52:55] Carmen Lezeth: We know this. So I don't, I don't know if it had to be Bernie, it could've

[00:52:58] Billy: no, he had the momentum on his side. He really did. 

[00:53:01] Carmen Lezeth: No, no, no, no, no. I'm just... What I'm saying, Billy, is it doesn't matter. Like, the, the, the reason why he would've won, just like Joe Biden won, is 'cause he was a white man. So it... I, I am a- absolutely opposed to Bernie Sanders on several levels, although now I so... You know, anything he says I'm listening to, but I have always been against him on...

[00:53:20] It's just too far left for me. What I'm trying to say is the whole Trump thing, it's not that Bernie Sanders would've won because of his policies, it's 'cause he's a white man. It's the same reason why Hillary Clin- Hillary Clinton should've won against Donald Trump. Are you kidding me?

[00:53:33] Billy: I know.

[00:53:34] Carmen Lezeth: Al Gore should've fought and, and he would...

[00:53:37] He should've fought with the Supreme Court. Can you imagine the world if George W. Bush had not been president?

[00:53:43] Billy: Oh my God.

[00:53:45] Carmen Lezeth: This is what I'm talking about. Al

[00:53:46] Billy: A- and, and w- and was president for eight years.

[00:53:49] Carmen Lezeth: Oh my God. Well, 9/11 happened, and yeah, okay. All right. We're like going down another avenue here. Like, all

[00:54:01] Billy: I just can't, I, I can't... But it goes, it goes back to exactly what I keep saying. It's like all of those Republican administrations are horrible. They're just horrible. They increase, they increase the deficit. They, they do... They, they get into wars that they shouldn't get into, and, uh, all sorts of things.

[00:54:24] Although, I will say whether, uh, you know, if you really look at the history and, uh... We're always up in other people's business, and we're al- we've always been in other people's business for our own

[00:54:39] Carmen Lezeth: Interest.

[00:54:40] Billy: and for our own good, and for whatever, you know. In, in, and in Africa, in South America, in all these poor ass places,

[00:54:51] Carmen Lezeth: Right.

[00:54:51] Billy: and sticking our nose in and it's horrible when you think of it, you know?

[00:54:56] I can't say because I don't know for sure, all the presidents that have been responsible, but I can... I'm pretty sure that many of them have been Democrats as well, right? That have been responsible for going into different countries.

[00:55:15] Carmen Lezeth: and our hubris, right? As, as... I mean, and look it, if there's anything, I'm not gonna say good that's happened, 'cause I don't know if we need to go through so much torture to learn a lesson, but the world thinks the United States is a piece of shit now.

[00:55:31] and and we've kind of earned

[00:55:33] that because of... 

[00:55:36] Billy: yeah. 'cause we're the bullies on the stage going around doing all sorts of horrible things and sticking our nose where it just doesn't belong. Imagine, imagine if we spent all of that money educating, taking care of the people that live here, all of those things. Making our infrastructure stronger.

[00:55:56] All... We have no interest

[00:55:58] Carmen Lezeth: be Japan. What are you talking about?

[00:56:00] Billy: Yeah, I know. Or I hate to say it,

[00:56:04] Carmen Lezeth: China. China, right. Yeah.

[00:56:07] Billy: In the last 20 years, what China has done is remarkable

[00:56:12] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah, the infrastructure alone is crazy.

[00:56:17] Billy: Yeah. So I don't know. I... It's just I feel like, we're obviously on the decline, and we're obviously- we don't-- we voted this guy back in again. I

[00:56:29] Carmen Lezeth: think that's what's interesting, right? I think the world would've forgiven us for, not for... You know what I mean? The first time. But the fact that it happened again, the world is like, "Yeah, no. You people are weird." Like it's... And look it, we deserve it. I...

[00:56:45] Billy: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:56:46] we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We were warned. It- it's not it's not like any of that was not right out there and in the open.

[00:56:56] Carmen Lezeth: I know, but okay, so you know who Thorin Bradley is?

[00:56:59] Billy: Of course.

[00:57:00] Carmen Lezeth: Okay. So he had posted on Threads the other day, um, kind of a similar thing, you know? But he was saying if people were blindfolded and didn't know whatever, he, you know, came up with a statistic that most people would now vote for the right person and not vote for Trump.

[00:57:19] And I said... And I, you know, didn't expect him to respond, but he did. But I responded and said, "As a Black Latina woman, the idea that we can erase racism and misogyny as part of, like that that did not have part of the equation, is just wrong." Like, we-- the problem with the United States is that we don't wanna deal with our history and our problems with who we actually are as a country.

[00:57:45] So yes, I would like to believe now that everyone who voted for Trump, or most people who voted for Trump, 'cause there's still fucking 30% of you, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you. I would like to believe now that everyone's like, "Oh my God, I learned my lesson. I can't believe I did this. Now I see him for who he is," you know?

[00:58:01] But I actually don't believe that, because the truth is it wasn't just... He was corrupt in your face. There is still misogyny, right? This is why we didn't vote in Hillary Clinton, this is why we didn't vote in Kamala Harris, and there is still racism in this country. And the reason why I bring that up, not-- I know it bothers so many people.

[00:58:23] If it bothers you, you need to investigate in your heart why, okay? But the reason why I keep bringing it up is because 92% of Black women voted without question

[00:58:34] Billy: Of course.

[00:58:35] Carmen Lezeth: for Kamala Harris. And, and right? Why didn't white women?

[00:58:39] Billy: Of course.

[00:58:40] Carmen Lezeth: didn't whi- And don't get me started with white men. But you know what I mean? Like,

[00:58:44] Billy: Yep,

[00:58:44] Carmen Lezeth: voting against your own best interests.

[00:58:46] So there is misogyny, there is racism, and we need to deal with all of that, and it's hard. This country is really having its, I don't know, come to Jesus moment. I have no idea.

[00:59:01] Billy: I hope people... I hope there is some positivity, out there. I do find it quite bleak, again, when I see things like what happened with the Supreme Court.

[00:59:16] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah.

[00:59:17] Billy: And this whole redistricting thing, and the whole idea that 

[00:59:23] these state legislators are perfectly okay with just completely getting rid of the voice of 20% or 30% of their population, right? And they're saying, so is Virginia. Virginia's doing it, too." 

[00:59:41] Carmen Lezeth: No, we're doing it in retaliation.

[00:59:44] Billy: Yes, it's a bit of a t- retaliation. Correct. but again, if people feel compelled enough, they should hopefully vote for the correct, the better candidate,

[01:00:01] Carmen Lezeth: No, vote Democrat.

[01:00:03] Billy: Yeah, well, vote De- Democrat. They, they s- they're saying that it may backfire in, here in Florida.

[01:00:12] Carmen Lezeth: I don't...

[01:00:12] Billy: the

[01:00:12] Carmen Lezeth: I just miss Florida. I don't... Oh, the redistricting. Right,

[01:00:15] Billy: The redistricting may backfire because a lot of those new Republican seats will lose to Democrats

[01:00:24] Carmen Lezeth: Right. Right.

[01:00:24] Billy: Right? A-and so where they're supposed to be, where they could have been more Republican, now they're probably going to actually lose.

[01:00:33] So

[01:00:34] Carmen Lezeth: it's weird because it's like, it's just cheating. I just wanna be clear, this redistricting bullshittery is just cheating, and it started with Donald Trump. It continues to be with Donald Trump, and he started it with Texas, with Governor Abbott, who is a wuss. What a wuss to do this. But that's how this whole started, so let's not forget that this is completely cheating, and Democrats are trying to keep up so that we can have some sort of semblance of, representation.

[01:01:02] You know what I mean? And not lose our way as a democracy. And with that said, I, I wanna feel some joy and some hope, and it's like, I think the only hope is that he is at 30% and that he does look horrible. I don't know.

[01:01:21] Billy: But just one more bleak statistic before

[01:01:25] Carmen Lezeth: Okay, Billy. Okay. Okay,

[01:01:27] Billy: before we step out, because I was actually gonna ... I was gonna start with this. There was an article that basically, said that 96,000 people in the scientific fields that work in government... Now, it's not, it's not scientists, but it's, it's all of them.

[01:01:52] Carmen Lezeth: everything. Yep.

[01:01:53] Billy: Correct. 96,000 people have been eliminated from...

[01:01:59] Carmen Lezeth: 69.

[01:02:00] Billy: No, 96. 96. I double-checked that statistic before I got on, before I got on with you. Actually, the figure is around 95,000 departures, science-related federal jobs.

[01:02:16] Carmen Lezeth: have been eliminated because of the Trump

[01:02:18] Billy: or left or not r- n- not c-

[01:02:21] Carmen Lezeth: They haven't gotten their grants back. They

[01:02:23] Billy: Yeah, whatever. Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

[01:02:26] Carmen Lezeth: I don't think people understand why that's so important.

[01:02:29] Billy: Well, let's talk about, let's talk about where across the NIH, the FDA, NASA, just to,

[01:02:38] Carmen Lezeth: Oh my God, yeah.

[01:02:41] Billy: So I mean, 96,000 people who monitor the weather, who are looking at, 

[01:02:50] Carmen Lezeth: Food. 

[01:02:51] Billy: know, the impacts of

[01:02:52] Carmen Lezeth: Our food, like making sure that our food is up to, to grade, that it's not contaminated. Uh, people who are... The NIH deals, it's the National Institute of Health, deals with diseases. Like it deals with vaccines

[01:03:09] and... 

[01:03:09] Billy: I, we didn't, we, we didn't touch that. Oh, here, speaking of, we didn't, we didn't touch

[01:03:15] Carmen Lezeth: No, stop. Take him off of my... What does it say? The most powerful man what?

[01:03:21] Billy: In science. This was from The Atlantic.

[01:03:25] Carmen Lezeth: I hope they dissed him completely. I haven't read that

[01:03:27] Billy: yeah, I didn't read the article, but I kept, I kept, I kept it because I was like, "I wanna

[01:03:31] Carmen Lezeth: Oh yeah, you gotta read that 'cause he is disgusting. Like all of them. Okay, yeah. All right, we're gonna end on this note. Like they're all

[01:03:39] Billy: that's what I said. Well, I just wanted to get into... I w- I thought I was gonna, we were gonna start with some of that, but, uh, we, we, we

[01:03:46] Carmen Lezeth: No, we can keep going. It's okay. I think the-- lookit, I think people in this country do not value science. Well, most people that are not conflicted with religiosity, you know what I mean? And our country, and especially all the right-wing conservative Christian, what do they call Christian nationalist people, whatever, all these people don't understand anything to do with science, and that science and believing in God is not,

[01:04:15] They're not mutually exclusive.

[01:04:17] Billy: Right.

[01:04:20] Carmen Lezeth: people, the people who are stuck in this thing, that's what they're using to dismiss science, and so therefore they don't-- they're not paying attention.

[01:04:29] They don't care. They don't understand why it's so important.

[01:04:32] Billy: Right. Right, right, right. And it's, and it's frightening. I mean, we had more measles cases this year than ever.

[01:04:39] Carmen Lezeth: I, I can't.

[01:04:41] Billy: Ever, in, in I don't know how many years, because people are just not deciding to vaccinate their children. 

[01:04:49] Carmen Lezeth: that they're not deciding, they're also not being told that they need to. They're also not being, you know, given information that they need to. So that, that's what's happening, is the administration is going out of its way to eliminate anybody that will question anything that they're doing on the environment, on anything, because it's about power and control.

[01:05:09] And when people are sick, when people are uneducated, when people are not making enough, enough money, you know what you can do with those people? Control them.

[01:05:18] Billy: Manipulate them, for sure.

[01:05:20] Carmen Lezeth: Yeah. Again, how is this ending on joy? You know why? Because we're angry, we're passionate, and we're trying to make sure people know what's going on.

[01:05:31] So yeah, actually it

[01:05:32] is. 

[01:05:32] Billy: and at least keeping informed. I'm trying to think, um, i- i- if I've, if I've heard of something that has been, uh, extremely joyful lately. Have, have you, have you come across something that you can think of?

[01:05:50] Carmen Lezeth: Barack Obama was on Stephen Colbert last night, and it was kind of funny. ​

[01:06:38] So, so that was joyful. But we have to take the moments, we have to take the snippets of moments, To find happiness, and that's all I got. I got nothing else.

[01:06:48] Billy: Well, thank you very much.

[01:06:50] Carmen Lezeth: Thank you, Billy. And remember, everyone else, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Bye,

[01:06:56] Billy: really is. Bye-bye.