Max Amini | Club Random with Bill Maher

This episode is brought to you by HBO Max. HBO Max presents The Gilded Age, nominated for 8 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. In Season 3, Ambition and Scandal collide as the Russell's take their place at the head of society. While the Van Reinhaus sold is thrown into chaos, don't miss the series Harper's Bizarre called Perfect Television. The Gilded Age is now streaming on HBO Max. -Showy So Tells get you more of what you value. ♪ Comfort in, it's calling your name, save on the stage ♪ ♪ Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim ♪ ♪ Book direct at www.SoysilTales.com ♪ -Rula helps you find licensed in-network therapists who fit your goals and needs, not just to whoever's available. They work with over a hundred insurance plans, and the average copay is 15 bucks a session. That's how insurance is supposed to work. No wait lists, no back and forth, Rula connects you with providers accepting new patients, sometimes as soon as tomorrow, and sticks with you throughout your journey. Visit Rula.com/Random to get started, you deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. Well folks, if you're going to spend money on something, it's well-be something you actually like. That's what I always say. That's where the club random merch door comes in. That's right, get yourself a cozy hoodie. Look at this. This is really well designed. That's right, get yourself a cozy hoodie to snuggle away your sorrows or some new club random shirts. Look at all this shit I have. You attract a partner with similar interests and live happily ever after. I've seen crazy arom coms, so head over to clubrandom.com and bring home some random. It still gets sweaty palms if I walk into a church. You know, it's- It's a decade you became an atheist. Ah, interesting. Um. Club. Random. If they just took the good things and didn't bother with those crazy details- I gotta stop you there man. All right, Max. Bill, how are you? You're hiding in the corner there? Is that what they told you to- is that what they told you to go? We do the show over there, okay. Nice to see you. How you doing? Very good. I'm very excited to sit down with you. Me too. I'm always, I don't really ever see new comics. That's not true. I go to the comedy store once in a while like we're out to dinner and shit. Just like, what do you want to do? I'm going to go to a club any more and just go get a- You know what? Let's go get some less. Because if it's good, it's good and if it's bad, it's still- 100%. It's still good. It's still good. In a terrible way. You're watching pain. How do you- How comfortable do you feel when you go into comedy store? What do you mean comfortable? Like, there's 100 people come up to you and- Yeah, but they- Well, first of all, they always say you want to go up with time- Right. Just because I even stopped touring a year and a half ago, I don't really do that anymore. We only stand up, I really get just the monologue on my show. That's fine, but I miss it, but no, I just like to watch it and, you know, I'm a good audience. I love to laugh. You know, like I always say the jokes you write or the jokes you wish somebody told you. That's true. 100%. But a lot of comics watch comedy and don't laugh. So you usually enjoy it. You sit down and you laugh. You're right. There's that two kinds. There's the one that's like, just, you know, Leno, I love him to death, but he, you know, you get that little slice smile, you know, which is really more about I just thought of a better joke for that. He gives you a little, but there's never, well, like Seinfeld and I, we laugh, you know. Lots of us do, but some doubt, you're right, some just like, it's like, maybe it's too close to what you do for your living. Yeah. You know, it is, it is to a degree. I met Leno when I was really young. I met Leno when I was in college. I had just started stand-up comedy and it was a really remarkable moment for me. This kid and I had a project and he was neighbors with, with Jay. And he said to me, you know, for this project, we can, we can interview Jay Leno. I said, how? He said, I'm his neighbor. I'm going to put a note in his mailbox and see what happens. Every time he sees me, he says, hey, Dave, I said, okay. So he puts the note on the works, he invites us to the tonight show. We go there. We're in the Green Room. We're excited. He sits down. We interview him at the best interview. It was so fun. He was so generous. He was so generous with us. Two college kids. And at the end, I had this envelope with a VHS in there. I'm a brand new comedian. I look at Jay and I say, Jay, I want to give you my tape and I love for you to give me some feedback and he goes, what do you want? What kind of feedback do you want? I said, look, just some advice, because you want to get on the tonight show? I said, well, that would be a dream come true. I said, here's an advice, you know. It's never too late, but it always could be too early. Well, it was the best advice I could have gotten at that age. Well, certainly when I violated many times. We all did. Of all the ones I certainly haven't followed. I mean, yeah, I mean, that's true, you know. Yeah, every time I got rejected. What's the fun of, you know, I don't want to be a go-to-mong-sheep, you know, I'd rather get in the trouble or, you know, have it be backlash or something, because why play the game if you're not playing on the edge of it. But, you know, Jay, I always said, if only people could see him offstage. Like as great as he was onstage, and I'm his biggest fan, he would be better. You know, just like so much more, the depths to this guy, you know, and it's just like endlessly funny personal stories. Wow. Much of that he left at the door at the tonight show. He didn't tell personal stories about him. Wow. And he just told the story, which wasn't as good. And that era was like that. That era. Not now? You didn't tell, no, now it's not. Nobody told story. Now people tell a lot of personal stories. Mm-hmm. Now the more personal you are. Totally. Absolutely. But back then, you didn't know anything about anybody. Right. No. If I'd been like one of those comics, you know, that they're around today, if I was still doing my act, it would be like, you know, I'm very traumatized by Todd Blanch becoming a 30 general. And I'd go into how I was real func about it. But I just want to make the jokes, you know, that's, so where would you put yourself as a comic on that spectrum of, you know, just the jokes versus I have to share my soul? I have to share my soul. You do. That's the only thing makes me feel valuable as an artist. If I feel like I'd perform that night and I shared something special and I really made people think and the younger kids in there and the older parents, they walked away with like, whoa, this, you know, I talk about my parents' divorce. I talk about the conflicts in my family. Some of them are pretty, pretty, uh- Why did your parents get divorced? Like Persians, Persians are hotheaded and like, like, like, like the only people who get divorced. An Italian. What an Italian. Wait, one is Persian. One is Italian. No, they're both Persians. I'm saying Persians and Italians, extra passionate people. And Irish and fucking everybody. I mean, you don't think the Vietnamese don't plates when they get pissed. They get pissed. But they get divorced like this. Divorced divorce. But for us, for us. Well, in the, in the Muslim world, you can divorce just, the man just has to say, I divorce me. I divorce me. I divorce me three times. Am I not right about that? It is done. I don't know the details. I do. I, why don't you? You do. I do. I know all about that. You, you see, as a Muslim, you say divorce three times a divorce? Yeah. You can't tell me you never heard that. I sure, I'd never heard this. So you were not raised. I mean, you're a firstly Muslim, but you're, okay, just be aware, I don't, not be aware. My opinion is it would be great to be aware that this is a luxury. Most Muslims in the world do not have that you have living here in America. You can like take it or leave it. I don't have to know much about it. I mean, there's a lot of people of this religion who read one book all their life. Yeah. You know, and your life is obviously much more varied, but I'm very lucky. Yeah. I grew up in a, in a family that was very open, very loving towards everybody. It was, we were not a typical, so, a bit of a background. In Iran? Yeah, we were, so I was born in Tucson. When I was seven years old, we moved to Iran, seven, eight years old. Put Iran. Yes, it's Iran. It makes a difference because it's a very upset at many times, I'm not sure. It's a very cosmopolitan capital. Yes. That's why one reason I thought it was worth trying to tip over that regime because this is not, you know, this is not the same as Iraq. No. It's a very sophisticated population, certainly in the capital that want to be and have been, have history in the past, not recent, but the Shah, that era, of being, you know, much more closer to a Western nation with all the freedom, not all the, but, you know, just a more normal than, you know, wearing the veil and the religious police and all the bullshit that I'm sure you are before we're so in. They are so rebellious people. They're so cool. They're so cutting edge. You be surprised, and I'm not exaggerating. You'll be surprised how many people will know about your show in Iran. -Good. -Like, like, like, goes, "I'm telling my eye, I love Lucy." -No. The coolest kids, the coolest, they listen to them the most here in the museum. -No one might be like me. -Yes, because if my show gets in the wrong hands over there, I, I mean, like, no, no, no. -Would you go to Iran? -I can't. They'll kill me. I speak against the regime. -So, that's a hard one? -No. -I'm afraid to go to the neighboring country. -Okay, but see, when I say this, they, one reason the left, you know, the far left in this home just hates me is that I keep it real about this shit. I would say this, but it's just exactly what you're saying. -Do you know why? -You're, because you can't, you can talk, you can talk shit about your own people, but yeah, exactly. But the truth is the truth. And this is the truth that, yes, you'd be killed. I mean, just think about that. And somebody's going to be like, "I killed, yeah, okay, I shouldn't have killed those people, but it's not the same thing. It just isn't, get over silliness." You know, it's just not a thing. This is a state regime that is just totally okay with killing thousands of people in the street and has done it many times. Yes, Trump puts out a meme where he's pooping on them. Did you see the meme where you never saw that? -No, the meme I didn't see. -What? -During no kings day? -No, I didn't see that. What was the meme? -Okay. Do you know what no kings day was? -Yes, of course. -Okay, so they had, it was like, I don't know, six months ago or something, and all the, you know, this is such, they hate that I have dinner with them. I couldn't accomplish anything. No, we'll get in the street and dress up as like kings because he's a king. So they all get in this street and nothing happens. Of course, it's just a bunch of people already agree with each other and now we're agreeing with each other in the street. Trump's is asshole. Yeah, great. I'm glad this is what we're affirming that we all know for 10 years. Okay, so Trump has responded. He got some AI meme video of him flying a fighter jet and dropping shit on the ground. I did not see that. That's hilarious. Now, how did that not get on your radar? How do you get your news? Social media. I'm heavily getting social media ignoring that story. I can't, I don't know how I didn't get it. I pretty much get everything on this topic. Everything. I'm pretty, I'm pretty involved. No, Trump and Iran and the whole conflict. It's, you know. So what are you? So here's the cards on my table. I thought the bombing of the nuclear reactors back in June was great. That one to take out the nuclear program. Of course, as always, then it becomes this clusterfuck where it's totally obliterated and yet somehow we still have to go to war. Okay, it could had to be one of the other. But okay, I thought they had, they fucked up the timing. They let the people get killed in the streets and then they attacked. They should have done it as a support of the people in the streets while it was happened. That's my bottom line take on this. But look where we are now. What do you think should, what would you do to your brothers? How would this be resolved right now? When you start something you better finish it. That means ground troops. That means change the regime. But obviously we can't do that only through air power. We can't do that. We're saying that today. But when those thousands of people died on the streets, they came out because they trusted Trump. Iranians were really, really believing that this is their only chance that this is going to happen and thousands came out on the street knowing that they're going to, they could die. It's, it's, I'm surprised I haven't heard anybody or maybe somebody has made this comparison. But it's a little like the Bay of Pigs, which even I was too young for. I know I was five. When Kennedy was first president, he inherited a program from the CIA to take over Cuba because Castro, a communist and a Soviet ally, this is the height of the Cold War, was 90 miles from fucking Boca Raton. Not that I have to tell you about Boca Raton. But so in April of 1961, Kennedy was office three months and the pro, he didn't stop the program. It had been in the works and it was a disaster. Like they got all these Cuban exiles to hit the beaches and Kennedy was supposed to provide air cover and that somehow didn't come through or some shit like that. They were slaughtered on the beaches by Castro's. It's very similar. Like the, America, I got to tell you of the world. Just don't trust us. It really, it's like that, the guy in animal house is like, you fucked up, you trusted us. You know, the number of people we've abandoned. I'm not saying we should have stayed there forever, but like the Vietnamese and the Afghanis and the Kurds and the everybody like America, no lifeguard on duty. You're swimming your own risk because we will fucking abandon you. It's all about where they're getting their information from. If CIA is doing a deep dive and saying, look, here's the assessment. There's got to be an assessment. There's got to be a very detailed information of like, this is what's happening. This is our chances. We're going to win. And they're going in there and everything turns the other way around. You can't wish a win into existence. Unless your information is proper, I feel like with Iran, they were very optimistic. And now the narrative is changing. I don't know where were they, I mean, who knows, but behind the scenes, what surprise happened that now we're, we're settling down. Thanks. Your people are a crafty, determined people. You know, they're hard to defeat. It's like, you know, I think a lot of people have said this, that Trump was energized by how easy the takeover in Venezuela was. But, you know, it's like Don Corleone said, titically, he was a Pimp. This is Barzini. You know, this is Iran. They're not easy to defeat. And they're, they're, I feel like they have the whip hand now because, like, how many times can you say, I don't wipe you out? I mean, he said wipe you out, destroy your civilization, you know, decapitate. He's found more ways than the 56 ways I have there on the wall of him calling me an asshole. He's almost a, that number of saying how he's going to wipe them off the face of the earth. And it's just not going to happen. I mean, if we, if we, you know, you say finish the job, the only way to do that is to attack the country itself so much that you will turn the people against you. Then they'll be against this. I think they're still with this, although pissed off. But I'm wondering if there are things going on behind the scenes. It's 100 percent. I want to tell you a few things, when you say my people, they're not my people. For sure. Really? You're not, no, no, no. Iranians all will say this. We are not our government. Those are not our people. I said your people. Yeah. Government. Yeah. Because the people that are fighting today against the U.S. and Israel are not the Iranians. They are, they are at this species that they have no sense of more, they have no morals. I agree. They have, they, they're hard to understand. Like a regular human cannot understand someone who can murder their own family, let alone the people for power, for, for sticking to their ideology. They're just something we cannot understand. And so are they ruthless? Are they doing anything and everything in their power to, to stay in that, in their, in their position? Yes. Now, we, I would say as a civilian who's watching the news, not, not an expert, I just assumed when I saw those pages in Lebanon, when I saw the, the, the exact locations that Israeli rockers hit those key people in, in, in the government of Iran. That's how we thought the regime change will happen. Yeah. I think Trump made it very clear. The war is not on the people of Iran. The war is with the government, government of Iran. So when he said, we're going to wipe you off the civilization. I don't think anybody was worried. I think we knew that he's just using Trump language to scare people. I think Trump people worried. I was worried. Okay. Good. HBO Max presents The Guilded Age, nominated for eight Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. In season three, Ambition and Scandal collide as their russles take their place at the head of society, while the Van Reinhausld is thrown into chaos. Don't miss the series Harper's Bizarre called "Perfect Television." The Guilded Age is now streaming on HBO Max. Watch now! I know, I mean, you're right. I mean, at the end, it's 90 percent chance that he's just spouting off of it, you know. He does it for a president to say things like that is crazy. But like, does this subject weigh on you, like in your day-to-day life, like, if you're writing a new bit, an emo bit, of course, would this emo about this get in there? Yeah. It really weighs on me in the sense that we are so connected, even though I've been living most of my life in America, my audience is really a very wide range of different backgrounds. The Persian audience makes 10 percent of my audience today. There was a time that I had a bigger Persian community in my shows, but my brand blew up. Now, all of the Iranians still come to the show, but now they make 10 percent of a 20,000 seats. So, I realize this now, the older I'm getting, your ethnicity and where you from is part of you and it's so involved in your day-to-day that you cannot get away with it, and the more you try to get away with it, it'll surprise you and catch up. Like to pretend that that's not happening. Why would you? It's the best thing in the world to be part of it, I think 100 percent, the best thing in show business. It's the white people that don't like anymore. Which is fine. I'm not even complaining about it, but pretend that that's not that you're much more about a casting list. Oh, a 35-year-old guy, a person of color, you had me at first and you know, I'm that okay. You know what? Today, right? Yeah. Turn about his fair play, but I live in the present. It's great to acknowledge the past and we have to, and we also have to acknowledge the present. Yeah. So, you know, no, I mean, write it, baby. Yeah. I mean, that's not why you're a six. That's your a six, that's because you're good, but it is, there is a special thing. I've seen this with other comics over the ages. When you are like the first of an ethnic group, again, you probably don't know this name, Freddie Prinz. Of course I do. Oh, you do? Yes. Okay. When he came on The Tonight Show, this is when I was like dreaming to be a comic. It was going to happen when I got out of college and so I loved the tonight show and watched all the comics and Freddie Prinz came on and just, you know, wiped everybody out. It was the first-pointer weekend. His catchphrase was, is what is super used to say, "It's not my job." Yeah. Yeah. I still say it. Well, I love it. It's not my job. And I'm just, I'm not quoting. But Freddie Prinz, he blew up and then fucking killed himself. Oh, yeah. That's right. Well, bad example. Yeah. I know what you're saying though. But what you asked me is, is this in my daily routine? I don't bring so much of that topic into the comedy because I feel like my audience is such a broad audience. It's not my style. I like, I talk about, I'm a storyteller, I talk about my life, I talk about my upbringing, I talk about my family, I talk about, like I talk about moving back to Iran as an eight-year-old all-American kid. And I talk about how it was a culture shock and going to school and, and, and, and, you know, all of a sudden as an American kid standing there, the whole school starts chanting. Death to America. Death to America. I'm standing. Do they know I'm American? Are they trying to kill me? I go home and, like, mommy, they're, they're screaming death to Americans. At you? Yeah. No, well, they're chanting death to America in Iran every morning in school. Right. Like, we're like seven, eight-year-old kids. You're running up. You're running up. Well, saying a pledge of allegiance. Exactly. That's right. Death to America. Okay. Cultures are different. You see, it's just cultural relative. It's kind of, I've always been on the page with that. That's the kind of stuff I talk about because those were my crazy memories, like all of a sudden realizing yesterday I was singing a jingle bell, jingle bell in school. Now I'm, I'm in screaming death to America on this side. I was like, what's going on? And my mom, I remember, she was like, oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm like, you forgot to tell me this. What do I do? And my mom said, just whisper, you're American. Don't say it. Just pretend you're saying it. I said, okay. So you do a good mom. Yeah. No, really. I mean, you got it down. So that's the kind of stories I talk about. So listen to this. This will blow your mind. You can just throw it at this. 1979. I am 23, very big year for Midi's politics. It was, they attacked the sacred mosque in Saudi Arabia. That was a huge thing. It was also the year of the Iranian Revolution. Well, I probably had a lot to do with why you wound up in America because night. Well, my family moved here before the revolution, way before for school. My dad was sent to Germany and then my mom was in London. Their families were friends. They met in Iran. They got married. Did they ever talk about 1979 to you? Of course. Of course. Our life every day and every family is a dialogue. But what I'm saying is they didn't move out of Iran because of the revolution. And that's where my parents were tricked to go back. So they had left way before the revolution. They had seen Iran at its best. They graduated college. My grandfather's wish was for my father when he finishes his school, come back and give back to his own country. But my grandfather died two years before the revolution. He forgot to write down in his will, son, if there's a revolution, don't be stupid and come back to Iran. We moved back and that's when my father knew that you had a big mistake. Jumped on a sinking ship, huh? Yep. Well, listen to this. I'm 23 years old, I've just finished college. I'm following my college girlfriend to her summer job, which was teaching at this college, early high school, summer college, whatever, in Geneva, Switzerland. She was a linguistics major and so she brillianted language and you have to teach the kids who were from all over the world. But in 1979, most of them were from Muslim countries. There was a lot of oil money going around. Saudi kids I had, a lot none, I remember him. And a lot of Iranian kids and the revolution happens like at the end of when we were there. And I remember these kids going ape shit, the Iranian kids rushing to the phones and they were, I mean, this was like, because these are the kids who were probably part of the regime. These are the wealth. This is Geneva. This was a very expensive school. I fucking hated it, the Swiss boy, warm people. Do you have a known Swiss, I mean, they're peaceful, but, you know, they're better than everybody else. It's not exactly a party town, anyway. So you followed your girlfriend there. You loved this girl so much, you went to Geneva to go to school? Well, college, you know, when you're 22 and in love, you know, thank God I didn't make permanent life decisions like many do people do when they're 22 and in love. I was in love in high school and if that girl who dumped me, because I sure I deserved it, if she had said, don't go to college, work at the A&P, I absolutely would have done it. I was completely vulnerable to emotional blackmail. I was dumped for the first time which really is tough because you don't have no experience with it yet. Have you ever, what's your thing? I'm single. I think I'm the criminal. I'm pretty diverse. You're my role model. Why? Because you want to never get married? I want to see. By the way, since you didn't know about the divorce, the divorce, the divorce, do you know about temporary marriage? Yes, I know about that, of course. Of course. Could you explain that to me? Temporary marriage. Tell me what that is. And you're in your understand. It's pimping at its best. It's just, say, three lines and she has to be like, well, thank you very much. She's thanks you for doing it the proper way. Well, it's cheating, but you get this. I think they gave one to the current Ayatollah or he had one, or I don't know, but it just means like a temporary, it's basically you get laid one night, but that, you didn't just get laid. You know what I mean? Can you imagine coming home in this country, honey, I'm sorry, it was just a temporary marriage. It's a Muslim version of Vegas. You still have to make a transaction. You have to offer something and then you have to, you know, read this and then you temporarily or mine with this agreement and the same thing happens, you know, in whatever state prostitution is legal. It's literally that. Yeah, I must say, you know, some of these, it goes on in the world now, heroms. I mean, I hope I'm not talking out of school, but I think for sure I've read, maybe it's just, you know, scuttle, but like the Saudis probably, the princes, we certainly know about the Sultan of Brunei inheriting, I'm not inheriting, inviting women from definitely the states go there to party. Yeah, people are fucking weird. You can't be as fucking with any of them. What is wrong with people, Max? Why don't we get a deal about this problem? People, the problem that won't go away. Never, ever. So you want to stay single forever? Is that where you're here, you say? Ah, so far, I haven't been married. So the topic is, I really, I tell you, I mean, this state of mine where I've been thinking, maybe magically, I'm going to meet this person, and this person has not come along so far. So I wonder, I don't know. My life is, I'm very happy. I'm not a type of person who wakes up depressed because I'm not in a relationship. Why wouldn't you be? You're still young, you're good looking. You know, you're famous. I mean, you know, the bitches must be all over you. I mean, it's just, it's not unrealistic to not want that. My thing is water flows downhill. At a certain point, that'll change. But like, right now, this water's flowing downhill. No, you'll be crazy to try to stop. And it puts me, it's a lot of pressure when you're with somebody. Oh, it adds, it doesn't add anything but pressure. So I'm curious about that. We hope that it adds positive things as well. It's not just pressure, but I hear you about the pressure usually. The pressure is here? No, what it adds on, it is not even a quarter of that. I'm living to tell the tale that you actually can. There are at least a few humans, I must assume, more than one who absolutely no pressure and no fighting and none of that, but it took me a very long time. It was just, you know, you're just a lot, I don't know how you make that happen. Certainly not on Instagram. You can't be with somebody who's controlling it and-- But generally, relationships I agree are, at least in my experience, way more the cause of stress and anxiety than career. Yes. Career, I can-- Of course. Career, I can control. Not totally, but we can-- Career, you can say no. And or yes, and you're not ever fighting with yourself. You're sometimes debating with yourself about what the right thing is to do. But it's not like your other self is going to go, you know, fuck you, why don't you go, fuck your whore, you know. I don't never say that to myself, even though we have disputes. So do you ever come, like, what were you standing with not having kids? Do you look back and you say you wish you had kids? Or you thank you? Jesus is what I say. Of course, I'm an atheist. But thank you, Jesus, because it's the one thing I never wanted when I was young, and it never changed, and it would have just fucked up my life. Now, there are people who say you don't know because it didn't happen. Absolutely true. You can't prove a negative. And they're right. I know just from looking from the outside, children are the most transformative thing for people. I've just seen too many people transformed by them, and I could probably put together a reel of people who sat in that chair and said, and then when the baby came up, my whole life changed, it wasn't about me blah, blah, blah, blah. For every one of those is somebody who's like, yeah, the baby came, and I'd just go right on with my life the way I always did, and the baby's uppers, you know. But I just knew I would be that other person who would just be like, oh, it's just not what interests me a baby. And really anyone's stupid, and babies and children are incredibly stupid. I mean, it's not their fault. Their brain is just, you know, not anything until you tell them, but it's just that's boring to me, you know. I want the conversation to start at a certain level. Well, I tell you, this is how I see it now. They say when you have a kid, you know, you have a purpose and now you have this person that you're gonna put all your effort in and bring somebody very valuable to this world and make the world a better place. If that's what it is, if that's one definition of the topic, I feel like I am, I have thousands of kids in this world, and I'm making much more of a better impact with my comedy and what I'm, because I feel like having a family is gonna really hold me back from what I'm doing. Bro, you don't need to apologize for it, right? Just live, all you have to say is, it's fun. It looks more fun than marriage and that's because it is. All married people do is bitch and complain about marriage and then ask, "Why aren't you married?" 'Cause I listen to you because it's all good for me. You know, I don't know whether it's more fun. It just, you don't have to apologize for it, just be it. And, you know, you may well, I didn't, but you may well come to a different, where life is a series of passages, you know, each decade you're kind of a different person. - Yeah, that's true. - That's true. - You know, you're in your 40s? - Right, that's a, that's, I remember my 40s. It was a very distinct period, nothing like 70. You know, I don't know what the whole decade's gonna be like, but I really can only comment on 60s, 60s, 50s, 40s, all very different, very different. So, you know, you don't know whether that will continue. Maybe that will be part of a passage you go through. You don't seem to have had a mid-life crisis, nor should you. - No, but I'd like what you're saying. Every decade we change. That's really profound. And if we do change, and that's, that's, you know, then it's okay to admit, to say, hey, that decade, I didn't see it, just take it, I see it this way, so I wanna change my opinion and go right or left. - Yeah, I can name for each decade in my life, probably, what, if I had to, under the head, central focus, like central focus of zero to 10, stay with mommy. (laughing) That seemed very important to me in that, that, you know, that came to get me for nursery school. And I wouldn't go, like I was supposed to go to nursery school, that's the one before kindergarten. Now they start them like, I don't know, they're wanting, they're like fucking going off to something. But, no, this is like year four. And I just wouldn't go. I just, no, I'm good here at home with mommy, you know, like, so that was like that. Then the next decade, like 10 to 20, I would say, central focus don't be bullied. Don't get bullied, don't be the one who's ostracized. There was just way too much of that in that era of my life. Not physical bullying so much, got beat up once. It wasn't that, it was almost worse. You could be psychologically shunned by the, you know, boys are just horrible. - Yeah. - You know, so every decade, you, you know, it's decade you became an atheist. - Ah, interesting. I really wasn't until like, I would say mid 30s because I was raised Catholic. So, you know, that's just something they'd drill into you, like they'd drill mercury into my teeth with just about as healthy for you. And so that was in my head. I still get sweaty palms if I walk into a church. You know, I mean, yeah, you know, I don't know if you went to-- - See, I've been to church, I've been to synagogue. My mosque also, back in Iran, obviously, not here. - Right. - Well, there are times in life when you think, yeah, I probably should have talked to somebody, you know, burn out, stress. One of those weeks where every little inconvenience ruins your day. And then you look for a therapist and somehow the hardest part isn't admitting you need help. It's figuring out who takes your insurance. That's why there's RULA. RULA helps you find licensed in-network therapists who fit your goals and needs not just to whoever's available. They work with over 100 insurance plans. And the average copay is 15 bucks a session. No wait lists, no back and forth. RULA connects you with providers accepting new patients, sometimes as soon as tomorrow. And sticks with you throughout your journey. Thousand of people are already using RULA to get affordable high quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit RULA.com/random to get started. That's R-U-L-A.com/random. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. - Welcome to the Ryzen Small Business Days as a business expert meets Paddy of Paddy's Diner. They're looking through Paddy's second plans Oh, Paddy's Core's great deals on business internet and one talk, plus a free 5G Phone. Score a meeting with a Verizon Business Expert August 17th to the 30th. Call 1-800-483-4428 or go to Verizon.com/smallbusiness. Available for select 5G phones. New line device came in agreement of my business, allowing $5 a month ad on spending required. Applicable credit applied to account over agreement term up to 36 months, terms apply, offer end date 30, 20, 26. - This summer, don't squeeze in, spread out. Find homes big enough for your whole guest list on Verbo. That's vacation rentals done right. - Look, you're staying out. - But you don't do the five a day. - Well, my father was very anti-mask. My dad was very spiritual. He was a Sufi. So he was-- - A Sufi Muslim. - Yeah, he was really anti-extremist mentalities. And I asked my dad, I was a kid, and I asked my dad, I said, "Dad, what is our religion?" And he said, "Our religion is love. We love everybody." That's our religion. I said, "Dad, people are asking in school what I don't know what to say." And they don't understand Sufi. And he didn't, my dad liked the idea of saying, "We're a Sufi, not a Muslim." First, because the Islamic sort of what's portrayed as Islam is something that is complete opposite of what everything my dad believed in. And so he said, "Our religion is love." - Well, unfortunately, it's portrayed that way because it's followed that way by a lot of people. - It is definitely followed that way. - Because it benefits that narrative benefits to ideology and it's almost like a business. - But no one's making it up that Islam is a much more fundamentalist. The people following the religion are more fundamentalist about it than Christians are. Christians were that way like 500 years ago. The pope was the big swing and dick on the world. He could make anybody do anything. We're not there anymore. - No, he's just a figure head, a bobble head. People like him. He's American, you know, the pope we have now. - Yeah, of course. - Real name Bob, stripper name Leo, I like to say. But no, he was like, he could command you to do things in 1055. I mean, that's much more like an imam today or something like that. So, you know, the reason you're here, I mean, the reason why you like it here is you don't want your real law, right? - 100%. - Yeah. - I like how you checked in, right? (laughing) - Right. - No, we don't want your real law, though. - Like this comedian came in, I had no idea. He was a part with Sharia Law or not. - Yeah, it was all fun and games till the bomb went off. (laughing) - It was the other decade of my life. I was an atheist and I changed to be a Muslim on this podcast. (laughing) I couldn't burn it. - But no, so I was, when I got to be, I hated the church from the beginning and catechism, which is where you went. It was like Catholic school to learn how to be a good Catholic. And we were, I was very young and then they were mean and then none's the whole thing. So finally, my father pulled out of the church. Thank you, Jesus, when I was like 13. And from that point on, I didn't have anything. I didn't have the Catholic church, which, you know, I kind of believe, but I hated. And, but I wasn't an atheist yet, you know? So I was kind of like wandering and didn't think about spirituality or religion much, except of course, when you're in trouble and then you, you bargain. - Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. - I think the last thing I did religious wise was, I bargained with God and got, it got me to quit smoking. - Did it work? - Yeah, I think so. I think that was partly in my mind that, I made it a magic bargain. - You asked him to help you? - No, no, I just said, if you let me win this battle with cigarettes, then I won't become an atheist. - And I did have the option. - He's like, okay, if I gave it a view and all your bargains, I'm okay with that. - You know, maybe I'm a member because it's 40 years ago, but I feel like there was something, I feel like that was my last Torah with, but maybe I'm getting the timeline wrong. But yeah, I went through a period where there was nothing. And of course, when you're in a vulnerable state like that, you are susceptible to, you will listen to astrology. - Yes, bring in the next pitch. - Numerology, all right. I was very into numbers for a while. - Really? - Well, I was a numbers runner, me and our teas. - Now, it's kind of a great place you're in because when you do all, I mean, I've watched your shows for many years, but in my favorite time of watching you was when you won HBO. - I'm on HBO now. - When you left, when you left ABC. - Oh, left ABC. - And the whole transition was really cool. And then you made a, you want to, to me, as an outsider, it looked like you want to make a show 10 times cooler than the other show. - And exactly. - It was, it was really fun. - The discussions, the topics were a lot of energy. - We've got to have you back. - Well, thank you. That means a lot to me, I appreciate that. - I got to say, before I forget, do you have any plugs because I know you don't need them, but like I've said this many times on the show, one thing I always respect is success, numbers. Including people, I use the example of Taylor Swift, I don't know why, but just 'cause she's the most successful. Don't get the music, but totally respect the fuck out of this success. Because this is a world of so much bullshit. Everything is spin. You can't spin numbers. Numbers are real. I like things like that, Rogue. No, it's not your opinion. It's the numbers. And your numbers are big. I mean, you get a lot of, yeah, that's, they can't take that away from you. - No, it's amazing and. - It's so different than when I was starting, 'cause you don't need like a network to hire you. - You never had that problem. - You were always hired. - But I did. - You always had an inclined to also. - Fired. - And then hired immediately. - Yes, that's true. - Yeah, you, I mean, look. Your career is so, you're like a rock star in suit. You're like a bad rock star. You're like a bad boy that wears a suit and speaks so eloquently. - That is exactly how I talk about it. - But you're really a rock star. - Yes. - And I come to your space and look at this. This is a man cave at his best. And now, like when I came into this door and I saw your space, I'm like, this makes sense. - Well, thank you. I was speaking of my great party house. Are you drinking? Do we have a drink for you? Do you drink? - The part of the sharia law that I've been obeying. - Well, I, I, I, we didn't want to say. But you know, hey, let's not get ourselves, but it's certain things Muslims generally don't like. Licker, dogs, not crazy about the gays. Women, tuckies, I'm big, but you know. - No, love, love, love dogs. - Yeah, got great. - You do love dogs. - But is he that a thing with Muslims and dogs? - It's one of those things that were, I don't understand. - They believe that the dogs saliva is contains a lot of bacteria and stuff. So it's hot on, right? - It's rebel again, right? - No, I agree. I would never, some people kiss their dogs. I, that's crazy. - Yeah, but I love dogs. I'm always, I grew up around dogs, so it's, it's animals. We love the family, we love the family. - And the Bible is full of crazy nutty shit from Jews about don't eat lobster with, you know, don't eat milk with a meat or whatever. That's what ancient people did. - That's right. - Is they, they kind of got it that like, oh, maybe if we do, we seem to get sick. Every time we ate lobster with whatever milk or whatever. So let's make a law. Slavery, no, they never made a law about slavery. Never, nobody ever said don't do it. It just even occurred to them. But this thing, if eating, we all took everything in moderation. Whether it was the Bible or the, for the Jews, Muslims, the Christians, if they just took the good things and didn't bother with those very crazy details and the world would have been a lot more balanced. - I gotta stop you there, man. - You know, like any part of us. - It's not really accurate. Because the Quran and the Bible are not like the same book just in a different language. They're just not. First of all, the Bible is to have one is the Prince of Peace, whose message was very different than Muhammad, who was a warrior. That Christianity is founded on being a martyr and suffering. In Islam, their best century was their first, and they came out of the desert and conquered the whole world. And they didn't do it by asking. It doesn't happen that far, that quickly by asking. There's a reason why the Saudi Arabian flag is two swords. Okay, everybody was like that back then. They were just very successful at it. But that influences what's in the book. The book is, the Bible is an anthology of so many different authors over different errors. And some of it is batshit and some of it is poetry. And some of it is stories. You know, most of it happens like in the first five pages. God creates the world, and Adam and Eve, and the Noah, and the flood, and that all happens like before page three. You know, there's one part they say, we believe in Jesus, and we believe in Moses. You just take that part, and you take everything. In the Qur'an. Yes, they believe. Take that part and move on. Right, get along. I mean, you know. Yeah, you can find some, that's a nice, well, I mean, I don't know how many nice ones there are like that. And what they're saying is that Muhammad is the last prophet, but they do recognize the earlier prophets. Just take the earlier prophets and focus and get along. But the point is, you know, there's so many, there's an angle in life. There are people in this world. You can look at something and look at it from a positive perspective. And other, same situation, another person will look at it, and all they will see is negative. And this country has a big problem, especially with the youth of only seeing negative. And a lot of it is because they just don't know what the fuck they're talking about. They think they have it worse than anybody, and they have it generally better than anybody. Yeah, I agree with you. I think, and again, the reason for that is, the grass looks greener from the other side when you're 24/7 on social media. Right. And it's 13-year-old kids today, they must have it hard. We never knew what the neighbors' shoes look like, what they're having for dinner, where they're going on vacation. I at least had to wait to, I went to school to get bullied. But when it's on your phone, and they unfollow each other, they write, I mean, all of these things. It would be like, in my day, the bully's coming to the door all night. If every time I looked on my phone, there was something, and kids are just fucking cruel. There's a great book there. I think they just redid it as a movie, "Lord of the Flies," it was just out on, I think, one of the streaming services, and it's about these kids. I think they're, like, 10 to 13 who get shipwrecked on an island, and exactly what would happen. They act like the animals that humans are right below the surface. You know, they ostracize this one kid called Piggy because he's weak, but, you know, you see this in nature. You think nature is always so sweet because somebody sent you a video of a little squirrel and he's napping on a bear and they're cute and no, they kill, they don't know if they killed other species, they kill their own species when they're weak, they'll pack you to death. That's right. Fuck you. They're weak. It's like, they have no fucking professional courtesy in the animal world. So you and I both were bullied, and you were bullied, right? Better. You watch so because I was the American kid in Iran. You can't imagine how much. I was bullied until I was 12 years old in the most craziest ways. I was, I was the American kid and they hated me just because. Did you have to sometimes pretend that you were more religious and. No, I never needed to, like, I mean, I guess at that age, you know, you're not that sophisticated to come in the next day and be like, "Wow, look the American kid is, you know, no, it wasn't that. That's the jealousy and bullying is just, they look at you and whatever. The bullies are usually kids that are coming from very troubled families and they're coming to school and they want to reflect that pain on other people. And so, but just by default, I was a great target. I was the kid who didn't speak partially so well when I first got there and I was bullied a lot and now I'm thinking, I'm listening to you and I'm thinking, maybe that's why we're both single and we don't want to be married because marriage looks like bullying. You wake up in the morning and she bullies you. My last special, remember the one before that, I had a bit which was exactly when people say, "Happy life, happy wife, it sounds so sweet, it's actually a threat, isn't it?" It's an elder, happy life, hey, it's a nice life you got there, shame if anything would have happened to it, you know. Well, look, women, first of all, they don't even want to hear this discussion, it's because it's threatening because, you know, they can pretend what they want about how different we all are. Please, there's a reason the bachelor is still on. Most women are same as they always were. They basically, you know, have a wild period in their early 20s and then they're looking for a husband, not because they're gold diggers or whatever, it's just natural to pair off, they like that security and they like, and who can blame them. And there are wonderful things about, have you been in serious relationships? I have, I have, I have, I have like three. What's the longest one you ever had? The longest three and a half years. What a pussy. No, okay. That's it. You? About this. Okay, we match on the, on the relationship length, too. Okay, we'll need longest three and a half years. Well, it's like, it's, yeah, it's just, I feel like in another era, it was easier. You lived on the prairie, you never even saw another person. It wasn't that hard to stay married. But we live in like this constant hyper-intense bombardment of stimuli all the time, including sexual, it's just, it's like, it's asking our brain to do something that's, that's very hard to, I think, pull off, especially, especially for us. We're comedians, show business, it's extra, it's extra complicated. I mean, if we were, I was going to say magicians, if we were musicians, if we were magicians, we'd never get laid. No, actually, magicians get laid a lot. Is that right? The fucking dumb women are, they fall for that stupid shit. Of course I'm kidding. Disclaimer, all jokes on a club random, hard jokes. Antiquilla. These didn't run a thing at the bottom of politically incorrect. The opinions of Mr. Moore are Mr. Moore's opinions. That's great. That was all the explanation would think, you know, it's, it is what it is. No, I'm sorry that you were too young to have been on that show. That would have been great. I would have been politically incorrect. I watched it. I watched Marilyn Benson and Mrs. Brady, it was such a purposely stupidly cast show. I mean, that was the fun of it. But the show, the show had a really great formula, every, every episode, you know, you had this, you had this great formula where a lot of people were challenged. I remember Ben Affleck on your show, you challenged him pretty, pretty hard a couple of times, especially on this topic of this long and, and, that's why he hasn't done the show since. And yeah, yeah, I remember there was a climp that he got mad at you for, for your Muslim views. Me and Sam Harris. Yes. I remember that. And, yeah, I mean, it's, I love him, but, you know, we, we just are going to disagree on that one for the, I don't know, I may, you know, if I talk to him for, I don't know. I mean, privately, or, it's been, you know, 12 years, maybe, I think there's a middle ground. I think he even communicated with Sam Harris after that and they, I think, every, we got exaggerated and it got, for some reason, it just, it got emotional and that's what people love. Yeah, of course. Yeah, more people mentioned that episode to me than anything. More videos. It wasn't the best episode we ever had, but it got emotional with the movie star. That's America. Yep. You should bring him back to the show and have, oh, I asked him every year and I have me. He was the, he was the house from him. I'll, I'll be the, the middle person as the expert in Sharia law and, and we start with divorce, divorce, divorce. I learned that now. Temporary marriage. Temporary marriage. And, and also, like, Sharia. We love the temporary marriage. I mean, he should, he would absolutely love it. Look, look, it was save him a lot of headache. That's perfect. It came around to that. That's hysterical. You're right. If anybody could use the temporary marriage, just for J. Law. But no, I mean, Sharia law, people hear it, I don't know if they, some people are hearing that term for the first time. Some people hear it and, well, yeah, vaguely, I guess that's just like their catechism. No. Sharia law is a, it varies from different countries, but there's about 60 Muslim majority countries. I mean, you know, they got very mad every minute about eating at the Polo Lounge because it's owned by the Sultan of Brunei. And they have a form of Sharia law there, you know, which includes, like, it is illegal to be homosexual, not just like, oh, you know, we're given you. this thing. Like, you know, in some countries, I think, you know, it's like you can be put to death for it. Iran. Iran. Yes. Iran, you're allowed to be a trans. Correct. And that's why they have a big trans business. Exactly. People will cut their dick off so they don't get prosecuted for being gay. Yep. It's really, that part is extremely sane. They can't be gay, but they can be trans. In a way, they're more advanced on this topic in some, you know, in comparison to so many other places. But yeah, now that's definitely one of the countries. Yes. I mean, there's a cruise ship. I don't know if you saw this story, a gay cruise ship. I think it's called the Scarlet Letter. Anyway, it was floating around the Mediterranean. I know it was a big deal because the entertainment on board was Patti Lupone, you know, that is. No. Big Broadway star. Okay. Not that big in like movies or television, but like Broadway people. No, she's been in many shows and she's a big Broadway star. So for like 1100 gay men on a ship, Patti Lupone is like you and me, you know, having, you know, I don't know, the Rolling Stones. It's a legacy, but it's a big one. So this was a big thing and it got turned away the cruise ship in Egypt and Turkey. Oh, they didn't let the ship go on the water. They didn't let them dock because it's just against Islamic. This is what I'm talking. This is Sharia law. They were afraid of liking it too much. They thought they're going to go on that. The gay guys will go out on the streets and everybody will fall in love with that. Well, I mean, again, I don't want to tell tales out of school, but I've heard that there is a lot more homosexuality that goes on behind closed doors. Any time where you shroud the women and where you really can't date the way we do in the West, you know, 100%. Men are going to gravitate to 100%. Anything. Anything. Hold on the wall. In this case, you know, all boy schools, they have more, you know, gay experiences and then when the schools are mixed. So you're absolutely right. There's a Rolling Stones reporter I'm remembering this, so correct me if I don't get all the details, but it was soon after 9/11 and he went to investigate I think in Pakistan, of Madrasa. And I believe his reporting was that he was hit on a lot. Wow. They just, they were just extra friendly because you know, not the thing is really interesting. You go to those regions, the guys that are not gay, culturally, they're so physically comfortable with each other. They hold hands. I remember this one from around each other. I remember this Saudi kids and when I was in Switzerland, absolutely. We would take them, there was like a day, we would shop, go shopping in Geneva. That was like an activity. And they would come with like suitcases full of $100 bills. I mean, it was funny. They would buy a shirt, a thousand dollars a shirt and throw it away after wearing it one time. I mean, these kids had new money and they just did not know what to do with it. But I remember that specifically. Like one day we'd go to the park or some shit and they would hold hands, boys. And also a boy would be sitting in the, you know, a blanket in the park and the other boy would have his head in his lap. Yeah. You know, just like you would want to date with the girl. And you would look at it as an American, you go, my God, they're definitely gay. Right. And they're like, oh, no. No, exactly. I remember what I once, I said, one's a dad and a nasser. Is he your brother or your cousin? And he went, yes. His father probably had 40 wives or, you know, I mean, Ben Laden was the 20th of 55 children. Wow. Oh, he's the middle ones who give you trouble. 20th of 55? Yes, father had 55 children. He never pulled out that poor woman. Wow. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Of course, no. Wow. Yeah. So I'm not judging that part of it. I mean, that's as long as it doesn't tip over into intolerance. But, you know, yes, that's where the gay issue, the woman issue, the free speech issue, blasphemy laws, all things that can get you killed. And sometimes things that are just personal, like adultery, larceny cutting off hand sometimes. I think some of this is changing. It's always going to be slow. I think the leader of Saudi Arabia, okay, he cuts off and reporters had every once in a while. And that's wrong. I don't care who knows that I think that's wrong. But he has done a lot for Saudi Arabia. He really has. He's changing the country. He's finally a change agent. And look, that change that he's making is not just for Saudi Arabia. It's going to affect the whole region in a very beautiful, positive way. Yes. And what I like about him and why I think he's smart is because he's young enough to get how fast can I move this check? Because if you do it too fast, they'll revolt against it. The conservatives will not have it. But I think even they know that that era, I know they relax things like women can drive, which I'm sure was a relief to a lot of Muslim men. Guys, you know what, this could be good for us. It's such a pain in the ass to have to drag her ass everywhere. She wants to get a nail done. I got to take it to the mall because she can't drive and she needs a mail guardian. Just let them do. I think we're at that moment. And I think he gets a lot of credit. I think he's very up to par with the technology because he's like, well, pretty soon the car is going to drive themselves. So let them have a little fun in between. We're all safe. Exactly. We were going to go right from where we can't drive to. Nobody drives. So you're not missing anything. Exactly. No, but I really, I'm happy about what's happening in with Saudi. I think this, this, this King is has a, has a vision. He's clear on his vision and he's going to make the region healthier, more balanced. Yeah. I think I'm all for it. And I don't know. Obviously, you know about the whole controversy that happened with the comedians who played Saudi Arabia comedy. I thought it was great. I thought the same thing. I thought it was absolutely. And by the way, I've talked to definitely Jeff Ross, somebody else who was over there. And they loved it. They loved it. Of course. And it was, well, the hospitality of the of the Middle East when it comes to UAE and, and, and Saudi Bahrain. They really, they really do a phenomenal job, you know, entertaining their guest. You know, you go there as a comedian. They take your view. The shows are amazing. The people there are so receptive to comedy. It's so exciting. Can you do that, Sean? 100% I would do that. Because a Persian in Saudi Arabia, I don't know if people know, but these are the traditional enemies in the Middle East. True. That is. I don't think folks often know that's the dynamic that these two superpowers, Persians, Iranians who are Shia Muslims and not Arabs and Saudis and most of the rest of the Arab world who are Sunnis and facing each other right across the Strait of Hormuz. And that's really what the game is all about. If you can get these two factions to actually like and work together, but, you know, I know from studying religions as much as I tried to, they hate the, what they would call apostates. In other words, the the branch of the religion that still is our religion, but isn't the one we follow, more than they hate the infidel. Like who did ISIS kill first? Like the wrong type of Muslims? 100%. They were, they were designed for that first. Then they became this, the ideology took themselves to the West. They said, but frankly, I tell you this, for me is very different. Saudis love me. You love me. One of my biggest draws, you know, crowds that I have, it's in UAE. Because, you know, my plan is, yeah, it's one of my biggest most incredible opportunities. Right. Because lots of Iranians. No, lots of everybody. So everybody, but also and Bahrain. Bahrain, huge of in 10 years, 15 years of in plain these regions. They love me because I'm Iranian-American, and I'm really just max. I'm not the, the necessary, they're not coming to send me. And they speak Iranian, you're fantastic English. They speak great. And you never said anything got in trouble in any show. No, because that's not, and I go back to this family dynamic that I was telling you. I grew up differently. And I give you a couple of examples and it gives you a nice picture. I grew up with this family that they were very different. We were not the typical, first of all, you know, most Iranians are not really religious in that sense. Most Iranians are not. Well, most Iranians are here. No, no, I. Many in Iran are religious. No, I tell you historically Iranians, the difference between Iranians and Arabs is that Arabs, religion is their culture. Iranians, their culture is the Persian sort of traditions. So we are not. our culture is not our religion. But I have told a community did have a sizable fan club. I had to look on it. He was not even Iranian. He was Indian background. He was a Muslim president. Whatever he was, when he died, I seem to remember them losing their shit on his coffin. I come, baby! I come, baby! Somebody was very upset when he died. Come on, that's. No, it's a mixture. I said majority. Yeah, I think we're talking about. I believe. Again, in the capital, I think it's different than in the states. No, I think everywhere we're talking about 70-30. And that's what the statistics coming from Iran now. Good. 30% are the religious supporting sort of government population. I'm with you. You know who I was the Iranian's life? Me. Yeah, of course. I mean, not like you, but like, trust me, if I walk around Westwood, they really appreciate. I heard it a million times, like hundreds of years. I came to this country so I don't have to wear something on my head. Thank you for expressing that. Yes, of course. I hear that all the time. Because historically, they never had to. You know, historically, the Persian culture has always been very open. If the grandma was more conservative and she wanted to wear the hijab, everybody respected her. Right. And if the daughter was wearing a mini skirt and going out with her boyfriend, everybody was okay with it. The last 47 years, there is a whole different ideology inserted into this culture. Right. And we believe it's designed by the West. They came and took a Khomeini and they put them in Iran. And they said, this is what's going to hold back the growth of this civilization. I think the West put Khomeini in power. Yes, Carter. Put Khomeini in power? Yes. No. We believe that when Carter was the president, 1979, with the help of France and Germany, they overthrown the Shahbeeran and they put Khomeini in Iran. Why would they want Khomeini more than the Shah? The Shah was our guy. The Shahbe came too threatening. He raised a price of oil and he wasn't listening. And he got sick. Well, he got sick soon after. I mean, he chased a cure around the world. He wound up in Panama at one point. What do you think of the Sun? He's incredible. I like him. I like him. You think it'd be good if he took over? He doesn't want to take over. That's why I like him. No, I'm sharing more. Talked into it. I'm not sure he doesn't want. No. His agenda, he said, an interim leader. Exactly. Exactly. He just wants to help create democracy. I think just like every Iranian, he just wants to see this country go back to this free, true democracy that it was. Yes. And I don't think. Well, it was a democracy with a savage secret police. It's a massage. No, I'm sorry. It's a massage. Yeah, yeah. Savak was what it was called. Savak. That was the Shah's secret police. I mean, it was a dictatorship to a degree. But, you know, I mean, true. No, true. But I see this. No government is perfect. The world is exactly always about the least bad choice. That's right. Not the great choice, the least bad. That's what I think mature people understand. It's so easy to be a purist. The least bad choice is what, if we're going to get real, it's the best choice to make. No, I. You said it best. How, you know, and Savak, as bad as it was, it didn't come out there and kill 50,000 people, mass murder their own people. Shave Iran, when the people, you know, did an uprise back then, he got up and left the country. He left the country. Well, because he had no choice, because they were going to kill him. Well, he could do what this government did. He could take out the machine guns and murder, you know, thousands and thousands of people and stay in power. That's how these people are in power. Yeah. I mean, the uprise, you know, was millions. Maybe. I feel like it had gotten past that point with the shots. Sometimes they just know when the jig is up, when it's turned and even your people who are your loyal people, they don't want to fire into the crowd, you know. They were with you for a long time, but no, we're not going to fire into the crowd. That's the turning point. Unfortunately, that has not happened with the revolutionary guard, because those are the most, you know, dedicated balls to the wall, motherfuckers that they have, and they are going to be hard to anyway. They're murderers. There's a huge difference. I feel like the Shave Iran really, really cared for his people, for his country. He tried to keep control when he realized the people don't want me. He got up and left. This regime will never leave. All right. I got to get up and leave. I really appreciate you talking about this subject with me. I didn't know if like that was something you were like, Oh, I don't want people to know what I think because I don't know, but you were no pussy about it. You just tell me exactly what you want to do. I really appreciate it. Bill, you're the man because you'll get some shit, but fuck him. But you talk about these a lot in your shows. Yeah, yeah. I feel good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, I appreciate it. It's awesome. People will love it. Thank you. That's really great meeting you. Thank you, buddy. It's doing again. It's so much fun. Thank you so much. All right. This was good. Well, I used to throw parties here. Well, I'm saying, I was going to say, I'm always looking for millennial friends because like too many of my friends, my age say, you know, they don't want to like party too hard. I don't want to party too hard. I'm a little fucked up now. I didn't smoke one bit. Let me know in the next video. I hate it. Do you really know your body? Your body has carried you through every change, every moment. Now it's time to listen to what's going on inside. Corviva's whole body MRI scans can catch cancer and hundreds of other conditions early before it's too late. Peace of mind starts with Corviva. Know your body. Book your scan today at Corviva.com.