Thirsty Topics podcast
A weekly podcast dedicated to trending topics on social media, pop culture and entertainment. Lawrence and Meryl have healthy discussions with multiple perspectives.
Thirsty Topics podcast
Tariffs, Tensions, and TikTok Troubles for 4/9/25
The latest Thirsty Topics episode takes listeners on a journey through America's economic anxieties and cultural curiosities with hosts Lawrence Elrod and Meryl Klemo.
From the opening exchange about White Lotus to startling revelations about aggressive sea lions, the conversation quickly establishes a pattern of finding humor and insight in unexpected places. Lawrence shares news about comedian Jeff Ross's severe allergic reaction to burrata ice cream, complete with hilariously swollen photos and social media roasts, setting a tone of finding lightness amid genuine concern.
The discussion takes a more serious turn when examining the potential impact of recently announced tariffs. JP Morgan's warning of a 60% recession probability looms large as the hosts break down how these economic policies could cost average families up to $4,200 annually. Their exploration of Nintendo Switch 2 delays and price increases provides a tangible example of how global trade tensions directly affect consumers' purchasing power and entertainment options.
Between economic analyses, the hosts share jaw-dropping stories of excess and absurdity—like the Ultra music festival's $500,000 bottle service package aptly named "F.U. Money." This stark contrast between luxury spending and families struggling with basic necessities like affordable Easter eggs highlights growing wealth disparities in America.
The episode doesn't shy away from tragedy either, respectfully addressing rapper Young Scooter's death following a false 911 call, which prompts a thoughtful conversation about police interactions and responsibility. By the episode's conclusion, as they discuss potential TikTok buyers amid international tensions, listeners gain a comprehensive view of how interconnected our economic, social, and entertainment landscapes have become.
Ready to join the conversation? Subscribe for weekly deep dives into the thirstiest topics shaping our world with Lawrence and Meryl's signature blend of humor, insight, and accessibility.
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
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Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. I'm Lawrence Elrod.
Speaker 2:And I am Meryl Clemo.
Speaker 1:Hey Meryl, how are you today?
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm so good. I don't even know if this is one of our topics, but I forgot. Did you watch White Lotus at all? Are you a White Lotus?
Speaker 1:man, you know what I heard, all about it, but I have not watched it.
Speaker 2:Okay, you're good, it's last night. It was like, if any one of our people want to talk to me about it, I'm open, Because it's like, you know, like any finale it was good, but I was kind of left a little bit like wah, wah.
Speaker 1:Now that's on Netflix, right.
Speaker 2:That was on. I think it's. I honestly don't know if it's on HBO or Netflix. I forget oh okay. I just haven't. I haven't set, but it was one of those things where I like told my boyfriend by 9 pm. We have to be in the house and I have to watch it.
Speaker 1:It was like a whole big deal and then by like 10, 40, I was like ready for bed and in a bad mood, well it definitely sounds like something I should check out, because everybody was talking about it honestly, it's really good.
Speaker 2:I feel like if you're if you're new to the white lotus game, I definitely recommend starting from like season. You don't have to, but I feel like season two was the best of all of them so far. Okay, so as one of those shows that you really have to watch the previous episodes to understand what's going on, you can totally get by on just starting with season three, but it will be a little bit more fun to know some of the backstory of at least one of the characters, okay yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's definitely something I'll check out then. So we are going to start off fun today, so I'm going to let you run first yay, okay, good, well, this one is ridiculous.
Speaker 2:Um, a comedian that I really love, one of my favorite comedians here in los angeles, jeff ross jeff Jeffrey Ross, you know, also known as the king of the roast and the roast king.
Speaker 2:He was just hospitalized for an allergic reaction to eating ice cream. So he shared some photos of himself sitting in a hospital bed with a swollen face, and when they say swollen, like if you look at the pictures of him he was not kidding. It's like his lip is all the way out to here, his chin is everywhere. And then it was because he, after a show, he had gone to get some ice cream and at a restaurant, was hosting them and you know, as they do often say, you know, we'd love to have you try our ice cream, and it was Burrata ice cream, which I don't know if that's like burrata ice cream to cheese, like mozzarella cheese. But he got crazy reactions. And then the funny thing is he asked his followers not to roast him too hard but like you can roast him a little bit. And so people under the comments were just saying like I don't see any difference, like finally you got some work done, and it's just the most ridiculous thing.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I took a look at that picture. I'm like, wow, he really swole up pretty bad, especially.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my goodness exactly and like, uh, also just a side note is that he he really is like one of my I. I don't like to like watch a lot of other stand-up just because I do it and it's like you know, it's like kind of the last thing you do, but I love watching him if anyone ever gets the chance to see him live. He's really really, really funny. Like I saw him once and he had a jazz band behind him and he had just gotten COVID and he did the whole set to jazz music talking about the symptoms of his COVID. So who knows, maybe he'll do something like this, but he's so funny.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what? I tip my hat off to him. He has a great sense of humor. I'm really surprised he was allowed to. He allowed people to take a picture of him and put it on the internet. I know.
Speaker 2:But also too, I feel like the fact that he had to cancel some shows. I feel like it's probably good that he showed Everyone why exactly he can't do it. I'm surprised, knowing him, I bet he would. If he could, like he would show up and do a set looking like that, and then, so I don't know if there was nuts in the ice cream and that was, I think someone said that it had pistachios in it, but this was his first allergic reaction. Now, are you allergic to any foods? No, I'm not, okay, that's I mean. And he had said too, he's definitely in his forties or fifties and he said this was the first time he had any allergic reaction. Like you know, it wasn't like he like knew he was eating something bad, so that has to be scary too.
Speaker 1:I wonder if they figured out what it was that gave him that allergic reaction.
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I mean he like me, I think he's Jewish and we also. We just like we're not supposed to have dairy but we do anyway. So I feel like dairy and Jewish people usually don't go together too well. So it might be that, or maybe it's like a nut allergy or you know. I feel like a lot of these things have weird gums and weird like additives sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hopefully it gets tested because you know know, depending on what kind of allergy you have. I mean, I've known some people that have allergies where their throat starts swelling yeah, totally, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I have some friends that, like one of my good friends, has a peanut allergy and he I always forget that, not only peanuts, but like restaurants that cook with peanut oil and the same thing will close up and everything. But yeah, that that was hysterical. And people when I was looking at his Instagram, I saw some people, like some of my friends that I knew that were roasting him. I was like get away from the page. I'm like I also think some of my little thirsty comedian friends are thinking that they're going to like roast him and he's going to find it so funny that he's going to take them on tour with him. Hey, you know what.
Speaker 1:You never know what happens Exactly you never know.
Speaker 2:But I was like go away but yeah, so I thought that was crazy. But knowing him, he will definitely return back sooner rather than later. And he's hysterical.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm glad that he's doing better, though, and you know he never lost his sense of humor throughout the whole thing.
Speaker 2:No, not at all. In fact, I think he loves it, and people were even saying, oh my God, you'll do anything just to get some attention.
Speaker 1:That's what you call putting your body on the line for a laugh, right?
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly, exactly. And then another one of my friends was like conspiracy. She was like I feel like the restaurant poisoned him. Maybe they don't like his comedy. I'm like he's not that famous or that upsetting to people that a restaurant's going to poison him.
Speaker 1:I really don't think so. Yeah, with everything going crazy in the world, I think that's the least of their concern.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I thought that was crazy.
Speaker 1:Talk about crazy topics, and this one is a doozy. Lately, sea lions have been very, very aggressive yeah, in fact, some people call them demons and monsters, because they're just going ballistic and they're regularly very aggressive towards people now, way more than they used to be. So scientists allegedly say that it's due to the algae that's in the water that's making them kind of go berserk and, you know, sometimes people forget that yes, it's a beautiful, majestic animal, but it's still a wild animal. Do you think that it's the algae? Or do you think that maybe they're getting a little irritated with people getting a little too close to them?
Speaker 2:or it could be a combination. Yeah, I bet I. I do think the ones that come close to the shoreline are, like, probably just annoyed of being, you know, harassed and sometimes, um, just taunted a little bit and teased. But I, I definitely think the algae, I'm sure it is like the same way that a lot of you know, our fish can be high in mercury and I'm sure the fish that they're eating might have like more microplastics in it, and I feel like it's like whatever's happening to us and our plastics. I'm sure they're getting at times a lot like the marine life. So I definitely do think the ocean probably has like a different change or like a different pH or whatever.
Speaker 2:But this sounds like a movie, doesn't it? Where, like, the sharks start to get, because could you imagine if this started to happen to like great whites? I mean, I know that's the. That's the plot of a lot of these kind of like Megalodon movies is, the shark gets mad and it goes crazy. But like I feel like all we need is the dolphins and the sharks to get mad at us and the seals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's crazy. I mean I was looking at the articles actually several articles and I was very surprised at how widespread this problem is. I was shocked, and to hear that it's from the algae, it's like, okay, should we be worried about other creatures in the water?
Speaker 2:Exactly, and then we're eating fish. I'm sure the fish are eating the algae, so maybe that explains like all the people on planes going crazy and stuff.
Speaker 1:You know what you never know. That's why they say you are what you eat, right.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, and I know we talked about this a few episodes ago. But, like in San Diego, they have a few coves where swimmers you, they share it with seals and sea lions and it's definitely there are a lot of ones that are very sickly and I think sometimes people will be trying to get like a selfie really close with it and all of a sudden it's like, oh, you're taking a picture with like an emaciated seal that's basically like about to die and, you know, not a good scene. Um, so I also wonder if it's like some of these seals Maybe the sick ones before Aren't angry, but they might be Eating the same algae or anything.
Speaker 1:That's true, that's a good point and I think it goes back to what we said, because lately there's been a lot of Animal stories lately and people, for whatever reason, they want that shot, they want to get next to them or grab the baby or whatever, and to the point to where they're putting their, their, their safety at risk and people around them doing it, yep, and also like what would you do if you were out paddleboarding or something, and like an angry seal, I feel like I would.
Speaker 2:So I'd feel so bad if a seal was mad at me, because they do seem so nice yeah, I probably wouldn't be paddle boring, to be honest I wouldn't be that far out where it's like me and a seal in a situation I mean, I tip my hat off to people, but I don't deal with wild animals they look nice, I'll go see them in the zoo where they're like you know, behind protective berries and everything but getting close to them.
Speaker 2:Nah, I'm not doing all that exactly like I don't, something would have to go really wrong. I feel like for both you or I to have a seal if, like an angry seal, hurt close enough to get mad at me, because that would have to mean I like went on some cruise that then broke down and then you know like or like an emergency landing.
Speaker 1:That is so true. And you know, let's face it, a seal, you know a sea lion, is not the smallest animal out there either. So it's not like you can't see them coming. So you know, most people like me be like okay, I see him coming this way, I'm going the other way.
Speaker 2:Exactly when other people will be like hey, let's get this great picture, yeah.
Speaker 1:So what is? A few hundred pounds? Maybe a thousand pounds? That's okay, let's get next to them, let's take a picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would never. The only thing that I've never been near a manatee I mean, I've seen manatees but I love, love, love them and I feel like that would be one of my dreams is to swim with them. And I know you're not supposed to touch them, you kind of just let them hug you. But if manatees started being mean, I feel like my whole view of the world would be shattered because, like I'm so used to them being gentle creatures and they're so nice yeah, that's true, believe it or not.
Speaker 1:Sea lions actually were not as aggressive, so this is actually something new that, uh, that we're noticing, so I'm just hoping that it doesn't become an epidemic among a lot of the large animals in the sea.
Speaker 2:Exactly and the account not only were they angry, but I saw that one of like the guy that was out surfing and he's like it wasn't even just mad, it looked demonic, it was like snarling at me, you know. So I imagine I think that's the part of the algae that's like a neurotoxin that's making them act like not just aggressive, but it's acting kind of like demonic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is true. That is true. So be careful, Meryl, when you go swimming with the sea lions. Okay, Tonight I'll be careful. Okay, that's what I was going to do.
Speaker 2:Me and a killer whale and a hammerhead shark. We're all going to go for a swim. No, my speed is definitely like just floating along with a manatee like holding each other's paddles.
Speaker 2:There you go. Um. Well, while I'm in florida swimming with a manatee, what I can also do is attend the ultra festival, which is like an edm kind of you know whatever um type festival that the young kids go to, and they have a five hundred thousand dollar bottle service experience, aptly named fu. You know, f-u-c-k. Uh, it's the fu money package that people have been getting, of course, as like a flex. So basically, this nearly half a million dollar purchase, um is basically 200 bottles of like a very, very expensive Pharrell Williams rosé, 100 bottles of Dom, 400 bottles of premium champagne. And then it comes. They come out with like of course you know, sparklers and the whole pomp and circumstance around you, and on TikTok people have been like showing other people getting it, and so I just think to me, like I mean $500,000, just doesn't it seem like you could be able to buy the whole club for that much like, or like real estate, or like something crazy, not just like a million trillion bottles, like I feel like that's. That seems like such a waste to me.
Speaker 1:That is ridiculous. I would never spend that kind of. I mean, if I had that kind of disposable income now, my first option. My wife probably will fight me on it, but I would probably go to the casino just just for the hell of it.
Speaker 2:Just be aware of it. One time.
Speaker 1:Now I don't know if I'd make it there, because again my wife will probably tackle me and be like are you effing crazy? I'm not doing that. But if I was going to throw away half a meal, I'll do that. Or the more reasonable thing will be invest in something. Or if I just want to just go crazy and just say whatever, I'm going to go out and buy a Rolls Royce. You know, at least I have something for my money to show for it.
Speaker 2:So exactly, and you could literally use that to to like put a down payment on like a quarter of a really nice house and then have like all the free shame. And also, to me it's like if you're able to just spend that type of money, chances are you, you are something quote-unquote, like important in the world, which is what I think you could probably get, some type of sponsorship or like you know, like I feel like that's a very kind of like non-billionaire thing to do. Is they have to spend a million bottles of money on like dom and everything like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, based on what they get for it.
Speaker 2:They're dramatically overpriced, I mean yeah, yeah, it's marked up a lot. You know who I think this would be for is that I could see a lot of like international money, like you know, just like whether it's like. I mean I know dubai is not necessarily the most international I could think of, but like different countries, there's these money, like you know, just like whether it's like. I mean, I know Dubai is not necessarily the most international I could think of, but like different countries, there's these magnets and I feel like if you wanted to come to different places in the US and just like if you're in Miami and you just want to like impress some Miami chicks and you're like a oil tycoon from Saudi Arabia or something you know, you could just basically spend that money and have everyone impressed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, but let's be realistic. If you have that kind of money, you can go to a big, expensive, high-rolling bar, be balling for a fraction of that and get the same effect Exactly. That's just so much of a waste of money.
Speaker 2:And for $500,000, you could be like a partner and buy the bar For real. I feel like a lot of restaurants and bars. If you put in $500,000, you could really have like a little bit of a stake in it instead of being a patron at it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and you know, basically I think people who do that and I could be wrong, but I think they're the type that goes hey, let me show you how much money I have, Let me show you how much disposable income I have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this was smart, I think, on the festival music, the music festival organizers, though, because this is just another layer of like publicity for them and people, you know, taking videos of the people buying it and everything. I think this is smart. People taking videos of the people buying it and everything. I think this is smart. Also, I know EDM festivals are usually hot and sweaty and stuff and I'm just like who wants to have 400 bottles of champagne come out. But I guess, if you're trying to be a big person and show everyone, okay, I'm going to cover the whole bar for the whole rest of the night. I could see that, but still a little crazy.
Speaker 1:That is true. That is true, that is true. But talk about crazy. I am very surprised. This is a thing, but a fight breaks out at a youth hockey event. The players were fighting, the coaches were fighting the parents were fighting. I mean it was an all-out brawl.
Speaker 2:This is what we talked about last week. Remember when the coach pulled someone the girl's hair? We're like if you were a parent, you would have been down there.
Speaker 1:So it sounds like yes, definitely yeah, and this was such a big deal that it was actually on the news. Um, you know, obviously. You know people got suspended, you know parents are being barred from coming to the games and an interesting thing, which actually is not surprising, is the majority of the fights that break out aren't with the kids.
Speaker 2:Right For the parents, right the parents. Yes, Now are these high school kids, or are they young?
Speaker 1:These look like they were either middle school or high school. Oh okay, they weren't like little little kids. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. The kids are probably embarrassed. Imagine like seeing your parents fighting out on the rink with your teacher Exactly.
Speaker 1:I mean, you're supposed to be teaching sportsmanship and enjoying the game and stuff like this. It should never get that serious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And a lot of them aren't wearing like if it's on the rink, they're not wearing ice skates. So I could just picture like, oh my God, picturing everyone's parents just falling around Like that really seems like a scene from a movie or something.
Speaker 1:It does. You know the thing is, I mean my son. You know he participated in different stuff. He actually know the thing is, I mean my son, you know he participated different stuff. He actually participated in basketball as well too. Um and you know we never had that I mean they were pretty strict about parents acting crazy or whatever, yeah, in which I did not understand until you know all this stuff started breaking out. It's like wow, seriously, and I'm just surprised that in this day and time that people are still acting this way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it almost seems like the parents and the teachers need like an outlet. You know they need playtime to get rid of their energy.
Speaker 1:I mean, these are like school kids. These are, these are professional athletes, and if they were, you'd?
Speaker 2:be thrown out. Yeah, yeah, did you see or did it say like what started the whole thing?
Speaker 1:You know I was trying to find that and I didn't see it. I'm quite sure if I did a little research I could probably find it, but it wasn't very apparent and most of the time, meryl, it's something stupid, like they didn't like a call the ref made, or, you know, maybe their child didn't get enough time on the court, or maybe their child didn't get enough time on the court. It's always something stupid. It's nothing new yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I always feel like it is exactly the first thing you said, where it's like the ref should have fouled the wrong person but didn't, or if they said it to I mean, in baseball it's like they said they were safe and they're not. Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 1:And the thing is too, this wasn't even a playoff game, it was just a regular game at that too, that's what makes it even worse. Not to say that excuses it, but it's like come on seriously the kids are.
Speaker 2:I mean just thinking about like growing up. If our parents did that, we would all like have, we would head for the bleachers and just like close down the game and never talk to anyone. That is so true. I saw a video on Reddit that was like a dad was going to school to confront his kid's bully, like you know. So a dad started yelling at this like seven-year-old kind of like, or seventh grader maybe, like stop messing with my son. And then a few of the kids pantsed. The dad Did you see that? Yeah, that was crazy.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately I did. Yes, yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, I did yes, yeah, so on many different levels. It's like eight levels of insanity that just happened.
Speaker 1:It's like stuff like that. As a parent, I understand, because schools as a whole do not do a great job when it comes to bullying. They really don't.
Speaker 2:But I don't agree with a parent approaching a child under no circumstances. I know.
Speaker 1:And I get it, I really do. Now, if the child puts his hand on your child in front of you, all bets are off.
Speaker 2:Exactly Yep.
Speaker 1:But you can't come in after the fact to threaten him, because now you risk going to jail at that point.
Speaker 2:Yes, and just like them pantsing the dad, I just I'm at the age where I can both see like the 13 year old just being funny and the 40 year old being funny, like I think I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of like thinking.
Speaker 1:all of it is funny, yeah, but I think the real, the real way to solve this is schools have to step up. They really do. And then like at the games, if you see someone getting a little bit out of control or whatever, don't wait until they start a fight, Because a lot of times you can see the tension starting to boil before it happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, oh, that's an interesting one.
Speaker 1:You'd be amazed at you know how, if you put somebody in handcuffs, how everyone else calms down around them. It's amazing how that works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like those big consequences. I wonder if any of the kids from that fight the hockey fight are going to end up getting in trouble or expelled because of how their parents acted.
Speaker 1:That's a great question, Because how do you do that? Because if the kids didn't do anything and it was the parents should you punish the children?
Speaker 2:That's actually a great point.
Speaker 1:I didn't even think about that.
Speaker 2:Maybe like the parent-teacher conferences, everyone puts like boxing gloves on or something.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm actually kind of interested to find out about that, because that's a great point. Right Because it's easy if the kids are fighting, but if the kids aren't doing anything and it's their parents fighting, what do you do then?
Speaker 2:or their teachers too.
Speaker 1:It's like, yeah, everyone is in, time out that's a good point, that's actually a really good point because, on the one hand, if their parents are the ones clowning, should you punish the children? I don't think so.
Speaker 2:No, I feel like, yeah, I don't think so, but I also feel like I don't know. But there has to be some type of like for the parents. I don't know how to like punish parents or you know what I mean. That's not really.
Speaker 1:Oh, actually there's an easy way to do that you ban them from coming to the games.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's true, that's very true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and maybe they can't come to like any school-related events for like a while or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good way to punish them, because, again, I don't think you should punish the kids, because if they didn't do anything, that's not fair for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and also like what kind of just example are we setting? That's why I have I do always have hope for the younger generations, because it does seem like Gen Z and like the younger kids almost seem embarrassed by that type of behavior. You know, I feel like millennials and we all like just wild out and stuff, but I feel like the younger people are a little bit more conservative in terms of like how they act there. They would find that behavior cringy.
Speaker 1:That's true. It's kind of sad when the kids are looking down at the parents instead of the other way around.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, Like hey.
Speaker 1:Johnny, I saw your dad out there beating up on you. Everything good.
Speaker 2:I feel like Gen Z will just like make a TikTok dance in anger or something. I don't know. The younger kids that I know wouldn't lower themselves to even act that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, that is true. So let's hope they learn their lesson.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hope so. Well, maybe they'll be able to get what they really wanted, but not yet. So I think a lot of these kids we know how much they love nintendo and nintendo has been delayed. So nintendo switch to the pre-orders in the us have been delayed because of the tariffs, um, especially those tied to a new global trade package announced by donald trump just a few days ago. So the console was set to launch globally on June 5th, but people in the US won't be able to lock in their orders as they expected on April 9th, and this caused an uproar amongst people. Nintendo fans were fuming.
Speaker 2:Nintendo's official statement was basically that the delay was necessary to assess the potential impact in tariffs and evolving market conditions.
Speaker 2:The news sparked immediate backlash online where frustrated gamers squarely blamed Trump for the disruption. So also, I don't know if you guys, if you're familiar with how much it already was the switch to was already raising eyebrows with its price of $449, which is a jump from previous generations, but now they're expected, with tariffs and everything, to balloon to up to almost 500. I don't know, it doesn't say here how much switches usually are. I don't know if you know that. But yeah, so people are just saying, like the online people are mad about it and not only is it going to be late, but it's going to be more money and the gamers have spoken and they're angry. And I, I think gamers a lot of them have really really big fan bases and a lot of little kids and younger people look up to them too, so it's going to be interesting to see if that affects. I wonder how that demographic already votes, or if they do vote or whatever. But who knows?
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's going to definitely motivate them to vote the next time around. I mean, the game systems have like skyrocketed over the years, even before the tariffs. I could imagine. Yeah, I know, I was looking at that article and I think they said that the price is like 400 and something now, which I think is outrageous, but now the price is going to be probably well over 500 now because of this. Because what a lot of people don't understand is that even stuff that's already been built, that are on the barges, because the tariff's already in place, the moment it hits US soil, that tariff takes effect.
Speaker 2:Yes, like tell me if I've got this wrong, let me know. But like we still have import costs, like that, we have to pay still, how you said.
Speaker 1:So like the tariff isn't necessarily just going to affect other countries, it's like yeah, yeah, and what's crazy about this too, meryl, is that um, what do you do if someone prepaid for it? But now you have this terrible tax code.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 1:What do you do? I mean, that's kind of that gray area there. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why I think a lot of people were saying like get cars now, get this now. I think a few months ago I was seeing a few TikTokers were having a list of things like buy these immediately, buy all. Seeing a few tiktokers were like having a list of things like buy these immediately. You know, buy all your big like vacuums and bigger appliances that you need for the next couple years, right now. Um, I'm sure everyone feels this way, like I think, no matter what side you're on, I think everyone is kind of like waiting and seeing to see what's going to happen with these tariffs and how much it's going to affect us and for how long. But I don't know. The nintendo 2 you don't want, especially during the summer.
Speaker 1:You don't want to have these people sad and upset but, you know what's going to be interesting is you know how, how dedicated these gamers are? In other words, are they just going to go ahead, complain and just bear it and get it anyway, or they're going to protest and say you know what, screw this, I don't want it anymore I know, and I thought this was interesting too.
Speaker 2:They said the new tariffs are especially harsh on countries like vietnam and cambodia, which have become nintendo's go-to manufacturing hub. So yeah, it's everywhere.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah you know a lot of products, um, like, for example, nike, that was built in China I believe I have to double-check the facts on that Was moved over to Taiwan to kind of avoid certain pre-terrorists. That was already in place. So now, because of the way that Trump has done this, all of these countries, except Russia, which is probably a different conversation- have tariffs yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh my God. So it's like it doesn't matter where you're at now, and depending on where you're at, the tariffs are going to be anywhere from 10% to 50-something percent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I thought 30%. I'm like, oh my gosh, yeah, it's crazy, it's going to be very weird. And I also wonder how much. I don't know the whole Nintendo world, but I wonder how much different or how much of an upgrade Nintendo Switch 2 is from the current model. But I don't know. That's just an interesting thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of people are similar to iPhone buyers where they have to get the newest one every single year. It'll be interesting to see if that's still going to happen.
Speaker 2:Exactly and obviously, of all the things we need, someone getting a new Nintendo Switch two months later is not the most impressive thing in all of our lives, but it's still interesting to see that. It's just another group of people that are like seeing how tariffs affect us, or if they do, or by how much you know yeah, because let's be realistic a gang system, unless you do it for a living, is not a necessity, it's a want right, exactly, but if you would have, if you would have asked my mom or asked me, and when mario one was out, it was a necessity mario one and three, not two, but mario one I totally understand, right.
Speaker 1:Well, we're going to continue on with this because, um, obviously everyone's talking about the tears, yeah, but before we get into that, I do want to say I don't know if you notice or not I have a special shirt on oh my gosh, I do. That's amazing so, just so people are aware. Um, I do have a new cooking show. It's called thirsty bites. It's on my streaming channel, lrightvnetworkcom. My first episode that is on the channel was, uh, my chili recipe.
Speaker 2:Whoa.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if people want to check it out, definitely take a look at it. We're going to have all kinds of great recipes on there. Very easy, fun things to make. Most importantly, very easy to make somewhat nutritional some more nutritional than others. Of course, I've got to put in some sweets. Yep, yep but the thing is, it's very easy to make so really, even if you don't know how to cook. I walk you through every step, so really okay.
Speaker 2:I've never I've been to chili cook-offs, but I've never actually made chili myself, so I'm excited to see it oh yes, definitely it's.
Speaker 1:It's an easy, fun, tasty recipe. I think everyone will love it now is it?
Speaker 2:I can't wait to watch it. And also, is it filmed in the style of how a TikTok video is, or is it filmed more like you're the chef, like a kitchen home network where you're at the thing making it?
Speaker 1:I do it out of my kitchen, cool, so you get to see the recipes, you get to see how it's cooked. You even get to see how everything is like, why you're cooking it, what it should look like and everything how to measure. So yeah, I mean it's taking you through the whole process.
Speaker 2:Amazing Good for you. I can't wait to check it out.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you. So this is probably a good segue With the tariffs. The one thing I don't think that we're talking about enough. I mean, we're talking about how the stock market is being hit and all these other things the cars and all this but I don't think there's enough being said about what happens to the average person.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, with the tariffs in place right now, from what I've heard from several sources, that it's going to cost an average family of anywhere from $3,000 to $4,200 a year extra.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:And it boils out to be somewhere around $350 or so per month more. Now some people will say, well, $350 is not a lot. Well, the average person is living paycheck to paycheck, so $350 may feel like $3,500 to them, and that's not even counting if they need to make a major purchase like a car or anything else. And I, I just, I just feel sorry for for this country as far as what we're going to go through, because now jp morgan has said loudly that there's a 60 chance we are going to go into a recession oh my gosh so I don't know what are your thoughts on this uh, my thoughts are a lot like.
Speaker 2:I have luckily had the privilege of like up till maybe about like two years ago or so, not really feeling like by no means that I grew up like very wealthy or anything, but I grew up to the point where you know you could drive around and like waste gas for fun and just like middle class things you know where. It's like you could go shopping just emotionally and like buy things that just kind of look good sometime at the grocery store, buy things that just kind of look good sometime at the grocery store, but around like about a year and a half or two years ago I was like Whoa, I am definitely. It's like $70 just to get anything you need at the grocery store and it's like not fun just to go to Target anymore and like waste money on candles or waste money on driving around. So I feel like I'm definitely like. Also, I don't have kids, so I feel very lucky in that aspect of like not having to worry about or like feed a family.
Speaker 2:But for people as a whole, I see it really affecting people. Um, definitely people's like mental health and physical health, and it also feels like the value of things is just so disproportionate. You know, like I just saw a sale that was like, oh, you could fly to Greece for $260. But yet I also just went out to dinner where, like with a couple people, and the total was like $260. And I'm like it just seems so like confusing how, like a tomato could be $7. But that's also sometimes the price of like a movie that's half off and like nothing makes sense. And I feel like that's when people start to get a little bit cray. Cray too, you know, is when there's like no rhyme or reason to it. Um, so yeah, I feel, I think probably the way many people feel just unknown and scared and confused.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Because you know. The other thing too is we we don't talk about it. But what about people that are getting ready to retire and, let's say, the majority of the retirements in the 401k, the 401ks, have like dropped dramatically. And what does that do to the planning? As far as OK, do you still go ahead and retire a schedule? If you do go ahead and retire a schedule schedule, does that mean you need to work a part time job to make ends meet, because the money that you thought you were getting has been drastically reduced because of what's going on?
Speaker 2:yeah, yep, yeah, it's not right and it's like it's very confusing, I know, I mean I feel it so. So so much here in la with the housing prices and the rent like it is in our lifetime, like I just I don't know how most people are affording. Like a two bedroom here really is like 35 or 3,600 for like a crappy two bedroom, one bathroom, and I'm like that's just like so undoable for most people. Or even if it's doable, we don't want to like who wants to be paying that much for something that's not really worth the value of that, you know.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I have a standard three, two home. You know, standard three bedroom, two bath home, two and a half bath home and the average rent, I kid you not, is more than my mortgage yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I believe that absolutely, and there'll be one thing if our salaries reflected that. But but I'm it's. It's crazy, like this time is crazy because it's so much to live and yet I'm seeing all these like job postings for things that are like $17 an hour and it's like I don't understand it, like we are going to have to hit like a tipping point soon in some way or another.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and you know, with everything going on, and then you know the other thing too. Thing too is I'm from the transportation industry, so I know they said the average $50,000 vehicle will probably add an extra $6,000 or so to the price of the vehicle.
Speaker 2:Okay, Wait, wait say that again. Oh, like to buy a normal car.
Speaker 1:To buy, yeah, like a normal, regular car, around $50,000. I did not know this, but the average car, now the average price that people are paying, is around $50,000. And they're probably looking at somewhere around $6,000 or so added to that price. Now that's one thing, but here's what's not talked about about. A truck that pulls those trailers is somewhere around 150 160 for a dealership to buy it, and then, of course, they have to put their profit on top of that. So imagine adding an extra eighteen thousand dollars to that. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:And then there's a thing called FET, which is a federal exercise tax tax. So basically, most people don't know what it is. People in the trucking industry they know what it is, especially if they buy new vehicles. And the way it works is that when you buy a new vehicle that's over 33,000 pounds GBW, which is gross vehicle weight, you pay an extra 12% excise tax on it and it's based on the value. So you add that extra amount for the tariff that's going to bring that tax up because, again, everything that comes in you pay tax on. So, besides the tariff, your taxes that you're going to pay on, that amount is going to go up as well too, because it's based on the total value of your product. So those are a lot of the hidden costs that are being talked about out loud.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, and that that is so funny because about like two or three years ago I needed a car, my third day of living in Los Angeles. When my car was parked, it got hit by a drunk driver and so my, my car got completely totaled. On my third morning of moving to Los Angeles it was like the city was like screw you. But I saw a marked difference of looking for a car where I was like, oh okay, whatever, I'll just get like a Toyota, whatever, and my payments will be like $80 a month or something, and I saw what the car market was like now. I didn't really understand and then it was like, okay, your payment for like a crappy old Honda is going to be like 280 a month or something.
Speaker 2:I'm like what I don't understand, and so you know, just like the way we used to do things isn't like that anymore, where I think a lot of people just loved like on a Sunday morning just going to TJ Maxx or Marshalls and like looking around, and I think a lot of people don't really enjoy that anymore, and it's like it's not fun to build credit card debt and it's just, it's, yeah, it's. I think, like we're all having to learn more like simplicity and just not being so impulsive with our choices and you know that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:That's true. I think what's going to boil down to is everyone's going to have that heart to heart with their pocketbook. Yeah, yeah, okay. Do I really need this? What's important, what's not important? You know? What do I need now? What can wait? So I think what's going to happen is you're going to start seeing a lot more people not spend as much money and not, you know, splurge a lot. You're probably going to see a lot of people do more eating at home and stuff like that, because, let's face it, if money's tight, you got to start making decisions.
Speaker 2:Exactly. It also feels like we're hearing both things, because it does seem like the people that are earning money are earning so much money, especially with just seeing creators on TikTok and all these digital marketing things we just talked about five someone's affording the $500,000 thing. So it's like we're seeing messages on both ends and that can also make people feel bad and compare each other and so cause it does seem like my friends that are making money are almost making like a lot of like ridiculous money, and then it's like then I have people that are struggling and it's like we're not finding a lot of people that are just like nicely comfortable in the middle anymore.
Speaker 1:That is so true. That is so true. It seems like it's more one extreme or the other.
Speaker 2:now, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. We're like, especially with how much influencers are paid and all that stuff. It's just like it's so crazy.
Speaker 1:That is true. That is true. So prayers for this country, because it's going to be a rocky road.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Yep, oh, this is good. Well, actually, my next two were kind of are like this, but this is someone that I still think this is going to be unpopular. But someone that I think is getting paid too much, even though lots of people don't agree with me, is Jackson Merrill. So he's with the San Diego Padres and he just locked in a nine year $135 million contract extension. I chose this one because I personally have to. I mean, I get to not have to.
Speaker 2:I get to hear about the San Diego Padres a lot in my house because my boyfriend is a diehard Padres fan and he watches it like every night, and so Jackson Merrill is actually one of his favorite players and I like him too. Anyway, he's like a young, cool guy and he's only 21 years old, but he's been like a little young hotshot. Now people were saying that his contract he could have gotten a lot more from it, and so his agents and everyone were they're not his agents, but other agents were saying, like you know, they were shocked that he took that amount because he could be doing so much more and he's just on track to be a superstar. I think it goes also about the fact that he just knew he wanted to like live in San Diego for nine more years. He really likes the team and just kind of decided he wanted to grow somewhere.
Speaker 2:So it just brought up the questions of I think that's cool, like I think you know, I think that's like an awesome thing where it's not always just about money, it's about being in a city that you like and being around people that you like, and I think like that's kind of priceless, um, but also I still I think it's amazing that he's playing baseball and I know it brings in a lot of money, but like I just don't feel like playing a sport you should be paid like millions and trillions of dollars. I know that's unpopular, but I also feel that way about a lot of things where that seems like I think you should be paid nicely but like not just I don't know, You're like not more important than a teacher or a firefighter or like a surgeon or something you know.
Speaker 1:That is so true and you know, let's face it, it's sad when we say over $100 million contract is a small contract, I know.
Speaker 2:I know, and the fact that you're even getting more than a million dollars a year to no offense but play baseball. That's amazing. I understand that baseball brings in sponsorships and viewers. I get the business aspect of it, but at the end of the day it's like I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, like I said, the salaries, especially baseball, has been unbelievable lately. So, you know, I kind of tip my hat off where he understands. Okay, you know what? Yeah, I could get more money, but I really want to play for this team, I want to be here and you know he's going to put the money where his mouth is. You know, because he could have based on his stats, yes, he definitely could have gotten a lot more money. Now he may not have been able to stay in the same team to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think you know I don't know whether you make it a hundred plus million or 500 million or whatever when you really think about it at a certain point, what kind of house do you want? What kind of car do you want to drive? You know what I mean Exactly, money-wise, yes, it's a big difference, but really it's really not that big of a difference as far as his lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Right and you're already one of the most popular players on the team in San Diego. You know like you're probably getting like everything and more else that you want and not even from you. He also, I assume, has like brand deals and different partnerships and stuff. But you're right, that was so funny when he said like we're acting. Like him taking 130 million dollars is like oh okay, thank you so much. Like like he's going to a Buddhist temple or something. It's like you're still getting $10 million a year, Like that is absolutely crazy.
Speaker 1:That's true and, like I said, I'm really stunned at the salaries now. But you know it's like okay, how far can they go? Because there's a point where it's like okay, you can't go any farther than this, you know.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Because you know those salaries are cheap. You know who pays for that is the fans. You know when. You know you get a. You know $20 hot dog and you know $12 beer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yep, and I mean this is like obviously a bigger conversation and I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't know, but but like by the ballpark in san diego, like san diego is a beautiful city but like just a few blocks away it is really it has become one of those sad areas of like homeless, like it looks like the night of the walking dead around there you know what I mean lots of drug homeless, like zombie type people and stuff. And so it's like so crazy that we have like all this wealth, like in the, in the baseball stadium alone, we have people that are making like $10 million, like there's so much wealth inside that. And then just a few blocks away, like and I'm not saying just hand out the money to those people outside, I'm saying like we have other big infrastructure problems that I wish I don't know, but that's capitalism. That's the whole way that I don't expect us to take from this version, to give to this version. But we're not socialists. It's just a weird thing to have someone making so much money and then have other people that are talking about not being able to like afford groceries this week and stuff.
Speaker 1:Sadly enough, you're right. You know, hopefully this is a trend where maybe most players start looking at realistic contracts now. But we'll see, you know, I think, unfortunately. I think this is the exception, not the norm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yep, I know, and I don't like hate people. Like, I am definitely not one of the like eat the rich, hate the norm. Yeah, yeah, yep, I know, and I don't hate people. I am definitely not one of the eat the rich, hate the people. I don't hate Jackson Merrill for this. He's just a player in the game doing great. I think it's bigger than the actual individuals. I'm sure there's a certain level of greed, but we don't know how these people I'm sure he seems like someone that would donate a lot to them his money, his community and like give back. So if I had to guess, I like when money goes into the hands of like the right people because I feel like he's I could see him doing something like setting up a little summer camp for kids or like doing something Cause he just seems right, like that.
Speaker 1:Oh, sure and you know it could be something behind the scenes where he decided to give up some salary to get better players on the team to get to the World Series.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's happened in the past too, Yep. But yeah, these people, I don't know, I just feel like they're paid too much.
Speaker 1:I really do. Hey, what can you say? Getting paid multi, multi millions of dollars to play a sport that you really have fun your childhood sport, I know I mean good for him.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely not hating the player. I'm not even hating the game, I'm just hating the money. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Talk about hating. This one is actually a pretty sad story. Don't know if everyone knows. Do you know who rapper Young Scooter is?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, rapper Young Scooter lost his life when his neighbor made a false 911 call. So what happened was the neighbor called saying that there was a big party going on. There was drugs, women in and out, all kinds of crazy stuff. So when the police got there he ran and when he tried to hop the fence he slit his leg and allegedly he bled out pretty bad. So I think he hit a main artery, I think, and he died shortly after that.
Speaker 1:So the woman who made the false call, she's been charged with making what did they say it was? For making a misleading call. Charge with making what did they say it was? Or making a misleading call or something. I forgot how they worded it, but you know we've heard of this before where people make bomb threats. You know, hey, the school's being bombed or this is being bombed. All of a sudden you got a SWAT team coming down there. They spend all the time and resources just to find out that you know nothing's going on. It was a false alarm and I think a lot of these people that do that nonsense they definitely need to be charged.
Speaker 1:And you know, I don't know what do you think, maren? Do you think this woman should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Because some people go. Well, why did he run? Well, that's another conversation. But you know there's a lot of people that look like me that don't trust the police and run anyway, just because you know you're unfair for what may happen. So again, you know I'm not going to get into that now Because that's definitely a separate conversation but do you think that she should be charged with manslaughter? And the reason why I say manslaughter instead of murder is I don't think and I could be wrong, but I don't think that her intent was for him to lose his life. But she should be held responsible Because that irresponsible act caused him to lose his life.
Speaker 2:But she should be held responsible because that irresponsible act caused him to lose his life yes, I know, I wish there was, like there probably is law wise a different category for like, not even just manslaughter, but like, okay, this happened. You didn't mean it like an accident happened, but it was. It was like because of someone else. You know, you basically caused this accident to happen, like Like your repercussions did it. But yeah, you're right, like murder, not exactly Cause she, it wasn't like she planned it. And that is just one of those like, like crazy situations where it's like he was running his leg, you know, like I don't know, like on any other thing, that could have just been a call and he would could have ran away and like who knows why, but just the fact that all of that happened is so like such a weird comedy of errors type of thing oh yeah, and you know, the one thing I don't understand is, if you don't like a person, just stay away from them
Speaker 1:you know, don't make up don't make false call, because see, here's the thing once you start bringing in the police, that's when things escalate and things get out of control, and nine times out of ten, when it starts to escalate, it's not going to be a good ending for someone.
Speaker 2:It really yeah exactly and same thing too, like I know before, like people calling schools saying if there's like a shooter or something, then someone can show up with a gun. And you know, like I think that people have to take that very seriously. Otherwise it's like now in this day and age, people react so quickly and so impulsively that you don't know who's going to show up and make the problem worse.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I mean, that's a great point, because if they get a call like that, they have to go out. The last thing they want to do is go well, I don't know if this is real or not and people start losing their lives, so you have to go out. And then again, you go out there and you find out that it's a hoax. Yeah, they should have some charges brought to them. They really should.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think about that all the time too, with just people calling and saying, calling the police on someone else when it's not that fault, and especially, how you said, like not everyone. Lots of people have a right to be like afraid of the police and it doesn't go that well a lot of times and so it's yeah, it's, it's tragic yeah, I mean, like I said, we'll, we'll see.
Speaker 1:but you know, I I really do, and I don't say this very lightly, but I think she spent some time in prison because that was just ridiculous, that was totally ridiculous.
Speaker 2:I know Very scary, very sad. So anyone that was going to call the police on someone, don't do it.
Speaker 1:Unless it's something real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, unless it's something real for sure, I can't think of the. I mean, the last time I called the police, I don't even know, but yeah, definitely, especially the LA police. I love that If any of them are watching hello, but just between us, I'm like scared of them. But yeah, well, this one, we're going to go back for my last one, back to the recession core, as they call it, just about. You know, we have Easter coming up and I thought this was a ridiculous article. But you know, not so far off from what we talked about.
Speaker 2:A lot of Americans are shunning Easter eggs as prices skyrocket and they're dying potatoes instead. So you know, once again, as a Jewish person, I didn't really partake in Easter, but I did. I always like eating the chocolate eggs and just like I like watching families that do take part in it. I think it's cool. But according to a study in this article, over 30 percent of Americans have stopped buying eggs due to their costs, like just for eating the eggs. So now that Easter tradition is going to also fall by the wayside, people are getting creative with what they're dyeing. So they're saying they're now coloring unexpected grocery staples, like marshmallows, potatoes and onions, which to me like I can't. I thought marshmallows were pretty expensive too. Maybe not, but I don't know. It also seems just like spending money on the food dye. To me, it seems like you get from Walmart just those cheap little plastic eggs and just call it a day or something. What do you think?
Speaker 1:When I was a kid, I'd take that onion and hit my parents in the head with it. No, I'm just kidding, don't do that Exactly.
Speaker 2:Make sure it's soft at least. The depression I would feel of dyeing a potato purple and then having to pretend it's an egg. Just get feel of dyeing a potato purple and then like having to pretend as an egg. I would just just like, just get the little plastic like 99 cent store eggs.
Speaker 1:I agree because you know I can see that child being very ticked off like seriously mom, seriously dad, you know really yeah, and also potatoes are kind of expensive, like the ones where I'm shopping at.
Speaker 2:Like whole foods here, like onions and potatoes, are pretty darn expensive too now.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing about it you can't eat a dyed potato. At least with a dyed egg. You can take off the shell as long as the dye hasn't went inside of it. You can eat the egg. You can't eat a dyed potato.
Speaker 2:Did you used to do Easter stuff with your kids, with your kids?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, when my son was young, we used to color the eggs and everything Really. I grew up coloring eggs. Oh yeah, I love that. Oh yeah it sounds fun.
Speaker 2:See, that sounds really cool. I love any holidays where I can eat a chocolate piece of something.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, definitely. And I know a lot of people don't like the marshmallow. I like them. Some people they think it's nasty, but I like them.
Speaker 2:You're in the camp of no dyed potatoes. I think I'm with you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely not. That's just cruel.
Speaker 2:I'm surprised that you just can't. I'm sure there are just like marshmallows that are already tinted like lavender. I would think you could just do that. I also just think like chocolate eggs are like fun too, like the little Cadbury ones.
Speaker 1:I mean here's the thing. Buying a dozen eggs is still cheaper than buying toys. So seriously, once a year you can't Buying a dozen eggs is still cheaper than buying toys so seriously once a year you can't just buy a dozen eggs and let your children just die. I mean seriously, exactly.
Speaker 2:I know If I had to guess. I'm sure some people are in dire straits and can't do that, but I think if we I know we use eggs as a benchmark for it, but I feel like if people looked at their costs, I'm sure there are ways to cut out some other things we're all doing to make eggs fit into our budget. If I had to guess, you know what I mean. But eating eggs is not the most expensive thing I'm doing by any account.
Speaker 1:That's true. And the other thing too is eggs come in different sizes. Maybe what you do is, if you normally buy a large or extra large egg, just buy small eggs, you know. Yeah, the cheapest eggs out there.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:You know where you still at least be able to get the effects of, you know children having fun dying them, because that's really the fun part is dying the eggs and watching the different colors.
Speaker 2:Yeah, buy the eggs that have bird flu in them. Those should be discounted at walmart. Oh, I was just gonna say my very last thing. I was just gonna say don't buy the ones at trader joe's that are the, the fertilized eggs that have like the little chickens inside of them that will hatch. That makes me so nauseous anytime I'm in trader joe's and I pass by. It says like fertilized eggs and those are the ones that you can like actually catch a chick from. And they have them at Trader Joe's like right next to the other kind that like we eat. I could throw up every single time just thinking about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Wow, I am shocked.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's disgusting.
Speaker 1:Maybe I'll buy a dozen for my wife.
Speaker 2:No, she probably have a baby, like chicken pop out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she probably be a little upset with me, even though it'd be kind of fun to do, though Disgusting. Well, this actually is a good way to end it here, talking about TikTok. Tiktok has gotten another extension.
Speaker 2:Yay.
Speaker 1:But now let's see Amazon, apple, oven and Oracle are all looking to try and purchase TikTok and, as a result of all the tariffs going into play, you know, china, which is where TikTok is based out of, uh basically is saying that, okay, before they allow tiktok to be sold, we need to start talking about these tariffs and negotiate. Uh-huh, oh my gosh, now tiktok has kind of been brought into the tariff war as well.
Speaker 2:What a tangled web.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, but I don't know. I mean, I can see Amazon wanted to buy it because Amazon wants to rule the world. So that doesn't really surprise me. Oracle actually surprised me a little bit. Apple oven that's a big surprise there.
Speaker 2:I don't know what are your thoughts.
Speaker 1:Do you have a favorite that you?
Speaker 2:would love to see by it. Um, yeah, not amazon either. Maybe I'd have to look more into like oracle and what, what their involvement would be like, you know, in a good way. I haven't heard like a ton about oracle just in my day-to-day life, so I feel like that's almost a good sign, because they're not like someone I'm sure they would manipulate things, but in in a good way, like I definitely don't want it to be like a meta or a Amazon or you know whatever one of those big, big, big, annoying ones. So something like that. I wouldn't mind if it was just like a big company that didn't change our algorithm so much. I feel like if it was Amazon, it would just be never-ending ads, just never-ending sales and commercials.
Speaker 1:The one thing and actually just brought up a great point would Amazon act like an owner or a competitor? What I mean by that is there's a lot of people that make a living off TikTok. Some people make a really good living selling products. So would Amazon still let all those products be sold, or will they kind of do something with the algorithms to kind of help boost their products?
Speaker 2:Exactly. Or I wonder if like the TikTok shop, I wonder if then like backdoor wise and it would like go through Amazon and you know sellers would have to require to like host their products on Amazon. But then that opens up the whole thing where it's like a lot of these companies like through Timu and you know they're able to get around these stuff because they're able just to skip over the middle person and sell directly from like the China warehouse to the consumer.
Speaker 2:So I don't know. I mean I cried the first time TikTok went away for that one night, For the seven hours that it was down for I truly cried like a little baby and I love it so much. It's really like how I like to get my entertainment and I feel like I just like love being in the world of TikTok, but it's getting more and more a little bit diluted. That's beginning to feel a little bit more like selling out here and there when I just am on the app, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's true, but it'll be interesting to see what happens with this, because with the tear-ups, the tear-ups kind of like clouded it up a little bit and something tells me that there's going to be several extensions.
Speaker 2:yeah, tiktok, and I could be wrong, but I truly believe there's going to be several extensions on that it's so funny because, like, how, how I love and I know like lots of people do love tiktok, it makes me feel like donald trump is like our grandpa and we're like, please, please, don't like take away this thing that we all love. And then it's almost like the grandpa trying to be cool and like, okay, I'll keep it, you know. But it also like I think it benefits politicians to have TikTok because it helps spread awareness and like, I think, a lot of the election like for on both ends of things, like we saw how big people rode for both sides of things.
Speaker 2:And I think it's like it benefits us to have TikTok, and I don't know I could imagine for a politician it like gives free campaign awareness that like just a normal money can't.
Speaker 1:That's true and you know, let's face it. Anytime you can get the younger demographic, it's definitely worth doing.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly. So yeah, it'll be interesting, but please not Amazon, not not.
Speaker 1:Daddy Bezos. Where Mel? What do you have coming up?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, this Saturday I have a show in Glendale, california, at this a bar called. I think it's called the gold rail or the brass rail, I don't know it sounds. I think it's called the gold rail, but it should be very fun and if anyone's there, and then I have just a bunch of little LA shows coming up. Nice and I'll be watching your chili recipe and maybe trying to make it.
Speaker 1:You should. If you make it, let me know.
Speaker 2:Okay, I will. I'll be a good test. Gerbil for the kitchen.
Speaker 1:Well, everyone, we had such a great time. Thank you so much for watching us and supporting us, and then for our podcast listeners For listening to us as well. Make sure you come back To check it out and don't forget to support Meryl If you're in the area.
Speaker 2:So sweet.
Speaker 1:I'm Lawrence Elrod. I'm Meryl Clemo. Have a great evening. Bye, I'm Lawrence Elrod. I'm Meryl Clemo. Have a great evening.
