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Oct. 19, 2023 - On Brand

02:16:33

OB #25 - The Israel-Palestine Conflict

How does Russell handle the news of war in the Middle East? The answer is both surprising and not great. Middle Eastern Children's Alliance: mecaforpeace.org United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees: unrwa.org Support us on Patreon! - patreon.com/OnBrand

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	This is On Brand, a podcast where we discuss the ideas and antics of one Russell Brand.
	I'm Al Worth and each week I go through an episode of Brand's Show with my co-host Lauren B. That's me!
	And I have no idea what we're about to cover today, but...
	My hopes are low.
	I have low hopes.
	Yeah, as they should be.
	It's going to be inevitably bad, which is why we do the good thing before the bad thing.
	So Lauren, what is your good thing this week?
	My good thing this week is twofold.
	My initial thoughts and then my not expressing them.
	When I went on a little jog, a couple days, well, not a couple days ago.
	I just don't know what day it is.
	I have more work to do for another event, so I'm back to the time hole, where I have no idea what day or hour it is.
	And I saw some kids.
	We live close to a school, and I saw some kids.
	They looked 12 to me, so they were probably older.
	They could have been 19.
	I don't know.
	Youths, you know.
	So the youths.
	The youth of today.
	Youths are out there, you know, out in the streets.
	I'm familiar with them.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	And so there's like this little, like, you know, concrete patch.
	And I don't see kids skateboarding around a lot, just around here.
	And they probably, right, there's probably a reason for that.
	But yeah, I saw one kid skateboarding medium well.
	Doing his best, like trying really hard.
	And he's getting there, I think.
	I was like, oh, good for you.
	I came home and compared notes with Mike and Mike was like, he was not doing great, but he'll get there.
	And I just like, and there was a kid filming.
	For like the TikToks or the Snapchats, whatever the kids are doing these days, the Facebook.
	Oh, that's nice.
	Isn't it nice?
	And I had this thought that I was like, I wanted to just like scoot over there because also kids, I don't see kids skateboarding there, which means they probably get screamed at.
	And the fact that they were there, I was just like, man, I wanted to run over there and be like, hey, fuck yeah, you little shits, fuck them up.
	Like, yes!
	You're out of here killing it!
	And I was like, no.
	We're old now.
	That's not cool.
	Yeah, they're going to be like, well, I guess we've got to quit skateboarding.
	Exactly.
	It's like, oh, grandma came and fucking ratted us out.
	I'm going to take up accounting.
	Hell yeah, you little piece of shit!
	You know, like, fucking give them hell!
	Junior!
	I was just so excited to see, especially like, I don't know what your experience is, and I think this is maybe a little bit age difference thing too, but like, man, I had some friends that started like skateboarding and doing like skateboard videos and stuff and like working for the skate shop in town and like, Man, they were, I mean, I don't know that they necessarily did a lot with it, but they were still in art classes with me.
	Man, my friend Keith, they're so talented and like started also making skate video type home movies of their kids that were hilarious.
	Yeah, and this was like a long time ago because I'm an old.
	And so yeah, like, They're kids running around the house with, like, the stooges playing in the background and, like, a fisheye lens.
	It was very that.
	And so I was just like, oh, I'm so glad you're recording yourself skating poorly.
	I really made my heart warm.
	Skating, there was definitely a period where skateboarding was a massive thing over here.
	I mostly attribute that to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, to be perfectly honest.
	And that era, you know.
	Which was fantastic.
	Oh yeah.
	I was terrible at it.
	I played it all the time.
	I was actually, I think I wasn't bad at it.
	I'm terrible now, however, so that's interesting.
	I was better as like a seven-year-old compared to now.
	Seven?
	Making me feel old?
	I don't know, I'm guessing.
	Mama?
	Making me feel old?
	Well, the first one came out a long time ago.
	We know my age difference.
	It checks out.
	That far apart.
	You're right.
	But yeah, I think there has been something of a resurgence in this country.
	But no, I feel that way when I see baby goths around.
	Because, you know, I was a goth.
	Oh, same.
	Oh, same!
	Like, any time I see them around where I live, or especially in the town, whenever I go kind of homewards direction, there was a specific town that I used to go to on the weekends that was like the nearest big town, and all the goths from the surrounding rural areas would all converge on the one big town and so anytime I see the baby goths in that town specifically I'm like oh the torture's being carried that's that's lovely great and and like there's a part of me that wants to talk to them and be like yes good on you you know but I get the same feeling as you I'm like nah
	That's not going to go well for anyone.
	I'm just going to mind my business and let them do their thing, because I'm an old... Yeah, they don't want to hear it.
	I'll just support in my heart.
	So what's your good thing this week?
	My good thing.
	It's been another one of those weeks, but I think it's my turn to use a TV show as a convenient out.
	Sex Education is my TV show of the week.
	Have you seen Sex Education on Netflix?
	No.
	No, you haven't?
	Okay, well it's there.
	I don't know anything about it.
	Other than the name.
	So it just released its final season within the last couple of weeks.
	Of how many?
	What total amount?
	I want to say like four or five.
	I cannot recall.
	I have seen all of them.
	I think like five.
	I don't know, there's a good chunk of content to deal with there.
	The range is getting up. Yeah, no, no, no, it's it's there's a good chunk of content to deal with there. Good for a
	binge, that's for sure. Okay.
	Uh, the premise is, um, So it's it's a british high school, but it's kind of very
	americanized in in the aesthetic and all of that Which is a really interesting kind of thing
	And very kind of, like, 80s American specifically.
	It's got that kind of retro vibe thrown in there, but it's also very modern as well.
	So, you know, everyone's got smartphones and everything like that.
	It's not, like, set in the 80s or anything, but it has those feelings.
	Like, the leather jackets and all of that kind of stuff, right?
	So it still looks like Heather's, which I think is always a fantastic aesthetic choice.
	I genuinely believe it.
	It's great, and it's fascinating because all the cars are European cars from the 80s as well, and you're like, that's interesting.
	That's a choice.
	But yeah, so the premise is this kid, his mom, who is played by Gillian Anderson, by the way, his mom is a sex therapist, and he's a teenager in high school, and he kind of falls into doing the same thing as his mom, just to like high school students.
	Hence the name sex education right?
	That's a little brilliant as a premise.
	It's great and it's it's incredibly progressive and and really like just up front about all of the sex stuff and relationship stuff and everything you know it's it's really Really quite remarkable, and at the same time it manages to scratch kind of a thing of that teenage awkwardness as well, and dealing with sex and all of that when you're a teenager, and the minefield of what that was.
	But yeah, great show all around, but this last season especially, they knew it was the final season going into it.
	And, um, queerest season of the show.
	Just fucking rainbow flags from start to finish.
	It was so over the top in that regard, it made me so incredibly happy.
	But also, it's like, by that point especially, it's a very emotional show.
	And, like, with every episode, almost, I was bawling like a baby.
	I cried so much.
	Especially the last couple of episodes just wrecked me.
	And the last...
	I can't remember which one it was, but there is... it's not a huge particular spoiler, but there's a non-binary person who goes through a very serious mental health crisis, and it deals with them in that situation.
	And the things that they were thinking, and saying, and I was like...
	Oh, this is this is a very raw nerve.
	Yeah.
	You know, it really.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	I bawled my eyes out for that, especially as I was like, oh, I've thought all of these things.
	That's exactly been there.
	So, yeah.
	But also just fucking fantastic show.
	And yeah, just.
	Oh, I love a cathartic cry.
	You're gonna love it, honestly.
	If you watch this show, you're gonna be super into it.
	It's gritty, but also charming and fun and complicated and nuanced and deals with all manner of trans issues.
	And like religion comes in there as well, because like one of the main characters is gay, you know, but from like a from a Christian African kind of background.
	And so there's kind of, oh, you know, there's some intense kind of conservatism going on there.
	Very specific.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it is.
	It is.
	But that's that's interesting.
	Yeah, totally.
	Great show.
	Great show.
	That is that is my.
	That is my good thing of this last week.
	Sad that it's over, but boy, what a ride.
	And I'm excited for you!
	You get to enjoy it.
	Thanks.
	And anyone who has not seen it yet.
	Right, we have a show to deal with of our own, but first we should thank some of our new patrons.
	So, first up, Adam Grayskull.
	You are now an Awakening wonder.
	You are indeed an Awakening wonder.
	Thank you, Adam.
	Thank you, Adam!
	We know this, Adam, as a matter of fact.
	Adam, give my absolute love today.
	I am so incredibly proud of them.
	Please let them know that.
	I will explain that to you after, Lauren.
	Mary, you are now an awakening wonder.
	You are indeed an awakening wonder.
	Thank you, Mary.
	I think it's Mary.
	It could be Marie.
	I'm not sure.
	Spell it.
	M-A-R-E-E.
	I think that's Marie.
	I think Marie.
	Marie!
	Could be Marie, right?
	Well, you've gotten both.
	You have.
	So, I hope that we covered our bases.
	And you are an awakening wonder.
	Marie, Marie, Marie.
	Marie!
	Thank you.
	I dig it, either way.
	Yeah.
	And Perry McDaniel, you are now an awakening wonder.
	You are indeed an awakening wonder.
	Thank you, Perry.
	Perry!
	Thank you very much.
	Thank you.
	Very much appreciated!
	Okay, only E names at the end for the rest, like, right?
	They all just end in an E sound?
	They better!
	Oh no!
	Oh, the hesitation!
	That means I was wrong!
	Alright.
	That's okay.
	Greyskull.
	Well, after!
	We've got two!
	Yeah, after.
	Yeah, okay.
	Okay.
	Perry McDaniel.
	If anyone wants to support us on what we do, become an Awakening Wanderer, join the Invisible Hand, because I need to play that drop again.
	Somebody, please.
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	Head to patreon.com slash onbrand and you will have our eternal gratitude.
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	So, this week I wanted to deal with Bran's initial reaction to the Israel-Palestine conflict reigniting.
	Yeah, because I imagine listeners are curious.
	And that happened on October 7th and 8th, right, is when the attack from Hamas happened and then Israel declaring war.
	Fantastic.
	The shows that we will be covering are from October 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2023.
	So four of them.
	Before we get to that, I do want to say that neither myself nor Lauren are scholars on this issue, though I am doing my best to make sure I'm as informed as possible when covering the conflict and, of course, Bran's coverage of it.
	My personal position can be summed up as this.
	Fuck Hamas, free Palestine, fuck the Israeli government, and the Israeli people deserve to live in peace and safety.
	People are stupid, religious wars are stupid, and everyone needs to stop killing each other.
	More murders, do not fix the murders that have already happened, and the bloodthirsty need for vengeance should not be a guiding principle on either side.
	That's pretty much where I stand and I've legitimately had an exchange just this week with a well-known music business guy who is Jewish who was trying to convince me that the invasion of Iraq serves as a good template for what should be done by Israel.
	It's a dogshit position and I think no matter where you land on this war crimes are war crimes and at some point we need to start learning that lesson.
	Well that's something that I will say like I tend to agree.
	I might phrase it slightly differently, but not necessarily.
	I think that, you know, I think that you're you covered our bases and also like the fog of war is real.
	Yeah.
	And I think that the amount of fact checking you have to do just to have a baseline understanding of what's going on and it's not even a baseline.
	We have no idea.
	So to assume that we do is a fool's errand and I think is ALICE Yeah, and a lot more information.
	Information about the hospital bombing is coming out as we speak, and I was like, oh, okay.
	LAURA And that's... man.
	You know what, though?
	If... if apartheid governments are so bad at lying, it is kinda easy to figure out the sum of the stuff.
	Some of the stuff's very...
	Yeah, some of it's obvious.
	It's the little details that get lost.
	Or the glaringly terrible lies.
	So I would say that, as far as that goes, as far as the 9-11, there's been a lot of invoking of 9-11.
	And people that are my age, I'm 39, and so that was like, oh, I'm an adult, and this is what's happening.
	Oh no!
	It doesn't feel good.
	It's really bad.
	And I think that you can hear, and I mean, you know, like my personal sphere, my, you know, like my feeds, you know, my social feeds, my information feeds are very aware of how this is making all of us feel that we're here for it the last time around.
	You know, like, And it feels awful and a lot of those feelings can be downright paralyzing because
	We felt so helpless and, uh, we're full of despair last time.
	And, um, I think that people that are suffering on the ground, uh, if they don't despair, I heard someone say this on another podcast, but if they won't, if they aren't going to despair, then we shouldn't.
	And we should try not to, because it's very, very, it's hard.
	I think for everyone that's been like, oh no, it's deja vu all over again.
	And it went literally terribly.
	It was the worst possible avenue.
	And oh my god, can we please not do this over again?
	People's there's also folks have been saying like, I thought we learned some lessons.
	I know we didn't learn lessons.
	I know that.
	I'm not stupid, but- Yeah, no, I know.
	We should, but we don't.
	We shoulda, we shoulda.
	I think that that's tough, but feeling paralysis and feeling upset is normal, and I did find some Good places to follow and donate that I've seen pretty well vetted that we can put in the show notes for anyone that wants to have something to do that's just kind of positive or helpful in some way, which is so tough because understanding what a siege means is terrifying.
	In modern terms, yeah.
	Well, yeah.
	I mean, it's all the same.
	And so being a student of history is extra gross and bad and sad right now.
	So I think that it's not that complicated.
	And people saying it's complicated have a reason to say that it's complicated.
	It's because they don't want you to ask any more questions.
	Well, yeah, yeah.
	There's a complicated history, I think, and there's a complicated grounding of the thing.
	But the fundamental issue of murder civilians or not, that's pretty simple.
	Well, yeah, like calling for a ceasefire isn't complicated.
	Yeah, no, no, no, not at all.
	I'm sorry.
	Yeah, you're right.
	I need to be more specific, because yes, absolutely.
	It's a complicated history.
	Yeah, yeah, it is.
	But the situation as it stands right now is... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
	...pretty... I mean, just in the short term, like, it's tough and fraught, and I was kind of hoping we wouldn't talk about it, but I'm Because Russell's gonna talk about it!
	Of course!
	I was gonna say, how could he not?
	How could he not?
	And if he's talking about it, we have to talk about it, because it's... yeah!
	It is fairly important, and yeah, it's... there's some interesting coverage here.
	Interesting's a word.
	It is, yeah.
	So this first clip is from a few minutes into the Tuesday show, October 10th, so the thing happened on the Saturday, and then war was declared on the Sunday.
	This is from the Tuesday, because it wasn't mentioned at all on the Monday show, which was weird.
	I found that strange.
	The whole show, nothing.
	Interview with fucking Michael Schellenberger, bruh, complete dud.
	And nothing mentioned there either, which was weird.
	I would almost think he couldn't resist.
	Right, really strange.
	Maybe it was pre-recorded?
	Well, well, well, this was it.
	I mean, it showed up on the Monday.
	But yeah, I don't know.
	I don't know.
	I don't know.
	So the clip is from a few minutes into the show because it takes him a second to bring up what's been happening.
	If you like and subscribe, it helps us.
	And if you want to press that red button and become an Awakened Wonder, you get all sorts of additional content.
	Plus, you support our voice at a time where independent media news is going to be invaluable.
	Because of course, it looks like, I don't know if you're a religious person or a spiritual person, but with escalating tensions in the Middle East, the Pentagon is saying they will support Israel, Netanyahu has declared war against Palestine, or Palestinian militants at least, and Mike Pence has used this as an opportunity to score points in the Republican primary battle, saying that this is a problem that's been exacerbated somehow by Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
	I don't know how he also uses it to double down on the mainstream matrix legacy media propagandist establishment view that Russia v Ukraine doesn't have a history and isn't somehow beneficial to establishment interest.
	Have a look at Mike Pence on the mainstream and look at how you are presented information without nuance, without complexity and in a very exploitative fashion.
	But I also believe this is what happens when we have leading voices like Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis signaling retreat from America's role as leader of the free world.
	I don't know that you can actually blame Donald Trump for the historic conflict between Israel and Palestine, an issue that has divided humanity for millennia That seems to be somehow at the root and the core of all of our global problems.
	Something that we're going to somehow have to come together to collectively resolve.
	To use an issue like that to point score against Ron DeSantis seems absurd.
	To suggest that somehow domestic matters within the US have caused this, I think is preposterous because it is a historic conflict.
	It is ongoing.
	It's something that's going to require, I think, from each of us.
	And let me know if you agree with this in the chat.
	It's going to require that we all somehow re-evaluate and radically revise what we believe.
	For some reason he keeps calling him Rom DeSantis with an M, which I find really funny.
	Or almost like Rom Emmanuel, you know?
	But also like he's saying Vivek Ramaswamy and the Rom just gets stuck in there like some peanut butter or the puppy.
	I know, it's like, that's the easiest one to say.
	So I don't take it.
	I will say, if Russell Brand ever says the name Rahm Emanuel for any reason, you will knock me over with a feather.
	Nope, there's no way.
	There's no way that's gonna come up.
	It won't be Rom Emanuel, it'll be Rom Emanuel.
	It'll be Rom.
	It'll be Ron.
	They're just changeable.
	Yeah, they're interchangeable.
	I do not take it as a good sign that Russell's first instinct editorially when deciding to address the Israel-Palestine conflict for the first time, like this is the first time it's brought up, the instinct is to defend Donald Trump.
	And Ron DeSantis.
	And talk about Mike Pence!
	There were a lot of things I was expecting of this coverage, but that was not one of them.
	At least not right away, anyway.
	Same!
	It was just like, straight out the gate, well isn't Donald Trump good?
	Okay, okay.
	But also, why?
	Because I said so.
	Because I said so.
	Okay.
	Okay.
	It's very interesting.
	I don't entirely disagree with his point that Mike Pence is full of shit there and is just kind of point scoring.
	I don't think he's wrong on that kind of score.
	But yeah, the decision where this is the first thing you bring up.
	Where you're like, Israel, Palestine, it's a tough thing.
	You know what's crazy?
	I feel a little nuts.
	Because the first- I almost sent you a picture, and I just didn't.
	The first political yard sign in my whole-ass neighborhood was like a month ago, and it was Mike Pence.
	And it has since.
	I know!
	I know!
	That's weird.
	Okay.
	Isn't it?
	That's really strange for so many reasons.
	I stopped dead ass in my tracks.
	And I was like, oh, well, I have to send a picture of this to Mike.
	This is insane.
	Also, it's gone missing and has been replaced.
	I think it's missing missing now.
	I think somebody's got tired of it.
	I think there was a whole war of contrition a block down that I wasn't even privy to, but I did document with my cellular telephone device.
	Interesting.
	Isn't that a little, like, why Mike Pence first?
	Yeah, that's really, really unusual.
	Okay.
	Why Pence first?
	Why Pence now?
	I find it fascinating that the people that would support Mike Pence and not support Donald Trump, like there's an interesting kind of thing.
	There are so many questions, I'm going to be honest.
	I'm fascinated.
	So many questions.
	And he's so far behind in the polls.
	I have a begrudging respect for this Mike Pence supporter.
	You know what?
	You've found your person and you're sticking to him.
	Good on you.
	Don't hate the player, hate the- yeah, right?
	Like, at least you're sticking to your guns.
	What's crazy is, like, I know at least just in this area, since we're close to Indiana, like, there was certainly, uh, like, news of Mike Pence pre-VP just being, like, a bad leader that was, uh, that was closing down, um, Basically, taking any kind of AIDS prevention and protections for IV drug users away.
	I'm shocked.
	Shocked, I tell you.
	Yeah, did bad stuff just in Indiana.
	I'm so sorry I'm not being eloquent in this moment.
	Listeners, if you know, you know.
	And if not, google away.
	But yeah, he's been bad the whole time.
	No one should be shocked by that.
	And so we knew that because of a regional issue.
	He would never have been Trump's VP if he was a good guy, would he?
	Let's be honest.
	But the flag that one person in our neighborhood flew real early is like fascinating to me.
	That is really interesting.
	I would love to have a conversation with that person from a great distance.
	But why Mike Pence first?
	Like, he's so inconsequential.
	Why Mike Pence first?
	That's great.
	Weird.
	So, what should we do about this whole Israel-Palestine conflict thing?
	It's the big kahuna, shall we say.
	Well, Russell has a suggestion at the top of the next clip.
	Oh no.
	For me, I always think prayer is the only answer.
	What is it we're going to have to call for ourselves to resolve this?
	And over the course of the coming weeks, should we survive?
	This is something we're going to discuss and look into.
	I'm trying to hurt him with my brain.
	But given that it's hard to try and find ways for, within America, people to communicate peacefully and affably, this issue is one that I think is, let's face it, It's the big one, isn't it?
	It's the most complex issue on the agenda.
	So Mike Pence using it in this fashion is astonishing.
	Look.
	What happened in Ukraine was an unprovoked invasion by Russia.
	What happened this weekend was an unprovoked invasion.
	Why would you use this to reiterate a talking point that's plainly not true?
	This is what happens if you get your information from mainstream media.
	You're given a reductive, simplistic takes.
	Lee Fang, who comes on our show a lot, tweeted, this is a moment like January the 6th, September the 11th, or early moments of the pandemic and George Floyd, where mass fear and anger takes hold.
	Politicians and media will use black and white thinking to polarise the issue, to manipulate you, to demonise dissent and shred nuance.
	Don't let them.
	So note this, whenever there's a crisis, look at how it's exploited by politicians and by media.
	We know enough to know that this is an issue that's going to require incredible insight, delicacy, prayer, new forms of thought, new forms of diplomacy, plainly innovation, because it's an intransigent, ongoing issue that has defined global politics, religious politics, if there is such a term, and for years has been divisive for, well, you know, for as long as there's been
	monotheism almost.
	So we'll be talking about it in more depth and consulting some interesting and important
	voices and relaying the truth as best we can to you over the coming weeks.
	Oh no.
	Yeah, no, this, this, this is, this is not going away.
	Yeah, Lee Fang's take is not complete shit, but there's definitely a question of, like, shred nuance around the issue of George Floyd.
	I'm like, hmm, which side did you land on on that one, buddy?
	That was a very, like, that tweet was very, like, Webster's definition of conflict is...
	Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	There's almost kind of a devil's advocate kind of vibe to it, isn't there?
	Almost like, it's easier to comment on something when you don't have skin in the game, you know?
	That, and it was vague enough, you know?
	I'm sorry, what were you going to say?
	The people?
	Well, the people who don't get involved in politics, you know.
	It's like, well, it's easy for you when your life and rights aren't on the line every four years.
	So, you know, that's nice and simple for you.
	Congratulations.
	Also, you're involved either way, so be proactive in some way about it.
	You don't get a choice.
	But it was very like, okay, I don't know what to say that won't make someone mad immediately, so I'm going to say something really vague and hopefully I'll put enough context to where I can reference it later.
	He could have just put in all caps, this is big, and it would have had the same effect.
	This is big, listen to me!
	Big things are happening!
	I want you to, yeah.
	Big things are happening, I am smart.
	Okay, okay, okay.
	So other than the talk of how we should all be praying, I do mostly agree with what Russell said in this clip.
	So politicians shouldn't be using the issue for point scoring, fine with that.
	And yes, this is an incredibly complex and sensitive issue that no one should be leaping to conclusions about.
	And bear in mind as well, this is from Last week.
	So, you know, less has happened at this point.
	This was almost kind of the semi-immediate aftermath.
	But do you think he will be sticking to that?
	Do you think he'll be carrying on down this road?
	I don't think so.
	Interesting, interesting, interesting.
	The prayer thing?
	Because the thing is, he said 500 things.
	The prayer thing he'll be sticking to no matter what.
	I special hate that.
	I special hate that.
	Yeah, I think- Christian zealot.
	Yep.
	Yes.
	Yeah.
	And also if you...
	Okay.
	Nope.
	We're not going to go down that road right now.
	Restraint, Lauren, restraint.
	It's tough, I mean... also, having lived through these days already, it's crazy to go back, even just A few days, eight years, feels the same.
	Ago.
	Yeah.
	And seeing kind of how everything's kind of spun up.
	And even just what has happened in the interim.
	Yeah.
	Yeah.
	Happened quickly and badly.
	It's crazy to see how someone's going to spin this.
	And the fact that, honestly, I'm really glad that you monitored a number of days so we can kind of put this all together.
	And by glad, I'm like, oh no!
	Yeah, yeah.
	Thanks, I hate it!
	Yeah, you're welcome!
	A little bit more work on the front end, but I do think it gives us more of an insight as to how things develop.
	We'll find out whether he sticks to his word, but in the meantime, there are a lot of options.
	In the meantime, Russell decides to pivot into his next talking point.
	Obviously, Hillary Clinton is someone that has a very particular and specific view when it comes to complex and divisive issues.
	Notice the way that Mike Pence tried to use this to double down on an existing policy and perspective.
	Have a look at this conversation with Hillary Clinton.
	Where she talks about Trump supporters as kind of terrorists, I guess.
	She says extremists, which is adjacent to terrorists, and actually calls for reprogramming in the way that sort of wacky people used to demand gay folks were reprogrammed.
	Check this out, because this is something I've not seen before.
	Candace Owen still does.
	Hillary Clinton I think might be the symbol of what is wrong with politics.
	More than Donald Trump.
	I know loads of you absolutely adore Donald Trump and whatever you think about him, plainly the establishment do not want him in power.
	I think that much can be said at this point.
	I believe that Hillary Clinton is somehow the mouthpiece of neoliberal establishment power, of this perspective and position where you claim to care but your actions do not connect with the rhetoric.
	She somehow manages to talk as if she's an anti-establishment figure while being an avatar of the establishment.
	She condemns people that are, I would say, disadvantaged from a position of victimhood.
	It's a rhetorically extraordinary one.
	And we had very bitter battles over all kinds of things, gun control and climate change.
	Do you think that using terms like basket of deplorables makes things more or less bitter?
	Do you imagine that the role of the Clinton Foundation on the global stage makes tension more or less bitter?
	Do you think that the ongoing condemnation of people that are basically conservative or Republican makes things more or less bitter?
	What is Hillary Clinton's role in bringing about world peace?
	Yeah.
	Did Tim Heidecker cut those clips?
	Because that seemed like a joke.
	Right, that was quick.
	Why even play them?
	Yeah, why bother?
	Just let the woman speak or don't, Russell, Jesus Christ.
	For anyone watching, that very first clip of Hillary Clinton talking, they forgot to edit the video in, or forget to show it.
	It was just the audio clip of her, which was jarring.
	I mentioned that the home studio show is bad, and this is what I mean.
	It's constant.
	It's constant, just little things like this that go unmentioned and unnoticed.
	Yeah, I also like to point out that I'm like, well, I don't disagree with that one sentence about Hillary Clinton that she pays lip service, but then I don't really trust that she is actually interested in doing anything useful that she or goes as far as, again, like neoliberal politicians across the board.
	I think that there's more words than actions and there's more words than effort.
	And that is a problem that I do have.
	And it stopped as soon as I was done talking.
	Because then I knew he was going to go wiggity after that.
	Apparently Hillary Clinton is anti-establishment, according to Russell, or says anti-establishment things.
	I would love to see some evidence of that.
	Ever.
	From my experience, Hillary Clinton has always represented the establishment with a capital E, and it's one of the big reasons that she lost the 2016 election.
	She stood on a stage and said, hey, more of the same, yeah?
	And nobody wanted it.
	Nobody wanted any of that.
	Yeah, and she was like, oh, Henry Kissinger, oh, we're having so much fun.
	Yeah, no.
	No.
	It's just bad.
	Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
	Bad.
	Bad candidate.
	The thing that Russell spends a good 10 minutes talking about is how Hillary said in this interview that right-wing extremists might need deprogramming in the same way that any extremist does.
	It's a lengthy process that takes time to bring people back into our shared reality that many of Trump's most hardcore supporters could absolutely benefit from.
	Rather than grapple with that point, Russell takes his time to throw shit at her and essentially blame her for the vociferous hatred the alt-right has for her because she called them a basket of deplorables once, and that means she deserves credible death threats on a semi-daily basis.
	The reason Russell is against this sort of talk about deprogramming is of course because he's one of the people pushing an unwitting audience down the extremist pipeline in an effort to isolate and profit off them.
	Yeah, he's scrambling to program as quickly and as efficiently as he possibly can.
	Pretty much.
	He's hammering the ones and zeros.
	He really is.
	But yeah, we're not going to be dealing with this any further, because I mostly included this clip to illustrate how he uses the Israel-Palestine conflict to segue into what he actually wants to talk about, and he then doesn't bring it up again for the rest of this Tuesday show, which is great.
	Wait, what?
	Yeah!
	Yeah, it doesn't come up again.
	Which bit?
	Hillary or the conflict?
	Either.
	So once he's done with his Hillary bit, he's done with that, and then the conflict doesn't get brought up either.
	Oh, okay.
	Oh!
	Well, okay!
	That's...
	Disorienting?
	Let's go!
	Yes, they kind of paid lip service to it, and they were like, well, that's that done.
	LLZ!
	Okay, all right.
	Yeah, all right, I've mentioned it now.
	Hillary Clinton!
	Okay, buddy.
	Jesus.
	So we move on to October 11th, the Wednesday Show, and here is how Russell brings us in.
	Hello there you awakening wonder.
	Thank you for joining us for Stay Free with Russell Brand wherever you are watching us at a time of incredible conflict around the world.
	I pray that I may speak freely from the desire to impress, speak freely from the desire to be thought of well And only to have good intentions for those that are suffering across the world right now.
	How can we contribute together to making the world a better place for all of us?
	Let me know in the chat.
	Let us know in the comments.
	We're going to be looking at RFK's announcement.
	It's going to run independently.
	We're going to be talking to Kim Iverson, who's our friend from Rumble.
	She'll be talking with us about the ongoing tragic conflict in Israel.
	And we'll talk about RFK.
	There as well.
	We'll be on YouTube initially, then we'll be on Rumble.
	Remember, it really helps us if you follow us there.
	You might have to download the app because then you'll get notifications.
	It's not like on YouTube where you might not get a notification when you ask for them.
	You'll get one.
	If you download the Rumble app, follow us, ask for notifications, you'll get them.
	So this is a new conspiracy that Bran seems to be weaving, that if you subscribe and ask for notifications on YouTube, you won't get them when someone uploads a new video, but Rumble, your phone will be buzzing all day long, baby!
	That sounds... I'm sorry.
	It's very dumb.
	It's very, very dumb, and not at all true.
	And hi, YouTube watchers, by the way.
	Like and subscribe.
	You can hit the bell if you want, but you don't have to.
	You know where to find us.
	I don't want to bother you.
	That's true.
	We do, of course, appreciate it, but that's your choice, not mine.
	But yeah, this whole narrative is a good way to just drag YouTube down without actually needing any definitive proof of anything happening.
	Like, he can just rely on his audience feeling like they haven't been notified when he posts a new video.
	And they'll be like, oh yeah, I don't remember seeing a notification.
	Yeah, maybe he's right.
	Maybe we should go to Rumble.
	And that's it.
	That is a really weird.
	Now, as a person that has had friends that have followed me and they're like, you posted a bunch.
	I didn't get any notifications.
	That's crazy.
	I'm like, yeah, Instagram's terrible.
	I'm sorry.
	I don't know what to do.
	Like, yeah, OK.
	That does happen.
	But also, it's a phone, man.
	What do you want?
	It's the same thing.
	You get notifications for new videos, sure.
	Up to three a day from the same channel is the limit.
	No.
	Well, I don't want that.
	No.
	No, neither do I. Why would I do that?
	That's personally not how I like to do things, but some people might want to know.
	I don't know why you'd want to be notified of his content three times a day.
	I don't want to know what the Rumble app is doing on my phone.
	No, there is that.
	I've had the option thrust at me to download the Rumble app several times and I'm like, no, thank you.
	I'm not getting involved in that.
	I'm always fascinated by the class action lawsuits that pop up over data breaches and privacy.
	That's all I'm saying.
	So we won't be getting into any of the things that he just talked about.
	So neither the right-wing blowhard who doesn't believe trans people exist, Kim Iverson, nor the anti-reality idiot that is RFK Jr.
	We have another day of semi-light coverage, but I will show you what I can.
	And if it's within your means, press the red awaken button and you can be part of our movement at a time when the world really plainly needs new solutions to extraordinary historic problems.
	You're aware of the extensive attack that's being launched against terror targets in the Gaza Strip.
	Joe Biden pledges support for Israel following the attacks.
	Let's have a look at that.
	President Biden has condemned the Hamas attacks and says the U.S.
	will now ensure that Israel has exactly what it needs to defend itself.
	My administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering.
	Let me say this as clearly as I can.
	Support amounts to weapons and Joe Biden's going to say something as clearly as he can, which, you know, that's a lower ceiling than most people, let's be honest.
	Okay, so he's still flinging shit at Biden.
	Yeah, right.
	Still flinging shit at Biden.
	Surprise, surprise.
	But thus far, still tentative in his approach.
	He's also very low energy on this Wednesday episode.
	He seems a little tired.
	But the thing I really want to draw your attention to in this clip is mostly for viewers, is the reflection in the window behind Brand.
	See, the curtain is a little bit further to the right than it usually is, meaning we can see the reflection of one Gareth Roy.
	What is he up to, you might wonder.
	Well, remember last week when Russell took a dig at Biden for giving a speech to the UN that was pre-written and probably off an autocue?
	That's exactly what Brandt has in front of him right now.
	Yeah.
	So, Gareth Roy is monitoring the camera and manning the autocue, and if you look carefully, you can see the scrolling white text in the window.
	You sure can!
	Hypocrisy, thy name is Russell.
	I can right now!
	Right?
	Yeah, it's right there.
	It's right there.
	Which, frankly, we were asking for.
	It doesn't necessarily improve the content, unfortunately.
	No, it does not.
	And here's the thing, I would have no problem with anyone using autocue by all means, especially with a written show.
	I have notes right in front of me.
	But like, if you're going to shit on someone for using one, then don't also use one yourself.
	You know what I mean?
	Like, it is a surprisingly common, a weirdly common kind of right wing blowhard kind of talking point is, oh, they use autocue.
	Weird!
	So?
	It was one of the weirdest possible complaints.
	Like, oh, you've been thoughtful about what you're going to say on your platform?
	As a person that doesn't get to prepare what tumbles out of my mouth every week, it's a less comfortable station than the alternative.
	Yeah, no, I get to read!
	I get to read!
	It's great!
	Yeah, so you should listen to, first, the person that did the research!
	And here's the thing, like, his favorite person in the world, Tucker Carlson, uses an autocue every single show he has done for Years and years and years.
	Because he writes his show out.
	Tucker Carlson writes his own show.
	And his delivery is incredibly stale.
	Yes, it's terrible.
	The writing is awful.
	Every stand-up comedian.
	You can tell it's him, right?
	Yes, totally.
	Every stand-up comedian, the worst possible one, is still delivering with more spontaneity and excitement than Tucker is just saying things that go up at the end and then avoiding most but not all lawsuits by...
	Yeah, it's okay.
	He is a Muppet.
	Yeah, I encourage anybody to check this out because it's a little funny.
	It is funny.
	It is funny.
	I'm like, how did you not spot that?
	Jesus wept.
	But yeah, Gareth Roy is still there.
	That's all you gotta do!
	In most of them, they are!
	In most of them, the curtain is further open than that, but they've clearly forgotten it today, and it tickles me.
	So, Gareth Roy is still there.
	Gareth Roy has not left.
	I am 99% sure that there has been a staff exodus, by the way, because in stuff that's been going on behind the scenes, they've been having to run tech drills, and they've been having a myriad of tech issues.
	And I'm like, It seems like they're in kind of training mode for these people, and it's like, well, surely your show was running fine before, and it's now not, and you're having all these issues and having to kind of train people and teach people what to do.
	I'm like, well, that tells me that there's been a turnover of stuff.
	I'm steeplefingering about it, and I'm very happy.
	And they're not showing the credits at the end still, you know, it's still just stay free at the end.
	I'm like, oh, okay.
	Yeah, I wouldn't either.
	Yeah, no.
	It's embarrassing.
	Eventually, they will bring them back, I think, and then we shall see.
	Yeah, when we know who's actually going to make it to the end of the week, to the end of the record and the editing.
	I know Gareth Roy is there.
	I know there's a girl named Lauren there, which is kind of weird.
	Offended?
	Go on.
	Yeah, yeah.
	And I know Bad Graphics Jack is still there as well.
	I know he's still there.
	Poor Bad Graphics Jack.
	He's been abused into staying.
	The name itself indicates that he'll be there.
	He'll be polishing the brass on that Titanic.
	Till the bitter end.
	Unless you want to leave and come talk to us and tell us all kinds of terrible stuff.
	Bring it on, Jack.
	We need some bad graphics.
	Or maybe it's all grey and we're wrong.
	Yeah, we need some bad graphics.
	Bring it on, Jackie boy.
	So next we hear Brandt's thoughts on Israel-Palestine, seemingly in earnest.
	This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage.
	The world is watching.
	I know many of you have very strong views and are personally impacted by these events and I can only really offer you love and let's spend a little time together working out how we can contribute something of value to this horrific situation.
	Caitlin Johnson tweeted, whenever something like this happens, warmongers always seize on the emotional frenzy of the moment to shove through insane acts of warmongering and scream vitriol at anyone who questions them.
	I wonder if there's anything that we can do that is somehow beneficial to everybody involved in this conflict.
	Let me know in the chat and the comments how you feel about current legacy media reporting, whether you are in a place where you can handle nuance if you think it's appropriate, even if you think it's appropriate for people that aren't directly involved in this conflict to even express strong opinions.
	I'm interested in hearing whatever you've got to say, because I believe the world is evolving fast, changing fast.
	It seems to me that we're in a kind of immersive, polycataclysmic state.
	There is geopolitical strife, there is cultural strife, there is a lack of trust in all of our institutions,
	and it's very difficult to find things to feel optimistic about at the moment.
	But perhaps here is one thing.
	Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent the last six months running as a Democrat candidate, as you know,
	has announced to continue his pursuit to become president, but as an independent.
	Let's have a look.
	Oh, thanks, Russell. - What?
	I needed a pick-me-up.
	No!
	Yeah, so that's supposed to be the positive news.
	RFK Jr.
	is running as an independent, not a Democrat.
	Whoopty shit.
	He's hoping he'll siphon off some of the right-wing votes from Trump.
	Here's hoping he doesn't siphon off too many votes from, I mean...
	I don't know.
	I know the numbers are not in favor.
	I'm honestly not worried.
	I'm really not worried.
	What Bran just said amongst a general monologue saying how horrific the whole situation is, is that the Israel-Palestine conflict is one he's going to take his time to formulate a perspective on.
	This theoretically means no jumping to conclusions or leaping into conspiracy theories straight away.
	Whether he leaps into them later down the road is another matter, but for now Russell is preaching caution and moderation.
	Lauren, do you think he'll stick to it?
	And if so, how long for?
	I don't have a time estimate.
	I just know that, I mean, even in that last clip there, I was like, I feel like the words are comforting me.
	to be in a place that will be less incendiary like he's trying like he was pitching very hard let's all come together and have a nice place and then whoops RFK instead so I know I'm gonna be trapped I know I'm going to be bamboozled.
	It's true.
	There's seemingly a decent thing to say, but then you are reminded immediately after that that you are still watching Stay Free with Russell Brass.
	We are going to skip ahead to Russell's interview with Kim Iverson, but we're not dealing with her proper, thank God.
	Brand brings up the conflict, as presumably it would be weird not to, and we get some more of his position here in this next clip.
	He's also seeming very sleepy indeed.
	Really inflamed.
	Yeah, because the world has become more censorious anyway.
	Emotions are high on a variety of subjects anyway.
	War appears to once again be an option.
	It felt like, I don't know, since at least the Iraq War, I guess.
	I mean, Afghanistan.
	I mean, there's always war, isn't there?
	But I must say, this appears to be a A global blow that the world is not in a very good condition to sustain.
	Have a coffee, man.
	It doesn't seem there's a kind of collective access or even local appetite to think about how the cycle might alter.
	And it's even, as you've described, Kim, difficult for people that are not directly involved and therefore clearly allied.
	Am I accidentally signing into their NPR?
	Is this what's happened?
	Commentate on it.
	I feel like I'm going to have to spend some time working out how to even engage with this issue because the vastness of it.
	I mean it seems like in some ways that it's a conflict that will be beneficial to the military-industrial complex.
	It seems to have affected share prices, it seems like it's sort of plainly beneficial
	for certain financial interests, but even compared to a
	horrific war like the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which
	I've sort of spoken about and feel like I've spoken about as
	honestly as I can, while acknowledging my own naivety, flaws,
	limitations of my own understanding, it's at least culturally possible
	to talk about. And then you start to wonder what is even the value
	of talking about it? What's the like, it's almost
	I don't know of an issue that sort of brings you to a point of despair as quickly as this one and it's precisely because of what you've sort of said that it's familial and emotional and seemingly intransigent and unwinnable and hopelessly sad and just desperate suffering defining the entire situation.
	Yeah, it's a really, it's a really, really tragic situation for everybody involved.
	It's tragic for the Israelis who are, you know, mostly on both sides.
	They just want to live peacefully.
	People just want to live peacefully where they were born and raised.
	Alright, I mean, I don't really have any complaints, you know?
	People want to live peacefully, for the most part.
	Okay.
	Both Brand and Kim Iverson are managing to sit there and say, hey, this is all horrific for everyone involved and is deeply, deeply sad.
	He even started going down the share prices and military-industrial-complex road and then said, even compared to Ukraine, and got lost down a different path of thought that was perfectly reasonable, to be honest.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, the points in this clip, I agree with.
	So, that's interesting.
	However sleepy they may be.
	Which, that was a real fucking Radio 4 moment.
	That was a real... That was... That almost ground to an actual halt.
	Yeah.
	It's like, buddy, you're doing a show!
	You're doing a show, and you could see it was late at night, you could see in the background through the window it was dark, and I'm like, okay, I wonder what time you were doing this interview.
	That's interesting.
	Which, also, we have to deal with that!
	Sure do.
	Some people don't know, still, and that's okay, that I'm in the middle of America and you're in the UK and we record this show.
	And the challenges are constant.
	I'm currently drinking a novelty energy drink.
	Gross.
	Well, it's sour apple flavour, and you know what?
	It's not bad.
	That's easier to fake.
	I'm confident in that.
	It's kind of like an apple lollipop kind of deal.
	I will say, it's sugar free, and I feel like it really could benefit from some sugar, but you know what?
	It's not bad.
	Not bad.
	All set.
	That sounds like a common complaint.
	Yeah, no, and I think it's fine that he's upset.
	I mean, like, genuinely, especially watching him react in that moment.
	Yeah, he seems... All of us have been there at least once.
	Yeah, he seemed pretty bleak about it.
	Appropriately so.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	Exactly.
	But he had just said, but he just said, please follow us, like specifically going out of his way.
	And I know he says this about other stuff too, and it's always upsetting because he's like, you should follow us and get Rumble and, you know, subscribe to notifications for every new video for The coverage of the conflict, specifically saying, like, pointing out, like, Israel-Palestine conflict, follow us for news.
	And that's, I'm not gonna say that about our podcast!
	God no, please don't use us for news.
	Please don't!
	Opposite!
	That would be terrible!
	Please don't!
	Don't do that!
	No, no, absolutely do not.
	And so the fact that he is is like, wow, that's fucking inappropriate!
	Because this is, you're having the right reaction.
	There are, the problem with that is there are legions of people who only have Russell Brand as their only news source.
	And you're like, well, that's not a news source.
	No.
	That's not what that is.
	But yeah, there are a lot of people, a lot of people who go down that road.
	I'm learning this.
	I'm seeing things pop up in other parts of the internet and I'm like, oh no, that's not good.
	Yeah, you found a pontificant.
	You have found a man who pontificates.
	That's not a news person.
	So what happens from here is a little bit odd in that Brand clearly filmed this next editorial we're going to cover on the Wednesday.
	So he's wearing the same clothing, right?
	But he then released the editorial on its own on the same day, the Wednesday, but it wasn't in the Wednesday show.
	It was inserted into Thursday's show.
	So seemingly he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak.
	The title of the editorial was Israel versus Palestine.
	What they're not telling you.
	Yeah, and this is how he brings us into it.
	With tensions escalating in the war between Israel and Hamas, surely no one will be cynical enough to exploit this situation in order to make a profit.
	You wouldn't expect, for example, members of US Congress to be investing in military-related stocks, would you?
	Well, you should expect that.
	Obviously, with something as sensitive as this, you wouldn't imagine that there will be anyone anywhere in the world looking to exploit such a sensitive and awful situation from which nobody really clearly benefits, if you ask me, to be looking for opportunities to profit.
	And yet that is precisely what's happening.
	Military experts are predicting record profits for weapons manufacturers, as always happens in war.
	That's a brutal reality, I suppose.
	You certainly wouldn't expect, would you, members of the United States Congress to be investing in defense-related stocks?
	Wouldn't that undermine everything they've been telling you about the authenticity of their feelings, however they regard this conflict or claim to regard this conflict?
	All of the grandstanding and moralizing and the sympathetic I stand with, or we must be pro.
	How does that look in light of the fact that members of Congress have been investing in military-related stocks?
	Hmm.
	I may have been mistaken, by the way.
	It is a different shirt.
	It's an eerily similar black shirt, but it is ever so slightly different.
	Either way, my point stands.
	It was definitely released on the Wednesday and put into the show on the Thursday.
	Same necklace, too.
	Yeah, maybe he just changed shirt.
	I don't know.
	So from the jump, this is a subject where I seemingly agree with Brand in saying that elected officials shouldn't be allowed to purchase stocks in any company, let alone military companies.
	Oh, yeah.
	Of course, I have some concerns going into this.
	As we know, Brand's usual editorials tend to be based on lies or misinformation from spurious sources.
	And he invariably uses these editorials to fling shit at the left while promoting the right.
	With the Israel-Palestine conflict being such a complex and sensitive beast, there are a myriad of ways for this all to go badly, badly wrong.
	Nonetheless, for now, I am in tentative agreement with what he is saying.
	Same.
	I don't trust it.
	I am on the back foot.
	We have been given good reason not to.
	So next we get a familiar speech from Joe Biden with a familiar joke from Brand.
	Let's have a look at Joe Biden, as you might imagine, pledging support and claiming that this is a simple moral issue.
	My administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering.
	Let me say this as clearly as I can.
	Not a high bar.
	Or perhaps you could argue anyone to exploit these attacks from any angle.
	Surely with all of the complexities that must be considered in this long historic matter you wouldn't expect it to be reduced to an exercise in profiteering, particularly not by people that are making decisions with regard to the military aspect of this encounter, would you?
	Well, you probably would if you have access to independent media because you will be well informed about the machinations of government and in spite of its rhetoric what its priorities always remain.
	Will you ever believe again that they are morally guided?
	So here, Brand is making the argument that if you have any awareness of elected officials benefiting from government actions financially, it must be because you have access to alternative media.
	The reality, of course, is that any such financial interests are pretty regularly reported on by legacy media outlets.
	And 50 years ago, some of it might have warranted a scandal here or there, but these days we are just so used to the background radiation of muddied interests and corruption in government that reporting on it barely raises an eyebrow.
	Russell isn't reporting anything particularly radical or shocking, and we're all so used to corruption that we're a little bored of it, you know?
	Self-aggrandizing aside, he's still on good footing with me on the crux of the issue.
	Yeah.
	So, you know.
	Yeah!
	Still correct on that tip.
	Okay, just wrong about media.
	Which, I mean, that's par for the course, isn't it really?
	Very standard.
	Fair.
	But yeah, I see it reported all the time.
	Yeah, no, exactly.
	Everywhere.
	Any place with reasonable journalists.
	It's one of the things they look at first.
	Like, okay, box number one, government corruption.
	Let's take a look.
	And also specifically the insider trading of it all, right?
	Yeah, right.
	It's such an own goal.
	It's so obvious.
	We've got tons of it in the UK.
	Oh my God.
	Well, what we're upset about is hypocrisy not meaning anything.
	Like, that's what we're concerned with.
	And so the, like, saying that, I mean, even just like, when he says independent media, he just means him.
	He just means him.
	Yeah, pretty much.
	Him and people that he likes in the moment.
	Him and Tucker, mostly.
	That's who he's really talking about.
	Yeah, and his, like, spurious, questionable sources that we've... I mean, like, the holes are truck-sized through which to drive consistently.
	Speaking of which, in this next clip, we get our main source of the piece.
	Let's get into this.
	As tensions escalate between Israel and the Hamas group, it has been revealed U.S.
	congressional leaders have been making some strategic investment moves into military-related stocks.
	That's pretty astonishing, isn't it?
	To consider that when most of us are thinking, where do you find a unifying truth in this complex and horrific matter that there are people in Congress paid for by you, Elected to serve you that are right now going, this might be a good time to invest in Lockheed Martin.
	I think we're going to be selling a lot of missiles.
	Okay, in principle, I still agree with the point he's making.
	Elected officials shouldn't be profiting from a war action in any way.
	So, let's address this source that he's referencing here.
	The article is from a website called Finbold, which according to their tagline, delivers news in bold!
	It's a dumb tagline.
	Really?
	Yeah, right?
	Everything's in a bold font, nothing more than that.
	So the title of the article is, Congress buys up war stocks ahead of Hamas attack on Israel.
	And that first sentence there was, as tensions escalate between Israel and the Hamas group, it has been revealed U.S.
	congressional leaders have been making some strategic investment moves into military-related stocks.
	There's a heavy implication that Congress people somehow knew of the Hamas attack before it happened and invested in military stocks accordingly, right?
	Congress buys up war stocks ahead of Hamas attack on Israel.
	Yeah, and so, yeah, they've then bought military stocks, right?
	Or should I say, military-related stocks?
	We're going to get into that shortly, but yes, you look like you have something to say.
	The one thing that I think we can all agree on.
	Was surprise.
	I'm sorry.
	Yeah, right.
	No, not according to these guys.
	The otherwise fairly boring article is making some bold claims.
	Maybe that's why it's called Finbold.
	It's going to be a whole retcon.
	Also, what a useless retcon.
	They're just always buying.
	They're just always insider trading.
	They're ABC.
	They're always being closed in.
	Like, this is the least important, like, it's important to state.
	Sure.
	Timely?
	I don't know.
	I don't think so.
	That's, this is... The worst thing for me is that they kind of, they insinuate it in these bits here and then they don't really bring it up again.
	It's almost like a clickbait kind of, yeah, it's ridiculous.
	That's embarrassing.
	Yeah, this is the kind of thing that like, okay, like, and I think the people are talking about it.
	I'm very refreshed to hear more people that I listen to and that I interact with talking about this like, yeah, we know.
	Oh my god, we are like, we already know this thing.
	Why are you reporting on this one thing?
	Yeah, insider trading in Congress is a gigantic problem, of course.
	Also, why are you playing Joe Biden when you're complaining about Congress?
	Two different branches of government.
	And what are we doing?
	And like, yeah, okay, I know.
	Why are we talking about this right now?
	Some of this stuff, these misdirects and this smoke and mirrors has been so obvious that I want to just grab everyone and shake them collectively.
	Do not be the person that drives into a lake because your GPS tells you to.
	Just take a second, think.
	Like, does this sound completely batshit insensational?
	Yeah, yeah.
	Don't drive into the lake just because your phone tells you to.
	Yeah, exactly.
	Especially if it's, you know, a fucking clickbait headline, right?
	As soon as you see something that seems sensational, maybe just think twice.
	Also, a clickbait headline is actively trying to make money that is otherwise a useless article.
	You're trying to make money off of a conflict.
	In a lot of cases.
	So Finbold are kind of insinuating a conspiracy there.
	The question is, where is Russell going to go with that?
	For starters, defence company General Dynamics has witnessed a surge in purchases.
	This isn't entirely unexpected.
	Defence stocks often become attractive during times of geopolitical tension.
	And whilst that might be plain common sense, it's also an indicator that there are systemic problems that might need to be addressed.
	If foreign policy crises and military crises are able to be exploited not just by the weapons industry, which is bad enough, but also by politicians and congress people, that might be something that needs to be examined.
	If health crises are beneficial to pharmaceutical companies, if energy crises are beneficial to energy companies, all the while punitive to ordinary people all around the world, isn't that an opportunity for systemic analysis, revolution, reformation and change?
	Tell me which one in the chat and the comments.
	I dare say he's making good points, and making them in earnest, right?
	So there's no spin in that, no misinformation, no conspiracy in that clip.
	Till the comments that he's... Well, yeah, obviously, he's still trying to drive engagement, but like...
	But he's still... I don't know.
	It feels weird.
	Like we're living briefly with some alternate version of Russell who actually does his job the way he says he does it.
	This was what I expected when we started this.
	Oh dear.
	You must have been disappointed.
	That's a word.
	That's a word to use.
	That's part of it.
	But you know what I mean?
	I expected some misguided wooey weirdo Not the nightmare that has ensued.
	This is kind of when I was like, yeah, you're probably going to be a little wiggity on some stuff and it's not going to be good.
	This is almost like 2013 kind of brand, you know, where it's perhaps a little bit less doe-eyed, you know, but very much Railing against something that deserves railing against, you know?
	And using, you know, in an honest kind of way, doing it.
	Yeah, I don't give props to him very often, but this is one of those cases, you know?
	Just because it comes out of his mouth doesn't mean it's wrong.
	I'm on pins and needles, though.
	It feels weird!
	It feels really weird.
	Again, I watched this whole editorial and I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	I'm just like holding my breath.
	I'm like turning purple over here, like holding my breath.
	Like, when's the shoe going to drop?
	You're waiting for the hammer to drop.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
	The sword of Damocles is swinging above you, right?
	And you're just like, well, that's going to fall.
	So next we get to see where Finbold have gotten their information.
	However, what's even more intriguing is the sectoral split between Republicans and Democrats.
	A substantial number of Republicans have shown a keen interest in the energy sector.
	Heavyweights like ExxonMobil, Devon Energy and Chevron are clearly the favourites.
	On the other side of the aisle, Democrats seem to be playing the long game, focusing on the cybersecurity sector with acquisitions in firms like Fortinet, according to insights by At Unusual Wales on X.
	There are so many complex issues.
	It's a churlish and rude, I think, to reduce this long, historical, painful, agonizing conflict into platitudes or tribalism.
	There are enough people that will do that.
	Perhaps we could focus together on the things that we can uniformly agree are wrong.
	And I would say people in Congress buying stocks exploitatively is wrong and could be banned.
	But who would ever vote for such a thing?
	Who would ever propose such a legislation?
	Usually what happens at times like this Is because there is a unified public opinion, they push through a bill to invest more in defence, and then maybe tack on an idea like, and we'll also invest in more weapons for Ukraine as well.
	That's also happening.
	Okay, buddy.
	Yeah, so I mean, you know, other than the end there, you know, even with the... because, you know, he's got to get his digs in at Ukraine.
	Even with the bait of Democrats versus Republicans right there in the article, he's still making fairly decent measured points.
	I'm not going to applaud him for his restraint in not being a piece of shit, because being a decent human being shouldn't merit applause.
	But I am going to praise his generally good points, even if they are a bit vague.
	So, you may have spotted Finbold's reference for their information in the article.
	The thing they're pointing at to signify that Congress knew of the Hamas attack before it happened is a tweet.
	Specifically, it's a tweet from a stock options and crypto finance company's ex-account.
	Um, this account seems to be going to great lengths to paint a very specific picture.
	See, if you actually look at the tweet being referenced in the article, it says, Breaking!
	Congress has been buying war stocks!
	It then goes on to list a slew of oil and energy companies and cyber security companies.
	Quite how these are war stocks is anyone's guess.
	Apparently buying oil is the same as buying missiles now.
	ExxonMobil, the famous arms dealer.
	There is also a further wrinkle.
	The lion's share of these stock purchases that are being shared by Unusual Whales are from 2022.
	Fuck off.
	Okay.
	So the most recent that was shown was August 2023.
	That's advance notice.
	That's the thing, it's like, I saw that handle and I was like, unusual whales is close.
	That's interesting.
	To other accounts that follow, you know, like a questionable stock movement.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	You know?
	But it's not the one.
	It's the Kirkland brand, right?
	It's a different, it's like close, but not quite there.
	And also, I mean, just it's...
	Yeah, so somehow buying energy and cyber security stocks shows foreknowledge of the Hamas attack, apparently a foreknowledge dating back to early 2022.
	I've taken a further look at Unusual Wales' Twitter and it's full of impressive looking graphs showing how much war stock elected officials are buying.
	Of course, it still includes energy stocks and cyber stocks, so the graphs are completely meaningless.
	Well, also, from what I understand, the longer trend of insider trading, which people don't always use that word, I am allegedly, alleged insider trading among Congress people is allegedly, I don't say that enough.
	I'm trying to work on it.
	It is famously non-partisan, as far as the frequency and the gravity of the situation.
	There's not really a divide between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to insider trading.
	They're both splashing around in the dirty little pool.
	Not in terms of buying stocks and everything, no.
	Right!
	So it was weird for me to see that distinction.
	I'm like, that's not- that was contrary to the statistics that I've been familiar with over a longer period of time, not just a year ago.
	Yeah, I mean, I think cross-industries, it all evens out.
	Right.
	But, yeah.
	It's just, it's very interesting that this Twitter account is like, ah yes, oil and gas, those are war stocks.
	And cyber security.
	Aspects of cyber security, you could argue, because there is a cyber aspect to war these days, but not the industry as a whole.
	The industry as a whole does not revolve around warfare.
	Yeah, exactly.
	All of this is to say, even when Russell is completely in the right about the points he's making, even when he's being bipartisan and contending with reality, he's still full of shit because the sources he's using are complete bollocks.
	Maybe you should use mainstream sources.
	One would think.
	That might really help him out, his credibility!
	The thing is, the points he's making, he could have easily referenced anywhere.
	He could have been like, yeah, the BBC, the Telegraph, blah, blah, blah.
	Though at this point, he probably doesn't want to use anywhere that's kind of, you know, attacked him, as he would consider it.
	Yeah, right.
	You know, they attacked me by...
	Writing about all those things I did.
	How dare you mention all the stuff I did.
	Obviously you're a liar.
	I didn't, I mean, I didn't do that stuff.
	It was my doppelganger from that comedy show.
	I want to illustrate for a moment just how far Brand is willing to go in this editorial to be reasonable.
	Albeit, it's not far for any normal person, but for Brand it shows an unusual amount of dealing with reality.
	And I also want you to bear in mind for this clip that I have a working theory about Brand that when he's uncomfortable, he relies on his verbosity, his walking thesaurus level of flowery language, to make himself feel more secure.
	Lockheed Martin's stock jump Monday was the biggest for the US's largest defence contractor on a non-earnings day since March 2020, narrowly topping the gains it notched immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Forbes noted.
	Northrop Grumman shares also have their best day since 2020.
	If you were an investor, if you are a trader, even if you're an ordinary person who dabbles in financial matters, the fact is is that it would be sensible, expedient, wise, frugal, fiduciary action to invest in these companies at this time.
	And doesn't that suggest that we've entered a moral space that is baffling, bedazzling, bewitching and bewildering?
	Because If there is any action that could be taken in this time that's beneficial for a personal and financial perspective, a war that's being fought territorially, on spiritual values, or at least religious edicts, is somewhat out of line with the direction of power and finance.
	Shouldn't this financial component at least somehow be ameliorated, omitted, amended?
	Shouldn't this at least be resolved?
	Because I recognize that so much of what's happening is impossible to resolve without a degree in history, a deep understanding of ethics, a willingness to think the unthinkable, open-heartedness, transcendence of personal values, tribalism, deep understandable pain.
	Shut up!
	This at least could be addressed.
	He listened.
	So apparently the moral space we're in... That's all it took!
	We're done!
	Bye!
	Yeah, there we go.
	Podcast over!
	Yeah, the moral space that we're in is bedazzling and bewitching.
	Who knew?
	Oh my god.
	Why say one word when you can say 15?
	Yeah, it's a lot of adjectives there for a clip that's less than a minute long, right?
	That is unnecessary.
	He's defending people buying defense stocks while saying that, hey, maybe nobody should benefit financially from wars.
	Yep, fair.
	An exceptionally reasonable thing to say that I wholeheartedly agree with.
	He's like, oh, you know, it is expedient to buy these stocks, but hey, maybe no one should be benefiting at all.
	And I'm like, okay, yeah, you know what?
	Fair enough.
	Very reasonable.
	You're complaining this is capitalism.
	It is not a conspiracy.
	It is capitalism.
	Yes.
	I don't like agreeing with you, but here we are.
	This is uncomfortable for me.
	Yeah, that was my experience of the whole thing.
	Though, next we hear a little bit more of how people shouldn't be profiting off of the Israel... I do have a question.
	So, have you looked into the actual claims being made by the By the article that, as far as the jump in stock prices, because all of them were saying since 2020.
	So is that to now or to 2022?
	That was from a different article, and no, I have not looked into those because it wasn't relevant to my specific thing.
	But yeah, so I'm not 100% sure if they're full of shit or not, because that source was, who were they?
	They're another bad one.
	It was common dreams.
	Yeah, they're not great.
	Right, right.
	They're not great.
	Stocks soar as Israel bombs go.
	Right.
	So, um, I just, since 2020, if blank has gone up since 2020, I am very wary of that phrase.
	Insert anything at the beginning.
	Like, Yeah, since 2020 specifically, it's like, well, of course, everything took a shit and died in 2020.
	If that's your baseline, I already have a problem.
	Like, I'm like, asterisk already.
	Common dreams are not a trustworthy source.
	We have had to deal with them before.
	So it absolutely would not shock me if they're just making shit up here.
	Or spinning things.
	Yeah, no, no, no, no, absolutely.
	And you are right to bring it up.
	So next we hear a little bit more of how people shouldn't be profiting off of the Israel-Palestine conflict, right?
	The bright side of all of this horror and death.
	Less than two months after Russia's invasion last year, William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, highlighted how such conflicts benefit the arms industry, writing that the war will indeed be a bonanza for the likes of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
	We can't bring you complex independent reporting without our sponsors and partners.
	Sat123.com made this thing.
	Let me tell you why this phone that looks a bit like it's from the recent past is actually the phone of the future.
	Are you suspicious of technology?
	Are you addicted to that little thing?
	Do you think it's spying on you?
	Do you think it's tricking you?
	Can you rely on it?
	Cell phones go down for hundreds of reasons, but satellite phones like this guy will always work because you're carrying your own personal cell tower with you everywhere you go.
	Does that mean it's more hard to trace you?
	Prepare for the unexpected.
	Does it?
	God dammit, he was doing so well.
	And then in the middle of saying how serious and sensitive this issue is and that it should be treated carefully and no one should be profiting off it, he throws to an ad for satellite phones of all things.
	I was hoping, like, that's what I've been on the back foot for, is like, when he asks himself these long rambling hypothetical questions, I was, every single one, I've been like, don't be Field of Greens, the answer is not Field of Greens, the answer is not Field of Greens.
	Yo, no, it's set one, two, three.
	Yeah, right, yeah.
	Russell does not understand the very concept of hypocrisy, that has become clear.
	No one should profit off Israel-Palestine conflict by my phones!
	Okay, so I've taken a look at- There's no genocide, Russo!
	But 15% off, which also- No.
	Unless it's, you gotta, if it's expensive, 30% or more, if it's cheap, 50% or more, or leave Me alone.
	I don't care.
	This is expensive.
	I've taken a look at sat123.com and the very cheapest deal they do is 100 minutes or texts with a satellite phone for $89.95 a month on a 12 month agreement.
	So it's supposed to be your only phone?
	Is that what they're pitching?
	I don't know!
	I don't know!
	But it seems like a great deal.
	100 minutes or texts, right?
	There's not and texts.
	There's an or, which I've never seen before.
	That is quite unique.
	Well, it's a satellite phone.
	It's a very specific thing.
	I don't have one.
	No one I know has one because we're not a rescue team.
	We're not a rescue team or a fucking CEO or... A rich hiker person.
	I mean...
	Or a cartel leader, you know?
	The other kinds of people who have that kind of phone.
	I don't work on the crew of Survivor or Naked and Afraid, so I don't need a satellite phone.
	I'm not on an oil rig.
	But they're trying to sell it to... oh.
	It's interesting, and I'm going to do something I don't normally do, and I'm going to play the rest of the ad, because he really is pushing the hard sell in the middle of covering this sensitive and delicate subject.
	Anyone with a satellite phone in the affected areas of Hawaii, the Nevada desert, like a burning man, would have a way to communicate with friends and family and emergency services.
	And guess what?
	No tracking.
	No one can listen in on your calls.
	You can organize revolutions.
	The most secure way to communicate is from a satellite phone to another satellite phone.
	Get one for your friends.
	Do walkie-talkies like kids, like in the film Big, when they tour across the alley till Tom Hanks, kind of a big person, crosses that machine.
	Yeah, it's got confusing already.
	That bloody film.
	I still don't know what the message is.
	The US military uses sat phones for secured communication.
	And those guys know how to keep their business quiet.
	Please visit sat123.com or call 866-643-0609 and use the promo code brand50 to waive the $50 activation fee.
	You don't need the old activation fee.
	Visit sat123.com Or you can call on your normal spy phone 866-643-0609.
	This service is only applicable, I'm sorry to tell you, if you're in the US, which is a shame because I currently am not and I want one of these things.
	Okay, let's get back to this difficult story about how we could make small changes that might make the world a little better and then communicate them so that people didn't know that's what we were planning.
	Is it just me, or did that ad feel very specifically targeted?
	Like, he might as well have just shouted, hey, Jan Six people, do you want to not get caught for seditious conspiracy next time?
	Try one of these!
	As a person who has had to navigate, yes, yes, and, as a person who's had to navigate the homesteader prepper Internet for a long time because I like making stuff and growing food and all you have to really I'm so glad it's better now because even the most basic information you had to really like.
	For a while there you really have to go to some interesting blogs.
	Geez that was a very doomsday prepper like it's a very Berkey water filter kind of like.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	Hideyourguns.com.
	It's on that same vein, I think, is the satellite phone.
	Also, there's a reason that it's specialized.
	There's a specialty requirement.
	We've been watching a lot of X-Files lately.
	That's why, at the beginning of the episode, you were like, Jillian Anderson.
	Hey, I'm like, yeah, we've been watching a lot of X-Files because we just went to Roswell.
	And Jillian Anderson is generally great.
	Oh, she's just also... And total babe.
	Oh, yeah.
	Treasure for the world, obviously.
	More of a silver fox in sex education as well.
	And oof, oof.
	Love her, right?
	And that's like, so satellite phones, you know, I know it's TV, but we know what they're for.
	And it's to be remote places where cell coverage isn't normally like, isn't available.
	And so a satellite phone is a more reliable communicator if you're like, if you're out of range.
	Yeah.
	Or if you fancy yourself a doomsday prepper person.
	Or you want to plan an insurrection again.
	I'm a little bit concerned about this given that we're about to have another election that Trump hopefully loses.
	Yeah, and I'm not even in the same country.
	I wish you didn't have to worry.
	The thing is, I know it does.
	I know it has international implications.
	They attempted a coup and wanted to hang Mike Pence, so, you know, I'm wary.
	That's my position.
	Had none of that happened, then sure, my position would be hysterical, but that happened!
	That's very specific.
	It's a very specific ad, isn't it?
	We have the final clip of this editorial before we move on to the Friday show, and this is how Brand ends the thing.
	Here's some information posted on X by Unusual Wales about the number of Democrats and Republicans investing in oil, energy and military industrial complex companies.
	In 2022!
	Here's every US politician in Congress who currently holds stock positions that will directly benefit from the war in the Middle East.
	And I will tell you now, it is not a very short list.
	It's, I mean, one would be too many, but it's more than one.
	Substantially more than one.
	So baffling.
	It's terrifying and awful, though this conflict is and has been for a very long while.
	Let us focus on what we can agree on together.
	People in Congress should not be able to invest in companies that will benefit from military conflict.
	Let's end that practice.
	Let's have a government that's there to serve the people, certainly the domestic population, if it's possible, the population of the world, that have an intention and a trajectory towards beneficial outcomes that are not biased by or in any way guided by personal interest.
	Only then may we move forward in this new geopolitical climate, in this state of omni-crisis, where everywhere you look there are wars in Europe that could escalate into Armageddon, potential wars in Southeast China that could escalate into the apocalypse, and in the Middle East, a region historically troubled by the intervention of imperial and colonial powers, including Britain.
	While these conflicts continue, there should be no opportunity for profit.
	It should simply be a complex Difficult, agonizing, painful matter for all those involved and those of us that are not directly involved should do everything we can to bring about a peaceful solution even if it is in our own hearts.
	Futile, empty and shallow as that might sound in such a painful time for so many of you.
	You all have my sympathy and love.
	That's just what I think.
	Let me know what you think in the comments and chat.
	I'll see you in a second.
	So, I don't know, bring about peace in our hearts, I guess.
	Yeah, that's that done with.
	So the sauce at Finbold's is full of shit, and their sauce at Unusual Wales is full of shit, and Russell is full of shit.
	But he is also very much Fairly correct and sensible on the subject of whether elected officials, or indeed anyone at all, should be profiting from war.
	He was doing so well, so unusually well, it made my head spin, and I was constantly waiting for that hammer to drop through the whole thing.
	Until the ad break, which was gross and hypocritical, and completely undercuts any merit I might have given him for his efforts here.
	And now let's go to ads!
	Oh, wait.
	Yeah, right.
	We don't have any.
	We don't.
	Thank you, patrons.
	Yeah, that said, for Russell this editorial does show remarkable restraint, right?
	You can watch the full 20 minute thing and you'll find it is both bipartisan and lacking in conspiracy theories, which is incredibly unusual for him.
	But again, he stepped on the largest and most obvious of rakes, and we must act as the laws of physics, allowing it to hit him in the face.
	That is our purpose here.
	So, yeah, that well, I just I so I have been thinking a lot lately about his conception of what he wants society to be.
	And he talks about it all the time.
	And the fact that we have to confront what he's talking about, occurred to me to think about this otherwise, but like, he's Insisting and his attitude is this kind of like it's a little pie in the sky and it's and maybe it is a revolutionary idea of like revolution and then what cool question mark like yeah so vague because usually
	Especially propagandists that bring about the revolution or anything therein, like, you know, any kind of overturn of power.
	Once there's a power vacuum, it doesn't last.
	And it's a lot easier to seize on when That by bad actors that are willing to swoop in and do what they need to do instead of people that are like building this coalition this like vague coalition he keeps postulating but like doesn't outline in any specific terms.
	And that's, this is an old, old propagandist trope that is very alarming to listen to.
	Because there's no, like, there's just like a total misunderstanding of civics.
	If it's like, oh yeah, well, politicians shouldn't be allowed to, you know, like, Congress shouldn't be allowed to trade stocks and do insider trading.
	I agree.
	How do we fix that?
	Welp, you've already, welp, welp, welp, welp, welp, welp, welp, welp.
	Russ, do you have basic understanding of civics?
	No?
	Well, then learn that!
	Learn what would fix it.
	Yes, capitalism is the problem most of the time that he's complaining about, but there are specific laws and regulations that are either not being enforced or are weak and loopholes are being exploited.
	There's a process.
	Because there's going to be a process regardless.
	Like, we live in a very complex society.
	You can't un-complex society, because that's what he wants to do, and that's not possible.
	And so he just wants to simplify it for himself, which is bad.
	That's a bad deal for everybody.
	That's called a little fashy.
	Little fashy.
	Don't like that.
	I was having this very same discussion earlier today with another podcast host who is covering similar, this very cretin that we're dealing with here, that a huge portion of Russell Brand's mindset in general is just one of not thinking things through.
	You know, he'll kind of get to the first bit and be like, that sounds good, and then stick with it.
	And then you're like, well, hang on, let's carry this through to the conclusion, please.
	And yeah, no.
	Well, that's very new age.
	It's a very new age of like, well, we all just need to meditate and get in balance, pray, and then magically something will get fixed.
	No, that's not how it works.
	I mean, and also like Bill Hicks, like, Bless it.
	What a wonderful soul was insistent that if everybody just trips balls a couple of times, we'll all be nicer.
	I don't think that's... I think that hasn't borne out.
	I think that's optimistic.
	But that was a message.
	And even just a lot of hippies with varying degrees of involvement in the counter-cultural movement is like, Well, if everybody just gets, like, really stoned, then, like, we'll all just be fine, because, like, I feel really connected to people when I'm, like, tripping balls, and, like, okay, maybe you do, but Dick Cheney exists, and I'm sure he's done all the drugs, and, like, nothing has fixed him, nothing has made him better, or whoever, like,
	Yeah.
	Some people are awful and like we need to deal with the react like you can't just like bring up the vibrations and everything gets fixed man.
	No, they want you to take your eye off the ball so they can like move their like their their troops in like that's it's it's it's a bad deal and it's what I'm hearing and that's I wouldn't forget that there is a degree of things being faith-based in any kind of system that he proposes because he wants us all to live in a theocracy.
	And so there is a certain amount of that question mark being Religion, or being faith, or spirituality, or in Bran's case, Christianity.
	You know, of being, well this will guide us all through, it will have a vision, we've just got to prey on it, you know.
	And yeah, I think plenty of people have been confronted with the reality of when that does not come through.
	Yeah.
	Yeah, it can be very ugly and bad.
	Usually.
	That's also why exploitation is rampant within New Age cults and within high pressure groups.
	That's the normal outcome.
	So we move to the Friday Show, right?
	Friday the 13th.
	Here is how he decides to open, and I've got to say, I'm not loving the solution he seems to be presenting.
	Hello there, you awakening wonder wherever you are in this world amidst the omni-crisis that will not yield.
	Well done for continuing to transcend fear in a darkening space at a time of deep complexity.
	It's more important that we come together now than ever before.
	We must transcend this complex time by looking within and finding deep power.
	Deep power that some would regard as holy is present with you now.
	Don't be afraid.
	We're going to keep going together.
	So, we must transcend this complex time by looking within and finding deep power that some would regard as holy.
	This is just vague enough to not be outright Christian zealotry, but the idea that spirituality is the solution to the problems we're all facing is, to me, pretty laughable when you consider that the reason the Israel-Palestine conflict exists in the first place is predominantly down to religion.
	Humanity has a problem with finding that deep holy power and using it to murder people.
	Also, for those listening who can't see, Russell is dressed in an especially yogic kind of way today.
	Beads, a denim shawl-type thing draping up his arm.
	There's a denim kimono, yeah.
	Kimono top.
	Kinda, yeah, to which he has affixed one of his own stickers that says, stay free with Russell Brand on it.
	It's a sticker, yeah.
	He's giving them away for free at the moment.
	If you go to Stickermule.com slash Russell, you'll get a free pack of 10 stickers with Russell on them.
	That kind of thing.
	I did think about, you know, kind of showing everyone that and being like, hey, we could, you know, deface these or something.
	But I'm not sure what to do with them.
	If anyone has any creative ideas, by all means, get yourself some free stickers.
	Just be aware that the company Sticker Mule will then have your details.
	I don't know if there's anything wrong with Sticker Mule or not.
	I'm just saying.
	Okay, maybe okay.
	Yeah, I don't know.
	I mean, okay, asterisk, again.
	Merch production is a whole thing.
	Again, I will handle that later.
	Pin in that for later.
	But yeah, even like the word Omnicrisis seems... it is... because like...
	So we actually, we caught a little bit of the Jim Bakker show whenever we were in Roswell and we actually had like a hotel room.
	Oh, did you?
	It was a slap in the fucking, it was a slap in the face of the fish.
	It was very much that because they were, they were fear mongering specifically about AI and obviously like Russell knows better and has more elegant solutions to his fascism.
	Then like the Jim Bakker Show does because they were like AI like they were they were reading one guy had like a little like Britney Spears like mouthpiece like microphone yeah very profesh and has and he was reading off of somebody's blog and about the dangers of AI and they were they were just it was it ended up being like a commercial bumper but it seemed like they were transitioning from their talk show and it was like this escalation Of like all these concerns with AI, like, oh my god, facial recognition software is very problematic and is causing huge problems.
	Start that reality.
	And they ended at... It's inherently racist.
	Yeah, and it just doesn't really work that well.
	And so we shouldn't be using it for the things that it's being used for.
	And it's not being regulated.
	It's a whole problem.
	That's not what they were saying.
	They were saying that like, and I don't necessarily disagree with this either because like, but like they were basically went from facial recognition software not really working great to nuclear war.
	The blog this guy was reading.
	That is a leap.
	Jim Bakker, I'm sorry.
	He is the, like, Evangelist Flavor Flav hype man.
	Like, he can sound bewildered and interested about anything.
	I'm picturing him with a top hat and a giant clock.
	I wish.
	And a grill?
	That'd be amazing.
	Right?
	We gotta have fun where we can.
	So but like this and they're just straight up they're like people running on the streets and then just like you know like Shutterstock clips of all this like escalating death and destruction to like this guy reading a blog and the blog says like estimates show that AI could be more dangerous to the human race than nuclear war and then Jim Baker's like nuclear war and then boom like a fucking mushroom cloud video.
	I was like whoa.
	What?
	It was wild and also standard fucking fair.
	That's incredible.
	It was it was it was equally Unique, and disorienting, and so familiar.
	You know what I mean?
	I mean, it would be to you.
	To me, that would just be baffling, you know?
	It's one of those things, you know, we over here, we don't get that kind of thing.
	We don't get the televangelists.
	Like, there are a couple on very specific channels that are- You have to, like, find them.
	You have to seek them out.
	They're not actively available.
	Much like fucking Rush Limbaugh.
	We don't have an equivalent over here.
	We didn't have... Just to bring them up briefly, most of our audience is American, a good chunk are international, Um, you know, my, my first experience with Rush Limbaugh was, was, you know, I'm, we're talking like, I don't know, 2012, 13, something like that.
	That was when I first encountered him.
	Right.
	So, so in, in terms of, in terms of going through and, and actually understanding him, I found last week immensely helpful.
	And I, I'm quite sure a bunch of our international listeners will have found the same thing because the ubiquity was, was not the case in America.
	Absolutely.
	But internationally, no.
	Almost like there were big fucking walls around that were like, no rush here, thank you very much.
	Yeah, which is correct.
	Yeah, no, it's absolutely the correct thing.
	But that kind of rhetoric, I think that he's, I'm watching this pattern, right?
	I'm trying to recognize patterns is what we're doing so that we can all arm ourselves against this kind of dangerous rhetoric.
	That's like the point.
	And so this kind of like making A polycataclysmic state.
	And then he's saying that an omnicrisis.
	Those are bigger than any human or even group of humans.
	That's why I'm bringing up the Jim Baker thing.
	It's fear mongering on a grand scale, isn't it?
	On an apocalyptic, and he said apocalypse too, on an apocalyptic scale, which means none of us can do anything.
	That makes the problem far too large to even think about addressing.
	So this omni crisis, and he's making these little word, you know, like situations that are like feeding
	into this like fear mongering.
	And then I'll show you how to pray.
	I'll show you how to meditate.
	I'll show you how to like, you know, take solace and refuge in my locals channel,
	which is like, there's been a lot of weird conversations that I've both been having and seeing that are very similar.
	They almost, like, feed into, like, austerity politics and, like, again, a total misunderstanding of civics, which, again, like...
	Our education system is terrible, so it's really hard to even be mad at people for it.
	But this is so dangerous.
	This is such dangerous rhetoric, and it's exactly the same as Jim Baker.
	It's exactly the same as anybody else trying to sell you a bucket of gross-ass oats.
	Like, it's just... Yeah, ultimately, if you make the problem so big that it cannot be dealt with by you individually in any kind of way, then you will, in some kind of heightened state of fear and desperation, you will be like, well, he's saying that if I subscribe to this local's channel, then I can fix it, so I'm gonna do that, and I'm gonna try and fix it, because this is a problem, everyone!
	We don't know how to deal with it and we're all gonna die!
	Yeah, and he's couching his responses in this, like, I'm gonna comfort you and, like, nothing you say is comforting.
	Like, nothing.
	I keep waiting for the thing to be comforting and I have yet to even, like, put myself in a place.
	He thinks that the talking about spiritual enlightenment and, you know, prayer and all of that stuff, he thinks that that's the comforting bit.
	He thinks that, you know, we'll find love within ourselves and blah, blah, blah.
	Yeah, that sounds like a threat to me.
	We'll find peace in our hearts, even if that makes no difference whatsoever.
	I'm like, that's not comforting.
	No, that sounds like a threat and a setup.
	Nor is it helpful.
	Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
	It sounds like a threat and a setup.
	And if nothing else, Listeners, I want you to know what's a setup and how to avoid it.
	That's the point of finding these patterns in the first place.
	So it is fair to say that Russell's talk and presentation of spirituality while dressed as a guru of some kind does not bode well, especially with what is revealed in this next clip.
	We're going to be all over the gas.
	For the first part of the show.
	I mean, we'll be available on all platforms.
	That was a weird colloquialism to have used there for an international medium such as this and for an international community such as ours.
	What I mean to say is wherever you get your content, you can watch us now, but you're going to have to click the link in the description eventually and get Rumble and join us on Rumble.
	And if you haven't got the Rumble app yet, Get it now, because if you subscribe to us on Rumble and turn on the notification bell, you'll be told every time we make content.
	You'll be told about our live streams.
	Fantastic live streams.
	Anyway, we've got a lot to talk about.
	And by the way, if you can support us by clicking the red button to become an Awakened Wanderer, it's more important now than ever.
	We do meditations together.
	We do Bible readings together.
	We're like people.
	We're preppers, man.
	We're prepping now.
	We're not prepping.
	Well, we are.
	But we're preparing for something better than this.
	You know the system doesn't work.
	We tell you how every day.
	Over there, as an Awaken Wonder, we're going to explain to you the new solutions.
	We will discover together how we're going to get through this.
	The five ideas that are going to save the world.
	Five communities that are off grid and out of the system that work better.
	These are the things we're going to learn together.
	You feel you don't fit in in this world.
	I know what it's like to feel that feeling I've felt in my whole life.
	You come with us.
	We'll work this out together.
	Oh, that is a hard sell!
	So, here's... You're not feeling good about this.
	I'm so sorry!
	To those listening, I... Lauren is just many faces right now.
	My spirit left my body.
	I don't know what to... That's a problem!
	His locals channel has apparently morphed from racists who make dick jokes to being preppers who do bible readings.
	Out of the two, I think I prefer the dick-joking racists.
	I bet it's all.
	I bet it's all.
	I'm gonna do a rare thing, Lauren, and I'm gonna tell you what next week's show is gonna cover.
	And that is gonna be Russell's Locals channel.
	There are a few videos up on Locals engaging with the idea of communes and going off-grid, all of which is pointing at Russell starting a cult somewhere.
	Though he has to keep insisting it's not a cult, which is funny.
	Essentially, I'm going to do whatever I can to dissect the information which is available to the wider public without paying any money.
	Equally, I'm quite sure there is one or two converts to our show from Russell's at this point, possibly in light of him being outed.
	If you are out there and you happen to have a Russell Brand local subscription that you're not using or needing, please do let us know if we can use it to snoop behind the paywall.
	Again, please, nobody just outright buy one because I don't want to give this guy money, but having had a look at the things that are available for free on Locals, I can't imagine what he's saying to the paying part of his audience.
	I have a lot to say about that particular kind of content as well.
	It's a thing that I'm very familiar with the griff.
	I knew you would!
	I knew you would!
	We're hoving into my territory here!
	So since being outed as a serial sexual assaulter and everything else, he Yeah, he seems to be getting more specific about the kind of little ethnostates he wants us to live in, specifically the one that he wants to build.
	Yeah, so we're gonna see something really interesting.
	It's gonna be here!
	Oh no!
	Well, location is a subject that comes up next week, and something for everyone to look forward to.
	Oh god!
	But needless to say, that clip specifically, when he said we do Bible readings, I was like, I haven't checked in on the locals community for a while, let's just have a little look and oh boy, oh boy.
	It's not great!
	Is it wrong that I'm kind of excited?
	No, no, no.
	That's a fair response.
	I can also confirm that they are working on setting up getting back in the studio.
	Thank fuck.
	So, oh my god.
	So, you know, within a couple of weeks hopefully we'll be dealing with studio shows because Jesus.
	Why buy a goon in a high-vis vest if you can't go back to the place, right?
	Right, exactly.
	I'm still waiting on that t-shirt.
	So next we'll... we've had to cover Trump already, right?
	But there are a few more heroes on the brand bingo card and Russell is about to introduce one.
	Now, Tucker Carlson has spoken out on the complex evolving situation in the Middle East.
	Particularly, he's criticised Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham.
	Both said support in Ukraine is in US national interest and both of them have used extremely
	vehement rhetoric with regard to this complex matter. I have too much respect for those that
	are personally harmed in this unprecedented, escalatory and difficult time to offer you
	strong condemnation, support or anything.
	I simply don't feel qualified.
	Oh goody!
	We get to hear what Tucker Carlson has to say about all this.
	I love how Russell said at the end there, like, oh, I've too much respect for those who are harmed to offer strong condemnation, support, or anything, implying Tucker doesn't have that respect and will gladly offer up as much condemnation as a human being can offer.
	Or like, is speaking from a place of authority for some reason?
	What?
	Definitely not.
	I don't know who gave him that position, but... I think he took it away.
	I was going to say, I don't think it was any of us.
	Nope.
	Yeah.
	All right.
	Well, so it's got to be done.
	And yeah, the fucking Ukraine shit flinging, it's just never ending.
	It's got to be done.
	Everybody, brace for America's whitest man.
	Let's hear what Tucker Carlson has to say.
	Let's have a look at what Tucker Carlson's saying and let me know what you feel about what Tucker's saying on this subject.
	So there's a lot at stake in how we encourage Israel to respond to the horrifying Hamas attacks.
	Motion support hammer.
	Wisdom and long-term thinking are essential, but you will not be surprised to learn that is not what we are getting.
	Watch this person, for example, who happens to be the media's pick for President of the United States.
	This is not just an attack on Israel.
	This is an attack on America, because they hate us just as much.
	And what we have to understand is, this is the reason that we have to unite around making sure our enemies do not hurt our friends.
	America can never be so arrogant to think we don't need friends, just like we needed them on 9-11.
	That's why Ukraine needs us when Russia's doing this.
	That's why Israel needs us when Hamas and Iran are doing this.
	And I'll say this to Prime Minister Netanyahu, finish them.
	Finish them.
	Hamas did this, you know Iran's behind it, finish them.
	They should have hell to pay for what they've just done.
	This was an attack on America, she says, when in fact it was not.
	And for that reason we must quote, finish Iran, a nation of nearly 90 million people.
	What are we watching here?
	This is not sober leadership.
	She's a child, and this is the tantrum of a child.
	Ignorant, cocksure, bloodthirsty.
	Yet no one in Washington scolded her for it.
	In fact, they aped her hysteria.
	Here's fellow neocon Lindsey Graham just spelling it out.
	Notice that Tucker uses phrases like neocon to ensure we understand that transcendent of the presumed division between Democrat and Republican, there's a political movement that encompasses both of those sides, meaning you have very little when it comes to meaningful democratic purchase.
	Okay, so real quick, Russell keeps trying to make the claim that the word neocon includes both Democrats and Republicans, when the full word is literally neoconservative.
	He talks about it as though there's some magical third party that sits between the Democrats and Republicans muddying the waters and showing that actually all the parties are the same.
	It's complete nonsense, but it does serve his agenda pretty well.
	I don't know if he just doesn't understand the word or this is intentional obfuscation, but it's really funny to me.
	Do you mean because it's an obvious dog whistle to Americans?
	It's almost like a given?
	Yeah.
	Like, Neocon has been around for a long time.
	A long time!
	It was pre-Rhino.
	That's what Rush would call Republicans he didn't like.
	Yeah, he's one of the people constantly on about the Neocons.
	Okay, on to Tucker.
	So, apparently Nikki Haley is the media's pick for President of the United States.
	And anyone would think it would be the current President of the United States, Joe Biden, but whatever.
	And Nikki Haley is saying finish them to Netanyahu as though she was like a Z-list character in a shitty ripoff of Mortal Kombat.
	I've listened to it over and over and it does sound like she is agitating for war with Iran.
	I do agree that she's acting like a bloodthirsty child and I am deeply, deeply uncomfortable with largely agreeing with Tucker Carlson on a subject.
	Agreeing with Russell is one thing, but sharing a perspective with Tucker just makes me feel gross, regardless what it is.
	He could be like, cookies are delicious, and a part of me would want to instinctively disagree or at least figure out how it was somehow a metaphor for killing black people.
	I had to grow new feet to be on a back foot.
	Like I'm so... Right.
	Yeah.
	I think in that metaphor, the chocolate chips are black people.
	I don't know.
	Point is, it feels gross to agree with him no matter the subject.
	And right here, I do agree with him.
	This fucking episode has me agreeing with Russell Brand and Tucker Carlson.
	I do not like it.
	We are living in the upside down.
	I don't like this at all.
	It's not good.
	I'm not okay with this.
	I've got to know where this is going.
	I've been given the ick.
	So this is the last clip that we've got.
	It's the last of the show and we're going to jump straight into Lindsey Graham.
	If Hezbollah attacks Israel, I would make Iran pay a heavy price.
	What exactly would happen to the United States if we declared war on Iran and started blowing up their infrastructure?
	Lindsey Graham has no clue what would happen.
	He hasn't thought it through.
	Tucker Carlson is incisive, isn't he?
	What he does very elegantly, Tucker Carlson, is he's stating and expressing opinion.
	I think he's being very respectful.
	At least the bits that we're watching now and commenting on.
	And then he, like, gives Lindsey Graham such a massive dig for not having kids.
	What is that about?
	What is that about?
	Neither amazingly did each of his colleagues in Washington.
	They're as reckless as he is.
	Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw took to social media to call for what he described as a war to end all wars.
	As if there is such a thing.
	Plainly, ordinary consciousness is being taken to its very limits.
	That's why it's worrying that progressive Gavin Newsom, governor of California, who has always presented himself as the future, plainly a person who sees himself as a potential president, let me know in the chat if you think he's being primed for such a role, has vetoed the possibility of psychedelics being used therapeutically.
	Okay, okay.
	Fuck off!
	I told it!
	What did I say?
	Oh, the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm We are not getting into that right now, if at all, because Bran's coverage of this is entirely dumb, and it's also completely off-topic.
	I do, however, like that segue he used.
	It goes, plainly, ordinary consciousness is being taken to its very limits, which is why it's worrying that... Like, I could use this for all kinds of things.
	Plainly, ordinary consciousness is being taken to its very limits, which is why it's worrying that Tony the Tiger can talk, right?
	Plainly, ordinary consciousness is being taken to its very limits, which is why it's worrying that Jordan Peele is married to Chelsea Peretti.
	See, it can apply to anything.
	Also, that was something I learned over the weekend, and it's weird to bring it up anywhere else other than, of course, Off-brand, where we talk about anything but Russell Brand, which we will be going to do very shortly.
	Patrons, look forward to that.
	See, Russell, that is how you segue, bitch.
	As for why Tucker Carlson doesn't like that Lindsey Graham doesn't have kids, well, there could be a number of things underlying that.
	Firstly, he's a hardline Christian, and therein the belief that a married couple should procreate, right?
	That's in there.
	Go forth and multiply, right?
	Lindsey Graham has never been married, which to someone like Tucker Carlson will read as deeply suspicious, and that Graham is possibly a closeted gay or asexual.
	He does also have a little bit of an interesting relationship with his sister.
	Deeper than that, however... Oh, there's a lot.
	There's a lot.
	Strange dude on all accounts.
	Deeper than that, however, and leaning into Tucker's frequent reference to the Great Replacement Theory, is the idea that if white people don't procreate, they will eventually be outpaced and completely replaced by people of color, therefore leading to the extinction of the Caucasian race.
	And of course, if Lindsey Graham has hit 68 and doesn't have kids, so is therefore very unlikely to have any more, that said, Robert De Niro seems to be doing just fine, that makes Lindsey Graham...
	That makes Lindsey Graham a race traitor for not having children.
	But yes, Russell, I suppose it is a bit weird, isn't it?
	Yeah, as for the rest of what Tucker Carlson said in his show, don't know.
	Not looking it up.
	Don't want to look at Tucker Carlson.
	There are other podcasts that deal with him more in earnest than we do.
	Perhaps they'll cover it.
	Maybe they won't.
	But yeah, everything that he said here I agree with.
	Other than the kids thing, because that's fucking bullshit.
	But yeah, his actual points, his actual points.
	So like, for the most part, for this show, we have agreed with Russell Brand and Tucker Carlson.
	I don't like it.
	I'm uncomfortable.
	My tummy hurts.
	I don't like this.
	No, it's deeply upsetting.
	We don't like it.
	Hammer does not like it either.
	It's deeply upsetting, but I can, again, because I know what I'm covering next week already and have cut a good chunk of the clips, I can guarantee you that next week you will not be agreeing with Russell Brown.
	So we have that as some kind of solace.
	But yeah, very, very strange.
	We live in really weird times.
	But this also makes sense!
	This also makes sense because usually when something, like, and we have, we've seen this happen before.
	I'm gonna put my hammer back.
	But we've seen this before that, like, whenever the cement is still wet for propagandists and for general, like, fear-mongering war hawk psychopaths is they accidentally say Like, they don't really have their faculties about them, they don't have their narrative yet.
	Yeah, they're still waiting for it to develop.
	Yeah, the cement is still very wet on this, especially in the time period that you're covering.
	So they are going to kind of like throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
	Kind of hedge a little bit.
	Yeah, this is the throwing at the wall portion.
	When they don't know what narrative to align with, so they accidentally say right things.
	This is crazy.
	This is crazy.
	Okay, I usually only see these things in retrospect when it's being explained to me, you know, like, through propaganda, podcast coverage, news, whatever.
	But we're seeing this again in real time.
	Because, like, you know, at first, COVID was going to be the disaster, it's over for humanity, and then you got your Alex Joneses of the world selling food buckets and colloidal silver.
	Because COVID will be so bad until the narrative Kind of like honed in that to not take it seriously.
	All of a sudden it shifts to like, ah, it's just a cold, you know?
	And yeah, there's definitely, with this especially, as I kind of intimated near the beginning, you know, there's definitely a potential for brand to go down the conspiracy road.
	It's just, I don't think anything has really solidified yet for him to
	latch onto, but I think as soon as something comes up that is starting to take hold with the
	other members of the alt-right media, he will be latching on just as quickly as anyone else. And
	it'll happen. I'm pretty damn confident that it will happen. Because it's... - Of course. This is
	the cycle. The cycle.
	Exactly. So yeah. But for now, I guess well done, Russell Brand, and well done, Tucker Carlson.
	Well, the other thing... - I can't see it.
	I can't say it.
	I'm not signing up for that.
	I mean, yeah, okay, you accidentally said things that were mildly okay.
	But asking for prayers is completely outrageous.
	I thought we'd moved past the thoughts and prayers kind of thing.
	You think?
	People still think putting mush hats and stuff is funny.
	I don't know what to tell you.
	But as far as prayers, what we need, again, what we need to do is listen to, like, we can still hear from people who are in crisis what they're asking for.
	You don't need to assume, because that's what Russell wants to do.
	You can see him in real time do it.
	He's assigning the opinions he wants to get from his listeners and from his fans.
	He's indoctrinating them.
	Like, oh, do you think this one very specific thing?
	Sound off in the comments.
	Let me know.
	He's indoctrinating what people want, and then expecting that he will be giving them what they want, because he's told them what they want.
	Yeah, there's a degree of that, and sometimes he's also a notorious panderer.
	There are other cases where he's just like, sound off in the comments so I know which way to lean.
	Also that, but the whole point, assuming what people need and what they want, is never as good as what they're actually asking for. And
	what I've seen in all of my social feeds and my news feeds and stuff is that
	Palestinians are begging. And honestly, it's not just Palestinians, and it's not just Muslims, and
	it's not just Jewish people.
	There are Christians that live in those areas. There's all kinds of sex and faith and different
	kinds of people. There are, I think, like 600 Americans that are stuck over there right
	now that basically have been abandoned. It's awful. And they're asking for...
	Yeah, there's some Brits over there too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
	And they're asking to share as much as you possibly can. Anything that you see that...
	It's really hard because there's so much misinformation out there right now.
	The amount of pictures, and I think maybe it's always been this way, but I think that the fact checking in real time has made it very obvious that There's, like, photographs that are being shared that are like, oh, this is so terrible what's happening in Israel, and they're pictures of Palestinians.
	And like, it's so stark and so direct.
	Yeah, at that point it's like, wow, this is obvious.
	Yeah, okay, okay.
	That's... ouch.
	Yeah, there's actually a cross-section of people that are suffering and just letting people know what's going on and just trying to even, you know, be gentle with your friends and be gentle with the people around you as best you can.
	Yeah, yeah, for sure.
	Fucked up.
	I do not want to watch a genocide any more than anyone else.
	No, it's there's nothing good about any of it.
	Yeah, it's it's all it's all it's all deeply, deeply troubling.
	It's not a long, painful conflict.
	That's the thing that honestly, like, Russell kept saying over and over is this long, painful conflict.
	No, it's not.
	No, it's not.
	Like, I mean, if you're talking about, like, because it seemed like he was suggesting that this same dynamic has been happening for thousands of years.
	Yeah.
	That is plainly, patently not true.
	And in fact, People had a lot easier time living in mixed, complex societies with a lot of different belief systems.
	That has always been possible and it's always been like, there's always been, most societies are very comfortable living amongst each other in a diverse way.
	Someone needs to explain that to Russell, because I can tell you that getting into some of the stuff next week, he does not agree.
	Oh my god.
	Oh my god.
	That's so profoundly, like, a lot of really fascinating, like, art history got me there.
	Like, history nerds out there, unite with me.
	And read.
	I don't know.
	Push your glasses up together.
	I don't know.
	To raise a glass to history... The most exciting and interesting developments in social dynamics, art, philosophy, music, is because of confluences of Different kinds of people.
	Yep.
	I completely agree.
	I completely agree with you.
	So calling this like an ancient conflict is so ahistorical and is driving me crazy.
	Yep, next week is going to be tough for you, so hang in there.
	As for Israel-Palestine, we will monitor the situation and see how he develops it.
	We will see.
	I'll Keep An Eye is the best I'm going to do.
	We're not going to do anything more than that.
	We are not a source for news for that.
	No.
	Please don't rely on us at all.
	No.
	You would have a very narrow worldview if this was your only news source, I can tell you that.
	No Russell-based world news of any kind.
	I don't think anyone needs that.
	We are going to go off-brand.
	Yeah, that is our show, everybody.
	We love you very much.
	Thank you so, so, so much.
	Lauren, do you got any plugs this week?
	I do!
	I should have mentioned it last week.
	So this Saturday, Saturday, October 21st, Um, Mike and I think I'll be in and out.
	But um, so the CPG Annual Publishers Fair sounds very fancy as it's the Chicago Printers Guild Publishers Fair, which is publishing is just making stuff.
	It's not it's not as crazy as all that.
	It's it's people showing up that are printmakers and Sharing editioned copies of art and things and it's honestly like all of our homies that get together like, man, everybody I know makes really cool stuff.
	So I'm just excited to see what's going to show up.
	That's great.
	And it's always going to be cheaper than you think.
	It's free.
	So right.
	So it's Saturday from noon to six.
	Is the CPG Annual Publishers Fair.
	If you want to Google it, that's totally fine.
	The event space is called Co-Prosperity.
	It's on the south side.
	It is at 3219 Morgan Street.
	And again, that's noon to six.
	We're going to have cool stuff.
	I've managed to whip up some more things in all this extra time I don't have with Mike Print stuff.
	And then I sew it on things and Mike's going to have a bunch of cool shit.
	We're just going to have general cool shit.
	Yeah, and I bet it's gonna be kind of spooky because it's almost Halloween.
	Yeah, exactly.
	Yeah, come say hi.
	That'd be really wonderful.
	That's great.
	You'll get to convalesce and be like, hey, we made a thing.
	That's awesome.
	Yeah, I am jealous.
	I would be there if I could, but I am many, many, many, many miles away.
	But hey, maybe one day.
	Okay, if you would like to support us in what we do, please go to patreon.com slash on brand.
	We would be very, very, very grateful.
	And then you can come and join us for off brand and we can talk about all kinds of other stuff.
	Last week, we got into a bit of rugby and we got, you know, the full download on Lauren's trip to Texas and New Mexico.
	Super cool stuff.
	Lots of alien shit.
	Even got to see some pictures and videos.
	Very cool.
	If you would like to get in touch, send us an email to theonbrandpod at gmail.com.
	We'd love to hear from you.
	You can also send a voicemail there, but we have a voicemail option attached to... Spotify.
	Yeah, it is attached to Spotify, but I think the details come through on like Apple Podcasts and everything as well.
	I think it gets posted there as well.
	So yeah, just click the link and leave us a message or, you know, just email us one.
	That's fine.
	We have a subreddit that is onbrand underscore pod.
	Shout out to our god of a mod, Monica.
	Absolute legend.
	You're the best.
	Yep, she is the best mod.
	Socials!
	We are the onbrand pod in most places.
	And personal socials, I'm at elworthofficial and Lauren is at made.by.lauren.b.
	And that is our show.
	We love you very much.
	Thank you for listening.
	We hope this wasn't too harrowing, having to agree with these people, because I didn't like it.
	I hope this is worse.
	It feels worse in a weird kind of way.
	I think it's the kind of internal cognitive dissonance that's going on.
	It's not right.
	At the same time, I was like, well, I have to cover this in the interest of fairness, for a start, and also just because I need to see what they're saying.
	And yeah, you know what?
	A fucking broken clock is right twice a day, I guess.
	Yeah, but it felt like watching paranormal activity.
	I'm like watching the same door.
	Yeah, you're just waiting.
	You're just waiting to see the twitch of something and all of a sudden a toddler is flying through the air.
	You're like, hang on.
	Hang on a second.
	Yeah, no, I went to see the second one of those movies in the cinema and I jumped out of my seat.
	Oh, I'm susceptible.
	Scared the bejesus out of me.
	To a jump scare.
	Because it was like an hour in before there was even the first jump scare.
	I was like, fuck!
	I nearly died.
	Also, before anyone mentions it, I know I'm going to get a ton of fucking emails about it, but the audio levels on Bran's clips are all over the place.
	That is on his end, not on mine.
	Yo, we are doing our best.
	Production issue.
	Production issue.
	I can promise you that is a production issue that is not ours.
	It is Brandon and his skeleton crew in his shitty home studio.
	That is what is happening.
	We're new and it's just us and we're trying really hard.
	We have to have such a very specific workflow that it can be an immense challenge when it wants to be.
	We're real suckers for doing video, let me tell you.
	Jesus Christ.
	So yeah, last week I think went a lot smoother.
	Hopefully this week will be the same.
	We'll see.
	We'll see.
	All right, we're going to go off-brand, everybody.
	We'll see you next week for a look into Brand's Locals channel and a bit of behind-the-scenes stuff.
	All right, yeah, it's gonna be great.
	All right.
	We love you very much.

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