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June 1, 2023 - On Brand

01:44:14

OB #1 - Hijackers or Hijinx? - Part 1

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	The stuff has fallen off of my table.
	ALICE There we go, now we're alive.
	Right, half the stuff has fallen off Lauren's table, things are exploding on my end.
	This is On Brand, a podcast where we talk about the ideas and antics of one Russell Brand.
	I'm Al...
	I'm Lauren B!
	Yeah, and Lauren, this is our first episode, and right up top, before we do anything else, the first thing that I absolutely have to do is thank the Knowledge Fight community, particularly the Knowledge Fight listeners on Reddit.
	The Knowledge Fight subreddit have been amazingly supportive of this venture, of this podcast, and I don't think I have...
	I've never ever started anything with this much support before.
	I definitely haven't.
	Right, exactly!
	I've never had that, I don't think I've received that much support for things that I've spent a long time doing, so that's nice.
	That's really, really nice.
	Just to kind of have that up top.
	Oh boy!
	I should have actually thought of a bright spot before we did this.
	ALICE Oh, God!
	[laughter]
	LIAM Do you know what?
	I...
	[laughter]
	LIAM It's fine.
	This is why we do this.
	I looked at the menu, I can order while you're still thinking.
	No, no, no, it's cool, it's cool, we're gonna be fine.
	I've been playing a little bit of Red Dead Redemption 2 this last week.
	I've heard of that video game program.
	Yeah, showing off your gaming credentials there.
	Yeah, no, it's a game that I picked up the story mode.
	You know, everyone raves about it and says how fantastic it is.
	I picked up the story mode for like a couple of hours, like, I don't know, maybe a year or two ago, and then I was like, god damn, this is really slow, and I put it down.
	And I thought the other day, I was like, you know what?
	I feel like being a cowboy.
	Um, so I picked it up again, and pushed through a little bit, because it is really slow to begin with.
	Like, really, there's just a thick amount of plot.
	It feels like you are in a 60s western, you know, where it's just, this is gonna drag along, and that's what it's supposed to do.
	And you're gonna sit with it, either you're gonna love it or you're gonna hate it.
	And I kind of pushed through a little bit and then got to the stage where I can, like, do stuff, you know, where I'm like, ah, I can rob people and I can, you know, I can hunt things and do all this stuff.
	Not that big into the hunting aspect, because even digital animals I don't really want to harm.
	But nonetheless, what a fantastic game.
	That's so fun!
	It's great!
	I love spaghetti westerns!
	I feel like I'd probably like it.
	You know what I mean?
	I imagine!
	Even if you just spend your time walking around the environment, it is gorgeous to look at.
	That's cool.
	It is a piece of art on its own.
	Many, many millions of other people also agree, so I know I'm preaching to the choir here.
	Anyway, what's your bright spot?
	My bright spot.
	Okay, so, well, alright, the only thing that I can think of is, like, this thing we're doing right now is, like, totally kind of consumed.
	I know that's a cop-out.
	I acknowledge it's a cop-out.
	But it's, like, pretty cool, and it's a You know, if nothing else, my partner is so thrilled that I'm going to get to yell about politics to someone else.
	You know, I work from home.
	I am by myself too much.
	So having a place to to have this thoughts and feelings that aren't just like, Me and my podcast app, and then my very understanding and kind partner that just lets me unload about it.
	So, having a place to put all this stuff and actually do this thing is really exciting.
	And so, no pressure, we just have to do a good job.
	There is a therapeutic level to shouting into the void, except in this case it's not a void, it's actual people.
	So we are also adhering to the convention of both Knowledge Fight and the dollop, I think, where I don't, I'm coming in cold.
	I don't know anything.
	I've actively tried to Limit my knowledge of what Russell Brand is up to these days.
	So I think that Clean Slate for me, I mean, I have some notions that have been in the zeitgeist about what he's been up to, but I've actively tried to keep myself out of it. Because that's that's that the
	audience standing kind of position is learning this stuff. And so I don't know enough to be upset
	at him yet. I still Yeah, well, I like the memories I have. And I think he's
	funny.
	I imagine my... I think the worm will turn quickly.
	Just a feeling.
	Well, this is it.
	One of the reasons that I wanted to cover Russell Brand is because of, you know, I think particularly for our generation, for millennials, he kind of, he hit us at a specific point in kind of the mid to late 2000s, where he kind of infiltrated our lives, particularly anyone who was a little bit subversive into kind of alternative things.
	You know, he just kind of Slid his way in there as a fairly amusing, verbose kind of weirdo, you know?
	And we liked that.
	And, you know, he's gone from strength to strength since then.
	But I'll tell you what, the episode that we're covering today, it's seemingly a fairly random one.
	But it's actually the episode that made me want to do this, because I thought, you know what, let's have a listen to what Russell Brand's doing these days.
	Let's just give it a quick little poke.
	And within the first two minutes, I was like, oh my fucking god.
	We need to address this.
	Is anyone addressing this?
	Oh no!
	And it turned out not, so here we are.
	The first thing I'm going to play for you now is just the introduction here.
	The introduction into their show, which is Stay Free with Russell Brand.
	Thanks for coming.
	Thanks for joining us for Stay Free on Russell Brand.
	You might be watching this on Twitter.
	Oh dear, careful.
	Did you get verified?
	You might be watching this on YouTube.
	Do the WHO know you're there?
	Does your mum know you're out this late?
	Or you might already be watching us on Rumble, the home of free speech, where no matter what they tell you, this is a place where people can come together in peace to share opinions that potentially might damage the onward march of an authoritarian movement that seeks to dominate the globe and prevent you from communicating freely.
	We're going to be having a look at the...
	We're going to be having a look at the departure of Tucker Carlson from Fox and why the Pentagon is so delayed.
	There we go.
	First thoughts.
	Yep.
	Oh, okay.
	All right.
	So we're also recording video.
	So for those of you that would like to tune in, you can both see the clip and my horror
	while I'm listening.
	There's so much in that clip.
	Like, she's a bitch.
	He's speaking to such a specific concern.
	It feels like he's really weeding out the wingnuts right away.
	There's that underlying speaking to conspiracy theories that seems innocuous right off the bat.
	Yeah, yeah, I would say so.
	Honestly, I found it a really fucking obnoxious introduction.
	He has a habit of describing his audience as awakening wonders, which I always find so goddamn patronizing.
	Shut up.
	Get out.
	I'm already done.
	I'm already done.
	And then he has this whole big thing about how the media's talking down to you and how they think you're stupid, and then he's like, SEAN Oh, my awakening wonders!
	Oh, fuck you.
	ALICE Okay, girl.
	Okay.
	SEAN Yeah, it's just ridiculous.
	ALICE Okay.
	Alright.
	Alright, honey.
	Okay.
	Wow.
	Rust.
	SEAN Do you have an awareness of what Rumble is, by the way?
	ALICE Unfortunately, yes.
	I certainly do.
	Which is what really sent me over the top on my- I was like, oh no, oh no, oh no.
	And then I was like, oh, this is- it kicks in.
	He thinks that Rumble is going to save us from authoritarians.
	Okay.
	I have to strap in.
	That's definitely the narrative he's spinning, because he almost certainly has a deal with Rumble, and that's how he makes his money, or some of it, anyway, we'll get into that a little bit later.
	But in terms of Rumble, if you don't know what it is, it's basically where right-wing shithead conspiracy theorists and grifters go to spout Nazi bullshit.
	Um, for the most part.
	You know, you have lovely individuals like Stephen Crowder, you know, he has his home in Rumble, and he's been on Russell Brand's show more than once, by the way.
	And, uh, it's just, it's a great place for great people.
	And also, I do hate to break it to you, but we will be...
	Getting into Tucker Carlson, because this was right around his departure from Fox.
	Yeah, I'm very sorry about that.
	Thank you for the warning.
	I do appreciate that.
	Yeah, anytime Tucker's around, that requires a content warning for anyone.
	Yes, thank you!
	But first, we do have an important existential question to begin the show, which is, why are things different now compared to what they were in the past?
	We will not be able to have this conversation on YouTube.
	I think it would be dangerous even on Elon Musk's Twitter, even within his great citadel of free speech.
	Would you be able to openly talk about 9-11 and the CIA?
	There's a link in the description.
	Click over at Rumble.
	We're going to be talking to Max Blumenthal, a Fine journalist, founder of the Grey Zone, about recent revelations I can't go into here.
	If they're true is another one of those things where the conspiracy theorists had a point and how many of those have you seen lately?
	Okay.
	Can't talk about, what did he say?
	It was a 9-11.
	I need to start taking quick notes because I get, like, he, he's a human Gish Gallop, which we've established it off, off mic.
	Wowzers!
	Um, I'm sorry.
	And also I do feel like since this is a new project, My mind is, my, my gourd is gonna be blown over and over and I hope it's not boring to listen to that every single clip I'm like, what the shit?
	But it really, I'm, I'm shocked.
	I'm still, it's genuine.
	I'm genuinely shocked.
	Does he think that no one's ever first been not able to discuss 9-11?
	Not able to discuss 9-11 on YouTube involving the CIA, when that's what Alex Jones did for literal decades before he was deplatformed for something completely fucking different.
	It's just complete bullshit from the outset.
	I also don't think you're gonna find a shortage.
	I think if you go to YouTube right now, you're gonna find...
	And not even just small-time right-wing fucking wingnuts conspiracy idiots.
	You find people with status talking about the same shit.
	There are things about it even today that big morons talk about on YouTube.
	It's not like it's some big censored topic that's too hot for YouTube.
	It's absolute complete bullshit.
	I have just realized that I did mislabel these clips, by the way.
	So that wasn't the one I meant to play, that was the one that I was meant to play after this one.
	But anyway, I'll get back to why... Yeah, Tucker's gonna come up later, regrettably.
	But I'll get back to... I'm hoping I've labeled this clip correctly, anyway.
	Why are things different now compared to what they were in the past?
	Radical liberals and whose views I respect and in so many cases absolutely align with.
	Why are they happy to be on the same side of the Department of Defense and the Pentagon on any sort of issue at all?
	Like when you imagine Woodstock, the late 60s, the civil rights movement, the great hot stirrings of the summer of 68, a countercultural movement, the women's movement, all these powerful voices.
	They weren't In alliance with big businesses and with the state, they were anti-establishment.
	It's so extraordinary to me how things have changed.
	Things are not the same as they used to be!
	He's baffled by this!
	That's crazy.
	I think that we should establish that this is a tool that, especially people on the right, but anybody that wants to reframe an argument, is they just recite history wrong.
	Like, and that's what he's doing.
	He's just misrepresenting history in, like, a basic way.
	And I think that, you know, folks that have been keeping an eye, to some degree, on what's been happening with this, like, kind of conservative pundit class that's been bubbling up in recent years, yeah, they just are wrong.
	That's just wrong.
	Like, it's totally off.
	Yeah, it's completely reframing history.
	I mean, even in the 60s, you know, the anti-establishment movement were able to acknowledge that the government could do at least some things correctly.
	The argument that he's making is exceptionally reductive and stupid beyond belief.
	And complete, like it's just, it's sideways.
	I know I'm gonna keep coming back to this, but like it's called capitalism, homie.
	Like, that's it.
	That's gonna be a consistent feature of this episode at least, but I get the feeling of the show in general.
	Yeah, I'm gonna try to pump the brakes on pointing that out as much as I can, because at the end of the day...
	Yeah, I know I'm gonna- that's where I'm at.
	I'm gonna come from a place of class analysis and class consciousness to the best of my ability, to the best of my- We are gonna have plenty of chances to get into that, and you know, speaking of- Oh good.
	Classes, etc.
	You know, we're dealing... Russell Brand is talking from a place that's, you know, in Oxfordshire.
	He's in one of the wealthiest places in the UK.
	So, you know, it's all very well to be saying what you're saying, Russ.
	Yeah, let's let this rich, famous guy talk down to me some more about how governments work.
	It'd be awesome.
	It'd be great.
	ALICE If you're not a fan of that, you're not gonna like the rest of the next several hours, just to warn you.
	But let's meet the other shithead that works with Russell.
	What's French for fire?
	Do you know any French?
	Not a thing, no.
	You're supposed to know stuff like that.
	I look at you and I think you would at least know a bit of French because you can play a certain instrument that has French in it.
	Why can't you speak even a word of French?
	Call yourself an on-screen assistant?
	Is that what your credit is now?
	I don't know what it is now.
	Well, I can answer that question.
	They make fun of this chap as being an on-screen assistant, but his name is Gareth Roy, and that's who he is beyond having a very shiny head.
	He is series editor for this show, and he has also been involved with every single other Russell Brand show currently.
	And has worked with Bran for almost his entire televisual career as a producer and editor.
	I would go so far as to say that Gareth is very much the right hand man, if not kind of the person pulling the strings, so to speak.
	I was about to say, like a mastermind.
	It's yet to be confirmed, but my hunch is that this guy, Gareth Roy, is a significant part of Brand's pivot towards right-wing lunacy over the last several years.
	Okay.
	Yeah, that's my feeling on the guy.
	And the next clip kind of helps give us an insight into the kind of audience that they're cultivating together as well, which Let's have a look at what's going on in France.
	It looks actually like riots because people have been lied to.
	Let's have a look.
	Tonight, tensions boiling over in France.
	Hundreds of thousands taking to the streets across the country.
	That right, that French copper.
	Go back a bit and have a look again.
	That French copper booted that bin himself.
	Look at that!
	You're meant to be... There's no need to...
	You're in the police force!
	A lot of people are posting words for fire in France.
	A lot of people say it's fuego.
	That's Spanish.
	Yeah, that's Spanish.
	Yeah.
	Okay.
	All right.
	So his conceit, Brussels' conceit, is that his producer, puppet master person, plays the French horn digitally or for real?
	Because he had a little icon next to his video.
	I don't know.
	I feel like the graphic that they played was kind of an inside joke.
	I don't know if he plays the French horn for real or not.
	I'm not entirely sure.
	But yeah, that's kind of the...
	That's a little weird.
	That's the lead-in.
	None of them seem to know what fire is in French.
	For the record, it's feu.
	Like bleu, but with an F, so feu.
	And yeah, as they so aptly pointed out, fuego is Spanish for fire.
	And for anyone not in the know... Oh, so that's a look into the audience.
	Yes, yeah, exactly.
	Just people who will confidently say that they know what fire is in French and then say something in Spanish.
	I feel like that just gives us just a little bit of an idea.
	Can I add?
	It's on the internet.
	They're typing into a thing, a chat window on the internet, where they can just look it up.
	Yes.
	That's fascinating.
	Yes, I will bring up the chat in just a moment, actually.
	That's what's coming in the next clip.
	But for anyone wondering about the riots that are being shown, by the way, those are the riots in France that We're a justified protest against the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64.
	So that's, you know, that's completely fair.
	And I would say- Yeah, full support.
	I agree.
	I agree completely.
	His take on it is accurate.
	It's like, yeah, these are people who've been fucked over, so they're rioting, they're protesting, and the French are very good at that.
	Long, long history there of Of rioting and protesting about things they don't like.
	Anyway, let's have a look at this little chat channel that they've got going on.
	You know the kind of things people talk about.
	Conspiracy theories, that's normal.
	That's alright, innit?
	Also, like, I'm getting, like, he wants to- there was, in the video, one of the cops, one of the riot cops, moved a trash bin, like a bigger metal trash bin on wheels with his foot.
	Kicked a bin, yep.
	Yeah, seemed very, like, zoo crew from Russell's point of view.
	Like, oh yeah, that weird thing on a video was like, isn't that zany?
	But then also you're gonna get guided meditations.
	I mean, I do feel like part of the problem with this person being charismatic, likable, and kind of being a one-stop shop for, like, all your, like, Weird, wooey, you know, kind of like, um, problematic information.
	Like, there is something very sinister in his approach that seems like too good to be true.
	And it can, he's like a little bit of everything for everybody.
	Yeah, and he's very charming.
	He's very charming.
	I cannot stand the motherfucker at this point, but even I can't deny, he drags you in.
	He pulls you in, and you want to hear what he's saying, which is a worrying thing.
	The chat that Russell's looking at is the Locals channel, which I don't know, I have a feeling it's got something to do with Rumble yet again, but essentially it's...
	It's the kind of chat aspect, it's more of the live aspect of what they're doing, and unfortunately everything that's on there is behind a paywall.
	I did sign up, but in order to access any of the additional content that's there, to join the chat or see any of the livestreams that they do, you have to pay what amounts to about $50 a year, and I'm just not willing to give this man any of my money.
	I completely agree with that approach, I think giving him as little to none as possible would be...
	That lines up with my conceit as well.
	And also, I think, for your own mental health, you don't need to add the layer of the chat on what you're already listening to!
	I don't want to!
	I feel like I get enough of an insight of the kind of things that are featured in that chat just from this one episode because it keeps coming up because you know he likes to keep his audience involved and I gotta say early on none of it's looking good.
	Anyway, he's got some more to say about France here.
	[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
	--discontent in France because the people there are saying that democracy isn't working.
	They were rioting outside the offices of BlackRock, weren't they, Gareth?
	Because they know that this is about centralized finance usurping the process of democracy.
	So--
	[END PLAYBACK]
	[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
	OK, OK, OK, OK.
	Oh.
	Okay.
	So.
	Remain calm, Lauren, remain calm.
	Actually, no, don't.
	I'm doing my best!
	So, Brand puts this policy change in the French government as being down to centralized finance usurping democracy, which is both reductive and just plain incorrect.
	The issue that all countries who offer a state retirement pension are facing is one of an aging population, meaning with every passing year there are more and more people who qualify for the pension, making it incredibly expensive, if not one of the most expensive parts of a country's entire budget.
	And one way to kick the can down the road a bit is by raising the retirement age, therefore removing at least a couple of years of increases to eligibility for the state pension.
	This is a move I inherently disagree with, and there are plenty of other ways of funding both state pensions and social care for the elderly, taxing billionaires perhaps, but this does not come down to centralised finance or even BlackRock.
	BlackRock actually had no involvement whatsoever in the government's reforms and were being picketed more for their role in private pension funds, which makes them quite a good target.
	Don't get me wrong, they're still dicks, but none of this comes down to BlackRock.
	Well, and that's the thing that conservatives have been just screaming from the rooftops, is being right but wrong about Why?
	They're right.
	Like, yeah, Blackrock is a monstrosity, but not for the reason he's saying, which is deceptive.
	And it's that he's towing that line where He can say something that, again, even a regular old MSNBC liberal would be like, yeah, I don't like BlackRock either, they're bad.
	Venture capitalism's bad, right?
	Yeah, okay.
	It's stuff that, I've heard so many of those little hooks of things that would be easy to agree with in passing, which is dangerous.
	I understand palpably in the marrow of my bones how dangerous this affective kind of Uh, miasma he's making of, like, totally reasonable things to say and complete batshittery at the same, just interchangeably.
	I would say, um, both, both him as an individual and this episode actually is an exercise in contrasts.
	And, uh, there is, there is nothing better to illustrate that than this next clip.
	But we are one planet in limitless, potentially infinite space, and on the same little planet with essentially the same kind of interest.
	And I'm, by the way, not suggesting that there should be centralized power.
	Far from it.
	Decentralized power at every opportunity.
	But on the same planet, there's those riots and there's the Met Gala, which I don't know if you know this.
	It's sort of like people dress up in outrageous outfits.
	Have a look at this footage from the Met Gala the other day.
	People are dressing up as mouses, as cats.
	Look at this.
	This is the lad out of Dallas Buyers Club.
	He got himself all nice and thin.
	He's actually tried to start a cult, I think.
	Jared Leto, isn't it?
	Yeah, he played a thin... No, it's Matthew McConaughey.
	He's the one that got us there.
	He's been on our podcast before.
	I like Matthew McConaughey.
	He's a good actor.
	No, he's great.
	He is good, isn't he?
	But it's not who's inside this cat.
	It's the other lad.
	Yeah.
	It's the other lad out of Dallas Buyers Club.
	That's it.
	He's dressed up as a giant mouse look, was he?
	No, it's a cat.
	Right.
	This just in, Matthew McConaughey's dressed as a mouse.
	That's no less stupid than what's happening.
	Jared Leto, out of Dallas Buyers Club, Joker, he's dressed up as a cat.
	Why?
	Why is that happening?
	Just in your mind, hold the image of that French copper kicking a bin because French democracy has been usurped after all those revolutions and guillotinings they've done.
	Look at the Met Ball, it's meant to have.
	Look at this whole story, it's crazy.
	Yeah, Russell, that's a cat, not a mouse.
	I'm glad you got there in the end, but yeah.
	It's not mouses, mate, that's a cat.
	Yeah!
	I mean, he caught himself eventually, but Jared Leto is not Matthew McConaughey, and a mouse is not a cat.
	Wow!
	The Met Gala, okay, the issue that we should be having with the Met Gala this year in particular is they were honoring, quote unquote, honoring Karl Lagerfeld, a total bigot.
	We will be getting into that.
	Oh great!
	Cause the one thing- Don't worry.
	I gotta say, the cat, like the, I'm looking at this screen right now, that cat costume ruled.
	It was awesome.
	It's pretty good.
	Of all the things to complain about, that cat, like, you gotta, at some point, like the Met Gala is reprehensible for a number of reasons.
	The Met is reprehensible for a number of reasons.
	Sorry, I probably already made people mad, I don't know.
	The thing that was enjoyable, and is usually enjoyable, is the spectacular art that people make.
	I don't care about the person wearing it.
	The person who made that thing is incredible!
	It's so cool and it's so good!
	It was probably an effort of, like, hundreds of people over weeks or something, because that's the kind of shit that goes on for this thing.
	Well, as a maker, I can say it probably wasn't hundreds of people.
	It was probably four, and they were working 12 to 18 hours a day and, like, inventing new things and calling in favors and, like, and usually when you make something like that, because I've never seen a costume like that before, That's the cool part for the Met Gala, and you're gonna shit on the cat?
	Universally we can agree it's cool!
	If you haven't seen it, look it up!
	Definitely!
	Speaking of which, in a very topical moment, I actually need to let my cat into the room, so just one second, because she is kicking up down there.
	Oh boy!
	to Karl Lagerfeld at the Met Ball.
	These things I remember, because I remember when I used to be famous.
	Oh yeah.
	Don't say it like that.
	No, no, I remember it.
	I was there for a lot of it.
	I was being famous, and things like that Met Ball would happen.
	I've never been to that.
	Oh, you didn't go to the Met Ball?
	But when I was married to KP, I remember she went to that, and I was like, oh, do you have to go to that thing?
	But she wanted to, and that's her right as a free individual, of course, and she did go.
	Everyone goes there.
	Well, they're all dressed up like that.
	It's like, it's mental, isn't it?
	Yeah.
	Yeah, it's mental, isn't it?
	The cat actually played that clip by walking across my laptop.
	That was not my intention to play that, but there we go.
	Thanks, Kayleigh.
	But before we get into this, just briefly, there's a small point of contention that I want to make in the last clip, and it might just be me being petty, but Jared Leto was not in Joker.
	Why else are we here?
	Come on.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	Jared Leto played the character of the Joker in Suicide Squad, which is widely considered one of the worst interpretations and performances of the Joker in the character's long history.
	The movie Joker, however, starred Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and is a masterclass in acting from start to finish.
	I have other issues with that movie.
	It's very disturbing and very good.
	That's for another day.
	Jared Leto and his cult we will also get into in a little bit as well.
	Now as for... So good slash bad!
	That was also what I was going to mention.
	It's like, wait!
	There's other things to hate about everything in this picture except for the cat and the clothes!
	I'm sorry.
	Okay.
	How are you going to hate clothes and be married to Katy Perry?
	That's nuts.
	Yeah, yeah.
	Everyone kind of forgets that he was married to Katy Perry.
	You know, it was a couple of years they were married as well.
	But what I love about this clip is, oh yeah, you know, she went to the Met Ball, as is her right as a free person.
	I mean, I did everything in my power to stop her going, but you know, she went.
	That was her right.
	Cheers for being so benevolent, ya fuck.
	I do briefly want to talk about, as you've mentioned, Karl Lagerfeld, who the Met Gala were honouring.
	He was a fashion designer who did some stuff in black and white, is the short of it, but underpinning that was rampant transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, xenophobia, and outright sexism.
	He disavowed the Me Too movement, put at least one of his models in blackface, described Coco Chanel as being too pretty to be a feminist, And claimed that refugees being allowed into Germany was somehow an affront to Holocaust victims.
	In short, he was a real piece of shit.
	Yeah, that's some mental gymnastics right there.
	A lot of celebrities kept to the black and white theme in honor of the shitbag.
	But a great many protested by wearing loud and bright colors.
	My personal favorite was Pedro Pascal wearing a red suit with shorts designed by Valentino, one of Lagerfeld's main competitors.
	And he also had the nails in his middle fingers painted with Valentino's logo so he could spend the whole night flipping off the spirit of Karl Lagerfeld.
	I mean, if we're gonna be real about a protest, don't go.
	Well, there's that, but I would say there's more of a statement to be made.
	If you're gonna do it anyway, yeah.
	Well, and the excuse that is made, I think, is that, oh, it's a fundraiser.
	Like, it's a fundraiser for the Met.
	The Met is fine.
	The Met is- Ask BlackRock!
	The Met's fine.
	And like, you know, fine, whatever.
	In the next clip, Russell has a take on what needs to happen with the world.
	Africa, because of Olly, the country was called, I think, Uganda.
	I think it was that country within Africa.
	Comic relief.
	It was a comic relief British charity to raise money for all sorts of stuff.
	Anyway, I went there and they took me to this rubbish dump.
	And it was so depressing.
	I nearly had a mental breakdown just being there half hour.
	And people lived there, like little kids were there foraging in the dump.
	And I couldn't get into the right mood.
	You know how you're meant to be on a telethon.
	Like, for just one pound.
	I was like, that's not going to work.
	A pound?
	This is mental.
	This is not going to be reversed by donations.
	This is evidence of a systemic problem.
	We're going to have to radically... No, just say, send a pound, doll, 0181.
	You know what I mean?
	They're trying to keep it on that tier, but I was having a mental breakdown.
	So we need radical systemic change to move away from this capitalist system, but also give me your money.
	This isn't a critique I would level at many people wanting to move away from capitalism, but in this instance, Russell Brand is a man with an estimated net worth of $20 million, and I'd wager the reality is probably quite a bit more.
	If he truly wanted drastic systemic change, he could at the very least afford to give his content away for free, if it's so important.
	In fact, he could fund any number of anti-capitalist movements, at least in part, with that amount of wealth.
	But no, instead, he wants your money on a monthly subscription at least, ideally in perpetuity, which to me says maybe he doesn't quite believe the things that he's saying.
	And also, I'm sorry, garbage dump?
	What?
	Yeah, right?
	Nice way to describe people's home, Russell.
	I mean, and even, like, first, right, like, listen, I bet there are landfills in Uganda.
	I bet they didn't drop you off at one for your little tour.
	Like, that's, So, like, that's what got me.
	I sort of had, like, checked out for- I didn't check out, but, like, I started hot.
	It got me hot right away!
	Yeah, yeah.
	I mean, this place, Uganda, is a trash heap!
	Come on!
	It might legitimately have been a landfill site because that's the kind of poverty porn that things like Comic Relief kind of do to try and get people to send donations, etc.
	It's the traditional thing of having multi-millionaires and billionaires ask you, Joe Public, for your money to fix a problem.
	The Sally Struthers.
	I have big fucking problems with comic relief every single year.
	There are issues, let's put it that way.
	There are issues, let's put it that way.
	Right, so small-- - Which that's, yeah.
	That's a thing that we can, yeah, right.
	That's, I think with charity in general, I mean, there are obviously a ton of problems
	with charities fundraising, kind of on every level, but this is not the way to fix it.
	and it...
	I would think, you're a big famous person.
	Do you not understand that maybe they're taking you to a spot that's particularly squalid for the shock value?
	Do Russians love their children, too?
	Yeah, Sting.
	It's the whole thing.
	Yeah, they do.
	As a matter of fact.
	It's the whole thing.
	Yeah, poverty porn's awful, but the fact that he couldn't recognize that that's the situation he was potentially in... That's the thing, there's either two options.
	They took him to a trash heap place for poverty porn and he participated, or he just saw people existing as best they can And called it a garbage dump.
	Both are bad.
	Both of those things are bad!
	Yeah, there's not really a good answer here, even viewing this generously.
	And yeah, small trigger warning for the next clip.
	It's pretty gross, and if you're particularly sensitive to vile imagery of things, you might want to skip ahead about a minute or so.
	Like in like my mad world of Hollywood and all that stuff.
	I was in like a John Galliano fashion show in Paris.
	It was too hard to hold together the images of all of that mad suffering in Uganda and then seeing like this show of John Galliano where there were these beautiful bubbles full of smoke and people marching down a catwalk.
	This is the same planet.
	This can't be right.
	That this is happening.
	Something is deeply systemically wrong if you can simultaneously have that level of suffering.
	I try to envisage it as one individual.
	If it was one individual, like a female, who was like putting lipstick on her face and was all beautiful and then you look down like a leg and it was all sort of had all maggots in a hastily amputated stump, you'd go, you've got to sort that out.
	Well, yeah, like all beautiful, but then hastily amputated stump, all maggots in it.
	You should get someone to paint that.
	That'd be nice.
	So that's disgusting and absurd.
	Okay, so my coping mechanism has always been laughter.
	Like, I'm so sorry.
	That's not fun- Okay.
	Alright.
	No, no, no, it's fine.
	We deal how we deal.
	Something that I always enjoyed about Russell Brand is, yeah, like I think articles I saw was, you know, looking for stuff for the logo was like loquacity.
	He has this, he can play with language and when he, you can tell when he catches on something Like, the words, um, maggot-infested stump, are like, taken out of context, they're like, it's a goofy phrase.
	It's like a fun, goofy phrase that he can latch onto, but he's using it in a way, again, that's like, really problematic, but it's another like, hooky little, like, I, I noticed what he was doing, and yeah, like, It's absurd.
	Being an absurdist comic is hard when you're also existing in a truly absurd worldview.
	Yeah, I mean, it's almost a bit, you know?
	Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly!
	He does later, in the full thing, he hammers on it a couple of times, so it's like a bit, except it's not fucking funny, it's just gross.
	Right.
	I did not enjoy listening to that whatsoever.
	Yeah, and there's also the fact that while there is a point in what he's saying, that the world is inherently unequal and lacking equity, etc, etc, he's also one of the few people that's in a position to do something about it, but instead he's just fucking grifting for people's money!
	Yeah, it's pretty infuriating.
	Well, and also pushing a New Age bent that will compel people to further inaction.
	There's definitely a lot.
	Oh, God.
	Right.
	What's up next?
	Oh, yeah.
	Okay.
	Okay.
	This is something that he mentions that never comes up again, but we'll get into it.
	Oh, you do that.
	Do it now.
	We're talking about AI because even the fella, right, this is the news.
	This is paraphrased news.
	Google man, father of Google.
	That's right.
	He said he regrets everything he's done.
	It's gone too far, AI, and he wishes he'd shredded it down.
	Pretty much, yeah.
	Like he's gone, I've gone too far.
	He's gone too far.
	But before we talk about Google Man in a minute, we're going to talk to Max Blumenthal later about, I mean, I can't believe it's true, but you know the story, CIA, 9-11, all that stuff.
	Oh, did you catch that bit at the end?
	You know it's true that 9-1-1, CIA, all that stuff.
	The thing is, do you mean I heard it?
	Because I don't catch what he's trying to say, but I heard the word.
	I get the distinct feeling that we have a truther on our hands, and this will definitely come up more later when we chat with Max Blumenthal, who, oh god, he's a real piece of shit too, but we'll get to him in a bit.
	Him mentioning Google Man, as he calls him, and AI.
	Yeah, so the point where Brand actually talks about it is hidden behind, it's hidden on the locals channel behind a paywall because he does an interview after this show with someone else Just on locals.
	But I feel like it's all worth mentioning.
	Despite the way Brand is presenting it, Geoffrey Hinton, is who he's talking about, is not the godfather of Google, but the so-called godfather of AI, who recently quit Google so he could speak critically of AI without having to worry about how it affects Google.
	He also stated that, quote, Google has acted very responsibly when it comes to AI.
	His concerns are broadly that AI is improving at a pace that makes it very likely to be smarter than humanity in the near future, and at such a rate that it will be beyond our understanding.
	And in the more immediate future, he's particularly concerned about AI in military applications and where that could lead.
	Uh, reasonable concerns, um, by any account.
	And he, he just, you know, he, he worked for Google for a long time and wanted to speak out.
	And so he just quit to make sure that it wasn't, wouldn't throw shade on Google, him just raising these points.
	That, that's it.
	That's the whole thing.
	He's not, he's not stood there going, it's gone too far.
	I wish I could take it all back.
	No, no, that's, that's complete bollocks.
	Yeah, he's signed a contract and he probably, like the fact that he wanted to say something.
	Oh, that's interesting.
	Effective.
	Different cameras.
	That's a lot.
	Well, but what's interesting, and I'm, I don't know if I should start a count of 9-11 CIA, but that's obviously one of his go-to kind of things that like swim around in the back of his head.
	I'm wondering, I'm interested to see where that comes from.
	Or if he expands upon that?
	Definitely anything that involves the CIA whatsoever is horrendous to him.
	He's got a real fucking vendetta against the CIA.
	And don't get me wrong, there are justifiable issues with them, but yeah, the level that him and Max Blumenthal take it to later on is just insane.
	So, the next thing that we have coming is...
	Kind of what you would expect from a right-wing shithead.
	It's a really bad take on mental health.
	Let's get someone to decide, I'm sorry for your mental illness.
	It's all right, I don't mind.
	Look, there's no harm in being maladjusted to a maladjusted world.
	It is ordinary to suffer in a world where the value systems are so out of alignment with our evolution, where our diet is out of step, where our lifestyles are out of step.
	If you're like, this is fine, I like this, then I don't know man.
	We've all got to be a bit mentally ill to be able to process this kind of imagery with then France or Ukraine or Uganda or whatever it is.
	It's incredible that we can do it and then just get on with our life.
	It's ordinary to suffer is the bit that fucking got me and he just blows past it but It's ordinary to suffer.
	This kind of narrative is dangerous, promotes mental illness as a norm, and ultimately insinuates that, well, you can't help it so you might as well live with it.
	When combined with Brand's narratives on Big Pharma being evil and medication in general being evil, It is grossly irresponsible and is essentially telling his audience, if you have a mental illness, it's perfectly normal and don't get medicated for it or seek treatment.
	Maybe come and fucking meditate with me instead.
	Well, so what is alarming to me about that specific interlude that we just experienced is what they're using is They're attacking the Met Gala, the wealth, which is certainly, I think that's fair game.
	As I think the CIA is fair game.
	I think the CIA is poison.
	And I have to, my taxes go to it.
	I'm so mad.
	Like, listen, I get to be more mad than Russell Brand forever.
	Don't you worry.
	Yeah, I pay my taxes every year and I know where at least a little bit of it goes.
	I get to be more mad than him.
	I have to help pay for it.
	Anyway, so.
	Wow.
	He lives over here.
	He's got nothing to do with it.
	Yeah suck it dude come on get out of here like get in line.
	In this uh in this next clip we have what I would say is probably a rare moment of honesty.
	And they sort of did it in some weird basement.
	Yeah.
	But they still did the Oscars.
	Yeah right.
	Out of respect we're doing the Oscars down an alley.
	Don't do the Oscars anymore!
	Either give me one or stop them.
	One of those things.
	I guess the I feel like that's a very honest take there, just, well, you know, get rid of them, or give me one.
	That's what I was just saying!
	Yeah!
	Like, you still wanna do it!
	That's part of it, like, come on!
	You just want one, don't you, Russell?
	You just, you really want an Oscar, because I have to remind people, you know, the things that he's saying and the narratives he comes out with, it is Right-wing conspiracy theorist.
	Bullshit.
	But he is still a working actor.
	What was it, last year?
	The year before he was in Death on the Nile?
	You know, big fucking A-list movie.
	I quite enjoyed it, for reference.
	And his performance wasn't bad either.
	But he's still getting the work.
	People don't seem to have as much of an awareness that he's doing this kind of thing.
	And one of the real kind of illustrations of that, I fucking hope anyway, is who he interviews.
	Because he has a different podcast where he interviews people, as well as this one, and he's got a different meditation one as well.
	And I think he plays a good game of keeping those things separate, because the people he interviews in his other podcast We are talking like, you know, Matthew McConaughey was an example, Bill Burr, Amanda Palmer, you know, he gets fucking world famous people, you know, celebrities, etc.
	on there to chat.
	And there are also conversations on there with people like Jordan Peterson, etc.
	We may get into it a later date.
	I'm going to look into those long-form interviews and see if there is any shenanigans afoot.
	But yeah, he's still a working actor.
	He's still a figure in this universe.
	I'd say that that's something that we're...
	So his package on its face is like handsome, famous, funny person, which is already more of a challenge than confronting the ugliness of Alex Jones.
	And then you have the Subversion, that kind of his ideology here is very clear, but I can see very easily how he can change, you know, like kind of chameleon himself into a different setting where he's getting cover.
	I mean, I would hope that this is going to get out We're helping, so that he doesn't get work.
	He's just gonna be more mad and he's gonna say the same stuff, but this is a problem if he's being platformed.
	I hope, I hope.
	The problem is he is very good at, as far as I can tell, at not crossing the streams.
	He is very aware on which side his bread is buttered, so he's careful to keep those things separate, I think.
	But, like I said, I'm gonna be looking into them, and I'm gonna see if he pushes any of his outlandish bullshit on any of the celebrities.
	Also, I like some of these people.
	I like Bill Burr.
	I like Matthew McConaughey.
	At least there will be some entertainment value in me listening to that, rather than this fucking horseshit that we're gonna have to go through now.
	And speaking of horseshit, we've got some coming up that he's promoting.
	Extraordinary, because it ties us to a different time.
	Many of you love it when we have Graham Hancock on the show, because he's willing to talk about Egyptology and culture and potential ancient civilizations from a different perspective.
	And I suppose what's fascinating about positing that we are not at the apex of the human phenomena right now, that human civilizations have risen and fallen before in the 300 million year history of our planet.
	Am I right?
	Is it 300 million years for Earth?
	You can Google that pretty simply, although do you trust it?
	It's possible that there have been other civilizations that have fallen, and many people say that Graham Hancock is not responsible in the way that he presents evidence, but he's an amateur archaeologist, isn't he?
	And I think he presents some wonderful theories.
	So, yeah, just straight off the top.
	The Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
	He's only 4.2 billion years off.
	And humanity have been around for about 6 million years, so that's double his claim.
	And do you know how I found that out?
	I Googled it.
	A cursory Google.
	A cursory Google.
	Yeah, exactly.
	Literally.
	But do I trust it?
	Do you have any concept of who Graham Hancock is?
	Oh boy, I bet I'm familiar with, again, being interested in art and art history, you get the peripheral, like there's some ancient alien crossover from when I was very young, watching the History Channel.
	Yeah, he's definitely featured on the History Channel.
	He's a widely discredited British writer who promotes pseudo-scientific theories on lost civilizations.
	Essentially, we have a guy here who believes Atlantis was real, and Russell Brand, he's fucking into it.
	He loves it.
	He's like, oh yeah, you know, some people don't think he's responsible in the way he presents information, but I really...
	I really like it!
	Your responsibility is not the issue!
	It's the information that's the issue!
	This is it.
	You've got this alongside things that he is presenting as fact.
	There are a lot of things in this show that he presents as fact.
	And when you take that alongside it, you're like, okay, so I'm supposed to believe that Atlantis and all of these other fucking lost civilizations that Graham Hancock makes up on a whim are actually real.
	That's what the audience is supposed to get from this.
	And I'm quite sure he seems to be a relatively regular guest, so I'm quite sure we will cover his nonsense at some point.
	Good lord.
	So, also, this Graham Hancock person, I'm afraid I already am familiar, and if I saw His face.
	I was like, oh yeah, I've definitely seen him prattle on about some nonsense.
	You know, just like watching, you know, History Channel documentaries or whatever, which is not great.
	Also, I bet there are a lot of professional Egyptologists that have really fascinating things to say.
	That he could talk to, but that's not going to put YouTube butts in YouTube seats to watch YouTube ads.
	That breaks my heart.
	All right.
	Okay.
	I'm going to back up.
	I have such a problem with the ancient aliens thing.
	Guys, there is no question.
	Egyptians made Egyptian stuff.
	End of discussion.
	Because they were brown, because it was a long time ago, they were just smart about some stuff.
	They knew what the Nile did.
	They knew what rocks did.
	We can't allow that brown people knew how to do stuff that we now don't.
	How dare they?
	Oh, so it's kind of, it's a little rich to claim that we don't know how we have a, I
	mean, it's, it's that like, oh, well, well, evolution, just a theory.
	It's like, we have a lot of theories that are pretty sound, and also we're still constantly making discoveries that are super fascinating about how people that lived a long time ago could still achieve pretty like impressive feats because they just they like figured like they don't have the things like they're they don't have tv shows that they want to watch they had time to do other stuff and some people just were doing other stuff their priorities were different i mean but specifically the egyptian stuff is like yeah they were just like really talented like there were people also their society chose to support artisans
	So they could make really incredible things.
	And that's what you get.
	They're really talented, and also, you know, when it comes to, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, you know, the pyramids are a great mystery, etc.
	It's like, no, it's not a great mystery, it's just we had slaves.
	That was it, pretty much.
	We had slaves and were able to put rocks on logs.
	That was the fucking situation.
	Yeah, I'll actually reference.
	So, it's fun getting to know Al, making this podcast, because we're new friends, because we're starting this thing, and I'm an American person, American nerdy weirdo that was kind of raised on British TV, and the first thing I think of any time someone talks about Ancient aliens and Egyptian stuff is Dave Lister because Rimmer, Arnold Rimmer in the show is like- Aliens!
	How could they make these massive structures?
	Yeah, aliens!
	Right, like these massive structures and then Lister's like, whips!
	Massive, massive whips!
	Like that's the first thing I think of In my nerdy little brain, and I'm sorry, that was a comedy show!
	And that answered the question for me before Ancient Aliens was even on TV, and I was a child!
	That was a comedy show from 40 years ago, you know, but back in the time... Okay, don't come for me, Al.
	No, no, no.
	I watched it when I was younger as well.
	I love Red Dwarf.
	But, you know, it's very much kind of, we've settled this issue.
	We've fucking dealt with it.
	We don't need to go over it.
	Anyway, the reason that Russell has decided to bring up Egypt in this case...
	Is this story here and I will say there is an aspect of this that is genuinely funny and makes me laugh every time I play this clip.
	Some pharaoh out of his carsophagus and like giving him his voice.
	I've given him his voice back.
	It's really, really funny because what I'm confused by it.
	I'm confused by it as a concept and they certainly very confusing as a noise and look at all of the Like, the pageantry that went on then, we're talking about the Royal Wedding, uh, not Royal Wedding, Coronation later this week, and the amount of pageantry that went on, and it's that goes on now.
	Ridiculous pageantry.
	Well, in those days, they would bury a pharaoh with their servants, they'd bury him with all sorts of artifacts and art and all that kind of stuff.
	Well, now they've gone in there, dug him up, like, oddly distraught.
	What do you reckon his voice was like, though?
	Let's get down his voice box and give him a new voice.
	Look at this bizarre piece of news.
	Scientists were able to mimic Nessie Amun's voice by recreating his mouth and vocal cords with a 3D printer.
	It allowed them to produce a single sound.
	So that is genuinely funny.
	So that's an old story from 2020.
	I thought I'd seen it when I watched the fucking show.
	So I'm not sure if I'm presenting this as news, but it is presented in a genuinely funny way, and I must reiterate how this is a fucking problem.
	So Brand has well-established comedic chops.
	He was and is a comedian.
	He is still coming out with comedy specials today.
	And when you combine charm and entertainment with outright propaganda, the end result is almost always populist figures with a cult-like following and dangerous amounts of power and influence.
	And that's what we have on our hands now.
	And I have to say, I feel like we are nowhere near the peak of this man's power either.
	He is just getting started.
	I am scared of that.
	But I love that little weird yell.
	I love it.
	I think it's great.
	It is.
	As soon as that popped up on my Instagram.
	Yeah.
	Years ago.
	The first time.
	Yeah.
	Gotta say, that might be an out-of-context story.
	I love that.
	If we had a soundboard, that would be on it.
	It's funny.
	It's funny how they approached it.
	And I think it's really interesting.
	And it's an interesting effort that I never thought science would be able to do that.
	That is a hearing that is like a dream.
	For anyone that was excited by Egyptology as a kid, you know?
	It's incredible.
	It's really cool.
	It's interesting that you bring that up, because Gareth Roy does not share your opinion that it's amazing.
	He seems to just be a little bit baffled by it.
	You could make at all culture.
	There's a copper kicking a bit in France.
	I mean, what great revelation are they taking from this?
	I don't understand.
	Did they not think that someone back then could have made that noise?
	It seems that this Pharaoh, at least, was unhappy about being...
	Being dug out of his tomb and made to speak thousands of years later.
	We are being sort of reduced to idiocy through the meter of our culture.
	It's like dumbing down.
	That's what dumbing down feels like.
	Here's someone dressed as a cat.
	Here's a copper kick in a bin.
	Meanwhile, banks are collapsing, wars are going on, agitating China, encircling them with military bases.
	If this experiment's not working properly, this is time for a radical re-evaluation.
	Let us know.
	I mean, we're thinking about starting new communities.
	I believe Jared Leto tried a community, didn't he?
	Wow.
	But I don't know what went on.
	Look at him now.
	So I can, yeah, look at him now.
	What?!
	He's a cat.
	So I can see that you're chomping at the bit, but I'm just gonna hold you off for just one minute.
	So firstly, it's ironic- I'm here, I'm here, okay.
	It's ironic that Brand says that noise, that that noise is something that can be made through all culture, as the reason the vocal cords of Nessie Amun were recreated, Gareth fucking Roy, was to better connect us with the voices of humanity long ago.
	It's incredibly rare to be able to do this, as most human remains are skeletal and do not have intact vocal cords.
	But despite being 3,000 years old, Nessie Amun was mummified very well, and so they could perform what is quite simply scientific magic by recreating his voice.
	It's hilarious, but also very, very cool.
	As for Jared Leto, well, as far as I'm aware, he's a shithead who's been accused multiple times of sexually assaulting underage girls, and reportedly texts and grooms girls around 16, 17.
	But the cult accusation seems to be something of an inside joke between him and the fans of 30 Seconds to Mars.
	The closest thing I could actually find was a three-day retreat the band held with select paying fans, which featured intimate performances with the band, yoga, movie screenings, and lots of following Jared Leto around while wearing white clothes.
	It's creepy, perhaps, but I wouldn't say it's escalated to cult status just yet.
	Russell, I don't think this is the thing you're looking for, buddy.
	Now, Brand might have some comedic chops, but in this next clip, I would say, well, I I do have to look, OK, if anybody's going to come for Jared Leto, the issue being His weird talent, kind of like talent, fame, and being a classically handsome but privileged person.
	And then mixing spirituality into it.
	I think of all people, Russell needs to put down the stones he's throwing at his own glass house.
	That is outrageous to hear coming out of his mouth.
	I think he who smelt it did in fact dealt it.
	That's a lot!
	Especially given that this year, and I think years previous, and definitely years in the future, Russell Brand has a festival at Heian Y, which has a lot of Wu bullshit and a lot of meditation with him and that kind of stuff.
	It feels like they're kind of on the same tip, just a little bit.
	So, you know what, maybe I was wrong.
	Maybe that is the scene that he's looking for.
	That sounds completely believable.
	Yeah, I think it's fair to say that comedy's not doing great in the U.S.
	at the moment.
	And apparently, according to this next clip, neither are banks.
	Howling all over the Gaffey is another one.
	Look, another banks fail.
	Let's have a look at that.
	Look, First Republic Bank collapse spurs fears for banking system and broader economy.
	Is that good news?
	It's not great news, no.
	So it's three of the four largest bank failures in U.S.
	history have taken place over the last two months.
	No way!
	Is this worse than the ones in 2008?
	There's three of the four so we've had three collapse in the last few weeks or a few months.
	So I'm not going to get too heavily into bank failures because it happens surprisingly often and as always they're bailed out by other banks and or people with even more money than them or sometimes the government which is a whole fucking separate can of worms that I'm not going to get into.
	It's not great.
	It's not great.
	Yeah, no.
	What I do want to draw your attention to, however... Yeah, three collapses in the last few weeks.
	In 2008!
	These are... That good news?
	There we go.
	No, not there.
	Come back.
	There we go.
	Right.
	What I do want to draw your attention to is the little asterisk in the bottom right corner
	of this image that says "editorialized by StayFree Media."
	So they've got the headline, a picture, a source, well, the logo of a source, and then asterisk editorialized by Stay Free Media.
	So my first thought was, oh, they've changed the headline to be more dramatic.
	But actually, Actually, they haven't, which I don't understand.
	They've used the original headline from the article at The Hill.
	So why that's there, I'm not sure, but it did get me curious about Stay Free Media.
	Oh boy.
	It turns out, Stay Free Media Ltd.
	is a company registered by Russell Brand and his wife, Laura, with the address based at the Crown Inn in I think it might be pronounced Pishill, but the spelling is Pishill, so I'm gonna call it Pishill, Oxfordshire.
	One of the wealthiest portions of the UK.
	It seems likely to me that they own this pub.
	That's ironic.
	It's an ironic name.
	Yeah, well, yeah.
	It seems likely to me that they own this pub, which is fine, but what I do find interesting is the nature of business that's listed on the government's website.
	It shows up as licensed restaurants, takeaway food shops and mobile food stands, buying and selling of own real estate and artistic creation.
	Nothing in there about journalism, propagandizing, or even entertainment, and yet they've linked Stay Free Media to this show.
	Something is amiss, I'm not quite sure what it is, but there's definitely something fucking going on here, and yeah, we're gonna have to keep an eye on it and see what we can find out, I think.
	That's fascinating.
	So, Piss Hill is a place?
	Piss Hill is a place, yeah.
	Is it a pub?
	Yeah, it's a pub called The Crown Inn in Piss Hill, Oxfordshire.
	Oh, okay.
	I understand.
	The Crown Inn.
	I, I see now.
	Okay.
	Okay.
	That makes, all right.
	All right.
	So.
	Yeah.
	As far as I'm aware, I think, I don't think it's their home address.
	I don't think.
	Um, but, uh, cause as far as I'm aware, they live around Eaton.
	Um, you know, where the, uh, where the, uh, incredibly wealthy boys school is.
	Um, Yeah, yeah.
	But I think they do own it as a business and clearly run a pub, which on its own is fine.
	Go for it.
	Do what you want.
	That's a normal thing in this country, relatively speaking.
	I mean, in America, all bets are off.
	I'm interested in the difference and how you have to register your business in the UK versus over here, because You can kind of obviously shell companies are like a thing here like we're an incredible tax haven like as a country it's pretty reprehensible and like literally no one talks about it but like you can hide pretty much any old thing under your like business name but I feel like with the way that I understand I have the most rudimentary understanding of like of libel law and that kind of thing
	There are different standards for speech in the UK versus in America.
	I would think that would have something to do with the declaration of your business.
	I don't know a lot of pubs that would have Yeah, it's definitely unusual.
	I looked into what the ramifications were for incorrectly listing the nature of your business, and it turns out there really aren't any in this country for some reason.
	It's definitely unusual.
	I looked into what the ramifications were for incorrectly listing the nature of your
	business, and it turns out there really aren't any in this country for some reason.
	I don't quite know why, because I feel like that should be something vaguely important.
	You know, when you say you're one thing and you're doing something completely different, but most of the sanctions on there seem to be to do with money laundering, actually, which, I mean, there's definitely a part Possibility, but I'm not going to cast any aspersions just yet until there's some amount of evidence.
	When we start getting into some of Bran's pro-Russia narratives later on, the money laundering will become a little bit of a more loaded question.
	I never thought I'd be so, yeah, I never thought I'd be so fascinated by forensic accounting.
	That's another thing that podcasts have brought into my life, much like depositions.
	I'm so fascinated.
	It's how we go Al Capone, you know?
	Yeah, and to be fair...
	Having been to several museums with weird crap about him in it in America, pretty fascinating.
	Not a great person.
	And we can still go drink.
	I mean, in town, we can go drink at the Green Mill.
	It's something else.
	The floor is sticky and it smells, but it's a cool bar.
	And there's a bunch of wild stories about it.
	I'm so interested, back to the, so they're posting, for those of you listening, they're posting a front photo for an article in The Hill and I don't know why they're recontextualizing but I'm interested because I guess their media, like they have their own- Russell Brand and his company has like a similar kind of like prison planet or like a news site also?
	Is that the case that he's like recontextualizing the article?
	Not that I've seen.
	And the weird thing about saying that this is editorialized by Stay Free Media is that they've not done any editorializing other than what Russell Brand is chatting about now.
	Um, you know, so the actual thing that they've brought up is, they could have just put it up there without anything about state free media whatsoever, and that would have been fine, because they've not changed anything.
	The headline is exactly the same, it shows the source, and it's the picture directly from the article as well.
	So, I just, I do not understand.
	As for libel laws and stuff like that, I don't think that would come into it either, because while we don't have a First Amendment over here, we don't have a codified constitution the same way that you do.
	But it's perfectly... there are pros and cons to both.
	I've been through this with an old law professor.
	Yeah, in terms of like, freeness of speech, etc.
	Yeah, he's perfectly free to talk about this and talk about this article in The Hill, etc.
	and talk about First Republic Bank without any fears of repercussions pretty much whatsoever, unless he starts to make outlandish claims, which in this instance, he actually doesn't.
	So I I don't know.
	I don't know why he's doing this.
	It's a little bit bizarre.
	The other article they posted was not at all what they had to do.
	Like the other article they posted was like, not at all what they had to like, there was
	a picture of a bank in the article, but like, it was about something going well.
	I don't I mean, I've, you know, we've been talking so I it's it's kind of escaped my my immediate memory.
	But like, even this article is like they're talking about banks collapsing as like, An indicator of societal collapse and they're just like banks that are probably just restructuring.
	That's like basic bankruptcy stuff.
	Yeah, it's just war.
	Which is fine.
	At the end of the day, a bank is fundamentally a business, and businesses go wrong all the fucking time.
	It's just something that happens.
	But for them, it's, oh, we had some of the worst bank collapses in American history.
	Also, when you have something like inflation constantly kicking up how much money there is in the world, there's going to be a worse one next year and the year after, because it will seem like more money, because that's what inflation does.
	What else is capitalism?
	It's built to fail constantly.
	And also, who gives a fuck?
	Some rich people lose out.
	Who gives a shit?
	I really don't.
	In the meantime, we really do need to check in on Russell's Locals channel.
	British Petroleum, they're making profits.
	How's your electricity bill lately?
	Have you seen electricity bills?
	They're not going up.
	Exclusive.
	Yeah.
	Wait a minute.
	Hold on.
	Wait a minute.
	Let me look at last year's one.
	Still on YouTube.
	Can't express myself.
	Yeah.
	Barry John and Fox.
	They're crazy high.
	That was soothing.
	Yeah.
	It's always nice to hear a little bit of Stevie Wonder, isn't it guys?
	I don't know if Stevie Wonder could sue them for use of his music, but he probably should.
	But yeah, notice that, ooh, can't express myself on YouTube!
	Like, fuck off, Russell.
	You can't complain about gas prices on YouTube?
	Get a grip!
	You can't complain that BP are doing well and that electric bills have gone up.
	Ooh, it's too hot for YouTube, it's too much!
	Yeah, the conceit of that little bit was like, oh, you can't say this on YouTube.
	Yeah, Russ.
	Rusty, you can't complain about your power bill on YouTube.
	That's going to get outlawed.
	Get real.
	There are real concerns and he just keeps taking them into a completely Just like a space brain place.
	You should be mad about the record profits!
	That's the indicator that they don't need all those profits!
	They just don't!
	We all know that!
	Say that!
	Come back!
	Say that!
	This is about the amount of time that they spend on this article, and instead of kicking off about, yeah, BP and the oil companies are royally fucking us all, instead of saying that it's, oh no, I can't go on YouTube, I'm gonna stick to Rumble, join my locals channel, because that gives me money.
	That's the way that we're going instead.
	So in this next clip, we get an idea of the amount of work that Russell puts into the articles that he covers on his news show.
	Oh boy.
	And Hans, Mr. Politician, is saying Trudeau's questioned his what... Even Trudeau didn't believe that that Freedom Convoy was as bad as he was saying it was.
	No, this is his staffers who didn't believe it.
	Oh, even his people that work for Trudeau?
	Yeah, so the people that work for him were like behind, I guess, closed doors, were kind of like, oh, I'm not sure he should be doing this.
	Do you, with Justin Trudeau, always think, is it Trudeau?
	Yes, I do think that all the time.
	Genius.
	Thank fuck that Gareth Roy is there, otherwise he would have carried on down that entire narrative saying that, oh, even Trudeau thinks that he shouldn't have done it.
	And what we have here, I think, is another supposed newsman who doesn't read beyond the headlines and can't even read a headline, it would seem.
	Even that headline is a little- so the headline itself is, even Trudeau staffers question his wild claims used to shut down Freedom Convoy protests, text show.
	That's already like a little wiggity as a headline.
	That's it's burying some leads.
	It's like legitimately.
	Also, I don't know what the logo is.
	I don't know where this news is coming from.
	I'm not sure.
	That's the that's the infuriating thing.
	They show the logo of the source, but they don't show the actual the actual source.
	So you're left hunting around for a logo instead.
	I've I've not bothered to look it up because it's a stupid logo that I don't recognize.
	So it's probably from some bullshit website.
	I mean, it looks like a high school marching band logo.
	Yeah, her school marching band logo, which I think would be great for them.
	I think it would be awesome.
	It looks like a lion person.
	Or like a courier service.
	I see like a shield with a world on it.
	I don't know.
	It worries me a little bit where this could go.
	I don't think it's anywhere reputable or recognizable.
	If I'm wrong, someone please let me know.
	And that is perfectly fine.
	Well inserting that next to the hill it like you're combining these like he is also making all of these news sources look the same so you see the hill and that's a logo that we all recognize and so then he could just throw this next one in the could yeah very well could be off of InfoWars or Prison Plan or something nuts like because it's also it's a weird it's like it's got that chat GPT feel of a headline it's weird yeah right yeah it's um it's it's not It's not good.
	And neither is the direction that they're going with Trudeau either.
	Theory type sounding things saying that he's Fidel Castro's lad.
	Oh yeah.
	They're conspiracy theory type things.
	We wouldn't be interested in that then, would we?
	No, not actual conspiracy theory.
	I mean, also, look, always conspiracy theory.
	Let me know if you agree with this guys in the chat.
	Does it make any bloody difference?
	Whatever you think about Cuba, socialism, Fidel Castro and all that.
	Fidel Castro was not like a player on the world stage, able to get people in via the WEF.
	He faced pretty heavy sanctions from the US.
	Whatever Cuba would do it over there, America were not into it.
	America were like, hell, this is all part of our globalist scheme.
	Globalist!
	This is the first instance of us hearing Brand use the word globalist, and while we're yet to find out whether he means it in terms of a global form of government or as cover for veiled antisemitism, I am a little bit concerned.
	Another thing to note here is pay attention to Gareth's response in this clip compared to the next one.
	In this one, he seems to be leaping on board with Trudeau being Castro's son, and that being important for some reason, even if it was true.
	was true.
	Okay.
	All right.
	Okay.
	But the next clip takes quite a different, quite a different approach as we watch Russell's
	perspective on the matter.
	Well aware of the human rights issues over there.
	Judge Trudeau on what he actually does, rather than... Judge him on what he was, not who his dad is, or is.
	Might have been.
	Yeah, just because he looks a little bit like him, conveniently, really.
	Oh, should we leave?
	Listen, guys, I think we're going to leave.
	If you're watching us on YouTube or Elon Musk's Citadel of Free Speech, that is Twitter, we're going to leave you now because we are going to speak to Max Blumenthal, who's a fantastic journalist.
	No, he isn't.
	So this is where the YouTube feed cuts off and it goes exclusively to Rumble and locals to have this conversation that is too dangerous with Max Blumenthal.
	But notice there how Gareth Roy was suddenly very disinterested in the whole Trudeau being Castro's son thing after Russell had gone, yeah, well, you know, does it matter?
	You know, who really cares?
	At first he's like, oh, well, that's not something, you know, we should know about that, shouldn't we?
	And then, oh, but boss daddy says that I should change my mind, so I'm going to change my mind.
	I mean, OK, so this is not a conspiracy theory that I'm familiar with.
	I'm bummed out that I've been familiar with most.
	Did he just make that up right now?
	Do you know what?
	Did Russell just make that up?
	It's so fucking stupid, I honestly have not looked into the origins or credibility of it.
	It's just like, clearly he is slightly brown and vaguely handsome chap and therefore he is somehow the son of Fidel Castro.
	I might look into it in a little bit, just out of curiosity now, because now I'm wondering, like, is this some QAnon bullshit?
	Like, where is this fucking coming from?
	But either way, it's complete nonsense.
	I mean, even timeline-wise!
	That's just nuts!
	Like, what?
	I mean, maybe the timeline adds... I don't know, but, like, time and place...
	One of the dimensions that we understand in our human brains isn't driving.
	This is just, it's, I don't even know if he looks like Fidel Castro.
	The picture of Fidel Castro I have in my head doesn't resemble Trudeau.
	You've got to try and shave him and then look at it.
	it. I mean, I don't know. I mean, listen, there are things in Trudeau's past that, again, we can pick.
	Pick--
	I have bone to pick with, but like making it also like what are these issues?
	That's fine.
	Like, I mean, listen, there's I've got friends that are Cuban-Americans.
	They're pretty great.
	Like, I don't know what.
	I mean, I guess the implication is he is the Castro.
	So he's a problem.
	I don't know, and that's really weird!
	I don't know what the point would be.
	I might have to look into it to see what the basis of it is.
	I just wrote it off as being so fucking stupid and redundant that it wasn't worth looking into, but now that you've mentioned it, it is interesting that he's brought it up as to where he found this conspiracy theory.
	I will have a look into that, and I will get back to you, because it's definitely an odd one, and it feels QAnon-adjacent to me, in terms of how outlandish it is, but we shall see.
	In the meantime, we have to get into Russell's guest for this show, Max Blumenthal, and they're about to introduce him now.
	He founded Grayzone, he founded it, and then he bloody well edits it.
	Look what I found.
	Founded.
	Didn't found it, like find it.
	He founded it, like it's foundation.
	Then he edits it.
	Right.
	Nice, isn't it?
	Have you ever thought you might start editing this?
	No, mate.
	I find it too hard.
	I believe him.
	Yeah.
	Hey man, I get it.
	I'm not coming for that.
	Yeah, no, 100%.
	I don't want to fucking edit a news site.
	That sounds terrible.
	That sounds like an absolutely shit existence, but it does amaze me how stunned they are by someone both founding and editing one of these sites, given that that's how almost all of them started.
	Let's get into who Max Blumenthal is before he shows up on our screens.
	From the outside, he seems like a fairly moderate author researching and discussing geopolitics, and maybe purely from his books one could be forgiven for thinking that.
	Then comes The Grey Zone, Blumenthal's news website, which he personally seems to write only a few articles a year for.
	It took me all of 30 seconds to understand the narratives Blumenthal is trying to spin looking at his website.
	Pro-Russia, pro-Trump, anti-Israel and very right-wing.
	All of the articles I can find seem to make spurious claims either sensationalizing or taking things out of context in order to support a specific narrative.
	So he's a bit of a bullshit artist, basically.
	Okay.
	Also, if you only write a couple articles a year, that's not hard to edit.
	I could do that.
	No.
	I could do that.
	That doesn't seem like a lot.
	The actual frequency of articles on the entire site, even when you take other contributors into account, it's like one a week.
	It's really not many.
	Yeah, that's manageable.
	I would say this is not much to be particularly impressed about.
	But I feel like the only reason that it's kind of that few and far between is that they have to wait for the right thing to be able to spin the right narrative in the right way, because any great propaganda will have a slice of truth wrapped in bullshit, and that's 100% what they're looking to do.
	Yeah, interestingly, my opinion of Max Blumenthal differs a little bit from Russell Brand.
	He has an interesting comparison to make in this next clip.
	Well, I think people got the idea that it was going to be about 9-11 saying that the CIA, the two of the 9-11 hijackers were CIA operatives.
	Recruits, yeah.
	Recruits.
	Now that doesn't necessarily mean that 9-11 was a CIA scam, but put together, look at the various things you've seen, whether it's that Loose Change documentary that used to be on YouTube, don't know if it still is.
	Tell us guys, is it still on YouTube?
	Can you find it now?
	Tell us in the chat.
	Or, if you're like a Michael Moore type person, remember Fahrenheit 9-11 when he was saying all the Saudi Royals were getting flown out of there and the Bushes and the Saudi Royal family?
	It used to be that you could get radical stuff from the left and that's one of the reasons I like Max Blumenthal.
	So apparently Max Blumenthal should be compared to Michael Moore.
	Here's Michael Moore.
	Here's Max Blumenthal.
	They're the same.
	Okay.
	All right.
	I got to breeze past loose change.
	I just, I've got to like, listen, we very much have to pick and choose.
	And I still like, okay.
	I genuinely feel like People like Russell Brown with this like obsession with 9-11 but like a fundamental misunderstanding because they just flashed up an article that and who knows where it's from and who knows what the article said but the headline said hijackers were CIA recruits, you know, study fines or whatever, research fines.
	And I feel like they put the pictures of the brown people on the cover of the article, and then he conflates that with the Saudi family being flown out of the United States, which absolutely did happen, because they were in danger.
	I mean, listen, I don't like any of them.
	That's not good, but I almost feel like they pretend in their minds That Bin Laden's physically did the attacks, truly.
	To me, I've seen this my entire adult life.
	I've had to watch idiots spin themselves into knots here.
	And it just feels like, at this point, their narrative is that Bin Laden's did 9-11, but physically did it.
	It just feels like that's where they're going because they've frothed themselves up for such a long time and completely misunderstood the very complex situation that produced that outcome.
	It's just because it's like CIA, Bush's, Bin Laden's, 9-11.
	I feel like they just mashed it all into one like pile at this point.
	Which is fully absurd.
	I definitely understand what you're saying.
	Max Blumenthal, specifically, gets into some of the minutiae of 9-11, and that's where the narrative that we're going to be covering comes from, actually.
	Two of the hijackers specifically, and I will explain that in just a little bit.
	But the article that he flashed up was from Blumenthal's website, The Grey Zone.
	That picture is from Blumenthal's website, The Grey Zone.
	And yeah, you can be forgiven for thinking that maybe they're trying to spin a specific narrative there.
	With just the imagery alone, let alone the headline.
	But next up, we get to meet Blumenthal, and we have his opening salvo into the show.
	A right-wing fascist.
	And I don't think he's an anti-Semite, because I feel like Blumenthal might be a Jewish name I've not asked before.
	All right, Max, are you a right-wing fascist anti-Semite?
	Let's get that out from the top.
	Well, I've been called a self-hating Jew.
	That's how they do it.
	And, uh, you know, I always wondered why the self-loving Jews who call me a self-hater hate so many people, from, you know, Palestinians, Muslims.
	It's always a question I've had.
	Notice he doesn't answer whether he's right-wing or fascist, he just says he's a self-hating Jew, which, in this instance, and given what I already know, I'm taking to mean that he is anti-Israel.
	Well, first of all, the conflation with anyone being Jewish and associating with Israel is obviously problematic.
	Maybe it's just obvious to me, but I'd imagine we'll have plenty of opportunities to explore this further.
	You can say that, yeah.
	Oh, bummer.
	Cool, cool bummer.
	Um, yeah, that's, wow, that's a problem.
	Uh, I, I would, I mean, also Russell Brand is setting up, it's like the opposite of that, like, when did you stop beating your wife?
	Like, you know, gotcha question.
	And cause he's like creating This like, you know, like he's creating this argument like, oh, well, this is what everyone calls you.
	Obviously you're not this horrible monster, are you?
	You're just a balding guy in a white bedroom.
	You're innocuous.
	And like, it's just, I don't, I mean, it's inflammatory.
	It's intentionally like ostentatious and inflammatory to like intro a guy like that.
	And then he really goes sideways with it.
	I would say it's partly, you know, kind of living up to, like, ooh, look how dangerous we are.
	But I think it's also partly preemptive, because people like us exist who can look at this guy and go, that's a shithead.
	And, you know, people, you know, brands, detractors have described him as a right-wing propagandist and he doesn't like it very much.
	You know, especially being such a darling of the left for so long.
	So he's, yeah, he's on the defensive about it early and on the defensive on Max's behalf.
	But as you mentioned about conflating things to do with Judaism, we get into that pretty much
	straight away. - Sending US taxpayer dollars to neo-Nazis in Ukraine if, you know, they care so
	much about our history. But, you know, it really depends on who you ask what label you want to
	It's harder to get to anti-Semitism accusations for someone who is themselves Jewish, I would have thought, than people that are explicitly neo-Nazis, do the actual salute and everything, are down with a swastika.
	Like, that for me seems like a more legit charge of anti-Semitism.
	I mean, I think we can conclusively say that the Nazis are anti-Semites.
	So.
	Jewish people can absolutely still be anti-Semitic, whether Jewish by heritage or by religion.
	It's just another stupid and reductive point from Brand.
	As for Nazis in Ukraine, which is a big talking point for both of these individuals.
	What they're referring to here are the infamous Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian volunteer fighting force who, when formed, were comprised of white nationalists, particularly among leadership positions.
	In 2014, they were absorbed into the Ukrainian National Guard, where they could receive greater oversight, and according to the Ukrainian military, all the white nationalists and neo-Nazis were ousted from the ranks.
	It has since become one of the most powerful military propaganda machines Ukraine has, as videos of the Azov regiment fighting Russian forces are uploaded to the internet daily.
	There is no evidence that the Azov Regiment are down with swastikas or Nazis saluting anyone.
	There's some rambling from Blumenthal, so I'm gonna save you the trouble of having to listen to this next bit and we'll skip to the meat of the interview in the next section where we're discussing the supposed bombshell of the 9-11 bombers being CIA recruits.
	An opening of total horseshit.
	But yeah, are we so are we like as far as the Azov battalion and like the issue of neo Nazis being in in military units?
	I'd imagine in fact, there's a lot of evidence that both the US military and the US police force has like a pretty big problem with actually being like way into swastikas and all that shit.
	So The thing is, them existing in one place and existing in another place, that in and of itself is not worth drawing a comparison.
	The fact that we should be fine with Russia going in and firebombing them because there are some neo-Nazis there, that's where we should be examining our own house and our own psychotic military superpower situation that is chock full of Nope.
	Nazis and bigots and any number of decisions that are being made for totally horrible reasons.
	So I just, that's where the issue is.
	Calling attention to one group to take focus away from another one.
	Not valid.
	But as a justification for aggression, that's where we need to be careful, I think.
	I think as well, the issue is that they're complaining about Nazis here.
	And there probably are still some people with those beliefs in the Azov Battalion, in Ukraine in general.
	Like, white nationalism is a pretty big thing over the last, like, five or six years, and it's because of shitheads like this!
	Like, it's these people who are doing it!
	So it's like, you can't create the problem and then complain about the fucking problem!
	You shat in your own hands, you can't then complain at me that there is shit in your hands!
	You have to clean it up yourself.
	This. Yeah, but someone's paying you to shit in your hands.
	That's even more complicated.
	(laughing)
	I mean, how much are they paying me?
	I'm open to ideas.
	We're struggling creatives.
	There's only a matter of time before we turn to sex work of some description.
	Anyway.
	Yeah, truly.
	Listen, I'm not above showing people my feet, but shitting in my hands, that's a high dollar.
	It's a dollar, though!
	There's an amount!
	ALICE There's an amount.
	There's a price.
	There's definitely a price.
	It's a high price, but I will do it.
	Right, so we're gonna get into the meat of this now, and this is gonna take a little- oh, oh, oh, we've lost Lauren.
	We've lost Lauren.

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