WEBVTT - The Fifth Hour: 238 Years and Gone! 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:01.480 Cutbooms. 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:05.400 If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:09.240 a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:12.520 of the old republic, a sol fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.520 treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:19.639 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. Wow to Clearinghouse of 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.520 hot takes, break free for something special. The Fifth Hour 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:29.560 with Ben Maller starts right now in. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:35.200 The air everywhere. The Fifth Hour with Me Ben Mahler. 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:40.000 It is produced by Danny G Radio. He hopefully will 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:41.680 join us at some point over the weekend, but we 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.960 are back at it. The weekend begins right now on 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.400 a random Friday, a random Friday. So the way this 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:54.000 works on Fridays, I do the radio show. I then 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.760 walk out of the radio studio and it's kind of 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:03.480 like the Grandpa Simpson gift where you walk in and 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.200 out and then back in again and the meme. I 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.600 guess it's not a gift, it's a meme. And it's 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.920 that scene where in The Simpsons where Grandpa the Great 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:18.000 Abe Simpson enters the room. He looks around there's Bart 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.600 Simpson sitting there at the dais and he promptly leaves. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.200 And so that's pretty much it. That's pretty god. I 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.600 go into the studio, I go out, and I go 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:34.959 back in again. And on this edition of the podcast today, 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.800 the only available in the podcast format, we have the 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:43.360 always Riveting Blue Flu, the South Park spin off with 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:49.600 a twist, and the Phrase of the Week as well. However, 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.360 today is the fourteenth day of November. There is a 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.640 holiday today you likely did not know about. It is 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.960 a food holiday. I will not be celebrating this holi 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.400 the day I've taken a strong position against this particular 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:10.920 food item. Today is National Pickle Day. Yes, National pickle 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:15.519 Day from the old world. Now. I grew up going 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.639 to Delis with my family. You know these motz of 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.600 ball soup and pastromi sandwiches and all that stuff at 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.840 the Delhi, and they'd always give you when you sat 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:30.200 down a thing of pickles. My mom loved pickles. I 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.320 didn't like the texture. I didn't I didn't like any 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.359 the smell I was okay with. But in honor of 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.040 National Pickle there, which is a big day I know 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.680 for Alf the alien ol Piner, who, for some reason, 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:46.480 because he's Alf, loves the pickle. The pickle though they 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.480 dated back they being the supposed experts, they did it 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:59.000 back to twenty thirty BC. The Mesopotamians would pickle cucumbers 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:05.520 were native to India, and that gave birth to what 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:09.040 has become. I mean, that's a long time Holy Canoli 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:14.239 twenty thirty BC. But the Mesopotamians, you can thank them. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:19.680 It wasn't until the tenth century, according to the pickle propaganda, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:26.040 that dill became a central ingredient in many brine mixtures 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:30.280 and all that stuff Western Europe and countries along that line. 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:34.720 And then in the nineteen forties, the United States government 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.240 they said, you know what, we're producing a lot of pickles. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:43.440 They produced forty percent of the US pickle output, was 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:47.400 the United States government. And if you're producing pickles and 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.160 you're the government, what do you do. You include pickles 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:55.880 in the rations for the armed forces, is what you do. Okay, 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:00.240 there you go. So it's National Pickled Day. But we'll 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.560 begin with this. So I was not planning on talking 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.400 about this, but I got a couple of emails from 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.760 people who were looking for me to rant and rave. 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:13.080 Interesting enough, not from Lucky Tony. Not from Lucky Tony. 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.080 So the baseball season is long over. They had the 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.360 GM meetings this week, they had the MVP awards given out. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.200 I'm not doing a ran about showy Otani. That's not 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:27.120 what this is about. Apparently the Dodger nation is up 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:32.680 in arms because Dave Roberts. How many votes did he 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:34.800 get for Manager? He didn't win the award, I didn't 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:36.640 win the word. How many votes did Dave Roberts get? 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.760 You want to take a guess? You see this? No, 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.200 you didn't see this. Okay, So Dave Roberts did he get? 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.799 I'm gonna give you three options here. Did he get 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:50.760 thirteen votes for Manage of the Year? Did Dave Roberts 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.720 get nine votes for Manage of the Year? Or did 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.000 Dave Roberts get three votes from Manager of the Year 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:59.200 or the other option? Option D is none of the above? 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:05.560 All right? Reveal answers. Reveal answers. Turns out that Dave 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:08.599 Roberts got as many votes for Manage of the Year 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.800 as you and I did. None, not a single vote 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:18.040 for Manage of the year. Bupkis squad douche. So let 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.560 us address. We will dress together. We're going to address 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:25.279 the snuffle of igus in the room. So you've got 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:32.400 David Vasse, enemy combatant of this podcast, running around like 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:39.440 someone stole his truro at a Dodger game, yelling disrespect, disrespect. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.640 Now we know Vassay is a legendary houseman for the Dodgers, 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.000 that he is friends with all the players. He's a mouthpiece. 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.640 He's been that way for years, and it's part of 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.039 the job when you do that job. If you're too critical, 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:53.680 you don't get to do that job. He's had the 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.520 job for a while, which tells you he's the number 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:01.360 one cheerleader around. He's got the blue pom poms and 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:03.279 everything like you month. I had that job years ago. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.200 I didn't last very long because it's not in my DNA. 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.919 It's baked into me to be critical. I can't be 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.440 a fanboy. I wish I could. I'd get better jobs 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.680 as a fanboy. You get better gigs. If you're critical, 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.040 you do the overnight show. At least that's the way 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:21.080 it's worked out for me. So let me help out 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:24.880 Vesay because Insa used to be my producer in another life. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.839 So let me help out Vesse and all the Dodger 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.159 people out there who are I'm a Dodger person. I'm 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.720 happy they won the World Series. I love the fact 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.080 that they're going to win several more World Series in 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:40.560 the next ten years. It's wonderful. The question, is it 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:45.480 a great injustice that the Dodgers Dave Roberts got no 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:50.159 votes for Manager of the Year as the skipper of 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.480 the Dodgers. Keep in mind, because they won the World Series. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.400 So I've got on this one. I've got beeswax, candle, 0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:01.360 RB's in honor of Danny g and Catholic Church, and 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:05.360 we will combine all of these things together and we 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.840 are going to make thousands of downloads. Thousands. Now, Remember 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.440 I've ranted many times about bots and how all this 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.560 stuff is inflated and manipulated. I never said I was 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.000 against it. I just don't want to spend my own money. 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:24.480 But if one of you knuckleheads has a bot army 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.280 in Maldova, I'd be more than happy to have them 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:33.560 just listen and enjoy the heck out of it. Anyway, 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:37.280 back to the point, So to answer the question, is 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.120 this a great injustice that Dave Roberts did not get 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.480 a single vote for Manager of the Year, My response 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.040 is PULLEYE. Is my response. That is my response giving 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.840 this a super duper eye roll. Credit comes from let 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:56.120 me explain this to you. I know it's difficult for 0:07:56.160 --> 0:08:02.559 some to understand. Credit comes from exceed not doing average work. 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:07.000 This is a regular season award. The playoffs does not matter. 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.640 The Dodgers spent I believe the number is one point 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:15.360 three billion. The last couple of offseasons they went on 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:22.440 a rodeo drive style shopping spree. Sho Hail Tani, Yoshinobu, Yamamoto, 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.920 Tyler Glass. Now they re signed ti Oscar Hernandez. And 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.800 that's just the tip of the iceberg. And despite all 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:33.800 of that, despite all of those amazing ballplayers, the Dodgers 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:38.720 of twenty twenty five underachieved. Oh my god, you can't 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:42.400 say that, Ben, They won the overnight. I don't even 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.280 know what voice that is. It is true they won 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.000 the overnight, but they did underachieve that. Vegas had the 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.840 Dodger win total at one hundred and five point five wins. 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.120 The Dodgers won ninety three games. Now, if you do 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.240 the malor math on that, it's minus twelve and a half. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.880 So if you who were the skipper of a team 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:07.920 that won twelve games less, twelve and a half less 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:12.840 than they were supposed to. Would you be worthy of 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.960 some kind of accolades for that? That's not Manager of 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.720 the Year. That calls for a performance review. You did 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:24.480 not meet the regular season expectations. Again, just to repeat, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.320 because I know I'm going to get some emails from 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:30.520 you knuckleheads and a little slow. It's a regular season award. 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.520 Are we supposed to light a beeswhack candle for poor 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:40.480 Dave Roberts? Give me a bleep and break. Dave Roberts 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.880 is not managing the Dodgers. He's play acting. He's an 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.720 IKEA display model wearing a hoodie. It's a great gig. 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.840 It pays a lot of money. Now page two here, 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:56.079 So Dave Roberts is essentially the assistant shift supervisor at 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:01.360 an Arby's and he reading whatever Andrew Friedman and the 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.960 NERD Battalion print out the morning of the game or 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:10.240 the afternoon of the game, the analytical menu. Imagine if 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.400 you will, world where Dave Roberts is working the drive 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:19.240 through at Arby's. Hello, welcome to the Dodger Stadium. Arby's. 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:23.240 Can I take your preapproved lineup card? So Dave Roberts 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:27.200 doesn't so much manage the games, he downloads them. Roberts 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.640 getting zero votes for Manager of the Year. That is 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:36.040 not a snub. That is a diagnosis. That is a diagnosis. 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.560 You can't win Manager of the Year if your biggest 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.200 managerial decision all season is whether to stand on the 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.760 top step or to sit near the top step of 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.000 the dugout. The industry knows it. The baseball writers who 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.800 vote on this know it. Held the ushers at Dodgers 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.679 Stadium know it. This isn't some kind of a anti 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.839 Dodger conspira. It's not. This's not blow this thing out 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:07.120 of proportion. This is the mafia of baseball writers, the 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:14.920 BBWAA saying, yes, we see the snuffle upagus wearing the 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.839 Dodger hat in the room, that the dude is a 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.960 middle manager with a laminated card. Mallard prop guy knows that. 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:27.120 Justin in Cincinnati knows that. Even Robbie the Mariner fan 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.679 knows that. Right, they all know it. I don't know 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:35.160 about Jed hu fled. Meanwhile, you've got Pat Murphy in Milwaukee. 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.599 The Brewers were rejected to win eighty two and a 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.840 half games this year. Eighty two and a half games. 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:42.600 They didn't go out and spend a billion dollars on 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.880 free agents. Eighty two and a half wins, They end 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.280 up winning ninety seven. They had the top record in baseball. 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.960 If my malor math is correct, that means they were 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:57.960 fourteen and a half games above expectations, which I don't 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.360 know how much Pat Murphy's managing day to day, but 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.560 it certainly seems like if you're gonna give an award 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.760 to somebody, that would be the guy that wins it. 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:09.360 That's actual value added. You take that roster, the brew 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.760 Crewe roster, a bunch of mid tier guys, bargain bin pitching, 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:19.760 slap together bullpen that was literally they used gorilla glue 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:22.080 to keep the bullpen together and they went ninety seven. 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.000 So yeah, you get the trophy. And again the other 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.200 argument as well, I got the Dave Roberts. He wasn't 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:29.920 gonna win, but he should have gotten a vote or 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.720 something along those lines. Now, the last word here on 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.520 this part of the Malar monologue, the bonus Malear monologue. 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:40.840 Is it true? Here's the question, Is it true that 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.640 the Dodgers are the only team in baseball where you 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.199 can win the World Series and the reaction is okay, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.839 but we didn't get one vote from Manager of the Year. 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.280 What's up with that? We did not meet the spreadsheet? 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:56.560 And even in the year they win the World Series 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.719 back to back, you know, two years in a row. Here, 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:03.840 they want a regular season award at least a vote 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.199 because the pr machine says that they needed a vote. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:11.960 They need the validation. And this has been a big 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:14.920 part of what the Dodgers have become recently. There's a 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.520 lot of whining over there at Dodgers Stadium, a lot 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.600 of whining, right, they need that validation, always begging for 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.760 the pad on the back and all it is that 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.320 the Hollywood stuff is that Andrew Friedman, I don't know. 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.880 And again I'm a Dodger fan. I don't like the attitude. 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.600 It's weak sauce, is what it is. But let me 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.400 put it to you another way. If you gave me 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:45.120 a roster of Sho Hail Tani, Mookie Bets, Freddie Freeman, 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:51.480 Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glass Now and all these other cats 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:56.240 a payroll that requires a private equity firm to audit it, 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.199 and if I don't win one hundred plus games. If 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.600 I don't reach one hundred wins, I would expect zero 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.280 votes for Manager of the Year. I would expect someone 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:10.400 to take my key card. If this was the Catholic Church, 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:16.280 you'd be excommunicated for that. Dave Roberts is not getting robbed. 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:21.000 He didn't get robbed. He's getting graded fairly, honestly, and 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.760 it doesn't happen that often. Like he's a robotic manager. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.760 He gets well paid. It's big check and all that stuff. 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:33.520 It's corporate baseball, it's push button, Hamburger, helper, all that 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:39.800 pr approved quotes, and the voters finally said, they said 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.960 it out loud is what they did. So I don't 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.080 have any kind of beef, any kind of issue with 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:51.680 that at all. Now turning the page to something completely different, 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.640 a show that I have not watched in years, South Park, 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.880 And no, this is not about South Park, but in 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:00.960 many ways it is. It's a South Park spin off. 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.640 For years on that show, the most famous catchphrase I 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:07.920 guess they actually finally whacked this guy was, oh my god, 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:12.760 they killed Kenny. We can update that they did kill Kenny. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:15.680 Finally they killed them off. We can update it though 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.320 through the magic of the cartoon. Oh my god, they 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:24.760 killed penny. That's right. Leave it to the federal government 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:31.080 to accidentally give a struggling overnight gas bag who moonlights 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:35.720 with a gambling entertainment hybrid one of the great marketing 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.040 boosts in history, at least the history of this show 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.200 and the number of you were reached out. Oh, I'm 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.400 so sorry, the penny's going away and tell me you 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.880 don't get it without telling me you don't get In fact, 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.840 Gascon who used to work on this podcast, he was 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.640 trolling me, and I was like, dude, this guy really 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.680 doesn't understand how this works. I felt bad for him. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.480 I've been living in Florida. He's semi retired there, shame 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.040 on him. But this week the US Mint in Philadelphia 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:08.760 hammered out its final final addition. Circulating of the Penny 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:15.640 dun skis finished. No more, no more naa no no 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:21.440 naa Hey, good bye. Yeah, after two hundred and thirty 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:26.000 eight years, two hundred and thirty eight years of making 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.200 a coin that for most of that no one wanted 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:35.040 and no one used, and no one bent over to 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.200 pick up unless they were already on the ground tying 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.680 their shoe or they were completely hammered, laying in a 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.680 gutter somewhere. Well, the people in Washington have finally pulled 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.960 the plug. Now to give you an idea, how crazy, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:57.320 how absolutely bananas, two hundred and thirty eight years is. 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.440 Let's do some spur of the moment, mall. So a 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:09.040 generation is twenty years. So if you divide two hundred 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:17.800 and thirty eight by twenty, that equals almost twelve generations, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:22.720 just to share under twelve generations of men and women 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.439 that have entered the world. And the penny has been 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:31.719 part of the world two hundred thirty eight years, and 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.879 they say bye bye. And doing so, they've turned Benny 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.040 Versus the Penny, which is available right now on YouTube, 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:42.280 our long running radio segment which turned into a TV show, 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:47.800 which turned viral video on YouTube. That creation because we're creators, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.000 and it gave us something that we did not ask for, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:57.199 unintentionally immortal. Seriously, Oh, you're just full of crap, bad, No, 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.560 I'm not. Let me explain. The penny has been decommissioned, 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.680 put out the pastor given the pink slip, whatever you want. 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:10.000 Benny versus the Penny has been promoted like ships passing 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:14.040 in the night the government killed the penny and made 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:19.880 our little YouTube show a cultural time capsule. And that's 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.400 how things wors Oh, that makes money. This is how 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.720 things work. Number One, we ignore something for decades or 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.920 longer than that. Number two, the government bans it, ends it, 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:32.600 or shuts it down, whatever you want to say, and 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:36.760 suddenly it becomes iconic. It's called the Streisan effect with 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.960 a copper plating. In terms of this little ditty that 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.560 we're talking about right now. The second the mint in 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:48.119 Philadelphia stopped making pennies, this became a story that was everywhere. 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:53.000 The coin became cooler, it became rarer, it became more nostalgic, 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.840 more American, became a talking point at parties and social 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.720 events and whatnot, and on the Ben Maller Show and 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.879 the other platforms that we partake in, like this Fifth 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.280 Hour podcast where the penny was. We did Benny Versus 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:10.160 the Penny on the podcast here flipping pennies metaphorically. For man, 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:12.800 it's been almost twenty years and now we can say 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:17.400 that my co star on Benny Versus the Penny has 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.760 now entered the national archive, alongside the cassette tape, the 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:27.560 rotary phone, the floppy disc. The pager finds out old 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.440 you are. If you're old, you've used all this stuff. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.920 The VHS tape shout out to our friends at Blockbuster 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.879 Video back in the day, and every other relic Americans 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:42.199 suddenly can't live without. Once it's discontinued, the penny is 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:48.600 now part of the Remember when industrial complex? Remember when 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.760 I love that, Remember when we used to use typewriters, 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.720 Remember when we used to use blah blah blah film, 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.840 And Benny Versus the Penny gets to stand right next 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.560 to it, right right next to it, industrial complex that. 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:07.919 Remember when a show built on a coin and is 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.359 now part of history. You can't buy that kind of branding. 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.679 So I want to thank the boys in DC, the 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:18.480 people that made this decision. And Benny Versus the Penny 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.600 now has what every show wants, a story the media 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.840 doesn't have to invent. And there are networks we worked 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.359 at NBC last couple of years. There are networks that 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.320 spend a lot of money, millions and millions, trying to 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:38.440 manufacture bus. Media companies just in general, whether it's TV 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:40.920 or radio or podcasting, they spend a lot of money 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.200 trying to create buzz trying to make something important, something 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:47.159 out of nothing. And I just happened to wake up 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.040 one morning and my phone was filled with messages about people. 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:52.959 Oh I'm so sorry. Oh that sucks. What a bum 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:54.960 what a bum ride that is for you and I 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:57.440 And then I was like, well, wait a minute here, 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.199 well that's not bad. I wake up and I discover 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:05.000 that our little mascot friend is trending because Congress finally 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.800 figured out how math works. It's pretty crazy that it's 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.720 lasted this long. That's one thing about big government, the bureaucracy. 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.159 Things never get changed right away. Another great example is 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.720 the clocks, which I don't know anyone that thinks it's 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:23.199 a good idea to change the clocks in most states 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.399 in the United States, right, you go from daylight savings 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:27.959 time and all that, and you change the clocks. As 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:30.520 everyone complains about it, there's more access. More people die 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.600 every year because of the time change. They don't get 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.280 the right amount of sleep, and their bio rhythms are 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:39.160 all messed up. And the government doesn't care. They talk 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.800 about changing, but they never do. And the penny it 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.359 costs three point seven cents to make a penny. It 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:50.320 has a face value of one cent. So someone in 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:54.119 DC apparently saw the deficit, looking at the coin and said, okay, 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:58.640 we can at least stop losing money on this. We're 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:02.480 going to continue to lose money on the frivolous pork 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:05.199 barrel spending. We're going to continue to do that unchecked, 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.159 and the bridges to nowhere. Now the result of all this, 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:13.480 every headline about the penny all over the interweb, the 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:19.080 retirement of the penny is inadvertently a headline that is 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:22.680 about benny versus the penny. When people search on YouTube 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:26.320 for the penny, they'll see benny versus the penny. Every 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:29.880 feature story about the end of the penny production suddenly 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:35.639 serves as free advertising for a radio bit that became 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:40.000 a TV show that became a YouTube channel. This is 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:44.879 what you call falling up and the penny. The death 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:49.239 of the penny actually strengthens the gimmick. A gimmick is 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:53.640 only as good as the icon it leads on, and 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:55.879 before this week, the penny was, let's face it, the 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.280 penny was a nuisance for a lot of people, that 0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:02.320 annoying loose change that you can't buy anything with, right 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:06.920 stuck between some bubble gum and the rappers, and there's 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:09.840 like Kawan rolling around. Maybe it's in your glove compartment 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:19.560 now again. Conversation piece, collectible taxpayer subsidized relic of Americana Maracana, 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:22.840 which is also a shopping center in Glendale. And every 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:26.360 time someone says remember those pennies that we used to have, yeah, 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:28.359 the answer is now, hey, yeah, benny versus the penny? 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:31.520 I remember, Benny versus the penny I do. The gimmick 0:23:31.720 --> 0:23:36.120 didn't get weaker, it just gained gravatas, and we love 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:40.280 the word gravtas. The penny is no longer pocket lint. 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:43.800 It's not. It's a legacy object, is what it is. 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:48.200 Like the Yellow first down line, first down, the Red 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:51.159 Sox Curse of the Bambino, which so many people have 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.000 forgotten because the Red Sox have been really good over 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.560 the last twenty five years, and the Cubs Curse of 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:00.480 the Billy Goat. Shout out to our friend Doc Mike Darno, 0:24:01.800 --> 0:24:06.040 and yeah, so our show is now the last major 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:10.840 remaining national stage where the penny will perform during football season. 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:16.760 The TV, the radio, the YouTube versions have all had 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:20.159 the penny, but they'll all benefit on the radio the 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:24.000 bit carries historical weight. It started on the radio, gave 0:24:24.359 --> 0:24:26.720 birth to it years ago, and there's a sense of it. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:32.400 We're keeping alive something the government declared dead. That resonates, right, 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:36.000 that resonates why not right? The classic crowd that we 0:24:36.119 --> 0:24:41.280 have of rebels, misfits, traditionalists, good guys, bad guys who 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:44.880 think the world has moved too fast. Now on TV, 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:48.000 the story sells itself, and there's been some rumblings the 0:24:48.000 --> 0:24:52.320 show will eventually return to television. But producers love a hook, 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:57.280 and now it's Benny versus the Penny has a built 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:01.040 in hook. It's obviously as shows starring a coin that 0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:07.240 no longer is produced. It's nostalgia with a current events twist. Yeah, 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:14.200 And on YouTube Rocket Fuel YouTube lives on algorithms and controversy. 0:25:14.680 --> 0:25:20.640 Penny discontinued The Final Penny, the last penny ever minted. 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:24.919 Every search term spikes up the numbers. It leads to 0:25:25.800 --> 0:25:29.119 people subscribing to our channel, to the Benny Versus the 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:32.199 Penny channel, which is all good and so it's not 0:25:32.240 --> 0:25:38.040 a marketing gimmick. It's marketing luck or destiny delivered by 0:25:38.119 --> 0:25:42.480 a bunch of bureaucrats in DC so the penny, while 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:45.280 it is not being made and it'll eventually be gone, 0:25:45.359 --> 0:25:47.680 it is still very much in circulation. There's a bunch 0:25:47.680 --> 0:25:50.440 of pennies out there and will be around for years, 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:53.920 and Benny versus the Penny will be around forever. Of course, 0:25:53.960 --> 0:25:55.960 forever is as long as I live. And once I'm 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:59.280 no longer around, that's forever. That's the end of time. 0:25:59.720 --> 0:26:05.040 Americans love nostalgia, love tradition, wrap yourself in the flag, 0:26:05.680 --> 0:26:09.199 love old things that won't die. How many documentaries have 0:26:09.240 --> 0:26:12.240 I seen about Root sixty six? Get your kicks on 0:26:12.359 --> 0:26:18.320 Root sixty six, jukeboxes, you name it. The Chicago Cubs 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:21.439 and the Braves on superstations back in the day, the 0:26:21.560 --> 0:26:25.399