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Hello, Hola, Guten Tag, Bonjour, こんにちは !
Welcome everyone,
this is a podcast for those wanting to learn about U.S. culture through Standard American English, also known as General American. We talk about various different topics related to the U.S. and the U.S.'s relations with other countries.
My co-host and I would like to think of this as more of a journey because you never know where it’ll take us. Plus, since the journey’s more important than the end or the start, we hope that you’ll be willing to join us!
Let’s see where it takes us!
Hello and welcome.
My name is Christopher Chandler.
And my name is Chris Schauer.
And we are Generally American.
In our podcast, we discuss events,
culture, whatever else we want from a
Generally American perspective.
From our differing viewpoints, our goal is
that we can offer others and ourselves
nuanced opinions on fascinating topics
related to the US.
We invite you to be part of the discussion
and we hope that you'll stick around to
see where the conversation takes us.
So let's dive in.
We're back.
We are.
We're back for.
We're back for the finale of the season.
Ready to go.
Yeah.
We were supposed to come back last week,
but I had to move again for reasons I
won't get into.
So I'm back where I started.
know, life's busy.
Things happen in the summer.
Yeah.
So but now we're definitely here.
So but before we get into all of that, we
have to talk about the weather, obviously.
So why don't you start?
Brutal hot, like massive heat wave.
Even for you?
Yeah, so I actually didn't turn on my air
conditioning until like four or five days
ago.
So this would have been like July 9th,
something like that.
And it was it was so dumb.
I had just spent a day seasoning a
So like my house was like as hot as it
could possibly be.
And it's like almost midnight after work
the next day at six a I just go I turn on
the AC and I go to bed.
I wake up four hours later, dying hot.
still in the 80s.
So.
I think we've talked about this months
ago, but the people who are redoing the
siding of my building, they broke
basically every utility box when they
unattached
including the power box attached to my AC
unit.
So my house is just circulating room
temperature air.
So I had to get someone to come do a quick
fix on it.
They're going to fix it properly this
week.
But I have cold air now.
they paying for it?
mean, no.
OK.
Well, they broke everything and they're
paying for it.
They they were off.
Like, I think they got fired by the H .O
.A.
Like the future buildings were done like
four times faster.
Like I actually saw the building next to
me in the span of like a month, just
completely stripped, redone onto the next
one, stripped, redone onto the next one.
Like, I don't know who they are.
And it's not the end of the world, but
man.
So I say all that to say it's extremely
hot.
And I picked the worst time here to find
out if my AC works.
Speaking of AC, so we actually bought one
because now we're living in like the top
level of the house at the moment.
So it's not brutally hot for European
standards.
It is kind of warm.
So we had a little bit of a heat wave this
week and last week.
But it's you know, you have two or three
days where it's super hot and then it
rains for like four or five days.
And that's pretty much weather in a
nutshell in Germany.
So I don't really like the summer here
because it's not really a summer.
It's more or less just a rainy season with
a couple of nice days.
But yeah, super hot.
And because of that, my wife bought like
an AC unit, like a mobile one you get from
like Amazon.
So that is pretty nice.
So you had to kind of like jerry -rig it
because you have to put like the hot air
has to be pumped outside.
So you have to put like the hose for like
the hot air.
So it doesn't...
kind of work like it's supposed to but I
mean when it works it works so it's really
nice like I kind of forgotten I kind of
forgotten how it is to have AC because
I've just been so used to not having it
and then I think about how much energy it
uses and then I turn it off because it's
lot.
It doesn't use that much at least here
like that was part of the reason I tried
to go I mean I made it until
I made it until it became 100 degrees
before I felt like I had to turn on my AC.
But it's just not that expensive.
I think it's just a difference in culture.
So the US is kind of built around having
heating and air conditioning.
So it's kind of just included in the price
of having electricity, if you will.
So granted, of course, you would save
money if you didn't have AC.
But I don't think that's a luxury that a
lot of people in the US would forgo.
Um, whereas here that's not really part of
the culture.
That's not part of like the pricing.
So there's no way that you would have your
whole house here, air conditioned unless
you're like rich.
Um, just put it bluntly.
So we had just have one unit for like one
room and, I should have done it sooner,
but it's nothing.
Yeah, it's definitely nice, but it's
nothing we're going to let run like 24
hours a day.
just, you know, sweat it out.
But yeah, that's the daily or not the
daily, sorry, the bi -weekly weather
report.
So I'll be gone in about a week and a
half.
Aren't you going somewhere, too?
Or is that later in?
Well, so I guess I can kind of tie this
into a minor life update.
So my plan was to go to Kansas City to see
a football game.
That's right.
I think it was going to be in either
October or November.
I'm probably moving jobs to work with my
best friend who I would have gone to that
game with and it's a small team I'm going
to and us both being off at the same time
is not really realistic.
So I still might go do something.
I was actually talking with my stepmom
about going to KC.
But things are kind of up in the air right
I mean, that's too bad.
Yeah, getting off for work for a football
game is both people at the same time is
definitely pretty difficult.
But they're planning on growing.
in the future, you know, it might be more
feasible.
It's just there's like four people.
So you can't have two people be off.
Yeah, that's true.
And that's both are sick.
I'm joking.
But I'll be gone, as everyone knows, I'll
be gone.
I'll be in the US for almost six weeks.
So it feels kind of surreal because I
haven't been in the US for that long since
I actually left.
Like almost 14 years ago.
So it'll be kind of weird, but definitely
a refresher.
And so because of that, we're going to end
the season here and do a recap.
And the first episode that we did was
about your house, about my daughter.
So it's a very interesting way to end the
season.
So how is your house?
I think you gave us like a foreshadow.
Man, it's Of what it's like.
It's been a weird time, because like,
there was that awful siding crew that
worked on my building for what felt like
four plus months.
And they were slow and loud.
And it just...
Sometimes like...
12 hours a day there'd be someone
hammering on the side of my building or on
my roof walking around.
So I'm glad that's over.
I had a saga with some very loud neighbors
that have moved out.
I can't remember if I mentioned this on
the podcast, but there's been people
remodeling that apartment like seven days
a week for about a month now.
I think the old tenants destroyed
I was going to say that sounds like a lot
of work.
Because the people who used to live there,
they were just renting.
I think like they had big dogs that they
know.
Like I think they destroyed it.
So.
Did you find your blinds?
yeah.
I remember talking about the blinds.
Man, that that was it's weird.
It's funny because it was such an issue
for me.
man, I just don't like the idea that I
have zero privacy.
And
kinda in the last couple months until it
got like insanely hot.
I spent most of the time with my windows
open, but you know, it's the power of
choice is a big factor.
And then recently I went through the stuff
the person who used to live here refused
to take with him and I threw it out and it
was stuff, it was sentimental stuff, stuff
that could be valuable.
It felt weird throwing away like he had
boxes of photos.
had family death certificates.
And like we tried to get a hold of him
like, you want it?
But like he doesn't.
you did get a hold of him.
Well, yeah, we were we were in talks with
him when he was moving out, but like he
just didn't want to have it.
And we threw away all his other stuff and
we set aside the stuff that might have
value or sentimental value or things like
But I'd been sitting in my garage for like
seven months and I was like,
I guess I'll start throwing it away.
So I threw away like 95 % of that stuff.
I think I still have a little bit more to
get through, but it feels really weird
throwing away someone's death certificates
and, you know, boxes of photos of like
people's kids and stuff like that.
That's rough.
I mean, but I mean, but respect that at
least you kept it that long.
I think most people would have just burned
it directly or throw it away.
I definitely know the feeling because I
used to work in construction and we had to
clean up a good number of like quarter
houses and you know how they are.
yeah, that's what this was.
Yeah.
And it was, it was terrible.
I, we, I mean, we found money, we found
clothing, pictures, video games.
I mean, you name it.
And a lot of like personal stuff
Obviously we're there to make money and
clean up the house and not keep photos.
And so we threw it all away, but I always
felt really bad because you know, it's
like, it's personal, but what are you
going to do?
Like you can't keep it.
Yep.
Yep.
Yeah.
As for my daughter, I mean, she's grown
like a weed.
it's been, so now she's six months.
So she's really healthy.
Definitely keeps them awake at night.
It's very needy.
It's amazing how fast they grow.
So, because I mean, we've been taking like
a lot of pictures.
And so in my mind, she hasn't changed a
bit.
And then when I look at the pictures from
January when she was born, I realized how
like, like how tiny she was.
Like she could fit like in both of my
hands together, basically.
So
really, really small.
And now like I need both of my arms to
hold her otherwise, so like fall down.
And she's gained a fair amount of weight,
like a normal amount.
But it's really hard to tell with babies
what's normal, what's not normal.
Yeah, especially on your first go around.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, but she's she's growing and
growing and growing.
And my folks back in the States sent us a
lot of stuff.
Like a lot of toys, a lot of clothing,
like food, just stuff like that for like
the baby, lotion and whatnot.
And half of the clothes we can't use
anymore because they're all too small.
and we were talking about just a second
ago about throwing away like photos and
whatnot.
I, I told my sister that I wanted to keep
all their clothing because it was so
personal.
Cause I have a whole bunch of pictures
of my daughter wearing the stuff and I
just want to keep everything.
And I remember my sister telling me,
you're not going to want to keep
everything because you're going to have a
lot of stuff.
And I was like, that's not true.
But no, it's definitely a lot.
So I have like boxes and boxes of things I
just don't need anymore.
And it's only been six months.
So I don't know what we're going do with
that.
We'll probably donate it.
I was going to say at least it's already
boxed up to donate.
Yeah, I mean, we'll donate it.
I picked out like a few outfits that that
she's worn a lot that I've really like
become attached to that.
I was like, hey, you wore this when you
were like four or five months old and the
rest I'll just donate or like sell for a
dollar or a piece or something.
I mean, they're a good condition, but I
mean, they're maybe closed.
So they're like a dime a dozen.
I mean, you get them all over eBay for for
basically next to nothing.
But yeah, otherwise my daughter's doing
pretty good.
So, and that's the reason why we're going
to the US.
I don't know if I mentioned that.
So that my folks can see her because they
haven't seen her So I'm really, really, I
don't want to say scared.
think nervous is probably the nice word,
probably the right word about flying
because I've never flown with a baby
before.
So, and I know what it is.
to be in an airplane with a baby that's
not mine and it's not pleasant.
And so now I'm going to be that guy or
that person that has a baby in an
airplane.
So, and we've been bringing up.
I think if you at least look like you
care, like people are less upset.
nobody likes to see, no matter how old
they are, nobody likes to see other
people's kids in public being loud and
obnoxious.
Yeah, that's true.
The thing that always like gets me really
angry is when you can tell the parents
don't
Yeah, no, I've never done that in public.
In public, she's super silent.
She doesn't really laugh.
She doesn't cry.
She just kind of blankly stares at
everyone and everything.
So, yeah, it's comforting.
yeah, it's definitely comforting.
But, you know, because like an airplane
change in air pressure, really hurts the
ears.
So I don't know.
I'm probably making a fuss about nothing
and it'll be completely fine.
But still, you know.
But yeah, so that's pretty much my update.
in the last six months.
Yeah, well, if we're moving on through our
catalog for the sake of time, the next
episode we had was copyright law, public
domain, and patent infringement.
Yeah, it sounds...
mean, when you read it like that, it does
sound kind of boring.
But actually, it was actually one of my
one of most interesting topics for me
personally.
yeah, so what do you remember about it?
Just in general that we were talking a lot
about at that time, PAL World.
I don't even know if it's still relevant.
I did read an article the other day, about
Nintendo possibly pursuing copyright
infringement or something.
Talking a lot about video game piracy.
That, think that was one of the biggest
points of the episode where you're kind of
for it, if I understood you correctly, and
I'm kind of against it.
I'm not gonna pretend.
It's just a complicated issue.
definitely.
Like, I'm a believer in supporting people
that make things.
But like,
I need to get the exact name, but there
was actually something that happened
recently.
need to get the right name.
It's going to kill me.
Yeah.
So there is this wonderful game called
Disco Elysium.
OK, that's like it's like very in depth
about like political philosophy and things
like that.
it's it's great time.
They it sold pretty well.
And then,
I can't remember the full story, somehow
owners like ownership hands changed or a
publishing company got involved and they
basically, um, kicked out everybody,
whoever worked on it.
Right.
Hmm.
So now, uh, what I see a lot of people say
like, Oh, should I go play disco Elysium?
It's on sale 75 % off.
Like, no, you go pirate it because the
people who made it aren't getting a penny
and,
what happened to them was dirty.
Like they just got forced out.
like there's cases like that where it's
like, yeah, I don't wanna financially
support that.
That's an interesting position to take is
on the one hand, you want to enjoy it, but
on the other hand, you don't want to give
the official copyright holders financial
gratification.
like one thing, I wouldn't even mind if it
was like a legit sale, but everything I'd
kind of heard, was kind of like a, a
hostile takeover kind of thing.
Yeah, I get that.
I think that happens with a lot of video
games.
can't think of, my God.
You have no idea.
They're literally like, so there's this
one.
I can't remember who was, but there was
this video I watched.
So yeah, this game was made by this
company who went out of business and then
was bought by this company who then went
out of business and was bought by this
company who then was absorbed by this
company.
And then they changed their name to like.
Yeah, that's awful.
It's awful.
That is definitely a very, very common
theme.
Like you have like a lot of these, what
was it called?
Abandonware.
Like a lot of these games that just don't
have any official copyright holders
anymore.
Which I mean, at end of the day, it's
still piracy, but I don't think, know,
where there's like, there's no, where
there's no victims, there's no crime, so
to speak.
So you're not really hurting anyone.
I think for lot of people though, it's
more, I want to be like a retro gamer.
And so.
I can't get these things legally.
Like, you know, like from like the Super
Nintendo and 64 era.
Oh, yeah.
It's hard to.
Yeah.
And so they just pirate it online.
I mean, technically, it's still pirating.
I mean, because you don't own it.
So you and the company still exists.
But I think for the vast majority of
people, no one cares.
I don't think anyone really sees that
they're really doing any harm.
And a part of me believes
Another part of me doesn't because a lot
of companies end up releasing.
What are they called?
Like the PlayStation one classic or like
the Super Nintendo classic, or they have
like these virtual stores where they sell
these games for like five bucks.
They either do really well, but like in
cases with like Nintendo, they like way
overcharged for their old catalog.
Yeah.
Insane prices.
Where I think if someone
If it was like an old NES game for like
$5, I think most people would be like, oh,
a hundred percent.
I can play this right on my Switch.
Love it.
$30.
No.
Yeah.
That's why I miss the 3DS.
I use my 3DS a lot.
I guess maybe it's retro, not fully.
Um, but it was a wonderful experience
playing, um, like old Game Boy games on
it.
When you had them physically on the
device.
Whereas for like the Switch you have it
at, I think it's like an online service or
something, I think.
I didn't know that.
That does sound like something they do.
Yeah.
And it just, I don't know, it looks
terrible.
Like it's, I've seen videos on YouTube of
people playing like Zelda and whatnot.
And it's just, I don't know.
I'd much, I'd much rather prefer like a
remaster or whatnot.
I'm still hoping that the remaster is some
of like the Wii games.
like the Wii Zelda games.
They did Skyward Sword.
hoping they'll do Twilight Princess,
but...
Twilight Princess HD is on the Wii U.
But it's not on the Switch.
That's what I'm hoping for.
Nintendo's the worst about making things
available.
Yeah, that's definitely...
Which again, why it's okay sometimes.
Yeah, that's true.
I'm not gonna sit here and say I've never
downloaded something I shouldn't have.
I mean, I think we're all guilty,
especially when I was a teenager.
I downloaded my fair share of things on
LimeWare and ruined a bunch of computers
doing
But yeah, so I'm definitely trying to get
back into gaming.
So this is definitely very important.
Hopefully the new Switch will be released
soon.
Who knows?
Yeah, we'll have to keep an eye out for
that.
Well, I think we should move on to the
next one.
Citizenship and board games.
Yeah, that was that was your topic.
So like the board games, but actually the
citizenship one.
So they changed the laws here in Germany,
actually.
So according to American law, you can have
as many passports as you want to.
It doesn't actually matter.
Whereas other countries are a bit more
conservative.
So like China and Japan, for example, you
can only have one.
Or if you're from, think, Tunisia or Iran,
you can you can have as many as you want,
but you can never give up your birth
citizenship.
And so in Germany, it was for the longest
time.
You were only allowed to have one
citizenship unless you were born, then you
could have multiple.
So my daughter has two.
So they changed the laws three weeks ago.
I think it was.
yeah.
And so now I can also become a German
citizenship, a German citizen.
I was going to apply right away, but the
woman who takes care of all that is on
vacation.
So yeah, so I have to wait about a week or
so for her to come back and then like make
an appointment.
But like everyone and their daughter or
everyone and their dog, sorry, or their
daughter, but everyone and their dog wants
to apply for German citizenship.
And because of that, they have a huge,
huge, huge, huge backlog of a bajillion
different applications.
So even if I do get approved, it'll take
at least a year and a half for them to
actually be done with the process.
But if it does work, yeah, I mean, that's
true.
On a funny side note, because of that,
they wanted to, not because of the new
law, but in general, because the
government is overburdened with like lot
of these things.
They wanted to introduce English as a
second official language in Germany.
Like they were talking about it kind of.
But a lot of like the government officials
were really against it.
Because the problem is, that if both
languages become official,
then you can be held liable in any
language.
So if your English isn't that good and you
make a mistake, you're legally responsible
for that.
Technically like under this new law, it's
not gonna like pass or anything.
So yeah, so that's pretty much it for the
citizenship.
We, I don't know if I also mentioned, like
we did go down to Frankfurt, applied for
everything.
That was super nerve wracking because
they're like, we have to do like an
interview.
And you hear the word interview and you
think they're gonna put you in different
rooms and make sure that you guys are
married and it's really your daughter, but
it was.
It was the most nonchalant thing you can
possibly imagine.
It was like really easy.
So but the board games was your your idea,
I believe.
Yeah.
I'm still enjoying having my table, my
beautiful table that I got and having
people over for board games.
The latest one I'm really into the sleigh,
the Spire board game is really good.
I was a late backer on Kickstarter, so I
got the collector's edition.
I think it actually in like two weeks, so
late July, you can get the retail version
they're going to be putting on stores.
I highly recommend it.
It's very fun.
I remember we did talk about Escape from
the Aliens in outer space.
I was going to say that we played it one
time.
It was not super fun.
I think that's a game
We only had like four people.
I think that's a game that just needs more
people.
Because it's built to play like 10 or 12
people up to.
And it sounds like it's much better that
way.
But yeah, other than that, I'm still
playing board games, still having a great
time, still think people should play more
board games.
I honestly didn't know that Kickstarter
was still a thing.
I assumed it had like died out.
no, Kickstarter is huge.
I didn't know that because I know back in
like the 2010s and whatnot it was like
super popular and everything was on
Kickstarter and I just assumed it shut
down.
didn't even know it was still around.
Yeah, it's actually funny.
The first I've only ever backed two things
on Kickstarter.
So it was the Slay the Spy Spire board
game, which I only learned about like at
the very end of the campaign.
Like it had already cleared all its goals
and it was like, well, if you want to be a
late backer and get the stuff you still
can.
So I did.
And then there was a, a die.
It's called the D ultimate if anyone wants
to look it up.
The idea was it's one die, one large die
that you can roll and you could get a
number value for any type of die out of
it.
And I backed that I think like exactly
three years ago now.
And they're only now just getting ready to
ship.
The guy, he didn't ghost us or anything.
He's been making like constant updates and
I get emails about every single one of
basically just sounds like his production
and shipping and the whole, it's been an
event for him in his life and has been
time consuming more so than he expected,
but that's, that's Kickstarter.
That's how it goes.
I've never backed anything on Kickstarter.
The only thing I've ever gotten from
Kickstarter indirectly was my Pebble
watch.
that was when it was already like, you
know, on the market.
I love that thing.
But unfortunately, it was bought up by
Fitbit and then Fitbit was bought out by
Google.
know, I didn't know that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So yeah, I it.
really?
Yeah, I believe I believe Google owns it
now, but I really love my Pebble watch.
It was awesome.
I used it all the time.
And then, yeah, Apple was just too
powerful.
And so once Apple felt like, you know, we
can make a smart watch, we'll do it.
And so they did it.
Kind of killed it.
But yeah, anywho, moving along.
So after that, we talked a little bit
about fast food, if I'm seeing that
correctly.
Yeah.
Which honestly is something I've been
thinking about lately.
Because if I do get that new job, I'm not
working from home anymore.
And when you work from home, it's not that
hard to eat every meal kind of healthy.
Yeah.
I'm going to have to actually like, one,
it's a side of town.
don't go too much.
So I hope there's good food options out
there.
And two, I should probably just be on top
of my things and pack lunches.
I mean, when we, well, we went, we went
down to Frankfurt to apply for my
daughter's passport.
We had forgotten.
Well, we didn't really check like where we
could buy food in the area.
And there was McDonald's across the
street.
And so we went there and we bought some
food because they have like veggie burgers
and whatnot, which technically,
technically they're not vegetarian because
they're made on the same grill as like the
regular beef.
So there's cross contamination.
And we're like, I was like, yeah, I know,
but it's midnight and I really need to eat
something.
Otherwise I'm to eat someone.
And it was an instant regret because it
was so it was so bad.
And we paid like 20 bucks and it was just,
oh, it was just awful.
And so I don't think it's like more of
like a quality issue.
It's just, I really don't enjoy fast food
that much anymore.
One, I think it's become, and maybe you're
a better judge of this.
I think it's become somewhat of a luxury.
Yeah.
of how expensive it is.
I'm pretty sure we did talk about that,
but I think it's only gotten worse.
Like, yeah, I ordered.
I had a day this week where I was like,
was really active.
went to the gym.
Like I was super busy.
Like I was feeling really good and like,
you know, I'm going to treat myself to a,
um, like a burrito chipotle.
I'm going to get double steak and I'm
going to add some queso into it.
It's still like, I burned so many calories
today.
I'm still looking great.
It's going to be a lot of protein and I
got a soda with it.
That was over $20 for a burrito and a
soda.
It's a lot of money.
Like, I'm like, I could, I could just go
grocery shopping and meal prep like 10
meals for $20.
Like, what am I doing?
Yeah, but I don't think the vast majority
of Americans really want to meal prep
anything.
That was one of like the biggest
accusations levied against like
millennials and whatnot
Like, don't go to Starbucks, like, don't
eat out, don't have avocado toast, just do
everything at home and you'll save a whole
bunch of money.
but I mean, we live in a busy world and I
definitely don't think the vast majority
of people can sit around and prep like
three meals a day.
Like if you're good, like maybe one, like
maybe one decent meal every day of the
week.
But I mean, you're not doing like three
solid meals.
Like that's why I'm a believer in cooking
by, like if I'm going to spend the time to
cook, I'm going to cook in volume.
Yeah, like I have a right before we
actually started recording, I set up a
crock pot.
have carrots, onions and celery cooking
with three and a half pounds of tri tip.
And that's just in a crock pot.
So it's just going to go by itself.
Like the work that took to do was chopping
and I seared the meat before I went in to
get a nice my art crust on it.
I think you have to explain it.
don't know if a lot of people know what a
crock pot is.
I guess crock pots a brand.
is it?
Yeah, it's one of those brands that's so
like.
Is ubiquitous the right word?
Like, it's just so common that like.
Like people call tissues Kleenexes, even
if they're not Kleenex brand, just because
Kleenex is the big one.
Mm It's just a it's.
It's a slow cooker.
Okay, and it's not quite a pressure cooker
because there's a hole in the lid but Like
since I work from home, I guess you could
do it even without working from home
because the temperature is pretty low.
It's pretty safe But I'll do like a 12
-hour chuck roast in there with some
braising fluid and vegetables
Like they're, they're, it's not always
going to be the best, but it's pretty
good.
And it's a way to make a lot of food
without a lot of effort.
Yeah.
I definitely remember my mom using a crock
pot a lot when we were growing up.
I don't think they're super in anymore.
but they're really good.
I wouldn't say that they're mostly used
for like stew or like beef dishes, but
that's what we use them primarily for when
I was growing
Yeah, it's really convenient is you'd sit
it and forget it for like 12 hours or 10
hours or however long, which when I was a
kid was like an an asinine amount of time
to like cook something.
But then again, there people who have, you
know, they who like what is it called like
smoke cook or smoke treat like meat?
Oh, yeah.
Yep.
For like two or three days or something.
So, I mean, a couple of hours is nothing.
I honestly love it working from home.
Like I'll work for like an hour, get bored
and like, I'm going to go see what it
looks like.
Yeah, I def I'm definitely guilty of that.
Where we have like these devices where
it'll basically kind of prep it for you.
And so I'll just kind of check on it every
now and then.
But yeah, so that's one of the biggest
problems I would say is that it's a lot
more expensive and it's it's definitely
not healthy.
And me personally, I don't really like the
quality.
Not very tasty.
not great.
Yeah.
So if we move on to the next one, the next
topic, I don't know if we'll get through
all of them is I guess music.
Yeah, I think we, I think we could be
quick on this one.
I don't think anything's changed in the
past couple of months.
No, basically we, just talked about like
how we find music and how it's changed,
how the world has changed about it.
Actually do have something I can say I
think his name is I don't know if you've
heard of this person for Rick Beato No, it
doesn't ring a bell.
So he Yeah, I think he's like in his 70s
and he's like a music producer So he's
been around the music industry for like
forever, right?
Mm -hmm, and he actually put out a couple
videos recently about how He thinks like
the reasons why he thinks modern music has
changed for the worst and part of that he
thinks is
because of how easy it is to find music
and how easy it is to consume.
Like you can just turn on Spotify and I
think you can listen to everything free on
Spotify or you pay a cheap membership or
whatever.
like, what, know, he did the whole, when I
was a kid thing, like, you know, I went
into a music store, so -and -so released
an album.
If I wanted it, I went and got a part
-time job.
And then
use that money to buy the album and then I
just had that, you know, I had that album
plus the other stuff I'd bought.
So then, you know, you get your friends
together, you all listen to the album and
you're going to listen to that album to
death because you worked to, to buy it.
And I mean, there's some merit to that, I
think, but yeah, I mean, that, was in the,
that was kind of in the music world
lately.
I mean, that's true.
That argument can be applied to pretty
much anything.
When you have to work more for something
and you have less access to something,
generally you tend to value it more.
So like the classic example is when
teenagers get their cars, a lot of parents
want the kids to save up for the car.
So even if they get like a crappy car that
costs, I don't know, a thousand dollars
and has like 150 ,000 miles on it.
They'll treat it like it's Ferrari because
they had to work for the money as opposed
to the kids who got like a, you know, a
brand new car for like 50 grand and didn't
have to work for it.
They wreck it within a week, which I did
hear a lot, you know, when I was going to
school.
So, you know, if you have to work for it,
you kind of value it more.
Yeah, don't know.
I don't know if that really flies anymore
in today's society necessarily.
I think the bigger issue
especially with AI that has been
compounded by AI is you have a lot of hot
garbage that's passed off as like art.
And that's the biggest issue.
Yeah.
So I won't take us down a rabbit hole, but
I encourage you and other people to look
into this.
This is something I learned about
recently.
So there's like a whole industry of like
AI music, where the idea is you just you
make AI music and you put it on Spotify.
And then,
bots like listen like it's it's basically
just a big scam but like you you're
basically having AI make music and then
you can get bots to listen to it and
generate money for yourself like it's
horrible like there's there's a whole
Again, I encourage people to look into
this.
There's like a whole like grindset world
out there of like, yeah, so you just make
this stuff and then you just get other
people to consume it or you get bots to
consume it and then everyone consumes
their own stuff and you just make money
magically.
And it's all either it has worked, but now
the people are making videos about it,
like it's oversaturated, it doesn't really
work anymore.
And they're just basically taking your
money, selling you on the idea.
It's all
It's all horrible.
It's all horrible.
that reminds me of something.
definitely it's actually for the the one
about gig economy.
So hopefully I don't forget the point.
But if we move on to the media, I'm sure
you saw this, everyone else saw it, that
Trump had almost been assassinated.
Yep.
And I think it's terrible, even though I'm
personally not a fan.
I'm definitely not a fan, even if I'm not
a fan of Trump.
I'm less a fan of political violence
because I don't think that solves
anything.
And a part of me just kind of took it at
face value that someone tried to kill him.
And then I was reading through the
comments on Facebook and people were like,
there's no way this was real.
This was definitely a setup.
Like, how could the FBI allow this one guy
to get on a roof even though they had
secured the premises and whatnot?
Like, this is definitely fake news and
Trump instigated this to make himself look
more powerful.
And I was like, that's a that's a really
interesting theory.
I don't know if I believe it.
And then I saw the video of, you know, the
agents like piling on top of him, telling
him to get down.
And he was yelling like, let me get my
shoe first.
Let me get my shoe first.
And he's like, wait, wait, wait one
second.
And then he did a fist.
And so I don't know.
So then it's kind of like, hmm.
Well, I think the shooter and one other
person died.
So
It looks pretty real now, but I won't lie,
I had similar thoughts.
you did.
I honestly, I was kind of naive.
I just took it at face value that I assume
that someone tried to did it or tried to
try to kill him.
But you never know.
So that was the whole point of the episode
is to really do your due diligence, so to
speak.
And then just for clarification, for
everyone listening, we're recording this.
less than twenty four hours after that
happened so there may or may not be
information that is still i'm sure there's
gonna be information releasing even today
that we are aware of yet because this
man's life is going to be absolutely
dissected by the government's and then the
media's going to try and do that as well
but it was also another case of
when something like this happens, have to
be careful because everyone's trying to be
first.
And there are people at that event.
It's one of those things that I think you
just take in all the information and then
you, you
then you kind of wait to see what makes
sense.
Yeah, I'm definitely interested in seeing
if this will actually have an effect on
the campaign.
Statistically, it will.
Yeah, I mean, because I saw part of the
debate, was really hard to watch between
the two of them and now this.
So I definitely wonder if it will
influence the elections for better or for
worse.
So I think the I think historically in the
US,
Anytime someone has tried to be or has had
an assassination attempt on them that
they've survived they've won In a pretty
big way
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
We'll see.
definitely.
So I definitely get to this point before
we run out of time or I forget.
So you mentioned like this hack a couple
of minutes ago about AI creating music and
then having bots listen to that and
generating money.
And so you did door dash, I believe.
Yeah, that's what we talked about.
And so I saw this video or this short, you
can call it what you want about this one
guy talk about how he does door dash.
but he does DoorDash in like the middle of
nowhere.
There are no customers.
And so what he would basically do is he
would DoorDash his own meals.
So he would go to Subway, pick up his
order, deliver his order, and then get
like three or $4 for delivering his order.
And I was like, there's no way that that's
legit, like that has to be fake.
And I did some Google -Fu as they call it.
So just kind of Googled around a little
bit.
And apparently some people have actually
done that, to where they'll door dash
their own orders or their friends' orders
and get money for that.
I don't know if you've ever heard of that
before.
I mean, so I've delivered a friend's order
before.
It was actually funny.
So in one of my group chats, a friend was
like, I can't remember why I came up, but
he said, yeah, I just ordered from this
restaurant.
I'm like, that's funny.
I'm picking up at that restaurant.
And then I got there, I'm like, oh, it's
your order.
But DoorDash gives you a flat fee, doesn't
it?
Whether or not the person tips.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I thought that was really, really
interesting.
I think there was some article I read
where a guy, I think he got like $300 in
one day doing that.
And then for whatever reason, the DoorDash
system flagged that as fraud and they took
the money back.
but it's still kind of funny.
don't know how it would work because you
would, so you would do an order in an area
where like nobody lives and then you would
not tip because you don't want people to
take it.
You take your own order.
like.
Yeah, DoorDash is still marked up like it
might be a little cheaper overall and it
might be kind of funny, but I don't think
you're going to make any real money doing
that.
that's a good that's that's
Like stuff is just more expensive on
DoorDash.
Ignoring all the fees, like if you pull up
a menu on DoorDash and you pull up a menu,
like pull up their online menu, usually
DoorDash is more expensive.
yeah, that's definitely true.
I mean, for like the delivery apps here,
though, we don't have DoorDash or like
GrubHub or any of that.
We have similar ones where they're a bit
more expensive, but they do it by charging
you like higher delivery fees and not
necessarily like making the food more
expensive.
Yep.
So so running a bit at a time.
But for the True Crime podcast, so we kind
of talked about the ethics on that and how
I felt was a bit immoral, retraumatizing
the families.
I must admit that I'm I don't want to say
a hypocrite, but I'm definitely guilty of
leaving it on in the background when I'm
like cooking and cleaning or like we were
watching like a Netflix show.
what, was it called?
Like my terrible neighbor or something.
it was talking about some guy who was a
squatter and like terrorize people and
ended up like killing his own brother
because of
I still stand by my original opinion, but
I definitely have been catching myself
listening to, watching true crime stuff.
I was like, ah, you shouldn't really do
that.
You know, it's not, it's not good.
It's a morbid gratification, if you will.
I think it is the definition of a guilty
pleasure.
Yeah.
Uh, I definitely try to avoid it because
after a while it kind of repeats.
Um, because if I click on like one thing
on YouTube, then it'll recommend like 20
similar episodes of like the same thing.
And then it's just kind of like, you know,
like a snake eating its own tail,
basically.
So it just goes in circles over and over.
I usually feel better about like the white
collar true crime stuff like like this
man.
I actually didn't know about this, but
I'll try and be quick.
It was a big deal.
Some guy who was in the like solar power
field in like the the 2000s and teens.
And it ended up
being like a Ponzi scheme and he because
there were green energy credits for
businesses to spend money on green energy.
His stuff didn't really work right.
And he didn't have as many as he said he
did.
But companies would just rent out his
solar stuff just so they could get the tax
credit.
And eventually came to the point where he
had a company worth like billions, I
think.
And then it all kind of crumbled down.
And I think he's
got sentenced to like 30 years in federal
prison, like, I feel like that's true
crime you can listen to and not feel
guilty because it's just fascinating.
Yeah, I've been nobody died.
That's true.
I've been I've been watching a lot of
nonviolent true crime, like drop lifters,
which I mean, not the most interesting
thing, but it's even then I feel bad
because a lot of people are like down on
their luck, like they're addicted to drugs
or alcohol.
And and then I do feel kind of bad because
somewhat of I guess you could call it
exploitation basically so I try to keep
that in you know in moderation basically
yeah and then we I guess we can just run
through the last ones real quick so like
civic duty you know voting so like we just
said with Trump and Biden and like the
whole debates is like staying informed
I think it's more important now than ever,
especially as November is slowly creeping
upon us.
And I don't think Biden is going to step
down.
unless God tells him to or Jesus.
we also talked about the importance of
jury duty, which I think my rotation
officially begins in September.
So that's something we can track next
season.
Yeah, and definitely talk about how you
got out of jury duty.
Yeah, I can just like be a giant red flag.
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a running
trope on a lot of shows is how to get out
of jury duty.
I think for some people, it's being a
racist.
I don't know how successful that is,
though.
I've never had to do jury duty.
So, man, I don't think I could do that.
I don't think I have it in me.
I mean, I couldn't either, but I've heard
some people try to be like a misogynist or
like a racist or something just so that
they don't get picked.
very, very interesting.
And, yeah, definitely the military is
still an important part of the civic duty.
Nothing's really changed.
I don't know if anything's really popped
up in the landscape with regards to the
military, although...
I have been watching a bunch of YouTube
videos about like recruiters and like the
military and how they recruit people.
So that was pretty interesting.
Yeah.
It's, it was definitely an eye opener.
Yeah.
It's not great.
I mean, cause they came to my school.
Yeah.
They're at my school all the time.
Yeah.
They're, and that's a super common thing
in the U S and funny enough, they've been
talking about doing it here in Germany.
I'm having recruiters come to German
schools, which is a big red flag for a lot
of people.
Because there's this huge separation
between the state and the military,
culturally and government -wise.
Whereas in the US, they're very much
intertwined in all parts of the culture.
You have the military in video games, in
music, in movies, all of that.
We're very accustomed to the military
whereas here it's not really so much like
of a thing It's kind like you keep them at
like an arm's length so to speak Even in
video games like the the military is like
the American military because all the
video games here are from the US So But we
have defense forces here in Germany, we
don't have like an army so to speak Mm
-hmm Anywho, so the final or unless you
want to say something no,
Good to move on to soft power.
This is soft power.
So that's one we did a couple weeks ago.
Yeah, I don't know what you want to say on
the soft power.
I think I'll kind of summarize what we
ended up saying, which it is kind of what
this whole podcast has been about, because
soft power is just exerting, in the
influence over the world in an indirect
and nonviolent
Yeah, I don't know if I definitely don't
think we're violent.
Maybe like violently likable.
you mean the US or us?
Us.
I'm like, No, I'm just kidding.
I'm kidding.
But yeah, soft power is incredibly
important for the US.
I think it's the most important thing,
actually.
Yes.
Even in an abstract sense, I think if you
can get people to get behind you of their
own free will, as opposed to forcing them,
then you can get them to do a lot of
stuff.
And that's the whole...
I don't know if there's an industry of
like producing soft power in the US, so to
speak, but I think it's a natural
byproduct because of our industries, of
the music, of just basically everything we
produce is exported into like all corners
of the earth.
That's our, I would say that's our biggest
export is our culture.
Our culture and our values.
Yeah.
Um, which is, I'm a final note, which is
incredibly weird for a lot of people
because I often get the question, um, if
I'm a soldier, because like I'm from the
West and I live in Germany and I've had
this question like probably like 30
Which, mean, anyone who's seen me knows I
definitely don't look like I'm a soldier.
But I guess that's the automatic
assumption that people make.
The automatic connection is American
equals soldier.
I don't know if I really like that though.
That's the first thing a lot of people
think of is why are you in my country?
So if you're not a tourist, you have to be
a soldier.
Is the first thing a lot of people think
about when Americans are abroad stationed
somewhere.
I'm not stationed here.
a lot of bases over there.
yeah, my grandfather was stationed over
there.
Yeah.
I mean, there are a lot of Americans here,
like not where I live.
Like, I don't know if there are any
military bases like in the north.
Most of them are like in the south and
whatnot.
He was stationed near the Black Forest.
Yeah, that's in the south.
So that's where like a lot of the bases
are.
So it was still kind of weird because I
got asked that the other day.
I was like, but no, no, I'm not a soldier.
Don't worry.
You're fine.
Anywho, so that's kind of like a quick
recap of all the episodes we've done in
the past six months.
I think we've covered a lot.
We have.
Very proud of that.
Hopefully we'll be able to cover a lot
more.
I think the world is going to give us a
lot to talk about on break.
I hope so.
I mean, I kind of don't hope so, but it
doesn't really matter what we hope because
it's going to happen.
That's true.
That's true.
Yeah.
So I really enjoyed talking about
everything.
really hope you guys enjoyed listening to
all of that and not just be ramblings.
Like I said, we'll be on break for a
couple of months.
So don't forget us.
We won't forget you.
I don't know if you have anything you want
to add before we get out of here.
Just hope everyone has a great summer and
assuming you're in the northern
hemisphere, you stay cool.
And if you're in the southern, you stay
warm.
Yeah, you heard him.
All right.
Take care.
Talk to you later.