The episode blends promotional content with political commentary, introducing Bill as a financial rewards platform that offers members points on housing payments, travel, and daily spending, supported by an AI concierge that streamlines local services. The show then shifts to a deep political analysis, discussing Trump’s crackdown on mainstream media, including bans on MSNOW, CNN, and Politico, and the resulting backlash from news organizations. A key focus is on a documentary, "Kill, Barry, Print," which exposes corruption in a small Oklahoma county, where a local newspaper bravely reported on a sheriff’s misconduct, facing threats and attempts to discredit the reporters. The parallels drawn between this local case and Trump’s tactics—such as silencing critics and using fear to suppress dissent—highlight a broader theme of authoritarianism in governance. The discussion underscores the importance of journalistic courage, accountability, and the democratic principle that losing is part of fair competition. The narrative concludes with a call for citizens to recognize that true democracy requires leaders to accept criticism and failure, rather than viewing defeat as a personal or political humiliation. Across the segments, the show combines entertainment with timely, critical insights on media freedom, political corruption, and civic responsibility.
>> Love it or leave it as brought to you by Bill. Here's a question. Are you getting rewarded for paying your rent or mortgage right now? Did you even know there was an option? If the answer is no, you need to check out Bill. It's becoming a Bill member means earning points on every housing payment no matter where you live or deemed Bill points for flights, hotels, lyphurides, amazon.com purchases and future housing payments. You can even use them for fitness classes, restaurants or metropolis, parking, savings. Members also get access to the AI neighborhood concierge right in the Bill tab. It doesn't just give local recommendations to take the action for paying rent and reserving dinner tables to booking fitness classes and ordering lifts. It handles tasks seamlessly while applying your member benefits across 50,000 partner merchants. First, you download the Bill tab. Second, you link any credit card or debit card to the app so purchases at your local spots become even more rewarding. And third, you ask the neighborhood concierge in the app pretty much anything. And for homeowners out there, Bill works for mortgages too. Your housing payment is one of your biggest monthly expenses, so why wouldn't you want to earn points on it? Download the Bill tab and join the membership for where you live at joinbuild.com/loveit. It's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T dot com slash love it. Use our link so they know we sent you. What's up, Los Angeles? Welcome to Love and Relive it Live from Hollywood, a special shout out to our viewers on MSNow. As always, I'm John Love it and this is America's number one late night political gay live comedy podcast and technically television show. We've got a great show for you tonight. Great Joe Maddow, Namesh Patel and Michelle Collins are here. So let's get into it. What a week. On Wednesday, first lady Melania Trump stopped by Fox and friends to discuss her husband's second administration. How is the president doing in Trump too as compared to Trump won? How do you see him handling the job differently? He's very focused, he has a lot on his plate. It's very different what's going on around the world now and but I think he's doing the best that he can. A ringing endorsement though when Trump was asked how Melania too compared to Melania Juan, he said they look pretty similar. Also this week the Washington Post reported that the original architect of the new White House ballroom James McCrary fought with Trump over the designs failure to meet basic safety requirements including emergency exit routes. But Trump loves situations with no way out whether it's a ballroom or a war in the Middle East. Before McCrary resigned, Trump told him that no building codes applied to the project reportedly saying, quote, I am the code before sliding a piece of paper with the words infinity toilet across the Resolute desk. Starting to the post reporting, there was little in the design to prevent a kitchen fire from rapidly spreading into the event space on the floor above and that's pretty dangerous. If you die in Trump's ballroom, you die in real life. Speaking of places to die, according to MS now, the White House has started looking into putting Trump's name on Ford's theater, the site of Abraham Lincoln's 1865 assassination. Boy, that guy's brain is shot, said us and a horrified theater goer in 1865. In fairness to Trump, he'll need a backup venue for events after the ballroom is taken out by the first gust of autumn wind. Meanwhile, Iran's president addressed the UN General Assembly this week the first time that the leader of a country at war with the United States has ever done so, saying Iran will not surrender. Trump then said in the interest of world peace, he would invite the entire Iranian delegation for dinner. In the new ballroom, no Masoud, it's a trap. Speaking of historic speeches, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to say this. Many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers are part of the furry community. Lord help us. It's terrifying when you think about this, when you walk onto a commercial flight, it's possible that the pilot flying your plane could have a deranged fetus of dressing up like an animal. You can't make this up. That sound means the captain has turned off the fast and seat belt sign, and you are now free to use the litter box. I know this is very stupid, but I would like to make a sincere point about this, so I've agreed to keep this to one minute, so let's have a one minute timer. Senator Tuberville, a commercial airline pilot as a specific special kind of person who brings pride, professionalism, love of craft, and dedication to the job qualities that have been slowly drained out of virtually every other part of our society. And because you're an angry, old, and curious fool, you've allowed your impression of pilots as ciphers because of the intentional invisibility of their personalities and their use of the Chuck Yeager voice during announcements to create an image in your mind of a person who would only have straight-laced by the book Missionary Sex, as if the incredible contribution of commercial pilots, the gift of our collective trust, and all the worry and fear were spared because of that confidence, is because pilots don't have quirks. While in fact pilots are all the more amazing, and the system that trains and prepares pilots, all the more worthy of respect, because of course they're also broken people with flaws like the rest of us who may score in a lower percentile on anxiety and a higher percentile on conscientiousness and competence, but fucking suck in all the freaky ways people do. So shut the fuck up. Thank your Christian God that these pilots get to live out their dream of flying for all our benefit. Don't introduce the idea that these steadfast men and women should be worried about anything other than the flaps y'all lift and drag, and when it comes to their sex lies mind your own fucking business, you dumb, lucky worthless asshole. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is also apparently weighing a 2028 run telling a reporter, "I need to see what happens in six weeks. What's going to happen six weeks? You're going to find a genie in a lamp, you fat fuck." Sorry. That was not fair, I wasn't right. Speaking of fat cats in a bombshell report by pro-publico, we learned that main senator and concerned American Susan Collins was the target of an FBI investigation into an alleged pay for play scheme with a top donor. We don't tolerate that sort of thing up here, upset a lighthouse keeper to his wife Amuse. According to the disgrace CEO of a Hawaiian defense contractor who later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, his firm donated to Susan Collins in exchange for defense contracts worth millions of dollars. What an evil clown said main resident Pennywise the Dancing Clown, to his wife Amuse. And sure enough, according to pro-publica, the senate allocated at least $10 million to the company, Navitech, while a shell company set up by the CEO Martin Cow donated $150,000 to Collins' pack. The shell company, and this is real, was called Young Women's Scientist and Engineers, not plural. There was a literal typo in the organization's name, Young Women's Scientist and Engineers. That typo caught the eye of a campaigned watchdog group which began to question the source of the funds. Then Cow tried to cover his tracks and make the fake company seem like a real non-profit by quickly standing up a scholarship program for women instead at state universities, whereas this company was also trying to win contracts while he was at the same time, also defrauding the paycheck protection program set up during COVID, for which he was also convicted. Now given this crime spree, I'm not surprised this guy was caught. I'm surprised this guy isn't in Trump's cabinet. Now Senator Collins, of course, denied the allegations. It's clearly a partisan hit job, and I've got to say, I do not understand how anyone would take the word of a felon who's been convicted twice, twice, two separate cases. And you can't trust a person like that unless you're confirming their Supreme Court justices. But the evidence isn't just this one guy's word. Here's a photo of Collins, christening a Navitech corruption boat, and ProPublica has a copy of the check from the defense contractor's fake LLC to Collins' Super PAC. You don't have to be a woman in STEM to solve this equation, am I right? And ProPublica pointed to an email from the CEO that said, quote, "We often use LLCs that can be set up to facilitate transactions. They are super vague and very difficult to get any background info on, totally legal, and typically used in real estate transactions to conceal the identity of buyer seller." To which Scott Reed, the head of Collins' PAC, replied, "Very smart and glad your counsel understands. Thanks for doing this." Added Scott, "I'm glad we put this in writing. I will print this out for safekeeping in a file labeled felony campaign finance violations." Now, you may be wondering if there was all this evidence. Why hasn't anyone connected to Susan Collins' face consequences? Well, the FBI opened an investigation, but the FBI shut the investigation down after Trump returned to office in 2025, and eviscerated the department's capacity to investigate public corruption. Yeah, Cash Petel really screwed the pooch on this one. He also fucked up the case. In other DOJ failure news, this week, a criminal hacking group called "Shiny Hunters" revealed that it has stolen thousands of sensitive personnel records from the FBI. Said FBI director Cash Petel, "I want to assure everyone I checked and this information does not include our penis sizes and how they are in the normal range." This is only the latest in a series of embarrassing cybersecurity failures by the FBI, including a breach by Chinese hackers of surveillance orders and the leak of Cash Petel's personal emails by a pro-Iranian group. As a general rule, it should not be easier to get into the FBI's computer system than it is to get out of the White House ballroom. New York Mayor Zora Mamdani announced that Dordash agreed to a 131 million dollars.
$1,000,000 settlement with the city. After the company admitted to underpaying or delaying payments to 264,000 workers. You know what they say? Door dash revenge is a dish best served cold, like these fucking fries. (audience laughing) Tweeted the mayor. This is New York where hard work pays and greed will cost you. And the man holes occasionally demand a human sacrifice, but baby, that's part of the thrill. (audience laughing) I actually think you could make a lady in the tramp romantic comedy about a naive door dash driver from LA in a street smart door dash driver from New York falling in love. The LA dasher asked innocently, so where do you park your car? And the New York dasher is like, put your hands in these plastic bags. You're lucky it's warm today, seven degrees. Now, get on this bicycle with a dirt bike engine and go as fast as you can, the wrong way down 10th avenue. Think of these pizza boxes as your whiskers. That's how wide you are. Oh, you hit someone, keep going, it's you or them. If you leave the food, it will be stolen. If you leave the bike, it will be stolen. Never press the buzzer, the buzzers don't work. Now, deliver this one burrito downtown in these five center blocks, uptown by six. I know it's 615, that's why you got to move. And by the way, I think I'm falling in love with you. (audience applauds) And finally, Taylor Swift posted a cryptic countdown this week, eventually revealing that she has a new single, Patient Zero, dropping September 25th. It's unclear what the song is about, but the music video was shot entirely in a Wuhan wet market. (audience laughs) As far as her fans are concerned, the song should be called Zero Patients, since they simply cannot wait. Now, I'll level with you. The producer said that was the only joke about Taylor Swift that wouldn't get my car bombed. (audience laughs) God dammit, my car's been blown up. How am I gonna tell my wife a moose? All right, and we've got a great show for you tonight. We'll be right back with Rachel Maddow. (audience applauds) - Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It Or Leave It coming up. - Love It Or Leave It is brought to you by Hungry Root. When you work long hours or have an otherwise packed schedule, it can be really tough to stick to your health-related goals. Hungry Root is a simpler way to handle meals during the week. There's no mental energy expended on meal planning because Hungry Root does it for you. Delivering everything you need right to your door to eat healthy every day. Hungry Root takes into account your health goals, dietary preferences, and budget to curate a custom delivery for you each week. From there, they tailor your deliveries accordingly. Once you note the ingredient to avoid, like gluten or dairy, it stays on your block list. They source only high-quality ingredients, like meat and seafood with no hormones or antibiotics, plus organic produce and non-GMO options. Hungry Root holds all of its food to high standards, screening out of 200 additives, including high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Think of it as the convenience of a meal kit combined with the variety of a grocery store. Getting started with Hungry Root is simple. You just answer a few questions about your goals, your dietary needs and your budget. Hungry Root curates custom recipes and fills your cart with groceries for the week. Everything arrives right at your door. You're gonna love Hungry Root as much as I do. For a limited time, get 40% off your first order, plus get a free item in every box for life. Go to HungryRoot.com/loveit and use the code LoveIt. That's HungryRoot.com/loveit. Code LoveIt to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for a life. Love or leave it as brought to you by Sundays. We are what we eat and so are our dogs. Along healthy active life starts with clean, real food nutrition every day. That's why Sundays for dogs is different. It's human grade real food. Sundays recipes contain 80% plus all natural meat, roughly twice the meat content of some leading frozen brands, plus nutrient rich ingredients like kale, ginger, blueberries, gently air dried rather than exposed to high heat. No fillers, no synthetic additives, no chemicals, just simple, complete nutrition. It doesn't look or smell like dog food. It looks like high quality jerky. And it's vet-founded and vet-formulated. Created by Dr. Tory Waxman to meet her high standards as both a veterinarian and a dog parent. The best part, it's effortless. No fridge, no freezer, no prep, no mess, just scoop and serve. You get the quality of a home cook meal with a ease of kibble. I love using air dried dog food. For a pundit, it is the best. It is the easiest. It's healthier than the kibble, but it's not a mess like the kind that's frozen. You have to think about it, you just have it, and pundit loves it. It's great. And she used to have so many more problems with allergies and stomach issues. And honestly, ever since she switched to air dried dog food, like, you can just sit your wash to these poops. And they're great. Just fantastic poops. Easy to pick up. Listen, that's about to find a point on it, but, you know, everyone knows what I'm talking about, all right? Anyway, make this wish to Sundays. Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/loveit and get 50% off your first order, or you can use code, love it, at checkout. I'm saying she's got great poops. (upbeat music) And we're back. (audience cheering) We'll get to my interview with Rachel Manau in just a moment, but first, thank you to everyone who is a friend of the pot as a subscriber. You unlock so much more, including an extra bi-weekly episode of Ponsave America, only friends. Add free episodes of your favorite crooked podcast. Discounted tickets to CricutCon plus on-site perks while you're there. And if you're thinking about coming to CricutCon, now is the time to get that ticket because discounted friend of the pot tickets are almost gone. So go to crooked.com/friends to become a friend of the pot and come hang out with us when we're in DC for CricutCon. And if you're in LA, you can still get tickets to this show, head to crooked.com/events and get those tickets. All right. (audience cheering) This week, I sat down with Rachel Maddow, host of MSNOWs, the Rachel Maddow Show. We talked about Trump's ban of MSNOW and the launch of his Trump TV YouTube channel. MSNOW, CNN, and Politico may be back inside the White House, but the battle over press freedom is far from over. Rachel had a lot to say about what this moment means. Let's take a look. Joining us in studio, she's the host of the Rachel Maddow Show and producer of a new documentary out on Sunday called Kill, Barry, Print. Rachel Maddow, welcome to the show. - Hi, John Luffitt. Thanks to see you, old friend. - Yes, first of all, I just want to say, I love the documentary. - Thank you. - I loved it. I thought it was excellent. I highly recommend people watch it when it comes out on Peacock. But it also, as I was watching it, obviously there are parallels to what's happening nationally. So I did want to start with that because MSNOW, CNN, Politico, they're out at the White House. I know you've talked about this a little bit, but what was your reaction? - My reaction was, first, is this one of these things that he's just going to threaten or say is true. And then there's no follow-up. Like when he announced that there was a truce between Russia and Ukraine, we were like, there is. And then there's no truce. Or he announced that the Street of Hormuz is open. Like, is this a real thing? But then we found out over the weekend that it was a real thing that they really are instituting what he calls a ban on the free press. So, yes, is it real? And my second thought was, oh, he's playing the hits. Like, this is him doing the YMCA to fist a dance. Like, this is him doing a thing that he knows he can get the kind of reaction that he wants from the people who love him the most or the people who share his authoritarian dreams with him. And he's just hoping to return to safer ground. He wants the kind of attention that he wants. And he's getting attention for all sorts of stuff that he doesn't want for having this record low approval rating and for the economy being in the toilet and the Iran war and the impending midterms and all of his, like, falling asleep in public and like, it's all bad news about him right now. So he wants to go back to playing the hits, getting the kind of attention that he wants on the terms that he wants it. And I think that's why he did it. - So, the response from the networks by the Car Response Association, including by Fox News, led to a suspension of their coverage and this predictable consequence. I want to show you this clip. - Okay, so there is no microphone because, there's no microphone because the pool cameras aren't there. So maybe Tim, this is one example of it backfiring just a little bit. - That was satisfying. That was satisfying. - So you have a pretty good statement from the head of the White House Car Response Association happens to be from Fox News, Fox News joined with the other networks as part of this protest slash boycott. Do you think this is the right level of response? Would, obviously, it's good to see these networks responding this way, but is there more you think they should be doing? - You know, the thing that I think is most important is the unified front nature of this. I mean, our friends at NewsMex, notwithstanding, which is where that clip was from, is they're still desperately trying to cover at the White House somehow without microphones or cameras set up by a professional crew. I think the unified front, the sort of solidarity among news organizations is important. And I think there's a few things going on. First of all, the Wall Street Journal reported that the catalyst for Trump doing this was that his aide Natalie Harp reportedly showed him footage I guess of people saying things about him on MSNOW that he didn't like. And so then he responded with a ban on MSNOW and CNN and political. Now, where does that come from? I have always had this theory that Trump doesn't come after MSNOW more than he does other news organizations, even though I think of all the mainstream media organizations are probably the most critical of him. I've always thought that he maybe doesn't come after us in a more concerted way because he's talked himself into the idea that that will help us, right? That that will elevate us. And so he shouldn't pay us attention because we're always gonna be who we are and it'll only help us and therefore hurt him to give us too much attention. So he decides to sort of diffuse
the attention on us by bringing in these other news organizations. But in so doing, he ends up taking the swipe that just seems sort of weird and incoherate and also very clarifying to the news business that this is the kind of thing that we ought to all stand up against together. So I think it blunted the impact, the positive impact that he wanted politically on his side and I think it stirred the news organizations of this country to realize that this is something that we actually ought to stand together to fight. So the nature of the way that other news organizations are responding, I think, will evolve over time. But the fact that MSNOW, CNN and Politico are suing together, I think, is really notable. And the fact that Fox News and the other pool networks and broadly, you know, everybody from Getty to AFP to Reuters to, you know, NPR to Washington Post, New York Times, everybody is pulling together against this in a really, I think sort of still spined way is good. That's the way we ought to have learned that that's the way to respond to his provocations. Can I, can I just share two on pure thoughts I've had? Oh, yeah. I'm pure thought number one. How can we make this like the Strait of Hormuz? In the sense that he picks a fight, and he thinks that media organizations will cave, they'll cover it, they'll divide, they'll kind of ultimately come around, not realizing he's in some way changed the fundamental strategic imperative. How do we make, how do journalists show the same resolve as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, unfortunately, is the thought. So pure, definitely. So maybe we'll, that's my first impure thought, any, any reaction. Well, I mean, I, I think that he's actually doing some stuff, and the White House is doing some stuff that is maybe helping us in that direction. I mean, they chose, you know, right after the ban on MSNOW and CNN and Politico, they chose right after that to try to roll out their new White House news app. Yes, Trump, Trump TV, they were calling it. Trump TV. I mean, half of me fully expected them to come up with something that was like real Trump, or, or so they could just use RT, right? Or he's, he's very into JFK era appropriation, so they could use Sputnik. Perhaps I think that one might be available now. I mean, them trying to do literal state TV, I think is so, is, is, is, is read by the American body politic as such a, like, infectious organism that it activates our antibodies against it. Like, of, of all the things that maybe we instinctually can do as Americans, we can recognize state TV, Pravda, you know, RT style stuff, and that's not us. So Trump immediately going to that, and the White House immediately going to that, I think might, might sort of help us toward the kind of moment that you're talking about. Yeah, the, it's not clear, right? Because on the one hand, you're right. Like, this is the kind of debate he enjoys having. He'd rather be talking about press freedom than he would gas prices the war in Iran, of course. But then also it feels in the way Trump decisions feel ad hoc. He was showing these clips. He got mad. He does a post that were they already planning to roll out this YouTube for that would replace the pool. Is it something they've stood up really quickly in response? We just don't know. The other thought is, I remember when there was this debate about removing Trump from Twitter. And it's like, oh, you know, they should ban them and they shouldn't ban them. It ends up being a debate in a, in a presidential primary, right? Between, I think Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris had an exchange. It's like the K have got mad at me at the time, not rehashing old grudges or anything. But one of the consequences, whatever you're feeling about whether he should or should not have been banned from Twitter is he kind of a quiet for a while. And Trump does better when he's quiet. Nothing would be who Republicans running for office more than Trump's microphone being off for the next seven weeks. So how do we balance that, right? Like, Trump wants attention. He wants a, you know, dominion over how he has covered. He can't have that. A world where he's covered negatively, right, is worse for Trump, which would mean on some level, some news outlet caving and covering Trump might be better for the Democratic candidates currently running. You know, I end up in, I'm pure thought. I mean, there's, there's no way that a president of the United States doesn't get covered in the news. It's just, it's not possible. It's not responsible, right? There's the question is how he gets covered in the news. And does he get the, the, the royal treatment that is the very expensive, very difficult, sort of, owner is very professionally produced duty of White House pool coverage. I think right now he does not. And so it'll have to be pieced together in ways that are, I think, less what he's used to. But I don't think there's any chance, aside from the sad moment on the ribbon cutting at the helipad. I just don't think there's any, there's any chance that he does things and doesn't get covered. The nature of the job means that he does. Yeah. And, you know, I've seen some people saying that the White House correspondent could dinner association should go further. And there shouldn't even be press cover. There shouldn't be press pool. There should, I mean, you know, the written press pool. They should just be pulling out altogether. But, you know, that's a fair weather. I think suggestion because the reason there is a pool is because emergencies happen and we need reporters there, right? So there is attention. So I do want to turn to the documentary because it is striking to see the parallels between sort of a thuggish corrupt leader in the White House and these local officials in this documentary, what drew you to this story and why do you think it was important to tell? You know, look, you covered this on this this original tape emerged in 2023 and you covered it at the time. And I'm curious why you felt it was important to come back to it. Yeah. Thank. First of all, thank you for watching it. It's called Killbury Print. It's out as of this weekend on peacock. And like you said in 2023, we covered it on my show on MSNBC at the time. No, MSNOW. And it was just this crazy thing because it's this corner of Oklahoma. It's called McCarton County. Ida Bell, Oklahoma is their broken bow. Like, it's a relatively sparsely populated, beautiful part of Oklahoma. It's got a real drug problem. Got a real crime problem. And the interestingly it has specifically has a missing person's problem, which is intriguing. And there's this little family-owned newspaper there, published just three days week, called the McCarton Gazette. And what the McCarton Gazette discovered was that the sort of thing tying together all those local problems was that there was a corruption problem. And you know, from seeing the film, it emerges into this war, basically, between this very principled, like, shoe lever reporting, local family newspaper, totally fearless, and the sheriff who they report lots of corruption and misdeeds about. And so in 2023, when we covered it, what was incredible, and I remember at the time was we heard about this story, was getting local pickup in Oklahoma. We sort of followed the story as best we could in terms of looking at local media, but the paper itself, the McCarton Gazette was so small and so old school, they didn't have a website. And they had this thing that was lightning in a bottle. They had an audio recording of the sheriff talking secretly about killing and burying the family that ran the local newspaper. They had an audio recording of him talking about it, but they didn't have a website to put it up on. And so they had to, like, they printed a QR code on the front page of the print paper. And they basically set up kind of a drop box site where you could go and download the entire audio. And we did that at the time and we played these pieces. And it was just this crazy story. And then I just kept an eye on it afterwards. And one of the amazing things is that even after this recording was publicized and the story was outed, the sheriff stayed in his position. And if you thought it was brave for this family to report on the alleged corruption and drug use and stuff by local law enforcement, for them then to have turned into a national news story, his threats to kill and bury them in response for their reporting. And then to keep reporting thereafter while he's still in office in this county where he's the leading law enforcement authority in a place where lots of people go missing and never turn up again, it's just dark, dark, dark. And it is also an incredible story of heroism and journalism at its most, at its most heroic and most brave and most consequential. And it's all takes place in Recurten County. It doesn't have a national element to it at all. But I just, I just feel like if you're looking to understand what it means to really be an excellent American citizen in the worst, in the worst environment, the Willingham family and the Recurten because that shows us how to do it. Yeah, one parallel that jumped out at me is the way the corruption
builds on itself. And the importance of exposing issues as they arise, which is the role of this very small local person. Shockingly, almost comedically, two on the nose small. Like, you know, owner is the owner and operator husband and wife. She does the books. He does the journalism, sons on the cop beat, just an extraordinary, like, small operation. But can you talk about how a messy evidence room, right? Like, really, like, this story, this embarrassing story kind of begins this process of leading to just this incredibly dark and shocking series of events. And they're failure, like, that to me is a bit of a Trump parallel because, like, how do we get to the point where Trump's going to put drones on the top of an arch? She's illegally building, right? It's like, it starts with what he gets away with at the beginning. And so I think we're talking about what they were exposing these little things in what it showed. Yeah. And it's very Nixonian, too, all right? So there's this one of the stories that this little paper breaks is that the evidence room is in disarray. And that has big legal consequences in terms of drug cases, murder cases, even like all these cases. If the evidence isn't kept in a way that is sound in terms of the legal chain of custody and making sure that stuff is uncorrupted for the purpose of bringing a prosecution, you end up not really being able to enforce the law. And so they run these sort of blockbuster pictures of the messy evidence room. And you kind of think that's a standalone story. But then in response to that, what happens at the sheriff's office is an effort to a really aggressive effort to find out how it is that those pictures got out, how this story got out, who's talking to the press. And then that sort of cracks open a lot of the dynamics that are happening within the sheriff's department where we learn from members of the sheriff's department about somebody who's mysteriously getting promoted from ground zero all the way up to the very top and has having new positions created for her. And then having her relatives brought in to run other things. And they say the cover up is worse than the crime. But usually what that means in practical terms is that the cover up leads you to worse criminality. And that is true. I mean it's almost true in every corruption and malfeasance story I've ever covered that once some piece of it breaks open, the act of reporting on it usually inspires much more bad action from the bad actors. And it's a good, it's a character test. It turns out to have your misdeeds exposed how you respond to that usually shows you to either be a corrupt person who ought not be in office and should maybe still maybe be in jail instead or a human person who made an error and can learn from it and make up for it and make it right. I mean that's often the dividing line is exposure. And so when Bruce Willingham says to us in the film, corrupt people will always run for office. And we've got to take them on. He's speaking about McCurston County in that moment. But he's also speaking about my whole life in this business and all of our lives right now in this era. Journalism isn't a corrective. Journalism tells you what's true, what's really happening. And it can therefore be a catalyst for democratic change in part because it tests the character of the people it exposes. That was part one of my interview with Rachel Maddow. Stay tuned for the second part of my conversation later in this episode. Up next, I'm joined by the hilarious Michelle Collins and Amesh Patel. Hey, don't go anywhere. Love Or Leave It is brought to you by Helix. When life gets busy and we can't stop seeming to add more to our plates every night, sleep counts. Upgrade your sleep quality and give yourself the best setup for a great day every day with a Helix mattress. You don't have to take our word for it. Helix is the most awarded mattress brand tested or reviewed by experts at major outlets like Forbes and Wired. Helix delivers your mattress right to your door with free shipping in the US Plus. You can rest easy with a hundred and twenty night sleep trial and a limited lifetime warranty as well as seamless returns and exchanges. The happy with Helix guarantee offers a risk-free customer first experience designed to ensure you're completely satisfied with your new mattress. So what are you waiting for? I've lived on Helix mattress for years. I have the dawn looks. I took the quiz. It's what I got. I love it. Super comfortable. I sleep is improved a lot because it's a better mattress. And the dog shit mattress I use to sleep on. I like Helix. I genuinely really do sleep on it. Go to helixleap.com/loveit for twenty seven percent off-site wide. This offer is exclusive to Love It Or Leave It listeners. That's helixleap.com/loveit for twenty seven percent off-site wide. Helixleap.com/loveit. Love It Or Leave It is brought to you by select, quote, life insurance. We all know we need it, but we keep putting it off because we think it's complicated or expensive or that will live forever. Stop telling yourself you'll handle it later and take care of it today with select, quote, in 15 minutes, you can have coverage that fits your life and budget. Here's what makes select quote different. Their license insurance agents work for you, not for one insurance company. They compare options across multiple carriers to find the right coverage at the lowest price. They've been doing this for nearly 40 years and have helped over two million people find coverage. Even if you have health issues, they can help. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, their agents know which carriers will give you the best rate for your specific situation. If you're healthy, they can get you same day coverage with no medical exam. Other brokers push policies that pay them the most select quotes agents actually shop for you. Select, quote, they shop, you save, don't put it off any longer. See for yourself, a easy life insurance can be with select, quote, get the right life insurance for you for less at select, quote, dot com slash, love it. Go to select, quote, dot com slash, love it today to get started. Hey, we're back. Joining me now to incredibly funny comedies is Michelle Collins and Dimesh Patel. Hi, Johnny. Thank you both for being here. Michelle, you just announced your Michelle Collins and big letters tour this week. That's right. I'm excited to see all the residents' ends of the country. That's where I tend to find myself, Namesh. And you know, you got to make a buck, John, are you going to come to one of the shows? Yeah, of course. Okay. I'm in. But liar. I've never seen you lie on your show the way. It was a free yes. Sometimes people say no when the yes is free, right? Like if someone asks you how they, you know, there's a lot of places where like when someone asks you a hypothetical, like, hey, would you rescue me from a fire? Of course. That's a free hypothetical. Right. Say yes. It's like killing baby Hitler. Remember that? Yeah. Yeah. Sure. I wouldn't. No, I'm kidding. Obviously, I went. I'm a Jewish person. Cut that. Anyway, I'm sorry, Dimesh. What's happening here? Go on. And Dimesh, it's great to have you as well. Well, it's good to be here. You have a new Netflix special. It's out right now. It's out right now. It's called by the dude. It's called by the dip. Thank you. And it's about like you said about like half anti-trans and then half other stuff. I mean, of course, you got to hit the streets. That's what the streets want. Okay. A couch full of terrible people today. I'm excited. Wait, you had a stint living in Amsterdam? Yeah. Do you miss that? The bikes? You know, I never got a bike there. I'm too big for the bike. That's what I told myself. What do you mean? They're all huge there, but I go and it's just it's very dangerous. You're too big for a bike. I always said that. I don't like when I hear you say it, but when I say it's different. I'm like, that is so rude. I'm your guest. Okay. No, yeah, it's tough. The biking there is no joke. It's like I 95 in Miami. Not so over there. Yeah. Have you been? Yeah. You biked? Yeah, I'm terrifying. And you're like, hi, the whole time. So people just fucking zoom in, buy like Jesus Christ. What's going on over here? Did you bike? I'm sure you've been. No. See? I was afraid. Well, I it was more than I wasn't there long enough really to get to like to become sort of, you know, a commuter. But the I was I love biking. But you know what I mean? Like it's sort of, it's not a you know, it's like dealing with a bike. I don't have a place to put this bike. I don't know this place. I'm here to get high and go see a thing. That's the thing. There's a painting by someone. Van Gogh. Right. I learned that there. Yeah. Get high, see a van Gogh. I'm like, I'm going to bike around. Yeah. I'm not going to bike around. Well, it worked from home. So that should answer your question. I wasn't going anywhere anyway. But I'm home in Amsterdam. It works from home. I took the tram. I'm just I'm not I'm a very fear based person. Like I don't want to get hurt. It's why I'm, you know, I look so great. Thank you again. They said that in the break. Namaz, you recently said that there's never been a better time to be a bad person. This is their subway take. Yes, that's true. And I was thinking about this. And have you ever seen the movie the third man? No. Oh, well. Sorry. It goes that whole bit. Well, it's that's but you should check it out. But I think post-World War II Europe free reconstruction was also a very good time to be a bad person. Post-World War II. Like, you know, Berlin's a mess. There's rubble everywhere. You can get away with a lot. Yeah. I think in post-World War II Berlin, there's the Russians. You know, it's like where they're starting to there's a lot of there's a lot of arbitrage that could happen when you got the Soviets on one side of town and the Americans on the other, you know. I'll take your word for it. Yeah. And then I was also thinking about 1998 during the whole Clinton impeachment was also a very good time to cheat on your wife. Uh-huh. Why do you think right now is such a good time to be a bad person? Because no one everyone's gone. Everyone that's supposed to enforce the laws is just out. They're either been fired or they're part of the corruption. And it's like if I had a scheme, I would be scheming right now. I just can't bring myself to think of one that's not already been done. Like if I could if I could crypto rug pull believe me. I will be chilling some coins right now for sure. You've got a bit of that. You've got like a little in a good way. Like just
Disney have like a little bit of a crypto that I could see you like talking me into something. If I knew what it was, I could do it. Yeah, I don't know what it is either. I'm an idiot. So if you just add in a good way, do you think that makes something less insulting? Yeah. Hey, I think you're a sleazy piece of shit in a good way. Yeah, every man I go out with makes a clear. I don't mind it. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Nice. Dimash. Yes. Your special is called By the Dip. By the Dip. Thank you. Oh, nice. Look at that. It's beautiful. Yeah. It's really good. It's really good, guys. I'll read you a person place or thing that has, I think, been in a period of decline. And you'll let us know if you think we should buy the dip in the hopes that they might rise again. Or if we're leaving it be. If we think it's not, it's not a good buy. Okay. Are you ready? Yeah. When they said, right, I was like, I love dips. I was like, I want you to know something. That's why we named the special that because people who know the term will be like, oh, this is going to be interesting about like optimism or hope. And then other people who just like nachos will be like, you know what, I'm going to check this. Yeah. First up, should you buy the dip on getting drunk? We're hearing the Gen Z drinks less than the millennial predecessors. Is drinking coming back? Or is it over for good? Oh, it's coming back, things are like, you look at the bottom of a glass when things are really bad. And I don't think we're at the floor of this country just yet. So hold your hope, alcohol. Well, I'll be there soon. Yeah. Alcohol's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You always come back. Yeah, you come back. Oh, yeah. We remember Prohibition. Uh-huh. You came back. Yeah. Buying the dip on Elizabeth Holmes. I'm in. I'm in. This movie, I think, is going to change-- when it's coming out in a month, I think that's my-- Yeah. I think it's going to be what we talk about, kind of like the Odyssey for like two weeks. Like, everyone's going to go see it. You're not going to be able to escape the talk about it. And like, that face has haunted me since seeing that clip. I don't know. I close my eyes. I see it. It's just the mesh. I don't know. I'm out entirely on this. I don't think the floor is in on Elizabeth Holmes just yet. I think if you've got put options to purchase on or you should-- you should purchase some puts on there because it's-- I think-- That's the look of a sociopath from what-- Yeah. And what about America in 2026 tells you that that's going to mean she doesn't rise again? You're right. I am-- I am-- I-- to me, I am the opposite. I am buying the dip hard on Elizabeth Holmes. Do you think she's coming back? Dancing with the Stars. Shark Tank. Traders. Yeah. You know what? You got so many places to go. Also, I will just tell you, I met her. I had a party once, and I've told the story before-- Did you give her your blood? But so it was right around the time that these stories were coming out. And when I say that this woman looked me in the eyes and was like, oh, it's-- look, once the truth comes out, you'll see, these are ridiculous. She basically was so sincerely conveying that this was bullshit, and she would rise again with just total conviction. And I remember saying after, I was like, either she's telling the truth, or she is a total sociopath. Wow. But I was charmed. I could see-- that scared me. This little clip that kind of went viral a couple weeks ago, stayed with me in a bad way. But I agree with you. Her, on Traders, the whole axis of the Earth would shift. I mean, I-- that would be horrible. And a lion's between, like, Elizabeth Holmes and, like, Lou Ann. Trixi, Mattel, and Elizabeth, forget it. I was thinking about what's happening. Think about their friends, their bonding, their laughing, their having a great time. We're having a great time. We're changing our minds about Elizabeth Holmes. We're excited to see what she's going to bring to Shark Tank. And then, like, Mark Cuban's like, I'm in. You know what I'm saying? I think that's possible. It's-- you know, I will reconsider given it is still America, and she is a white woman, you know? Thank you. Things turn around for them. Would you buy the dip on America? 100%. I love this country. America will survive all this nonsense. That's nice, I agree. I'm going to say tonight. Actually, by the way, I felt something when you said that. It was really nice. Yeah. It was a really nice moment for all of us. I agree. I agree. I'm buying the dip on America. Yep. Yeah. It's a big dip right now. Yeah, you may have to-- listen, and I'm not saying I might-- I'll have to hold it for a while. You know what I mean? I'm not saying there couldn't be big-- it might not be the dip. There might be another dip to come, for sure. I don't know if this is the bottom, but I still think it's-- I think it's still worth buying now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The bean dip we're at the sour cream, you know, at the top, with the-- Yeah, that's my favorite layer. There's still plenty of beans and cheese and more avocado. This shit-- we're not even at the glass tray, just yet. This is worth the top. Next up, buy the dip on human beings. Ooh, I'll go. No thanks. Sorry, right now. If you've been to an outlet mall anytime recently or an airport, and you've seen how people behave, it's not getting any better, John. I do think there's merit to having AI do everything now, because it looks like we've pretty much fucked up a lot. That shouldn't be fucked up, so-- Anyway, I'm still buying the dip on people. Thank you, Michelle, and a mesh. Check out the Michelle Collins show on Patreon, and wherever you get your podcasts and see Michelle on tour, go to @MishCall on Instagram for more info and watch the measure special by the dip. By the dip. Don Netflix right now. We'll be right back. Love It Or Leave It is brought to you by Bombas. Fire up those cold weather movie classes and grab yourself a hot beverage because cozy season is upon us. Bombas makes your company as fall staples, so you can make the most out of the season. Bombas, new suede, magasins are perfect for fall with cushy souls, a sheerling lining, and water resistance, suede. And their slippers are everything you'd want for a cozy night in, made with a soft, squishy, as materials. Then there's Bombas compression sock collection, featuring specialized designs for travel every day. Workout and recovery. There's a fatigue fighting pair for every moment. Fall weather can be fickle. Bombas makes socks that can handle it all. Merino will blend pairs for keeping toes warm, sweat wicking, sports socks for fall race training and dressing styles for any fall weddings. I love Bombas. I'm wearing them right now or I'm all in time. I have the vintage athletic socks. I wore them to the gym every single day. I just went on a trip to New York and I just when I get ready for when I'm packing for a trip, I just know like, oh, I'm going to workout this many days. I grab that many Bombas socks from the from the drawer that I've got. This is the Bombas socks that are all the vintage style. I know exactly what I'm doing because I only wear them and they're the best. The best part about Bombas for every item you purchase, they'll donate an essential clothing item to someone facing housing insecurity. One purchase equals one donated with over 200 million donations and counting. Head on over to bombas.com/lovehead and use code love it for 20% off your first purchase that's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash love it code love it at checkout. And we're back. Here is the second half of my conversation with Rachel where we get into this incredible story of this local paper taken on a corrupt share of an Oklahoma and the parallels to Trump and broader lessons for democracy. The other parallel is just this small paper has uncovered this series of scandals. So this this audio tape not only includes one official talking about the two holes that are always ready to be dug. They're waiting for these two journalists, but also about how the good old days in which they used to be able to lynch black people in the community right this sets all this off. They go after one of the journalists in a way that is eerily similar to what Trump tries to do to his opponents. They went to a very trouble person who may have experienced a genuine sexual abuse or something terrible that it had happened to him. And they seem to try to get this person to accuse this journalist, an allegation that they just put out into the world, which really has this terrible impact on his life. I mean, this goes to a very dark place. And actually that journalist has to leave the community and move to Tulsa because he has to get away from what has happened. First of all, how do you figure out how to untangle that, right? It's a serious allegation even if it is drummed up, right? You have to you have to take it seriously. And then also like this person comes away pretty cynical in a story you're trying to tell that is ultimately about the importance of journalism. I'm just curious how you thought about that. Yeah, it's really thorny and important and complex. I mean, definitely part of the war, the Sheriff's Department waged on the newspaper that was exposing them was to try to what was not to try to, but to actually push out to the community by all sorts of different means really lurid and ultimately unproven allegations of basically pedophilia and other like terrible sexual misconduct against the one of the reporters at the paper. And I mean to the point where the sheriff invited members of the community to please request a copy of a police report that was full of unproven allegations against the reporter. Like went, went publicly and asked people to request this police report because he'd be happy to distribute it in the community. And it's just like, like I said, this is as dark as it gets. But we chased all of that, all of the factual elements of that is as far as we could. We talked to multiple.
possible prosecutors and former prosecutors and lawyers involved in this case and investigators and Chase's many of the principles as we could put all the actual allegations to everybody that we could and ultimately kind of picked our way through that story and the way that we thought was most responsible. But for me, it's just a reminder that I think at times like this, we talk in almost sort of myth-making terms about what bravery means and what heroism means and what it means to do. The right thing, that's the difficult thing instead of the easy thing, that's the wrong thing or that's the the the craven thing and it's it's one thing to think about that in mythic terms. It's another thing to live it, especially when you're living it up close, right, when you have to decide whether to get in your car and drive home alone in the dark, having just reported what you reported about the sheriff, which operates all the cars with red and blue lights on top of them in your town and they've declared war on you and your family and have said they want to see you buried and talked about hitmen who could do it and the excavators that'll dig the holes. I mean, it's a real it's a it's a real thing. It's a life or death thing and it is not it's you know, it's it's not a ballad. It's a it's every day logistics of living and that kind of sacrifice to do what's right. I think is really centering in terms of us thinking about what's being called on us as citizens right now. Yeah, the the other half of that right, so that is the bravery in the part of this local paper, but there's also the sort of I come back to this all the time as a sort of a we talk a lot about shamelessness in the Trump era, but to your point about what happens when some failure is exposed and how do you react to that and the lack of forbearance, which is a democratic virtue, right? This idea that sometimes you lose, right? Sometimes you sometimes your ego takes a hit because you deserve it and you just kind of take the L and you try to clean it up or apologize and move on. And this sheriff never resigns, right? He sticks it out to the very end because that to me is part of what's missing here, right? This is idea that like there should be any kind of accountability that they should have to kind of concede anything seems inconceivable to them in that in that room. And it seems like so much of our problem in our politics right now. It flows up to Trump, it flows down from Trump, this idea that an apology, a defeat, a loss, a concession is always embarrassing, right? Even though every resolution requires give and take, it seems like central to what we're going through. Yeah. And I'm just, whether from the documentary or just more broadly what you're seeing, how you think about that? I think it's a deep point and I think it's really good to bring that up and talk about that in practical, again, in practical terms because, again, democracy isn't just a theory and isn't just like a myth and isn't just like a gauzy concept of the way we talk about free countries. Democracy in practical terms means that you lose sometimes and whoever loses gets to live and stay in the fight and make their case again and try to win in the next round, right? That is part of what it means to compete for power in a democratic context. And it's just fundamentally incompatible with an authoritarian mindset or with the sort of Roy Cohen style mindset that winning is everything, that losing is intolerable and that you should never concede defeat in any circumstances because that's a humiliation and a humiliation is worse than death and I mean, that's just not the American system. The American system is that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but we compete in fair terms and you get to try again. And that, I mean, I just feel like it's one thing to kind of, I think, recoil at so many of the visible character traits of an authoritarian minded leader like Trump, but just that simple fact about him makes him incompatible with American governance. And it's a thing that we don't, we don't really teach, but we ought to, like losing is part, losing is part of the game and not just losing gratefully. You can lose and be a jerk about it, but you don't, but you winning is never permanent in a democracy. One last question, man, you've been at this a long time and there is nobody like we're on the road. I'm talking to relatives, I'm at, I'm at young Kapoor Services yesterday, boy, people look to you. There was, it's really amazing, it had, like the, the, all kinds of people, yeah, they're just always like, you know, oh, you know, we love your pod, you know, but, but it's, you know, it's, it's after Rachel, we love, say, of America, it's never, do you know Rachel Maddo? Have you talked to Rachel? Do you know the, like, you have a kind of mythic place in the heart of the resistance lips. You really do. Like it's a special thing. You have a unique little position in this, in this sphere. Do you, like, think about that? Does that, you know what I'm saying? What do you think about that? What? I mean, I don't know. I don't, I, I, I, I, I don't know this makes you uncomfortable. I know it does. But you never talk about it, but you, but like, getting high if you, I know, but, but like, you, like, there is an army of middle-aged people whose phones have been kind of scrolling for 10 years. Their hands whizzened by holding the screen so tightly. They are keyed in and swear to God, they would follow you into battle. I know that makes you uncomfortable, but, but very much so. Okay. I mean, listen, I would not follow me into battle if I was, if I was running for office, I would not vote for me. If I was running for, to be president of my apartment, I would not win. And I, we don't have, and we don't even have kids, right? So my kids, it's, it's, that is very kind and I do not take that for granted, but I also have no idea what to do with that. I'm trying to be worthy of people's attention and respect and trying to be conscious of the fact that anytime anybody's tuning in to see a documentary that I made or read a book that I wrote or watch a TV show that I've done or any of these other things that I want it to be worthy. I want, I want to, I want to deserve your time and make you want to come back the next time I do a next thing. But I don't think, I don't think you could think about it further than that without getting weird, you know? I mean, I would be happy to get weird, Rachel Maddow. Well, I mean, but you, you and, you and the guys at pot, you guys get a lot of that same dynamic, I know, fed back to you, particularly when you do these live audiences and you guys could like crowdsurf across Peoria at the end of those things. How does it affect your thinking about these things? Oh, I feel like an imposter every single day. Yeah. Now, before we, I do want to say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, that's it. You just feel like, what do you mean you feel like an imposter? I want to be worthy of people's time and attention. I want to know that we're not just riding a wave of noise and worry and that it's a value. I feel, I am far more aware of the ways in which I could be doing a better job than I am proud of the ways in which I am good at this job. And I'm sure therapy could help with that, but there's no time. So I do this instead, but I take your point. I take your point. And speaking of being worth you wanting to make sure that you're worthy of the time you're asking, truly, I, yes, there's important lessons in this documentary, there's dark stuff in this documentary. It's riveting. It's great. It is worth watching people. I'm telling you, give it a shot. You will be drawn in from the beginning. I appreciate how honest it is, too, even about the ways in which forget the specifics of this story, like part of what they're paying for is a failure of all of us to value journalism. And so I think it's important to lift up stories like this. Now, before we let you go, I have just been handed some second thoughts. This is where the producers watch interviews live and tell me ways I could have done better. And so I just want to run you through a way, a few of the places where the producers believe I could have done a better job. You don't need therapy. If this is the way you were in your business day to day, John love it. This is therapy. Let's see, I don't, opening up my cabinet of impure thoughts might have been a mistake. Should have used the term straight beige. Let's see, giving Republicans advice on winning by leaving Trump's mic off till November might have been a mistake. Let's see, I should be more supportive of Trump as a fellow YouTuber. Okay. So a regret not asking Rachel, if she has an in it peacock, who can get me on traitors. She's not responding to that. I don't know what she does. I don't think she's got the end. If I could get anybody to meet Alan coming, my girlfriend Susan would beat you to the door for it. She is so obsessed with that. I bet we can get that done. Well, Rachel Maddow, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was great to talk to you. It's great talking to you John. Bill Berry, print, highly recommended and you're doing cocktails. I forgot to mention you're doing, you're making cocktails on
- Cartel Wars. - Cartel Wars on E. - Yeah, this is what I only did one episode, but I was the guest judge. - It was fantastic. - You made a drink for me once at an MS NBC party after one of those correspondence dinners. - In Washington, yes. And I don't remember the drink, I'm sure it was good. - I'm sure it was perfect. I once made one of those nights, it was actually the first time I met Michael Steele. I think it was when he was still RNC German, and he asked me to make him a drink, and I was all nervous, and I made him a drink, and I put zero alcohol in it. - It was just like juice, like tonic, some sort of, like maybe some bitters or whatever, but he asked for like a strong something or other, and I gave him a zero alcohol mistake. - Wow. - But he's the act now we're friends. - Now your friends, and you've learned from that to bring your new, you sort of, that's the way to win a cocktail war, as you know. - Exactly, I would fail. - Rachel, thanks so much. - Thanks, Tom. - Thank you, Rachel Maddow. Kill Barry Print is streaming on Peacock this Sunday, and we'll be right back with more Michelle and to manage for the rant wheel and second thoughts. (audience cheering) It's that time again, time for a spin of the rant wheel. All right, here's how it works. We got a wheel, it'll land on you. You rant for 60 seconds, that's it. Let's spin the wheel. - Oh, 60 seconds. - 60 seconds. Ooh, what do you got? - What am I mad at? - I think Indian people need to stop telling me, I can't make fun of other Indian people. (audience laughing) You know, whenever a minority talks about another minority, a bunch of other minorities from that same minority tell that person that, hey, you're talking shit about us, you're gonna bring us all down. No, I'm the one entitled to talk shit about my people, 'cause I share that experience. If I make fun of cash, or if you think Ramaswamy, it's not out of jealousy, it's because they're pieces of shit, and I know exactly who they are, and where they come from, and I know all their lives, and I feel like, I should be the one talking about it. So fuck you, Indian people, if you want to-- (audience laughing) All right? It's just, in my special, I talk a lot about, I spent like good six, seven minutes on Vivek Ramaswamy. I mean, I'm on Cash Patel. I did Vivek on the previous special. And people are like, oh, you're just jealous. You're bringing us down. He's the head of the FBI. How much further could we get? Thank you. (audience applauding) Let's spin it again. (upbeat music) Michelle, what have you got? Mine is also about Indian people. Can you imagine? (audience laughing) Let me say what I want. I mean, my God. It's yours, it's yours. Can you imagine? That would be love. I love your people. My brand, it's really true. My brand is actually that television, and I was so excited to be here, John, because you know, I love Survivor, Big Survivor fan. But really, my rant is that they need to start putting good TV back on in the summer. It is September now. I have shit to do, by the way, and you can believe this. But there's so much good television on right now that I can't leave the house. There's 19 different housewife seasons on. We have Survivor, Big Brother's ending this week. We have traders. There's now another traders coming out. This summer, I sit, I watch the Big Brother live feeds. I wanna shoot myself. Okay, I'm like, there is nothing good on TV. Bravo puts all their worst stuff on. You're like, get it out of the way. Let's kill it in the summer. Give us something to love in the summer, other than Big Brother, I'm begging you. I have no life. And now I'm too busy. Now look, I'm here. Why not have I had time to watch these shows? This is really how I feel. Thank you guys. Let's spin it again. (drumming) Okay, this is God. Here's my rant. This is not really a rant. I just wanna tell you about something that happened before the show, which is, so Gilbert Gottfried, there was a good documentary about him. And one thing that I remember from the documentary was that he would keep the little soaps and the little toothpaste and all the things in a little box on Resbed. And he had just huge piles of all these free things. Like sometimes a first class flight or a business class, they'll give you a little kit with all those things. He'd keep all those kits. He'd keep them forever on Resbed. And then he'd take them when he travels. I do that. I keep them all. I have lots of these little kits. And sometimes before the show, I'll brush my teeth. And I took out one of those little kits and I brushed my teeth. And I was like, "Huh, aren't toothpaste. That's weird." And then came and did the show yesterday. And then tonight before the show, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. And I was like, "Wait a second. Oh no, John, you did brush your teeth with hand cream." (laughing) (laughing) And 'cause I was flying back and forth last week and I'm doing a red eye overnight. I gotta do this show now. You better believe I'm lying flat, baby. And so I got that thing and then I was like, "Oh no, I brushed my teeth with hand cream. Am I gonna die now? I think I'm fine." (bell dings) That was great. - You got the smoothest teeth. - I know, they're supple, they're supple. They're supple, moisturize. - I have a Gilbert Gottfried story. I can't, just quick two seconds, which is time. - Take your time. - I beat Gilbert Gottfried on Flea Market Flip. I was on the celebrity, air quoting for me, version of Flea Market Flip with Laura Spencer, you know the show? - Of course. - And it was me and Gilbert. Me and my friend Fiona Gilbert and his wife. And we beat him by $5 on that show. And his wife, not thrilled. I'll tell you who hates me. It's Gilbert Gottfried's wife. Can't stand me, but yeah. - Wow. - And he took all the snacks from crafty after. - Oh yeah. - Yeah, and I'll say that I was a little bit, he's one of us, I was a little embarrassed, I'll say, but we can leave it there. - You being Jewish? - I see, here's a thing. - I can say that, it's like him. - Yeah. - No. - Like he can say it, I can say that you can say this thing. - I've said that about Jewish people too, so though. - We know. (laughing) - Here's the thing, here's the thing. There's something about that that I actually respect that in part because I think it is true to Jewish culture, which is this idea that like, oh, things are nice now. These are the fat years now. Take the snacks, it's all going away. - That's true. - And I think that's a little bit in the back of your mind to have this idea that like. - Okay, but also he owned like many homes and has Disney money. I was off the view in a season as we know, and I needed that cash, and they were still mad that I won, and I didn't take a single snack, thank you. Round of applause for me not stealing snacks, thank you. Anyway, but he was, I will say this, he was lovely, and I really am not saying that to be funny, like he was genuinely kind and very, very sweet. - We'll be right back. (audience cheering) And now we end the evening as we always do with a warm comforting mug of second thoughts. Here's how it works. I have a list of ways the producers feel I could have done a better job tonight, though I think it's gonna be hard tonight. I think tonight was a night where it was hard to come up with ways I could improve. - Ten on ten, dude. - Yeah, this is, I knocked this guy out of the fucking park. - Yeah. - I'm sorry for fat shaming Chris Christie. I am, that was a cheap joke. We didn't really have a. - No, that's fine. - No, no. I think it's a funny bit to just feel like, to just kind of as a throwaway call someone a fat fuck, like that, I think it was funny, 'cause it's a little bit about a joke about calling someone a fat fuck, I think that's understood. - Uh-huh. - But we could have workshopped it a little bit and beaten it. - Chris Christie closed a bridge that caused incalculable damage to thousands of people's lives. If you make one of his high BMI, go for it. Be the man deserve it, all right? - Okay. - Thank you, you should have regret that. - I don't regret it. Let's see, I lied to Michelle about coming to her show in a way that was immediately obvious. - Yeah, by the way, you're a lost, my friend. But I thank you, see you guys tomorrow. Yeah. So, how, you asked me if I would come to your show. I said yes, that seemed like a lie. And now it's not only that I haven't said yes, it's that I'm definitely not coming. - Well, that's obvious. I think that's what we're discussing out in the open right now that I won't see you tomorrow. - I think you should have it all. - But I'll see all these beautiful people tomorrow. - You should have like a third thought about the second thought, because you should regret that you even brought up, that you did that. 'Cause neither one of us gave a fuck. - I was past it. - But I'm glad, actually, I'm glad it came back up. - Okay. - 'Cause you know what, I do think I am insulting you now and I can tell that you're growing closer to me. Babe. - It feels like a real connection, but only when it's mean. - Well. - God, I go back to therapy, gotta find time on the sketch. - All right. Oh, I also didn't call out the fact that when we were representing all of humanity, we chose Joan of Arc and Mr. Bean. As the whole sum, some sum. - Mr. Bean is probably the greatest representative of humanity to ever exist. I mean, Jesus Christ, like said more with his face than any most people do ever in their whole lives. - Beautifully sad. (audience laughing) - Now what I can send is a humanity treasure. Okay, guys, if you don't know-- - He's the man. - He's the greatest. - The best. - Yeah. - The best. Any second, Thalston Mesh? - Give me a second. I really don't live with many regrets. - Really? - I think I could have removed the fuck you Indian people from the Indian people rant, but that was really just so I didn't have a end to it, so that's usually like a-- - And it was a beautiful button. - Oh yeah, no, it was made it feel, it was a period on the end of the-- - It's more so just like, you know, I'm trying to eliminate cursing. - Are you? - Yeah. - I have a little child, you know. So I was trying to curtail my-- - Are you cursing at home? - All the fucking time. - Do you have any regrets? - I really mean it, regrets? You know, John, I have to say, I was very excited to come here. I'm a longtime fan of yours genuinely and--
I don't really know I feel like we really clicked yeah really good time This is a gentleman adore him and we have a lot of road to cover still I thank you and I and I look forward to just the beginning this just beginning. It's a bicycle built for two It's the nicest thing. He's such a male knight. Thank you My only regret is that it has to end oh and that's our show Thank you so much to Michelle calls and that's how anti-racial Matt out there are 39 days Until the mid-Jones will be back next week with Heather DeGro Dr. Terry DeGro and Lauren Bonanti have a great weekend Love it or leave it is a crooked media production or show is produced by Kendra James Wilma Graf Kelsey Gantay and me John Love it Our production team includes how we keep for Sarah Lazarus from in Borsalino Peter Miller David Toll's Claudio Shang J banks For who will Calderon Gavin Purcell and Matt DeGrode and our production staff is proudly unionized with the writer's Guild of America East
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Bill offers a membership that rewards users with points on rent, mortgage, and other purchases, including flights, hotels, and groceries.
Members gain access to an AI-powered neighborhood concierge that handles tasks like booking fitness classes, reserving tables, and managing payments across 50,000 partner merchants.
The app allows users to link credit or debit cards and ask for local recommendations or actions, with benefits applied automatically.
Bill supports both renters and homeowners by rewarding housing payments, making it a valuable tool for managing major monthly expenses.
A segment of the show discusses political and social issues, including Trump’s media bans, corruption allegations against Senator Susan Collins, and a documentary highlighting a corrupt sheriff in Oklahoma.
The documentary “Kill, Barry, Print” reveals how a small local newspaper exposed systemic corruption, drawing parallels to Trump’s tactics of silencing critics.
The conversation emphasizes that journalism’s bravery is tested in dangerous environments, and that accountability in democracy requires leaders to accept defeat and admit flaws.
The show critiques authoritarian behavior, especially the refusal to concede losses, as a key flaw in leadership and governance.
Summary:
The episode blends promotional content with political commentary, introducing Bill as a financial rewards platform that offers members points on housing payments, travel, and daily spending, supported by an AI concierge that streamlines local services. The show then shifts to a deep political analysis, discussing Trump’s crackdown on mainstream media, including bans on MSNOW, CNN, and Politico, and the resulting backlash from news organizations. A key focus is on a documentary, "Kill, Barry, Print," which exposes corruption in a small Oklahoma county, where a local newspaper bravely reported on a sheriff’s misconduct, facing threats and attempts to discredit the reporters.
The parallels drawn between this local case and Trump’s tactics—such as silencing critics and using fear to suppress dissent—highlight a broader theme of authoritarianism in governance. The discussion underscores the importance of journalistic courage, accountability, and the democratic principle that losing is part of fair competition. The narrative concludes with a call for citizens to recognize that true democracy requires leaders to accept criticism and failure, rather than viewing defeat as a personal or political humiliation.
Across the segments, the show combines entertainment with timely, critical insights on media freedom, political corruption, and civic responsibility.
FAQs
Yes, Bill offers a membership that rewards you with points on every housing payment, whether it's rent or mortgage. These points can be used for flights, hotels, Amazon purchases, fitness classes, restaurants, and more.
You download the Bill app, link a credit or debit card, and earn points on every housing payment. These points are then accessible across 50,000 partner merchants and can be used for various purchases.
Yes, Bill features an AI neighborhood concierge that helps you with tasks like booking fitness classes, reserving dinner tables, or ordering groceries, all while applying your member benefits automatically.
Yes, Bill works for homeowners too. Your mortgage payment is one of your largest monthly expenses, and Bill rewards you with points on it, just like rent.
Visit joinbuild.com/loveit and use the link to join. Once you sign up, download the Bill app, link your payment card, and start earning rewards on your housing payments.
Bill members earn points on housing payments that can be redeemed for travel, dining, fitness, and more. The points are flexible and usable across a wide range of partner merchants.
Chat with AI
Loading...
Pro features
Go deeper with this episode
Unlock creator-grade tools that turn any transcript into show notes and subtitle files.