WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:05.160 You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM 2 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.040 six forty. 3 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:12.039 Wayne Resniks sitting in until nine. So earlier this morning 4 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.560 I texted Handle to let him know I was going 5 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.879 to announce my retirement this morning, and he texts me 6 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:20.120 back and he said. 7 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.320 Oh, well you need a new segment. Do you have 8 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:22.960 a job? 9 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.879 All right, some stories we're following for you here at KFI. 10 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.039 Funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter will be held 11 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:36.840 in Georgia and Washington, DC. It'll start with a state 12 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.200 funeral in Georgia on Saturday, and then he will lie 13 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:43.399 in state at the US Capitol starting Tuesday until a 14 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:49.520 funeral service on Friday. Final Rose Parade preparations are underway 15 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.280 and that kicks off tomorrow. If you want to go 16 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:57.079 down there, you can start claiming your spot on the 17 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:01.200 sidewalk at noon today. You want to be in that 18 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:07.599 scrum now. Twenty twenty four was a year of hits 19 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:12.959 and misses in the world of space exploration, and so 20 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:18.159 here to tell us about them is our our space experts. 21 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:21.719 If you will, Rod Pile, thank. 22 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:23.680 You so much for coming on the show to do 23 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.200 a cool space news year in review. 24 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:30.120 Thank you very much, Wayne, And I'm still having PTSD 25 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:33.359 from your mention of staying overnight for the Rose Parade, which. 26 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:35.439 I will never do again. No I will. 27 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:36.560 Oh you did it once. 28 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.519 Oh I grew up in Pasttina, So I did it 29 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:40.359 lots of times. 30 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.680 Oh my good. Well, all right, you just burned yourself 31 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:44.239 out on it. 32 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.000 Yeah. I guess like. 33 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.799 Kind of like the last stage of a rocket burns 34 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:51.359 out at the appropriate time. 35 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:53.120 Good segue. 36 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.879 Yeah, So do you mind? And really it's fine if 37 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.319 you do, It's totally fine. Do you mind if I 38 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.719 sort of because we have a nice list here of 39 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:08.520 the successes and the things of space expiration that were 40 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:11.240 not a success in twenty twenty four, do you mind 41 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.960 if I ask you about the ones that I'm really 42 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:17.639 interested in. 43 00:02:17.719 --> 00:02:18.759 I'm interested in all of them. 44 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.319 But do you mind or do you want to set 45 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.159 which ones you're going to talk about in what way? 46 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.680 Yeah? You go for it. You're the expert, all. 47 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:28.879 Right, So can we start with this? 48 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:34.000 In twenty twenty four, and it happened on September eleventh, 49 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:39.800 there was a record broken? Tell us about what record 50 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:43.919 was broken in terms of space this year? 51 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.120 Well, actually there were a couple. So I think the 52 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:49.639 one you're talking about is how many people were in orbit? 53 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:49.960 Right? 54 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:54.199 Yes, the most number of people in orbit at one time? 55 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.599 Tell us how many and who were they from? 56 00:02:58.360 --> 00:02:58.919 It was. 57 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.560 Did this record of how many people were actually in 58 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:04.360 orbit at one time? 59 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:04.639 Right? 60 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:08.159 And it was the ISS crew, which was made up 61 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:11.639 of a couple of different flights of astronauts, which unfortunately 62 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:15.560 included and still include the two that flew up on 63 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.280 Boeing Starliner which had to come back empty because it 64 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.360 was having problems, and the Polaris Dawn flight, which was 65 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.919 a private flight by a really fascinating guy named Jared 66 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:32.280 Isaacman who was the putative we think, next leader of NASA. 67 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.680 And those were four private astronauts that went up and 68 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:38.639 broke a couple of records. And then finally the crew 69 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:42.719 in the Tiangong Chinese Space Station, which rotated out a 70 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:46.199 couple of times last year. So yeah, having nineteen people 71 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:48.039 in orbit at one time is kind of a big deal. 72 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.520 Fortunately they weren't in all places all in one place, 73 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.759 because it would have been very crowded. But just a 74 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.800 note on that Polaris Dawn flight. So, Jared Isaacman is 75 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.919 a billionaire who made his fortune credit. 76 00:03:58.639 --> 00:03:59.759 Card processing of. 77 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.159 Dropped out of high school, I think, and started that 78 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:09.599 company and then got his ged and he's still only 79 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:13.319 I think in his forties. But the guy is just fascinating. 80 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:18.240 This was his second private flight. Before that, he put 81 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:22.160 together the world's largest private air force, the Airplane, so 82 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:26.839 he's a flying fanatic for sure. But the player's down 83 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:30.839 flight was four people in a SpaceX Dragon capsule and 84 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.160 they first notched the altitude record, flying higher than anybody 85 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:38.120 since nineteen seventy two when Apollo seventeen left for the 86 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:42.560 Moon and the highest Earth orbital flight. And then did 87 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:45.560 a private space walk and it wasn't quite floating free 88 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:47.839 like the astronauts do and they're working on the space station. 89 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:49.439 It was kind of a stand up in the hatch 90 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:52.120 and look around and then go back inside and let 91 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:54.279 somebody else do it. But still for a private crew, 92 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.000 this is a really big deal. So yeah, a little 93 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.399 passel of records there. 94 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:08.560 So I guess we said goodbye to Virgin Galactic Spaceplane. 95 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:10.639 Yeah. 96 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.319 So this poor company, you know, they've been operating since 97 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.360 about two thousand and four, and they finally were getting 98 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.120 into a bit of a cadence after those accidents in 99 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:28.319 the early part of the twenty tens where they lost 100 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:28.879 one of them. 101 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:33.839 But they have not yet really made any profit. 102 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.279 They're charging They were charging two hundred and fifty thousand 103 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.000 dollars per flight and I was closed and a half 104 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.959 a million. And you know this is this is a 105 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.000 horizontal takeoff and landing rocket plane. So it's not quite 106 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.399 like what blorgs En doing with the new Shepherds, straight 107 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.879 up and straight back. But you know, we thought, okay, 108 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.120 they're rounding the corner. They're starting to get some passion 109 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:57.879 of flights going. That's good because they've sold I forget 110 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:58.680 how many tickets. 111 00:05:58.720 --> 00:05:59.399 I think five. 112 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:03.199 Hundred or six hundred pre sold tickets, either at full 113 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.639 price or deposits, and they're trying to catch up because 114 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.160 they've got a lot of investment that came in over 115 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:12.639 the years, especially for the Middle East. But this plane, 116 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:14.600 this rocket plane that they use, which is made out 117 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:19.360 of carbon composits, has been not aging well. It's been 118 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.600 getting stress cracks and so forth, and they don't want 119 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.480 another accident. It's very complicated the way it re enters 120 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.720 once it's dropped from this mother plane that carries it 121 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.759 up to altitude and then it zooms up to the 122 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.600 edge of space, as to this feathering maneuver where the 123 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.000 back half of it kind of folds in for it 124 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.920 to slow down and start coming back, and it puts 125 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:40.199 a lot of stress on the airframe. 126 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:41.480 So it's getting tired. 127 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:43.920 And they say they're working on a replacement, and I 128 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.920 have every confidence they are, but I know the company's 129 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:50.920 been struggling with finances for seven eight years now, and 130 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:52.920 I'm just not sure they're going to get through it. 131 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.319 But we'll see, all right. 132 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.639 Apparently we would like the Russians to plug an air 133 00:06:58.759 --> 00:06:59.839 leak in. 134 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:00.839 They're part of. 135 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:06.519 The International Space Station. Explain to us how the maintenance 136 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.879 responsibilities are supposed to be handled. When you have different 137 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:11.759 countries sharing. 138 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:17.879 A space, you're supposed to fix your own stuff, right. 139 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.519 So the International Space Station is made up of a 140 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:26.120 couple of different sets of compartments, if you will. 141 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:26.720 Modules. 142 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.279 There's the Russian parts, which are actually the first ones 143 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:33.120 that were up there. Then there's the American segments, which 144 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:35.800 they started building shortly after when they were launching all 145 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.120 this stuff in the late nineties, and then eventually the 146 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.240 Europeans and the Japanese added their own pieces. But primarily 147 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:46.399 it's Russian and American. So the Russian segment has been 148 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:51.040 leaking a little bit since twenty nineteen, but that leak 149 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.879 rate has been picking up, and they think they know 150 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.079 where most of them are. They appear to be cracks 151 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:58.879 in one of the early Russian segments. It's one called 152 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:04.319 the PRK Moons, which connects to the Zevesdja Service Module, 153 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.639 which is the power and propulsion part of the space station. 154 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:09.639 So it's kind of important, but. 155 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:12.680 It's important to know the space station's only been crewed 156 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:15.560 since two thousand and we were building it the late nineties, 157 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.600 but this module was actually built in the mid nineteen 158 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:23.560 eighties for a replacement for the Mirror space station, and 159 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.959 at that point Russia was starting to have some financial difficulties, 160 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:29.959 especially on the space side, as just as they are now. 161 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.159 So that thing was sitting on the ground kind of 162 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:36.200 riding away until the United States came along and said, Hey, 163 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:37.559 the Soviet Union's fallen. 164 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:38.919 We don't want your. 165 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:42.120 Engineers to go work for the bad guys. Come work 166 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:44.320 with us on the space station. We'll all do it together. 167 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.480 And they said yes. So this is a really old 168 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:49.799 piece of hardware, and this of course is in addition 169 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:52.519 to a couple of years ago, you remember one of 170 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:55.759 their spacecraft had a hole in it that we think 171 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.720 was a manufacturing error. They said, no, no, a suicidal 172 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:00.480 American astronaut drill the. 173 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:01.399 Hole in our capsule. 174 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.279 So you know, they kind of live a bit of 175 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.159 a fantasy world, especially under their previous director of the 176 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.879 space program there. But NASA is very concerned about this 177 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:14.440 current leak because they're seeing these stress fractures because the 178 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:18.759 space station does have stresses on it. Every time spacecraft 179 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:21.120 docks or on docks with it, there's a little bit 180 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:23.720 of a shutter that goes through the whole thing. Then 181 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.399 a few years back, a Russian spacecraft came up and 182 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.200 docked and suddenly the thrusters started firing, and it did 183 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:34.480 I think a just shore up a three sixty or 184 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.240 maybe a three sixty and a half of this thing 185 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.960 flipping around until they got under control. So a lot 186 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.519 of stuff going on up there, and you don't want 187 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:42.879 those cracks to open up and suddenly give out. 188 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.399 I would think not, And I'm not a space expert, 189 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.320 but even I agree, I wouldn't want that. I looked, 190 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:54.879 I wouldn't want a draft in my house. You know 191 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.480 what I'm saying, Well. 192 00:09:57.080 --> 00:09:58.759 Is going in the wrong direction, like out. 193 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.879 Yeah, I wouldn't want the air. I wouldn't want the 194 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.919 air sucked out of my house. And my house is 195 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:08.720 not in the middle of outer space. Hey, can we 196 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:09.320 talk about this? 197 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:10.600 Check go ahead? 198 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:15.639 Yeah, I want to because Okay, how often does NASA 199 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.639 build or have built an entire thing, some kind of 200 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:25.519 a thing and then say we're not going to use 201 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:26.279 it at all? 202 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:26.799 Lord. 203 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:34.200 Yeah, So there's a rover called VIPER, which is a 204 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:38.440 volatile's prospecting rover that NASA has been building to send 205 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:44.000 the Moon for years with JPL and other companies, and 206 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.399 it was finished last year and it's a big, very 207 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.399 expensive thing, about half a billion dollars, and everything was 208 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:52.919 looking good. 209 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:54.440 We're all very excited about this. 210 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.840 Is going to go up on a private launch vehicle, 211 00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:01.000 a SpaceX launch vehicle. Then with a company called Intuitive 212 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.840 Machines are going to help land it. And if you 213 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.039 may recall, a couple of years ago, there were two 214 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:10.080 private attempts at landing on the Moon and neither of 215 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.759 them were quite right for reasons that still aren't clear. 216 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:17.000 NASA called this press conference on a Friday afternoon, which 217 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:20.000 is whenever they that's when they hold the press conferences. 218 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.679 I kind of hope you might not watch, is my. 219 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.600 Impression anyway, and said, yeah, we're not going to do this, 220 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.360 and we're all looking at each other like what. And 221 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:32.320 they even though the rovers finished and was getting ready 222 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.440 to fly this year, for some reason, I was told 223 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.960 off the record that it was problems with the company 224 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.840 that was building the lander. They decided to cancel the mission, 225 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.960 take the rover apart, and either sell or give away 226 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:50.120 pieces of it to private companies that might. 227 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:51.200 Want to take them up to the Moon. 228 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.120 Now, the whole point of this thing was to go 229 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.559 to the South Polar region and drive around looking for 230 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:58.679 water ice, because that's what we want on the Moon 231 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.600 because from that you can make the locks and rocket fuel, 232 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.960 drinking water, all kinds of stuff. And it's really important 233 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.240 that the Chinese are looking for it and we want 234 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:09.240 to find it too. But for some weird reason, this 235 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.200 missing mission was canceled, and now it's going to be 236 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:13.320 years before we do that. 237 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:21.360 Why don't they auction it off for charity because they 238 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:23.200 think somebody else will be able to use some of 239 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.039 the components to get it to the Moon and look 240 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:29.120 for this water ice even though NASA can't or won't. 241 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.000 That's the hope, and NASA could. 242 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:36.440 The alleged reason was that by the time it was finished, 243 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:39.159 because it costs money for it to sit around, because 244 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:41.279 you've got to keep people on payroll and keep it 245 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.360 fresh and all that, by the time it was finished 246 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:45.399 it would be more than thirty percent over budget. 247 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.360 But hey, you know webspace telescope. 248 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.600 Hello, lots of things have gone more than thirty percent 249 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.519 over budget, and this should have been the next thing 250 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.320 that did. So it's still being tossed about in Congress 251 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.200 and they're complaining about it, and who knows the Trump 252 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.360 administration is going to do. It may get reactivated, but 253 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:03.360 that's where it sits now. 254 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.200 Yeah, all right, let's finish up with this. 255 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.480 Apparently there are there's some number of satellites now in orbit, 256 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.720 so one how many? Two is that the do we 257 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:22.320 currently have the most satellites in orbit that we've ever had? 258 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:29.759 And then the big reveal one company is apparently responsible 259 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:34.799 for an outsized share of all these satellites over our heads. 260 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:37.399 Go man, you do a good build up. 261 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.120 So there at last report, there was just under thirteen 262 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:44.639 thousand active satellites in orbit. There's all kinds of inactive 263 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.279 space junk flying around it there, which is kind of dangerous. 264 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.519 But thirteen thousand active satellites. 265 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:55.039 Half of them are SpaceX's Starlink satellites, and Starlink just 266 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:59.600 this year, in another record, Buster built out its consumer 267 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.960 cell connection network on those Starlink satellites. So besides offering 268 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.679 global Internet broadband access, they are now offering consumers of 269 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:14.320 some cell phone companies the ability to connect a phone 270 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.399 through those satellites for text at this point, but eventually 271 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:21.519 they get to voice and they all. SpaceX also launched 272 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.720 more than half the rockets that flew last year, so 273 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.600 there were two hundred and fifty sixty ish and SpaceX 274 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:29.320 launched one hundred and thirty of those. 275 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.200 Oh man, all right, well, they're very busy beavers over there. 276 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:33.840 They are doing it. 277 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.360 Rod, wonderful to talk to you. We will listen to 278 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:42.240 you on this week in Space the podcast that you 279 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:46.799 co host with Tarik Malik on the Twit network. And 280 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.480 your books are wonderful. You could look at them at 281 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.000 rodpilebooks dot com. 282 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:55.480 Happy New Year, sir, Save to you, sir, and congratulations 283 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:57.399 on your re retirement. 284 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:00.320 Thank you very much. 285 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:08.080 All Right, Well, now I've never played Dungeons and Dragons, 286 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.720 and I have only recently learned enough about it to 287 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:17.639 even begin to understand how it's played. And the reason 288 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:20.840 it's kind of the timing of this because the story 289 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.679 here is about the new rules for Dungeons and Dragons 290 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:29.919 that has the Dungeons and Dragons community at each other's throats. 291 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:34.320 But it's also it's kind of weird happenstance because the 292 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.120 only reason that I've learned what I've learned is I 293 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.480 happen to be listening to very old episodes of a 294 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:45.159 podcast called Harmontown. Dan Harmon, who made Community, used to 295 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:51.600 do this live show at Nerdmelt rip nerd Melt, which 296 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.080 was a comic book store that had a comedy room 297 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.879 in the back. And I happen to be listening this 298 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.720 morning to an episode where they played I forget what 299 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.639 you call it, a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons live 300 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:08.159 at this show, and they had somebody from the audience 301 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:10.840 who was a dungeon master come up and make characters 302 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:11.320 and everything. 303 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.000 So I've learned a little bit about. 304 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:16.200 It, and this is not really about Dungeons and dragons 305 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.960 per se. It's about these rule changes and what it 306 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.600 says about what's going on in society. Because we talked 307 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:29.039 earlier about the diversity, equity and inclusion programs that many 308 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:33.399 corporations were running and are now backing away from because 309 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:37.720 of backlash. So in the world of D and D, 310 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:44.840 they are dealing with the first phase of the DEI 311 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:50.360 the cycle, which is bringing some version of it into 312 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:54.399 the game. So apparently you make a character or the 313 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.159 dungeon master makes a character for you. And it used 314 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:01.679 to be that you could pick your race. They called 315 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:05.720 it race. What race do you want to be? Well, 316 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:06.079 guess what? 317 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.759 Now it's what species do you. 318 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:17.319 Want to be? And it used to be that if 319 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:21.039 you wanted to be a certain kind of character, that 320 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:24.359 there were inherent attributes that that character would have. So 321 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:29.720 if you were a mountain dwarf, you would be brawny. 322 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:34.319 Every mountain dwarf in this game is browny. It comes 323 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.200 with the territory. 324 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.079 If you chose to be a high elf, it meant 325 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:41.480 you were really intelligent. 326 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:46.279 Well guess what happened. Racism is everywhere. 327 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:49.559 You wouldn't think the kinds of people who would play 328 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.000 a game like Dungeons and Dragons would have a lot 329 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.839 of racists in their midst but apparently there are enough 330 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.839 that it was causing a problem because what would happen 331 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.440 is the idea that what. 332 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:02.279 You are. 333 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:10.160 Memes how you are. That's a racial stereotype. 334 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.039 All black people are this, all Asians are that, all 335 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.759 white people are this, And it was happening in the 336 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:24.559 game where people started to mix the fantasy characters and 337 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:28.119 the things that they were with the idea of how 338 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:33.839 humans of different races have inherent attributes all the time, 339 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:38.240 and so certain characters in the game started to be 340 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:45.799 associated with human races in a derogatory way. I'll just 341 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:48.160 give you one example. It's very it's kind of weird 342 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:52.559 to think somebody's playing Dungeons and Dragons and their attitude 343 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.960 is that they're like, they're kind of racist against black 344 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.200 people in real life, and now in the game of 345 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:03.960 Dungeons and Dragon Wagons, the orcs are like to them, 346 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:09.400 they're like the black people of Dungeons and Dragons, that's 347 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:12.960 no good, that's terrible. So they've changed a lot of 348 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:16.160 the rules to try to get away from this idea 349 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:21.000 that what you are it means how you are and 350 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.519 yet the old school players they don't like these changes. 351 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.960 And another thing is, now do you know, I don't 352 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:35.240 know if you're into BDSM or any of these sexual 353 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.240 kink things. Boy, what a left turn. You're thinking, no, no, no. 354 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.920 But you know about safe word? If I say, hey, 355 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:42.640 you know what a safe word is? You know what 356 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:45.440 it is, You know what it is in certain contexts 357 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:51.200 a safe word. You get into some stuff your role playing, 358 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.880 and if things get a little out of hand and 359 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:55.480 you don't want it, you have a safe word. 360 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:58.559 Now there are safe. 361 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:04.000 Words in Dungeons and Dragons. If a player feels uncomfortable 362 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.599 with what's happening in this make believe role playing. 363 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:11.319 Game, they can stop the action. 364 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:16.359 And again, half of the players think it's an important 365 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:22.039 way to bring inclusion and safety and accessibility into the game, 366 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:26.960 and the other half say, this is ridiculous. You're trying 367 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:32.839 to make Dungeons and Dragons woke. Now, now New Year's Eve, 368 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.000 there will be lots of drinking, there will be lots 369 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.519 of DUIs happening, and some of those will be detected 370 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:41.319 by law enforcements, so there will be a lot of 371 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:46.119 dui arrests. And it so happens that in the United 372 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:55.839 States of America, and certainly in California for the last 373 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:06.400 twenty years, the dui arrests capital is Laguna Beach. So 374 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.359 the first thing I want to say about that is 375 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:13.839 they are the leader in arrests for DUI. It doesn't 376 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:18.079 necessarily mean they have the most people driving drunk on 377 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.200 any given night. It might mean they have a very 378 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:25.039 aggressive and successful interdiction program. But in any event, they 379 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:31.440 are the dui arrest kings of California have been for 380 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:36.440 twenty years. Why well, there are a lot of drunk 381 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:38.799 drivers there. I'm not saying they're more than other places 382 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:42.160 of similar size. Except tell me what the population of 383 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.119 Laguna Beaches. 384 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:43.559 Please. 385 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:46.319 You may say, oh, yeah, it's about twenty two thousand people. 386 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:51.200 Except every year they get six and. 387 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:52.880 A half million visitors. 388 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:58.440 It is an intensely popular tourist spot, both for people 389 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.079 from southern California and from all over the world. 390 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:03.559 That's crazy. 391 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.400 That is way too a terrible of a ratio between 392 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:09.839 the number of visitors and the number of people who 393 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:10.880 actually live there. 394 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:12.759 You couldn't pay. 395 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:14.640 Me to live in Laguna Beach if you said, we 396 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:17.319 will give you a beautiful house and pay you half 397 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.160 a million dollars a year to live in Laguna Beach, 398 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.200 but you do have to live there. I wouldn't do it, 399 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.319 and I know there's a lot of residents and business 400 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.799 owners in Laguna Beach who do not like this. They 401 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.440