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Jan. 19, 2023 - Lionel Nation
53:41
Recalibrating the Function of News — @LionelNation

What's the purpose of news?

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Dear friend, one of the favorite parlor games that we enjoy so much is the discussion of news and journalism and bias and bent.
And that sort of thing.
And we seem to thoroughly enjoy it.
We enjoy this idea about news.
We love to talk about news.
What is and is not bias?
What is and is not correct?
Is it left or is it right?
Is it right-wing?
Is it left-wing?
And the first Thing that we must address, I should say, is very frankly this, what is the news?
I implore, I beseech, I entreat, I entrust, I ask you to answer first the question, I don't know how much time you have, but what is news?
Now people believed I think a bit apocryphally that at one point it meant news was an acronym.
And by the way, remember, an acronym versus an abbreviation.
An acronym is, they say, a word that is formed from northeast, west, and south.
But that, I don't believe that was it.
But you might hear that.
There's some discussion as to that.
What does it mean?
What does it really mean?
I read, and I just did, or had a, what am I saying, just did, I just performed on my private channel.
My private, no-holds-barred channel for, I guess, adult folks.
I speak more like an adult.
I speak more, you know, like I would to you if we were having an aperitif or a sarsaparilla, as my friend Bert Sugar would say.
But I explain this one particular story, and I give examples of how it is a news story and uses the terms as to directional.
As to one particular direction, as for another.
The right-wing organization.
The right-wing.
Nobody who is right-wing ever refers to themselves as right-wing.
They will say left-wing.
It's always the other person, the other country.
Country is committing propaganda.
Not me.
The other group.
The other folks.
They are the ones.
The other group is the terrorist.
Now, in my mind, if I'm doing a news organization, if I'm running it, I'm a news editor, and there is a story, and I detail it.
There's a very interesting story about Title IX.
I mention the name of the group, I cite it, and I say, this is an example that immediately skews you.
If I were to provide you as a physician with, let's say, x-rays of somebody or some...
Pathology report that says, the following is a 56-year-old chain-smoking obstinate, obese,
and I start giving, true, I mean, you know, we could argue, but I start Affecting your ability to feel any kind of, I don't know, sympathy or something, people would say, what are you doing?
Why are you telling me this?
This is a news.
This is a news, excuse me, a blab report, which, interestingly enough, is what a news is.
I read one particular story where the term left-wing was never used, but right-wing was.
And like I said, I just went into detail.
Now, is that against the law?
Of course not.
Of course not.
Is it news?
*sounds of water*
Is it news?
When Fox News says the left wing, or uses the word woke, a word which, by the way, has been so It has been overused to the point of, I don't know, it's beyond overused.
But, but, is that news?
I ask you the question.
Is that news?
Now, is there anything wrong with it?
Of course not.
It's not against the law.
It's not whatever it is.
But, it must be distinguished from commentary.
Is that it?
I don't know.
Commentary is a different story.
Commentary and analysis are different things.
So let me tell you something.
I want you to look at this dispassionately.
One of you fine, fine folks writes, brainwashing.
Is this brainwashing?
No.
Define brainwashing.
What is brainwashing?
Define it.
That's a fascinating word.
See how strong these are?
It's a very simple thing.
Let me give you an example.
You are oftentimes given a direction just without anybody saying anything.
Hi!
Welcome.
Welcome to Fox News.
You're going to be a line producer.
You're going to be writing a script for a line for various stories.
Thank you for coming.
We would like you to write something that will be read or used by our Now,
what do you think has to be said to someone working at the Fox News Channel as to the direction, the tenor, the flavor, the spice, the attitude of the Do you think anybody at Fox News,
without reading a memo or being told, would ever write something to the effect of the document investigation or the allegations made by President Biden and his family pale?
In comparison to that of the Trump family regarding the scope of those documents that were involved and the level of any violations that took place.
Do you think anybody would ever write that?
Do you think the person working for Fox News kind of knows what Fox News is about?
Do you think maybe went there in order because perhaps maybe there's an ideology that is shared?
And there is an ideology at Fox News.
You know this.
There's nothing wrong with it, as there is CNN, as there is MSNBC, right?
Fox News doesn't have any memos that say, you better not say anything in favor of Biden.
You better not say anything that detracts from Trump.
You better not say anything.
No!
You don't have to say that.
You don't have to say that.
Better yet, in this example that I deal with in my private channel, I give this example and I show you.
Once you read this, All they have to do is say, hey, congratulations to Marmaduke for that great piece on X. And when you read it, you say, oh, is this what is considered...
Oh, I'm going to mimic that.
And I may have already, by virtue of just putting out the invitation, I may have already had people join my...
Because they happen to share ideology.
So, what I'm trying, perhaps, poorly and circuitously to say, my dear friend, what I'm trying to say is that it may be a very, very easy thing to explain.
It may be a very, very, very easy thing to...
To explain or to present because it just happens.
There is not an institutional, deliberate bias.
However, in a real world, if I were a real, honest-to-God news person, I would say, ladies and gentlemen, I would go into my newsroom and I would say, understand something.
You...
Let's take this particular piece you wrote.
You used the word left-wing.
Or you used the word right-wing, depending upon what it is.
I would exclude that from a news program.
Because no matter what you're saying, you're already commenting on the particular people who are involved.
You're already telling me what their political ideology is.
And as we have said repeatedly, left-wing and right-wing.
are very rarely used in a complementary fashion.
They are not meant to herald a particular ideology.
They are not meant to celebrate the political direction that people have.
It's meant as an insult.
It is meant as an insult.
You're a right-winger.
You're a left-winger.
This is left-wing propaganda.
That is never used by somebody who is, quote, left-wing.
What am I trying to say?
What I'm trying to say is that bias is inherent.
You're never going to get away from it.
Not only that, the American people don't care about these niceties.
They don't care about this.
They don't want to hear this very sterile Edward R. Murrow Very, what is the word?
They don't want to hear this very clinically correct way of thinking.
Roger Ailes was one of the original proponents of something called narrow casting.
Not broadcasting.
Narrow casting.
Narrow casting means I'm going to give you Sunglasses.
Rose-colored glasses.
A prism.
Why do people wear sunglasses?
Not during the sun, but why do people wear sunglasses all the time?
I had a friend of mine who wore sunglasses all the time because he was gassed half the time and his eyes were bloodshot and he didn't want to be able to see it.
Or his eyes...
But most of the time, you want to see the world through this particular hint, a tint, rather, this particular phrase.
And that's what narrowcasting is.
It's not broadcasting.
It's, I'm going to give you the world.
And I'm going to give you the news in a way that comports and complies with your worldview.
That's what I'm going to do.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, per se.
Okay?
Period.
Now, before I begin...
That's ridiculous because I have begun.
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Now, I don't want people anymore to keep playing this ridiculous notion about what is and isn't news, what is biased, what is not.
I won't even go so far as to say what's this information or that information or the liability attendant there too.
I am telling you right now that the number one, the number one, Area of misinformation, disinformation, falsity, as far as I'm concerned, is that of diet and nutrition.
I'm just going to leave it at that.
Nobody cares about it.
Nobody ever, ever is screaming, we can't say that!
You can't say that!
Sometimes we like to hear people Say things that we like.
For example, today we have a show, hypothetically, with a physician who says that eating all the butter and fried foods you can get your hands on, or your mouth on, in and around, is actually beneficial to your health.
Would you want to listen to them?
Somebody who validates your view of work.
Wouldn't you want to hear that?
Wouldn't you want to hear that?
Yes, you would.
Wouldn't you want to hear that?
Or would you say, wait a minute.
Wait, wait, wait.
Who is this person?
What is this person again?
Excuse me, what?
I'm not sure if this is legitimate.
I'm not sure.
No, you wouldn't.
You would say, hey, this is great.
Why?
Because that's what I want to hear.
That is exactly right.
There are other people who say, I have somebody on.
Who's going to say that fried foods and butter will kill you?
And there are others who say, oh, I like that because I abstain from that, so yes, I want to hear that person.
Do you think that people are programmed?
Do you think that guests, news, and platforms are programmed in order to have you hear what you want?
Yes, that's called narrowcasting.
You better believe it.
You'd better believe it and you'd better know exactly what you're doing.
And if you're going to be doing something, whether you're the Washington Post or you're a bread baking or a food blog or whatever it is, there are certain things called stationality, certain things where you have to make sure that you always play the hits for your audience.
If you're a country music station, if you're a channel, A channel on Spotify and you hit country or Stevie Ray Vaughan radio and all of a sudden they slip in Montevani.
You're going to say, wait a minute, that's not what I hear.
What's wrong with Montevani?
I didn't say something was wrong with Montevani.
I'm saying that's not what I want to hear.
There is no such thing as this idea called pure, sterile news.
You don't want to hear it.
You don't want to hear it.
You don't want to read it.
You don't.
One of the reasons why is because you've never known it.
So if I give it to you all of a sudden, you're not going to want to hear this.
You're not going to want to hear exactly what's going on.
You don't want to hear this.
And believe me, when I tell you this, you don't want to hear the truth about nutrition.
You don't want to hear about any of that.
You do not want to hear this.
Believe me, you want to hear something that verifies, that either says that what you're doing is great or that what you're doing is not bad.
You want to hear that what you believe is correct.
And then what your political enemy is thinking is wrong.
And if this is a shock to you, if this is some kind of a surprise, there's simply no hope for you.
And you know that.
What do you think people want to hear?
If you do not give the audience what they want, you're done.
Do you know what would happen if the Stones ever played and they played all of their kind of off tunes?
B-side stuff that wasn't a hit, the non-hits, people would be screaming.
Why?
Because they don't want to hear Mick Jagger play Sonny Boy Williamson.
No, they want to hear Jumper Jack Flash.
You know this.
You understand this.
You want to hear that which you are familiar with.
You want to hear your belief system Verify.
You want a severation of truth that provide the validity, the endorsement, and the accuracy of that which you have already believed.
It's simple.
It's simple.
Think about news, news platforms and the like, as I'm going on a date.
I don't know if people are even dating anymore.
And let me just say something to you.
And this is one of the benefits of being married not only to the most wonderful woman in the world, but just, I think, if anybody has to go through the horror of dating, my absolute condolences to you because of this artificial and extremely nerve-wracking presentation of an altered reality that does not exist.
You're on your best behavior, but you're on an alternate.
Platform behavior where you...
And believe me, there's one thing that in the introductory portion of an initial dating or meeting involves, or does not involve, and that is the truth.
You may honestly believe in your heart of hearts.
You might want to say, you know, excuse me, your current weight, is that what you weigh now?
But that's what you really want to know.
Sorry.
Sorry.
No, that's just an honor.
Sorry.
Sorry.
That's not it.
That's not it.
You don't want to hear that.
Nobody wants to hear that.
It may be true.
It may be absolutely 100% true.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
It may be true.
It may be something which makes so much implicit and total sense.
I'm telling you that.
This thing about the truth is one of my favorite subjects.
What is the truth?
What is a lie?
What is it?
What is bias?
There's bias.
By virtue of the fact that I send you on assignment, I've just eliminated 99% of all the other news stories because I pretty much said I think they're irrelevant every time I send you someplace.
And from the newsrooms and meetings and pitch meetings.
I've never heard anybody talk about we have to be balanced.
Fair and balanced is one of the most...
The reason why it's so effective is it is such a lie.
Nobody wants balanced.
You want the truth, but you want it in a way that comports and complies with your worldview.
Now, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
And that can change.
That can change.
In my private channel, I talk about, look how things have changed all of a sudden.
I don't care to use this particular medium to discuss it, but I go into great detail.
Keep track of what changes like that.
Keep track of what also, what goes away, where things just, what happens?
That's my favorite subject of them all.
What happens?
Remember Kanye West?
What happened?
I don't know if it was a particularly big story.
Kanye West was putatively, allegedly saying some terrible things.
And then he just went away.
I don't know.
We can go through a list.
Of all of these stories, Fukushima.
What happened?
Oh yeah!
My show will be called Oh Yeah!
I told you.
My dream is I have a TV show and I have this dry erase board on wheels and we have a wonderful major league, kind of like a grandma named Mildred or Mabel or something and she comes out.
And every time we bring her, we say, Mabel, put on the, have the sticky, you know, those post-it notes.
Write this on.
Natalie Holloway.
Remember, Natalie Holloway was, she was in Aruba.
Natalie Holloway, Aruba.
Natalie Holloway, Aruba.
Aruba.
That was it.
It, it, it, it, it was it.
People were, now Idaho to an extent, incel this.
Okay, fine.
And then one day, I don't know when, I don't know what day it was, I don't know if it was a Tuesday or Monday, what time of the day they said, alright, we're done with that.
And it went away.
The story went away.
Goodbye.
Do you remember when disco, and I ask this question, I can always tell if somebody's paying attention or not, or somebody who understands it, because most people don't understand what I'm saying, and I recognize that fact.
When did disco officially end?
Now that, As you can probably tell, is a rhetorical question.
You cannot answer that.
You can't say Tuesday, March 15th, 1981 at 3.30pm.
There is no such answer.
It is a rhetorical question.
Just like the joke, what's another word for thesaurus?
It's not a real question.
The joke, it's in the question.
But on one particular date, somebody said, it's over with.
We don't play this anymore.
At radio stations.
Radio stations never got a memo.
They never...
The people who were doing strings...
They stopped getting called by the union to go and...
It just ended.
Remember flared pans, flared trousers.
They just ended.
They just ended.
They just went away.
When?
I don't know.
That's what fascinates me.
When does a story lose our interest?
When do we say, that's enough?
Earthquakes or fires.
Northern California fires.
Blazes!
Are they over?
Have you ever heard a story?
This just in.
All the fires have been put out.
No.
They just move to a different story.
That is something which I want to know.
When do things end?
Let's also talk about when do things begin?
I'll tell you what's beginning right now.
As is every day.
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This right now.
Okay.
I love talking about this.
I will talk about this forever.
And I love to talk about what is and is not the news.
What is and is not commentary.
What is and is not.
Let me explain something.
What are the words you never say on talk radio?
One of my dreams.
Well, I shouldn't say a dream.
It's not really a dream.
But I would love to go in and talk to some people who are doing podcasting in particular.
I heard one the other day that was just absolutely an abomination.
And I'm not going to mention who it was because it had some names that I'm sure you would probably think were groovy, but I found to be really, really bad.
Bad.
Very bad.
And one of the reasons why I thought was kind of interesting is because the people who did this obviously I don't think ever really had any...
Not training, but they weren't sure exactly what it was they were trying to do.
And the thing that I would say is, in fact, Mrs. L taught me this.
Do you know what words you never say?
Honey, what words do you never say on talk radio?
I don't know.
Thank you.
Never, ever, ever, ever say I don't know.
I was listening the other day to one, and I used to...
Let me see if I can tell you.
In my career, there were two program, quote, program directors, numbers one and two.
The worst one was so bad that if I even heard his name, my soul died.
I don't know what he was doing, doing this.
He killed every...
Bit of excitement anybody had.
It was a power thing.
And the other fellow just didn't know anything.
Just didn't know anything, but figured he had to do something.
And what they would do is, this one in particular, there was this device they had where they could, you would say, come on in after your show, and you've just done three hours and you're exhausted.
You're mentally exhausted.
You've been up, especially if you're doing morning drive, you've been up since...
I don't know, three in the morning.
This guy just saunters on end with his cinnamon roll and his coffee.
Sits down behind his desk.
And there was this phone we had.
There was this phone system.
It was on speaker.
And you could call up the show.
And he would sit there like this.
He would say, let me see this.
Like he made notes.
All these notes.
Oh, I have to tell you about this.
And he punches in this.
And you hear it yourself.
And you sound terrible.
And he would say, now, did you hear that?
And I, of course, all my life, people think I'm a jerk and I'm a problem.
I said, did you hear what happened half an hour before that?
Immediately, he thinks I'm being, because I wasn't there supplicating and saying, oh, thank you, oh, great.
Oh, great.
Program director, thank you.
Thank you.
No, I said, you don't understand.
You can't walk into a movie late, stand up, and scream to the audience, this doesn't make any sense.
Who is this guy?
Why is he in this room?
Why is this woman dead?
It's like, you just walked in.
Yeah, but I don't understand.
Because you just walked in.
Or maybe you just don't understand it.
So these people who...
Promote stuff.
I...
I...
I don't know.
So I was listening to one the other day.
Oh, this guy was such...
I can go on and on and on.
And by the way, one of my fantasies is to sit there and say, you know what, Dave?
Yeah.
Listen, I got something for you.
A little surprise for you.
I've got the studio cranked up.
Engineers in there.
I want you to go in and do a show.
I'm going to hear it.
So you can show me how to do this.
I'm going to be across the glass from you.
I want you to do a show.
Now!
What?
I want you to go in and do it now.
You're telling me how to do a show, right?
I want you to go in and tell me how to do it.
Can you imagine me giving you guitar lessons?
Why don't you show me how to do a C major 7 chord?
Oh, I don't play the guitar.
I just instruct.
Wait a minute.
You don't play?
No.
I can't do this.
Anyway.
I'm not going to be...
I know what I'm...
talking about because I'm trying to do it.
I heard one the other day.
It sounded like I would just say a dorm room and one person said like, mm-hmm.
Not the diamond and silk, because they were so great.
There was such a balance.
I don't know.
That was one of a kind.
But it was more like, I didn't know what I'm talking about, so I just said, there you go.
Uh-huh.
I heard that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
And I wanted to say, what is this?
This is noise.
What are you doing?
What's going on here?
Why are you doing this?
What's the purpose of this?
I mean, and somebody may say, you know, we kind of like this.
You know, Ed McMahon, the sidekick from Arthur Treacher, Regis Philbin, who was with Joey Bishop, and goes down the line.
That's a different story.
That's a different story.
This As hard as this is to believe, this news, news commentary, opinion, special sex, it's an art.
It's entertainment.
It's to get you to watch it and to like it.
To be entertained so you come back.
Maybe you come back because of the authoritative nature of it.
Maybe you come back because of the, I don't know.
I don't know.
But for you to say that there is something formulaic, something absolute about news or opinion or podcasting or whatever it is, is ridiculous.
The bottom line is you have to play to the audience.
And you have to make sure that the person who's doing this thing, allegedly playing to the audience, knows what he or she is doing, but also never keeps in mind that they are not some kind of an oracular Delphic prophet from on high.
Have you ever heard people say, we're going to tell you the truth?
I love when people say this.
We're going to give you the news.
There was a channel here.
I don't know if they do it.
I think it was Channel 4. And they say, we're going to give you the weather.
We're going to make sure that we make sure that when you go outside, you know what the weather is going to be in.
They made it sound like this.
It's like only they can do it.
Because nobody knows how to figure out the weather except this channel.
That's like me saying, when you go out, I'm going to make sure you have the time.
Not five minutes off.
Not four minutes off.
But the actual time.
Remember the time of day service?
I mean, you could call a number.
It was sponsored by a funeral home or something.
And you would call this number to get the time of day.
And sometimes it would synchronize it.
And I was like, this is the coolest thing in the world.
Look at this.
I'd call and get the time.
Oh, I got the time.
Which time do you want?
I've got time in Australia.
I've got time in Paris.
But there's really nothing to that.
Speaking on this subject, do you know why people watch?
Weather?
Let me ask you a question.
Why do people watch weather on TV?
Very simple question.
Let me see if you get this.
Let me see if you get the question.
Why do people watch weather on TV?
Why?
Why do you think people watch?
Well, let me answer the question.
They watch it so that they can get further ratings, but also so that they can sell the time.
To a company that has something to do with weather, either air conditioning or heating or something.
It's to sell time.
That's it.
To sell ears and eyes.
Period.
That's it.
Is it about the weather?
No.
No.
It's not about the weather.
It's not about any of that.
It's about selling ears and eyes.
Now, let me stop for a second and tell you, and I never use this word cool.
I never use this word, but I will make an exception here.
One of the most fascinating subjects to me are EMP attacks, electromagnetic pulse attacks.
And I am so happy right now to tell you that there is a wonderful group of folks.
It's a company out of the Midwest called EMP Shield.
They've invented a device that you can hook up to your vehicle.
The technology has undergone testing at Keystone Compliance, which is a military-certified facility, and is listed by the Department of Homeland Security.
And this device has devices that can protect not just your vehicle and home, but your generator, your solar system, ham radio, RV, and much more.
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I'm going to do it one more time for EMP Shield, but you have to use my link.
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And just read for yourself.
It is beyond fascinating.
You know, whenever people talk about the truth, I always say, well, you don't know what the truth is unless you know what a lie is.
Don't forget what a lie is.
A lie is a misrepresentation of fact with the intent to deceive.
However...
That leaves a lot out.
A misrepresentation of fact with the intent to deceive.
How do I look?
You look great.
That's a lie.
But it's tactful.
Are you trying to deceive?
Well, yeah.
It's not really a misrepresentation of fact.
It's a misrepresentation of opinion.
But I think most people on a standard basis would probably agree with me that this person is not really that.
But I'm trying to be nice.
Is this good?
This is great.
Daddy, I made you something.
What is it, honey?
I made you something.
Oh, this is delicious.
It tastes horrible.
You're not going to tell your child that.
So are you lying?
Yes, but good lying.
Thou shalt not kill, except in war.
Unless a justified war.
There is no such thing as truth.
There is no such thing as black and white.
There's no such thing as apodictic, manichaean, good versus evil.
It's all gray.
It's all gray.
A friend of mine said, make America gray again.
Celebrate gray.
Celebrate the, well, yeah, it's kind of a hybrid.
Sort of.
It's not, you know, sort of.
Yeah, well, maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe.
There's very, very few things that we believe in that are subject to certitude.
And truth is not one of them.
So, I want you also to, with your friends and with your family, please, Make sure that you recognize that there is this wonderful stuff here called discussion and philosophy.
Do you discuss enough about philosophy or falafel?
Do you?
Do you ever talk about just what your thought is?
What do you feel?
What is your philosophy?
I had a friend of mine the other day said, you know, I'm really not a Republican.
I'm a libertarian.
I said, what is libertarian?
Uh...
Uh...
I said, okay.
Well, there you go.
Sounded cool.
What is your philosophy?
I have a very simple thing.
I have a very simple thing.
It's very, very simple.
My politics, my reaction, is based on a case-by-case analysis within the framework of this instance, this case, these people, this instance, this circumstance.
That is it.
Period.
End of discussion.
Can you draw a bigger picture?
I don't know.
I don't know.
We'll see.
But I just look at things right now.
Look at things like this.
Let me ask you something.
Should schools, for example, should schools have the right, school districts, public schools in particular, should public schools have the right to limit that information which is carried in their library?
Or libraries, people say.
I have a brand new piece coming out on my private channel.
Private.
Private channel, which I'll give you the link to.
Answer that question.
Should public schools be able to ban, be able to ban, limit, censor information that is carried in public, in their libraries?
Yes or no?
What do you think?
Okay.
What's the answer?
What is the answer to every question?
Every legal question, every philosophical question, every hypothetical question, and every legal question for sure.
What is the answer?
You know it.
I've told you a million times.
What is it?
What is your first answer before you say yes or before you say no?
What is the answer?
It's the answer that every legal question is, well, can be asked.
What is it?
Someone will get it first.
I've told you this.
Ah, thank you.
Demetrius Splitkin says, correct.
It depends.
It depends.
And it's not hedging it.
It's absolutely true.
It depends.
It depends.
Do you think that If there's anything wrong, or anybody would have a problem with a public school banning, I don't know.
And then you can fill it, because I'm not really sure today what qualifies as objectionable, but in the old days, you know, Hustler, I don't know, but most people say, no, so that's the obvious.
But then it's more difficult.
What about, for example, Satire.
What about certain novels?
What about Lolita by Nabokov?
What about if somebody were to ban the Bible?
Wait a minute.
Hold it.
Hold it.
Wait a minute.
Bible.
Was it because of religious?
It's very, very interesting.
Very interesting.
So we start off with the fact that, yes, there are rules.
First of all, there's space to the school library, so you can't put everything in there.
But where does this fit in?
Don't know.
It was so funny because in my high school library, I never found anything that I even remotely wanted to read or look at.
It was so interesting.
Yet, our public library, I used to love.
We had this North Boulevard branch in Gamble, Floral.
And I loved it.
I just loved it.
I loved it.
Let me also say something right now.
Please enjoy reading.
Please enjoy reading.
And the reason why is simply this.
It is a version of your appreciation for such.
Lectures are wonderful.
Movies are wonderful.
Radio is.
Spoken word is wonderful.
But a book, an article, is something that you bring in at your own speed, at your own saturation level, and based upon your own particular frame of reference, with your own imagination, and it is like nothing anybody has seen.
It is like nothing anybody has seen.
One of my favorite questions is, I had a friend of mine who was a member of a book club.
And when she went to the book club, she got together and they sat and they talked about a particular book that they read and what did you think?
And I thought, oh, how wonderful that is.
Turns out, either on one book or all of them, she listened to audiobooks.
By the way, audiobooks are great!
Wonderful!
And cars and working out.
It's terrific!
I listen to them at night.
That's my reign.
That's my ASMR.
I listen to...
Listen to one last night on Napoleon.
It was just beautiful.
It was a British pronunciation.
Anyway, so she went and she said, well, I didn't read the book.
I listened to it.
They said, wait a minute.
That doesn't count.
She goes, well, why doesn't that count?
And here's my question.
Is listening to a book the same as reading it?
If you're in a book club, must you read the book?
Or must you know about the book?
Are we here to discuss the book?
Are we here to discuss the book only after we've read it?
And if I didn't read it, but I can answer all of your questions and I know everything, what's the difference?
Fascinating question that many people believe is a complete and total waste of time, but I don't.
I mentioned something to you before, which is fascinating, and that's this thing about eating.
And one of the things which I find so interesting, you know, we talk about flus, we talk about getting sick, getting ill, and one of the things that you and I know all about, I think we do, is that what the body can do normally, Our own immune system is incredible.
But there's so much out there that is available.
So much that is contrary to our health.
And there are some very, very scary things.
Now, if you ate well, if you ate...
Even at your best, even with the best diet there was, there are some phytonutrients, there are some available phytonutrients that you must have and that you can best supplement.
And I'd like to introduce you to our new sponsor, Z-Stack.
They have an all-in-one immune-boosting system, a super formula, that helps keep flus and viruses and colds at bay.
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Unless you want to risk missing out on various things, you have to take every available step there is.
And that's why this is terrific.
They have their immune-boosting vitamins, including zinc.
You remember that?
Zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin D is a miracle.
I take mine every single day.
That is a hormone, if anything else.
It's not even a vitamin.
And quercetin.
This is my favorite.
This is from Mount Sinai.
Quercetin belongs to a group of...
Plant pigments called flavonoids that give many fruits and flowers whatever their colors.
Flavonoids, such as quercetin, are antioxidants.
They scavenge particles in the body known as free radicals which damage cell membranes.
By the way, one of the most interesting, and I'm going to say it, one of the cool things to do.
Colors.
Remember when people talked about resveratrol?
Sometimes there are things that plants have.
Either bitterness to keep away bugs.
Dark pigmentation like grapes to allow the sun from damaging it that help us tremendously.
It is fascinating.
So you can get up to 15% off of ZStack right now.
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Zinc.
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And vitamin D. Vitamin D. Oh my God.
So that's it.
They're our sponsor.
Support them.
Support the cause.
And support your health.
Alright my friends.
We just did a brand new newsletter from Mrs. L that went out today.
Do you have that by any chance?
Do you have hers?
Well you better.
Let me give it to you right now.
Her newsletter is so good.
It is so good.
And I promise you.
It is the most, am I right, honey?
It is the most stolen newsletter, bar none.
We should have a list of people who steal.
I shouldn't say steal.
Research.
Honey's called research.
As long as my information gets out, it is important.
I also have one that went out yesterday and people loved it.
Except somebody writes, does it have to be so long?
Never, ever say.
Something is too much to read.
That's it right there.
That is our newsletter.
It is fantastic.
And also, if you're really enjoying this, one of my polls I think are most funny, please follow me on Twitter at the following link.
I'm making this very easy for you.
At Lionel Media.
There it is right there.
Ta-da!
And...
Mrs. L on Twitter.
Follow her right now.
Ask at the following.
Ask at this.
And that's it.
So think.
Have a discussion.
Call your friends around.
Ask what is news?
What is not news?
What are the news?
Somebody asked me one time the other day, what's the first thing you go to?
Who knows what the first thing is?
But there's these wonderful...
I'm going to leave you with this.
How many of you have...
Do you have one of those fingerprint things?
I have these little fingerprints.
You put them down for your...
To open up, you know, your computer and whatever it is.
Anyway, biometric.
Okay.
Probably stupid, but I do it.
And when you put it down, you say, well, that's good.
Put it again.
Put it again.
Side, side, side, side, side.
There you go.
That's it.
That's it.
That's how I get my nose.
It's like this.
So I get this angle, that angle, this.
And I do not go to people, necessarily, who repeat what I already believe.
I want to be challenged.
Alright?
That simple.
Alright, dear friends, have a great and glorious day.
Don't ever change anything.
See you tomorrow.
Same bad time.
Same bad channel.
9 a.m. Eastern Time.
Don't forget, like this video.
Subscribe to the channel.
Subscribe because we need your metrics, we need your input, and we need your subscriptions.
Have a great and glorious day, and as I always end with this valedictory, this refrain, this date, not denouement, this adios and sayonara.
The monkey's dead.
The show's over.
Sue ya.
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