WEBVTT - Meghan & The LA Fires Blame Game 0:00:10.622 --> 0:00:13.382 You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. 0:00:13.822 --> 0:00:17.182 Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters 0:00:17.222 --> 0:00:18.782 that this podcast is recorded on. 0:00:19.061 --> 0:00:20.742 And I just wanted to point out that you should 0:00:20.741 --> 0:00:24.381 always wear underparents if you're regardless of the length of 0:00:24.381 --> 0:00:26.701 your LaBier when you were wearing taigi. 0:00:26.502 --> 0:00:27.622 Yeah, because it would shave. 0:00:31.222 --> 0:00:33.742 Welcome to Mama Mia Out Loud, our first show of 0:00:33.781 --> 0:00:36.022 twenty twenty five, and if you want to know what 0:00:36.062 --> 0:00:38.222 the hell Miya was just talking about, you're going to 0:00:38.302 --> 0:00:39.101 have to keep listening. 0:00:39.342 --> 0:00:41.862 I'm Holly Wayne Wright, I'm Mea Friedman. 0:00:41.542 --> 0:00:42.822 And I'm Jesse Stevens. 0:00:42.982 --> 0:00:45.902 And on the show today, We're back. We are back. 0:00:46.622 --> 0:00:49.382 I am busting to be back. I'm so excited to 0:00:49.382 --> 0:00:51.942 be back. There are so many chats that we've been 0:00:52.062 --> 0:00:54.302 kind of half having in our WhatsApp group. We're like, no, no, no, 0:00:54.382 --> 0:00:55.902 we save it for the show. That's the rule. 0:00:55.982 --> 0:00:57.182 What about how many out louders? 0:00:57.182 --> 0:01:00.622 Because we had our emergency episode with Justin Baldonian Black 0:01:00.662 --> 0:01:03.862 Lively and then it was like, should we have another 0:01:03.902 --> 0:01:04.702 emergency episode? 0:01:04.742 --> 0:01:07.542 They were like, metas made this announcement, how about this Megan? 0:01:07.661 --> 0:01:10.542 This that Megan? She did a post and we're like, look, 0:01:10.742 --> 0:01:12.741 we got to save something for the first show back. 0:01:12.782 --> 0:01:14.661 This is going to be a cracker of an. 0:01:14.542 --> 0:01:16.862 Episode, so we have got lots of that coming up. 0:01:16.902 --> 0:01:20.302 But also in the subscriber episodes on Tuesday and Thursday 0:01:20.302 --> 0:01:22.262 this week, we're going to be saying all the things 0:01:22.262 --> 0:01:24.382 we were dying to say to each other about all 0:01:24.422 --> 0:01:27.302 the news stories that have happened over the break, So make. 0:01:27.142 --> 0:01:31.142 Sure you subscribe Golden Glow ready. Justin Baldoni update and 0:01:31.862 --> 0:01:35.102 I am des stopped to talk about I can't believe 0:01:35.142 --> 0:01:37.302 they did this, but there was an essay that dropped 0:01:37.422 --> 0:01:40.782 in the cut by doctor Lily j. She is the 0:01:40.822 --> 0:01:46.262 woman whose husband left her for Ariana Grande and it 0:01:46.342 --> 0:01:48.262 is the most stunning ess I can't wait to dissect 0:01:48.302 --> 0:01:48.782 her with you both. 0:01:48.902 --> 0:01:51.222 Yeah, that was amazing. Did you all have a good holiday? 0:01:51.502 --> 0:01:54.182 Really good holiday. It's a push, Paul, because I missed 0:01:54.182 --> 0:01:56.982 you both and our team, and I wanted to talk 0:01:57.022 --> 0:02:00.262 about all these things. But also I just love doing nothing. 0:02:00.542 --> 0:02:03.182 Me too. I did three weeks of nothing. I'm sorry everybody, 0:02:03.222 --> 0:02:04.822 as much nothing as you can do when you've got 0:02:04.902 --> 0:02:08.061 children and family and friends visit. But like it was glory. 0:02:08.222 --> 0:02:10.462 I got to last night. I thought I could do 0:02:10.582 --> 0:02:11.862 enough three week Todt get me wrong. 0:02:12.022 --> 0:02:14.422 I could keep holiday, except we had to come back 0:02:14.462 --> 0:02:16.742 to talk about Meghan, because that lad has kept. 0:02:16.542 --> 0:02:17.902 To costing us in the streets. 0:02:18.622 --> 0:02:20.382 I was literally I was in Sydney last week and 0:02:20.462 --> 0:02:22.142 I was out and a lady came up to me, 0:02:22.181 --> 0:02:23.941 a very nice person, but she said. 0:02:23.942 --> 0:02:25.382 When are you going back to work? 0:02:26.542 --> 0:02:30.221 I was like, it's okay, Monday. She's like God anyway. 0:02:30.342 --> 0:02:34.462 On today's show, the celebrities being scolded over their California 0:02:34.542 --> 0:02:38.262 wildfire tears and the eerily familiar blame game playing out 0:02:38.302 --> 0:02:42.222 across the devastation. Also why we love to argue about 0:02:42.262 --> 0:02:46.902 Australia's most popular beach accessory, the Little Cabana, and with 0:02:47.102 --> 0:02:50.622 love Megan, with the announcement of the Duchess's cooking show, 0:02:50.902 --> 0:02:54.702 is our weight for jam. Finally over, I'm afraid not friends, 0:02:54.942 --> 0:02:56.382 but first Mia. 0:02:56.502 --> 0:02:59.022 In case you missed it, if you noticed a guy 0:02:59.142 --> 0:03:03.222 appearing across your feeds talking about how fats are so 0:03:03.422 --> 0:03:05.582 twenty twenty four and it's now going to be the 0:03:05.622 --> 0:03:10.382 wild Western meta, you weren't hallucinating. That was actually Mark Zuckerberg, 0:03:10.582 --> 0:03:13.662 the CEO of Meta, which of course includes Facebook and 0:03:13.782 --> 0:03:15.342 Instagram and WhatsApp. 0:03:15.622 --> 0:03:17.142 Here's a little bit of what he had to say. 0:03:17.302 --> 0:03:19.822 Here's what we're going to do. First, We're going to 0:03:19.862 --> 0:03:22.662 get rid of fact checkers and replace them with community 0:03:22.662 --> 0:03:27.022 notes similar to X. Starting in the US, after Trump 0:03:27.062 --> 0:03:30.542 first got elected in twenty sixteen, the legacy media wrote 0:03:30.662 --> 0:03:34.662 NonStop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. We tried, 0:03:34.662 --> 0:03:37.622 in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the 0:03:37.742 --> 0:03:40.742 arbiters of truth. But the fact checkers have just been 0:03:40.782 --> 0:03:44.542 too politically biased and have destroyed more trusts than they've created, 0:03:44.622 --> 0:03:45.582 especially in the US. 0:03:45.862 --> 0:03:48.262 You know what, no one ever says I'd like things 0:03:48.342 --> 0:03:52.502 to be more like they are on X except for Mark. 0:03:52.582 --> 0:03:56.262 He says that, so look, what could possibly go wrong. 0:03:56.342 --> 0:03:59.502 The subtext of this, of course, is that Donald Trump 0:03:59.622 --> 0:04:02.302 is in power, and over the last few weeks all 0:04:02.582 --> 0:04:05.582 the tech billionaires have gone to kiss the ring. The 0:04:05.662 --> 0:04:08.822 other thing that Mark Zuckerberg announced is that the head 0:04:08.822 --> 0:04:13.702 of World Wrestling Federation, a guy called Dana White, is 0:04:13.742 --> 0:04:17.541 now on the board of Meta, and it's basically saying 0:04:17.861 --> 0:04:18.782 all bets are off. 0:04:19.181 --> 0:04:22.501 This is now bastling match. Correct, Because I read that 0:04:22.662 --> 0:04:28.661 Mark Zuckerberg donated one million US dollars to Trump's inauguration fund, 0:04:28.702 --> 0:04:29.101 Correct and. 0:04:29.142 --> 0:04:32.662 Jeff Bezos paid forty million dollars to make a documentary 0:04:32.662 --> 0:04:33.782 about Millennia Trump. 0:04:34.022 --> 0:04:37.502 Right, So my issue here, I actually think fact checking 0:04:37.662 --> 0:04:42.022 is really really complicated. And free speech and how you 0:04:42.381 --> 0:04:47.782 allow conversations to happen that need to happen without projecting 0:04:47.782 --> 0:04:49.582 your politics onto it. I think that is a really 0:04:49.582 --> 0:04:53.541 complicated discussion. But I reckon it's fair to say that 0:04:53.621 --> 0:04:56.541 we don't want our platforms, whether it's X, whether it's Facebook, 0:04:56.541 --> 0:04:59.741 whether it's Instagram, being aligned with any political party. I 0:04:59.782 --> 0:05:02.302 don't want them to be pro Biden, and I don't 0:05:02.342 --> 0:05:04.181 want them to be pro Trump. They might be, but 0:05:04.301 --> 0:05:05.981 I don't need to know that because I think a 0:05:06.022 --> 0:05:08.822 platform needs to be bipartisan. Is that a fair thing? 0:05:08.941 --> 0:05:12.181 Well, the problem is he's not talking about being partisan 0:05:12.861 --> 0:05:15.141 now factor is considered partisans. 0:05:14.741 --> 0:05:17.702 Yes, But what I'm saying is that knowing his relationship 0:05:17.702 --> 0:05:20.741 with Trump, now, knowing that he's kissing the ring, knowing 0:05:21.022 --> 0:05:24.101 that Musk is in the inner sanctum, what we're really 0:05:24.142 --> 0:05:28.662 seeing is all of these companies go, well, our facts 0:05:28.902 --> 0:05:31.702 are going to be determined or at the very least 0:05:31.741 --> 0:05:35.821 influenced by the current candidate, who we all endorsed. 0:05:35.861 --> 0:05:38.902 Now, I don't want to spread conspiracy theories because that's 0:05:38.941 --> 0:05:43.621 the kind of thing that happens on X. But also 0:05:44.101 --> 0:05:46.381 when Trump was in power last time, at one point 0:05:46.381 --> 0:05:49.621 he threatened to throw Zuckerberg in jail. He has also 0:05:49.662 --> 0:05:52.021 at different times threatened to try and work out how 0:05:52.061 --> 0:05:54.142 to dismantle Amazon because he didn't like bees os and 0:05:54.181 --> 0:05:56.302 what was going on at the Washington Post. So it's 0:05:56.381 --> 0:05:58.501 quite fair to say or so that these guys are 0:05:58.541 --> 0:05:59.541 protecting themselves. 0:05:59.582 --> 0:06:02.502 They're protecting themselves because regulation in Silicon Valley is a 0:06:02.541 --> 0:06:05.021 big thing, especially for like AI, like open Ai and 0:06:05.061 --> 0:06:07.421 all of those. They don't want to be regulated. So 0:06:07.501 --> 0:06:10.421 the more that you suck up to try, the more 0:06:10.462 --> 0:06:13.821 he'll say, do what you like. We're not watching finger 0:06:13.821 --> 0:06:15.022 in ow. He is la la la la lah. 0:06:15.061 --> 0:06:17.782 It's interesting the way it's been framed, and it's you know, 0:06:18.181 --> 0:06:22.702 very calculated obviously, and very clever and very smart from 0:06:22.782 --> 0:06:26.181 a you know, the CEO of a publicly listed company 0:06:26.541 --> 0:06:28.861 worth billions and billions of dollars and that potentially the 0:06:28.902 --> 0:06:32.301 most powerful person on the planet. He's framed it quite literally. 0:06:32.342 --> 0:06:35.581 He said the words there will be less mistakes, meaning 0:06:35.662 --> 0:06:38.101 that some posts were taken down that shouldn't have been 0:06:38.142 --> 0:06:41.822 taken down because fact checkers were overzealous. Less mistakes and 0:06:41.981 --> 0:06:43.021 more free speech. 0:06:43.541 --> 0:06:44.902 Does that mean I can put my nipple up? 0:06:45.462 --> 0:06:45.822 No? 0:06:45.741 --> 0:06:46.782 No, not no. 0:06:47.421 --> 0:06:48.981 Can we just very quickly mention that. 0:06:49.101 --> 0:06:51.662 But you can't say that gay people are mentally ill now? 0:06:51.741 --> 0:06:53.621 And that's fine, but no go it. 0:06:53.821 --> 0:06:56.861 As you mentioned, Maya, he also has a startling new look, 0:06:57.061 --> 0:07:00.062 so Zuckerberg. He also went on Rogan. Did you see that? 0:07:00.181 --> 0:07:03.262 He did a whole three hours on Rogan again in 0:07:03.301 --> 0:07:05.741 his new In England, they call it a road man. 0:07:05.861 --> 0:07:08.941 Look like he's got a chain and his hair's all scraggy, 0:07:09.061 --> 0:07:11.462 and he like he looks he's all jacked because he's 0:07:11.502 --> 0:07:14.982 so into his fighting now. And it's very interesting. The 0:07:15.022 --> 0:07:17.901 midlife crisis is looking very interesting in Silicon Valley. 0:07:18.622 --> 0:07:22.382 Since January seven, a series of wildfires have burned through 0:07:22.582 --> 0:07:27.502 Los Angeles, so far, claiming sixteen lives. Experts believe they 0:07:27.542 --> 0:07:31.381 are likely to be the most destructive natural disaster in 0:07:31.462 --> 0:07:35.141 modern US history, forcing nearly one hundred and eighty thousand 0:07:35.182 --> 0:07:39.022 people to evacuate their homes. Damaging or destroying more than 0:07:39.062 --> 0:07:42.502 twelve thousand structures, with the cost estimated to be at 0:07:42.542 --> 0:07:47.182 around one hundred and thirty five billion dollars. A fire 0:07:47.262 --> 0:07:51.702 intensified by a windstorm burned through the Pacific Palisades at 0:07:51.702 --> 0:07:56.342 the speed of three football fields a minute. Entire suburbs 0:07:56.582 --> 0:08:02.302 have been decimated. So why and how? It's winter in LA. 0:08:02.582 --> 0:08:05.142 This is not a time of year when fires are 0:08:05.142 --> 0:08:09.461 even expected. Usually, A number of factors have conspired in 0:08:09.542 --> 0:08:12.782 including severe drought. Parts of southern California have had the 0:08:12.902 --> 0:08:16.941 driest start to the rainy season on record. Hotter weather 0:08:17.142 --> 0:08:21.622 coupled with extreme wing conditions means the risk was unprecedented. 0:08:22.062 --> 0:08:25.902 Of course, meteorologists environmental analysts could explain the conditions far 0:08:25.982 --> 0:08:30.141 more comprehensively than I can. But what's interesting is how 0:08:30.302 --> 0:08:34.542 political the discussion around these fires has quickly. 0:08:34.142 --> 0:08:35.822 Become while they're still burning. Right. 0:08:35.982 --> 0:08:39.262 Yeah. On the one hand, broadly speaking, the left want 0:08:39.262 --> 0:08:42.302 to talk about climate change. This happened in Australia as well. 0:08:42.782 --> 0:08:45.782 We were warned about extreme weather events and here they are. 0:08:46.542 --> 0:08:49.542 On the other hand, the right want to talk about 0:08:49.582 --> 0:08:56.022 government incompetence. Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted they prioritized dei over 0:08:56.102 --> 0:08:59.781 saving lives and homes, which he's suggesting that the Democrat 0:09:00.022 --> 0:09:05.142 propensity to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion has distracted 0:09:05.182 --> 0:09:08.942 fire departments and left a state woefully unprepared for this 0:09:09.022 --> 0:09:12.182 kind of desire. There's been this ridiculous focus on how 0:09:12.742 --> 0:09:15.102 the three people in the fire department that are running 0:09:15.102 --> 0:09:17.662 it all happen to be gay women, as though that's 0:09:17.702 --> 0:09:18.742 all relevant. 0:09:18.982 --> 0:09:20.422 That's clearly why the fire started. 0:09:20.502 --> 0:09:22.182 Get yeah, exactly, I read it on XT. 0:09:22.982 --> 0:09:26.422 California obviously is a blue state that's a Democrat state, 0:09:26.502 --> 0:09:28.342 has been for a very long time and was the 0:09:28.342 --> 0:09:33.222 focus of a lot of the Trump Musque Rogan rhetoric 0:09:33.342 --> 0:09:35.302 even way before this leading up to the election, that 0:09:35.302 --> 0:09:36.902 the Democrats had ruined California, etc. 0:09:37.302 --> 0:09:40.102 Yes, so a clip has gone viral of the leader 0:09:40.142 --> 0:09:42.702 of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power saying 0:09:42.782 --> 0:09:47.542 that their number one priority is equity, and that probably 0:09:47.822 --> 0:09:52.062 hasn't aged well because it is now being criticized. Alongside 0:09:52.102 --> 0:09:55.142 the knowledge that fire hydrants were empty, there were serious 0:09:55.142 --> 0:09:58.862 issues with water systems, putting the diversity point to the side. 0:09:58.902 --> 0:10:02.262 The reality is, as was outlined by Claire Limb and 0:10:02.382 --> 0:10:06.302 over the weekend, both climate change and government in competence 0:10:06.302 --> 0:10:09.982 are to blame. Environmentalists and fire departments of been saying 0:10:10.022 --> 0:10:13.942 for years that we need to prevent climate change, but 0:10:13.982 --> 0:10:16.381 we also need to be prepared for it. She quotes 0:10:16.382 --> 0:10:20.222 an Australian volunteer firefighter named Joel Shepherd, who said, when 0:10:20.262 --> 0:10:23.902 conditions are bad enough, no amount of firefighters can stop it, 0:10:24.302 --> 0:10:28.182 and that's what we've seen in LA. The other discussion has, 0:10:28.222 --> 0:10:31.262 of course been the celebrities who have lost their homes 0:10:31.902 --> 0:10:34.782 at the time of recording. Paris Hilton, Adam Brody and 0:10:34.822 --> 0:10:38.862 Layton Meister, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins 0:10:38.902 --> 0:10:42.542 and a Faris, Tina Knowles, Rebel Wilson, Mandy Moore, Jamie Lee, Curtis, 0:10:42.542 --> 0:10:46.262 Billy Crystal, Eugene Levy. They are just a handful. Some 0:10:46.382 --> 0:10:49.062 say they're rich. We don't want to hear the stories. 0:10:49.102 --> 0:10:52.381 It's a distraction. They can afford to replace everything. Here's 0:10:52.422 --> 0:10:54.342 Spencer Pratt. He used to be on a show in 0:10:54.382 --> 0:10:58.182 the twenty tens called The Hills. Here's him responding to 0:10:58.222 --> 0:11:00.022 the commentary in the wake of losing his home. 0:11:00.142 --> 0:11:02.382 Funny thinking about the Internet is most times people are 0:11:02.382 --> 0:11:05.302 always trying me, like saying how broke we are, and like, oh, 0:11:05.462 --> 0:11:08.502 you're so broke. You TikTok battle like you're broke and 0:11:08.582 --> 0:11:11.462 our house burns and everyone's like, oh, you're a millionaire. 0:11:11.462 --> 0:11:14.261 You're a millionaire, You're so rich. Like which is it? 0:11:14.302 --> 0:11:17.982 Are we broke or are we millionaires? Trolls got to 0:11:17.982 --> 0:11:18.862 figure it out. 0:11:18.862 --> 0:11:23.222 Holly, where do you sit in terms of whether we 0:11:23.262 --> 0:11:25.702 should have compassion for the celebrities. 0:11:25.262 --> 0:11:27.982 Well, I think we should have compassion for everybody. Like, 0:11:28.062 --> 0:11:31.942 broadly speaking, I mean the thing that's really confronting and 0:11:32.062 --> 0:11:36.102 different about this. So Australians broadly we know about fire, right, 0:11:36.182 --> 0:11:40.742 we absolutely do. The twenty nineteen twenty twenty fires here 0:11:40.902 --> 0:11:43.942 were world news for their ferocity, for their scale, for 0:11:44.022 --> 0:11:47.222 their loss. Right. In fact, listening to the Quickie this morning, 0:11:47.222 --> 0:11:49.582 there was a woman, an Australian in La who says 0:11:49.582 --> 0:11:52.022 that walking around La at the minute is absolutely like 0:11:52.062 --> 0:11:54.462 walking around Sydney. Then, in terms of the black skies, 0:11:54.502 --> 0:11:56.982 the air quality, the masks, remember when our kids were 0:11:57.022 --> 0:12:00.142 allowed to play outside at school. It's that, but it's 0:12:00.182 --> 0:12:02.942 on steroids because of the urban setting of this. Right, 0:12:02.982 --> 0:12:06.942 So we're used to seeing fire devastation, but we're not 0:12:07.022 --> 0:12:10.982 really used to seeing entire cities, suburbs wipe down and 0:12:11.062 --> 0:12:14.342 city buildings burned, took the ground. So that's really different. 0:12:14.862 --> 0:12:17.422 The other thing that's really different is these fires are 0:12:17.462 --> 0:12:20.902 happening in basically the center of our culture, our pop culture. 0:12:20.982 --> 0:12:23.582 I mean, so where a lot of our news and 0:12:23.622 --> 0:12:26.822 our content creators and our high profile people are is 0:12:26.822 --> 0:12:30.222 on fire. So my daughter, for example, knows everything about 0:12:30.262 --> 0:12:33.182 this because it's just her TikTok feed and every creator 0:12:33.182 --> 0:12:35.862 that she follows is posting about it, and not everything 0:12:35.862 --> 0:12:38.542 on there is true. So she came to me very 0:12:38.542 --> 0:12:41.582 confidently saying, I've seen the Hollywood Sign burning down. It's gone. 0:12:41.782 --> 0:12:43.702 It isn't gone. There was just a very good AI 0:12:44.662 --> 0:12:49.862 video of that. And equally with the politicization, as with everything, 0:12:49.902 --> 0:12:52.222 as we were just talking about with Facebook, there are 0:12:52.262 --> 0:12:55.222 lots of different sets of facts. So Donald Trump immediately 0:12:55.502 --> 0:12:59.261 posted about the empty fire hydrants. That sounds terrible. There 0:12:59.342 --> 0:13:01.542 wasn't enough order in the fire hydrants. When you read 0:13:01.542 --> 0:13:03.262 a little deeper, Just like with everything, there are a 0:13:03.302 --> 0:13:05.582 million reasons why there weren't. At that time, it was 0:13:05.662 --> 0:13:08.742 keeping up with the unbelievable demand. It's about the fact 0:13:08.742 --> 0:13:10.822 they turn the power off to stop fires. There's a 0:13:10.822 --> 0:13:15.342 million different reasons of why. But this natural disaster is 0:13:15.342 --> 0:13:17.702 playing out in a place that we are always watching, 0:13:17.862 --> 0:13:21.102 so now we get to watch this. And in terms 0:13:21.182 --> 0:13:24.622 of the celebrities, what I'm mostly seeing is celebrities doing 0:13:24.662 --> 0:13:28.142 really good stuff. I'm seeing lots of celebrities volunteering and 0:13:28.182 --> 0:13:30.902 shining a light on what needs to be done, like 0:13:31.342 --> 0:13:34.822 volunteering down, folding up clothes, sending money and then saying 0:13:34.862 --> 0:13:37.502 you should send money to and again that's Australians did 0:13:37.502 --> 0:13:41.382 the same thing in the fires. Remember Celest Barber raising 0:13:41.422 --> 0:13:44.102 all that money for the firefighters that then became controversial 0:13:44.182 --> 0:13:47.502 within itself. Remember lots of high profile people going and 0:13:47.542 --> 0:13:50.662 packing essentials boxes to send down the New South Wales 0:13:50.702 --> 0:13:53.102 coast or down to Victoria and then encouraging other people 0:13:53.142 --> 0:13:57.742 to do that. I'm generally seeing high profile people using 0:13:57.822 --> 0:14:00.262 their profile for good in this in the middle of 0:14:00.302 --> 0:14:01.702 losing everything themselves. 0:14:01.862 --> 0:14:05.662 So I think probably LA has a sort of a 0:14:05.702 --> 0:14:08.782 brand problem in that people do associate it with celebrity, 0:14:08.822 --> 0:14:11.902 and of course people who live there. The vast majority 0:14:11.942 --> 0:14:13.862 of people who have lost their homes. Are not celebrities 0:14:14.142 --> 0:14:17.302 and are not rich necessarily, and I also think there's 0:14:17.302 --> 0:14:19.902 a difference between being famous and rich, and that's what 0:14:19.942 --> 0:14:22.902 Spencer Pratt was sort of getting at. Losing your home 0:14:22.982 --> 0:14:26.142 is losing your home. It's so unimaginable, it's so devastating, 0:14:26.182 --> 0:14:29.182 and Australians know that better than most. There was a great, 0:14:29.502 --> 0:14:32.982 really affecting post by John Mayer who posted an image 0:14:32.982 --> 0:14:35.822 of it was like a photo album, and he said 0:14:36.022 --> 0:14:38.662 that what's lost in fire is you can talk about 0:14:38.902 --> 0:14:43.782 stuff and possessions, but sometimes it's proof of life. It's 0:14:43.822 --> 0:14:46.702 proof that people even existed. In this album where pictures 0:14:46.742 --> 0:14:49.342 and documents related to his father in this incredible life 0:14:49.382 --> 0:14:52.742 he lived. When that's gone, there's no proof your mother 0:14:52.862 --> 0:14:56.102 or your grandmother even existed, and that is something that 0:14:56.142 --> 0:14:59.342 people are grappling with in this town, famous or not. 0:14:59.902 --> 0:15:03.622 I've found the rhetoric of just like boohoo, celebrities losing 0:15:03.622 --> 0:15:08.542 their homes really confronting because it's like we think compassion 0:15:08.622 --> 0:15:12.382 is a pie something and you there's a finite amount. 0:15:12.742 --> 0:15:16.262 Rather than going, oh, that's really sad. I feel also 0:15:16.862 --> 0:15:21.142 really really horrible for the people whose insurance lapsed so 0:15:21.622 --> 0:15:24.502 the insurance premiums. Either insurance went, we're not going to 0:15:24.582 --> 0:15:27.862 ensure your home this was last year, or we're gonna 0:15:27.902 --> 0:15:30.062 make it, you know, three times the cost. So a 0:15:30.062 --> 0:15:32.502 lot of people went can't afford it, and people who 0:15:32.542 --> 0:15:34.862 have had homes for thirty years just burned down. What 0:15:35.022 --> 0:15:38.582 do you do then, like, oh, my goodness, But I 0:15:38.622 --> 0:15:40.102 think you can feel sorry for everyone. 0:15:40.142 --> 0:15:43.942 At the same time, I'm reminded that we're very uncomfortable 0:15:43.982 --> 0:15:48.502 with feeling sad or scared or despairing, and it's much 0:15:48.582 --> 0:15:53.662 more energizing to feel angry. And we see this again 0:15:53.702 --> 0:15:58.262 and again and again when something you know, unavoidable, larger 0:15:58.302 --> 0:16:04.062 than anyone can control, something that's arguably nobody's actual fault. 0:16:04.222 --> 0:16:06.022 I understand natural disaster. Right. 0:16:06.982 --> 0:16:09.782 It's almost like the beginning of COVID where everybody he 0:16:09.782 --> 0:16:12.702 was singing in the balconies and it was all like, wow, 0:16:12.742 --> 0:16:15.182 it's so combaya on the internet. This is so weird. 0:16:15.222 --> 0:16:18.502 No one's angry. And then straightaway, when it went on 0:16:18.582 --> 0:16:21.302 for too long and we didn't like feeling sad and scared, 0:16:22.262 --> 0:16:26.102 we became angry. And then it became wildly politicized, and 0:16:26.142 --> 0:16:28.782 we see this happening earlier and earlier in the news cycle. 0:16:28.782 --> 0:16:30.942 I think you made a really good point, Jesse, about 0:16:30.942 --> 0:16:34.662 the difference between fame and wealth, and I think that 0:16:35.222 --> 0:16:41.142 what fires do are beyond measure of just money, you know. 0:16:41.142 --> 0:16:43.382 I was just talking to Michelle Battersby, who's in the 0:16:43.382 --> 0:16:46.702 office working on something for us, and she lives in 0:16:46.822 --> 0:16:50.822 LA and she's out here with her son and her baby. 0:16:50.942 --> 0:16:53.462 She said, three women in her mother's group who've just 0:16:53.502 --> 0:16:55.502 had new babies, they've all lost their homes. 0:16:56.142 --> 0:16:56.902 And I keep. 0:16:56.782 --> 0:17:01.182 Thinking about what happens when literally everything's gone where you've 0:17:01.222 --> 0:17:02.822 got nowhere to go back. 0:17:02.622 --> 0:17:03.942 To, Like, literally, what do you do? 0:17:03.982 --> 0:17:07.061 You've got no clothes, you've got no documents, your children 0:17:07.142 --> 0:17:09.782 have nothing. You might be ensured, you might be not. 0:17:09.821 --> 0:17:11.982 But even if you are insured, even if you're wealthy, 0:17:12.782 --> 0:17:15.742 literally what do you do. You don't have a toothbrush, 0:17:15.861 --> 0:17:19.141 you don't have a face cream, you don't have your 0:17:19.141 --> 0:17:22.741 birth control, like your medication, you script, like all of 0:17:22.782 --> 0:17:27.381 those things. Where do you even begin? And it feels 0:17:27.381 --> 0:17:30.941 like there's just no space for that. Mandy Moore, the 0:17:30.982 --> 0:17:34.502 actress who's married to a guy in a band, her 0:17:34.542 --> 0:17:37.101 house burnt down, her brother in law and sister in 0:17:37.182 --> 0:17:39.821 law who lived next door. Their house burnt down too, 0:17:40.661 --> 0:17:43.741 and they'reabout to have a baby. And she posted a 0:17:43.982 --> 0:17:48.182 go fund me for them that someone had made and 0:17:48.262 --> 0:17:51.821 got slammed for you've got all these millions of dollars, 0:17:51.861 --> 0:17:53.901 why don't you just buy them a new house. 0:17:54.061 --> 0:17:55.821 I'm sure she's what she can. 0:17:55.982 --> 0:17:58.222 She did, and she rightly pushed back, and she actually said, 0:17:58.262 --> 0:18:01.502 fuck off. You can't just google what you think someone 0:18:01.581 --> 0:18:04.461 is worth. Believe that, and then, of course we are helping, 0:18:04.502 --> 0:18:06.901 but I'm sharing a go fund me and you have 0:18:07.061 --> 0:18:11.701 no idea. Everybody has lost everything. And when people are 0:18:11.702 --> 0:18:15.182 looking at what they can do. I saw Jean Smart 0:18:15.222 --> 0:18:17.581 just one of Golden Globe for her work on hacks. 0:18:18.182 --> 0:18:21.501 She posted on Instagram saying, I hope that we are 0:18:21.542 --> 0:18:23.701 going to cancel all the awards shows that are coming up, 0:18:23.742 --> 0:18:25.982 and there are so many, from the Grammys to the SAgs, 0:18:26.022 --> 0:18:27.381 to the Oscars of course. 0:18:27.542 --> 0:18:28.262 And many more. 0:18:28.621 --> 0:18:30.702 I hope all of them will be canceled and all 0:18:30.742 --> 0:18:33.742 that money will go to fire relief and supporting the victims. 0:18:34.742 --> 0:18:37.221 Now people feel very conflicted about that, as they should. 0:18:37.222 --> 0:18:40.661 In one hand, it seems obscene to be let's go 0:18:40.702 --> 0:18:43.581 and put on one hundred thousand dollar dress and wear 0:18:43.621 --> 0:18:45.861 diamonds and walk on a red carpet and talk about 0:18:45.901 --> 0:18:49.542 who did our hair while people literally sitting in rubble. 0:18:49.742 --> 0:18:52.261 But on the other hand, it is a work in 0:18:52.302 --> 0:18:54.502 town la and it's not just the people on the 0:18:54.542 --> 0:18:57.421 red carpet. It is the stylus, the cater is the 0:18:57.462 --> 0:19:01.542 people who supply everything the way stuff. So if you 0:19:01.661 --> 0:19:05.662 do cancel all of that, you're crippling those communities even more. 0:19:05.782 --> 0:19:08.462 As you say, Jesse, compassion has no limits. I feel 0:19:08.542 --> 0:19:10.821 terrible for anybody. There is no doubt that if you 0:19:10.942 --> 0:19:13.101 have the means to get out of the fire zone, 0:19:13.222 --> 0:19:15.901 be staying somewhere else, and you know you've got people 0:19:15.942 --> 0:19:18.101 with you, and you at the Beverly Hilton or whatever, 0:19:18.262 --> 0:19:20.901 you're doing better than lots of people who can't do that. Right, 0:19:20.901 --> 0:19:24.502 There's no question that there are degrees of devastation. But 0:19:24.702 --> 0:19:27.661 the thing is, as you've said, me about what natural 0:19:27.661 --> 0:19:30.221 disasters do. And plenty of people in Australia know a 0:19:30.222 --> 0:19:32.141 lot about this. If you've been in the flood zones 0:19:32.141 --> 0:19:34.742 in Lismore, if you were in the burnt out towns 0:19:34.742 --> 0:19:37.181 in southern New South Wales, in those years. You know 0:19:37.381 --> 0:19:40.061 the amount that the emergency services have to do to 0:19:40.141 --> 0:19:42.941 help you when you have literally lost everything. That's a 0:19:42.982 --> 0:19:45.622 massive operation that costs a lot of money too. And 0:19:45.661 --> 0:19:47.381 one of the things is, I mean, I think we 0:19:47.422 --> 0:19:50.621 all remember very well that after those fires when Scomo 0:19:50.782 --> 0:19:53.821 Scott Morrison, the Prime Minster of the time, probably the 0:19:53.901 --> 0:19:56.581 thing that put the biggest nail in his political coffin 0:19:56.661 --> 0:19:58.982 was that I don't hold a hosemte comment that he 0:19:59.022 --> 0:20:02.262 made after that when he was on holiday when that happened. 0:20:02.302 --> 0:20:05.101 And a similar thing has happened here where the mayor 0:20:05.141 --> 0:20:07.102 of California she wasn't on holiday, but she was on 0:20:07.302 --> 0:20:11.141 a trip overseas when this happened. And everybody needs somewhere 0:20:11.141 --> 0:20:13.462 to put their anger, as you've said, Mia, and some 0:20:13.542 --> 0:20:16.302 of those places are valid because it is true that 0:20:16.341 --> 0:20:18.862 now we do live in a time of climate catastrophe, 0:20:18.861 --> 0:20:21.501 whether all sides of politics want to admit it or not. 0:20:22.182 --> 0:20:24.262 We've got to think much harder about where people live, 0:20:24.262 --> 0:20:27.221 where people rebuild, what you do in these circumstances. But 0:20:27.262 --> 0:20:29.381 Scomo said I don't hold a hose, and then he 0:20:29.462 --> 0:20:31.502 went and turned up at some of these places and 0:20:31.542 --> 0:20:34.782 people refused to shake his hand. They were furious with him, 0:20:35.222 --> 0:20:39.501 because when you have lost everything, you need to feel 0:20:39.542 --> 0:20:42.581