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Episode 3: Grammys, Drake/Kendrick, and the American Crisis
12 Plays3 months ago
Where Malcolm, Simone and Joseph chat about the validity of the Grammys, offer a perspective on Kendrick Lamar's success and the genres of rap and hip-hop in general, and discuss the latest in Presidential overreach along with what it means to be a man.
Sources/Links Discussed:
Award Ceremonies Rigging Allegations:
https://medium.com/@marno.lucas28.com/people-think-the-game-awards-are-rigged-this-is-why-6d3c788b8864
https://sites.cortland.edu/dragon-chronicle/2023/02/12/the-grammys-have-always-been-rigged/
https://nordicnews.net/11727/ae/the-oscars-a-rigged-game/
Kendrick v. Drake Feud Overview:
https://old.reddit.com/r/CasualConversation/comments/1ckx3sg/can_anyone_explain_the_drake_kendrick_beef/
History of Hip-Hop/Rap:
https://www.pbs.org/show/fight-power-how-hip-hop-changed-world/
Soft Power (International Politics):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_power
https://www.gzeromedia.com/the-end-of-us-soft-power
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2023/06/27/views-of-american-soft-power/
George Allen ('macaca' incident):
https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2322630&page=1
Yuval Levin's 'Durable Majority' Remarks:
https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/politics-without-winners-can-either-party-build-a-majority-coalition/
Tip O'Neill and President Reagan:
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/centers/church21/publications/c21-resources/c21-resources-articles/Ronald-Reagan-and-Tip-O-Neill--A-Real-life-Friendship.html
USAID Origins/Purpose:
https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/who-we-are/usaid-history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025/02/03/usaid-how-it-started/
DOGE's Youth:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2025/02/07/who-are-the-doge-kids-the-disciples-of-elon-musk-tasked-with-hacking-the-us-federal-government_6737883_13.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/one-elon-musks-doge-kids-181406909.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-doge-edward-coristine-b2695812.html
Elon Musk and Ketamine:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/tech/elon-musk-ketamine-use-don-lemon-interview/index.html
https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-doge-staffer-ketamine
https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/ketamine/
https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/ips/ketamine-trd/risks-benefits/
Congress blocked from entering Dept. of Education:
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5132685-department-of-education-musk-doge-trump-frost/
https://frost.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-maxwell-frost-dozens-of-members-of-congress-denied-entry-into-department-of-education-as-they-demand-answers-on-plans-to-dismantle-the-agency
The State of Manliness:
(The following links are added for additional context. They do not necessarily reflect exactly what was discussed in the podcast.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/the-miseducation-of-the-american-boy/603046/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191216&silverid-ref=MzIxODYxNzEwMTQ3S0
https://www.brookings.edu/books/of-boys-and-men/
Gigachad:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gigachad
Heather Cox Richardson:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbKOlm6H9njgmN-Yil90Rg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Perspectives Pod
00:00:14
Malcolm Guidry
one Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Perspectives Pod. I'm Malcolm, and I'm joined here with my two wonderful kids, of course, Joseph and Simone. In that birth order, Joseph and Simone. And it's always great to have these guys with me here. I think it's it's something that I certainly enjoy. I hope they do too. But anyway, um Got a lot of of things that we want to discuss. There's quite a bit of things that's been happening. Of course, we we didn't record last weekend. Sometime life happens. Work happens. And so we weren't able to record anything last weekend. But you know here we are today
Grammy Awards Discussion
00:01:00
Malcolm Guidry
recording episode three. And so, yeah, let's go ahead and just jump right in and get started. Simone, talk to us. What do you have on on on your list?
00:01:11
Simone
Well, the Grammys happened last weekend, if you watched.
00:01:14
Malcolm Guidry
great
00:01:17
Simone
A lot of awards were given out, some deserved, some not so much, in my opinion, and I think a lot of people people's opinions. The big one of the night was, well, the big winner of the night was Kendrick Lamar with his song and album, The Not Like Us, which was a diss track to Drake in their drama.
00:01:35
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:01:36
Simone
He ended up winning like five or more Grammys that night.
00:01:36
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:01:41
Simone
He did a really good job.
00:01:41
Malcolm Guidry
Now, I gotta admit, gotta to admit i I didn't watch the Grammys. I haven't watched the Grammys in years. I don't watch the Oscars. um
00:01:51
Simone
People are watching less and less, I think.
00:01:53
Malcolm Guidry
Well, you know, it's interesting because, well, first off, i don't I don't like today's pop music. you know i just it's It's too much corporate you know, computer generating stuff.
00:02:05
Malcolm Guidry
um You know, I'm still listening to classic rock from the 70s,
Music Preferences and Industry Critique
00:02:10
Malcolm Guidry
80s, 90s. You know, that's pretty much what I listen to. I have and i have bought some recent stuff, but yeah, I just don't watch it.
00:02:18
Simone
Well, I think nowadays people are also just kind of realizing that it seems very rigged. um Like for example, this year, Beyonce won Country Album of the Year.
00:02:24
Malcolm Guidry
um
00:02:31
Simone
Grammy for Country Album of the Year. She didn't win a single thing at the CMAs and who else was in this category was Lainey Wilson, great album this year.
00:02:36
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Right.
00:02:41
Simone
ah Casey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, they were all nominees and who else but Beyonce to win this award where she's not a country artist this was her first year doing country music like and i i think i like a lot of other people at least on social media are like we know three songs from this album i that was it so that was just not deserved she also won um album of the year so country album of the year and then album of the year over
00:02:59
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:03:10
Simone
Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, Chapel Roan. Like this was a very good year for music. We had a lot of new artists come out like Chapel Roan. She did win New Arts of the Year.
00:03:22
Simone
This guy's Shaboozy, Sabrina Carpenter. So it was definitely tough but I don't think that Beyonce should have won either of those awards and I think a lot of people agree.
00:03:34
Joseph
Yeah. I mean, from my perspective, I don't really watch the Grammys either, but I'm a little more open to modern music, especially pop music. I think a lot of people by default, including those who rigged the Grammys, they like the idea of an artist branching out.
00:03:51
Joseph
And I'm all for it. Lil Nas X when he did Old Town Road, I thought that was a really good country song, but it was a good one.
00:03:55
Simone
oh yeah.
00:03:58
Joseph
and it was it just It was popular because it was well made. and And not to say that Beyonce stuff isn't, it's just, it feels like a good start for getting into country. It does not feel like she instantly got the
Rap Music and Social Impact
00:04:10
Joseph
same level of accomplishment in that genre that she has in her home genre.
00:04:11
Simone
No.
00:04:14
Simone
No.
00:04:14
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:04:14
Simone
And a lot of people are also saying this was the only award she hasn't won in the Grammys. Like she's never won Album of the Year. She's obviously never won Country Album of the Year either. So a lot of people are like kind of comparing it to how, um, what is his name?
00:04:29
Simone
Leonardo DiCaprio. He didn't win. Oh, well, but what is it that you win in movies? I mean, no.
00:04:34
Malcolm Guidry
or the best actor ah after award or or?
00:04:37
Simone
yeah for is that Golden Globes or whatever that is like people Oscar he had it won an Oscar he didn't win for Titanic he didn't win it for uh what's eating Gilbert whatever that movie was like all these great movies that he's done he had never won an Oscar and then what he wins his Oscar for was like something that was like okay that wasn't his best
00:04:42
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, yeah.
00:04:49
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, that would be great.
00:04:57
Malcolm Guidry
Did he win the Oscar for the Revenant?
00:05:01
Simone
Was it that?
00:05:01
Joseph
Yeah.
00:05:02
Simone
It was like, it wasn't even that like amazing of a movie, like not his best. And it was just like, oh, he had to win it at some point. So let's just give it to him now. Kind of thing.
00:05:11
Malcolm Guidry
You know, a lot of these, I have to agree.
00:05:11
Simone
That's what people are saying.
00:05:13
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, I think a lot of these award shows are probably rigged.
00:05:19
Simone
Yeah.
00:05:19
Malcolm Guidry
You know, it's political, political and in not in the Washington politics sense, but political in that, you know, there's a lot of ah backroom maneuvering and deal making so that, you know,
00:05:32
Malcolm Guidry
so and so can win the award because he or she didn't win it last time and it's their time. I mean, it's it it's a lot of it's a lot of crap and I just don't pay attention to it quite honestly.
00:05:37
Simone
Yeah.
00:05:41
Joseph
It's pretty much, I think, the end result of any award show, because you can see the same in awards for new artists. I forget the name of that award show, but the video game awards had the same thing.
00:05:53
Joseph
They lasted like three years before they started being overtaken, because if you can say award-winning for your movie, game, song,
Character in Music and Society
00:06:00
Joseph
you get more attention, more money, and you're just bound to have whatever are effectively lobbyists trying to muscle their way in and push people to go one way or another.
00:06:07
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Yeah, it's kind of like the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
00:06:11
Joseph
yeah exactly
00:06:13
Malcolm Guidry
It's bull. It's bull. you know I mean, there are artists who really don't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. their' music Music isn't really rock and roll. you know, there are artists who aren't in who should have been inducted years ago.
00:06:27
Malcolm Guidry
So yeah, it's it's whatever, you know, that's why I don't pay attention to it anymore.
00:06:32
Joseph
Yeah, exactly.
00:06:33
Malcolm Guidry
When I was a kid, when I was much younger, when I was your age, um I would pay attention, I would watch the Grammys, you know, me and Mama.
00:06:33
Joseph
yeah
00:06:44
Malcolm Guidry
You know, my mom, your grandmother, we would sit and watch the Oscars, you know, because back then there were still these older actors, Jimmy Stewart, um you know, Paul Newman, you know, actors of of a different era that were still appearing on the show.
00:07:01
Malcolm Guidry
And, and yeah, but, you know,
00:07:03
Joseph
And if they were still rigging them back then they were a lot more subtle about it too.
00:07:07
Malcolm Guidry
exactly. Right, right. But anyway, so, yeah. um But okay, so the awards, that it's unfortunate as far as as Beyonce.
00:07:18
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, it it does raise an interesting issue why she won Country Music Album of the Year when she didn't win anything at the CMA Awards.
00:07:28
Simone
and Yeah.
00:07:29
Malcolm Guidry
I'm sure there are a lot of disgruntled Country Music fans who are like, you know, what the fuck is this? So I don't know, I don't know. She is talented.
00:07:39
Malcolm Guidry
Listen, the girl, she is very talented.
00:07:40
Simone
Yeah.
00:07:42
Joseph
Of course, but it'd be like if, I don't know, 50 Cent tried to get into acapella. He might be good at it, but he's not really trained in that.
00:07:50
Simone
and Yeah.
00:07:52
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think the answer is.
00:07:54
Simone
So I don't know, I just think her, I think her time has passed. I feel like she's just been big for so long and I don't know, I just, she has too many people in the background just like I think keeping her relevant.
00:08:08
Malcolm Guidry
Wow.
00:08:08
Simone
And she's just, I don't know.
00:08:10
Malcolm Guidry
Well, that's quite possible, and it makes me think of Madonna. Man, Madonna was big since the early 80s. I remember when her first album came out. I mean, and she was in her 20s.
00:08:21
Malcolm Guidry
Now she's in her 60s, mid to late 60s.
00:08:22
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:08:24
Malcolm Guidry
Unfreaking believable. She's still trying to be relevant, but she really isn't anymore, you know?
00:08:32
Simone
Yeah, but she is one of the, like, one of the greats, they say, you know, like Madonna.
00:08:37
Malcolm Guidry
she She was dead.
00:08:38
Joseph
I mean, I love some of her more inventive stuff like the ah album she came out with based on like Sanskrit lyrics.
00:08:39
Simone
You know
00:08:44
Joseph
It was really interesting stuff, but that also came out I think in the late 80s.
00:08:45
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:08:49
Joseph
ah
00:08:49
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:08:50
Simone
what else is interesting? So like Kendrick Lamar, obviously like his, this was like a big year for him with the Grammys. He had that whole beef with Drake like this past summer. was like when it was all going
Political Climate and Influences
00:09:00
Simone
down and he is the halftime performer for the Super Bowl.
00:09:00
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:09:03
Simone
So it's a good year for him. like this every
00:09:06
Joseph
I mean, he's Kendrick Lamar is interesting to me.
00:09:07
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:09:09
Joseph
I i like rap. I like hip-hop. I just like the stuff where there's some thought behind it. And his fits in that area. it's just He knows how to straddle the line between commercially viable and actually still writing and singing what he wants to do.
00:09:23
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:09:23
Joseph
like I guess you'd say he's he's real, for lack of a better description.
00:09:27
Malcolm Guidry
Uh-huh.
00:09:27
Joseph
But ah the whole Drake thing, it's um as far as I can tell, They had a normal diss and then Drake went for Kendrick Lamar's wife, girlfriend, I don't remember at the time, and Kendrick Lamar took that personally.
00:09:41
Simone
Oh, yeah.
00:09:41
Joseph
and he Ever since then, he's been making diss after diss and not like us.
00:09:42
Simone
very
00:09:46
Joseph
He made in three days a really simple song in terms of composition. The music video is just fans of his bouncing around while he's singing. and I mean, the level of focused hate in that song towards Drake was almost legendary.
00:10:00
Malcolm Guidry
out. Brilliant.
00:10:02
Joseph
The the album cover is Drake's house with the symbol over the house that represents sex offenders um since they're at the time.
00:10:04
Simone
Yeah.
00:10:11
Joseph
And there are a lot of rumors about Drake being very much into teenagers as he should not be and grooming them. um Very, very like Weinstein-esque stuff, if you think.
00:10:23
Malcolm Guidry
Weinstein asked what were the other performers?
00:10:24
Joseph
adding
00:10:26
Malcolm Guidry
Well, there's P. Diddy or whatever he calls himself now.
00:10:28
Joseph
Yeah.
00:10:30
Joseph
Yeah, Pete, Jay Z's kind of suspected.
00:10:30
Malcolm Guidry
He's right.
00:10:32
Joseph
I don't know if there's anything confirmed though, but Kendrick Lamar was not subtle either.
00:10:34
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:10:37
Joseph
I mean, one of his most prominent lines in the song is certified lover boy, which is something Drake calls himself.
00:10:37
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:10:43
Joseph
He's just a certified pedophile.
00:10:44
Malcolm Guidry
Oh.
00:10:45
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, man.
00:10:45
Joseph
And yeah, no, he he he is to the cutthroat.
00:10:49
Joseph
And in the Grammys, they actually sung that line, the whole crowd as he was
00:10:52
Simone
They did in unison.
00:10:53
Joseph
Yeah, and he won, he won at least five Grammys in that one night, which is more than Drake won in his entire career.
00:10:54
Malcolm Guidry
i know you mean yeah
00:11:01
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:11:01
Joseph
And the biggest sin of this whole feud is that Drake actually filed a lawsuit for defamation against Kendrick Lamar, which if you're in a rap beef is like crying and taking your ball home.
00:11:11
Simone
Mm
00:11:14
Malcolm Guidry
Well, yeah, but I have to say, if somebody's publicly accusing you of being a pedophile, um I would
00:11:14
Simone
-hmm.
00:11:21
Joseph
Serious accusation.
00:11:23
Malcolm Guidry
I would think you'd have to you would have a right to sue them. ah
00:11:29
Joseph
He certainly can sue them. It's just that, does he really want to draw more attention? Because it's the kind of thing he has not been proved guilty in a court of law. Nothing like that. But there seems to be a similar weight to these accusations as there were in the early Cosby accusations. it's not it's There's enough media corroboration where The more attention he draws to himself, the more likely people are going to keep digging.
00:11:54
Joseph
And if there is something there, he's just signing setting himself up for failure. So if he's acting this way, it's either he's genuinely innocent and just isn't doing the right thing or he's guilty and short-sighted.
00:11:58
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:12:05
Joseph
But in just the sheer humiliation aspect, I mean, yes, Kendrick Lamar is also going to perform at the Super Bowl where they're going to continue
00:12:06
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Right.
00:12:14
Joseph
pulling the song off. And the song, even though it's a diss track, it's become kind of this anthem for those who have been feeling like they're put down or they're treated differently.
00:12:15
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:12:24
Joseph
Because the lyrics, you know, not like us, is a very common refrain towards the poor from the rich or minorities for the majority in this country. it's It's a song that's definitely going to stick around for a while.
00:12:37
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. I have to try it out.
00:12:37
Simone
Yeah, my kids at iNanny love that song, but it's very inappropriate. like There's curse words left and right, but like they the kids in school are singing it like nine-year-olds. like They're obsessed with this song.
00:12:48
Joseph
Yeah, it's a phenomenon.
00:12:50
Malcolm Guidry
but
00:12:51
Simone
Yeah.
00:12:51
Malcolm Guidry
Interesting. Okay. I guess I have to...
00:12:53
Simone
Dad, you have to listen to it.
00:12:55
Malcolm Guidry
I guess I do. You know, I got to get with it, man.
00:12:57
Simone
No. No.
00:12:58
Malcolm Guidry
Are we such an old fogey?
00:12:59
Simone
Mm-hmm.
00:13:00
Joseph
yeah You know, Kendrick's definitely, I think, the exception for popular rap. I'm more of a fan of like, you know, Mr.
00:13:04
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:13:06
Joseph
Liff or Aesop Rock or older stuff like Public Enemy, but he's got good stuff because it doesn't feel corporate, as you said, dad.
00:13:14
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Okay.
00:13:15
Simone
Bye.
00:13:15
Malcolm Guidry
All right.
00:13:16
Joseph
It's very explicit, though.
00:13:17
Malcolm Guidry
Uh-huh. Well, yeah, but that's, that's part of rap. I mean, I can remember going way back over to live crew.
00:13:25
Joseph
oh Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:13:25
Malcolm Guidry
right Remember through live crew you want to talk explicit that was really explicit or a rock band from from Florida and Yeah, they came out with some really explicit stuff.
00:13:33
Joseph
and
00:13:37
Malcolm Guidry
They were sort of trendsetters when it came to that but Yeah, hello See that's that's what I don't like about rap
00:13:38
Joseph
and They definitely set the bar pretty high. I think one of their most famous songs was Face Down, Ass Up.
00:13:47
Simone
Hm.
00:13:47
Joseph
And that was the most explicit lyric in the song, by the way.
00:13:53
Malcolm Guidry
You know, I like Public Enemy. Man, I like i thought they were awesome.
00:13:55
Joseph
Yeah.
00:13:57
Malcolm Guidry
Public Enemy, NWA about, you know, they wrapped about social issues and social injustice.
00:14:01
Joseph
Yeah.
00:14:05
Malcolm Guidry
And it had substance. But, you know, when you're going to start this misogynistic shit about, you know, and just just down, you know, speaking down toward women, disrespecting women,
00:14:18
Malcolm Guidry
and disrespecting each other. I don't like the N word. I can't stand the N word. It's offensive.
00:14:24
Joseph
yeah
00:14:25
Malcolm Guidry
And when they start saying that to each other, I don't think that's right. Don't do that.
00:14:28
Joseph
no I agree.
00:14:29
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, that's what Martin Luther King and and the Civil Rights Movement was was was partially about. you know eliminating the the disrespect that people showed the African American community. And to me, that's just, that's continuing that disrespect. Even though it might be among themselves, it's just, to me, that's just ignorant.
00:14:52
Joseph
I mean, there's layer so many layers of it's It's a culture trying to pull itself out of ingrained habits, and you're right about the misogyny. In fact, there is a ah documentary that I believe is on PBS called How Hip Hop Changed the World, or like it's called Fight the Power.
00:15:08
Joseph
Chuck D.
00:15:08
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:15:08
Joseph
is, of course, in it as one of the guests, but they also have, um what's her name? She's a very prominent, Queen Latifah. They have her interviewed as well and several others. and Yeah, the female rappers have just been passed over so many times.
00:15:21
Malcolm Guidry
Great.
00:15:23
Joseph
And I'm not talking about your average ones. I'm talking about ones that probably are some of the best performers you'd see of their era.
00:15:30
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:15:30
Joseph
But they're a woman, so they barely get any attention.
00:15:33
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:15:33
Joseph
And it's a little section of it that was enlightening to see.
00:15:33
Malcolm Guidry
Well, thank you. It's the same thing in rock, you know, especially hard rock. You very seldom see, um you know, female bands succeed in rock.
00:15:39
Joseph
Yeah.
00:15:47
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, you've had the Runaways, which really became more popular as time has gone by, after they disbanded. There was a movie, in fact, about the the band, the Runaways.
00:15:59
Malcolm Guidry
And they were a female rock band from, I want to say the 70s, late 70s, early 80s, if I'm not mistaken. I remember them. Joan Jett came out of the the runway ah the runaways.
00:16:11
Joseph
Yeah.
00:16:11
Malcolm Guidry
Lita Ford came out of the runaways. So, you know, they were they were a really serious kick-ass rock band, but they didn't get the respect they deserved. There was another band, Mother's Finest. Mother's Finest lead singer is a woman. They're an African-American hard rock band, and they rock. They are really good.
00:16:33
Malcolm Guidry
I have one of their CDs. I can't remember the name of it, but it's very good. She has a terrific voice, very talented musicians, you know. So anyway, yeah, it's it it is what it is, but it's changing slowly but surely.
00:16:51
Malcolm Guidry
and Yeah.
00:16:51
Joseph
It's changing and the underground scene is still good. I mean, that's where you go to find good music. you know The artists that don't get attention, they put their Soundcloud albums out and Bandcamp albums.
00:17:01
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:02
Joseph
You'll find great stuff. It's just you have to dig a little bit.
00:17:04
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:17:04
Joseph
Word of mouth is the best. Word of mouth is really the new Grammys, as far as I'm concerned.
00:17:08
Malcolm Guidry
That's very true. And now, especially with social media, social media makes word of mouth much much more, I don't know, much more successful.
U.S. Political Parties and Historical Dynamics
00:17:20
Malcolm Guidry
um it It helps bring the attention in a way that really corporate media wasn't able to do. you know I mean, TikTok,
00:17:31
Malcolm Guidry
um and other social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, of course, so many others that I could mention. ah mention But yeah, I mean, Simone, what are some of the like musicians, bands, singers that you're listening to now, for example?
00:17:49
Simone
I mean, I've always been a fan of Fleetwood Mac. They're not new, but Rainbow Kinspries has been around for a little while. It's an all-man band.
00:18:02
Simone
um
00:18:05
Simone
Krogbin?
00:18:05
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:18:06
Simone
I'm not good at saying this band's name. They were also a new artist this year and they were actually up for a Best New Artist of the Year. Krogbin, Krogbin, something like that. No vocals really, just like ah three people in this band, two guys, one woman out of Austin, Texas.
00:18:20
Malcolm Guidry
Uh-huh. Really?
00:18:22
Simone
And they're just like cool hangout music you put on, very chill.
00:18:27
Malcolm Guidry
Uh, you gotta skip the away.
00:18:28
Simone
I'll listen to them. I will, you'd actually really like them. They're very good.
00:18:32
Malcolm Guidry
Okay. All right.
00:18:34
Simone
yeah
00:18:34
Malcolm Guidry
Very cool. You still listen to a lot of Del Ray.
00:18:36
Simone
No, not so much anymore. She was really big when I was more in high school. I mean, some people still really like her. And I mean, I'm really happy for her. She's a recently got married to some gator hunter in Louisiana, you know, some just small town guy who would give like a buy you gator tours.
00:18:47
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. How about that? um From the bayou. Yeah.
00:18:59
Simone
No idea. I guess she met him going on this tour, but
00:19:04
Malcolm Guidry
You never know where when love will will appear, you know?
00:19:08
Simone
I guess. I guess so.
00:19:10
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:19:11
Joseph
I mean, he's probably good at his job if he still has all his arms.
00:19:14
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:19:14
Simone
ah Yeah, yeah, and you know, he's still doing his job. Like, even though he's married her like millionaire super rich. um I follow him on Instagram and he he's still doing his allergy tours.
00:19:25
Malcolm Guidry
That's cool.
00:19:26
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:19:26
Malcolm Guidry
Good for him. I hope they're they're happy, you know?
00:19:30
Simone
Yeah.
00:19:30
Malcolm Guidry
um All right, guys, any other issues before I get on to mine?
00:19:36
Simone
You can share yours.
00:19:38
Joseph
Yeah, let's hear it.
00:19:38
Malcolm Guidry
No? Good grief. Like I told you before we started, I have, you know, i I read the news, I listen to other podcasts, I stay informed, and I really, I don't know where to begin, you know?
00:19:53
Malcolm Guidry
And I mean, we could we could start off, and when my first thing regards DEI, ah Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, And one thing that I think a lot of people aren't aware of, you know, when you when you apply for a job, you fill out the application and there's a part of the application that asks you if you're part of a protected class. That's DEI. One of those protected classes is a member of the military, a veteran of the military. And I think lots of folks don't realize
00:20:27
Malcolm Guidry
that veterans are a protected class under DEI. And if the current administration wants to gut DEI, that's one of the protected classes that will be affected. And so, you know, that's that's something I don't think they realized when all of this began. So that came up. um Foreign aid, US aid, soft power.
00:20:57
Malcolm Guidry
That is, to me, what Elon Musk is doing in putting USA through the wood chipper, as he said, is irresponsible and ignorant because he clearly doesn't know what the hell USAID is for.
00:21:12
Malcolm Guidry
USAID has been, and it was established, if I'm not mistaken, it was established under John F. Kennedy during the Cold War, and it was established to help
00:21:19
Joseph
Yes.
00:21:25
Malcolm Guidry
not only help those less fortunate around the world, but also to help the United States increase its soft power. You don't just have hard power, military power, bombs and missiles and aircraft, tanks. You have soft power, which is diplomacy. Doing good things, good work around the world so that the people we help in those countries look at the United States and say, hey, wow, they're really, you know,
00:21:53
Malcolm Guidry
we We really love the United States. We respect the United States. They've helped us. You know, that's so important. But Musk and Trump don't understand this. And it's because they're ignorant. And I mean that in the literal sense of the word. They are ignorant with regard to what USA does, what it has always done, and how important it is for our diplomatic efforts around the world.
00:22:21
Malcolm Guidry
um Could there be some some tweaking that might need to be done to USAID? Sure. I don't think there's a single department in our entire US government that couldn't afford to be tweaked and improved a little bit. But you know this idea, which is another issue, a big problem, this idea that you know so many people look at the federal government and say there are a bunch of crooks and they're out to rip everybody off. No, no.
00:22:50
Malcolm Guidry
you know the federal government, not to say it's the most efficient. our Our system of government was designed the way it is for a reason. okay Number one, we're supposed to, the federal government is supposed to protect and and provide certain things for its citizens.
00:23:01
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:23:08
Malcolm Guidry
And a lot of the programs that are in, if not all the programs that are part of the federal government do certain things to either provide for citizens directly or indirectly.
00:23:20
Malcolm Guidry
provide for companies, small businesses, corporations, et cetera, et cetera. It's a government that, yes, there are issues that need to be fixed, but by tearing it down, destroying it, which is what Elon Musk and Trump are trying to do right now. To me, that is just, it's asinine. It is is irresponsible. And it is unfathomable that a ah president of the United States is taking part in this, is is shepherding this effort to destroy the federal government so that he can have it rebuilt the way he thinks it should be. Well, first off, this guy, I'm going to go off here. This guy is a real estate professional from New York. He understands New York real estate, but he's his his experience, his knowledge is very narrow.
00:24:21
Malcolm Guidry
Okay, he doesn't have a worldly point of view when it comes to everything that he's responsible for in the government So that that makes him very dangerous and Elon Musk ah for Pete's sake, I mean he said to the What is it the the the political party in Germany AFD Essentially it's it's um
00:24:44
Joseph
aft yeah The if modern Nazi party.
00:24:50
Malcolm Guidry
I forget what the A stands for, but it's something for Deutschland.
00:24:53
Joseph
Yes.
00:24:54
Malcolm Guidry
I forget what the A means. But anyway, deluding your culture by letting these other cultures come into your country, you're deluding your culture, that's that's straight out of of Adolf Hitler's script.
00:25:09
Joseph
It literally is.
00:25:09
Malcolm Guidry
you know
00:25:10
Joseph
I mean, yeah.
00:25:11
Malcolm Guidry
no so i mean And then trump Trump is saying that you know immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country literally said that.
00:25:21
Malcolm Guidry
No, no, your mother, Donald, was an emig immigrant.
00:25:22
Joseph
yeah
00:25:25
Joseph
yeah
00:25:26
Malcolm Guidry
So, yes,
00:25:26
Joseph
and it Should also add poisoning to blood is directly taken from Adolf Hitler scripts.
00:25:32
Malcolm Guidry
yes, indeed. So these things are just very dangerous that these prominent people who are now running our government are saying shit like this. There wasn't a time very long ago that you would have been, I can remember,
00:25:47
Malcolm Guidry
former governor of Virginia, I can't remember his name, but this was maybe 10 years ago. um He ran for president and he referred to a young, I can't remember if the young man might've been Indian American, as in the country India, Indian American, Pakistani American, anyway, he referred to the young man as a makaka. On stage at a campaign event, and a makaka is a monkey referring to somebody like that as a makaka is really a derogatory term.
00:26:22
Malcolm Guidry
They drummed him out. He lost support. That was the end of his campaign.
00:26:26
Simone
Mm.
00:26:27
Joseph
Yeah.
00:26:28
Malcolm Guidry
Now, and that was, again, that was, he might've been running against Obama either in 2007, 2008, or maybe it was 2011, 2012 when this happened, but it wasn't that long ago.
00:26:41
Malcolm Guidry
And now look at where we are. But yeah, it's it's just,
00:26:45
Joseph
Well.
00:26:47
Malcolm Guidry
You know, you flood the zone with shit. You say a lie enough times, it becomes the truth straight out of Hitler's playbook. So, you know, we have to become much more aware.
00:26:58
Malcolm Guidry
We've got to become active. I called Congress last week this past week. I called the House.
00:27:04
Joseph
one Yeah.
00:27:05
Malcolm Guidry
I called my House of Representatives, Mike Lawler, who's a Republican. I called his office and I said, look, I am very upset with the way things are going in D.C.
00:27:17
Malcolm Guidry
right now, with the way the federal government is being dismantled, with Elon Trump's responsibilities he's been given in his behavior, and certainly Donald Trump I am not a big supporter of.
00:27:28
Malcolm Guidry
So I let him know what I thought. And then I called my senator, Kirsten. I keep saying Kirsten. It's Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat.
00:27:37
Joseph
One.
00:27:38
Malcolm Guidry
And I told her the same thing. I said, I'm deeply concerned. and And they need to do something, and I'll tell you something. And I don't mean to monopolize this conversation, but um I read in the news this morning that there were millions of phone calls being placed to the congressional switchboard because of how upset millions of people are about the direction of of the government and what's going on and the dismantling of different different parts of our federal government and the problems those that dismantling can cause.
00:27:45
Joseph
Of course.
00:28:14
Malcolm Guidry
which people don't seem to appreciate. Well, apparently i a lot lot do because they flooded Congress. Congress normally gets the congressional switchboard. I forget how many they said, but it was,
00:28:25
Joseph
I've heard from one senator that it was 40 calls. Her office normally receives 40 calls a day, and they're receiving 1,600 a day now.
00:28:29
Malcolm Guidry
really.
00:28:33
Malcolm Guidry
Imagine, that's one office.
00:28:35
Joseph
Yeah.
00:28:35
Malcolm Guidry
One office. So it gives you an idea of how upset people are with with what's currently going on. um But another thing I wanted to talk about is the the political party system. And it makes you wonder if our current political party system is viable, if it will last, oh what's going to happen to it after you know Donald Trump has come along and and essentially taken over in short order the Republican Party.
00:29:13
Malcolm Guidry
um You know, both parties are failing quite honestly. You know, I listened to a a podcast recently. My gosh, I'm trying to think of the name of it.
00:29:24
Malcolm Guidry
I'll get back to you on that. But look at this guy that was being interviewed, Yuval Levin.
00:29:27
Joseph
Oh, shoot.
00:29:32
Malcolm Guidry
He's with the American Enterprise Institute, which is a conservative think tank. Okay. Brilliant guy. Just because someone's a conservative doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to what they have to say, give them you know some credit where credit is due. um And he was saying that neither party, and I didn't realize this, but neither party has had a durable majority in our durable majority coalition in 30 years. Think about that. It's been since, oh my gosh, probably the 80s,
00:30:10
Malcolm Guidry
since a political party has had a durable majority coalition. I remember the Democrats during the Reagan administration when Tip O'Neill was the Speaker of the House and the Democrats really you know controlled Congress.
00:30:28
Malcolm Guidry
They were really strong and you know they dealt a lot. Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan both being of Irish heritage
00:30:34
Simone
Thank you.
00:30:38
Malcolm Guidry
You know, they would sit down, they may not have been on the same party, they may not have seen a lot of political things the same way, but they would sit down, they'd have a drink, they'd shoot the bull, and they really got along well. They respected each other, okay, even though they were ideologically opposed. And that's what we need to get back to, but that's part of the reason that that you don't have a majority coalition by either party now Everything is so finally, the margin of error is a couple of votes here, a couple of votes there. That's all you can afford to lose. And that's not good. you know Our system's barely holding up because of that. you know You can win an election, but still not get anything done, which is what's happened to the Republicans. They're not gonna get much done. They don't have a controlling majority.
00:31:35
Malcolm Guidry
like at one time they may have had, or the Democrats may have had. And so that's going to affect how legislation is created in DC. That's going to affect whether certain programs that can help citizens, help small businesses, help the backbone of our country, which is the middle class, what what can they get done that could help us? I just don't know. What do you think, Joe?
00:32:01
Joseph
Well, I think that this is just us not having talked for a week. This is just two weeks of stuff. As you can tell, a lot of things are happening.
00:32:08
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:32:10
Joseph
We're really glossing over so much. But to to wrap around to USAID, I'd like to just address that myself in a little bit.
00:32:21
Joseph
it's not We're not worried about losing USAID for humanitarian reasons. I mean, yes, we are. but It was started by JFK, as you said, dad in the 1960s in direct response to foreign aggression across the world through ideological means, namely the Soviet Union.
00:32:41
Joseph
The Soviet Union's ideology was being spread and we did not want them to overtake the world through any means, let let alone beliefs.
00:32:41
Malcolm Guidry
That's correct.
00:32:48
Malcolm Guidry
yes Isn't it ironic? So we created we established USAID in the early 60s to counter Soviet aggression. Isn't it ironic that Democrats are being called socialists and communists, and yet we would like to see USAID you
USAID and Geopolitical Role
00:33:10
Malcolm Guidry
know, survive and thrive because it does so much pro,
00:33:12
Joseph
Yes, and continue to ensure c pro-American principles because that's what
00:33:17
Malcolm Guidry
exactly, democracy, you know?
00:33:19
Joseph
yeah
00:33:20
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, this whole, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to get too, um, angry about this, but it really does just offend the crap out of me.
00:33:29
Joseph
No, I mean, I think anger anger is important. like You took a very high and eloquent road in discussing it, and I'm probably going to have more obscenities fly out as I talk because USAID is one of the organizations that the bleeding left Che Guevara-loving stereotype can support and that Henry Kissinger can love.
00:33:50
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:33:51
Joseph
They both love it because you get blankets and medicine and food and health care and everything to all of these poor people in these countries and then they like us and they want to support us and they don't want the Russians or the Chinese coming in.
00:34:00
Malcolm Guidry
Right. That's right.
00:34:06
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:34:06
Joseph
it is the we don't have to fire a shot we don't have to send a single soldier it's it's like this the non-military version of ukraine when the the ukraine war happened we could not send any soldiers we could just send money they fight for us we fight russia through them it's a win-win you should have seen dick cheney and aoc square dancing in the hall together because of how much those principles aligned and yet both both the ukraine war and usaid these
00:34:18
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:34:33
Joseph
Degenerate troglodytes that are called the modern Republican Party decide no, no. Why no? And then you've got this unelected, foreign-born South African Elon Musk, and I say it that way because he's acting as president.
00:34:39
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:34:47
Joseph
He is effectively running as the president, except he still has more power than that because Congress is sitting on their ass, not interfering whatsoever. And I'm specifically referring to the majority in Congress who could stop his overreach. Congress controls the money, and they're just letting him rip out the the foundation. He's not doing anything that couldn't be reversed through congressional action, but the problem is He's fired everyone from USAID effectively.
00:35:15
Joseph
They're not gonna show up. He's taken servers out.
00:35:16
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:35:18
Joseph
He's hacked others. He's torn down the office buildings. He's recalled people from across the globe. That's real damage.
00:35:26
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:35:27
Joseph
On paper things are fine, but he doesn't care about the paper. He's going for what's actually happening.
00:35:32
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Now, recently, there was a federal judge as of yesterday morning, federal judge here in New York, who say yeah.
00:35:32
Joseph
it's
00:35:35
Joseph
It's... Yes. It was an injunction, right? It was an injunction filed against his actions in the Treasury Department.
00:35:43
Malcolm Guidry
Correct. Correct. um He filed a temporary injunction injunction to stop Elon Musk from essentially dismantling the Treasury Department.
00:35:58
Joseph
Yeah, which is great.
00:35:58
Malcolm Guidry
And well and that that's a big issue.
00:36:00
Joseph
It's just now we have to see how it's enforced because of fear.
00:36:04
Malcolm Guidry
That is a big issue. It's one thing to file the injunction to file the order, but how is that going to be enforced? you know
00:36:14
Joseph
I mean, at this point, I think it needs to be enforced by having whatever authorities that can be trusted, because that's where we're at, to ah accompany those who would stop his agents. And may I add, his also unelected agents who, 19 to
Elon Musk's Influence and Risks
00:36:30
Joseph
25 years old, one's a virulent racist, the other one's a black hat hacker brought in. i mean Just that they're not, I'm not saying they're not intelligent.
00:36:38
Joseph
The 19 year old, or at least one of the 19 year olds, he started his own business and he's an excellent coder, but that doesn't teach you how to understand the intricacies of US foreign aid or bureaucracy.
00:36:50
Malcolm Guidry
that's right. That's right.
00:36:52
Joseph
He's not educated enough.
00:36:52
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, the you you can be a violent racist and still be very intelligent. Look at Elon Musk.
00:36:59
Joseph
Yeah.
00:36:59
Malcolm Guidry
That's one example. So.
00:37:01
Joseph
Though i at this point, I would disagree about Elon's intelligence because of all of the drug use that he's been just lunging his head through. I'm not even saying that facetiously. You look up the side effects of ketamine.
00:37:12
Joseph
He's got every single one.
00:37:14
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:37:14
Joseph
And one of the most terrifying ones is disassociation, where you believe that you genuinely are not in reality.
00:37:17
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:37:21
Joseph
like He's been doing it for so long, and the way he's acting now, he may genuinely not think he's in the real world anymore. So who cares? What happens?
00:37:30
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:30
Joseph
And I mean, Trump's just signing off, just letting him go.
00:37:34
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. know deep Go ahead.
00:37:35
Joseph
And it's so that, yeah that the reason I am really on pins and needles at the moment now is we had this court order come from, we're having more come come through, we're having more coming through.
00:37:38
Malcolm Guidry
I'm sorry.
00:37:52
Joseph
the The courts are the only line of defense we have left in terms of government stability. ah with The Congress is not acting. The president is out the building practically.
00:38:03
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:38:04
Joseph
If the courts can't be trusted, or if the their orders are not enforced, it's a complete coup. They are a dictatorship.
00:38:11
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:38:12
Joseph
And we can't stop that through.
00:38:16
Joseph
i I hesitate to say nonviolent means, but how else do you stop a dictatorship that has blocked all other legal recourse?
00:38:24
Malcolm Guidry
Right. I don't know.
00:38:25
Joseph
And I'm mean like i'm not speaking in the hypotheticals because just look at the video feeds of Congress people trying to go into the Department of Education.
00:38:26
Malcolm Guidry
That's a good question.
00:38:35
Joseph
They were stopped by non-uniformed individuals with no identification who just told them, no, you can't come in. And there was no
00:38:44
Malcolm Guidry
Well, you know, I saw that video and I can't understand how I mean It's certainly a great opportunity for these politicians to show the country look at what's happening here But I don't think I would have stood that long and allowed this Person to prevent me from going into that building here.
00:38:57
Joseph
Yeah.
00:39:06
Malcolm Guidry
I am a member of Congress.
00:39:06
Joseph
Well, just to clarify, the reason why they didn't go through is off screen.
00:39:07
Malcolm Guidry
You don't work for the government
00:39:13
Joseph
There were rows of armed guards inside the building holding weapons.
00:39:16
Malcolm Guidry
armed guard, so more of,
00:39:19
Joseph
Like he was outside the building standing in front of the doors and then they were on the stairs or inside the building looking outside were several guards with automatic weapons.
00:39:27
Simone
Hmm
00:39:29
Malcolm Guidry
that's, and I would assume that was Elon's stormtroopers.
00:39:34
Joseph
There was definitely ordered by the federal the executive branch in some way.
00:39:38
Malcolm Guidry
The executive branch, okay.
00:39:40
Joseph
It could be Elon. I don't know if it was him or not, but there were armed guards preventing elected officials from entering a building. They have every constitutional and legal right to enter.
00:39:49
Malcolm Guidry
That is just unbelievable. See, that's that's where we are now. That is where we are.
00:39:53
Joseph
yeah
00:39:55
Malcolm Guidry
A couple of things I wanted to ask as well, a couple of other small issues. um I'm
Character in Politics and Culture
00:40:00
Malcolm Guidry
gonna save the other stuff, the ah the the numerous other issues for next time.
00:40:05
Joseph
Shit.
00:40:07
Malcolm Guidry
Two things I wanna talk to you guys about, and I want your opinions. um Number one, does character matter? And number two, what is manliness?
00:40:19
Malcolm Guidry
So starting with character, in in cons considering what's what's going on today in the United States, and not just politically, socially, yeah know does character matter?
00:40:33
Malcolm Guidry
How do you define character? tell me Simone, tell me, give me an idea of what you think character means.
00:40:38
Simone
Thank you.
00:40:44
Simone
Like if they are a good person or not like What do you mean? Obviously character matters. What kind of question is that?
00:40:52
Malcolm Guidry
Well, because it's it's a when you look at what's happening, not only, no, of course not.
00:40:56
Simone
No offense not to be rude, but it's like obviously I
00:40:58
Joseph
Thank you.
00:41:00
Malcolm Guidry
No, sweetheart. When you look at what's happening in the world, in the business world, ah so many ah powerful people on Wall Street, for example, getting away with all sorts of things, um they hell with character.
00:41:13
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:41:16
Malcolm Guidry
you know They become greedy and they decide to you know ah engage in insider trading. for example, things of that sort. Politicians, we've had a recent Democratic senator from New Jersey, Menendez, Bob Menendez, who is now going to jail.
00:41:32
Joseph
Bob and Indes.
00:41:37
Malcolm Guidry
He was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison because he was taking kickbacks. He was accepting gifts like gold bars and trips, you know, all based on on how he would help certain contributors to his campaigns, you know, regarding their businesses, regarding, you know, their political situations. And it makes you wonder, I mean, he and his wife both were accused. His wife goes to to goes goes to trial, I think, in March, if I'm not mistaken. But it makes you wonder, does character really matter? Another thing is in the entertainment industry. I mean,
00:42:20
Malcolm Guidry
Not to sound like a prude, but I really don't need to see, you know, certain things um in, you know, rock music, rap, or anything else. But then, I don't know, I so i might be sounding like I'm trying' advocating for censorship.
00:42:39
Simone
Like the provocativeness of like, yeah.
00:42:41
Malcolm Guidry
Well, it's, but it goes back to character. I mean, does character matter in our culture anymore?
00:42:49
Simone
I think that a lot of people will like, for example, like rap stuff, like it being so provocative and maybe over sexualized. Like if you're saying they have a lack of character.
00:43:00
Malcolm Guidry
Well, not only that, but it's how the behavior of of the alleged, let me say, the alleged behavior of people like Diddy, P. Diddy, whatever he's calling himself now.
00:43:12
Malcolm Guidry
um What was the other singer, R. Kelly, who's now in prison for what he did to young women?
00:43:17
Simone
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:43:20
Malcolm Guidry
Not allegedly, he's in prison. He was convicted.
00:43:22
Simone
Yeah.
00:43:23
Malcolm Guidry
So and this raises character issues because these people are looked up to by younger folks and emulated by younger folks Politicians, you know how you behave we've got a president who excused my language but said you can actually grab a woman by the moon and Get away with it because you're famous How did that not end his his political career right there?
00:43:50
Simone
No, Olivia.
00:43:50
Malcolm Guidry
You know, it's disturbing So it makes me wonder if character is really an important issue anymore.
00:44:01
Simone
I mean, I feel like it is, but we, I don't know what's going on in society right now. Cause yeah, I know if he had said something like that, like say like George Bush when he was running said something like that different time. I feel like he totally would have been canceled and he probably wouldn't have gotten to where he was but like in this day and age because um like rap music has gotten more provocative and you go like you're just saying these things that you wouldn't normally say decades ago on live television and music and movies and TV.
00:44:18
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:44:28
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Yeah.
00:44:32
Simone
um Really just pushing the envelope like going farther and farther each year it seems and things are just more acceptable. I don't know. I don't know how we got here. I don't know if we can ever go back. It's like Pandora's box.
00:44:43
Simone
We've opened it and can't close it now.
00:44:46
Malcolm Guidry
Right. Right.
00:44:47
Simone
I don't know.
00:44:48
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Well, Joe, what do you think? Character? Does a character matter? What do you think about character?
00:44:56
Joseph
I think that character is just at its core the ability to self-reflect and the ability to consider the world beyond yourself. Because if you can do that then you will inevitably develop a sense of what you not just believe, but feel to be right or wrong.
00:45:15
Joseph
And that's what character is. But if you can't see that, or if you choose not to, if you choose to just look at yourself, if you choose to just consider what affects you, then character won't develop, as we call it, character.
00:45:27
Joseph
You'll just go for whatever is immediately the most expedient option or the most satisfying option.
00:45:28
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:45:35
Joseph
And I so i mention it that way because
00:45:41
Joseph
Addressing profanity addressing sexuality addressing um Any of these things that they're the symptoms not the cause of this deterioration of common respect I it's not about the words you say although it is but if you have this external perception if you're basically raised to consider others ah and consider yourself, but consider how those two interact, you're not gonna say a lot of those words, at the very least the way that they've been said.
00:46:14
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:46:14
Joseph
It's a chicken and egg scenario.
00:46:16
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:46:17
Joseph
um I don't think it's gonna get better anytime soon because it's a societal shift. Those don't change overnight. But society ebbs and flows.
00:46:27
Joseph
You've got the restrictiveness of the 1920s. You've got, at the time, considerable liberation of the 50s. You've got the 60s continuing that even more. You've got nowadays a sort of modern Puritanism coming about that might swing the pendulum a little in the opposite direction too far. but Ultimately, people get tired of the way things are and they want to express it in ways that are not.
00:46:56
Joseph
That's where the counterculture concept comes from.
00:46:56
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, sure.
00:46:58
Joseph
And eventually the counterculture becomes the culture and the consensus will start to shift the other way. It's a and it's how it is with politics. It's just in a separate societal sphere.
00:47:11
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, it's a very good point. The pendulum does swing from one side to the other, and it always has. um
Cultural Shifts and Societal Standards
00:47:20
Malcolm Guidry
but
00:47:20
Joseph
It's just unfortunate because it is an unpleasant situation right now. You've got a lot of people who don't think about anything other than themselves, and they'll promote beliefs that are harmful, that are degrading to themselves and others, and it's not good for the people.
00:47:32
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, yeah.
00:47:36
Joseph
As much as it is, oh, it'll get better eventually, it's bad now.
00:47:39
Malcolm Guidry
You're absolutely right. And and that is what that is what really concerns me. um And I'm sure lots of other people around the country how you know we've got a president. And leadership matters. Leadership sets the tone. One of the things I learned, not only in the military, but in my you know when I was an undergraduate studying management and leadership,
00:48:01
Malcolm Guidry
Leadership sets the tone for an organization doesn't matter if it's a five-person team or You know a huge corporation or the federal government the person at the top sets the tone for everybody else So leadership matters character matters because character is destiny, okay how you conduct yourself the character you you you
00:48:30
Malcolm Guidry
The character you show, you exhibit will determine the direction your life goes. And the only, I mean, it's just amazing the person of of Trump's character who has, and these are facts, he has cheated contractors who've worked on his his real estate projects. He has refused to pay some. um He has lied and cheated.
00:49:00
Malcolm Guidry
on his to his wives, to me, if you're if you're going to do that, that's why I wish Bill Clinton would have would have resigned. I would have more respect for the guy if he had resigned when he was caught fooling around with Monica Lewinsky. you know If you're going to cheat on your wife, to me, that's a character issue.
00:49:19
Malcolm Guidry
you know you have you're in it You're in a relationship with someone and you're committed to them and you're a team. So you respect that other person by honoring that relationship. And if you're going to cheat on them, well, what does it say about your character? you know So that's just a small example, but character matters. And it I do hope it does swing back the other direction so that character becomes more important because you can certainly be a liberal of strong character, a moderate of strong character, or a conservative of strong character. It doesn't matter. It's not a political, you know, the Republicans, well certainly not today's Republicans, they they aren't displaying in my view any character, certainly no spine.
00:50:08
Malcolm Guidry
but um
00:50:10
Joseph
actually getting on the point about character, conservatives of character, one of my favorite columnists and journalist in general, David Brooks, he um writes a lot for the New York Times and he, as much as he'll talk about geopolitics and current events, he's also very much somewhat bemoaning also trying to promote the rec reclamation of
00:50:10
Malcolm Guidry
and
00:50:33
Joseph
consideration for your fellow man and not a return to the 50s era of, you know, leave it to Beaver. No, not that, but a return to caring about the people in your community, to looking at them, to talking to them, to just focus focusing on the people around you, literally physically around you, because if your community is a little better, it's a radiating effect.
00:50:40
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:50:56
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:50:57
Joseph
You know, one community is good, another community sees
Modern Manliness and Gender Roles
00:51:00
Joseph
that and they'll start to try and emulate those traits. And fixing these issues, whether they be these massive cultural divides or racial issues, it starts at the bottom. It starts with people talking to people.
00:51:13
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, it does. Absolutely. So that's my spiel on character. I do be i do feel that character is is definitely important. It does matter. You don't have to be a prude. You don't have to be a stick in the mud. Character is simply, as you said, Joe, it's it's thinking beyond yourself. and And I mean, you phrased it better than I would, but it's thinking beyond yourself and then doing the right thing. Yeah.
00:51:38
Joseph
It's like the person you see on the side of the road who's covered in mud, he talks to the thickest country accent you ever heard, but he's stopping on the side of the road to help someone fix the tire. That's character.
00:51:47
Malcolm Guidry
Exactly.
00:51:48
Joseph
Doesn't matter any other traits about him. In fact, the description I gave, that doesn't matter. It's the actions taken.
00:51:53
Malcolm Guidry
Exactly. Absolutely. So what about manliness? and You know, there's a lot of talk nowadays about, you know, what it means to be a man. What is manly? What isn't? I know, you know, I've heard a lot about how young men, particularly between the ages of 18 and 34, and Joe, you fall right in there.
00:52:18
Joseph
yeah
00:52:18
Malcolm Guidry
that That age group, there are a lot of young men who are lost and they they don't really understand what it means to be a man.
00:52:29
Malcolm Guidry
So they follow people like, give you an example, like Donald Trump, you know pretending that he's manly when yeah real men don't treat people the way he does.
00:52:30
Joseph
Yeah.
00:52:40
Joseph
Yeah.
00:52:41
Malcolm Guidry
you know they They follow MMA, right?
00:52:42
Joseph
Hmm.
00:52:45
Malcolm Guidry
ah mixed martial arts, thinking that's manly. And, you know, all those sort of things. And I'm not saying that sports aren't good. Listen, I love football. I think, you know, football is exciting and and I love watching it. You know, I played sports in school. I played baseball and and I really enjoyed it. I even did some track field events. I enjoyed it. but What does it mean to be a man nowadays?
00:53:13
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, what have you guys heard, Simone? What have you heard? What do you think? I mean...
00:53:18
Simone
I'm not a man. I don't know.
00:53:19
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:53:20
Simone
Um, yeah.
00:53:21
Joseph
i mean You see men, what do what do you see them talking about?
00:53:25
Simone
I mean, no I get what you're saying with like nowadays, like boys in that age group that you said, listen to a lot of like this podcast called Joe, like Joe Rogan's podcast.
00:53:34
Malcolm Guidry
right
00:53:35
Simone
And they think they're such like alpha males, but like really they just like men nowadays just want princess treatment. It's like a lot of people say like they want to be the woman.
00:53:46
Simone
They want to be the princess. They want to be like,
00:53:47
Malcolm Guidry
Really?
00:53:49
Simone
Yeah, it's, it's interesting. Um, like they want to be taken care of and I don't know, like they don't want to pay for dates anymore. And they think that we should split and like that's fair, but it's like, okay, but it's also the same people who are like not really for women's rights and equal pay, but you want to split the bill. Like weird things like that. Um, yeah, not too many like manners anymore. Like men don't really open doors anymore as much.
00:54:15
Simone
or initiate plans, say if you have a date, like plan the date, they're more like, I don't know, what do you want to do? It's like no initiative.
00:54:21
Malcolm Guidry
Right. So they invite you, they ask you out on a date, but then they haven't decided where you're going to go for dinner. And and then afterward, if if you're going to go to a movie and if, you know, if you are, what movie you're going to see.
00:54:34
Simone
Yeah, no real plan.
00:54:36
Malcolm Guidry
Okay.
00:54:36
Simone
So I don't know. They just, they're not at least what you grew up thinking men were going to be. is not really what you see for girls my age.
00:54:44
Malcolm Guidry
So the picking, the pickings are really, you know, Right? The pickings are really slim out there for young women like yourself, you know, who are, you know, yeah yeah you're looking for a good man to have a relationship with.
00:54:51
Simone
yes
00:55:02
Malcolm Guidry
and and It's hard to find ones that treat you with the respect you're you're accustomed to, the respect that I treated you with. Because i you know the reason why I'm the kind of father I am to you is because I know how important fathers are. I'm not saying I'm a great father, but I do feel I'm a good father. And I want to make damn sure that my daughter finds a man who respects her treats her properly and, and you know, is is considerate and and not a pig.
00:55:33
Malcolm Guidry
Knows how to open a door, you know, and and is someone that I could meet and like.
00:55:37
Simone
Mm-hm.
00:55:42
Malcolm Guidry
I mean, you've you've really, I mean, I liked each of the men that I've met that you've dated. um We're not going to name any names, but of course, one of them, well,
00:55:55
Malcolm Guidry
Two of them in particular really screwed up.
00:55:58
Simone
Yeah.
00:55:58
Malcolm Guidry
You know, I mean, yeah.
00:55:59
Simone
Yeah. That happens, you know, men make mistakes, especially when they're young, even though neither of those two were that young. But yeah.
00:56:06
Malcolm Guidry
Right.
00:56:07
Simone
Yeah.
00:56:08
Malcolm Guidry
And I mean, you know, they they were both nice guys.
00:56:08
Simone
thirty Yeah.
00:56:10
Malcolm Guidry
You know, I found them to be really nice. But, and I liked them. And I still, I still like them.
00:56:15
Simone
Yeah.
00:56:16
Malcolm Guidry
I would, if I were to go out and and run into one of them, like I'd probably give them a hug and say, hey, how you doing? Nice to see you. You know.
00:56:23
Simone
That's probably where I get it from because everyone's always so concerned or confused as how I'm still friends with pretty much all of my exes. And it's probably because you and mom have no bad will towards anyone, no people.
00:56:33
Simone
Just like if you see them out, you're still going to say hi and be friendly with them.
00:56:36
Malcolm Guidry
Well, that's good.
00:56:37
Simone
I think it's good too, but people think it's crazy that I can still maintain a friendship with any guy that I've dated.
00:56:37
Malcolm Guidry
ah That's Well, that's good. No, I think that's good.
00:56:44
Joseph
There's just like a trend, I've noticed, in relationships with younger people of, oh no, they made a mistake.
00:56:48
Malcolm Guidry
Uh-huh.
00:56:50
Joseph
Burn them. Cut them out.
00:56:52
Simone
yeah Yeah, like.
00:56:53
Joseph
Kill them. it's I understand you're hurt, but just move on.
00:56:57
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
00:56:59
Joseph
Literally move on.
00:56:59
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:57:00
Joseph
You'll feel better for it.
00:57:02
Malcolm Guidry
I agree.
00:57:02
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:57:02
Simone
I agree.
00:57:02
Malcolm Guidry
I agree. It's, for some people, I mean, it depends on maturity. You know, I mean, the the prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until you're 25.
00:57:07
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:57:11
Joseph
Well,
00:57:13
Malcolm Guidry
so
00:57:14
Joseph
If I could actually jump in on that, ah on maturity, you were you were asking, you know, what is manliness?
00:57:17
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
00:57:19
Joseph
And with all of these people coming in, Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, now you name it, there's plenty out there promoting manliness. It's been with what you said, Simone, about how they will, I love how you put it, how they want to be treated like a princess, and yet they still want to be this hyper-masculine ideal.
00:57:36
Simone
Mm hmm.
00:57:39
Joseph
Young men don't have the foundation yet of understanding what it means to be a man. They're immature, quite literally. But then these people these promoters of hypermasculinity come in and they present the end structure, the built body, the confidence, etc., etc.
00:57:57
Joseph
And they say, this is what you need to get, but they never explain why. like there's no There's never a why as to why you should be
00:58:03
Malcolm Guidry
Ryan.
00:58:05
Joseph
And it's just, it's hollow.
00:58:07
Malcolm Guidry
Ryan.
00:58:07
Joseph
It's all cosmetic. There's no inner depth.
00:58:09
Malcolm Guidry
Oh, I agree.
00:58:10
Joseph
And I mean, manliness isn't, manliness isn't Ron Swanson. Manliness is the emotional traits that lead to Ron Swanson. It's the quiet introspection that lets you consider who you are in the world.
00:58:25
Joseph
It's being, it's having character, as we discussed. And
Stereotypes of Masculinity
00:58:30
Joseph
it's being self-possessed enough to not be flapped by those outside of your sphere of influence, to be your own person.
00:58:37
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah Yeah, it's it's really interesting um You know man a man in my mind a real man treats people with respect isn't rude and boisterous and
00:58:39
Joseph
And all of the like the wrestling and the sports and all, those are great. They don't define manhood, but they are ways to express manhood. There's nothing wrong with them or right with them. It's whatever you personally feel you want to engage with.
00:59:07
Malcolm Guidry
you know, doesn't have to dominate, you know, the woman or the man he dates. You can be a real man and be a gay man. i've I know some men who are gay and who are very manly, you know.
00:59:21
Joseph
yeah
00:59:22
Malcolm Guidry
That's fine. I don't care what what your sexual orientation is. That's not an issue. um You know, when it comes to just like from my from my point of view, just Treat people with respect, show character, be kind.
00:59:40
Malcolm Guidry
um
00:59:42
Joseph
It's almost like the concept of manliness isn't really even manliness. It's just the male expression of these positive traits.
00:59:48
Malcolm Guidry
I think also it's possible that maybe maybe Hollywood, maybe the gaming industry, I don't know, there are many there ares so many influences on young men today and they take the idea of manliness from you know, something other than the men around them.
01:00:06
Malcolm Guidry
A lot of these women may not have positive male role models, and that's unfortunate.
01:00:07
Joseph
Yeah.
01:00:12
Malcolm Guidry
and And, you know, that's something that all young men and young women need, young young women. In order to have a successful relationship with a man, it's important to have good men in your life.
01:00:25
Joseph
Yeah.
01:00:25
Malcolm Guidry
and Simone you've got good men in your life. You've got your brother. You've got me your your stepfather. You had Papa Denny You had uncle Herman you had I'm just did I say stuff i step bra step grand grand I meant step grandfather.
01:00:35
Simone
I have a stepfather.
01:00:38
Simone
I was like, I have that.
01:00:43
Simone
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:00:43
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, but you know what I mean? These are all good men. And so fortunately you have that but yeah this whole business of Tattoo sleeves and beards down to here and Big hyper muscles and driving these great big pickup trucks and wearing you can't backwards Wow, I really wonder I Agree I agree you don't have to be that way in order to be a man if that's your thing and if hopefully you're a good man, you know, I But it makes me really wonder, it's like an exaggeration of masculinity, you know?
01:01:07
Joseph
There's nothing inherently wrong with him, but if that's what you think being manly is, you're not gonna be a man. Yeah.
01:01:17
Joseph
yeah
01:01:22
Joseph
Yeah.
01:01:28
Joseph
and it's ah it's like It's such a stereotype. If you ever see a guy whose profile picture is see him sitting in his car wearing wraparound Oakleys, run away. Because it's every all of these hypermasculine chasers will think, that's what I need to look like.
01:01:41
Joseph
And they don't learn how to be proper men.
01:01:42
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Yeah.
01:01:43
Joseph
And it's unfortunate, because if you actually just think Oakleys are effective, you're instantly seen as a sterile person.
01:01:48
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. Yeah. And i'm not and um I mean, look.
01:01:50
Joseph
but
01:01:53
Malcolm Guidry
I'm not saying anything bad against tattoos. I've got a couple of tattoos. My best friend who I love, like a brother from another mother, um is covered with tattoos. He loves tattoos.
01:02:03
Joseph
Yeah,
01:02:05
Malcolm Guidry
He retired from the Air Force after 30 years. And, Greg, you know what? No, I'm just, I'm going to grow my hair long and I'm going to get tattoos.
01:02:12
Joseph
yeah
01:02:13
Malcolm Guidry
Cool.
01:02:13
Joseph
that was his choice made because he liked it and not because he felt he had to aspire to these trends of masculinity.
01:02:13
Malcolm Guidry
hes
01:02:19
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah,
Conclusion and Further Recommendations
01:02:20
Malcolm Guidry
no, he's, you know, I'm really proud of him because he's such a good man. um And he's, he's kind and considerate, very compassionate. He's done some work with um what is it the, oh gosh, Special Olympics.
01:02:36
Malcolm Guidry
He's done a lot of work with Special Olympics in the past.
01:02:36
Joseph
That's great.
01:02:39
Malcolm Guidry
And he's just a really, really good dude, you know, but
01:02:43
Joseph
And I will say, just to add a bit of hope to this, you know, we've we've had a very dreary yeah conversation because things are very dreary, but on manliness, there is a growing trend on online of the like inversion of the gigachad meme. And basically, the gigachad meme is just it's a picture of this bodybuilder model who's just like he's ultra hyper masculine, great chin and everything.
01:03:08
Joseph
and it started out with the traditional hyper masculinity mockery but now it's turned into oh yeah it was a total giga chat move i listen to this person talk about their problems and i am not it and i told them that it's okay things get better and. It's kind of like a ironic but serious at the same time.
01:03:25
Joseph
meme that turns into reality of, yeah, real manliness is whenever you talk about your feelings and don't mock someone for having a bad day.
01:03:31
Simone
Hmm.
01:03:31
Joseph
And it's it's encouraging to see because while I don't understand, God help me, youth culture, I'm marvelous.
01:03:31
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:03:38
Joseph
I'm 30, I'm no longer a kid anymore, but the young kids, so I don't understand how they act, but there's pushes out there towards sincerity and
01:03:39
Malcolm Guidry
You're getting so old, Joe.
01:03:43
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, right.
01:03:55
Joseph
consideration that I'm glad to see. And it's two sides of Gen Z.
01:03:58
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:03:59
Joseph
On one side, it's broccoli haircuts and nihilism. On the other side, it's wanting to understand more about the world around them and and caring about people.
01:04:10
Joseph
and not sure how to They're not sure how to express it, but it's there.
01:04:14
Malcolm Guidry
Right, right. Interesting. Well, I think that's a good place to leave it. We've done just over an hour, and we're going to try to keep it at an hour.
01:04:25
Malcolm Guidry
We're going to try to stick to that, although sometimes it can be hard.
01:04:28
Joseph
It will.
01:04:28
Malcolm Guidry
but you Go ahead, go ahead.
01:04:29
Joseph
And I hate to interrupt again. I'm going to keep myself less than two minutes. uh... i just want to recommend anyone who would wanna learn more about why u.s. aid was important for soft power or if that you want a historical perspective as well as current political perspective by someone who is calm intelligence and in my opinion down to earth heather cox richardson she does video really uh... podcast weekly she does a daily written letter on substat i'll post links in the notes for this but
01:04:59
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
01:05:00
Joseph
I could not recommend her enough. She's written excellent books. She's a legitimate historian. And as the world is lighting on fire around us, hearing her being able to not just explain things, but source the, you know, what of it, it's a bomb.
01:05:12
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:05:14
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah.
01:05:15
Joseph
Absolutely.
01:05:16
Malcolm Guidry
Terrific. She's terrific. I um i read her book, american Letters from America.
01:05:22
Joseph
Democracy Awakened. Oh, Letters to American, yeah.
01:05:25
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah. I thought that was fantastic. She is, I'm a big fan of her. She's a legitimate historian, really smart lady. In fact, I listened to one of, I watched one of her YouTube videos this morning, her most recent one.
01:05:36
Joseph
Yeah, that's the one that I saw that was about USAID, I think.
01:05:39
Malcolm Guidry
Yeah, it was so interesting, very enlightening. um And so I enjoyed it. So yeah, we'll put some things in the show notes for anyone who, you know, wants to check, follow up on some of the things we've discussed.
01:05:53
Joseph
Yeah.
01:05:53
Malcolm Guidry
and Listen reach out to us put your comments, you know, add your comments we're gonna post this as we as we have been to YouTube as well as to Spotify and Apple podcasts and if you like it give us a thumbs up and subscribe and Forward, you know share this with your your friends and relatives if you you feel so inclined but
01:06:05
Joseph
Yeah.
01:06:11
Joseph
yeah your friends yeah
01:06:15
Joseph
yeah And if you don't like it and you want to give us feedback more than just you suck, please do so.
01:06:22
Simone
Keep it to yourself, keep it to yourself.
01:06:22
Malcolm Guidry
yeah
01:06:24
Joseph
yeah Sounds great.
01:06:24
Malcolm Guidry
yeah Alright, so alright guys, that's it for now. Love you both and we'll chat again really soon.
01:06:33
Simone
Okay, bye.
01:06:35
Malcolm Guidry
Alright, bye bye.
01:06:35
Simone
by
01:06:37
Joseph
Adios.