1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, welcome 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: back to the show. My name is Matt, my name 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: is they call me Ben. We're joined as always with 7 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: our super producer Paul Mission controlled decade. Most importantly, you 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: are you. You are here that makes this stuff they 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: don't want you to know. First things first, how's everybody doing, Matt, 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: how are you feeling I'm feeling great. Yeah, Ben, You 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: and I got to hang out on a Saturday for 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: the first time in a long time this weekend. That's true. Yeah, 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: we we. We did a show called Pitches right with 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: our mutual friend Rowan that Noel has been on previously 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: as on an episode of Pitches available now wherever you 16 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: find your favorite podcast, uh and highly recommended. It's a 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: it's a different show. It's it's a comedic show. I 18 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: don't want to spoil it, but you will. You will 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: have some fun. For those of our fellow listeners who 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: have written in asking us to curse more often, uh 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: you can. You can check out that show. I don't 22 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: know when our episodes coming out, but again Nol's episode 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: with rowing on Pitches is available now. An you guys 24 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: went blue, I mean a little when it was called 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: for appropriately appropriately, I just have to say it was 26 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: a tremendous amount of fun to be in a podcast 27 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: situation that was just a conversation. We weren't we weren't 28 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: thinking about research, we weren't think about notes. Who weren't 29 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: doing in that. It was just having a discussion and 30 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: it was such a different experience. It was pretty great. 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: I wish I would have been there, guys, I wish 32 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: I would have been there. Well, we're all here now. 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: We're all here now, and if you want to join 34 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: our conversation as we explore today's episode, please don't hesitate. 35 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: You can pause the podcast, hit us up, and then 36 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: get right back to it. There are many ways to 37 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: contact us. Usually we do it at the very end, 38 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: but here are some spoilers. You can hit us up 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: with conspiracy at I Heart radio dot com. You can 40 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: also call us directly if you're a telephone person. We 41 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: are one eight three three s T d W t K. 42 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: That's just stuff they don't want you to know and 43 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: you know letters for words shorthand yes, yes, how about 44 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: you know? How are you feeling? I'm pretty good. Yeah. 45 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: I started the day off in a bit of a 46 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: slump and then I found my I found my groove. 47 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: I got my groove back, like the proverbial stella. Your 48 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: Victorville Film Archives hat is fantastic and I can't stop 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: looking at it. So super producer Paul Um, Mission Control 50 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: Decand and I and another mutual super producer friend and 51 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: cohort of the podcast Casey pegram Um separately, but we 52 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: met up went to see Tim Heidecker and Greg turkington 53 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: um of Tim and Eric Slash neil Hamburger fame do 54 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: their movie review live show called on Cinema at the 55 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: variety of local local venue here and it was an 56 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: absolute delight. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time. It 57 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: made me feel so good. It was great. Glad to 58 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: hear you coming to your city. I recommend you see it. 59 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: And it was being filmed pretty prepelled, pretty from all angles, 60 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: so I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being 61 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: a Netflix special or because it was like a lot 62 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: of work went into it. Joe Estevez was there, Amelio 63 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: Estevez's father. He was in the show. It was spectacular. Well, 64 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: maybe maybe Tim and Joe just like to watch clips 65 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: of their show, you know, maybe they've connected. Maybe they're 66 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: making a special for themselves. Either. Joe is a part 67 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: of the on Cinema lore. He's featured in the show 68 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: on the YouTube show. And I would n't have thought 69 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: that he would have traveled along with them, but he 70 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: surely did. And it was it was just great, nice, nice, 71 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: So glad to hear that went well. And you said 72 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: it was a bit of a long show to One 73 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: of the most popular long running shows in the US 74 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: is something that we call the Presidential Administration. It's seasons 75 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: are issued in four year blocks. Some have uh, some 76 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: have gone longer, some have gotten renewed for season two. Uh. 77 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: And today's today's episode is about a question that occurred 78 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: to us way back in the days when we were 79 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: talking with Professor cult who will remember longtime listeners from 80 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: our episode on the Zone of Death and our episode 81 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: on what was it pardons? Right? Can the president pardon themselves? 82 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: So this is okay, let's set this question up. Like 83 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: many many other cultures here in the US, people have 84 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: a kind of romanticized obsession with family businesses. The family business. 85 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: It occurs in fiction, it occurs in on these documentaries, etcetera, etcetera, 86 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: and it may have occurred in your real life. You 87 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: may be the proprietor of, or the member of a 88 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: family run business, whether we are talking about a local 89 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: meet and three diner and international finance firm, or a 90 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: piano tuning shop. People love being able to build a legacy, 91 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 1: something that they can later pass on to their children, 92 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: something that they can use to give their kids a 93 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: leg up in the world. And in many ways this 94 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: is massively beneficial for the families totally, and it can 95 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: help the business remains stable as long as the kids 96 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: are not you know, the bad apples we hear about 97 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: who grow up privileged and then promptly rack everything. Well, yeah, 98 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: this is a country of immigrants, right and and if 99 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: you think about it in this way, one of the 100 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: only supports structures you have with you when you're moving 101 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: to a new country is your family. So it yeah, 102 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: being it was massively, as you said, beneficial to have 103 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: that stability within your money making. I was going to 104 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: say schemes, but the ways in which you are trying 105 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: to make money. If it's rooted in that that family, 106 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: that's the best way to go, right And in other 107 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: ways this can be tremendously controversial. There's a flip side 108 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: to the coin, especially when the family business quote unquote 109 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: is something that, in theory is a public a public concern, 110 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: something that's based on merit rather than familial connection. So 111 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: today's question is this, and it's something that that we 112 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: have been kicking around off air for some time. What 113 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: happens when the family business is the presidency of the 114 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: United States. Can the president, whoever she or he happens 115 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: to be at the time, higher their family members. To 116 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: answer this question, we have to we have to look 117 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: at the history of this sort of practice. So here 118 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 1: are the facts. We start with nepotism. You have listened 119 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: to the show before, or if you have maybe ever 120 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: been outside or met a group of people, then you 121 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: are well aware of what nepotism is, even if the 122 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: word seems unfamiliar. It's a practice among those with power 123 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: or influence in any situation of favoring relatives or friends. 124 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: Particularly when we say it these days, we usually mean 125 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: by giving them jobs. You know what I mean? Like my, uh, 126 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: my brother in law needs, uh needs a solid gig, 127 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: So I'm gonna make him a manager at my landscaping business, 128 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: even though he will be in charge of several people 129 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: who have been working there for eight to ten years 130 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: and are probably better at landscaping. Yeah, we're starting a 131 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: video department at this website. Who are we going to 132 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: hire all the people I went to college with zip recruiers? Yeah, 133 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: Zip recruiter will take take the nepatism out. Possibly so 134 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: in the very very first human tribes and religions and governments, 135 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: they they this was virtually ubiquitous. Every organization, regardless of 136 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: its ideology or you know, whatever other different beliefs I had, 137 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: they all placed a very heavy emphasis on this practice. 138 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: People in power gave their positions to their offspring or 139 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: their relatives, regardless of whether the person inheriting this position 140 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: was remotely qualified or even unqualified, or even whether they 141 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,439 Speaker 1: wanted the job or not. You know what I mean. 142 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,079 Speaker 1: It reminds me of that old uh MR show thing 143 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: where the guy working at the pepper factory wants his 144 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: kid to work at the pepper factory because that's what 145 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: he did. You know what I mean? It goes into 146 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: parents expectations of us, and you know, honestly, it's while 147 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: you can see the benefit, it would be a weird 148 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: world if we all inherited our parents jobs. Matt, I 149 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: believe you would be an accountant, Noll, I believe you 150 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: would be an opera singer and teacher. Yeah, and then 151 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: you would be in in an undisclosed location doing research 152 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 1: for a federal agency. I have no comment. So, so 153 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: it's weird because that that stuff, that kind of nepotism 154 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: can also become a trap, and it removes people's autonomy 155 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: to a very real degree, and in many cases, the 156 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 1: practice of nepotism lead to predictably terrible consequences for everyone involved. 157 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: I don't think that's super surprising, right, But in case 158 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: it is, let's look at one of the most famous 159 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: examples of this disastrous tendency. One of the most infamous 160 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: examples of the horrors of nepotism when it's taken to 161 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: the degree. It's the story of char Alds the Second 162 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: of Spain, the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. 163 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: So as the result of almost two hundred and fifty 164 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: years of inbreeding, which arguably is its own kind of nepotism, 165 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: you know, albeit a very disturbingly extreme version. Um. Charles 166 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: suffered from multiple birth defects. He had a tongue that 167 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: was so big he could barely speak, and his lower 168 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: jaw was far larger than his upper um. This is 169 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: a condition called prognathism, and it gave it this colloquial 170 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: name known as the Habsburg jaw. Also is possible that 171 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: he suffered from acromelogy um swelling or disfigurement, especially in 172 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 1: his face and hands, and a form of kidney failure 173 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: where his urine was insufficiently acidic, causing the acid to 174 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:51,319 Speaker 1: build up in his body. He was also infertile as 175 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: a result of this, this pestiche of conditions, and he 176 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: was unable to continue the Habsburg line even in those 177 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: those physical problems, if we're being completely fair, should not 178 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 1: ideally affect the position being being the king, outside of 179 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: outside of being infertile, because it should all be about 180 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: your intelligence, right. Uh. Charles didn't learn to speak until 181 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: he was four, and he didn't learn to walk until 182 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: he was eight. He didn't go to school, He was 183 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: not always expected to be clean, and there was a 184 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: study of his death over at the University of Santiago 185 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: di Compostela that concluded it is speculated that the simultaneous 186 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: occurrence in Charles two of two different genetic disorders combined 187 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis, could explain 188 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: most of his problems. But the point is this, he 189 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: was also he was profoundly disabled on multiple levels. None 190 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: of these conditions, even those woefully, woefully serious mental disabilities, 191 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: prevented Charles the Second from literally becoming the King of Spain, 192 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: which is which is nuts his um. His mental acuity 193 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: was not at a level where he could be unsupervised, 194 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: let alone in charge of an empire. So this is 195 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: an example that hopefully history has learned from. And we 196 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,079 Speaker 1: can thankfully say today that the majority of world leaders 197 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,199 Speaker 1: are not inbreeding with their immediate relatives. So go team. 198 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: But the unfortunate truth here is that tribalism and nepotism 199 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: still reign supreme in our species. But wait, you might say, 200 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: not the United States, right, not the good old Us 201 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: of A. Surely there's a law, there ought to be 202 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: a law. You're right, there is a law, folks, and 203 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: for good reason. And we'll tell you about it right 204 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: after a quick word from our sponsor, and we're back. 205 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: Prior to nineteen sixty seven, which is distressingly recent, there 206 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: were no legal restrictions on presidents appointing family members to 207 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: jobs in the executive branch, the you know, the branch 208 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: of the presidency which they control. This all changed in 209 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: sixty seven when Congress included in the Postal Revenue and 210 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: Federal Salary Act a section containing restrictions on government officials 211 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: appointing family members to federal government jobs. Nowadays, the street 212 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: name of this thing is the Federal Anti Nepotism Statute, 213 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: and it's pretty thorough. We can actually, we can actually 214 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: read a little bit of it. It's it's in legal ease, though, 215 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:53,079 Speaker 1: So wake up, let's stay awake. Public officials may not appoint, employee, promote, 216 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: advance on to advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, advancement in 217 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: to a civilian position in the agency in which he 218 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: is serving which he exercises jurisdiction, or controlled any individual 219 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: who is a relative of public official. Should I go on? Yes? Okay? 220 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: An individual may not be appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced 221 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: in or to a civilian position in an agency if 222 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: such appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement has been advocated by 223 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: a public official serving in or exercising jurisdiction or control 224 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: over the agency who is a relative of the individual. 225 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: So that's pretty clear, right, No way, no, how, you can't. 226 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: You cannot hire your relative. And part of that, part 227 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: of that is to find better employees or employees who 228 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: are more suited to the job. But a big part 229 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: of it, if we're being absolutely brutally honest, is that 230 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: hiring family members will naturally tend to lead towards corruption 231 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: or at least a much higher a much higher a 232 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: chance of corruption occurring. And just to be clear here, 233 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: this is just relatives, family members, like blood relatives that 234 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: we're discussing here. We're not talking about friends, acquaintances, people 235 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: who like have your back, your members of the skull 236 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: and Bones and college and stuff. Uh. And this this 237 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: goes on to define exactly what could be considered an 238 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: official Matt, do you do you want to give this 239 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: one a crack? Yeah, an officer, including the President and 240 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: a member of Congress, a member of the uniformed service 241 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: and employee, and any other individual in whom is vested 242 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: the authority by law, rule, or regulation, or to whom 243 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: the authority has been delegated to a point employee, promote 244 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:53,119 Speaker 1: or advanced individuals, or to recommend individuals for appointment, employment, promotion, 245 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: or advancement in connection with employment in an agency. So 246 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: trying to cover all the basis they really really are. 247 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: So here's the question. This this law is is written 248 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: in a pretty water tigh way, right. They try to 249 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: govern every every possible way in which UH president could 250 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: hire one of their family members and maybe even give 251 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: them a pretty nice taxpayer funded salary without maybe having 252 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: them actually do anything, you know what I mean. That 253 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: happens in the private industry all the time. So the 254 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: question is was this law necessary? The answer is absolutely, absolutely, 255 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: one million percent. Yes, this was a problem. It was 256 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: an historical problem. Since the foundation of the country. US 257 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: presidents have had a long, long history of hiring people 258 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: based entirely on their familiar connections, despite the fact that 259 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: the US government is meant to be, in theory, a meritocracy, right, 260 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: And this was common across all political agendas I know 261 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: we have. You know, there might be people who say, oh, 262 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: this is just a Republican thing. O, oh, this is 263 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: just a Democrat thing. This is just a Freemason party thing, right, No, 264 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: this is this is just a Whig party or Federalist 265 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 1: party thing. No, this is a people thing. According to 266 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: the National Constitutional Center, at least six presidents in the 267 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: nineteenth century appointed family members to White House positions or 268 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: other executive branch positions, and at least eleven presidents total 269 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: have appointed family members to other positions. People hiring family 270 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: members to the White House include James Madison, James Monroe, 271 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson, John Tyler sort of a sleeping giant. It's 272 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: one of the presidents most people probably don't know much about. 273 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: And James Buchanan. Zachary Taylor, the twelfth president of the country, 274 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: took his brother and his son in law as unofficial 275 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: presidential advisors. That is interesting, too tricky, right, well, especially 276 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: because of that position. I can see extreme pros and 277 00:17:55,119 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 1: cons for that particular position as being your unofficial right 278 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: and left hands right right. And Ulysses S. Grant, the 279 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: eighteenth President hired his direct relatives in official paid positions 280 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: on the government payroll, and he hired him again. And 281 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: all these no one voted for these things. They may 282 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:16,919 Speaker 1: they voted for the president and then the president just 283 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: did what they wanted. But by far the most infamous 284 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: example of a commander in chief hiring a family member, 285 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,159 Speaker 1: and this is something that might steam some people, is 286 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: the story of President John F. Kennedy. He straight up 287 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:37,160 Speaker 1: nominated his own brother as Attorney General in nineteen sixty one. 288 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 1: So we have, despite again this purportedly being a meritocracy, 289 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: we have a family. We have two siblings in charge 290 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,919 Speaker 1: of arguably some of the most influential and important positions 291 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: in the US government. Well, I've got a question for you. 292 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: I have one for after year finished. This uh, this 293 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: Robbie Robert Kennedy. He must have been a powerful, extremely 294 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: good at his job attorney right, I mean no, that 295 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: was that was actually gonna be my question. I was 296 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: sure he was at least a viable candidate. You can't 297 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:20,160 Speaker 1: just hire some kind of slouch, you know, no good 298 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: nick to be a job like he did have a 299 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: law degree. Well there you go. Yeah, so that the 300 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: nomination was controversial at the time. Critics said that guy 301 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: is not qualified to be King of the Attorneys, which 302 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: so a lot of people would think of the a 303 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: g right, he's not qualified to be the emperor of 304 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: of attorneys, but Kennedy, the president Kennedy. That is, at 305 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: the time, JFK appeared to take it pretty lightly. He 306 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: publicly stated when someone was asking about'm nominating him, He's like, uh, 307 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: then I gave him a little experience before I goes 308 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: out to practice law. Uh wow. But behind the scenes, 309 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: JFK was pretty nervous about hiring his brother. He thought, 310 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: you know, this is pretty unethical. The guy's main qualification 311 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: and everybody's going to know this in the press, the 312 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: means the guy's main qualification is that we are family. 313 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: And that's you know, that's like a imagine if just 314 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: imagine any other president who because we weren't alive when 315 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: JFK was alive, but imagine if uh President Clinton or 316 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: Obama or one of the bushes where the current president 317 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: hired their own brother to be in charge of what 318 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: is and what isn't legal in a way I mean, 319 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: supremes would be the ring race would be the Kings. 320 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: We have a follow up to the question I was asking, um, 321 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: is it? I mean, what how do you feelbout hiring 322 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: your friends cronyism? I don't hire people to be attorney general. 323 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: That's that's fair. But if it's okay for you to 324 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: do it, he's saying that the law should that the 325 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:12,360 Speaker 1: rules should be different depending on the stakes. I I personally, 326 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: I understand that nepotism makes world grow round. But at 327 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: this level and with the kind of power these people 328 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: are touching, Uh, no, it is. It is fundamentally wrong 329 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: and repugnant. I think it should fall under checks and 330 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,159 Speaker 1: balances or be regulated in some way, especially in a 331 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: public office. Yeah, you know that that kind of thing. 332 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: It rubs me, certainly philosophically the wrong way. But you know, 333 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:38,919 Speaker 1: and it may you as well. But when we were 334 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: talking about JFK here, he may not be the one 335 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 1: that you should blame for this act exactly. Yeah, that's 336 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 1: what he's getting to because he was although he put 337 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: on a brief face in public, he was privately nervous. 338 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: He knew everybody would see this is what it was, 339 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: which was clearly nepotistic higher and he did it because 340 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: his dad made him. Yeah, his father, Joseph P. Kennedy 341 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: is the one who had the idea, told him to 342 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: hire your brother. Don't trust these others. You're making me 343 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,959 Speaker 1: attorney general. I see you breathe, and you like breathing, 344 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: don't your son keep breathing. Look, I've seen that movie 345 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: Chap Aquittic. We all three of us in this room. 346 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: I've seen it. We we know that character now, So 347 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: that's true. So the anti nepotism law gets passed by 348 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: Congress in direct response to this appointment. And that's the 349 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: way the government should work. Somebody check and balances. Right, 350 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: somebody does one thing that needs to be checked and 351 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: some other branch of the government comes in and checks 352 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: on them. So, good thing, we fix that right, balanced? Yeah, 353 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: not so fast, that's right. And we'll learn about the 354 00:22:50,119 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: law right after this. Here's where it it's crazy. We'll 355 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: learn about the law versus the law. So it's just 356 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: such a classic classic versus they're right. So I mentioned 357 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,120 Speaker 1: that nineteen sixty seven anti nepotism stuff. In ninety eight, 358 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:23,159 Speaker 1: Congress passed something called h R. Eleven zero zero three 359 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: to build to clarify the authority for employment of personnel 360 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,719 Speaker 1: in the White House Office and the Executive Residents. This 361 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: was signed into law by then President Jimmy Carter. What 362 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: it mainly states is that the president can appoint and 363 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: fix the pay of employees in the White House without 364 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: regard to any other law regulating employment or compensation of 365 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: people in government service. And these employees can perform the 366 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:58,919 Speaker 1: official duties that the president wants them to do. This 367 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,679 Speaker 1: this seems pretty positional to that sixty seven law. Right 368 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: in a guy named Judge Lawrence Silberman, sorry, a judge 369 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: named Lawrence Silberman. He wasn't. His first name was a judge. 370 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: Uh uh. He was at the U. S. Court of 371 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and he said, 372 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: you know, guys, maybe this anti nepotism thing, Like, I 373 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: get where you're going, but maybe maybe it shouldn't apply 374 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: to presidential appointments. He said, Look, the statute defines agency 375 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: as an executive agency, but we doubt that Congress intended 376 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: to include include the White House or the Office of 377 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: the President. So he says, I get it. A president 378 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: shouldn't be able to make their brother attorney general, but 379 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: maybe they can make them all, you know, like a 380 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: special assistant. Yeah, do that well, And again I can 381 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,000 Speaker 1: see the benefits of that from the inside. Wanting to 382 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: have the ear of someone close enough to you that 383 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,239 Speaker 1: you can trust them, I guess I do not have 384 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: experience in this, I don't think any of us do. 385 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: But the the pressures that it would take to function 386 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: within the White House, you know, amongst that political matrix 387 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: I've seen VEEP seems like a healthscape. Well yeah, only hilarious, 388 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 1: but truly having someone that close to you, with that 389 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: amount of trust, just as a special assistant in the 390 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: White House, I can imagine that being desirable for people 391 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: in the executive branch. What about Trump and his daughter, 392 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: No one's talking about that. It's an unpaid position that 393 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,440 Speaker 1: has been legally debatable, along with his son in law 394 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 1: Jared Kushry, who does not have you know it does 395 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: not have what would typically be considered the skill set 396 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: or the experience, but he keeps asking for higher clearances 397 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: for these people and they take pretty important meetings. So 398 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,080 Speaker 1: it's true, is to pay the issue or is it 399 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,680 Speaker 1: more of the influence in the their their face time 400 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: and there you know they're being around the office. It's 401 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 1: more the influence, and it's more the level of access 402 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: and the question of conflicts of interest and control over 403 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: messaging and sorts of things like that. But to your point, Matt, 404 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: you can you know it's it's incredibly understandable to have 405 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 1: someone that you know won't write a tell all expose 406 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,440 Speaker 1: about you right after you're out of office. It's it's 407 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 1: super comforting to have that person give you their take 408 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 1: on stuff. Um again, they can't recommend the onion articles 409 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 1: on Joe Biden highly enough. Uh, it's it's like, legally speaking, 410 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: if you if you agree with that hr leven z 411 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: Roso three finding, then it's legally speaking completely fine for 412 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: Paul to be president. And then to to a point, Uh, 413 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,479 Speaker 1: some guy he met at a bar named snake Bite 414 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,119 Speaker 1: to be like his special advisor, and he's like snake 415 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 1: Bite stopped me about a lot of stuff. He taught 416 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,719 Speaker 1: me how to avoid ditch weed. He taught me how 417 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: to appreciate the music of Scorpion. He taught me about love. 418 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: He's the man that I think should be going to 419 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 1: Builderberg whatever Bohemian growth, bringing the message of Scorpion to 420 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: the masses. So this is not where the story ends though. 421 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: In January, Deputy Assistant Attorney General by the name of 422 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: Daniel Kofsky, was a longtime career lawyer at the Justice Department, 423 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: issued a fourteen page opinion and in this he said 424 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: that anti nepotism law that applies to agencies across the 425 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,919 Speaker 1: executive branch doesn't actually cover the White House. So like 426 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: the main big tent item of the executive branch is 427 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: not is is excluded from this And he says, we 428 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: believe that the president special hiring authority from that seventy 429 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: eight law permits him to make appointments to the White 430 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: House Office that the anti nepotism statute might otherwise forbid. 431 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: This Justice opinion is not binding on courts, so relatives 432 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: hired by any current or future administration could still face 433 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: legal challenges. But it's tough. It's tough because how would 434 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: you how would you make that a legal challenge? Who 435 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: would the plaintiff be? You know what I mean? Who 436 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,399 Speaker 1: who would be able to say the hiring of this 437 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: unqualified person directly and demonstrably harmed me or someone else 438 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 1: or did some sort of damage. I would certainly take 439 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: time to prove, right, I mean, what are you gonna 440 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: are you gonna say I was going to be the 441 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: special advisor and then the President found out that I 442 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: wasn't related to them? Like what what leg do you stand? Off? 443 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: Like the causality there is very hard to exactly exactly 444 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: and very good point. So this issue came back into 445 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: the mainstream. It wasn't as it wasn't a huge deal 446 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: oddly enough in the early days of American society because 447 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: people were just expected to do that kind of stuff. 448 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: But it came into the mainstream recently with the current 449 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: administration because of the appointment of Jared Kushner, who was 450 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: the who wasn't is the son in law of the 451 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: current president, Donald Trump. Jerry Kushner is currently the senior 452 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: advisor to the President and he is also an investor, 453 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: real estate developer, newspaper publisher. This hiring was controversial because 454 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: they said, well, what is he what? What is he 455 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: advising you on? Like? Why why him? Right? Yeah? What 456 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: what expertise is he gleaning or experiences he pulling from 457 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: to help you out with this advising? Does he have 458 00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: decades of experience? Uh, similar to Henry Kissing or something? 459 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Is he deep in the 460 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: game of real politic? No, he's not. Um. But again 461 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: they're saying, it's just it's the president's prerogative. Right, he's younger. 462 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 1: Maybe he's helping him with you know, memes and Twitter 463 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 1: and all that stuff. Perhaps perhaps um later seen later 464 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: the same year that that fourteen page opinion got released 465 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: and used as legal standing for this uh, the Justice 466 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: Department also released a series of memos that argued exactly 467 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: the opposite of what caught coastco is saying they did this. 468 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: They released this due to a Freedom of information Act, 469 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: so they wouldn't have come out with this in the 470 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: other way. And these memos dealt with President Carter, President Obama, 471 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: and President Nixon, and in each case they prohibited these 472 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: guys and these presidents rather from hiring family members. So 473 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: the question is the question is what makes this case 474 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: di front Currently as we look at this high level 475 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: stuff currently, it looks like the consensus here is that 476 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: the president can hire advisors as he or she wishes. 477 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: And you can kind of kind of understand if you 478 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: had a person that you knew was a perfect pick 479 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: for the job, and you had an oppositional Congress, you 480 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't want Congress or someone else being able to step 481 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: in and say no, you know, we know that um 482 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: doctor buzz Dr Rendezvous aldrin Is is your primary pick 483 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: for lunar policy, but we don't like him, and we 484 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: want you to hire. You know this this flat earther 485 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: because it's better for the numbers, like you wouldn't want 486 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: that kind of interference, But how do you make how 487 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: do you make something that can also avoid nepotism in 488 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: the same stroke. It's very difficulty. So regardless of their 489 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: qualifications or lack thereof, it does appear that, at least 490 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: in certain situations, the president whomever that may be, can 491 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: hire their family members, and we just kind of go, Okay, 492 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: that's where we're at right now. I mean, what do 493 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: you guys, what do you guys think though, because this 494 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: is you know, no, we're not legal experts, but this 495 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: comes down to, I would say a personal question, a 496 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: question of personal preference. Do you think that is? That 497 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: is Kach for like, were you president, would you be 498 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: hiring your family members? I feel like there's a big 499 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: backlash to it because of the fact that democracy is 500 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: meant to be this antithesis to monarchy, which is obviously 501 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: inherently a familial thing. So we like the idea that 502 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: it's a meritocracy, like you said, Ben, but we also 503 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: know that necessary thing is not what you think it is. 504 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: All the time, that there is stuff going on in 505 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 1: back rooms. There are deals being made to enrich people, 506 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: and I feel like in a family situation where there's 507 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: more to be gain by enriching your family member, because 508 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: it didn't turn enriches you and your legacy, maybe that's problematic. 509 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: I think it's definitely problematic. Uh, yeah, Ben, My opinion 510 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: is that this is a bad move just in general. Yeah, 511 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: I think it's a bad move because at this point, 512 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: the way communication is, the way transparency exists, You're not 513 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: gonna pull a fast one, like maybe you could back 514 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: in the day where it wouldn't have been as big 515 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: a deal, but at this point you can get hashtagged 516 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,840 Speaker 1: the moment that you try and make this kind of 517 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: decision of appointing a loved one or maybe even a 518 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: loathed one from your family. But it just doesn't seem 519 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 1: like a smart move. I think it will probably go away. 520 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: I think the practice will go away because it's so unpopular. 521 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: Artist is just such a bad look, because it's such 522 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: a bad look, and the backlash can be so real, sudden, 523 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: and uh, it can be devastated. I think that is 524 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: tremendously optimistic. I feel like it is a very very 525 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: bad habit that has been with our species for a 526 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: very long time, and I don't see it changing. I mean, 527 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:19,719 Speaker 1: let's not forget there are some of the more powerful 528 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: nations in the world are still monarchies. No, I mean 529 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,919 Speaker 1: maybe constitutional monarchies, but there's still like that means there's 530 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: still a contingent of people in charge for no reason whatsoever, no, 531 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: like no defensible reason. And this I feel like we 532 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: are due for a swing back in that medieval direction. 533 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: Especially we have a lot of we have we have 534 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: a lot of people uh in the West who are 535 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,319 Speaker 1: currently proponents of neo feudalism. So yeah, no, I see 536 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: that point completely, but it does what I would say 537 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:01,960 Speaker 1: along with that, because that seems terrifying we um logical 538 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: to me. I feel like the friend angle, the acquaintance 539 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: thing like that will probably make a resurgence because we're 540 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,680 Speaker 1: also interconnected nowadays. It would be hard to argue a 541 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: lot of the social relationships out of hiring for a 542 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: position or appointing for a position, for sure, because you know, 543 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: if you are a person in charge of hiring, you 544 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,920 Speaker 1: usually want someone that you can vouch for, and then 545 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: friends like to help their friends too, so you get 546 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 1: in situations where maybe a stranger who is better qualified 547 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:43,359 Speaker 1: gets passed over because somebody knows Donnie Hallbrook from high 548 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: school or something, you know what I mean, Or from 549 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 1: junior year of college or there. You're like hang out 550 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,399 Speaker 1: after work buddy and that. And it's important to say 551 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 1: that doesn't necessarily mean those people are unqualified. It really 552 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:00,320 Speaker 1: does true true, especially when you consider in some fee wields. 553 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,720 Speaker 1: We tend to hang out with people who share our interest. 554 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 1: So if, for instance, you're talking about hiring someone to 555 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: be a new high wire trapeze artist, and you're a 556 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: high wire trapeze artist, it's relatively rarefied air, you're going 557 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,760 Speaker 1: to be aware of the other high wire trapeze artist. 558 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: You're probably going to know them on some level, so 559 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: naturally you would reach out to them. I don't think 560 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: we can remove nepotism from the world entire, and it 561 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: would probably be a fool's errand to try. But what 562 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,200 Speaker 1: about removing it from the highest offices in the land, 563 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,279 Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And again, this is not 564 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: this is not to cast this version on or throw 565 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: stones at any particular instance of this. This is a trend. 566 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: This is a systemic thing, a human desire. It's a 567 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:06,160 Speaker 1: human desire, but it's also a human desire that can affect, 568 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 1: at least, in this country's case, more than three hundred 569 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:13,280 Speaker 1: million people, you know what I mean, Like just because 570 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,400 Speaker 1: like if I were president, would be terrified of hiring 571 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,839 Speaker 1: any of my family members. And that's not a commentary 572 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 1: on any of you listening. That's just saying it would 573 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 1: it would look bad for us, you know what I mean, right, right, 574 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,600 Speaker 1: and all the various spellings. Okay, that's true, that's true. 575 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: Sketchy enough, But we want to hear from you as well, 576 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: because this is this is a this is sort of 577 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: a philosophical problem. The the stuff they don't want you 578 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: to know in this episode is that there has been 579 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:54,880 Speaker 1: a long running, not very widely publicized legal battle for 580 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,160 Speaker 1: decades about nepotism in the in the highest offices in 581 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: the land. And of course you can't you can't eliminate 582 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: all of that, especially to your point, Matt, regarding friends. 583 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: But should there yeah, a long time ago, I think 584 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,959 Speaker 1: we talked about this too. Should there be a law 585 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,279 Speaker 1: that says, if you're if you're a president, or your 586 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 1: attorney general or your a justice on the Supreme Court, 587 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:26,799 Speaker 1: your close relatives cannot also hold those positions, like in 588 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:31,200 Speaker 1: a certain time frame. I think, okay, yeah, yeah, I 589 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:33,880 Speaker 1: can see that, But what's what's the time frame? It's tricky, 590 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: like you get you know. I I am one hundred 591 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 1: percent on board with so much of of of Paul 592 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 1: mission controlled decands, like vision, his technique. I dig him. 593 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:52,239 Speaker 1: I like what he's about. But if he were president 594 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 1: and he was pushing to get his brother or something 595 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,439 Speaker 1: appointed to the head of the Federal Reserve, no, when 596 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:03,719 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter how much I trust you, you know 597 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:07,080 Speaker 1: what I mean, how did you even get access to 598 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:11,359 Speaker 1: make that decision, Paul Man? Because his other brother is 599 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:16,600 Speaker 1: not kidding a kidding. But but that's that's the pickle, 600 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,640 Speaker 1: that's the question, that's the dilemma. What do you think 601 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:24,600 Speaker 1: is nepotism a good thing? I know a lot of 602 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 1: us listening now, I'm probably have at least once or 603 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: twice gotten a job or a cool a cool thing 604 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:37,360 Speaker 1: of some sort because of depotism. But should this, should 605 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:41,359 Speaker 1: this also exist in government? If so? Why? If not, 606 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: how would you remove it? Could you? Should you? Is 607 00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: it even a problem at all? Is it even a 608 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,200 Speaker 1: problem at all? Is it just? Is it better? Then? 609 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 1: Is it better than the effort to try to make 610 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,560 Speaker 1: a country and meritocracy. I mean that's the question, and 611 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,880 Speaker 1: I'm not being flippant with that, I'm asking I don't know. 612 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,400 Speaker 1: I think the worst thing. And we've mentioned it before. 613 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,120 Speaker 1: I don't even know if it was a full episode, 614 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,960 Speaker 1: but we've talked about it before. And that's you mentioned 615 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,359 Speaker 1: at the top of this about members of the same 616 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,760 Speaker 1: secret society appointing and running for an office and uh 617 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,960 Speaker 1: like holding a public office this office while having allegiances 618 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: to some secret organization um and then appointing those members 619 00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 1: two things. I think that's a bigger problem, Ben, Yeah, 620 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: I think it is because now they can have secret 621 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:31,040 Speaker 1: meetings with minutes not secret if they key minutes. You 622 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,360 Speaker 1: never write things down all internal minutes, buddy, like the 623 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:38,080 Speaker 1: jay Z of Conspirators. I just I don't write things 624 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:41,560 Speaker 1: down anymore. Yeah, I mean it's a good point. And 625 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,280 Speaker 1: then also just to be fair, if it's a personal 626 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:48,319 Speaker 1: if it's if it's like your personal business, it's your 627 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: private thing, or it's a private sector thing, then you know, 628 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:59,000 Speaker 1: do do as you will hire your kids. Just it 629 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: would be nice if you made sure they were qualified 630 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,799 Speaker 1: or they had a chance to work their way up. Uh. 631 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: It may not be the best decision for your business 632 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,080 Speaker 1: or your ambitions, but it is your right to do so. 633 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:14,839 Speaker 1: Just again, the question is, um, what happens when when 634 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,400 Speaker 1: it's like a when it's public office. I don't know. 635 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,840 Speaker 1: I still like, I'll be honest, I it does. It 636 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 1: does hit my spider sense. It's a bad idea, but 637 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,480 Speaker 1: I have no idea how we would fix it, and 638 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,719 Speaker 1: I think a lot of people would be against it, 639 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: especially in Congress, which is also a hotbed of nepotism. 640 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:37,680 Speaker 1: Did you know, Uh, did you know a lot of 641 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:41,919 Speaker 1: congressmen used to hire their wives when they're elected as 642 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:47,080 Speaker 1: secretaries because not not necessarily because they were grifters, but 643 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: because of spousal privilege. It means it would mean that 644 00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:55,680 Speaker 1: legally their secretaries could never testify against them or present 645 00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:02,920 Speaker 1: evidence against them. Brilliant, Yeah, let's say technically brilliant. Yeah. Hey, guys, 646 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:05,799 Speaker 1: speaking of spidy since, guess what I saw last night? 647 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:10,839 Speaker 1: Spider Spider verse. Yeah, I saw the Spider Verse finally, right, 648 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:16,879 Speaker 1: I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Were you familiar with the with 649 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,080 Speaker 1: the comics? I know who Peter Parker is I've never 650 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: met Peter B. Parker before, or Peter Porker or any 651 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:29,880 Speaker 1: of Yeah, but pretty, pretty dang, pretty dann great. Yeah, 652 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:34,240 Speaker 1: I bought a copy of it. It's it's a great 653 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,160 Speaker 1: relaxing film, and it's a film for everybody. You don't 654 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,759 Speaker 1: have to know about the life of Spider Man. They 655 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: lay it out for you about seven times, the basis 656 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 1: Peter Parker story. They do. Well, Matt, when are you 657 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:51,040 Speaker 1: going to see Avengers End Game? Because I am just 658 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:54,200 Speaker 1: I'm and I know Paul is as well. We're just 659 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:56,080 Speaker 1: we're waiting for you to see it so we can 660 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,880 Speaker 1: ask questions when some intergalactic tough guy, you know, gets 661 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:04,759 Speaker 1: a glove that has all the pretty gems on it. 662 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: That day, time out, Michael Jackson. Yeah, sure, canceled, but 663 00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:14,200 Speaker 1: that day I will see end game alright, basically on 664 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,239 Speaker 1: the end game and during the end game, during the 665 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:23,000 Speaker 1: end game, all right, maybe when it hits Netflix. Yeah, yeah, 666 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,839 Speaker 1: it's not Infinity Wars. Right, it's on Netflix currently. I did. 667 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:29,040 Speaker 1: I sleepily watched it on a plane and I was enthralled, 668 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:34,160 Speaker 1: sleepily enthralled. Hey, if you want to, uh, if you 669 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 1: want to give Matt some some fake spoilers as long 670 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:43,080 Speaker 1: as they're absolutely not true spoilers about Avengers endgame. Uh, 671 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:45,840 Speaker 1: where they can? They can just call us right yeah, 672 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,040 Speaker 1: leave us a message. We are one eight three three 673 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:54,920 Speaker 1: stdy t K. We had a very funny person calling 674 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,799 Speaker 1: recently to when we were recording this who told us 675 00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: about their their pets that were very disturbed by an 676 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: episode that we had recently. Yeah, do you want to 677 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,040 Speaker 1: just play that one? Now? I think we should. It's 678 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:12,839 Speaker 1: just fun. Let's just play it. Hey, guys, So that 679 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:19,200 Speaker 1: episode really upset my ferrets, Roger Menaphort and Paul Stone. 680 00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:24,320 Speaker 1: Could you look back a bit? Also, my bull frog 681 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 1: mitch Man, his eyes bulged every time you say at countability. 682 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,800 Speaker 1: It's almost like he doesn't understand what that term means. 683 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 1: And you're really throwing the whole dinning that goes a 684 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 1: souse off and it's just kind of upsetting for everyone. 685 00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:46,279 Speaker 1: So if he could just keep that in check, I'd 686 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 1: appreciate it. Thanks, Just so dry talking about his ferrets 687 00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:58,200 Speaker 1: with the political names. Scaring scaring ferrets and frogs. That's 688 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:01,160 Speaker 1: that's that's our new thing. Do you. I wonder if 689 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: any pets listened to our show. Yeah? I think so 690 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,000 Speaker 1: there's got to be some right. I have my cats 691 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:12,320 Speaker 1: sort of listened to it, but mainly for the sound cues. 692 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 1: That's really great. I tried to play it out loud 693 00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 1: in my house one time, and my my doctor Penny 694 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,200 Speaker 1: genuinely was doing that thing where she tilts her head 695 00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,920 Speaker 1: a little bit and perks her ears up. Doesn't understand 696 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:27,120 Speaker 1: what the sound sources or what's coming from where she 697 00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:29,719 Speaker 1: She knows it's your voice. Yeah, but I was sitting 698 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:34,799 Speaker 1: right next to her. Why isn't coming from you? What else? 699 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,160 Speaker 1: If you hate the phone, but you have some opinions 700 00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,279 Speaker 1: on this, some arguments for or against nepotism in the 701 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,640 Speaker 1: highest office in the land. Uh, you can tell us 702 00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:48,759 Speaker 1: about it on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. You can 703 00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:51,440 Speaker 1: talk directly to our favorite part of the show, your 704 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:54,840 Speaker 1: fellow listeners on our Facebook page. Here's where it gets crazy. 705 00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:56,120 Speaker 1: If you don't want to do any of that, you 706 00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:58,799 Speaker 1: can send us an email that I think is working now. 707 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:00,600 Speaker 1: I've been in a little bit of back and forth 708 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:02,640 Speaker 1: or I T department as to whether these new anglass 709 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:04,520 Speaker 1: are working yet or not, but I think they are 710 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:08,400 Speaker 1: as of now. We are conspiracy at I Heeart Radio 711 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:29,400 Speaker 1: dot Com. Stuff they Don't Want You to Know is 712 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:32,200 Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more 713 00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:35,000 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart radio app, 714 00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:37,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.