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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 U .S.
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.
And.
We're back.
We are back.
Little bit later than usual, but we're
here.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, I was sick last week.
Everyone was sick.
My daughter was sick.
My wife was sick.
Migraines.
Yeah, and I felt bad.
The way we have to schedule this is I show
up 930 in the morning on a Sunday, which
isn't really that early, but I like to
sleep in on the weekends.
I rolled over and I saw the message on my
phone.
I was like,
Man, that sucks.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Alright, I'm gonna go back to sleep.
Sorry, I'm gonna enjoy this.
I feel bad, but tired me doesn't think too
hard.
No, I completely understand.
Is it 930s or 1030 at the moment?
It's 1011 right now.
Oh, okay.
In the morning.
Yeah, so we are officially now on the same
page time -wise, because we had to move
our clocks up.
Two weeks ago or three weeks ago, I think.
So, because the US and Germany change
clocks at different times, so there's
always like a gap of like three weeks.
Yeah, that which is a crazy amount of time
to be different on.
Yeah, yeah, it really is.
And I always forget like when to do what.
So like when do you push them forward,
when do you pull them back?
So there were some.
Like a mnemonic trick a coworker taught me
once, like in spring you jump ahead hour
and fall, you fall back an hour.
Yeah, spring forward, fall back.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, that's even better.
Yeah, his was a bit different, but it was
the same meaning.
Yeah, I kind of like that.
So it's a nice play on words.
It doesn't work in German, though.
But still, I hate daylight savings time.
Saving time.
I feel like I'm still off balance.
which is super sad to say.
Like I can sleep mostly normal now, but I
got in the habit of taking like midday
naps and it just destroys me.
I can't do it, but I'll get off work
because I work from home and I'll just
walk into the bedroom and like read
something on my tablet for like 30
minutes, get all comfortable in bed.
And then I'll doze off for like 45
minutes.
And then I'm like groggy all night and
it's hard to sleep.
Like I'm making bad choices.
I mean it really messes me up too.
I think it was pretty, it was actually a
lot worse for my wife because she stays
awake with the baby a lot.
And so she was like, it was two in the
morning and then all of a sudden it was
three in the morning.
And she was like, wait, what happened?
And she's like, oh, that's right.
They changed the clocks.
Yeah, I don't think it helps.
I'd like to get rid of it if we could.
But I mean, that's a story for another
day.
Weather -wise, the weather here has been
terrible.
Although it was really nice yesterday.
It was like 75 or something, which for me
is beautiful weather.
That's perfect weather.
I spent the majority of the time though
moving to my new apartment.
I was talking to Chris about this before
we actually started the episode.
So I've been...
Moving bit by bit, as you say.
So every day I drive to the apartment and
put two boxes there and come back.
I'm like 40 % done.
He was smart enough to move in the spring
and not during like the coldest cold snap
I've ever seen in my life.
Yeah, I mean, honestly, that's actually a
good point.
I mean, it doesn't get that cold here
though.
God, I think the coldest it's gotten here
is maybe like 20 degrees, maybe 10
degrees.
I don't know.
It doesn't get that cold here.
But yeah, today the weather was semi
-nice.
It was like 60 degrees, windy.
And so it's like, you know what?
Let's go for a walk with the baby in the
baby stroller.
I don't regret the walk.
I do regret the weather because it wasn't
really that pleasant.
It reminds me of...
I think either it's a Scandinavian term.
I don't know the word and what it is, but
it's referred to as like window weather.
I don't know if you've heard of that.
Oh, like it's pretty to look at, but you
don't want to be in it.
Yeah, that's the weather here.
It's nice to look at through the window,
but it's not nice to be in.
But what about your neck of the woods?
So it's been pretty nice, like in the 70s,
pretty much at all times.
I actually met up with some of the friends
I used to live with and showed them some
walking paths in the area because they
have a young dog who they've been actually
taking to like, you know, puppy training
school.
Oh, so we went on a walk for about an
hour.
And it was beautiful out.
It was great.
And then I went for later that night.
I went for just a walk by myself in my
neighborhood.
And on Friday, I basically had every
window in my, in my place open all day.
Cause it's, it's the weather right now
where I just have the thermostat off and
the temperature is just gonna, it's gonna
be a little cool in the morning.
It's gonna be a little hot in the
afternoon.
It kind of just averages out to be about.
where you want it to be anyway, and it's
free.
That being said, I'm already looking at
the forecast for next week and it's
supposed to be kinda rainy and cool
starting like Tuesday, which, or according
on a Sunday.
And that's a bummer.
I just want it to be hot all the time now,
but it is only mid April.
And I've seen it blizzard at this time of
year before, so I shouldn't complain too
much.
You know, they say April showers bring May
flowers.
So we get May showers here.
That's usually how it works.
Yeah.
We're like a month behind everyone else.
Yeah.
I mean, it just rains here all the time.
I told my professor a couple of years back
because she complained about the weather
in Germany.
She's German.
And she's like, why doesn't anyone come
here?
I was like, you don't come to Germany for
the weather.
You come here for the culture.
And she's like, yeah, it's a fair point.
Like no one says I'm going to go to
Germany because I love the weather.
Like if you love the weather, then go like
France or Spain, but you don't come here.
Or you go to the south if you like skiing,
you know, then you're in like Switzerland
territory.
But otherwise, I mean, the weather here is
just, it's, it's to die for in the sense
that it's so terrible that you want to
die.
With that being said, you know, it's the
bi -weekly weather report.
So what are we going to get into?
The meat and potatoes?
We are going to discuss media today, not
any particular story in the news or any
media sources particularly, but more just
the experience of consuming the media and
kind of the...
the filter and the skepticism you really
need to parse all the incoming information
these days?
Yeah, I think it's a lot harder.
I guess some of the listeners might ask
themselves why the media in particular,
because maybe it could be the same in
every country.
But what I definitely think is interesting
about the US, when comparing it to
to Germany is that a lot of the newspapers
or a lot of like the media outlets have a
very open and clear bias whether they're
like left -winging or like central or
their right wing Whereas in Germany, it's
not really that case.
It's not really the case that the outlets
here to really lean towards a Political
spectrum.
I know there are some people are like, oh,
that's not true, you know
I could list off a couple of ones where
you could post like maybe they're a bit
more right -wing, but the main difference
is how vocal I would say the media is in
the US.
Like CNN and Fox, for example, being like
the two biggest examples of how vocal and
how obvious it is where they're leaning.
Where here it's more like you're kind of
left guessing, like what's the slant.
But I would say the majority of the
newspapers here.
are really like left leaning.
At least that's my perception.
I would also say there's a big
generational divide.
Oh, that's true.
So nobody our age is sitting down to watch
like scheduled news.
Like when I was a kid growing up, I would
have dinner, you know, we'd have dinner
around 6 p .m.
and my dad would turn on the O 'Reilly
factor and I would watch and we would
watch that.
because it came on at 6 p .m.
Nobody, very few people, I don't even see
many older people these days anymore like,
oh, it's 5 p .m.
It's time for the nightly news report.
That's just not the world we live in
anymore.
I know some people still do that or just
have it on the background, but again,
that's a big generational divide.
Yeah, I mean, that's definitely true.
I definitely don't think most people are
sitting in front of the news and the TV at
the moment, like, oh, it's the six o
'clock news.
However, I think that's probably only true
for maybe local news.
If you're really interested in what's
happening in your local area, then you
might tune in.
But in terms of like national syndicates,
I can't imagine most people actually
really caring about when the news comes
on.
Mostly because you can just have it
whenever you want.
You can have whatever you want, wherever
you want, however you want it.
It's kind of like a free for all,
basically.
Yeah.
And it's an interesting experience for me
in terms of local media.
So Billings, it's a city, but it's not
really big enough to make any national
news except for the very few exceptions.
And all the, all our local news is pretty
much like talked about on Facebook and
I've been off Facebook for very long time,
which has been great.
Uh, but Facebook anymore.
No, it was, I I'm glad I'm off.
Like I feel so much better, but I did that
like years and years ago, but that that's
how like you have to keep up on local news
here.
But half the year.
or a little under half a year, I'll watch
TV for like sports and things.
And a lot of it will be on local channels
that are, you know, forwarding the
broadcast of whatever national game it is.
So every now and again on the ads, you'll
get a little clip of local news like, oh,
tonight over at, you know, local school,
this is happening.
We'll talk more about that tonight.
And I'm like, oh.
It's like this is like the only tiny
little slice of local news I'm getting
because where else could I possibly hear
about it?
Yeah, I mean, I mean, I'm still on
Facebook, so I'm one of the old people.
I say old because I was talking to my
little sister and she's like, oh, you
still use Facebook.
I was like, yes, is there anything wrong
with that?
And she's like, oh, that's only for old
people.
But my younger sister is a lot younger
than me, so I can kind of understand that.
Demographically speaking, Facebook's, I
guess, population, if I'm going to use
that word, is pretty old.
But anyways, you're saying like local
news?
That's where I get my local news.
Not from my hometown in the US, but from
the town I live in here.
I mean, I could read the newspaper, but...
I choose not to.
Yeah, you're not going to do that.
And for the record, as much as I dog on
Facebook, it was great for that.
Like there were local groups like, hey,
this restaurant's great.
Hey, this restaurant's awful.
Hey, there's I remember one evening there
was a high speed chase going on and it
went on for like two or three hours and
everyone was like, oh, they just drove
past my house at blah, blah, blah.
Like, oh, I just saw him over here.
And then all the moderators got in and
like, don't.
share information the police haven't
shared and they ruined all the fun.
And that was when I left that group.
Because I mean, I was taking some
enjoyment out of it, I'll admit, but also
like there's somebody driving through
Billings and has stolen like three cars
already.
Like they're having like a real Grand
Theft Auto chase right now.
And it'd be kind of nice to know a part of
town they're in so I can not be out on the
street.
Yeah, I mean, that's true.
That's that's definitely true.
So, I mean,
I don't know if I really actually made the
distinction, at least when I was growing
up, between local and national news.
I mean, news was news, so I don't really
care where it came from.
I still don't really care too much.
I mean, we'll kind of get into that later
about the whole bias, but...
Yeah, I mean, news in general is super
important, like the media in general.
But as I said before, it's kind of...
vitriolic, it's become like very, I guess
tainted.
I think that's my perception of it.
There will always be bias.
I remember when I was in a high school, a
pretty high level high school history
class, and a professor or the teacher was
talking about bias.
And everyone always says you shouldn't
have bias in news, you shouldn't have bias
in history.
That's impossible.
Bias is the perspective through which you
interpret life.
Now you don't have to let it be like a
blatant bias.
Like, oh, I'm from, you know, I was born
in somewhere in the South, therefore the
Civil War is bad.
Like, that's not what I'm talking about.
I'm just like, it's your way of relating
and then relating it to the reader or the
viewer.
It's not inherently bad, it's always going
to exist.
Trying to pretend it isn't real is the
problem.
That being said, being aware of your bias
and doing your due diligence to represent
all sides is a part of that.
It's when you don't do that or you
intentionally don't do that that there's
problems.
I mean, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of
bias.
I've read a lot of articles, watched a lot
of documentaries about how news back in...
I don't know.
Like the 60s and 70s was maybe less biased
than it is now.
I don't think that's necessarily true.
But I think you're always going to have
some bias in the media.
I think the problem is that people don't
really check their bias.
So they assume that it doesn't exist.
Like I'm just telling it how it is or I'm
just...
stating the facts.
Which nobody does.
No one does.
Like I'm actually you, you just triggered
my memory of that teacher a little bit
more.
He basically said if there was no bias in
history or news, every report would just
be bullet points of this happened.
And this happened.
And this happened.
Like, you need context to like relate the
facts to people, which is the bias.
Yeah, and sometimes I feel like it's more
obvious because I would like to believe
the things that I consume are completely
neutral, that they're not biased, they're
just being honest and straightforward and
stating the facts.
But I don't necessarily see that actually
being the case.
So without getting into the specifics, if
I'm...
Like if I'm watching a news report about a
certain event and they're reporting on an
event saying like this and this happened.
And they're like, yeah, okay.
And so they describe certain countries,
they describe certain people in such a way
where like, yeah, that's an accurate
description.
And then I go to like an opposing news
outlet and they describe my team or like
the people I'm rooting for in a negative
light.
that I view them as having a bias, whereas
I view my, I guess my team's not having a
bias, if that makes any sense.
So like we kind of live in this, what do
they call it?
Like an echo chamber?
I'm pretty sure you're familiar with that
term.
Yeah.
Yeah, so it's kind of, we feed off each
other and so we assume that everything we
say is correct.
And then you talk to your friends, you
talk to your family and everyone kind of
validates your opinion.
And I really try hard to leave that
chamber, but it's really difficult.
That's that's the important thing.
So kind of getting this away from the
scope of like left versus right politics
or things like that.
So let's say you follow a film review
channel and they're very upfront with,
hey, I really like let's say I really love
comedy movies.
I hate horror movies.
And let's say a new horror movie comes
out.
and they love the horror movie.
That means like, okay, they hate horror
movies, they love this horror film.
Does that mean it's just such a great
movie that despite the genre, it's just
that good?
Or is it such a bad horror movie that it's
not even a horror movie and they like it?
Like it's unintentionally funny, so he
loves it.
That's...
It's not a good or a bad.
I think that's a useful review.
That's a useful piece of media.
You would need to kind of like check it
against other sources to kind of put the
picture together like, oh, maybe this
person that specializes in reviewing
horror movies, they love it.
Okay, then this is like a transcendent
film.
It doesn't matter what genre of film you
like.
It's that good, you'll love it.
Or the horror specialist hates it.
Like, okay, this is a...
pretty awful movie, it's so awful, it's
funny, that's why the first guy likes it
so much.
That's useful.
Yeah, I mean, I think what you're getting
through is like the territory of
gatekeepers.
You know, like what to...
I wouldn't even say that, it's just people
have their bias and it's not even a good
or a bad thing, it's just people have
different tastes.
And I think that's like viewing bias
through the scope of like...
editorial review type content or media
like that's how you Make use of it.
Yeah, I mean that's that's fair I mean,
like I said, I think it's just more
important that you you recognize that
either you recognize it yourself When
you're doing it Like the quote -unquote
like conflict of interest that's more like
an extreme extreme form of biased in terms
of like law where you can't do something
because it kind of
as the term states, it conflicts with your
interests.
So either you recognize it yourself or
your readers have to do it.
So someone has to do it.
Otherwise, you kind of go down, I guess
like a rabbit hole, so to speak, where
like you have a kind of like this tunnel
vision of everything.
And again, just being as varied as
possible in your exposure is valuable.
to like combat things.
That is true.
So I definitely try to expose myself to
different types of media, like radio,
YouTube, TV, and from different news
providers, so to speak, news channels.
But I mean, you were talking about movie
reviews, which isn't necessarily news.
I mean, it's still media.
Yeah.
But it's the same idea.
It's something that has to be conveyed
through the lens of the author's bias.
Yeah, that's definitely actually a very
valid point.
I mean, you can kind of expand that to
include like reviews in general.
So, yeah, if you go to like reviews on, go
on.
I was going to say, for example, I doubt
you're familiar with this channel, but
there is a...
channel on YouTube called Video Game
Dunkey.
I'm not familiar.
He makes very good videos.
It's kind of a eclectic mix of like really
goofy stuff and every now and again like
really serious like analytical stuff.
But he there's a video where he's he's
actually talking about this topic of
reviews and like how to use them and he's
like, hey, I hate anime.
I hate turn based combat.
So if I tell you.
that I love Persona 5, which is a anime
turn -based combat game, like that, you
know, that means something.
You know, that doesn't necessarily mean
it's the best thing ever, but I mean, that
you have to stop and think about like what
my opinion as a reviewer or just someone
who puts opinions online means when
something I should extra hate, I would
love.
And that's kind of where I was going with
the movie thing, like.
It might not be good, but something about
that combo or whatever, whatever is being
reviewed appeals to someone that should
hate it.
And I think that's just value, which is
why.
So for me, when I'm trying to get
information on something like I'll follow,
like four film reviewers who are kind of
they kind of have different opinions on
things.
Right.
So if.
If a good amount of them like something
and they have different tastes, then it's
probably just generally good.
Or if one of them hates something, but
another one likes it, I'm like, well, that
guy I know just hates those things in
general.
So I'll probably like it anyway.
Like it's, it's useful to have that broad
tapestry of opinions you could pull on.
You can, you can kind of construct what
something is based on that.
I mean, yeah, that is true that basically
if you're really, I mean, this, I'm also
someone who has the spare time to waste on
that.
So I realized this is not, uh, this is not
applicable to everyone.
I mean, but that is also kind of an
interesting, interesting case of referring
to like, uh, reviewing anime or like turn
-based combat.
I mean, both of which I like, I don't know
if I like the combination, so I'm not a
fan of the persona series.
Um, I have played them, but.
Not really my cup of tea.
But anyway, that's also a trick that
people like to use, which is like, you
know, I don't really like these things,
but this one is like really good.
And so it could kind of lure you into like
a false sense of security, I would say.
So it would kind of get you, like
influencers use this a lot.
Oh yeah, I didn't even consider that, but
like Instagram, like just.
Here's an influencer posting with this
product.
Yeah, yeah, and so they kind of use that.
And you're like, you know, I would never
suggest anything that would really harm
your health.
And I'm really against smoking, but you
should really try these e -cigarettes
because they're nicotine free.
They're actually really good for your
lungs.
And so that kind of thing.
So it kind of, I would say, forces you to
kind of put your guard down because the
one's like, you know, I would never.
suggest anything that goes against my code
or I would never suggest anything that is
harmful towards you.
I admit that's kind of a convoluted
example that's kind of extreme.
I mean, it's accurate.
I mean, it's scary how well it works.
And they get paid a lot of money for it.
Yeah, yeah.
And they definitely do.
So that's definitely a strong point.
A very...
dangerous point I would say which which
kind of goes into what we've been talking
to is kind of like trust So like how like
how do you trust people like how do you
trust what they're saying?
I mean you can also apply it to this
podcast because we're Talking about the US
and to a certain extent in Germany.
So like how can you trust that we're
being?
Faithful to like reality.
Well, I mean we're also I mean
The reality is you have one person living
in Billings, Montana.
It's not nowhere, but it's not everywhere.
And you have a person who hasn't lived
there in over a decade, which it's not
that we don't know nothing or anything.
It's just that we're going to have certain
perspectives.
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I go back to the U .S.
and for for about like a month and a half.
So I go back every year.
But still, it's definitely very different,
which is one of the reasons why I wanted
to do this podcast to keep in touch with
all that.
Yeah.
But still.
And also, while we're on the topic of us,
we could just be wrong sometimes.
Yeah, we're not perfect.
And I think that goes to.
We don't necessarily fall into this
perfectly, but.
there is the incentive in media today to
just get it out there.
Just be first, just talk it out, just get
it out there.
That's not necessarily what we're doing,
but sometimes we just need to get it out
there so we might say something and we
might be wrong.
It's not malicious on our end, but we can
just say something and we might be
incorrect.
That's a good point is also being
malicious.
So...
In terms of like trust, we have this like,
like fake news.
Um, which when I was growing up, I'm sure
that was a thing, like spreading false
information has always been a thing.
Um, spreading lies, trying to deceive
people by they were just, they used to
just be called false reports and it
sounded smarter or alternative facts.
I don't know if you've heard that.
No, that was in the stupid age.
Um, so you feel free to correct me because
I don't know the whole story, but
There was this one, wasn't it a senator
who was talking about like a terrorist
attack in a certain city that had never
happened and someone called her.
Oh yeah, I think that was Bowling Green,
Kentucky.
Yeah, so there was a supposed terrorist
attack in, I think it was Kentucky.
And it turned out to just not be true,
like it never happened.
And so someone called her a liar.
And I think either she or her
representative said like, no, no, those
are just alternative facts.
And so it's alternative.
I think you're mixing two stories.
Am I?
So if I remember the alternative faxing,
so when when it was Trump's inauguration,
they were like, oh, it's the it's the
biggest crowd for an inauguration ever.
And they would like show footage and like
that.
But like the footage was from like Obama's
inauguration.
Like he did not he did not break records.
for most people at an inauguration, not
that it really matters, but it really
matters to him.
And when challenged with like real
numbers, I think it was like his press
secretary or something, that's when she
coined the term alternative facts.
See, and that's one of the reasons why I'm
glad we're doing this together.
You're completely correct.
And so I just double checked.
So, so Kelly Anne Conway, that's her name,
is the one who claimed that there was a
terrorist attack.
In Bowling Green, Kentucky like a long
long time ago and it just never happened
So it was a lie and so that's kind of why
I confused it and you're right.
It was Donald Trump Like the whole like
the biggest inauguration and then he said
those are just alternative facts So thank
you for the correction so it's so I think
we live in an era where you can't really
trust a lot of things people are saying
Other people are correct whether they're
malicious or not.
So you have to really be
due diligence, you really have to do your
homework and double check to make sure
that everything is correct.
And sometimes that's just waiting.
So for example, I woke up this morning,
it's April 14th, and I saw news about the
Israeli -Iranian conflict that's kind of
ramping up.
I...
Very base level facts.
I am not at all equipped to talk about it
right now, but I will tell you what's on
my mind right now is everything with a
grain of salt because we are in get the
story out first mode right now.
A lot of the media is gonna be.
So there's a very good chance I see four
headlines and two of them or less are
correct.
Or they mix up a very important detail.
Like I don't even wanna give an example
to.
even consider where they could go wrong
with it, but sometimes just slow down and
let it happen.
You don't need to have the hottest talking
points right now to chat with your
friends.
Obviously something's happening.
but waiting for complete information I
think is really important and it's hard
for us these days.
That is definitely true.
I think, I don't know if this has always
been true, but it definitely feels like
it's kind of like shoot first and like ask
questions later kind of approach.
And I've been guilty of this where I read
stories or I read reviews for like video
games and like, oh my God, this is so
terrible.
Or I get really emotionally invested into
something just.
really quickly and then more information
comes out and I feel kind of stupid for
like a premature reaction to something.
Like it doesn't have to be something as
like severe as like a war.
I mean it could just be like someone's
reporting on a company or just like
anything in general.
So we have to learn to withhold judgment
when things like this happen but it's
really hard because you have like a lot of
peer pressure.
And a lot of people are like, oh, it's so
obvious.
Like I said, not necessarily like the war
or anything, but it's like, oh, it's so
obvious you should feel this way.
Like, why don't you?
Like, why do you need more information?
So you have to kind of wait for, you know,
more information.
You have to kind of let your conscious be
your guide.
Kind of approach.
Yeah.
And it's especially so I kind of watch a
much, much lower stake thing that I am
comfortable talking about.
Okay.
So.
bringing it to sports real quick.
So this happened about two or three weeks
ago.
Uh, Rashid rice, he is a wide receiver on
the Kansas city chiefs.
Uh, he was a rookie last year.
He in Texas, him and some friends were
street racing on the highway.
They were going like over a hundred miles
an hour and the two cars they had
basically sandwiched this car, cause an
accident.
No one was really that hurt, which is kind
of a miracle considering they were, how
fast they were going.
I mean, there were injuries, but nothing
serious.
No cars flipped or anything.
And he and his friends left the scene of
the crime.
And there was someone took a video of it.
There was dash cam.
TMZ got a hold of it right away, got it
released.
So all that happened.
But the reporting was like, because it's
the off season and the NFL, everyone's
just desperate for anything to talk about.
So everyone was like, I have to tweet
about this.
I have to write an article about this.
I just, I have to get something out of
this and I have to go now, now, now, now,
now, now.
So there was a Lamborghini and a Corvette
involved and they were like, oh, Rice was
driving the Corvette and you could see him
leaving the scene.
And also there was marijuana in the car
and it's a, it was a felony amount in
Texas to have that much.
And then it was like, oh, no, he was
actually driving the other car.
And while he did have marijuana in the car
and that is illegal in Texas, they got the
amount wrong, not the amount that he had,
but the amount that the law is for that
level of crime, which you think would be a
very easy thing to just look up and not
get wrong.
But you could just see there was just a
wave of tweets that day and they were all
just like, I have to talk about the most
recent thing.
I just have to, okay, what was the news?
Okay, we're talking about that.
We're talking, oh, it was wrong.
And it's just embarrassing to see.
And again, this is a low stakes thing.
Like the guy did it and he actually was
charged and everything and he's going
through the legal process right now.
But imagine if this was done in a slightly
different way or they got the name wrong
and now we're piling all this attention on
someone that doesn't deserve it.
Like that's the thing that scares me.
It's just, we're all so desperate for
anything to talk about.
Yeah.
that we're just like, someone's gonna
tweet about it five minutes after it
happens and we all, it's the new
discourse.
Yeah, that's definitely true how fast
information spreads.
It's crazy.
Whether it's true or not.
And you get rewarded for it.
That's definitely true.
I mean, you get double rewarded for it.
And that's not a new thing because you can
make the initial tweet.
write the initial article, get that
engagement.
And then you're like, hey, I made a
mistake, which you should admit you made a
mistake.
And you make a new tweet and you write a
new article and you get double engagement.
That's surprisingly not a new thing.
I wish I could remember the source of
this, but I was listening to a YouTube
video a couple of years ago talking about
this exact topic.
And back in the day of like when
newspapers were the big thing and there
were like criers on the street where you,
you know,
You could go buy a newspaper from someone
on the street corner, right?
So they would print a newspaper with a
incorrect story, sell it, make money.
They would, people would get mad like,
hey, you've got this wrong.
That's not what happened.
Like, oh, you're right.
We'll print a retraction.
You sell that newspaper.
And then you write another newspaper with
the real story and you sell that too.
So it's not a new phenomenon as much as,
you know, we might like to think it is.
It just happens a lot faster now.
Yeah, but the problem is, is you don't
really get a lot of credit or respect for
doing due diligence or for like doing your
homework or like even just writing like a
correction.
That's less interesting.
People just kind of take things at face
value and that's just how it is.
Unfortunately, but I don't know if there's
anything because you said like low stakes
But I don't know if that's true for any
story really because these things kind of
live on forever I mean it used to be that
things were reported and they just kind of
died out Because you know like they the
papers got lost so they're the recordings
got lost but not because of the internet
Everything just lives on forever So
something something you did like 20 years
ago
It's going to be there for like forever
until the day you die.
Or the earth implodes.
Well, we just we just saw a great example
of that.
OJ Simpson just died.
That's right.
And guess guess what?
Every every article was about it.
It wasn't about his record breaking.
I mean, mostly wasn't about his record
breaking seasons on the NFL.
It was about his court case from like 30
years ago.
Yeah, yeah.
He just got released from prison, I think,
like.
like 10 years ago or something, maybe not
that long ago.
I think it was longer.
So what they what they eventually got him
for, he went away for like nine years for
like an armed robbery.
I think what happened was he was kind of
broke and he had sold some sports
memorabilia to a like a sports like
memorabilia store either here or someone
else.
And he's like, I'm just going to go take
it back.
Yeah, yeah.
And this is the story.
Yeah, and so that's definitely true.
And that's what he'll be remembered for.
Like that's his legacy.
I don't even I can tell you anything about
his football career.
I don't know anything about him.
Which which which is a true.
So I like.
I have known about OJ Simpson like my
whole life, right?
Like that that court case happened the
year I was born.
So he was always just like mentioned in
popular media as like the butt of the
joke, like he was in Family Guy episodes.
And then I, you know, I've, I've been a
football fan for like eight, nine years
now.
And I was listening to a video the other
day and like just talking about like his
actual sports career.
The dude was like absolutely transcended,
like amazing.
Like there, he was the first overall pick
in the draft.
He was pro he was the best at minimum.
He was the best running back of the 1970s,
probably more.
It's weird having like such a person with
such amazing accomplishments that in many
ways have never been topped even, you
know, 50 years later, but we're never
going to talk about that.
Like that's, it'll be a tiny cliff note.
Like sports nerds will be like, we have to
talk about it guys.
It happened.
He was amazing.
We can't just pretend he didn't exist.
Like he left his mark, but for 90 % of
people, it's going to be like the murder.
I mean, that's a good closing point
because we're almost at the end, but
that's definitely a good closing point is
how media shapes our perception of people
and their legacies.
Another big example, so I won't go into
details for obvious reason, but like
Michael Jackson.
So what happened with his court case and
whatnot was pretty much overshadows his
musical career because, I mean, musically,
I feel like he was a very talented person.
But what happened during his career kind
of
overshadows that, unfortunately.
So like, the media really shapes our view
on like public figures, like how we're
supposed to feel about them.
And so because of all this reporting, we
have to feel a certain way.
Like, OJ Simpson was acquitted.
So, I mean, he should be a free man.
But in the court of public opinion, it
doesn't really matter.
Well, he was found liable for the murder
in the civil trial.
That is true, that is true.
And I think he had to pay like restitution
or something.
I know we're coming to the end, but for
anyone outside the US who probably hasn't
had this shoved down their throat nearly
as much as we have, look into the actual
criminal case.
The investigators basically botched all
the evidence and the case.
So he kind of...
That plus the glove defense.
Oh, yeah.
Like this was like...
He should not...
He should not have won that case, but
investigators messed it up bad.
Yeah, I mean, I didn't look that far into
the whole case either.
I mean, the whole thing was publicized
when I was pretty much pretty young, so I
don't remember most of it.
But yeah, so the media definitely does
push us into certain directions, certain
boxes.
It really does shape our opinion on like
various things.
Even those podcasts is considered media.
I mean, it is a podcast.
Obviously, we do have a bias towards, you
know,
the US like presenting like good facts.
Although to our defense, I feel like we've
talked about stuff that is not so
flattering.
Oh, yeah.
I'll complain about that all day.
For example, real quick, I have a friend
on a month long vacation in Japan right
now.
Oh, and he live streamed a walk.
He was like a midnight walk.
He was taking through Osaka.
And I was just like, man, it's so clean
there.
There's like dedicated bike lanes, like
it's beautiful.
Like they blow us out of the water on
public infrastructure on every level.
Like, I think we're very good at saying
when we are not great.
Yeah.
But I mean, then they also work like 70
hours a week or something.
Right, right.
It's pros and cons.
It's not nowhere's perfect.
And I think that's a really good point to
end on is like no place is perfect.
Like no...
Like, no media outlet is perfect.
Everyone has their biases.
Everyone has their flaws.
You know, as people like to say, the grass
is greener on the other side.
Or at least we feel like that.
Even like Germany, for example, when I
talk about Germany, because I've been here
for about 12 years now.
And when I talk about it, I talk about
like a lot of the good stuff, because
that's one of the reasons that motivates
me to stay here.
And then people are like, oh my God, it's
so much better than the US.
And I love it.
But if you talk to Germans, they're like,
well, why would you stay in Germany?
Like the US is so much better.
It's so cool.
So it's all a matter of perspective.
What's good and what's bad, not morally
speaking.
And we're talking about like ethics or
anything, but like, you know, like what
motivates you to go somewhere, what
motivates you to do something or to report
on something.
It's all a matter of like perspective.
And I would encourage everyone to keep a
varied and
differing pool of sources you get all your
media from.
If you watch one film reviewer and that's
the only film reviewer you watch for five
years, your opinions are probably going to
start sounding a lot like theirs.
If you watch five film reviewers, you'll
probably have a pretty healthy mix and
understanding of things.
Same thing with, you know, with political
news, sports news, food reviews, like
whatever, like you just.
That's how you avoid just parroting
everything you hear and read.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sometimes you can tell what people will
kind of news.
We will watch this Hollywood how they
speak because they quote.
Yes.
Verbatim.
So, uh, yeah, I don't really hold any, any
one person up to like, uh, like a Godlike
status or put them on a pedestal or
anything.
I think everyone is fallible.
I think everyone is, um,
Equally competent at making mistakes
whether in good faith or bad faith Yeah,
and some people just have bad opinions.
Yeah, that's true.
Let me let me rephrase I have bad
opinions.
I bet you have bad opinions.
Yeah, there are definitely people I review
as I watch her like I agree with like 85
90 percent of what you're saying But we're
talking about like horror movies now and
your opinions are horrible Like I can't
take anything you're saying seriously
right now
And I have things I talk about where I
know I'm on that level too, but I just
can't let it go.
Like, it's important to recognize, like,
everyone has bad takes.
Yeah, that's true.
You know, as they said at the 90s, you
have to check yourself before you wreck
yourself.
Yeah.
Super old.
With that being said, a very interesting
topic.
Stay safe, stay smart, stay curious.
Thanks so much for listening.
And I don't have anything else to add.
I don't know if you want to throw anything
in there before we get out of here.
Enjoy Spring, because it's great.
Yeah, definitely enjoy Spring.
Yeah, thanks so much for listening and
take care.
All right, bye.
Bye.
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