Pop Culture Whiplash for 4/15/26

We bounce from Coachella takes to hard consequences, then land on the strange mix of viral space moments and real-world career choices. Our big thread is what we expect from public figures and what happens when optics, ethics, and accountability collide. 

 Fans of today’s most talked-about podcasts will feel right at home with Thirsty Topics—bringing you unfiltered conversations on culture, social media, and what’s trending now. 

• Coachella reactions and why production value is not the only measure of a great live performance 
• Justin Bieber’s stripped-back set and the debate over effort, artistry, and audience expectations 
• Music rights rumors and how contracts can shape what an artist performs 
• Kanye West’s UK travel ban and why hate speech has real consequences 
• A personal LA story about seeing Kanye up close in traffic 
• The “Ketamine Queen” sentencing in the Matthew Perry case and questions of responsibility 
• Why justice feels different when the victim is famous 
• Nutella floating in space and what viral moments reveal about modern marketing 
• The unglamorous side of space travel and what emergencies would be terrifying up there 
• Mike Vrabel and Diana Russini resort photos and why conflict-of-interest optics matter 
• Lowe’s Foundation investing in skilled trades and why trade school paths deserve more respect 
• How AI job disruption makes hands-on skills even more valuable 
• Meryl’s upcoming stand-up comedy show in Santa Barbara 

Please make sure if you're in the Santa Barbara California area, come out and support Meryl on Friday April 17th. 

Please make sure that you help us out by letting other people know who we are.

If you like smart pop culture commentary with real-life stakes, hit play, subscribe, and share the show with a friend.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. Hey, Meryl.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Hey, hey, hey. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

I am doing great. How about you?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Good. I like the shirt that you're wearing for people that are watching us. There's lots of numbers on it.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Thank you. Thank you. I figured I'd throw something a little different on. I haven't worn this shit. It's cool. It's very cool. I like it. Thank you. Thank you. Well, we're enjoying warm weather all week, but it's raining all week as well. So I guess you know, we have to go run errands, it's nice, but outside I can't really enjoy it, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Oh yeah, I hate that like that sticky humid feeling. I don't miss it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Yeah, yeah, that's true. How's the weather over over in Burbank?

SPEAKER_00 1:09

You know, it's so so so nice here.

Hello And Weather Catch-Up

SPEAKER_00 1:12

We're definitely in like springslash Coachella mode. Um, but the funny thing is too, supposedly, usually in past weeks when it's it Coachella, LA usually is like eerily quiet because you know, all the influencer people are gone. So in theory, this usually is a good time to go to like the really popular restaurants and coffee shops because that's what like everyone is gone and it's kind of quiet here. But the funny thing is, everyone has that idea. And so we went to a place, there's a place called Max and Helen's that I've been to before, but it's like really popular here and it's really hard to get a reservation. And we showed up on Sunday thinking it would be like very easy because everyone's at Coachella, and we arrived, and the wait time was two and a half hours, and so and so we turned right back around and then we went home. So it's so funny here that like now everyone, it's like on top of everyone already being at Coachella, now everyone is trying to like do all the LA things at once.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

So yes, yes, definitely. Well, before we get started, I do want to say that um we had a lot of comments uh over the last week. Really? Oh my god, it was people that was you know saying, yeah, the price were high, and no, they're just gouging. It was, I'll tell you, it was really entertaining reading those posts.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Wow, I wonder, yeah, that's that's crazy. And I wonder too, like if any people are like me where it almost seems worse when like what do you do? Do you fill up the whole tank at once, or do you do like little increments here and there?

SPEAKER_01 2:53

You know what? I will I go ahead and fill up the tanks, especially now because you know the gas prices may dip up a few, you know, a few cents the next day. That's smart, that's smart. I just I just go ahead and just fill it up.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

See, that once again, it you're a responsible parent, and it's all and I'm still living like I'm 13. I mean 16, but but yeah, like I fill up, I swear, every like eight miles. So my boyfriend's always like, We have you have like 33 miles of gas again. Like, how do you get this? And so, because I feel like when it's so expensive, like $16 here and there doesn't, you know, in my mind, it doesn't break the bank, but going and filling up once for like $80 just feels so painful.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Oh, I don't blame you. I remember seeing this post. Uh, I I want to say, was it during the pandemic? I forgot when it was, and it was a joke where someone put in there, yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and go in to this liquor store, go to this gas station. Let me get $1700 on number three. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

It was like half a tank or something, yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

I saw one post, it was kind of funny, where it's like a guy came in there and said, Yeah, give me five on on uh on pump one, and then the customer goes, uh, so you just going from pump one to pump two then?

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Uh yeah, I've had times for real where I'm like, I'm I just want to get have enough to get me home tonight, and then I'll figure it all out tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

But yeah, you know, depending on where you're at, because I've done that too, where because obviously in the city versus out in the burbs here, yeah, there's a you know, a bit a big difference in the price of the fuel. So, you know, I may just put it again just enough to get around the house, and then once I'm around the house, then I'll go ahead and fill up from there. But oh yeah, I've done that too.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah, okay, good. Well, do you want to start us off for this one?

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Go on, Beryl. I'm gonna let you start off.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yay, okay, good. Well, I'll keep it somewhat brief because I I can do a whole episode with you just on Coachella alone. But um basically the the beat points of this topic for Coachella that I wanted to talk about is um, you know, I've been watching Coachella. I've been uh sitting home watching it all, and people are very obviously excited about Justin Bieber's set, or they were excited about Justin's set, and it was such a big deal. Um he was the headliner for Saturday night, uh, the headliner for Friday night, Sabrina Carpenter. I don't know if you saw her performance, but it was just like amazing in terms of production and you know, dancers on stage and costumes and all this kind of stuff, and everything was like, you know, big production. And then Justin Bieber came on and he did a very like raw, stripped back. Um, it was just him and a few special guests and a few other musicians, but it was very divisive because you know, you have some people mad that

Coachella Sets And Bieber Debate

SPEAKER_00 5:48

he wasn't doing like a huge, big dancing production. Um, I felt that way, like the first couple songs of his set, and then I really thought it like completely turned around. Like my personal opinion is I thought it was I thought it was great. Like I loved it. I did not think it was like very lazy at all. I think, I think he also um a lot of the set was he watched, like he was at his laptop and a video of him would come on, like he'd play an old video of himself and then he would sing to it. And it was, you know, you felt like you were just kind of at his house watching like a video and just with friends. But I also think there was a tactic to that um because like he doesn't own his own songs, I've heard. So doing that was like, well, I heard I've heard this that it was a loophole that he was basically like doing karaoke to his own music, and then that way, um, like he I don't know, something with the music rights and the fact that he wasn't doing a full song of those songs. I don't know if that's the truth or not, but if that is the case, then I think that also like adds another layer of what he could and couldn't do. Um, I'm not sure if that's true, but I thought like this second half of his performance was so beautiful and good, and like I that's when he took his hoodie off and we could see him, and he was actually facing the camera, and you know, like the end with fireworks. I just thought it was beautiful, and like I know there's a lot of talk about the women have to do this and that, and the men get to like not do anything. I just felt like I don't know, I don't I don't see it that way, even like as a woman, and I think like Billie Eilish has a lot of swag too, and she doesn't like she we don't need her to do like backflips across the thing. Like if she could have did the same performance, I think it would have been just fine. Um, that's my own opinion. So I don't know. I thought it was beautiful. I I liked it. I'm not like a huge believer myself, but I thought he has an amazing voice, and I think he's been through so much that not everyone needs to be like in a dancing boy band. You know, we can appreciate different types of performances. And um, as like a casual fan, I did not feel like it was lazy. I I felt like his voice sounded beautiful and he looked happy and healthy.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

I definitely understand it. And and I think you you touched on a great point, is it all depends on what he's trying to do with his performance, too. Yeah. I've seen artists, big artists, do something, you know, some things that most people would consider very simple, but the message hits home as far as what they're trying to accomplish. Um, and then of course, you have artists that go to the other extreme where you know they're hanging from the ceiling, you know, they're you know, dropping a car and talking about this. Yeah. So it's really hard to just say, you know, what to expect. Um, and then also, too, I know that there is a thing about those contracts that depending on how that contract's written, um, you know, there may be songs he can and can't sing, there may be stipulations to how long he can sing the song. So without knowing what that contract says, there's there's probably some truth into that.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Definitely. And especially like what we've seen with Taylor Swift and all these people is like artists have their eras, you know. And I think if this is an era for Justin Bieber, and clearly, like his Grammy performance that was also divisive, like just him and a stripped-down computer, and the fact that he was like wearing his underwear stripped down, this is his era now, where it's like just him singing, he's been gone for a while, and now he's back. And like, I just think his voice, like his actual instruments sounds so good. And I thought he like looked beautiful and sounded beautiful, and so I just like to me this is what we get with him. And I thought I thought it was really cool, and like, especially um, obviously, you know, we're watching someone YouTube themselves and put it up, but it was funny. He was he was YouTubeing videos of himself like walking into a glass door, and it just felt like you're hanging out with like a dude in college, just looking up, you know, ridiculous videos. And to me, that's like what we want from Justin right now. Like, I don't think he's gonna be doing this when he's 48 years old and like on tour, but I think right now, as a kind of a young guy, that's just like what what we get. So I don't know. I liked it.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

That's good. I'm and I'm quite sure there's a whole lot of people who liked it as well, Carl.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, my favorite so far that I've seen, I would love to hear if people watched it um online what they liked the best. My favorite set overall that I saw was Moby, like the DJ Moby. Um, and he and I thought his set was so, so, so good, and like especially the people that he brought out and had with him. So I don't know. It just reminds me how much I love music so much, and I love seeing like different interpretations of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Oh, yes, music is a beautiful thing. I use that to relax. So I I totally agree, but you it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah, and no one can deny that like Justin Bieber's voice is it to me, it sounds so so so good. He has a gorgeous voice. So that's it. And it doesn't help that he's really cute and he has puppy dog eyes.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

So well, we're gonna jump from one artist to the next here. Yay. So, oh, you know who I'm talking about. Of course, um, Kanye West, who's also known as Ye, uh, has been banned from entering UK. So, uh the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, now legally known as Ye, has been banned from entering the United Kingdom. So the United Kingdom Home Office blocked Ye's travel application and electronic travel uh authorization, ETA, in April 2026, refusing him from permission to enter the country to headline the 2026 Wireless Festival in London. Now, the reason they gave this is that the government determined, uh, I'm sorry, deemed the presidents not conductive to the public good. This

Kanye Banned From The UK

SPEAKER_01 11:51

decision followed extensive pressure from officials and the public regarding his history of anti-Semitic remarks, pro-Nazi comments, and the selling of Swaska theme merchandise. So, following the travel ban, organizers of the wireless festival announced the cancellation of the entire three-day event, promising refunds to ticket holders. Here's the thing this is called consequences. Okay, yeah. I remember he made a comment, um, and I don't remember what it was, saying, Well, I can make as many anti-Semitic remarks as I can, you know, Adidas won't drop. Okay, we saw how that worked out for him. I look at it like this um racism is racism. I don't care who's doing it, I don't care in what context, racism is racism. And I don't know what he was thinking to believe that there was not going to be consequences for his actions. What do you think, Maril?

SPEAKER_00 12:59

I agree with you, and and as a Jewish person, thank you for saying that and for totally like realizing that's how it should be. We're we should all stand up for each other and not allow it, whether it's you know, one ethnicity or another or whatever. Um, yeah, I feel like he's definitely lost me in the past couple of years because he's just obviously he has mental health issues, but he definitely like it's just I'm I'm no longer interested in like investing anything in him. And to me, there's other there's just so many other artists with talents that deserve to be heard, and I've just kind of had enough of Kanye for like definitely a lifetime. Um, so yeah, I agree. It's just the kind of you mess around and find out type of thing. So I think these are these are consequences. I'm I'm still hoping for like 10 years from now, he's like, oh well, I'm healed and I'm healthy, and like that was really weird stuff that I was saying, and now I'm just like you know focused on music and being nice to everyone. But um, I feel like he's he went a little bit too far off the deep end for me to like personally care anymore.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Well, I mean, for me, Merle, and I guess speaking as an African American, as a black person, it's shocking that he would want to go in that direction, knowing what we as a pet people have been through with what we went through, you know, slavery, okay? Um discrimination, redlining, and you know, we're still going through that nonsense right now. So when you think about our ancestors and what we went through, why would you want to participate in it? That part I never truly understood.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Absolutely, and like I feel like we've all given him a lot of grace, but even just what he has shown to be important to him in the past couple of years, in terms of like weird and to me, like bad fashion, and just kind of like sh parading around some of his women, like you know, naked. And it just, I don't know. His he seems like his priorities are very vapid. And I feel like Kanye would not like Kanye. Like, like if he knew himself, it's the exact type of person he wouldn't like. So, you know, I hope he like is healthy and gets better or whatever, but for now he has to have some fall from grace.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah, and and you know, the real the real sad uh part about this whole thing is he is really talented. I mean, he's a very talented absolutely, you know, when he does these antics, uh, I think it takes away from that. And what happens is instead of people focusing on his craft and what he does, they're focusing on all this other stuff. I don't I don't really understand that because you know when you hit that type of stardom and that type of wealth, you know, it could be gone in an instant. I remember uh I was watching a view and they had uh iced tea on there. And I remember he was saying that in this business, it doesn't take much for us to fall off race. For example, if I were to take my keys and throw them across the room, my career's over. Just just in that one little instant, regardless of all the decades I've been doing this, I possibly ruined my career. That's how that's how how how vital, how fragile it is to be in the entertainment industry. And Kanye is not new to this, he's been around a long time. And I don't know if he thinks that, you know, because he's Kanye, he can get over stuff or whatever. But you know, when you start losing money like hundreds of millions of dollars, I don't care how rich you are, that's hundreds of millions of dollars.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Exactly, exactly. So I have to I tell them every single time. You've probably had to hear this 10 times, but one of my favorite LA moments was I was at an event and I one time I forgot my laptop and I had to like turn around and go back in Los Angeles traffic. And I already, I was like on the phone with my boyfriend, and I'm like, I'm having like the worst day and a headache, and I'm stuck in like Hollywood Boulevard. And right at that moment, one of the celebrity tour buses got in front of me and kind of cut me off. And then behind that walks Kanye and walks up to my Jeep and like puts his hand on my Jeep to like stop, like to basically be like, I'm walking in front of you and you're not gonna like hit me, kind of thing. So I have this picture of like Kanye with his hand on my Jeep.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

And it's so funny because I remember getting getting home to my boyfriend, and I'm like, I don't have enough time to tell you, I just need to grab my laptop, but like Kanye just touched my car. So that was my that was my peak, that was my peak care that day was the day I peaked of caring about Kanye, and ever since then it's all been downhill. And as a Jewish woman, I stopped my car for him. So that was that was my uh kindness for the day.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Alrighty, alrighty.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Sadly enough, that doesn't just like the typical day in LA where it's like I hate this, I'm stuck in traffic, a tour bus is in front of me, now Kanye is crossing the street. It was crazy. Um, well, my thing, another very Los Angeles dark uh story is the ketamine queen was sentenced in the Matthew Perry case. Um, Jasveen Sangha, I think her name is, the drug dealer prosecutors called the Ketamine Queen was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supplying the ketamine dose that killed Matthew Perry in October 2023. Um, the article said that she had pled guilty to felony drug charges and admitted she ran a North Hollywood stash house while prosecutors said she continued dealing even after learning Perry and another customer had died from drugs tied to her. Um her sentence is one of the most serious outcomes so far in the wider case involving five defendants. So, I mean, obviously, this is sad for everyone involved. Like, it's just so tricky because it's like ketamine is stuff that some people take recreationally. You know, no one should take it. But it's like uh in these situations, like whose exact fault is it? Because it's like uh she prescribed it, but Matthew Perry was still an adult and still taking it. It's like it to me, it's everyone's everyone is involved and everyone is, you know, bad. Um, but especially if you're dealing drugs and giving people either like bad drugs or knowingly, but it's also like what is she supposed to do? Like tell call someone and say I'm not, you know, cut them off like the same way a bartender cut someone else off. Because it's like if we're expecting drug dealers to be the voice of reason, I think we're kind of not gonna be excited about the outcome.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Oh, absolutely not. And you know, I have mixed feelings on it, and the reason I do is that it's good that justice was was served, was brought to her. The the bad part that I don't like about this story is the the thousands of people who go

Ketamine Queen Sentenced In Perry Case

SPEAKER_01 20:05

through that same similar circumstance and they don't get justice, you know. Yeah, I mean, understandably, you know, Matthew Perry um is a big star. People know who he is, and I get that. And I'm not saying, you know, they shouldn't have done what they did, I'm not saying any of that. What I'm just saying it'd be kind of nice if the average person would have got the same type of uh justice too, is all I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Exactly. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yeah, so I mean, again, you know, she got what she deserved, you know, they presented the evidence, they found her guilty, she was sentenced. Again, I just wish that um that justice kind of finds its way to other people.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Well, talk about finding things. Well, if you were watching um the astronauts that was in space, there was a piece of spread that kind of floated right along. So a jar of Nutella spread was caught floating in the space capsule. So, um let's see here. This is not a wording here. Here it is. So, um, a jar of Nutella stole the spotlight as it floated around during an Artemis 2 live stream. The viral moment happened minutes before the crew set the record for the longest distance humans travel from Earth. I tell you, girl, this is the kind of coverage that you can't even buy. I know, I know, God. I'm like, maybe I should have sent them a coaster somewhere, you know, with I know I

SPEAKER_00 22:00

I mean it's it's surprising though that we don't see more things floating by with just gra it's like to me like everything would be floating in my world.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Yes, that's true. That's true. Um and what's so amazing about this Merle is that their sales spike hard after that. I mean buying it just because they saw it floating in the space capsule.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Oh my god, that's so weird. Because it's like, would that would that make you hungry or like wanting it?

SPEAKER_01 22:30

You know, it just shows you when people see stuff from a what a famous person, they're gonna try it. You know, they're gonna give it a try. But yeah, yeah. Talk about advertising that you can't even purchase. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Exactly. Now now I feel like Pepsi's gonna be paying for like things to fly. Like, we're gonna add a

Nutella Goes Viral In Space

SPEAKER_00 22:49

whole new layer of advertising. Yeah, yeah. I mean, honestly, they could they could make so much money from like having the Dorito fly through, or you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

You know the crazy thing that would like that would be perfect with their brand, with the Dorito floating in one thoughts into someone's mouth. That would actually be kind of perfect, like a cool ranch.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could totally see that.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

See, we we need to write them in. We we need to get paid for this, Meryl.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Exactly. It's like, okay, we're you're either gonna choose a Kit Kat or like a peanut butter cup floating or a Doritos or yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

I would love for people to find that to tell us what would you like seeing floating in the in the capsule?

SPEAKER_00 23:35

What type of yeah, I feel like I feel like maybe like popcorn would be an obvious one, but that also that would get what you don't want is to have it to be eating anything that gets like stuck in your throat when you're up there and like I'd be so worried. Also, like what happens if you do have some type of like medical emergency and you're there? I would just be so freaked out.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Well, don't forget they did have a major emergency that takes care of, you know, when the toilet wasn't working.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

To me, that's a major issue. It is, it is. Oh god, it's too much. I don't know how they do that.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

And uh, I think they said it went out like two or three times, but you know, they fixed it. I'm like thinking, oh my god, what would happen if they couldn't fix it? Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

No way, I'd have to that would be the one time I'd just like open up the rocket and be like, I'm sorry, I just have to float to Pluto and do my thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

But it shows you uh it shows you we always talk about the major stuff that can happen, but we also forget there's some minor stuff that are just as important.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah, especially too, even if you just get like the allergies and you're sneezing everywhere, and you're yeah, it's just like you don't want any rogue bodily function happening at any given point.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Amen to that.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Well, my last one for this is um, of course, juicy, just uh maybe an affair, we don't know, but uh photos surfaced showing Patriots head coach Mike uh Rabel and NFL reporter Diana Roussini holding hands, hugging, and spending time together at a resort in Arizona. Um people report that the Athletic placed Rossini on leave while it reviews potential conflict of interest concerns because she covers the league and he's obviously a high profile NFL coach. Um, the problem is that they're both married to other people. So, you know, uh and also like no one else is at the resort with them. And so to me, like, I mean, this is a heck no, if I saw my boyfriend, like that's just ridiculous of photos. To me, if you're like a married man and woman, you should not be with another man and woman floating in a pool, like holding hands, or it just seems like very weird and inappropriate. And to me, one of those, like, don't mess with my what I'm like seeing right now. Because even if they're like, oh, we're here on a business trip and we're just friends, like you're not like hugging your random friend at like a resort when it's just you two. That's that seems really weird.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

They mustn't see what happened to that couple in the jumbotron, huh?

SPEAKER_00 26:19

I know this gives them for sure. Absolutely. So, you know, of course, like that's really weird. But if I was one of those spouses, I'd also be thankful for the news breaking because as tough it is as it is, it's like you have the whole cold hard evidence of what's actually happening and like the photos. And to me, like, even if you're not having a full-on affair, like this is inappropriate and weird to be like on vacation with someone else, and like two adults that are drinking at a resort, like, why wouldn't you be why wouldn't why wouldn't you think something is up?

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Oh, yeah, and you know, the thing is too, the optics of that

Resort Photos Spark NFL Ethics Questions

SPEAKER_01 26:54

could potentially get them fired, just the optics alone. So to me, I don't understand because when you're a celebrity, whether you like it or not, you're always being watched, even when you think you're not, you're always being watched. So, yeah, you know, you think you're being slick or whatever, you're really not. It's just a matter of someone catching you, and then you have to ask yourself, was it all worth it to begin with? Um, again, this gives me the optics of the jumbotron, and we all kind of saw where that what where that happened, uh, what where that led to.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

So, and then like someone tried to do an interview with that woman and say that she was like already divorced, which I maybe they were already separated or something, but by that point, public opinion is out. I'm like, we don't care, we already are against you. Like, sorry, you can't walk it back.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

That is so true. That is so true. Well, my last topic is actually a feel-good moment. So, Lowe's is betting on the trades. So the Lowe's Foundation plans uh expanded $250 million investment to help train and develop 250,000 tradespeople over the next decade, increasing skilled trades and workforce commitment fivefold. So um basically, what they're doing is uh they're building on early momentum. The foundation is on track to reach its original funding goal a year ahead of schedule, with nearly 53 million invested in 65 nonprofits and community colleges nationwide. Is a new three-part series um produced by the Lowe's Foundation that will premiere Saturday, April 11th on the Magnolia Network, and the next day on HBO Max and Discovery Plus, showcasing inspiring skilled tradespeople and their mentors. Now, I get it what they're doing for you know, show and whatever, but I think this kind of cuts into a deeper thing that we we we talked about every so often is college is great. If you have a plan and it makes sense for college, definitely go. I've never been a big fan of just going to college just for the sake of going to college. Right. Absolutely. But you know, the one thing that um, and I'll probably be probably date myself, but I know when I was in high school, they actually had trades in a high school. You know, they had uh shop, they had drafting, they had counting, all different kinds of things. Because right now there's a dramatic shortage of skilled labor.

Lowe's Bets Big On Trades

SPEAKER_01 29:48

A dramatic shortage, and it's only getting worse. Of what you said it cut out for a second, a dramatic shortage of skilled labor.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

You know, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Like electricians and like plumbers, yeah, or like, yeah, yeah, totally. Like welders and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

I I really commend Lowe's for what they're doing. I love to see this expand because there's so many different opportunities out there that people aren't aware of. So, what do you think, Merle? What do you think about what Lowe's is doing?

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I'm in 100% agreement with you, and like, especially with AI taking over so many jobs, uh clerical jobs, office jobs. I think like having a tree, having a trade and knowing what to do is wonderful. And even if you don't use it for a profession and you end up doing something else, like you may be able to use that knowledge for your own house or to help do contractor work on the side or whatever, you know. So I think it's so good to have that those skills and just um, like you said, it's wonderful if you go to college, but also if you don't, it's not it doesn't mean in any way that you can't be really successful. And um I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Absolutely. Let's hope this keeps on going and uh other people catch on.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Well, Merrill, what do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_00 31:08

Well, because I didn't learn any trades, I will be doing stand-up comedy. Those you can't do do stand-up. So um my I'm excited about a show Friday, April 17th, um at San, I guess this Friday, uh in Santa Barbara. So it's at the Santa Barbara Comedy Club, um, which is like a very cool speakeasy, and with some of my good friends. Um, and yeah, it's really fun.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Sounds like a lot of fun. Please make sure if you're in the area, come out and support Meryl. She would definitely love to see you.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Thank you. It's my version of being a plumber or a welder.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

But only it doesn't pay. Exactly. Only other people watch me and like are very confused by me, so it's good.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Well, everyone, thank you again for watching and listening to us. And also thank you for all the comments. We really appreciate them. And like I said, I do read all of them, so thank you so much. Please make sure that you uh help us out by letting other people know who we are. I'm Lawrence Elrod. And I'm Merrill Climo. Take care, everyone. Bye bye.