Cancer, Controversy, And The Super Bowl Stage for 2/13/26

We move from the loss of James Van Der Beek to the rising tide of early-onset cancer, then into Olympic controversy, a record-breaking halftime show, messy celebrity activism, unsettling surveillance tech, and a developing missing-person case. We end with a simple invitation for Valentine’s Day in LA.

• grief for a beloved actor and cancer vigilance
• medical costs, insurance gaps, and GoFundMe realities
• ski jumping “penis gate” and performance ethics
• Bad Bunny halftime show, representation, and record viewership
• Billie Eilish’s activism and public backlash
• Ring’s dog-finding AI and privacy concerns
• missing older adult case, safety, and independence
• Valentine’s Day comedy show invite in Glendale

If you’re hearing this and it’s Valentine’s Day and you’re in Los Angeles with nothing to do, Meryl's at a place called the Gold Rail. The Gold Rail Bar in Glendale. She's part of a really fun show.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

Warm Welcome & Weekend Banter

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. Hey Meryl, how are you today?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

I'm good. I'm really good.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Did you get a chance to enjoy the weekend?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Oh my gosh, I did. A little too much. I went to Palm Springs with my parents on their wedding anniversary. So it's good. Oh nice. Tell them I said happy anniversary. I will. They they love you. They already know of you as a person and a concept already. And so we're still not fans in our family.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

If you don't mind me accent, how long have they been married?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Um, 43 years.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Wow. Okay.

James Van Der Beek’s Death And Cancer Awareness

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Exactly. And I sometimes when my boyfriend's home for like 43 minutes, I get annoyed. So I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but but I'll try.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Well, um, I actually want to start off on a sad note today, um, unfortunately. Uh Dawson's Creek star, James Van Der Breek, has died. Um obviously a lot of people were growing up with him on Dawson's Creek. Um, also, people uh recognize him from his work on varsity blues. And um his family confirmed the news, noting that he passed away peacefully and had been privately managing his diagnosis of colorectal cancer since 2023. Um, this is said on so many levels, obviously, because of who he is, all the fans and stuff. Um, but I think it also highlights too the importance of making sure you pay attention to your body. You know, if something doesn't feel right, don't ignore it. Just get it checked out, see what it is.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

I know, and he fought for for like a while too, because I remember seeing some messages from him a few months ago, and I thought things were going to and had hopes that things were going to turn it the other way because you know he did seem like relatively healthy before, and he's still so young, and like it's just so tragic when him and um who was the the actor too that passed away really suddenly, who was in a lot of the movies, like the Wakanda Forever movies.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Um, you're talking about um um he's the one that played uh what what's the name? Um Boswick.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Um exactly like that reminds me of that too, where you have this kind of superhero of a person, um, obviously like a great entertainer, and James Vanderbeek, we all know and love him from Dawson's Creek, but and also Varsity Blues, but I feel like he was just an artist all around and um really seemed to just always be someone that people had good things to say about, and just someone that seemed like you know, kind of just in our minds, someone that we grew up with, and then all of a sudden they fall ill and then we hear tragic news. So um it's very sad.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, and you know what the thing that's actually kind of scary is is that um for whatever reason, uh cancer among adults under 50 is on the rise, which is not a good case. Yeah. So I I mean, I don't know what the reason is for that, um, but it is definitely alarming because you know, obviously cancer can hit at any time at any person, um, but it is a little bit disturbing to hear how many people under the age of 50 are starting to be diagnosed with with cancer now.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Absolutely, and we hope that things like advance in the way where you know treatments are more available or they'll be able to find some answers to things, but it's just so sad. And um, it was so sad at the end, just how like skinny and gaunt he got and everything. And uh but he always seemed to have a really good attitude and he just seemed really loving. And I know he has the sad thing that I saw too was that he has a wife and six kids. Um, and that they were doing like a GoFundMe because as you can imagine, like even though he was a TV star and they still have residual checks and everything, like I'm sure that they don't have a lot moving forward now, and that's six children that uh you know don't have a father.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Oh, yeah. And and you know, a lot of people, I'm glad you touched on that point. A lot of people feel, well, he's a big star. Why would he, you know, he need money? But what people don't understand is that when you get a devastating illness, um, even if you have insurance, it doesn't always cover it. So a big chunk of his of the financial challenges is the care that he received trying to fight this this devastating illness.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

I know sometimes it seems like with ill with health insurance stuff, you almost want to be one way or another. You like you want to be so wealthy or so not that you get like more government-assisted things, but then you're so limited onto what kind of care you can get and the doctors and your network, and it's just a whole mess. But um, but yeah, very, very sad.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah, I mean, it's sad what you just said that and and it's true, it's 100% true. And it's kind of crazy. We live in you know the wealthiest country in the world, but yet we're still finding these issues on you know, making sure everyone has health care without going going bankrupt to take care of it. Exactly, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

So we'll definitely pray pray for his family.

Care Costs, Insurance Gaps, And GoFundMe

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah, and I think his if anyone is interested, it his GoFundMe is up. And also I always think about this too, where like for years and years, I he entertained me through Dawson's Creek, and I just think, okay, if I give$50 or$100, that's like nothing compared to probably truly the hours that like this person spent acting, and that it was a big part of our childhood. So um I always think about that too, where I'm like, okay, this person gave a lot, and like I I benefited directly from their their own entertainment, so it's nothing to give a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

We'll definitely keep praying.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Well, this is definitely the um craziest transition that we've ever did in this show, but but now my next topic is uh it's just all it's all about health and all about checking in on your body. This one is a little different where um it's penis gate at the Olympics. Now I hope I hope we can say penis gate on here. If not, just feel free to like put a mooing sound or something on me. But um uh yeah, there was the a lot of uh drama lately when the World Anti-Doping Agency was investigating whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises. I feel like I still feel like I should whisper it, but um, with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further. So this sounds crazy, but you know, a lot of athletes will do anything to pretty much extend their jumping or their how far they can go, how fast they go. Um, there's been uh some talk that hyaluronic acid, which is a filler used for cosmetic surgery, that it can actually not only make you bigger girthwise, but it can also um like you know uh basically help you go go faster and farther. So we we won't get into like the crazy science of it all, but pretty much people were saying that if you inject it, you can like it it makes you just in a way like sail farther.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

You know what's so crazy about this, girl, is when I saw this on your list, I'm like, this cannot be real, and I did some research. I know holy crap, this is real.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

I know. So at like at the time that I was looking, honestly, there wasn't an answer of whether or not this 100% was like they didn't say who was found with doing this, and like I mean, to me, honestly, it's kind of like when there's smoke, there's fire type of thing. That if there's rumbles of it happening and the agency is looking into it, like it's probably happening somewhere, you know. But honest, but um I don't know unless you see different, but I didn't see any like actually named people in it, just the just the fact that the world anti-doping agency was looking into it, and also that's like the funniest name of an agency I've ever heard.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

I mean, when I first saw this story, I cringed because I'm like, why would any male want to do that to themselves on purpose?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

So it's the other crazy thing about it, Meryl is how did they find this out? I'm just saying, you know, you know, you're not sitting up there around the lockers like, hey, guess what? I just did, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Exactly. And they said, just to break down a little bit of it, they said um hyaluronic acid, which is not banned in sport, can be used to increase the circumference by one or two centimeters, and then in turn, that would increase the surface area of their suits during competition, and um, it could increase their flight time in the air. And then there's there's a person, a director of skiing that says literally every extra centimeter counts.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Wow, okay. I guess when you investigate everything, they mean that literally, they investigate everything.

“Penis Gate” In Ski Jumping Explained

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Exactly. No, this is to me the opposite of, you know, in the summer Olympics when there's like pole vaulting, and remember last summer there was a man, unfortunately or fortunately for him, where his genitals got like stuck on the pole for a second, and everyone made it a meme because it looked like he obviously was blessed. And so everyone was sharing this picture of this man's genitals like stuck on the pole. And um, in a good way for him, you know, it made him very popular. But I feel like here, this is where in that situation you don't want to be too goofy in this situation. This isn't where you like want to have that extra packing.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Oh no, and you know, I gotta think to myself, this can't be safe. I mean, you know, that's a area of your body. This cannot be safe.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

I know, but then it also goes to show goes to show that like this is something that a lot of women are injecting it into themselves and you know, putting on our skin regardless. So it it's kind of like if it's if it's okay for our cheeks, is it okay for anything, you know?

SPEAKER_00 12:45

Yeah, I would just love to know the conversation they have with their wife or girlfriend. Oh, hey, before we get intimate, I need to go ahead and inject myself real quick. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Exactly. And and I mean, I can't imagine being that good for them, I guess, for being that passionate and competitive about something where you want to do that. Like, there's just been nothing in my life ever that I'm like thinking about that extra, extra competitive edge.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I would still compete, but I would just, hey, if I gotta come in second or third, so be it.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

But there's limited. You could now we know if there's someone on like the number one podium, like we definitely know what what they were doing.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Exactly, exactly. And then I also want to interview the people is like, how did you get the job of interviewing uh of checking this out for yourself? Just want to know.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Wow, okay, interesting. Well, we're gonna go ahead and talk about something that's been popping up real heavy since Sunday. Part of the reason I don't understand why, but we're gonna go ahead and tackle it. And this is the Bad Bunny Halftime Show. Well, uh, Bad Bunny Headline had a story, highly acclaimed Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show on on uh Sunday, February 8th, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. As the first Latin solo artist with artists to headline, he delivered a celebratory performance of Puerto Rican culture featuring guests Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga, and a symbolic message together, we are American. Now, I actually took a look at it, and you know, it was very energetic stuff, you know, a lot of singing and dancing, a lot of his culture in there, and I didn't see a problem with it personally, and I know that on certain sites they're talking about how, well, you know, he may have cursed and you know he's not speaking English, nobody can understand him, and all this and all that. Well, a few things. Number one, I don't know if people realize this, but when you play the Super Bowl, the NFL knows what you're going to play before you get on that stage. Regardless of what you're saying. Yeah, exactly. They tell you what you can and can't play. So they're gonna know they're up front. Being that they're a multi-billion dollar company, I'm willing to bet you they have a whole bunch of people that can speak, read, and interpret Spanish. So I don't think that's a problem, you know. Right. So I don't know. I I think it's a whole different reason why they're doing all this, but I don't know. What do you think, Meryl? Did you get a chance to see it?

Safety, Ethics, And Athletic Extremes

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, oh my gosh, I feel like we could honestly do like a whole hour on this. Like, I would love, I feel like there's so much within this one topic. I almost wish that I like forwent my other one so we could just talk about this. Um, yeah, I mean, like honestly, I thought, I mean, there's so much to be said. I think it's ridiculous if everyone has a right to be like this music doesn't really speak to me or whatever, but also just to deny other people of having that and also realizing that it's not always about us every year. You know, like some people don't like Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter or Katy Perry, but they have to sit through that too. Um, I did watch it and like my honest thoughts are I thought the vibes were so good. I thought it was so inclusive. And like during this time, I just think where there's so much division. I love calling out, you know, uniting all of South America, different countries. Um, and I just I really loved like the vibe overall. My only critique, like, I don't I don't think Bad Bunny has the best voice itself, but I know that's not the point. Like, you know, his songs are really catchy and it's more about dancing and everything. But in terms of like actual, actual performance, when someone like Ricky Martin comes on and kind of like blows him away a little bit, or a Lady Gaga, but like I understand Bad Bunny is not known to be like an opera-like singer. To me, it's just if you're an entertainer and you're like at the Super Bowl, you should be like beyond, beyond, beyond, beyond the top of everything. And and like I think he is in like eight different ways, but then there's like two ways that he's missing. And I'm I'm just as critical of like anyone, you know. Um, I thought it was way better than whatever like the kid rock thing would have been.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

The one thing I like about what you said, Merle, is you know, his music may not be your cup of tea. That doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve to be on that stage, and I'm glad you said it. But it was so fun.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Yeah, I loved it. I saw the funniest video of a guy saying, I might not know what his stuff was about, but I don't know what anything is about. And he was like, I'm here I am signing my W9. I don't know what that's about. And like I feel like I'm confused about so much in life, but it's like if something's a good vibe and people are feeling united, and like seeing videos of like little sweet Puerto Rican fathers or grandfathers that now are like crying because they've never felt represented, like that's so awesome. And I think like it's fun too. It's not like an awful situation, it's like you know, beautiful people dancing to a great beat. Um, and also, too, like not that I'm I'm going off the rails now, but I also think it's like a mix of different types of music. So there was a lot of like reggae tone in there and jazz, um, and just ska and you know, a lot of different things, so it wasn't like one type that's boring. So it's a fusion of a lot of different beautiful types of music, which like we are a melting pot of different types in America, so oh, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

And speaking of melting pot, the viewership, um, the show garnered a high engagement with 128.2 million viewers for the halftime segment.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yes. So um it's it's a safe bet that his performance wasn't as bad as people said it was. Um, again, if if you don't like that type of music or whatever, that's one thing, but you know, to criticize it for another reason is totally wrong. And you know, something that some of the people need to remember he's an American citizen. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, those are Americans. Yeah, country or anything, which I don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

So I know, and it yeah, it's a part of like just the same way I love seeing like New Orleans marching bands, or even even like some elements of country. Like I love thinking thinking about like Texas country or different yeah, different parts of the country for sure. Um and like Seattle grunge, and you know, it's all different, it's all there for us to enjoy and be welcomed into.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Yeah, I'm glad that he really enjoyed his time um and really had a great time doing it. Um, I did hear some troubling things, and I don't know if it's true or not that um when he received his award at the Grammys, that you know, he was a little bit on edge because he received death threats, and allegedly he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his tucks. Oh, oh my gosh, if that's true. Because that's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, and it's crazy that they have to think about that in this day and age, like it's very sad.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah, so I mean, I I I'm really glad that he didn't let that throw him off his game, and he still gave a great performance. Great performance, a great, you know, everyone wants to be proud of their heritage. There's nothing wrong with him being proud of his heritage, and you know, he is American, you know. Um right, so I I I just don't get it personally, but um it was very well received by the majority of people that watched it, so I enjoyed it, so that's okay.

Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show Backlash

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, and honestly, like, and this is this does not reflect the Lawrence's opinion. I'm telling everyone this, but as a as the resident conspiracy theorist here, like honestly, this is one that I saw in the past couple of years that has like the least satanic, demonic like imagery to me. Like, because I'm always like looking, you know, because I'm I'm looking at I'm enjoying from like a consumer point of view and like a fun, pop loving, you know, pop music lover. But also there's a part of me that like I would be lying if I said I didn't kind of like look at these things through that lens as well, just for like fun slash whatever. Um, and this one was like there was like a few like little things, but in terms of like weird, demonic, like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry like riding it on the devil and stuff, like this one seemed to be the most wholesome. I know a lot of people were offended that there was a lot of like gay men dancing and twerking and stuff, but I'm like, get over it. There's a lot, you know, everyone can have fun and dance. And there were straight couples and gay couples, and like that's not a to me, that's that's not like a huge demonic thing at all. Um, but to to me, like this was this was one that I feel like if a lot of people are always rolling their eyes at kind of who's part of like the agenda, this one was like not as overt as the other years.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Oh, yeah, definitely. And you know, but before we go on to the next next topic, I do want to highlight that his message was Bed Bunny closed his set with the message we're still here, spoken in Spanish, and concluded with a football saying, God bless America. That's just what I wanted to know.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Exactly. And at the end, he really united people. And so, yeah, I agree. Amen to that. Um, well, my next one is uh another musician that actually got in trouble, or a rare, a rare loss for this uh performer who like usually is everyone's favorite and just in good graces. Um, Billy Eilish. Now, this this comes a little bit late in the news, but I still wanted to bring it up and talk about it. Where uh she got a quite a bit of backlash at her uh Grammy Awards acceptance speech. She uh said she declared no one is illegal on stolen land. And, you know, this was obviously at the height of a lot of the ice stuff a few weeks ago. Um we're still at the height, it's still important, but like, you know, all of us were talking about it, and it was like you kind of can't be at an award show and not either get asked about it or talk about it. Um and it just like went crazy in a bad way for her, where uh a Native American tribe made it known that her house was on sacred tribal land. Um, the fans were saying something like, Okay, if no one's a legal on the stolen land, then like open your gates to your million dollar house and like let us in. And and a lot of people were saying, like, you don't know exactly what you're speaking about and stuff. Um My thoughts were that she's still like young, like she still is like a kid. And I think it's wonderful that someone is speaking up, even if it's not always the most like based in it's it's a little bit like not performative, but sometimes it is a little like off the mark a tiny bit. But we ask a lot of celebrities in terms of speaking up and like give giving their thoughts. So when they do, and especially when it's like a younger person, we can't completely admonish them like right away, you know. And so I think I think her her intention was really good. And it's a little ridiculous to say, like, okay, now open your gates in your house to us. Like, I think we know what she means, and yeah, like I'm okay with that, but I think too, she is still just like a mouthy kid at the end of the day. So I understand, like, you know, that looking back, she may be like, Oh, I wish I had more nuance or something.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Yeah, you know, sadly enough, Merle, even when you say something that's wholeheartedly great and something that you're passionate about, something that's positive, there's always going to be someone that has something negative to say. Um, yeah. When I look at posts, believe it or not, the most interesting part about the post isn't the actual post itself, but the comments from the post.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

The comments, exactly. Yeah. And like this one, like I can roll my eyes at this a little bit. I get I completely get both sides of this. Like, I like that she's standing up for people. Clearly, what's going on is crazy, but also it opens up a whole can when you start talking about like land and ownership, and you know, like then we go way, way, way, way back into history, which is like very, very complicated. And so to do that like on the Grammy stage is but I mean, she's like a rock and roll kid, you know, so like that that's that's cool for her. That's that's what like music is. So I I wasn't like offended by it. I would never write anything mean about it, even if I thought it was a little a little cray cray.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Yeah, I mean, I think her I I think her intentions were in the right place. Um yeah, I guess maybe that might not have been the venue for that particular comment, you know, in hindsight. Um, but again, I think her heart was in the right place when she made the statement. She didn't mean to be ambitious or condescending or anything like that. And you know, again, she is very young. Yeah, she's very, very popular, you know, she's very rich. All of those things and above are true, but at the end of the day, she's still a kid, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

People need to calm, that's all of things.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Exactly. And and we pressure people to we pressure celebrities to like take a stance and speak up, and like, and then you can't go too far, and then you know, and then someone does it, and then it's like, not like that, you know. So I I don't care whether or not honestly celebrities speak up, but like I I think we can't like pester them to say something and then freak out it when they do and we don't like it. Like that's just very hypocritical.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Oh, yeah, and I know some people may watch this to go, well, she's an adult. How could you what do you mean she's a kid? I'm over 50 years old, so to me, she's still Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

To me, she's like a like a punky teenager, which and and I know she has a huge voice and millions of people look up to her, but I think she does give back a lot. And I feel like her and her mom, like, you know, they give a lot to vegan things, and like I think they have like um like they have a lot of things set up, I think, in her name, like foundations and everything. So this is someone that actively gives back a lot, but but yeah, to like kind of do that and then also have like a mansion in LA in this day and age, it's like when AOC wore the uh eat the or tax the rich dress that one time to at an award show, it's just like uh it's a little cut if you're not like middle or lower class, it's a little like eye roly, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yes, I definitely I definitely hear you. Well, my last topic is very interesting. So I would like to find out, Meryl. What were your favorite Super Bowl commercial or commercials?

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Ooh, uh definitely I know mine with my my influencer that I love, Addison Ray, who I really love. Um, she was in one with Matthew McConaughey, and uh I forget what they were even doing, honestly, because I just they were passing something to her at like a baseball game or a football game. I don't even know. It's so funny. I don't even recall what the product was. I just know that Addison Ray was in it.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

I remember that. I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

Yeah. Well what uh what was yours?

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Well, mine was um the Instacart uh commercial. Uh this one here was a commercial uh titled Bananas, featuring Ben Stiller and singer uh Vincent Boone as a retro 80 style uh synth pop duo performing the song about the app's new uh preference picker tool, directed by Spike Jonza. The 32nd spot showed the theme song on a glittering stage about selecting banana ricas, culminating in a comic, uh comedic, uh chaotic stunt. To me, what was so funny about this was obviously Ben Stiller, he's a great comedic person, you know, very, very great, very funny. But what was so funny was them doing their little act and jumping around and stuff, and then when Ben Stiller jumped off, and I thought he I thought he broke his back when he jumped off there. Really? It was hilarious. I'm like that. That was very, very funny, you know. And that's funny when Ben Stiller had that thick mustache, you know. I mean, I think he gave myself, but he looked like an 80s porn star, but you know yeah, I I wonder how much that cost to make. You know what? I don't know, but it was it was hilarious. I uh I really enjoyed that one.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

I agree. I like when they're like that one too, that they almost tell like a story, like you forget you're watching a commercial, where for that like that one I felt like I was watching a movie or a TV show or something.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yes, yes. Now, um, I do have an honorable mention here. Um this one is the Ring uh Super Bowl commercial titled Search Party, and basically what they were doing is they're promoting a new AI power feature designed to locate dogs by scanning neighborhood camera footage. I understand the concept of what they're doing and why they're doing it. I guess my biggest beef about that is I'm not really happy to hear that, hey, you know, if if someone is missing their dog, they could tap into my ring camera and turn on my ring camera to search for a dog.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

I mean, I don't know all the nuances, but the way that commercial is, uh, and there's a lot of people that weren't too happy about that feature either. So did you get a chance to see that commercial, Meryl?

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Um, I I apologize to our audience that I'm really leaning into my conspiracy side this this week because people, you know, I really I I will I will snap back to reality, but a lot of that type of my world is talking a lot about like being a surveillance state and basically, you know, we don't, and also that could affect like the ice things where if they're looking for someone and um they're like you know, they're looking for people, whether that's people that they're wanting for whatever reason. Um, but yeah, I think that's that's weird, and I feel like we don't need all that for lost dogs, and it definitely seems like they're trotting out something under the guise of like finding pets that maybe also have the intention of being used for other things.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Yeah, that's true. And you know, uh uh looking at my notes here, um specifically about privacy concerns, the search party feature is reportedly on by default, uh, and in some instances requiring users to actively opt out, which exacerbat fears about privacy, according to AL.com and geek wire. Now that bothers me too. So that tells me that if you have a uh a ring camcorder, it's set up that they can access it. So you have to basically go in and turn it off. So if you don't know that or don't remember that, they can access your camera. I I don't know. I mean, again, I don't want to throw shade on ring because a lot of people like ring, a lot of people use it, but I don't know if I want people to be having access to my cameras, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

No, me too, and especially like the way that our phones listen to us and everything, you know, and they just they listen and then they show us stuff. I feel like who knows what they're going to start in our ring camera and like when people are coming and going, and yeah, it's it's weird. And like I know, I know people lose dogs, but it to me, it's like not that much of like an insane issue that's so pervasive of everyone I know that it's like for the most part, usually people do find their dogs, whether it's like through a Facebook group or like at an through an animal shelter and stuff. And I don't think we need like a hole to survey everyone's front lawn for that.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Yeah, I mean, I'm not really crazy about this feature, but it's one thing if they said they're gonna use it to find missing people, but you create this feature to find missing dogs, and I'm a dog lover, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Me too, yeah. Am I missing something here? No, and I'm sure like too, anytime I've had a dog and it ran away, it's not like on someone else's front lawn, they're usually like in the backyard or side to side, or you know, like that's the issue is that they're running all around, and so they're not like just like delivering something on someone's porch, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

Interesting, so interesting.

Activism On Stage: Billie Eilish Fallout

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Well, another one that uh my last one is also going to, I'm so sorry, but involve a little bit of uh side-eye action where the story is developing and absolutely crazy where um the 84-year-old mother of today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie has been missing. Um she was dropped off at her house the night of January 31st, and then then she went missing. Um, as the time of recording now, the FBI provided some new identifying details where there was a suspect seen uh on video, talk about ring camera and stuff, on on the porch of uh her home the morning she disappeared, and they said it was a man wearing like a backpack and everything. Um now the weird part of this too is like a lot of people are just kind of not feeling like this whole situation, like there's something else we don't know. And then the weirdest thing about all this is when um when Savannah Guthrie was like talking about her mom, she was she was quoting things and then side by side, it was like exact lines from the movie Silence of the Lamb. And so, and a lot of people were saying like her tears just don't seem right, and like of course, you don't want to doubt, like if it actually is a full thing the way exactly they say, then that's like beyond tragic. And that's of course, this person is like grieving and panicking. But I'm like, why is she like quoting word for word silence of the lambs? And it's just like it's it's weird in every detail. Um, but also like I don't understand what a motive is to have anything like this pre-planned or have it be like any type of weird gone girl type situation.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely garnered um the headlines for for the last week or so. And there's a whole lot of interesting things where originally there was no tapes, but then the company founded on a backup server or whatever the case may be, and they were able to present um the video footage, and then there was a a lift, a um a driver um that was picked up, questioned, and then he was released. And then the other thing, too, which is he would would normally do is you know, they're asking for proof of life. You know, you're asking for all this money and stuff like that. You know, what what proof of life do you have that she's still alive? Because here's the reality one, I hope, I hope like hell she's still alive, but we don't we just don't know. And then the second thing is too, is these people that are requesting these uh this ransom, you know, you gotta wonder, is it really someone who has her or someone who's taking advantage of the situation? You just don't know.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Exactly. So, yep, it's pretty odd. I mean, we'll see, it's developing, but it definitely like I hate to be skeptical about everything, but there's just been so many things that I'm like, I I don't know if I just believe like it's hard because when things are happening at face value now, we've all been kind of yanked around by so much that it's hard to believe like anything exactly how it is, but um, but whatever it is, like I hope she's safe and it's sad that there's an elder wim woman missing and like she needs medication and everything, so yeah, and you know, I know some people were questioning why she lived in that house in a secluded area and everything.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

And I would just be careful about making those assumptions because most of the time an older person has grown up in that house with their kids, their kids have been and they don't want to leave their home. And once about older adults, they get very, very protective when it talks about their independence, they get really overprotective about that. So um, you know, you have to be be careful when you're approaching that conversation with a parent, a loved one, stuff like that, because you know, they do get very overprotective when when it comes to their independence, but you have to balance that with, you know, what do you do to help keep them safe too?

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

What an uh episode, huh?

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Oh my god, you guys, I promise next week I'll only bring up four to eight conspiracy theories per episode.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Well, Merrill, what do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Oh my gosh. Well, if you're hearing this and it's Valentine's Day and you're in Los Angeles with nothing to do, um, I'm at a place called the Gold Rail. Uh it sounds weird, but it's a the Gold Rail Bar in Glendale. And I'm part of a really fun show. There's like a ton of comics on it, so I'll probably only be doing like a few minutes, but um, I love the lineup and there's like a bunch of my friends on it. So that's at the it's Valentine's Day night. So also special thanks to my boyfriend who doesn't mind that I'm off doing comedy.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Well, everyone, if you're in the area and you don't have anything to do for Valentine's Day, go check out Merle. She would love to see exactly.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

Or if you if you haven't planned a date and you want to see very impressive, then you can pretend like you've already planned this and I'll I'll help everyone out.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

There you go. Well, everyone, thank you again for watching us, um, listening to us, uh, and also sharing um our show with other people, letting us know, um, let them know who we are, and also supporting Meryl when you get a chance. I'm Lauren. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

I'm Meryl Cuomo.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Take care, everyone. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Bye.