 On today's show, actress and comedy writer Colleen Werthman stops by. We talk about what to expect in 2017, and I try to prove to her that I'm really intelligent. Also, film critic Michael Snyder tells us which movies we should be seeing before the Oscars. Stay with us. We have a great show. The David Feldman radio program is made possible by listeners like you. You sad, pathetic humps. Welcome to the broadcast. I'm David Feldman. DavidFeldmanshow.com. Please, friend me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Go to DavidFeldmanshow.com. There is a treasure trove of episodes, back episodes, just great stuff. You can spend hours exploring the website DavidFeldmanshow.com. And while you're there, become a premium subscriber. For only $5 a month, you can gain access to all our premium content. Also, you'll see Amazon banners. The site is lousy with Amazon banners. Click on it, then do all your Amazon shopping via the David Feldman show website, and we get a small percentage of it. Hey, you know 2017 is turning out to be an interesting year. We did an episode on Israel, where we kind of explained what's going on in Gaza, the West Bank, Palestine, Israel. And I cannot believe the response it's getting. Check it out. Go to the David Feldman show website. It's up there. Or subscribe to the show on iTunes. We have a YouTube channel. You can listen to this show on YouTube now. Check it out. We have a really informative, interesting episode about Israel. And I am thank you. I cannot thank my listeners enough. I am absolutely shocked by how many downloads that episode got. So thank you. We're going to do more informative shows without opinion. We're going to teach and educate and learn. Stay with us. My New Year's resolution is to say hot mess as much as possible. You are out of the cutting edge of 2013, David. Just the cutting edge. God help us. Soon you'll be hashtagging. Cully Northman joins us. Hi. I saw your back with your tail. What? Between your legs. You came back from LA. It proved too much for the girl. I told you about my tail in private. That was supposed to be a secret between you and me. Cully Northman, I walked into the studio. I saw you and I literally got a lump in my throat. I almost started to cry. I was so happy to see you. It was like a gift. I did not feel the same way. I know. I didn't want to talk to you. I'm just going to save it for my listeners. Cully Northman, you've seen her. You literally gave me the silent treatment like a weird diva clutching his legal pad. Cully Northman. Saving it for the show. Give me a fucking break. Has written for the nightly show. She has been an actress. You've seen her in the... An actor. So it wasn't a tail between your legs. Whether you have a tail has nothing to do with your gender. Well, I said it wasn't a tail. It was something else. You know what? This is going pear shaped real fast. Let's just plow forward with this awful autobiography. You've been in the movie Sisters. You've been in the Sopranos. You're currently running a show out in Hollywood. I'm not the show runner. I am the head writer. You're the head writer. What is the name of that show? It's called Throwing Shade. It's going to be on TV Land starting January 17th. It's once a week on Tuesday nights. My listeners would find this interesting because this show is a podcast. It has been a podcast. My show is a podcast. Yes. And there's a very popular podcast out there called Throwing Shade. Yes. That is being turned into a television show. Correct. And I have an announcement to make. Ooh. And what's that? This podcast in February is going to be an email. So watch out for that. Okay. There's Alex Brazil, my producer. Uh-huh. He's really taken care of me in 2017. Oh boy. Did he give me a look? He gave me such... That's because you're throwing him under the bus during your frigging podcast. What do you expect? That was a sign of love. Well, okay. Maybe not. How is Los Angeles? You know, it's fine. It's strictly pleasant. It's spacious as hell. Like, one time in the first few weeks that I was there, I went to a Trader Joe's at like eight o'clock at night because I needed to get some groceries or whatever. And I was like, oh, Lord, give me strength. Just girding my loins, right? Because if you know what a shit show it is in New York if you go to the Trader Joe's, there's a line all the way around the perimeter of the store, like out the door, like one block away, just to get to the checkout. Yeah. Like, why did I put this off? I got in there. David, there were six customers in the entire fucking store. Like, my head cracked open. Like, rainbows were pouring out. I was like, look. What the fuck is going on here? There's enough grocery stores for everyone. It was spacious as hell. It's just, you know, it's an easy if, you know, less gravitas-y lifestyle. Let's put it that way. Yeah. And I think the people... Now that there isn't gravitas out there, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I love LA. I do. You know, I left just because there are laws and... You violated them if you were kicked out of the state. Right. I mean, that happens. You can be happy in Los Angeles. Sure. You really can. Yeah. Theoretically, indeed. And the... Just like here. And there's culture there. There really is. Yeah, no, there is. There was a time when people moved to LA for the sole purpose of making money. Right. And everybody went to LA to make money. Mm-hmm. And then nobody made money, and they were stuck there. And this happened in... Nobody made... Because there's a lot of rich people in LA. There are a lot of rich people, but most people aren't making money, and most people aren't working. So what happened was there was a time when you left. Mm-hmm. People were on, like, a five-year plan. Mm-hmm. But people stayed in Los Angeles, and these cultures of... These little pockets of artisanal people... Sure. Sprung up, and you can... It's a... It's a vital culture. It's a very exciting visual art culture, a very exciting comedy culture. Yes. And this is recent. Yeah. Even with the comedy store now. Mm-hmm. It's phenomenal. Like, the comedy store... Yeah, I live actually... Well, I'm staying out there just a couple blocks away from the... Yeah. Oh, no, no. The Laugh Factory is where it's close to me. The Laugh Factory. Alex and I were out there for my divorce. Alex came with me. He did. Wow. Yes, he did my divorce. He was exhibit A. And we played the comedy store, and it was so much fun and vital, and there was like an energy in the room that felt like very much like New York. Yeah, you could move to Los Angeles, but there's Drift. I was talking to somebody about this. What do you mean, Drift? In New York, and New York to me is new. Mm-hmm. My listeners know that I lived in LA for 20-some odd years. All of the eight basement masturbators. We are actual... Well, they are basement masturbators. God bless. That's true. That is absolutely true about my listeners, and proudly so. Oh, wow. Just owning it, I suppose, is the move. Basement masturbators. I think that... That's brilliant. Also, shit show made me laugh. I've heard that expression... You are just hearing shit show. No, no, no. I just... God, help you, David. No, no, I've heard the expression shit show, but for some reason coming out of your mouth, it just... I actually pictured it. Not because of your mouth. I always imagine like a musical theater chorus, like doing a dance together in unison, and they're all covered in poo poo. Yeah. It's... Anyway, there's drift in Los Angeles. I talked about these pockets of artisanal creative types. That's a new phenomenon in LA. I'd say that started in the arts, maybe the 90s, where people stayed and committed to the community. The problem with that in LA is you can drift. You can wake up one day and be five years older and not be working and not know that you're not working. Don't you feel like New York is like that too? I don't know. I think it's this grid where you're constantly checking the bottom line. I think if you are in New York and you're not... and you're getting out of bed, that's the toughest thing to do in New York City, is to get out of bed and meet the day. But if you're doing that, you're... I don't see how you can survive in New York City without confronting the truth. Well, I mean, it's certainly a more compressed life here in that people are packed closer together and it's more expensive in terms of like real estate. I mean, you certainly get more for your money out there, even though I would say that, you know... I'm talking about how you view your life. Is this interesting at all, this New York versus LA nonsense that we're talking about? Well, it's the truth. You're back from LA. And they're busy in the basement masturbating right now. They're just blasting this so the wife can't hear them crying. Like that movie, Together? Did you ever see that movie? No. Oh, it's like some Swedish or Norwegian, like while it was released here as an independent film, but there's this... It's about the 70s, like the sort of tumultuous time in this family and the husband like has this according to a woodwork shop in the basement and he looks at like, you know, cheesecake porn, like a playboy type of thing. And he pretends to be like... He's like hammering with one hand. And he's hammering with it. He's hammering with it. Let me do my joke. What? Let you do your joke? Fuck you. You're not interrupting me with nonsensical jokes today, by the way. That's all I do. Well, you do it to me, but you don't do it to Gary Shandling. You don't do it to Alan Whitebell when he comes on your show. Yes, I do. No, you absolutely do not. I do it. I've listened and I'm telling you. You listen to this? Yes, I have listened to it. Not every single one, because I'm not a masochist. I listen when you have people on who are interesting. To me. All right. So you'll listen to this show? Sometimes. This specific episode. Will you listen to an episode you did with me? Yes. And make sure I'm not going insane. Right. And you sometimes have been a little concerned. Yes. About how I treated you. Yes. Or what I provoked. Yes. Yes, in that I think that many times you engage with me in a manipulative, non-sincere way. Playing devil's advocate perhaps. Or any number of rhetorical Rube Goldberg machines. Yeah. But that's who I am. Are you though? Yeah, I am. I am. I don't know. We've also had many sincere on the level conversations. Right, but I think there's a dishonesty to me on the show. I'm serious. Okay. I think I'm honest, but I'm also very dishonest in order to provoke conversation. And I think most people, except for you, understand what I'm doing. Oh, oh! So it's my density. I'm saying that sometimes it... Not your manipulative tactics. If this were just a show where I agreed with everything you said, it would be boring. There has to be conflict. There has to be opposing views. Otherwise, it's a snore fist. This isn't a play. This is a conversation. Yeah, but a conversation is generally interesting. Nice R's and L's, by the way. Thank you. That was imitating Tom Brokaw having a stroke. But I sometimes ask you questions to poke at you. Yeah, and my response to that is that's completely unnecessary. This is already getting boring and annoying. Well, if we agreed, it would be a conversation that my listeners would be overhearing at Starbucks, assuming that Starbucks had a basement. No, no, no, no, no, no. Where you could masturbate. All right. You've already hit that too hard. Now it's lost its sheen. But you don't engage in the same manipulative tactics as John F. Yes, I do. And you agree on a lot of things with him. Oh, no, you didn't hear the last show. We were fighting on the last show. Really? Yes. Because you were trying to manipulate him? Yeah, I actually said it on the show. Okay, well, at least you're being more honest about your... But how is it being manipulative? Because you have your little legal pad with all your little questions. Yeah. And you don't let anybody know ahead of time what we're going to be talking about. What are you, Donna, Brazil? You have to give the questions to Hillary before the debate starts. Well, maybe if I had, we wouldn't be where we are now, fuck our lives. Come on, let's talk about something more interesting. This is not interesting. Well, it is interesting. To whom? Because I've been doing stand-up and I manipulate the audience. I say... Well, yeah, but that's a unidirectional output. Yeah. The conversation is bidirectional. Bidirectional. What does that mean? It means it goes both ways. Okay. When you're doing jokes and the audience reacts, that's stand-up. You're not having a conversation with the audience. Well, it's the only human interaction I have. Clearly. Seriously, I'm in a vacuum lately. I haven't been in a vacuum this tight since my mother tried to abort me. Oh! I like that joke. I just made it up. It was nice. Thank you. This cannot be used anywhere. Well... That's a back-pocketer for sure. Can you joke about abortion on stage? There's a couple of rules to comedy that I have written down. One is you can't get a laugh with the phrase snuff video. And it used to be... Well, they're not laughing because they don't know what a snuff video is. Everyone knows what that is. You know what a snuff video is. Sure. And no, I found out, no matter what, even if the audience knows what a snuff video is, they're not gonna laugh at it. Well, but do you feel also like... Cancer used to be you couldn't get a laugh with the word cancer. Because of the advances in medicine, people laugh at the word... Have you seen Lori Kilmartin's 45 jokes about my dead dad? It's fucking awesome. It's so funny, so smart, and so good. I mean... Do you know Felicia Michaels? Yeah, we were on this podcast together one time. Do you friend her on Facebook? Do you read what she writes? I don't know if I'm Facebook friends with her. I follow her on Twitter. You should friend her on Facebook. Everybody should friend Felicia on Facebook. She's probably at her maximum. So just follow her on Facebook. She writes these... Oh, is that what you can do if somebody is at their max? You follow them. Oh, that's good to know. She writes these essays. This morning I woke up and she wrote an essay about Lori Kilmartin's new special. Yeah, it's on CISO. About her dad dying, which I'm going to go see, but Felicia is an amazing writer, and she plays this ditzy blonde. Right, her character is deceptive. You're right. I might be honest with you, she's been writing some stuff lately and I read it. I could never write as well as she does. It's so pointed and poignant and spot on. Is she writing about cancer? Is that why you brought this up? No, no, because this morning I got up and Felicia had written about Lori's special. Oh, I see. And Felicia should write a book. She's just a great, great writer. She's such an interesting person, too. But back to my question about abortion. I'll answer it. You don't need to restate it. Jenna Friedman, have you seen her show? American Hunt? Very funny. I think it's also on CISO. No, you watch your mouth. Yep. American. Very. American Hunt. That I'm fine with. She talks a lot about abortion in that set and she calls abortions abobos, which really makes me laugh. She's another person to follow on Twitter. Not because she's joke heavy, but because of the intensity with which she engages in politics. Wow. What is her name again? Jenna Friedman, J-E-N-A, Friedman. I probably follow her. I feel like you would remember if you did. Yeah, there are a lot of Friedmans in my life. Indeed. Indeed. I mean, in everyone's lives. Is she a comedian? She's a comedian. A comic. So is... What is with you in like feminine suffixes? Suffices? I don't know. It's so old school. I know. It's like really stale. You got to switch that up. If now that you're getting into cool words like shit show, you should update your suffixes to just like the gender neutral version. So you don't like being called a white... A white bitch. A righteous. No. You're not a righteous. No. You're just a writer. Yeah, I'm also just an actor. That changed on us. I mean, so many years ago, David. Like when? Like the fucking 80s, dude. So long ago. Then why do we have... Because you're hopelessly out of touch. Okay, then for the Oscars, there's going to be the category of best actor. Yeah. And best actor. There are going to be two... Well, soon, once the Academy realizes the gender is a continuum, hashtag fluidity, there will just be like best performers. Best actors. I think so. Because the idea of gendered performance is like very real, obviously, because our gender roles in movies are so kind of stuck. But I do think in the future, it will be more ambiguous. It'll be like best human portraying of something. Because of the 0.0001% of the population that is fluid? Yes. Is it that low? No, it's not that low. But... Well, so you would prefer... I'm not saying that. I'm saying I think that that will happen. That's happening. It will happen. Because people don't identify as male or female. Yeah, and the idea of like a gendered performance is preposterous when you think about it. Why? Because we're all human beings and craft is not a gendered thing. Judy Dench playing Hamlet, not withstanding. I'm not talking about playing a male role. I'm just saying that the actual art of acting requires zero like gender specific skills. I get that with race. I've always been amazed. It's the same thing. I'm telling you, it's the same thing. You just not thought about it this way. And that's why you're having a hard time with it. So I could go see the odd couple. No but this again, that's like... You're using the wrong example. Well hang on, just help me out here because this is all new to me. Yeah, but you're already using the wrong example. You're saying, oh like a woman's role or like a male role is adapted to a female role. No no no no no no no no no no no I wasn't going to say that. I wasn't going to say that. What are you saying? God, let's pick it up. God, I wish I was... If I had like half your brain, I'd be so happy not plus mine. I'd like to just take your brain and keep it in a jar and When then I'll just be a vegetable over here No, what I'm saying is the odd couple could be jack clugman and instead of tony randall it could be Sally struthers who did play or or or meryl streep playing phoenix That's what you're saying. I'm saying any like any any actor can play any role so right so and so meryl streep could play a man Yeah, right. Okay. I agree with you on that. I'm I mean But also like whether you're like if you're a woman playing a female role or a man playing a male role like the Craft of acting analyzing text understanding beats Investing it with your own personal experiences like are those gendered if you are a particular gender? Sure, but like the actual technical aspect of acting which are like dynamics and Vulnerability and things like that. Those are just human things. Shakespeare understood the fluidity of gender. Absolutely Absolutely. He was actually quite rad in his way How so well like he has one of the only cold female characters Which is cordelia Like cordelia is like Yeah, you're my dad. I like you was king lear. Yeah She's like, yeah, you're my dad. I love you, but it's not like I'm gonna kiss your ass in order to get what I want from you Like she's just very frank Mm-hmm and and he had that he had the first african-american name in a Elizabeth well, it would be african-british. No No, or just african That would be correct, but cordelia is an african-american name and I was old now Well, yeah This is a bad path to go down. Let's just let's not go back on the path. Well, what about Identity politics in Hollywood You say one day We're going to have just best actor tour instead of best actor and best actress and you think that's a good thing Well, I I I have a suspicion that as we go along People will be like why why are Men grouped in one area and women grouped in another when acting is like It's not like sports where you can do a better job if you're like taller or stronger, you know what I mean Like there are certain reasons why like there's men's basketball and women's basketball like that. I'm like, okay fair enough Right, but like in acting it doesn't matter if you're four and a half feet tall or seven feet tall like it's not about Physical feats quote-unquote like maybe if you're a stunt person that those things come into play but I do think I I do wonder if like 50 years from now there will just be like awards I question For genres. I I question who wants that I notice with Performers especially with comedy They embrace their separateness people embrace the fact that they're asian Gay Jewish Chinese. Yeah, well, it's like your hook your identity thing right and I've come around to it I used to say I had the french World view, you know melt just talk about the human experience. Don't Don't start off by talking about that you're a fat person. Can you mean the french sort of Idea that you get rid of your identity thing and then we're all this we're all french take off your brocchini right in america Everybody at least in stand-up. Mm-hmm says. Hey, I'm black. I'm jewish. This is who I am right uh I in the past have found it to be one dimensional Well, certainly can be it can be and there and there's theater like that also awful shows like My father's italian my mother's jewish and i'm in therapy like those Just deadly Off-broadway shows that attract busloads of like commuters But both sides of the political spectrum want that there's a there on both sides wait want what? That with liberals and progressives who I Who identify their struggle who live through their struggle? If you're a liberal You see a woman On stage you see a woman performing and she has that struggle and it's sacred And if you're a conservative You see a woman or you see a gay person or you see a a black person. You can't get past that A a what is there to get past? Well a a racist republican We always accuse the republicans of being racist right inherently racist And we say they cannot get past the fact that you're black When you talk to liberals They can't get past the fact that somebody's black. Okay. So where are you going with this? Well, i'm saying that the separateness When you say it's all gonna blend into best actor instead of actor and actress I'm saying i'm not so sure here in america We want that I think both sides Are kind of in favor of a of dividing well here's the thing maybe Response to that don't try to be you you always accuse me of being manipulative Live it live and breathe in that moment. Well, I don't know what a what is there to respond to? What's what's there? Is there a question there? It's it's a profound observation that I just made one of my supposed to say it's profound I mean no, I'll say it for you. Well good because I'm not gonna did they talk about this on the nightly show Talk about what what I just said uh No, no because I think it everything was either like This is racist like In all honesty, I just threw you this is a podcast right we can let things breathe. I just said something really important Which is that republicans can't get past identity politics and neither can liberals they can't get past people's uh exterior Both sides can't do it. Well, so and what though and what is well We have more in common than we claim and this When you say we though, who do you mean? I think both sides of the aisle Okay, I have more in common when it comes to race and gender and religion Then we're manipulated into believing and so the question is And I'm not drinking the trump water and maybe I am being a bit of a provocateur by asking you this question Uh Is there racism and sexism On the left and the answer is yes, of course and the answer is yes I mean, that's a different that's a totally different thing that you were just talking about but sure. No, it isn't I mean, it's rhetorically quite different. No, it isn't I was saying that the Republicans are always accused of being racist and wanting to you know divide and And they cannot get past people. Well, like you know about the shit show going on at pansuit nation right now, right? You just made an accusation This is good by the way. No, it's not. It's annoying. No, it isn't You're you're acting all like umbergine today. No, I'm not Look at you. Yes, you are You're putting on this hat of like oh now today. I'll act like Colleen. I'll be the offended one No, I'm just saying that there's racism on the left and there's sexism on the left Are you trying to teach me this like I've never thought of it before it's preposterous, dude You've got to be fucking kidding me. Why? Because obviously I know that We're not a fucking idiot But what kind how is it similar and how is it different? Then what to what then what what is the difference between? uh The left's racism And sexism the left pretends it's not racist and is offended if It's accused of being racist Republicans are like, yeah, you know what because blacks are fucking lazy Okay Yeah, but they Yeah, statistically that does Republicans will go on Statistically when they poll Republicans, they do say that black people are lazy. Yeah And that all they want is handouts and blah blah blah blah blah and not just blacks mexicans everybody Who's not white and and and tell me acceptations and tell me about the racism on the left I just did What what would they say about black people? That black people are systematically, uh, you know disempowered by Poverty and slow the legacy of slavery and da da da da Right and there is a What but like are you following what's going on with Pansuit Nation? No, no, I'm getting let me fucking make a point. Please go ahead Are you following what's going on in Pansuit Nation right now? Do you know about this? Is this about hillary? Is this well? It was an it was initially started as like a hillary fan group on facebook or whatever And it's basically in the last like two three weeks has completely imploded because of all these white people like Like attacking people of color for wanting to talk about women of color Feminist issues or women's issues It's like a very very, uh, unsuccessful I mean even as the Pansuit Nation is getting a book deal which allegedly is you know, donating proceeds to all these lefty groups and Da da da da da It's Increasingly become a place where women of color and feminists of color feel Totally marginalized left out criticized for wanting to actually Speak from their own experiences in like say their own thread I'm just ridiculous. I'm not following what this is. Well, I mean, maybe you just got to look at it to see What it is. It's called Pansuit Nation. Yeah, everyone knows what this is There's like millions and millions of people on it right and and it's women identifying as Initially, it was just Hillary supporters. I mean, it's it's generally lefties. It's not like middle of the road You know Indie voters who were really into Hillary It's just it tends to be like and how did correct left how does the lefties end up turning on each other? Well, the same the same way that all lefties turn on each other And basically the same way that all righties turn on each other because they feel One group feels that they're right about one thing and you know Passionate passionate passionate and passionate passionate and where where are the lefty on what on racial Lines that that where are they turning? Yeah, well, there are like white feminists who are extremely offended that That women of color think that they're racist For not wanting to have a women of color only thread. Well, why can't I participate in it? Say the white feminists and the The feminists of color are like well because we want to have our own thing over here And they're like, well, why can't I learn from you? Yeah, it's that kind of shit. Yeah and And that's so well, that's interesting to me because that is that's why I fucking told you about it Yeah, so don't cut me off next time All right Yeah, I did a show I did a benefit for the ACLU Alex you want to come in here for a second Should I talk about it We've been doing benefits for the ACLU right and thank you all for coming out and supporting free speech We raised a lot of money Nice, how much I what 700 and I mean it was like, oh nice It was a union hall, right that little space in the in the downstairs Where there's the bar in the back. I think like close to 800 dollars. It was fugal saying And me and conif and a couple of other people And it made me feel good because Because of the divorce I haven't been able to afford my charitable giving charitable charitable charitable Are you tom broke all having a stroke again? And I do these we do these benefits really You know, Alex says let's do it for the ACLU. I don't give a shit. I just want the stage time I just want you you're just an attention whore. Yeah, I don't care what it's for you'll allow you'll ally yourself With some cause I would do it for the alt right if I would love to see you performing in an alt right benefit. I would kill I would kill Actually, I think you would do very well. Oh my god, the best audience because you're a white looking jew Well, the jew part maybe not so but maybe you look like a regular white person. Thank you very much If I change my name, could I pass? Yes? I do think you could pass Thank you Um anyway It made me feel good that I was able to Raise money for the ACLU Without having to go out of pocket No, but you do go out of here. I've got a new name for you once you uh, Once you get an alt right identity steve kritsenheimer Well, it's very wisconsin Kritsenheimer could But it's more german than jewish. It's not german jewish. It's just straight up german Wiesen, yeah, it's like a wisconsin german. How about wiesenheimer? So no, that's no, that's too cutesy Book so people with two on the nose mr. Wiesenheimer. No, it's wiesenheimer But it's very jewish to correct the pronunciation though. Yeah. Yeah, it's pronunciation Not pronunciation Okay, enjoy that stroke. Yeah, it smells like almonds in here Are you having a stroke? No, you are as just the waft of almonds coming from your brain is so strong That I could smell it over here across the table Wow That was just like three levels of comedy right there, you know, that's how I do That's why they pay me to so basically what you were saying is that I'm smelling almonds because i'm about to have a stroke. Yeah, and the stroke is so massive That you're getting secondhand stroke. Yes, okay. Yeah, okay instead of secondhand smoke indeed secondhand stroke Uh, yes, so we do the benefit for the aclu and we're going to be doing more of these Yay, thank you for coming out and watching great comedy So after the show There were three Uh, british women. Oh I don't know why that's dangerous who complained About the old white guy Okay, and what was there a complaint She complained. I mean, I was assuming these were elderly white women also. No, these were young. Okay Uh, leftists who came out to support the l aclu. Why the fuck do they care about the aclu? And they complained about frank and me frank honoff and me frank had a joke About Donald trump wanted to bang avonka which is A a trope now Well, it's yeah And so i frank is the funniest man in the world so funny the But a joke about donald and avonka having sex is Played out so if you're going to criticize frank The For doing it is not because of sex is because it's hacky right right and these british women complained But what was the actual complaint that they were sexualizing avonka All right, and That it's an attack on her as a woman Where have they been this whole time? They they said it and they said it was kind of violent towards her And I was kind of listening alex got into it with him. He was really alex got deeply offended I have to say I really don't care if people are offended by jokes I just i'm not interested in that as a topic. I know that there's more like Sensoriousness is that the word? Yeah, uh In like comedy going public now And there's certainly more people as I understand it groaning I mean I I have to say also just like as a sidebar Like I don't really care about stand-up related issues because i'm not a stand-up Although I certainly sympathize with like an artist putting their work out there and getting ragged on For like programmatic belief-based reasons Um, but this isn't about stand-up. This is about freedom of speech And the aclu and these three these three women. It's ironic for sure to uh Then I by the way to send to try to censor someone's speech or criticize someone's speech and Support of an organization that vehemently protects it. So I was I performed without my warby parkers on Or a baseball cap I go out on stage Without my glasses and without a hat and I'm Now wearing my warby parkers And a baseball cap and I look different. I'm wearing it over. So they didn't recognize They didn't know who they were sitting right next to them No, I'm standing after the show right and Alex and I are talking to these three uh The three witches from mcbeth and Were they that powerful though? Yeah, they they really got under my skin They really did I I've been This conversation. So she's she says and then the other old white guy And I go Yeah, like now she's talking about me Without her even knowing that she's talking to me. She's that other old white guy Call lina dunham grotesque And he was fat shaming her So I do this joke And this isn't about stand-up comedy by the way. This is just about freedom of speech And I agree with the politically correct by the way I agree with them for monitoring speech Unless I'm on the receiving end of it clearly I have a joke, you know, there was a shooting today mass shooting Uh, it's horrible, but it is nice to see something Disgusting and repulsive on television without everybody telling me what a genius lina dunham is Well, I mean one could also argue that jumping to the conclusion that that is appearance-based shaming. Thank you is Alexis and reductive Is that was that your hot take? Alex and I have the same hot that's so I was kind of because I wish I had an abortion like that is fucking preposterous It was like a I don't mean to be pretentious, but it is shakespearian as like the king Dressing up as a pauper to talk to his people. Is that measure to measure? Anyway, I don't really know measure for measure very well, that's one of my ways it is from measure to measure I'm sure it's not all as well that ends well. Okay, so I was The king now in disguise Dressed up talking to the the peasants the people will come see me And she didn't know you just said they were the witches that so doesn't that in fact make you the ghost of banquo okay Um, you're already dead All right, so Pipe and hot shakespear refs This is this is my one mcbeth joke and then okay, you're in thane That's a title not a place. Okay, so you're in thane Hashtag who knows what thane means the thane of codder. Yeah, but that's a title It's like the url or like the vi count. I was a pun. I want to talk to I know what a pun I'm gonna get to why they hate us and these jokes why they hate us Who do you mean by they people who go make jokes like you're in thane I'm gonna get to that in a second because it's really a defensive joke And it's why people voted for trump just how elitist it is and making fun of people with lisps No, I got yelled at at my show the other day for making that uh, I did a run of uh Jokes about how much I hate Emma stones lisp In a headline past so the king And I I was It was not received well. Okay king liberal me I mean if if they could form Alternative energy out of my boiling blood from donald trump. We could fuel Untold turbines. I mean my mother You bring up. I mean she says things about trump That I say to my mother, you know If the secrets, you know, you can't talk this way You you cannot talk about it. I hate him, you know, I I would like to have a prayer circle in central park Where we pray We you know, we bring all the liberals out in central park and we all can get nuked Well, we pray for donald trump and uh, you know, mike penns is uh Arterial sclerosis shall we say okay? I don't think the secret service Can arrest us for praying for Uh, I mean as you know as long as is that wrong to pray for Well, I feel like religion is more protected than ever now Right. So with the incipient Passage of fata and other things like that fata. Yeah, the first first amendment defense act Oh for religion. Yeah, oh the the the the congressional bill that would Allow basically permit Religious based bigotry i.e. like I refuse to make your gay wedding cake because you're an abomination. That's called fata. Yeah, okay It was first proposed in congress in 2015 and reproposed Sherman came up with that Hello mother. Hello. Hello mother. Hello fata. Oh You should truly be ashamed of yourself. You should just retire now. I'm ashamed. There's no jersey going up the rafters after that As a self-hating gym a shame that I You should hate yourself a lot more now You want to know the best joke I wrote best joke. I wrote 2016 best joke hands down I submitted it to triumph on that show. I try to get marty short to do best joke I've written but nobody what is it stop hyping it Bernie Sanders Is running for president This is the best joke I wrote all year stop hyping it just fucking say it's a great joke Well, can I hear it please? Do you worry that Bernie Sanders as president being jewish would have a dual loyalty If america ever went to war with alan sherman records Very good. It's the best joke I wrote all year. Uh, I thought the punchline was going to be crep law But okay And Both should have seen it coming. I I worked on I submitted them to that joke to two separate television shows. You know what? It would have killed in 1955 No, it wouldn't have been funny in 1950. First of all alan sherman Uh, by the way was producing. I've got a secret in 1955. What is that? It was a television show. He was not performing it. He didn't begin Uh, I I aries Completely don't care about anything. You're telling well, do you know how brilliant alan sherman is? No Well, there you go. Go look up alan sherman fair enough Maybe I shall the king of song parodies to the point where The mammoth better than tom lairer uh, uh more uh, I would say Funnier than tom lair You know alan sherman Didn't make you feel smart. You just wet your pants laughing at him Excuse me people should look up alan sherman I and uh Learn who he is because he As funny as mel brooks if not funnier in terms of Being more prolific and just being a great comedy mind So underrated and so big alan sherman so Big and popular for about four years. Hmm Then why did he fall off? Because he moved into game shows. No, no, he went from game shows. Oh, okay to performing. Okay So big he produced, uh Bill Cosby's albums he I think he had personal demons. Oh, okay Uh So I have not lost the Train of this conversation. I have A clu benefit. Oh, yes. So I'm the king now is dressed as a A civilian talking to his people right in his warby parker And his uh, so then what happened? So she's going on that other old white guy That joke about lina dunham body body shaming lina dunham calling her repulsive and I said Well, I don't think I changed my voice. I don't think he was Body shaming sounds like your real voice. Okay. I said, I don't think he's body shaming I think he's just calling her repulsive human being how dare she call How dare he call her a repulsive human being that's that's he's objectified That finally said I wasn't objectifying her He and were they like, but And then they really got angry when they realized they were telling I deceived them And I said I wasn't Objectifying her she shoves quarters in her sister's vagina She talks about wishing she had an abortion. She's a repulsive human being And you know would not hear it She speaks for all women according to these women. What yeah And she's a brave comedian for all women. I know and I said you identified me as an old white man And right she began to say well, you're in a position of power and and uh Your comedy is a what was the end game of this the end game was she said to me that your comedy is oppressive And I said thank you And I may or may not have a daughter or two that would agree with that And I will I got really angry And I kept thinking well, this is why Trump won, but he really didn't You have to say that because he lost right he did lose right But you you go, okay, I get it I understand Why certain people gravitate to trump Uh, you're making me feel angry you're you're you're projecting on to me Things that i'm not guilty of And i'm in a bubble Uh, I i'm in a in a white man liberal manhattan bubble Where i'm kind of immune to what White men in the fly under states. That's what I call those red states Right. Well, the fact that you even use that phrase says volumes fly under. Have you ever been in a fleet farm? A fleet farm. Yeah. Yeah, where they grow enema bags Hmm The fleets in when gay men go the fleets and everybody thinks you're talking about the navy. They're talking about a You're talking about gay christmas Fleet week Yeah, they go fleets fleet weekend They're talking about the enema bag in other words. No, you've never been to a fleet farm I don't know what a fleet farm is but I am in touch. Well, you should okay I'll I will explore alan scherman if you Will check out fleet farm online. What is it? It is a farm equipment supply store That you definitely don't know what it is. Okay Okay, so what does that have to do with just that you I'm proving your point That that you're in a bubble and and and that of the people and that the abstraction of equality And feminism when you are in a bubble And you're a white man Who's finishing out his career? Mm-hmm. It's easy for somebody like me Actually, not so much Because i'm broke so and threatened. Yeah, but that's just because you got divorced. Okay, but i'm i'm threatened By well, I need work. I need money That's not threatened. That's just like Financially work. Yeah, and that even that and i'm not trying to be contentious here even that Which you just said Uh, yeah, why is your bubble? No, no, but I would say that about myself That and and the need needing work is not the same as being threatened Well, I disagree with you a million percent because to me that's what it's all about honey Don't call me honey. Don't ever fucking do that. I didn't say that as a woman. Just Apologize immediately. I'm sorry walking out the fucking door. Why what's wrong with because it's patronizing You fucking obvious piece of shit. No, it's like that is like Not I wasn't calling you honey. You literally were looking in my eyes in my face and you called me honey, but but just stop Stop admit it admit it. I did but I wasn't now you can't even look me in the eye I wasn't calling you honey. It was like me being kind of like a sassy black woman You are the Exact opposite of a sassy black. Okay. So the bubble that i'm talking about is If you don't see not you If one if one doesn't see That Financial ruin Is taking up so much space in everybody's head You don't get it and you don't understand what's going on in this country And I think we will look back If this country is still around in four years So are you saying that i'm insensitive to the plight of working class america? I'm sad. No, what i'm saying is That when we look back at the wrecking ball that's upon us donald trump We will have said, you know what? We all underestimated Our own and everybody else's financial despair that that well Did wealthy liberals do that? Yes. I think everybody I I think I've been reading a lot about financial despair And there was an interesting article about post traumatic stress syndrome Disorder from uh From a financial standpoint and the amount of denial That this country is in that the 99% is in about their own finances because money is shame There's so much shame associated with money so much shame about not having it So much worry about not having right so much denial About not having it hence credit card debt People you know how donald trump says well, what are you worth and he says depends how I feel that day I mean he is a shining example Of a broke man. He is broke if he were if he had if you were worth A hundred million dollars. He would not be running for president He wouldn't know no man who's worth that kind of money would run for president donald trump is broke He's absolutely broke He doesn't own any of these properties. He's Leveraged to the hilt. Okay Yeah, excuse me for where I'm going with that is he says it depends how I feel each day That what my net worth is and that's what 99% of americans do They wake up And because they have credit cards and they have student loans and they have mortgages and houses that are underwater Financially and nobody can really tell you what your house is worth until you actually have to sell it So you have an appraiser come in and they'll tell you you get five appraisers you get five different values for your property And nobody really knows What their financial status is That when trump said it depends how I feel that day, that's how 99 right you already said that But so like where are we going what i'm saying is that we you have a nation of people who Probably don't realize how financially strapped And terrorized they are right now Sure and all this talk and bernie touched on this all this talk about your identity as A black person which is important or a woman or a gay or transgender person or jewish In many ways in many ways Is is eclipsed by your financial ruin And I also understand that you cannot address your financial ruin without Addressing racism because you don't get hired because you're black that to me is the issue Right or you live in a neighborhood where there's one shitty bank with like super high interest rates that you sign the thing and Then you get in under you know, you're getting Over your head debt wise. Yep. And and the reason bernie to me was so much more important than hillary How are we talking about bernie sanders? Because I think that when you talk To an inveterate racist if you were to corner david duke And say to him do you like black people? First of all, he would say yes You know as in the in the abstract david duke likes black people he would say that when you drill down to specifics If you say to somebody the the most inveterate racist Do you think mexican americans Should be allowed to work And raise a family they would say yes That's what we can all agree on we can all agree that everybody is entitled to a job Okay to make money david and that's what brings us all together. We're all part of the 99 percent Sure. Why why am I now in like A lecture hall with you You've been talking like literally non-stop for like 10 minutes because it's something I feel very passionate about You can do that without me here. No, I'm saying and we live in a and so which is practically what's happening Well, I I'm saying that we live in a bubble if we don't Acknowledge that We're all financially strapped This came out of the the outrage at the right that the and and so she called me an oppressive white male And I thought who am I oppressing? I'm trying to work and make a living Who are you trying to put food on your family? I'm just trying to put food out of my family All right I'm trying to dig us out of this hole. I'm not in a hole. I know exactly We're in like a bernie sanders election hole. No, I'm not. I'm going back to the aclu. That's because I just No, no, no, I know exactly where I'm going. All right. Well, let me know when you want me to chime in again That the experience that I had at this aclu benefit And talking to these three rabid Liberals was oh, I get it I'm a white male You view me as oppressing the the world And I ain't oppressing anybody Do you think they were oppressing you with their thought police quote unquote? I definitely picked up a lot of resentment sexism and racism addressed Pointed at me. Well, obviously an ageism, but what I'm asking you I had for one second So you said I don't know where I'm going. I know exactly where I'm going I'm telling you that walking out of that benefit for the aclu where I'm trying to help A left-wing Group that protects nazis. I'm trying to help the aclu. I show up for a liberal cause and three liberals Victimized me accused me of being Right, I we've already been to sexism and racism And I thought oh, I I can see why anthony cumia Thinks the way he does. I can see why people in the fly-under states. If you're a white male who's broke And my age I can see why you Voted for trump and almost jack and all of you and almost rightfully. So almost Almost rightfully. So and then you go and read the fuck all you uppity liberal smug People who think you're smarter than me. Yeah, and it's also Who's gonna put food on my table? So when I go to the alt when I go to Breitbart, I start reading Breitbart Right, none of this is new to me. David. I mean, you're not like blowing my mind here I'm not trying to blow your mind Clearly I'm not trying to blow your mind When I go to Breitbart And I read what They write about White people being under attack white men being under attack, right? And you're like, yeah Doesn't come out of nowhere Doesn't come out of nowhere. No, it doesn't And as obama has said you cannot It's pronounced obama obama says, you know, you can't understand Uh, if you don't understand where it's coming from You can't tackle it So what so you you what do you want to say you let's move on? I mean, I just I know that stuff so Like yeah, that's a thing that's happening in culture and and what is and what do you think the solutions of that is Fuck if I know Ah Well, I'll tell you what the solution is. Oh good What is it, David? We get back to the 99% Yeah, but doesn't that conveniently ignore the issue of identity politics which sets you off on this whole thing in the first place You're saying it's the economy stupid And you're saying that an increased prosperity will in will decrease the resentment of identity politics All right, I say Well, I'm can I Am I allowed to talk? It's a free country For now, what percentage of americans in this in america? What what percentage of americans don't have college degrees? I know the answer to this Uh, like uh, two-thirds right very good. Wow. Yeah, I'm really fucking smart david. Wow Two-thirds of americans don't have college degrees And do you have a college degree? Yes, I do And I have a college degree. Yes if uh Do you think I alienate listeners by talking about my college degree I wouldn't know because a I don't know who is your listener fan base other than basement masturbators. Well, I and b I would assume that people Who elect to listen to podcasts do so out of a sense of affinity Mm-hmm But in terms of growing my audience And reaching out getting a bigger audience I've been told That I offend people By saying I went to college. What? Yeah Why is that offensive? It's a turnoff If two-thirds of americans Don't have college degrees. Well, wait who's saying Listeners are saying you're they're offended I have I want to have this guy on the show There was a a very sweet man Uh, who from minnesota of all places. Oh my home state. Yes Who said my complaining about my iphone? Is elitist and turns off the audience because you're signaling. Okay. Does this guy have a graduate degree? No Does he have a college degree? No And he said to me it's offensive when I listened to you complaining about your iphone And I wanted to have him. I mean it is hell adult to listen to people complain about their iphone But he says it's It's you sound like a snob. You don't understand that most people can't afford an iphone Why is that why they have a samsung galaxy instead? I'm just saying that that There is I'm just thinking about So you're saying you want to turn this podcast into a big huge mainstream thing And you're worried that you're gonna have to sell out your background And pretend that you didn't go to college or never talk about it Well, if you didn't go to college, can you understand the the hostility towards people who? Did sure yeah You know, I went to columbia. I graduated with president obama. Mm-hmm. Yeah I almost went to columbia undergrad and here's what I remember and to me it it it it's why I identify with the 99 percent and why I think it's so important columbia during the 60s Columbia created the weatherman the The uprising in the 60s it was ground zero for The the movement the anti-war don't you feel like you have a certain sort of Like economic populism in your dna. Yeah, but I'm gonna like just family-wise But I'm gonna yeah, but I'm gonna tell you what I learned at columbia And what obama didn't learn So this is you're gonna have is it okay if I tell you something? All right, but let's make it quick. Okay I don't want another 20 minute lecture. Yeah, but it's it's you're gonna have to give me like three minutes here Two give me give me three minutes 90 seconds. Give me three minutes because it's really profound Alex are you timing this? Are you threatened that I'm gonna teach you something? No, I just you kind of windy sometimes so I want you to like succinctify your points. Okay So when I started at columbia It was after the 60s and the school was pretty much On the decline because of the radicals They had seized the offices And taken a lot of studies that had been done for the pentagon and set them on fire that the They did I know I just I love it and They were pretty violent and the weather weather underground came out of columbia And they brought in a new chancellor named McGill And McGill gave an interview He said I am going to put an end to the 60s radical culture here on campus. I swear to god. He said this I'm reading it in the columbia spectator the newspaper. He said what I'm going to do is I'm going to Let everybody have their clubs I'm going to divide and conquer So I'm going to give the gays the club and I'm going to give The jews more clubs and we're going to have more palestinian identity here And we're going to have blacks and asians and every but I see where you're going Yeah, he said and watch what happens. I swear to god. He said this He said watch what happens Once I allow everybody to Be oppressed And he and he did it It became within four years Everybody was Just off in their own little identity and stopped attacking the university as as a whole I never forgot that I never forgot that Uh, and he won They they stopped attacking the administration At the university and they stopped and the I mean the politics it's still to this day very Very liberal but not the way it used to be he divided and conquered And I never forgot that and that's why I I filter everything through class struggle What so when you you know when you when that woman at the aclu benefit Accused me of being an oppressive old white man I go right back to President mcgill Chancellor mcgill saying i'm going to divide and conquer these people Yeah, but who is the who is the puppet master in this instance? The the the 1% they want us They want me at an aclu benefit going home and saying f the liberals f those those liberal women Calling me an old white male And my feeling threatened by litter, you know Yeah, that's what they want. They divide and conquer us. Okay Succinctly done my friend that was I think about under three minutes. Okay just under the wire Uh, all right How frightened are you about what's going to happen to this country? Pretty frightened Not psyched I'm very worried about scotus Very worried about the supreme court of the united states. Yeah um Extremely worried about the passage of fada. I'm extremely worried about you know, uh, can I say a few more things I'm worried about Sandra day o'connor used to it was scrotus And then they had to change it to scotus. Did you know that? Yeah, it's a really old joke. Really? Yeah I just made that up. No, like 500,000 people have done that joke on twitter No Um, I just made it up Well Parallel minds Uh-huh Um, you look like Sherlock Holmes Yeah, I'm wearing a hat that I don't really like it's slightly too tight. My husband got it for me for christmas a couple years ago and uh It hurts around the brim or like the uh, the band because it's knitted All right, so you're worried about the supreme court. Yeah, I'm worried about roe v. Wade. I'm worried about, uh, The fada passes. I think that could be a nightmare for lgbtq folks and uh You know, I'm worried about nuclear saber rattling I mean, I am a child of like the cold war You know in 1980 the so-called miracle on ice. I was 10 years old You know, so that stuff Is very much like part of my childhood growing up is like worrying about getting nuked by the soviet union And I feel like all those fears are coming up again even though putin pretends to be friends with donald trump We all know he's clowning him We all know that putin is like a hundred thousand times smarter than donald trump. He's like five million steps ahead of him Actually, my father-in-law who is quite right-wing very like wall street journal editorial board siss boom bah Free market republican Not a social conservative, right he had the um He had the observation that rex tillerson actually may be a good move as secretary of state because exxon mobile has better Intel than even the cia From like a geo pull it from like a geo I agree with that. Yeah, well, I don't agree. I I suspect he's right. Yeah, they have the best climate scientists They really do. No, I know they do And uh, they they are a state Into their own they are their own separate nation, correct There's no they have a foreign policy. Yeah, they have Right, they have contractors. It's basically working his mercenaries. Yeah. Yeah um, and and he My father-in-law cited that Example of tillersons exxon mobile standing up to putin being like no mother rugger. We got this oil You can't tell us to give it over to rosna after whatever like we're not going to do it. So I thought that was interesting. He's also Uh pretty good on climate change rec spillerson He is He believes that climate change is man-made so it could be a nixon goes to china kind of thing where Maybe you require somebody like rec spillerson to say Now we're going to now that we've shored up our conservative base And you trust us, right? Guess what folks climate change is a mortal threat to the planet, right? Now that we got all the oil we're going to get Now that we have to flip over to solar panels. Let's demonize climate change and Clamp down on india and china and their air quality and shit I also feel like from a straight-up riot point of view india and china are not far behind Making some serious changes because a lot of the big cities there are untenable In terms of places to live Uh, that's our projecting optimism onto Deniality it's not optimism to predict to predict global riots Oh, no, I'm just no i'm talking about rec spillerson. Yes being yes. I know we're we're like a pair of thomas friedman's here And I that's a sentence. I never thought would come out of my mouth Uh, I I think with russia that russia is not as bad as obama wants us To believe really? Yeah, I do well Crimea bad it was very bad, but It did belong to the russians at one point and They kind of view it the way we view cuba You know, it's something that it's very a great place to vacation. Well The some would say that actually that's true Yeah, some would say that the russians Had are entitled to Crimea and it's not up to us Well rusa files would say that yeah and that rush is not as big a threat to america They don't have the military no more They don't have the gross national product that we have they don't have the army that we have That they are genuinely threatened by the expansion of nato And that one of the reasons Putin sees Crimea was the eu Was going to bring ukraine Right into their economic orbit and What has to make up for uh for england That you have to you. Yeah, but but then peaceing out But that we were that that we were moving in the the western economies were moving in On russia and putin was saying hey wait a second here I I have to protect my people and he was creating his own little version of the eu That they're not as scary as obama wants us to believe except for the nuclear weapons except for the cyber Hacking cyber terrorism. I mean those guys are so fucking good gucci for 2.0 was a russian hacker How do you know that though because it was proved like eight times over they like got all his ip's but you know, they hacked What they did is they hacked the dnc's server Which is bad. No, but they've done so many other things besides that but they didn't hack our Uh election they hacked information that allowed us information campaign It's bad. It's bad. Why are you sticking up for russia? This is kind of odd Oh, I am because I think china's a lot worse Oh, I you've got no doubt I mean china has got to fuck a military russia's now like And china is the real threat and china is the real human China owns us And trump financially trump is right about china. Yeah So this so this is awesome, but china doesn't hate our fucking guts the way that russia does. Yes. Yes, they china If they really hated us they wouldn't be making iPhones I'm serious They like the money too much China's holier than russia russia fucking hates us China like hates us and also is like the price is right uh china is A lot worse Than russia and a bigger. Oh china is much scarier. Yeah, but but i'm saying that there's a much more ambivalent Relationship there like china is always going to get its panties in a bunch about fucking taiwan and hong kong And to bat and whatever no one else gives a fuck no one cares about the south china sea except china Fine, I think I think you've been brainwashed What yeah, you you said to me well, you remember you got to believe the miracle on ice I'm not saying you got to believe the miracle on i did I give a fuck about miracle on ice? Hell no I think you grew up fearing nuclear annihilation. Um, you know what if fearing and nuclear annihilation is wrong I don't want to be right from the russians Yes and What this administration obama is doing is praying On that The dark recesses of your brain remembering russia as the evil empire the same way george w bush Prayed on the dark recesses of our brain fearing saddam hussein That we're fighting An old first of all i resent Being accused of being brainwashed. Oh, I think you are I think americans are brainwashed. It's very easy and you're not Uh, yeah, I'll say I've been brainwashed We we were raised to fear the russians. It's an easy. It's an easy default The same way we were raised in 2001 cannot the fears be like Like teared T i e r e d but they're exploited george w bush and chainy Exploded we would start talking about this. They that they feared That we they exploited our fear of saddam hussein In 2001 to take our eye off the ball We should have been attacking bin laden And saudi arabia But they say, you know, why are we talking about this because i'm saying that what we're doing now With russia is we're taking our eye off the ball the real enemy is china and trump is right about this We don't want to address that so we conveniently go to the dark recesses of our brain and go evil putin Yeah, putin's evil the same way saddam hussein is evil Yeah, but i'm not i'm not saying that russia's more evil than china I feel like you're a little bit putting words in my mouth. I'm saying this hacking thing is bad China has incredibly sophisticated. They hacked the wall street journal and the times. Yeah And they had they had um, they're committing genocide golden sacks. Did you know that? Yeah, they're committing genocide in tibet Well, they've been doing that. I mean, well, I mean, they they are committing genocide they are If you're in china I'm wrapping it up. Hang on for a second. Do you know that if you had more Children than you were allowed to Those of course, they have an abortion. Yeah, the or the extra children that are born are not entitled To any benefits. Mm-hmm Yeah, I do know that I know you know that i'm talking to my listeners That's that's horrific I mean, this is a pretty they didn't relax that policy though. You got to admit They're just beginning to relax it. I mean, I mean, it's been like six years. Okay, so obama Has been taking it pretty easy on china and trump calling this out Don't you feel like some of that was tpp based though in terms of being against the pacific trade Was in terms of like playing it both ways depending on which way the tpp went For whom trump or no for for obama Well, he was for tpp Yeah, but like and so was hillary. Yeah, but he Not until bernie I'm saying I feel like he was playing it both ways Like neither going hard on china nor Being super soft on china. Do you know what i'm saying? What i'm saying is that china Is a mortal threat to the united states and it's something that Is inconvenient for wall street And this country and I don't like trump What but Putin is been Putin is hussain It's a distraction. He didn't do anything all that bad China has been laudan and it's an uncomfortable truth I think putin is crummy. I think china is worse. Yeah, I don't think putin is not that bad Putin is bad, but he's not as bad as china I feel like we've both said the same thing. I like six times in a row. Okay All right, sorry to the listeners for this repetitive mind-numbing experiment in logorea Logorea diary of the mouth. Yes Okay And that's why they hate us Hey Fair enough Um Colleen worthman, when do you leave? I go back to la on a new year's day Well, I'm gonna when do you come back here at all? Uh probably not before mid-march. I don't know. That's when this contract is up It's 10 episodes On tv land starts january 17. So that takes us through Whatever, I guess mid-march mid to end of march I have a new and I don't know what happened What's going on there? I had a rough night at the bathhouse And Classic stale gay sex jokes from the 80s Look at you. Look at you with that dog-eared copy of bright lights big city in your pocket He's a well respected writer jay mackinac Yeah, he is by whom he is wine spectator. Blam. All right. Here's my I have a couple of more notes that I just want to get off my chest Before Alex is groaning Come on basement masturbators stick with us You're both I don't you're both being negative towards me and I don't care Because I think this has been an entertaining show And nobody's gonna wear me down This is this has been a great show. Don't put your shit about the british people on to me I'm just saying is you can be negative and you can Excuse me of talking too much, but everything I'm saying is correct and interesting and profound and you can't hear it anywhere else And I stand by everything I've said today Because I'm brilliant and I spend a lot of time reading And I know a lot of stuff and I'm politically correct Are you saying this out loud for your own self? No I am not going to be worn down by anybody I'm not I'm just not So nobody's gonna wear me down or or make me feel like or make me feel that these profound ideas are not valid Here's my closing thought Uh We all missed the boat on trump Everybody was saying He's never gonna get elected president. He's never but every step of the way we said, but you know what? They deserve it. So here's the question. I'm gonna leave this audience with for this new year He is a mortal threat to the planet Along the way, we said You know, I don't like them, but the republicans deserve it uh The question is now Does america deserve it? That's the question And we'll find out in the next two years. Hey collin. Thank you for coming on the show always a delight Well, please friend me on Please Please friend me on facebook follow me on twitter And do all your amazon shopping via the david feldman show website And give us a good review on itunes from the show brisk studios in downtown los angeles God i keep saying los angeles Where are we manhattan? Well, it is in new york city's east village in new york city's east village that'll do it for us Coming up film critic michael snider you're listening to the david feldman show Please remember to friend me on facebook follow me on twitter do all your amazon shopping Please please please over the david feldman show website if you're doing some shopping hit the contact button Let me know so i can thank you Also, just tell me what you think of the show by hitting the contact button subscribe to us on itunes Subscribe to us on stitcher. We have a youtube channel now Subscribe to the show on youtube. It's just audio It's just audio, but you can listen to it on youtube Spread the links spread the word if you like a show tell everybody tell me and now film critic michael snider Joining us is our resident film critic michael snider. These are the movies he'll be talking about Eye in the sky loving hidden figures zootopia Jackie And pablo neruda. Tell me about eye in the sky Well, let's let's preface all this by saying these are five Actually six films from 2016 that I think are worthy and important and the people should seek out and watch for a variety of reasons Not a best of list. It's not anything of that nature Let's put this in context, you know But eye in the sky came out much earlier in 2016 And it's a film that I think is totally relevant and totally topical It's about the current era of international terrorism about drone warfare and invasive high tech surveillance It goes into the consequences of fighting this ruthless elusive enemy With you know, I guess you'd call it imprecise technology Especially when it's in the hands of human beings the movie shows what Can happen when innocents are thrust in the middle of the conflict And soldiers and agents have to deal with their individual and sometime conflicting values for I guess what people would call the greater good Helen Mirren is the star and she's so elegant and beautiful and sexy But here she plays a no-nonsense british army colonel who's using an american drone in conjunction with the us military To finally find this long time nemesis that she has a uk citizen who joined a kenyan terrorist organization But when she finds the target she sees the target is overseeing the launch of multiple suicide bombings So they order a missile strike Except a little girl wanders into the kill zone The drone pilot is played by erin paul from breaking bad the tremendous Alan rickman sadly one of the talented people who departed the earth in 2016 and not Uh in a rocket ship now. He died. Alan rickman plays a fellow, um, british military officer Um in london who is trying to debate whether or not there's a moral reason to go in there and do this as the timers tick Jeremy nor them in glad it's it's a fantastic piece of work And there's a real gravitas to this. I mean the question is is one life Childs worth so many other, you know to stop so many other deaths the director's gavin hood who I guess he was the director of the oscar winning south african film So let's see But he also did enter's game and x-men origins of wolverine film So he's done a lot of commercial stuff But he handles the moral and ethical dilemmas here with such sensitivity and the action sequences are so Tense, I mean this is a clear and present Story that's ongoing and it's probably going to ratchet up this year. So I thought I in the sky Is very timely and and something people should seek out loving Loving is a very powerful and understated historical But real relevant and topical movie A docudrama that has a heart and a mind and a very noble purpose I mean it shows in no uncertain terms the inhuman bigoted and petty minded elements of society that existed In america and even exists now as we well know that run counter to human rights and in all too many cases Like I said still linger in the 21st century. It's about the real life Commitment of an interracial couple richard and mildred loving Really, that's their surname Brilliantly portrayed by joel edgerton from down under and ruth nega from the uk And ruth nega is getting a wonderful notes on this. She's done some work here in the states and back home I mean, I don't know if you saw the night of the american Miniseries on hbo. It was adapted from a british miniseries called criminal justice and ruth nega was in that in 2008 She's been working for a number of years and here. She really gets a chance to make an impact as mildred loving They married and then have fought for nine years So she could be this man's wife and he could be her husband In their hometown, which was in virginia. This whole idea of virginia is for lovers. Yeah, well check this out So the writer director jeff nickles who also has brought these incredibly original and memorable and inherently philosophical movies mud take shelter and midnight special is Just wonderful And goes total docudrama with loving and yet he captures the spirit and emotion All the elements that make the loving story True tragic and resonant. You know, he's made the personal political with loving and everybody delivers the goods in this thing Do we know if they stay married? They they did they were devoted to one another Yeah, it's kind of tough to get a divorce after you go through all that Well, now the cynic in you is showing but I do believe they loved one another so dearly that the tides of society And history were broached and breached by their love So one would hope that they did stick it out together and cared for one another Unto the later parts of their lives. I I don't remember the details of their passing or or if anyone's still with us but Um kudos to the loving brave, courageous and bold people John glenn was the first american to orbit the earth and he passed away This oh last year in 2016 and there's a new movie about his flight called hidden figures Well, it's about more than his flight. Uh, it could have been all messaging and overbearing But it was instead heartfelt and engaging instead of an historical drama about three african-american women Who are tasked to provide nasa with important mathematical data needed to launch the programs Early as space space missions and it stars a power pack trio of actresses Uh, teraji p henson who people know as cookie on empire and before that she was on person of interest as all hard as nails Cop a wonderful character Octavia spencer who's an oscar winner and jenelle mone a pop singer who clearly Is a superior actress and may have started out I get to feel like she was like a theater kid and then she moved into music But people knew her as sort of a flamboyant theatrical pop singer, but she's gotten into acting In uh in spades part of the expression. I mean she's truly Um wonderful in this and she was also quite great in moonlight Kevin coster is also in this thing cursed and dunced and from the big bang theory of all people Jim parson's anyway the story is what we see Um these women as they have been shunted to one side and forced to use colored only bathrooms at the nasa headquarters where they're working And it's remarkable when they are Proven to have so much skill and talent that they are brought into the fold despite A lot of bigotry and prejudice on the part of those around them It's funny the depiction of john glenn in this movie is is wonderful He's one of the few people that goes over to the african-american contingent Which is more than just three these three women. They're all working on computations and introduces himself And uh is warm and open to them while a lot of the uh stiff bastards In the nasa crew keep their distance of the white ones the white male oppressors if you will Anyway, you get sterling work from henson And spencer redeems herself after playing a sleazy hooker in the vulgar But rampantly unfunny bands santa too These are real women and we do see in an epilogue what became of them And they were brilliant and talented and they ended up being integral to the launch of john glenn into orbit Which was a big turnaround for the americans During the space race in the 1960s and eventually ended up with an american flag being planted on the moon for better or worse And uh, yeah, I say hidden figures is definitely worth watching whether at home on the big screen at your house or um at the theater You're still pushing the american propaganda that man actually landed on the moon Yes, stanley kubrick's ghost and I had a long conversation about that He did not uh fake the moon landing. He says that anyone who thinks otherwise is a tin foil hat wearing lunatic Zootopia Well, here's an interesting case where an animated movie has the kind of depth and Metatex to tell us something about our society in very clear and cogent Ways, it's a renaissance at disney animation when zootopia and the more recent monet. No, excuse me. It's that monet Moana, let's not confuse the star of a disney cartoon with a wonderful singer and actress But in any regard zootopia was earlier in the year And moana was later, but zootopia is the one with the real richness and depth it's fast moving It's funny Beautifully animated and the message gets a little mixed here and there but the movie presumes a world like ours Only we're generally civilized anthropomorphic animals coexist species by species In birth or urban and rural areas and in fact there are these kind of I won't call them ghettos, but neighborhoods where certain animals tend to flock So there's that going on here. Anyway, there are various different sectors in the big city of zootopia with different climates and citizen species Their habitats if you will more than neighborhoods and even though there's a lot of intermingling Especially at the city center and a centralized civic government and dedicated police force Uh, they really have a tough time getting along in places So the cops are the biggest baddest mammals until an earnest Uh, young rabbit named judy hops decide she's going to be the first Fluffy little bunny on the police force So she's dealing with political corruption and a serious crime wave and even worse She's derided by her colleagues on the force as a lightweight So she ends up teaming with a sort of a a snitch if you will a con artist the fox natural enemy to rabbits Even in zootopia to try to solve the case of police corruption and government corruption The idea of these creatures goes far beyond the concept of predator and prey Um, and it goes into the idea of maturing out of their natural instinct to mistrust one another And get along and that's at the heart of the movie and hey What a wonderful subtext. Uh, what that what's right on top. Well, that's I call it a subtext Anyway, this computer animated movie from disney post pixar is is almost up there with all the very best pixar disney movies like inside out And it's better than some of the more recent films that pixar's done like the good dinosaur so, you know Good uh, good going disney this movie zootopia is really worth people watching the whole family We'll get a kick out of this thing and if it's not available on video already it should be And Jackie is this about a comedian? Oh, yeah, jackie rogers jr. Starring the wonderful martin short as the oh no, no, that's not it. Excuse me jackie Is a movie that uh offers natalie portman a virtual sure shot as a best actress nominee at the oscars She truly delivers the goods here as jacklyn kennedy in what I believe Is a fresh take on this very very familiar and tragic piece of american history and again It's pretty damned relevant today to see jackie kennedy in the 60s When the concept of the so-called best and brightest running the u.s. Executive branch Embodied in the 60s by john kennedy and his wife jacklyn is now deemed quaint or outmoded I mean the role of president and first lady are about to be assumed by what appears to be the antithesis to jfk And is highly educated articulate stylish and classy wife. We'll say no more about that for the moment But anyway, um portman portrays jacklyn kennedy right before During and after her husband was shot in 1963 and natalie portman Was the same age as jackie was when her husband was shot around 34. So this is a pretty good combo of actress and role Um, it's directed by the chilean filmmaker pablo lorraine who did the wonderful also recent biopic neruda About the poet from chile pablo neruda and also the great political thriller No, which was about the campaign to take down chile's the military dictator august opino shea in 1988 this guy Is wonderful pablo neraine makes wonderful films his work is artistically bold and so far politically themed And portman is great in this thing It's truly a heartbreaker and some of the casting is top drawer starting with Portman is jacklyn bubie kennedy Even though he's a good actor peter sarsgar did not convince me that he was robert kennedy On the other hand, uh, i'll be frank with you. Um, you know, uh, it's really remarkable to see john carol Lynch's linden johnson and beth grant as lady bird They nailed it and there's also a good turn by gretta gerwig as nancy tuckerman who was jackie's best friend So for the most part this thing Is first rate and one of the interesting conceits about the film is uh her Conversations which are from transcripts in large part are instigated by a journalist Unnamed who comes to interview her in hyannisport after The assassination of kennedy billy crud up plays the journalist and he's quite good There's also supporting work by richardy grant and john hurt the great john hurt who plays a priest and confessor to jackie and um Thumbs up for this all of my thumbs because i i believe it's a terrific piece of Dock you drama and and of course plenty of biography instilled there as well all one of your thumbs All of my thumbs. Yes, all all one of them. We won't talk about your gambling problem Pablo neruda. Tell me about the movie. Pablo neruda. It's not the title. It's called neruda And um, this is again Another biopic from the chilean director of Pablo Lorraine And um, it's not going to get the justifiable attention That he's getting for jackie, but it's a fine piece of movie making It should get attention in the uh foreign film category when award season, uh hits its height It's about the politically charged hunt for this Nobel prize winning chilean poet and politician Pablo neruda in the 40s when he was a fugitive in his own country chile Because of his membership in the communist party and also his uh rabble rousing It's not faithful to the facts like jackie where Lorraine used Transcripts and recreations at one point in jackie. He actually reshoots the jacklyn kennedy's CBS broadcast A tour of the white house which had never been done before in any medium and here he's talking about neruda As through a mixture of biographical notes and fictional contrivance from the point of view of an investigator Who's leading the search to find and maybe censor in jail neruda despite the poet's popularity The investigator is kind of conflicted because he admires neruda's art and skill And he's played by maybe the only familiar face in this cast Who uh would be the marvelous mexican leading man gael garcía bernal Who is best known as the star of amazon's mozart in the jungle and streaming tv A show i can't recommend high enough and also many renowned spanish language movies including Lorraine's feature no It's it's a pretty wonderful film and very unconventional in how it tells its story about neruda Again, I think this guy Lorraine, uh, Lorraine is one hell of a director of fantastic director and and Great stuff. I think you might be able to see this on netflix sooner or later But no matter what I think neruda and jackie show The director poplar Lorraine to be a force in filmmaking and again all six of these films Are movies that I thought were important that were released in 2016 and deserve your attention Well, you'll come back. We'll talk globe golden globes and Oscars and all that sort of nonsense. How do people reach you and follow you? Oh, they can go to Twitter and check me out at culture blaster On twitter, that's one word culture blaster They can go to the facebook michael sniders culture blast page and hear my online reviews from roku My stuff with you and our friend mark thompson and also read articles I've written in the marina times which you can also get to via marina times dot com And there's stuff about movies from 2016 that fell through the cracks that people should see Whether they were entertainment or significant that's currently available there And uh, I guess that's it until we meet up again, buddy Thank you, michael You're welcome That's our show. Thank you. Colleen worthman. Thank you michael snider. Go see those movies go to david feldman show dot com We're updating that website all the time do your amazon shopping there Give us a good review on itunes. Give us a good review on stitcher Give us a good review on youtube's on youtube's on youtube We have a youtube channel. So check it out david feldman show on youtube And give us a thumbs up subscribe to that channel Subscribe to us on itunes. Give us a good review on itunes. Give us a good review on stitcher Well, i'm talking about reviews because we just had michael snider Five dollars a month you get access to all our premium content What else do i want you to do give to plant parenthood and st. Jude's and the aclu from the show briz studios in downtown Manhattan That'll do it for us